Predictions & Prophecies

by Kinrah

5 - The Return

“But why is Trixie here?” Twilight asked, slightly under her breath. Trixie couldn’t possibly hear them from that far away, but she still felt the need to keep her voice down. “I thought after that Ursa Minor…”

“As did I,” agreed Rarity. “Nevertheless, she has been down there calling for you for five minutes.”

She hadn’t forgotten the Ursa Minor incident. Who could? It’d been plastered all over the next day’s copy of the Foal Free Press. The Great and Powerful Trixie’s Secrets Revealed, all the info behind the showmare and her boasting. In any other case, Ponyville might have been perfectly normal with the visit of a traveling magician, but as well as magic tricks which were honestly impressive, Trixie had brought with her an ego that put Prince Blueblood’s to shame. That, combined with two colts who didn’t yet comprehend sarcasm, resulted in an Ursa Minor wreaking havoc on the town. Twilight had been pretty much forced to save the day by nearly driving herself into magical exhaustion, something which Trixie had regarded as an elaborate way of ‘doing one better’.

At the end of the evening, she’d run away, only returning later once everypony was in bed to retrieve what remained of her wagon after the Ursa had smashed it. After that, no hide nor hair had been heard of her. So why would she turn up now…? How did she even know that Twilight was there?

“Is that… Trixie?” asked Spike, panting, only now catching up. “But I thought…”

“I know you’re here, Twilight Sparkle!”

“You and me both, Spike.” Sure, Twilight had expected to see her again at some point, when she’d learned her lesson, but not this soon, and certainly not in the middle of a deserted courtyard that should otherwise have been full of ponies. “I wonder what she wants…?”

“Looking for this?”

What had she— Twilight’s heart sank like a stone. Trixie was waving a red book around. Oh no. She desperately hoped it wasn’t, yet she knew it could only be da Colton’s workbook. If she had resorted to thievery… “I’ve got to go down there,” she told the others. “I’ve got to get that book back.”

“But what if it’s a trap, Twilight?” Rarity did have a point. Trixie may have been boastful, and Twilight could definitely feel her ego from the balcony, but she wasn’t stupid. It was almost certainly a trap. But she didn’t really have any choice. The spells in that book were incredibly dangerous in the right hooves, let alone the wrong hooves, and at that moment Trixie’s hooves couldn’t have been any more wrong. Whatever she was up to, she was willing to commit petty theft to see it through.

Gulping, Twilight prepared a teleportation spell. Spike grabbed her leg. “Twilight…!”

“I’ll be fine, Spike.”

“Not that! Look at her cape!”

What about her cape? It looked exactly the same as it had in Ponyville. Purple, covered in blue and yellow stars and moons, fastened with a… an octagonal prism. The Iris opens up the gate. That’s where they’d seen it before. So Trixie was part of the original prophecy too? But how?

Well, only one way to find out… imagining the cobbles beneath her hooves, she fired the teleport.

“Come out, come out, Twilight Sparkle!”

“I’m right here, Trixie.”

To give her credit, most ponies would have jumped at hearing a pony speak from a spot that had been empty a split-second before, but Trixie simply turned, cool, collected, with the same smirk on her face that had been a characteristic feature of the magic show. Behind her head, the book hovered, tantalizingly close but still so far. If Twilight tried to grab it now, she’d never get it back. Hopefully, she’d get it returned with the minimum of fuss. For a pony whose talent was practically to create fuss, though…

“Ah, at last, she shows herself, as Trixie predicted she would.” She spoke as if she were still on stage, as if this were her opportunity to show off against Twilight, the opportunity she’d been denied last time. “How goes the day, Sparkle? Found what you were looking for?”

Don’t let her get to you. You’ve dealt with Blueblood, you can deal with her. “Just tell me what you want, Trixie.”

“What Trixie wants? What about what you want?” She waved the book around in circles. “Trixie doesn’t know how you tracked her here, but she assures you that she is still ready to claim what she deserves.”

Did she seriously think…? “Trixie, I didn’t come here looking for you, I came to visit the museum.”

That broke the facade. “What? But, I thought—” Trixie coughed. “It doesn’t matter! You’re here now, and the Great and Powerful Trixie will show you once and for all that she can do better!”

