• Published 9th Jan 2016
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Of Monsters and Girls - Fullmetal Pony



The girls of Canterlot High must confront an invasion of monsters from underground! Is everything as it seems? Equestria Girls/ Undertale Crossover

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Chapter 4

The trophy gleamed even in the dim light of the office. Like its neighbors on the shelves above and below it, not a speck of dust marred it. When all this madness with monsters had started, a oversized frog had hopped too close to the trophies and gotten a swift kick to the face for its troubles. The vile thing had burst like an overstuffed hoover. The thin veneer of glass was the only thing that had preserved the trophies in a presentable state.

Principal Cinch shuddered recalling the ordeal. She labored back over to her chair and rested her head on the desk. Over the past few days, both had become quite comfortable replacements for her bed. Her new sleeping arrangements ensured someone always had an eye on the school’s treasured collection. Being on the second floor with only a window and a door as a way in also had advantages when the apocalypse was going on outside.

Cinch glared at the barricaded door. No shadows had passed by today and the number had dwindled ever since the first day this nightmare had started. Cinch shifted her attention to her computer screen. Tab after tab on her browser showed headline after headline, many featuring the goat-like beast that was apparently king of the monsters. For as many tabs there were of him, there were much more that featured pictures and scenes of Canterlot High.

As the days had gone on, the articles about the school had shrunken in length and it was little more than a footnote in the major news articles now, but Cinch knew better. The way a calm seemed to flow out of school. The way the monsters described their abilities as magic. The way that king praised the youth of humanity. There was only one logical conclusion: Twilight Sparkle had unleashed this pandemonium on the world just like she had at the Equestria Games.

Cinch ground her teeth and pulled out a notepad with page filled with ink driven deep into the paper. Twilight Sparkle and those brats from Canterlot High were involved in this and she was determined to get to the bottom of this mess.

~~~

Sunset waved the baton-like end of the measuring device over the child in front of her. She pressed her lips together and felt the knot in her stomach grow when the child tightened their grip on their guardian’s dress. Sunset took a breath and watched the arrow swing back and forth on her device and emit varying frequencies of beeps. When she brought it close to the child’s chest, the arrow remained firmly to the right and the device gave a steady beep.

The monster that had brought the child in laid a paw on their back. “It is okay, my child, we’re almost done.”

Sunset scribbled down some notes and then looked to Twilight. They nodded at each other and Sunset stood back up. She gave the child a smile but they backed away and hid behind the monster.

“I’m sorry,” the monster sighed. “Ever since we returned to the surface, Frisk has been quite shy.”

Sunset waved a hand back and forth. “No, no. They did great. Thank you again for bringing them, Ms. Toriel. You’ve both helped out a lot.”

Toriel smiled and looked behind her at Frisk. “Did you hear that, my child?”

Frisk gave a small nod.

“How about you go see your friend Papyrus?” Toriel suggested.

Papyrus popped up from between the bookshelves. “I HAVE ALL SORTS OF NEW PUZZLES TO CHALLENGE YOU, HUMAN! DARE YOU ENTER THE REALM OF THE DEWEY DEATHCIMAL SYSTEM?”

Frisk managed a small grin and wandered over to where Papyrus was. Toriel smiled watching them go.

Twilight set her notepad down beside the stacks of other documents and glanced over them. “We’ll have to redo a lot of our hypotheses, but I think this new information is the missing link we’ve been looking for. To think, two new thaumic frequencies.”

While stars glistened in Twilight’s eyes, Sunset brought a thumb up to her lip and bit the tip of it. “It’s the differences that bother me though. The lack of a proper conductive organ now makes even less sense if magic is naturally occurring in humans.”

Alphys pawed through some papers and scanned over them. “Perhaps high enough exposure to DETERMINATION is all that’s required? Or maybe contact with monster magic?”

“Hmmm, the Crown of Magic seems to have worked as a catalyst for Equestrian magic, so you may be onto something there” Sunset mused. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves though without sorting all this data out first.”

Toriel peered over everyone and looked over the notes. “Strange. From what I’ve heard and the notes you made on this FRIENDSHIP ability you have, my child should have displayed something like it.”

“T-that’s right. Frisk was very agile to dodge all those attacks in the Underground.” Alphys’s cheeks reddened a little. “But the only time they ever used magic was when Undyne gave it to them.”

Sunset furrowed her brow. “It feels like with every new piece of information we get, the more confusing this all becomes.”

“I know, isn’t research wonderful?” Twilight beemed. She then turned to Toriel. “That was pretty impressive that you were able to grasp the gist of our findings so far from just a glance and whatever Mr. Sans told you on the phone.”

“You didn’t think Asgore ran all the Underground’s research on his own, did you?” said Toriel.

Twilight corked her head to the side. “I thought Dr. Alphys was the head of research.”

“I am.” Alphys glanced at Toriel and then lowered her head. “Toriel… I mean, Ms. Toriel! No, wait! I mean Qu—”

“Just Toriel is fine, Alphys.” Toriel gave her head a shake and sighed. “It seems Sans didn’t tell you much about myself. I guess he didn’t want to drop a skeleton of information on you.”

Sunset groaned and Papyrus could be heard doing the same from beyond the shelves.

“It sounds like you have some connections with King Asgore though,” said Twilight. “With him being so busy and us being so focussed on magic, we haven’t really gotten a chance to talk with him about how monster politics or history worked out.”

“Well…” Toriel bit her lip. She took in the library around her, breathed deeply, and smiled. “I suppose this is as good a place as any to start. What would you like to know about monsters?”

Twilight’s smile widened. “Everything.”

“Oh my, this is going to be quite the first lesson for me.”

Sunset and Twilight took seats near Toriel and listened closely. Alphys smiled, pushed out of her own seat, and made her way over to the graphic novels section of the library. She peered around one shelf and then the other. The smile faded from her face. She hustled down one aisle and then the other. Sweat sprouted up on her brow. With her heart beating faster, Alphys sped over to the children’s section. Frisk and Papyrus looked up from their coloring books at her.

“Uh, um,” she huffed. “Have you seen Undyne? She’s not by the comics.”

“OH RIGHT,” Papyrus exclaimed. “SHE MENTIONED SOMETHING ABOUT GETTING BORED AND THAT’D SHE’D ‘BEAT THE EVERLOVING SNOT OUT OF HER LUNCH,’ SO I THINK SHE WENT TO WORK OUT.”

