//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6 
// Story: Megan Williams of Equestria 
// by MrNelg 
//------------------------------//

{How is you?}

{Are.}

{How are you?}

{I AM good. You? 'How/what' you feel?}

{Please. I want drink.}

{I want drink. Please.}

Megan nodded and repeated the phrase again, properly this time. The white unicorn levitated over a clay bottle, and after uncorking it, poured some water into a goblet for her. She was grateful at least that he had finally stopped chuckling every time she asked for water. She drank, the cool water helping sooth her throat. Some of the heavy grunts required for the unicorn speech was rather taxing and did leave her throat dry and vocal cords raw.

Megan had found in learning to speak Equine that the more complexed the word, the more synchronised the sounds and lip movements had to be. Any human could make a whinny or a snort or a grunt or a tongue click, but Equine language combined these sounds along with short, sharp breaths and even intakes of air. For example, inhaling while allowing your tongue to click rapidly against your upper teeth four times was the Equine equivalent of saying {Good morning.} Breathing out, with three clicks before giving a sudden intake of breath with a single click meant {Good night.} This may sound like sentences would take a while to get through, but the way the equines mouths were built, they could throw it around and spit it out faster than a machine gun.

This was why Megan could only follow the slow speech. The more complicated the words got, along with the sentences, it required almost musician-like precision in their execution. The slightest misstep or your lips being in the wrong position when you gave any of these sounds resulted in you mangling your sentences or even saying something else entirely. She'd discovered this on her second day of learning to speak, when she'd asked for a drink of water, and instead ended up asking for a bad smell.

She had been doing this now for close to a month, and it still wasn't getting any easier. She could grasp sentence structure and hold a simple conversation, but it still wasn't enough. She could tell with each passing day that the white-bearded unicorn was getting more eager to ask her questions.

As of late, he'd been steering her in a direction towards more complex sentences, allowing her to hold more intelligent conversations with him. She quickly discovered that, like all names, his was untranslatable. It was a long, small series of grunting noise that made her sound like she was imitating a hot head starting up his car. There was no way to translate what his name was. Then again, how could she ever translate Megan? Well, you could take its literal translation from the old Welsh language from whence it originated from, but that would mean her name was 'Pearl.' So she'd instead settled on calling him Einstein. She thought about calling him "Merlin," but that would be stupid.

That had also made her wonder if others had come up with a pet name for her. If so, what was it? They still called her Megan, or what could pass for it. She quickly discovered that human speech was impossible for the Equines. Their mouths just weren't built for pronouncing human words. She gave a small smile.

So much for 'Me Tarzan, You Jane,' she thought.

Megan had been coming here with the two princesses nearly every week. Or what passed for a week around here. She counted the days and weeks just like she did back on Earth, but was that the same here? She kept everything to an Earth schedule and so far, that kept her mind not only on track but sane.

Megan finished her drink and put the clay bottle back on the desk. {Better,} she said to Einstein.

His horn glowed and enveloped the bottle, lifting it up into the air. He held it before her, and asked, {Me-gan, take bottle.} She nodded, reached out and plucked it from his physic field. As always, the instant she touched the bottle, the glowing aura vanished. Einstein had been doing this trick many times lately. Every time he did it, it just left him with the same stone-faced unreadable expression he always gave. It was as if he didn't want Megan to know what he was thinking.

She had asked him many times why, but the answer he gave was always the same. He was waiting for her to have a better grasp of their language so that he could explain. The answer had something to do with their psychic powers. From what she could gather, they had a very complex system for this power. There appeared to be various names for varying degrees of capabilities one could perform, ranging from complex manipulation to basic interaction.

And no doubt, he was going to ask her about her lack off said abilities. She remembered the different reactions that the others had undergone when the big secret was revealed. Shock, horror and disbelief. What had been the trigger was a combination of being intelligent and not having psychic powers. And for reasons she wanted to know, that freaked the hell out of everyone.

Einstein turned to the door, before removing the golden aura from it, and opening to reveal the two princesses.

{Me-gan!} Elizabeth chimed. {*** home now.} Megan rose to her feet and walked over to the princesses.

{Einstein,} Margaret asked. {What *** you *** with Me-gan *** ***?} Princess Margaret had a habit of speaking fast. Sometimes too fast for Megan to catch. Elizabeth's speech was slower, but she could also charge on ahead.

{*** her,} Einstein replied as he gave the little filly's head a reassuring pat. {You don't want to *** her?} Margaret's little head shook violently before spouting off about treating Megan well.

Now that she was grasping more and more of the equine language, Megan was starting to understand a lot more of the princesses' personalities. Elizabeth was more calm and controlled while Margaret tended to be rasher. Elizabeth hadn't bothered to question Einstein about anything while Margaret asked questions as any little kid would with something they didn't understand.

Wanting to calm the little foal down, Megan walked over and gently gathered her up in her arms to reassure her with a loving hug. Margaret squealed in delight as Megan sneaked her hand to her belly to tickle a few giggles out of her. The unicorn mare who always seemed to tutor the princesses smiled.

{It is like *** ***,} she said. {How they *** ***.} That unicorn mare had finally grown used to Megan's presence, but that still didn't stop her from treating her like a playful dog with muddy paws. Oh she could come into the library now with the princesses, and she'd get a friendly pat on the head, but if she so much as wandered an inch from the designated path she was supposed to follow...

{Yes!} Margaret cried, stroking a foreleg along Megan's arm. {*** a big 'bald/skin' ***!}

{*** *** ***!} Elizabeth said sternly to Margaret. {I want to play.} Margaret's only response was a raspberry.

{Me-gan *** *** smart 'winged unicorns.'} Elizabeth's muzzle wrinkled.

{I am smart,} she cried, stomping both her front hooves. {*** *** *** dumb!} The rest of the fight was unintelligible. The unicorn mare just sighed while Einstein merely rolled his eyes.

{That is *** *** two,} Einstein said politely, but firmly. {***. What *** *** *** say, *** *** saw you *** like this?} The two just stopped.

{Sorry,} the both of them said in unison.

{That is good,} he said. {Now, *** *** *** *** Me-gan outside *** ***? I am *** she *** *** *** *** here.} And with that, she was whisked away by the two foals.

Megan knew what was coming next. It was Elizabeth's turn to pick what activity they were going to play. It turned out that the sleeping arrangement was she'd spend one week with Margaret, then the next with Elizabeth before it was back to Margaret again. When she was sleeping in whichever filly's room, they had to play whatever that filly wanted to play.

