&
It was at Valkyrie’s home. A proper little house, apparently, located somewhere in Penrose. Valkyrie had left to the Overcity for a time, but allowed Deni and Eli to settle down inside her home to ensure it wasn’t unoccupied during her absence. Which made it a great, completely free house of residence for the two to live within and form new memories! They’d invited new friends, so the two were taking the time to make a lemon curd tart to serve to their friends! Deni had taken to baking during her stay in Penrose since she came back, and Eli was more than happy to help out! They were probably doing that, when…
“Umm, R-Ronin?” a hesitant voice called out after a brief knock on the door.
“I-It’s us, C-Connie and Mia! M-May we c-come in?”Deni smiled, nodded to Eli who stayed in the kitchen, and then skipped towards the door. She was still transformed, because being seen untransformed could cause a problem, yet, she didn’t look like she had the previous time they’d met.
‘Absolutely! Come on in! I warn, I look a little different, but it’s still me!’ she said, opening the door for them and letting them see her new look. It was still asian-inspired, but she was now 11 instead of 7, and the attire was shorter and blue instead. The effects of a Red Coin, she briefly wondered if her friends knew of those.
“O-Oh, wow!” Connie exclaimed at how her friend had changed.
“W-Were you j-just disguised b-before, a-and this is how you r-really look?” she asked.
“Whatever the case, you look good!” Mia complemented.
“I love the new color palette.”Deni smirked at Connie’s exclamation. Right, time to be Ronin.
‘Thanks! But, nope! This is how I look now. You know what a Red Coin is? Well, I used one! I had a special reason to!’ she said, skipping back.
‘C’mon, let’s go to the kitchen!’“Uh, n-no, I-I’ve n-never heard of R-Red Coins before,” Connie admitted.
“B-But if e-everything’s all right, t-then I g-guess it’s f-fine?” she added, still a little unsure of why her friend would need to make use of such a thing.
“Yeah, we were kinda worried when you didn’t come through the portal to Dan’s place with us,” Mia added.
“Did ya get everything sorted out?”Ronin smirked.
‘Yeah, I did.’ She kept her sentence short, because she knew she had more to explain later.
“I-Is t-this your home, Ronin?” Connie asked as their friend led them to the kitchen.
“I-It’s r-really nice.”‘It actually belongs to a friend of mine called Valkyrie. She’s off in the Overcity right now, but she’s letting me borrow it!’ Ronin said, and then they turned and entered the kitchen, where…
Someone had been baking for them. Specifically, a rather large lemon curd tart had been prepared, and someone who looked a lot like Ronin was placing it on the table with a couple plates, wearing a red longer attire, giving them a smile as they came in.
‘Welcome, Mia, Connie. Make yourselves at home,’ she said, just smiling for now, and Ronin kept a close look at the reactions of her friends.
Upon catching sight of Eli, Connie gave a small gasp of surprise, not expecting anyone else to be here.
“Oh! Umm, h-hello,” Connie told her, while holding up her hand and giving a shaky wave.
“A-And t-thank you,” she added with a smile as she sat down.
“Yeah, thanks for havin’ us!” Mia said with a grin.
“So, I guess you're one of Ronin’s friends, huh? Or maybe a relative?” she added thoughtfully, after noting the strong resemblance between the two.
‘I am. I’m her sister. You may… call me Miko. I apologize about not using our real names, there’s some people that’d hunt us down if they knew our real names, so we want to keep those under as much wraps as possible,’ the apparently newly named Miko said.
‘Haha, didn’t you say that Miko didn’t fit because you had no spirit specialization?’ Ronin asked, chuckling a bit.
‘Eh, it’s short and sweet,’ Miko said, shrugging. Ronin skipped to beside Miko.
‘So, we’d like to extend our thanks that you came to help me try to save Mariette. I… didn’t tell you, but I was also on a quest to save my sister. I’m sorry about that. But now, I am in your debt! Thank you… so much!’ Ronin said, bowing down deeply.
‘It’s partly thanks to you that I’m free now. Not only that, but we managed to remove Mariette’s brainwashing. We want that to be kept a secret, too, don’t go telling people about that. But now, Mariette can escape on her own when she wants to. You helped with that, too. Thank you, so much for helping my sister!’ Miko bowed to them too, both sisters bowing to them with gratitude.
“I-It’s v-very nice to m-meet you,” Connie told Miko after the later had introduced herself.
“Likewise,” Mia grinned, glad to see that her suspicions of a family resemblance had been proven correct.
“And don’t worry about the name thing,” she added.
“It’s totally understandable. I mean, I usually don’t go around advertising my true identity when I’m out doing magical girl stuff, either. Heck, some people even go so far as to adopt a whole new personality, though I can see why you might not wanna take things that far.”Then the two sisters thanked them for their help, and Connie felt a blush color her cheeks.
“O-Oh! U-Umm, y-you’re v-very welcome! A-And I’m s-so glad to hear that!” she added, giving the twins a big smile.
“Yeah,” Mia agreed.
