> Sweetie Belle's Spell > by StormLuna > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Morning in Ponyville > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The sun was rising on a most pleasant morning in Ponyville. Rarity was still peacefully sleeping while Sweetie Belle and Opal were both awake. Like every morning, both of them were hungry and like every other morning, Opal was going to make sure she got fed. She headed into Rarity's room and jumped up on her bed. She pounced on Rarity, sank her claws in her and began to bite her. This quickly woke up Rarity and she was shouting, "Naughty Opal, naughty! Get off of mama!" Opal would not do as Rarity wished though and soon Sweetie Belle ran into her bedroom. She saw Rarity struggling trying to get Opal off of her so she levitated Opal off of her sister. Rarity said, "Thank you Sweetie Belle." She glared at both of them and asked, "Let me guess, you two want something to eat?" Sweetie Belle replied, "Well of course! I think some eggs, toast and bacon sound really good!" Rarity glared at Opal and asked, "And I'm taking it you want a can of wet food?" Opal growled and hissed at Rarity, which pretty much means that she wants something more than that but Rarity didn't have anything fancier to give her. After breakfast Sweetie Belle joined her friends in their clubhouse before they headed to the library for Twilight Time. Sweetie Belle asked, "Hey, do you two ever wonder what is going through the animals' minds?" Apple Bloom replied, "Ah never really thought about it? Why are y'all asking?" Sweetie Belle began to giggle a bit and said, "I really wonder what is going through Opal's mind because she attacked Rarity this morning more aggressively than normal." Scootaloo asked, "What did she do?" Sweetie Belle continued to laugh, "Well she bit and clawed my sister in the face demanding she be fed! This time she drew blood and left scars!" The other two began to laugh as well just imaging Rarity getting attacked by Opal. Sweetie Belle had an idea. She asked, "Hey you two don't think that there might be some sort of spell in the library we could use on the animals to make them talk do you?" Scootaloo replied, "Sweetie Belle, even if there were how would we get a hold of it without Twilight noticing it? I doubt she would just let you go around casting spells on the animals, or anything else for that matter." While the girls were continuing to talk about wondering what the animals are really thinking Rarity shows up late to join her friends for a snack at Sugarcube Corner. As soon as she walked in Rainbow immediately started laughing. She laughed, "What happened Rarity, did Opal wake you up this morning?" Rarity growled, "Yes Rainbow, she did. She always pounces on me to wake me up but this morning she decided to attack me instead. " Twilight asked, "What is up with her Rarity? This is the first time I've ever seen you clawed up like this." Rarity sighed, "Well I am thinking that she is getting upset that all I give her is wet cat food. I am beginning to wonder if she doesn't want something more elegant, something that I just can't get easily." Fluttershy asked, "Do you think she might want fresh fish? That might make her happy enough that she won't attack you." Rarity shouted, "AND WHERE AM I SUPPOSED TO GET FRESH FISH? It isn't sold here in Ponyville and I'm not going to go fishing in the river, it isn't very ladylike." Applejack sighed, "Oh yes, you just can't go getting dirty now can you?" Rarity just grunted and soon the time had come for Twilight to get going. She said, "I'm sorry everypony but the girls are coming over for Twilight Time today so I need to get going." Rainbow replied, "You have fun Twi. Hopefully you can help them get closer to getting their cutie marks." Twilight left and headed towards the library. Very shortly after that the Cutie Mark Crusaders left their clubhouse and headed towards the library. While Sweetie Belle was hoping that she could somehow find a spell to make the animals talk without Twilight knowing it, her friends knew that would be pretty much impossible. > Twilight Time > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A few minutes after getting back to the library Twilight heard a knock on her door. She opened the door and saw her students, the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Apple Bloom asked, "Howdy Twilight, how are y'all doing this morning?" Twilight smiled and replied "I'm doing fine." She paused and continued, "Come on in girls, I'm sure you're ready to continue perfecting your skills." The three followed Twilight into the library and began to work on what Twilight had been teaching them for the past few weeks. While the three had improved dramatically in working on their projects they still weren't able to get things down perfectly. Apple Bloom sighed, "Twilight, Ah don't know if I'm ever going to get this mixture right to where it will make a good fertilizer." Twilight walked over to her and said, "Apple Bloom, things like this take time. Making fertilizer that will make a flower grow is one thing but creating a fertilizer that will produce fruit bearing plants will be much tougher." Apple Bloom replied, "Ah know Twilight. Ah just don't want to disappoint you." Twilight smiled and said, "Apple Bloom, you're not disappointing me. You have improved so much even since just two weeks ago." Twilight then walked over to where Scootaloo was working and noticed that she had just finished putting a scooter together. Twilight smiled and said, "It looks good Scootaloo but let's take it outside and have you take it for a spin." They took it outside and Scootaloo started riding it like she would her own. She sped around town on it and after five minutes she arrived back at the library. It was still in just as good of shape as it was before. Twilight saw this and said, "You know Scootaloo, I think you're really on the right track. Give it a while longer and you'll have your cutie mark." Scootaloo's ears perked up and she asked excitedly, "Really?!" Twilight smiled and said, "Really!" The two headed back inside and Sweetie Belle was having no problems levitating the broom and using it to sweep the library, quite successfully. Twilight said, "Sweetie Belle, you seem to be doing quite well sweeping." Sweetie Belle was a bit upset because she felt that Twilight had been focusing more on helping her friends earn their cutie marks and just training her to be her personal custodian. She asked, "Twilight, I feel like you are training Scootaloo and Apple Bloom to discover their special talents and all I feel like you're doing is teaching me how to sweep." Twilight frowned and replied, "Sweetie Belle, you need to know how to levitate before you can discover your special talent. Once you can levitate things better then I will help you find your talent." Sweetie Belle pouted a bit while Twilight headed over to her desk and began to write down the notes of the CMC's study session. After a minute her last quill broke. She decided to go buy some more. She looked at the girls and asked, "Girls, will you be ok alone while I go get some more quills?" Apple Bloom replied, "Of course we will, why wouldn't we be?" Twilight nodded and headed out the door. Sweetie Belle was looking up and saw a book that was labeled "Spells for Animals." She levitated it down to herself