Can’t Refuse the Juice

by PonyPixel

Rating: teen
Tags: Ocellus, Comedy, Smolder, Slice of Life, Narcotics, Silverstream, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Mystery
Length: 5730

A lot of students are enjoying this new energy drink. Infact, they're enjoying it too much.

A new energy drink is being sold in Ponyville, which is selling like hotcakes. While some are happy to have an extra boost, others like Ocellus, Emerald, and Peridot aren’t so keen this. Things seem to escalate when Smolder can’t help but have a couple of these drinks. And is it just me, or is she bigger than before?

Published 2020-01-26 01:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2020-01-26 01:40:01 UTC

Drink Up

Author's Note

So, a little test story. I’m going to be focusing on one of my OCs, or rather two. Let me know if you want to see more of this. Not sure that energy drinks fall under narcotics, but just in case.

Drink Up

Late one night at the school of friendship all of the students were fast asleep. This wouldn’t last long as a dripping sound started echoing could be heard. The students closest to it were soon woken up. Some of the girls decided to look around to see if they could find the noise.

“Where is it coming from?” Silverstream questioned.

“I don’t know,” Smolder groaned. “I just wanna go back to sleep.”

Looking around, the students eventually heard where the drip was coming from. Some of the dragons and yak broke through the wall to find a leaky pipe.

“How pipe make so loud sound?” Frida questioned.

“I don’t know,” Pyther said. “I just want it to stop.”

Silverstream obliged by placing her talon on the cracked pipe to stop the leak. “Hippogriff not need sleep?” Frida asked.

“She’s got a point,” Geena added. “You’re not wanting to stand here all night.”

“Though that would be grateful,” Pyther commented. The hippogriff wasn’t up for an all-nighter so she pulled back and the dripping continued.

“What do we do?” Tarsi questioned.

“Maybe we could get Headmare Starlight,” Silverstream suggested.

“I don’t think she could like being woken up in the middle of the night,” Smolder said.

“Student want sleep too,” Frida stated. “Yak go get head pony.” She was about to walk outside but Tarsi stopped her.

“Maybe we could just shut off the water,” Lighthoof suggested. “I think there’s a valve around here somewhere.”

“Couldn’t we just use some tape?” Smolder asked. “The pipe’s right there.”

“I don’t know.”

“I’ll be right back,” Pyther said. She walked over for a moment and returned with a roll of duct tape. The dragoness smacked it onto the pipe and it seemed to stop leaking.

“Okay,” Lighthoof said. “So, who’s covering up this hole?” The girls’ eyes widened before they ran back to their room. Not wanting to get into trouble, Lighthoof decided to head back to her’s for the night.

Smolder and Silverstream made it back to their dorm. The two made their way to sleep until they heard something. Drip. Smolder’s eyes shot open. The pipe was still leaking. Silverstream groaned as she tried to use her pillow to muffle the noise as Smolder did the same with some earmuffs. Many of the other girls struggled to sleep through the dripping while the rest of them slept through it.

After a long night, Smolder had barely gotten any sleep. She heard the bell ring and she slow flew up to her roommate. “Silver, wake up,” she said with a low moan.

Silverstream stood up and rubbed her eyes as she got as much sleep as Smolder. “You too?” she groaned. Smolder slowly nodded. The hippogriff slowly got out of bed and walked with her friend to the cafeteria. They weren’t the only two that were tired, most of the girls could barely keeping their eyes open.

The dragoness and hippogriff walked into line, bumping into a certain colt. “What happened to you?” Sandbar asked.

“A leaky kept us awake,” Smolder groaned crankily.

“I don’t know how one pipe can make so much noise,” Silverstream sighed.

“I didn’t hear anything last night,” the colt responded.

“Lucky you,” groaned Lighthoof, who was in front of them. After getting their breakfast, they slowly made their way over to the table. Gallus, Ocellus, and Yona also didn’t seem to be tired.

“You girls feel okay?” Ocellus asked.