“We’re just happy we could help. Seein’ you two together like this is all the thanks we need.”‘You followed me into a death-trap of a mansion to help. You can tell me that’s all you need, but I am going to be forever willing to jump into the fire for you if you ever need me to!’ Ronin raised her head to say, grinning widely.
‘The Magical Dream Princess, too. You all helped us. Please, if you ever do need anything, don’t hesitate to talk to us. We will always be ready,’ Miko said, raising her head and looking happy.
‘Buuuut, since you don’t seem like the kind to send us into sudden danger just yet, I did the next best thing and let you experience the fruit of my labour! I made a lemon curd tart!’ Ronin said, skipping and smiling as she gestured towards the not-entirely-professional-quality pastry available.
‘Emphasis on “lemon”. She put way too much lemon in it,’ Miko said, giggling a bit.
‘Eeeeeeeh, it’s probably still good! Have some cream!’ Ronin said, skipping over to grab a bowl of cream to bring over to the table.
“I-It looks d-delicious!” Connie told them happily after Ronin presented her culinary creation.
“Don’t mind if I do!” Mia added when the excitable samurai girl offered them some cream.
“Y-You k-know,” Connie said after a moment, while reaching into a coat pocket.
“T-There actually is someplace w-we’d like to i-invite you to,” she explained, producing two colorful slips of paper.
“D-Dan the D-Dolphin is hosting a b-big Christmas Party at his b-beach dimension. I-It s-sounds like it’ll be a l-lot of f-fun, s-so we’d be r-really h-happy if you s-said you'd come!”“And those invitations are magical,” Mia added.
“Just think about wanting more, and they’ll duplicate as many times as you’d like.”‘Ooooh, a party! Thank you!’ Ronin said, reaching over and grabbing the papers. She then excitably looked over at Miko.
‘We going?’‘We going,’ Miko shrugged with a smirk.
‘We going!’ Ronin cheered, before handing the pie-cutter over to the guests.
Then they ate away the evening, taking part in Ronin’s newly developed exceedingly sour but still kinda good lemon curd tart. It was a good time.
It was a regular night of patrol for the Ascendancy, as FanFan jumped from rooftop to rooftop, surveying the scene.
“Hmm, it’s become rather quiet after the whole shebacle in that other dimension,” she mused to herself, when she came to the fairgrounds at the city harbor. The place has been closed for winter, and so wasn’t hit as hard by the destructive events that had happened afterwards. This gave FanFan an idea. “I’ll go check this place out and go down the harbor,” she informed her comrades-in-arms. “See ya in 30 minutes at the bank~”. She then went down to the fairgrounds, and decided to take a stroll. “Ah, such a nice place, beautiful even when closed down...”
Perhaps unsurprisingly for such a whimsical girl, MDP had the exact same idea, seeing the fairgrounds as a perfect place to play around and test out her magic. Upon catching sight of the elegant Ascendancy girl, she gave a squeal of delight.
“Wowie zowie~! (giggle!) Like, you’re that pretty witty person werson with the metal wetal armsie warmsies that Magical Dream Princess, like, totally wotally forgot the namey wamey of~!” the cheerful girl exclaimed.
“Super sorries about that…” she added in a more sullen tone.
“She wanted to talk with you super duper bad, but, like, since she didn’t remember wember your namey wamey, she didn’t know if she’d ever wever be able to find you again, but, like, Magical Dream Princess was super duper lucky enough to find you heresie weresie, so, like everythingie wingie is okie doki nowie~! (giggle!)” After finishing her rambling explanation, the bubbly girl gave FanFan a big hug.
“Like, heresie~!” she added after they’d separated, while producing a colorful piece of paper.
“Magical Dream Princess wanted to invite you to a super duper fun Christmas Wistmas Party~! (giggle!) All her friendy wendies will be there, and one of them is this super duper adorable worable dolly wolly person werson, who just wuvs tea parties, and Magical Dream Princess would absolutelylutely wuv if you could come, and then we could have a super duper cute tea party together wether~! (giggle!)”FanFan lightly gasped in surprise with her hands on her cheeks as MDP greeted her. “Magical Dream Princess! Oh, it is absolutely delightful to meet you again~” She didn’t seem upset at all about her name being forgotten, and politely hugged MDP back with the help of her metal arms, showing a surprising tenderness to them. “No need to be sorry. FanFan is a foreign name, so it can be difficult to remember at first~”.
Then MDP gave her an invitation, to which the Ascendancy girl looked astonished.
“For me? Oh, you shouldn’t have! I would love to join you, thank you!” She opened the invitation and read it, and a curious expression came to her.. “Dan the Dolphin? Is this the same dolphin I saw in the other dimension? Are you friends with them, MDP?”
“Yeperoonie~! (giggle!)” MDP replied.
“She, like, totally wotally is~! Danny Wanny is, like, sooo super duper nicey wicey, and sooo totally wotally adorable worable that Magical Dream Princess can’t imagine wagine anybodywody not being friendy wendies with him~! (giggle!)” she added, smiling at the thought of the whimsical dolphin.
