Dana couldn’t help but grin when Nicole continued to play up Penny’s awesomeness. However, her grin soon dissolved into a frown as the bespectacled blonde (who’s name was apparently Amanda) made another snide remark at Penny’s expense. Dana glared daggers at the girl, and was about to tell her exactly what she thought of condescending jerks, but before she could say anything, Amanda’s roommate spoke up and hastily defused the situation. Priya, the roommate in question, went on to apologize for Amanda’s rudeness, while Cara helped her get the conversation onto a more positive track. Dana’s smile returned at this display of kindness and camaraderie, and even Amanda’s final muttered retort did nothing to diminish her joy at the sight of so many people being excited about the same thing she was- finally becoming an Ars Magi and transforming for the first time.
Before their conversation could proceed much farther, a chime sounded, alerting them to their mealtime’s imminent end. Penny chose to use her last few minutes in the cafeteria to chat with Cara, so Dana decided to try and get to know Amanda’s far more personable roommate a little better.
“So, Priya, what do ya think your gladius’ll be?!” Dana asked eagerly. “Melee, ranged, or a mix of both?! Ya know,” she continued with an excited gleam in her eyes, “I’ve even heard rumors that some Ars Magi use staves as weapons, to help ‘em channel their magic better! Don’t know if it’s true or not, but wouldn’t that be pretty cool if it was?!”
Arriving at Dan’s portal, MDP watched as Mayra took Mariette through. The whimsical magical girl was about to follow her when an item of no small importance managed to find its way into her ADHD addled brain. “Golly wolly~! Magical Dream Princess forgot all about Connie Wonnie and Gaia Waia~! Like, pretty please hold your portal wortal thingie open for just a little wittle bit longer, Dany Wany~!” MDP asked the dolphin. “Magical Dream Princess has to rescue her new friends~!”
Conjuring a sparkling cloud (which was now possible thanks to the dissolution of Leena’s Null Field, something MDP, unsurprisingly, hadn’t even been aware of), the cheerful magical girl raced off to find her friends. It wasn’t long before she found them, along with someone she didn’t expect, but was still incredibly happy to see.
“Wowie zowie~!” MDP squealed at the sight of her best friend. “Pastel-chan~! Like, what are you doing heresie~?! Magical Dream Princess thought you couldn’t come helpy welpy Samurai-chan cause you were busy wizy~! Is all that stuffy wuffy finished winished nowie~?! Are you heresie weresie to helpy welpy Samurai-chan too~?!” the hyperactive magical girl asked in rapid succession, her eyes gleaming with excitement. “Like, that would be soooo super duper cool~! (giggle!) Magical Dream Princess has been having sooo much fun, and met sooo many people weple, like this one girl with these totally wotally awesome wasome metal wetal armsie warmsies~! (giggle!) She, like, even invited Magical Dream Princess to a tea party~! (giggle!) But, like, everythingie wingie will be even better now that Magical Dream Princess and Pastel-chan are together wether~! (giggle!)” she cheered, giving the bespectacled magician a big hug. “And, like, don’t you worry, Pastel-chan~! Magical Dream Princess has kept Samurai-chan safey wafey, just like you asked her too~! First, she saved her from this nasty wasty tentacle wentacle thingie wingie in a super dark and creepy weepy placey wacey, and then she turned a bunch of lava wava into yummy wummy candy wandy, and then she met this super duper cool dragony wagony person worson named Mayra Wayra~! Oh~!” she gasped as something important occurred to her. “But, like, Magical Dream Princess can’t explainy wainey anymoresie, cause, like, this whole placey wacey is gonna collapsey wapsey any moment woment, so we gotta go right nowie~!”
