Chapter 16

Recovery, chatter and revelations

When the grenade exploded next to her, Twilight Sparkle was sure that she met her doom.

Her whole existence was reduced to unbearable PAIN.

Splinters of a clumsily-made grenade, while of lower quality than military-grade ammo still could have a devastating effect, especially at close distance and against targets not in heavy armour. And Twilight fulfilled both criteria.

She collapsed, but, against her expectations, she did not die immediately. Which meant that her chances of dying in extreme agony rapidly went up closer to one hundred percent.

Currently, they were at 95.7374878 percent... and climbing.

She barely felt anything through searing pain - but even through the red haze that clouded everything, she still could hear Sunset Shimmer's enraged scream.

Unable to open her eyes, she still understood that her friend was putting herself in unnecessary danger - and she was powerless to prevent it, because she was going to die now.

Then she felt being turned onto her back, light assaulted her eyelids, adding to the pain she was feeling, and then something pierced her skin.

And again.

And again.

Two more injections followed, and she felt her pain subsiding slightly. Med-X, she realized.

She managed to open her eyes, looking at the sky and the faces that were swimming in her vision. One particular face stod out, with blue hair...

Blue hair... Flash!

She tried to raise her hand, but the mere thought of moving was painful.

"Flash..." she croaked.

"I'm here, Twilight," cold metal of her crush's power armour enveloped her fingers.

"Where... Sunset?" even speaking was painful now, despite Med-X in her system.

"She's... defending us."

"Please... help... her..." the words were getting harder and harder to pronounce. Another needle stab, and soon, she felt that her body was getting heavier, slipping into unconsciousness.

"I will, now don't exert yourself."

"Please..."

Twilight felt as if something was pulling her underground.

Her eyelids fell as if filled by lead (not bullet-formed), and she felt nothing.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

An annoying high-pitched sound was piercing her ear drums at regular intervals.

Is that what's supposed to be in Tartarus? That doesn't seem like it.

And given how annoying this sound is, I don't think it's Lands of Eternal Harmony and Happiness, either.

Coming to a conclusion that without visual input it would be impossible to determine what kind of afterlife she presumably found herself in, Twilight opened her eyes and almost closed them again as bright artificial light assaulted her eyes.

Once she got more used to it, she realized that her surroundings did not resemble afterlife at all.

First, there was a ceiling.

Second, there were white walls, and apparently, a floor, and she was lying on something resembling a bed.

Except it's kinda high for a bed...

She tried to move - and winced, as she felt pain and soreness invading her nerve system.

"Oh, you're awake! Don't move," she heard a voice to her right.

Where am I? Twilight wanted to ask, but her throat was so dry one could scratch a skin to blood with it. She felt something poking near her right mouth corner, and the same voice told her to drink, which she eagerly did.

When she finished, the other person came into a full view: a woman in her mid-thirties, with a kind-looking face, wearing red robes adorned with the sigil of gears, word and wings.

Brotherhood of Steel!

"Thank you," she said.

"You are welcome. Let me introduce myself. I am Scribe Redheart of Brotherhood of Steel, and I am the head medic here. You are in our bunker; you were brought in by your friends and some other Paladins who claim that you assisted them against White Knives. This is true?"

"Yes."

"The Brotherhood greatly appreciates your selflessness. There are too few people that would try that. Most of them would let our brothers die, then finish off the bandits and help themselves to our technology."

"Why would people be this... cold-hearted? Surely Brotherhood is better than White Knives?"

"Of course. But..." Redheart looked around, and then leaned closer to Twilight, whispering:

"...but our superiors seem intent on antagonizing the whole Wastelands. And many Paladins are arrogant. So when someone gets in trouble, others seem content watching the high and mighty brothers get their due. Don't speak of this to anyone, OK?"

"OK," the equine answered. "So... how come I am not dead?"

"Well, it was luck and the fact that your armour is decent enough. While it was pierced in enough places, most of the splinters did not do serious damage. That DOI agent managed to extract most of them safely. But there were a few that hurt you really bad, and we had to perform surgery on you."

"How long was I unconscious?"

"Almost a full day. Your friends stubbornly refuse to go, earning themselves dirty looks from some of our more... caustic persons."

"Do I need to stay here?"

"For several more hours at least, so that regenerative medicine runs its course. After that, you can leave this room. Meanwhile, is there anything you want?"

