HMS Paris Infirmary, Morning after Emona Incident
Cloud Runner

How long have I been sitting here? Twenty minutes? Maybe an hour?

Hell if I know. Since Cosmo had left the nurse didn't waste time getting the line jabbed into my arm. She had hung the blood pouch on a stand she had brought in just for me. I didn't pay much attention to the bag as it slowly shifted and expanded as it filled. I was instead focused on Sky. She hadn't woken up since she arrived back on Paris, probably for the best considering the circumstances.

It's just... It doesn't feel right to see Sky all bandaged up and bruised. I know I don't really know much about her, but I feel bad for her.

Call me crazy but I'm betting that the nightmare has something to do with it.

"How has she been?" I looked up and saw a defeated Sombra looking down at me.

I just shrugged. "She hasn't said a word, let alone woken up."

"This is my fault..." He muttered as he leaned against the wall. "If I'd been paying attention-"

"Just stop." I groaned. "I already heard, De Witt got the drop on you three after you crawled out of the rubble. Honestly I wouldn't have done better."

"Well of course you wouldn't." Sombra said, stopping himself when the group of surgeons walked into the room with Redheart. "I guess it's game time?"

Redheart nodded as she unhooked the blood pouch and pulled the line out of my arm. "That's about the size of it."

"Redheart?" I asked. "What happens once everything is done?"

"Take her to Canterlot for recovery." She said. "We're just not equipped to handle her here once we're done."

"Just take care of her." Sombra whispered as the bed was rolled out of the room. "For my sake."

Call me crazy, but I get the feeling that this is going to be a long day.

***

Carniola Beachhead
Cosmo

Just walking around some of the old, beat up vehicles that this 'Second Division' brought with them doesn't really fill me with much confidence. Some of the crews referred to some of them as 'Valentine', whatever the hell that's supposed to mean. One of them, maybe the command tank, is absolutely pristine. But the other four have gouges in the armor, and I've been watching one of the crews struggle for twenty minutes to do... Something with the track. And supposedly this isn't everything.

I feel safer already.

“Something wrong Cosmo?” Dusk asked.

I shrugged. “If the rest of the stuff we're bringing is this good, I'm feeling sooo confident that we'll win this war.”

Dusk nudged me and sighed. “Cosmo, have some faith. We're still waiting on the Cruiser to get dropped, and it turns out that one of my favorite egghead has a few toys she's sending us too.”

“Egghead?” I asked.

“Sparkle.” Dusk said. “Apparently she had been working on a bunch of designs so we had our own military equipment. Something about not wanting to rely too much on the humans.”

Behind us I heard a thud of metal landing on sand, followed by clanking of tracks as three... “What the hell are those?”

“Well there's no official designation, but Sparkle was calling them Baby Tigers.” Dusk retorted. “I don't care what De Witt throws at us, those things have almost four inches of armor on the front. Nothing's getting through that!”

“So it's a tank.” I said.

Dusk nodded. “It is.”

I nodded before smacking Dusk upside the head. “How much good do you think those will do?”

“What?” He asked. “They're meant for infantry support and towing field guns around. The Valentines and Cruiser are the heavy hitters.”

Almost immediately a line of small tracked buggies scurried off the barge that had brought in the first group. “Then what the hell are those?”

“Universal Carriers.” Dusk said with a shrug. “That's what we're getting around in.”

I just listened to the hum of the engines that they made as these things trundled on past. “Why do they sound like Warthogs?”

“Because the Princess somehow got about twenty sets of spare motors and transmissions meant for them when the Redoubtable was recovered... At least that's what she told me. She also mentioned something about cutting the blocks down, whatever the hell that means.”

“I see.” I muttered as the Cruiser finally trundled past. “So she's been playing mad scientist.” Like that'll end well...

“Alright, cut the chatter!” Dart yelled. “Command Tent, now!”

Dusk rolled his eyes. “We're comin'.” I followed as Dusk walked off to the Command Tent, assuming you could call it that.

It was closer in size to something you'd see at a circus, but instead of bleachers and animals we've got computers and communications equipment covering half the space, while the other half is reserved as a briefing area with some benches. “We miss anything?” I asked as I sat down with Trixie.

“He hasn't even started yet.” She said.

