Chapter 8: Tales Best Left Untold

Chapter 8

Tales Best Left Untold

While the rest of the ponies took their friends' and families' presence as an opportunity to make something of a vacation in Canterlot, Twilight Sparkle took the time to ply her slowly healing eyes on the books of the Canterlot Castle Archives. Her hope was to find any information that might bolster their chances against the morbid threat that stilled loomed somewhere in the cosmos. Effectively, she disappeared for a week, only showing up occasionally to take meals and to allow herself woefully inadequate amounts of sleep. For most ponies, the behavior would have seemed psychotic, but to her friends, Twilight Sparke merely seemed to be getting back to her normal self.

Once she noticed that Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy could fly again, albeit clumsily, she solicited their help in perusing some of the higher shelves. Rainbow Dash had been curious to see how many and what sort of books lay within the enormous edifice, which stood in a gigantic, ornate building with a large central tower in the Castle Courtyard. As such, she had dragged Fluttershy out of bed, and the pair now strode towards the huge building.

“Couldn't you have let me sleep a little longer?” Fluttershy moaned.

“Are you kidding? How can you not be excited to see this? Just think of how many books are in there!”

“If it was a zoo," mumbled they yellow mare, "I'd be excited.”

“Yeah, yeah," said Rainbow Dash, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, here we are.”

The pair stood before a massive, golden door which was carved in deep relief with the image, of course, of a book. It was flanked on either side by a pair of royal guards.

“Ah, hello ladies,” said one of the armored unicorns. “Twilight Sparkle told us to expect you. Allow us.”

The two guards pointed their horns at the massive doors in unison, and to the surprise of the pegasi, they did not swing open, but instead slowly slid, recessing into the walls, almost without a sound.

Stepping inside, they discovered a circular hallway running the circumference of the building's center tower, which had many doors leading to different wings dedicated to various subjects. As the door closed behind them, one of the guards shouted something to the effect that Twilight Sparkle would be in the tower.

Rainbow Dash stepped forward and opened a pair of double doors immediately in front of the main entrance. As they swung open, she was dumbstruck with pure awe. Shelves of books ran all the way to the ceiling of what was an impressively tall central chamber with at least a dozen balconies at various levels. Just to the inside of these balconies, three spiral staircases extended up the tower to allow flightless ponies to ascend and descend. Beyond those, there was a central column of staggered, semi-circular bookcases. Rainbow Dash guessed from the width of the external bookcases that it ran at least three layers deep, and it, too was ringed with balconies, also accessible from a single long spiral staircase that ascended its circumference On every level of there were sturdy-looking ladders, attached at each one's base and top to a track that allowed the ladder to move left and right across the face of the bookshelves. There were reading desks everywhere, many of them occupied by unicorn students of Celestia's magic school, and others occupied by what appeared to be aides to important government officials, by lawyers, and also by more casual readers. As if all this wasn't enough, the building extended downward, as well. Looking over the railing, Rainbow Dash realized that what she had seen looking up was only the top third, at most, of the building. The gargantuan bookshelves extended downward into a huge, circular basement that must have been excavated into the very stone of the mountain upon which Canterlot was constructed.

In the middle of all this, on a platform amidst the central bookshelves, accessible through three evenly-spaced walkways that led from three sets of double doors around the tower's circumference, sat Twilight Sparkle. She was seated at a reading desk, books piled high around her. A cloud of thin, bluish smoke hung over her head. Hearing the doors close behind Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, she looked up.

“Oh, good, you're here!” She levitated a burning cigarette to her lips from its resting place in a nearby ashtray, and took a drag.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy looked around, still aghast at the incredible structure.

“Impressive, isn't it?” Twilight Sparkle smiled. “I guess I forget sometimes because of how much time I've spent in here.”

“Twilight, this is amazing,” said Fluttershy. “I didn't know there were this many books in the entire world.”

“There are exactly this many books in the world, Fluttershy,” she said proudly. “If it has ever been known to ponydom, it's in here, somewhere.”

“The only problem,” came a gravelly voice from behind the two pegasi, “is knowing that it was ever known to ponydom in the first place!”

