"No omen. No omen. No omen."
It was Prism Bolt's 18th birthday, and he was winding down the party with his friends by playing a board game he received. Of his close friends, only Crystal Clarity didn't arrive, and she had to do her job (something Prism was not looking forward to having), and sent her gift with her brother, Turquoise Blitz, and his filly-friend, Anthea. Meanwhile, his own ex-filly-friend, Whirlwind (or, as he liked to call her, Dubz), snuck out of the Wonderbolts Academy to attend his birthday.
There was also Golden Delicious, who provided the cooking, Cotton Candy, who provided the venue, and Starburst, who provided... nothing. She didn't even give him a gift, in spite of being a princess. Prism, however, expected nothing from her aside from her arrival, having come across her while she mentioned (or rather, had a panic attack, very akin to her mother's, over) her problem to her brother. Prism made sure she knew she was welcome with or without a gift.
At the moment, however, they were all focused on their game.
"..."
"Awww..."
"Del! Now we have a haunting!"
"Oh, great. How does this work?"
*Dinglingling*
They all turned to look at the door. Sugarcube Corner had a closed sign on it, but someone came in.
Or so you would think.
"Who's there?"
"No one. The bell rang on its own."
"Or it was that pony outside."
Sure enough, there was a pony just outside the front door, holding... a package? They were dressed the part of a mail pony, but they looked unusually dark, even disturbing.
Prism stood up, "If that's a delivery, it might be for me."
"Who else would send you a gift?"
"That's what I want to know."
He trotted over to the door, trying to go over who hadn't already given him a gift. He unlocked the door and opened it.
"Delivery for Prism Bolt." Their voice... He couldn't quite make out if they were male or female, but they sure sounded ominous. They were quiet, but raspy. But even more notably, they didn't have a horn.
Prism raised a brow, "Why did you deliver it here?"
They shrugged, "I just deliver to where I'm told to," They lifted the package out of their mail bag.
"What is it?"
"Isn't today your birthday? Why not open it to find out? Like every other gift," They let out a rather sinister giggle, "Though I get the feeling it will change your future."
Prism took it, giving them a suspicious look before glancing at the return address, "'Silent Hill'? I didn't know there was a place called Silent hill."
"There are a lot of places. All over the world," They turned around.
"Who is it from?"
"... You never know," And with that, they left.
Prism was left staring for a moment, before finally closing the door and locking it, "What was up with them?"
"Prism?" Prism turned back towards his friends, who were all watching him with worry in their eyes. Except Star, who was reading one of the books for their game, "Was it a gift?"
Prism trotted back to the table, "I think so. But I don't know anyone from 'Silent Hill'," He sat back down, "This thing is a little heavy. I wonder what it is."
"A book." Everyone stared at Annie. "Just guessing."
Prism started unwrapping the package, "That would be dumb. Who in their right mind would give me... a... What?"
Annie, being blind, didn't know why he was confused, "What is it?"
Candy was giggling like mad, "It's a book!"
Sure enough, there was only an odd, leather-bound book with strange markings in the package. No card. No letter. Not even a note. Just a book.
"Why a book?"
"I really want to know."
Star finally lifted her eyes from the book for the game. "Read the back few pages. Mom told me-"
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" Candy, OCD as ever, started flailing her front legs. "You have to start from the front!"
"But mom told me that reading the back few pages of a book can help you determine if you'd like it."
Candy eyed Star, "And how many books have you read?"
Twilight's more-warrior-than-librarian daughter rolled her eyes, "A few."
"That your mom didn't make you read!"
"... One... maybe?"
Dubz chuckled, "Well, Prism's taking your mom's advice."
Sure enough, Prism had the back cover flipped aside, and was reading from the back of the book. But he had a disturbed look on his face.
"Prism? Is something wrong?"
"HE'S READING FROM THE BACK OF THE BOOK! THAT'S WHAT'S-"
"It's not a story," He flipped several pages in, fully concentrated on the book, "It's a journal."
T cocked his head, "So it's blank?"
"That's the odd thing. It's-" The book suddenly lifted up from his hooves, "Wha-"
"Let's forget it for now," Annie placed the book beside Prism, closed and just out of sight, "You're still in the middle of a game, aren't you?"
"Oh! Right," Star laid the book she had on the table, "The traitor is either the one with the lowest sanity, or..."
Everyone's mind was back to the game. Everyone, except Prism. If that book was what he thought it was, though, he would have to wait and read the back page again.
