Ponywatching

by ThunderTempest

First published 18th of April, 2013

Stories from TMP prompts

These are stories I have written from the prompts over at Thirty Minute Ponies. Although some of these will be for the earlier prompts, all stories were written within thirty minutes.

Prompt #321-Ponywatching

“What do you think they talk about?”

Lyra turned from her position on the bench beside her friend Bonbon.

“Who?”

“Them. You know, Twilight, Rarity, that group of mares.”

Lyra followed Bonbon’s outstretched hoof to see Equestria’s newest Princess, Twilight Sparkle taking a casual stroll with Rarity. The two mares were casually chatting as they walked through the park. “Probably completely normal, average, pony things.”

Bonbon didn’t seem happy with that answer. “But those six have been at the centre of everything that’s happened to this town for the last two years. They’re even national heroes, twice over. You want to know what I think?”

Lyra sighed in resignation. As much as she loved her friend, Bonbon’s imagination could be a bit wild sometimes. “What do you think, Bonbon?”

The other mare needed no further prompting than that. “I think they talk about really interesting stuff, like obscure magic, potential threats they could be facing off against, tactics. Maybe new developments in pastry warfare. Or maybe even...”

“So why don’t you go and ask them?” put in Lyra, cutting Bonbon’s incoming list off before it could really get started on the truly weird.

“But that would take away the mystery,” moaned the earth pony. Lyra slipped off the bench, and stood directly in front of her oldest friend to make sure she got her point through.

“Bonbon. They are normal, everyday ponies like you or me. They aren’t magical warriors from outerspace, Neighponese ninja or anything else you can dream up. They’re just ponies who happen to be in the right place at the right time. That’s it. They’ll talk about normal, everyday pony things. Not potential enemies, not tactics, and not Advanced Pastry Warfare.
They. Are. NORMAL. PONIES!” Lyra’s voice had risen slightly throughout her speech, and when she finished, she was heaving for breath.

“Alright, I get it, I get it.” Bonbon sulked, and Lyra sat back down, pleased that she had temporarily quelled her friend’s overactive imagination, and the two settled back into conversation about Bonbon’s strategy for the upcoming Equestria Candy Maker Faire.

“Rarity, what do you think they talk about?”

The white unicorn turned to face her alicorn companion. “What who talks about, dear?”

“You know...normal ponies.” Twilight gestured around the park the two were walking through.

“Probably the usual things. Why?”

“But what are the ‘usual things’? I never really had a chance to see that when I was younger, being as concerned with books as I was back then.”

Rarity giggled lightly. “You mean as you still are, my dear,” Twilight blushed in embarrassment. “The ‘usual things’ in casual conversation are things like mane care routines, business ideas...much of the same things we talk about when not saving the world, or attending Princess coronations.”

Twilight took on a look of understanding. “Thanks for clearing that up, Rarity.”

“It’s not a problem my dear. I sometimes forget how unlike a normal pony your younger life was. Now, I do believe that Fluttershy is waiting on us at the spa, so let’s pick up the pace a bit, hmm?”

“Oh! Sorry.” And then the two ponies continued on to a perfectly ordinary day.

Author's Notes:

This was just a small thing I put into a Thirty Minute Ponies prompt, just cleaned up a bit and some minor editing from it's original submission form.

Prompt #322-It Started So Innocently

It Started so Innocently...

It all started so innocently, you really couldn’t fathom how it had escalated this far, this quickly. You had begun your day just as usual, a quick brush of your mane and tail to get rid of bedmane, and when you had gone to brush your teeth, you found that the toothpaste had been replaced with cupcake frosting. More specifically, PINK cupcake frosting. Smart as you were, this did not take a genius to figure out who was responsible. You shook your head with a small smile. You hadn’t even heard Pinkie Pie come in during the night. Swilling some water around your mouth to get rid of morning breath before you went out, you levitated the day’s checklist and a quill over to you, and added toothpaste to the list of things you needed to buy today. Then, as you walked down the stairs, you found that replacing the toothpaste had not been the only thing that Pinkie had obviously done last night. A parcel full of sneezing powder had been left on the kitchen counter. The ink had been exchanged with vanishing ink. An apple pie had been shelved next to the Daring Do series. Wait, what? Turning to look again, your face scrunched up in confusion.

