Conversing and Chatting
“Hey, Twilight! Hey, Twilight!” a hyperactive pink pony shouted as she burst through the door of the Ponyville library.
Tumbling through a room at high speeds, she still managed to home in on the caretaker of the library, a lavender alicorn. The two of them crashed into one of the many shelves that lined the wall. Books of all colors and topics fell to the ground in a large pile. The two of them poked their heads out from the pile. One of them had a bright smile, the other looked exasperated.
“What is it-” Twilight started to say before another book landed on her head. With a sigh, she brushed away some of the pile with her wings. “What is it, Pinkie?”
“Hey, are you reorganizing the library today?” Pinkie asked with a tooth-filled grin.
Twilight stepped out from the pile of books. She looked back at the nearly empty shelf with a hint of annoyance. Only a few toppled books were left. “Might as well. But what did you want, Pinkie?”
“Oh, that’s right!” From somewhere, Pinkie pulled out a bright turquoise stone. It seemed to shimmer unnaturally well under the simple lamplights of the library. A cloudy form swirled within the stone. The movement was so slow that it might have just been an optical illusion. “Ta-da!” she announced.
“That’s pretty, but I don’t know if it’s crash-through-the-door pretty,” Twilight said.
“And, wow, does that look tasty,” a young voice came from the top of the stairs. Coming down to check on the commotion (only after finishing his previous snack) was Spike, faithful assistant. “I have never seen such a great turquoise before, Pinkie.”
Pinkie held the stone away from the young dragon with both hooves carefully protecting it “This isn’t food, Spike. It’s a wishing stone.” Her eyes went large and round.
“A what?” both Spike and Twilight said at the same time.
“A wishing stone.”
The alicorn let out a nervous chuckle. She was suddenly eyeing the teal mineral with caution. “Where did you, uh, get that?”
“An old well. I remember it like it was yesterday, though it was actually this morning,” Pinkie clarified. She had a forlorn look towards the ceiling.
After several moments of silence, Twilight pointed out, “Pinkie, you actually need to say something.”
“Oh, that’s right. Well, I was just merrily bouncing along because it was such a fine day. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, Cranky Doodle Donkey was cranking. Everything was just as it should be. Except for one thing that is. There was a strange well that popped up on the edge of town, the side facing the Everfree Forest.”
Pinke let out a chuckle and a twirl of her arm. “Now, I have been everywhere in town before many times so I knew this well was new. It couldn’t sneak up on ol’ Pinkie.’
“But, uh,” Spike held up a single claw, “wells kind of don’t move, you know?”
“This one did! It wasn’t there the night before. That’s why I went to investigate. The well looked old too. It’s stone was cracked, and it was overgrown with vines and moss. The bucket and winch was missing. Very suspicious, I thought. But then a voice spoke to me!”
“From the well?” Twilight asked. She was clearly incredulous about the entire tale and her eyes plainly showed it. They almost wanted to roll back already, but she kept them facing her friend.
“Yes! It was a posh voice, well-mannered actually.” Pinkie rubbed her chin as she recalled the event. “He told me he was a travelling wishing well. Business has been rather bad lately, so he’s been giving out free wishing stones as advertisement. I could have any one wish I wanted with this stone.”
“And you took it?” Twilight asked.
With a toothy smile, Pinkie nodded.
“And this doesn’t strike you as odd at all?”
Still with the grin, the pink pony shook her head. “I mean, he’s just a friendly well. Nothing strange with that.”
“There is everything strange with that. You don’t know, it could be dangerous.”
“Oh, pshaw, Twilight. I would never wish for anything dangerous. Though I did kind of already wish for something.”
Twilights wings unfurled and she rose into the air. “You what?” Her eyes were wide open in panic, and her mouth was agape.
“Well, Mister Wells was very insistent,” Pinkie said. She had her head lowered and rubbed her hooves together, still with the wishing stone in between. “He really wanted to show me that his power was real, so I kind of just said the first thing that came to my mind.”
With even more horror, Twilight recoiled away. The first thing to the hyperactive pony’s mind could literally be anything. After taking a deep, calming breath where she pressed her hoof against her chest, Twilight reasoned that the entire tale must have just been the product of some hyperactive imagination. Just because she felt it was needed, Twilight took another breath.
While their attention was focused on each other, Spike tried to grab for the stone. Just before his claws could clamp down, Pinkie noticed and extended her hooves even further.