Not wasting another second, she pulled Connie, Gaia, and Amanda onto her cloud and shot off at top speed in the direction of Dan’s portal. The dimension’s rate of collapse had greatly accelerated by this point, which, coupled with a certain individual’s horrific luck, caused a minor disruption just as the quartet was about to leave the crumbling dimension behind. Before anyone knew what was happening, a small monster girl had crashed into Gaia, knocking her off the cloud. Connie gasped as she watched her friend tumble thorough the portal with the monster girl, and quickly raced after her, MDP’s cloud having been dissolved by some strange interplay of luck and magic. Thankfully, the cloud had been close enough to the ground so that its passengers avoided any injury, and shortly after Connie had passed through the portal, MDP skipped through it as well, pulling Amanda along with her.
“Wowie zowie~!” MDP exclaimed, upon seeing where they’d ended up. “It’s like a tropical wopical beachy weachy placey wacey~! (giggle!) And, like, everybodywody is wearing such super duper cute swimsuits~! (giggle!) Is this, like, your homey womey, Dany Wany~?!” the overly excited magical girl asked the dolphin.
Meanwhile, Gaia was in the process of disentangling herself from Taihei.
“I must say, that was quite the tumble,” the verdant magical girl observed as she gracefully rose to her feet. “Are you all right?” she asked Taihei as she helped the smaller girl up. Noticing their new surroundings, Gaia’s lips formed a pleased smile. “Goodness me… This is certainly a welcome change.” Although she wasn’t exactly wearing a swimsuit, Gaia’s usual non-winter outfit was basically a bikini anyway, and closing her eyes, she basked in the sun’s warmth as its rays caressed her body. “Don’t you agree, little sister?” she asked serenely.
For her part, Connie simply stood in shock. To go from such an awful place to a tropical paradise was a little too much for the poor girl to take in, and her mind was having trouble keeping up. The sound of her friend’s voice finally brought her back to reality.
“O-Oh…! Y-Yes…! I-It r-really is!”
Gaia was right, this place was beautiful, to an almost unnatural degree. Did the fact that they were here mean that everything had worked out? Connie dearly hoped so, but a part of her was worried that maybe this was all too good to be true, that there was some horrible aspect to all this that wasn’t immediately apparent. It was about then that she finally noticed she was wearing a swimsuit. Gasping in alarm, she tried to cover herself with her hands as a blush colored her cheeks. She had very rarely worn swimsuits before, and was quite uncomfortable in them. One reason was, of course, her nervous and easily embarrassed nature. The other was because of what swimsuits implied…
You see, Connie can’t swim…
“Eeep!” Connie yelped, as she was startled out of her worried musings by the touch of Dan’s flipper. The cheerful dolphin proceeded to introduce himself and welcome them to his island. “O-Oh, h-hello again. I-It’s v-very n-nice to m-meet y-you,” Connie told him, shaking his flipper while trying to muster up a small smile.
“It is indeed,” Gaia agreed. “From what I have seen so far, this dimension of yours is truly a thing of profound beauty. Thank you for allowing us to make use of it,” she added with a graceful curtsy.
“Yeah~!” MDP cheered. “Like super duper thankie wankies, Dany Wany~! (giggle!) Like, Magical Dream Princess just knows she’s gonna have, like, the most super duper fun heresie~! (giggle!)”
“Like, totally wotally~! (giggle!)” MDP replied after Mayra asked if she was coming along. Releasing her hold on the draconic monster girl, she struck a cute pose and gave Mayra a playful peace sign salute. She was just about to bounce after her new friend, when an interesting development in Samurai-chan’s little “duel” caught her attention. “Like, wowie zowies~!” she squealed in delight, her eyes sparkling and a brilliant smile spreading from ear to ear. “Samurai-chan and that cute little wittle slimy wimy girl really are sister wisters~! (giggle!)” Then the two siblings hugged, and MDP became even more starry-eyed (if such a thing were possible). “Awww~! That’s, like, sooo super duper adorable worable~! (giggle!)”
MDP was so captivated by the heartwarming scene that she simply bounced up and down and clapped her hands together, completely oblivious to everything else going on around her. Hydras? Collapsing mansion? Collapsing dimension? All went unnoticed by the whimsical magical girl. It was only when Samurai-chan’s slimy sister had been safety teleported away that a giggling MDP bounced over to Dan’s portal, her heart filled with feelings of warmth and love.
