The Nightmare Stigma

by Impossible Numbers

The Nightmare Stigma, Part III

This time, the station bustled with more guards marching more quickly with more paperwork in their mouths or levitating beside them. Daisy rubbed her hooves together and waited in the cubicle.

“He’s been gone a while,” she said.

Next to her, Lily curled up on the middle chair, shaking and glancing at anything and everything. On the far chair, Roseluck reached across to her, paused, and then drew back cringing.

Lily caught the movement. “Hey,” she whined. “You always used to pat me on the withers when I was scared.”

Panic burst across Roseluck’s face. “Whatever-happens-we’re-still-here-for-you,” she said in one breath.

“Then why did you hesitate?”

“Good question,” said Daisy, willing herself to breathe normally and not e.g. hyperventilate. She could feel her own heartbeat pounding for attention. “She seems fine at the moment. I bet whatever happens only happens at night. Remember the first night we arrived here, that incident when she went to the bathroom and came out strange? And last night was the night of the attack.”

They both glared at her.

“Then what’s your excuse?” said Lily huffily.

After a few seconds, Daisy reached across and gave Lily one pat.

“Um… there, there,” she said. Then she took her hoof back hurriedly.

Sighing, Lily hung her head.

“Don’t worry,” Daisy added. “I’m sure the guard will figure it out and get this whole situation under control. From school onwards, we’ve always come out on top, right girls?”

“Speak for yourself,” growled Lily to the desk. “I flunked everything except biology, remember? And even then, I only got a credit in botany. That’s all I’ve even been top of.”

“I-I didn’t mean academically, I meant –”

“I got a pass grade in every subject,” said Roseluck. “Maybe not a credit, exactly, but… Well, flawless mediocrity sort of counts as being ‘on top’, right?”

Daisy wisely skipped over her own qualifications, and any examples of things she’d been “on top of”. Instead, she cleared her throat.

“I meant welfare-wise. And we’ve always got the florist’s back in Ponyville,” she said. “A lot of good memories in that florist’s, remember?”

“Yeah, but not a lot of money,” muttered Lily sullenly. “How long did it take you to save for this trip again?”

“Us, Lily. Us.”

“Don’t give me that. Who’s the registered owner of the florist’s again?”

“Aw, come on. Don’t be like that. I’ve always considered you my equals. Don’t drag legal and especially fiscal niceties into this.”

Lily narrowed her eyes at her suspiciously.

“We do care,” insisted Roseluck. “Really we do. A hundred nights spent cowering together in the basement proves it.”

“Yeah,” murmured Lily, looking at her own raised hooves. “But then it was us three scared at the world together –”

Unfortunately, she chose that moment to look up at once. Daisy flinched. Too late, she averted her gaze.

“There!” wailed Lily. “There! I just saw it in your eyes! You’re utterly terrified of me!”

“No, we’re not,” lied Daisy over the rapid hammering of her heart.

“Yes you are! It’s true! I’m a monster! I’m going crazy, and you know it! Oh, no! No, no, no, no, no! I don’t want to scare any of you! It scares me worst of all!”

Lily buried her face in her hooves, shoulders heaving. Daisy glanced at Roseluck. Both of them reached for Lily’s withers… then both of them drew back. Instead, they stared at the cubicle walls and tried to ignore the sobs.

You coward, Daisy thought. And Roseluck’s no better. Please, for the love of Pete, make this stop.

Suddenly, the door bounced off the wall. The corporal strode in.

He stopped and raised an eyebrow at them. “Uh… you two OK?”

Balanced on their respective backrests, Daisy and Roseluck glanced down at Lily, who was still heaving and sobbing.

“My word,” breathed Roseluck, climbing back down. “This is serious.”

“No kidding.” Daisy sat on her chair again.

Corporal Poll fiddled with the rivets on his chest plate. “I’m afraid ‘serious’ isn’t the half of it, ladies. According to the report your friend, Miss Lily Valley, provided about herself…”

“I had to do it!” wailed Lily, raising a face streaked with tears. “I know there’s something wrong with me!”