After two more rounds of Prism's new game, everyone called it a day. Dubz had to leave earlier to get back to the Wonderbolt's Academy before sunset. Prism needed Del's help getting his gifts back to his house (mostly due to the massive panda doll Candy got him, as a gag gift).
"Prism?" The pegasus turned around, "What bothered you about that book?"
Prism looked Del in the eye for a moment, then turned away, "It seems really odd, but..."
Del waited a few tense moments for an answer.
"... I'd rather be sure about what it is before I talk to anyone about it. And even then, I'm not sure you'd be my first choice. I'd rather it stay within a tight circle that I can trust not to let it slip. Just in case."
Del sighed at the disappointing response, "I understand. Apple Family Honesty, and all that."
"Anyway, thanks for helping me carry these back."
"You got it easy. All you had was the panda and the book."
"Hey, these are pretty heavy!"
Del dropped what he was carrying by the door to Prism's house, then lifted both the panda and the book with one hoof, "I fail to see your point."
Prism rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah, Mr. Apple. See you around."
"See you." Del dropped the panda and the book, and started back to his home.
Prism looked at his gifts. "How do I get these inside?"
As if on cue, the front door fully opened, "You ask for help."
"Hey dad."
The white pegasus trotted over to the small pile of gifts, "How did you get all of this here by yourself?"
"I didn't. Del helped me out."
"And he couldn't carry it a few more feet inside?"
"I..." Prism face-hoofed, "Didn't think of that."
"I'm guessing he didn't either. Nice to know my brilliant son has brilliant friends."
"Yeah, yeah. I must have gotten it from you."
Soarin laughed, "Isn't that true?" He picked up a few of his son's gifts as Prism looked inside the house.
"Where are mom and Icy?"
"Oh, they went to help set up for tomorrow."
Prism lifted his own load as his dad started towards his room, "Tomorrow?"
"There's a Wonderbolts' reunion. Active and retired members and their families are welcomed to attend."
Prism groaned, "You know how I feel about the Wonderbolts."
"You only have to attend for an hour or two. Besides, we could always say you can't attend."
"And how would we do that without pissing mom off?"
Soarin shrugged as he put Prism's gifts down in his room, "We could say you're hungover."
"I said without pissing mom off."
"We can think of something."
"How's the food at those events?"
"Better than Dashie's cooking."
"Count me in. It's got to be better than anything Candy made."
"I said your mother, not Candy."
"Candy's cooking is worse. Trust me."
"She's Pinkie Pie's daughter. She has to be good at-"
"She isn't. Trust me," Memories of her Mardi-Gras Gumbo from his twelfth birthday flashed in his mind. He was grateful that Del did the cooking for his party.
"What's with the panda?... Candy's gag gift?"
"Candy's gag gift."
"Is that just a tradition now? She gets you something ridiculous with your gift?"
"I don't blame her. I've been doing the same thing." He would get her something risque for a gag gift, but he has to wait for her sisters to be old enough to get it.
Soarin smirked, "At least you won't be lonely at night anymore!"
Prism glared, "Just drop my stuff and get out of my room!"
"Sure thing, boss," Soarin put the last few things down and left the room.
Prism flopped down on his bed, "What's with ponies and joking about me being single? First Candy now... Oh! Right!" He got up and picked up his book, opening it from the back cover;
"Yeah, yeah. I must have gotten it from you." Dad laughed. I love when my parents aren't bothered by what I say about them. It does seem to happen a lot more with dad. Is that why I like him more than mom? Speaking of mom, -
That's what I thought, Prism thought to himself, It really is writing out what happens in my life. This is nuts!
He flipped back to the page that he read earlier, before Annie tucked it aside;
"You have to start from the front!" I really hate when Candy gets like this. She sounds like a foal that's yelling at their mom to get them, well, candy. But since she's distracted by Star, I should start from the back. Assuming Star is right.
He continued reading about his party, both before and after he got the book, and everything was exactly as he remembered. One thing seemed to stick with him, though. One thing the mail pony said:
"Though I get the feeling it will change your future."
He flipped back to the last page, and noticed a page seemingly stuck to the back cover, "Test time."
He carried the book across the room, over to a desk he never used, and pulled a bit of ink and a quill out.
"Let's see if this thing works," He started writing on that extra page, "How about Dubz getting that position instead of..." He glanced off to the side, "... whoever else got it."
He let the ink dry, then closed the book. Not wanting anyone to glance at it while he was asleep, he took it with him back to bed and slid it under his pillow.
This can't possibly work, He thought, There's no way.
You can't control someone else's future.
