[MLP OCs] Fragmented Heart
by @silvergunner (getpsychocat.tumblr.com)
***

It was the day after the big concert at Canterlot. Now that Songbird Serenade had left, there was only all the debris from the concert left to collect and the set to disassemble. As many ponies who had volunteered steadily picked up the rubbish that the concert attendees had thrown on the ground, others disassembled the stage and disconnected the sound equipment carefully. All while this was happening, a single purple alicorn princess was overseeing the whole operation.

As she watched the city square slowly cleaned up and returned to normal, the princess thought about what had happened the past few days. She and her friends had to endeavour on a journey which ended in a wild goose chase to prevent an invasion of Equestria by evil forces. In the aftermath of the event, one of the villains had decided to become good and join the purple pony princess’ group of friends. Although the unicorn in question seemed sincere, the princess couldn’t help but feel something was wrong deep within.

Looking over towards the entrance to the square, a smile spread across her face as the unicorn in question came over towards her. The princess was determined to rehabilitate the unicorn and hopefully teach her the meaning of friendship. She waved over at the unicorn to get her attention, and the unicorn walked over towards the princess. The unicorn mare was a darker shade of purple than the pony princess and had short red hair instead of long purple hair like the princess had.

The Unicorn came up to her and smiled nervously. “Err... good morning...” she mumbled.

“Its nice to see you this morning, Tempest Shadow” the purple pony princess replied with a smile. “How are you feeling today?” she asked.

“A little indifferent, I guess” the red-haired pony sighed. “I understand all your teachings about friendship and how power doesn’t matter Twilight... but I still can’t handle my condition” she sighed, pointing to her still broken horn. “I just wish I could find a way to fix my horn so I can gain the full power of the unicorn I am, rather than just be half a unicorn” she sighed.

“That’s a tough position to be in” Twilight replied, a thoughtful expression on her face. “Tempest Shadow, you are in no way half a Unicorn at all. You just feel that way because you have an incomplete horn” she replied. “Maybe if we can find a way to help you learn to cope with and eventually cast away that feeling, it would help” she suggested.

“Its not the perfect solution... but I trust you Twilight, and i’ll try to do that” Tempest Shadow nodded. “What’s the chance you could help me with it?” she asked.

“Well, although i’m good at talking about friendship, I have no experience with a broken horn” Twilight sighed. She thought for a second then an idea clicked in her head. “You know, maybe it might be worth talking to my part-time assistant?” she suggested. “They have a similar situation to that of what you are dealing with” she added.

“Who, Spike?” Tempest Shadow thought aloud. “I didn’t know he was supposed to be magical, let alone have...” she started.

“Not Spike, Tempest” Twilight cut the unicorn off suddenly. “No i’m talking about my old assistant, a good friend, and the nephew of my own mentor...” she commented.

“Who is this pony then?” Tempest asked. “Hopefully if he was an assistant of yours he will be as wise as you are...” she hoped.

“Well, he’s clever but a bit silly at times” Twilight said with a smile. “His name is...” she began, but nopony apart from Tempest heard what she then said. For at that very moment, one of the teamsters dropped one of the speakers from the previous night’s concert onto the ground with a loud crash.

Tempest Shadow nodded as Twilight stopped speaking. “Okay, i’ll go see both of them” she said. “See you later Twilight” she concluded, and began walking through Canterlot to start her lengthy journey towards Sweet Apple Acres.

As she passed by the stage, she saw that a large oversized white male pegasus was glaring angrily at a smaller grey female pegasus. His eyes were bulging in annoyance while she was wall-eyed in confusion. “My bad...” she murmured as she gazed at the ruins of the speaker on the stage. “If that muffin cart hadn’t passed by I wouldn’t have lost attention, Bulk Biceps” she said to her partner. Bulk Biceps groaned in response. He figured he had to get used to working with Derpy Hooves by now, but he never did. It was a good thing that they had a very generous accidental damage insurance policy, he thought to himself.

Tempest Shadow reached the train station outside Canterlot and gazed at the current train to Ponyville that had just arrived. Equestria’s train service was always overcrowded, noisy, cramped and pretty slow. But as she went to the ticket office and bought a return ticket to Ponyville, she figured that it was still better than spending nearly an entire day walking the distance there. As soon as she had paid for her ticket, she got into the nearest carriage and looked for a seat. Surprisingly she found one despite many other ponies standing in the carriage, as many of them didn’t want to sit next to people they didn’t know. She did have to sit next to a mare with a miserable face reading a newspaper, but figured that unlike the rest of the passengers she could bear it for the hour or two that she was on the train.