Corporal Poll gave Daisy a pleading look.

“What’s wrong, Corporal?” she said.

“Well…” He winced at a sniff from Lily, who wiped her muzzle with the back of a hoof. “The preliminary report on Captain Shivers came in shortly after you arrived. He’s experiencing the same symptoms Miss Lily Valley described: general staring, memory blackouts, moments of panicky clarity.”

“Hold on a second,” said Roseluck. “It took Lily a whole day to go through those symptoms. How can he be rushing through them all already? It’s not even lunchtime yet.”

“Don’t interrupt him when he’s delivering traumatic news!” snapped Lily, her face still moist. “A stallion’s suffering because of me! How can you be so insensitive!?”

Daisy groaned; she could already see the trembling lip and pooling tears in Roseluck’s face. She’d always been the most sensitive of the three.

“Er,” Daisy said hastily. “So what does this mean, Corporal?”

Corporal Poll was still drawing away from the other two with horror stretching across his face. “Hm? What? Oh, right. Yes. Well, we’ve reported another symptom. There were two puncture marks on the neck of the Captain.”

Before she could stop herself, Daisy glanced at Lily’s neck. Not so much as a pimple.

“Odd…” she muttered.

“Don’t you start too!” Lily rounded on her, granting a clear view of the other side of her neck. All blemish-free.

“Given this information,” continued Corporal Poll, “we suspect this is a supernatural phenomenon. In which case, we’re transferring the case over to a specialist.” He tugged at his breastplate. “A very… special… specialist.”

Something about the way he said it made Daisy narrow her eyes at him. “‘Special’ in what way?”

Corporal Poll writhed in some kind of private hell.

A moment later, a fanfare burst through the station. Trumpets blasted in their ears. Ponies outside murmured and then stopped moving. Several backed away and kneeled.

At once, Corporal Poll rose and placed one hoof on his chest. All trace of fear retreated to a slight twitch around each eye. Hinges creaked as someone eased the door open behind them.

“Greetings, salutations, and many pleasantries of a similar nature,” said a curt voice.

Daisy, Lily, and Roseluck spun around in their chairs.

Four sapphire slippers gave way to four slender limbs like deathly columns, which in turn gave way to midnight blue. A black collar lurked beneath a piercing stare, surrounded by a mane that was more like a cape made from a piece of the night. Stars twinkled within the flowing curls of darkness.

Lightning flashed. Indoors, somehow.

Without hesitation, all three of them bowed, and then groaned as they hit their heads on the backrests.

“Oh my gosh! It’s Princess Luna!” hissed Roseluck under her breath. “The Princess Luna!”

“We have eyes, genius!” hissed Daisy back.

“She’s the one hosting the Royal Moonlit Meadow Show Comeback!”

“And working memories too!”

While some pegasus officer pushed away the dramatic thundercloud behind her, Princess Luna raised a hoof. “Desist from formalities, Our subjects. We come bearing grim tidings. Now is not the time for solemnity.”

Daisy tried – really tried – to smile. Rumours and gossip aside, the official position was that Princess Luna was no longer a threat of any kind, despite the suspicious yet largely ignored circumstances of her return. In a way, it was utterly reassuring to have two Princesses watching over Canterlot. In fact, she still remembered the first Nightmare Night occasion involving Princess Luna, though sadly not where she’d last left her cowpony hat that year.

Somehow, it was a lot harder to remember all that when a hundred hands of living midnight loomed over her. The Princess was scowling at her.

Daisy squeaked something that might’ve been a strangled “hello”, or a garbled “uh oh”.

The towering Princess softened her expression. “We understand you have grim concerns regarding your condition. Fear not, Our dear subject. We believe We may be able to assist you in your unholy plight.”

“Um.” Lily raised a trembling hoof. “I’m the one with the condition, Your Highness.”

