• Published 5th Nov 2021
  • 5,120 Views, 229 Comments

How A Realist Saved The Show - Mare Of Mystery



One mysterious slip of paper offering a job that could set James Alvera for the rest of his college life. But the contract and job in question may make quite a bizzare adventure as he was then sent into his favorite TV show with unique abilities.

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Chapter 6: The Manehatten Assignment, Part 2

Spending nearly 25 minutes with a bunch of foals wasn't that bad at all, I've done some acting as a dark prince, play some board games, helped do some drawings, and read a few storybooks. It all seemed fun not because I'm trying to drown out the fact that I NEED TO BRING BACK TWO PONIES FROM A FUCKING DIVORCE in a few hours! I'm not a divorce consultant! I don't even know where to begin? Maybe I'll take this time to speak to Cozy Glow just to get more information about her parents, I probably won't get anything from her.

Putting away some toys left by some foals, Mobius started to get used to their short attention spans and loud screaming while playing with them. But, he spotted Cozy Glow still at the same spot she was for the whole duration of playtime; staring deeply at the corner. Seeing the rest of the foals Not focusing their attention on her gives him the best chance to speak with her. Walking over at the naked wall of space, Mobius tried to approach her steadily; not causing a scene or anything.

He stopped just a few feet behind her back and called out to her, "Excuse me, kid, what's your name?"

"Cozy Glow..." She wasn't hesitating to answer back, keeping her depressed tone when she murmured. "I'm a bad filly...I'm a bad filly..."

"Huh?" Mobius reached out to listen to what she's saying but failed to catch it on time. He tried again and asked a question, "So, why aren't you playing with the other kids around here? Are you shy?"

"Don't want to..." Cozy answered back, keeping her soft tone.

This was already hard for James as he doesn't want to pry into her past to make her talk more. However, he isn't going anywhere just by conversation. A figurative lightbulb popped above his head; he's going to make Cozy Glow a part of his report on kindness. Before he goes forward with plans, he tried to get her attention one last time.

"My name is Mobius, I came from Princess Twilight's school of friendship established in Ponyville," he formally greeted behind Cozy, making her slightly turn her head over him, "You heard of it?"

"Princess Twilight...friendship..." Repeating those words to her mouth made Mobius uncomfortable as she sounded like she's building her anger, "...She never came to my rescue...when my parents went up and left me!"

"What the?"

Cozy Glow turned her face to Mobius, closing her eyes as to contain the tears dripping, "They never appreciated me getting my cutie mark! Mommy left to Las Pegasus while daddy went off somewhere around the city! Abandoning their only child, because of some STUPID cutie mark they never wanted!"

Whatever happened to her parents must be traumatic. Her mom's pretty far from Manehatten, but I can't get there right now. Did they split up because of her?

"Hey! Calm down there, it's going to be alright," he turned to see all of the goals still playing and cheering, unfazed by Cozy's temper.

"Why!? Just WHY! Do they hate me for finding my special talent?! Shouldn't they be proud of my success?!"

Something doesn't feel right, not that I don't believe in what Cozy Glow is saying. No. Why didn't the friendship map detect a friendship problem to help Cozy Glow's parents? Well in my world, it's up to some people to write the storyboard and plan out the lore. But since this IS the real world from the other side, there are no limits to anything. I'm guessing that the map only spots out friendship problems, but even so.

"Magic is the reason why I got my cutie mark and my parents divorce! I wish it all away!" She clenched her teeth and growled, combined with her fiery eyes made Mobius notice she's becoming the Cozy Glow he knew from the show.

He has no clue where to start with her; her parents left her to be after receiving her cutie mark and she's on the verge of plotting the destruction of magic. How is he able to quell her anger? If only his parents would help him from...

Parents...Like I have had no chance of seeing my parents since they left for New York. You know, she reminds me of myself when my parents broke the news of their departure; minus plotting to take over the world. Maybe she just needs someone that can relate to her pain? I'll try anything at this point, seeking her parents are going to be the last thing I do.

"Parents left you too huh?" Mobius settled himself right next to the teary-eyed filly, making her jerk her head as she turned over towards his general direction, "I know how you feel, my folks left me to go work someplace else while I attend school somewhere else."

"Th-That's horrible..." she wept, trying to wipe tears running down, "Why did they do it to the US!?"

