MickeyAdaptus

'I think I how much it troubles you, but there is something that others have told Jack before, you need to have more faith in others. You do say that you rather die than let someone gets hurt, but the others around you are just as capable as you, and won't let that happen, there is just a bit of miscommunication between all of you at moments, not always, but I have seen moments one side wants to focus on safety, while the other side wants to go straight into the action, if such things aren't being talked trough properly, that is when people can get hurt, not because you couldn't do enough.' 'If I may say this from what I think, you should try to have more faith in others, and especially know when to back down, because you do say they get mad at you, but its good reasons, they are worried about your safety as well, if Celestia hadn't intervened, you could have died in that just recent battle, the last thing they want to happen is that you get yourself killed because you wanted to protect others, it may sound honourable at first to die in battle like that, but once you are dead, you can't fight in any future battles, wich renders your sacrifice useless.' 'You are not the only one who is making mistakes, Celestia has been staying away from battles for far too long, she has a strong magic potential, and from what I have recently seen also a pretty strategic personality as well, so I am glad she decided to step up. Luna has been doing great in the care department, and despite my rather unfortunate discussion with her, she is doing good. Evelyn is doing good as well, but I do wonder if she is going to do everything she can in order to protect Jack and not let someone else do it because this can conflict with group communication, and make things turn out after all. Festus is a type of person I can't really say anything bad about, I admit that his devotion to defending Jack to such a high degree impressed me, which is hard to do. On Ember i don't have much to say either, she is more of a loner type, wich is just like me, tough the times that she has been present she has been very loyal and could be counted on when it comes to giving out orders, instead of trying to formulate a plan of her own in her head, she did what she had been asked without question, a trait that is very good to have if you are around others, so there is no wonder why Jack prefers her to be in team operations.' 'About Woody i don't really have much to say, he seems to fix his own problems pretty good so far from what i have seen, and Jack, i am going to say it without a lie, he is currently a wreck, not that he is bad, but the condition that he is in is very bad, can't blame him for that, you of all people know how it feels to get infected, so i won't have to explain that to you. But oh boy, can he be difficult, he has some very big trust issues and more importantly, he is clinging on to who he is, he is struggling between having a happy life with a mother who can comfort him and very good friends who he can rely on to help him, but his other side, he becomes a differen't person, he is then very stoic, he shows almost no sign of emotion except for pure rage and grief, not only that but instead of wanting to stay away from bad things, he sort of embraces it, anything that can make him feel bad or cause him discomfort, he thrives on that, like he wants to feel worse and worse in order to embrace all the hardship that our race had to go trough. Tough in the end it does make very resilient and strong willed, but he starts to ignore his own safety and well being, to a concerning degree...' 'And about that part Jack being mad at you, it is not really mad at you, he is dissapointed in Luna and Evelyn at given moments, because in moments of danger, you are the first to jump into the fray, hoping to save someone's life, but in his view, he sees you jumping in there, yet Evelyn and Luna just stand here at moments, relying on you to take care of the problem, he feels sad because his 2 idols are holding themselves back while you are trying to do everything, I am not sure if you understand what i mean here, but imagine it like this, your 2 idols, who you love and respect so much, end up doing nothing, while someone else is doing all the work, getting all the glory, while your very idols are not trying to join in, wich makes you think if they really care. Jack isn't mad at you, but he has the feeling that since you are jumping in so many battles and are always the first volunteer, he thinks it is demotivating others to do anything, ending up thinking that you will handle the job for everyone, not sure if it makes much sense to you, but this is coming straight from his own toughts.' Kiran said to her. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 'I have tried to tell them such things alot of times, but they keep on ignoring my things at given moments, back when he had escaped that slave centre, I was trying to tell Celestia something, she ended up ignoring it. I tried to tell Luna something very important, but she ended up ignoring it. These instances happen alot, and then i just stand there, wondering if they really care about me, because last time in that desert when Celestia ignored my thing, i ended up getting sick, and i had gotten an illness from trying to cross the desert under that gazing sun. But whats more important, these are things they should know beforehand, it is basic things that you would do as an instinct rather than having to figure it out, it saddens me that i have to point it all out, and end up getting ignored with that, it just.... hurts.' Jack thought to Evelyn

