Chapters Noi giggled as she ran away from her best friend, Aura in a senseless game of chase. She screamed in glee when she looked back to see her friend gaining on her. “I’m gonna get you!” Noi juked to the side and rounded a large tree twice before skidding to a stop so sharp her rump touched the ground. A light purple hoof made contact with Noi’s butter yellow chest. “Told ya.”
Noi playfully growled and Aura yelped as the chase began anew.
“Noi, come in; it’s time for your bath.”
“Aw, mommy , do I have to? I was-”
“Yes! It’s sunset and all good little foals have to stay on a routine. Now, say goodnight to your little friend and come in.”
Noi huffed and went to her friend. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
“Okay,” Aura said, “I wish you didn’t have to go home so early. I mean, the sun barely set. My mommy lets me stay up for almost another two hours.”
Noi stuck out her tongue at her friend. “Rub it in, why don’t ya?”
They shared a giggle and hugged before they split up and went to their own homes. “Noi, you know what time bath time is, why don’t you come in on your own?”
“Because I was having fun with Aura, mommy. She was the bear, then I was gonna be the wolf, but you made me have to come in.”
Noi’s mother patted her daughter’s tail to usher her upstairs. “You can tell me all about it while I wash your mane. Now, c’mon, let’s get you all cleaned up before bed. What did you have for supper at Aura’s?”
“Oh, yeah! We had spaghetti with bits of eggplant, it was super yummy and I had water to drink, because I didn’t want juice like Aura had. They had pear juice or apple juice, but I didn’t feel like sweet juice was gonna go good with supper.”
“That’s a very healthy choice for you to make, dear. Say, there’s a traveling show coming to town tomorrow, would you like to go since there’s no school?”
Noi hopped up the last steps and turned to her mother. “Yeah! That sounds like so much fun! Can Aura and Piña Colada come with us?”
Noi’s mother nodded toward the bathroom. “I don’t see why not. I’ll ask their mothers about it when I see them later tonight. Now, hurry up or the mud monster will get you.” She said and reared up to loom over her daughter. Noi giggled and shrieked as she ran to the bathroom, away from the monster her mind conjured.
Once bath time was done Noi was read a story and tucked into bed. “Snug as a bug in a rug,” her mother sang as she tucked Noi in tightly. Noi giggled and fought to get her forelegs free.
“Mommy, I don’t wanna go to sleep yet. Can’t I stay up late? It’s not a school night and I won’t be a bother.”
“Sorry, dear, but all growing fillies have to get their sleep to get big and strong. Now,” she said leaning down to kiss the yellow filly on her forehead, “sweet dreams.” She placed a plushie of Daring Do in Noi’s grasp and left the filly to sleep.
“I wish I was bigger so I would be the boss of when I go to sleep.” Noi groused. She turned the plush and sat it on her belly. “I bet you never had parents telling you when to go to bed or when it was time to eat. You always were the bravest and most daring pony, right?”
The plush didn’t answer and Noi yawned quietly.
“I’d be the best boss of everypony ever if I was in charge.”
“Noi, time to wake up, honey. I’ve got breakfast on the table and it’s gonna get cold if you don’t hurry up!”
Noi grumbled but sat up and blearlily opened her eyes to the morning. She barely felt like she fell asleep and now she had to get out of the bed when it was most comfy. It was warm and soft, her pillow still had her head indention; calling her back to it. With a herculean feat of strength and willpower, she fell to the bed and rolled twice to get out of the blanket warmness.
She yawned a little and licked her lips. Thinking of what could be for breakfast she moved on instinct to the kitchen through the house while bumping into a couple walls on her path. Finally she arrived to the kitchen and sniffed the air. Her heart sank. “Mommy, is that porridge?”
“Yes, it’s just what a growing earth pony filly needs to grow big and strong. Your bowl is ready on the table, eat up before it gets cold.”
Noi pouted and wanted to whine, but knew nothing would come of it. She went to the table and sat down by the bowl that was as large as her mother’s and just as full of the slimy mush she’d seen foals half her age dig into with fervor. “Mommy, can I have something else? I don’t like this stuff.”
Her mother looked at the filly pouting over her breakfast and sighed. “Honey, I know it’s not what you want, but it’s what your body needs. I mixed in some fresh hay and I think I have some oats left I can top it with.”
“Is there any fruit?” Noi asked, hopefully.
Her mother sighed quietly. “No, I still have to go to the market. Oh, I know what we can do. After we eat we can go to that traveling show I talked about. There should be some treats you can have that will make up for this… lackluster breakfast.”
Noi looked into the depths of the porridge and swore it looked back at her. She hated porridge. It was something little foals ate, not big fillies like her. Plus there wasn’t anything fun in it, either. She picked up the spoon and pressed it into the sludge, scooped a little, then lifted the spoon trailing slime behind it. She took a small taste and replaced the spoon into the muck. “I gotta use the bathroom.”
Her mother, having just taken a seat, looked at her despondent daughter with a little sadness. “Okay, wash up when you’re done, okay?”
“Yes, mommy.” Noi got up from her spot on the floor with more energy than she had earlier and rushed to the bathroom to get ready for the morning and day ahead.
Her mother watched Noi leave and sighed at her own bowl of porridge. She fought the urge to scoop the bowl into her hoof and slam it against the nearest wall in frustration at their situation, but she couldn’t let her daughter know.
The town market was in full swing and near the city hall, just past the market, were some tents set up of various colors, their doors open wide to allow spectators in to view what lay within. Several signs showed what attractions were available at certain times of the day, but the only thing that caught Noi’s eye was one of the many fair style candy carts.
