Anon held a sigh.
Why can't I just keep my stupid mouth shut?
Cheerilee stood in front of the two rows of foals. A white headband held her mane back and a whistle was hanging around her neck.
There was a reason for the sudden appearance of those accessories. A hellish, terrible and frightening reason, but a reason nonetheless.
PE.
"Don't worry," Silver Spoon whispered, leaning towards Anon. "Maybe it won't be so bad."
Cheerilee cleared her throat, ending the murmur from the class as she pulled a red ball from behind her back.
"Dodgeball," she said, and half the class died inside.
Diamond Tiara turned and glared at her friend. Silver gave her an apologetic look.
"Sorry," Silver Spoon said.
Anon raised a brow.
"How bad is it?" she asked.
Diamond Tiara shrugged.
"For us? Very." She pointed at Scootaloo doing what could have been interpreted as the victory dance of a hitherto undiscovered tribe. "Scootaloo is definitely the biggest threat. She's fast, accurate, and holds a grudge against us."
Silver Spoon nodded, rubbing a spot on her shoulder.
"I think I'm still sore where she hit me last time," Silver mumbled, more to herself than anypony else. "And she also broke my glasses."
"But we did get her in trouble for that," Diamond offered weakly.
"Oh yeah, we did," Silver Spoon blanched as she realized what she just said. "Eh, you think she'll still want revenge for that, too?"
Anon gave a deep sigh.
And it was going to be such a nice day, too.
From the corner of her eye, Anon noticed Cheerilee bringing a box full of colored vests.
Wait, are these team colors? For dodgeball?
The filly paused, muzzle scrunching with effort as she tried to remember something.
"What are the rules?" Asked Anon suddenly.
Diamond Tiara shot her an incredulous look.
"You don't know the rules for dodgeball?" she asked.
Anon waggled her hoof. She remembered some things, but nothing about teams and different colored jerseys. And this was pony dodgeball to boot. For all she knew, the ball was filled with concrete and used as a bludgeon.
"Humor me, please."
Silver Spoon shrugged while pushing her glasses further up her muzzle.
"We're playing in multiple teams," she started. "The goal is to eliminate all the opposing enemy players by hitting them with a 'loaded' dodgeball. To 'load' a ball, you need to pass it between at least two players without touching the ground. Usually by throwing it between two teammates. Intercepting and catching balls thrown by the enemy players counts as well."
"Why do we have to do that, anyway?" Asked Diamond while tapping at her chin with her front hoof. "Why not just throw it?"
Silver Spoon stopped, mulling it over for a second.
"Cheerilee's addition. Probably some lesson about teamwork," she said, waving her off. "Anyway, if you get hit by a 'loaded' dodgeball, you're out, unless somepony catches it before it touches the ground."
Well, we are screwed.
Anon was pretty good at dodging stuff. She knew from experience that she was fast enough to avoid a bullet when it came down to it.
But, embarrassingly, she was very bad at catching. Trying to do so went against her every instinct.
And then there was the whole other thing.
Anon sighed and looked at her front legs. More accurately, at what was at the end of them.
Stupid hooves…
She could use magic of course. But while she’d improved her control over her magical grip, and could hold even delicate and fragile objects without much issue, that didn't mean it came easily. To actually catch anything, she would need to stand still and wait for her magic to take hold, and that seemed like a bad idea if the objective was to avoid getting hit.
And jumper powers were not an option for obvious reasons. The chance of being discovered and the consequences that followed were far too great to risk it all on a child's game.
No, she would have to do without them this time.
"Now, please form four teams of four, one team for each corner," Cheerilee announced to the crowd of foals.
The reaction was immediate. Groups were forming left and right around the trio of fillies, leaving them an island among the moving bodies.
Next to them, from a group that had already formed, a snow white hoof shot up.
"Miss Cheerilee!" called out Sweetie Bell. "There aren't enough of us for four teams."
Cheerilee's brow scrunched. She did a quick count of heads of all the present.
"You're right, Sweetie Bell," Cheerilee said. "Is anypony willing to go as a team of three?" she asked.
The class fell silent for several seconds before the voice of Diamond Tiara rang out.
"We will!"
Silver Spoon backed off a little, a confused look on her muzzle.
"Wait, we do?" she asked her friend, who shrugged in response.
"Yeah, all the others want us to lose," Diamond explained. "A fourth teammate would just be a relay-billy."
Silver Spoon tilted her head.
"I think you mean liability," she said.
"That too," Diamond affirmed with a serious nod.
