//------------------------------//
// Part 1/2 -  "Hearts Weeping,  Friendships Leaping" 
// Story: Comfort Retreat 
// by frenettek314 
//------------------------------//

Today was a particularly extremely fun day for the always enthusiastic Pinkie Pie.  Not only were she and her 6 'bestest friends in the whole world' going to spend three whole fun-filled days camping near the Tree of Harmony - the beacon of their friendship - but she was especially excited for Twilight's promise of a joyful friendship retreat.  

Like the alicorn had mentioned earlier,  all the girls had been so busy with running the newly formed School of Friendship that they barely had any time to just relax and spend quality time together as friends.  Pinkie loved her third job teaching all the creatures of Equestria and beyond - she really did - but she also noticed the decline in the group's personal time lately;  besides,  any excuse to have fun with her friends was guaranteed to be approved by her.  

The peppy pink party pony began bouncing around as she began to imagine all the fun activities they could do together - that is once the group was reunited as they were apparently split up within the confines of the Everfree Forest.  

This didn't bother the pink bundle of energy though as she knew they would all be found soon.

"Then we can do friendship trust falls,  eat tons of marshmallows and tell cool stories,  play hide and seek...." her mind began rattling on as she hoped to find her remaining friends along the way.  

Besides, she already found one of them anyways.  

Indeed, right next to the energetic earth pony walked a lavender alicorn who appeared to be...annoyed?

"Huh, I wonder why Twilight's acting so much grumpier than usual? She was fine earlier.  And why does her coat seem to be a darker color?  And her mane looks frazzled for some reason?"

Pinkie began contemplating the strange state of her friend but decided to brush it off with a layer of optimism. 

"She's probably as excited to start this retreat as I am! I mean, she did plan it after all.   But why is she all the sudden so focused on finding the Tree of Harmony?  She acts like she's never heard of it..."

Truthfully, when she had discovered her friend,  Twilight all the sudden became focused on 'rounding up the others' until the topic of the Tree of Harmony came into question.  The rather irritated alicorn began questioning what the tree was and what it's source of power was before she demanded the pink pony take her to it.  Pinkie herself would've found this behavior strange but she figured this was all some sort of friendship activity where she was tested on her knowledge of friendship.  

And wanting to prove that she knew her friendship,  Pinkie declared she would take the purple princess to the tree herself, all while recounting the history regarding the tree.  Pinkie was going to win this game no matter what.  

She began reminiscing about the time where the Elements had battled Tirek and opened up the chest that the tree had bestowed upon them (all while including over-the-top physical props) as Twilight marched beside her silently.  

"And then we all grew super-long manes with all kinds of colors, and your castle grew out of the ground, and everypony was like, 'Whoa!' And then we sang this song about rainbows, and..." she recapped with her traditional enthusiasm before a faint, yet heavy sobbing sound filled her ears.  

She began searching for the sound of the painful crying before her eyes focused on a view that shattered her big cupcake-loving heart into smithereens.  

There, in the middle of an open patch of forest, laid the form of Fluttershy uncontrollably weeping as she huddled into her own hooves, her whole body shaking with each painful choke.  

Pinkie's whole cheerful demeanor diminished upon seeing the broken state of her friend.  Fluttershy was the sweetest, kindest, and most loving pony in all of Equestria (at least according to Pinkie), and to see that same pegasus now so clearly distraught made the normally perky pony explode with worry.  

"She never ever deserves to be sad! Well, no one deserves to be sad - but especially her!"

Pinkie immediately leapt over to Fluttershy's side, which unknowingly annoyed a scowling Twilight.  

"Fluttershy! What's wrong?" the pink pony asked, her brows deeply etched in concern.  

The heartbroken pegasus rose her head up, displaying her tear-filled eyes as she barely coughed up a response in her fit of tears.  

"Every creature is mad at me!"

The earth pony gasped in complete and utter shock.  Sure, she had seen her rather sensitive friend be upset before, but she swore she had almost never seen her this upset before.  The pegasus's sobs returned to full volume as her whole body began quivering, drawing Pinkie back to reality.  

"What?! That can't be right!" she retaliated incredulously as she sat down and immediately picked up the weeping pony in her grasp, holding the shaking body close to her as she delivered a warm embrace. 

