Chapter 6: Whether Their Horns Touched Or Not
If you are reading this, then you have made it thus far and wish to continue. Somehow you're interested in this story and wish to know where it goes next. I mean, this is Twixie we're talking about! The best shipping that My Little Pony could offer which eventually led to this tale of nonsense, yet you continue to read it! It's not like there's any other Twixie related story you could be reading right now...
Like: Of Mares and Magic, The Ballad of Twilight Sparkle, Fillystata, Out In The Cold, Spookshow Baby, Adored, Teardrops and Snowflakes, The Power of Pride, Trixie's Costume, A Twilight and Trixie Story, The Luxury Lotus Spa Follies, Glimmerhorn Vale, Mending Hearts, Spookshow Baby II, Major Problems, Faithful Student, Harmless Trip to Manehatten, Mistress of Midnight Castle, Reaching Midnight, Of Two Minds, Turning Trixie, Swapped, Seeking a Weakness, not to mention all the short one-shots and stash of clopfics that I'm not mentioning here... But who’s counting?
But hey, whatever floats your boat! (Obscure pun intended)
***
The Bright and Adorkable Twilight Sparkle found herself lying on the ground. Colliding with the front door by a force that strong would usually result in a sore back and possible head trauma. However, Twilight didn't feel a thing, nor was she scathed in any way. Rising to her hooves, she immediately looked around to see if Trixie was okay. Not too far from where she stood, an azure unicorn was sitting up with her body facing away. The lavender mare wandered over to the showmare and laid her left forehoof onto her right shoulder. Trixie turned her head and gazed up at Twilight, holding her hoof to her chest. Her eyes appeared glazed over with an addition of an open frown. Noticing this, the bookworm tilted her head to the side in curiosity.
"You're not hurt... are you, Trixie?" asked Twilight. Her friend, sitting on the ground still, bowed her head for a moment in thought, then looked back at her with the same expression.
"No, Trixie is fine, Twilight Sparkle," she murmured. There wasn't any tone or inflection of her pride bursting out of her speech like it usually was when she spoke. In addition, her hoof never left her chest. Did she injure it or something? An attempt was made by Twilight to investigate.
"Why do you keep holding your hoof like that? Is it hurting again?" she inquired as she pointed at the limb in question. Even Trixie knew this was a valid observation, since it was the same hoof that had been hurting on and off all day. To her, this wasn't the problem right now, but something else way more important.
"No... it's nothing like that," she said as her head slumped forward again, focusing her attention on that one specific hoof. Twilight didn't buy the act for a second. Knowing something was bothering Trixie, she stepped over, and sat down in front of her, facing her direction. Nothing but concern was written on her face while watching Trixie fidget with her hoof. She wanted to find out the reason behind this behavior. It was completely unlike Trixie to act like a lost puppy.
"Trixie, tell me what's going on. I'm worried about you," said Twilight with a serious sound in her voice. She reached out to the showmare, yet Trixie pulled back away from her. A melancholic frown was shown in response by Twilight. Helping Trixie is all she really wanted to do, but it seems like every attempt fails. Nevertheless, another try wouldn't hurt, right? With that in mind, Twilight rose up, stood over Trixie, and gave a stern stare in her eyes.
"Trixie..." she hesitated for a second, since this was embarrassing to say out loud. "I really care about y-you and I only want to know what's w-wrong so I can help!" The egghead stammered. This brought on a reaction from both mares as their blood rose and a bright red tinge appeared on both their faces. Averting her gaze from Twilight, Trixie muttered something to herself and looked to her left to avoid looking at the mare while talking.
"Well- you see, Trixie was just so close," she said. Before Twilight could prod for more information on what Trixie was so close to, an azure hoof, once held to Trixie's chest, was now extended towards her. Glancing back at Twilight, the showmare continued from where she left off.
"So close to touching your heart-- I mean hoof!" stumbled Trixie, slamming her eyes shut at her mistake in word choice. Also, her illeism was misplaced in her brief moment of weakness. Twilight, on the other hoof, remembered that they did have a touching union just after finishing dinner. Only it was interrupted by a a spark of electricity flowing through their bodies, forcing their hooves to separate. Thinking back, she was surprised Trixie reached out to her like that. 'It was almost if...' she pondered as she managed to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Suddenly, her eyes broadened and a wonderful conclusion was reached.
