Ocellus sat on a pillow on the ground, shuffling a deck of cards. An upside down notebook lay beside her, with her question for the tarot written on it. But for now, she didn’t have to worry about it, she just had to focus on the cards.
She drew a card and put it down in front of her, and then drew three more, placing them in a row right beside the first. Then three more in a row at a slight angle to the first, and another row at a slight angle to that, and a fourth as well to finish The Compass for four paths.
She put the deck on the notebook and concentrated on the cards in front of her, her hand being drawn to the central card she had put down first.
The Hermit, Ocellus thought after flipping it over. So the Tarot wants to tell me that the question is about knowing about oneself and being loyal to your true self.
“Lis?” she called to her Nachtmare friend sitting on the other end of the room.
“Yeah?”
“You didn’t mess with my cards again, did you?”
“Of course not!”
Ocellus turned back to her cards and uncovered the next one. Five of Coins. So the immediate future is brittle, so if I follow the first path, I will feel a shortage or need.
The third card turned out to be the Four of Swords. The mandatory break, as the view of others. So someone else will feel like I’m stagnating, or feel powerless to help me.
She looked back to Lis, who was still kneeling on a pillow, meditating with her eyes closed. Pretty sure I know who that someone is.
Now for the final card of this way...
She turned it around. Two of Swords. Doubts. This way will lead to doubts, and I will question if this path was the right one going forward, and maybe even my decisions prior to choosing it.
Ocellus moved on to the next path. She turned around the first card. The Moon. I’m heading towards an unsafe phase if I follow this path, and I should consider if I really want to go this way or not.
The next card was the Knight of Swords. The cards are warning me that others will be hostile towards me if I follow this path.
Now she turned around the last card of this path, the one representing the more distant future. A lot of trouble and disappointment lies on this path, but if I’d be perceptive enough, it could end well.
“What are the cards saying?” Lis asked.
“Nothing too good yet,” Ocellus said, turning to lis. “But I still have two more paths, so it might still change.”
She turned back to her cards. With Lis’ help, I’d probably be able to make this one work, but let’s see what the other ones say first.
Ocellus took a deep breath. Well, third’s the charm...
She turned around the next card. The Ace of Staff shows the near future of this path. Good, maybe even great opportunities lie ahead, but I will need to be brave if I want to realize them to their full potential.
And next... Six of Coins. Others will react with benevolence and generosity to my decision. They’ll be ready to help, but also won’t hesitate to ask for help, either.
Only one card left... Please be something good...
She hesitated for a moment before turning it around. The Hierophant, so if I follow this path, it will lead me to accomplish something truly meaningful. I will be grateful, happy, and full of confidence in the end.
Her eyes widened and she inhaled sharply as excitement rose inside her, but she quickly closed her eyes and concentrated to get her breathing back under control. There’s still a path left, she scolded herself. I need to stay calm and finish this.
Her hand moved over to the last path, hovering over the card next to The Hermit, and turned it around. Five of Swords. Following this path will quickly lead into a crisis, and it’s not out of the question that all that will remain of my life is going to be a pile of broken glass. If I have to go this way, I will have to fight hard to make the best of it.
Her hand moved one spot outwards and uncovered the next card. The Seven Cups of Illusion. Others will view the situation through rose tinted glasses. They would be happy, but would definitely not view the situation clearly or down to earth.
She sighed deeply. She didn’t remember in the moment which of her options this path represented, but she had a gut feeling which one it was.
She turned her attention to the fourth card of the line, the last one of the reading.
Her breathing stopped completely and goosebumps appeared on her arms. She could feel her heartbeat in her throat.
Lis opened her ice blue eyes, revealing her pentagram shaped pupils, and turned to Ocellus. “What happened?”
Right, the mind link, Ocellus thought, remembering the telepathic connection Lis had created between them two months ago. She can probably feel my panic.
“It’s this card.”
Lis stood up and walked over to Ocellus, and sat down behind her, looking over her shoulder at the card Ocellus was pointing at. It depicted a skeletal pony in black robes, carrying a farming scythe, heading towards the right side of the image, walking past a Pegasus lying on the ground looking past it to the left, with the rising sun in the background.
“And what does it mean?” Lis asked
“Death,” Ocellus explained. “The card represents Death, and in this position of The Compass, it is supposed to give a forecast for the long term future of this path. It means that this path will run itself to death. I admit that it doesn’t necessarily mean that someone will actually die no matter what, but it still sends cold shivers down my spine.”
Lis put her arms around Ocellus and pulled her into a hug. “Don’t worry, nothing will happen to you. And even if, I’d march straight into Haedris’ palace and prank him until he agrees to give you back.”