and started flipping through the pages. She began to laugh as she ran across a talking spell for animals. Apple Bloom asked, "Sweetie Belle, why are y'all laughing so hard." Sweetie Belle replied, "I think I found it! I think I found the spell I want to cast so badly!" Scootaloo replied, "Sweetie Belle, you have to put that back. You can't just sneak out of here with that. Twilight will catch you and probably stop helping all three of us." Sweetie Belle knew Scootaloo was right so she stared at the spell for a minute and memorized it as she has a very good memory. Apple Bloom said, "Hurry and put it back Sweetie Belle. You never know when Twilight will return." Sweetie Belle levitated the book back to it's place and began to wonder how she would get the spell to work. It came to her rather quickly and she looked over at Owlowicious, who had been watching them and by now had his wings on his hips and was shaking his head at them. Sweetie Belle asked, "Owlowicious, have you ever wanted to be able to talk?" "Hoot" replied Owlowicious. Sweetie Belle said, "Hmmm.....I'll take that as a yes!" Sweetie Belle's horn began to glow, she pointed it at Owlowicious and she began to recite the spell, "We wish we could communicate with our pets, yet for now we know nothing of their thoughts more or less, but now they can speak and let us know what they seek." Sweetie Belle sent a beam of energy to Owlowicious which was quickly absorbed into his body. He looked down and said "Hoot.......Girls, you're in big trouble! Twilight won't be happy." Sweetie Belle shouted "IT WORKED, IT WORKED! I CAST MY FIRST SPELL!" Scootaloo said, "Sweetie Belle, that is good and all but Twilight will not be happy when Owlowicious starts talking to her." Sweetie Belle realized that Scootaloo was right. She looked up at Owlowicious with puppy dog eyes and asked, "Owlowicious, please don't speak around Twilight. We don't want her to be mad at us." While Owlowicious thought what the girls did was wrong, he also found it amazing that he could finally speak. He replied, "Alright girls, I won't tell Twilight." He paused for a minute and continued, "Now I can finally communicate with Spike, but I'll have to make sure he doesn't tell Twilight about my new abilities." He paused for a minute, winked at them and said, "This is our little secret." After a couple more minutes Twilight came back to the door with a bag full of quills. She looked over and saw that the girls seemed a bit distracted. She asked, "Girls, are you ok? You seem a bit distracted." Apple Bloom replied, "Well uh..., we were just wondering how your trip to Sofas & Quills went." Twilight could tell that Apple Bloom was making an excuse but didn't say anything. She said, "Oh it went fine. Nothing out of the ordinary." Twilight looked up at the clock and said, "Well what do you know, it is getting late and I really need to catch up on my studying." Sweetie Belle asked, "But Twilight, I thought with you being a princess now you didn't have to do so much studying." Twilight glared and said, "Sweetie Belle, I can never do much studying." The girls knew this was the cue that Twilight Time was over. As they were leaving Twilight said, "Goodbye girls, see you next week?" Scootaloo replied "Of course! Maybe next week I'll earn my cutie mark in being a mechanic!" Twilight smiled and replied "Maybe!" Once they got far enough away from the library Sweetie Belle looked at her friends and said, "I can't believe it worked. Now I can try this on Opal! Isn't it exciting?" Apple Bloom replied "Ah'm not so sure about this. Owlowicious will probably remain quiet about his new abilities but y'all know how Opal is. She'll probably attack Rarity and tell her she wants fish." Sweetie Belle replied, "Oh you're probably right. Well I better get home." They said there goodbyes and while Apple Bloom and Scootaloo headed to the farm to hang out some more Sweetie Belle headed home and was thinking of the perfect time to cast the spell on Opal. She began to giggle thinking about how Rarity would react when Opal told her that she hated the food she fed her. > First Words > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was early in the afternoon when Sweetie Belle got home. The house was still empty as Rarity was still at work. Sweetie Belle started calling, "Opal, come here! I've got a huge surprise for you!" Finally Opal came out from Rarity's inspiration room growling and hissing. She was greeted by Sweetie Belle standing there with a beaming smile on her face. She got down at eye level with Opal but quickly Opal swatted at her and growled. Sweetie Belle whined, "Come on Opal, I have to make direct eye contact with you for it to work." Opal continued to growl and eventually she headed into Rarity's room and jumped up on her bed to take a nap. Sweetie Belle followed her into her sister's room and saw Opal on the bed. Opal still had her eyes open and was making eye contact with her. Sweetie Belle's horn began to glow and she recited, "We wish we could communicate with our pets, yet for now we know nothing of their thoughts more or less, but now they can speak and let us know what they seek." The energy entered Opal's body. Opal did not like the way the energy entering her body felt and she was going to let Sweetie Belle know she didn't like it. At first she began growling and hissing, very soon she hissed, "I did not like how that felt!" Opal put her paw up to her mouth in amazement as to what just happened. She realized she had just spoke. She jumped off of Rarity's bed and began rubbing up against Sweetie Belle's legs. Opal gave her an approving smile and said, "Now I can finally tell Rarity how much I hate that swill she feeds me every morning!" Sweetie Belle squealed at the top of her lungs, "IT WORKED OPAL! THIS IS SO EXCITING!" Rarity heard her squealing all the way from her shop so she ran home to see what was wrong with Sweetie Belle. When she got there she found Sweetie Belle giggling and Opal rubbing up against her legs. Rarity's jaw dropped open. She asked, "Sweetie Belle, how did you get Opal to like you? She never does that to me!" Sweetie Belle had a huge smile on her face and replied, "I don't know. Maybe she just decided to like me." Rarity rolled her eyes and headed back to the shop. Sweetie Belle continued her conversation with Opal. She asked, "Opal, do you think we could keep this a secret for a little while?" Opal hissed, "No. I want fresh fish and Rarity is going to know about it tomorrow morning." Sweetie Belle continued to try to get Opal to agree to secrecy the way Owlicious did but eventually she just growled and went under Rarity's bed. Frustrated, Sweetie Belle headed over to the farm to meet with Scootaloo and Apple Bloom in their clubhouse. When she arrived Apple Bloom asked, "So Sweetie Belle, how are things at home?" Scootaloo added, "Did you cast the spell on Opal?" Sweetie Belle replied, "Yes I did but I don't know if she will swear secrecy like Owlicious did." Scootaloo said, "Oh I'm sure things will be just fine. If Opal does speak to her she'll probably faint and we can drag her to her shop while she is unconscious. That way she'll just think she was imagining things." That made Sweetie Belle feel much more at ease. She then asked, "So Apple Bloom, do you want to know what Winona is thinking?" Apple Bloom replied, "Ah don't