A few weeks had passed since Yona’s friends had seen her wrestle for the first time in the ring. Her alter ego, Mastodon, quickly won them over just as fast as she did with each of the audiences at her matches. No matter how uncertain each match might have looked, Mastodon always came out on top. Along with Slipknot and Beastie, Yona had defeated other B-show wrestlers such as Sepultura, Pennywise, and Feist. As a wrestler, Yona had made quite a name for herself. However, her double life was taking a toll on her.
“And then I said, that’s not your beakbrush, that’s my scale brush!” Smolder said as she walked with Silverstream to the table in the cafeteria.
“Haha, it’s true, you did say that to me!” Silverstream agreed as she set her tray on the table.
Smolder followed suit, “Yeah, I’m glad we both remember that time.” The dragon turned her gaze to the table and saw that their yak friend was already sitting down with their food, but seemed to only be half awake, “Whoa, Yona, you alright?”
Yona shot her head up the second she heard her name being mentioned, “Oh, Yona fine! Yona just tired is all.”
“You’ve been tired a lot lately. Are you sure you have been sleeping well?” Silverstream asked with concern as she took a seat next to Yona.
Before Yona could answer, the rest of their friends arrived as well. “And a good evening to all of you, what’s up?” Gallus asked as he took a seat. Ocellus and Sandbar followed behind and also took a seat.
“I was just asking what’s up with Yona,” Smolder answered.
“She looks exhausted,” Silverstream added.
“Maybe it’s all of her extra schoolwork? I know some of the worksheets that Headmare Starlight gives us are pretty tricky,” Gallus asked.
Before any more questions could be asked, Ocellus stepped in, “Yes! That’s it! Yona’s having some trouble with some of her schoolwork is all!”
“Oh, is that all? Then we can help you!” Silverstream said with a smile. She raised up her talon and hit Yona on her back. The yak leaped out of her seat as the talon making contact caused pain to travel all over Yona’s body. While the yak didn’t say anything, the pain was shown across her face.
“Yona, you alright?” Sandbar correctly read Yona’s expression of discomfort.
“Oh goodness! I’m so sorry!”
Again, Ocellus jumped to the rescue, “She’s also sore from cheerleading practice! You know how hard of a coach Professor Rainbow Dash can be, haha!” The changeling tried to give the assurance that everything was okay with her nervous laugh.
“Really? I’m not sore from cheerleading practice,” Smolder said.
“Maybe it’s because you didn’t stay for extra practices?” The way Ocellus responded made it sound as if she was unsure of her statement and even questioning it entirely.
The dragon thought about it for a brief moment before simply shrugging, “True, I had more important things going on.”
Gallus interrupted, “I’m telling you, trying to build a robot out of cardboard is not gonna work.”
“It’s gonna work and when it does, Cardboardo will show you just how wrong you are!”
“If you want it to work, I suggest making sure it doesn’t fall after taking it’s first step on the stairs.”
“Did some creature just say stairs?!” Silverstream asked with an excited expression.
As her friends continued to talk amongst themselves, Yona stood up onto her hooves. “Yona gonna go to sleep early tonight,” her face reflected exactly how drained of energy she was.
“Oh, alright. Well, do take it easy and drink plenty of water,” Sandbar recommended.
“And if you need any help with your assignments, just let us know!” Silverstream added with a smile.
Yona returned the smile as she started to head back towards the dorms.
“I’m going to go help her,” Ocellus said before turning to Silverstream and pointing at her, “No touching my carrots.”
“Okay, okay, I won’t. Geez, you steal from your friend’s tray six times and suddenly you’re known as a food thief.”
Ocellus caught up to Yona and started to trot with her. The two started to talk just barely above a whisper.
“Yona, you need to stop doing this.”
“But Yona having fun wrestling. And Yona’s friends like watching Yona.”
“That might be true, but look at yourself. You’re exhausted in class, you’re barely getting your work done on time, and it’s only a matter of time before the quality of your work starts to suffer. Not to mention that your performance at cheerleading practice has been has gotten….sloopy….”
Yona gave a weak smile and brushed it aside, “Professor Rainbow Dash not notice.”
“But it’s only a matter of time before something bad happens. And not to mention that every creature is starting to notice that you’re not your usual self. I’m your dormmate and I barely recognize you in this state,” Ocellus explained.
“Yona just need good night’s sleep.”
With a sigh, Ocellus continued, “And it’s not just about you, Yona, we’re all worried about you. And, if I’m going to be perfectly honest, I don’t like turning into you.”
