//------------------------------// // Preparative Perplexity // Story: Trickery Through Time // by Silvermyr //------------------------------// ”Of all mad, foolish, stupid plans you have ever come up with, this is bound to be the worst,” Suri stated with a deadpan voice. ”And that’s saying a lot at this point, m’kay.” Everypony looked at Flam, who looked back with a somewhat sheepish expression. Even his brother had a hesitant look in his eyes. ”Now now, look,” Flam began. ”I’m fully aware that my plan may seem a little…” ”Impossible?” Trixie suggested dryly. ”Strange,” Flam corrected sharply. ”But I think it can work. Somehow we can make it work, just give me some time.” Filthy Rich spoke up. ”I… wonder that,” Filthy seemed to hesitate for a moment while glancing at Flam. ”I mean… The Idol of Boreas… it’s more or less sacred, isn’t it? If nopony has found it yet, there must be reason for that. The griffons must have searched high and low for it ever since it got lost.” ”But what if we could go back in time and steal it before it becomes lost?” Ditzy proposed with her trademark aura of happiness. She was met with blank stairs from five other ponies. ”Well… the doctor says he can send ponies back in time, so maybe we can do that too.” ”Or maybe not,” Suri said tiredly. ”let’s try to keep this somewhat realistic, m’kay? No asinine plans- and no time travel.” She added the last part after seeing Ditzy trying to speak again. The cloud gray pegasus closed her mouth and looked down at the mahogany table, deep in thought. ”Fine, fine,” Flam held up his hooves in resignation. His voice suggested that he was not at all ”fine” with seeing his plan rejected so quickly. ”We are not going after the idol then. Does anypony else have any suggestion as to how we woo Princess Twilight? I don’t.” ”Not to speak of the rest of her friends,” Flim pointed out. ”Their gang is almost as tight as we are. If we want her to accept our… line of work, then we will need her friends to do so too.” ”So we need to convince Rarity as well?” Suri asked with an ominous voice. ”We can’t just… not do that, then?” ”Don’t think you are the only one who has history with Twilight’s friends,” Flam said calmly, but with a hard glint in his eyes. ”You swore to leave any grudges behind when you joined us, and I accept no less.” ”I know, I know, m’kay,” Suri said dismissively. ”But I don’t have to like it.” ”Certainly not,” Flam said with a calm, if cold, voice. ”I most certainly will never like running errands for Applejack…” Flim looked like he had just swallowed a flagon of vinegar when he heard his brother. Trixie got in involuntary picture of her dressed in a maid outfit, preparing breakfast for Twilight Sparkle. ”Trixie did not need that image,” she exclaimed with a somewhat terrified look. She swallowed a few times. ”I guess it’s to much to ask for that somepony has come up with an idea thanks to these… depressing prospects, is it?” ”Dragon treasure!” Ditzy exclaimed with a hopeful voice. She beamed at everypony around her. ”We steal a dragon treasure, and then Twilight can give it back to the dragons. Then the dragons are our friends, and Twilight loves making new friends!” Ditzy grinned proudly. It was the perfect plan. ”Look, Ditzy,” Trixie said with an explanatory and somewhat slow voice. ”We need to find something that Twilight can use to aid aaaaall,” Trixie made a sweeping motion with her forehooves ”of Equestria. Trixie agrees that an alliance with the dragons would do that, but she somehow doubt that the dragons will like Twilight when she gives back their stolen treasures. Trixie finds it is more likely they will roast her.” The tone suggested that Trixie would not lose sleep if Twilight was indeed roasted. ”Ooh,” Ditzy thought for a moment. ”I… didn’t think of that…” ”The Minotaurs?” Flim asked nopony in particular. ”Think there could be opportunity in that community?” ”We are going about this the wrong way,” Flam interjected. ”We can’t just throw different civilizations around the room like this. That is not how you plan anything.” There was a few seconds of silence in the large glass gazebo in Filthy Rich’s extensive garden. ”So basically none of you have any clue what you are doing?” Trixie asked. Nopony answered. ”Trixie shall take that as a ’no’ then.” They all knew it was futile to point out that Trixie herself didn’t seem to have any clue either. ”Eh, whatever,” Filthy said and rose from his chair. ”It’s probably past