Dash woke up and instantly wished she hadn’t. Her head ached like somepony was trying to drive a nail through it, her mouth was dry, and…

Well not everything was bad. For one, not all her aches were of pain. Some were a remnant of what happened last night. Plus she was cuddling something furry and warm. So clearly she’d gotten Dustin to sleep with her.

Now if only she could remember everything that happened. Cracking an eye open made her slam it shut again as the light sent pain directly into her brain.

Everything hurt. Places that really shouldn’t hurt, hurt. She groaned, rolling over. Then she felt something shift against her chest. She cracked an eye open. Something small and yellow was nestled against her chest, and she herself was cradling it with her good foreleg. She blinked.

Hazy memories slowly trickled into her mind. Drinking. Lots of drinking. Then….

Her eyes snapped open fully.

“FUCK!”

“Nah anymore, Dashie…” the fuzzy thing grumbled, nuzzling into her chest. Okay, that was Dustin’s voice. Yes, it was slightly higher pitched, but it was his voice.

“Dustin?” Dash asked the small fuzzball.

“Yeah?” Two small blue eyes opened on the front of the ball, before they blinked a few times. “When did you get bigger than me?” he questioned. Okay, his voice should not be that cute.

She snorted. “You’re so tiny!” She gave him a small squeeze.

“Ack!” the ball of fur gasped. “...Okay, how did this happen?” the proto-fox asked.

“Well Guilmon had the same thing happen to him after he wore out his energy from being Growlmon, at least at first.” Dash hummed then frowned and grumbled. “Right…. Last night…”

“Last...Ow.” Dustin winced. “I...vaguely remember something about drinks?” he offered.

“We drank. Maybe too much. Then….” She paused. “We… slept… together….” She winced, though her voice sounded more sad than irritated.

“...Oh.” Dustin said plainly. “Okay then. Well, um, do you, regret that decision?” the fox decided to ask.

“NO!” She shouted loud enough to hurt both their throbbing heads. She winced again. “No.” She said much more quietly. “I just…. Wanted it to be… special. I’d prefer to remember it clearly.”

“I can understand that,” Dustin said with a small chuckle. “I prefer to put effort into the endeavor as well. As it stands, all I have right now is a vague stickyness and a need to wash.”

Dash flicked her tail a bit and twitched. “Yeah… bath. A bath would be great.” She shifted a little. “Could you scoot over a bit?”

“Oh? Sure.” The ball of fur scooted out from nuzzling her chest and lay down elsewhere on the bed. “I’m smaller than Sweetie,” he complained. “Heck, I’m probably smaller than Opal.”

Dash scooted over and half-flopped to the floor. Somewhat stiffly, she got to her hooves. Taking a look at the small fox she noted that he was basically a yellow ball with four stubby legs, a pair of ears, and a tuft of tail coming out the back. She couldn’t help but smile. “Okay, get on.” She nodded to her back.

Dustin blinked before smirking. “Bonzai!” he cheered, jumping from the bed and landing squarely between the pegasi’s wings.

“Nnngh!” Dash stiffened at the unexpected impact. She shivered. “I should’ve guessed.” She muttered as she walked towards the door. As she opened the door she almost ran into Rarity, who had her hoof raised to knock.

“Gah!” Rarity yelped.

“Bluh! Rarity? What are you doing?!” Rainbow spluttered.

“I was double-checking on you two.” Rarity replied, catching her breath. “Morning. Where’s Dustin?”

“Shrunken, but here,” Dustin said, clambering up Dash’s back until he could stand on top of her head.

Rarity’s eyes widened. “Oh Goodness!” She titered. “You are just adorable!”

“I just hope there’s an easy fix, I liked having hands,” the fox countered.

“Well, food tends to fix that.” Dash mentioned.

“You could use a bath first, unless you’d like ponies smelling like… that.” Rarity crinkled her nose a bit.

“We were on the way to do that until you interrupted.” Dash raised a brow.

“Oh! So sorry.” Rarity stepped aside. “Do you two need anything?”

Dash shook her head then tried to look up at Dustin.

“A way to recover memories after last night would be awesome, but I’m not holding my breath,” the fox deadpanned. “C’mon Dash, at least it’s a short walk of shame to the shower.”

“Nope.” She shook her head and trotted towards the bathroom. “I bet you like having a mount for once.” She chuckled softly as she shut the door.

