“So, what’s the plan then?” Garble asked as he plopped down across from the noodle dragon, and next to the still eating Trixie. The plate of cookies had a line driven through the pile, one side was Trixie’s, the other Lorraine’s. They were both still eating from their respective piles.
“Not to knock it, but I don’t trust the book.” John pointed a hoof at the book now sitting closed on the table. He sat on the floor right next to Lorraine, a glass of wine sat in front of him. Next to that was a glass of water.
“I can understand why.” Spike nodded, sitting on the couch next to the noodle dragon.
“It’s like it was made for college foals.” Trixie said, between bites.
“It probably was.” Garble said with a chuckle. “Though we can probably modify a few of the ideas, nonetheless.”
“What did I hear about modifying?” Twilight asked, returning from the basement with two more “carefully selected” bottles of booze.
“We’re not going to use the book to the letter because that sounds disastrous.” John said bluntly. “Also, you can have my wine Twi, it’s not to my tastes. Then again the only alcohol I actually know is bourbon.”
“I heard something about disaster.” Alastor trotted out of the kitchen with a fresh batch of cookies and a tray of finger foods both held aloft in his aura.
“Why can’t we just skip the ideas we don’t like?” Lorraine asked. “You know, put it to a vote.”
“That’s a great idea.” Was said by John, Alastor, and Trixie all with varying levels of enthusiasm. This only caused the noodle dragon to smile happily, while also causing her tail to wag much like a dog’s.
“That, I will accept.” Twilight said with a nod before she briefly ducked into the kitchen. As she did, Alastor set the plate and plater down on the central table. Took a brief look at Spike, then sat next to the small purple dragon.
“Dude, you left your seat open. I took it.” Spike shrugged at the deer demon.
Lorraine immediately zeroed in on the food. More cookies, always good, and what looked like small finger sandwiches. Some looked like they had cheese slices in them. Those were immediately grabbed and piled onto another paper plate and sat in the noodle dragon’s lap.
Twilight returned with a glass of amber liquid. Said glass was levitated down and set in front of John, as his wine glass was taken by the purple aura. “Try that.” The purple unicorn said as she sat in front of the book.
“I should’ve mentioned that I used to only do shots followed by some kind of soda.” John shrugged, took a swig. His face immediately scrunched up and he coughed.
“You’ll get used to it.” Twilight said brightly. “So,” she opened the book. “What are we starting with?”
“Truth or Dare.” Alastor stated casually. Everyone else just looked at him. “What? It’s the most stereotypical party game I can think of.”
“How do you even know about that?” Spike asked, blinking at the deer.
“Just because I lived in Hell doesn’t mean that we don’t have games like that. Ours are just…. A tad more extreme.” Alastor said with a wicked grin.
“That’s reassuring.” John said flatly.
“Okay. Everyone for Truth or Dare raise their forelimb.” Twilight said, raising a hoof.
It was unanimous as everyone raised their hoof/claw.
“Great.” Twilight smiled. “Who’s going first?”
Alastor raised a hoof. “I can.”
“Well go ahead.” Trixie drawled, finally setting her plate on the table.
“Lorraine.” The deer looked at the noodle dragon. “Truth or Dare?”
“Truth.” Lorraine responded instantly.
“Would you ever be interested in dating me?” He asked.
Everyone blinked at the deer.
“That’s it?” Trixie asked.
“Well, she requested Truth.” The deer didn’t bat an eye at the unicorn.
“Well that’s just not fair.” Lorraine said flatly. “I’d like to get to know you better, and I want you to be happy.”
“And that was such a non-answer.” Trixie looked at the noodle dragon.
“Well it’s not exactly a simple question.” Lorraine replied. “There’s his well-being to think about, there’s my well-being to think about, as well as what we both want out of the relationship. And that’s not even counting the fact that I’m already in a relationship.”
“Okay, fair.” Trixie said with a small huff.
“That wasn’t a no~” Alastor said, almost singing his reply.
“No duh, you keep joking about the damn topic. How else am I going to respond?” Lorraine said dryly.
“Aren’t you bothered by any of this?” Twilight asked, looking over at John.
“I’m honestly used to this by now.” John replied with a shrug.
“Bloody Hell, it’s not like I’m going to actually do anything!” The noodle dragon snorted, her fur puffed up a bit.
