The third wish
Rainbow Dash was amazed at what had happened, and now she had seen it with her own eyes.
"Now the lost stones are three", Sunset spoke to her,
"Dash, you do not understand, you have not lost the stones, but you have consumed them"
"Consume? It means that they disappear on purpose?"
"Of course, whenever you make a wish, the stones disappear, one stone, one wish"
"But I did not say anything"
"Of course you did, you said you wanted the energy of Pinkie, after all you said I wish..., and therefore the pendant has satisfied you", Applejack came forward,
"Wait Sunset, do ya mean that thing really works?"
"I'll be more concise, Rainbow Dash long ago expressed that she wanted to be as intelligent as Twilight, and then the other day when we were on my motorbike she confessed that she wanted to have your strength, Applejack", Applejack started to think,
"And so ... she became strong and smart, so she cheated at the exams."
Rainbow Dash tried to justify herself
"I did not cheat at all, it was not my intention to use magic, I did not know that the pendant really worked"
"So that's why ya are strong, and that's why ya destroyed the dispenser"
"I repeat that I did not do it on purpose", Sunset talked again,
"Dash? I have to ask you something, first of all promise me that you will pay attention to what you say, then I want you to leave at least one stone, as Madame Marta asked me"
"Ok, I will, but now I have to go, I do not want to be late at home." Rainbow Dash greeted her friends and left with the motorbike. Sunset spoke for a moment with the others.
"There's one thing that worries me girls, it's just a theory, you see, Mrs. Marta told me that the wishes that Dash would have expressed would have some side effects", Rarity disagreed,
"I do not think so, Dash seems to me the same as before, in fact maybe it's even more selfish than before"
"What I want to say is that you do not think it is strange that Twilight started to not remembering the lessons that she knew very well before? In addition Rainbow Dash answered the questions that Twilight did not know the answer". Applejack thought with loud voice,
"Indeed it is suspicious"
"And then Rainbow Dash said she wanted to be stronger than you, Applejack, and you now seem to have difficulty using your strength"
"What would ya say Sunset?"
"I said it, it's just a hypothesis, but I think the pendant takes away something from you to give it to her",Rarity started to be afraid,
"Wait .... why would a wishing pendant do such things?"
"I do not know, it's not an artifact I know, but maybe that's why Madame Marta wanted to recommend to Dash to leave a stone", Fluttershy was scared about a sentence of Dash,
"Oh dear, do I mistake or she asked to have the energy of Pinkie?". The girls looked at Pinkie. Rarity was the first to speak to Pinkie,
"Pinkie, honey, how are you feeling, worn out, tired?
"No, I feel fit, full of energy, look". Pinkie Pie did a solo on the drums, she played fast and fast. The girls breathed a sigh of relief.
Applejack felt better after that perfromance,
"Good thing, Pinkie seems out of danger"
"It's just a hypothesis, but it worries me anyway, maybe it's better if some of us go to Pinkie’s house tonight", Rarity raised her arm,
"I'll go there, even if I can’t stand to see Pinkie Pie tired, it would be an anomalous thing".
So Applejack greeted her friends, Rarity went with Pinkie Pie, Sunset, Twilight and Fluttershy went away together in the car.
Twilight and Fluttershy chatted a lot on the way back, Sunset instead continued to be worried even while driving, the hypothesis that had pondered had only come to mind that day but she hoped so much that was false.
The next day, Sunset went to school thinking about Rainbow Dash’s pendant, but did not immediately see the other girls.
At one point, in a classroom, she saw Twilight busy with a test, and looked very exhausted while using the pen for the exercises.
Sunset thought about coming back later to talk to her.
Then in the hallway, she saw Applejack carrying chairs, and she looked tired.
"Do you need a hand, Applejack?"
"Ah would say yes, and to think that until yesterday Ah was able to bring five of these"
"Wait, I'll help you right away". Sunset helped Applejack with the chairs, brought them to the cafeteria, where they were missing. Applejack sat down and spoke to Sunset.