Where was all of this coming from? This was sudden. Then again, this was also Trixie. From what Twilight had seen of her, she’d jump at every chance she got to prove that she was better than all of the other ponies. She was very much like Rainbow Dash in that regard. Rainbow Dash however generally didn’t do things that she considered hurtful towards others, whereas Trixie had showed no qualms about making another pony physically sick. Still… Twilight couldn’t exactly place it, but Trixie seemed… somewhat upset, more so than she’d been when she’d left Ponyville.

“Did—”

“Silence!”

The word was accompanied by a wave of magic that blew dirt away from the cobblestones. If the situation wasn’t what it was, Twilight would have been impressed - that was definitely more powerful than the magic Trixie had shown before. “Trixie will defeat her biggest rival, here and now! After all…” A glimmer came to her eyes, and suddenly Twilight was very, very afraid. “…Trixie has seen the future.”

Oh no. No way. “You can’t just—”

“Does Twilight Sparkle wish to know the future that the all-seeing Trixie has foretold?”

“No!”

“Too bad, she’s showing you anyway. Prophetia!”

After her original casting, Twilight had gone over the event with Spike, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash, just to confirm what exactly had happened from a third-pony perspective. In the library, she’d said the vocalization, and her eyes had immediately started glowing, as they did later in the marketplace - the indicative sign of an approaching magic cascade, where an overpowered spell would either spill over and start randomly firing off other spells to try and ease the pressure, or explode. Because Rainbow Dash had gotten her to the library quickly, and she’d gotten the prophecy out of her system, neither had happened.

Right now, Trixie was casting the prophecy spell, which itself used far too much magic and automatically triggered a cascade. Whether Trixie could handle it was her own problem, though as she seemed intent on showing rather than keeping it to herself, it probably wouldn’t be. Twilight took a few steps backwards. She just didn’t want to be too close in case their magic synchronized and doubled the power of the spell. If Prophetia resonated at the wrong frequency… Thought journal, don’t forget any of it!

“BEHOLD!”

Da Colton had expressed his prophecies through painting. Twilight’s had been through words. Trixie… used imaging fireworks.

Thought journal, emergency entry; April CE 1001; 2:41PM
(edited 5:02PM)

Wow, this was a mess. I guess I panicked when I made the entry, though I guess I can understand that. Trixie’s prophecy, or prophecies, as I guess it is; I could feel her magic bouncing around just as mine did. Her prophecy, as I listed it down, in the next part of the entry; analysis to follow when Pinkie Pie isn’t blowing bubbles into my face.

Fluttershy, looking worried, clutching Applejack’s hat;
The octagonal prism from Trixie’s cloak being lifted out of Ditzy’s mailbag;
A caped pony facing a monster;
The same, but as a crude foal’s drawing;
The Cutie Mark Crusaders, hugged together in fear;
Myself bolting a door;
A book falling to the ground, its pages flicking open;
Lightning striking the Ponyville library;
Me, lying on the ground, and Trixie standing over me, triumphant.

“Ow…” Twilight sat up, shook hay off her, and groaned. “Anypony catch the number of that coach?”

“What coach?”

“Oh, thank goodness you’re alright,” came Fluttershy’s voice. A fuzzy shape loomed into Twilight’s field of vision and offered her a hoof up. “What happened?”

What had happened? It’d been her and Trixie in the square, Trixie had da Colton’s book, she’d cast the prophecy spell… Twilight attempted to review the emergency thought journal entry she’d made, but evidently she’d been so panicked that she’d cast another spell straight through it, and it was unreadable. When she got some time to sit down and think, she’d have to reorganize and put it back together again. That was okay, though. Not the first time she’d done that. Patching that up would be a piece of cake.

She’d cast Interrupt, that much was clear from the scarring. Prophetia would have shut down, as would have the imaging fireworks. So… wait, where was she? She squinted, trying to focus. Her friends were with her, that was the square over there… hadn’t she been next to some of the sculptures? What was she doing all the way over here? She asked.

“There was an explosion,” answered Rarity. “When the dust… ick… settled, you were over here and Trixie had vanished.”

“What about the book?”

“Book and all.”

“Was it a good fight?” Pinkie was eating her way through a box of popcorn. “I nipped out to get this but by the time I got back the fight was over. I always miss the cool stuff!”

