"So I said 'nice try, nanny' and I sent her to the back of the line."

The two fillies burst into a fit of shrill giggles.

"Oh, Silver Spoon, you are such a hoot," Diamond Tiara said after the laughter stopped.

"Still, can you believe my parents still think I need a foalsitter? I'm not a little filly anymore."

"Ugh, tell me about it. Daddy has the help following me around, skulking and pretending to do work when he's in one of his business trips."

"And let me guess, they say silly things like 'Excuse me, miss, but it's time for you to go to bed. Fillies shouldn't stay up past one,' or maybe something like 'cake is not breakfast. You must eat the right food groups and blah, blah, blah'." A second round of laughter followed the grey filly's mocking impersonation.

"Isn't it annoying when the help think they can boss us around? Daddy had to hire a new evening maid a few weeks ago because the last one quit, and she's still trying to tell me what I should or shouldn't do."

"She quit? Why?" Silver Spoon asked.

Diamond Tiara waved a hoof airily. "She kept on complaining about me. Apparently, I'm too awesome a filly for her to handle. Daddy was mad and said I'd be grounded for a week, but I managed to lower it to three days."

Either oblivious or uncaring of the disapproving looks sent their way, the loud fillies walked down Ponyville's main road, almost reaching Diamond Tiara's house.

"So what is this surprise you wanted to show me?"

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise, Silver Spoon," Diamond Tiara said snootily. "You can guess, but you'll never get it right."

"You got a new human?"

Diamond Tiara smirked. "Sorry, but... what? How did you know?"

Silver Spoon adjusted her glasses. "Well, last surprise you had for me was that human you say came all the way from Zebrica, even though he looks like any normal human. Before that was the human your daddy got from the circus and which you said could do tricks. Then before that was the human you said could play a JoyBoy better than a pony even though all she did was chew it up and before that you said you had a human that..."

"Well this human's different! You'll see," Diamond Tiara said indignantly, trying to retain a measure of her dignity.

"How is she different?"

"I planned for this to be a surprise, but okay. Unlike the rest of my dumb humans, I found a female that can talk like a pony," Diamond boasted, eager to see the look of astonishment on her friend's face.

"You found a human... that can talk. Like a pony."

"Uh, yeah. That; s what I said."

"But," Silver Spoon tapped her chin, pondering how to say her words delicately. "You know humans can't 'talk' talk, right? Not like ponies, I mean."

"This one can, I swear it."

"Pinkie Promise?"

"Cross my heart, hope to fly. Stick a cupcake in my eye," Diamond Tiara recited, doing the appropriate motions. Silver Spoon nodded, as if this was all the confirmation she needed.

As I lounged by my lonesome under the shade of a tree in this blasted habitat, I pondered my next move. Well, or almost by myself. Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup where only a few meters to my right.

Bubbles was watching a stray butterfly with rapt attention although it could just have been that she wanted to eat the colorful insect and was still planning on how to get it into her lithe mitts.

Buttercup half heartedly entertained herself with a dragon plushie that she held in her mouth like a animal, holding onto it with her mitts and occasionally jerking her head left and right complete with soft growls as she ripped the stuffing out, but not without stealing glances in my direction ever so often. I swear I still saw uncertainty and a smidge of fear in them since my little dominance usurpation. Couldn´t care less to be honest.

Blossom was doing nothing really, just plainly staring at me which to be honest was more than a bit unnerving after a while but no matter how many times I tried to shoo her away, she just gave one of these weird chirrups and continued to stare at me so I did the next best thing and ignored her for now.

I still don't really know how I did it but I managed to get those three girls to stop with whatever the bloody hell they were doing with me earlier. Probably the mixture of shoving them down repeatedly and lots of stern words like when one tried to train a young dog. Was really not that different in hindsight. that thought was enough to send a cold shiver down my spine.

A gurgling noise right at my feet startled me out of me thoughts as something touched my leg.

Looking down, I found myself staring at an human infant, the typical variant with big blue eyes, pudgy cheeks and limbs and for some weird reason was wearing one of these strange white bonnets the babies in old cartoons always wore and nothing else.

Wut?

The babe stumbled and fell on his pudgy behind, awkwardly getting up and with clumsy movements, climbed into my lap.

