"I've finally made my decision."

Faith and I were gathered together in front of an entrancing sunset. Then, it was like our hearts melted into one.

I felt my cheek being constantly poked, but I was too lazy to do anything about it. However, the prodding didn't end, and through the tired state of my mind, I was sure that it wasn't going to end until I managed to stop it myself. I groaned and I turned my body in bed to face the direction the poking came from before I finally started opening my eyes.

"…what?" I mumbled out. I knew who the perpetrator had been, but I never expected to see her lacking so little clothing. My eyes shot open, and I immediately began suspecting that I had still been asleep. But, then I heard her giggle.

My eyes cleared up soon from a blurry mess, and I found that she had actually just been wearing her frilly two-piece swimsuit.

"Took you long enough." She announced behind a gleaming smile.

I raised my body and sat at the edge of my bed as I groaned and covered my face with my hand. "This is so weird…"

"W-What? Why?" Her face began to redden up as she averted her eyes nervously. "Is it because I'm in a swimsuit…?"

"Huh?" I took another look at her, but after having heard her say that, I felt embarrassed just looking at her for some reason. "N-No. It's because of this dream I was having."

"A dream?" She faced back towards me and decided to lean in a bit closer. "What about?"

I remembered very faint remnants, but they were too embarrassing to outright tell her. In fact, looking back at my memory also caused me to remember practically everything that had happened last night. It was still hard to believe that it had all happened in the first place, but I wasn't eager to bring it up again. I decided that this would be one thing I'd keep from her.

"I can't really remember." I told her, which wasn't exactly a lie.

"Well, forget about the dream for now. Come on! You have to get changed, so we can go swimming!" She encouraged as she began pulling my arm.

"Swimming?" I asked. "Isn't the dock still in pieces for like the third time?"

"I let you sleep in late today." She mentioned with an energetic wink. "The girls were able to the fix up the dock. They practically did it in no time with their crazy magic."

"Really…?" I was genuinely surprised to hear that piece of news. I had been expecting to be pulled out in the morning to help them fix it.

"Yep!" She bellowed out happily and continued to pull me out of bed. "Hurry! We don't have long before we leave Camp Everfree! I want to go swimming at least once, and I don't want to do it without you!"

"Alright, alright." I told her and finally removed myself from the comfort of my bed. "Let's go then."

"Huh?" She looked me over and stared at me with a puzzled face. "You can't go swimming like that."

I had been wearing my usual camp attire, but there was a perfect reason why I had no reason to change, to begin with.

"Well, I'm not going in the water." I answered.

"Why not?!" She questioned with puffed cheeks.

"I don't feel like it." I responded with a yawn.

"You know, if you get in the water, I'm pretty sure it'll wake you right up!" She suddenly grabbed my shirt and began pulling at it. "It won't take you long! Come on!"

"H-Hey!" I returned as I tried to pull back the edges that she had been lifting up. "You know how bad this looks?! You'd whack me in the face if I did this to you!"

She seemed to finally surrender as she retracted her hands and looked away with her pursed lips aiming to the side. Her slim legs crossed together as her hands gathered together behind her waist. It almost looked like she had regretted her actions like an innocent child, but then I heard her mumble out something unfitting.

"I'd never hit you…"

"Huh?!" I immediately questioned the context behind that statement.

"Fine then!" She crossed her arms. "You don't have to get in the water with me, but because of that, that'll be my little secret."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, deeply frustrated.

"Guess you have to change to find out, huh?" Her upset frown was soon replaced with a mischievous grin.

I eventually exhaled a heavy sigh, hardly in the mood to keep up with her shenanigans. If I knew her right, she was just trying to come up with something stupid on the spot, so I could go swimming with her.

Although it wasn't as she wanted, I went on ahead and left our tent without changing.

"Third time is a charm. Or is it fifth? I've lost track." We heard coming up to where the docks had supposedly been fixed up at.

"All that matters is that the runway is finished." Rarity mentioned.

"I think you mean the 'dock'?" Applejack softly argued.

"Oh, to-mah-to, tomato."

The girls that had gathered together soon turned around as Faith and I entered the scene, and I was able to get a clear view of the brand-new dock, enticing me to the idea that everything that happened yesterday was all actually a dream.

"Whoa! It looks…!"

"Amazing, right?" Sunset finished for me. "Just another example of what kind of power the magic of friendship holds…in more ways than one." She shared as she looked among her friends.

I followed her example and found that each of them had actually been wearing their own swimsuit as well. And, I was a little surprised when their swimsuits were actually individually unique when compared to the other. I couldn't put it into words, but each of their outfits seemed clearly inspired by their taste. I only wondered if Rarity had actually made each and every one of them with their thoughts in mind, similarly to the dresses she made for the Crystal Ball.

My eyes came across Twilight and firmly stopped. It was only a second after when she noticed and locked eyes with me. She then seemed to awkwardly look away, reminding me exactly what had unfolded last night. I wasn't sure if the other girls had noticed, but I definitely had to bring something random up in order to distract my mind, if not the others.

"S-So, where's Pinkie?" I asked.

"I think she said she was making snacks for us?" Fluttershy believed.

"Let's go get settled at a table then." Twilight suggested as she made a soft adjustment to her glasses.

I was unsure of whether she said that to unintentionally draw further away from me, but I had to force myself to stop thinking about anything to do with her, believing it'd only draw negative thoughts.

I dug my hands into my pockets and felt the objects I continuously forgot about. I pulled them out and first recognized the black opal that had apparently shared me the power to help save Faith, but then I recognized the other gem afterward. The white and pure-looking opal. I shoved the black one back in my pocket and turned over to Faith, who had remained at my side.

"Hey." I spoke.

"Hm?" She turned over to me from observing the clean and calm lake.

"I actually found this a while back." I revealed the opal to her. "I was going to keep it, but after looking at it again, I figured you should have it. It reminds me a lot of you…"

Faith gasped lightly at the sight of it. "It looks so beautiful! Are you sure you really want me to have it?"

"Yeah, of course." I answered with confidence. "To be honest, if I kept it, it'd probably just get dust somewhere or something."

"If you're really sure…then thanks!" She squeezed me tightly before carefully accepting the stone and spending some time to observe it for a bit. "Hmm. I kind of don't want to let it sit around and get dust either. Maybe I can find someway to use it as an accessory? I could…" She began thinking to herself, but then she seemed to stop and send a serious look at me. "Hey, Chase… You think this gem could also have magic like the other one you found?"