FanFan seemed to first stare at MDP, before she let out a curt giggle. “Oh, that’s good to hear. I must admit, I was a bit worried that he might be a familiar or demon that Mariette conjured up, but it seems I was misguided~”. She went over to a carousel, and petted one of the wooden horses. “Ah, this reminds me of when I was young.”
“Like, Danny Wanny’s nothing wothing like that~! (giggle!)” MDP replied after FanFan had voiced her concerns about the dolphin’s nature.
“Danny Wanny’s a Lesser Wesser Forcey Worcey~! At least, that's what he said when Magical Dream Princess asked~! (giggle!)”FanFan then proceeded to admire the horses of a nearby carousel, which caused MDP to bounce over while giggling with glee.
“Like, those are such pretty witty horsesie worsesies~! (giggle!) Magical Dream Princess always wanted to come heresy weresie and ride them, but Daddy Waddy wouldn’t let her!” the childish girl explained with a cute pout.
“But, like, now that Magical Dream Princess is a magical wagical girl, she can come visit wisit the horsesie worsesies anywany timey wimey she wants~! (giggle!) Like, did FanFany WanWany’s mommy and daddy let her come to this placey wacey and ride the horsesie worsesies~?!” she asked excitedly.
“That must have been, like, sooo super duper fun~! (giggle!)”FanFan nodded. “Yes...It was a long time ago, but I vividly remember when dear mother took me to the fair. It was something we did every year, in fact.” She looked out towards the ocean, reminiscing. “I remember how we would first take a tour around all the attractions, basking in that excitement, followed by some cotton candy. Then we’d buy souvenirs, and I’d always get one of those little pendants. They were like lucky charms to me.”
Her tone changed.
“However, it was one day when my fortune was reversed...That was when I lost my parents to the demons.”
MDP listened to FanFan with a happy smile, until the Ascendancy girl mentioned losing her parents. To
demons…
“Golly wolly!” the whimsical girl exclaimed, her eyes tearing up and her hands covering her mouth in horror.
“That’s, like, super duper awful waful! Magical Dream Princess is, like, sooo super duper sorry you had to go through something so terrible werrible!” MDP told FanFan, while giving the elegantly attired girl a big hug.
“Magical Dream Princess lost her mommy wommy, too,” the childish girl confided.
“She got super duper sicky wicky when Magical Dream Princess was very wery little wittle, but Magical Dream Princess still remember wembers how nicey wicey she was, and she still misses her lots and lots…”“Oh, my condolences for your loss. I’m sure your mother would be proud of you. After all, you’re a magical girl blessed with the power to bring justice to this world.”She seemed to brighten up afterwards as a smile came to her face. “Shall we go look at the pier now?”
“The pier~?” MDP asked after FanFan seemed to cheer back up.
“Magical Dream Princess guesses wesses we could~ She always wanted to walk along the pier, especially wecially this close to Christmas Wistmas, when it’s decorated with all those pretty witty lights~!” the cheerful girl explained.
“But she doesn’t thinky winky we’ll see any wany of those tonight…” she added, looking around the darkened fairgrounds.
FanFan and MDP went to the pier, and just as MDP assumed, there were no decorations this year. She seemed to be deep in thought, until an idea came to her. “Oh, I know! If you want to see lights, I’m sure the carousel will illuminate brilliantly.” They went back to the carousel, where FanFan gracefully opened the door to the control station, using her Metal magic to remove the lock, turning it into a tiny statue of a nutcracker soldier in her hands.
“These are traditionally made of wood, but nonetheless, I would like you to have this~”
“Wowie zowie~! For Magical Dream Princess~?!” the whimsical girl exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with delight as she beheld the small figure.
“Like, super duper thankie wankies~! (giggle!) Magical Dream Princess, like, totally wotally wuvs it~! (giggle!)” she added, giving FanFan a big hug.
FanFan graciously accepted the hug again. "You're welcome. Now, are you ready?" She pressed the switch on, and the carousel lighted up; numerous colors now surrounded the ride, placed into the central pillar as well as into the collars of the toy horses that now began to move. Cheerful music accompanied the whimsical sight.
"Ah, how nostalgic~" FanFan mused.
“Yaaay~! (giggle!)” MDP cheered, jumping up and down, while clapping her hands with glee.
“FanFany WanWany woke up the merry werry go round~! (giggle!) It’s, like, sooo pretty witty~!” she added, while staring at the spinning collection of lights in childish wonderment.
“Magical Dream Princess never ever got to see one of these thingie wingies in person werson, beforsie~! It’s even better than she imagined wagined~! (giggle!) Like, does FanFany WanWany wanna ride on the horsie worsies~?!” she asked excitedly.
“Cause, like, Magical Dream Princess would totally wotally wuv it if we could ride them together wether~! (giggle!)”“I would love to~” FanFan clapped her hands together with a sweet smile, and then proceeded to ride one of the toy horses. As they rode, FanFan seemed to be thinking.
“Magical Dream Princess, you are truly a wonder upon the world of magical girls. You know, we could use someone like you over on Beacon; someone who can dazzle the world with such many colors.”
