Apple Bloom and Rumble had decided to return to Sweet Apple Acres after visiting Scootaloo in the hospital. Applejack had already expressed her concerns about Rumble to Apple Bloom, and she knew that her sister had talked to Granny Smith and Bic Mac about Rumble as well. Granny Smith had warned Apple Bloom that Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle had accidentally told Aj about her date with Rumble and Pinkie’s needed intervention to subdue her. Apple Bloom didn’t think Applejack would be okay with her suddenly disappearing, courtesy of Pinkie Pie, until she had assured her sister that Rumble was perfectly polite.

The young couple ascended the steps on the porch to the Apple Family barn house. Knowing that they would have to part ways for the day, Rumble said his goodbyes first, “I had a lot of fun with you today.”

“Me too,” Replied Apple Bloom with a smile on her face, “Ah wouldn’t mind doing somethin’ like that again.”

“How about this coming weekend?” Asked Rumble, surprised with how bold he was being at the moment.

Apple Bloom turned away from the door to her family’s home and took a couple of steps back toward Rumble before giving him a kiss on the cheek, “That sounds like a plan tah me.” While Apple Bloom herself had pink cheeks for the time being, Rumble’s face was scarlet.

“Uh-uh,” Apple Bloom couldn’t keep herself from giggling at how confused and embarrassed her coltfriend was, “I-I’ll see you at school Apple Bloom,” Rumble turned around and leaped into flight from the porch.

“Bye,” Was all Apple Bloom said as Rumble flew into the distance. She opened the door to her house and entered, with the creaking of the door alerting her family to her presence.

“Apple Bloom?” Called Granny Smith from the kitchen, “That you?”

“Sure is Granny” Called back Apple Bloom before she went into the kitchen herself.

Apple Bloom paused at the sight before her as she entered the kitchen. Granny Smith and Big Mac were sitting down, probably waiting for Pinkie to be done with her. But what caught her attention was Applejack, bound and gagged in one of the chairs, trying in vain to free herself.

Apple Bloom turned her head towards her big brother, “Aj try tah catch up to me an’ Rumble?”

“Eeeyup.”

“Y’all had to tie ‘er up?”

“Eeeyup.”

“She started screamin’ obscenities?”

“Eeeyup.”

Apple Bloom sighed as she walked up to her big sister. Now that she was closer, she could tell that Applejack was trying to say her name through the rag stuffed in her mouth. Apple Bloom reached up and hugged Applejack before removing the gag.

“Apple Bloom!” Were the first words to escape the orange mare’s mouth, “Are yer okay!”

“O’course,” Said Apple Bloom dismissively, “Why wouldn’t Ah be?”

“That coltfriend of yours,” Replied Applejack with a glare.

“What do yah got against Rumble?”

“He talked yah into keepin’ yer date a secret from yer family, fer a start!” Snapped Applejack.

“Sugarcube,” Said Granny Smith, “Yer brother and Ah told ‘er to keep it a secret from you specifically.”

Applejack’s head swiveled to face her grandmother, “What?”

“It don’t take a genius to know how you’d react,” Said the older mare bluntly, “You’d either insist on ‘keepin’ and eye on ‘em,’ if not outright ferbid them datin’.”

“Aj,” Said Apple Bloom, getting her sister’s attention, “Ah know yer just worried fer me, and never mind how annoyin’ it is, but everypony needs their space ‘nd ther privacy.”

Applejack was about to retort, but Apple Bloom continued, “Ah’m not a little foal no more, ‘nd just because you don’t have a life don’t mean I shouldn’t either.”

The three older Ponies paused at the words of their youngest, and were confused, “What do you mean?” Asked Big Macintosh.

Apple Bloom sighed, “Ah mean that just because Applejack doesn’t have a social life doesn’t mean that Ah shouldn’t be allowed to go out intah the world.”

“Ah have a social life,” Replied Applejack, now more confused than ever.

“You didn’t have friends until the last Summer Sun Celebration,” Pointed out Apple Bloom.

“Filthy Rich, Braeburn, Rainbow Dash, Rarity-” Applejack would have continued, but was interrupted by her sister.

“You only meet with Filthy Rich fer business, we only see our cousins every year or so, if that. You and Rainbow Dash were at other’s throat fer the longest time, and you knew of Rarity, but Ah know you two didn’t meet up every week like you do now and Ah also know that you didn’t think much of her until Princess Luna returned.”