"A book or two wouldn't hurt."

"Which ones?"

Good question. There are some things I cannot still understand. Let me think...

"How about a couple of books on computers and something about pre-apocalypse technological advancement?"

"OK. I will be back soon. Also, your friends wanted to see you - Applejack, Bon Bon and Sunset..."

"Sunset's OK?" Twilight blurted out.

"Yes, aside from some minor wounds and total exhaustion, not to mention Buffout crash. A good rest and some RegenStim did her good. Oh, and Senior Paladin Sentry also received the same treatment. He's also here waiting, for some reason."

Twilight's cheeks pinked a bit.

"I can let someone in, but not all at once. Whom do you want to see?"

Feeling herself torn between wanting to see Sunset alive and well and having a chance to finally have a good chat with a rocker she found herself crushing on, the lavender-skinned girl decided to play it safe:

"Can I see Bon Bon first?"

"How're you holding up, Twilight?" Bon Bon asked her not-very-lucky-lately friend.

"It's sore and my wounds are painful. And yet I feel giddy inside, because I am still alive. You were helping me, right?"

"Yes, I was. As a DOI agent, I was supposed to know well how to treat life-threatening wounds. Having an AMFAK-10 also helped. But still, you were in grave danger. Usually, chances of surviving what you went through are fifty percent or so with medical equipment nearby. Without it? Almost always fatal."

"Ouch," Twilight winced. These near-death experiences are becoming too common for me.

"Ouch indeed."

"How is Flash? And Sunset?"

"Both are fine now, but when we found them, they were on verge of exhaustion. Sunset was running on Buffout only, and Flash's power armour almost went limp."

"Went limp?"

"Sorry, military jargon. That's when power armour's microfusion pack is out of charge and using it becomes impossible."

"That would have been bad?"

"Very bad. Trying to move in power armour without energy is something even an athletic person would have trouble with. When you're exhausted? Impossible."

"And Applejack?"

"She remained here, near the surgery, for all time. Elder Aegis spoke to her on something, and it appeared that she was... very surprised by something."

"By what?"

"I didn't ask, and you'd rather not speak about it here. There may be listening devices," Bon Bon said in a hushed voice. "I'm glad that you feel fine enough, Twilight," she spoke louder. "Whom do you want to see next?"

"Er... Sunset?"

"I'll let her come in, then," the beige-skinned girl went out, and a few seconds later, a fiery-haired Equestrian in human form rushed in, gently hugging Twilight.

"Thank Celestia you're alive!" Sunset breathed out. "When I saw you fall, I thought... I thought..."

To the lavender-skinned girl's surprise, she felt her shoulder getting moist. It appeared that while Sunset fought tears for a while, seeing her compatriot alive and well broke the proverbial dam.

"I'm alive, Sunset, and I'm OK now... please don't cry," Twilight patted her friend on the back.

"Oh, Twilight," the fiery-haired girl broke the hug, making her tears visible, "these are tears of joy... if they didn't save you, it would have been tears of pain and rage... I was friendless for years, and to lose my friends just after I found them..."

"Don't worry. We will endure," the Princess put her hand on Sunset's shoulder, smiling. Sunset gave an unsure smile in return, and wiped her eyes.

"Are you in pain?" she asked.

"I am sore in places where the splinters hit the hardest, but it's bearable. Think I'll be one hundred percent ready soon. Scribe Redheart patched me up well."

"Wait. Redheart? She was a school nurse at CHS! She is seriously here?"

"Yes, she's here. And..." suddenly, Twilight stopped.

She wanted to say that nurse-turned-Scribe Redheart did not approve of Brotherhood's policy, but remembered Bon Bon's voice about listening devices.

Is that how they check the loyalties of their members? How they found out about Silicon Stone's intentions?

I can't put her in danger... or Flash. We need to ensure that our sympathizers remain alive.

"...and she is a very good doctor," she said instead. "Was she a good medic back at CHS?"

"Quite good. I never experienced the necessity of going to her, but some people were regular "customers", so to speak. If a certain lead guitar player was present here, I could have said "Just ask Rainbow Dash" - she had had to visit Redheart at least once in two weeks because of scratches or gashes or something else. I wonder how Nurse Readheart found herself in the Brotherhood..."

"Me too, but I guess that's not the most important topic here. How are you, Sunset?"

