What is This Feeling?

Elphaba scribbled a few scattered thoughts onto a spare piece of paper, inexplicably less than thrilled with the class so far. Doctor Dillamond had not yet shown up, and the rest of the students took this as a sign to simply sit about and waste air.

“Elphaba, really now,” A high voice spoke from beside the jade girl, “What in Oz’ name could you be writing about in that hideoteous notebook of yours?”

“Oh, just my will.” She answered Galinda plainly, earning a harsh scoff in reply. “I’ve left Nessarose most of my worldly possessions and Father a piece of tissue paper I found in my satchel this morning.”

“What then, nothing for your best friend?” Galinda asked with mock surprise. “You’re not going to leave me any savings or mementos of the vivid girl I knew so dearly in my days here at dear old Shiz?”

“Oh, yes, of course.” Elphaba revised a few lead scratchings with a sweep of her eraser. “I’ll be sure to leave you that stylish black hat you gave to me with the intention of humiliating me.”

“Feel free to leave that to Biq instead!”

“You mean Boq?”

“Oh, whatever!” Galinda seemingly waved their conversation off as she turned away from Elphaba, opting instead to resume making flirtatious waves towards Fiyero at the other end of the room.

“I’d just like to know what’s preventing Doctor Dillamond from showing up on time.” Elphaba noted with a dull annoyance.

“Well I’m sure I don’t know, Elphie!” Galinda’s head didn’t even turn as she answered half-heartedly. “I hardly speak to the old Goat outside of class as is!”

Elphaba had to hand it to Galinda on that account. Ever since Doctor Dillamond had read the first role call with the pronunciation of Galinda’s name as "Glinda," the blonde had formed something of a personal grudge and vendetta against the History teacher.

The buzz of voices in the room halted as the room’s sole door opened, Doctor Dillamond rushing in as fast as his two hooves would let him, seemingly in hurry and more than slightly panicked.

“Settle down class, I’ve something to say and very little time to say it!” The gray-haired Goat placed a small suitcase to the side as he stole a glance at the door, alarmed by whatever it was that had him running. “My dear students, this will be my last day here at Shiz. I am no longer permitted to teach.”

Another buzz of several voices erupted in the room, shocked and questioning of this decision. Doctor Dillamond had been a perfectly passable professor up to this point! He may have had the odd ramble here and there, but it would always relate back to the main lesson! Doctor Dillamond could boast one of the lowest failure rates in the entire school just for this class.

However, Elphaba was less inclined to simply ponder this oddity. She instead rose to her feet as fast as humanly possible, face painted with a painful expression of grief and fury.

“What?!” This same combination was carried in her voice. Having such bright green skin was anything but easy, but with Doctor Dillamond, Elphaba felt more at home, as if she was less of a spectacle when she was among company that was as different as she was.

“Miss Elphaba, please.” Doctor Dillamond ushered the outraged girl back into her seat as he addressed the class once more. “I want to thank you all for sharing with me your enthusiasm, your essays, however feebly structured, and even, on some occasions, your lunch.”

Doctor Dillamond smiled in the direction of Elphaba at the mention of the word “lunch.” It had been a simple occasion where Elphaba had offered to spend a moment eating her sandwich with him. His Goat instincts made him a bit more interested in chewing the paper said sandwich was wrapped in, but it was an occasion where teacher and student felt they had truly bonded.

It was on that note that Madame Morrible, head mistress of the university, chose to sweep into the room, several men in comically large trench coats and bowler hats pouring in behind her.

“Oh, Doctor, I’m so terribly sorry!” The elderly woman crossed the room to place a frail hand onto the shoulder of the Goat’s tweed jacket. “I simply couldn’t delay their approach any longer!”

“Madame, please!” Elphaba rose once more, incredulous with the situation. “You can’t allow this!”

The young woman was interrupted by a heavy hoof being placed on her shoulder. “Miss Elphaba, don’t worry about me! They may take away my job, but I shall continue speaking out!”

It was not long before both of Doctor Dillamond’s Hooves were grabbed by the men who had followed n after Madame Morrible, dragging the Animal into the hallway.

“Come on, Goat.” The largest of the men spoke considerably unsympathetically as he led the struggling professor out of the room.

“You’re not being told the whole story class!” The students heard the last of Doctor Dillamond’s echoing protestations from outside the classroom. “Remember that!”

“Doctor Dillamond!” Elphaba was the only one who attempted to rush after him, though she found her path outside the door blocked by one of the trench coated men. She turned to face her peers. “Well are we all just going to sit here?! In silence?”

“Miss Elphaba, I’m afraid there’s nothing else we can do.” Madame Morrible spoke comfortingly as she attempted to lead the livid girl back to her seat.

“But Madame-“ Elphaba felt a tug from Galinda’s hand pull her back down to her seat next to the blonde, who had been just as desperate for Elphaba to sit down as everyone else.