Ocellus giggled. “If anyone could annoy the Great Lord of Death into releasing a soul, it’d be you.” Then she leaned into Lis’ hug and whispered, “thank you.”
“No problem,” Lis said, giving Ocellus a squeeze. “You’re my favorite girl in the world, after all.”
“If only more people could see me like that,” Ocellus said with a sigh.
“One day everyone will, I’m sure.” Lis pointed at the cards in front of them. “But I think you still have something left to finish, right?”
Ocellus nodded. “Right, the quintessence. But only for the path I seriously consider. Nine for The Herming, one for the Ace of Staffs, the Six of Coins, and five for The Hierophant, so… 21. Two cards for the quintessence, The World and The Empress.”
“Realize that you’re at home,” Lis recited, “and take your place in the world. You will see how everything will develop naturally around you, and how the topic at hand will grow and thrive.”
“You read the book I gave you?”
“Of course,” Lis grinned, showing her pointy teeth in the process. Oh, hi, reader.
“Thanks.” Ocellus nodded. “And you’re right, that’s the quintessence for the 21. Now I just have to check which path that was...”
Ocellus’ hand moved over to her notebook, but Lis yelled, “Wait!”
“What?” Ocellus asked, confused. “I have to check my notebook. I put the different paths in there.”
“Of course, yes, but you have to wait until I can’t see it.”
“Why? I don’t mind if you know.”
“Yeah, but the reader isn’t supposed to know what it’s about yet.”
Ocellus had given up on trying to convince Lis that there are no mysterious readers she should be concerned about, so just said, “Fair enough.”
Lis stood up. “Great, thanks.” She walked past the giant pile of mismatched pillows of various shapes and sizes that took the spot a bed would have normally been in, and down the hallway into the living room, giving the black blob of fur with a teal tail sticking its head out of an empty vase and occasionally listening to the name Chrysi-Cat a scratch before sitting down on the couch.
Yes, I know narration can be annoying, Lis thought, sitting down on one of the pillows. But hey, you need to get information across somehow, right?
She took a deep breath, and the world around her got blurry as a menu appeared floating in the air in front of her. Yes, my magic has a graphic user interface courtesy of the forces of chaos, She looked at the upper-left corner. Ah, good, still a few hundred chaos charges left. Let’s see…
Her focus moved on to the different categories in the display, glossing over the map and inventory section to open her skill tree, a sprawling mess of interconnected dots, some of them connected by glowing lines, some only with dotted, dark lines indicating that they are connected in some way, and some not connected at all, with everything ranging from ‘Holding Things’ and ‘Swimming’ to high levels skills out of her reach like ‘Cyborg Creation’ and ‘Not sneezing in Sunlight’.
Eventually, she found what she was looking for. She pressed the icon showing a ragdoll and the skillcard appeared in front of her.
Dolleteer.
“I’m sure there’s a good use for this spell. I just don’t know what.”
-Unknown
Turn yourself into an animated doll.
Mana is capped at 50 percent of the maximal amount of the user while active. When casting the spell, choose between six different types of dolls.
You can use the spell a second time to turn back to normal, or to change into a different type of doll.
Can be combined with the shrinking and enlarging spells.
Can not be combined with beast form or similar transformation spells.
Cooldown time: 3 minutes
Spell components: Somatic
Perfect!
She pushed the orange glowing button reading “Unlock Skill: 300 CC”, the card disappeared, the counter in the corner went down, and a few lines connected to the ragdoll icon started to glow, leading to more advanced versions of the skill or passive abilities that are more or less vaguely related to it.
Lis blinked and the menu disappeared. She concentrated on the new spell and chose out of the different options appearing in front of her.
She felt her skin harden and her back straighten flat as her flesh was replaced by porcelain. Her big, teeth bearing grin was forced out of her face, and an unchanging, faint smile took its place. Her fingers, arms, and legs turned into—
Yes, yes, I know you would love to spend hours going over it, she thought annoyed, but the editor made this wonderful cover that I’m sure the readers already saw, so just say I turned into a ball-jointed porcelain doll, alright?
...You heard her.
She looked at her hands, now a doll’s hands, and tried to close them into fists, but her fingers weren’t flexible enough to fully close anymore. She tried to stand up, but tripped and hit her head on the couch table on her way to the ground, making a hollow thump, and cursing internally.
At least I know that pain is still working…
She placed her hands on the table and pushed herself up, trying to blow her bangs out of her eyes. But she realized that she couldn’t without lungs.
