Predictions and Prophecies

by WaferThin

Arrival

ACT I

SETTING THE STAGE

Beginnings are rarely what they would appear to be.

It seemed likely to be a simple mix-up, nothing more. Paige Turner, Chief Librarian of the Canterlot Archives, just assumed that the book in front of her had been forgotten on her copy of the list of titles requested by Ponyville Library. It was probably nothing more than a simple omission, made by one of the newer—and, by definition, lazier—assistants in her employment.

Besides, she reasoned, what difference would one book make? She knew the recipient well; the Archives had practically been her second home, once upon a time. Paige knew that, were this title not required, the mare would simply return it. So long as its absence was recorded, what harm could it possibly do?

If only she had known.

Neither she nor anyone else had seen the shrouded figure the night before, as he crept through the Archive’s storage room. It was almost ridiculous how simple his job had been; he had only needed to find a place to hide, and wait until the library was closed for the night, to complete his task—and although the Archive was rumoured to house many protective spells, they were all designed to prevent damage or theft to the existing books.

There were none designed to prevent books being added.

Silently approaching the cart filled with titles destined for Ponyville, a glow could be seen through the fabric of his hood. The straps of his saddlebag became illuminated with that same glow as he willed it open. A single tome floated out of the bag, and as it passed by he glanced at the cover briefly.

A shudder ran through his body at the memory of the contents, and a sympathetic sorrow began to well up inside him—but he had no choice in the matter. It had to happen.

He left as silently as he had entered.

Later, when the events had been played out, Paige would search for the title. She would not be able to find it on any record of the Archive, though. It was as if the book had never been in her care at all.

Of course, it hadn’t ever been there. It had been planted, specifically for this day—placed in the cart for a single, horrible purpose.

Twilight Sparkle had to read the book. She had to read, and she had to obey.

It was her destiny, after all.

***

“Twilight, The mail’s here! You’d better come down, you’ve got a big delivery!”

Groaning, Twilight flipped her notebook closed. She glanced out of the window, gauging the position of the sun—she’d barely managed an hour’s research this time before being interrupted. How was she supposed to get all the work Princess Celestia had assigned her done if distractions kept popping up?

With a sigh, Twilight trudged towards the bedroom door. Swinging it open with a burst of magic, she headed down the stairs towards the library itself.

“I told you not to interrupt me unless it was for something important, Spike! I’m at a vital part of my... Studies?...”

Twilight trailed off as she reached the ground floor of her library and came to an abrupt halt. Before her a wall of books, standing in rough columns that almost scratched the ceiling and stretched right across the room.

It had also definitely not been there an hour ago.

She spent a few stunned moments staring at the mountain of text that had appeared in her home before Spike came around the side of it, clutching a few letters. He glanced at her awed expression. “Yeah, that’s about what I thought when Derpy dropped them off,” he said, calmly flipping through the letters. “I don’t even know how she managed to get them all here.”

Twilight kept staring at the books. “I didn’t think I’d ordered that many,” she murmured, running her eyes over the spines.

Spike idly flicked a claw at the nearest monolith of literature; it wobbled ominously. "What are you planning to do, open a second library or something?"

Alarmed, Twilight surrounded the stack in a haze of magic to stop it collapsing. She glared at Spike as it settled. "Don't be ridiculous," she said. "These are all important texts, straight from the Canterlot Archives themselves!" Closing her eyes, she brought her book order to the forefront of her mind. "This delivery contains the following: vital texts that are missing from our inventory, as well as some reference guides for our existing stock; newer editions and edited versions of our older books; a few updates treatises on..."

Twilight began listing a memorised catalogue of orders. Spike yawned, picking absently at a talon while she continued.

"...And, finally, some much-needed diversity for our non-fiction section!" Twilight concluded, reopening her eyes with a proud smile. Perfect recollection, as always.

Spike met her gaze, raising an eyebrow. “And just where are we going to put them all?” He asked, gesturing at the bookcases around him with an arm.

Breezing past him, Twilight levitated a book down from the top of one of the stacks. “I’m sure we’ll find a solution if we work together!” she assured him. She gasped a moment later, as an idea struck her. “In fact, aren’t we due a library-reorganisation session anyway? We can take care of that at the same time!”

With a gleeful clap of her front hooves, Twilight trotted over to a bookcase, analysing the titles. Behind her, Spike looked around at the number of books he would have to re-catalogue, and gulped.

