I couldn't have been happier!
I had just scored the game winning touchdown against our high school rival: the Broncos. My game winning catch-and-score in the last minute sent the stands into a frenzy. My teammates were feverish, tackling me into a heap of bodies. It seemed surreal, it really did! It was like the cheesy ending to a movie where the main character wins it all, despite all the hardships.
But that was a while ago. Now, I was at the nearby Circle K, refilling my car's tank. And even though the game had been over for a couple hours, I couldn't hide the excitement and adrenaline still pumping through me.
I took the gas nozzle out from the side of my car, humming our school's chant as I did so. And once I placed the gas pump back into its slot, my phone rang. I took out the flat piece of metal and saw that the caller was my Dad.
I immediately answered after seeing his name.
"Hey Dad!" I answered, with enthusiasm from the game still breaking through my voice.
"Hey Taylor. I'm so sorry I missed the game! Mom called and told me what happened," he replied.
"What did she say?" I inquired.
"Oh, the usual. How you lost the game again for your team and how you never should've tried to play receiver when you're..."
"No, really, what'd she say?" I interrupted with a light chuckle.
"Alright, that might not be exactly how she phrased it. But, she did say something really special happened at the end of the game."
I was about to continue the conversation before a gunshot rang through the air. The sound pierced my ears and sent me into an immediate panic. I dropped my phone and ducked before hearing my Dad's worried words mumbling their way out of the phone.
I looked up to see where the shot had originated from: the Circle K's convenience store. Through the glass, I watched as two figures with bandanas ran to the entrance of the store with bags of money and small firearms.
They aggressively busted through the store's doors, armed and making me want to run as far away from here as possible.
But then, I noticed them point towards a familiar car on the opposite side of the Circle K that they were obviously planning to use as their getaway vehicle. It was a white SUV that looked very similar to my Mom's car. Wait, it was my Mom's car! It was the same license plate and everything!
Still crouching next to my car, my eyes scavenged for where she might be. And then, I found her taking refuge behind a fuel dispenser near the car.
My eyes met the two armed robbers once again and they began to advance to the car, and more importantly, my mom.
The potential harm to my mother from those two robbers filled my mind with anger and courage. There was no way I was about to sit around and watch from a distance as two armed men approached my Mom.
Still crouching, I took a deep breath to try and calm myself, although it didn't do much. A moment of hesitation followed, before I slowly moved from my cover, trying to not alert the two men of my presence. With caution, and careful footsteps I moved between the fuel dispensers, inching closer to my Mom and her SUV.
And as my distance to my Mom closed, so did the robbers.
Eventually, I found myself only one fuel dispenser away from my mom. She hadn't noticed me, as she was obviously horrified by the approaching robbers.
Then, just as I was about to call out to her, I halted myself when the two robbers shouted something to one another, "There's someone over here!"
The two men raised their guns and approached my mom, slowly moving to corner her from both sides.
I knew that I had to act now! I charged up behind one of the armed men and kicked him in the back of the leg, making his knee buckle under him before he collapsed to the ground. He yelped in pain before I jumped on top of him and began furiously battering his head into the ground. Jab after jab after jab. I was in a blind rage, unable to stop or think.
*BANG*
My onslaught of punches into the man's face stopped when the noise rang out. However, once I recomposed myself, I went to try and punch the man's face once more, except I couldn't. A sudden feeling of fire against the left side of my chest made me look down at myself. Once my eyes made contact with the part of my body that felt it was on fire, I froze. There was a huge hole in my chest. I moved my hand over it, before poking it with a finger, noticing the flesh the stirred from my touch. I... I was shot.
Once the realization hit me, I could feel as blood began leaking from my mouth and out of the hole in my chest. I began to feel weak, as if all of my energy was being drained out of me. Once I couldn't stay up any longer, my flimsy body collapsed onto the hard ground, however the pain of the impact was nothing in comparison to the bullet wound.
I heard the two robbers begin to panic, although I couldn't make out what they were saying. My hearing and vision were becoming muffled and blurry. The sounds around me began to drown out until I could see and hear almost nothing. The last thing I heard before everything went black was the muffled noise of my mother who seemed to be lightly whispering my name.
Everything was dark, as if I had been swallowed into the deepest depths of the largest abyss. My memories began to fade. And, for some reason, it didn’t seem to bother me. I actually felt at peace. I didn’t feel worried, anxious or angry. I was just... at ease.