“Mommy, can I?!” Noi asked eagerly, pointing to a cart laden with candied fruits and taffies from somewhere that wasn’t Ponyville.
“Okay, I’ll give you ten bits . You can spend them however you want, but remember that whatever you save can go into your piggy bank to buy something bigger later.”
With that a small satchel was passed from mother to daughter and with barely a thank you, Noi was off to the cart to spend three bits. The filly crunched through half a candied plum, proud she got two for her bits, before she saw Aura. “Aura, over here!” Noi shouted and sat to wave her free forehoof.
The lilac filly looked up from reading a sign and beamed a smile. She turned around once, looking for somepony, before shrugging and rushing to meet her good friend. “Noi, I’m so glad to see you here. I was worried I’d miss you. Look, my mommy and daddy gave me fifteen bits to spend today!” Aura gasped when she saw the plums. “Where can I get some of those?”
“Over there, at the cart. They’re two for three bits.”
“Cool, wanna come with me?”
Noi stood on three legs and balanced the small paper tray on her free hoof. “You bet! These are awesome. So much better than apples.” Her ears fell and she glanced around, ready to see an angry member of the Apple family. None in sight, she sighed as she followed her friend to the cart. She ate the rest of her first plum while Aura picked her treat.
“Excuse me, girls…” A mare’s voice spoke up, getting their attention through the crowd. “Can you spare some bits for a weary traveler?”
Both fillies shared a look, then shook their heads. “Sorry, I only have a few bits left and I wanna see some of these attractions,” Noi said.
Aura lit her horn in a weak blue light pulling a bit from her own satchel hanging around her neck. “Like my mommy says, don’t spend it all in one place.”
The mare held out a hoof and took the coin, grinning a smile with too many missing teeth for the fillies to feel comfortable looking at. “Thank ya kindly. May the light of day never stop shining on your kind little souls.”
The mare turned away and the fillies shuddered and licked the back of their own teeth, checking to see they were all still there. “Do you think she ate too much candy when she was a filly?” Aura asked.
Noi giggled. “I think she just didn’t brush like her mommy told her to. C’mon, let’s go see what’s in the tents. I can’t wait to get my fortune read.”
The fillies hurried to a tent and read the posted sign, then moved on to a few others; seeing which seemed to be the best deal. “I think Madame Fortuna is too expensive, Aura. I only have seven bits left and she costs five. I won’t have any left for my piggy bank if I get my fortune read.”
“Well, maybe there’s filly discount. I mean, we’re little so our fortunes must be smaller too, right?” Aura asked.
The flap opened revealing Piña Colada leaving with a frown on her face. A stallion followed her and propped the flap open for the next pony to enter. The pink fillies cheeks were a tinge red as she stomped past the other two fillies. “Hey, Piña Colada? What’s wrong?” Noi asked, hurrying to follow her upset friend with Aura right behind.
Piña Colada stopped and watched as a mare hurried in to get her fortune read. “That mare is crazy!” She shouted. “She didn’t tell me about my future except that I’d get a boyfriend and we’d kiss.”
All three fillies made grossed out faces and noises.
“Okay, I’m not going to see her if that’s what she’s all about, what about you, Noi?” Aura asked.
Noi shook her head and then bit into her last plum. “No way,” she said with a mouth half full, “I don’t ever want a boyfriend. Boys are so gross.”
The other two fillies nodded fervently in agreement. Aura spoke up again. “So, now what? Wanna get a souvenir or something?” Piña Colada looked at the plums and licked her lips. “Or, we can get some more treats?”
Piña Colada grinned and looked around to see a cart with cotton candy and bottles of soda. “I’ll be right back.”
“Hey, we’re coming with you,” Noi giggled as she hobbled after.
Several minutes later they all had cotton candy and a soda while sitting in the grass near a tent full of noisy games and younger foals being cheered for after winning games set up for them. The three fillies talked, giggled, and snacked off each other, sharing their goodies as best as they could. “Well, that was yummy, but I kinda wanna do something with the rest of my bits.” Piña Colada said.
“How many do you have left after buying us all sodas and your cotton candy?”
Piña Colada looked into her satchel and counted. “Seven. Most of the attractions cost at least three, but… hey, what’s that thing?” She asked and pointed at a stallion rolling out a weird game. It was a glass case with the upper half of a pony dressed like a gypsy inside of it.
“I dunno, let’s see.” Aura said as she got up and made her way to the garbage to throw away her trash. The others followed her actions, then to the stallion setting up the machine. “Hey mister, what’s that?”
“This?” The stallion said, gesturing to the game. “Oh, it’s the Great Magical Hugo. Put in a bit and he’ll grant your wish,” he rolled his eyes and mumbled something under his breath before forcing a smile.
“Cool. I wanna try!” Noi said, rushing to the machine and looking it over. A glass ball that was meant to signify a crystal one was rolling against the corner of the glass, loosened from its perch in front of the puppet within. Noi noticed the puppet inside was in bad shape and giggled. “Maybe I should wish for Hugo to get a makeover.”
The stallion sighed deeply and turned to leave. “I’ll be right back.”
Piña Colada poked Noi’s side. “I think you upset him. Maybe this is his favorite game or something.”
Noi watched the stallion’s tail turn the corner, then went to the glass, patting it sarcastically. “Aw, I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings, Hugo.” The other fillies giggled at the joke. Noi took a coin from her pouch and found the coin slot. She slid the coin in and waited. “Maybe I have to make my wish first?”
