Daughters of the Purge

by Nebula Star

Chapter 5: Hints of New Friendships

Chapter 5: Hints of New Friendships
***

Apple Bloom yawned widely as she made her way downstairs. Despite how early she’d gone to bed the night before, it was obvious she’d slept in quite a bit. She’d been more exhausted than she’d thought, and her family had let her sleep in because of it. She’d had enough sleep though, and now was ready for a good breakfast to start her day. She was just glad it wasn’t a school day.

“There you are!” Applejack said, seeing as Apple Bloom entered the kitchen. “Sleep well, sugarcube?”

“Yeah, Ah guess Ah was pretty tired. Sorry about sleeping in.”

Applejack smiled and went to the stove. “It’s alright, Bloom. The rest of the family already ate, but there’s more batter and fixin’s for some pancakes if you’d like.”

“That sounds good, thanks, sis.” She went to get herself a plate and silverware, while Applejack handled the cooking. She was just about to sit down at the table when there was a knock on the front door.

Applejack smirked. “Ah’ll bet that’s your friends.”

Apple Bloom blinked in surprise. It was almost unheard of for her friends to be up before her on the weekend. “How long did Ah sleep in?”

“It’s almost eleven.” Applejack answered, and Apple Bloom’s eyes went wide.

Applejack smiled at her expression and reached out to ruffle her mane, “Go answer it, sleepy head.”

She blushed a little but went and answered the door. Sure enough, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were both there smiling looking hopeful. “Hey, Bloom!”

Apple Bloom smiled, “Uh, hey girls, Ah was actually just about to have some breakfast. Ah slept in a bit…”

“No worries,” Scootaloo said with a dismissive wave. “We’ll go wait in the clubhouse for you.”

Sweetie nodded in agreement. “Yeah, take your time. We’ll just work on ideas of what to do today.”

Apple Bloom smiled. “Alright, Ah’ll only be a few minutes.”

“See you in a bit!” Scootaloo said and the two took off toward the part of the orchard where the clubhouse was built.

Apple Bloom closed the door smiling and returned to the table. “Is it alright if Ah spend today with mah friends, AJ? Ah know Ah haven’t done any chores.”

Applejack gave her a reassuring smile as she set a plate of cooked pancakes on the table. Apple Bloom eagerly scooped a stack onto her own plate and set about adding the toppings she liked. “That’s fine, Bloom; Ah couldn’t rightly call mahself one of the elements of harmony if Ah prevented you from restoring your friendship. Besides, Mac and Ah already took care of your normal chores; we figured you could use a day off.”

“Thanks, sis.”

It didn’t take Apple Bloom long to finish her breakfast and she was soon out the door heading toward the clubhouse. She’d just started down the path when she noticed movement by the main gate out by the road. Looking, she was more than a little surprised to see a certain pink filly looking toward the farmhouse. She shied back slightly seeming unsure when she saw Apple Bloom look her way, but then seemed to realize it would be no use trying to hide now.

Curious Apple Bloom headed her way. “Hey, Diamond, what are you doing here? Is everything alright? Did something happen?” She added remembering she’d told Diamond to contact her if anything went wrong concerning her father.

“No, everything is fine…” She said sounding a little unsure. “I was just wondering if… if I could hang out with you today.”

Apple Bloom looked at her more than a little surprised. “With me? What about Silver Spoon?”

“She’s gone with her family for the weekend; and… I don’t have any other friends.” She admitted softly.

This was not like the old Diamond Tiara at all Apple Bloom realized and slowly smiled. “Kinda bored?”

She blushed a little. “Yeah…”

“Well Ah was just going to meet the other crusaders at our clubhouse, and we were probably going to spend the day crusading; but if you want to, you could come hang out with us today.”

“Really? You don’t mind?”

“Course not; the more the merrier.” Apple Bloom told her. “Just one rule, if you want to come crusading with us, no matter what we end up doing, you have to try everything.”

“Okay…” She said sounding a little nervous, not knowing exactly what she was getting into. “But I already have my cutie mark.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Apple Bloom told her dismissively. “Half of why we keep crusading is because it’s just fun trying new things, whether we get our marks or not.”

“Do you think Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo will be okay with me joining you?”

