“And that’s how Equestria and the Dragon Lands became allies. Through many trials and hardships, today both nations remain close allies and both dragons and ponies have been making peace between themselves. While there are still some who’ve been reluctant to peace, both Equestria and the Dragon Lands continue to work towards total acceptance and hope to one day be in harmony and friendship.”

Twilight put her book down and smiled at the class. “That concludes our history lesson for today.” The class applauded at this.

A sky blue changeling raised her hand up.

“Yes, Ocellus?” asked Twilight.

“Is it true that the dragons helped Equestria during the Storm King’s assault?” she asked.

The alicorn nodded. “Indeed, but that’ll be a lesson saved for tomorrow’s class.”

A tall and bulky yak crossed her arms and huffed. “Aw, Yona wanted to hear about that. Yona wanted to hear about such a battle and see if it measures up to yak standards.”

A skinny blue griffon scoffed. “Considering everything you claim is that yaks are better at everything, you probably won’t like it.”

“Don’t be so mean, Gallus,” a pink hippogriff said. “I’ve been wanting to hear how it happened myself! Aunt Novo never really told me anything!”

An orange dragoness leaned back and grinned. “I’ll give you the short and easy version, Silverstream. We kicked that Storm King and his so called army back to whatever frozen wasteland they came from.”

A lanky sea green pony chuckled. “Not from what I’ve heard.”

The dragoness raised an eyebrow. “What does that mean?”

“Sandbar’s correct, Smolder,” corrected Twilight. “What I’ll tell you all is that the fight still wasn’t that easy, but we made a lot of new friends in the end.”

Gallus leaned in to Smolder. “I heard they even made friends with that weird pony with horn issues.”

“She has a name you know,” said Twilight, sternly.

The griffon yelped as the alicorn stood in front of his desk.

“You’ll find out more in tomorrow’s class about the Storm King crisis,” she said. “For tonight, I want you all to write a paper about why despite their differences ponies and dragons can still be friends.”

The whole class groaned. The bell rang and slowly the class started gathering their things and leaving.

Ocellus and Silverstream flew over to their friends. “Want to meet up at the usual spot in the library?” the changeling asked.

“That sounds good,” said Sandbar. “I just need to go ask Professor Pinkie some questions about the project she assigned and I’ll meet you there.”

Smolder yawned. “I want to take a nap first.” She glared at Yona. “Someone was snoring again last night.”

The yak looked down and frowned. “Yona sorry for making friend tired.”

“We really need to do something about that,” said Ocellus. “Maybe we can see this zebra some ponies talk about. They claim she’s a potions master.”

Smolder stretched a little. “You all do that. Wake me when you all get back with a solution.” The dragoness was about to fly out of class when she accidentally bumped into something. “Sorry about that. I didn’t see you there.”

She looked up and was met by a tall, rather muscular purple dragon in a black suit.

“Oh, sorry about that, Vice Head-drake Spike,” said Smolder.

Spike laughed. “Don’t worry about it. I hope Twilight wasn’t boring you all too much with her history lecture.”

“Spike!” scolded Twilight. “They’re not boring at all!”

The drake laughed again and held his hands up. “Easy there, Twilight. I was just kidding.”

Smolder rolled her eyes. “Speak for yourself,” she muttered. “It made me even more tired.” She flew off again and out of the classroom.

Sandbar got up. “Guess we better head out ourselves.” As the others gathered their things, he noticed Gallus was looking away and remained seated. “You alright, man?” he wondered.

The griffon jumped a little. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he quickly said. “I’ll catch up with you all. I just need a moment is all.”

Silverstream flew up to his face and frowned. “What’s wrong, Gallus? You can tell me!”

Gallus’ eyes widened as he looked at the hippogriff. “Um...thanks, Silverstream, but it’s nothing to worry about,” he said. “I’ll be right with you, okay?”

The hippogriff beamed and hugged him. “Alright, we’ll be waiting outside the classroom!”

The group walked out of the classroom, leaving Spike, Twilight, and a flustered Gallus by himself.

“What’re you doing here anyway, Spike?” wondered Twilight.

The drake held up a scroll. “This came for you.”

The alicorn took the scroll and her eyes widened from the sight of a blue flame with an “E” in the middle of it. She opened the letter and began reading it. She gasped and grinned like a filly who was waiting to open presents on Hearth’s Warming Day.

