Razor Wit groaned as she returned to consciousness. Everything hurt. Both of her eyes were swollen almost shut and she could still taste the blood from her split lips. Her eyes and forehooves immediately went to her belly, bruised and battered. She felt around, hoping for some sign of life from her foal. She could feel the lump of her foal's body, but as she continued to press she did not feel any movement. Fearful tears welled up in her eyes, 'Is she dead? She's not moving. No. No! She can't be dead!' Razor's hooves felt and pressed against her womb, but there was no movement. She broke down crying, fearful that her foal had been killed. Hiriboshi had filled the hermetically sealed room with some sort of gas which paralyzed Razor then entered the room and beat her unconscious. As she continued to feel nothing from her unborn foal, her tears of fear slowly turned into tears of simmering anger.

**********

Artex slid the speed loaders and holster onto his belt, fastened his belt around his middle, and double checked his .357 magnum revolver to make sure it was loaded before slipping it into the holster. He smirked, "18 rounds of fuck you." His smirk dropped, "No, can't let it fester. All I'm doing is getting Razor back, whether she's alive or... or dead." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "Darryl said these people are being mind controlled by Hiriboshi, and I almost killed that man." He shook his head, "Idiot. Acting before I knew anything. I went too far. After we rescue Razor," he sighed, "I need to turn myself in." He slipped his khopesh into its holster and slid it over his shoulder and fastened the bottom of it to his belt, "Don't kill any more than necessary, but do not be afraid to do so." He continued coaching himself as he and Visceral Slaughter prepared for the battle to come.

"You're as nervous about this as I am." Visceral said as she checked the straps of her armor, "We haven't seen combat before."

"Not quite true." Artex said as he tightened his boots, "I've seen combat, but I haven't killed anyone before." He heaved a heavy sigh, "I'm sorry you had to see me at such a low point, Visceral. I was so angry and hurt that I let myself be consumed by my rage."

The older Unicorn mare shot him a hard look, "You cannot let yourself go there again. Not with Razor and the rest of your herd. You will lose them and your foals deserve a father. Razor chose you and I trust her judgement, so I will be hard on you. Do not show your foals bitterness or hatred. Show them love and understanding. Do make the same mistakes I did, Artex." She looked down at the floor, "I am always wondering if my attitude toward other species influenced Cutter to hurt you. I feel so guilty about that and I think I was being too hard on him afterwards. Maybe I saw what I had been doing and it was so distasteful..."

"Then do better. We both need to be better for our families... if we survive today." Artex said quietly.

Vaiawa elegantly strode into the room. She carried no weapons, but she would be going too, "Suey and Rifin are waiting at the portal. The Red Changelings have vanished and I have no idea where they are. The E.U.P. are going to be waiting on this side of the portal. They cannot take part in the raid for legal reasons. Unfortunately I have not seen any other volunteers except for those coming from New Humansville and Trottingham. Despite our low numbers, we are out of time." Vaiawa nuzzled Artex, "We will not survive without more to aid us. I am sorry, my love."

Artex drew in a deep breath, "Then we will die making a statement. I'm not leaving Razor in that man's clutches."

Visceral grunted as she removed a second metal ribbon from her saddlebags, then a third, then a fourth, then a fifth which she wrapped around her middle, " If we can get close a door or window I'll create an opening for you. Go in and get Razor. Don't let anything stop you."

Artex knelt down next to Visceral, "You know how that's likely to end."

She nodded, "This is what I signed up for when I joined the Civil Guard. If I need to make that sacrifice, I will."

Artex embraced the older mare, "Thank you, Visceral, but I'd rather do it together with you."

After a moment of hesitation, Visceral returned the hug, "Just do one thing: take care of my little filly and your little filly."

They broke off the hug and Artex straightened up grabbing his Shock Blade, "We need to say goodbye to Oriana and Danielle."

"Mind if I join you?" Visceral asked. Artex and Vaiawa both nodded.

**********

Luna drew a shaky breath before her live interview at The Complex. Security was extremely tight and she was reading over the list of questions for the ninth time. She was nestled in the dressing room waiting to be called for her moment in front of the camera, which she knew would be interrupted by a battle.

A young woman opened the door to the dressing room, "Queen Luna, they're almost ready for you. Just wait behind the curtain until you hear your name then walk out and take a seat near the host but partially facing the crowd. Do you have any questions?"

