That summer was very busy for the Weather Factory. There were new, young employees hired at the beginning of that humid, unhealthy season. With the new young ponies, there were a lot little disasters going around the factory. Machines would be broken, reports would go missing, and each day a new rumor was spread about a different pony. Why Mrs. Skies thought they needed any new workers, Rainbolt hadn’t the slightest clue. He supposed the reason may have been she needed more ponies to fill in if others needed a substitute for a shift, got fired, or died somehow. He’d never asked for an explanation, though. Arguments with his boss never turned out well, and as he knew, a simple question could turn into a war if it were timed just perfectly.
Overall, however, Rainbolt wasn’t too upset with the change. Some unlucky employees actually had to help train the fresh ponies. What a hassle that would be! As if taking care of his daughter in the evening wasn’t enough! She was going to turn five in matters of weeks, and he didn’t need a young adult and a five year old harassing him the majority of the morning. What a headache!
That evening, Rainbolt had been parked in his office a good half hour. He was filling out papers for the heat waves, rains, and lightning storms all throughout Equestria. All seasons were complicated, and summer was no exception. His math had to be accurate, along with his locations and timing. If he made one little mistake, he could literally cause a natural disaster. Luckily, he had never, ever made a huge mistake. He had made a few minor ones that gave a few ponies sunburns, frostbite, or minor property damage.
“Phew!” Rainbolt wiped some dripping sweat off his forehead. “This summer is way too complicated… ugh. I hate this job sometimes!”
Rainbolt continued his complex assignment silently. His jaws were starting to ache from writing too much and every minute he long more and more for a nap.
A well-timed disturbance occurred as Rainbolt was growing weary from work. He turned as he heard the door of the office opening with a loud, ear piercing creak. Even little Dashie shot up from her bed and stared at Mrs. Skies. She was accompanied by another mare. Her coat was a snowy tone of white and she had a messy mane of yellow, bouncy curls. Three purple balloons were proudly marked on her flanks and she had a large smile plastered onto her face. Rainbolt gasped at the sight of the mare. He recognized her the second he laid eyes on her.
“Rainbolt, this is Surprise. You will be training her and showing her how to do your job. Don’t worry, she’s not replacing you. She’s just trying to find her place in the factory.”
As Rainbolt had easily recognized Surprise, she recognized him. She smiled brightly at him and waved her hoof. Her bright, purple eyes glimmered at him and were almost as cheery as her bright smile. Rainbolt ignored the mare and looked down at the floor.
“Don’t be shy. I know you’re not good with the mares, but come on!” She giggled at her own remark. “Alright, be good to each other. Rainbolt, be nice!”
The mare closed the door with no further instruction or anything to go by. Oh, this was going to be fun.
Surprise and Rainbolt had known each other through a mutual knowing of Firefly. In fact, Surprise was Firefly’s very best friend in the whole world. Dashie was pleased to have a new friend to meet, while Rainbolt was dreading to interact with an old one. He’d met her quite a few times and she was annoying. No, annoying couldn’t even begin to describe her. She talked nonstop about irrelevant topics and constantly spoke of things that made no sense. He was already dreading the long night with an old acquaintance.
“Heya Rainbolt! Do you remember me? ‘Cause I totally remember you! Oh, you and Firefly used to be all in love and cutesy wootesy! I remember you sneaking her out school that one time and making out in a park! She told me all about it! I was friends with your sister for a while, and remember how I used to come over and spend the night sometimes, and one time me and your sister snuck into your room and put makeup all over your face?”
Rainbow stared at the mare with genuine curiosity. Firefly? Could that have been her… mommy? Other than that, she already loved the mare. She was uproarious, and obviously knew how to have fun!
“I, uh…” Rainbolt blushed wildly and nervously chuckled. “O-of course I remember you! I-It’s just…” He nudged his eyes towards the little filly in the corner. She was snuggling under the sheets of her sleeping bag and watching carefully. “You know…” He whispered quietly.
Surprise’s purple eyes went wide and she smiled with a giggle and snort. “Hehe, you don’t want the kid knowing that embarrassing little story, huh? I still have a pic I could show her!” Rainbolt shook his head and it finally clicked in Surprise’s mind “ Oohh! You don’t want the kid to know you were a romantic beast when you were younger! I have to admit, Firefly would always tell me about how much she wanted to-“
Rainbolt cut the mare off by shoving his hoof in her mouth. She continued trying to speak, but failed. Rainbow attemted to decipher the muffled words the white pegasus tried to get out. Eventually, the hint sunk in that she shouldn’t have spoken about that. Her volume lowered, and she stopped speaking all together. Rainbolt cautiously removed his hoof from her mouth.
