//------------------------------// // Tales of Vesperia: Canterlot Wedding Finale (BETA) // Story: The Rejected Ideas Bin // by Darkened Paradise //------------------------------// Hey everyone...or everypony, whichever you prefer. This here is the result of playing too much Tales of Vesperia with friends. In this scenario, I have changed the Season 2 Finale to be slightly different. Also, since I never truly state it here, every character here is human, with the pony-type's definitive trait being the only one seen. Furthermore, keep in mind that this a rough draft, and not the finished version. Mirror 2: Tales of Vesperia: Canterlot Wedding Finale Beta The strength the heart…what was it defined by? Was it the amount of arcane knowledge you hold? Was it the strength in your arms to persevere through pain? Was it the speed in your legs to get you from place to place with utmost ease? No. It was neither of these things To her, the bonds of her friends were her true power… So why did she feel so empty? “…and now if you’ll excuse me, I have to care for my bride!” Shining Armor, captain of Celestia’s Solar Guard, yelled towards his younger sister, Twilight Sparkle. With a huff, he straightened his uniform and stormed outside the doorway, leaving his shell shocked sister and her friends (plus assistant and mentor) behind. “I just can’t believe you Twilight!” Applejack said in her usual southern drawl. She walked up to her and grabbed Twilight’s purple sweater collar, pulling the younger girl towards her. “I thought you’d be happy for your brother, getting married and what not, but all you’ve done is constantly badmouth the Princess, his fiancé of all people, and try to bring us in your silly little plot!” “But-but-I-!” Twilight tried to muster, but couldn’t under her friend’s heavy gaze. “But nothing!” Applejack said, dropping the girl on her behind. Taking a deep breath, she readjusted her hat to cover her eyes as she continued, “I thought I knew you Twilight. Guess that shows it, huh?” She turned away and headed towards the doorway, saying, “I’ll be outside if anyone needs me.” The Bond with Truth has been broken. “AJ, wait, I-!” Twilight started to say, only to be cut off by Rainbow Dash, who said, “I’m outta here too. I need to practice for the wedding after show.” She ran off the balcony, the Pegasus’ blue wings bursting from her back as she jumped off. The Bond with Loyalty has been broken. “Girls, I-!” “I’m afraid we have to leave as well,” Rarity said, flipping some of her violet mane over her shoulders. Fluttershy meekly hid behind her, her pink hair covering one of her green eyes unwilling to meet Twilight’s. “Fluttershy has to practice with her choir, and I have make sure the dress preparations go smoothly. Come along, Fluttershy.” “Sorry Twilight,” the pinked haired Pegasus with said her head bowed, following Rarity as she did so. The Bonds with Generosity and Kindness have been broken. “Oh that reminds me, I need to make sure the party preparations are done!” Pinkie Pie gasped, running out after the, soon followed by Spike. The Bond with Laughter has been broken. Before Twilight could even comprehend what was going on around her, Celestia, her teacher and closest confidante, started to walk away from her, only stopping to turn around and glare at her saying, “You have a lot of explaining to do.” The Bond with Magic has been broken. Twilight could only gape as the doors slammed behind her mentor, the strength leaving her legs as she fell on knees, burning hot tears forming in her eyes. As the tears rolled down her face, she could feel something else inside of her break down, and all she could do was cry. Until a familiar presence wrapped her in a hug. Twilight froze, her breath hiccupping as Princess Cadence held her close, comforting the younger girl. Turning, Twilight hugged the older girl’s waist, sobbing, “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to ruin everything!” Cadence only smiled softly, taking the sobbing girl’s hands off of her and holding them in her own. “Oh Twilight,” she sighed, patting the child she baby sat for numerous times on the head softly. Almost immediately, the calm demeanor suddenly vanished, and in its place was pure, unadulterated malice. Twilight could only blink as Cadence’s eyes flashed green and her horn was engulfed in a sickly green light. “You will be,” Cadence hissed softly, pushing the Twilight on her back as a dome of green flames surrounded the younger Unicorn. The last thing Twilight saw was her evil grin before everything went black. =====-----===== The first thing that Twilight noticed was the never-ending darkness around her. Closing her eyes and focusing, she conjured up a small flame from the tip of her horn, illuminating the area. The place was made of made almost entirely of a vivid violet crystal of some kind. Reaching out for