“Yeah, Ah’ll talk to them, Ah’m sure they’ll be fine with it. Come on.” She gestured toward the path that led to the crusader’s clubhouse and set off toward it herself. Diamond quickly followed.

“So, I heard there was quite a commotion yesterday. The royal guard was running all around Ponyville.” She said conversationally while they walked.

“Eh heh… yeah, that was kind of my fault.”

“Your fault?” Diamond asked raising a brow.

“Ah kind of got in a fight with Sweetie and Scoots and ran off into the Everfree on my own to… well… Ah had some things Ah had to work through.” She said not wanting to explain about killing herself over and over. “Anyway, Ah was out there pretty much all night. Ah knew my family would be looking for me, but Ah didn’t realize Twilight would send her entire royal guard to look for me as well.”

“You were out in the Everfree all night!?” Diamond asked, shocked.

“Yep. Ah was kind of upset, and then Ah ended up finding an ancient ruin in a cave out there. Exploring that took a good portion of the morning.”

“Wow… weren’t you scared?”

Apple Bloom shook her head. “Nah, my magic can protect me from anything… even death.”

Diamond looked at her sharply. “Even death, what do you mean?”

“RJ, he’s the one that gave me this magic; he taught me a protective spell: If Ah ever die, it turns back time to when Ah last cast it.”

“You mean you can’t ever die?”

“Well, not permanently. The way it works, Ah still experience dying, but then ah just wake up whenever it was Ah cast the spell.” Apple Bloom explained.

“Oh… that doesn’t sound very pleasant.” She said softly.

“It’s not, trust me. Being swallowed by a hydra is definitely not something Ah want to experience again.” She said just as they reached the clubhouse, and she quickly climbed the ramp up to the door leaving Diamond to follow wide eyed.

“Hey girls!” Apple Bloom greeted as she entered the clubhouse to find Sweetie and Scootaloo waiting. “Look who asked if she could join us crusading today!”

Nervously Diamond stepped into the doorway where they could see her. “Hi.” She said softly, seeing their shocked expressions.

“Diamond Tiara!?” Scootaloo exclaimed.

Apple Bloom. “Yep, Ah told her she could come with us on the condition that whatever we end up doing, she tries everything.”

“Oh… okay. I guess that’s alright.” Scootaloo sounded more than a little apprehensive, and Apple Bloom definitely understood: Diamond certainly had been the cruelest to Scootaloo in the past.

“So, uh… what are we doing?” Sweetie Belle asked, deciding to not make a big deal out of it and change the subject.

“Well first, Ah wanted to go to Twilight’s and introduce you to Ania and Adikia!” Apple Bloom told them.

“Who’s that?” Diamond asked, then her eyes widened in realization. “Wait, are you talking about Princess Twilight Sparkle!?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“You’re still friends with her!?”

“Yeah, we still have Twilight Time a couple days a week actually.” Apple Bloom admitted.

“And I’m her magic student.” Sweetie Belle added.

Diamond Tiara looked at her stunned. “Really?”

“Yeah, since last summer.”

“And you haven’t said anything!?” Diamond exclaimed wondering why she wouldn’t brag about having such a prestigious position.

Scootaloo snorted. “Oh yeah, like we want to repeat what happened when you first found out about Twilight Time… Twilight was so mad at us!”

Diamond winced, knowing she had more than a small part to play in what had happened, and felt a little ashamed that at the time she’d been glad she’d help cause the crusaders fall from the princess’s favor. “But, I mean… isn’t that something to be proud of?”

“You don’t have to brag about something to be proud of it.” Apple Bloom said with a shrug.

She stared back at Bloom as if that were a radical new concept that she’d never even considered before. “But… you could be famous! Princess Twilight Sparkle’s personal student!”

Sweetie Belle took a step forward, giving her a serious look. “Diamond, Twilight hates when ponies use their friendship like that; and we’re not going to betray her trust again! So if you want to hang out with us, you can’t ever brag about meeting Twilight, ever!”

“If you do, you won’t be hanging out with us again, got it!” Scootaloo said firmly.

She shied back slightly but nodded. “I… it’s still exciting though; meeting the princess… she probably doesn’t think very highly of me, does she?”

“Nah, probably not.” Apple Bloom told her bluntly. “Ah mean she’s known about you making fun of us ever since your cute-ceanera. But if you show her that you want to be better; she is pretty big on forgiveness and second chances.” She smirked. “Or even fifth or sixth chances.”