“No,” Smolder groaned. “I feel like the fire inside me tied out.”

“My eyes feel like they’re feeling the pressure of the bottom of the ocean,” Silverstream added. She looked over to see an orange hippogriff. The hippogriff also had a crimson red mane with a sandy yellow beak and red eyes. Like Silverstream, she had a pearl shard necklace on. “Hey... Coral, how did you sleep.”

“Like a rock,” the orange hippogriff replied. She carried on to a different table as Silverstream held her head with her talons.

“You think teachers let you drink coffee?” Yona asked.

“Doubt it,” Ocellus said.

Just then, they could hear Headmare Starlight over the school speakers. ”Good morning students,” she said. ”Classes will carry on normally aside from cooking class due to water having to shut down to fix the leaking pipe. As a side note, would the student or students responsible for making the hole in the wall report to my office. I’d like to have a word.”

Later in class, Smolder, Silverstream, and the other students that kept up because of the leaky pipe were struggling to pay attention in class. “Is something wrong?” Fluttershy asked.

Silverstream was startled awake. “Um... No professor Fluttershy,” she replied. “I’m just a bit tired.”

“I understand. You aren’t the only one.” She looked over to a sleepy changeling. This changeling was hornless and had cyan chitin and yellow mandibles. He also had a navy blue mandibles to cover his cream-colored wing that matched his tail and his eyes were golden. “Pate!”

The changeling jumped awake. “Huh what?!” he questioned. Pate looked up at his teacher. “Oh, sorry professor Fluttershy. I kept hearing some dripping sound.”

“You mean the pipe?” Gallus asked.

“Oh, that’s what it was?”

“I understand most of you are pretty tired,” Fluttershy said. “How about we try and finish early so you can have a little break.” Many of the students agreed to this, even the ones who weren’t tired.

A little while later, the bell rang again waking some students from their naps. Some of them like Silverstream were feeling much better. However, some of them, like Smolder, were still feeling a little tired. This was evident in the rest of their classes as the dragoness passed out during Rarity’s lesson.

“Smolder, wake up,” the unicorn ordered. The dragoness just groaned as she opened her eyes. “I understand that you’ve had a good nap. I want you to try your hardest to pay attention.” Smolder didn’t say anything and just used her arms to hold up her head.

After Rarity’s class, Smolder slugged down the hall. “Man, I’m feeling a lot better,” Silverstream cheered. “How about... You?” She received her question when she just looked at her friend. “Not enough?”

“Nowhere near,” Smolder groaned. “I don’t know how I’m going to get enough the get through school.” She hung her head as she accidentally bumped into a delivery pony. The cross-eyed mare looked back at the students.

“Oh, don’t mind them Derpy,” Sunburst said. “They didn’t get enough sleep. Just leaving the drinks here.” Derpy nodded before she left the building. Silverstream and Smolder looked to some crates of some yellow bottles.

“What’s this?” the hippogriff asked.

“It’s a new energy drink that Rainbow Dash ordered. She said she was wanting our students in sports to get a boost.” He levitated some of the crates, leaving a couple of them behind. Silverstream took a look at one of the bottles.

“Jolt Juice,” she read. “I wonder what it tastes like.” She grabbed a second bottle and handed it to Smolder. Both of them took a sip and were surprised by the taste.

“WOW!” Smolder cried. “That’s some good stuff.”

“It does taste nice. You sound a lot better.”

“I do. I feel so much energy.” The dragoness started tapping her foot. “I need to let it out somehow. I think I can fly now.” She flapped her wings at a high speed, nearly making her bang her head on the ceiling. “Whoops. Come on, we’re going to be late for our next class. Smolder took off with a confused friend following behind.

When they got to Applejack’s class, they were surprised to see they were the first ones there. “Afternoon,” Applejack said.

“Hang on, where is every creature?” Silverstream asked.

“Y’all the first ones here.”

“Really? That’s never happened before.” Just behind them, Ocellus walked into the classroom.

