At first, the pink-haired meanie (Oros was it?) didn’t say anything. In fact, the girl had closed her eyes and appeared to be meditating. Perhaps this girl found it difficult to apologize to others, or admit that she had made a mistake. MDP could understand that, as she had a similar problem as her normal self, although she was working hard to change that. Maybe this girl was doing the same? In that case, and despite her anger, MDP resolved to give this girl the benefit of the doubt and allow her to apologize in her own time.

Meanwhile, their Christmas Tree (who was apparently named Eliza) had started talking, and she seemed more than a little irritated.

“Y-You’re not a Christmas Wistmas Tree?!” the whimsical girl gasped when Eliza took off her hat to demonstrate that fact. “Like, Magical Dream Princess didn’t know you were a magical wagical girl person werson! She’s, like, super duper sorry worry, Eliza Wiza…” she added with an apologetic frown.

Eliza then asked about something called Keijo, which, after another girl explained the details, sounded like a very odd activity indeed. Eliza seemed to agree, as she promptly walked away after the other girl finished explaining.

It was at this point that Oros finally decided to offer her apology, although what happened next left MDP utterly speechless. Before she knew it, the whimsical girl had been roughly embraced by Oros, who then proceeded to give her a VERY unwelcome kiss. For a moment she was too stunned to even think. Her eyes went wide, her face turned a bright shade of crimson, and tears streamed down her cheeks. Once the initial shock had passed, and MDP realized that Oros’s lips were still pressed firmly against hers, the whimsical girl felt an overwhelming mixture of disgust, shame, and fury well up inside her.

While Penny might have been the most powerful being on the planet for all MDP knew, the robotic girl still treated her with such profound gentleness. This girl, on the other hand, was vicious and wild, little more than an animalistic predator. Being kissed by her felt like the assault of some savage beast. It was easily the most unpleasant experience of the whimsical girl’s life, and she just wanted it to end. But still it continued. However, even worse than the awful physical sensations was the knowledge that her girlfriend was watching this horrific, shameful scene unfold. Oros wasn’t just doing this to hurt MDP, she was doing it to hurt Penny as well, and that was something the Princess of Dreams refused to abide. Unfortunately, there was little she could do to escape Oros’s clutches. In fact, she could barely move. All she could do was hope that Penny would save her from this nightmare before it got any worse.

---

Three seconds.

That was the sum total amount of time that Penny had looked away from Oros. And when those three seconds elapsed, the rest of the world dissolved into static at the scene in front of her. Penny already didn’t like Oros, and this stint with ruining everyone’s fun didn’t do much to mend that perception of her.

And now this.

Penny was moving before anyone else could. Her eyes were blazing, but they were a vibrant electric blue, no hint of tale-tell red that normally accompanied her anger. In an instant she closed the distance between her and Oros and she reached out and grabbed the offending creep by the back of the neck. Her hidden limbs unfurled in the same moment, lashing out and grabbing Oros’ wandering hands. All of her appendages were gripping hard enough to bruise a magical, if not crack bone.

Once Penny had Oros in her grasp she would violently drag her off of MDP, her remaining two limbs snaking out to gently catch her girlfriend. Then, with Oros still in her grasp, Penny would pivot and plant her fist directly on the monster girl's jaw with a clinical right hook. One that Penny did not hold back on delivering. In fact, she dragged Oros into the punch with her control over the other girls’ arms making it more akin to a jolt counter.

Penny would release her grip a moment after her fist made contact, letting the punch serve double duty of tossing Oros away from her, and more importantly, MDP. Then with all of her spider legs half curled around MDP protectively she would pin Oros with a cold, hateful gaze.

In total it took her two seconds to rectify the situation. Five more than she ever wanted to give Oros.

“Alright, that’s enough, girls!”

At that moment, a puff of blue smoke exploded between Penny and Oros, causing Penny to release her hold. The smoke revealed Dan, who had transformed once more into a muscular figure.



He pointed a finger at Penny and shot a blue beam of magic, turning Penny’s arms into clothes hangers with ball points and her spider limbs into simple springs.

“I am very disappointed in you, Penny. You should know better than to let Oros aggravate you like this.” He then glanced at Oros, who also received a beam, turning her nose into a big red clown nose that honked every time she spoke.

“And you need to learn self-restraint, Oros. I can forgive the use of the satellite, but not this childish behavior.” He crossed his arms and stepped aside. “Now, I’m not going to end the spells I have placed on you two, until you have apologized to each other properly.”

Penny would stay silent at Dan’s arrival, not because she was waiting for Oros to try and properly apologize or anything, she doubted that Oros could at this point, but because her anger had rendered her mute. Even now simply processing anything that the Patron had said was proving difficult. She was aware of the curse that had been placed on her, so she did know that Dan was punishing her, but everything else he had said was still just static.

MDP gasped for air when Penny rescued her from Oros, before making a disgusted face and spitting on the ground. “Icky wicky! Like, that was sooo super duper nasty wasty! Super duper thankie wankies, Penny Wenny~” she added in a softer voice as she gave her girlfriend a gentle smile.

The next thing she knew, Dan had appeared and begun scolding Penny and Oros. While MDP certainly agreed with the beast girl receiving a reprimand, she didn’t think that Penny deserved the same treatment. “Like, Penny Wenny didn’t do anythingie wingie wrong, Danny Wanny!” the whimsical girl protested. “She was just trying to save Magical Dream Princess from this meanie weanie pervert wervert!” she explained glaring at the pink-haired beast girl with a look of furious contempt.

Simply hearing MDP’s voice allowed Penny to start relaxing. Understanding what had been said could, and would, come later, her gaze didn’t lighten, but her stance lost some of it’s blatant hostility. Not all of it, or even most of it, but enough for those watching to be able to tell she wasn’t about to attack Oros again. For the moment at least.

As if Mac hadn't gotten enough drama already, she happened to wander back to the snow forts only to notice everything was a giant puddle now. She didn't personally mind, as it was easier to hide her footprints in- wait, no, wet sand was not the best for hiding footprints. At least her footprints from earlier wouldn't be a concern.

As for the current debacle? Mac didn't really care how Dan chose to run his island. MDP was annoying, but Oros took it too far by forcing herself on top of her. That didn't really excuse Penny from, uh, tickling Oros with punches? It was whatever. She just wished she had stuck around so that she could feel the warm water run over her skin again. Showers were the best. Though freezing out here afterwards would sorta suck.

---

_{@Ponn@Majoras End@FamishedPants}

Because BP was totally omitted from a collab that involved their own character, they now have to write a catch up post to awkwardly arrange action and dialog in a scene that they probably should have been around for.

It was not difficult to tear Oros away from Magical Dream Princess. Not because Penny was strong, but because by that point Oros had gone as far as she wanted to. She wiped her mouth off as if she had just gotten done taking a big swig of a strong drink.

”Oh hi there robu-”

Penny rocked her fist and Oros’s head together. You could probably liken it to a jolt counter, but that wasn’t correct. Mostly because there was no jolt and no counter. A jolt counter works when a boxer throws a punch, and the weight carrying them forward makes the incoming counter punch that much stronger. Being slammed into a fist like a pair of cymbals is a different animal entirely, as Penny had complete control over Oros’s momentum. Curb your “Hajime no Ippo” for another post, young man.

Regardless of the terminology, It was still a mighty hard punch. Anyone could see the large bruise forming on her cheek. But it was a bruise that Oros didn’t feel at all. When she was like this, nothing could hurt her. She laughed in Penny’s face as a second strike came, but by that time Dan had intervened. Even when Dan gave her the second noze modification she received this season, that only accompanied her laughter with an annoying squeaking noise.

Tetrad had seen her fare share of torture videos, and had been the one inflicting the pain on people for a while. So seeing such savagery unfold in front of her was nothing new. It was just a little unsettling seeing a grotesquely muscled dolphin guy however. ”Yikes…” She caught a glimpse of Eliza running away. ”Crap. Uh, hey Sam?” She turned towards the assassin. ”I’m going to go after her. Wanna make sure nobody becomes an even bigger pain in the ass?” After giving her a wave, she took off after Eliza.

---

”Ahhhh.”

At last, her laughter stopped. She pressed on the back of her spine until her back cricked before doing the same thing with all of her other limbs. She wasn’t entirely sure what she was suppose to do here. Any time she spoke, her nose would blurt out a honk, which made a serious apology difficult to deliver. But Oros had to make herself a second nose, so making a third wouldn’t be that troublesome.

She pinched off her clown nose, at which point a brand new nose formed in it’s place. The red clown nose squeaked as she turned it over in her hand. Then she raised it over her head… before tucking her hand under her arm and bowing.

”I apologize, ma’am. I allowed my emotions to boil over. Between my date getting tied up, walking off on me, and my friends making out right in front of me to rub it in, I had little recourse. Please understand that while today might be the fourth of July, the holiday is not so magical for everyone.” Oros stood back up with an oh-so-pleased smile on her lips. There was a muffled honking noise coming from her arm pit. ”I will not apologize for what happened during the snow fight. That was an expensive item that only works in this dimension. Premium content does give an unfair advantage to whale players, but we also keep the servers live. However, I’m willing to have a do-over on the kiss thing. Would a hug be okay?” When Oros extended her arms, MDP shuffled behind Penny, probably, to which Oros shrugged and lowered her arms. ”I’m not really sure why I’m apologizing to ro-butt here, so I won’t. Or rather, I can’t!” She chuckled. ”I mean what do I say? I’m sorry? And for what? She watched Baby here tie up my girl before giving her these rapey glares. I’m definitely not apologizing for using my sky cannon on dipshits like her. And why isn’t Baby required to apologize to El? Why didn't you want me to apologize to her, didn't that make more sense? Unless…” She rubbed her chin. ”Oh, I get it now!” She pointed at Dan. ”You don’t really give a shit about us, do you? It's all about making sure this is a great place to feed on happy emotions!” A makeup kit appeared in Oros’s hand. She took a brush and used it to dab white paint all over her face. ”Meh, you do you, Dan. Not like either of us are this way by choice.” Once Oros finished with her makeup, she put on a curly haired wig. ”Don’t suppose you’re gunna apologize, eh? Admitting you're in the wrong is too far below a queen.” She looked at Penny while pulling the clown nose out of her arm pit. ”That’s fine. in the long run, this is pretty small compared to the other shit you've done. I don't want or need an apology for a weak ass punch. Just remember that Dina worked pretty hard to convince me to leave Sanctuary alone. I'd hate for you to undo her work over a spat like this.” Oros placed her clown nose on top of her original one before sprinting off.

---

Oros didn’t have time for robots that wouldn’t apologize or dolphins that ate happiness like tumblr users. She had a race to win! Well, complete. Being among the fastest people wouldn’t get her any prizes, but speed running was more about quantity than quality.

Oros rolled up in a unicycle that she had stashed in her hammerspace, still dawning the nose and makeup of a clown. Her curly Afro made her pretty hard to miss too. As soon as the race started, she wheeled down the hill. The sound of laughter and honking following her wherever she went.

While things escalated elsewhere, Alicia had done her best to help FanFan. She wasn't sure it had worked, but she'd done her best. Without being an Emotion spec girl, she had to do things the old fashioned way. Somehow she had the feeling that this was not an issue that could be solved in a single conversation.

Was she thinking of FanFan, or herself? Who could tell these days?

At least Kimble pulled a smile out of her at the glowing review of their date and pseudo Christmas. "That's good." Tactfully, she refrained from discussing what her competition was. Some memories didn't need to be dragged out. Better that Kimble was enjoying it now.

