Chapter Thirty-Five: Black Sun, Red Moon -Part VII- Dread Invasion
A/N
Quick fact. Bedlam and Ataxia, (the names of Discord's parents) are both synonyms of the word chaos. Welcome back! Story time!
"Where do you think we are now?" the captain asked his feathered associate.
Phalanx looked up from the book, darting his eyes towards several pipes and furnaces above and below.
"We appear to be in some sort of maintenance chamber. The heat here is oppressive, and as to why such a place is even necessary is anyone's guess."
"Yeah, the heat's bad, but as long as he isn't here I'm fine with it."
Phalanx nodded, and the two of them continued on in silence. After what felt like an hour or so, Phalanx noticed the captain fiddling with one of the orbs, as if trying to accomplish some great task.
"What... are you doing?" he couldn't help but ask the captain.
"What? Oh. I have an idea. If these things allow Hircus to see everything outside this place, wouldn't it allow us to see him? If I can figure out how to use this thing, we could avoid him for quite a long time."
"Perhaps we could, but that idea is, by nature, flawed."
"What do you mean?"
"Do you not think that if the orbs worked here Hircus would have found us by now?"
"Maybe. But like I said, maybe he's not trying to find us."
"Then pray-tell, what is he doing?"
Lenard shrugged. "Heck if I know. This isn't exactly taught at the academy. Besides, I think I might have figured something out... If you hold the orb like this, the center starts to... fizzle, or something."
Phalanx raised his brow without saying a word.
"What? It's a work in progress."
Phalanx shook his head and returned his attention to the book.
Greene sighed. "Well if you think you can do a better, why don't you give it whirl? Besides, this stuff is more up your alley anyway."
The slightly agitated pilot tossed an orb at the griffin praetor, catching him completely off guard. After fumbling around with it for a few seconds, he awkwardly caught the orb in between the pages of the book.
"Try that again and I'll-" The orb began to glow with a nearly blinding light, giving the words of the pages the appearance of shining off of the pages.
The griffin looked over to the human captain. "What did you do?!"
"Nothing! What did you do?!"
"I simply caught it with the... book... The book!"
Images began to quickly scroll through the orb, as if it was an ancient entity recalling events from the past.
Phalanx shook his head incredulously. "What form of sorcery do you believe this is?"
"Well I don't know anything about sorcery, but If I had to take a guess, I'd say that the orb is displaying the contents of that book!"
"You may very well be correct... but I was under the assumption that these orbs could only be used to view the present, not the past."
"Maybe the book is some sort of recording, one the orbs can playback? Like a magic VCR or something."
"Even if I fully understood what you meant by that, I would still be cautious to assume anything about this or anything else to be found here."
"Just hear me out. If this orb can... interface, that's a good word, interface with this book, then who knows what else it can show us. Maybe even a way out of here!"
"It is a possibility..."
"Right, try to make it show a single event, instead of this mess we're looking at right now."
"I would if I- Wait, the orb is showing us something..."
Chapter Thirty-Five: Black Sun, Red Moon -Part VII- Dread Invasion
A small group of black-clad pegasai rose from the spires of Castle Everfree, seemingly submerged in the black waters of a dreary night sky. The slight rattle of the airborne battle wagons in tow was the only discernible noise in the single most despairing of nights any of them could remember. The moon was nowhere to be found, and even the stars appeared to be far dimmer than usual. Almost completely unseen, the pegasai rose into the clouds and flew in a generally northern direction.
"So what sort of task has the royalty summoned us to preform?" one pegasus, a young stallion, asked his nearest flight-mate.
An older mare quickly snapped toward him. "Close your flapping jaw, fool! We have been ordered by Tribune Crest to practice the silent sky form, which, as you might imagine, requires silence!"
"Well that is all fine and good, but we are carrying enough of these dreadful blast geodes to level a small-"
The stallion abruptly stopped talking.
"-we are not here to train, are we?"
The mare sighed sorrowfully.
"No."
"And we are headed north, toward Ve-"
"I told you to be quiet."
The stallion nodded his head, and the group quietly continued about its way
****************
The sounds of a child's worst nightmare descended on the Caprastian capital city of Vertaigh.
Vance kicked over his nightstand and lurched out of bed as the explosions quickly grew closer. Galloping for the door as fast as his hooves could carry him, he head butted the door and burst out of his small cabin.
"What- What is thi-"
A thousand terrible objects rained from the sky, as several black figures raced back and forth through the sky, almost as if performing the most horrifying of dances.
