It had certainly been an interesting few weeks since Nightmare Night, with the discovery of Applejack and Rogue's new relationship spreading like wildfire through the town. Since then, several interesting occurrences had...occurred. One of which was Twilight's discovery of another School of Friendship, which she discovered was being run by the Flim-Flam Brothers with EEA approval. Twilight had been in for the shock of a lifetime when she learned that Starswirl of all ponies had enrolled there, but her experiences with the Flim-Flam Brothers had made her very suspicious of their schemes.
And as it turned out, the school was a scheme. One meant to swindle every last bit out of the students in order for the brothers to make expansions to a resort they owned in Las Pegasus. Twilight had had to put her reputation on the line to make sure the place was closed down and with Starswirl's help, that's exactly what happened, the students of this university all transferring to Twilight's school after getting a full refund from the brothers.
The next big event had been a rather worrying situation that had almost ended Rainbow and Rarity's friendship. Luckily, a mission they were sent on by Twilight helped the pair resolve their differences and strengthen their friendship.
But as the next day passed, a rather peaceful day found Fluttershy, Angel and Iron out in the meadow near the forest picking flowers, though it was really just Fluttershy and Angel. Iron was leaning against a tree relaxing, watching his girlfriend find and collect the best flowers and plants to help decorate the sanctuary. And right as Angel yanked a nice blue flower out of the ground, a sound filled the air. A sound that was like nothing any of them had ever heard. It was a loud but low sound filled periodically with a high pitched squealing, that last one for several long seconds.
Iron jumped into ready position, holding up his Celestic Gear, only for Fluttershy to gasp, "Oh my goodness! Some poor creature's in trouble! We have to help it!"
She began to run at this, Iron soon following her, "Wait! It could be dangerous!"
"Or it could be hurt!" Fluttershy called back, as the noise filling the air again. "Oh, listen to that suffering! It must be in horrible agony!" She picked up the pace and Iron grabbed Angel, the three running through the forest as the noise got louder and more repetitive.
And as it blared again, they all came to a stop, trying to figure out where the sound was coming from. "Ooh! It sounds like a herd of injured chimera!" Fluttershy turned to the noise and ran again, Iron moaning as he followed, "Or it's Cerberus with snifflitis in two of its heads and kennel cough in its third. Or maybe it's-"
The source of the noise then came into view, the pair skidding to a stop as an unearthly figure hidden in the forest's shadow could be seen. Iron pushed Fluttershy behind him and pointed his spear at the creature. But before he could attack, the sun broke through the forest canopy and illuminated it, both going wide-eyed.
"Pinkie Pie?" Fluttershy said in an almost whisper, her eyes now staring at her pink friend sitting on a log with a strange looking device in her hooves.
"Thaaaaaaaat's me!" Pinkie spun around, the sound stopping at this. They then saw the device she was carrying, which looked like a blue leather bag, with several large horns sticking out of it and a long thin bronze tube on the other side. It looked like someone had tried to make a peacock out of random bits they had found. "And a-one, and a-two, and a-I know what to do!" Pinkie took a deep breath and blew into the device while also squeezing the bag. This caused the noise they had heard to fly out of the horns, Fluttershy and Iron covering their ears.
"Ugh..." Fluttershy flinched, "At least no animal is suffering. Right, Angel?" She looked down at her pet as the rabbit pulled on his tail so that some cotton came out, the bunny stuffing them into his ears as Fluttershy gave a nervous laugh. "Well, until now."
Iron growled and ran up to take the device from Pinkie. "Hey!" She tried to take it back, but Iron held it well out of her reach. "Give me back my yovidaphone!"
"No way! I don't know where you got this weapon, but it's clearly too dangerous to allow a civilian to have!"
"Weapon?!" Pinkie yelped, "It's not a weapon! It's a musical instrument!"
"What?!" Iron glanced back at the thing, "How the heck can you call what you just did music?!"
"Iron!" Fluttershy yelled, making Iron flinch, only for Pinkie to swipe back her instrument.
"Give me a break, I'm just starting out. Why do you think I'm playing it out here?" She put the bag under her leg, "With a little practice, I'll be ready to bathe the whole town in the glorious music of the yaks."
With that, she started playing again, the horrible sound filling the air, making both her friends cry out as she blew as hard as she could to make the loudest sound possible.
"Let's get out of here before she deafens somepony!" Iron cried, Fluttershy not arguing as they ran off to avoid losing their hearing. "I just hope she gives that up soon..."
A few days later...
It turned out Iron was wrong, though in hindsight, he really should have known better. The two were soon forced to listen to it again along with the rest of their friends. It of course happened on a nice day, nopony now able to enjoy going to the park thanks to Pinkie taking one of the gazebos and playing the instrument as loud as she could. And this included Pinkie's friends, who were all sitting around her.
"Augh!" They cried as Pinkie's volume rose for a moment, then lowered and rose again at random intervals. Springer was the most effected, his hearing being a lot better than the others.
"What is that thing?" Applejack asked Twilight, who smiled as she whispered back.
"It's called a yovidaphone. It's from yakyakistan, where it's actually quite popular."
"Lots of things from yakyakistan don't tend to fly here," Lightning pointed out before Pinkie unleashed another loud burst. "AUGH!" He pulled on his headphones, "I think this is gonna join that group."
As he said that Rainbow, turned to Twilight. "Is it supposed to sound like that?"
"Not exactly," Twilight replied as Angel grabbed Fluttershy's flower basket and pulled it over his head. "It's known to produce a fairly complicated, melodically rich, and harmonious tone." It was in that moment a bird flew passed, right as Pinkie blasted another burst of sound from the horns, the noise blowing away all the bird's feathers, making it instantly plummet. Fluttershy gasped and flew up to catch it, smiling as she brought the bird down. He thanked her, then looked his now naked body over before glaring at Pinkie.
They all watched the bird walk off, Rainbow whispering to Twilight. "Are you sure we're talking about the same thing?"
