Necessary Love

by Zurock

Chapter 1: Divide

The blades of viridian grass waved in synchronized motion, just barely, as the slowest of breezes moved through the park. The fading strength of the sun with the turning over of the seasons could be felt as it sat full and bright in the dusty sky yet able to cast no more than simple, brisk heat. Though the friendly animals that scampered from hole to shrub to tree were obviously quite busy preparing themselves for more brumal weather, the same frantic labor wasn't present in any pony who passed through. A trot down a path here, a sitting in the grass there, even one young couple out in a boat peacefully adrift on the lake; there was no sign of concern for tomorrow from the citizens of Ponyville who were only there to relax and enjoy themselves today.

Twilight Sparkle, personal protégé to Princess Celestia, ambled down one of the paths in a jaunty trot, her only baggage an easy smile. Her day had taken her from one end of Ponyville to other, driving her from place to place as her daily business had demanded. She was still running through her schedule when she had made that small detour through the park for leisurely pleasure; she wouldn't have fallen behind even if she took ten minutes to indulge in the atmosphere.

Or, perhaps, took time to attend to other things...

Her attention wasn't caught by the rabbit couple who were preparing a warren under a huckleberry bush, or the gang of fillies and colts who charged by her while teasing each other, but it was the sight of someone laying under the shade of a hearty sycamore tree that stopped her trot. With his head nearly against the trunk and resting on his own hands (and not hooves), his unique appearance made it a trivial task to pick out Ponyville's only human resident. Although occasionally other monikers for him had come up, the oddly simplistic name of James was how he had usually been addressed.

The destructive kerfuffle that had ripped open the dimensional door through which he had come was weeks in the past; so many so that they had comfortably piled up into months now. It had been quite a shock for Twilight when shortly after the unexpected chaos a sudden order from Princess Celestia had come that she, personal student as she was, had been tasked to watch over the man who had come through; the literal world traveler. Those first three weeks of having a stranger living in her library had been an experience that stuck to her mind; an ordeal that had been full of many fascinating ups and cruel, bothersome downs.

The time beyond that, though, had been different. All of her closest friends had jumped on board with the job of overseeing the man's transition into Equestria. Like hitched ponies driving a wagon, they had all been pulling together to do more than just welcome him to a new world; they had been rallying the best of their friendship to combat his melancholy; had been fighting the tragic pain induced by his permanent separation from his old life; had been resolving to be his true friends. As a consequence, Twilight herself had been seeing less of him than she had prior. Five days each week he would spend with a different one of her friends, assisting them in their responsibilities. Sometimes it had only been on the one day each week he would spend with her that she had seen much of him, particularly if he had chosen to spend his seventh day – his free day of rest – elsewhere. Though because this all involved her closest friends there had been plenty of occasions where their paths had crossed midweek. Like today.

Asleep under a tree wasn't where she had ever expected to find him. But there he was, and there weren't any questions about how relaxed he was. She spontaneously decided that as long as they both didn't seem to be under any immediate pressures then she might as well check on how his own day had been going.

In no hurry, she cut across the lush carpet of grass and passed into the shadow of the sycamore, standing right over him. The soft ground had absorbed her hoofbeats so gently that her approach hadn't even disturbed him, and she was tickled to see how peacefully he was spending the gentle afternoon.

Dressed as he most often was, in an outfit Rarity had designed for him days after his arrival, he really did seem to be sleeping quietly. The tickling touch of the infinite blades of grass which reached up the sides of his plain pants didn't stir him. The more intricate, emerald green vest piece wrapping his chest bounced in the slowest rhythm imaginable as his dreamy breaths came in and out. His palms were clasped behind his head and out of them squirted the tail of his recently cut brown hair (though it was still long enough to be tied back; he had said something about "manes" and "when in Rome"). There was no shifting of restlessness behind the lids of his closed eyes.

The unicorn indulged in perhaps a little too much childlike mischievousness when she at last called with spontaneous loudness, "James!"

"Hm? Oh, hey Twilight," he responded slowly. To some of her playful chagrin, it was now obvious that he hadn't been completely asleep. Even if his words were slightly dreary his eyes were fast to open, and he worked through his waking tingles quickly, giving a small yawn. His wits were gathered fully after only a few moments, and he casually asked, "What's up?"

Smiling and laughing to herself, Twilight looked down at the man as he stayed laying on his pillow of hands and she wondered aloud, "What are you doing?"

