Ever Growing Friendship
Written By: Cloudline Dasher
Edited By: N/A
Chapter 25: Friends Like You
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"Come on! Hurry up!" Rainbow Dash called after her friends.
It was nearing the Royal Euphony's performance. Twilight was good as new, and rested for the show thanks to the Elements. Using all the Elements of Harmony, the book was released from the spell trap and free to be researched. Twilight Sparkle briefed her mentor in its contents and the Princess deemed it necessary to make a little announcement after the show for all to hear.
"Hold yer horses, Dash!" Applejack called, turning back to face Twilight, whom had been lagging behind.
Celestia came up from behind, dressed in an elegant dress, colored in reds, pinks and golds. The tread just long enough to barely see her hooves from underneath revealing her matching gold shoes. Her gown was basically white with small bits of red, pink, and gold intertwined in rope that laced the rim of each fabric. Luna's gown was the same except hers was a dark purple in design. Lyra gently ran her side up against Rarity's and began to whisper in her ear, "Those are not the dresses you designed. Why'd you change them?"
Rarity kept a neutral expression as she whispered a reply, "I didn't feel right allowing somepony to wear my herds colors. Not even a princess deserves that."
Lyra froze in place, her eyes widening and a rosy hue forming in her cheeks. She flinched as Trace ran his hand up her neck, "Is something wrong?"
A smile adorned the minty mares face as she shook her head, "No, nothings the matter." She glanced up ahead to Rarity, smiling as Fluttershy shared a smile with their newest herd member, "Nothing at all."
Twilight nearly jumped as a white nose lowered next to her head, and her mentors voice whispered in her ear, "nervous?"
"A-a little..." Celestia's student admitted, glancing up to her teacher.
"Don't be, my faithful student. You know the content, I have faith in you."
"Thank you, I wont let you down!" Twilight replied in a burst of determination, but as her teacher merely smiled at her and walked on ahead toward the booths, she couldn't help but doubt herself.
Everypony took their seats. The royal section seemed empty compared to the rest of the concert stadium. Rainbow flew over all her friends, flapping her wings before landing on the other side of Applejack. AJ grasped tighter onto Bon Bon's arm as she sighed, "Rainbow, Ah hope yer not gonna complain the entire time?"
"Why would I complain!? I'm supporting my friends aren't I? I am the Element of Loyalty after all!" Rainbow crossed her hooves, pretending to be hurt.
"Well this ain't no Wonderbolts performance, and these things tend ta last a few hours..."
"A-a few hours!" Rainbow snapped her head over, locking eyes with Applejack in disbelief.
Applejack retorted with a hateful disapproving glare. Rainbow chuckled as she waved a hoof idly through the air, "A few hours, hehe! No problem!"
The cowpony hesitantly turned her gaze toward the stage, relaxing her grasp on her marefriend. Bon Bon giggled as she whispered to AJ, "I can't wait till it starts, I'm so excited!"
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The lights to the concert hall dimmed, while the lights to the stage brightened. Melodic Whistle stood alone on the stage as all eyes turned to him. Tapping the podium with his baton, he quieted the last of the audience. Standing on his hind hooves, he stood upright and brought the microphone closer, "Ladies and gentlecolts, Before we begin with the Royal Euphony, may I present a change in the line up. Celestia herself, along with her most faithful student, the elegant Twilight Sparkle herself, will be blessing us with what I can only predict will be heartfelt inspiration. In the meantime, allow us to sooth your inner manticore with lyrics from our own cellist, Octavia!"
Lights fading off of Melodic Whistle, he faintly could be seen exiting the stage. While on the other, Octavia entered with her cello, clearly renewed thanks to the unicorn essence given by Lyra and her herd. Glancing down, Trace noticed a rather familiar face, that didn't seem to be pointed toward the stage, "Page Streamer?"
"Hmm?" Fluttershy hummed, hugging tighter onto her stallions arm.
"N-nothing" Trace nervously chuckled, but froze when he locked eyes with the hateful mare. Even though she was in one of the front rows, and he was up in the royal seats, he could clearly tell where she was looking.
