//------------------------------// // 6. Wally's Wild Ride // Story: Magica Ex Dolori // by Posh //------------------------------// Beyond the barrier, a pastel pink landscape unfolded.  Pink fuzzy grass stretched as far as Wallflower could see, met at the horizon by pink fuzzy sky. Faint notes of erratic calliope music, with neither harmony nor melody, drifted toward her from someplace unseen.  She shivered, unnerved by the discordant sound, and bent to inspect the ground. It looks like cotton candy, she thought.  Something compelled her to taste it – probably the same voice that told her to eat Play-Doh when she was five. So, she plucked out a tuft and held it to her mouth, tapping it with the tip of her tongue. Her eyes widened at the sugary-sweet taste. She began ripping up fistfuls of the stuff and shoving them into her mouth, scarfing down wads of cotton candy grass with gusto. Once satisfied, she stood, brushing sugar-dust off her skirt and stockings. Oh, to be eleven years old again... The labyrinth continued materializing before her eyes. Amusement park rides, carousels, and tilt-a-whirls shimmered into existence, suspended in the air at impossible angles. In front of Wallflower floated a Ferris wheel, big enough to hit the clouds. The rides all seemed arranged around a centerpiece, though: a towering, conical roller coaster, soaring up through the clouds and beyond. Arranged in tiers, and sagging like a lopsided layer cake, the coaster's superstructure enclosed a rail that dipped and looped, jackknifed and corkscrewed, and threaded multiple times in and out of the clouds.  A piercing squeal echoed from the coaster as a lone train plunged down from the cloud cover. It rattled its way through a sheer drop, curved around, and returned to the sky. All through that drop, all through that curve, the scream continued. The train's passenger – or passengers – enjoyed a thrill ride with no beginning, and no end. An eternity of adrenaline. Salivating, Wallflower looked at Kyubey. "You know, if I didn't have a job to do—" The ground beneath her foot bulged and Wallflower stumbled backward, yelping in alarm. The motion dislodged Kyubey, and he fell, landing on a blue balloon that poked through the cotton candy grass.  Dozens more balloons, hundreds more, all rose from the ground, flying toward the Ferris wheel, and popping once they hit the cloud cover. Each balloon had boxes tied to the ends of their strings, which rained to the ground when their respective balloons burst. The balloon beneath Kyubey rose. Legs dangling, he stared unblinkingly at Wallflower as he lifted off.  Wallflower hopped up and caught the balloon's string. To her mild surprise, it lifted her too, until she flung her hat through the balloon to pop it. She dropped back to the ground, throwing up a cloud of sugar-dust on impact. Both Kyubey and the hat, fell into her arms. The former scampered back to her shoulder; the latter, she plopped back on her head. She held her shoulder and windmilled her arm experimentally. The coat's stitching limited her range of motion; even the act of throwing her hat was harder than it should have been. "You couldn't have given me a better weapon?" she growled. "I had nothing to do with that," said Kyubey. "Both your outfit and your weapon reflect your personality and your soul." "In that case, couldn't I have given me a better weapon?"  She tried to stretch her arms over her head; the stitching on her sleeves held her back. Sighing, she dropped them limply to her sides, and looked up at the roller coaster. "Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions, but I think what I'm looking for is gonna be up there. The witch, the victim, or both." "That would be consistent with this witch's previously established patterns of behavior," Kyubey replied. "Bear in mind, though, it's not a witch yet. 'Pseudo-witch' may be a more accurate term. Or simply 'familiar.' "Mm. I'll work on that." Wallflower found herself playing with the hem of her skirt – she seldom wore skirts, but this one felt pleasantly breezy. "I gotta get up there, and catch it somehow, right?"  "Correct. Although, I wouldn't advise that you scale the structure from where we're standing. It's a long climb, and you'd be vulnerable during the ascent. Approaching from the top would be a more viable strategy." Wallflower eyed the Ferris wheel. Its benches passed through the cloud cover on one side, and descended from the other – save a layer of pink dust, no worse for wear.  A plan took root in her mind.  "I think I know how to do that," she said to Kyubey. "You should find someplace that's out of the way." "That was fast." Kyubey twitched his ears. "Are you certain your idea will work?" "Well, it's a plan that I came up with, so. No."  A balloon drifted past Wallflower, and she reached out to grab its string, letting it pull her off the ground. "Pray for me, okay?" she thought to Kyubey, as she rose toward the Ferris wheel.  "There is no meaning in such things," Kyubey replied. "It's just an expression, Kyubey. The least you could do is humor me." Kyubey remained silent for a moment. "Good hunting," he finally said. Wallflower never considered herself afraid of heights, but that didn't mean she loved this weightless feeling in the pit of her stomach, the sensation that she ought to be falling. It only got worse the higher she went. When her balloon reached the wheel, Wallflower released the string and dropped onto the nearest bench. It shook upon her landing, rocking dangerously back and forth. Wallflower squealed and gripped the bench's sides until it slowed, and then dared to look up at the cloud cover, which only grew closer as the wheel spun. Her now-abandoned balloon continued to rise until it hit the clouds and popped. The box at the end of the string dropped to the ground, vanishing among the candy grass. The bench passed through the cotton candy clouds, and a sugary scent overpowered her, clogging her nose and tickling every bit exposed skin. She held her breath until she felt open air again, let it out in a heaving sigh, and opened her eyes. The calliope music rang louder up here, its maddeningly tuneless song winding through Wallflower's mind. The top half of the roller coaster protruded from the ground, surrounded by striped tents and checkered game stands: ring tosses, shooting galleries, a high-striker where a line of children – spindly bodies with bulbous heads – struggled to hoist a hammer twice Wallflower's size. More stick figures bustled between the attractions, with long ribbons of tickets trailing behind them.  Are those familiars? Wallflower thought. She tried to count them all, but quickly gave up – the effort made her stomach turn. There's an army of them. The tilt-a-whirls and carousels were up here too, but like the wheel, they were all empty. The only one with any riders was the roller coaster, which rushed past with the same rapturous scream as before. Eyeballing it, the simplest way for Wallflower to get over there would just be to scale the superstructure. But with so many familiars between her and the coaster, she didn't love her odds of reaching it unscathed. There didn't seem to be any balloons on this level to carry her over, either. I could always jump it, she thought, peeking over the edge of the bench. I'm pretty athletic now. Relatively speaking. Wallflower coiled her legs, and set the coaster in her sights. She waited until the wheel had brought the bench to its apex, then sprang, her hand stretched out as far as the stitching on her outfit would allow. I'm flying. A cautious smile broke out on her face. I'm flying! She felt light and free, sailing through the air, drawing closer and closer to the coaster, even as gravity sought to snare and drag her down. This is a miracle. An absolute miracle!  Her smile split into an exhilarated grin; no thrill ride could ever compare to this.  I'm flying through the air, and I'm gonna...! Gravity's tugging grew more insistent, pulling harder. She shrugged it off – the coaster was close, so close she could practically reach out and touch it.  I'm gonna... I'm gonna... Wallflower looked down, and found herself hurtling towards the roof of some carnival game. No, no, nononononono. Her grin vanished, and panic set in. Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap... Wallflower pulled her hat down over her face and screamed into it. "...Crapcrapcrapcrapcraaaaaaaa—!" She shattered the roof on impact and landed face-first in a pile of cotton candy. Covering her face with the hat kept it out of her eyes and nose, but there was no blocking out the smell. Not that it was a bad smell. Just, it was everywhere. Again. With a mighty yank, Wallflower plucked her head from the ground. Gasping for breath, she set the hat back onto her face, rested on her knees, and opened her eyes. She sat face-to-face with a bull's eye. A whole row of them, in fact, each one poked with tiny holes. Still kneeling, she turned around, and found a line of stick-children. Armed with wooden rifles, they stood at attention like toy soldiers on parade.  "Um..." Wallflower stood, brushed herself off, cupped her hands politely, and cleared her throat. "Hello."  All at once, the familiars shouldered their weapons, and set Wallflower in their sights. Wallflower smiled shakily. "Those don't fire real bullets, do they?" One of the guns cracked. The bullet hit her hat, knocking it off her head.  