//------------------------------// // 8. Defiance // Story: Darkest Hour // by Twilight is Magic //------------------------------// Sparkling Sky was standing by the potion-mixing set, counting under his breath as he measured the dosage of the last component of a quickly made revitalizing tonic. From past experience he knew that while its effects were spectacular, he was going to feel a lot worse a day after consuming it. However, should he have chosen not to make it, that day could never come. He had to be in perfect shape, or at least a temporary surrogate of such. The purple flare that had gone up a few minutes before had spurred him into frantic action. Through the windows, Sparkling Sky saw the guards rush to the castle, trying to outrun a pursuing horde of airborne changelings. He saw the magical shield go up and leave them stuck outside. Strangely, however, what happened next was completely unexpected: the changelings surrounded the ponies on the bridge from all sides, but, instead of attacking, remained at a distance and kept the ponies pinned. Seeing this sent Sparkling Sky into frenzied activity. He had to help the surrounded guards, and while he realized he wouldn’t be able to defeat an entire army of changelings, he could do something about the shield, or more precisely, about the Keepers maintaining it. Its appearance proved that the monster disguised as Queen Amethyst wasn’t bluffing and that at least several Keepers were under its control, enough to cast the shield-conjuring spell. If he could reach them and break the changeling’s enchantments, he could gain their help and weaken the shield, and while he couldn’t deal with the invaders alone, having the rest of the Circle free and on his side could just be enough to stop them. After all, they were the best and most talented wizards the Unicorn tribe had to offer. The potion went through a swirl of colours as he stirred it, finally settling on a lively cerise. Sparkling Sky cast the feather aside, grasped the small mixing bowl it was in with telekinesis and downed it in one go. Immediately he felt new energy spreading through his body, washing away the tiredness and making him feel younger by a few decades at least. Yes, his old idea of adding a finely powdered phoenix feather certainly improved the effects. Now he was ready. Before rushing out towards the closest posting of a Circle wizard, however, Sparkling Sky walked over to the closest window to check on the situation. Through the shield’s glimmering magenta, he could see the enemy swarm exactly how it was, which meant they hadn’t attacked yet. However, in the previously empty courtyard there was one pony, or rather one changeling—the one looking like the Queen. It was walking towards the closest stairway leading onto the castle walls, slowly yet purposefully. The old Keeper’s mind fired up once again. In his room, that thing behaved like it was leading the invasion and had enthralled all the unicorns. Now, in the courtyard, it was far away from other changelings or separated from them by the shield, and probably not expecting an attack. He knew of a fatal weakness it seemed to have ignored, the faulty crown that he could still see glinting faintly atop its head. If he was to take it out, it would probably also leave the spells it was maintaining with no power, as it usually was with wielders of magic. All of this meant that Sparkling Sky was in the perfect position to strike at the changeling spellcaster, which would most likely result in the freeing of everypony under its magics. Now that he thought of it, breaking its control over one of the Keepers channeling the shield would probably draw its attention, at least through the weakening of the shield itself, and likely warn it of his plans, which would spell his doom. Taking the monster out, however, could solve it all in one quick move. There were still the numerous other changelings to deal with, especially with the shield disabled, but the old unicorn felt certain that the Circle would drive them off. And looking at the great swarm of changelings beyond the shield, he realized that he was ready to stand his ground against them to give the Keepers time to regroup. Maybe it was due to the revitalizing potion affecting him, but he did not feel nearly as afraid as he was before. He was the last free unicorn that could make a difference. His kingdom and all his friends truly needed him. And he, Sparkling Sky the Spellslinger, champion duelist of the realm and Keeper of the Circle of Day and Night, would not be found wanting in the hour of need. There was only one problem—getting to the changeling quickly. It was already ascending the stairs to the wall, and whatever it was planning to do, it was not good. Running through the keep was out of question, as there were definitely more of those beasts roaming the castle that could slow him down and warn his quarry. With how high up the tower his chambers were, he was only left with magical means, and he didn’t have a spell for dropping from such heights safely. But he did have something that could work, even better than a slow-fall spell: his latest project, the most difficult he’d attempted on his own. Quickly, he dashed back among the desks