"Pinkie..."
The whole day had been painful for Pinkie. Meeting Mudbriar had been frustrating enough as is, but finding out that he's now Maud's boyfriend was nightmarish! He was already a pain to deal with, but to think she might end up related to him was just... just...
Starlight started thinking of ways to diffuse the situation. "Uh, wait, let's all slow down and talk about this."
"Talk?" Pinkie's voice was suddenly deeper and more ominous. "What do you think I've been doing."
Starlight stepped away, sensing something was very, very wrong. "P-Pinkie?"
"Talking to others... making them my friends..." Pinkie's head was twitching. "That's what I'm all about. But him... he's impossible."
Mudbriar raised an eyebrow. "Technically, it's-"
"TECHNICALLY this. TECHNICALLY that." Pinkie started turning back to them. "Why are you so obsessive over that word?"
Starlight bit her lip. She wanted to correct Pinkie, but-
"Obsessed with."
And Maud did it anyway.
Pinkie let out a laugh. Not her usual, jolly laugh. A demented sounding one. "Even you, Maud? He got you doing it too?" Then she let out a deep growl. "This is a nightmare. A bad joke. I'm not letting this slide."
Starlight, worried about what might happen next, got as close to Maud and Mudbriar as she could and put up a barrier.
"I won't-" Pinkie lifted her right hoof, and slammed it down, causing the earth below it to surround it, moving up her hoof to the rest of her body. "-let you-" She lifted her left hoof, and slammed it down, causing the same effect. "-take her-" The earth surrounded the rest of her body. She lifted her head, her eyes glowing with a deep brown light. "-AWAY!!!!!"
"... and then he bawked like a chicken!"
Silver and Fluttershy both giggled. Smolder's account of what happened between her and Gallus was rather amusing.
"Aww. Gallus was scared of such a small thing." Silver squeed and squished her cheeks. "It's adorable!"
Fluttershy giggled as she put the empty bottle she was holding into her grocery bag. "Technically, it would have been out of shock as opposed to fear."
Smolder looked at Fluttershy dead on. "I need to ask this. You've been saying 'technically' a lot lately."
Fluttershy smacked her face. "Aw! He got me saying it."
"Who did?"
"A new colt in town. His name is-"
*POP!*
"... Mudbriar?"
Sure enough, Mudbriar just appeared in front of the three, alongside Maud and Starlight.
Starlight let out a sigh of relief. "I think we got away."
Maud, of all ponies, looked very shaken. "What happened? It's like she just-"
Silver shook her head to clear it. "Hold on, what's going-"
Smolder noticed something bad and pointed below them. "LOOK OUT!"
Starlight looked down, where dirt started to rise up around them. She teleported herself and the two earth ponies away just before it imploded.
"Where are you going?" A figure started raising out of the earth.
Starlight stepped back. "Pinkie! Please! Calm down!"
Fluttershy's eyes went wide. "That thing is Pinkie?"
"Stay back, Fluttershy." Pinkie's "face" got close to Fluttershy's, a nightmarish smile on her face. "I'm not after you... yet."
Fluttershy shrieked and shot off, dropping her bags.
Pinkie started laughing like mad. "Now, Mudbriar-"
*FWOOOM!*
Smolder shot a large amount of fire out of her mouth, completely blocking Pinkie's vision. Starlight, sensing opportunity, teleported Maud, Mudbriar, and herself away to a specific, distant location.
"AARGH! YOU LITTLE BRAT!" Pinkie swatted at her face, then looked around. "Wait, where are they?"
"Nowhere near us!" Silver whipped a bottle of water out of the bag Fluttershy dropped. "And that's fine by me!" She yanked the top off the bottle, and immediately floated the water around her.
Pinkie looked at Silver, then Smolder, who had lit up her arms and legs. "Well, aren't you two interesting." Her face twisted into an evil smile. "This outta be fun."
"And that's the difference between rays and beams. I'll be honest, I had trouble figuring it out until I got some help from-"
*POP!*
"... Starlight?"
Starlight hadn't meant to interrupt Twilight's class, but there wasn't much time to think about that. "Twilight, we've got a huge problem!"
