2357, and there was only war. During the Golden Age of Earth, between the years 2084 and 2261, all the nations of the world came under one flag. The government, in the beginning, was free of corruption, and existed to help the people of Earth.. During this time, humans were able to take apart and decommission all nuclear weapons to exist on the planet. They moved away from fossil fuels, using more natural energy sources for fuel, because the technology to collect and store things such as solar and wind energy greatly improved. Weapons manufacture was at a minimum, only enough to arm a global defense force, due to the unknown threat of the universe. Poverty was at a minimum, and unemployment almost eradicated. This was a time of peace, a time when educating the youth and medical care were the primary concerns of humans. They were able to find a cure for cancer, and other debilitating diseases were all but history. Prosthesis was improved upon, from simplistic, slow moving designs to replacements that worked in sync with the rest of one’s body, and if not for the metal used, looked like the real thing. Even essential metals, steel and titanium, were in abundance, when scientists found a method to quickly and efficiently manipulate atoms and molecules to mass produce them as needed for human architecture. Mega cities were born, and provided more than enough space for the whole of humanity, building higher and deeper than ever before. The five major cities, New York, Beijing, Berlin, Rio de Janeiro, and Cape Town, housed seventy-five percent of the world’s population. This was doable because of the second black plague, when a lab mutated anthrax virus developed for war escaped containment before a vaccine was produced, infecting and killing billions of people in the process (this happened between the years 2053 and 2072). WIth the population of Earth decreased dramatically as it was, it was easier to build these cities up and to tear the rest down, as they were not needed.
This peace did not last though, for as time went on, the human condition rose again within those who took office in the world government system, and soon corruption once again took root. In 2087, this corruption was found, and soon the people who were victims of it began to riot. New terrorist cells began to rise in the cities, and people joined with earnest. In the year 2091, the governing system failed to quiet the groups down, and when they were attacked, could not defend themselves. As the government fell, the mega cities decided that it would be best to divide into five separate nations. This system failed in the year 2096 though, when the cities could not handle their own populations. The people wanted unity, but each hemisphere wanted something different. Thus, two great governing powers rose. The United People of the Americas, and The Conglomerate of Nations. This worked for many years, and the world was at peace again. Weapons manufacture and military power became a primary concern again, and as both nations built up their military might, tensions began to rise. This boiled over into the Third World War, beginning in the year 2139, and continues to this day.
Most of the war is fought on the uninhabited continent of Australia, but covert operatives from both sides do make attacks in the cities, causing strife. One such attack in Berlin is where the story of Dusk begins.
It was a normal day, and Dusk (known then as Azher) and his parents were enjoying a day at the Museum of World History. Dusk wished for nothing more than to be a historian when he became an adult, and took steps early in life, as soon as when he was five, to achieve his dream. Fate had other plans for him though. A covert group had infiltrated the city’s security system and had planted high energy explosives underneath the museum. They had planned to destroy the infrastructure, of the building, but their superiors had other plans. As the soldiers departed, the bombs were set off, and the building was decimated. Officially, no one survived the blast, but there was a ten year old boy who did. Dusk was found by rescue teams, both of his legs and right arm crushed under debris, completely destroyed. The team had to cut them, his arm from the shoulder and legs one quarter of the way down from his thighs. He was brought to the nearest emergency health center, Dr. Pheat Gullion was searching for a test subject, under authorization of the Conglomerate of Nations, and as soon as he saw Dusk, he made his choice. With his authority, Dusk was transported to Beijing, and the process began.
Dusk was forced to undergo many life changing surgeries. Many augmented his natural body, from densifying his skeletal structure to imitate the strength of titanium, and nano-mites in his bone marrow to allow for quick bodily repair of minor wounds, to a chip in his brain, allowing him to store information. His eyes were replaced with cybernetic ones, allowing a range of different visions. These include night, infrared, and x-ray (it was not actual x-ray, but it does allow for Dusk to see through walls up to three feet thick no matter the material). They also allow for zoom, up to and including two miles from Dusk’s location. His skin was augmented to replicate steel, allowing for minor defense from small arms fire, and augmented strength. With his strength, he can deadlift up to two and a half tons, and carry over three-hundred pounds of equipment, if needed, for days non-stop. He was given a new arm and legs. They were made of titanium, from the skeletal structure to the skin. The “muscle” was also made of titanium, but was more of a cable like construction. If not for the coolness of the metal, they would look like real limbs all the way through, from the bones to the ligaments. Because of this, there was no room for secret weapons, but that didn’t matter. His legs allowed for a jump height of 15 odd meters from a standing position and a jump length of 45. If he kicked any human, there was a ninety percent chance that bone would be shattered at the contact point, and a fifty percent of death if the impact was over any vital organs or head.