“If you already made your wish, then it’s just a stone, right?” Spike said.
“But it was such a nice gift from Mister Wells,” Pinkie said. She stuffed the wishing stone away.
With a stern stare, Twilight made her assistant back down. Turning back to her friend, she gently asked, “What did you wish for, Pinkie?”
“Oh, well-”
“Twilight!” a wailing voice came from outside. A frantic knocking on the already open door accompanied it. The voice sounded familiar, but there was something distinctly different about the tone and inflections.
A shivering Rarity was standing by the doorway with a big frown that stretched her face. “It’s horrible. Ah mean it is absolutely doggone horrible,” she said with a drawl and a twang.
“Doggone horrible?” Twilight said.
“Eee,” Rarity squealed. “Ah just can’t stop talkin’ like this. No matter how much Ah try, the words jus’ come out all wrong!”
“You sound like Applejack!”
“Ah know! Nothin’ against her, she’s such a dahlin’ and all, but Ah sound horrible!”
Pinkie Pie scratched her mane nervously. “Yeah, I kind of wished you two would switch speaking manners.”
“You what?” Rarity shrieked. “An’ how in tarnation did that even happen?”
Pinkie Pie took a deep breath. “Well, you see-”
Twilight cut her off with a well placed hoof to the mouth. “Ha, ha,” she laughed dryly. “Very funny, girls. Whew, you had me going for a moment that something serious was up.”
“Lissen here now, missy!” Rarity said. “Something serious is up.”
Sweeping around, Twilight had started putting away the books that had fallen down. Purple glows lifted them up and slotted them into the shelves. Looking back at the others, she said, “Come on. There is no such thing as a well that can grant wishes.”
Twilight was about to turn away again but a tugging at her wings made her look back. Spike was leaned in, but both his eyes were worriedly glancing towards Rarity. “I don’t think it’s a joke,” he said. “Out of all the things that have happened, are you saying this is entirely out of the realm of possibility? Remember the time with the Poison Joke?”
“Well,” Twilight mumbled uncertainly. “I suppose.”
Rarity ran over and picked up Spike into a cheek-nuzzling hug. “Oh, Spikey-wikey, Ah knew you would believe me.”
“That sounds so wrong,” Spike blurted out.
The white unicorn backed away with lips quivering and tears in her eyes.
“Alright, alright!” Twilight said. “Let’s go to Sweet Apple Acres and see how Applejack is doing first.”
The others nodded enthusiastically. They set out, leaving the mess behind.
Spike was riding on Twilight’s back, but he had trouble finding a comfortable sitting position that did not affect her new limbs. Sometimes, the wings would open and close involuntarily, especially because the alicorn was so focused on getting somewhere at the moment. Many times, the small dragon nearly fell off. He had to grip tightly onto Twilight’s mane, an action that would usually elicit a cry of pain or surprise.
Finally, Twilight, Spike, Pinkie and Rarity arrived at the Apple family farm. As far as the eye could see, there were rolling hills filled with apple trees. Varieties included both red, green and everything in between. From the best care available, the sweet fruit hung like round rubies and emeralds on lush trees with thick trunks. Standing just off the road was a mighty, red barn with hay was piled high against the outside wall.
Before they could even get close, a filly came charging through. It was Apple Bloom, Applejack’s younger sister. The big red bow on her head bounced wildly with her every step.
“Apple Bloom!” Twilight said.
The small pony skid to a halt in front of the group, leaving behind a trail of dust. “Oh, hi Twilight,” she said nervously. An anxious air hung over her.
“Let me guess, something is wrong with Applejack?”
The young pony’s eyes widened to an impressive degree. “Wow, how’d you know that? Ah was just going to get Big McIntosh. You know, you’re good as a princess.” She glanced behind Twilight at the curious gathering that suddenly appeared at their house. “Real good.”
“Uh, I heard about the trouble. Let me handle it, okay?” Twilight said sweetly.
“Okay. Ah’m really worried, though. Applejack hasn’t come out of her room all morning. Ah think she might be sick or something.”
Twilight gave an understanding nod.
The Apple’s house was simple and welcoming. Even from far away, they could smell cinnamon, nutmeg and other spices that wafted out from windows. And apples, of course. Lots of smells of sweet and tart pastries filled the air. There was a front porch, where Granny Smith was lazily rocking back and forth. The group greeted the old pony as they entered the house.