The mouths of the Apple Family were agape, but it did nothing to stop Apple Bloom’s tirade, “It literally took an apocalypse fer you to start makin’ a life outside of the farm, ‘nd Ah wonder how much of yer effort to be a good friend is out of the kindness of yer heart and how much is out of a sense of obligation given that the six of you have some kind of magical bonds thanks to the Elements of Harmony.”

Granny Smith and Big Mac turned to face each other. The two of them had worried for Applejack in the past because, they too had made some of the same realizations that Apple Bloom had apparently made. Big Mac could be surprisingly social if he was with somepony one-on-one where as Applejack was more than content with minding her own business, only speaking to others if they were looking to make business arrangements with the Apple Family or if she thought something was wrong.

However, the latter of Apple Bloom’s points hadn’t even crossed their minds until the filly pointed it out just now. It was made more plausible in their minds by the recent incident where Applejack had snuck off to a Cherry farm to get the money she had promised to win for the town in a rodeo, but lost. It had never occurred to the two oldest members of the household Applejack felt obligated to be friends with the other Element Bearers.

“Ah appreciate you lookin’ out fer me, but Ah want tah live life without the ball ‘n chain,” Apple Bloom took a deep breath before speaking again, “Are there any chores that need doin’ Granny?”

Being addressed directly brought the lime green mare out of silence, “N-no, we got ‘em all taken care of after Pinkie Pie came ‘nd gotcha.”

Apple Bloom nodded her head in acknowledgement, “Alright then, does anypony mind if I go out with mah friends?”

“Go ahead Apple Bloom, just be back by supper time,” Answered Granny Smith. She and Big Mac needed a few moments to talk to Applejack.

“Okay, Ah’ll see ya’ll later!” Like usual, Apple Bloom raced out of the house leaving behind a trail of dust behind her. Granny Smith could never keep the smile off her face whenever she saw watched on the younger members of the family do that. It reminded Granny Smith of herself in her youth.

“Applejack,” Granny turned her head at the sound of Big Macintosh’s voice, “How much of what Apple Bloom said was accurate?” Big Mac started untying his crestfallen sister.

“A lot of it,” Admitted Applejack shamefully.

“So yer only friends with the other Element Bearers out’a ‘cause yah think yah have too?” Asked Granny Smith in shock.

“At first, yes. But because of that Ah started to ‘em in a different way.”

“How so?” Asked the big red stallion as he finished undoing Applejack’s bonds.

“Ah’ll start with Rainbow Dash,” Started Applejack, “At first, Ah wanted to best her so she would stop braggin’. She was also gettin’ on mah nerves ‘cause she was puttin’ her practice befer her job, which could affect our farm. Ah can’t even count how many massive storms the Weather Team had tah put together to make up fer all of the little drizzles Rainbow ‘rescheduled.’”

Applejack sighed as she got herself comfortable in her chair, making a point of not looking at her brother or grandmother, “But when she went out of her way to help with Nightmare Moon, mah opinion of ‘er increased tenfold. Ah never thought in a million years that stoplight hog would ever risk herself like that. And ya’ll should’ve seen how she nearly killed Twilight ‘cause she thought she was a danger to our home. And here Ah was thinkin’ she only cared ‘bout herself and ‘er ‘reputation,’ then she helps us save the world like, what? Three times now?”

“Ah didn’t even know Fluttershy existed until that day. And Pinkie Pie… She still scares me, but scares me a whole lot less than before. Finally, there’s Rarity. Ah just thought she was a good fer nothin’ neat freak. When Ah started spendin’ time with ‘er, Ah learned that she is a neat freak, but she genuinely believes she’s makin’ the world a better place by makin’ more ‘beautiful.’ Ah still don’t care fer all that fanciness she obsesses over, but Ah can understand where she’s comin’ from.”

“So ya’ll did feel obligated to be their friend, but came to actually care for them?” Summarized Granny Smith.

Applejack nodded in affirmation, “Ah knew Apple Bloom was growin’ up, but Ah didn’t realize how quickly. And Ah-ah just can’t…”

“See our sister as anything other than that tiny baby Pa and Granny brought home from the hospital,” Said Big Macintosh, finishing for Applejack after she trailed off.