"Physically or psychologically?"

"Physically."

"A good night's sleep returned all my strength. I slept like a newborn foal, despite the fact they gave us sleeping bags and put us in between some shelves full of junk in some storage room. Good thing I didn't need another Buffout dose. While I got wounded, RegenStim took care of that - my arm is well and in working order."

"Did Flash help you?"

"He did. If not for him, I might have fallen victim to my stupidity. It pays to have someone in power armour to soak up the damage."

Twilight frowned at the latest words. Sunset understood that she spoke wrongly, and apologized:

"Oops... sorry, Twilight, I am not implying that I used him as meat shield or something... It's just... well..."

"I understand, Sunset. Don't apologize. If we speak tactically, then someone in power armour would be quite useful to our team, given that this type of armour absorbs damage better."

"...yeah."

"Is Flash alright?"

"He is fresh as daisy now, also thanks to a good sleep. He only got some scratches. Lucky guy," the smile on Sunset's face belied her grumpiness.

"Did you speak of... anything related to the past?"

"If you don't mind, Twilight, it's... kinda personal."

"Oh. Sorry."

"No problem. Now, do you want to see the dashing rocker?"

"Sunset!" Twilight blushed. "Please don't talk like that! And... er, may I see Applejack first?"

"OK, fine. Can't even tease the royalty these days..." Sunset rose to leave, grumbling good-naturedly.

I can banish you to the moon if I want to, the equine Princess thought without any real malice in her mind. As her compatriot left, she saw the country girl come in, Stetson hat sitting on her head as always.

"Howdy, Twilight."

"Hey, Applejack. I've heard you were keeping watch?"

"Sorta. They wouldn't let me in the surgery, which's kinda fine, 'cause, you know, infection and stuff. But Ah didn't want to leave ya alone."

"Thanks, Applejack. You didn't have to."

"On the contrary, Twilight."

"You didn't have any problems?"

"Well, some people might've given me a stink eye once in a while, but the word has spread out that we helped some of their own. So others're kinda more accepting of us now. A couple o' folks even came up and thanked us."

"Well, that's good, I guess."

"Ah guess so, too."

"Did anything happen here?"

"Well, Elder Aegis wanted to speak to me, and we had a chat. Turns out that he didn't order Silicon Stone killed, or at least, Ah believe so - he didn't look as if he was lying. It was that varmint Rampart."

"Rampart? Does he even have the authority?"

"Apparently, yeah. Turns out he decided to kill Silicon before the latter actually found out about him being under threat of exile. He didn't have the chance to defend himself in front of others."

"That's... extremely cold-blooded."

"Indeed, Twi. Naturally, Silicon was quite bitter 'bout this mess, and since he wasn't actually lyin', Ah also assumed the whole Brotherhood ta be jerks. Helmet Steadfast didn't really help matters either."

"Did Elder Aegis say anything about me?"

"He said he wanted to talk to you once the doctors let you out."

"Nothing else? I thought they would want to ask us something in return for the medicine..."

"Ah brought that up, an' he said that he would raise that up with you."

"Oh..." That can't be good. Why me? Does he have a secret?

"An' he also said that he would talk about that power armour quest, too."

"I... see. Thanks, Applejack."

"Heh, you're welcome. You wanna see Flash now?" smiling slyly, Applejack gave a wink, making Twilight blush. Temporarily incapable of speech, she nodded. As the country girl left, Flash Sentry entered, wearing his usual attire from Canterlot HIgh, also slightly blushing.

"Hi, Flash..." the lavender-skinned girl said.

"Hi, Twilight... How are you doing? Are you in pain?"

"Not quite... I am sore, but not debilitated. I see that you saved your old school clothes?"

"Yes... as a tribute to old times. Man, it seems like it has happened an eternity ago..."

Indeed, Twilight realized. With everything that had happened in this world, it surely seems like this had happened in previous life, actually. And that might not even be metaphorical.

"What happened to you, Flash?"

"Well, when the war began, I joined up, believing that UFE needed me and all that jazz. Fought in several small battles until the mess in Bovinia, one of the countries that had joined TODC."

"What happened there?"

"Tartarus squared. Pardon the rhyme. You never experienced tropical climate before? It's a mess; I'd have said something else, but swearing in front of a woman is inappropriate. Humid air, torrential rain that makes you almost instantly wet, poisonous snakes, jungles. And TODC soldiers."