Wallflower blinked. Then, yelping, she hit the dirt as a hail of bullets tore into the gallery behind her. The familiars kept firing after the first volley, shredding the already pummeled targets. Wallflower spotted her hat not far away – undamaged, as far as she could tell. She quickly snagged it and pulled it over her head, pressing her body as low to the ground as she could. They've gotta run out of ammo sometime, she thought. Any minute now, they'll have to stop, and I can counterattack. But the gunfire didn't let up. Volley after volley whizzed overhead, and smoke from the rifles choked the gallery. The din of the firing line and the click-clack of levers cycling drowned out even the persistent, eerie calliope. I'm not safe here, thought Wallflower, pulling the brim of her hat low over her face. I have to get up, have to fight back, have to do something. But if I try to go anywhere, those bullets...  Shaking, she squeezed her eyes shut. God, what the hell was I thinking, coming in here by myself? Fearless magical girl, my ass! Kyubey's voice rang out in her mind. "Wallflower! You need to get up, quickly!" "Oh, do I? Do I really?" Wallflower snapped. "Because the twenty-six gun salute going on behind me totally didn't clue me in!" "You don't understand. Another familiar is on its way – and this one is different. You need to hurry and regroup!" "Regroup where?!" Kyubey didn't get a chance to respond – something smashed through the gallery wall. Wallflower shielded her face as splinters and expended bullets, buried in the wall behind the targets, pelted her. The gunfire cut off. Blinking, Wallflower lifted her head to peek.  Five stick-children, standing on each other's heads, greeted her; ten hands gripped the shaft of the hammer from the high-striker she'd spotted from the Ferris wheel. Together, they lifted it again, stumbling backward before aiming the hammer straight at Wallflower’s skull. Wallflower saw the opening she needed, and rolled to one side as the hammer landed on the empty ground.  Rising to her knees, Wallflower doffed her hat and hurled it at the column of familiars, watching triumphantly as it smacked against one of the children's squishy, featureless heads. The tower swayed, bulged inward elastically, then spat the hat back toward Wallflower before she could react.  The brim smacked her in the forehead and knocked her onto her rear. So that's how getting hit by this thing feels, Wallflower thought as white spots and stars danced in her vision. I almost feel bad for all those tombstones now. Something gripped her ankle. She shook her head to clear the concussion cobwebs, and managed to grab her hat as the children lifted her the air, dangling her upside-down. At her side, the sharpshooters readied their rifles. "Let me go," Wallflower hissed through gritted teeth. Holding her hat by the brim, she swung at the closest target: the middle head of the stick-tower. Again, it rebounded with a comically cartoonish boing. Stupid, useless hat...! "Let me go!" she shouted. She swung again and again, each strike punctuated by the same panicked command. "Let me go, let me go, let me go, let me go!" The last blow rebounded so far that her shoulder almost dislocated. She let out a strangled cry, and let her arm go limp. But just then, her soul gem shined with a piercing green light. The brim of her hat shifted in shape, allowing her to grip it tightly and comfortably. She didn't think about it, didn't even register it. She only closed her hand tightly around the brim and swung at the tower, shrieking. "I said, let me go!" The head she struck popped like a zit, thick fluid bursting everywhere, even spattering Wallflower. The tower collapsed and Wallflower fell, landing on the ground and sputtering. The column broke into its components: stick-child familiars that disintegrated as they hit the ground. A gunstock hurtled toward her face, and Wallflower swung her hat to meet it. She cut through the weapon, straight through to the familiar holding it, and he popped and deflated just like the tower. Emboldened, she stood, and swung wildly at each of the familiars, cutting each down in turn. Panting, alone, and surrounded by disintegrating corpses, Wallflower fought to organize her thoughts. She started by looking down at her hat. Her eyes widened. "Oh..." She held a wreath of green, metal leaves, honed to a razor's edge, shingled over one another in a perfect circle with one section left bare as a grip. Wallflower clenched her fingers against the grip experimentally; they sank perfectly into it, as though the weapon were molded for her alone.  "...Did I do this?" "You're still not safe, Wallflower." Though calm, a note of urgency underscored Kyubey's voice. "Your target has noticed you." The  thundering sound of wheels barreling down a track drew Wallflower's attention back to the coaster. A train rumbled past Wallflower on a section of track that skimmed just above the ground.  The train slowed as it passed, letting Wallflower get a good glimpse of it. The three cars at the rear of the train overflowed with piles of colorful rockets, all jumbled together haphazardly. And two riders sat near the front. One was a dark-haired young woman, probably no older than Wallflower, slumped over unconscious.  Seated ahead of her was something else – something inhuman, and vastly different from both witches Wallflower had encountered. All she could see was a smooth, featureless head, crowned with a pair of tall cat ears, and pinkish goo floating behind a transparent layer of skin. The head swiveled to regard Wallflower, the goo behind its skin sloshing like a lava lamp.  Wallflower, gulping, stared back. Slowly, the train built up speed again, curving around for another circuit around the track. As it headed away, dozens of rockets in the back sparked to life, whistling and whining as they zipped in all directions. Some flew over the theme park and exploded in the air, clouding the sky with starbursts of pink and blue. The rest shot toward the tents and games surrounding the coaster. Toward Wallflower.  Wallflower leaped away as a rocket exploded a foot in front of her. More exploded among the tents and game stands; the pseudo-witch fired indiscriminately, blowing away crowds of its own familiars, turning its labyrinth into a no-man's-land. Yet the familiars continued to mill about, oblivious to the chaos and destruction surrounding them, even as they died by the dozen. The roller coaster, she thought. I have to get up there – have to kill the monster, rescue the hostage.  Her heart hammered; her breathing came in ragged gasps.  But... I... She cried out in frustration. It was the shooting gallery all over again: Instinct commanded that Wallflower run and regroup, but there didn't seem to be anywhere she could go, anywhere that wasn't under constant bombardment. Another cluster of rockets blasted a hole in the ground in front of her. Wallflower shrieked and dropped to her knees, clutching the blade-wreath to her chest, as she teetered on the edge of the hole. I can't do this. I can't do this. This is just like last time, except nobody's here to bail me out!  Her cries became a hysterical, hyena-like chitter.  Sunset was right. I didn't know what I was getting into! Something exploded against her back, throwing her forward, through the hole. She tumbled, end over end; a flock of balloons floated past her, not a one in arm's reach. Caught in freefall, her thoughts went to Moondancer. She shut her eyes, and pictured her face as she plunged the hundreds of feet toward the ground below. I'm sorry I can't keep my promise. I'm sorry I can't avenge you. Wallflower smiled bitterly. Some magical girl I turned out to be. With a suddenness that made her heart plunge into her stomach and her head snap back, Wallflower jerked to a stop. The velvety fabric around her throat tightened and squeezed so hard that she felt like her head would pop clean off.  Despite the strangulation, she could breathe. And that seemed to indicate that she was alive.  Opening her eyes, she saw why: Her scarf had snagged on something. She couldn't see from her limited vantage – the pose she was in kept her from looking anywhere but straight up, through the hole she'd fallen through – but something in the air had saved her life. She pressed her free hand against her chest, feeling her heart thrumming through her layers of clothing. A grateful, giddy smile spread across her face. "I'm not— gah!" Her scarf unraveled like a spool of cloth, and Wallflower continued her plunge to the ground below. Reaching up, she snagged the scarf one-handed, and slid a few more feet before her momentum died. She swayed, suspended by the neck, her palm burning like she'd held it against a hot stove.  But she was alive – after thinking, for sure, that her number had come up. Something tugged on her scarf, hoisting her upward and bouncing her in a way that made the discomfort around her neck that much worse. In short, jerky bursts, she rose in the air, until her gaze met a pair of smugly narrowed blue eyes, shining in the shadow of a green hood. Lorelai chuckled. "Good fishing today." Wallflower grimaced, and made a displeased warble in the back of her constricted throat. Lorelai stood upright on the buttstock of a massive, floating crossbow, her capelet fluttering in a breeze that Wallflower couldn't feel – maybe it was just something Lorelai's magic did. Piled on the crossbow was an impossibly long length of scarf, all trailing back to Wallflower's neck.  