And the General waited as a large group of Rangers and some other soldiers, wearing 'Second Division' badges on their jackets. After about five minutes everything settled down and the lights went dark, replaced by the glow of a projector. “It's come to my attention that some of you here don't know what the hell you're doing!” He yelled. “We are fighting a war against an unusual enemy. Rangers, you excel in the unusual. So can someone tell me what the hell went wrong in Emona?”

One of the Rangers waved his arm a bit. “Captain Baxter ordered us to take the city and ignore the Griffon positions on the high ground until we had effective support.”

“What's your name son?”

“Sandstorm, sir.”

The General nodded. “I remember you from Dodge City, you did good work there Corporal. If anything I've said nothing but glowing things about you in my reports. So why the hell didn't you question what was obviously a tactically indefensible maneuver?”

“I wouldn't say it was entirely sir.” Sandstorm said. “The enemy was using the city to defend a number of artillery sites that were firing on our beachhead. They needed to be eliminated.”

“Which is fine.” The General assured. “But why try to hold the city once the batteries were down?”

Sandstorm shrugged. “Captain sent in teams to recover any of the launchers and ammunition that were still intact. We needed to hold until we cleared it all out.”

“And what did you walk away with?”

“Six working launchers and a few hundred rockets.”

Meteor nodded. “So you traded territory and a chance to eliminate the enemy commander for material? Are you all there Corporal?”

“Sir, we didn’t have a choice. We were following Captain Baxter’s orders.”

“And the good Captain is a naval officer.” He chided. “You’re a Ranger, so act like one and follow your gut. You’re allowed to make those calls.”

“Yes sir.” Sandstorm mumbled.

“Now we need to understand our enemy.” The projector’s bluish light was replaced with an old image of De Witt. “De Witt is a former Field Marshall in the Griffon Imperial Army, and he’s easily the most unorthodox that has ever served with them. He was known to regularly discard conventional tactics for his own, which resembled a blend of small unit maneuvers and guerrilla warfare.” The picture then changed to a battlefield, and I felt Trixie shift as she tried to avoid looking. “Exhibit A, Midlothian Ridge. Eighteen ponies died on that rock, seventy-five percent within the first hour of the engagement. And we held the high ground the entire time.”

“So it’s David verses Goliath then?” One of the human rangers asked.

“Yes and no.” Said the General. “From what we know De Witt has become highly paranoid over the last few years and is more concerned with his own continued existence. As such he’s put an extensive focus on defensive emplacements around this command position towards the center of the island.” The image changed, becoming an aerial view of a decent sized fortress made of… Is that junk? “His fortress and defenses are all made of materials salvaged from the local rail system. Weapons and supplies all come in from outside and are delivered by rail from a small dock that was built just outside of his supply base at Odessa, which itself presents another potential flaw. Odessa is in a prime location to defend from sea or land attack, but not from an aerial insertion.”

“So what, we’re starving him out then?” I asked.

“No, not in the slightest.” The image changed once more, this time to the supply depot. “Commander, care to explain?”

I saw Dart’s shadow move out from the side of the room as a red dot appeared on the projection. “Most of De Witt’s heavy weapons, artillery and ammunition are stored in Odessa.” Dart said, using her pointer to mark off the supply depot. “We take control of that ordinance and turn it against De Witt. It's simple as that.”

“So we’re shooting the bastard with his own guns?” Felix asked. “If that’s the case sign me up love!”

Dart nodded. “That’s part of the plan. The other half is to deny access to De Witt’s fortifications by hostile reinforcements, while simultaneously clearing a landing zone for Marine elements from Spirit of Fire to deploy and move on the fortress.”

“And while they’re doing that-” Said the General “-The First Home Battalion, the Griffon’s Eighth Marine Detachment and Second Division will press in from the southwest, south and southeast respectively to encircle De Witt’s fortress. Once we secure the lines, Blaze Squad is going in with the Northern Guard and all available Spartan assets.”

“You really want Spartans going after De Witt?” I asked. “He got in our heads, who knows what else he can do?”

“Cosmo we have plenty of time to work out a solution.” Said Dart. “For right now we need to focus on isolating De Witt’s position.”

At the flip of a switch the projector died and the lights came back on. “I’ll see if the Princess has anything in her arsenal to deal with De Witt’s magic, but otherwise… You’ve got one week to get ready.”

