//------------------------------// // 23-Battle of the Wolves // Story: A Changeling Queen Under the Griffon's Crown // by DungeonMiner //------------------------------// Chapter 23 One evening an old Cherokee Indian told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, “My son, the battle is between two ‘wolves’ inside us all. One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. “The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.” The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: “Which wolf wins?” The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.” —Cherokee Tale <<<|Ω|>>> Gaafnirlass stroked the claws of the golden dragoness next to him. Yuvonruvod, her name was. Gold as pure as Snow. She was his mate, Faust’s most treasured gift to him. She was beautiful, sculpted from gold in front of his very eyes, shaped by invisible hooves, and made his with one of his own, black scales. She was dying. It...it wasn’t fair. They were both still in their prime, and she had now caught some sort of disease. “Gaaf...Gaafnir,” she called, her brow sweaty and her body cold. “Yes? Yes, my love?” Gaafnirlass asked, hanging on her as if letting go would doom her to die. She had been his everything. No hoard could match her, no gold was her equal. He loved her with all his heart, mind, and strength. She had saved him from both his envy and greed. She had pulled him up from the deepest darkness, and with her help they had raised twelve little dragonlings. “Gaafnir,” she coughed, “promise me.” “Anything. Everything,” Gaafnirlaas assured. “The Sun? The Moon? The Stars themselves?” “Take care of our children, Gaafnir. Save them.” The Umbral dragon gave a slight grin. She...somehow she had always had enough room in her heart for both her mate and her children. She loved them so much. “I…” Gaafnirlass began. “I...I won’t have to, Yuvonruv...you’ll...you’ll still be here to do that yourself.” She gave him a look. She knew as well as he did. She was dying. Gaafnirlaas bit back tears. “It...it’s not fair! She gave you to me, and now she’s taking you away! It’s only been seven thousand years! It’s not fair!” Yuvonruvod lifted a claw to his face, and gave him a smile. “Life isn’t fair, Gaafnir.” The black dragon smiled. That was her favorite response to whenever he asked her what he did to deserve her. “Promise me, Gaafnir,” she begged, her bright sapphire eyes pleading with him. “I...I swear by the Sun, Moon, Stars, and Faust herself, I will be there for our children. I will do everything in my power to save our children. I...I will keep them safe, Yuovnruv…” She smiled. “That’s all I needed to hear…” she said with a smile, and closed her eyes. Hours passed slowly, hours where Gaafnirlaas tried to keep his tears in check. He failed when she finally breathed her last. He roared, his breath shooting forth a black cloud that withered every living thing in it’s path. He roared again, his massive claws slamming into the cave wall of their home. Again he unleashed his voice, screaming in sorrow as he retreated to the hoard room. Grasping the useless gold he threw it, sending the pile scattering as he searched it for something to save her. There was nothing, of course. Just a bunch of metal and rocks. He cried again, his lair shaking at the sound of his voice. In his sorrow, he left his home, and his wings darkened the skies. He spared no living thing around his lair, desolating the land with his breath of death. His home, to the south of the land that would be called Equestria, would never recover. Finally, his rage spent, he returned to his cave, and to the body of his beloved. Death was there, waiting for him. Gaafnirlaas remembered him. Death was the one who guarded the gates of Tartarus, and Gaafnirlaas himself had escaped from them. This only made his surprise greater when Death greeted him in his own tongue with a greeting reserved for kings. “Hail Gaafnirlaas, Master of Shadows, Favored of Faust. Long life and prosperity unto you.” The dragon blinked. “W-what brings you here, Boat Pony?” Death frowned. “Business. As usual.” His tone struck the shadowy reptile. It...it seemed...sympathetic. “I…” the dragon hung his head, exhausted first by his lashing out at the world, and second by the sorrow that filled his heart. “Why? Why now?” Death comforted him the best he could. “Everyone has a turn, Gaafnirlass. So will you.” Yuvonruvod passed from this world that day, laid to rest in the fires of the earth, carried there by her beloved, and accompanied by Death himself. Every day until his death, Gaafnirlaas remembered his promise. He flew across the earth, keeping his sons and daughters from consuming themselves in their greed. And then, he made his death march to the same fires