He smiled, carefully comforting her with some hard truth, "For me, it's because they want me to find myself in the world. I've been always under their care 24/7, scheduled my hangouts, studies, and well-being. Leaving me to do my things to shape me to become a better pers- Pony! But for your case, I don't think they hate you for your cutie mark,"

"They don't...hate me?"

Now that he got her attention, Mobius asked her, "Tell me this, do your parents love you? Like at any point were they always like this to you?"

Cozy Glow tried to reminisce about her parents trying to answer him, "They do always love me, even supporting me of finding my special talent. Daddy gets off work early just to help me find what I'm good at and mommy helps me with my flying so that one day I can grow strong. When it came to their day-offs, we use to talk walk around the park and go shopping for new toys. My life was always happy... until the day I received my cutie mark in a chess competition. I heard my mom saying she doesn't love dad anymore and my dad slapped her. Soon, they scattered like I never even existed. There's something wrong with me! I just know it!"

Not a single sign of domestic violence or cruelty from them, they're like the model family. But what caused them to divorce? It could be anything besides that; affairs, money issues, or worse case is that their love for each other died. But Cozy believed it was her obtaining her cutie mark. Was it all pure coincidence? Hmph! This is going nowhere. Even if I do locate one of them, I would have to search every part of the city. Damn it Discord! Why did you say this was the easiest one! I should've started with Chrysalis... Alright-alright! I might be taking a shot in the dark on this, but what have I got to lose?

Mobius gently patted the top part of her head as a gesture of comfort, "Nothing is wrong with you, Cozy Glow; I know it's difficult having your parents leave you at a young age. It's probably that they needed some time off from each other and are not ready to see you yet. It might take some patience for them to recollect their thoughts and be ready to bring you home. Maybe all of this was bad timing? They were probably blinded by whatever anger they felt that they forgot about your achievement. No parent will ever want a foal with a cutie mark they're NOT supposed to obtain. What I'm trying to say is that you shouldn't assume the worse case when it comes to this; there's probably some other factor in play. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

The lecture gave her some thought as she's giving all of her trust to one stranger she met not too long ago, calmed down from her mental scar, "...O...Okay... I'm starting to feel better now...thank you, Mobius..."

Something unexpected happened when Mobius was caught off guard by the filly's warm embrace of a hug to his side. Gave him a slight hint of fluster face as he returned the favor and wrapped his forelegs around her. James would've thought that she was going to stab him in the back with a hidden dagger in her hooves, but it wasn't that. This was a genuine hug coming from her. It felt nice to be hugged by a real pony, well, a real pony from the hit tv show that is. Breaking off the hug seconds later, he soon tried to get her to interact with the foals around her age group when he spotted a table filled with them drawing or coloring on pieces of paper.

"Now, you should try playing with those foals over there," pointing his hoof at the table with all but one free seat, "Your parents would want you to be happy that you're safe..."

"Alright..." she sheepishly walked over to the table and stood next to the empty chair turning over to the one next to her, "Excuse me, is this seat taken?"

The filly she asked turned over to her, "Oh, it's Cozy Glow! That seat isn't occupied by anypony, so come join us!"

It seemed that all that her attitude from episode 12 onwards was a total act just to get close to Headmare Twilight. Looks to me that she still needs communication improvement; have I done it? Maybe I didn't have to search for her parents after all. I should get back with my duties and see how things play out from here...

Spending the rest of his time keeping the peace around the room as Mobius roamed around different areas to check on the foals. By the time he was near the doors, Bright Crest entered the room to his surprise as they bumped into each other, "There you are Mobius! No pony seems to have caught the fish tank on fire, so I'm guessing you did a wonderful job!"

"Well, all these foals seemed well and happy. Especially for Cozy Glow," Mobius scratched behind his head, seeing the caretaker looking at the poor filly from the distance, smiling around some foals in the art table.

"Oh my! You've seemed to have brightened her day!" replied Bright Crest, slowly nodding as a token of gratitude from the colt, "I can take it from here, now I need you to go down to the lobby and pick up and sort the mail for me. It contains all the letters of a recent penpal program I've just begun."

"Penpal program?" he was intrigued by the idea, raising his brow to the mare.

