The Social
“Seriously, Sonata. I don’t want to do this,” Aria growled. “It’s stupid.”
“It’s not stupid, Ari! We’re gonna do something nice for Dagi!” Sonata smiled.
It was a lovely late summer day in Canterlot. It was warm, but not too hot, with a nice breeze helping to balance out the cloudless day. The grass and trees were bright green, energized after a recent rain, and the smell of flowers filled the air. In short, it was a perfect day for being outside.
Aria hated it. “How is us going to some stupid competition doing something nice for Adagio?” She huffed, crossing her arms and glowering at her sister. She was not a fan of the outdoors.
Sonata grinned, unaffected by her sister’s violet glare. She held up a crumpled poster she had snagged from a billboard in town. “See,” She said, thrusting the paper in Aria’s face, “There’s a grand prize. Fifty dollars!”
“Yeah, for the winners.” Aria spat, snatching the poster away and crumpling it up. She shoved it into her own pocket. “We haven’t exactly been on much of a winning streak, stupid. And I told you, we don’t need money that bad. Not enough to risk being recognized at this stupid ‘Sisterhood Social’ thing.”
“But Adagio makes all our money!” Sonata protested. “We can’t use her money, that won’t make her feel better at all!”
Aria’s scowl deepened. “I make money too, you know.”
“Pshaw!” Sonata rolled her eyes. “How can you make money sitting in your room all day?”
“I’d explain it,” Aria seethed, “But I don’t have any crayons with me.”
“Oh, we’re here!” Sonata chirped, ignoring the barb.
The sirens had arrived at the entrance to a large farm. A painted archway proudly announced the place as Sweet Apple Acres. A small private road led to an idyllic looking farmhouse and a large barn, and fields of apple trees stretched out in the distance. Several other groups of Canterlot locals were making their way down the road ahead of the sirens.
Aria glanced up at the archway. “Sweet Apple Acres? Gods, how much more cliché could you get?” She brought a hand to her temple. “This is the worst.”
“Don’t worry Ari! Nobody will recognize us in our disguises!” Sonata giggled, twirling her light yellow sundress. She was wearing her hair down instead of in its usual ponytail, and a wide brimmed hat and pair of pink sunglasses helped hide her eyes and facial features.
“Sure, just tell everyone why don’t you,” Aria snapped back. She herself had exchanged her usual twin tails for a loose ponytail pulled through the back of her black baseball cap. Her typical outfit was gone, replaced by simple jeans and a black band tee shirt with too many Rs and Ks in the name. She glanced around, hoping no one had noticed Sonata’s outburst, then slipped on her own pair of dark sunglasses.
Needless to say, the disguises were not as effective as Aria would have liked. Unfortunately, it was too hot for long sleeves or hoods, so it was the best they could do under the circumstances. Hopefully it would be enough. As long as no one was looking for them and they did not run into anyone who knew them too well, like that group from the Battle of the Bands, the Rainbooms, they would be fine. At least long enough for Sonata to get her stupid plan out of her system.
“Come on, there’s the sign-in table!” Sonata’s exclamation jarred Aria out of her thoughts, and she looked up just in time to keep her balance as Sonata grabbed her wrist and pulled her along towards the picnic table set up in front of the main barn. Aria sighed, resigned to her fate. It was far too late to argue and risk causing a scene. She stumbled forward, hardly paying attention, until a pair of voices broke her concentration.
“Oh come on, I can’t believe we’re stuck doing management when we could be competing!” The somewhat raspy voice caught Aria’s attention and she came to a halt, jerking her arm free of Sonata’s grip. That voice had sounded familiar…
“Come on, Rainbow Dash! Ah already explained it to ya, Ah ain’t gonna do it again,” Drawled a second voice with a heavy southern accent. Aria felt her heart slam in her chest. The first could have been a coincidence, but the second, THAT voice was hard to mistake. The use of the name only sealed it. Those were two of the girls from the Battle. Of all the rotten luck!
“Sonata!” Aria hissed, trying to catch her sister, but she was too late.
“Hi there!” Sonata greeted loudly, skipping right up to the table where the two girls sat. “Oh!” She grabbed her chest, startled as she finally recognized the girls as two of those from the Battle. “H-hi…” She whirled, looking back to Aria with a panicked look.