Dusk was also trained in many hand to hand combat disciplines as soon as he recovered. He didn’t want to do it, but was forced to. If he didn’t comply, he was punished by being locked up in a small room by himself. This would happen many times a week, until he finally gave up at the age of thirteen. He was also educated on many subjects, from programming to military strategy. The chip in his brain allowed for him to excel in all subjects taught to him. He finished at the age of fifteen, and if it was a formal education, he would have a master’s degree on eight subjects. With his knowledge, he created an A.I. in secret, and promptly named her Anastasia. She was his companion from then on, and helped him to heal from the traumas he suffered. He never completely healed, nor would he.
It was around this time that he began to go on covert operations alone. He successfully completed over two-hundred missions, with minimum loss of life on the other side, much to Dr. Gullion’s distaste. Dusk was supposed to be Dr. Gullion’s killing machine, but he just couldn’t get Dusk to kill unless absolutely necessary. He tried to use the chip to control Dusk’s actions, but was foiled by Anastasia, unbeknownst to him. He soon gave up on this, and turned to other test subjects he picked up over the years to do the dirtier work.
Dusk’s life was almost completely ruined. That was, of course until he discovered old television. When he wasn’t training or out on mission, he could be found in his quarters, watching many old age cartoons, such as “Adventure Time” and “Steven Universe.” Amongst all of these old cartoons, though, his favorite was a show called “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.” He found peace with the show, and always fantasized about living in Equestria with his favorite Pony, Fluttershy. Of course, his reality was that of war and hate, so he knew that living in a world like Equestria would never be possible for him.
That is, until one fateful day in the city of New York…
From the way people were staring at me, I could guess that they didn’t approve of others wearing a trench coat in summer. I honestly didn’t care, so I ignored them. That’s not to mention the hilt of my plasma edge bastard sword hanging out from the collar, and the wind that would occasionally blow the fabric hanging around my legs, showing the two large revolver styled plasma pistols holstered to my hips. Or the hood that covered my entire face, and long, maroon hair that I had a tendency to style in a “spiky” fashion going halfway down my chest out of the front of my hood. My lightly tanned skin was also hidden from view, seeing as I was wearing gloves. Or maybe it was just the fact that I was a two and three tenths of a meter tall behemoth amongst them. Oh well, I really didn’t care.
I finished contemplating as I “heard” a ding and Anastasia interrupted my thoughts. She had a tendency to do that, especially when we were on a mission. ‘Dusk, we have new incoming orders. The target is moving to a new location, and luckily for us, it’s headed in our direction.’
‘Seriously?’ I responded to her mentally. She was unable to speak out loud when she occupied the space in my brain that I set aside for her. ‘That is going to set us back on our plans, again.’ I only got a “nod” from her, as an enforcement officer came up beside me in his patrol vehicle. He stepped out and walked toward me. I didn’t even acknowledge him, choosing to ignore the man.
“Sir, may I ask you why you are openly carrying a variety of weapons on your person,” he said as he stepped into my path. I just side-stepped and continued on my way. “Hey, I’m talkin to you buddy!” He was being persistent, and it was annoying. He grabbed my shoulder, in a feeble attempt to get me to turn around. At this point, people were starting to stare, and snapping pictures with their wrist communicators. It was unwanted attention, so I turned to face the man. He was short, compared to me at least, only coming up to my chest. I looked down at him, making him very uncomfortable. “Sir, I-I need to a-ask you to c-come down to the st-station with me.”
I spoke, my deep baritone making the poor man jump, “I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I can’t. You see, I have important business to attend too, and cannot be sidetracked.” While this was true, I wasn’t about to tell him that I was planning on stealing government secrets right off the street in the middle of the day, with all of these innocent people standing around.
He puffed his chest out in an unconscious effort to make himself look bigger, like many animals do when facing their hunter. “I’m afraid you have no choice,” he said, regaining his lost confidence. “You’re coming with me, whether you like it or not.” He tried to be loud, and authoritative, but I only chuckle. This man had no idea who he was dealing with.