"A special program that gives foals a chance to receive letters to write back to. We just started getting the first wave of letters from creatures of different backgrounds, the box should be in the lobby. Pick all the letters up and slide them onto the mail slots for each room. Whatever letters you choose for each room is up to you."

Nodding silently as, given the next task, Mobius took his leave and headed downstairs to the lobby. The receptionist pony noticed him from across and started to act curious about what he was doing, "How's the volunteer work doing for you, sweetie?"

"Huh?! Oh, it's going alright!" he turned and faced the nice receptionist trying to call her by name, "Miss..."

"Oh, forgive my rudeness! It's Nineteufive." she humbly apologized and gave out her first name.

"9 to 5?"

"No sweetie, It's Nine-teu-five!"

He tried not to cringe at the horrible name of the receptionist as Mobius shook his head, "Okay, I'm just going to get the letters and place them in the corresponding slots in the front door,"

"Ah yes, we got loads of letters today over to your left, If you want, there's a list of all the foals room assignments just on the clipboard there if you just want to take a peak,"

Over next to the piles of letters sticking out in the mailbox compartment lied a clipboard with all the orphan's room assignments. Mobius carefully pulled out the clipboard and piles of letters with his magic and began placing two random envelopes in each slot. It seemed easy for him since these letters are the first wave of the pen pal program; It shouldn't take too long before he's finished.

How much mail does this place get? It's like the huge stack of Yu-Gi-Oh cards I kept in my closet. Sorting out mail was probably the most boring part of this job. A just a few envelopes to go and I'm—

All the envelopes were of various sizes and colors, but one stuck out like a sore thumb— a dark red envelope with a red wax seal on it. The seal was something unruly as Mobius described it, like ahead of a mythical beast. Seeing the sender's address on it didn't help because it was somehow scribbled off. How did an envelope like this ever go out to the post office?

"This seal looks just like something you'd find in Tartarus— wait..." Mobius felt a revelation inside him, as every neuron in his brain sparked all at once, "This is a letter from Tarturus, which means that this is Lord Tireks letter!"

Strange, why would Discord say that I needed to mend her hurt if I ever want to stop her from conspiring with Lord Tirek? Wouldn't intercepting his letter work all the same? I would guess that Cozy Glow would still be hurt from her parent's divorce, and she still had a strive of ridding the magic of Equestria. I know it's against the law to be reading others' mail in my world, but I'm not in my world. Plus, I'm already a criminal as told by Celey herself,

Breaking the envelope seal and revealing a worn-out piece of parchment, he quickly skimmed over the contents of the letter and nodded silently along the way. This was a letter written by Tirek himself; must be because of the large signature of his name in all caps below the end. Mobius simply too a big grin before tucking the letter back in its envelope and putting it in his satchel, "Tck-tck-tck...Lord Tirek, I'm going to have to get this letter inspected by my pal James later,"

Getting a pair of random envelopes from the stack, he placed them onto the wall box in what seems to be Cozy Glow's room and finished tackling his task.


Back at the School of Friendship, it was currently a class session during Rarity's lesson about generosity, but it was less on the books and more on dressmaking and color composition. The class was tasked to observe different patterned cloth and other materials for a dress and come up with a list of them to make an outfit based on Rarity's theme; which was simply just 'Dinner date'. She observed the class with her pair of glasses as she roamed around the room with the students rummaging through materials.

"Be very gentle with these textiles dearies, these cost more than what I'm getting paid in a bi-weekly paycheck!" she warned the students.

Over at one corner were Gallus and Ocellus, who were paired up together in the assignment. Ocellus was in charge of writing the list and left the griffon to look at the textiles. Ocellus reached over to him which made him wary of her slow approach, "So, Mobius took that assignment? He was doing well in professor Fluttershy's,"

"Yeah, but since his parents were in Manehatten, he thought he'll see them there maybe?" whispered Gallus, picking up a piece of transparent blue fabric with glitter in it, "How's this for the dress?"

"Perfect! I'll write it down!" Ocellus scribbled down the name as she went over the rest of the fabrics, "Now we need an accessory,"

Gallus thought that this would be the perfect time to ask her on a friendly outing, remembering what Mobius said about forming a confidant with her. That word was just a fancy way of saying bond as he would describe it. He has soon flustered with his cheeks all red asking gently, "Hey, w-wouldn't you mind helping me study to improve my grades? I kind of bombed Professor Dash's quiz,"

"Oh, I'd love to help you Gallus; I'll even call the rest of the gang to help you out more!" she was kind enough to accept his proposal, but still wasn't his expected outcome as Gallus sighed.

