The Future Will Change

The festivities of the event would go off without much of a hitch at least thus far. However, unbeknownst to everyone in the room, the curse would already begin to seep through some of the monitors present in the building…

However, Aidon wasn’t aware of this just yet and was instead focused on Pinkie’s well-being.for the moment. As soon as she stepped outside to take a bite of one of her candy sticks, both Aidon and Luna would re-appear in front of her.

“...Ms. Pie?”

“Mr. Aidon? Ms. Luna?” Pinkie blinked upon seeing them and tugged on the strings of her hoodie to hide her face from them. Only her hair could be seen which looked normal enough. “I-Is that really you? What are you guys doing here?”

“We wanted to see if everything was okay with you,” Luna explained, “I’m sure you’re aware of the dangerous curse that’s turning people into anthropomorphized animals, yes?” Her ears wiggled.

And Aidon would corroborate this with a nod. “Indeed. As you can see, we’ve both been turned into beastmen of sorts. Note the wolf-like snout and tail, as well as my claws?” he added as he showed off his hands with his claws unsheathed. “...we have reason to believe you’ve been affected by this curse also, Ms. Pie.”

“U-um…well…” Pinkie nervously dodged the question.

Luna would approach her with a soft, motherly tone. “...it’s okay, Pinkie. You can talk to us. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, right Aidon?”

“Yes, of course,” Aidon would bounce off of her words with some of his own, “We just need to make sure that you’re okay, Pinkie. If you’re afflicted with this curse, we’re looking into a way to reverse it. We just need to know if it’s harmed you or not.”

“Well…” Their combined efforts broke through her nerves and Pinkie would accept their offer to help. She knew that she couldn’t get anywhere if she beat around the bush about it, so she relented. “...okay.”

Moments later, she pushed down her hoodie, and revealed her face. While her face was still pink, her nose was now the snout of a boar! In fact, her entire form had similarly taken on elements of a pig such as her waistline and posterior now becoming rather larger and…wobblier, to put it politely. But she tried to hide it under a set of baggy athletic pants.

“...well, here ya go,” she admitted sadly, “...I’m a fat, ugly pig.”

“...” Luna shook her head and put a hand on Pinkie’s shoulder to comfort her. “...no. Not at all, dear. Don’t think of yourself like that. You really don’t look ugly at all. I’m certain of it.”

“And regardless, it seems as if you’re still yourself,” Aidon went on, “No matter what you look like on the outside, remaining true to yourself is what matters in the end.”

“...I guess you’re right,” Pinkie agreed with a nod, then ran her hands through her hair in an anxious manner. “I guess I’m just…I dunno--a bit more nervous now that I’m older and striking it out on my own? I’m just worried that my business will tank if I don’t get this client’s order done just right. That’s why I essentially forced myself to come out here even with my freaky pig face.”

Bear in mind that this was the first time Aidon had seen Pinkie since the latter had graduated. In those three years, the girl had become a young woman with her own catering business. She finally had her own life together, and this curse had to come along and mess with things.

“I understand,” Aidon replied caringly, “You’re looking to take your responsibilities as seriously as possible.”

“Even so, it’s not smart to push yourself too hard,” Luna warned her--speaking from experience. “I’ve been worked hard for years to help you and your friends finish high school but had to take a break after a while. You don’t want to burn yourself out by the time you reach my age.”

“You make a good point,” Pinkie sighed, “I think I should just go on home before--”

Suddenly, Aidon’s phone buzzed.

“Hm?” His tails swished anxiously as he answered it. It was the Masked Figure speaking.

“You’ve solved the first riddle,” they spoke cryptically over the phone, “Good. Now it’s time for the main part of today’s game to begin.”

“Wait wha--?!” Aidon tried to get an answer but the phone hung up. The hellhound-man snarled, clutching his phone in his claws. “What could that bastard me--?!”

CRASH!

Suddenly a loud noise came from inside of the venue alongside the screams of various people. Everyone’s ears and tails pricked up upon hearing the sound and Aidon wasted no time rushing inside.

“What was that?!” Pinkie yelped as she watched Aidon take off, “H-hey! Wait up!”

“Will you be alright?” Luna asked.

“My work buds are in there,” Pinkie huffed, “I’m not gonna just leave ‘em!”

Against her own judgement, she rushed inside after Aidon, with Luna hurrying close behind. Once they arrived at the wedding anniversary’s venue, they found that a majority of the guests had run off, but some were still too scared to move. Why?

A few guests had been turned into muscular lion beastmen and had gone berserk. Attacking guests and civilians at random, including…

“Carpenter! Ambrosia!” Pinkie screamed with fear in her twitching eyes.

“Pinkie!” Ambrosia yelled back just before getting flung across the room by one of the lion beasts.

“Dammit no--aaaagh!” Carpenter screamed as he too was thrown aside and into the nearest wall.

Aidon cricked his neck and unsheathed his claws. “I suppose this was the little game that our Masked ‘friend’ was preparing us for. Luna! Get those kids out of here while I distract them!”

“On it!” Luna had taken advantage of her newfound foxy agility and ran on all fours around the lions before they could target her.

“I’m gonna stand with you, Professor!” Pinkie insisted as she grit her teeth and ran up beside him. The rage of the boar was already building within her. Her body was growing larger and more muscular by the second! “Hey asswipes! We didn’t work hard on this just for you to ruin everything!”

“...oh no…” Aidon muttered as he watched Pinkie’s form get corrupted from the curse. They needed to find a way to end this as swiftly and cleanly as possible.