Though Twilight and the other’s had never been in here before, they guessed Applejacks room was the only one with the door locked tight.
Twilight was about to knock when a pink blur pushed her away. Almost hammering against the door was Pinkie Pie. “Applejack, I’m Sorry!”
Magic wrapped around her tail and pulled her away from the door.
In a much more calming tone, Twilight said, “Applejack, are you in there? It’s Twilight, Spike, Pinkie Pie and Rarity. We understand that something is wrong, that you, uh, speak a bit like Rarity now.”
Noise of somepony scrambling around inside the room leaked out through the door. Something seemed to have clattered to the ground. Almost immediately afterwards, the door flung open. A flustered and hatless Applejack was standing there. Her mane was barely tied into its usual form.
“What happened, darling? What kind of magic did you do? And why am I calling everyone darling?” she growled with a sort of posh attitude.
The others turned to look at Rarity, who shrugged and said, “Ah don’t know why y’all lookin’ at me. Ah don’t say dahlin’ that much.”
“Oh my, what happened to Rarity?” Applejack asked.
“I’m sorry,” Pinkie said again while on her knees. “You see, I kind of chatted with this really nice travelling wishing well, and he was talking about how no one uses him anymore. Because of that, he’s going around offering free wishing stones as a show of his abilities. He gave me one and talked me into using a wish right away in order to prove his power. The first thing I could come up with was swapping you and Rarity’s manner of speech. Oh, and I went to Twilight first because I was too excited and had to tell somepony!”
“You did what?” both Rarity and Applejack exclaimed. The unicorn and earth pony leaned forward with eyes glinting dangerously.
Twilight extended a wing to separate Pinkie from the other two. “Now, now. We don’t know if it Pinkie did cause it. Such a powerful, reality-warping magic certainly seems improbable.”
“But it’s not impossible,” Applejack said with an almost stylish bounce to her tones. “Don’t you remember Discord, dear? Twi, I meant to say Twi.”
Spike held up a single claw. “If it really comes down to it, why don’t you just ask Discord? I mean, he’s our friend now, right?”
All the ponies nervously glanced around and at each other.
“Yeah,” Twilight said without any conviction. “But why don’t we try to figure it out on our own first? Discord can be our last resort option.”
“Do you have an idea?” Spike asked.
“Field research! Let’s go to the well and see what is really going on.”
After Applejack retrieved her hat, the group headed out. Before they could get away, Apple Bloom returned with her large and burly brother, Big McIntosh, following close behind. Upon seeing her sister, the young pony rushed forward.
“Oh hey!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. She hopped up happily. “You cured mah sister, Twilight.”
Big McIntosh loomed silently in the back, though the worry was evident on his freckled face. He waited patiently to see if his sister really was better or not.
Applejack shook her head silently. She motioned to herself, then mimicked an exaggerated walk, then pointed to Twilight.
“What?” Apple Bloom asked.
“We’re going for a walk. Applejack, somehow or another, has her manner of speaking switched with RariTY!” While Twilight had been explaining, Applejack had been motioning furiously to stop. At the end, she tackled the purple unicorn to the ground.
“Mah sister speaks like Rarity?” Apple Bloom said. “Really? Cool!” She zipped over, muzzle to muzzle with her older sister. “Hey, Applejack, say something!”
Her sister staunchly refused with mouth pressed together tight.
“Come on, say something. Rarity? Say something.”
“It is goin’ to be hard gettin’ through the day withou’ speakin’,” Rarity admitted with Applejack’s usual drawl.
Apple Bloom burst out into a fit of laughter that caused Applejack’s ear to droop down.
“Apple Bloom, dear, this is serious. We need to fix this.”
“Oh. Mah. Gawrsh. This is too funny. Does Sweetie Bell know about this? Ah got to tell her.”
Apple Bloom attempted to run off, but it was Rarity that grabbed onto her by the tail with magic.
“Hold on a minute now, Little Missy. There’s no need to be blabberin’ this around, you hear?”
Still attempting to stifle down a chortle, the youngest Apple family member said, “Of course. As long as Applejack says something we won’t say anything, right big brother?”
“Eeyup,” Big McIntosh finally intoned.
Letting out a long sigh, Applejack deflated from her previous stubbornness. “Really now, dear Apple Bloom. This is hardly a joking matter. I really do need to stop talking like Rarity.”