Twilight ran towards Starlight. "Wait! Slow down! Why is Maud here? Who is that?"
"That's not important!"
Twilight was getting irate. "It's very important! And you should know not to-"
Starlight didn't have time to listen to a lecture. "PINKIE'S BECOME A MONSTER!"
Twilight's anger turned to panic. "What? How?"
"I don't know! And I watched it happen!" Starlight then cringed in realization. "Ohh, I just left Silver and Smolder with her!"
And panic turned back to anger. "YOU WHAT? Why would you leave the students with her?"
Starlight stepped back. "I wasn't thinking about them! Pinkie was-"
"Not important now!" Twilight turned back to her class. "You're dismissed, but DON'T LEAVE THE BUILDING!"
The princess and the unicorn ran out of the room.
Mudbriar did what he does best. "T-technically, we should leave if Pinkie shows up, but for now..."
An alarm started sounding, prompting the other three teachers there to rush to Twilight's location.
"All students! Do not leave the building! I repeat, do not leave the building!" Twilight moved away from the microphone as the other teachers entered the room.
"Twilight!" Rainbow was the first to speak, "What's happening? Where are Pinkie and Fluttershy?"
Twilight gasped. "Starlight, do you know-"
*CRASH!* *WHUMP!* "Pinkie's a monster! Pinkie's a monster!"
Twilight took a moment to process what just happened, then pat the yellow pegasus that landed on her on the head. "At least you're safe."
Rarity was trying to process what Fluttershy was saying. "W-what do you mean Pinkie's a monster?"
Starlight explained what happened to them as quickly as she could. By the time she finished, the others were suitably disturbed.
Applejack was the first to react. "Wait a tic, all that over Maud's boyfriend?"
"We've seen her snap before, but it was over something far worse for her," Rainbow clutched her head. "And it didn't get this bad!"
Twilight got Fluttershy off of her and stood up. "It's possible that something else is influencing her this time."
Rarity's eyes narrowed. "It's not Neighsay, is it?"
Twilight shook her head. "Unlikely. He seems like the type to plan things from behind the scenes, then make a huge blow to us, not send out random monsters like this."
Starlight had a theory. "It might be someone that can give others powers while they are in distress."
"It's too soon to say. This is the first time something like this is happening!"
"No, it's not!" Fluttershy's voice was soft, but her words were very loud. "It happened with Stygian and Luna before! If it's the same thing as those times..."
Applejack smiled. "Then the Elements of Harmony should work on her!"
Starlight noted the problem. "But Pinkie's not able to use hers."
"True, but it's still our best shot," Rarity put her hoof on Starlight's shoulder. "And we have you, in case things go wrong."
Twilight also smiled, feeling a lot more confidence. "Then let's get the Elements! Until then, none of the students can leave the school building, especially Silver and Smolder's friends."
Fluttershy nodded. "Right, because Silver and Smolder-"
"Aaaaaboooout thaaaaaaat." Rainbow Dash had a very awkward smile.
The problem with being bulky is that you tend to be slow, so faster targets can be hard to hit. The problem with using the ground as your weapon is that it tends to be hard to hit things that can fly. For Silver and Smolder, however, this was a great opportunity to test their powers, like shooting fireballs and water blades.
"Fwoom! Fwoom!" Smolder looked at her hands. "... Silver, I feel stupid doing this."
Silver shot her a jolly smile. "Keep doing it! It sounds funny!"
Smolder responded with a flat look. "... No."
Silver continued to test her powers, figuring out how to use the moisture in the air, but was very bothered by something. "Why can't I turn this into ice?"
Smolder shrugged. "Because you control water?"
Silver started pouting. "But ice is just hard water!"
A bunch of pillars of dirt shot towards them, stopping just below them. Smolder blinked at them. "Shouldn't we be focusing on saving Professor Pinkie?"
Silver scratched her head. "... I guess?"
"Will you two shut up?"
Gallus flew in out of nowhere, kicking the dirt golem in the face.
"Gallus?"
"Girls!"