Princess Luna glanced between them, and then coughed. “Ah. I see. Apologies. The physical description was a little vague.”

Daisy noted the “on again, off again” Royal We.

As soon as Corporal Poll stood up, opened a drawer, grabbed a cushion for the chair, and stood aside for her, the Princess placed herself onto the vacated seat. A slight wiggle later, she settled down, both forehooves delicately pressing against each other and elbows balancing on the desktop.

“Alas, the situation is grave,” she enunciated, and Daisy found herself admiring the classy Canterlot inflections. “As a Princess of considerable millennia, We have studied many an entity of paranormal provenance. As soon as We were informed of the symptoms, We were able to determine the exact nature of the curse.”

Lily squeaked.

“C-C-C-Curse?” Roseluck murmured. “Y-Y-Your Highness?”

Princess Luna nodded. “Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident. Many Canterlot ponies last night have told of friends or relatives or odd strangers found in alleyways, all showing these exact symptoms. So many poor victims.”

“Oh my gosh…” Lily bit her hoof, chipping it. “What have I done?”

“Relax, Lily,” whispered Daisy, braving her own shaking enough to pat Lily on the knee. “Maybe it’s not just you. Whatever attacked you in that bathroom could have attacked other ponies too.”

“That’s supposed to make me feel better?”

“Um… well, less guilty, anyway.”

Princess Luna sighed. “It is impossible to say at present how many such beings are at large in the city. With much regret, We must inform you: Miss Lily Valley of the town of Ponyville, all the evidence points to a local epidemic of acute vampirism.”

Lily gasped into her hoof, which she bit again. “You mean…?”

The Princess bowed her head. “Yes.”

“I’m a…I’m really…?”

“We would have to confirm the presence of a bite mark upon your body, but given all the prevailing evidence, that would merely be corroboration at this stage.”

Roseluck pressed her hooves on the desktop. “B-B-But there m-m-must be s-s-s-something w-we can d-do, O M-Mistress of the Everlasting N-Night! W-We be-be-beseech you, hum-humble as we are! I throw my worth-worthless s-self on your m-m-m-mercy!”

Always the drama queen, thought Daisy, shaking her head.

Princess Luna glanced pleadingly at Corporal Poll, who hastily shrugged and looked away. “Uh,” she said, coughing into her hoof. “Well, uh… That’s where it gets… difficult.”

“Name thy price!” wailed Roseluck. “Princess Of All Darkness, I am but a worm in the grass! Do not take my best friend from me! Please, take me instead!”

“Calm down, Roseluck,” hissed Daisy. “Stop embarrassing yourself.” Aloud, she said, “But what can we do, Your Highness?”

“Uh…” Princess Luna drew her forelimbs away from Roseluck, who was stretching across the desk towards her. “Regrettably, um, there’s no easy way to say this, but… such as it is… be that as it may… well… I don’t suppose any of you ponies are in possession of a silver stake, by any chance?”

Lily burst into tears and Roseluck wailed. Panic jumped out of Luna’s face.

“Relax, relax!” The Princess flapped her hooves frantically, trying to speak over the noise. “I didn’t mean it that way! It was just a precaution.”

“Anything else we can do, Your Highness!?” Daisy yelled over the noise. A sharp outburst of woe stabbed her in the ear.

Princess Luna turned to this one island of sanity. She rubbed her chin and murmured something.

Daisy cupped her hooves around her ear. “Pardon!?”

“I said, perhaps there is one thing!” she yelled.

The other two settled down to a dull snuffling. “There is?” they said in unison.

Luna grimaced at them. “Perhaps,” she said cautiously. Then she rose from her chair. “But you must come with me. I – I mean, We – suspect evil complications are afoot. If you are the primary victim, then there may be more to the situation than any of us realizes. We must away to the Outpost immediately.”