“Ah promise Ah won’t say a word to Sweetie Belle,” Apple Bloom said with her right hoof raised.
“Good girl. We will be leaving now. Please take care of my farm chores for now. I will be back to help as soon as I am able.”
Unable to contain it anymore, the younger sister burst out laughing again. It was so much, she was rolling around on her back with legs cycling through the air. Even Big McIntosh was found stifling a snicker with his hoof. He quickly regained his composure after a glare from his sister.
“Great.” Applejack raised a hoof to point down the road. “Shall we depart now?”
The group, led by Pinkie Pie, made their way towards the end Ponyville. Looming a bit off in the distance was the Everfree Forest. Its ominous cluster of trees blocked out light from the sun, leaving the forest grounds covered in darkness and mushy leaves. It was a good thing their trip didn’t require entering the forest where all manners of strange creatures lived.
Pinkie was determined to find the well again and get him to undo the wish. It was the most serious she looked in a while, with eyes narrowed and lack of any grin. She was even trotting and not bouncing up and down.
They swept through the entire border of Ponyville that faced the Everfree Forest, yet there was no well, talking or otherwise. Pinkie had started galloping now in a frantic attempt to find Mister Wells again.
After the third trip, Pinkie said, “He was here! He really was!” She stopped in right behind a tall house. A shadow stretched out all the way to the first tree of the forest. “Right here, I’m certain of it.”
“This is the Worst. Thing. Ever,” Applejack said. She immediately looked upset at herself.
“Pinkie,” Rarity said in an odd whining twang.
“Really!”
“Wait a moment, please!” Applejack raised her hoof to get the others’ attention. She slowly walked around the group with her muzzle to the ground. “Come take a look over here. Do you see how the grass is bent down in what looks like a perfect arc?”
“Hey, you’re right,” Twilight said. She made a three-sixty spin and saw that the shape of the flattened grass was a perfect circle. “It looks almost like something circular was here.”
“See!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Mister Wells was right here!”
“But he’s not here anymore,” Twilight pointed out.
Spike was looking at the ground. While looking around, they had passed a piece of paper multiple times. At first, he thought it was likely just some trash that was accidentally left behind, but it was curiously set in the center of the ring. The young dragon hopped off Twilight to pick up the page. He had to be careful as the dew on the grass had caused it to become damp and easily rippable. The words were still legible enough, though.
“Twilight, take a listen to this.
“After being here a week and only having one customer, I, W. M. Wells, have gone off on a vacation and perhaps, contemplate what to do further. I will be enjoying the nice, mountain air and will return soon,” Spike read to the group.
“On vacation?” Rarity shouted. “Broken wagon wheels, if this isn’t the most awful time to take a trip.”
“I don’t sound like that, do I?” Applejack asked. “But more importantly, what are we going to do?”
Pinkie was slumped over on the ground. Her hoof absent-mindedly drilled into grass. Big, twinkling eyes looked up at Rarity and Applejack. “I’m sorry. I’ll find a way to fix this somehow, I promise. And you know I always keep my promises.”
Neither of the ponies with their speech patterns switched could remain that upset at such a sad face.
Rarity swung her hoof across the front of her chest. “We’ll jus’ have to make the best of it until you do manage to fix things. Which should be quicker than a cat chasing after a rat, right?”
“Right!”
Twilight stepped over and placed a supportive hoof on Pinkie’s shoulder. “Let me study the stone, Pinkie. I may be able to find something out about that could help,” Twilight said with an understanding voice and a smile. “Don’t worry, girls, I’ll be able to find something.”
Later that day, after many hours of poring over books, performing experiments and examination under a microscope, Twilight let out an exasperated sigh. “I found nothing.” She backed away from a table piled high with open books and precision instruments. Papers full of notes were scattered all around. The entire surface was a mess. All alone, in the center, was the turquoise wishing stone.
“Nothing?” Spike asked.
Twilight shook her head sadly “The only thing I know for certain is that there is some kind of magic within the stone, but it’s something I’ve never seen before. And my books aren’t much help.” She looked back at the rest of her library. Many shelves had yet to be touched. “I’m confident that there is something in here, but I just need to know where.”
“Would you like some tea?”
Twilight beamed at her assistant. “Yes, I do believe that will help. I’ve just been looking at words for so long my eyes are getting fuzzy.”