Before she could go no, Dinah approached the group. It seemed that she had finished with her singing, and was now looking to join them. Alicia did have some mixed feelings, but nothing too strong. Not much had happened after their last conversation to change her opinion after all. They might as well take advantage of the moment while it was here.

"Hello Dinah," she replied with a respectful nod. "That was a nice song. I suppose you've had a lot of time to work on your singing over the years, right?" No doubt Dinah was trying to play peacemaker while they were all here, though she hadn't been paying enough attention to know if it was working or not.

_{@Ariamis@AtomicNut}

‘Alright, now listen,’ Jelena said, focusing intently on her students on skis in front of her. On her own feet, Jelena had her own pair of recently formed metal skis. ‘So cross your skis like this, and go slowly forward. There, cool. When you go downhill, lean towards the hill and press your weight down on the ski you want down the hill. So weight on the right leg to turn left, weight on the left leg if you want to turn right. Got it? So…’ Jelena said, instructing at length on how to actually ski.

‘… Yeah, I got this already,’ Victoria boasted, easily sliding down while in full control. She was already basically skiing all over the place with her ice-powers.

‘Wo-ho, haha! This feels weird!’ Mayra said, almost losing balance but constantly adjusting herself with tiny bursts of fire from her molten body.



‘U-uh…’ Mariette hesitated, shaking, wide-eyed, staring down on her skis and then down the slope. Despite normally heading down way vaster distances and regularly standing atop platforms high above the cityline, staring down a ski-slope she was supposed to head down standing only atop a pair of interestingly-shaped twigs was way scarier. Still, she was trying to keep her skis crossed, and-

‘Wait, no, AH-!’ Mariette cried as she accidentally straightened her skis in a turn and then gained way more speed than she was comfortable with, and-!

‘Ah, darn, I gotta-!’ Jelena dashed into action, intending on rescuing the runaway leader-!

Except that’s when a tentacle shot into the snow from Mariette’s position, grabbing a tree and accidentally flinging herself down the slope. She was about to crash again, when she made another tentacle grab onto the nearest tree, redirecting her but once again lost grip of the tree, throwing her further down. She sent a tentacle to a tree, and… and so it continued, Mariette unintentionally flinging herself down the hill.

‘Hold on, Mariette, we’re not racing yet!’ Jelena shouted after her.

‘SHE’S GETTING A HEADSTART!’ Mayra shouted in realization, grinning wide-eyed as she leaned forward and held both her arms behind her. ‘YOU’RE NOT GETTING AHEAD OF ME!’ she shouted, before bursting fire from both hands and rocketting down the slope, melting the snow as she went in a straight line.

‘Heh, can’t make them think they get ahead of me when it comes to speed in my own element…!’ Victoria boasted, and dove downwards, freezing the snow in front of her so it became smoother and lost basically all friction, allowing her to glide down at ludicrous speeds… which she could all the way until she was about to pass Mayra, who proceeded to shoot fire at her to prevent her from coming down first. Victoria, of course, replied by duplicating into numerous skiers and throwing ice in return, resulting in a battle of ice and fire heading down the ski-slope.

‘Geesh, you guys…’ Jelena sighed at them. She then took a deep breath, before setting up on a leisure skiing trip down the slope. She knew she couldn’t compete with the speed of her students, so she may as well simply enjoy this unique chance to do some happy skiing again. For once, she could just enjoy herself, taking in some speed as she enjoyed her time on the slope. This was what skiing was all about. Yupp. Giant metal arms and all.

---

‘Oooh, I’ve missed this,’ Deni sighed out, smiling as she looked down the slope.

‘There hasn’t been a lot of time for this as Magical Girls, huh,’ Eli chuckled. The two were wearing a pair of matching snowboards under their suitable ski-jackets that they’d equipped for this purpose.

‘Well, I’m done waiting! Let’s go!’ Deni said, giggling as she nudged her legs so as to point the tip downwards, starting to accelerate.

‘Right behind you,’ Eli said, pulling herself to follow right behind.

And so, they were off. Having once upon a time been a single girl with two personalities, they both somehow had the same muscle-memory, and as such two precisely as skilled girls headed down the slope, smiling and laughing as they intentionally went close to one another, and used their Magical Girl athleticism for some fancy tricks and jumps just because, and headed down for fun.

---

Somewhere else, a blonde girl and a spider-girl were taking a girl sledding. They were having a lot of fun.

”O-Oh?!"

Lily visibly exclaimed upon feeling Alex’ tails wrap around her on the sled, securing her in place. While she did expect him to use his magic to improve the sled, the improvised seatbelt was not included among them. She smiled widely with a blush.

”Thank you, Alex. You're so considerate~ Now make sure Justine gets fluffy tails too."
Justine nodded to Alex’ note about the sled, very hesitant in her expression.
”He’s right, I’ll just be in the way-"

”Dan, can you extend our sled a bit?"

“Sure thing!” The dolphin answered immediately, and with a bolt of magic the sled turned longer to accommodate Justine and an Alex clone. Justine looked like she was about to protest, but then sighed with an uneasy smile, and stepped in, allowing Alex’ clone to secure her as well.
”I hope I won’t regret this..."

Dan waved a red flag, signaling the start of the race. As soon as it did, all the racers were off, including Lily’s group.

”Alright, let’s see how fast we can get! Accel Gear!"
Lily yelled out as she cast her spell, infusing the sled with a combination of of Time and Lightning magic, magnetizing its bottom and ridding it of traction, while accelerating the momentum of the sled to immense speed. Like a rocket, the sled practically blasted off, causing a lurching feeling Alex has gotten used to but Justine visibly irked at as they were off.

The sled easily passed the other racers, but soon got into trouble with the first turn.
Lily leaned to the side, trusting in Alex’ tails to keep her on board as the sled managed to alter its momentum. However, the next turn was coming too close for her to turn in time. They were speeding right towards a rock.

”Uh oh, we’re gonna crash!"

”Rgh...Hold on!"

Justine spread her wings as she lifted the sled, and managed to hop over the rock, landing back on the course as it turned back.

”There...We’re still on track!"

Lily gave a thumbs up.

”Thanks Justine! But wow, this is so exciting! Did you see those two? They totally made the course super hard! It’s gonna be a bumpy ride, whoo!!"

She continued commandeering their hazardous vessel through the magical race, having reached second place so far. Mariette got a headstart, soon overtaken by Mayra and Victoria as the two began a battle mid-race, damaging the slope with melted puddles and jagged ice, making it difficult even for a seasoned racer and slowing them down. Jelena was behind, following Mayra and Victoria. Deni and Eli were the last ones in the race at first, but were steady as they performed synchronic skiing, easily passing any obstacles in their way and passing the squabbling girls.

---

Meanwhile, Dan himself had crossed his arms as he looked over to MDP, shaking his head with a heavy sigh as Penny walked off without apologizing.
“Magical Dream Princess, what Oros did was bad, but it doesn’t justify the use of violence. You are magical girls, so you can talk it out without resorting to punching each other. You also need to learn to stand up for yourself. There's nothing more cool than being hugged by someone you like, but if another magical girl tries to kiss or touch you in a place or in a way that makes you feel uncomfortable, that's no good! It's your body! No one has the right to touch you if you don't want them to! So, what do you do? First, you say, "No!", then, you get out of there! Most importantly, you've gotta tell someone you trust, like a magical girl friend, or your Patron!”

He grimaced as Oros accused him. “Hey, I do care! You’re the one who needs to care more!” He then grunted, rubbing his temples with his thumb and forefinger. “But you apologized properly, so as promised, I’ll end the spell on you.” He snapped his fingers, and the clown nose disappeared. “But next time I won’t be so forgiving. Also, you are hereby forbidden from coming within two meters of Magical Dream Princess.” Oros now saw how a blue line only she could see was now drawn to the ground around MDP. ”It will repel you if you attempt to approach her. Now, I hope you will behave from now. Goodbye.” And with that, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

With extra space on the sled, Alexander was able use a clone to secure Justine to the sled. Not long after that, the race started, and Lily sent them rocketing off 'Huh...it's not as crazy as the motorcycle is' He thought surprised. Things started off pretty fine, until the rock. He was about to try and use some tails to push them out of the way...when the sled kind of hopped over it. Turning around, he saw Justine's wings outstretched. "Huh. You know, I realize we didn't actually plan this out; but this ended up being a pretty solid team" he said, mostly to himself. As he looked out at the recently decimated landscape ahead, he sighed "What the fuck are those idiots doing?"

Words were slow to return to Penny, but they did return. They returned just in time for her to understand that both Dan and Oros had discounted her. The dolphin apparently shared with the deranged dimension hopper’s belief that Penny wouldn’t apologize. Or he had gotten worked up enough by the girl’s accusations that he simply forgot about Penny.

It hardly mattered to Penny. Not after his disregard displayed about the whole sexual assault. Yet it did put her into a strange spot. His punishment still lingered, but he was gone. Oros was off, and Penny had no desire to chase her down to give an apology, for she truly didn’t want to. Had the Patron and the crazed maho stuck around she might have, but not any longer. Oros didn’t deserve it.

“I͘ ́am so̧r͘ŕy̷ She would say turning towards MDP, her voice crackling with static “That ̨y͡ou h̀a̡d ̷ to deal with that. That I hadn’t noticed an͘d̛ s͞t͢o̵pp͝e͜d it́ ͠before it happened.” Because her girlfriend did.

There would be a sound of a metal latch being throw as Penny turned her attention to where her coat hanger limbs connected to her shoulder. Casually she would open her mouth to reveal that her teeth had been replaced with rows of serrated blades, though one would only have a moment to notice this before Penny bit down on her own limb. A sharp jerk of her head and the deformed limb would tear away almost cleanly and a few moments of chewing later it would be consumed. A process that was quickly repeated with her other arm.

Afterwards Penny would focus her magic and her regeneration towards the self-inflicted damage. Something she could still do since the snowball fight was brought to such a sudden conclusion. The full process was obscured by the illusion overlayed onto her by Dan’s realm, but MDP would be able to see the base frame work be rebuilt first as well as some of the inner workings.

With her arms back in working order Penny would continue her repair by removing the springs that were once her spider limbs in a similar fashion as her prior coat hanger arms. She would chow down on them as well, but their repair process would be hidden completely due to the illusion. Plus, they weren’t as much of a priority so Penny was content to let them regen slowly.

After all that, which hadn’t taken a lot of time strictly speaking, Penny would go though the motions of taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. The last of the stress in her frame vanishing as let that breath out. “Now that the find and replace witch is no longer a problem” She would say rolling her eyes. “Anything you want to do? Pretty sure that we’d have run of the ice rink or the building areas since most people are likely off to the race.” She would offer up. She wasn’t really in a mood to cross paths with Oros, nor was she in a competitive mood either.

_@Ponn

Still standing safely behind Penny, MDP continued to glower at Oros as she listened to Dan’s little spiel. She wanted to protest that she didn’t have a chance to “stand up for herself”, since Oros had taken her completely by surprise, but she begrudgingly decided to remain quiet until the dolphin finished. “Okie dokie, Danny Wanny…” she mumbled, still looking quite upset.

Oros then gave a more formal apology, although even someone as innocent as MDP could clearly tell that the beast girl wasn’t even remotely sorry for what she’d done. And for some reason, she kept calling MDP “Baby”.

“Like, Magical Dream Princess isn’t a baby waby!” the whimsical girl shot back. “She’s super duper sweet sixteenie weanie!” And as evidence of her maturity, the indigent Princess of Dreams stuck her tongue out at the departing Oros.

She then heard Penny’s distorted voice offer her an apology for not stopping Oros sooner, which brought a smile back to the whimsical girl’s face.

