Turn the Page [Finished]

“Nah, the front door isn’t nearly as fun as sneaking up on somepony from the ventilation!” she said with her usual cheer and (almost) ever present grin. Her eyes glowing a bit as she looked at the older mare. ‘Yep, definitely scared her a bit. And without completely freaking her out this time!’ This was one of the scares she liked when it came to friends, the kind of scare that left with their heart racing, but didn’t completely and utterly freak them out. She saved those scares for the slavers and such.

“Anyway, I stopped by because you were looking all mopey and sad and stuff sitting here, so I decided to drop by and cheer you up! I would of brought a board game, but I’m pretty sure I left all of them back in Manehatten somewhere.”

A board game? Did those still exist out in the wastes? Bakewell remembered playing one or two every now and then back in the stable. there had been one with pegasi and cloud formations. It had required careful planning, so Bakewell had naturally been terrible at it. Cream had let the earth pony win sometimes, though. The dead pegasus had always been nicer and more considerate like that. Why had she had to die? Why did everything keep dying?


“I’m fine, Violet. Aside from the heart attack you just gave me.” Bakewell lied with a smile. The mare had never been very good at hiding emotions, and there was obviously little cheer behind the facial expression. “I’m just getting old and cranky, I guess.”

She didn’t really want to talk about it, especially to Violet. There would be no possible way the little unicorn would understand the older earth mare’s silly little problems. She needed to change the subject without seeming rude. Maybe she could distract the filly by asking about those board ga- hey wait a minute.

“Wait, Violet. How did you even know what room I was in, much less where I was sitting or how sad I was looking?” Had the filly been stalking her?

Violet cocked her head as Bakewell made her ‘Old and Cranky’ comment. “Old? You’re not old Bakey! You’re like...twenty something? That sounds about right!” she exclaimed with glowing eyes. She was kinda of good at guessing pony’s age, came with the medical experience and her unique ability to see a pony’s inside bits.

She would of then made some sort of funny and potentially weird comment to help get Bakewell over what happened, but she froze when Bakewell asked how she knew she was mopey (among other questions). Her grin twitched as her mind raced through what she said. “Uh...I...uh...saw you when you walked in! Yeah!” she quickly explained, her grin now looking more nervous than anything else. “And, uh, you looked all mopey when I saw you! Yeah!”

Bakewell tilted her head slightly. Something was up here. She wasn’t the best at reading faces, but there was something undeniably being stepped around here, and it wasn’t just the beige earth pony’s emotions. She perhaps too readily jumped on the opportunity to distract herself.

“Are you sure, Violet?” she asked skeptically, the lack of a bonesaw’s presence making her bold enough to question the story. “You don’t have to admit that you’ve been keeping an eye on me if you don’t want to, but please don’t lie to me. We’re friends, right? Friends don’t lie to each other.”

Bakewell mentally grabbed the annoying knowledge of having lied to the filly at least once since meeting her and threw it into the garbage.

Violet nervously glanced around the room, mind constructing an elaborate explanation that would, hopefully, cast aside all suspicion and leave her little secret, well, secret! Still grinning nervously, her little mouth open as she prepared to spun the lie she wove, but then Bakewell’s words hit her...

”We’re friends, right? Friends don’t lie to each other.”

Her mouth froze in place, before slowly shutting. She looked even more nervous than before as she looked up at Bakewell. ‘Can...can I trust her? Can I really trust her that much?’ She looked down at the ground, eyelids drooping as she averted them from Bakewell. She liked the older mare, she was kind, sweet, funny, and a great cook! But could she trust her to know this?

‘...Yes.’

“...Alright, I’ll tell you, but you have to promise not to tell anypony what I’m going to show you, alright? Or zebra, or griffin, or dragon, or any other living or nonliving sentient creature capable of communicating with ponies in some way, alright?” she waited for a confirmation from Bakewell before continuing. “Ok, now, I’m going to stand over here, with my eyes closed, and I need you to find a piece of paper and write or draw anything on it. Anything, but don’t show it to me or let me see it at all, ok?” she slowly walked over to a corner of the room and sat down, facing Bakewell but silver eyes shut tight.

“I… uh… promise.” Bakewell said with a dazed blink. That was a pretty large and specific ‘do not tell’ list. “I mean, I promise.” She repeated with a good deal more certainty in her voice.

