"Things have been pretty hectic for the days counting down to the big camping trip planned by Twilight; she was scrambling to make lists of supplies, activities, and scouting the area on the perfect campgrounds for the large group. It seems quite an overhaul from the original episode where it was just Twilight's friends, but as long as Chrysalis is involved somehow, that would make it perfect. Not to mention my older sister got caught up in this mess and now is a resident in Ponyville. Oh, she now knows that I and Twilight are a thing, which shouldn't be a surprise that she already knew my obsession with her. But that wasn't the only pony that discovered my relationship with her; three little rascals that probably told Cozy in a heartbeat.
The day before the huge camping trip was pretty hectic, Mobius made sure to speak with the gang to see if they're prepared everything they require for the two-night excursion. Over this short time in Ponyville, his sister has managed to make great friends with Twilight and her friends, even spending some quality time together. It reminded me of himself being all buddy with student six.
Unfortunately, breaking news arose when Mobius would have to move out of the dorms due to him 'technically' no longer being a student there. He would have to say goodbye to the dorm life and into the dwelling of his sister. It was at least convenient so to speak, he still was in town and still working at the school as a teacher's assistant. His friends still hang out with him after school.
After making the dorms bed and cleaning up for the next student, Mobius prepared to pack all of his books in his bag and went over to his sister's cottage in town. Saying goodbye's to the next-door neighbors while making his way out of the school. The neighborhood was quiet as usual, Mobius can already see himself living in quite a small town. But, what had him reach a full stop when he bumped into somepony from the middle of broad daylight. A filly that who 'accidentally' bumped over to him as she fell to the ground, Cozy Glow. It has been a while since he saw her directly, too afraid to tell her about his marefriend after the recent discovery by the crusaders.
"Hey, Cozy..."
She accepted his offer to pull her back up, replying to Mobius' greeting a similar way, "Hey, Mobius. Sorry that I bumped you at this time of day."
A stagnant air of awkwardness filled their atmosphere, seeing their faces sporting hesitation. Mobius broke a sweat, bearing the guilt of hiding his marefriend's identity from her for this long. Is he going to break her feelings? Will it make her spark a fire of jealously? All he needed to do the find out is to come clean.
"I just wanted to say, sorry!" he lowered his legs, begging like a homeless pony for change. "I just didn't want to hurt your feelings, that's all! I hope you understand."
"Hmm? Sorry for what?"
"Huh?"
What looks to be an awkward situation, Cozy cringed over Mobius' odd behavior and gestures of guilt. He was at an impasse as he stood back from his kneeling and got himself together.
"I mean, me dating Princess Twilight...didn't the girls tell you?"
"Oh, that?" Cozy made a small chuckle from her muzzle, making him quite dumbfound. "It's alright Mobius, you can date whoever you want! You don't need my approval or anything!"
This was quite an unusual turn, Mobius tried to add onto what she had to say. "You're not jealous of her?"
"No, you silly! Twilight is a perfect match for you! And she's very pretty too!" she pulled out a small smile on her face and lifted her head to his. "I want you to be happy, and as long as you two are happy together, so am I."
"She's taking this quite well actually. I thought she was going to go full Princess Luna and be jealous of her. I guess I overreacted a bit."
"I guess I feel silly now," chuckled Mobius. "I promise you our relationship won't affect our friendship at all. I will always make time for you when you feel like hanging out; that's what best friends are for."
"Yes...friends..."
They embraced each other for a hug with Mobius wrapping his right foreleg over to Cozy's torso and she flew a couple of feet in the air to completely wrap her forelegs around his neck. But as their faces looked away from a brief moment, Cozy's eyes slowly began to water and her mouth started to squiggle. Like preparing to cry a waterfall, she immediately powered through it and hid her tears and face at an instant when they broke off from their hug.
"I'll see you around next week!" Mobius quickly ended their conversation as he scurried off to the distance, leaving Cozy all by herself now.
"Twilight Sparkle..." she droned off, keeping a short whimper from her mouth, "You lucky mare..."
"Now that I made sure Cozy was cool with me dating Twilight, I should head to my new place right now. Radial made sure to prepare my room accordingly based on the 'background' I was given."