“Like, it’s okie dokie, Penny Wenny~!” MDP told her cheerfully. “You totally wotally saved Magical Dream Princess from that awful wawful meanie weanie, and that’s all that matter watters~!”

Turning to look at Penny, MDP watched in childish wonderment as her mechanical girlfriend removed her warped appendages and regrew new ones to replace them. Such a sight might have creeped out some people, but for MDP, the process was utterly fascinating. “Wowie zowie~!” she exclaimed. “Penny Wenny fixed herselfy welfy aaaall up~! (giggle!) That’s just sooo super duper cooly wooly~” she added in a dreamy tone.

Once Penny had finished repairing herself, she asked what MDP wanted to do next, noting that they would probably have some of the more relaxing activities all to themselves. That was something MDP could definitely appreciate, especially after all the excitement and drama that had just transpired.

“Ice skating wating sounds super duper nicey wicey~” MDP replied, her face once more taking on a dreamy look as she imagined how romanic it would be to skate with her girlfriend. “Magical Dream Princess always wanted to go skating wating,” she explained. “But she was never ever able wable to, so she would just wuv it if she and Penny Wenny could do it together wether~! (giggle!) But firsty worsty, she has something super duper important wortant to do~!” Waving her magic wand, she conjured a swarm of giggling ice fairies, which swiftly set to work rebuilding the ruined snow fort. In no time at all, the whimsical spires of a new fortress rose up to tower over the former battlefield. “Tadaaa~!”

There was an older-looking computer monitor that suddenly turned on, displaying lines of system checks and a notification that indicated the boot-up sequence. The whir of the cooling fan became more intense as it seems to struggle to turn on again, needing every last bit of effort it could pour into the process. Eventually, the screen hangs on pure black.

*Bump*

"I, like, think it's stuck."

"Are ya being serious? If it ain't one thing it's another with yer confounded machines, ain't it?" the computer was rapped on the top lightly as this Emily whined.

"This is unacceptable!"

Yet again, multiple contingencies had been activated within the confines of Emily's mind. Only this time, they'd been shut down without warning. With no information to go on, it made the recovery process even more difficult than it had been before.

"Like, we're not even getting, like, one of those error messages this time! Totes not okay at all!" One Emily checked her phone and complained at the same time.

The serious Emily glared at the screen. "If you two weren't slacking off, then you would've seen what happened. Our self-proclaimed protector took advantage of us!" she snapped. "The Squints to our Wendy Peffercorn!"

Another Emily growled. "That's some horse pucky! Ya'll tryin' tell me we got blindsided? Unsavory types are tha absolute worst!"

"There's, like, no excuse for being so gross. I just can't even with that sort of person."

"Oh! Um... well, maybe he, uh, didn't mean it...? We were just trying to help him...!" the timid Emily summoned the courage to speak out. The others almost seemed surprised at her statement.

The serious Emily pushed up the glasses she wore. "I suppose I could concede that very well may be a possibility. However, my counterargument is that he is a boy and therefore icky. Besides, you know how they are like."

"Yeah. Def. Next, he'll, like, try to, like, hold our hand or something," she made face twisted in disgust.

A gasp from everyone in the room.

"H-hold hands...? H-he would never..." Shy Emily seemed to be in disbelief.

"Yer screwin' with us, aren'tcha? Ain't no way!"

"Why are you guys surprised?" Serious Emily asked. "He has taken our precious first kiss! We shall not concede any more our of firsts!"

Gal Emily shrugged, pocketing her phone. "Seriously. Like, lets show this creep a thing or three and peace from this place."

"Y-yeah, that's right! We oughta hogtie him up and rough him up a bit!"

"G-guys you can't assume he meant it...." Shy Emily's attempts at calming everyone down had ended in failure, and the others roared a battle cry as they moved to get a better view of the bigger screen in the room that would normally display what the real Emily saw.

Conveniently, the computer restarted, yet again showing the same lines as before, but now with a purpose, Emily.exe moved past the screen where it used to hang.

...

...

...

Back in 'real life', Emily had been motionless for a dozen seconds even after Sakura asked her a question. There was a blank, unresponsive look on her face the whole time, but then as she came back to life, so did the red in her cheeks. It filled up in an instant, and then the light in her eyes returned.

"Give em' a big ol' slap!"

"Like, right across that, cute, girlish face of his!"

Emily's right hand moved in an upward motion for a second, only to pause mid-air.

Serious Emily, meanwhile, sighed in exasperation in response. "We are not operating at maximum capacity! It seems some of our systems are in reduced mode or shut off entirely," she told the rest of her party.

"In American, could ya?"

Serious Emily pressed some buttons, hoping to fix the issue. "Limbs only want to move one way and common sense and speak.exe are both corrupted and unreliable."

"Come again?"

Gal Emily groaned as she became fed up by all of this. "Like, let me explain it to you in, like, the easiest way possible. Emily. No. Work. Gosh, how hard does it gotta be with you?"

"I'm afraid Emily is right. The slap button is grey which means it doesn't work right now. Berate is also grey, but that's not uncommon. Anyway, we don't really have a lot of options here. Delaying only risks putting us into another forced shutdown."

As the 'southern' Emily went to speak, Gal Emily cut her off. "Emily. Faint. Soon. If. More. Stress."

Shy Emily stood up abruptly. "W-we gotta get out of here, then...! O-otherwise..."

It took clear restraint on Serious Emily's behalf, but she pushed the button sounding the retreat. "It seems we have been defeated. For now. But this was only the beginning. We will not fail another time!"

"Well, whatever ya'll say, I suppose. Gotta know when the fold em', after all."

"Like, whatever."

....

....

....

Following a shorter pause before once again resuming, the real Emily stood up, bright of the face. "Gladtoseeyou'reokayUmI'vegottogodosomethingseeya!" Emily quickly fled the scene, unable to process anything else happening in that area presently.

Betty was starting to enjoy the party of a fashion. Helaria and Stien were odd fellows, but were enjoyable to be around. The situation in cradle hadn’t resolved itself, but it didn’t weigh on her mind too much. The activities in the present were starting to draw her attention away from her thoughts. Though she would keep an eye on Justine from a distance. Just in case.

She had made herself a snowball to sit on. Roll anything dense enough and you can turn it into a seat. That went for snow too. It was fortunate that her outfit was water proof, otherwise her body heat would probably melt the snow and then she’d have a wet butt for the rest of the party. Some might find it strange that anyone would just sit on a snowball when there was so much to do, but Betty wasn’t much for talking to people for long periods of time. It was fun to talk to people outside of Cradle, but she did need to take a break to drink some coco after spending too much time submerged in conversation. Besides, if she was going to beat Justine, she needed to keep her stamina up.

With everyone scattered around the area, it was easy for Finn to go about unnoticed. How long he had been at the party was unclear, but he had remained outside for the most part; acting as a spectator for the events. Even now he was watching the snowflakes fall, a snowbun perched perfectly on his head. A moment of calm he'd make the most of, before heading back to work.

"Hm. Don't think I can smoke out here, can I?" He asked no one in particular, feeling through his sleeves; his hammerspace handbag, for a cigar or something. But then Dan announced the next event. Odd set of rules for a race, but regardless, Finn would walk over to watch.

”A race is starting?!?”

Betty still had her ice skates on from her ice skating she did with Hilaria and Stien, which turned into a hocky game somehow. She kicked off her ice skates and forced her feet into her boots as fast as she could. Fortunately they were slip-ons, so it wasn’t too hard to manage.

But now she needed a ride. That was when she realized she hadn’t made an ice sculpture yet. Well, not one made entirely out of ice.

”Alright Betty, this is going to be kind of silly, but that’s the name of the game, right?” She quickly took to the ice block with a chainsaw and cut a wedge out of the bottom of it to make it sort of resemble a sled. She didn’t have a way to steer it, but her wind magic should be enough for what little maneuvering she needed. Provided the thing didn’t just cave in half. ”Well, it’ll have to work!” She ran over to the start line and set down her sled. While she waited for the race to start, Once she noticed Justine was in attendance, Betty started to make her sled look more like a sled. She used her ice carving tools to give herself a place to put her hands, and made the face of the sled a bit more pointed. With that done, she started to engrave spirals along both side of it. While she was doing this, she noticed a spectator who was looking directly at her. Or at least it seemed like it. Regardless, Betty was looking right back at him.

Finn tensed up as soon as he noticed someone was looking at him. Oh great. He was staring, wasn't he? Maybe the whole ice sled thing was strange, but he didn't want to be rude! He glanced from side to side, then nervously waved at the girl. "U-Uhm, please don't mind me, I was just a bit curious about your creation there!" Finn explained. "Doooo you need help with it? I don't know how long until the race starts so..."

”Oh!” Betty looked back at her sled. ”No, that’s not necessary. I think I have it under control.” She looked back up at the boy. ”Wait, did you need something to ride on?” Betty looked back at her sledding ice sculpture. ”I think there’s room for you on here. I don’t think you’re heavy enough to break it.”

"Oh- Wait what?" Finn's eyes widened when Betty offered to let him ride with her. As much as he'd want to turn her down, he thought for a moment. "...Are you sure?"

”Well yea!” Betty clenched her hand into a fist. ”The race is going to start shortly, so you might as well hitch a ride with me!” She moved over so that Finn could get on. ”Not like we’re trying to get first here.”

"Well, okay then!" With a subtle grin, Finn walked over to sit down behind Betty. "Guess I should introduce myself first. I'm Finn, Finn Vanhorn!" He held a hand out for his new teammate to shake.

”Betty Barton!” She shook his hand. ”I’ve been out of commission for a while, but I don’t remember hearing anyone talk about a boy with an eye patch. Are you new in Penrose?”

Finn hovered a hand over the festive eyepatch he wore. Sure, his christmas outfit was a bit subtle, but atleast he wasn't in a santa suit. That seemed to be a running theme with the dress-code... "Yes, actually! A friend of mine, Evelyn, invited me. Well, me and my partner, but he's probably busy getting drunk off ale right now." He chuckled, though his expression came off as comical. "Seems like a quiet town, atleast when we arrived. Heard the big-wigs were acting up again like, a month ago, so it's nice to see things calm."

”In my experience, it never stays that way.” Betty had her eyes on Dan’s (clone?) the entire time to make sure they didn’t miss the start. ”But that’s really nice that you have an um, partner. Maybe after the race I can meet them.”

"Er, it's not like that if you're wondering! Finn clarified. "Oliver's just my best friend. Even if we're not working, we sometimes hang out together. I'm...not exactly a people-person, if that isn't obvious. I tend to stick by those I know." He grimaced. "So how's thing for you, Bets? You did mention Penrose doesn't stay calm for long."

”Yea it’s um, chaotic. In case you couldn’t tell by all of the um, construction.” Betty sighed. ”It’s not easy being the good guys. But we manage to stop doomsday from cropping up when it’s going to happen.” She tapped the insignia on her shoulder. ”I doubt that symbol has much meaning outside of Penrose, but most everyone in Crimson Cradle wears it. We’re after real change, when we aren’t busy saving the world anyway.”

Finn stared at the insignia, tilting his head in curiosity. "Crimson Cradle? I haven't heard of an organization like that in a long time. Must be recent. But it'll be nice to have someone actually keeping things in check! What's it like?" Seemed Betty's caught his attention.

”It was excellent. Now it’s-” Betty groaned. ”Now it’s had a change in leadership. The new head is trying her best, but I dunno. I don’t think Maura is bad, but when you’ve grown to love the old boss, the new girl just can’t compare, you know?”

