Chapter 23
Sombra and Scootaloo emerged from the snow-covered forest together with the small filly riding contentedly on her father’s back, the sight of which warmed the heart of a certain pegasus mother as she watched her two loved ones approach their home. Scootaloo was snoozing away when Sombra entered the foyer of the east wing, shaking some of the snow free, but gently so as not to wake the sleeping filly. Fluttershy just let her heart swell as Sombra carefully trotted over to the short chaise lounge near his study desk and ever-so-softly lifted, and then lowered, the sleeping Scootaloo onto the cushions. With a small tug of magic Sombra pulled one of the quilted blankets that was draped over the seat and folded it over his new daughter.
“We shall have to set up a proper room for her, you know,” Sombra rumbled, as he returned to Fluttershy’s side. “She can’t sleep in my study every night. It’s hardly befitting.”
Fluttershy felt her grin reach to her ears as she leaned up to nuzzle her King. “I know, I’ve already made some preparations with the building team, the room is ready it just needs some furniture. One of the carpenters is already working on a bed frame and dresser. I can get a mattress easily enough.”
“Hm, well enough, then,” Sombra grumbled as he returned to his desk. A small flash of magic brought his work from the throne room into his study in front of him. “How did the trip go? Any trouble at all?”
“No, none…” Fluttershy answered softly as she moved with Sombra to his desk. “I may have used my… ability on the Ponies that collected Scootaloo though. I don’t like the idea of those stallions collecting colts and fillies.”
“I find myself categorically unsurprised,” Sombra replied sardonically.
Fluttershy ruffled her wings, turning away with a frown. Sombra bit his tongue and grimaced, turning from his work to pull Fluttershy to his side. She let out a breath and leaned into him, pressing her face into his broad, powerful chest. “I’m scared, my King. I keep… doing things. Terrible things. It feels like I can’t even help myself. Like I want to do them. I feel like I’m losing myself.”
“Such is the danger of dark magic,” Sombra said quietly, lowering his snout to nuzzle her cheek. “It may be this way for the rest of your natural life. To my knowledge there is no means of fully purging dark magic from anyone. Even if there were, I suspect your attunement to your element would complicate matters too much to risk it.”
“I don’t want that though,” Fluttershy whispered softly, clenching her eyes shut and her wings hard to her sides. “I don’t want to have those f-feelings for the rest of my life. I want to be n-normal, I want to be how I used to be! I don’t want to feel like hurting other ponies or… or any of the awful, awful things I k-keep thinking about.”
“I know…” Sombra held Fluttershy close, it was all he could think to do. “In the end, though, the cruel truth of life is that we are not given a choice in how our hearts are molded. We live as we must insofar as it permits us to survive. What truly matters, I believe, is whether we choose to mindlessly act on what we have been made into, or if we chose to make something more of ourselves. When I deafened myself to my own heart, I made the choice to simply be what I was made into: a tyrant.” Pulling away slightly, Sombra looked down into the eyes of his future queen. “You can be so much more.”
Fluttershy stepped back as she let out a low, steadying breath before looking up at Sombra and smiling. “You know, for an evil king you’re very good at cheering me up.”
“Only you, my dear,” Sombra responded with a doting smile. “Only you.”
“Mm, and Scootaloo now,” Fluttershy corrected gently as she nuzzled under Sombra’s chin. “She’s our daughter, so cheering her up comes with the territory.”
“Technically, she’s only yours, at least on paper, my dear. After all, we're… hmm,” Sombra trailed off, drawing a curious look from Fluttershy.
“My King?”
Sombra didn’t answer, there was a flurry was questions and answers firing in his mind as he looked down at Scootaloo. A daughter. His daughter. He had never had children nor had he ever considered it. He had been immortal, after all, so an heir would have been superfluous at best. At worst, a liability. Now, though, his future was uncertain. His mortality was deeply in question. As far as his research led him to believe; so long as he maintained a steady flow of magic his body would sustain itself indefinitely. That was a rather large caveat to his existence though. If he was deprived of magic or struck down and forced to expend too much to quickly then… Perhaps an heir was in order. Moreover, there was another, significantly more important factor to consider.
“Your Majesty? Are you okay?” Fluttershy lifted a hoof to Sombra’s cheek.