---

The Outpost was a lighthouse among towers; a spiralling outer staircase rose up the concave heights and peaked at the bulbous head with its vast windows wide and all-seeing. Beyond it, the mountains of the Canterlot range surpassed it with all the granite grace of a colossal library, its shelves marked by pathways and longwise ridges.

At the head of the line, Princess Luna marched to the top of the stairs and about-turned. Daisy staggered to a halt, panting, followed by Roseluck and then Lily. Princess Luna reared up and placed a slippered hoof onto the oaken portal.

Eventually, the three of them stopped gasping for air and straightened up, standing in a row.

“Within the Outpost are the methods to determine the nature of the vampirism that has befallen you,” said Princess Luna to Lily, who instantly stiffened. “However, I must warn you that what you will find may prove distressing and shameful. We will be able to inform your friends of the most pertinent and sufficient details, but We believe it best that, for the duration of the examination, We must speak with you alone.”

No one spoke. Very slowly and deliberately, Roseluck reached across and drew Lily closer by the shoulders.

Princess Luna raised an imperious eyebrow. “This is not for you to decide. Miss Lily Valley alone has that right.”

Daisy thought it best to kneel. “With all due respect, Your Highness,” she said, hoping nothing she said was remotely likely to raise that eyebrow any higher, “we’ve always been together come rain or shine. Usually rain. I don’t have anything against your judgement, of course. Nothing whatsoever. It’s just that… well, it’s hard to put into words…”

“No need for formalities,” said Princess Luna, trying what was technically a smile. At least, the corners of her mouth went up. The raised eyebrow ruined the effect somewhat.

With Roseluck still gripping her shoulders, Lily sighed. “All right. You two can come in. I’m sure whatever we find in there won’t be any more embarrassing than what we’ve got out here.”

The Princess nodded. “As you wish.”

They went through, Lily muttering, “I wouldn’t have minded some time to myself, of course… I’m only doing it ‘cause they’ll bug me about it later anyway…”

“You seem a little tense, Lily,” said Roseluck.

“No, I’m not! And would you let go of my shoulders, please?”

Daisy hesitated, one hoof still raised over the threshold. Lily and Roseluck hesitated in turn.

She heard the clank of hidden machinery, smelled the stinging scents of acids, and felt a crackling over her fur as she stepped into the Outpost’s main laboratory. Charts smothered one wall. Bleeping devices sat on workbenches. Vast metal boxes bulged and hissed and rumbled around them. Overhead, sparks of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet zipped across the wires and zapped hanging hybrids of chandeliers and upside-down chemistry sets.

Yet she couldn’t help noticing the little… gothic touches. Cobwebs in the corners. Dark wallpaper, blood red carpet, rickety wooden boards for a ceiling. Unprompted, the words “mad scientist” crossed her mind.

“My word…” she breathed.

Together, Lily and Roseluck each took a step backwards.

A flash of blue: Princess Luna’s midnight blue torso vanished under a lab coat that reached to the floor behind her rear hooves.

“A most impressive feat of interior design, is it not?” she said, totally misreading the wide eyes on their faces.

“Um…” Daisy’s glance met only frantic head-shaking from the other two. “It’s very… ‘Doctor Deadhorse’, I think.”

“Ah yes,” said the Princess dreamily. “A pioneer of the posthumous galvanization technique. We understand he was a trendsetter much in vogue three centuries ago. Alas, We never had the pleasure of meeting him, but We have studied his work most assiduously.”

“Is… is that why you look like… I mean, why you’re dressed in…” Daisy gave up. She was starting to regret her moment of loyalty outside.

“One must perform the examination according to custom and according to professional practice. But come.”

Helpless as hypnosis victims, they followed the Princess over to a chart in the wall. Under the blue influence of Princess magic, its images rolled to the left. Daisy peered round its edge to see the rollers, but only met more paper pressed against an unseen, inch-thick backing.

“Er… Miss Princess?” Roseluck lowered her hoof. “How many types of vampires can there be?”