~~~

Dash launched the ball into the air. Scootaloo’s eyes widened and her smile grew when Dash sprung up after the ball, wings extending out of her back and propelling her into a loop. Dash brought all her momentum down on the ball and it went sailing back down to ground. It crashed into the tree Dash had been practicing on and shook a wave of leaves and a few twigs onto the ground. Dash swooped back to the ground with sweat streaking down her face. In a flash, her wings vanished and her ears shifted back to their normal location. She managed to smile between her heavy breaths.

“That was awesome!” Scootaloo sped over to Dash and handed her a water bottle. “What else can you do like that?”

Dash gulped down the water and then wiped a hand across her mouth. “That’s about it for now. I mean, it looks awesome, but I’m pretty sure wings are illegal. Plus, they kill your back.”

“But it’s so cool!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “I’m sure the pros will love them no matter what!”

Dash grinned. “Maybe. But I’ve got a long way to go before they’re practical to use. Anyway, I think it’s time you live up to your end of the agreement. Situps, pushups, and squats. One hundred each. We’ll swing by the library to tell Sunset our shift is up and then we’re on a run to Sugarcube Corner for a recovery snack.”

Scootaloo puffed up her chest and nodded. She then went to the ground and threw herself into the workout routine. Dash smiled while Scootaloo pounded out the first ten pushups and then gasped for breath. Scootaloo’s pace slowed and sweat beaded up on her brow. Dash squatted low but a small tremor kept her from offering some words of encouragement. Scootaloo rested her knees on the ground and Dash stood back up.

“Uh, was that an earthquake?” Scootaloo asked.

“I don’t know.” Dash looked over to the sports field where she thought she saw a shadow flash by. Her brow furrowed when a figure appeared from that direction and came rushing toward them. “But I don’t think it is.”

Scootaloo got up and brushed herself off while the figure grew closer, revealing itself as the Monster Kid. It fell a few times as it rushed over to them. Despite its blackened eyes and scrapes, concern was still visible on their face.