‘Why, in Celestia’s name was there an apple pie on the shelf next to the Daring Do series?’ you thought. Levitating the pie over and inspecting it had revealed it was a perfectly normal pie, probably baked by Applejack because you knew that Pinkie couldn’t bake a pie to save her life. Still, it was a perfectly good pie, no sense in letting it go to waste, and you set it aside for lunch. But then, as you had exited the door of your library home, a bucket of gold dust had fallen on you, covering you completely from horn to hoof. After freezing and twitching in place for a bit, trying desperately to prevent the onset of neurotic behaviour you knew was probably coming, you lifted one hoof up off the ground, took a deep breath, and exhaled, swiping the hoof to the side.

‘Better. Now, I suppose I’d better see Pinkie, and see what all this is about.’ This calm, logical thought calmed you, and you set off for Sugarcube Corner. However, the pranks didn’t stop outside your home. One of the apples you had bought from Applejack was a fake wooden one, painted to look real. An obviously fake turtle had sprayed water in her face. Once you finally reached the bakery where the pink party pony worked, you called out her name.

“Just a minute Twilight! I’m just tending to these last few cupcakes!” Soon enough, your friend was standing in front of you, trying her best not to laugh while her eyes watered up from the effort.

“Pinkie, why all these pranks now? It’s not even April Foals’ day!” you exclaimed, wanting to know what drove the pony to do all of this now, of all days.

“I’ve never pranked a Princess before, silly! Well, that and I wanted to show you that you were still one of our friends, even if you are a princess now. We all worked together on those pranks.”

