//------------------------------// // Arkhoof Horror // Story: Harmonics // by appendingfic //------------------------------// Harmonics by Appendingfic & Read Chapter 1: Arkhoof Horror ~~~ Azure Shield ducked her head briefly beneath the top of Arkhoof's wall, trying to escape the mid-day sun. Though barely past winter's end, the land already burned with heat. She sighed and poked her head above the edge, ducking it back down when she saw nothing of interest. Sometimes she wondered about ancient times, when ponies changed the weather by hoof and wing. It seemed impossible, but she imagined that whatever heat it brought, she would appreciate a spring she helped shape herself. A distant sound brought her head up above the wall's edge. A dark shape wavered wildly in the air some distance away. After a moment, it resolved into a brown pegasus with dark green markings across her body, approaching Arkhoof at an uneven gait. Azure scrambled to her hooves and darted to the stairs down, moving as quickly as she could dare to, which still felt unbearably slow. Nevertheless, when she reached the ground, the pegasus was still out of earshot, and fluttering closer to the ground. "Can? Can Do?" she demanded as the pegasus dropped to the earth. The pegasus nodded weakly but didn't move. Azure trotted to the other mare's side and offered a bottle of water. Can drank deep, gasping before she handed the bottle back to Azure. "Thanks! I took that at a bit of a sprint," the pegasus explained. "Is something the matter?" Azure asked nervously. "I've never seen you fly that fast-" "Oh! Yes!" Can Do declared, snapping her head up. "I saw something back a couple of miles - I think it was a whole pack of Blind Walkers!" "Blind - are you sure?" Azure asked. Can Do was already fluttering off the ground, eager to take to the air again, but at Azure's question, she paused, hovering, and gave Azure a careless shrug. "I don't know. They were all bald, and their wings were all wriggly." Can Do shivered at the memory, while Azure wracked her memory for some sign of whether the scout was right. She'd never seen a Blind Walker before, but the description sounded like one, and if any were remotely near Arkhoof, anypony nearby was in trouble. "Sounds like you're right, Can Do. Okay, you find Iron Hoof and see if he can help. I'll warn everypony, and-" Can was off before Azure could complete her thought, but that was well enough; she didn't need to plan if she could be off. She turned out towards the south and took a deep breath. "Inside the walls, everypony!" she bellowed. No matter what Eye Spy said about it, they had to break off any farmers outside the walls rather than risk anypony being attacked by...Blind Walkers. Azure shuddered. They were likely not the most terrible creatures to walk Equestria, but they were bad enough, if the stories about drinking blood were true. Shaking off the unpleasant thoughts, Azure Shield turned back into the town, ducking through the now-crowded gate and along the inside wall to Eye Spy's home. Kickstarter and Hurricane, pale ponies who were brothers in all but blood, stood on either side of the thin curtain that divided Eye Spy from the rest of the world. Kickstarter, earth pony and stockier of the two, bent his head to Azure's level. "Problem?" he asked. "Maybe," Azure hedged. "Can Do saw something a few miles south - thought it might be Blind Walkers-" Kickstarter hissed and shook his head. "Bad enough to bring everypony in. I'll go sound the alarm." "And I wanted to know if-" "Go on in if you need to!" Kickstarter shouted as he galloped from the house. Azure glanced around between the door and Hurricane, who watched her with wary grey eyes. "You gotta see her?" he asked softly. "I want to go after them," Azure said meekly. "Me and Iron Hoof and-" "Go in, see what sort of mood she's in," he said. When Azure didn't step forward, he nudged her flank, sending her stumbling forward through the curtain. She heard his laughter behind her. At first, Azure couldn't see anything. Eye Spy lived in almost complete darkness, as a testament to her weakening eyes, but someponies thought there was another reason. For one thing, Eye Spy was awfully well-informed for a pony who spent all her time indoors. As she blinked, Azure made out the stacks of rugs and cushions that made up Eye Spy's home, technically also a warehouse. A low light flickered from a brazier around which Eye Spy had curled. The elderly earth pony, pale green in the dim light, looked up from the brazier and smiled at Azure. “Good morning, Azure,” the earth pony said. She stood, unsteadily, revealing, for a moment, the single, unblinking eye that marked her flank. “I wasn’t expecting you.” The  unicorn shivered; the statement alone spoke wonders. Eye Spy expected everything. “Can