midnight by now. I’m tired. Let’s continue tomorrow. We have all the time in the world, after all.” He stifled a yawn and ignored Trixie’s annoyed mutterings about being bored. Ditzy yawned loudly. ”Sounds good to me. Night, everypony.” She fluttered over the table, hit the glass wall and tumbled down in front of the door. After she snapped out of her disorientation she pulled the handle, but it refused to open. She tried again. ”It opens outwards,” Filthy reminded for the third time this week. Ditzy stopped pulling and looked with one eye at Filthy and at the roof with the other. ”Sorry,” she said sheepishly and pushed the door open to begin her short flight home to the post office. The others retreated to wherever they slept behind her. Flim, Flam and Suri slept in Filthy Rich’s mansion as they were, officially, under his employ. Trixie had bought a small stagecoach where she slept. Ditzy had invited her to sleep in her house, but she had refused. She claimed that the stagecoach was more like home to her. Ditzy landed silently in front of the post office and took out the key from her saddlebag. She bit around it and tired to place it in the keyhole. She grunted, a bit annoyed. It was pitch black save for the silvery light of Luna’s moon, and her sight was not the best even in perfect conditions. As such, it took her almost a minute just to unlock her own front door. When she finally got it up, she tiptoed through the small reception area with the pile of outgoing mail. She would have to deliver it tomorrow, but first she had five to six something hours of sleep. She become a little happier when she saw that Dinky must have sorted through some of the mail. Incoming and outgoing in two neat stacks on the floor behind the counter. Ditzy trotted up to the door behind the counter and opened it. The interior was not nearly as cluttered as the reception. These were her living quarters, and those should be as clean and ordered as possible. She went through the short corridor and into the living room. The stairs from that room would take her to her room on the second floor. ”Hey, mom,” a tiny and sleepy voice came from the worn sofa on the other side of the room. Ditzy looked, and saw a tiny unicorn climb over the backrest. She was light purple, even if she appeared mostly gray in the darkness. The filly’s mane was hay blonde, just like Ditzy’s, and her eyes like liquid gold. Dinky yawned. ”Why are you home so late?” ”I have things to do, my little muffin,” Ditzy explained evasively. Then she sighed. She knew she had not spent as much time as she would have liked with Dinky lately. If the filly sat up until this late just to see her, then she really needed to do something about it. ”I’m so sorry, little muffin… I… I’m sorry,” she finished awkwardly. ”I miss you,” Dinky said as she let her ears fall flat. ”You are never home nowadays.” Ditzy’s heart melted immediately when she saw her filly’s honest and earnest look. Since the Canterlot Caper, she had been busy trying to come up with the next coup, and on top of that she had her mailmare job. It was also the first time she could meet her only real friends every day. She realized she had been selfish, seeing them so much she hardly saw her foal. ”I’m sorry. There is just so much going on right now,” Ditzy said tiredly. She would make it up to Dinky, starting tomorrow. ”What is going on?” Dinky peeped from the floor. ”You were never this busy before you met Diamond’s father, Filthy Rich. Is he making you work more?” ”Mmmmhmm,” Ditzy admitted, nodding. ”But I like him. He is a kind pony. And don’t call him Rich, he wants to be called Filthy.” ”Diamond Tiara has been much kinder too lately.” Dinky said with a yawn, but happily nonetheless. ”I was invited over to her tomorrow. Can I go?” ”Of course you can, little muffin,” Ditzy said and ruffled Dinky’s mane. ”Come on. Let’s go to sleep, and I promise we will visit Sugarcube Corner tomorrow after Diamond’s party, okay?” ”Thanks,” Dinky said and picked her ears up again. Ditzy draped her wing over her little foal, and together they went up the stairs. Ditzy gently kissed Dinky at the tip of her horn as they went to their respective bedrooms. Ditzy’s bedroom was not very large, but it sure was cozy. Her cloudbed and nightstand took up most of the space and the rest was mostly organized chaos, with random stuff placed wherever it could find a place. She knew she ought to clean her room a bit more, but deep down