Finding suitable drawing material had been slightly more of a challenge then Bakewell had expected, a pencil had been discovered in one of the room’s drawers, and eventually an old more or less ruined pre-war book had been forced to serve as the paper. She tightened her focus as she slowly gripped the pencil between her teeth. Ignoring the taste, she set about fulfilling Violet’s request. One more line here… and… done! Bakewell pulled back and stared at the art with a grin that quickly went flat.



She had never been very good at art…

“Okay. Done… I think?”

Violet cocked her head as Bakewell finished the drawing, which, if the title was any indication, was a poorly drawn picture of...her. And judging by Bakewell’s face, she was aware of its quality.

“Hey, it’s me!...Well, sort of...Eh, no offense Bakey, but I think you should stick to, well, baking. You’re not Equestria’s best artist.”

Bakewell would, of course, find the filly’s eyes still closed tight. And with the angle she was at, there was no way the filly could've peeked at the drawing while she was still drawing.

“Yeah, well. Art’s for snobby rich ponies, anyway.” Bakewell lightheartedly dismissed Violet’s critique before setting the picture aside. It wasn’t the worst she had ever drawn, all things considered. The tail was recognizable at least. Slightly.

“I don’t get it, what was this supposed to show me?” She asked , refocusing on the purple filly. “Also; you cheater! You weren’t supposed…to…look…” She trailed off. Violet’s eyes were still closed; they had been the whole time. The filly’s round orbs of sight seemed genuinely shut, but that couldn’t be true. The gears turning in Bakewell’s head were almost audible as she shuffled around noisily before discreetly lifting her back left hoof off of the ground slightly.

“How many hooves am I holding up?” She asked carefully while keeping her gaze on the purple unicorn’s closed eyes, intent for any flicker or movement that suggested peeking.

Violet grinned wildly as Bakewell asked her question, answering immediately without even twitching her eyes. “One, your left rear hoof to be precise!” The filly giggled at the, most likely, flabbergasted look that was, probably, on Bakewell’s face. “Any other tests? Oooh, maybe I can count how many times you blink your eyes!”

Bakewell’s face was indeed sporting the latest in flabbergasted looks, and she actually unconsciously blinked three times when Violet mentioned it her idea for another test. Why did the earth pony’s skin feel so…crawly?

“Well, okay. I think I understand the what: You can see through your own eyelids. Or maybe you don’t see at all.” Dear Celestia did that sound creepy. Not to claim that Violet wasn’t pretty close to the living definition of creepy.

“But how? I don't think that's natural.”

“Three!” Violet exclaimed as Bakewell unconsciously blinked, not knowing that it wasn’t a test this time. When Bakewell made it clear that she had some idea what was going on, the filly opened her eyes, which were now glowing brightly.

“Weeeell, you sort of have it right. Medically, these things are dead.” she waved a hoof over her glowing eyes. “All the cones and rods are completely burned out, those are the things in your eye that let you see. Without them, you’re blind.” The filly grinned a bit as she sat down. “That’s not the case for me though...but that’s for somewhat complicated reasons. You might want to sit down, this’ll probably take a bit.” The filly waited for Bakewell to comply before continuing.

“You were right when you said this wasn’t natural, this is about as far from natural as you can get. About four years ago, I was an even littler filly without a cutie mark, living in Friendship City with my parents. I had tons of friends back then, and we did all sorts of little foal things like play games. Games like truth and dare. One day we were playing that, it was was my turn, and a colt dared me to sneak outside the city and get something from the wasteland. I was scared to do it at the time, of course, but I did it anyway. I knew I’d just be called a scaredy filly if I didn’t, no matter how dangerous it was or the fact that nopony else would actually do it if they were in my hooves.” Her grin grew even wider as she remembered the moment. “And I managed to sneak past all of the city’s defenses and guards without making a peep! The silly stallions and mares never saw me!” She looked over her shoulder, towards the markings on her flanks. “And that’s when I got that! My cutie mark!” She turned back to Bakewell. “You must of remembered how it was like to get yours, I was so happy! Jumping and dancing and prancing......I didn’t even see the ledge my cheering was slowly bringing me towards.”

The filly was silent for a moment, glancing away from Bakewell as something else crossed her mind, a possibility she didn’t consider. ‘What if Bakewell’s even more afraid of me then before if she hears this? Remember the other foals in Friendship....’ She looked back at Bakewell, a twinge of fear in her silver eyes. ‘...Well, too late for that now. I can’t just stop the story, she’d ask questions.....Here it goes...’