The boy listened closely, nodding along until Maura was mentioned. His eyes (eye?) widened. "Wait. WHAT!?" Finn quickly grabbed the snowbun on his head and gently set it down, the small bun calmly bouncing away. "Did you just say your new boss was Maura?? Maura Natalie???"

Betty recoiled when Finn raised his voice. ”Um, I don't know her last name. She's got really dark hair, red eyes, pale skin, Kind of gothic looking?”

The boy quickly nodded his head. "That's her, that's her!" He groaned, burying his head into his hands. "Does nobody tell me things anymore?? I know I've been a bit of a recluse for the past few centuries, but they can atleast send me a goddamn memo that something's changed!" He mumbled. Feeling like he owed Betty an explanation, he looked back up to her. "Maura's my patron too. Actually, it's more like I was accidentally her first magical kid." Finn scratched the back of his head nervously.

Betty blinked. ”Um, yea! I do kind of vaguely remember her talking about you.” Betty’s eyes shot over to Dan, then the other sleds. ”Gah! The race started!” She launched a burst of wind behind herself, and the sled shot forward. Finn looked like he might fall off the back, so Betty grabbed a hold of his arm and pulled it around her stomach. ”I wasn’t expecting a passenger, so just hold on!”

"Really? I didn't think she'd talk abou- WOAH!!" The wind boost interupted Finn before he could finish his sentence. When Betty advised him to hold on, he quickly wrapped his other arm around her. "Got it! I'll keep an eye on the other racers!"

”Sounds good, just tell me when to-” Betty hadn’t accounded for a second passenger, and it showed in her ice sled design. The wedge she had cut out of the center of the ice block made it possible for the sled to glide over the snow without packing it all at the front. However, her design wasn’t really up to the task of carrying two people. The center of the sled cracked, which was punctuated by a yelp. ”Um.” She parted her legs and tried to put all of the weight on her feet and hands, which were located over the runners. But the crack continued to get bigger. ”What um, what type of magic do you have?”

Finn cursed under his breath once he noticed the forming crack on the sled. "Uh, Beast magic??" He answered Betty. Silently hoping he wasn't the cause, he tried to shift his weight as well.

”Oh really? That kind of cool!”

But it wasn’t as cool as ice magic.

The sled cracked in half. Betty had a formidable level of upper body strength. She could hold either side of the sled level so that the runners did their job. But it was something else she had to focus on while they slid down the hill. ”Hey um, do you think you could act as a rudder or something? I was going to use wind magic to steer, but with the sled cracked the way it is-”

While Betty spoke, a distant tree came closer and closer to the duo.

This just keeps getting worse, doesn't it?

"Rudder? Oh, yeah gimme a moment!" With a bit of beast magic, Finn was able to give himself a pair of dragon wings to help steer, adjusting them accordingly. "It's not much, but atleast we can-" He didn't have enough time to warn Betty about the tree in the road. With a flinch, he grabbed his cane sword from a space in his jacket. (Well, thanks to Dan's magic it was a candy cane, but regardless.) Before they crashed, Finn struck the ground besides them with the weapon, steering the sled away from the tree.

”Gah!” While Finn had managed to steer them out of the way, Betty wasn’t really set up to hold two halves of a splintering ice sled. She ended up shifting her weight onto one half of the sled and releasing her hold on the other side. It veered off, but Betty wasn’t watching that half of the sled right now. She was focusing on their balance. ”Alright, just, um, keep your wings perfectly straight, and I should be able to balance us.”

And Betty did have great balance. While her hands were still placed along what was left of the sled, she was using her legs as levers, holding them off to the side to adjust the weight distribution as they coasted towards the bottom.

Of course with his half of the sled gone, Finn was forced to stand up slightly on whatever surface he had left, only enough to keep balance. One of his arms was wrapped around Betty's shoulders this time, while he held his cane in his free hand. "This is getting a little too cramped for me..." He muttered, turning his attention on keeping his temporary wings straight.

But they were almost at the end of the race, and it seemed like there were some crazy swerves ahead.

”AHHHHH!”

Betty fired a burst of wind into Finn’s right wing, then his left, then his right again. This caused them to fly from side to side, passing through the flagged gates as required. The final stretch of the race was a straight dive, which caused the wind to really soar under his wings.

”Finn!”

They weren’t even sliding anymore. Finn was gliding straight for the finish line while Betty held what was left of their ride.

"Shitshitshitshitshit!!" The poor guy panicked when he lost his grip. Luckily his wings kept him from faceplanting into the snow, but he left Betty behind! With the wind still carying him to the finish, Finn turn around to see was was left of their sled.

"Aw crap. Sorry about your ride, Bets!" He called over with a frown.

Betty had also crossed the finish line, but no amount of athletic ability, however superhuman, could grant her flight. Betty was buried from head to waist in a snow bank with what remained of the ice sled shattered into ice chunks. There was no response.

Once he landed, his beast magic dispated for now, Finn ran over to help Betty out of the snowbank. "I got ya." Digging some snow away, he pulled her out and helped her stand up. "You good?"

Some snow had stuck to Betty’s hair, but with a quick shake of her head, most of it flew away.

”Yea, guess I should have been wearing a helmet. Not that snow is all that dense.” She stepped away from Finn. ”Now where were we? You said you were Maura’s first magical girl, right? What was she like?” Betty walked away from the finish line as she spoke, not too interested in sticking around.

"Er, boy. But we didn't realize that magical boys were a rarity, so eh."

”Oh! I'm sorry! Gosh! I'm just so use to calling us magical girls that- yes! Yes magical boys aren't too common!”

Finn put his cane up, then shoved his hands into his jacket pockets, following Betty. "In order to keep me from dying, she ended up making me into a magical boy. Neither of us knew at that time, so imagine my surprise when I found out I had powers. He chuckled. "At first it was a one-off deal, during that time I began studying the ins and outs of the magical world and the types of denizens. Might as well take advantage of the situation to learn, right? Anyways I ran into her again after a month, after her little spat against her sisters. I guess she wanted to make they haven't tried to kill me yet." He shrugged.

"Anyways, it didn't seem right just having us two against basically the ancestors of magical girls, so I suggested she became a patron for more magicals such as I. About Maura herself, she did come off as introverted at first, such was the nature of her old job. But I bet she became curious about the living, eventually gaining empathy over those souls she was supposed to reap. She sometimes felt some deaths were unnecessary, undeserved. Even going so far as to revive someone like Oliver from his grave. Maura did eventually open up, going as far as bouncing ideas between me and her. She's an understanding person, and pretty good at fighting too, but she tends to be a bit of a mother hen. I don't like seeing her worry too much." Finn then turned his head to look at Betty with furrowed brows.

"Though there's one thing for certain. You never make Maura, make Death pissed off. No one knows the extent of a witch's power, not even I do, but the fact that she has connections to literal demons should give us a hint. Maura might be nice, but even she can only take so much before enough's enough." He shuddered.

”That's kind of a given.” Betty folded her arms. ”Most patrons are pretty scary. Though some work better under pressure.” It was hard to look at Maura as "death" after she had just been hugged and comforted by her not too long ago. She didn't doubt she could be terrifying, but she wasn't sure anyone could match Veronica's mettle. She seemed so strong, perhaps death failing to invoke the same feelings of power was just a testiment to how strong she really was. "I have some friends I'm going to meet up with. Did you wanna come, or do you have other plans?”

"...Eh, sure. Oliver's duplicates are around if anything happens, so I got time." Finn shrugged again.

@FamishedPants@Ariamis@BrokenPromise
Sakura raised an eyebrow at Emily's reaction. It wasn't entirely expected, not entirely unexpected. He then shrugged at Emily's outburst and decided he was going to wait to see if things would calm themselves down. Maybe talk to one of the other beauties...

And they were gone. The weird dream-ojou-chan and Penny did remain, but those...were more of an acquired taste.

He'd have to chase Emily down, in the end. So he readied himself to chase Emily for the time being. Just to be sure she didn't do anything rash.

---

@Flamelord
Dina offered a weak smile. "It used to be part of the education back in my day. I haven't done it in a while..." She trailed, as she offered a soft smile at Kimble's prompt.

However, all the socializing went down the drain when Dina's was assaulted by a cluster headache. She could feel her Power of Friendship flaring, as she staggered outside, and bore witness to the sad truth of this party. Forcing people to be happy... sometimes had unintended consequences.

"Sorry." She weakly said, as she paced towards the biggest sources of it all. "Dan, what have you done..." She uttered.

One of said sources was now gone, was it the girl of the Cradle?

Oros and Penny had seemed to fight it out it seems. Not even a christmas truce could set those two apart. Dan's actions did not help. This one was within reach, but not for long due to the race.

And what was more worrying, there was apparently a lot of unchecked Sanngridr clones running around. Things did never end it seems.

---

Odin's host had seen better days. Reginleif shook her head at seeing the... sloppy performance of the entourage. Odin was well in his cups, being one of the few who actually drunk the mead. The Finn valkyrie, Ranndgridr, had defected and was inside a half emptied barel of glögg, drowning in pleasure. She had thought to call Kara, but the stormy germanic shieldmaiden was too busy being a stage sensation.

And Sann... the less she talked about it, the better. She loathed this. There weren't even any worthy warrior left that piqued her interest, just dregs. And all children.

She considered beseeching to leave to master Odin... but the Wise God just got up and in a huff, ticked by something. Well, far from her to stop the Allfather.

"How dull." She said, casually hovering around outside, and seeing a cluster of Sann's... duplicates. Typical. Use a clone power, and then leave them aimless. She grabbed one of said copies by the nape of the neck, and took her to a secluded location. Such a waste of clones, maybe they were useful for something.

An idea was concocted, and the eldest valkyrie sculpted something out of Sanngridr's magical copy in privacy, far from everyone's eyes (including all kinds of scrying, she had a power comparable to a lesser force). A throwback to the past.

"Wake up, Will. Your existence is fleeting, crafted from an echo of an echo, but if you serve me well, I shall see you might return." Reginleif said to the teenage boy.

The ghost of the past stood silent for a good while, before answering. "Damn thots. I refuse."

"Oh? So you want to disappear just because you don't want to obey me?"

"I'd rather not exist any longer. Magical girls are just magical thots. Existence is pain."

"Oh is it?" The valkyrie let a sadistic grin, as she waved her arm. "Very well, show me. Go and try have fun. Find people. Talk to them. And then perish at the end of the party." Reginleif said, as she left the boy named William amidst a secluded location. She had to get her own sort of entertainament after all.

---

@Ariamis
The might of Gungnir was a sight to behold. There wasn't anything that could escape its throw. So, when the lesser force known as Dan tried to move elsewhere, it did follow suit, and hit the Dolphin creature flat on its face. Good thing Odin was one for etiquette, and had decided to turn Gungnir into a beach ball full of runes.

"I'm disappointed in you, Dan." The allfather said, his cheeks red. "What's with that kind of interference. No party is a good party without a little scrap." Odin himself said. "Happiness is but one part of human nature, and if you force it like you try to milk a cow, you will end up ruining everything."

---

Dina ran as fast as her clothes allowed her to do so. Probably Oros was in the race, and Eliza was out of reach, and there was a third source in the distance. She couldn't make it to all of them in time. She was part a cat but still pretty much not a cheetah in terms of running.

"I suppose I need some help. Come forth, Chuchuna!" She said, as she summoned the yeti creature once more. It was wearing a christmas themed scarf, due to the magic of this place affecting the summon. The creature's eyes expected Dina's orders. "We need your stride to go swift through the snow."

She had decided to go after Oros, being the most cost-effective target at this point... only to be stopped by a voice.