and up to the central one. It was in a state of organized chaos, but atop the pile of notes, books and parchment was a single neat page containing a complex spell. It was Sparkling Sky’s most recent achievement, and one he considered indispensable to the future of the Unicorn tribe—a reliable teleportation spell. He snatched the page off the desk and held it in front of himself in a magical grip. He was proud of what he’d managed to do with it. Teleportation used to be considered a last resort, too imprecise and unreliable for practical use; it was just as likely to get a pony to where they intended to go as into the ground or the sky. Attempts to improve it never ceased, although the research had long since stopped producing any results. Sparkling Sky changed that—taking a completely new approach, he’d gone to work and, after several months, produced a functioning, reliable spell that a unicorn could use to teleport themselves. There were still great limitations: it could only be used with a direct line of sight on the target area and only at short distances, and also required the user to be highly talented and have exceptional control over their magic, but their resolution was only a matter of time now that the breakthrough had been made. However, even this limited spell was perfect for what Sparkling Sky needed to do. He quickly went through his options, of which there were only two. He could dash to the top of the tower and teleport from there, but he knew that it was the posting of another Keeper; seeing as the changeling claimed to have them all under its control, he didn’t want to risk it. Alternatively, he could do it right from his chambers, but he’d need to clear the line of sight first. The latter was much easier and faster: he’d only need to break through one of the windows. He rushed towards the closest one with a view of the courtyard, but in his hurry hit a table with a shoulder, causing its contents to scatter all over the floor. Staggering aside while trying to keep the teleportation spell formula aloft, he nearly slipped on a fallen book and knocked it away, causing a piece of parchment to fall out of it and spin in midair, falling right in front of him. On its old and wrinkled surface there were several symbols, forming a spell. Sparkling Sky paused to look at it and immediately remembered what it was: the temporal displacement spell, one of the few spells of time magic he’d ever tried to cast and the first one that worked. It probably wasn’t going to help him against the changeling controller or be of much use against their swarm, but, he reasoned, it was better to have the option than not. While he knew it by heart, he nevertheless felt a foalish urge to take the scrap of parchment with him, as if it was going to help him should he have to cast it. Tucking the spell away in his robes, he stepped up to the window and looked outside. The changeling was approaching the gate’s arch, the battlements of which were overlooking the bridge and the ponies trapped there. It was clearly going to do something, and Sparkling Sky intended to stop it. He took a step aside and concentrated on the window’s frame, then pulled it inward as sharply as he could. There was a muted wooden crack and it came loose, hanging askew in the Keeper’s levitation field, then was lowered onto the floor. A gust of raindrop-filled wind immediately swept into the room, throwing many pages and scrolls off the desks and casting them about. Sparkling Sky stepped up to the now-bare window and focused on the spot on the walls he’d chosen as the teleportation spell’s target, a short way away from the arch but close enough for him to attack the changeling as soon as he was there. He put the formula on the windowsill, pressed it down against the wind with his hoof and started to construct the spell in his mind. Given its complexity and the amount of power it required, it was going to take a bit of time. ~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~ Opal Beam looked upon the army of changelings surrounding the bridge. There was little more to look at—their bodies, unsettlingly reminiscent of overgrown black wasps, obscured most of the landscape. The sole exception to that was the castle’s shield, against which the small group of unicorns was pinned. This strange inaction was stretching his nerves taut, only worsened by the oppressive buzzing of the monsters’ wings. He had no idea what had happened, but felt certain that their plans had been dashed. The shield should not have gone up when it did, but at the first sight of the enemy, and the giant dark swarm couldn’t have been hard to spot. It being cast just as they reached the bridge was bound to be deliberate. It was a trap. “Everypony, look! It’s the Queen!” one of the guards shouted behind him. Opal Beam and most other guards turned around to see the unmistakable purplish mare in an exquisite gown step up to the edge of the gatehouse’s crenellations. He looked at her expectantly, hoping that she’d come with a solution, something that could save them all, but Queen Amethyst simply stood there in silence, observing the scene. She placed one hoof atop the parapet, looked up with a smirk at the changelings above and pointed