know. Ah don't think Applejack would be very happy if Winona started talking to her." Sweetie Belle replied, "You know Apple Bloom, Winona is much more laid back. I bet she'll swear secrecy like Owlicious did." After five minutes of being badgered, Apple Bloom finally caved in and the three headed down to the farm and found Winona resting behind a couple of hay bales in the barn. Sweetie Belle was giggling as they approached her. Very quickly she woke and started licking Sweetie Belle's face, making her giggle more. Apple Bloom knew this would not work this way. She looked at Winona and ordered, "Sit!" Immediately Winona sat at attention as the three girls looked at her. Sweetie Belle knew the time had come to work her magic. She pointed her horn at Winona and it began to glow as she recited, "We wish we could communicate with our pets, yet for now we know nothing of their thoughts more or less, but now they can speak and let us know what they seek." The energy beam from the spell quickly was absorbed into Winona's body. First she began barking and then asked "Apple Bloom, am I talking?" Apple Bloom replied "Yep, y'all are talking." Winona jumped up on Apple Bloom and said, "I can't wait to go say hi to Applejack! She will think this is amazing!" Apple Bloom interrupted, "Winona, no! Applejack can't know you can talk! She'll know something is up and have Twilight come take your ability away from you!" Winona looked dejected and ran out into the orchard. Apple Bloom said, "Oh no, if my sister finds out we are the ones responsible for this she'll ground me for life!" Scootaloo asked, "Oh I don't think she'll be that mad. What if it makes her happy? What if it makes the work her and Winona do together easier?" Apple Bloom interrupted, "Y'all know how old fashioned my family is. They'll think it is horrible. All we can do is hope she'll keep quiet." Before they parted ways Sweetie Belle asked her friends, "Girls, would you come over early tomorrow morning?" Scootaloo asked, "Why?" Sweetie Belle replied, "If Opal talks to Rarity and she faints, I'll need help dragging her over to the boutique. If she comes to over there she'll just think she was dreaming but if she comes to at home, she'll know that Opal speaking to her did happen." Apple Bloom and Scootaloo said in unison, "Don't worry, we'll be there before your sister is woken up." Sweetie Belle replied, "Thanks girls, I really appreciate it." Evening had arrived and the girls parted way. Sweetie Belle headed home hoping Opal had not said anything to Rarity, Apple Bloom sat there by the barn nervously hoping Winona would not say anything while Scootaloo had no worries going home since they had not put a spell on Tank.* > Rarity's Surprise > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The following morning Sweetie Belle was up much earlier than normal, even earlier than Opal. A few minutes after waking she heard a knock on the door. She quickly rushed to the door to see that it was her friends. She said, "Thank you girls, I knew you'd be here." Apple Bloom replied, "Well y'all know we wouldn't let you down." Scootaloo added, "Besides, seeing how Rarity will react to this is something I wouldn't want to miss." Sweetie Belle led her friends into the kitchen where Opal was waiting. Unlike other mornings, she did not go pounce on Rarity, she simply waited for her to get up. Sweetie Belle saw this and asked, "Opal, aren't you going to go wake Rarity up?" Opal replied, "No. I will just let her rest this morning. Besides, seeing her reaction when she goes to get that canned food will be priceless!" Sweetie Belle raised her voice and said, "No! Opal, you can't talk to her! You have no idea how mad she will be." Opal glared at the girls and growled. She was bound and determined to let Rarity know what she really wanted. Sweetie Belle realized this and knew there was nothing she could do to stop her so she just decided to hope for the best. Thirty minutes later Rarity was woke up by the sun. She wiped her eyes and thought to herself, "It is so nice to be woke up by the sun, not claws and teeth." She then sat up quickly and wondered if something was wrong with Opal. She started shouting, "Opal, are you ok? Why didn't you wake mama up this morning." Rarity thought that perhaps Opal was down in the kitchen with Sweetie Belle so she headed downstairs. When she got to the kitchen she saw Opal, Sweetie Belle and her friends. She glared at her younger sister and asked, "Sweetie Belle, what are your friends doing over here so early? I don't remember telling you they could come over at this time of the morning." Scootaloo interrupted, "Well we have a lot of crusading to do today so we thought maybe you would fix us some breakfast!" Rarity yelled, "Look, cooking for Sweetie Belle is enough of a pain but cooking for THREE fillies is something I will not do!" Opal was not thrilled with the way Rarity was talking to the girls. She jumped up on Rarity's back and sank her claws into her. Rarity shouted, "Naughty Opal, naughty. You do not do that to mama!" Opal continued to sit on Rarity's back as she headed to the cupboard to get a can of food for her. Opal hissed and said, "I AM SICK OF THAT SWILL, I WANT FISH!" Rarity's growled, "Opal, I am not getting you........" She then realized what she had heard. She asked, "Opal, did, did you just talk?" Opal growled, "I want fish!" Rarity thought she was hallucinating. She sighed and quickly fainted. Rarity was laying there on the floor but was still breathing. Sweetie Belle tapped her face a couple of times and asked, "Rarity, are you ok?" When they got no response they began to drag her to the boutique. This was difficult as she was quite heavy compared to the three fillies. Apple Bloom was getting frustrated and asked, "Sweetie Belle, could you try to at least levitate her a little?" Sweetie Belle was unsure as to whether she could even lift her sister a tiny bit but decided she would try. Sweetie Belle's horn began to glow and she managed to lift her sister just barely above the ground. After a minute the girls had Rarity in her shop. Scootaloo said, "Wow Sweetie Belle, Twilight would be amazed by your levitating her!" Sweetie Belle replied, "Shhh......we can't have Rarity waking up this quickly." Fifteen minutes passed and finally Rarity was coming to. Her eyes opened and she looked around. "Ugh, what happened. Where am I?" asked Rarity She saw the girls around her and continued, "Sweetie Belle, girls, why am I in my shop?" Apple Bloom replied, "Well you just arrived here and you fainted. We heard a thump in here so we came to check on you." Rarity got up on all fours and said, "Well thank you for checking on me." She paused and continued, "I had the weirdest dream. I dreamed that Opal could talk and she demanded that I get her fish." Sweetie Belle giggled a bit and replied, "Well maybe it was a sign that you need to get her some fish." Rarity glared and replied, "I doubt it and besides, where am I supposed to get this fish for her anyway? They don't sell fish in the market here." Before the girls could say anything the door opened but it was not a customer coming in, it was Opal. Opal heard her say this and hissed "I don't care how you get it, get me fish or else." Rarity looked stunned. She stuttered, "Opal, y-you can talk? H-how is that possible?" Opal growled, "It doesn't