"I still think it's an ancient yak torture device," Iron grumbled as Pinkie finished her song.
"Oh, thank you Celestia," Flash whispered as he turned to Springer. "You okay?"
"What?!" Springer yelled, tapping the sides of his ears. "What'd you say?"
Flash groaned as Pinkie took several breaths. "Phew!" She smiled at her friends, "And that's with only a few days of practice! Can you believe it?!"
She blasted another burst of sound right in their faces at this, everypony covering their ears.
"Yes," Rarity grumbled, "Yes, I can."
Applejack nodded, "Ah can honestly say ah've never heard anything like it in mah life."
Pinkie put a hoof to her chest, "Well, if you enjoyed listening to my playing half as I enjoyed playing my playing, then I should totally play more! That way, we'll be even!"
"Oh, I don't think that's necessary Pinkie." Twilight chimed in, the others all giving their own answer, which was pretty much the same as Rainbow leapt up and grabbed the pipe before she could blow into it again.
"Please. Don't."
Pinkie smiled as she hugged the instrument back, "There's a chance I may have missed a note or two here or there, but I just love playing so much!" She sighed, "You complete me."
"Well," Twilight muttered out, "I, for one, am glad you're having so much fun with your new hobby." Pinkie continued to stare at the yovidaphone, smiling as she rubbed her hooves into the instrument.
"Uh-huh. Sure."
"And it's great that you're learning a new skill, and...and you're just waiting for me to finish talking so you can start playing again, aren't ya?"
Pinkie shook her head, "No!" But then she grabbed the sack, "Buuut if you're done. And a-one, and a-two, and a-I know what to do!" She leapt down off the stage and began bouncing, blowing into the instrument and unleashing the horrible music.
And once she was out of earshot, which was a good distance away, Fluttershy sighed and removed the basket from Angel. "It's okay. She's gone." Angel stood up, having tied his ears around his head so it looked like he had a beard.
"Anypony else think that sounded like an apple core cut up in a pulp grinder?"
"Apple-solutely!" Rarity nodded before blushing at her own words, "Uh...I mean, absolutely."
"Okay," Twilight turned to the others, "So maybe she isn't good yet. But she's our friend, and we should be supportive."
"What's distorted?" Springer asked while rubbing his ears.
"She just started playin'," Applejack added, "She's bound to get better. Right?"
"What's this about kites?"
"Yeah," Rainbow nodded "We just need to be supportive of her practicing..."
"Baptizing?" Springer asked, "Who's getting baptized?"
Rainbow groaned as they heard the yovidaphone in the distance, "So the getting-better part happens as fast as possible."
"Hospital?" Springer rubbed his ears again, "Is the baptism taking place at a hospital? Is that where you're going to fly kites? Or is that the place that's distorted?" The ponies all sighed, wondering if Springer's hearing would repair itself by the time Pinkie's playing improved.
But as the next day came, they found Pinkie's terrible playing of the yovidaphone wasn't the only problem they would soon have. Her constant playing of it, despite it being good practice for her, also caused other problems.
The day after Pinkie's first performance to her friends, Rarity had been working on a dress when Pinkie suddenly appeared behind her. The loud and uneven noise caused Rarity to cry out and make several mistake in her dress, causing it to come out looking like a stitched mess.
At that same night, Pinkie decided to pay Fluttershy a visit. Unfortunately, it had been right around the time Fluttershy was putting all her animal friends to sleep, only for them to panic as Pinkie tried to play the instrument again.
Rainbow was the next victim, as Pinkie decided to go to one of her races and play. The mare had hoped the loud roar of the crowd would deafen out the yovidaphone, only for it to instead distract Rainbow so much that it knocked her off course, making her lose her rather impressive lead in the race.
Applejack had been picking apples with the rest of her family after that, only for Pinkie to arrive and blast her yovidaphone at max volume. Within seconds, every tree in the field was covered it exploded apples. The noise was so loud and horrible that Rogue was awakened and in his daze, he assumed the farm was under attack.
A little later...
Several miles away from Ponyville, a caravan of ponies were walking through the meadows while pulling large covered carts. A short distance away, Flash, Springer, Grand, Iron and Lightning were watching them while hidden under some camouflage blankets, Flash sticking his head out and looked through a pair of binoculars.
"There they are," he whispered, "Looks like the tip Cold sent us was right. Those wagons are probably full of illegal or stolen goods."
"So what's the plan?" Springer asked, his hearing having recovered thanks to keeping his distance from Pinkie PIe.
"Everything's set up," Lightning chimed in, "I set up some rune stickers in several key areas. Once they're inside the area, I'll activate them and create a barrier they won't be able to escape from. Then we can rush in and search the wagon."
Grand stuck his head out, "Good plan. As long as we don't do anything to spook them, they should fall right into our trap."
They patiently waited at this, Flash staring as they watched the group slowly approach the area. And just as the ponies were about to step into the rune circle, a familiar and loud noise exploded behind them, making them all cry and jump out of their hiding places. They spun around to see Pinkie, now dressed in a horned helmet and a blue shall, smiling at them as she started playing her yovidaphone.
The Defenders spun around and gasped to see that their targets had spotted them, the group scattering away from the rune circle. "After them!" Grand yelled, Springer holding his head.
"What?!" He asked as they ran off, "Did you say diaphragm?!"
Twilight sighed as she sat out on a bench in the middle of town, having gotten a break from the school and her princess duties. She then turned to her dragon assistant, "You're absolutely right, Spike. Sometimes it is nice to get out of the library and be in the sun." She took a book off of the large pile of books she had brought out with her, opening it up as Spike flew down onto the bench next to her.
"Especially when you take the library with you." Twilight chuckled at this, only to hear a lot hoofsteps, making her glance up to see all her friends glaring at her.
Applejack, who was still covered in apple bits, shook her body to get rid of it before frowning. "We need to do somethin' about Pinkie Pie's playin'!"
