//------------------------------// // Princess Celestia reveals it all! Steam and the Eternal Peace Project! // Story: Sonic X: Friendship is Universal // by JPtheRobotHedgehog //------------------------------// SONIC X: FRIENDSHIP IS UNIVERSAL Episode 18: Princess Celestia reveals it all! Steam and the Eternal Peace Project! Princess Celestia’s POV “Very well, I shall tell you the whole truth…” As some of you already know, Equestria is a mystical world of magic and wonder, filled with many beautiful landscapes and wondrous creatures, including ponies, griffons, sahuagins, dragons and more. Using the magic of friendship, our societies have flourished and we all managed to coexist with each other in peace, despite our differences. But while it is a peaceful world for the most part, and despite all the efforts to maintain order and peace, it is not without those who wish to disturb it…vile, evil creatures, consumed by the darkness in their hearts, they seek to destroy our societies and rule over our world with an iron fist, bringing chaos and ruin into our lives and bring nothing but pain and suffering to anyone who opposes them. Fortunately, our world has yet to meet complete ruin, because of one its most powerful artifacts and valuable treasures: the Elements of Harmony. Before Twilight and her friends, my sister Princess Luna and I were the bearers of the Elements of Harmony and together we have defeated many evils that tried to conquer our world and bring misery to our little ponies. Together with the rulers of neighboring kingdoms, and our closest, most trusted allies from across Equestria and beyond, peace and harmony was restored and we all lived happily ever after...or so we wished that was the case. Although we were successful in defeating our enemies and restore peace, Equestria was still a dangerous place for anypony to live in. Even with all major threats out of the picture, we knew we still needed a plan, not only to ensure that our enemies can never threaten us again, but also to prevent any new threats from rising. But even with our magic and even with the Elements, it still wasn’t enough to make everypony’s lives easier. That’s where Equestria’s royal scientists come in. Among them was Dr. J, a rather eccentric scientist pony who loves making gadgets, calling them her “babies” and such. While she wasn’t exactly the most friendly of ponies, and wasn’t very good at making friends, her heart was still in the right place and her gadgets really helped better the lives of all of Equestria’s citizens. Next we had Dr. Horo, a griffon scientist who moved from Albatross to Canterlot in order to expand his field of expertise: cybernetics. He was a very serious individual, with barely a sense of humor left in him, but a brilliant scientist nonetheless. He’s helped many ponies by replacing the limbs of injured and disabled ponies and made quite a name for himself. And finally there’s Steam, a scientist pony who uses his steam-powered machines to achieve his goals, but also to help everypony in need. He was, or rather, is a very ambitious pony, saying that one day his genius will revolutionize all over Equestria and that his name will go down in history as the greatest pony scientist who has ever lived. Together, these three brilliant scientists have worked together on finding ways to help us make Equestria an even better place for everypony and ensure that all evil can never succeed. And even though most of their solutions were temporary, they succeeded in bringing peace back to all kingdoms. But Steam wasn’t satisfied… One day, I was asked for an audience by Steam saying that he had come up with a plan that could finally solve everypony’s problems, permanently. He called it: the “Eternal Peace Project”. “We’ve been working our flanks day and night coming up with solutions to solve every crisis in Equestria for ages, but every single one of them turned out to be temporary.” He explained to us, “But the Elements of Harmony, they have the power to banish evil, right? So my plan is, to create this machine, using the power of the Elements, to transmit its magic in the form of radio waves all over Equestria and erase every trace of evil inside everypony’s hearts all at once! And with the Elements’ unlimited magic power, and the continuous Harmony waves spreading all across the world, Equestria will be rid of evil, forever!” Apparently, neither Horo nor J were aware of this plan, since Steam was the one who came up with it on his own. Steam showed us the blueprints for some kind of machine that was meant to send out energy waves that could remove all evil intentions out of anypony it touches. But in order for the machine to work, it required the six Elements of Harmony. At the time, we didn’t really know the full extent of the Elements’ powers, but I thought that Steam’s plan was so crazy, that it might just work. Horo and J were also onboard in collaborating on his “Eternal Peace Project” and