“That’s okay, Surprise… I just don’t want her knowing too much yet.” Rainbolt said, cringing and wiping the saliva off his hoof.
Surprise nodded in agreement and smiled guiltily. “S-sorry… I probably should have talked about it later on…”
“No, that’s okay. I don’t want to talk about it, anyway…”
Surprise flopped her ears down. What was she thinking? She didn’t even take the stallion’s feelings into consideration! Or the little fillies that was hearing it!
“I am really, really sorry…”
When the sincerity became visible in the young mare’s voice, Rainbolt turned to her and forced a smile.
“That’s fine. Let’s just forget this ever happened.”
Rainbow watched from a distance as Rainbolt started his work and his old friend levitated a few feet above him. The name Firefly lingered in her mind. Whoever she was, it was obviously daddy’s old marefriend. If it were her actual mom, that would have been interesting to know, but for Rainbow, she’d lost all interest in having a mother. Her daddy was all she needed, and she knew it! Rainbow blew off the thought of her daddy’s ex and tried to go back to sleep, cuddling in her soft sheets.
Rainbolt continued to work diligently as Surprise quietly watched. She sat cross-legged in a seat behind him, and her leg shook violently. It was obvious she hated being still and quiet for that long of time. Dash had passed out long ago, and both could hear her little snores coming from the sleeping bag. She had her hooves wrapped around a small teddy bear and her little ears flopping and twitching in her sleep.
“Ugh! I’m so bored!” Surprise whispered in a harsh tone. “All this work stuff is boring! I liked working in cloud busting better! I actually got to move!”
The stallion sighed. Some ponies were just annoying to deal with. How did Mrs. Skies even consider hiring her? She had little experience in any of the branches! Then again, neither had he when he first started. He was just as confused as Surprise had been. A young, eager seventeen year-old colt barely out of flight school applying for a huge job in the Weather Factory? Nopony would have ever believed he would have ever been considered qualified, to get a job there. However, he did have a good knowledge of science, weather, math, and he dabbled in mechanics, so getting a job wasn’t too hard. Even though he made a considerably large amount of mistakes, he still pushed through and kept himself from being fired.
“Sorry…” Rainbolt muttered angrily. “If you don’t enjoy this branch, just work in another… Why did you even apply for this job?”
“’Cause I know Equestria really, really well! I love meeting new ponies and I have met tons from all around Equestria! I’m also really quick when it comes to getting a job done, oh, and…” Surprise smiled and gestured Rainbolt over to her, as if she were going to tell him a secret. The slightly confused stallion leaned in and the mare delicately whispered into his ear. “I can tell when somepony’s lying!”
“Oh… I don’t see what that has to do with weather… But it’s still pretty neat, I guess…”
Rainbolt picked his pen up and started writing again, bored and uninterested.
Surprise giggled. “Yeah. Just like I could totally tell Firefly was lying when she said you broke up with her and kicked her out of the house!”
Rainbolt’s ears instantly went up and he dropped his pen out of his mouth. He turned to the mare and looked at her with a frown.
“She….What?!”
Surprise laughed. “Yeah… I didn’t believe her. Her parents did, though! They were like, ‘Awe! You poor thing! We told you Rainbolt was a jerk! You should have listened to us!’ She was really depressed for a while! You could tell she really regretted it! She spent all her time in her room crying and saying, ‘What’d I do?’ She used to tell me she missed you so much…”
Rainbolt’s gape turned into a little smiled. He almost laughed and felt extremely victorious! Ha! That bucking bitch got what she deserved!
“Wow! I can’t believe that! I’m so glad she regrets it! Ha! Bucking cunt!” Rainbolt smiled at Surprise and laughed quietly. “You just made my life!”
That conversation was hard to keep at a whisper. Especially for Rainbolt, who desired to leap into the air with triumph, squeeze Surprise and shout with joy. He hadn’t seen Firefly in years, but the thought of her suffering like he had through those long months made him happy. If only she could see how beautiful their daughter was that day. She’d be envious!