Sombra closed his eyes and let her touch fill his senses. It was soft, gentle, and reassuring. Her scent filled his nostrils and brought a calm to his heart that was only present when she was by his side. All this time they had been together, in refuge from the Crown of Equestria, hiding away so that they could be together. Perhaps… it was time to confront that last part of his withered heart.
“Sombra?” Fluttershy stepped a few inches closer, her eyes filling with concern. She rarely called him by his name unless she was worried. Or upset.
“Begging your pardon, my dear,” Sombra responded in a quiet voice. “I need some time to… reflect on a few things, I’ll be downstairs in the relic cache if you need me.”
“O-oh, okay,” Fluttershy felt a pang of worry run through her heart. Worry and a touch of sadness. She had hoped that… oh well, these things take time, she knew. “I’ll be here for you, your Majesty.” It was a gentle, but insistent promise.
Sombra nodded before turning and setting off towards the audience chamber. His hooves carried him swiftly through the cold halls of the east wing. He made a mental note to install some sconces capable of holding some basic heating and lighting enchantments.
The secret staircase that lead deep beneath the swiftly rising manse was hidden near the back of the throne room and sealed away with a variety of spells powered by the manse itself. Nopony but Sombra or those he deemed worthy would be even be capable of finding the valuable horde. The masking spells had kept the stash secret for a thousand years, King Sombra reckoned that now that the spells were finished recharging they would serve to protect it for another millennia.
Moving around behind the throne Sombra tapped at the stone, sending a surge of magic through the arcane matrices carved into the heavy, quarried gray rock of the floor. Within moments the stones had rearranged themselves into a staircase leading down to the metal seal which in turn melted into the spiral staircase leading into the cache. Stepping carefully down the narrow walkway, Sombra let the entrance seal itself away above him. Passing by the wealth of a small nation without sparing it a glance, Sombra felt around with his magic, seeking out what he knew was down here amongst the relics he had recovered from the Everfree Cache. It would have a very distinctive- ah-ha!
With great care, Sombra retrieved a crate from one of the shadowed corners and drew out from its depths a small wooden box carved with intricate fractal designs. Touch his horn to the lid, he felt a crackle of power displace itself as the wards released at the familiar twinge of their maker’s magic. With a slight hiss, the lid opened and revealed… gems. Small, smooth, spherical gems that glowed with an inner light.
There were ten places for ten identically shaped gems. Only four of the spaces were filled, something that would have frustrated Sombra back when he was at his height of power but now it sent a pang of regret through his heart. He had not really had friends in the bad old days, but he had had comrades, of a sort. Still, the one he was looking for was still here, a deep and beautiful green, the same color as the coat of the mare who had owned it.
“My loyal servants,” Sombra said softly. The light in the gems flickered at his voice, almost as if it were responding. He was not looking forward to this, but a King faced the rightful consequences of his actions no matter what. Had he not told Fluttershy exactly that?
Taking a deep, steadying breath, Sombra wrapped the gleaming green gem in a cushion of magic and lifted it from its velvet setting, snapping the lid of the box shut as he did so and returning it to its rest in the crate. Moving into the burnt out ritual room which he and Fluttershy had first appeared in after their flight from the Everfree, Sombra channeled a small amount of power into the gemstone.
“Servant eternal, your King commands you thusly… awaken, for even death dost not lift the yoke of duty.” Sombra intoned the powerful, driving summons, and immediately felt the response.
The gem practically leapt from his magical grasp and stopped to float in midair less than a meter from him. A mist the color of ocean spray drifted down from the gem, first in a trickle, them a stream, then a thick torrent. The mist took the shape of a Crystal Earth pony, first it was a crude approximation but as the moments passed the mist began to resolve into a coherent form around the gem. A beautiful young mare in her prime, eyes closed and looking for all intents and purposes fully alive, stood in front of Sombra. Her coat glimmered like emerald gemstone, casting fractal patterns of light around the room while her tail and mane was the riotous blue of the ocean. Only the touch of mist occasionally drifting from her body and the faint hint of translucence at the edges of her form hinted at her ethereal quality. Finally, after five, excruciatingly long minutes (by Sombra’s perspective) the spell completed itself and the mare’s eyes snapped open. Her left eye gleamed with the green gravelight of the gem, the other was a livid and familiar blue that fixed Sombra with a glare.