the other at the pinned unicorns below. In a shrill voice, she cried out: “SEIZE THEM!” As one, the beasts all around them answered the command, roaring and screeching calls of their own, and surged forwards, rapidly closing the gap between themselves and the ponies, who stepped back against the shield and closer together and braced themselves. Lieutenant Moonlight took a glance at the ponies on either side of her. “Only one order, everypony,” she said over the rising din. “Fight to the last.” ‘This is it,’ Opal Beam thought. The Queen was an impostor, and the castle must have fallen. The shield meant the Keepers, the unicorns’ last hope, were somehow on its side. The ponies in the mine were not going to get help. The kingdom was doomed. And behind them, on the walls, the Queen burst into malicious, cruel laughter. He was shocked, horrified and saddened, but if there was one thing Opal Beam was certain in that moment, looking upon the charging monsters about to crash into the guards like a great wave, it was this: he was not going to disregard Moonlight’s final order, and neither were the others. The last unicorns would go down fighting. Grim determination surging into his mind and drowning out everything else, he stood firm and charged up the most powerful knockback spell he knew. Moments later, the changelings came into range, and Opal Beam released his magic, as did several other guards and both of the wizards. Blasts of force and energy and a gout of mystic fire met the enemy charge, sending beasts hurtling right back into the others, zapping them and setting them aflame, and while this stopped dozens, dozens more continued to barrel forth, screeching a deafening battle cry. Raising their weapons and shields to meet the attackers, the ponies stood fast and prepared for their last battle. The impact of the changeling charge was strong enough to knock some ponies’ armaments away. With so many converging on so few, the changelings interfered with or even crashed into one another, but the resulting press of dark bodies bearing down on the unicorns was effective enough. Opal Beam was forced onto the cobbled surface of the bridge by the scores of snapping maws and flailing hooves, trying his best to parry the attacks coming his way as he channeled his magic into another spell that would blast the enemy away and give him some breathing room. He unleashed the spell as soon as it was ready. It flung the closest beasts back, the wave of force piling them into the others and dragging more along. The mass of monsters wavered, allowing him to stand up and fight rather than struggle to avoid being overwhelmed. Around him, the other ponies fought their own frantic private battles. Iron Vein was being bogged down by at least a dozen attackers, and despite his strength and martial skill, the changelings were forcing him down little by little. Thistlethorn, miraculously, remained on his hooves, dodging and weaving aside from the enemy’s lunges and slashing wildly, hitting a beast whenever he swung due to how many there were. Further away, Star Swirl was standing side to side with Keeper Nightshade and Lieutenant Moonlight, magical sparks of orange, purple and deep blue raining from their horns as they slung spell after spell at the changelings, but the small storm of arcane lightning and fire they were producing was barely enough to keep the beasts away from them. More beasts dove at Opal Beam, and he kicked at them with his forehooves, the heavy armoured boots protecting them as effective as any weapon. The monsters recoiled, and he pressed his perceived advantage, stepping away from the shield; as if waiting for that, three more dropped out of the swarm above, landing onto his back and latching onto his armour with their jagged legs. He stumbled under their weight, and his original attackers leapt back at him, one of them delivering a heavy kick on the side of his helmet. Opal Beam’s head flared with pain, feeling like a stricken bell, throbbing and ringing. His assailants wasted no time, grasping and snapping their jaws at him, and quickly locked all four of his hooves in an unshakable grip. He tried to struggle, but they snapped open their insect-like wings and immediately took off, carrying him with ease. He tried to remember a spell that could help, but the kick to the head had dazed him, throwing his mind into disarray. The changelings pulled up and headed towards the side of the bridge. ‘They’re going to drop me off!’ he thought with fear and tried to wriggle free, but the beasts’ grasp was strong like steel. Just as they were about to cross the edge of the bridge, Opal Beam felt the monsters’ hold on his rear legs slacken and disappear. The others dipped lower under the increased load, colliding with another changeling, which sent them off course and back towards the shield. It was followed by a sharp pull on his armour, and two monsters that were holding his midsection hurtled away. The remaining two beasts tried to hold him up by the front legs, but he began to sway and kick at them with his rear hooves, making them drop even lower and closer to the cobbles below. A narrow beam of orange hit the leftmost changeling, causing it to release him and fall down like a