Your face softened. You hadn’t known that they had been worried about the possible consequences of your new position. “Don’t worry, Pinkie,” you explained, “I’m not going anywhere if I can help it. I would never want to leave Ponyville or the girls behind.”

~~~time~~~~

“But Pinkie,” you asked, as the pony in question hugged you, “What was with the apple pie next to Daring Do?”

“Oh, That pie was made with liquid rainbow. Who ever eats it is going to get a spicy surprise!”

You giggled. All was right in Ponyville.

Author's Notes:

This was written for Prompt #322-It's All About You.
I will note that this was written at half past five in the morning.

Prompt # 325-Out of Character

Out of Character

It was no secret in Ponyville that one of the local mailmares, one Ditzy ‘Derpy Hooves’ Doo, was a bit odd. Most visitors found her almost perpetually wall-eyed look, and almost perfectly eidietic memory a bit unnerving, but the locals knew that despite this disability that Ditzy was a rather pleasant mare who held down a steady job, and had nothing but kind words for everypony in town. So when one morning, just like any other, the townsfolk witnessed the kind, forgiving mailmare shaking the living daylights out of the librarian at Golden Oak Library, they were stunned.

“What do you mean, you don’t know who Twilight Sparkle is? She lives here!” Ditzy growled. “Every morning for the last two years, I’ve been here at exactly eight forty six in the morning, she opens the door on the second set of three knocks, and after I’ve passed over the mail for the day, she wishes me luck for the day, and we part ways.”

“I’m sorry, Ditzy, but I have no idea who you are talking about. I’ve always been the librarian for Ponyville. I was going to retire two years ago, but decided against it, remember?” The librarian managed to squeeze out through Ditzy’s shaking.

Upon hearing this, Ditzy seemed to give up on the town librarian, and flew off.

“Alright Ditzy Doo, who were Twilight’s friends?” She muttered to herself as she flew along, abandoning her mail route temporarily. This was more important. One of her friends was missing. “Applejack, 4 Sweet Apple Acres Lane. Rarity, 29 Celestia Way. Pinkie Pie, 67 Main Street. Rainbow Dash, 32 Trotson Street and Fluttershy, 12 Everfree Lane.” Confidant that she had Twilight’s friends addresses correct, she flew towards Applejack’s.

“Ah’m terribly sorry, Ditzy. But Ah’ve never even heard of anypony called Twilight Sparkle.”

“But you two used to be friends! She helped you during cider season when Flim and Flam showed up with their weird machine, and when you tried to harvest an entire crop by yourself!”

“Ah have no idea what you’re babblin’ on about, Ditzy. Sounds like a mighty funny story though.”

Ditzy sighed. “Yeah...a story. Sorry to bother you, Applejack,” Ditzy flew off, dejected.

It was much later when Ditzy arrived home that day, head hung low. Every one of Twilight’s old friends had given her the same answer when she had asked about the unicorn.

“Why does nopony but me remember her? What happened to her?” the mail mare wondered out loud.

Author's Notes:

Written for TMP Prompt #325- The Dissapearence of Twilight Sparkle
Prompt: Twilight Sparkle is missing, and only one pony remembers her.

Prompt #326-Confessions

Prompt #326-Confessions

Courage can be a funny thing, sometimes. Put Scootaloo on her favourite scooter, or give her a really cool idea for a cutie mark, and she’d leap into it wholeheartedly, risking injury without a second thought. This, though? This would take actual courage to do, and there wasn’t any possible risk of injury. Just talking to her two best friends in the whole world. The news itself had been sudden, and Scootaloo herself was still reeling from the possible implications of what this would mean for her friends. So here she waited in the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ clubhouse until her friends arrived. As was expected, Apple Bloom was the first one to arrive, followed a few minutes later by Sweetie Belle.

“So, girls, what are we going to do to get our cutie marks today?” began Apple Bloom.

“Before we begin,” began Scootaloo, lifting her head to look at her friends, “I’ve kinda got something to tell you girls. And it’s kinda important.” The young pegasus scuffed a hoof on the floor of the clubhouse nervously.

“Well, go ahead, Scoot,” encouraged Apple Bloom, ever the practical one.

“Yeah! Come on Scootaloo, what do you have to tell us?” added Sweetie Belle.
Scootaloo continued to swing her hoof nervously, and her eyes looked everywhere except at her two friends. “Well, I don’t know if I’m really supposed to tell anypony about this, but you two are cool in my book, so I think you should know.”

“Take your time, Scootaloo. We can wait.” Apple Bloom was being really helpful, but Scootaloo knew that once she spilled the news, nothing would be the same ever again.

“Well, you see, the thing is,” Scootaloo trailed off, as both Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom looked at her expectantly. She eventually decided to just get it over with.

“I’ll never be able to fly,” she spat out, ignoring the slightly shocked faces of her friends, “The doc says there’s something wrong with my wings. They’ll grow to normal size, but they’ll never be able to carry my weight.” Scootaloo shut her eyes, and waited for the incoming supportive comments that she knew they didn’t really mean.

“Scootaloo...” whispered a voice, “Scootaloo...”

“Scootaloo!” the voice finally yelled, and Scootaloo’s eyes snapped open and she fell out of bed.

“Phew, just a nightmare,” she muttered to herself.

“Hurry up, Scootaloo!” called the voice. “We have your check up today!”

“Coming, mom!” Scootaloo looked back at her bed.

“I hope that nightmare doesn’t come true.”

Author's Notes:

Written for TMP Prompt #326

Prompt #327-Welcoming Ambassadors

Welcoming Ambassadors

Twilight Sparkle patiently waited as Rarity fixed the hem of her newest dress. Unlike the ones that the unicorn had made before, this one was for greeting the ambassadors of a new country that Equestria was entering into an alliance with. However, when Princess Celestia had told Twilight that she wanted Equestria’s newest Princess to handle the meet and greet portion of the ambassador’s visit, she had also mentioned that this was a culture where it was not acceptable to simply go around naked all the time. And so, Twilight had recruited Rarity into making a special dress for the occasion, and asked her to help her out.

“Almost done, Twilight,” explained Rarity, as she made a few final adjustments on the dress, “I do so want to thank you for giving me this opportunity to study another cultures’ designs. Who knows what ideas I may come away with!” Rarity was practically quivering with excitement, and Twilight turned to face her.

“Just remember, Rarity. No...”

“No gawking, no gushing over the designs, no matter how good or bad they are, let you do all the talking and whatever I do, do not mention this to Pinkie Pie,” recited Rarity, having learnt the list of things that Twilight didn’t want her to do after the third time the young alicorn had gone through it while being fitted for her dress. “I remember, darling. It’s just that...well, a culture that constantly wears clothes, who built their society around them...Any designer would love to meet them.”

Twilight smiled at her friend. “I know you’re excited, but just restrain yourself until after I’ve escorted the ambassadors over to Princess Celestia. Now come on, we should head over to the castle gates. They’ll be here soon.”

Twilight and Rarity were by the gate of Canterlot Castle when the carriage bearing the ambassadors pulled up. As the door opened, and the ambassadors exited, Rarity, despite all her promises not to, gawked. Twilight was also caught by surprise, but recovered much quicker than her unicorn friend.

“Ambassadors, Welcome to Canterlot Castle. I am Princess Twilight Sparkle. Princess Celestia has asked me to escort you to her as soon as you arrived, so if you will please follow me, we can get the meetings underway.”

Twilight’s little speech seemed to get Rarity out of her temporary stupor, and she closed her mouth, and fell in behind the group as they traversed the short distance from the gates to the meeting rooms. Once they had passed the ambassadors over to Princess Celestia, Twilight turned to Rarity.

“You promised you wouldn’t gawk.”

“I am terribly sorry, Twilight. I guess I just wasn’t expecting...that,” explained Rarity, motioning with a hoof back towards the meeting room, “Those Kos Pley ambassadors’ outfits were certainly interesting, to say the least.”

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt 327-No shirt, no shoes...
The prompt: Ponies visit or are visited by a culture whose people are not accustomed to public nudity.
The ending idea would simply not leave me alone until I wrote it. As for what the ambassadors were dressed in? I have no idea.

Prompt #328-Surprise!

Ditzy Doo was a bit of a strange pony, and the other ponies in Ponyville were completely comfortable with this. Her natural eidietic memory leant itself very well to her job as a mailmare, and she was quite possibly the only pony in the town who could give you the address of any pony in Ponyville without looking at a book. And then there was the matter of her eyes, which were almost always pointed in two completely different directions. And while yes, she could occasionally be clumsy and uncoordinated thanks to her eye condition, for the most part she avoided major accidents.

“Oops!” cried Ditzy, as the bad strap on her mailbag finally gave way after years of abuse, and the mostly full bag began to tumble towards the earth below, and the pegasus dived after it, hoping to catch it before it could hit the ground and spill its contents everywhere. Unfortunately, the moment she began her dive, she knew she wasn’t going to be fast enough. Fortunately, she wasn’t the only pegasus around. A polychromatic blur intercepted the falling mailbag, loop-de-looped around, and then came to a dead stop in front of the mailmare.

“You drop this, Derpy?” Rainbow Dash grinned as she hovered, holding the mailbag and it’s broken strap in her forehooves.

“Oh, Thanks, Rainbow Dash!” enthused Ditzy ‘Derpy Hooves’ Doo as she took the mailbag in her own hooves. The nickname had begun in Cloudsdale Flight Camp, and had followed the mailmare down to the hamlet of Ponyville. She didn’t mind it too much.

“Not a problem. Catch you later!” called back Rainbow, already speeding off to somewhere. Ditzy turned her attentions to her broken mailbag, thinking on how she could fix it so she could complete her rounds for today, or at least until she could ask for a new one.