As the train pulled out of the station, she looked around the carriage in general boredom. Although she was certain everyone there was too busy going about their own business to pay any attention to her, she was sure that at least a few of the other ponies on the train were pointing at her and her broken horn. She closed her eyes, not wanting to think of the inadequacy she had of having a shattered horn, but the bad thoughts of it just wouldn’t go away. She opened her eyes again and tried staring out of the window at the landscape she was travelling through. She wished she could have gotten off the train there and then, but knew if she did she would never get to see the two brothers Twilight had recommended she visit. This train trip was a trial she was having to undertake in order to find a better future for herself.

Surrounded by people who were ignoring her or glaring at her, it reminded her of just how lonely she felt. It had been years since she felt that she had a real friend or someone that she trusted in, and even longer since she had been with someone that she had romantic feelings for. She had given up so much of the warmth in her heart in her endeavour to regain her horn and from that regaining what she believed were her full magical powers. In many ways she wished she could hit the reset button on her actions regarding the invasion of Equestria, and instead try to have more intimate relationships with people. But that was all in the past now, and she knew that if she ever had any chance of having friends or relationships in the future, she would have to stop worrying about her horn.

Soon however the train ground to a halt as it reached Ponyville. Tempest sat for a minute to let a lot of the other ponies off the train before getting off herself. She and the others streamed out and headed to the exit of the station. However while most of the passengers headed towards the centre of Ponyville, Tempest made her way in the other direction towards Sweet Apple Acres. As soon as she reached the farm, she walked past the farmhouse and through the almost endless trees and to the treehouse located right at the back of Ponyville’s greatest orchard.

At the top of the biggest Apple tree in the orchard was a treehouse built from wood with metal supports. It was quite the secret in the orchards, as it was the quiet retreat of a certain special stallion. Within the treehouse was a single room with twin beds, bean bags on the floor, a small kitchen area, a bookshelf overflowing with literature, and a shelf full of painting materials. And laid on one of the beanbags was a light blue earth pony stallion with spiky hair. He looked pretty stressed that afternoon as he gazed at the ceiling. “What am I gonna do...” he groaned.

“What’s up, Speedy?” came a voice from nearby. Walking over to him came another stallion, looking almost the same but with smooth floppy hair. “Still thinking about -her-?” he asked him.

“Yeah, i’m thinking about mom, Axl” Speedy sighed. “I can’t believe she cancelled visiting us because of that event in Canterlot. I know she needs to do royal duties and such, but surely she could have made an exception for her two sons?” he wondered aloud.

“You know what those stuck up people in Canterlot are like. They don’t care about clashing schedules, as they are always more important” Axl replied. “Mom missed out visiting us both, considering what happened at that event” he added. Speedy nodded at his brother and thought about their differing opinions. Speedy and Axl were almost like Yin and Yang, with Speedy having a benevolent attitude and Axl a malevolent attitude. Despite this they still got on well together as brothers even when their lives took minor downturns.

“Well, at least Mom met us halfway and agreed to meet us tomorrow” Speedy said. “I don’t want to be annoyed at her but it seems inevitable that we both are...” he added.

“Well maybe then we need to relieve some stress right now” Axl replied. “How about we do what we usually do together?” he asked his brother.

Speedy looked at Axl and a smile spread across his face. “Why not, its been a few days anyway” he said. He laid back on the beanbag, and Axl laid next to him, their lower bodies facing away from the door as they laid face-up. “Ready when you are, bro” he said to Axl.

“Always ready” Axl grinned. He reached one of his front hooves down to his loins and started rubbing it against his sheath, located above his larger than average ballsack. As the tip of his stallion member poked out of his sheath he kept rubbing it, feeling it get longer and harder. Speedy did the same, rubbing his dick with two of his hooves and feeling it harden and enlarge. Within a minute both young stallions had members that almost reached their necklines, each of their rock hard members over 24 inches long and nearly 4 inches thick. Both were coloured jet black in stark contrast to their light blue bodies and white and blue striped hair.

