Phoenix watched as the ponies that were carrying his things set them into a large moving van. He didn’t say anything unless something began to fall and he hollered and pointed frantically. He was pretty sure the ugly looks he was getting for him not using his magic. He had been on the receiving end of a scolding from Kahl for using it once already and the dragon had banned it unless they were dying or he deemed it needed. He had agreed as the dragon had admitted to having the ability to stop his magic if he was so inclined. Nix had decided to just not use it in the face of the dragon’s threat.

He was glad to be leaving Canterlot that morning after an awkward lunch and dinner with the Princesses. He was eager to get out of the city and get started on the next part of his life. He glanced to the chariot that held some of his other belongings and a few of the projects he had chosen and wanted to look into sooner. Furniture and other items were being provided so all he had to worry about was items that he liked and food. That was easy enough for him to worry about and he was hoping that he could slink into town without too much drama and just remain in the background.

He waited and they finished loading in short order and he was quiet as he regarded the courtyard one last time. He trotted to the chariot and jumped to land inside it and waited as the Pegasus waited for him to be settled and waited as he nodded to them to signal that he was ready. He looked over the side as the chariot ponies took to the air gently to avoid jostling his things. His eyes widened at the height and a smile went over his mouth as the ground fell away.

“We are flying!” He replied to the dragon’s attention, making sure to stay standing.

He could hear a pleased sound from the dragon as he made sure to stay standing up and let the wind go over them. He would have to let him know that he used to have a thing against heights but he didn’t feel that same fear right now. He felt better with the dragon with him, even if it was not in body. The Unicorn was quiet as they closed the distance to Ponyville quickly and the miles fell away.

Nix was quiet as the Pegasus slowed down in the air. One of them looked back to him and Nix looked to him. “Sir! We will land behind the house for you.”

The chariot landed gently behind a small one story house. one-storyd still and jumped from the chariot once it came to a stop. He reached into the chariot and pulled out the key that the Princess had given him before he left and opened the back door to allow them to move things into the house. He would use the basement for the projects and keep them out of sight. As the guards moved things into the house they went down the basement stairs and set the boxes against the far wall and he thanked them for their help as they hitched back to the chariot and bid him good bye. The midnight Unicorn was quiet as the ponies left him behind and he walked into the house, closing the door behind him. He looked around and the house was an open floorplan so he could see into the kitchen and down a back hallway to his room.

“It was refreshing. Perhaps one day we can find a way to do that more often.” Kahl replied.

“It has been a while since I was able to feel the high winds. I admit it was a nice change.” He replied.

“Good. I wasn’t sure if you were paying attention so I figured I would tell you.”

“Well done. I was not paying direct attention so the warning was appreciated. It was refreshing.”

“Okay, so the kitchen and the living spaces are all open to each other. That’s convenient.” He said and kept walking. “And there are the stairs to the basement, oh a really thick door, nice.” He said and walked past a guest room and into the back room. “Holy shit. Now, this is a Master Bedroom.”

Nix stared at the king-size bed in the center of the back wall. An accent wall of old reclaimed wood sat on the back wall and he whistled at it as he walked into the room. He stood at the foot of the bed and still had plenty of room to turn around. The end of the bed was several feet from the closet door and he gently slid it open to reveal a long and wide walk-in closet. He stared and backed up out of its doorway.

“Not a chance in hell I could ever fill that.” He said to the dragon who chuckled in reply. “Okay next room.” Nix opened the next room to reveal a huge bathroom with a modern walk-in shower.

“I have no idea. This place has the same kind of showers that the palace has but most residential homes don’t.” He replied. “Not gonna complain though. Those things are sweet.” He said and closed the bathroom door as he left the room and closed that door as well.

“Well. It appears you will be in the form of luxury as well as doing a job you enjoy.” Kahl said to him as he walked down the hallway.

“I know!” Nix nearly yelled as the realization that he was being allowed to live in a nice house and do his experiments and research as he liked. “I can do the projects for a few days, turn in my findings as I go and enjoy this place. I am not sure if I should be joyful about it though.”

“You have reason to be pleased. No pony will blame you for that.” Kahl assured him.

“Cool. Plug your ears then.” Nix advised as he stood in the center of the front room.

“Gods.” Kahl cursed as the stallion looked to make sure the windows were covered.