From behind the trio, Cheerilee stepped forward between the newly formed teams, clearing her throat before speaking. When the idle chatter continued, a whistle rang out, causing everypony to cringe - but getting their attention.
"If everypony is ready," Cheerilee said, spitting out the whistle. "Please take your vests and go to your positions."
Let's do this.
On the playing field - a mostly flat piece of land behind the school, just next to the old playground - four teams gathered in their designated corners. Their coloured vests contrasted against the grassy ground.
Well, most of them did, anyway.
The green vests, worn by three ponies, didn't contrast against the grass. But that was all well and good with them, as they needed every advantage they could get, and at this point camouflage couldn't hurt.
Like a general before battle, Silver Spoon kneeled down on the ground, taking a hoof-ful of soil and examining it with grim determination.
She came to the same conclusion the rest of her team already arrived at.
"We're totally getting trounced," Silver Spoon said.
"Silver!" Diamond Tiara admonished. "Try to think positively!"
"I'm positive we're going to get trounced," Silver Spoon deadpanned.
Diamond Tiara, now tiaraless, facehoofed. The filly had to give up her usual headwear, as Cheerilee was not allowing jewelry during PE for safety reasons. All she had now in terms of accessory was the green identifying vest, something she was very annoyed by, considering how much it clashed against her fur.
Consequently, that was the exact opposite problem Anon had with her vest, which wholly disappeared in her already green fur, save the black buttons on the front, causing her to look like a misshapen, radioactive snowman with a dead crow on its head instead of a hat.
But at least the vest had one other use.
Anon's hoof subconsciously reached for the sun orb hidden under the flimsy fabric.
It's safe. She is safe.
"Well, it's not that bad," Diamond said, interrupting Anon's musing. "Like, what's the worst they can do?"
"They broke my glasses last time!" Silver Spoon retorted, tapping at her repaired frames for emphasis.
Diamond cringed, giving an awkward shrug.
"But you fixed them," she argued weakly.
"Well, yeah," Silver Spoon admitted after a few seconds. "It's good practice before mom allows me to do anything more serious with my tools, but look at them! They're all teaming up on us!"
She was right. While they stood in their corner of the field waiting for Cheerilee to start the game, every other team was glaring their way and muttering plans to each other.
And it wasn't very hard to guess what sort of plans.
"Did you hear that?" Silver Spoon said in a panicked voice. "They're gonna break our bones! Our bones, Diamond!"
"Silver, it isn't that bad," Diamond attempted to reassure her.
"Yeah, depending on where it is and if it's a complicated fracture, bruised ribs can hurt more than a broken bone." Anon offered, "And if it's a bad fracture, with the bone sticking out and all that, you might just pass out from the shock and get over it that way. I know I did."
She noticed the two utterly horrified looks her teammates were giving her.
"What?" Anon asked.
"You think you're helping," Diamond said slowly. "That's what worries me the most."
Diamond shook her head, leaning closer towards her teammates and motioning for them to do the same.
"Okay, listen you two," she whispered. "We're not getting trounced and nopony's bones are getting broken."
A green hoof slowly rose.
"I have a question," Anon said.
Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes.
"That includes their bones too," she said flatly.
"I withdraw my question."
"But how, Dia?" Silver Spoon asked. "It's twelve against three. We can't win this."
Diamond Tiara gave them a bright smile.
"Maybe," Diamond said with a smirk. "But they can't make their alliance against us too obvious when Cheerilee is watching. All we need is strategy and-" she paused, her face turning green as her vest. "-teamwork, bleargh," she spat. "We can make this work."
Anon raised a brow.
"So, what's your idea?"
Diamond Tiara pulled them closer, her smirk only growing.
"Spring, you'll take point. How good are you at catching?" she asked quickly.
The jumper paused, head lowering.
"Not very," she admitted.
Diamond Tiara gave her a nod.
"Okay, I'll stay behind you and try to pick up any dodgeballs that miss you," she said. "They have to aim low to avoid shots above shoulders, so I should be relatively safe. All you need is to draw their attention. Make yourself a target."
Anon shot her an incredulous look, which Diamond deflected with an encouraging, if a little forced, smile.
"I saw you avoid those shadow… monster… things," Diamond trailed off before simply shrugging and continuing. "Just keep moving like that and they won't hit you."
Diamond paused, pointing at herself.
"So my job will be relatively simple: stay behind Spring, grab any dodgeballs that miss her, and toss them to our secret weapon."
Silver Spoon nodded along, waiting for Diamond to say more, until she noticed the meaningful look she was getting from her friend.