"I don't know…" I responded uncertainly with my hands instinctively slipping into my pockets. "As far as I know, it was only the black one that gave me magic, not the white…"

"Maybe we should ask the girls." Faith suggested. "They're apparently a lot more experienced with this stuff than we are."

I felt differently.

"Actually, can we keep the whole 'me getting magic' thing a secret from the others?" I felt the need to propose. "I sort of don't really want to bring it up and have them ask me all these questions. Mostly, I don't really want anything to do with this magic business. It's crazy enough seeing it all happen someplace that's not a video game."

"I guess I see what you mean…" Faith lowered her gaze towards the Opal and held it close to her chest. "I wouldn't exactly want that magic they talk about all the time to ruin the way our lives already are. To tell you the truth, I've sometimes wondered what it'd be like to be a magical girl, but now that I've seen it for myself, it looks so stressful." She crossed her arms and looked back in thought. "We barely got out of the one here at camp by the skin of our teeth. Maybe we should just let the others handle it unless they absolutely can't do it without us."

"My thoughts exactly."

"I'm baaack!" We heard Pinkie scream out cheerfully as she came running with a bundle of different assorted candy and sweets in a swimsuit that matched perfectly with both her personality and the things she had been carrying. "Let's celebrate!" She cried out and extended her arms. In the process, confetti, sprinkles, and marshmallows rained down onto the dock.

In literally a blink of an eye, the next thing I witnessed knocked my jaw wide open. Pieces of charred wood everywhere in what was once fresh and clean water. Smoke lifting up from any wood that still managed to stand. In an instant, everything had been ruined yet again!

All the girls that had been waiting at one of the picnic tables had gotten a closer look at the scene, and it was no surprise when each of them had been sharing a similar look of shocked horror. Rarity was heard squealing before she fell over and literally fainted on the spot. All of us had been in an utter state of silence and possibly even denial.

"You've gotta be kidding me. You've gotta be freaking kidding me. No. No. No. Are you serious? No!" I felt myself pacing back and forth and freaking out. This was what? The fourth or fifth time already? Like Rainbow, I had lost count, and the sight of this made me wish for our bus home to drive right up and take us as far away from this camp as possible.

"…I don't think you have any magic that can help, do you, Chase?" Faith asked, clearly taken back by what had just happened as well. She sighed and shook her head. "You know what would be good right about now? The power to rewind time. Like, that girl from that one game I've played. You know?" She turned towards the shattered remains of the dock and began lifting her hand. "All you have to do is stick out your hand and—"

What sounded like something you'd only hear by recording a set of events and reversing its playback rung in my ears just as Faith had mentioned about something similar. I turned towards the dock to find it being easily pieced together as if some ghostly spirit or figure heard our troubles and helped us out of the goodwill of its heart. Within a few seconds, the docks had been completely back to normal, and it was like everything we had just witnessed was just an entire shared hallucination.

There was an extremely long moment of silence tacked onto the one that was already actively occurring from the destruction of the dock. It was only when Pinkie Pie spoke when our senses slowly reverted back to normal.

"Uhhh. What just happened? I thought I just made the dock go KER-PLOW! Kind of like this!" Pinkie was just about to pitch another ball of sprinkles towards the dock until Sunset Shimmer thankfully stopped her.

"No! No more throwing!" Sunset Shimmer begged and then faced the other girls. "Did anyone else see what just happened?"

"Besides Pinkie exploding the dock and it somehow gluing itself back together? Nuh-uh." Rainbow shook her head.

"This is horrible! This is perplexing!" Rarity began lifting herself off the ground as she began acting out a rather dramatic scene. "This is the ABSOLUTELY WORST THING to have ever— Oh, the runway's back." She finally noticed when she opened her eyes.

"What was that?!" Twilight questioned, racing over to the dock and taking a look around for clues. "Was it…magic?"

"I don't think it was any of us…" Fluttershy slowly approached. "Do you think…maybe…it could be...?"

"Oh no!" Applejack shook her head furiously. "I am not going to go through this all over again for what time we have left of camp." She appeared to begin stomping her way over to the dock and pointed a sharp finger out on the water. "We have our magical geodes now. There's no monster in this camp anymore. Let's just pretend that Pinkie never really blew up the dock and leave it at that, okay? Please?"

"Well, maybe one of us did that and we didn't even realize it?" Sunset theorized. "After all, we just got our powers, remember? None of us know what they can fully do."

"Works for me!" Pinkie cheerfully skipped out onto the dock before carelessly jumping into the lake.

There seemed to be general chatter and nods of agreement coming from the rest of the girls afterward. Seeing how they had all been getting ready to get into the water, I turned over to Faith. However, I nearly jumped when I found her still actively holding her hand out. Her eyes had been widened out immensely, and her jaw hung open as if she was still shocked by the prior explosion. I almost feared that she had been completely paralyzed until I was able to bring her arm down slightly.

"…Faith?"

She shook her head and pulled up her hand to her face.

"…did…did I…?"

She tried facing her hand at other different locations nearby, but nothing happened. She looked like she was going to have a mini freak-out, leading me to call her name out softly again. "Faith, hey." I placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to look back at me. She stared at me for a good second until she shook her head a second time and turned her eyes back at the Opal I had given her.

"Um. You…uh…better hold on to this for now."

I couldn't blame Faith for being scared of a measly rock. Even I didn't understand what mine had done to me. It was hard to say if the opal I had wanted to give Faith really did cause the dock to patch itself up. It could have easily been a coincidence, considering that nothing else happened afterwards when she tried to use a power she thought she had. That sight continued to linger around my mind, but all we could currently do was follow Applejack's advice and write it off as nothing out of the ordinary.

I assumed Faith was able to let it go eventually because she ended up paying more mind to the fun she was having with splashing about with the other girls. I remained at the docks and allowed my feet to soak in the water as I silently watched them. Every now and then, I'd try to purposely avoid eye contact with Twilight, lest I find ourselves in another uncomfortable and unnecessary awkward moment. But, it didn't take long before I realized how annoying it was that I needed to act like this in the first place.

I had been staring at my reflection in the lake and ironically drowning in a sea of empty thoughts before I heard the sounds of water being shifted by bodily movements. It wasn't until I heard a voice when I finally snapped out from the inside of my head.

"Are you sure you don't want to join us?" Faith asked, resting her arms on top of the end of the dock. "Who knows when you might have another chance to hang out with a bunch of cute girls." She flashed her eyebrows playfully.