'Bleak... for me it is right now bleaker then it will be for anyone else, I just learned that I am truly infected, that I am going to eventually turn and others will be forced to kill me, there is nothing bleaker than that. I am going to lose everything, I am going to lose you...' Jack thought to her with a sad and devastated tone in his voice. 'Because even if I turned out not to be infected, I still feel uncomfortable in the group sometimes, having to sleep in the cold at night because others here apparently dislike snuggling despite it being safer then trying to lay alone and perhaps trying to make it warmer with magic, which just isn't the same. Or when everybody is having problems, I am usually there to help and solve them, but when it comes to my own problems I am forced to solve them myself, not the bigger problems like the situation of my sister, but smaller problems in when something bugs me, it is usually the case that I am just forced to try and solve it on my own, which leads to problems, and furthermore, it let to my infection...' 'I know it is not the most opportune time to tell you this, but if I am going to die, I might as well just let it all out now, so I might be the last person to able to give anyone hope at this moment. In fact... If you could drop me off somewhere in the desert that might be appreciated, then hopefully something dangerous might just be able to kill me before I end up getting infected...' Jack thought to her with sadness, that last part because he was truly hopeless at this point, feeling like that Evelyn was going to abandon him after what happened recently. --------------------------------------------------------- 'I see, this Shining Armour sure did influence you with his teaching there, but there are some problems with that, take in this situation, If there where multiple lives at stake, and you could only save certain ones, you would have to choose, and some might judge you for that action, never forgiving you for that. I am telling you this for good reason because things that happen around these places are alot different then you are used to back to where you live, things will arise where you will have to choose against your better judgement. I am going to ask you something, and I want you to answer, not getting angry or anything, just let the feeling of what this question will give you sink in, and learn to feel what it will do to you.' 'If Woody and Jack were about to die, and you could only save one, which would you choose? Because you can't expect that such things might not happen, everything can happen, no matter how much you presume, give it a good thought and tell me your answer, but also how you feel about it, it is important that I know.' Kiran asked Maple, this was yet another one of his training methods since he couldn't do any physical training with her, he was doing mental training with her instead.

'While you make quick and rash decisions, I do like your style, where others are lost in their thoughts on how to solve things, you do focus on the task at hand, determined to get it done, and let no obstacle stand in your way, that reminds me of myself all too well, only where you make rash decisions, I make decisions about where many will hate me still to this very day.' 'Although I had imagined my reaction to Jack's infection would be very severe, last time I was in a situation when a dear one got infected, I did things that caused many to question my honour and judgement, but this time, I didn't imagine myself to be so stoic about it. I guess the reason would be that I know something that others don't, but that is a story for another time. I do wonder... Why are you the way you are? I can tell this didn't happen because of you getting older. There is something more to it than that.' Kiran thought to her, who was able to communicate to her due to the artefact connecting itself with Maple's core. 'E-Evelyn? Is that you? Hold on... Am I dreaming? I can hear your voice but... I don't see any of you.' Jack thought to Evelyn with great worry. But it was obvious that Jack was still in this coma state, dreaming, and he was very confused as he was able to communicate to Evelyn while in a dream, wich the only thing he was used to like that in his dreams is when Luna visited him during dream walking.

'You are right about your intentions, but your approach is wrong, how are you going to save his sister while you damaged like that? Putting yourself at a disadvantage like this is not a good thing to do. But more importantly..." 'I am going to tell you something that might surprise you, you wanted to learn how to lead better, but what you are showing now is the worst kind of leading, if a few ponies where under your command, and you would charge into battle like this, you know what your soldiers would do? They would follow your exact example and ignore their injuries while trying to head off to the next battle. Even if you might survive, your soldiers would not be as experienced and would die, which would make you responsible.' 'And above all else, you need to drop this attitude, your princess is giving you valuable advice, and you just ignore it, disliking her or not, she is showing more sense then you are right now, upholding the safety of others above the need of completing your task in a rushed way. You wanted me to teach you how to lead? Then this advice will be your first lesson.' 'If you don't improve on this matter, you will likely die on Cyril, and Jack will start to hesitate to take you with him should he still be alive at that point.' Kiran thought to Maple, it was not anger in the way he said it, but it is in the way how someone would scold his younger brother, with a hint of notable calmness in his voice, but at this point it was already noticeable, he was teaching and scolding her at the same time, something he used to do with Jack as well.