James shifted slightly to relocate his center of coziness and responded with carefree humor, "Taking a nap in the shade, obviously."

She snorted in delight, "Yes, but why?"

"This is the last pleasant day before they'll be really ramping up on the winter weather," he answered swiftly. He knew that she was more than aware of the town's weather schedule and he had to have raced through that fact so that he could reveal his ultimate response: "Got to enjoy the final gasps of autumn while they last."

The straight truth of his answer didn't address the real reason she had asked, though.

"But... it's Friday," she objected. "You're supposed to be with-"

She broke her words to glance about, however she saw no sign of whom she expected to be present.

"Just where is Rainbow Dash anyway?"

The man let slip a throaty chuckle as he turned onto his side and propped his head up with one hand. With the other hand he pointed straight up.

Cranking her head back Twilight immediately caught sight of her absent friend.

The lazy pegasus was sleeping facedown on a branch above. She snored lightly, one of her foreleg dangled, and there was just a little sliver of drool swaying from her mouth.

The unicorn's expression flattened. It would figure, wouldn't it?

With friendly sternness she called up, "Rainbow!"

"Huh, wha-!"

Rainbow Dash's limbs flailed as her sudden start caused her to nearly spill out of the tree. Her wings fluttered just in time to keep her balanced, and she corrected her position and secured her grip to the branch almost unconsciously. Shaking her head and sporadically blinking her eyes, she yawned as she took a look down.

"Twilight?"

"Rainbow Dash, what are you doing?" the rigid unicorn officially demanded.

Already looking comfortably sleepy again, the pegasus rolled onto her back and tied her forelegs behind her head, letting one of her hind limbs dangle this time. Melting into a refocused coziness, she had an echo of carefree humor when she answered, "Taking a nap in the shade, obviously."

"Why?" Twilight insisted, now genuinely annoyed.

"This is the last pleasant day before we'll be really ramping up on the winter weather," the still yawning pony returned in yet another echo. Her eyes closed. "Got to enjoy it or whatever, right?"

"But-! That's not-! It's Friday, Rainbow Dash!" the rankled unicorn reminded her friend. "This is supposed to be your day where James spends some time doing things with you!"

"We ARE spending time together," James pointed out cheekily as he squinted and gave a bemused laugh. With his free palm open in self-display he quipped, "We're engaging in an activity we both mutually enjoy."

Again Twilight's face fell flat, and she shook her head doubtfully, saying, "No part of 'engage' or 'active' applies to napping."

"Psh," scoffed Rainbow Dash, eyes still shut. She jested, "Get on our level."

"Rainbow Dash, I know for A FACT that today you're supposed to be clearing the sky for the upcoming winter swap."

The pegasus' eyes opened just so she could roll them. This nap-destroying distraction had officially slaughtered her sleepiness. Turning back onto her belly and shoving a hoof into her cheek, she whined, "There's plenty of time, Twilight! I can afford a little snooze. I'll get it done before it's too late."

"That's not the point!" the exasperated unicorn shot back. "On Fridays you're supposed to be fulfilling your responsibilities while James helps you out!"

"Wait, what?" the surprised man spoke up.

Twilight raised a confused eyebrow.

"We went over this. When I suggested that you spend one day each week with a different one of our friends, the idea was that you would share in their responsibilities!"

"Kind of, yeah, I get that," acknowledged James, "but I never thought we were talking complete employment here. Besides, in this particular case..." He turned over to show his back to her and pointed a thumb over his shoulder. "... Do you see any wings? What exactly is it that you expected me to do to help Rainbow Dash?"

The unicorn ran straight into a brick wall of embarrassment as she realized that for nearly two months she had missed something obvious in her calculations.

She stuttered, "I-, I just assumed-, I mean... I don't know! I thought-, thought that, uh, you'd, uh... I mean-, ah, maybe, uh, you could... direct from the ground or something? I don't know!"

Rainbow Dash burst out cackling, nearly falling out of the tree again.

"What? Come on, Twilight! That'd only make things SLOWER!"

"Yeah," James chuckled in agreement as he rolled back to face the slightly sheepish Twilight, adding, "she knows how to handle herself up there. And I couldn't help directly because even if you got me a jet pack or whatever I can't touch those clouds."

Taking her logical defeat in relative stride, the soft red was quickly drained from the unicorn's cheeks. She asked the man in a mostly genuine fashion, sprinkled with only a shy amount of sarcasm, "So, is this what you've been doing every Friday then?"

