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Episode: Stitches and Witches

Written by TheCrimsonDM

Back in the one place that was so boring that it would make a kobold's hair fall out, if kobolds had any hair, Pleasant Falls. Princess Twinkle found herself stuck here until either things changed in the Capital or she completed her mission. Granted the peace and quiet had its benefits, it was a place where her faithful and loyal apprentice could live a normal life. Yet some days it got so dreadfully boring here that she just didn't know what to do with herself. Or with her lovely servant Snowflake.

Well at least she could find one thing to be excited for. Princess Twinkle watched as Snowflake entered her room. Snowflake's white scales were complemented not only by the short red spines on top of her head and growing down her back, ending just at her the base of her neck, but also by the gray and pink maid outfit she was wearing. Of course if Twinkle had anything to say about it, she wouldn't be wearing it for long.

Snowflake looked at her. "Your highness, you're looking beautiful as ever."

Princess Twinkle ran a hand down her chest where the red dress she wore revealed her rather generous cleavage. "Oh, really?"

Snowflake nodded. "It's an honor to get to serve under a princess who is so... delightful to look at."

Twinkle stood up. "I think I could say the same about you."

Snowflake's cheeks grew a little pink. "Is there, anything special, that you need me to clean, or do?"

Twinkle walked over to Snowflake. Quickly crossing the distance between them. "Oh, I could think of a few places that need cleaned. Maybe you could even use a special tool?"

Snowflake looked up at her. "Would you like me to use my tongue perhaps?"

Twinkle smiled down at her. "That sounds lovely."

A loud thud sounded from the walk in closet. Twinkle huffed. If someone was spying on her again, she was going to capture them, and force them to join Snowflake in cleaning with their tongue. She walked over to the closet, threw open the door and froze in horror. There wasn't a person in here, it was something, much, much worse.

***

Pascale could hear the wailing all the way from her library home. At first she thought it was some kind of strange aberration that had found its way here and she was already preparing to destroy it with extreme prejudice. Once she figured out the sound came from the castle knew it was a dire emergency even more so than a monster attack. Princess Twinkle was crying.

Going into the castle she had to search around for the source of the wailing and eventually found the door to Princess Twinkle's room. A pink door with red hearts engraved onto it. Opening the door revealed that the princess was inside, sitting on the floor and holding a long piece of bundled up red fabric and sobbing over it. Her aura was thrown out of control as the floor itself was no longer a soft rug of deep red but rather it was pink, as well as the stonework, and the ceiling in the nearby vicinity of Princess Twinkle. The more she cried the further out the pink color spread.

Snowflake was hiding in a nearby room. She only poked her head out to look at Pascale and whisper. "Please make her stop."

The servant's scales were normally white, but her left hand looked to be stained with pink color. Even this far away from the princess. Pascale gave her an understanding nod. "I will. As for your hand, just wait a few hours, it'll go back to normal."

Pascale ignored the servant from there and then moved into the room where Princess Twinkle was currently having her break down. Once inside she dared not get too close to the pink circle of color. "Princess, what's wrong, how can I help?"

Princess Twinkle looked up at her and sniffled. "It-it's horrible. Just awful. My life is ruined!"

"What's wrong, did someone die?"

"Yes! It died. It's dead and ruined, its body desecrated and violated beyond recognition. How could something so evil, so vile happen?"

This was bad. Real bad. Pleasant Falls was supposed to be peaceful and to remain that way. If the horrors of the rest of the Draconia came here... "Princess where is the culprit. I will find it, destroy it, and make sure peace remains in Pleasant Falls. Nothing shall ruin our goal."

She sniffled. "I don't know." She burst into another batch of sobs and the pink colors spread out a few more inches making Pascale take few steps back. "Princess! Please, you must calm yourself."

Princess Twinkle opened her eyes and looked around herself. She sniffled. "O-oh, oh no. I'm sorry. I did this didn't I?"

"It's okay, you're upset, you have every right to be. Please, as your pupil, let me fix this for you."

"I d-don't think you can. You see, it's been murdered most foul." She held out the bundle of red cloth to reveal it was a dress. Much like the one Princess Twinkle was currently wearing in fact. Only this one had a massive hole in the side that looked like something had taken a huge bite out of it. "See, it's been violated. My favorite dress, forever disgraced and ruined by some vile moth!"

Well at the very least Pascal didn't have to worry about killing a monster or cleaning up some gruesome scene of carnage before anyone saw it. Unfortunately this proved to be a mite worse. She didn't actually know of any tailors in the hamlet. In fact for most clothing needs they had to fly over to the nearest town, but with how upset Princess Twinkle was, she couldn't risk the length of such a trip. She'd have to rely on her friends to help, and one in particular might have the knowledge she needed.

