Life Change, in 127.8 Seconds

Chapters

Chapter 2, Dusk Glider
Chapter 3, Change Insues
Chapter 4, Earth to Echo (Formerly "Adjusting," EDITED)
Chapter 5, World View
Chapter 6, Scrambeled Eggs
Chapter 7, Into Town
Chapter 8, The Lord of Stories
Chapter 9, Some Other Town in Oregon
Chapter 11, Missing
Chapter 12, Who is He?
Chapter 13, To the Tower
14 Awoken
15, Bombs, For Throwing At You!
Chapter 1, Nowhere Oregon
(short)Chapter 10, Dream
Chapter 16, The Apex of Humanity
17 Epilogue

Chapter 2, Dusk Glider

So, there I was watching an eclipse when my life changed forever. You're probably expecting some "spectacular" event. Like a radioactive spider bite, or a comet crashing into the ground with a rainbow trail behind it, giving me super powers. No. Instead, well... this happened...

I was sitting in my lawn chair, looking up at the sky, thinking about a dream humans had since they could dream: flight. The ability to soar has always been so appealing to humans. And that was exactally, what I was thinking about. I like to think. I need to think to keep up with Uncs. He's always thinking. All the time. I've always wanted to think like that, but I don't think I have the "mental capacity" for it, whatever that means. Uncs has been a great caretaker and an equal role model... minus his "book hybernations." I do love him... I just sometimes wish he didn't go into those hybernations, or that he could take me with him. I pushed my mind off of that and decided to focus on another dream of mine: love. Living in the middle of nowhere Oregon, isn't exactly plentiful with opportunities to fall in love. So for me, romance is just a daydream, an element of stories. I looked up at the sky and saw a shooting star. I didn't have time to make a wish before it started zig-zagging in a horizontal direction, leaving behind a white trail. After a few moments, the star stopped moving and faded. The white trail was still there. It looked like a glowing crack.

The crack the floated down from the sky, as if it were only a few feet up. I saw the glowing crack, hovering a few feet above the ground. It then opened. Out of it, shot a grey blur. The blur slammed into me (more to the left), and I felt two pinpricks of pain in my left arm. Something (two somethings) from the grey object was puncturing my arm. I was flying with it for a few feet before we crashed to the ground. The thing rolled off of me and what was puncturing my arm came out. I moved my hand to the spot where I was injured. Something cool and liquid was there. I was dazed from haveing an object thrown at me from a glowing space crack, so I couldn't see it clearly, but my jacket sleeve was very slowly turning red. I balled up my sleeve and covered the wound. I then looked at the object. My jaw dropped. Standing before me, was a horse, a small horse, but still a horse. It was gray with a navy blue main and tail. It also had grey bat wings. It looked like a male. The crack closed and vanished.

"What the-" I began. I was cut off by the horse, talking.

"Ugh, my head." He said, rubbing his head with a hoof. A small pain began to emanate from the wound. I gripped my arm tighter.

"What?!?" I exclaimed upon hearing the talking horse. "Who, or what are you?!?" I asked. He turned and looked at me. His eyes bulged and he jumped up.

"I am Dusk Glider." He said, coolly. I found it funny but was too stunned to laugh. He smiled, and I got a good view of his bat fangs. I saw one drop of blood fall from one of them. I shuddered. "I am a thestral- or, bat pony. And... what they hay are you?" He asked, pointing his hoof at me. "Some sort of, pony eating monster?"

"What? No! I don't eat ponies, I'm a human." I replied.

"Few! That's a load off!" Dusk sighed with relief. He then noticed my arm. "Oh my gosh! Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I say. I suddenly felt achy all over. "Actually, I don't feel so good." I groan, slumping on my side. He takes a few steps toward me.

"Wait, did you say 'human'?" Dusk asked. I nod, then look up at him. He opens his mouth and starts licking his fangs. I notice he has a worried look on his face. When his tongue touched the fang with blood on it, he froze. Dusk gulped and looked at me.

"What?" I ask.

"Nothing, nothing." He obviously lies. I look at him, with a face that says: "Yeah right, that's total crap. Give me the truth."

"Well, you see-" He started as if he didn't want to say what he was about to say. He was then abruptly cut off by me, howling in pain. "You're about to find out."

Chapter 3, Change Insues

Author's Note

Warning, this chapter contains transformation. I hope you read on anyway.

Chapter 3, Change Insues

I was lying there on the ground, occasionally convulsing in pain.

"What did you do to me?" I groaned.

"It was an accident I swear!" Dusk Glider (the bat pony) said apologetically.

"Yes, but what did you- gah!" The pain was getting worse. And then, my whole body went numb, I couldn't move! I tried to ask what was happening, but my words got caught in my throat when I saw what was happening to my hand (wich had conveniently landed in front of my face). My hand suddenly bloated! I tried to scream when my fingers shrunk into my bloated hand, followed by my hand hardening and changing shape. Then, grey fur began to sprout on it! I almost fainted. Then I realised, that it looked an awful lot like... Dusk's hoof. I was turning into a pony!!! I tried to call out for help, praying that anyone would hear me, but all that came out was a groan.

"Shhhh." Dusk hushed me. "It's gonna be ok, don't worry." He started stroking me in an attempt to comfort me. It failed. The fur began to spread up my arm (the one that I realised had been bitten) and to my chest and torso. I couldn't see it anymore, but I could feel it happening. Each little poke that signified my new fur coat. Dusk lowered his head, took my shirt in his mouth, and started to pull it off. I groaned in protest, but Dusk took no notice. The hair on top of my head also began to tingle. I felt it growing longer, and some hair in front of my face turned blue. I expected the same was happening to the rest of it. I felt my only remaining hand turn into a hoof, as my arm was covered in fur. I felt the fur sweep over my torso, growing at an incredible rate. The fur growth covered my head and continued downward. At this point, I was slowly regaining the ability to move. I rolled onto my back to get a good look at my front. It was completely covered in grey fur. I began to feel the fur growing down the back of my legs. I kicked off my shoes, just as the fur reached them. Dusk moved towards my legs and pulled off my pants. This left me with only my bra and underwear. Then, all the numbness in my body vanished. I stood up, so I could get a good look at myself. From my head to my feet was covered in grey fur. The back of my neck was connected to an extension to my hair. I pushed it with my hooves to push my hair to my face to look at it. It had (indeed) turned blue. I looked down at my feet, as they began to change into hooves as well. I now had four hooves. Suddenly, a navy blue (half of it was a lighter navy blue) burst through my underwear. I blushed intensely. Dusk looked confused at my embarrassment.