“There’s a button on the front, maybe press that to turn it on?”
Noi pressed the button but nothing happened. “Ugh. I know what I wanna wish for, Hugo.”
“What do you wanna wish for, Noi?” Aura asked.
Noi smirked, thinking over the past few days. They felt like forever to her, so she knew what to say. She turned to Hugo and pressed the button. “I wish grownups would do what us foals said, instead of the other way around.”
The fillies yelped as Hugo came to life. In jerky motions his eyes danced around and his jaw worked for a couple seconds before he fell still and a slip of paper fell from a slot they hadn’t noticed.
Noi picked it up and read it. “‘Little things can be big problems if you’re not careful.’ And there’s some numbers on the bottom. I think it’s a fortune.”
Aura pulled out a bit and slid it into the slot, then pressed the button. “I wish I was bigger. Then nopony would pick on me for being too small.”
“You’re not too small, Aura,” Noi said, patting the filly’s back.
“I am, so! I’m the second smallest in class and I’m tired of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon calling me Pip’s big sister.”
Piña Colada pointed as Hugo came to life again in his glass house, jerking and shaking for a few seconds before falling still. A new fortune came out and Aura read it. “‘Big things come in small packages.’ Spooky how the fortune sounds like what I wished for.” Aura smirked, then tossed her fortune over her shoulder to land in the grass. “Your turn, Piña Colada, what are you gonna wish for?”
Piña Colada thought it over for a moment, then shrugged. “I dunno. I don’t think I really need anything right now. I’m happy with how everything is, and if your wishes come true, things would just be that much better.”
“Piña Colada? Piña Colada?! Where are you?”
Piña Colada sighed in exasperation. “That’s my stepmom. I’ve gotta go, but I’ll see you later, okay?”
Aura and Noi understood and waved as their friend left. “I wish I had a stepmom sometimes.” Noi mumbled.
Aura gasped in surprise. “What? Why?! Your mom’s awesome.”
“She makes me gross food every day, and makes me do chores, and won’t let me stay up late, ever! I bet a different mom would let me do all those things.”
Aura rolled her eyes. “My mom makes me do that stuff too, but I wouldn’t want a different one. C’mon, let’s go to the shop, maybe they have something to get your mind off having a new mom.”
Noi grumbled but followed her friend away from the machine. A few seconds later lights came on inside the glass and the puppet smoothly moved as it began its startup procedures. The stallion came back around, expecting to see the fillies waiting. “Okay, it’s plugged in now, you can… take off without playing, I guess.” He said, watching two of the fillies wandering off.
Aura slowed to a trot, panting and gasping for breath after galloping for while. “Where… are… they?”
“I don’t know; I don’t even know if we’re on the right path, to be honest.” Piña Colada said.
Noi quickly looked back to scowl at her friend. “What she means is that we’re getting close and this has to be the path they took, because it goes straight to the White Tail Woods, where the deer live.”
“What do the deer have to do with traveling show ponies?”
“It’s the only place to the West that doesn’t end at the Celestial Sea, or the Undiscovered West… what if they’re going beyond Equestrian borders, girls?” Noi asked, nervously.
“They wouldn’t do that, nopony crosses that far West,” Aura answered, swallowing loudly. “Hey, a river! I’m gonna get a drink before I have to chase them again.”
Noi and Piña Colada held on as Aura leapt into the flowing river, nearly slipping on some slick rocks at the bottom. “Hey, watch out! I can’t swim good,” Noi shouted as she wrapped blue mane around her fetlock and was ready to bite onto some to stay on the larger fillies back.
Aura rolled her eyes and bent her head down to slurp water for several gulps. She stood tall and exhaled loudly. “That’s good stuff. Okay, back onto the trail.”
“Wait!” Piña Colada shouted. “I… gotta pee.”
“Why didn’t you go before we left?” Noi shouted back as Aura walked from the water.
“I didn’t have to go then, but I do now.”
“Ugh, mommy always says to go before we leave, doesn’t you momma tell you that?”
“Girls!” Aura shouted. “We can all make a pitstop here and make it quick. I’ve gotta go, too; so let’s just get it over with and get back on the road.”
Laying down, the smaller fillies slid off Aura’s back and rushed into the bushes with Aura following. “Hey, you can’t do that here, you’ll splash all over us!”
“Ew, gross, she’s right. Go in the bushes over there.”
A couple minutes later, all three fillies were back on the trail, two holding onto their friend as she galloped faster than any of them could have imagined. They passed through a short grassy area and started into a lightly wooded area with sparse trees but on a well used pathway.
“Hey, I think I see them!” Aura shouted.
Noi and Piña Colada shared a smile. “Great, slow down so they can see us coming and don’t think you’re a monster from the Everfree chasing them.”
Aura slowed and grumbled. “I’m not that big.”
A couple minutes later they caught up with the travelers, who had stopped and formed a defensive circle with their wagons. “What the…” One of the travelers was heard shouting.
Aura stopped about a quarter mile away and waved. “Hi, I’m Aura and these two on my back are Piña Colada and Noi. We’d like to use your magic Hugo machine to unwish our wishes, please.”
There were shared looks and words between the various adults. “Come closer, lass. Lemme see ya up close.” A tall mare wearing a dark blue starry robe said.
Piña Colada frowned a little. “That’s the fortune teller that said I’d be all kissy with my boyfriend.”
Aura smiled and glanced back. “Maybe it’ll be Snails. Mwa-mwa-mwa.”
