The Wishing Well [Open :D]

((a long introduction but stick with me, I'm excited for this))

The cheerful old love song seemed out of place amongst the hulking darkness of the forest, but Knick Knack continued on in her imperfect, warbling ditty regardless. It was only a little forest, right? Nothing much could really harm her, surely- and those flowers weren't going to take her too long to get to? She took an unsteady breath, the song dying away for a moment as the even trotting of her hooves faltered... but she picked it back up, continuing as she went along with the old. It would be worth it if she could collect some of the seeds- rumour has it they glowed in the dark and created clouds of smoke at the touch.

 "Another step, another song, another place to be together,
 my love what a lovely day to be..." The words faded as she suddenly came upon a clearing that yawned out before her like a hole in the tapestry of dark trees she had been staring at thusfar. This hadn't been on her map, old and unreliable as it was. Sprouting up from the centre of the clearing as though it had grown out of the forest itself was an old, moss-covered well, all blackened bricks and purple moss and some wisteria floating ghostlike from vines on the cone-shaped roof. She put her hoof, still raised midstride, to the soft earth of the tattered pathway she was following and slowly walked into the centre of the clearing and peered down into the well. To see better into it, she raised one hoof and then the other up onto the edges and craned all the way over– she disturbed a small pebble and it went skittering down, down, into water too deep in the ground to see. Knick Knack pricked up an ear, and the splash greeted her a few seconds later, just as purple smoke and sparks began to bubble and boil up from within the dark hole. She yelped and stumbled backwards as it filled the stone tunnel to the brim and then sat as though... waiting.

Oh. A magic well. She narrowed her eyes in thought as her horn lit up and a shiny gold bit extracted it from her purse in her saddlebag. Now, what should I wish for?

(tl;dr, there's a magic well in a clearing that's going to shh, spoilers have some... interesting consequences for those that make wishes on it. Please all, come have fun!)

Switchblade, not that he was going by that name or his original look anymore would also be taking a stroll through the forest, his usual dual coloured mane dyed a solid black, and his trademark armour no longer with him. He hears some singing coming from a bit deeper in the forest, out of his own curiosity, and slight worry for the individual; he starts making his way towards the sound. Before long he stumbled across the clearing, calling out "Hey is anypony out here? I heard singing." he glances around, his eyes calm and friendly, despite the long scar that covered one of them.

Knick Knack turned at the sudden intrusion on her racing thoughts. "Oh- h-hello, you heard that? I didn't think anybody else was here." She hoped she wasn't blushing too much. "I'm just examining this well. What do you make of it?"

He walks over, crouching by it as he looks at the stone and the purple smoke "Well, if the colour is anything to go off, and I'm not saying it is, then this could be a product of very potent magic, possibly dark, but possibly not. Looks like it was probably from the time of the castle of the two sisters, judging by the fact that it is here in such a specific place. I would be cautious of it myself, but that's just me." he smiles, straightening himself up again "That is my guess, madam." he says calmly, looking it over one final time

Knick Knack blinked, once, twice.

"What a lovely assessment," she said eventually, joining him at the well's edge with a surprised and eager smile. "Are you a fan of old things too? Rather an interesting specimen, isn't it, it's been a long time since I've seen something this brimming with old magic. It's been a long time since anypony's called me Madam, too... Though I do appreciate your articulation, just Knick Knack will do, mister...?" She left the question hanging, looking to the not-quite-stranger for an answer.

He chuckles "No, not quite a fan, more of a sceptic, sometimes this stuff can get very dangerous so it's best to know about what can and can't end in disaster." He thinks for a second "Feel free to call me Furtive. It's what my friends call me." he smiles charmingly to her. "So it's a well, I suppose wishes have something to do with it."

The coin, still hovering in its magical aura, twirled a few times. Knick Knack had forgotten all about it, but now it hovered a little closer to the bubbling purple in the well. "I suppose they do..." She smiled back. "Furtive. Lovely name. Curious." She looked over into the well again and hummed thoughtfully. "Dangerous indeed.. I know too well... But I've never been able to quite help myself with unanswered questions, and this well is certainly beckoning. If you could wish for something, what would it be?"

He thinks carefully "What would I wish for... Well, probably nothing; I'm not into all of that kinda stuff, I'm more about trying to make my life the best it can be without the whole divine intervention thing. My once marefriend always talked about that kinda stuff." he chuckles lightly, forgetting about the well's presence he jokes to Knick "Sometimes I used to wish I was female so I could understand half of what she said"

Knick opened her mouth to laugh but in an instant the sound was swallowed up as purple smoke came rushing up out of the well, engulfing her coin and pouring down onto the ground. She leapt backwards with a few dancing steps and watched with alarm as it began to swarm up over the pony only a few feet away. "Furtive!" She blurted desperately, shifting her weight and beginning to panic as more and more of her new acquaintance was coated in the congealing magic. "Are you alright what's happening what can I do?" A new spell- she didn't know what, just a spurt of undirected, defensive magic- readied itself on her horn and she shot blindly at the purple mass but it only melted to nothing once it touched the old magic that had begun to pulse with a faint light.

Switch looks around himself with worry at the magic surrounding him; he couldn't use his light magic; he needed to stay hidden from sight, but what could he do? "I don't know what's happening; I can't see through all of this!" Switch calls out "I'm not feeling in any pain so hopefully its focus is something else instead, let's just hope it fades away soon!"

Knick Knack began to relax, just a little, as Furtive spoke to her from the other side of the purple haze. Curiosity began to overtake the momentary anxiousness. The light was dying down now, but one final flare made her flinch and look the other way at the unexpected brightness.
"Are you alright?" She asked blearily. "Your voice sounds a little off..."