rock. The only would-be captor to remain responded by lowering its head and biting down on his right leg. Before it could sink its fangs deeper in, Opal Beam smashed his freed left forehoof into the side of its head; it jerked once and its wings stopped, causing them both to plummet towards the bridge below. Luckily, there was only a short distance to fall, and hitting the stones didn’t result in anything but a burst of pain. Opal Beam freed his leg from the knocked-out changeling’s maw and looked back at his rescuers: Star Swirl and Lieutenant Moonlight were already taking on another oncoming group of monsters. He turned around just in time to raise his hooves and meet yet another changeling’s charge, and both of them tumbled to the cobbles. Opal Beam landed onto his back while his new attacker managed to stay upright, of which it immediately took advantage and pounced onto him, trying to strike at the weak spots of his armour. Its jaws snapped dangerously close to his face as he tried to knock it off, but the beast seemed to ignore his flurry of kicks and punches. His mind, scrambled by the chaos of the melee, failed to turn up any spells. Then, a bright flare came from the direction of the gate. A moment later came the scream: a terrible, blood-curdling wail of agony loud enough to drown out every other sound. Opal Beam felt himself going rigid, and it looked like his changeling opponent was experiencing the same. The scream went on, and the sensation strengthened; he shuddered as he began to lose feeling in his legs and tried to shake life back into them. Meanwhile, the monster that was attacking him turned its head to the gate and stopped moving completely. Opal Beam shoved the beast aside, and it fell down without resisting or even changing its pose, as if petrified. This looked like the work of a spell. Shaking off the last of the unpleasant heaviness in his limbs, he stood up. The horrifying scream had ceased. Around him, everypony and everything seemed to be suffering from the same effects, but while the unicorns were shaking them off, the changelings had become perfectly still. Not about to waste the opportunity, the guardsponies freed themselves from their immobile opponents’ clutches and kicked them away, regrouping in the middle of the bridge. Just above the walls, the obviously magical white flare was losing its brilliance. Something was missing, though, and it took Opal Beam a moment to realize what it was: the flare’s light was untinted by the great magenta shield. The wall of magic had vanished. There was a flash of red light, it source obscured by the battlements. It was followed by another, this one a vivid green, replacing the fading glow in the air above it. In the sudden silence, Opal Beam could hear the crackle of magical power accompanying them. Knocking the statue-like monsters out of the way, he rushed to Lieutenant Moonlight. “Lieutenant, we need to get to the gate! Right now!” he called out. “The shield is down, this is our chance!” “We can’t break through the gate on our own, sergeant,” she said, but it seemed that she got his idea—what if the shield went back up again? “Doesn’t matter, get everypony up to the doors! And make sure there’re no changelings inside the shield range!” Not even waiting for an order, Opal Beam dashed for the end of the bridge. “He’s right. To the gate, everypony, now!” the Lieutenant called out behind him. He ran on past where the shield had stopped them and onwards to the gate, ignoring the inrush of pain in his battered legs. And then a creature rose into the air from the gatehouse’s crenellations. It was just like a changeling, except twice or thrice as big as one; large, insect-like tattered wings and hole-ridden hooves and a dark body all pointed to its relation to them. From its head protruded a great twisted horn-like spike, brimming with an acidic green glow. A beam erupted from its tip towards some target on the walls. It turned towards the bridge, its oversized eyes glaring at the ponies, and the light around its horn intensified to a single powerful pulse. After a few moments, a low-pitched hum began to fill the air, steadily growing in volume. Another red flash drew its attention; it whirled aside as an immense bolt of red magic zipped through where it was a moment ago. Screeching something unintelligible, it dove behind the gate and out of sight. “Move! Move!” Opal Beam called to the other ponies. Most of them stayed put, staring at the new strange monster above their castle; only Lieutenant Moonlight, Keeper Nightshade and his own remaining squad—Iron Vein, Thistlethorn and Star Swirl—followed his example. Just as they were about to cross the line the shield had been occupying, the air around it seemed to shimmer. “Shield’s coming back up!” He shouted as the members of his squad leapt ahead and through the intensifying haze of magic. Then, with a ‘whooumm’-like sound, the magical barrier came into existence once again; Lieutenant Moonlight crashed into it a moment later, unable to stop in time. Behind the unicorns left on the outside, the paralyzed changelings began to stir. Moonlight staggered away from the shield, regaining her composure, and turned back to her ponies. “Get them! Quick, before