that consumed his wife, and the world never heard of him again. Until one dragon found his heart taken by an alabaster pony with bright, sapphire eyes. <<<|Ω|>>> Rarity did her best to stay out of sight, and prayed that this beast didn’t notice her. It pained her to think that, but right now she couldn’t really trust Spike to act like the gentledrake she knew him to be. His massive, purple form lay buried beneath the coins and gems, and a part of her knew that she had to get to him. Not physically, thank Celestia, just his heart. She needed something...anything to help her remind him about his friends. And, well, her… But she liked to think of themselves of the best of friends, so that counted. She...she needed something… Her mind raced, trying to come up with a plan that didn’t include dying by fire. Her horn lit up as she tried to look for something to help. She hardly notice her magick fly wildly through the air, trying to find something she could catch his attention with. She bit her lip, chewing it as she thought. Anything. A single hair in her mane went out of place, a sure sign of the sheer frustration and panic running through her mind. Flashbacks to the massive red dragon that she, the girls and Alan had faced back so long ago kept popping up in her mind. Spike was now larger than that one. Her magic tugged at her, and she began to follow, her legs moving almost automatically as she kept thinking, a hundred different distractions at every turn. The gold was hard to walk on, the coins easily giving way with every steps. This only served to worry her more, even though she knew it would take more than that to get Spike’s attention. She had already tried yelling at him, and even now the treasure pile hadn’t truly settled, masking her coins in the cacophony of hundreds of others. She needed to remind him about her, and Twilight and the rest. A part of her nagged. What a selfish thought, “Let’s remind him of me!” “Not now!” came Rarity’s response. She needed her head clear, and an existential crisis was not going to help. The little voice in her head continued, however. Really? That’s your best defense? Denial? “It’s not denial! It’s what he needs!” Is it? “Of course it is! Spike is...well he’s…” He’s what? “He’s...erm...well...just...just a little excited about all the gold is all. I...I mean, heaven knows I can lose my head sometimes when it comes to beautiful things. He...he just needs a little reminder of what’s really important.” Like you? She bit her lip at that, the accusation obvious. “We-well...his friends, family, you know, that sort of thing.” Or you. “It’s not just me!” Rairty mentally cried. “It’s everypony else, too! It’s Twilight and Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy. It’s even Celestia and Twilight’s mother! It’s everyone he cares about! I—” You’re just the only one here. The voice answered sarcastically. “Listen here, you sorry excuse for a conscious, I am not here to—” her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by her head jerking down to the ground as her magic tugged on her horn. She shook her head, trying to clear her head, and glanced down to get a good look at what exactly she found. At her hooves were three stones, two prisms, one pale green the other dusty red, as well as a nacreous grey sphere that almost looked like it was a pearl. Rarity blinked. “Oh dear,” she muttered. She must’ve gotten distracted, and slipped back to her gem-finding spell. “See what you’ve done? You’ve gotten me all distracted and frazzled.” The three gems stared up at her. Well, they were rather nice, it would be a shame to let them sit there. Look at you, even with your so-called beloved in danger you’re taking time to admire some rocks. Rarity felt her eyebrow twitch. Giving her best glare at the air in front of her, she imagined the voice on the business end of her stare. “Enough out of you, Missie,” she said, lifting all three gems and fixing them into the hem her battle dress. “I am much too busy to deal with the likes of you.” Of course you are. The voice answered snidely. Ignoring her, Rarity turned her thoughts back to the dragon not far from her. She needed to think about this. She needed to get his attention. She needed to...she needed to… Her eyes wandered to the massive crevice beyond the treasure room. An idea sparked in her head. “No! No! No! That’s crazy, Rarity. Just making that climb is absolutely insane!” The crevice stared back at her. Oh, she hated her mind sometimes. <<<|Ω|>>> Spike bathed in his gold. “It’s Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine.” His massive claws thumbed the pony-sized gems, a contented smile on his face. He could just go to sleep, just like this, for a thousand years or so. “Tired, my