//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 - Catalyst // Story: Never Be The Same // by Kickback //------------------------------// God bless us, everyone. We're a lonely people livin' on a loaded gun. And we can't be out-fought, we can't be outdone, we can't be outmatched, we can't be outrun. No. Their intial reaction was even more shock at hearing me speak and in such a tone. Not to mention, the phrase, I was greeting them for Celestia's sake. I didn't think to plan for something like this, what I would say if given that look of utter horror? The tension was unbarable and the feeling of countless other gazes upon my form didn't help, out of blatant curiousity, I looked ahead to find that the entire street were now staring at me. The looks of confusion and fear strewn upon their brightly coloured faces was almost heartbreaking. Many contrasting hues of irises were focused entirely on me and it was a little bit more than awkward, I won't go into detail on how unnerving it was.I took a quick glance behind me to see that the first two mares were now vacant of the area but further to my right I saw a colourful hoof on an open doorknob before it violently shut, creating an audible bang. I gaped slightly at how fast they managed to practically isolate themselves from me. You can imagine how surprised I was when I turned back around. The sound of rapid and far away hoofsteps was the only thing I heard before the whistling of wind caught my ear. The everlasting continuing sounds of doors, carelessly slamming shut complimented the rhythm of my heartbeat in that moment. The street was now barren of any life larger than an insect. All except myself. "Now all I gotta do is speak in rhymes..." I let out with an exhaggerated sigh. I looked up and shot a glance in every direction, hoping to catch some sight that one would find settling but to no avail. I breathed out again before with a stagnant stride, I walked into the street. The overall silent nature of Ponyville was rather unnerving, seeing the empty roads, the unguarded fruit stands, even the sky was barren of life in the immediate area. My face fell as I looked around the town unbidden, the colourful houses, grass and clouds all giving my surroundings a bit more of an uplifting feel but I digress. The sound of my dirt coated feet, stomping away on the ground as I walked was the ever-present lonely sound, singing a song of despair into my ears. Ashamed, I reached behind my neck and gripped the soft fabric of my hood and steadily brought it over my head before placing both hands in my jacket pockets. As I said, it was a habit of mine. I treaded further into the road, the long street branching to both sides was complimented by almost borderlining houses and businesses. I gave one more look around and once again, there was no sign of anypony of any kind. All the while, I kept walking, the noise of my footsteps was the only thing accompaning me as I spoke. "Hello?" I called out, I listened intently but was only greeted by silence. "Somepony?!" I tried again fruitlessly. In my mind, I imagined a random pony prying open a door and possibly able help me but I digress. I got something like that right before I called out again. My ears caught the firm sounds of hooves harshly being planted on the ground, defiantly. I looked up to be greeted by a sight that made my heart sink a little. There stood a grown, pegasus stallion, his coat was a beige-like colour and he sported what looked like a black, handle-bar moustache that concealed his muzzle. His eyes were burning pits of green and they glared at me suspiciously, his mane was a silvery shade, not so much shiny as it was light greyish. From my angle, I couldn't make out a cutie mark but I couldn't care less, the way this pony was looking at me made every hair on my neck snap to attention. He was noticably taller than me to boot. "What business you got here, creature?" the stallion spoke with a gruff, biker-like voice. I fell silent for few seconds before my voice was found...well, more or less. "I-uhhh...ummm, I-" I stuttered like an idiot in front of this stallion, this lone pony who stood bravely in front of me, glaring at me. "Cat got your tongue? Spit it out, beast!" Now that was uncalled for, almost the second he uttered that phrase, my brow visibly furrowed. "Look...sir, I don't want any trouble, okay?" I said, pondering what to do. "I just need some help, I want to talk to the mayor" "The mayor?" the stallion replied, confused before he eyed me with a scowl. "Not just anypony gets to see the mayor..." my frustration flared at this point and what he said next drew me into a complete rage." ...let alone some bipedal freak like you" My fists clenched as I gave my own scowl at the stallion, he jerked back slightly but returned the look with a hint of defensiveness. I gave another once over at the empty town before looking back directly into the lone pony's eyes. I opened my mouth to say something before a sound caught my attention. I watched the stallion's head perk up as his ears erected, obviously catching the same noise. Both our eyes darted left and right for the sound