"Oi, Neko-chan, you're not using that freak in here, aren't you?"

It was a girlish boy, whose appearance belied a crude tongue and standoffish behaviour.

"It's a yeti. Not a freak." Her gaze sharply chastised Sakura.

"Whatever, neko-chan. Look, I have no time for little girl games. Have you seen a flustered fire girl running like crazy around."

Dina's gaze sharpened. "No. And I'm not a little girl, yaponski *boy*." She answered back, her mood becoming fouler by the second.

"Boy? I'm older than you, Russian Neko!" Sakura said, wasting even more time.

"Older than a hundred years old? I doubt it." Dina said, almost hissing as her pupils became slits due to anger.

"I'm still 65, you neko-hag!" Sakura protested. "Show some respect!".

That was it. The pain. The drinks. The stress. "Chuchuna, please slap this gentleman all the way to the ice rink."

"See, neko-hag, you can do if you t-- wait a sec..." The crude boy was cut short as the giant meaty paw of the Yeti did as instructed, sending the still lightweight boy flying like a shooting star towards the ice rink.

"...fuuuuck you, biiitch!" He yelled, his words even having a short of doppler effect. The Stray Empress concentrated once more, fashioning a snowboard for the yeti.

"Now, give chase to Oros, Chuchuna... I need to defuse a situation."

And so, Dina and the snowboarding Yeti joined the race. For different reasons.

---

Meanwhile, the Sanngridr copies had gone steadily out of control. While some of them were happy with pelting people with people airborne, a few had gone already off script and were eating sloppily foodstuff, stealing people's drinks and being a nuisance in general.

There was one who had decided to run around naked despite the snowy setting.

---

William looked at the eerie sky, and shuddered. Only a couple of hours of existence left, what could he do, amidst the chaos? He just stood there, idly.

Maybe he'd be spared of the brunt of conversation with these ranbunctious women.

Having spotted that Eliza had broken away from the others, Kayli made note to speak with her. It was something she'd intended to do eventually anyway. After chatting with Penny she would part ways and step into the cabin to see how things were going. From the sense she was getting, not well. Staying silent for a moment she would eventually step up.

"Eliza... Are you feeling alright?" She would ask with a slight air of concern.

Eliza flinced, her head snapped over to look at Kayli. "I-I don't know- I shouldn't be- Everything is fine- Everything is not fine- I have to- I-I can't-" The witch was trembling, her breathing uneven as she continued mumbling. The more she was entrapped in her thoughts, the more anxious she felt. Felt like some animal trapped in a cage. Everything was fine. So why wasn't she fine? Has this even happened to her before?

Seeing that the girl was going through some kind of breakdown, the healer would hold a hand up. "It will be alright. Let's be calm." A circle of magic would draw on the floor around them. The circle would glow with a warm light as Kayli's magic focused into Hallowed Ground. A feeling of calm filled the space. She didn't sense any mental mutations at the moment, but if any were there they would be surpressed. Psychic magic worked to try and relax the witch's mind as her suggestion did its work.

As Kayli's healing magic worked on calming her down, Eliza focused on taking deep breaths. In. Out. In. Out. Eventually, her anxiety attack stopped. The witch's grip on her poor bee plush loosened up. She looked back to the other girl with a crooked smile. "T-Thank you, Kayli."

Her magic doing its job the girl smiled softly. "You are very welcome. What's going on? Do you need help with something?" She didn't want to pry too much, but whatever was going on seemed to be pretty dramatic. She certainly hoped that returning the Soul Jar hadn't contributed. As unlikely as it may be.

"Well my date didn't end well and I was left alone with my thoughts for more than five minutes," Eliza explained with a frown. "I can't even relax here. I'm so used to things being okay before everything goes wrong, and prioritizing everyone's safety over just calming down and having fun. Hell, I should be used to nothing going the way it should but I'm...not." She sighed. "I'm worried I might have to leave before something happened. Misfortune's a bitch to me for some reason, and I don't want to be the cause of dismay."

Perhaps Kayli's positivity made it a bit harder for her to understand the sentement. To be sure the feeling of futility did happen to her at times. People reacted differently to that kind of stress. "Can I help in any way?"

"...I don't know." Eliza appeared conflicted, but then her expression softened. "Well, can you stay by me? Atleast until I know I won't freak out again."

"Of course. And if you need anything just let me know." She would answer with a smile.

Eliza smiled back. "Thank you."

"Let's go for a walk and get away from all this here. As you suggested I don't think you should be alone right now. How does that sound?"

The witch nodded. "Y-Yeah, that sounds good!"

"Great. Let's see..." She would look at the scheduled events. "How about some casual ice skating? I haven't done that in years."

"Oh, that sounds fun!" Eliza's eyes lit up at Kayli's suggestion. "There was a skating rink in our town back home, and me and my brothers-" She pause mid-sentence in realization. Her brothers. How long has it been since she heard of them? "Me and my brothers used to hang out there alot on our free time. I hope they're still okay." She sadly smiled.

"Well, maybe some day you can go see them now that you have your Soul Jar back." The two would walk in the direction of the lake.

---

Rose, Iris, and Connie would arrive at the lake for ice skating just as many others were. Taking a look around the twins would spot Kayli walking up just after she'd finished speaking with Penny. "Kayli, over here!" She raised up an arm and waved the white haired girl over.

The many things running through the white haired girl's head were interrupted by her name being called out. Setting aside her thoughts for a moment she would scan across the area and quickly spot her friend. Approaching with a smile she addressed the three. "Hello Rose, Iris. A friend of yours?" She would ask looking over to Connie.

"Yes, this is our friend Connie. " She would step back and move her friend forward just a bit.

"That's so? It's a pleasure to get to meet you Connie. Have you been enjoying the event so far?" Despite the nightmare girl's usual apprehension toward new people, this girl didn't seem to set off the usual nervous response so strongly. Perhaps it her cheerful tone or inviting nature.

“I-It’s nice to me you, too, Kayli,” Connie would reply with a smile. The twins’ friend seemed to give off an exceptionally soothing aura, which made the normally timid girl feel extremely relaxed and secure. It wasn’t exactly the same level of reassurance Mia’s presence provided, but it was certainly close. “O-Oh, yes!” she added with an enthusiastic nod when asked if she was enjoying herself. “R-Rose and Iris have been nice enough to do s-some of the events with me and it’s been s-so much fun! W-Well, except for that one scary part… O-Oh, but, uh, t-they said that maybe you could h-help us learn how to ice skate?”

Resisting the urge to ask about the “scary part” the girl would look out over the ice. After a moment she would nod. ”Yes, I believe I can do that.” She would step over to a shelf and look through a bit to find some skates that should fit each of them. ”Try these and let me know if they fit.” She would take a seat on a bench and try on the pair she’d picked out for herself.

“T-Thanks,” Connie replied after being handed a pair of ice skates. Taking a seat next to Kayli, she began putting them on. “T-They fit great!” she beamed. “S-So, uh, h-how long have you known Rose and Iris?” Connie asked hesitantly. While she was somewhat aware of the twins’ strange circumstances (and Hilde’s as well), much still eluded her, and even what she did know was more than a little confusing.

"I've known them as long as they've been alive. I was affected by the same magic that changed them. It was somewhat my fault, so I'm sorry if that caused any problems." She would explain vaguely to the twin’s friend.

Rose and Iris would get their own skates on.

“I-I see…” Connie said softly. “S-So, umm, are you, I-I mean, did you u-used to be the one who, uh, c-created Hilde…?” the timid girl asked, a bit unsure of the exact terminology to use.

”I… She gave it some thought for a bit. ”Contributed.”

For a moment, Connie simply reflected on Kayli’s somewhat ambiguous answer. “O-Okay, well, uh, i-it looks like we’re all set, s-so should we get s-started?”

Kayli would smile. ”Of course. And sorry if that answer isn’t all that clear. It’s rather complicated and I don’t entirely understand what all occurred.” She would help and guide the three to the ice and help each one out. Using her magic to create some barriers, she gave them a sort of railing to hold onto. ”Let’s start out by just getting used to standing and stepping."

Over the next several minutes she would instruct and guide them through how to skate and fall should they start to lose balance. Moving the barriers to move them they would adjust to moving about on the ice. As they became more accustomed she would encourage them to try letting go every now and then.

At first, Connie’s trembling legs made it difficult for the poor girl to even stand on the ice, but with the help of the barriers, as well as Kayli’s gentle instructions and kind words of reassurance, she was soon able to progress from standing to actually skating, albeit while still holding onto the barrier railing for support. “I-I think I’m g-getting the hang of this!” she announced happily. “N-Now I just have to s-see if I can do it without h-holding onto s-something…” Tentatively taking her hand off the railing, she let her momentum carry her across the ice. She didn’t want to try moving under her own power just yet. For now, she just wanted to try standing on the ice without support. Although she wobbled a few times, Connie was relieved to find that she was able to recover her balance, and once she felt comfortable, she slowly began to skate using slow, careful motions. “I-I’m skating…” she whispered to herself as a big smile spread across her face. “I-I’m really skating!” Moving over to Kayli, she took the white-hair girl’s hands and gave them a gentle squeeze. “T-Thank you so much for t-teaching me!”

Throughout, Kayli moved between them to steady each when they started to lose balance. Rose tumbled once, unharmed. When Connie came up to her teacher, Kayli smiled warmly. "Of course." She would keep pace with them as they began to more easily move around. "So are you from Penrose or did you come due to events going on?"

“N-No, I’ve lived in P-Penrose all my life,” Connie replied. “B-But I only became a m-magical girl a few m-months ago. I-It was really hard at f-first,” she continued. “B-But thanks to my b-best friend, Mia, a-and all the new f-friends I’ve made, t-things have been getting better. H-How about you?” she asked. “H-Have you been l-living in Penrose long?”

Nodding to the question. "Many years. This magical stuff is still pretty recent for me too, but I'm older than I look. Kind of in an odd spot now though." There was a slight pause before she would clarify. "I'm trying to figure out my place. I know I would like to support others. Need to get myself settled into a home first I think."

“Y-You don’t have a home?” Connie asked, frowning slightly.

"Not currently. I can get one though so I'm not too concerned with that." She would skate around a bit before coming back. "I have a place to stay right now so I'm not on the streets if you were worried about that."

“O-Oh, that’s good,” Connie said with a smile, clearly relieved that the girl wasn’t completely homeless. “M-Mia and I live at the orphanage,” she explained, “b-but we could probably let you stay for a f-few days if you had no place else. T-That’s what we did for a f-friend of ours who got hurt and n-needed a place to recover.”

”That is very kind of you. Noting she was in an orphanage, she pondered a bit to herself. Once she had a place of her own perhaps she could offer them a place to stay. Would need to get to know them more first though. ”I will keep that in mind. How do you like it there?”

“I-It’s nice enough, I g-guess,” Connie answered, looking a bit uncertain. “I-I mean, we have our own room, a-and the s-staff treat us well, b-but, uh, there are a l-lot of b-bullies there… M-Mia does her best to k-keep them from b-being mean to me, b-but then she gets in t-trouble, and I feel b-bad, because I-I’m the reason for it… she added, her countenance taking on a more sullen appearance.

Easily able to tell that Connie was telling her the truth, she put a finger up to her lips for a few seconds. ”I see. Well...” She would ponder for a while more, but what she was thinking couldn’t really be done, at least not without some kind of intervention. Probably best not to jump to conclusions though. ”If you had a choice what kind of place would you like to live in?”

Connie thought for a moment. “W-Well, um, I g-guess someplace like where we are n-now? I-It d-doesn’t have to be all that big,” she added. “I-I’d just like it to be safe.”