Frustrated, she grabbed a bobby pin and walked over to the nearest mirror, waving her arms around with every step to not fall over again. She did her best to at least make sure that her left eye was free of hair. Then she leaned forward to get a better look at herself, admiring the result of her spell. It had added a light blush to her face, and her smile was—while not as bright as she was used to— still enough to give her an inviting expression while still being creepy enough for Nightmare Night. The only thing it hadn’t affected were her eyes, adding another level of unsettling to her appearance.
“I bet I could get people to think that I am a real doll if I stand still.” She said out loud, with her mouth not moving at all. “Well, I guess I am a real doll,” she added giggling.
Lis walked back to her room, her movement starting to look more and more natural with every step.
Well, natural is relative, isn’t it? She thought. I look less like falling over, but I’m still a doll, so my walking is a little bit uncanny, right?
Lis obviously needed a reminder that she wasn’t the narrator of the story. Regardless of her admittedly still doll-like walking, when she reached her room, she was completely safe on her feet.
She opened the door, stepped through, struck a pose and said telepathically to Ocellus, So? She turned in a circle to show Ocellus her entire outfit. What do you think?
“Wow,” Ocellus said in awe. “It’s awesome! How did you make your skin look that much like porcelain?” She stepped closer, leaning her head to either side, trying to get a better look at Lis. “
“I didn’t. I just turned it into porcelain. Come on! Touch my cheek!”
Ocellus slowly raised her hand. She recoiled when she first touched it, but managed to keep her fingertips on Lis’ face on the second try.
She fell silent for a couple seconds until she said with a flat voice, “was that really the best use of your magic?”
“Yes!” After a moment, Lis added, “You can’t tell because of the spell, but I’m grinning internally.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“I know. But now we have to get you into your costume before the others come.”
The costume Ocellus had chosen had a black base with light grey spots on the arms and legs, a green armour on the back and a teal wig and tail.
“What do you think?” Ocellus asked, her voice sounding like multiple versions of her talking at once.
“You look just like the Changeling queen herself,” Lis said, “and Syri’s voice crystal is the cherry on top.” She was silent for a moment, and then exclaimed, “I have an idea! I know how to get the others to call you right!”
“Yeah?” Ocellus asked.
“I’ll just insist on them calling you Chrysalis! And even they’ll have to admit that calling Chrysalis a he would be wrong.”
“I don’t know.” Ocellus looked away. “I’d love it, but wouldn’t the others find it weird?”
Lis handwaved and said, “Eh, I’ll just insist on the same for me, and that will be way weirder.”
“What, do you want them to call you ‘it’?”
“The author had the idea, yeah,” Lis admitted, “but I think it would be funnier not to use it just yet. So I’ll just insist on no pronouns for the night, and will simply be ‘the doll’. I mean, only if you’re okay with it.”
“I am,” Ocellus said, having to wipe a tear away. “I would really appreciate it, actually. Thank you, Lil Doll.”
The doorbell rang, and Lis—
Doll, she thought.
—the Doll opened it to find Smolder outside the door, wearing a very elaborate dragon costume with dull, metal claws, as per her insistence.
“Hey, Smol!” Doll said.
“Hi, Lis. Are the others already here?”
“Only Ocelys.” The Doll giggled. “Get it? Because Ocellus dressed up as Chrysalis?”
“Very funny.” Smolder said. She looked around and behind herself, making sure that nobody was around to see her. Then she gave the Doll a curtsey. “Good evening, Countess Eulenspiegel.”
Doll curtseyed in return. “Good evening to you too, draconic Dame Smolder. But you may call me Doll tonight. Please, come in.”
Smolder nodded and quickly headed inside, heading into the Doll’s room and sitting down on the pillow Doll had laid out for her. The Doll had put down pillows for the entire CCC, a specific one for each member, with hers and Ocellus’ being in the centre, and the other five in front of theirs.
When the doorbell rang next, the Doll found Yona and Sandbar, but their outfits caused her to take a step back. Sandbar was sporting a Nightmare Moon costume, but what caused the Doll’s discomfort was Yona’s Daybreaker costume.
“Hey,” Sandbar said.
After the Doll remained motionless for a few moments, Yona asked, “Is Lis scared of something?”
The Doll finally remembered how to speak and said, “It’s Doll while I’m in costume, and yeah. It’s… well…”
“Yeah?” Sandbar and Yona asked.
“Well, where I’m from, Daybreaker is… um… not something to be laughed at, so it makes me… uncomfortable, to be honest.”
“Oh,” Yona said embarrassed, “Yona is very sorry about making Doll uncomfortable.”
“It’s…” I wish I could just say it’s ok, but I can’t! The doll sighed. “Hey, would you mind if I changed your costume a little bit?”
Yona shook her head. “If that helps Doll, Yona has no problem with it!”