they wake up!” Despite how rapidly the situation changed once again, the guardsponies didn’t have to be told twice this time, attacking the monsters and kicking and shoving them aside and away and clearing out some space in front of the shield. The beasts were coming around alarmingly quickly; already some of them were issuing growls and hisses, and a few were getting back up. Even with the ponies’ best efforts, they couldn’t come anywhere near evening the odds in time. “Forget it, get back to me! Nightshade, we need a shield!” she yelled. Just as the last pony got in range, Nightshade’s horn flared with purple and a hemisphere of magic surrounded the remaining unicorns. As it did so, the first reawakened changeling slammed against it and began to hammer furiously on its surface, denied its prey. Lieutenant Moonlight turned back to Opal Beam. “Sergeant Opal Beam, listen,” she said in a stern, level voice, dissonant with the chaotic situation. “That beast is definitely fighting someone of ours. I order you to break down that gate and bring it down.” “What?” He replied in an incredulous voice. “But we can’t break it, you said so yourself—” “Try to, ask the apprentice, just bring the thing down and get in. You saw what happened. If you get that monster, we may just win.” “But—” “We’ll manage. Go! Orders are to be fulfilled, sergeant!” Opal Beam blinked several times. If what had been happening the past half an hour was insanity, then this was something of a deeper sort. He looked at his squadmates, who seemed just as mystified as himself. His mind stalled. That stupor was broken by a cracking sound behind them. Turning, he saw piercing green light coming through the crack between the castle gate’s immense halves. Then, a glowing spot of the same colour appeared in the middle of the right door, quickly growing and spreading across half of it. With a deep creak, the door, made of solid enchanted wood, slowly swung ajar. Leaving the sheer, nearly contrived-seeming craziness of it all for later, Opal Beam cantered to the gate. He could see red and green lights flashing in between and under the doors, and so kept to the left, trying to remain hidden from whatever was going on. The other three unicorns followed suit. The right half of the gate, made of enchanted wood so ancient as to be stone-like, had a great hole burned through most of its width. Its edges were smouldering and dripping chips of wood that turned into dust in midair. More impressive still was that the great metal bar that had been holding the gate shut was lying on the stones underneath, torn asunder. Just as he stepped up with his side against the other door, a green beam pierced the air in between the gate halves, grazing the edge of the damaged one and coming to a stop at the inside of the castle’s shield, apparently dissipated. At its touch, the gate’s wood shrunk and blackened, as if scorched and rotting away at the same time, and crumbled into flakes, which then became ash as they drifted downwards. Opal Beam risked a glance in between the halves, towards where the deadly beam had come from. In the middle of the courtyard, there was a silhouette of a unicorn in robes against a blazing green light. Magical lightning arced and stabbed into the ground by his sides. In a few moments, the green glare dimmed, and an explosion of red took its place; a wave of energy radiated outwards from the caped wizard. The giant creature from before zoomed up into the air, out of the way of the blast, which rolled on and impacted against the keep’s entrance. There was a thunderous crash as the double doors leading into the great hall bent and were flung inwards along with much of the stone archway. Many blocks fell down from the wall above in a cloud of dust. Meanwhile, the giant changeling darted to the right, the glow crowning its head heralding another incoming attack. The unicorn seemed to expect that and leapt aside just as it went off, and a ray of green cut into the courtyard where he was standing a moment before. An unearthly wind tugged at the unicorn’s robes as a thin red line shone in the air in between his horn and the monster, and a sheath of magic enveloped it. Immediately, it was jerked violently out of its place and through the air on a curved path around the wizard, spinning and twisting in every direction as it went. It let out something in between a scream and a shout, still projecting its destructive beam that wandered all across the surroundings, leaving a dark groove on everything it touched. “Midnight Star’s Mobile Centerpoint spell!” came Star Swirl’s awed voice from behind Opal Beam. The magical pull brought the beast above the courtyard in a semi-circle and onto a collision course with one of the great windows. On the final stretch, it sped up and crashed through the tall frame, breaking what little of it was left unharmed by the earlier blast and disappearing beyond. The unicorn’s shining horn dimmed and went out, and his flowing cape, mane and beard settled back down. Now, without the spells’ glaring light, Opal Beam recognized the stallion as Keeper Sparkling Sky. He turned towards the gate, shouting as he spotted the onlooking ponies: “Star Swirl, you’re here! Help me take it