Margaret leaned more towards playing board games, playing with dolls, having tea parties and dress-up. They tried make-up, but the cosmetics that the horses applied to their face were designed to go on fur, not skin. The stuff was thick, dense and made Megan constantly sneeze and gag from all the dust. She was glad that Margaret never tried that again because she was never really into make-up. Having to work on a farm left one with little time to look beautiful, and whenever she went into town, it was always with her friends just to have fun, not pick up guys.

Elizabeth was more an active girl much like herself. She liked sports and physical games, but in spite of her go-getter attitude, she was very tranquil in the presence of elders. She would nod and give thanks or greetings, holding herself with practised dignity, but once out of sight, she let lose her wild, adventurous nature.

Oh, and she loved sweets. One night after she'd just finished dinner, Elizabeth apparently needed to return to her bedroom because she wasn't feeling well, or was tired or something that Megan couldn't translate at the time. Her parents said that they would send her dessert to her room later. It turned out that whatever was wrong with her, she was faking it. A small, but whole cake arrived some time later and the moment the maid left, she stuffed it into her mouth and wolfed the whole thing down like it was the last cake on earth. She'd done all she could to keep from laughing.

Elizabeth's actions were becoming more emboldened in the past few weeks. From what she could translate, it had something to do with an upcoming party or ceremony – she really couldn't tell – that had its origins back in the royal family's trip to the zebra city. In the past few days, she would not stop talking about it. Margaret didn't seem to mind, and from what she could understand, she would get to go through the same thing herself, but when Megan couldn't tell.

One time during a tea party, in a rare show of humility on her behalf, Elizabeth apparently confided in Margaret about her fears that she'd botch whatever it was she was supposed to do on that day. Margaret had reassured her with a loving hug and some words that Megan couldn't follow. Elizabeth had returned the hug along with some kind words of her own. It was one of the rare sights when they behaved like siblings and in spite of the adorableness of the situation, it did bring a tear to Megan's eyes as it reminded her of the siblings she'd lost.

The game she'd chosen for them to play were pirates or something. It was Megan's job to pull them around in a wagon while the two sisters were dressed up in paper hats, wooden swords and capping the cuteness was Margaret's wearing of an eye patch. She wheeled them around the palace where the sisters would order her to halt so that they could sneak into whatever room she'd been ordered to and sneak back out with the 'treasure.'

However, the 'treasure' they took consisted of some books and a large indigo sheet. They then proceeded up to Elizabeth's room, where after unpacking all the loot, Elizabeth then set about dressing Megan up in the sheet, before pointing to something in one of the books she procured. She pointed out something that looked like a bear, with what could only be described as constellations all over its body.

Elizabeth started explaining what she wanted Megan to do. By now, Megan could grasp basics of the language, and no one thought the wiser if she behaved like a trained monkey. Both Elizabeth and Margaret would talk slowly and say her name when they wanted her attention to train her to do something. Other horses who watched thought it cute, making comments about how tame or trainable she was. Megan still kept her guard up, all the same, sometimes doing things literally, which would result in frustration from the foals and chuckles from the adults. Other times Elizabeth would physically demonstrate what she wanted Megan to do. Right now, she was wandering around on her hind legs, her front legs raised in the air like she was mimicking Godzilla: Or possibly a zombie.

Megan was deliberately slow in understanding what they wanted but relented and started her assigned activities. They then got her to follow them over to the kitchen section of the castle and ordered her to walk over to the one maid who was still in the kitchen. They hid behind the door. Megan didn't enter the kitchen.

What are these two planning? she wondered. It's evident with my getup, I'm to scare the poor unicorn mare. But will that get me shot? Or stabbed? Or worse? These two loved her dearly, and there's no way in hell they'd deliberately get her into strife. So what is their...?

It turned out that it didn't matter by hesitating. From the moment the two foals shoved her into the doorway and hid, the noise had attracted the maid's attention, and she turned. She let out a startled scream, dropping the mixing bowl with a shattering crash and fled the room. Megan grimaced as she listened to the mare's wails receding down the corridor. Before she could even think about what trouble she was now in, a white and blue blur streaked past on either side of her legs and over towards a cupboard. Elizabeth lifted Margaret up onto her back so that she could use her telekinesis to open a door and lift out a rather large clay pot with a lid.

The two then bumped their front hooves together before just as quickly bolting from the room, leaving Megan still stupidly standing there in bafflement as her feeble mind attempted to comprehend just what had taken place. She blinked her eyes back to reality before she quickly hurried off after the two foals cried out her name. She did not want to be around when security showed up.

When they got back to Elizabeth's room, it was evident that she had been an accomplice in a cookie jar theft. The two little foals happily munched away on their 'liberated' snacks, even offering her two. Megan had to admit after eating nothing but fish and vegetable stew, along with oatmeal, it was a godsend to have something else finally. Plus those cookies were delicious. Megan just knew there was going to be trouble with the maid, but the way she figured if she stuck to the princesses like glue she'd be safe: In theory. Reality in this world had a way of throwing it back in her face with all the force of a potato gun.

After cookie time was over, Elizabeth then organised another game to play. Still wearing their pirates' getup, and she her sheet, this one was some battle, with her as the monster. Just like when she'd been trained to act like Godzilla, she slowly stalked around after them. The two foals then darted around her, waving their little wooden swords at her, shouting triumphant dialogue that contained more complexed words than she'd ever heard before. Judging from the dramatics, she had the slightest inclination that they were spouting the Equine equivalent of Shakespeare.

She was slow in her movements as to allow the two princesses to dodge her grasping hands, wheel behind her and lightly bop her on the legs, or depending on how low down she'd crouched to snatch at them, her back. They were gentle with their strikes, but as the game wore on, they were getting more rambunctious, poking her a little too hard.

Megan decided to play her own little game with them. When Elizabeth's jab to her right thigh was a bit too hard, she gave a small yelp of pain, causing both sisters to pause, worry adorning their features. She quickly used that lull to snatch the little white winged unicorn up and just as quickly assaulted her exposed stomach with her nimble fingers.

"Gotcha!" Megan exclaimed.

Elizabeth's tiny body squirmed and bucked in her arms as she let out choking laughter. Margaret snickered at Elizabeth's fate, unaware that Megan had slipped close enough towards her that she was able to switch hastily and start tickling her instead.