***

Canterlot Castle
Cloud Runner

Sky’s surgery didn’t take long. From what the doctors said everything was still there, but it just needed to be put back together. All said it took them an hour to reattach her wings and clean her up before whisking her off to Canterlot to recover. Cosmo would’ve killed me if I didn’t go. Breakfast has come and past, and she still hasn’t woken up.

Long story short, I’m bored. So here we are in this small bedroom in the palace while I tried to take a nap on the couch.

Key word here is tried.

“Checkmate.” Sombra said as one of Radiant Hope’s chess pieces fell over with a soft clatter.

“Why are we doing this again?” Hope asked.

“Gives us something to do.”

“And keeps ponies awake.” I groaned, sitting up on the couch and looking down at the coffee table. “You’re really good at doing just that.”

“Well you don’t necessarily need the sleep.” Hope spat.

I glared at the unicorn. “If you like I could shut that muzzle of yours for you.” I saw Sombra raise an eyebrow at me out of the corner of my eye. I got up and walked over to Sky’s bedside, brushing a strand of her mane out of her face so I could get a good look at her.

“You’re worried, aren’t you?” Sombra asked as he took a place on the other side of the bed.

I nodded. “And you?”

“Scared shitless.” He said. “Bar Radiant, Sky’s the only other friend I’ve got.”

I looked over at the mare who had taken my spot on the couch. “Friend…” I muttered. “Right.”

“She means well.” Sombra said, glancing back over at Hope. “For the most part anyway.”

“Then where’s that leave Sky?” I asked.

“Her and I are rather alike.” Sombra must’ve noticed the look on my face and his expression soften. “The two of us are in a world that neither of us recognize with barely anything to our names and no one around to talk to.”

I nodded. “Something to do with the evil king days?”

“Something like that.”

“Doesn’t hurt to be hard to get rid of.” Sky rolled over and sat up in bed. “Where the hell am I, and why do I feel like shit?”

“Canterlot.” Said Sombra. “Sky you've been through quite a bit. It was for the best to take you here once the surgeons were all done.”

“Surgeons?” It must have dawned on Sky what happened and she started frantically reaching around her back, grabbing her wings. “I can’t even feel them.”

“You wings?” I asked.

“No no no…” She mumbled as tears started streaming down her cheeks. “I can’t feel them!” Sky reached over and wrapped herself around me, wailing the whole time.

I glanced over at Sombra before I wrapped my own arms around Sky. “It’s going to be okay.” I whispered. “I promise, it’ll all be okay.”

“No it won’t.” Sky forced herself out of my grasp and ran for the door, slamming it behind her with a bang.

“What the hell was that?” I asked.

Sombra was shaking his head out of the corner of my eye. “I was afraid of this.”

“Afraid of what?”

“Sky hasn’t been stable since we met her.” Hope added. “And De Witt just busted open the floodgates, didn't he?”

"I'd say so." Sombra muttered.

I sighed and made for the door. “Yup, definitely one of those days.” I muttered to myself as I walked out into the hallway. “Now where did you-” I stopped myself when I saw a stallion in hospital garb standing at the end of the hall. “General Meteor Shower?” I wondered aloud.

“Cloud?” Sombra asked. “You alright?”

“I’m fine.”

Sombra clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth just before he patted my shoulder. “Cloud, there’s no one there. Besides, Meteor Shower is in Carniola.”

The General nodded at me and walked off down the hall, motioning for me to follow. “Just follow my lead.” I strode off after the ‘General’, assuming I could even call… It? Is that what I should call this? It?

Eh, who gives a fuck.

After about five minutes of rounding corners and tearing after this mystery stallion around we came to a foyer where he was waiting. “What’s your game?” I asked. It just walked over to a door at the top of a staircase and walked down. “Hey, wait!”

“Cloud, don’t-”

SMACK!

Well that’s something. “That wasn’t there a minute ago.” I muttered as I stepped back from the rather solid granite wall.

“Cloud dear, are you alright?” Oh, it was Mom trying to get my attention.

“I don’t know… Hey did you see a mare in scrubs running around?”

Mom nodded. “I think she came this way.” She looked up at me with eyebrows raised. “You didn’t go piss of your marefriend now did you?”

“We aren’t dating.” I groaned. “We just work together.”

“Right…” Mom droned as she leaned against the wall.