Mobius had just received a spare key from his sister a while back, so he took the liberty to unlock the door with it and open it up to the living room of his abode. But to his surprise, Radial Shine wasn't the only one at the dining table. She was accompanied by Twilight who was enjoying a fine lunch sitting across from her on the ends of the table.
"And for tomorrow, a photographer is going to take me and my friend's photos for a paper. It will only take a few seconds so make sure you " rambled on Twilight, taking another bite from her daffodil sandwich and chewing profusely.
Radial and Mobius heard that little bit of news from Twilight, well aware of what was going to happen tomorrow. They managed to keep their poker faces solid when Radial turned her glance to Mobius from across the room. "Mobius! Your back!"
Twilight turned her head to glance at Mobius, smiling back at him. "Hey-a sweetie!~ Sorry that I kicked you out of the dorm room. I hope you understand?"
"It's alright," he accepted her apology and slowly walked over to her at the dining table to embrace her for a little cheek rub from their faces, "How are things going for you in Ponyville, sis?"
It was clear that Radial cringed over the affection that Mobius, her little brother, is giving to Twilight. Assuming that she was the exact or near the same age as her, it made her a bit disturbed. "W-Wonderful...Never in a million moons that I found my little brother dating royalty. I wonder what our parents will think of this?"
"...And my parents too!" Twilight finished her sentence, as she gently grabbed onto Mobius with her left wing for a warm hug, "Oh yeah! I should set up a day of fun with me, my brother, and you two! It'll be like sibling bonding time!"
He was well aware of the caveat of dating a royal figure like Twilight. No, it wasn't that her position and duties of being the Princess of Friendship or the copious amounts of the press following their everyday movements.
It's her brother...
"...Oh shit..." he muttered out loud, trying not to make her realize what he had just said.
"It's alright! My brother would never hurt anypony who makes me happy!" The ignorant alicorn assured his safety, turning over the Radial from her glare, "I've got a few errands to run for the trip tomorrow, you want to come with?"
"Sure, I'll do anything for my future sister-in-law..." like it was a direct hit to Mobius, Radial Shine teased him with those last few words when the colt squirmed from it.
Mobius decided to leave the adults alone as they prepare to head out to the stores, leaving Mobius all alone in his new abode. He took this time to settle into the room he was situated in; It was a spacious, single-bedroom with a large desk and a shelf of books next to it. Much larger than the dorm room he had to dwell in. He gently got out some books from the library and placed them on the empty shelf and the envelope containing Lord Tireks letter from the penpal program from Cozy Glow's orphanage.
"Don't know what to do with the old coot yet, I'll just tuck this way in my pocket space," he muttered out loud, levitating the envelope with his magic and making it disappear in a flash. All that was left was him and...
*KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK*
Three knocks came from the outside, giving him an urge to answer the door as he tossed his bag on the desk and zipped over to the door. When he came to open the door wide open, he was shocked to see Gallus and Sandbar. Looking quite stunned by the nice little abode he had recently moved into.
"Bro, nice place you got here!" complimented Sandbar to Mobius' face, causing him to smile in return.
"Thanks, well, my sister chose the place. I'm going to miss living at the school though." sighed Mobius, seeing Gallus in some great distress when the griffon grabbed him by the chest, "H-Hey! What gives!?"
"I can't get my mind off of the fact you had a sister and never told us about her!?" muttered Gallus, biting his lip from this discovery.
This was an obvious reaction from them, seeing their dear friend keeping a long secret from them. Mobius went to explain everything as he pushed Gallus' talons off of him. "Well she went to do her own thing when I was just a foal, and I never thought she would move here. Sorry that I didn't mention her sooner..."
"You are just a pony full of surprises; You got ahold of the damn Princess of Friendship as your marefriend AND you have a sister this whole time!? What's next? You aren't really from this world?" Sandbar tilted his head to the right, trying to make him laugh from his small 'joke'.
"Hahaha...like that's a possibility..." he chuckled in return, "How about I show you around while you're here?"
"I've spent my time with Gallus and Sandbar explaining different photos and portraits of me and my family. I still couldn't fathom that I'm seeing photos of my supposed parents' pony forms and myself in multiple instances. I realize that these photos are modeled after my family photos back at home, at least Celestia took the time to get to the nitty-gritty when it comes to details. Thank Twilight that classes were cut short today for the camping trip tomorrow or else I won't have anything to do with this free time."
