It was another normal day in Ponyville, the weather team had cleared the skies and a cool breeze prevented the residents of the small town from overheating. The towns local librarian, Twilight Sparkle was happily browsing a few of the stands in the market with her assistance Spike.
"... And our stock in terms of quills?" Twilight ask as Spike held up a scroll.
"Were have plenty. No need for us to make a stop by Quills and Sofas, unless you want to get a new sofa." Spike happily replied, adding several ticks to the parchment.
"Then one we have at the moment if fine Spike, replacing it would be too expensive anyway." Twilight sighed. "Although it would be nice... Some of the wooden furniture is getting a bit ratty..." The pair scanned various stalls, hoping to find someone that could eliminate wood rot and dry rot.
"Maybe if somepony wasn't out saving Equestria they would have the time to maintain their house!" Spike taunted.
"We have only ever been gone for two days tops Spike. Wood rot and dry rot form over years... It was probably because the library was abandoned for so long..." Twilight sighed happily. "Remember when we first came from Canterlot? There was a massive party that I missed..."
"Yeah, you have changed a lot Twilight." Spike happily said. "You were all like 'who needs friends' and 'I need to stop Nightmare Moon!' and maybe a bit of 'if I don't get my friendship report to the Princess I'm going to be thrown into the Canterlot dungeons!' but now your different..." Spike fought hard to restrain a laugh.
"Yeah, I still remember those. But sometimes change isn't all that bad..." Twilight's speech was interrupted by Spike coughing suddenly. "You alright..." Twilight was interrupted by Spike coughing up a scroll. "Oh a letter from Princess Celestia!" Twilight levitated the scroll into her saddlebag, ignoring Spike who was still coughing.
"H-Hey Twilight, do you think coughing up scrolls every other day is good for my body?" Spike weakly inquired after his coughing fit was over. "Maybe we should go see a vet or something..."
"Hm, you have been getting worse. Maybe a trip to the vet ins't such a bad idea." Twilight said with a hint of worry in her voice. "Maybe I should write to the Princess and ask her to stop sending her letters through you... You might just need some rest. Come on, lets head back. I need to see what the Princess has written." Twilight perked up and the pair returned to the library.
The library itself was in a bit of a state, Twilight had recently tried to reorganize the books with her own system and had little success. Twilight and Spike had started to organize some of the mess, however their plans for the day had gotten in the way. After wading her way through a small river of books Twilight sat down on her sofa and sighed, removing her saddlebags and taking out the scroll Celestia had written.
"So what did the Princess say?" Spike curiously asked as he hopped on the sofa. "Does Equestria need saving again?"
"No..." Twilight laughed. "I should be expecting a package today... However, if I missed the courier then he will leave it with one of my friends..." Twilight sighed. "I guess I better go find them, where do you think the courier would have gone?"
"Hmmm..." Spike placed a claw on his chin and went into deep thought. "Maybe the Apple's farm. Seeing as that hard to miss."
"Not bad Spike, lets go their first. I'm curious to what the Princess has sent me..." Twilight replied, the pair headed out the library, leaving it in a mess and towards Applejack's place.
"Sorry Twi, I have been up in the orchards all day." Applejack explained. "Big Mac might have seen them, but..."
"Don't worry, its perfectly fine. The letter the Princess sent said that she didn't know who to send it to if I wasn't in..." Twilight meekly chuckled. "I guess me and Spike should get going, let you get back to the orchard..."
"Well, I finished my chores an hour ago. I was just doing a bit of extra work for the farm... And what kind of friend would I be if I didn't offer a helping hoof?" Applejack happily replied.
"Thanks Applejack, but I think I can handle this." Twilight replied stubbornly.
"I have to admit, I am mighty curious about what the Princess has sent you." Applejack continued, ignoring what Twilight had said. "It must be something important." Twilight sighed.
"Alright, you can tag along. But I think it would be best if we split up. If you go check up on Rarity I will head to Fluttershy's." Twilight stated happily. "Then if we still haven't found the package, we can meet up outside of Rainbow's house and then head to Sugarcube Corner."
"Wow..." Spike remarked. "How long have you been planning this Twilight?"