Sombra felt a clench in his chest like a vice grip. It was an alien sensation that he had not felt in so, so many years; apprehension. He was afraid and… ashamed. It must have showed on his face because the green mare quirked an eyebrow up in confusion. She recovered quickly, though, schooling her features into a hard, implacable gaze and lifting her left foreleg to strike it across her chest in salute.
“War Marshal Beryl Esmaralda reporting for command, your Majesty.”
~ o ~
Fluttershy gently lowered Scootaloo’s tiny, slumbering form onto the large bed in Sombra’s room. Technically it was just Sombra’s room and Fluttershy had her own just across the hall, but truthfully she knew that she could count the number of nights which she had actually spent in her own room without even using all of her hooves. Almost every day ended with her cuddled up with her King, nuzzled into his warm, barrel chest. The thought still made Fluttershy blush despite their sleeping arrangements having been a regular thing practically since their rooms were finished.
In fact, Fluttershy mused as she pulled the duvet over Scootaloo, she could probably just repurpose her own room into Scootaloo’s and then just make Scootaloo’s ‘under construction’ room a guest room. Or maybe for a second foal if she and the King ever… Fluttershy’s face flushed crimson as the thought quickly latched onto her brain and ejected whatever else she was thinking. She couldn’t help but wonder what their foal would look like. Would they be more like her, or like her King? Fluttershy couldn’t help but giggle joyfully at the thought as she quietly stepped out of the room to let her new daughter sleep. Sombra was rough but he had excellent paternal instincts, he would be a good father to Scootaloo and any other foals they had.
The thought plastered a semi-permanent grin on Fluttershy’s face as she reflexively donned her ‘Cloudy Skies’ form before stepping out of the door to the study and into the biting cold of the Stalliongradi winter. On instinct, Fluttershy spread out her senses, lifting her wings just slightly to catch more air along the surface area of her feathers. She could almost taste the bitter cold around her, but it carried other things on it as well: the piney stirring of the evergreen trees, the faint musty grit of factory ash from the nearby city, the coppery tang of blood.
Blood?
It was the only hint Fluttershy had that something was very wrong before the attack came. She felt the thin tine of metal splitting the air towards her side and, more out of reflex than anything, she dropped to the ground letting the long, wicked needle fly over her to stick fast into the stone wall a meter from where she fell prone. Casting her wings out, Flutershy rocketed from where she was crouching up a dozen meters, high above the half-built estate, just as several more needles buried themselves in the snow where she had been an instant ago. Now that she had a birds eye view Fluttershy spotted several lumpen shapes in the snow and places where the white blanket covering the land was stained red. The builders, only a few though, the others must have made it safely to cover somewhere, or fled the grounds. Fluttershy grit her teeth and felt a fire ignite in her chest that was becoming more and more familiar. Rage and fury nearly blinded her to the next attack, but her wind-sense picked up the disturbance just in time to trigger her reflexive response; Fluttershy jerked to the side as she felt the air split again and hissed in pain as the needle cut a burning line along her barrel.
The hovering gray Pegasus narrowed her eyes, purposefully flapping hard to stir the winds. Scanning the ground and the border of the forest she waited. More and more Fluttershy found herself thanking providence that Sombra had insisted she study advanced Pegasus magic in depth to better counterbalance her condition, as well as join him for at least a few of his morning training regimens. 'A healthy body and a healthy mind go hoof-in-hoof', according to him and Fluttershy found herself in agreement. She was leaner, faster, and more agile, mentally and physically, than she had ever been.
Whoever had trespassed her home was expecting a soft, demure target. They would live to regret that assumption. The attackers wouldn’t stay still forever, they would eventually grow confident enough to attack again and then- There! A flicker of gray-black motion on the edge of the treeline was all that gave the attacker, or attackers, away but it was enough. Fluttershy dove down, hearing the whistle of needles rip through the air she had just vacated.
Fluttershy hit the ground like a pony-shaped missile, sending out an explosion of snow from where she impacted. A griffon, her feathers a mottled light gray and black that camouflaged well in the snowy landscape, leapt away with a panicked squawk of alarm. The griffon hen flicked her wing strangely as she retreated, and Fluttershy felt the now-familiar sensation of a needle splitting the air towards her. Pivoting on her front hooves Fluttershy spun about, avoiding the attack and bringing her face to face with her attacker, letting the needle bury itself in the snow.