The two stallions started rubbing their members. Since they were both single and incredibly close to each other, they often masturbated together. “So Speedy... which mare do you want to buttfuck with that huge cock of yours?” Axl asked.

“Oh, there’s loads out there” Speedy grinned. “Pinkie Pie, Apple Bloom, Orchard Blossom” he said as he stroked his entire length, imagining the feeling of his horsecock slid deep inside those mares’ rear entrances. “How about you, Axl?” he asked his brother.

“Definitely Babs Seed for me. I love a bad girl sucking my cock” Axl grinned. “Starlight Glimmer might be good to facefuck too” he added, as he stroked his length with one hoof while rubbing his tip with another, thinking about his member getting deep-throated by one of the eager mares he fantasised about. “Saying that, that new unicorn with the broken horn... she seemed pretty hot too” he added.

“Yeah, i’d like to have it with her too” Speedy smiled. All the talk about buttfucking several mares was pushing him close to the edge. “You getting close, bro?” he breathed out as he began to moan in pleasure as he built towards his climax further and further.

“I... am...” Axl agreed between groans of pleasure. “Together?” he asked, moving one of his hooves towards Speedy.

“...Now!” Speedy said, hoof-bumping Axl with one of his front hooves. With that he let out a loud moan of pleasure as he let his orgasm hit at the same time Axl did, the floppy haired brother letting out a loud groan of pleasure at the same time.

At the same time the two stallions had reached their climax, Tempest Shadow had climbed up the ladder to reach the treehouse. She took a deep breath, not knowing what the brothers would be like or if they would even make her welcome, let alone help her with her horn. She however knew she had to be brave and be willing to change herself in order to make things better for her. She took a deep breath and opened the door to the treehouse. What happened next was nothing like what she could have imagined would occur that day.

She suddenly felt a splatter of warm goo hit her cheek. Then a second splatter hit her leg, then another her hair. More splatters of white goo hit her and covered her body as she gasped in shock. In front of her, both Speedy and Axl’s cocks were shooting out wad after wad of stallion sperm almost like two cannons, and as they laid there enjoying the pleasure surge through their bodies, they had no idea of the mess they were causing.

Once they had both expended nearly a litre of stallion cum each, they opened their eyes to look at the door. They both let out a gasp of surprise as they saw a unicorn mare standing there looking shocked and covered in their sperm. The three of them stared at each other for nearly a minute in shock, before Axl was the first to speak. “This... is awkward...” he thought aloud.

Speedy flipped himself round and climbed to his feet, his still-erect cock dripping cum over the floor. “We’re sorry, we didn’t know you were coming in...” he said to Tempest. He walked over to a basket of clothes and pulled out a towel. “Come in and get cleaned up” he offered.

“Okay... I will” Tempest replied. She was quite annoyed and shocked at being covered in stallion cum which would ruin her hairstyle, but at the same time was mesmerised at the experience. She inhaled and smelt the strong masculine scent that had been ejaculated over her by the two stallions. As she closed the door behind her and rubbed the white creamy substance off her body with the towel, she couldn’t keep her mind off what Speedy and Axl had been packing when they had covered her with their cum. She shook her head, getting the thoughts off her mind. This was just an unexpected accident, and she was determined not to hold it against them. Or even take advantage of them regarding it...

As she finished cleaning herself up, Speedy and Axl cleaned up the room a little, with Speedy using a mop to wash the remains of his and his brother’s sperm off the floor. Once things were less messy, Speedy walked over to her. “Please come and sit down. Once again we’re sorry about the mess” he said.

“Its fine, I should have knocked first” Tempest replied. She sat down on one of the beanbags and watched as Speedy made tea for three of them. “So I assume you are Speedy and Axl?” she asked them both. “Twilight sent me to meet you” she explained.

“Yeah, that’s us. I’m Speedy” the spiky hair pony smiled. “The floppy haired one is Axl. And you are?” he asked her.

“Tempest Shadow” the purple pony replied. She tried to keep her eyes on the brothers’ faces, but kept staring at the two stallions’ still semi-stiff cocks. The smell of cum and the size of their stallion members made her lust for what she used to do with her old friends during another time, a time long ago... “Nice to meet you” she added.

