Spike, Trixie, and Twilight were out in the park. Since purple smart didn’t have her nose in a book, most residents quickly deduced that the mare was experimenting with magic, resulting in pedestrians giving the trio their due space. Dealing with yet another magical misfire wasn’t exactly on anyone’s agenda. Not to mention that awful itching was an all too common symptom.

Trixie was standing downrange as Twilight prepared her spell, bracing herself for the worst. Then, Twilight’s horn lit, and a blinding flash encompassed Trixie. When she could see again, the blue mare quickly checked herself over to see what had changed. “Good heavens!” she exclaimed as she beheld her backside. “Trixie’s plot is enormous!”

Spike showed his age by slapping his claws over his mouth to stifle his giggling. He liked full bottoms as much as the next guy, but Trixie’s ass had swollen to downright ridiculous proportions. The thing was balloon-shaped and practically touching the ground. One look at the mare’s horrified face sent Spike over the edge. He fell onto his back, laughing hysterically.

“Hmm. Seems my calculations were a bit off on that one.” Twilight plucked the pen and parchment from where Spike had dropped them and took a second to scribble some notes. “Let’s try that again.”

Trixie held up a hoof. “If you’re planning on reversing what you did, kindly try not to take any more than absolutely necessary. Trixie’s ass is small enough already.”

Twilight pursed her lips in concentration. “Sorry, but the whole point of this kind of testing is that I’m not 100% on the results.” Trixie did not look pleased with this reasoned explanation. “At least I’ve memorized the safety mechanisms. Hey, stop looking at me like that. Body modifications are really tricky.”

Trixie rolled her eyes. “Just get it over with.”

Seeing no benefit in arguing further, Twilight did just that, and another flash overtook the mare. Twilight beamed. “There, see. So much better.”

Trixie turned to examine her ass with the scrutiny of an archeologist appraising some recently uncovered pottery. “Hmm. Looks like you’ve increased the roundness just a little.” She allowed herself a smile. “Trixie approves.”

Twilight pumped her hoof in victory. “Yes. Spike, go over there, and measure the changes. I’ll compare them to my variation in magical output and… Spike? Hello, Spike?”

“Hmm, what? Oh, sorry,” the drake replied.

“Spike,” Twilight whined. “This kind of in-depth research requires total concentration from all involved.”

“Trixie is reasonably certain that her own concentration is a non-factor,” she offered helpfully, much to Twilight’s consternation.

“Sorry. I can’t help it. It’s just… look.” The drake pointed off to a lonely, unimpressive tree.

From behind the tree, which was far too thin to conceal a pony body, a pink head poked its head out. Said head was adorned with a peculiar umbrella hat. Given the shape of pony bodies, this contraption seemed painfully inefficient to Twilight. The pink mare had her eye on the sky, looking worried, and was hurriedly darting between places of cover.

Twilight shook her head. “Never mind her. She’s just being Pinkie Pie.”

“Super extra Pinkie Pie today,” Spike corrected.

“Is this going to turn into a thing? Because Trixie gets the feeling that this is going to be a thing. If so, can Trixie keep her new, sexier ass?”

Another second of watching Pinkie’s strange behavior finally piqued Twilight’s curiosity enough to walk over and investigate. Spike followed and motioned Trixie to do the same. “Pinkie Pie, what in the wide world of Equestria are you doing?”

Pinkie, having no concept of personal space, got right up in Twilight’s face. “Oh, it’s my tail. It’s my tail!” And she spun around, sticking her ass out and engulfing Twilight’s head in the fluff of her pink tail. “It’s a twitcha-twitchin’. And you know what that means.”

Twilight, feeling like she’d totally lost the plot, pushed the pink tail aside. “Actually, I haven’t the slightest idea,” she deadpanned.

“Four more weeks of winter?” Spike suggested.

“Some local adventure that seems safe enough at first, but will eventually escalate into harm to Trixie?” She cringed and started looking around. “Please say no.”

“The twitchin’ means my Pinkie Sense is telling me that stuff’s gonna start falling,” Pinkie explained while wildly gesturing. “You should duck for cover.”

“Oh, Pinkie, it’s not gonna rain,” Twilight laughed. “Why there’s barely… hey! Where are you going?”

“Weird stuff is happening, and Trixie was given a fair warning to seek cover,” the blue mare deadpanned from beneath a covered porch. “What do you think I’m doing?”