The Doll concentrated and used her final chaos charges to turn Yona’s Daybreaker into a Nightmare Star costume, including shiny orange hair. “Here, done, thanks for letting me, Yona.”
Yona looked in the mirror. “Yona actually likes this costume even more!” She walked back to the Doll and gave her a big bearhug. “Thank you, friendly Doll!”
“You’re… welcome,” the Doll pressed out, “but please, don’t break my back!”
The next one to arrive was the local stair enthusiast Silverstream in a self-made, full-body cockatrice costume, her face looking out of the beak.
When Doll opened the door, Silverstream stood slightly hunched over, so that the glued-on eyes of the cockatrice were at the height of the Doll’s eyes. “BAWHK,” Silverstream exclaimed. “I’m a monster chicken! Turn to stone!”
The Doll decided to play along and didn’t move or say anything, waiting with closed eyes for an opportunity to give Silverstream a good scare.
Just a few more moments, the Doll thought.
Silverstream moved closer, looking at the closed eyes. She left so little space between her and the Doll that, had the Doll breathed, she’d be able to feel the breath on her face.
Then the Doll’s eyes opened, staring directly into Silverstream’s. “Boo,” the Doll wisphered.
Silverstream shrieked and fell backwards, and the Doll broke out in laughter, only hardly managing to say, “Sorry, but I couldn’t pass up that chance!” before offering her a hand, which Silverstream gladly took.
“You really got me good there, Lis!” Silverstream said.
“Please, it’s Doll tonight, alright, Cobra Chicken?”
The arrival of the last member of the CCC was announced by a black raven flying into Lis’ room and landing in front of the Doll. Silence fell over the group who had been idly chatting mere moments before. The raven crowed a few times before flying off again. It was clear to everyone that he had tried to tell them something, so they turned to the doll, waiting for her to reveal what it was.
The Doll stood up, said, “They’re back,” and walked out of the room, down the hallway, through the living room and then towards the garage door.
But before the Doll had reached it, Syringa, the Doll’s legal guardian, stepped through it. Ey wore a dark purple witch costume. Their brown hair falling freely over their shoulders, with the exception of a single braid on the right side of their head, which had an orange crystal ring woven into its end.
Following Syringa was Gallus wearing a plastic set of armour, who, upon spotting the Doll from the corner of his eye, said, “Hi, Lis, how are you do—”
He turned to the Doll and changed his mind, instead saying, “What in the name of ultra mega chicken…”
“I’m doing great, thanks” the Doll said, “but I’m a Doll right now, not Lis. And how are you?”
“Good,” Gallus replied. “Where did you get that mask from? It’s incredible.”
The Doll’s head tilted to the side. “What mask?”
Gallus blinked a few times before saying, “Nevermind…”
“So, who are you supposed to be?”
“A knight,” Gallus answered.
“Huh,” the Doll said. “Like, an evil dark knight? Or a deathknight? Robber Knight?”
“No, just, you know, a knight.”
With crossed arms and her left hand holding her chin, the Doll said, “Not really scary, is it? But I think I can help you a little bit.” The Doll turned around, gesturing Gallus to follow, and walked up to a closet in the hallway, opening it and searching for something. “I should have some blood we could use to give the costume the final edge.”
“Um, Li—I mean Doll, it’s, um…” Gallus never thought that he’d ever have to ask that question, but he knew the Doll long enough already to know that it was better to be safe than sorry with stuff like that. “It’s fake blood, right? You’re not going to douse me in chicken blood?” Gallus was eternally happy that he didn’t have to add ‘again’ to his question.
“Of course,” the Doll said, “Blood is far too valuable a resource to waste on a costume.”
Gallus decided that he didn’t want to ask what the Doll meant with that and just took the bottle the Doll was holding in front of him.
After some discussion about what constitutes too much fake blood, Gallus managed to talk the Doll out of just dumping a bucket full on him, and instead just applied some to the chestplate of his costume and a few trails running down from his eyes.
The Doll walked back into Lis’ room, closely followed by Gallus. He quickly looked at the others, stopping when his eyes reached Ocellus. “Can’t say I’m surprised that Dolly’s boyfriend decided to crossdress,” he said in a joking tone.
Ocellus immediately looked away, and the Doll’s head turned around 180 degrees. Then the Doll said, “I don’t know who you mean. That’s obviously Chrysalis, not anyone’s boyfriend.”
The Doll’s head turned with the right side to the front again and walked to the pillow next to Ocellus, saying, “And I’d ask all of you to refer to her that way while in costume, just as I ask you to call me Doll, or the Doll, alright?”
“Fine by me,” Smolder said, playing with her claws. “Isn’t that much different to how you run O and O campaigns, anyway.”
