Stuck in the Weather
“Not you too, Twi! Why does everypony have to be busy now? Geesh,” Rainbow Dash exclaims, burying her face in her forelegs at the same time. She's hovering a few feet above the library floor, her final candidate proving to just as disloyal as the rest of her so called friends.
“Sorry, but you know I don't have time for such frivolities. Celestia told me herself that this assignment had to be done as soon as possible. Can't Pinkie go with you?”
Dash just snorts, “She's the first one I asked, but apparently the Cakes have a big order coming and they need her help.” She looks up at her friend almost accusingly. Sure, it's not Twilights' fault that she forgot to actually tell her friends about her plans until now, but you'd think at least one of them had some time over.
“Well, what about Applejack then? Or Fluttershy?”
“Applejack's busy raising the barn with her family, again, and Fluttershy's preparing for Winter Wrap Up. Oh, and before you ask, no I'm not asking Rarity. She's swell and all, but there's no way she'd agree to a trip to the mountains.”
“Well, you're probably right. But I really need to get back to work, after all...”
“Yeah yeah, I know. You can't make the Princess disappointed,” Dash rolls her eyes as she speaks. Geesh, Twi really is the perfect student, always jumping when the Princess says jump. But no, that's not really fair to Twilight, or any of Rainbows friends. She has to remind herself that they really aren't to blame, how were they supposed to know she was going to need someponys help this particular weekend?
“There will be more opportunities, don't worry. Feel free to stay in the library if you need a book to read or something.”
Dash hangs her heard as she watches Twilight head back down to her laboratories, Spike dutifully dusting some bookshelves nearby. She considers asking him, but soon dismisses that thought. He's needed here if Twilight is busy with... whatever it is she's doing.
Dash is muttering to herself as she wanders through Ponyville. She can't even be bothered to fly right now. Stupid Winter Wrap Up, stupid barn, stupid Princess Celestia. She's considering cancelling the trip entirely, even if it means that the bits she spent on borrowing a cabin at the mountainside will be wasted. But what's the point of going up there to practice if she can't even get any feedback on her new tricks? Sure, the cold weather exercises would still be good, but if it was just cold she needed, she could just as well fly higher and train in the naturally colder air.
“Ooof!” She grunts, walking right into something, or someone. “Hey! Watch where you're going you... Oh, it's you! Hi Eddy.” she smirks as she recognizes who she bumped into, one of Ponyvilles new resident humans, and one of the few of these weird spindly guys who doesn't seem to mind her teasing and ribbing, which is a nice change of pace.
Eddy is somewhat lost in thought as well, not noticing the brightly coloured mare until she's bumping into him, making him fall back on his rear with a groan. He instantly recognizes the scratchy voice of course, not to mention that annoying nickname. “It's Edward, as you well know, Rainbow Butt.”
“Yeah, sure, whatever you say Eddy. Not like you're good enough to trip me up anyway.” She chooses to entirely ignore the comment on her own name. She's heard worse, and it's par the course when they both meet anyway.
“Oh yeah? What about you then? Usually, when you've got your head in the clouds it's more literal, heck, just seeing you trot along is unusual in itself. Something up?” Her words are a matter of some small concern and he frowns slightly, but right after he asks he shrugs it off. From what he's heard, this is one mare that can take care of herself, so his smile is right back where he left it.
“Eh, it's no big deal. I was planning to go to the mountains this weekend, but none of my traitorous friends could come along, so what's the point?” she gives a glare back towards the library as she speak, but her heart's not really into it.
Edward raises one eyebrow slightly at the glare, smile widening in amusement. “The mountains? Never figured you to be the mountain climbing type, and aren't your wings kinda cheating if it comes to that?” He jokes, if nothing else, he's never bored when keeping this company.
“What? Climbing? No way! It's for some cold weather and snow training. If I want to get into the Wonderbolts I need to be able to perform in any kind of weather, and the winters last snow is scheduled for the nearby mountainside and I want to be able to practice some of my latest tricks.” She speaks with enthusiasm now, though slumps down again soon after. “But what's the point of practising them if I can't get any feedback? I mean, I know I'm cool and all, but I can't really watch myself you know?”
Edward nods throughout that little speech, this weekend, huh? Seems like it's important to her. “Well, when were you planning to go?”