"Your turn!" Megan giggled.

Playtime came to an abrupt end when their bodyguard appeared at the door. Along with a troop of unicorn guards and a very familiar and outraged looking maid. She started pointing and shouting at Megan, who was still wearing the incriminating sheet, way too fast for her to follow but her anger needed no translation. The bodyguard calmed everyone down, before asking the Princesses if they had something to do with the tall, mysterious ghost that raided the kitchen pantry of its cookies.

The guilty look on their faces answered the question for them before Elizabeth handed over the empty cookie jar. Megan inwardly sighed. They were cleaver but criminal masterminds they were not. When they asked about punishment, the bodyguard told the two that it was up to their parents to answer that question. As he organised to leave, the maid cut in, demanding that Megan also be punished. Hopefully, that was all it was as her words were filled with more than just anger.

Everyone looked at each other, flummoxed expressions on all of them. One of the guards spoke something that Megan couldn't understand, that had the rest of them nodding in agreement. The princesses were crestfallen while the maid shouted that it wasn't enough. From what she could translate, it sounded as if the mare wanted Megan publicly flogged or something along those lines. The princesses looked panic-stricken, and after realising she was upsetting them the mare hastily withdrew her demands. Attaching her leash to her collar, Megan was led out of Elizabeth's room by the bodyguard towards her punishment.

Oh, crap! she thought.

Megan had honestly expected to be put in the dungeon or whatever they had around here. She did not expect what happened to happen, but in hindsight, she should've. Instead of being put in a cage, she was taken out the back of the palace around to a part she'd never seen before. This area was fenced off from the rest of the palace and held a rather bland appearance compared with the flare and majesty she'd seen.

Directly next to her on her left was an enclosed wooden pen with cows, happily munching away from a feeding trough filled to the brim with very green looking grass. The cows looked up from their munching to give her a once over, before lowering their heads back down to eat.

Towards the back of the area to her right, sat a rickety old looking structure from which marey voices flowed forth. A few of the unicorn staff stood outside puffing away on fat cigars. They sent curious glances her way as she was led over towards the cows, where...

Oh, God! No!

Usually, Megan didn't bother fighting when it came to doing what the unicorns wanted her to do, but this? They were going to tie her up to a hitching post. Megan's fingers reached for the lead but the bodyguard was faster. His horn flared, and the leash secured to the post. He then turned to face her, horn glowing once more as the clip that connected the leash to her collar was enveloped in a shining aura, before quickly vanishing. Megan glared at the unicorn. The bodyguard patted her arm and said reassuring words before she calmed down. After this, he turned and left her all alone.

Glancing around, she saw the unicorns were still watching her with the slightest amount of amusement in their eyes. She turned back to the hitching post, before making a dramatic show of trying to pull away. When it was clear that she couldn't, she sat straight down and folded her arms in frustration. The staff went back to their conversations, ignorant of the fact that's precisely what Megan wanted them to see. She didn't want them to know that she could simply unclip herself from the leash. That could be interpreted as a sign of too much intelligence.

When it was dark, she could easily free herself from the leash allowing her to escape. She then hesitated.

And go where? Over the fence and into the wild blue yonder? She had no supplies, no maps, and still no clear idea of the inner workings of this world. Back to the princesses room? She might get into even more trouble if she freed herself. Doing that would no doubt arouse suspicion or even result in a more thorough investigation into herself by unicorns beyond Einstein's control.

Instead, she just sat there, watching the staff as they came and went from the shack. Most likely the palace staff's recreation area. Many sounded and looked drunk as they headed back into the palace. Many turned her way and said incomprehensible things, due to the way they slurred their words, but none came too close. Whether they feared her or feared the possible punishment from harassing the princesses' pet was unknown. A few of the staff came close enough to gently pat and stroke her hair. Megan gritted her teeth as she resisted the urge to tell them in English that she had a bad habit of biting.

One overzealous maid demanded that she do a trick, offering up a single peanut as a prize. This time, Megan couldn't help but flip off the maid as she snapped, "Go stick your horn where the sun don't shine!" The maid, along with her friends, were intrigued by the combined movement of her fingers and the strange noises she made and to Megan's annoyance, thought her actions were the trick they had demanded, calling her a {good girl.}

On the plus side, at least word got around to the plebes that she was female. And she got more than just one peanut.

Watching the sun beginning to set, Megan started to wonder, would she be stuck out here all night? Would they bring her a blanket considering the princesses knew she would be cold? Would they bring her food? Then another thought crossed her minds. If they knew she could play various notes on a gittern, wouldn't they be worried about her fingers being capable of untying herself?

And why the Sam Pickens did they have a hitching post? No, seriously, what use did a horse civilisation have for a freakin' hitching post? What, did they just hitch themselves up to it whenever they got into town and just sleep out there? They've got regular human style beds, for Pete's sake! For the millionth time, she reminded herself that nothing made sense in this world.

The rest of the day, like that of the sun's journey towards the hills in the distance, crawled and by the time dinner rolled around, Megan was pretty much bored out of her skull. They brought her, her usual bowl of fish and vegetable stew, along with a bowl of water.

When night came, it was obvious she was going to be sleeping out under the stars tonight. Another maid finally arrived with a blanket. Not the one she used for her bed, but it would still keep her warm during the night. The leash was uncomfortably short for her to properly lay down and sleep so she waited until the maid was gone, before unclipping her leash and laid down on the ground. She promised herself she’d reattach it in the morning. The ground itself, although grassy, was hard and bare in some places, leaving solid dirt.

"God, I hate this place," she muttered as she rolled over, and over, trying to find a comfortable spot on the grass. Somehow, she managed to fall asleep.


***


A young Megan bounced up and down as she let loose a low whoop of joy. "That was super awesome!" she cried out. "Let's do that again!"

"Not for me, sweetie," her father said, kicking out the bike stand so that he could climb off. "Once is too many." He moved to lift Megan off, but the young girl jumped from the back of the bike herself, landing triumphantly on both feet before standing proud and tall for her father who just chuckled at her antics.

Not too far behind them, the rugged old Ford pickup came to a shuddering halt, and her grandfather climbed out. Megan missed the look of strained patience he very briefly cast her way before heading over to her father. "Well," he said, "I can honestly say that was the most exciting Saturday I've had in quite a while." He placed a hand on his son's shoulder before adding, "Let's never do that again."