Wait, one of those bricks moved. “Mom, move.” I said pushing her out of the way and feeling the around on the wall. “This shouldn’t be…” I finally picked a brick and pushed. It didn’t take much to make it slide inward, making a soft grinding noise as it slid along its hidden track.

GRRRGGGH

That wall I walked into? Really nicely disguised door. That much became clear as it slid down into the floor. “Well what do you know?”

“Cloud, what the hell is this?” Sombra asked, having finally caught up.

I shrugged. “Secret door, Sky ran this way. Take a wild guess.”

“You make it sound like this is normal.” Mom pointed out.

I reached around to the back of my belt and pulled out the pistol I had held onto. “Normal is relative.” I got maybe ten feet down the stairs before I stopped. “Sombra?”

“Ya?”

“I could use some lights.” Soon the passageway lit up in a pale grey light as Sombra joined me. “Thanks.” I kept walking down the stairs, running my fingers along the wall in some places. Eventually the well-cut blocks of granite gave way to rough bedrock as the passageway leveled out. “How long do you think this was here?”

“No clue.” The king answered. “Odds are good that the Princess built the castle on top of whatever’s down here.”

“What makes you say that?” Mom asked.

“No tool marks.” Sombra retorted. “Not a large jump to assume that this part of the castle is really just a cave.”

“One that someone didn’t want found.” I said as we rounded the corner into a larger chamber. Sombra’s light seemed to glimmer across some crystals in the walls, but beyond that there really wasn’t much that any of us could see. “Like whatever the hell this place is supposed to be.”

“It just looks like a cave.” Mom pointed out.

“What was your name again?”

“Daisy.”

“Alright Daisy, I’m Sombra. Anyway-”

“Sombra?” Mom asked. “Like the king?”

“Former king.” He pointed out.

Mom pushed past him and grabbed both my shoulders. “Why the hell are you hanging out with a dictator?”

“He ain’t all that bad?” I suggested. “Sombra, we’re you going to say something?”

“Ah, yes.” He muttered. “Daisy, trust me when I say that in my line of work there’s no such thing as ‘just a cave’.”

“Ya…” I muttered as I caught a glimpse of the General’s imposter once more. “Like him?”

“Exactly.”

“Wait, you can see him?” I asked.

Sombra nodded. “At least now I can. Good to know you’re not crazy.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” That’s when I noticed the General stepping back before dissolving into a cloud of smoke, leaving Sky standing there staring down at the pool. “What the hell?”

“Oh shit.” I looked over at Sombra and saw why he was concerned; both his and my mother’s horns was sparking uncontrollably. “There’s a lot of magic floating around in here. We need to leave!”

“Then get moving, I’ll grab Sky!” I yelled, rushing towards her as she leapt into the pool.

“Cloud, don’t!” Sombra screamed. But there wasn’t anything he could do to stop me before I dove right in.

***

I wiped some crust from my eyes and looked around my bedroom. Assuming my mental gymnastics are right, I jumped into magical pool of whatever, then get dumped in my room back at Cosmo's place. Nothing at all weird about that. Well might as well stop and... “Alright, definitely not in Canterlot anymore.” I muttered. In the bed below me was... Well, me. Curled up with... Is that Sky?

“Surpised?” I whipped around and saw the General standing behind me.

“What's this supposed to be?” I questioned. “Better yet, who are you?”

The General shook his head. “I am Meteor Shower, at least an echo left behind when he made use of the Nexus.”

“The Nexus?” I asked. “That what this place is?”

“At least that's what Princess Celestia calls it.” The General sat down on the couch and had me sit with him. “By now you know that there is more than one universe. On a cosmic level, the universe radiates a massive amount of energy, so much so that it isn't restricted to just this universe. It bleeds over into adjacent realities, like water soaking through a roll of paper towels.”

“Alright... Go on.”

“Well, in the cosmic scale of things that energy doesn't do much to the adjacent reality. There just isn't enough there to cause any changes. But that isn't the case where these realities intersect. The energy coalesces until it produces something, a byproduct of the reaction created where they collide. In our case it was the pool in that cave. In one other one it was a sentient mirror.”

I nodded. “Alright... What's it do then?”

“Oh you know, healing properties mostly. But for someone who knows how to shape the energy that it emits, like the Princess, you can create the means to go from one world to another.”

