The sun hung high overhead. Early in the afternoon, the light from above bathed the landscape in a bright, yellow glow making everything from the grass to the sky seem alive. Lage white puffs of cloud edged their way across the horizon like enormous sea mammals drifting their way through an infinite sea of azure.
Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie Pie watched as Rainbow Dash and Applejack competitively skimmed stones across the surface of the lake just outside Ponyville.
The cowgirl pony bounced another rock across the water. Its pattern sent ripples all the way to the water's edge, momentarily distorting the reflection of the sky above. Rainbow Dash picked up a stone and chucked it. The chunk ungracefully smacked in the middle of the lake and sank to the bottom instantly.
"Shoot!," the rainbow Pegasus remarked at her throw.
"Ya gotta toss it across, not up. Like this," AJ instructed her with a knowing tone. She grabbed another stone and threw it to demonstrate. The farmgirl's tossed stone skipped across the waves almost elegantly, daintily kissing the pond's blue surface before graciously descending beneath the depths.
"All right, lemme try again," Rainbow said. She picked up another rock and hurled it. As before, the rock caused one big splash as it impacted the surface of the lake doing little more than send a shower of droplets into the air.
Rainbow Dash kicked the dirt. "Drat."
"It's all right. You'll get the hang of it eventually, sugar cube." The two exchanged a smile and returned to their casual skimming game.
Behind them, Pinkie Pie lay back in the grass and stretched out. "Ahhh. Nice to finally have a chance to relax!"
Rarity raised an eyebrow. "Relaxing, Pinkie Pie? You?" she questioned her response given the pink mare's reputation for boundless energy. "You actually enjoy relaxing now and then? I thought you were always excited."
"Of course I can relax!" Pinkie replied. "It gives me a chance to get excited all over again!"
"It can be really hard to find time to relax," Fluttershy commented. "Taking care of all of my animals can get really restless for both me and them. But I like to make sure we all get some rest now and then."
Twilight nodded in agreement. "Spike and I are always doing things, too. And when we're not, usually I'm out doing things with you guys. It gets so busy, sometimes I almost forget to write to the princess!"
Her friends stopped and turned to her with mixed expressions. The silence begged the question, did I just hear that?
"Well, maybe not THAT busy," Twilight said, almost blushing. "It is nice to get some time to just relax." The others nodded in silent agreement.
"Hey! I got one!" Rainbow Dash said. The others turned and looked in time to see Rainbow's rock hop a couple times across the surface of the water before sinking.
"Good job, Rainbow," Applejack said, putting a hoof on her friend's back. She'd finally managed to accomplish a skim by listening to AJ's advice. Twilight and the rest applauded her efforts.
Suddenly, the stone shot back out of the water. Returning on the same trajectory, the rock skipped across the waves again and back to the shore.
Rainbow looked down at the stone. "What the..."
"While I do appreciate the bath, young lady, I'll ask you kindly not to be tossin' me about again!" someone said. The ponies looked around, searching for where the voice came from. "Oi! Down 'ere!"
Nestled in the grass was the stone Rainbow Dash had just flung. Carefully, she reached down and picked it up. Unlike before, it seemed to be shining as if it had been coated in some sort of film that the water washed off.
"Congratulations!" the voice said again. "Om the wishin' stone and since you found me, it's my job to grant you one wish!"
"One... wish..." Rainbow repeated, trying to comprehend what the mysterious rock was saying and how it was saying anything at the same time. The others gathered around her, staring at the stone.
"This isn't possible," Twilight shook her head. "Rocks don't talk. What kind of magic is doing this?" she looked around the lake. "Is that you, Discord?"
"I don't know who this 'Discord' chap is but you're quite right, mah lady. Rocks don't talk; Oim tha wishin' stone. The mysterious an' magical desire-bestowin' mineral spoken of in legends, fables and an article in National Geographfanfic!"
"So, wait a second," Pinkie Pie said, "You're a magic stone,-"
"That I am."
"-that can talk-"
"Indeed."
"-and now you're going to grant Rainbow Dash a wish?!"