“Ya’ll look like you could use some rest,” Said Granny, “Why don’t you go up tah yer room ‘nd take a nap ‘er somethin’?”

Applejack quietly nodded her head and went up to her room, “Do you really think she’ll be asleep?” Asked Big Mac.

“‘course not,” Replied Granny as she sat back down in her rocking chair, “But she needs some time tah think now that she’s cleared her head a little.”

Monday had arrived and both Twilight and Cheerilee were preparing for the noon class period in their classroom within the schoolhouse. Cheerilee was doing last-minute grading for the morning class period and now that her teaching assistant had finished cleaning the chalkboard and putting up the correct date in the top right corner, Twilight was straightening desks and cleaning out trash from in and around some of the desks.

Twilight would be upset by the trash, but she was willing to make an exception for the morning class period. Since Cheerilee had become Headmistress of Ponyville Schools, she had segregated the school foals by age and needs for the entire school. The younger children were all put into the morning class period, so Twilight was willing to let them all get off with gentle reminders and even cleaning up after the less observant children. Older children, who would soon be moving on to bigger parts of their lives, were placed into the noon class periods. Since they were older and more familiar with the town, they were less likely to get lost if somepony couldn’t take them to school and they wouldn’t be intimidated by crowds or traffic. The children who had different learning needs or outright learning disabilities, were all placed in the evening class period for discretion’s sake.

The school board was hesitant at first to allow Cheerilee to change things the way she did, but became more complacent after the drastic decrease in bullying incidents and the sharp increase in attendance. The cerise mare finished grading the morning class period papers and was double checking that had everything for today’s class when she noticed that Twilight had finished cleaning the desks and was looking for something to do while they waited for the noon class bell to ring to let their students in.

“You know,” Said Cheerilee, “I never would have thought that having an assistant would be so nice to have.”

Twilight blushed slightly at the sudden praise. Thankfully for the Unicorn, her light coat kept Cheerilee from noticing, “Oh! Uh… T-thanks Cheerilee, I’m just glad that I’m not just getting in your way.”

“Are you serious?” Replied Cheerilee with genuine surprise, “I’ve never had so much time for myself. It’s all usually spent doing things for the school. Frankly, I sometimes find that I have no idea what to do with myself.”

“I’m glad you came to me for help,” Said Twilight, “No one, except for you, actually uses the library,” Twilight started laughing to herself, “Sometimes, Spike and I just reshelf the whole library just so we have something to do.”

Cheerilee couldn’t help herself from giving her friend and TA a sad smile at that last comment, “Speaking of which,” Started Cheerilee, “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about Spike.”

“Oh?” Twilight tilted her head in curiosity, “What about him?”

“I was just wondering what he does in his spare time,” Explained Cheerilee, “I didn’t know he even existed until a few months after you two had been ‘assigned’ to Ponyville.”

“He helps me with the library and any errands I have to run,” Said Twilight, utterly oblivious to Cheerilee’s concerns.

“Doesn’t he have any friends?” Asked Cheerilee, almost certain that her fears were justified after all.

“He has me, our family, and the girls,” Answered Twilight.

“So, he doesn’t have any friends his age and he lives to serve you,” Summed up Cheerilee, being very careful not to directly tell one of the most powerful Unicorns to have ever lived that she was a slave driver.

“I guess?” Said Twilight, confused as to why her friend/employer was viewing Spike with such scrutiny, “But, why do you-”

Twilight’s eyes widened in horror as she realized that Cheerilee wasn’t concerned with Spike, but with how he was being treated. The lavender Unicorn was quickly building herself into a nervous breakdown as she muttered various things to herself. Twilight had always told herself that Spike would say something if he had problems with his workload. But with Cheerilee’s blunt assessment of their relationship, Twilight realized that Spike had never known any other kind of life, and might even believe that this was how things were supposed to be since he wasn’t a pony.

Puzzles in Twilight’s mind, that she didn’t even realize were there to complete, started solving themselves. This was why Spike wanted to be in the Dragon Migration, to compare how Dragons treated each other with how she’s treated him his entire life. This was why Spike refused to let go of his crush on Rarity, she was one of the most selfless Ponies in Equestria! How many times had Twilight so much as offered to help her assistant clean up the countless messes she herself had made!?