~~~

Ditzy Doo stared at the short and simple letter that she had delivered to herself earlier in the day. The letter itself only consisted of perhaps five words. Why her second, and more secretive, employer insisted on using this form of communication, she had no idea, but she now had her mission, and there was no time to waste. Loading up her brand new bag with the appropriate supplies, she hurried over to the targets’ location. It was a trivial matter for her to enter unseen, and just as easy for her to then unlock the door so her employer could enter later. She began to set about the work she was assigned, setting up the area for maximum enjoyment.

She was Ditzy Doo, mailmare, and one of Pinkie Pie’s part-time Surprise Party Officers.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #328
The prompt: The secret life of a background pony
I am not particularly proud of this.

Prompt #117-Unsent Letter

Unsent Letter

Dear Mom and Dad,

I guess it’s been a while since you heard from me, huh? Ten years today, and it’s only today you get this letter. Been doing some thinking lately. I don’t think you were wrong to do what you did. Don’t think you were right, either, but you weren’t wrong. I suppose we’ll never know, right? Can’t go back and undo it all. Wouldn’t want to, anyway. For better or for worse, I’m here.

Let’s see...I suppose I should catch you up on ten years’ worth of news. I live in Fillydelphia now. During winter, I’m a heavy weather consultant. Saved the city a few times. The rest of the year i work in a music shop as an instrument specialist, and that’s a pretty cool gig. I mean, the manager, Tight Ship (I call her Shippy whenever I can get away with it, because I know she hates it) she knows her music, ‘specially the classical stuff, like Mom used to listen to before...you know. Our other employee is this earth pony called Cuddles, real name Broken Record, and he’s really fun to annoy. Gets this wonderful twitch under his right eye that you could use in place of a metronome, it’s that regular.