“You’re still here!” it huffed. “Good. You gotta come help! Undyne i—”

Dash took off and left the kid and Scootaloo in her dust. She darted across the courtyard and vaulted onto the sports field, only for a set of bleachers to go flying over her. They crashed to the ground and shook the field. Dash stared at the collapsed mass of metal and then at the other bleachers strewn around the field. Her eyes blazed when she locked onto Undyne resting a hand against a goalpost at one end of the field.

“Man,” Undyne huffed while hunched over with her hands on her thighs. “Humans sure know how to use all this space for training.”

“You!” came a shout.

Undyne looked up to see Dash barreling across the field at her. She flared her nostrils and stood tall. Dash came to a halt beside her, kicking up a fair bit of turf, and glared at her.

“Human,” Undyne spat. “What is it? I haven’t gone near your dinky little statue or anything.”

“You think that gives you an excuse to tear up our sports field?” Dash yelled.

“What’s wrong with me using your training area?” Undyne shot back. “No one else is here and your weights were just gathering rust otherwise. You should actually be thanking me!”

“Weights?” Dash glanced back at the bleachers spread across the field and ground her teeth. “That’s where people sit, you idiot! And what if you’d been throwing those and hit someone?”

“But I didn’t.” Undyne snorted in Dash’s face. “You think a Royal Guard Captain wouldn’t take precautions before starting a training session?”

“Like you even know what training is.” Dash muttered.

Undyne bared her fangs at Dash. “Excuse me, human? My training is of the strictest regiment! You probably couldn’t even complete a single part of it! Let’s see you chuck your weights as far!”

“They’re not weights!” Dash stomped a foot to the ground. “And I’m not ruining even more of the field!”

“You tell her, Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo cheered from nearby.

“Yeah!” said the Monster Kid.

“Stay out of this!” both Dash and Undyne snapped.

Scootaloo and the Monster Kid jumped back at the two’s shouts and fled. Both tucked themselves behind one of the bleachers and kept watch from afar. Dash and Undyne sighed, shook their heads, and then glared back at each other.

“You’re gonna put all these bleachers back where they belong and then clean up the rest of the field,” said Dash.

“Was gonna do that at the end of my workout anyway, dweeb,” Undyne snorted.

“Now,” Dash ordered.

Undyne’s body shook. After a moment though, she sighed and her back drooped. “Fine, human. I’ll put your stuff back so that it can keep collecting rust. It’s a shame, if you actually used them, maybe you’d match up to me.”

The fire in Dash’s eyes swelled. “That a challenge?”

Undyne spread her fangs into a wide grin. “If you want it to be. Since Asgore’s working hard to make peace with all of you, I’d rather not beat you black and even more blue than you already are, even if you fully deserve it. Still, beating you some other way is fine too!”

“So you think you’re hot stuff cause you throw some bleachers around? My friends have done worse at dances.” Dash planted her hands at her hips. “But since that’s apparently what you think a ‘workout’ is, guess I’ll have to keep it simple. Don’t wanna say ‘arm wrestle’ and you uproot the school.”

“The only thing I’d uproot would be your arm from its socket.” Undyne crossed her arms. “If that’s how you want it to be though, you decide, Miss Know-How-It’s-Done human.”

Dash glanced around. While the field was trashed, the track around it was unmarred save for a corner of a bleacher digging into its inner ring. Dash looked back at Undyne and jabbed a finger at her.

“Alright, fish-head. We’re gonna have a little race: three laps around the track. It’ll be a good warmup for when I win and you have to clean up this mess and then scram.”

“Ha! A race?” Undyne sneered. “You’d make the snail races look like lightning, but I’ll humor you.”

“Then what are you waiting for?”

Dash marched over to the starting line. Undyne followed and the two crouched and readied themselves. While the sweat dripped from their brows, they traded glances with each other and the track ahead of them.

Dash took a deep breath and squeezed her muscles tight. “Ready…”

Scootaloo and the Monster Kid climbed atop the bleachers they had hidden behind. Each stared in silence at Dash and Undyne. The wind whistled through the sports field.

“Go!” Dash’s voice rang like thunder.

She and Undyne took off in a blur of blue. Their arms pumped at their sides while they reigned in their breath. Both kept their eyes on the track until Dash saw Undyne break forward out of the corner of her vision. The gap lengthened as they passed halfway around the track even while Dash drove her legs faster against the ground.