Luna shook her head, "No, thank you." She rose from her seat with a slight groan due to her very pregnant belly, "Ooh," she poked her unborn child, "And to think some mares voluntarily do this more than once."

Luna followed the woman until she held up her hand, "Okay, just wait here until you hear your name. Did you want me to wait with you and help with your queue?"

Luna nodded, "Yes. Thank you."

"... and now please give a warm welcome to our very first guest from another world, Queen Luna!" The host crowed.

The woman nodded and gestured Luna forward, holding the curtain back for her, "You're up, your Majesty."

"Thank you." Luna replied as she headed out onto the stage amongst wild applause from the off-duty military personnel who made up the entire audience.

Luna walked over and laid down on the couch facing the cameras. The host, a middle aged man with dark brown hair, shuffled some papers on his desk and began the questions.

**********

Chris checked to make sure his Thamaturgic battery was full when he heard a voice call out, "I'm not calling you 'Uncle Chris' just so you know." Chris turned his head toward the voice, "Hey there Shining Armor, Discord." Chris saw a hooded, robed, and veiled figure and became very serious, "This is our secret weapon huh. How many casualties should we expect from the enemy once we deploy our secret weapon?"

"Enough to turn the tide. I am the only one who knows the identity of our weapon and it will stay that way even when deployed so satellites cannot identify them."

Chris rubbed his left hand down his face, "Yeah, I understand." He turned toward the portal dome where Suey and Rifin stood guard over twenty or more uniformed Humans, "Hiriboshi sent through another raid, but this time much more heavily armed. They ran into Suey and Rifin. They shot Rifin," Chris shrugged, "The bullets bounced right off him, but it pissed off Suey. They USED to have a tank with them buuuuuut Suey knocked it onto its side and the crew crawled out. Hiriboshi pulled back his defenses from around the portal but the entire slope up to the main entrance of their base and the entire perimeter of the circular facility is lined with armed troops and machine gun emplacements. Charging their position with our volunteers is going to be like the D-Day landings on steroids. Thank God we have the kinetic nullifers." A shuffling sound made Chris turn his head, "And here they come."

Shining Armor, Discord, and their secret weapon all looked back toward New Humansville as hundreds of Kavim and Humans approached at a steady walk. Chris was able to pick out many faces he knew. Kolo Calvin and Buzz Butter along with the rest of their Changeling herd, Dan and Visceral Slaughter, Darryl Hord and Backlash to name a few. Backlash saw the portal and pulled Darryl down to her. They shared a kiss and then Darryl broke off while Backlash trotted over to Suey and Rifin.

There were some faces he did not recognize too, but they were likely from Trottingham and then there were the hooded and cloaked ones. Chris breathed a sigh of relief when he saw them, "They came." His relief was almost palpable.

Chris strode over to Artex and held out his hand, "It's almost time." He then raised his voice, "Does everybody have their Kinetic Nullifers on?" His answer was a small ocean of affirmatives, "Good." Chris replied, "They won't stop bullets, but they will make them less than deadly from rifle rounds and pistol rounds. I'm afraid I haven't been able to test them out against medium or heavy weapons. The sounds are going to be loud and there will be a lot of them. Most Human weapons you are going to see will be only useful at range. The majority of you are going to be using hooves. Get close quickly and try to hit any body part you can as hard as you can. Humans are much more frail than Kavim and their armor is going to be the type used to stop bullets, not hooves."

He clapped his hands together, "Now we just have to wait for the right time. Suey and Rifin are going to be joining you feel free to use them for cover. Rifin is naturally armored and Suey," Chris glanced over as Backlash was helping the Great Pig don her steel plate armor, "Is also going to be armored. They will be the biggest targets and probably come under the most fire. Those of you who use Rifin as cover keep a hoof or hand on him and funnel as much love as you can into him. It will help him heal and give him more power and energy. Once he gets to the closest wall of this facility he is going to ram straight through it so for goodness sake do not get in front of him or he will crush you like a grape. Those not using Rifin and Suey as cover, get to the enemy as fast as you can and do as much damage as possible. You are going to see many terrible things in this battle and none of us will begrudge you if you turn back now or at any point in the battle, just remember an army loses more troops retreating than charging so you would likely be opening yourselves up for ranged attacks from the enemy."