Sometimes, I just wish I could come home, and curl up next to the fire, like we used to when I was young.

I still hate you guys. Why did you have to be so stupid?

I’m not good at this kinda stuff. Maybe one day I’ll make it back out there. Maybe not, though.

Love,
Regards,
Thunder Tempest.

Tight Ship didn’t like going through her employee’s personal things, but when her pegasus instrument specialist Thunder Tempest had left the letter crumbled up and half shredded in the shop’s break room, she couldn’t really help herself. She wasn’t normally this curious either, but Thunder was oddly tight lipped about anything from before he came to Fillydelphia. This was a clue into his past. Tight Ship didn’t like mysteries, and Thunder’s past was a big one. Still, even reading something this private left the unicorn feeling uneasy, so she scrunched the letter back up, placed it back in the wastebin, and then emptied it out into the larger bin out the back, and didn’t look back.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #117
The prompt: The letter home.

Prompt #329-A Novel Idea

Prompt #329 - A Novel Idea

“Tight Ship,” growled Thunder Tempest, “Shut up.” And then, grabbing the unicorn by her shoulders, the pegasus pulled her in for a smouldering kiss, bringing a deep blush to her cheeks.

Twilight closed the book with a sharp snap, and sighed.

“Really, Rarity? This is just a cheap romance novel. Why would anypony ever read this?”

“Well, naturally such things are not talked about out in the open, dear. Some ponies like to fantasize, shall we say. But the point is not actually the novel here. It’s the author I wanted you to look at.” Rarity grabbed the book and turned it over in her hooves, and opened the back cover. There, plain as Celestia’s sun in the sky, was a picture of Pinkie Pie with a straight mane and a pair of glasses, though the name underneath was ‘Hidden Desire’.

“So Pinkie Pie wrote a romance novel and got it published. Well, it’s not the strangest thing she’s done,” mused Twilight.

“Not just one, Twilight. I have-I mean I’ve seen nearly a dozen books by this ‘Hidden Desire’. I’m just wondering why she kept this a secret from all of us.” Rarity picked the book back up and replaced it in her saddlebag.

“I’m sure she has her reasons. Maybe it’s just a private little hobby, like your obsession with Caverns and Castles,” explained Twilight, turning back to the stack of books she was reshelving. “We all have them, you know.”

“Twilight Sparkle, you leave my Caverns game out of this! You swore you’d never bring that up again!” exclaimed Rarity, but then she calmed down and thought about it more rationally, “Perhaps you are right. Maybe it’s something simply too embarrassing for her to talk about. I’m sure she has a good reason for not telling us about this.”

Twilight just rolled her eyes at Rarity’s histrionics, and tactfully ignored the unicorns’ defence of her unexpected hobby. “I’m sure if you casually asked her about it in a privately, she might offer some explanation. But sometimes, and especially with Pinkie, you just have to accept these things as they are. Besides,” she continued, finishing off the shelf she had been reorganising, “Does it really matter?”

Rarity looked thoughtful for a minute or two, and then gave a wide smile. “Of course it doesn’t, my dear. So what if Pinkie Pie writes bitstore romance novels? She’s still our friend, after all,” proclaimed Rarity, and with a flourish, she turned around and began trotting out of the library, “I’ll see you later, Twilight.”

Twilight waved to Rarity, gave a sigh, and continued her work.

And all was right with the world again.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #329: "Beautiful Fluff"
The prompt: Two ponies kiss, and all is right in the world.

Prompt #330-Behind the Curtain

Behind the Curtain

“Twilight’s out again!”
“Get the orderlies! And some tranquilizers!”
“How did she get out again?”
“Don’t know, don’t care! Just get her back in!”

~~~

Twilight Sparkle giggled as she looked around Ponyville. She had found a spell recently that would apparently ‘Allow the caster to see through the hidden’ At first, she had assumed that this meant she’d be able to see if a pony was keeping a secret, or lying to her. Unfortunately, the spell was far more than she expected. It had peeled back the very fabric of the universe before her eyes. At first it seemed like nothing had changed, but then she saw a pony brought into being from nothing. Well, that wasn’t quite accurate. It had began as what looked like a drawing, a simple sketch, but then lines had solidified, the pony filled up with color and life, and just like that, there was a new pony in Equestria. Another one had been created with just words tumbling down from the sky. And then, Twilight made the mistake of looking at herself in the mirror.

