Predictions and Prophecies

by WaferThin

Shattering

The train thundered its way through a tunnel. The crash of wheels on tracks echoed endlessly through the darkness of the hollowed mountain, bouncing back on itself until the original sound was lost in the wailing cacophony of shrieking metal.

It was as if they were riding a storm cloud.

Only one of the train’s passengers heard this morose interpretation of the noise, though. Even then, it was but a side-note in her conscious mind; she had much more important things to concentrate on.

Finally emerging from the darkness and the noise, the carriages hurtled forth; the spires of distant Canterlot grew inexorably closer in the distance. Aboard one of these carriages was a group of six ponies. Five of them were desperately trying to speak normally, to enjoy their journey. They couldn't quite manage it, though. Not with their sixth member so out of sorts.

The group chanced an occasional glance towards the troubled mare. She had, seemingly deliberately, seated herself on the far side of the carriage from them. Each time they looked, their eyes were met with the same scene: a pensive stare out of the window. A troubled frown. A look of worry and fear. Incoherent mumbling.

The group only grew more restless and concerned as time went by. There was clearly something troubling Twilight.

After yet another of her attempted jokes fell flat amidst the air of confusion and worry, Pinkie Pie had had enough. Showing far more bravery than her friends, and acting before they could stop her, she leapt across the carriage and landed upon the baggage shelf above Twilight's head. Dangling from the rack by her back hooves, she hung upside down in front of the out-of-sorts pony.

"What's got you down, frowny-frown?" Pinkie asked.

Twilight grunted, the surprise of a vision full of pink snapping her out of her stupor. She gave Pinkie a glare, sighing.

“It’s nothing, Pinkie,” she said quietly. “I just… I need to think.”

Pinkie Pie just hung there, smiling at Twilight.

Twilight coughed, staring at Pinkie balefully.

“By myself.”

Pinkie Pie didn’t move, still grinning. One of Twilight’s eyes started to twitch; she suppressed a growl.

“As in, without you?”

Her anger finally cracked Pinkie’s impenetrable beam, reducing it from the usual face-splitting status to a mere consoling smile. “C’mon, Twi!” she pleaded, swinging a little closer to her. “We’re your friends! You know you can tell us what’s troubling you! You can share anything with us, and know that we’ll always be there to help you!”

Something flashed across Twilight’s face then. It was there for less than a moment, but it still gave everypony watching a pause for thought. It was horror, helplessness and… Disgust, all in a single look, before it disappeared. A mask of impassiveness rose in its place.

“Not this time, Pinkie,” Twilight said softly. “Not with this.”

Pinkie was silent for a moment, raising an eyebrow. “What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked jovially. “Friendship cures everything, silly! Haven’t we proved that yet?”

“Look, I just—”

“Besides, I promised, remember?” Pinkie continued, raising a hoof to her forehead in a mock salute, reciting herself from earlier. “I promise to keep the troops smiling and laughing at all times, sir!” She waved the hoof towards Twilight, giggling. “And since you’re here now, that includes you! There’s no way I’m going to break my promise, because losing a friend’s trust is the fastest way to—”

“Pinkie, no!” Twilight hissed angrily. “Just leave me alone!”

She instantly regretted snapping like that. Pinkie’s smile dwindled away into nothingness. She looked to be on the verge of tears.

“Look, it’s… It’s just something I have to think about,” Twilight sighed, sagging slightly. “It’s nothing for you to be… Worried about.” Wincing, she gave Pinkie a pleading look. “Just give me some time alone, please?”

Pinkie stared at Twilight for a long moment, running her eyes over the unicorn’s face with real intensity; she sought some kind of answer, some way through the emotionless expression to the truth held underneath. Across the carriage, four ponies held their collective breath with anticipation.

Then, the moment passed. The grin came back at full strength, and with a surprisingly graceful flip, Pinkie threw herself from the shelf and landed back on her hooves.

“Okie dokie, then!” she chirped, bouncing her way back over to the group. As she left, Twilight exhaled with relief, hanging her head slightly.

Pinkie parked herself next to Rainbow Dash. She sat with a small smile on her face, humming some tune to herself, apparently completely unaware of the questioning looks from the others. She remained lost in her own world for a few good seconds, in fact, before somepony’s patience finally snapped.

“Well?!” Rainbow hissed, nudging Pinkie in the side.

Pinkie’s humming cut off as she faced Rainbow with a wide-eyed look of confusion. “Well what?” she asked.