but the origin was yet to be found. It makes sense that he woule be confused about the noise as I was sure he'd heard it many times before. Reason why is; the sound that we heard was a rapid beat on dirt, galloping, tiny hooves were running vigorously and were getting closer. I slowly looked to my left to find an almost "god-send" of a sight. "Kyle!!" shouted the small and cheerful voice of one particular mint green coated unicorn pony. The stallion turned his head in the same direction and broke the lock our gazes once had before my eyes slowly but eagerly came to rest on the sight. In a blur of green, I felt myself being pushed down to the ground, the feeling was eerily familiar but in a pleasant sense as I felt a weight press down on my chest. The sudden impact sent my hood flying off my head, almost cartoonishly. "Hey, what are you doing in Ponyville? I was about to go and find you!" she yelled happily, nearly bouncing on top of me. I lifted my head up and saw the massive grin on her muzzle, I returned it shakily. "Well I...I wanted to surprise you, Lyra" I said, hoping to satisfiably answer her question. To my own surprise, she seemed to be the part. "Oh, okay, what are we gonna-" she stopped as she took a quick glance around her, seeing the empty town and the lone stallion, who I'd imagine would have the biggest look of confusion on his face. I didn't give him a second thought as I focused on Lyra. She shook her head from side to side before looking back down at me, inquisitively."Kyle...where is everypony?" "Uhhhh..." I managed. "Now hold on there, little filly!" the pegasus called out, catching my and the unicorn's attention. "Ya know this here creature?" I knew full-well as to why he would ask something like that but the innocent green pony, standing on my chest looked immensely puzzled. "Well...sure, he's my-" "Lyra! Get away from that thing!" a high-pitched, overly annoying older feminine voice practically shrieked. I looked up to see Lyra's face had visibly fell into a look of solemn sadness as she jumped off of me onto the grass road. I sat up to find the source of the new voice to be a full-grown mare, her coat was a very pale blue hue as her mane sported a triad of different shades of green. Each were darker than any that were depicted in Lyra's mane but her eyes were almost identical to those of the young filly...only they had a look of pure horror and concern in them. Lyra walked a few steps away from me as I rose to a crouched position, watching the scene play out. "But Mom!" she cried. "Mum?" I uttered silently. "Come, Lyra, get inside, Quickly!" the mare shouted, from this angle, I couldn't make out what fashion her tail was in nor could I see a pair of wings if she had them, let alone her cutie mark. Surprisingly, the first thing I thought of was the fact that according to what I was seeing...Lyra Heartstring's mother was an Earth-pony. "But why? I was playing with my friend!" the green filly whined. Her speech apparently gave the mare a bit of a shock as she immediatley froze, her eyes widened further as her back straightened. An uncomfortable silence fell upon the three- no, four of us, the pegasus colt was still there. Lyra's mum slowly returned back to conciousness and focused her now intrigued eyes on the unicorn. "Friend? You made...a friend, sweetheart?" she choked up slightly. I could sense Lyra's smile form as she nodded her head vigorously, her over-grown mane bouncing wildly. "Yep, his name's Kyle!" the pride in her voice was heart-warming to say the least. Lyra turned towards me and hopped happily over to me before stopping at my feet, sitting down and gazing up at me with those adorable pools of gold, a tiny grin, complimenting her muzzle. I smiled back down at her and outstretched my hand to stroke her mane but before I extended entirely, Lyra reached her head towards my palm, meeting me half-way and gently nuzzling her head into my hand. I was barely able to suppress a sigh as I gazed down at the adorable filly, feeling the warm and soft texture of her coat, accompanied by the scruffiness of her mane. Lyra had her eyes closed as she nuzzled into my hand and after a moment, she opened them again and looked at me with a gleeful smile. I returned it before looking back up at the mother, of whom had an almost dumb-struck look on her face. My vision extended to behind the mare to see several ponies, slowing sticking their heads out of creaking doors. Others leaned upwards from near and far windows but all their eyes were fixed upon the scene right in the middle of their town, more specifically, the creature that had entered their town. I felt their suspicious gazes wash over me, causing my spine to feel a slight, awkward shiver. The silence was unbarable. Lyra looked back at her mother with the same smile as I turned towards the stallion, who had apparently trotted closer to us while the unicorn protested against her parent about me. He looked down at me with mouth agape and eyes wide, I simply gave him a blank look before I stood back up to my full-height, startling the little unicorn for a moment. I looked down at her with a smile before