"Like, now!" Rainbow added, Twilight gulping.
"Is it really that bad?"
"Does this answer your question?" Rainbow thrust a silver object in the alicorn's face, Twilight looking it over.
"Uh, a trophy?"
"For second place!" Rainbow exclaimed before throwing it away, "Second! Place! All because of Pinkie's playing!"
Rarity stepped up next, holding up a horribly stitched dress. "And I wanted to turn heads with my new fall line, but not like this!"
She burst out crying as Applejack walked in front of her, "And thanks to her fruit-blastin' melodies, I got an orchard full of nothin' but applesauce! And it ain't even saucin' season!"
"You think you got problems?!" Flash yelped, "We were about to bust a large gang of criminals and Pinkie ruined the sting by blasting her music right next to us and making Springer deaf!"
"Theft?!" Springer yelled, "Did somepony steal something?!"
Flash gestured to him as Iron let out a growl, "We barely managed to catch half the crooks. If I knew Pinkie wasn't doing this on purpose, I'd threaten to arrest her for obstruction of justice!"
"And just look what her playing did to poor Fluttershy!" Rarity pointed to the pegasus mare, who was currently fast asleep while still standing up.
"That's weird," Spike commented.
Rainbow gave the mare a mild tap to the face, causing her to wake up with a start. "Oh. So very tired." She then spoke through a yawn she couldn't stop, "It practically took me all night to get the nursery back to sleep."
Applejack turned back to Twilight. "Ah mean, ah know we said we should all be supportive, but Pinkie's been playin' for moons now, and she's not gettin' any better."
"Yeah!" Rainbow nodded. "If anything, she's gotten worse!"
"Then what do we do?"
Grand let out a sigh at this, "I think I know what the problem is." They all turned to him as he then asked, "Has Pinkie ever tried something new and not been able to pick it up right away?"
The ponies all shared a glance at this, only for Rainbow to reply, "She had a bit of trouble learning to play the flugelhorn back at the Crystal Empire...but after a bit of practice, she got pretty good. But other than that..."
"She's always been good at learning new things," Applejack added, "Gal can play six instruments at once for peat sake." They turned back to Grand, who nodded as he heard this. "Why, is that important?"
"I've seen this issue before. Happened with a couple of guards I trained. They were able to pick up almost anything I taught them without issue, but this gave them the mentality that that'll always happen. So they began to assume that no matter how they did something new they learned, it was always the right way. I think Pinkie is suffering from the same problem. She's such a quick study that her brain has started telling her she's good, even if she really isn't."
"So that's why she doesn't realize how bad she is?" Rainbow asked, Grand nodding again.
"Then it's clear what we've gotta do," Applejack declared, "We've gotta be honest with her, tell her how bad she is and to just give up the yovidaphone forever!"
Grand's eyes went wide at this, "What?! Why make her give it up?!"
"Uh...because she's bad at it, gramps?" Lightning spoke up. "I thought that was what we were talking about."
"Yes," Rarity nodded. "There's no point in her continuing to pursue something she has no talent for. She has so many other things she's good at, so she shouldn't have any problem giving something like this up."
"Oh really?" Grand raised an eyebrow, "Do you really think she would just give up something she absolutely loves to do?" They all shared a glance at this before frowning, "It's clear Pinkie loves playing. Even if she's bad at it, we can't force her to give it up." He pointed at Flash, "You love playing your guitar when you've got the time. What if somepony had come up to you and told you you're no good? Would you be willing to give it up?"
Flash put a hoof to his chin, "I...guess not. But if my playing was as bad as Pinkie's-"
"You wouldn't give it up and you know it," Grand interrupted, "And I doubt Pinkie would either."
Twilight shook her head at this, "I think she would. If she knew it was making us unhappy, she would drop the yovidaphone in an instant. But now that I'm thinking about it, if she loves that thing this much, she'd probably be really upset."
"Errr," Rainbow rubbed the back of her head, "I guess you're right. But we've still gotta do something! If we can't make Pinkie give it up, what'd we do?!"
"Set some ground rules," Grand replied, "It's not okay to ask her to go cold turkey, but you can ask her to cut back a bit. Especially at night, during races, stings and far away from the orchard."
"Grand's right," Rarity nodded, "We must be firm, but fair with her. So it's agreed. We tell her about how bad she is, but let her decide if she wants to stop. That okay with everypony?"
"YES!" They all nodded...except Fluttershy, who had fallen sleep again.
Iron tapped her on the shoulder, "Wha-what? Um...yes."
"Right," Applejack glanced around, "Now, who's gonna tell her?"
They all shut up at this, most just staring at each other while Lightning shook his head, "Wild Smile sure picked a great time to leave on a job."
"This is ridiculous," Flash added as certain sound filled the air. "We're Pinkie's friends. We can't be scared to tell her the truth." Following their ears, they found Pinkie outside Sugarcube Corner playing her yovidaphone. And the ponies around her were not happy, all running off to escape the noise.
"Huh," Pinkie asked after finishing her song, "That's weird. I coulda sworn this place was packed a second ago." It was then she spotted the group, "Hey everypony! Can I favor you all with a tune? I take requests!"
"Actually," Applejack gulped, "We do have a request, and yeah, it involves your yovidaphone."
"You mean the thing I love more than anything else in Equestria?" They all decided at that moment to not let Wild know she said that. "My sun, my moon, my stars, my everything?" She hugged it again, "Ooh! Tell me, tell me, tell me!"
The ponies all shared a glance, then turned to the Elements of Honesty and Courage. Flash and Applejack shared a look before doing rock paper scissors, which they had figured out how to do with hooves, and Flash came out the loser. "Fine," he groaned before stepping up and taking a deep breath. "Pinkie, I'm saying this because I love you and I don't want you on the receiving end of an angry torching wielding mob." Pinkie blinked at him as he took another deep breath. "PInkie Pie...you are not good at the yovidaphone."