“Friday morning... Ish. I'm renting a cabin in the Foal Mountains, it's just a couple of hours walk from the station. Or a couple of minutes flight, if you're the fastest pegasus in Equestria that is.”
“Friday?” Edward reaches up to scratch his chin, rubbing the slight stubble that's building up. He's a bit annoyed at that for that matter, but finding a decent razor hasn't been easy. Rose's Flower Boutique where he works has been slow recently, he probably won't be missed if he asked for a day off by the weekend. And it would be fun to see one of Dash's famous air-shows, could be worth a trip to the mountains really. “You know, if you're one man short, I could always join you. It'd be fun to see more of this country than Ponyville.”
“Really?! That's awesome, thanks!”
“No problem. It'll do me good too, I need some exercise. Roseluck doesn't push me terribly hard in the store.” Dash is obviously happy with the news, as is made apparent not just with her words, but by the enthusiastic way she raises one of her hooves and swings it through the air. Edward can almost hear the 'Yes!' she's surely thinking. He's probably been spending too much time with her if he can already read her that well, which is not a thought that makes his smile abate.
Dash's head suddenly shoots up. “Oh gosh, what time is it?”
“Err, about three, I think. How come?” He's somewhat befuddled as he answers
“Three?! Ponyfeathers! Hey, I got to jet. I was supposed to relieve Lightning Hoof at one, I'll come pick you up on Friday.”
Before Edward even has a chance to respond, Dash have thrown herself into the air, a rainbow coloured streak the last he see of her as she vanishes into the distance. Seems like he's got plans for the weekend all of a sudden, how exciting.
Zooming away, Dash makes a victorious loop. The trip is on, and she hasn't had a chance to show off her tricks to him before either. It makes her both a bit nervous and giddy with anticipation, which in turn makes this trip promise to be at least twice as awesome. After all, it's always fun to show off just how great she is, she's just going to have to make sure her display is appropriately stunning. He'll be blown off of his hooves for sure.
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Edward usually doesn't consider himself the most organized of people around, but he can get up on time. When the clock hits nine am, he's just packing in the last of his supplies and items into an oversized rucksack. He's not sure what amenities there will be at their destination, so he's making sure to pack a sizeable amount of magically preserved food, as well as obvious things like a sleeping bag and other camping equipment. To say that some of these items were a challenge to procure on such short notice is a vast understatement, they don't really produce them in sizes that are useful to your average human.
Still, he's made his final check to see that he had everything and then... Well, he's got nothing left to do actually. He glances up at the clock again, ten past nine. Well, she did say 'nine-ish', so she's not technically late.
Since they haven't talked much since agreeing on the trip, she's barely had time to give him a notice on what train they'll need to catch, much of the trip is in the dark for him. They're not supposed to take the train until ten-thirty though, so there's no real rush yet and he makes himself a small snack.
When the clock chimes in at 10 am he's getting a bit worried. He's already done with his cheese sandwich, which only makes him lament the lack of meat in this world, and he's now busy pacing back and forth. What is that girl thinking? Sure, it's her trip and her idea, but he'd rather not miss the train, walking through the mountainside in the dark evening isn't his idea of fun.
He's interrupted in his pacing by a set of sharp knocks to the door and he quickly dashes over to it. He's not disappointed by the sight that's greeting him, which is not to say it's exciting, but it still makes him breathe a sigh of relief.
“There you are! I was starting to think you'd never show up.” He speaks, grin on his face as he motions for her to come in.
“Hey, you're the one who never gave me an address. Took me ages to coax Roseluck into giving it to me. I swear, you'd think she owned you with how much fuss she made about 'keeping him safe in these dangerous mountains',” she huffs out, wandering inside with casual ease as always.
“She can be a bit of a mother hen sometimes, but she's a good boss. She did give me the day off after all.” He returns to his bag and gives it a final look, stuffing a timetable into it before putting in on.
Dash is packed for the trip as well, well stuffed saddlebags worn over her back, though by the way they are bulging it doesn't look like she's placed her supplies in there in any particular order. She looks to him somewhat curiously as he hoists and puts on the heavy rucksack. “How are you doing that?”
“How am I doing what?”
“That...” She vaguely speaks, gesturing towards more or less his whole body. “Standing up. I mean, shouldn't you get a bit... I dunno, top heavy with the bag?”