"What in the..." I held the little thing by its armpits at arms' length. Warm and cuddly. He gibbered in that nonsensical baby language and reached out with his chubby arms, making grasping motions. Hesitantly, I brought him close and the little bugger wasted no time wrapping his arms around my neck, snuggling into an embrace. The little trogg cooed and for the second time did I get that uncomfortably warm feeling in my chest. Like with the little pony brats, but without the urge to shove him away.

Ugh. Never did pay much attention to babies. Loud, messy and left most everything they touched sticky, yet the thing felt oddly right in my grasp. Heh, maybe it's not so...

A tiny little hand grabbed my breast and squeezed. My body froze in pure surprise and soon enough, another little hand joined in. The little trogg slipped from my grasp and into my lap where he proceeded to stick his face forward, trying to latch his mouth on a...

Oh, hell no!

"Don't even think about it, trogg," I hissed as I held him way out of reach, making sure his grubby hands were nowhere near places they shouldn't be. He didn't take it too well, being removed from his prize, for he immediately burst into tears.

"No. Bad baby. Stop crying." He didn't. Oh, man. How do you shut these things up? If anything he got louder until thankfully, a second pair of arms plucked him from my grasp. A human female, looked to be in her twenties, who shot me a glare and a admittedly halfway impressive growl before scampering off. The little trogg quieted quickly enough after he started suckling her bare chest. Fucking ponyworld...

Well, at least the weather was nice. About the only thing that doesn't make want to vomit. The troggs now huddled against me, thankfully keeping their grubby mitts off. I honestly couldn’t make heads or tail why they kept sticking to me.

Thankfully, other than those three no other humans had taken much of an interest in me. A couple of males, somewhat hairy and I'd guess in their early thirties, stopped by to give me a quick sniff and moved on soon enough. The rest, either females or kids, didn't pay me much mind.

And I had to admit, despite my initial altercations with the troggs, they were infinitely better company than the ponies. Better listeners, too. Growing bored, I initially started a bit of a one sided conversation with them, which eventually gave way to a full blown rant as I fully vented everything that had happened to me after my arrival.

"So the little bitch basically decides to put me under house arrest, under surveillance twenty four-seven. And don’t even get me started on her pet gecko. The thing keeps giving me its uppity attitude and talking behind my back when it thinks I'm not looking and if that wasn't enough, the princess, in her infinite wisdom decreed it that I should spend quality time with each of her minions, which of course I've assaulted at some point or another and she expects it to go well? Is it me or is she a few apples short of a... um, dammit! Where's Daisy Mae to make apple based puns?"

Buttercup licked the back of her hand, eyeing me stupidly. I reached over and grasped her jaw, moving it up and down accordingly. "You said it, Jackie. Ponyville sure sucks big fat dragon turds," I subbed my voice for hers in a lower pitch.

“Yes! Thank you. And really, I'm still waiting for a thank you. You'd think saving the little twat’s life in them caves would get me some recognition, but zip. Nada.”

“That Twilight sure sounds like a grade-A bitch. She needs to lay off your back and eat a big, fat dick!”

"Man, you totally get me," I said in mock delight, wrapping my arm around her petite shoulders. "It's too bad you're a stupid, brain dead trogg. Otherwise we could have totally been besties and hung out together." She did one of those weird chirps again. I sighed and let go, leaning back down. "Some conversationalist you are. You could at least put some effort into it, you know?" She yawned and stretched before laying her head down on my lap.

"So I'm just a glorified pillow to you, is that it? And here I thought we had something going on," I drawled. In spite of myself, I ran my fingers through her surprisingly silky soft hair. She seemed to enjoy it, if her contented murmurs were an indication.

Bubbles came shortly after. The blonde trogg had left my side a minute ago and no sooner did I imagine she left for good that she returned, plopping down in front of me and from her hands she let a number of little brownish objects hit the grass.

"And here I was just starting to miss you," I muttered, wondering not for the first time how healthy this one sided interaction between me and the troggs boded for my mental state.

Bubbles plucked one of the little brown objects and brought it closer and closer to my mouth. "Stop it," I snapped irritably, slapping her hand away. She didn't seem detracted by this and repeated her action, plucking yet another of the little brown things and pressing it against my lips. "Quit it. No means no," I said firmly.

She seemed to get the hint and shoved a handful of them in her mouth, chewing noisily and laid down beside Blossom once she swallowed.