looking back up, only to notice the mare was now staring directly at me, our eyes locked. Before either one of us spoke, the sound of faint hoofsteps caught my ear then another set...and another...and another. All accompanied by the sound of doors opening, squeaking on their hinges or banging against the adjacent wall. I glanced around to find that from what I could guess, half the town were forming a large crowd around us. Some muttered to themselves as they closer, creating the equivalent of a circle. I looked around at them but avoided eye contact before I turned back to the filly, who gazed up at me with a confused look. "I'm sorry..." I heard the same voice of the blue mare call out, I looked up at her in response. "...but what did you say your name was?" I paused for a moment before answering. "...Name's Kyle Mercer, miss" The crowd muttered and jibbered with eachother after I spoke, the curiousity howerver was outweighed by their suspicion. I could feel it as the same stallion from before walked up to me and eyed me with the most intense glare I had ever experienced. "...And where might you be from, Mercer?" he asked, I gave him a scowl as I answered. "Outta town, mate and I'd like somepony to tell me how the hell I got here" I said, more aggresively than I would've preferred but I can't help it sometimes. "I don't care what you or any other pony has to say about you, we don't take kindly to strangers these days" the voice of a stallion cut in and it shocked me to find several ponies nod in agreement, glaring at me the whole time. I decided to take a more intelligent approach to this situation. "Look, I'm lost, I don't know how to get home and-" I cut myself off, watching very carefully at each motion of the crowd. The hushed whispering, the uncertain looks and the overall glares that were shared were almost unnerving. The tension was unbarable as I watched them talk amongst themselves, my ears were hardly able to pick up any sort of coherrent sentences but that didn't mean I wasn't going to try and eaves drop. My head flickered to every opportunity as my eyes jittered from left to right in curiousity but then I focused down at the green filly, who looked extremely confused as to what was going on. I smiled at her before she looked up at me with utter cluelessnes. "Kyle, what's happening? Are you actually lost?"she asked. I knelt down to meet her eye level and gave her a reassuring look. "Well...yes but don't worry about me, Lyra" I managed, not knowing what else to say. She seemed less nervous once I said that, so I suppose that was enough. I raised my head back up... ...and that's when it happened. It was quick, the sheer sudden nature of it was almost enough to make me bolt out of my skin. I can't quite describe exactly what it was and I hardly remember what was going through my mind at the time but here's what I can say; In that moment, I experienced a very bazaar feeling. Like a cold breeze rattling my skin, it coursed through my body in a fast wave of intensity. It wasn't so much as unpleasant as it was simply unfamiliar and hence, unnerving. In a way, however, it was comforting. A sense of guidance aswell as curiousity washed over me as the feeling dissapated. As the past citizens of Ponyville chattered and bickered over my arrival, I felt as though something was calling to me and to meet it was now was to be the most important thing in my life. In retrospect, I sometimes can't argue with that statement. As my mind began to find what little clarity could be found, my eyes focused on a gap between the crowd, a slight parting of two parties that joined together the rest of the way. That was not what was interesting at all about what I was seeing. Through the small window of vision, I could make out the sight of a figure. This figure wore a simple, prestine white cloak that sported a unworn hood, resting at the base of the pony's neck. The pony was a Unicorn mare, her flowing pink mane waved in the breeze, split apart at the forehead by her horn. Her coat was only visible via the slight darker texture of her white fur. Her magenta rimmed eyes were large and expressive but that smile was even more so. She wasn't smiling as if she were happy but more in a way that she was just simply the most calm and most serene ceature in all the land and she knew it. Well..that might be a bit much but that's the best I can describe that moment. Without realising, I began to lazily move towards her. At a distance as I was, I had to escape the clutches of the crowd first before I could reach her. My body moved on it's own, the crowd slowly turned to look at with me, away from eachother and cease some of their hushed whispers. "Kyle?" Lyra asked, confused. I repsonded with silence and kept creeping towards the gap. She turned but not before giving me a warm smile and began to walk, soon leaving my field of vision. I tensed slightly. "Hey, wait, STOP!" called out the gruff voice of the same stallion but his words fell on my now deaf ears as I brushed throught the opening and sprinted off towards the unicorn. There was something about her, something comforting, something