“The cons to being small enough to ride you are pretty fuckin’ massive,” the fox answered easily. “I want my hands back at least.” He hopped down and walked into the shower, not coming any higher than Dash’s leg.

She stepped over him and tugged the shower curtain closed. She turned, only to see the small fox glaring at the temperature knobs. “Need some help there, or do you plan to turn them with your mind?”

“I’ll figure out psychic powers if I have to,” the fox huffed, sitting back and making reaching motions with his forelegs. Stubby as they were and he was, he still wasn’t giving up.

She bent down and nudged him onto her head then slowly lifted him so he could reach the knobs. “There you go.”

“I hate being small,” the fox huffed as he turned the knobs for a nice, blazing hot shower.

“Gah!” Dash yelped as the water hit her, causing Dustin to slide off her head. The fox impacted the tiles face first and let out his own muffled yelp, before he rolled onto his back, waving his stubby legs in the air.

“Help?” he asked, his tuft of tail twitching slightly.

Giggling, she used her wings to pick him up and deposit him on her back. “Better?”

“Yeah,” Dustin sighed as he let the water wash over him, nuzzling into Dash’s back. “Let’s get clean and then get me some food.” His little tuft of tail tickled between the mare’s wings as he tried not to fall off again.

Dash shook herself a little, as her wings twitched. “Sounds good.” She frowned and glanced at the various bottles around. “Soooo what are we using?”

“Idunno, I usually grab the first bottle of shampoo that doesn’t look like a fruit basket and go from there,” Dustin shrugged, or tried to anyways.

“Riiiight.” Dash hummed and pointed at a bottle. “Eenie.” She pointed at another. “Meenie.” SHe pointed at a third. “You.” She grabbed a white bottle and dumped a copious amount of soap on her hoof and mashed it into her mane. She scraped a bit off and and patted it on the fox. She hummed and nudged her wings until he slid off. She then plopped onto her haunches and held Dustin, scrubbing the soap all over the fuzzy ball.

“Ackpth! Hey! Careful there! Watch the hooves! Just because I’m a ball now doesn’t mean you can be rough with me!” The ball of fur commented all throughout his washing process. It was borderline adorable. Like washing a foal.

“Technically, I already was.” She giggled, setting him down to rinse off as she soaped herself up. “Now if I could only remember the details.”

“Eh, I’m sure one of those fancy hornheads can figure something out,” Dustin said as he got under the spray of the water to get himself cleansed of soap. “While they’re at it, they can get rid of my hangover too. There’s a dull thumping just behind my eyeballs that can stop any second now and I’d be happy.”

“Iduuno.” Rainbow shrugged, rinsing the soap out of her mane. “If they do have something, I’ve never heard of it. Though coffee always works for me.” She paused. “Oooooo coffeeee… Yeah we’re going to Sugarcube Corner to feed you. They also have coffee. Coffee’s good.”

“Sounds goooooo…” the fox trailed off as he looked up. Um. Dash was bigger than him and over him and that was awfully close. His face turned red as he tried to turn around and look away.

She looked down, staring through her soaked mane. “Dude, you’re pink. S’up?”

“...How do foals not end up as perverts?” the fox muttered, doing his best to roll the way he wanted to go: out of the shower.

“Huh?” Dash asked, blinking as she turned the knobs off, and turned to open the shower curtain. “What was that?”

“Nothing!” the fox blurted out, still blushing. “Let’s...let’s go get some food, yeah?” Food sounded good. Being big again sounded like the best idea ever.

“Absolutely.” Dash nodded and tugged a towel down, unceremoniously dropping it on the dripping fluffball.

“My vengeance shall be swift and unexpected,” the ball of wet fur vowed.

“Of course it will.” Dash grinned as she picked the bundle up and rubbed it vigorously. “How’s that vengeance going?”

“Why-y-y-y do you hate me so muuuuuuuch?” the fox asked as he was vibrated back and forth. To be fair, it was getting him dry. He just didn’t expect to be thrown into a drying cycle on ‘tumble’.

She set the bundle down and unwrapped it slowly. She was unsurprised to find a yellow ball of fluff that looked kinda like a daffodil. “C-cute…” She breathed.

“I am going to get you back for this,” Dustin vowed. “You won’t know where or when. All you’ll know is that I was responsible.”