Do came back from patrol saying she saw a couple of Blind Walkers on the southern borders. I was going to get Iron Hoof and go after them-” “Do you think you should?” The question showed that, expecting it or not, Eye Spy took this with the same unflappable demeanor she took everything. And it made Azure stop short, uncertain. “I...” “This is the sort of thing I like to expect, Azure,” Eye Spy said. “It could be something dangerous. It could be some sort of trap. But if you think you three should chase it down, I’ll support you.” Azure gulped, heart pounding unevenly. “I...” She wasn’t certain she could handle the responsibility Eye Spy was giving her, but at the same time, if nopony got rid of the Blind Walkers, they could hurt somepony else. “I’ll do it,” she declared at last. Eye Spy nodded. “They’re waiting for you,” she said before sitting down. “And good luck.” Azure galloped to the southern gates to find Can Do trotting around a light brown earth pony, taller by each of them by a head. Azure could see only hints of his pale, blue-silver mane around the helmet he’d donned, but she would have recognized Iron Hoof’s bulk anywhere. “Hey! Azure! We’re ready! Are we going to kick flank?” Can Do fluttered at Iron’s eye level before dropping unceremoniously to the ground. Azure smiled at the scout. “Yeah. We are.” ~~~ The trip through the forest surrounding Arkhoof was tense; Azure knew all too little about their foe, and stealth wasn’t easy with Iron Hoof moving in the leaf-woven armor he favored. And given time, Azure grew more and more nervous. Can Do had said the creatures were no more than a mile or two from the town, which meant her little band could already be sharing the woods with- “Look!” Azure’s gaze darted in every direction before falling on a pale shape drifting from behind a tree. Like a pegasus, it was lithe and athletic, built for speed, not strength. Its skin, visible for it lacked a coat, was pale and bloodless, and its eyes hollow sockets within its skull. On its back, masses of tentacles writhed in a shape that was a mockery of a pegasus’ wings. And its flank...bore no mark, no sign of talent or purpose beyond the hideous tales told of it. Azure let her magic flow, summoning armor, translucent but as hard as any steel, between her and the monsters. Can Do yelped and tried to leap for the trees, instead freezing in place with a yelp as the creatures closed in. Iron Hoof glowered and pawed at the ground. “Come on, if you think you’re hard enough,” he growled. The blind creatures moved more slowly than a pony, but with an eerie, and silent, assurance. One slipped close and flapped its wings at Azure. She felt the tentacles wrap around her flesh, barbed tips drawing, and then sucking out blood. She cried out in pain while another attacked Iron Hoof, who roared and lashed out with his hooves. He dodged under another strike and kicked one of the creatures, dropping it to the ground. Azure tried to help, summoning a lance of flame that went wide and struck the ground next to one of the Blind Walkers before fizzling out. Now two of the creatures menaced her, hungry for the blood they stole with every successful strike. She saw an arrow cut through the foliage and distract one of the creatures long enough for Iron Hoof to bring it down, but then another cut nearly dropped her to her knees. Her vision faded as she felt her heart beat only weakly. Another cut and- “Keep your dirty hooves off of her!” A hoof struck one of the creatures soundly in the skull, dropping it to the forest floor, and sending the other galloping from them. Azure glanced wildly after it, expecting another arrow to follow the creature, and herself lacking the energy to try and strike its fleeing form. Instead, she heard a cheerful cry of, “You ok? I think I...ow...overdid it?” She glanced towards where she’d seen Can Do run, and saw the pegasus upside-down on the forest bed. The pegasus waved at her, and Azure shuddered, the shock and blood loss hitting her all at once. “I...” “You all right, Azure?” She shook her head, causing the world to shake around her; a sudden warmth at her side indicated where Iron Hoof was leaning against her, supporting her movements as they turned back towards town. Her thoughts were slow, and fuzzy. “I...are they dead? The Blind Walkers?” “They’re not getting up again anytime soon,” Iron Hoof said. Azure guessed that was going to have to be good enough. She couldn’t work up the energy to care one way or another, at least until she heard a squeak from above them. “Is that...smoke?” Iron Hoof stiffened, and Azure, still walking forward, nearly fell. “Arkhoof!” Iron declared. Can Do pumped her wings and sped into a brown-and-green blur, while Iron Hoof picked up the pace only marginally. Azure was still breathing heavily when