“Now then,” Twilight began in a businesslike tone, levitating a few books from the topmost shelf, “I think we should start with— ”

There was a heavy thud on the door, followed by some angry grumbles. Twilight tutted to herself, irritated that yet another distraction had arrived—and it was interrupting such an immensely pleasurable task, too. “You make a start on this, Spike,” she called, levitating her tomes over to her unwitting assistant, who was currently occupied with positioning the bookcase’s ladder. “I’ll go deal with whoever just tried to break our door down.”

Ignoring the cry of surprise and the loud crash that came from behind her as she released her telekinetic grip on the books, Twilight reached the door and pulled it open. She then leapt backwards, as a tumbled mess of legs and wings flopped into the doorway. Feeling unable to help without possibly causing injury, Twilight simply stood watching as Rainbow Dash fought to untangle herself.

“Urgh... Sorry about this, Twi,” Rainbow groaned, struggling to remove a hind leg from around her neck. “These new tricks I’m working on... They’re a bit, ah... Tricky...”

“Yeah, Rainbow,” Twilight said dryly. “I know. You’ve been flying into my house every day for the past week.” She glanced up at a recently-replaced window. “At least you didn’t break anything, this time.”

Rainbow’s ears drooped as she finally pushed herself back to her hooves. “Yeah, sorry about that,” she muttered. “I promise I’ll pay you back for that one.”

Placing a hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder, Twilight gave her a warm smile. “Don’t worry about it,” she said. “It’s no big deal.”

Rainbow’s mood immediately lifted. “Great!” She said, pushing past Twilight into the library, her previous guilt seemingly forgotten. She arrived at the towering book structures, and began poking them experimentally. “So what’re you doing today, building a book fort?”

Twilight ran forward and pushed Dash out of the way, once again securing the piles with her magic. “Don’t be ridiculous, it’s just some new additions to the library’s stock.” She paused for a moment, considering Rainbow’s suggestion. “Besides, there’s no way I could use these texts to construct a suitable fort. I’d need an awful lot of masonry study for something appropriately reliable, as well as several high-level defensive spells…”

“Riiiight.” Rainbow shot her an odd look, before shrugging and turning away. “Well, we’ll have to cut your construction plans short for today,” she called back, heading towards the door. “Come on, we’re already running late.”

“Oh?” Twilight replied, mentally shelving her castle concepts for the moment. “Late for what?”

Dash stopped in her tracks and glanced over her shoulder, genuinely surprised. “What, you’ve forgotten?” she asked. “I thought you had a schedule for everything!”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Let’s just pretend for a moment that I don’t have every second of my life planned out in minute detail, and that I’ve been very busy this past week with both the study materials Princess Celestia sent me, and the library.” She nodded towards her book delivery to illustrate the point. “What, exactly, are we rushing off to?”

“Well, we moved the weekly Pony Pet Playdate to this morning, remember?” Rainbow asked. “Y’know, because we’re—“

“—Ohhh! Because you’re all going to Canterlot with Pinkie Pie this afternoon for her cupcake contest, and then staying there the whole week since your flying demonstration is a few days afterwards, so we had to bring forward the Playdate!” Twilight paused for a moment, frowning. “Wow, can’t believe I forgot that all my friends were going away this week!”

“Neither can I,” Rainbow muttered under her breath.

Trotting briskly up to Rainbow Dash’s side, Twilight nodded towards the open door. “We’d better head off, then! I wouldn’t dream of missing my chance to say goodbye to you guys.” She stopped suddenly, glancing around, and her voice dropped a little. “Ugh, but how can I leave now? I’ve got so many books to sort...”

“Don’t worry about that,” Spike called, walking over to the pair, clutching an order list in one claw and rubbing a sore spot on his head with the other. “I’ll take care of them.”

For a moment of stunned silence, the pair shared a disbelieving glance, before turning back to him with concern.

“…Really?”

“You sure you’re feeling alright, little guy?”

“Do I have to go get the thermometer?”

“…I mean, that looks like a lot of work…”

Spike snorted angrily at the two. “Hey, I’m not that lazy!” He sulked. “Besides, I’ve done a decent job of looking after the place before. I’ll be fine with it!”

“Are you sure, Spike?” Twilight asked. “There are an awful lot of books to sort…”

Spike waved a claw dismissively. “Naw, this? It’ll be a piece of cake. I’m your number one assistant, remember?” He puffed out his chest proudly for a second, before giving Twilight a sly glance. “Now, speaking of cake…”

Twilight sighed. “I knew there’d be a catch,” she muttered to herself. “Okay, what do you want?”