“Beacon Weacon~?” MDP asked, tilting her head.
“That namey wamey sounds familiar wiliar…” she added thoughtfully, while tapping a finger against her cheek.
FanFan out a hand over her mouth, visibly surprised. "Oh, you haven't heard of us? Beacon's an organization of magical girls who have united over the cause of bringing the light of peace and prosperity to the world. Together, we fight monsters, rescue civilians, and make sure the day is saved, as it were~" She stood up on her toy horse, easily balancing on it as it continued spinning around the carousel. "And we could have a spot of tea every day. Doesn't that sound lovely?"
“Wowie zowie~! Like, that soundy woundies super duper wuvly~! (giggle!)” MDP exclaimed cheerfully, her eyes glittering with wondrous excitement.
“But, umm, Magical Dream Princess already has a Patron Watron person werson…” she explained, sounding a little apologetic. Brightening a bit, she added,
“But, like, even if she can’t join Beacon Weacon, Magical Dream Princess would still really really wuv to work together wether with FanFany WanWany and all her other friendy wendies~! (giggle!) Would that be okie dokie~?” she asked, her face taking on a hopeful expression.
FanFan pouted, and crossed her arms. "I suppose...But it really would be a great opportunity. How about you one day come and visit our headquarters here in Penrose?" She jumped off the carousel. "Once you get to meet some of my sisters in battle, I'm sure you'd understand better."
“Like, Magical Dream Princess thinks that soundy woundies like super duper fun~! (giggle!)” the whimsical girl replied.
“Like, making new friendy wendies is, like, the super duper besty westiest~! (giggle!) And, like, that remindy windies her of something womething~!” she added, her eyes glittering with joy.
“That invitation wation thingie wingie Magical Dream Princess gave you is totally wotally magical wagical, so it can, like, duplicaty watey, so you can give one to everybodywody at Beacon Weacon~! (giggle!)”FanFan blinked, and one of her metallic arms picked the invitation from a pocket.
“Oh, is that so? In that case I’m sure to bring in a plus one~”
The carousel slowed down to a stop, and FanFan offered her hand to MDP as she got off the ride. “When would you like to come visit, then? Next Saturday, perhaps?”
“Like, Magical Dream Princess has to check her schedule wedule thingie, but she thinky winkies that might work~! (giggle!)” she told FanFan as the Ascendancy girl helped her off the carousel.
“And, like, if FanFany WanWany wants to keep in touchy wouchy, Magical Dream Princess can give you her phoney woney number wumber~! (giggle!) Ta daaa~!” she announced as she produced a bright pink phone, covered in stickers and glitter.
“Like, this is Magical Dream Princess’s special wecial magical wagical girl phoney woney~! (giggle!) She decorated it aaaall by her selfy welfy~! (giggle!) Like, she added all these super duper cute thingie wingies to it, like hearts, and stars, and rainbows, and unicorns, and kitty witties…” she continued to ramble, pointing to each item like an excited child at show and tell.
“And, like, the very best part is that her number wumber is right heresie as soon as she presses wesses this button wutton thingie~! (giggle!)” the hyperactive magical girl finally concluded with a big smile.
“Like, she had to do that as her normal wormal selfey welfy, so that she could find it when she was Magical Dream Princess, cause, like, otherwise she’d totally wotally forget how to do it~! (giggle!)”“Ooh, fashionable~” FanFan commented with restrained glee upon seeing MDP’s phone. “Mine isn’t as pretty as yours, but it serves its job well enough.” She had a smartphone made with a sleek, white design. “But I would love to try decorating mine too. Perhaps you’d know of some good keychains for it.” She shared her phone number with MDP. “I’m not really supposed to give this number to any non-Beacon members, but I trust that you’ll keep it a secret. Pinky promise?”
She asked, holding her pinky out.
“Pinky winky promise~! (giggle!)” MDP declared with an exuberant smile, while linking her own pinky with FanFan’s.
“And, like, Magical Dream Princess would just wuv to helpy welpy FanFany WanWany decorate her phoney woney, too~! (giggle!)” she added, giving FanFan a playful wink.
“Like, Magical Dream Princess is gonna write herselfy welfy a note right nowie, so she doesn’t forget~!”“Alrighty~” FanFan giggled. “Goodbye for now then. See you soon!” She waved to the magical girl, and then left, using her metallic arms to swing under lightpoles like a mechanical monkey.
“Okie dokie~! (giggle!) Bye bye for nowie~!” she called, waving excitedly as FanFan departed. Giggling happily, she jumped on a newly-conjured unicorn pegasus and flew off into the winter skies in search of more nightmares to banish.
&
, focused on the pins ahead of her. There was an alley. Ten pins. The ball in her hand. She took a deep breath, and… she rolled the bowling ball with a dramatic swing, releasing her grip of it just as her hand left the lowest part! The bowling ball took off at a dramatic speed, smashing straight into the pins! In a dramatic fashion, the pins flew in all directions, taking down all of them in one fell swoop!
‘YES! GOT THEM!’ the untransformed Mayra yelled out happily as she skipped on the spot, just about time for her invited friends to arrive at the abandoned bowling alley that Mayra had her technical friends hack to make functional for her.