Even burning oil late into the night provided no concrete results. All she found were stories or anecdotes. Any mention of wishing wells were things of folktales. There was not a single confirmed case of wishing wells and wishing stones, much less talking ones.
The night came and gone without Twilight catching a wink of sleep. Spike was curled up by her legs and using her tail as a blanket. She had a blank look while staring down at an open book and reading the same line over and over again. Circular stains from tea cups were on the pages.
The door to the library burst open as Pinkie Pie hopped in. The manic pony bounced around the dazed Twilight. “So? So? Have you fixed it?”
“I’m sorry, Pinkie,” the alicorn said. There was a raspiness due to exhaustion in her voice. “I haven’t found anything yet. Don’t worry. I will, right after this nap.”
Twilight staggered away. Magic wrapped around the sleeping dragon and took him along as well.
A sad frown was on Pinkie’s face as she watched her friend go upstairs. If Twilight was going to sleep, perhaps she could check in on how Rarity and Applejack was doing. In nothing more than a pink blur, she left the library. The force of her movement shut the door.
The boutique was closer, so Pinkie went there first. The store’s owner was currently on the phone and hadn’t noticed anypony entering.
“Hey there, Fluttershy,” Rarity said into the phone, “we’re still on for the spa later, right?”
A soft, gentle voice came out of the receiver. “Applejack? Since when did we have an appointment for the spa?”
“Wha’ exactly do you mean by Applejack, missy? It’s me, Rarity. Ah know Ah sound a bit different, but surely you woul’ recognize me, right?” Despite no one else being around, Rarity blinked her eyes hopefully.
“Uh, um,” the voice from the phone mumbled. “I think I was up too late taking care of the chickens. I’m starting to hear things. Maybe tomorrow. I’m going to get some rest, Applejack? Er- Rarity?”
Rarity hung up the phone and pouted her lips. Pinkie wanted to go forward and cheer up the prim unicorn, but she couldn’t move forward knowing it was all her fault that a dear friend was upset. Before she could make a decision, two small fillies rushed past causing Pinkie to turn into a pink tornado.
“Rarity, Rarity!” Sweetie Belle chirped. “I just heard the most ridiculous thing from Scootaloo.”
“It’s not ridiculous!” Scootaloo countered. “You’ll see. Or rather, you’ll hear.”
Rarity raised a suspicious eyebrow at her younger sister and her sister’s pegasus friend.
“Is it true, Rarity? Do you really talk like Applejack now?”
“Who told you that?” Rarity gasped with Applejack’s accent in full force.
“Wow, you really do!”
Scootaloo nudged the younger unicorn. “See, I told you so.”
“Scootaloo!” Rarity said. “Who told you tha’ Ah spoke like Applejack?”
“Apple Bloom. She said she wasn’t supposed to tell Sweetie Belle, but I didn’t agree to any such thing.”
The two fillies were running around the unicorn, bright-eyed and laughing.
“That Apple Bloom.” The prim unicorn ground her teeth. “Look here, y’all, this is not as funny as you two seem to think. Ah mean, Sweetie Belle, what would you do if your sister sounds like this for the rest of her life?”
Sweetie Belle tilted her head curiously. “I don’t know. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it.”
“Nothing wrong? Has it ever occurred to either of y’all how hard Ah worked to get my perfect manner of speaking?”
Both of the fillies shook their head.
Rarity started going off on a tangent that was both high-pitched and had a twang. In her moments of frustration, the drawl seemed to come in more than ever with many words having such a thick coating, they were almost rendered incomprehensible.
“You know,” Scootaloo whispered, “I never remember Applejack saying y’all that much.”
Sweetie Belle agreed. “She sounds more Applejack than Applejack does, if that makes sense.”
Seeing Rarity’s frustrated face was more than enough to make Pinkie shrink back. She found her heart thumping fast. What if, because of this, Rarity didn’t want to be her friend anymore. Worse even, what if Rarity didn’t like her anymore? The dark thoughts swarmed above the pink pony’s head like a personal raincloud that wouldn’t dissipate. No matter how much she tried to think happy thoughts, the sun wouldn't shine through. Applejack must be having a better time of things, right?
Pinkie zoomed over to Sweet Apple Acres. At least, according to Granny Smith, Applejack wasn’t hiding in her room anymore. Prowling around through the fields, jumping from tree to tree, Pinkie stealthily searched for her target. She wasn’t sure what the reaction would be if they met face-to-face, so for now, Stealth Mode was activated.