Snow descended in calm flurries from the sky to settle into the tree branches and drift slowly down to the wings of the combatants as they squared off against each other. There was no sound but the rustle of wind. Even the small beasts of the surrounding forest, long accustomed to the constant sound of construction, had fled at the scent of blood. The Griffon assassin fixed her hawkish eyes on the mare that the criminal element of Stalliongrad knew as Cloudy Skies. The timid, unassuming gray mare that had cajoled and bribed her way around Stalliongrad for the past few months was supposed to have been an easy target; a gilded little bird removed from society and throwing around too many bits for the famiglias to be comfortable with that was supposed to die without a fuss. She had trodden on too many fetlocks and gotten far too many supposedly tight lipped functionaries to talk and none of them could rightly say why.
“Why?” the mare hissed, her eyes narrowed and angry. “Why did you attack my home?”
Nyada wasn’t the type answer questions. Ever. Certainly not about clients, and she met the mare’s eyes to tell her how she could go sit on some pinheads horn and spin. She tried, anyway. Ice sluiced through Nyada’s gut and her heart hitched in her chest the moment she met the gaze of Cloudy Skies. Nyada's skull filled with the sounds of screaming and for a moment all she could see were two sapphire blue eyes burning with baleful green fire.
“Answer. Me.”
Fear, no, terror, like this was alien to the assassin, and as Nyada's throat unglued itself it took a monumental effort of will not to simply spill every single answer the mare asked her for. Her brain was screaming at her to do anything, anything to make this mare go away. To make her stop staring.
With a shriek of defiance, Nyada made a maddened lunge at her target. Startled at the sudden failure of her Stare, Fluttershy backpedaled while sending a hurricane force surge of wind at the Griffon hen. With her wings splayed out in intimidation, Nyada had no chance; the powerful gust caught her perfectly, picking the assassin up and bodily slamming her into the massive evergreen behind her before dropping her limply to the ground. Fluttershy winced at the cracking sound of the twin impacts.
“M-miss?” Fluttershy said timidly as the snow knocked from the branches settled. “Miss? A-are you…” the words died in her mouth as she saw the bloody smear on the tree.
With an alarmed squeak, Fluttershy sprinted over to the prone Griffon, her wings hung at unnatural angles, and she heaved with every laborious breath. Blood leaked freely from Nyada’s beak as she feebly tried to get away from the gray mare approaching her. It was no use though, her back was broken, her wings shattered, and her abused lungs could barely suck in air. Doing her utmost not to meet the Griffon’s eyes, Fluttershy knelt and gently brushed away the snow from her erstwhile attackers body before pulling her close, trying to share some warmth.
“I-I’m sorry,” Fluttershy sobbed, “I didn’t mean to hurt you like that, I swear, you just… usually my Stare works but…”
The Griffon hacked blood onto the snow, patters of it staining Fluttershy disguised coat. After a moment of ragged breathing, she spoke, too weak to resist the mare's siren call any longer. “The… the nightmares…” Fluttershy leaned, perking her ears to catch the whispered voice. “They said… nightmares… came from… here. Hired me to… kill the owner… stop the… nightmares."
Fluttershy scowled. “Sombra… what have you done?”
Even more gently than she carried her own foal, Fluttershy lifted the Griffon on a cushion of air then onto her back. Ignoring the blood, Fluttershy did her best to swiftly but carefully move the assassin out of the forest and towards the manor. She had only barely made it past the thickest part of the forest and out onto the manse grounds when she was met by Steelhorn and a small number of his crew; the towering minotaur brandished a brutal, two-headed axe.
“Ma’am,” Steelhorn drawled, in a calm, deadly voice. “Ah’m gonna hafta ask ya ta hand that chickenhawk over to mah crew if ya please.”
Squaring her hooves, Fluttershy lifted her head to scowl at her workers. Steelhorn was flanked by heavy draught Earth Ponies on either side of him, and a Caribou just behind them.
“Not a chance,” she responded icily.
Steelhorn sighed, leveling the smile of his axe at Fluttershy and her wounded passenger. “Miss Skies, ah’d rather not do this, but that there chickenhawk hurt a number of mah crew fairly bad.”