she realized it was a futile task. In a week’s time she would be back to square one again. She went past some of the things on the floor, among them a Power Ponies comic book. She looked at it and reminded herself that she should read a little to Dinky tomorrow. They both loved their reading sessions. She hopped up in her cloudbed and curled up in a ball with her wings draped over her as a blanket. She had always preferred her wing to an actual blanket. It was much cozier that way, and it was hard to get the soft cirrus clouds pegasi normally used for blankets down on the ground. She felt her eyes grow heavy the moment she put her head on the pillow and in just a matter of minutes Ditzy Doo was soundly asleep, dreaming of muffins galore. ***** Ditzy awoke by the sunlight shining through her bedroom window and feathers of her wing. She groggily opened her eyes, rubbed them lightly with her hooves and stood up. She yawned and stretched while looking around her room. She left the soft could bed and went down to the small kitchen to make herself some breakfast before the morning rounds. She could probably take her time today, as the piles with letters she had seen last night did not look too large. Knowing this, Ditzy put some tea on the stove, and looked at the breadbasket to see if there was any muffins left. She smiled happily when she discovered a raspberry and dandelion muffin at the bottom of the basket. This, combined with a healthy cup of tea and a cherry sandwich was the perfect way to start a day. The healthy taste of cherries exploded in her mouth and automatically banished all residue tiredness. Her lips curled upwards in a blissful smile. It was not a cherry muffin, but this was not far behind. Cherries had always been one of Dinky’s (and her own) favorite treats, but they were too expensive for her to afford during ninety-nine precent of the year. But now, when she was one of the richest mares in Ponyville thanks to her share of The Canterlot Caper’s payment, could they eat whatever she wanted, be it cherries, muffins or anything else. Ditzy ate quickly. She wanted to get home to Dinky again to spend some quality time with her daughter before the party. Her friends would understand. She went out in the reception area and looked over the pile of outgoing mail. Just as she thought; not too much today. She quickly sifted through the pile to chart out the best route. ”Hmm… Daisy, The Apples, Pinkie, Carrot Top, Filthy, Lyra, Oh, then I might see Bon-bon again…” Ditzy’s mood fell a little. She had, for obvious reasons, not been on very good terms with Bon-bon lately. ”…Cloud Kicker, Thunderlane, Junebug, Doc, Flitter, and Spike.” She quickly made a flight plan in her mind, picked up the pile of letters and put them in her mailbag. She donned her typical mailmare’s vest and cap and fluttered out in the brisk morning air. Days like this were her favorite. It was sheer bliss to glide slowly through the air, feeling the fresh, damp air flow into her lungs and fill her with vigor. Almost no other pegasi were out yet, so she had all the sky to herself. She decided to fly to the doctor first. She should at least see if time travel was possible. It never hurt to check, no matter what Flam said. ”Hello, Ditzy!” The doctor opened the door as she lifted her hoof to knock. He wore a large contraption on his head that completely covered his eyes. It looked a bit like a scooter helmet with a multitude of cables and flashing, colorful lights. It also seemed to heavy to be worn comfortably, as the doctors neck was bent in a strange way. ”I was just testing my newsflash goggles. As you can see, they are a great success. With these on, I can see a few seconds into the future.” Doctor Whooves silenced for a moment. ”For example, you are going to ask ’what are those?’ right about now.” ”What are those?” Ditzy asked the moment the doctor silenced. She looked at him with bewildered, veering eyes. ”Quite a success indeed,” The doctor said with a smile that was half hidden under the strange device. ”Can I have my mail?” He held out his hoof and promptly hit Ditzy in the face. She staggered backwards. ”Great wickering stallions!” he exclaimed in a loud voice. ”I’m so sorry. I’m afraid I can’t see anything in this contraption. Well, except for the future, that is… Hmmm, I will have to make some adjustments…” Ditzy giggled. The doctor was always such a funny stallion with all his weird things. She hopped up on her hooves as the doctor removed his helmet. Ditzy handed him the letters. ”Doc, can you send seven ponies back in time?” she asked without ceremony. The doctor gasped. ”Oh, of course not,” he answered. ”To send more than one pony back in time would require magic of unimaginable power. Now, making time come forward to seven ponies though, that would only take impossibly much power.” ”Is there a difference?” Ditzy asked, confused. ”Ah, yes,” Doctor Whooves answered, as if it was the most obvious thing ever. ”To go back in time would mean that you send somepony to the past, and then they aren’t born yet. One would have to bring a little bit out our time space and put it in the past, thus tangling up the space-time continuum. Only then would-” ”No, I mean between ’impossibly much power’, and ’unimaginably much power’?” Ditzy clarified. She had a feeling she would be standing here for hours if she didn’t stop the doctor before he got too far into his lecture. That had happened before, and Mayor Mare had missed an important social party in Canterlot because she did not get the invitation in time. ”But of course,” Doctor Whooves answered, again as if it was the most obvious thing ever. ”Unimaginably much power is more than out tiny minds can conceive. Even if we gathered all power in Equestria we still wouldn’t have even begun to scratch the surface of the unimaginable. Impossibly much power though, now that can be comprehended and calculated. It is simply too much to ever practically gather.” ”Ooh, okay…” Ditzy mumbled, disappointed. She had nourished a tiny flame of hope that her time-travel-plan might work after all, but it looked like everything was against her. She shook her head. One should not be unhappy on a day like this. ”I need to be going,” she said. ”Allons-y,” the doctor said and took on the newsflash goggles again. He turned around and smacked into the wall to his left. ”Ha! I predicted that!” he exclaimed with a triumphant voice. Ditzy heard him mumble something that sounded like ”Still hurt though…” before she took of towards Cloud Kicker. About an hour later she approached the large crystalline castle of Equestria’s newest Princess. She held the small package in her mouth and knocked on the door. She hoped Spike would open. She would prefer not to face Twilight if it could be avoided, as she was another pony Ditzy was not on very good terms with since the Canterlot Caper. ”Ditzy!? Is that you!?” Spike’s voice came from inside the castle. ”Yep,” Ditzy answered, happy that Twilight hadn’t answered. ”With mail for you!” When she opened her mouth she dropped the package on the ground. She looked down and took a moment to figure out what had happened. ”Not so loud!” Spike squeaked with a slightly panicked voice. ”Come up here, would you? I need to speak with you about… something…” Ditzy swallowed. She would have preferred not to go into Twilight’s castle. But Spike was expecting mail, so it was her solemn duty as mailmare of Ponyville to deliver it. She pushed open the door and peeked inside. She was met with a long hall. She flew in silently with the package in her hooves. It didn’t sound like anything had broken. She found herself in a long hallway with a lot of nearly identical doors. She looked around, trying to deduce anything that might lead her to Spike. The castle seemed much bigger on the inside than the outside. ”Psst,” It was barely more than a whisper, but her ears picked it up nonetheless. She turned around and saw a part terrified, part excited Spike beckoning towards a door while he looked left and right as if he was being stalked by timberwolves. ”Here Ditzy, quick!” Ditzy didn’t quite know what to make of him, but she hurried over to him anyway. A little to quickly, for she had not quite realized how slippery the crystal floors were. She tried to stop herself, but instead slid over the floor and smacked into a pedestal with an urn on it. Both Ditzy and spike stood as bewitched and watched the urn fall. The crash was far louder than she had anticipated, and the sound bounced in around the castle. Spike looked like he stood face to face with a livid Chrysalis. Utmost terror shone in his eyes and his mouth hung slightly ajar. Silence settled again, and Spike seemed to wait for the grim reaper to claim his immortal soul. When no shadowy figure with a hollow laugh and scythe appeared, he snapped back to his senses, grabbed Ditzy and shoved her inside the room where he had been hiding. He