matter, get me fish!" Rarity glared at Sweetie Belle and asked, "Sweetie Belle, did you and your friends have something to do with this? Did you cast a spell on her?" Apple Bloom replied, "No Rarity, we didn't have anything to do with this and you know that Sweetie Belle is just now learning how to levitate things. She doesn't know any spells to make animals talk!" Rarity rolled her eyes and said, "Hmm...well that is true. Perhaps Fluttershy will know what is causing her to talk. She knows everything about animals." Sweetie Belle asked, "But what about Opal's fish. Don't you think you should go to the river and catch one for her?" Rarity replied, "Sweetie Belle, a lady does not go fishing. If you want her to have a fish, YOU go catch it for her!" Sweetie Belle said, "Come on crusaders, come on Opal, let's go get you a fish." Scootaloo added, "Cutie Mark Crusaders fishers! YAY!" While the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Opal headed to the river to catch a fish Rarity closed her shop and headed over to Fluttershy's cottage. She knocked on the door and was greeted by a tired Fluttershy. Fluttershy asked, "Oh hi Rarity. Shouldn't you be in your shop by now?" Rarity replied, "I should be but something strange happened this morning. Opal literally told me she wanted fish!" Fluttershy laughed a bit and asked, "Did she just claw you more than normal and her hiss sounded like she said fish?" Rarity glared at her friend and replied "No. SHE SPOKE! She literally told me she wants fish!" Rarity paused for a few seconds and asked, "Fluttershy, have you ever heard of animals actually speaking like we do?" Fluttershy replied, "Uhm, well no I haven't. Are you sure you weren't just imagining things?" This angered Rarity but she decided to hold her temper. She rolled her eyes and growled, "Well thanks anyway." Rarity headed back to her shop and was equally unhappy when she got back. When she got back in her shop she discovered that the girls were giggling while Opal was eating a fresh fish in the middle of the floor. Rarity shouted, "EEEWWW! GIRLS, GET THIS FISH OUT OF MY BOUTIQUE!" Opal looked up at her and growled, "This fish isn't going anywhere until I finish eating it!" Rarity used her magic to pick up Opal and the fish and put them outside. She then headed over to Sweetie Belle and her friends and growled, "Sweetie Belle, you know better than to bring a dead fish into my boutique!" She then stared over at the stain and continued, "You three are going to clean up this mess!" After finishing cleaning up the fish stain the girls headed outside to find that Opal had finished her fish. She ran over and rubbed up against Sweetie Belle's legs and said, "Thank you so much for the fish. I really appreciate it." While the girls and Opal continued their conversation, in her shop Rarity was not herself. She was angry over the fish stain but was still confused as to how Opal could actually talk. She still thought she was imagining things but decided that she would ask Twilight later on if she had ever heard of animals talking. > Winona shocks Applejack > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After Opal finished eating her fish the girls headed over to the farm because Apple Bloom knew that Applejack and Winona were going to be herding the sheep that day. Apple Bloom desperately wanted to make sure that Winona did not speak to Applejack. When they arrived Winona was sitting outside of the barn. Apple Bloom walked up to her and said, "Winona, please don't talk to Applejack. You know she would be so mad." Winona replied, "Look Apple Bloom, you had Sweetie Belle cast that spell on me and I'm using my new abilities." Apple Bloom sighed, "Oh alright." She headed back over to her friends and said, "Oh no, she's not going to be quiet. Applejack is going to be so mad." Sweetie Belle suggested, "Well maybe we should go hide out in the clubhouse for a bit." Apple Bloom and Scootaloo thought that would be a good idea so they headed to the clubhouse. Ten minutes later Applejack came to the barn and said, "Come on Winona, we have to get the sheep moved to the other side of the farm." Winona started barking happily but secretly she was wondering why they needed to move the sheep. She was thinking to herself, "What the hay is wrong with keeping them where they are?" Applejack opened the gate and they started herding the sheep to the other side of the farm. At first the sheep were moving around slowly. Applejack growled, "Come on sheep, we don't have all day." Winona started barking loudly with a bit of a growl and yelled, "Move, move, move! Get going sheep, like Applejack said, we don't have all day." This not only shocked Applejack but it shocked the sheep as well. The sheep started racing towards their pen as Winona continued chasing after them yelling for them to move. Applejack rushed after them and finally caught up with them when Winona had them all bunched up in their new pen. She closed the gate and looked at Winona in shock. She said, "Ah don't know if Ah'm imagining things but did y'all talk Winona?" Winona replied, "Well we had to get the sheep moving one way or another and yelling was the only way to get them moving." Applejack asked, "How? How in the hay did you learn to talk?" Winona replied, "I can't tell you that. I don't want anypony getting in trouble." When she said that she knew that something strange was up. She slammed her hat on the ground and shouted, "Who could have done this?" She realized that the only way that Winona could talk was if she had a spell cast on her. She sighed "Twilight! Ah bet Twilight cast a spell on you Winona!" Applejack angrily stormed over to the library. She had never been this angry in her entire life. Once she got there she was pounding on the door shouting, "Twilight, get out here! We need to talk." Twilight opened the door and asked, "Oh hi Applejack, what's wrong?" Applejack got in her face and yelled, "Who the hay do you think you are casting spells on Winona?" Twilight replied, "Calm down Applejack. Look, I don't know what you're talking about but I never cast any spells on Winona." Applejack yelled, "Then explain to me why she's talking." Twilight couldn't help but laugh a bit. She replied, "Come on now Applejack! You know animals can't talk! Are you sure you weren't just imaging things?" Applejack yelled, "No! Ah know Ah wasn't imagining anything. Y'all come over here and see it for yourself!" Twilight sighed, "Oh alright. I'm sure you're just imagining things." The two headed over to the farm and found Winona resting on a pile of hay in the barn. Applejack said, "Winona, we have company. Come tell Twilight hi." Winona raced over to Twilight barking happily, jumping on her and licking on her face. Twilight began to laugh, "Stop Winona, that tickles!" Winona sat down in front of the two happily. Applejack said, "Winona, show Twilight that Ah wasn't imagining things." Winona started barking again causing Twilight to think that Applejack was just kidding. She asked, "Are you sure she was talking? She seems to be behaving normally to me." Applejack replied, "Well Ah know she was talking. Ah wouldn't make something like this up." She looked off towards the far end of the farm and continued, "Maybe the girls know something about this. Maybe Sweetie Belle cast a spell on her." This also caused Twilight to