“Hey, hey.” The bug got up and put his forelegs on her claws, propping himself up on the couch. “It’s okay. We can let it go.”
“Sorry.” Lorraine said instantly.
“It’s all good.” Garble smiled. “It’s your turn to ask someone, by the way.”
“Oh, right. Spike, Truth or Dare?” The noodle dragon looked at the small dragon next to her.
“Dare.” Spike replied flatly.
“I dare you to write a joke and send it to Celestia.” Lorraine said with a grin.
“Oooookay. Any particular type?” Spike asked getting up and waddling over to a cabinet to retrieve a quill and paper.
“You have to include a pun.” Lorraine said with a nod.
Spike scribbled something then sent it off. “Who knows how long that will be.” He shrugged and returned to his seat. He noticed Alastor trying to scoot over and growled at the deer. Said deer quickly retreated back to his spot. The noodle dragon rolled her eyes, got up off the couch, took two steps, and flopped back onto the couch to sit next to Alastor. Spike now took her previous, and very warm, spot.
“And, it’s my turn, right?” Spike asked.
“Yep.” Twilight nodded happily.
“Okay. Twilight, Truth or Dare?” The small dragon snorted and smirked at the bewildered mare.
“Ummm, Truth?” Twilight blinked at him.
The dragon’s eyes grew cold. “Did you eat my last cupcake?”
“U-uummm w-which one?” A bead of sweat rolled off the mare’s head.
“And that’s a yes.” Lorraine said bluntly.
“Thank you.” Spike nodded at the noodle dragon.
Lorraine nodded back. “No problem. I mean, who eats someone else’s food without asking?”
“Twilight.” Trixie spoke up. “She used up the last of Trixie’s peanut butter.”
“Sounds like you all need a roommate agreement.” John deadpanned at the purple mare.
“Or some house rules.” Lorraine added.
“Something to work on tomorrow.” Trixie said with a nod. “Twilight, you’re turn.”
“Trixie, Truth or Dare?” Twilight asked immediately.
“Dare.” The blue unicorn replied.
“I…. Dare you to stop talking in third person for the rest of the night!” Twilight thrust a hoof at the mare.
Trixie blinked. Her eyes narrowed. “You bitch.”
“Language!” The noodle dragon complained.
“Trixie will- I… will try. That is the best Trix- I can do.” Trixie actually looked uncomfortable.
“You okay?” John asked, tilting his head to the side.
“Trixie- I will be fine. Talking like this just takes a lot of Trix- my concentration.” The blue unicorn pouted a bit. “I do not like losing bets.”
“But it’s not a bet, and we never really made any ground rules for not doing a dare.” Garble shrugged.
That got a gasp from Twilight.
“Easy, you refuse to answer, you take a drink.” John said with a shrug. “Well, that’ll have more of an effect on those of us actually drinking.” He chuckled.
Both Alastor and Lorraine just smirked smugly at that added info.
“Perfect!” Twilight clopped her hooves together happily.
“Fuck it.” Trixie said pounding a swig from her glass. “Trixie feels much better.”
“Yay.” Garble gave a small cheer.
“Trixie’s turn.” Trixie cleared her throat “John,” the smol bug perked up, “Truth or Dare.”
“Dare.” John shrugged.
“Transform into Trixie.” Trixie said with a grin.
John blinked. “Well… I’ve been trying to get some practice in here and there, sooo… Why not?” He shrugged and stood up. He then trotted a few paces away from everyone and closed his eyes. His face screwed up in concentration.
Nothing happened for a moment.
Then.
~Fwoosh~
There was a burst of green fire and… There was Trixie… kind of.
There definitely was a Trixie there, however she was smol bug’s size. Like Trixie had been shrunk in the wash.
“Did I do it right?” The voice that came out sounded like a higher-pitched version of Trixie’s voice. “Wait, that doesn’t sound right.”
“Trixie is adorable when she’s that small!” Trixie gasped.
“I-I shouldn’t laugh, but this is hilarious.” Lorraine managed to get out before bursting into a fit of giggles.
“New dare, if it’s allowed.” Trixie asked.
“So long as John is okay with it.” Twilight nodded.
“John, Trixie dares you to turn into Twilight.” Trixie grinned.
“Okay.” The smol Trixie said as “her” eyes focused on the bewildered looking Twilight. There was another ~fwoosh~ and in smol Trixie’s place, was a smol Twilight.