I’m not sure how long I seemed to be floating amongst the darkness, but it could’ve been an eternity and I still wouldn’t have known.
However, amongst the calming black, eventually came a small light. It shown much like a lone star in the night sky. The small thing immediately had my attention, and once the little star had my notice, it grew in intensity. It grew exponentially and began to consume the darkness around me until I was completely blinded by the sheer power of light.
Fortunately, the brightness eventually subsided, only to reveal another layer of darkness. Except this time, the black returned my memories. Memories of my early life, the football games, my mom in danger from those robbers, and then the loud gunshot that rang out from behind me. I remember the feeling of fire against and through my chest. I remember the hole it left, before I remember blacking out.
And now, now I was still alive? I could still feel my body, the rise and fall of my chest from each relaxed breath, the warmth of my body, and the weakness of my eyelids which refused to open. Someone must have taken me to a hospital after the shooting, I must’ve somehow survived! Maybe my mom was here. God, I hope that those robbers didn’t lay a hand on her or I would make sure they didn’t have the chance to lay a hand on anything ever again!
I wanted to see if my mom was also here in the hospital with me. So I attempted to open my eyes, but I felt too weak and tired to accomplish the supposed easy task. I was disappointed in my inability to do something as simple as opening my eyes, but my self-disappointment quickly halted when I heard something that made me question where I was. I heard... well, nothing. That’s what made it so puzzling. I couldn’t hear the sounds of people, nurses and doctors, my heart rate monitor, or even the subtle sounds of moving fluid from my IV. I heard none of it.
The sudden fear of possibly not knowing where I was sent a surge of adrenaline through my weakened body that allowed me to slowly open my eyes. And what I saw made me even more confused. I was shrouded in darkness.
My eyes slowly adjusted, or at least attempted to adjust to the dark. It was still… well dark, but I could tell that there was a wall on either side of me. Strange. It looked like I was alone in some dark hallway. My predicament reminded me of a stereotypical horror movie where the main character would being running down a long, dark hallway trying to escape their killer. Maybe that’s where I was, in a killer’s trap. The sudden thought sent a cold chill up my spine.
However, my thought of being trapped in a killer’s plot was quickly dashed by something much worse. I could’ve sworn I heard the sounds of loud insects buzzing. So, I turned around to see one of the most horrifying sights that I’ve ever witnessed. Amongst the darkness was an entire wall of large, glowing, blue eyes that staring back at me.
The sight sent me into an immediate panic. I tried to get away from them, using all of my energy to force myself up off of the cold ground. But my body ached and didn’t feel right, turning my quick escape into nothing but a bunch of stumbling. I constantly continued to fall to the ground, try to get up, and fall back down. I felt like a fool.
Eventually, exhausted from my sorry-excuse for an escape, I just laid with my back to the ground. Gasping for air, I looked at the eyes in the darkness and saw their amusement. I could’ve sworn that I even heard a few chuckles from their direction. They were mocking me and it made me wish that they’d just kill me already, whatever they were.
The place remained in silent darkness for a while longer before a pair of amused blue eyes began to approach me. As it got closer, the urge to try and run once again made its way to the forefront of my thoughts. However, before the creature got too close, it stopped. It just stood there, un-blinking at me. A moment of silence fell between us and lasted for what felt like minutes, although it was more likely just a few seconds. Then, a small blue light spawned above it's eyes. It was like a small spark that eventually grew into a flare.
As the light grew, a blue hue began to brighten everything in the space, starting with the creature. The light revealed… a black horn on the creature? A black horn with holes that ran all over it? I couldn’t hide the confusion on my face as the light continued to reveal the horned creature.
The wandering light displayed a pair of skinny black ears on the top of its head, along with a fanged muzzle and scales along the back of the creature's upper neck. The only contrasting features to the creature’s dark skin was its pearly white fangs and large blue eyes that seemed to be disproportionate for its size.
As each feature was revealed by the light, I could feel my jaw continuously fall.
The blue flare’s hue from the creature’s horn spread to its black body and revealed the strange shell that laid atop its back, along with a pair of transparent, hole-filled blue wings. The last features revealed from the darkness was the creature’s long porous legs, and its short black tail.
When I finally was able to see the creature in its entirety, I immediately thought about how it looked like the love-child of a small horse and bug. I internally laughed, at the thought. It had the body and muzzle of a small horse, but with features one would expect from some type of night bug.
