Chapters Celestia held back a groan in annoyance as she sat in her room, holding a cup of much needed calming tea in her magical grasp as she looked towards the object on the other side of the room, the source of her past headaches, migraines and not to mention past mental traumas. She glared at it gently, as if desiring to just obliterate it from the very existence with her burning ire alone, yet she knew that was beyond her power to do so.
Two guards stood by her side, looking a bit uncomfortable, as they had never truly seen their ruler and beloved princess so irritated, if not downright angry, before. Truly a sight that was rare and not something most ponies would like to experience first hoof.
“If…. You are sure princess?” as they went over and picked up the black ancient coffin that laid on the floor in Celestia’s private quarters and carried it outside.
*MEANWHILE *
The two guards walked through the halls of Canterlot with the coffin on their backs, it being quite heavy as they grunted and one complained “What the hay is in this thing? A damn corpse?!”
“Hey. What is that you are carrying there?” A voice called from behind them, as they looked back and saw one of the high-professors from Celestia's school for gifted unicorns. He was an elderly unicorn wearing a standard suit.
The professor snorted and said, “What is the worst that could happen?”
*1 WEEK LATER *
Young Twilight at barely 10 years old nervously skipped on her four tiny hooves as she was waiting with her mum and dad to enter the test-room for the school for gifted unicorns, biting her lower lip and silently panicking as she said with a fearful voice, “W-What if I freeze? What if I get an impossible task to do?! What if something happens like a meteor falling and destroying everything! I will never get into the school and be stuck as a stupid magicless unicorn forever!”
Twilight Velvet, Twilight Sparkle’s mother, rolled her eyes in amusement as she said “Relax Twilight, I am sure you will be more than fine. You have trained and studied for this for over a year now. I am sure you will ace the test, and even if you don’t, me and your father will still love you.” Twilight’s father, Night Light, nodded in agreement as soon enough the doors opened, and a unicorn professor said, “Twilight Sparkle, please step in. Your examination begins soon.”
Twilight blinked and nodded with a nervous gulp, as she instantly began to work, at first taking the logical approach of simply opening the box, but it heavily resisted her levitation, staying shut, as she gulped and tried various ways to open the box, growing more and more nervous with each failed attempt and having no idea of how to even begin, having not expected to be put to a test of opening a lock of all things.
As if fate had picked up the phone, just as she was about to give up and sink to the floor in despair and defeat, a massive explosion sounded through the city, shaking the very walls of the capital of Equestria and Twilight let out a startled scream as she felt her magic flare and go out of control.
*OUTSIDE A FEW MOMENTS AGO *
The princess of Equestria, Celestia, was walking through the city peacefully, enjoying the nice and bright sunny day, as she suddenly heard the explosion from above, looking up and blinked in shock as she saw the legendary shape of a rainboom that flew across the skies, wondering what kind of pegasi would have been able to perform such a feat of speed and determination. As she pondered this, it was not long after she gasped, turning towards the building where the tests were taking place, sensing an enormous amount of uncontrolled magic going haywire in the building, probably endangering ponies and putting a lot of innocents in risk of hurt or worse. She instantly ran towards the source of power.
*BACK IN THE TEST-HALL*
There were a few tense moments of silence, as one professor nervously peaked up from her cover behind the desk and gasped in horror as she saw what had happened. The coffin had been shattered, pieces of metal and wood having been shot out everywhere, send flying from the explosive force as the walls were cracked and embedded with the pieces and the young filly, Twilight she believed her name was, was laying on the ground, eyes wide in fear as tears were running down her face as in her chest and stomach was several long pieces of broken wood penetrating her, blood covering the general area and forming in a pool beneath her as she gasped for air and whimpered in fear and pain.
“Hahahaha! Oh man that was one way to wake up! Shit it hurts! My head feels worse than that time I drank down an entire frat-party!” she watched, with some level of growing terror as a bipedal being rose from the coffin, wearing a large red trench-coat, a pair of orange glasses and a red hat, as he grinned widely and looked around “So who was the unlucky bastard that woke me up and got stuck with me?” he turned to the professor, who flinched as he pointed one of his fingers at her “You there! Mini Jessica Parker! Who destroyed my coffin?”