"Why did the UFE attack that country?"

"Besides from being a member of TODC and declaring war on us? Bovinia had some reserves of oil, natural gas and uranium that our High Command did not want in the enemy's hands. Problem is, no one from DOI had bothered to do their stuff properly. We quickly captured the main processing plants only to find that they were, like, twenty percent of overall export, and the rest was split up in rural jungle areas, cleverly hidden - and guarded by TODC soldiers, naturally. Those of them that weren't Bovinian did not fare much better than us, but natives... oh my... they showed us who's on whose turf! Their guerilla tactics left you either dead or mad. In the end, when High Command finally had enough, they dropped barrels of some pathogen native to that area..."

"Pathogen? Wait... they deliberately caused diseases?!" Twilight felt outraged at the dirty tactics (for that is how she perceived it) used by UFE military.

"Yeah, our people were not amused either. There were anti-war protests all over the country. Sandalwood participated in one..." Flash's face took on a hint of sadness, which did not escape unnoticed.

"What happened?"

"The riot police arrived, but there were armed provocateurs in the crowd. Once they fired at the officers, killing two of them, the officers began flinging grenades everywhere and shooting water jets, trying to disperse the crowd, but it quickly degenerated into an ugly firefight where police whipped out their own weapons. Sandalwood got caught in a crossfire when trying to help one person to get out of there. It was said that a stray bullet from a policeman killed him."

Celestia merciful, no! Twilight's hands flew to her mouth. She had heard of the friendship that formed between Flash, Sandalwood and Micro Chips, and the unlikely group became a shining example of a good group of friends. To lose one of them in such a way...

"And Micro Chips?"

"He is actually in the Brotherhood now, serves as a Scribe in the bunker. Deals in some complex computer stuff I really have trouble understanding and upgrades power armour software."

"Oh good. At least he made it."

"Indeed."

"What's up, Flash?" Twilight asked the blue-haired young man, noticing his sullen expression.

"It's just..." Flash sighed, and went on, "...well, you had had to defend yourself with guns, right?"

"Right..." What is he leaning to?

"I... can't help but look around... and think of myself as a failure."

"What?! Flash, you aren't a failure! You helped Sunset, you survived the Day of Burning..!"

"Yes. The Day of Burning. The day I swore to prevent, along with all my comrades in arms when I gave the Oath of Service. The day when I failed."

"It didn't depend on you alone, Flash!" Twilight raised her voice. "You didn't launch the nuclear missiles! You fought through Bovinia and who knows what else, to keep everyone safe, but you couldn't be everywhere at once! You didn't destroy the world!"

"Didn't I? I fought for the country that used weapons of mass destruction and underhanded tactics, all in the name of being the sole controller of rapidly diminishing natural resources! Initially I fought because I believed in a righteous cause; in the end, I fought in the name of mere survival, because it was obvious that if we lost, we'd all be dead, killed for Tartarus-cursed war crimes! It wouldn't matter who committed the crimes - TODC would kill us all, and I didn't want to die; I didn't want to admit that I was fighting for something I could no longer sincerely support! The only thing that kept me going is the hope that achieving yet another victory, big or small, would end the war, at least on equal terms, so that the world would become safer!"

Running out of air, Flash breathed in and continued, in a calmer tone.

"I'm sorry I shouted at you... when the Day of Burning came and went, I understood that all I did was for naught. I couldn't keep the world safe."

"Flash... the world is never truly safe."

"No, but can you honestly tell me that it is safer now than... well... at the time of Battle of the Bands?"

"...no."

"I didn't want you to see this world..." Flash spoke dejectedly.

"Wait, what?"

"I said it out loud? Oh blast... yes, Twilight, I really didn't want you to experience this side of the world. I had hoped that when we... met again, I would show you some beautiful things around it. But I can't now, because they're gone, and the life has turned into a vicious fight for survival."

"Flash... come here."

As the ex-rocker approached his crush, he felt Twilight's arms snake around him and pull him into a hug. Hesitantly, he palced his hands on Twilight's back, hugging her in return.

"I don't blame you for all this, Flash. It's those in power who didn't deserve it in first place who are to blame."

"And I followed them. Am I any better?"

"They lied and deceived, and from what I see, very cleverly. And they brought ruin upon all of us because of arrogance, greed, selfishness and paranoia. Let them wither in Tartarus, and don't think of them. They aren't worth it."