Also, I realized how I was barely scared of it. I mean sure, it was something I’d never seen before and had fangs, but it was actually.... kind of adorable. I hate saying that, but the thing looked like it could do barely any harm and even looked a little comical in my eyes.
As I continued to look over the strange creature in front of me, the light spread to the rest of the space, revealing all the identical bug creatures. There were about 7 others in total.
But, my attention was still fixed on the one bug-horse in front of me. I just stared at it in an eerie silence before it finally said “You should get up, Queen Chrysalis cap-”
I didn’t even listen to the rest of whatever that thing said. I immediately began to black out from the sudden shock of hearing the strange thing’s voice, obviously to the sudden shock of the bug creatures who raced over to my collapsing body. My vision quickly blurred, yet I could still see the concern in their faces and postures, as well as their muffled yelling. Then, everything went to that familiar darkness.
I awoke once more from my fear-induced sleep. Except this time, instead of a blackened space, my eyes were met by a blinding light that made me quickly re-close them. The sudden change in brightness made me quickly realize that I wasn’t in that dark space anymore.
I used my hand to block the ray of light abusing my eyes. And as I did so, I could feel a noticeable stiffness in my arm, as well as the rest of my body. Once my hand began to block the light, I slowly opened my eyes in an attempt to steadily adjust to the brightness of wherever I now was.
I squinted numerous times behind the safety of my hand before the light finally dimmed to a comfortable level. And when it did, I was able to observe my new surrounding area. But, before I even began to look at the black, rigid walls around me, or the blinding light from the unfamiliar sun, I noticed something right in front of me that clenched my attention like an alligator whose jaws were enclosed around a disabled bird, refusing to let it go.
Right in front of my eyes, blocking the outside light, was not the familiar sight of my hand, but a porous black limb that allowed beams of light to breach through the numerous holes. The immediate image of those bug-horse creatures from before flashed in my mind.
I froze for a moment, just looking over the black appendage in front of me. It looked identical to the ones that those bug-like creatures had.
My eyes trailed to where the limb was attached and I quickly noticed that it was connected to a black shoulder, my shoulder! I looked back at the black appendage that now took the place of my hand. Experimentally, I tried to move my arm up and watched as the black limb moved up, exactly the way I imagined that my hand would’ve moved. I couldn’t believe it! I refused to believe it!
I kept attempting to move my arm in every direction, flailing like a child, trying to prove to myself that what I saw was not actually happening. I did not have an arm, or limb, or whatever it was, like one of those bug things! I was in complete denial, and I only got more upset every time I tried moving my arm in obscene ways, only for the black limb to move exactly that way.
My childish fit only ended once I had exhausted myself from flailing my new limb all around. I just heaved in heavy breaths as I sat there with a pungent feeling of defeat and confusion. What happened to my arm?!
Rather than receiving an answer to this important question, a new, even more important thought popped into my mind; if my arm changed… what did that mean for the rest of me?!
After this rumination, I paused for a couple of moments, fearing that if I were to look at the rest of myself, I would find that the same transformation occurred to all of me. I was afraid that I wouldn’t recognize who, or what, I was looking at. I tried to deny the possibility that my entire body could be something completely unfamiliar to me, yet I had already seen that may arm had been transformed somehow, so I knew it was possible that my entire anatomy had changed too. But even still, I tried so hard to ignore the feasibility of it. I didn’t want it to be true!
As I thought more and more about the possibility of no longer being, well… me, I began to notice an evident stiffness in certain parts of my body, such as my arms, legs and back that limited my range of motion.
I just sat there, fearing to look at the rest of me because of what I might see. But eventually, I gave into my curiousity. I needed to know if I had really changed completely.
So, with great uncertainty, I slowly tilted my head downward towards the rest of my body. And what I saw was an image that instilled itself into my mind for the rest of my entirety.
Covering my body was the dark color that I feared so much. I was blinded, solely by the ravenous darkness of my skin that overwhelmed my eyes, and covered my body. It was the same color as those bug-like creatures I’d seen. And along with the coat of black, my legs were distorted backwards like a quadruped. Every aspect of myself was a perfect replica of the creatures.
I-I couldn’t move. I couldn’t move because of shock, because of fear and because I was no longer me. I just sat there, frozen in fear and disbelief. How could this have happened?! HOW COULD THIS HAVE HAPPENED?!