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy turned to see an eldery, white pegasus with a gray mane and round, bifocal spectacles. He was wearing a brown vest, and his cutie mark, small wonder, was a book. There was a cigarette clenched in his teeth, and a pack of Lucky Strikes peaked over his vest pocket.
That explains it, thought Rainbow Dash, glancing at Twilight, who was telekinetically rubbing out her own cigarette in the ashtray.

“I am Tome," said the old pegasus, "head archivist of Canterlot, and it is very nice to meet friends of Twilight Sparkle the Wise!”

“The Wise?” Rainbow Dash looked at Twilight, amused.

“It's an old joke,” said Twilight, rolling her eyes. “I've read more books from this place than any other living pony, even Tome himself. That excludes the princesses, of course. There are rumors that Celestia has read every book in the archives. Luna too, though of course she wouldn’t have read most of them that have been added in the last thousand years, and the archives weren’t even located here, then, for that matter. The rumors are so widespread there has to be some truth to them, though. The only variation is in how many times they've supposedly read each book. The most common lies," she sighed, "are ten for Celestia and three for Luna.”

“How many do you think?” asked Fluttershy.

“It's hard to say," interjected Tome. "Even as old as she is, I honestly doubt Princess Celestia has read every book here, but I know she's read the most of anypony alive, and as a matter of fact, she's written quite a few books, herself – textbooks on various magical subjects, mostly, but a few histories, too. Even so, I couldn't begin to guess at the real number for her or Princess Luna.'

“But for you, Miss Sparkle," he continued, "I can actually give a rough estimate."

Smiling, he turned his head to the side, extended a wing, and carefully slipped his burning cigarette between his two most distal primary feathers, both of which bore small burn marks from frequent use in this fashion, as was common in pegasi who smoked.

Tome's smile broadened to a grin as he spoke again. “By keeping track of all of her checking out and returning, and watching her study, I've estimated that our dear Twilight has read well over eleven thousand books since she first showed up here, all those years ago.”

Rainbow Dash's mouth hung open as she did some quick calculations in her mind. “Twilight, that's over three books a day for like ten years.”

“Yeah, that sounds about right,” said Twilight, not really understanding the magnitude of the feat to which she was casually admitting.

“Just a hair under one percent of the works represented in our archives,” said Tome, proudly.

“That's INSANE!” shouted Rainbow Dash, prompting a kindly shush from Tome. She lowered her voice as she continued. “For that to be true, there would have to be, like, over a million books, here!”

“One million, two hundred sixty-five thousand, nine hundred eighty-one – exactly,” said Tome. “And some of them have not been read by anypony in centuries. It's a veritable treasure hunt in here. You never know what forgotten bit of knowledge or history you might uncover on any given day. The whole place is enchanted to be fireproof, so even if it's destroyed by an earthquake or an attack or some such, as long as we can dig the books out, we don't lose a single letter of all that precious wisdom. There are and always will be more things to be learned in this archive than in any other one place in all the world.”

“That's why we've got to get to work,” said Twilight, passing Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash each a long list written on a scroll. “These are the sections that I need you to search in, and some ideas of what to be looking for. Any book that seems like it might contain important information you should bring to me. If you get tired of flying around, take a break and read a little in any of them that I haven't gotten around to, yet. We need to know everything we can about dream communication, deities from outside our world, and any theories regarding how we can interact with such things. If we can't even reach this thing, we'll never be able to beat it.”

“I'd be glad to assist you as well, Miss Sparkle,” said Tome. "Is there anything I can get for you or your friends?”

“I need some coffee,” said Fluttershy. “And some aspirin.”

Tome stuck his nose into a pocket inside his vest and produced a small bottle. “I always keep some on me, just in case,” he said through gritted teeth. He shook two pills out onto Fluttershy's hoof, and she immediately swallowed them without water.

“There's a coffee pot with fresh brew in it at my desk,” Tome said, smiling. “If that will be all, I'll fly down to the bottom level and start looking there for books that I think may be useful. Some of the oldest books we have are down there, and I'm the only one who has any clue how to sort through them, anymore.” He turned to leave, then looked back. “Well, myself and Miss. Sparkle, here, of course.” He snatched his cigarette into his teeth, hopped over the railing, and glided downward between the tower's circular balconies, silhouetted in gas lights affixed to the ceilings of each level.

Rainbow Dash heard the doors shut behind her, and turned to see Spike waddling towards her, a paper shopping bag held to his chest.