"Nah, we do other things," he answered sincerely. But then he slyly tacked on, "Wall ball has emerged as the competition of choice."

Hanging her head down from the branch with a snarky smile, Rainbow Dash teased the man brightly, "And SOMEPONY is a sore loser at it!"

"I don't know what school of poor sportsponyship you come from," James wagged his finger back up at the pegasus, "but where I grew up we had strict elevational rules. If the ball goes higher than the opponent can possibly reach, that's a foul shot!"

"Yeah, that sounds like the kind of rule that a loser would need!"

"If you need to cheat to win, I won't judge, but..."

"Oh, so are you looking for a round two today?" Rainbow Dash asked daringly. She got excited. "Is that what I'm hearing? You want to be schooled again?"

Twilight interrupted, "Okay, alright, enough! I didn't mean to start anything! I just-... I saw James napping and thought I'd ask-" She cut herself off with a light sigh. "I'm just a little surprised to hear that you've been goofing off on Fridays, is all."

Chuckling some more, James said, "Honestly? I'm legitimately surprised it took you this long to ask for specifics about what I get up to."

Again the unicorn seemed flustered and she babbled, "Well, I mean, you tell me sometimes on your own, and I really trust my friends and everything, and I try not to be too pushy on you; I mean I know Princess Celestia assigned me to you but I want to be your trustworthy friend and not-"

"Easy there, Twilight," the man calmed her down. He was slightly remorseful; he knew of her neurotic side but, given how playfully she had originally approached and started this whole conversation, he had never guessed his and Rainbow Dash's aloof and needling behavior would have set her off. He bargained with her, "It hasn't really been goofing off. Horsing around with Rainbow Dash keeps me active, and I have fun. The other days are a lot like working a job; they never run out of things to do at that farm. It's nice to have an entertaining day to engage other parts of myself. And really, what's so different about Dash and I playing games compared to you and I having a philosophical debate like we sometimes do on our days?"

"Well that's-... that's educational!" she countered.

"Heh, Twilight...," he laughed, "this is all part of the experience, right? Each of our friends gives me a little something of what THEY think is important for me to experience, and screwing around and sacking out is Rainbow Dash's particular choice." He stretched himself out again with a delighted, joking confidence that disregarded all the cares of the world, and he said, "And I can't really say that I disagree with her selection."

Despite the unblemished ease which poured out of him, some worried worms wriggled about inside Twilight and, getting closer to him, she asked him quietly, "Are you alright, James?"

His casual smile stopped and he took her concern as sincerely as she had given it. The sudden rising of her worry had caught him by surprise but, unlike in earlier days, he didn't respond with any hostility, either subtle or open, nor did he retreat and hide himself in any way. Looking her directly in the eyes, he brought his voice down and answered in supportive honesty, "Yeah. I'm fine."

She quite clearly had to put in effort to accept what he had said but she forced a general smile out of herself to cover it up. It came off genuinely enough.

Nodding, she said, "Okay... I, uh-... I guess I should leave you two to your napping then. We'll always be able to have one of our 'philosophical debates' about all this tomorrow, right?"

"Actually...," James sat up quickly and asked, "... what time is it?"

"Three fifty-two," Twilight was able to instantly answer, even without a watch or a clock in sight. She was very precise about her scheduling and how much time she had for diversions. "Why?" she inquired.

"Not a lot of time then," he muttered to himself.

From above, Rainbow Dash groaned indignantly, "I'm going to take care of the clouds later. Geez!"

"Referencing something else," the man quipped. "Think HARDER."

"What're you-" But she suddenly snapped up, her supporting branch jiggling and her rainbow mane leaping a little at the shock. With gaping eyes she remarked, "Oh right! Fluttershy!"

Wiping himself off and stretching his back, James ordinarily explained to an inquisitive-looking Twilight, "She asked for some help picking a bunch of stuff up from the market for her animals today. We need to meet her there at four."

"Oh," the unicorn giggled, "well then, good thing I came by! You shouldn't go back to sleep; you have just enough time to get over there!"

"Eight minutes?" Rainbow Dash mused out loud, full of vigorous doubt. After some shallow consideration she stretched her legs out, laid her head back down against the branch, shut her eyes, and tiredly mumbled, "Nah, plenty of extra time..."

Twilight added another disapproving stare onto her growing pile for Rainbow Dash. It hadn't been the first and it wasn't going to be the last.

