After school, Karyn met Jon at his house to see if he had any luck finding the rock. Jon sighed, "Well, it's not along the cobblestone path. Wasn't anywhere I went today at school, but nothing drastic seems to have changed."
"How could we even know? The stone makes everything it changed seem natural to everyone who didn't hear the wish," Karyn asked, more than a little worried. Her accidental wish made her acutely aware of how organic the changes were.
"Maybe Roselia knows? Maybe Jessica?" Jon said, ignoring Karyn's negative point and trying to cheer her up with mention of the loveable talking horses. "They like to keep the paths clean. I don't know where Jessica is, but Michelle wanted to take Rose home from school today, so she should be here any time."
Karyn relaxed slightly. Jessica and Rose were good rides and even better friends. She sat down next to Jon on the couch, sitting abnormally close to him. Jon was a little weirded out by it as they were practically touching, but figured it was fine.
Meanwhile Roselia transported Jon's younger sister Michelle back home. Roselia was a little worried about Michelle's new "jewelry." When Ashley and Jessica arrived at the school, Jessica had petted Roselia's mane while holding the stone to Roselia's side. Rose was extremely happy, and internally wished for Jessica to know the same happiness. To Rose's, and no one else's, surprise, Jessica transformed into a similar talking horse, who Rose apparently now split the city routes with. Ashley and Michelle, who apparently now remembered orchestrating some kind of race to the school between Rose and Jessica, then thanked both of them and went into the school. Rose had no idea how to explain the situation, and frankly Jessica seemed actually much happier as a horse, so she kept her mouth shut.
Michelle was in her ballet uniform still transfixed on the flashing rock she found with Ashley earlier. The rock was magical and could grant wishes, but any wishes made since the first one to find out which route to school was fastest and prettiest (Aztec Princess' gorgeous murals made the argument moot in Michelle's opinion) hadn't seemed to work. She couldn't wait to show it to her sisters once she got home. They were both pretty smart and could probably get it working.
Jon looked at Karyn as they watched TV. To his surprise, she no longer had blonde hair or red hair, it now being the same black shade he had. She had his same haircut and make up as well, come to think of it. He brushed his hand through his hair, surprised when Karyn mirrored the action. Joy felt slightly nauseous as the room shifted. Her twin sister, Karol, looked equally perturbed.
"I... just felt something strange," they said to each other in unison. They'd always done things like that naturally. Most people, their mother especially, thought it was adorable, but both Joy and Karol secretly found it extremely irritating at points. They had entirely different personalities and perspectives. For example, at lunch Joy had apologized for the lost rock and Karol said she was sorry the rock had been lost.
Michelle entered the house with the rock, which was still flickering. Roselia had already plodded off at a lackadaisical pace to the Aztec Princess' territory. "Hey J, K. I got a wishing rock! Isn't it pretty?"
"What?!" Joy and Karol shouted (Karol because she was shocked by what Michelle said, Joy because she didn't hear what Michelle had said clearly but was shocked at the mention of the rock). "That's ours! What did you do with it you tap-dancing little thief?!"
Michelle was shocked. She'd always kinda figured her sisters were really complete bitches but it was never this apparent. "Ashley and I found it in the street!" she said accusingly.
"It's not my fault!" both Joy and Karol shouted. "And it's a very powerful magic artifact Grandma left to us. What did you and Ashley do to it to make it flicker constantly like that?"
"We just wished both Jessica and Roselia routes were in our neighborhood this morning so we could race different paths to school to see which was fastest and prettiest! We didn't know it was a wishing rock until they both immediately popped in next to us thinking it was completely normal! Then it started flashing all pretty and wouldn't take any more wishes!"
That made no sense to Joy and made even less sense to Karol. Adjusting Jessica's daily schedule shouldn't cause a massive overload of a powerful magical artifact. Maybe it was because Jessica was magical, or maybe because Jessica's route was city wide? Karol figured the best bet was to go look for Roselia and lock the stone in the nightstand on the left side of her bed, in her and Joy's room. Joy however was considering locking it in the nightstand to the right of her bed in her and Karol's room. Somehow, they came to an agreement.
"I'm coming too! I know where she went!" Michelle said enthusiastically.