"Sounds like you got it all figured out! She must be the smart one'a da group, eh?"
Pinkie's eyes grew wide as a few other brows in the crowd furrowed.
"Also, technically speakin', you all found me. But I can only be grantin' one wish. So, you all best be decidin' who's its gonna be."
Another silence fell over the group. They all seemed to ponder the implications of what the magic stone had said.
"Well," AJ began, "Y'all found the stone, Rainbow Dash. I guess you should make yer wish."
"What?! No, you were the one who taught me how to skim stones in the first place! It's your wish!" The rainbow Pegasus hooved the glittering rock to her friend.
"You don't want your wish, Rainbow Dash?" Rarity asked.
"Well, what have I got to wish for? I already have everything I could ever want; I'm the fastest flier in all of Equestria, I've got you guys and I'm training to be a Wonderbolt!"
"But Rainbow," Pinkie Pie interjected. "You could wish to be a Wonderbolt right now!"
Rainbow Dash actually thought about that. For about a split-second. "I'm working for a spot on the Wonderbolts, Pinkie. I don't want it if it's something I didn't really earn."
"Hmm," Pinkie thought. "But what if you just wished you could earn your spot on the Wonderbolts?"
"Isn't that what she's already trying to do?" Twilight asked.
Pinkie shrugged. "I dunno. Ask the wishing stone."
The stone shook in response. "I would like to point out that I am a glowing stone and I would like to roll this along if you all don't mind."
Rainbow turned around. "Couldn't you use it for something, Rarity?"
Rarity put a hoof to her chin. "Well, I'm not sure," she looked at the stone. "It's a bit too big to sew into anything. I suppose if we filed it down a bit, I might be able to affix it into the hem of something I'm working on."
"File me down? Excuse me?" the stone asked.
"No, not the stone. The wish!"
"Oh... well, I... I don't know. Perhaps I could wish for..." the white unicorn trailed off.
"You could wish for more of yer fancy dresses!" Applejack suggested.
"But I make dresses, Applejack. Why would I wish for something I could easily whip up on my own?"
"You... you could wish for more materials," Fluttershy followed up.
Rarity shrugged. "I have plenty of fabric at the moment, plenty of patterns and gems. What about you, Fluttershy? You could ask for more animals."
Fluttershy's face lit up at the idea. "That's right! I could!" her expression changed in an instant. "But... there's not a lot of room at my cottage."
Pinkie thought of a quick fix to that. "You could ask for more room! Maybe a shed or something!"
Fluttershy nodded for a moment, then shook her head. "But if we made my house any bigger, it would stretch into the forest. I don't want my home to hurt any of the creatures' homes."
"You could make it taller, add a second story," Pinkie thought again.
The yellow Pegasus began backing away, timidly. "If we did that, then the birdies wouldn't be able to fly over it as easily. They might run into it, especially at night."
"Grrrrrr!" Rainbow Dash growled. "Isn't there anything we can do with this thing? Pinkie, what would you use it for?"
"Me?" Pinkie asked. "Oh! I could ask for a giant cake! But wait... then we'd have to be giants to eat it. I could wish for a surprise party? Wait... then it wouldn't be a surprise."
"We could wish for a surprise party for you, Pinkie!" Twilight eagerly chimed in.
"No!" Pinkie shouted. "I'd want you to be there too and be surprised! What's the point of having a surprise party if everypony isn't surprised?"
"Darn it!" Rainbow stomped a hoof on the ground. "Why do we only get one wish? Can we wish for more wishes?"
"Of course you can!" the stone replied. Six excited grins spread across the faces of the mares as they were enthralled by the revelation. As many wishes as they wanted? This was fantastic! It solved everything!
"Really?" Rainbow Dash asked, hopeful.
"Absolutely! Ya jus' won't be able ta use all of 'em! Har har!"
"What do you mean by that?" Rainbow demanded.
"Oh, I'll be able ta give ya more wishes but thas the only one I'll be able to grant!"
"How does that work?!" Twilight exasperatedly cried.