Cheerilee could only sit and watch in horror as the hairs that made up her teaching assistant’s mane and tail started sticking out of place on their own accord. Not even a full minute into her panic attack, and Twilight looked like she hadn’t combed her hair in weeks if not months. Cheerilee started inching towards the door into the hallway as Twilight started speaking clearly to herself while laughing hysterically in-between every other word.

“Cheerilee!” Exclaimed Twilight suddenly as she teleported directly in front of the Earth Pony and grabbed her shoulders while looking like the antagonist of a b-rated horror movie, “I need to take the rest of the day off!”

“O-okay,” Whispered Cheerilee, doing her best impersonation of Fluttershy as she was almost paralyzed with fear.

“Great!” Was all the crazed Unicorn said as she teleported to parts unknown, most likely the library she lived in with her assistant if the conversation prior to her mental breakdown was any indication.

Rumble walked into Ms. Cheerilee’s classroom too late to see Twilight’s meltdown, but early enough to see the look of abject horror on his teacher’s face. Being able to fly, and to do so fairly well, meant that Rumble was always able to come to class at least five minutes earlier than he was supposed to.

“Ms. Cheerilee!” Exclaimed Rumble, “Are you all right?”

“I-I’m fine,” Replied Cheerilee, her expression of terror now turned deadpanned with a distant look in her eyes.

Rumble knew that his teacher was hiding something, but the young Pegasus was not wise enough in the ways of the world to know that it was absolute horror. Rumble nodded his head as he headed to the same seat in the front row he had taken on his first day of school in Ponyville and prepared for class.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle walked into the room, still talking with each other. Rumble was too distracted by concern to notice what the two fillies were talking about, despite the fact that they had walk right past him in order to get to their usual seats.

Usually, it was Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo that were here first. The three of them were early risers by nature, but they didn’t have the luxury of having a cart to take them to school in a timely manner with the Pegasus of the trio still being on sick leave.

Fortunately, Cheerilee was able to collect herself before the rest of her class came in and took their seats. Though Cheerilee was one of surprisingly few teachers who didn’t enforce a seating chart of some kind, her students typically used the same seats. Only a couple of students had to be given assigned seats so that they didn’t bother anyone else in the class.

Cheerilee couldn’t keep herself from giving out an audible sigh, for she was hoping to have Twilight with her today. Cheerilee and Twilight both agreed that the students of noon class period were certainly old enough to learn of the darker parts of Equestria’s history, particularly the three hundred year period in-between the Unification of the Pony Tribes and Nightmare Moon’s banishment. Cheerilee even went as far as ordering that the other teachers in the noon class period spend the next two weeks going over it. With Equestria opening its borders for the first time in a thousand years, they deserved at least a little warning of the things that could come.

“Miss Cheerilee,” Said Archer with her hoof in the air, “Where's Twilight?”

“Twilight had to leave early today,” Cheerilee would have been either angry or annoyed that her new employee had just suddenly taken off, but the cerise mare knew that it was her fault that Twilight reacted the way she did, “But we will be talking about something very important this week.”

Cheerilee was more eager than usual to begin the lesson as she noticed that most of her problem students (namely Diamond Tiara and Snips and Snails) were paying attention, interested in what this important topic was. The cerise mare opened her mouth to start her lecture, when the door opened, “Ms. Cheerilee, I apologize for my tardiness.”

Cheerilee hadn’t even noticed that the incognito noble was absent from the room. Cheerilee was about to assure Noblesse Oblige that it was fine, as she hadn’t actually started the lesson, but she turned her head to face her young student who was still in the doorway and couldn’t find her voice.

Cheerilee’s class was wondering what horror could cause their typically upbeat teach to go silent, then Noblesse walked into the room. If anypony noticed that he was slightly taller, they didn’t say anything as they were fixated on his appearance.

It took longer than usual for Noblesse to enter the room, and he walk with knocking noise that sounded like a cane, though everypony could see that it was a wooden crutch he was limping with. Though, almost nopony noted the brown traveling cloak, not dissimilar to the one that Zecroa used to wear, he was now wearing or that a part of his neck was now colored like copper in place of a copper colored mane. Cheerilee expected the vertical slits going across Noblesse’s eyes, she knew that the rust color of his eyes would overtake the whites of his eyes. She even expected his fur to be replaced by the hide of scaly skin associated with reptiles. What Cheerilee didn’t expect, was for Noblesse to have both of his left legs maimed and his horn severed at the base. And of course, Noblesse hadn’t spoken with anypony else about the mutations that the blood rites he took in the Under Cities would cause, so it was utterly unexpected when one of their fellow students as some sort of serpent-equine hybrid.