"Uh oh," he said, looking at the lists tucked under the pegasi's wings. "Once she gives you a list like that, you can kiss the rest of your week goodbye." He placed the bag down on the reading desk, and started to empty it, item by item. In moments, he had produced a can of ground coffee, coffee filters, powdered creamer, and a bag of sugar.

"Tome doesn't keep that coffee pot for himself," said Twilight, totally straight-faced.

Spike reached into the bag once more and produced four packs of Lucky Strikes.

"Those," said Twilight, "are for both of us, though."

* * *

"How did I let y'all talk me into this?" asked Applejack.

She was standing in an evening gown at Canterlot Nouveau, a popular boutique in the City's commercial district. It was the fourth one Rarity had made the earth mare try on.

"Oh, come now, Applejack," said Rarity, who was seated on a small bench in the dressing room area of the store, critiquing Applejack's appearance. "We've already found three nice dresses for you. Try to have a good time with it, like Pinkie Pie."

Pinkie burst from a nearby dressing room with a loud "TA-DA." Her back cracked as she flung her forelegs high above her head, and she quickly dropped back to all fours, her face contorted into a mask of pain.

"FffffffFFFFffffFFFF."

Rarity rolled her head in a small circle. "Yes, we know: 'Fuck.' Your back is still healing, Pinkie. I can decide whether you should be wearing something without the acrobatics."
"M'kay," squeaked Pinkie, a tear forming in the corner of her eye.
Rarity watched her friend's pink face contort, and listened momentarily to her breathing slowly and steadily through her nose before she she finally gave in to pity.
"Here," sighed the white unicorn, digging into an diamond-studded saddlebag that she used for shopping. She came out with a bottle of Demerol. "I swiped at least a year's supply of these from the hospital. It'll take the edge off."

Pinkie clutched bottle in her hooves and turned its cap with her teeth. Rarity gave her the evil eye.

"One," said the unicorn, sternly.

Pinkie grinned, and her cheeks turned a little pinker than usual as she complied with Rarity's order.

Applejack huffed. "Can I take this damn thing off, now?"

"I don't know why you would," said Rarity, obviously pleased with the gown. "If you insist on taking it off, though, at least put it with the others on the cart.'

"And Pinkie, while that painkiller kicks in, please do us all the favor of divesting yourself of that... disaster. I was right. You have no business in brown. Gods help your foals if you marry a brown stallion."

"Rarity," said Applejack. I don't think this is what Celestia meant when she said she'd cover our expenses while we were in town."

Rarity glowered at the orange pony. "She gave us a billing address, and free reign. I will NOT waste this opportunity. Now, go try on the next one."

"Don't understand why she doesn't have to try anything on," mumbled Applejack, as she turned to head back into the fitting room.

"I know what I look good in, silly," said Rarity. "Now hurry, we've only got four hours until the stores close."

Four hours and fifteen minutes later, the trio sat together at a small outdoor cafe, with the sun sinking low behind the Unicorn mountain range in the distance. Rarity and Pinkie looked incredibly pleased with themselves. Applejack just looked relieved.

"That was longer than any day of work I've ever done," said the orange mare. "I can't wait to get back to the castle and rest."

"But we haven't even been to one single club, yet," said Rarity, mouth agape. "You can't rest, yet!"

"Watch me," said Applejack, and whistled for a taxi.

"Well, would you at least be good enough to take our purchases back to our rooms with you?" Rarity gave Applejack her best "pretty-please" face, complete with batting eyes.

"Yeah, I suppose I can do that," smiled Applejack, just as a taxi wagon pulled to a stop nearby. She quickly piled all of their shopping bags into the cab, and was gone.

"She didn't even order anything," said Pinkie.

"She'll get something from the castle kitchen," said Rarity. "Probably something with apples in it."

"Then she'll complain that the apples weren't grown the right way," said Pinkie Pie, smiling.

Rarity chuckled slightly, then levitated her glasses from her saddlebag, and put them on, after which she turned her eyes to a menu that lay on the table before her.

Pinkie did not look at her menu. She looked at Rarity, who was mumbling to herself about how many calories must be in some dish or other.

"Rarity," she finally said.

Rarity magically moved her glasses down on her nose a bit, and looked over them. "Yes, Pinkie?"

"Why did I find you like that?"