“Wait, you’re Tempest Shadow?” Axl asked. Tempest Shadow sighed, wondering if they had heard the negative news about her. “You’re way cuter than we imagined” Axl smiled. Tempest had never received a compliment for so long in her lifetime, and she blushed a little at Axl’s words.

“I agree totally” Speedy smiled. “Would you like milk with your tea?” he asked her, spontaneously changing the topic.

At that point, Tempest Shadow had made her mind up. Here were two horny young stallions with huge cocks and sperm that smelt amazing. She was nervous at asking them, but she knew exactly what she wanted, and it wasn’t just tea. She gazed at Speedy and gave him a seductive smile. “I would prefer something else creamy in my mouth” she said seductively to the young stallion.

Speedy blushed. “Are you coming onto me?” he asked her.

“Both of you. You both look amazing” Tempest smiled. She stood up and turned around, flicking her tail aside. “How about I suck off one of you while the other fucks me in the butt? I could do with getting slammed by two rock hard stallion cocks right now” she giggled.

Speedy and Axl looked at each other. They then nodded and turned back to Tempest. “Anything for a lady” Axl smiled. He walked over towards Tempest’s front and kissed her on the muzzle passionately. Tempest blushed at the feeling of his warm lips, and returned the kiss gently. Axl smiled and turned towards his brother. “Speedy, you get her butt. I get her throat” he said.

“Just how we both like it most” Speedy smiled. He walked around towards Tempest’s rear and kissed her butt cheeks one after another. Tempest blushed at the attention Speedy gave to her rear and giggled a little. Speedy breathed in and looked over at his brother.“You start Axl, I gotta get prepared first” he said to him.

“Then, Lets do it!” Axl declared. He reached under his body and began rubbing a hoof against his penis again. Tempest watched in fascination and awe as Axl’s stallion member grew longer and harder until it was once again at its full length. As it reached its full length, Axl placed his front hooves on the unicorn mare’s shoulders and pushed himself upwards into a balanced standing position in front of her. The tip of his hard, thick cock prodded against Tempest’s nose. “All yours now” Axl said to his new friend below him.

Tempest didn’t say anything in response, instead she let out a naughty grin at the young blue stallion. She then opened her mouth and gently kissed the tip of Axl’s big black horse cock, and tasted some of the cum left on from his previous ejaculation. It tasted just as good as it had smelt, and as she gave it another lick she lusted the thought of having it all inside of her mouth. She continued licking at the tip delicately before running up and down the length of Axl’s member. She had only given another pony a blowjob once before, but she still approached the cock in front of her with sexual enthusiasm. Unable to resist any more, she opened her mouth and let her saliva run down all over Axl’s member. As Axl gasped with the sensation, she used her tongue to spread her spit all over his member before she opened her mouth and took in the tip.

Axl gasped in happiness as he felt Tempest’s warm wet mouth surround the tip of his cock. As the purple mare below him began to gently suck away at his penis, he used his hooves to rub her shoulders in response. He always used to do this to Babs when she gave him a nice sloppy blowjob too, and from Tempest’s reactions she was liking it too. After a few minutes of gentle sucking, she pushed her head forward and the first twelve inches of Axl’s cock slid all the way into her mouth. She began bobbing her head back and forth on Axl’s cock, enjoying sucking away as Axl moaned in pleasure above her.

While Tempest had teased then began sucking off his brother’s huge member, Speedy had gone to a cupboard located by one of the two beds and pulled out a large bottle. He brought it back over to where Tempest and Axl were and squeezed some of the contents out. Clear lubricant ran out of the bottle over the floor, and Speedy smiled to see it was still fresh. He moved around so he was standing behind Tempest, his eyes focused on her wide hips and big unicorn butt. He knelt down next to it then gently kissed the mare’s buttcheeks one after another, hearing a moan of surprise come from Tempest. She must love having attention paid to her rump, Speedy thought. He spread her buttcheeks with his hooves and above her pretty pink pony pussy, he saw her tight rear entrance. Her rear was one of the most beautiful of the mares he had seen, and he couldn’t wait to see how it felt around his cock…

Figuring he shouldn’t keep a lady waiting, Speedy stood up again and after reaching underneath his frame with a front hoof, began rubbing his stallion cock until it was fully stiff again. He then squirted a liberal amount of lubricant over his member, spreading it all over so it was completely slippery. He then moved towards Tempest again and placed his two front hooves on her hips. He pushed downwards to lift himself into the air, then moved his hips around so the tip of his member was prodding against her rear entrance. He took a deep breath, then pushed his hips forward gently.