Page Streamer turned around, a small wicked grin on her face. Fear fell into the pit of his stomach, but tried to turn his attention back to the stage, 'she can't do anything in public, now can she?'
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Suddenly, clapping could be heard, snapping Rainbow out of her boredom induced dreaming. She fumbled in her seat, flapping her wings and sitting up straight. By the time she started clapping her hooves, the whole audience had fallen quiet for the next act. Wiping the drool from her face, she leaned over to Applejack, whispering, "How much did I miss?"
"It's over." Applejack flatly stated.
"Really!?" Rainbow grinned.
"No, ya only missed tha first three acts, now shut up and watch!" AJ couldn't help but snicker, her irritation with the cyan mare vanishing with her own teasing.
A sigh emanated from the prismatic mare as she groaned, "How many acts are there?"
"Six, seven if you count the Princess's and Twilight's speech." AJ stated flatly, almost feeling sorry for the mare.
"Gaaah! I'm going for refreshments, you two lovebirds want anything?" Rainbow asked, trying to be patient for an answer before running away from the boring performance.
"Yeah, how bout a popcorn?" Bon Bon whispered, smiling.
"Since yer offering, a large apple pop while yer at it." AJ smiled appreciatively to her friend. She might be rude and lacking in love for the arts, but the energetic Dash was loyal to a fault.
"You live on an apple farm, and you come to Canterlot and want Apple soda? And another thing, who calls it pop?!"
"Ah call it pop, now get me a darn apple pop and a popcorn for mah marefriend!" Applejack couldn't help but giggle at Dash.
"Alright, alright! I'll get your apple pop!" Rainbow flared her wings, taking off for the concession stand.
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Rainbow sighed as she reached the concession stand, but before she reached the counter, she noticed the little mares room, "Might as well make a little pit stop..."
The restroom seemed really fancy, it even had the little soaps wrapped in paper on the counter. A bottle of perfume sat next to each sink. Rainbow tilted her head as she read the side, "Dragonfruit? I didn't even know dragons grew fruit?"
Her ears pinned back as she shuffled her gaze toward the door, 'Everypony is watching the performance.' Glancing over to the stalls, every one were at least slightly open. Rainbow's ears flickered as she tensed up.
Darting her eyes to the entrance once more, she spritzed each wrist with the perfume before dabbing it to her neck. She slammed the lid back on the perfume before discarding it back on the counter.
"In here, Sharpshooter."
Rainbow's heart skipped a beat as she darted into a nearby stall, locking the door.
"Why are we going in here, Page Streamer?"
'Page Streamer?! What is that mare doing here?' Rainbow questioned, deciding it best to hide herself. She stood on the back of the toilet, just in case somepony glanced underneath. Sure enough Page Streamer's nose could be seen peaking underneath the stalls, apparently looking for ears that could be listening in.
"You've got your payment, you get the other half when the job is completed." Page Streamer stated, sliding what sounded like was bits in a small bag.
"Sure thing boss, but is it really necessary to shoot at someone that will be standing so close to the Princess?" The mare questioned.
"Yes!" Page yelled louder than she would have liked. Her ears tucked back as she glared at the entrance. Lowering her voice, her ears flickered back up and she lowered her voice, "Yes, you dits! You really think that we will be the dominant gender forever if we don't stop this human? He shows stallions that males can be dominant, and soon they will put mares in their place."
"But he seems so nice!" Sharpshooter grinned, scratching the floor with her hoof.
"Snap out of it!" Page Streamer hissed, glaring daggers at the other mare, just do your damned job! Now lets go before anyone finds us here."
'I've got to go warn Trace and the others!' Rainbow thought to herself, but as she fidgeted on the back of the toilet, she flapped her wings in excitement and splashed, 'e-ew... that is just gross... why doesn't anypony ever flush after peeing?'
"What was that?" Sharpshooter asked, lowering her head.
"Shh..." Page Streamer hushed.
Rainbow could see the shadow of the two mares nearing, 'here goes nothing!' Right as the lock was slipped open with magic, it slung open, and Rainbow took to the air with a few powerful thrusts of her wings.
"Get her!" Page Streamer yelled, but before she even finished yelling, Sharpshooter had already aimed her horn and blasted it toward the cerulean pegasi.