“What’s up with Twilight?” Rainbow said exasperatedly.

Pinkie smiled again. “Oh, she’s thinking about something,” she answered happily.

Rainbow, Rarity and Applejack gave perfectly synchronised long-suffering groans, and even Fluttershy seemed agitated. “I think, uhm… I think we all guessed that already, Pinkie,” she explained quietly. “We all thought you’d gone to… you know, find out what’s wrong?”

Pinkie looked confused. “I did!” she insisted. “And I already told you, she said she wanted to think! She was just wanting some ‘time alone’, whatever that means.” For a moment, her smile dipped, almost looking sad. “She made that clear enough.”

After a second’s silence, though, Pinkie bounced back with a giggle at the notion. “What a silly idea! Who would ever want to be alone? I know I wouldn’t!”

To apparently prove her point, she grabbed a startled Rarity, pulling her into a one-sided hug. Rarity tolerated this for a few moments before trying to squirm her way out.

“But that’s… Ungh… So clearly an evasion, dear!” The unicorn wheezed, struggling to escape Pinkie’s grip. “There’s definitely something troubling her, something that she… Ah… Doesn’t want to tell us about! Did you not think to enquire further?”

Pinkie finally released her, giving the heavily-breathing mare a sceptical glance. “Don’tcha think Twilight would have told us if something was seriously wrong?” she asked. “We’re her friends, after all! She knows if there was something the matter, she could always bring it to us—and if she says it isn’t a biggie, then I believe her!” Pinkie faced the group with a reassuring smile. “She’s not such a silly filly that she’d keep something important like that to herself!”

Fluttershy giggled. “Well, we know she isn’t really one for keeping secrets…” She shared a knowing look with Rarity, both of them tittering at a shared memory.

"You know I can hear you, right?" Twilight called, immediately silencing the group. They turned as one to face the subject of their conversation, with varying degrees of sheepishness. She merely sighed, giving the group a look they couldn't quite understand.

"Look, girls," she began, running a hoof through her mane. "I know that I’ve been worrying you, and I don't mean to. There's just... There’s something I have to check, in Canterlot. And it's not something you can help with." She looked into each of their eyes as she spoke. "I just need to do this for myself, without you..." She broke off, turning to stare back out of the window. After a moment, she shuddered, and looked at them again, a new determination in her eyes. "Just... Have fun over the next few days, okay? Don't let me bother you, just have a good time." She turned away and muttered under her breath, "While you still can..."

The group was silent for a moment, the low rumble of the train the only sound. They shared confused glances for a time. Finally, Applejack rose to her hooves. Carefully walking across the swaying carriage, she made her way over to Twilight’s side. She rested a foreleg over her, drawing her into a compassionate semi-hug, not noticing the unicorn cringe under her weight.

"Twi, hun," Applejack said, giving her a reassuring smile, "Ah just don't think ah could enjoy mahself, knowin' you were out of sorts." She looked back over her shoulder at the group, nodding insistently towards Twilight. The girls got the idea, and rushed over to join the hug and give their own assurances.

"Yeah, AJ's right!"

"It just wouldn’t feel right!"

“We wouldn’t want to have fun without you…”

Twilight sniffed, her eyes watering. "I... I know, girls." She returned the hug for a moment, content to lose herself in the loving embrace of her friends. It couldn't last, though, and she had to peel herself from their grip.

Though on the verge of tears, Twilight managed a small smile. Even now, her friends were so protective; so eager to help her.

Would they still be, if they knew—

Kill.

Her smile began to feel strained.

“Look, I promise it’s nothing for you to all get worried about,” she lied, trying to force some sincerity into her voice. “It’s like… the opposite of the whole ‘tardy’ thing; it really isn’t that big a deal.” Twilight winced at both the lie and the memory, before continuing. “Right now, it’s just something I need to look into. I can’t tell you what’s going on, but I promise that as soon as I’ve got everything cleared up, I will let you all know. You’ve just got to give me time to sort this out for myself, alright?”

Twilight stared into the faces of five ponies who, despite her assurances, still felt concerned and sceptical. A few seconds passed like that, with Twilight’s hope for privacy dwindling by the moment, along with her smile. As the moments drifted by, a battle raged inside her.

You need to tell them.

I can’t tell them!

But they have to know! You need to get them away from you!

It’s not going to happen. I won’t let it.

How can you fight fate?!

I don’t know yet… But I will. I’ll find a way. I’m not going to ki… I won’t hurt them!