welcoming, the desire the follow was over-whelming. "Kyle!? WAIT!!" shouted the green filly, even if she had been starting into a gallop in pursuit of if any pony had, I was way out of earshot to catch the sound of any hoofsteps. Somehow, this unicorn moved almost instaneously away from me, first she'd stop but at a great distance away then she'd walked around a corner or a bush and dissapear before doing the EXACT same thing again. My feet began to ache, my breathing became eratic and short, my chest heaved tirelessly and damn I started sweating. I chased after her for what felt like half an hour, always doing the same little routine until we came towards the outskirts of town, I was so glad to not hear any more shrieks or doorslams while I ran, it was relieving to see open space. That relief was only barely noticable compared to the exhaustion, plaguing my body. The memory gets a but fuzzy at this point but I do recall a quick flash of an image. There was a house there, branching off the main dirt road lead a trail, reaching up to an old cabin-like building. The paint looked like it was either peeling off or was simply never finished. The structure itself was run-down and practically decaying, spilntered wood, cracked and smashed cobblestone all meshed together into a small cottage. The lawn was barely holding itself together and in the backyard, stood a fence-lining. The only reason I noticed this house is because, via some tiring circumstances, the white unicorn mare stood directly outside of the front door. The decaying, half-eaten by termites, peeling, old door. The unicorn turned and looked at me with those amethyst coloured eyes and locked them with mine as I rested my hands on my knees, gasping. She stared at me with a knowing smile before pushing the door aside, it creaked on it's rusty hinges and she entered without hesitation, it closed slightly on it's own weight. Unlike myself; who held back slightly at seeing the old, abandoned house. Instead of focusing on chasing after her, curiousity of the buidling was now flooding my mind, there was an aspect of it that caught my attention. Maybe something was familiar, maybe there was something missing from it, either way, the place gnawed at my mind. That particular mystery was a simple underling compared to that of the strange, cloaked unicorn. I stared at the door for a short moment, standing before it's short stature before ducking as I pushed it open. Damn, if I wasn't a brony, I wonder how fucked up this situation would've been instead. Inside was, in all modesty, quite unsettling. The place was practically littered in cobwebs and decaying furniture. I don't know how to describe it better than relating it to that one house in Winterhold, you all know the one. Hesitantly, I stepped further inside to be greeted by an eeire darkness and even more unnerving silence, with a burst of courage, I called out through the house. "Hello? Anybo-...anypony in here?" I said, hoping to catch a glimpse of that same pink-maned unico- "Greetings, creature" That phrase. That voice. That tone. After walking into the house a bit further, I heard it, I heard her, she was addressing me but she was no where to be seen. that is, until she trotted from around a corner into the room from what looked to be the kitchen on the far side of the house. The clickity noise of her hooves were faint as she walked closer to me, she stood out in the bleak shade of the old house like a candle in the window on a cold, dark winter's night... ...You get the reference, don't you? You should. I forget to emphasise how tall ponies were compared to me at that age, well I'd say at the moment, this cloaked unicorn was roughly a few centimetres taller than me. She wasn't smiling but she wasn't frowning either, the pony in front of me held the most perfect stoic, poker-face I had ever seen on another creature. Which made sense in the end. "Ummm...hello?" I returned, confused. "Might I ask your name, sir?" the unicorn asked me. That voice, where have I heard that damn voice before? I don't know why but it made me think of olives, you know, those little green things, I didn't even like those things at the time, still don't but they just came to mind. Weird, huh? "Mercer, Kyle Mercer" man, saying that made me feel so cool, not because I had a Bond moment but because my name sound so much more awesome. Just sayin'. "Well, Kyle, what exactly are you doing here in Ponyville? Better yet, in Equestria?" she said with a raised eyebrow. "Uhhh...I..." I cut myself off as I took note of her further, squinting my eyes as I examined her, she looked puzzled at my action for a brief second before regaining her blatant look. "...Princess?" Ahh, so that's why the olives, Celestia = Nicole Oliver, now it all makes sense. She looked at me with a mouth that now hung slightly agape, the surprise on her face was almost laugh-worthy. After a moment, the alledged unicorn gripped the collar of her robe in her teeth and disentangled herself from it's woven confines. When she removed the cloak entirely, I noticed the feathered appendages on ether side of her body, both of which looked too big