Sandbar, displaying his powers over wind, flew up next to the two creatures already there.
"Hey, Sandbar!" Silver acted like there was absolutely no danger.
"What is that? Where did it come from?"
"That's Professor Pinkie." Smolder started scratching her head. "I think she got mad at someone?"
"That's our Professor?" Ocellus, having just flown up as well, gasped. "We have to save her!"
"Yak will be distraction!"
The four winged creatures and the wind commanding pony looked at their yak friend, and quickly realized something; Yona was not only the only one grounded but also the slowest of them. Fear washed over them as they watched a dome of dirt surround their friend.
"YONA!"
It was too late. She was completely surrounded, and the dome crushed in on itself. Once gone, there was no trace of Yona.
Sandbar was heartbroken. "N-no."
Gallus, however, took action. "YOU TURD!" He punched the golem in the face.
This was followed up by a pillar of earth striking it in the other direction.
"What the-" Silver shook her head to make sure she wasn't seeing things. "Did it attack itself?"
Then something even weirder happened; it got hit in the face by nothing! Followed by it getting smacked in the gut by nothing.
Then a boulder popped out of it's back. "Yona fine! Just beat up big meanie!" The definitely not crushed yak dove back in and continued beating it up from the inside.
Sandbar let out a huge sigh of relief. "She's alive. She had me really scared for a moment there."
"Wait a second." Ocellus tapped her hoof to her chin. "Five of us can fly out of her range, and the last one can combine with Professor Pinkie's attacks... Does anyone else get the feeling we got stupid lucky?"
"Yeah! We can't get hurt from up-" Smolder, while taunting about being too high to hit, accidentally lowered herself into range, earning her a pillar to the shin. She promptly fixed her height problem, then rubbed her leg. "We can't get hurt unless we stop paying attention."
Silver giggled, while Ocellus' hoof met her face.
"Alright, let's end this joke." Sandbar held up his hoof, then blew next to it. "Let's see if this works." Wind continued to spin around his hoof, going faster and faster until extended forward in a large tornado.
Once it made contact with the golem, the rocks on it started flying off, shredding it apart fast. Yona yelped as she leaped away from the golem she was just hiding in.
Ocellus grew concerned. "I think that's enough, Sandbar!"
"I-I can't stop it!"
That made the others panic. An uncontrollable tornado was far more dangerous to them than whatever happened with Pinkie.
Suddenly, he started spinning around his hoof. "WooooaaaaOOOOAAAAHHH" The tornado finally stopped when Sandbar suddenly barreled out of the sky.
Silver slapped her claws against her cheeks. "SANDBAR!"
Yona quickly softened the ground where Sandbar was about to land, saving him from serious injury. A few scrapes, but nothing major. "Yak did a good!"
Sandbar rubbed his head, then looked at the claw held out to him.
"That was pretty crazy," Gallus pulled the AC pony up to his hoofs. "Though I think you made it a bit too big."
"I completely lost control of it." Sandbar shook his head. "I got a bit careless."
"Guys! The professor!"
They all reacted to Silver's call by rushing over to Pinkie.
Sandbar spoke first, "Are you okay, professor?"
Gallus got closer than the others. "What happened?"
Ocellus pulled him back. "Hey! Give her some space!"
Yona leaned forward. "Professor Pinkie?"
"..."
Smolder was worried. "Is she-"
"It would be you brats."
The voice that came from Pinkie sent chills up their spines. Particularly Silver. "Y-you're..."
Pinkie smiled. "Hmhmhm. I should thank you for releasing me. I suppose your curiosity was my boon."
Smolder's eye was twitching. "Y-you..."
Pinkie opened one of her eyes, glowing with a dark brown light. "But now you oppose me, with the very power that sealed me. That's how heroes really are, huh?"
Yona growled at it.
"You all seem displeased. All I do is give an opportunity to those that need it."
"Opportuni-" Ocellus gasped in realization. "You can take over creatures that are heartbroken or angry?"