"Yes again! Yes again!" Megan shouted as she then mimed her father's rough driving from previously while adding in her sound effects. Her grandfather rolled his eyes and chuckled.

"Where does this kid get her energy from?"

"I'd say she takes after her grandfather," Megan's dad added. Her grandfather answered that with a sharp incredulous glare.

"We need to talk," he murmured as he pulled her father aside. Megan still acted out her green screen activities, while the two adults spoke, blissfully unaware that she could hear. "Did you see her during that stampede?" he spoke softly, but his words held a harshness that made her father wince.

"Dad," he said, "It was her first time experiencing something like this. I never prepared her for that kind of scenario."

"Why not?" he snapped. "If you hadn't been in front of the heard, she'd have been trampled."

"Oh, for the love of... She's just a kid Dad," he hissed back. "Let her enjoy her childhood before getting her ready for this kind of... experience."

"And look what it got her. She panicked and just stood there. She won't be able to run the farm with that kind of attitude. She needs to be able to make quick decisions." He emphasised the point with a loud snapping of his fingers, drawing Megan's attention. "Today's little stunt proves she hasn't got what it takes."

"For Christ's sake Dad, she isn't even ten yet."

"I knew how to handle myself before I was ten. She should too. By the time I was twelve I could think on my feet, run with the situation and know what needed doing before the problem even figured out where it was going." He leaned back from her father and gave a warm gesture towards him with both his hands. "Heck, even you could do it."

"She's not you, Dad, and in case you've forgotten, she's not me either." The look on her father's face melted into one she rarely saw him use. The last time she'd seen it was that one time she was caught sneaking ice cream from the freezer. "I never did like the way you brought me up. I hated it. The day I got married, I swore with my kids, I'd be different."

Her grandfather looked genuinely wounded. "But... You never..."

"At the time, I didn't know any better. All I knew was that I hated it. I never said anything about it to you because I was too chicken. I was scared of what you might say... or do. Now that I'm old enough, I understand you wouldn't have done anything, but at the time, I didn't know any better." He sighed nostalgically. "At my friends' houses, I saw the way their parents treated them, it made me envious."

His eyes narrowed. "And look where it got her. You saw her in action today. Or should I say, lack of. She doesn't know how to make snap decisions. When confronting a problem she wasn't expecting, she just stands there." He was silent for a few seconds. "It's one thing to say she should enjoy her childhood, but you're not always going to be there to pull her fat out of the fire. Because of your decisions, she's slow in sorting her shit out Son, and you know damn well that won't make her a good choice to take over the farm." Both men turned as Megan gave a dramatic gasp.

"Grandpa said a naughty word!" Her father smiled, before turning back to face her grandfather.

"Well, I believe she can change, Dad," he snapped. "That's your opinion, and you're entitled to it. But I know her more than you, and I believe that she can." With that, he stormed over to Megan, picked her up, and placed her on his shoulders. "Hey, honey, who wants a horsey ride?"

"I do, I do," Megan cried as her father carried her back to the house, bouncing her up and down all the way.


***


She was awoken early in the morning by a maid bringing out fresh grass for the cows. The staff that wasn't on shift came out to the shack for drinks, or whatever it was that they did in there. They all stared at her as they passed. The maid called out to the cows which emerged from their shacks yawning, and shuffled over to the feeding trough for their breakfast. After dispensing all of the grass, the maid then turned and said something to the cows, too quick for her to follow.

One cow lifted its head up, and to Megan's surprise, answered. The speech was incredibly hard to follow as the cow seemed to draw out her words longer than the horses did. The maid asked something else, and the bovine replied again. Some of the words she could make out related to milk.

Were they seriously going to milk themselves? Megan was stunned. The idea of cows milking themselves aside, the most predominant thought was that they were sentient. Looking over at the gate to the pen, she saw that there was no latch on it.

So what was going on here? Why were they penned up, yet free to go about their business? Megan just shook her head. Another silly rule about this world that she had no clue on how or why it functioned. When she did make a run for it, she'd need a God Damned encyclopaedia of information about this world. Then she paused, her mind travelling back to her time spent with the griffin's and zebras. They'd had giant boars and elephants that they kept in similar conditions.

Were they sentient, too?

Elizabeth and Margaret showed up to both derail her train of thought and release her from the post. The princesses also appeared to be flanked by some maids carrying large pitchers and some towels. Their bodyguard accompanied them as well but frowned when he saw Megan sitting there, unclipped from the leash. He lifted up the clip with his telekinesis and scrutinised it thoroughly, before shrugging it aside and untying the lead.

Megan grimaced at her carelessness. She had forgotten to reattach the leash. Hopefully she wouldn’t get punished for that or worse, found out.

Megan went bug-eyed as the two foals started tugging at her clothes.

Oh no, not out here!

Unfortunately, the princesses were just too quick. The unicorn staff that were off-duty all gathered to watch as she was stripped naked and had warm, soapy water dumped all over her. The cows were more interested in their breakfast. She was then surrounded and scrubbed from head to toe, every so often they would stand back to drench her with more water. Some of the staff commented on her lack of fur. Others wondered how she could balance on two legs without a tail.

It was degrading, to say the least. Being washed in front of unicorn servants as they stood back and watched the show was a massive blow to her dignity. Though as she stood there, being scrubbed from head to toe, she reminisced over a conversation she once had with her mother. She complained that the pink polka dotted scrunchie her grandmother had given her for her sixteenth birthday would steal her dignity away if she wore it in public. She never forgot what her mother had said in response.

"Dignity? Hah, Megan, we're women. We all lose our dignity at some point. Especially when you have kids. After having had three doctors and six nurses gawking up my wazoo, whatever dignity I once possessed has long since gone with the wind."

She gave a resigned sigh as she obediently raised her arms and legs when they wanted to wash underneath them. Her mode grew even more odious at the comments about why she had lots of fur between her legs and nowhere else on her torso.

Eventually, she was made to stand so that they could towel her off. They dried her hair so that the princesses could take over, comb it out and tie it in twin ponytails. They then dressed her up like a doll in that same outfit she had hated before she was allowed to follow them back inside the palace.

"I really need to learn enough Equine to tell them to take these overalls and burn them," she muttered under her breath.

Megan was led back to the library and Einstein. When she got there, she found the unicorn having a heated conversation with that indigo blue unicorn that had accompanied her on the day she lost her cover. He was now engaged in a hushed but serious conversation with the white bearded unicorn. Both looked up as the princesses made their presence known; and they spotted Megan.

