//------------------------------//
// Contingency 
// Story: More Dreams 
// by totallynotabrony 
//------------------------------//

	The girls were poking around the dusty library attic.  They were bored.  The whole becoming superheros thing was only fun as long as there was crime to fight.  This being Ponyville, there wasn’t much.  Sure, they got the occasional swarm/herd/singular-but-still-enormous-creature to deal with, or sometimes a powerful magic villain, but as to actual crime, well, they were on something of a dry spell.
As all of them had said at one point or another that things were a lot quieter since Valiant had left.
Not finding any crime, they could at least reorganize the attic.  It was something to do.  Plus, the place had barely been touched since Twilight had first moved in.
As one would expect in a library, it was full of books.  Not enough that Twilight could do like Scrooge McDuck and go for a swim, but there were books everywhere.  Some old cardboard boxes and ancient furniture rounded out the cluttered room.
“Are we looking for anything in particular?” asked Bible.  He glanced around the room.
“There has to be something useful in all this junk,” Rainbow said, gesturing at the old books.  Bible frowned at her.
“I do love antiquing,” commented Rarity.  She thought for a moment.  “Where is Fluttershy?  She might like to be here.”
“Got her hooves full with three slaves,” Applejack replied.
“Oh, right.”
Daisy, Lilly, and Rose had barely left Fluttershy’s side since the whole eating Discord incident, and even then only because she ordered them to.  Still, it was nice to have somepony to watch Fluttershy as she dealt with changing races every time she sneezed.  Also, the firebombs, but she kept that to herself.
“Some helping hooves would really be great to help clean up,” Pinkie said, happily Scrooge McDucking it in the piles of books.
“Pinkie!” admonished Twilight, “those could be valuable manuscripts, or at the very least, antique romance novels!”
“Oops,” Pinkie said, picking herself up.  She cocked her head.  “Hey, what’s this?”
There was a wooden trunk buried under the piles of paperbacks.  A piece of masking tape on the top had Valiant’s Contingency Box written on it in black marker.
Twilight dusted it off and set it in a clear space in the middle of the room.  They all stared at it.
“You know somepony’s going to open it, it’s just a matter of time,” observed Applejack before any of them could ask if they should crack it open.
Twilight rolled her eyes in annoyance but sighed in resignation.  “Yeah, I guess.  Let’s just get this over with.”
Rarity held up a hoof.  “Wait, what does ‘contingency’ mean in this context?”
“Maybe it’s some super secret backup plan Valiant had in case his last scheme didn’t work out,” Pinkie speculated.
“Yeah, but why would he make it so obvious?” Rainbow asked.
“Unless it was some reverse psychology stuff,” Applejack said.
“Then we should totally open it.”  Rainbow jumped forward excitedly and threw the lid open.  They all crowded forward, eager to see what was inside.
The chest was full of envelopes, small ones only large enough for a small card or note.  The envelopes were all labeled.  Rainbow picked up one that read Guinness gets too Irish.
There were dozens or maybe hundreds of others.  Twilight checked a few, reading their inscriptions aloud.  “A new rock band comes to Equestria but they suck, Some idiot clones dinosaurs, Valiant’s long lost family appears.”
“What do you think they could be?” Rarity asked.
Rainbow tore open the Guinness gets too Irish envelope.  There was a card inside and she read it, frowning.
“What’s it say?” Twilight asked.
“Apply potato.”
A collective “huh?” went around the room.  
Rainbow showed them the card.  “That’s what it says.”
“So maybe the actions listed on the cards are contingencies that would be performed in case the thing listed on the envelope happened?” Twilight theorized.  “But why?”
“It doesn’t seem like him,” Applejack said.  “Valiant planned ahead, sure, but keeping things in nice neat stationery and sealed envelopes doesn’t seem his style.”
“Maybe they were meant for us to find?” Pinkie asked.  “Oooh!  I love surprises!”
“That’s a scary thought,” Twilight said.  She looked at another envelope that read Spike loses his virginity.
“But why would Valiant make plans for us? Rarity asked.  She picked up an envelope.  “This one says 'Rarity's parents get in the way of the wrong insurance company representatives.'” 
“Valiant did say that he wanted Equestria to be stable and such,” said Applejack.  She frowned.  Valiant had probably used the word stable as a subtle pun.
“And he apparently left contingencies for any possible situation for us to use should the need arise,” Twilight said.
They all were silent.  It was hard to puzzle the meaning.  Did Valiant truly care about them and wanted them to succeed in his absence?
“But…does that mean these cards are what Valiant wants us to do?” Rarity asked.
“Maybe.  Could be,” Applejack speculated.
“What if we don’t?” Twilight said suddenly.  “What if we don’t let Valiant control our lives anymore?  He’s gone.  Let’s take our own lives back.  Let’s not let him or his memory affect us any longer.”
“But what if all these cards are very helpful?” Rarity asked.  “What if he knows what’s going to happen?”
“If Valiant actually knew the future, then fate is fate and it doesn’t matter what we do,” said Twilight.  “But remember, he wasn’t infallible.  Sure he planned the entire battle with Tirek all those weeks and months after coming back from space, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t wrong or didn’t get surprised occasionally.”
“Valiant might actually respect us more if we rebel and don’t go looking through all the cards,” Applejack commented.
“Forget Valiant,” Twilight said.  “Whatever we do, we should make our own choices.  We’re going to be our own ponies from now on.  We’re not going to let some psycho alien control us.”
“Hear, hear,” Applejack agreed.
Bible frowned.  “‘Some psycho alien?’  Yeah, doesn’t sound like anypony I really want to know, even if I did used to be his book.”
Twilight had a twinge of conscience.  She’d grown to really like Bible.  He was a fantastic library assistant, courteous, and had been taking magic lessons from her.  But he had a connection to Valiant.  Every time she saw him, she was reminded of the crazy pony who had apparently played a part in creating him.
But she wasn’t about to throw Bible out in the cold because of that.  She could forgive one little flaw like that.  Twilight turned back to the group.  “So everypony, are we decided?”
“Yep,” said Applejack.  “Let’s stuff this thing back in the pile and call it a day.”
So they closed the lid on the chest and did exactly that.
Nopony noticed that one of the envelopes read Everyone decides to not read the contingency notes.
Then again, the note inside merely read Trollololol... so take that however you wish.