they reached Arkhoof to see the western gate in flames, and the guards of the little town helping wounded ponies back inside. “What happened?” Azure asked. The answer came from Can Do, dropping out of the sky. “Not half an hour after we left, a whole bunch of Blind Walkers showed up and attacked Arkhoof. They...killed a couple ponies, but that’s not the worst of it. They took a couple, too!” It was as if Iron’s skin turned to ice; Azure could feel his muscles stiffen and body chill. “Who’d they take?” Can Do wilted under the focused gaze, landing and kicking at the dust. “A couple of foals, they said...including Iron Filing-” “I’ll kill them!” he howled, turning towards the west, letting Azure stumble and fall, and revealing the puckered wounds oozing blood on his own flank. Can Do caught Iron’s tail in her teeth and pulled back against the straining earth pony until his movements ceased. She fixed him with a serious glare. “Maybe you will,” she said, “but you’re still bleeding - both of you. And I don’t like our chances, anyway, without some help.” “I could talk to Eye Spy,” Azure offered. “And I’ll find somepony to try to see what we can do about those cuts,” Can Do announced. “You stay here,” she ordered, which made Iron sit, even if he did so with a sullen look on his face and glared at anypony who looked at him. The way to Eye Spy’s was strangely unfamiliar, with the streets all but empty and the haze of the still-burning gate. Azure found the door unguarded, and tapped her hoof against the jamb. “Come in, Azure.” Azure trotted in, warmed by the show of normalcy in Eye Spy’s apparent omniscience. The elderly earth pony, however, looked battered and worn, and didn’t look up at Azure. “So it was a trap,” Azure said. “I’m sorry-” “Don’t,” the earth pony snapped. “I told you. Something fixed its eyes on us to blind me to what was coming. I’ve told nopony else about this, but you know, child, that my gaze goes further than anypony else’s. I watch our borders from here, and sometimes gain the barest insight into the future. And something blocked me, kept me from seeing anything until our children were taken from us.” “Iron Hoof wants to go after them,” Azure said quietly. She wasn’t certain if she was asking a question, or what she could say if Epy Spy again asked her to make the decision. But the elderly pony just looked up at the unicorn, eyes hard. “Can you stop him?” she asked. “What?” “If he goes alone, he’ll die,” Eye Spy said. “Can you keep him from going after his sister?” Azure shook her head rapidly, and Eye Spy let her eyes slide closed. “Then there you are. I wish you the best of luck.” Azure stumbled back, uncertain what to say and only belatedly remembering a quick bow before bolting. Out there, she nearly ran into a lean, pale bulk. She screamed and her horn flared, magic rising before she recognized the shape of Silver Lance, an earth pony, and one of Arkhoof’s hunters and trackers. “A little jumpy there, aren’t we?” he asked Azure. “Were you hiding in here during the attack; I didn’t see you on the walls.” Azure’s heart rose at the sight of the white-coated pony. He was a tracker and something of a scrapper, skills they would need chasing down the Blind Walkers. “I - we were chasing some Blind Walkers down at the southern border.” Silver Lance made a dismissive noise. “Of course. You’re aware you’re bleeding, right?” “You need to come with us!” Azure blurted, realizing how stupid she sounded a moment too late. Silver narrowed golden eyes at her. “Come where?” Azure sighed. There was likely nothing to be done for it; she might as well try. “Come with us to track down the foals the Blind Walkers took. Eye Spy told us we could go after them.” “Funny. She usually isn’t that eager to let ponies die. Mama’s right, she is getting old.” “Look, if you’re scared, you don’t have to come,” Azure retorted. Silver ignored the taunt, but circled Azure slowly before snorting. “I think you’d better let Mama take a look at you before you bleed to death in the middle of the street. Might as well make it a little harder to turn you into a monster appetizer.” He turned, trotting away, and Azure followed, grateful for even the small favor offered. Silver’s home was the only functional hospital Arkhoof had, and the home of Bleeding Heart. The unicorn who greeted Azure looked far more menacing than she could be said to be; the pitch-black mare with a single drop of blood as a Cutie Mark tutted at the sight of Azure. “Look at you, darling! Let those monsters get too close, didn’t you? Back so soon, Silver?” “Got things to do,” the earth pony muttered as he passed through the room. Bleeding Heart set Azure down on a low couch and began tending to the wounds with careful applications of her magic. As soothing energy drifted across her bloody