The looks in both their eyes were grave. As the princesses were taken away for the day's lesson, Megan couldn't help but feel a slight trepidation as the two male unicorns just stood there, as if they weren't sure on what to do next. Finally, Einstein turned to the other unicorn and snapped something that sounded like, {Let's go.} He motioned Megan to follow, and after securing her leash, they left the palace behind for another horse and cab ride to the city.

Megan made sure to note the layout of the streets they rode down, memorising streets that contained the least amount of unicorns and where there were nice, dark-looking alleyways. As she made her thoughtful observations, she was struck with a sense of Deja vu. She had come this way before. The final pieces didn't fall into place until a familiar-looking building came into view. It was that university that she visited all that time ago. The one where they discovered her lack of telekinesis.

Megan's fingers were gripping the sides of the window tightly as her eyes grew wide. Einstein, sensing her fear stroked her arm reassuringly. {This not same,} he said slowly. {Show Me-gan *** ***. No hurt. Safe.} The first word she couldn't understand had sounded like a name. Possibly that of the indigo blue unicorn. The other word was something else entirely.

Still filled with doubt and fear, Megan stepped out of the carriage and walked up the steps of the university. They proceeded down a different corridor from last time. Whereas with her previous visit they had travelled up to the top floors, Megan found herself being led down into the basement. In spite of the old monster movie horror cliché of this situation, she told herself that if they wanted her dead or dissected, they had ample opportunities to do it before. That's what she kept telling herself as she descended further into the earth.

When they reached the bottom, Megan found they were wandering through a very narrow and small corridor. So tiny that she had to crouch. The indigo blue unicorn flashed his horn and a row of torches sprung to life. The corridor was rather uninspiring compared with the interior of upstairs. Square shaped stone walls with a wooden floor and ceiling. Numerous support beams lined the walls along with rows of doors which were spaced far apart from each other and not even in sync with their placing with those on the opposite wall. Three doors down from the left, the indigo blue unicorn again flashed his horn, and a comically oversized padlock glowed brightly. After five minutes of just staring at it with both his horn and the lock glowing, it clicked, allowing the door to swing open.

He stood aside and urged everyone to hurry into the room. Megan went first and had to get on her hands and knees to fit through the door. Unlike the corridor outside, the room was gigantic. It was circular shaped and proceeded upwards like a well. Stone stairs circled up the wall to a semi-circular platform that obscured half the ceiling before more stairs continued up to another such platform. How far up the stairs and the room went beyond that second platform, Megan couldn't tell.

The indigo blue unicorn's horn glowed again, the door slammed shut with an audible bang behind him. His horn continued to sparkle as the entire door was enveloped in the same glowing aura for another five minutes before he finally turned to both Megan and Einstein.

{We are safe now,} he said carefully so that Megan could follow.

{Good,} Einstein answered, equally slowly. {Then let us start.}

The indigo blue unicorn pointed at the door he'd just closed. {Me-gan,} he said. {Open that door.} Megan frowned.

{No understand,} she said. {What you say?} He seemed irritated.

{Me-gan, open that door!} He was annoyed. Megan sighed. If she wanted answers, she might as well play lab-rat. She walked over to the door and tested the handle. It was a typical equine handle designed for either mouth or to be turned by a single hoof. She turned it and opened the door.

Nothing was on the other side. Curiously, she stuck her head out into the corridor and looked up and down. Nothing.

Short but pointless, she thought. She pulled her head back into the room and closed the door behind her and turned back to the two unicorns. {Door open...} She trailed off.

Both unicorns were stiff as a board. The Indigo Blue one's emotions looked halfway torn between jubilation and terror. Einstein looked like someone had just put the fear of God into him. Megan began to panic as the seconds ticked by with nothing from the two.

{What wrong?} she asked quickly. {What I do wrong?}

{Me-gan do nothing wrong,} Einstein said after a brief pause. The indigo blue one to start babbling something that made him sound like a young boy's voice cracking from puberty. Einstein in turn just stood there, staring at Megan until it became apparent that he wasn't even listening to his unicorn friend, which caused the male to snap at him. Einstein blinked himself back to reality before calming the other unicorn down.

As the unicorn started to ask something of Einstein, the unicorn in question began pacing back and forth muttering too fast for Megan to follow. One word that she was able to make out was a word that he'd recently managed to translate for her. {Impossible.}

{What impossible?} Megan demanded. She had to shout it again as both unicorns seemed to ignore her or just didn't hear her. Einstein hesitated for a lot longer than she found comforting as it appeared that he was trying to find a way to explain what had them so riled up.

{Me-gan, no have ***.} That word he used was one she'd heard countless times before. It was the word they used to describe their telekinetic abilities. She already knew that. But before Megan could vocalise her thoughts, he continued. {Door closed with telekinesis. No one can open door. All creatures/sentient beings have telekinesis. Door cannot be open.}

Megan looked down at her hands, before turning back to the entrance. Her eyes grew wider as she realised what had happened. The door was locked shut with telekinesis. And since she didn't have any, she had opened it. The indigo blue unicorn hadn't locked the door with the padlock, just telekinesis.

{Einstein open door with 'telekinesis?'} She asked. He had thought about the question before his own horn lit up. The door had glowed with the aura of his horn before it ceased and he motioned the indigo blue unicorn towards the entrance. He trotted over to it, and pushed. It didn't budge. He put both front hooves upon the door and pushed harder. It still didn't budge. He turned around and bucked it hard with both his hind legs. The door buckled from the impact but still didn't open. He stood back and indicated to both Megan and the door.

Megan walked over and worked the handle, pushing it. The door swung open.

For a split second, Megan was electrified by the prospect. She had no telekinesis of her own. And unicorn doors were locked with telekinesis. Reminiscing on her actions, she realised that she didn’t cancel the telekinesis, it simply just didn’t work for her when she came into contact with it. That meant that she could open the most secured locked doors in the palace and city. Providing no locks were present.  She chewed on her lower lip in thought.  Maybe she should try to learn lock picking just in case, so that when the time to escape came, nothing could get in her way.

Her mind traveled back to the small ruby that PT had given her.  It had still worked because it wasn’t in contact with her body, just tucked into the hem of her dress and pockets of her clothes.  She looked down at her chest and placed a hand against it to feel it, lying snugly within.  She stiffened at the memory of climbing into the bath aboard the unicorns' blimp with it inside her mouth.  Had she shut off its power when she’d done that?  She’d better be more careful with it in the future if she were to avoid accidently having it touch her skin and shutting off. 