“M-Mayra…?” a timid voice called out.
“A-Are y-you in h-here?”A moment later, a transformed Connie would emerge into view, followed by Gaia, close behind. The masked girl and her verdant friend had been patrolling the city, when Mayra had texted them, asking to meet up.
“Bowling, hmm?” Gaia observed with an approving smile.
“That might be rather enjoyable.” ‘Oh, yes! I’m here, I’m here!’ Mayra replied, skipping over to where Connie and Mia was coming in. She waved at them with both hands.
‘Yepp, it’s me! Just got my disguise on! It’s just SO much more satisfying when I succeed without using my normal dragon strength…!’ she said, laughing a bit about it.
‘You like it, too? It’s really kinda fun! Perfect accuracy, needed over and over, except I can do it on varying angles and spins, and, haha!’ Mayra laughed a bit over Gaia’s apparent interest in it
‘Anyways!’ Mayra’s gaze sharpened towards Connie.
‘Are we ready!?’ she asked, eyes positively sparkling.
Connie couldn’t help but giggle at Mayra’s excited ramblings, but her amused expression dissolved into a slight frown a moment later.
“U-Uhh… R-Ready for w-what?” the masked girl asked, more than a little confused.
‘We were going to give me a nightmare, right!?’ Mayra asked, eyes still shining.
“O-Oh! U-Uhh, I g-guess we c-could d-do that n-now…” Connie conceded somewhat hesitantly. She really didn’t like the idea of giving one of her friends nightmares, but Mayra
did seem very enthusiastic about it…
“Are you certain about this, Mayra?” Gaia asked, slightly concerned.
“The nightmares my dearest Connie creates draw upon your deepest fears and have the potential to be highly unpleasant.”Mayra grinned eagerly at Connie’s acceptance, and then turned her head to grin at Gaia when she asked if she was sure.
‘I couldn’t tell you what my deepest fears are. I’m REALLY curious, what’s my nightmare? Can I beat it? What effect will it have on me? What will break first? Oooooh, I get tingly just thinking about it-!’ she said, clutching her fists, her eyes still sparkling. She looked back to Connie.
‘Should I be my normal self? I was thinking maybe I should be human-me to not endanger you while I’m in the dream? Or maybe that’d make the dream worse? How about it!?’ Mayra asked, highly enthusiastic.
“Umm, I d-don’t think it r-really m-matters,” Connie would tell her.
“I-I was g-gonna p-place you in a N-Nightmare B-Barrier,” the masked girl went on to explain.
“S-So, uh, t-that should p-prevent you f-from h-hurting us, or a-anything else h-here…” She was still worried, not so much for herself, but for Mayra.
“I-If y-you’re sure t-this is w-what you r-really want, t-then I g-guess w-we can s-start now…”Raising a hand towards Mayra, Connie conjured a Nightmare Barrier, centered on the dragon girl. Sickly tendrils of dark energy swirled out of the masked girl’s hand to coalesce into an obsidian dome. Harsh flashes of amethyst lightening briefly illuminated that dreadful pocket dimension, revealing the shadowy forms of twisted tentacles, wicked spikes, clusters of unblinking eyes, and various warped faces frozen in horrific torment. Whether or not any of this bothered Mayra in the slightest was rendered immaterial a moment later, when Connie charged the barrier with a massive, focused Nightmare Pulse, after which, the dragon girl would suddenly find herself someplace altogether different…
‘Okay!’ Mayra said, and as the dark tendrils swirled out from Connie, Mayra released her human disguise and then briefly flexed her muscles in her dragon form, tail swinging a bit as she excitedly focused forward. Mayra was inherently unfazed by most things that Connie first showed her, but then-
Mayra suddenly found herself randomly in a normal living room. There was a table for eating, a TV on the side, a couch, shelves, windows, a door, etc. There’s a garden outside the window. She looked around in confusion. She’d really expected something that she was going to fight against. Immediately bored of this environment, the dragon girl walked over to the door, gripped the handle and pulled. Not only did it not open, it didn’t even budge. Somewhat irked, Mayra punched a fireball into it, expecting it to be blasted off its hinges. The fire impacted and dispersed, and… nothing... happened? The door stood entirely unharmed.
Realizing she was trapped, Mayra went around and kicked and slamed into every surface of the room, trying to find a way out. Nothing. The furniture inside the room were easy enough to destroy, but it brought her no pleasure because she still couldn’t get out. Worse, destroying that furniture made the room even more featureless, making Mayra want to leave even more. The garden outside the windows remained unchanged and free, but Mayra couldn’t get there. She struck at the window trying to force her way outside, but the unbreakable window
just wouldn’t let her.