She paled and whimpered, nervously pointing at the filly who was slowly losing her life-force, as Alucard blinked, before rolling his eyes “Figures. Someone wakes me up and they go die because I can even introduce myself. Better go fix that I suppose, or I be blamed for that as well. Typical, always me doing the hard work around here.” As he walked towards the filly, who looked at him with terror but was too weak to protest as she was bleeding out. He looked at her for a second, before asking the pony again “Hey! You there! Know if the mini-mini pony is a virgin or what? Kind of important if I have to save her life.”
The door banged open instantly as Celestia stood in the doorway, eyes wide open as she saw the destroyed room, one passed out professor, a destroyed coffin, one loose chicken and two oddly placed potted plants… all while a VERY familiar and VERY unwelcome vampire was sucking blood from the neck of a young filly with wood penetrating her stomach and chest. She blinked, before muttering “For Faust’s sake…”
“I CAN EXPLAIN!” yelled the vampire, as he parted from Twilight’s neck, blood dripping from his mouth as the filly was passed out.
Author's Note
If you got any helpful criticism, be more than welcome to say it, be it about grammar or just the general story.
It took Celestia a great deal of work and patience to calm down the group of ponies, from the professor being turned into a chicken and back, to the two parents who were also turned back and was, understandably, VERY worried their daughter was lying in a pool of a blood and unconscious, yet somehow uninjured if looking a bit paler than normal.
It was not long after the group, minus the professors, was sitting in a private room, both Velvet and Night Light cuddling their unconscious daughter between them as Night Light glared at Alucard with distrust as he said “W-What happened back there? Who is he?! What is he?”
“W-What do you mean protector!? Also, vampire? Those are real?! And what happened to our daughter?!” Velvet said, growing nervous and panicking, as Alucard laughed and said with a vicious grin, showing his fangs.
“D-Dead?” Night Light repeated horrified “B-But how did she survive and heal so fast?! It is not physically possible even with the strongest healing spells!” looking at his daughter with horror and concern for her well-being, as she was still sleeping between the two adult ponies.
Velvet paled as Night Light turned to glare at Alucard, who grinned back amused at the anger “Y-You turned her into a vampire?!” Velvet stated horrified, looking at her daughter with even more concern “B-But what about her life?! She can’t live like a normal pony if she can’t even go outside during the day! And will she need blood?!”
They gulped and nodded as Velvet said “S-So she can still be outside during the day… t-that is good I suppose.” Night nodding in agreement as he looked up at Alucard with worry and some suspicion in his eyes “But why do you need to be around?”
Alucard yawned and said “Well as fun as this is, I am bored. Gonna go for a walk now. Call me when the little furball wakes up!” As he stood up and strolled towards the door as Celestia gulped and said, “I really don’t think that sounds like a good idea!” but was ignored as he left, and she shuddered “Why do I feel like this is going to end VERY bad for some reason….”
Outside the room Alucard looked around with a smirk, glasses glowing orange as he said “Well look at what we have here. I have arrived in fucking Disney land! Let’s see what there is to do around this place!” as he began to walk.
“HALT CREATURE!” as he plunged his spear into Alucard’s back, who looked down and saw the spear going through his chest and grinned widely.
He took a deep breath and said impatiently to himself “come on Alucard. Surely there are some ponies around here worth killing that Sunny-D won’t get triggered for.” He suddenly heard a frightened scream from behind him and turned around, smirking amused as he saw a frightened mare waitress, looking at him and the unconscious guard before screaming and running away, calling for the guards as he laughed and said, cracking his fingers “OH this is gonna be a blast!”
--- Back at Celestia ---
Celestia had just finished calming down the two worried parents once more after Alucard left the room, ensuring them that Alucard would not dream of harming a hair on the head of his vampire-heir, even if his teaching methods might be weird, insane and potentially dangerous.
Celestia smiled and said gently, keeping her tone soft and kind to not scare the filly “In my room in Canterlot Castle… Do you remember what happened Twilight?”
Velvet looked worried at Celestia and asked “Y-You think it is ok to tell her? She is so young…”
She gasped and looked down over herself, seeing no wounds as she said “W-What happened?! You saved me, didn’t you?” looking hopeful.
Celestia’s eyes twitched as she inhaled deeply. Velvet’s eyes widened as she instantly covered Twilight’s ears as a furious scream sounded through the castle.
"ALUCAAAARD!”