"Well... I was thinking... that only you would help me because you're smart and all? But I'm cool if we had some company,"

"Aww, thanks, Gallus. But even I'm in the dark on some things, no creature is ever perfect; we all have our flaws,"

The griffon chuckled lightly to avoid getting caught by the professor, "We are a crazy bunch aren't we? Just, any help at all would be good for me and I don't want to bother everyone with their activities. You're... well rounded..."

Ocellus flustered towards his remark on her, "You know? I think I'll consider studying with you one on one, let's say after school at the library?"

"That would be—

"Ocellus! Gallus!" Rarity's call for them behind their backs made them get spooked from their conversation, "Please stop all of this nonsensical chit-chat unless it's about the assignment,"

"Yes! Professor!" The two replied in unison while continuing their work for the duration of the class. Rarity quietly walked over to her workspace and settled down on her work going up to the mannequin wearing an almost complete dress as she puts on the finishing touches.

"This dress will go well with Twilight if she were to get to a particular pony on her hooves," she snickered amongst herself.


So I have made progress during my assignment at the orphanage by helping out on activities and chores under Bright Crest's orders. I even managed to help prepare for today's lunch in the cafeteria's kitchen. Luckily it's pizza day because there's no way my stomach can digest hay or daffodils yet. Nothing too exciting happened when we headed out to Central Park for a while and made the foals play around at the playground. Cozy's still shy around most of them, but she's alright playing with one or two more filly's her age. I have still yet to see if there's anything else I've done to prevent her plans; Talked her out of draining magic out of Equestria, I've received the letter from Tirek and replaced it. No sign of her parents at all, If she would just get one last chance to see them, maybe that will secure everything.

His next task now was cleaning the playroom by picking up toys and wiping the tables and floors while Bright Crest was doing an activity with all of the foals on the third floor. This does give him time alone to think about what to write on the written report. The clock showed that it was now 3:00 pm, only two hours until the completion of his assignment.

"Excuse me, Mobius!" a voice called out to him from the double doors, peeking behind it was Nineteufive, "I'm going to need you to watch the front desk while I ask Bright Crest something. Am I interrupting something?"

Putting away the mop from his magic, Mobius shook his head at her, "Not at all miss, I'll head out there now!"

Sitting in front of an office desk couldn't be so boring in his head; getting flashbacks from visiting his parents' workspace when they were close by. He put away all the cleaning supplies in the closet and headed downstairs. The desk was already empty by the time Nineteufive went to see Brightcrest. So, as the curious colt he was, he just plopped down on the desk chair and guard the area. Just when Mobius thought it was quiet, a pony coming from the doors quietly sat down in the vacant seating area, looking upset with his frown and angled-down neck. It was an earthpony stallion, with stubble on his chin. His mane was all brown and had a tan fur coat. Mobius couldn't tell what his cutie mark was because he was wearing a trench coat alongside a hat to conceal parts of his body. It was almost an awkward silence for a few minutes, so he had to break it.

"Excuse me, sir? Are you here to adopt a foal?" he called out to the stallion just across from the lobby.

The stallion crept his face to the young colt, answering with a long sigh, "More like releasing a heavy weight on my shoulders. You don't seem like the usual receptionist? What's your name kid?"

What does he mean by 'releasing a heavy weight' when Mobius poked in for more, "My apologies, my name is Mobius. A student on an assignment from Princess Twilight school of friendship to do volunteer work in the Sunflower Orphanage. I thought you came here to plan to adopt a foal, do you have any preferences?"

"I only had one preference," the stallion was surprisingly open on his issues, miraculously answering back, "My flesh and blood"

Wait! Is he?

"My daughter currently lives in this orphanage for about a month, it's the one closest to our apartment. But, I shouldn't be the one to take her home, I don't deserve to take care of her after what I've done to hurt her mother to the point of leaving me for another pony in Las Pegasus. She deserves a family that makes her happy," he said.

Before I proceed, I just need to make sure...

"You're referring to Cozy Glow right?"