I continued to sit in antipathy of my new form, except now I could feel my body begin to tremble. I was scared and clueless, and I could’ve sworn that I felt a tear run down my face, but I was too absorbed in my situation to even realize.
I continued to sit in agonizing and motionless silence for what felt like hours, though it was probably only a couple of minutes. I felt like my entire world had crashed down around me and I couldn’t do anything about it.
Eventually, thoughts of my friends and family flooded through my head. What would they think when they saw me? Would they see me as some kind of monster?! Would they see me as a threat and try to kill me?!
The more I thought about my friends and family and how they would react to my new body, the more downcast I felt. I was getting extremely worried at how my Mom would react when I got home. But then, I realized something, something that stopped every other train of thought; I didn’t even know where home actually was! I actually didn’t even know where I was right then!
Then, for the first time since waking up, I looked around the “room”. Around me were uneven black walls with similar colored stalactites hanging from the ceiling with occasional holes in the walls. Additionally, there was a strange opening in the ceiling that allowed light to shine through. Sadly, the opening only gave me a view of the blue sky, so I wasn’t able to adequately see any landscape. Then lastly, I noticed a passage that lead out of my current space and to somewhere else, although I wasn’t sure where.
I continued to gander around the room before I realized that I was alone and not with any of those bug-creatures. I kind of hoped that it would stay that way.
Finally, having exhausted any interest in this room, I sought to exit through the dark passage and hopefully find a way out of this place.
So, with great struggle, I pushed myself up with my front arms and attempted to stand up on my two legs, only to immediately fall off balance and land hard on my side with a thud and an “Oof.”
Once I hit the ground, I immediately turned to look at my body, only to be reminded that I now had the anatomy of a quadruped. Of course, I couldn’t just stand up like I used to. So, I’d have to figure out how to maneuver around this place on all fours.
So, hesitantly, I lifted my upper body with my front legs and once I had my chest in the air, I proceeded to use my back legs to lift up my pelvis and lower body. It took me a second to get balanced so that I wouldn’t fall over. But once I was content that I was upright like one of those creatures and not in danger of collapsing again, I did like Neil Armstrong and took my first big step. Maybe not big in the term of size, but it was monumental in significance.
Anyways, I cautiously took a small step forward. It was uncoordinated and unbalanced, and I probably looked like a child, but I was just happy that I was able to take a step without falling onto my side. So, after I relished in my first big step, I built up the courage to try another, and another, and another, before I began to walk around somewhat. I didn’t look natural in any sense of the word, but I still felt pleased that I was able to accomplish the feat.
After I had enough confidence in my ability to move around, I sought to leave the space I was now in through the single passageway. It might possibly lead to a way out of this place, so I could see where I was and figure out how to get home.
I began to slowly move down the dark and uneven hallway, using the walls to keep myself balanced. I made sure to move as quietly as possible so that I could hear anything, and that nothing could hear me.
I walked for a couple of minutes before I came along an intersection of paths. One lead to my left, and one to my right. The path on my left had a green hue that came from farther down the path, while the one on my left was just more darkness. I decided that it might be safer to move down the more well-lit path to my left, so I did just that and went that route.
I once again, walked for a couple of minutes before I began to hear chittering sounds coming from the end of the path. It was an odd sound that reminded of flies when they got too close to someone’s ears. Fueled by curiosity, I carefully and silently moved to where the passageway ended and seemed to lead into a large, cavernous space. The chittering noise began to crescendo the closer I got to the new space and I began to question whether I should just turn back. But, my curiosity got the best of me, and it essentially forced me to take a gander into the next area.
I kept myself hidden behind the walls of the passageway as I approached the large space. Once, I knew that I was in position to see into the room, I peeked my head from behind the safety of the wall’s cover. And the sight before me scared me half to death. Amongst the room were hundreds, maybe even thousands of those bug-looking creatures. They were flying around the place like bees would in a hive. It was both fascinating and terrifying.
I immediately retracted my head from sight, and thankfully, none of them had spotted me. I realized that I wasn’t going to be able to escape that way, so I decided to make my trek backwards.
It took me awhile to get back, but once I returned to the intersection with the three paths, I took the dark path on the right that I hoped would lead out of here and not to any of those creatures. So, I did the monotonous task of walking down the passageway hopefully towards my freedom.