Pinkie wanted to be happy right now.  She wanted to be playing games and laughing with her friends on this retreat, but the devastated form of the usually kind pegasus  managed to break her out of her happy form and replace it with a deep-seeded compassion to make her feel better. 

As she held the pegasus close, she tried to comprehend the meaning of her friend's words. 

"How can anyone be mad at Fluttershy?  She's like the physical embodiment of puppies, cupcakes, and rainbows combined.  She'd never do anything to purposely hurt someone."

Then, suddenly, after a silent moment of her trying to comfort the butterscotch pegasus, she was interrupted by a certain string of words that she'd never expect a certain alicorn to ever say - especially with one of her best friends in an emotional breakdown.  

There stood an annoyed Twilight which brought everypony to a screeching halt.  

"Can we hurry this up? We're on a schedule here!"

Pinkie's eyes froze in bafflement as she looked away from the crying form in her hold.  

"How could Twilight say that to her friend? To Fluttershy?  Doesn't she care?  And why is her coat still different?"

"Twilight, your schedule can wait! Fluttershy's upset." Pinkie shot a warning glare at the princess in front of her, still maintaining much of her bewilderment before leaning her head back in to nuzzle Fluttershy, whose eyes opened up slightly.

Pinkie wondered how Twilight could even worry about her retreat at a time like this - when one of her friends was pouring her heart out.  Wasn't this retreat supposed to be about friendship after all?  What kind of a friend scowled and ignored another in need?

"Well, tell her to get over it! I'll go get the others. Stay here!" Twilight bitterly barked as she stomped away in obvious anger.

All the pink pony could do was glare disappointingly at the retreating form while refocusing her efforts on trying to make her friend feel better.  Fun and games could wait after all; this sweet, gentle mare was in her hooves and she wouldn't let her down.  





After several long minutes of the kind-hearted pegasus's crying and sniffling, her vocal displays of heartache seemed to begin calming down significantly, indicating to the rather worried Pinkie Pie that it was perhaps time to transition into figuring out what exactly went wrong. 

As one hoof was softly petting Fluttershy's pink mane, she used her other front hoof to bring the pegasus's face so that it directly faced her own.  

"There, there. Don't listen to Twilight,  I have no idea what's going on with her.  What's going on, Flutty-Buddy? Why do you think every creature is mad at you?"

Fluttershy regarded her friend's warm, yet worried expression before she began nuzzling into the earth pony's warm chest. 

"Oh, Pinkie! Today has been awful!" she sniffed.  "I found a lost baby bird and placed it back into its nest but then I found myself lost from everypony else.  I began to panic before I spotted Rainbow and asked her to help me, but all she did was take off and leave me alone in the woods!  Then I found some more animals in the forest and tried to ask for help, but they all hissed and growled at me, calling me a 'bully' and a 'heartless jerk'! Then, they surrounded me and I got upset - until you and Twilight showed up, and she... she... she yelled at me!" she tearfully concluded as the sobs picked back up again.  

Pinkie sat there speechless as she tightened the hug around the animal-lover pony. None of this was making any sense to her - yet she could only watch as her friend broke down again. The earth pony slowly found a few tears in her eyes as she stared off into the distance of the forest for a good moment.  

"How is this even possible?!  Animals are mad at Fluttershy?! They love her - it's her passion! Then Rainbow abandons her when she's the most loyal pony I know! Then Twilight gets all mad and storms off to focus on her schedule!  Something's not right here,  it's almost like everything is the opposite..."

Fluttershy soon found her voice again as her shaky tone quickly redrew the attention of the sometimes scatterbrained pony. 

"Everyone hates me!  The animals, my friends... I'm all alone.  No one wants to be around me anymore! Everyone wants me gone! No one loves me anymore!  I'm all alone! I'm alone! Everyone..."

Fluttershy muttered in rapid fashion before an overwhelming amount of shaking and hyperventilating quickly made Pinkie retract the hug she had held her friend in as she quickly stepped back in fright.  

The pegasus - still in the midst of tears falling down her cheeks - had a hoof placed over her chest as she started to violently pant, almost like she was grasping for air as her whole body vibrated.  

"Flutters...?" Pinkie shakily mumbled, unsure of what was going on as she felt her own insides began to shake.  She had no idea what to do, but one look at Fluttershy's panicking form told her she needed to do something and she needed to do it now!