“Spike, I got to get our friends!” she explained, quickly. “Can you lock up and meet me in the castle entrance?”

The drake rubbed his head. “Um…”

“Thanks!” Twilight ran out the room, leaving a confused Spike behind.

Spike leaned against the desk and crossed his arms. “I’ll never fully understand her.”

“Um...Vice Head-drake Spike?”

The dragon looked down to see a rather nervous Gallus standing before him and frowned. “Hey, are you okay?”

Gallus nodded. “I just need to ask you something between us guys if that’s alright.”

Spike slowly nodded and escorted him towards the back of the class. They both sat down at a desk and looked at each other.

“So what’s up?” asked Spike.

The griffon rubbed the back of his neck and looked down. “This...this isn’t easy to ask at all. I’ve been having some problems lately.”

The drake raised an eyebrow. “Shouldn’t you go see Counselor Starlight? I’m sure she can help.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to talk to her, but I think you’d be the only one I can fully trust on this,” said Gallus.

“What do you mean by that?” wondered Spike.

Gallus shifted around. “It’s just that this is something that I know you’ve had trouble with in the past and I feel you’re the best I can come to for something like this.”

Spike looked a little surprised by the revelation.

“I...I heard about how you, Professor Rarity, and Dragon Lord Ember became a couple,” explained Gallus. “I don’t know all the details, but I’ve heard how you all became a couple and well…” The griffon looked down.

Spike straightened himself. “You came to me about romance ad–”

“Shhh!” Gallus looked around the room and out the door to see his friends talking to each other. “Not so loud!” he whispered.

The drake nodded. “Alrighty then, so what’s this about?”

Gallus fidgeted his claws a little. “There ...there is some creature that’s been really nice to me and I don’t know what to do.”

“Your friends?” inquired Spike. “They’ve all been really nice to you though.”

The griffon shook his head. “No, I mean there’s been just one of them has been really nice to me and well...I don’t know how to react or what to do. It’s something I’ve never really dealt with before.”

Spike crossed his arms. “Can you at least tell me who it is?”

Gallus shook his head.

The drake smirked. “Secret crush, huh? I now know what you mean.” He leaned in. “Why do you feel this way? It’s obvious you know about love and this friend of yours seems to care deeply about you. What’s wrong with that?”

Gallus rubbed his arm. “I just fear that I’m not good enough for her.”

Spike raised an eyebrow again.

“She’s like royalty and all, and just look at me.” Gallus sighed and had a dejected look on him. “I’m an orphan. No royalty, no family, no friends until I came here, and even Grandpa Gruff treats me like a burden then another griffon. I got nothing to impress her with. If I try to do anything with her, I’m afraid I won’t be making her happy and drag her down.”

Spike opened his mouth to speak, but they were both interrupted by the sound of laughter. They both turned to see Gallus’ friends laughing at something. The drake noticed that Gallus was sighing contently as his eyes fell upon one specific creature’s bubbly laughter echoing loudly.

The drake chuckled. “Well, I think I get the picture now. Gallus, I want to ask you something now, and be honest with me.”

The griffon gulped a little. “What is it?”

“Do you really care for her?”

Gallus hesitated to answer.

“Do you really care for her?” Spike repeated.

Gallus took a deep breath and muttered, “...Yes.” He suddenly felt the drake put a claw on his shoulder and looked up to see him smiling.

“Look, I know it can be scary to face a crush who may or may not return your feelings,” Spike explained. “When it came to Rarity and Ember, I had a hard time myself too. I’m not sure what you’ve heard, but let’s just say things got really crazy before it got better. I’ll give you some advice about what to do with her though.”

Gallus raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”

“I’ve seen the way she looks at you too, you know? She may be royalty, but it’s obvious she cares about you too. She doesn’t care about how you’re just an orphan, or if you aren’t royalty. Underneath it all, you’re some special griffon to her, and doesn’t care where you came from, but who you are. If you want to make her know you care, then she her in your own way that lets her know how much you mean to her.”

Gallus gulped. “And...and if she doesn’t?”

Spike smiled. “I know she will. But you have to be the one to act on this. You got to let her know how much she means to you. And don’t think you can’t do it either. If you and the others can take down Cozy Glow and stop her plan, then I know you can tell her your feelings for her.”