Twilight was snapped back to her senses by a blur of pink movement. After a second, she recognised the motions.

“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” Pinkie giggled, beaming at her. “I trust you, Twilight! I’m sure you’ll let us know what’s up if you need to!”

The twinge of guilt was almost enough to force her to spill there and then. The fact that she was taking Pinkie’s honest trust, her promise, and subverting it like this… It was so hard to bear, but she had to do it. “Thank you, Pinkie,” Twilight murmured, forcing the smile back onto her face. She turned to face the others. “Girls?”

Slowly, with more reluctant motions and only muttered assent, the other four mares performed the routine. The knife in Twilight’s gut twisted as she glanced at Pinkie’s smiling face again; she was forcing all of them to violate her friend’s most sacred of pacts, in order to preserve her own lie.

She reminded herself that it was all to keep them safe.

But for how long?

Twilight shook her head to dislodge the treacherous thought. “Thanks, guys,” she said, feeling relief for the first time since boarding the train. “I promise, as soon as I’m sure of everything, you’ll know. For now, I just need to think.” She stood up, stretching her hooves a little. “I think I’ll go for a walk, clear my head… Maybe get something from the food cart.” With that, she headed out of the carriage, leaving the five behind her.

The moment the carriage door closed behind Twilight, Rainbow Dash spoke. “Alright, this is serious. We have to find out what’s bugging her. We’ve gotta make her talk!”

Pinkie gasped, scandalised. “No, Dashie!” she cried. “We all Pinkie Promised!”

Rainbow rolled her eyes, flapping her wings irritably. “There’s something seriously messed up here, Pinkie!” She exclaimed. “Twilight’s definitely got a problem—something that’s making her act really weird and sad, and making her want to keep away from us! Our friend is hurting, and we have to find out why, so we can help her!” She raised herself into a hover, genuinely angry now. “Compared to that… who cares about some stupid promise?!” She demanded.

Pinkie stared at the enraged pegasus, sinking slightly. Tears began to form at the edges of her eyes. “I care,” she whimpered.

Rainbow instantly deflated. “Aww geez, Pinkie…” She drooped back down to the carriage floor, awkwardly scratching her head with a hoof. “You know I didn’t mean it like that…”

Rarity quickly made her way to Pinkie’s side, pulling her into a hug this time. “Rainbow, dear, I assure you that we’re all just as concerned as you are,” she asserted, giving her a mild glare for upsetting Pinkie Pie. “But we, at least, can withhold our aggression! Twilight said that she will tell us when she’s ready, and that will just have to be enough for you!”

Rainbow looked from Rarity and Pinkie to Fluttershy, who studiously avoided her gaze by hiding behind her mane, and Applejack, who gave her a much stronger glare than Rarity had dared to.

“Y’know what?” Rainbow muttered, standing up. “I think I need some air, too.” She trotted out of the carriage, slamming the door behind her.

***

Twilight shakily levitated a hooful of bits over to the vendor, offering him what smile she could before taking the cress sandwich she’d just bought. On her way back down the carriage aisle, she noticed a free space in this car. The ambient clatter of the train was actually a lot quieter here than in the carriage she’d been sharing with her friends, and what few ponies there were present were sitting in silence, reading or gazing out of the windows. Maybe she could finally get a chance to sit and think clearly, without distraction?

Kill.

Evidently not.

Twilight sighed heavily as she slid her saddlebags onto one of the free seats, and seated herself next to them. Dropping her sandwich onto the table in front of her, she stared out of the window. After a few moments of contemplation, she levitated her food over to her mouth.

Chewing on her snack distractedly, she did what she’d been trying to do throughout the train ride: let her mind analyse. This was normally what she was good at; given the chance to stop and think, there really was little she couldn’t find a way around.

This time, though, all she had was circles. Tracks of logic, looping back on themselves indefinitely.

She knew that, no matter what, she wouldn’t ever choose to do… that. She couldn’t conceive of any possible situation that would make her ever even consider it. The facts, though, weren’t in her favour: no matter how improbable it was, every single other prediction in the book had come true. Regardless of whether or not she wanted to do it, history dictated that she must do it.

But she couldn’t.

But she must.

Twilight snorted, tearing a large chunk out of her sandwich. She simply couldn’t progress further until she found out more about the book—and that meant talking to an authority who would know more than she did.

That always meant the Princess.