laugh. She laughed, "Come on now Applejack. Sweetie Belle has just now learned how to levitate a broom. I don't think she will be able to cast anything like that for several more years." Applejack yelled, "Well Ah still want to go talk to them. Come on Twilight, Ah want answers." Twilight rolled her eyes and replied, "Well alright, but I'm sure they'll tell you the same thing that I did." After the long walk to the far corner of the farm Applejack and Twilight could hear the girls talking in the clubhouse. They could sense a bit of uneasiness in their voices. Applejack headed up there first and asked, "Girls, come down. Twilight and Ah have an important question to ask you." The three fillies could sense the displeasure in Applejack's voice so they nervously followed her down to the ground. Twilight asked them, "Girls, Applejack is claiming that Winona was speaking earlier today. Is that true?" Unlike Applejack who is the world's worst liar, Apple Bloom was a lot better at it. She replied, "I don't know what y'all are talking about. You know Winona can't talk!" Applejack asked, "Sweetie Belle, did you learn some sort of spell and cast it on Winona?" She raised her voice and continued, "Because Ah know if anypony had anything to do with it, it was YOU!" Sweetie Belle shied back and nervously replied, "Applejack, you know I don't know that kind of magic!" Twilight added, "Applejack, she is just now learning to levitate things. There is no way she could know magic that advanced." Applejack realized that Twilight was right. She replied, "Alright. Maybe Ah was imagining things after all." As they headed back towards the house Twilight commented, "You see Applejack, I knew that they wouldn't know anything about this." Applejack replied, "Ah'm sorry I yelled at y'all Twilight. Ah hope you can forgive me." Twilight said that she forgave her but while she was over at the farm with Applejack, something strange was going on over at the library. Very soon Spike would learn that communicating with Owlowicious is going to be much easier than it has been. > An Interesting Conversation > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- While Applejack was yelling at Twilight, Spike was upstairs in a deep sleep so he didn't hear a word of their argument. After they left and the library had been quiet for around thirty minutes Spike finally woke up. It seemed almost too quiet to him as usually he would hear Twilight studying and talking to Owlowicious that time of day. He headed down to the library to see Owlowicious sitting on his perch. Spike asked, "Oh hi Owlowicious. Do you know where Twilight is?" "Who?" asked Owlowicious Spike had an odd look on his face because it sounded like Owlowicious had said "who" instead of hoot. He smiled and asked, "Dang Owlowicious, it sounded like you said 'who.' Are you learning to talk or something?" Spike put his claw up to his face and continued, "Come on Spike, you know animals can't talk!" Owlowicious interrupted, "Wanna bet?" Spike gasped, "Y-Y-You can talk? H-How can you talk?" Owlowicious replied, "Do you promise not to say a word to Twilight, or anypony else for that matter?" Spike answered, "My lips are sealed." Owlowicious began, "Ok, during the last Twilight Time Twilight had with the girls, her last quill broke so she headed out to buy some more. I don't know why but Sweetie Belle had this desire to know what Opal was really thinking." Spike interrupted, "Let me guess, she somehow got up to the shelf where the books regarding spells for animals are without knocking any books off?" Owlowicious replied, "No, she LEVITATED it down to herself. Don't tell Twilight but Sweetie Belle's magic is far better than she thinks." Spike asked, "Did she learn a spell to make animals speak and she used you as the test subject?" Owlowicious replied, "Yes, she did. I was unsure about this but I will admit, I am happy to see how well she has progressed with her magic. Maybe she will discover her special talent." Spike decided to change the subject when a thought came to his mind. His eyes got wide as he realized something. He said, "You know what this means? With you being able to talk now, it will be a lot easier for us to communicate when Twilight isn't around and it will make us working together a lot easier." Owlowicious replied, "Yes it will but we really don't do that much work unless Twilight is around but at least we can speak now." Owlowicious put his wings on his hips and continued, "I do want to know though, why did you try to set me up with that toy mouse and that ketchup so long ago?" Spike nervously replied, "I'm sorry Owlowicious. I was so worried that you were going to replace me and I saw how much attention Twilight was giving you and I got jealous." Owlowicious asked, "Do you know how worried Twilight was about you and even though you tried to set me up, how worried I was about you?" Spike replied, "I didn't until after you and Twilight came after me. I want to thank you for putting your life on the line to rescue me and I want to apologize again, since you can reply to me." Owlowicious said, "I forgive you, don't worry about it." Owlowicious heard hoofsteps and he continued, "Spike, I have to be quiet, Twilight is coming!" Spike nodded and they went silent as Twilight entered the library. She said, "Oh Spike, you're awake. You're not going to believe what happened." Spike asked, "What happened?" Twilight replied, "Well Applejack comes over yelling at me claiming that I cast a spell on Winona that made her talk." Spike asked, "Why would she accuse you of something like that?" Twilight replied, "Oh she thought she heard Winona talking so she made me go over to the farm with her so I could hear it. Well when we got there Winona didn't say a word, she just barked, jumped on me and licked me like she always does. She then accused Sweetie Belle of casting a spell on her. Well her and I went over to her clubhouse to talk to her. I asked her about it and she had no clue what we were talking about. Eventually her and I were able to make Applejack realize that she doesn't know that kind of magic. Luckily she finally realized that she was just hearing things." Spike laughed a bit, "Yeah, that would be kind of strange if she did talk." The animals remained quiet for the next few days leaving their owners to think that they were just imagining things. But when their weekly pony/pet play date came up, things would happen that would cause the animals to slip up and speak. This would cause some ponies to be angry, some startled and one to be giddy, wishing that her pet could talk too. > The Pony/Pet Play Date > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Several days had passed and while Sweetie Belle and Opal would talk and Spike and Owlowicious would talk when they were alone, for the most part the pets that could speak remained quiet around their owners. Finally the day had come for their weekly pony/pet play date. As usual, Tank and Rainbow Dash were a bit late since he was still having a few problems learning how to steer his flying device properly. When they gathered Fluttershy asked Rarity, "Rarity, have you thought you heard Opal demanding that she get you fish anymore?" Rarity replied, "No, I haven't and luckily I haven't had any more dead fish wind up in my boutique either." Twilight over heard this and asked, "Rarity, what