Each creature was sitting at the dining table eating the extra lunch Radial just made. Mobius stuck with the classic peanut butter and jelly sandwich and the others went for traditional Equestrian counter-part; dandelion sandwiches. Each of them was spread out from the table with Mobius on one end and Gallus and Sandbar sitting across from each other.
"Have you two ever been camping before?" he threw out a random question out in the open to break their long silence.
"Only a few occasions with my dad," answered Sandbar as he took another bite off his sandwich, "You Gallus?"
Gallus made an audible grunt as he answered, "I haven't actually. You can't do anything around my place unless there's a price to it. But I have been sleeping outside quite often. I just hope that we aren't cramped up in one tent."
"Well..." the earthpony made a little grin on his face while nudging Mobius on his side. "I don't think that will be a problem for us, Gallus."
"Please, cut it out," Mobius had to stop Sandbar's dirty innuendo as he lifted his hoof away from him, "We're not going to rush into things. Plus, it doesn't feel right while on this trip, this is going to be a friendship-based camping activity."
"Well whatever, I probably won't be sleeping inside the tent anyways." the carefree griffon spoke out, "I'll end up gazing upon the stars as I mostly do."
"Gallus seemed quite his usual self, not having any signs of depression from his falling out on Hearts and Hooves. I would have thought he would put on a grudge for this long. I hate to pry into it, but I have to have answers."
"Listen Gallus..." the unicorn placed down his sandwich from the air as he gazed upon Gallus, "I saw what happened to you back when Smolder and Ocellus—"
"—Leave it!" blurted Gallus, stopping Mobius from continuing further. "I moved on already, griffons don't usually express the same intimacy as most ponies. I should never be bothered with it in the first place, I'm happy for them that's all."
Mobius replied with a short nod, "A-Alright..."
"But it's still pretty wild that you out of us managed to snag a marefriend; the freaking Princess of Friendship, that is!" The griffon turned to Sandbar across the table, pointing a claw to him. "I thought pretty boy here would be the one to score a date first!"
This little tease caused Sandbar to form a sweat bead on his forehead, sheepishly replying. "I wouldn't think she would be the one to like me back in that sort of way."
"Oh, so you do have one you've been eyeing on. Who is it?" leaning forward from the table, Gallus teased the embarrassed colt to spill out a name.
"Nah, I don't want to tell you two!"
"There's no real point in prying as I already know who it is, but while I'm here..."
Mobius went to play along in this interrogation. "Come on, we already have spilled our beans. It's only fair if you pitch in! Please?"
The peer pressure on Sandbar was coming to a hard boil and his teeth started chattering. The two kept pestering him for answers until he finally gave in. Mobius wasn't making this a huge deal, since he has definite confidence that his school crush is Yon-
"S-Silverstream..."
"Yup, I expected it to be Yo- WHAT THE FUCK!?"
His honest answer made Gallus chuckle from his seat. "Wow I didn't expect her to catch your eye, is there a reason why you like her?"
"It's just," Sandbar slowly opened up. "I feel soothing around her; she's quirky, energetic, and hilarious. I want to tell her during the camping trip but..."
The boys didn't realize that Mobius was choking on a chunk of his sandwich lodged in his throat, but he immediately spawned in a glass of milk and chugged it to let it go down easier when to took time to take deep breathes. "B...But what?"
Taking a big gulp, Sandbar answered. "I don't think it's the right time yet! Maybe when Heartswarming comes around!?"
"That was quite the drastic change in this new timeline; That would mean Sandbar wouldn't ask Yona to that dance from season 9? I guess the Yona and Sandbar ship has sunk; sucks, because I liked that ship. Lunch was just about to wrap up and the gang decided to head out by now and pack up their things for the camping trip. I did the dishes and placed them on the drying rack as Twilight and Radial came back from shopping. After a little while snuggling with Twilight by the fireplace and sharing a book on magic theory, I gave her a small goodbye kiss for the day and saw her out my front door. This left me and my sister all alone."
It was like instinct, but the two kins immediately brought out their phones and switched back to their original forms as they sat down at the table to discuss business. James never relized it, but he left his bag on his desk in the room. Since the coat transformed to the bag as in his pony form, he was wearing a nice white collar shirt and a pair of black pants. Zoey did the same thing and unzipped her coat, revealing more of her black skirt and matching white blouse from across the table.