"What?!" Pinkie yelped, turning to the others.
"I'm afraid it's true," Twilight nodded, "Your music isn't how the yovidaphone is meant to sound."
"Really?" Pinkie looked down at her instrument, "It...sounded okay to me."
"I'm afraid that's a problem many ponies suffer. Blindness, or deafness in your case, to one's own lack of skill." Pinkie looked down at the instrument, looking like she might start crying. "You really enjoy playing that, don't you?"
"Yeah," Pinkie nodded, "It's really fun. But...if I'm no good at it." She held it tighter, "Am I really that bad?" The others gestured to the marketplace, showing how empty it was as Pinkie realized that was because of her. "Oh..."
"Don't worry," Grand moved over to place a hoof on her shoulders. "We're not saying you need to stop." The others seemed to have other ideas with that statement. "We're just telling you so you can find a way to fix it."
"Fix it?" Pinkie looked up at him, "How am I supposed to fix it? I've been practicing non-stop and according to you all, that hasn't helped me!"
"True. There are some things that require more than just practice. Take Flash for example."
"Why does he keep bringing me into every one of his examples?" Flash whispered to Twilight.
"He's a master at the sword, but he didn't get that way just through practice."
"Hey!" Flash yelped, "I practiced hard to be good with the sword!"
"But you only showed results after Shining Armor and I taught you the correct way to use it." Flash just glared at him back, grumbling as he glanced away, Grand chuckling before looking back at Pinkie, "And that's what you need. A teacher."
"A teacher?" Pinkie asked.
"He's right," Twilight nodded. "If you really wanna learn how to play the yovidaphone, then you should look for a master player to teach you how."
"Really? And you think that'll help me get better?" They all nodded, Pinkie's joy for the instrument quickly returning. "Alright then, that's what I'll do! I'll go out and find somepony to teach me how to play the yovidaphone. And when I learn, I'll give you all a private concert and show you just how much I've improved!"
"And we'll be happy to listen," Twilight assured her, "Right everypony?"
"Sure," Rainbow nodded, "Just promise you won't play it when you come to see my races."
"Or when I'm working on my dresses," Rarity spoke up.
"Or during an important operation," Iron added.
"And not in the range of any of mah apples," Applejack finished before they turned to Fluttershy, who had fallen asleep again until Spike flicked her ear.
"Oh," she awoke before yawning, "and maybe not between the hours of nine PM to seven AM." Pinkie took in all this information and nodded, always happy to accommodate requests.
"Okay then," Pinkie straightened her horned hat and hoisted up her yovidaphone. "Then I'm off to find a yovidaphone master to teach me!" She looked ready to charge into the sunset, only to look back at the others, "Um...anypony know where I can find a yovidaphone player to teach me?"
The all shared a glance, only for a bulb to go off in Twilight's head, "I think I know one who might help you with that, Pinkie."
"Pony want learn yovidaphone?" Yona asked, having been worried why Pinkie had asked to come see her in her classroom.
"That's right," Pinkie nodded, "Since you're from Yakyakistan, you must know who the best yak to teach me is." She leaned forward on the counter, giving Yona some puppy dog eyes. "So who's the best yovidaphoner you know?"
Yona put a hoof to her chin, "Hmmm...yovidaphone tough instrument to learn. Many yaks try to master it, many yaks fail. Number of yaks that can play perfectly very low. But one yak is thought best yak at yovidaphone. She try and teach many yaks, but many yaks not able to learn."
"Well, I'm no ordinary yak," Pinkie giggled, "Heck, I'm not even a yak! But I'm no ordinary pony either. So what's her name?"
"She called Yigrid. She happy teach any-yak yovidaphone. But pony be careful. Her teachings very strict."
And so, Pinkie got whatever she believed she would need and packed a saddlebag and her yodiaphone. Her friends had wanted to come with her to make sure she got to Yakyakistan safely, mainly because she was going to use a balloon, but she assured them she would be fine. She soon took off, eventually arriving at the borders of the country.
The wooden village of yaks quickly came into view and Pinkie's excitement rose. "Alright," she cheered as the balloon landed in the snow and slid to a stop, "I'm heeere!" She leapt out and began to bounce to the gate, her yovidaphone on her back. She pushed the gate open and smiled seeing the yak village as it always appeared, the many straw huts filling the place with a strong burning fire blazing in the center of it. "Gotta love Yakyakistan. Now, to find the yak that can teach me to-" She stopped when her ears picked something up. A sound that caused her heart to swell.
It was a yovidaphone. One being played practically perfectly to generate a sound the soothed the soul. She followed the sound, hoping it was being produced by the yak she had come to find. It was coming from a larger than normal hut, Pinkie remembering it from her last few visits as the village's main hall. She stepped through the blanket door and glanced inside, spotting many yaks all sitting around tables staring the stage next to the door.
On that stage, a female yak with a dark gray skin and light gray hair was sitting on a stool. She was wearing a purple covering and hat while playing a green version of her instrument. The way she was manipulating the bag was like some form of dance to the young baker, Pinkie now seeing just how little she really knew about the art of this instrument. Pinkie desperately wanted to rush up and talk to her, but knew interrupting such a sound before it was complete would be one of the greatest crimes imaginable.
And so she waited, taking a seat next to another yak and quietly ordering a sundae from the yak waiter. The player continued to bathe them all in the soothing melodies of the yovidaphone and the other yaks rhythmically swayed their heads back and forth in enjoyment.
Eventually, the yak finished the last song and the others all stoically applauded. And as she moved down off the stage, Pinkie down the rest of her sundae and rushed over, "Excuse me." The yak turned to her, "By any chance, would your name be Yigrid?"
"That yak name," she nodded. "What pony want with yak?" She then noticed the yovidaphone on the pony's back, "You play?"
"Well...not very well," Pinkie frowned, "Which is why I'm here. You play the yovidaphone like a master. I came to yakyakistan in order to learn everything I could about playing it!"