Tempest let out a moan from around Axl’s cock in her mouth as she felt her tight butt penetrated for the first time in years. The first twelve inches of Speedy’s stallion shaft had slid inside her, and she could feel his thick girth spreading her backside like she had never felt before. Speedy moaned in happiness as he felt the tightness surround the tip of his member. He wanted more though, as well as wanting to please the mare who had unexpectedly come onto them that afternoon. He took a deep breath then began pushing his hips back and forth gently, inch after inch of his cock sliding in and out of Tempest Shadow’s tight backside.

As the moments went on, both brothers began to fuck her with more and more vigour. Axl had began sliding his cock in and out of Tempest’s mouth as if he was thrusting into her vagina, and Tempest moaned in pleasure as she enjoyed how the facefuck felt. Behind her, Speedy was sliding more and more of his cock into her backside, with her moaning louder and louder with every additional inch that slid into her tight butt.

The three of them stood there fucking each other for several minutes. Tempest Shadow couldn’t believe the amount of pleasure she was feeling. It had been far too long since she had experienced sex, and she realised then just how much she had missed it. She was also happy that she was having it with two young and energetic stallions with huge cocks, who fucked her with a feeling of love and kindness rather than just lust and roughness. She wondered if Twilight had thought that having sex with the two brothers was the way to help Tempest out. Even if it wasn’t, Tempest was happy that Twilight had made the suggestion - she wouldn’t have met the two wonderful stallions slamming their rock hard erections into her mouth and ass if she hadn’t taken the purple pony princess’ suggestion.

Harder and harder, faster and faster the two stallions went. Both of their long, hard stallion cocks pushed in and out of Tempest’s mouth and butt. Speedy slammed his cock in and out of Tempest’s tight ass over and over while Axl shoved his cock further and further down Tempest’s throat. Tempest was overwhelmed by the pleasure she was getting from the two stallion brothers’ rods, and it wasn’t long until she reached her limit. She let out a moan from around Axl’s cock in her mouth as pleasure washed through her body in her first orgasm in far too long. She shook in happiness as her throat and butt tightened around the two stallions’ members.

All the sensations on their cocks was too much for Speedy and Axl and they orgasmed at almost the same time. Axl moaned in pleasure as he thrusted all twenty four inches of his cock balls-deep into Tempest’s throat. As pleasure surged through his spine, his cock sprayed a torrent of his sperm down the unicorn’s throat. Behind Tempest, Speedy yelled as his orgasm surged through him. Slamming all twenty four inches of his hard black cock into Tempest’s backside, he felt his cock blast wad after wad of his hot cum into her rear.

The trio stayed in position for a few minutes before slowly separating as their orgasms slowly faded. Axl pulled his cock out of Tempest’s mouth gently until it came free, his cum leaking out of Tempest’s mouth as he did so. Speedy pulled his member steadily out of her backside, coming free with a small pop and a torrent of his semen pouring out of Tempest’s stretched rear entrance all over the floor. They gazed happily at Tempest as she laid on the floor in happiness as their thick stallion cum leaked out of her front and back.

Rather than start cleaning up immediately, Axl walked over to a beanbag and laid down on it. Tempest looked over in the midst of her afterglow and slowly moved over to join him. Speedy laid down on the beanbag on the other side of Tempest, and the three hugged each other, their bodies still sweaty and sticky from the wild sex they had just experienced.

After a few minutes of silent but happy hugs, Tempest took in a deep breath. “That was the best sex i’ve ever had guys. I can’t thank you enough” she complimented them both.

“Oh we were happy to do it for you, you’re definitely a hot unicorn” Axl grinned. “So, why did you decide to visit us today Tempest? That we had sex was pretty spontaneous...” he asked.

“Twilight said you were the best people to talk to about coping without a horn” she sighed. “I can’t shake the fact my horn is incomplete and my power will never be at its full potential. It keeps me up at night” she explained.

“Well Tempest, we’re used to not having horns” Speedy said. He flipped up his fringe and Tempest gazed in surprise as she saw a stump where a unicorn horn had once been. “Years ago, Nightmare Moon had a unicorn son called Apollo Moon. He was however physically unstable as she impregnated herself using magic, making him effectively a male clone of herself. He soon split into two ponies with shattered horns - me and Axl here” he explained.