Gallus said nothing. He sat there and looked down at the ground as he took in everything. After a minute of staying silent, he looked up and smiled a little.

“You’re right,” he said. “I got to do this. I may not be anything but a griffon orphan, but I’ll do anything to make her happy after how much she’s cheered me up.”

Spike smiled. “That sounds like a good idea.” He slapped Gallus on the shoulder. “Now go get her.”

The griffon nodded. “Thanks, Vice Headdrake.”

“Think nothing of it. Now run along. I got to see what’s got Twilight so worked up.”

Gallus nodded and ran off from the classroom. Spike got up and pushed in his and Gallus’ chair and left the room. He locked the door and began walking down the now empty hallway.

A loud joyful scream suddenly echoed from nearby. “EEEEE! Of course I will, Gallus! This’ll be so much fun!” a jubilant voice rang out.

Spike smiled to himself as he kept walking down the hallway.

Spike opened the door to the castle and saw his friends standing around. Rarity immediately ran forward and embraced him in a hug, which he quickly returned.

“Twilight told you all to meet her here too?” he asked them.

Applejack nodded. “Eeyup. She looked really wound up when she came to us. You know what’s up, Spike?”

The drake shook his head. “Not a clue.” He glanced at Rarity. “I take it she didn’t say anything to you?”

Rarity nodded. “Not a thing at all.”

“I hope it doesn’t take too long,” said Starlight. “I promised Sunburst and Trixie I’d be at the train station to welcome them back from the Crystal Empire.”

“I just wish I knew what it was,” said Fluttershy.

“Hey there!”

The group turned around and was met by Twilight beaming a smile at them.

“Kept us waiting, huh?” asked Spike.

“Sorry, but I needed to make sure everything was in place,” said the alicorn. “What I’m about to show you all will change everything!”

Spike raised an eyebrow. “Wait, are you talking about that project you’ve been keeping secret?”

Twilight nodded. “I’ve worked on it night after night whenever I could, but I’m ready to show you all.” She waved a hand. “Come on now!” She ran off down the hallway.

The others looked at each other and shrugged. They all quickly followed after the princess down the hallway. They kept following her until they reached a large set of double doors and Twilight was waiting for them.

The alicorn pushed the doors open to reveal a dark room and stepped aside. “Come on in,” she urged.

The group walked into the dark room and the last bit of light went away as Twilight shut the doors.

“Ooo! I know what you’ve been working on Twilight!” exclaimed Pinkie. “You’ve been working on a new kind of darkness; advanced darkness! Heh heh!”

Twilight chuckled. “Let me get the light and you’ll see.”

With a click, the room illuminated and revealed a large, spacious room, but what caught everyone’s eyes was the very large white sheet covering something in the middle of the room. Everyone looked at it in awe and wonder.

“What in tarnation is that?” inquired Applejack.

“Maybe Twilight’s working on setting a record for the world’s biggest bed sheet,” said Pinkie.

“And why would a bed sheet cover something?” asked Rainbow.

The party mare shrugged. “Maybe she needed to put it somewhere and this was the only place.”

Rainbow slapped her forehead. “Twilight, please show whatever you got to us before Pinkie comes up with another crazy idea.”

“With pleasure.” The alicorn’s horn glowed and the sheet was lifted up slowly.

The others looked on in anticipation as to what was beneath it. Pinkie tried to get on the ground to look, but Applejack pulled her back up to her feet. The sheet was thrown to the side and everyone gasped at what they saw.

There was a large machine that towered over the group. There were multiple wires all connected to various smaller machines. There were a few large electrical rods sticking up behind the machines. In the middle of it all was a large bronze circle that had a rather large blue crystal at the top.

Starlight whistled. “Wow…I don’t even know what to say. I know you said it was a big project, but nothing like this. What is it anyway?”

Twilight smiled. “This is a teleporter!”

Everyone looked at her in confusion.

The alicorn raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“Um, Twilight?” inquired Rainbow. “Why would you need to build a teleporter? You can do that you know? Even Starlight and Rarity can do it too. What’s the point of it?”

“It’s true what you say, Rainbow,” said Twilight. “This teleporter works by utilizing quantum physics and that–”

“Can you get to the point?” asked Rainbow. “No offense, but we’re not all science majors like you are.”