Aria took a quick breath, managing to kill her own panic long enough to improvise. Putting on a fake smile, she strode forward and threw an arm around Sonata’s shoulders to keep her from running or doing something stupid. “Hey, we’re here to sign up for the, uh, thingie.” She glanced at the girls, wracking her brain to remember their names. The blue one with rainbow hair was of course Rainbow Dash, and the one with the bad accent and wannabe cowboy hat could only be Applejack. Aria cursed internally. Of course the farmgirl with “Apple” in her name worked at the only apple farm in Canterlot.
“Howdy there,” Applejack greeted cheerfully, extending a welcoming hand. “Don’t think I’ve seen y’all here before. First time at the social?”
“Yeah,” Aria said, taking the proffered hand and shaking it curtly. “Where do we sign up?”
“Right here!” Rainbow Dash interjected, holding out a clipboard.
Aria took it with a nod, then scribbled out a fake name before handing the pen and paper over to Sonata. She cringed as Sonata got three letters into writing her own name, then crossed it out and wrote down a fake one like Aria had. Satisfied, she handed it back to the rainbow haired Rainboom.
“So,” Aria started, not sure what to say next. She was no stranger to improvisation, but being face-to-face with one of her greatest enemies while wearing such a flimsy disguise was more nerve-wracking than she could have guessed.
“Hey, don’t Ah recognize you from somewhere? Y’all look a bit familiar.”
Aria’s blood ran cold, and a cool sweat broke out under her cap. “Um, maybe?” Then inspiration struck. “You go to Canterlot High? Maybe you saw me there?”
Applejack nodded, apparently appeased. “Yeah, makes sense to me. Well, go on ahead, there’s refreshments in the barn, we’ll be along soon to direct everybody. Have fun, Rose, Blueberry.” She said, reading their names off the sign-in sheet.
“Yeah, thanks,” Aria said, pulling Sonata after her. It was all she could not to run right then and there. She immediately headed for the barn, out of sight of the other girls.
As soon as they rounded the corner Aria’s grip tightened. There were dozens of people in the barn, and Aria recognized several from the school. Even the principals were there, and Aria was pretty sure she saw several of the other Rainbooms scattered among the crowd. There was even a girl that may or may not have been Twilight Sparkle. “Shit,” She muttered, pulling Sonata to a relatively empty corner. “Damnit, Sonata, I told you this was a stupid idea. We’re leaving.”
“What!? No!” Sonata protested, “What about Dagi?”
“What about her?” Aria hissed. “I told you, we don’t need to do this. And with all of them here it’s only a matter of time before we get caught.”
“But, but we fooled those two! Why should we run now?”
“We got lucky. I don’t know how, but I’m not pushing my luck. We. Are. Leaving!”
Sonata’s eyes went wide, and her bottom lip started to twitch. Aria pinched the bridge of her nose as her younger sister started to tear up. “No,” Aria snapped, “No pouting, no puppy eyes. I don’t care if you thought you’d have fun, or be some big hero for Adagio, but we aren’t sticking around.”
“I just, I just…” Sonata sniffled. “I thought we could help Dagi out together, as sisters. Have fun, like we used to…”
Aria stopped dead, expression halfway between anger and confusion. She sputtered, taken off guard by the heartfelt words. “S-seriously? You thought I’d have fun. At something like this?” Sonata nodded. Aria felt her resolve crack. “Ugh, you’re the worst. Fine. I’ll do it, but not for you. Adagio… maybe it’ll do her some good to see us get along for once. Idiot.”
“R-really?” Sonata smiled, throwing herself at her sister and pulling her into a tight hug. “I knew you’d do it! Thank you thankyouthankyou!”
“Enough,” Aria growled, bushing her off, “Don’t get all touchy.” She straightened her shirt. “Fine, I guess we’d better get ready. What’s the first event going to be?”
“Pie eating!”
“You have got to be kidding me.”
==O==
Unfortunately for Aria, Sonata had not been kidding. “Damn, what kind of country yokels think of eating pie as a sport?” Aria grumbled sourly.
“Hey,” Sonata said, “At least we got free pie! Aaaaand second place!”
Aria rolled her eyes. “Yes, finally your voracious appetite pays off.” She shuddered. “I can’t believe that pink one. I don’t think I’ve seen anything so disgusting in the thousand years we’ve been here. Who eats sixteen pies in one sitting!?”