A terrible feeling crept inside Jack, as he his entire body was filled with dread of the prospect he was going to face. 'This is really happening, Luna, Ember, Maple, Evelyn, Festus, Everyone, I am never going to see them again... I was so happy that I was free of that curse but now this...' Jack thought as his breathing became shallow. 'Oh no... That means... I will never see William again, or Garrow... I have failed them to the very core of my being....' Jack thought as the terrifying truth was revealed to him. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cyril, Capital city of Marshclaw, 5 years ago. Jack was sitting inside a destroyed building, the entire city where he was at looked deserted and abandoned, and next to him sat his best friend Willaim, a dark orange Terran, who was only a year older than Jack. "Is she going to be ok? She has been acting like she was possessed, almost like she was going to attack us!" Jack asked his friend with worry. "Who knows, Garrow can't seem to determine much of the situation other than that she might become one of those... things, I can't give a better description on those creatures, despite most of them have been one of us before," William admitted. "So this is how we have life, trying to hide in ruins and decimated buildings while monsters are roaming around us all like they are the population of the planet? While everything we care about is stripped away under our noses and then rebuild only to attempt and convert us? just WHY is this happening?!" Jack exclaimed with a mix of sadness and anger. "Jack... Think about it for a moment, after everything that has happened, one of the evil people in history has been resurrected from the dead, then manages to corrupt 1/4th of the entire Eldritch ruling body. Only for a few years later to start a murder campaign in where 143 planets had fallen under his armies, even going so far as to decimate one of the most defended planets in the entire galaxy, yet he managed to conquer and exterminate the remaining population in there by just a period of 2 weeks... 2 weeks Jack!" William said back with a grimace. "No living being could accomplish such a feat, no matter how powerful or smart, these events shouldn't be capable of happening in such a short time. Which leads to the question, wasn't this meant to happen to all of us?" he asked Jack. "Huh?" Jack looked at William with confusion. "Remember what our elders always used to tell us? About stories of heroes and legends, how we were all born from a single entity, a massive implosion that shattered it into 3 separate beings, which gave birth to the 3 known races. It is called the Allexis Contratis, have they never thought you about this subject? From what I remember Eldritch are very knowledgeable about these type of things and would make sure their offsprings would remember it all." William asked Jack. "I am aware of what that is, my father thought me alot regarding this, the creation of our races, the death of the ancient race, the rebirth of-" He was however interrupted mid-sentence. "Rebirth, I think that word defines our future as a whole, hear me out on this, your father foretold Valtrek's return with his visions, yet no one was willing to believe him, but look where that brought everyone, turning into these monsters, I never used to believe this type of stuff either, but when I look at has happened with us, how we went from very prosperous to this miserable state in a matter of 50 years, my doubt was gone, because these things have been foretold, many times over, but like the ignorant fools we where, we passed them along as just religious sects." William explained. "But still, I don't see what that has to do with the entire situation." Jack admitted."What I am trying to say is, aren't we a danger to life as a whole? You see those creatures out there, with those golden eyes and cannibalistic/predator behaviour? Most may say see those things no longer as one of us, but if you think about it... they behaviour that they are displaying is not alien to us, it is PART of us, yet we don't show it, atleast not while we still have a form of decency, compassion and mercy, but if you take away those things, what do you get? The behaviour that those very creatures are showing. Valtrek might have ignited this entire war, yes, but he did not CREATE it, he merely took an aspect of us and made that dominant over all our other things. Now hear me out on this.." "I believe, that we caused this tragedy ourselves, we are the blame for our own problems, WE caused this to happen, to have all these creatures roam around pluage all those who are still pure." He said "William... your theory does sound believable for me, but to blame ourselves for this? Valtrek is the one who started all this mess, HE made us who we are!" Jack replied back with a bit of shock. "We started this alright, but not intentionally, we did it without realising it, and Valtrek did start this entire mess, yes, but he didn't *make* us act like a wild beast, it has always been part of us, it is in our blood, in our very genes. Now it might still sound unbelievable to you, but how would you react if I said that these creatures where already present long before Valtrek returned?" William replied back calmly. "B-but, how is that possible, everyone believes that these creatures started to pluage us when Valtrek launched his terror campaign.." Jack said with disbelief. "They where already present, but not in the same way we see them now today, before all of this, happened, they used to still have a small form of sentience, and actually be capable of following orders, they where like... protypes if you could call it, but now they seem to have deverted back to some sort of more bestial state, either that, or this very virus that we know is infact