Twilight frowned. “In short, this device works with another one that’s been built and can serve as a means to quickly go from here to another place.”

“Wait a minute,” objected Starlight. “Another one? You mean there’s another one of these things built?”

“Exactly!” answered Twilight.

Everyone looked shocked at the revelation.

“Where is it?” asked Fluttershy. “Canterlot?”

Twilight shook her head.

“The Crystal Empire?” inquired Pinkie.

“Nope!” said Twilight.

“Seaquestria?” wondered Applejack.

“No.”

“The moon!” exclaimed Pinkie.

Twilight shook her head. “Maybe it’s best I show you all.” She handed Spike a sealed scroll. “Send this away, Spike. I was told to do so once we were ready.”

Spike’s eyes widened. “You...you mean we’re going to…”

Twilight nodded. “Activate the teleporter.”

The drake frowed. “Is it even safe to use? I mean what if it blows up?”

Twilight put a hand on Spike’s shoulder and smiled. “Relax. I’ve been testing it out and we’ve gotten a lot of the kinks worked out.”

Starlight sighed. “I guess that explains all the power failures and those explosions I’ve heard. I’m surprised you’re not badly hurt from this, Twilight.”

The alicorn shrugged. “I’ve been hit with worse.”

Spike took a deep breath and let out a stream of green fire briefly. The scroll disappeared in in the flames. “Alright, it’s been sent. I hope you know what you’re doing, Twilight.”

“Just stand behind that wall there.” Twilight pointed to a part in the room where there was a small wall with a window to look out of. “I need to calibrate the teleporter and turn it on.”

The group went over the wall and hid behind it. Twilight ran around turning on machines, cranking knobs, and pushing buttons. The electrical poles lit up and the hum of electricity filled the air. The others watched in awe as they heard the machines beeping and the electricity buzzing through the air.

Spike leaned in to Starlight. “Tell me your shield spell has been improving.”

The unicorn nodded. “Trust me. After everything that I’ve seen Twilight do with her crazy schemes, I’ve learned to be prepared.”

“It’s ready!” Twilight exclaimed, happily.

She ran behind the wall and towards another machine. She quickly pushed some buttons and twisted a knob. The electricity intensified and the humming became louder.

“Get ready!” said Twilight.

The electricity suddenly shot out towards the crystal on the arch one by one. The crystal began to shine brightly. The group shielded their eyes and looked away. Starlight’s horn started to glow and waited to cast her spell. Twilight just looked on happily and smiled. A loud cracking noise suddenly echoed throughout the room like a lightning bolt that struck closeby.

Suddenly, the noise fell eerily silent. Spike opened his eyes and expected the worst, but saw everything was still standing. He heard a low humming nearby and slowly got up to see where it was coming from. He looked over the window and gasped as he saw the arch now had a blue hue to it. Slowly, the others got up and were just as mesmerized by the arch as Spike was.

“Oh, my,” Fluttershy said in awe.

Applejack let out a whistle. “What’s on the other side?”

Twilight smiled and walked up to the arch. “Alright, it’s ready!” she shouted through the blue hue.

The alicorn stepped back and the group looked on in confusion. A foot then appeared from the arch, much to their shock. Then, a blue hand appeared and grabbed the arch. Spike gasped as he recognized the familiar looking hand. The figure emerged from the teleporter, and the drake’s heart nearly stopped from who he was looking at.

The figure smiled. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it, Spike?”

Spike smiled and ran up to the figure and hugged them tightly.

“Ember!” he happily exclaimed.

Rarity ran over and hugged the dragoness. “Darling, it’s so good to see you!”

Ember returned the hug between her lovers. “I’m glad to see you all too.”

“But...but how though?” asked Spike. “You just emerged from there!”

“I think the princess and I can both explain that,” a voice said.

Everyone turned around and saw Matches walking through the portal. Twilight quickly embraced him and kissed him on the cheek.

“So how did you pull this off?” asked Starlight.

Twilight broke off the embrace and turned to the group. “I’ve been thinking that since we’re now close friends and allies, we needed a quicker way to see each other. Especially since some of us have a certain special someone far away.” She brought Matches in closer.