"W-wait, you mean me?" Silver Spoon sputtered.
Diamond placed a hoof on Silver Spoon's shoulder, who blanched, her ears flicking and landing flat on her scalp.
"Silver, you make jewelry for fun. Your whole family is silversmiths," Diamond said with an encouraging smile. "You have the best hoof eye coordination out of all of us and you're great at spotting small details. If any of us can do this, it's you."
Silver Spoon finally smiled back, giving Diamond a determined nod.
The moment was short lasting as Anon gave a fake cough behind them. Both Silver and Diamond turned sharply towards the filly, who was just standing there and awkwardly digging at the ground.
"Well, that all sounds well and good, but I guess this isn't the whole plan, is it?" she said.
"No," Diamond admitted with a sigh. "At the start, we have to rush to the middle and keep moving."
Silver Spoon let out a gasp while Anon simply raised an eyebrow.
"Middle? Are you sure?" Silver Spoon said, adjusting her glasses a little. "Wouldn't it be better to defend our corner, so we don't get surrounded and taken out first?"
Anon nodded. If they had to fight a numerically superior opponent, a good fighting position could be the deciding factor. Forcing them into or at least narrowing their angles of approach should have been a priority.
"Normally yes," Diamond Tiara said. "But remember. Any dodgeballs that go out of the playing field are tossed back in by Cheerilee." As she explained, a smirk found its way onto her muzzle. "Knowing her, she will try to land them in the middle to keep it fair. If we hide in our corner, the only ball we’ll see will be heading straight for us. But if we keep mobile and stay close to the middle, we’ll keep resupplied and far more easily control the pace of the game."
Offense is the best defense gamble, huh.
Anon could see the benefits. And the steady supply of ammo would be invaluable in a prolonged fight. They would have to make every shot count if they hoped to win.
"And there's another advantage to being in the middle, especially with Anon's dodging skills," Diamond said with a cheeky smirk.
Silver Spoon’s eyes widened in realization.
"Crossfire," she whispered.
"Exactly!" Diamond nodded. "The enemy teams are just that. Teams, multiple. If we sow some chaos and make them accidentally hit each other, their whole alliance will go down in flames!"
Diamond let out a mad cackle.
"Victory will be ours!"
Anon paused for a second, watching the madly laughing filly next to her.
"Aren't we overdoing it just a little?" Anon asked. "It's just dodgeball."
Diamond abruptly stopped her episode to give her an offended look
"What are you? A loser?" Diamond said. "We're going to show them why we're the best!"
Anon opened her mouth for a retort, only to be interrupted by a whistle, and their attention was brought back to Cheerliee as she threw the first dodgeball into the field. After a few bounces the red ball came to a stop in the middle of the field, perfectly spaced between the four teams.
The game had begun.
There was a second of silence and hesitation.
Not for Anon, though.
She rushed forward with all the speed she could muster, galloping towards the center of the field and the ball sitting there, internally hoping that her teammates were doing the same.
But Scootaloo was faster.
The orange pegasus filly, in an orange vest, arrived ahead of the zerg rush of other foals, gaining extra speed from the small wings fluttering on her back.
She grabbed the ball, throwing it back to her closest orange-vested teammate.
Sweetie Bell juggled and fumbled it for a heartbeat, but managed to grab hold and steady herself. The ball was now charged - ready to hit.
Anon prepared to dodge.
Sweetie Belle threw it.
But not at Anon.
Apple Bloom ran past Anon, coming from the side, obscuring the dodgeball behind her orange vest. Anon turned on her heel, coming face to face with her foe. The farm filly reeled back, throwing the ball to the air and preparing to buck it.
She never got the chance.
"Slowpoke!"
"Hey!" Apple Bloom called out.
Diamond Tiara pushed through the others, snatching the ball out of the air before blowing a raspberry and tossing the ball to Silver Spoon.
The silver-maned filly caught it, stopping briefly as she picked her target, and she threw it with a stabilizing spin
Scootaloo moved to the side, avoiding the throw just in the nick of time.
The ball landed behind Scootaloo, and was picked up by a colt in a blue vest - Rumble, Anon remembered. The young pegasus then gave the weakest excuse of a throw Anon had ever seen, the ball limply falling towards Sweetie Bell before landing on the grass where it began slowly rolling into the hoofs of the snow white unicorn.
"Oh no, what a cat-apostrophy," Rumble said, voice flat.
"It's catastrophy," corrected Sweetie Bell automatically, her attention fully on the dodgeball now as she picked it up and tossed it to Scootaloo.
