Dragonfire II: The Twilight Invasion

Chapter 14: A Maggot's Feast

Albedo and Kei were walking down a street in Celestia. Both of them were wearing their armor, as they did not know what to expect. Considering what Gabriella said, they wanted to be prepared for the worst. They turned a corner, only to run right into someone. It was none other than Lady! "Oop, sorry!" Albedo exclaimed, taking a step back. As her eyes landed on Lady, a strange sensation filled her body. A chill ran down her spine as the hair on the back of her neck stood up. Goosebumps covered her body, and her mind went blank. "Woah...I'm...getting a really weird feeling right now..." She said. She locked eyes with Lady for what felt like hours. They remained like that, entirely unblinking. "It's probably the Gnome hat." Lady responded. Albedo's eyes drifted to the top of Lady's head, where she noted a rather tall cone hat. Why Lady was wearing this was unknown, but it was rather...fashionable, in its own right. "I got it from a Spirit." She said, "A...Spirit?" Albedo asked. Lady nodded. She hadn't blinked once, making both Albedo and Kei feel uneasy. "He was pretending to be my friend...it was rather mean, actually. I suppose you never really know with Spirits. You should be cautious around them." She said, "Huh...so how did you get the hat?" Albedo asked, "From the spirit." Lady answered. Albedo nodded, assuming she wouldn't receive any more information than that. "That's...nice." She said. Lady nodded slowly, three times in a row. She still hadn't blinked, sending another chill down Albedo's spine. "Wh-Why aren't you blinking?" She asked, "I stepped into a trap." Lady answered, "A...trap that makes you stop blinking?" Albedo asked. Lady shook her head slowly. "It was meant to send me into a murderous rage." She answered, "But it backfired?" Albedo asked, "Something like that." Lady answered. 

She fell silent, staring into Albedo's eyes. "I-I'm sorry...I didn't quite catch your name..." Albedo said. Lady reached down, grabbing Albedo's hand and shaking it vigorously. "Lady." She said, "Lady? Isn't that a title?" Albedo asked. Lady did not respond, instead staring at Albedo expectantly. "A-Ah, Albedo." Albedo said. Kei cleared her throat, getting their attention. "We should probably get going, and leave uh...Lady to whatever she was doing." She said, "Hmm, I do need to get going. The Pixies don't like waiting." Lady responded, "Ah, so long then." Albedo said. Lady casually waved, before walking off. "That was...really fucking weird." Albedo said, "I'll say..." Kei responded, "Did you...also get that really weird feeling?" Albedo asked, "Yeah, something about her felt really off." Kei answered, "Yeah..." Albedo said. She shrugged. "Well, we should keep moving." She said. They continued walking until they eventually found a familiar Twilight Covenant member. It was Marin. "Hey there, Marin!" Albedo exclaimed, "Ah, gr-greetings..." Marin responded, "Are you alright?" Albedo asked, "H-Huh?! Oh yes, I'm completely fine!" Marin answered, "Okay...uh...do you know where we might find Moona?" Albedo asked, "She's in the bath right now. I can teleport you to her." Marin answered. Kei raised an eyebrow, causing Marin to hold her hands up defensively. "Room. To her room. Not...to the bath. That would just be weird...ehehe..." Marin said. Kei raised her other eyebrow as if to say "wow" with her expression alone. "Anyways...heh...how's it hangin'?" Marin asked. Before Albedo or Kei could answer, they noticed her becoming less and less visible. After a few painfully silent seconds, she was invisible. "Um...you can teleport us now." Albedo said, "R-Right..." Marin responded. She dejectedly held her hands out, making grunts of effort. Nothing happened... 

"Is...this supposed to be working? Also, do you have to make those weird noises?" Albedo asked, "S-Sorry...unlike Moona, not all of us have the luxury...of doing this with the snap of our fingers..." Marin answered, putting all her effort into it. Finally, a very unstable-looking portal opened. "Aha...there you go!" She exclaimed, "I...thought you were supposed to teleport us?" Albedo responded, "Oh...I meant portal..." Marin said, "Riiight...uh...thanks." Albedo replied. Marin posed casually. "O-Oh...you know...anytime, uh...fr-friends..." She said. Albedo nodded. "Uh-huh." She awkwardly responded. She walked through the portal, tailed by Kei. The portal closed the instant they made it through. "Well, that was awkward." Albedo said, "Yeah..." Kei replied, "You okay?" Albedo asked, "Yeah...she just...reminded me of myself before I met you, you know?" Kei answered, "Oh...right." Albedo said. She didn't really know how to properly respond, so she simply put a hand on Kei's shoulder instead. That wasn't all Kei was thinking, however. "...She also reminded me of you, Albedo. A lot of you..." She thought to herself. They looked around and found themselves in a bedroom. The bedroom was quite clean, despite being larger than most rooms. It wasn't ginormous by any means, though it was bigger than the average bedroom. It had all the basics, a large crimson bed across from the door, a walk-in closet on the left, as well as a small table with a lantern for light off to the right. Curiously, the lantern had a glowing red leaf inside it in place of a candle or some such. Beside the table was a door leading to another room, presumably the bathroom. On the opposite side of the door to the table, beside the bed, there was a folding screen. It had art depicting ferrets throughout it in various cute poses.