Distantly, Wallflower wondered how she'd kept all that tucked away down her coat. Or maybe lengthening was just something the scarf did on its own. Or maybe I made it happen... With no grace or ceremony, Lorelai dropped Wallflower beside her on the crossbow, and tossed the bit of scarf she held back onto her lap. Wallflower tried to say something, and immediately doubled over, coughing uncontrollably. She almost slipped and fell off the edge of the crossbow, but Lorelai grabbed the back of her collar and pulled her to safety. "If you didn't have fun falling to your death the first time, then I doubt you'll enjoy it the second." She released Wallflower, and tilted her head thoughtfully, her hood slipping down a little with the motion. "Maybe I should've given this thing safety rails..." Wallflower rubbed her throat, and felt her soul gem clasped at her collar. Without the scarf covering it up, it shone brightly: A green blossom with a golden center, and a pair of vine-like ties dangling down. This is too pretty to cover up all the time. "Aren't you..." Wallflower's sentence died amidst another coughing fit. She gave herself a few moments to catch her breath before trying again. "Aren't you wasting your precious time by helping me?" "No, I..." Lorelai's smug gaze softened. "Look, I know that I came across as—" "Frigid? Callous?" Wallflower grabbed her scarf and staggered to her feet. Her voice gained strength, venom creeping into her words. "A goddamn sociopath?" "That's not fair, Fluffy." Raising her hand, Lorelai snapped her fingers. The crossbow glowed with a faint green aura, and rose toward the cloud cover. What holes the pseudo-witch had blasted through it had already closed, and once more, an unbroken blanket of pink blocked out the labyrinth's sky. "I have my reasons for thinking that way," she continued, lowering her hood. "And I suppose it's my fault for not explaining them well enough. But regardless of whether or not we get a grief seed, I shouldn't have let you pick this fight alone." Wallflower briefly watched the ground recede before looking back at Lorelai. She wore a remorseful expression, and she sounded apologetic, even if there wasn't an apology in her words. "Well, you kept me from going kersplat just now, and I'm grateful." Wallflower directed her attention toward the slowly approaching cloud cover, and tightened her grip around the wreath. "But I want to finish this myself, my way." "Far be it for me to get between you and a learning experience, but you might change your mind later on. Don't say I didn't warn you." Lorelai paused, glancing down at Wallflower's weapon. "So, the chakram. That's new." "Chalk zone? What?" Wallflower looked down at the wreath, and mentally smacked herself – she knew that word; how did she forget it? "Yeah, it used to be my hat, until I complained about it being useless. Go figure." "Hm. You bitch about your toys, and you get better toys." Lorelai chuckled. "I thought I'd seen everything in this line of work, but a soul gem that acts like an overindulgent mommy is a first." "It makes a great deal of sense, if you think about it," Kyubey chimed in. "A magical girl's garb and weapon both reflect her soul. For your garb to be your weapon is entirely appropriate, and not out of the ordinary." Wallflower had grown so used to Kyubey's voice in her head that she didn't realize immediately that she'd actually heard him speak out loud. She looked over her shoulder, and found him perched on the back of the crossbow's massive arrow, where the feathered end met the bowstring. They passed through the bottom of the cloud layer, and Wallflower closed her eyes so as not to get candy in them. "Never seen a magical girl with a skillset quite like yours before," Lorelai remarked as they emerged from the clouds. "I guess if you can turn your headgear into, uh, hurtgear, then you must be capable of all kinds of crazy tricks. Maybe you can make spikes come out of your shoes and kickbox witches to death. Literal stilettos." "That— I—" Wallflower looked down at her legs, toying with her skirt's hem. "Do you think so?" "No, that's dumb. Don't actually try that." Lorelai shrugged. "Get creative. S'all I'm saying." By then, the crossbow had risen to the top of the Ferris wheel. Lorelai snapped her fingers again, and it slowed to a stop, hovering over the amusement park below. In the distance, the coaster rumbled down the track, the pseudo-witch's carefree cries echoing through the expanse.  “Here we go again,” Wallflower said, feet feeling like lead. “Maybe this time a rocket will just blow me to bits.” "Oh, buck up," Lorelai said. "Think of your first run as a dress rehearsal. You worked out the kinks, and got a sense for how to do things right the second time. Pop quiz: What've you learned?" "Don't get cornered?" The distant crack of a firing line made Wallflower jump. "And, uh... don't try to cross the labyrinth on foot."  "Because?" "The familiars... um, they don't like people hanging around there?" "They do not." Lorelai nodded. "Any exceptions to that rule?" Wallflower stared at it, the gears in her own mind turning like the slow, steady motion of... "...They didn't attack me when I was on the Ferris wheel. And... there weren't any of them on there. Or on any of the other rides. Or the roller coaster."  A subtle smile curled Lorelai's lips. "All that in mind, what do you think this one cares about? Besides feeding, I mean – they all care about that." Wallflower pursed her lips in thought and watched the coaster plunge down a sharp incline. A shrill, piercing screech carried through the distance toward them. "...It doesn't care that we're here. None of them do, as long as we stay out of their way." She looked at Lorelai again. "Seems like all it's after is a good time." "And she only cares about you, and I, insofar as we interfere with her fun. If we weren't here, she'd just keep chasing after it. Harder, faster, never stopping. Witches are all different from one another; they all have their own natures. Jack-Jack? She just wants to have fun."  Lifting her arms languorously, Lorelai clapped, three times, in succession.  "Poor performance, but at least you learned something. I'll give you a five out of ten." Wallflower didn't know how to respond – she was half-certain she was being mocked. "Sorry, did you say its name was—" "Jack-Jack, yes." Lorelai narrowed her eyes. "Is there a problem with that?" "Just sounds odd up against the others. You got Briar Rose, and Miranda, and now..." Wallflower flapped her arms against her sides. "Jack-Jack."  A flush sneaked up Lorelai's neck, its edges brushing against her cheeks. She looked like she was about to say something cutting, but she just scoffed and looked away. "Whatever." Wallflower blinked – that was a surprisingly weak retort from this girl, mumbled and sulky. "Okay, back on topic. If I get onto the coaster, will the familiars bother me?" "No. The rides are for Jack-Jack – the familiars know that, so they avoid 'em." Lorelai looked at Wallflower, still a bit sullen, and nodded. "Like you said." Wallflower's face felt hot – that sounded suspiciously like respect – and looked out at the roller coaster. "I need to get over there. I tried jumping earlier, and I couldn't quite make it, so... is there any chance you could give me a lift? Float this thing over, let me off?" "Only if you're giving up on doing the job yourself. In which case, rather than fly you over there, I'd just tie you around an arrow with your scarf, shoot you over, and hope for the best." A hint of playfulness curled Lorleai's lips, and crept into her voice. "I will give you fifty dollars if you can tell me what movie that's from." Staring blankly, Wallflower shook her head. "No?" Lorelai sighed. "I'll keep the fifty bucks and buy you a subscription to the Criterion Collection." "Or you could buy yourself a ticket to join us in the 21st century, Grandma." She gazed out at the roller coaster, biting her lip. "If you're not going to give me a ride, then how am I...?" Trailing off, Wallflower looked at the scarf in her hand. The rest of its stupendous length still lay upon the crossbow's stock, where Lorelai had piled it in a great, coiled heap.  "Get creative," huh? She undid the buttons on her coat, sighing with relief at just how far she could articulate her limbs now. Then she focused, channeling some of her magic into the section in her hand. Then she shook it out, sending a ripple shooting through the fabric's length. Immediately, the scarf retracted from the length of a garden hose to the length of... well, a scarf. Wallflower whistled – or tried to, anyway. It came out as just a dry whisper. Blushing, she leveled a gaze at the roller coaster as the Jack-Jack's train barreled into view. "I have an idea." She drew her hand back, keeping her focus on the scarf. Then, grunting, she cracked it forward, toward the coaster. The scarf elongated as it flew forward, stretching across the distance that Wallflower had earlier failed to jump. Its other end met the train as it passed, looping tightly and securely around the safety bar on the rear car's backrest. "I... did it?" Wallflower blinked – once, twice – in disbelief. Then she burst into bubbly giggles, hopping giddily in place. "Holy heck, I can't believe that actually worked!" "I'm a bit surprised, myself. Pleasantly so." Lorelai watched the scarf as it pulled tight, and taut. "So, uh... what now?"  