For some reason, this path seemed much longer than the other. I’d been walking for a long while, but I wasn't quite sure how long. Then, all of a sudden, I heard a familiar noise from behind me. It was the sound of bugs, BUGS!? I quickly realized that it was the sound of those bug-creatures, and it was evident by how loud the noise was, that they were getting really close. I immediately picked up my pace moving down the pathway.
I knew I couldn’t outrun them, but I hoped that I could at least find somewhere to hide. Then, luckily I found it, a small opening in the lower wall on my right that I could fit through. I quickly dropped to the floor and attempted to crawl through the space. It was really tight, but I managed to squeeze through and get to a little room on the other side.
I had made it just in time, because I heard the creatures fly by and continue down that corridor. I hoped that they hadn’t been patrolling this place, because if this place had some sort of patrol force, my escape would be downright impossible.
I breathed in a heavy sigh of relief that I was able to evade the creatures. I stayed put and waited a couple moments in the small space to make sure that I didn’t hear any more creatures come by.
Once the coast was clear, I crawled out of the small space and back into the passageway. I continued on my trek that hopefully led to freedom before I happened upon a glimmer of hope, a light at the end of the tunnel, both metaphorically and literally. I could see a light from the outside! I got so excited and began to move even faster towards it.
And once I got close enough, I saw that it really was a way out! It looked like a small drop-off that led to sweet freedom below. I was in euphoric bliss, I was going to escape!
I got a view of the outside and saw that I was surrounded in… sand? It looked like the outside was nothing but vast desert, but I was too happy to be upset at the sight because I was free. All I had to do was jump a few feet down. I was about to leap off before I heard a familiar noise from behind me, coming from the end of the passageway. It was chittering! They were coming!
I quickly leaped ungracefully onto the sand below. A load of sand kicked up around me as I struggled to get on all fours. Then, I took off as fast as I could, which wasn’t too fast because I was still uncoordinated and in sand, but my spirit was there. Anyways, I struggled through the sand, before I took a peek back and saw that two bug creatures were now looking at me through the opening I had leaped through. I was also able to get a view of the structure I was trapped in. It looked like a large, black and uneven castle that evolved into a spire at the top. I would’ve gazed at it more, but I was more occupied with getting away at the moment.
I looked back to the creatures just in time to see them spread out their transparent blue wings and fly towards me. I knew that I had to pick up the speed or they would catch me for sure. So, I turned my head back and put myself into overdrive, sprinting as hard as I could through the sand. Then, I looked back once more to see that... they were gone? I immediately stopped and looked everywhere for them, but they were nowhere to be found. There was only lone desert and a couple of lone rocks.
I had no idea where they were but I hoped that somehow they lost me. I just decided to take it as a gift from the heavens as I turned around and kept moving through the sand. There were a couple large rocks in my way that I was going to walk around, but before I could, they transformed?! They transformed into blue fires that rested and left the two bug creatures from before.
They must’ve seen the flummoxed look I had, because they both let out a chuckle to each other before their faces went stern. They both began to approach me, as I backed up. Then, they spoke.
“What are you doing?!” the one approaching from my left said with a chittering sound evident in a masculine voice.
I was still trying to process that these creatures could talk, but thankfully I didn’t pass out this time. I just took a couple step backwards away from them.
“I said, what are you doing?!” the one repeated.
“I-I, I...”
“You what?!” the other one, coming from my right, said, obviously annoyed by my stuttering. This one seemed to have a more feminine voice, but not anymore gentle.
“I just came out to get some fresh air,” I said timidly.
The more feminine one rolled its eyes, “Really?!” it began in a humoured tone, “That’s really the best excuse you could come up with?”
“Well, no, but… Oh my God look out, a sarlacc!” I said, pointing a ‘hoof’ behind them.
They both immediately screamed and turned around. Oddly enough, they both had very feminine screams.
Anyways, I took my opportunity and immediately ran away from them. I sprinted a couple strides in the thick sand, stumbling the whole time. Unfortunately, they landed right in front of me within a couple of seconds, blocking my path.
“Well that was easy,” the male one said with a short grin.
“Well, this drone found it pretty easy to make you squeal like a little filly,” the female one said with a chuckle and an elbow to the other’s chest.
In response, the male opened his mouth, planning to say something, but quickly shut it and grunted instead.