Diamond blushed. “I… I am sorry… I want to be better.”

“What brought this on?” Scootaloo asked seeming surprised by how sincere Diamond seemed to be.

“I’ve just… been doing a lot of thinking ever since daddy… since daddy almost died.”

“You mean when Apple Bloom saved him?” Sweetie asked.

She nodded looking down at the floor. “I’ve been horrible to you all.”

“Yeah, you have.” Scootaloo said, giving her a flat look.

“But as long as you’re honestly tryin’ to do better, that’s all that matters. Right, Scoots?” Apple Bloom said firmly.

Scootaloo looked defiant for a moment, but then gave in, not wanting to start another argument. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Anyway, let’s head to Twilight’s!” Apple Bloom said, eager to get going.

“You still haven’t told me who… who those others are?” Diamond said.

“You’ll see when we get there!”

~~~

Ania raised her head from the comfortable bed and yawned. She wasn’t sure how late in the morning it was, but the light coming in the window was bright enough that it had awoken her. Movement at her side caused her to look down, finding her sister curled up next to her under her wing. She smiled, deciding to let her sister sleep just a little longer. It had been some time since they’d had such a peaceful sleep. For the first time since even before they’d run away, she had actually felt safe falling asleep. She really did feel safe here. There was just something about Princess Twilight that made her feel at ease despite all they’d gone through. Even having Deimos… Spike in the house/library hadn’t worried her.

She sighed contently and laid her head back down. Maybe life was finally turning around for them. It wasn’t much longer before she felt more movement at her side and Adikia raised her head, blinking drowsily.

“Good morning, sister.” Ania said softly.

Adikia yawned widely and looked up at her. “Good morning,” she said smiling, then tilted her head, seeming to notice something. “Thou doth seem happy.”

“I didst sleep well.” She reached down and gave her sister a gentle nuzzle. “How dost thou feel about this place and the princess?”

“Tis nice so far. The princess doth seem to be a kind pony.”

“She doth, yes.” Ania agreed. “And what of Deimos, or Spike now I doth suppose.”

Adikia thought for a moment, “He is different. Not at all like he was… he doth seem nice now.”

“He doth.” She said softly. “I am hopeful, sister. I am beginning to believe that we may be safe here.”

Adikia smiled up at her. “I hope so. Apple is nice.”

“I shall watch carefully still, but I think we shall give this place a chance.” Ania told her.

She smiled and jumped up, hugging her around the neck. Ania smiled as well wrapping her wing around her little sister. “Let us get ready for the day. I am curious to try this shower Princess Twilight showed us.”

“Oh! Yes, that looked like fun!”

“Well, tis meant for washing.” Ania admonished with a smile.

Twilight had to show them how to work the shower and adjust the temperature of the water, but in the end the sisters got themselves clean and ready for whatever the day had in store for them. The first thing being breakfast. They were just coming down the stairs from their shower when they heard the door open, and they both looked as Captain Feather let a pink earth pony mare in carrying a large box on her back.

“Hi Pinkie!” Twilight greeted her smiling. “What have you got there.”

“My tail was sproingy and my eyes were blinky all morning so I knew a friend had some guests that could use some super tasty treats for breakfast! I didn’t know who though, until Spike mentioned you had some new house guests!” She said cheerfully then looked up at where the sisters had paused on the stairs. “Hi there! Welcome to Ponyville!”

“Hello.” Anikia ventured. Reassured by Pinkie’s cheerful behavior, Ania continued down the stairs.

“Girls, this is my good friend Pinkie Pie.” Twilight introduced. “Pinkie, this is Ania and Adikia.”

“Pleased to meet you! I hope you’re hungry, because I brought you all kinds of tasty treats.” She set the box on the Library’s center table opening it. “There’s fritters, turnovers and danishes; muffins, sweet rolls and doughnuts. All the best treats to start your day!”

Anikia’s eyes went wide seeing all the treats and catching the sweet scent of the baked goods.

“Thanks, Pinkie.” Twilight said taking up the box in her magic and ushering the fillies toward the kitchen. “How ‘bout we take these to the kitchen and I’ll get us some juice to go with it. You’re welcome to join us Pinkie.”