Before Penny could reply to Dana’s question, another girl spoke up, noting how she used to watch Gunslinger Alexis all the time. Dana was happy to hear that, but before she could say anything (indeed, before the other girl had even finished speaking), a grumpy looking bespectacled blonde cut in with several snide remarks. Penny was the first to address them, but Dana wasn’t about to be left out.
“You know it!” she confirmed with a grin after her roommate remarked on her “youthfully optimistic” attitude. “And, like, why wouldn’t I be?! I’m gonna be an Ars Magi! It’s like a dream come true!”
Penny then went on to talk about how similar their favorite shows were to Self Defense Force recruitment videos. And then about the unpleasant mundanities of military life…
“Wow, Penny,” Dana giggled as she elbowed her roommate playfully. “Ya sure do like to take conversations to some pretty awful places! But I know watcha mean,” she added. “And, yeah, I know those shows ain’t real,” she noted a bit more pointedly as she glared at the bespectacled blonde. “But even if somethin’s imaginary, that doesn’t mean it can’t inspire ya!”
At that point, they were joined by a redheaded girl, who soon introduced herself as Cara, Vanna’s new roommate. She also asked why they had arrived so late, at which point Penny had made up a story about heavy turbulence, which Dana supposed wasn’t entirely untrue… She hated to lie to their new friends, but she also remembered Victoria’s stern instructions not to reveal what had transpired during their flight, and so Dana found herself confirming her roommate’s tale.
“Yeah, we were havin’ a meal when it happened,” Dana explained. “One minute, everything was calm and peaceful as can be, and the next, everything went totally crazy! We all got thrown around the room like we were in a pinball machine, or somethin! Oh, and I’m Dana Noel!” she added with a grin after realizing that she’d forgotten to introduce herself. “I’m from Norba, and I’m currently roomin’ with Penny, here. She’s pretty awesome! You guys should have seen her when the turbulence hit!” Dana continued to gush. “She punched this piece of furniture that was about to hit me and broke it clean in half! It was the coolest thing!”
Maybe it wasn’t exactly what had happened, Dana reflected, but it was close enough. And, after all, what Penny had really done was even more awesome by far…
The mouth of Connie’s mask drooped into a frown as Amanda explained that there really wasn’t much they could do about the whole “imminent dimensional collapse” thing, although the bespectacled magician did seem to be making some sort of portal, so perhaps that could be used as a means of escape. Then Connie gasped. “O-Oh my gosh! I-I c-completely f-forgot about her! Y-You m-mean M-Magical D-Dream Princess, r-right?! S-She was w-with us in the m-mansion, a-and she was r-really s-sweet and adorable, b-but s-she d-didn’t come t-through the p-portal w-with us, s-so s-she m-must s-still b-be i-inside!” Connie rambled nervously as the reality of MDP’s situation fully dawned on her. “M-Mia!” she cried, clinging to her friend. “W-We h-have to go b-back and s-save her!”
“Be at peace, little sister,” Gaia told her soothingly. “Despite her peculiarities, if what we have seen of her power is any indication, our childish friend is more than capable of handling herself. So, I take it you are acquainted with her Highness, the Princess of Dreams, as well?” she asked Amanda. “Was your concern for her safety what brought you to this desolate place?”
It made a certain kind of sense that two magical girls of the same rare specialization would know each other, but Gaia still found it interesting that these two particular girls were acquainted, perhaps even friends. They were just so different from each other, with Amanda seeming like something of a quiet bookworm type, and MDP being, well, MDP… Then again, the same was true of her and Connie, and the verdant magical girl couldn’t help but smile at the thought that two such incredibly different people would end up becoming best friends, despite how unlikely it seemed.