“The mirror on that space station we went to. Did the princess create that?” I asked.

“Not at all.” The General said. “Think of that as a cosmic example of really good luck. Like tossing a basketball over your shoulder from across the court and landing the shot.”

“Assuming that I know what you're talking about, those mirrors were an accident?” The General's expression was all the answer I need. “Alright, but what is this supposed to be?” I asked, pointing at the bed.

“One of the other abilities that the magic here possesses is showing possible future outcomes. There are plenty of shades of gray in between both extremes of the spectrum, but I'm going to show you both of the ends.”

“So then this is the happy ending?”

“It’s the greatest possible outcome.” The General said. “But I'll be honest, I'm glossing over a bunch of important points.”

“Mmmmhhh… Morning.” ‘Sky’ moaned, her voice almost sounding like an echo.

“Mornin’ babe.” The copy of me groaned as he sat up in bed. “Sleep well?”

“You know it.” I started feeling a bit hot under my collar as I watched the two of them before the whole image froze.

“For the record this is just one extreme. You could get something close if you really tried.” Said the General.

“But why Sky?” I asked. “I barely know her.”

“But you already have a connection. Hell, the both of you think roughly the same, have dealt with similar losses…”

“I get it.” I groaned.

“Glad you do.” That’s when the image changed to a trashed version of the loft. “But you need to see the other end of the spectrum.”

“Sky, don’t do it!” I heard my double yell. I whipped around and saw a battered version of me standing off with Sky, a gun to her head by her own hand.

“But what’s the point?” She asked. “I’ve got no friends left, I’ve got no family. No one’s going to miss me... Goodbye Cloud.”

BANG!

I just watched as the mirror Sky fell to the ground missing a chunk of her head, half of it plastered across the face of the mirror version of me. “No…” He whispered as he dove down and cradled Sky’s body. “Sky…”

“What happened?” I heard Cosmo yell as he ran into the room. “Oh no.”

“She blew her head out.” The mirror me said, abandoning the body and rising to face Cosmo. “She wasn’t all there. You knew that and you said you had her back. Now look at what’s left!”

“Cloud-”

“Don’t Cloud me!” He roared. “She’s dead because of you!” I just watched as my double pulled a pistol out of his belt and aimed it right at Cosmo’s head. “And I think you deserve to join her.”

“Cloud, stop-”

BANG!

The image froze just as the bullet slammed into Cosmo’s temple right below his horn. I had to wipe some tears from my eyes and choke back a sob. “How do I turn out like that?”

“The hatred you had for De Witt. You let it consume you.” He whispered. “When Sky found out how bad it was and saw what you did to De Witt and his bodyguards she shut herself off from most of the ponies around her, convincing herself that she was all alone.”

“She really thinks that highly of me?” I asked.

“As far as she’s concerned you two are nearly one in the same.” I kept my mouth shut and motioned for the General to continue. The two of you are dealing with circumstances out of your element, you've both been victims of great loss and yet you've both remained standing. Regardless of what you feel about her, you and Sky fit together like pieces of a puzzle.”

“So we can balance each other?” I wondered aloud. “What do I do?”

“Just stick with her. Sky needs a shoulder to lean on as much as you will.” Wait, what does he mean by will? “And when I say you will, it’s because I’m sending you on your way with a present.” That’s when the General stepped in front of me and flicked my forehead. Right away I started falling backwards before everything went white.

Then the white turned to black and I realized something a bit important.

I might need to breathe.

“GAAGH!” I felt air fill my lungs for the first time in what felt like an eternity as I broke through the surface of the pool with Sky in my arms.

“Cloud!” Sombra ran forward and managed to catch me before I fell forward. “Holy shit, what happened?”

“I don’t know.” I groaned, wavering around on my feet as my head started feeling light. “But I think I need to lie down.” Sombra grabbed Sky from me as I collapsed to the side. The last thing I saw was a light blue feather with a golden tip flutter onto the ground in front of me before everything faded out.

***

I don’t know if I’d call that a nap. If anything it felt more like I was daydreaming. Memories of Cloudsdale flooded back to me, Dad lecturing me about his side of the family, before the old nightmare came back in full force, only broken by the arrival of a masked guard as he busted into De Witt’s mansion and took the Griffon on in hand to hand combat as I slowly passed out.