a blood sample from those protypes, and being used to infect others, wich, in turn, can infect its next victim by biting or killing it." Willaim explained. "How did you know this? My father has never told me of this before!" Jack exclaimed. "Garrow told me, and he heard it from others. It is presumed that Terrans where behind this whole *project*, apparently Garrow told me it with great importance, that in the far future that by any hope I or someone else could use this information to find a solution for the entire tragedy. To be honest with you, I don't know much about these creatures either except for what Garrow told me." William explained. "Now don't misunderstand what I am trying to say, I am not saying we as a race should die out, but what I am saying is that" William pointed above with a finger towards the roof. "Someone up there, any god, deity, whatever thing someone believes in, has decided we should suffer and end our existance like this, I am not a religious or cultural person Jack, but so far nothing has made any sense, so I don't have much difficulty believing that there is something bigger going on than just this tragedy, but more of a lesson, or something." "Perhaps... but I just don't see what we did wrong, surely they wouldn't condemn the good-hearted part of our race?" Jack said back. "If you think about it, we as a race have unintentionally caused the demice of 37 races across the universe with this tragedy, of course, Valtrek was involved with orchestrating this, but many of joined him, and din't hesistate to carry out his orders, that is what our dark problem is Jack, that so many of wish to remain as a dominant race in the galaxy, it can drive many hungry for power in order to maintain such a status, and Valtrek obviously had a large hunger for power without a doubt." William said. "You are not an Eldritch or have been raised by one, yet you talk about religion, fate and the overall situation of our race like you are an expert at it." Jack told him, noting just how deep William had gone into the subject. "I am merely looking at it from a different perspective, if we would want a solution to all of this, such a mindset will come in handy, we will need to look beyond what is logic in order to determine what will work, because obviously magic has no rime or reason either from what you showed me." William said with a shrug. "I wouldn't go so far as to say magic has no logic, it still has boundaries to what and what not is possible." Jack said as a smile crept across his face. "Guess I gotta hand that one to you, but then again I don't need magic to cross boundaries, all I need is some equipment and random junk, that makes me able to create an electrifying sword with just a bunch of wires and some broken devices." William replied with a smug smile. The 2 shared a long laugh. "Still, I do wish none of this would have happened, all those who have to suffer from this, I just can't begin to imagine how it feels to turn into one of those creatures." Jack admitted. "Nobody would have wanted this to happen, but it happened, and the only thing that we can do is survive, perhaps find a solution one day, but for now, as long as we have each other, nothing can deter is us, ever." William said. "So, even if we would happen to get separated, you would never give up on me?" Jack asked him Instead of answering, William grabbed a knife from one of the drawers and made a small cut in his right hand, in which, he then handed the knife to Jack "Your turn." he simply said. "What for? I don't follow?" Jack asked him with confusion. "It is symbolism, a sign of our unbreakable bond and friendship, a blood oath that we will hold forever, isn't that you wanted? Well, here we are signing our eternal friendship." William said back. Jack didn't hesitate to grab the knife, he then made a small cut in his right hand as well, and then held each other's right hands together, the wounds connecting to each other. "May we lead a good life together, Jack." William said with a smile "And may it never change us!" Jack declared, a grin plastered on his face. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jack's eyes started to water as the memory was playing in his mind almost like a movie, remembering every single sentence and action that had been made at that moment. His breathing had stopped for a moment as he could not believe it was happening. 'I... I have failed him, we had been through so much together, shared so many secrets and were impossible to separate, and this is how I repay him... I could see his face before I got captured, I could see the devastation on his face. Back then my friendship with him was the only thing holding me together, but when that got destroyed, I became an empty shell, a shell that wanted to be put out of his misery. And just when I had hoped I would perhaps see him someday, I get infected, the very thing I vowed to not let happen, I would not...' Jack thought as he didn't finish his thought, his body went limp and collapsed on the front part of the saddle, his head landing on Evelyn's scales. 'I don't want to die...' His breathing went on for a few more moments before it on into a very slow and silent pace, and his body stopped moving altogether. He just wanted to escape the cruel world around him, cruwling up in a ball and hide from everyone, his mind had gone in such a panic and disarray that his body had sensed the panic and has shut off his body completely, throwing in some sort of small coma. He had already displayed such capabilities back when he had his brain almost fried at one point, only now it was something that had been bothering for almost his entire life, nothing could compare to how much he had worried about this, and with one final bang, his world crumbled completely before his eyes.