"Just turn around," I say to him angrily. Dusk shrugged and did. I held my arms out in front of me as they started to tingle and change shape. My legs and spine did the same. I then fell forward, as my legs shrunk. My ears tingled as they grew long and climbed to the top of my head. The stopped tingling, swiveled around, and (when I realized how scared I was) pressed flat against my head. My eyes began to water and grow larger, and finally: my mouth pushed out into a muzzle. I had become a full pony, in under two minutes.

Chapter 4, Earth to Echo (Formerly "Adjusting," EDITED)

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 5, World View

I was in a cave, but I could see clearly.

"Where are we?" I ask. Dusk is still standing next to me, with the pendant around our necks.

"My home," Dusk says. I look at him coldly.

"You live in a cave, you're part bat, and when you bite somepony they become a part bat too. Are you sure 'thestral' doesn't mean vampire?" I ask sarcastically. "Also, explain why I'm saying 'pony' now." Dusk just shrugged and took the pendant off. I then noticed it was a claw holding an orb, but it was hard to look at the orb. It hurt my eyes just looking at it. Dusk put it away and walked away from me. My ears flattened against my head when he left my side, and I felt disappointed. To be honest... I'm more exasperated at these new thoughts than anything else.

"I honestly don't have a clue," Dusk admitted. "But my friend will." We started walking the cave until we reached a small house. "And, I actually live in here." He pointed to the house. I felt the urge to talk to Dusk about himself. It was harmless, so I indulged that urge.

"So, uh, tell me a bit about yourself. I might as well get to know my guide to this new world... and body." I said, trying to sound casual. Why am I acting like this- wait... all these thoughts about Dusk, my strange feelings, oh my Celestia! I'm in love with him! I'm not sure if I should be more scared of that, or the fact that I'm not appalled by that realization. I have to ask.

"OK, what the hay did you do to my mind?" I ask Dusk. He looks confused by the question.

"What do you mean?" Dusk asks.

"I can't say swear words, and there are phrases and names I don't know in my head now. An example of both being 'Sweet Celestia'." I explain.

"I don't know about that, but I can tell you who Celestia is." Dusk offered. Figuring learning something was better than nothing, I nodded. "Well, she's the ruler of Equestria and raises the sun at dawn." Dusk explained. I laughed at him.

"Hate to shatter your world view, but your queen doesn't 'raise the sun'," I say after I stop laughing. "The planet turns on an axis, and it just turns to face the sun," I explain. Dusk takes a cocky look to his face, and man is it cute. And that's me saying it this time. It's honestly adorable how he thinks his precious queen gives him warmth and light every day. He opened his mouth to say something, thinks better of it, and closes his mouth. You know what else is cute? His horsey ears. They are just the cutest! It's just the cherry on top with the little tuft of fur at the tips of his ears. I guess I have them too. I really want to look in a mirror and see what I look like.

"You know, I just realised that I haven't actually seen myself since before my transformation," I comment.

"Well, we are at my house, after all, so you could use my mirror," Dusk offers.

"Great, thanks." Then, I yawn. "Man am I tired! I guess turning into a bat-pony hybrid takes a lot out of you." I joked. Dusk laughs slightly at my joke.

"Well, then I guess you're my guest for the day," Dusk says, looking at a strong light further on in the cave. "We should get to bed, It's getting late." I cock my pony head.

"Wait, but it's daylight outside," I protest.

"You're a thestral, a nocturnal creature," Dusk explains. "You sleep during the day." I roll my eyes.

"I know what nocturnal means," I say playfully. I yawn again. So, we walk into the house.

We entered the house, wich was surprisingly like a human house, only there were differences that made since, appliances missing or different and things shorter down.

"I only have one bed..." Dusk trailed off. "... So if we're gonna have to sleep togeth-"

"NOPE!" I shouted as much as this tiny voice in my head screamed "F**** YES!!!" So I beat that voice up and put duct tape over it's mouth. "I'll just hang from the ceiling or something." Dusk blinked a few times.

"Well I was thinking it would be more comfortable for you," I blush. "But ok. I have a guest bedroom, so I'll just 'hang' in there." Dusk walks to the end of a hall and points to a door. It has the long bar handle. Dusk opened the door and pointed inside. "You can sleep in here."

"Um, thanks," I say as I walk into the room.

"No problem, this is my fault, after all," Dusk says. I realized then that Dusk was blaming himself for (what clearly was) an accident.

"It's ok, it was an accident," I say to him, grinning a bit.

"Thanks," He says to me, looking at the floor. He closed the door, and I heard hoof steps walking down the hall. I walked over to the bed and flopped onto It, it was really comfy. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 6, Scrambeled Eggs

Author's Note

This would make a bit more sense if you went back and re-read the edited chapter. (If you haven't already read the edited version).

Chapter 6, Scrambeled Eggs

I was laying in bed, wide awake. It's not hard to see why, I've just traversed species. I yawned, and my eyes fluttered. I can't believe I just, went with this strange pony without thinking.

"What was I thinking?" I asked myself as I drifted off to sleep. That night, I dreamed that I was a human, standing face to face with my new body, it was hollow and lifeless, just a skin suit. But then, it came to life and wrapped itself around me, turning me into what I was in the waking world. Strangely, I wasn't scaired when I had been swallowed by the suit, I didn't even run when it tried. I was, excited and happy. I then flew around the blank world of the dream, happy as a child.

When I eventually woke, I was upside down, with my wings wrapped around me like a blanket. I had snuggled up to Dusk. My head turned into a giant tomato upon noticing this.

"Bucking somnambulism." I moaned. Wait... how was I hanging anyway? I look up, to see my tail is wrapped around a bar stuck into the ceiling. It's actually is quite comfortable. That didn't change the fact that I wanted down. I stuck my hooves out below me to catch my fall and unwrapped my tail. Moving it was strangely easy, almost like moving an arm. As I fell the short distance from the ceiling to the floor, time slowed down. And I thought about my dream, and what it felt like to fly. I imagined what each beat of my wings was like, and then my real wings did the same! They started to flap, and I didn't hit the floor. 'I'm flying! I can't believe it!' I thought to myself. I wobbled a bit and landed, loudly.