“Haha!” Undyne cackled. “Looking a little doughy there, human! All that mass is weighing you down!”

“You cheater!” Dash huffed.

“Can’t cheat biology, dweeb!” Undyne gave another chuckle then sped ahead.

Dash’s gut dropped when Undyne widened the gap further and tore over the starting line. Dash gritted her teeth watching Undyne run further and further. Sweat poured down her scales and her breaths came in rapid gasps, but so did Dash’s.

Dash’s foot brushed against the bleacher intruding into the track. She lurched forward but slammed her other foot in front of her and resumed her pace. She darted over the three-quarters point but Undyne was already nearing the starting line again. Dash took her eyes off the track and toward the field again.

She then glared back at Undyne. Her back and ears glowed. With a deep breath, she sent out her wings and kicked off the ground. Undyne felt the air churn around her before Dash blew past her.

“Using magic?” Undyne snarled. “Now who’s a cheater?”

“I’m winning this race!” Dash shouted back to her. “No matter what!”

“Have it your way then!” Undyne roared.

She plowed her legs down, breaking through the cushiony track a second before she launched herself into the air. Once more, the gap between her and Dash closed. Dash flapped her wings harder, kicking up miniature whirlwinds while Undyne drove her feet through the track with each bound she took.

“Go, Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo shouted.

“You can do it!” yelled the Monster Kid.

Scootaloo broke away from her cheers to stare at the Kid. “Shouldn’t you be rooting for the monster?”

“Oh, I don’t really like Undyne that much anymore. My parents said Undyne just had to be mean because it’s her job, but the things she wanted to do…” The Kid shuddered. It then looked at Dash and smiled. “Rainbow Dash is more like a real hero.”

Scootaloo smiled. “Yeah. So let’s give her that final push. Go, Dash, go!”

The cheers were muffled by the wind whipping around Dash. Her eyes stung and it felt as if two massive blades were digging into her back. The air to her right warped and she glimpsed Undyne bound up beside her. The goal was only a few yards ahead of them. Dash dug deep and felt magic course through her. Sparks whizzed off her.