“Oh,” the changeling gasped. “This is a first.”

“Looks like it,” Smolder said. “What do we do now?”

“Wait for the class to start. I guess.” The three sat down and waited for their class members to show up. Soon, they started getting bored.

“How do you stand this?”

“I usually get my notes prepared.”

“Maybe you could take a quick nap,” Silverstream suggested.

“No way, I feel way better now. I actually need to let some energy out. I’m going to fly around until I hear the bell.” Smolder flew out of the classroom with her friend being left behind and a bit perplexed.

At lunch, Smolder wasn’t sitting down at the table. She was just flying in midair while she ate. “Why friend not sitting?” Yona asked.

“I’ve just got a ton of energy,” Smolder answered quickly. “I just had this new drink and I’ve never felt better.” She showed her bottle to her friends. She shook it and noticed it was empty. “Aw, dang it. I’m still thirsty.”

“I thought you were just tired,” Ocellus said.

“I was, now I’m thirsty.” She flew back to the serving area to find any drink and flew back. However, the soda she drank gave her a bitter taste making spit it out. “This taste like compost.”

“I have the same soda,” Sandbar said showing his drink.

“Here, you can have it.” She tossed her bottle to the colt, nearly covering him in the fizzy drink. “Gotta go.” Smolder flew away from her friends.

Gallus got some napkins and helped clean up the mess. “What’s with her today?” he questioned.

“I don’t know,” Ocellus said, “But I’m a bit worried.”

“Hey, girls,” called a voice. Ocellus and Silverstream looked over to see Emerald and Peridot carrying their trays of food.

“You have any space?” Peridot asked. They scooted over so the twins could sit with them.

“Doesn’t Smolder usually sit here?” Emerald asked.

“She does,” Silverstream confirmed. “She’s acting a bit weird ever since she had that energy drink.” Silverstream showed the bottle she got earlier. She also decided to take a sip. “You know she’s right, this is kind of good.”

“What kind of drink is that?”

“It’s called Jolt Juice. It gives me so much energy.” She started shaking with excitement.

“Oh boy,” Ocellus said worriedly.

“What?” the twins asked.

“I think this drink is addictive.”

“Silver, I can see that bottle?” Emerald asked. The hippogriff nodded and gave the dragoness the bottle. “Let’s see, caffeine, potassium, kind of what I expected.” She narrowed her eyes as she continued down the list. “Weird.”

“What is?” her sister asked.

“I never of some of this stuff. Glycerin?”

“I think that’s a sweetener,” Ocellus commented.

“Judging where it is on the list, there’s a lot of it. There also seems to be something called Casein. Tenno... Mesium? What even is that?”

“Sounds like something made,” Peridot commented.

“It probably is,” Gallus said.

“There’s seems to be a lot of these. Denogine? Hydroesium?”

“Don’t they mean water?” Yona asked.

“Probably. Let’s try and figure this out later. Let’s just eat.”

“If you say so,” Silverstream said as she was given her drink back.

“By the way, I think I found a way that can help with your cheerleading pyramid,” Peridot said.

After lunch, the dragoness and hippogriff were both drinking another bottle of Jolt Juice. “Thanks for getting me a bottle,” Silverstream thanked.

“No problem,” Smolder replied.

Ocellus looked a bit considered. “How many bottles have you drank?” she asked.

“This is my third bottle. I can’t get enough of this stuff.”

“Where did you even find it?”

“Oh, they were keeping it in the back freezer. Professor Dash it’s best when it cooled down.”

“I can agree to that,” Silverstream said. After another chug, she flew up into the air in a spinning motion. “I feel so alive!”

The changeling was getting more worried about her friends as she looked back at the twin dragons. “Emma, Peri,” she said. “You’re going to keep a look for more about this drink, right?”

“Yeah,” Emerald confirmed. “I managed to grab the bottle Silver left behind. We’ll let you know if we find anything.” The three nodded before they walked off to their classes.