“We have encountered dozens upon our various travels,” intoned Princess Luna. “Including the rare and delightful watermelon vampire.”

“The what?” said Roseluck.

“The watermelon vampire.”

“Watermelon vampire?” spluttered Daisy.

“That is what We said,” insisted Luna.

“Wow. It must suck to be one of those, eh?” said Roseluck.

The wires sparked. The chemicals stank. The chart rolled on.

“Moving on,” said Princess Luna.

“It’s a play on words,” said Roseluck. “You see, because you suck a watermelon –”

“We know,” said Lily.

“But vampires suck you, you see, so when I said ‘it must suck’ –”

“Hilarious,” said Daisy dully.

“And when you use the phrase ‘sucks to be you’, because let’s face it, being a watermelon is about as low as you can get –”

“Yet it is almost always the case that vampirism runs within families,” said Princess Luna, baring her teeth.

Ignoring Roseluck’s groan, Lily pointed. “What’s that, then? Some kind of big family tree folded up?”

“Exactly.” Luna slowed the leftwards rolling, and then the images instead rolled upwards.

“I was only trying to lighten the mood,” said Roseluck. “How’s it doing that, anyway? It can’t go up and down as well as left or right if it’s attached to the wall. That’s impossible!”

“The key word being ‘trying’.” Luna smoothed her face into a genial smile. “Impossible, you say? In the four dimensions of time and space, yes. In the fifth and sixth ones, it’s actually very simple to do.”

“Whoa…” Roseluck stepped closer. “Doc was going on about all kinds of dimensions back in Ponyville. Wait till I tell him about this!”

Daisy shivered. Dimensions. When that word is being bandied about, the “scientist” part is definitely in play. Now to check on the “mad” part…

“What’s it doing?” she said.

“Currently, We are calibrating it to Miss Lily Valley’s family tree. Unless” – Princess Luna lowered her head to be level with Lily’s – “you can name any living relatives who may have confessed their vampirism to you? Maybe? On the off-chance?”

Sparks buzzed over their manes as a couple of wires discharged. Lily shook her head.

“Sorry,” she said. “My baby cousin used to be a nibbler, if that helps.”

The chart slowed down. One of the images was a small portrait of Lily’s head, looking dumbfounded at the painter. From there, it followed the lines up to two more portraits, across to cousins and aunts and uncles, up to grandparents and their siblings…

“Interesting,” said Princess Luna. “It appears you have pegasus ancestors.”

Lily wiped her hoof on her chest, inspecting it occasionally. “Oh yeah. On my mother’s side. That’s where I got my flowing blonde locks.”

The chart continued to sweep side-to-side. The Princess’s glowing magic forced it to rise. “Oh my. And not just any pegasus ancestors. Yes… the rounded profile… the military flaming hair… All only a few generations back. We believe these are Cloudsdale nobles. ”

“Whoa. Really?” Lily leaned closer.

“We beg your pardon. You were unaware of your heritage?”

“I never really took an interest in family trees. Not my cup of herbal tea.” Lily hummed to herself. “So, about these noble ancestors… They rich?”

Despite herself, Daisy felt her stomach clenching at the sight of Lily and the Princess talking. Lily smiling and asking questions was much better than Lily grimacing and shouting for help, true. And at the end of the day, all this was just like going to the doctor to get rid of a cold. Yes, it was much better when she thought about it that way.

Nevertheless, the more Lily and Princess Luna talked, the more they seemed to fade into a world of their own. No: the more Daisy seemed to fade into a world of her own.

So what if she’s got noble ancestors? Lily’s as common an earth pony as me and Roseluck. But for a bathroom break, that could’ve been me chatting with royals about which Lord and which Lady was my great-great-great-great-grandparent. Anyway, Lily was on the verge of panic a few hours ago. That’s the only reason we’re here at all.

Daisy found herself glaring at the back of Lily’s head. Her legs warmed with the urge to kick.