“You’re so cute when you threaten.” Dash said in baby talk as she scooted him off the towel so she could start drying herself, starting with her mane. The ball of fur huffed to himself as he walked over to the bathroom door. Once more glaring at his new nemesis of doorknobs, the fox laid himself on the ground and waited.

Dash tossed the towel onto the counter and trotted over to the door. Using her wing, she picked up the yellow ball of fury and deposited him on her back, then opened the door. “To breakfast.”

---(ellipsis)---

Dash watched the yellow ball inhale yet another spiced bread roll. She hummed in thought, barely touching her coffee. “So… hey. Ummm, Dustin?”

The ball of fur paused halfway through his latest roll. Pinkie had nailed the recipe perfectly. He would be buying all of these later. “Yus?” he asked around a mouthful of bread.

“A-about last night…” She looked unsure. “You… You know I’m not using you right?”

The fox swallowed his mouthful of bread. “I’m pretty sure we were both drunk and just took things to a natural conclusion,” the fox stated idly. “If you were ‘using’ me, then I’m pretty sure I did the same thing back.”

“W-well…” She chewed her lip and looked away. “Look, I know I flirt and tease you a lot. I just...“ She groaned and ran hoof over her face. “I wanted it to be special. Memorable. To me there’s a big difference in getting a rise out of you and actually fucking. No. Wrong term.” Her voice lowered. “Making love.” She actually blushed at that.

The ball of fur coughed and looked away. “Yeah, I kinda picked up on the teasing thing,” he admitted. “Sometime around the sixth time you flashed me. Or tried to catch a peek.” He glanced back with a slight smirk, though his blush didn’t fade. “It’s why I call you my dirty little blueberry,” he admitted. “And uh...I guess I’m kinda sorry that it happened the way it did as well. I was raised to be chivalrous and I just sorta...completely fucked up our first time by getting drunk with you.”

“Chivalrous?” She smiled a little at that, looking back to him. “So, what does that make you my knight, or something?”

“Well I just sort of call it ‘common sense,’” the fox admitted with a slight drawl. “Like respecting your female, holding the door for them when you’re going somewhere, asking their opinion first before making a decision, including them in anything you’re trying to decide that might affect the both of you. Less duels of honor, more having a brain attached to your spinal cord.”

“Uh huh. A brain, I’ve heard of those.” Rainbow chuckled, taking a drink of her coffee. “Something that Twilight and Applejack seem to think that I don’t have just because I go flying off into danger…. Without thinking.” She frowned at the last bit.

“Hey,” Dustin said, putting a stubby leg on one of hers. “Wanting to protect your friends is admirable. Granted,” he admitted, “There’s a difference between charging into danger without knowing the facts and being the first one on the front lines as part of a unit. It always pays to know just what’s going on and where you can help most before you decide for everyone else what you’ll do. That way, you don’t end up as someone needing to be rescued, making the situation worse.”

“Uh huh.” She nodded with a blink. “I’d say that we got off topic a bit, but this whole conversation has been a bit…. Windy.” She said waving her uninjured hoof.

“Yeah, I play mental hopscotch a lot too,” the fox chuckled, heading back to his bread. “So you were saying something about not just using me for sex,” he said bluntly, before digging back into his bread.

“Right! Right…” She sighed. “So… I like you. Honestly. I don’t want to screw this up. If you want to, I don’t know, start over, or something? Or, or let me know what I can do to not screw this up?” Dash scrunched her face up as she tried to put thoughts into words.

Dustin finished his loaf off and took a breath. “Right. Okay. Well,” he started his train of thought with, “I don’t want you to stop being you,” was the first thing to come to mind. “Because honestly, you’re fun to be around. You seem to have picked me, and I can see that you’re a cool mare who sticks by her friends, and I’d be an idiot to turn that down. Honestly, some days I need a friend like you to help me not take myself so seriously, so, I’m happy to have you as my marefriend. And as for starting over…” He walked back to Dash’s side and put his stubby leg on her flank, “I’m partially to blame, remember? I drank as well, and I decided to let you goad me into the idea of ‘one of everything.’ Which is about where my memories stop. I mean, if you would like a nice dinner, I wouldn’t say no…” Actually, that gave Dustin an idea.

