//------------------------------//
// Towards the Dawn 
// Story: To Fill a Void 
// by Erebus 
//------------------------------//

Towards the Dawn

"I remember you all too well, Princess Luna. So then...how is it that you truly could not remember me?"

"We were close once, closer than most could ever hope to be. In fact, one could easily go as far to say that we were one in the same."

"So, has our bond truly happened to dwindle so low...or am I just simply that forgettable?"

"Perhaps...just maybe...you're simply afraid of the dark."

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"AAAAAAAH!"

Princess Luna woke all too suddenly, her scream tearing through the once peaceful dark.

Her eyes went wide as she lay on the grass gasping for air, small beads of sweat slowly coming down her face.

From the moment that the unnamed stranger had parted company with her, and the black maw had slowly consumed her form, she had spent what seemed like an eternity within the confines of the crushing void. During this time, she had found herself unable to move, breath, or even make coherent thought. Had it not been for the alicorn's connection to the moon, she feared to wonder if she might have awakened at all.

Indeed, with the dawn rapidly approaching, Luna's inherent bond with the moon had luckily been capable of returning her to consciousness. A fact that she was currently more than thankful for.

"Thank the heavens that the morning is so close, had we not been required to lower the moon...we shudder to think of what may have happened."

As she continued to calm herself, she began to think back to what the shrouded entity had called her forth to speak of.

"How can we hope to trust the word of a being such as that? It was against even naming itself to us...to speak nothing of the situation it left us in upon its departure. Still though, what it mentioned of Erebus certainly tells us that the two are connected in some manner, but how exactly?"

As she continued to silently question her situation, she began to take in her surroundings. Glancing around the clearing, she soon found that everything was as it should be since she had fallen asleep. One thing that did catch her notice however, was that Erebus was absolutely nowhere to be found.

Nervously glancing from side-to-side, she quietly called out. "Hello? Erebus, are you there?"

"I'm right here Princess." 

Her heart rate quickly doubled at the sound of a sudden rustling in the trees above her. Gazing upwards, she was surprised to see her human companion sitting up on one of the branches. With a soft thud, he dropped himself onto the grass, before gazing intently at the alicorn.

"Is there something the matter Princess? I don't think that I've ever seen someone sleep quite so peacefully, yet wake in such a violent manner." He held a look of concern in his eyes.

Luna glanced up at him as he said this, her mind wandering back to what she had promised. She knew that she couldn't tell him of what had transpired during her sleep, but she still found it nice that he cared about her well-being.

"Oh Erebus, we didn't mean to disturb you. Please, it's nothing that you should have to worry yourself about, a minor problem really, basically nothing at all." 

Erebus raised an eyebrow. "Are you quite sure about that Princess? It certainly didn't sound like it was nothing at all."

The alicorn shook her head quickly, trying to change the subject. "While we appreciate your concern for us, we assure you that it was nothing...merely a nightmare, that's all. It makes little difference at this point anyway, as we must be awake so that we might lower the moon for the dawn."

The human's face suddenly changed from concern to confusion as he heard this. He stared at her with a slightly incredulous look before speaking.

"I-I'm sorry Princess, I'm not quite sure that I completely understand what you just said. You woke up just now so that you could...lower the moon?"

Luna stared back at him with an almost equally confused look. "Why would he find such a thing so strange? To raise the sun and moon...such a practice has been required in our world for longer than we can remember. So then why does he find our words odd?"

"Erebus, in the current age it is necessary that celestial bodies be raised and lowered on a regular basis. Surely...surely in your own time, there was someone that was required to fulfill this task as well...was there not?" 

Gazing up at the moon, Erebus sighed and shook his head. "No Princess, it was pretty common knowledge that both the sun and the moon were able to rise and fall naturally. While it is true that I never was able to witness this act myself, such a fact was simply a natural part of the world that far predates human history."

Leaning his hand against the nearby tree and returning his gaze to Luna, he continued. "From everything I've taken in so far, it's clear to see that the world as you know it is far dissimilar from the world that humans once knew. Everything, from the landscape, to the inhabitants, to even the natural laws...they seem to strictly disagree with one another. With that being said, I myself should be honored to be able to experience such a vastly different world."

Stepping forward, he knelt down beside her, an embarrassed grin on his face. "You uh...you wouldn't mind if I was to watch as you lower the moon, would you?"