“...Well, I fell over the ledge, screaming as I fell through the air...until...” She looked away again, before sighing and looking straight up at Bakewell. “Until I fell face-first into a pool of taint.”

Bakewell obediently sat back as Violet began her story. She attempted to draw parallels between her own foal-hood and Violet’s, but the right experiences just weren’t there. Bakewell had never had tons of friends. She had never even had the option of going out into a dangerous wasteland to get a treasure in order to win some game, even her cutie mark hadn’t seemed as thrilling as Violet’s seemed to be. She had outright loathed it as anything beyond a status symbol for years. ‘What kind of pony wants a lame and overly detailed pastry on their butt?’ she had thought. The older mare suddenly felt extremely selfish.

She waited patiently as the filly glanced away. This ledge and the events concerning it part must be important. The way the filly looked away a second time after restarting only reaffirmed her suspicions. The cliff was important. Something important must have happened after, like falling on her head, or… or… falling into taint? What the hay was taint? It certainly didn’t sound good.

“And the taint changed your eyes?” Bakewell asked as she moved up to the filly and offered a hug. This story was obviously personal and had to be more than simply the “I fell into a pool and came out with cool powers.” That the tart-marked mare was imagining. If the circumstances had been that light, why would Vi even be out here in the mahoofe instead of safe in a snuggly bed in her parent’s home in Friendship City?

"What happened then?"

‘Hmm...she didn’t react like I thought she would. Maybe she doesn’t know what Taint is? She has only been in the wasteland for a year...’

The filly accepted the somewhat unexpected hug from Bakewell, the gesture helping reassure her that the mare was not about to run screaming for the hills about the ‘Mutant Pony’. When the two parted, the filly continued her story.

“Anyway, yeah, it did. My parents went out searching for me when the other foals told them about what I did, tattle tales, and they found laying in the pool of taint...dying.” Her eyes cast downward for a moment, before turning back up to Bakewell. “Taint is very, very bad news, most ponies who would of fell into a pool as deep as the one I did would of died a horrible, painful death as the their bodies were twisted apart by the gunk’s properties, or worse. The lucky ones would be disfigured for life....And I was really, really lucky. The chances of going through that and coming out like me are...Well, the doctors said it was less than one percent.....more like a half a percent actually....Anyway, my parents rushed me to the Friendship City hospital, and the doctors there pretty much worked day and night making sure I lived. They had to pump my blood out of my body and filter it and everything.....I didn’t really feel so good after that, although I suppose I would of felt worse if that junk was still in me. Anyway, they did manage to get most of it out, but it was kind of too late at that point, my eyes were pretty much dead. Couldn’t see a thing. They said the stuff got into my brain too and did some weird stuff to it, made it run faster and stuff, but we didn’t really figure that out for a few years. That’s when ponies said I started acting weird, but I haven’t really noticed!” she explained with a grin.


“Anyway, for about six months I couldn’t see anything, and my body was still pretty weak from the treatment. My parents had be by my side...pretty much twenty four seven, I couldn’t really do anything myself for obvious reasons. When I was checked out of the hospital though, the doctors apparently missed a tiny mutation in my eyes start to grow, eventually leading to this.” She waved a hoof over her eyes again. “One morning I just woke up and bam! My eyes were shiny and I could see again!...Well, sort of, everything was kind of blurry and hard to make out at first, and I couldn’t see far, but it’s gotten better the older I’ve gotten. When I was eleven, I could see things very clearly, and I could even start looking through walls and stuff! By the time I was twelve I could even see through a pony’s skin and look at all their inside bits!” She giggled a bit. “The doctors couldn’t heads or tails how it worked, although I’ve pretty much figured the ‘What’, if not the ‘How’, by this point. You know how normal eyes work, right? They take in light and turn it into information for the brain to read. Well, these things don’t work like that, not anymore at least. They kind of work on magic or something, basically that’s how I see. Magic. My eyes see the ambient magic that’s in everything, and turn that into information for my brain. So I can see through walls and stuff, but I can’t see light unless it’s laced with magic, like in those prism weapon thingies. Which means I can see perfectly fine at night, even if it’s literally pitch black, but there’s things I just can’t use, like pipbucks and computer terminals. Those monitors send out light that you can see just fine, but I can’t. I also usually have trouble with pictures and stuff too, plus I can’t see in color.”