Piña Colada kicked her hind leg into Aura’s side. “Shut up, he’s the grossest of them all!”
Aura laughed as she cantered to the line of defense and stopped, looming over the fortune teller. “Well I’ll be… Sprocket, get that infernal piece of… junk out here for these fillies.”
“Y-yea, sure thing, ma’am,” Sprocket said as he hurried to a wagon.
Aura sat down suddenly, sending both her friends sliding down her back. “Woo-hoo!”
“Gah!”
Both landed on the ground in a tangle of legs before they separated and frowned at Aura. Aura looked back and smirked. “Oops.”
“What the hay was that for?” Piña Colada asked loudly.
Aura shrugged. “I dunno. Anyway, where’s that… oh no.” She brought a hoof to her mouth, scattering dirt and dust across a whole wagon without realizing it. “We forgot bits! How are we gonna pay for our wishes if we’re broke?”
Noi hurried around her friend to Fortuna who was shaking herself clean. “Miss Fortune, can we borrow three bits to make our wishes?”
“Heh, sorry, but we’re not in the business of hoofing out bits, regardless of the reason. You could go with us to the next couple towns as part of our show. A big girl like you would certainly bring in more bits than we’ve had in a while. And my name’s Madame Fortuna, not Fortune. That mare works on the other side of Equestria.”
Aura’s eyes went wide and then became watery. “B-but, I don’t wanna be a traveling freak. I just wanna be a filly and go to school tomorrow. I wanna be the second shortest in class and have peanut butter and jelly for lunch…” She sniffled and hiccupped twice. “I…”
“Oh no, cover yer ears, lads!”
“Want. My… Mommy!” Aura wailed and began bawling loud enough to be heard miles away. “I wanna be normal again. I don’t wanna be a giant monster filly. I…” she began hiccupping between words, “want… to… be… little again!” She collapsed onto her front rattling leaves off trees and knocking a few pony’s off balance for a couple seconds.
Fortuna hurried to close the distance between herself and the crying filly, her robe buffeting the wind from Aura’s heavy breathing. She wasn’t going to get too close, but knew what to do. “There, there, little one. You’re not that big. Why, you’re only as big as you want to be. I bet that if you really wanted it, you could get back to your normal size without making a wish on some dumb machine.”
Aura’s cries stopped suddenly, but the tears and snot still flowed freely. “Y-you mean it? I can just want to be normal and it might happen?”
“It’s worth a try. Close yer eyes, darlin’, see yerself for who ya used to be.” Fortuna said calmly. She looked over her shoulder to a younger mare. “Where is that darned machine already?” She loudly whispered.
The young mare’s eyes widened and she nodded, hurrying to help Sprocket. She bumped into the stallion as he and another were carting it out of a wagon lying on its back on a large plank of wood. “We got it! It’s here. Don’t be sad, it’s wish time.” The three fillies felt elated at the news and the smaller of the two rushed past Fortuna to get to the machine as it was being set up. “Hey, wait for us to get it ready.”
“You didn’t get it ready last time, you just parked it and left. Lemme at it,” Noi exclaimed, slamming her hoof on the button. “I unwish my wish! Make everypony listen to everypony again.”
“Back up!” Sprocket shouted. “It’s not even plugged in, much less you haven’t put in a bit for it to turn on. Think, filly; sheesh. Here’s a bit for each of you, now wait while I get the portable battery set up so I can plug it in.”
Aura looked down at the two fillies that were being surrounded by the travelers as they all waited for Sprocket to get the battery.
Noi handed a bit to Piña Colada while keeping Aura’s in her hoof, knowing the giant filly couldn’t do anything with it, besides lose it, probably. She looked at the puppet, Hugo, and could swear he winked at her. She rushed to the machine and punched her hoof with the coin in it to the slot, slamming the coin in. She pressed the button. “I wish to undo my wish!”
Hugo’s box sparked and he came to life, surprising everypony that was watching as the plug was still on the ground under the box. She shook for a couple seconds before falling still. A slip of paper came out and Noi took it to read it aloud. “‘One per customer.’” She looked at Piña Colada suddenly. “You have to do it. Hurry!”
“Stop her, before she takes away our newest freak!” Madame Fortuna shouted and pointed with a foreleg at the fillies, not knowing which was which.
Noi ran between Piña Colada and the crown, bucking wildly before she was picked up in a red aura and held from the ground. As they were about to tackle Piña Colada, Aura reared up and slammed her hooves into the ground, sending a shockwave that knocked everypony off their hooves. Piña Colada had just slipped the coin into the machine and was tossed from her hooves with the rest, but she was determined and got up, pressed the button, and shouted, “I wish all your wishes to be unwished!”
The whole area went silent and they watched Hugo come to life, then stop as a slip came out. “‘Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.’”
The travelers collectively groaned and held their stomachs for a moment before shaking their heads. “What was that?”
“I don’t know. Let’s get out of here.”
“Let’s split!”
Wagons were hitched and ponies hurried to leave while Fortuna glared between three fillies. “You have no idea what you’ve done!” She shouted as she hurried to her own wagon as it began to move.
Sprocket went to shove the machine back onto his wagon when a leg broke and the machine toppled to its side, shattering the glass and breaking most of the wood. “Ah, forget it, it’s a piece of cursed junk anyway.”
He hitched to his wagon and hurried to follow the caravan, leaving the fillies behind in a rolling cloud of dust that followed. Noi and Piña Colada looked at the machine and went over to carefully poke around it. “Looks like we were his last wish. I hope it worked.” Aura said, standing above her friends.