Then she thought of something else. Something she should've realised earlier.

How did the indigo blue unicorn know about this?

{***?} she said his name, getting his attention. {This? How you know Megan do this?}

{Think,} he said. {Think about Me-gan with no 'telekinesis.' Long-time think. Not know. Not understand all. Yesterday, Me-gan put outside. Megan 'tied up/secured' outside. Soldier use 'telekinesis' to 'tie up/secure' Me-gan. Today, Me-gan not 'tied up/secured.' Soldier think he not do 'telekinesis' right. He know I help Einstein with Me-gan. Come to me for 'help/advice.' I understand 'telekinesis' work. Telekinesis did not work on Me-gan. I tell him he not do it right. He say yes. Not think any more of it. We all good for now.}

Oh.

Yesterday, when the bodyguard had secured her leash to the hitching post, he had enveloped the clip of her lead with his telekinesis. She had noticed this but never thought much of it. She thought the reason he was so carefree with the post was because he was either lazy or nobody considered her that much of a threat. He wasn't being lazy with tying her up. He was attempting to secure her there with telekinesis. She had no telekinesis and the power just didn't work when she had unclipped herself.

{Bad,} the indigo blue unicorn said. {We are *** soldier no think Me-gan has no telekinesis. All 'unicorns' no think about Me-gan no 'telekinesis.' Time. Long-time pass. 'Unicorns' will know.} Einstein made some calming motions, speaking too fast for Megan to follow, but the words she could make out indicated he was trying to reassure his friend that wouldn't happen. However, he wasn't simply going to be brushed aside.

{What is Me-gan?} he demanded of her.

{Megan is human,} she said.

{What IS who-mun?} She spread her arms wide.

{No understand. What you mean?} To her surprise, Einstein asked a question along the lines of why they were down here. The other unicorn pointed over to a bookcase. He rushed over to it and pushed it aside with his magic to reveal a small hole in the wall. Then he levitated out a large crate and placed it down on a long table. Both Einstein and Megan approached with curiosity as he opened the crate and gingerly lifted out...

Megan gasped in surprise.

He lay her clothes out upon the table. The ones she'd brought to this world. They way he carried everything was a delicately performed act, and she could see his hooves trembling to hold on as he laid out article after article of clothing.  Her faded blue jeans, rust coloured vest, orange flannel shirt and dark brown cowboy boots. Next came her underwear, bike helmet and: "My phone!"

Rushing over and snatching it out of his hooves, she checked it for damage. Nothing, not even the screen was cracked. Although there were some scuff marks on it, as though something with a hoof had tried awkwardly holding it. Still, she couldn't believe it. She then looked at her underwear.

Oh, thank Christ! She snatched them up and gave a quick test sniff. They would need a good wash, but still, she had a God-damned bra again! She then turned to the phone in her hand. Did it still work after all this time? She remembered turning it off before she came here.

It was slightly dust-covered, and she blew it off with a great breath. It caused the indigo blue creature to sneeze loudly. He then shook his head, before he made a harsh cracking sound as he moved his bottom jaw from left to right. The noise sent a shiver down Megan's spine. He had done that before, and she hated the sound it made. She was surprised he didn't dislocate his bottom jaw by doing that.

Her trembling fingers pressed the power button on the phone, and to her jubilation, the phone reactivated. The light it made drew the unicorns' attention, and they crowded behind her to try and see what was going on. They arched their brows as it made its welcoming chiming sound.

{Me-gan,} Einstein asked. {What is that?}

{Telephone,} she said slowly, holding up the screen. {Telephone is human tool. Humans use telephone to talk to humans, long away.} Both unicorns blinked at each other disbelievingly before the indigo blue one pulled out that rock jewel thingy and aimed it at the device. It failed to glow. He marched right up to it as he practically shoved it against it. Still nothing.

{Talk,} he demanded of her. {Me-gan talk to who-muns. Now!} Megan shook her head.

{Not work,} she said. {Need two telephones to work.} She showed him the one in her hand. {Megan got one telephone, not two.} Einstein turned and said something to his friend about some form of communication that she didn't fully understand. The most she could make out was moving paper long distance via telekinesis: with fire? She was sure she mistranslated that. The indigo blue one looked disappointed. She decided to cheer him up with something else. {Telephone can play music.}

That got a response from both of them. Holding the screen towards them, she used her finger to open up the music folder and started looking for some music that wouldn't scare the living daylights out of them. She had come to discover when being asked to play music that the unicorns didn't like anything past the early 1990's. Some versions of heavy metal did appeal to them, but only ones that were more guitar solos that focused on fast paced notes rather than making a God awful racket.

She selected Gordon Lightfoot's Greatest Hits and watched with a smirk as the two unicorns stood mesmerised by the sounds coming forth from the device. Three times during one song, the Indigo Blue unicorn tried to get a reaction from the jewelled rock and every time, it failed. Then she remembered that she had video clips on there.

{Megan show human land?} she asked. At first, they were speechless. After some quick banter back and forth, they agreed. Megan brought up the video section and played little movie clips from her world. Megan made sure not to show them horses from her world, for she wasn't too sure how they would react to them being nothing more than mindless beasts of burden. She showed them movie files showing off big cities filled with people and cars and bright neon lights. Shopping centres, art galleries, cruise liners, highways, trains and a squadron of jets performing aerial stunts at a fourth of July celebration.

That one finally brought a halt to the show. This time, it was Einstein who wanted to know everything there was to them. He wanted to know how they flew. Megan's linguistic repertoire didn't allow it. Finally, he asked did they use telekinesis. She shook her head and said, {No.} She pointed at the jet, frozen on the screen. {This tool. Human tool. All human tools do not have 'telekinesis.'}

{How fly without 'telekinesis?'} The indigo blue one virtually shouted. {'Horse' tools have 'telekinesis.' 'Unicorn' and 'Pegasi' too. All tools have 'telekinesis.' All world has 'telekinesis.' Who-mun world not?} Megan nodded. The indigo blue unicorn began shouting about something to Einstein while occasionally indicating up the stairs. While he was going on, Einstein's expression started to grow suspicious. He was just about to climb the stairs to go to whatever was up there when Einstein halted his flight and started grilling him on something. The indigo blue one looked nervous, and then became more elusive with every passing sentence. It had something to do with a long trip off his.