"So, these are underneath our cultish robes of ours..." she felt the fabric of the black blouse on her with a small pinch, "Why do we look like we attend some prep school?"
"I don't know, but I quite like it!" James could almost feel exhilarated with his outfit, "Let's focus on the big day tomorrow. I expect to pull this off as a single episode from the show, so we're going to have to go through everything before we execute it."
She piqued interest on her little brother's little scheming face, she had to ask, "What are you going to do?"
"No, it's what WE'RE going to do; I had adjusted my plans ever since you arrived, and I came across something that might help us."
Slowly reaching out for his phone and tapping on the 'special app' James obtained, dragging his phone across the table like a drink at a pub to reach Zoey from across.
"All I see is a little screen saver of Twilight—"
"Who are you calling screensaver you— hey you're not James, but a female version of him?"
"What the!?" she gasped over the face that just spoke to her from his phone, "Twilight's on your phone!?"
"No! I am not Twilight! I am the tree of harmony! This smug creature here somehow trapped me within his device! Do you know what he did? He—"
"—Don't worry about the finer details!" he slowly got up from his chair and flicked on the vibrate switch on his phone to mute Harmony all together to explain, "I met the Tree of Harmony, she got sucked into my phone, end of story! Now let's move over to the more important topics at hand!"
Seeing him all winded made Zoey a bit suspicious over what turn of events led to the Tree of Harmony being integrated into his phone. She had to leave that for another day as she changed subjects, "Whatever, how are we going to approach this?"
He placed his two elbows on the cold table and placed his two hands together to form a triangle shape to begin his explanation. "First of all, here's what I need you to do..."
"I roughly explained everything I planned for the next part of my mission, and the first part of it is exposing Chrysalis of her little stunt of stealing the elements of harmony. She stilled failed in the end, but I think I can change fate once more when we get into the mix. It's going to be a tad more difficult than Cozy Glow, since I've stopped her from working with Lord Tirek. But I believe what I have cooked up will be a step in the right direction. I and Zoey decided to split up as she was scouting the forest for the areas and paths seen in the episode. As for me, I'm going to do something bold. I'm taking huge risks forming an audience with Thorax in the changeling hive, but I need them to be aware of my valiant effort to save Chrysalis. Unlike SOMEONE I know that formed a villainous reunion and expected them to get along!"
A few minutes after Zoey set off to do her part of the plan, James got his coat from the bed and prepared to set out. Making sure that the lock on the front door was set first before he brought out his phone's map and spawned in a portal right in front of him. As a precaution, he let up his hood to conceal his face to the naked eye as he took no hesitation to hop to the other side. He got caught off guard as he was already right in the middle of some important business when countless changelings stared at him, expressing curious faces.
"When the map said 'Changeling Hive' I expected to enter the front entrance, but I'm smack dab in the throne area. Oh, look! It's Thorax!"
The changeling sitting on the throne, presumingly Throax, raised a brow over at the ominous creature he hadn't seen before. He and many others have transformed into many different creatures in the past, but this one sported different anatomy like the rest. James tested the waters and stood silent, hands behind his hip to wait for what other stuff he was about to say. However, instead of Thorax who spoke, a darker-colored changeling fiercely stepped up.
"Who dares to trespass in the lair of the changelings!? Thorax! We should take this thing to the—"
"Settle down now Phayrnx," Thorax from the seat of the throne stopped him from going further, placing his foreleg on Pharynx's chest. "We should treat this situation in a calm and orderly manner. Now, recite what I've just discussed about how we should treat strange guests."
Moments after his interruption, the Pharynx sighed in defeat when he lazily recited the greeting. "Welcome to the changeling hive, home of of the changelings. What brings you here on this fine day?"
He's chuckling internally, but James needed to gain the changeling's trust if he wants to put his plan to fruition. Taking his right fist and raising it inches away from his mouth, he cleared up his throat. "It's an honor to see you all here, fellow changelings of the changeling hive! I have come from a faraway land to bring you troubling news. Does the name, Queen Chrysalis, ring any bells?"
The changelings were appalled by the mere mention of their previous ruler, making small talk to each other about this strange creature talking about their queen. Pharynx from the side quickly stepped forward with aggression when he exclaimed. "How do you know about Chrysalis!? Are you a spy of hers!? Tell me now or I'll—"
"—Now, settle down Pharynx, I want to hear this out for myself," commanded Thorax, putting his foreleg on his shoulder to stop him. "If you want me to listen, you're going to have to tell me your name, first...Mr?"