“Trixie, you’re being ridiculous. There’s nothing—”

*Smack*

“Ribbit.”

Gob-smacked, Twilight stared in silent terror at the frog that had smacked her in the face and taken perch upon her snoot.

“I’m no Fluttershy,” Pinkie began, “but he either thanked you for catching him, or just insulted your mother. It’s funny how many animals are actually really rude potty mouths.”

“Ribbit,” the frog said again with a broad, shit-eating grin.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” came the eternally soft voice of Fluttershy from overhead. The mare was laden down with baskets and saddlebags full of frogs. Beside her was a familiar griffon pulling a cart of the slimy amphibians.

“Nice catch, dork,” snickered Gilda. “That’s a good look for you.”

“What the hell is going on?” Twilight demanded. She would have spoken much more irately, but something about Fluttershy’s demure demeanor caused her anger to fizzle to nothing. The mare was just too damn innocent, and it could get insufferable sometimes.

“The pond was getting just the teensiest bit overpopulated,” Fluttershy explained. “Frogs were so packed together that they were hopping into each other and hurting themselves.”

“It was actually pretty funny,” Gilda giggled, only to go quiet after a stern look from yellow quiet. She cleared her throat. “Yeah. Overpopulation is bad, so we’re moving a bunch of the little guys over to Froggy Bottom Bog.”

Twilight shook the frog free of her snoot, though it switched to clinging to the side of her face. “Okay, that sounds like a Fluttershy thing to do, but why are you helping, Gilda?”

“Uh, cuz I’m super strong, this is a shit ton of frogs, and Fluttershy asked me.” The wren gestured to the pegasus beside her. “She batted her eyes at me, man. I didn’t have a choice,” she implored pleadingly.

“That checks out,” Spike agreed.

“Is it safe for Trixie to come out yet?”

Ignoring the blue mare, the flyers said their goodbyes and resumed their task of frog transport.

“Um, Twilight. You’ve got a little something on your face there.” Pinkie gestured to the purple mare’s green growth.

“Oh, really?” Twilight replied sarcastically. “Did your Pinkie Sense tell you that, too?”

Spike’s face was stretching in all manner of unusual directions as he fought his compulsion to laugh.

“Nah, I can just see it,” Pinkie replied, utterly oblivious to Twilight’s sass. She then merrily trotted off while singing to herself.

The frog then vacated Twilight’s head, kicking off with a surprising amount of force that left the mare shaken. “Ugh. Come on, Spike. Let’s continue our practice session where there’s a little less commotion.”

“Trixie didn’t hear her name. Is she required to—”

“Yes!” Twilight snapped. “Now, get your ass over here before I take it from you.”

Trixie was by Twilight’s side in a heartbeat, and the three set off.

“Wow! That was amazing!” Spike proclaimed as he hopped onto Twilight’s back, almost throwing off her balance. “Pinkie predicted something would fall, and it did.”

“Oh, come on,” Twilight dismissed. “She said that something would fall, and a frog just happened to fall at around the same time. A coincidence. Nothing else to it.”

Trixie was then stricken with a peculiar coughing fit. “Erhur. Ahem. Clover-the-Clever. Ahurr!”

“Excuse me?” Twilight’s brow had ascended her forehead to near Applejackian heights.

Trixie cleared her throat. “In my extensive study of magical phenomenon,” she said in a raised pitch in imitation of the historical figure, “I have come to believe that the concept of a coincidence is purely theoretical. It might exist, but I certainly haven’t found it.” She then turned a rather smug smirk onto her master. “Clover the Clever’s theory on magical intent. When dealing with new magic, it is often safer to assume intent rather than happenstance.”

Twilight’s eye had started twitching. “Don’t you go spouting magical theorems at me, missy!” she hissed. “I’ve written dissertations on all of the great magical pioneers, and two on Clover.”

“Really? Then why didn’t you remember one of her most famous proposals, mistress?”

Spike, sensing the tension in Twilight’s back, decided to intervene and diffuse the situation. “Having a frog land on your face can be pretty distracting. Not to mention I’ve told you about how Twilight gets tunnel vision when she’s in the middle of something.”

Twilight fumed. She hated Spike for explaining her weaknesses so casually, but she hated him more for thoroughly knowing those weaknesses. Her ire only grew from the fact that she couldn’t even argue the point. She’d forgotten something that should have been obvious to any unicorn worth her salt, and Trixie was right to remind her.