As Erebus continued to gaze over at her, Luna couldn't help but find herself giggling at the look of anticipation he currently held in his eyes.

"If looks could ever kill us...he seems more excited than a young foal on their birthday."

"You know Erebus, you really needn't ask us as if this was something private. While it is true that it is not a common occurrence to watch us or our sister raise the sun and moon, it is something that both of us take pride in doing." 

She smiled up at him. "So no, of course we wouldn't mind if you watched us."

He gave her a sheepish grin. "Sorry for appearing so hesitant, I still wanted to make sure if it was alright with you before possibly intruding on something that you consider private."

Luna nodded in affirmation. "We certainly appreciate the notion, but it's quite alright. In fact, your company would be more than welcome."

As she began an attempt to rise, the princess quickly noticed that something  was amiss. There was a certain weight covering her, something that felt unnatural. Gazing down at herself, she noticed the long black robe that was still laid over her, however...it was heavier than she had first remembered it. A shudder ran through her body as she remembered the smothering darkness that had engulfed not long ago.

"Erebus, we would like to thank you for allowing us to borrow your cloak for the night. It would seem that the air has warmed up considerably though, so we would like to return it to you."

Her companion nodded as he reached towards the robe. "I trust that it did a good job of keeping you warm then?"

As he placed his hand around the fabric however, an odd look caught in his eye, and a puzzled scowl began to form on his face.

"Yes, we found that it was quite warm..." Luna noticed the look on his face. "What is it? Is there something wrong?"

Erebus scrutinized the cloak for another few seconds before huffing and shaking his head. "No, there's nothing wrong princess. I thought that I'd remembered something for a moment...something distant. Whatever it is though, it seems to have eluded me."

Luna internally gasped as she silently hoped that this had nothing to do with her recent encounter.

She quickly decided to change the subject. "Erebus, you wouldn't mind helping us up, would you? We're afraid that our leg is still too sore to fully support our weight."

"Of course Princess, I'm always more than willing to lend you hand until we can get you some proper medical attention for that wound." 

Moving himself around towards the wounded leg, Erebus slowly helped the princess up, doing his best to to keep her stable. Kneeling down, he partially removed the makeshift bandage to examine the wound.

"Hmm, this isn't going to do either of us any favors. While the blood flow has certainly stopped for now, and the wound is doing it's best to heal, it's obvious that any prolonged travel will send it straight back to square one."

Placing his hand on the gash, he quickly numbed the area again, before cinching the cloth as tightly as he safely could. "There we are Princess, that should keep you in order for the time being. Still, it would be best if we found a settlement sooner rather than later."

Luna nodded as he said this. "Indeed, that would be for the best. With that said, it would do us good to have some more viable light to navigate by."

After a brief moment of searching, she was able to find a small opening between the many trees, just large enough to give her a clear view of the moon. Motioning with her hoof, she asked. "Erebus, if you would be so kind as to help us over towards that spot, we would be very grateful. When we arrive though, we would ask that you give us some degree of space while we work."

The human glanced over to where Luna had pointed. "No problem at all Princess, I didn't think that you want any distractions to begin with."

Luna quickly shook her head at him. "Oh no, it isn't that we would find you distracting...at least not in the way you might think. Our job is something that comes quite naturally to us, and it actually requires very little application. The only issue is that...well...we aren't used to being observed as we raise the moon."

Erebus nodded as he led the alicorn over to the clearing. "Ah, so then what you're saying is that you're just shy around others?"

The princess quickly became flustered as she tried to defend herself. "Why that is the most ridiculous thing that we have ever heard! We have been a princess for many centuries now, and as such we have absolutely no reason or grounds to be shy around our many subjects!"

Chuckling slightly, Erebus did his best to apologize. "Please Princess, forgive me for what I said. I meant nothing by it, and I had no intention of attacking your pride."

An embarrassed frown still on her face, the princess grumbled something incomprehensible, before stepping out ahead of Erebus and sitting down in the small ray of moonlight. Gazing up towards the sky, the princess began to slow her breathing, opening herself to the connection she shared. Her horn began to glow a soft blue as her natural energy began to build up. Reaching out, as she had so many times before, she slowly started to guide the moon down towards the horizon.