The twins walked into Dash’s gym glass. The pegasus was waiting with a crate of Jolt Juice by her side. “Afternoon,” she said. “I know a few of you aren’t feeling so energetic. Luckily, I brought some of this stuff. It’s a pretty good energy drink that the Wonderbolts and I have gotten our hooves on.”

“Um, Profe...” Emerald was interrupted by a yak.

“How does drink taste?” Trud asked.

“It tastes great. You should really try it.” Trud, as well as some of the other students, all walked over to get a bottle. Emerald and Peridot were more cautious and stood back.

“You think it’s going to happen again?” Peridot whispered.

“Hope not,” Eremald said. “Glad there are no dragons taking it.”

“I say you’re missing out,” Gale said. He started drinking his Jolt Juice as Dash explained the lesson.

“So, we’re be carrying a weight across the room. You’ll be passing it once you get to the other side.”

“Sounds easy enough. Let’s do this!” The students split up so each half was on another side of the room. Dash placed a small weight that was about twenty pounds. Trud lifted the weight and raced across the room. The twins thought it was just him being a typical yak, but when Gale picked up the weight and flew back at the same pace.

“Since when was he that fast?” Emerald questioned.

The white griffon chucked the weight at Flare, who was ready to catch it. “Watch it,” the drake cried.

“It’s not my fault if you can’t get into the game,” Gale remarked. He then pushed Flare forward, nearly making him trip. Emerald got the chance when she carried the weight back over to Gale’s side.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Hey, I can’t help it. I’ve got so much energy.” Gale’s wings fluttered as he had to let out his energy. The dragoness looked at her classmates as they also had to let out some energy.

“I wonder how Smolder and Silver are doing.”

The two in question weren’t feeling too well in Pinkie’s class. Both of their heads were feeling painful as a headache was starting. Because of this, they were struggling to pay attention to their teacher. “My head is killing me,” Smolder groaned.

“Me too,” Silverstream agreed. “I need another drink.”

“No you don’t,” Ocellus whispered. “I’m surprised you don’t need to go to the bathroom right now.”

“Now we do,” Smolder groaned. Looking up to the clock, time seemed to slow down for the students with headaches. Seconds so started turning into minutes as the dragoness scratched her scales. The hippogriff did the same with her feathers.

Ocellus saw what they were doing and felt worried. “This isn’t normal,” she whispered to Gallus.

“So is you whispering in class,” griffon replied.

“Look at them.” Smolder and Silverstream looked like they were about to crack.

“Okay, that is concerning. What’s going on?”

“It’s that new energy drink. I think they’re addicted to it.”

“Do you think anyone else will let us have some?” Smolder questioned.

“...Does she hear herself?” Gallus questioned.

“We really need to fix this,” Ocellus said. She looked towards the clock and saw classes were nowhere near done. “Oh, come on.”

When the bell rang, Smolder and Silverstream made a beeline towards the back of the school. Hopefully, they would find more of the energy drink. They were surprised to see Dash picking up another crate. “Oh, you want some?” she asked.

“Gimme!” Smolder cried. She tried to take the crate from her teacher, who just moved out of the way in time.

“Smolder!” Ocellus cried. “Get a hold of yourself.”

“Ocellus,” Peridot cried as she and her twin ran up to the changeling. Emerald helped keep the crate away from Smolder, who looked to be getting angrier.

“Listen, Smolder, you’re going to be put into detention if you try that again,” Rainbow warned. The orange dragoness growled as she looked like she was about to pounce.

“You know,” Silverstream said, “I think I’ll have water for now.”

“Smart choice.” The pegasus carried the crate as Smolder let out a sigh of frustration before storming off.

“I’m worried she starting to have Dragon’s Greed,” Peridot sighed.

“What?” Silverstream asked.

“Dragons are prone to greed,” Emerald said. “They're hungry for what they want makes them grow bigger until they’re the size of a castle. Not just that, they also mentally give in.”

“That’s creepy,” Ocellus commented. “Please tell us no other dragon has drunk any.