Wallflower finished her bouncing, and looked at Lorelai. "Well, I gotta get over there, so either I swing across, or I make like a tape measure and re—" Her sentence ended in a shriek as the scarf, indeed, made like a tape measure. "—TRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACT!"  The momentum of the train and the force of her retracting scarf flung Wallflower forward with speed that put her earlier leap of faith to shame. The sudden, jerky motion jarred the chakram from her hand, and it fell, landing somewhere among the tents and game stands. Of course, she needed both hands to hold the scarf, so losing her weapon was a blessing in disguise. She held on for dear life as she whipped through the air, and screamed her terror, her exhilaration, to the wind. This was flying. The scarf pulled her well into the coaster's superstructure before it stopped retracting, leaving her dangling some twenty feet behind the train, a living streamer. Now inside, Wallflower could see that the full structure extended through both cloud layers, clear down to the bottom of the labyrinth, a checkered grid of black and white. Beside her ran a parallel track – Wallflower wondered why a roller coaster that only ever had one or two riders would need more than one track. She could see the victim three cars ahead, black hair splayed and whipping about as her head bobbed and swung, unrestrained. Either she was going to fall to her death, crack her head on something, or die of plain old whiplash. Would the Jack-Jack stop the ride? Would it notice? The coaster swerved right along an angled section of track, whipping Wallflower to the left, before dropping down a steep incline and plunging her into freefall. The track then corkscrewed around and swirled Wallflower in a circle. Fighting a wave of nausea, Wallflower shut her eyes, and focused on compelling the scarf to retract all the way. She managed to pull a few feet closer, but she still trailed Jack-Jack by at least two Wallflower-lengths – maybe as little as a Wally and a half.  I'm gonna need to work on mastering this thing, she thought, gritting her teeth. If I make it out of this alive, anyway. Something socked Wallflower in the gut and knocked the wind out of her as the coaster leveled out. She heard the crack of wood breaking — when she opened her eyes, she found the train dragging her through the coaster’s wooden tracks. Despite the force of impact, she felt little pain. Were her clothes absorbing the damage, or was she just that resilient?  Shunting the question aside, Wallflower managed to swing her legs forward just as the train ascended again. This time, she splayed her legs and planted her feet on either rail, sparks flying from her soles. Far ahead, at the front of the train, Jack-Jack's ears perked, its free-floating pink gobs sloshing behind its transparent skin. It swiveled its head to look back at Wallflower, then thumped its arm twice against the backrest. A salvo of rockets burst from the train cars, exploding around Wallflower. She ducked under one and weaved away from another; a rocket exploded in front of her right foot, and she immediately bounced so that both feet ground against the left rail.  Another fat, red-tipped rocket sputtered to life and streaked toward her, just as she leaned into a steep turn. But before it could get far, a crossbow bolt ripped through it – a one-in-a-million shot – and it exploded with a shower of sparks that peppered Wallflower as she passed through them.  On the parallel track, Lorelai barreled into view, riding a wheeled ballista the size of a surfboard. Glowing with the green aura of her magic, it kept pace admirably with the runaway roller coaster. Kyubey perched at the crossbow's front like a figurehead, calm and placid even with the tip of a giant bolt pointed directly at his back. "How're you holding up?" Lorelai shouted. Wallflower wondered why she didn't just think the question to her, through Kyubey. "I dropped my chalk zone!" "So make another one!"  Wallflower ducked under a low overhang, and locked eyes with Lorelai. "What do you mean, 'make another one?'"  Lorelai pressed her hand to her soul gem, and a small crossbow materialized in her grip. Immediately she discarded it, and it melted into motes of green light, siphoned back into her soul gem. She raised an eyebrow. "I don't think I know how to do that yet!" Wallflower cried. And she didn't dare take her hand off her scarf long enough to try it, anyway. "Your magic has responded thus far to a sense of need, rather than a conscious thought," said Kyubey in her head – Lorelai's, too, if her disgusted scowl was any indicator. "In layman's terms, you're thinking too hard. You'd have more success if you simply acted rather than—" A sharp kick from Lorelai shut him up and sent him tumbling off the crossbow's edge. Wallflower called his name as she watched him vanish into the checkered abyss below, his vacant, wide-eyed expression never leaving. "Why did you do that?" she cried to Lorelai. "He’s fine. Believe me, if punting him into a hole was enough to get rid of Kyubey, I would've done it a long time ago," snapped Lorelai, shifting her weight right to bear with an upcoming turn. "Look, enough wax-on-wax-off crap. You want me to tag in?" "I said I'd finish this on my own!" The coaster curved around and slowed as it reached a steep, vertical climb. Wallflower dug her heels into the rail, the metal's piercing squeal raking against her eardrums. "I just need to get this thing to stop!" The ballista slowed, keeping pace with the train. Sighing, Lorelai took a seat, facing Wallflower and dangling her legs off the edge of the weapon. "Alright." She rested her elbows on her thighs, and propped up her face in her palms. "How're you gonna do that?" How, indeed? Digging her heels into the rails hadn’t helped at all — maybe she needed something more secure.  Wallflower hopped to her right, landing on the edge of the nearest railroad tie. Digging the soles of her feet against it, she coiled her legs and pushed, pitting all of her strength and weight against the train's power.  The scarf tightened; the train began to slow, even as the strain of holding it back compressed Wallflower's body, pressed her knees against her chest, clenching her up into a little ball. This wasn't going to work. Then she felt a warm body behind her, and arms encircling her from behind. Lorelai's gloved hands joined hers on the scarf. "Pull." Lorelai's breath puffed against Wallflower's ear as she spoke; her biceps bulged in Wallflower's peripheral vision, cables of muscle tensing visibly. Buhbubbuh, thought Wallflower. Were all puellae magi that ripped? Was she that ripped? She pulled, though, and though the runaway train strained against them, they dragged it to a stop. Jack-Jack chittered something, and a volley of fireworks streaked toward the girls in retaliation. Wallflower braced herself, but a light flashed from behind, and a glowing harp appeared in front of her. The rockets exploded against its strings; each blast plucked and strummed the harp, forming a melodic counterpoint to the labyrinth's chaotic calliope. Wallflower, transfixed by this colorful symphony, felt her heart pitter-patter. Were it not for the threat of imminent death, it may have been the most romantic moment of her life. And, hell, even then. The girls' efforts kept the train in place, but didn't accomplish much else. Jack-Jack continued to rain rockets upon them, and though Lorelai's harp-shield continued to soak up punishment, it flickered with every impact.  "I don't know what you had planned, or if you had a plan at all," Lorelai said in Wallflower's ear. "But if we keep this up, then we'll run out of magic long before Jack-Jack." Lorelai was right. The two of them, together, could hold the train back for only so long; even now, Wallflower could feel the pull on her scarf growing stronger, building strength and momentum and gradually overpowering them. The veins in Lorelai's arms bulged, and even the wood beneath their feet started to splinter and crack from the strain of their tug-of-war. This stalemate would only break when the two of them did. Hell, the only thing that didn't seem close to breaking was the scarf. But just as Wallflower was about to swallow her pride and ask Lorelai to just shoot the damn thing, a thought struck her. She looked between the train, the scarf, and the board beneath her feet.  If the wood can wear and tear... can the metal, too? "All this thing wants to do is have fun, right?" said Wallflower through her teeth. "If we left it alone, would the train just keep going?" "As far as I know, yeah." "And it's been trying to go faster and harder, too. Would it just keep doing that?" "'Til that chick dies of an aneurysm, or falls out, or something, yeah." Wallflower bit her lip, hesitating. "In that case, I think I have an idea. You see all those supports holding up the track? I need you to—"  A sudden, sharp tug interrupted Wallflower, and she heaved back in response, the strain evident in her voice.  "—Take your end of the scarf, and wind it around as many of them as you can. The joints, the beams – just, all of it." "This thing's stretchy, Fluffy, but I don't know if it's quite that stretchy." "Kyubey said not to think about that. Hopefully it'll be enough." Wallflower chuckled nervously. "And, uh, do me a favor, don't let go of that until I say so. I'm pretty sure I'd get sling-shotted into the horizon." "That'd be a sight," said Lorelai dryly. "Alright, lemme see what I can do." The comforting warmth behind Wallflower vanished, as did the bulging arms in her peripheral vision. A disappointing, but necessary, loss. Lorelai moved quickly, diving up and down the metal supports like a jungle gym, and leaping the vast distances between sections of track with an ease that left Wallflower jealous. The scarf lengthened and kept lengthening as Lorelai weaved it around the roller coaster.  “Hey!” she cried after a moment, from somewhere far below. “This good enough?” Wallflower looked down and saw a criss-crossing tangle of intersecting lines between the struts and supports, a hellish cat's cradle woven from her scarf. She again tried to whistle, and, again, failed. "I think that'll work, yeah," she thought, hoping Kyubey was still close enough for telepathy to work. "Awesome!" called Lorelai. "What now?" "You just dug this thing's grave. As soon as we let go, she'll do us a favor and hop inside. But first..." She licked the salty sweat off her upper lip. "The lady on the train – I need you to get her out of here." "What, the witch-food?" "That's a person," Wallflower snapped. "And I told you, she comes before everything else. Now, will you do it, or not?" Lorelai didn't answer right away. Wallflower imagined her sighing, disgruntled. "What about you?" she said eventually. "You get the girl, and I'll finish Jack-Jack," Wallflower thought. "And before you say anything, no – we're not trading places."  "I wasn't gonna ask. If your plan is what I think it is, then I wouldn't want to be standing where you are when this thing comes down. You gonna be okay?" "You know, I'm not sure, exactly." Lightly, she added, "If I die, I'll owe you brinner." Another pause, longer this time. "I'll need to drop the shield if I'm gonna have enough magic to get back up there, and get to safety. That's at least five seconds where you'll be vulnerable." "Just give me a head's up before you go." Wallflower paused. "You know, telepathy would be easier than yelling." "Shutting the hell up is easier than both! Takes zero effort, in fact!" A ripple ran through the scarf's length – Lorelai giving it a shake. "I'm about to let go of this thing. Count down from three, okay?" "Got it." Wallflower smiled, knowing Lorelai couldn't see. "Thank you for doing this." "I'm just in this for the brinner! Not sure how you'll make good on that offer if you're dead, though." Her laugh, faint as it was, echoed up to Wallflower. "Start counting down." Wallflower squared her jaw, tensed her legs, and tightened her grip on the scarf, silently counting down. Three. Two. She clenched her jaw and took a deep breath.  No more Moondancers. The harp-shield vanished, Lorelai dropped the scarf, and Wallflower's whole body lurched against the wooden cross-board. With all of her strength, Wallflower pulled back, and somehow avoided being sling-shotted into the horizon. Sweat-matted bangs blocked her vision, so Wallflower gave her head a toss, clearing her eyes just enough to spot Lorelai sprinting up the rail like a tightrope. Jack-Jack launched a volley of rockets toward her, but she skidded underneath them; aided by magic, she grinded up the incline, a trail of green sparks flying from the soles of her boots. Once she got close enough, she stopped, pivoted, and leaped onto the train with the victim. She hesitated, and Wallflower wondered if she would end things right then and there, the way she wanted to. But, finally, Lorelai gathered the lady up bridal-style and leaped away, trailed by rockets. Wallflower watched them recede into the distance, until they vanished completely. Jack-Jack moved to the edge of its car and leaned over, trying to spot them.  It seemed to have forgotten Wallflower entirely. Now or never. She let go of the scarf and fell backward off the track, watching grimly at the chaos unfolding above. Jack-Jack had never stopped pulling back on the scarf, always upping the ante with more speed, more strength. No longer restrained, it rocketed upward like an artillery shell, propelled by all the force the train could muster. Jack-Jack, still leaning out of its seat, was sent flying, and plummeted to the grid tiles far below. The train continued without Jack-Jack, launching with enough force to break free of the track, and shoot into the horizon. It dragged half the superstructure with it. A horrible shriek of rending metal and splitting wood filled the air, the sound of dozens of support struts snapping and bolts popping out of their sockets and wooden boards splitting into pieces. It formed a tangled knot of metal that catapulted forward, ripping its way up the track's incline. Without its supports, the rest of the track wavered and wiggled, and then fell apart like a crashing wave. Wallflower landed on a balloon, barely big enough to balance one foot on. More balloons rose from the tiles below, funneled up through the disintegrating column of the roller coaster. A shadow fell over her, growing darker and looming larger. She leaped down to the second balloon, just in time for a jagged chunk of metal to tear through the first. Wreckage from the coaster rained from above, a storm of twisted steel. Wallflower leapfrogged from balloon to balloon, making her way toward the rapidly growing debris field far below, and praying that nothing bigger than a lug nut hit her on the head. Kyubey was waiting for her at the bottom of the labyrinth, seated on top of a mount of junk. He stared up at Wallflower, unblinking and blissfully serene. Lorelai was right. He's pretty hard to get rid of, isn't he? She jumped the remaining distance and landed in front of Kyubey, her foot narrowly missing a jagged, dagger-shaped piece of rail. Wincing, she said, "Say I make it out of here. Will I need a tetanus shot?" "Is that an attempt at humor? Or are you asking earnestly? In either case, the answer is no." Kyubey flicked his tail. "That was a bold strategy. Very creative." "It's only bold and creative if it pays off." Wallflower looked around the carnage of the debris field, straining to spot any sign of Jack-Jack. A glint of light off its shiny skin, a flash of color from the goo swirling in its skull... Something long and soft fell over her head, blinding her behind a red, velvety veil.  "Oh." Wallflower pulled the scarf off of her face. "I wondered where this got off to."  The knots and loops had come undone at some point, leaving behind a single, absurdly long bolt of cloth. A green glow surrounded the scarf and it retracted into a far more manageable length – a practically scarf-sized scarf. "It's fortunate that your scarf has returned to you," said Kyubey. "You'll need it." A nearby pile of metal and wood exploded like a volcano, sending debris in all directions. Wallflower threw herself in front of Kyubey, shielding him with her body as a fusillade of rockets exploded against her. She grunted with every impact, staggering, dropping to her knees. Still, despite the force of every blast, she found herself unscathed. Her clothes singed, and her face sizzled where sparks caught her, but the pain barely registered. What was I even afraid of up there? she thought. Maybe I would've fallen if it hit me while I was hanging from the train... but damn, I'm a lot more resilient than I thought. That didn't mean the rockets weren't incredibly irritating, though. She peered through the haze that the fireworks created, and saw Jack-Jack atop the severed front half of the train's engine, no worse for wear. The rest of its body was just as round and pudgy as its head: stumpy arms and legs, and a tail like a cat's raised over its head. More gobs of sludge, blue, green, and yellow, floated behind its transparent skin as it flung rockets from a rapidly vanishing pile at its feet. The bombardment ceased as Jack-Jack finally ran out. It groped vainly for an unspent rocket, staring at Wallflower with its featureless face. Wallflower, her clothes still smoking, dug her feet in, gripped her scarf, and pulled it taut. Jack-Jack responded by turning, hopping off the engine, and bolting as fast as its pudgy little legs could carry it. "No you don't!" Wallflower snapped, cracking the scarf toward Jack-Jack. She lassoed the monster tightly around its bubbly torso, and Jack-Jack contorted like a water balloon. All of its fluid rushed to its head and legs, making them bulge and swell grotesquely. With a flick of her wrist, Wallflower reeled Jack-Jack in. It bounced and thumped against debris, huffing and chirping in pain with every impact, until it finally stopped rolling at Wallflower's feet. It turned its head to regard her, twitching its tail and chittering softly. Wallflower got the distinct feeling it was asking for mercy. Wallflower had none. She was angry, angry at the lives this thing had taken, angry at the hail of rockets it pelted her with, angry at everything it'd put her through. And the sight of its pathetic begging only made her angrier. Curling her lips in disgust, she pulled on the scarf, tightening it around Jack-Jack's body; she planted her heel on Jack-Jack's head and pushed, feeling the skin contort beneath her foot. Jack-Jack squirmed harder, impotent and helpless. Its chittering dried up into a thin, choked sound – a sob that pierced Wallflower, and sent a cold feeling through her chest. Her eyes widened, and she stopped pulling, easing her foot off Jack-Jack's head. What is this...? She pressed her hand to her chest, felt her heart hammering. Do I actually feel sorry for this thing? She glared down at Jack-Jack, bound and helpless at her feet. "All those people you killed, all those lives you ruined so that you could stuff your face on their misery... and here I am, pitying you. You brought this on yourself, and yet I'm pitying you."  