Erebus stood off to the alicorn's side, his eyes intently set on the celestial body as it slowly descended out of view. Just as the moon was nearly out of sight, a brilliant glow began to engulf the darkness of the early morning. The moon was completely blotted out as the sun slowly began to make its way over the horizon. The human was soon forced to place his before his eyes in an effort to block out some of the harsh light.

Luna gave out a sigh as she saw the sun rising into the sky. While it held true that she would be hard pressed to explain to Celestia what had happened, it was still a relief that her sister would at least know that she was alright. Before she could continue down this train of thought however, she was brought back to reality by a soft gasp off to her side.

Gazing over at Erebus, she found him squinting up at the low morning sun, a look of wonder set upon his face. 

"Hmm, we should have expected as much. After all, this is the first sunrise that he has ever been able to witness, so it makes sense that he would find it awe inspiring. All the same though... It would seem that our sister continues to outshine us."

Slowly making her way back towards him, she asked. "It's quite beautiful, isn't it? After all, with this being your first sunrise, it must no doubt be an amazing experience for you, correct?"

Lowering his hand from his eyes, Erebus answered her. "Well, I can't lie when I say that this is indeed a first time experience for me, and it was quite a magnificent thing to witness. All the same, I have to say that it was all a bit too bright and flashy for my tastes... I kind of preferred the cover of night, to be totally honest."

Luna gave him a confused look. "But,  we saw the look on your face...you looked completely awestruck. So then, how is it that you can be so forthright about the whole thing?"

Erebus chuckled lightly. "Ah, yes I can see how you might be confused about that. Make no mistake, I found the sunrise quite spectacular, as I already said. What I truly found amazing however, was simply the fact that you were capable of freely controlling a celestial body with almost no effort required...that's a feat that I never thought I would be able to witness."

The princess wracked her brain as he spoke these words. "Is he truly so difficult to understand? He seems to take great interest in something, only to move on to another point, as if the first thing wasn't even there."

"Now then Princess, shall we get to..." Erebus cut himself short as he noticed the look that Luna now wore. "Is there...something wrong Princess?"

A defeated sigh escaped Luna's lips. "That's it, it's easy to say that we've given up at this point."

The human cocked his head at this. "I'm not sure I understand, what exactly are you referring to?"

The princess rolled her eyes. "There is simply no understanding you is there? You are by far the largest mystery that we have ever stumbled across. You have given us almost no background as to who you are, you're attention is shifting on an almost constant rate, and despite the fact you've found yourself in an entirely new world...you seem capable of writing everything off as if it were completely normal. Please excuse us for all this, but with the lack of information you've given us, it's a complete wonder to us as to how you can even function in such a an odd manner."

An amused grin began to form on Erebus' face as the Princess continued to go on about him, quickly earning the human an exasperated reprimand.

"This is exactly what we are talking about! Would you please be so kind as to explain to us what is so humorous?"

Erebus sighed lightly, the grin still on his face. "I'm sorry Princess, I'm not purposely attempting to upset you. You see, the thing is...this is far from the first time that someone has gotten all worked up over my 'strange' tendencies. To be completely honest, I got called out on this kind of thing so much, that it's simply something that I've come to expect over the years."

He walked over to the princess and knelt beside her. "If you're looking for an answer as to why I'm like this, then I'm afraid I can't give it. This is simply my natural state of being, as it has been for most all my life. I suppose you could just say that I'm capable of understanding and coping with different things far more easily than other beings, allowing me to quickly adapt to even the most ridiculous situations at a moment's notice."

Luna gave him a confused glance as he finished. "We're sure that you can tell that answer left much to be desired. Still, we understand your desire for privacy...therefore, we shall simply leave this as it is. We should know better than to prod around for answers, when you have already told us otherwise."

Erebus took a moment to think before responding. "Listen Princess, I know that you probably can't make heads or tails of all this, and I respect that you know your limits... Despite the many questions that you must have. Therefore, I think that it would do us some good if we came to a bit of a compromise."

"Exactly what kind of compromise do you speak of, Erebus?" Luna questioned.

Her companion shrugged slightly as he answered. "Well, I understand that isn't the most ideal way to solve our issue, but I believe that it should alleviate most of your questions, for the most part. For the remainder of our journey, I will allow you to ask me most any question that you can possibly think of."