A small rock-like object landed just a tree trunk's width from Vance's hooves. His eyes widened and he reflexively leapt backward with all his might as the blast geode detonated, cratering the ground and tossing several pieces of shrapnel into the air. He stayed conscious just long enough to watch his house crumble to the ground under the assault of another geode.
" A raid. No... not now..."
His head sunk to the ground, and the world darkened.
****************
The base of a tower collapsed, felling the large structure like a mighty oak, right into a row of houses. Flames began to lick up from the markets, where hay was abundant to fuel them, and the city lit up like a funeral pyre as it's denizens ran screaming through the burning streets.
The young stallion looked over to the older mare, fighting to hold back tears from the gut wrenching scene.
"What have we done? Why did we have to do this?"
The older mare's mouth trembled, but she did not speak. Somberly, the pegasai lowered their heads and flew away.
The moon slowly began to creep into the sky.
****************
Far above the city, and even the strike pegasai, Tribune Crest stood atop a cloud, flanked by King Soltaire and Queen Noctau.
"It... It is done, my lord and lady," he spoke with just a hint of terrible guilt.
Showing very little remorse, the queen looked over to the king. "Then they have made payment. In full."
"Yes, my dear. But something is very wrong," the king spoke with a hoof in his luxurious mane. "Why was it so easy?"
"I do not know," she answered calmly.
"Crest," the king addressed the armored pegasus. "We will return to the castle, you will stay here and observe."
"Yes, my king," Tribune Crest quietly responded.
With that, the king and queen of Eclipstria flew off into the night, leaving Crest to bear the guilt of a thousand sins alone.
****************
"Gahaaauuuuh!"
Life returned to Vance with a sudden gasp. Spotting a small piece of lumber beside him, he desperately tried to pull himself to his hooves, but ultimately fell back to the ground. Now resorting to a slow crawl, Vance crept through the bombed out ruins of the capital city, almost unable to contemplate what lie in front of him.
"It's gone..." he thought, "Eclipstrians... They... They took it all... Where... Where is...?"
A small brick fell from a storefront in front of him, drawing his attention upward.
"I don't believe it!" he cried out. To his complete disbelief, Hircus' palace remained completely unscathed. Not a single dent, crack, or scratch defiled the still gloriously glistening walls.
The only word that could come to mind was,
"How?"
"Enter the castle and find out." The words were not a voice, or even a whisper, but rather a thought that serendipitously entered his mind, barely seeming out of the ordinary.
"I will go to the palace. I will find my answers there," he spoke aloud.
He slowly began limping along the path, dragging a hind leg in the dirt.
****************
"Can't catch me!" the alabaster princess of Eclipstria called out to her younger sister.
Celly and Lulu chased each other around a small room at the top of one of Castle Everfree's many spires. As Celly galloped past a window, Lulu stopped chasing after her for a second to look at a small orange light on the dark horizon.
"Wait, Celly, come look at this."
Celly trotted up to the window. "Hmm. What do you think it is?'
"I do not know. Is the sun rising?"
"Pfft! Of course not! The sun rises from the east, silly! That is clearly coming from the north."
"Oh." Lulu frowned, looking down at her hooves.
"I'm sure it's nothing," Celly chortled, rolling her eyes and flipping a hoof nonchalantly. "Now come on! You still have to catch me!"
Lulu tore herself away from the window and the glowing light in the distance.
"Yes. Nothing."
****************
Alone, and severely injured, Vance continued to trudge through the remains of a broken city. Caring not to look at the poor unfortunate souls lying by the side of the road, Vance stared down at the ground instead, until nearly tripping over a small wooden sign.
"Wayfarer's Ward, Clinic of Caprastia..." Vance's voice trailed off as he broke into a three legged gallop toward a shattered nearby building. He kicked in the already broken door, then rushed inside, pushing aside anything in his way.
"Hello? Hello?! Is there anyone here?!" He threw aside more debris as well as the slumped over forms of several Caprastians. "Anyone! Anyone still alive?! Please! Answer me!"
He reached one of the many doors that lined the walls of the lobby, and turned the knob. When the door refused to open, he lunged into it with his shoulder, until the door split apart at the middle, the top half falling into the room. A large wooden bed frame rested against the lower part of the door, effectively pinning it down.
"Move, blast you! Move!"
He slowly began to climb over the debris, striking his bad leg on the bed frame. Cringing, but not deterred, he fell over the heap of wood and into the room. The room, much like everything else was dark for the most part, but a gaping hole in the ceiling let in just enough light from the now rising moon to reveal a dainty blue foreleg, clutching a small satchel.
"Apple Flower!" He rushed to her side.
"Apple Flower!" He pulled her into his arms.
"Apple Flower!" He desperately tried to wake her.
She was cold, her eyes closed, her fur pale. She did not wake.