I usually would have found her kind of teasing welcoming at a moment like this, but I couldn't help but give it a soft dismissal. "Hm."

Her mischievous smirk slowly transformed into a frown, and she turned her head over to a certain direction where the girls had been. Then, she turned back to me with her eyebrows furrowing in concern. "…is it really that bad?"

I sighed heavily and began to get up. "I'm going to go get a drink. Don't worry about me, alright?" I dried myself off with one of the towels that they had brought and proceeded to put my shoes back on. "If you want, we can go swimming when we get back home. All I really feel like doing is just chilling the rest of the week."

"Ah…mm." Faith had opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but I could only assume that she had nothing to say at that moment as nothing had come out.

This, in turn, gave me a chance to walk away without having to admit the real reason for leaving so early.

I told her that I had wanted to get a drink, but I actually just wanted some "me" time. After getting the go-ahead for going out on the boat, I made my way to the boathouse and proceeded to follow through the instructions on taking the boat out. I noticed the life-jackets stacked on the side of the wall, but I honestly didn't feel like wearing one. I had already felt constricted enough, and all I wanted was to just let my mind wander freely. Besides, with how deep the water in the river actually was, I didn't think it was possible for campers as old as us to drown. Faith and the others were swimming out there, so what difference does it make anyway?

Just as I started to push the boat out, I heard an eerie creak from behind me. I quickly turned around to find a figure standing in front of the entrance door that closed behind her.

"Hey." She greeted casually. "Thought you could slip on by without me noticing, huh?"

I turned my focus back on the boat and rested my hand on it. However, now that she was here, I couldn't exactly continue what I had been doing without at least saying something. At the same time, I didn't really want to say anything since there was nothing I wanted to say, to begin with.

She dropped down to my level and approached the boat with me with her hands tied behind her back.

"Mind if I come with you?" She asked.

"Weren't you swimming with the others?" I returned.

"Swimming gets a little old after a while." She answered and then slightly turned her head away. "…especially when you're not there…"

I grunted softly in response. "…sorry."

"You don't have to apologize." She assured. "You can make it up to me if you take me out on the boat with you." She revealed a playful smile.

I wasn't sure how things were going to go from here on out, but I decided to allow her to accompany me for now. "Sure."

I rowed us outside as Faith quietly observed the scenery we slowly passed by. Eventually, we came onto an isolated and desolate area that was devoid of any sound besides the endless ambience of nature. I sighed heavily as I relaxed my muscles. This kind of atmosphere was honestly so much nicer. No magic. No unnecessary voices. Just a silent peace of mind.

It actually reminded me of the nature walk I had taken with Fluttershy. Only, at that time, my lack of sleep had prevented me from truly appreciating the opportunity of escaping all busy troubles of life, even if it was just for a short moment.

I stood up and adjusted myself on the boat, sitting back and facing outward. At that moment, I closed my eyes, inhaled a deep breath, and just listened to any little ambience my ears could pick up. Several seconds later, I slowly exhaled the oxygen I had kept in through my nostrils.

I felt a subtle movement on the boat, signaling me that Faith had been repositioning herself as well. To my surprise, I felt her bare back press against mine. However, the both of us continued to remain silent. I accepted her gesture and allowed my body to relax back a bit while keeping myself upright to return the favor. Unless one was lying down on the boat, there wasn't exactly a place to comfortably lie your back, so this was a welcoming offer for each of us.

I kept my eyes shut to indulge and hopefully become 'in-tune' with nature as Fluttershy would put it. At some point in my mediation, I heard Faith's voice softly speak out.

"Things won't be weird between us…right?" She asked. "I don't want what we have to change because of what I said last night."

Chirps from nearby birds helped soothed the momentarily silence between us. In fact, if there was as a good time to bring up last night, right now was probably the best. I didn't feel any pressuring need to answer right away, and because of this, I felt like I was able to answer a lot more genuinely.

"It's only weird if you make it weird." I told her.

"Hmm." She sounded somewhat relieved by my response. "You're right, I guess." She paused for a second or two. "I meant every word I said last night. I wasn't sure if you knew that, or if you thought I was just crazy emotional for some weird reason." A small giggle escaped from her lips. "I never thought I'd say it right then and there, but I guess I did. And you know what? I don't regret it. I feel…free."

"Can I ask you something?" I brought up.

"Hm?" Her head adjusted and slightly rotated towards me.

"How long have you felt like this?" I wondered.

"Hm." She thought, and then she eventually broke into another jubilant giggle. "It's hard to say. Hehe. I've always loved you for a while now. It was just recently when I realized something about that love was off. Like if I wasn't expressing it to my full potential or something. You want to know something funny?"

"What's that?" I asked.

"Back at Crystal Prep, when you asked me why we never tried dating, I sometimes look back at that moment and laugh. I either must have been a huge scaredy-cat, or I was really concerned about where that kind of level of relationship would take us. Maybe it was both. Either way, I guess I have to admit that I'm still a little scared of what'll happen since you know how I really feel about you. But, when I remember your promise, I feel like there's nothing to worry about. You're my best friend, and there's no way we met each other by coincidence. You…complete me, heh. Sorry, I don't mean to get all sappy."

"It's okay…" I answered rather depressively. "I'm the one who should be sorry."

"For what?" She inquired curiously.

I shook my head, almost feeling disgusted with myself. "Spilling your feelings like that, only to have me just keep you on a line." I felt a chuckle raise up and shoot past my tongue. "Flash could probably handle this better than I can."

"Stop talking, dummy." She innocently requested. "Flash was just puppy love. You're the real deal, and I can say that for a fact after everything you've done for me. I told you I'd wait until you come up with an answer you're comfortable with because I know you care about me too. I wouldn't want you to give me the wrong answer because you felt like you had to give it. Just don't do something stupid like avoid me because you still don't have your answer."

"Don't worry." I assured, unexpectedly feeling a little spirited. "I know I can't hide from someone like you. You can probably find me anywhere I could possibly go if you really put your mind to it."

She laughed. "You're totes right. So, let's keep hanging out together like we've always been doing, alright? I promise I won't bug you about it unless you feel like you need to talk about it."

I shook my head lightly. "If you feel like you need to talk about it too, then don't worry about keeping these things away from me. Okay? That's our deal."

"Kay." Her shoulders raised up ecstatically.

I lowered my eyes towards the surface of the boat and thought to myself.