"I..." Flash felt his eyes stinging, and fought over control of his tear ducts. Can't cry in front of Twilight! "Thank you for kind words, Twilight."

"You are welcome."

"Ahem..."

The pair turned to the entrance - and immediately broke, blushing furiously, on seeing Nurse Redheart with books coming in.

"Sorry... bad time?"

"No, I... actually, I was about to leave," Flash turned to the side, trying to hide the blush. "Er, see you again, Twilight!"

"See you!" Twilight replied. "Scribe, how long until I can come out of here?"

"One hour and fifty or so minutes. I am afraid that you need to be alone for now - but you seem to enjoy reading, so I hope these books will help you."

"Thanks."

As soon as Twilight was cleared to leave the medical section, she was approached by two Paladins, who wanted to lead her to Elder Aegis. She complied, and, to her relief, her friends followed her, despite grumblings from the escort.

As she entered the now-familiar office, she saw Elder Aegis in his usual place, but, to her surprise, she didn't see Star Paladin Rampart around.

Strange. I know he had disobeyed Elder's orders, but isn't he second-in-command?

"Ah, Miss Sparkle. Sit down, please," Aegis pointed his hand in the direction of the chair.

His tone is... less antagonistic. I don't want to bet on it, but he seems... pleased to see me, Twilight thought, doing as told to. The Elder typed something on his terminal's keyboard, and pressed a button on it. After that, he turned to her.

"First and foremost, Miss Sparkle, I want to thank you for the assistance you have provided to Senior Paladin Sentry's group. It is... very unusual, for an outsider to offer assistance to Brotherhood of Steel, given... our isolation. May I inquire as to why you decided to do so?"

"Flash's... sorry, Senior Paladin Sentry's group came across White Knives, in whom, I believe, we share a common enemy."

"I see. Did you seek any reward for that?"

"Material?"

"Any kind."

"While I did hope that this act would show that we want to maintain peace and friendship between Appletown and Brotherhood of Steel, we were not seeking any material compensation."

"I see," Elder Aegis repeated, putting his elbows on the table and intertwining his fingers, putting his head on them.

Silence reigned.

Twilight waited.

Neither of them were willing to break silence.

There is a game of sorts in the air, the equine Princess thought. What is his angle? What does he want?

The silence continued. Elder Aegis looked as if deep in thought, and Twilight was trying to analyze covertly what was going on on his mind.

"Why are you silent?" the older man asked suddenly, startling her.

"I presumed that you were pondering on an important matter and did not want to be interrupted."

"Indeed I was thinking, but you didn't need to worry about that."

"I apologize."

"Apology accepted. You see, Miss Sparkle... there is something I don't really understand."

"What is it?"

"You."

Whatever Twilight expected to hear, it wasn't this.

"Me?" she repeated, eyes wide as if caught in a car's headlights.

"Indeed. You are an... anomaly, so to say. In these days, the people do not really hurry to help others, especially if offered nothing in return. If nothing else, ammunition and medical supplies, along with food and water, have to be paid for, so altruism alone won't cut it. Yet you are willing to go out of your way to facilitate a compromise between us and Appletown, and help our people out. You were even wounded because of it."

"About that... thank you for doing this surgery on me. I'm not certain what can I do about medicines, though..."

"Well, we didn't spend a lot of it on you, but if you do happen to find some spares and are inclined to share, we won't decline. In fact, we will buy them. But let's return to the topic at hand. What drives you to do these things?"

"Er... the fact that these things are right to do?"

"The definitions of "right" and "wrong" are quite... subjective, now more than ever. In fact, your way of thinking actually predates the Last War."

"And that's a good thing... right?"

"Indeed, but many people with morals as yours... didn't survive for long. Or were forced to change their views in order to survive."

"I had to, too. I used to think killing was unforgivable, unless it's the last option in self-defense, and yet I had to attack first in some cases, like when preventing the deaths of innocents at the hands of bandits."

"But still, your views hadn't changed much. Many people, on the other hand... their views changed substantially, if not radically."

"But why? I can understand if it were a minority, but you speak "many" as if you mean "majority"..."

"Tell me, Miss Sparkle, do you not remember what transpired during the Last War?"