"I see," Yigrid nodded again, "Pony wish to learn, but does pony know how much time and effort learning to play takes? Needs patience, dedication and calmness of thought. Rare qualities."
"Maybe for yaks," Pinkie giggled before pointing to herself, "But let me assure you, this pony will learn how to play no matter how long it takes."
"I see," Yigrid hummed, "How yak know pony worth teaching? If pony wish learn from yak, pony must prove to have spark of yovidaphoner."
"How do I do that?" Pinkie asked, only for Yigrid to point to her yovidaphone. "But I don't know how to play properly yet."
"Spark does not come from skill. Spark of yovidaphoner come from love of instrument. Pony show yak what she can do on own and maybe, yak teach pony what yak know."
"Alright," Pinkie picked up her yovidaphone and was about to start playing it, only for Yigrid to point to the stage, making Pinkie go wide-eyed before grimacing, "Um...is that a good idea? No offense, but yaks have a tendency to get...smashy when ponies don't do yak things perfectly."
"This different. Pony play and play with all pony heart." Pinkie gulped before moving up on stage, the yaks all focusing on her.
"Um...hey. Pinkie Pie here. Hope you enjoy this." She looked down at her yovidaphone, holding it as best she could. "And a-one, and a-two, and I-hope-I know-what-to-do..." She took a deep breath started playing, dancing around as she did so. Unlike Yigrid's playing, Pinkie's was random, uncoordinated and so loud that when she turned to the blanket doors a long note caused it to flap open and allow a load of snow to fly in.
She expected the yaks to get angry and charge the stage, but to her surprise the yaks were trying to dance along to her song. This made her go wide-eyed, but she kept going and let herself be overtaken by the music. And when she ended her song, which happened with a knee slide along the stage, she looked down at the yaks who simply stared at her.
"Well...what do you all think?" She got her answer when the yaks started cheering and applauding, Pinkie raising an eyebrow. "Uhhh...I kinda wasn't expecting this." Yigrid stepped up to her, a smile on her face.
"Oh," she stomped happily on the ground, "Pony play good set!"
"You think so?" Pinkie asked, "Even though it wasn't perfect?"
"Yovidaphone is instrument of happiness," Yigrid chuckled, "Playing yovidaphone make pony happy. Pony playing is perfect!"
"Really?" Yigrid nodded, "Wow. But everypony back home said I needed to learn properly from a teacher."
"Pony doesn't need to learn anything. Pony play yovidaphone the way pony enjoy it. Playing how others like is okay, but mustn't allow pink pony to lose what make pink pony enjoy playing."
"So even though others might not enjoy it, I shouldn't try and change my style?" Yigrid nodded, making Pinkie's heart lift. Ever since the others had told her how bad she was, she had the spent the trip coming over thinking about what would happen if things went wrong. But hearing this filled her heart with joy once again. "Thank you. But do you think you'd still be willing to teach me to play the way you did? I know all my friends back home would enjoy it, and I bet I could find a way to merge our two styles so that everypony could enjoy."
Yigrid chuckled again, "Pink pony have true spark of yovidaphoner. Yak will teach."
Back in Ponyville...
Wild Smile walked off the train, letting out a yawn as his puppets rode his back, "We're back." he declared as he walked up to Sugarcube Corner. He glanced inside with a big grin, remembering how Pinkie had told him about her plans to learn a new instrument while he was out. "Pinkie?" He called out as he entered the bakery, but there was no reply, "Pinks? You in here?" Pinkie was still silent as somepony stepped out of the kitchen. "Mrs. Cake?"
"Hello Wild," the mare replied as she was busy mixing some batter while Pumpkin was balanced on her back. "If you're looking for Pinkie, she's not here."
"She at the school?" He asked, Mrs. Cake shaking her head. "Out on a delivery run?" She shook her head again, "Hanging out with her friends?"
"No, she's not in Ponyville right now."
"Ah. Map quest?"
"No. She's gone to Yakyakistan."
"Huh?" Wild raised an eyebrow, "Why would she be there?"
"Not sure. She didn't give any details. Simply said she was going to Yakyakistan and that she might be gone for a while." She said nothing more, returning to the kitchen as Wild remained still.
"What the heck's she doing in Yakyakistan?"
"What the heck! What the heck!"
Meanwhile...
Yigrid had taken Pinkie out of the village and led her to a nearby meadow, where the yak quickly plowed through the snow and formed it up into a long and thin mound. Pinkie had put on a white headband with black patterns on it, the earth pony watching as the yak stepped up to one end of the mound. "Um...I thought you were gonna teach me to play the yovidaphone."
"Patient must Pink Pony be," Yigrid replied, "Yovidaphone complicated. Pink pony must master body before ready to master yovidaphone." Pinkie tilted her head at this, "Answer. What is yak best known for?"
"Um...smashing?"
"Strength," she corrected, "Yak best at being powerful. But yovidaphone don't need power to play. Yovidaphone need delicate touch. Complete control of strength to squeeze bag in right way. Now pony must learn that control." She began to walk over the mound, which was holding up her weight despite how weak it appeared. "Pony must cross mound to learn control." She reached the other side and jumped off, Pinkie stepping up to the mound. "Pony must be careful how hard on steps."
Pinkie smirked at this, only to step onto the mound and find the snow was actually very slippery, quickly losing her footing. "WHOA!" She yelped as she rolled over the edge.
"Must stomp hard enough to dig into mound." Pinkie picked herself up and tried again, this time thrusting her hoof down into the snow. "But not so hard pony break mound apart." As she did this, Pinkie's hoof caused the entire structure to break apart, quickly finding herself fall into a pile of snow.
As Yigrid rebuilt the path, Pinke tried again. She slowly got the hang of it, but every time she was partway across, she would either slip off or break through the snow. But every time she tried, she managed to get a little further. When she finally managed to reach the other side, Yigrid told her to do it again but to beat her time.