Huh, is that the human kibble ponies use? I brought one up for inspection. It looked exactly like a generic doggie kibble. Curiously, I smelled it. No scent whatsoever. Eh, what the hell. I popped it in my mouth, chewing slowly. Wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. Hell, it even tasted like Apple Jacks. No, not the backwoods inbred yokel, I mean the Apple Jacks cereal back home. If only I could find a nice cold bowl of milk somewhere...

"Come on, little one. Just a bit further," the pony maid cooed as she led me by a leash. "Miss Tiara asked that we fit you into some new, comfortable clothes. Won't that be nice, hm?"

I swear to you, pony, I'm in no mood for your ilk's particular brand of bullshit.

This whole no talking thing can be a real downer at times. The tree troggs followed after and by this point I'd given up trying to figure out why they stuck to me. As if to add insult to injury, they remained unleashed while the pony maid led me to a little room, enclosed with no windows and only a few dressers in sight.

"Now then, let's get you out of those ugly old clothes and into something better, yes?" Her hoofsies made towards the bottom of my hoodie before a sharp slap from me sent her reeling back.

"Ow! No, bad human! Behave." To reprimand me, she bopped my nose. I returned her frown with the mother of all deadpans and after several seconds, I won our battle of wills. Flustered, the pony reached into her pocket, producing a flat, round little biscuit thing.

"How about a snack, hm? Open up," she prompted. No surprise, I kept my mouth shut. The pony frowned, pondering and a little smile stretched on her little mug. Her free hoof prodded me in the ribs and in spite of my best efforts, I couldn't help but giggle at the tickling sensation. The little beast capitalized on this and shoved the treat in my mouth.

A strangled noise made its way out my throat as I tried not to choke on the thing and after some effort, I spat out the unchewed chunks all over the pony, a faint aftertaste of peanut butter lingering in my mouth.

While the pony squealed and fretted over the mess, I took the opportunity to get out of there, barring the door with a heavy chair and leaving her to her fate. The sound of hoofsies pounding against the door and the mare's angry shouts barely fazed me as I made my way back upstairs, the troggs trailing after me. Turns out the room we were in was actually in the basement, so it'll be a while before someone comes to the pony's aid. Serves her right.

"I'll say this about the little pink brat. Her house was the definition of swag. Rich, polished floors abounded in her home. Thick, padded, expensive looking Persian carpets tastefully splayed across the rooms, velvety drapes hung over expansive windows with golden tassels completing the ensemble and the furniture sure as hell didn't look like the throwaway stuff you buy at the local Wal-Mart. It all looked to be made by hand... er, hoof. Kinda surprised me the ponies were even dextrous enough to accomplish such detailed, precise craftsmanship.

The troggs and I wandered. Me, for no other reason that I was curious, wanting to properly check out the obscenely opulent pad and the troggs followed for reasons known only to them.

The kitchen was my favorite by far. Tiled marbled floors over an expanse that looked capable of churning out enough food for dozens of ponies. Black, shiny countertops free of imperfections, on them resting bowls of assorted, scrumptious looking fruits. Peaches as big as my head; perfect, rosy apples that could only have come from Daisy Mae's farm, grapes as big as a baby's fist. The pantries were no less spectacular. Pasta of all known kinds, canned foods, literally dozens of spices on fancy rotating racks, dried fruits and veggies of all kinds and a cornucopia of jars filled with varying fruit preserves. One in particular caught my eye. A jar filled with what I could only describe as an edible rainbow jam. For a moment, I considered the horrifying possibility of this being the... secretions of the rainbow-maned lezbitch. Eugh!

But my fears were unfounded as I spied the label with the words zap Apple jam in bold lettering. And man, oh man did it taste divine. The troggs and I polished off the whole jar by our lonesome, the trio crowding around me and pawing for the treat which I doled out in conveniently placed crackers. Hey, since the pink brat seems to think I'm now her pet, I might as well make the best of the situation.

"And you are certain of its value?" Filthy Rich asked as he inspected the innocuous device.

"As certain as can be, comrade," the other stallion said confidently.

"It doesn't look very impressive..."

"It's not meant to be, Rich. It's a device of war and not meant to be pleasing to the eye."

"I suppose," Filthy Rich conceded as h took a closer look at the item. Its shape was cylindrical and a frame of metal held together the container, a reinforced cone of glass and though the device was coated by centuries' worth of grime and dust, Filthy Rich could almost feel a small, almost inexistent pulse of magic from within.