Or... Did it? Twilight realised with a start that, in this case, there was another option. The book had come, unprompted, from the Canterlot Archives, after all; she hadn’t ordered it, and yet there it was in her delivery. Surely, then, if anypony were to know of its origins, it would be the Chief Librarian?

Given what she knew, the only possibilities were that either this was an astronomically well-timed coincidence, or the book had been planted and intentionally sent to her at this time. Given the relative improbability of the former—as well as the difficulty of investigating such an origin—Twilight decided to focus on the latter.

She couldn’t believe for a moment that Paige Turner had been the one to send it. They had been close once, back when she had spent most of her days in the Archives researching magic. She had spent many an hour pouring over ancient spells and treatises with the elder pony in her search for magical knowledge. She knew that the kind, aging mare wouldn’t have been the one to send her such a hateful tome. The fact remained, however, that nothing left the Archives without Paige’s permission, and she had an almost encyclopaedic knowledge of the books it held.

She surely couldn’t have been the source, but she was a good place to start.

Twilight hadn’t changed much about the situation, if anything. She still didn’t know who had sent the book, or why—but now, she had a new lead. It gave her a boost of confidence, a feeling of hope; she could find the culprit, and she could face this problem.

Twilight finished her sandwich and rose to her hooves. She turned to leave the food car.

And saw Rainbow Dash through the door’s glass panel, about to come in.

Gripped by panic, Twilight was anchored in front of her seat. She couldn't face Rainbow—not on her own. Back in the carriage, with the girls, Rainbow had seemed the most eager to hear the truth, the least convinced by her lies. Twilight just knew Rainbow had followed her, to interrogate her until she caved in.

And she would. Twilight knew it. She'd come so close, back there, to blurting out the truth. It was only the desire not to hurt her friends—the fear of seeing them turn and run—that had stopped her.

As a group, they could be calmed, restrained. On her own, though, Rainbow Dash would be unrelenting. She would corner Twilight, and wouldn't let up until she had learned the horrible truth.

Twilight saw Dash start to open the car door. She did the only thing she could think of, and threw herself to the floor. Hurriedly, she crawled underneath her table, before suddenly remembering her saddlebags. Lashing out with a hind leg, she managed to hook the strap. She pulled her hooves in behind her, dragging the bags underneath the chair, and then curled up as tightly as possible.

For several, seemingly-endless moments she stayed there, the beat of her heart seeming to race the thud of the wheels against the track below. She clung to her hind legs desperately, pulling them in tighter and doing her best to ignore the ache already setting in.

If I can stay under here for just a few minutes, Twilight thought, then surely by then Rainbow will have given up, and I can leave—

"Uh, Twi?" came a voice from above her. "What're you doing down there?"

Drat.

The rush of adrenaline from being discovered prompted her to flee. Instead, Twilight reluctantly extracted herself from beneath the chair, carefully avoiding smacking her head on the underside of it. She rose to her hooves shakily, the relief of having them stretched out again completely overcome by her fear. Without even looking, she could feel the weight of the other passengers’ amused gazes.

"I, uhm, I was just, ah..."

Twilight stalled, racing to find an explanation other than 'I was hiding from you so that you couldn't make me tell you about the evil prophecy that has me so terrified.' With a flash of inspiration, she subtly kicked out at the saddlebags she'd thrown under her chair, spilling the books out from it. "I was just trying to pick up all these books!" She exclaimed, gesturing downwards with a hoof.

Rainbow glanced towards them, letting out an appreciative whistle. "Yeesh! I guess you decided to bring the whole library with you instead of leaving it behind, huh?" She teased.

Twilight chuckled nervously. "Well, you know me! Always… Reading books!" She gave Rainbow a strained grin. "Mind giving me a hoof?"

"No problem, egghead," Rainbow taunted, lowering her head to grab a book with her mouth. As soon as she brought it up to the table, though, she spat the tome out and scrunched her nose in disgust. "Blegh, so dusty!" She grumbled, leaning back down for the next, taking a quick glance at the cover this time. "What are these, old fairytale books?"

Twilight was focused on levitating the books Dash was retrieving from under the seat— as well as the ones she herself could see—back into her saddlebags, so her answer was more reflex than anything. "Oh, it's a collection of some of the more authoritative sources in the field of prophecy," she explained absently as she floated another book past her eyes, carefully ensuring each title was entering her saddlebag in the correct order, seeking comfort in the routine. "I'm using them as a comprehensive and cumulative reference guide, to ascertain the possible validity of the prediction concerning me and..."