flanks, Azure relaxed slightly. “You won’t bully him into helping you,” Heart murmured. “And protecting these ponies is as much his duty as helping those poor foals.” “How did you know?” “Hurricane said you’d taken Iron Hoof off to fight monster before the fight,” Bleeding Heart said. “And Silver Lance is angry at you; he doesn’t like being pressured. Likes to think himself an adventurer, though. There we go! You’ll be right as rain in the morning.” Azure slept fitfully that night, Bleeding Heart’s words preying on her mind. When she awoke, she’d made a decision, and went to the hospital the next morning, before the gates to meet Iron hoof. “You didn’t hurt yourself again, did you?” Bleeding Heart asked when she answered the door. “I want to see Silver,” Azure said. The dark unicorn smiled and stepped aside. “Somepony to see you, Silver!” The earth pony arrived a moment later, but scowled when he saw Azure. “What are you doing here?” “We’re leaving soon,” Azure said. “I just wanted to check one more time if you wanted to help us. I mean...I don’t know how long we’ll be gone.” “What do you mean? You’re gonna get the foals back, then run right back here,” Silver said, rolling his eyes. “Assuming they don’t drink your blood. Or their boss doesn’t just break you. You know someponies say there was something worse with the Blind Walkers that attacked yesterday. Those are blind pegasi with tentacles for wings, you know-” “We had to fight a whole bunch in the forest! I told you that!” Azure snapped. At the gleam in Silver’s eyes, though, she calmed herself. “Anyway, I don’t think it’s that easy. I mean, what if we get the foals back? It’ll happen again in a couple months, or a year, and maybe we won’t get them back that time.” Silver’s eyes seemed to glow even in the bright light of his mother’s home. Azure tried to keep a grin off her face. “What? Are you going to gallop into Canterlot and try to kill His Terrificness with your cute little glare?” Azure scowled even as her cheeks flushed. “S-shut up! And I don’t know! All I know is this can’t continue! If we just huddle here, things will never get better! I’m asking you to come with us and see if there isn’t anything we can’t do to help...everypony!” Silver took a step forward, bending his head down. He took another step, and when he spoke, it was low and quiet. “They say that when...He appeared, Clover the Clever gathered Smart Cookie and Pansy to fight him. They were old ponies, but had been friends for a lifetime, and those bonds were as strong as they had ever been. “Nopony heard from them again, Azure. The Fires of Friendship - the most powerful magic in the world - were nothing to him. Do you think you’d stand a chance?” Azure stepped back and fixed Silver’s gaze with her own. She set her jaw and glared. “Maybe. But I’ll never know if we don’t try.” Silver smirked, suddenly. “Sounds good. Come on; let me just grab my things.” Azure stood, frozen. She could barely believe it had worked! She still couldn’t, even as Silver Lance accompanied her to the gates to find Iron Hoof pawing absently at the ground. Silver Lance grinned at Iron and at Can Do as she fluttered to earth. “Well! Looks like the gang’s all here,” he announced cheerily. “Now, I’ve some experience tracking monsters like this, so any objections if I take the lead?” Nopony objected, although Azure noted he didn’t give anypony time to do so before he trotted outside the burned gates of Arkhoof. The next few days went slowly, with at first almost no sign of the monsters’ passage. Eventually, however, Azure began noticing small creatures strewn beside the paths Silver Lance led them. The creatures were pale, skin covered in tiny puckered marks that made her remember the biting touch of the strange tentacles that covered the Blind Walkers’ backs. “They’re traveling by day,” Silver Lance announced one night. “Either for the benefit of their captives, or for the benefit of another member of their camp.” “I heard someponies talking about something leading those things,” Can muttered from the far side of their small fire. “Something terrible. Made someponies drop without touching them.” “Do you think it’s the same thing that kept Eye Spy from finding out about the attack?” Azure asked. Silver shrugged. Iron, normally placid brown eyes hard, grunted. “Don’t know. Just know it’s a dead beast.” Azure looked at her friend. He hadn’t spoken much since they’d left Arkhoof, and she was worried for him. He seemed angrier than he normally was, and this confirmed it. And yet she didn’t know what to say. In the end, she said nothing. She woke late into the night, startled by a strange noise. She could see, by the dying embers, Can Do, who had taken second watch, struggling against something. “Iron!” Azure shouted, and pulled a small wand she’d scrounged