“Okie dokie!” Pinkie said bouncing after them. There Twilight set the box down again on the dining table and quickly got out plates for all of them.

“Feather? You want to join us as well?” Twilight called to the captain.

“I’m still on duty, princess; but I wouldn’t mind a quick danish.”

Twilight selected a cheese danish and sent it over to her with her magic, letting Feather take it with her wing.

“Thanks!”

“Go ahead and grab whatever you think looks good, girls.”

Ania looked over the treats which looked far fancier than even some of the best bakers in their time could have managed. Adikia quickly grabbed a lumpy looking pastry that looked to have chopped up apples in it, levitating it to her plate, while Ania eventually settled on a glazed pastry that was filled with some kind of red berry. Then Twilight took a more open-faced pastry filled with a different red berry and striped with frosting. Pinkie took a frosted spiral pastry that had what Ania recognized as cinnamon between the layers of the spiral. Cinnamon had been a rare and expensive spice in their time, but one she’d never cared for much herself.

Adikia was already taking a bite of hers by the time Ania had chosen. Her eyes widened in surprise. “This is really good!” She exclaimed after swallowing the first bite and eagerly took another.

Ania took a bite of hers, and found herself wanting to echo her sister. The flavor of the pastry was better than any she could remember. The filling was cherry with a perfect balance of sweet and tart, while the pastry itself was wonderfully flakey with the perfect amount of glaze. “Tis very good, I thank thee!”

“You’re welcome!” Pinkie said taking a big bite of hers.

Twilight smiled. “Pinkie actually works at the local bakery, Sugarcube Corner,” she told them as she poured a glass of orange juice for each of them, before picking up her own pastry.

Little was said as they enjoyed their breakfast; though there were plenty of sounds of enjoyment, especially from the fillies. Pinkie had to get back to Sugarcube Corner after finishing her second pastry, but left the rest of the treats. The box Pinkie had brought had at least a dozen different kinds of pastries, and even after they’d all had a second, there were quite a few left, which Twilight put away for later.

Ania and Adikia were just looking for a book to read when there was another knock on the door which Captain Feather once again answered.

“Hey Captain Feather!” A familiar sounding voice said cheerfully. “Can we come in?”

“Of course, girls. They just finished breakfast a little bit ago.” Feather told them, holding the door open.

“Apple!” Adikia said happily seeing the familiar face. Ania smiled as well but at the same time was curious who Apple Bloom meant by ‘we.’

“Hi Adikia!” Apple Bloom waved back as she entered the Library.

Three fillies entered behind Apple Bloom, a unicorn, pegasus and another earth pony who followed a little after the other two.

Twilight came out from cleaning the kitchen to see who’d arrived smiled. “Hey girls.” She said then noticed the fourth filly and her smile faltered slightly. “And Diamond Tiara?”

“Hello, Princess Twilight.” The pink filly said bowing.

Ania looked between them. Who was this Diamond Tiara?

“It’s okay, Twilight; Diamond asked if she could go crusading with us today.” Apple Bloom said in explanation.

“She did?” Twilight asked looking down at the filly.

Diamond nodded timidly.

Twilight looked at her a moment more, then shrugged. “Alright then, I take it you came to see the girls?”

“Eeyup!” Apple Bloom said with a grin.

“Okay Big Bloom.” Twilight said smiling back and gestured toward the sisters. “I’ll let you introduce your friends.”

She nodded eagerly and hurried past Twilight leading the rest of the fillies over to Ania and her sister. “Hey Ania, Adikia; these are my friends: Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Diamond Tiara,” Apple Bloom introduced, gesturing to each in turn.

Ania noticed the pink filly, Diamond Tiara, throw Apple Bloom a surprised look at being included with her friends. But then really looked at Ania and her sister for the first time and her eyes widened when she realized they both had wings and a horn.

“Everypony, this is Ania, and her sister Adikia!” Apple Bloom introduced.

“You’re Alicorns!” Diamond Tiara blurted out.

Ania looked at her a little worried, but she didn’t seem scared or angry, just very surprised. She supposed if there really were only a few alicorns in this time, meeting two new alicorns would be surprising.

“Yep, and they’re from over three thousand years ago; we found them in an old prison.” Apple Bloom told them.