"About thirty seconds..." Twilight smugly remarked.
"So nopony has had any luck finding the package the Princess sent me?" Twilight despaired.
"Nope, sorry." Applejack replied followed by a sheepish laugh.
"We um... Didn't see any courier pony..." Fluttershy quietly added.
"I'm dreadfully sorry. I was in the 'zone' for the better half of the day. If anypony had knocked I wouldn't of heard them..." Rarity said, feigning a fall and landing on a large seat she had moved over while in fall.
"I was in the skies keeping the rain from drifting over. I didn't see anypony looking for you." Rainbow Dash huffed. "What's so important about it anyway? Is it an old book or something?"
"I don't know, that's why we need to find it! The letter the Princess sent was very brief..." Twilight sighed. "Well we can see if Pinkie has gotten it, then..."
"Oh hey!" Twilight quickly perked up, she saw Pinkie approaching at high speeds.
"Pinkie!" Twilight happily shouted, unaware of how noisy she was being. "We were just about to come visit you!"
"Well funny you should say that! I was looking for you, because I saw somepony and they gave me a tub of jelly that I couldn't open! I mean, why? But then they told me it was for you, so I went to the library to give it to you! But you weren't in so I decided to go see if you were helping Applejack, because I know you are a great friend like that! But neither you or Applejack was at the farm, so then I said to myself, 'Pinkie, if you were Twilight where would you hide?' And then it hit me and I went to Fluttershy's cottage, because shes good at hiding and could give me some advice! But then she wasn't there and I got all sad and though you had all run away! Isn't that silly?" Pinkie quickly said, causing everypony to sigh and roll their eyes simultaneously.
"Pinkie..."
"So then I decided to go see if Rarity was in, maybe something fancy was happening! But then Rarity wasn't in... However! Somepony said they saw Rarity and Applejack heading to Rainbow's house! And I was like, 'of course they went there!' So I then went to Rainbow's house! Well under it anyway... But nopony was there, so then I decided to head back! And that's when I bumped into you!"
"Wait..." Twilight said rubber her forehead. "Did you say a tub of jelly?"
"Yeah! Somepony asked me if I was Twilight's friend and I said of course! Then he gave this strange plastic tub of jelly that I can't seem to open!" Pinkie pulled a small clear plastic tub out of her hair, the tub was filled to the brim with a purple jelly. A seal that Twilight was very familiar with engraved the lid.
"Oh I see! That's why you couldn't open it. The Princess has put a magical seal on the box. I can easily unseal the box." Twilight picked the box up with her magic and inspected the seal closer. "Wow... I haven't seen the Princess use this seal in years... We used to send little items in boxes to each other in order to get the technique right."
"Wait, so its sealed with magic?" Rainbow inquired. "Then how are ponies without magic supposed to open it?"
"Ideally, these kinds of seals would be given to non-unicorn couriers in order to stop theft. Seals haven't been used in a long time though." Twilight explained. "It was just something I studied in my spare time at Canterlot, when the Princess found out she offered me a chance to practice opening and sealing." Twilight sighed nostalgically.
"So, open it up then!" Rarity interrupted. "The tension is getting too much! A mysterious package seal with a magic two used to practice in the days of young! Its like something out of a romance novel..." Rarity sighed happily.
"This should be easy to open..." Twilight focused on the tub and seal vanished. "See! Not too hard to unlock." Twilight eyed up the box and placed it on the ground. "I can't help but feel like this is some kind of joke... She sent me a tub of jelly..."
"Well, lets open that puppy! I'm starving!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Do you know what its like to carry a tub of jelly around all day? Open the lid and..." Pinkie paused, the tub of jelly started to shake. "Wow, that must be super jelly! Its going to explode out of the tub soon."
"Wait! Since when does jelly explode?" Applejack yelled, the tub began to rock back and forth. "Now what the hay is it doing?"
"Its almost as if its alive..." Fluttershy quietly squeaked from behind Rainbow Dash. The tub slowed down slightly. "Its like it can hear us..."