Exactly why Pinkie was under the impression that they’d been fighting was a mystery, but this was Pinkie Pie. “We weren’t… ow… we weren’t fighting, Pinkie.” Best guess, completing Interrupt had been the final step in Trixie’s cascade and triggered a magic explosion. She’d be perfectly fine, after a while, but she wasn’t going to be casting Prophetia anytime soon. Or any other major spells for that matter. Cooldown times after explosions varied from pony to pony and from spell to spell - Twilight’s average cooldown time was twelve minutes twenty-one point six two seconds. At Trixie’s level of skill, well above average but not spectacular, and the difficulty of the prophecy spell (moderate to very), it ought to take her about an hour, if that.

Ponies had returned to the square in the time that she’d been out, which shouldn’t have been too long. Most of them seemed unconcerned with what had just happened, though a few nearby kept giving Twilight nervous looks, and one in particular looked very agitated (but given his manner of dress and the stains on his coat, he was likely to be the owner of the hay cart she’d landed in). No chance of Trixie hiding amongst them; given her need of attention, removing her cape and hat to be a face in the crowd would be impossible, and with after that explosion she’d be nursing the mother of all headaches. No chance of retrieving the book, either.

“Aww. I missed your last fight, too, and I totally would’ve put money on you, Twilight!”

“We didn’t fight last time either.”

“Really? (There goes that fanfiction then.)”

“What was that?”

“Nothing!”

Keeping an eye on Pinkie, Twilight shook herself free of all the hay that she hadn’t managed to previously dislodge, making sure not to get any on Rarity. (If that were to happen, the fashionista would probably faint.) “Let’s go back to the Confectionary,” she suggested. “We can work out from there what to do next.”

“Uh, Twi?” Spike gestured to the agitated sales-stallion. “I think this guy wants to talk to you.”

…

For obvious reasons, they didn’t let Spike navigate back to the shop, and instead let Pinkie lead the way. As it turned out, that was also a mistake. Spike had simply been reading the wrong map; Pinkie insisted she didn’t need the map and promptly pronked proudly back to the popcorn place, which was in the wrong direction. By the time they’d spent the best part of twenty minutes going in circles, every loop Pinkie expressing surprise at there being another popcorn stall in their path, Rarity had had enough of walking, and had wrested control of the lead to take them back to the Confectionary.

At this point in the afternoon, the lunch rush was over, but there were still a few customers sitting both inside and outside the shop, and, judging from the foal-like shouting coming from inside a cardboard fort, Eccles and Bluebottle were back. With drinks and eclairs, the group sat down in a booth to discuss what had happened.

Well, that was the intention, anyway.

“Pinkie, did you really need to order so…” Rarity was lost for words. “…so much?”

“Mmhmm,” said Pinkie, around a mouthful of chocolate. “I mtthd lnch!”

“Argh!” said Spike, ducking the spray.

Fluttershy sipped her milkshake quietly.

With her head in her hooves, Twilight sighed. She had, admittedly, forgotten what Pinkie Pie was like when she missed a meal, and they’d been in the museum longer than she’d expected (not that that was a bad thing). Honestly, she hadn’t expected Pinkie to be that interested in art, history or science, but she’d been very well behaved, for a pony that was bouncing off the walls when she got bored, and sometimes when she wasn’t. All of her friends had hidden depths like that; Fluttershy’s knitting hobby, Applejack’s knowledge of high culture that she’d retained from her time in Manehattan, Rarity’s talent at chess - even Rainbow Dash was able to give a full-on rant about her job on the weather team when Twilight unintentionally insulted it. Pinkie being interested in museums shouldn’t have been as surprising as it was.

Idly, as she watched the pink pony stuff herself and the others try to avoid becoming involved, she wondered how Rainbow Dash was doing up in Cloudsdale. Since the previous year’s Young Flyers Competition, she’d returned to the city using Cloudstep on two occasions, once to visit the library, the other to visit the Central Sorting Office as part of a research project. It was astounding how much mail went through there every day, and she’d previously thought that Ponyville got a lot. (Yes, the castle got more than some of Equestria’s smaller towns combined, but she’d never needed to use the main mail system there, as she had Spike, and until she’d moved she’d only written letters to the Princess. Oh, and sometimes her parents and brother, but in those cases she normally left the letter lying around where the royal messengers could find it.) Cloudsdale was almost as big as Canterlot, with the added complication of the buildings not always being where you left them.

The meeting in the Weather Forecast Centre had been yesterday. Hopefully there wouldn’t be a completely different weather team in Ponyville on their return.

“Really, Pinkie? Why would you do that?”