Alucard grinned as he suddenly stepped out of the shadows of the room, a wide toothy grin on his face as the servant cried in fear and closed the door as he retreated, Twilight looking at him nervously, but also curiously.
Celestia tensed, noticing blood stains on his white gloves, and said with a glare “If you killed any of my guards, I will-“
He blinked and turned to Twilight, as he chuckled amused and said with a teethed grin “So little furball is finally awake. Does she know yet?” Celestia shook her head, as Twilight asked curiously.
He cackled and said “I bit you! I bit you real good and turned you into a damned vampire! A blood-sucking vampire!”
“And a top-class vampire, once you grow into your powers of course!” he said with a cackle, before saying with a smirk “Of course you have to drink some blood for that to happen.”
Celestia grimaced as she watched the young filly, who looked close to panicking, eyes wide in fear as she stared at the vampire with terror.
Author's Note
This chapter took longer than expected. Trying to write exposition, while trying to be funny is not easy, heavy emphasis on TRYING, and a couply of late-day shifts really hindered my time to write. Sorry for the wait.
Alucard is being a meanie!
One week had passed since that faithful night where Twilight was turned into a vampire. One week of slow adaption to her new strength and weaknesses, countless of stuff broken, books destroyed, bruises and sore bodies from too tight hugs or suddenly jumping on top of her big brother or her father.
Alucard had… been a mediocre teacher in terms of her powers. She had tried to get more information out of him by any means possible, but he simply laughed her off and said that she will only be a real vampire the moment she lets go of that mortal weakness that stains her and that she would never be able get full control if she didn’t accept herself as a vampire, as something beyond ponies, something better and higher.
At the current moment in time, Twilight was sitting on the roof of her home, sighing as she looked up into the afternoon sky, the sun having gone down by now and she soothed herself in the night-sky, as she sighed gently, finding the cool night soothing.
“Hey furball.” He answered amused with a fanged grin as she gritted her teeth and muttered annoyed.
“My name is not furball…” wanting him to stop, but not wanting to risk angering the dangerous blood-sucking creature that could kill her without even trying to.
“Whatever you say furball.” He kept mocking and goading her, as she sighed in annoyance.
“I couldn’t sleep…” she muttered with a blush, as she licked her lips gently, wincing as her tongue ran over her new fangs, still getting used to those two new parts of her mouth.
He laughed and said with a vicious grin, glasses glowing in the pale moon-light “Hungry~? Desire some freshly tapped blood from the bodies of the death?”
He smirked amused as he took out a blood-bag from his overcoat and put a straw into it, before starting to suck from it audible, enough for Twilight to notice, as she looked shocked and a bit frightened “Where did you get that?”
“Some large building.” He answered briefly with a grin “Hospital I think it was.”
She blinked, and her eyes widened “You can’t just steal blood bags from the hospital! They might be needed!”
“And why not?” he asked with a grin, looking down at her “Who’s gonna stop me~? The Sun-butt princess? She wouldn’t dare get in my way.”
Twilight huffed and muttered annoyed “She could totally kick your butt…”
“She couldn’t, even if she desired so.” He answered with a grin.
“She so could!” Twilight replied, getting more annoyed.
“Could not!”
Alucard raised an eyebrow, before smirking cruelly, fangs showing in the pale moonlight as he said with the most wicked voice known to pony-history
Twilight gasped in shock as she glared at Alucard and said “T-That doesn’t exist! You can’t add to infinite!”
He grinned and said “Of course I can! I just did!” taking another loud sip of the blood bag.
“That is impossible! You cheated!” she said angrily, pouting at him.
“you didn’t state any rules, so it is not cheating.” He said, leaning back against the roof.
She pouted even more, glaring at him as she cried out
A voice called from inside the house “ALUCARD! STOP WHATEVER YOU ARE DOING! AND TWILIGHT! GO TO BED! IT IS PAST MIDNIGHT ALREADY!”
Alucard groaned and yelled back “YES ‘MOM’!” sarcastically.
“I TOLD YOU TO STOP CALLING ME THAT!”
He chuckled as Twilight frowned at him gently and she said, “Mum really don’t like that…”
“Because you live here” she stated as a matter of fact “that means you follow the rules mum makes!”
He snorted and said with a grin “I don’t have to follow rules. I am a bitching vampire.” He heard her stomach growl in protest again and took out a blood bag and threw it at her “Drink. Now.”
