Wishing Well

by Nobrains


Book Two: Chapter Three

Book Two: Chapter Three

Nothing seemed like it was in the right mind anymore. You were following Twilight to who knows where on some hunt for her brother who you might not ever find, and all because you cared immensely about the one track minded unicorn.

If it was anyone else, you would have been out a long time ago, but here you were, a past of pain and survival behind you, all in an attempt to survive and protect.

Countryside dwindled by as you traveled with her, only hours in before realizing you were both clearly unprepared for such a venture. You had no supplies nor food, and you knew those were two things you needed to even make it a day or two.

She didn't seem worried, and it became evident as a town came into view as the sun began to descend from the cloudy sky. You brought up the fact that you weren't too big on money at that moment, but again she didn't seem concerned.

She simply proceeded into the small town with you by her side. It was quite a bit more run down than Ponyville was. Where there might have been multiple story buildings with a diverse layout throughout the borders of the settlement, there was instead run down stone buildings and even a few thatched roof cottages.

The ponies shambled about their homes, something seeming to bother them. Likely they were still recovering from the hellspawn occupation (that is, if they had been victims to their treachery.) They eyed you suspiciously, unsure of what to make of you. Some whispered and pointed their hooves, obviously familiar with the news of a 'human' carried by word of mouth.

After that, they didn't seem as cautious around you, allowing you relief from their constant gaze for a bit while Twilight began to ask ponies about recent passerby. She wasn't able to get anything that proved viable to your efforts, but you did find out that there was an inn in town that wasn't too occupied at the moment with the recent lack of travelers.

Night soon hung over the sky, forcing Twilight's search to cease for the time being. You were able to convince her that maybe there would be ponies in the inn that she could ask, and she complied resentfully.

You had never been in a place like this before in your life. You weren't sure how to react or what to do, so you kept silent and followed Twilight to the front desk where the innkeeper was barely stirring, trying to stay awake. No surprise considering the amount of action the inn was receiving at the moment, the only customers sitting at a single table way out of the way, chatting quietly.

“Here to stay the night?” He grumbled, rubbing the side of his scruffy jaw trying to stay awake.

“Maybe.” Was all Twilight responded with before taking control of the conversation herself. “Has anypony passed through here recently? White fur, cutie mark with a star and shield?”

The innkeeper suddenly seemed wide awake and eyed her dubiously. “Who wants to know?”

“Somepony very important-” she then gestured toward you “-and her very close friend.”

The proprietor finally decided to give you a look and immediately swore. “You're that human, aren't you? Killed them things that came right out of Tartarus, right?”

“Err... yeah.” You said, suddenly bashful.

“If you're here... then what in the...” He turned back to Twilight now. “I'll tell you whatever you need to know, just spit it out.”

Twilight smirked, satisfied. “Good, now have you seen anypony of that description?”

The keeper furrowed his brow, trying to recall anything of the like. “Any companions with this pony?”

“Possibly. An alicorn most likely.”

The innkeeper's eyes glimmered for a moment, remembering. “Aye, you don't forget when some alicorn princess comes to your inn because her husband ain't doing too well.”

“Yes! Where did they go? Are they near? How long ago was this?!” She began to lean over the counter, intent on hearing everything.

“Calm down there, lass.” The keeper backed off a bit, uncomfortable with the approach. “It wasn't too long ago. Maybe like a day or three back...”

“Did they say anything about where they were going?”

“I was getting to that!” He muttered something about hating his job and went back to recalling past events. “Something about Saddleworth if I heard them correctly..”

“Saddleworth!” Twilight exclaimed angrily. “Why would they want to go so far out?”

“I don't know, and pipe down, will you?!” The innkeeper growled, finally asserting himself over the counter, making Twilight drop back to your side.

“Of course... I'm sorry.” Twilight glanced hurtfully to the floor.

“Yeah, yeah.” He spat onto the ground unpleasantly. “Look, they were scared, like they were running from something, which is totally understandable after all this junk we all just went through. Can't blame a couple for just wanting to get away from it all.”

“Yeah...” She said thoughtfully, as if imagining something or someplace else.