Jack looked at him with a mixed expression of devastation and guilt. "You... you saw it didn't you? This confirms it, after all these 7 years I had never gotten infected, but my luck was bound to run out sometime." Jack said with sadness. He stood there for a while, looking at Festus, knowing to his great sadness that he eventually never see Festus again. "I don't how to react to it, but... I can atleast try to slow the infection down, giving myself a few more weeks, but when it reaches the heart, it's all over. So I am going to make those last weeks count. But if I can get my sister out of there, and if she hasn't transformed already, then not everything is in vain, because atleast one pure person of my bloodline will then still remain." Jack said to everyone, giving them only a short glance when he saw Maple laying there, one of her wings badly damaged. "You shouldn't attempt to fly for now Maple, that doesn't look good, atleast not until you get proper repairs. Though I really do admire what you did to hold off that machine when it was about to target Ember and Festus." Jack said to her eying her for a moment before turning back to everyone, while he did admire what Maple did, he din't like that she once again tried to stop something so big all on her own like that until Celestia started helping. "We should get moving soon. It is already dangerous waiting here." He reminded them. Tough they were still at a safe spot, the war machine now rotating its head again, fixing for an aim, but the armies were already retreating at a fast rate, and wouldn't get so fast now that they where on the move.

The soldiers that had followed Maple where trying to draw enemy fire off her, but it became apparent that was not really going to work well, the enemy were with so many that they didn't need to focus all of their fire on specific targets, but rather could divide their attacks instead. Snipers and normal soldiers were shooting at Maple, but the snipers were aiming at something specific, her Jet engines, 1 or 2 direct hits could cause some serious damage to them if they hit the fuel part. But at the same time soldiers where shooting at Celestia as well, although they didn't use snipers on her because they had no need to unlike against Maple who was a machine and only had specific parts in her body that could get damaged by bullets more easily compared to her overall plating that was resilient to bullets itself. The war machine itself was having difficulty moving forwards because of Maple's and Celestia's efforts, its leg getting forced a bit back, which was an incredible feet to accomplish because of its sheer size and strength. Though it did not have the full desired effect that they had hoped, with its aim getting interfered, it instead decided to aim more upwards, and fire its rocket into a higher mortar like a barrage, it was not early as accurate as its previous attacks, but it was better than not firing at all. The missiles itself didn't hit alot, but mostly created a wide separation between the army, as they had to spread out, or where blown away from the forces of those missiles. One of those missiles impacts pretty close to where Luna and the others where all the damage it did was put a good amount of pressure on Luna's barrier but was not nearly enough to break it. "Yeah, I am fine as well I think, apart from... You know." Jack replied to Luna with a nod. He then heard Evelyn's question and thought about it for a moment. 'I think you are right, we where definitely sabotaged, the way how we ran into that strike force was way too convenient, Karthspire wouldn't lead us into something like this but rather take a safer route rather then try and go past the enemies like that, which means that this *person* must have somehow attracted this strikeforce to our location. But i don't think that this *person* would even consider trying to aid our enemies, no way from how our enemies would just kill him as well, I think he planned this and did some things in order to dispose of us, or more importantly Karthspire, and make it seem like he would have died during battle instead of an assassination.' Jack thought to her. He looked hung his head over Festus, leaning a bit out of his saddle and looked him in the eyes. "Festus, are you sure you are ok? You where really close to that explosion." Jack asked him with worry, but then something happened, it was subtle, but for a moment his eyes turned that hated golden colour that every infected had, but just for an about 2 seconds before it faded again, but long enough for Festus to see.

