//------------------------------// // Chapter Thirteen // Story: Wishing Well // by Nobrains //------------------------------// Chapter Thirteen “It looks like those balls of fire have let up for a bit..” Twilight mumbled as she peered out the door to Sugarcube Corner. “Does that mean we can go out?! Please say yes! Please say yes!” Pinkie said hopping around impatiently in the parlor. “Do calm down.” Rarity pleaded. “We are in quite a dire situation if you haven't noticed, Pinkie.” “Of course I know! Who said I didn't?” She turned to you with an accusing look. “Was it you?!” You took a step back. As much as you liked Pinkie, you weren't really prepared for her hyperactive behavior in person. Of course, the other ponies leveled it all out, but there was something about her that made you a bit weary. It was like she was all over the place; even though you had spent only a few minutes up here, she was moving about and seeming to pop out of nowhere when you swore you had seen her in a different area just a second before. 'It's okay,' you told yourself, 'it's just going take some getting use too; just like the rest of this world.' “Well, was it, huh? I can assure you I am totally in the know how of about everything in Ponyville!” Pinkie was up in your face now, Twilight wasn't there to hold her back at this point. “N-no. You've been here with us the whole time, wouldn't you know if I had said anything?” You answered nervously. That was actually very well said, after you thought about it. “Oh yeah...” She hopped back and giggled for a short while before pestering Twilight once again. “Hey, can we head out, now? We still need to see Applejack and Rainbow Dash!” “Soon, Pinkie. I don't want to take a chance with these balls of flame, though.” Twilight said, unamused. “Oh, but they're like falling stars! Falling on top of everything!” “Kind of. Neither one is safe if its falling on buildings, though.” Pinkie backed off and hopped out of sight for a second in the backroom behind the counter, then popped her head out from around the corner. You were the only one watching her as she did this, and she seemed to catch you eying her. With a grin on her face, she gestured for you to follow her to the backroom. You looked back reluctantly towards Twilight who was still analyzing the potential threat of heading out at the moment. You knew you shouldn't, but something was telling you, (probably the curiousity bubbling up within your mind) that you should at least see what she wanted you for. You took a few steps to see if anyone was noticing you, but they didn't seem pay you any mind. Well, you suppose that was going to make sneaking over there quite easier. Pinkie was gesturing madly, obviously getting more and more excited about something as the moments passed by. “What took you so long?!” She asked as she slipped back out of sight into the backroom. You took the initiative and walked in slowly. At first you didn't know what you were looking at, since it was completely dark. You were expecting some cheap scare from the party pony at this point, and you cringed to wait for the worst to happen. The lights flashed on and you were bombarded by balloons and streamers hanging from the corners of the ceiling. You stood there with your mouth agape, obviously not expecting what had just been presented to you. “What do you think? Pretty neat, huh?” Pinkie asked expectantly. “It's what I had set up for you until you got all sick and stuff!” “Wasn't this suppose to be a surprise party anyways?” You asked, grabbing at the string of one of the balloons. “It's kind of late for for that silly! Besides, who knows how long all this weird stuff is gonna keep going on for?” You shrugged. She had a point there, but you couldn't help but feel like you may have spoiled the thing for yourself now that you had seen all that had been planned for you. That wasn't going to be one of your worries in a second, however. “Where are you two?!” You heard Twilight's voice carry through the parlor. You instantly locked up and saw Pinkie darting back out of the backroom to answer Twilight. “I was just showing our friend all the cool party stuff I had planned for him!” Pinkie said happily as you finally stepped out to join them all. Twilight wasn't looking too happy with you, her gaze was tinged with irritation and what seemed like a bit of a blush upon her cheeks. “I'm sorry. I just got curious.” You said, stepping past Pinkie and meeting up with the rest by the door. “It's fine.” Twilight broke your gaze and kept looking out the door, obviously still flustered about something. What was the problem? You just went to see what Pinkie wanted was all, it wasn't like you did something truly dangerous. You wanted to see what the problem was, but before you could speak up, you heard that same whistling sound, and you all flinched as sounds of buildings falling through shook the air. Something else was among the whistling, though. Words of provocation fought against the whistling that you all heard. Everyone had their ears pricked upwards, trying to make out those words that seemed to call out in challenge. “Seriously? You're going to have to do better than that if you're going to get me!” Something about that voice was pulling on the strings within your mind. You knew this, dammit. You knew who's voice that was. Twilight inhaled as a recognition crossed over her complexion. “It's Rainbow Dash..” “Oh, seriously? We've got to head out there and see her then!” Pinkie exclaimed, pushing right by you and nearly knocking you over. “I'm afraid you might be right, Pinkie. She can't keep speeding around out there with all the conflagration falling from the sk-” One of the darken windows suddenly shattered as a rainbow bolt blew into the building, causing everyone to jump out in random directions in shock. The streak flew and crashed behind the counter, hitting the cash register and sending a flurry of bits flying upwards. Everyone rushed over to see exactly what had happened. As you looked over the counter, sure enough, there was Rainbow Dash rubbing her head and groaning after the impact. “I really need to stop doing