Then,  Pinkie's mind began to retract to a certain word,  "panic".

As if a sudden bolt of lightning had zapped  her wacky and candy-coated head, Pinkie suddenly gained a powerful series of flashbacks as she began remembering her sister, Marble Pie on the rock farm.  

Marble, much like Fluttershy, was a very introverted and timid creature who often preferred to keep to herself.  In fact, Marble may actually be worse off than the Element of Kindness as Pinkie could remember her sister on multiple occasions had developed severe cases of anxiety when spotlighted in public or in very stressful situations.  Heck, Pinkie could remember multiple times where Marble slowly became unable to breathe as her whole body seemed to collapse.  Her and the rest of the family would calm Marble down with their parents' instructions - not really knowing what was going on until their father had explained what a panic attack was.  

Everything suddenly clicked, as Pinkie took another glance at Fluttershy, slowly seeing her transform into her sister in her mind.  

"Is... is she having a panic attack?"  

Pinkie's prediction became very likely as Fluttershy continued to clutch her chest and tearfully grasp for air.  With her eyes widened and a determined look soon on her face, the earth pony knew what she had to do.

"Shhhh... it's ok.." she spoke gently as she slowly approached the trembling form.  "I'm going to be right here, I'm not going anywhere.  I need you to focus on taking a deep breath in..." she demonstrated, softly breathing in a gasp-full of air. "...and then let it out." she concluded.  The yellow pegasus, seeing her friend, slowly began following Pinkie's movements and instructions as they were repeated in a soothing manner. 

"Breathe in."

"And out."

"Breathe in."

"And out."

"Breathe in."

"And out."





After several long minutes of following the process, Fluttershy had completely stopped shaking as her breathing and posture returned to normal function.  Sure, she still looked miserable (even with the tears being forgotten for the moment) but Pinkie counted this as progress knowing her friend wouldn't overwhelm herself again.

"Feeling a little bit better?"  Pinkie softly asked as she wrapped a hoof around the pegasus's frame.  

Fluttershy managed to give a weak smile as she nodded.

"Good." Pinkie quietly exclaimed, giving off a warm smile before it transcended into a serious and worried frown.

"Now I'm not sure what's up with the animals, but something tells me Dashie and Twily aren't acting like their usual selves.  I know for a fact they wouldn't normally say stuff like that to you. They're our friends and I know they don't hate you."

Fluttershy's smile slowly turned back into a depressed frown as she once again positioned herself so that she could bury her head in Pinkie's soft chest. 

"Everyone's probably finally sick of me!  What if they don't want me around anymore?!" she fearfully exclaimed, though thankfully no more tears came as she finally seemed to be spent out from before.  

The pink earth pony gently rubbed a comforting hoof down the pegasus's smooth back as she carefully rested her head in the long pink mane.  

"Well, I know that's definitely not true.  Even if Rainbow and Twilight and the others felt that way - which I'm sure they don't - everyone couldn't hate you.  I will never hate you, you're one of the best ponies I know."

The pegasus's body physically hardened as the earth pony could feel her head shake in a 'no' like fashion. 

"Y-you're just saying that..." she weakly sniffed.  

Pinkie's eyes widened as she felt the sting of tears threaten her again.  

"She really doesn't know how special she is?!... to me?!"

Pinkie suddenly ceased her comforting motions as she leaned back to grab Fluttershy's head with her front hooves,  guiding it so it was at eye level with her own.  A concerned brow displayed on Pinkie's face as she and her friend stared directly at each other - Pinkie now noticing how red and puffy the other mare's eyes were. 

"How can you think that?! You're the best! You're like a vanilla cupcake with the sweetest pink frosting."

Fluttershy sniffled at the compliment as she looked away from Pinkie's worried gaze, her focus instead on the grass below them.

"Y-you don't have to lie to make me feel better..." she hesitated before a pink mane came directly into contact with her face, prompting the pegasus's eyes to stare back at her friend.  

"Fluttershy, please stop! I'm telling the truth here. How can I..." she paused before an idea struck.  

"Flutter-butter, I'm going to make a Pinkie Promise here and now that what I'm about to say to you is nothing but the complete and honest truth.  Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.  Ok?"

The pegasus's eyes widened in shock.  She knew how seriously Pinkie took the patented 'Pinkie Promise' so she had to be telling the truth.  Fluttershy nodded her head in understanding.  