Megan blinked. Long trip?

{***?} she interrupted his speech by calling his name. After getting his attention, she finally asked the question she should've asked a while back. {This is Megan's objects. Were *** get them?} He said a long, drawn out word that she didn't understand, but it made Einstein nervous. Now he started arguing with the indigo blue one about what he was doing in there in the first place.

The indigo blue unicorn was defensive in his explanation, even taking a step away from Einstein. Throughout their talk, they kept repeating one word, over and over again. Finally, Megan asked what this word meant. Einstein answered it for her. He levitated a book out from the bookshelf and flipping through the pages, held the book out to her, pointing at a single picture. It meant griffin. In a way, she shouldn't have been surprised he had visited the griffins, after all, where else could he have...

She was momentarily incapable of functioning as her mind began to play back events. That popping noise the indigo blue unicorn made with his jaws whenever he sneezed. She'd heard that before. Back in that warehouse in that griffin coastal city. The griffin with the red and black striped pattern on the feathers that mimicked human hair. The one who had been bribed by PT to kidnap her. She had let into the warehouse a mysterious creature whom she thought was a zebra. It hadn't been, even though it was equine shaped. She remembered a few details.

Its leg and muzzle fur had been an indigo blue colour. It had a bulge in its hood, just above where its face should've been.

Just the right size for a unicorn's horn! Megan blinked with no emotion. It was him! Einstein and the unicorn were still talking amongst themselves as she just stared. A million questions were going through her mind. What was he doing there? Why had he been all covered up? What did he want with my stuff? How did he know about my stuff? Was there more to his visit than just getting my stuff? Did he know about PT?

Her mind returned to the argument going on between the two unicorns. Her name was being battered around, along with the word for zebra and griffin. She quickly snatched their attention.

{What you two talk?}

{Me-gan,} Einstein said. {Where Me-gan come from before 'zebra' land? After hugh-man land. Megan at hugh-man land. Then at...?}

{'Griffin' land,} she answered. Both unicorns shot each other worried looks.

{Me-gan,} Einstein asked. {Were you at ***?} The word was griffin. Megan spread her hands wide.

{No understand,} she said. {What ***?}

{Griffin city name.} This time, the indigo blue unicorn pulled out a book and flipped through it, before holding up the page to Megan. It was a purple banner with a highly decorated outline of an elegant shield at its centre. Within the shield was an armoured griffin soaring towards the sky in a classic Superman pose. It was an image she believed she'd never see again. The banner of Henry the Eighth.

{Yes,} she said. Now both unicorns were agitated.

{What Megan do wrong?} she asked, worried about being left out of the conversation.

{Me-gan do nothing wrong,} Einstein assured her. And that was it. He just left her out. Megan's face darkened.

{Why this bad?} She almost snapped at them, causing the two unicorns to jump slightly.

{Me-gan know not long time before. No understand why,} the Indigo Blue one said. Megan was fed up by now. Something was going on, it involved her, and it had the unicorns worried. Ever since the conversation had gone down this path, she couldn't stop thinking about the warning PT gave her about unicorns. Why were they worried about her being in the hands of Henry the Eighth? It was her neck on the chopping block and by God, she wanted an answer.

{Why this bad?} she shouted. Now the unicorns were silent. {Megan not dumb. 'Unicorns' will kill Megan if they know Megan has no 'telekinesis.' Why you do not like ***?} She pointed at the banner.

Einstein paused as he tried to come up with an explanation

{'Griffin's' do not like 'pegasi,'} the indigo blue unicorn said. {Not 'horse' or 'unicorn.' 'Pegasi.'} He then galloped over to the bookshelf and hunted around, before finally returning with a very thick book. He placed it down on the table, and motioned Megan to look, before spinning it around to face her. There was a mountain of text, but on the sides and corners of the pages were coloured ink pictures. {Long time before now, many 'griffins' 'together/unite.' Not all, many.} He pointed with a hoof at a collection of banners. Henry the Eighth's was conspicuously absent. {Bad. Very bad for 'equines.'}

Judging from all the text, Megan suspected there was more to the story than what was translatable. The one thing she'd learnt from history was that nothing was ever black and white when it came to conflicts.

Sure enough, the next picture shown was a representation of that stained glass window she saw in the temple. The one of the pegasi fighting the griffins and that giant cat lady with the weather. The indigo blue unicorn held up the picture of Henry's banner.

{***. *** strong. Not like 'together/united' 'griffins' think. Help 'pegasi' fight other 'griffins.' Fight long. Win. After win, not strong. Weak from long fight. 'Pegasi' no help ***. *** not like 'pegasi' for long time. Today, not like 'pegasi.'}

She furrowed her brow. Wow, what a dick move. {Why?} Megan asked. {Why 'pegasi' not help ***?} Both unicorns emitted frustrated and sad sighs. She was beginning to suspect that there was more to the story than just 'because they were assholes.'

{*** not good. Bad. Bad before help pegasi. Bad long time before. 'Pegasi' need *** help to win. After win, all 'griffins' not like ***. After win, danger from all 'griffins' to 'equines' gone. Think different. 'Equines' want to be good with all 'griffins.' 'Pegasi' had to not help ***.}

So, if she could translate that right, Henry the Eighth's... she guessed that "clan" would be the right word, was pretty much a historical villain. She remembered seeing the painting of Henry's clan defeating the Minotaurs in battle. What exactly had they done for history to hate them so? And that brought up the next question. Why didn't they agree with the other griffin clans when they united? Why were they willing to side with their most hated enemy against their people?

During World War Two, when Hitler turned his attentions from the United Kingdom to Soviet Russia, there was a lot of controversy over Churchill's desire to work with and even aid Stalin, because Stalin was incredibly evil. Churchill, for all his faults, understood that Nazism was an even greater evil that had to be fought to the death, and he needed all the help he could get. His rebuttal to such criticism sprung to mind: "If Hitler invaded hell, I would make at least a favourable reference to the devil in the House of Commons."

There were no doubt other sides of the story as well. Were Henry's clan forced to become villains? Were their actions merely the exaggerated tales of the winners? After all, the winners did write history. Or were they like Stalinist Russia? Joan suddenly reappeared in her mind, and she started thinking about what her plans had originally been. The great lengths she had gone to keep her a secret while she was in the griffin city. What had she wanted with her? She thought she was free of those problems, but now they were returning. Good God, considering that she wanted to get back to the griffin lands to try for the portal again, would she end up running into her?