to accompany her small body. She closed her eyes, bowing slightly as her mane began to flow, as if being carried along by a brezze before slowly, very slowly, stripes of alternate hues began to form in her hair. Everything about her form was growing larger, her legs reached to new heights as did her horn, her wings expanded as they unfurled to each side, giving off a regal stance. Finally, her mane was at it's full length, reaching just above the ground and continuing to breeze unnaturally. The great pony's horn paused the left side of her face from being masked by her brightly coloured mane but it didn't act like regular hair, it moved on it's own, almost as if it knew where to be. It was just now that I noticed the golden gauntlets on each of her hooves and the necklace surrounding the region just above her shoulders. I stood and gawked at the sight, watching what I thought was a unicorn morph into Princess Celestia, the godly alicorn monarch, the almighty devine being in Equestria.She stood very well above me at the end of her transformation. Her visible eye opened and looked down at me with a piercing amethyst irise. I gulped a little. She had that same expectant look on her right then, probably still wanting an answer to her previous question. Of course, my bronyism took charge of my body rather than my professionalism. "Your Majesty!" I practically shouted, a large grin on my face. Celestia seemed even more puzzled than before. "You know of me, Mercer?" I blanked little at that question before answerng. "Why wouldn't I know you? I mean, you're princess Celestia" "It just seems a- ummm fellow...such as yourself wouldn't be well acquainted with the knowledge of my existence" wow, she was modest...Insensitive but modest. "So, you know I'm not from around here, then?" "Yes" she answers, strangely, I get the weirdest feeling that the slightest slip up I make will have me walking around on the moon. "Where are you from, if i might ask?" did I mention polite? Because she really was. "Well...this little place called "Earth", big, covered mostly in water, kinda like the Everfree Forest, ever heard of it?" "I'm afraid not, young one...why don't you tell me the story of how you arrived here?" "Um...okay" "...And that's when I saw you in town" I finished off, leaving a very contemplative alicorn in front of me. As I told her the story, Celestia was kind enought to used some kind of re-aging spell on that nearby couch I mentioned, the two of us sat there as I recapped the past couple days of my life to the sun goddess. "How interesting..." she mutters to herself with a hoof resting underneath her chin. "Princess?" I call out, bringing her up from her musings, she gives me another expectant look. "How did you find me?" she smiled before answering me. "A rip in the dimensional current is easy to feel when connected to magic, child" she said. "I...see?" I return, uncertain, she doesn't continue so I just leave it at that and drop it. However, a new thing springs to mind. "Princess?" "Yes?" "Is there a way I can go home? At all? Has anything like this happened before?" I ask, she takes on a mournful look for a moment before answering. "Not that I know of, young one" she says solemnly. "Ohh" At that moment, it all comes crashing down on me. The thought of never looking upon my own race again. My friends, never will I see them again, my family, never will I get to say "goodbye" or "I love you" to any of them. Hell, I'd be the only one of my kind in all of the world. Memories of my life on Earth flooded my mind and I realised that it wasn't really that bad, in fact, things were alright lately up until...well, you know...Spencer. Australia was my home, mankind is my race and I would be a human out of place, one that exists in a seperate universe. One that dwells in Equestria. But not only was I human, I was a brony. I am a brony. I chuckled sadly at my own musings, scenario after scenario, image after image, memory after memory. Everything just came crashing down on top of me. Celestia had apparently noticed after a let out a slight sniffle. I felt something warm and soft wrap around my shoulders and before I knew it, I had my arms instinctively wrap around the alicorn's mid-section as she gently returned the hug. I mean, yeah, I cried a little bit but nothing too dramatic. Ironically, I remembered my dad as I continued to hug the princess. "It will be okay, child" she uttered. "Celestia, what's gonna happen to me? I mean, if I can't get home, where will I li-" she cuts me off with a regal hoof planting firmly against my lips. "I never said it was certain that you remain here, from what you've told me, there is an orb, yes?" "Yeah, I dunno exactly what it was though" "Perhaps there is something about it in the-" "Canterlot Archives?" I suggest, causing a bewildered look to be strewn across the goddess's face. "Yes...you seem to know an awful lot about a world you're not from, Kyle Mercer..." ahhh, there it is again, the piercing look once more but it did hint of curiousity, as to be expected. "Oh yeah, heh...you could say that, Princess" I jokingly said. "Hmm and why is that?" I shot