"Huh? Wa?" Dusk sputtered as he woke up. I looked up at him. He's kinda cute like that, as in, cute like a sleepy puppy. "Oh, hi Echo," Dusk said to me, rubbing one of his giant pony eyes with one hoof sleepily. Well, I guess our giant pony eyes now. I look at him.

"What am I doing in here?" I ask him.

"I don't know," Dusk says. It's hard to be mad at something that cute... like a puppy. "You came in here in the middle of the night last night, and I was too tired to do anything about it." I raise one eyebrow in a "yeah right" way.

"You were too tired to keep me from snuggling with you," I say, deadpan.

"Oh shut up." He laughs to me. I laugh a little, but it's an awkward laugh. Luckily he doesn't notice. At least, I think he didn't notice. Did he notice? I hope he didn't notice! "So, you wanna get some breakfast before heading into town?" He asks, flying down from the bar. I nod. Before going to bed, me and Dusk had planned on going into a nearby town to look for Dusk's "friend," the one who gave him the pendant that allowed us to meet. Dusk fly's out of the room and off into the kitchen. I follow on hoof. Dusk was already in the kitchen, sticking his head in a fridge. Out of it, he pulled a carton of eggs... in his mouth. Well, I guess that's the only way anypony could properly hold anything like... this. Dusk sat the eggs down on the counter and asked,

"So how do you like your eggs?"

"Scrambled is my favourite," I replied. "But I'm fine with whatever." Dusk smiled with relief.

"Great, because I can only make scrambled." Dusk grinned. I smiled at him.

"Well I can bake many types of eggs." I playfully boasted. "So, how do you like your eggs." I asked. He smiled.

"Scrambled." I'm not sure why, but a combination of his face, tone, and the conversation... was dang hilarious! I burst out laughing.

"HA ha ha haaa!" I laughed. As my laugh winded down, A few snorts suck their way into it. Dusk grinned at his handywork. Or is it "hoof-y-work?"

"Hey, if I can make somepony snort, it's a good day," Dusk said. I liked him, he was nice. You know, it's getting harder and harder to mentally puke at these thoughts... in part because I'm noticing them less and less. I don't know why I'm not terrified at this revilation. I'm scaired, don't get me wrong, but not proporly terrified.

After we finished cooking and eating our eggs, I patted my belly.

"For a certain lack of hands, you're a great cook!" I said, looking over at dusk. We were sitting at a table low to the ground so that one could sit on their haunches comfortably, and still reach the table.

"Why thank you, my dear Echo," Dusk said, bending forward in a mock bow. "So, when will you be ready to head into town?"

"Now's good." I respond. The sooner I can... what was I trying to do again? Go back to being human. Yes, right. The sooner I can go back to being human, the better.

Chapter 7, Into Town

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 8, The Lord of Stories

I could tell from the moment I entered the building that Uncs would LOVE it here. The inside of "The Lord of Stories" was a well-furnished bookstore. Lots of shelves containing hundreds of books. A few chairs were put about, but the chairs looked like a mismatch from every age. A mid-evil throne chair, an Egyptian throne chair, a bean bag, a futuristic sofa, it all looked like some sort of time traveler lived here! There was a stone fireplace with an impressive hearth in the back of the room. The fire was lit. It looked like the perfect place to curl up with a book and read. If Uncs found this place... I'd probably never see him again! To the left of the door was a counter, with a staircase behind it, probably leading to some living space.

"Hello!?!" Dusk called out to the empty room. "Anypony home?" BOOM! An explosion and a flash of light came from the top of the stairs. Down fell a red unicorn, with soot and ash all over his face. He had a blond scruffy mane and glasses. He stood up and looked back up the stairs.

"Lyra! You ok?" He called.

"Yeah!" A female voice called back down. "But I could use help holding the lever!" I cocked my head. Lever? The unicorn then noticed us.

"Oh hello!" He said. "Hi, Dusk! Look, I was just gonna come look for you..." He said.

"Yeah, look-" Dusk began.

"Can I see that amulet I let you borrow?" He asked. Dusk pulled out the amulet and handed it to the unicorn.

"Sure but-"

"I'd love to talk, but I really don't have time." The unicorn said. "I can talk later, goodbye, go on!" The unicorn said his horn glowing and we flew out the door. "Sorry to be so blunt, ttyl! Goodnight!" He said as the door began to glow the same gold of the unicorn's horn and slammed shut. I take a moment before I looked at Dusk and said:

"Ok, what just happened?!?"

Dusk knocked on the door for a while, trying to get his friend (who he told me was named "The Author") to come back and talk to him. I was looking at the upstairs windows, wich periodically flashed with light. We heard a weird groaning noise, and then the flashes of light stopped. We knocked, but no answer. So, we decided to look around town a bit more before we headed back to Dusk's house. As we looked at the deserted shops and streets, I noticed Dusk was being quiet.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked him. He looked up at me.

"Oh, it's nothing... just- I was thinking back on something he said. 'TTYL'... what does that mean?" I knew what that meant. It was easy.

"Talk to you later," I said. Dusk looked confused.

"What?"

"TTYL. Talk. To. You. Later. It's an anagram for when you're texting." I explained.

"Texting?" I stopped.

"You don't have texting here?" I asked. Dusk shook his head. "Cell phones?" Another shake. "Regular phones?" No. "Electricity? Wait, what powers your appliances?"

"Magic. What, you don't have magic?" Dusk asked. Now it was my turn to shake my head.

"No, it's just-" I froze. "I just realized something. If phones and texting don't exist here... then how does he know what 'TTYL' means?" Dusk thought about it for a moment.

"Hey you're right!" He said, catching onto my train of thought. "If it's from your world..."

"Then so's he!" We both said together. We turned and ran back down the street, back to the Lord of Stories.

Chapter 9, Some Other Town in Oregon

"So his name's the Author," I said, dead-panned.

"Well, yeah." Dusk replied. I started to snicker. I'm from Oregon, and I'm looking for the Author. You gotta find that coincidence funny. I sure did. Dusk and I tried again at the Author's house, but we didn't get him. We eventually gave up and flew back to Dusk's house. Right now, we were sitting in the kitchen chatting over two cups of Stare Bucks white chocolate mocha (which we had picked up on the way back). It's weird that we both like the same type of coffee. Dusk had to pour my coffee into a mug that I could hold, because I was useless with hooves. It was like wearing mittens, I could still move it, but it was hard to hold anything.