“What's this stallion to you, anyways?” The innkeeper inquired.

“He's my brother!” She snapped at him suddenly, surprising even you.

“I-I see.” He began to polish the counter nervously with a newly found cloth. “I can't say I know how you feel, I got no siblings of my own, but why don't you rest here tonight? On the house, of course. It's the least I can do for you and the human after all this.”

“We'd be wasting time...” Was all she answered, causing you a bit of distress.

“Twilight, we're still unprepared, remember?” You reminded her.

“You're right.” She said regretfully.

“So you'll stay?” The innkeeper watched you both expectantly.

“Okay, we'll stay.” Twilight finally said as you sighed with relief.

“Well then, why don't you go find a seat? I'll get the cook to get you something. Sound good?” The innkeeper was already walking away to the back room while he was saying this.

Twilight put up a hoof objectively, ready to say something to end the possibility of a quick bite, but you quickly cut in before she could. “That sounds great.”

She dropped her hoof in defeat and followed you to a table, where you both sat patiently, keeping your voices low as you talked of all that had transpired up to this point.

“It feels like the first time we've stopped in a while.” She seemed a bit on edge even as her words hinted at a sort of alleviation. “I mean, to actually not have anything nipping at our heels.”

“I'm sure something wants us dead around here.” You commented bitterly, sick of it all.

“Y-yeah.” She shifted awkwardly. “Thanks.”

“For what?” You drummed your fingers over the table.

“You didn't have to come with me. I asked you, and you followed. I just wanted to say that you're really sweet for doing that.”

“I'm sure your other friends would have followed you also.” You suddenly felt extremely bashful under the unicorn's praise.

“Probably, but that's not what I would have wanted.”

Before you could make another comment, the innkeeper returned with a bit of food. Spiced potatoes with a side of daisy stems. Well, there was one thing you could eat, you supposed.

“As you can see, we're sort of empty.” The innkeeper said dully. “So when you want, just head up the stairs and take any room that's open I suppose.”

“Thank you.” Twilight said, practically shooing him off.

“I'll have a bit of supplies ready for you in the morn' so you both don't go and die looking for your brother.” He seemed sincere in this, which caused you both to look at him with disbelief.

“Why are you doing that for us?” You asked.

“Because, I'm not heartless, okay?” The keeper turned away from you both and began to walk back to his spot behind the counter. “Don't say I didn't do nothing for some ponies in need!” He shouted.

“Wow. I thought we were going to be stuck eating grass the whole way.” You said, pleasantly surprised by this new development.

“It does make everything a bit more convenient.” She even seemed to be in a lighter mood because of this.

“When's the last time you slept?” You asked suddenly, the question popping into your mind.

She stopped and thought about it, her eyes suddenly becoming concerned. “I actually can't remember.”

“Well, see? We made the right choice staying here.”

“Alright, alright.” She finally seemed to be losing a bit of her tension. “I see what you mean.”

The rest of the night within the inn went rather smoothly. No more words with other ponies about where or what they might have saw in the past few days and no more moving. It was always moving! It was honestly nice to finally get at least a few hours of reprieve, to not have a truly potent air of despair looming about.

You and Twilight even found the time to jest, but each word only softened the feeling of stress in the back of your mind. It was clear that as long as you still had something that needed to be done, you couldn't let your mind get away, even though your body was free.

The innkeeper eventually came by when the rest of the floor had already cleared, looking as worn down as a crumpled piece of paper. “Alright.” He said, clearing your table. “That's enough, even I need to take a bit of a snooze behind the counter for now, and your bickering is gonna keep me up, so up you go.” He practically shoved you both out and up the wooden stairs, to where the guest rooms resided. “Remember: any one that's opened.” He shoveled off back down the stairs, nearly losing his step twice.

“So he's nice, and a jerk.” You commented tiredly. “He's a walking oxymoron.”

“I guess so.” Twilight laughed.

You both went to the room farthest down the hall, preferring to be as far away from anything else as possible. As you closed the door behind you, you studied the meager room to find a simple desk with a writing quill and a barely manageable twin sized bed.

