Chapter 3 - Gluttony
"Shadow, do you think that girl is alright?" Ms. Muffin asked, swinging her tiny feet back and forth in restlessness from atop a tiny chair.
"Absolutely. The worst that could have happened to her would have been losing the duel and getting teleported back to the Commons." The black dragon stood upright on his back feet, resting his claws on the table to support himself.
On that very same table, the five Fancy Yogurts were dumped in a disorganized manner like a pile of stolen artifacts ready to be divided among crew members. The rest of the table was occupied by three pies, which spread their malicious sugary smell in every nook and cranny of the small room.
The room itself wasn't very spacious, containing only a small table, one chair, a wardrobe, and a tiny, yet comfortable bed. That wasn't to say that Ms. Muffin hadn't tried to customize the space to her liking with the aid of posters, pictures, and bright colors.
The walls were bright yellow, almost blinding, a decorative choice that Shadow definitely never approved. A picture of Shadow and herself making funny faces stood guard just above the bed: a breath of fresh air compared to the numerous posters of King Thermidor and his band which littered the walls like spreading fungi. The wardrobe door almost looked like they were growing skin with the sheer amount of drawings that were attached to it in messy, layered patterns. The largest of the drawings was an autoportrait starring a generously beautified version of Ms. Muffin herself, and of course, in the morning she looked at it instead of the mirror.
All in all, Wolf Shadowmancer who had traveled through the horrifying layer of the Arachna in the faraway world of Khrysalis without batting an eyelid, would have probably fainted on the spot if he were to just simply gaze at the room from outside.
Their decision to go for Ms. Muffin's room had been made for the sake of keeping the mega snacks secret. They didn't want a repeat of what had happened at the arena, and nobody would have asked any questions if the gluttonous piggle closed herself up in her room to enjoy her afternoon snack. It hadn't been an easy task by any means though: Shadow had to repeatedly stop his friend from getting a taste of the expensive delicacies on the way.
"Eat one or two... and slowly. We do not know if eating them all together could be bad for your stomach... In the worst case scenario you could even explode," Shadow warned. "Usually you should also train a little between one snack and the next… We have no time for it though."
"I guess so… unless I train hard for the entire night?" Ms. Muffin replied, taking hold of the nearest snack.
"That would only tire you out. Remember that you will have to be at the top of your game… that and you need to pay attention to Pinkie."
"I know, I know… I still don't get why Pinkie is out to get me though. We're friends, no?"
"No Muffin… Pinkie really hates you."
"But why? I didn't do anything wrong. We even worked together on a group projects for a semester!"
"Muffin… Your marks in those projects were below zero… You ate all of them before they could be graded!"
"Oh… but they were delicious… I couldn't resist! I told Mr. Barker that they tasted good though, so it should be alright, no?"
Shadow closed his eyes, took a deep breath, probably to calm himself down, and replied, "They weren't supposed to be food!"
"Oh…"
"Listen... failing Teamwork 101, was a terrible thing for Pinkie. She has already been working with a wizard partner... and whoever they are, they are very strict. They want her at the very best, and I can understand her anger... Wolf is very demanding too," Shadow explained, removing his claws from the table and making his way towards the door.
"But-"
Shadow raised his voice and continued, not giving his friend time to interrupt him. "That isn't to say that her actions are excusable. She can't just go nuts and try to get rid of you. That's outright evil."
"What if I talked to her, maybe-"
"Don't do that. She would just think you are making fun of her. Just stay away from her as much as possible," the black dragon's words were final, almost pleading, as he reached for the door's handle.
"Okay… um, Shadow, where are you going?" Ms. Muffin asked, straining her almost non-existent neck to peer above the Fancy Yogurts.
"I need to practice with my may derby talents. I'll be needing them tomorrow," he stated. "Remember, eat those yogurts with care!" And just like that, he was out of the room, leaving Ms. Muffin alone with her thoughts.
Would Pinkie really do something to her? Was it true that she had antagonized the Plushie Unicorn by accident? Most importantly, why did Pinkie's essays taste so good if they weren't supposed to be eaten? Did she use some kind of Plushie magic to make them tastier?