Spike immediately got up. He was eye to eye with the smol Twilight.
“Spike!” “Twilight” gasped, “her” voice also higher-pitched. “I’ve been shrunk by an evil curse! Quick! Send a letter to Princess Celestia!”
Spike immediately lost it, buckling over and cackling like a madman.
“Curses aren’t real!” Twilight tried to complain.
“Yes they are.” Alastor and Lorraine replied in unison.
“Curses aren’t real!” Smol Twi said then giggled. “He he, curse goes zwoosh.”
“Ha ha, very funny.” Twilight rolled her eyes as Trixie and Garble did their best to contain their giggles.
“Wh-Why don’t we get b-back on track?” Lorraine got out through her giggling.
“Right.” Smol Twi nodded, before ~fwooshing~ back into normal smol bug form. “Couldn’t do anything big, that would’ve been disastrous. Anyway,” He looked at Garble. “Red scales, Truth or Dare?”
Garble took a breath and leaned forward. “Truth.”
“Ooooo, very nice.” John took a moment to think. “What do you like about living in Ponyville?”
Garble blinked. “Huh, wasn’t expecting that.” He paused. “Well, it’s peaceful, mostly. The occasional attention from certain mares isn’t bad. And Spike is pretty cool.”
“Thanks bro.” Spike said, finally able to get his laughter under control, and waddled over to fist bump the other drake.
“No problem.” Garble chuckled, then looked over at Alastor. “Deer, Alastor, Truth or Dare?”
The deer grinned toothily. “Dare.”
“Fuck.” Garble blinked. “Ummm….”
The smol bug got up and wordlessly trotted over and reared up to put his forelegs on the arm of the couch. He batted at Garble’s arm. The dragon leaned over and his eyes widened. He snapped a claw and mimed writing to Spike. The smaller dragon retrieved the quill and paper and gave it to the older dragon. Said older dragon wrote something and the smol bug ferried the note over to the deer.
The deer read the note. There was a moment of silence.
“HA!” Alastor barked a laugh, then turned his head to look at Lorraine. The noodle dragon looked very confused at the whole process.
“Darling, if you don’t stop being that cute, I may just have to take you to bed here and now…” The deer said in a low, sultry voice.
“What…” Lorraine took half a second to process then broke into giggles. “What the fuck?” She looked at John. “You planned this.”
“I, in fact, thought of it just now.” John said happily.
Lorraine, looked back at the deer. “Seriously though, don’t tempt me.”
“Funny as it was, you three drink, team efforts aren’t fair.” Twilight gestured a hoof at Garble, Spike, and John.
“Fair.” John said as all three did so, sans spike who took a drink of his sparkling, non-alcoholic, cider.
“Oh, Twilight…” Alastor announced, smirking at the purple unicorn.
“Eh?” Twilight looked at him.
“Truth or Dare?” He asked in the same sultry voice from before.
Lorraine snorted right as Twilight’s face went pink.
“Dare!” Twilight yelped.
“Oh no.” Spike chuckled.
“I dare you to summon a demon.” The deer said casually.
“What?!” Twilight snapped.
“I believe the book is the Demonomicon ex Infernus, Chapter ten, page four-hundred and fifty-six.” Alastor said off handedly. “You’re going to need a hair from a very happy individual.”
“I-I’m not going to summon a demon.” Twilight sputtered.
“Lorriane did and look how that turned out.” Spike gestured at the smirking deer.
“That was accidental, and Twi that’s what you get for leaving that book out and about.” Lorraine said pointing over to a bookshelf with some… rather suspect... looking grimoires on it. One of them being the aforementioned Demonimicon.
“Twilight the Warlock when?” John snorted.
“You know what- Fine!” Twilight snapped. “But where are we going to find a happy individual,” Twilight’s forehooves made air-quotes, “at this-”
There was a crack of thunder. The lights flickered.
And next to Twilight… was Pinkie Pie.
“I felt a disturbance in The Force. Somepony need me?” The pink mare asked happily, looking around.
“Ah, perfect.” Alastor said with a nod as Twilight groaned and trotted over to retrieve the Tome of Forbidden Knowledge (that just so happened to be on a regular bookshelf.)
“This is what I get for bargain hunting at yard sales.” The mare grumbled to herself as she flipped through the book.