Twilight trailed off as her mind finally caught up with her mouth. Stupid! She thought. She had slipped straight back into lecture mode, speaking as her normal self conversing with a friend, as she would any other day—and her unconscious mind had been all too eager to blurt out the dreaded truth. She couldn't afford another mistake like that. She couldn't allow herself to become distracted so easily! She'd almost given away everything!

Twilight bit her lip anxiously, sneaking a glance at Rainbow. Fortunately, the pegasus didn't seem to have noticed that Twilight had petered out—she had probably stopped listening a while ago, in fact.

Unfortunately, this was because her attention had instead been focused on one of the books she had picked up, which was now opened up on the seat before her. She was staring at in surprise.

"Wow, Twi!" Rainbow laughed, waving a hoof at the page in front of her. "You? Doodling in a book? I never thought I'd see the day!"

Twilight felt her blood turn to ice. There was only one book on that train that she had written in.

With a loud thud, the tome slammed shut. Rainbow leapt backwards in surprise as it hurtled from her view. She flared her wings to stop herself from crashing into somepony, coming to a hover in the air. Turning in time to see it slot back into the saddlebag, she gave Twilight a shocked stare.

Twilight said nothing. She was panting heavily, a wild look in her eyes. She was staring back at Rainbow, looking like she was about to take flight herself. She looked ready to run.

She looked scared.

“Um, wow?” Rainbow muttered, rubbing a hoof against the back of her head sheepishly. “I, uh… I guess that was private, huh? What, was that your diary or something?”

Twilight did her best to calm herself. She closed her eyes, and took a series of deep breaths. Even so, her voice came out shakily. “I guess… Something like that, yeah.”

Rainbow lowered herself to the floor again, a little tense, and slowly approached Twilight. When the unicorn made no attempt to flee, Rainbow visibly relaxed, and wrapped a leg around her friend.

“Don’t worry, that’s cool,” Rainbow reassured her. “I mean, a bit weird, writing private stuff in someone else’s book, but… I won’t ask. That’s private stuff, your business.” She glanced away for a moment, pensive. “Diaries are a serious no-go area.” She looked back at Twilight, a grin on her face. “Besides, I know you wouldn’t keep anything too important from a friend.”

For a moment, her tone had sounded almost accusatory… But Twilight was sure it was just her imagination, and she breathed a sigh of relief. It was clear that Rainbow hadn’t really paid attention to what she had written in the book, since she wasn’t asking for answers.

Or running away.

Still, Twilight had read plenty of psychological analysis texts in her time—even if Rainbow Dash hadn’t. She knew when somepony was trying to relax her, to disarm her. She couldn’t let her guard drop, not even for her friends.

Especially not for her friends.

Despite this, it was relieving to know that she was still the only one who knew of her monstrous (possible, not certain, she sternly reminded herself) future. It gave her a little breathing space, a reason to relax.

Later, when Twilight looked back on the train ride, this was what she would blame for what happened next. That second of relief, that opportunity for calm…

It was like tempering a metal, she would think. It would be gradually heated, have intense pressure applied to it. Both would steadily increase, putting the metal under increased strain, moulding it into a strong, stable structure. Then, suddenly, it was plunged into cold water, granting it a moment of calm, a moment to cool.

And then all that heat—all that pressure—slammed right back onto it, a precise blow that shattered it completely.

Right now, Twilight needed a reprieve. She needed that moment of calm. She clung to it desperately, like a drowning sailor clinging to debris in a sea of despair.

It brought her all the closer to shattering.

“Come on,” she said, breaking the hug and managing to scrape a smile back onto her face. “We should get back to the girls.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow at her. “Uhm, mind if I get something to eat first?” she asked. “Kinda the reason I came all the way to the end of the train. You know, the food cart.”

“Oh. Oh!” Twilight gave Rainbow a nervous grin. “Sure, go ahead, I’ll just wait here.”

Rainbow smiled at her again before trotting over to the stallion behind the counter. She shook her head. To think, you thought she’d come just for you! She chastised herself.

Twilight watched Rainbow pay the vendor thoughtfully. It was true, she had assumed that Rainbow had followed her, to try and force her to reveal her troubles. It was an easy assumption to make—she had been worrying everyone with her behaviour, after all, and Rainbow had seemed the least persuaded by her attempts to avoid the topic—but maybe, just maybe, it wasn't that big of a problem to everypony else. After all, Twilight herself had dropped the issue of Pinkie Pie and her reality-defying ways, hadn't she? Surely if she could set aside such a major problem she had with a friend as the laws of physics themselves, then her friends could do the same for her.