closed the door afterwards. Ditzy looked around in the room. The most striking impression was the walls. They were wallpapered with either pictures of the Power Ponies or pictures of Rarity, most of the latter evidently taken without her knowing. On the floor there was a small basket with a couple of blankets in it, and a Rarity plush. Beside it stood a large bowl of various gemstones. In a large bookcase Ditzy saw the finest collection of Power Ponies comics she had ever seen, some of them mint-in-bag. ”You have it, right? It’s the latest issue of the Power Ponies, isn’t it?” Spike asked with starry and adoring eyes. Ditzy looked away from a Picture of Rarity eating ice cream on her couch and hoofed spike the package. He ripped the wrapping off in a moment and proceeded to drool over the new issue. At the cover Ditzy spotted an earth pony with a dark blue cape and mask. Behind him came The Masked Matter-horn and Radiance. ”Yes!” Spike said and struck a victory pose. ”Neighvar Kreuger returns! He’s the best villain ever!” Ditzy shook her head. ”No, Four-Leaf Clover is best villain. He is so funny.” ”What, seriously?” Spike looked away from his now slimy comic. ” Four-Leaf Clover? He had like one issue. Sure, he was cool guys, but we need more background info on him before he really becomes interesting. And for that matter, his motives are just to have fun; no real reason whatsoever. How interesting is that?” ”Neighvar is weird,” Ditzy retaliated. His stories tended to be more puzzle-like than others, and to really enjoy them one had to read it multiple times to catch all details. Dinky didn’t like them very much as they were to slow for her taste. Ditzy herself liked reading some of them from time to time, for they were a welcome change of pace with the others, but ultimately she read for Dinky’s sake. ”Eh, he’s not weird, he’s awesome,” Spike said dismissively. He got something nervous and sinister in his eyes. ”Ehm, Ditzy,” he began tentatively. ”Look, due to… an incident… with these comics, Twilight have forbidden me to order them from House of Enchanted Comics, so perhaps you wouldn’t tell her that you have delivered this, alright?” Ditzy looked at Spike with an uncomprehending gaze. ”How come?” She tilted her head. Spike seemed to be somewhat confused by Ditzy’s eyes for a moment. He shook his head to snap out of it. ”Well…” Spike looked over his shoulder as if he expected Twilight to eavesdrop on him. ”My friends and I may or may not have been sucked into one of these before, okay? And Twilight was not too happy about that…” ”What?” Ditzy was more confused now than she had been before Spike answered. ”Look, the details aren’t important, just try to keep quiet about this, alright?” Spike pleaded. ”It’s really no harm done, as long as you don’t read the incantation on the back cover, okay? And for that matter the comic disappears once you leave it. No harm, no foul, and I really want to read them… House of Enchanted Comics has the best selection.” Ditzy decided not to ask how Spike could have a whole room pretty much dedicated to the Power Ponies if Twilight had forbidden them, and nodded. ”Hey Spike? You didn’t bring anything out of the comic, did you?” It was a long shot, but what had she got to lose? ”Actually, yea,” Spike replied after a moment of thought. ”Pinkie brought some cupcakes with her out.” Ditzy stopped listening. She saw it in front of her. An idea so wild, so strange, and so ingenious, so Ditzy Doo, that she had never thought it remotely possible if she had heard it a few minutes earlier. Now, however, there might be a chance. And if it worked… If it worked, then it would be glorious. This coup would be far more… fun… than anything else ever. This would trump even The Canterlot Caper. This would be a coup, Ditzy Doo style. ***** ”Are you serious? Please tell Trixie you aren’t, that this is some kind of joke or something?” They had gathered once again in Filthy’s gazebo. It was the perfect place to discuss their plans. The table was larger than the one they had used in Canterlot, and the view over Filthy’s garden was nice too. The walls were made of glass with mirror effect on the outside to prevent anypony from spying on them, and thanks to an expensive air conditioner the gazebo held a perfect temperature. ”But it can work!” Ditzy said giddily. Not even Trixie’s comments could bring her down right now. She was sure that her plan was good, it was simply to fun not to be. ”Even