so, with this unanimous decision, we put the plan into motion. But little did we know, that the “Eternal Peace Project” was actually going to bring ruin instead of peace... “Excuse me.” Chris raised his hand, interrupting my story, “You just said “I” and left out Luna back there. Where was she during that time?” I fell silent for moment as I looked at Luna, who nodded sadly. I sighed as I replied, “Sadly, at one point during our mission to maintain peace in Equestria, my sister Luna has too succumbed into the darkness in her heart and became a monster that threatened the safety of our little ponies. She had to be locked away in the Moon for a long time.” Chris, Kat and the others looked shocked at this, remembering that Twilight and her friends told them about how Princess Luna became a monster known as “Nightmare Moon” but later returned back to normal thanks to the Elements of Harmony, as they looked at Luna who nodded sadly. I cleared my throat as I said, “But that is a story for another time. May I continue?” “Yes, sorry for interrupting.” Chris said. “It’s alright.” I cleared my throat, “Continuing on…” A month later, after a lot of hard work and barely any breaks for eating and sleeping, we’ve finally managed to put together the “Harmony Machine” as Steam called it. Steam as usual, was so full of confidence that this plan was going to work while Horo patted his old friend and partner on the back for a job well done and J…well, she looked a bit hesitant, but tried to hide it by acting like everything was going to be okay. But I could tell that something was bothering her. Does she think this plan might not work, I wondered. Well, sadly, there was only one way to know that for sure… “Finally, the Harmony Machine is complete! With this, Equestria will become a peaceful paradise for everypony! All of our problems, including all of our future ones will finally be solved!” Steam said in excitement and filled with confidence, “Now, all we need to do is place the Elements of Harmony in each slot and then we can get this show on the road! Your majesty, care to do the honors?” “Of course.” I said as I lifted up the chest containing the Elements inside using my magic. “W-Wait just a second!” Dr. J spoke up, “Can we please stop and think for a second?” We all looked at J in confusion, “Is there something to matter Dr. J?” “I mean, I know we’re supposed to maintain the peace of Equestria, but once all of that evil is gone, then what?” Dr. J asked. “Then what? We’re free to live our lives however we please without the fear of anymore threats, that’s what!” Steam said. “Yeah but, Princess, are you really sure you want to go through with this?” Dr. J asked me. “Well, I…” I tried to answer the best I could but then… “Of course she does! This is what she and her sister have been working so hard to achieve: to create a world of peace and harmony with no more wars or conflicts.” Dr. Horo said, “If only Princess Luna didn’t lose her marbles and got herself locked away in the moon.” I gave Horo the glare, “Dr. Horo! I do not appreciate when anypony speaks for me, and especially mentioning my sister!” “My apologies your highness, I was merely trying to help as a royal scientist.” Dr. Horo said. “Plus, it’s because of the evil inside everypony’s hearts when our world is unable to be truly peaceful in the first place!” Steam said, “This is why we’ve built this machine! So that we can finally have true peace at last!” “It’s true that evil exists in all of us and if we’re not careful we may succumb and do horrible things that we may regret later, but it’s also because of evil why good exists!” Dr. J said, “What if getting rid of all evil DOESN’T solve our problems? What if getting rid of evil ends up creating NEW problems instead? Have you perhaps considered that possibility?” I couldn’t believe what Dr. J said and neither could Steam and Horo. And yet, she made a valid point. Good can only exist because of evil, just like day and night cannot exist without each other. There needs to be a balance in all things. Oh, how could I have been so foolish? I was so focused on bringing peace to Equestria that I have forgotten that even if you have good intentions, you may end up doing more harm than good if you are not careful. “Come on J, getting cold hooves now? Even after all of this time? You already agreed to do this, so you might as well see all the way to the end right?” Steam said. “Princess, you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to, but I’m honestly having second thoughts about this plan.” Dr. J said, “Please…” “Come on Princess, we need to end this now! It’s time fulfill our destiny and free Equestria from all evil, forever!” Steam said. “No! Good and evil cannot exist without one or the other!” Dr. J shouted, “Just like how day and night cannot exist one without the other, or how a predator cannot exist without prey, or why dreams cannot exist unless we have negative feelings! Don’t