She felt time pass. Seconds were minutes were hours were days, an ungodly amount of time. She felt alone and scared, two feelings she had to contemplate the fact she could feel at all. Even if she hadn't actually been experiencing this for too long, she felt like she's been here forever. And... it feels like the room is getting smaller. Mayra had a startling realization. The room
was getting smaller, very slowly, over an exceptionally long amount of time…
Grabbed by a panic unlike what she had ever felt before, she slammed herself against the window, blazing up an inferno using all her fire-powers and punched as hard as she could into the window, managing only to hurt herself. After enough punching and kicks, her hands and knees were bleeding, and the window wasn’t even singed. She screamed at the window as she slammed her head into it, but once again, she only succeeded in making her forehead bleed. She stumbled back, gasping a bit and would have fallen over, but the room was now so small she couldn't even fall backwards. Her back just hit the wall. She’d been trying to break the window for that long.
The room was so small she couldn’t strike the window properly. Unable to give up, she still tried to strike the window, which still showed the unchanged vision of freedom just outside. Mayra screamed and filled the tiny room with fire as her panic continued, and she once again felt like she was stuck in there for far, faaaar longer than she actually was, trapped in a tiny pocket all alone and unable to get away...
Mayra woke up. She winced, gasping for air, strings of smoke and fire flowing off her scaly body within the barrier. She sat up, taking deep breaths, contemplating what she had just experienced with wide eyes. Okay, seemed like she could have nightmares, after all. She straightened her back, growling and stretched out her limbs, relieved to be able to stretch them out again, relaxing with closed eyes, not saying a word to the ones who put her in the nightmare for now…
… Then Mayra grinned widely, opening a determined pair of eyes at Connie, bringing her dragon hands together and cracked her knuckles loudly.
‘Again.’ Having dispersed the Nightmare Barrier shortly after Mayra had woken up, Connie was stunned when the draconic girl asked to go through the whole thing
again. Connie had watched Mayra’s experience via her mystic artifact, or at least the beginnings of it, and was horrified by what she’d seen. Greatly distressed by how her friend was suffering, she had wanted to end the nightmare herself, but Gaia had persuaded her that such an action would be a great disservice to their friend. Mayra had asked for this, and it was only right to allow the monster girl to see it through to the end. Even so, Connie’s gentle heart couldn’t bear to put her friend through further suffering.
“A-Again…?” Connie asked, her mask displaying an incredibly concerned visage as she knelt down in front of Mayra, her trembling hands clasped over her heart.
“B-But w-why?!” she asked, black tears streaming down the cheeks of her mask. She was utterly unable to comprehend why anyone would want to voluntarily suffer such torment.
Mayra smiled, facing Connie’s disbelief straight on. She looked intently at her.
‘It was unlike any challenge I have ever faced before. It wasn’t a challenge of strength, it was a challenge of the mind. I didn’t even know there were things I was afraid of. All my strength was useless against the power you command. You are amazing, Connie,’ the dragon girl said, meaning every word.
‘… But I haven’t given up yet! I lost this first round, but I want to go at it again! I’ll find some way to win! I’ll defeat your nightmare, and become even stronger for it! That’s why, that’s why I want to experience that again! I can confront my fears, and your magic at the same time! A challenge like no other! I… I’m so excited!’ Mayra said, breathing out a slight puff of flame extending only a decimeter from her mouth.
‘Will you please let me try again!?’ Mayra asked, clutching her fists, her expression one of eagerness. She did recognize that Connie wasn’t comfortable with it, but at the same time, this was just so… glorious…!
As Connie listened to Mayra’s words, she began to understand where her friend was coming from. The dragon girl wanted to conquer her fears, just like Connie herself did. Because of that, the masked girl reluctantly decided to grant her friend’s request.
“A-All right…” she conceded with a sigh of resignation.
“W-We can d-do it again. B-But I s-still feel like I’m b-being a bad friend…”Mayra grinned so happily.
‘I think you’re being awesome! You’re facing your own fears to let me challenge mine! That makes you the best of friends! Thanks, Connie!’ she said, exceedingly excited.
“O-Oh! U-Umm, y-you’re v-very welcome, Mayra,” Connie said with a smile as the cheeks of her mask turned a bright red.
“H-Hearing you s-say that m-means a l-lot.”‘Alright! With that covered, let’s do this again!’ Mayra said, stepping back from Connie again and taking a pose as if she was going to actually fight the nightmare, albeit armed with additional knowledge this time.
Once again, the Nightmare Barrier was conjured, and once again, Mayra would find herself in the same small, outwardly unthreatening room.
Inside the room again, Mayra grinned. She knew what she had to do. This wasn’t a challenge she could overcome with raw power! It was one of those “master your mind” kind of things! So, with determined moves, the dragon girl sank down onto crossed legs to sit, putting her hands on her legs, closed her eyes, and focused. She just had to not break down. If she didn’t break down, she’d have won. As simple as that.
…
…
…
…
…
So, uh. Just how long did she have to sit here?
She tightened her grip on her legs, blinking a little at the realization that nothing was changing. The imposing walls still closed in around her over an unbelievably long time and the teasing unbreakable window still promised freedom just out of her reach. It was thoroughly against her nature to sit still like this. Was it even helping? What was she even doing? Mayra shook her head, trying to get those thoughts out of her head, yet her heart-rate was increasing, her limbs starting to shake. It was taking so long. The walls were even closer now.