"Makes sense." She would admit.

With their conversation concluded for the moment, Connie took some time to look around the sizable ice rink. She giggled when she saw Dan in his hockey gear, and waved to him and Lily as she skated past them. “T-This is s-so much fun, isn’t it?” she asked the twins who were skating on either side of her. Although I wish Mia was here, too, she kept to herself. Of course, her best friend was probably having a wonderful time with her date, Connie reflected with a smile, and that was really the most important thing. Indeed, she found she couldn’t keep from blushing just thinking about it. I’m just so happy for her, and she deserves it for having to take care of someone like me for so long.

"This is fun once you get the hang of it. You think Penrose has a rink or lake for this?" Iris would admit. She would turn to Kayli who had the more likely chance of knowing.

"I believe there is a rink. We'll have to see if it's still running." With the way things were going in Penrose there was no telling if it was open or not.

“Y-Yeah!” Connie agreed. “I-It would be r-really fun to go there together if it’s s-still open. I-I don’t know about you guys,” she added, “B-But I can’t wait until things s-start getting back to normal.”

A chuckle escaped Kayli’s lips. ”I don’t know if normal applies to us, but it would be nice to see things return to how they were in some fashion.”

“I-I guess you’re right about us n-not exactly being normal, any more,” Connie conceded. “I-I used to h-hate that this happened to me, but now I’m k-kinda glad it did. I-I’ve been able to make s-so many wonderful friends since becoming a magical girl, l-like Rose and Iris, Lily, Faith, Emily, oh, and Amanda!” she added, waving to the dream magician as they skated by her group.

Amanda's eyes widened. Seeing Connie out ice skating, she excitedly waved back, earning the interest of the nightmare witch skating next to her.

"Friend of yours?" Maribel asked.

"The brunette over there's Connie, the nightmare magical girl I told you about."

Maribel's eyebrows rose. "Really now?" She had been wanting to meet the girl, but from what she was told, Connie was easily spooked. And with the haunting air around the witch, she didn't want to scare her away. Regardless, Maribel carefully skated over to the other group. "Pardon me, but you're Connie, right?"

“T-That’s r-right,” Connie replied to the somewhat imposing woman. “I-It’s, uh, n-nice to meet you,” she added with a shaky wave. “U-Ummm, are y-you a f-friend of Amanda’s?”

Maribel gently smiled. "Well, yes. She's the one who told me about you~" She quietly explained, not wanting to scare Connie. "I'm Maribel, the Witch of Nightmares. I've been looking forward to meeting you."

“R-Really?” Connie asked, somewhat surprised. “W-Why would you w-want to m-meet me?”

"Why wouldn't I~? It's not every day you meet someone with the same magic as you!" Maribel skated around Connie with an excited grin, then back to her side. "Maybe you needed a mentor~"

“M-Mentor?” Connie echoed, frowning slightly. “Y-You m-mean you w-want to h-help me w-with my m-magic?” The idea of having someone who shared her specialization give her pointers and advice was certainly an appealing one, but Maribel seemed a bit… unnerving… Was this really someone Connie should trust? Then again, she seemed to be friends with Amanda, so maybe she just looked creepy?

Maribel genuinely smiled. "Mhm! I'd be happy to!" Though seeing as Connie appeared unsure, she continued to explain. "I know you might feel off-put by me, but this is something i've never expected, two nightmare specs in one...century? Well whatever. Maybe my last incarnations were more lucky, but it seemed nice to get to know someone like you. I did hear you were the meek type, and I wanted to help you overcome such fears." She looked back to Connie. "That is, if you desire such."

“O-Oh, uh, y-yes!” Connie confirmed after a moment. “I-I’d l-like that v-very much! I-It’s b-been r-really d-difficult, b-but lately I-I’ve been w-working on o-overcoming s-some of m-my p-phobias,” she explained. “L-Like, j-just a f-few w-weeks ago, I t-took a r-ride in a h-helicopter, e-even though I-I’ve always been t-terrified of f-flying. I-I’ve s-still got a l-long w-way to go, s-so I-I’d be h-happy to have a-any h-help you c-could give!”

Kayli only knew the little bit about Connie that her Ally had told her, so this information about nightmare magic was new. It may explain Connie's hesitancy. "Seems like there's been an influx of dream magic lately. I'm sure there's a lot to learn about it." She wanted to encourage Connie to learn. Such a magic surely was difficult to master on one's own.

The twins had been chatting between one another for a while the others talked. After a bit they had an idea. First they would check with their friend though. "Uh, Connie... Would you..." Rose stopped for a moment and moved up close to whisper. _{"I'm not sure how to ask without just saying so... Do you hope to be adopted some day?"}

“U-Uhh, I g-guess?” Connie replied, while nervously playing with her hair. “I-I mean, I a-always w-wanted to b-be adopted by a l-loving family, b-but I’m s-sixteen now, a-and I’ve b-been l-living at the orphanage my whole l-life, s-so I’ve k-kinda given up h-hope that a-anyone would ever adopt me b-before I t-turn eighteen…”

Rose would let out a long Hmm sound as she thought about it. How the whole adoption process worked was beyond her. Maybe Kayli knew. She would look at the older girl for a moment who had turned her attention back to Eliza who had been skating nearby, listening casually. Then it hit her. Flailing for a second she stopped herself and she stepped back. ”Ah I see. Yes. Well maybe it’s not too late. I bet you’ll get somebody before then.” She tried not to give away that she had an idea, but she wasn’t the most subtle.

“Y-You really t-think so?” Connie asked, wondering if her friend knew something she didn’t. “I-It would be a n-nice Christmas p-present,” she added with a hopeful smile.

The Spirit girl would nod. ”It would wouldn’t it.” She began to hatch a plan. Would need to get away and track down someone a little later.

"Hah, that's funny." Eliza finally spoke up, with the topic of an orphanage brought up. "Before I became a magical girl, my dad worked in an apartment turned orphanage. My brothers and I would sometimes help out, at least until I moved away." She frowned slightly. "I didn't even think about them until now. I could say I miss them, but I'm probably considered dead at this point. That or the monsters from that damn fog got to them." The witch chuckled dryly.

“T-That’s awful!” Connie gasped. “C-Can’t you at l-least check to s-see if t-they’re all r-right?” the visibly worried girl asked.

"...I don't know. I mean, that's all the way out of state." Eliza shrugged. "I'd say I can't leave Penrose, but I don't know if my contract with Cindy still stands after Maura got my soul jar back."

“O-Oh… I s-see…” Connie frowned. She felt bad, but she really didn’t know what else to suggest. “U-Umm… I, uhh, r-really l-like your outfit,” she told Eliza after a moment, in an attempt to turn the conversation to a hopefully more positive topic. “I-I’m Connie, b-by the way,” the timid girl added, raising a trembling hand. “A-Are you o-one of A-Amanda’s friends?” she asked, looking over to the dream magician.

Eliza looked down to her outfit. "Oh, this? Uh...thanks." she shook the other girl's hand with a crooked grin. "I'm Eliza. Wait, you were at the raid, weren't you? I saw you with Amanda the last time we were here."

Speaking of the magician, looking over, Connie would see Amanda trying to keep her balance. She did nearly faceplant against the rink, but rift-hopped herself back straight.

“I-It’s nice to m-met you, Eliza,” Connie told the witch as they shook hands. “A-And yes, I-I w-was there h-helping my f-friend Ronin,” she confirmed. Then she saw Amanda almost fall face-first on the ice. “O-Oh, g-gosh! A-Are you okay, Amanda?!” She asked the dream magician, who seemed to have recovered her balance. “I-If you’ve n-never skated b-before, Kayli’s a v-very good teacher,” she helpfully noted, gesturing to the white-haired young woman.

Kayli’s attention would turn to the girl on the ice. Looking back and forth for a moment she would move around on the ice. ”I am willing to help if you would like. Connie, Roes, and Iris have been wonderful students.” She would skate out a bit toward Amanda to steady her.

"Hey- No, no I'm fine! No I do not need help!" Amanda backed up, trying to wave Kayli off. The nearby Maribel had an idea, and with a mischievous smile, she snuck away for a moment.

"I know I almost lost my balance but I am completely- GAH?!" Before Amanda could finish her sentence, the nightmare witch speed over behind her and picked her up with a twirl. "Got ya, ehehe~!" Maribel giggled, even as her opposite tried reaching over to smack her.

"Don't. DO. THAT! I could've had a heart attack!!" Amanda yelled in embarrassment.

The sudden grabbing of the other girl gave Kayli pause. They seemed to be playing though so she didn’t intervene. ”Well, seems like you’re having fun.” She would say playfully. She wouldn’t intervene unless Amanda asked for it. Her offer would still stand on lessons.

Connie was somewhat startled by Maribel’s pranking of Amanda, and frowned as the dream magician berated the nightmare witch, her expression a mix of confusion and concern. “T-That w-wasn’t v-very n-nice…” she said softly.

Eliza shrugged. "Eh, let them get along. Better them becoming friends than enemies."

“I g-guess that’s t-true…” Connie conceded, although her voice still sounded a bit uncertain. Being the victim of bullying herself, she didn’t like to see it happen to anyone else, especially a friend, but if Eliza thought they were just playing around then maybe it was okay? “S-So, um, h-have you b-been enjoying t-things so f-far, Eliza?” she asked the witch.

"I-" Eliza paused to think. Connie could see her brows furrow, before she returned to a neutral expression. "I've been better. I'll leave it at that."

“O-Okay…” Connie replied, frowning once again as her efforts to create a more positive atmosphere continued to fail miserably. Eliza seemed to be going through a really difficult time, and although Connie didn’t really understand the girl’s situation all that well, she very much wanted to help her. Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be anything she could do.

It was about then that Dan announced that the next event would be soon begin- downhill racing. While Connie had wanted to try all the various events, she found herself a bit hesitant to participate in this one. Still, she had made a promise to herself that she would work hard on overcoming her many fears, and this was a good opportunity to do that… “S-So, uhh, a-are y-you g-guys g-going to p-participate in the r-race, or w-were you p-planning on s-staying h-here?” she asked the members of their (no longer quite so little) group.

Leaning over to her sister, Rose would whisper to her. After a moment Iris would nod and Rose would turn back. "We have to take care of something. We could meet up with you after the racing event." She would offer.

“O-Oh, uhh, o-okay,” Connie replied, looking a somewhat uncertain. “S-See you l-later,” she added, giving the the twins a shaky wave as they departed.

"Depends on what Kayli wants to do, for me. I feel like Amanda's gonna be stuck for awhile." Eliza looked over to the aformentioned, who was being carried like a favorited plush by Maribel.

Kayli would look off in the direction of the race. She would cross her arms and tap a finger on her elbow. "Well, we can head that direction. Maybe do something more casual than racing. But a nice slope like that would be good for some sledding."

“O-Okay,” Connie nodded. “L-Let’s d-do that.” She was somewhat hesitant to leave Amanda alone with Maribel, but Eliza didn’t seem to think the dream magician was in any real danger, so Connie followed Kayli as the white-haired girl led them up the slope to where the race was taking place.

---

When Gaia and Shane arrived at the slope, they discovered that the racing would not begin for a while yet, but Dan told them that they were still free to do some skiing, sledding, or snowboarding in the meantime. Choosing a pair of snowboards (with their outfits changing to more suitable attire for such activities), they raced down the slope’s various paths, doing a few tricks along the way. The pair had thoroughly enjoyed having the mountain all to themselves, and by the time the main event was getting ready to start they had gained considerable knowledge of the terrain.