The stallion's eyes shot up as hearing that name felt like a trigger word of happy memories, "Yes, she was the spitting image of her mother. Down to her little freckles, red eyes, and baby blue mane. But, I just couldn't get myself to see her again after neglecting her for this long. All this time I've been waiting for this day,"

"Waiting for?" Mobius leaned over to the desk, seeing what will Cozy's dad is going to do.

"The day she officially becomes an orphan; see, if neither of us claims her, we will both loos custody over her. I just came here to wait for the time to tick by,"

Geez! When did Equestria get this messed up!? I need to talk some sense into him. Maybe I should try out something that I should have tried as a unicorn

Lighting his horn, Mobius tried to teleport in front of the stallion from the desk chair. Only to miraculously succeed in seeing himself at his desired destination. The stallion jumped seeing Mobius up close and scoffing at him, "I can't believe you! You would abandon your daughter for this long only to come back at the last day to see her off as an orphan!?"

"It's for the best..." the stallion grew meek, storing his emotions up, "I don't deserve to be her da-"

He felt like slapping the dude, but Mobius tried suppressing his rage as he huffed, "Don't say that, Cozy Glow is emotionally scarred because you divorced as soon as she got her cutie mark! She believed her cutie mark was the cause of your divorce, and she's heartbroken because of it!"

"Sh-she got her cutie mark!?" repeated Cozy's father from the chair, almost tearing up from the eyes, "I can't believe my girl found her special talent, but she took it as her fault for our divorce?"

Adding more emotional wounds as Mobius raised his hoof at him, "You never talked to her, written to her, or even tried to find her! Maybe you don't deserve to be her father anymore. After all, you are trying to 'let her go' as an orphan on the last day of being in the custody of her. Look, sir, I don't know what you did to upset your wife, but no parent would ever want to let their child go from something they weren't a part of! Give yourself a second chance!"

"...You're right kid, you're right..." Cozy's father stood up from his seat and used his forelegs to take off the hat and coat he wore, "I made a stupid mistake, but that only makes me equestrian. I've ignored my Cozy Glow for far too long! I need to put the past behind me and start the road to healing,"

Well I'll be, look at that. He has a king's chess piece as a cutie mark; Something tells me I already know what her mom's cutie mark is...

"Hey, Mobius, is everything alright down there?" Bright Crest's voice coming from the stairs echoed as she crept down to see all the ruckus, "Who's this pony?"

"Well... you see Ms. Crest..."


Over at the third floor, it was an entire classroom filled with the foals on each desk. They seemed busy silently writing letters back to the random senders of the Bright Crest Penpal program. Some were just about to read the letters and the rest seemed to be in the middle of writing back. Cozy Glow, on the other hoof, was just finished sealing her letter still looking upset. But, soon as she was about to raise her hoof, the door cracked open, revealing Mobius' head popping out from it.

"Cozy Glow, I brought a little surprise for you just in the lobby!"

Cozy quietly exited to room passing each foal in front of her and reaching to the door. Mobius made sure she was following him down the stairs to the ground floor. She quickly knew exactly what was going on as she stood behind him, "N-No! I don't think I'm ready to be adopted by some stranger!"

"...Even if that stranger is your father?"

The stallion from before was standing boldly in front of the lobby, with Bright Crest right next to him with a manila folder ready
"HUH!?" her pupils shrunk, witnessing the pony that stood before her, "D—Daddy?"

"Yes, sweetie..." the stallion's eyes were leaking, dripping even, "This young man told me everything— how you blamed yourself for the cause of me and your mother's separation, and how we neglected you for your cutie mark. But don't blame yourself! I should be the one to blame..."

"What do you mean?" she demanded the reason for their separation, still keeping close to Mobius as he remained silent for the duration of their reunion.

Her father explained that tragic event last month, "I was drinking late with a few buddies at a pub, next thing I knew, I awoke next to some random mare in her apartment. I violated the sanctity of our marriage. When your mother found out, she assumed that I was having an affair and that's when things turned sour. I was frustrated at myself that I left for a friend's home a few blocks away. However, I didn't think you were peeking in the room when we left for good. I hated myself for trying to set you free from my stupid mistakes! Even neglected you getting your cutie mark. I'm sorry that I hurt you sugar, I understand that you—

The stallion soon was met by the warm embrace of Cozy's hug, squeezing him tight like a knot as tears came pouring down her tear sacs, sniffing along the way, "I don't care about that! I'm just glad that you never forgot about me!"

