Predictions & Prophecies

by Kinrah

2 - The Prophecy

Author's Note:

Was planning on doing Thursdays/Sundays, but it's been waiting long enough just for the first chapter, so this one comes a little early, then I'll settle into regular updates.

“…kle?”

Twilight’s head hurt. No, it really hurt. It felt like somepony had taken a sledgehammer to her head - actually, it wasn’t unlike that one time Ditzy had accidentally unloaded several objects including a piano on top of her. Systems check… she could certainly feel no physical injury. Her senses identified her immediate surroundings as Ponyville Hospital, so either Fluttershy or Spike had had the initiative to call for help, whatever had happened. A thought popped into her head; it was like brain freeze after eating too much ice cream, only without the pleasant taste of ice cream in your mouth. She liked ice cream.

“Twilight Sparkle, can you hear me?”

There was her hearing, and that was Nurse Redheart, she of magnificent healing abilities, trying to wake her up. Also much like the piano incident. Twilight groaned.

The next voice was, surprisingly, Rainbow Dash’s. “Does that count as a yes?”

What had she been doing? Library, reshelving, Da Colton’s workbook- oh, the prophecy spell. What had it actually done? She’d seen something, that was for sure, but whatever it was was on the very edge of her mind and stubbornly refused to reveal itself to her. So much for that. Maybe that was a good thing, though. Maybe she’d had just enough time to Interrupt it before she caused irreparable damage to the present by second-guessing the future. She tried opening her eyes, squinting at the light above her. Redheart loomed into her vision.

“Good, she’s awake. Can you hear me, Twilight?”

Twilight managed a nod.

“Welcome back.”

“Hhh-” she started. Her throat was dry. Redheart directed the straw from a glass of water towards her, and she took a couple of loud sips before trying again. “How long was I out?”

“About an hour,” Rainbow said from a distance. Somehow Twilight could tell that she was at the window looking out at the clocktower. “So why’d you go and collapse like that?”

The unicorn opened her mouth, but Redheart answered for her. “Magic fatigue, nothing to be worried about. I’d guess she cast a spell and it overwhelmed her.”

“Overwhelmed?” Rainbow echoed. “Twilight? You’re kidding, right?”

In all honesty, Nurse Redheart was probably correct. Twilight was no stranger to magic fatigue, it had been a regular occurrence during the earlier years under Princess Celestia. It seemed every other week she’d find a new spell that was very interesting but very not designed for a young filly to cast, and then wake up in the Magic Grounding Ward of Canterlot General Hospital having overreached herself. It was one of Princess Celestia’s preferred teaching methods, allowing Twilight to find out for herself what she could and couldn’t handle. Casting a previously unknown prophecy-generating spell and an interruption spell simultaneously was something she most definitely could not.

Struggling slightly, she pulled herself upright. Whoa, still a little woozy. “What’d… what’d I miss?”

“Nothing much,” said Rainbow, glancing back outside. “Spike came running out of the library calling for help, I swooped in, and carried you here. I, uh…” she grinned sheepishly. “I found your bit of glass, hehe, left it with Spike. Sorry about that.”

A tutting noise came from the direction of the nurse, looking up from a clipboard. “Rainbow Dash, have you been flying through windows again?”

Rainbow sat down and crossed her forelegs. “I fly through my windows all the time.”

That much was true, Twilight had witnessed that. Flying through the windows of her own house was a completely different story to the library’s windows, though. Cloud building windows were basically just clouds thin enough to see through, and passing through them caused no harm whatsoever besides possibly making you a bit damp. It was difficult to process how Rainbow could keep going through the same earth pony constructed window for nearly a year without realizing the difference. Nurse Redheart pulled a funny face, but didn’t argue. You had to try really hard to change the blue pegasus’s mind, and if you tried too hard she’d get you back by pranking you when you least expected it. Pretty much the whole town had learned that by now.