That’s the gift that the General was talking about, wasn’t it? My memories.

I rolled off the bed and rose to my feet, stretching out the tension that had built up in my shoulders. “Damn, I don’t think I slept that well in a long time.” I muttered. That’s when I saw a mirror out of the corner of my eye. It wasn’t really the mirror that caught my attention, but my bare torso and the two feathered appendages just barely visible out of the corner of my eye. “Alright, this has to be a dream.” I looked myself over in the mirror and managed to spread my wings out, running my hand across the outermost spar. I felt the tingling sensation as I ran my fingers over some of the joints. “It’s not a dream… It’s not a dream!”

I heard the door crash against the wall as someone kicked it in. “Cloud, are you alright?”

“Oh I’m better than alright!” A quick flap of my wings and I launched myself across the room, skidding to a stop right in front of my mother. “I got my wings back!”

“I know, I was there.” She assured me. “But listen, you need to-”

“Go see Sky and make sure she’s OK. I know.” I said, patting Mom’s shoulder.

Mom sighed. “Take a right out the door. First door on the right.”

“Thanks.” I rushed past her and slid around the corner, nearly taking out Sombra and Radiant as I smacked up against the door. “Sky it’s me. Open the door!” I yelled.

“Good luck with that.” Sombra muttered. “She kicked us out when she woke up.”

Almost immediately the door creaked open just enough for someone to step through. “Sombra?” Said Sky from behind the door. “Once he’s in, soundproof the room.” I didn’t get a chance to argue as Sky grabbed my collar and hauled me through the open door.

The door glowed right as Sky shut it and turned the deadbolt. “Alright, I just wanted to make sure you were OK… But I take it you want to talk.”

Sky nodded and led me over to the couch, patting the spot next to her. The two of us sat there for a good while before Sky finally sighed. “What did you see in the Nexus?”

“What did I see?”

“Just be honest with me.”

I nodded. “Well, I saw us and two different ways the future could go. One where we were dating, or something. The other-”

“Was one where I blew my brains out and you killed Cosmo?” Sky asked. I nodded once more, stopping when I saw Sky’s eyes glaze over. “You know that means, right?”

“I need to get my act together.” I said.

“And I really need to get head straight.” She muttered. “You know what? Maybe we are alike.”

“We have probably have more than getting tortured by the same psychopath in common.”

“Ya, and we’ve known each other for just under a week.” Sky just chuckled. “And there’s a chance that the two of us could settle down… What do you think?”

“Well your confidence could use a bit of work, but nothing I haven’t dealt with myself.” I finally looked over at Sky and smirked. “Besides, you shouldn’t have a confidence issue. Look at yourself, you’re drop-dead gorgeous!”

“Ha! Me, gorgeous?” Sky’s head was bobbing up and down that that shiteating grin plastered across her muzzle before it slowly dissolved and she turned stare up at me. “Are you serious?”

“Uh…” Why am I picturing an alien fish thing yelling ‘It’s a trap?’ as I’m thinking of what to say? “Ya.” Smooth move Cloud, smooth move. Why don’t I just stick with the simple and stupid sounding answer from now on?

“Well… Good to know.” Sky just wrapped her arms around me and scooted right up against my side. “Tomorrow is going to be a long day.”

“What makes you say that?” I asked.

“You’re forgetting already?” Sky asked. “The General said we’re like two pieces of a puzzle.”

“You sure that the 'General', assuming we can call him that, wasn't just bored and trying to play matchmaker?”

“Who cares? We've got more important things to worry about and I’m sure as hell not going to fly your ass around.” She pointed out. “Tomorrow is the first of what could be a great partnership." Sky said, wrapping her free arm around my shoulders as her face seemed to light up. "I'm going to teach you how to fly again."

Author's Note

And that's it for the final edits on the first three chapters of The Long Road. Anyone notice how Sky's mood changed towards the end of the chapter? Don't expect her to stay on that high she's riding... And to people who've read Broken Mirror you might recognize the Nexus. Meteor Shower's exposure to it in Chapter 19 wasn't long, so 'Gifts' give me a good medium to explore the Nexus and it's abilities a bit more.

Anyone got questions? Like what you're seeing so far? Hell, maybe have some gripes? There's a comment section, and I want to hear from you fellow denizens of the interwebs. Until next time!
-Striker