do this!” “Do it!” Steam shouted impatiently. “Don’t!” J shouted as she pleaded. “Just do it, your highness!” Horo shouted. “NO!” “YES!” As the two sides continued to pressure me into picking one choice or the other, it suddenly felt like time had just stopped. I needed to gather my thoughts and think about this, as I mentally blocked out their shouting. It is true that Equestria, while a peaceful world full of harmony, it is not without its flaws and there are many threats hiding in the shadows waiting for the opportunity to destroy that peace. My sister, my allies throughout Equestria and I have worked together to save the world from anypony who wished to cause harm and we have succeeded despite our victories only being temporary. Using the Harmony Machine might finally put an end to this cycle, but at the same time, what if that ends up creating a new problem instead of solving everything. If everyone loses all evil in their hearts, only good and positivity will remain, but…that might just end up turning them into carefree zombies that cannot think of anything other than living in the present and forget about both the future and even the past. If good can only exist as long as there is evil, then where will all that evil go? Perhaps it won’t be destroyed and instead it gather in one place and…I can’t even imagine what that would result. Sure, I’ve heard that sometimes miracles can only happen with a leap of faith, but the chances of something like that happening are too low, even by Equestria standards. I may be the Princess of the Sun, and one of the most powerful alicorns to ever live, but even I am not invincible, far from it actually. And the same goes for my sister and my niece. We all have flaws, but it’s those flaws that actually gives us reason to better ourselves. It’s what give us the extra push to move forward. It’s our negative emotions and the evil slumbering in our hearts that makes our positive ones and the good in our hearts even stronger. We managed to get this far because we worked together as a team, not only to better the lives of everypony, but in order to better ourselves and each other too. In short, Steam’s “Harmony Machine” isn’t the solution to our problems, but the Magic of Friendship itself that is the better solution. As long as we have friendship on our side, then Equestria will always have peace and harmony! With my mind made up, I turned my attention back to the royal scientists who were still going on and on whether to use the machine or not. “My friends, I am sorry to say, that despite our efforts, I regret informing you all that the Harmony Machine is NOT the solution we’re looking for.” I told them. “WHAT!?” Steam screamed in horror and shock, while Horo glared at me. “Oh, good. I was worried you’d actually agree with them.” J said. “I have realized that without evil, there can be no good.” I said, “If we use this machine, it won’t solve all our problems and will create a new one instead.” “Y-You…! After all this time, you’re just going to back out!?” Steam screamed in anger. A red vein sticks out of his forehead “Seriously? Getting cold hooves too Princess? Whatever happened to maintaining the peace of Equestria!?” Horo asked. “I am sorry Doctors, but if “Eternal Peace” means risking turning everypony into carefree zombies, then I cannot trust it.” I said firmly, “Besides, evil isn’t something that can be destroyed, just like how good cannot be destroyed either. What if instead of being destroyed, all the evil will gather in one place and…a new, even bigger threat is born from it?” “B-But…you won’t know unless we try, right?” Steam asked. “Again, I am sorry, but there are just some risks that are just too great to take.” I said, “Besides, even if they are only temporary, look at how much we have managed to accomplish together. Did we not make it this far, because we worked together and had each other’s backs the whole time? Did we not succeed in bettering the lives of others and our own as well because we’re a team? Not just as team, but friends.” “Huh!?” Steam and Horo looked confused while J was surprised. “That’s right, we’ve managed to keep peace and harmony because we’re friends. The Magic of Friendship is the one and true solution to all our problems!” I said, “Yes, we may fight, we may do or say things we’ll regret later, but we can learn from those mistakes and get back on our feet and try again. It may not be a perfect solution, then again, no solution is without flaws, but as long as we have friends that we love and we can trust, you can overcome any obstacle. That’s why, I have decided to call off the “Eternal Peace Project” and instead, spread the word of Friendship to all of Equestria.” J started clopping her hooves on the ground as she applauded me, “Well said Princess! And I agree! As long as we have friends, we can take on whatever challenge any villain throw at us! So let’s forget about all this and move forward with our next