up some time ago from her pack. It had some small, but destructive magic; with a little focus, she summoned a blast of energy that sent a Blind Walker, seemingly unhindered by the darkness, stumbling away from the pegasus. Iron lumbered to his feet and launched himself at the creature, dropping it, and then, in a swift combo of magic and hoof, sending yet another to the ground. Only then did Silver Lance rouse from his slumber to find his companions adrenaline-pumped and one bleeding. He offered forth a bottle his mother had sent with him, sealing some of Can Do’s wounds and setting the camp to sit watch through the rest of the gloomy night. Azure couldn’t help but look at the broken shapes on the ground, and wonder if they had been somepony’s brother before, or if the Lord of Equestria had simply created something new to walk the world, its resemblance to ponies just a malevolent prank. “We’re close,” Silver said. “Close enough we could make a push and attack tomorrow morning.” “Let’s do it,” Azure said. As indecisive as she’d found herself previously, the prospect of a fight seemed energizing. In any case, she was certain Iron Hoof would have pushed for the same decision; as if to confirm this, she saw him nod at the declaration. They crept west, until Silver pointed to a distant camp, where close to ten shapes moved or sat on the grass. Azure tried to move as stealthily as she could manage, but about four hundred feet away, she saw half a dozen Blind Walkers turn their scarred faces towards the group, and begin moving at a charge towards them. She glanced at Iron Hoof, who just roared and charged right back. Azure closed her eyes, and focused on her magic, calling forth the magic that had appeared on her flank at first casting. Translucent shields flickered into existence next to each of her allies, dancing and shifting to block any attack. Silver Lance joined in the charge, as well, pulling the polearm from his pack as he moved. Iron, who preferred to fight bare-hooved, leapt into the fray, punching a Blind Walker with enough strength to drop it before two more ganged up on him. Azure tried to lay down cover fire with magic, but assault magic was not her forte, and she seemed to have poor luck with her shots. Can Do was having worse, most of her shots going wide. With barely any notice, however, a gigantic bat dropped from the sky, slamming into and dropping another Blind Walker while Iron Hoof threw off one of his attackers. With the addition of a new combatant, the tide surged in the ponies’ favor, and soon,  the Blind Walkers were vanquished. The bat lurched up from its last victim and flapped towards the camp. There, a unicorn with a dark purple coat and a short, black mane that all but blended into her coat, tore away ropes from the flank of a pegasus, a timid-looking stallion with coloring like a cloud, blue suffused with transparent white patches. The unicorn’s mark showed a six-sided die, and his a lion curled around a rabbit. The unicorn bounced forward to meet Azure. “Oh! Thank goodness you’re here! Did you happen to see a little brown bag on one of those things?” “I-” Surprised at the sight of captives other than the ones she’d expected, Azure faltered, and the unicorn just darted past her rather than waiting for an answer. Back at the camp, the pegasus still struggled with the remains of his bonds. “Lucky, what about-” He never finished his sentence, because the ground seemed to open up, releasing two more Blind Walkers and...something else. Like the Walkers, it resembled a bald pony, but its skin, rather than pale, was a dull, rubbery gray. It bore no wings or horn, and its snout ended in a monstrous mess of tentacles that writhed as it glanced across the group of attackers. Azure recoiled; a sensation like a physical blow nearly sent her unconscious. She could see the others reacting similarly. The pegasus captive dropped, and Silver Lance grit his teeth, a trickle of blood leaking from his nose, but aside from the one creature, all sustained the attack. Azure glanced at the retreating purple unicorn, hoping for a moment that the name the pegasus had called out was a good sign for this fight. Iron Hoof and the bat lunged at the hideous monster, while Can Do, exhibiting her usual enthusiasm, launched at the Blind Walkers. Azure, for her part, tried to attack the creature with magic, only to find her spells evaporated before touching it. The creature took a serious blow from Iron before it glared at him. The stallion staggered, eyes glazing over before he aimed a vicious bite at the bat, bringing down the surprise ally and pushing the odds in the monsters’ favor. Iron then turned on Azure, and she felt her heart seize in terror. SIlver Lance was trying to simultaneously fend off a Blind Walker and the new monster. Can