Scootaloo’s eyes widened. “You mean like… that other prison?”

She nodded. “But there was a note with them written by Starswirl himself saying they were innocent and were only locked up because they were alicorns.”

“Really!?” Sweetie Belle asked excitedly. “Did you actually know Starswirl!?” Sweetie asked, more than a little familiar with the ancient unicorn now, being Twilight’s student.

“Not very well… we didst only meet him once.” Ania told her.

“Wait, wait! You were locked up because you’re alicorns?” Diamond asked, her confusion overriding her nervousness. Ania nodded, only confusing her further. “Why would ponies want to lock up alicorns!?”

“Oh, well alicorns and other ponies didn’t really get along back then.” Apple Bloom explained for them. “Kind of like how earth ponies, unicorns and pegasi didn’t used to get along.”

“And there were many bad alicorns in our time…” Adikia said softly.

“Really?” Diamond said looking surprised. Ania actually found it comforting that the filly seemed shocked that there were once bad alicorns.

“Diamond, remember when that alicorn tried to take over Canterlot? She was one of the bad alicorns from back then.” Apple Bloom told her.

Diamond considered that. “Oh, I guess that makes sense. So you’re like, thousands of years old?” She asked curiously.

Ania blinked. “Uh… I doth suppose so; but we didst sleep through most of it.”

“Oh hey, yeah! Technically you’re both older than even Princess Celestia!” Sweetie said grinning. “You have to say that when you meet her!”

Adikia giggled at the idea, but Ania was hesitant. “I do not know if that woulds’t be a good idea.”

“It’s alright,” Apple Bloom assured her. “Princess Celestia is super nice, and AJ says she has a great sense of humor; she’d probably think it was hilarious.”

“Okay…” Ania said still sounding unsure.

“Anyway, we’re going crusading!” Apple Bloom said excitedly. “You want to come with!?”

“Crusading?” Adikia asked curiously.

“To get our cutie marks!” She turned to show her blank flank. “I know you already have yours, Ania, but you can still come with; Diamond has her cutie mark already too.”

Ania looked over at Twilight. “I do not know…”

“It’s up to you girls.” Twilight assured her.

Adikia looked up at Ania, clearly wondering what they should do. Ania frowned. Apple Bloom seemed nice, but they’d never met the other three. And then there was the rest of the town… Twilight’s assurances aside, they didn’t know how the ponies of the town would react to her and her sister. But Apple Bloom seemed to really want them to come with. Being the closest they had to a friend in this time, she hated to disappoint her, but at the same time she was nervous. She glanced at Twilight again. Some of her worry must have shown, because Twilight stepped forward with a reassuring smile and addressed Apple Bloom.

“I think the girls are still a little overwhelmed by everything; they need some more time to get settled in before they’ll be comfortable going out crusading.”

“Oh!” Apple Bloom looked at Ania and Adikia seeming to notice what Twilight meant. “Yeah, okay; we’ll just let you get settled in then. You can come crusading with us some other time.”

“Another time.” Ania agreed. It was clear Apple Bloom was disappointed, but at the same time, she understood.

“It was good to meet you though!” Sweetie Belle said with a warm smile.

“Yeah, it was great to meet you!” Scootaloo agreed. “We’ll see you around!”

Diamond Tiara looked back and forth seeming surprised that they were leaving already. “Oh, okay…um bye!” She waved and quickly followed the crusaders out.

“Goodbye, girls!” Twilight called after them, just before the door shut behind them.

The library was quite for a moment then Ania looked up at Princess Twilight. “I thank thee.” She said softly.

Twilight smiled and put a wing around her. “You’re welcome. I know things must be pretty overwhelming for you right now. And I’m sure Apple Bloom understands; she just tends to get excited and sometimes overlooks details like that.”

Ania smiled then looked down at her sister. “Sorry Adikia, I didst not even ask if thou wanted to go…”

She just smiled back and gave her sister a nuzzle. “Tis okay, sister. We can go another time.”

Twilight smiled and extended her embrace to include Adikia as well. “What do you say we just take it easy this morning and then maybe sometime this afternoon I can show you around ponyville? Would that be less intimidating if you were with me, and perhaps Spike as well?”

Ania hesitated a moment but then nodded. “That doth sound good.”