Rarity looked bewildered.

"In the dream," said Pinkie Pie.

"Oh." Rarity pushed her glasses back up onto her nose with the tip of her hoof.

"Nopony else ended up together in their dreams like that," said Pinkie Pie. Why did we?"

"I don't know, Pinkie. I guess I just needed some help climbing over myself."

Pinkie Pie didn't respond, and Rarity finally felt the need to break the tension.

"I get scared sometimes, Pinkie." They were not the words she had expected to say.

"Everypony gets scared, Rarity."

"Not like this," said Rarity.

The dam had broken, and the flood was on its way.

"I have come so far in my life to be what I am and to create the things I create. And yet I don't know where I'm supposed to go, or what I'm supposed to do. Sometimes, Pinkie, I feel like I am totally alone, struggling against everything around me just to keep my hooves on the place in the world I've carved out for myself -- and it's such a small place. I worry that everything I've built is going to fall apart around me, and I'm going to be left alone and empty, without the courage to even try to start over."

"Oh," said Pinkie Pie. "That's good... Well, I mean that's not good, but it's okay. See, I was afraid you were in love with me, or something, and that was going to be really awkward because I... uh... Well, you're one of my best friends, and all, but I like boys."

Rarity's cheeks reddened. "Umm... so... do... I."

"So..." said Pinkie. "All those times when you're drunk..."

"That's just when I'm drunk," said Rarity quickly, turning her eyes back her menu. "I'm glad we had this talk."

"Yes," said Pinkie Pie. "We needed to have this talk. This was a good talk."

"I think I'm just going to have a sandwich," said Rarity.

"Me too," said Pinkie Pie. "Sandwiches! Can't get enough of 'em!"

* * *

After two full days camped out in the ponderous library, the three ponies still had yet to discover anything of use.

Fluttershy was sprawled, unconscious and snoring, on an old, ragged couch which Tome had managed to convince the guards to drag in from somewhere, and Rainbow Dash and Twilight were seated on opposite sides of a reading desk, the former asleep with her face on an open book, the latter barely lucid, but still feverishly trying to read and comprehend what lay before her. Spike was curled into a ball on the opposite end of the couch from Fluttershy.

“Ladies? Have you been here all night? It's six-thirty in the morning!”

It was Tome.

Twilight looked up. “I'm sorry. We just... we can't...” Her words trailed off into a monosyllabic vowel that rested somewhere between an “o” and an “a.”

The old pegasus sighed. “It's no bother. It's just that you should get some sleep.”

“Tome, we must have every book in the Archives here that has any bearing at all on the situation, and nothing is helping. Don't you know of anything else?” Twilight's pleading tone drew forth a gentle, sympathetic shake of Tome's head.

“I'm sorry, but I've brought you every single book I know of on every subject you mentioned. There's really only one left that comes to mind, but I keep it under lock and key in the restricted wing. I'm reluctant to let anypony see it. It... does things... to the unprepared.”

Twilight blinked. “The Necronomicon?”

“Why... yes,” said the old pegasus, a little startled.

“I read it yesterday. Twice. The guards here will let me into pretty much anywhere, you know.”

“Oh dear." Tome's voice quivered more than age could account for as he spoke the words, but he sighed, and drew a breath "Was it helpful, at least?” he asked.

“In understanding dream worlds, yes,” Twilight said sluggishly. “In understanding primordial outer deities, yes again. In identifying this particular being, or indicating how to resist it, not at all. It's really starting to look like Celestia and Luna are the only two living beings who know anything at all about Cenasolus.”

“Well, perhaps you should just ask them about this... entity,” said Tome.

“I have. Neither would tell me anything I didn't already know, but I get the sense they know more than they'll say.”

“Princess Celestia always knows more than she will tell,” said Tome, “and for the two years I've known her, Princess Luna has shown similar tendencies. Must be a familial trait.”

“Tell me about it,” said Twilight, laying her head sideways on top of the book she had been reading.

“Twilight... The Necronomicon; you did put it back, yes?”

“Of course.”

“Good. Promise me you will never repeat anything you read in it to anypony. There are, after all, tales best left untold.”

“I promise,” said Twilight, as a question entered her mind.

“Tome?” she asked, her voice just above a whisper.