was this about a dead fish in your boutique? I'm surprised you would allow one in there in the first place." Rarity replied, "Well it was weird really. I know I heard Opal telling me she wanted fish in my house but then the next thing I know I am waking up in my boutique when Opal comes in and again demands fish. Well Sweetie Belle and her friends decide to go and catch a fish for her while I was visiting Fluttershy. When I got back she is eating a dead fish right in the middle of my boutique!" Twilight's jaw dropped open. She asked, "You too? Maybe Applejack wasn't imagining things after all." Rarity asked, "What, did she think she heard Winona talk." Applejack heard this and interrupted, "Eeyep, Ah thought I heard her talk. She was screaming and yelling at the sheep to move when we were herding them to a pen on the other side of the farm." They went quiet as Twilight was standing there deep in thought. At first she began to wonder if maybe Sweetie Belle was lying and did cast a spell but then again she remembered that she does not know that advanced of magic. She replied, "Well maybe both of you are just imagining things. It is scientifically impossible for animals to speak." Rainbow was flying around with Tank when she heard this. She landed next to Twilight, tapped her horn and said, "Not scientifically possible Twi? That is kind of odd coming from miss magic pants. I would think that if any pony would think outside the box it would be you." Twilight rolled her eyes and sighed, "Rainbow, I didn't cast these spells and nopony else who knows that kind of magic could have got access to my books. I honestly don't know if I even have books that have those kinds of spells in them." While they continued to talk the pets were playing with one another. Tank was flying around when he accidentally bumped into Owlowicious. This did not sit well with the owl. He shouted, "Tank, watch where you're flying! You could have injured me." The ponies heard this and Twilight stood there in a stunned silence. Pinkie heard this and started shouting, "Wow, Owlowicious can talk! Hi Owlowicious, you want some cake to celebrate you being able to talk?" Owlowicious replied, "No thanks, I'm not really a big fan of cake." Pinkie then looked at Gummy and asked, "Gummy, can you talk too?" Gummy just stood there blinking his eyes in silence, which disappointed her. Pinkie pouted, "Oh I wish I had a pet that could talk." After standing there in a stunned silence for a couple minutes Twilight came to. She thought that maybe she was just imagining things. She laughed, "I don't know if I was imagining things but I could have swore I heard Owlowicious yell at Tank for bumping into him!" Right as Applejack was getting ready to respond to Twilight they heard Opal hissing at Winona. Winona had been chasing her around when Opal stretched her leg out, opened her claws and swiped at Winona. She hissed, "Back off or else!" Opal had clawed Winona before and she did not want it to happen again. She replied "No need to be such a grump." When Twilight saw this she didn't know what to do. Rarity asked, "Now do you believe us Twilight?" Twilight replied, "Well...uh..." Applejack raised her voice and said, "Twilight, y'all can't deny it now. Y'all saw it and heard it for yourself! Something is up and we need to figure out what it is." Twilight asked, "Fluttershy, you know everything about animals. Do you know of anything that may be causing these animals to talk?" Fluttershy replied, "I don't know. I've never heard of animals talking before." Rainbow added, "And it is only Owlowicious, Opal and Winona that are speaking. Why aren't Tank, Gummy and Angel speaking? I would think if something was causing animals to talk all of them would be speaking." Twilight replied, "You make a good point Rainbow. There must be somepony around here who knows how to cast spells to make them talk. Don't worry everypony, we'll get to the bottom of this." Everypony agreed and took their pets home and then headed to the library. They all wanted to know what was going on but deep down Rarity was suspicious that Sweetie Belle was a lot better with magic than anypony thinks but didn't say anything because she knew what Twilight would say. > Sweetie Belle Exposed > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shortly after the pony/pet play date was over everypony showed up at the library. As they headed all in Rarity couldn't help but look at all the books, scanning them for a title that may be the book which contained the proper spell. Twilight said, "Ok everypony, let's start going through these books and see if there is any kind of spell that could have been used." Applejack replied, "But Twilight, you said that nopony who would know how to cast those types of spells would have had access to your books so even if we do find a book, we still won't know who did it." Twilight said, "Well still, if we can find a book with a spell in it like that perhaps I can write a counter spell to return them back to normal." Owlowicious interrupted, "Twilight, why would you want to do that. It is much easier for us to communicate." Pinkie added, "You know Twilight, Owlowicious makes a good point!" Twilight rolled her eyes and everypony continued to go through the books. Twilight was quickly getting frustrated and was stomping around grunting and snorting. She finally screamed, "When I get my hooves on whoever did this, they'll wish they had left my books alone!" Rainbow replied, "Calm down Twilight. Besides, you said nopony who could cast those kinds of spells had access to your books. Perhaps it was somepony who you don't even know that cast these spells." Twilight sat down and realized that Rainbow was right. Twilight said, "I'm just frustrated Rainbow." Twilight sat there in thought and then something crossed her mind. She wondered when the animals first started talking. She looked at Rarity and asked, "Rarity, when did you first think that you thought you heard Opal speaking?" Rarity replied, "It was last Thursday, it was the day after the girls spent time with you." Applejack's ears perked up and she asked, "Ah know you have said that Sweetie Belle doesn't have the magical know how to cast spells like that but y'all don't think maybe she has more knowledge than you thought do you? Do y'all think she may have found a book with a spell, found it, learned it and then cast it?" At first Twilight thought it was a stupid question but then she realized that Applejack might be right. She replied, "That is a good question Applejack, especially since the animals first started talking the day after our last Twilight Time." Fluttershy asked, "But Twilight, wouldn't you have seen one of them grab a book and start reading through it?" Twilight replied, "I would have unless they did it when I went to buy some more quills when my last one broke." She put her hoof over her face and asked, "Do any of you know where the girls are right now? I think we need to speak to them." Applejack replied, "Ah think they are in their clubhouse. Come on everypony, let's go see if we can get some answers." They all headed to the farm. It took them a while as the girls' clubhouse is on the most distant part of the farm. When they finally got there they heard the girls talking. It sounded like they were talking about the animals staying quiet but they couldn't be