She looked at the blood bag with hesitation, grimacing as she said weakly “Do I really have to…?”
“Yes.” He said, looking at her with the glowing orange glasses, no hint of a smile on his lips “You will never be a proper vampire, if you keep denying your physical needs and new body.” She turned to him and glared a bit defiantly as she said.
“W-What if I don’t want to be a ‘real vampire’?!”
“Your loss.” He said with a shrug “I cannot force you, but know you will spent the rest of your life as a weakling without control of your body and its strengths, and if you do not get blood regularly, you will go into a blood-lust and attack any living source for blood.”
After she was done drinking, she looked up at him and muttered a silent thank you, which he ignored.
He looked at her, eyes behind the glasses pearing into her very soul and making her shudder in fear as he finally said after a minute of silence “Maybe I tell you one day, when you are older. For now, I think I will go on a walk.”
“P-Princess C-Celestia forbad that!” Twilight cried out, as he leaped off the roof and waved a hand at her as he walked down the street.
“She can just try and stop me! Besides isn’t it your bedtime furball?”
She pouted and cried out “Stop calling me that!” as she still got down from the roof and went to bed as her mother had ordered her to.
Author's Note
Sorry for the extreme long wait for this chapter. A lot of shit got in the way with exams and getting through the after-exam business of ensuring an income so I don't go fully bankrupt. No excuse as I had time to write, but merely trying to explain why I was distracted from writing.
A bit of a short chapter this time, I know. But do not worry, already started on next chapter and I got shit planned.
Beginning of a changed life.
Beginning of a new life.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Twilight smiled happily as she sat with Celestia in her chambers, reading through a book as Celestia smiled at the young filly, it now having been a few weeks since Twilight had been accepted as Celestia’s personal student and began to study under her in her magical education. Twilight had adapted quite well to the new status as her student, having shown quite a lot of potential as a student of magic and already showing quite a lot of talent, which Celestia did not leave unnoticed and worked with as she was quite happy to help sprout a potential great sorcerer in the future. She also prayed and hoped that she could ward off some of the more bad influences Alucard would have on the young filly, not desiring to see another insane vampire run around her land and messing up the place. She counted herself lucky that Alucard didn’t randomly kill without cause or reason, even if she didn’t always agree with them.
Twilight had also adapted a bit more to her new status in terms of her life, no longer afraid of drinking blood from bags donated by the hospitals, albeit her status as a vampire was still kept secret from the mass public, Celestia had to explain to a few chosen and trust-worthy individuals why the young filly needed so much blood donated at a regular rate.
Celestia smiled gently as Twilight closed the book finally and said with a happy smile “I think I got it princess!” her having been studying a spell to change colors of items at desire, as Celestia nodded and said with a proud look “Why don’t you test it out Twilight?” as she summoned a small target platform.
Twilight looked up confused as she said with a pout “But it is still so early!” before eyes widening, and she muttered, looking at the floor “S-Sorry!”
Celestia chuckled amused and smiled as she lifted Twilight’s head gently and looked into her eyes “I know it is a bit early my student, but there is no shame in taking a small break every now and then… besides there are something I want to discuss with you, my precious student.”
“What is it princess…?” She asked curiously, ears perking up in interest. Celestia sighed in response, as she looked out the window, before saying gently.
“I have heard that you are… reluctant to learn of your new abilities as a vampire and the increase in power that comes with it. Is this true?”
Twilight blinked, before looking down in guilt and nodded gently. Celestia looked at her with a gentle look as she asked, “And why is that my precious student?”
She whined and muttered, not looking at her mentor “H-He is scary… and I don’t wanna be a vampire!” she whined gently, sniffling.
Celestia smiled gently and said, “How about we make a deal my little student? If you promise to take your lessons with… Alucard.” She couldn’t help a small grimace as she uttered the dreadful name but continued “I promise that I will gift you a book for every 5 lessons.” Twilight looked up with a blink, before grinning and nodding happily, eager to get some books to read and study and these books were from princess Celestia herself.
The princess chuckled amused at the sight of her eagerness and smiled fondly, happy to have such an eager and talented student. She let go of the young filly and said gently “Now how about you run home. I’ll have a few guards escort you home as it is getting a bit late and is not proper for a young filly to walk home alone.” Twilight nodded with an embarrassed blush but smiled gently as she stood up.