“Huh? Of course not, I mean, it's pretty easy to adjust my balance a bit. I suppose if someone gave me a hard shove.” he shrugs. He hasn't exactly put much thought into it, it's natural after all. He watches Dash rear up on her hind-legs, forelegs flailing slightly as she takes a few steps, but soon after she gives a frustrated noise and lands on all four again. Edward can't help but grin at the antics, and it doesn't hurt that he got a full frontal view of her. Which, her being a pony, isn't quite as exciting as it might sound like, but pretty good none the less.
Dash huffs slightly. It's way harder than it looks. “It's impossible to keep standing like that. Unless you're Pinkie. She could probably do it.”
“Oh she can. She followed me for a whole day like that, but she did use a cane. No idea where she got it into her head to dress up like one of the Marx Brothers though.”
“One of the who?” Dash tilts her head a bit. Knowing Pinkie, that could be a reference taken from anything both possible and impossible.
“Never mind, it's from back home. How she even...” he begins, only to glance up at the clock. Ten-fifteen. Crap. “Dammit. The train leaves in 15 minutes. Do you have everything?”
“What's the rush? That's plenty of time.”
“Maybe for you,” Edward speaks, hastily picking up a few odds and ends before stuffing them in his pockets. They both leave the house so he can lock it up. “You can fly, I'm not quite that fast.”
“Yeah, I am pretty great. But come on then, don't be a slow-poke!” and with that she's off, shooting to the far end of the street in the blink of an eye and leaving Edward to scramble after her.
The next ten or so minutes leaves little time for anything but running. Well, at least for him. Dash can fly in a sedate pace while shouting 'encouraging' words to him. Only when they hear the whistle of the train does she get serious, and at the last bit she dives in under his legs, hoisting him up and dashing with full speed towards the door.
“Last boarding call for the Manehatten Express! Door's...” the poor conductor stallions last words are interrupted as the blue, noisy, blur shoots past him and into the train. “... closing now.”
“And we're in! See? I told you we were going to make it.” Dash exclaims with that confident grin on her lips, heedless of the fact that she's just dumped her rather shocked companion on the nearest group of seats.
“Wha...?” Edward picks himself up from where he's been thrown with some care, shaking his head to get rid of the dizziness. “We made it?”
“Duh. What do you think? You've got the fastest pony in Equestria on your side, of course we made it!”
“Right, right.” he shakes his head again, only to stumble slightly as the train lurches forward. “Whoa, we should get a seat.”
It's not long until they're both seated comfortably, Edward watching the countryside speed by. He's not out travelling much, so it's fun to see more of Equestria, even if it passes by quickly. That, and it makes it easier for him to ignore the stares he's being given by the other passengers in the car, most of whom have never seen a human. These ponies might be more used to other species than humans would be, but something new is always interesting and the staring becomes annoying after a while.
“Hey, what are you all staring at?” Dash's voice pipes up, startling Edward out of his admiration of the scenery. At the sudden accusation, most of the ponies looking their way turns back to their own affairs and Dash gives a smug smile. “Geesh, you'd think they've never seen a human before.”
“To be fair, they probably haven't. But thanks.” He can't help but grin at her comment.
“Huh? Right, right. You humans are rare, I forgot about that. Still, if anypony is bothering you, tell me and I'll show 'em what's up, alright?” She visibly pushes out her chest when she speaks.
Edward isn't quite sure what to make of the display, but he watches her flush slightly when she notices the look he gives her. “Uh-huh, I guess you mares are all pretty protective. It's appreciated.”
They spend the time going over their plans for the weekend, which mostly means that Dash goes over in detail, and with the appropriate gestures, which tricks she's going to perform. Edward is just happy to listen, and it is amusing to watch her shining enthusiasm. They stop at a couple of more stations before they reach the Canterlot mountainside, the capital mountain towering above them as they rapidly approach the tunnel that's going to take them closer to their destination.
As they enter the mountain, the cabin goes dark. The magical lamps that are supposed to turn on fails to do so, and the noise from the other ponies in the cabin increases, scattered light appearing as unicorns channel their magic. Edward isn't particularly concerned, it's just some darkness after all and he leans back into his seat, though even before he's got his eyes adjusted to the lack of light he notices someone, or somepony at least, taking a seat next to him.