Spike leaned forward, his eyes sparkling. “You know this cupcake thingie they’re all going to?” He asked eagerly, gesturing towards Rainbow Dash. “Well,” he continued, “I want you to bring me some back. Like, a whole wagonload!” He seemed to be almost drooling at the very idea of it.

Twilight’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not going to force anypony to drag a whole wagon of cakes back with them.” She paused to glance back at Rainbow, hoping to have her weigh in. When she only shrugged, Twilight sighed, facing Spike with a determined glare. “One saddlebag,” she retorted.

“Half a wagon!”

“One. Saddlebag.”

Spike scowled, crossing his arms. “Two saddlebags, and…” He lowered his voice to a reverent whisper. “…A Dawnlight Crystal.”

Twilight considered this proposal seriously, before shrugging. “Deal.”

Spike whooped with joy. He span away from them for a moment and started performing what Twilight found to be an adorable little victory dance, before turning back to flash her a crafty grin. “Y’know, I would have gone down to one and a half saddlebags,” he revealed in a conspiratorial whisper.

Rainbow Dash chuckled. “He got you good, Twilight!” she said, giving Spike a supportive wink.

“Yes, I suppose he did,” Twilight agreed, almost looking proud of him. “Well then,” she said after a moment, “Shall we head off?”

Rainbow nodded once, then launched herself into the air and barrelled out of the door. Twilight gave the room of books one last look before looking to Spike. “I should be back in a couple of hours, okay? Just be careful with the ones on the higher shelves; some of them are incredibly rare and delicate—and we don’t want another one burnt away, do we?”

Spike scowled and waved an arm at her dismissively. “Yeesh, will you stop worrying and go have fun already? It’s almost like you’d rather be stuck in here than being out with your friends.”

“Well, it is a close second,” Twilight admitted, only half joking. She quickly leaned down to give Spike an affectionate nuzzle, then turned away, following Rainbow Dash out into Ponyville.

As Twilight closed the door behind herself and headed for the park, Spike began his work. Cracking his talons together, he reached for the first, nearest book in the pile of new arrivals.

It was one that wouldn't be found on his list.

***

"So, what was up with that major workload back there?" Rainbow asked, lowering herself into a hover next to Twilight. She seemed slightly out of breath.

Twilight smirked. "Oh, so you're finished showing off now, and I can have a chance at conversation?"

Rainbow answered Twilight's snide comment with a roll of her eyes. "Yeah, like you didn't know what was gonna happen when you asked how I was doing with my new routine."

Twilight chuckled. "Point taken; I should have expected eight minutes of stunt flying from you."

"Exactly!" Rainbow landed next to her, giving her a smug grin. "As if I'd ever turn down the chance to prove how awesome I am!"

“I just hope it’s going to be ‘awesome’ enough for the Wonderbolts at your demonstration,” Twilight commented.

“Me too, Twi,” Dash sighed and hung her head slightly, looking a little nervous for the first time. “Me too.”

Twilight stopped for a moment, reaching over to give Rainbow a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “Hey now, don’t worry!” she encouraged. “That new routine of yours is really something else! Besides, once you add your little party trick to the end of it, I’m almost certain you’ll blow the competition out of the sky!”

Rainbow glanced up at her, confused. “My… ‘Party trick’?” She asked, giving Twilight an odd look. “You mean the one where me and Pinkie… You know, with our tongues?” She made a vague gesture with one hoof.

Twilight’s cheeks instantly turned a bright red. “N-No! Of course not!” She stammered. “Whatever you do, don’t do that in front of a crowd!”

Rainbow looked relieved. “Well thank Celestia for that! I thought you’d gone completely mad. I don’t think the Wonderbolts need to see that!” Rainbow stopped for a moment, looking thoughtful. “Although, it would be pretty impressive in midair…” She shook her head, before giving Twilight another quizzical glance. “So, what do you mean, ‘party trick?’”

Despite her furious blush and incredible embarassment, Twilight managed to raise an eyebrow. “Oh, gee, I don’t know… Maybe the one where you obliterate the visible light spectrum?” She asked, with a truly admirable amount of sarcasm given the circumstances.

“Oh, yeah.” Rainbow chuckled sheepishly. “That. Yeah, I don’t think there’ll be many other tryouts there who can match a Sonic Rainboom. After what happened at the Young Flyer’s Competition, and with all the points I racked up at the Wonderbolts Academy, these trials are as good as mine!”