“Yeah… I haven’t talked to her in forever, though. The last time was maybe… five months ago? Yeah, five months, eight days, and six hours ago! She was whining about how her coltfriend broke up with her. She hasn’t had much luck with love, lately. Or ever since you two separated.”
Rainbolt sighed. “I could say the same about myself. I tried dating this one mare, but she was a pretty awful parent.”
“That sucks… I’m really sorry about mentioning that stuff in front of the kid earlier.”
“That’s fine… I kinda told her Firefly and I split, and then she moved very far away… I don’t know when I’ll ever tell her what really happened.”
“Ooh! Use it at as a birth control when she’s older. Like, ‘Listen up, Rainbow Dash!’” Rainbolt laughed at the mare’s generic stallion voice. It was rather deep in comparison to her high-pitched feminine voice. “’You shouldn’t have sex at a young age! Your mom got pregnant and had you when she was only sixteen! And now look at her; she’s single, living on the streets and selling her body!’”
Rainbolt’s laughter at the mare’s deep, forced voice was suddenly hushed by the final line.
“Wait…. Firefly’s a…prostitute..?”
“Yeah… She has been a while now. I mean, she wasn’t exactly able to get a job after her parents kicked her out of the house. She was only kicked out a while ago when she turned twenty, but you know. I haven’t hung around her because of how much she hates life, she’s so miserable, ect. I love seeing ponies happy… she was just too depressing to be around.”
“Honestly, I think she’d enjoy getting to have sex for money. She oh so desperately wanted to have sex with me six years ago, so she isn’t that miserable.”
Rainbolt had been pretty pissed with the mare for all those years. When he was spent all day at home with nopony to talk to, he’d curse her. The first few months when he was in his greatest struggle, he despised her name and cried at her memories. When Rainbow became sad at the fact she was motherless, Rainbolt would pleasantly dream about her being in awful, emotional (and occasionally physical) pain and agony. The thought of that mare regretting leaving him in the gutter as she did was the most amazing, wonderful feeling he could ever imagine.
Firefly’s purple eyes met the ground. She remained resting in the damp, cold alleyway. It was her home, and the only place she’d found comfort in the vast, crime-filled streets of Manehatten. She took in a breath and placed a bottle of vodka to her lips, letting the easing liquid slithered down her throat and make her happy. She relished the little bits of anguish alcohol would take away from her. She removed the addicting bottle of liquid from her lips and let out a huff. How could she have let her life get this way?
The mare snuggled deeply into her cotton sweater and pulled a large piece of newspaper over her for warmth. Her glistening eyes shot up at the jeweled night sky. The moon was hidden behind dark clouds and the stars forced their twinkle to be shown through the dirty fog. Her eyes swelled with tears as she tried to rest.
“I-I’m such a stupid mare… I had a family... A life ahead of me...” a single tear rolled down her cheek. “How was I so s-stupid to give that all up?”
Every long day since the mare had left Rainbolt for the first few months, she was filled with doubt and depression. The first week, she’d even went up to his doorstep once and wanted to get on her knees and beg for forgiveness. Beg to be let back into the life of somepony she loved dearly, and maybe be accepted again, but she turned around and continued to suffer alone.
“Oh, why didn’t I do something when I had a chance?” She cried out.
She knew Rainbolt. He was gentle-hearted, forgiving, and kind. After a week, he may have accepted her apology, after a month, it would have been a possibility, but after years and years of no contact, she knew she’d blown it.
Firefly stuffed her head into her hooves and began sobbing. She was so stupid! So idiotic! So…worthless. She’d forgotten about her beloved for years, but now that she was out on the streets, she found it much easier to think about where she really went wrong in life.
After minutes passed of letting her hot tears of depression out, she looked skyward. The line of sky she could see in between the two buildings was sparkling. When she looked hard enough, she could see two ghostly figures of her and her ex lover shooting across the sky.
“Six years ago…” She muttered. “Six years ago… That was a beautiful reality…”
Tears rolled down her face as she continued staring at the imagined figures of the stallion who had loved her more than anypony ever had. The memories of his gentle, “I love you”s and sweet nuzzles… Cuddling in bed and comforting each other in times of need. How could she have been so foolish? Firefly’s tears streamed faster as she silently began singing to herself in a fragile tone.