It was these kinds of moments that I absolutely enjoyed having with her, but was it enough to warrant my own true confession? I knew she was willing to wait until I came up with an answer that I felt comfortable with, but I honestly still wished I was able to give one to her now. However, as long as my prickly relationship with Twilight remained, I only felt my true feelings would be negatively influenced.

If I wanted to get her answer to her, I would have to at least truly get over the feelings that remained of Twilight. I'd most likely need to formally straighten things out with her, but I had no idea when that would happen or if it would even ever actually happen.

I shook those thoughts away from my head as best as I could and focused on taking in the scenery around us with Faith. All I wanted right now was to at least spend time with her with no interruptions.

"Thanks, Faith." I expressed warmly.

"Hm?" She questioned.

"Whatever the case is, you are my light. I feel better already having you around. So, thanks."

I could hear her giggle giddily.

"You're welcome."

Faith and I returned to the boathouse some time later, and she stuck around as I properly placed the boat away. Just as I was about to join her at the door, I unexpectedly heard my phone jingle and vibrate as a signal of an incoming text message.

I pulled out my phone and swiped at the screen to see what was in store for my eyes. It was surprisingly a text from Sunset Shimmer, and it was another link to an image gallery. I clicked at it and found a few photos in a familiar setting flashing at me. Everyone in the photos had been dressed formally, and after staring at the background for a second or two, I realized that they had been taken last night.

After looking these over for a while, I just realized something. Where were YOU the entire night? I figured you would be with Faith, but you were nowhere near her each time I passed by or talked with her. Even then, I don't think she stayed very long. Did you skip the entire Ball? It was totally out of this world!

I studied her text message quietly for a short moment before she tacked on a few additional messages each separated from the prior one.

Get it?

Out of this world?

Because magic?

I could feel my eyelids lower in reaction to her joke, but I was more concerned about the pictures she had sent me of the Crystal Ball instead. I scanned through the photos and found that they had seemed to mostly revolve around the seven of them. There was one where Pinkie was helping herself to the dessert table. Another one had Rainbow Dash rocking the guitar. One where Fluttershy was posing rather adorably with Spike. I continued to skim through a few more, noticing one or two of them being a group picture.

At this time, I could feel my mood start to dip down low. For some reason, even though it wasn't exactly my thing, I began feeling as if I had missed out on a worthwhile experience. I didn't think there'd ever be a time where we'd have a "Crystal Ball" in an actual crystal cave. Out of all times, why did things have to crash on me then? Not to mention, I had pulled out Faith from the ball early because she was worried about me. Not only did I keep myself from going, but I had also kept her too. All because I didn't really want anything to do with Twilight.

I was so self-absorbed with my stupid thoughts that I hadn't even thought about how Faith had felt after missing the rest of the ball. Instead of being all depressed because of some dumb heartbreak, I could have at least done something like have one dance with Faith. But, no. I was too busy groaning over things I had been overthinking about for the longest time.

As if things couldn't have gotten any worse, I absentmindedly continued to slowly scroll forward until I came across a certain picture that ultimately was the straw that broke the camel's back. It was a photo of Twilight and Timber Spruce. Honestly, I only had a glance at it before I firmly pressed the home button and finally shut off my screen.

"Sorry." I apologized to Faith, passing by her as she looked at me with a curious look.

"Huh? For what? I don't mind." She returned.

She must have been thinking I was apologizing for having her wait, but in reality, that apology stemmed from the trouble I had selfishly pulled her into last night. I felt my attitude descend into a bitter and sour one at a fast pace, so I didn't explain myself. Instead, I continued walking ahead without so much a word. As much as I knew Faith would easily be able to figure out that something was bothering me, there was no way I had the time to calmly put on a mask in an attempt to keep her from worrying.

I wasn't sure what Faith had wanted to do after, but I immediately headed back toward our tent. I didn't have any plans to go out, and I believed it had something to do with the possibility of locking eyes with the one person I wasn't in the mood to see, especially if she was with Timber.

"H-Hey…" I heard Faith softly call me as I pulled the right front flap to the side and slightly ducked underneath to enter inside.

As much as I didn't want to get into the topic, I couldn't necessarily leave her hanging, especially after the meaningful heartfelt talk we just had out on the boat.

"I'm just really frustrated." I shared, keeping my back turned against her. "About a lot of things. Maybe everything."

I pulled up my phone and noticed a new text message from Sunset Shimmer.

Sorry for the lame joke.

I ignored it and lightly tossed my phone onto my bed, where I later decided to take a seat on. I grasped my forehead with my right hand and shut my eyes for a bit in order to recoup as best as I could. It wasn't a surprise when I felt Faith taking a seat right by my side.

"You don't need to be here with me." I told her, feeling myself being thrown into a downward spiral of guilt since she was stuck in here with me when we only had so little time of camp before we'd leave. "You should see if the others are still swimming. You don't need to waste your entire time at camp because of me."

"Hm." She softly smiled and chuckled. "You're starting to sound like me now. I'm not wasting my time at all. Whatever we do together is time well spent in my book."

As much as I appreciated her response, I didn't exactly feel well enough to speak. My mind had been in a sinking state, and at the moment, all I could do was keep as still as I could in order to not become submerged in a sea of emotions. However, whatever I did, it felt as if the sea was rising no matter what.

"…is it about her?" She asked worriedly.

I slightly turned my head away and felt my hand grip my head a bit tightly as I nodded.

I could feel eyes remained locked onto me, and her caring behavior only made things all the worse for me.

"You should go. Really." I nearly ordered while trying to keep a calm voice.

Whatever that I felt was about to happen within the tent, I didn't want her to witness any of it.

A few seconds passed before I felt her weight pull away from the bed. I continued facing away from her as I silently listened for her footsteps. I expected them to move outside the tent, but they didn't.

"You like to bottle your emotions up a lot, don't you?" I heard. "I don't think you've ever really opened up to me before. I used to think that you were just crazy good at not letting anything get to you like this."

My hand began to slowly ball up into a frustrated fist.

"You don't need to be ashamed." She reassured softly. "It happens to all of us. That's why…I'm here for you. Please…" She encouraged. "Don't fight it alone."

I cautiously turned my head over to her and noticed her taking up an angelic stance. Her arms had been spread out wide open, and she continued to gaze upon me with concerned yet inviting eyes. She was waiting for my next move. She was still in her swimsuit, yet here she was acting like a guidance counselor for me to confide in.