"Whatever," the colt muttered.
Meanwhile, Scootaloo caught the ball, snapping it from the air in one fluid motion.
Only then did Anon realize what Diamond meant when she said that Scootaloo was good at dodgeball.
The orange pegasus filly made her shot almost immediately, sending the ball spinning and flying in an horizontal arc - flying like a cartoon boomerang right at Anon. How Scootaloo managed that was beyond Anon. Her best guess was pegasus magic.
But Anon was ready.
There were no exaggerated movements, no flailing, no panic. Anon just… moved her hoof out of the way of the ball, and that was enough.
"Auch!"
A whistle rang out through the field as Rumble fell to the ground, clutching his fetlock and giving glare to Scootaloo.
"Hey!" he called out. "Look where you're throwing!"
Berry Twist grabbed the ball next. The nervous filly stuck out her tongue in concentration, aiming for her target.
Anon made a single step left.
The ball missed the jumper, soared through the air where she stood just a second before and flew outside the playing field until it finally hit the fence. Anon had to concede - earth ponies, even foals, really could put some good "umph" behind their throws.
Magic, go figure.
Cheerilee picked up the stray dodgeball, quickly kicking it back.
It landed in the middle yet again.
Diamond was already waiting for it there.
Not losing a single second, the filly threw it to Silver Spoon. Taking her time, Silver Spoon took a deep breath, letting the noise of the playground fall into the background while she searched for the perfect opportunity.
She found one.
A cluster of foals from different teams, trying to get as far away from her as possible, all going into a corner - with very little space for dodging.
She saw her opportunity. And she took it.
The ball flew low in a perfect arc, landing smack in the middle of them, without actually hitting anypony.
It didn't need to.
The foals around it exchanged looks. At first there was trepidation.
Then there was chaos.
All of them lunged for the ball, grabbing it only for somepony else to steal it and immediately throw it, resulting in somepony else doing the same - forgetting about the part where the ball needed to be passed first, resulting in even more chaos.
Silver Spoon smirked.
A whistle rang out.
Anon turned, just in time to see Cheerilee kicking in another two dodgeballs. The red instruments of destruction were joining their brethren already in the field of battle. The balls landed, again, towards the middle of the battleground and right into the waiting hooves of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, who exchanged a glance.
"Oh yeah, it's on," Diamond said.
Meanwhile, Anon came to a small realization.
She was enjoying herself.
The green filly leaned right, followed by a quick step left - another dodgeball missing her only by a hair.
It was strange. At first, she went back onto her instincts, feeling nothing but the desperate need to keep moving and avoid the red projectiles. But after the first few misses, something clicked in her head.
It a game. Just a game.
And we are winning
Anon let out a laugh, rushing towards a panicking Sweetie Belle, who whiffed her shot as the green foal wove around her. Anon stopped suddenly, kicking up dirt and dust. Scootaloo groaned, seeing as another of her perfectly timed and aimed shots not only missed her intended target, but managed to nail poor Twist in the flank.
The whistle rang out. And then again. And again.
The utter chaos that was the playground gradually cleared up as more and more of the players got eliminated. Anon continued doing what she did best - standing in the face of anyone without a green vest and forcing them to miss their shots, while her own teammates slowly dismantled any semblance of resistance.
Until suddenly…
"Pause!"
Cheerilee ran into the field, helping the now choking Berry up. The filly was meanwhile busy with simultaneously holding tears in an ineffectual attempt at stopping herself from crying and glaring angrily at Scootaloo. After some prodding by the teacher, Berry finally lifted her foreleg for Cheerilee to see, revealing her slightly bloodied knee - scratched in her attempt to get away. Not that it helped much against Scootaloo's supercharged shots.
The orange filly only watched with a steely expression as Cheerilee shushed the crying foal and led her away into the classroom, presumably to apply the all-ills-treating cure better known as The Good Band-Aids. (Not the boring, old stuff one has to cut themselves with scissors. The pretty Band-Aids with colorful pictures on them that somehow only nurses and elementary school teachers seem to have.)
And just like that, only two teams remained.
Diamond, Silver Spoon and Anon stood in a line, catching their breath after the slaughter.
Against them, four foals in orange vests.
Scootaloo held one of the dodgeballs. Sweat matted her fur and stained her vest. Next to her stood Sweetie Belle, the snow-white filly clearly out of breath and tired. Apple Bloom fared better, despite the bruise forming on her front leg - where she got hit on accident by a ball, that luckily for her, hadn't counted.
And behind them cowered Dinky.