“I thought you were busy, Pinkie.” Spike said as Pinkie helped herself to some cookies.
“Well I was. But the rain kinda put a damper on things.” The pink mare giggled.
“How’d you even get here?” Garble asked.
“Just don’t ask, you’ll stay saner that way.” John mentioned. That just got a giggled from the pink mare and a worried look from the dragon.
“Alright… I don’t know how you knew the right page, but we’re going to need five red candles, salt, and a mirror.” Twilight spoke.
There came a gasp from pinkie. “Are you trying to summon Granny?!”
“WHAT?!” Twilight snapped at the mare.
“Well that makes sense.” Alastor blinked.
“Who are we summon-” Twilight was cut off as Pinkie suddenly appeared with a pile of stuff on her back.
“Okay so we put the candles like so.” Pinkie arranged the five candles, where if you connected them with lines, they’d make a five-point star. “Then we make some lines.” She continued by making a pentagram out of what looked like plain table salt.
Twilight’s eyes snapped between the book, to Pinkie, and back. She made *confused horse noises* as somehow the mare was doing the instructions perfectly.
“We pluck a single hair.” Pinkie yanked a tail hair out with her teeth and set it in the middle of the pentagram. “And then we just put the mirror on top! Like so!” Pinkie grinned as she set a hoof mirror down on top of the hair. “Now we need to light it, but I’m not allowed to use matches.”
“Twilight, it’s still your dare, even though Pinkie is helping.” Alastor spoke up.
Twilight blinked, then jumped. “Right! Right. Ummm weee….” She looked at the book.
“Light all the candles and say unholy joy three times.” Twilight blinked as Pinkie recited it word for word next to her.
“What?” The pink mare smiled.
“My Little Warlock. My Little Warlock. Ahhh...” John sang softly then chuckled.
Twilight trotted up to the pentagram. Her horn lit and all five candles sprung to life in a red flame. She took a breath.
“Unholy joy.”
The room seemed to darken.
“Unholy joy.”
The shadows grew deeper. The wood around started to creak as if it was actively warping.
“Unholy joy.”
Suddenly the whole room was back to normal. The candles were also out.
Twilight blinked. “Did… Did it work?”
There came a clattering from the kitchen.
“Wait! Too early! Give me a sec!” A mare’s voice came from the kitchen. “Sorry! I wasn’t ready.”
“It’s okay, Granny!” Pinkie called out.
“Do you need any help?” Alastor called out.
The noise in the kitchen stopped.
“Al… Did you trick someone into summoning me?”
“Maybe.” The deer said with a grin.
Out of the kitchen strode… an alicorn. A short alicorn. She was about Twilight’s height. Her coat was pearly white. Her mane was blond, like the color of wheat. Her eyes had yellow sclera and black irises and pupils. She wore a red suit-jacket, with holes for her wings, and a black bowtie around her neck. Oddly enough, on her flank was a pair of clouds linked by a rainbow. Also the clouds had smiley faces on them.
“Fillies, gentlecolts, and dragons of all ages. I give you, Princess Joy, The Heir to the Throne of Hell, and head of Tartarus’s Tourism Board.” Alastor announced proudly. “As well as, keeper of many of my estates.”
There was a ~pomph~ as Pinkie hugged the pearly alicorn. “Hi Granny.”
“Hey, Cupcake, how’s my little bundle of sugar?” Joy giggled, wrapping a wing around the mare.
“I’m good! We’re playing party games! Though I was gone for most of it. They needed me to help summon you though!” Pinkie babbled happily.
“Oh, I see.” Joy nodded and looked at Alastor. “Al, thanks, but warn me next time.”
“No promises.” Alastor continued smirking.
Joy’s gaze shifted over slightly. Her eyes fell on Lorraine. “Oh my Gosh!” She gasped, as she rushed over to the noodle dragon (Pinkie still attached the whole time). “You’re the one Al was pining over the whole time!”
“H-he what?” Spike snorted a chuckle.
“Yeah! You’re the girl!” Joy bounced on her hooves in place. “Oh, you should have heard him!”
For once, Alastor looked almost nervous. “Now, now, you don’t need to-”
“Oh no, I think we do need to hear this.” Garble smirked at the deer.
“Trixie demands embarrassing stories!” Trixie slammed her glass on an end table.
“Pining, huh?” Lorraine raised a brow at the deer.