The question caught Twilight off guard. The latest events almost made her forget the cover story of her "amnesia". Given that her human counterpart had already been at CHS before, she could be confused for human Twilight by someone, and no one aside from Canterlot High and Crystal Prep was supposed to know about her extradimensional origins. Given that human Twilight managed to make an impact on this world by inventing microfusion power sources, it was a small wonder why no one had confused them before.

But then again, one had to know that she did invent microfusion cells. And since Brotherhood actively uses energy weapons...

...

...Celestia and Luna buck my flanks!

"No... I cannot," regaining control of herself, the equine spoke. "You see, I seem to have suffered an amnesia. I remember certain times and people from before the war, but I can't remember the technological progress before and during the war, nor can I remember where I had been in the years while it was still too dangerous to roam on surface... presumably in a Vault, but the first after-war memory I have is standing up in some deserted area, presumably near Baltimare."

"I see. It's a real shame that such tragedy fell upon you. And you don't have any detail that could bring your memory back?"

"Not right now, at least."

"Can you please come over here, to me, and look at my terminal?"

"OK..." What's all this about?

Coming up behind the Elder, Twilight looked at the screen (which turned out to be flat and coloured, unlike RIT-V300 models she had seen), and gasped.

Her own face looked at her from the screen. Her counterpart was dressed in a lab coat, holding Spike (apparently, the other one), smiling unsuredly at the screen and wearing glasses. Her hair was in a mess of strands, some of them in two ponytails, others falling freely.

There was a text on the screen below the picture. Twilight read:

MINISTRY OF DEFENSE OF UNITED FEDERATION OF EQUESTRIA

SCIENCE, RESEARCH AND DELELOPMENT DEPARTMENT

Electronic message
To: Dr. Sharp Nerve
From: [REDACTED]

Dr.,

This girl, Twilight Sparkle, is a walking and talking genius, I kid you not. Just look at this article! Her theories about "microfusion power source" may sound ridiculous at first, but only at first. Our guys have already tried to build one power element according to her specifications, and while the prototype is rough, it is showing good results.

Seriously, hire her ASAP!

Attached: 1 file.

Electronic message
To: [REDACTED]
From: Dr. Sharp Nerve

You don't need to ask, man! I have looked at her ideas. Seriously, this stuff can advance our army by decades!

"As you see, Miss Sparkle... you are not yet another Wasteland wanderer. You are... more than that. In fact, you are the reason why power armour, laser and plasma rifles exist, why Brotherhood of Steel exists," Elder Aegis' cool voice sounded silkily from behind and to the left.

Twilight was forced to clutch at Elder's table so as not to fall down.

"Does anyone have an idea why Elder Aegis wanted to speak to Twilight alone?" Applejack asked the others.

"None whatsoever," Sunset replied. "And why her and not Bon Bon or me?"

"Beats me," the beige-skinned girl replied. "But there must be a reason."

"I just hope it's not because he sees her as weakest link when alone. That won't be good for us at all."

"Y'all think he'll try to manipulate Twilight?" the country girl spoke up. "Isn't she, kinda... better trained to deal with that?"

"She's used to dealing with other people, Applejack," Sunset replied. "Not military. And Elder Aegis must have been an officer before the apocalypse. Did you notice how effectively is this bunker being run? He surely knows a thing or two about organizing... and motivating people."

"To do his bidding, you mean?" Bon Bon spoke again.

"Precisely."

"But Twilight isn't in the Brotherhood, right?" Applejack asked.

"No. But we already owe them four sets of power armour. And they spent some valuable medicine on her, despite her being an outsider. This world is not big on generosity. He seeks to gain something."

"But what?"

"I don't know. And that's the worst thing, because it doesn't let us counter him. I don't think of the Brotherhood as enemy... but I wouldn't call him a friend at this moment either."

"Fair point."

With a hiss, the door opened, revealing Twilight Sparkle being safe and sound. And yet Sunset saw the signs of stress, which naturally didn't make her feel friendlier to Elder Aegis.

"Are you OK?" she asked.

"I'm fine," the equine Princess answered. "But we'll need to talk once we get back to Appletown. This is serious business."

Author's Note

I don't have the strength for a long chapter now, everyone... So sorry My work has become hectic, like "crunch-class hectic".

Let me know what you think of this chapter in the comments. I always appreciate them

Stay tuned! I'll update as soon as I can... I hope it is sooner instead of later.