“What Ocellus mean?”
“I already told you that I feel uncomfortable transforming into you. In fact, each time I turn into you, I just feel….I don’t know….not in my own skin….”
“Because Ocellus in Yona’s skin!” the yak made a joke.
“Yona, I’m serious here! All of this can’t be good, for any of us.”
The yak was silent as they continued to trot. After a few moments, Ocellus thought about calling out to her just to make sure she wasn’t sleeptrotting. She answered, “Yona knows. Yona thinking of what to do. Maybe Yona should quit.”
“I’m not going to force you to do anything. I know you like wrestling, and you are very good at it too, but I want you to just sleep on it, alright?”
Yona nodded. It was at that moment that she noticed that the two had made it to their dorm.
“Get some rest, Yona. I’ll cover for you, but please do think about what I said. You can’t keep this up forever.”
With a thankful nod and smile, Yona opened the door and entered the dorm. As soon as it was closed, the exhausted yak trotted to her bed and fell face down, possibly falling fast asleep before she hit the mattress.
-----------------------
Later that evening, there was a knock at the door. It was loud enough for Yona to wake up and cause the yak to investigate. She opened the door, revealing a green earth pony on the other side.
“Oh, hello Sandbar,” her voice sounded tired.
“Morning, sunshine.”
“What is Sandbar doing here?”
“I stopped by to see if you wanted to go get some fresh air? I’m sure being cooped up inside isn’t doing you any favors,” Sandbar explained.
Yona looked at Sandbar’s face, and he had an expression of both concern as well as welcoming to his friend. The yak felt herself blush, or at least she thought she was blushing because her face was numb from a mixture of sore from wrestling as well as lying face down while sleeping. “Yona would like that,” she answered as she took a step out of the dorm into the hallway.
The two began walking around the campus grounds with no real destination in mind. The cool night air was brisk on both the yak and the pony as they trotted. The night sky was clear and the stars peered downward. Looking at the stars, Yona smiled up at them as she realized that it had been so long since she had looked up at the stars at night.
“It’s a really nice night,” Sandbar commented as he took a deep breath of the cool air, “A bit of a chill, but still beautiful.”
Yona smiled and nodded as she also took a deep breath. The air almost froze her insides. The yak had been so used to wrestling in overheated rooms that the night air felt icy in Yona’s lungs. She coughed a little. Each cough reminded Yona of just exactly how sore her body was.
“Easy there,” Sandbar looked at Yona with concern.
She put on a brave face, “Yona okay!” Despite the obvious fact that Sandbar didn’t buy it, Yona moved the conversation along, “Where are other friends?”
“Well, Smolder and Gallus said something about a cupcake eating contest, and I already know that won’t end well so I decided to pass on that. And Silverstream asked Ocellus for help on her math homework, which means neither of them are going to get anything done,” Sandbar explained, “So, that’s why I wanted to see how you were doing.”
Without missing a beat, Yona offered a readily planned response, “Yona fine! Don’t Yona look happy?” Her words sounded almost as forced as her smile.
“You look tired,” Sandbar said, “Maybe you should go see Nurse Redheart or something. Actually, who would the non-pony students see if they got sick?” His rhetorical question was one he would like eventually answered.
Yona brushed it off as they continued to walk along the path. “Yona’s friends have nothing to worry about!”
The earth pony still wasn’t convinced. The two of them continued to trot along for a while in silence with nothing but the gentle evening breeze and the few chirping birds making any sound. Finally, Sandbar spoke up again.
“Yona, I know you are wrestling under the name Mastodon.”
The yak froze in her tracks with an expression of dread painted on her face. She slowly turned Sandbar with a guilty smile on her face, “Wh-What? Y-Yona doesn’t know what Sandbar is talking about!”
“Yona, you’re the only yak in all of Ponyville. This wasn’t all that hard to figure out.”
She still refused to admit it, “Y-Yona is not wrestling under the name Mastodon! Yona can’t be wrestling because….Yona has extracaric-....” Yona paused for a moment and tried again, “extracoric-....“
“Extracurricular activities?” Sandbar asked.
“Those! Yeah, Yona has those!” Yona pointed at Sandbar as he guessed the right word. Yona then whispered to herself, “Why can Yona not say that word?”
Sandbar raised an eyebrow, “Is that why you just happen to be unable to go see wrestling with the rest of us?”
“No! Sometimes Yona has trouble with schoolwork and sometimes Yona sleepy!” Yona continued to lie.