“Deaths?” Fluttershy braced herself for the answer, but Steelhorn shook his head, and she let out a sigh of relief. “Then I’ll pay all of their medical bills personally, but I will not let you hurt a helpless Griffon. End of discussion.”
The workers moved to surround Fluttershy and the Caribou’s horns lit up, preparing for a spell. Steelhorn didn’t budge. “Ah’m afraid that ain’t your call, Miss Skies. So you’re gonna give us that chickenhawk one way… or the other. An’ ah happen ta like workin’ for ya Miss Skies, so ah’d deeply appreciate it if it’weren’t the other way.”
“You’ll have to kill me to get her,” Fluttershy answered gravely. The steel in her voice set the four workers back a step. There was no hint of fear or hesitation in her voice. Just an cold and utterly certain conviction. “But you will fail.”
The silence stretched for what felt like hours but, eventually, Steelhorn stepped aside. “Fine, ah suppose ah ain’t got your conviction, Miss Skies. But believe you me, me an’ mine’ll want a proper explanation as to why we’re lettin’ some lowlife hired killer walk past us and why you’re willin’ to die for her, ya’hear?”
“You will,” Fluttershy answered. “But you won’t get her life either way, not unless she attacks you. I will never permit I’ve promised to help to be given death without mercy like that. Not ever again. Is that perfectly clear?”
Steelhorn glanced to either side of him; his workers didn’t look happy but they didn’t look like they were in the mood to argue the matter either. “Ayep, crystal clear, ma’am.”
With that settled, Fluttershy trotted carefully back into the east wing of the house and down to her mostly unused room. The moment she was out of sight Steelhorn and his three workers let out a breath of relief. Steelhorns axe nearly fell from his hand, burying one of its heads in deep into the stone. Both of the draught ponies looked like they’d just had ten years shaved off of their lives, and the Caribou looked fit to pass out.
“Boss,” one of the draught ponies said after a moment of heavy breathing, “if it’s all the same to you, I’m fine not ever bringing that subject up with Miss Skies ever again.”
Steel dropped onto his rump and chuckled blithely. “Y’know, Axel, ah reckon ah’m perfectly alright with that. The moment she cottoned to our intentions it felt like my heart was fixin’ to tear itself right outta mah throat.”
“My horns are still tingling,” the Caribou muttered. “I don’t know what kind of magic she was using but it was… dark. Very dark. I’m with Axel on this one, Boss. I’d rather shear my horns off and spit in Princess Luna’s face than piss that mare off again.”
“Ah hear ya, Anu,” Steelhorn replied before turning to the other draught pony. “This here decision a unanimous one, Checker?”
“Pretty ah pissed myself somewhere in that conversation, suh,” Checkers said as he got shakily to his hooves. “So yah, ah’ll toss my vote into the ‘keep Miss Skies happy’ pot and keep it there, thank ya.”
“Right, then we’ve got an accord,” Steelhorn said, taking a deep breath as he got to his hooves, wobbled a bit, then found his footing. “Ah’ll let the rest’a the crew know about Miss Skies’ generous offer of treatment.”
“And her promise of righteous, unflinching retribution on anyone who threatens her guest?” Axel asked with a wry smile.
Steelhorn chuckled. “Ayep, reckon ah’ll cover that’n too.”
ITS BACK! YES!!!
Also, whoa...Fluttershy is seriously falling into the darkness here. She's really starting to take after Sombra...and I'm liking it!
Thank you, for continuing to write this wonderful, wonderful story.
Everytime i see a female griffin I always want it to be gilda.
Hey, update! Like to see that things are progressing. Some parts of it feel rushed, but you are keeping very nicely to the plot lines you have already established, so I won't bitch to hard. I would have liked to see a more gradual shift in Fluttershy's ability, but then again, I was totally on board with her beat down vs. Celestia, so I can't really complain. Altogether, good job, looking forward to the next installment.
It's always the quiet ones that'll fuck you up the worst.
Cool chapter.
I dearly hope that Fluttershy can someday reconcile with her friends. That's what MLP is all about.
But I have to say I do like that our favorite shy Pegasus is becoming more assertive.
Thabks for the update. Could you like do a Valentine's day filler capture? Would be sweet
Sombra brings back his old friends. Wonder how they will react to his new "Queen" and his mortality.