“What were you trying to do anyway?” Rainbow continued. “Must’ve been big stuff if it made you faint. Was it like that time you flooded the castle?”

“That wasn’t my fault!” Wait, what? “How did you know I did that?”

“Spike told me.”

Twilight put a hoof to her face and shook her head. Spike knew far too many embarrassing stories about her. “Nevermind. I was trying a new spell I found without knowing what it did first, and I guess I used a little too much magic trying to stop it.” One hour unconscious? That was pretty good, for being the result of a potentially catastrophic action. The last time she’d done such a thing she’d been out like a light for five hours. At least this time she didn’t have to worry about the library burning down. Rainbow was making some motions with her hoof. “What?”

“So…?”

In any case, she still wanted to get back to the library as quickly as possible, in case Spike let somepony in to use the library and they saw the open book and the spell on its prominently open pages. She threw a pleading look towards Redheart, who sighed. “You should be good to go, Twilight. Just don’t overstress yourself so soon after recovering.” Scribble, scribble on the clipboard. “I’ll let Nurse Tenderheart know I’ve given you the clean bill.”

“Thanks, nurse.” Twilight pulled herself out of the bed, stumbling a little but otherwise in full control of her faculties. “I’ll tell you on the way back to the library, Rainbow.”

“…the future?” Rainbow repeated, as they entered the marketplace. “Seriously? Awesome!”

“But it’s not,” Twilight insisted. “Knowing the future is dangerous! Don’t you remember what happened when I got a message from myself from the future?”

Everypony in the marketplace seemed a little more on-edge than usual, but that could be attributed to the light rainstorm that had up and vanished, and the whispered rumor was that it would return as suddenly as it had disappeared. At the drop of a hat, or rather at the first drop of rain, all the stallholders were ready to dismantle their stands and rush their merchandise to shelter. Still, the shoppers weren’t perturbed, and the square was as busy as it ever was.

Twilight found it interesting to observe what other ponies could be found buying, though not as close as to be invading their privacy. There, Spring Forward buying some impressive looking cabbages, and there, Lyra Heartstrings attempting to haggle with Big McIntosh at the apple stall (yeah, that’d be successful); in the air, some of Rainbow’s weather patrol keeping an eye out for any errant rainclouds should the alarm need to be sounded. Every now and then there was the commonly-heard wail of a Cutie Mark Crusader trying to catch up with another one. Normal ponies doing normal things. If only her life could be so simple.

“Well, yeah,” her companion admitted, taking to the air to avoid Jubileena struggling with a heavy sack of potatoes. “But everything was fine.”

“Even-”

“And you did some super cool ninja stuff without me.” The less that was said about the Next Tuesday Morning Incident, as Twilight had come to refer to it, the better, especially as it seemed the spell involved there held part of the blame for the current problem. “I had to do dress modeling, Twilight! I would’ve done anything to get out of that!”

“You shouldn’t have been teasing Rarity then.” From what she understood, having been related the story after the fact, Rainbow had made some jabs about Rarity’s contribution to the future-proofing the Incident had brought about, and as an apology Rarity had insisted that the pegasus join her and Fluttershy for some emergency modeling. There did seem to be a lot of that in her friend’s fashion career lately. “But back to the point - hopefully, I managed to stop the spell in time.” She paused, something was scratching at her mind, but she couldn’t work out what it was, so she ignored it. “I won’t be trying it again, that’s for sure.”

Rainbow pouted. “That sucks. You should’ve used it to see what your birthday presents will be.”

That was a rather… mundane use. “That would rather ruin the surprise.”

“Yeah, I guess… When is your birthday, anyway?”

“I didn’t tell you that before? It’s-” Twilight stopped, and twitched. “The symbol of magic will shatter.”

She clapped a hoof to her mouth. All around her, the marketplace had gone eerily quiet; everypony was staring. The phrase had just smashed into her head, drowned everything out, and demanded to be spoken. It had been her voice, but with an uncanny quality to it, almost as if she’d been… channeling. Prophecy. It had to be. She hadn’t stopped it. This was the future! She…

A thud next to her announced Rainbow landing, and she bent in to whisper in the unicorn’s ear. “(Uh, Twi, what was that?)”