The others also agreed, with Gallus sighing before saying, “Alright,” and sitting down in his spot.
Thank you, Ocellus’ voice appeared in the Doll’s mind.
You’re welcome. The Doll replied before saying out loud, “So, I made the final changes to my plan for how we can get our hands on the most stuff tonight a few hours ago, and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. If you’re all ok with it, I’d split us up into two parties. There’s a couple of high-value targets, and we can’t hit all of them as a single group. The first group would be me, Chrysalis, Yona and Sandbar, and the second one Gallus, Silverstream and Smolder. We’ll go, gather as much loot as we can, come back here, and see who of us can eat themselves faster into a sugar coma.”
“Sounds good, especially that last part,” Sandbar said.
“Yona also likes plan.”
“BAWHK,” Silverstream yelled while nodding, the head of her costume bobbing back and forth.
“Why did you divide us like that, though?” Gallus asked.
“Well,” the Doll started to explain, “both groups need someone who’s so adorable that people give us more candy than they would otherwise. So, Chrysalis forTeam A and Silverstream for Team B. But people will probably start to give less if the bags are full, so both teams get a carrier, a strong one who I’ll give a very big bag to that makes even a ton of sugary goodness look tiny, that the others can dump their stuff into if necessary. Gallus and Yona are supposed to take over that role, and—”
“Hold up,” Smolder said, raising her hand, “Why am I not the carrier? I’m strong as well!”
The Doll turned to Smolder. “Because you, Sandbar and I are the defenders. We have to make sure that noone steals our loot from the others. Basically, if any bullies try to take it, give them a taste of your claws.”
“I’m okay with that,” Smolder said. A smile appeared on her face. “I’m very okay with that.”
“Glad to hear that,” the Doll said. “So, a few other things before we head out. First, do not mess with Cozy. I managed to get her to agree to peace for the night, but I don’t want to push it.
“And second, if you get anything that Pinkie made, put it in the special bags I’ll give you in a moment. Aaaand… that should be it.”
After the Doll had handed out the bags, maps, and tracker bracelets Syringa had insisted on in order to let them go out without a chaperone, they all headed out of the front door just as Shining Armor, carrying a handful of purple tulips, was about to ring the bell. He quickly stepped aside and the CCCs walked past him without a word. Only the Doll stopped in front of him and said, “Hi, Shiny!”
“Hey, Lis,” Shining said, “Good luck on your first Nightmare Night.”
“Thanks. You’re here because of Syringa, right?” The Doll asked, pointing at the tulips.
“Yeah, just a quiet evening.”
“I’ll take your word for it. You better take good care of my nibling while I’m gone, understood?”
Shining had to hold back a smile. “Don’t worry, I’ll do my best.”
The Doll nodded and said, “See ya later!” and walked away, thinking, I wonder how many readers will know that nibling is a gender neutral term for niece or nephew…
An hour later, Smolder, Gallus and Silverstream approached their first high-value target. A young boy called Twinkletoes was already about to knock, so they waited on the sidewalk and looked at the decorations of their target.
Fake tombstones with flowerbeds in front of them filled the front yard, jack o’lanterns illuminated the path to the front door, and gothic lanterns hung from the pillars of the veranda. Even the windows looked like they were a few centuries old, consisting of many smaller shards set into metal frames, albeit closer inspection would have revealed that they were only normal windows with very elaborate decals.
Gallus was the first to find his words again. “If they put that much money into the decor…”
“Then the candy will be epic,” Smolder added.
“Who do you think lives here?” Silverstream asked.
“Where’s your chaperone?” Someone to the left of the group asked them. They looked at the speaker, and found a senior student from CHS, sitting in a wheelchair. She had a strong resemblance to Twinkletoes.
“We don’t need one,” Smolder told her. She showed the senior her claws. “We can look after ourselves.”
The senior looked at the claws, rolling a bit closer to Smolder to get a better look at them. “I really like those. Did you make them yourself?”
“My big brother helped me,” Smolder explained, “but I did the welding myself. I just really like working with fire.”
“You should join the metalworking club,” the senior told her, “tell Ms. Smith that Mirror sent you, I’m sure she’ll give you a shot.”
Twinkletoes walked up to Mirror, disappointment written all across his face. “She gave me a handful of cough drops. Cough drops! Who gives out cough drops on Nightmare Night?”
“She what?” Silverstream asked.
“Yeah!” Twinkletoes turned to the team. “In what world is that something sweet to bite?!”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Mirror told her little brother. “I’m sure it will go better at the next house.”
“Yeah,” Twinkletoes agreed and walked off to the next house, saying, “I wonder why she was talking so weird…”
“So, should we skip this one?” Gallus asked. “It’s a dud.”