Noblesse walked unceremoniously to his seat on the edge of the back row, next to where Scootaloo sat when present, completely unfazed by the astonished looks everypony was giving him. Noblesse left his crutch to lean against his desk as he patiently waited for everypony to process his new appearance.

After two minutes of stunned silence, it was Sweetie Belle who spoke first, “What happened to you?”

“Art thou referring to mine hide, eyes, or lacking number of limbs?” Asked Noblesse as though this were a casual conversation.

“Yes,” Was all Sweetie Belle said.

Noblesse titter a little before answering, “When I turned six, I performed a Blood Ritual that would mutate me into a Serpicorn… If I survived. Which I did.”

“What d’ya mean ‘if you survived’?” Asked Pipsqueak, horrified.

“The ritual doesn’t just give one a serpent’s hide,” Explained Noblesse, “It changes you slowly from the inside out. One could easily die during the first stage of the transformation.”

“You mean that all of those Ponies who helped out during Winter Wrap Up-”

“Yes,” Archer was interrupted by a confirmation from Noblesse.

“What happened to your legs and horn?” Asked Cheerilee, terrified at the prospect that someone so young could have such gruesome injuries.

“Though I was born in Canterlot and lived in Canterlot for a short time before coming here, I was raised in the Under-Cities and thus, served in their military,” Noblesse knew he was going to have to wait for his classmates to process that before continuing, “I sustained these injuries during my first deployment.”

“But we’ve seen you with all four of your legs and your horn,” Pointed out Sweetie Belle.

“Not all magic requires a biological catalyst like Unicorn and Pegasus magic,” Explained Noblesse, “I was using prosthetic appendages created with a unique magic I learned how to use while underground-”

“Underground?” Asked Rumble, interrupting Noblesse.

“The Under-Cities are all underground, ‘tis why they are called ‘Under-Cities’,” Said Noblesse, “My first molting has put me into Mana Recoil, preventing me from using any magic, otherwise I would have my prosthetics.”

Everypony in the classroom sat and stared at Noblesse as they processed this massive info-dump, trying to comprehend how someone could go through everything that Noblesse had and still fit into Pony society. Everypony except for Cheerilee. While Cheerilee had mostly read from the spell book that Noblesse had given to Twilight, Twilight had also been giving Cheerilee the history books that Twilight had been given whenever she had finished reading them. Though, she was stunned at the injuries Noblesse had taken.

“Wait!” Exclaimed Sweetie Belle, “If you served in a military, does that mean you’ve- you’ve k-killed Ponies before?”

“Not just,” Replied Noblesse nonchalantly, “I’ve killed members of all manner of intelligent beings, monsters too.”

“How can you be so casual about this!” Exclaimed Sweetie Belle in an accusatory tone of voice.

“Dost thou know’st what purpose the Under-Cities’ military serve?” Asked Noblesse.

Noblesse politely waited for somepony to ask why before continuing in response to the silence that answered him, “The Under-Cities’ military primary purpose to protect, not only the Equestrian nation, but the Equestrian continent as well. So, while I didn’t start receiving information about exactly why I was killing the people that I was being ordered to until my second year of service, I can assure you that more good came from the deaths I caused than bad.”

“What could possibly justify murder!?” Yelled Sweetie Belle with horrified tears in her eyes. And while Cheerilee stayed silent, she couldn’t help but wonder if anypony could hear Sweetie Belle through the walls of the classroom.

“I wasn’t a foot soldier for the Under-Cities,” Answered Noblesse with the apparent nonsequitur, “I was placed in Covert-Ops.”

“Like a spy?” Asked Cheerilee, finally finder her voice.

“Yes and no,” Answered Noblesse, “While I specialized in cloak-in-dagger methods, I was only ever given three espionage missions in my entire seven year career.”