He followed up on her daughter's hug as he wrapped her hooves and kissed her on the forehead, making Mobius and Bright Crest smile silently. Especially for James, as he was crying internally over the reuniting of a father and his daughter. Bright Crest especially, pulling out a few tissues from the desk and lifting them to absorb the tears from her.

Now... *sniff* this is a surefire way that she'll never take over Equestria...

"Cozy... I promise you that I'll try to do my best to raise you all by myself! Even if your mother never wants to see me again," comforted the stallion, wiping the tears from his daughter with his foreleg and seeing the cutie mark she was bestowed upon, "That cutie mark..."

"I-I got it after winning a chess match at school..." she sheepishly explained, still having tears running down her.

"It's funny... I and your mother met during a chess match back in our youth. She always would win against me of course,"

The two shared a laugh, keeping their long time apart from each other when Bright Crest pulled up a folder with Cozy Glow's name on the label.

"Well Mr. Checkmate, since you at the nick of time, you'll be the one to take Cozy Glow into custody. Unless your ex-wife decides to show up last minute and complicate things..." Bright Crest opened up Cozy's file as soon as pulled out a few papers, "So after everything checks out, you two can go home!"

"Yeah!" Cozy's mood was completely overhauled as she flew in circles around her father and then back to Mobius, giving him another warm hug tighter than her previous one, "Thank you so much Mobius! You've helped me a lot today! I wouldn't be able to see my daddy again without your help!"

Cozy broke off the hug to give him some air. Mobius scratched the back of his head all flustered, "Well, all in a day's work of being a student of friendship,"

Bright Crest happily sighed over the affection the filly displayed, "Alright now, I need Checkmate to do some paperwork before Cozy says goodbye to all the wonderful foals here!"

Checkmate and Cozy walked over to the front desk to get him to sign a few papers for her release. Mobius never thought he could pull it off on the first try.

Wow... I'm impressed by myself, I did it! I've managed to stop Cozy Glow from ever walking down the terrible fate of being a garden statue. I would give myself a round of applause, but my journey has only just begun. That's one down, three more to go... and my next target is not too far from Ponyville. Still, though, things will only get tougher from here on out. Unlike Cozy, Chrysalis, Lord Tirek, and King Sombra already had previous encounters with the bearers of harmony. Well, I guess I'll—

Something unusual happened as Mobius was interrupted by a sharp pain coming from his head, followed by a loud flat ringing sound enveloped around his hearing. This causes him to put pressure between his temples moaning in agonizing pain while Checkmate and Cozy Glow turned around to see his ache.

"Hey, kid! You alright?!" the stallion rushed over to him, trying to keep him steady, "Stay with us!"

"Oh no! Mobius! You are okay!? I didn't hurt you did I?" The voice of Cozy to him was fading away, as the ringing grew larger by the second.

ARRGH! W—what's happening to me! I'm getting these...flashes...make it stop!

Seconds after experiencing the sharp pain, Mobius stopped his aching noise as his face became groggy and disorientated suddenly. It was like he was falling into deep a slumber as his eyelids grew tired...closing by themselves as the last thing he saw was himself falling to the floor and passing out...


...

...

...

...


"...Mmph...W—wh-what's with all these lights...turn it off...

In James' mind, he wanted to wake up, but his eyelids were bothering him as they didn't seem to want to follow orders. But his sharp intellect and willpower quickly made them open wide seeing...

"HUH!?" he slowly got up from his couch and oriented himself in a sitting position, checking his surroundings to confirm the location he's in, "Couch, television, dining table? NO! It can't be, I'm back?"

Moving his hands over at his attire, he was in his pajamas still; what happened to his black coat? He stood from the couch seeing the bright rays of sunlight casting through the blinds. He doesn't want to admit it, but he's back home; in his world, and all alone. The next thing James pulled out was his phone from the pocket, checking to see if he still has the apps installed by Discord. However, he was out of luck when his phone showed the blinking, empty battery life icon

"What the hell is going on here?" He placed his right hand on his forehead to recollect what happened before he passed out, "I went to the Manehatten assignment, spoke to Cozy Glow, reunited her with her father and... No... I can't be... Equestria...my whole presence...was all a dream?"