Princess Celestia smiled and said, “Sleep well my faithful student.” As she watched the young filly leave with the guards.
One guard smiled to her and said with a touch of amusement “It is enchanted. It serves its own purpose of unity and fitting into a group. If we take off the armor, we return to our natural coat and mane-colors.” Twilight nodded with an interested look as she looked at the armor with curiosity, wondering how it was enchanted and how the magic worked, as she promised herself to ask the princess that next time she had a lesson with her.
As they continued through the streets, it being late, and most ponies having returned to their homes, suddenly a shadowy figure flew down from the air and landed in front of them, as the being said, a male voice “Hand over the filly and you won’t get hurt!”
The guards tensed and said, “Stay back miss Sparkle.” As they moved in front of her, drawing their swords magically, as the being chuckled darkly, and Twilight whimpered in fear and stepped backwards in terror.
The griffon cursed out in pain and grimaced, blood running down his back as he glared and said, “you will pay for this!” the pony glaring in anger at the griffon as the other guard was dying.
The griffon grimaced, but glanced up, before grinning and said “In fact, you will pay about… NOW!” as the guard looked up in shock, but was too late as he was forced into the ground by a griffon attacking from above, as his sword was quickly forced out of his grasp and used to kill him with, slicing into his neck and spraying the crimson red liquid over the ground as he gurgled the last dying breaths.
Twilight watched in horror and shrieked out in terror as she turned and ran away, but ran straight into a larger griffon, who smirked and swiftly hit head in the head with a club, knocking her unconscious.
…
‘Wake up.’
…
‘Wake up fur ball’
…
‘FOR GOD SAKE! WAKE UP!”
Twilight yelped awake, eyes wide in shock as she looked around, seeing nopony as she was tied to a chair in an empty room, trembling in growing fear as she asked “W-Who’s there?”
‘it’s me fur ball. Alucard. I am talking to you through your mind. You are late for your training.’
“A-Alucard?! H-Help! I have been taken! G-guards were killed, and s-some griffons took me!” as she whimpered in fear, looking around the dark room.
‘well I can’t really help you, if I don’t know where the fuck you are.’
“I-I don’t know where I am… c-can’t you just track me down?”
‘might take hours. Canterlot is a big big city. Plus, you are a big filly, just escape yourself’
“E-Escape myself?! I’m just a filly! I-I can’t do that!”
‘just a filly?’ she heard him laugh loudly ‘you are a fucking vampire! How about you show that your bite is worse than your bark and do something about it?!’
“B-But they are more and bigger than me! I-I can’t!”
‘then enjoy your stay furball. I’m in the middle of something.’
“W-Wait no! Don’t leave me!” She cried out in panic, eyes wide as she heard no response and trembled, tears forming in her eyes.
“Wonder what the brat is yelling about in there.” She heard in the distance, as her ears perked up, looking towards a door.
“Don’t know and don’t care. Why cares if the brat talks to her imaginary friends. She is close to the princess and therefor worth a lot of cash.”
“are you sure the princess will want to pay for her?” Twilight whimpered gently, now knowing why they captured her. Extortion.
“Oh yeah. I am certain. Little bitch is her personal student and her parents are well off I think. Worth a lot of cash, she is.”
“And how do we deliver her back once paid? I mean, I doubt they let us walk away after being given her.”
She heard a snort, as she listened closely, trembling in fear as she heard him say “We either put her in some alley and tell them to go get her, or just get rid of her permanently. Not like I care after we get our money.”
“isn’t that a bit extreme?” she heard another voice say, sounding nervous.
“What? Extreme? If you wanna be a pussy and run out of a great deal, then get out of here, but I swear, if you talk, I will fucking kill you myself. Got it?” there was a warning growl.
“I-I am not running! You’re the boss!”
“Good. Don’t you forget it you idiot!”
She whined and trembled, as she began to try and wriggle free, her horn tied with a rope tightly that blocked her ability to go magic, as she wriggled in the ropes tying her to the chair, trying to get them lose.
She heard the ‘boss’ say “I’m going to check on the little bitch. Need to repay her for the wing I lost.”
“don’t hurt her. We can’t get money from a dead pony.”