"What's so funny?" Dusk asked me.

"It reminds me of some other town in Oregon," I answered. "It's kinda a long story."

"Well tell it!" Dusk said, excitedly raising up his cup of coffee in the air. "I love a good story, and I've got nowhere better to be."

"What, you don't have a job?" I asked.

"Nope!" Dusk grinned. His bat fangs weren't that unsettling anymore. I guess I had just accepted them as part of "the thestral anatomy." But then again, this is a lot I have "just accepted."
"I was planning on getting a job at that bookstore, but then I met you." I blushed and looked down at the floor. I'm starting to think he likes me.

"So I ruined you getting a job?" I asked, looking back up.

"Never mind that," Dusk dismissed the answer. "You've got a story to share. So tell me about this 'other town in Oregon'."
And so, I told him about Gravity Falls.

"Wow! And that's a real town?!" Dusk was shocked. He was absolutely fascinated with this show. Maybe because he thought it was real. Well, with all that's happened, hay I wouldn't be surprised if it was real! I had recapped all of season 1 (without telling him it was a season of a TV show... mostly because going into what a TV was, seemed too difficult), and most of season 2. To be honest... I haven't been keeping up with the new season. I'm not that type of nerd.

"I wouldn't be surprised," I replied. Dusk frowned.

"Still interesting though." He said, taking another sip of coffee. He looked at the cup. "I'm out." He said. I laughed.

"You just realized? You've been sipping that empty cup for a while now." I commented. I had realized that his cup was empty because he was tilting it all the way up every time he took a sip for a while now. Wow was he wrapped up in the story! He started laughing back at me.

"Really? How long?" He asked.

"About 10 minutes." I snickered. We both laughed a bit. I looked into his eyes, and he looked into mine. We just smiled at each other, and it was though we were the only ponies in Equestria, and I didn't mind that sentence. My eyelids began to get heavy, and I could hear the faint sound of alarm bells in the distance. Dusk yawned, and stretched. He turned to look at a clock he had hung up. It read 8:15.

"We should get to bed," Dusk said, standing up. I felt a pang of sadness when he started to walk away.

"You can sleep with me." I blurted. Dusk froze, and turned to look at me. He wore a surprised look on his face. "...But don't get any ideas." I continued. I couldn't take it back, so I might as well roll with it, and it's not like I really object to sleeping in the same bed and nothing more. the faint alarm bells got fainter, but more urgent. I ignored them. Probably something in a far off town. "I just want some company tonight." My mind began to grow foggy. I must be really tired. Dusk and I walked down the hall to the bedroom. But... I wanted to sleep upside down tonight. "Hey, do you mind us sleeping in the upside down room?" I asked. Dusk looked a little surprised, but he nodded. We turned left and entered the room we had slept in the night before. Something about the thought of being upside down was appealing. Dusk turned off the light before we flew up to the bar and wrapped our tails around it. I wrapped my wings around me, enjoying the leathery texture.

"Good night Dusk," I said. Something about my tone of voice seemed to confuse Dusk.

"Umm... Good night Echo." Dusk replied. Echo, that's my name. I honestly prefer it to... Diana? Whatever, I'm just going to go to sleep.

Chapter 11, Missing

I woke up and looked beside me. Echo had already woken up. I should really ask her old name. I flew down to the ground and walked to the kitchen. Inside, Echo was eating a plate of eggs. She looked up at me and smiled. Something was... off about it. Normally, it was a nice smile. This smile was... more intament. It felt like she was in love with me. I did want that, but this felt wrong.

"Hey, Dusk." She said. The way she said it... I don't know, it wasn't right.

"Hey... Echo..." I said, a little nervously. "You..." Wait, made eggs? "Where did you get those eggs?" I asked.

"Oh, I made them." My eyes bulged, nearly out of my head.

"H- how?!?" I stammered. "Yesterday you could barely hold a mug!" She frowned and looked down.

"I couldn't?" She asked. "I can't... completely remember anything before I woke up, and nothing before yesterday." My muzzle dropped open.

"Are you kidding?" I asked. "What's your name?" She smiled as if it was an obvious answer.

"Echo, Duh." She said to me. I shook my head.

"No, that's not your name. That was a joke. What's your real name?" I asked.

"Echo." She said again, as though it was her only answer.

"We need to find help," I said.

It took some convincing, but I finally got "Echo" to come with me. She continued saying it was a waste of time, and that she was always Echo. I knew that was wrong. It had to be. I (almost literally) dragged her into town. The sun hadn't even set yet but was on its way. A few ponies stared at me and Echo as we walked through the town, back to "the lord of stories."

"I told you, I'm Echo," Echo whined.

"No! You were a human until I accidentally bit you and made you a thestral." I said to her. I wasn't going to let her believe the lie she told herself. She looked down at the ground, it was starting to feel as though she was empty. Echo acted compleatly different than the old... whatever her name was. I really should have asked. She was like... and Echo of the mare I knew.
We eventually made it to "the lord of stories."

"Finally," I said, exasperated. I was gonna get some answers, what was that amulet, where did it take me, and what was happening to Echo? I approached and knocked on the door. After a minute, a mint unicorn came to the door.

"Hello." She greeted, tired. She looked at me and squinted. "You're... Dusk right?" I nodded at her.

"Yes, that's me. I'm looking for-"

"I'm sorry, but we're closed right now." The unicorn interjected. She tried to close the door, but I stuck my hoof in before she could. It hurt.

"I need to speak with the Author," I said. "It's important." Her tired expression turned to one of worry.

"Can it wait? We kind of have a... thing going on." She said to me. It was clear she wanted me to go away.

"No, it can't. I need his help, now." I said urgently. Just then, a very dirty and extra scruffy Author walked down the stairs. He coughed a few times and addressed the unicorn barring my way.

"So, I closed the portal and stopped any more of those inmates coming through." He said happily. "Now all we gotta do is dismantle... oh hi Dusk!" The Author said when he noticed me standing there. He raced the rest of the way down the stairs and to the door. "Come in! I have a few things I need to explain about that pendant."

Echo and I entered the building (finally) and sat down in the chairs. Echo got the futuristic chair, and I got a recliner. The Author and the unicorn (who I was told named Lyra) Sat in the chairs opposite us. Before I could tell him why we had come, he began to explain about the pendant.