“I’d like that.” She smiled, then paled a bit. “Wait, is this going to be something fancy? Do I need to wear something nice? Do I need to go to Rarity?”

“Dash!” Dustin snapped her out of it. “I have a plan, okay? I just need to visit the market for some ingredients, and then we’ll have a nice dinner at home, okay?” He needed more than ingredients. He was already compiling a mental list. “For now, let’s focus on jamming this bread down my gullet until I have hands again.”

“Ugh…” There came a noise of disgust from nearby. Dash’s ear flicked as she looked up to see Spoiled Rich not a few feet from them, holding a to go cup.

Dash frowned. “What? You got a problem?”

“Oh no.” Spoiled waved a hoof and shook her head. “I’m just surprised you can eat with That on the table. You can’t just have your pets on the table.”

“Pet?!” Dash snapped. “That!” She pointed her cast covered hoof at Dustin. “Is my foxfriend.”

Spoiled blinked. “What?” She glanced between the two, then her eyes widened. “That’s disgusting!”

The commotion had gotten some attention. “Whoa, hey. Everybody calm down.” Guilmon plodded up in his apron. “What’s going on?”

“I demand you throw her and her pet out!” Spoiled thrust a hoof in the pair’s direction.

Guilmon raised a brow and looked at Dash and Dustin. “Dash.” He nodded. “Dustin. You know you look cute as a Viximon.”

“It’s only been a morning and I already miss my hands,” the fox grumbled. “I need all the bread, Guile.”

“I know your pain.” Guilmon nodded as Spoiled yelped at the talking puffball. “Don’t worry, we’ve got more coming out soon.”

“I can’t believe you- you serve…” Guilmon cut off Spoiled with a raised claw.

“Ma’am, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” He frowned. “You’re upsetting our customers.”

“Don’t you know who I am?” Spoiled shrieked.

“Unfortunately.” Guilmon deadpanned. “Misses Rich, you seriously need to leave. If you keep harassing customers I’ll have to get higher powers involved.”

“You wouldn’t dare call that dog!” Spoiled snapped, yet paled slightly.

“Wolf actually.” The aforementioned blue werewolf announced. As the door shut behind him, Pinkie returned to the mare the counter. “Misses Rich I think we need to have a talk with your husband about your behavior lately.”

Spoiled paled even further as the werewolf opened the door and gestured out. Somewhat stiffly Spoiled walked out the door and the pair left.

Guilmon dragged a claw down his face “Oh fuuuu…..”, He paused, looked up, and, not seeing any children, “uuuck.”

Dash slumped in her seat. “This is why we can’t have anything nice in Ponyville. What I wouldn’t give for some proper guards some times.”

“Eh, give the guard-dogs some more time under you and Geralt, I’m sure we’ll end up with a right proper scary force of barking mad lunatics,” Dustin quipped.

“Huh… A Guard made up of fully-trained Diamond Dogs.” Guilmon scratched his chin. “I should bring that up to Mayor Mare.” He shook his head. “Later.” He turned around and waved. “Sorry for the disturbance folks. Everything’s cool. Please return to your breakfasts.” He turned back. “Sorry again. I’ll bring you out more bread when it’s ready.” He gave an apologetic smile and walked back to the register. As he got behind the counter, He turned and said something to Pinkie. Said mare smiled, said something back, and kissed his cheek. Then she bounced back into the kitchen.

“Huh, so that’s what a normal couple is supposed to look like.” Dash mumbled as she slid back up her seat.

“Normal is overrated,” Dustin quipped. “A saying I liked a lot back home was ‘The line between genius and insanity is a tightrope made of barbed wire.’ That sounds more fun to me. Normal means you have a boring job that you work at every day while it sucks the life out of you.” The ball of fur popped himself into Dash’s lap and nuzzled into her chest fluff. “I prefer the idea of a job that you love to do. Then it’s never really work, because you’re having fun while making money.”

“Uh huh…” Dash hummed. “I guess you’re right.” She shrugged. “Sooo… What time tonight?”

“Well first I need to get my hands back,” the little fox noted. “Then I have to work on making it just right for you.” He hummed a little in thought. “Say, six? That should be plenty of time, assuming I get any more bread anytime soon.”

“Sounds good to me.” Dash smiled. “Now finish what you have there and we’ll see if you get your hands back.”