Sonata giggled. “At least you had fun though, right?”
“No.”
“Oh… Well there’s always the egg toss!”
“Kill me now.”
==O==
“Argh, second place again!” Aria fumed.
“I’m sorry, Ari. I didn’t mean to throw it so hard,” Sonata said sadly.
Aria sighed. “Whatever. At least you didn’t hit me. Can’t believe we lost to anther of the Rainbooms. Again.”
“Yeah, that Rarity sure has delicate hands. Her sister did pretty good too!”
“Ugh, stop praising the competition, Sonata,” Aria groaned. Then she smirked. “She probably just threatened her. She seems like the type to get violent if someone got egg on her dress.”
Sonata giggled. “Ari, you made a joke! Are you having fun?”
“What, no! This is still lame.” Aria crossed her arms. “I’m pissed that we lost to them twice. It’s bad enough they beat us at the Battle.” Her expression hardened, and she glared across the room towards the girls in question. “No, we are not coming second again. We are winning the next event!”
“Eeee!” Sonata squealed, pulling Aria into a tight hug. “That’s the spirit Ari, let’s kick their butts!”
Aria slipped out of the hug, looking toward the billboard set up on the temporary stage Applejack was running the event from. “Looks like the next event is some kind of race.” She smirked. “Oh yeah, we’ve got this one in the bag. They may have taken our magic, but we still have our siren stamina. Let’s kick some ass.”
==O==
“Gods. Fucking. Dammit.” Aria muttered. “Of course it would be some bullshit like this.” She was standing entirely too close to Sonata for her comfort. “It had to be a three-leg race, didn’t it?”
Sonata giggled, wrapping an arm around Aria’s waste for balance. “Well duh, it’s a team competition! They can’t make it every girl for herself, stupid!”
Aria glared at her. “Don’t make me hurt you, Sonata. And they could have made it a relay or something!” She turned her glare downward, where her leg was strapped tightly against Sonata’s with several lengths of twine. “I could do without the rope. Do I look like Adagio?”
“Hey, you made another joke! You are having a good time!” Sonata grinned widely.
Aria growled. “You’re the worst.”
“That’s not a nooo~,”
“Shut it. They’re lining up.”
==O==
“…Get set… Go!”
The racers were off like a shot, with the sirens pulling out an early lead. “Come on, Sonata, pick up the pace!” Aria hissed. Sonata nodded, wordlessly increasing her speed to match her sister’s. Being nearly the same height, they had a decent advantage over most of the other sister pairs, who had to contend with having different strides than their partners. That and literal centuries of teamwork gave the sirens a distinct advantage, and by the time they reached the midpoint and turned around they had a significant lead against all but one other team.
Two of the younger girls were close on their heels. One had short purple hair and a sporty build, while the other had bright hair and wore a large pink bow. Aria recognized the redhead as Applejack’s younger sister. Both girls were athletic, and like the sirens they were similar in height and were able to run without throwing off their stride.
Aria growled. She was not going to lose a third time, and especially not to one of her rivals’ younger siblings. “Come on come on come on,” She chanted, tightening her grip on Sonata and increasing her pace.
“Wh-woah!” Sonata cried, nearly losing her balance as Aria again increased their rhythm. She returned the grip, managing to catch herself just in time for them to cross the finish line. There were scattered cheers from the audience as the other girls began to cross behind them.
“Yay, we did it, we won!” Sonata cheered, turning her grip on Aria’s shoulder into a full-on hug. “Yay! Yay! Yay!”
Aria huffed, but could not keep a small smile from her expression. “Heh, yeah, I guess we did.” Awkwardly she turned, returning the hug. “Thanks.”
Sonata gasped. “Did… does that mean you had fun?”
“Yeah, I- I guess it does.” Aria said. Then she dropped the hug, crossing her arms and blowing a loose strand of hair out of her face. “Don’t go getting a big head about it, alright?”
“Yay!” Sonata squealed, not loosening her hug in the slightest.
Aria sighed, accepting her fate. “Come on, let’s get these ropes off already. I think we can win this after all. Maybe you aren’t as stupid as you look.”
==O==
“So what’s the last event exactly?” Aris asked, looking over the crumpled poster. “This mentions the egg toss, pie contest, and three-leg race, but the last one is just marked ‘mystery’.”