“I know I know! You just stay here!” as she heard him walk towards the door as she paled and whined, as the door opened and in walked the griffon, wearing bandages over the spot here his wing had been, as he glared at her and said, “Finally awake and talking to yourself.” He snorted as she whined in fear and looked away.
He glared angrily at her “ANSWER” as he lashed out, slapping her across the face as she cried out in pain and sobbed hard in fear and pain as she said “Y-Yes…” as she trembled, her cheek red from the hit.
She whined and nodded gently. He snarled and instantly grabbed her jaw with his talons as he sneered out, “Answer me!”
She whined and cried out “Y-Yes yes! You are hurting me!” she whimpered in pain, as he grinned amused and said, “Oh I know.” As he tightened his grasp as she tensed and gritted her teeth in pain as his talons dug against her skin.
He licked his beak gently and said, “I am going to enjoy hurting you for losing my wing, you little bitch.”
The griffon eyes widened in shock, both mental and physical, as he saw the bleeding stump that had just a second ago been his fully functional talon, as the filly was holding the talon in her jaw, eyes glowing crimson red and her teeth sharp as razors, sharper than anything he had ever seen, as he stepped back, pain starting to fill his very body as he said “W-What kind of freak are you?!”
She spat out the talon on the floor, her jaw coated in blood that was smeared over her fangs as well, as she grinned to him with a red glow in her eyes “I am a fudge-bucking vampire!” as she instantly broke the ropes covering her body with her enhanced strength, as the griffon backed away in fear and said “S-Stay back! Don’t get any closer!”
“Dinner time!” Twilight said and leaped at him. Unholy screams followed from inside the room, followed by silence.
.
.
.
“What the fuck is going on in there?!” a griffon on the other side of the door said in fear as he looked at the door to the room containing the filly “That doesn’t sound like filly-screams!”
“I-I don’t know… Think we should check.” Another said nervously, as there were 3 griffons in total in the room.
The big griffon grunted and nodded, taking the large club he had used to knock the filly out with and moved to the door.
“What did you do with the boss?!” one of the grunts asked with a touch of anger and fear. The young filly blinked, before giggling and said with a small terrifying grin “He tasted delicious.” Licking her blood-soaked fangs, as the griffons blinked in shock and disbelief.
“What the fucking hell?! Get that freak!” one of the griffons yelled, as the big griffon grunted and nodded, as he ran at the pony and moved to strike her down with the club. That is if she had not blocked it with a single hoof, as she smirked and said, “My turn.”
The other two griffons watched in terror as their partner was killed, his neck torn open by the filly who had bitten into it and ripped it apart, blood spilling everywhere and coating the wood red.
Twilight growled and used her still weak levitation to dig up the sword from her back with winces in pain as she saw her back and the sword covered in blood as she exclaimed “That hurt you know!”
“And last one.” Twilight said, looking at the last griffon who paled and cried out in fear “N-No! Leave me alone!” as he tore open the door and ran.
.
.
.
The griffon panted in panic and fear as he ran through the alleys of Canterlot in the middle of the night, the full moon standing high in the skies above him, as he looked around in fear, looking for anything that could help him, anyone that could give him safety. He ran as fast as he could, wings trembling at his side in terror.
“one… two… Twily’s coming for you.”
His breath hitched in fear as he looked around in panic, hearing the infernal sinister voice of the filly singing in the darkness, not knowing where she was. He kept running in the night, fleeing from the unknown and the unseen, praying this nightmare would soon be over.
“three… four… there’s no lock on the door.”
He whined and kept running, tears of terror spilling from his eyes as he said “LEAVE ME ALONE! I SWEAR I WON’T SAY ANYTHING!”
“Five…. Six… You are out of tricks.”
He trembled in fear, looking around in growing panic as he was breathing hard, his hearth racing hundreds of miles per hour or so it felt, as he could feel the coldness surround him despite it being summer.
“Seven… eight… I’m here to seal your fate.”
He kept running, praying and begging for mercy. He finally stopped running as he reached a dead end, staring at the brick wall in terror as he looked around in panic, breathing heavily and constant sobs in fear escaped him, as he heard from above.
“Nine… ten… Never breath again.”
The silence of Canterlot was broken by a terrified scream filled with horror and fear and then the silence of death.
Author's Note
sorry for another long wait. This chapter was rough on me. Hopefully it was worth the wait.