“Us, too,” the others agreed. The puppet was torn in half, ripped mostly from its base. The base seemed to be in working order, though.
Aura lifted a hoof and stomped it down on the machine. “There, no machine, no curse.”
“Aura?!” Noi exclaimed. “We could have saved it, just in case. What if we need to wish again to fix something?”
“Then we find a safer way!” Aura shouted back, making her friends’ ears ring from the volume. “Sorry.” She said, noting her friends covering their ears with their forehooves.
“Well, that’s just great. Now what?” Piña Colada asked.
“We go home and hope for the best. The wish took a day to take effect, it must take a day to fix itself. Let’s head home and… hey,” Noi said, looking at the rubble, “the crystal ball is still okay. Let’s take it as a souvenir.”
“Whatever,” Aura shrugged, “let’s just get home so I can see my parents again. I’m really worried they’re trapped at the hospital or something, waiting for me to tell them to come home.”
“And I don’t even know where my parents are,” Piña Colada stated sadly.
“Don’t be down, girls. It’ll all be fine from here on out.”
The three fillies were making their way back the same way they came, two riding on Aura’s back. Aura was trotting, nervously glancing around like she was being hunted. “What’s wrong, Aura?” Piña Colada asked.
Aura’s ear flicked suddenly. “I have a feeling something bad might happen. Did you hear what Madam Fortuna said?”
“Yeah, that we didn’t know what we’d done. Whatever, she was just being weird. Maybe we undid her wish to be something.” Noi answered.
“Yeah, she was a doody head. Let’s just get home and go back to life like normal.” Piña Colada said happily, grinning.
“I just hope you’re right,” Aura said, looking around the plains they were crossing over. SHe yawned. “I’m getting a little tired. It’s almost my nap time.”
“You still take naps?” Noi asked, teasingly.
“You still suck your hoof?” Aura snarked back, making the yellow filly’s cheeks turn bright red.
“You said you weren’t gonna bring that up!” Noi shouted loud enough for her voice to break.
“You shouldn’t tease a growing mare for her naps, then.” Aura responded.
Piña Colada snickered into her free hoof. “You’re both silly.”
“Oh yeah? What silly embarrassing thing do you do?” Noi asked.
“Nothing. I’m just perfect,” Piña Colada answered with a cocky grin.
“Yeah, right. Spill it or I’m not sleeping over at your house anymore,” Aura said as she walked through a small grove of trees, knocking one over.
“I can’t…” Piña Colada said, blushing a little. “I’d never live it down. Let’s just say we’re even and leave it at that, huh, girls?”
Noi and Aura shared a friendly look. “Nah,” they said in unison.
“Tell us or I’m gonna stop carrying you,” Aura threatened.
“Hey, that’s not fair. We’re far from home and I’ve got little legs compared to yours. You’d leave me in the dust.” Piña Colada said worriedly.
“Yeah, let’s not go too far, Aura.”
Aura’s horn lit and Piña Colada was lifted from the filly’s back, screaming and flailing, and moved to hover beside her friend’s head. “I can carry you like this if you don’t wanna tell your secret.”
Noi gasped. “Hey, put her back, this isn’t funny anymore, Aura.”
Piña Colada hugged herself tightly and curled up. “Okay, I talk in my sleep sometimes! Put me back, put me back !”
Aura slowed and set her friend on her back, into the waiting forelegs of Noi, who frowned at Aura’s face. “That wasn’t very nice, Aura. You really scared her. Piña, don’t worry, I’m here and you’re okay,” Noi consoled.
Aura looked ahead again, yawning once more. She trotted for another minute until Piña Colada had calmed down and Noi had turned to sit behind the emotional filly. “Girls, I’m sorry I did that. I don’t know what came over me. It’s like being this big is making me feel weird, like I’m the boss for once.”
“Well, there’s being a boss, and being a meanie, like Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.” Noi replied. “But, I accept your apology, as long as Piña Colada does, too.”
Piña Colada nodded and rubbed her forelegs together. “As long as you don’t do something scary like that again, I forgive you.”
“Yay, we’re still friends!” Aura cheered and started to rear up, stopping before she got too high to avoid tossing her passengers. “Sorry about that! I almost forgot you were on my back. Ugh, how much farther is it, Noi?”
Noi carefully stood up and climbed Aura’s mane to stand on the crown of her head. She looked around and let her eyes follow the path. “I dunno, maybe a couple hours before we get home at this rate. Can’t you gallop again?”
“Can’t you gallop again?” Aura mocked. “Why don’t you grow as tall as my living room and carry me around for the day? Then you can ask me about moving faster. Ouch! Don’t pull my mane, Noi.”
“Sorry, I’m climbing down to sit beside Piña Colada.”
“Oh. Well, be careful, please.” Aura asked.
The trek went on and on for the fillies who started to gossip as females tend to do, until they suddenly stopped. “Aura?”
“Ugh, my back hurts, girls. Can you get off for a little bit?” Aura complained and knelt down, wincing with each movement. The others hopped off to the ground as Aura seemed to shrink just a little. “Ouch! My everything hurts!”
“You’re shrinking, it’s working! The wish is undoing! Yay!” Noi cheered and did a little hop with Piña Colada as Aura grit her teeth and quietly cried.
Aura got up on shaky legs and began to trot down the path, her friends quickly following behind her as she quickly shrunk down to her normal size. She fell to her side, panting. Tears matted the fur under her eyes as she looked up to her friends. “Am I… back to normal?”