Without any further thinking, she looked back with a gleaming smile at the mare beneath her who merely blinked, unaware of what was about to happen. Two lavender hooves darted after Trixie, flying past either sides of her body. They turned inwards and collided with the magician's back, raising her frame up to Twilight's chest. What was confusing for Trixie was a huge relief for Twilight. In her excitement Twilight squeezed her tightly, nearly breaking Trixie's back and cutting off her airways. Eventually, Twilight loosened her grip on Trixie's slender body and brought her down to her eye level, keeping her face in close proximity.
"So you do like me! Oh, Trixie, please don't hide your feelings from me a moment longer. Tell me everything!" beamed Twilight, showing Trixie her most affectionate expression she could muster. Being found out so easily made Trixie want to deny it all and go back to her corner she named isolation. However, Twilight's excitement proved that there were feelings that could be returned to her. This pushed the showmare to act on her emotions rather than prolonging the truth.
"You're absolutely right, Twilight Sparkle. Trixie does harbor feelings for you," she said with an ounce of regret at the end. The ground felt a huge weight impact it as Twilight abruptly let go of her friend. After all this time, Trixie really did feel the same way about her. Tears began rolling down her beat red face and her happiest smile remained with it. Those two lavender hooves from before now struck the floor on both sides of Trixie's body. Violet eyes with water-rimmed bottoms met another set of widened purple eyes below.
"Trixie... I wish you had told me about this sooner, but I’m so happy that you like me the same way I like you," she admitted, still with tears flowing over her cheeks. Now, Trixie wanted to mirror this bookworm's face after hearing her say that she felt the same way.
"You mean-" Trixie held back a sob. "You, Twilight Sparkle, also like Trixie; I mean, in a very affectionate way?" Holding back her joyful sorrow was hard enough, but once Twilight nodded, confirming their heart's places once and for all, Trixie found her defenses cave in and streams of clear fluid came running down both sides of her face.
"It's not fair, Twilight Sparkle! Why are you doing this to Trixie?" Cried the showmare. Halting her sudden exhales of sorrow, she wondered what Trixie had meant by that. Was she that upset that Twilight saw her crying?
"What are you talking about, Trixie? Aren't you happy with me?" She inquired.
"Trixie is, but..." said Trixie without any intent on finishing her sentence.
"But...?" Twilight insisted, anticipating an explanation this time. The cerulean blue unicorn could only stain her face more with rivers of tears. Staring into those loving violet eyes above her only made this that much harder to say.
"Couldn't you have told Trixie this in reality and not some cheap dream?!" She shouted, her eyes half closed from the amount of fluid leaking from her eyelids. Eyes lighting up in a dark realization, Twilight coped with repeating her final word.
"Dream?"
***
Surges of tormenting pain made Twilight's entire body pound. Now she felt the body aches she was suppose to have before. The sore back and headache were there along with a slightly irritated attitude. She took a moment to reflect on what just happened. 'Were all those life changing events really a silly dream?' she wondered as she laid down with her eyes half opened. 'Why did it feel so real? Sure, I've dreamed of Trixie before and probably did unspeakable things with her, but this time was so... different.' She somehow lifted her head up, which seemed to weigh a ton to her, and looked around a bit. Her surroundings were still that of the library, yet something felt a bit odd about it. Still, enduring the pain she was currently experiencing was too distracting for her to concentrate on that quite yet. There was a more pressing issue, anyway.
'I wonder if Trixie is okay,' thought Twilight as she struggled to move up to her hooves. It took some time and was a challenge to accomplish, yet eventually Twilight was able to push herself off the cold, hardwood floor. Wobbling up straight, she managed to keep her balance as a step forward was taken. That first step was a doozy, since a sharp pain flew up her leg the moment she shifted her weight on it. Wincing at the stinging pain, her hoof was lifted to eye level to be checked for injury.
Yep, she must have smashed it pretty bad. Her hoof was colored a pale royal blue and it almost felt like the pulse was trying to break out of her hoof's structure. Setting her injury back down, she pondered for a moment on what she should do. Being that Trixie still wasn't in sight or in sign of good health, Twilight couldn’t care less about herself. She limped across the room, hopping with her one front hoof while bending the other to prevent from making it worse. Once she navigated around the table at which they had just eaten dinner, Twilight saw a body in her sights. There was only one problem with this pony that was laid out before her.