Target sighted one hundred meters south-by-southwest.
Like a ninja wearing pink, Pinkie slinked through the trees. Applejack was on the path running alongside an orchard. At the end was an worn out shed that looked to have suffered a lot of water damage from rain. The paint had almost peeled off completely, and the wood was warped to the point where the structure barely looked stable. Flying in the air around the shed was a rainbow-maned pegasus.
Pinkie got just close enough to listen to what they were saying, or rather, what Rainbow Dash was saying as Applejack refused to talk.
“No, really, what did you call me here for, AJ?” the pegasus asked while hovering a short distance off the ground. Her powerful wings beat downward, flicking up a bit of dirt every time.
The farm pony motioned to the old, teetering structure.
“That old shed? Okay?” Rainbow Dash said.
Applejack smashed her hooves together.
“You want me to break it because you are going to build a better one? After we move out all the tools?”
Applejack nodded.
“Oh yeah! I am such a good guesser. Alright, give me another one.”
Applejack shook her head.
“Why not? Oh, is it my turn to do one? Alright, hang on.” Rainbow Dash held up one hoof and pressed the other one against her head.
The other pony sighed and pulled down her hat to cover an exasperated face. “I want you to actually do that, alright, darling?”
The pegasus stared with mouth hanging open. Her wings even stopped flapping and she plopped onto the ground.
“Yes, I speak like Rarity now. Please, please please please don’t say anything about it.” Applejack lifted the rim of her hat. Looking out was a pair of pleading eyes. It was the largest and roundest that anypony had ever seen them. They twinkled under the rays of the sun.
Rainbow Dash bit her lip, but the edges of her mouth was still quivering. She swallowed down a large lump in her throat before forcing out a neutral expression.
The two of them stared at each other, with Applejack firing out daggers from her eyes, testing Rainbow Dash’s commitment to stay stone-faced.
“So,” the pegasus broke the awkward staring and turned to the shed, “you want this destroyed, huh? No problem.”
“Thank you, dear,” Applejack said.
As soon as Rainbow Dash took off into the sky, she burst out laughing. It was so much that the pegasus couldn’t fly straight.
Pinkie Pie started walking away. The sight of two of her best friends feeling so miserable and frustrated made her head hung so low, her pink mane was dragging along the ground. She hoped that either Twilight could come up with a solution or Mister Wells would return so they could fix this problem.
Over the next few days, nothing really got better. All day, and nearly all night, Pinkie waited at the place where the magical well had been, but he never returned. Through rain and shine, though mostly shine, she waited in the lonely spot behind the village. It was under the constant shadow of the nearby house and the grass always felt damp.
Twilight also wasn’t having any luck with her research. She tried a few spells, but nothing seemed to be more powerful than a wish granted by a wishing well. Even the alicorn princess was starting to get frustrated at how useless she was. The most concrete information she found on magical wells were that they were an ancient creation, something the olden ponies used when times got too rough. Only a few were ever made and they were charged with the magic of wishes.
Both Rarity and Applejack’s mood seemed to have gotten worse. They moved like it there was a constant annoying buzz around them and hardly talked. Rarity’s business was dropping because she couldn’t effectively speak as Applejack to make convincing sales, not to mention how much the other pony’s found it weird. Chores on Sweet Apple Acres felt much more like work with Applejack being constantly irritated. It lacked any semblance of fun and games.
After Pinkie Pie made her rounds of checking up on her friends, she started to head towards the spot behind the town. Along the way, she passed by the Cutie Mark Crusaders. All three of them were sitting in the outdoors section of a restaurant, having a simple meal of salads and hay. Two of the three fillies looked particularly sad.
“It was fun for a while, but Ah mean, you know?” Apple Bloom said.
“I know!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed. “I know! Rarity barely talks to me anymore. I can’t even imagine what it’s like for you since you live with your sister.”
“It’s just no fun around the farm anymore.”
“Girls,” Scootaloo said confidently, “Twilight will fix everything. She always does.”
Apple Bloom slumped forward with her face on the table. “Ah hope so.”
Seeing how even the fillies were affected, Pinkie Pie stopped moping. She suddenly looked alert and ready. Waiting until Twilight fixed her problem wasn’t an acceptable solution. It was something she should have done a long time ago: Go find Mister Wells herself. There were only so many mountains in Equestria. He had to be on one of them.