“YES!!” He yelled and allowed himself to buck and prance in place at his good fortune. He reared up and danced in place as a knock sounded from the front door. “Dammit.”

Nix grumbled and unlocked the front door and opened it wide. He blinked at the widely smiling bright pink pony at his doorstep. She smiled at him as he waited for her to speak to him. When she stood and said nothing as she stared at him.

Nix startled and backed up a step at her shout. He recovered and looked to her. “Can I help you?”

“I’m Pinkie Pie.” She finally spoke in a normal tone. “I saw those Pegasus bring you into town so I came to say hello. Welcome to Ponyville.”

She took his hoof and shook it frantically and he gently pulled away from her after several seconds. He was silent as she kept staring at him with a wide smile. He was about to speak more when a voice called out.

He looked past her as a familiar mare came forward. She paused at the sight of him and a smile crossed her muzzle. Twilight trotted toward him and joined the exuberant pink mare. Several other mares followed her and a baby dragon sat on the purple mares back.

“It’s nice to see you too, Twilight. It’s been a while.” He said back to her.

“Princess Celestia sent me a letter to tell me that you were coming to town. She didn’t say why you came here, but I’m glad to see you.” She went on.

He nodded as she spoke to him. “Be polite.” Kahl spoke to him and he gave a weak smile.

“Oh, these are my friends,” Twilight said to him. “You already met Pinkie Pie.” She said and pointed to the pink mare still on his doorstep. “This is Rarity.” She indicated a light grey almost white mare and she gave him a polite nod and he returned the gesture. “This is Fluttershy.” She turned to a butter yellow Pegasus mare who smiled shyly to him. “This is Applejack.” She indicated to the orange mare behind her who tipped her hat to the midnight blue stallion. He looked at her and smiled. “And above you is Rainbow Dash.” He looked up and regarded the hovering Pegasus mare. Her light blue fur paled next to her vibrant rainbow mane. He regarded her and she finally landed with the others as Spike came forward. “And this is my assistant Spike.” She said and the baby dragon nodded to him with a weak wave of one clawed hand.

“Nice to meet all of you.” He said to them with a smile. “I’m glad to see that Twilight made some friends as Celestia said.” He said to them and they all smiled in reply.

“Umm…I have a ton of unpacking to do. Otherwise, I would but I need to make sure the movers can get around later this afternoon. So I need to stay close by.” He replied. “But thank you for the kind offer.” He replied to her.

“Yeah. Definitely.” He said to the purple unicorn and watched as they moved away from him. Pinkie looked back to him and then to the others.

“It’s fine. Not like he’s alone.” She said to them and they all shook their heads and smiled at her.

“That was a bit scary.” He whispered as he closed the door and locked it tightly.

Nix walked to the back door and locked it out of a new sense of paranoia and sat down on the plush couch in the front room. He let himself sit heavily into the furniture but soon was back on his hooves as his mind went over the interaction with the others.

“Okay, I am officially creeped out.” He finally admitted as he spoke out loud in a whisper.

“It is all right. Some have a higher awareness but she did not seem to have any details and in time perhaps she will grow to ignore it.” Kahl reasoned to him as the stallion paced. “Plus they did not seem to give her words much concern. Perhaps it is simply something that she says at times.”

“Precisely. If it bothers you then we can work on hiding our magical signature and that will keep anypony from sensing that I am with you as well.”

“Yes, please. That made me hella nervous. We need to make sure that nopony can find us.” He replied. “I mean that they can’t sense you are here as well. I would rather they just think that it’s just me in here, no ancient dragons.”

“Very well. I advise that we begin to work on first changing your magic to where it works with mine as well. Right now they are separate and that is causing a strain on both of us to an extent.” Kahl reasoned to him.

“In a sense but there is no pain to speak of. Its simple strain.” Kahl assured him.

“Yes. That is the first step. With our power divided it makes it easy to slip up and reveal our paw.”

“Exactly. I don’t want to put you in danger of being found out. Hasn’t been very long but I’m kinda attached to you.”

“For now no. You were not wrong about needing to be available should they arrive. Much of your items need to be moved down to the basement anyway, correct?”

“Yeah. A lot of lab equipment.” Nix agreed and sat back down on the couch to wait.