The gray unicorn filly let out a meek "Eeep" every time anypony so much as looked at her, dodging out of the way even if the ball landed on the opposite side of the playground.
Which, to be fair, had to be a strategy with some level of tactical soundness, because she was still in the game.
Or maybe Silver Spoon simply never saw her as a good target and nopony else wanted to risk hitting Scootaloo's teammate.
"Ready to lose?" Diamond quipped, a smug look on her face.
"Dream on!" Scootaloo answered quickly, with Apple Bloom nodding next to her. "As if we could ever lose to somepony like you, Diamond."
Silver Spoon opened her mouth for a retort, but the pink hoof in front of her muzzle silenced her.
"You know what?" Diamond said cockily. "If you’re so sure, why not make this more interesting?"
She gave a wink.
"Let’s bet."
She turned towards the now confused Anon, motioning at her to come closer.
"Spring, have you ever had a personal sl- butler?"
Anon raised a brow.
This isn't going to end well.
"...No?" she said slowly.
Diamond smirked.
"Would you like one?"
Anon blinked, staring at her ostensibly/maybe/probably friend.
"What?" Scootaloo said, voicing the opinion of everyone gathered.
Diamond shot Anon another smirk before turning to the equally confused three fillies standing as their foes.
"It's simple," Diamond explained. "The losers have to be the winners’ butlers for a day."
Scootaloo took a step forward, folded wings bristling at her sides
"No way, Diamond."
Apple Bloom gave her orange friend a nod.
"We ain't agreeing or anything with a snake like you."
Diamond only continued smirking.
"But of course," Diamond said. "It's understandable that you're scared in your situation." She gave them a look of fake sympathy. "Don't worry, we will go easy on you. I promise"
Sweetie Belle gulped, watching the orange filly grit her teeth, looking like she was just about ready to jump Diamond Tiara and throw hooves - something which couldn't end well.
"Scootaloo, no," Sweetie Bell attempted, but was soundly ignored.
"It's on," Scootaloo hissed.
Diamond's smile only broadened as she walked away and Cheerilee came back to the field.
"That could have gone better," Anon said, looking back at the trio of scowling fillies behind them, now bickering between each other. "Are you sure antagonizing them was a smart thing to do?"
Diamond rolled her eyes.
"Of course it was the smart thing to do, duh." Diamond answered with an easy shrug. "When we get ponies this angry, they stop working well together. It's like our most used trick or whatever."
"But now they have a lot more to lose." Anon argued. "And a lot more to gain."
"I'm with Spring here." Silver Spoon piped up. "What if it backfires? I don't think we could live that down."
Diamond shook her head.
"It won't, trust me," Diamond said with a tone of voice suggesting she had more to say on the topic, but was hesitating to talk about it.
Anon had a good guess why that was.
Let's get this over with.
The green filly inhaled while bracing herself.
"Okay, I guess you have a plan. I hope it's a better one than just 'dodge, but like, really hard," Anon said in deadpan.
"Yes, but you're not going to like it," Diamond said.
Called it, Anon thought to herself.
The rich filly paused, glancing around her if anypony was listening before continuing in a hushed tone.
"I need you to get hit."
Anon took a deep breath.
Cheerilee stood in the middle of the playground. Behind was the rest of the class, now out of the game, just watching them intently while trying to cheer for team orange without making it too obvious to Cheerilee.
"I really have to stop agreeing to stuff like this," Anon muttered to herself as she stepped forward, ready to enter the fray once more.
"Ehm."
Their attention was snapped to Cheerilee, the teacher giving the two remaining teams a small smile, barely hiding her concern.
"Before we restart the game," she said with a quickly slipping mask of pleasantness, wholly understandable considering she now used a month's supply of ban-aids in the span of twenty minutes. "Please be careful. It's only a game. Is that clear?"
"Yes, miss Cheerilee," Chorused the two teams, wholly prepared to ignore the teacher’s advice.
"Good,” Cheerilee nodded. “Now…Start!"
She kicked the ball into the field, sending it in a long, curved arc, heading for the center of the field.
Anon dashed forward, Scootaloo doing the same, both of them running as fast as their legs would allow them, the ball landing on the ground between them. The orange filly gaining a small lead.
Scootaloo smiled.
She would be there first.
Anon kept on running, dirt flying from under her hooves, her mind razor-focused on the task.
It will work. You will make it.
Scootaloo reached for the ball and let out a laugh as she snatched it up.
Anon ran past her.
Confused, Scootaloo turned, winding back and throwing the dodgeball with everything she had.
The ball spun, flying so fast it left a red blur behind it.