He took another breath and continued, "I will be on the battlefield and so will Discord, but he will not be able to do anything. He and I will be linked to this," Chris held up a crystal encrusted rod, "This is how I opened the portal to Earth and with us connected to it, we can strategically place troops as the battle continues." Chris smiled tightly, "There are more than you who are standing here. You will not be completely alone today."

Chris lowered his head and closed his eyes for a brief moment before he suddenly straightened up and took a step back as Luna finished delivering the message to his mind. Chris squared his shoulders and asked in a loud voice, "Are you ready!?"

**********

Hiriboshi was distinctly unhappy, 'Where did those monsters come from!? How do they have anything like that on our new world?' he had already reviewed the camera footage of the scuffle which took twenty troops and a tank. The problem was he could hardly make heads or tails of it. In concern for the damage such creatures could do in close combat he had pulled back the emplaced defenses, 'They were too close anyway. And the three meter tall embankment will make it even more difficult for those freaks to get close to us.'

Worrying that the monsters would make an incursion onto Earth he deployed the majority of his troops around the massive inner perimeter. Light, medium, and heavy machine gun emplacements, rocket and missile braces, even a couple dozen tanks had been deployed. He bemoaned the lack of artillery, but he could call in airstrikes if he needed them.

Deciding he had done as much as he could given the limited resources, Hiriboshi decided to sit down and attempt to figure out a decent roster for the defenses.

"General!" The voice of one of the people monitoring the situation interrupted his musings, "We have movement at the portal! Armed Humans and aliens are coming through."

Hiriboshi took a deep breath and donned his command headset so he could relay orders to his troops then opened the drawer of his desk and withdrew the field glasses he would need to see, "All units stand by to engage hostiles. Snipers..."

**********

"... and indeed it has been greatly to our benefit to have Human creativity in our midst. The lives of almost every soul in our capital of Canterlot and beyond through all of Equestria and even throughout the whole world have been enhanced by our newest frien-"

The host held up his right hand to his ear, "I'm sorry to cut you off, Queen Luna, but I've just learned that we have a direct link to live satellite images from the Facility in China and something is happening. We bring you now to the live feed of the Facility..."

Luna quirked an eyebrow and turned toward the screen in the background of the interview.

**********

Artex strode forward in a steady walk and stopped more than a hundred feet from the edge of the portal dome. Behind him came a stream of Kavim and Humans plus one Changeling Behemoth and a Great Pig dressed in enchanted steel plate barding which covered the majority of her body.

Visceral Slaughter stopped to the left of Artex and Vaiawa, in a different form, stood to his right. The disfigured man took a breath and let it out, "If we survive this, I'm buying us a few beers afterwards."

Visceral chuckled humorlessly, "If we survive I'll hold you to it."

"And I'll buy the second round." Vaiawa commented.

Visceral smirked for real, "If I didn't know any better I'd say the two of you were trying to get me drunk. Oh my, what nefarious plans do you have for this poor helpless mare."

Artex and Vaiawa both chuckled and the Changeling Queen added, "If anyone is fool enough to think you helpless then they deserve what they get." The trio laughed quietly as they waited for the rest of the volunteers to emerge from the portal dome.

Artex felt a slight impact to his side and looked down at the ground where a .50 caliber round just finished throwing up a tiny cloud of dust as it hit the dirt. He grinned darkly and raised his voice, "Good news Chris! These things can stop a fifty cal!"

The report of the shot reached their ears a few seconds later. Vaiawa snorted, "The enemy is a long way off. They will wittle down our defenses before we ever get close."

Artex sucked on his teeth for half a second before he calmed himself down, "Chris said it won't be an issue and I trust him."

**********

"A single bullet might not be effective, but I'm willing to bet that tens of thousands will be." Hiriboshi picked up the phone and dialed a number, "And I'm certain aircraft Air-To-Ground bombs and missiles will be too."

**********

Chris and Discord were the last to exit the portal though nobody knew it. Discord had them invisible and had assured Chris that the invisibility would stay so until a day had passed.

Chris called out his commands, "Charge the enemy on my command." He did not bother to hold up his hand, nobody could see it anyway, "Today we bring home those who have been cruelly taken from us and bring justice to those they have needlessly and callously murdered! When you strike down an enemy remember the pain they have caused and do not hold back! Strike for those who have been wronged! Strike for justice! Strike for all free creatures of our world! Strike against murder and tyrany and do not hold back! CHARGE!"