Kahl was quiet as the stallion finally calmed and Kahl allowed him to doze off as the dragon was silent. He knew that the Unicorn had become attached to him and Kahl had to admit the young stallion had grown on him. While he missed many things of being in his own form he did not regret his choice to save the pony. A Pact could save lives so long as there were magic and blood to exchange. Many died in the exchange and most did not last the next several days due to the Pacts exchange. Kahl was quiet as the pony slid from the seated position and curled up on the couch cushion.

Kahl sighed and allowed the pony to sleep, knowing that it was caused by the strain that went through both of them. As he had no physical body to be taxed the dragons spirit was being used until they could meld their magic and that would alleviate the exhaustion being placed on both of them. The dragon did not mind keeping the strain to himself as Nix rested. They would begin to work on it later that evening and soon the strain would be removed from both of them. Kahl rested in the only way a spirit was able to by pushing himself to the far end of the ponies mind and thereby allowing his own reserves to replenish and keep them both going for the time being.

It would take several days for them to merge their power and allow Nix to use Kahl’s power as well as his own. It would also allow Kahl to act in Nix’s defense should the need arise. At the moment he could warn the pony but he could not act in his stead. The Elemental Dragon was not sure what power he would be able to excise in the moment or how much the ponies body would be able to handle. He was aware that he would be monitoring the magic and the flux and cost of using it as it happened. He chuckled as the pony shifted in his sleep and wavered on the edge of the couch.

Kahl chuckled at his confusion as he crawled to his hooves and jumped back to the couch and sat back down. “Yeah, I earned that laugh from you.” The stallion replied.

“Yeah. Probably will.” He agreed and laid down on the couch to avoid falling off it again. “Thanks, Kahl.”

Kahl allowed the stallion to drift back off to sleep as he considered where to start with Nix’s training. The young Unicorn had expressed a way to hide Kahl’s own magical signature. While he understood the ponies desire to protect him he was more concerned with merging their power and allowing the pony to grow accustomed to the dragons own magic. Without proper training, the merging of two entirely different magic’s could be disastrous. The dragon remained quiet as he continued to consider the stallion’s abilities and how to aid him in developing them further. He had to admit that Nix was far above most ponies his age in his skill and thinking. His ability to get that small gemstone from before to act as a storage device was quite clever and the dragon had been impressed with it. While the length of time had been a disappointment he understood that it had been a start to a method, not the end result. A loud knock on the front door broke through his own thoughts.

He went to the front door and found the moving van’s crew waiting for him and he smiled at the sight of them. “Glad you guys made it okay.”

“Not too difficult.” One replied and began to signal for them to begin unloading. “Pretty easy to find as well. Saw this house for sale a few weeks ago and then it sold in a day. Heard it was newly renovated. So you were the buyer?”

“Nah. I work for the Princess and she set me up here,” Nix replied and moved out of the way for the movers.

“Nice.” He replied and moved aside as well. “You know the deal guys. Put it in the right place.”

“Most of it is going downstairs to the basement,” Nix explained to him. “But some of it should be labeled otherwise.”

“Yeah. The labels are really specific so that will make this quick and easy.” The other replied and began to instruct the others as they passed him, depending on the labels on the boxes.

“Research and development,” Nix replied and watched as the boxes were moved.

“Some of it is for me as well,” Nix replied. “But it’s a challenge and that’s what gets me interested in it.”

“Well. Least you understand some of it. I’d look into some of these and be more confused than helped.”

“It depends on the box,” Nix admitted. “A few of them I’ll have to research first before I tackle anything.”

Nix stayed out of the way as they moved and he cringed at the sheer volume of boxes that were being set in their places. “Have to admit I’m more than just a little happy about the house coming already mostly furbished.” Nix admitted to the dragon.

“I agree. That would have caused more than a few issues with a timeframe.” He replied.

“How much time do you think you will need to teach me how to merge our magic?”

“We cannot delay too much longer. Too long will cause physical damage to your body.”

“Agreed. Are they going to be setting up your laboratory or are you going to need to do that?”

“Oh.” Nix approached the basement and went down the stairs as a sigh of relief escaped him at the sight of a pony setting everything up for him. “Awesome.” He spoke aloud and the pony looked back to him. “Sorry. I was just glad to see things getting set up.”

“I really appreciate it.” He said to her as he turned around on the steps. “How long do you need?”