“Sorry, Rarity…”

“Hmph. Apology accepted, but you must be more considerate towards others when you’re… eating.” Rarity took a napkin and wiped crumbs from her cheek. “I simply do not know how you manage to eat so much and yet remain…”

Pinkie selected a cupcake from the array on the table in front of her and swallowed it whole. “Not-fat?”

“Not quite how I would have put it, but yes.”

“Oh, that’s an easy one! I run lots and lots. Five laps around the town, every day! How else did you think I was so fast?”

Untangling the remains of the thought journal entry was a little tougher than Twilight expected. Most of the time, she could just make an entry, file it away, and if necessary recall it and transcribe it later. A spell neatly compartmentalized the journal away so she wouldn’t forget any of it. When panicking, though, an entry couldn’t fully form, and other spells might imprint over the top. Fortunately, she knew Interrupt very well, and could identify what belonged where, but the amount of force she’d used was making it difficult to separate them. Words were coming out here and there - ‘pages’, ‘together’, ‘her’… but she wouldn’t get any coherent sentences for a while.

‘Applejack’.

A chill ran down her spine. What connected Trixie’s prophecy to Applejack? Did it have anything to do with her own prophecy? Two will rise, one will fall; she will sink into the deep? That had easily doubled her fear. The others were laughing about something, but she just couldn’t.

Something else occurred to her, something she’d overlooked because she’d been busy at the time. In the exhibition, the pamphlet had said something about da Colton writing a book before his death but never publishing it. Importance lies in his last note. Assuming ‘note’ referred to this text, what was so important about a book he didn’t finish? And if it was so important, how would she do anything about the contents of the book not being known? Everything she’d tried to alleviate in the museum came piling back on top of her. No. She promised she wouldn’t let it take control of her. She would control it. Everything would be fine.

Apparently, Fluttershy noticed her expression. “Twilight, is everything okay?”

“I’m fine, really—”

“Twilight.” Rarity gently pulled Twilight’s head round to face her with her magic. “Even if you don’t admit it, we can tell something troubles you.”

“Yeah, ‘cause we’re friends!” Pinkie paused to devour another cupcake. “And friends always have trust in each other!”

“Just tell us what’s wrong, darling.”

At first, she didn’t want to, but Twilight eventually told them everything, her fears over Applejack in her prophecy, the balloon, the exhibition. Trixie still had the book. The spell had taken over da Colton’s life. Her own resolution. She left out the dream pony, though - there was no solid evidence that she was even connected to Prophetia, and for all she knew could have just been her own brain firing random synapses and conjuring up a situation to take her mind off everything else. Upon finishing, she slumped against the back of the chair and brought her milkshake’s straw to her mouth. She needed the hydration.

Silence descended upon the booth for a while, the only noises coming from the kitchen and the cardboard fort, as the ponies and dragon tried to understand exactly how their friend felt.

Eventually, Pinkie spoke. “Hmmm.”

Twilight blinked. “That’s it? Just ‘Hmmm’?”

“Hmmm,” Pinkie agreed. “Mm-hmm.”

“Is… is your mouth stuck closed?”

“Uh, no, silly.”

“Then what are you—”

In another blink, Pinkie had donned a doctor’s head mirror. “Doctor Pie has diagnosed a serious case of the glums, and she has prescribed Hmmms. Say ah!”

“What? I— ah!” Her mouth was forced open and a cupcake was lobbed down her throat. Still not the most invasive thing Pinkie had ever done. “Mmm! Ack!”

“Pinkie Pie!” exclaimed Fluttershy. “Twilight was being serious!”

“So was I! There’s nothing like Hmmms as a way to cure the glums!”

Wait, was that… “Pinkie Pie, now is hardly the time for—”

“When life throws you a curveball and the future’s looking bleak…”

“Pinkie.”

“Something glad to cheer you up is what you now must seek…”

“Pin-ack!” Twilight suddenly found herself choking on the cupcake, and Spike frantically thumped her on the back.

“You’ve been here before, you’ve pulled right through! You can’t let glums get the better of you!
Chin up, don’t frown, don’t look so sad, just think of all the fun you’ve had,
And then you’ll find that all your troubles are gone!

A case of the glums? Just take some Hmmms!
Feelings sinking? Don’t stop thinking!
No rush, don’t be quick, you’ll make yourself sick! Take it slow, you’ll be fine, you’ve plenty of time!
Keep yourself together,
And you’ll go on forever!
So remember your Hmmms, and if you get glums,
You can bounce back better than ever!”

“She does have a point, Twilight,” Rarity said.

“The Princess did say not to panic,” Spike added. “Remember?”