“Well, yeah. It’s a mystery! I have no idea what it is! I heard they change it every year.” Sonata was munching on an apple strudel from the snack table while Aria nursed a cold cider. For whatever their faults, Aria had to admit that the apple family made good food. It was almost enough to make Aria smile. Almost.
What did make Aria smile was their score. According to the bulletin board, she and Sonata- under the fake names Rose and Blueberry, of course- were in the lead by a solid six points. With each event being worth up to ten, Aria was confident that they had the prize in the bag. All they would have to do was place and they would have the prize money. And more importantly, to Aria at least, they would have beaten two of the Rainbooms. The money was not as important to Aria as it was to Sonata, but the fact that she would be winning it from one of their rivals made it more than worth it.
“Alright,” Aria said, slamming her empty mug down, “Let’s do this.”
==O==
Everyone gathered in the main barn for the final event, waiting excitedly for Applejack to reveal the last contest. Applejack stood on the makeshift stage with Rainbow Dash, a large covered box between them. The building was filled with the excited murmurs of the attendees, speculating on the last game and adding up score totals.
Aria and Sonata stood near the back as usual, watching the stage with impatience and eagerness respectively. “Oh boy, I wonder what it’s gonna be?” Sonata wondered. “Cooking? Rock climbing? Bull riding!?”
Aria rolled her eyes. “I don’t know, but they better hurry up. I wanna get this over with already.”
“Aww, come on Ari, I know you’re having fun!” Sonata sing-songed.
“Whatever! Even if I am, I don’t want to stay longer than necessary. There’s no telling when one of the Rainbooms may recognize us.” Aria narrowed her eyes. “Besides, don’t you want to win the money so we could get back to Adagio as soon as possible?”
“Oh yeah!” Sonata gasped, “We totally need to do that. They need to hurry it up!”
Fortunately for the impatient sirens, Applejack chose that moment to call attention to the stage. “Evening ladies and gents!” She greeted. “I hope y’all are having a great time today!” She paused to let the wave of cheers die down. “Glad to hear it! Now as y’all know, we got one last competition planned before the hoedown. Well, it’s time for the big reveal!”
“Ooooh, I’m so excited!” Sonata squealed.
“Heh, it hardly matters.” Aria said smugly. “With the lead we have, there’s no way we’ll lose, no matter what silly game they choose.”
“Yeah, you’re right! No way we’ll lose!”
“And now, without further ado,” Applejack said, “I present the last competition of the evening,” She made a sweeping gesture, signaling Rainbow to tear away the sheet with a flourish, revealing a large music player complete with screen and microphones. “Karaoke!”
“W-what?” Sonata stammered, hand instinctively clutching at her throat where once had hung her siren’s gem. “B-but we can’t sing anymore!”
Aria’s reaction was much longer in coming. She stood in place, shaking, fists clenched and knuckles white. She glared at the ground, fuming with building rage. Without a word, she spun on her heel, storming out of the barn and flipping a snack table on the way out. The resulting crash drew everyone’s attention to the door, and to Sonata who was staring after her sister.
“A-Ari?” Sonata whimpered. “Aria!” She cried, running after the retreating siren. As she passed the door the brim of her hat caught on the frame, revealing her hair to everyone as she ran out. So concerned was she with catching up that she missed the mutters and murmurs the disturbance caused in the crowd, especially among the Rainbooms.
“Sirens,” Rainbow Dash hissed to Applejack.
“Ah know, I thought something about them seemed off.” Applejack whispered back.
“We have to go after them!” Rainbow insisted.
Applejack shook her head. “Ah can’t, Ah gotta stay here, keep the party going. If it’s nothing, Ah don’t wanna spoil it for everyone.”
“Well, I’m not letting them get away!” Rainbow retorted.
Applejack nodded, tapping her chin. “Grab Sunset and Fluttershy from the audience, they can help ya. Leave Rarity and Pinkie alone for now. No need to spoil their fun.”
“Got it,” Rainbow nodded, dashing off the stage.
Clearing her throat, Applejack called attention back to herself. “Sorry about that everybody, Ah guess not everyone is having as good a time as y’all are! But what say we get this hoedown back on track?”