“My dearest, My lovely.
Wipe your tears away.
I’ll love you tomorrow,
The same I did today….
Please never leave me,
And wipe those dripping tears.
I’ll be faithful and loyal,
No matter all the years.
I love you, my baby,
now lift your head, don’t cry.
Kiss me, and love me,
my dearest…Firefly….”
Firefly broke into a volatile stream of tears. Rainbolt had sung that to her when she had been crying over who knows what! The first time it was because of a pet dying… And he’d sung that little lullaby to her every time she cried…He’d wrap his hooves around her from behind and place little kisses on her soft neck.
More than anything, she wished he was there singing it to her at that exact moment. The thought of hearing his soothing, sweet voice singing to her on that cold night was a beautiful, amazing thought. She wanted to once again be cuddled in his loving grasp. At that moment, she would have gladly gone through days of nonstop torture to be held in the arms of Rainbolt for one minute longer…Why had she given up…? She didn’t take the time to appreciate what she’d really been given… She deserved that cruel, harsh fate.
“I-I’m so, so sorry, Bolty… I’m sorry…” She muttered in a crackling voice as tears fell down her nose.
Every night she’d begged for his forgiveness, but never receive it… She could barely forgive herself... How could she expect her abandoned lover to ever feel sympathy for her? She took in a breath and stared at the stone, cold ground. At that time, she could have been looking into the eyes of her coltfriend- no, husband- and smiling with love. Their child would be in her room, doing whatever, and she…she would be happy.
Firefly’s depressing thoughts of an alternate timeline were rudely interrupted by the clanking sound of a small bag of bits being tossed in front of her. Her purple eyes slowly escalated from the ground to a smirking stallion above her. Shamefully, she looked back at her tear-stained hooves.
“For here or to go?”
Rainbolt smiled at Surprise and giggled. “Wow… I can’t believe the way she turned out. Well, serves her right.”
“Yeah… You really are a nice stallion. She had no clue what she was missing out on.”
Both of the ponies blushed and stared at each other. Surprise’s eyes looked towards the ground.
“Thanks. I’m sure she feels the same way…” Rainbolt smiled and went back to work.
Surprise took her place behind the stallion and looked over his shoulder. Surprisingly, Surprise wasn’t nearly as annoying as he thought she’d be. The rest of that night, they had a very long, bonding conversation.
Rainbolt and Surprise were smiling at each other, sipping on cups of freshly brewed coffee when Dashie first woke up. When the white mare removed the steamy mug from her lips, it left a brown mustache above her upper lip and earned a giggled out of both Rainbolt and Surprise. Dashie turned in the covers of her sleeping bag and grunted at the two giggling friends. Normally, her father never awoke her with noise, so this was quite a surprise.
“Good morning, Daddy…” Rainbow muttered quietly with a yawn.
The little filly unfortunately went unnoticed.
“Daddy!” Rainbow cried shrilly to get the pair’s attention.
“Oh, hey Dashie! I know you haven’t formally met her, but this is an old friend of mine, Surprise!”
“Hi Miss Surprise!” Dashie greeted in her still-tired voice.
The pegasus giggled and her yellow curls bounced. “No need to call me ‘Miss’! I’m not a teacher or anything… Although I could teach you how to speak French! Would you like that?”
Rainbow cocked her head. “What’s a French?”
“Le Français c’est la langue d’amour.” Surprise stated with a giggle.
Rainbolt rolled his eyes and smiled. “Ignore her, Dash. She’s a confusing pony.”
They both started laughing again when Mrs. Skies disturbed their joy with her formal presence. Unlike most mornings, this one she seemed pretty happy.
“I see you two are getting along nicely.”
“Yeah…” Rainbolt agreed. “Surprise and I go way back. I knew her when she was only in flight school.” He turned to the pegasus mare and smiled. “I can tell we’re going to be a lot better of friends than we were back then…”
“Yeah….” Surprise said with a forced giggle. “Friends…”
... Surprise is a bitch I can sense it.
sooo, suprise and rainbolt? hmm, i was kinda hoping for him and glida´s mom. Tho that opens a new possibelety: firefly tries to get rainbold back, surpise tries to get him as well (wich obviusly leads to hear and firefly having a fallout) and gildas mom comes along and decieds to try and get him es well , so from a looner singel dad to a guy who has 3 girls at once on him.
anyway, your fic has been really fun so far and i hope there a lot of chapters to come
3701344 Surprise's personality reflects Pinkie's. She is not a bitch, and never will be. She may be a tad bit insane, though.