“I do hope our practice runs have not given us an unfair advantage,” Gaia said with a playful smirk.

Seeing where everyone else was popping up for the race, Shane shook his head a bit. ”It looks like they’re using a different slope. This should be fun.” The two would make their way up to join the others. They were given the rules which made it sound a bit harder than one might think to win. ”Hm. Well, should we use a sled so we can go together?”

Gaia pondered Shane’s suggestion for a bit, before smiling. “Well, it does allow us the chance to win as a team,” the verdant girl noted. “And it would also allow us the opportunity to get closer to one another,” she added with a wink.

After picking out their sled, the pair took up their positions, Shane in front, and Gaia behind him. Soon enough, Dan gave the signal, and they were off. Due to the somewhat peculiar victory condition for this particular race, it wasn’t necessary for them to be the fastest racer, just faster than half of their opponents. Of course, since it was hard to tell just how many racers were participating, Gaia knew that all they could really do was try to remain in roughly the middle of the pack and hope for the best. As it happened, even that was easier said than done, as most of the racers had apparently missed the part where crossing the finish line first wouldn’t give them first place, and so were now hurtling down the slope as fast as possible. Thankfully, there were still a few who were moving at a more leisurely pace, relatively speaking.

“Looking good, you two!” Gaia called out to Ronin and Miko as she and Shane pulled up beside the twins. “I hope you don’t mind if we get ahead of you!” she added playfully.

Casting out a long, green tendril, she wrapped the vine around a nearby tree and used it to slingshot their sled around it, granting them considerable momentum. It wasn’t long before they’d raced past the twins, as well as the squabbling Mayra and Victoria. Meanwhile, Shane had been using his Earth magic to help guide the sled through a series of banks and curves, not to mention creating the occasional ramp with which to avoid some particularly nasty obstacles. After several exhilarating minutes had passed, the pair finally found themselves at the finish line.

“Well, that was certainly enjoyable!” Gaia said with a melodious laugh. “In fact, I wouldn’t mind taking another shot at it, and try for a more traditional first place finish. But first,” she added, as she helped Shane up. “I am most interested to see who the winner of this competition shall be.”

Initially welcoming of Dinah's presence, Alicia was left confused as the older girl dismissed herself and exited for some other part of the gathering. It didn't seem as though it were planned, given how the conversation had begun. Still, if she was just willing to run off like that then it must be important. Right?

"Well, see you around," Alicia called after the retreating Dinah. There was no reason to push things, so she didn't feel bad letting the conversation lapse here. There were other things to do after all.

For now she returned her attention to Kimble. That was actually the second thing she did actually. The first was getting some hot cocoa for herself, since it looked pretty good after the floor they had barely escaped. Just the sort of thing to warm ones bones after being out in a snowy wonderland.

Sipping a cinnamon infused chocolate drink, that was when she really returned her focus to Kimble. "Hm, what to do now," she mused aloud. She found her thoughts drifting momentarily to the fact that aside from Penny, most of her friends at this party were already in the room with her. A sign of those who'd left Penrose, or maybe a sign that she was becoming too reclusive for her own good. It was hard to tell.

While thinking on it, at least one related thought occurred to her. "Remind me to track down someone who has a camera here before we leave. A picture to commemorate the occasion would be a nice souvenir," she noted. It was not a full answer, but it was better than nothing.

Lily observed as the elementally opposed girls passed them, and then gasped.

”Oh, it’s Mayra! I recognize her from Mariette’s place! She’s kind of a hothead, tee hee!"

”I also saw Mariette participate in the race, so some of her henchmen must have also followed!" Justine added.
”I think the proper term is henchwomen." Lily responded , seemingly ignorant of the incoming stretch of ice shards. Justine momentarily lifted the sled to slide on its side to avoid the hazard before slamming it down, causing Lily to yelp in surprise.

”Eyes on the road, Lily! We’re almost at the goal!"

”Whoops! Ok, got it! Time to push this into overdrive!"

Lily’s eyes began to glow as she collected energy within her body, causing her Christmas hat to turn pointy from the static. When they passed the final turn towards the final straight line, the goal within sight, she released her spell.

”SPEEDY SLED SPARK!"

As if the sled was shot from a gauss cannon, the sled was launched at high speeds, no longer touching the snow. Everyone on the sled felt the G-forces pulling them back, with Justine particularly pained, folding her wings. They managed to pass Mayra and Victoria, and even Mariette, who until then had been in the lead with her very haphazard yet swift skiing.
They passed the finish line in first place...And kept going. Justine began to panic.

”Lily, stop the sled!"

Lily looked around, biting her lip.
”How? It doesn’t have brakes!"

Lily stopped the spell, but the sled’s momentum continued carrying them alarmingly fast towards a line of trees at the stretch beyond the finish line. She attempted a sharp turn on the sled, only for it to start spinning wildly.

”Aaahhh!"

However, the spinning finally ended, and the sled’s crew managed to avoid hitting the trees.
Once Alex released the two, they wobbled out of the sled with shaky legs. Lily’s eyes spun comically as she she held her hands out to balance herself.

”Wheee….That was...fun..." She muttered, before falling down.

Justine meanwhile held a hand to her mouth, also looking nearly ready to collapse.

”I think I feel a bit, ugh, sick..."

Mariette was the second to reach the finish line. After the finish line, she disappeared through a portal, appearing up in the sky. She dropped down to another portal connected to sturdy ground, managing to stop in a controlled manner. She hadn’t considered that by doing so she could forfeit the race, but more than anything, she was glad to have survived the trip unscathed.

They were followed by Oros in third place, having somehow managed to ride all the way down the hill with great speed, and in clown style nonetheless. Mia and Shane, who had managed to catch up, managed to barely scrape past Finn and Betty for fourth place, leaving them in fifth. Deni and Eli casually rode down for sixth place. Then, a yeti riding a snowboard immediately followed, carrying both Dina on its back, reaching seventh place. Finally, Jelena reached the finish line at eight place, seemingly not as interested in winning as she was watching after Victoria and Mayra, who took the last places of ninth and tenth in the race, in no small thanks to stumbling over each other in their heated rivalry. However, in the heated battle between them, it was unclear which one was the last.

Dan appeared in a puff of smoke, waving a red flag in cheer.

“And that’s the Wacky Race for ya, folks! What an exciting competition that was, with so many racers! Now, before I announce the winners, I would like to first like to thank you all for showing such passion and initiative for this event, and how all-most of you had good sportsmanship about it!” By this point Lily had managed to sit up again, still feeling woozy but able to listen in as Dan spoke.

“Now, the winners of the Wacky Race are...” the sound of drumrolls could be inexplicably heard in the distance. “Finn and Betty, who had reached fifth place out of ten! Congratulations!”
He teleported to the two, and gave each of them a coin. It was seemingly made of an ice-like crystal, and depicted a Snowbun on the face. “Your rewards are Snowbun coins! With these coins, you may gain the Snowbun Perk, allowing you to summon a pet Snowbun anywhere and anytime you like! Whoo! Now, I have an announcement to make.”

He summoned a red megaphone decorated with Christmas imagery, and spoke through it; his voice seemed to carry throughout the island and inside the lodge, but not due to the volume of voice but rather projecting the voice through the space.

“I would like to invite you all to dinner, soon to be held at the feast hall in the lodge. There we will also hold the White Elephant gift exchange. My lovely assistant Ruby will give you further instructions. See you there!” And with that, Dan waved to everyone and addressed Dina. He seemed a bit sweaty at seeing her distressed reaction.
“Oh, hi Dina! You need not worry, there was just a little, um, incident, but it’s resolved now! Also, I gotta prepare for White Elephant, so I’ll be heading to the lodge now, Bye!” He then disappeared, as if wanting to avoid having to talk to his own magical girl.

---

Kimble frowned as Dina left them.

”Aww, I wanted to talk with her some more. I guess there was trouble with her Patron...again...” She mumbled, reminiscing about the beach vacation. She then perked up as Alicia mentioned taking a picture. Kimble seemed really enthused about the idea, bringing up her hands in little fists and breathing heavily.
”Yeah! We should take a picture! One of us, one of everyone, maybe a couple of selfies...”

Kimble’s words were interrupted by Dan’s voice emanating through the lodge, having announced dinner to be held over at the feast hall. She then blinked, having got an idea.

”Do you think Penny has a camera function? We should ask her!”

---

Dan soon appeared in the lodge, before the closed doors to the feast hall. With a simple magic spell, the massive doors opened, revealing a wondrous sight: a massive feast hall, not unlike the one seen in the Harry Potter movies, stretched out, with four long tables. The walls were decorated with tapestries of Dan-themed heraldry, and the ceiling seemed to have an illusion of snowflakes falling down, disappearing before they reached halfway down. Massive windows painted a landscape of the snowy world and the ocean beyond, showing how the sun had begun to set.

The two tables at the sides had been prepared with full-course meals of both meat and vegetables, appeasing even ravenous appetites. The two tables at the middle, however, did not have food. Instead, they held present boxes. They were of different sizes, with differently colored wrapping paper, and a unique name tag to each one. Ruby went over to the tables, ready to hand out the sealed presents to the participants of the gift exchange as agreed with Dan.

“Ack!”

However, as soon as the Lesser Force was done with the spell, he turned to see a spherical object decorated with glowing runes shot through the open doors of the lodge, curving with amazing trajectory and velocity and hitting the dolphin right in his bottlenose. Odin soon appeared, clearly not amused by his recent antics.

“Mphhhmmmphhhmm!” Dan spoke in a muffled voice with a lifted fin, and then realized his words were muffled by the ball. As he pulled it off, his face was cartoonishly caved in by the impact of the divine spear in a less lethal form.

“My apologies for the intrusion, Lord Odin,” Dan spoke politely, despite still possessing deformed qualities. He reached into his face with his fin, and like a rubber toy, pulled his nose out, restoring him to normal. “These girls face a life of battle out there, and I only wish to offer them momentary repose, not too similarly to how you offer your faithful chosen seats at Valhalla. However, you make a good point about giving them some freedom to sort out their own conflicts, and I will take that into consideration in future incidents. Thank you for your wisdom.” He then bowed. “With that said, would you like to sit on my throne over at the feast hall? There’s plenty of meat going around.” He gestured to beyond the door. “It has the best view, not to mention it’s right next to a couple of kegs of hearty ale too,” he added, zapping a little spell to make a stack of kegs appear there.

When the three of them crossed the finish line and failed to slow down, Alexander had a feeling he knew what was going to happen

”Lily, stop the sled!"

”How? It doesn’t have brakes!"

'Fucking knew it' He winced "You have Time magic, use that!" but if her lack of any attempt was any indication, she hadn't experimented much with making things stop or slowdown with her Time magic. Instead, she tried to turn away from the incoming wall of trees, but only managed to send them spinning. Although in her defense, it did seem to work somehow. The sled stopped without them crashing into anything. Alexander got rid of his tails and barriers, and got to his feet "Lily, I know you're an insane speed demon, but that just means that learning how to break with Time magic is even more important."

Then the dolphin appeared, told them who the winners were and informed them of the upcoming feast "Food? Huh, come to think of it, I am pretty hungry. What kind of food is there at Christmas feasts anyway?"

Once Oros rolled her way to the bottom of the hill, she started off towards the skating rink. After she did that and the stage thing, she’d have done all the events present minus Keijo. She wasn’t going to wait around to see who the winner was. If she cared that much about the race, there probably would have been a post about it. The appeal of being a clown and rolling down a hill starts and ends with the visuals though. She was tempted to use her beast magic and make herself a new meat bicycle, but that would have been a bit too “borderlands.” Besides, that was probably a little outside what she could do with her magic.