“Well this doesn't work.” She said observantly. “We can't even share a bed if we wanted to.”

“Uhh yeah.” You said, secretly thankful for this turnout. You never liked sharing the bed with anyone, you'd rather sleep on the floor than let that happened. Of course, that was only because you weren't use to it. You had heard it was mostly like that. Still, the way things were, you weren't in the mood to even bother trying something different.

Since you were able to get away with another night of sleeping on your own on the floor while you graciously gave Twilight the bed, you found the hard uneven wooden floor hardly comfortable and were having a hard time attempting to doze off. What caught you off guard though, was the fact that Twilight wasn't asleep either.

Just when you thought you were on the verge of a dreamless sleep, Twilight's voice cut through the darkness to pull you right back to reality.

“H-hey...”

“Yeah?” You said, your eyes still closed.

“Could I.. lay with you? Even if we stay on the ground?”

There it went, your chance at a comfortable night. Well, considering the state of the ground you were on, you weren't going to have one anyways. You supposed some contact with another wouldn't hurt this any further.

“If you'd like.”

You heard what almost sounded like an excited whimper as the sound of hooves hit the floor you rested on. You weren't sure why you didn't go join her if you were going to do this, but maybe already being uncomfortable would help you handle this.

A warm body pushed in between your arms, resting alongside your chest. You could almost swear you were near a fire for a second before you knew that it was Twilight.

“I didn't bother you, right?” You could feel her words hit you point blank now, for she was even facing you like this. You wondered the whole time why you wouldn't open your eyes.

“Not at all.” You lied. If you were going to be like this with her, then you'd get used to it no matter what.

“H-have you been like this before?” She queried, sounding as uneasy as you felt. Why did she want to do this if it bothered her as well? Perhaps she had the same mindset as you...

As for the question, well it was well out of the blue. You hadn't been asked this sort of thing in your life, but that was for obvious reasons, which was why you were having such a hard time coping with her along your chest in the first place.

“No, not really.” You admitted after a moment.

“Neither have I. This is all so... crazy, don't you think?” She shifted, pressing into you further. “This is what it's like... right?”

“What do you mean?”

“Strange... but... surprisingly exciting.” You could feel the rush running through her body. Was she really that infatuated right now?

“I'm not sure what to say to that.”

“Yeah, that was weird, huh? I feel so weird around you.”

“That's good, right?”

“Yes! Why wouldn't it be? Something different is always good.”

“Most of the time, yes. I mean, the hellspawn are different and they're the polar opposite of good.”

“They weren't the best example of foreign diplomacy, huh?” She joked.

“If you could call it that.”

She kissed you once in the dark and dozed off, leaving you to yourself until you finally were too physically exhausted to do anything but join her. You fell asleep thinking of how this was going to be the regular soon enough.

******************

You were roused awake not long after you had begun your slumber. You could hear Twilight's voice, but could not make out any words until the grogginess lifted from you enough that you could open your eyes.

“Are you ready?”

“Right now? This very second?” You slur out.

“Very soon if not that then.” She responds, shuffling about in the room.

“Something bothering you?” You ask while struggling up to a stand using the bed near you.

“Nothing more than what was bothering me yesterday.” An urgency was about her, much like before you had arrived in town. She had too much time to mull over it whilst you slept, causing her to grow antsy it seemed.

You shook your head several times, blinking fiercely. “Okay, I think I'm ready. Good thing we don't have anything to our name here.”

Twilight led you out into the hall and down the stairs back into the main part of the inn where no one seemed to be stirring yet since the tables and front counter were empty. Just how early had Twilight gotten you both up?

You both quickly scampered to the counter. The sound of snoring could be heard emanating from the unseen area under the opposite side of the tabletop. You leaned over with your superior height to find the innkeeper sprawled out over a bedroll muttering unkind words to some imaginary entity.

“Should I...?” You asked quietly to Twilight.

“He said he would help us. We might as well.”

“Are you sure we can't wait?”

“I'd really rather not...”

“Hmm?” The innkeeper seemed to be waking up of his own accord now, or perhaps your chattering had done what Twilight had wanted to do.