project!” “Agreed.” I said, before I looked at Steam and Horo, “You understand, right Steam? Dr. Horo?” Steam and Horo had fallen silent for a moment, before I suddenly felt the ground shake for about five seconds before the scientist pony shouted, “NOOOOOO!” his voice filled with anger. “S-Steam!?” J asked in shock, while I also looked just as shocked. “YOU CAN’T QUIT!!! NOT AFTER ALL OF THIS!!!” Steam yelled at the top of his lungs, his expression filled with anger, “YOU AGREED TO THIS, SO NOW YOU MUST SEE TO IT TILL THE END!!! WE ARE GOING TO END ALL OF EVIL AND CURROPTION IN EQUESTRIA FOREVER!!!” “Steam, please, calm down and think it over! We can’t get rid of evil! It is a part of our nature, much like…” “SHUT UP!!!” Steam yelled, interrupting J, “I AM NOT ABOUT TO LET ALL MY HARD WORK GO TO WASTE JUST BECAUSE YOU’RE TOO CHICKEN $#%& TO TAKE SOME RISKS!!!” “Steam! First of all, language! Second, no yelling! And third, some risks are just not worth taking! Sometimes you have to take the hard path in order to achieve your goal!” I tried to reason with him. “If you’re too afraid to make the right choice, then we’ll just have to make it for you! Dr. Horo!” Steam commanded. Suddenly, Horo threw his cane aside and took off his lab coat, revealing the giant cybernetic right arm, with razor sharp claws, as he stood up on his hind legs menacingly. “Dr. Horo, wha…ACK!” I cried in surprise as I dodged the mechanical claw attack from the griffon scientist. “Princess!” J shouted as she rushed to my side. “I’m okay Doctor.” I assured her as I glared at both Horo and Steam, the latter with a glare of hatred and the former giving me a cold, menacing look. “You should know better than to back out at the last minute Princess.” Horo said, “Now you pay the consequences of your actions.” “Give us the Elements of Harmony, OR DIE!!!” Steam yelled. “I will not!” I said as I put the chest away with my magic, “Now desist this foolish act at once! I do not wish to harm either of you!” “Same! We’re supposed to be friends, we shouldn’t be fighting each other like this!” Dr. J said as she brought out one of her gadgets, two pairs of mechanical boots, one pair for both fore and hind legs. “If we really are friends, then give us the Elements and FREE US FROM THIS NIGHTMARE FOREVER!!!” Steam yelled. “No!” I said. “Then…DIE!!!” Steam said he climbed onto Dr. Horo’s back and brought out his weapon, a steampunk gun. (BGM: Wily Machine – Megaman 9 Arranged Soundtrack) I reacted quickly as I summoned a shield with my magic to block Steam’s shots from his gun. Dr. J rushed forward, turned around and bucked at Dr. Horo with her mechanic boots, knocking the griffon back a bit. Steam and Horo glared at her as I summoned a shield around her, blocking Steam’s gunshots and the laser beams from Horo’s bionic left eye. “Your shields cannot protect you forever!” Horo shouted coldly as he lunged at both of us and slashed his giant mechanical claw at us. I responded by flaring open my wings, picking up J with my levitation spell and fly up high, avoiding the attack. I placed J on my back as I summoned another magic barrier, blocking both Steam and Horo’s gunshots and laser beams. “Please stop this! We don’t want to fight you!” I tried to reason. “Then why won’t you just give up the Elements already!” Steam demanded in anger. A red vein sticks out of his forehead “We’ve already told you, nothing good will come out of this project! It will just create more chaos!” Dr. J shouted. “You are but a pair of cowards, too scared to do what needs to be done.” Horo said as he flared open his wings and took flight, lunging at us with his claw again. I was just barely able to dodge as I was forced to counterattack by shooting magic blasts from my horn at Horo, who blocked my blasts with his mechanical arm. I flew away but the two former friends gave chase as they continued to fire and J and me as I used my magic barrier to block their shots. “STOP RUNNING AWAY YOU COWARD!!!” Steam yelled as he continued to fire his gun at us, while Horo fired more lasers. I kept flying away until Dr. J suddenly jumped off my back and toward the two crazed villians, “Dr. J!” I cried in concern as I looked back. J used her boots to enhance her physical strength and jumped up high into the air and dived toward them, or rather directly towards Steam, punching him across the face, forcing him to drop the gun and knocking him off of Horo as the two fell off the griffon. Horo and I stopped and watched as the two fell towards the ground. I flew down and used my levitation magic to catch them both and helped them land safely on the ground. Dr. J looked up and gasped, “Princess, LOOK OUT!” she shouted. I looked up and saw Horo lunging at me with his claw again. Unfortunately, I had no time to dodge so I summoned my magic barrier again. I was able to avoid severe damage, by the force of his attack destroyed my barrier and knocked me back against the wall. “Princess!” Dr. J