Trill: "YOU BETTER READY YOURSELF VILLAINS, TRILL THE STAR JESTER IS HERE TO DEFEND THE NIGHT'S SKY YET AGAIN! ...Is what I'd like to yell, but I don't wanna get the neighbors complaining about me again."
Despite her enthusiasm, she actually finds herself in her usual conundrum: she doesn't have anything to do. As it turns out, the fantastic jester of the stars' homeland, Melo Village, the village of mushrooms, isn't a restless place at all. To most of its villagers that is, of course, a relief, but for a magical girl that prides herself in her ability to fight for justice, that peace is responsible for many boring nights.
Trill: "Wuh... Nothing to do, nothing to DO! Jumping from roof to roof against this cold wind is fun, but it ain't ENOUGH!!! It's been over a month since there were any problems around here during the night, and the last time ended up being just some wolf barking at the birds. What good is a magical girl for if she doesn't do anything!?"
The girl quietly ponders to herself, stopping her jumping and simply levitating around while she thinks.
Trill: "Hm... Maybe I should think about all of this differently... A quiet village would have quiet problems, wouldn't it? Maybe instead of waiting for the loud problems to come swingin', I should aim for the quiet ones. Surely there's someone out there in need of help, it might be late enough for the moon to shine, but trouble doesn't sleep!"
Not waiting for even a second longer, in the blink of an eye she flies around the village trying to find even the smallest hint of anyone in a tough situation. Melo's nights are surprisingly lively thanks to the bioluminescence of some of its mushrooms, so the jester doesn't have much difficulty finding people. From old ladies chatting with each other to people going on night jogs, she meets and gets to talk with many, but with no success in finding anyone that needs help. It's simply another peaceful night.
Starting to run out of ideas, she decides to check around the village's farms. She quickly jumps from tree to tree to reach her destination, something that would be difficult to many others but it's simply effortless to her. She doesn't even think about how effortless it is for her, she just does it.
In one of Melo Village's farms, a farmer leans towards a fence and takes a good look at her surroundings, not too long after talking to herself in a tone as calm as her movements.
???: "...Been getting colder these days, huh? Winter arriving a little earlier this year I guess. ...Hm?"
The cold night's howls are suddenly challenged by cheery melodies . A brief look at some tall trees nearby confirms to the farmer who those sounds originate from.
???: "Oh, hey kid. How's it goin'?"
Trill: "Hey Meryl!!!!!!!! I've been flying around the village trying to find anyone in trouble tonight, do you need help with anything? I bet whatever you're doing must be extra tough at these hours!"
Meryl: "Heh, not really, I'm more than used to staying up at night to take care of these silly old landmarks here."
Ah yes, shroomy landmarks, an iconic part of Melo's fauna. They're docile animals commonly used by farmers to grow mushrooms on their back with these animals' peculiar dirt-like substance that many try to not think too hard about.
Meryl: "Y'know, it ain't the first time ya ask me something like that in the last few days. Everything fine?"
Trill: "Yeah... Well, a bit too fine maybe. I feel like I ain't doing my part as a magical girl properly, where's all of the action!?"
Meryl: "...Hm. Y'know, if you're looking for someone in trouble, I might have a fine suggestion for you."
Trill: "HUH!?"
Meryl: "Ya see... don't tell anyone I told you this, but I have a friend who's holdin' some kind of show or whatever tonight, and I heard about them being short on staff. Just go there and lend 'em a hand, y'know? You'll find them around the mountain area of the village, you'll know where when ya see a bit of a crowd gathering. I know it ain't much, but-"
Trill: "THAT'S PERFECT, THANK YOU!!!!!!" yelled the jester before flying away.
Meryl: "...Heh. I'm sure it'll go well."
Quickly like sound itself, the short jester flies towards the mentioned location, dodging trees along the way. There she finds what she expected, a small but impressive crowd gathered, all sitting on chairs and with their attention towards the tiny yet eyecatching stage in front of them, where a girl is floating around on alongside some tables, ingredients and cooking items, seemingly for some kind of cooking show. That attention, however, is briefly interrupted by Trill's noisy arrival.
Trill: "GOOD evening, fellow villagers! I am here to assure you- your night of entertainment will not be ruined with me around!!"
???: "Excuse me...?" says the girl at the stage.
Trill: "Ya don't need to tell me anything, I heard about your situation! Your lack of staff won't be a problem anymore!"
???: "I am very much not lacking in- hm?"
The girl notices who it is, flies towards the star jester and brings her to the stage.