“None that we know of. Since the school’s still intact, I think Smolder’s the only one.”

“Can we get her to stop?” Silverstream asked.

“Maybe,” Peridot said. “How about you try and keep her under control.”

“Do you still have the bottle I drank from?”

“Yeah,” Emerald confirmed. “We found out about the company who made these. Hoofing It Industries. Let’s try and make it through the day.”

“Okay,” Silverstream and Ocellus said. They walked off to catch up with their friend. Peridot and Emerald walked off to their last class. The twin with horns looked at the company logo on the bottle.

“Hopefully we can find out where these guys are.”

Smolder was seething in gym class. She tapped her foot at a high speed and scratching her arm. “Okay,” Rainbow Dash said. Dash explained what exercise they would be doing, but the dragoness looked at the small crate of Jolt Juice. Her eyes narrowed as the want for the drink kept growing.

“Smolder?” Silverstream asked.

“What!?” the dragoness replied, scaring the hippogriff a bit.

“Just... Checking on you.”

“Okay,” Rainbow Dash said, “Now, we’re running out of these faster than I expected. We’re going to have to hold back for a little bit.”

“But... We can still get one, can we?” Smolder asked.

“Just one.” The dragoness was about to run up and grab one, but Ocellus grabbed her tail and stopped her.

“Look, I’m thirsty.”

“Then how about some water,” Silverstream suggested.

“Water is just bland. I want some of the Jolt Juice.” Smolder blinked with vertical eyelids and sticking out a wiggling forked tongue. This did not go unnoticed by her friends.

“You think that’s part of dragon’s greed?” Silverstream asked.

“Maybe,” Ocellus responded.

“Let’s begin picking teams,” Dash said. “Ocellus, Gallus, you two will be the captains. Gallus, you pick first.”

“Alright,” the griffon said. “Yona, you’re with me.”

“I pick Smolder,” Ocellus said without hesitation. After a few minutes of picking teams, each one got a set of dodgeballs. However, Smolder managed to sneak a bottle and her friends didn’t know this until she drank half of it. “Spit that out!”

“ToolateIalreadydrankit,” the dragoness swiftly replied. When Dash blew her whistle, Smolder raced to pick almost all the ball and hurled them at the enemy team. Even though the balls were made of rubber and only filled with air, the toss made them all pack a punch. As soon as they were hit, Gallus’s team lied on the ground. “YEAH!”

“I think you did it a bit too hard,” Silverstream commented.

“Are classmates okay?” Yona asked.

“You tell me,” Gallus groaned. He stood up with a large bruise on his head.

“HeyIcan’thelpit,” Smolder spoke, “Getyourheadinthegame!”

“You really need to cal...”

“DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!” Ocellus flinched her friend interrupting her.

“Smolder, the days almost over,” Dash said. “Don’t make me send you to detention.”

“Whatever,” the dragoness replied.

Finally, school was out. The dragoness twins were walking down the hall until they split up. “Emma, where are you going?” Peridot asked.

“I’m going to go to town and see if I can find any more information about this drink,” Emerald replied. “Some of the students here are getting out of control.”

“Good point. I’ll see how Smolder’s doing.”

“Find me as soon as something goes wrong.” Her twin nodded before going of to cheer practice. After that, Emerald got her camera and flew off to find more about the addictive drink.

To her surprise, when Emerald got into the town she could see a whole swarm of ponies gathering around a stand. Flying down, she could see the owner wasn’t enjoying it. “Settle down,” he cried. “One at a time.” One of the unicorns there tried to use their magic to that a pack of drink away from him. “I said one at a time!”

The dragoness took a quick picture before trying to get closer. “Sir?” Emerald said. She tried flying over the ground, but there were some pegasi blocking her path.

“You’re one of those dragon students, aren’t you?”

“Yep.”

“Get me out of here!” The dragoness obliged and lift the unluck store pony away from the crowd. Once they were away, the stallion was gently placed onto the ground.

“Are you okay sir?”