Dustin rolled his eyes and hopped back onto the table, latching onto the last loaf of bread and devouring it quickly.

----(Ellipsis)---

The rest of the day really should have been boring since it was Wednesday. Yet as the day wore on Dash was nervous about the coming evening.

As she flew about, lost in her thoughts, a voice yanked her from them.

“Oh Dashie!” Singsonged Rarity’s voice.

Dash screeched to a halt and whirled around with a blush on her cheeks. It appeared that Rarity had been following her, as they were apparently not far from the library. Dash shot down and landed in front of her. “Don’t call me that.”

“I had to get your attention somehow.” Rarity smiled. “Now, I only wanted you to confirm something for me.”

“Yeah? What?” The still irritated pegasus asked.

“Did you and Dustin,” she coughed into a hoof, “actually consummate your partnership?”

Dash blinked for a moment. Then she blushed furiously. “Rarity!”

“I’m merely curious Dashie.” Rarity teased.

Dash’s eye twitched. “I’m… not... sure.”

“Oh dear.” Rarity frowned. “Well you two had been drinking quite heavily.” SHe suddenly brightened. “I-de-a!”

Dash leaned away from the now far too peppy mare.

“I’m sure Twilight has something that can help you remember.” Rarity grinned putting a foreleg over Dash’s withers and steered her towards the library.

“Why does it matter to you?” Dash tried in vain to tug away.

“Oh…. I just want you to remember your first time, of course!” Rarity said quickly with a nervous smile.

“Oooookay….” Dash leaned away as far as she could.

Rarity not to politely knocked on the door. “Twilight? We could use your help darling.”

The door opened to reveal Spike. “Yo.” He spoke up. “Twi’s upstairs working on a thing. You need something?” He raised a scaley brow at the pair. Dash looked like a sheep trying to get away from a wolf.

“Oh nothing major, just a minor memory spell.” Rarity nodded with a smile. “Could you go get Twilight for us?”

“Uhhh huh…” Spike stated, glancing between the pair again. “Ssssure…. Come on in.” He waddled inside and Rarity virtually dragged the prismatic pegasus in after her. Spike shot them a final, slightly worried look, then waddled upstairs.

Rarity immediately plopped Dash on the couch. “Rares… you’re up to something.” She said bluntly.

“Moi?!” Rarity gasped with her hooves over her heart. “Well I never! How could you accuse me of something devious?”

“Pretty easily.” Dash deadpanned. “There’s a bet isn’t there.”

Rarity started to sweat. “No! No, no, no, no, no……”

Dash leaned in, staring hard.

“Possibly?” Rarity squeaked.

“Oh My Fucking-” Dash flopped back onto the couch.

“Hey girls, everything okay?” Twilight’s voice grabbed both of their attention. Said purple unicorn was descending the stairs, looking somewhat confused.

Dash glared daggers at Rarity. “Sure Twilight. Everything’s greeaaaat…”

Twilight glanced from Dash to Rarity, and back. “Spike… mentioned a memory spell?”

“Yes…” Rarity said slowly, not taking her eyes off Dash as if the pegasus would pounce on her were she to look away. “You see… Dash and Dustin were… intimate last night.”

“Ooookay? Congratulations I guess?” Twilight asked with a raised brow.

“You see, they were quite inebriated.” Rarity continued as she leaned away from the mare across from her.

“Oh, I see the problem.” Twilight smiled and nodded. “You want her to remember her fir-” Twilight’s voice cut off as her eyes widened. She looked over at Rarity.

“T-Twilight? What is it?” The white mare smiled nervously.

Twilight’s eyes narrowed to a deadpan. “This isn’t about Dash remembering her first time with Dustin, is it?”

Rarity blinked at Twilight, then looked over to Dash. The pegasus just waved her uninjured hoof in a go on gesture. “W-well, th-the thing is.”

“Rainbow do you want to remember last night?” Twilight ignored the marshmallow mare.

Dash jumped as her head snapped towards the unicorn. “What? Oh! Yes!”

Twilight sighed, sat on her haunches, and rubbed the side of her head with a hoof. “Right. Since you were drinking, I won’t be able to retrieve accurate memories. Think of it as a cliff notes version.” She explained, trotting over and sitting next to the mare. “Also, are you comfortable with me viewing said memories?”