sure. Applejack headed up and said, "Come on out y'all, Ah need to talk to you." Apple Bloom asked, "Why can't y'all just talk to us up here?" Applejack replied, "Because it just isn't me who needs to talk to y'all." The girls nodded and nervously headed out. There they were greeted by Applejack's friends. Twilight glared at the girls and asked, "Girls, do you know what this is about?" Scootaloo replied, "No Twilight, I don't know what it is about." Twilight ordered, "Follow us. Maybe going to the library will jog your memory." They nervously followed them to the library and once they got in there Twilight asked, "So girls, what do you remember about the last time you were here?" Scootaloo replied, "Well I remember putting together a scooter and it staying in good shape after I rode it like it was my own." Apple Bloom added, "And I remember trying to make some fertilizer but it still not working quite the way I wanted it to." Sweetie Belle sat there in silence, which caused everypony to be suspicious. Twilight asked, "And what about you Sweetie Belle? What do you remember about the last time you were here?" Sweetie Belle was sitting there nervously when she saw Owlowicious sitting on his perch with his wings on his hips glaring at her and she finally realized that she had to tell the truth. She looked up, levitated the book she found the spell in and placed it in front of Twilight. Twilight looked down and saw that it was a book regarding spells for animals. She glared at Sweetie Belle and asked, "Spells for animals? How did you know where this book was and how did you so easily get it down?" Sweetie Belle had a few tears in her eyes and she replied, "I can explain." Twilight sighed, "I'm listening." Sweetie Belle started, "Ok, I became curious as to what was running through Opal's mind when she would pounce on and bite Rarity every morning. I know she was unhappy with her but I wanted to know why so when you went to get some more quills I saw the book up on the top shelf and levitated it down. I found a spell involving animals talking so I memorized it and then cast it on Owlowicious to see if it worked." Twilight snapped, "So you used my pet as a test subject?" Owlowicious interrupted, "Yes she did but you know what? It makes life so much easier now that Spike and I can actually communicate. Just think of how much easier it would make things for all of us if you don't cast any kind of counter spell on me." Twilight growled, "You do make a good point but Sweetie Belle, do you know how wrong it was for you to do that without my permission? Do you know how I feel right now? I feel like you took advantage of me." Sweetie Belle began to cry, "I'm sorry Twilight. I was just curious and I couldn't help myself." Twilight asked, "Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, did you two know about this or were you working on your skills when she did this?" Scootaloo replied, "Well she distracted us when she took the book down. I tried telling her that it wouldn't be a good idea but she did it anyway." Apple Bloom added, "Ah tried telling her the same thing but she wouldn't listen. She wanted to know what was going through Opal's mind so bad that she wasn't going to listen to us." Things began to come back to Rarity more and she interrupted, "Girls, that morning I fainted in the kitchen when I heard Opal speak. How did you get me into my boutique? I know you can't carry me!" Sweetie Belle replied, "Well sis, I levitated you just enough off the ground that we could get you into the boutique. We wanted you to just think you were dreaming it." Twilight's ears perked up and she asked, "Really Sweetie Belle? You levitated your sister? How did you levitate something so much heavier than you?" Sweetie Belle replied, "Well I just put as much power as I could into picking her up." While Twilight was very angry over Sweetie Belle violating her trust the way she did, she couldn't help but smile when she heard about Sweetie Belle levitating Rarity. She said, "Wow Sweetie Belle, I know you've been levitating things better lately but I never imagined that you'd be able to levitate an adult pony." She paused for a minute but the scowl returned to her face and she continued, "But I still don't know if I can trust you anymore Sweetie Belle, and given that Apple Bloom and Scootaloo didn't do more to stop her, I don't really know if I can really trust any of you anymore." Twilight began looking through the book to see if there was a counter spell while the girls had tears running down their faces. Applejack asked, "Twilight, is there a counter spell in there to reverse this?" Twilight was frantically looking through the book but could not find one. In a loud voice she replied, "No, there is not one. Now I....I mean WE are going to have to write our own magic." Applejack asked, "Twilight, since you wrote your own magic to become a princess, Ah thought you wouldn't have any problems writing a spell and what do you mean 'we' have to write our own magic?" Twilight replied, "Applejack, I only rewrote Starswirl's failed spell and writing magic from scratch is not easy." She glared at Sweetie Belle and continued, "And you are going to help me with this Sweetie Belle. You cast this spell and I am not going to correct your mistake on my own." Despite her unpleasant demeanor Sweetie Belle seemed excited that Twilight wanted her to help her with this. She also was wondering if her friends could help. She asked, "Twilight, I know they're not unicorns but could they help out as well?" Twilight replied, "Sure why not. They may not be able to cast spells but they could help, since they were here when you did this." The girls got smiles on their faces but Twilight's frown deepened, "Now girls, remember, this isn't to help you with any skills, this is you helping me fix Sweetie Belle's mistake. I'm not sure if there will be anymore Twilight Time after this or not." The girls' smiles quickly turned into looks of sadness. They knew that they had messed up royally and given that Twilight is a princess, they began to wonder if a fate much worse than the end of Twilight Time awaited them, such as banishment. Sweetie Belle asked, "So when do you want us to start helping you work on a counter spell." Twilight replied, "As soon as everypony else leaves." She motioned for everypony else to leave so they could get started. While Twilight was very angry she realized that all of the CMC wanting to help her despite her foul mood that perhaps if they can get a counter spell wrote, that maybe she should give them yet another chance even after what happened when they took advantage of her to gain fame in their school. > Correction and Forgiveness > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After everypony else left Twilight and the girls started to go through the book that Sweetie Belle found the spell in, to see if maybe there was a counter spell in there and that maybe she just missed it. Twilight said, "Alright girls, read over the spell Sweetie Belle cast. Perhaps there is something about it that can guide us in the right direction to write a counter spell while I look through my other books regarding animals." They began reading over the spell over and over. Apple Bloom asked, "Do you think that if we simply change a few words and recite it to where we know what they are saying but that we