“Anyway, after I discovered that whole ‘I can see inside bits’ thing, I decided to repay those doctors that saved me by helping them out! And I think you can guess how useful the whole eyes thing was. I also learned lots about medical stuff just be helping them, they said I was a really quick learner, probably because of what that taint did to my brain! It’s how I know all about that stuff today!” The filly giggled again, before her grin faded a bit. It was still there, just more...subdued. “Anyway...it wasn’t all shiny eyes and helping sick ponies.....I know I’m a weird filly, ok? I know I don’t act like normal fillies do. I crawl through ventilation shafts for fun, I climb up to the tops of buildings even if doing so is on the far end of the danger scale, I like scaring ponies and I know that they’re creeped out around me sometimes, which I’m usually ok with. It helps with the scaring bit. There’s also a fact that I consider killing raiders and slavers a hobby, even when I was thirteen...Anyway, the other ponies in Friendship City didn’t really like that. They started talking about me behind me back, calling me freak and saying not nice things that they thought I couldn’t hear...But they didn’t know that me ears are just as good as my eyes. My own parents started giving me weird looks, and I heard them talking about me when they thought I was asleep. They were only moderately nicer then the other ponies.” She snorted in mild contempt. “The only ponies in the city that didn’t think I was a freak of nature...which, technically I am, but still, where those doctor ponies that I was always helping. It got to the point where I spent more time with them then my own parents.”

The filly uncomfortably rubbed the back of her head, this was a bit of a harder part for her. “And...well, about eight months ago, it all climaxed when a pony...tried to decapitate me with a cleaver....I know, ironic? Yeah, that obviously didn’t work though...I broke all his limbs instead. Nearly killed him too, don’t know why I didn’t, he sure as tartarus deserved it.” she spat, the surprising amount of bitterness clear in her voice. “I was just fed up with all of it by that point. I got some supplies from the doctors, who knew what I was going through and got the hay out of Friendship City. Same way I left four years ago when I got these, funny how that worked. And I’ve been out here ever since.”

The filly was silent for a moment, before breaking out into laughter. “Silly me, I was just supposed to tell you how these worked, and I just gave you my life story! Well, the important stuff anyway.”

Words probably couldn’t do true justice to the horrors of taint, but at least Bakewell got a basic idea on just how dangerous the junk was, and exactly how lucky Violet was to escape with her life. But was the filly really that lucky? Being cast out of one’s home was an already traumatic event, but being shunned by every friend and relative, including their own parents? Being treated like a monster? It was undeniable that Violet quite possibly had some serious brain damage. No filly went around at the age of eleven committing murders without having some sort of mental issues, but the unicorn’s heart seemed to be in the right place. She cared and had feelings and managed to not murder absolutely anything and everything. Bakewell was still alive, after all.

Bakewell grinned back as Violet started laughing. “No! That’s fine. Thanks for telling me, Violet. I won’t tell anyp- any living thing of any race in Equestria about your secret. And I swear I won’t be like your parents. You do scare me a lot sometimes, I admit it. When I die it’ll probably be by a Violet induced heart attack. Even so I have not and will never consider you some freak of nature. “

In truth Bakewell had a million questions buzzing in her head that were positively begging to be asked. How did Violet differentiate between ponies if she couldn’t make out color and could see through to their organs? Did Happy Trails have identifiable cigarette blackened lungs? Did Scrap Parts have an irregular heart flutter? Some of the questions she dismissed because they were rude. The rest she found herself forced to dismiss after a short gaze at her pipbuck. Wow, was it really that late? She didn’t want to be a walking deadweight in the morning. Not to mention that the walls were probably thin enough to hear through. The only thing worse than a grumpy inattentive mare slogging through the wastes was an entire group of equally tired and frustrated ponies to accompany her.

“Wow. It’s tomorrow! Well, technically I guess it’s today. It’s like two in the morning.” She chuckled as she headed back towards her bed and pulled herself into it. “If I don’t go to sleep, Trails might just decide to off me tomorrow. You’re welcome to stay the night if you don’t feel like venting back into your room. I’m sure the bed’s big enough for us to share.” She offered, before putting her head against the pillow and unsuccessfully fighting a yawn. Wow, she was tired.