“Oh. My. Gosh. YOU HAVEN’T TOLD HER?!” Joy gasped loudly. “Why not?!” She took a deep breath in. “You were all like, Oh, I will have her, initially. Then you went from that to, Isn’t she so pretty? She’s so graceful. And don’t forget the letters! Every waste bin in the hotel is full of crumpled up letters that you never ended up sending. Why haven’t you told her anything?”
“Ahem.” John cleared his throat. Joy looked at the smol bug. “Did you bring any?”
“Oh, did I?!” Joy grinned, then fished around in her jacket. She retrieved… more than a few crumpled up pieces of paper. “These are for you.” She held them out to Lorraine.
“No!” Alastor downright yelped as the letters were set alight.
Joy and Lorraine blinked at the ashes.
Joy shrugged. “That’s alright. I have the best one memorized.”
Lorraine’s face was screwed up in thought. John was staring at Alastor, no, everyone else was staring at Alastor. The deer was oddly silent, his face was almost stoney, save for the small pink circles on his cheeks.
“Dude.” Spike spoke up.
“Why can’t Trixie find a mare who says words half that romantic?” Trixie whined loudly.
“It sounded like he was taking inspiration from the Neo-Classical stylings of poets like Van Hooven and De’ Ga’at.” Twilight said, scribbling at a sheet of paper.
“I didn’t think Allie could be that romantic.” Pinkie blinked at the deer buck almost in awe.
“Neither did I, until I started reading his thrown away letters.” Joy giggled.
“Don’t be jealous. Don’t be jealous. Don’t be jealous.” John muttered to himself.
“Does this mean I have two boyfriends now?” Lorraine asked aloud, blinking in confusion.
“No!” Both Alastor and John snapped quickly.
“I was just asking… That letter was really sweet.” The noodle dragon said as her fur fluffed up a bit.
“Sorry…” The two said in unison… again.
“That was amazing, but we should get back to doing party things, right?” Garble asked, glancing around.
“Yes!- Ahem.. Yes, please.” Alastor nodded, attempting to look somewhat stoic.
The room was lit by only a few candles. Almost everyone had gone to bed. Almost.
Lorraine, Twilight, Joy, and John all sat around the dinner table (The couches were occupied).
“Hey, thanks for looking after Al. Both of you.” Joy nodded at Lorraine and John. “Lorraine may take care of him, but you reign him in, when needed.” She giggled at the smol bug. “He needs that sometimes. And… sorry for embarrassing... well… everyone.”
“Eh, It’s good.” John shrugged.
“I’m surprised. He’s never given a shit about, well, anyone.” Joy said with a nod. “So, I may have gone a bit too far.”
“That’s an understatement.” Lorraine said bluntly. “So, he actually cares?”
“He might not show it on the outside, that much, but… yes. Yes he does.” Joy nodded. “What you do with that info is up to you.” She paused. “Oh, and if you need to take time to think about it, remember that he’s a hundreds of years old demon. All he really has is time. He can wait.”
“What about, getting him back to Tartarus? Surely he misses his home and stuff, right?” Lorraine asked.
“Well…. I’m not exactly allowed to say anything, cause he needs to figure it out himself. But. I can say that he needs to remember what led him to Tartarus in the first place.” Joy said with a nod. “Might want to wait for things to calm down, between all of you.” She gestured a hoof in a circle. “Before you end up mentioning this.”
“Might be a good idea.” John added with a nod. Twilight was scribbling notes, apparently she’d been documenting the whole conversation.
“I’ll apologise to him tomorrow.” Lorraine said. “I probably should have handled that better.”
“Sweetie, please. You were flustered, and probably more than a bit overwhelmed.” Joy giggled. “You were fine.”
“I still shouldn’t have run my mouth like that.” Lorraine said with a nod.
John patted her leg. “Hey, we’re human… so to speak. We’re allowed to fuck up.”
“That sounds like a friendship letter.” Twilight commented.
John snorted. “Hey. Hey Lorraine. Wanna write a friendship letter to the Princess?”
Joy snorted a giggle.
“No.” Lorraine said flatly.
“Well if you don’t, I can.” Twilight shrugged, and pulled out another piece of paper.
“Twilight no, I’m still confused about all this!” Lorraine groaned. “Ugh, some days I wish I wasn’t a luck dragon.”
“Oh, that could be arranged.” Joy said with a smile.
