Lulu dropped to one knee, coughing hard. "What was that?"

Watcher's ears were flat against his head. He put a hand on her back. "That was us doing well enough, but not quite good enough." He grabbed Twibright, hauling her to standing. "We've forced it to flee, I'm sure."

It was true that the presence seemed gone. Lulu shook her head hard. She couldn't get her feet. "What did that thing do to me? I've never felt this bad before."

Twibright raced to Lulu's side. "I don't see any obvious injuries, but we should finish what we came here for. Watcher, can we purify the world?"

Watcher gave them both a long look. "Yes, yes I think we can."

Lulu leaned into Twi a bit with a smile. "So what do you need to do?"

Watcher looked around the room. "This is a space, like any other space. It is only special because the other happened to start here. Wait." They vanished without another word.

Twibright blinked at the vacant spot. "Um, I assume they're fixing this, somehow. While they're doing that, how are you feeling, Lulu?"

The skunk grumbled, but put an arm around Twi and gave her a squeeze. "You were nice to grab me like that." She looked down with a sigh. "That was more of a fight than I'm used to, and I really stink now." She shuddered her tail. "They think we skunks don't mind our own blast, but we do. We really do!"

Twibright gave Lulu a little sniff, then sneezed violently. "Sorry. Um, I'm not very good at this sort of thing, but maybe I can help."

Lulu shook her head, her smile fond as she wiped Twibright's snout. "Focus on not inhaling it. None of us want to savor the sweet perfume of a scared skunk."

Watcher reappeared in a swirl of air. "The world is clearing. It will take time. I am troubled we did not finish the job, though we at least know what it is. That presence must be defeated in a more permanent fashion, so it cannot spawn further corruption."

Lulu let her arm drop from Twi. "Yeah, you're right, we have to defeat that thing. I'm sorry, I think I'm just holding you two back, here."

Twibright brought over a bucket, sloshing with the movement. "I think." She upended it onto Lulu's head. "You need to calm down and clean up."

"Hey!" Lulu fired quite the heated gaze at Twibright. "I thought I could trust you."

Watcher laughed as Lulu rose to her feet with dripping fur and a scowl on her face. "Oh, that's better."

Lulu tried to keep up the anger, but it faded into a smile. "Look, I do need a bath, but not like that." She swatted at Twibright. "I swear. Okay, do we need to be in this creepy place anymore?"

Watcher shook his head. "No, I think not." He walked towards the door, then paused. "We have no more use for this world. Our hunt continues. Twibright, to my side."

Twibright hesitated. "Um. No. I don't think I will. There are a few reasons why I should not."

Watcher turned slowly. "Name two."

Twibright tapped her hooves together. "For one, Lulu can't just pretend this all didn't happen. She's part of our way of seeing things, just like I was after you blew through my life."

Watcher nodded. "True enough. I have sensed that she will be a good companion for you. What's the other reason?"

Twibright's ears flicked back and forth nervously. "Well, um, two! The king will be very mad when they notice we're gone. If Lulu is still here, her head will roll, and for no reason. If she had a part to play in 'this story', it's been compromised in a few ways."

Lulu snorted, tail giving a slow swish. "I want to go with Twi. She has more books, and a nice home." She gave Watcher a scowl. "And I don't need to listen to you going on and on about your stories, your rules. I helped." She folded her arms. "I put my neck out for you two, and you're thinking of letting it get axed. One of us is being really unfair about this."

Watcher gave her a cool look, but there was no anger in his eyes. "You came of your own volition, and you saved us both from something unpleasant at least once. If Twibright insists on it, I have no qualms with your company." He took a slow breath. "This story will adapt to your being missing, just as it adapts to the slowly departing corruption."

He held up a finger. "But, a warning. I am not a fox, normally." He pointed to Twibright. "On the other hand, she is as she always was."

"Sold." Lulu reached to pet down along Twibright's spine. "So what are you normally?"

Watcher shrugged. "I am normally all things that could be seen." He stepped over, then put a hand on the shoulders of Twibright and Lulu. "Welcome to being one who travels. If you insist this is the path you wish to walk, know that your way of being will be challenged. Last and final warning. I leave in a moment." His grip tightened on both of them.

Twibright squirmed in his grip. "I've got your warning, thank you. Please, Watcher, I don't want to leave her alone in a story that's been changed."

Lulu nodded. "I'm not afraid." She leaned against Twi with a smile. "Besides, I know how this all works, and she'll be there to help me if I need it."

"Then we step free of your tale." They were then nowhere and everywhere in a dizzying moment.

When Lulu felt like one person in one place, she collapsed to her knees and vacated what she had enjoyed for breakfast, tail trembling as she heaved and struggled.

Watcher let her go through the process, then knelt at her side. "The feeling doesn't last, though the memories can, if you let them. Welcome to the world that contains all stories, Lulu."

Twibright gave them a sour look. Calling them a him wasn't applicable anymore, being an incorporeal presence like what they had just battled. "It's okay." She gently pet along the side of Lulu. "Just breathe. I'm still here. I'm glad Watcher didn't try to snatch you away from me."