"This amulet, is actually an extreamly powerful relic, capable of creating wormholes in space. You didn't think about being somewhere else, did you?" He asked.

"Yes, I did! And then-" I was interrupted again.

"You were probably taken to another dimension, if you weren't thinking of some place specific. Good thing the very next jump takes you back to the place you began." He sighed. "That would have been bad."

"Yes, when I was in that other dimension, I accidentally bit someone there. And then-"

"That person became a thestral pony because of a blood moon?" The Author asked. "I've heard of that happening, but never actually investigated it myself, I guess now's a good a time as any." Echo laughed and looked at the Author.

"You can't actually believe that, can you?" Echo asked. "He seems to think that I was something other than a pony. That's crazy..." Then she saw The Author, his face had turned stern, and cold. He stared right at Echo, as though he was staring at her soul. "Right?" Echo gulped.

"She was the one you bit, and now she has no memory of her former life?" The Author asked. I nodded. "That is very not good. Let's take a look at that old head-o-yours." The Author jumped up from his seat and walked over to echo. He put his for hooves on her temples and closed his eyes. "Her name... her name... what was her name?" He muttered. "AH HA!" He exclaimed. "There you are!" I came to my senses. What they hay was he doing?

"Author, what are-" Lyra shushed me.

"He's trying to concentrate, be quiet." She whispered to me.

"Who? Whare?" Dusk stuttered.

"Relax," The Author said, calm and soothing. "We are in your mind, and that is you." He said he nodded his head forwards, but we couldn't see what he was nodding to. After a moment of silence, he spoke again. "Hello, my name's the Author. I'm here to help. Tell me who you are, and I can save you."

Chapter 12, Who is He?

The Author sat there, silently, with his hooves on Echo's temples. Her eyes were closed, and she, they looked like they were konked out. Lyra looked unconcerned.

"What is he doing?" I whispered to her.

"He's..." She didn't seem to sure. "... Doing some psychic, timey stuff." Lyra sighed and looked down a bit. "I really hate it when he leaves me behind on guard duty."

"Guard duty?" I asked. Lyra nodded.

"We need to protect The Author and your girlfriend while he's in there."

"She's not- protect?" I asked. Wow, I'm a blubbering idiot right now. "I'm sorry, just... Who is he?" I had only known The Author for a few days when I came looking for something for my... a present. He gave me that pendant, and I told him I would pay him back.

"He's... he's The Author," Lyra said, after a pause. "He saves people." I cocked my head, but I didn't ask what "people" meant. I decided to ask a better question.

"From what?" I asked. Lyra snorted.

"A better question is, what don't we stop." She said. "I've seen, amazing, fantastic things, things that you could only read about in stories," Her smile faded, and she continued. "But I've also seen... horrible things. Evil bent on destroying everything, living statues, metal ponies, and..." She trailed off and turned to look at The Author. "He's fought all that, and he comes back here and runs a shop!" Lyra laughed. It was strange that some kind of super-hero could live a normal life. Well, I'm not one for comic books, so I wouldn't know how that worked.

"Well, time travel does make it easier." She said under her breath.

"Wait, what was that?" I asked. She scrunched up her face in an "oh crud" way.

"Nothing!" She replied quickly. "Um... oh, I wonder what he's doing in there." She looked at the Author.

So, I just entered that mare's mind, then I took a look around, for... that's right! The old her. Her old mentality. Hre mind was a mostly vacant cave, the first sign that something was wrong.

"A mind, and definitely a 20-something-year-old mind, should have way more in it than... this. This is just... empty!" I said to myself. "Well... on the bright side it should make it easier to locate what I need." I turned to look around. "I'm looking for a blocked off door or wing... or door. Don't ask me for specifics it's different for every-" I turned and realized that Lyra wasn't there. "Oh. I better get looking." I start walking, putting one hoof in front of the other. "Ok, door or gate, door or gate..." I stopped at what I saw. "Or... big abyss of darkness. That works too." A giant cloud of darkness sat in front of me. "I'm going in there aren't I?" I sighed. I took a few steps into the fog. Nothing bad happened, so I continued to walk into it. This was deffinatly the place to look for... whatever her name was, is.

"Hello!?! Is any pony out there?!?" I called into the emptiness.

"Nooo!" A voice groaned in reply. "5 more minutes!" The voice continued. I ran in the direction of it. Boy was I surprised when I saw a human, chained up and asleep on the floor!

"Oh. Hello there. You were definitely not what I was expecting!" I exclaimed excitedly. I saw her start to stir. "But that's good, unexpected is good and throws a little excitement into my life. So is my unexpected twist gonna stay there on the ground, or is she gonna wake up?" She then sat bolt upright and started looking around, until she saw me. Her eyes froze on me.

"Hello!" I waved to her.

"Where are we?" She asked, vacantly.

"Just your mind. So, do you want me to unchain you, or are you gonna go back to sleep?"

"Ummm..."

"I'll take that as an, 'Unchain me now doofus'!" I said, activating my magic. The chains vanished.

"We're in my mind." The girl clarified.

"Yes we are! Now, what's your name?" I asked.

"Diana, you?"

"I'm the Author, and I'm here to save you."

Author's Note

Man did this take a while!

Chapter 13, To the Tower

"So, all we gotta do, is get you to the driver's seat!" I said, helping Diana to her feet. Can I add how difficult that is when your shorter that the person you're helping up?

"The driver's seat?" Diana asked.

"Yeah, this is your mind, and we gotta get your consciousness back in charge, and kick out whoever's currently driving." After I said that, Diana suddenly shrieked at me. She pointed at my hoof.
"Oh, that's not good, I'd thought I'd have more time. AH well. I'm being pushed out, now that "Echo" knows what's going on. Look, you have to find her and get back in charge. Remember this, this is important," I said, fading quickly. "You can do-" And I was gone.

Dusk looked at Lyra.

"So how long does this usually-"

"Anything!" I shouted upon exiting Diana's mind. I look around, confirming I was indeed in reality. "Well, I hope she at least heard some of that."

"Author? Author?!" I called out into the Darkness. No response. 'Great.' I think to myself. 'I'm alone, and I have to kick someone out of my body. This is going to be great!' Sarcasm is the best, ain't it? OK, I've got my itinerary, so, it's time to get to work. Time to get walking! ... And I have NO IDEA where I'm going!

This is gonna be bad.