“Why don’t you want to be a luck dragon?” Twilight asked Lorraine, looking more curious than anything else.
“And you can do that?” John blinked at Joy.
“Well, people look at me and they don’t see me. They see a pink, fluffy noodle dragon.” Lorraine said after a moment of thought. “I mean, just look at Trixie. She saw this.” She gestured at herself.
“Mmmm, did she though?” John wondered aloud.
“So, you would prefer something that feels a bit more you. Something more unique?” Twilight asked.
“I’m used to just being a nobody, and suddenly I’m not. If I were anything a bit more normal, at least normal for here, maybe people would see past whatever the fuck this is and take me seriously. There’s also the fact of all the luck dragon magic bullshit. You know, the whole drawing potential partners to me. Am I brainwashing them, is it something that they can’t help doing?” Lorraine asked, looking a little upset.
“No, it’s more of a Destiny thing.” Joy shook her head. “Though, she can be a bit of a brat at times.”
“I’m just going to pretend I didn’t hear that.” John deadpanned. “Probably better for my nerves.”
“That’s the whole thing. It’s like the universe expects me to be a big damn hero, when I’m really not.” The noodle dragon shook her head. “I like helping out Luna and stuff, but it’s just… I feel like if I was something Equestria was used to seeing, I could do a lot more to help.”
“You still do a lot of good now, whether you’re aware of it or not.” Twilight said with a nod. “Starting a Stallion’s Rights movement, however unintentional, is still a good thing for social equality in Equestria.”
“But, could she do more if she didn’t get swamped by mares, jealous or otherwise, whenever she left the house?” John raised a brow at the unicorn.
“You… have a point.” Twilight winced.
“I think it’s because I’m not something they recognise, that they get so worked up.” The noodle dragon explained. “And anyone that does know what I am, only focuses on that. Oh you’re an endangered species. You’re special! Seriously, I’m getting sick of the letter from that damn Conservation Committee.”
“Oh. Them.” Joy for once, looked a little irritated.
“They’re like Peta.” John rolled his eyes. “Only they don’t stop at animals. No, you don’t just lock up the men from whatever endangered species, but the women and children too.” He snorted. “We have to keep everything in a nice sterile bottle.”
“At least it’s fun watching Alastor burn the letters.” Lorraine said with a soft giggle.
“Well, say you had options.” Joy began, returning to her normal happy demeanor. “What would you want to be?”
“How would the whole changing species thing work?” Lorraine asked.
“Well there are two ways to make that happen. There’s the easy-ish way. Which is a Polymorph spell followed by a second spell to make it permanent, both of which technically wear off, in a similar vein to a flu shot. Your body just adapts to that form.” Joy said with a nod. “The second one is rarer. Find yourself a Patron Deity or Higher Power and they can change you into something that more reflects their ideals.”
“So, either Arcane spellwork, or something more like asking a god nicely. Or… Hmmm actually that’s more like a cleric getting a boon from their god.” John hummed, thinking aloud.
“To be perfectly honest, since you’re a luck dragon, the second option is much more viable. You’re quite resistant to hostile magic. Hostile being anything that tries to do something to you that could result in some kind of injury.” Twilight explained. “You’re magic’s not self aware…. Ah! It’s kind of like your immune system, only magical.”
“Okay so we find a god and hope they don’t try to kill me, any ideas?” Lorraine asked.
“Well… let’s see…” Joy hummed and tapped her chin with a hoof. “There’s The Nightmare, Goddess of Shadow and The Night and all that entails; Philia, Goddess of the Mortal Soul; War, he’s rather obvious, not evil though; Thanatos, who’s more of a Grim Reaper than anything else. Ummm there’s Solaire, God of the Primordial Fire and God of the Sun. A’dal, the Entity of Pure Light. There’s Mem, God of Chaos and Deep Waters. Amaterasu, the Sacred Wolf and Goddess of Nature. Oh right, and there’s a couple other Primordial deities. There’s Quetzecoatl, God of the Sky; and A’Tuin The World Turtle, God of Earth. I could really go on, but those are the big ones.”
“Oh! Cadence is a servant of Philia! We could go ask her!” Twilight said happily.
“Twilight you just want to see Cadence and your brother again.” Joy giggled at the purple mare.
“Well, that too.” Twilight blushed.