little Hatchling?” a voice whispered in his ear. Spike lazily opened an eye to see five separate dragon heads staring back at him. Blue, green, red, white, and black all staring at him with yellow eyes. All five of them connected to a single black body with sleek, shiny scales. She took up almost a third of the room, her tail laid across his back and swinging lazily. She was beautiful. The way her heads bobbed and swayed, the way the light reflected off her scales, all of it spoke of an unparalleled draconic beauty, the likes of which Spike had never seen. A voice deep in his mind named her Tiamat. “Look at you, all grown up,” Tiamat said, the blue head speaking, her own claws digging into the mountain of gold. He didn’t like how tightly she was holding on to them. “Now, here you are, surrounded by everything you ever need. Everything you ever wanted. Anything you could ever dream of in your wildest fantasies.” Tiamat lifted a claw, and let the coins flow out and back down to the hoard. It was mesmerizing. “So how does it feel?” the red head asked. “How does it feel to be the king of the world?” Spike answered with a content sigh. The five heads smiled. “Good, good,” the black one muttered, while the green one snaked up to him. It gently nuzzled him, while the white head then spoke. “Such a fine dragon you’ve made.” “Get back, Witch,” a new voice said. Spike turned his head, and his vision fell upon a new dragon. Just as large as the other, this dragon had only one head and massive wings. His scales were as black as night, and while Tiamat seemed to reflect the light, this new one seemed to consume it. His form seemed to embrace the shadows, taking the light of the torches with him and throwing half of the room into darkness. But his eyes grabbed Spike more than anything. The fiery red of his eyes radiated...warmth and…love? Spike blinked. "You leave my son alone,” the umbral dragon said. Son? Tiamat growled. “Gaafnirlaas, what brings you here? Don’t you have somewhere to be?” “What brings me here, you sorry excuse of a serpent,” Gaafnirlaas said, stepping forward onto the pile, “is a promise, to someone very dear to me.” Three of the five heads lowered themselves between Spike and the new dragon, while the other two growled. “How I raised my children never bothered you before.” "On the contrary,” Gaafnirlaas said, hugging the ground and ready to pounce, “your greed has been bothering me for a long, long time. Anyone who’s willing to throw their child away in favor of some metal and rocks bothers me very, very deeply.” Spike looked between the two, somehow feeling very small compared to the two titans that now inhabited the room. Gaafnirlaas growled again. “I have let you run rampant long enough, Monster. I’ve let you twist and corrupt so many great dragons in the past. But you’re not taking this one. This one is mine.” “Is that so?” Tiamat asked. “And what possessed you to claim him? Why not the others? Why would you deny this dragon his hoard?” Spike gripped the pile beneath him tighter, but continued to listen to the shadow dragon. “Because I won’t let you turn the Last of the True Dragons into another monster.” “True Dragon?” Spike thought. “True Dragon?” Tiamat echoed. “Are you mad? He is the son of a Blue and a Red, hardly noble material, much less the ‘Last of the True Dragons.’” “It is not by right of blood that I grant him that title,” Gaafnirlass said. “No, I give it to him by right of character. For not since the days of my grandchildren have I seen a more noble dragon.” Tiamat blinked. Spike stared in surprise. “A-and shouldn’t a noble dragon deserve a noble hoard?” Tiamat countered. “Why would you take this away from him?” Spike stayed silent and watched, as what was perhaps the greatest battle of dragonkind erupted before him. Thousands of years of history and knowledge were suddenly laid bare before him. Power that could desolate mountains filled the air. And not a single blow was thrown. <<<|Ω|>>> “Sweet,” Rarity gasped, “Celestia!” She let loose a ragged pant as she heaved herself over the small outcropping. She pulled herself up, and rolled onto her back, heaving as she gulped down air. “Would it have killed somepony to put in some stairs?!” She lay there for a moment to catch her breath, before she rolled back to get her hooves under her, and stood. Checking herself, she again regretted the decision to take this incredibly dangerous climb. “Oh! It’s going to take me forever to get all of this out of my coat!” With a sigh, she sat down, and began picking the worse of the dirt out, using it as an excuse to take a breather. She was maybe halfway up the wall now, and she was making good time. She could see the particular stone she needed for her little