Pinkie Pie, she just… Twilight couldn’t help but smile. “Did you come up with that just now?”

“Eh, a little bit.” The pink mare removed the mirror and stashed it in her tail. “Still needs a little tweaking, but I can work with that. More of a book number than a breakaway pop hit.”

A walking self-help book, that’s what Pinkie was. Her Element of Laughter was well deserved. Nopony but her could have cheered Twilight up in that situation, and she did it in a way so unique that you couldn’t be sad afterwards, even if you tried. And, as Rarity said, she did have a point. Trying to barge straight through the situation would only lead to more problems, more headaches, and eventually a point of no return. She had been there before, the lowest point, right after she’d fallen to Discord’s tricks, and with the help of the Princess, Spike, and her friends, she’d thought through the situation and come out on top.

So, think things through, calmly and rationally. What could she control right now? One part of the prophecy was done and dusted - ‘This was the seventh hourglass’, check - and the ambiguity of another had been decreased, now that Trixie, or at least her cape’s clasp, was involved. Da Colton’s book was more or less in play, she knew who had it, but Trixie would be a difficult pony to (intentionally, anyway) track down. Parts of Trixie’s own prophecy were starting to clear up. Without knowledge that didn’t seem to exist, ‘his last note’ was out of reach. ‘Hurricane’s call’ possibly referred to a steam locomotive’s whistle. None of those were the answer.

Start with Applejack, then. If she never went in a balloon at all, how could she possibly then fall out of it? Preventing that would be as easy as, well, asking Pinkie. But Pinkie refusing to pilot AJ in the balloon (or anypony else, for that matter) would be out of character, and the farmer was the bearer of Honesty besides, she’d see straight through it, and criticize Twilight for placing too much trust in a future event based on guesswork, which it was. (There was no proof that the two lines of the prophecy were connected, besides Dinky’s claim that the pony falling from the balloon was Applejack, but logic seemed to say they were.) She’d made a similar complaint after the whole time travel thing.

On the train back to Ponyville, she’d have to finish repairing the thought journal entry concerning Trixie’s prophecy, and do some editing to merge it in with her analysis of her own. Keep everything together in one place. She was good at organizing things.

“Enjoying the food, are we?” Fairy Cake had come around with a tray to collect the empty milkshake glasses. “You certainly packed a lot away, Pinkie.”

“She has, hasn’t she?” observed Rarity, who clearly envied her friend’s ability to eat so much and not worry about her figure. “Ten chocolate eclairs, was it?”

“Twelve,” Pinkie corrected. “And three cupcakes.” She paused to lick her lips. “Eight out of ten, would devour again but they don’t stand up against the superior delicacies at Sugarcube Corner that Mrs. Cake makes. And by Mrs. Cake, I mean our Mrs. Cake and not you Mrs. Cake, because while you are both Mrs. Cakes and you’re both married to Mr. Cakes, we always call our Mrs. Cake Mrs. Cake and it would just get confusing if we referred to both of you as Mrs. Cake because then nopony would be able to tell if we were talking about Ponyville Mrs. Cake or Hoofington Mrs. Cake and then— mmph!”

Zip-It was usually a spell reserved for when Spike started making illogical or otherwise silly statements. Pinkie Pie was also an acceptable subject.

“Well, I guess I’ll have to make them even better, won’t I?” A week with Pinkie would destroy most ponies, but it seemed Fairy Cake was taking her quirks in stride. “You’ll have to tell Cup that we’ll be coming for that title of Best Local Bakery, then! The rest of you girls okay? How was your day out in Hoofington?”

“The museum was great!” Spike said, slurping up the last of his milkshake and passing the glass over. “Shame about afterwards, though.”

Fairy Cake looked up in thought for a moment. “That reminds me, did something happen over there this afternoon? I heard some of the other customers talking about some sort of showdown or something that took place.”

Twilight tried to avert her eyes, but Spike did the job of opening his big mouth. “That was Twilight and Trixie having an argument.”

“I wasn’t having an argument either! I was just trying to get my book back!”

“Oh dear, not again.”

Wait, again? Had Trixie already shown off here before? Rarity asked before Twilight could. “Mrs. Fairy Cake, are you acquainted with Trixie?”

The baker pulled over a chair and sat down. “Just about everypony knows Trixie Lulamoon here, I should think. Used to be a regular sight in the square, her magic show, Eccles loved watching her. Then she left to show her tricks to the world, and… she hasn’t really been the same since.” She shook her head. “Used to be such a sweet little filly, too.”