Anon stopped, skidding to a halt.
When the ball hit Anon in the shoulder, the force behind it nearly made the jump lose her balance and send her to the ground. But she held while the ball itself was sent flying straight up in the air, Scootaloo watching its ascent and descent with utter fascination.
What she failed to notice was Spring beginning to move again. Running further towards Scootaloo's left behind teammates, blocking them on approach-
Diamond Tiara ran past the now owlishly blinking Scootaloo, snatching the ball before it could land.
And then she threw it.
The orange filly dodged. Because while she was startled, she was still aware and fast enough to sidestep, even if the shot came from an odd angle and at such a short distance.
The ball missed by a wide margin, Scootaloo smirked, knowing she was still the best and Diamond now whiffed her only shot at getting her. But then she noticed something:
Diamond Tiara was smirking too.
The rich filly wasn't surprised by the miss, or even Scootaloo's quick reactions. She knew very well just how fast the filly could react from all the previous times she had been pitched against her.
Which was the reason she’d never aimed for Scootaloo in the first place.
Silver Spoon caught the dodgeball.
The silver maned filly had snuck behind Scootaloo while she was too busy trying to shoot Anon and dodge Diamond's possible attack. This meant that now Scootaloo still had too much momentum built up from her movement.
To the young pegasus' credit, she realized something was wrong. A sense in the back of her mind was tingling, making her move.
But Silver Spoon had a good eye for details. One needs it when working with small, precious things and making them into other small, even more precious things.
There was just enough motion for her to notice. A small tensing of muscles in Scootaloo's left wing as the pegasus prepared to give herself a push to avoid the danger.
Silver Spoon adjusted her aim and took her shot.
Cheerilee's whistle rang out.
Scootaloo blinked at the sight of the dodgeball, laying on the ground in front of her after it bounced off her front leg.
"H-how?"
Diamond beamed at her.
"Easy, we were smart about it," Diamond explained. "You might be fast, but you have a bad habit of standing around and waiting for your shot to hit, Scoots."
"And you telegraph your dodges with your wings," Silver added, adjusting her glasses.
"We expect you tomorrow at eight," Diamond said, a smile so smug it threatened the very fabric of reality plastered on her face.
Silver turned towards her friend with a devilish smile of her own.
"Ooh! Do we get them neckties and tuxedos and make them all dress up?" she said.
Diamond paused, scratching her chin.
"I dunno," she said after a few beats. "I don't have any and I don't think Randolph would appreciate it if I borrowed his."
"We ain't out yet, Diamond," Scootaloo hissed, rubbing the sore spot on her fetlock.
"Yeah! We can still kick your sorry flanks!" Apple Bloom came to the defense of her comrade in vest.
"Ehm, Diamond?" Silver attempted to interject, but Diamond's focus was now completely on the orange team.
Or, at least, most of them.
"Oh? You want to defeat us without your star player. How, pray tell?" Diamond said, haughtiness dripping from her voice.
"Diamond, they have the ball!" Silver suddenly yelled at her friend.
She was right.
Behind them stood Dinky, the ball levitating next to in an aura of sparkling, grayish magic while she desperately tried to make it stop shaking and take aim.
She wasn't very successful.
"C’mon! Throw!" Apple Bloom screamed, running into position behind the now panicking Diamond as she scrambled to get away, only to be body blocked by the farm filly.
"Get Diamond!" Scootaloo commanded.
"No! Get Spring! Wait until Spring is distracted and get her!" Sweetie Belle joined in, rising to stand in Anon's face, which was only awarded by a deadpan expression on the jumper's unimpressed face, making Sweetie Belle back off while smiling sheepishly. "...Or maybe don't?"
"Silver!" came a voice from the bench, belonging to the until now still sulking Rumble. "Get Silver!"
"No! You have to make it count first! Get it to me!" Apple Bloom. "I'll get Diamond then!"
But Dinky did no such thing. She stood in place, eyes closed, seemingly on the verge of tears as her magic simply refused to obey.
And then the ball began to blur and the sparks around it grew.
"C’mon, are you stupid?!" Scootaloo said angrily. "Stop being useless and do something!"
Dinky lowered her head, the magic built more and more around the ball, tears started trickling down her face.
The ball started to glow with power.
And then, the spark turned into lightning.
"Eh, stupid question," Anon said while backing away from the forming vortex of raw magical power gathering around Dinky. "But is that normal?"
"Watch out!" Silver Spoon cried out. "She is having a surge!"
