Full of beans and the embroidery scissor firmly clutched, Eternia took the lead. "Here we are!" she finally said and grinned.
Sinistra stared, full of surprise. In front of them there were rows of dolls, from all kind of brands. Box after box... There had to be at least a dozen or more. Some of them blinked or greeted them. They couldn't do much more, as the manufacturer always made sure to pin them to their packages securely, rendering escape impossible.
"Woow... so many dolls! Where do they all come from?!"
"That's the purchases of the last months. Sales, special offers, some ladies which supposedly were 'irresistable'... you know the drill."
"So they didn't all arrive at once?"
"No, some of them are here since last winter, if I remember correctly."
"Okay. I have a question, though - what are we here for?"
"To unbox, of course! Let's get going, Sinistra!"
Automatically, the elementalist backed off. "Ooooooh no! No, you're not going to fool me! I know exactly that we may open parcels, but we may never unbox fellow dolls! You're scheming something, Eternia!"
"Hey, how can you say that?!" the blonde was hurt, although she at least had thought about searching through the newbie's accessoires for interesting new stuff. "On the contrary, we have the explicit order to set them all free! You know that be boss is either busy or ill all the time after all the chaos with their flooded basement room and all those loud fairs."
"Hm... you're right."
"And since she feels sorry for the newcomers she asked us to let them out of their boxes, at least, even if she can't let them pose for gallery shots yet."
"Well, I'll believe you then."
"Oh, thank you very much!" Eternia grunted sarcastically.
There was a small 'poof' besides them and in a pink puff of smoke a fairy with silver wings appeared. Her dress shimmered silvery too.
"Ah, just in time! Maybe this will convince you, Sinistra!" Eternia said happily. "This is Farrah Goodfairy, the daughter of the fairy godmother. She kindly agreed to help us with logistics."
"Hello!" the Ever After High doll greeted and smiled sweetly.
"Oh, hello!" Sinistra was impressed. That was one pretty fairy!
The blonde grabbed the scissors more tighly. "Well, then we can get to work now!"
"Oh", said Goldie Locks in her ball gown when Eternia appeared in her field of vision. "So you finally reconsidered and decided to let me out, after all? That was about time!" Her voice couldn't conceal her anger.
That agitated Eternia in turn. "So, it's you again! If I were you I'd rather not be so cheeky. Say 'please' and I might let you out."
"I said 'please' last time and you didn't let me out, so forget it!" Goldie ranted in high dudgeon.
Eternia pursed her lips. "Okay. Farrah, please put this doll to the end of the queue", she said without mercy.
"What?! No, no, I..." Goldie called, but Farrah piped in: "I'm sorry, Eternia said 'please'!" Laughing bright like a bell she swung her wand and the frustrated Goldie Locks ended up at the tail of the line.
"Okay, so next up is..." Eternia mused and planned to approach the next doll, when all of a sudden another doll showed up and promptly walked past them. Like a diva she almost floated, elegant and breathtakingly beautiful. She quickly glanced over the three women, snorted loathly and then started to check out the boxed dolls one after the other. "No. No. No way. This one is a no-go too. Ugh, what an outfit! No! No again!" Doll after doll recieved a derogatory comment and her attractive nose wrinkled up time after time while she walked down the aisle with the elegance of a model on a runway.
All the time she sighed theatrically.
"What's that?" Eternia whispered in disbelieve.
Sinistra closed her gaping mouth, pondered about the question for a moment and then said excited but just as silent: "Ah, now I know! That's a Monster High! On her box there was her name in glittery letters: 'Amanita Nightshade'. I remember very well to have seen her here a few weeks ago."
"What? So that bod unboxed herself?!" Eternia was appalled.
Farah silently watched with a mix of admiration and disbelief.
"Hm, maybe this one?" Amanita wondered aloud while pausing in front of Holly O'Hair and taking a closer look. In her glittery outfit which she wore for the Dragon Games Rapunzel's daughter looked very royal.
"Hmmm... no. No, not okay."
"What's the matter?" the doll asked confusedly from inside her box.
Amanita ignored her and went to take a look at the two last dolls in the row. She eyed both in detail, both Apple White in her royal queen dress with sceptre and crown and the horror fair Draculaura with their embroidered dress and taller body. Both were special editions with extra detailed clothing and real lashes.
"Yes, you. Both of you might be pretty enough to be my friends. Of course you aren't as pretty and elegant as me but beggars can't be choosers", Amanita said with a casually deprecatory gesture.
"He, you scarecrows over there!" she commanded. "Release these two from their boxes so they can properly thank me for this chance."
While Draculaura simply stared in shock and wondered how someone was even able to be so mean, Apple got a bit more agitated. "Excuse me, but being friends with me takes a person with slightly higher standards of politeness!"
At this point, Farrah had enough. She walked over and asked: "You insulted a lot of my future friends here. Who are you?"
"Actually you're not pretty enough to dare talking to me, but I will still answer you before annihilating you: I'm Amanita Nightshade, the dark seed of the corpse flower! So, bow down before me and do as I said!"
Farrah smiled her pleasant smile, which was similar to her mom's. "I'm sorry. You didn't say 'please'."
She raised her wand and unceremoniously spirited Amanita away.
"Hey, good job!" Holly complimented her and there was loud praise from the other boxes, too.
Satisfied, Farrah flapped her wings. "I sent her to the garden and turned her back into a seed. Maybe in her next growth she turns out somewhat more civilized."
"What the hell did I just witness?" Eternia pressed through clenched teeth, but Sinistra was just as speechless as her and only managed stuttered syllables.
"I'm very unsure whether I should laugh or cry now that I was proven wrong in thinking the biggest weirdos were on our shelf."
"Well..." Slowly the elementalist regained her speech. "That's the worst I've ever witnessed! I can't believe people call YOU a dive while a person like that walks the grounds around here!"
Eternia squinted her eyes. "So? Who calls me like that?"
Sinistra gasped for air. "Oh, err... I have to go!"