As I walk, I soon hear a voice. A sweet, innocent voice. It's... familiar.

"It's been a long walk," The voice says to me. "Why don't you go to sleep? It will be much easier than walking all that way, and only to do what? Go back to your normal, boring, lonely life?"

"Yeah... You're- hey wait! You're... I don't know your name but you're behind this!" I shouted, I grinned as realization dawned on me. "And this means I'm heading the right way! Thanks for your help." I called over my shoulder as I broke into an excited run.

I panted a few times.
"I think... I'm gonna walk the rest of the way." I said, resting my hands on my knees. I was then interrupted by a loud roar. I slowly turned around, to see... a T-Rex. "Well screw you right back universe!" I said. Then, I did what any normal, sane person would do, run for my life! It occurred to me that I should have stood still, because the only thing I knew about T-Rexes was that their sight was based on movement. But, I had already started running. Wait.... what's that? I thought as I saw a freaking chasm quickly drawing near. I closed my eyes, and gulped.

"Geronimo!!!!"

"I did it! I finally did it!" I exclaimed. "It took me forever, and I had to jump a chasm, but I did it!" I had to overcome a lot, which was weird because I couldn't have made it in the real world.
Strange.
But anyways, I'm here, at the base of a tower, that must be my "control center."

"Well, time to get to work!" I said to myself. I then pushed open the door, o find: "An elevator." I say, unamused. "A freaking, elevator. That's... pretty underwhelming." I step into the elevator, and it begins the ascent. As I go up, my vision begins to get blurry.

"If I wake up in some strange place, I swear to god!" I mutter under my breath.

Author's Note

Wow am I sorry! This didn't even take that long! I just had a week long... "vacation." It... escalated. What with timber wolves and the twitter-mites... Look, the point is, I just got back to my writing desk.

14 Awoken

Why am I on the floor, This isn't the guest room floor!
Shut up, idiot! Of course, it's not your bedroom floor.

"Who's that?!?"

"Who's who?" A familiar (hot) voice asks. Wait- what the- !

"I was afraid of this. You didn't give her the boot, did you, Diana?" I hear The (most hated) Author says.

"No, I just found a tower and went inside." ~~I~~ She says. "And now something's wrong, I can hear this voice... in my head... It's not my voice. It's starting to creep me out. Well, you creep me out, so there." I finished, folding my forelegs. My eyes bulge and A hoof flys to my mouth. I sit up, shakily, hooves still covering my mouth.

"What was that!" I squeak out. "I didn't say that!" The Author looks as though he's pondering something. He taps his chin a few times. "Of course she didn't, I did." The voice in my head says, through my mouth. The Author stops pondering and looks at me, dead serious.

"Am I speaking to the entity that is taking over this body?" He asks.

"Why, yes you are." I again say, against my will. "And I would prefer you call me, Echo." I feel a tear roll down my face. Then I realize, I'm scared. More scared than I've ever been. He notices my tear and grins.

"And I take it you've only got control over the mouth." He states.

"Man you're clever," Echo says. "So I take it you're already hatching a plan to destroy me?"

"Well... If it comes to that." The Author said, tilting his head, back and forth. "But, I do know one thing, and it's that, you can't stay there."

"Then, where am I supposed to go?" Echo asked. "It's not like you can just-"

"Why don't we just make a clone and put Echo in there?" Lyra said to the Author.

"No, that would never work." The Author replied.

"Really? I thought that the clone idea was perfect." Either Diana or Echo said sarcastically. It's hard to tell... we were both thinking it. But, Echo followed through on the statement with: "Of course it wouldn't work, not even magic can create clones!" I (Diana) blinked.

"Magic? There's no such thing as magic... right?"

"Well, of course, there's magic you dolt! How else would you have gotten here?"

"Hey! That wasn't very nice!"

"Well excuse me for not loving some alien who snatched my body!"

"Your body!!! This is my body! And so help me, when we get you out I'll-"

"AHEM!" The Author coughs. We look up at a disturbed Dusk, a mildly amused Lyra, and an unidentifiable Author.

"Girls, I love that you've learned to share the power of speech, but can we save your cat fight for later?" Lyra asked.

"Was that... both of them, just now?" Dusk asked.

"Yes," The Author said. "... And it appears that, at least for a moment there, Diana was winning the battle." Echo gulped. "Getting nervous there, are we?" The Author grinned.

15, Bombs, For Throwing At You!

"Just in case you don't come back, I'm sorry." Dusk said. Diana smiled back, scared.

"Are you ready?" The Author asked.

"No." Diana shook her head. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

The Author shushed her and put his hooves on her temples. Diana's eyes rolled over white, and she fell back onto the bed.

"Now, all we can do is wait," The Author said. He groaned. "Is this how things normally are for ponies? Watching powerless?" the Author asked. "It's... pretty boring." He turned to the others in the room. "That's a new feeling for me, boredom."

"So... that's it? We just have to wait for one of them to win?" Lyra and Dusk said in unison.

"Yep," The Author said. "So, you guy and gal wanna play cards?"

"Aaaaaand smokey darkness again," Diana said, unhappily.

"Well," A familiar voice said. "Let's state the steaks: we will fight to the death, the winner gains full control of this body. And the loser gets assimilated into the other." Suddenly, Echo's voice changed to become a male's... and British... and slightly robotic. "Also, that timer says this whole place goes critical, in 14 minutes. That's the itinerary, also I've taken the liberty of watching the tapes of you killing her, and I'm not gonna make the same mistakes. 4 part plan is this: 1, no portal surfaces. 2 start the neurotoxin immediatly. 3, bombproof shields, for me, wich leads directly onto part 4, bombs, for throwing at you!"

The ground beneath me began to rise up through a metal tunnel.

"Wow... it says a lot about a person when their mind takes the form of a boss fight from a video game, (that I watch way to many lets plays of)." I laughed. "This would be awesome if I had the portal gun to go- OW!" something hit me in the head and landed in my hands. It was, "A PORTAL GUN?!?" I exclaimed. The portal gun was white, with a cone shape around a handle/dual triggers. This connected to a glass tube with a blue light shining through it. The end was a flattened sphere with a claw on it. "Ooooh yeah! I'm a portal pro!" Then, I heard a familiar voice, PotatOS, (or GLaDOS in a potato battery). "You find a way to stun him, I'll send you a core, then you attach it to him. We do it enough times, he'll become corrupt enough for another core transfer. Look, we're enemies, but we're enemies with a common interest, revenge. You like revenge, right? Everybody likes revenge, well let's go get some!" The rising platform finally reached the top of the tunnel. I was in a large circular room with a platform on one side, and pipes will goo in them. In the center of the room was a giant robotic AI, Wheatly, from portal 2.