Mayra grunted, hanging her head, itching her eyes shut, clenching her fists. No, she wouldn’t let it! She wouldn’t break just by this! She was stronger than this! She gave an unintended whimper as some flames were coming off her body, from the stress she was feeling. She wasn’t built to stay still. Time was still passing, at an unbelievable pace, making her aware of how alone and trapped she was. The walls were closing in. Her whole body was shaking somewhat now. She was telling her body to cooperate, this wasn’t so bad, she knew what was really going on, and-
A piece of the approaching wall touched her foot. In sheer instinct, Mayra kicked at the wall with the full force of her leg, but the only thing she managed was to break her foot. With the pain surging through her, she lost any chance of staying still. She screamed, fire overtook the room once again, and she flailed in panic…
…
‘W-well darn, that didn’t work…!’ a panting Mayra eventually said, back in the real world, a hand on her heavily beating heart and eyes wide in alarm, her body all tense and breathing rapidly from the settling panic. Yet, her tone was weirdly cheerful for what she was commenting on, and her face still bore this wide smile of someone who was kinda amused by all of this.
‘R-right, maybe I should consider my tactics before I go again, haha,’ she chuckled, also stammering a little for maybe the first time in her life. … Though then she smirked a little wider at Connie.
‘… Or maybe I should just ram my head at it until it no longer scares me? That kinda sounds fun. Hahaha!’ she laughed some more, entertaining the idea.
For a moment, Connie just stared at her friend. She felt so bad that she was the one responsible for putting the dragon girl through this horrible ordeal and her body trembled at seeing the condition Mayra was in. But, somehow, the monster girl still seemed to want
more…“U-Ummm, i-if you t-think that will w-work…” Connie said hesitantly, still unsure if Mayra’s new plan would be at all viable.
“J-Just don’t h-hurt yourself, o-okay?” she added, placing a concerned hand on the dragon girl’s shoulder.
Mayra blinked a little in surprise at Connie placing a hand on her shoulder. From the touch, Mayra calmed down a bit, smiling.
‘Heh, to make you worry so about me, I must have been worse for wear,’ she said, and then her gaze flashed up with newfound determination, her fists clenching with incredible guts.
‘Don’t worry! I’ll show that dream who’s boss! With this boost in confidence of you caring about me, there’s no way I’ll lose! Count on it! Send me in again!’~Ten minutes later~
‘THE DREAM’S GOT TO BE CHEATING! I’m calming down, just as I have to, but the dream keeps, like, injecting despair into my head, IT’S GOT TO BE CHEATING! I wouldn’t panic that easily…!’ a somewhat alarmed Mayra complained with wide, frowning eyes, sitting shaking somewhat on the floor, some flames leaking out between her scales as she tried going over what went wrong in her head over and over, unconvinced at the result.
‘Grrr! Again!’ she requested, fists clenched.
~Twenty minutes later~
‘Could you like, I don’t know, make your nightmare not do that? Wait, right, that’d be pointless, I have to beat the nightmare as it is, or it won’t count!’ Mayra said, pacing back and forth over a bowling alley, frowning and walking with the pace of someone somewhat upset and really just had to move.
‘Maybe if I took some calming medication…? No, wait, that’d be cheating, too!’ she grunted, crossing her arms, stomping a bit with her foot.
‘Ooogh, thinking was never my strong suit! Get me in there again, I’ll figure something out!’ she requested, spinning around to Connie…!
~Thirty minutes later~
‘What am I doing wrong? I’m focusing all I have to try to accept the scene as it is. What am I so afraid of? It’s just a room! I don’t… I don’t get it,’ Mayra asked, kind of curled up to the side for a bit, bouncing with her legs somewhat.
‘I just… need to sit still for a long period of time. I just literally have to do nothing. Why is that so hard? Why do I always panic? I don’t get it. But even if I don’t get it, I won’t give up,’ she said, and turned over towards Connie, frowning.
‘Please, again!’ ~??? minutes later~
Mayra was lying prone on the floor, staring up at the ceiling, panting a bit. There was a decent amount of disbelief in her eyes, and her body was also completely exhausted.
‘I… I think… that’ll do it for today. Thank you, Connie. You win. Hahaha…’ she said, her voice kind of weak compared to earlier, yet she still chuckles, even when utterly floored. Looks like they were done with nightmares for now.
This was probably for the best, as, a moment later, a swirling, multi-colored vortex appeared above them and deposited a giggling young woman with pink hair. The speed of her descent was such that it caused her skirt to fly up, revealing frilly panties covered with smiling flowers.
“Ta-daaa~!” the whimsical girl announced in a cheery voice as she struck a cute pose.
“Magical Dream Princess is here to make all the nasty wasty nightmares go bye bye, nowie~! (giggle!) Huh~?” she added after she’d focused enough to fully take stock of the situation.
“Like, it was just you, Connie Wonnie~!” she exclaimed, her eyes brightening as a big smile spread across her face.