A small bolt zapped Undyne just as she lept off the ground. Her leg twitched back mid-bound, sending her into a tilt. Closer to the ground, Dash sped forward and lowered her feet back to the track. Undyne’s shadow loomed over when she planted herself back on the ground and burst through the finish line. A second later, Undyne crashed down on her.

~~~

Dash groaned when she next opened her eyes. Her shoulder blades felt like lead weights and the stiff metal bleacher they were pressed up against didn’t help. A tingle of cold ran up her left leg and she looked down to see an ice pack resting over her ankle. Scootaloo and the Monster Kid stared back at her.

“Rainbow Dash?” Scootaloo murmured.

“Yeah, squirt?”

Scootaloo clamped onto her. “Thank goodness! I was so scared!”

Dash gave her a pat on the back. “Easy there. Looks like I went a little too hard at the end but seems someone knew just what to do. Thanks, Scootaloo.”

Scootaloo pulled back. “I… I wasn’t the one that helped. I mean, I would have but…”

“But luckily Dr. Alphys showed up!” the Monster Kid chirped. “What a race though! Way better than the snail races back in the Underground! You were neck and neck with Undyne and then you sent out all that lightning right at the last second! You’re awesome, Ms. Dash!”

“Just go with Rainbow Dash, kid. Miss isn’t really my style.” Dash blinked. “What lightning?”

“Right by the finish line, it looked like that monster was gonna beat you but you started sending out all these sparks,” Scootaloo explained. “It was pretty cool until that monster crashed on you.”

“Where is she, anyway?” Dash asked.

Scootaloo pointed to her left. Dash looked over and saw Undyne lying against the bleachers a few feet away. A smaller lizard-like monster was sitting beside her with a large white box at her side that had bottles and packages of various sizes sticking out of it.

Feeling three pairs of eyes on her, Alphys looked up. She crouched down and whispered something to Undyne that made her scrunch up her face and then she waddled over to Dash. “Um… hi. You’re, uh, not feeling any pain in your head, are you?”

“Just about everywhere else,” Dash sighed and glanced down at her injured ankle. “I guess I should say thanks for the ice pack.”

“I’m really sorry about this.” Alphys bowed her head. “Undyne is just a very competitive monster… Uh, anyway, if your head is okay, you should be good to get up whenever you’re feeling better. Just make sure to keep some ice on your ankle.”

Dash nodded and kept her chin tucked. “Right. Guess we’ll have to settle this some other time then.”

“What?” Scootaloo gasped. “But you totally won!”

“Yeah, we saw!” the Monster Kid exclaimed.

Dash shook her head. “Not a win if I tripped that jerk up like you said. If I’m gonna win, it’s gonna be a fair one.”

Alphys took a step back. “Well, maybe not do another challenge for the next few days. I’ll tell Undyne too.”

Alphys scuttled back across the bleachers. Undyne glared at her throughout the short trek and gave a snort when she came to a stop beside her.

“That dweeb run her mouth off at you?” Undyne growled.

“N-no, Undyne,” Alphys murmured.

“Tch,” Undyne huffed. “Stupid human, thinking she could trip me up with that weird magic of hers. Serves her right that I delivered that killer blow to her.”

“She looked a little upset about it.”

“Good,” Undyne spat.

Alphys stared at the ground through the bleachers. “The magic, I mean. It sounds like when she’s better she wants to try and beat you again.”

“Yeah, I bet she’ll be…” Undyne squinted her eyes. “She’s upset? But that attack let her win!”

“She didn’t think it was fair,” Alphys explained.

Undyne tensed up for a second. With a great sigh, she deflated and sank back against the bleachers. “Alphys, help me up.”

“U-undyne, don’t d-do anything st—”

“Alphys,” Undyne said with an added softness to her voice, “please.”

Alphys took a breath and then draped Undyne’s left arm across her back. With a huff, she managed to give Undyne the boost she needed to get up onto her feet. Together, the two limped over to Dash. Scootaloo and the Monster Kid rose up between the two and glared at Undyne. Her lips curled closer to her fangs and she glanced down.

“You’re not getting near Rainbow Dash while she’s hurt,” Scootaloo declared.

“Yeah!” said the Monster Kid.

“Scoots, Kid,” said Dash, making them both twist their heads back at her. She flexed her wrist back and forth. “I can handle this.”

Scootaloo opened her mouth to say something but a glare from Dash shut it. Both she and the Monster Kid backed away and descended from the bleachers. With a huff, Dash sat up straight. A wind blew across the field, whipping both her and Undyne’s ponytails around.

“If you think for a second that crap you pulled counts as a win, you’re dead wrong,” Undyne growled.

Sweat broke out across Alphys’s brow.

“When I beat you, you’ll know I’ve beat you,” Dash shot back. “And I also don’t keep secrets like being way lighter than I look.”

“Not my fault you don’t know basic monster biology,” Undyne replied.

“Doesn’t matter,” Dash shot back. “I do now. And next time, I’m gonna really trounce you! No questions asked!”

“Bring it, punk!” Undyne bent down and bared her fangs in Dash’s face. Her eye briefly glanced at Dash’s ankle. “Don’t get cocky and think you can beat me with that lame leg of yours. Next time, I’ll smash you full force! Your face will be priceless!”

“Same to you, fish-head!”

Both of them glared at each other for a second and then Undyne pulled back. “C’mon, Alphys. I’ve dealt with enough humans for the day.”

When Undyne and Alphys had limped off the bleachers, Scootaloo and the Monster Kid returned to Dash’s side.

“That was awesome!” said Scootaloo. “You totally showed that monster what’s what.”

“Yeah!” the Monster Kid added. “I’ve never seen anyone get Undyne so fired up!”

“Well no one messes with me or my school.” Dash smiled and then leaned back. “I’m just glad she’s the only monster that’s causing trouble. If other monsters were as strong as her…”

Dash shook her head. “Guh, what I am saying? I’d take them all on too!”

Stars glistened in Scootaloo and the Monster Kid’s eyes. To them, Dash appeared radiant at that moment. The moment was vanquished when Dash jerked up and looked past them at the sports field. She blinked and then rubbed her eyes staring at the solid sea of low-cut grass and the unbroken track. Not a bleacher in sight save for the ones she was resting on.

“What the heck?” she yelped. “How’s everything back to normal?”

Scootaloo looked to the field and then at Dash. “Well, after she treated both of you, Dr. Alphys used one of her machines to zap everything back to normal. It was pretty cool.”

“Huh.” Dash took a look at her ankle and pulled off the ice pack. There was a small purple blotch beside where her bone curved under the skin, but a small flex produced only a very dull jab of pain. She brought her attention back to Scootaloo. “Well, guess we’ll have to cut training short for today. I think you’ve done enough already today helping out.”

“If you say so, Rainbow Dash.” Scootaloo turned to the Monster Kid. “Guess I got time after all. One of my friends is busy at her home, but why don’t we go see the other one? She’s been dying of boredom anyway.”

“Sure!” the Monster Kid replied with a grin.