“I’m fine. What is up with everpony today?”

“I think they might be addicted to that new drink. Do you sell Jolt Juice?”

“Yeah. How do you know it’s addicting.”

“It’s because I think some of my classmates are hooked on it. Do you know anything about Hoofing It Industries?”

“Of course. One of their guys came by last week and sold me a couple of crates. At first, I thought them selling like hotcakes was good. Now everpony is practically begging me to get some of this stuff.”

“Do you know where they make their products?”

“I think they said were from Manehattan. It’s where I’ve been placing my orders.”

“Thanks, sir. I’ll go tell my teachers about this.” Emerald took off back to the school, hoping there was still time.

Back at the school, Peridot was helping to explain the new cheerleading pyramid. She and Smolder were on the bottom in between Yona and Dotta. On the third row, Grace stood in between Ocellus and Tarsi. On the second row, Lighthoof and Shimmy Shake were having a much better time now that they only had to hold up Silverstream.

“This is such a good idea,” Lighthoof commented.

“Yeah, we no longer have to hold so much weight,” Shimmy Shake agreed. “No offense.”

“No taken,” Peridot and the yak replied.

“I’m pretty impressed,” Ocellus admitted. “I was think...”

“Does this story have an end?!” Smolder questioned.

“What is with you do today?” Tarsi asked. “You’re usually a lot nicer than this.”

“She’s not quite herself,” Silverstream said. The hippogriff flew down from the top of the pyramid as the other did the same. “Would like something else to drink.”

“I just need some Jolt Juice,” the dragoness stated.

“I think you need to stay away from that stuff as soon as possible,” Lighthoof suggested.

“You don’t know me!”

“Girls, I think I found where the factory is,” Emerald cried as she flew in.

“Where is it?” the girls asked.

“It’s possibly in Manehattan. I think maybe...”

“I’m going to go place an order!” Smolder cried. Before any creature could stop her, Smolder tossed off her cheerleading uniform and broke through the window.

“Oh dear,” Peridot gulped.

“There’s still time,” Ocellus said. “Come on SIlver.” The changeling and hippogriff removed their outfit and flew after their friend. Peridot did the same with her twin flying by her side.

“Okay,” Shimmy said. “We’ll just... Be here.”

“Yona feel glad to sit this out,” Yona admitted.

Luckily for the quartet, Smolder didn’t really know the way to the big city. Since Ocellus remember the map more than her, she led the charge towards the city. “There is it,” Silverstream cried. The big city came into view. “Ooh, I can’t wait to see Copper and Digger again.”

“Time and place Silver,” Emerald reminded.

The hippogriff sighed. “You’re right.”

Peridot looked around and didn’t see Smolder anywhere. “I think we have some time,” she said.

“Let’s find out where that factory is,” Ocellus said. Flying about the building, several pegasi flew by them.

“How can a sky area be this crowded?”

“I don’t know,” Silverstream said. “They found a way.”

“There are some factories over there,” Ocellus said. “One of them has to belong to Hoofing It Industries.” They landed near the factories and took a look at the bottle that Emerald was holding onto. “It’ll be faster if we split up.”

Silverstream split up with Emerald, and Ocellus went with Peridot. The factories were further apart when they got onto the ground, so it took a while to find what they were looking for. Finally, Ocellus and Peridot found a factory that had the same logo that was on the bottle.

“Here it is,” Ocellus cheered. She turned herself into a pony and turned to Peridot. “Tell Emma and Silver we found. I’ll try and find some more information about this place.” The dragoness gave a thumbs up and flew away.

The disguised changeling walked into the factory and looked around. There some ponies moving several crates of bottles around. Bottles moved across some conveyor belts before some funnels filled them up. Ocellus was going to keep going until she heard a stallion call for her.

“You!” he called. She turned around to see a black stallion unicorn wearing a suit step up to her. His mane and tail were gray and he had a jar full of bits as a cutie mark. “What are you doing in here?”