“(I think it was part of a prophecy!)” Twilight hissed back. She could feel everypony’s eyes on her, and already she could sense their growing uneasiness. It was no secret that some ponies viewed her as a trouble magnet, and when trouble came to Twilight Sparkle, the wisest of the wise would stand well back. Ponyville as a whole was still on edge after the whole Pinkie Pie thing, and who could blame them? That hadn’t even been a week ago, and a bad decision had spiraled out of control and made their lives misery. For something like this to happen to the bearers of the Elements of Harmony again so soon… “(I need to get out of here before everypony panics!)”

Barely a moment passed before the pegasus leapt into action. “Uh, nothing to see here, folks! Move along!”

“What did she say?”

“What was wrong with her voice?”

“Mom, why did her eyes go funny?”

“(My eyes went funny?)”

“(Yeah, they went kinda all white and glowy.) She… she’s sleepwalking!”

“She’s not asleep!”

“Yeah she is, totally, definitely… asleep. Gotta get her home before she hurts herself, y’know.” Rainbow tugged at her leg. “(Come on, work with me here!)”

“She will sink into the deep.”

“(Stop doing that!) Ha ha, very funny, Twilight, that’s a good’un! You just crack me up!” Rainbow should never be an actor.

“She did it again!”

Twilight couldn’t move; she was also unable to communicate to Rainbow that she was having a mental breakdown. This was badder than bad. This was terrifying. Glowing eyes wouldn’t be a symptom of the prophecy spell, but a telltale sign of an impending magic cascade; that was raw magic begging to be released. She’d said only two sentences, and deep down she knew that was only the tip of the iceberg.

“(Twi, if we don’t move-)”

“Coming through!”

The shout from behind them made them, and mostly every pony in the square, jump, the shock from it freeing up Twilight’s mind. Leaving. Yes. That was what- Rainbow yanked her aside just as an orange blur on a scooter shot past them, proceeding to hit several other ponies and flatten a celery stall before disappearing deeper into the town. Scootaloo’s vehicle had been unconfiscated, then… a panting yellow earth pony filly entered the square just as her fellow Crusader left, finally giving in to draw breath a short ways past the two Element bearers.

“Scootalooooo!” Apple Bloom wailed, even if her friend was too far away to hear her now. “Ya know Ah can’t… run that faaaast!”

“(This is our chance.) Hey, Apple Bloom, want a lift?” Without waiting for a reply, Rainbow darted forward and swung the filly up onto her back, then picked Twilight up bodily.

“(Hey, what are you-)”

“Next stop, squirt!”

“Ah don’t even know where she’s goooooooiiiiiiin’!”

Rainbow Dash was unquestionably the fastest pegasus in Ponyville, well on her way to being the fastest in all of Equestria. Since the sonic rainboom event at the Young Flyers Competition, she’d been training herself to achieve supersonic speeds whenever she wanted to, much to the irritation of all the ponies who disliked the constant noise the mare made. (The rainbooms themselves were pretty loud, too.) As Twilight and Apple Bloom screamed their way across town, the older of the two suspected that her top speed would be quite hampered by carrying passengers. It was still fast enough to give the pair of them serious discomfort, though. Surely they’d caught up with Scootaloo by now? Twilight had another moment of sudden clarity. Oh no.

To the fortune of them all, Spike saw them coming and opened the door. To the misfortune of Spike, he didn’t get out of the way in time. With a colossal crash, and the myriad thumps of books falling to the floor, there ended up a groaning pile of mares, fillies, scooter and dragon against the library shelves. Twilight hadn’t noticed when Rainbow had picked up Scootaloo, but one of the scooter’s wheels was in her left ear, and from the complaints being issued by her assistant, she guessed that the hoofbars had come off and gone up his nose. Eh, he’d suffered worse. Dragons were made from sterner stuff. Besides, if Spike could walk away from an accidental hoof buck in the chest by Applejack with hardly a scratch, he could walk away from anything.