Magical Dream Princess
3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 4 | 9 | 4 | 19 | 8
Oddball: Sweet Dreams | Barrage
Wealth and Resources (not while tf'd) | Enhanced Weapon | Power Artifact | Dual Weapon | Natural Aging | Money
Focused | Mental Link | Hidden Death | Mana Font | Mystic Might
MDP watched with childish wonder as Mayra used her magic to rocket over and catch Mariette before the stunned girl could fall to the ground (or into the clutches of an enemy, although MDP was having a hard time differentiating friend from foe at the moment…). Conjuring a pair of pink pompoms, the innocent magical girl began an energetic cheer routine.
“Mayra Wayra~! Mayra Wayra~! Go~! Go~! Goooo~! (giggle!) Yaaay~! Mayra Wayra saved Mariettey Wetty~!” MDP cheered as she cartwheeled over to where Mayra was standing and gave the draconic monster girl a big hug. “Wowie zowie~!” she exclaimed a moment later as something new caught her attention. “Samurai-chan is here too~! (giggle!) But, like, Mariettey Wetty is over heresie, silly willy~! (giggle!)” she added, tilting her head in slight confusion.
Why was the tiny Samurai heading over to apparently do battle with that cute little slime harpy? Wait… Now that she focused more carefully (not the easiest thing for MDP, but she can sometimes manage), the two girls actually looked a bit alike… They were both rather small, and they appeared quite similar in other areas as well… Could the two be related somehow?! Was this going to be some climactic confrontation in some epic family feud?!!
MDP had no idea, but she couldn’t wait to find out!
The day following their arrival at Nova Lux was a whirlwind of events. It seemed like Dana had just climbed out of bed, and, before she even knew it, she was sitting down for dinner in the academy’s cafeteria. Despite all that, she was still in high spirits and full of her characteristic energy.
“I can’t wait to use real magic, it’s going to be awesome!” one of the other cadets was saying.
“You bet it is!” Dana agreed with a happy giggle. “My heart’s racing just imagining it!”
Penny swiftly brought Dana back down to earth with a rather gloomy idea.
“That’s kinda depressing,” Dana observed with a nervous giggle. “But I don’t think it’s anything to worry about,” she hastened to add. “I mean, we went through a buncha prelim tests back home, and I doubt they’d go through all the hassle of bringin’ us here, if there was any chance we’d just have to be sent home again.”
“What do you think you’ll look like after you transform?” Another girl asked.
“Probably just like my normal awesome self, only even more badass,” her friend replied with a confident grin.
“Yeah!” Dana added. “From what I’ve heard, ya don’t really change all that much. Ya just get a super cool outfit, based on your personality and your mental image of your ideal magical self! So, like, I’ll probably look a lot like Beautiful Guardian Gunslinger Alexis! And my Gladius’ll probably be some kinda super cool magitech pistol, or somethin’! Whadya think, Penny?!” she asked her roommate excitedly. “Wouldn’t it be awesome if ya looked like Magical Maid Altea?!”
“Hmmm… I believe it may very well be, little sister,” Gaia noted thoughtfully after Connie said she might have seen Amanda, of all people, arrive with two other figures.
Although the other two had sprung off into battle, the bespectacled magician seemed to be staying put. She also seemed a bit nervous…
A possible reason for that presented itself a moment later, when a twin tailed girl poked her head out of one of the mansion’s windows and shouted a warning that the whole dimension was starting to collapse.
“T-The d-dimension is c-collapsing?!” Connie exclaimed, the masked girl’s terror clearly evident in her voice. “W-What s-should we d-do, Mia?!”
“First, we should make our way beyond the bounds of this Null Field,” Gaia advised. “We can do virtually nothing, while trapped within its confines.”
“O-Okay,” Connie agreed. “A-And, l-like, m-maybe Amanda can h-help…”
As they made their way over to where the lavender-haired girl was standing, the two friends felt their connection to their magic slowly begin to return, a good sign that they were leaving the bounds of Leena’s Null Field.
“H-Hi, Amanda!” Connie called to the bespectacled magician, giving her a hesitant wave and a nervous smile. “D-Do you k-know a-anything about -w-what’s h-happening?! D-Do y-you k-know of a-any w-way to s-stop it?!”