Tears burned her eyes. She wiped them with her sleeve, laughing bitterly. What would Sunset say, if she could see me now? A shadow fell over Wallflower, then; she looked up to see a silhouetted shape plunging down. A wave of magically conjured wind cleared the debris from a spot beside Wallflower, and Lorelai landed, crouching to absorb the fall. She had something in her hand: a familiar ring of green-tinted metal. "Found your chakram," she said, straightening her skirt as she stood. "You can have it back if you promise to stop calling it a chalk zone." She offered the weapon to Wallflower, who took it in hand, resolving on that spot to refer to it as 'Chalk Zone' thenceforth.  "I told you to get the girl out of here," she said. She paused to clear her throat, hoping she didn't sound like she'd been crying. "What happened?" "Uh, I got the girl out of here. It only took like, a second." Lorelai cocked her hip, smirking. "You thought I wasn't coming back?" She certainly hadn't expected it from someone who'd earlier said that rescuing the girl at all would be a waste of time and energy. "Would you blame me, after what the way you talked before?" "Y'know what? Fair enough." Frowning, Lorelai glanced down at Jack-Jack and conjured a large crossbow with a flick of her wrist, resting the weapon's length on her forearm. "You shouldn't let this thing dangle on the hook for too long, y'know." Wallflower flexed her fingers against Chalk Zone's grip. She looked down at the weapon, watching the pink light glint off its blades. In its reflection, from somewhere behind her, she saw a pair of beady red lights – Kyubey's eyes, staring holes into her back. Swallowing, she nodded, and raised her weapon over Jack-Jack's head. The familiar flailed more intensely, squirming in vain against the scarf. "No regrets," Lorelai murmured. Closing her eyes, Wallflower swung her weapon down.  She didn't see it happen, but she felt Jack-Jack's head pop like a zit, felt the gobs of goo evacuate its body, flecking her skin and her clothes. She opened her eyes and watched, morbidly fascinated, as the empty sack of skin deflated. Dazed, Wallflower gave the scarf a tug; it unraveled, and retracted back into her hand. Chalk Zone's blades dripped with colorful gore. She saw her face in the reflection, spotted with gobs of Jack-Jack. The air shifted and wiggled around them, the same way it had when Briar Rose died, when Miranda ran away. The amusement park and rides and debris faded away. Wallflower didn't see it happen. She couldn't take her eyes off her reflection. When she finally looked up, the labyrinth had vanished, and they were back on the stage in the abandoned amphitheater. The sky still shone blue overhead, tinged with the first hints of sunset orange. Distant screams and cheers echoed through the air from the Flying Golem, loaded with thrill-seekers and adrenaline junkies. Somehow, the prospect of riding it wasn't appealing anymore. She felt a strong hand grip her shoulder. "Are you okay?" said Lorelai. Wallflower sniffed. She re-buttoned herself and wrapped her scarf back around her neck, fumbling to stuff it down her coat without dropping Chalk Zone. "Just a little tired." Her voice was choked with emotions she couldn't quite put a name to. "Where's the lady?" "Front row, center," said Lorelai. "Literal spittin' distance." Wallflower looked and saw her laid out on the marble bench, ramrod-straight with her hands folded over her breast. Her dark hair splayed out beneath her head; her face showed no emotion, no sign of life.  A chill spidered down Wallflower’s back.  “I know her," she whispered. "That's the bus driver. The one Sunset and I met the other night." "Workin' two crummy jobs in a city like this?" Lorelai whistled. "Yeah, that'll make you witch food, alright."  Wallflower ignored the remark and dug her hand under her scarf to grip her soul gem. "Is she—?" "She's just unconscious. She'll wake up, and this'll all seem like a bad dream." In a flash of green, Lorelai shifted back to street clothes. She stepped closer to the would-be victim and regarded her with a pensive stare.  "Lucky her," she added. She wrapped a curl of hair tightly around a finger. A gentle breeze whispered past, ruffling the edges of Wallflower's coat and skirt. "Are you okay?" "Just thinking, that's all." She let her curl bounce back into shape and stuck her hand in her pocket. A moment later, she pulled something out: a small, black bead, tipped with a spike and crowned with an emblem not so different from the one on Jack-Jack's barrier. Wallflower peered closely at it. "Is that...?" "A grief seed." Lorelai balanced the spike against her fingertip and the seed spun slowly. "I have a few spares – just didn't want to use any up here."  She drew her other hand out of her pocket and pulled out her soul gem, its green glow clouded with muddy darkness. When she tapped the seed against the gem, that darkness vanished, and the grief seed darkened considerably. Lorelai looked at the grief seed for a moment, then tossed it to Wallflower, who flailed to catch it with her free hand. "Should be good for one more use," said Lorelai. Wallflower held the seed in her hand, felt it thrumming beneath its smooth, glassy surface. She tapped it against her soul gem, hidden again behind her scarf, and watched the seed darken even more.  All the fatigue left her body. She handed the seed back to Lorelai, who tossed it over her shoulder without looking.  Kyubey leaped up, seemingly from nowhere, and intercepted the seed with his ear-appendages. A hole opened within the red circle on his back, and he tossed the seed inside, sighing. Huh. So that's how he gets rid of them. Shaking her head, she looked at Lorelai. "Thanks." "You earned it." Lorelai turned to face Wallflower, a melancholy half-smile on her face. "How's it feel, getting your first kill?" The word made Wallflower cringe. She clenched her hands and pulled her arms tight against her body, shrinking away from Lorelai and shutting her eyes.  "I..." She squeezed her eyes closed, her breathing starting to pick up. "I..." Strong hands gripped her arms, and Wallflower froze. Opening her eyes, she looked up to find Lorelai standing close.  "The first one's always a doozy, I know. But witches aren't worth your tears. You saved someone's life today – be proud of that. Okay?" Wallflower swallowed, hard, as her brief moment of panic faded. She dabbed her sleeve against her eyes again – she had started to cry again, hadn't she? – and nodded. A wide, genuine smile spread across Lorelai's face. "Atta girl." The warmth in her voice sent a familiar, fluttery feeling through Wallflower's tummy. She's pretty when she smiles. Squeezing one last time, Lorelai stepped away from Wallflower, her smile shifting into a wry smirk. "I hope you're not thinking of wearing that for the rest of the day." "Hm?" Wallflower looked down at her magical girl outfit, and chuckled. "Oh, right." She shut her eyes. A tingling sensation ran down her body; she saw a flash of light through her eyelids, and when she looked down, her magical girl outfit was gone. She was again as she was before: dressed in plain, unassuming, frumpy clothes. A quick pat of her cheeks confirmed that the bits of Jack-Jack were gone, too. Inwardly, she sighed, relieved. "Now what?" said Wallflower. She shifted uncomfortably, feeling smaller in her street clothes. Lorelai may have been teasing, but all things considered, she wished she could have stayed in her magical girl form. Lorelai shrugged. "We get the hell out of here before we get busted for trespassing. Which, honestly, wouldn't be a major inconvenience, but it's not something I want to deal with after a fight." Biting her lip, Wallflower glanced at the unconscious woman. "Shouldn't we...?" "Nah." Lorelai tossed her head, sending her curls flying, then hopped off the edge of the stage, into the pit below. "C'mon, let's get out of here. I promised you a cherry turnover, remember?" Wallflower frowned – she recalled a pie, and not a promise, per se, but she wasn't about to turn down free food. So, with a lingering look at the would-be victim, she followed Lorelai back up the path out of the amphitheater.   