‘Dusk, we have a truck that is headed our way with three armed escort vehicles. Hover bikes, if I’m not mistaken. You have about ten minutes before the truck is right next to us.’ I turn around to look, and sure enough, the truck is there. Now, to deal with the officer…
“Look,” I began, “I really don’t have time for this. I’m supposed to be going somewhere, and you are impeding me. Either let it go, or I send you to the hospital with, at the minimum, one broken arm and a wrecked squad car.” The officer begins to pale, but holds his ground, reaching for the pitiful pistol he calls a sidearm. I sigh with defeat, not knowing what else to do. “You leave me no choice, then…” Faster than he can pull out his gun, my right hand shoots out as I grab his forearm. With little effort, I squeeze and break both of bones, resulting in him screaming in agony. He forgets his gun as he falls to his knees, and the people around us begin to scream and run for safety. Good, now I won’t have to worry toomuch about innocent casualties.
Wasting no time, as the Truck begins to reach me, I move to the officer’s car. I take notice that the truck is a standard issue, small troop carrier. They look like a giant, rectangular block with a smaller, cubish block centered near the bottom of the front surface on wheels, but with rounded edges. The hover bikes are like elongated ovals from the side view, with two guns on either side of the front. Fully enclosed, they are essentially laser proof (keyword being “Essentially”). They aren’t flying enforcement officer car door proof though. Reaching out, I grab at one of the thin metal doors, and pry it open. With a little more effort, the door bends and screeches before I pulls it off of the car. ‘Well, Anastasia, this look like a good plan to you?’ I say as I walk into the street and chuck the door at the hoverbike on the left.
‘No, but it’ll work for our purposes,’ she says as the door hits the front of the bike. The bike flips forward and lands on the enclosed hatch, cracking like an egg as it found the pavement. The other bike speeds up, moving toward me at alarming speeds. Good, come and meet the bottom of my boot! I say to myself mentally as I raise my right leg. The boots I wear are thin (one centimeter thick) titanium, with a seven and six tenths of a centimeter thick sole of steel. Compared to the aluminum that the majority of the bike was made of, the rider had no chance.
The bike struck, pushing me back, before beginning to shut down. The rider didn’t realize that my boot sunk into the front of the bike, disconnected the energy lines from the power source. I swear, these guys are uneducated.. “You’re an idiot,” I mutter, pulling the revolver on my right hip and shooting the rider. He had no chance The revolvers were no mere pistol, no, they were more akin to hand cannons that could blow a hole through a solid steel beam, even if it was almost a meter thick. The rider dead, I raise the gun at the now stopped truck about thirty meters in front of me. I switch to infrared sight, and note the position of the driver and its three other occupants. Four more shots rang out, and there were four more dead bodies.
‘Did I ever tell you that I don’t like killing, Ana?’ I ask Anastasia as I walk toward the truck. I put the revolver away and draw the sword on my back. It looks like a bastard sword, with a one and five tenths of a meter long blade the seemed to slightly glow at the edges. It was a plasma edge sword, and it could literally cut through anything solid. I reach behind me with my left hand and grab one of the two pistols holstered back there. Although as big as the revolver, it had a barrel that was much smaller in diameter, and didn’t have the revolving energy cartridge system. Instead, it had a energy clip that sat nestled beneath the barrel, providing more shots, and the capability of a fully automatic fire system. It is capable of handling these “well defended” bikes though, and as the third bike came around the right of the truck (my left) I make full use of the gun and cut the driver down. I disengage my infrared at this point,seeing no use of it
Anastasia never responds to that question, as she never did whenever I asked it. Part of her programming was to be able to know when I didn’t want an answer to some particular questions, that one being at the top of the list. Anastasia knows me just as well as I do, and for good reason.
I reach the truck and find that the driver and passengers engaged the locks. It really doesn’t bother me much, as I cut a huge X in the door and kick it in. The dead driver died with a look of surprise on his face, and as I look at the soldiers inside, so did they. I quickly look around as I hear sirens in the distance, and see the package I was sent to retrieve. A common data cube, it glowed with the amount of data it held, stored. “Jackpot!” I yell as I grab it and run to the alley behind me. Now, to bring the data cube to the dropoff site, and to get on with my secret mission.