it, she was a small burst of lightning jumped from the off the crystal and into her hand, shocking her. “Where am I?” Twilight asked out loud. “Hello? Is there anyone down here?” Instead of an answer, what she got was an echo of a cruel, malicious laugh. Looking around, she found Cadence’s face reflecting off one of the crystals, laughing at her. “Cadence!” Twilight cried, running to the crystal, only to be shocked again and pushed back. “Where am I? Where did you take me!?” “Oh, just the forgotten Eridium Mines beneath Canterlot,” Cadence said in a dismissive voice, checking her nails as she did so. “This place was originally used as a prison for other Unicorns back in the day, as the crystals in these very mines interfered with every form of Unicorn magic.” Her face shimmered from the surface, appearing on the crystal immediately behind Twilight. “And now this place shall be your prison.” “Why are you doing this!?” Twilight yelled, grunting in pain as another burst of violet lightning struck her as she tried to gather magic. “Oh, I just don’t you interfering with my plans,” Cadence replied, smirking. “And with you down here, I don’t see that as a possibility any time soon.” “Plans? What plans?” Twilight asked, feeling her powers slowly leaving her thanks to the crystals interference. “Why, the plans I have for your dear big brother of course!” Cadence said, smiling in a cheerfully mocking manner. Her fear was slowly replaced with white hot anger, and despite the overwhelming pain she was in, Twilight stood up and said, “Don’t you dare harm my brother, you…you faker!” If her declaration meant anything, Cadence didn’t let it show. Instead she merely smiled and said in a sing-song tone, “Well, the only way to stop me is to catch me! And with you unable to even cast magic, I don’t see that happening, my dear.” “Good thing,” Twilight muttered, gathering the magic in her right palm, where her Mark of Passage, the magenta 42-pointed star, slowly started to form. “I can do more than just Unicorn Magic!” Cadence stopped laughing but watched as a magic circle slowly etched itself around Twilight’s feet, creating a burst of hot air that completely blew away the nearby crystals. Upon its completion, a matching circle appeared over hear head, the two of them slowly making their way to her waist, changing her clothing as they did so. What was originally a simple violet tank top and dark faded jeans was replaced by a more conservative. The top seemed like a mix of an overcoat and an oriental style shirt, the wrist cuffs ordained with the same mark that was her Mark of Passage and covering her hands with brown fingerless gloves, and underneath that she wore a set of black training shorts. On her feet she wore dark violet knee-high socks underneath a pair of black steel-toe boots. Twilight extended her hand, and a burst of violet energy appeared from her Mark of Passage, forming into a red and black sword, whose edge went a little beyond the handle. The metal was pitch black, but the razor sharped edge was a vibrant red color, as well as the matching runes that appeared on the blade itself. The handle was a calm blue color, but at the very bottom of it was another wickedly curved blade that acted as the hand guard. Turning to the reflected image, she snarled and screamed, “AZURE STORM!” She swung her blade along the ground, creating an aura of blue energy around its edge. With a yell of indignation, she released the energy with the first swipe, followed by a second burst with an overhead swipe, releasing the blade as it spun before catching it again. The energy blasts bounced off the crystals, ricocheting off them before the created two small craters in the ground in front of her. “Now that seemed useless, didn’t it?” Cadence crowed, giggling in glee her reflection changed to another crystal. “Over here Twilight! You might be able to get me this time!” “O Flickering Blaze, BURN!” Twilight yelled, holding the blade over her shoulder with her left hand holding her right at her side, a small magic circle collecting red hot energy and turning into fire. “FIREBALL!” She thrust her hand out, releasing 12 small burst of red flames that destroyed some of the crystals but not all of them. “Oh you were so close, but no cigar! Try over again over here!” Cadence said, laughing as her reflection transitioned to several crystals at the same time. “O Disturbing Powers now Unleashed, Meet Thy Judgment on the Evil Before Me!” Twilight chanted, a violet magic circle encased in a hexagon appearing under her feet. She swung her blade in the air, streams of violet magic pouring from the tip, weaving into what looked like a protective bubble of magic around her. “Violent Pain!” Upon finishing the spell, Twilight thrust her right hand forward, releasing several strands of black and violet energies at the various crystal formations. Cadence