The confused noises of the crowd faded quickly, soon replaced by the earlier jovial mood as people returned their attention to the party. Soon the sirens were forgotten as everyone returned to the spirit of the games.
==O==
“Damnit, I can’t believe it!” Aria muttered, storming through one of the orchards. It had not taken her long to lose herself among the thick trees, the shadows of early evening throwing the field into darkness. She lashed out in her rage, snapping a branch off a nearby tree and sending a few ripe apples to the ground. “Stupid Sonata, stupid Rainbooms! They just can’t let us have a victory, can they? I bet they planned this! They figured us out the moment we arrived, and contrived the whole mystery event to fuck us over!” She lashed out at another tree, snatching an apple and hurling it against a rock.
“Aaaaaari!” Sonata’s voice cried. Aria swore to herself as she heard her sister getting closer.
“What do you want, Sonata!?” Aria demanded, “Why can’t you leave me alone?”
“Aria! There you are!” Sonata called, finally spotting her sister. She ran up, practically tackling Aria with a hug. Aria barely managed to stay on her feet. “I finally found you!”
“What are you talking about, Sonata? I just saw you back at that stupid barn!” Aria growled, trying to pry herself free of Sonata’s grip. “Let go of me!”
“No, you’ll run away again! I already spent half an hour trying to find you!”
Aria froze, looking at Sonata in confusion. “Wait, really? Damn, I must have been more pissed than I thought.” She glanced back, surveying the trail of minor destruction she had made through the orchard. “Oh… shit.”
Sonata shared the look. “Yeah, it was pretty easy to find you I guess, once I stopped to think about it.”
Aria groaned. “Oh, this is bad. We need to go right now. They won’t have any trouble finding us, and if they already know who we are…”
“Too late, siren. We found you,” Rainbow Dash growled. Aria whirled. Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer were glaring at them with their arms crossed. Behind them, a pink head of hair was disappearing into the trees, the shy one no doubt returning for backup. “What the hell are you doing here, and where’s the head bitch?”
“Hey, don’t call Dagi a bitch!” Sonata snapped.
Sunset grabbed Rainbow’s shoulder, though she kept her glare on the sirens. “Reign it in, Dash. You two, I think you need to explain what you’re doing here.”
“We don’t have to explain shit,” Aria spat. “It was a public event, advertised all over town. We didn’t know it was one of yours.”
“Yeah right!” Rainbow scoffed. “Like I’m gonna believe anything a couple of evil psychos like you two say! And you didn’t answer my question, where’s Adagio?”
Aria said nothing, just flipped up her middle finger. Rainbow fumed, but Sunset again grabbed her shoulder. “Look, I want to give you the benefit of the doubt,” Sunset said, “But you two show up to one of our homes, wearing disguises, and apparently using fake names. It looks pretty suspicious.”
Aria’s glare hardened. “Yeah, well thanks to you brats, we aren’t exactly welcome in most places.”
“Why stick around at all then?” Sunset asked, “Why not just leave?”
“We can’t!” Sonata responded, “We-”
“Shut up, Sonata. It’s none of their damn business.” Aria growled.
“Oh yeah?” Rainbow Dash demanded, slipping free of Sunset’s grasp and sticking her face in front of Aria’s. “Well maybe I’m making it my business.”
“Get fucked,” Aria sneered, flicking the rainbow haired girl on the nose.
“That’s it!” Rainbow yelled, her fist lashing out and striking the siren across the face, knocking her to the ground.
“You little bitch!” Aria hissed, “If I had my powers-”
“Enough!” Sunset cried, grabbing Rainbow while Sonata grabbed her sister. “I am so, so sorry Aria. I want to give you a chance, but…”
“Save it,” Aria hissed.
“What the hay is going on here!?” Demanded a familiar country accent. Applejack jogged into view, followed by Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie, and even the Twilight lookalike. Aria noticed for the first time that all of them wore distinct-looking pendants, which seemed to shine with an inner light when they were all together.
“Oh, I see how it is,” Aria muttered. “Yeah, the big, bad sirens dared show their faces, instead of hanging their heads in defeat. Dared to compete against the friendship brigade. Well, you’ve already taken away my powers and dignity, what are you gonna do this time? Beat me? Humiliate me? It’s all been done before.”
“Aria…” Sonata whispered, holding her sister tight, “Stop…”
“Look girls,” Sunset said, “Rainbow was wrong to hit you, but you need to be honest with us. What are you doing here?”