cried in concern, but Steam suddenly punched her across the face. “You bitch! How could you betray me like that?!” Steam yelled as he punched her again and again, then finally bucked her, knocking her back across the room, “We were going to change the world together! But I guess you’re just that bad at making friends, because you always turn your back on them when they need you most!” Dr. J glared at Steam, “Friend!? You lost the right to call yourself our friend the moment you acted like a stallioncolt, just because the Princess and I realized your plan was flawed!” “SHUT UP!!!” Steam yelled as he punched J across the face again. “J!” I yelled as I pulled myself out the wall, dodging more laser beams from Horo as he continued to fly after me. I flew towards Steam and J, the former still beating her up and pulled J out of there with my levitation magic. “Thank you your highness.” Dr. J said weakly as he face was bruised from Steam’s beating. “You’re welcome.” I said as I used my magic to heal her. Steam threw a fit after I’ve managed to save J from him. He looked around and made a run for his gun, but I shot a magic blast at it, blowing it up to bits, before he could grab it. “NOOOOOO!!!” Steam cried in horror. Horo however was still coming at us. Dr. J galloped towards him while dodging his laser beams and threw some punches and bucks at him using her boots to increase her strength, knocking him back while he blocks her attacks with his cybernetic arm, before he swatted her back with it. I manage to catch her with my magic and put her down gently. Both of us got into position as Horo was coming at us, with Steam joining his side. “Give us the Elements, or we really won’t hesitate to kill you both!” Steam demanded coldly. “I’ve already told you: no!” I said, “And that’s my final word!” “Same here! I’m not going to sacrifice everypony’s free will for the sake of a fake peace!” Dr. J said. “Very well…” Steam looked at Horo and gave him the approval look. Horo nodded in response as he approached us and raised his mechanical arm, “If I still had a sense of humor, I would laugh at your futile attempts to stop us.” I responded by firing a magic beam at Horo, who moved out of the way, “Missed!” he taunted. “Oh, did I?” I said while smiling smugly. KABOOOOOM!!! An explosion was heard from behind Steam and Horo, along with the sound of metal bits hitting the ground. They both looked back and gasped in horror to see that the “Harmony Machine” was blown to bits by my magic beam. “M-My…My…MY HARMONY MACHINE!!!” Steam screamed in horror, “Destroyed!?” Horo glared at me, “You tricked me into moving out of the way!” “Your fault for leaving yourself open and for standing right in front of the machine.” I said without losing my smug smile. “Nice one Princess!” Dr. J said as she rushed toward Steam and punched him across the face so hard he was knocked unconscious. Before Horo had the chance to react, I trapped him in a magic bubble and shrunk it down to the point that he was curled up in a ball and unable to move. “You think this can stop me!?” Horo demanded while trapped in the magic bubble. “No, but this will!” I said as I used my magic to send Horo flying out the window. He kept on going while trapped in the magic bubble, far, far away from Canterlot, until he ended up getting caught in the middle of a passing dragon migration. I could faintly hear him screaming in horror as the dragons ganged up on the old cyborg griffon while carrying him away towards their destination. (BGM ends) With Dr. Horo taken care of, I turned my attention to Steam, as Dr. J glared down at him. “I can’t believe it…he just…attacked us out of nowhere like that…” she said, “I thought he and Dr. Horo could have been trusted, despite their personalities, but to think they would go this far to achieve their goals…” “I am just as shocked as you are.” I said, “But now, he needs to face the consequences of his foolish act.” And so, with Steam and Horo defeated and the Harmony Machine destroyed, Equestria was saved from another disaster. I called the Royal Guards and ordered them to place Steam under arrest. After his arrest, Steam was put on trial and was found guilty of the following charges: “Assault and battery”, “Attempted murder” and “Attempted reckless endangerment”. For these crimes, Steam was sentence to live in exile in the middle of the Badlands, where he would live out the rest of his days alone. On the day after the trial, Dr. J and I watched as Steam was taken away inside the prison carriage, as he glared at us from the window, “You will both regret this! Mark my words, I will be back and the Eternal Peace Project will finally be completed and then Equestria will finally be free of all threats! Including YOU!” he spouted his last words before he was finally out of sight. With the matter resolved, Dr. J apologized to me about the entire incident, saying that she should have realized it sooner, that the “Eternal Peace