Rising to his feet, James stretched his arms up into the air before he gave the unicorn a relieving, knowing look; she shouldn't worry about any dallying on the pegasus' part. He would get that postponing pony going one way or another.

"See you later, Twilight," he said with a happy nod.

She returned a equally pleasant farewell and then politely offered a similar departing call to her sleepy, limb-borne friend before she turned and went, leaving the situation in the man's capable hands.

Back on the path she had originally broken from, the unicorn eased into the same jovial trot of before, brushing along the park path one bouncy clop at a time.

That encounter had left her feeling moderately alright. She was happy, she thought. It was certainly a happiness that required some effort to maintain – not as desirable as pure, joyful happiness – but she was steady enough to carry her blissful attitude on faith. After all, trying to assume complete control over James and his experiences, like he was some pet project of hers and not his own thinking, feeling individual, had gotten her into trouble in the past. It had been hard to care for a friend who had been ailing in the way he had been.

She recalled that during those early days after his arrival there had been a certain wounded, withdrawn solitude to him. Only later had she realized how seriously he had been grappling with the understanding that his transition of universes had stolen absolutely everything of his old life out from under him. Most significantly, he had permanently lost direct touch with everything and everyone that formed that foundations of who he was; all that he loved, and all that loved him back. It still unnerved her deeply to remember how utterly devastated he had been at his lowest point; still rattled her when she recalled the profound, aching confusion that had crushed her the first time that she had truly understood what he had been dealing it. And she remembered well the almost helpless despair she had fought with to accept that she didn't have the experience to fully empathize with his pain.

In these past two months since he had opened up and had accepted her help (and she had humbled herself and had accepted her friends' help) there seemed to have been improvement in his hurt soul. Every week she and her incredible friends had spent time with him, and that true side of himself that shined in heartfelt company had come out stronger than ever. In their meeting just now he had been relaxed, had been joking, and had flashed plenty of comfortable smiles. She should have felt happy with how he had turned around... but she couldn't deny the worried part of herself that understood she didn't have the measuring stick necessary to judge the progress of his recovery.

Worse was how sometimes everything felt like she was locked in a battle with her own darkness. Originally the man had hid the hurt parts of himself and hadn't shared them with anypony, let alone her, the Princess's chosen guardian for him. So of course when she had seen him happy just now her mind had secretly screamed that maybe he again hadn't been acknowledging some unknown, worse troubles. But if she were to have believed that voice then it would have been a violation of trust; it would have attacked their friendship. HOWEVER, if he HAD been hiding some pain again, not out of any malice or distrust but out of honest fear, then didn't she have the need to know so that she could act?

Agh!

It was such an easy idea to trust a friend; to care for them; to love them. And in the best of times it was easy in practice too! In these harder times she felt like she needed a lot more practice in trusting his faith, and in letting her faith be trusted, as frightening as it could be sometimes.

Even with concerns bubbling she walked steady, her doubt undetectable by other nearby ponies. Despair wouldn't drown her again because it was her true belief that ultimately the love that bound friendships together would overcome anything. But it was still a simple truth that even when she was backed by her faith and love she had a hard time not worrying about the man.

She had been treading so deeply through her own thoughts that she hadn't noticed she had passed out of the park and into the moderately busy streets of Ponyville. She scarcely even noticed any of the rambling residents rolling by her as she unconsciously ambled amongst them.

Through sheer luck she stopped short of crashing into a gray pegasus who was clumsily making their way through the mildly cluttered streets also. The embarrassed unicorn quickly tried to summon up an apology, but the first thing her waking eyes saw upon snapping back to the world was the leather satchel slung over the other pony's shoulder. Sewn right on the center of the covering flap was the official seal of the local mailpony union.

"Oh, fantastic!" Twilight shouted. "I mean, pardon me for nearly bumping into you but I'm glad I did!" She gave the mailmare a courteous bow and then asked, "Do you have any mail for the Golden Oak Library? I'm the librarian there and I would be happy to take any mail off your hooves right now if you've got it, instead of waiting for you to hit it on your route."

The mailmare peered back at her with an idly confused stare, as if she just couldn't land her eyes directly upon the unicorn despite her best efforts. But then after a blank moment she suddenly lit up with an overly bright smile and nodded her head rapidly; almost carelessly even. She was clearly quite pleased to be of assistance.

Flipping open her mail satchel, she dug her whole face into the bag and rooted around for a few seconds before surfacing. As requested she produced a small stack of letters destined for the library. The pile was clenched between her teeth and they flopped about as she again broke into relentless, positive nodding.