that...” she moaned, sitting up and seeing you all staring down at her. “What's the matter? It was an accident, okay? I'll help with the window later.” “Why did you do that anyways, Rainbow?” Twilight asked, pushing beside you and giving her an inquisitorial look. “I saw you poking your head out of Sugarcube Corner and thought I'd pop in I guess... Heh.” She gave a nervous shrug. “Through the window, though?” “Hey,” she stood up, “if you got a better idea when those things are falling from the sky, I'd love to hear it.” “Yeah, the door.” “Pfft..” She turned to look at you, tilting her head slightly and then returning her gaze to Twilight. “Hey, Twi. Who's this guy?” You'd think she would be tired of introducing you to everybody at this point, but that wasn't the case with Twilight. She eagerly introduced you, the anger from just moments earlier now null. “Well I guess he can't be all that bad, then.” Rainbow said as Twilight explained what you were doing here and what you had done up to this point. “Say, you're that human those voices were talking about, huh?” You gave a nervous nod, not knowing what to expect. You just hoped it wasn't going to end badly. “Yeah, see cause that's what I heard up in Cloudsdale. After that, I headed over here to if you everypony was alright. I just hope Cloudsdale is okay, it was getting hit pretty hard with those flaming balls.” You couldn't help but stifle a giggle after that, good thing nobody noticed. Luckily, that was it. No more was brought up and everything seemed to be fine once Twilight finished explaining that your race wasn't from around Equestria. After that, you all returned to the door, where Twilight did one final run through aloud of the plan. “Okay.. We're going to be making a run for Sweet Apple Acres to see if Applejack and the Apple family are alright. Hopefully everything will end up okay without any hitches, and then..” She paused, taking in a breath, “...and then we see about getting back up to Canterlot.” Everyone nodded in understanding, including you. Before you all left to begin the journey, however, Twilight came over to speak with you. You weren't sure what to expect, but you weren't hoping it was a flurry of heated words from you little incident earlier with Pinkie Pie. “L-look.” She began, the hesitation in her words throwing you off. She had seemed so confident just a moment ago. “I wanted to... say I was sorry.” “For what?” You couldn't believe what you were hearing. “I shouldn't have gotten so mad. It's just that I thought something had happened to you and I was getting worried and-” “Whoa, I shouldn't have wandered off like that. It was my fault, not yours.” You said favorably. You found it a bit odd that she had not added Pinkie into her concerns, but that wasn't that big of a deal considering that Pinkie seemed to be unscathed no matter what happened. “O-okay. Thanks for that.” She smiled faintly and looked over to the rest of the group who were trying to hold Pinkie back before she burst out the door. “I guess it's time for us to go.” She said, walking ahead and brushing up against your side rather conspicuously, causing you to tense up for just a sec. Obviously there was something implied after that, but your brain kept telling you it was nothing. The inner turmoil within your mind regarding this was enough to almost make you want to tear your hair out. “Are you coming, or are you just going to stand there?” Rainbow Dash called out to you. Dammit, this was going to have to wait. Again. What was wrong with your head? Why were you having a hard time trying to process all of this? You stepped up to the rest of the group, your mind still in a haze. You were worried that those things were going to invade your mind once again. It had been too long since that last attack.. “Alright, so we're all ready, right?” Twilight asked, looking everybody over. “I.. I think so...” Fluttershy squeaked out. You couldn't believe she wasn't hiding in some nook or cranny at this point, it must have been taking all her will to stay along with you all. Twilight nodded, and finally pushed open the door completely, the whistling outside growing louder. As you all stepped back out into the outside air and red tinged Ponyville, you found the single step turning into a full on sprint as fireballs crashed into the street just behind you. This was way worse than the barrage that had been sent when you were heading towards Sugarcube Corner. This time they were right upon you half of the time, causing you to not take a break at all. Something else was there, though. From the rooftops, shadowing and spiny figures climbed out of sight as soon as you passed by. They were watching. It figured after all of this shit you had put up with. They weren't going to attack when all they needed was to use shock and awe at the moment to put the denizens in line. How they were able to create the falling conflagration, however, was still something you feared you couldn't comprehend. Suddenly though, you were in the air. The impact of one of the falling fireballs directly behind you as you followed the ponies had sent you flying forward. You didn't scream but rather felt your stomach lurch and you cussed something awful until you realized that you had never hit the ground. Instead, you found yourself ahead of the group by Twilight's side now. You told yourself to forget what had just happened and focus on the road ahead as it broke from cobble to dirt. At least you knew you were getting close at this point. You could do this. You knew it. Eventually the whistling sounds dimmed out as you noticed the flames weren't falling from the sky once again. Regardless, you didn't cease your running. At this point, you weren't going to take any chances and linger around in the open any longer than logical. You recognized the bend on the road around the hill; you were almost there. Just a bit more. You were certain you were all going to make a mad dash for the barn, where they were most likely at, but instead, what you saw made you all stop in your tracks. The barn was up in flames, a hole in the roof indicating just how the fire had started.