“My tail! My tail!” Pinkie exclaimed, manifesting right beside the trio. Once again, her ass was raised high in the air while her tail was twitching about. “Twitch-a-twitch. Twitch-a-twitch! Something else is gonna fall.”

“Thank you,” Trixie called, waving from beneath the tree she’d just run under.

Spike, looking very nervous, dismounted purple smart and began backing up towards Trixie. “Uh, I think I’m just gonna head over—”

“Not you too,” whined Twilight.

“What? Didn’t we just establish not to assume coincidence?” he asked while his eyes fretfully surveyed the sky.

Exasperated, Twilight shook her head with fervor as she pressed on. “This is ridiculous and completely irrelevant. Body convulsions have nothing to do with—Gah!”

*Thud*

Spike ran over to the ditch Twilight had stumbled into. “Oh, no, Twilight fell!” He was about to jump down to help, but then turned a concerned eye to Pinkie. “Is it… safe to go help her?”

“It’s okay,” Pinkie chirped. “My tail stopped twitching,” she added, even though Spike had already jumped down to check on Twilight. Now without an audience, Pinkie once more trotted off with a song on her lips.

Twilight was grumbling, but said nothing as Spike checked her over, his fine claws exploring every inch of her body in a way that was equal parts invasive and soothing. She knew better than to tell him to stop, for he wouldn’t listen until he was satisfied with her wellbeing.

“Uh, Twilight,” came the melodious southern drawl of AJ. “Why are ya hangin’ out in a ditch?”

“Pinkie Pie can foresee things falling,” Trixie answered.

“Oh, please,” Twilight harrumphed. “You really expect me to believe that a twitchy tail can—”

“Pinkie’s twitchy tail?” AJ then darted under a nearby cart and covered her head.

“Don’t worry, it’s safe,” assured Spike. “Twilight fell, so the prediction already came true.”

“Wait… You believe in this stuff, too?” demanded Twilight.

Relieved, AJ climbed back into the open, and fixed Twilight with a severe look. “Look, sugar cube. Ah know it might not make sense, but Ah’ve been around Pinkie long enough ta see with mah own eyes. If Pinkie starts a twitchin’, you’d better listen.”

Twilight had to sit down for this. “Two coincidences within the span of a few minutes is one thing, but now you’re saying it, too?” She pointed at AJ, who nodded back. “Hmm. It doesn’t seem likely that a down-to-earth pony like you would believe anything without some sort of evidence, or at least some consistently observable pattern.”

AJ nodded, pleased at what she was pretty sure was a compliment. “Ah don’t bamboozle easily.”

And then Pinkie appeared again. “My ears are flopping. My ears are flopping!” she shouted. Sure enough, it appeared that her ears had attained sentience and were rebelling against their owner, smacking Pinkie’s head like it owed them money.

“What does that mean?” Spike asked. He, AJ, and even Trixie had all assumed defensive stances, awaiting Pinkie’s word of warning.

Pinkie turned apologetically towards Twilight. “I’ll start a bath for you.” Her word given, Spike and AJ both backed up from the purple mare while Trixie held her safe position as an observer.

“A bath?” Twilight scoffed. “This is just getting ridiculous, but fine. If it turns out I need a bath,” she ranted as a stallion pulling a cart full of hey rushed past, not really paying attention where he was going, “then I’ll—”

*Splash*

The cart ran straight through a mud puddle, splashing a great heap of mud onto the purple mare as the reckless driver continued on his way.

“Grrrr!”

***

Up in Pinkie’s room in Sugar Cube Corner, Twilight was soaking in the bubble bath Pinkie had drawn. Joining her were Spike and Trixie, both working hard to scrub her clean. Despite being waited on hoof and hoof, Twilight was still seriously peeved at everything that had happened.

“So basically, it works like this,” Pinkie began as she added more bubble mix to the bath, because a bath without bubbles was just uncivilized. “I get different little feelings, and they all mean different things. Like when my back is itchy, it means it’s my lucky day!” she cheered. “And when my knee gets pinchy, that means something scary’s about to happen.”

“And… all of these predictions turn out true?” Twilight forced herself to ask. She was far from a believer, but she’d seen enough to at least be open to the possibility.