The battle was raging on, the soldiers who were fighting near Maple where trying to give it their all, bullets and explosion scattering all over the places, but they seemed to manage somewhat in holding the line, while most where falling back, a small group was instead of falling back, still holding the line, fighting to the very last man. "We shall never falter! We shall never tire! Only in death does our duty end!!" Came a warcry from that group, as it looked like they weren't going to fall back, but fight to the very end so the others could escape. Jack looked up for a moment and saw to his horror that something had happened to his friend. "Oh no, Festus!" Jack exclaimed, "We need to help Ember and Festus, they are in trouble!" It looked like seeing Festus in that state made Jack come back to his battle senses. "We need to do it fast, that war machine will fire soon again!" And what Jack was saying was true, as the war machine itself seemed to be readjusting its aim, soon being ready to fire again.

Jack looked her, it took a moment for him to answer as he felt very bad for Luna "I won't be dying, not if I can help it, and if I do end dying i..." Jack then was a bit lost for words. "Don't worry it is ok, just please stay alert alright? Even if I might not have gotten infected after all, it can still happen again, we need to be there for each other if we want to make it through this." Jack told her. Suddenly gunshots could be heard from afar. "They are taking potshots at us, we need to move!!" Jack said to the both of them. The situation was becoming very tense, some soldiers almost running out of formation in the panic that ensued. "They have found us, Ewan, take your squad and cover our flanks, Omari, return fire to our enemies! And all of you, with me! We are leaving out of this Sandstorm!" Karthspire called out to everyone. After a 6 minute moment, most of them had emerged out of the sandstorm, and the sight they saw the left side of them was horrific, to say the least. The war machine towering above them like they were ants and the armies surrounding the war machine was massive, Soldiers with high tech rifles, drones, big strains of infected creatures, and soldiers with snipers, all of it were present. The enemies were firing upon Karthspire's army from afar, not only that but the Warmachine started firing its payload upon them, chaos ensued, its rocket where impacting like mortars, and screams of pain could be heard everywhere during the bombardment. "We need to fall back into the hills, keep moving, we need to get distance!!" Karthspire ordered to everyone, and he was right because attacking their enemies in their current situation wouldn't work, getting close would be resulted in being shot down. One of the rockets had impacted close to where Luna and the others were, while a other rocket had been close to where Ember was. 'We are going to die!!' Jack screamed in his thoughts, he was horrified with what situation they had to face now. He clutched the saddle as he started shaking, not wanting to open his eyes.

"Of course, I would be a lousy commander if I were to skip that, better to have a proper and long briefing rather then a fast and insufficient briefing that would only be told once. If you could inspire the newer recruits to pick up the pace, that would be appreciated, our officers are having their hands full already as it is. If we can get this pace going we can outrun them, which is a god sent in situations like this." Karthspire told her. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "I am aware of how she is, and I don't blame her for how she sometimes handles things, I just wish she would have gotten help instead of trying rush in on her own like that, she is a strong and skilled fighter, but like you said she uses her heart rather than her head, it works good for herself but it goes wrong if she ends up having to protect me and herself at the same time, I don't care how skilled someone is, what matters to me is that everybody does something instead of everyone relying on her, hoping that she can get the job done alone, it happenend so many times where she was the only one who was doing something while everyone else is waiting to see how things play out." "Why didn't you react? If Maple is capable of reacting so fast then you 2 are capable of doing it as well, Evelyn had no means to fight against the wind except by the use of forcing her way through it. Luna, you could have used teleportation or just used a spell to blow the wind out of the way, yet you didn't... I don't want to be criticizing here but it hurts, to be honest... Just please do something, I hate to talk like this but this just cannot go on, if a sniper decides to shoot me through the head then I am gone for good and there is no way to reverse it, which can happen at any moment.. Don't you care for me?" Jack said to Luna with tears, not being angry at her but instead sad and hurt, that she is doing nothing to help in stopping the danger. "If something bad happens again can the 2 of you please respond right away? Just please don't stand around there, I almost died.. And I might suffer something even worse soon..." He said as he couldn't really hold his tears anymore, he didn't want to criticize them but he had no other choice, for he knows this couldn't go on any longer this way. He had heard Luna's question about the wound itself but he didn't feel like talking about that right now.