"Gotcha! They don't call me Sharpshooter for nothing!" Sharpshooter snickered.
Rainbow grunted as she collided with the wall, her body almost like stone. She couldn't even yelp in pain. Page Streamer stepped toward the door as she looked back to her affiliate, "Tie her up and DO NOT HURT HER! She is one of the Elements after all. A human might be one thing, he doesn't even belong here, but the Princesses will not forgive us harming an Element."
"You really think she would forgive us for Trace?" Sharpshooter questioned, with her eyebrow raised.
"Shut up, we can cover up our tracks, it is more likely they will give up if it is just the human. They wont if it is an Element, now hurry and return to your post."
"Yes ma'am!" Sharpshooter saluted.
Once Page Streamer was out of sight, Rainbow finally got a good look at her assailant. She was normal enough, at least in appearance. Her magic on the other hoof had to be something special for her to have gotten her the way she had. The mare's coat was a milky tan color, while her mane seemed to blend in with the rest of her. Her mane was short and tomboyish, her cutiemark that of cross heirs.
"Sorry about this miss Element, but orders are orders."
Within moments, Dash was gagged and bound. Being tossed into the stall like she was a sack of garbage. Fear for her friends stricken her appearance as the stall doors gently closed and locked with a click.
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It was nearing the end of the final act, before Celestia would appear on stage with Twilight and Trace. Trace had no clue why he was joining them on stage, but wondered if it had something to do with Lyra requesting that the show be dedicated to gender equality. They had apparently planned for him to make an appearance since it even was stated on the brochure.
Applejack glanced toward the exit and then back to Bon Bon, "Dash has been gone for awhile. I'm going to see if I can find her."
"She probably just bailed, she didn't seem to like the show all that much." Bon Bon stated.
"That girl is a lot of things, but she doesn't bail. Ah expect she just fell asleep on a bench or sumthin. Ah know she'd wanna be here for Twilight's speech." Applejack pulled her way from Bon Bon's grasp as she headed for the exit.
"Hurry back!" Bon Bon stated, and AJ merely smiled as she glanced back along with a wave of her hoof.
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Meanwhile, Celestia had also left the royal section and was making her way to the stage. Melodic Whistle approached the mic as he introduced the Princess, "Now with all your due respect, please give a heart felt applause for our holy Princess of the sun, Princess Celestia!"
Melodic Whistle stepped off to the side as the white Alicorn sat before the mic, having to adjust it before she spoke, "My fair subjects. Every year I host this wonderful occasion for our greatest performers. However, this year I fear, it had come to my attention that we have a large problem that I had hoped we were on our way to fixing forever."
Up in the shroud of ponies sat Sharpshooter, her horn prepared for a moments shot and then to flee.
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Stepping up to the concession stand, Applejack called over a young stallion that had been refilling the napkin dispensers, "Hey, can ah have a word? Have you seen a blue pegasus with a rainbow mane?"
"Yeah, I saw a mare like that go into the bathroom, I hope she's okay, she's been in there a really long time." The stallion stated as he moved on to refilling the straw dispenser.
"She's been in there all this time, and you didn't bother checkin on her?" AJ raised her brow accusingly.
"I-i'm the only staff member until the end of the concert. I couldn't stick my head into the mares room." The stallion tried to cover.
A sigh escaped Applejack as she turned for the bathroom, "Guess it wasn't yer fault then."
Upon entering the little mares room, Applejack turned her focus to the only closed stall, "Rainbow, ya in there?"
Muffled groans could be heard, so AJ lowered her head to gaze under the stall. She couldn't see anypony, so she attempted to open the door, "Locked?"
Managing to spit out the rag in her mouth, Rainbow screamed, "AJ! Somepony plans to kill Trace?!"
"W-what?! When, where?!" Applejack's eyes went wide, "Can you unlock the door?"
"No! Free me and I'll tell you on the way!" Rainbow pleaded, struggling against her restraints.
Turning around, Applejack aimed her hind hooves just right, "Hide yer head, Dash!"
Facing away from the door, Rainbow awaited impact. With a loud crackling of wood being shredded, Applejack's hooves made impact, crippling the door wide open. She quickly untied Dash and they ran for the stage.