“Yeah, we did it. Let’s go home and see our parents, okay?” Noi suggested.
The others agreed and helped Aura to her weak legs. Aura quickly regained her strength and within five minutes was racing the others down the road to Ponyville.
Walking through Ponyville the trio were surprised to see so many adults looking confused or worried as they went. Piña Colada split off once they got to town to see if her parents were home while Noi stayed with Aura to help with her parents’ reaction to the destruction Aura had caused while giant.
When the filly got to what was left of the front of her house, Aura shivered. “Noi, I’m scared. What if they know I did it?”
“Then I’ll go down with you, because I made the wish, too.”
They hugged and made their way up the stairs. “Aura, is that you?!” A mare, Aura’s mommy, called. She turned the corner from the kitchen and rushed to embrace her filly. “Oh, my little angel, we didn’t know what happened to you. One minute we were going to bed, the next we’re standing outside the hospital.
“We were so worried about you.”
Her father hurried into the room and saw his wife and daughter, then hurried to embrace them both while Noi backed away, out the door. “Noi, where are you going? You helped bring our baby back, at least stay to play for a while while we figure out how we’re going to get upstairs from now on.”
The adults shared a giggle.
Both fillies looked at them like they were crazy. “What happened in here?” Aura asked, innocently.
Her father chuckled and patted her head. “Obviously another creature from the Everfree Forest came into town. We were all lucky nopony was home when it came looking for a snack while we were out. Speaking of which, where were you two? It’s almost three in the afternoon…”
“Well, I woke up and you weren’t here so I went out to look for you. I guess the monster came in and made the mess while I was gone. I ran into Noi here and we went looking for you together, then everypony started walking into the streets so we figured you might be home, and here we all are,” Aura rambled.
Her parents shared a look, then nodded and hugged their filly again. “We believe you. After all, this is Ponyville.”
Aura sighed and melted into her parent’s embrace and Noi found that the time to leave had come. With a grateful nod from Aura, Noi left to go to her own home.
Once home, Noi found her mother finishing icing a cake. “Mommy! I missed you!”
“Noi!” Her mother set the icing down and sat so Noi could run into her open forelegs. “I have no idea why I made a cake, but where were you? I looked around the house and even called your name outside but you didn’t come.” She asked, pulling back to look her daughter over. She flicked her mane and the crystal ball fell out and rolled across the floor.
They both looked at it. “I forgot all about that thing. How’d it get in my mane?”
Her mother stood up and went to pick it up. “Did you steal this from the fair?”
“What?! No, mommy, I’d never steal. I found it in the woods West of town when I went playing with Aura while we were looking for her parents. Honest, I didn’t steal it.”
“Hm, those travelers must have dropped it. Tell you what, wash your forelegs and we can cut into this cake.”
Noi grinned and hopped on her hooves, rushing to the bathroom while her mother looked at the orb. She pressed it between two hooves to try to make it shrink like it had been when in her daughters mane, but gave up after a couple tries. “Hmph. Phony baloney hocus-pocus. I wish I had half the bits these ponies make a day, meanwhile these ponies walk around with crystal like it’s nothing scamming innocent ponies out of their hard earned bits. Makes me ill to my stomach.”
Noi woke up in the morning and noticed her right forehoof was wet, then blushed as she wiped it off on the sheet. “Maybe I should have wished to stop sucking my hoof like a baby.” She said as she placed her hooves under her and got up, stretching like a cat on her bed.
She looked out the window and cocked her head before she shook it and climbed down to look out the window. It was past her usual wake up time, which was unusual. Her mommy usually woke her up a little after sunrise but today she let her sleep in. Noi shrugged and ignored it, feeling a strong urge to use the bathroom taking priority.
Once she was done in the bathroom she sniffed the air and didn’t smell anything cooking. She went to the kitchen and was surprised to not see her mother there. It was maybe the first time in her life her mother wasn’t preparing breakfast for her when she got up. “Mommy?” Noi called out, a little worried.
“In here, dear.”
Noi hurried to the den to see her mother lying on the couch with a half filled glass of mommy only juice on the table beside her. “Mommy, why aren’t you cooking breakfast? Did you know you let me sleep in? I’m not whining about it, I mean, thanks, but… I’m kinda hungry now.” Noi said quietly, poking the floor with her left forehoof.
“Okay.”
“Um, what?” Noi asked her mother. Her mother just looked at her. “Um, can you cook breakfast?”
“Yes, dear. Right away,” She said, getting up and hurrying past the filly. “What would you like? Porridge, oatmeal, grits…”
Noi groaned loudly. “None of those, mommy. Please , can we have a real breakfast?”
“I don’t have the ingredients for much, what would you like?”
Noi thought for a second and then giggled to herself. “Cake and maybe some of the oaty ice cream in the ice box?”
Her mother smiled and nodded. “Very well. Go play and I’ll call you when it’s ready.”
Noi’s jaw hung slack. She couldn’t understand why her mother would be okay making cake and letting her have ice cream. It wasn’t her birthday, or a holiday, or any special day except for being a normal Sunday. She was about to say something, then noticed the bag of oats on the counter. It was ready to fill her bowl if she wasn’t careful.
“O-okay, mommy. I’ll go play for a while with Aura, if that’s okay?”
“You can play with whoever you wish, darling, just come when I call for your breakfast.”