Jack looked at his wound with a mixture of fear and worry, but then deeply sight. "I don't know how to respond to this, it... seems just so unlikely that it happened fast, but at the same time, i shouldn't be surprised..." "Listen Maple, I know you want to help me but what you are saying about what we should do now just isn't going to work out. We are already far away from the city, and you are telling me to leave Evelyn and Luna like that, one who is my mother and the other is one of my best friends. After what happened, after i now just realized i got infected, i just don't want this thing to happen again. How is Evelyn capable of helping me if i am to far away? This time she wasn't able to arrive earlier due to the sandstorm." "Hear me out, we should have a doctor in the army that is travelling with us, there is no reason that they shouldn't bring one with them. I am going to ask the doc for help because this wound is only recent, so the virus shouldn't have spread as of yet. But i want to ask of you, not as just an ally, but a GOOD friend, that you focus on getting my sister out of there if she dies and i was not there... I will never be the same again, how do you think Woody would have felt if you were gone for good and he wasn't there to see you go? It will devastate you for the rest of your life. " Jack threw the artefact towards Maple, hoping she would catch it. "If you need guidance, ask my mentor, you should be capable of talking to him if you connect your body with the artefact itself." "Just please understand that... How much it hurts that every time, i am somewhere, there ends up being danger, and when Evelyn is to far away, i always tend to get hurt, and this case get infected. You are always the first one to jump into battle, so i want you to do this one thing for me, instead of worrying about me right now, get my sister out of there, at all cost, please..." Jack started to tear up a bit." If anybody is capable of doing it, it is you." "I am getting tired of being constantly separated from Luna and Evelyn, they are my idols and it is one of the things that keeps me going in this wretched existance, i don't expect you to understand on how i feel, after being imprisoned in that demon realm, being tortured and forced to fight in slave pits, only to later being slowly incorperated as a sleeper agent as his own will, only then will you realise how i truly feel, and why i feel this way.." Jack said as he started to choke a bit on his words. "Please do it for me... I rather let myself get infected then letting my sister get transformed... Do i have to get infected entirely to get this point across...? I just want to be happy, but how can i if i am constantly being forced away from the 2 that i feel to be safe and comfortable near, because it happened again, and it costed me this..." Jack said as he pointed at his wound. "Do it for all of us. Because if she transforms we are all dead."

"It might not even have been your tornado Maple, for all we know they found us because they were capable of smelling my blood." Jack said. he hesitated for a moment at Luna's answer, but he then shifted a bit in the saddle so she could see him better, and then showed her his left shoulder. "I am not sure how deep this went, it does give this burning feeling, but i don't think it is that bad, is it?" Jack asked Luna. The wound itself had started to get a bit worse, as the dark yellow colour had started to get a stronger outer glow, and had spread a bit more out of his shoulder.

Look at my below average glorious artwork! Isn't it very garbage great?! Ok, no more joking around xD. I made this one a good long time ago, can't say its very good, but its one of my better works, since i am just not a good artist, atleast not with such type of art.

"Well, i..." Jack was however interrupted in mid-sentence as someone suddenly called out, and it was a familiar voice. "We need to MOVE everyone!! They are right on our heels and are trying to trap us by spreading out, they don't know with how many we are, just that someone is in the sandstorm, so we need to move now!!" Karthspire shouted trough the sandstorm trough everyone when he had returned. The mechanical howling of the Warmachine could even be heard throughout the already loud sound of the sandstorm, it was not that close yet but it was close enough to be heard. "This isn't good..." Jack muttered, knowing how these situations end up all too well.

It was after a while that they managed to regroup, especially with the sandstorm still going on. The army itself was still moving together as they all remained close to each other, though it seemed Betamor was walking at the front of the large moving army, it seemed Karthspire had been scouting ahead alone. Maple, Jack and Evelyn had been lucky as they had not further encountered any infected. One of the soldiers suddenly called out "There they are! They have returned." he was saying this specifically to the Equestrian group. "Boy am i glad that we found them, tough i have to say that i rather walk through this sandstorm then to have another major enemy force spotting us." Jack admitted as he was looking a bit downwards with his eyes close, so it wouldn't get in his eyes.

Well, i haven't met anyone famous, HOWEVER, Notch once responded to my question, all i simply asked was "How are you doing?" and he simply replied. "I am doing good, you?" Really love how open Markus is to other people on twitter.