“Are you saying… this is her home town?” Was that what Trixie had meant when she said Twilight had tracked her down? Suddenly the whole Ursa Major boasting made a lot more sense. “When we first met her, she did say she’d defeated an Ursa Major here…”

“Defeated?” Fairy Cake gave a short laugh. “She was always adamant that she’d seen it, though she’d have been a bit young to fight it. But yes, she’s a Hoofington pony, born and raised. A regular here, too, right up until she left, three years ago? The world needed to see her magic, she said, she was going to try and become the greatest stage magician in Equestria.”

“Wow.” Twilight honestly couldn’t believe it. What had happened, then? Just from hearing about her, Trixie sounded like any other pony following their dream, far from the stuck-up showmare who’d arrived in Ponyville and claimed to be better than all of them. Had she seen or heard something that caused her to become disillusioned? Or had she just forgotten her dream in the pursuit of greatness? It was hard to think that such a thing could happen to anypony, let alone Trixie.

Maybe, even Prince Blueblood… no. There were enough stories going around to suggest that Prince Blueblood had always been like that.

The shop door bell rang, interrupting her thoughts. “Well, seems I have another customer,” Fairy Cake said, climbing to her hooves. “You five have a safe trip back to Ponyville, now.”

“Thanks for letting me stay, Hoofington Mrs. Cake!”

“You’re always welcome here, Pinkie Pie.”

“That was… enlightening,” commented Rarity, as they walked towards the train station. “I didn’t expect to hear such a story about Trixie.”

“It makes you think of her in a different light, doesn’t it?” It certainly did for Twilight. Maybe, if they ever saw her again, their reactions would be different for having heard the story.

“Mm,” quietly agreed Fluttershy. “And we were so horrible to her before.”

Most of the walk was in quiet silence, which Twilight was thankful for, as it allowed her to work on the thought journal entry. A few minutes to the station, a few hours on the train… she was confident she could have it fixed and analyzed by the time they reached Ponyville. Rarity was leading the way again, so there was a zero percent chance they’d end up lost.

The day had been full of surprises, not all of them pleasant. Part of her prophecy had revealed itself, the Princess had paid for their museum entry, da Colton’s paintings, Trixie, and now what equated to an origin story. How would all of it fit together? Sometimes, there were coincidences, but she didn’t believe any had happened here. (Aside from the Princess getting their tickets. That was completely plausible to be a coincidence, seeing as Twilight was predictable when it came to learning new things.) Why exactly had Trixie stolen the book? How would her prophecy connect to the grand scheme of things? What had changed her? And just what was the story behind that Ursa Major anyway?

No trains were at the station when they arrived. “Pinkie, did I hear Mr. Cake right in saying that you hired a private coach for your delivery?” Rarity asked, looking for a timetable. “And that if we caught up with you, we could take it back?” Rarity tolerated public transport, but she did tend to prefer private coaches which she perceived as cleaner.

“Oh, we did one better than that!” Pinkie put her hooves in her mouth and whistled loudly. Another whistle answered in the distance. “We got a whole train!”

“You what?!”

She wasn’t kidding. A few puffs of smoke appeared from an engine not far away, and given a couple of minutes it chuffed up to the platform in front of them. It was a small, orange thing - nothing like Hurricane - but it was an entire locomotive nonetheless, pulling two coaches marked with very large stickers saying ‘private’ on the doors.

“That’s not one better, that’s a thousand times better!” Spike gasped. “I won’t have to use a baby seat this time!”

“Pinkie Pie, how in Equestria did Mr. Cake get you an entire train for delivering candy and baked goods?!” Twilight was flabbergasted. From what she’d read of the Equestrian railways, hiring engines for private trains cost a lot of money, much more than would be viable just for a return trip to Hoofington to deliver low-cost foodstuffs. “I don’t… Doesn’t he normally get room on the Friendship Express to take things to Canterlot?”

Pinkie waved to the engine driver, who waved back. “Oh, he pulled some favors with a railway friend who’s a regular at Sugarcube Corner,” she explained happily. Then her face turned sour. “That and nopony else would give up two coaches worth of space to carry muffins, the rotters. Hey, I have a bubblegun! Who wants to play with bubbles on the way back?!”