"Apple Flower." He sunk to the ground, his eyes wide but vacant, his mouth held open like a corpse. His strength left him, and his arms sagged, allowing the body of his beloved to roll limply back to the ground. He fell backward, his head landing in the middle of the one illuminated spot in the room. Staring into the large hole in the ceiling, his eyes still wide, he gazed up at the moon. In front of it, an armored pegasus rose into view, hovering just above the roof. His eyes met those of Vance, and did not look away.
The two stared at each other for what felt like a eternity. Then the pegasus uttered three words as he began to fly away.
"Please, forgive us."
****************
Deep within his throne room, the dark silhouette of Lord Hircus sat upon his thrown. Though he could barely be made out in the shadows of his darkened hall, a keen eye could see that he was slouching, his onyx crown sitting to the side of his mysterious head, as if mourning.
"Is this what you wanted?!" the lord of the Caprastians bellowed, rearing from his throne. "You call this victory?!"
"No, but I do call it progress. The plan is... well, going according to plan," a mischievous voice answered.
"Plan?! You said this would inspire the people! Rally all of the tribes toward victory! You said only a small potion of my city would be destroyed!"
"Omelets, eggs. This was the only way my true plan could come to fruition. "
"You! You motherless bast-"
"Now now, no need for name calling. I did have a mother. She smelled of powdered sugar and orchids and I was rather fond of her, so you should calm down."
"Calm down! You dare tell ME to call down?!"
"Yeah, relax a little. I protected this little pillow fort of yours from destruction didn't I? That's worth something, right?"
"I do not care what or who you are! I will kill you for what you have done!"
The mischievous voice began to belly laugh, the sounds of his glee echoing through the chamber. "You? Kill me? I think not. Besides, you have guests to take care of. People to see and stuff."
"What?"
"You have a visitor," The voice chuckled.
The broken and bloodied form of Vance collapsed into the room. "My lord, you are unharmed?"
"Yes, my agent."
"H- How?"
"I have protection from such things."
Vance began to drag himself toward Hircus's throne. "The city is... the city is gone."
"I... am aware of this."
"Why- why did you not save them?"
"That was not possible. A higher goal prevented me from doing so."
Vance continued to crawl toward him."You- let them die? You let her die?!"
"Remember who you are addressing, agent. I am still your emperor, your king. I see what you cannot. I know of a much broader picture than this, a much larger vision."
"You knew, didn't you?"
"What?"
"You knew this would happen."
"Yes. It was part of that vision I just spoke of..."
"I... How could this be part of your great plan?"
"There are those who are watching us. The flying warriors known as griffins, and the lizard blacksmiths of Terodai. They are both solitary peoples, wary of anyone else, but this devastation will convince them of a greater threat. This and more has been revealed to me."
"Are you saying that you sacrificed our capital city on the off chance these out-landers would come to our aid?"
"There were to be very few deaths. None, If I could help it. I suppose it got out of hoof. But there is nothing either of us can do about that now."
Vance reached the foot of Hircus's throne.
"Motherless basta-"
"Silence! I am your emperor!"
"Then show yourself! Like a emperor, and not a shadow-clad coward!"
Without a word, Lord Hircus rose from his throne and stepped toward the light.
"I will grant this request, but only because it might be your last."
Revealed was a tall, strong Caprastian ram, much taller than Vance, but clearly older. His most intimidating feature was the dark black crown he wore, a symbol of power that shone with a subtle dark blue glow, which only added to his striking appearance.
Vance began to chuckle uncontrollably until he began to cough up blood.
"This, *cough* is the great Lord Hircus? Just another ram with a plan?"
"Yes." The thunderous and intimidating echo of his voice was now gone, but his voice still carried strength. "And it would behoove you to remember that."
"Who gave you the right to throw so many lives away?" He fell on his face in agony of his worsening injuries. "Who gives you that power?!"
"I do!" a mischievous voice cried out. There was a bright flash, and the form of a young adult... thing, coalesced into form.
"Hi there! I'm Discord, lord of of chaos and blahdity, blahdity, blah... Point is, we've reached a pivotal moment in my little plan."
"What are you?" Vance wheezed, lying in a heap on the thrown room floor.
"He is a powerful being that can harness the power of chaos," Hircus answered. "Though I question his judgement, he has proved himself useful to me on several occasions. Some of our greatest triumphs would have been not been possible without him. Make no mistake, however, I am still your lord and master."
Vance began to tremble with rage at Hircus's hooves.
"You have betrayed your own kind to further your own ends, but you are a fool! He is a draconequus! Have you not read the children's stories? He will use you until you have nothing left to offer! Whatever he promised you is a lie!"