Luna's mouth dropped slightly at hearing this. "Wait, what exactly do you mean by that? You mean to say that after all this time, you will finally be willing to answer all our questions...simple as that?"

Erebus shook his head. "Nope...you see that's where the compromise comes in. While it's true that I will allow you to ask me any question that you would like, I never said that I would answer them all. The catch is that I will only pay attention to, and verbally answer, questions that I feel won't be any actual danger to my personal privacy. So then, does that sound like a fair deal to you, Princess?"

The Princess stared up at him incredulously. "Well It's certainly a step in the right direction, but whether or not it's fair is hardly the question at this point. What has us far more intrigued, would be this sudden change of heart that you've had. We mean...not but a few hours ago, you were completely against the idea of giving us information about yourself. With that said, why would your standing on that matter change now?"

"An acceptable question, so hopefully this will be an acceptable answer." He said, returning to his full height.

He let out a long sigh, before gazing back at Luna. "The answer is as simple as this...I've come to truly like you Princess."

Luna shook her head in disbelief. "W-what...what exactly...did you just say?"

Erebus immediately noticed the blush that was forming on her face. "Oh no, nothing like that! Goodness no, I wouldn't want you to go around thinking that I have that kind of mindset."

"Heaven forbid...best that I don't get her believing that we're going down that road"

Lightly shaking his head, he continued. "The point that I'm trying to get across is a bit more simple than that. What I'm trying to say is, that I've come to like you as a friend. More specifically, you've started to gain my trust...and that isn't something that can be written off as an easy feat. You could say that I'm...well, I'm a bit shy to be honest."

Luna eyed him suspiciously. "You can't truly be serious about that, can you? From the moment that we met you, you've been extremely outspoken, despite your need to remain silent about your past. How is it that you could call yourself shy?"

"Yes, I probably wouldn't believe it either, especially if I was in your position." He gave the princess an embarrassed grin. "All the same, that's just the way I've been for most of my life. I've just always found it exceedingly difficult to warm up to most anyone that I meet. I guess that I'm just a bit of an introvert at heart I suppose."

Stretching and gazing up at the sun, he quickly changed the subject. "Anyway, now that we've gotten all that sorted out, I think that it's about time I found something to give a clear direction of where we should be heading."

The Princess brought her hoof up to face in a frustrated manner. "You know, despite giving us the privilege to ask you any question that we feel like...you're still quite adept at worming your way out of answering them in the first place." 

Her companion gave her a small grin. "That's what I do best, and it may just be another reason that I'm still alive to be speaking with you."

Spinning in a small circle, he picked out one of the Everfree's larger trees that he could find, and set out for it. "Hmm...this should do just fine." With one deft movement, he jumped up towards the lowest branch and steadied himself, before propelling himself onward to the next one. In a matter of seconds, he had managed to bring himself past the treeline, and given himself a clear view of most of the surrounding area.

Straining her eyes up at him, Luna called out. "Erebus, what exactly can you see from up there? If you can give us a landmark, we should have a much easier time of all this."

Erebus gazed around for a few more moments before responding. "Well, I can't say there's very much to see from here or anywhere else for that matter, it's pretty much just treetops for miles." 

Continuing to search, he finally managed to notice something that caught his eye. "Hey Princess, I think I found something. It's difficult to make out, but it kinda looks like a stone tower...off to my east for the most part. Does that give you any idea of where to go from here?"

Luna grimaced slightly as she heard this, it gave her no amount of comfort to know that she was still so near to those ruins. Clearing the thoughts from her mind, she answered. "Yes, that should be more than enough to go by. If you can come back down, we can explain where to go from here."

"Alright then, I'll be down in just a moment." He responded, swinging himself back down onto the grass.

The princess waited until he had made his way back over to her before beginning. "Now then, speaking that you said you saw the tower towards the east of our current location, we believe for the most part that if northwest from here, than we should eventually find our way onto one of the paths that runs out of the Everfree."

Erebus eyed her inquisitively. "So then, for the most part...we're still running somewhat blind?" 

He took a moment to think. "No, that should still work out just fine. So long as I know for certain that we aren't headed in the complete opposite direction of where we should be."

Luna gave him an apologetic look. "We're sorry that we can't be more helpful to the situation, Erebus."