"It's okay, Princess. I can help take care of this. I know just the person who might be able to fix this for us."

Princess Twinkle sniffled and met her eyes. "R-really?"

"Yes, we can talk to Jade. I know she's got connections to the seamstress world."

Princess Twinkle hiccupped and rubbed a hand at her eyes wiping away the tears. "Okay. Let's g-go."

Pascale gave her an awkward stare for a moment. "You mean, as in both of us?"

She nodded. "Of course. It's my dress, and as a princess of Draconia, I need to take responsibility for my fashion." She sniffled and the pink color around her began to fade indicating it was safe to approach again. "B-but could I have a hug first?"

Pascale nodded, steeled her courage once more and walked forward. It was with a bit of luck that Princess Twinkle had gotten her aura back under control as she didn't see any of her clothing or scales change color upon approach. Once near Princess Twinkle she reached out and gave her a hug. Even sitting on the floor Twinkle was almost even with her height. The hug was nice, warm and made Pascale ooze with fuzzy happy feelings. This feeling of overwhelming joy and mirth was a leftover of Princess Twinkle's emotional outburst. Clearly the best princess had an aura that made people happy. Something that Princess Sparkle didn't have, no Sparkle just made people into sex slaves. Where Princess Twinkle made them into friends.

Once Princess Twinkle was done hugging her, she stood up, carefully bundled the cloth together and put it into a purse. Much to Pascal's surprise, the purse wasn't just huge, it was also rather empty. Perhaps a few makeup accessories but not much else. With that the two of them left the castle, the poor servant was still in hiding. Princess Twinkle asked as they exited. "Have you seen Snowflake? I think she might have been affected by my aura. The poor dear."

Pascale shook her head. "Unfortunately no. I suspect she's safe though, she knows the protocol. Hide and wait for assistance. Well I came just in time."

"You really are my hero, Pascal. No princess could ask for a better pupil/apprentice/little sister/daughter or whatever other role you may fill."

The praise was enough to make Pascale's lavender cheeks burn red with a deep blush. She swallowed. "And you're the best princess anyone could ever ask for. We are blessed by the Holy Dragon to have you with us."

"You sure are." Once back outside, the cool spring air refreshed them. The smell of flowers from the wildflowers growing all around them was strong and Pascale was already aiming herself to walk down the road. It would be a good thirty minute walk to get to the Spa and Hot Springs.

Princess Twinkle stopped her with a sentence. "Where are you going?"

Pascale turned back. "I'm walking down the road. So we can go to Jade's place."

"Why not fly there instead?"

Pascale rubbed at her arm and looked down sullen. "My broom is still broken. I haven't had the time nor the resources to fix it." the shame of her own destruction was too great to bear, yet she was still muddling through life it would seem.

Princess Twinkle gave a tiny nod. "I see. Well I have the perfect solution for you."

Without warning Princess Twinkle leaned over, scooped up Pascale and cradled her in her arms as she began walking to the edge of the cliff. Fresh memories of having fallen into the lake, unable to swim, and powerless to save herself came flashing back to her mind. Pascale's heart sped up as her mind panicked. She kicked her legs and squirmed while pleading, "No, no, no, please, no!"

She squirmed just enough that Princess Twinkle dropped her. Once she hit the ground she scurried away on all fours until she found a tree to hide behind. She tried to get her breathing back under control as she hid there. After a moment she glanced around the corner of the tree to see Princess Twinkle right there, hands on her hips and looking at Pascale with some disappointment in her eyes. "Brighty. Come on. You know I won't drop you."

Pascale shook her head. "NO! I won't do it. I won't let you take me over the water. I simply won't."

"If I order it you have no choice."

That stunned her into silence for a long moment. She lowered her head and clawed at the ground. "P-please... I'm scared."

Princess Twinkle let out a sigh. Turned around and then knelt down. "Come on, just like we used to." Her yellow wings were already stretched out and waiting for her.

It had been some time since Pascale last rode on Princess Twinkle's back. In fact it wasn't since she was a kid. Yet it was safe, safer than being held in a cradled position. Pascale crawled out from her position behind the tree and slowly climbed onto Princess Twinkle's back and wrapped her arms around Princess Twinkle's neck. She was gentle at first, but they both knew that even if Pascale wanted to hurt the princess, she was physically incapable of it. Once firmly on Princess Twinkle's back, and with her legs hooked into Twinkle's arms, the princess stood up and Pascale let out a small squeak. They were so high up like this. She could almost reach out and touch the tree branches from here, not that she would, no her arms were staying firmly around the neck.