“Calm down everypony! Just a minor malfunction, I'll have it fixed in a moment.” The conductor pony calls out, and soon after he speaks it's obvious that he's done something. The lamps around the cabin flicker for a moment before they stay on, the warm magically stored sunshine washing over them.
It's then that Edwards looks to his side, noticing Dash suddenly sitting beside him, rather than across from him as he before, she looks a bit shaken actually. “Dash? You okay?”
“Huh? Of course! Just thought that, you know, I should sit over here. In case anyone tried anything in the dark, with you being a human and all I mean.” she gives a confident grin towards him as she speak, but she can't help but fidget slightly in her seat. She's not afraid of the dark of course, don't be silly. She just... didn't feel quite so comfortable when it was all so sudden and unexpected. But he doesn't have to know that of course.
“Well, if you say so.” He gives her a smile, even if he's not quite sure she was truthful with him.
Still, after a short while more of awkward silence, their discussions start up again. Dash doesn't change her seat again however, opting to stay at his side for the trip through the mountain.
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“Next stop, Foal Mountains! Next stop, Foal Mountains!” The conductors voice calling out distracts them from their discussion and they both take a look outside. It's snowing lightly and the small town they're stopping at seems almost asleep.
“Alright! Time to get off.” Dash sounds quite happy at the prospect of getting outside again, she's never been one to stay still for long and a couple of hours on a train can make anyone feel a bit stiff.
“Looks like it,” Edward responds, languidly stretching out before he hoists on his bag with renewed vigour. “We'd better get a move on then.”
They disembark the train and Dash notices how Edward gives a slight shiver in the cold air. “Hah, cold already?” Dash asks, with a teasing grin as she somehow hovers upside down not far in front of him.
“Just a bit, but I'll warm up when we walk. I don't have the same natural resistance to cold that you ponies seem to have.” How she's doing that is beyond him, but for a moment it's easy to forget the cold, some light banter is a great way to stop thinking about it.
“Yeah, but you've said that's why you wear clothes all the time. Can't you just, you know, put on more?”
“Well, I could, but I'll get warmer by working out, or by just walking at a steady pace. Putting on more clothing would just make me too hot.” Edward has explained this before of course, maybe not to Dash, but to other ponies. Besides, it doesn't hurt that only the nobility usually wear clothes, giving him an extra air of class.
They soon settle in with a nice pace, or at least a nice one for Edward, for Dash it's just a tiny bit too slow and she does occasionally dash off to 'stretch her wings a bit'. Still, they make good time and when they talk it's easy and natural.
After around an hour, Edward waves for Dash to come over. “Hey! Let's take a break, I'm starving.”
Even as he calls out, he walks over to sit down on a somewhat flat rock, brushing off the snow that's been collecting there. It's snowing a bit more now, but not so much that he thinks it'll stop him from enjoying a brief meal, should be a couple of hours left until sundown anyway.
“Need a break already slow-poke? I should just carry you to the cabin, that'd be way quicker!” Dash comments, but she's happy for the brief break as well. It has been quite a few hours since she had anything to eat after all.
“Haha, no thanks. For now, I think I'd prefer to keep my feet on the ground,” he remembers the short flight into the the train with a slight shudder, that's enough flying for today really. From his rucksack he pulls forth a thermos of hot chocolate and some simple sandwiches, just something light to have on the road, and he likes sandwiches.
Dash struggles a bit with her own bags, she has to dig out half the contents of one of them just to get to her own meal. She does it facing away from him as well, so all her wiggling around gives him a most pleasing view of her behind, which is something he appreciates. It's funny, but normally he wouldn't have thought so much on it, but then she is a stark contrast of colour against the backdrop of snow.
“Stupid bags,” Dash mutters when she finally gets them out. “Hey, would you mind sharing that? I only packed water, and your chocolate smells awesome.”
“Huh? Yeah, sure,” Edward digs out another cup from his bag and soon they're both chowing down, Dash in particular eats with vigour and he's amazed at the speed in which she downs her meal. She probably has twice as many sandwiches as he does, and yet she's finishing them sooner.
“You know, I'd like to take a closer look at the clouds before we go on, something feels off about the wind.”
“Something feels off?” Edward frowns slightly, it feels perfectly normal to him. Very... windy. Bit cold, but that's to be expected.