"So I assume it's to your satisfaction?" The other stallion, Shady Deal, asked.

"It's dirty."

"Well what do you expect? The thing was buried ten meters underground in the outskirts of what is now Appaloosa. You know, back then during the pony-griffon war, there wasn't even an Appaloosa in that time. Just a little, barley fortificated outpost. I assume a faction of the Royal Guard used this devices when their forces were pushed back to the Palomino desert. Probably led to a hideaway, a safe spot or a supply cache for the Equestrian forces."

"Oh? And does it still work?"

"My appraisers say yes, provided you sent a strong enough magical charge through it. But you'd need a unicorn to do so and even then, the device is old, so for all you know, it may even break under the strain before it took you anywhere." Shady Deal watched as Filthy Rich carefully hefted the device, carefully running a hoof over its surface, as if inspecting something only he could see. Then when he was satisfied, he set it down and turned back to Shady Deal.

"One thousand bits," he said he said in a flat tone of voice.

"We spent probably most of that just getting out of the dirt, Rich. Two thousand, and that's a bargain."

"You promised me relics intact and in impeccable condition. This is breaking apart just because we breath in its general direction. Let's call it one thousand, three hundred. That's a fair deal."

"Aye, maybe it's not in very good condition but do you know how fantastically rare such artifacts are? Celestia herself in all her infinite wisdom and unfathomable reasons ordered them all destroyed after the last war. Only a hoof full of ponies in this day and age can claim to have laid eyes on such a relic. One thousand, seven hundred, and not a bit less."

Filthy Rich sighed. "Fine. One thousand, seven hundred it is. You do so love bilking me out of my coin, Deal," he said as he took a key from his breast pocket and trotted over to nearby safe, which he unlocked and retrieved a small pouch that clinked with the unmistakable jingle of bits.

"Only because you keep throwing it at me, Rich," Shady Deal smiled as he pocketed the money. "A good day to you, comrade. Look me up anytime you feel up to a fair deal."

"Good day to you, Deal," Filthy said wryly. "Try not to drip oil all over the carpet. I just had it cleaned."

"Har di har, har," Shady Deal yakked and nodded politely before stepping out of the room but not before he snapped his tail sharpley, causing some clumps of dirt falling out of it which where clearly visible on the mansions expensive carpet but easy to remove. Little things like this aggravated Filthy Rich, Shady knew that but at the same time, kept their weird partnership going.

Filthy Rich immediately went back to his expensive mahogany desk and retrieved a worn, but well kept tool kit, designed for instances such as these. In it were custom made utilities to clean, keep and even repair old relics like the ones Filthy Rich so loved to collect.

His office itself was filled with obscure and not entirely legal items he'd acquired over the years, from coins and currency used thousands of years ago by ponies, griffons, minotaurs and even gargoyles, to a shaman mask symbolizing fertility by the zebra tribes of Zebrica, to a carved statuette by the olden warwolf clans, bestowed to youths who passed their rite of adulthood and even a seapony war helmet.

The shrewd stallion found such artifacts fascinating and after he made his fortune, he took the opportunity to hunt down as many as he could get his hooves on. He worked diligently, applying a measure of liquid to a soft cloth and gently, patiently, brushed away the grime that covered the device. In fact, he was so caught up in his work that minutes after, he hadn't even noticed the doorknob turn, nor did he notice the four human females that softly stepped into the room. It wasn't until one, a clumsy blond haired thing, accidentally knocked over a bust depicting the great general Bucephalus, that Filthy Rich's eyes snapped up, summarily bugged out and he was rendered momentarily speechless as a slim, dark haired female promptly started nibbling on a pair of Neighponese chopsticks.

He stared dumbfounded before he regained his senses.

"No, NO! Bad human!" Moving quickly, he conked the petite female on the head, who whined appropriately and fled out the room. "Out. All of you, out!" He chased off a brunette who tried to take refuge by climbing atop an expensive armoire, itself full to the brim of fragile and precious relics. Meanwhile, the blonde little bint sought out the bottom of his desk as a hiding place.

"Watch it! That's worth more than you," he warned as the auburn haired female's hands wandered too close to a glass orb, used by ponies in the past in an attempt to divine one's fate. The female hissed, baring her teeth. From somewhere in his peripheral vision, he could have sworn he saw yet another female drag her hand over her face.