“I will be leaving the boxes labeled project one through twenty on the back wall over there.” She pointed and he nodded in understanding. “I should be able to finish this before dinner.” She explained.

Nix trotted up the stairs and quickly got out of the way of the moving team once more. “That answers that.”

Nix was quiet as he thought it over. “I don’t think so, actually. Maybe that’s just how many boxes there are?”

The midnight Unicorn stayed in the kitchen as they moved things into place and began to unload some items for him. He remained in the back and waited to be called on. He could feel a sense of anxiety creeping up on him at the sight of so many ponies that he didn’t know in the house but he worked to ignore the feeling. His vibrant blue eyes scanned them and the items they were placed around the house. He hadn’t noticed that the house didn’t have any décor items as they moved them into place under his watch. He watched as several boxes were being taken to the bedrooms and he followed them, the sense of anxiety slowly getting stronger. He watched as one pony went into the extra bedroom with two boxes balanced on his back and the others went into his room.

They looked up as he came in and he tried to look friendly as they began to unload the extra furnishings and, to his surprise, several outfits for wear if he needed them. A suit and other formal items were placed in the closet with casual clothes and other small items. One of them opened another box and trotted into the bathroom and he peeked his head into the bathroom to watch them. He backed up as a tap to his shoulder nearly put him through the ceiling.

“Sorry. That box had this note in it for you.” The pony said to him and held out the letter.

Nix tried to smile through the anxiety and took the letter from him. He opened it slowly and backed up to stay out of the way.

Phoenix:
I added some clothing that I trust will be needed at some points in the future. If it does not fit please send it back and I will have it replaced with the correct sizes. Or to make it easier on you, Twilight’s friend Rarity runs a dress shop locally and she can also tailor or repair anything you need. The house should be furnished with the large items, such as the bed and appliances, I have included many small items to help decorate and if you do not like them please send them back. If Twilight knows a local business then please take them there instead. Whatever method is easiest for you. Thank you again for taking these projects on and please do not feel that you are on any deadline to finish them. I prefer quality work instead of fast. Mistakes can be made and I would prefer that you be as meticulous as you feel you need to be. Please enjoy your time and feel free to experience Ponyville and I hope to hear that you are settling in well and are comfortable.
Princess Celestia and Princess Luna
P.S. If you wish to communicate quickly I have asked Twilight if she would be okay with you asking Spike to send simple letters back to me. Anything that is more than that would need to be sent via the normal channels. Try to have some fun as well!

Nix looked up as the ponies left his bedroom carrying the broken down boxes with them. He trailed after them on three legs and tried to keep himself calm as the sight of so many ponies in the front room and kitchen set him on edge.

He could feel a warmth go over him as the dragon used his own sense of calm to ease the mind of the anxiety-ridden stallion. He breathed out a shaky breath as his breathing calmed and he could feel a sense of calm go over him and he looked up to find them still working.

“Nothing to be sorry for. We all have things that we are not comfortable with. You just happen to fear large crowds of unknown ponies.” Kahl reasoned to him.

Kahl’s tone was calm and assured and Nix could feel himself calming further at the Dragons voice. Nix could feel his breathing even out and he sighed and leaned back on his haunches and watched calmly as they worked.

“That’s a fair question.” Nix chuckled as he thought about it. “I was in grade school I think. I was not the most popular pony so I got picked on quite a bit. I started to dread school and eventually, it affected my grades and my parents went nuts. They lost it on the teacher and his response was to isolate me in the classroom during breaks and I started to get really upset in crowds and just learned to avoid them. Didn’t get better as I got older, I just learned to melt into the walls and stay away from ponies.”

“Not really. I didn’t have friends because it freaked me out so bad and my parents were on me at all times to succeed. So I just dove into my studies and nothing else mattered.”

“They are still in the room and you haven’t descended into a panic.” Kahl reasoned. “We will work on it over time. You may never be fully comfortable with the crowds but we can work on coping skills to help you to handle it in a healthy way.”

“Okay. Yeah, that sounds good. I don’t want to lean on you all the time.”

“I am here regardless. We will work on this just like we will work on your aversion to fire. All things in time.”

“Yeah still not looking forward to that.” Nix chuckled. “But I will try.”

Nix watched them over the next couple hours and they asked him about the placement of some items and he did his best to help them out.