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"My most faithful student made a rather different friend. He comes from a society where males were dominant for just as long as we have had mares the dominant gender. I would like to welcome him on stage, and give a few words." Extending her hoof, she motioned for Trace to enter the stage.
Stepping up to the Princess, she made way for Trace to take the mic. Trace chuckled nervously as he asked, "What do I say?"
"Tell them a little about your world."
Letting out a sigh, Trace swallowed, watching all the eyes that were now on him, "My w-world... heh..." He let out a cough, sweat starting to bead on his forehead.
Trace flinched as a wing gently draped around his back. He turned to see Celestia smiling at him, "Fluttershy is out there, how about focusing on her?"
Glancing up to the royal section, Trace instantly spotted his marefriend, and instantly a smile formed on his face, "I love my world, and while it has a few severe opposites, it is still basically the same. While I've been able to accept being of a different specie entirely, It makes gender seem insignificant."
Looking out across the audience, Trace's gaze managed to find Page Streamer's, and he just merely smiled, "A pony once told me that she believes that there is a gene that makes a gender superior than the other. By fighting for gender equality, it meant that if males gained the gene and females lost it, that Celestia would fall from power. From both my world and yours, I've seen smart males, and stupid males, smart females and stupid females. Why should a gene determine if you are superior or not? If we all have equality, we can decide for ourselves if we are worthy."
Stepping from the mic, Celestia took back over, a soft smile on her face, "You see my little ponies, I try not to interfere unless it is absolutely necessary. Stallions do not deserve to be treated like slaves, and yet, even though you love the stallions in your lives, you shun them to be forever in your shadow. Some of you still deeply despise the choice I made a very long time ago to ban slavery, and the misuse of stallions. It is one of the few times I have ever intervened, and I hope everypony will make the right choice and just let go. Allow everypony to have the same rights, so we can all move forward."
Page Streamer and Trace once again locked eyes, and her expression was one of sympathy. Suddenly, they broke their gaze as Streamer jerked around in her seat, yelling loud enough that almost everypony heard, "Sharpshooter, stop, you don't have too anymore!"
It was too late, she was focused and charging her horn. The side exit on the far side slung open as Applejack and Rainbow Dash darted inside, "TRACE!"
Everypony glanced off to the side, to see what the ruckus was about. Then the sound came, a crackling beam that sliced its way through the air. Everything seemed to stand still and for some reason, Trace found himself frozen, glaring out at the beam. Reaching his arms up to protect himself, a flash of light blinded the audience, and Trace opened his eyes only briefly enough to see Page Streamer had some how teleported on stage, her face inches from his. Tears trickled down her face, and her eyes widened briefly as the beam collided with her back. A breath of air left her lungs as she lurched forward. Trace caught her, but they fell to their knees, and Page's head lay almost limply on his shoulder.
The entire audience fell silent, except the fleeing hoofsteps of Sharpshooter. Celestia slowly took a few steps forward, clearly seeing the blood pooling to the floor under Trace and Page Streamer.
"P-page Streamer! Why?!" Trace stuttered.
"I've been blind, I've always thought that if stallions became dominant, mares would be enslaved. That is why I fought so hard, I didn't think..." *cough... cough* blood trickled from her lips, but she pushed forward, continuing, "I could just be nice to them, that simply giving them freedom would show them to give us freedom in return when they become dominant. H-hopefully, my death, will show I care... for... the stallions..."
Page Streamer glanced over to Melodic Whistle that stood mere feet away, "And I'm sorry, for your lover, I didn't mean for him to die." Page Streamer weakly closed her eyes, "He just wouldn't give up his fight for gender... equality..."
Tears fell from Melodic's eyes, stepping forward to nuzzle his nose to Page's, "I thought I would kill you if ever I had the chance, but now... You tried to save Trace, and I know Lyra and Fluttershy would have been in the same place as I was if you hadn't had a change of heart. I forgive you... Page Streamer."
"She... She's gone..." Trace weakly stated, hugging Page a little tighter.