~~~

“Next time, Alphys,” Undyne muttered. “Next time…”

“Just be careful,” Alphys murmured.

“I will be. I swear, that human is nothing like Frisk.” Undyne’s clenched teeth spread out into a grin. “She takes my challenges straight on. She can even fly and send out lightning strikes! It’s just like anime said it would be!”

“Yeah…” Alphys stooped her head. From her angle, Undyne couldn’t see her frown. “Right.”

~~~

“This sucks,” Adagio growled. “It’s like being stuck at one of Sombra’s parties.”

She drained what was left of her soda and slammed the cup onto the table. A ray from the setting sun caught her eye and she sunk into her seat. The scene outside deepened her scowl. Monsters of all shapes and sizes stared out to the west, watching the horizon slowly shift through yellows, reds, and purples.

Sonata tilted her head to the side. “Weren’t you always the one dragging us to those?”

“And helping yourself to way too many crystal ponies,” Aria added.

“Oh yeah,” Sonata chuckled. “You must have put on at least twenty po—”

“Shut up!” Adagio snapped.

She slammed her fist down on the table.The bag of potato chips in the middle went flying and flopped onto the ground. Sonata stared at the chips scattered across the floor and grew teary.

“Our snack,” she whimpered.

“You call that a snack? Last I checked, a snack for us was someone having an off day,” Adagio hissed. She flung a hand out towards the window. “Now this whole town is having a meltdown and we can’t even taste a scrap of it because of those stupid Rainbooms!”

“Well, we’re not dying, so there’s that,” Aria stated.

A vein throbbed on Adagio’s head. “Oh yes. Having to eat slop for the rest of our lives is such a better alternative. You know, I’m beginning to question why I even bother hanging out with you two anymore! I might as we—”

A faint tune drifted into the empty cafe. The Dazzlings turned their head towards the sound and stared at a translucent cleft note floating beside the kitchen door. Another note drifted out of the kitchen and stopped beside the other one. Adagio squinted her eyes and shuffled out of her seat. Sonata and Aria followed after her. More notes that matched the tune drifted out of the kitchen. Adagio came to a stop in front of them and held out her hand.

“Wait!” Sonata whispered when Adagio’s hand was inches from a note. “It could be dangerous!”

“Please. Everyone else may be scared of these ‘monsters’ but they have nothing on m—”

Adagio laid a hand on the note which popped like a bubble and sent a tremor up Adagio’s arm. Her whole body spasmed and her knees buckled but Sonata caught her arm. She dangled limply for a second while smoke rose off her. Sonata scrunched up her nose from being so close to the burnt tips of Adagio’s hair. Adagio groaned and then glared at Sonata and Aria.

“Not a word,” she rasped.

“That was scary!” Sonata cried.

“Well, we tried to warn you,” said Aria.

The door to the kitchen creaked open. The Dazzlings stared at the fishy monster peeking at them through the small crack in the door. Looking it up and down, all three of them felt their hearbeats quicken.

“S-sorry,” the monster murmured. “I… I thought no one was here.”

“No worries,” Sonata chirped. “Haven’t seen a diddy pack a wallop like that in a while.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” the monster sniffled. “I’m still working on my magic so that humans can enjoy it too.”

Something flashed in Adagio’s eyes. A grin spread across her face. “Maybe we could help. Tell us more about this magic of yours.”

Author's Note:

❄♒♏❒♏ ♓♦ ♦????m◆♒♓◼♑


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