the doctor said this can work?” ”You didn’t tell him about us, did you?” Flam’s voice was calm, but there was something harsh in his face all of a sudden. ”Nono,” Ditzy energetically shook her head. ”I just asked about how time travel works, nothing else.” ”And this might work, is that what you are saying?” Flim said. He tapped his hoof against the table while he thought. ”Can this really work?” ”No,” Trixie and Suri said in chorus. ”I don’t think it will either,” Filthy chipped in. ”But I have been wrong before. And I know this doctor Ditzy is referring to. He is an engineer through and through, and he has an hourglass cutie mark. I imagine that if anypony can do this, then it’s him.” ”So you want us to… enter a comic, steal something, whatever you called it, and then…?” Flam asked and motioned Ditzy to continue. He sounded rather uncertain. Ditzy’s answer was interrupted by a knock on the gazebo’s glass wall. The six ponies all looked and saw Diamond Tiara stare into her mirror image. Filthy Rich got of his chair and opened the door. ”Hello, little diamond,” he said with a tender smile. He hugged his daughter quickly and she hugged back. ”How is you little get-together coming along?” ”Great, daddy. Your strangely shaped fruit are, like, the sweetest things I have ever had,” she said with the sparkling and smiling eyes that Filthy knew meant she wanted something more. ”Buuut, it could get even better if I could show the parrot. Can I? Pretty please?” ”Prankster is not mine, so I can’t decide,” Filthy Rich said apologetically. ”You will have to ask Flim and Flam.” The filly turned to the two brothers, who each looked back with a somewhat sheepish smile. ”Who could say no to that face?” Flim asked with mocked resignation. ”I will show Prankster if you like.” ”Can you do your amazing rope tricks too?” Diamond Tiara asked with a half questioning, half commanding tone. Flim didn’t answer, but suddenly a rope appeared around his hoof. He snapped it once like a whip and proceeded to move it around. Diamond Tiara watched with wide eyes as Flim spelled out letters in rapid succession. S-U-R-E-G-I-V-E-M-E-A-M-O-M-E-N-T. Flim picked up his cup of apple juice and finished it in one gulp. He then trotted along with Diamond Tiara. ”Say hello to Dinky from me!” Ditzy called after him. ”Will do,” Flim called back. There was a moment of silence. ”Well, I say,” Flam said with a relaxed smile. ”perhaps you should have been the Element of Generosity instead of Rarity, Filthy. To give your daughter pineapples for a weekend party… Last time I check they were five hundred bits apiece.” ”Hush you,” Filthy said without any heat. ”You and your brother spent near five thousand on Prankster’s golden cage. I spend the same to get something far more beautiful; my daughter’s smile.” Filthy got a look of realization on his face. ”And call me Rich if you please.” ”He is right,” Ditzy chimed in. ”Nothing is more beautiful than your daughter’s smile. It’s even better now that Diamond has become so nice.” Filthy Rich sighed. His relaxed smile vanished and was replaced with an irritated look. ”Hmm? Is there something wrong?” Ditzy said when she saw Filthy’s look fall. ”Did I say something bad?” ”Nothing,” Filthy replied shortly. ”I… just need to do something…” ”Nothing Trixie can help you with?” Trixie asked with an interested voice. ”She is a mare of many talents, as you know.” ”I’m aware,” Filthy said with a small smile. ”But I don’t think you know how to confront my wife about her… dominant mindset. If I recall correctly, last time you had to deal with ponies who annoyed you, an Ursa Minor nearly tore the roof off my mansion.” Trixie stuck a snooty pose and flicked her mane. ”Thank Celestia you know it too,” Suri said with a voice that suggested she had wanted to say something about this for quite some time. ”Can you please inform Spoiled that I am a seamstress, at the most, and not her mareservant, chef, butler, gardener, and everything else she can think of.” ”She won’t listen,” Filthy Rich said dourly. ”Now, where were we?” His voice made it clear that he didn’t want to discuss his private affairs right now. ”My plan! We were talking about my plan,” Ditzy reminded happily, and immediately the mood lightened. It was impossible to stay downhearted for long when Ditzy was happy. The mare all but jumped up and down on her stool. ”What do you think…” Ditzy looked at Flam and hesitated. ”…Flim? Are you Flim?” ”I’m Flam,” Flam