Do, unused to close combat, was struggling with her own foe. She couldn’t fight off her friend, if he was a puppet of this monster. She closed her eyes and tried to remember some scrap of magic that could free him. When she remembered, she almost laughed. She’d learned magic from the old tomes of ‘Magic of Friendship’, where they mentioned three ancient spells that spoke to a heart chained to evil. “Iron, it’s me,” she pleaded, and cast forth the magic she recalled. For a moment, the magic struggled, but then, through some extraordinary luck, Azure remembered the last twist of the spell, and whispered, “your friend.” Iron Hoof’s eyes cleared before focusing clearly on the tentacled monster that had, even briefly, enslaved him. He lunged at it, only to bounce off of a translucent suit of armor that materialized around it. The creature spun, fixing eyes on Azure. Something tickled at the base of her skull; for a moment, Azure’s breathing stopped. But another tingle ran up her spine, and whatever magic the beast had tried faded. Silver Lance stabbed at the creature, catching it a strong blow in the side. The monster pulled away, wrenching the weapon away from Silver as it turned hateful eyes on Iron Hoof. But Iron Hoof was done. He bit the tentacles protruding from the thing’s face and used the leverage to force it to the ground. The creature flailed and tried to brush a hoof, glowing gray, against Iron Hoof’s leg, only for Iron Hoof to kick it away and lower a hoof to the creature’s neck. i surrender The words were not spoken; they seemed to enter Azure’s memory without passing her ears. She could still ‘hear’ a sense of the creature’s voice; it made her mind feel greasy and unclean. Still, Iron Hoof didn’t move, glowering at the beast. allow me to live, and i will tell you where your sister is The voice, or thought, or memory, took on a wheedling quality as the creature spoke. you will not find her without me The scene held for several tense seconds before Iron Hoof stepped back. “Fine,” he growled. “Tell me. And then get out of my sight.” the Master has created many wonders with which to fill your world. some are his own creations, and others are things already here, which the Master has improved. some were ponies, once. some time ago, one of these creations told the Master something which He had not realized. He had changed many types of ponies, except one. those with no marks upon them. Azure’s body shivered of its own accord. Whether the thing said its Master had improved it or not, the Master was torturing ponies. And now it wanted foals- “Where is she?” Iron demanded, lunging forward so his hooves ended up on the thing’s shoulders. It stumbled under the weight, but made no sign of distress that the furious stallion was so close to it. a colleague has taken the foals to canterlot Azure could feel the creature’s smugness tainting the bland words. Iron must have felt the same, because he smashed his skull into the creature’s own, a movement that sent the remaining Blind Walker galloping for the hills. Azure, for her part, froze in shock, unable to do more than watch as Iron slammed his hooves into the prone form until it stopped moving. A part of her spun along, already trying to wonder how they might get into Canterlot, find the foals, get out- “Oh! I was wondering why the brain-eater stopped talking.” Lucky stepped up behind Azure, startling her. The purple unicorn bent over the blue pegasus and nudged him. “You okay, Wild Heart?” “Fine...Singer!” He bolted upright at the sight of the unconscious bat, and moved to its side, producing a cloth from seemingly nowhere to tend its wounds. “Who are you?” Azure managed to choke out. The other unicorn smiled winningly at her. “Lucky Clover, at your service. That’s Wild Heart. And I heard what that brain-eater said to you. Going after your friend’s sister to Canterlot is suicide.” “I don’t care!” Iron bellowed. “I can’t leave her to that - that-” “Easy, honey,” Lucky said, brushing past the rearing stallion, bringing him up short. “I don’t mean ‘suicide’ in the way ponies normally say something’s foolhardy. I mean literally, suicide. His Terrificness’ generals live there, and one of them’s got this way of sensing who and where everypony in the city is. That thing’s magic is a sight better than yours, I promise.” Azure shook her head. “We can’t go back. We can’t leave her there.” “Well,” Lucky said, settling on the ground next to the cooing Wild Heart, “there is one way. I’ve heard of an old pony - well, more like a nag - who they say knows everything. If there’s a way to do it, she can tell you.” “And you know where she is?” Lucky offered Azure a bright smile. “Course I do! Just one warning - she’s a little crazy.” “I think you need to be, to survive around here,” Azure said wryly. ~~~