{Me-gan,} Einstein's question brought her back. {Did *** find you? After Me-gan come to 'griffin' land from hugh-man land?}

{Yes.} They were anxious now. Einstein's mouth opened to ask another question when he paused. His mind apparently working on something else that had just sprung to mind.

{What *** want with Me-gan?} the Indigo blue unicorn asked.

{Know not,} she answered honestly. {They talk. Long talk. Megan no understand talk.} Indigo blue was about to ask another question when Einstein interrupted him.

{How Me-gan come to 'zebra' land?}

{'Zebra' boat,} Megan answered.

{PT's boat?} She blinked. She hadn't heard that name in a long time. Well, there was no use in hiding anything if she wanted any answers.

{Yes.} Both unicorns looked baffled at the response as if the answer suddenly threw a large rock into the intricate house of cards they had been assembling.

{How?} Einstein asked.

{PT take Megan. No ask ***.}

{Why PT take Me-gan?}

{Know not,} Megan answered. {He see me. Know Megan smart. Talk to ***. Want *** to 'trade/sell' Megan. *** say no. PT know Megan have no 'telekinesis.' Take Megan.}

That seemed to answer their question. PT's motives had remained a mystery to Megan, and he appeared to be a pretty well-known trader who smuggled. Did they know him as a trader or a smuggler? Did they know what PT had planned for her, or was it something else entirely?

{What wrong?} Megan asked.

{PT go to all lands. He 'trades/sells' all things. Many 'Equines' who 'trade/sell' know of PT. 'Equines' who 'trade/sell' say, If you want all things, go to PT.}

{PT want to 'trade/sell' Me-gan,} Indigo said. {Get many 'Equines' to 'trade/sell' Me-gan to. Fight for high money.} Oh, to sell her to the highest bidder. Based on what they knew of PT, they thought he was just greedy and spotted a get rich quick scheme with Megan. They were wrong. She postulated her next move. Should she tell them the truth? Would the truth get PT in trouble? Well, if she wanted answers....

{No,} she said. {PT not want to 'trade/sell' Megan. Want Megan for later.} Again, they were stumped.

{What PT want Me-gan for then?} Indigo asked. Megan spread her hands wide.

{Know not,} she answered. {PT not tell Megan to all. He take Megan to 'zebra.'}

{What 'zebra?'}

{Know not,} she replied. {PT not tell Megan.} This time they weren't scared as they had been with the griffins. They were just puzzled. {'Zebra's' bad?} she asked after an uncomfortable silence.

{No,} Indigo answered. {'Zebra's' not bad. 'Equines' know not 'zebra's' much.} The two were stumped into silence. They then began a conversation that appeared to be batting around ideas and theories as to what were PT's plans for her. The break allowed her mind to wonder and once again, and remembering the phone in her hand, it drifted back to a question for which she never received an answer.

{***?} she snagged Indigo's attention. {How you get Megan's tools?}

{Work,} he answered. {*** work.} That word had been used for the building they were in. Did it mean 'University,' or was it the university's name? {I not say. 'Griffin's' do not like 'Equines.' In 'griffin' land, I not be. I do 'University' work. 'University' not say.} The determined look on his face said that he wasn't going to budge on the subject.

So he had his agenda that he wasn't going to spill the beans on. She saw Einstein's expression. He wasn't going to push the subject either. From what they had been arguing about, he had probably tried going down the same track to receive the same answer.

Fine, she thought as she glared at Indigo. You can have your secrets, but just don't expect me to trust you anymore.

{What *** do with Megan's tools?} she asked.

{Stay here,} he said, pointing at the hidey-hole they'd been stored inside. {'Equines' no understand Me-gan's tools. No 'telekinesis.' If 'Unicorns' know tools are Me-gan’s, they death to Megan.} Megan nodded in understanding, but deep down inside, something told her that wasn’t the full story.  Considering he wasn’t going to reveal his reasons for being in the Griffin lands when he wasn’t supposed to be, it was most likely she wouldn’t get a straight answer on that either.  She turned to Einstein.  He probably knew the answer, but the look on his face told Megan he didn’t want to think about the answer, let alone give it.

She was now beginning to think that there was more than one reason as to why the Equines would want her dead for having no telekinesis.  Reasons even unicorns didn’t want to think about.

Since that question wouldn't be answered, she decided upon asking another.  She then held up her underwear. {Need. Megan need this. Megan take, yes?}

{Why?}

Okay, now for the million dollar question. How in the name of Zeus's Butthole, do you explain underwear to a species that didn't use it. She looked at them, then at her garments. Remembering what her mother had said, she gave a resigned sigh, before stripping out of her clothes. Both unicorns were stunned, their expressions halfway between fascinated and disgusted. When she was finally naked, Megan showed them the two articles of clothing, before putting them on. She indicated the smooth, comforting panties, and the support the bra gave her breasts.

Both of them came in uncomfortably close for further examination, and she had to forcefully, but still gently push them away. "Back off you perverts." After a few mangled attempts at conversation, it turned out that the elastic band caught their eyes. The material was what interested them, having seen the way it stretched and moulded to her body, and she had no way of translating across.

Indigo started up another conversation with Einstein about Megan's clothing and their lack of Telekinesis. Einstein looked puzzled before he slowly turned to Indigo and asked something about earlier. Something he wanted to show them that was upstairs. Indigo's eyes flashed with excitement as he galloped up the stairs in a flash.

Megan stared up at the wooden ceiling above her and listened as his hooves pounded across them. There was a moment's silence before there was the sound of something heavy being shifted aside, followed by multiple locks unlatching. Another long silence had filled the air before there came a loud thump. Then another. Something was being dragged along the floor before he reached the stairs. She could make out a few curse words, as he struggled to lift whatever it was.

Why didn't he just use Telekinesis?

Einstein's mind was travelling down that path because he asked the same question. His reply was too garbled for Megan to make out, but she did catch the quick glance Einstein gave her. Thump after thump made its way down the stairs until Indigo appeared around the corner.

Megan never saw what Einstein's reaction was. Hers was focused on what Indigo was bringing down the stairs. In hindsight, she shouldn't have been surprised. Her reaction was one of shock, and then joy. Her lips pulled back to allow the largest grin she'd ever had on this world to form. It changed everything.

"Oh, hell yeah!"