“Is there something else, Twilight?” returned the old Archivist, raising an eyebrow.

A silence hung in the air for a moment before Twilight spoke. “Have you ever read it?”

“Twice,” he said, then walked towards his desk.

It was then that Pinkie Pie appeared in the doorway, bouncing happily along, as usual.

“Hey, everypony!”

“Shhh!” Tome's shush somehow managed to carry overtones of reprimand, and Pinkie Pie quickly switched to a quick but exaggerated sneaking gait, teetering along on the tips of her hooves. She sidled up next to Twilight, and whispered in her ear.

“It's breakfast time! There are cinnamon rolls!”

“Pinkie, you don't have to whisper. Just don't yell.” Twilight magically lifted her brass lighter to a fresh cigarette, and struck it.

“Oh, well why didn't you say so?” Pinkie gave Tome a mean look, to which he responded with a quiet chuckle.

“We'll be there in awhile, Pinkie,” said Twilight, “as soon as I can wake up Dash and Fluttershy. I just wish we had been able to find at least one book that was really clear on outer deities.”

“Like this one?” Pinkie produced from somewhere a gargantuan book with a heavily worn cover and spine. Its yellowed pages were ragged and tattered at their edges, and a dank, musty scent hung around it. It had been white once, but time had turned its cover a sickly, pale yellow. Pinkie Pie tossed it forward, and it plopped down loudly on the desk, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy both started awake at the sound. Spike merely rolled over, scratched twice at his belly, and continued to snore.

Pinkie grinned at the pegasi.

“Oh, good! You're up!”

Twilight read the cover of the ancient volume aloud. “De Ultima Dei.”

“On the Outtermost Gods,” said Pinkie.

“Pinkie,” said Twilight. “How do you know Latin?”

“The author knows Latin, so I know Latin,” said Pinkie. “That’s how I roll.”

Twilight blinked twice, and puffed on her Lucky Strike. “You know what? Fuck causality. Where did you find this?”

“It was propping up a shaky table next to the reshelving cart,” said the pink earth pony. “I tripped over it on the way in, and it looked like it might be helpful, so..” Her words were interrupted by a crashing sound somewhere amidst the shelves.

“There were... a lot of books... on that table,” said Pinkie Pie, embarrassed.

Tome sighed and moved off towards the source of the noise.

Twilight rapidly flipped through the pages, skimming paragraph after paragraph.

“Can we go get breakfast, now?” asked Pinkie.

“That sounds good to me,” said Fluttershy. “I'm hungry.”

“Just a minute.” Twilight's voice was thick with excitement. “Pinkie, this book is amazing. It's got chapters on every known outer deity, even some that aren't mentioned in the Nec... the other books I've read. Who wrote this!?”

Twilight flipped back over to the title page, levitated her cigarette to an ashtray, and slowly translated the text there aloud.

“De Ultima Dei; On the Outermost Gods... Kaelestia!?”

* * *

Twilight Sparkle did not go to breakfast. She tromped directly into the throne room, making no effort to mute the livid expression that had dominated her aspect for the last several minutes. A burgundy-colored, middle-aged unicorn mare in a fancy morning dress was speaking to the princess. Twilight trotted directly past her, totally ignoring her presence. Celestia showed obvious shock and confusion, the overdressed unicorn disbelief and indignation.

“Excuse me, young lady,” she began, “you cannot simply...”

Twilight wordlessly turned her head towards the unicorn. The pace she had set in getting there had not been kind to her recuperating body. Her breathing was labored, and her teeth were gritted tight from pain in her shoulder. She coughed twice, covering her mouth with a foreleg, which came away with a few small spots of blood-laced mucus and saliva. The older unicorn mare drew back, slightly stunned, and Twilight's horn began to glow. A moment later, the other unicorn's horn vibrated and glowed faintly.

“Leave,” growled Twilight, “Or I will turn you into an earth pony.”

The burgundy mare made no further objection, but turned and cantered gingerly out of the throne room. Celestia's guards were both in a state of alerted confusion. They knew Twilight Sparkle would never intend any harm to the princess, but it was a rare day that anypony came into the throne room behaving this way.

“Well, Twilight,” said Celestia, her face stern and her voiced strained, “you have my attention. Whatever you wanted it for had better be good.”