But, there was something strange about the eye, it was gold and purple, not blue (like it was supposed to be).

"What? Why am i this... robot thing?"

"What was that?" Diana asked.

"I said," Echo replied, "That I'll play along with this... 'Portal' thing."

"Thank you," I replied. "Because I know how to beat you." I grinned. This was gonna be fun.

I heard the bomb launcher on Wheat- I mean, EchOS, activate. I had beaten this boss before. I turned on a dime and raced toward the pipe from a wall to the ground, containing "conversion gel," a goo that makes "un-portable" surface "portable," in layman's terms, stuff the portal gun can't shoot changes to stuff it can. That idiot was gonna give me my weapon back! I raced to the pipe and slid behind it. A bomb hit the pipe, shattering it. The white goo covered every surface it could find.

"WHAT?!? N- no NO! ARGGGGHHH!!!" EchOS cried out. "That sounded real! Oh no, you made the room white! Whatever shall I do?" EchOS said sarcastically.

"Shoot more bombs at me?" I asked equally sarcastic.

"Good idea!" EchOS replied, charging up the bomb launcher. I smiled. This was too easy! I fired a portal on the wall opposite me (above the catwalk), and the opposite portal beneath me. I fell through the portal and landed on the aforementioned catwalk. "Wait, WHAT THE-" The bombs shot through my portal, and hit EchOS, stunning her. If I was correct, PotatOS was going to send the corrupted core on the other side of the catwalk. So that's where I went.

Meanwhile, in the waking world...

"What's... portal?" Dusk asked. Lyra turned to the Author. He shrugged.

"I'm not sure, but I think... it's some sort of game. Diana said she was a pro at it... I think... so that's a good sign." Dusk added.

(five minutes later...)

"Go press it, GO PRESS THE BUTTON!" PotatOS shouted.

"I'm not pressing it." I replied. PotatOS and EchOS Blinked at me... "I know there are bombs at the button."

"Whaaaaat? There isn't a bomb!" EchOS said.

"You're right, there isn't a bomb, there are bombs, plural." I said to her. "BUT, I know nothing is going to happen until I get in there (that, and I'll survive the bombs)." I muttered. I started walking across the room to "the button," firing a portal beneath EchOS, and behind the bars that led to "the button." I turned around and walked to the portal beneath EchOS. "Geronimo." I jumped through the portal and braced myself for the explosion.

Author's Note

Sorry, I was out... for WAY too long. I went scuba diving, had a lovely surprise birthday party, fought a REAL vampony with another vampony (Flutter-bat)... You know, the usual.

Chapter 1, Nowhere Oregon

You say to yourself, "why is life never interesting in the real world?" Well, the answer is because you're on the one timeline without the world-threatening evil. I am too (at least I hope I am,) and I'm glad for that. Sure life can be boring, but you can just make up an adventure.
I am Diana Zediker, and I'm a short brown haired, palish skinned, caucasian girl 17-year-old. I live in "Nowhere Oregon," in a log cabin in the middle of the woods. I'm not alone here, I've got my uncle. Don't get me wrong, Uncs is a great uncle (not a "gruncle" for those of you who watch "gravity falls")... but he tends to get lost in his fantasy worlds. You know how you can get lost in a good book? He gets into this "reading hibernation" where he can go for DAYS without eating or drinking, so long as he's reading the whole time. It's weird, but at least he's happy. Me on the other hand, I want to LIVE adventure. Wich is kind of lucky I live in a forest. It's a great canvas for your imagination to paint a BEAUTIFUL adventure for a bored 17-year-old. Hey- Don't look at me like that! This place is so desolate, we need to drive 2 miles to the GAS STATION for groceries! I don't have any friends here! Well... I do have a few friends from town (wich is 10 miles away) though, but I see them rarely. Tonight, as a cloudless Friday night. I've finished studying (I'm home schooled, go figure) and I'm heading to a clearing to watch the Lunar Eclipse. It is one of the mot exciting thing to happen in a while. Uncs (as I call my uncle), is in one of his "reading hibernations" so I'll probably see him around Tuesday. As I walk the clearing, I pass by "my" cave. It's just a shallow cave I found one time while hiking. I use it as a landmark when I come this way. I heard a loud "PLOP!" when my boot stepped in a fresh mud puddle. I continued walking, un-phased by it.

What can I say? When you hike, this stuff happens.

I eventually reached the clearing and set my lawn chair down. I sat down in the chair and looked up at the sky. The moon was still it's usual milky white. I looked at my watch. 10:05, I hadn't missed it. But, I was five minutes early. I could see a few constellations up there. Sometimes I dream about flying away, off into the sky. I smiled at those dreams, and how I sometimes childishly believed that they could actually happen.

"Yeah right," I say to myself sarcastically. "That's gonna happen." I glance at my watch again- 10:08. I look at the moon and see the orange glow is starting to creep it's way over the face of the moon. I notice that the orange has a redness to it. I had read about that. It's called a blood moon, a rare type of lunar eclipse. It's really cool. I watched as (over the course of 5 minutes) the moon was engulfed by the eclipse and then turned a crimson, blood-red. It was a pretty sight. I'm not a "girly girl," so I don't say things are "pretty" often. But little did I know, that me sitting in that clearing, on that night... was going to change my life. And It was going to do it fast.

(short)Chapter 10, Dream

I was.... I don't know. I don't know where I am! I don't know where I am! I put my head in my hands, I was scared. I looked up when a loud rumbling sound began to fill the air. There was a large cloud of fog and darkness rushing towards me. I got up and ran away from it. I started to scream,

"HELP ME! HELP ME!" I called out to the vast emptiness, but no one answered. I tripped and fell, back towards the darkness, and it consumed me.

It eventually hit the ground, in the belly of the darkness. There, waiting for me, was Echo. She grinned evilly when she saw me.

"You're blowing it out there," Echo said to me, she stroked the side of my face. "But it's ok, I'm here to help you." I saw her bat fangs and was scared again.

"NO!" I screamed.