Nix looked to the basement door as the mare who was setting it up motioned for him to join her. He followed her down the stairs and into the basement. His eyes widened at the laboratory that stretched out before him. “Holy shit.” He whispered.

“Yeah. Place your hoof there.” She pointed and he did as she told him. “Okay so this will store any recordings and any materials you think need extra protection. Only you can open it. Now we can secure it further if you want to.”

He glanced to his horn and nodded to her. “Do I need to bring magic onto it or?”

“Nope. Just slide your horn in there.” She pointed to a recessed section of the small vault and he did as she said and stayed still as the lock clicked down on his horn.

“Okay, so this will recognize your magical signature and will allow you to add extra security. If material is really valuable you can set it in here and enable the one lock or both and it will remain locked till you open it.” She explained.

Nix waited as the lock disengaged and he was able to pull his head back and he watched as the locks inside the safe engaged. He could hear them clicking closed and he glanced to her. “Wow. I have to admit that is really cool.”

“It’s state of the art. It’s the main reason I came to set everything up. Whatever you’re working on must be really important. The Princess demanded this come along.” She explained.

Nix glanced to the back wall where the boxes sat and he looked to her with a casual shrug. She smiled and walked up to the stairs with him. He paused outside the basement door and closed it behind him. His mind wandered to the locks in the basement and he waited as they began to finish up in the living room and kitchen. He trotted to them and watched as they broke down the remaining boxes and carried them outside. The midnight Unicorn followed them and they began to pack up and the back of the van was shut with a resounding sound.

“All right.” The lead pony came up to him. “Yer all set. Thanks for letting us do our thing. We appreciated that you tried to stay out of the way. Most homeowners are not that polite.”

Nix chuckled. “I didn’t figure that barking at any of you would be a good idea. I want you to help me versus being pissed at me.”

“Not the most common way of thinking. So thank you again and have a good night.”

“You too. Safe return.” Nix said to him as they finished up and pulled away from him, leaving him in front of the house, alone.

He turned back to the house to go inside when a loud whistle caught his attention. He looked up as a familiar Pegasus came to hover close to him. She smiled at him as she dropped down to the ground close to him.

“You do know that it’s rude to whistle like that, right?” Nix said to her.

“Okay, I’m sorry. The others should be here in a second.” She said to him.

Nix looked past the rainbow mare as Twilight and the others joined her. He looked to the purple Unicorn, his expression questioning as she smiled to him.

“Sorry to bother you again, Phoenix. But I figured since you probably haven’t eaten that we would invite you to dinner, our treat.” She explained to him.

He opened his mouth to decline when his stomach betrayed him. He grimaced as they chuckled and he looked to the house behind him. “Let me check the locks and I’ll join you out here.”

“You don’t?” He said to her and she shrugged. “Well. I‘m a bit paranoid.” He replied and went back to the house.

“Should be fine. It’s just them and if it gets bad can you back me up?” Nix asked the dragon.

He came back outside and locked the front door with a twist of a key. He looked around to find a place to hide the key. “Crap.”

“A little magic is fine.” Kahl assured him. “Send it into the house to avoid having to place it into separate pocket storage.”

His horn lit and the key was sent back to the house so he could summon it to him later. “Okay, lead on.” He said to the group and they smiled and walked with him into town.

Twilight stood on his right and she began to point out businesses as they walked. He took note of a few of them as they approached a small restaurant. He sniffed the air and the smell of burgers reached his nose. Phoenix liked to think of himself as an omnivore so he had no problem eating a wide variety of foods. The outside was pink in color and the roof looked like it was made of straw but he chose not to judge it by the outside. A billboard above it showed a large burger and he managed not to run into the building as his stomach snarled once more. Pinkie bounced up to the door and opened the door with a bowing flourish that Nix couldn’t’ help but chuckle at.

The others stayed close to him as he looked up to the menu above the counter. He scanned the menu and found that there were no meat burgers but he ignored that and looked to the others.

“Most anything is really good,” Twilight replied to him. “What do you like?”

“I eat just about anything.” He replied. “Right now I’m contemplating chewing on the counter. I’m starving.”

“I usually get the hay burger and fries,” Twilight said to him and he nodded.

“Hmm.” He looked over it again and looked to the stallion behind the counter. “I’ll take number three.” He said and the stallion nodded as Twilight stepped forward next.