“Yeah, we're supposed to have a polar cell with dry wind, but there's too much moisture in the air. There's an adiabatic lapse in the temperature as well, it feeds the nimbus clouds. It shouldn't be a problem, but I want to check on it.”
“I...” Edward begins, and tapers off. He's not sure what to respond with. He might have expected something like that from Dash's bookish friend Twilight, but hearing it from this girl surprises him. “I'll take your word for it. I'm not sure what half of that means.”
“Oh right, that's work terms. Umm,” she begins, thinking of how to best explain it. “It means the clouds are being fed more water, and if it's proper Cloudsdale clouds, then it shouldn't be a problem. The cloud will just expand outwards to cover a bigger area, but they look strange. The shapes are a bit weird and I want to take a look.”
He nods at her explanation, he remembers being told that she was in charge of the weather team in Ponyville. He won't even begin to guess at how it all works anyway, it's amazing enough that they control their bloody weather. “Sure, go take a look then. I don't mind resting a bit longer.”
“Alright. I'll be back in a moment,” Dash exclaims, and again she doesn't wait for a response. Placing her cup on the rock beside him, she takes flight, shooting up into the clouds.
This is what she lives for, flying. Even with the snow batting her eyes she enjoys the feel of the wind coursing over her body, her wings flapping to shape the currents around her, and to generate lift with her innate pegasi magic.
It only takes seconds to break the cloud layer, and it's instantly apparent that they're in trouble. Not only was the cover thicker than she thought, but from above, it's darker as well. Standing on the clouds, she can feel how saturated they are. “Oh Tartarus,” she groans out. She's seen this before.
She tries breaking it up, and succeeds partly, a hole forming in the clouds for a few moments, only to close up again way quicker than it's supposed to. She's got what she came from and flies down again.
“Hey, you ready to go? We've got to hurry,” She speaks, looking up at the clouds with a frown.
“Yeah, sure. Gimme a moment,” He throws on his rucksack again, having already stuffed the cups and thermos back into it. Her expression is sobering, as is her sudden need for speed.
They set off towards the cabin again, taking a few shortcuts where they can, but the snow makes their progress painfully slow. “Hah... hah... Hey, Dash. Wait up a moment,” Edward pants out. It doesn't help that it's snowing more now, it's getting a bit harder to see.
“Huh? Can't keep up?” Dash doesn't sound like she's trying to make fun of him this time. She's too worried to tease him and occasionally glances up at the clouds. She notices that the wind have picked up as well, but from what she's seen, that's to be expected.
He soon catches up to her when she slows down. “No, no. I can keep up. But you haven't told me what's got you so spooked.” He's a bit out of breath, but he should be good for a fair bit more.
She hesitates a bit, which isn't a good sign. “It's the clouds. They are... Wild,” she shudders slightly as she speaks. “Someone must have goofed, maybe by the border to Everfree, or the eastern sea. But wild clouds have corrupted the Cloudsdale ones. The snow is only starting.”
“Sounds bad.”
“You bet it is! Unregulated clouds are really unpredictable. I mean, from what I can tell we've got a snowstorm building up, but since it's wild, it might thin out and vanish entirely, or it'll last days. You just can't tell.”
“Ah, well, at least that's something I'm familiar with. That's how it works where I'm from,” he tells her, but her apprehension is well noticed and he gives a worried glance to the sky himself, picking up some more speed in his steps.
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An hour passes quickly. They don't say much as they're busy just trudging on. With the wind picking up speed as well, Dash have landed to walk through the snow by hoof, but her wings are aching for her to take flight again, to do something about this... Unnatural state of affairs.
“Hey! I'm going up to see if I can clear up the clouds a bit!” she shouts, trying to make herself heard over the rising whine of the wind.
“WHAT?!” he shouts, and it doesn't help that his ears are freezing.
Grumbling, she slows down so he can catch up to her. “I said I'm going up to see if I can do anything about the snow!”
“Is that such a good idea?” he shouts back. It certainly sounds foolish, but she's the weathermare.
“Of course! It'll take more than a little snow to stop me. I'll be back in no time!” she shouts out, and with that she's off again, though not with a very good start. The instant she lifts from the ground she's blown back several feet and it's only with effort that she manages to fight the wind. The snow is stinging her eyes as she gains altitude and it's not long until she can't even see the ground any-more, much less where she's flying. It's almost enough for her to give up. Almost.