”I really hope Baby isn’t at the ice rink. That might make my arrival awkward.” She chuckled to herself. ”When the hell is my bunny hunting collab going to be done?”

Speaking of collabs, Oros walked into another one.

---

Aria had participated in the race. Truly. Though she chose to fly Rupy over everyone’s head. Going by Dan’s count, however, it seemed that she had either been disqualified or simply hadn’t been considered. Maybe she flew just a little too high.

”As long as I get paid, I don’t care!” She clapped her hands together for the winners. Snow buns were cute, but she proffered coins with real monetary value. That wasn’t to say winning wouldn’t have felt good, but a silly prize for winning a silly race felt adequate.

But before she participated in any more games, she had to look for someone. So she promptly disappeared. With any luck, she wouldn’t get abducted again.

---

Betty was pretty sure she hadn’t won. Her finish wasn’t exactly glamorous, and her sled didn’t even hold together for the entire trip. She was all ready to show her new friend to her other new friends when Dan called out Finn and her name.
”We won?”

She held the coin in her hand. Despite it’s icy appearance, it was only cool to the touch. It also didn’t feel slippery like she was sure an ice coin would.

The temptation was to use it then and there. She did find snowbuns cute, and having one follow her around was sure to lift her spirit. But she was also aware of a coin tinkerer back home that couldn’t be there with her today. It might be a nice gift for her when the party was over.

”Thank you for being such a generous host!” She wrapped her arms around the dolphin, or at least tried before he vanished in a puff of smoke. ”Oh…” She looked at Finn. ”Knowing my friends, they will likely be eating at the feast. We can walk there together, if you’d like.”

"...Hm."

At the broadcasted announcement of the next event, Maura woke up from her nap. Or was it that she was awake the whole time, but just didn't bother to move? The main factor would be the harebringer soundly asleep in her arms either way. Quietly she stood up, not wanting to wake the hypnotic bun up, and went to set it back into it's nest. "Sorry for disturbing you." She whispered. With that out of the way, she walked back to the lodge. Maura signed up for White Elephant, and she didn't want to miss out on that. At least.

---

They won? They actually won??

Seems Finn and Betty shared the same sentiment. He wasn't able to count how many racers were in front or behind them, and the whole parachute wings thing could've slowed him down depending on wind speed. So when Dan called them out as the winners, his eyes widened in a genuine shock. "We...won??" He uttered, looking down at the snowbun coin the host gave him. It was kind of ironic. The beast magic specialist, winning another pet he could summon. He decided to go ahead and use the coin then and there.

In an attempt to test the new perk out he felt a snowbun hop onto his head, the same one as before. Finn reached up to hold it in front of him; staring blankly at it, then hugged it close to him, burrying his face into the snowbun's cold floof. A content hum was heard, if not muffled. When Betty suggested they walk together to the feast hall, Finn slightly looked back up to nod. "Everyone seems to be gathering there anyways. Why not?"

@BrokenPromise

Dina squinted ever so slightly, her ears and tails twitching at the events unfolding before her. In her short time serving the lesser force known as Dan, she had grown wiser to the pseudo dolphin’s words. When he insisted on solving a situation… Well, it was like giving a chainsaw to a kid.

It could solve the situation, or make it go horribly. Seeing as the cluster headache receded somewhat, it might have been the first case, but she could not bank entirely on that. She had to promptly cut short a peaceful interaction with one of the most hostile factions towards monster girls for a reason.

The ticking timebomb that was Oros and Penny interacting. She didn’t get much of the details… but if she really wanted the Sanctuary be a safe place, she really did need to reduce the number of enemies. Strength was fine, that was the reason why she had recruited that bird-brained valkyrie girl, but a smooth talk could go some ways.

Besides, she wanted to ask Oros about why she had chosen to reveal a Dan tool at this moment… while serving under another master. Without much mediation, she thanked the Yeti and dismissed him so he could be with his family, before taking fast but elegant strides on the snow towards Oros.

Despite looking like a clown, she was fast. She needed to keep her going all over the place.

“Miss Oros.” She greeted.

Oros slowed her jog to a walk, and then stood still. “Am I in another collab?” she growled. “Shit! How many of these things are you going to sign me up for? it’s not even an event that can make money!” After screaming at no one, Oros turned to look at Dina. Despite her outburst 2.34 seconds ago, she seemed fine now. “Oh hi Dina!” She gave a little wave. “I was just about to go ice skating. Why do I get the impression you’re not here to join me?”

Dina offered a somewhat incredulous look at Oros, before picking carefully her next words. “As much as I like skating like any northern lady, you are right.” She added. “I was trying to greet some people and get a good rapport, and the next thing I know is Dan *intervention*” She said.

“Now you might think, why should I not greet Penny or the others, but I can only extinguish one flame at a time.” She began to sound very tired. “And I lost the cradle girl around somewhere, she did look in more trouble.”

“What did really happen?” She asked.

Oros laughed. “Did you get into the ale, Dina? They didn’t lace the trees with catnip, did they?” The clown folded her arms. “Yes, Dan did show up just in time to prevent me from putting Penny in her place. But what does this have to do with you greeting Penny? What’s it got to do with you putting out fires? And what cradle girl are you talking about? There’s Mommy Goth, Christmas Tree El, Silly Silly, Baleful Bitty, and short stack Tit-Rad. You can’t just say ‘cradle girl’ and expect me to know what you’re talking about.”

“That’s… not of your concern.” Dina admitted bitterly that she had indulged a little too much. “I meant Eliza.” The cat girl elaborated further. “Could you just try… and not be the main star of the show for a while? I already got my hands full, and that bird-brained new vassal is not helping either, what with bringing Odin here.”

“I don’t really like long talks, but fine. If you’re going to be all passive aggressive about it, might as well drag this out. ” Oros bit one of her fingers. “This might shock you, but I was content to just get hit by snowballs for a while. I did want things between El and I to work out. But this is Penrose, and magical girls can’t go ten seconds without indulging their fetishes. Turns out Baby is into bondage or some shit. So once she tied up El, I pulled out the big guns.” Oros waved around her remote. “Now this upset Baby, who demanded that I apologize. I didn’t really care, but at this point El’s mood had been totally soured, and she wasn’t even up for a keijo match with all of us. It was a pretty shitty situation, wasn’t it? My date had been ruined, and the person who did it was demanding that I apologize.” The clown let out a slow exhale. “But I kind of connected with Baby, you know? She’s lewd, I’m lewd, so I figured she’d enjoy a kiss of the french variety. But I guess she was Benny’s girl, so her robot girlfriend jolt countered me without jolting or even countering me. Quite impressive. I didn’t even retaliate before Dan showed up. But that was probably because I wasn’t in that collab. I mean I was and I wasn’t. Like the collab happened at me, but-” Oros sighed. “Yea, I’m really going to need the grand magistrate to explain that one, because I can’t fuckin’ do it.” With a huff, she looked back at Dina. “So yea, Baby and Benny set out to ruin my date, succeeded, and then I was told on two different occasions to apologize for what I had done. So you’ll have to forgive me if I don’t presently have any empathy for the shit you’re going through, because I’m fresh out of fucks to give.” She narrowed her eyes. “Metaphorical ones, at least.”

Dina’s gaze kept staring at Oros during the tirade about the whole thing. Yes, it did seem like something that would have made Dan flail around in panic. She exhaled for a second, before eyeing Oros. “I see... I take Eliza was your date, then.” She added, before averting her gaze.

She was having second thoughts. Or third thoughts. “Children, all of them. Including that rude manling I ordered to be launched at the ice rink.” She paused. “Well then, I will try to make it up to you. Your date was Eliza, correct? Do you need some assistance to set her up in a quiet place so nobody else can disturb the both of you?”

“El is her own woman. If she had any use for me, she would have stuck around. This isn’t the first time she walked out on me anyway.” Oros looked at her wrist, then back at Dina. “You done? You made it sound like you were really busy or some shit just a few minutes ago.”

“I’m just tired.” Dina confessed. “This party has been more of a chore than a party.” She paused. “I was in the middle of trying to not make Beacon even more insane. You showed me how this can end, and it’s not pretty.” Her ears twitched. She couldn’t believe what she was thinking.

“An eye for an eye.” She said. “A date for a date. I could escort you for the remainder of the evening, for all the troubles… my colleagues have caused. Even if Penny won’t like it.”

“Well now, Pissing off Penny and walking around with a breadboard does sound like a fantastic evening.” She rubbed her chin with a devious smile. “Then again, I kind of like having my bachelor status.” After staring off in thought for a bit, the corners of Oros’s lips dropped. “You know Dina, this would be a lot easier if you just explained why you felt like you personally had to make up for the shiftiness of three other people you’re just vaguely related to.”

“One of them is my Queen, the other of them is my Patron, and clearly my counselling has failed. I’m the Regent of Penrose and one of Dan’s girls. A vassal has to make up for the lord’s shortcomings.” Dina said. “I’m also in my cups, no one has tried to approach me, that idiot Sann is bothering everyone, there’s a norse god and an abomination in the party and Dan is dimmer than a candle made of ink. I need an outlet.”

“Yea, you do sound like you need an out.” Oros tapped her foot. “In that case, sure, maybe later.” Oros continued to walk towards the ice skating destination. “Once I wrap up the other activities, I’ll swing by the feasting hall and we can play a few rounds of Keijo.” She waved to Dina before walking away. “Wear a two-piece, please.”

“I...don’t mesh well with Keijo. I sent your other self into the concrete benches.” Dina admitted. “But I shall comply.” She added. “For the sake … of happiness, I guess.” She said, before taking her own way out of the racing goal.

She’d want to avoid the skating rink, and probably keep an eye out on Sann and Beacon.

While Alicia was taken slightly off guard by Kimble's enthusiasm for taking some pictures while they were here, she was not about to object to it. It was probably just something she'd never really had the opportunity to do before, at a guess. it would be fun.

"I would be incredibly surprised if Penny didn't have a camera function," she observed with a small nod before her focus was drawn away by Dan's announcement. The mention of dinner caused her stomach to rumble, though it was a bit less than it would have been had she not had that hot chocolate.

Well, if that was what was going on then there didn't seem a reason to remain aloof. That said they were already in the lodge, so it wasn't much effort to step over and glance into the room that Dan had opened. "Another victory for space warping," she mused with a chuckle.

For now she'd wait and see if Penny showed up. At the very least, giving others time to arrive before heading into the feast hall was not unreasonable. Especially with the Patron already inside. She didn't want to be that particular lightning rod.

--Inertia is a property of matter that causes it to resist changes in velocity (speed and/or direction). According to Newton's first law of motion, an object with a given velocity maintains that velocity unless acted on by an external force. Inertia is the property of matter that makes this law hold true--

Summer entered the feat hall and sat in the nearest chair. She hadn't paid any attention to her surroundings since getting distracted by ice sculpting.

You mean you haven't paid any attention.

Correct. We haven't paid any attention. Or have you been watching your surroundings this whole time, Miss "I've been looking at the ground since I got here?"

Whatever.

---

Shion found herself being a lightning rod as she entered the dining hall. Hopefully there she wouldn't be assaulted by snowballs.

--Gravity is a fundamental physical force that is responsible for interactions which occur because of mass between particles, between aggregations of matter (such as stars and planets), and between particles (such as photons) and aggregations of matter, that is 10-39 times the strength of the strong force, and that extends over infinite distances but is dominant over macroscopic distances especially between aggregations of matter--

Why do you keep saying random science things?

--Foreshadowing is an indication of what is to come--