Princess Twinkle giggled. "There, you big baby. Now we can fly."

Princess Twinkle ran to the cliff edge, leaped off of it, and her wings caught the wind as they glided over the lake below them. From up here Pascale could only marvel at the shining blue water beneath her. The sea of green forests to the west, and the small houses that dotted the outside of the lake like a half ring of civilized life. Sure it wasn't quite like the capital city, but this was their life now, and it would probably remain that way forever. Still, it wasn't bad here. Not by a long shot.

Princess Twinkle looked forward. "So, where is this hot spring again? I fear I haven't been outside of the castle in months."

Pascale pointed at a large building a bit away from the lake and nearer the road through the woods. "It's there."

"Oh, so it's the one that has the sign saying 'The Misty Dragon Spa and Hot Spring' I never would have figured." She laughed after saying that.

At least Princess Twinkle was in a good mood now. Perhaps more of a facade she put on for Pascale's sake, well either way it worked. Pascale smiled and giggled along with her. They slowly made their way down to the ground in front of the hot spring. It was with a rough landing they hit the ground. Yet they didn't fall over, just hard enough to remind Pascale of how scary that could have been. Once Pascale was set down onto the ground she could admire the cobblestone road leading to the front of the spa.

Just outside they saw a white kobold with rainbow spines growing from the top of her head and going down her back. She wore a loose t-shirt and skirt that seemed just a little too big for her. She was celery a scrapling, perhaps twelve or thirteen years old and she ran up to them grinning. This was Opal, Jade's younger sister.

Princess Twinkle grinned. "Oh, little one. I didn't expect to see you here."

Opal giggled in a high pitched voice. "Why not? I live here after all."

Pascale frowned. "Opal, treat the best princess with some more respect."

Opal frowned. "I answered her question though, isn't that respectful?"

Princess Twinkle shook her head. "It's okay. Just tell me I'm pretty and you're always in the clear."

Opal grinned up at her. Fangs shined brightly. "You're the prettiest princess!"

Pascale nodded. "Better. What are you doing though? Aren't you usually hanging out with the other two usually, Jasper and uh..."

"Ruby," Opal finished. "I was, but when I was trying to find out how I can sacrifice you and give your soul to the dark wolf, they got bored and decided to ditch me. Oh, and I guess Jasper had to go home, Blue said so."

Pascale blinked. "I'm... sorry. What were you doing?"

"Trying to make ice cream." Opal said without missing a beat.

Pascale looked up at Princess Twinkle. "Um, is that, is that what she really said?"

Princess Twinkle blinked. "Sorry, I was thinking about how pretty I am. What's going on?"

Before Pascale could ask any further questions Opal ran off saying. "My sister's inside. She's boring too, so you might want to spend time with her. Buhbye!"

Pascale shook her head. "What is wrong with the youth of today. Seriously, no respect for their elders or their princess."

Princess Twinkle smiled. "Oh relax, that stick in your fanny needs to be pulled out at some point. She's just having fun."

Pascale stared up at Princess Twinkle in abject horror. "There, there is no stick in my rear end, and never has been or ever will be."

Princess Twinkle walked to the door. "Don't make promises you can't keep, my Brighty."

Pascale was pretty certain she could keep things out of her butt. That seemed really easy, and really important to do. Honestly the princess was kinda weird sometimes but she figured she just didn't understand immortal culture or thoughts, how could she, she was a lowly mortal and the princess was an immortal goddess. The Goddess of... well no one was quite sure what but she often liked to say the goddess of the color pink. Whatever that meant.

Going into the front door they entered the lobby and found their target sitting behind the counter and looking bored as ever. Once Jade saw them she perked up and stood up straight with her white dress moving just enough to reveal a bit more of her cleavage than Pascale thought necessary. When Jade adjusted it to show even more, Pascale thought this was probably a bad time to be staring at round things.

Princess Twinkle actually had to bend over a little to avoid jamming the spines on top of her head into the ceiling. Jade looked up at her with bright eyes filled with wonder. "Princess Twinkle, what brings your beautiful self to my lowly establishment today?"

Princess Twinkle smiled. "Oh don't be like that. Your establishment is nearly good enough for me. Which for a hamlet hell such as this, is a grand compliment. If you'd only have access to the right resources I know you'd be more than good enough."

Jade nodded. "Such a compliment, I am beyond honored, your highness."

"Now as for the why I am here. Pascale told me that if anyone could help me with this problem of mine, it would be you." She pulled out the red dress and laid it down on the counter with all the care of holding a one hundred thousand gold piece of pottery.