Noblesse actually turned his head to face Sweetie Belle, his dull unblinking gaze seemingly going through Apple Bloom entirely, “As for your question Sweetie Belle, the first assassination objective I was received where I was told why he was marked; was a Gryphon warlord. Most people who live underground are descended from arch-criminals who were banished there in the first place, their descendants almost unanimously hate you surface dwellers for enforcing Hereditary Exile. The inhabitants of the Under-Cities suffered a self-imposed exile out of penance for driving the Night Princess insane, an exile that only ended when Luna herself decreed that this was no longer necessary.”

Noblesse needed to catch his breath before continuing, “The Gryphon warlord I mentioned was born to family of conquerors who had slowly been uniting the sub-terraranan Gryphons and Hippogriffs with the intention of seeking vengeance on surface nations, specifically the ones on the Equestrian continent. My Siblings At Arms and I knew that if we just killed him, one of his kin would replace and be pointless in the end. So, what we did was; we killed his infant child-” Noblesse paused when everypony gasped.

“It was easy to place blame on his advisors and family,” Continued Noblesse, “The generals serving the late warlord had to pick sides, the resulting civil war made their armies too weak to protect their own territories, let alone claim new ones. And since the Vicereine already had Legions at their borders, we were able to invade before their other neighbors could so much as muster armies. It also made eliminating him easier, as his focus was on his own allies and not foreigners who happened to be nearby.”

“How can you be so casual about this?” Asked Sweetie Belle, shocked by Noblesse’s blithe attitude about something so grim as murder.

“’twas my life for seven years,” Answered Noblesse, “There are three outlooks we Under-City denizen take on the matter.”

“And you chose sadism,” Accused Sweetie Belle.

“Slightly over one percent of our population is so overcome with guilt that they commit suicide in penance,” Replied Noblesse, “Others distance themselves from it entirely, and feel nothing as they are made to take countless lives. And those poor bastards start to feel no emotions at all, because denying one emotion is the beginning to the slow and steady path of Apathy.”

“So, Sweetie Belle?” Asked Noblesse, using an accusatory tone of voice himself, “If you had to choose between becoming so numb that you feel nothing, or relish in the suffering that you yourself cause; which would you choose?”

Sweetie Belle was about to vehemently answer to the former, when a last-minute thought caused the young Unicorn to freeze. She realized that she had rarely disliked the Crusades she and her friends went, she even enjoyed helping to clean up after herself and her friends sometimes, regardless of how much trouble she caused for other Ponies. She also realized she almost never felt sorry for the Ponies she and her friends inconvenienced. Even during the dreaded Gabby Gums fiasco, the absolute lowest point between herself and her friends, she had enjoyed discovering the truth and printing it in the paper for all of Ponyville to see. But what she enjoyed most of all, was watching their readers reactions to their articles. She even eagerly made up lies for when she and her friends didn’t have stories for their deadlines.

Am I any better than him? Thought Sweetie Belle. She kept a unique horrified face as she looked down at her desk, lost in the rapid stream that made up her thoughts.

While Apple Bloom had her head turned to give her longtime friend a concerned look, her ears perked up as she heard Noblesse’s silent laughter. This was not the same kind of laughter that Noblesse had given before in the few Crusades that he had been a part of. While his laughter was never faked, it always felt like he was holding something back. Like there was a part of him that he didn’t want anypony else to see. His laugh was now cold and foreboding, dissimilar to the cool and polite personality he had displayed before.

“I need not sight to know the look on Sweetie Belle’s face,” Said Noblesse, “I imagine she had the look of someone who has just discovered something about themselves that they perceive as horrible,” Noblesse could no longer hold back his eerie laughter as his laugh started to increase in volume.

Cheerilee was quick to change the subject, hopefully getting Noblesse to stop laughing, “Uh… Noblesse? Who is this ‘Vicereine’ you mentioned in your story?”

Noblesse’s response was instant as he stopped laughing. His facial features apparent without fur concealing his expression and his pupils narrowed in surprise.

Suddenly, a haunting laugh filled the room, accompanied by a familiar sarcastic tone of voice, “Did you say something you shouldn’t have, Noblesse?”

Author's Notes:

I apologize to anyone who was anticipating this chapter. I truly have no excuse, I just didn't feel like writing.

I hope that this slightly longer chapter makes up for it... That aside, please feel free to share your thoughts on the story so far and please point out any typos or continuity errors you notice so I can fix them.

As a little payback for taking my sweet time with this chapter, I'll say that someone who was briefly mentioned at the beginning of the story is finally becoming relevant!