There was no way I could see myself rejecting the kind of vulnerable care she was trying to give me.

I slowly stood up and faced her.

The two of us continued to stare at each other before I began to gradually step towards her. Throughout the entire time, she did not once break her observation of me. She firmly locked her eyes with mine, and it was clear that she had no intention to turn them away for whatever reason. At least not until she fulfilled her desire to save me.

Finally, I dipped my head and rested it against her shoulder. At this time, I felt her arms wrap around my back, and she began to offer me words of encouragement.

"Things will get better. I promise." She swore. "I was in the same boat as you, remember? But, we grow from these kinds of things. I almost thought that my life was pretty much over a few years ago. But, then I met you. And, I swear to you with all of my heart that it was the best thing that ever happened to me. You'll get through this, and I'll be with you every step of the way to help pick you back up, should you ever fall."

I was usually always the one to pick Faith up when she was down in the past, and one of the reasons I always forced myself to keep my emotions in check was to feel like I was capable of being someone she could look up to for advice. Someone who she thought she could count on to get through the bad times.

Now, it was practically the other way around. Even though I told her that I couldn't give her a proper answer to her confession, she was clearly still holding up strong, unlike me with Twilight. Here, she obviously cared much more about my emotional wellbeing over the fact that I had her on hold when it came to our questionable relationship.

Feeling the welcoming warmth from her body envelop me, it almost felt as if it had been slowly but surely peeling off the layers of my invisible mask. At the same time, I couldn't help but admire how strong she had really been. That was just like her. She was just…well...like an angel.

It was only a matter of time until I couldn't hold back anymore. I could feel tears slip through the dam of my closed eyes before they soon felt as if they had been gushing out. I returned Faith's embrace by sliding my hands across her waist and tightening them as if I wanted no chance for the two of us to be torn apart.

It was the first time she had ever seen me in such a vulnerable state. While I still felt a little embarrassed about it, I felt much more relieved to know that she was willing to bear through it at all for my sake. Eventually, I found myself wiping my eyes as I cautiously pulled away from her.

"Better?" She asked me caringly as if she had been an experienced mother.

I quietly nodded. "Yeah. Thank you…Faith." I expressed appreciatively.

She shared an uplifting smile at me before she drew in and planted a kiss on my cheek. "I hope that isn't too much." She seemed to return jokingly.

I couldn't help but feel the corners of my mouth lightly lift up into a smile as well. "You're dumb."

For the remainder of camp, Faith and I spent as much of it as we could together in order to make up the busyness and chaotic nature of the first half of the week. To be honest, most of those activities didn't exactly involve the other girls for previously mentioned reasons, but I don't think it really took away from the experience at all. In reality, I was sure I ended up growing much closer to Faith than ever before.

Before we knew it, we were getting on the bus back home with our luggage in our hands.

"Oh, Rarity." I caught her attention as we lined up outside the bus. "I still have the suit you lent me for the ball. If you want, I can give it back to you when we're back home."

She shook her head. "It's yours to keep, darling, so there's no need. However, I wouldn't mind a little help with my bags when we get back." She playfully winked, causing me to chuckle softly before I nodded my head.

"Yeah, sure."

Just like on the way to Camp Everfree a week ago, the bus ride back was pretty much the same going home. The most noticeable difference was the fairly loud chatter revolving around the experience each and everyone had their time at camp. We heard most of this come from Sunset Shimmer and the other girls, seeing as they had sat right in front of Faith and me. Despite the noise, Faith and I managed to tune it out with some always enjoyable music from her phone.

"How was your guys' time at camp?" We heard from our free ear.

Sunset Shimmer had been facing us from the seat in front of us.

"Oh, you have no idea." Faith answered with a jubilant smile. "I think it's fair to say that it can hardly be put into words."

"Even throughout the entire interference of crazy magic?" Sunset asked with a sly smirk.

"Yep!" Faith returned cheerfully. "But, to tell you the truth, I think it'll be nice having a break when we're back home." She turned towards me and gave me a teasing grin. "I think we're still getting used to the whole magic business when it comes to you and your friends."

"Don't get too comfortable now. If you're gonna stick with us, it might be a good idea to get used to the possibility of magic happening out of the blue like that."

"I think we'll be just fine." Faith believed. "Whatever happens, I know exactly who to count on to be there when I need it."

The two of them sent me a mischievous look, and I could only imagine it had something to do with their private talk that one other night. Nevertheless, those looks didn't last long as Sunset Shimmer hit me with another question.

"Oh, hey. Did you get my text? I sent you some pictures…and a bad joke. I hope you didn't gag or cringe from it." She mentioned.

I managed to smile back softly. "Yeah. They were good pictures. Sorry for not responding. I was kind of busy."

"Clearly." Sunset said strangely, quickly sparing a glance at Faith.

However, it appeared Faith only shrugged her shoulders lightly in response.

Campers began to disperse once we were back at CHS, but the majority of them hung around and continued to converse. This time, without hiding, I willingly fulfilled my promise to Rarity and helped bring her things. I couldn't pinpoint exactly what had changed in me to do this for her. Maybe I was just glad to be home. Maybe I came to appreciate her friendship a little more. I don't know. What I did know was that I just felt a lot better. Like a load had been thrown off of my chest. Maybe I had Faith to thank for it all.

"Perhaps it wouldn't be such a bad idea if you could accompany me on trips to the mall." Rarity brought up as I placed the last of her things into the vehicle she was taking back home. "It would certainly prove worthwhile to have someone carry your things while you focus more on what's in the display window."

While I didn't take it too seriously, I still turned back and placed a hand on my hip as I raised my eyebrow at her.

"It's a joke, darling." She clarified. "However, I do find myself frequenting the dress shops from time to time. If you find me at such a time, do feel free to accompany me."

"Yeah. I'll keep that in mind…" I answered, digging a hand into my right pocket. No matter how nicely she had put it, I couldn't get rid of the feeling that she'd encourage me to offer "assistance" should I take her up on her offer. Either way, she did give me a suit that someone like me would probably have to spend a fortune on. I couldn't ignore that, but I definitely didn't want to become some kind of pack mule on demand.

"You do have my contact on your phone, yes?" She slightly waved her phone in front of me. "Should you have any questions pertaining to embroidery or dressmaking in general, or maybe you'd just like a simple chat over a nice hot cup of tea, don't hesitate to reach me."

"Will do." I responded simply.

With one last gleeful smile, she went about with whatever business or plans she had in line next. "Ta-ta!"