The state of the library was much as she left it, besides the pony pile and freshly laid carpet of books. Da Colton’s workbook still lay open on the table, next to the sad sight of the forgotten, now cold cup of tea. (It was foal’s play to reheat it, but reheated tea tasted awful.) The other shelves, the ones that had escaped the new disaster, had books neatly lined up on them, indicating that the time hadn’t been wasted. Thinking of, Fluttershy was still there, though she’d shrieked and curled up into a ball when Rainbow had come barreling into the building. Now, she cautiously unraveled herself, and made a noise like a very quiet but squeaky door.

“Oh my goodness! Are you all alright?” She could move quickly when she wanted to, and she darted over to help untangle the pile of ponies. “What happened?”

“Urghh,” Rainbow eloquently offered as a response.

“Really? Oh my.”

“The final pillar cannot stand.” Twilight gasped for breath. “I need… I need to write all this down! Quill! Ink! Paper!” She forced her way out from underneath the other ponies. “I don’t know how long I can keep- Turn back to answer Hurricane’s call. -Gah!”

Fluttershy shuffled out of the way as Twilight shot towards the table. “W-what’s going on?”

“She’s- agh! Sorry, Scoots - Babbling on about some sort of prophecy thing.”

“No problem at all, Rainbow Dash…”

The ink pot nearly fell over as Twilight snatched for it. Quill, quill, quill - there, on the shelf. Paper. She’d been due to shop for it later, oh darn- her eyes fell upon Da Colton’s workbook. No. No way. She was not going to vandalize a five-hundred year book because of some spell she cast by mistake! It was invaluable to the literary world! It could lead to new advancements in culture! It- Oh, horseapples. She flipped to the back of the book, thankful that it hadn’t been completely filled, dipped the quill in the ink, and released the spell.

To Twilight Sparkle, my most faithful student

First of all, let me assure you that you have nothing to fear. I am aware of the spell Prophetia’s existence, and the danger of such magic, but know that I have complete trust in your ability to control it. That being said, it would be wise if you were to not mention it to those who do not know already. Keep the workbook hidden, too. Some may not be so pure of intention.

I did have my suspicions about Da Colton. I do not know where he learned Prophetia, but I believe he expressed his prophecies, as he would have put them, through his art, just as you expressed yours through words. Some of his works that remain, though not all of them, depict events that had not yet passed at their creation. He was still gifted, as are you. His talent was not solely due to the future. Incidentally, the Hoofington Museum finishes renovating its fine art hall in a few days’ time, and they have a number of those works as part of a special exhibit. You may find it interesting.

As to your prophecy itself, do not let panic take hold; it will take time to understand. Sometimes it is best to stop, then think. Do not let it define you.

I look forward to your next letter.

Your teacher, Princess Celestia

“That’s just maddeningly unhelpful,” Twilight commented, when Spike had finished reading out the scroll. “At least she won’t send me back to magic kindergarten this time.”

Spike put a blue ribbon around the letter marking it as read and placed it with the other correspondences from the Princess. “She didn’t send you back to magic kindergarten last time.”

If in doubt, contact the Princess. Twilight had been against it at first, but Spike had reminded her of the last time she’d thought that way. Everything had turned out well, but she’d driven herself to the point of insanity in the process, and only the timely intervention of her friends had prevented any lasting punishment. This time around, it was even worse; she’d feared that the Princess would stop her from casting magic altogether. Despite Rainbow’s choice comments as she’d expressed her worry, that was possible and she would do it to her student if the situation required it. Fortunately, she’d been talked out of the ridiculous behavior, and a letter had been fired off to the Princess post haste, detailing the situation.