The human just smiled and shrugged. "Don't worry about it Princess, this isn't the exact worst situation that we could find ourselves in at any rate. Also, you're being more help than you might care to realize."

"Now then..." He gazed off into the direction that should start heading...and found a wall of foliage. "Hmm, well that doesn't exactly work in our favor now does it?"

He glanced in the alicorn's direction. "Looks like we're going to be encountering some rough terrain for most of this journey, I hope you're okay with that."

Luna rolled her eyes at him. "Of course we aren't okay with it...however, we should know better than to expect a a well kept path all the way out here."

Erebus chuckled lightly. "Good to see that a little nature isn't going to deter you. At any rate, if you just keep towards the back of me, I should be able to clear away most of the foliage before it even has a chance to bother you. Now then, shall we begin this little trek of ours?"

Luna gulped as she stared out into the forest. She knew that nothing she could do would help to alleviate the issue ahead, but all the same, she knew that it was an issue she would be facing regardless.

"Yes, we are as ready as we're ever going to be, Erebus."

Her companion smiled and lightly patted her shoulder. "We'll be just fine, Princess. In a couple of hours, you'll look back on all this and laugh about it."

Luna gazed up and returned the smile. "In a place such as this, one can only hope."

Moving forward to the wall of brush, the human attempted to move the many vines and branches out of the way...to no avail. He scowled for a moment, just staring at the wall, before sighing and pulling his hand out of his cloak.

"When life puts an obstacle in your path..." Immediately, a familiar black fog encased his hand, slowly shifting and pulsing. With one swift motion, he brought his hand down across the foliage, each time in a different direction. In a matter of seconds, nothing remained of the wall that had blocked their path.

Luna cleared her throat up at him. "Now then, was that really necessary?"

Erebus drew his hand back into his robe. "Hey, don't go getting on my case about it. It wasn't about to move from any other means, now was it? You know, when you live in an era like I did, you learn to come up with a solution at a moment's notice...subtle or otherwise."

"Very well then, we won't complain about it." The princess thought for a moment. "Although, now would be a perfect time to exercise that compromise you made up."

"Well well...not wasting any time on that, now are we?" The human shrugged and nodded. "Alright then, what is that you'd like to know, Princess?

Luna thought her words over carefully before speaking. "Over the course of our time together, we've noticed that you always refer to your era containing harsh environmental conditions. If you would, we would like it if you could elaborate on these hazardous conditions, as we would like to know what the planet was like before our time."

"Hmm, that's a good question...but where to begin?" He ducked under a low lying branch. "Well, I suppose we could start with fact that I lived underground for most all of my life. Subterranean conditions are...unpredictable at best, and lethal at their worst. The city was normally kept under controlled and protected environments, but the caverns themselves could be quite dangerous."

The alicorn cocked her head at him. "In what manner exactly?"

Erebus shrugged. "Too many to name accurately. If you worked out in the caverns, you would always have to be alert of structural integrity, as the methods used to clear stone could easily cave in an entire tunnel. Temperatures could rise and fall without any warning, from temperate, to boiling hot, all the way to below zero. This is of course, only to speak of some of the natural dangers that we faced...to speak absolutely nothing of the internal conflicts that could rise within the city."

"You mean your own people would cause issues as well?" Luna asked.

"The better question is, when didn't they? You see, it turns out that when you take what's left of the human race and stick them in an underground city, you end up needing a rather strict government to keep everything in working order. After awhile, someone is going to find problems with that government...and pretty soon, you get a bunch of humans fighting over something completely meaningless." He nodded. "So yes, they caused a great number of issues."

Erebus stopped to help the princess over a fallen log, before the continued down the overgrown path. All the while, the princess doing her best to imagine what her companion's world was like.

Daring to make a bold move, she asked him. "Certainly humanity did not willingly choose to live underground for all their years, so then...what exactly happened to cause them all to abandon the planet's surface?"

Halting momentarily, Erebus wiped his hand across his face, before gazing down at the princess, a sober look on his face. "I suppose this is your planet now as well, therefore I see no reason to remain silent about this subject, as dark as it may be." He sighed and continued into the forest. "There was a time when humans once populated the entire planet, all with differing religions, ethnicities, and opinions. Peace was nothing but an ideal, and one that was losing its grip upon upon humanity. Over time, the world slowly spun into chaos, and into a war that would spell the end of an age. The planet was completely engulfed, its surface scarred beyond repair, by weapons powerful enough to affect the world for millennia after their use. After all was said and done...there was almost nothing left to look upon."