Maybe that could be the topic for a friendship report, she noted absently. Knowing when a problem isn’t really that big of a deal to your friends.

The pain and guilt from having to turn away the care and attention of her friends hadn't left; it still gnawed at her conscience, but she knew it was for the best. It was for their own safety.

All she had to do now was defy centuries of eerily accurate fortune telling, and directly contradict a prediction of her own future, all by herself.

No pressure , then...

Trotting back over to Twilight with a small bag clutched in her mouth, Rainbow Dash noticed Twilight's pensive manner. She decided to wait patiently for the unicorn to return her attention to the world.

That patience didn't last long, though. "Effyfin aw righ’?" She tried to ask, before frowning at the bag.

Twilight snapped out of her reverie, grasping the bag with her magic and levitating it to Dash's side.

"Thanks," the pegasus said. She worked her jaws to loosen them up, glancing around as they stepped through into the next, half-empty train carriage. "Sure is handy having one of you guys around."

"What, unicorns or pack mules?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.

Rainbow grinned mischeviously. "Same thing, isn't it?"

"Heh. Don't let Rarity hear you say that, she'd probably faint."

The pair giggled as they left the carriage, passing through the doorway into what Rainbow had earlier noted as a completely empty car.

The moment the door to the last carriage closed marked the end of Twilight's moment of calm.

Rainbow Dash took a second to check that they were alone, before leaping in front of Twilight. She hunched down, taking an aggressive stance.

"Okay, Sparkle," Rainbow growled, "Here's how it is. You're hurting—I don't know how, and I don't know why, but you’re trying to keep it away from us. Well, that stops now.” She jabbed a hoof at a stunned Twilight. “The fact is that I’m not gonna let anything hurt my friends and get away with it. So you tell me, right now, what's wrong!"

Twilight panicked, cowering instinctively; Rainbow’s food sagged out of her telekinetic grip and crumpled on the floor. "What? I... I told you, there's nothing wrong! Just leave me alone!"

"Don't lie to me!" Rainbow barked, taking a step forward. "There's something chewing on you, I just know it! Just let your friends in! We can help!"

"You can't help! None of you can, I can't risk it! I don't want to..."

"Don't want to what?! What is it?”

“Rainbow, please don’t, I can’t—”

“Tell me, Twilight! Tell me why you can’t just let us help you—”

Kill.

"Because I don’t want to have to hurt you!"

There was silence.

Twilight panted heavily. She fought, with every piece of her person, to hold back the tide.

But she couldn't. She had shattered.

"I don't want to hurt any of you," she whispered. "I don't want to have to... But I don't know if I can... I just don't... I can't..."

Twilight broke down, unable to continue. The floodgates burst, and tears streamed down her face. She collapsed to the floor, shuddering before a nonplussed Rainbow Dash.

"Twi... What? What're you talking about?! You'd never hurt any of us... You'd never hurt anypony!"

The huddled form on the floor whimpered. "Wouldn't I? How can you know?"

Rainbow felt completely lost. "Twilight, I don't understand. What happened? Why do you think you'd hurt me?"

Twilight’s response came not as words, but instead as a book, levitating out of her saddlebag and over to Rainbow. The pages flicked wildly until the final page was displayed before her.

"What? Twilight, I—"

"Read it."

"But why can't you—"

"Read it!" Twilight snapped, anger and self-loathing forcing her to raise her head and glare at Rainbow.

Rainbow stared into Twilight's eyes. She was shocked at what she saw there, at the fury and fear. She could see that she wasn't going to get any more out of Twilight, though, so she slowly nodded and reluctantly turned her attention to the page in front of her.

She read.

Twilight cringed. She watched anxiously, her heart sinking further with every passing second.

As she read, Rainbow's expression shifted from confusion and worry to just plain confusion. Her bewilderment only grew as she neared the end of the prophecy, until finally she finished, an expression of horrified understanding dawning on her face. She looked back into the terrified unicorn's eyes.

"Twilight?" She croaked. "What... What does this... This is what's got you acting all weird?"

Twilight nodded numbly, averting her eyes. With her attention gone, the floating book dropped to the floor with a soft thud.

“But... that’s... Why?!” Rainbow whispered, feeling bile rise in her own throat. “How could anypony think that?!”

"The prediction is clear," Twilight tried to keep her voice level, emotionally bracing herself for what was to come. "I have to... I'm going to..." She choked, unable to go any further, mewling pathetically.