“Oh, and Vi. Thanks for coming over.” She muttered, already beginning to fade away whether the purple unicorn chose to stay or leave. “’ppreciate you tryin’ a make me feel better.”

Kira had been thinking about getting her self a drink and perhaps something to eat, but she did not feel like it not after the last two days. There was just to much on the mind of the gryphoness that removed all taste for food and drink for her. Instead she left the bar area and walked away from it taking another walk around the small town looking at the few ponies that was still out at this hour but she did not care why they were out as she made her way back to her room. Laying back on the bed she thought about why she was out here, why she had left Stableton in the first place. Finally she managed to fall a sleep in to another night if uneasy sleep.

Trails got up before the sun and drew himself a bath. The night hadn't been a terribly restful one. Even with the window open his fur itched all over as he lay in his bed. After waking up several times over he had given up on sleep and been content to busy himself with cleaning his gear and do some PT. He set some water to burn on the room's hot plate and submerged himself in the bath's lukewarm water.

The water did wonders to loosen the knots in his muscles. Damn planks he thought as he felt the cramps slowly ease away. The water started bubbling and he got out to take it off the burner. He decided to do some laundry while he waited for it to cool. He tossed his armor into the bath water, emptied a bottle of hand soap, and started scrubbing. By the time he was finished the water was cool enough for coffee and the sun was rising.

Trails lit a smoke and carried a cup and his armor outside. He slung the latter over the railing to dry while he waited for the others to wake up. He was in no rush today, the feeling of contentment he had found that first night had returned. He was tired, but happy to be so. Trails leaned forward on the railing and hummed the tune that he had been fooling around with. He needed a guitar at some point.

"I got a song to sing, keep me out of the cold, and I'll meet you further on up the road."

Kestrel had been up before even Trails, and had already packed up most of his gear and locked down the room again. Currently he could be found walking around the small town, looking at all the various bits and bobs that the folks called their own.

There was a small scrapyard to the north of town, not much there really. The old mare in charge was nice enough, but she had nothing on sale that Kestrel could not live a day without buying.

He Bighorner family had given him a nod and a curt hello as he had passed by them. Nice folk, quiet folk, kinda folk Kes liked.

The big black gryphon had just walked back into the Hotel courtyard when trails had walked out and started his little song up again. Kes offered his usual silent nod in greeting and made his way up to stand beside the buck; though not in the usual manner one did such things.

With a near silent flap of his wings and a leap Kes latched onto the railing of the hotel balcony and quickly pulled himself up and over. Despite his size he cleared it without trouble and he landed on the other side with his species usual feline grace.

Sky awoke when the sun was in the horizon, with the little rays of light peeking through the nooks and cracks of the blinds. Reaching her face and to make her open her eyes to the light, something that blinded her as she did. Sky very lazily checked her pipbuck, she was never costumed to wake up this early in the morning but being with trails the two weeks had changed her entire routine.

Sky looked around the room for her equipment to see it all on the table next to the window, this was one the few nights she slept without her armor on. She quietly made her way to the bathroom of the small hotel room, to find a tub to be against the wall, so sky decided to take a warm nice bath.

After she got herself cleaned up, she stretched her limbs and wings. As she did every morning as she woke up, to get the feel of her body all around.

Her breakfast consisted of sugar apple bombs and some water, not much of a breakfast to her but just something to get her through the morning. With breakfast done, her next order of business was getting her armor on. Easy task that only took a minute to do, the only armor she had and saved her life countless times.

With nothing else to do, she walked out of the apartment with her saddlebags still inside. Just her and a pistol slung to her side, to explore this small and desolate town. Maybe she will go and check out the giant dragon, clear enough she hadn't when they came into town.

Scrap woke somewhat late compared to some members of the group, he enjoyed sleeping and especially a good night of dreamless sleep like the one he had just had were a luxury in the wastes.

Still, eventually the sun's rays pierced the cocoon of blankets that Scrap had wrapped around his form during the night and he was forced to acknowledge that it was daytime an he should probably get moving.

Rolling out of the bed onto the floor with a thump, muffled by the blankets, Scrap slowly came back to nearly his full mental capacity, the rest would return with food, and started to go about the normal tasks of morning.