“I’m... Sorry sir,” Ocellus said. “I was actually looking for the owner of this place.”

“You’re looking at him.”

“Oh, good. It’s about this Jolt Juice. My friends are getting addicted to it. From what I’ve heard, they’re not the only ones, most of the ponies in Ponyville are hook too.”

“Addicted. I’ve heard of a few.”

“This isn’t just a few. Every creature I’ve seen or heard drinking this is initially hooked.”

“She’s not wrong sir,” Silverstream said. She flew up wit the twins. “I think I got hook too.”

“Who are you?” the stallion questioned. “And what’s with those dragons.”

“Ugh... We...” Peridot stuttered after hearing the tone of his voice.

Her sister stepped in. “Sir, half of these ingredients of your energy drink sound made up. Tennomesium? Denogine? Hydroesium!? What is half of this stuff?”

“I... I honestly have no clue,” the stallion replied. “This is our newest product and I had no idea that these would cause so much trouble. I can’t let this get out.”

“But you have to stop this,” Ocellus said. “If these keep being drunk, things are going to get worse.”

“I spent a fortune on this new product. You know what kind of dent this is going to make in my business.”

“It won’t be as bad as dragon’s greed,” Emerald said.

“What’s that?” The answer came from the sound of broken glass. “Now what?” They went to look and saw Smolder had broken in and chugged a couple of bottles. “HEY!”

“Back off!” Smolder hissed. She broke the seal one of the crates but the stallion tried to levitate it away. “Gimme!”

“Smolder, get a hold of yourself,” Ocellus cried. She and the girls tried to help move the crate away from the dragoness.

“Smolder WANT!” Her voice deepened as she grew in size much to the shock of the stallion and girls.

“Did she just get bigger?” Silverstream questioned. The bigger dragoness tossed her friends to the side and roared at the business pony. Out of fear, he and some of his workers ran for their life. Smolder roared she opened a barrel of Jolt Juice and started drinking it.

“Oh, it’s starting,” Peridot shivered. She and the other three hid under the conveyor belt. “What do we do?”

“Maybe we could try and guide her back to Ponyville,” Ocellus said. “If she stays here, she could destroy this city.”

“How are we suppose to do that?” Silverstream questioned.

“There has to be a cart around here somewhere,” Emerald said. “They can’t just carry these crates without magic.”

“Okay,” Ocellus said. “We just have to keep Smolder distracted while we load some carts with the drink.” They then stood quiet for a minute.

“Not it,” the twins cried.

The hippogriff and disguised changeling looked at each over. “You can change into something that’s much stronger than me,” Silverstream said.

“You’re a good friend, Silver,” Ocellus said. The hippogriff crawled out of the hiding spot and flew snatched one of the smaller barrels.

“Wow, this is heavy.”

“That Smolder’s drink!” the big dragoness roared. Silverstream across the factory to lead her friend away from the crates and barrels.

Ocellus and the twins managed to find some carts and took them over to get loaded up. “We don’t have too much time,” the changeling said. She turned herself into a minotaur and help the twin load up the carts up.

Emerald started hooking herself up to the cart. “These things clearly aren’t made for dragons,” she commented.

“Hurry, hurry, hurry!” Silverstream cried while flying back. Smolder was hot on her tail and grew a couple of feet as well.

Ocellus quickly helped Peridot hook up to the other cart. “Time to go,” the disguised changeling cried. She gave them both a push to help them started. They were just in time to get away from Smolder tried to grab them. Silverstream and Ocellus took off to help the twin stay ahead.

“SMOLDER WANT DRINK!” the greedy dragoness roared.

“Gotta get back. Gotta get back,” Peridot said to herself over and over again.

Ocellus and Silverstream helped push from behind to help speed them up. “We just need to get to Ponyville before she catches us,” the changeling said. Many ponies gasped and scream as they saw the dragon chasing the students.

“Please, go faster,” Silverstream cried.

“We’re trying,” Emerald replied.