She tried and despite a few slips and breaks, she managed to get across faster than the first time. Then Yigrid told her to try and break that score, then that one and that one. Eventually, she was able to get across the snow path within thirty seconds without slipping or breaking through it. "YAY!" She cheered, happy that was able to do it.
"Pony quick study," Yigrid nodded, "Most yaks don't make it across first day. Many times they break through snow." Pinkie smiled at this. "Pink pony might have what takes to master yovidaphone after all. Now we move on to next lesson."
"Does this mean we're gonna be playing yovidaphone now?"
"No." Pinkie frowned, "Yovidaphone need two things. Control of strength, and control of breath."
"Control of breath?" Pinkie asked, "What's that mean?" Yigrid smirked and told her to follow, the pair soon heading off as the pony wondered just what could be next.
Ponyville again...
Wild was now in the School of Friendship, talking to Twilight, "So let me get this straight," he said once Twilight finished explaining. "Pinkie's gotten really into a yak instrument, but no matter how hard she tried, she wasn't able to play it properly?"
"That's right," Twilight nodded.
"And when you told her about this, she decided to find a teacher that could help her learn." Twilight nodded again, "Which is why she's disappeared off to one of the most remote kingdoms and might not return for a long time."
"Pretty much."
"So I might not see my girlfriend for months?"
"Months, months, months."
"Yes." Twilight sighed, "I'm sorry Wild. Knowing Pinkie, she probably won't wanna come back until she's a master of the yovidaphone."
"Doesn't that take like...ten thousand hours?! Even with Pinkie's double experience skill, that's five thousand hours. That's two thirds of a year!"
Twilight shrugged back, "I'm sure it won't be that long. Maybe she'll miss us and decide to come back early." Wild let out a moan at this. "You know, if there's something you wanna do to keep your mind of things, I could use your help."
"Me?" Wild asked as Twilight nodded.
"I need somepony to fill in for Pinkie's classes until she gets back. You both enjoy a lot of the same things, so you would be great at filling in for her. What do you say?"
Wild blinked at this before turning to his puppets, all of them nodding back before he glanced back at Twilight, "Alright, we'll take a shot at it."
Yigrid had now taken Pinkie to an area of the mountain range where a bunch of tall cone-shaped rocks were sticking out of the ground. Pinkie stared at them, having a feeling they weren't natural. "So...how is this supposed to help me learn the yovidaphone?" Yigrid answered by moving over to the base of a rock, where a bunch of flat stone slabs were waiting.
She picked one up, determining that it was of good quality, then placed it on her back before moving backward. Once she was a good distance away, she ran forward and up the side of the cone. Pinkie went wide-eyed at this, as Yigrid seemed to defy gravity and leapt up until she passed the top of the cone. And as she fell back down, she placed the slab under her.
"Wow!" Pinkie exclaimed as Yigrid landed on the slab and sat atop the cone without any problem. "No way." Yigrid was sitting perfectly still, the only movement being the flares of her nostrils as she sat there. "I gotta try that!" She grabbed the first slab so could find, thankful for her earth pony strength as she hoisted it onto her back. Instead of running the way Yigrid had, Pinkie reached out and her hooves stretched up until it reached the top of the cone next to the yak.
She then sprang up and managed to land the same way Yigrid had, but unlike Yigrid, she was unable to remain perfectly balanced. "Whoa!" She cried, trying her best keep from falling off the spike while seeing Yigrid was sitting sitting perfectly. "How...are...you-wow...doing...that?!"
"Perfect control," she replied, "Of all things. Of body...and of breath." She took a deep breath in and still had no trouble staying perfectly still while Pinkie kept wobbling around.
Eventually, she managed to find her center and was almost perfectly still. "Okay. I...I think I got it." She remained as still as possible before taking a deep breath, only for this to knock her off balance. "WHOA!" She fell, she and her slab falling until they crashed into the snow below. "Ow."
"Pony need more practice," Yigrid commented, "But yak warn pony. This kind control take many moons to master." Pinkie's head shot out of the snow, looking up at the cones as if they were her new mortal enemy.
"I will master you," she growled before picking her slab back up.
Wild was standing outside Pinkie's classroom, the unicorn whispering to himself as he heard the students inside making a lot of noise. "Okay," he gulped, "You can do this. You can do this." His puppets repeated this as he slowly walked into the classroom. "Settle down. Settle down." He was dressed in a suit and tie with a briefcase that he placed on the desk in front of him. "Good day class, my name is Wild Smile. I'm your substitute teacher that'll be filling in for Pinkie until she's back from sabbatical. Any questions?" Smolder raised her claw, "Yes?"
"What's with the puppets?" She pointed at them as the puppets flew up to her, making her flinch.
"These puppets are all part of my special talent. Each of them contains a consciousness that I can move in and out of different objects. Putting them in puppets makes it easier for me to commune with them." The students raised an eyebrow at this, only for him to add, "Alright...Twilight's given me a basic explanation of how this class works. So, did Pinkie have you all working on anything before she left?"
Gallus grinned at this and raised a talon, "Yeah! She wanted us to work together and act as a band." He shot off and returned with a guitar and a speaker so large Yona would need to stand on three clones of herself just to look over the top. "She said to try and make the funnest sound possible."
"Oh," Wild nodded, "I see. Well that sounds-" Gallus turned the amp to its max volume and strummed the guitar.
Flash and Springer were walking through the halls, Springer having regained his hearing as the two spoke, "So, what you think about the latest issue of Kamen Ponies? I personally think the writing's gone downhill ever since they killed off-"
THOOM!
A door flew open in front of them as a powerful sound exploded out along with Wild. The two covered their ears as the unicorn slammed into the wall opposite the door. "Wild!" Flash gasped, running up to him. "Are you okay?"
"Peachy," Wild groaned as Springer covered his ears.
"What did he say?" He turned to Flash, "Something about being itchy? We still have some of those flea treatments at the castle."