The deep voice laughed. "That's right. A small part of myself can send itself to those that are desperate for a way out. Through that, I can empower them-"
"Pfft!" Gallus waved his claw dismissively. "You're a small part of yourself? No wonder you were pathetic. You're gonna be easy to wipe the floor with."
Pinkie's face turned to a scowl. "Though I am just a small part of a whole. I will grow stronger with time, and with each tortured soul I grab."
"You'll grow stronger, but so will we," Sandbar asserted. "We'll be ready moving forward."
"... Tsk. Just try to beat me." A shadow separated from Pinkie's own, slithering a short distance before dissolving into the air.
They all stared at where it was for a bit before turning back to Pinkie.
Gallus was worried. "Professor?"
"Nnngh..."
Silver let out a sigh of relief. "She's alive."
Ocellus got up and turned away. "I'll get the other professors!"
Sandbar watched her run to the nearby hill, in the direction of the school, then turned to his friends. "Guys, I know that you'll want to brag, but it's best that we keep quiet about our powers, even with proof that they're useful."
Gallus shrugged. "You did the impressive thing."
Yona nodded. "Yona understand."
"Guys!"
The students looked in the direction Ocellus ran off in, and saw the rest of the professors running towards them, most wearing jewelry that seemed... off, to the students.
"That was fast." Smolder prodded Ocellus' horn. "Did you teleport while we weren't looking?"
Ocellus pushed Smolder's hand away. "They were almost here anyway."
Twilight rushed over to Pinkie's side. "Is she alright?"
Rainbow turned to Starlight. "I thought you said she was a monster!"
Starlight felt incredibly awkward. "Uh... Well..."
"She was," Smolder asserted. "Professor Fluttershy, Silver, and I were out shopping when Starlight teleported herself with two others in front of us. And then Professor Pinkie showed up as a... uh... thing, made of dirt or whatever, and tried to attack them."
"A golem?" Ocellus was not sure what to make of Smolder's description.
Smolder rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah, sure. Whatever that is."
"Right after they left, Smolder and I started distracting Professor Pinkie. We were expecting you guys to be the first to show up."
Rainbow got right in the hippogriff's face. "So who did show up first."
"The other students?" Fluttershy said completely deadpan.
Rainbow's eyes went wide, then she pulled back out of embarrassment. "Right, I suppose that makes-"
"Actually." Smolder looked around. "I don't think they're here anymore."
Rarity raised an eyebrow. "Who?"
"Someone else showed up, and started creating tornadoes." Silver looked around as well. "But I guess they left."
"So that's what I heard earlier. I thought it was a train but we were nowhere near the tracks." Applejack moved towards Pinkie. "Do you know what kind of creature they were?"
Silver and Smolder shared an awkward glance, then shook their heads.
Ocellus bit her lip. The two were weaving a believable lie, but she was worried one of the professors would see through it. She wanted to add on to it, make it more believable, but she might slip up and ruin what they had.
"I think I saw them." Gallus was either about to make or break the lie.
Though Starlight was immediately skeptical. "And when did you see them?"
"We saw Silver flying around like a maniac, so we went to check what she was doing. We stayed a good bit back, but saw the creature attack Professor Pinkie." Gallus scratched his head. "Now that I think about it, I don't remember seeing wings on them."
Starlight blinked a couple of times. "Oh. I see. Were they flying?"
Gallus gave her a half-lidded stare. "They didn't have wings."
"I can believe them flying, but that's not important." Twilight was speaking... oddly fast. "Right now, we should get back to the school, and make sure Pinkie gets any medical attention she needs. Students, I'd like for you to all go to the library right away, and wait for me there. The teachers are to wait in my office. I will address you afterward."
Starlight noticed something off. "Uh, Twilight?"
"NOW!" Twilight yelled at all of them.
The rest of them shared a look, then followed Twilight back.
Ocellus was bothered by one thing in particular. The lie Gallus told... was one that she thought of. Did they happen to have the same idea? Did he somehow catch on that she was thinking that? Did he... read her mind?
"BA-KAWK!"
They all looked at Gallus... and Fluttershy, who had his tail in her mouth.
"U-umm... Smolder mentioned you doing that, and I had to know."