Pinkie nodded emphatically. “Yapperoony! Like when the ursa attacked, my knee got super-duper pinchy. Or your first day in Ponyville. I don’t remember the last time my back was that itchy.”

Twilight nodded along, contemplating the evidence as it was given. “Any… feelings now?”

Pinkie looked to her left shoulder. “My shoulder’s achey!” She perked up. “That means there’s an alligator in the tub.”

“What? How does that-yipe!” Twilight’s yelp set the others scrambling out of the tub, with her close behind. Once she was in the open air, she flipped onto her back to behold the alligator. The thing wasn’t much bigger than the frog she’d just met, yet it had swallowed almost a third of her cock, distending its body in ways that should have been impossible. It looked like the mare was wearing a flesh-light decorated to look like a lizard. Twilight’s face was the picture of horror. “There’s an alligator on my cock! Get it off!”

Before Spike could spring into action, Pinkie blocked his path. “No need for that. Gummy’s my pet alligator. He’s a bit of a nibbler.”

“He’s nibbling,” Twilight stressed through gritted teeth, “on my cock! Get him off before he bites.”

With a good-natured smile, Pinkie rolled her eyes and tickled under the green reptile’s chin. His jaw’s vice grip relaxed instantly, and she was able to easily slide him off, allowing his body to resume its natural shape. “Gummy’s got no teeth, see?”

As soon as she said this, the alligator began viciously attacking all across Pinkie’s body. She laughed at what she interpreted to be love bites tickling her. That is, until he found her testicles and decided to affix himself there. Once again, the creature’s body stretched and distended to accommodate the large orbs filling his belly.

“Perfectly harmless,” she tittered at the tingles.

“Let’s see if you’re still saying that in a year or two,” Trixie muttered. “Or whenever alligators get their teeth.” Her words caught the reptile’s attention, causing him to stare at her with those large, violet, and vacant eyes. Trixie suddenly felt very heavy, like a great weight had just been placed on her back. But rather than pushing her down, as gravity normally did, the weight seemed to be pushing her forward, towards the alligator. Something… something was beckoning her, drawing her in. Something about those eyes: they were old, much older than should have been possible. They had seen things, and to Trixie, they whispered promises of sharing their great secrets, if only she got closer.

“Nuh-uh. Nope.” Pinkie covered a hoof over Gummy’s eyes.

Trixie blinked and looked around the room. “Wh-where’d I go just now?”

“Prooobably best not to look into Gummy’s eyes,” Pinkie advised. “He gets in these moods that… You know what; just don’t look in his eyes.”

Trixie, having remained relatively safe today thanks to Pinkie’s advice, nodded her compliance.

***

Back outside, after pacifying Gummy with a tiny plushie shaped like Pinkie, the three mares and dragon walked down the street.

“I still don’t believe any of this mumbo jumbo,” Twilight asserted, more for herself than anything.

“What’s not to believe?” asked Pinkie. “You do magic. What’s the difference?”

Indignant, Twilight opened her mouth to deliver a vicious retort, a lecture on the fundamentals of magic that Pinkie wouldn’t soon forget, only to get a claw clamming her muzzle shut.

“Pretty sure I know what you’re about to say,” Spike began. “You’re going to say that magic is a thing that’s tied to will, that makes only specific things happen at a pony’s conscious effort, right?”

Twilight nodded.

Trixie snorted. “What about passive magic? Roaming and fixed anomalies? Trixie even once read about ponies being born with active magical effects. No pony casts any spells, but the ponies affected have all these weird behaviors and abilities, almost like reflexes. Looking Glass was the author’s name, if Trixie recalls.”

“Oh, hey. I read that one,” Spike beamed, pleased for a chance to be on level with a scholarly discussion.

Twilight pulled herself free. “So did I!” she asserted, sounding like it was very important that the others not think she was behind in her research. “And as I recall, the study was peer-reviewed to be inconclusive. Not enough evidence. Certainly, nothing that’d suggest Pinkie is one of the”—she twirled her hoof around as she searched for the right word—“afflicted ponies.”

“Need evidence?” Trixie gestured at Pinkie. “There’s some. Go get it.”

Twilight scowled. “I really don’t think a slave should be talking to her master like that.”

Trixie whickered tiredly. “Oh, master,” she gasped, her grin wide and forced. “Trixie, your Great and Powerful slave, who’s apparently just as well-read as her master, believes that there is an opportunity here. You could observe Pinkie as a continuation of that original study, and maybe see if it’s actually worth something.”