She finally dives into the cloud, the corrupted mass now feeling like flying through molasses and she breaths a sigh of relief as she breaks through. The sun's still shining down on top of the clouds, but the wind is still fierce and sundown is rapidly approaching.
“Alright, I can do this,” she mutters to herself, taking a deep breath before shooting higher into the sky.
She dives down against the mass off clouds, hooves outstretched, instinctively channelling her pegasi magic through her body, and when she hits the cloud, she punches a hole straight through it.
The wind and the snow buffets her the moment she's through again. The hole she made is already closing up so she repeats the process. Again and again she flies up, dives down, and punches through the clouds. The holes are getting bigger, she's not giving the cloud any time to reform.
After ten minutes and probably sixty trips up and down, the cloud is just a mishmash of holes. Sun bathes the landscape below and there's considerably less snow falling. It isn't without a cost however. Dash is panting heavily, chest heaving as she rests on a small strip of clouds. Her wings are aching, her body is screaming at her to take a break, but she can already see the clouds slowly starting to knit themselves together, fed by the steady wind.
She makes another attempt at punching a hole, and she succeeds, but it's an effort. It'll have to be good enough.
She dives down from the sky, wings outstretched as she glides back to the ground. She flies in a slow circle, wind throwing her off course again and again as she tries to spot Edward. Finally she sees him, he's holding up a glaringly red scarf that he's waving around. Where did he get that from anyway? Never mind.
“Incoming!” she shouts out, but he's unlikely to hear it. Wings are aching with the effort to keep her steady against the wind, but it looks like she'll make it without crashing.
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Looking up into the sky, Edward has been able to see the patchwork clouds for quite a while now. He's cheering whenever a new hole appears and with each one less snow is clouding his view. From this distance, it's almost impossible to actually see Dash, he barely gets a glance of her rainbow streak now and then, and the last minute or so there haven't been any new holes made.
Then he sees the final hole opening up and he stares intently into the heavens, the howling wind unabated despite Dash's efforts, but he don't know if she was ever meant to help with that.
He spots her again, she's lower this time, obviously coming down. He pulls out a bright red scarf from his pocket, an old present from Rarity, and one he never really thought suited him so he wasn't wearing it. Still, it's handy now. He holds it up in the wind, waving it around to make himself easier to see against the snow.
It's soon obvious that she noticed him, since her course changes. He watches her approach when there's a sudden, stronger, gust of wind. It staggers him for a moment, but it has a larger effect on Dash. He watches as she swears wildly in the air, obviously trying to stabilize herself.
“Oh shi...” he barely has time to think. He rushes over into what looks like it might her path, managing to get in front of her right in time. She slams into his chest with force, throwing them both back into the snow.
He groans out, back and head aching, but the snow cushioned his fall quite well. He can hear a groan from atop him as well, and he opens up his eyes once more.
The view that greets him is, well, at any other time he would probably have said it's quite pleasant. Dash appears to have slammed into him backwards, her hind against his chest and her tail draped perfectly over his head. His eyes are locked squarely under it, a perfect view of her marehood and anus, and man, is that a look to kill for. Still, he shakes out those thoughts and pushes her tail away from his face, covering her up again. “Hey, you alright?” It comes out somewhat awkwardly, something he attributes to just having had a faceful of pony.
“Hehe, yeah. Umm, thanks,” Dash answers, shaking her head a bit before she scrambles off of him. She looks a bit flustered, not really because she crashed into him, she have good memories of crashing into ponies, but because this time she was actively trying to avoid it and he seems to have thrown himself into her path. It was... nice of him. “I'm fine, I've crashed into stuff before, at least you're softer than the ground!”
He laughs at her bravado and gets up as well, shivering slightly from the cold snow that has managed to sneak into his clothing. “Hah, thanks, I think! Oh and good job with the clouds.”
She frowns at the mention of the clouds. When she looks up, her holes are still clearly visible, but she knows it's just a matter of time before they've closed up again. And now her wings are shaking from the effort she put into it, she's ground-bound for a while at least. “Yeaaah, about that. We've got an hour, two tops, before it's as bad as before. I mean, I'm awesome and all, but you'd need a full weather team to control this,” she gesticulates towards the sky. “We need to go.”
It's sobering to see her so serious and he can't help but give her a nod. “Lead the way.”