“The princess and I have been collaborating together about how to make this work,” said Matches. “When I first heard of it, I admit I was skeptical about it, but I went through with it. Truth be told, teleportation has been something the mages in the Dragon Lands have struggled with. The most they could do was create a crystal that made it possible for them to teleport them a short distance.”

Matches pointed to the blue crystal on the arch. “See that?” The group nodded. “That’s a teleportation crystal, and it’s one of the rarest crystals ever. Normally, they can teleport you, at the very most, twenty or so feet away. Twilight, however, found a way around that problem.”

The alicorn nodded. “I theorized that if I could channel enough power and magic into the crystal, it would increase how well it worked. At first, I slowly expanded how far it could go. Then, I just had to calibrate how far the crystal’s power needed to expand to reach the Dragon Lands.”

“While she was doing that, I figured that the best way to teleport from one specific point to another,” said Matches. “One of the mages suggested that to do that, I would need another teleportation crystal to create a link so to say.”

“We’ve been exchanging ideas and theories about what to do,” said Twilight. “I eventually managed to put all the stuff together needed to create the teleporter. I sent the ideas to Ember, and she ordered that a similar teleporter be built like this.”

“We’ve been testing it for a few months now,” said Matches. “We’ve had some power issues and making sure the magic intake wasn’t overloading the teleporter. Through trial and error, we’ve managed to finally get it to stabilize on both ends.”

“Thanks to the combination of both Dragon and Equestrian magic, the first teleporter is finally up and running!” Twilight happily stated.

“What if someone else tries to use it?” wondered Starlight. “Aren’t you worried that some dragon or pony will try to use it to sneak through?”

“Impossible,” said Matches. “Both teleporters have to be active to allow the user to go through. If they try to do it without both teleporters active, they get rejected immediately.”

“And when we need to get back, I’ll just send a message back to Master Singe and he’ll inform the mages of my return to activate the teleporter.”

“Speaking of which.” Twilight turned a knob, and the blue aura disappeared.

Spike smiled. “So, Rarity and I can see Ember any time we want to? All that without having to travel for so long to the Dragon Lands by chariot?”

The alicorn nodded. “As long as she lets you come that is. We can use it to visit her, or if they need help and we can send aid.” She turned to the dragoness. “Speaking of which, Ember, do you need any more guards? I’ve been hearing reports of the remnants of the Storm King’s forces are around the Dragon Lands.”

Ember shook her head. “Thanks, but we got it. Our forces have things well under control.” She put a hand on Matches’ shoulder and smiled. “All thanks to our new captain of course.”

Twilight gasped and squealed in delight. “Captain!? Oh, I’m so proud of you, Matches!”

The green dragon smirked. “Those guys are much easier without their leader giving them orders. Especially since she isn’t commanding them anymore.” Matches shivered a little. “How can one pony be that damn tough?”

Twilight frowned. “I know she did some terrible things, but she’s vowed to become a better pony. She’s even taken part in helping uncover any remaining bases the Storm King had around.”

Matches furrowed his brow. “It still doesn’t mean I have to fully trust her. I’m still not sure how you did it, Twilight, but the moment she thinks about turning against you all again…”

The alicorn nodded. “Don’t worry. She’s given her word and has changed. You have to remember how blinded she was by her loneliness and rage.”

Matches sighed. “Sometimes I think you ponies are way too forgiving.”

“Alright, settle down, Matches,” ordered Ember. “What Princess Twilight wants to do with her is up to her.” She pulled Spike and Rarity close to her. “The Council has got things covered with recovery efforts to allow us to be with our mates. Let’s make the best of it.”

Matches bowed. “My apologies, Lord Ember.” He looked at Twilight with a remorseful look. “I’m sorry too. It’s just been hard to keep those forces off our land.”

“I understand,” said Twilight. “There’s been some skirmishes too on the borders of Equestria, but nothing we can’t handle.” She took Matches’ hand and smiled. “Come on, I told Shining and Cadence I’d have a surprise waiting for them. They’re waiting at the Sunflower Cafe for me.”

Matches chuckled weakly. “Oh, goody. Another visit with your brother.”

Twilight chuckled. “Don’t worry. Cadence made him promise he wouldn’t be hard on you like last time.”

Matches sighed. “I sure hope so.” He looked at the others. “We’ll catch you all later, okay?”