Pinkie gave a soft smirk before her serious face returned, beginning her speech.

"Fluttershy, from the very first day I met you and for the rest of my life, you have and always will be one of the kindest, sweetest, wisest, friendliest, beautiful and most-loving ponies I have ever met."

Fluttershy's eyes sparkled as a large smile slowly crept across her face, continuing to listen with full interest. 

"You will always make me smile by just being yourself.  The way your smile lights up any room,  the soft and gentle hugs you give that can make anyone feel nice and calm,  the way in which you to try to see the good in everyone and offer them your kindness, the care and compassion you put into taking care of any and all animals throughout Ponyville and beyond - all of these traits show me just how much of an amazing pony you are."

"P-pinkie..." Fluttershy softly whispered, taken back by the sentimental words her usually bouncy friend was putting on full display.  

"The most amazing thing about you though is how brave you are."

Fluttershy quickly exclaimed her opinion on the matter as she tried to look away from her friend with a small blush developing on her face.

"No, I'm not." she replied bashfully though still with that same warm smile on her face. 

"Yes, you are!" Pinkie countered as Fluttershy's attention was redrawn.  

"You stood up to a big, mean dragon when you were terrified of it,  you helped Ponyville with the water tornado,  you befriended Discord, you overcame quite a bit of your stage fright, you accomplished your dream and built your animal sanctuary, and you've practically helped save Equestria a dozen times."

"That was all you, Fluttershy!  You did all those amazing things!  You've worked on your confidence a lot in the years that I've known you and you've grown so much. We really need to start calling you Flutter-bold now." she playfully joked at the end, causing the pegasus to give a light giggle.

"You're one of the most amazing ponies I've ever met and I don't think I could want too many ponies to be my best friend like I'd want you to be.  There are so many ways in which I appreciate you for who you are.  So while I highly doubt that all our other friends will ever hate you, even if they do, you'll never have to be alone. I'll always be here for you and I'm not going anywhere."  she concluded with upmost sincerity.  

Pinkie then slowly let go of Fluttershy's face as she enveloped the pegasus in a tight, affectionate hug.  

"You're amazing Flutters and I'll always let you know that... I love you, Shy-Shy."

Fluttershy, on the other side of the embrace felt a few leftover tears water her eyes - though this time in a happy manner with a loving, appreciative smile - as she returned the magnitude of the hug, surprising even Pinkie. 

The pegasus clenched her eyes shut as she nuzzled her head joyfully on the other pony's neck. 

"I love you too, Pinkie..." she softly uttered, making Pinkie smile.

"...you're one of my best friends."





"...you're one of my best friends."

Something about her friend's statement made Pinkie freeze as her eyes shot open, all while still holding on to the pegasus.  Something about that particular declaration made something roar inside Pinkie's head.  

"You know she's only saying that because she thinks you're her only friend now. Once she has her other friends back, she won't feel the same way." a voice echoed in Pinkie's mind.  

Her self-consciousness grew confused as she called back to it.  "Huh? Who are you?"

"I'm your doubt, Pinkie." it stated.

"Oh, hi. Pleased to meet you!" her mind cheerfully welcomed before it remembered something.  "But why are you here? And what's this about Fluttershy?"

"How can you two be best friends? You're two completely different ponies."

"Wh-what do you mean?" her internal mind began stuttering.  Meanwhile, externally, Pinkie's face conceived into a nervous frown, her eyes drifting downwards. 

"I mean that she's quiet and laid-back while you're loud and spontaneous."

"Hey! That may be true but that doesn't mean we can't be best friends!" she thought defiantly. 

"Really then?  How much have you two hung out in the past...just the two of you?"

"W-well..." Pinkie's face lowered even more as she feverishly took a glance back at the pegasus who was still obliviously nuzzling her.  

"Exactly. She'd much rather be at a quiet tea party or taking care of her animals than running around with exploding confetti cannons."

"Hey! Just because we have different interests doesn't mean we can't be best friends!"

Her doubt sighed for a moment.  

"And how often have you two worked on finding a compromise? An activity you can both do?"

Pinkie's mind remained silent as she tried desperately to find something to use as a retort. 

"Exactly. Now, do you honestly think she likes being a part of your crazy energy?!"