could only laugh as Twilight tore up the mines. “Nope, over here!” she crowed, her image reappearing over another batch of crystals before cackling again. “O Frozen Blades, Fly Sharply Across the Heavens!” Twilight chanted, a blue magical circle encased in a hexagon appearing underneath her feet. Thrusting her hands out, she yelled, “Freeze Lancer!” A blue magic circle appeared in before her, creating twelve spears of ice. Just as they flew away, Twilight immediately brought her hand back, channeling a dark purple energy in it as she cried, “O obsidian flash, be as a raging spear to run my enemies through! Demon’s Lance!” Another magic circle appeared above her, releasing another spear of violet explosive energy. The spears of ice and darkness hit their intended targets, revealing a disheveled looking Cadence. This one, her hair and clothing a ragged mess, looked around, almost unsure of what was going on. “What happened?” this Cadence asked, confused. When her eyes fell upon her savior, Cadence’s eyes widened with surprise and joy before slowly turning into fear and misunderstanding at the murderous expression on their face. “No! Wait! Don’t hurt me!” Twilight didn’t hear a word that was said as she took off at a run and tackled the weakened older girl, straddling her while holding her sword at the disheveled older girl’s neck, ready to lop Cadence’s head off from her shoulders. The older Alicorn looked up, a feeling of relief washing over features. “Twilight, it’s me!” she cried, not noticing the blade next to her neck. “I’ve been imprisoned down here, the same as you! The Cadence you saw was just a copycat of me!” “Likely story, faker!” Twilight hissed, inching the blade closer. “What proof do you have!?” “Ask me anything!” Cadence cried. “I can prove it!” Eyes narrowing, Twilight asked, “Prove it then.” Eyes widening, Cadence’s eyes warmed up as she pulled out a pendant from underneath her dress. The pendant was half of a pink crystal heart. Her own eyes widening, Twilight pulled the second half of the heart shaped pendant, which was a light purple hue. The two crystals halves began to glow with a soft light at their close proximity, and even flew towards each other and connected to one another, creating a complete heart. “Cadence,” Twilight said slowly, retracting her blade and sheathing it. Suddenly, she pulled the older girl into a hug, saying, “I’m sorry! It’s just that with what had just happened, I…” “It’s fine,” the real Princess Mi Amore Cadenza said, hugging the younger girl tightly. “I would have probably done the same if I were in your shoes. Besides, how could I forget the little girl I would babysit for and conspire with for hours on end?” As they hugged, a glint of light flashed in her eyes. “Twilight,” Cadence started, “will you help me stop her? I can’t let her go through with this.” “Like you had to ask,” Twilight said, pulling away from the hug. “I would have done it if you hadn’t asked.” =One Disney-esque Musical Interlude Later= After what seemed like hours of traveling through the mines, Twilight and Cadence found themselves on a ledge near the surface of Canterlot. The sounds of the wedding ceremony taking place rang above them, sending poor Cadence’s heart into despair. “Oh, we’ll never make it in time!” she wailed, tears coming to her eyes. “Don’t say that!” Twilight snapped. “We will make it! You will have your wedding! And I’ll prove to everyone that I was right all along!” “You’re not going anywhere,” said three very familiar voices. Twilight and the real Princess Mi Amore Cadenza turned around to see three girls in wedding dresses, their eyes glowing a sick green. “Colgate? Lyra?...and some other girl I don’t know?” Twilight asked, drawing her sword. The three women’s hands shimmered with green flames, before turning into black insect like scythes. In a flash, they charged. =At the Chapel= “My Beloved Subjects,” Princess Celestia said, adorned in her royal garb and looking as radiant as ever, “we are gathered here today to join Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Shining Armor in matrimony, which is commended to be honorable amongst us all; and therefore – is not by any – to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly – but reverently, discreetly, advisedly and solemnly. Into this estate these two persons present now come to be joined. If any person can show just cause why they may not be joined together – let them speak now or forever hold their peace." No one said anything at first, nor did they notice that ‘Cadence’ was smirking cruelly behind her wedding veil. Before Celestia could making the final declaration, the doors shook with a loud ‘BANG!’ The guards, doing their jobs (for once), sprang up and held it together with their light blue auras. They did well for a while, but were immediately pushed back with an explosion; the doors blew wide open, revealing a battle-ready Twilight Sparkle, her sword resting over her shoulders and her right hand slightly smoking. The crowd gasped in shock and confusion. The bridesmaids, all of Twilight’s friends, gasped in shock. ‘Cadence’, on the other hand, looked positively murderous. “I…I don’t understand!” Applejack finally spoke up, looking at the girl who was standing behind Shining Armor. “How are there two Twilights!?” “Because she’s a faker!” the Twilight behind Shining Armor said, jumping forward and ready to attack the sword wielding Twilight. Reacting instinctively, the battle ready Twilight grabbed the wedding dress wearing Twilight by the horn and spun, throwing her into a wall. Charging up her magic, she readied her sword, only to be struck with a bolt of purple lightning. “‘OH FLICKERING BLAZE, BURN!’” the two Twilights chanted, forming fireballs in their hands. “‘FIREBALL!’” With equal yells, they threw their fiery charges at each other. But before dress wearing Twilight could start chanting another spell, battle ready Twilight had already dashed forward, dodging some of her other’s fireballs in the process. “Disappear!” battle ready Twilight shouted. “Rending Wolf Gale!” Her right fist lunged forward, catching wedding dress wearing Twilight’s stomach, chest and face several times before dealing a vicious upper cut and slamming her shoulder into her, creating a wolf like aura of energy that forced dress wearing Twilight back. But battle ready Twilight wasn’t done. With a cry of, “Wailing Blast!” she performed a front flip, slamming her blade onto the ground (slicing through dress wearing Twilight in the process), creating a small of explosion of magic. As her double flew upward, battle ready Twilight leapt up after her delivered a fierce uppercut to her double’s jaw before spinning, kicking her in the chest and stomach several times. Just as dress wearing Twilight was about to land, battle ready Twilight’s swung her sword in two diagonal swings, creating waves of ice. “Frigid Blast!” She slammed her fist into the center where the two lines met, blasting her double across the room and through one of the chapel’s windows. Battle ready Twilight re-sheathed her blade, and looked at her shell-shocked friends and teacher. “You,” the fake Cadence started. “How did you get out of the caves?” Twilight snorted, saying, “It wasn’t really that hard. I mean, seriously, if you’re going to trap me to in a maze, at least make the exit harder to find than a giant hole above me!” The crowd started to murmur amongst themselves, clearly confused. “Now how about you cut the act and show your true face!” Twilight snarled, jumping up and drawing her blade. Before Twilight whipped out her blade, Cadence drew a sword hidden in her dress, fighting intercepting her. “Naïve!” the fake Cadence hissed, throwing her off. “Did you really think that you could beat me that easily?” Before Twilight could answer, a beam of flew over her head, striking the fake Cadence in the chest. The crowd looked at the door, their confusion growing when they saw a disheveled looking Cadence, her dress and hair a complete mess, and wielding a smoking pink crystal staff. “Wait, what?” Applejack asked, rubbing her eyes. “Now there are two Cadences’? What the heck is going on here?” “Isn’t it obvious,” the real Twilight said, getting up and dusting herself off. Pointing her drawn sword at the one on the church altar, she cried, “This Cadence is a faker!” “She’s right!” the real Cadence said, making her way to the alter herself. “She’s a Changeling, a race of beings that feed off of love itself! She kidnapped me and kept me at the Eridium mines so I couldn’t interfere!” As the crowd started to murmur amongst each other, the fake Cadence slowly pushed herself up, her chest smoking slightly from the blast. Her face, once an ugly contortion of rage, was now sporting an evil, sinister smile. “Very good, Princess Cadence,” the faker said, her voice dipping an octave as green fire started to surround her body. “Now, look upon me, and tremble in the presence of Queen Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings!” With maniacal laughter following her proclamation, the green fire ate away at her ‘skin’ and clothing, revealing a being with shiny obsidian black skin clad in an equally shiny emerald gossamer sheen that covered up key areas of her body. A sharp horn took the burst from her forehead between strands of dark-greenish blue hair, and two shiny ethereal insect wings burst from her back. With a menacing giggle, Chrysalis continued, “I must say, it was so easy getting in your capital city! This land is so saturated with love, that my subjects and I will be able to feast for ages to come! We will grow stronger and stronger, becoming the strongest race on this world!” “Oh really?” came a voice behind her. Turning