corrected. ”Provided we can get into the comic in the first place, what exactly do we want to steal, and if we succeed, how does that improve our life quality?” ”Sending ponies back in time takes impossibly much power,” Ditzy explained knowledgeably. ”So we will need the most powerful… thingy… we can find to make it work.” She paused for dramatic effect. ”We need the Electro Orb.” Silence stretched for a few seconds before Flam sighed and motioned Ditzy to continue. ”Electro Orb,” Ditzy repeated tentatively. She had expected standing ovations, but everypony just stared blankly at her. ”It’s a blue sparkly thing that is powerful enough to power the Maneiac’s doomsday device. It should be able to power the doctor’s wibbly wobbly timey wimey… stuff too,” Ditzy explained. Flam still seemed lost. Somepony coughed. ”It’s an artifact in the Power Ponies franchise.” Filthy Rich clarified. ”It’s stored in a museum. Shouldn’t be to hard to steal, provided we can get into the comic at all, that is.” ”Ooookay,” Flam said, unsure whether Ditzy and Filthy were serious or just joking. ”Well, this is… strange. Very…” ”Stupid?” Trixie suggested dryly. ”The Great and Powerful Trixie can’t believe we are still discussing this. She could be eating peanut butter crackers by now, but instead she is stuck here, listening to something anypony could tell you won’t work.” ”That she is,” Flam said with light malice. ”And it’s not stupid…” he hesitated for a moment. ”…well, maybe it is, but more important, it is creative. All plans are good except for the bad ones. And I like this idea, though I’m not yet sure it actually can work.” ”Are you really suggesting we go on with this?” Trixie asked tiredly. ”Trixie is seriously considering asking a psychologist about you.” ”Psychology is the studying of ponies by those who needs psychological care,” Flam replied, effectively silencing Trixie. ”Now, let’s try not to get sidetracked again. Ditzy, how does one enter a comic?” ”Spike’s comic was sent from someplace called the House of Enchanted Comics,” Ditzy answered pensively. ”Maybe they have some magic on them comics?” ”No, you think?” Suri asked sarcastically. ”I’d never guessed, m’kay. I thought you just had to jump on the comic hard enough.” ”The Power Ponies franchise is owned by PC comics. Their print works is in Vanhoover…” Flam said slowly, ignoring Suri. ”So I guess we should write our own comic, break into the print works, print our comic, enter, and steal the orb? That way we are sure the… Electro Orb actually appear in it.” ”Can’t we just use one of Spike’s comics, if he has so many?” Filthy asked. ”We just… ”borrow” one for a few hours and then plant it back in the castle. Piece of cake.” ”Muffin,” Ditzy corrected. ”piece of muffin. And Spike said the comic disappears once you leave it. He would miss it.” ”That settles it. Suri, you fix,” Flam commanded lazily. ”You have a knack for mapping out designs on paper, so a comic shouldn’t cause you to much problems.” ”I don’t have much of a choice, do I?” Suri asked, knowing the answer. ”Fine, I will draw your comic, though I still think this is a waste of time, m’kay.” ”Strange plans are best plans,” Flam said with certainty as he leaned back and pulled the boater hat over his face. ”Nopony can catch you if they can’t predict your next move, and it’s hard to predict us if not even we know what we are doing.” ”Trixie does not agree that not knowing what we are doing something good,” Trixie remarked with a pointy voice. ”But either way, a quick strike against PC comics is just what Great and Powerful Trixie needs to get back into Great and Powerful shape again after three months holiday.” ”We really have nothing to lose,” Filthy said evenly. ”PC comics security poses no real threat to us, and we are not really stealing anything, are we?” ”No, we are giving them a nice comic issue,” Ditzy said, ever cheerful. The five ponies sat still around the table, everypony in lost in their own thoughts for a moment. Trixie broke the silence. ”Trixie should probably say that she still does not approve of this plan. She would prefer something that has any chance of working.” ”We shall look into this, and if it can work, then we shall go through with it. If it doesn’t seem to work, we forget about it and find some other idea. You happy now, Trixie?” Flam asked cooly. ”Trixie doesn’t think it matters what she says,” Trixie grumbled. ”Correct,” Flam said, earning him a glare from the showpony.