Stepping to the mic once more, Celestia gently sat, glancing once at Trace and Page Streamer, then back to her subjects, "And this is why we need to give equality and forget our ill feelings. By fighting for something like refusing rights to another, then nopony wins. I hope this will be a memorable lesson for Equestria."
Twilight Sparkle made her way on stage, nudging her mentor. She whispered something into the princess's ear before Celestia pulled away, allowing her to have the stand. Twilight used her magic to remove the mic, hovering it in front of her mouth, "I recently came across a book, one that was in direct cause of Luna's transformation to Nightmaremoon."
The entire audience could be heard whispering amongst themselves, unsure if it could be truth. Twilight Sparkle merely continued as the audience quieted, "over a thousand years ago, even before Celestia and Luna, came three humans. Just like us, there was one that could fly, one that could do magic, and the other with power over the crops. The world tended to itself and we had in no way persuaded it. The humans taught all of us how to work together to pull our abilities and work for a civilized equality. However, we grew tired of them leading us. We outgrew them, and didn't feel we needed them any longer. The humans tried thier best to warn us, to prevent us from overusing our powers, be we failed to listen. Our ancestors attacked the humans, wanting them out of the way in fear of them becoming our leaders. In turn, our abilities went unchecked, and the world suffered. We manipulated the world to the point that it could not survive any longer without our guidance. In turn, Equestria itself halted its rotation around the sun."
Glancing over to her mentor, Twilight smiled as Celestia merely nodded for her to continue. Turning her gaze back toward the crowd, she started once more, "Yes, the planet orbited the sun, while the moon orbited us. The humans however escaped by transforming themselves into ponies. They planted a seed, which bloomed into the tree of Harmony. The tree grew and branched out, selecting two ponies to once again set the sun and moon into motion. Celestia and Luna was born to at least somewhat restart the flow of the natural order. Maybe one day everything will fix itself, but for now, at least we know the truth of what happened."
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The Royal Euphony orchestra ended and that day past swiftly. Morning came and it was time for all to return home. Trace was a little grief stricken over Page Streamer's demise, but tried his best to put it behind him for now. In the meantime, he just merely focused on the fact he would once again be with both his mares, together.
Reaching down for his luggage, he lazily threw dirty clothes into it, just deciding to wash all of it when he got home. He barely cared how neatly he packed up at the moment. Lyra was the first to be packed, thanks to her magic.
Knock... Knock... knock, The knocking came weakly to everyone's ears. Fluttershy finished packing and zipped up her bag before heading for the door and unlocking it. The door swung open to reveal a white unicorn standing there, "Oh! Morning Rarity."
"Hello, Darling." Rarity scratched at the marbled floor of the hallway. She stepped inside of the room, before acknowledging her new herd, "We need to talk."
"Sure, is everything okay?" Lyra asked, trotting over to her.
Rarity bit her lower lip, before closing her eyes, "I think I may have accepted prematurely."
"W-what do you mean? Do you not want to be in our herd?" Fluttershy asked with a befuddled and rather cute expression.
"No, exactly the opposite!" Rarity perked up, her eyes finally locking with each of the three, "As a lady, I must always do everything one hundred percent. I have always admired Fluttershy from afar, and it isn't fair to neither I, nor any of you if I'm only in the herd for Fluttershy. While I may not wish to become sexual with Trace, or Lyra, I shouldn't be in the herd if I don't intend to at least love them with the same passion as I do Fluttershy."
Scratching his head in slight confusion, Trace spoke up, "So what does this mean for our herd? Do you want to be with us?"
"Yes, and no!" Rarity grinned, knowing she was the cause of her friends confusion, "I insist that we keep this traditional. Just as any new member, I hereby request to take Fluttershy and her herd on a date. We will see how the night goes, and then, and only then, will we decide if I should be in the herd or not!"
Letting out a small sigh, Lyra took a few steps forward, "What do you say, Fluttershy? Would you like a date with Rarity?"
"Yes, I would like that." Fluttershy smiled softly over to Rarity.
"It's a date then!" Rarity smiled, turning for the door, "See you on the train for Ponyville!"
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The sun was rising high in the sky, signifying noon was passing. The birds chirped, while the whistle of the train could be heard as it screeched to a halt. Everypony boarded the train, until a voice could be heard, "Twilight, wait!"