~~~

“It must be pretty crazy for them; I mean they wake up and it’s suddenly thousands of years later?” Sweetie Belle was saying as the crusaders and Diamond Tiara gathered in front of the library.

“Yeah, I should have thought of that…” Apple Bloom said with a wince.

“It was cool to meet them though!” Scootaloo said then stretched her wings. “So, what are we going to do for crusading?”

Apple Bloom thought for a moment. “How about we go to the gym; If Mr. Biceps is there, I’m sure he’d be glad to show us how to use the weight benches and stuff. We could try for weightlifting cutie marks.

Scootaloo frowned. “Well, as long as we don’t end up looking like Mr. Biceps; I’m having a hard enough time with flying as it is.”

“Let’s go then,” Apple Bloom said and took the lead heading for the local gym. Diamond followed and found herself walking next to Scootaloo.

“So… um, how are you doing on flying?” She asked conversationally, hoping to avoid an awkward silence.

Scootaloo looked at her suspiciously. “Why?”

“I… well I have seen you flying a few times, I was just asking how it was going.” Diamond said a little defensively.

“It’s going alright.” Scootaloo said finally, then jumped up in the air flying alongside them for a short ways before dropping back down to the ground. “I still have to focus on my magic a lot when I’m flying, so it takes a lot of concentration.”

“Pegasi have magic?” Diamond asked a little confused.

“Twilight says that all ponies have magic, just most pegasi and earth ponies use their magic… instinctually.”

“Instinctively.” Sweetie Belle corrected.

Scootaloo nodded. “Right that. So they don’t have to think about it. But when she tested me, she said that I wasn’t using my magic when I was trying to fly. So she taught me how to control my magic, so that I can use it to fly.”

“That’s why you couldn’t fly before? You just weren’t using your magic?”

“Yep, but now I can control it, so I just have to get used to using it when I fly. It’s a lot of work, but it does have a few bonuses.” She flicked her wing toward Diamond and she felt a small burst of wind, just enough to ruffle her mane and make her take a step to the side. Her eyes widened.

“How did you do that!?”

Scootaloo grinned. “Pegasus magic is all about controlling the air around us; and since Twilight taught me how to control it, I can make gusts of wind with just a thought!”

“If she wanted to, Scoots could probably make a small tornado with just a single flap of her wing.” Apple Bloom said, looking back with a grin.

Scootaloo blushed. “Well maybe not a tornado; I’m not that good at controlling it yet.”

“But that’s still amazing!” Diamond said, truly stunned. “I mean, I’ve never heard of a pegasus being able to do anything like that!”

“Well that’s not surprising since Twilight is the only other pony in the whole world who can.” Sweetie said with a bit of a smirk.

“Really?”

“For now,” Scootaloo confirmed. “She is trying to teach Rainbow Dash too; and she eventually wants to teach others.”

“She wants to teach some earth ponies to use their magic as well,” Sweetie added.

Diamond looked at Apple Bloom. “Are you going to learn earth pony magic?”

“Nah, I’m still spending a lot of time learning this magic,” she said, tapping the Sa’Dracori on her shoulder. “But if you show Twilight you’re trying to be a better pony, and that you really want to learn, she might teach you.”

Her eyes widened. Her? Learn earth pony magic from the princess? “You think she’d really be willing to teach me?”

“As long as you don’t just want it to brag about.” Sweetie told her with a serious look. “Twilight always enjoys teaching ponies who truly want to learn, but if you want to just so you can brag, you can forget it.”

“It’s also really difficult to learn, so you’d have to be willing to put in the work.” Scootaloo told her. “It took me weeks of training two to three hours at a time multiple days per week; before I was even able to cast any magic. And I was determined.”

“That does sound like a lot…” Diamond said hesitantly. Weeks of lessons to even be able to use her magic; then even more to learn to do anything with it? Was she willing to put in that kind of work?

“But hard work is almost always worth it in the end.” Apple Bloom said with nod. “Speaking of hard work…” she rushed forward as they reached the Ponyville public gym, opening the door for the rest of them. “Let’s see if Mr. Biceps is here!”

Author's Note:

Realized that I went and forgot to post a chapter last week. We're actually in the middle of 4 birthdays in two weeks in my family, so it's already been pretty busy, especially with us spread out across three states. But that's winding down now. I actually have another two chapters already finished so they'll be out over the next couple weeks. Hopefully by then I'll have the next finished.

Comments

[new55]

That was a good chapter.