around, Chrysalis found herself staring into the blazing of eyes Celestia, her staff now firmly in her hand. “I think not, Chrysalis.” Faster than anyone could follow, Celestia swung her staff, slamming the amber sun into the Changeling Queen’s face, knocking her off the altar as well as a few of her teeth. “Now, be gone from this place!” Celestia roared, burning wings bursting from her back as she took to the air, a yellow magic circle forming underneath her feet. Raising her staff, she pointed it at the slightly dazed queen, unleashing a beam of light. Chrysalis, reacting quickly, called upon her own magic. Grunting as a sickly green magic circle formed underneath her, she threw both of her hands before her, unleashing a blast of green fire to counter the beam of light. The two monarch’s struggled for a bit, all while the guards escorted the guests out of the soon-to-be destroyed hall. Celestia’s eyes never wavered as she applied more pressure, causing Chrysalis to falter slightly, falling on one knee under the force. Unable to keep up, she broke the beam and immediately back-flipped over to the still dazed looking Shining Armor and kissed him, making Cadence cry out in outrage. The results were instantaneous. Just as Celestia and Cadence fired their beams again, Chrysalis’ body started to flash with a mix of green and violet magical energies. As the yellow and pink beams nearly reached her, she raised both of her arms, firing her own beams of energy, one green and the other violet. “To think, Shining Armor’s love for you was this great Princess Cadence!” Chrysalis crowed, showing no signs of exhaustion or tiredness as she kept the two at bay. “Now, get out of my sight!” With a roar, she pushed ahead, completely engulfing Celestia’s and Cadence’s attacks and striking them in their chests. “Cadence! Princess Celestia!” Twilight cried, running to her old sitter while her friends ran to the princess. “Face it, it’s over!” Chrysalis yelled, her body glowing with the mix of green and violet energies. “Now my Changelings, FEED!” Outside, the mass of insect-looking beings rammed into the violet shield in one collective strike, causing it to shatter like glass. Carrying her sitter over her back, while Applejack carried the princess, Twilight and the rest of her party ran out the chapel, and into the chaos that made up the streets of Canterlot. Narrowly dodging a few changeling dive bombers, they made it to a nearby bunker, one made by and reserved for the Canterlot higher class (supposedly). Laying Cadence down onto a nearby bed, Twilight looked outside, her fist clenching at the sight of normal civilians getting attacked by the living wave of Changelings, while the Celestial Guard and Lunar Army tried to fight them off. Grabbing her blade, she ran for the door. “Wait!” came Celestia’s reply, causing her to stop and look at her weakened mentor. “Twilight, please, stay and listen.” Her face not allowing any emotion, Twilight turned around, ignoring the looks her friends were giving her. Her mentor was holding onto her bandaged chest, breathing heavily as she did so. “You need to get the Weapons of Harmony. At this point, they are the only things that can stop the Changeling Queen.” “Tell me something I don’t know,” Twilight spat, her tone making Celestia and the others flinch. Turning around, her free hand going for the door, she continued, “I’ll handle this on my own.” “Oh now you’re not!” Applejack said, grabbing Twilight’s shoulder. “Look, what we did before was unforgivable, we get that, and we’re sorry for not believing you. As your friends, we sure as hell aren’t going to let you face all that madness alone!” “Yeah!” Rainbow said, spinning her two short swords on her fingers. “We’re a team, remember? You taught us that!” “I still can’t believe that that big old meanie queenie managed to dupe all of us!” Pinkie added, pouting as she crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m,” Fluttershy started, twiddling her thumbs as she looked down. “sorry for leaving you earlier Twilight. Can you forgive me?” “I must ask the same thing as Fluttershy,” Rarity added, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “Please, will you forgive us?” “You girls,” Twilight started, looking at all of them one by one, her eyes even and unmoving. She could see the sincerity in all of their faces, as well as feel their heartfelt desires for forgiveness. When her eyes fell upon Celestia, she saw tears in her old mentor’s eyes, silently asking for the same thing. “Hmph,” she started, her head down, her face completely hidden by the shadows casted by her hair. Turning back to the door, she could feel her friends face’s fall. “Well?” she asked, turning to them, a wry smile on her face. “Are you coming or what?” As she reached for the door, she felt a warmth bubbling up in her chest. The Bonds with the Element