He looked up at you and gasped in surprise. “You watching me in my sleep or something?!”

“No!” You hollered out quickly in defense.

He stood up, beginning to bicker on about how you had invaded his personal space. You explained your intentions and your orders, trying to bring everything into clarity.

“So you do everything she tells you to? Is that it?”

You didn't want to answer that question. Luckily, Twilight cut into the conversation to restore it from the devolved state it had succumbed to.

“We really don't want to waste anymore of your time, but you did promise us supplies.”

“Perfectly good sleeping time too, dammit.” He went off into the backroom, still grumbling about how weird you were.

After several moments of shuffling about in the backroom with his familiar banter only slightly muffled by the walls, he emerged from the storage area with a cloth sack in his teeth. He tossed it onto the counter and nodded towards you both.

“I've done my good deed for the week.” He declared. “Never thought I'd help the human, though.”

“We appreciate this greatly.” Twilight said politely, levitating the bag into your grip; best to keep it where it wouldn't have a chance to fall.

“I just hope you find your brother okay. They both didn't want to be followed.” He tapped his hoof on the countertop once.

“I'm sure he'll understand if it's me.” Twilight said confidently. She was as sure as ever about your chances of finding them.

“Whatever you say, miss. Gonna stay for breakfast then? Might as well do something since I'm not going to be going back to sleep and the cook has the day off.”

“No, we're not.”

“Seriously? Okay then.” The innkeeper gave a tired sigh and rested a hoof on the counter. “If that's it, then good luck to you both.”

You were sad that Twilight had not been willing to remain just for another decent meal. She was really hurting herself if she kept this up. You were glad she able to sleep a bit last night, and she had been so much more bathetic in your arms as well... it was pleasant for a lack of a better word.

You left the inn and morning chill berated you both as the sun hadn't come up over the mountains yet. Each step you took lead further towards the end of town, from the kind but brash innkeeper you'd likely never see again. You honestly felt bad after taking his kind gesture and then leaving so abruptly. You hoped it wasn't too much from his food stores.

“So which way is Saddleworth?” You finally decided to ask as you both had nearly cleared the town and were back on the road.

“It's north. Way north, almost near the border of Equestria. We'll more than likely need to stop at another town on the way. I'm still baffled as to why they would go so far out.”

“I'm sure it's just to be safe.” You commented.

“I know, but this would only be Cadence's idea. My brother isn't the kind to run away.”

“You know him better than I do.” You admit, shrugging silently.

“Yeah...” She trailed off.

“Hey, it will be okay.” You forced out the smile that masked your doubts.

She bumped you playfully. “It's nice to see I'm not the only one telling myself that.”

“If we can't tell ourselves that, then how would we tell each other?” You bumped her back.

“Why are you so smart?” She asked you with a dreamy sigh.

“Who said that?” It seemed as if she was going to gush again.

“I just did, don't be like that. So answer my question.”

“Maybe it's my superior human brain.” You grinned deviously.

She gave you a look that made you think you had just said the wrong thing, for her eyes focused in belief for just a second. “You're joking.” She finally declared.

“Am I?” You were all teeth at this point.

She studied you, unsure if you were making another jest or truly declaring your superiority; she knew you well enough, you were sure she'd catch on. All the talking, all the time together only supported that theory.

“Okay, if you're so superior, then explain to me... the economy of Equestria.” She tossed her mane to her other shoulder in a knowing manner.

“How am I suppose to know that?” You asked, deflated.

“With your superior human brain.” She had you on the ropes now.

You threw your arms up. “I got nothing.”

“Now can I get an honest answer?” Even despite all this teasing, she couldn't look past the acclaim she had for you.

“If you haven't guessed already, I have no idea.”

“That was... honest.” She admitted.

“So are we good?”

She nodded, a new look of boldness crossed her face. “Let's go find my brother.”

You were now free of the town and you felt surprisingly confident in both Twilight and yourself. When she wasn't so... fixated, everything felt much more enjoyable. If you could keep her from falling into that state more often, then you were sure she wouldn't do anything brash.

Now you needed to make sure you could do just that.