Again, nothing from Pinkie as she felt her mouth silently gasp in realization, feeling her throat dry up. 

"Let's see here: 




You've constantly scared her on multiple occasions. 

		You've frightened her animals with your cannons and she's gotten upset about it before.

		You made her cry when you kept trying to 'help' her with her stage fright. 

		She never goes to your parties unless all the others are there. 

		Heck, even this morning you practically gave her a heart attack playing hide and seek.  




Face it,  how can you two be best friends?"




Pinkie's eyes began to moisten, her gaze wavering back and forth as she tried to come up with something - anything as a rebuttal - but words failed her. 

Finally, doubt managed to hit her with a metaphorical gut punch.  

"Look, no offense here, but you'd only end up hurting her if you two were actual BFF's.  Once she has her other friends back,  she'll forget all about what she said - and honestly, it's for the best."

Pinkie's began to try and wrap her head around her doubt's suggestion, but a sound of quickly approaching hoofsteps caught the attention of her - as well as finally Fluttershy who had remained unaware of her internal ranting - as the two eased their way out of the hug to greet the visitor.  

Upon closer inspection, the two made it out to be none other than... Twilight?  But this time, she appeared to be her normal color of lavender and her mane seemed totally fine, unlike earlier.  What was perhaps the weirdest thing about the whole situation though was that instead of a bitter angry scowl like earlier or even a totally apologetic expression from her previous behavior, she instead appeared to be...concerned.

`	Regardless, Fluttershy flinched a bit in fear upon seeing the somewhat familiar pony from earlier who had yelled at the two of them and completely disregarded her feelings.  The flinch didn't go unnoticed by Twilight however as she took this into account -  combined with the pegasus's still red and puffy eyes - and turned around to face Pinkie with a disappointed frown.  

"Oh, great. You upset Fluttershy, too?" the alicorn mildly glared at Pinkie.  

Both earth pony and pegasus looked at each other in bewilderment before expressing their glances back up at Twilight, who began to look just as confused - but more so because of the other two's reactions.  

After a moment of processing however, Pinkie soon found herself giving Twilight a cold-blooded glare with a slight snarl.

"What?! I upset Fluttershy?!" her mind exploded.  

Pinkie soon found herself standing up as she proceeded to trot towards Twilight with a look of rage in her eyes. 

Twilight and Fluttershy were both shocked as Pinkie marched ever closer.  This pony, who was usually seen as a beacon of laughter and goodwill, had a look of fury in her eyes that the two had never seen before. It wasn't even the rare over-the-top theatrical anger either. This was genuine.  

"Pinkie?" Fluttershy concernedly muttered as she gaped breathlessly, trying to rise up and reach out a hoof to her friend, but to no avail.  

As Twilight's face converted into a look of shock with a small trace of fear, Pinkie began questioning why she was even this mad in the first place as she slowly strutted towards the princess.  Sure, the accusation hurt and seeing Fluttershy upset made her stomach crawl but why...

"Because Twilight'd normally be right?  Because it's usually you who does upset her?"

Pinkie's glare wavered for a moment as she walked ever closer. 

"Because you feel guilty that you've hurt this sweet angel of a pony before?"

"Pinkie?!" Fluttershy tried a little louder, but it was no use.  

Pinkie found her glare starting to come back as she was mere inches from Twilight. She was about to speak until...

"Because you think you're a bad friend?"

Pinkie paused as her eyes suddenly began watering before snapping back to reality, going muzzle-to-muzzle with Twilight as she delivered an icy glare. 

"You know what, Twilight? Maybe if you weren't so worried about schedules, you'd realize you're the one ruining the retreat for your friends!"

Twilight gasped before a look of hurt adopted her features.  

"Well, if my friends don't care about the retreat I planned for them... maybe they should've stayed home!"

All Fluttershy could do was watch on with a look of horror. 





Everything that happened after that felt like a blur to Pinkie, and that was saying something considering she was the one that was usually a blur.  

After a little back and forth between the alicorn and the earth pony, they were soon discovered by the rest of their friends - who all seemed to be having arguments with each other as well.  Accusations of this and that, while the others either denied or made more accusations - it was almost like everypony was hanging out with nasty duplicates of each other, but how crazy would that be?  

Finally, after the tension had escalated well beyond it's breaking point, Twilight ceased the madness with an authoritative shout. 