???: "OMG, look everyone, it's our local superhero, Trill the star jester!!!!!! What an awesome honor to have such a celebrity here, I'm Lanny the adorable cook!"
Trill: "Ah... H-hello!" says the clown-ish girl while startled.
Lanny: "The valiant savior of our village and its brightest chef meeting at last, what a fantastic event! We HAVE to do a collab, you said you were here for assistance, didn't you? It would be AMAZING to have your help here!"
Trill: "...A-ah, yes, OF COURSE! What do you need help with, I have countless skills, miss! I can-"
Lanny: "Friends, we can't waste this opportunity, we HAVE to see the amazing results of our cooking skills combined! That's right everyone, we'll be seeing the phenomenal star jester lending her help to tonight's cooking show, we'll be cooking something together!"
Trill: "Cooking!? Can I not help with the background music or anything? I can play pretty much any kind of music you want."
Lanny: "Ohoho, no no, no one cares about that, cooking has been WAY more popular lately!"
Trill: "What!? I mean... I... care about that... but I guess if what you need help with is the cooking I could still lend a hand."
Lanny: "AWESOME! Don't take your eyes away from it everyone, a meeting like this is a rare sight! Very well, let's all lend an ear to our friend here and see what fantastic cooking ideas she has in mind!"
The whole crowd waits attentively for Trill's idea.
Trill: "Oh, um... Well, I occasionally help mom with baking cakes, I'm not the best at it, but I can still-"
Lanny: "A CAKE, excellent idea! Ohhh, I can't wait! Alright, time to get the ingredients ready!"
The chef snaps her fingers.
Trill: "Huh?"
In the blink of an eye, several maids appear from behind the curtains bringing not only several ingredients but also all of the necessary tools for baking a cake, elegantly putting all of those on top of the tables.
Trill: "W-wow!"
Lanny: "By the way... before we start, put on this apron and this chef hat. It's not as fun otherwise! And besides, you should really use that cheesy hat of yours less. Jesters haven't been cool in at least three hundred years."
Trill: "WHAT!? NO, C'MON! I... I mean... I guess if it's that important for the show..."
The magical girl, with an incredibly sad look in her face, untransforms, turning into her more casual appearence, and then puts on the mentioned apron and hat.
Lanny: "Alright, let's start this already! Sorry for the wait, guys!"
The cloudy girl again snaps her fingers, this time making her maids return.
Trill: "Let's see... I'll start by breaking some eggs. Maybe you can-"
Lanny: "Break them for you? Of course I can!"
She then grabs the eggs from her hands alongside several others and firmly smashes them right next to a bowl, making them fall outside of it. It's all messy and goopy.
Lanny: "OMG, how clumsy I am, hehehe!" she says with an eye closed and putting her tongue out.
Trill: "Dang... Ehhhh, I guess we can take care of that later. Say, where's the sugar, miss? I think I can start to-"
Lanny "Wait right there! Long time fans of me know that no one can grab a bowl of sugar quicker than I can!"
She dashes towards the sugar and trips in an exagerated, kind of annoying way, making sugar fall all over the floor.
Lanny: "Oops! Hehehehe!"
Many in the wide crowd are smiling for Lanny, clearly charmed by her, but that reaction is interrupted as the chef gets up and in the blink of an eye not only gathers the rest of the ingredients necessary and puts them in the bowl, but even brings eggs and sugar she had with her this whole time alongside those, doing all of that not only quickly, but also elegantly.
Lanny: "I... I can't let my clumsiness get in the way of our cooking! I'll try my best, ALWAYS!"
Trill: "What the heck!?"
The crowd cheers loudly for Lanny.
Trill, in her thoughts: "What's going on? She's trying to look awesome right after fumbling all of that, even though she did it on purpose. Is she a clown or something? But all of those people think she's cool and amazing, not just funny. Maybe the real clown here is me. Wait... of course I'm a clown. I'm Trill the star jester! Did I forget about who I am again...? Oh, it's happening again, isn't it. I had a lot of energy energy but it's now almost gone, I... wait, I untransformed! I didn't even notice it. I... I think I just wanna go home now."
Trill simply stands around while Lanny keeps preparing the cake, entertaining the audience the whole time. She's just tired by now. Whatever. But then, all of a sudden, she notices something...
Trill: "Say, what's this annoying noise?"
Lanny: "Oh, nothing much. It's just from a device I got from a friend, it releases musical notes at random. Very convenient! It means I don't need to worry about the music in my presentations, as long as there are some sounds in the background it should be enough, no one's gonna care about what it is."