out! It’s controlling the Circle! If we do it, we can win this!” Then, the Keeper turned back and started towards the keep’s broken entrance at a run. No orders needed to be given; Opal Beam rushed into the courtyard and after him, the others galloping behind. Sparkling Sky went into the keep as soon as he reached it, when they were only halfway, and as they drew closer, the darkness behind the shattered doorway was coloured with successive flashes of red and green. Star Swirl was the first to the steps leading up to it and cleared them with surprising agility and speed, but had to swerve aside as a red bolt hurtled out of the entrance. No other loose spells followed, and the squad dashed inside. Through the dust of the collapsed doorway, Opal Beam saw the giant changeling and Sparkling Sky locked in combat once again. It was on the offensive, pushing the unicorn back towards the doors of the throne room. The Keeper was projecting a hemisphere of magic in between himself and the beast, which reflected the beams it was casting into random spots all over the hall. The changeling was advancing without weakening the onslaught for even a moment, forcing him to defend himself. Its large wings that it had been using to great advantage outside looked crumpled and stuck out at odd angles, likely damaged in the crash. “Take cover behind the pillars!” ordered Opal Beam, quickly charging up a spell to draw the monster’s attention. He let it fly as a bolt as soon as it was ready, and it struck the back of the changeling’s neck. It shuddered and paused its attacks, giving Sparkling Sky an opening; the wizard’s barrier exploded into a burst of energy which collided with the monster and knocked it off its balance. Opal Beam ran to take cover behind the nearest pillar to his left as its head twisted around and a ray of magic leapt from its horn in his direction. While it was distracted, Sparkling Sky began to charge some sort of powerful spell, but it didn’t escape the beast’s attention; it whirled around again and let loose another spell, forcing the Keeper to abandon it and cast a barrier again. “Foals! How dare you defy your Queen!?” a grating, distorted mare-like voice rang out. “You’ve already lost!” On the other side of the great hall, Star Swirl had snuck behind the pillars all the way to the opposite corner, apparently trying to strike from where the beast didn’t expect an attack. He was proven wrong as the changeling’s horn flared to a blinding brightness, forcing everypony to avert their eyes; the sound of a powerful magical discharge followed, and looking back, Opal Beam saw the pillar behind which Star Swirl was trying to hide glow green. The apprentice wizard darted out from behind it, apparently safe and sound, but the same was not true for the monolithic rock of the pillar: with a deep cracking sound, its top broke free of the ceiling and the part of the gallery it was upholding was torn out, and it canted precariously towards the center of the hall. “HA!” Exclaimed the changeling, and its horn flared once again. The pillar wobbled, then leaned towards the throne room doors and Sparkling Sky, then began to fall. At the same time, the monster broke into a run, horn still burning bright. Sparkling Sky turned his attention to the great mass of rock about to smash him into the floor and tried to stop it with his magic; the monster charged past and into the door full tilt, and they were blown off the hinges and into the room beyond by whatever magic she had prepared. The great mass of stone that was the pillar was already halfway through its descent, only slightly slowed down by the Keeper’s efforts. Without hesitation, Sparkling Sky leapt through the doorway after his opponent. Opal Beam, together with Star Swirl and Iron Vein, tried to stop the pillar’s hastening fall like the Keeper did, but he found himself unable to even grasp at the enchanted rock with his magic. A moment later, it smashed into the floor with a boom that shook the castle, its top gouging out the top of the empty doorway and blocking it completely. Through the remaining empty spaces, green and red lights could be seen in the throne room, accompanied by crackling booms: the battle had resumed again. Opal Beam quickly looked at the doors along the sides of the hall. His ponies couldn’t break this pillar or the walls around it, made with the same excessive durability in mind. They had to go around. Iron Vein pointed out a door under the stairs of the left-side gallery. “The fastest way is through the food storage and the kitchens.” “Right! Then cut through the dining hall and we’re there. Everypony, move! Quickly!” Opal Beam shouted and darted for the indicated door. Thankfully, it was unlocked. The ponies rushed through and into the dark, curved corridor beyond. Speeding down its length, Opal Beam felt a focused determination overtake all his senses, blocking out the pain of his injuries and bringing out his remaining strength. This was indeed it, but not like it was on the bridge. Now, his squad could make all the difference. The rhythmic, unfaltering hoofbeats of his colts behind proved that they were of the same mind as himself: they would not be found wanting in their kingdom’s darkest hour.