Curious, Spike tilted his head adorably. “You’re… encouraging Twilight to do experiments?”

“Yes. On somepony other than Trixie.”

“Ah, makes sense.”

“I should probably point out that it’s not just one thing,” Pinkie added. “Sometimes it’s a bunch of random things happening to my body at random times that supposedly predict the future. I call ‘em combos.”

Twilight’s eye twitched again. “I swear to Molestia. If I find out you’re just fucking with me…”

“Silly Twilight. I haven’t fucked you all day. Been too busy predicting stuff. Though we could fix that right now, if you want?” She offered with a suggestive wink, only for the smile to fall from her face. “Uh-oh. I feel a combo coming on.”

“Do tell,” Trixie called from a nearby gazebo. Spike was waddling as fast as his little legs could carry him to join her.

“Let’s see here. Eye flutter. Knee twitch. Winking pussy. Eep!” And Pinkie sat her rump down with far more force than seemed necessary. Watching from the sidelines, Trixie and Spike did the same.

“Oh, fine!” Despite herself, Twilight had suffered enough humiliation today that it seemed best to err on the side of caution. She mimicked Pinkie and sat down. “Alright then.” She looked around expectantly for anything out of the ordinary. “What does this one me—eep!” She bolted up with a start.

Before she realized it, purple smart lay prone in the street, head down and ass up. Normally this wouldn’t be an issue, except that she felt something squirming around inside her rectum. “Ahh! What is it? Get it out!”

Pinkie trotted merrily behind Twilight to see what was distressing the mare so. “Don’t worry. It’s just a friendly gopher.” She gestured at the fuzzy critter squirming around with his head shoved up a mare’s poop chute. Pinkie decided to do the little guy a solid and yank him free before he asphyxiated. “Must have wanted to come up for air, only for you to sit on his head. That was an awfully rude thing to do, Twi.”

“B-but you told me to!”

“Not exactly,” Pinkie denied. “If you’ll recall, I never gave any specific warning. Eye flutter, then knee twitch, then winking pussy typically means surprise butt sex, which, around here, usually means watch out for speeding rainbows.” She tittered. “I wasn’t really in the mood for how rough Rainbow can get, which is why I sat down. You made the choice to follow my lead, ending up with a gopher up your butt.”

Twilight was speechless, too flabbergasted even to notice the gopher’s suggestive motioning.

“That seems pretty vague,” Spike called, his tail now tucked between his legs. “That alligator in the tub thing was super specific, almost convolutedly so, but I’m not sure I’d call a gopher accidentally climbing up the butt as sex.”

“Yeah, there’s some room for interpretation,” Pinkie agreed. “I guess it might be better to call this one surprise butt penetration, since that’s the base event that always happens.”

“Always?” Trixie asked.

“Mmh hmm. Whenever I get an eye flutter, then knee twitch, then winking pussy, it always means that somehow, someway, somewhere, sompony’s gonna get something up their butt they did not expect. Usually, within about 12 kilometers from my person at the time of spasming and at an average of about one minute after said spasming occurred, with no precedent for anything exceeding one hour.”

Twilight blinked rapidly. “You’ve… taken notes?”

“Nah. It’s just that when you’re born with future predicting body spasms, you tend to notice one or two patterns.”

“P-patterns. Yes…” Twilight hummed.

“Uh-oh.” Spike turned to the pink mare. “Pinkie. You, uh, might want to run. I think Twilight’s about to take Trixie’s advice.”

Pinkie’s head tilted, her ears flopping adorably. “Advice? What advice are you—”

“Gotcha!” Twilight had tackled Pinkie, pinning the larger, stronger, and fluffier earth mare to the ground. They were belly-to-belly, teats and sheaths pressed tightly together. A manic grin had taken the purple mare’s face. “It’s time, Spike,” she said through labored breaths.

“Time for what?” asked the ignorant pink mare.

“It’s time to do some science!” A lightning bolt flashed across the sky as Twilight threw her head back, laughing like a mad mare. “Mwahahahaha!”

***

Meanwhile, just overhead…

“Oops. My bad.” Derpy blushed meekly, looking down at the storm cloud she’d accidentally bumped.