Three hours later, I am sitting in the woods on the outskirts of town. The cube is safe in my pocket, as it waits for the covert ops squad I was tasked to work with. They were technically supposed to be with me on the mission, but I told them that they would only be in charge of extraction, and with a little help from Anastasia, they believed me. It did wonders when you had an A.I. that could hack into any system on the planet with little to moderate difficulty. I didn’t want anyone, especially the good doctor, to know why I really took this job. Normally, this wasn’t a mission I would take, seeing as I was supposed to kill all the guards for the info (one guy lived, but he wouldn’t remember a thing).
As I sat there, thinking and regretting the lives I took with so little effort, I hear a rustle of leaves to my left. I turn and see Boar, the leader of Covert Ops Alpha Squad. As the name suggests, Boar is a short man of one and seven tenths of a meter tall, and stocky. But don’t let the fact that he looked like an idiotic body builder fool you, he was sharp. A little too sharp for my tastes, but he bought the lie all the same. As he exited the underbrush, the other two members of his team, Snake and Eagle, are right behind him. They all have standard issue energy rifles slung over their shoulder, and pistols holstered on their hips.
“Well, if it isn’t Dusk. I heard some rumours, that a tall, hooded man not only sent an enforcement officer to the hospital, but that the stranger single handedly killed almost an entire guard detail, and stole important government data from their dead bodies.” Boar bellows as he sees me sitting against a particularly tall oak tree.
“Well,” I say as I get up, “it couldn’t have been me. I was too busy watching the ladies in the gentleman’s club, and getting free dances all day” The three men laugh at my joke, but I cringe inside. Those kinds of businesses have been outlawed for a couple centuries now, and to find one and participate was equal to picking up a hooker, if not, worse.
“Well said, friend!” Boar yells as they quiet down. “So, tell me, do you have it?” I answer his question by pulling the data cube out of my right jacket pocket. I toss it to him, and he catches it gingerly. “Hey, watch it!” He scolds. “Do you have any idea how fragile these are?”
“Of course I know, but I also know that the cube in your hand is covered in a protective enamel, to ensure that it doesn’t shatter.” I wave to them and begin to turn around, but I hear Boar grunt, like he was trying to get my attention. Uh oh…
“So, you said that HQ wanted you to do the retrieval, and we do the extraction, right?” and as he asks, I already know that I am in deep shit. I nod my head. “Oh, okay. I was just wondering, because we heard the news from HQ, and they asked us why we weren’t there with you. Do you know why that is?” I shake my head and shrug my shoulders, feigning ignorance. “You don’t? That’s funny…” his voice fades away as he waves his hand, and his partners slowly begin to move to either side of me. I know I am going to get into a fight, and I really don’t want to kill these guys. I have a feeling though...
“Ya know, Dusk, I don’t appreciate being lied to. I especially don’t like being lied to, and then getting yelled at for not doing my job. I sent the file you gave me from HQ,” Shit! “and the analyst said that there was evidence of tampering, from an inside source. So, here’s what I think,” Snake and Eagle are behind me now, to my left and right. Who would be the easiest to run over? I think to myself. Boar continues as he grabs the energy rifle slung across his left shoulder, “I think, that you are a traitor, and a good one at that. Because, you see, we already have the data cube. This is a false one we planted.” Damn Damn Damn! “I thought somethin was fishy, so we went in and nabbed it, triggered the alarm as we left, and waited.” I was found out, and Boar’s wit caught me before HQ did. I don’t know what to say, so I do what any sane person would do in the situation.
I turn to my left and run at Snake. He isn’t the biggest guy, so running through him should be easy enough. I hear Boar yell “Fire!” Snake and Eagle raise their respective rifles and begin to fire at me. They are too late though, as I barrel through Snake and trample him under foot.
“Don’t let him get away!” Boar yells behind me. I know that I can outrun these fools, but not for long. These guys are super soldiers, and even though they can’t exactly keep up with me, they can definitely give me a run for my money.
‘Well, Einstein, any more bright ideas?’ Anastasia scolds as I run and dodge rounds of laser fire.
‘Can’t talk, too busy running!’ is my only reply as a shot whizzes past my head and hits the tree to my right. ‘Of course, if you have any plans, now would be the time to say it!’ I continue to run as I hear Anastasia hum, indicating that she is thinking.