"Everypony, quiet!"

At this, everyone had stopped yelling at each other as they turned towards the princess with looks of curiosity.  

"Listen. We know each other really well — the great stuff and how to get on each other's nerves, too. I wanted a fun trip with my friends. But instead, I got carried away with plans and ruined everything. If you want to forget it all and head home, I won't be offended. I just want us to stop fighting."  

Pinkie took this speech to heart along with everyone else.  While it didn't necessarily explain why or how everypony had gotten on each other's nerves,  she heard an important truth in that statement.   They'd always be the best of friends no matter what came their way and they would always have each others' backs. It was a comforting statement that filled a cozy warmth inside Pinkie's heart as she found herself beaming along with all the other ponies.  They would always be her friends and nothing could change that.  

Sure enough, everyone quickly began apologizing to each other and made amends with huge grins on their faces. Pinkie quickly took to Twilight's side and apologized for her previous anger and for any 'apparent' displays that indicated she found Twilight's plans boring - she wasn't sure what that was about, but she didn't care. She was simply ecstatic to see everyone getting along again and was about to initiate a big group hug before two voices stopped her in her tracks.  

"So... does that mean you still want to have the retreat?" Twilight asked with a newfound source of hope. 

Everyone agreed before a meek, nervous voice vacated their hearing.  

"If everypony likes me again." Fluttershy pawed at the ground, wondering if her friends would ever want her company.

"YES!" everyone except Pinkie shouted as they soon collided with the pegasus, sending everyone into a sprawling group hug.  

Pinkie smiled as she prepared to join in the tackle-cuddle fest before a familiar voice plagued her head.  

"See?  She has all her closest friends back.  She doesn't need you to be her best friend anymore.  Again, it's for the best - you don't want to hurt her after all." it said as Pinkie's face morphed into a downcast frown.  

"Let's get to that Tree. I have the whole campsite set up and ready." Twilight exclaimed as she got up to begin leading her group of friends. 

"...sure." Pinkie spoke up with what she tried to disguise as her traditional ecstatic grin, walking over to the pile of friends.  "We'll have lots of fun."

The rest of the gang however seemed somewhat skeptical as they stared at the pink pony with concerns on all their faces.  

"Uh... ya sure yer alright, sugarcube?" began Applejack. 

"Yeah, you were the one who was the most excited for this retreat!"  exclaimed an equally worried Rainbow Dash. 

"Calm down Pinkie, it's not so bad.  You still have your other friends who all love you." she silently told herself as she slowly felt her grin become more natural. It wasn't completely perfect, but it was better at least. 

"Yeppery Peppery!" she exclaimed in a much more enthusiastic tone.  "Still just recovering from... today." she replied more solemnly. 

"Well, it's not a total lie..."

"Are you sure? If something is bothering you, we can talk about it." Starlight Glimmer offered.

"Indeed darling.  You don't look or sound like a 100% Pinkie yet."  Rarity examined.  

Pinkie's smile turned more mellow, yet fully appreciative as she addressed all her friends. 

"I appreciate that, really I do.  But I'm fine, I probably just need some time to cool off." she replied sincerely. 

Most of her friends nodded their heads except for Twilight and Fluttershy. 

"Alright, Pinkie. But I still apologize for yelling at you and accusing you. If you're still upset with me, I..." Twilight began before she was cut off by a pink hoof to her lips. 

"Silly Twilight! I already forgave you. I'm fine, really." she grinned, albeit a little apprehensively. 

"Even though it feels like you just lost a pony who hugged you and said they were your best friend... or is it that you feel like you're a bad friend?" spoke doubt one more time. 

"Let's get a move on! I really want to see the campsite!" she exclaimed, before she took off in a fast-paced trot towards the direction of the tree. The majority of the group simply gave a shrug, deciding not to push the issue any further, before following the earth pony's trail.  

Fluttershy however remained in the back of the group as she stared off in the distance, sporting a contemplative look of worry. 

"Something's wrong with Pinkie.... this isn't like her at all." she anxiously thought before her thoughts flashed back to the events that had previously transpired with the two of them.  

"I love you, Shy-Shy."

"But she's my best friend and just like she helped me, I'm going to help her!" she affirmed herself with a bright, positive smile as she quickly rushed to catch up with the others.  







`