“So, we have options, have you figured out what you want to be?” John asked, looking over at his girlfriend.
“Well, I’ve done some reading up. It was mostly just a pipe dream, but I was thinking either deer or diamond dog. Unless you guys can come up with something else, because those two seem to fit me the best from what I’ve read.” Lorraine said with a shrug.
“Well, The Nightmare is kinda the Patron Deity of deer, fauns, and satyrs, and yes there’s a difference between those two.” Joy said with a nod.
“That’s not worrying at all.” John deadpanned.
“What’s the difference?” The noodle dragon asked.
“Well, fauns are more the good,” Joy imitated air quotes with her hooves, “side of nature. Yes they might be more nature oriented, but they still fall under Nightmare’s domains. Fauns primarily live in forests, and forests, especially wild forests, are Nightmare’s domain as well. And I’ve gotten horribly off track, sorry. So! Fauns. Very kind, nurturing, helpful creatures. They have a knack for nature magic, as well as illusions. They’re basically bipedal deer.” She took a breath. “Satyrs, on the other hoof, represent the bad side of nature. The vicious, deadly side. They are aggressive, territorial, and tend to dabble in shadowmancy, necromancy, demonology, or other dark practices. In fact, quite a few satyrs only exist, because Nightmare cursed them to be that way. They’re also bipedal, only they have long horns, claws, a pair of small tusks, and they’re normally covered in some kind of thick, bright colored hair. More than a few demons in Tartarus started out as normal satyrs. They’re pretty nasty pieces of work.”
“That’s fascinating.” Twilight commented. She was in the midst of scribbling down notes.
“So my choices are either diamond dog, deer, or faun. What do you all think?” Lorraine looked around the table.
“Why not a pony?” Twilight asked, tilting her head to the side curiously.
“After everything that’s been going on, could you really see me as a pony?” Lorraine blinked at the unicorn.
Twilight opened her mouth to speak as she raised her hoof, only for her to pause. Her mouth closed, and she dropped her hoof as her face screwed up in thought.
“Thought so.” John chuckled. “Personally, as cute a deer as you’d be, I’d prefer a diamond dog or a faun. If anything, because then you’d be able to wander around with me in your arms like the bug-cat I am.”
“I have no preference one way or the other.” Joy shrugged with a smile.
“I’ll ask the others tomorrow and see what they think.” Lorraine hummed. “Faun does sound appealing.”
“I’m only imagining Elora from Spyro and that makes me very happy.” John snorted a laugh.
“Twi, what do you think?” Lorraine asked Twilight, who got shaken out of her thoughts.
“Huh? What?” Twilight blinked. “Oh, right, ummm... Do what makes you happy?” She smiled sheepishly.
“Twi, you had one job.” John chuckled.
“Well, I can’t exactly give any solid pros or cons without having enough information on the races in question.” Twilight huffed.
“In any case, we’ve got time. You could contact Nightmare on Nightmare Night anyway.” Joy grinned.
“Wait… The Nightmare is Nightmare Moon?!” Twilight snapped at Joy with a gasp.
“Correction, Nightmare Moon was Nightmare using Luna’s body to do what needed to be done.” Joy said with a nod.
“What’s that mean?” Twilight blinked, looking very confused.
“It’s not my place to say.” Joy shook her head.
“Something to worry about later.” Lorraine said with a shrug. She looked at Joy. “Soooo, what’s the deal between you and Pinkie?”
“Oh, that’s easy. I adopted Pinkie’s mom. Pinkie’s other grandmother, Granny Pie, doesn’t like me all that much.” Joy giggled. “Having me in the family has had… some interesting side effects.”
“Oh, so the source of Pinkie being Pinkie is you.” John said with a nod.
“She’s family.” Joy grinned. “I totally spoil her.”
“No wonder she loves seeing you.” John chuckled.
“Not often enough, I have duties in Tartarus, but I pop up when I can.” Joy nodded, looking a little sad for a moment.
“Cool.” Lorraine said a little flatly.
“And, it’s getting late.” Joy said with a nod. “You all should probably get some sleep.”
“But we’re night owls.” John replied.
“Yeah, not going to be for awhile yet.” Lorraine nodded.
“I can stay up!” Twilight sat bolt upright. “There’s so much I want to know.”
“Oh fine, I suppose I could tell you more.” Joy sighed. “So, what do you want to know?”