"Yes, thank you!" Twilight confirmed as she seized the mail with her magic. She had to tug just a little bit to coerce the mailmare into letting them go, and she waved them through the air lightly to fling off the drops of saliva that clung desperately to them.

With closed eyes and beaming pride, the smiling pegasus gave what was kind of an odd, off-center bow and then went back on her way; only for a few steps though. Half a dozen times she looked back or turned about, unable to decide which way she had been coming from or going to.

Twilight had no such trouble and continued on her way immediately, eagerly looking over the wad of mail she had just acquired. One by one she studied the letter on the front of the stack, made a mental note of the sender, and then flipped it to the back of the pile.

She hummed in brief amusement when she saw that James had received a letter from Canterlot again; a message bearing the royal seal and marked with an address written in the telltale script of Princess Celestia. He had traded a few letters with the Princess now and again. She didn't know the contents of their correspondence. Friendship reports of his own, maybe? It was another area in which she had deliberately chosen to rise above the wispy, worried voices in her head and had not ask him any questions; a space where she wished to avoid being an overbearing hostess who was more concerned with what he was saying about her to her mentor than with letting him get whatever he personally got out his communications. Still, she just didn't get why he always used the traditional postal system for his royal correspondence instead of taking advantage of Spike's abilities. His insistence on snail mail tickled her.

Cycling his letter to the back, the unicorn ground to a sudden halt when she saw the next envelope. Somewhat thicker and broader than the others, it was made from a less-than-common kind of paper that was sturdier; almost crisp and flaky. The front was stamped excessively compared to all the other letters; many markings indicating that it had passed through several service stations on its way to Ponyville. It was addressed to her specifically, and a wide, anticipating grin came to her face as she read who the sender was.

Without hesitation, she separated the letter from the pile and tore open the back. She pulled out the thick, folded paper that was stuffed inside (again made from a foreign, less common material) and set about reading it in a frenzy. Her eyes darted back and forth as she eagerly blazed through line after delicious line, and when she was finally finished her whole body was shivering with excitement. She pounded her hooves in place happily, practically dancing in the street.

Now too thrilled to stay calm, but still aware enough to feel discouraged from making a scene of herself in public, she quickly and carelessly crammed the letter back into its envelope. Unable to wait; wanting no more than to speed up time and race into the future; she took off in a buoyant gallop, the string of magically-floating letters trailing along behind her like a bobbing balloon that bounced about to some elated rhythm which played only inside her head.

---

She was quite beautiful, by pony standards. The incredible softness of her baby blue fur could be felt with the eyes alone. Her immaculate mane, colored even brighter than her body, hung down on one side and was organized in straight clusters like the crystal clear lanes of a competitive swimming pool. Only the very tips curled; a row of tropical ocean waves that ran just under her neck. Her hair and tail glimmered as if they were covered in tiny sparkles, like a cold lake under a low rising sun on a pale and misty morning. There was the same kind of gilded shine on her horn, achieved simply by her magnificent radiance and not by any spell. Her cutie mark seemed to be made of much the same; it was either a field of glimmering stars or just a glorious, shining reflection of beauty. And that was to say nothing of her eyes, which twinkled with an infinite depth like looking out into the milky cosmos on a perfect night.

It wasn't a surprise how this classy, lovely unicorn mare drew stares as she went from here to there. Only today those stares didn't seem as stunned by amorous shock as they usually were. Or as filled with fawning. Or as imprinted with indulgence. And that was because for once it wasn't her beauty that was attracting the eyes of everypony on the street; it was her outraged voice.

"No! It's over!" she hissed as she stamped along, heedless of any onlookers and gorged with insult. "Just go away!"

Her nose was pointed up and she swished her head to the side as she marched away from the stallion following her.

"Star Glitter, please, PLEASE, let's just talk it out!" the pursuing pony pleaded with all his heart. He practically crawled along the ground after her.

As a pony, he could have been her reflection, if the mirror used was possessed by a dark magic that inverted all it saw. He was dog-faced, had a short and black mane that was as unruly as it was unkempt, and there was something subtly asymmetrical about his tan body. His begging continued to spill out in a heavy voice that played softly with some of his sounds; an accent from somewhere farther south and a dialect that had all the inflections of growing up a working colt. There was a certain demeanor of his that was very low class, and the plunger stamped on his flank let everypony know just how dingy his blue-collar was.

