The Ponyville rumor mill attempts (badly) to make sense of terrible apocalyptic happenings. Then, we meet the culprits, and finally, we figure out what happened and (hopefully) set things aright.
Trixie is Terrible Rating: Trixie (Indirectly) Causes the Apocalypse: 8 
out of 10.
Content Notice: (1) Trixie makes some double-entendres in a paragraph in Chapter two perhaps due to her inability to properly use a thesaurus, (2) Some ponies "die", but that won't stick. (3) minor mention of what is essentially zombification (4) one young pony gets pulled in two directions, (5) sickness, (6) blinding, (7) inebriation, (8) violence at the beginning of chapter 4.
Era: Takes place during Season 7. (See an index of my stories, sorted by My Little Pony Season).
Image: Compiled by me, containing four sub-images with rights only to those sub images: here, here, here, and here.
dang….I’m loving this. 100% loving it.
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Thank you!
yay, Lyra and Bon Bon! and yes, that's a fun play on words with the four elementary arithmetic operations
very Pinkie in its poetry, very nice
fun callback to that scene here!
fun alliteration, and always great to see one of the best ponies around here
aww!
and nice use of yet another arithmetic operation here! great to end this chapter on
indeed! it was very fun to see all the background ponies get their time in weaving this tapestry of panic and rumor
damn, RD! he has a family!
it is strange how much staying power this même has
lots of great foreshadowing and setting up of mysteries to be resolved throughout!
absolutely love how sneering and Trixie this paragraph is
phrasing!
and of course i really appreciate the "man" -> "mare" replacement here! fits in perfectly with my preferred cultural worldbuilding
very nice
aww! this was a sweet moment
phrasing!
and this is fantastic. there's a reason why you got the prize for the most Literature
perfect (though i have seen the variation "steamed yams" which is a bit less awkward, the existence of vegan hams would explain why there are foods that look suspiciously like ham sandwiches in the canon)
meta! i love it!
and that's a great chapter-ending hook
and i agree!
aww! i like that Starlight has this in common with Maud! and this ties in nicely with her anxiety about being the positive center of attention on her first return to her village post-reformation just days before (though of course at that time there were other dynamics to make that uncomfortable as well!)
perfection!
Douglas Adams or the GameFAQs subforum?
ah, Douglas Adams
and yes, loved this worldbuilding about the relationship between horses and ponies in this world! i headcanoned the word "horse" as having the same cultural space as the word "giant" does in the human world, which would include cultural myths that they were real creatures related to humans. it is neat to have them actually exist in the ponies' evolutionary line here, and how that legacy affects how ponies see themselves and their history
this is very Starlight, and #relatable
nice reference! tho from canon readings Old Ponish is clearly Germanic and thus the analogue of Old English, while this should properly be the canonical Pony Latin, and furthermore;
always great to see action Trixie! the first step in doing something ridiculous is to refuse to have a reason to believe that you cannot
hehe
noooooo Derpyyyyyy
perfection
a fantastic mental image, and a great Trixie moment
of course your Trixie was fantastic throughout all of this, but this especially! ugh i love her so much
and yes, the best plant character in the show!
and aww, poor Maud! she would indeed not take that as an insult normally
aww! the magic of friendship! it was very nice to bring it around to that in the end
i'm guessing the fish cookies are the third, but the fourth escapes me
that was quite the mental image! very well-drawn, the effects on the rest of the Mane Six. also nice reference to the fandom's serial killer Rarity, if this were meant to be one (though i've never actually read any of those!)
a beautiful and perfect story-within-the-story, very fitting with the liminal status Boulder occupies as a character in the show
perfection!
this was one of my favorite stories overall to come out of this contest. it accomplished what it was trying to do with great wit and skill, and was thoroughly enjoyable throughout! if this had been a "stories about Starlight, Trixie, and Maud" contest rather than a shipping contest, i would have been very upset and surprised if it didn't place!
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* Thank you for all the elaborate and kind thoughts!
An interesting idea! Steamed yams does flow better! Thank you. I also suppose there is an inherent question of why the ponies would call something "vegan hams" unless there were actually "meat hams" at one point, which seems to be a bigger diversion than is merited for this tale. A third way could be just to call them "hams" even though they actually are vegan, but that likely raises reader confusion.
How can we be sure those are not sliced yams?
I think you may be referring to the Reddit investors' use of the meme. In case you find it interesting, I had three things in mind with that sentence:
That said, Ralph gets told off quite often. The King of Queens is a more modern version. I've updated my reference to be a little closer without degrading the scene (Obviously the best references are ones directly or thematically in service to the plot, but I like throwing them in when they don't detract): "Bang! Boom! Striking detritus straight to the moon--over the moon!" In this scene, one thematic ironic tie in is that the Doctor was struck down.)
Bam! Zoom! To the Moon- The Honeymooners was extraordinarily popular in its day despite the unfortunate laugh-tracked abuse.
Over the Moon- A saying.
To the Moon- Cryptocurrency reference. And if your investment went "to the moon", then you might be "over the moon" with glee.
* Three unfortunate references to 'hands' that I noticed after seeing your comments have now been anatomically corrected.
Nothing to see here. 
Although in chapter 4 a reference to 'handled' remains, I think that one is acceptable. I wonder what most pony authors use in place of it?
--
For fun: Did not yet find an image of Trixie demanding tea. But...
If it qualifies, I can sort this into your Phyllis group as a "minor Phyllis piece".
A good showing! The fish cookies were difficult to guess and to work in to the story.
1. Correct on the fish cookies: "So Long and Thanks for All the Fish!" (Book 4)
2. We sat and started talking about life, the universe: everything: "Life, the Universe, and Everything" (Book 3)
3. "Chatting in a restaurant when here we were, confronting the maybe-end of Equestria, at the end of the universe, at the end of time.": "Restaurant at the End of the Universe" (Book 2)
4. "Then we played a game that Maud and her sisters sometimes play, Hitchhiker's Guide,": Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Book 1)
I have read one story where she is a murderer but I did not realize it was a popular depiction.
Shockingly, the concept was not intended to be a reference. She just seemed to be the best fit for comedic purposes (And no way Fluttershy was going to defeat her especially when Fluttershy's demise could feed into the Discord gag at the end) and also her coat is naturally white. Red blood--white coat... 
... 
Howdy, hi!
This was a trip and also one of the few "ending retcons the entire story" type stories I liked. The trio was fun and the idea of the horses of the apocalypse was intriguing. I enjoyed the designs of them and thought they really fit what they were supposed to. Your writing is also very unique. It's this interesting mix of over descriptive but heavily stylized.
The opening is a solid hook and really drew in to find out what happened. I also enjoy the fact that the opening was in fact all explained by the end. Each piece is given a corresponding reason as to why it happened and who caused it. There are so many hints littered throughout that are brought up later in such interesting ways. I also like the inclusion of Discord at the end, it was a nice touch.
Anyways, excellent read. Thank you~!
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Thank you for the detailed comment!
And thank you also for taking the time to read it in-depth. It was an interesting experience putting it all together so everything would intersect. Best wishes.