Finally, Princess Luna shook her head at the genealogy chart. “No candidates so far. We shall set it to continue its sweep, just in case, but sadly no light dawns for us there. Come with me.”

“So what can we do?” said Roseluck.

At the Princess’s beckoning hoof, Lily strode over to one of the bulging machines. Smile rapidly fading from her lips, she stepped up onto a podium and cringed at various arms reaching down and around her. Most of them ended with tools stolen from a dentist’s.

“Vampirism is gradual,” said Princess Luna, horn aglow and directing the tools to the skin one at a time. “The longer Miss Lily Valley goes without help, the worse she will become. Our only hope is to cure it in its earliest stages, or else it shall become… permanent.”

Lightning flashed outside the window.

Roseluck shrieked. “Who keeps following you with that?!”

A pegasus pushed a thundercloud past the window.

“Ah! Make him cut it out!”

“We’re afraid that is impossible,” said Princess Luna. “We’ve given him a grant.”

Lily gritted her teeth against a drill-like device trying to probe her ear. “Permanent?” she said.

“It’s not going to come to that,” said Daisy. “What’s the cure?”

“Impossible to say,” said Princess Luna, “without further examination. However, judging from these preliminary results” – she nodded to rolls of ticker tape and what looked like a seismograph reading pouring out of the machine’s slots – “this specific kind of vampirism is of a more conventional breed. In which case, there are at least two definite cures.”

“What?” Lily tried to lean away from the machine, but Luna’s irritable spell made one of the arms nudge her back into place. “What cures? Are they painful?”

“Either,” intoned Princess Luna, and the room darkened, and the crackling air was stilled, and Daisy’s limbs quivered where they stood, “you must defeat the original vampire, or you must force it to lift the curse.”

“What?” shrieked Roseluck.

“Those are merely the definite cures.”

“But we don’t even know who the original vampire is!” Daisy fell onto her knees. “Isn’t there any other way? I can give blood, or teach her to suck watermelons! Anything!”

Despite her words, the clenching feeling was still there. No! She’s my friend, come rain or shine! She doesn’t really want to be special, can’t you see that? What’s wrong with me?

Princess Luna laughed, a royal laugh clear as a cathedral bell tolling within her lungs. “It will not come to that, my little pony.”

“Oh sure,” muttered Roseluck under her breath. “You laugh at her watermelon joke…”

“It wasn’t a joke,” said Daisy coldly.

“We shall conduct further tests in order to eliminate all possibilities, leaving Us with the one form of vampirism under which Miss Lily Valley suffers most cruelly. Only once We know which of the unholy forces dwells within her mortal frame will We have the greatest chance to be rid of it.”

Sighing, she turned to Lily. “It may take hours of testing and re-testing, and even then We shall only be certain under the light of a full moon…”

“You mean – ow!” Lily winced at a prod jabbing her nostrils. “You mean I’ll have to stay here? Overnight?”

One regal nod was enough.

“And…” Lily’s face began to blanch. “I’ll have to… go through all that… that…? When it’s lights out…?”

“It’s the only way to be sure,” insisted Luna.

Lily’s eyes began to water, though that might’ve been because one of the arms had just sprayed them.

“You’ll watch over me, right?” she said just before two prongs forced her lips to stay open.

“Yes. It is imperative we understand this epidemic. We shall do what we can to keep you – and your fellow ponies – safe from attack.”

Lily garbled something through the prongs. Both arms withdrew.

“Can I have a moment?” she said again. “Alone? With my friends?”

“As you wish. Speak Our name, and We shall return.”

Once the oak doors creaked and slammed, Roseluck pushed the unmoving arms aside and gripped Lily one hoof to each shoulder. “We’re not going anywhere!”

“It’s only for one night,” said Lily. “Don’t waste it on me. Go out and enjoy yourselves.”

“Now wait a minute –” began Daisy.

“No. You heard Princess Luna. I’m going to be fine.”