“Anyways, back to business,” the female said, staring intensely into my eyes. “What’s the real reason you’re out here? ”
There was really no reason to lie to these two any longer. It was obvious that I wouldn’t be able to lose them with how unfamiliar I was with this body. I might as well tell them the truth.
“Well, I-I’m just trying to get back home.”
They definitely weren’t expecting that answer. They looked absolutely befuddled.
“What do you mean?” the male asked. “The Hive is right there,” he said, pointing a hoof towards the large black and jagged structure.
“That’s not my home. My home is back in Kansas with my parents, and my friends, and my human body.”
I seemed to only confuse them more as they gave each other looks that read to each other, 'Is he crazy?'
Then, the female took a step forward and spoke more gently than before. “I think it’s obvious that you must not be feeling well. We heard that you collapsed in the mines after some kind of panic attack and landed on your head. So, you may just be experiencing some brain trauma. We should take you back to one of the caretakers and have you checked out.”
“No No No! I’m not going back there! I need to get home, to my family!”
I watched as the male creature leaned over to the other and whispered something. It sounded like he said "I think he's lost it. Do you think we should just let him leave? He might be some kind of danger to the Hive with how crazy he seems to be acting right now?"
The female only gave a disapproving shake of her head, before moving a little bit closer to me. She took a small breath before speaking. "I was given direct orders from Queen Chrysalis to watch over you as you recovered and make sure you stayed safe in the Hive. And I'm definitely not failing the Queen, so you have two options. Either you come back willingly, or we will drag you back by force." She remained completely stern and composed throughout her speech, while the male behind her struggled to stifle his laughter.
"What's so funny?" she asked, turning to look at him.
"Oh nothing Miss Bossling" he answered with a chuckle.
She only responded with an irritated grunt before facing me once more. "So, I gave you two options. Would you rather do this the easy way, or the hard way, the choice is yours."
I just stared at her because I didn't know how to respond. I definitely was not planning on going back to the "Hive". But I knew if I told them that, they would just drag me back there anyways. So, I decided to play along for now and hope that an opportunity for escape opened up later.
"Fine," I said. "I'll come back with you guys."
"Oh, well that was easier than I thought" the female said. "Just follow us and we'll lead you back to one of the caretakers."
Then, the duo turned around, back towards the ebony castle with me in tow. We walked for about a minute in an uncomfortable silence before the two of them began talking with each other. Their discussion began with recent news of the Hive, and some other things that I was too disinterested in to listen to. However, their conversation eventually evolved into bickering over something stupid like how the other's face resembled a donkey's. I'm not sure how they got on the subject so quickly. Anyways, they eventually got into a full-fledged argument, seemingly forgetting about me entirely. So I immediately took advantage of the opportunity and tried to sneak away from the two.
I stealthily took a couple steps away from them, making my way back towards the vast desert. I felt a smile grow with every step I took, but it quickly vanished when I felt my entire body stiffen. Something had stopped me and I had no idea what was happening! I felt odd... like something else was keeping me in place. I could see some kind of translucent green hue surrounding me like a bubble. And then, I heard a familiar voice, "Really?! Did you really think that you would get away that easily?" the female voice said with an evident amusement. Crap.
"What'd you do to me!?" I asked, both worried and angered.
"It's just an old-fancy-shmancy telekinesis spell."
"A what?!"
I was somehow spun around to face her. Once I could see her, she pointed towards her horn which exuded a similar green hue to that which currently surrounded me.
"You're doing this?" I asked, finally putting the pieces together. I was fascinated and a little fearful of the power she wielded.
"Well of course, it's the most basic magic ever, just about any changeling can do it, even some of those measly ponies can."
Ponies? Magic?! I was starting to lose track of what was going on. Things were getting crazier and crazier and i was pondering what other nonsensical things I would encounter.
"Anyhow, this'll be your form of transport from now on until we get back to the Hive, just to make sure that you don't try to escape again" the female said with a sheepish grin.
All I could do was sigh in defeat as these wicked bug-horse witches levitated me back to "the Hive."
Author's Note
Whelp, took long enough. Hope you enjoy! Let me know what you liked/didn't like, and MORE IMPORTANTLY, what the NAMES of the CHANGELINGS will be going forward. I hate just calling them female and male. Please put a name or two in the comments and let me know why you chose them. Thanks! You all are awesome! Peace.