"I don't want to give out my real name just in case, maybe I'll borrow one from a favorite game of mine?"
"They call me...Jo Amon...but please, call me Amon." he took a bow amongst Thorax's presence. "There's no need for you to introduce yourself, I already know you very well, Thorax. The deviant who befriended Spike the Dragon near the Crystal Empire, helped Starlight Glimmer to thwart your queen's plan to take over Equestria, and the first changeling to metamorphize into...whatever you are right now..."
His jaw dropped within his throne, seeing the creature perfectly describing his past feats made Thorax quiver. "H-How do you know all of that!? I know I made headlines everywhere, but most of it was exaggerated mumbo-jumbo. How did you know I made friends with Spike near the Crystal Empire?"
"How? Why wouldn't I know? You're a special changeling that took over the hive while abandoning who is practically your mother! But now's not the time to talk about you." James, frankly calling himself Amon in front of them, slowly paced around t the area while keeping a respectable distance away from the changelings. "This is about Chrysalis."
"And what about her?"
"I could never realize how easy it was to grab Thorax's attention."
Keeping a firm ground and standing tall at with his posture, James answered. "I have seemed to have spotted her in the vicinity of the Everfree forest, she seems to be preparing some sinister scheme to steal the elements of harmony from their place in the tree of harmony."
"Steal the elements?" he raised his brow and placed a foreleg on his chin to sink in the creature's accusation. "How would she even do that? Shouldn't Twilight or any of her friends be the one to take them out?"
"Ah yes, I don't know much but it has something to do with some photos, a strand of their manes, and some trees." implying that James has limited knowledge of her methods, he answered in a way that caused Throax to jump out of his throne.
"She's using that spell!? I can't believe it!"
"Yes." nodded James. "If we don't do something now, she would cause world destruction around Equestria and she'll become an unstoppable being. I have a plan that would thwart her plan and make her realize the power of friendship. All I wish for is your 100% cooperation in this little planning."
A majority of the changelings were still panicking over the creature talking about Chrysalis. While she was the one that raised them to be who they are or use to be, she also refused to share the love and disconnected with the hive entirely. She went missing after a few years. Knowing that a changeling of her caliber is still on the loose and still consuming love for nourishment makes her public enemy #1.
But, Pharynx took another stab at James when he persisted in convincing Thorax. "Careful now, bro! Truth or not, we can't just take his word for it. He's a trespasser who came out of some portal! He could be a threat!"
"Hmm, I'm going to have to side with Pharynx here; even if what your saying may be true, you're still an unknown intruder. We can't just make deals with strange creatures we don't know." Thorax took the precaution not to believe in James' word. "Now, I kindly ask of you to leave the premises and be on your way."
"Finally, some backbone in you! Now, time to settle things with a little truth bomb blown on Throax's face..."
"...Very well then, I guess you prefer your very own queen to remain the crook she is? I see that you simply don't care for her after you ripped everything away from her? She can just go rot in Tarturus once she's been caught?" Or worse...turned to stone for the next generation to deal with? Only break free from the stone prison depending on if the comic book season is canon in this universe..."
It's a good thing no one heard that last he whispered to himself when a couple of the changelings gasp over the possibility of Chrysalis' fate as Thorax's hesitant face showed up. He was downright flustered by his his statement. "Uhhh...well that's taking things to the extreme, don't you think? I still appreciate her if she's willing to come back and learn friendship."
"Appreciate her?" repeated James, slowly walking up to the throne to give a closer audience with Thorax. He now appears just a few feet away from him to tell him off. "You were the one that turned against her orders and drove her out of her very own hive. Yes, you managed to make the hive adapt their understanding of love, but that doesn't change the fact that you were the one responsible for her downfall!"
"I'm not the one who ordered to infiltrate the Royal Wedding at Canterlot! That was her doing!" Thorax continued to defend his own sake. "I would love to see her back in command, though as long as she refuses our new lifestyle, I'm the one responsible now for the future of the changelings!"