Many questions hammered at the borders of Ms. Muffin's mind, most to be left without answers, while others leading to vivid and uncharacteristically long musings. She didn't know how long she stared at the colorful walls of her room without seeing them, but what she did know, was that the angry grumbles of her protesting stomach distracted her from her scattered thoughts. All that thinking sure made her hungry!
She opened the first jar of Fancy Yogurt without giving it much thought, using her hoof to dig out all the fanciness inside and unceremoniously slurp it down. "Hmm, they're good!"
Ms. Muffin had eaten a good amount of yogurts during the years, but nothing was quite like the one she was eating at the moment. Before she could savor the taste properly, it was already finished, the jar left abandoned to the side as clean as if it had been the target of a particularly powerful cleaning spell.
Hmm, just one more can't hurt, Ms. Muffin thought, hoof going for the next snack. She barely hesitated to dip her hoof in, Shadow's words a mere annoyance at the back of her mind…
One more… Her mouth watered at the thought. Shadow would have scolded her anyway for eating two...
One more… Her yogurt-blanketed lips smacked in anticipation as she opened the third jar...
It wasn't long before all five mega snacks found their way into the satisfied stomach of the piglet who now lied down on her bed holding her tummy. She was in heaven, a heaven with clouds made up of creamy yogurt. At first, she couldn't quite believe that such tiny things could be so precious, but after eating them…
"Dear Forest Lord, I ate all of them!" she exclaimed rolling out of bed to check the jars again, just in case there was some kind of tiny yogurt leftover to show Shadow so she could defend herself and say that no, she hadn't devoured all of them.
Empty... empty… all of them empty. She could definitely say that she was in a pickle. It wasn't the first time that her stomach had gotten the best of her, but it was definitely the first time that she could be in grave danger because of it. Shadow had told her not to eat them all together which she did… but he had been really vague on the effects. Where there any effects at all?
There definitely were.
A subtle warmth departed from her stomach, slowly seeping all throughout her body. It was a comforting feeling at first, soothing her tired muscles and making her legs jelly, but it didn't last. It only got worse.
Fiery waves of heat burned through her fat as if it consumed dry straw. Her tiny wings flapped aimlessly on their own volition, deaf to Ms. Muffin's panicky orders. She was burning… No flames flickered to life from her body, but she was surely burning. An inferno in her stomach, that couldn't be quenched by any amount of water thrown at it. She had to spit it out… she had to… or else...
The poster-filled walls swam in front of her eyes as she made a couple of wobbly steps towards the table. Her breathing was irregular, quickly exhaling air and choking with every precious breath of oxygen. The air going in and out of her lungs didn't cool her down, if anything, it fed the flames.
She got to the table, hoof descending down on it to steady herself. A loud snap resounded in the room, taking Ms. Muffin's already overloaded senses by surprise. Splinters of wood flew everywhere like lethal darts as the tiny table broke in half by the sheer strength of her hoof's impact upon it. Plates crashed to the floor and shattered with consecutive crashes. The pies ruined to the floor, splattering in pieces under Ms. Muffin's stinging gaze. Ms. Muffin herself plummeted to the floor as her legs lost the strength to sustain her.
She wanted to throw up. She wanted it so bad, yet couldn't. Her stomach wouldn't empty of its contents, treasuring them like a leprechaun with his gold. If only she could lessen the grip…
Perhaps it was because of her confusional state or perhaps it was utter desperation, but an idea struck her out of the blue.
The pies...
She had planned to eat them as her afternoon snack but didn't get to do it because of their trip to the arena. Her teacher puked after eating a single bite… she still didn't think that they were that bad, but she could try…
Her very thoughts blurred as she crawled her way to the splattered remains of the nearest pie, forcing her mouth to close upon a tiny bite. It really was nauseatingly sweet. She forced herself to swallow.
Here comes the rainbow puke…
It never came. Instead, her world turned black as the shadowy emptiness of unconsciousness swallowed her.