"Hey jelly! If you can hear us, rock faster!" Rainbow shouted loudly, the tub of jelly went back to rocking at a fast pace. "Alright... That was a fluke... Now rock slower." The tub rocked more slowly. "Slower..." The tub slowed down again. "Slower..." The tub stopped. "Alright, you can rock again." The tub started rocking at a medium pace. "Yeah, that jelly can hear us." Rainbow smugly said.
"Alright then..." Twilight sighed. "I will open it." The tub ceased all movements as Twilight slowly removed the lid with her magic.
"Talk about a tight fit, I can't believe the Princess shipped me in a tub rather then paying for a train ticket! Not to mention she soundproofed the tub so that I couldn't be heard! As if I talk too much!" A voice coming from the jelly joked.
"That can't be..." Twilight slowly said.
"I told you it was alive!" Rainbow triumphantly said.
"Awwww... Does this mean we can't eat it?" Pinkie said sound rejected.
"Sorry Sugarcube, but I don't think we should... Talking jelly... I guess you won that one Rainbow." Applejack proceeded to take her hat of and began to eat it.
"Wow... You remember that bet?" Rainbow fell on the floor laughing. "And now... You're eating your hat!"
"Don't gloat darling, its unbecoming." Rarity sighed. "But I must admit, this is certainly a oddity... I mean, talking jelly!" Rarity moved over to the tub and inspected it closely. "I wonder..."
"Don't think about it!" The jelly snapped and rocked away from Rarity. "That counts as cannibalism!"
"Cannon-ball-isum? Is that a pony that enjoys doing cannon balls? I would love to meet a pony like that!" Pinkie happily exclaimed. "Maybe its a secret order of ponies that worship cannonballs as their messiah!"
"Uh..." The jelly was at a loss for words. "Maybe? I don't know much about cults." The jelly sighed and small ripple came from the center.
"A ripple? So are you breathing..?" Twilight inquired.
"Well sorta..." The jelly slowly rocked its tub over to Twilight. "I don't have to breath, and the ripple was caused by the sounds. I'm not very stable when in a tub."
"So then.. Why don't you ripple when you speak?" Rainbow interjected.
"I don't know." The jelly flatly replied. "Do you honestly expect me to know everything about my anatomy? I mean come on, how am I even talking!? In this state I don't have a mouth... Or a brain... Or any kidneys, livers, lungs, blood and anything else you fleshy little ponies have."
"Woah no need to blow a fuse, I was just asking." Rainbow huffed.
"Well, I am allowed. I have spent the better part of the day stuck in tub that was stuck in someponies hair. Only to be taken out and then barraged with questions!" The jelly snapped. "Oh did I mention how hot it got in here? Plus, I think half of you are considering taking a chunk out of me!" The jelly sighed. "Sorry... Its not easy being made of goo..."
An awkward silence fell on the group, the whole ordeal had happened a few meters away from the town center and a large amount of ponies had come to see the commotion. Once the silence had started they all began to murmur, most of the murmurs were about what flavor the talking jelly was.
"Maybe we should go somewhere more private?" Rarity suggested.
"Well the library is a mess, I doubt we would all be able to sit comfortably." Twilight sighed.
"I can't house anypony for a while... My whole shop is full of unfinished designs..." Rarity added.
"I live in a cloud so I don't think its a good idea to go there." Rainbow mumbled.
"We could go back to my cottage..." Fluttershy quietly suggested. "I just finished cleaning and wouldn't mind have somepony over before the animals mess it up again..."
"We could head back to the farmhouse. Granny and Apple bloom are visiting the city for a family recipe exchange." Applejack added.
"We could go Sugarcube Corner! The jelly might be happily with other sweet things!" Pinkie excitedly suggested. "Plus its really really close!"
"For the sake of convenience lets head to Sugarcube corner." Twilight stated. "Alright jelly, you don't mind me putting the lid back on so you?"
"Well I kind of d..." The jelly went silent as the lid was placed over it.
"Well as long as its okay with you then." Twilight chuckled. "Alright lets go to..." Twilight turned around and saw the crowd that had gathered around. "Don't you ponies have jobs!?" The ponies quickly dispersed, whispering about Twilight's mood as they returned to their lives.