(Feel free to play Through The Fire And Flames if you want, readers)

Artex ignited his Shock Blade and dashed forward.
Darryl Hord did the same just a bit down the line.
Kolo Calvin and Buzz Butter both rushed forward. Calvin gripped his hammer tightly and grinned like a mad bastard as he reinvigorated his old battle cry, "It's hammer time, yall!"

Portals suddenly sprang to life in front of the volunteers and they ran through, coming out less than fifty feet from the enemy lines. Hiriboshi's Humans' eyes bulged as the enemy Humans and horse aliens that were previously more than a mile away inexplicably appeared right in front of them and all leaped into the air simultaneously. The soldiers opened up with full-auto fire, but their panicked shooting seemed to do nothing at all.

Time seemed to slow as the volunteers came down in the midst of their foes and began a slaughter the likes of which had never before been seen on Earth.

Artex Shock Blade sliced cleanly through the uniformed woman in front of him, bisecting her without resistance. The arch of his swing then cleaved through four more people, dealing lethal blows to each.

Visceral Slaughter earned her name in brutal fashion. Her metal ribbons flashed about in patterns far too fast for Human eyes to follow. The man in front of her died screaming then gurgling as she directed her first ribbon to the unguarded soft spot between his scrotum and anus and up through his torso, shredding organs and tissues and finally out of his mouth. The second, a woman, found her jaw removed by a flashing metal ribbon which sliced through her lower mandibular muscles and cut off her tongue as well. The third was an older man who had his windpipe, carotid artery, and jugular vein all severed by a thin but 2-inch wide metal ribbon entering from his left and exiting through his right. All three unique kills occurred within the blink of an eye and Visceral was only getting started.

Kolo Calvin was slower but no less powerful. His hammer shattered bones, bludgeoned muscle and tissue, and crushed skulls with every strike. Below and around him fighting in a tight circle was his herd. Buzz Butter was a living battering ram. With a single forward leap she crushed rib cages and pelvises before darting back to her husband. The Changelings who made up the rest of the herd used their magic, stored up from two years of love from their husband, to protect and retrieve their sister/wife and husband. The whole herd fought as a single unit dealing death to any foe within range.

Darryl being a Marine... nuf said. It was messy.

Rifin proved the power of his form. His massive battle arms sliced through foes like a scythe through wheat. The soldier's body armor did nothing to stop the behemoth's swings as he strode through any barrier in his path. Any enemies missed by his battle arms were crushed under his six tree trunk sized legs. He reached a wall and began hacking at it with his limbs.

Suey's armor was imperfect, but it held back enough damage and injuries to keep her alive and in the fight. She swung her tusked head back and forth goring enemies on either side. Those in front of her were knocked prone by her snout and trampled by her legs. Backlash kept close to the Great Pig, constantly pouring healing magic into her and not going on the offensive. She was only there to heal.

Despite the significant casualties they were causing, it was clear they would eventually be overwhelmed. Hiriboshi's forces were simply too numerous; and 200,000 plus soldiers could hurl a LOT of fire toward an enemy. Many of the volunteers were already feeling fatigued from the kinetic nullifier belts siphoning away their magical reserves.

Chris took a breath as he watched Hiriboshi's troops trying to deal with their attackers. Once their attention was focused on the volunteers from New Humansville and Trottingham, Chris opened a second portal.

Unicorns started pouring out of the second portal. They worked in pairs; one erecting a shield for both and the other using their magic to pierce enemies. Five stones of Telekinesis pressed into an area the size of a pencil poked holes cleanly through anyone they targeted, armored or not. And the fact that there were more than seven-hundred of them, including Razor's grandparents, only helped.

**********

Hiriboshi saw the second portal, "Squads not engaged with the enemy switch fire to new enemy forces emerging from the second portal."

**********

Seeing the Unicorns start to come under fire Chris opened a third portal. He smirked as an ocean of Earth Ponies thundered out onto the battlefield. The vetting process had taken some time, but Steady Plod had assured him they all knew one specific Earth Pony Magic art.