Trill: "What!? That's absurd, something like that could NEVER replace actual music. And yet all of these people are too busy paying attention to her to notice how awful that thing's sounds are... They deserve better! Screw this!"
The girl jumps into the air and in the blink of an eye, the light of the stars circles around her, and from it her Daydream, Medley Princess, activates, turning her into a magical girl once again! Waiting no time, she flies towards the mentioned machine and swiftly destroys it.
Trill: "Time for you guys to see what REAL music is like!"
The stars are very shiny tonight, illuminating the stage impressively. The silly jester doesn't hold back with her musical abilities, summoning many musical instruments to play fantastic melodies to the audience. After so much of their attention being given to Lanny, they now lend their eyes and ears to Trill's amazing musical performance.
Lanny "...How amazing! It's an honor to be able to hear the star jester's impressive songs in person, isn't it, guys?"
Trill: "Ah! Sorry, I don't really wanna help with the cooking, I'd rather do the music. You can keep the show going though!"
Lanny: "Of course I can. Not that I needed to hear that, hehehe!"
For a brief time, the chef's show keeps going as usual, just with Trill providing the music. It perhaps goes in an even more ordinary way than earlier, with Lanny simply showcasing her cooking skills at a reasonable pace. Something feels a bit strange to the jester, but she's too busy with music to think too much about that. Music can't keep her occupied for too long though, as all of a sudden...
Trill: "...Huh?"
The starry sky from earlier can now no longer be seen, as in no time a strange, dense storm starts to form, getting heavier and heavier when closer to the stage.
Lanny: "AH! We're being attacked by a monster!"
Trill: "HOLY SHIT! Where!?"
The crowd is very confused, and said confusion intensifies as more of the stage is covered in bizarre and colorful storm clouds, but right before it gets entirely covered, Lanny tries to talk with them.
Lanny: "Don't worry everyone! It'll be fine, I'm sure the star jester will save all of us!"
For the two girls at the stage, there are nothing but those clouds as far as the eye can see, from every direction.
Trill: "Where's the monster? I can't see it anywhere!"
Lanny: "...You stupid idiot."
Trill: "Who?"
Lanny: "You."
Trill: "W-What!? What did I do?"
Lanny: "You know exactly what you did. You ruined my show. As far as I know, the only monster here is you. But whatever, I'll just have these clouds throw you out as soon as possible."
Trill: "Wait, so they-"
Lanny: "Heh. Exactly."
Trill: "They're messing up your head and making you say dumb things!"
Lanny: "What!? No, they originate from my Daydream! If it's not clear to a brainless idiot like you, then it's even less to that audience. As far as they know, I can't make something as scary as that."
The chef creates more clouds, of multiple different colors, shrouding the stage even more densely. The storm gets increasingly more terrifying.
Trill: "This all makes no sense! You were all cheery and nice not too long ago and now you're so mean!"
Lanny: "Pff. Nice and mean, it's pointless to describe someone as those, people can be whatever they feel like. They just act however is more convenient at that moment. Don't talk as if you're any different. I can tell you're specially volatile."
Trill: "I-I mean... I know I can be impulsive sometimes, and my mood can change easily, but... but... I try my best still to always be kind!"
Lanny: "Oh, just shut up with this, you're just saying whatever. You come to MY show and try to take away attention away from ME just for the fun of it and now you're trying to tell me about being kind? This is all ridiculous."
The clouds start spinning rapidly around the stage, similar to a hurricane, and from them a dense chunk tackles the star jester, who effortlessly blocks the attack with a single arm.
Lanny: "...Ah, yes. I've heard of your physical strength, simply trying to fling you away with force won't work."
Trill: "OF COURSE it won't, you won't find a jester this tough neither here nor a billion kilometers away! But raw strength is NOTHING without kindness! No matter what you say, I'll never be on the same level as you, someone with a rotten heart beneath a kind face!"
Lanny: "!?"
Trill: "I'm sorry if my help earlier wasn't doing much good for you, but I couldn't let someone insult music so badly! And saying so many rude things to me is just-
Lanny: "OH SHUT UP YOU PEST, you were already beyond irritating earlier, but somehow you're getting even worse. I don't care about your music or what I said to you, I try so hard to keep the best image possible to everyone to not let all the attention I try to get go to waste, and you come here and act as if you're the star of the show, I don't wanna hear you complain about anything!"
The storm reaches an unbelievable state- a rainbow-colored hurricane swirls amazingly fast around the girls.