"Princess Luna?!" asked Twilight as she darted around.
Luna landed, slightly out of breath as she trotted up to the magical mare. Her cheeks turned rosy as she nosed Twilight's cheek, "I wanted to see you off, and... I wanted to apologize... as well..."
Twilight went wide eyed as she retorted, "Apologize! What for!?"
A soft sigh escaped the princess, her eyes connecting with Twilight's, "For Nightmaremoon. Even after all this time, she shows her nasty head. I believed to had put her behind me, and yet, she appears once more."
"But that wasn't your fault!" Twilight snapped, "She was just an illusionist spell which turned everypony against one another!"
"Yes, but in essence, she still existed. Even as an illusion, she is still as real as anypony. For a thousand years, Nightmaremoon has affected all society, and even created nightmare night." Luna's expression softened into disgrace.
"But Nightmaremoon isn't you! She may be a spell, and she might even exist, but she is NOT you! I don't believe that! You are one of my best friends, and I don't believe you would ever hurt anypony!" Twilight stated with a stern expression, stomping her hoof to the ground.
A loud whistle rang out from the train, snapping Twilight's attention over too it, "I'm sorry Princess, I have to catch my train!"
"Twilight!" Luna called once more.
"Yes, prin-" Twilight turned back around, her eyes went wide and she froze as a pair of lips connected with her cheek.
As Luna pulled away, a blush formed on her cheeks, averting her eyes as she replied, "Thank you my dearest friend, you don't know how meaningful thou is to me."
"Twilight! Come on already! The train is leaving!" Rainbow Dash roared out the window of the train.
Taking a step back, Twilight watched Luna as the princess turned and took off toward the castle. Twilight touched her cheek before turning for the train, a blush adorning her face, "Goodbye... Princess..."
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"Hey Twilight!" Rainbow called over the seats as the purple mare took her own, "We were all talking, maybe you could give us some insight? Do you think everypony will decide to give stallions rights?"
Glancing over the seat and over all her friends, Twilight sighed, "This matter is far too old to even be of issue. Of course there will always be discrimination as long as sexism exists, but for the broader standpoint, I think it should get better."
"I bet Celestia comes to Ponyville with an iron gavel and sweeps through all the laws!" Rainbow flapped in the air, slamming her hoof against the back of her chair, and making a gavel sound with her mouth.
"Darling, I highly doubt Celestia would do such a thing." Rarity stated, using her magic to guide Rainbow back to her chair, "Besides, no matter how much Celestia intervenes, it is up to the populace of Ponyville itself, whether or not we treat everypony the way they should. Even without the laws, there is bound to be somepony that mistreats a stallion simply for being a different gender."
A pink blur darted to the front of the car. Everyone glanced forward as Pinkie started to speak rather loudly, "I don't see why everypony doesn't treat stallions right? They are super awesome sauce, and most of them are great fun at parties!" snorting and giggling, Pinkie prodded her elbow into Rarity's side, "Especially if you give them enough of Applejack's cider!"
"Pinkie! Darling... that is absolutely degrading to both yourself, and the poor stallion you happen to seduce." Rarity stated, trying to keep her regalia, but the rose on her cheeks making it impossible.
Sitting forward in his chair, Trace cupped his hand to his mouth as he started to whisper into Rarity's ear, "Just like getting drunk and kissing me to see if you would like it?"
"Trace!" Rarity's cheeks went ablaze with fury, her eyes wide and directed to Trace in shock.
Everypony burst out into laughter, and a strong hoof slapped Trace on the back as Rainbow's voice soon followed, "What in the hay did you say to her? I've never seen Rarity so red before!"
"Hehe, don't worry about it." Trace smiled as he stuck out his tongue.
"Trace, but wait..." Fluttershy frowned, "Doesn't this mean you still need permission to sell your house?"
A sigh escaped him as he nodded, "Yeah, but I'll just get Lyra to sign off. Hopefully the law will be disbanded before any other stallion has to be a victim to it." A smile formed on Trace's face, as he glanced around the train car to all his friends, "But as long as I have friends like all of you, I know everything will be alright."