…

Sitting down, inside the train, with nothing else to worry about, it only took Twilight a few minutes to finish repairing the thought journal entry. She’d tried editing it as well, but Pinkie had declared she could detect some more glums oncoming and insisted Twilight join the bubble war that was going on between her and Spike. After being ‘deaded’ a few times, she’d excused herself and moved through to the second coach, where Fluttershy was asleep and Rarity had some sheets of designing paper laid out in front of her, hmming and ahing her way across them. Peace. Comfort. Both of those, and Fluttershy was quietly singing in her sleep. A good atmosphere to organize the prophecies together.

Thought journal, bookmarked entry; April CE 1001, 5:11PM

What follows is a detailed account and analysis of the prophecies generated by Twilight Sparkle and Trixie (Lulamoon, I think?) in April CE 1001.

Nothing had changed, for some of the lines. She could copy them straight over from the last bookmarked entry. Some, though, required updating.

‘The iris opens up the gate’: A spinning octagonal prism, the one Trixie uses as a clasp for her cloak. Dinky liked working with the geometrical shape but otherwise had no comment. No gates anywhere in the image, though I suppose it could be metaphorical. But does it mean an iris as in the flower, or an iris as in the eye?

Still no connection between the words and the image, but at least the prism had been identified. Whether Twilight liked it or not, Trixie still had a part to play in the prophecy.

‘Two will rise, one will fall’: A hot air balloon. Dinky says there’s a pony that looks like Applejack falling out of it but I really can’t tell. (There is however some evidence to suggest she may be correct.) Spike says it looks like Cherry Berry’s balloon, but I disagree, I think it looks more like Pinkie’s party balloon. Pinkie and I have touched on what to do if a situation like this arises, but there’s not a lot she can do.

For now, the best bet would be to keep Applejack clear of any hot air balloons, either until the prophecy had resolved itself in another way or until some way of changing the future could be found. Easier said than done.

‘Turn back to answer hurricane’s call’: It looks like a bunch of scribbles, but I think it could be a seismometer or a thaumometer. Dinky doesn’t know what either of those are and has no idea of its context. Seems to show a large event, whichever graph it is. (Could an earthquake be part of the ‘by power be battered’? No natural earthquakes have been recorded in central Equestria for decades.) No sign at all of this hurricane that’s mentioned. (Theory: This could relate to the whistle of the locomotive Hurricane, the fastest steam engine in Equestria, but still no connection to either meter. Trains don’t produce that much vibration, nor do they run on magic.)

An interesting theory, but still probably not correct.

‘Importance lies in his last note’: A book. Though the drawing’s obviously in charcoal on an envelope, Dinky assures me that it’s blue. This could be referring to a book Stalleonardo da Colton was writing before his death, but never published. If so, how to find out its contents?

Critically, Dinky had been able to identify a blue cover. If it did indeed refer to da Colton’s last book, then he had had it bound, which meant it did exist, and more importantly, he finished it. All she had to do was find it… again, easier said than done.

‘This was the seventh hourglass’: PASSED; this referred to Chiselgrip’s bronze hourglass installed in the courtyard of the Hoofington museum when I visited it a few days after the initial spellcast.

Fluttershy’s singing stopped; Twilight glanced over towards her, but she was still asleep. Rarity was in the zone. Spike and Pinkie were probably still warring in the first coach, or if they’d finished, they’d probably be playing another game. Time, she guessed, to properly review Trixie’s prophecy without interruption.

TRIXIE’S PROPHECY, ANALYSIS:
I will admit, Trixie is a master at those imaging fireworks. I have little to go on but the repaired text here; while I can remember standing in the courtyard, watching her fireworks, I can’t for the life of me remember what images she displayed. I’d have to reclaim the book to prove it, but I suspect this might be a side-effect of Prophetia. Here we go, then…

Fluttershy, looking worried, clutching Applejack’s hat: This is the second time Applejack’s hat has appeared, so it must have some significance. She barely removes it, though. Why would Fluttershy be holding it, unless… think positive, Twilight, move on.

The octagonal prism from Trixie’s cloak being lifted out of Ditzy’s mailbag: Again, the prism, but why in Equestria would it be in Ditzy’s mailbag? I did have a feeling today’s event wasn’t the last we’d see of Trixie, but this is baffling. Is this at all connected to Ditzy’s appearance in ‘Friends around see shock indeed’?