"But what's happening to me? And to think that before Ah could even lift a table by myself, but now if Ah try Ah think Ah would break my back"
"Why? Have you already tried to raise a table?"
"Yes, first, and it was not pleasant, Ah tried to take it with two hands, but Ah could just lift it off the ground"
"Incredible, is not it that you're getting weaker and weaker?"
"Why? Do ya think your theory is true? Do ya really think that Dash is fortifying while Ah am weakening?"
"Maybe it's really like that, but now I'm waiting for Rarity to contact me to find out if Pinkie is feeling well."
At that moment, Sunset's cell phone rang.
“Hello Rarity, did something happen to Pinkie? ………Good thing, all right, see you in class." Sunset breathed a sigh of relief at the fact that Rarity said that Pinkie was fine, so she and Applejack entered the classroom with the others.
Pinkie seemed to be normal, the same as always, Rainbow Dash instead seemed not to worry about anything, in fact she was staring at her pendant.
"Dash, what are you doing now?"
"Since Pinkie is fine, I'm thinking about what to desire later, perhaps achieving the diploma"
"I told you to pay attention to what you say"
"Relax, I did not say I would like ... or I wish ...., it's all right, as long as I'm careful about what I say nothing can happen".
Sunset was worried about Rainbow Dash's negligence, but for the moment she was still not 100 percent certain of her hypothesis.
After two hours of lesson, the girls had to go to the gym for a moment.
They had to prepare a party in the afternoon. And so all seven girls got busy with the preparations. Sunset and Twilight arranged decorations on a table, then Sunset turned to Twilight.
"How was your exam, Twilight?"
"Oh, how did you know I had a private exam?"
"I saw you in that class, and you seemed very busy"
"In ... in fact I was"
"Why?"
"I did that test for a check and it did not go very well"
"What do you mean?"
"I got 50". All the girls were amazed at what Twilight had said. Rarity went next to her,
"How is possible, Twilight? You get 50?"
"t 's so, yet many of those answers I knew until last night, I do not know what is happening to me"
"It must be the pendant of Rainbow Dash, I knew it"
"Nonsense, obviously she has not studied enough, after all yesterday we were always out"
"And how do you explain to me that Applejack is no longer able to lift heavy things?"
"She might be softened", Applejack got angry,
"Hey, who would be soft?" I'll show you who's soft, "Applejack went to Rainbow Dash, but the latter grabbed her by the arm and flung her away, luckily, Applejack ended up on the gym mats. The girls were surprised again by Dash's strength. Fluttershy was scared,
"Dash, what have you done?"
"I do not know, I made a judo move, but I did not want to make her fly that far, just throw her on the ground", Applejack stood up,
"Since ya have this monstrous strenght?Maybe Sunset is right"
"But why?" At that moment the girls saw that Pinkie Pie, who stood on a ladder, began to feel bad. Rarity called her,
"Pinkie, honey, what's wrong?"
"I ... do not ... I ... I know ..., my head is spinning, I feel like I have the flu," Pinkie slipped and fell off the ladder, but Rainbow Dash catched her before she touched the ground.
"What are you talking about, Pinkie?"
"Dash, is that you? We have to finish the decorations"
"Girls, I think you have to go to the infirmary", Sunset agreed,
"Let me take her and Applejack, you end up settling".
Sunset and Applejack brought Pinkie Pie to the infirmary, Pinkie was subjected to some controls, thermometer, blood pressure, breathing, but none of those medical examinations gave an answer to her sudden fainting. The nurse thought it was just simple fatigue, but decided to keep Pinkie in bed for a while until she felt good. Sunset and Applejack came out of the infirmary confusedly.
"This is not good, that nurse definitely does not know Pinkie Pie, it's not possible that Pinkie Pie and the word fatigue are in the same sentence"
"There's something I do not like in this thing, we'll come back to Pinkie, for now let's go to the gym”.
When the two girls returned to the gym they had a nice surprise, the whole gym was adorned with decorations, balloon sculptures , ribbons, and everything else, there was even a new disco ball.
Sunset and Applejack asked Fluttershy and Rarity what they had done.