What better than to have a Griffon assassin that tried to kill you as a body guard.
Awesome! Can't wait for more :D
Fluttershy showing some of her badass, but also darker side.
Of course, I suspect the construction crew was a bit shortsighted. They had to have realised that 'Cloudy Skies' was going to get information out of the gryphon assassin and then visit unholy retribution upon whomever paid her. They just don't realise how Fluttershy is going to do that, probably thinking she'll use torture instead of whatever it is Fluttershy normally does (the Stare. It's totes gonna be the Stare).
Awww Fluttershy is a awesome mom plus she helped the Griffin even after it attacked her, Fluttershy gets a 10/10 in my book!!!
Just found this story, and Im very thankful its not dead! Awesome piece of work, its rare to find a story where fluttershy becomes a serious badass without truly losing her nature.
I hope that Sombra doesn't get mad at Fluttershy for heing the Griffen, or that she scared the workers.In all sense here, who really is the villin? Sombra may be mad out of his mind but that doesn't mean that he isn't caring too. That involves Fluttershy too, she is becoming almost heartless in a way.I hope it will change, if not change then heal the both of them, alongside with Scootaloo.
Also a word for all viewers:NO CURSING!!! There is a 11 year old who doesn't want the here that crap!!!
I don't care what the author does of course...............................hehe...........
Love this story can wait for update
Umm could you update .... If thats okay
:)
Woo hurray binge read! I haven’t picked up this fic in years and I’m glad to have come back cause it has gotten GOOD! Thanks for the great fic, definitely looking forward to more
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This is off-topic but have you by chance read a fic called last of the dragonlords? The author is fluttershy20 and it’s one of the best fics I’ve read (this one would probably be pretty high on the list ) if you have any free time you should definitely give it a read!
Hehe sorry my inner fan girl for that fic came out.. I’ll just be on my way!
Update pleeeeeease
Where is the next chapter?
Please keep going! I don't think there is a better story about these two out there! Keep me in the loop!
9254215
While not better (though debatable by some) ‘dark arts and kind hearts’ is a good one. Just letting you know.
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oh I know, I follow it. And honestly, I think it's better, lol.
9330330
I wasnt a fan of that story because of the insinuated rape that happens...perhaps I read to much into it?
9335290
I agree with that. That was a big turn-off...
9330330
XD It is pretty good. But for real, you still working on this?
Is this still going plz finish it i would like to see where this goes
hear lies another great story that may never be updated again
Please do continue. After all this time this is still my favourite fic. I've read some great fics on this site, Surviving Sand Island and The Enchanted Library to name a few, but this one has a special place in my heart. I've reread this countless times and would love to know what happens next.
Much Love
dot
9641018
I second this. Please continue.
I came here to say that the dynamic of Shy's and Sombras relationship gives me Phantom of the Opera, Monster in Paris vibes
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Ah I see
9641018
I have my doubts since they have been offline for over 4 years now
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Since the last chapter was posted in February 2018, I find that highly unlikely.
9816519
My mistake then, sorry the misinformation.
Drat, Does this mean we wont get to read what happens next? An awesome scoots? A suppervillian dad and the wonder mare who tamed the untamable?
F in the chat for a really good fic
Sad to see this fic abandoned. I was really getting into it, despite the many grammatical errors and some of the characterization. Fluttershy seems to change a little too quick for my tastes, but it's not enough to break my interest. And Sombra's back story is amazing! I might have to reference it when I write my own fanfics with him.
I hope you come back to this someday, but if not, please keep writing! You're pretty good at it, and you'll only get better with practice!
I know this story is probably dead, but I've highly enjoyed it and I wish I could have read more. If you ever return please finish up this story act at the least. I really wanted to see Scootaloo's development and if they were going to change the town in any way.
This story is dead, isn't it?
media3.giphy.com/media/XN4YWNbz4SNMI/source.gif
whhhhhhhhhhyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?!?!??!?!!!?!?!???
This is such a good fanfic
This is one of those stories that even though I know it's dead, I keep coming back to read it. It's a good story, with some grammar problems(nothing too distracting though) sure, but this is a story that I greatly enjoyed. So if the author sees this then hats off to you and I hope that you keep writing stories just as good or even better than this one. And if you've moved on to greener pastures then I hope you are doing well in whatever you choose to do.