With new determination filling her body, Pinkie had a slight bounce to her movements again. She was going to fix this herself. Armed with a saddlebags of supplies, a nice protective scarf and a bandana around her forehead, because bandana tying always meant business, Pinkie set off. A note was left behind in her room explaining where she had gone. It was her desire to return before anyone really missed her, however.
With the sun shining high in the sky, Pinkie galloped out of town all alone. The only thing guiding her was a desire to see her friends smile again.
There was only three, or maybe four hundred mountains in Equestria. Easy enough to hit them all. Neither rain nor shine was going to stop her. High winds, snow and deserts weren’t going to either. Rivers were forded, marshes were sloshed through and puddles were splashed. The sun and moon cycled through the skies many times. Over the hills and far away, over the mountains and the blue seas. Through the fire and flames she carried on!
Sometime along the way, she picked up a battered brown cloak, and lost the scarf and bandana. It protected her body and hair from the elements.
Pinkie climbed up mountain number, well, she had lost count already. It was a lot, though. This was known as Tranquility Mountain, a place of peace and relaxation. There was a nice path that winded up the side with a gentle slope. The start of the long trail cut through a cluster of trees. Light filtered through the leaves and fell softly against the grass. Rabbits, squirrels and other small critters lived within the trees. A white oak stood at either side of the mountain road. Their branches linked together, forming an arch. There was a great sense of revitalization as she started up the mountain.
Moving forward and upward, the greenery didn’t decrease at all. The mountain wall was overgrown with shrubbery. Birds made their nests in the thickets. Though none were visible, their songs was drifting all through Tranquility Mountain.
“Oooh,” Pinkie said as she dropped her hood. Her curly mane was looking extra wild and frizzy from days of being unkempt. It almost popped out and pushed the cloak off. “Fluttershy would love this place.”
Near the peak, Pinkie came across a wider path. On one side was a rock wall covered in soft foliage, on the other side was a great view of the vast, Equestria landscape. And (the pony’s eyes went wide when she saw) in the center of the clearing was an old well. Rays of light perfectly fell on the well and almost made it glisten. It had a foundation of stone. Many bricks were cracked, and even more had vines growing on it. A wooden roof covered the opening, but the it was twisting. A large hole was in the roof as well, making it rather ineffective at preventing things from falling in. No way a well would be dug all the way up here.
“Mister Wells!” Pinkie shrieked.
Her voice scared away all the animals in the area. A passing deer said, “Hey, lady, be quiet.”
“I’m sorry!” Pinkie said, still loudly and scratchy.
“Hello there,” a posh gentleman’s voice said. There was an echoing quality to it, as if it was coming out from the bottom of a well, likely because it was. “My, my, Miss Pinkie Pie. How Surprising to see you here.”
The pink pony rushed up to the wall. Her hooves were spread out as she did her best to hug him. “Mister Wells, I finally found you. I’ve been looking for you everywhere!”
“What’s the matter? No one really needs me anymore,” Mister Wells said with a hint of sadness.
“Why not?”
“Well, ol’ girl, when I was first made, technology was still primitive. Medicine wasn’t so good and neither was the farming techniques. Ponies near and far would have use for wishes to make lives easier. They were usually grand things too, such as bring water to the sky so the pegasus could spread them around. As time passed, life grew easier and ponies became happier. But because of that, someone like me became less and less important.
“The wishes became more frivolous. No longer was I doing important work. It became more things like, ‘I wish this pony would notice me,’ or, ‘I wish it snowed tomorrow so I don’t have to go to school.’
“Don’t get me wrong, my dear. It’s wonderful that times have gotten better, but that meant relics such as myself are no longer needed. Many ponies don’t even really believe wishes are possible anymore.”
If wells could slump forward and sigh, this one would certainly be doing so right now.
“That’s so sad,” Pinkie Pie said.
Mister Wells let out a rumbling laugh. “Not at all, Miss Pinkie Pie. I have decided to finally retire, like all of my brothers and sisters. I can travel the world, do things for myself. I’m quite excited actually.”
“That’s great-” Pinkie froze. “Hey, wait a minute, I need another wish!”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that anymore.”
“Really! It’s important. The happiness of my friends depends on it.”