A caped pony facing a monster: I’m not at all sure, but this stinks of fantasy to me. I’m reminded of Trixie’s tale of taming the Ursa Major…

The same, but as a crude foal’s drawing: …though Mrs. Cake in Hoofington did say that Trixie claimed to have actually seen the Ursa Major. What did she actually see? Would she have drawn something like this?

The Cutie Mark Crusaders, huddled together in fear: I don’t think Trixie ever met the Crusaders, but they do this all the time, even when they receive a jump-scare from Rainbow Dash, so I don’t think this is at all relevant.

Twilight Sparkle bolting a door: Okay, so I’m going to lock a door? Why? Am I locking myself in, or something else out? I guess Trixie was of the opinion I’m trying to get away or hide from her.

A book falling to the ground, its pages flicking open: Argh, book abuse! No apparent significance to anything else.

Lightning striking the Ponyville library: I can guess why Trixie would think this is bad for me, but the library’s covered in magical lightning rods. No danger at all to anypony inside during a storm. I actually recently hooked the rods up to some new capacitors in the basement, but the basement door was locked and remained so on the night of Trixie’s thievery so I don’t see how she can know.

Twilight Sparkle, lying on the ground, and Trixie standing over her, triumphant: Oh. So I guess she did see herself beating me. But unless my friends missed it, it wasn’t today in the courtyard, so she misinterpreted it. When is this going to happen?

This one seems to be slightly more in chronological order, though anything’s possible, I guess. I wouldn’t know Trixie’s interpretation, but if I had to make an assumption (which is naughty of me, I know), I’d say she’s going to reevaluate the last image, and predict chasing me into the library, where I lock myself in and knock a book onto the floor. Then she’ll predict bringing down lightning onto the library (weather spell, really?) at which point she’ll enter and stand over me.

I shouldn’t have added that, really. All of that is guesswork.

Next? I’m not sure, again. Last time, I had the museum visit to look forward to, but I’ve got nothing important on my calendar now until the charity event at the hospital on Thursday. I think I’ll just have to let the next part of the prophecy come to me, instead of actively seeking it out. Yes. I’ll control the prophecy rather than letting it control me. That’s what Princess Celestia’s advice was, and I’m going to stick to it this time.

“Oh, feathers,” muttered Rarity. Twilight glanced over; she’d made a rather glaring error. “Well, that wasn’t turning out as well as I’d imagined it, anyway.” She rolled up the designs. “How far from Ponyville, do you think…?”

“Shouldn’t be too far.” They’d been on the train a couple of hours already, and the sky was beginning to darken. Soon, Ponyville’s lights would appear, and four ponies and dragon could get some proper rest and relaxation. Speaking of… “I wonder how Pinkie and Spike are doing?”

“If they’ve any sense at all, they’ll have settled down.” Previously, there had been some muffled shouting coming from the door to the first coach, but that had stopped a while ago.

“Mmm.” Both mares looked at Fluttershy, still curled up on the seat. “We’ll have to wake her.”

“When we get there.”

Just one look at Fluttershy sleeping on that train would have melted anypony’s heart, but whether they liked it or not, she would have to be woken up when they reached Ponyville. It wasn’t as an impossible task as it would look from the outset, though; she woke quickly, and without fuss, when the train pulled in to the station.

Three mares detrained. One mare and a dragon were conspicuously absent.

“Twilight…?” Rarity ventured, stepping around to get a closer look at the first coach. “Were the lights in there blue before…?”

“Wait, Rarity—!” Too late. Rarity had pulled the handle to open the door. With it came a sea of water, a very soggy dragon and Pinkie Pie wearing an inner tube, which washed the three of them off the platform and into the mud.

Comments

[RTStephens]

Well, seems Trixie's in the role of unintentional antagonist. Don't see her that way all that often anymore, so that'll be interesting to see how it plays out.

Lot more mysteries to the prophecy, even if some of it has been sorted out. Suppose we'll see more as things progress.

[Kinrah]

8621592
The story's age shows - once the whole thing's up, I've got an afterword that goes into some of the places the story could have gone, but the original idea for the story came in around Season 2, which was before Trixie's return in Magic Duel. This chapter was written after Season 3, but I wanted to try and capture a Trixie who's still got that lesson to learn. And, because my brain is obsessed with canon, a Trixie who can leave this story in the frame of mind that would progress into her show reappearance.

Thanks for reviewing every chapter so far, by the way!

[Yami Vizzini]

So you have “Ponyville Confidential” taking place around the same time as “Boast Busters”?…Eh, as jumbled as the show timeline is, that works as well as anything.