"But why fight it?" Echo asked. "Your old and out-dated. We aren't human any more, so Diana, you are no longer needed. Why don't you sleep? It'll be much easier that way."

"Not needed?" I shook my head. I began to feel weary and tired.

"I know you're tired, so give up. There's no need for Diana any more, she's dead." Echo soothed me.

"Dead?" I asked. Echo Nodded. I felt myself slipping, shrinking, vanishing.

"Yes, dead. Diana is dead."Echo said. She was right... there was no need for Diana any more. And so, I let Echo take over.So then, Echo flew away, back to the wakeing world, leaving Diana behind.

Chapter 16, The Apex of Humanity

Please play this video to enhance your reading experience

I sat upright, unsure of who I was. Was I Diana, or Echo? Sure beats-

"Author, what is that?!?" Lyra exclaimed. She pointed to a floating, glowing orb with one wispy tendril flowing on top of it. The Author stared at it, somberly. He slowly approached it.

"I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry." He said, as cold as his expression. It sent shivers down my spine, all the way through my tail.

"Author? What's wrong?" Dusk asked. Wait, that means-

"It's her," The Author said. "That's Diana's soul. Whatever created Echo in the first place must have created another soul, completely separate from Diana."

"Then... what do we do? How do we save her?" Lyra replied immediately. The Author shook his head.

"Returning a soul to a vessel (not to mention the correct vessel) takes magic, lots of magic. I don't even think Twilight Sparkle has enough magic, even if we helped. This would give Celestia, and Luna combined a run for their money." The Author explained.

"So then... all we gotta do is bring her to the princesses?" Lyra asked.

"Her soul will burn out before we get there."

"But we could use-"

"There isn't enough time."

"But what about the-"

"No time. There's nothing we can do." The Author interjected. "She's got a minute, max." He slowly walked out of the room, and up the stairs. Dusk walked up to her. I could see a tear rolling down his face.

"I'm sorry." He said. "This is all my fault. If I'de never met you... you'd be safe." He said, tears coming faster now. "I never even learned your name."

"No," I said. "Dusk it's not your fault." I rushed to him, to his side. "It's my fault."
He stopped,

Then he looked up at me.

"How can I blame you for being born?" Diana's voice said. We turned and looked at her soul. Around her soul, I could almost see, a strange figure. Two legged and much taller than me, with long forelegs- hang on... arms... with hands and fingers... "You fought for your survival... who can blame you for winning?" The Author walked back into the room.

"I'm fueling her with artron energy from the TARDIS, it will add a little more time to her... afterlife. And as an added bonus, she gets last words."

"But, why can I see her?" I asked.

"Because you know what she looked like." The Author explained.

...

"Author, Can you... can you really travel through dimensions with a magic pendant?" Diana asked.

"It's more like a magic box actually." He laughed slightly.

"Tell my Grandad... tell him that I love him."

I couldn't take it anymore.

"What if we use my soul as energy?"

Pause the other video, then play the following one, to enhance your reading experience

Now, wait 10 seconds, then continue.

"That..." The Author thought for a moment. "That could work! But..."

"Ide die," I replied. "I know, but... she has a life. I see that now. There is, and only will be, one Diana. And destroying her, would be a waste."

"That's very noble of you, Echo." He walked, and put a hoof on my shoulder. "You'll have only done one thing in your brief life... but it was a good- no, great thing!" he said, spinning around. "You, you right there, Echo... You are at the top, the apex, of kindness, the apex, of love, the apex... of humanity. And there's nowhere better to be." I nodded in reply.

"Let's get started."

Do you know, what it's like? Working with the purpose of your own death? It's like your hooves won't move the way you tell them to. Holding things, and even walking becomes hard. But, after a few agonising minutes of preparation, We were ready. But... I wasn't sure I was ready. I mean, I was sacrificing myself, and I hadn't even lived a full day. I began to break down. Tears rolled down my face.

"Are you ok?" Dusk asked, walking over and putting a hoof on my shoulder to comfort me. I shook my head.

"As ok as somepony who's about to die can ever be." I joked.

"Alright! We are, all set!" The Author exclaimed. "And in the nic-of-time too! The TARDIS can't keep this up much longer, she's about to reach critical levels. You ready?" I slowly nodded. I felt sick to my stomach. The Author calmed down and continued. "Don't worry, it won't hurt at all."

"Ok." I nodded. On the floor was a chalk... oh I don't even care enough to describe it. Hey, I'm about to die! I stood on the chalk drawing where the Author pointed. I closed my eyes. I took a deep breath,

And was no more.

17 Epilogue

Play and enjoy.

"GAH!" I shouted upon wakeing up. I was in my house, my human house. I looked at my hooves, and they were hands.

'Huh, not as satisfying as hoped.'

"But... what the hell kinda dream was that!" I exclaimed. I got up, and walked into the bathroom to get ready for the day, as uneventful and boreing as it usually was. I looked in my bathroom mirror, and saw to puncture wounds on my arm. I looked down to my real arm, and they wern't there. I touched where the should be on my arm. Nope, nothing. I staired at the invisable wounds in the mirror, and noticed... is that fur? Yeah! That's fur growing on my arm! I saw fur growing on my reflections arm (and whole body for that matter) as my reflection morphed intp... me. Me from...

"Those wern't dreams were they?"

Pause-n-play

"Nope!" Echo said through the mirror, loud and ecstatic. "How ya doin?" She said, more calm.

"Ok, I guess." I replied. "But, How is this happening, shouldn't I be dead?"

"No." She replied sollumly. She left it at that, and I'm sure she'd rather leave it that way. "Just... do me one thing. Can you?" She asked. "Live a good life. Do that for me. Live a good life. It may be hard, or not as exciting as you want, but... it's yours. And it's worth living." And then, she faded. I never saw her again. And that's it. That is how my life changed, in 127.8 seconds. It may have went back to normal, but I havn't. I don't think I ever will.

Every rare oportunity I get, on a blood moon (like it is tonight, for me), I feel a burning in my arm, and I hope, that maybe I could change back into a pony, and see him agian. But... believeing that, even for a second... that would be silly. Now wouldn't it? OW! Poked my lip on my fang!

Author's Note

Greeting and salutations readers, and thank you for reading... and being you! It's an honor, and a pleasure knowing that people (and ponies, few as there are) read my stories. Well... I say stories, but then again, this actually happened to me, and her. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed. Fell free to review (if you're an analyst) and see you in the vortex.