Mane, tail and flesh wasn't that of The Great and Powerful Trixie at all. In fact, it only looked like Twilight's exact duplicate! Arriving at this confusion dilemma, the once lavender mare looked herself over and took a second take at the Twilight on the ground. Looking back at her body now, she couldn't help but see that she was completely covered in azure skin and had a silver mane and tail to go with it. The results were obvious to her, yet it was hard to admit it. Trixie and she must have switched bodies. Twilight tried to find what may have caused this spell to happen. 'It must have happened when our horns were touching. It boggles my mind how this could have happened. Why would touching horns simply do this?' she wondered. Either way, she needed to wake up Trixie and evaluate the situation immediately.
"Trixie," she whispered as she approached the sleeping mare. Coming up to her, Twilight nudged her limp body with her good hoof.
"Hey, Trixie. Wake up!" raising her tone a bit as she slightly pushed the showmare back and forth. A groan could be heard in Twilight's voice as the lavender body which belonged to Trixie now stirred.
"Ow... what happened?" she asked, turning herself to look up at the disturbance. Once her eyes fell upon her own figure standing in front of her, she tilted her head and squinted at the azure mare. Instantly, her gaze fell and a sudden wave of disappointment came over her.
"Oh, no. Not this dream again..." muttered Trixie with a hoof covering half her face in disgust. It was an unexpected comment to say the least so Twilight couldn't help but become curious.
"What dream?" she inquired. Trixie looked up at her again with an unsatisfied cringe. On second thought, maybe this was something Twilight shouldn't read into.
"Trixie, it's me! Twilight," she said while pointing a hoof towards her chest. Anypony could point to themselves and declare a name, so it's understanding if Trixie didn't believe her right away.
"Right, and Trixie is the most powerful equine who ever lived. Oh, wait... she is!" boasted Trixie while trying to hold back a laugh. Instead, a mischievous smirk went across her face. Only when the pony was not Twilight Sparkle would she flaunt that ridiculously high self-esteem of hers. Twilight could only roll her eyes at the mare, since that's how she always used to act. Again, she attempted to convince Trixie that she is no longer the owner of her own body.
"Look," she pointed at Trixie' new lavender skin. "Look at yourself. You don't look anything like The Great and Powerful Trixie!" she exclaimed. Watching Trixie's mannerisms being used on her face was pretty strange as she upturned her nose with closed eyes. Would she really look like that if she were to pout the same way? Thoughts like that are irrelevant at the moment. Getting Trixie to notice the situation was proving to be more challenging than it needed to be. Twilight contemplated her next approach and came up with a foal-proof idea. Using her new azure horn she put a blue bubble around her once striped mane and floated the ends of it into Trixie's field of vision.
"Why are you showing Trixie her..." she stopped as soon as it hit her. Wasn't her mane a silver color? Immediately staring at her flank, she saw a six sided star with five white stars surrounding it. Her head pivoted back to Twilight, eyes full of unexpected fear. Disbelief instantly snapped into bewilderment as her violet eyes expanded to it's brim.
"Another dream of Trixie's?" She questioned in the hope of making sense of this odd predicament. In this case, Twilight decided to conduct an experiment.
“Let’s test that theory, shall we?” Twilight said with a mischievous smirk across her face. Raising her hoof high, she bonked the top of Trixie’s head. The showmare flinched and rubbed where she was hit with her lavender hoof. Her face showed an annoyed cringe as the mare before her only smiled.
“Why did you hit Trixie?!” Scowled Trixie. Grinning turned to snickering as Twilight tried to hold back her own laughter.
“Trixie demands you stop laughing at her this instant!” exclaimed Trixie, coming up on all fours.
“Sorry, Trixie, but I guess that proves your hypothesis wrong,” she giggled. Though, she was still irritated by being hit by her own hoof, Trixie began to form a grip on reality. She stared at her original body, then her purple flank, and then double taking back to her initial figure. There was no denying it now; they must have switched bodies. For Trixie, it was a little embarrassing for another pony to be in control of her body. Especially if it happens to be the number one mare in her heart.
“G-give Trixie her b-body back, Twilight Sparkle!” she stammered, pointing a hoof at her body snatcher. Easier said than done when you don’t know how it happened in the first place. Twilight knew the key to getting their minds back into their original structures: find the cause of the dilemma and reverse it, immediately. With that in mind, she began reflecting on the previous events before they both ended up like this permanently. As she rewound from her present memories, the first stop almost made her tear up. Remembering the dream where they had confessed their feelings for one another, only for it all to have never taken place. Twilight held back her tears as she ventured further back.