Dash blushed furiously. “Oh…. W-well…. I mean, if you’re not uncomfortable with seeing me fuck Dustin.”

“Dash! Language!” Rarity gasped.

“Oh shut it Rares, we’re only here because you’re feeling greedy.” Dash snapped.

“So is that a yes?” Twilight asked somewhat blandly, much in the way of this is my life now.

“Huh?” Dash looked back to Twilight. “Oh, yeah… And… Sorry in advance.”

“Meh.” Twilight shrugged. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”

“Wha-”

---(Ellipsis)---

It had taken quite a while to get everything prepared. The ingredients hadn’t been hard to track down, Ponyville was a farming community mostly. And Rarity had the things for a nice, fancy dinner hidden away in various cabinets in her kitchen. But Dustin knew he needed music and fine wine as well, which...were not cheap. But he got them, and now all he needed to do was set the table up properly.

His ears perked as the oven dinged, telling him the meal was ready. The fox pulled it open and removed the pan with a mitt, grateful Rarity had those lying around. He cut off two squares from his homemade lasagna, putting them on small plates which he then transferred to the table. Food, check. Record loaded in the phonograph, check. Wine?

The digimon uncorked the bottle he’d picked up and carefully poured a small measure in two crystal flutes that he’d found. Made of real crystal, they both ended up at one place at the table. Check. Now to light the candles and dinner would be ready, and not a moment too soo-

There came a knock on the front door. Right on- No wait, she’s early.

“Just a moment!” Dustin called. He lit the candles and took a step back. Perfect. Then he answered the door. It was Dash, right?

There was Dash. No dress. Nothing fancy. Just a slightly messy mane, a light blush, a smile, and a collar around her neck. “Hi.” She said, with a slight quaver in her voice.

“Come in, come in,” Dustin said, ushering her inside. “Nice collar. New fashion going around town?” he asked, making light conversation. “Ah, nevermind. Look! I got dinner set up just as you got here. Am I a master of timing or what?”

“You sure are.” She said, trotting in and turning to look at the dining area.

A table covered by a bright red tablecloth, atop which sat a single lit candle. Wine glasses filled with red wine sat on either end of the table next to what looked like lasagna. Freshly cooked, if the steam was any indication.

Dash’s jaw dropped.

“Let me just complete the scene,” Dustin said, and Dash’s head turned to see him next to the phonograph. He put the arm down and let it play the record. “It’s the newest romance song in the stores,” he admitted. And what came out of the horn…

Was very familiar. Was someone recording that night? Dustin blushed through his fur, hard.

“Is that… Is that you?” Dash asked with a slight stutter.

“Apparently,” Dustin muttered, going to take the record off. “I didn’t plan that, for the record. I just wanted some music for the night.”

“W-well it’s fitting. And not that bad for background music.” She smiled.

“...Well if you want it,” the fox sighed, going to pull out Dash’s chair for her.

“You know…” She started as she trotted over to the chair and sat down. “I remembered something.”

“Oh? Well I guess that makes one of us,” Dustin said as he walked around the table and took his own seat. He raised his glass up and angled it towards her. “To us,” he said.

She raised her glass. “To us,” She waited for him to start drinking, “Master.”

Oh, so that’s what a Renamon looked like when wine shot out of its nose.

Dustin coughed a few times, putting the wine glass down and glancing at Dash around the candles. “I’m sorry, what?” he asked.

“Master.” She repeated batting her eyelashes at him. “Turns out you have a thing for taking control.” She leaned on to the table. “And I love it.”

“I, um, I don’t remember that,” he admitted, sweating a little. “I was probably way too drunk.”

“Well, I’m going to make sure you remember.” Dash grinned suggestively. “And this collar,” she lightly tugged at it, “You’re going to snap it.”

Thaaaat was the hardest he’d blushed in a while. “Did...you come here for food or something else?” he asked in a high-pitched voice.

“Yes.” Dash hissed and pounced over the table and tackled him.

It would be an hour later before Rarity would arrive home from her ‘Don’t bet on your friends’ lecture from Twilight.

Rarity sighed as she walked in, only to freeze when she heard what was coming from the dining room. Rarity slowly walked forward, then gasped.

“Ah! No! Not on the tablecloth! What if Sweetie came in?! To your room! Out! OUT!”

Author's Note

Read Griffon Advice next.