I sense Surprise hidding a feeling she has towards Rainbolt…
Well, must suck to be Firefly. That or Suprise is playing the long game.
420 likes blaze it up till you throw up
3701394 good insane
3701368 LAWL
what will happen?? cant wait to find out
I'm Pinkie Pie happy about where that whore ended up. Completely deserves it.
3701394 Pinkies mom is a pegasus?
3701525 Nope. Pinkie Pie and Surprise are COMPLETELY different ponies, but they have reflecting personalities.
six years is a long time to hold hate, rainbolt will need to work on that, and nice idea using pinkie's developmental stage as a character all her own, i dont know which of the two id rather. but i can say that this story is the one ive been looking forward for the most.
A sudden thought: Will this continue up to (And possibly even through) the show? Because I think it would be pretty funny if Rainbolt and Pinkie's father ever met after their children became best friends.
"Mr. Rainbolt, this is my dad!"
"Ah, Hello Mr. Pie."
"Didn't you flood my farm years ago?"
"..."
Either way, I still had a blast. This has been sitting on my "To-read" list for a while, so I'm glad I knocked it out.
Liked and faved, eager to read more!
“Don’t be shy. I know you’re not good with the mares, but come on!” She giggled at her own remark.
“Alright, be excellent to each other. Rainbolt, be nice!”
Couldn't help myself
Is Firefly going to get better or not?
I know what Firefly did was bad but being a prostitude? I think it is to harsh
... sorry but I have a younger sister the protitude thing makes me cringe and scares me
Still very good chapter and fic you have here
I bet Firefly will try to comeback and heads will roll.
Yes yes pair them yes yes...., or mend the relationship.....oh mighty pinkie impowered surprise,... that would be soooo good at this point the mending part... I sorta feel bad for firefly she didint know what she had...., to young to realize that what she did was wrong and it could be managed if she would have just came back sooner ( yes she knew it was wrong but){she was frightened at motherhood} <not justifying it> [ just saying it's a big hitter] ...... but at that age it's scary and now she realizes this.... it's hard to pin her as a bad guy now .., she's older and has realized her mistake I hope you write her into there lives somehow
I can't tell what to feel. Should I sympathise with Rainbolt or feel bad for Firefly. STOP MESSING WITH MY FEELS you attractive, well-written son of a bitch
I suppose the one good thing that Rainbolt should remember about Firefly, is that Dash wouldn't exist without her. Sometimes parents who split up tend to forget where their beloved children came from :-)
Talk about karma there. Though while I think that Firefly deserves a chance to redeem herself, the question remains on whether Rainbolt will put aside his rage or not. It'll be a thing to see, that's for sure.
3701840 I agree.
think surprise is not quite being honest with rainbolt here. what is surprise up to?
I don't know if I'd call him a nice stallion for being so heartless :/
3701840
If he doesn't even when he knows that she is THAT miserable well THEN HE might be at fault, because it's been YEARS
I don't say he needs to get back with her but she could at least help her to get a job
Ooooo! Things are starting to get hot in here.
3701880 I never said that he had to get back together with her, but a chance to redeem herself like in the example in which you stated.
3701920
The thing is now Firefly is willing to play her part ... is RAINBOLT willing to play his?
From what we had seen he isn't and would be more than happy to leave Firefly in the position she is
Come on!, I knew that Firefly would regret leaving him and everything, and she deserves it... but being homeless and a prostitute no less?
3701935 I suppose that all this arguing is for naught since the good author is who is going to be making these decisions for us to view.
3701983
Yep thats true
3701983 yea and watch it be somthing out of the box none of us would have thought of ;)
...WOW! I mean, WOW! That's just sad. I know Firefly left, but she was sixteen. A young teenager. Being a mother at that age would be scary and often, teens don't make the right decision. I know she made a bad call, but Faust, that's just bucking sad.
And okay, I want to smack Rainbolt. I don't care if she left you, but your taking pleasure in her misery. The buck's wrong with you. It's been years and no one should be happy with this sort of thing. Yeah, she left you, but you don't have to be a plothole! Faust, I need a breather.