"No, P.V.! No more talking!" the gorgeous mare shouted back. If there was any part of Star Glitter that had been hurt over their spat, she wasn't showing it. She bit at him with nothing but fury. "I think I've been very understanding of your work, and your responsibilities, and all that you're trying to do. But it's gotten to be too much! And now, forgetting our one year anniversary? I'm not dealing with it anymore!"

"I know, I'm so terrible for you!" the sorrowful stallion candidly declared, though he immediately contended, "But I didn't forget!"

A disappointment befell him; somewhere inside he understood that what he was about to say probably wouldn't help him but his absolute desperation to hold onto her prevented him from restraining himself.

"I know they were just cheap flowers, but they were all I could-"

The mare swished her defiant head again, proclaiming harshly, "You're always giving me just words, P.V.! I said no more!"

The already small stallion shrunk even more, nodding in complete, deferring surrender to her, though he still continued to follow her.

As they passed into the center of town, he frantically entreated, "Glitzy, PLEASE..."

"Don't call me that anymore," Star Glitter responded, much more quietly than her previous shouts. For the first time, she had revealed just a slight woundedness in her voice.

"I'm sorry!" P.V. said. He was falling to pieces right there in the town square, even as he walked along after her. "I'm trying! I really am! Please!"

Star Glitter at last stopped but it was only to stab him with a final, determined, unambiguous, "No. It's over. Goodbye."

Again, for just a moment her own heartbreak shown through, but she quickly brought her nose back up and stomped off, elegant and in control.

The shattered stallion didn't follow her this time. He only watched her go with his tear-filled eyes. The jewel of his life disappeared around a corner and left him as the sole recipient of all the many gawking stares.

In his heartbreak he didn't notice or care about any of the other ponies there. He stood motionless for awhile longer, with no strength to even wipe his face clean of the heavy traffic of tears running down his cheeks. Eventually he turned to the side and pointlessly ambled about, wandering without meaning or purpose, nearly missing several of his steps. Swiftly he landed in front of the large fountain that decorated the square, and the cheerful looking stone pony mounted on it was only a shallow reminder of the endless, joyful beauty of a pony that had once allowed him to call her his. He cast his eyes down towards the water, letting some of his tears dribble out and mix with the gently stirring liquid, disrupting his miserable reflection.

Then, in one sudden motion, he flung his whole head under the water.

Most of the staring ponies moved on in silent discomfort from the disturbing sight of the miserable pony soaking his own head like that. By the way his barrel pulsed erratically it was obvious that he was weeping. Each bubble that came up to the surface popped with the echo of a single tear.

Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and James, each of them carrying bags and sacks of assorted foods for a plethora of different animals, were some of the last ones left staring at the disheartening scene. Though the man and the rainbow pegasus gave each other unnerved glances, eager to move on and forget the public spectacle, a phenomenally quiet and sympathetic gasp rose up out of Fluttershy as her own eyes watered.

"Oh my..."

Comments

[DreamKitsune]

I really wasn't expecting you to write the next part so soon but I'm glad. Do you see this story running for as long as Melancholy Days?

[Zurock]

4786703
The final chapter of Melancholy Days was posted on the 15th of July, and the very next day I started doing some grammatical cleanup on it and combing through old notes to see what I could use for a new story. By the time yesterday rolled around I had enough of a start to be able to bang out most of chapter 1 of this new story, and as it was a short and straightforward chapter, it didn't take much time.

I honestly can't even guess about length. It surprised me how long What Separates lasted and then I thought, at the beginning anyway, Melancholy Days would be about as long as that story, but it turned out nearly twice as long. As for this story... like at the start of the previous two, I have a fairly good idea of the broad strokes of the tale, and a stronger idea of the key notes and events I want to hit in the story... but... I don't quite know how one pieces moves to the next; how things go from here to there. That's for me to figure out as I write it.

I wouldn't expect it to be any shorter than What Separates, for what my guesses are worth.

[Pon3]

Off to a good start and I am here to see it progress this time!

[Kenny]

Man, Melancholy Days just stole away my whole night!

T'was worth it. Let's see what kind of psycho-babble you can throw at me in this one, hmm?

(I have no doubt it's not psycho-babble you use, but I can never make heads or tails of the jargon/concept this late/early, so it comes across as such.)

8/10 (for M.D.) "There's something wrong with the G-Diffuser!"
-Kenny McCloud