Jade took one look at the dress and covered her mouth with her hands. "The horror. How did such a lovely dress sustain such an injury?"

"A moth."

Pascale raised a clawed finger. "Actually, moths don't really eat most clothing. That's a myth that has been perpetuated and actually makes moths have a bad reputa-"

The glares she got from both women were enough to silence a cat in heat. needless to say, Pascale shut her mouth and remained silent and still for some time until they stopped looking at her and focused on each other once again.

Jade nodded. "You are talking to the right person to find out how to repair such things. I have a contact who is skilled in such repairs. I reach out to them every now and again when I need help with my clothing. I can contact them for you, it may take some time though, so if you'd like the two of you may use the hot spring free of charge. I will close up shop for a moment and return as soon as I can."

Princess Twinkle nodded. "Thank you so much. You're such a dear. I will reward you greatly for this later."

"Oh please, your highness, don't trouble yourself so. The only one who may need payment would be my contact. They can be quite... peculiar with their requests, but I assure you that their talents are well worth whatever quirks they may have."

Just like that they were left alone to their own devices as Jade left them there to go and find this mysterious seamstress she knew. Pascale was right on the money with her assessment that Jade would know just the person to help. Now the question was, how long would they have to wait? If they were given free use of the hot spring, she expected it may take awhile.

Well at least they could enjoy the hot spring in the meantime.

***

It was closer to thirty minutes before Jade returned and informed them both of where to go, and what to do. After drying off and getting dressed both Pascale and Princess Twinkle were back out on the journey to find a seamstress. The information they got was pretty much chaos but she expected no less from the likes of Jade. Love her as she might, Pascal just didn't trust Jade to have any amount of sense or logic to her.

The location they were going to meet at was actually going to be some ruins from the ancients in the woods. A thousand years ago the ancients had owned the world, but the great war between humans and dragons brought that to an end, and so they left behind a great deal of technology and mystery that were still being researched and rediscovered to this day. Of course the ruins here were explored from time to time but nothing new was ever gleaned from them.

Going through the woods they followed the dirt road for some time, in fact at a certain point, Pascale was remiss that they hadn't just brought the truck instead. Finally the road split off to an older path to the side. The forest canopy did well to hide things beneath its green leafy protection. Still Pascale had actually visited various ruins a couple of times, so it wasn't the world's biggest mystery to find some out here they usually stood out.

The forest was thick, and the sounds of wildlife constant. It took a few minutes longer before they began to see the forest floor change slightly. Old paved asphalt, cracked, splintered and consumed by plant life littered the ground here. A few rusted old signs written in the ancients tongue stood as well. Strange formations of rocks that had doors on the sides, and round rubber wheels as well. Probably statues left behind by the ancients.

Finally they found it. An old massive building. The sides of the walls were cracked, and had holes marking them. The ceiling was likewise falling apart. Vines, and even trees grew out of the walls. A large entrance with metal frames with glass panes for walls which were somehow, mostly intact but horribly discolored stood. The doors led to a dark abyss and were forever stuck open. An old faded sign half covered in moss stood above it reading Mall Rat.

A cold shiver ran down Pascale's spine. "I do not like this place."

Princess Twinkle waved a hand dismissively. "Oh relax, it's not that bad. It's just an old mall. We have these things in the capital. They're really good for shopping so long as you can avoid the guards."

"Why would you avoid the guards?"

"They're boorish and violent if you get caught say, skateboarding down the escalator. Oh, and you should avoid any strange hallways, bathrooms, or being alone. Dark things lurk in malls but you're with me so we'll be fine."

Pascale swallowed. "I heard you can noclip out of reality in these places."

"That's only ever happened once or twice."

This did not actually calm her nerves. Malls were dangerous places, where you could find expensive deals and crummy often poisoned food, and she had never wanted anything to do with them. Even abandoned ruined ones like this were too much for her little heart to handle. Still she didn't have much choice, she had to help get this dress fixed or else Princess Twinkle would never feel better.

So for her princess, for her kingdom, for her people, she would dare venture into the mall.

Going into the dreaded mall abyss Pascale found herself inching ever closer to her princess. It was dark in here, even with the holes in the ceiling, the trees above the mall ruins seemed to have blocked almost all light coming in. The inside somehow felt much more massive than the outside. There were old benches set around octagonal pedestals which had plants growing out of them wild and uncontrolled. Storefronts lined the walls on either side of them, with shattered glass, boarded up doors, and missing anything of value. The further they walked the darker it seemed to get until Princess Twinkle snapped her fingers and summoned forth a pair of flashlights. One for her and one for Pascale. At least with the flashlight she felt safer. It didn't actually make her safer, she just felt that way.