“But why would they put up all this stuff just to give out garbage,” Smolder said, “That just makes no sense.” Lis wouldn’t send us here without a good reason, and what did he mean with talking weird…
“Let’s give it a try,” Silverstream said, “I want to know who’s giving out BAWHKing cough drops.”
They walked up to the door, Silverstream in the middle, Gallus to her right and Smolder to her left. Silverstream rang the bell.
A few moments later, the door was opened by a figure shrouded in a beautiful black robe with a crescent moon on the front, the silver threads shining in the light of the lanterns. The figure raised their right arm, which was wearing a gauntlet made from blue metal, revealing...
“Vice-Principal Luna?” All three asked at once.
“I do not know this Luna thou are speaking of!” She proclaimed. “For we are Lady Lula Luxcia!” She leaned down towards her visitors a little bit. “Now tell us, little ones, what brings thou to our domain?”
They needed a moment to process that.
What the… Smolder thought.
“Nightmare Night…” Silverstream started the chant, and the others joined in.
“Nightmare Night, what a fright, give us something sweet to bite!” they all said together.
Luna sounded disappointed when she asked, “Was that all?”
“Um… pretty please?” Silverstream added.
Now Luna sighed. “Very well. We were hoping for more class, but so be it.” She reached out for a back of cough drops. She took a handful and reached out to Silverstream, who offered her her bag, disappointment
What does she… Oh no, Smolder thought, I think I know what she wants…
“Wait!” She yelled.
Luna stopped, her hand hovering in the air, and she and the others looked at Smolder.
“I mean…” Smolder took a deep breath. Please let this be worth it…
She straightened her back and said in a tone fancier than her friends had believed her physically capable of producing, “I believe we started off the wrong way, Lady Luxia, and if I may, I would like to try again.”
A bright smile appeared on Luna’s face. “Thou may, but please, tell us, who do I have the honour of meeting?”
“I am the Draconic Dame Smolder, your ladyship, and it is I who is honored to be meeting you.” Smolder gave Luna a curtsey without any haste before continuing. “My companions and I are collecting sacrifices for the famed Nightmare Moon, and would be eternally grateful if you would be willing to contribute to our cause.”
“Of course we will support thy cause. Thou shall have these sweet confections. We shall even give thou more than enough that thou can keep some, but only if thou pledge to sacrifice at least the tenth part.”
With a bow of her head, Smolder said, “We humbly and graciously accept your generosity. But I do have one final request, Lady Luxia.”
“And what might that be?” Luna asked, surprised.
“Please grant the others that may still come to your domain the same generosity, even if they don’t treat you with the respect owed to someone of your stand.”
Luna nodded, “We will grant this request of yours as well. From now on, we shall share our confections with everyone!”
“FINALLY,” a voice echoed out from behind Luna.
Luna turned around and yelled back, “Not now, Labrys!” Then she turned back to Smolder. “Please, forgive our wife’s interruption.”
“Of course, she is forgiven” Smolder said and nodded. Then she gestured the others to step forward, holding her bag in front of her. “But, if you may give us the sacrifices now? My companions and I have a long journey ahead of us, still.”
“Then we shall give thou my sacrifices right away!” Luna reached out to a chest to her left, grabbed two handfuls of candy, and threw them into Smolder’s bag. And it wasn’t just any run of the mill, cheap candy. It was the good stuff. The stuff most people wouldn’t spend their money on for themselves, let alone give it away for Nightmare Night.
She repeated the process for Silverstream and Gallus and then said, “Now we think thou should continue on thy way. Farewell, Dame Smolder!”
“Farewell, Lady Luxia,” Smolder said with a final courtesy before turning around and walking away.
The others thanked Luna and then hurried to follow Smolder, who seemed to be in a hurry to get to the next house.
“Wow, that was fantastic!” Silverstream exclaimed once she caught up with Smolder. She was hurrying along on Smolder’s right side.
“Yeah, who would have thought that you could be that fancy,” Gallus added from Smolder’s left side.
Smolder suddenly stopped.
The others had walked a few steps before noticing it.
They turned back and their confidence disappeared.
Smolder’s now truly draconic eyes glowed bright red. She seemed to be staring at both of them at once when she said, “not a single word about what just happened to anyone.” Her voice was filled with seething rage.
Silverstream withstood Smolder’s stare for all but one second before shouting, “I promise!”
Smolder then focused on Gallus, who hastily said, “alright, geez, fine. I won’t tell anyone.”
“Good,” Smolder said. “Because if you would—” she raised her left arm to his face, giving him a perhaps a little bit too good look at her claws “—then you would be a Dame as well.”