Aria again flipped up her middle finger. “Like I told Rainbow: get fucked.”
“Aria,” Sunset said warningly. The girl’s pendants began to glow as Aria pushed Sonata away, raising her fists in a fighting stance.
“Wait!” Sonata cried, throwing herself in front of her sister. “Adagio’s sick! We were just trying to win the money so we could buy her medicine!”
That took the Rainbooms off guard. Their pendants faded away, and those who had taken aggressive postures seemed to sag. They shared looks ranging from bewilderment to guilt. Finally, Fluttershy spoke up. “She’s… sick? Is it, is it our fault?”
“Oh, come on, Flutters!” Rainbow said in exasperation, “You don’t really believe this bull, do you? Of course it’s not our fault, she’s probably not even sick!”
“Oh, she’s sick all right,” Aria snapped, “Enough to get me to put up with you morons.”
“And… well…” Sonata tapped her fingers together, “None of us has ever gotten sick before…”
“Oh my… it is our fault,” Fluttershy said sadly.
“Nonsense!” Rarity interjected, “Being sick is simply part of life. Though, dare I ask, how bad is it?”
“We don’t fucking know!” Aria snapped, “We’ve never been sick before! For all I know she’s dying!”
The air seemed to vanish after her outburst, and all conversation died. Even Sonata had a serious expression on her face. For a long time there was no sound but cicadas in a far off orchard and the muted sounds of people enjoying themselves filtering from the other side of the field.
Finally, Rainbow Dash broke the silence, scratching the back of her head in embarrassment. “Look, um, I’m sorry I hit you. I’ve always been a bit hot-headed, and I had no idea what you’re going through.”
Aria shrugged, glaring. “Whatever. It’s not the worst thing you did to us.”
“Oh, right. Well… for the record, I’m sorry for that too. Even if, you know, we kinda didn’t have much choice.”
The silence returned. Rarity broke it this time, clearing her throat in a dignified manner. “Well, I do believe that I can at least make a start in making reparations for what you lost. You see, it was my team that ended up, um, winning the final tally. I… I would like for you to take the prize money. I’m sure Sweetie would understand, you need it more than us I’m sure.”
Aria glared. “We don’t need charity.”
“Ariii,” Sonata said, “Think about Dagi. We need the money.”
“No,” Aria said, “I don’t think we do. I can manage it myself.”
“Please, Aria!” Sonata begged, sticking out her lower lip and widening her eyes.
Aria pressed her hands against her temples, trying to massage away the headache that was her sister. “Ugh!” She groaned, “Fine, we’ll take the damn money!”
“Yay!” Sonata cheered, pulling her into another hug and bouncing away before Aria could push her off. She jumped over to Rarity, pulling the purple-haired girl into an embrace as well. “Thank you! Thank you so much!”
“That, hah, that’s quite all right, dear,” Rarity gasped, awkwardly patting the siren on the back.
The other Rainbooms watched the exchange with small smiles, except for Rainbow Dash, who was still eying Aria warily, and Applejack, who was running an appraising eye over the damage to the orchard. All told, is was not as bad as it looked at first glance. “Ah can’t say Ah’m entirely happy about this,” Applejack said, “But in the interest of friendship, Ah suppose Ah can let it go. But Aria,” She fixed the older siren with a glare, “Ah don’t think Ah wanna see yer face on mah family’s property again.”
Aria scoffed. “Yeah, like that’ll be a problem. Trust me, after this, we’re gone. Don’t come looking for us and I doubt we’ll see each other again.” Applejack nodded, an unspoken agreement passing between them. Rarity finally managed to separate herself from Sonata, then reached into a pocket and grabbed the small wad of bills that was her winnings. The siren took it gratefully before returning to her sister’s side. “Well, I guess that’s that,” Aria growled. “Come on, Sonata. Let’s get back to our sister.”
The sirens turned their backs on the Rainbooms, walking off towards the farm’s exit. Aria stumbled a bit, finding herself leaning against Sonata for support. Sonata was uncharacteristically quiet, silently fingering the bills in her pocket. Instinctively, they took each other’s hands, tiredly walking each other home.
“Hey, Sonata?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks.”
“Love you.”
“Yeah, yeah.”