plan. It wouldn’t be long now… <<<|Ω|>>> Spike could feel it. With every point, counter-point and insult, there was power flying beneath them. He could swear he saw shockwaves slam into the two combatants. All he could do was hold onto his pile as the two Great Wyrms fought. “His character demands better than an existence of greed!” Gaafnirlaas roared. Tiamat braced herself against the blow, before quickly retorting with her own attack. “And what makes you an authority on character, Mr. ‘Master of Shadows?’” “I am Master of Shadows because I would not be mastered by them!” Gaafnirlaas answered, almost slapping Tiamat’s attack to the side. “I would not become you!” Spike watched the back and forth, his head spinning as they told him to either leave his pile or dig himself deeper into it. “Such selfishness!” Tiamat retailitated. “You claim to be here for my child, but all you have spoken about is yourself!” “Yet you yourself have not asked what he desires!” “Is it not obvious? He has but one life to live! Why not surround himself with riches and beauty while he can?” “Riches?” Gaafnirlaas asked. “What riches? All he has here is metal and stones. Even the purest of gold is worthless if no one can buy it! It’s value is decided by the other races and societies! It is worthless here! All of this is nothing more than a comfortable bed!” he said, pointing viciously at the hoard. “It will not make you stronger, it will not make you live longer, it will not protect you!” The shadow dragon turned to Spike. “Why do you even want this?” Spike blinked. He had been addressed for the first time in the entire exchange, and it was a question he was not prepared to answer. He sat on his pile and thought for a second about it. Why? “Did you not just name him the Last of the True Dragons?” Tiamat asked. “Does he not deserve this?” That was a good point. Tiamat laid a claw on his back, giving a soothing pet to his back. “You deserve it, don’t you child?” “So he deserves nothing?” Gaafnirlaas questioned. “He deserves only a pile of worthless metal?” “He deserves beauty!” Tiamat answered. “Is there anything else more beautiful or delicious as gold and jewels?” A black claw grabbed a large gem and held it in front of Spike’s eyes. “Perhaps,” Gaafnirlaas said. “What say you, Spica Draconis? Is there something more beautiful?” Spike blinked. Was there something? Something better than his pile? He paused. There was...something… “Oh, you must mean that little pony,” Tiamat said, “the little white one, yes? Yes...wouldn’t she make such a great addition to your hoard, little one?” An image of a white unicorn, tethered to him by a fine, golden chain and feeding him rubies flashed in his mind. She lay across his snout, posing sexily, wearing nothing but a crown and slowly lowering the gems onto his waiting tongue. Spike smiled at the thought. And then he frowned. “She wouldn’t be happy, would she, Spica?” Gaafnirlaas asked. No...no she wouldn’t… “She’d want to be outside, living her life and running her business, wouldn’t she?” She would. She loved making dresses too much to simply leave it behind. The image in his head changed, Rarity now sitting alone on the pile, her back turned to him and face despondent. “Who cares what the pony wants?” Tiamat asked. “You are the Last of the True Dragons, as that thing over there has so kindly pointed out, what kind of True Dragon cares about something so beneath him?” “I...I care…” Spike said, his deep, rumbling voice resonating in the chamber. There was silence in the room. “I...I care!” Spike said again. “I care about her feelings!” Tiamat seemed to shrink. “I care about what she thinks! I care about her!” Tiamat shrunk again. “But...but she’s not a dragon! She’s not worthy!” she squeaked. Spike’s eyes narrowed as he stood, glaring down at Tiamat. “Not worthy? She is most worthy! If anything, I am not worthy! She...she is everything I ever wanted...she’s, well, she’s not perfect, but she’s the closest thing to it! She’s…” Spike sat up, leaving the gold. “She’s all I need.” Tiamat, now the size of a cat, stared up at Spike with ten, wide eyes. “B-but the gold…” Spike looked down at the small, dragon demon. Then he looked at the dragon clothed in shadow. There was a smile on Gaafnirlaas’ face, and his eyes shone with pride. Spike turned back to the little lizard in front of him. “What about it?” And with that, Tiamat was squished. Spike smiled to himself. “Do not celebrate yet, my son,” Gaafnirlaas warned. “Though you may have halted the danger from yourself for now, you must now turn your gaze outward.” Spike cocked his head in confusion. “What do you mean?” The shadows began to dissipate. “Where is she, the one you love?” Spike blinked. Where...where was Rarity? His