I lifted my hand up to give her a little wave before I began returning to the grounds where those that hadn't left yet hung around. I gave a brief scan of the remaining students and tried to find Faith in the crowd. However, another voice introduced itself from somewhere close by.

"Hi, Chase." A soft-spoken tone reached me.

"Hm?" I turned in the direction of the sound and found Fluttershy approaching me with a timid-like stance. "Oh, hey, Fluttershy."

"Um, I wasn't sure if we'd see each other again during the break, so I just wanted to tell you that I hope you have a good rest of your break." She shared.

"Hey, thanks." I genuinely appreciated. "You too. But, really, it's not like I'm not down to do something else. Whatever you guys have in mind, I'm sure especially Faith will be all over it. Knowing her, she'll drag me into it either way. We still have a good amount of time before school starts, so, you know."

She gently nodded with a pleased grin. "You should definitely stop by the pet shop at the mall. You might just be inspired to find a new lifelong furry friend."

"Gummy's not furry though!" An energetic voice chimed in.

"Well, that's because he's not even re—"

Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack stopped by. Applejack had just finished bumping her elbow against Rainbow Dash as if she had been in the middle of bringing up something unnecessary, leaving her to give a short cry and rub her shoulder softly.

"It was good working with you at camp. It's always handy to know someone who knows their way around a hammer and some wood." Applejack mentioned to me.

"It's not really that hard…" I rubbed the back of my head as I looked away a little bashfully.

"You'd be surprised how hard it can be for some people to put a simple nail into a piece of wood." Her eyes shifted to the side as if she had someone in particular on her mind. "Anyway, we're about to head off. We'll see y'all later, okay?"

"Okay!" Fluttershy contently responded back and faced me as they continued walking away. "I guess I better get going too. Thanks again for the walk back at camp."

"Yeah, no problem. I'll see you later." I acknowledged, allowing her to comfortably step past me to get ready to head on home.

I resumed my search for Faith, seeing as her mom would be picking us back up to take home. However, the search had been placed on a temporary hold when I heard a sudden series of barks close by. I found Spike barking at a particular something in the distance, but it definitely didn't sound happy like his usual barks.

"Spike, it's just a cat!" Twilight bent down and picked him up to carry him in her arms. "You know better than to do that."

"That cat was giving me a dirty look!" He argued.

"Unless that cat could talk like you do, I don't think they're worth getting upset over." She stated and chuckled lightly. Eventually, she caught me observing their conversation and soon turned away sadly.

I felt at fault for this. Despite still being in the middle of getting over a nasty heartbreak, I felt as if I should have acted sincerer about her own feelings. It wasn't her fault that I was too scared to tell her the truth. Although it was still going to be hard to see her and not think about what could've been, I couldn't let this rift between us stay. With all the courage I could muster, I began walking towards her and Spike.

"Hey, Twilight…" I greeted uncomfortably.

"Oh. Hey…" She jumped at the sight of me and adjusted her glasses as she answered in a similar fashion.

I still felt extremely hesitant about what I had wanted to say next, but it had to come out one way or another. "…I just wanted to say that I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings the other night."

"You're sorry?" She asked in a small state of confusion. "You're the one who got hurt, not me…"

I shook my head. "Either way, I probably should have acted more responsibly. It's not your fault for how I felt anyway." I paused for a few seconds in order to gather the right words for what I wanted to say next. "I don't want to beat around the bush. I'd be lying if I said that things will be back to the way they were before between us, but I don't want what we already have to be lost because of it. To tell you the truth, I think I just need some time to get over it. So, if you see me acting weird around you or something, don't think it's because of you or anything. I don't know how long it'll be until things are completely fine."

"I see…" She lowered her pupils slowly towards the ground as if she had been hit with a sudden wave of guilt. "I'm sorry too."

"Why?" I inquired, finding her apology unnecessary after what I had just told her.

"For the way I acted. I told you that I wanted to spend more time with you and Faith after the Friendship Games, but I completely acted the opposite at camp. I just…"

"Forget about it." I suggested. "Really. Just forget about it. You do you, and I'll do me. There's no point in bringing up these kinds of things anymore. I just don't want us to completely stop talking for the most part. I don't want our friendship to break because of something stupid like this. Let's just give it time, and maybe things will work out in the end."

It took her a while, but she finally nodded lightly and seemed to agree with me.

"I don't get it. What's going on?" Spike asked as he turned his head back and forth between us.

"It's nothing, Spike." Twilight told him and turned back to me. "We're going to start heading home. I guess I'll catch you later?"

I simply nodded. I didn't have any words to tell her that gave off the impression that we'd be seeing each other again as good and close friends. It was definitely going to be hard, but as previously mentioned, I didn't want to lose her support over something stupid like this.

With that, she carried Spike firmly and began to walk past me. Picking my head back up, I did the same.

After some time searching, I finally found Faith in a group conversation with Flash and Sunset. I didn't have a clue on what they had been talking about, but they seemed to welcome me nonetheless.

"Hey, Star Chaser, you play any instruments?" Flash asked.

"No…" I shook my head.

I hardly remembered touching a musical instrument unless one of those fake guitar controllers counted.

"We're on the same boat." Faith added. "We're not really music-y types."

"You may not play an instrument, but you definitely make a mean dish of sweets." Sunset crossed her arms and smirked playfully over at Faith.

Faith giggled softly before her eyes lightly shot open. She reached for her phone and pulled it out to read something on her screen. Then, she spared me a glance with a jubilant grin. "It was nice talking to you guys but our ride's here."

"No problem. Let's meet up again soon!" Sunset suggested.

"Just name the time and place!" Faith returned cheerfully before she gestured me along with her head. "Come on."

I gave a small wave to the two before I went on ahead.

Faith's eyes immediately lit up at the sight of her mother's car, and she even shared a discernible joyous chuckle as she began racing towards the driver's side of the vehicle. The corners of my lips stretched out from her adorable reaction as I followed behind her.

By the time I caught up, she had already been squeezing her mom tightly, and I was almost afraid that she was cutting off any circulation of air she may have needed from her lungs. Nevertheless, it was impossible to ignore the surplus of joy radiating from both their faces. It had only been a week, but to them, it seemed like it had been years. Well, I could only imagine that that was how it was like.

"I take it you had a good time?" She asked her daughter.

"It was really crazy. But, in a good way!" Faith answered. "Actually, there's something I wanted to ask you."

