Chapter 24
Hide and Seek
Lust was trotting along Ponyville to take a break from Rarity and her brief magic lessons. The fashionista granted Lust time to herself on account of her wanting to craft a surprise on her own time. The lascivious mare never thought she would be able to master telekinesis so effortlessly. True to her word, she would find Greed and teach him the basis of the spell if he was unable to do so. She trotted past a barrel, and it shook before she could properly distance herself from it "Hm?" Lust looked over at the motionless barrel long enough to where it shook again, earning the lascivious mare's latent curiousity. She rapped against the wooden barrel three times, and the lid slowly inched above to reveal the brown spiky mane of her younger and avaricious brother. Lust managed to stifle a chuckle at the sight "Just what are you doing in there, Greed? Is this a part of your magic training perhaps?"
Greed grunted and whispered "Not even...I'm just trying to hide from Twilight! Show her my Ultimate Shield form ONE time and now she won't leave me alone! She had that look in her eyes..." The avaricious pony could not help but shudder at the way Twilight looked at him in his new form.
Lust smirked "You do realize hiding will not help your case for making her think you're enticed with her or your progress in learning magic, right?"
Greed glared at Lust "You're missing my point, Lust! She wants to experiment on me ever since I showed her my form! She's like some kind of mad scientist or something!!"
"Greed!! Greed, where are you??"
The avaricious pony's ears perked up as he flinched at the sound of the lavender bookworm's voice "Fuck! Don't let her know I'm here, okay!?" He whispered hoarsely as he dipped his head back into the barrel and hid himself.
Lust noticed Twilight galloping towards her and stopped in front of her "Lust! Thank Celestia I found you! Have you seen Greed anywhere? He ran off after I proposed to look into his unique spell! I have to find him! Please tell me you saw him!" She looked up with pleading eyes.
The lascivious mare smiled "Before I answer, I have to ask...Has he learned any spells under your tutelage save for the one mentioned?"
Twilight shook her head "No, and it looks like it could take a while before he understands the basic concept of magic...But have you seen him?"
Lust looked down and a smiled played on her face as she then feigned disappointment and shook her head "I'm afraid I haven't seen him, Twilight. I'm very sorry..."
Twilight huffed "Ponyfeathers! Well, maybe he went to Applejack's house! Thank you for your time, Lust! And I hope Rarity is being a good host to you!"
Lust smiled and nodded "A very good one, actually. Good luck finding Greed..." She waved off the lavender bookworm as she galloped off in determination.
Greed popped his head out of the barrel and looked away. He then sighed in relief "Thanks, Lust...I guess I owe you one for getting me out of there..." He grunted in disbelief when he realized what he had just said.
Lust only smiled back at her younger brother "Oh, it would be an act of generosity to let you off without any favors to repay me. But I have a better idea in mind..." Greed raised an eyebrow at the lascivious mare "It would seem you have failed to meet Twilight's expectations in learning magic. Heretofore, I shall teach you telekinesis and make sure you know it by heart. Knowing my progress and my experience with discussing issues to you with your simplicity, I'm sure it will not take but a minute..."
Greed growled "Now you're just being a bitch!"
Lust raised an eyebrow as she gave a cold smirk "Would you rather me reveal your location to Twilight Sparkle?"
Greed flinched and looked down "Fine, you win..."
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Envy trotted through Ponyville with a bored expression on its face. As much as it favored the fact that it was separated from an overbearing pair of pegasi and a pink insect handling the jealous pony's younger brother, it never thought what else to do. As it trotted, a small and unpleasant feeling bloomed inside of Envy's chest. It looked down and stopped "Huh?" the feeling continued to linger thoroughly without pause 'Okay, I'm not feeling tired, so this is totally new...' As the feeling stayed, Envy felt a mysterious need to turn and look back towards Fluttershy's cottage and the entrance to the Everfree Forest and stared for a moment in silence. It then shook itself out of its mysterious trance and grunted 'Why do I bother!? They're obviously fine! They have Gluttony around, and I'm sure that multicolored bitch can handle herself in a fight with how she talks...' It then turned to face the town's bustling activity and a mischievous smirk played on its face 'Now, where should I start?'
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In the Everfree Forest, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were ardently traversing through the safe route of the Everfree Forest leading towards Zecora's Hut. Rainbow Dash sailed through the air and slalomed past each tree that got in her way, whereas Fluttershy was galloping on the ground to keep a close eye out for any possibly predators.
Rainbow Dash looked down "Fluttershy! You see anything!?"
Fluttershy looked up, and while she sounded quiet, she was able to call up to her airborne friend "No! Nothing at all! I don't see any sign of dangerous animals!"
Rainbow Dash nodded and looked ahead. When the two traveled far enough, they came to a halt when they noticed two shadowy figures coming into view with extra growths on their backs. The cyan pegasus hovered near Fluttershy's level and assumed a fighting position "Okay! Whoever you are, come and get some!" Fluttershy hid behind Rainbow Dash as the two figures drew closer.
The figures then revealed themselves to be a beaming pair of familiar earth ponies carrying items on their backs. Pinkie waved at the pair of dumbstruck pegasi "Hey there Dashie! Hey Fluttershy!" She balanced a small jar on her nose "We were just coming back with the tea you wanted! We didn't miss anything, did we?"