“Yeah, ‘cause we swooped in and saved the day!” Rainbow cried, looping the loop. “How’d Applejack put it? Big darn heroes?”

Something like that. Twilight sighed. It was a good thing the Crusaders had been convinced to leave for lunch else there’d be some awkward questions to answer. “I’m still worried, though. It’s cryptic, and I’m convinced it’s saying bad things are going to happen. Look, see - ‘The symbol of magic will shatter, the city by power be battered’. What if that means the Elements of Harmony will break?” She hoped it wasn’t possible. The Elements of Harmony just couldn’t break, could they? “And this part, ‘she will sink into the deep’? What does that mean?”

“Aw, you’re just over-thinking it.” It had to be said, Rainbow Dash was not the best pony to talk to when Crisis Mode was threatening action. Especially as she was now, with tissues wadded up her nose. “Like the Princess said: just stop thinking about it.”

“She didn’t say-”

There was a very soft throat clearing from Fluttershy. “Um, Twilight?”

She’d almost forgotten the yellow pegasus was there. “Yes, Fluttershy?”

“I know this sounds something Rarity would say, but… when I have too much on my mind, I go to the spa to relax.” She was right, it did sound like something Rarity would say, but Fluttershy did spend her fair share of time at the town’s spa too. And the spa was relaxing, no denying that. Much more relaxing than the big place in Canterlot, which was always crowded and the air was always thick with the latest expensive perfumes. “I think you should go, Twilight. If that’s okay with you, I mean.”

Now that she mentioned it, Twilight’s muscles were beginning to feel awfully tight. (That right there was most definitely psychological, but she ignored the thought.) But the book, the prophecy, was so much more important…

“Go on, Twi,” said Rainbow, punching her shoulder, though lightly enough not to hurt her. “We got the library, right, Spike?”

“Right!”

“Oh, how wonderful!” Fluttershy clapped her hooves together. “I can take Twilight to the spa to relax, and Rainbow Dash and Spike can clean up while we’re gone!”

Rainbow’s face froze mid-grin. “Clean up?”

Everypony looked at the books on the floor, ignored after the second crash of the day. Then back at Rainbow, whose face hadn’t changed.

“Fluttershy, that… that was devious of you.”

“It was? I’m sorry!”

Admittedly, Twilight was a little nervous about going outside after what had happened in the marketplace, but it seemed that after Rainbow Dash’s little stunt, the ponies of Ponyville had very nearly forgotten the strange voice and the glowing eyes. The market square was in a different direction from the spa, so at least any fear remaining there wouldn’t be stoked by the unicorn’s presence. Given time, perhaps they’d just brush it off as a Ponyville Weird Thing and think nothing more of it.

Even so, she couldn’t get her own mind off the prophecy, or prophecies, whichever it was. The Princess had described it as singular, while Twilight was convinced that mostly each line was something completely different. She got that feeling, like she hadn’t completely mastered the spell and sent it bouncing around different points in the future rather than concentrating on one specific event. That wasn’t unique to any one spell, it was common with a lot of high level spells when underlevelled unicorns (cough) tried to cast them. Her first teleport had done just that, even though it had been an accident and she wasn’t quite sure where she’d learned it. Her magic reserves had then kept feeding the spell and kept teleporting her to random places around Canterlot castle until the Princess cast the magical equivalent of nailing her (harmlessly, of course) to the floor.

Analyzing it was a must, but how to go about it, and in which order? The most innocuous ones first, or the ones that sounded dangerous? ‘Turn back to answer Hurricane’s call.’ Hurricanes couldn’t call, so how would a pony go about answering, and why was the word capitalized? ‘Friends around see shock indeed.’ Friends of who, and shock at what? It was messing with her head. Her mother had once suggested meditation as a way to clear the mind, but sitting around going ‘om’ a lot didn’t seem to do anything worthwhile, except get you some odd looks and Pinkie Pie following up with ‘nom nom’. Pinkie herself had her own suggestions, most of which involved ingesting vast amounts of sugar.