"Hm? What's that?"

"I know I already brought this up before we left, but do you think we head out to the beach really soon? By really soon, I mean soon. I don't think I'm quite done with camping yet."

Her mother chuckled. "Can you really call it camping? It's just a home away from home."

"You know what I mean!"

"Hm." She thought for a brief moment. "Your aunt hasn't mentioned anything about using it recently. I don't see why not. When did you want to go?"

"As soon as possible!" Faith chirped.

"Oh? Then, how about we make a quick stop home and we can start heading there after? You already have most of your stuff packed up, right?"

"Totes!" Faith lifted up her bag happily.

Her mother turned and found me quietly observing their conversation with a still smile on my face. "Will you be coming with us, Chase?"

"Oh, he's definitely coming!" Faith glanced over at me with a set of determined and furrowed eyebrows. "It's not a vacation unless he's there."

"Sure." I answered for myself. "A few more days away from home sounds pretty good right now."

Not that my time at camp was bad, but the past week was pretty rough. When I thought about it, I never really truly relaxed at Camp Everfree. Before the crazy incident with the all-around magic, I was mostly spending the majority of my time with the dock, and, of course, after everything passed, there was the situation with Twilight. Isolated time away from everything was probably just what I needed.

"Come on in." Faith's mother invited as she opened the door to her vehicle. "I'll take us back home." Faith and I loaded our bags into the back and hopped onto the backseats, closing the door just as her mom began starting the car. "Why don't you go ahead and tell your parents you'll be spending a few days with us?" She advised as she looked at me in her rearview mirror and strapped herself in her seatbelt.

I lightly scoffed. "Honestly, I'm pretty sure they still think I'm at Camp Everfree. I don't think I need to let them know at all."

"Chase." Her eyebrows lightly drew together, and the tone of her voice very lightly shifted into a scolding one. "You never know what might happen, so it's always a good idea to keep your parents updated."

I groaned softly. "Alright…" I unwillingly pulled out my phone and opened up a new text message addressed to my parents.

I'll be camping out for a few more days. Will let you know when I'm coming back home.

It was technically the truth, and I intentionally left the exact details vague enough so they would think I was still at Camp Everfree. I wasn't sure how they'd take me being with Faith since she was obviously a close friend. They wanted me to spend time out of the house for the break, but I wasn't sure if they would "approve" if that time was spent with friends. I believed they lowkey wanted me to undergo some kind of punishment for leaving Crystal Prep, and I did not need another kind of argument, especially with everything that's happened so far.

Nevertheless, I found her mother's lips forming into a light smile as she watched me obey her. Soon after, we began leaving the school grounds underneath a setting sun.

As planned, we stopped by their home so they could gather a few things for our short trip. For a moment, I thought about going back home briefly myself, but then I remembered that my parents most likely believed I was still at Camp Everfree. It certainly wouldn't help my case if they found me walking in through the front door. While Faith and her mother got ready, I mainly spent my time patiently waiting for them in the living room.

It wasn't long before we reached the vacation home by the beach, but it was already dark for the most part when we finally arrived. After setting our things inside the house, and turning on the interior and exterior lights, we collected several pieces of wood and started a small bonfire out in the sand.

It was a similar experience to being out in the boat with Faith back at Camp Everfree, except we listened to the crackling from the fire and the soothing sound of waves crashing onto the seashore.

"This was just what I needed." Her mom kept her eyes shut as she calmly listened to the ambience around us. "It's definitely a nice change of pace from work. I guess I have your aunt and uncle to thank for this."

"I'm still surprised they don't use it all that often." Faith responded. "If I was them, I'd spend everyday living here!"

Her mother reopened her eyes to look at Faith with a teasing grin. "Well, when you're married, maybe you can ask them if they'll let you settle down here."

Faith's eyes shot open as a visible shade of red within her cheeks blended with the reflective glow from the fire. She looked as if she was just about to turn to me, but her slowly swiveling head immediately ceased as she hugged her knees closer to her chest.

As expected, her mother laughed at her reaction. For a second, I noticed her exchange a subtle glance at me before she stretched out her arms a bit oddly. She then seemed to stare out towards the stars for a moment before she began getting up. "I'm going to get started on dinner. You two know how to put out the fire, right?"

"Mm-hm." I answered.

With sand literally all around us, it'd be only a matter of seconds.

"Come back inside whenever you want. I'll let you know when it's ready." She said before she began walking back to the house.

Words continued to remain unspoken for a good while. There was something I wanted to ask Faith, but I waited until her mom had completely stepped into the house before I brought it up.

"Hey…" I caught Faith's attention.

"Huh?" She lifted her head and turned to me.

"Does your mom know…? About, you know, your feelings?"

Her face grew lightly flushed, but she didn't become over-the-top embarrassed as she had earlier. "I've…never really told her. But, I'm pretty sure I didn't have to."

"Huh?" I inquired.

"You should know that my mom can practically read me like a book." She clarified. "Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if she already knew how I felt about you before I even knew it myself. If you ask me, she's probably expecting us to…um…you know…"

I could only imagine that she was trying to refer back to her mother's comment from a short while ago. However, I didn't bring it up for her sake. I decided to leave it at that until we ultimately decided to wrap things up and put out the fire as promised.

As Faith and I walked back to head inside, I caught sight of something dark and still not too far from the house. If I wasn't mistaken, there was this black and white cat just staring at us as we made our way to the door. It wasn't surprising that a cat would do this, of course, but I found it more perplexing to see a cat all the way out here. Most notably, while the majority of its head was black, there was a contrasting white spot around its right eye.

"Hm? What's up?" Faith called out after having noticed me lagging a bit behind.

"Oh, nothing." I answered and continued following her back.

After dinner, Faith and I lounged casually in her room as usual. The two of us lazed around in her bed, and it wasn't until I got a good look at the sleepwear she had changed into when I began questioning the very idea of our common practice.

"Hey...um…" I began saying, causing her to turn to her side and face directly at me.

"Hm?" She questioned.

My lips felt a little glued together as I attempted to bring up what I had wanted to talk to her about.

"…do you still think it's a good idea to…uh…well…do this?" I managed to ask.

"Huh?" Her left eyebrow raised in confusion. "'This'? What do you mean?"

"You know…" I tried to hint towards the idea in mind without outright blurting it out. "Lying together like this."

Her eyebrows now drew together in worry. "Is it weird now?" She asked before her eyelids began to slowly lower sadly. "Because of what I said?"