He quickly slipped on his barding and went through his stuff to make sure nothing had been taken. Once he was satisfied with that he dug some food out if his pack and had a quick breakfast before heading out of his hotel room to see who was up and about already.

Bakewell was slightly late to leave her room not because of sleeping in, but because she had discovered that her room contained running water. Before long she was reclining in some water that her pipbuck deemed as mildly radioactive, but she deemed as amazing. She even lowered her muzzle slightly below the surface of the water and blew thousands of little bubbles, once. Then she remembered that Violet could probably see her acting like a foal, putting an awkward stop to her fun. Still, the bath was enjoyable and despite the mourned lack of Stable soap and shampoo, Bakewell managed to get decently clean. She even allowed herself to imagine her coat regaining some of its old softness. Hee~! Too bad it’d be all dirty again after an hour in the Mohoofe

Bakewell wasn’t really sure how long she had been in the tub, but did know that she didn’t want to risk getting left behind. She quickly gulped down some water and inhaled a snack cake she had stored. Not nutritious, but still delicious!

Finally emerging from her room with a small smile, Bakewell sat within eyesight and watched the others until given further instructions. She kindasorta wanted to explore the town of No Vacancy, but that would mean risking being forgotten about and left, so she stayed put. Today was a good day so far, anyway. Which probably meant that she was going to get shot or deepen her murder victim list and then have an emotional breakdown. Those bridges could be crossed later, though. She wanted at least some enjoyment out of the day.

Lightning let out a sigh as the sun was already beginning to rise and it was time for him to get out of bed. He generally would have loved to have gotten another hour or two but the group needed to move on command and they weren't about to wait for a single pegasus.

Rolling out of bed lazily, he yawned for a second before walking over to his bag, pulling out his canteen of water and a bit of food. Finishing his breakfast, the next thing he decided to do was check his guns. His SMG looked to be in good order and his pistol was all there too. Still trying to shake the sleep out of his eyes, Lightning would put back on his armor and his weapons. Since it was still early in the morning, they probably wouldn't be going anywhere yet. So, he left his saddle bag inside the room while he went out to see who else was awake.

One night, Kira had during a long time just wanted to have just one night of good sleep and finally she had been able to get just one night of good sleep. She was not sure what had made her been able to sleep this night be she was just glad for it when she woke up in her bed felling somewhat rested and ready to take on the wasteland.

The gryphoness where quick to check over that she had gathered up her equipment and made sure they where in there right place in her saddle bags. She guessed that Trails wanted to get moving as early as possible so she would be ready when they needed to leave. As she got out on to the second floor balcony of the hotel she looked her room behind her.

Violet, after declining Bakewell’s offer and returning to her own room via the ventilation, awoke several hours later with a cute yawn as he glowing eyes scanned the area. Nothing out of the ordinary, yet. Which was both a blessing and a curse. It meant nopony was dying, here at least, but it also didn’t promise any fun and excitement.

Not letting that get her down, she jumped off her bed with a smile on her face, Liz, who was laying at the end of the bed like a dog, awakening as the filly’s hooves touched the ground. “Come on Liz! Lets go get something to eat, I bet they still have those brahmin steaks you liked!” The lizard seemed to perk up at that, and followed the filly out the door. Violet decided to leave her stuff inside for now, besides a bag of caps. She could get the rest later.

The door closing behind her, she looked around and saw most of the others...Just standing around. Not even talking or anything. Well, that’s kind of boring.

Again, not letting any of that get her down, the filly and lizard set out for set out to get something to eat, passing Bakewell as they went. “Hey Bakey! Me and Liz are going to get some breakfast, wanna come?”

Bakewell gave Violet a small smile. “One moment.” She said, before moving over to Trails. She didn’t want to interrupt his humming song or whatever, so she addressed Kestrel. She was probably loud enough for Trails to hear her anyway. The earth pony knew that the large griffon wasn’t the greatest conversationalist, so she kept her words brief.

“Violet’s getting breakfast for Liz, I am helping, if that’s okay. Please either come along or let us know when you are ready to move out.”

Assuming a lack of hindrance, she would move back to Violet and give an affirmative.

Trails' ears automatically turned to the direction of the new sound, namely Bakes voice. He stopped his humming and turned to answer her.

"We're going to be leaving soon, I want to get to McMaren. If you want some breaky I've got some molerat in my saddle bags for Liz and that bar's got nice salads."