As Chris watched, the Earth Ponies galloped forward and began sinking into the dirt, only popping up occasionally to check their direction. To Chris they looked for all the world like a colossal pod of dirt dolphins. Just before they reached the three meter retaining wall they all dove for a brief instant before the retaining wall and all of its occupants exploded into he sky as if sent there by a volcanic eruption. Humans, both whole and in pieces, scattered all around as the Earth Ponies applied their impossible strength and toughness to churning bodies instead of soil. They bucked, and kicked, and bit, and head butted to beat the band and Hiriboshi's troops were pulverized with every hit.

Even with all of this, Hiriboshi's troops still began to take their tolls. Chris only had enough kinetic nullifier belts for the New Humansville volunteers. The Unicorns and Earth Ponies were unprotected save for Unicorn magic. The Earth Ponies had to rely on their close proximity to their enemy for cover and protection from the enemy's rifles and machine guns.

The roar of jet engines suddenly swept over the battlefield as more than a dozen missiles hit the mass of Unicorns. Dozens of Unicorns were tossed into the air, many in pieces, as the jets made their first pass.

Chris grabbed his communication crystal and yelled into it, "Get airborne and take out those jets!"

The hooded Ponies who were with the New Humansville volunteers tossed off their hooded cloaks revealing the Wonderbolts minus their uniforms. The Bolts took to the skies and the most unusual dogfight in Human history began.

The fighter jets had an overwhelming advantage in weapons, but the Pegasi had maneuverability and acceleration on their side, despite being forced to use melee tactics while on the wing. A fighter took its position behind Rainbow Dash and fired off its cannon at the swerving Pegasus, but was unable to hit such a small, agile target. Without warning the jet was ripped in half from below as Spitfire sliced through the fuselage using an advanced version of the technique Cutter used to injure Artex.

Another pilot spotted Soren coming directly at him and fired his gun. Soren juked out of the way then began spinning like a top as an opaque vortex of wind surrounded his body. The pilot attempted to veer away, but it was too late. His jet was torn apart as if it had been sent through a blender.

Chris quickly opened another portal to allow the Wonderbolt reservists to join the fight but it was too late for some of the core members.

Fleetfoot's left wing vanished in a puff of blood and feathers and the mare crashed screaming into the ground with the sound of overripe fruit hitting a wall.

Chris gritted his teeth and sighted where Hiriboshi's troops were doing the most damage. To the left of where the New Humansville volunteers were, Hiriboshi's troops were pouring heavy fire both toward the sky and into the volunteers. Chris decided to remedy that.

He held out his hands and opened up another portal.

A herd of Buffalo ridden by their Human friends charged out and began running down the soldiers. The Buffalo swung their heads back and forth using their horns to tear chunks of meat from their enemies while the Native Americans used their magic to fire guided bolts of explosive Thamaturgic Energy at the troops.

Interspersed with the Buffalo were Zebra Potioneers throwing potions which exploded, entangled enemies, emitted various gasses, or healed allies. Fighting alongside their Zebra brothers and sisters were the Ethiopian Chewa laying waste to enemies with their magical songs which provided protection, enhanced strength, sharpened reflexes, and resisted injury.

Chris spotted a pair of massive doors opening and reinforcements entering the field, so he opened yet another portal to bring the Minotaurs, Saddle Arabian Kavim, and their Humans to join the battle. The Minotaurs were heavily armored and armed with massive tower shields and morningstars which easily crushed the helmets of any foe who allowed them to get in close.

The Saddle Arabians utilized their wind magic to stir up dust storms around them and their Afghani allies, obscuring them from being seen and redirecting the bullets flying at them. The Kavim struck out with their hooves and used air currents like razor sharp whips to dismember Hiriboshi's soldiers. The Afghanis used hand crafted lohars, six or seven each, to rotate around them in the dust storms slicing and dicing all enemies who entered their range and tossing around head-sized rocks at opponents.

A massive door on the other side of the Facility began opening so Chris opened yet another portal and allowed the Crystal Ponies and their Bogatyrs to join the battle. Wielding semi-transparent weapons and armor formed of pure magic, the Bogatyrs waded fearlessly into the fray as their weapons ignored enemy armor and sliced through flesh with ease while their armor deflected both bullet and bayonet. The Crystal Ponies summoned bursts of crystal from the ground impaling the feet and groins of their enemies with jagged and barbed spires. Their glimmering coats hardened and some chips blasted away as bullets struck them, doing little real damage to the Ponies.