He began to sob.
"You let them die for a lie!"
Vance put his head to the ground.
"Let her die..."
Discord began to slowly clap his paw and claws together, then outstretched his arms as if to say that he was so very impressed.
"I am so very impressed! I did not believe any still remembered us! I knew I chose wisely!"
Hircus turned to face Discord. "Chose wisely? Chose what wisely?"
"Chose to do this!"
Discord's "hands" glowed a bright white color and a strange energy began to drain from Lord Hircus's body, swirling into the air and pooling into the air.
"What? No! Stop this at onc-" the Caprastian emperor called out.
He cut off his own sentence as he began to scream as if his very soul was being arrested from its housing, his form shrinking to that of a tired, beaten, frail, old ram, too weak to even stand.
"What, what have you done?" old man Hircus croaked.
Discords voice took on an almost demonic persona."I grant you, Vance of the Caprastian house of Certeux, the power to take back all that the Eclipstrians and this buffoon stole from you. All you must do, is take it."
Summoning whatever was left of his will, Vance dragged himself toward the old ram until the two were face to face, just a hoof's width apart. He then reached into a small satchel on his side, and pulled out a small kitchen knife with a carving of a apple blossom on the handle.
"Apple Flower, my greatest love, who died by your order, used this very knife to prepare the last meal we spent together."
"Agent! Vance! Do not do anything rash..."
"Something so simple, a kitchen knife, but it is now all I have left of her."
Hircus shrunk back. "Wait! No!" he wheezed in terror.
"This, is for her!"
Without the slightest hint of remorse, Vance sunk the knife as far as it would go into the fallen king's chest. As the life began to drain from his eyes, Vance pulled the old ram's face even closer to his.
His gaze narrowed.
"Long live the king."
Discord nodded. "The power, is yours!"
The pooled energy flooded down into the ram, not only restoring his health but vastly increasing his size to a unnaturally tall and muscular form, though still very Caprastian in appearance.
The vibrant lights subsided, and Discord appeared to return to normal. "You now have a power rivaling that of an alicorn. What will you do with it?"
Vance removed the black crown from Hircus's head and placed it on his own. "I will wreak vengeance on those who destroyed all that I hold dear."
"Oh, I was hoping you'd whip up some sandwiches or something. I'd do it, but that whole "world-shattering-power-withdrawal" thing kinda took it out of me."
Vance cocked his head to the side and grinned.
"You don't say."
Lunging with all his might, the transformed Vance leapt at the draconequus with his newfound strength. Discord quickly deflected his blows and hurled him into one of the throne room's many pillars.
"Wow. I'll admit I probably should have seen that coming, but you really shouldn't *ahem* look a gift horse in the mouth. I can take that power away from you just as easily as I took it from Hircus, so I suggest you start acting a little more grateful."
Vance got back to his hooves. "It was your plan that led to the destruction of this city! You may have played Hircus for a fool, but I will NOT give you the sick pleasure of doing it again!"
"Oh now stop. I only informed Hircus that the Eclipstrians were planning an attack, the first step of some kind of 'purge.' It really was his plan to allow them to take a chunk out of the city and "unite the team" as it were, it just blew up in his face, almost literally. I suppose it did have some redeemable qualities, though. You see, I have been watching you, Vance. Your unshakable courage and unassailable will made you my top choice for replacing the dear departed over there. That's called a complement."
"You dare search for a silver lining amidst the death of thousands?! I will never follow such depravity."
"Hmph! I save your life and give you the power to take over the world, and you insult me? If I wasn't such a swell guy I'd probably get my feelings hurt and do something really, really mean. But you're in luck. I like you, kid. If you've got the berries to actually attack me after what you just saw, you may just be able to defeat the real enemy here."
Vance snarled. "And just who is the real enemy?"
"Why the Eclipstrian king and queen of course! Or is that king and empress? I get that confused sometimes."
Vance sighed. "It is no matter. I will grind them into dust to be scattered across the winds for the world to see. For what they have done here, I will continue to destroy, until there is simply nothing left."
"Whoa whoa whoa. Calm down! I only intend for you to dethrone them! Regicide is waaaaay too messy."
"You cannot be serious. You just had me kill one of the most powerful leaders in existence just mere seconds ago! Why the restraint now?!"
"I never said anything about killing Hircus, I just said to take his power. You know, something symbolic, like the crown? Darn it, ram! I'm a prankster not a mass murderer!"
Vance sighed once more. "What would you have me do?"
"Well first of all, you need to get used to your new name."
Vance's now more regal eyebrows hiked up. "New name?"