"But she refused this lifestyle because it was a major overhaul of her entire life's work!" Raising his voice at Thorax, James pointed a huge finger at him. "I for one would have a grudge against the ones I raised and cared for since birth that ended up turning on me in the future. Here, let's put it up to vote; all who thinks Chrysalis should return as queen of the changelings, raise your hoof!"
He wasn't sure it was going to work, but James received excellent results on his end when nearly a majority of the population raised their hoofs. Thorax was in disarray seeing his kind preferring the queen than him. Even seeing his brother raising his hand when his jaw dropped.
"I-I can't believe it!" he witnessed his subjects showing their absolute faith with the queen, despite her refusal to share her love. "I thought you all hated her!"
One changeling from the background raised his voice when he spoke out for himself on this. "Sorry Thorax. The queen may refuse the major changes to our lifestyle, but that doesn't mean we should abandon the one that raised us from birth!"
Another one from the crowd, a more gentle and soothing feminine voice, followed after him, "Yeah! I would love to see her again, she's more suited for the role as the hive leader! She's been doing it forever!"
"Okay, next question, is Thorax really a lousy leader? Give me your honesty for this one!" administering a second poll when James took a wide look over at the changeling's, surprisingly still raising their hooves high up.
"What!?" Thorax couldn't believe that the results for the second poll remained the same, even seeing his brother still taking part in it. "Pharynx! You think I'm a lousy leader!?"
Pharynx sheepishly spills his most honest opinion. "Sorry bro, it's not that I disagree with this new way of living; She WAS a better leader than you."
"Well, it seems that your subjects speak for themselves." he carefully addressed towards his appalled-looking face. "Listen to me, I'm not against you, Thorax, I'm here to help you, help you get back the single most capable ruler by making her realize the true meaning behind friendship and share the love. I know you're trying your best, but you need some creature that has the experience."
Now with most of his subjects at the mutual agreement whether if this strange black coat figure can be trusted, Thorax quickly mulled over on his eagerness about Chrysalis. Should he trust a random figure out of nowhere to bring back the queen? Was this some elaborate trick made by her to regain the throne to herself? And who exactly is this creature that is eager to help? All of these questions circled him only to shift his head over to Pharynx.
"What do you think of this creature now Pharynx?" asked Thorax, getting his brother's output of this situation.
"He does make great points, despite looking very shady to me..." he answered, remaining all suspicious over his intentions. "Listen here, Jo, do you mean what you've said?"
James nodded. "Yes. 100 percent!"
"And what suppose you want from us in return?"
"Besides the absolute cooperation of Thorax in an operation to thwart her plans, I ask nothing more in return," he answered again. "I may leave right now if you wish to. But to consider the brightest possible future for Chrysalis—"
"—Okay, we believe you." he was cut off by Thorax, who was guaranteed to give James his absolute cooperation. "You have my full attention and cooperation."
"Bingo..."
It was unclear because of his hood, but James sported a nice big smile on his face when he internally cheered. "I thank you for your time with me, Thorax."
"Tell me, when exactly will she implement her plan?"
"Tomorrow at around 10:00 am. She will first try to snap photos and mane strands of Twilight and her friends." James, or for them 'Amon' addressed the situation for tomorrow. "Twilight plans to do some friendship retreat with her friends and a couple of students from her established school of friendship."
Thorax realized when exactly she was going to strike as if every individual dot connected to form the bigger picture. He soon took action, "Tomorrow? The same date as the camping trip Ocellus is going to!? I need to warn her about the queen being near the—"
"Woah, slow down their buddy!" he stopped him from going into a minor panic attack when Thorax calmly halted. "I don't want to put pressure on your youngling during her fun time with friends camping. You should think the same as well, don't you think? I'll make sure Chrysalis doesn't get near them or try to harm them. You have my promise."
He answered back with a long face. "I guess so..."
"Alright Jo..." approaching close to him by the second, Pharynx placed his strict glare at James, "If this is some elaborate trick, or we figure out you're working with her...I'll make sure you'll never see the light of day, again!"
But, Pharynx's tactic to give him a small fright backfired when James tilted his head right below him. Even with the changelings, James towers them by at least and a couple of feet.
"That's a risk, I am willing to make..."
"So Amon, what do you propose we do in order the thwart her plan?" asked Thorax, being all curious over what James has in store for tomorrow.
Lingering on for a while, James carefully answered. "Listen closely, what I'm about to say is very important... "