"N-No!" I exclaimed out, figuring that she had been blaming herself in a negative light. "It's just…well…since I know…I guess…it's um…kind of…"

I had been hesitating with my words a lot, mostly because I never had to get into the in-depth explanation of why it may raise up some questionable possibilities when it came to sleeping together. Before this, we had only been close friends, almost as if we had been longtime childhood friends, so neither of us really questioned it. However, now that I knew how she really felt about me, it felt extremely awkward to try to bring something like that up.

"Kind of what?" She answered, the look on her face genuinely clueless to what I had been struggling to refer to.

She was so innocent, just as she had been when it came to our tent assignments back at Camp Everfree. In fact, I actually began feeling a little guilty for thinking the precautional thoughts in my mind at the moment.

"It's nothing." I retracted with a small smile. "I'm just being stupid again."

Why try fixing something that isn't broken?

"Dummy." Her lips drew outwards into a cute smile. "Hey, do you want to go out into the water tomorrow? Maybe this time, you could actually get in with me?"

"Yeah, sure." I nearly said without hesitation. "I want to make it up to you for being such a gloomy pain back at camp."

"You don't have to make anything up for me." She stated with the brightest smile. "It's what I'm here for." The two of us seemed to stare at each other for a good while before she nervously sat up and reached for the light in her room. "Well, better get some sleep! We've got a whole few days to ourselves, and I'm not going to let it go to waste!"

After she shut the light and allowed the dark to fill her room, she made several motions on the bed and appeared to snuggle herself comfortably underneath the confines of her sheets. I quietly turned onto my back and stared at the empty ceiling for a moment. When I closed my eyes, a particular image came to mind.

As I fought to get some sleep, I couldn't help but find Faith sneaking her way into my head. It was almost as if she literally wanted to spend time together in my "mental space" even while we slept. Still, even after this entire week, I could certainly say that I didn't find any part of our strong bond faltering the least like she was partially afraid of.

After all, there was no way either of us could throw away everything that we've been through just because of something like our feelings. Of course, thinking this only made me want to get back to her in regards to her feelings as soon as possible, but my own feelings and thoughts were still a bit cloudy and obscure…

Even so, I knew for a fact that there was a certain kind of warmth I had for Faith that I couldn't ever imagine letting go. Something that drew me closer to her…

Outside, the bicolored cat gradually drew itself away from the silent household.

"Hm." It lightly snickered. "This might not be so bad after all. I think I just found my trump card."

Some time in the future…

A pounding sensation continued to constantly nag at my head. Using my hand to hold my head steady and block the majority of the bright and intense flaring light ambushing me from above, I managed to make eye contact with the agitating interrogator in front of me.

"So, that is how you came across your magic?" She asked unsympathetically. "It all started at Camp Everfree? Right under everyone's noses?"

"…that's how it started…" I repeated exhaustively, fed up with the kind of treatment I had been receiving thus far.

It was almost hard to get a good look at her, considering the fact that I had been covering the majority of my eyes with my hand in order to protect them from the brutal light. Not to mention my surroundings were practically nothing but shadows other than the occasional outline of differentiating furniture standing still inside the darkness. In all of its irony, the tables had been turned against me. It was as if she now controlled the shadows for herself.

"Don't think you'll be getting out of here anytime soon." She informed with a rather aggravated and stern look on her face. "You have a lot of explaining to do. For you and the others."

I couldn't respond. Actually, I didn't want to. All I did was just look away in silence.

"Let me be clear with you over your current situation, Star Chaser. I don't know what kind of a student you were at Crystal Prep, but I'll have you know that I will not accept such deviant behavior at this school. For your own good, I highly suggest you explain yourself at once. And give me nothing but the whole truth."

I sighed heavily and felt my forehead drag against my hand. As much I as I didn't want to acknowledge the fact that I had no other choice, I reluctantly obeyed.

Final Note:

As those of you that are reading may be aware, I am working to sort of "move on" when it comes to writing with the MLP universe. This takes Equestria Girls into account. I've been struggling to wrap up things with the main story, despite cutting a lot of episodes from the original source, which I feel is a pretty big sign for me to take a long break from MLP.

In regards to the future of this side-story, it is honestly unknown. I don't think I ever planned to get this far, and even though I have ideas for its continuation, I'm not sure when those ideas will see the light of day. If you don't already know, I want to really get started on my original content already. That's what I ultimately want at this point, considering I've been holding back on those ideas for several years now.

However, I do have this to say: If you hold interest for the original characters introduced in this side story, such as Chase and Faith, I'm glad to let you know that they didn't just come out of nowhere. I've been making certain references since the Friendship Games story that I'm sure no one here would really get, and that's because those references come from their original story, a story from a part of my original content that I tend to bring up so much in talks like this.

Granted, let me make one thing clear. My original content, such as Chase and Faith's story, will NOT have anything to do with MLP, hence the keyword "original". In other words, don't be expecting to see Twilight, Sunset Shimmer, etc playing a role in that story because anything to do with MLP will not be there. And, if I may, one of the major reasons why I've been wanting to get started on this story for so long is that I feel... "restricted" when it comes to MLP. Even though I've already pushed the boundaries by telling a story that's a lot more oriented towards an older audience rather than the initial target audience of the original source, I still feel restrained when it comes to what I can write as long as it's still connected to MLP. With my own story, I can actually cover much more "serious" and even "dark" themes/topics, things a lot of you can probably really relate to as an audience.

I've kept the conclusion to this side-story somewhat open, in the event that sometime in the future I come back to it. But, I don't want to promise that I will because I don't know what the future has in store for me. In the event that I never return to this story, I hope that maybe you can interpret the words written in italics as something else.

At any point, I can't ignore the fact that I've been practically hurting to get started on my own work already, and I'm planning to have that be my main focus after I finish doing what I need to do with A New Hero. Similar to the ending presented here, I will probably leave A New Hero with a somewhat open but satisfactory ending as well in the possible event I return with a very select few episodes. Of course, that's only if the show is actually going to end with Season 9. I can't see myself going on if it keeps going way beyond that lol.

Lastly, I want to deeply thank everyone who has stuck around since the beginning. Some of you may be new, or some of you may be longtime readers since like 2011. Either way, I want to thank you guys. This entire series of stories has served as a great amount of practice and learning for me, and I'm hoping to continue to improve. I also hope that most, if not all, of you will stay with me and support me when it comes to future content I want to make.

Again, thanks for reading.