Gluttony blinked and held a confused frown "Hm?" He looked around aimlessly "Where's Envy? Why isn't Envy with Rainbow Dash?"
Rainbow Dash stammered as she tried to assess the current happening "B-B-B-But-But...Pinkie, you-...an-...but you were just out-..." She couldn't for the life of her grasp the intense amount of confusion with the appearance of Pinkie opposite to as she found her at the forest's edge touching Fluttershy's cottage.
Pinkie only tilted her "Of course I was out! I wanted to get more tea for Fluttershy! Good thing Zecora was generous enough!" She turned to Gluttony "She even found Gluttony to be almost entertaining with his hunger! Good thing I stopped him from trying to eat her ingredients..." The party pony then looked stern "You gotta learn to keep that hunger of yours in check, mister!"
Gluttony looked down with a sullen expression "But the soup she made in the cauldron...I couldn't resist!"
Fluttershy interrupted "Wait...Zecora was at her hut the whole time?"
Pinkie nodded "Yes indeedy! Otherwise, we wouldn't be coming back with all this tea! Now what say we go back and-"
Rainbow Dash darted her head around and pushed aside her massive confusion when she remembered something else "Forget that! Where's Envy!?"
Pinkie raised an eyebrow "You mean she wasn't with you??" She looked at Rainbow Dash with a smile "Does this mean you trust her now, Dashie?"
Rainbow Dash jerked her head to Pinkie with narrowed eyes "Not for two bits!! That pony pulled a fast one on us earlier and went into the Everfree Forest! Then SOMEHOW you managed to show up looking all beat-up and saying that Gluttony was in trouble!"
Now it was Pinkie's turn to be confused as she craned her head back with a bemused look on her face "I did? Huh...that doesn't usually happen unless I actually go too far..." She looked down in thought.
Gluttony, however, looked scared as he looked around "I'm in trouble!? Oh no, what did I do!? Nopony told Lust on me, did they!?" The voracious pony whimpered horrifically, not wanting any sort of punishment to befall him when he was having a fun time with his newest friend. The worst punishment he would imagine would not be to eat for a long time.
Fluttershy trotted over and gave Gluttony a motherly nuzzle to calm him down "Now now, Gluttony, you're in no trouble at all, especially since you've managed to go so far with Pinkie to get tea for me. Thank you very much..."
Gluttony sighed in relief and beamed at Fluttershy "I'm glad! You smell nice, too!" This caused the timid mare to hide in her mane to contain her massive blush.
Rainbow Dash growled "If we're done with the hugs and kisses here, we gotta find Envy! That pony could be anywhere in this forest!"
Pinkie looked around "Really? I would've known if she were to come around here!" She then looked worried "This isn't good, everypony! We gotta find her before something bad happens to her! She's Dashie's responsibility!"
The cyan pegasus looked down "Envy can be a total jerk most of the time, but Pinkie's right! Nopony shouldn't be around here by themselves!"
Gluttony looked down and then turned to the sky to sniff at the air. The three mares turned to the voracious pony as he directed his muzzle to the ground and dragged it on a trail as if he were a bloodhound. Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, and Fluttershy were confused at first, but decided to follow him to see what would happen.
In time, they made it out of the forest and Gluttony succeeded in infuriating Rainbow Dash "Uh, Gluttony? Envy's INSIDE the forest! We gotta go back now!" She got no response as the voracious pony kept his pace, and the cyan pegasus grunted in frustration "Forget it, he's hopeless! C'mon, girls! We're going back inside to get Envy! That pony's gotta be in there somewhere-"
"Envy's not in the forest..."
The three mares turned to Gluttony as he stopped and sniffed at a spot "I have Envy's scent!" He pointed a hoof "Over there, in Ponyville!" Gluttony then continued to sniff at the ground and trudge into town, oblivious to the luggage he was carrying on his back.
Pinkie, upon seeing Gluttony's doglike actions, pulled out a detective's hat and a pipe out of nowhere "Well, gang! Looks like we got a mystery on our hooves! It's time to solve the case of the Missing Pegasus!"
Rainbow Dash facehoofed "Pinkie, now's not the time to-"
Pinkie held up a hoof "That's Detective Pinkie to you, ma'am! And now's a good time as ever to leave no stone unturned as we search for our lost friend!"
Fluttershy looked ahead "But how can we be sure if Envy's in Ponyville? We just saw her jump into the forest..."
Gluttony stopped in his tracks and looked back blankly "Envy's not in the forest!" He then trotted into Ponyville with his muzzle in the dirt.
Fluttershy drooped her ears 'That can't be healthy for poor Gluttony...Oh, I hope Envy's not getting into any trouble...' She trotted after the voracious pony and went into town.
Pinkie held up a dramatic hoof "Alas, the plot thickens! Come, my assistant!" She pulled out a black bowler hat out of nowhere and tossed it onto Rainbow Dash's head, the hat landing on top of her perfectly "We have a mystery to solve!" The party pony turned detective then pulled out a magnifying glass and stared at the ground through it as she followed Fluttershy and Gluttony into town.
Rainbow Dash sighed at Pinkie's randomness and hovered after them 'Pinkie Pie, you are so random...' She then scowled at the thought of having to search high and low for a certain pony 'Envy, you are SO dead!!'
End of Chapter 24