Project” was flawed from the start and that both Steam and Horo were too full of themselves to realize the error of their ways. I assured to her that I was just as guilty for not realizing it sooner either and I thanked her for helping me realize the error of my ways for agreeing to that project in the first place. Dr. J was surprised but happy to hear me say that, but she still felt the need to take responsibility for all of this. She told me she was going to quit her job as a royal scientist and travel around Equestria to improve her skills as a scientist and continue to use her talent to help everypony in need. I respected her decision and wished her best of luck on her journey. With my sister locked away in the moon, Dr. Horo becoming a plaything for the dragons, Steam living in exile and Dr. J now traveling Equestria, I realized I was now forced to bear the burden of ruling over and protecting Equestria alone. I did the best I could, but I knew I couldn’t do this by myself, which is why I decided to search for somepony to become my student, teach them about the importance of both life and friendship, and hopefully that same student would one day surpass and succeed me as one of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. “Twilight Sparkle being that student correct?” Kat asked me. “Correct.” I said, while hiding the fact that Twilight wasn’t my first student, but that was yet another story for another time. “Yeah and when Nightmare Moon escaped from the moon and tried to bring the “Eternal Night” or whatever back to Equestria, Twilight, the others and I became the new Bearers of the Elements of Harmony and together we kicked her butt and changed her back into Princess Luna!” Rainbow Dash said, “And the rest is pretty much history.” “Wow, so what Steam was trying to do this whole time was wiping out all evil the world with the Elements of Harmony?” Twilight asked, and I nodded, “I see, no wonder why he got exiled.” “Yeah, this whole time he was just trying to play God and rob us of our free will, and therefore creating a fake, artificial peace!” Rainbow said. “A well-intentioned extremist, is what we call people, or ponies in this case, like Steam.” Chuck said, “Indeed, he may have had good intentions, but his actions were more harmful than good. No good deed should ever come at the cost of the lives of the innocent, we need find a solution where no one needs to be sacrificed.” “I agree!” Tails said. “Same here!” Amy said. “Ditto!” Pinkie Pie said. Everyone present at the table nodded in agreement, “Thanks for telling us all of this Princess.” Twilight told me, “Now that we know what we’re up against, we won’t stop until Steam is defeated and learns a lesson he’ll never forget.” “And you can count on us too!” Rainbow said, as she and the other Element bearers, Spike and her other friends, joined her side. “And now, you’ve got us too!” Amy said, joined by her other Mobian friends. “Same here, I guess.” Sonic said, while enjoying his apple pie piece. “Us too!” Kat and Chris said in unison. “I expect nothing less from my dear student and her friends, both old and new.” I giggled, “I’ll be counting on you all!” After finishing my story, we all continued to enjoy our apple-themed dinner, while conversing about other different topics. Once dinner was over we all prepared to go to bed early, as tomorrow, we had to continue working on the Animal Friends’ new home. Normal POV “Hold up, wasn’t Dr. J among us when we went to infiltrate Canterlot Castle after Steam took it over?” Pinkie Pie asked her friends, “Do you think she ended up in this world too?” “Oh yeah, you’re right!” Twilight said, “I mean, I hope not, but if she did…I just hope she’s okay…” “Yeah, same here.” Applejack said, “She did help us during our Albatross mission with all those gizmos she loves to tinker with.” “Wherever she is, I’m sure she’s doing fine!” Derpy said, “After all, she is a genius inventor!” Meanwhile… A shadowy four-legged figure in a cloak was helping a group of construction workers fix their equipment with her inventions. The workers were impressed as their shoddy equipment suddenly became good as new and working properly again, thanks to this mysterious stranger who was just passing by. “Hey thanks little pony! You saved our bacons in getting these old things working again!” one of the workers said. “Yeah, you were a big help!” another worker said. “It was nothing.” The cloaked pony said, “I was just doing my job in using my talents to help those in need.” “Well, you helped us out, so thanks!” a third worker said. “And now, I must be going.” The pony said as she started walking away. “Hey, before you go, could you tell us you name?” one worker asked. The pony stopped for a moment. She sighed as she took off her hood, revealing to be a female Earth Pony with a dark brown coat and silver mane, wearing a pair of grey goggles over her cyan eyes. “Just call me J.” she replied, “Dr. J.” To be continued…