up slightly at her question. "Ummm, well, I-uhh..." I stuttered helplessly as I averted my gaze from the regal alicorn. I had no idea how to tell the goddess of this world that her kingdom was simply a spawn of creativity from a briliant mind, Faust's mind. Ohhh, I never got to meet her. My explanation was interupted by a loud squeak, followed by an audible bang and the disturbance of dust being propelled from the surface into the air. Celestia and I looked up at the door that she had closed without my knowing, sneaky little- "There you are!" shouted a familiar, tiny, soft voice. As mine and the princess's gaze followed up to the now fully opened doorway, a smile crept onto my face as I registered what I was seeing. There, standing in the arch, was a small unicorn filly, her green coat and two toned mane still as I recalled and a big grin crossing her youthful, adorable features.That's when I noticed the shade of orange just behind her. Just now waling to the side of the little unicorn was Applejack, still a filly, still without her hat and looking at me with a smaller but still radiant smile. "T'ought we'd never find ya, pard'ner" the little earth-pony commented.Without warning, Lyra scampered into the house, up to the couch, never breaking the lock on our eyes. I smiled as I leaned away from Celestia's embrace and outstretched my arms. Lyra jumped up on the leftover side of the couch and wrapped me in a hug, her hooves locking around my chest as I held her back. Her soft mane tickled my arms and chin but I didn't move to itch, this was the second time she had saved me, no, THIRD time she had saved me from an awkward situation and I was willing to pay her back with a simple, heartfelt hug. However, I could almost feel the inquisitive, shocked gaze Celestia was giving me behind my back. I looked up from Lyra's fur coated shoulder to see Applejack trot into the lounge room, smiling at me with a hint of confusion. Most likely as to why she was seeing what she was seeing or feeling awkward about just being around such a thing. She may be young but she's still AJ and we all know how tough she can be despite being a small girl. The small filly then looked up at the Princess, her jaw dropped, her eyes widened and as soon as I thought she was going to practically scream out in surprise, she simply bowed respectively. Wow, she was mature at that age. Lyra must've had her eyes closed fore after a moment passed, she quickly jumped out of the hug and gawked at the tall alicorn that stood up regally from her previous stance. Apparently, the unicorn was more of a typical filly in this case as she jumped to the ground, me sitting up slightly in surprise before practically bellowing out; "Princess Celestia!?" I looked up at the tall white pony and watched her smile down at the green unicorn. That smile faltered as she looked toward the orange filly then back down to me, a curious gaze was etched on her royal features. That was before another regal smile took control. "I see you've made some friends in your short time here" she observed. I chuckled a little and looked between the two small ponies. It never really struck me until I saw them together that I noticed something; here was my favourite main character and favourite background character from the show and I had befriended them both. Looking at them like that now makes me sick as by then, I had grown to know and respect them as sapient beings, friends...people. Not some carbon-based incarnate of a cartoon but real people, ponies. I smiled at each of them before speaking. "Yeah, guess I have" I was thrilled to see the two return the same happy grin. "By the way, how'd did you two find me?" my question was met by the two fillies exchanging a knowing look amongst eachother. "Well, after you just totally took off in town a couple hours ago, everypony got really weird, acting all nervous and stuff, so I went to go look for you" Lyra was the first to speak then turned to AJ who took in a quick breathe before continuing. "That's when Ah caught wind of what was goin' on and when Ah saw this one here walkin' around, callin' out for you, I thought Ah'd help out" Applejack added "Ahh, I see" their explanation was brief but easy to get the jist of, so I left it at that. As what felt like a moment of silence was about to fall, it was quickly cancelled by a thickly accented, inquisitive voice. "Wait, Princess...what are ya doin' here?" Applejack asked. "And why did you just run off like that, Kyle?" Lyra added. I looked up at Celestia she looked down at me, still sitting on the couch as I was. She nodded her head at me and I let out an exaggerated sigh. "Did I tell you two how I got here?" I began, almost rhetorically. The two ponies simultaneously shook their heads at me, confirming the negative and my assumption. "Well...that's about to change" "Gather around, little ones" Celestia added. The fillies gave eachother a confused look before jumping up to either sides of the couch and sitting comfortably beside me, each looking up at me with inquisitive little looks. I sighed again. "Well...it all started while I was getting ready for school..."