Watcher shrugged. "I was curious how this tale would end, but now we have more companions than I expected." Their presence drifted closer, then settled on them, becoming more visible as they focused their essence into being there. "It is unusual that I need to be so confined in my own place. I need to monitor things, to find where that presence has hidden, and where its corruption is damaging things."

Twibright trotted back and forth nervously, watching Lulu slowly recover. "Is it wise to bring a native of a world to the space between worlds?" She tapped her hooves together.

Watcher laughed, not a sound so much as a feeling. "You ask that, as if you belong here anymore than she does? Two outcast beings, now in what passes for a living room. You are used to breathing, eating, all that. See to her comfort. If you allow her, she will gladly see to yours."

Lulu colored at that. "Hey! Hey, let me ask the cute pony out on my own terms, thanks, little godling or whatever you are." She forced herself to her feet, trembling. "Is there a bathroom around here? I need to clean up so badly."

Twibright gave Lulu a fond look. "It's okay, we all have to feel like that, sometimes. I hope you're still feeling alright. Follow me." She led the way towards a bathroom.

This was mildly surprising to Watcher, then again, they hadn't expected breathable air, or a floor, either. The presence of the living mandated changes to their space, and so it was. Perhaps it was better than the two simply dying. Perhaps.

They turned their attention back to the infinite, spreading their awareness over the uncountable realities, some with many living worlds within them, others with one, or none. Some were simply tales of the elements, howled in the void. It wasn't Watcher's place to judge them, just to search.

Something was off, somewhere. A few places had their story off track. This world's king had become a queen, and the rest of the world was trying to shift around her. Some places were already starting to accommodate that. It wasn't that a queen had risen to the rank. That king was male, then female. It was a change, but it wasn't a spreading corruption.

The story would continue; Watcher moved on.

In the room that hadn't been there before, Lulu sank into the bright purple tub. "Are we royalty? I didn't, oh!" She had discovered the hot running water and her eyes widened. "With magical plumbing? The wonders simply don't stop."

Twibright laughed, though her ears were back in embarrassment. "Actually, I just thought of a bathroom, and it appeared here. I hope the toilet works, too. But, um." She looked aside. "Why don't you tell me why you're following us?"

Lulu pointed the flowery soup at Twibright. "You named two great reasons, but I'll name another." She worked the soap over her arms with a pleased murmur. "I happen to think you're damned cute. If I'm going to lose my everything, at least I can grab a ladyfriend out of it." She gave Twi a cheeky grin.

Twibright blushed darker. "Oh, well, yes, I suppose that's a reason." She cleared her throat into a hoof. "You have made your intentions quite clear, so it would be rude to not return the favor." She pointed a hoof at herself. "I am not currently seeking companionship of that nature. That doesn't mean I have no interest, directly, but I am a scholar first and foremost. Physical romance was never very high on my priority list."

Lulu shrugged as she scrubbed down along her body. "Well, I'm not exactly going to force myself on you. You're a pony, too. Four legs, hooves. Don't have those. I may be ugly to you." She paused a moment. "Am I? Tell the truth, what do you see when you look at me?"

"I see a soaking wet skunk." Twilight nodded with confidence. "Who should complete her bath."

Lulu smiled as she sank into the tub. "Hey, you don't see anything else, like I'm some sort of weird animal?"

Twibright gave her a curious look, then slipped closer. "That was unkind of me. You are not just a skunk, a critter. You are clearly capable of speech, reasoning, and friendship." She offered a hoof. "I hope we are already friends, in fact."

Lulu smiled, giving Twibright a hug and getting her wet. "Thank you." She held Twi for a moment. "It's hard to be taken seriously back home. You get used to it, and learn how to use it to your advantage." She leaned back just enough to give her ample bosom a slap. "Some people see these and decide that's the only part of you that matters."

Twibright looked baffled. "They see that you are chubby? That's not nice."

Lulu shook her head as she reached for some new container. "That'd take a while to explain. Figures a horse wouldn't get that. Now, what is this?"

Twibright frowned. "It says right on the side. It's shampoo. You're not done washing, yet."

Lulu read the side. "Oh, it's soap, for your fur."

Twibright waved over Lulu. "Which you have plenty of. So enough soap, it's time for this." She grabbed it in her magic, squeezing a thick dallop into Lulu's hair. "Try it."

Lulu reached up and started scrubbing the stuff into her head. "This is... very different." She smiled. "It feels good." She looked down at Twibright with a smile, then leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "When do you get to clean yourself?"

Twibright blinked several times, eyes wide, then she broke into a nervous laugh. "I suppose I could clean myself. But this tub is large enough for one creature. I'll take my turn after you."

Lulu grumbled something, but it was lost in the sound of scrubbing and splashing. "Alright, that makes sense. Hey." She shot Twi a curious look. "If this place is the space between stories, or worlds, or whatever, then it doesn't need to have time, does it?"

Twibright's mouth worked slowly but silently a moment, processing that. "I, hm, suppose it doesn't. I'll have to ask Watcher about that."

Author's Note

Time for the next world, hm? What will it be? Kindly drop some desires below.

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