Trill: "H-hold on, what about the crowd!? If anyone gets hurt from this needless mess, I'd never be bold enough to call myself a hero ever again! Come out, triumphant sound of the stars!"
Bright projectiles shaped like music notes are created by the jester, who prepares to fire them at the storm. She won't let this chaotic situation continue even a second longer.
Lanny: "Oh, don't worry about the crowd, my maids got all of them out, but just slowly enough to let them look at my gorgeous Daydream for a bit. I suppose being able to tell everyone that I defeated the monster and stopped the amazing storm while the star jester ran away will be an upside to all of this!"
Trill: "Wait, was this your plan with the clouds all along!?"
Lanny: "Hehehe!"
Trill: "U-Ugh! No! A hero being defeated by such a deplorable idea... I can't let it happen!"
Lanny, in a confident tone: "It's time for this silly show to end. As the curtains drop, so will the density of my beautiful haze... but only for a moment, as it being light or dense is something I can change with similar easiness to eating cookies during a chill afternoon. Don't forget this, you only know a fraction of my power! I'm the brightest star of this village!"
As Trill fiercely flings her music notes all over the place, the shape and density of Lanny's clouds changes rapidly. From the perspective of someone watching from outside of it, it'd look as if the storm is finally ending. It seems like the girls' confrontation has reached a conclusion. And then, a few minutes later, somewhere else in Melo Village, a farmer is surprised by a voice...
Trill: "Miss Meryl!"
Meryl: "Oh! Hey kid, did you have fun th- huh!?"
Trill: "HELP!" yells the star jester while being trapped in Lanny's clouds.
Lanny: "You're the one responsible for sending this fiend to torment me, aren't you?" said the chef in a serious tone before releasing Trill from her clouds.
Meryl: "Torment you? What? The show went great, no?"
Lanny: "Tch. You say that as if you watched it."
Meryl: "Well, I could see your whole cloud thing from here, it seemed like a fun time."
Lanny: "So that's it, huh? You sent her just because it seemed funny to you. I didn't know you could be so self-centered."
Meryl: "Hey now... That's now what-"
Lanny: "Enough. Have a good night." said her before turning around and returning.
Meryl: "..."
Trill: "Augh..." said the jester after getting up and going back to her regular form.
Meryl: "...Oh! Are ya fine, kid?"
Trill: "Yeah, just a bit dizzy... That girl is strong. She just trapped me into her odd cloud... things."
Meryl: "Ah, glad ya aren't hurt... Sorry for... Y'know, causing this whole thing."
Trill: "What!? No no, that was great actually! It was a bit lame at first I guess, but I ended up having fun! I'm not sure if she liked that a lot though... Earlier tonight you said you're friends, right?"
Meryl: "Yeah yeah. Well, at least I like to think that we're still friends, we chat here and there but we aren't as close as we used to be. Not a big deal really, we kinda just went our own ways, I used to hang out quite a bit with her and her sister. I was hoping that she could have a bit of fun, but it seems like that could've ended better, heh heh. I'm at least glad you enjoyed that."
Trill: "It was fun but it was also a bit... odd. I was feeling really down earlier, to the point where I even untransformed without noticing it. I don't... get my power sometimes, I almost feel like I turn into a different person when I transform. At a point I had a lot of energy, but then afterwards I wasn't feeling like that for some time. My mood can be all over the place, and Lanny even noticed it and pointed it out. I'm feeling better now at least. Though I think I'm a bit over the whole thing of wanting to help people even when I can't find anyone needing help. Even my transformation is over it, I guess."
Meryl: "Hm... That means she got to learn something then. That's good."
Trill: "Wait, she? Who are you talking about?"
Meryl: "Your transformation. You said she's like a different person, right? Earlier tonight it seemed like she wanted to help someone just for personal satisfaction. It looks like like she doesn't feel like that anymore though."
Trill: "Hm... Yeah... I'm really not sure on how to feel about all of this..."
Meryl: "Just be kind to yourself and to her and I'm sure you'll find the answers at some point."
Trill: "...Yeah. Thanks, Miss Meryl. I think I'll be heading home now, I'm feeling a bit of a headache..."
Meryl: "Alright, kid. Make sure to rest well. See ya!"
Trill: "Bye!"
Trill then walks back home, as she doesn't feel like transforming to be able to fly right now.
Meryl: "...Sigh. We still haven't come back to how things used to be, huh, Lanny. Oh well. I do worry about how your sister has been going these days, she really didn't look too happy when she left the village. I hope I can see her again one of these days. I guess in the meantime I'll just stay doing what I usually do these days."