Ember laughed. “Have fun, you two.”

The alicorn and drake waved and walked out of the room.

Applejack looked at a clock nearby. “I’d like to stay and all, but I got a date with Soarin tonight. He said he’d take me someplace really nice.”

“His bedroom?” joked Rainbow.

Applejack slapped the pegasus. “Could ask you the same thing about your date with Thunderlane last week,” she scolded.

Rainbow blushed and muttered incoherently as both her and Applejack walked off.

“I better get back to the animal sanctuary,” said Fluttershy. “It’s time for Harry’s checkup after that accident he climbed that tree.”

“I should get going to the train station myself,” said Starlight. She turned to Pinkie. “Want to come? Maybe give them your traditional Ponyville welcome?”

Pinkie beamed. “Of course! I’m waiting for someone else at the train too! He and I have so much to catch up on!”

Starlight raised an eyebrow. “Who exactly?”

The pink pony sighed dreamfully. “He’s like me. It’ll be so good to see him again after all this time, and maybe just maybe…” Pinkie blushed a little.

Starlight smirked. “Ah, I see. Well, let’s not keep them waiting.” The two ponies walked off, leaving Spike, Ember, and Rarity by themselves.

Spike sighed and looked at his ladies. “So what do you all want to do first?”

Ember and Rarity looked at each other and nodded.

“We do have something in mind,” said Ember.

“Something fun to do together,” added Rarity.

“Like what?” asked Spike.

Rarity gave him a seductive smile and her horn lit up. Before Spike knew it, the world disappeared in a flash and suddenly went away as he heard chirping nearby. He looked around to be met with trees, bushes, and the sounds of ponies nearby.

“What’s going on?” wondered Spike.

Suddenly, another flash went out and the drake gasped as he saw both Rarity and Ember naked in front of him. He looked down and realized he was naked too and covered his member.

“What the?” the drake inquired in shock.

“Remember what I said on our first night together?” asked Ember. “I figured we’d try that out.”

Spike gulped. “But...but where are we?”

“Near Ponyville Park,” answered Rarity. “I figured we’d have a little fun with ourselves.”

Spike felt his heart racing. “What if we get caught though?” he whispered.

Rarity chuckled. “That’s half the fun, darling.”

Ember walked up to him and put her arms around him. “Just relax, Spike. Rarity told me if we’re about to get caught, she can teleport us out of here. For now,” she took Spike’s hand and put it on her breast. “Why don’t we just have some fun?”

Before Spike could ask, Rarity walked up and kissed him on the lips. The drake was caught off guard and stumbled back. He, Ember, and Rarity fell to the ground and moaned passionately.

A mint green unicorn embraced a tan Earth pony. “How are you doing, Bonny?” she asked.

Bon Bon smiled and kissed the unicorn on the cheek. “This is relaxing, Lyra. I always love coming here. We have so many good times together here.”

Lyra nodded and nuzzled against Bon Bon. “The first date we had, the night I kissed you for the first time. It’s something I’ll never forget.”

“Yeah,” said Bon Bon.

As the couple relaxed, Lyra’s ears perked up and sat up. “Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?” asked Bon Bon.

“Shh! Listen!” urged Lyra.

Both ponies listened closely and distinctly made out the sounds of soft moaning nearby. Both turned back and had blushes on their faces.

Lyra chuckled. “I remember that too, you know? How many times we went around doing it and seeing if we’d get caught?”

Bon Bon smiled deviously. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

Lyra nodded and smiled seductively. “The usual spot?”

“I was thinking more close to the main square,” said Bon Bon. “I know there’s a lot of ponies there today and that’ll make it more exciting.”

The two ponies got up and with a chuckle, they ran off into the woods nearby.

Author's Notes:

Well, it's finally over. It's been a long ride and all, but it's finally come to a conclusion. I know this story went on much longer than usual, but that was mostly due to work, focusing on my career, and feeling drained and unable to motivate myself. In the end though, it's finally over.

I do hope you all enjoyed this story. I'm not sure what I'll do next for a story. Maybe I'll try to explore a little more outside the romance genre. Not sure what it'll be, but sometime in the future. For now, I think it's time I took a brief break before going back and try to put together another story.

Thank you all for reading, and special thanks to FlimFlamBros. for the help in this story. See you all next project.