Her gaze landed on the Rainbooms' poster at the box office, on Sunset's smiling face. See, Sunset? Wallflower thought. I can save people, too. They found a concession stand in Cherrybud Meadow, the same one where Wallflower tried her first churro as a little girl. She almost ordered one now, but felt guilty getting anything besides a turnover, and settled for that while Lorelai bought a cherry slushie. For some reason, she shelled out extra for a souvenir mug: a barrel of moonshine, with Hickory Switch's face on the side, superimposed over a trio of Xs. A straw shaped like the twin barrels of a shotgun poked from the lid, which made Wallflower wonder what self-respecting hayseed would store guns and liquor in the same place. I'm probably thinking too hard about it, she thought as Lorelai paid for their treats. The cashier, who wore no mask – probably to avoid frightening children in Cherrybud Meadow – took Lorelei’s money with a smile. "Would you like to donate fifty cents to Hick's Heroes today? All proceeds go toward finding a cure for leukemia." Lorelai sipped from her straws, and looked at the cashier with half-lidded eyes. "You're supposed to ask me that before I pay, not after," she said. She strode away, never seeing the cashier's face fall. Wallflower did a double-take, looking between the retreating Lorelai, the crestfallen employee, and Kyubey, who'd once more found a place on her shoulder. She fumbled in her pocket for a fistful of crumpled money – she had at least six bucks on her – and dropped it all on the counter, mumbling an apology. Then she hurried to catch up with Lorelai, who'd found a nearby bench to sit on.  Lorelai looked up coolly at Wallflower, gently pulling and pushing her straw in and out of the cup. "That donation stuff's a scam, y'know," she said. "They just use it as a tax write-off. You're better off keeping your money." "They can write off whatever they want, as long as it goes where they say it's going," she countered, plopping down beside her. Kyubey hopped from her shoulder, onto her lap. Lorelai scoffed, but made no rebuttal. She pulled the shotgun-straw from the novelty cup, and watched red ice drip onto the lid. "This is pretty tasteless," she remarked Wallflower scratched a few grains of sugar off the turnover's surface. Kyubey caught them in his mouth. "The straw?" "That too." She stuck the barrels back into the mug, and drew in another sip, watching Wallflower tuck into the turnover. "You handled yourself pretty well back there, you know." "I dun fink sho," said Wallflower through a mouthful of pastry. She swallowed before continuing. "Maybe at the end, yeah, but the first few minutes were pretty touch and go. I mean, you only showed up when I fell, right? You missed me almost turning into a human pinata." "No, I saw that. I saw most of it, actually; I came in almost right after you." "You— what?" Wallflower looked down at Kyubey. "Did you notice her? Why didn't you say anything?" "Lorelai asked me not to," Kyubey chirped. "She said she wanted to—" Wallflower silenced him with a flick to the face, making him sniff and blink. She took a big bite of her turnover and turned away. Her mouth was too full for her to harrumph, but she hoped she got the message across. Lorelai sighed and nudged Wallflower's shoulder, making her stiffen.  "I wanted to see what you'd do when you weren't putting on a show. And when you're not acting like a goddamn cartoon character, you're pretty good. You learn fast, you're a quick thinker... you got a lot of potential." Mollified, though still a bit ashamed – Lorelai was there for all of Wallflower's fumblings and pitfalls, after all – Wallflower swallowed, and said, "I didn't know you cared." "Yeah, you did. You saw right through me." Lorelai crossed her knees, straightening her back primly. "I will admit to feeling a slight sense of responsibility where you're concerned. You happy?" Wallflower shrugged, and tucked a thick clump of hair behind her ear. "So, that stuff before, about not wanting to waste time fighting Jack-Jack, not caring about what happened to the people it captured... that was, what, a test of character?" Lorelai kept her face expressionless. "You can think of it that way." That wasn't the answer Wallflower was hoping to hear. Her disappointment must have shown on her face, because Lorelai immediately sighed, and sagged in her seat. "Look... if it makes you feel any better, I probably would have—" Wallflower bolted from her seat, accidentally throwing Kyubey off her lap. "Probably?" "Lower your voice," Lorelai hissed, glancing around quickly – Wallflower's sudden yell had drawn a couple of stares. She took Wallflower by the wrist and pulled her, gently, back toward the bench. Wallflower settled back down on the bench, smouldering. After checking to ensure that nobody was still looking, Lorelai continued in a softer tone. "Finding out that Jack-Jack already lured someone inside changed the situation. I would have gone in, okay? I just needed a second to think about it, that's all." "Think about what? Why the indecision? We're—" Wallflower's voice was starting to climb again; she paused to collect herself before continuing in a softer tone. "We're magical girls, Lorelai. We're supposed to protect people, save them from witches. If someone's life is on the line, then we shouldn't have to think about it." "Sometimes," said Lorelai evenly. "Then again, sometimes, you have to."  "What does that mean?" Lorelai ran her fingertips down the shotgun's barrels, wiping droplets of condensation off the plastic, and rubbing them into her palm. She stared down the barrels, into the cup, for a long time. "I've been doing this job for years now. I've learned a lot of lessons the hard way. One of the hardest is that, quite frankly, you can't save everybody." "But that woman—" "Quick thought experiment, Fluffy. Assume I hadn't followed you into the labyrinth, and you were still able to kill Jack-Jack alone." Lorelai flicked her gaze toward Wallflower. "If I hadn't been there afterward to spot you a grief seed, what would you have done?"  Wallflower tried to stammer a response. She mustered a few weakly croaked syllables, and let the sentence hang unfinished. Lorelai went back to playing with the straw, not looking up at Wallflower. "You might still have saved that woman's life, and that's all well and good. But if you ran into a real witch, with another life on the line? Maybe more than one? Without a grief seed, when your magic's running on fumes?" "That'll happen sooner or later anyway," said Wallflower. "As long as I can save whoever's in danger, what does it matter?" "Thinking like that will get you killed. Sooner, not later."  Lorelai pulled the gun barrels from the cup, and leveled them at Wallflower, who recoiled as though they were real, and not novelty plastic. A bit of red mush dripped from the tip onto the bench. Kyubey immediately darted over to lap up the spillage. "You wanna save lives," said Lorelai. "I get that. But you won't save anybody by wasting all of your magic hunting small-fries with no reward. You let 'em get away, sometimes, and you make it up somewhere else – save more lives down the line. End of the day, it's still a net win for us."  She pushed the straws back into the cup, swirling its contents around.  "Sometimes, you just gotta do the math, and figure out if it's really worth it. And, sometimes, it isn't." It wasn't as if Wallflower couldn't follow Lorelai's logic. It made sense, really. Even so... "I get what you're saying," said Wallflower, as Kyubey brushed against her ankles. She dropped the turnover to the ground, and he immediately went at it, nibbling ferociously. "But if you'd had your way, that girl would have died back there. It doesn't matter how many people you and I saved after that. She'd be dead. You can't just—" Her voice broke. She stopped, sniffling, and clamped her mouth over her hand. It can't ever be a numbers game. Wallflower wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "I can't walk away from someone if I know that I can save them. No matter what it does to me, or what I stand to lose." Her thoughts went back to Moondancer's portrait on the easel, and the candles in the yard at that stupid, phony vigil...  ...And Cadance, with the glass shard at her throat.  "Even if it kills me," she said, her voice firm again. "I'll never let someone else die." Something in Lorelai's face shifted. Her eyes widened a bit, her lips tugging upward in another smirk. Then she broke into a fit of giggles – she had dimples when she laughed – and bowed her head. Wallflower shifted uncomfortably, looking around. "People are starting to stare again..." "I... I'm sorry, Fluffy. I'm not laughing at you, I swear." Lorelai brushed her hair back, now smiling fully, like she had as the labyrinth collapsed. "You reminded me of someone just now, that's all." Wallflower felt her cheeks burn. "A good someone?" A heartbeat passed before Lorelai answered, softly. "Yeah. A good someone." Wallflower scratched her cheek, suddenly remembering that she had hands, and no idea what to do with them. She felt Kyubey scamper up her leg, back onto her shoulder, and watched Lorelai's expression sour again. Lorelai stood abruptly, tossed her novelty cup into a nearby trash can, and beckoned Wallflower with a jerk of her head. Wallflower rose, and together, they retraced their steps toward the park entrance. "Okay, another lesson," said Lorelai as they went. "Magical girls are a suspicious, territorial lot. You don't poach marks, and you don't go hunting on another girl's turf in the first place. If you do, and they're okay with it, then you damn well better follow their rules." Wallflower frowned. "There are a lot more angles to this witch-hunting stuff than I thought there'd be." "Aren't you glad I'm here to explain 'em?" Lorelai swept a hand through her curls. "But my point is, this is your city, which means I gotta play by your rules. If you say I gotta stop to save everyone in danger, not just pick fights that we know will get me a grief seed, then that's how I'm gonna do things. As long as I'm here, and as long as we're working together." Wallflower felt a smile creep onto her face. She hurried to fall in step beside Lorelai, instead of just trailing after her. "Working together?" "For now, anyway. Like I said, I feel responsible for you." Lorelai winked at her. "Just don't make a habit out of hunting just familiars. In all seriousness, it's pretty draining. Martyrdom is an expensive hobby." "You have extra seeds, right?" "Spares, yes, but I'm not full of 'em. What am I, a pumpkin?" They wound their way through the park, passing familiar sights and landmarks, until they reached the park gates again. A grinning Hickory Switch cut-out waited beside the exit, bidding them to come back sometime soon. Wallflower doubted she would. Lorelai was right – amusement parks just didn't have the same allure anymore.  Once they were outside, Lorelai took a long, deep breath of fresh air, and let it out, smiling. "Y'know, against all odds, I actually had a good time today. Maybe you were right back there – today wasn't a waste after all." "I mean..." Wallflower fidgeted. "Miranda's still out there, isn't she?" "She is. But she won't be a threat again tonight. She spent a lot of magic trying to kill you, and ran off before she could finish her meal – she doesn't have it in her for a second hunt." Lorelai stuck her hands in her pockets and drew herself up. "So, what do we do now? Night's still young." "Maybe for you." Wallflower squinted up at the sun, now angling steeply toward the horizon. "I gotta get home." "Why? You got something to do in the morning?" "Well, school, for one." Wallflower chuckled. "Kinda blew it off today." Lorelai scoffed. "Blow it off tomorrow, too."  The thought was certainly in the back of Wallflower's mind. Still... "...I really shouldn't," she sighed. "I've got homework from as far back as Friday. I was so focused on Moondancer this weekend that it didn't seem that important." She cast a glance back at Hick's, and at the towering Golem in the distance.  It still doesn't, honestly. When she looked back at Lorelai, she saw a deliberative expression on her face. "Nah, screw that," she said. "You're crashing with me tonight. Tomorrow, I'm buying you breakfast, and then we're going shopping." "Sh— shopping?" Wallflower's eyes widened. "I can't just— shopping? Tomorrow? Shopping tomorrow?" Lorelai's lips twisted. "Mm, you're right. If you're gonna be staying over, then we're gonna need to pick you up a change of clothes first. So, shopping first, then—" "I didn't say I was gonna sleep with you!" Wallflower blurted. Cringing, she amended, "I mean, spend the night with you. I mean—" "It's just a sleepover, Fluffy," said Lorelai, trying, and failing, to keep amusement out of her voice. "You've never had a slumber party before?" "Um..." Wallflower fidgeted. "Kinda... not really, no." "Oh." That seemed to take Lorelai aback; she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Parents won't let you?" "No, I just – I mean, Mom won't mind." She'd probably be relieved, if anything, that Wallflower could both get an invite to a sleepover, and overcome her anxiety enough to take it. "Still..." "Look, I don't blame you for wanting to stay in school," said Lorelai. "Hell, if my high school was as nice as yours, I might've kept going."  She paused while Wallflower giggled. "But," she continued, "if these witches go hunting during the day, then you're a lot more useful to the world when you're not cooped up in a classroom. We're still gonna be on the clock tomorrow, so we might as well enjoy ourselves a bit before then." Wallflower thought about the books and binders and notebooks in her backpack, weighing her down day in and day out, and the pile of homework waiting for her in her room... And then, she shook her head, and shoved it all out of her mind. "Okay, sure," she said, smiling. She'd text her mom later with a heads-up – she'd be pulling a late shift tonight, so Wallflower doubted she'd see her anyway, but it was the courteous thing to do. Lorelai grinned, making Wallflower's heart patter. "Dinner and shopping first?" As appealing as that sounded, there was something else Wallflower had to take care of, first – a bit of unfinished business that her conversation with Lorelai had reminded her of. She took out her phone and thumbed an address into her map app, "Dinner and shopping second," she said. "I need to check up on... on a friend." Cadance's hospital room had a westerly view, facing out toward the heart of downtown. Amber rays of evening sunlight washed through the window, peeking from between buildings, and painting the room in golden tones. Wallflower Blush stood in the open doorway, a vase of carnations in her arms, at war with herself. She wanted to come inside – and, at the same time, she wanted to slink away and hide. Sunset and Twilight sat in chairs at the foot of her bed, both holding bundles of get-well-soon balloons. They conversed with Cadance in that gently patronizing, well-meaning way that people spoke to hospital patients, too softly for Wallflower to hear. Wallflower almost left before being noticed, but Sunset chanced to look at the doorway, mid-sentence. Whatever thought she was voicing cut off abruptly, as her face went blank from surprise. Then Twilight looked, too, and Cadance... "Wallflower Blush?" Fatigue, and two days without so much as brushing her hair, wore plainly on Cadance, but she still radiated warmth and beauty as much as she had at the Friendship Games. "Please, come in!"  Wallflower glanced at Lorelai, who leaned against the wall beside the door, arms folded. Lorelai shrugged. Biting her lip, Wallflower edged inside, her hands trembling around the vase. "I, uh... I brought you some carnations. As, um, a get-well-soon gift. I remember you said you liked them, once. When we talked at the Friendship Games." "They're my very most favorite flower in the world, in fact! I'm amazed you remembered." Cadance beamed at her. "I'm also amazed that nobody else thought to bring me any, including my fiance, and my sister-in-law-to-be." Twilight chuckled, blushing. "I thought Shiny would bring you some." "He said the same about you. Funny how that works." Cadance thumbed the button on the bed's console to raise the mattress, and beckoned Wallflower closer. "Are these from your garden at school?" "Uh, no. From the, um." Wallflower glanced briefly at Sunset, met her eyes, immediately regretted doing so. "From the gift shop. Sorry. I meant to bring you some from my garden, but—" "That's alright. These are beautiful, too." She gestured to the bedside table. "Right here, okay?" Wallflower set the vase down, nudging the corded phone out of the way to make room. With nothing to busy her hands anymore, she wrung them together and tried not to stare at the bandage on Cadance's neck.  "I wasn't sure you'd still be here, but the front desk said, um, that they weren't... I mean, that you... uh... the secretary didn't know why you weren't—" "Receptionist," Sunset muttered. Cadance gave Sunset a look, then smiled knowingly at Wallflower. "I suppose there's no harm in telling you. They want to get me a consult from an OBGYN before they discharge me." "A... a gynecologist?" Wallflower blinked. “Are you okay?" "Perfectly fine. I'm just pregnant, is all." She laughed. "What a way to find out, huh?" "I get to be an auntie," Twilight sang, under her breath. Cadance shot her a quick, loving look. "I was actually hoping I'd see you, soon, so that I could tell you," she said to Wallflower. "Because I need to thank you and Sunset again. If you hadn't been in the right place at the right time..."  She stroked her belly, smiling down tenderly. "...I would have died without ever learning about this little blessing."  Wallflower thought about the woman on the bench in the amphitheater. She met Sunset's gaze again, and this time, it was Sunset who looked away. To the ring on Wallflower's finger. Her eyes narrowed. Wallflower folded her other hand over the ring, gripping tightly. A frown came over Cadance's face, and she leaned forward in bed, looking toward the door. "Is there someone else outside? Did you bring a friend? She can come in, too, you know." Wallflower looked, and saw Lorelai peeking her head into the doorway. Icy blue eyes flicked between all the faces in the room before settling on Sunset Shimmer.  Part of Wallflower had hoped that she could reconcile Sunset and Lorelai. That the two of them could be friends. That they could all be friends, and all work together. Then she saw the way the two girls glared at each other, the way Sunset's fists clenched on her thighs, her knuckles bone-white. She remembered the way Sunset looked at her ring, the disapproval in her eyes. And she realized how stupid she was for thinking that way.