“Nah,” said the stallion who’d been hauling the cloud. He flipped through the notes on his clipboard. “Says right here this cloud was due for delivery to this exact spot at”—he checked the clock tower—“right now, actually.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Client said she wanted to create an ‘ominous mood,’ whatever that means. So no harm, no foul.”

***

Down in Twilight’s basement, the party had assembled to see what sort of mad science the mare was getting up to. Spike, accepting that the only course was to let Twilight work this through her system, helped set up Pinkie for examination. He strapped her to a table, binding her hooves using knots he’d learned from Rarity. He also applied several suction cups to various vital points along her body, all linked to wires hooked up to a single machine with—in his opinion—an excessive amount of bells and whistles. To complete the ensemble, he strapped a dome-shaped hat covered in blinking lights to Pinkie’s head.

Trixie, feeling confident in her chosen survival strategy, picked a corner with suitable cover against any sort of flying debris, but it also would allow her to escape should things turn sideways. It also provided her with an excellent view of what was sure to be an interesting show.

Twilight looked the setup over and gave a chillingly toothy grin. “Alright, now when you get another twitch, we’ll have all kinds of readings analyzing exactly what’s going on in that body of yours.”

“Okey dokey lokey!” And Pinke rested her head back on the table, humming to herself.

Nothing happened. Twilight looked over the machine, making sure everything was working. A minute passed, and then three. Nothing happened.

After ten minutes had passed, Trixie yawned. “Is something supposed to happen?”

Pinkie shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” Twilight demanded. “How do you not know? This is your body.”

Pinkie stuck her tongue out in contemplation. “I guess it’s kind of like when I have to go pee. I get the feeling when it’s coming, but it’s not like I can force myself if there’s nothing there. My body just sort of does its own thing with me along for the ride.”

Sensing another angry outburst, Spike stepped forward. “Maybe passive observation isn’t the best idea.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.

“Well, I guess it’s like she said. She can’t make herself pee. However, we could make her if we give her water. Know what I mean?”

Twilight’s eyes widened. “You’re brilliant, Spike!” She kissed him full on the mouth. “I knew there was a reason I kept you around.” And she ran off to another part of the lab.

Spike, meanwhile, stayed frozen in place. He smacked his lips, contemplating what they’d just come in contact with. It’s not like this was the first kiss he’d shared with Twilight, or even their most intimate kiss. They’d kissed in all kinds of ways, from casual to nasty, yet for some strange reason that he couldn’t articulate, this one felt special.

“Pinkie,” Twilight called from parts unknown. “Can you see me?”

“E’nope.” She giggled at her excellent impression of Big Mac.

“How are you feeling?”

“Hmm. Good, I guess. One might even say I’m feeling… Pinkie Keen. Hah!”

“Was that meant to be funny?” Trixie asked. “It sounded like you were about to deliver a punchline to a joke, but that wasn’t even a good pun.”

With what little free movement she had, Pinkie gave a dismissive wave. “Eh. I guess you just had to be there. Wait!” She snapped to face down between her legs, past her crotch teats and her sheath to the wad of fuzz that was suddenly shaking.”

“Ah! Twitchy tail.” Spike dove for cover under a table. “Something’s gonna fall!”

…

…

*Thud*

“It fell,” Twilight informed.

Spike poked his head out from beneath the table. “Huh? What did?”

“The ball.” Before the others could inquire further, Twilight trotted back into the open. In her magic, she carried what appeared to be a miniature roller coaster, or what weird bipedal aliens might call a game of Mouse Trap. “I just threw this together,” she said while setting it down for all to admire. “It’s like a game of dominos: set off the first part and watch one action lead into another, until it all comes together with this ball here”—she pointed—“dropping. Pinkie, your tail started twitching roughly a split second after I flipped the first switch. So you predicted an object would fall at roughly the same time that said fall was inevitable.”

“Oooh!” Pinkie awed. “What’s that mean?”

“Let’s see.” Twilight trotted over to the machine and looked through its readings. “Hmm. Your internal magical matrix is pretty steady until right here”—she checked the clock—“which was when I flipped the switch, and your tail twitched.”

“Oooh!” Pinkie awed again. “What’s that mean?”

“Um, I’m not sure. There’s a very distinct spike in magical energy, but it’s no greater than an average pegasus wing flap. And this model is state-of-the-art. Most machines wouldn’t even register such a low signature.”

“Oooh!” Pinkie awed for yet a third time. “What’s-hmm mmm erhmmm?” she asked through closed lips, a magical aura sealing her mouth shut.