The spa wasn’t a regular thing for Twilight, as it was for Fluttershy and Rarity and their meetups every Wednesday. Today was Monday, though, and Rarity was very busy besides. Whenever she got finished with her current order, it was likely she’d spend at least half a day there. As far as Twilight was aware, the white unicorn had been without sleep for the past two days, ever since the Mirror Pool incident.

“Devious in a good sort of way, I mean.” Twilight made a mental note to treat Spike to a gemstone dinner treat the next time they were both in Canterlot. He’d been working very hard recently and deserved something in the way of gratitude. “Gosh, I just wish I’d never cast that spell in the first place.” How tempting was it to go back to Canterlot and try to find that single-shot time travel spell again? Very. Tempting enough to put herself through another week of Tartarus? Not a chance.

“Oh, well, if you’re sure.” The aroma of freshly baked bread wafted through the air; Baker Dozen must have been cooking again. It certainly made Twilight’s mouth water. “Um, I was thinking, maybe…” Sunshower Raindrops drifted past them in the other direction, apparently entranced by the fresh bread. “I… should write a book about caring for animals…”

That was somewhat surprising, but… Twilight gave her an encouraging smile. “You should, Fluttershy. Your talent with animals is spectacular, after all. I’m sure lots of ponies would find it interesting.” Now that she thought about it, the section of the library relating to animal care was mostly filled with books for foals, teaching them how to take care of their first pet, and the occasional pamphlet on dealing with wild animals in jungles and the like. There was also a very succinct pamphlet on how to take care of animals from the Everfree Forest; it said ‘Don’t’. Fluttershy could certainly revise that.

“Really?”

“Of course.” Plus Fluttershy was herself an example of a pegasus with what was widely considered an earth pony talent, but Twilight couldn’t find a way to say that without it seeming uncomfortable, so she didn’t bring it up. “You should ask Princess Celestia how she cares for Philomena.”

Fluttershy blushed. “Oh no, I couldn’t do that.” They’d reached the entrance to the spa; the pegasus put her hoof on the door. “Not after what happened with her after that party.”

“Fluttershy, that was six and a half months ago, and Princess Celestia did say that she doesn’t blame you for thinking what you did.”

“Still…” Fluttershy gave an involuntary shudder, and pushed the door open.

Even standing in the foyer, Twilight could feel the spa working its magic, her own body shivering in anticipation. She’d done her own research into just what made this particular establishment, run by the Blossom twins, so much better than its Canterlot equivalent; eventually it just came down to size. She’d been dragged to the Canterlot spa enough times by her mother (prior to becoming the Princess’s personal student), and every time it’d been rather… impersonal. It had so many staff members that you invariably got a different pony for your session every time you went. Here in Ponyville, you got Aloe, Lotus, Quake, or sometimes Roxie if it was particularly busy. That was it. By the time they’d finished with you, they knew where all your aches could be found for your next visit.

However… how would they deal with an ache in her mind?

To look upon the rainbow band
The final pillar cannot stand
Friends around see shock indeed
She will sink into the deep
Help them as they flee their fate
The Iris opens up the gate
In teacher’s eyes, past truth

The symbol of magic will shatter
The city by power be battered
Two will rise, one will fall
Turn back to answer Hurricane’s call
Upon the surface last signs float
Importance lies in his last note
This was the seventh hourglass

Comments

[RTStephens]

Setting up for more to come, I'm sure. A little more interesting, so I'll continue to keep an eye on things. Not much more to comment on so I'll see you next time!

[Kinrah]

8600104
Cheers - It does feel good to finally get this out, although typically I just want to get it all posted now!

[RTStephens]

8600143
Tempting, I know, but if you post everything at once, readers are a lot less likely to read it due to the huge word count. Let it breathe and you'll get a few more along the way.

[i_am_the_jam]

I think we're going to hear form Commander Hurricane later on.