Noi smiled and it grew into a grin before she galloped through the den and out the door to look for her friend. She saw a couple colts and fillies crying down the street, but that wasn’t her problem. She turned right and began practically prancing to her friend’s house. Knocking twice, she waited for Aura’s mom or dad to come to the door or to invite her in. She was practically expected at this point.
“Hello?” Noi called to the closed door. She reached up and opened the door, wiping her hooves as the house rule required. “Hello? Aura? Can you come out to play?”
“Noi?! You gotta come help me, it’s an emergency!”
Noi didn’t think twice as she rushed to the stairs and ascended them as quickly as her little legs would let her. She turned and rushed to Aura’s room, but stopped as she passed the open bathroom door. She stumbled past it, then backed up quickly to look in with shock. “A-Aura? Wha-” was all she managed before the filly looked at her.
Down at her, way down. The once small filly was now practically hunched over to keep her head from hitting the ceiling. Her eyes were red from crying. “Oh, Noi… I got my wish, but this isn’t what I wanted.”
“Y-your wish?” Noi asked as she stepped closer to the giant filly in the bathroom. “Wait, is that why my mommy is making me cake for breakfast instead of something gross?”
Aura whined and her lips quivered. “Noi, I had to go to the bathroom when I woke up and I broke part of my bed, and the doorway, and… I couldn’t fit on the toilet so I had to…” she sniffled and pointed to the bathtub. Noi understood right away and carefully stepped into the room to place a very tiny hoof on such a big filly.
“It’s okay, you don’t have to feel bad. I pee in the bath all the time.”
Aura broke down into tears, laying down and nearly filling the whole room as she curled around herself. Her tail cleared a whole wall of artwork and a few knicknacks before it went between her legs so she could stroke it. “I don’t wanna be big like this. I wanted to be a little bigger, that’s all. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon won’t ever let me live this down.”
Outside a colt’s crying reached its peak and he screamed to the heavens.
“What is going on out there?” Noi asked as she tried to go to the window, but couldn’t get around her friend. “Wait here, Aura, I’ll be right back.”
“D-don’t leave me like this, Noi. Please, stay with me.”
“I promise I’ll be right back, I’m going to go to your room to look outside is all.”
Noi backed out of the room and couldn’t help but feel sad as her friend watched her movements with giant tear filled eyes. Noi rushed to Aura’s room and noticed the damage the giant filly had done to her bed frame and the doorway, but ignored it as she rushed to the window. She opened it and looked out to see a dozen children and only a couple adults hurrying towards the market with saddlebags on.
She didn’t see anything off from her perspective so she ducked back into the room and hurried back to her friend. “I don’t see anything weird out there, but I really think we should get to that traveling show and unwish your wish.”
Aura hiccupped and flicked her ear, nearly breaking the ceiling light in the process. She grimaced. “Wh-what a-about y-your wish?”
Noi blinked and tried to recall her wish. “I just wished my mommy would do what I said, I don’t see anything wrong with that,” she smirked. “I’m not eating slop, and that’s a huge bonus.”
Aura shook her head and wiped her eyes carefully, so as to not bump her friend into the hallway or break anything else. “N-no, Noi. You wished that all parents would do what their kids say.”
Noi’s smile fell and her eyes widened. “Aura, where are your parents?” Aura began to weep. “Oh no, they’re not hurt, are they?” She asked, worried she was laying on one of them right now.
“No… when I woke up I called for help. I told them to get me help because I didn’t want anypony to see me like… this,” she said, looking along the side of her body, “and they left without telling me where they were going.”
“So, maybe they’re just going to the hospital and they’ll be back with a doctor that can help you right away.”
Aura sniffled loudly and lit her horn to pull a towel over to blow her nose with. Noi stepped back at the grossness of it as the towel was almost instantly soaked in snot. “I don’t know. That was hours ago, Noi. What if they got lost or didn’t understand me. What if they went to another town or city to find a doctor. Noi, what if I don’t see my mommy and daddy for days?!”
Noi wished she could hug her friend, but her legs wouldn’t fit around any part of Aura at her current size. “Aura, let’s get you outside. That way we can find the-”
“No way! If I go out, I’m gonna be teased by other ponies. No pony has ever been as big as me.”
Noi moved closer to Aura and did her best to pat her friend on her chest, but she didn’t think Aura even noticed it. “How are we gonna fix the wish if you won’t go outside?”
Aura quietly cried for almost a minute before another loud snort broke the moment. “Fine, but we have to be quick. I need to get better and you have to unwish your wish, too.”
Noi pouted. “Can’t it wait until after breakfast?”
Aura turned to look at her friend and her eyes narrowed. Noi took several steps back as the filly above her sent chills of terror down her back and into her now shaking legs. “Do I look like I want to wait until after you have cake?”
Noi fought the urge to run screaming, her rational mind telling her this was her friend and she wouldn’t hurt her kept her rooted to the spot. “N-no. L-l-let’s g-g-go. I…” she gulped and felt her tongue was drying off quickly. “I’ll clear the stairs so you don’t knock down any more pictures.
Aura nodded as she rolled to her belly and crouched as low as she could. She moved to follow Noi as they both made their way down the hall and to the stairs. Noi came across a problem all children have when she got to the first step. “Aura? I can’t reach most of the pictures on the wall along the stairs.”
Aura winced as the floor creaked under her now immense weight, stopping as her head reached the stairway. Her horn lit and one by one, pictures on the wall lowered to Noi’s height so the filly could grab them and balance them on her back. Once the pictures were all down, Noi moved carefully to the couch to deposit them. “Okay, I’m ready to come down.”