The small orb fell and Filthy Rich let loose with a strangled yell as he dove forward to catch the precious object before it shattered in a million pieces. By some miracle, he did, though the ornery brunette took the opportunity to flee, but not before her actions dislodged a rather heavy vase and his eyes widened in horror, as it was a millennia old thing, crafted by one of the first civilizations that depicted the legendary earth pony hero Neighcules' adventures. The vase plummeted to the ground and, having no other recourse, Filthy Rich intercepted it with his stomach to create a safe landing. The artifact was saved, though the intense pain in his gut made the victory all the more bitter.

"Confound it, why Diamond likes these beasts I'll never know," he groaned as he gingerly got back to his hooves. "Troublemakers, all of them, and those three are the worst. Diamond spoils them rotten and now they think they have the run of the place. I should probably get them some training classes but..." As he rambled, Filthy Rich fretted to make sure his collections were unharmed and by some miracle, the fragile relics had escaped damage which could in turn not be said of the poor stallions nerves. However, now satisfied and in better spirits, he spun to lock the door only for his eyes to fall in a most unwelcome sight.

The stray human from earlier in they day. The little creature had the audacity to lounge lazily in a stuffy armchair, gifted to him by a Prench emissary, legs dangling over one arm while reclining her head on the other, a book in her hands and flipping disinterestedly through the pages.

"Oh no! You! You put that down right this instant! This is one of the rare first editions from one of Smart Cookies manifestos on early earth pony agriculture post-unification. That book survived time, dry rot, silver fish and even Discord himself. I refuse to let it become ruined by the grubby hooves... paws... of a human today!" Filthy declared, making his way over to the female which looked blankly at him. The way she held the book by its covers only made Filthy fear the pages could spill forth any seconds now when the worn binders finally succumbed to old age.

With a smile only a truly desperate stallion could muster, Filthy Rich held out a hoof "Now, please be a good human. Give that boring book to me yes? Maybe I have a treat somewhere for you if you do."

The female stared at the outstretched hoof in mild disinterest and, as if pondering the situation, carelessly tossed the book over his head in an arc. His blood pressure so great he feared he might stroke, Filthy Rich jumped and intercepted the book in an admittedly impressive display of reflexes and athleticism. He swore he could have heard something resembling chuckles coming from where the stupid human sat.

"Beasts, all of you," he muttered darkly as he inspected the fragile book for damage. Sure enough, a tiny, minuscule tear could be seen in the first page, if one looked very, very closely. "That's it. This is worthless now," he sighed and allowed the book to drop atop his desk. He noticed the human was still reclined on his expensive chair and scowled. "Shoo. Go on, get out of here. You little creatures have caused enough trouble for today."

The female did not budge, but stared at him with a stony gaze. In fact, Filthy could have sworn she could understand what he said and now eyed him in defiance. But that was ridiculous, of course.

"Fine, just... just don’t touch anything," he said in frustration, averting his eyes. For some reason, it unnerved him to stare at the females' slate grey orbs, as if judging him. He set about cleaning up. Thankfully, none of the females had had an 'accident' in their fright, which was a blessing as he did not want to have to get that cleaned up.

"Honestly, you work hard, try to make a good life for yourself and what do you get in return? You little animals destroying my priceless collection. What my daughter sees in you all, I don’t know. What ponies see in you, I don’t know," he rambled as he straightened up the place. "I mean, I can understand keeping a pet and all. I had a little mongrel when I was a foal after all, but we certainly didn't breed with them," he shuddered in disgust. "By all that is good an kind, I hope my little Diamond grows out of her infatuation for you lot. Last thing I need is for her to buy those hulking oafs from Sweet Apple Acres once her first heat sets in and..." He shook his head, clearly not wishing to think about such a travesty. He looked back at the female. What did Diamond call her? Snowy? Yes, that was it.

"And I have to see about finding your owner. I bet Diamond hasn't even gotten to that part yet. Well enough is enough. From this point on, no more humans," he said resolutely. Then again, he had said such things in the past, yet he found it awfully hard to deny his little filly, especially when she used those eyes on him. Truly her mother's daughter, he thought wryly.

"Now let's see, where did that little number go?" He muttered, eyes roving over the floor. The teleportation device was missing. He hoped the dumb humans hadn't accidentally broken it. Already he was regretting the deal.

THUMP.