Back at the school, Yona was still a bit startled from what happened at cheer practice. She met up with Sandbar, who was with Pate and Fluttershy. “Hi, Yona,” the earth pony said. “What’s wrong?”

“Smolder acting violent and weird,” the yak explained.

“Why’s that?” Pate asked.

“Yona not sure. Twins say something about dragon’s greed.”

“Dragon’s greed!?” Fluttershy asked.

“You’ve heard of it before?” Sandbar asked.

“Yes. It happened to Spike on his birthday. Where’s Smolder?”

“She flew off,” Yona answered.

“Oh my goodness, oh my goodness.” Fluttershy flew outside and was just about to go searching until she saw something big and orange in the distance. Smolder was now triple her original size. She swiped at the girls trying to getaway. Ocellus and Silverstream managed to dodge her giant claw. However, she did hit the carts, causing the poles connecting them to the twins.

This caused them to lose control and crash land near the school. “Oh no,” Fluttershy gasped. “Girls, are you okay?”

“We’re fine,” Emerald replied. “How’s my camera?” She wouldn’t get an answer as Smolder landed, making the earth shake a bit. She let out a roar that grabbed the attention of all the students, teachers, and some of the townsfolk.

“What is that?” Moss the changeling questioned.

“I think that’s Smolder,” Flare said. “I’m getting out of here.” He made a run for it with some students following behind.

The teachers all made their way outside to see the giant dragoness. “What happened?” Pinkie questioned.

“It’s the drink,” Peridot said. “It’s made her greed go out of control.”

“Get inside,” Starlight ordered. Peridot, Emerald, and Silverstream did so. Just before Ocellus could make a run for it, she got too close to the smashed cart, which Smolder picked up and she scooped up the changeling. The dragoness brought the cart up to her face where Ocellus jumped onto the brim of her muzzle to avoid getting swallowed.

“Smolder, stop!” the changeling cried.

The dragoness looked at the changeling and her eyes widened. There was a long silence. Suddenly, Smolder shook she shrank back to her original size in seconds. She felt incredible light head and Ocellus had to catch her. She brought her friend to the ground beside the broken carts.

The dragoness slowly opened her eyes and looked around. “What happened?” she groaned.

“You lost control of yourself,” Ocellus explained.

“Dragon’s greed?” The changeling nodded as her friend jumped up. “Oh, jeez, is any creature hurt?”

“No. Just a broken factory.” Smolder looked at the broken carts and energy drink leaking into the dirt. She let out a sigh as she rubbed her arm.

The next day, the school paper had a head story. ”Jolt Juice down the drain,” Sandbar said reading the heading. “After further research, Hoofing It Industries failed hinder creating or fixing the problem of their new additive drink. Because of this, the company will be fined several hundred bits.”

“Yikes,” Silverstream gasped.

“I think it’s for the best,” Gallus said. Though Smolder didn’t say anything, she agreed with him.

Emerald walked over to them. “Did you see my story?” she asked.

“We’re reading it now,” Ocellus responded. “Good thing your camera survived.”

“Sure is. See you after class.” She walked off to get rid of he tray leaving the six to their breakfast.

“So, how you two holding up?” Sandbar asked.

“Doing better,” Silverstream answered.

“Just peachy,” Smolder mumbled.

“I’m hoping any other creature that drank this will be fine,” Ocellus admitted.

“Yona confused,” Yona said.

“About what?” Gallus asked.

“How Smolder just pop back to normal. What happened?”

The dragoness started getting worried. “I think it’s probably she got a reminder of a friend,” Sandbar guessed.

“I guess that makes sense,” Silverstream said. They picked up their trays and threw away their unwanted trash. They all had enough time to finish their morning routine before classes started. Smolder didn’t say anything as she was feeling guilty after what she did.

“Cheer up Smolder,” Ocellus said. “I’m pretty sure that most dragons would be in your situation.”

“Thanks, Celly,” Smolder sighed. She felt a bit better know they could just forget about this and move on. Though, there was one other thing she didn’t tell her friend.