"A what-"
And then Dinky let go of the dodgeball, collapsing unconscious to the ground from the backlash.
There was a loud crack, followed by a thunderous boom as the ball of painful doom was hurled by Dinkie's out-of-control magic at its target.
Scootaloo.
The orange pegasus filly’s eyes went wide with fear in the split second the ball of ultimate destruction turned its course towards her. The dodgeball left sparks of magic in its trail like a demented, malicious comet.
Scootaloo did the only thing she could.
She ducked.
The ball continued flying for a few feet more until it stopped just as suddenly as it started moving, levitating above ground, suspended in gray magical aura and occasionally shooting blasts of mana, scorching the ground underneath.
Anon, for a second, would swear that it glared at Scootaloo. A rare feat, considering it didn't even have eyes.
And then it flew back towards the orange filly.
"Help!" was all Scootaloo managed to bellow as she dodged the ball again and the furious piece of red rubber, magic and rage continued harassing the filly.
Cheerilee attempted to help. The teacher jumped in the way of the homicidal school equipment, attempting to hold it in place, pushing against uncontrollable magic with all her might.
The ball went still.
Finally, Cheerilee gave a sigh of relief, relaxing a little.
"Well, I hope this will serve as a lesson-"
The ball moved up, surprising the mare and lifting her up into the air, while it flew towards the now terrified gaggle of foals. Cheerilee holding on to it for dear life.
"No! Bad dodgeball!"
The ball stopped again, its non-eyes glaring whole swords at the teacher before it began shaking like a dog, Cheerilee swaying with it in midair.
And then it stopped again.
"Oh thank Celestia," Cheerilee muttered, her face visibly green.
The ball glared.
It was at that moment, Cheerilee noticed that the ball, in fact, hadn't stopped.
It simply began moving up.
"Oh no."
it flew up and up into the air, before backing up and giving one final glare, the sparkling vortex bristling angrily around it.
"Oh no, no, no, no! Bad dodgeball! Bad!"
Before it suddenly, and rapidly, accelerated and then took a sharp U turn, throwing the screaming teacher off. With a horrible, startled scream, Cheerilee fell, her lungs and throat burning as she called for help.
For about a second, until she realized she safely landed on the roof of the schoolhouse.
Slowly, Cheerilee got up, testing that she, in fact, was on something solid and wasn't falling to her death (anymore). Finally, the still shaking teacher gave a relieved sigh. Now, she only needed to get down and-
She looked down from the second story she ended on. With no ladder or help in sight.
Quickly, she looked from side to side - just to make sure.
"Horseapples," the teacher muttered.
Meanwhile, down on the playing field, hell went loose.
The ball returned, restarting its rampage, coming straight down and burying itself into the ground, showering everypony around it with dirt.
Bewildered, Scootaloo watched as patches of disturbed ground betrayed the location of the now burrowing dodgeball.
"Nobody move!" Anon whisper-yelled - a delicate art of screaming without being loud. "It stalks by sensing movement."
"It's a bucking dodgeball!" Retorted Scootaloo, then cringing when she realized the words she used. She did calm down slightly when she realized the only adult supervision capable of rinsing her mouth with soap for her vocabulary was currently trying to find a way down from a roof of a third story building that didn't include broken bones or possible brain damage.
"It's predatory!" Anon whispered. "It hungers for pony flesh!"
"It's rubber!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed, her voice betraying the panic and the fact she ever so slowly began to believe that the dodgeball, may be, just as an option, an equinovore.
"I have a plan!" Diamond said suddenly, ducking away from another lunge by the bloodthirsty playground instrument. "I need somepony strong to chain it down. Apple Bloom, Silver, you can help me with that. Spring, do you remember how you fixed the chain?"
The jumper gulped. She remembered that well enough. The headache - or hornache - hadn't gone away for hours.
"Yeah?" she answered slowly, while stepping right just as the ball pounced from the ground, flying past her and burying itself into the dirt where she stood just a second ago.
"Do you think you can do it again?"
The jumper paused, briefly glancing to the corner where terrified foals were running around like headless chickens, avoiding the rampage to the best of their abilities.
"...Yeah."
Diamond gave her a nod, turning towards the two teams.
"We need to grab it and hold it down so Spring can melt it with fire magic. Scootaloo, you have the best chance of distracting it while-"
"Are you crazy?" Interrupted Apple Bloom. "You saw what it did to Cheerilee when she tried that!"
"We just need it to keep it in one place for a few seconds so Spring can destroy it," Silver tried.
"It's going to throw us off!" Sweetie Belle interrupted.