The next scene she can bring up was when their horns slided up against each other. Sparks and flashes of bright lights flew out, then knocked them both out by jerking them to opposite sides of the room. Could this have been it? Their horns touching in such a way that it forced their minds to intertwine and switch? ‘It wouldn’t hurt to try,’ thought Twilight as she looked at her old self.
“Trixie,” she called out. The showmare gave a long, semi-amused stare back.
“Yes, she has been waiting for you to say something. Trixie asked for her lovely figure back and you just sat there staring into space,” complained Trixie. Having a blank gaze towards the wall was exactly what Twilight was doing, so Trixie was right in that regard. What she wasn’t right about was asking for her body back. She actually ordered for it to be returned to her. Even so, Twilight ignored her selfish plea and continued with her plan anyway.
“Never mind that; Come here,” she motioned with her hoof for Trixie to come closer to her. Reluctantly, she stepped a little closer, thinking the egghead might have a way of switching them back.
“Lower your head a little bit,” said Twilight, moving her hoof downward. Again, Trixie followed Twilight’s commands and tilted her head towards her. Unknowing to what her friend would do, Trixie closed her eyes in anticipation. She felt a warm, silky pressure ease onto her forehead and something graze her horn gently. Opening her eyes, she thought there was a mirror in front of her. Instead, it was Twilight who had rubbed against her. Even though it was Trixie’s body, Twilight’s mind was still in control of it so this interaction freaked the magician out.
“W-what are you d-doing?” she stuttered, wishing she could back away, but finding herself paralyzed.
“I’m trying to see if we can switch back. Hold still,” said Twilight. Staying still was what Trixie was doing; in fact, her body couldn’t move at all. Her horn was very susceptible to touch. Every time Twilight fidgeted with her horn against her own, Trixie quivered from pure excitement. Crimson red illuminated through her cheeks as she looked upon the mare in front of her. Supposedly concentrating, Twilight mirrored the showmare’s behavior while blushing more profusely. They stayed like this for a moment until Trixie broke the silence.
“Anything yet, Twilight?” she asked, trying to keep her voice from shaking.
“N-not yet.” Twilight wasn’t as successful at controlling her speech. Not a single magical reaction came from this kind of contact. Rubbing horns together must have not been the way to reverse the spell. Though it was stimulating to the both of them, Twilight knew there was something missing. Thinking back again, before their horns had touched, she noticed Trixie’s horn was lit up as a different color than her normal blue aura. Did they both use magic subconsciously, resulting in their horns touching and forms swapping? To Twilight, it was worth an attempt.
“Trixie, let’s try this, instead. Focus your magic onto my body while I do the same to yours. It might just work and switch us back,” coaxed Twilight. From all the new, thrilling sensations this exercise was giving to Trixie, she could only nod in acknowledgement and was unable to speak at the moment. Both mares had closed their eyes and gritted their teeth while sparking their horns with their respected colored hues. Magic bubbles had surrounded both their bodies as they were lifted into the air. Throughout the next five minutes of this, nothing significant happened. Only two unicorns touching horns, enveloped in blue and purple lights, and grunting at each other like foals. Any other pony would misunderstand this situation had they walked in on it.
Eventually, the magic that covered them and gave them flight scattered from their bodies, causing them to drop only a few feet before they met the ground with a flop. The particles of energy that flew from them collided with the surrounding walls and bookcases, shaking the large hollowed tree outside, and forcing various books to lose their places as they were brought down to the same hardwood floor. Back to the duo who had exhausted their stamina after a strenuous, questionable workout, they both let out an equally frustrated groan.
“Is Trixie... Great and... Powerful again?” Trixie inquired in between taking breaths. Still weary, she lifted her head up to glance at the other mare’s appearance. What she saw was herself, looking just as tired as she was. Disappointed that the trick didn’t work, her head slammed back down onto the hard wood. At least she had a thrilling moment with her, despite not sharing it in their original bodies. Twilight, on the other hoof, was losing hope about turning them both back to normal. Once again, she took a look back to locate where the key to their problem laid.