For a few moments, Rainbow Dash struggled to repress her own revulsion. As she watched, Twilight cringed; she was anticipating panic, anger, abandonment.

Finally, Rainbow Dash closed her eyes. She took a few deep breaths before opening them, and as she looked back at Twilight, she seemed calmer. For a moment, a shadow of something... Darker... flickered in her eyes, before disappearing. "Okay, I think I... Get it, now.” She shuddered at the memory of the words. “That’s... That’s horrible, Twilight.”

Twilight sniffed. “You see?” She whispered. “I can’t stay around you girls... I’m dangerous, Dash! I don’t want to hurt any of you, but I—”

“Wait... you actually believe it?!"

"Huh?"

Rainbow Dash snorted. "Twi... I don't know why anyone would want to write something like that." She shook her head in anger, adding darkly, "I know what I'd like to do to them, though..." She raised her head and stared at Twilight again, her eyes blazing with intensity. "But I do know that some book isn't going to change who you are!"

"Rainbow, you don't understand—"

"No, Twilight, you don't understand!" She replied scathingly. "You've been acting weird this whole train ride because some book says you have to do something?" She jabbed a hoof at Twilight then, disbelievingly. "You think that just because you read something, you have to change who you are? You're really willing to give up on yourself, and let some piece of writing tell you what to do!"

Rainbow paused for a minute, apparently thinking. Twilight was silent, rendered too bewildered by Rainbow's outburst to interrupt, too terrified to make eye contact.

"Okay, bad example," Rainbow finally continued. "I mean, there are laws and stuff telling ponies what to do, and you pretty much live on books, so you probably learnt a lot of the stuff you live by from the things you've read, right?"

It took a moment for Twilight to realise this was a question directed at her, but she nodded furiously when she did.

"Right," Rainbow confirmed. "Still, this is different. This is something you know is wrong, something you know you'd never do—heck, we all know you'd never do it!"

Rainbow finally seemed to calm down. She reached out a hoof and rested it comfortingly on Twilight's shoulder, trying to give her a friendly smile. Her eyes, though, kept that determined fire.

"You're the only pony who can decide what you do, Twi."

Twilight tore herself from Rainbow's gaze, shaking her head sadly. "You still don't fully understand, Dash," she whimpered. "This book... The predictions in them... They've always, always come true. I spent hours at the library, going through all the history books I could find, trying to find any time when it was wrong." She finally looked back up, trembling. "It never was. Not once."

Rainbow seemed to consider this seriously for a moment. Then, she snorted again.

"So what?" She asked, anger creeping back into her voice. "You're the smartest pony I know, and you've been wrong plenty of times!" She winced, giving twilight a sideways glance. "No offense."

Twilight didn't respond. She felt like she couldn't. She just wanted to sink through the floor of the carriage.

"Point is," Rainbow continued regardless, gesturing wildly with a hoof, "You might be right most of the time, but that doesn't mean you're always gonna be right!" Rainbow suddenly perked up as an idea hit her. "It's like when I practise one of my aerial routines!" She explained. "I can get it exactly right ninety-nine times in practise, but that doesn't mean I won't mess it up the hundredth time!" She broke off, chuckling. "Actually, knowing me, I probably would."

Twilight sniffed, a small smile quivering its way across her lips. Rainbow took this encouragingly; she placed a hoof under Twilight’s chin and raised her head until she met Rainbow's eyes again.

"If you don't want to do... That... Then don't do it. I don't care how clever or powerful the pony who wrote that book is, you're Twilight Sparkle! You've taken down alicorns and Ursa Minors and chaos spirits before! What's some measly fortune-teller compared to that?"

"But what if those things only happened because they were foretold?" Twilight asked quietly, voicing the fears that had haunted her since she had read the very first prophecy in the book—the one that led to Nightmare Moon’s defeat. "What if we didn't actually have any say in them at all?"

Rainbow rolled her eyes in contempt. “I don’t buy that,” she said. “There’s no way that every little decision we make, all leading up to those big ones, can be, like, set out in advance! That’d be too much work for even Celestia to handle!” She took a step back, flaring her wings impressively. "Besides, D’ya really think anypony can tell this filly what to do?" She demanded, striking a mock-aggressive pose.