"Not if we work together!" Silver Spoon argued.
"Working together?" Apple Bloom exclaimed angrily, while flinching as the sound of the other foals hit her. "You're planning on using Scootaloo as bait!"
"...Let's do it," Scootaloo said suddenly.
"What?" Both Sweetie Bell and Applebloom said the same time.
"We caused this. And we will fix it" Scootaloo said towards her two friends before turning back to Diamond, giving her a small nod the pinkish filly reciprocated in kind.
"Good," Diamond motioned towards the playground next to the playing field. "Now listen."
She smirked.
"I have a plan."
The ball attacked.
The construct of anger and magic saw the world through a red haze. Its master laid down, unconscious on the ground, their last command now the only thing fueling it.
Anger.
It did not know what made its creator angry; it did not understand why or what it even was.
But it did know what to do.
The ball dove into another huddle of foals. Two colts who were trying to climb the fence and escape to safety. Too slow to realize the danger now coming their way.
"Hah! Freedom!"
Snips had to hold himself from squealing the second he reached the top of the fence, poor Snails straining under him as they both tried to escape.
"Hurry!" his friend said, his legs shaking from having to support the other colt.
And then the fence exploded.
For the second time in the same week, Snips was catapulted off his hoof and into the air, landing in a heap of limbs and sadness under a circular shadow.
The colt slowly got up, the world spinning on around him. He attempted to reorient himself, but his head hurt and something big and red was blocking most of his vision.
"Oh, that's just the dodgeball," he said, relieved. "Wait a second…"
The ball floated up, preparing to dive down once more, the angry magic around it seemed almost eager for a moment.
"Hey!"
The ball, if it had a head to turn, would.
Behind it, standing on top of an old slide, stood Scootaloo.
"Come and get me if you can."
The murderous dodgeball did not hesitate.
Without a second to spare, Scootaloo ducked. The ball went through the slide as if it wasn't even there in a shower of splinters. The instrument of destruction came to a halt, floating seemingly dazed above the ruined slide as it shook some of the debris off while searching for its mark.
"Now!" Diamond screamed, rushing together with Spring from a nearby bush.
On their mark, Apple Bloom and Silver Spoon appeared from behind the swings, the repaired chain between them. The two foals rushed the confused dodgeball, the chain wrapping around it as they began to circle it and bind it, holding it in place as it tried to fly away.
Diamond jumped on both her opportunity and the chained ball in her attempt at bringing it down to the ground. Not one to be left behind, Scootaloo grabbed the dodgeball, using every ounce of her strength to ground the red beast, her wings fluttering with effort as she did.
Meanwhile, Anon tried to remember. Searching for the right memory. Not to fix something. Not to mend. To destroy.
Anon searched for a memory that burned.
Silver Spoon's eyes went wide. The chain she held began to slip away, the reforged links slowly coming apart. The gray magic pulling and destroying. Seeing the weak link split, she bit down on it just as it was about to get away.
"Spring! Hurry!" she tried to say, but due to the whole 'chain held in mouth' situation', it was closer to "Splgh, Gurry!"
Anon closed her eyes.
Please! Stop! Mercy!
No.
Aaargh! My hand! Why? You monster-
Did he beg? Have you shown him any mercy when you took his mind away? When you wiped everything that made him?
…
That's what I thought.
This is for my friend.
And then there was light.
Diamond turned away, the brightness being too much for her eyes.
When she opened them again, where the dodgeball used to be was now a foul smelling puddle of melted stuff.
"It worked!" she said, half in disbelief that her plan worked, half that it didn't end with them covered in soot for some reason.
"Diamond! Look!" Silver Spoon pointed at her friend.
More accurately, at her flank.
"You have a cutie mark," Silver Spoon said with a grin.
On her flank, to surprise absolutely nopony, was a tiara.
Diamond let out a giddy laugh before stopping and pointing right back.
"Silver, you have yours too!" she exclaimed happily.
And it was true enough. On her flank was now, again to the surprise of absolutely nopony, a fancy looking spoon. One presumably made of silver.
"Yeah! Suck it, blank flanks!" Silver Spoon said, towards the trio of fillies getting up behind her.
"Spring, do you have- Spring?"
But Anon didn't answer. She was too busy writhing on the floor in pain, feeling like something was actively rummaging through her very soul and making quite a mess while at it. Either rending it apart, or maybe welding it together with reckless abandon.
On her flank, the green of her fur changed color. It became lighter, more distinct.
Almost forming an outline of a picture or a symbol of some kind.
And the orb under her vest glowed a little brighter.