“You misunderstand,” W. M. Wells said. “I gave up my magic already. No longer am I capable of granting wishes.”
“What? Oh no!”
Though it couldn’t be seen, the concern was present in Mister Wells’s voice. “What is the problem, my dear?”
Pinkie reared up onto the edge of the well. She faced down into the long shaft that ended in darkness. “I made a wish with you, but that wish is causing my friends distress.”
“Let’s see,” the well said thoughtfully. “I remember every wish I ever made, you know. You wanted to switch the speech patterns of your friends, Rarity and Applejack.”
“Yes!”
“In the grade of wishes, this is considered a simple grade one. Easily reversible.”
Pinkie’s eyes bulged downwards into the well. “Tell me!”
Mister Wells let out a chortle. “All you need to do is..."
WIth the information on how to fix everything, Pinkie rushed back to Ponyville without stopping. Thoughts of seeing everypony smile again kept her body energized the long way home. A broad smile appeared on her face when she saw the simple little town again. The buildings were small, two floors at the most, and homely in design. Nearly every one was accompanied by a garden full of colorful flowers.
The largest tree in town was her destination, the one that had been turned into the library where Twilight and Spike lived.
When Pinkie burst in, she saw her friends had gathered inside. Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Spike. All of them looked over at the sudden intrusion. Their expressions quickly turned from surprise to outright shock, as if they just saw a ghost.
“Pinkie!” everypony, and dragon, said.
“Where have you been?” Applejack asked.
She and Rarity were the first two ponies to run up.
“We’ve been sicker than Ponyville after eating some baked bads worryin’ about you,” Rarity said.
“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash said. “We were just organizing a search party to go and find you.”
Before anypony else could speak, Pinkie held up a hoof with a serious gaze. The others all watched her curiously.
She walked over to the table where Twilight had been doing research. Sitting all innocently in the center was the turquoise wishing stone. After examining it from all angles and with various degrees of eye-openess, Pinkie picked it up.
She stepped towards Spike and said, “Eat it.”
“Really? You have no idea how hard it was not to eat it with it just sitting out there like that,” Spike said.
He snatched up the smooth stone and opened wide. It was swallowed all at once. Spike licked the area around his mouth at the tastiness.
“That was good.”
“Pinkie!” Twilight gasped. “What did you do that for?”
“I heard it straight from the well’s mouth,” Pinkie said. “To stop the effects of a low level spell, simply destroy the source. In this case, the source is the wishing stone.”
Applejack and Rarity both widened their eyes. They looked like they wanted to speak, but didn’t want to risk their hopes getting too high. With everypony else looking at them, Applejack stepped forward. Her hooves landed on the wooden floor with solid thuds.
She took a slow breath. “Well, how do Ah sound? Hey! Ah sound like myself again!”
Rarity looked down at herself and tried a tentative sentence. “How about me? Do I sound magnificent again? I do! Oh, this is wonderful.”
Pinkie Pie had the biggest smile yet when she saw how happy her friends were. The joy lifted her up and she started bouncing in place.
“Pinkie.” Twilight gave her pink friend a serious look. “Don’t go off on your own like that. We were really worried about you.”
“We’re all so relieved you’re alright,” Fluttershy said.
“I’m sorry, girls,” the mirthful pony chirped. “I just couldn’t stand it seeing Applejack and Rarity so upset. I had to do everything in my power to make you two laugh again.”
“Ooh,” Rarity squealed.
The unicorn and earth pony that had been affected gave their mutual friend a big hug.
“We may have been upse’ about the way we talk,” Applejack said, “but you’re much more important than some silly way of speaking.”
“Well, you’re more important. I don’t know about much more.” Rarity’s words trailed away like smoke as she let out a chuckle.
Twilight walked over with a bright smile. “So, Pinkie, have you learned anything from this?”
“There was a lesson here?” Pinkie asked.
“How about not taking strange things from strange talking objects that are supposed to be inanimate?”
The pink pony nodded vigorously. “Right. I’ll be more careful about who I accept things from.”
Rainbow Dash leaned over to the alicorn and whispered, “Though usually, Pinkie would be the strange one giving out gifts.”
“How about this for a lesson,” Spike announced. “Let me indulge once in a while, and this problem would have been solved that morning.”
Rarity had a stiff smile as she looked at the dragon. “Let’s pretend that isn’t the case.”
The entire group burst out laughing now that the incident was behind them.