of Honesty, the Element of Loyalty, the Element of Laughter, the Element of Kindness, the Element of Generosity, and the Element of Magic have been restored. “But first,” Twilight started, just before they were about to leave. “Lose the dresses. They’re just going to slow you down.” As they walked outside, her party quickly tossed off their dresses, revealing their battle-ready attire underneath. Applejack was wearing a rusty-read over shirt that reached to her knees, opening up in the front at her waist, showing off her legs clad in a dark brown cloth material with ceramic plates at strategic points, and a pair of heavy duty boots over her feet. The sides of her long overcoat like shirt had steel armor plates around her waist, and two copper plates with apple symbols rested on her shoulder. Tying her hair back, she put her trademark Stetson on, spinning a single hand-cannon in one hand and a cutlass in the other. Rainbow Dash was wearing a short blue armored skirt, as well as a pair of knee high armored leggings and a set of light moccasins that had wings on their sides. . Her top was covered with a light blue cotton shirt with dark blue-dyed leather armor that made some room for her wings, with the symbol of a prismatic lightning bolt adorning her chest pocket. Smirking, she spun her two curved short swords in her hands, before tossing them up and snapping them together to form a bow. Pinkie’s outfit consisted of a simple dark pink one piece underneath a pair of light blue denim pants and an open bright yellow blouse with puffy shoulder pads, while a pair simple pair of boots covered her feet. She reached into her shoulders and pulled out a pink, blue and yellow mandolin, smiling cheerfully as she played a few notes. Fluttershy was wearing a simple yellow and green dress that had pink and light blue butterflies all over her waist tthat went passed her knees, with her feet being covered by a simple pair of sandals. Extending her hand, an oak staff appeared in her hand, its gem studded core glowing with a soft prismatic light. Pulling on the hood of her shawl, she sighed in content as a the shadow of a large purple dragon flew around her. Finally, Rarity’s outfit hadn’t really changed too much. While she was still in a white dress, , the dress itself was shortened to be around her knees, and her sleeves were gone, replaced with a pair of elbow length gem encrusted gloves and a long white scarf that floated in an ethereal wind. Tightening her own sandals, she pulled herself up on an diamond spear, a confident look on her face. “Lets move!” Dash said, running ahead, her weapon back as two short swords once again. Jumping up, she spun over a Changeling sentry, landing on the unfortunate thing’s back as her swords made short work of it. “Dash!” Twilight said, running to catch up. “Don’t run too far ahead!” “Ah, c’mon Twilight!” Dash grumbled, turning to the group. “These things are stupidly weak! What’s the harm in scouting ahead?” Just as she finished, Applejack opened fire at Dash, narrowly missing the glass cannon by a few centimeters. “That’s what can happen,” Applejack said, lowering her pistol. Turning around, Dash found the body of changeling, its claws and teeth bared, but dead due to the bullet Applejack had shot through its chest. “Thanks for that!” Dash said, scratching the back of her head sheepishly. At the last second, she pivoted on her right foot, falling on her knee and releasing a white arrow through a changeling that was about to attack her again. “Lets just keep moving! Just beat back the ones who attack us!” Twilight yelled, slicing through a Changeling grunt that tried to attack them. As they made their way through the veritable zerg rush of Changelings, the Mane 6 made their way back to the chapel, kicking the door down as they all ran in. Running up to the altar, they found Chrysalis in between a legion of cocoons, all of them holding members of the Canterlot aristocracy in some sort of green goo. “It took you long enough,” Chrysalis said, laughing as she snapped her fingers, summoning 6 distinctive looking Changelings. In a flash of green fire, Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie found themselves staring at their darker counterparts. “Now, come at me, if you dare!” Twilight said nothing at first, but at the sight of her home city burning, its citizens crying in pain, and her brother as the queen’s thrall, she charged forward, a battle cry coming from her throat, soon followed by her friends. Their changeling counterparts soon followed, charging at them with their weapons drawn. This was it! Their final battle! So, what do you think? -1- Tell me whether or not you liked this installment -2- Tell me what you SPECIFICALLY liked about this installment -3- Tell me what you DIDN'T like about this installment -4- Please be polite! Until next time, Darkened Paradise