“It means,” Twilight paused for dramatic effect, “that more tests are needed.”

Hours passed as test after test was tested, exploring every variable that Twilight could think of. Finally, a catalog was compiled, listing off Pinkie’s many body spasms and their associated predictions. Included in this list was the frequency for which predictions actually occurred. All were 100% accurate, but only about 77% of all twitchy tail tests actually prompted a twitchy tail. Pinkie’s perception seemed to play a large role, as events that happened outside her field of view and without any prior knowledge were 90% more likely to result in future telling spasms than events that occurred while Pinkie watched.

“Yesss,” Twilight hissed as she looked over the results of their latest experiments. “Real results!” She took a deep sniff of the paper and made a sound of satisfaction. “Now, this is what science is all about: proving whether or not something actually exists.”

Pinkie shook her head, looking oddly disappointed. “Not everything needs to be proven or explained, Twilight. Sometimes you’ve just got to believe. Sometimes you—”

“Yeah, yeah,” Twilight dismissed, keeping her eyes on the paper. “Belief. Blind faith. Got it. Hmm. That’s peculiar.”

“Peculiar how?” Trixie asked irately. Even sitting, she was barely able to hold herself upright. Against her loud and shrill protests, she’d been conscripted into many of Twilight’s experiments, too many for her liking. Her track record of avoiding harmful danger had been thoroughly broken, resulting in a sore noggin, and aching ass, and this odd spasm in her spine that she did not care for in the least. Also, after one particular bonk on the head, she briefly had visions of these strange ghostly figures floating about the lab. They didn’t look like anything she’d ever seen before, yet she’d immediately identified them as the extra-dimensional puppeteers of reality, entities that only existed in myth, known as Canadians. Hideous things, they were, but they vanished the moment she stopped being dizzy.

The point was that Trixie hurt all over and was not eager for more experiments.

“Well, it seems that this list of future predicted spasms seems to include roughly every body part Pinkie has, from her tongue to her ass cheeks, except for her male genitals.”

Spike motioned Twilight to hand him the notes so that he could double-check. “Hey, yeah. You’re right.”

“No need to act so surprised,” remarked Twilight. “Pinkie, have you not had any future predicting spasms related to your penis?”

“Ummmmmm… Nope.”

“But you’ve had a futa cock for several months now. Hmm.” She read and reread her notes in search of the answer. “The magic Elements gave us these cocks. Assuming that you’re one of these theoretical ponies born with passive magic, or continuous active effects – still not sure how to categorize this – then it might be that your old magic is simply taking a while to adjust to the new magic.”

“Like roommates,” Spike offered. “Stuff’s always awkward at first, so it takes a bit to get used to each other’s habits.”

“Not the way I would have said it, but exactly,” Twilight concurred. “Spike, take a letter. I’d like to place a requisition order to the Royal Canterlot Archive to—”

“Get the old study to compare it to recent findings,” he finished, having already pulled out a quill and parchment. “On it.”

Pinkie’s stomach growled.

“I feel silly for asking, but I need to make sure. Was that a future predicting spasm, or are you just hungry?” Twilight inquired.

“Both!” chirped Pinkie. “My tummy rumbling means that I’m about to get fed soon. Tehe.”

“With all due respect, Trixie is calling bullshit on that being a prediction.”

“We’ve collected enough data for now, anyway,” Twilight acknowledged and shut down the machines. “Let’s go take a break for lunch. That way, we’ll be well-rested for even more research!”

“Oh, joy,” deadpanned Trixie.

Spike engulfed the requisition in flames, helped disconnect Pinkie from the wires, and then the four of them headed up to grab a bite.

Author's Note

I recall seeing a review of this episode years ago in which they said that during the testing portion, this is pretty much precisely what Twilight should have done instead of just sitting around. She should have tried provoking the twitches to prove or disprove their validity. So, a lot of this story comes from these little tidbits I hear here and there, all finding a chance to finally manifest. At the same time, I really seem to be exploring the ideas of magic from a more experimental perspective. I have this system in my head and am having a lot of fun seeing what-if-X. It’s an ongoing mystery that’s just so enjoyable to work through and play with everyone’s reactions and interactions.

Also, while Trixie might seem tacked on at times, I’m really enjoying her snark. She fits really well as comic relief, and she and Spike make an even better duo.
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