Aura moved to start descending when her forehoof and leg went through the stairs and sent the giant filly screaming, tumbling, to the main room floor, the stairs and supports destroyed under her mass. She scrambled to roll over in a brief panic destroying the wall the pictures were on and sending debris into their living room before she got to her hooves.
Stunned, both fillies looked at the mess and destruction. “I am so dead when mommy sees this.”
Noi looked at her friend from behind the couch, through a gaping hole in the wall that was supposed to keep them separate. She didn’t know what to say, but agreeing would be the most wrong thing to do, she felt. “Maybe they’ll think Spike turned into a giant dragon again.”
Aura coughed and shook her head side to side to clear it of debris. The sound of the mess landing barely bothered her. “Y-yeah. We could say a timberwolf got it and wrecked the place, or something, too.”
Noi nodded in agreement. “Exactly. There’s plenty of dangerous creatures that could come into town and try for an easy snack of sleeping pony. Heck, it was like this when I got here and you were stuck in your room, right?”
Aura, still a mess of emotions and now dust, broke the first smile Noi had seen all day. “Y-yeah. It was like this when I woke up. It’s what woke me up! Yeah, that could work.”
She climbed from the debris of the ruined stairs and went to the door that Noi had left open. She lowered herself as low as she could and squeezed almost halfway out of the door before her body trembled and, to her horror, she grew a little more. Noi was still stuck inside the house and didn’t see the growth spurt past Aura’s blue tail.
She did notice when the large filly pressed her hind legs into the carpet and lunged forward taking the door and part of the front of the house off the wall as she landed in the street. She looked back at her house and the yellow filly inside of it, got up, and broke the rest of the door chunks off of herself. She inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. “It was like that when I got up,” she told herself.
Noi carefully followed her friend into the street to see several foals her age and younger looking at the giant filly standing in the street. She noticed, finally, that her friend seemed a bit larger than before, but knew better than to talk about her friend’s size to her face. She wished Piña Colada was there so she could have somepony to gossip with.
“C’mon, Aura. The sooner we get to the center of town, the sooner we can fix all this.”
Aura lit her horn and surrounded Noi in blue magic, lifting the suddenly screaming filly onto her back. “Hold on, I’m not taking any shortcuts.”
Noi held on as Aura carried her like a newborn foal on her back, holding on for dear life as the fall would certainly break something when she landed. A couple minutes later they were where the little fair was set up. “Where are they?!” Aura screamed at the open space. “They’re supposed to be here for a couple days, mommy said, not one day!”
She fell to her belly and Noi barely held on and rolled off before Aura could do something crazy like roll over before she realized her friend was still on her back. Noi hurried around the open area, seeing two adults watching them dispassionately. “Mister, do you know what happened to the ponies that were here?”
“Yes.”
Noi waited for a few seconds before she became frustrated. “Well, where’d they go?”
“Away.”
Noi growled to the sky before she looked at the mare beside him. “What way did they go?”
The mare cocked her head and Noi stared back. “They went away.”
Noi stomped the ground with her hooves in frustration. You’re no help at all! Why won’t you just tell me where they’re going?”
“We don’t know. They packed up this morning out of the blue and just left heading West a couple hours ago.”
Noi sighed in relief. “Okay, we at least know where they were headed. They left a couple hours ago, and they couldn’t have gotten far with everything they were carrying… Aura?” Noi called out as she turned and rushed back to her friend. “We have to catch up to them. They went West a couple hours ago. If we hurry we can catch them before they get too far.”
Aura looked around anxiously. “But, more ponies will see me if I go that way. Can’t you do it while I wait in my backyard.”
“Aura,” Noi whined, “you’re the biggest and fastest pony in town! There’s no way they could get away from us with you on their trail. We gotta find that machine and unwish our wishes, together!”
Piña Colada came galloping around a corner and skid to a halt, her rump nearly touching the ground as she stopped so forcefully. “Sweet Celestia, you are big. What’s going on, Noi? I have a feeling you’re behind all this with those silly wishes you made yesterday.”
Noi frowned at the pink filly. “Hey, I’m not the only one who made a wish on that stupid thing. Besides, we’re going to catch up to it and unwish our wishes, so stay here and… do whatever you were doing.”
“That’s the thing, I can’t find my parents. They went out last night and never came home, I guess, because I got up and nopony was home besides me. What if I can’t find them, Noi? Where are they?”
Noi thought it over while Aura crouched down to bring her muzzle close to Noi. “Hey, what about your wish?” The filly tried to whisper, but it was audible as though it were normally spoken.
“What about it?”
“You wished everypony would do what we said. Well, we never told them to go home after they went out, or whatever. So, all we’d have to do is find them and tell them to go home, and they’ll go home!” Aura grinned at her idea.
“That makes a lot of sense. You must have gotten a bigger brain to go with your body,” Piña Colada said with a nod. Aura blushed a little, not noticing she grew another couple inches in height.
“Well, you find your parents and we’ll catch the travelers and fix all this. Aura, pick me up,” Noi commanded.
“Hey, I’m not your servant,” Aura huffed and stuck her snout into the air.
“Sorry! Could you please carry me while we go after the travelers?” Noi asked.
Piña Colada stepped up to Noi’s side. “I’m coming, too. I’m worried about my parents, but if you mess up this wishing thing, remember that I didn’t use my wish, so I could be the one to fix both your mistakes.”
Her argument was good in the other fillies’ eyes, so both climbed onto Aura’s back and held onto Aura’s mane as they were carried west of town.