“Basically, Speedy is the benevolent one and i’m the malevolent one” Axl added. “Doesn’t mean i’m completely evil and Speedy is completely heroic, but thats the way it is. We learned to get around our limitations by following a similar method to each other” he added.

“What way did you use to get around your limitations?” Tempest Shadow asked them. “Is it something I can use to get around my desire for a complete horn? Maybe a spell?” she asked them.

“We learned to focus on the other things in life that really mean something to us” Speedy replied. “Friendship, our Hobbies, and what we just did together a few minutes ago” he said, blushing a little at the thought of the latter point.

“It would make things cooler if we did have magical powers, but me and Speedy don’t think we need them to be the people we want to be” Axl nodded. “Tempest, what you need to do is focus on the things you love in life that don’t just rely on the things you are limited by” he added.

“Okay then, i’ll think about it and figure out what things I can focus on” she said. “Its going to be hard though, as you two and Twilight are the only true friends i’ve ever had” she added.

“Well you have plenty of time to focus on things you love - the rest of your life in fact” Speedy said. Tempest nodded, and the three hugged each other again.

Eventually the three of them got up off the floor. Speedy brought over some towels and they cleaned the pony cum and sweat off each of their bodies. Then while Speedy got a mop and started cleaning the floor for the second time that afternoon, Axl went over to see that the tea that Speedy had made was now cold. He made a fresh round of tea before bringing one mug over at a time just as Speedy had finished mopping up. He gave one to Tempest Shadow first, then one to Speedy, and finally sat on the floor and drank one himself.

They sat there drinking tea quietly for a while. As she sipped hers, Tempest Shadow considered what had just happened to her that afternoon. She realised that she had found exactly what she loved in life that very afternoon. She now had two wonderful stallions as friends, and had felt the most immense pleasure in her entire life thanks to their bedroom skills. She smiled happily as she sipped her tea, realising that she wasn’t missing her horn at all now that she had the love of her two new friends on her mind.

Eventually Speedy broke the silence first. “So are you around here for a while, Tempest?” he asked her. “I’m pretty sure me and Axl would like to invite you for tea a few times” he added.

“Well guys... I was planning to go back to Canterlot tomorrow, but I think I can hang around Ponyville a bit longer” she replied. She then took a deep breath and gazed at the brothers. “You said to focus on the things I love... is it possible we could have sex again a few times in the future?” she asked them.

Speedy and Axl looked at each other and nodded. “Tempest, we’ll have sex with you as much as you want” Axl replied. “You can be our Friend-with-Benefits” he said with a grin.

“You can stay here with us too if you’d like” Speedy suggested. “I’ll use a sleeping bag so you can have my bed” he offered.

“If its okay, can I sleep with one of you each night instead?” Tempest asked. “I loved the feeling of you two against me. It felt relaxing as well as feeling wonderful” she added.

“Sure thing!” Speedy replied. “Tempest, you’ll be our friend forever and you can stay with us and have sex with us whenever you want” he offered.

“Then how about tonight we go for round two once i’ve sent a letter to Twilight?” Tempest Shadow asked. The brothers nodded happily. Tempest nodded back, and the three of them made small talk as they finished their tea.

Eventually Tempest Shadow decided she needed to send a letter back to Twilight Sparkle to tell her she was staying with Speedy and Axl before it was too late. She got up and walked towards the door, said goodbye until later, and left the treehouse for Ponyville’s post office.

As she walked away, from near one of the Treehouse windows a shimmering wave of blue light erupted and a deep blue alicorn princess appeared. She smiled as her invisibility spell dissipated, and she thought about what she had just seen. Her two sons were just as good in the bedroom than she had expected. Not only that, but they had helped a unfamiliar mare to feel better about herself and be their friend within a few hours of meeting them.

Princess Luna looked through the window again at her two sons and smiled. “I’m so proud of you boys” she whispered to herself, a tear appearing at her eye. She wondered if this was the right time to reveal herself to them and spend the day with them, but decided against it. She instead spread her wings and took to the sky, deciding to return tomorrow like she had originally planned. “Happy Hearts and Hooves Day, Speedy and Axl” she silently wished them as she flew away back towards Canterlot.

- The End -