Flash groaned while Wild pulled himself off the wall. The unicorn shook his head at this, "Not a good start. Babe, you'd better get back soon."
Pinkie continued to train for everything she was worth, the pink pony continuously pulling herself up onto the cones and trying her best to balance on them. Yigrid watched as Pinkie landed on the stone slab and slowly got her balance, which was difficult since it required her to be perfectly still. This wasn't a skill Pinkie had a lot of luck in, mainly because it slowly drove her bored. In the few split seconds she was able to remain still and balanced on her four attempt, Pinkie was reminded of the mirror pool incident, and how she had to spend hours staring at a wall watching paint dry. If she could do that in order to save her life, she could do this.
Even so, it was still difficult. Every time she took a breath, she lost her balance. Sometimes she could save herself, but most of the time, she would end up falling into the snow below.
But she didn't give up and kept at it, with each attempt allowing her to remain atop the slab longer and longer. Yigrid watched and smiled as Pinkie eventually managed to remain atop the spike for over a minutes, taking slow deep breaths to keep herself from falling. She probably would have lasted longer, had a bird not flown up to them and landed on her shoulder.
"Whoa!" She cried, losing her balance and falling into the snow again. "Augh!"
As this happened, Yigrid noticed the sun was getting low. "We stop today."
"Wait!" Pinkie broke her head out of the snow, "I can keep going! I know I can get this!"
"Maybe. But yak not want to walk through mountain in dark."
Pinkie blinked at this before looking up at the sky, "Oh...yeah. Good point."
"Come." Yigrid leaned forward and the slab slid off the spike tip and down its side, eventually stopping when it reached the snow. "Pink pony stay with yak tonight. Continue training morning."
"Okay," Pinkie nodded as she pulled herself free of the snow and followed the yak back to the village.
The sun was also going down in Ponyville, Twilight now walking through the corridors of the school making sure nobody was messing around so close to night out. She checked the classrooms and when she looked inside Pinkie's, her eyes went wide at seeing how much of a mess it was. There were a bunch of baking ingredients littered around the floor, the pictures of funny things were all crooked and some of the desks were knocked over.
"What happened here?" She asked, only to see somepony sitting in the corner. "Wild?" She moved over to the unicorn and saw he was as much of a mess as the classroom, his mane and tail sticking out at odd ends whilst his coat had a bunch of flour covering it. His puppets weren't do much better, the group covered in splotches of different colored paints. "So...how was class?"
"How does Pinkie do this?" He asked, "Those kids were all over me. Every time I tried to teach them something, they would use it as an excuse to mess around and play pranks on me. Where's the respect for teachers these days?"
"I know it can be tough," Twilight nodded, "But you just have to show them you're not a pushover. Be stern."
"I don't think that's how Pinkie would teach."
"Well, you're not Pinkie," Twilight pointed out as she helped him stand up and started brushing the flour off of him. "I might have picked you because you're like Pinkie, but that doesn't mean you have to do everything like her. You have to find your own style of teaching."
"How do I do that?"
Twilight smiled as she gestured to the place, "This is a class on laughter. So...what makes you laugh? What do you find fun and exciting? What makes you happy? Once you know that, it's a simple matter of showing the students that same thing." She began to head to the door, but stopped just short of it and glanced back at him. "If you don't want to come back tomorrow, I understand. But I think you should give this one more try before stopping."
With that, she was gone as Wild looked back at the room, "What makes me happy?" His puppets flew around him at this, circling the pony as their voices spoke to him. He smirked, then laughed. He knew what he was gonna do.
Yakyakistan...
Yigrid had taken Pinkie to her hut. Like most in the village, this one was of modest size with stone flooring and beds of hay. A small fire was in the center of the hut, filling it with heat that Yigrid used to boil water for a soup. Pinkie was sticking close to the fire, trying to heat herself up due to the number of times she had fallen into freezing snow today.
"So, what pink pony do when not playing yovidaphone?" She asked as she stirred the soup.
"Oh, I do lot of things. I work at a bakery, I plan parties for ponies, I look after foals, I spend time with my friends and I have lots of fun with my boyfriend." Yigrid nodded as she filled a bowl with the soup, "He's probably wondering where I am right now."
"Pony not tell him where she go?"
"He was away when I decided to come here," Pinkie accepted the soup. "I guess I should have left him a note, but I was just so excited to learn how to play." She slurped some of the soup, then stopped as her eyes went wide due to the weird taste she was consuming. "Um...it's good." Yigrid smiled at this, but as she turned away, Pinkie stuck out her tongue and tried to scrap the taste off it.
Yigrid grabbed her own bowl and quickly threw it all into the back of her mouth, likely trying to eat it without taste. Once she had swallowed it all down, she put the bowl away and picked up her yovidaphone. As Pinkie forced herself to eat the rest, she was suddenly enraptured by the beautiful sound of the horn's music. She couldn't help but sway at the song, watching Yigrid's movements as she squeezed the bag and blew into the instrument. Slowly, Pinkie remembered everything she had done in her training.
She had learned to control her strength, something she had always had to do since as an earth pony she wielded the power to break the ground with every step she took. But now she had learned how to do more than simply hold back her full strength. She had learned how to properly adjust it on the fly. It wasn't perfect, but she would continue practicing until it was.
And as Pinkie and Yigrid's eyes met, Pinkie decided to try her best at copy the yak. She put her bowl down and picked up the yovidaphone, waiting until Yigrid broke the music to take a breath to start. As Pinkie blew into the instrument, she suddenly found herself not having the same issues she had had in the previous experience. Instead of letting all the air out in one single blast, she used what she had managed to learn on the spike to slow her breathing. Now, her instrument unleashed a long and continuous rhythm of sound. It wasn't as good as Yigrid, but it was still a vast improvement to what she had been playing before.
She then started trying to mimic the hoof moments that Yigrid performed, pushing against the bag, using the new control she had acquired. She managed to copy the music pretty well, Yigrid nodding as she heard this. However, at some points she did end up pushing to hard or two soft, making the sound go a little off.