don't want to that that might work?" Scootaloo was looking over this closely and she replied, "I don't think so Apple Bloom. We might be able to alter parts of it but other parts we will probably have to start from scratch." Sweetie Belle added, "I'm with Scootaloo on this one. I think we are going to have to put our minds to it and simply write a majority of this without simply saying the opposite of the speaking spell." While Twilight was going through the books looking for a counter spell she couldn't help but smile a bit as the girls were discussing this. She knew that Sweetie Belle had the right idea and that if she could come up with it on her own, that she would be the one who could most effectively reverse the talking spell. The girls continued to talk among themselves about what would be the best way to try this all while Twilight was standing on the far side of the room watching attentively. Finally some words came to Sweetie Belle. She asked, "I wonder if this would work? "The animals can talk which makes communicating with them a breeze but in some it causes them to in a panic and freeze. For this is not natural so back to normal is what they must be as this I now can see." Scootaloo replied, "Well there is only one way to find out." Owlowicious knew what was going on. He said, "No girls, please no. I don't want things to go back to how they used to be. I want communicating with Spike and Twilight to be easy." Twilight interrupted, "Owlowicious, I know you like being able to talk, but it just isn't natural. Besides, Sweetie Belle needs to see if her spell really works." Sweetie Belle's horn began to glow and she recited, "The animals can talk which makes communicating with them a breeze but in some it causes them to in a panic and freeze. For this is not natural so back to normal is what they must be as this I now can see." The energy released from her horn headed towards Owlowicious and was absorbed into his body. Now would come the time to see if it worked. Sweetie Belle asked, "Owlowicious, did that energy feel weird going into your body?" "Hoot." replied Owlowicious Twilight wanted to make sure that it really did work and that he wasn't merely saying hoot to placate her. She stared deep into the owl's eyes and asked, "Owlowicious, what is your name?" "Hoot." Twilight could tell by the way that he said it that he could no longer speak like ponies do. She smiled at Sweetie Belle and said, "Wow Sweetie Belle, it worked! You have a lot more magical talent than I thought. You have more right now than I did at your age." Sweetie Belle replied, "Thanks." Twilight asked, "Well girls, shall we go and fix the other animals so everything will be back to normal." In unison the girls replied, "Yes Twilight." They first headed over to Sweet Apple Acres to remove the speaking spell from Winona, as it seemed to bother Applejack more than Opal talking does Rarity. They are greeted by Applejack when they get at the farm. She asked, "So, did y'all come up with a spell to fix Winona?" Twilight replied, "Well Sweetie Belle wrote it on her own and it worked on Owlowicious. Hopefully it will work on Winona as well." Applejack lead them to the barn where Winona was resting. Sweetie Belle said, "Winona, come here!" Winona ran straight up to her and sat at attention. Again Sweetie Belle's horn began to glow as she recited, "The animals can talk which makes communicating with them a breeze but in some it causes them to in a panic and freeze. For this is not natural so back to normal is what they must be as this I now can see." Like with Owlowicious, the energy entered her body and she began to bark, albeit a bit sadly. Twilight looked deep into Winona's eyes and asked her if she knew who she was. Winona started barking, jumped on her and was licking her face. Applejack saw this and said, "Thank you Twilight, Ah'm so glad to see my Winona is back to normal." Twilight replied, "Well like I said, Sweetie Belle is the one who wrote the spell so if you are going to thank anypony, thank her." Applejack hugged her and said, "Thank you Sweetie Belle. Y'all don't know how much this means to me." She nodded at Applejack as they followed Twilight over to Rarity's house. Twilight was thinking that dealing with Opal would probably be the most difficult but since being able to speak, she has been very affectionate towards everypony except Rarity. When they entered Opal ran up to them and jumped up on Sweetie Belle's back, rubbing her face against the filly's and was purring. Twilight saw this and said, "Wow, she really does like you doesn't she?" Sweetie Belle sadly replied, "Yeah she will until I cast the spell on her. Then she will hate everypony except Fluttershy." Twilight said, "Oh it won't be that bad. She might still like you." Opal had hopped off her back and pointed her hoof down towards the cat. She continued, "Alright Sweetie Belle, let's finish this." Opal was looking straight into her eyes. Her horn began to glow as she recited, ""The animals can talk which makes communicating with them a breeze but in some it causes them to in a panic and freeze. For this is not natural so back to normal is what they must be as this I now can see." Her energy shot towards Opal and was absorbed into her body. Opal tried to talk but all she could get out was meowing, growling and hissing. She gave Sweetie Belle a look that could kill and swatted at her mane, causing part of it to fall out. Twilight could tell the spell worked. She said, "Well Sweetie Belle, congratulations, your spell worked." She ran over to her, hugged her and continued, "I'm so proud of you Sweetie Belle." Sweetie Belle replied, "Thanks." Twilight then gave them a stern look and said, "Now what to do about Twilight Time. One part of me wants to simply end it entirely, another part thinks I should cut it off for a couple months but another part of me wants to just forgive you and keep doing it as normal." Sweetie Belle replied, "I'm sorry for looking in your books and casting that spell." Scootaloo added, "I'm sorry for not stopping her." Apple Bloom added, "I'm sorry for not stopping her too. I hope you can forgive us." Twilight put her hoof up to her chin, acted like she was deep in thought but she already knew what she wanted to do. With a scowl on her face she replied, "Well girls, I have decided that........." Her scowl turned into a smile and she continued, "I have decided that Twilight Time will continue as normal. I forgive you." The three said, "Thank you Twilight!" Sweetie Belle continued, "I know now that I should not have let my curiosity cause me to do something that I did not have permission to do. From now on I will ask permission before I do anything that may upset somepony." Twilight replied, "Wow Sweetie Belle! That sounded like something I used to write in my letters to Princess Celestia." She headed towards the door and continued, "Same time as usual on Thursday?" The girls replied in unison, "That sound wonderful Twilight, see you then!" Twilight closed the door and headed home with a smile on her face. She was happy that everything had returned to normal but she felt even happier knowing that the girls had learned an important lesson in friendship. She believed that this could be a major step towards them discovering their special talent and said to herself, "One day it will happen, one day."