“And, like, Gaia Waia’s also heresie, and Mayra Wayra, too~! (giggle!) Magical Dream Princess is, like, so super duper happy to see you girls~! She sensed some super duper strong nightmare wightmare magic wagic, so she totally wotally thought she’d have to fight some meanie weanie heads, but now she gets to play with her friendy wendies instead~! (giggle!)” she cheered, bouncing up and down, while gleefully clapping her hands.
‘… Hey, it’s the pink princess…!’ Mayra said, grinning and waving to her, still lying where she was on the floor.
‘Connie’s got some awesome magic at her disposal. I insisted she use it on me until I beat it, but I haven’t been able to yet!’ she said, chuckling a bit at the end.
“I-I’m just g-glad I didn’t h-hurt you too b-badly….” A still concerned Connie told the dragon girl as she knelt down beside her.
“You wanted to have nightmare wightmares on purpose wurpose~?” MDP asked Mayra, tilting her head in obvious confusion.
“That’s, like, totally wotally crazy wazy!” she exclaimed, her expression one of complete shock.
‘But, if I beat the nightmare wightmare, that’d be totally wotally awesome sauceome, wouldn’t it?’ Mayra asked, grinning and copying MDP’s speech for a bit.
‘In any case, I’m totally fine! Connie’s really nice to me, haha,’ Mayra said, holding up a thumbs up, but because she was looking back at MDP, she was probably holding the thumb upside down and pointing down at the floor.
“Magical Dream Princess guesses wesses it could be…” the whimsical girl conceded, while seemingly thinking over her draconic friend’s words.
“But, like, you made poor Connie Wonnie super duper uncomfortable womfortable!” MDP admonished, while wagging her finger in a scolding motion.
“And that’s, like, totally wotally not okie dokie! Bad Mayra Wayra!”“I-It’s o-okay…!” Connie spoke up, hoping to calm MDP’s indignation.
“M-Mayra j-just w-wanted to o-overcome her f-fears,” the masked girl explained.
“A-And, as s-someone who w-wants to do the s-same, I was h-happy to help in a-any way I c-could!”“Yes, you did a very good thing, little sister,” Gaia concurred, kneeling down next to Connie and gently massaging the timid girl’s shoulders. Turning to address MDP, she added,
“And remember what I said at the beach dimension? About what happens when Connie doesn’t give enough nightmares? Well,” she continued while giving both Connie and Mayra a warm smile.
“I don’t think her Patron will have anything to complain about, after tonight.”“Sooo, Mayra Wayra and Connie Wonnie helpy welpied each other wother~?” MDP asked, before smiling with her characteristic joyful exuberance.
“Like, that makes Magical Dream Princess sooo super duper happy wappy~! (giggle!) Super duper sorries, Mayra Wayra…” she added.
“Magical Dream Princess didn’t understandy wandy everythingie wingie… But, like, Magical Dream Princess just noticed woticed~! This is a bowling woling placey wacey, isn’t it~?! Magical Dream Princess has never gone bowling woling beforsie, but she’d, like, totally wotally wuv to try it out nowie~! (giggle!) Can she~?!” the hyperactive girl asked excitedly.
“Can she~?! Can she~?! Can she~?!” Mayra totally had her own excuse prepared, but seemed like Gaia had it covered, so Mayra just grinned.
‘Wait, dreamie can sense nightmares? So, if Connie’s ever in trouble, can she just give herself a nightmare and you could sense it and come running?’ Mayra asked, curious if that’d work.
Then, upon bowling being reached.
‘Oh, yes!’ she called, suddenly flying back onto her feet like the earlier exhaustion was all in her head. It was, mental exhaustion, anyway!
‘Let’s do it! Let’s bowl together!’ she called, and then disguised herself as a human again to limit her incredible strength to show her capability in the art of bowling.
“Yaaay~!” MDP cheered.
“Bowling woling time~! Bowling woling time~! (giggle!) And, like, Magical Dream Princess can to totally wotally sense those nasty wasty nightmare wightmares~!” the whimsical girl added, answering Mayra’s earlier question.
“Like, she wouldn’t be able to stoppy woppy them if she couldn’t findy windy them~! (giggle!)” she noted with a playful wink.
“But, like, she’d never ever wever want Connie Wonnie to give herselfy welfy a nightmare wightmare, cause that would be, like, super duper mean to poor Connie Wonnie! And, like, if Connie Wonnie’s ever in trouble wouble, she has Gaia Waia to keep her safey wafey~! (giggle!) They are super duper best friendy wendies in the whole wide worldsie, after allsie~! (giggle!)”“W-We s-sure are!” Connie added, smiling as she gave her verdant friend a hug.
“B-But I’m s-so happy I was a-able to m-make so many n-new friends, too!” she added.
“I-I’ve n-never been able to d-do anything like this b-before, so I’m r-really looking forward to it!”“As am I, little sister,” Gaia agreed.
“Now then,” she added, picking up a green bowling ball and spinning it between her fingers.
“Shall we begin?”
Punished GN
FaithfulMuse
Blade17
Majoraa
Nyahahameha
BrokenPromise
Ariamis
PapaOso
Izurich
Vidalia