He remained silent for a full minute before speaking. "I'm sorry Princess, this just isn't something that I feel I can talk about in good conscience."

Luna lightly tapped his side. "It's quite alright Erebus, we can't begin to imagine the scale of what could cause a planet to nearly die in such a manner...and after seeing your own reaction to that...it would be for the best if we simply let it drop at that. We see now why it is that you wish to keep your past hidden away from others."

Erebus nodded gently. "That was a poor explanation all the same, but it's not something I speak of lightly. Also, it is only one of many reasons that I prefer my privacy. Perhaps now, we might talk about something of a lighter tone?"

The princess shook her head in affirmation. "Yes, that would be for the best we believe."

Gazing out into the seemingly endless forest ahead of them, Erebus sighed. "Hmm, this may turn out to be a longer day than I anticipated."


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Canterlot stood quiet and still.

Even with the morning sun slowly making it's way further into the sky, the city's streets remained empty, save for the occasional guard that would make a round.

Nestled in a darker corner of the city, a lone nightclub stood, most of its remaining patrons silently making their way back towards their respective residences. Among this batch of differing ponies, a pair of armored thestrals began to shuffle their way out onto the streets, one barely even capable of doing so.

"Dammit Overcast! At least attempt to pull a bit of you're own weight, cause you've got another thing coming if you think that I'm going to carry you all the way back to the barracks."

The guard known as Overcast lazily glanced at his companion. "Pfffft! Don't you go telling me to pull my own weight ya pansy. Every single one of us here knows exactly how many times I pull our asses out of situations...isn't that right, Nightshade?"

Nightshade rolled his eyes. "Yes, sorry that I blatantly forgot that piece of information. Now tell me again, do you do the pulling before or after you get dead drunk?"

Overcast seemed to consider this for a moment, before scowling at his friend. "Bah! At least I can say that I know how to have a good time! All you ever do is just sit at the bar and stare at me all night, as if that doesn't send out a warning."

"Ugh, I watch you all night to make sure that you don't get into trouble...Celestia knows someone has to do it. Besides, you should know by now that I don't go anywhere near alcohol."

Overcast scoffed. "That should prove how much of a pansy you are, any real stallion would be up there ordering a few drinks and looking out for a nice mare. Ya know, like that one that I was chatting up...until you came along to drag me out of the building."

A sigh escaped Nightshade's mouth as he heard this. "Are you sure that's how it happened? From what I remember, You attempted to flirt with the mare, and I dragged you out of the building after she kicked your stool out from under your wasted ass."

Overcast nearly fell over as he attempted to respond. "Yeah, sure, whatever...not like it matters now anyway, plenty of better looking mares in that place at any rate."

Nightshade brought his hoof up to his face as his friend stumbled over. "You do realize that you're going to have an amazing hangover later today, right?"

"That's what the barracks are for...moron. All I'm gonna do until night hits is one thing...sleep." Overcast gave him a stupid grin.

Nightshade just shook his head. "Yeah, now let's see if it's possible for you to make it there without passing out."

The pair had barely taken another step before a pair of guards in golden armor came racing down the street towards them.

Taking a moment to catch their breath, one of the guards asked. "You two, you are the night guards that were assigned to Princess Luna last night, correct?"

Nightshade quickly answered before Overcast had a chance to speak. "Yes, we were assigned to the Princess last night, until she personally relieved us from our posts. What is the reason, is there an issue of some sort?"

"We can't exactly say, we were simply told to come and find the both of you, and bring you to Princess Celestia immediately." The pony responded.

"Princess Celestia wants to see...us?" Nightshade's eyes went wide as he heard this. Speaking as the night guard received their orders directly from Princess Luna, finding oneself in an audience with Celestia usually never had a good reason.

Glancing at Overcast, he heard him grumble something incomprehensible, before groaning. "Well Nightshade, I take back what I said...I think that my hangover hit a lot sooner this time around."

As the two began to follow the pair of guards, Nightshade had only one thought on his mind. 

"Where is Princess Luna when you need her?"