Good thing Smolder got it, huh, the Doll thought, despite her not even having been there to witness it.
Be as it may, the Doll, Ocellus, Sandbar and Yona stood in front of the next house. It was a small one, tucked away between its bigger, more noteworthy neighbours, a little weed between beautiful flowers. It sported no decorations, not even a jack-o-lantern, and it generally seemed like it wanted people to forget about it.
Subtle, much? The Doll thought.
Hello Kettle, my name is Pot. You’re black.
Ok, that’s fair. The Doll turned to the others and said, “You wait here, I’ll go to this one by myself. You wouldn’t remember it, anyway.”
The Doll stepped forward, concentrated on the spell, and Lis walked the last few steps up to the house. She rang the bell, and Wallflower opened the door to a brightly grinning Lis. Her eyes narrowed and she hissed, “You!”
“Hi, Wallflower,” Lis responded with a grin, wilfully unable to read the room. She held out her bag. “Nightmare Night! What a fright! Give me something sweet to bite!”
“Why don’t you just forget about me like all the others?” Wallflower demanded to know.
“Because you’re just too interesting to forget.”
Wallflower seemed to consider smacking Lis over the head with the memory stone for a moment before calming down just enough to instead grab a nearby pack of sunflower seeds. She coldly told Lis, “You want something to bite? Here!”, threw the seeds into her bag, and slammed the door shut.
Well… Lis thought, I really thought that would go better.
She turned around and walked back to the others. She concentrated on her spell again, but only got the feeling that it wasn’t yet time to use it.
Come on, she thought, let me use the spell!
And yet, it wasn’t the right time.
And it also wasn’t the right time the next twenty times she asked.
Really? Lis was annoyed. You use time skips just to annoy me?
Obviously even five seconds would feel like an eternity for Lis, but luckily for her, the cooldown of the spell was over just before she reached her friends.
FINALLY!
Lis used the spell and the Doll returned to the others. The others just stared at the Doll’s transformation, unable to say anything, so the Doll said, “Well, that went down like a steel blimp.”
“What?” Ocellus asked, being the first one to rediscover her tongue.
“I meant that it went badly. Let’s just go to the next house.”
The last house for the Doll’s group was a half-timbered one. The walls were white, and the wooden beams were painted violet. The window frames were painted with a matt gold finish. The roof extruded from the rest of the house, and lanterns in the shapes of suns hung from the corners, brightly glowing against the night’s sky. A golden sun adorned the front door.
The Doll sneezed and groaned, annoyed.
“What is it?” Ocellus asked.
“The suns. I don’t gell well with suns. They always make me sneeze.”
“Buuut… They’re fake suns,” Sandbar said. “They’re not even that bright.”
“I know, it’s annoying. Let’s just get it over with before I sneeze my face off.”
“Yona also wants to go home. The bag is getting heavy.”
They rang the doorbell and Principal Celestia opened the door.
All four CCCs started the rhyme, but only the Doll finished it. The others stopped once they realized who they were talking to.
“Impressive costumes,” Celestia said, “All of you. But I really like yours, Yona and Sandbar.” Her voice was laced with nostalgia.
“Why do I feel graded?” Sandbar whispered to Yona.
’Yona doesn’t know,” she answered in the same tone, “but Yona agrees.”
“Ocellus,” Celestia continued, “You’re making for a really cute changeling queen as well.”
Ocellus blushed and looked away, unable to say anything.
“She says thank you,” the Doll relayed Ocellus’ thoughts.
“I think you know my stance on magic, Lysinda,” Celestia said, turning to the Doll, “but I will admit that your dress is impressive.”
“Thanks,” the Doll said.
“But unfortunately, you’re the first ones to ring on my door on Nightmare Night in years, so I don’t have anything sweet to bite for you.”
The faces of all of the CCCs dropped with disappointment.
Well…
Fine. The faces of all the CCCs that could change their expression were filled with disappointment.
But then Celestia’s face brightened with an idea. “Please, wait a moment, I’ll be right back.” She closed the door.
“What do you think she’ll get for us?” Sandbar asked.
“I hope it’s not just a bunch of bananas,” Ocellus said.
Celestia returned and handed Yona a plastic case with an entire cake in it. Yona herself looked very happy, but Ocellus and Sandbar seemed extremely annoyed and shocked.
Appalled even, I’d say, the Doll thought, and I can definitely see why.
“It’s a Hearth’s Warming Stollen,” the Doll said.
“There’s still two months left till Hearth’s Warming,” Ocellus added.
“Yeah, what she said.” Sandbar gestured towards Ocellus, and a wave of happiness hit the Doll via the telepathic connection to Ocellus. “It’s literally Nightmare Night!”