“Mhm….” Sandbar crossed his front hooves, “Nevertheless, you shouldn’t be doing that.”
“But why?” Yona asked, sounding like a filly that was told she couldn’t have a second cookie. However, she quickly added, “shouldn’t Mastodon wrestle? Mastodon likes wrestling. So Yona has heard.”
He couldn’t help but have a smile and a chuckle as he rolled his eyes at Yona’s statements. “Well, for starters,” Sandbar started, “wrestling can be quite dangerous. One wrong move and things can go pretty badly. Also, while Mastodon is quite an impressive and skilled wrestler....”
“And powerful, don’t Sandbar forget powerful!” Yona boasted before sheepishly adding, “So Yona has heard.”
“While Mastodon is all of those things, I can only imagine how wrestling might be affecting her everyday life. All that wrestling and training must be giving her problems.”
“Yona don’t know about that….” she trailed off as she looked away.
“Maybe she’s losing a lot of sleep?”
“Maybe….”
“And her body is hurting?”
“Hmm….”
“Perhaps there academics are starting to suffer?”
Yona didn’t say anything.
“Most importantly, I feel her friends might be worried for her too, whether they know Mastodon is wrestling is or not.”
Still, Yona was silent.
Sandbar saw how uncomfortable Yona was. “But despite everything, Mastodon looks amazing up there in the ring.”
Yona turned to look at Sandbar, her eyes wide with surprise, “Really?”
“Oh yeah. Wrestling is not an easy sport. In fact, there’s a lot that goes into it. The athleticism, the skill, and the pagentery of it all, it’s all so much to put on an amazing spectacle.” Sandbar noticed that Yona had a small smile on her face. It might have been small, but it was full of pride and joy from her friend’s words, “It never ceases to amaze me with how the two wrestlers fight in the ring so beautifully. Like how Mastodon performed a flying lariat against Feist last week.”
“Yona heard that Mastodon caused Feist to bleed after hitting opponent in nose,” the yak stated in a matter-of-fact way, with a hit of boasting in her tone.
Sandbar smiled, “And let’s not forget her signature move, the infamous ‘Blood And Thunder’.”
“That Yona’s favorite move!” Yona said as her tail wagged. She quickly added to her statement, “Yona heard it really powerful!”
“Each time she does it, it scares me to think of what’s about to happen. But seeing it being executed perfectly, it’s always amazing to witness. It just goes to show that those wrestlers are talented and know what they’re doing,” Sandbar said.
The yak’s face beamed brightly as her friend praised her alter ego.
“Sorry, we’re getting sidetracked by wrestling. I asked you out here to see how you were doing,” Sandbar changed the subject, “I know you’ve been really out of it lately.”
Yona was a bit puzzled. Sandbar had just claimed he knew Yona was wrestling, but now he started acting like he hadn’t figured out that Yona and Mastodon were the same yak. “Yona just tired is all.”
“You fell asleep during Professor Rockhoof’s lecture last week,” Sandbar pointed out.
“Yona did?!” Yona asked in horror, “Yona thought it was Counsellor Trixie’s literature class! Yona can’t believe Yona did that!”
“And not to mention you look sore all over. I haven’t seen you excitedly smash anything in quite some time. The repair ponies who usually fix all the stuff you usually break are confused and getting a bit bored.”
With a half-reassuring smile, Yona spoke, “Yona just sore from cheerleading is all.”
Sandbar didn’t speak for a moment as he scanned the yak from her hooves to the top of her horns. Finally, he did speak, “You know, Yona, there’s no shame in taking a break.”
“Huh?”
“It’s obvious you have a lot going on,” Sandbar explained “There’s a lot of advance courses you are taking here at the school. Some of the courses you’re in are even a challenge for Ocellus. On top of that, you have cheerleading, and I’m sure you have more things weighing on your mind too.”
Yona avoided eye contact, “Yona would feel guilty if Yona quit anything.”
“But if you just explain and be honest about how you’re doing, I’m sure every creature would understand. A little honesty goes a long way. I told Professor Pinkie that I was having some trouble with my mathematics and she took time to work with me to get up to speed,” Sandbar said, “She also gave me some party favors, but I think that was unrelated.”
The yak was quiet.
“I’m not gonna force you to do anything, and regardless of what you choose to do,” he continued, “we are all here for you.”
A soft smile appeared on Yona’s face, “Thank you, Sandbar.”
“Now, how about I treat you to a cider? I’m sure you could use a little relaxation.”