The door creaked. “You wish Us to return already?”

“No! Slip of the tongue! I’m not done yet.”

“Oh. I see. Uh… apologies for interrupting.” Head hanging, Luna eased the door to.

“Look,” said Lily as soon as Daisy opened her mouth again, “I’m under quality protection, right? Who’s going to top a Princess for a bodyguard? And even if, somehow, by some freaky coincidence, I managed to break out, you’d be far away from me. There’s no way I could do anything to you. It makes total sense.”

“It’s awful,” mumbled Roseluck to her hooves.

“Well, I’m the one with vampirism, and you don’t see me making a scene.”

“Oh yeah? So that’s how you really feel?” said Daisy.

“Sure. Go out and enjoy your time in Canterlot. I won’t mind.” Lily’s mouth strained to stretch into a smile. “Tomorrow at breakfast. We’ll swap stories and talk about the show. Don’t ruin your stay on my account.”

“But it’s not on your account. You never asked for this.”

Amid the acrid smells and the clanking of hidden machines and the bulging, hissing, rumbling metal boxes, they waited. Daisy glanced at their faces. Apparently, they were inspecting the blood red carpet.

“We are still friends, right?” Lily blurted out.

“Of-Of course we are!” spluttered Daisy to Roseluck’s frantic nodding. “I-It’ll take more than a bit of bad luck to come between us. You bet.”

“Well,” said Lily, “there were another ninety nine ways this could have ended badly.”

“And there it is. I knew I shouldn’t have let you buy that book,” said Daisy.

“Let me? Let me!? Anyway, joke’s on you! I was right! It’s an undead apocalypse, if I’m not mistaken.”

“You think everything’s out to get you, don’t you? Any one of us could’ve been bitten.” Too late, Daisy blurted out, “If indeed you were bitten.”

Roseluck covered her mouth with both hooves.

“What!” hissed Lily. “What’s that meant to mean?”

“I meant –” That you were always the one jumping up and down in class. That you call yourself the “life of the party” when you think no one else is listening, even when I’m right behind your bedroom door. That you think everyone’s doing evil magic experiments that’ll get you, sooner or later. That you make up stories about visiting the Princesses for tea every Friday night when us two are visiting… er… other friends. That you’d fake a vampire attack if it meant proving you’re not still that dumb foal who was picked last for junior buckball and hoedown dance-offs!

Daisy clamped her lips tightly together at once. Invisible vices squeezed from her stomach, up her throat, and on her writhing tongue.

No. You can’t say any of that and still be friends. It ends here.

“Nothing,” she said, not meeting her eye. “I was just a little high-strung. I didn’t mean anything.” More sincerely, she added, “I’ll just be glad when this is all over.”

Lily cast a cringing glance at the tools raised overhead. “Amen to that.”

Between them, Roseluck nodded and waved. “We’ll tell you everything that happened, right down to what food we ate and how many varieties of rose we’ve seen.”

“Yeah,” mumbled Daisy, already turning around. “Good luck, Lily.”

Both she and Roseluck went out the door without a backwards look. They barely registered Luna, who took her ear away from the frame and straightened up a little too smartly.

“Does she want me back in?” she said.

On their way past, they nodded and began the long trek back down the stairs.

---

Comments

[Lucky Seven]

Roseluck? Adventure? Spookiness?

Count me in!

[FanOfMostEverything]

Ooh. Interpersonal drama mixed in with the creeping undead menace, along with a healthy dose of Prachettian humor. Definitely looking forward to more of this.

[Impossible Numbers]

8338557
8338691

Good to see some enthusiasm! With the holidays upcoming, I hope to update this much, much sooner than I've managed to update previous unfinished works. ("Hope", mind you, not "guarantee"; actions must speak louder than words). In which case, I also hope you enjoy the tale as it unfolds.

8338674

"My word, did he really just say that? Such a boorish country manner! Most unorthodox!"