Magical Dream Princess
3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 4 | 9 | 4 | 19 | 8
Oddball: Sweet Dreams | Barrage
Wealth and Resources (not while tf'd) | Enhanced Weapon | Power Artifact | Dual Weapon | Natural Aging | Money
Focused | Mental Link | Hidden Death | Mana Font | Mystic Might
“Weeeee~! (giggle!)” MDP cheered as Mayra tossed her up through the hole in the ceiling and onto the mansion’s roof. “Like, super duper thankie wankies, Mayra Wayra~! (giggle!)” she told her new friend, while giving the draconic monster girl a big smile of appreciation.
Taking note of the situation, her eyes widened in excitement.
“Wowie zowie~! There’s, like, soooo many people weple up heresie~! (giggle!) Golly wolly~!” she exclaimed upon catching sight of a particular cat girl. “Like, is that Dina Wina~?! She looks so super duper edgy wedgy and stuff~! (giggle!) So, like, what does Mayra Wayra thinkie winkie we should do nowie~?! Does Mayra Wayra have some kinda winda super duper awsome wosome plany wany thingie wingie~?! Does she~?! Does she~?! Does she~?!” MDP asked with innocent glee. This was all just so exciting! She had no idea what was going to happen next!
Connie’s head was spinning. Before she had even known what was happening, she had been scooped up and carried through a portal. She had also been shot by an enchanted wind blast. This last item had resulted in an excruciatingly painful wound to her shoulder. Indeed, the pain was so intense that the masked girl was barely cognizant of the chaotic events transpiring around her, at least until Ronin appeared at her side and applied some healing magic to her wound.
“T-Thanks, Ronin,” she managed to tell the small samurai in a shaky voice as the pain gradually subsided.
“Connie!” Gaia exclaimed in relief as she rushed over to kneel down beside her friend. “Thank goodness you’re all right! And my sincerest thanks to you as well,” she added, turning to Ronin. “I am truly in your debt.”
Before the small samurai could respond, Leena gave voice to an incantation that manifested an enormous magical nullification field. Although it was somewhat shocking to have the link to their magic severed so abruptly, Ronin seemed to see it as an opportunity. Gaia, however, was far less optimistic.
“I am sorry to say that neither Connie, nor I are particularly capable, when it comes to physical combat,” the verdant magical girl replied to Ronin’s inquiry about their non-magical capabilities. “Since we both rely so heavily on our mystical prowess, I fear we are essentially useless, as long as this nullification field remains in effect.”
If she was being honest, Gaia supposed she could have kept up with Ronin using her rather impressive agility, but, as she’d said, she had little practice with hand to hand combat, and there was no way she would ever leave Connie alone in a situation like this.
At this point, Ronin noticed that Alicia was heading for Mariette, and, not wasting a second, darted off after her.
“I-I r-really w-wish we c-could h-help her…” Connie said as Gaia helped her up, her mask displaying an exceptionally sullen visage.
“There is nothing we can do about it, little sister,” Gaia replied, while gently running her fingers through her friend’s hair. “Besides, after seeing you in such agony, I must admit I am exceedingly reluctant to place you in yet another dangerous situation so soon.”
As if to emphasize that point, they heard Ronin call out in alarm. Turning to face the source of her cry, the two friends were met with the sight of Sakura sprawled on the ground, blood pouring from a nasty wound in her chest.
“M-Miss Sakura!” Connie gasped.
Thankfully, just as Ronin reached the pink-haired girl, the Beacon magical boy from back at the meeting showed up and began mending her wounds. This left Ronin free to continue her mission, and would also hopefully ensure Sakura’s survival. Everywhere Connie looked, everyone seemed to be doing something productive, everyone, except her and Gaia. She desperately wanted to be of use, but she had no idea how. There had to be something she and Gaia could do, but what? It was then that Connie noticed three figures materialize a short distance away, one of whom was a bespectacled girl with lavender hair…
“O-Oh my g-gosh…” Connie whispered in stunned surprise. “I-Is t-that Amanda?!”
(Note- I am working under the assumption that this all takes place before Josefin pokes her head out the window.)