“What in all the hells of Tartaros is this!?” Twilight levitated the book out of the ornate saddlebag in which she generally carried her reading materials, and let it hover in the air between the Princess and herself.

Celestia inhaled sharply through her nose, then looked at the two confused guards standing at the base of her throne.
“Leave us,” she growled.

Once the guards had dutifully obeyed, she spoke again.

“That, Twilight Sparkle, is one of the few books in the world that I desperately hope you nor anypony else ever reads.”

“Then why did you write it!?” Twilight felt Celestia's irresistible telekinetic grip tear the book from her own, then watched as it shot through the air towards the princess, and was quickly tucked under a wing.

“Because I was young and stupid once, too.”

Twilight recoiled slightly, unsure of how to respond. After a moment, she realized she wasn't meant to.

“Just tell me you didn't actually read this, yet,” said Celestia.

“Well... no,” Twilight half-mumbled, “but I already read the Necronomicon, and I'm fine. Why should I be afraid of something you wrote?”

The Princess released a deep sigh of relief. “Because I'm older than the Necronomicon, and so is much of my knowledge. I thought I had put this somewhere where nopony would ever find it.”

“It was propping up a wobbly table,” said Twilight, completely monotone.

“Yes," said Celestia, plainly. "I put it there. Why do you think that table has a short leg?”

Twilight cocked her head sideways. “You put a book that you're this afraid of anypony reading under a shortened table leg to hide it?”

Celestia shrugged. “It worked for a few thousand years, didn't it?”

“That's an old table,” said Twilight, calming down, now.

“Not as old as the first one. I had to move it when we moved the capital to Canterlot.”

“But why in the Library?” asked the purple unicorn. “That's hardly a place to hide a book.”

“To hide a tree, use a forest. If you can make the tree look inconsequential, all the better. I also hid a mad god of chaos in my sculpture garden, if you remember.”

“Yes, and we all saw how well that turned out,” said Twilight, “Ever consider really hiding these things? You could lock this one away with the restricted books, for instance.”

“Really?” Celestia smirked. “When you started doing your research, – looking specifically, I might add, for information about powerful outer gods -- where did you start?”

Twilight spoke before she could even think. “The restricted... Okay, you got me, but if it's so terrible, why not just destroy it?”

“I've tried," said Celestia, grimly. "Every time I have ever burned it, shredded it, or otherwise attempted to end its existence, I have had, that selfsame night, a dream in which I rewrote it, word for word. The next morning I always awaken to find a new, pristine copy of it lying next to me in bed, swirling with malevolent consciousness.”

“That's... that's a little scary,” Twilight stuttered.

Celestia, looked down at the volume tucked under her wing, and spoke again, half to herself.

“You should see what happens if you try to destroy Luna's book.”

“Princess Luna has a book like this?” asked Twilight.

“If only,” said Celestia, “but that's probably already more than I should have said.'

“Look, Twilight,” she continued, “I understand your being upset that I didn't tell you about this before, but you have to trust that if I felt there was anything in here that would be helpful, I would have simply given you that information, outright. You're letting this situation get the best of you; I have never seen you physically threaten anypony in your entire life, and just look at what you've done to yourself in getting here.”

Twilight realized just then that she was favoring her wounded shoulder, and that the entire leg which it joined to her body was quivering in pain. Embarrassed, she tried to put weight on that hoof, but quickly withdrew it from the floor, growling over a bitten lip. She swayed slightly, and coughed once.

“You see?” asked Celestia, stepping down to stand in front of her student. She touched her horn lightly to the unicorn's afflicted shoulder, and Twilight noticed an immediate lessening of the pain.

“Go see the castle doctor. He isn't busy with Luna anymore, and he's very talented with medical magic.” She paused. “I have to go find that mare you scared off.”

Twilight looked down at the floor, ears drooping.

“Who was she?” she asked.

“Actually, she was a candidate for a teaching position at my school. I'll have to skim over exactly who you are.”

“Sorry,” said Twilight, quietly.

“Don't worry about it,” said Celestia.

“Just go get those wounds seen to, and try to relax.” The Princess paused. “And please, trust me. I haven't invested so much in you without purpose. I'm always on your side,” she said, “even when you do something a little stupid.”

Twilight, still staring at the floor, felt a long, warm neck and shoulder wrap around her own.

“Thanks,” she said.