His hoof connected with the device, sending it across the room and to his annoyance, to where Snowy sat. The odd female eyed, the device with as much fascination as one might eye a rock, but when her hand reached forward, Filthy Rich's eyes popped yet again. He was about to utter more stern words when a series of events made his diatribe die in his throat.

No sooner did the female bring up the device for inspection that a faint noise, almost indistinguishable but still there, could be heard. A low hum emanated from the device, the noise rising in decibels as the seconds ticked. Filthy Rich stood frozen, transfixed at the sight before him and the human now looked warily at the device, surprise also evident in her face. Then, a soft pink glow could be seen pouring from the cleared patches of the glass cone, rising in intensity as the humming noise took on a high pitch.

Filthy Rich was broken out of his state. The device was active! The human and his prize would be whisked away to some unknown destination, never for him to lay eyes on again. Should it activate, the whole transaction would have been a botched deal and if Filthy Rich hated anything with a passion, it was a botched deal. And so he sprung, eyes glued to the device but before he got anywhere close to Snowy or his prize, the glass shell broke, Snowy was enveloped in a hot pink glow and with a noise like a firecracker, the human disappeared, ruining the device in her wake.

"Fuck!" I yelled as I landed hard on the ground below. The oh-so-lovely taste of dirt flooded my mouth and I hacked, spitting random clumps. Great, what a great way to cap off an already crappy day. "I swear, this pony world will be the death of me," I muttered and stood up. Where was I anyway? Definitely not the little mud village. Harsh rock and red sand now occupied the vicinity, no ostentatious pony house, no siree. Then there was the heat. Good God, it felt like I was in an oven and my hoodie was doing no favors where that was concerned, so after wrapping it around my waist, I took stock of my surroundings. Dark, that's really all there was to it. I was in a crevice of some sort, dug deep into a rock formation of some kind. From a turn in front of me, I could see the glow of sunlight filtering through. It was good enough for me to be able to see, to a degree, but not so much that I could take all the features of the place.

"I swear, if I am in some random pony desert I'm gonna be so pissed off." After dusting myself I walked on over to the entrance and could see that yes, I was well and truly screwed. Nothing but vast expanses of harsh, rugged terrain spread all around and the heat so intense it made everything over the horizon a blurry mess. Whole thing was drier than Hillary Clinton's snatch. I could literally feel the moisture being wicked away from my eyes.

"Just when you think things can't get any worse, something like this happens," I said to myself.

Well, it certainly beats having to remain in that filthy mud village... though the no water thing and me being stranded in the middle of nowhere quickly put a dampener in things. Shit. What to do? What to do? These primitive little beasts have no cell phones, no ways of instant communication. So what then, do I take my chances and walk around in the hopes of stumbling into some pony settlement? Fuck, and that was if the fates were generous.

I knew where I was... well, roughly. All that time alone in Twilight's pad had given me a chance to stock up on my reading, as other options to pass the time were few in between. The badlands. I was in the fucking badlands, where dragons, giant scorpions, and eldritch monstrosities that lurked beneath the ground called home. Fuck!

So I retreated back to the crevice. At least the heat was more bearable. But as I spotted a low, flat rock to sit on, my foot connected with a hard something, sending me sprawling against the ground. Getting really tired of that...

Looking back, I could see it was a wooden something, with sharp corners. A chest? Huh, how... random. I dug it out and after breaking the lock effortlessly, peeked inside. Dusty, eugh. There were rolls of what might have been parchment, but they literally fell apart as soon as I touched them. A couple of canteens were there as well, but I was not so thirsty that I would dare to drink the foul water inside. Within it were what I assumed to be rations of some sort, but long since expired, a broken compass and, to my surprise, a few weapons, now rusted and beyond repair.

"Useless junk," I kicked the chest, sending it tumbling and spilling its contents and no sooner was I about to go sit down that something caught my eye, glinting faintly under the scarce flickers of sunlight. A leather string bound around a curious token and I swear, as I looked closer, that I could hear a voice speaking on the recesses of my mind.

Author's Notes:

Well guys, I have news to tell you. Whether you consider them bad or good is up to you. I haven't been idle these long months without an update. In fact, I've been very busy writing and so you can expect, along with the next chapter, over 50,000 words' worth of content to be released over the next couple of weeks. Why would this be considered bad news, you ask?

Well, be sure to check out my Author's Note in the following chapter.