Chris saw that the machine guns were pouring fire into the volunteers and decided to let slip the Dogs of war. He opened a portal where nobody could see and just waited.

A few seconds later the ground underneath the machine gun emplacements all over the battlefield exploded upward in a shower of dirt as Diamond Dog claws shredded the belt fed weapons all across the battlefield.

Chris groaned at the toll the battle was taking on him but kept his mind on the toll it was taking on his friends and allies and pushed himself further. Keeping all of those portals open between two worlds was draining him extremely quickly, but he grit his teeth and opened the next two simultaneously.

The Red Changeling Hive poured out of the opening and began dispersing across the battlefield at the direction of their Queen and wreaking havoc wherever they went.

The Gryphons and their Featherback Marine counterparts soared in only barely above the ground and entered the fray with the Gryphons screeching, biting, and clawing at every one of Hiriboshi's soldiers while their Featherback Marines cut loose with the Shock Lances to devastating effect.

**********

Hiriboshi could not believe what he was seeing, 'These primitives are actually gaining ground!? Well not for long.'

**********

The battle was going in their favor, but then Chris spotted something that made his mouth go dry. Tanks, dozens of tanks emerged from a garage at the far end of the field and began firing their cannons indiscriminately into the humongous melee.

Chris braced himself as he opened the last portal before Shining Armor deployed the secret weapon.

**********

Hiriboshi's eyes bulged, his jaw hanging open limply as he saw a portal open up in the sky, 'That's impossible!' he thought as Dragon Lord Torch led an entire flight of his Dragons onto the field.

**********

Chris shuddered as the Dragons essentially began playing hopscotch with the tanks, crushing them and all occupants with each limb.

He yelled to Shining Armor, "Any time you're ready."

Shining Armor lowered his head and spoke encouragement to the secret weapon, "You can do this. You aren't killing anyone. All you're doing is removing the mind control and making them love all the creatures from our world. Come on, just let it flow."

Cadence lifted her tear-stained eyes to the incredible suffering and loss of life she never could have imagined. There was so much pain and agony flowing off the battlefield in waves that she felt sick. Her eyes flitted to an Earth Pony mare who had her left forehoof severed and yet she still fought on despite the tears of anguish streaming down her face as she crushed the head of one of Hiriboshi's soldiers. The next thing she saw was a Human soldier waving his hands while staring terrified at a Chewa who had already stabbed him in the groin. After that she saw a Human woman struggling to get out of a tank only to have her upper half severed as a Dragon stomped on it.

Cadence closed her teary eyes and lit her horn. She cast forth her consciousness and targeted every Human who was under mental control. She removed the controlling magic. It was only too simple for her; then one by one she enhanced the love in their hearts and minds to include creatures from her world and their Human allies. It sickened her to use her emotional magic in such a manipulative way, but ultimately it would save a lot of lives.

Hiriboshi's Human troops began to lose their cool. When they saw a non-Human on the field and one of their allies targeting them with a rifle, they dropped their own weapon and attempted to wrestle the gun away. One by one and growing more and more numerous by the second, they disrupted the array of battle completely in favor of the attackers. They wrestled weapons away, tackled their former allies, and used their own bodies to shield the Ponies, Buffalo, Minotaurs, and others.

The speed of Cadence's magic sped up. Hiriboshi's troops fell into complete disarray and the sound of weapons fire dwindled down to a trickle. Human troops began surrendering in droves, collapsing in tears at the amount of death all around them. More than one surged forth to bandage their former enemies' wounds and all across the battlefield Human troops collapsed, sobbing brokenly as they cradled the dead bodies of the attackers.

The emotions overwhelmed Cadence and she burst into full blown sobbing. She collapsed and Shining Armor caught his wife. Her sobbing form hung limply in his magic. He carried her off the field and departed for the Crystal Empire swearing to himself that he would die before he let her do such a thing to herself again. It was her idea and he had warned he it would be too much for her, but she would not be denied.

Chris's arms and legs felt like noodles. He tried to take a breath but the dust flew into his mouth and lungs forcing him to double over coughing. Discord lay on the ground exhausted.

All around was silence.

And then Rifin broke through the wall of The Facility.

Author's Note

I know it is imperfect, but I made it quick so it would not be over 18,000 words.