“And I will have a number four.” She said and waited as the total was rung up. She paid for their meals and they stepped aside to wait for it to be called.

“Not a problem. It’s really nice to see you again. It’s been…four years?”

“Oh yeah. Your right. I was really surprised not to see you for the next four years at school.” She said to him as the stallion at the counter looked to her and pushed their meals toward the end of the counter. Her magic picked it up and she looked to the others. “Hey girls?” They glanced at her. “I’ll get the big booth for us to sit together, okay?”

“So where’s Spike?” He asked her. He was trying to steer away from the reason he didn’t go to school with her.

“Oh, he went back to the Library. He was up early with me this morning so I think he was pretty worn out.

She flushed a bit at his teasing and slid into the booth first and he slid in after her. She gave him his food and they waited for the others to join them.

He picked up his burger and looked to her. “Until further notice.” He replied and bit into his food.

He nodded through the bite of food in his mouth. The hay burger was crunchy and he swallowed as Applejack and Pinkie joined them. He licked his lips and bit into it once more. The others got settled and the rest joined them at the table. Applejack sat next to him and the others slid into the booth as well.

“So how long have you known Twilight?” Rarity asked him politely as she settled into her seat.

Nix nodded and chewed his food. He glanced around them at the other ponies around and he pushed the bit of anxiety to the back of his mind while telling himself that he knew the six ponies around him so he would be fine. He finished his burger and focused on the conversation while chewing on his fries.

He managed not to flinch at her question and looked to the others before replying. “I decided to travel instead.” He explained.

“Yeah. I just kept going and was enjoying it so I just didn’t go back.” He replied.

“Yeah. The normal ones mostly, but I spent the last couple of years in the same place and dealt more with the Everfree’s creatures than normal ones.” He replied to her observation.

“What was the most recent?” Rainbow questioned. “Did you see giant snakes, manticore, or other stuff?”

He thought back as Kahl spoke up. “I would try to avoid the dragons if possible.”

“A Manticore got too close to the town so I drove it off.” He replied. “So that was the most recent that I dealt with on my own.”

“No. They helped me out when I needed it and I decided to stick around the pay them back.” He explained. “I know it cost them a bit to help me but they never told me how much. So I stayed to protect them.”

“That’s pretty nice of ya. Most wouldn’t do that.” The orange mare said to him. “So how come ya stopped?”

Nix went quiet and he sat back in the booth. He looked to the others and they were staring at him, waiting for him to reply. “Not needed anymore.”

The farm mare took the hint and dropped it with a nod of understanding. “Well, ya are welcome in Ponyville. It’s good ta see a new face.”

“We are more than happy to have you join our town Phoenix.” Rarity said to him.

“Nah. Ran out of time. Princess Celestia was going to send something to them so she was going to let them know.” He replied, hoping that would stop any further questions.

“Princess Celestia said that she gave you a test to make sure that you could do the research for her,” Twilight said to him.

“Yeah. Was the final test to uhm… graduate her advanced courses.” He supplied.

“Oh wow. And you passed?” He nodded at her question and Twilight smiled widely at him. “That’s awesome, Phoenix. That test was hard and a lot of ponies didn’t pass it.”

“She mentioned that.” He said to her. “It was pretty cool to hear I passed without any formal teaching.”

They all slowly finished their meals and threw away the trash to help the workers to have less to clean. They left the restaurant behind and began to walk back into town. He ignored the look twilight gave her friends and looked to him once more.

“You could come over and meet with Spike for a little bit. I know you met him for a little bit, but I think he would like to know that he can go to you as another friend. He’s around all of us normally.” She explained.

They smiled as they led him down the streets of Ponyville. He looked up as the silhouetted of a large tree loomed ahead of them.

“That’s the Golden Oak Library. I live there with Spike.” Twilight explained.

“Cool. Thanks for that. I brought a bunch with me, but I know that I will need others.” He replied.

The purple Unicorn smiled and they opened the front door for him. It was dark inside and he walked in as the door behind him closed. His eyes gave off a slight glow in the dark and he looked around for a light switch. “Bloody hell it's dark. Twilight?”

The lights came on, blinding him and he closed his eyes at the sudden assault. Vibrant blue orbs opened to find a horde of pony’s inside the library. He stared as they all screamed welcome to him.

A Pact to Live

by OblivionShadow

6: Reconnect...