"Yes, your kind have already lost their shiny new capital, losing their supreme leader too would just be pouring acid on on a washed up whale."
"What? You don't mean-"
"Yes, you have an empire to run, Vance. Or shall I say..."
"Forgive me, Apple Flower."
"...Lord Hircus."
****************
Captain Greene and Praetor Phalanx stared at the orb in disbelief.
"It all makes sense now," Phalanx began. "We did not free the Hircus we thought we did."
"Yep. That just about explains his unbelievable hatred toward ponies."
"Indeed, but there is still something missing."
"When Celestia started to tell my friends and I this story, she spoke of something called "The Great Equestrian Purge," or something like that. Maybe the next section of the book will finally put the last pieces of this ridiculously convoluted puzzle together!"
Phalanx stopped in his tracks. "Then it will have to wait! Look!"
Several blue creatures began to seemingly melt off of the walls. They sported a dark blue scaly hide and several spikes running up and down their lumbering bipedal forms.
"Sapphirites! The fabled guardians of this realm!"
The two began to back away. Greene shot Phalanx a rather distrusting look.
"When were you going to tell me this place had an army?!
"I did not know myself, until I read about them in that book over there. I suppose "Hircus" grew tired of the cat and mouse game and dispatched a more serious solution."
"What do we do?! How do we stop them?!"
The praetor turned to the captain.
"We don't."
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Woo! Chapter ahoy!
another good chapter I really like where it's going though I hope they defeat those things
The plot thickens!
denver.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/thumb/mlfw5690.gif
Well, they weren't the only ones.
Really, I'm surprised how, despite how long I've been reading this, it always reduces me to a blubbering incomprehensible mess that can't say anything about the chapter. Because the whole thing is too awesome
.
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Indeed, prepare to be boarded, with literature!
2903945
The story continues... but where will it lead? Guess we'll all have to wait and see...
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At this point the plot is basically molasses thick. But can it get thicker? Who knows?
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Thanks, and I'm glad you think so. It's what I'm here for.
OH. IT IS ON LIKE DONKEY KONG!
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And we all know how he likes to party.
2904273 BANANAS! BANANAS EVERYWHERE!
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Bring your peanut pop guns and get ready to smack some fools!
Called it
IT'S ALIVE!
So much and yet so little happened this chapter, I approve.
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Ah, did you? I'm impressed.
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I'll nab that one.
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Thanks, I think? Ha, not sure actually.
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I suppose it is.
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It is, but it doesn't want anything else that way...
Cliffhangers! Why?! Ahh!
denver.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw8357-mlp_cliffhanger.jpg
2906744 No it's a good thing, you made me feel like a lot more happened then it really did.
2908555
Ah. Thank you for clearing that up. Glad you think so!
2907672
Ah cliff hangers. I can stop any time, one day...
I'd like to have at least written the next chapter by Friday, you will all have to hold me to that.
I always thought Ataxia was a medical condition. Well, the more you know ^_^.
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Perhaps it's that too. Sounds like something I wouldn't want.
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According to Wikipedia:
Ataxia (from Greek α- [a negative prefix] + -τάξις [order] = "lack of order"), is a neurological sign consisting of lack of voluntary coordination of muscle movements. Ataxia is a non-specific clinical manifestation implying dysfunction of the parts of the nervous system that coordinate movement, such as the cerebellum. Several possible causes exist for these patterns of neurological dysfunction. The term "dystaxia" is a rarely used synonym.
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Then I can see why it's a synonym of the word chaos... Ouch.
how could I have missed a new chapter for this
I have brought great shame to my famiree.
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Do not worry. I absolve you of your dishonor.
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Heroes and Allies: The War Room is up! We finally started constructing our own group! Join it here! You know, if that's what you want...
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Yes. Yes he does.
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Guess we'll just have to wait and see...
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Mother of God! We forgot Canada! Or did we... What if I told you that Canada, as well as many other countries will soon have quite a hand to play. That's all I can tell you.
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Forgive me for my ignorance/naivete (depending on whether or not Price is a character of this story, its been so long I've forgotten)
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Who's price?
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Thank you kindly! I try to write the story to the best of my ability.
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Who's price?
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Good choice.
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I'd beg to differ, their society is the same as ours, they just have a much more potent way of hiding their flaws.
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Provide the war effort with maximum level chicken. Then we shall be truly invincible!
2979535 OOOHRAA CHICKENS FOR ALL THE MARINES!!!!
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I know, right?
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Ha. Happy to be of service.
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You better believe it.
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I dont think im correct but he comes from call of duty
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already done. term 'stud stamp' included in stories I am writing. Dark Aeon thanks you for the suggestion