"We did not do it, Rainbow Dash did everything "
"What? It's not possible, we've been gone, yes, no ten or fifteen minutes, how could Rainbow Dash have done all this?"
"It's the truth, ask her".
Rainbow Dash had a table in her hands that she was positioning and seemed happy.
"Girls, you can not imagine, I got so many ideas to decorate this place that I went as fast as a train, it was like everything was already in my head, then I thought to put this table there in the corner to put on it a tablecloth made of tissue paper of various colors, and then to put on it some swan-shaped napkins, even better, heron-shaped "
"You look really inspired by Dash"
"Now if you do not mind, I have to go immediately to the stationery shop nearby to get what we need, see you later". Rainbow Dash run out of the gym, but Sunset stayed to talk to the girls.
"Ah can not believe she was lifting that table with her hands", Rarity talked,
"But did you hear how she was thinking with her head and how fast she was talking?", Sunset completed the sentence,
"..... Pinkie Pie? Do you still think it's a coincidence?", Fluttershy spoke,
"Oh my, Sunset do not you tell me it's still fault of Rainbow Dash?"
"It is now clear, Mrs. Marta when she spoke of side effects she referred to these"
"So ya were right, it's because of Rainbow Dash that Ah'm not stronger"
"And that's not all, I think if it goes on like this, Applejack you will get weaker and weaker", Applejack got scared,
"Weaker? I mean, will Ah get weaker and weaker?"
"How do you explain that flight that made you do before? And then first Twilight confirmed my other theory"
"Which one? Sunset?"
"The more Dash will use her wishes the more you lose your faculties, you Applejack will become weaker and weaker, Twilight instead will become less and less intelligent"
"In fact, my votes are decreasing more and more, maybe it's like you say"
"But if Applejack loses her strength and Twilight her acumen, what will happen to Pinkie?"
"I would rather not think about it, but I think she could also lose her energy and creativity more and more". The girls were frightened of Sunset's verdict.
"We have to do something, what can we do?"
"Madame Marta said to leave a stone on purpose because Dash could cancel her wishes, so I believe that when we come back we'll ask her".
After a while Rainbow Dash returned with a lot of stuff bought at the stationery store, and she had news to give to the girls.
"Girls? Do you know something new?
"We'll have to ask you something Dash, we have to talk to you"
"First of all, do you know that a famous talent scout will come to the party?"
"Really?"
"Yes, I heard it from Principal Celestia, so I asked if we could perform for a couple of songs"
"Dash, it's not the moment"
"It's all right now, think about it, if we play with our full energy, maybe we could impress that talent scout, and maybe we could have a chance to play at a concert of our own"
"Dash, it's very nice but ....."
"Come on girls, get ready, go get Pinkie, while I'm going to get our instruments in the music room," and Rainbow Dash splashed off the gym again, and not hearing what her friends had to tell her.
"Oh damn, and now how do we do it?"
"We have to tell her that without Pinkie we can not play"
"She did not really want to listen to me, that girl I can not stand her"
"Dash is like that, Sunset”, Twilight talked,
"But Sunset is right, what will happen to us if too much time passes and Applejack and Pinkie will weaken?"
"I'll tell you after the concert"
"Do ya think Pinkie is reduced like that, she really can start playing?"
"You know what I'm going to tell you? Better not tell her, so it will be a fiasco without Pinkie being fit, at least Dash will learn to listen"
"Oh honey, you can not really say"
"No Rarity, Ah agree with Sunset, it is good that Rainbow Dash understand what is really important, if she or her friends". At that moment, Sunset's cell phone rang.
"Hello, Ah Thunderlane, is it you? After a minute, Sunset made a frightened face, the girls did not know what Thunderlane had told her.
"Oh dear, this can’t happening"
"What happened? Sunset?"
"Thunderlane said that .... he will leave the station today at four o'clock"
"Thunderlane will leave?", Fluttershy was shocked,
"Did not you say that he would leave in the week?"
"Yes, but apparently after yesterday's fight with Dash, he decided to leave Canterlot before, but ....."