Oh and way to be a friend Surprise.
A true, true friend helps a friend in need
A friend will be there to help them see
A true, true friend helps a friend in need
To see the light that shines from a true, true friend
That's a true friend. Not...this....UGH!
This is a very hard chapter to sum up my feelings on. I can't decide to sympathize or feel gratified about firefly's fate. I do feel foreshadowing however there in her appearance.
Btw the hinted surprise is gonna be GUD.
Okay, who want to go to Manehatten and rescue Firefly? We can drag her back to Cloudsdale, get her a good job, a roof over her head, she still deserves those. Author, is Firelfy going to see her daughter again?
And I know it's off topic but does any-one know any good Firefly/Rainbow Dash Friendshippings?
can i read this on youtube
Option A) Surprise secretly wants to force Bolt and Firefly back together
Option B) Surprise wants to murder Bolt
Option C) Surprise has secretly wanted Bolt for herself this entire time...
As long as Rainbolt doesn't end up back with his ex then we're good. Although making Firefly a hooker, seemed a little excessive, but she made Rainbolt out to be the villain and ignored her kid for 6 years, so there's that.
As for Surprise i'd love to see her introduce him to her family with her uncle being Clyde Pie the same guy that wanted to beat his ass. Yeah head canon has always had Surprise and Pinkie being related in some way.
To be perfectly fair, Rainbolt's stubborn attitude brought himself, Firefly and Dash to this position. He should have stopped Firefly from leaving, but he let her go off and wander the world alone.
Now? Firefly is living at rock bottom, and Rainbolt is just enjoying the pain and suffering shes going through; worst part is he doesn't even realize he let all of this happen.
To be honest, I think Surprise is lying to Rainbolt about what Firefly "said" about him, just so she can boost his negative feelings towards Firefly(and possibly get with him in the process.)
(I don't normally write things like this, but I felt that something had to be said.)
I get the filing that there going out now.
3701487 why me
3702650 my vote is on number 3
3701394 Were all a tad bit insane. Some more than others though.
3702863 For the LOLS of course:
Firefly made a big mistake, but I still feel sorry for how crappy her life turned out
I've been rather enjoying this fic, and I'm glad to see that it's updated frequently. Only thing I'd recommend though is that you put some form of indicator -be it squiggly lines or dashes- as breaks in between sections, like right before and right after Firefly's part. Just as a way to indicate a transition is occurring.
Good stuff nonetheless.
Damn...I feel bad for Firefly now. I know the feeling of not knowing what one has until it's gone. It's the most horrible feeling in the world. I really hope she gets it back. She needs a second chance.
Well Surprise, you just got Friendzoned
OW.
Wh... owwww... what is that?
... Goddess damn it, that was double-aught buckfeel shot, wasn't it? Owwww... smarmy bastard.
I don't really know what else to say. I mean, I enjoyed the chapter, but at the same point, I feel like I should be kicking myself in the face for enjoying the chapter.
Dear Pizzy1334,
This chapter, this writing that you were so worried about?
You - and please excuse my French, XD - fucking nailed it, lady.
I was, quite honestly, shocked that Rainbolt would be so...cheerful about Firefly's suffering, but then this sort of thing happens in reality, so there's the familiarity in the concept. Also, Surprise? The original 'Pinkie Pie'? I am very interested to see where this goes now!
I feel...saddened by what Firefly is going through. You hit me right in the feels with her part, and it still hurts. Ow. I think i can honestly say that I might struggle trying to read that part again in the fanfic reading I'm doing for you, but I'll still attempt it. Must push on forwards, and carry on the show!
Surprise...The polar opposite to Rainbolt's personality...they say that opposites do attract, so I think you might have actually found a perfect match-up here, Pizzy1334!
Well, better get to that reading for ya. You should like it, by the way. I'm doing a special Live reading of Chapters 3 - 5 of your story, with a funny twist; every time I read out a character's name, I'll take a sip of an alcoholic drink. XD I'll probably get very tipsy by the end of Chapter 4, but alcohol poisoning is worth it if it means you get a good laugh out of it. XD I hope your followers will give it a watch as well. XD
10 / 10 for this chapter. Well done! Also, very clever putting in that French teaching part! You was very smart in adding in one of your other talents into the story! That was very good! Nicely done!
Well, time to read. And get drunk. XD