“To be honest, I always preferred Hearth’s Warming over Nightmare Night,” Celestia explained, “and I already started to bake. But if you don’t want it, then I’ll just take it back and—”
“No!” Yona shouted, definitely not wanting to let go of the container, “Yona wants the cake! And if friends don’t want it, Yona will just eat it herself!”
“So be it,” Celestia said, “Just give me the box back when you’re done.”
“Yona promises.”
“Hooooold up just a second!” a very familiar voice belonging to an equally familiar pink girl that was jumping out of Principal Celestia’s letterbox said.
Pinkie, dressed in a rabbit costume, turned around and walked up to Celestia. “Cakes are my thing, Principal, and I do not appreciate people poaching on my turf!”
“Pinkie, I thought your thing was parties,” Celestia asked, doing a remarkably good job at hiding her annoyance.
“Well, yes,” Pinkie admitted, “but cakes are a part of any good party!”
“But I’m not throwing them a party,” Celestia pointed out, “I’m just giving them a cake. Which isn’t the same, so I’m not doing your thing.”
Pinkie thought about that for a moment before saying, “You win this time, Principal!” before somersaulting down a rabbit hole in Celestia’s front yard.
A little bit later, the Doll opened the door to her house and lead both teams back through the house to Lis’ room. When they reached the living room, the Doll told the others to go ahead while she turned to Syringa and Shining. They were cuddling on the couch and watching TV, although it seemed like they didn’t really care for the program, with both of them looking like they were half asleep.
Something about Shining was different, but the Doll needed a moment to realize that it was his hair. It looked shinier and fluffier than before.
Ah, the Doll thought, Syri shared their conditioner with him.
The doll decided to not bother them and just joined the others in Lis’ room.
They wanted to put together all of their loot, then fairly divide everything they had multiple of, and trade the rest, but the moment Yona put the carrier with Celestia’s cake in the middle, it went south.
Smolder took one look at it and said with disgust, “What is that?”
“Celestia didn’t have anything else,” the Doll explained.
“But it’s Heart’s warming cake,” Gallus said, “isn’t it way to early for that?”
“Thank you!” both Ocellus and Sandbar shouted.
“Who cares?” Silverstream said with a shrug. “Cake’s cake.”
It took a few more minutes of haggling, arguing and shouting, but eventually, the Doll gestured towards Silverstream and Yona and suggested, “I think you two should just divide it between each other, because the rest of us aren’t interested.”
“Sounds good,” Silverstream said.
“Yona likes Doll’s plan,” she said with a nod.
“But of course, they should then get less of the other stuff,” Smolder said.
“Why?” Silverstream asked. “You don’t want it, anyway, so you’re not losing out on anything.”
Just like when we play Ogres & Oubliettes, the Doll thought.
Telepathically, Ocellus said, This will take ages, won’t it…
Yep, the Doll agreed.
After a while, they had finally managed to divide everything up in a way that was both fair and acceptable for everyone involved.
At least for the most part.
Silverstream always manages to claim so many small, seemingly worthless things, the Doll thought, that she ends up with more value than anyone else.
The Doll concentrated a final time on her spell, turned back into Lis, and immediately started grinning. “It was fun being a doll, but it feels good to finally be able to grin again!”
“So, can we call you Lis again?” Sandbar asked.
Lis nodded. “Yeah, no more doll, at least for now.”
“Does that mean we can stop pretending that Ocellus is a girl?” Gallus asked.
Lis felt rage boil up inside her, but Ocellus put a hand on her shoulder, calming her down. Lis turned to her and thought, you’re going to tell them?
Yes, Ocellus replied. She turned to the others and said, “Actually, I would like you to stick with she for me. Because I am a girl.”
The others looked surprised, albeit all to different degrees. Smolder seemed only mildly surprised, while Sandbar was completely blindsided by it. Yona and Gallus fell somewhere in between.
“I kinda saw that coming,” Smolder admitted. “Welcome to the girl’s club, Ocellus.”
“Yona didn’t, but if Ocellus wants that, Yona promises to try.”
“Yeah,” Sandbar said, “must have taken a lot of guts to tell us. But I’m not sure how the others at school would react.”
Ocellus panicked for a moment. “No! They’re not supposed to know yet! So, please, only use it when we’re alone.”
“Alright,” Sandbar said. “Probably for the best.”
Lis turned to Gallus. “Do you have anything to say?” she asked, just a little bit threatening.
“Well, yeah. I guess I have to apologize. I guess I should have called you Lis’ girlfriend earlier.”
Everyone groaned.
“Way to ruin a moment, mate,” Sandbar said.