‘Alright, the local data in the archives notes a cave that is five kilometer Northeast of our location. If we can make it there, we’ll be just fine.’ I physically nod as I adjust my course, and continue to run through the trees. The shots are becoming fewer, and the yelling has died down a lot. I notice this as I am running, but I don’t have any plans on stopping either. These guys would most definitely catch up if I slow down, so I continue at my pace, hopefully losing the guys on my tail.
I reach the cave in twenty minutes, and look inside to find that it’s empty. I quickly walk inside and cover my track as I do so. Wouldn’t want the Special Ops guys to find me too easily. The cave is fairly large, with a hole in the back leading to who knows where. I don’t want to go down unless necessary, so I take a seat next to it to relax a bit.
“Whew, I hope that those guys are long gone,” I manage to squeeze out, exasperated. It wasn’t like I was tired, but I wasn’t in top shape either. “And from the sounds of it, the military isn’t coming after me, so there’s a plus.” With a content sigh, I stand up to stretch my back and left arm. Seeing as my legs and right arm are made of metal, painted black with a water resistant and rust proof paint, I can safely assume, what with living with these damned augmentations for so long, that they didn’t need to be stretched. I look outside the mouth of the cave and see that the sun is setting.
‘Dusk, now that both sides are our enemy, there has been radio chatter on both ends. None of it sounds good either,’ Anastasia pipes up with the bad news, as usual. ‘They are both looking for you, and we have gunships from the Americans that are out and about. Boar and his gang have already been lifted out, so they won’t be following us anymore.’ Why that isn’t good news, I have no idea. ‘They have bombers on the way.’
‘Well, it’s decided then. Down the hole we go!’ I yell at her before I jump, without thinking of the consequences.
‘You idiot, I’ve could have told you at least three-hundred and ninety seven reasons why this is a bad idea!’ Anastasia roars in my mental ear. I flinch, thinking maybe this was a bad idea after all, when I come into contact with solid rock.
My legs absorb most of the impact, as I bend at the knees, to the point where my ass is almost touching the ground, before promptly falling on said ass. It wasn’t the nicest landing, but at least I survived. I look up and around, seeing nothing. I turn to night vision, and still nothing. Well, damn, I’m in a tight spot. Wish I had at least a little- Wait! I jump to my feet and pull out my sunglasses, which had small lights on either side. The battery stored solar energy, and had a full charge, which could last for a couple of days.
I place my sunglasses on my face and activate the lights via touch pad on the left side. The small lights on either side of the glasses activated, and with my night vision, I am able to make out most of the cave and its structure, even though it is a little fuzzy. ‘Ha! I knew that would work! Suck it, Ana!’
‘As much as it would please me to ‘suck it’ as you say, I am a mere computer construct and am completely incapable of such a task,’ Anastasia replies, with what I would assume is a smug grin on her face, even though I couldn’t technically see her.
‘Smartass,’ I reply. I look around some more and see a tunnel off to the left. Left with no other option, I move toward it and continue my journey through the cave.
The tunnel is long, longer than I originally assumed. By my count, I have been wandering for close to an hour now, and the tunnel hasn’t had a single incline or decline that I could detect. And there have been no branching tunnels either, so my wandering is more like walking in a single tunnel in whatever direction it wants me to go. Sure, it wasn’t completely straight, so it wasn’t too boring, but the lack of change in depth worries me.
‘Hey, Ana, do you have any idea what the hell is going on?’ I ask her. I don’t get an answer, only silence. ‘Hey, what’s wrong Ana?’ At my second question, I feel Anastasia stir within the depths of my psyche. ‘Anastasia, were you seriously asleep!?’ Anastasia didn’t technically sleep, but hibernated like any program would if unused for a certain length of time. Anastasia’s hibernation clock out is forty-five minutes, which is really short compared to a simple program.
‘Well,’ Anastasia says, as if she just woke up from a nap, while being quite annoyed for being woken up, ‘you were just walking along this tunnel aimlessly, so I decided to hit the sack. Is that such a problem, or do I have to stay awake twenty-four seven?’ I obviously irritated Anastasia, but I got my answer all the same.