Switch yells at the brightness, blinking a few times, Switch's eyes still fuzzy from the sheer glare of the light "I think I am, everything looks slightly lower but that's probably just from the light and daze, do I look injured or anything? I don't feel in too much hurt."

"Injured... is... not... exactly how I would put it." A snicker escaped her before she could hold it back and she forced a straight face as she walked slowly around Furtive with wide eyes. "Well. You did say dangerous. Well well well. Now this is interesting." She lit up her horn again and magic rummaged through her saddlebag until she came up with a silver plate. "Not ideal, but it'll have to do," she muttered, bringing it to float in front of Furtive. "Take a look for yourself, madam."

He, well she now looks at the mirror and her face falls "W...well this is just great... Thought I felt a bit weird and my normal body felt off. Well this is horribly embarrassing, do I look too manly a mare or what do you think?" she asks, turning to try and see herself, blushing heavily

"No, dear, you look lovely," Knick Knack said blankly, stopping her circles and staring a little. "So what are we going to do with you, then?"

Breath. Hold. Dive.

Aero tilted his wings down as he dove towards the thick treetops of the Everfree. He waited patiently, cooly, before calmly steering himself up once more. His hooves brushed against a few sparse leaves as he levelled out over the forest.

Today seemed like another good day to be out flying. While no Wonderbolt, Aero Dynamic certainly liked to practice his manoeuvres and keep himself fit. The clear expanse of sky over the Everfree forest was the perfect place for it.

His eyes scanned the foliage beneath him when he suddenly spotted a small clearing, desolate except for two mares and a structure; an old well by the looks of it. Curiosity caught him as Aero descended, landing lightly on the ground near the two ponies.

"Hi there," he called out, trotting over to them, "Not to cause either of you alarm, but you do realise you're standing in the Everfree Forest. It's not the best place for ponies to have a picnic."

Switch shrugs "I have no idea, I don't even know what kind of magic this is, although I think I may know someone who may have a fix for this situation; if we're lucky that is." she sighs "This is annoying as anything. Although, what would happen if we wished for the wish to be undone?" she asks, nodding to the stallion "Yes yes, we are aware of that, sir."

At the words 'wish for the wish to be undone' the well gave a troubled little rumble. After examining it, Knick Knack turned her gaze to the newcomer. "I doubt anybody comes to the Everfree Forest for picnics... Although I didn't anticipate it being this much trouble. I am Knick Knack and this is my... acquaintance, Furtive, who has hims- who has... herself in a bit of a pickle." She looked back at Furtive doubtfully. "Someone who could help? Who did you have in mind?"

"Aero Dynamic, nice to meet you," the pegasus introduced himself, following Knick Knack's lead. He nodded politely to Furtive, although was a little confused as to why to mare looked so uncomfortable.

Further still, he couldn't imagine why these two had come out here. However, judging by the old structure beside them, Aero could make an educated guess. He turned his gaze to the old well, examine the unnatural purple moss clinging to the dark, aged bricks.

"So what are you two doing out here then? Studying ancient Equestrian architecture?" he questioned, feeling a mossy stone with his hoof.

Furtive smiles "I happen to know of a unicorn with an odd magic that grants wishes, she would probably know how to reverse... This, you know?" she sighs "This feels so foreign. And I was walking through here to get to my meditation point, but heard this mare singing so went to investigate, and here we are."

The bushes rustled for a moment before a massive unicorn stallion clad in gleaming steel armour burst into the clearing. Ah ha! I knew it'd still be here," As he spoke he moved closer to the well, not seeming to see the other ponies "But I never thought it'd still be active. The magical well should have dried up a long time ago..." He furrowed his brows as he pulled an ancient looking map out of his saddle bag. "But, with the recent surges of various magical forces and energies in Equestria...hmm, this is deeply troubling..."

For a moment Knack was frozen mid-remark, stricken by the sudden appearance of the armoured, map-carrying stallion.
"Excuse me," she began uncertainly, crossing to where he was intently examining the very old-looking map, "Various? Troubling? Do you have some knowledge of how this well operates?" Wow, that map looks rare... No, focus, now is not the time for evaluation. "And could you tell us exactly how potent its effects may be?"

Aero watched as the scene unfolded infant of him. With the arrival of a new stallion, possibly a guard of some sort by the looks of his armour, he was even more curious as to what the significance of this area was.

Upon hearing the new unicorn and Knick Knack talk, Aero raised an eyebrow.

"Magical forces? Potent effects?" he questioned, more to himself than anyone else.

Although Aero was proud to be a pegasus, this wasn't the first time that he was annoyed at not understanding a lot about magic. He'd tried to learn about it as a foal, but since he wasn't a unicorn, there was only so much he could learn without the ability to tap into magic with a horn.

"Damn, sometimes I wish I could understand magic," he sighed, before suddenly gasping as purple smoke emerged from the well to engulf him.

Furtive watches the new stallion enter, wary of the amount of interest this stallion had in the well, she shrugs "Who knows, it could just fill up over time." she facehoofs at Aero making a wish, this was happening too much already.

"Fill up over time? No, magical wells do not work that way...at least not this one. And yes my dear, I do have knowledge of this well! In fact, I helped build it." He hummed as he stepped closer to the well, before stepping back. "Tsk tsk, I thought so! If my theory is correct the recent surges of magical energy, such as Discord's return, the crowning of a new princess, and various other events have caused the magical ley-lines under Equestria to move, shift, and mutate. I do believe this well is above a new ley-line made up of Discord's chaos magic, which means, again this is only if I am right, that the well has tapped into the ley-line. This means the well's old enchantments have tapped into the new source of magic, which would making activating it extremely dangerous, or chaotic." As he finished speaking he looked up at Knick, and smiled behind his helmet.