The pair played the entire song together, and while Pinkie did mess up a few times, the two sounds were still being played in relative harmony. And when the song ended, Pinkie pulled her lips from the instrument and panted while Yigrid smiled. "Pony very quick study. Strength and breath already vast improved over last time. Many yak not get this good after month of training."
"Really?" Pinkie asked, Yigrid nodding. "Thanks. I just tried to copy you."
"Pink pony should now try play own song. No copy. Show yak how she play yovidaphone on own now she has technique down."
"You sure?" Yigrid nodded. "Okay then." Pinkie closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she started playing, using her new breathing techniques to try and improve how she played the yovidaphone before. She was still making many mistakes, going out of tune sometimes or blowing to hard, but still she had already improved herself by leaps and bounds.
Yigrid nodded and started playing along with her, the pair going late into the night until they were completely exhausted. This would be their routine for several days to come. Training in the day, playing in the night. And every day, Pinkie's skills would improve more and more.
One week later...
Wild smiled at the sight of his class working hard on their projects. Despite the rough start to his teaching career, he discovered he knew one way to teach students how to have fun.
"Very good Smolder," he commented as he saw he wooden doll that the dragon had made in her own image. The class had spent a week working on those kind of figures. Ones that looked just like the creatures making them. Many had been able to simply use some pony parts that Wild already had, though the non-pony students had needed to make their from scratch.
Silverstream enjoyed this class a lot, having designed her puppet to have interchangeable parts so that she could remove her wings and replace the front and back legs with a tail and fins. Yona had needed a large block of wood, which Wild had helped her carve into the perfect form of her body. The students had all been enjoying themselves immensely. Even Gallus had stopped trying to cause trouble, especially after Wild had threatened not to let him take part in the puppet show they were all going to perform in it was ready.
The bell rang and Wild smirked, "Alright class. Time to pack up." The students moaned at this, but did as they were told and moved their puppets over to the back of the classroom to allow the painted ones to dry. As the students started filing out, Twilight arrived and smiled at seeing a completely different atmosphere.
"I knew you could do it."
"Yes, you did." Wild replied as his puppets flew down and helped him clean up the desk. "You were right. I just had to show them what makes me want to laugh. As it turned out, making puppets caused them to laugh as well."
Twilight giggled at this, and when the classroom was cleaned up, they walked into the teacher's lounge. But as they passed the courtyard, something caught their ear. They both turned to the noise, noticing it was an odd sound, one of long and stable rhythm that occasionally increased its tone in a soft way. And they weren't the only ones hearing it.
Flash, Rainbow, Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy and Applejack all stepped out into the courtyard. "What is that heavenly music?" Rarity asked, the others perking up their ears.
Twilight then smiled, "That...is the music of the yovidaphone."
"Are you sure?" Rainbow asked, "Cause that actually sounds kinda...good."
"I'm sure," Twilight nodded, "But where's it coming from?"
They glanced around, the music getting louder, but no sign of anypony around them. Then, Flash glanced up and his eyes went wide. "Up there!" They all looked up and saw a familiar balloon, which was floating above the school and slowly descending. Inside the basket was a familiar pink pony, who was playing the amazing music they were listening too.
"PINKIE!" They all cheered right as the earth pony stopped playing. She smiled at them and was about to say something, but in that moment, the balloon got stuck in the square gap that made up school's courtyard.
"WHOA!" Pinkie yelped as the basket bounced back up and she fell out of it, falling a good three feet before hitting the ground as everypony flinched. Doing so made her go splat, the pink pony reduced to a puddle of pink goo that the yovidaphone fell into.
Wild chuckled and moved over, removing the instrument and took out a bike pump. Plugging it into the puddle and giving a few pumps, he was able to restore Pinkie to her normal state. "I'm BACK!" She cheered while grabbing her yovidaphone.
"And it sounds like you've mastered the yovidaphone," Twilight added.
"Nope," she shook her head, "It turns out, the way I was playing before was absolutely perfect." The ponies all grimaced at this, "Apparently, you can play the yovidaphone any way you want and as long as you're having fun. That's what matters."
"But what about the music you were just playing?" Flash asked, "That sounded great."
"I know. I spent the last week learning it. And now I can play the way ponies like while also playing the way I like."
"Well, we're happy that you're back," Twilight pulled the pony into a hug, the rest of the girls following suit. "Just do us all a favor and remember those rules we asked for."
"Okay," Pinkie responded, "No playing after sundown. No playing in the orchard, while you're dress making, at Wonderbolt races or during sting operations. Other than that, I'm free to play whenever I want?" They all nodded and Pinkie cheered, the earth pony then beginning to play her instrument the way she enjoyed it. While it was loud and wild, it wasn't as bad as the last time she had played it for her friends.
Over the next few minutes, many students walked into the courtyard, many bobbing their heads to the music Pinkie was playing. By the end, it was like they were having a mini concert. And as Pinkie blew the last note, they all cheered and applauded. Yup, Pinkie was back and she was better than ever now that she could play the instrument she loved so much without causing problems for her friends. Life was great.
"Oooh!" Pinkie went wide-eyed when she saw all the puppets the students had been working on. "These are great! I should let you take over for me more often!"
"Maybe not too often," Wild chuckled as he leaned against a wall. "This week was fun, but I think I've aged ten years from the stress."
Pinkie laughed and hugged him, "Sorry I didn't tell you about where I was going. I probably should have left a note."
"Yeah, you probably should have. But you'll know now for next time. Now," he grabbed her yovidaphone in his magic, "Think you can teach me to play this? It looks like fun."
Pinkie smiled at this and promised to do so next winter, confusing Wild until she explained how she had learned to play. The unicorn and earth pony would spent much of the night talking about the last week of their lives, enjoying each other's company and laughing the whole time. Despite being separated for over a week, they were both able to connect like they had never been apart