‘Nevermind, go back to sleep, but be a little more alert. I could end up finding the abominable snowman down here or something!’ I jokingly stated. As she only grunted and went back to sleep, I knew we would be done talking for the time being as I continued to walk along the tunnel.
Well, this is boring, I think to myself as I raise both arms and put them behind my head, like some anime characters of generations past television would do. Now, what am I going to do, seeing as my favorite pastimes, watching ancient television and annoying Ana, aren’t available to me, hmmm… As I pondered what I could do to entertain myself on this long, and boring walk, I thought I saw a flash of something to my right. My head snapped, but there wasn’t anything there.
Okay? I wonder to myself as I draw out the word in my head. Now this shit is getting creepy. I quicken my step, never being a fan of what could be lurking in the dark. A two and three tenths of a meter tall man, capable of taking a tank head on, and I was afraid of things that didn’t even exist. I am pretty pathetic, even if I could fight whatever laid in the dark, waiting to pounce.
As I lose myself in thought of supernatural demons and other monsters I could and couldn’t fight, I step into a large cavern. I don’t even notice the change until I step into a pool of water. The resulting slap sound of my boot as it pierces the surface of the now rippling water surprises me. It was still a few moments ago, so I didn’t notice it. That, I say to myself mentally, and the fact that I was thinking of the chances of finding a certain pale monster from ancient myths. I chuckle at my own little joke. I “nudge” Anastasia awake, even though she just went back to sleep, so she can check out the pool too (I may not be able to actually see her without a monitor, but she can see through my eyes.
‘Hmm, huh? What now, I was just falling asleep,’ she mutters as she rises out of her slumber. Of course, she sees the pool of water immediately, but it doesn’t register to her quite yet.
‘Oh, just this awesome, and huge, body of water I found in the cavern that the long and boring tunnel led us to,’ I state. She hates it when something cool happens when she’s sleeping, and I thought this was pretty awesome.
She finally registers what I’m seeing, almost fully awake, and shrugs. ‘Okay? And what does this have to do with getting us out of the hole in the ground?’ She makes a good point. Before I answer, though, something catches my eye. A light, at the bottom of the pool. ‘Oh, well, that’s interesting,’ is all Anastasia says.
‘Interesting? That isn’t interesting at all. You know, angler fish of this millennia have been recorded to be as big as a farmhouse. You know how big that is?’
‘Approximately twenty-seven point nine to thirty seven point two square meters of actual surface area. Approximately,’ Anastasia theorized, only making me feel worse about the whole thought of it all. ‘Of course, an angler fish that size cannot survive in this relatively shallow pool.’
Well, thanks for scaring the shit out of me I say to myself. I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of knowledge that she did, in fact, scare him. I really am pathetic, huh? Not hours before now, I killed six men and seriously injured two others, and yet, I am getting scared over such trivial things. I interrupted my own train of thought as the light in the pool grew larger, and closer to me. ‘Hey, Anastasia. What’s happening?’
‘You’re asking me? I have no connection to any system, and said connection would only give our position away to both of our enemies. Although-’ she was interrupted as the entire cavern is suddenly filled with a horrid, screeching sound. The area begins to shake, as the rock formations begin to fall apart. The strange light broke the surface, to reveal a spherical shaped, multicolored thing.
“Shit, what the fuck is that!” I attempt to yell over the noise, to no avail. The sphere hovers there, and the rumbling continues. I look behind me to see the tunnel I used to get here blocked with debris. “The Hell, how are we supposed to get out of here now! I didn’t even hear the damned rocks fall!” I concentrate back on the sphere, and notice it slowly moving towards me.
I panic, and turn to run. The sphere cuts me off in a burst of speed, not allowing me to run away from it. Oh shit oh shie oh shit oh shit oh sh- my world goes black as the Sphere surges forward.
‘-usk! Dusk! Wake up, you dumb asshole!’ I hear Anastasia yelling at me. My head feels like it’s splitting open, and all my human parts hurt, like I landed on my back (which is my current laying position).
‘Owwww… the fuck happened?’ I ask Anastasia, I remember vaguely, but I couldn’t understand just what happened.
‘No time for that, I have both good and bad news for you. Well, it’s the same piece of news, but it can be considered good and bad at the same time.’
‘Well, what is it? Now I need to know.’
‘We… well, that is to say, we landed in the middle of the Everfree forest. On the day of Princess Luna’s return...’
‘What!!!’