heart suddenly stopped in his chest. Where was she? Was she in danger? What happened to her? Where did she go? He...he needed to get out of here! He had to find her! He tried to move his legs, try and get his feet under him, only for the gold to reach and grab him like a massive tentacle. He panicked, pulling himself forward to try and save the one he loved. The gold held him back. Gaafnirlaas was gone, the Umbral dragon unable to help his son. He needed to get out! He had to save her! He had to— “Sppppppiiiiiiiiiiikkkkeee!” His eye snapped open. He shook the coins from his body, the dream hoard having no power to hold him back, and ran from the room. <<<|Ω|>>> Rarity finally pulled herself up to the last rock, panting heavily as she did so. It had been, what, an hour now? Hour and a half? Two even? She took a quick break to catch her breath, she needed her lungs for this. She had done her best to keep the dirt to a minimum, but inevitably there were streaks along her normally pristine coat and her mane was now no longer properly laid. She mentally swore that she’d never take stairs for granted again. Once her breath and heart rate calmed, she stepped forward onto the outcropping that she had picked. She took a deep breath, and called back to all of her training as a young filly, and screamed. “Sppppppiiiiiiiiiiikkkkeee!” Her voice echoed off the crevice walls, magnifying to insane levels as the acoustics of hard stone reverberated the shrill cry back and forth between the the walls. She emptied her lungs with her cry, screaming until she could scream no more. And then she heard it, the shifting of hundreds of gold coins and the rumbling of a deep, thunderous voice as he called her name. “Rarity?! Rarity, where are you?!” The near-panic in his voice was both a comfort and worry to the unicorn mare, for reasons she couldn’t really explain. A massive, purple claw gripped the edge of the treasure cave and an even larger head poked the the entrance. It wasn’t hard to see the way his eyes crazily checked the crevice, searching for her. “Over here, Spike!” she called, waving, joy in her voice at the apparent success of her plan. The echoes of the cavern betrayed her, though, and Spike spun his head around to try and find her. “Rarity?” he called again. The thundering of his voice drowned out her own echoes, and sent the cavern shaking. Shake too much. Rarity barely caught it, the sound of stone breaking free. She barely had time to turn, and watch, eyes wide with horror, as the outcropping she stood on detached from the wall. She barely had time to scream. The rock dropped, slamming into another one below, the impact sent her flying off to the left and into space, while the boulder slammed into the rock wall, smashing to pieces and causing a landslide. That got Spike’s attention. He caught sight of her, a little white speck tumbling down into the darkness of the cavern. He lunged for her, wings that could create hurricanes beating as he tried to close the distance between them. Claws that could crush boulders held open to try and catch her. All of it meaningless if he could not. Rarity screamed as the ground approached her. And then everything went dark. <<<|Ω|>>> “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” Rarity opened her eyes, her vision coming back slowly. She blinked again, this time the sight of Spike holding her in his arms returned. He was at the size she was used to, again, and was rocking back and forth, his head buried into her chest. The pile of gold was behind them, Spike having carried her back to the entrance of the cave, but not inside. “Don't leave me, Rarity...” “Sp-Spike?” she called, her voice sounded a little distant in her ears, but that soon passed, and Spike looked up at her. “I’m so sorry, Rarity! I’m so sorry!” He cried, tears in his eyes. "Forgive me! Please! I'm so, so sorry!" “Sorry for what, dear?” she asked. Spike blinked, looking up at her. She gave him a smile, and patted his cheek. “You just lost your head for a moment. We all have our moments, dear.” Spike blinked and stared. He then, slowly smiled. “I don’t deserve you,” he said. She smiled and replied. “Sometimes life isn’t fair, dear.” He hugged her tight, refusing to let go. He couldn’t. She was everything to him. She broke the embrace, giving him a peck on the nose as she pulled away. “Come on, Spike, we’ve stayed here long enough, we need to move.” Spike nodded, letting her go, and stood. That’s when his eyes caught sight of something. “R-Rarity, what are those?” The unicorn stopped and turned to see Spike pointing at her battle dress, eyes wide. She followed his claw down to the three gems she had found. “Oh, those are just some gems I found,” she explained. Spike’s eye twitched. “No...no they’re not…” Rarity’s brow furrowed in confusion. “What do you mean, Spike?” she asked. “Those are not ‘just some gems.’ Those are Ioun stones.” “They’re what?” “A set of gems, crafted by Starswirl the Bearded, that are so powerful, that it’s rumored that only a handful of them can exist on a single plane of existence at a time…” Rarity blinked, before looking back down at the three gems that were now attached to her skirt. She looked back up at him, blinking again. “Oh…” “Or, this plane of existence at least,” Spike finished. “You do have to remember that some of the fundamental laws of the universe don’t necessarily apply. Anyway...can…can I see one of those?” Rarity smiled at Spike’s mini-Twilight moment, before handing the dragon the dusty red gem. He took it in his claw and gently breathed fire into the other for a light. “Hm…” Spike murmured, looking into the gem. “Now, if Twilight’s lessons on magic identification were worth the hours of missed sleep…” He gave a quick once-, and then twice-over, muttering to himself the entire time. “Miniature temporal distortion field, basic speed enhancement enchant, illusionary visual overlay…” A smile crept of him face. “Alright,” he said, before holding the gem above her head, before letting it go and sending it spinning. “Let’s see if I’m right.” Rarity gaped as she watched the small gem orbit the space above her head. Spike smirked. “Well, at least it’s an Ioun stone…” he chuckled. “This...is...Fabulous!” Rarity screamed, smiling so wide that Pinkie might have trouble competing. “That’s only half of it,” Spike said, “this one should be able to give you a slight warning before something attacks you, as well as slightly enhance your speed to properly allow you to dodge it.” “Fashionable and practical?” Rarity cried in disbelief. “Amazing! Here! Here try this one, next!” she said, handing him the pale green one. Spike chuckled, before looking the next one over. “Distilled Cutie Mark Magic, Basic speed, strength and dexterity boosters…This one should basically help you be better at, well, everything…” “Sold!” Rarity cried, before she grabbed the gem and quickly sent it spinning around her head. Spike shook his head. “What about this one?” she asked, handing him the one that looked like a small, grey pearl. Spike took it, and quickly began his work, smile on his face. “A very strong temporal distortion field, alteration fields, and…” He frowned. Rarity quickly noticed. “Spike, is there something wrong?” There was silence. “It’s...this stone…” Spike said. “What is it, dear?” she asked, stepping closer to him. Spike almost growled when he spoke next. “It’s the universe’s most cruel joke.” Rarity stepped forward and rested a hoof on his arm, waiting for an explanation. “It...this little thing will keep you young,” Spike explained. “Once you send this thing spinning, you will never again age a day. No magic can make you age, no amount of time will ever change you.” Rarity blinked. Well, what was so bad about it? That seems like that would be amazing. “So...so what’s wrong Spike? What’s the problem?” Spike looked up at her. “You’ll still die,” he said. Rarity was silent. “It...it won’t stop you from dying, Rarity. When your time is up, it’s still up. It’ll...it’ll just make sure you look better lying there in your grave.” He looked away from and down to the little stone in his hands. “It...I mean,” he sighed. “It’s great, you know? At seventy years old, you’ll be the envy of practically everyone. The young would not be able to outshine you, the elderly would want to be you...You’d still be able to run the sisterhooves social race without breaking a sweat. It just...wouldn’t matter…” Rarity took the stone from his hand and kissed him gently. “It’ll be alright, Spike,” she said. She floated the small, nacreous grey sphere over her head and sent it spinning. “Who knows, maybe we’ll be able to squeeze a few more years out of me this way.” Spike sighed. Rarity kissed him again. “Come on, now Spike, it’s time for us to go.” The dragon nodded and stood. Rarity stood right next to him, checking the walls. “Now the question is, how do we get out of here?” Spike looked up, and blinked. He could swear he saw a pair of burning, auburn eyes stared down at him from the walls. Spike knew those eyes. “I think I know where to go, Rarity. Follow me.” ------------------ And that’s a wrap. One dragon chapter done, and now...a Pendragon chapter next. “Ooh.” Yup. So...yeah...there may be some issues in this chap, that’s because Kilokk decided to be lazy and deal with real life. “So you’re all by yourself?” Well, relatively, all things considered… Alright! Next time, Alan, Julius, and the treacherous Markus Ironclaw! See you all next time!