Sure, it was when their horns flashed opposite colors that the spell seemed to have started, but maybe something before that sparked the latter events. They vaguely touched with their hooves resulting in a static shock. Twilight dismissed that idea, only because they’ve already touched horns and their hooves didn’t hold any magical properties. Something must have happened before that could produce these results. Recalling further in the past, the only thing they did before that was eat Trixie’s odd but wonderful soup.
Suddenly a light bulb darted above Twilight’s head, lighting brightly. ‘The soup could have possibly been a potion that caused all of this!’ she thought. Only one problem: Trixie said it was her mother’s recipe. No way could it turn out to be a body swap potion. ‘Then again...’ she pondered. ‘This is the Great and Powerful Trixie we’re dealing with.’ She set out to interrogate the showmare about the brew made earlier. Pushing herself up with Trixie’s feeble legs, she slowly walked over to her downed friend.
“Are you sure that soup was your mother’s recipe, Trixie?” She questioned with half lowered eyebrows. She expected an explanation, yet Trixie wasn’t going to give one so easily.
“O-of course it was Trixie’s mother's recipe! What are you implying, Twilight Sparkle?” Asked Trixie as if she was the victim here. Twilight caught the magician stumbling a bit when she spoke so she wasn’t buying this lie of hers. Standing up straight to tower over Trixie, she thought of a more chilling way to reason with her.
“I’m implying that if you don’t tell me the complete truth, you might just lose somepony’s trust forever,” Twilight whispered with a threatening tone. This seem to have done the trick since Trixie now bolted up straight on all four hooves. From what she had seen before with Twilight’s obsessive nature, she knew this wasn’t going to end well.
“Okay! Okay,” she began. “Trixie used a recipe she found written by you. She only took credit because you seemed so impressed that Trixie wanted to look good an--” Trixie finally admitted it, but was interrupted by Twilight in mid-ramble.
“What recipe? I don’t remember giving you one,” she said with a blank stare. Knowing she was going to get in trouble with this bookworm, Trixie began running into the other room. Picking up the poorly written slip she found earlier with a purple veil of magic, she rushed back to Twilight who sat there impatiently with her forehooves folded above her chest.
“This recipe,” she put the face of the paper up to Twilight’s eye level. “Trixie found it on the ground after you left to find a recipe book. She thought it was the one you were looking for so she tried following the directi--” again her story was stopped by Twilight’s blue hoof raised to the magician’s mouth. Looking over the contents, Twilight recognized what it was.
“This is no recipe for soup.” she sighed. “This is a recipe for a teleportation distance enhancer. I was researching to see how I could extend my teleportation spell to reach longer ranges. This, however, were just some of the notes I jotted down. It’s still incomplete,” Twilight pointed out, scratching her head. It was puzzling to think that Trixie somehow made a body-swap potion out of half the instructions for an unrelated one.
“Knowing all of this, how did Trixie make such a potion with this kind of effect?” Trixie asked, showing off the front of Twilight’s body with her hooves.
“Good question. The ingredients I have on here already wouldn’t have much effect on us. It was still missing a few components,” said Twilight, sitting in a thinking position with her head resting on the end of her hoof.
“Speaking of which, why do you have cat whiskers as an ingredient? Trixie finds that a bit odd,” Trixie stated, with a raised brow over the other. Neither of them expected the development that was about to happen. Twilight immediately stood up, staring at her original body controlled by Trixie with wild, broadened eyes.
“Cat whiskers? What are you talking about?” She questioned with a panic. Now she had no idea what Trixie could have possibly put into this concoction. Walking over to Twilight’s side, Trixie pointed out the line she had sounded out as such. A blue hoof landed on Twilight’s forehead in aggravation in response.
“That doesn’t say ‘cat whiskers.’ It says chimera black hairs,” she revealed. In acknowledgement, Trixie shot a confused glance at the mare next to her. Twilight’s writing was more horrible than she thought. Looking back at the same line, not even the words were spaced out in a way that can be interpreted as three separate letter arrangements. In detail, she questioned to herself how that specific letter was suppose to be another one, and even saw little traces of letters between others. Flabbergasted at these new findings, she wondered what all the other ingredients were. What had she used that was listed here, if anything?
“What did you use for... cat whiskers?” inquired Twilight, nudging the shocked unicorn with her hoof. This woke up the deep-in-thought showmare with a slight jump.