Madame Morrible pulled at the train of her red robes as she stepped aside from the front of the classroom, yet another trench coated man stepped towards the center of the room, pulling a cart covered by a gray sheet along with him.

“Good afternoon, students!” The peculiar man’s greeting was returned in a manner that was just as vapid. “Today, I’d like to take to chance to introduce you to a procedure that will soon be taking the Animals of Oz by storm!”

As he spoke these words, the man pulled the sheet from atop the cart, revealing a grand cage concealing three individual forms inside of it. They each seemed to be some foreign creature, something too grand to see even in Oz! They looked enough like any animal, but they were plastered with bright colors.

“Are those Horses?” Fiyero asked from the back of the room.

“Right you are young man!” The new instructor pulled a small tray from beneath the cage, an assortment of syringes, scalpels, and needles laid out upon it.

“What in Lurline’s name are those for?” Elphaba’s voice went up an octave at the sight of the sharp tools. If not for her severe verdigris, she would have likely been red in the face.

“These, my dear, are a remarkable innovations designed for the purpose of ensuring that Animal advocacy is halted as soon as possible!” The glee in the man’s voice did little to calm the fury in Elphaba’s expression.

“Are you mad? You can’t possibly just silence an Animal like that, it’s not right!” Elphaba balled her fists as she stared the new instructor dead on.

“Really now my dear, it’s for their own good.” The man picked up one of the syringes as he did his best to ignore Elphaba’s protests to stop. “Gather around then students, you’ll see in this procedure what can be expected for the Oz of tomorrow!”

“Galinda, we’ve got to do something!” Elphaba grabbed ahold of the blonde’s hand as she walked forward with the others. “We can’t let him do this to those defenseless creatures!”

“Ugh, Elphaba!” Galinda attempted to pull her hand out of her friend’s grasp. “I don’t like him prodding those poor things with those needles any more than you do, but what can we possibly do?”

“Well can you possibly imagine a world where Animals never speak and are locked in cages?!” Elphaba’s voice had risen above the rest of the clamor by this point, but the room’s focus remained on the man and his cage o bizarre Animals. She threw her arms out fiercely on either side of her. “Somebody has to do something!”

And with that screech, something happened indeed. The small platform upon which the cage rested released a formidable gust of wind and cloud of smoke. The man and students were pushed away from the cage by an unseen force.

“What happened?!” Galinda attempted to scream over the commotion occurring amongst the others. “What did you do!?”

“I don’t know!” Elphaba shouted in reply. “I just god mad and I-“

She had no time to respond as the lighting of the room dimmed, grim lines of pale green dancing along the walls, floor, and even ceiling. The multiple students began to go into convulsions as they cried and shouted in their odd trance-like state. Galinda found herself bumped backwards into the crowd by a lose hand.

“Elphie!” The petite girl cried out as she found herself being pushed closer to the center of the chaos.

“Galinda!” Elphaba cupped her hands as she shouted to her friend. “Reach the cage! Unhook the clasp!”

“Oh, for Oz’ sake!” Galinda muttered to herself as she bent her back forward, straining to get a grip on the iron cage. She pulled on the iron handle sitting to the left of the cage, releasing an opening at the back of the cage. The door fell back, knocking down against the lightest colored of the three bodies in the cage, stirring it slightly.

“Oh heavens, what’s happened?” A groggy feminine voice came faintly from the cage, a purple mane of curls poking out. “Twilight, Rainbow Dash, are you two alright?”

A student passing the cage knocked it over in his induced haste, sending it to the ground with a loud clatter. The previous voice now began squeaking and squealing at the various feet pounding against the iron bars of the cage.

“Sweet Celestia! What is this mess?” The voice became more frantic as the purple mane whipped around in confusion and panic. “These outfits are hideous! They’re not symmetrical at all! Really now people, blue and white stripes are not slimming!”

Soon after this remark, a pair of green hands hefted the cage off of the ground, leading it away from the mass of writhing students.

“Hurry, we’ve got to get you out of here!” Elphaba frantically attempted to help the Animals out of the cage, desperate to get them far away before whatever was afflicting the room wore off.

The three Animals that piled out of the cage were definitely Horses, which became evident as each one stepped out. The one who had spoken previously though, had a small horn the same color as its coat coming from the center of its forehead. The other two, who had seemingly come to not long after the first one, were also fairly odd, one having a similar horn, and the other with a pair of feathery-blue wings lying on its sides to match the sky blue color of its coat.

“Come on!” Elphaba called to the three behind her, already retreating out of the room. “There’s an exit just nearby!”

The three Animals exchanged worried looks between the three of them before one stepped forward, a purple coat complimented by a darker mane with a pink streak running through it.

“I don’t have any real idea of what’s going on here, but we don’t have much of a choice!” She addressed the other two in a voice that seemed to impose a sense of authority. “Let’s just do it girls!”

The remaining two shared a nod before the Horse sporting a rainbow mane spread its wings, taking to a few feet into the air, looking intently at the green girl.

“Lead the way, captain!”