Author’s note: This is part of Moonstone continuity, but takes place shortly after Moontouched, and before the start of Mooncalled.  There may be more bits like this to fill the interstices of the stories, or cover events at the Blue Vixen when the story turns elsewhere.


Gwen was prowling the stage, ears perked and tail swishing in time to the music when she felt it.  She bounded off mid-song, leaving bills scattered on the stage.  

“What are you doing, Gwen!” called Neysa as Gwen dashed into the green room.

“Send someone else up.  She’s almost here!”

Neysa grumbled, but waved to Carmen who bounced happily up onto the stage, her dragon-wings unfurling behind her.

A moment later, a spark of light appeared in front of Gwen, then instantly grew to become a full sized woman with crystalline skin.

“Donna!” cried Gwen as she hugged her ferociously.  “I missed you.”

Donna chuckled and hugged her dear friend back warmly.  “You saw me less than two hours ago.”

“Feels like a lot longer than that.  C’mon, we’ve got work to do.”

Donna let herself be led off to the changing room, and with a flick of power added ‘The Donna is IN’ to the sign.  Dancers were already crowding toward the room, babbling excitedly among themselves.

“I thought I felt you handle a bunch of size upgrades already,” said Donna.  “What’s with all this?”

Gwen laughed.  “You started something big when you gave Liana and Zoey their new rigs.  And Beth’s blue deer outfit, too.”

“I was promised a vixen outfit like that one,” commented a familiar face.  “One like the mascot.”

Donna nodded.  “I remember, the waitress who had the vixen ears.  I didn’t catch your name.”

“Harriet.”

Donna looked the woman over.  She was slim, with toned arms and legs from her time spent walking about the club and serving drinks.  “You don’t have a dancer’s... assets.  Did you want a bump there, too?”

Harriet shook her head.  “Nah.  I don’t want to strip.  But being able to serve as the Blue Vixen herself?  That would be amazing.”

“I think we can come up with something good,” said Donna, tugging Gwen to her.  “Skintight, perhaps even slightly adhesive.  Biological?”

“Wouldn’t tech be safer?” asked Gwen.  “If it’s biological, you need to feed it.”

“Fine.  Charging port in the tail?”

Gwen nodded.  “It’d hide there easily.  How is Robo-Duncan powered?”

Donna shrugged.  “Magic, basically.  Some kind of ultradense power cells that recharge when the Moon is up.  But it takes a fair bit of the volume.  I don’t have much mass to work with in a skintight suit.”

“What are you two chirping about?” asked Heather.  “I can’t make out a word, you’re speaking so fast.”

Donna flickered as her attention turned away from reality for a bit too long.  What returned was distinctly more crystalline.  A few of the less familiar women looked between themselves worriedly, but the rest just watched in wonder.  “Sorry.  Engineering stuff regarding the costume.  You want something lightweight, but pretty.  A bit of a muzzle to go with the rest, and perhaps a slightly longer tongue?”

Harriet tilted her head to one side curiously, and before Donna knew it she was already adding fluffy blue ears to that look.  Harriet didn’t seem to notice at first, and she nodded as the fur spread over her body.  “Sounds... good?  Are you doing it already?”

Donna nodded, trying to look as if she meant to do it that way.  “This is a bit more integrated than my original plan.  If you like it, we can figure the suit out later.  Okay?”

Harriet rubbed her hands over the velvet-fine blue fur covering her arms, then marveled at the black leathery skin on the palms of her hands.  “This is so cool.  I better get back to the floor, I’ve been on break long enough.”

“Mind the tail!” called Gwen at Harriet’s retreating back.  The tail swished saucily from side to side, and Harriet shot her a grin over her shoulder.

More dancers clamoured for Donna’s attention then.  “Enough!  I’ll get to all of you in turn.”  A pack of cards flickered into existence in her hands, and she fanned them out.  “Everyone pick a card, high card goes first.  The suits go kitties, rabbits, vixens then snakes.”

“Snakes?” asked one woman worriedly.  “You’re not going to turn us into our card.”

“Only if you ask nicely,” said Donna,  as fangs swung into view.  “I like snakessss.”  She flicked a forked tongue then giggled.  “Oh come on, your expression!  I won’t do that to someone who doesn’t ask.  But... is there someone here who’d like scales?”

After a bit of shuffling and silence, a girl with dinosaur teeth and talons poke up.  “I liked being a dinosaur.  Does that count?”

“Eh, close enough, Carmen.  What can I do for you?”

The scaled girl traced a talon over the tattoo on her chest.  “It’s Tawny’s turn.”

Donna frowned at a thought. “How have you been managing in this form?  With magic censorship, you can’t go outside like this.”

Carmen shrugged.  “After I changed back from being Kate’s skin, Ray let me stay on at his estate.  It’s a pretty sweet deal, and his blacked out limo tends to be pretty full most nights, shuttling to and from the club.  I have to say I am a little disappointed, though.”

“Oh?”

“You promised we’d be stuck.  I figured I’d be Kate’s skin until now.”

Gwen laughed.  “And you’re disappointed?”

Carmen tilted her head back and forth indecisively.  “A little.  Takes some of the thrill out of the game, you know?  I wanted to really get stuck.  But Kate’s been all Unit Kate for weeks now, so I’m kind of glad I get to come here, too.”

Donna chuckled.  “Fine.  I’ll be more careful tonight, make sure the losers truly are stuck.”

Carmen cheered.

“But first, Tawny.”  Donna gestured dramatically, and the tattoo of a bunnygirl sprawling across Carmen’s chest twitched and came to life.  She stretched and yawned as she emerged from Tawny’s torso, becoming a solid, real woman.

“Has it really been a month?” she asked, pink nose wiggling as she sniffed the air.

“Yep.  Want this or your human body as your baseline form?”

Tawny bit her lip with oversize incisors.  “What would happen if I didn’t accept either?”

“You’d best stay close to Carmen, then.  Or you might end up a spatter of ink somewhere, and lost.”

Tawny quirked an eyebrow.  “And you’d let me take that risk if I asked?”

Donna nodded earnestly at the rabbit-girl.

“You have changed.  I like it.”  She stroked her long bunny-ears and grinned.  “But I’d rather try this form out for a while.  Moving under one’s own power has its upsides, too.”

Donna nodded, then.  “Done.  This is you, now.  You won’t change back into ink, or a human.  Might want to look Ray up for a place to stay, I think he’d be happy to have a bunnygirl around.”

“She,” corrected Carmen.  “Ray’s still a catgirl.”

“Ah.  I do hope she will drop by later, then.  I’d like to get that silver off of her.”

Carmen nodded.  “Ray said she was looking forward to Crazy Eights.”