“Oh! Um, Trixie will show you,” she said abruptly, troting back to where she found the potion recipe initially. Twilight followed closely behind her, not knowing what Trixie had possibly disturbed in her kitchen area. Thoughts like this messed with her mind. She didn’t even want to think about it since it might send her over the edge. A side she would like to keep Trixie from seeing again, if possible.
“It was in this bottle, Twilight,” Trixie held up the empty bottle to Twilight. “The recipe didn’t
specify how much of it was needed so Trixie... poured the whole thing in.” She shut her eyes, waiting for the backlash she deserved. After a moment’s passing, one eye shot opened cautiously to see how the egghead reacted. To her surprise, Twilight had a content smirk on her face. Either she wasn’t all that mad, or she was really furious with her. Trixie prayed for the first one to be true and, fortunately for her, that wish was granted.
“Oh, so you actually did use the chimera hairs, Trixie. Lucky for us, I have a lot more where that came from,” stated Twilight with glee. A wave of relief came over Trixie. She really had lucked out this time. ‘Maybe this wasn’t going to be so bad after all,’ she thought.
“Well that’s one down,” Twilight patted Trixie’s shoulder. “I guess we could just recreate the potion you made using the components you used.” Still at ease, Trixie felt that the solution might not be has hard as she thought.
“Now this first one,” she pointed at the top line. “I’m sure you used a dragon scale for this right?” Actually, Trixie didn’t even know she had such a thing. Taking a gander at the line in question, she noticed it was the ‘manorange soup’ line she read before. How that turned into a dragon scale in wording, she wouldn’t attempt to figure out. Twilight’s cursive was far more abysmal then anypony could have predicted.This kind of calligraphy should be forbidden and punishable by banishment. ‘Well maybe not that bad. At least a bump on the head as pay back from before.’ she thought maliciously.
“Sorry, Twilight Sparkle, but Trixie is afraid she didn’t use that,” she said, while moving towards where that orange vial once sat. “Trixie used the amber liquid that was sitting over here.” she extended her hoof to indicate where it was on the table. The recipe slip held by Twilight’s horn floated to the ground. Zipping over to where Trixie was, Twilight stared at the spot that was being pointed to. She desperately wanted her eyes to deceive her, to believe the contents were still present in this vessel, but there only was an empty vial with small drops of a sun-colored liquid inside. Both pupils of her purple eyes were quivering in disbelief, therefore she had to make absolutely sure this wasn’t a joke.
“Please tell me you didn’t use this,” she pleaded in an almost monotone voice, her eyes never leaving the clear, glass container. Anxiety rose from the horrors of the Twilight she remembered she faced before, Trixie sought to only be honest this time to try to avoid it the best she can.
“Yes! Trixie used that one, but surely it wasn’t that important, right?” Questioned Trixie, striving to calm the other mare down. Instead, a hair on Twilight’s silver mane went astray. Cranking her neck to show her face in Trixie’s direction, a piercing glare penetrated the showmare’s eyes, darting through her body, and heating her heart to a boil.
“That unimportant substance was liquid brimstone!” Twilight snarled, struggling to hold back any harsh insults she wanted to throw at Trixie, who of which gave another attempt at easing the mare back into a better mood.
“Trixie is sure we could just whip up another batch in no time... Right?” She gulped as Twilight’s face churned into a scornful scowl with teeth clenched.
“Wrong! It’s not we either. This kind of chemical took me...” Twilight hesitated as her eye suddenly twitched. “It took me a year to make. Even with my notes on creating it still intact, the whole process would still take MONTHS!” She yelled at the top of her lungs. With Twilight’s rage reaching its climax, the story was abruptly cut off and pasted its future contents onto the next chapter.
***
Author’s Note:
Bit of an early release here. This is because my editor finished with it unexpectedly fast. I know these cliffhangers are starting to get old, but there’s no way I can end a chapter with closure at this point. In fact, I'm starting to think with the slow pace I go, I should add a slice of life tag on the story. If anypony thinks I should, I wouldn’t mind hearing it mentioned. Also is the random tag still valid? Without many of my meta interjections, I don’t see how it’s all that random... Maybe it’s just me.
Again over 5,000. Better than 4,000? I think it’s good that I actually had to stop before the point I wanted to reach because I was over my normal word count again. Hope everypony who’s kept up with me this far, still likes reading this.
Also special props go to the pre-reader/editor whom I regularly ego stroke because he really does a thorough job! He’ll read this before anypony and abruptly facehoof, haha! Multiple times, he might add... Which he has!