Twilight couldn't help it; she giggled. It was strange; the weight of her fear was still there, but it felt... Lighter, somehow. It was like Rainbow Dash had taken half of it, and filled the gap with bubbles. She hadn’t said anything Twilight hadn’t thought about herself, but the way she said it... Maybe it was just the fact that it came from somepony else as well as herself, but it boosted Twilight’s confidence nonetheless.

It didn’t make her feel any braver, though.

"I'm scared, Dash." Twilight managed to hold Rainbow's gaze this time, instead of averting her eyes. "I'm scared that I'm going to be made to do something wrong. Something I don't want to. I'm scared that I'm going to... Change."

In a heartbeat, Rainbow had surged forward, pressing into Twilight's face again. Her eyes were a battleground for compassion and anger, and that same flicker from before had returned. "You won't, Twi," she growled. "I won't let you."

They remained that way for some time. Endless green seas passed by outside the windows, and the great city grew ever closer as they stared into each other, seeking comforts for their worries.

Finally, Rainbow took a step back. "I trust you, Twilight," she whispered.

With those simple words, the pain and fear Twilight had felt since she had shown Rainbow the truth… It simply disappeared. She had done what Twilight couldn't; she'd looked the problem in the eye, and she had dismissed it. She knew that Twilight had thought she might have to ki… To hurt her... But she didn't care.

She still trusted her.

"Thank you," Twilight whispered, holding back tears of a different kind now.

Rainbow nodded, before glancing out of the window. "Looks like we're nearly there," she noted, before glancing back at Twilight. "We should go back to the others." Her eyes said far more than her words did; they demanded honesty.

"I… I can't tell them, Dash," Twilight muttered, shaking her head. "Not yet. I don't want to worry them, or... Scare them. I love you all too much to lose any of you." She glanced up at her friend, suddenly a little worried. “And you can’t tell them either, Rainbow. Pinkie Promise me you won’t!”

Rainbow glowered at Twilight. “Really? You really want me to do that silly dance of hers again?”

Twilight didn’t crumble under her glare. Conceding defeat, Rainbow sighed and hung her head, clearly disappointed. "I guess I can understand," she admitted, mechanically carrying out the routine whilst she spoke. "I mean, if I were Fluttershy, I don't think I'd still be on the same train as you!” She paused for a moment, heaving out a humourless chuckle, before raising her face to give Twilight a serious look. “You’ll have to tell everyone sooner or later, Twilight. If you really think this is a risk... They deserve to know."

Twilight nodded. "This is why I came," she explained, levitating the prophecy book back towards herself. Her voice took on a note of determination that she hadn’t felt since boarding the train, and its strengthening tone buoyed her confidence further. "I'm going to find out who wrote this, and I'm going to ask them why. I'm going to find a way out."

Twilight climbed to her hooves, returning the book to her saddlebags. As an afterthought, she picked up Rainbow’s food again, and trotted over to join her at the carriage door. Rainbow nodded her approval.

"Good," she grunted. "And I'm coming with you."

"What? No, Dash—"

"Nopony threatens my friends," Rainbow cut in forcefully, glaring at Twilight. "And nopony gets to hurt them like they hurt you. So I’m gonna let them know that. You’ll get your answers, and they'll get what's coming to 'em."

Twilight didn't think she'd ever felt more worry and comfort all at once. "Thank you," she said again, resting a hoof briefly on Rainbow's shoulder.

"Just doing what any friend would, Twi."

They left the empty carriage together to rejoin their friends, as the train plunged forward into the shadows of Canterlot's heady spires.

Comments

[WaferThin]

Thus concludes Act One. Stay tuned for Act Two: Opening Shots, which will arrive approximately whenever the heck I manage to put aside the ever-present temptations of lethargy and force myself to write it.

[Mithrandir]

I really like this, RD and Twi have good chemistry, you write them well!

[WaferThin]

1966896 Glad to hear you think so!

[Jorlem]

1942853
I could see that being possible.

Also, looking at the prophecy again, and along that line of thought, I note that it does not say that Twilight, or the Element of Magic will kill a wielder of one of the Elements of Harmony. It says that "Magic" will do the deed. It could be a spell that does it, not Twilight.

Also also, the last line states "Magic will kill a wielder of the Elements." ' The Elements.' Plural, and referring to all of them. Who do we know that has wielded all of the Elements?

Regarding this latest chapter: Rainbow Dash, you rock... Woohoo...

[i_am_the_jam]

Or Twilight will kill herself...

[ZillaBrony13]

Wait..weilder of the elements...elements in plural...
DEAR GOD! She's going to kill celesetia!