They walked until they found the place they were searching for. It was a massive structure built inside made of wood, with thick tarps covering the walls. The tarps were all dark, and the symbols on them indicated an image of sewing needles and thread. The front of this building had some dim light coming out of a doorway made from red curtain.

Princess Twinkle walked in with no fear, while Pascal felt herself cowering behind the princess. Once inside they saw a few different sewing tables, each one with a different kobold on it. Each of the kobolds wore deep red robes, and their dark green scaled hands were working on various fabrics. They didn't even turn to acknowledge the two of them.

One kobold by a desk nearby did acknowledge them by speaking. "Welcome to The Coven of Thread. I am the Evil Witch, and right now we are offering a fifty percent discount if you purchase two dresses instead of one."

Pascale's eyes widened. "Fifty percent. That's an amazing deal."

Princess Twinkle put a hand on her shoulder. "Now calm down. Their using witch trickery on you. It sounds like a good deal, but what they really do is charge twice as much for each dress so that you are actually still paying the normal amount."

Pascale's hopes were dashed but she was ever so grateful that her loving and protective princess was there for her. The woman at the desk shook her head. "I see you've done business in a mall before."

Princess Twinkle nodded. "It's not my first time. I do however have need of your services." She pulled out the red dress and walked over to the counter and set it down. "I would like this to be repaired."

The Evil Witch took a good long look at it. "I see. Clearly you have a moth problem. Little monsters can do so much damage to such wonderful dresses. I can sense the love and care that went into this possession." She leaned over and sniffed it. "It smells of love. Normally I'd charge an arm and leg for this."

One of the other witches stood up with a bone saw in hand.

"But today, and for today only, I shall offer this as a free repair."

Princess Twinkle nodded gracefully. "Thank you, kind witch."

The witch waved her hand over the broken part of the dress. Pascale watched as new threads spun out like spaghetti noodles and wrapped around itself as if the dress was undoing the damage that had been done. In mere seconds the dress's wound were healed and there was no sign of having ever been damaged in the first place.

Once finished she handed the dress back to the Princess who took it, carefully folded it and placed it back into her purse. "Thank you again."

The witch nodded. Her snout twisted into a crooked smile. "It is my pleasure. Please come again soon. Oh, and on your way out, if you'd like we do have brooches for sale. Buy one, get one free."

Pascale took a step forward. "Broaches!"

Princess Twinkle put a hand on Pascale's head, spun her toward the door and walked out. "Thank you, but no thanks. We must take our leave, Coven of the Thread."

Once again Pascale was thankful for Princess Twinkle's intervention. She didn't even need broaches. What would she do with them? What she needed were the pink scrunchies on the wall by the desk. Of course she was gone before she could even ask how much they were.

It wasn't until they returned back to the castle that they both had a chance to firmly relax. Princess Twinkle put her dress up in the walk in closet, the closet of course being bigger than Pascale's own bedroom and filled to the brim, with red dresses that all looked exactly like the one she just went to get fixed by a coven of witches and had a mental break down over.

Pascale wasn't sure that was the most reasonable thing, but perhaps this one dress had sentimental value. Once Princess Twinkle set it on the hanger with the others she took a step back, blinked, and then began laughing. She laughed, and laughed, and laughed so hard that she actually fell onto her rear.

Pascale stared at her in mild horror. "W-what's so funny, Princess?"

Princess Twinkle wiped a hand at her eyes as tears of joy ran down them. "This is going to make you laugh. It turns out, that wasn't my favorite dress. My favorite dress is the one right next to it!"

Pascale was not in fact laughing. She was staring in horror at the princess. This entire adventure, a waste. Going to see Jade, useless, being flown over the water in a horrifying experience, worthless. Going into the creepy scary mall, pointless. Today was wasted away and all for the wrong dress.

A gravelly voice came out from behind the dress. "Yo, bitches, bring me some food did you?"

The laughter died in that moment as Princess Twinkle and Pascale both stared in terror at the dresses. They moved suddenly and she saw it. A moth larger than her head was staring right at them. It spoke again. "I'm hungry for clothes, bitch!" it grabbed the dress they just fixed in its legs and began flying off.

Princess Twinkle glared at it. "Get that moth! It better not ruin that dress or I'll cry!"

The rest of that day was spent chasing after a giant, foul mouthed moth before Pascale eventually vaporized it. To say it was just another day in Pleasant Falls was about right. If she had the option to, she'd probably move.