Twilight smiled at her enthusiasm and confidence, but it was one tinged with sadness. “I’m just sorry I won’t be there to see you reach your dream,” she said. “I’d love to come with you all to Canterlot…”

Rainbow shrugged. “Hey, it’s no big deal,” she reassured Twilight. “This isn’t the end of the journey! It’s just a chance for us hopefuls to really show our stuff to the Wonderbolts. All we get is one little hoof-made routine each, though. I’ll have to do a lot more to get on their radar.” Her familiar cocky smile surfaced. “Besides, you’ve just seen my amazing new routine, and you’ve already had two Rainbooms! It’s not like you’ll be missing out on much.”

Twilight chuckled. “Technically, three, if we’re counting the one from when we were all fillies,” she reminded her.

“Huh,” Rainbow grunted. “I forgot about that one.” She scratched her chin contemplatively. “Maybe I should start charging you for these…”

Twilight swatted a hoof at Rainbow in mock annoyance, which she easily dodged with a laugh. The pair walked on in silence for a few moments, soaking in the tranquil atmosphere of Ponyville.

The town was a very odd paradox at times; it was always either the very definition of peace, or the very definition of insanity. Still, Twilight felt that the occasional bouts of craziness were almost worth it for these serene days; the kind of morning where the world was just a pleasant backdrop. She nodded politely at some of the ponies they trotted past, many of whom were still discussing the performance Rainbow Dash had just put on in front of them.

Surprisingly, Rainbow was actually ignoring this attention instead of soaking it up as she would have done previously. These days, she seemed perfectly willing to show off her talent, but not to let her ego swell so much afterwards.

To think how far both Twilight and her friends had come over the past couple of years. Here she was, a former social pariah, now reformed enough to be at least a passing acquaintance to most of the ponies in the town she lived in. Next to her, a former showboat was now at peace with her surroundings, doing nothing more to seek attention than just being herself.

Twilight sighed contentedly as she trotted alongside her friend. They had all learned so much from each other, and they were all better for it. Nowadays, she could barely remember what life was like before she had such wonderful friends—and she could hardly imagine life without them.

The very fact that they were on their way to this particular Playdate was evidence enough for how much they had changed each other. Twilight had trouble imagining the boisterous, speed-obsessed pegasus she’d first met when she arrived in Ponyville ever having a pet like a tortoise. It really was a sign of just how much of an effect the girls had had on each other.

The pair passed into the park, revealing a sprawling ocean of grass. Under the cool shade of a tree in the centre of the field, four ponies sat around a patterned cloth set out beneath them, with a picnic spread scattered about them. Further out in the meadow, the ponies’ pets could be seen as little more than specks against the sky and ground.

“Looks like everyone’s here already,” Twilight noted, glancing wryly at Rainbow Dash. “Maybe somepony should have remembered we were running late, instead of doing a stunt routine?”

“Well, maybe somepony shouldn’t have wasted time bribing their assistant!” Rainbow shot back with a grin.

“Wait, what?”

“Oh c’mon, Twi!” Rainbow said, rolling her eyes. “The way he looked when he talked about that whatsit-crystal? That’s the face Winona makes when AJ gives her a doggy treat.”

“It’s not my fault that the best path to obedience is through his stomach!” Twilight argued. “It just so happens that, according to him, Dawnlight Crystals are the most delicious of all gemstones, created in the very light emanating from Princess Celestia when she raises the sun each day— ”

“Don’t care,” Rainbow interrupted, “and it doesn’t change the fact that you bribed him. With a treat. Like a dog.” She chuckled, grinning at Twilight. “What next, are you gonna teach him to roll over and play dead?”

Twilight decided to forego further conversation, instead resorting to a stern, resentful glare.

Rainbow managed to bear it for only a few seconds before turning away and grunting. “Yeesh, it was just a joke!” She sighed, nodding towards the group now waving over at them. “C’mon, let’s go see the girls.” With that, she leapt into the air, spreading her wings to glide down towards the ongoing picnic.

“I’m so telling Spike you think of him as a pet when I get home!” Twilight called, chasing after Rainbow.

“Ooooh, I’m soooo scared! What’s he gonna do? Come after me in his battle apron , and clean me to death?”

Despite her best efforts, Twilight couldn’t help but laugh. The pair were still giggling as they rushed up to meet their four friends, turning to greet the new arrivals.