"Allow me ta explain. Ya see, I can grant you more wishes but I can only grant the one! You'd have wishes but I wouldn't be able to make any more of 'em come true!"
Pinkie turned her head to the sky and stared into the distance. "It would be like having a hundred cupcakes all to yourself... and being unable to eat a single one of them.
Rainbow looked down at the stone again, frustrated and disappointed. "Well... can you think of anything to wish for, Twilight?" she presented the stone to her purple unicorn friend.
Twilight levitated the stone out of Rainbow's hoof and held it in midair, thinking deeply. She thought of dozens of things; new quills, new books, chance to spend time with the Princess, burning questions she wanted to know the answer to and things she wanted to know about. Unlike her friends, it seemed like she could pick something out of all of her desires she wanted to have granted. They all watched her, waiting for an answer.
Twilight thought about what she wanted the most, the one wish she wanted to come true more than anything else. She realized it had already come true and even though she thought of a few other things, she knew she didn't need them. Her questions would be answered in time and she could be patient. While she could easily just declare her wish to the stone she held in front of her and have the answers she sought revealed, she chose not to.
"Well, what would you wish for?" she asked the stone.
"Harhar," the stone chuckled again. "Me? Nopony's ever asked me before... I've never met such an indecisive bunch'a mares in all me days!" he let out a throaty laugh again despite having no throat.
Twilight quirked a smile and an eyebrow. "I'm asking you right now. What do you wish for?"
"Hmm," the stone thought. "I guess I wish you'd all jus' hurry up and make your decision!"
Twilight looked around one last time to be sure. The same grin spread across her friends' six faces as they all realized what they had decided. Rainbow Dash gave a silent nod. Somehow, they all were having the same thought. The decision was unanimous.
"Well, allow me to grant your wish!" Twilight said. Suddenly, Twilight turned and flung the glittering rock back across the lake.
"Wa-uhaaaaaaaahh!" The stone screamed as it skipped across the water, finally landing somewhere before the bank on the other side.
"We decided we don't need a wish! Thanks anyway!" Twilight yelled across the lake. Several bubbles erupted from the waves where the stone had sunk.
"Twilight... I think you chose very wisely," Rarity remarked, patting Twilight on the back.
"Thanks, Rarity. I think I did, too. Let's get going, everypony." The ponies turned their backs to the lake and began the long walk back to Ponyville.
Pinkie Pie looked back to the lake as the group departed. "You think the wishing stone will be okay?"
"Oh, it'll be fine. It'll probably find somepony else's wish to grant, anyway," Rainbow Dash said.
"Yeah," Pinkie agreed. "You're probably right." The six mares headed back to Ponyville, not a care in the world, worry in their mind or a single wish unfulfilled in that very moment. Perfection wasn't necessarily having all your desires satisfied at one moment in time. For Twilight and her friends, it was the moment they cared more about each other then their own desires. And it was a moment none of them would trade for the world.
The sun began to set, sending streaks of fiery orange across the silvery surface of the lack. No bubbles emerged from the surface but the glow from the 'wishing stone' could be seen from the surface. With Twilight and company gone, the lack only had one other visitor that day.
Zecora reached into the water and plucked out the glittering stone.
"Congratulations!" the stone said to the zebra. "I'm the wishing stone and it's my job ta grant you one wish!"
Zecora raised an eyebrow. "If it isn't the stone that propped the door to my shack. It's lucky that I found you; I didn't think I'd get you back."
"Oh, its you," the rock remarked at noticing its old owner. "Jus' tryin' ta make my way 'ere, ma'am. Didn't think you'd come lookin' for me this far away."
The zebra smiled. "You moved on your own, you glittered and spoke. It seems rocks can do a lot when they've been exposed to Poison Joke." She pocketed the stone she'd experimented with and then continued on her way to Ponyville. The Poison Joke had apparently affected the rock as well, giving it the ability to speak and even travel on its own. It was strange indeed and something she would have to be careful about in the future. Who knew what would happen if anyone found a talking stone? They might think it was magical and could grant wishes or something.