"What?"
"If Rainbow Dash will apologize, he will then decide to stay", Rarity was a bit angry,
"Yes, no, as if Rainbow Dash would apologize"
"She will have to do it if she cares about Thunderlane"
"And how do ya hope to make him understand?"
"I do not know, I just want that ....". At that moment Rainbow Dash returned with all the tools, set the stage and then went away again but this time because she had taken Pinkie from the infirmary.
"Girls, how about a good test, before the party?"
"Dash, we have to talk to you"
"Later, later, take your instruments first", the girls saw that Pinkie had trouble walking, but she sat down in the battery chair, Sunset spoke to her.
"Pinkie? How are you?"
"A little tired, but Dashie has already told me everything, so let's start"
"What, do you want to play despite your health?"
“For Dash it's important, and then we could all go together on so many tours if that talent hunters will take us"
"Talent scout"
"Anyway I will not hold back". Sunset got angry and shouted at Rainbow Dash.
"Now stop Dash, we have to talk"
"Later, let's decide what to play first"
"NO, now, we have to talk now", Rainbow Dash was frightened, given the expression of anger of Sunset she decided to shut up and listen to what she had to say.
So finally Sunset told her that her pendant was absorbing the qualities of her friends, the strength of Applejack, the intelligence of Twilight and the energy of Pinkie, and there was the danger that more the time passed, the more her friends would be worsened. Dash did not know what to say.
"But I ... I did not want this to happen"
"Well, dear Dash, but it's happening, so you'd better remedy"
"And how should I do?"
"It’s simple, use a stone to erase your wishes and it’s done", Rainbow Dash gripped the pendant with her right hand.
"But so, but if I do, I could not win with my team anymore"
"You certainly do not need the strength of Applejack to win"
“But I need Twilight's intelligence if I want to graduate"
"And to get your diploma, should you let Twilight lose all her intelligence?"
"No ... I ....."
"There's another thing to know about Dash, the party when it's held?"
"At three ò clock, but the talent scout will arrive at a quarter to four"
"Well, just listen to this news," Sunset spoke to Rainbow Dash about Thunderlane's phone call. The blue girl reacted very badly, stared at her pendant, and began to cry.
"He can not anticipate his departure until today"
"But he will, unless you apologize and ask him to stay in Canterlot"
"I'm not going to apologize, and I'm not going to skip the chance to play in front of a talent scout"
"So this means that you would let your boyfriend leave forever?"
"Thunderlane is not my boyfriend, and then there are always two stones left"
"Then you may wish that Thunderlane does not leave, and with the last stone you can ask to cancel the wishes", Rarity agreed,
"Hey, this is an idea"
"What, should I waste a wish for him?"
"But was not Thunderlane that gave it to you?", Applejack nodded,
"Yeah, in fact it's thanks to him if ya have it"
"So I think you owe him a favor," Rainbow Dash started to think, then sighed and turned to the girls.
"Okay, let's do it, what if I do not use the wish for Thunderlane?"
"Well, my dear, it means that we will not play"
"Are you crazy?", Applejack agreed,
"No Dash, Sunset is right, so if ya don’t want Thunderlane to stay here, none of us will play, especially after what ya did to Pinkie"
Rainbow Dash saw that Pinkie Pie was sleeping on the drums, so she began to think.
"Since you're not honest with yourself, and you can not tell Thunderlane that you love him, then I'm afraid you'll have to use the pendant", Rarity spoke to Dash,
"Dash? I know it's hard for you, but you have to look within your heart, if you do not do something you'll never see Thunderlane again", then Applejack spoke,
"And since ya can not do without your pride, ya can at least use your pendant", then Twilight,
"And then he is such a the gentleman and always loved you, did not you think about it?" Dash finally made another sigh.
"Okay, I will use the wish to ask Thunderlane to stay in Canterlot, but you must play"
"We'll play Dash, but you'll have to use the pendant to avoid Thunderlane's departure"
I will, I will, but woe to you if you do not play".
To be continued……….
My Little Pony by Lauren Faust and Hasbro