~~~

“Where did she go?”
“She’s around here somewhere. We can only hope that she isn’t causing too much trouble. One of you, go check the security cameras for her. Come on, kid. Let’s check the grounds.”
“Yes, doctor!”

~~~

There, in the mirror, were hundreds of different Twilights, in hundreds of different Equestrias, more being brought into existence every second she kept staring at the mirror. She saw countless different relationships, innumerable friendship lessons, and an infinite number of ways to die. She couldn’t take anymore, and ran outside. Entire buildings formed and vanished in the blink of an eye, words fell from the sky, into ponies’ heads and then came out of their mouths as they spoke. Even great swathes of the very background came in and out of reality at a moment’s notice. Twilight’s mind, unable to take in the idea that the world was so transient, so impermanent, shattered into a thousand pieces.

~~~

“Doctor, I found her! She’s on the western side of the grounds, near the forest!”
“Nice work, kid. You two, with me. I’ll see if I can talk her back inside. If she decides to struggle, you’ll need to act quickly though. Tranquilizers first, then put the jacket on her.”
“Yes, Doctor.”

~~~

“Nothing matters,” giggled Twilight, “we’re all just constructs of ink and paper, in a town of dust and cardboard. Nothing we ever do is our own idea.”
A few meters away, the other Elements of Harmony watched their friend continue to laugh and talk to herself. They too were coming to a realisation.
“She needs help, dears,” said Rarity, as they watched Twilight lift a rock, break it in half and put it back together with a look of absolute wonder on her face, “We should take her to the hospital, make sure she’s looked after, and then inform the princesses.” The four others agreed with the white unicorn, and they began the process of coaxing Twilight over to the hospital.

~~~

“Twilight? You need to come inside now.”
“NO! I’m trying to tell my friends that I’m not insane! They’re the ones who are insane! I’m the only sane mare in this whole world!”
“Come on Twilight, they’re serving dinner now. You want to eat, right?”
“I have to make my friends understand! We’re being controlled by these invisible puppetmasters, so I’ll just have to break their strings for them!”
“Tranquilizers, NOW!”
“Rarity, don’t you bother protesting, we both know that...I’m, ooh, pretty lights...”
“Get her back inside, orderlies. I swear, that girl is by far the most troublesome patient here.”

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #330: "Cardboard and Dust"

The prompt:

“Darlin’, don’t you lay yourself down.
We live in a fable.
We live in a make-believe town,
All cardboard and dust …”
(“Lay Yourself Down,” The Bangles)

Prompt #331-Melancholic Days

It was a clear day.

That was the sole thought running through Thunder Tempest’s head as he flew to work that morning. And somehow, that seemed wrong. Today was the ten year anniversary, after all. But there was not a cloud in the sky, and a gentle breeze whispered across the city of Fillydelphia as the sun rose slowly into the sky. None of these things mattered to the normally happy pegasus, because in his head, he was partially reliving one of the worst days in his life, and simultaneously, with hindsight, one of the best.

As Filly Records, the music store where he worked as an instrument expert approached, he angled his wings for a gentle glide down to the street, and alighted lightly just in front of the door. Taking a minute to compose himself, he entered the store, the bell overhead tinkling as the door knocked it. He offered a quiet greeting to the two other ponies in the store, his manager and co-worker, and then set about his work for the day.

The day seemed to pass in a melancholy haze for Thunder Tempest, the only point of interest for him when he attempted to write a letter back home, was dissatisfied with it as usual, and tossed it into the waste basket. The entire day he was distracted by his own memories, lost in the events of the past. After work had finished, he began walking over to the centre of the town, and found the highest building he could. He walked up to the very top of the several story tower, stood on his hind legs at the very edge, and let himself fall backwards off the tower.

It was a clear day.

His wings snapped open.

Author's Notes:

written for Prompt #331
the prompt was to use this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BLsI5eVfQY for inspiration.

Prompt #332-Half a Mare, Half a Stallion

Pinkie Pie dashed down the street at a breakneck pace, heading directly for the Golden Oak library. This was an emergency!

“Hi Rose! Bye Rose!” However, even in an emergency like this, Pinkie couldn’t simply not say hi to everypony he passed. Eventually, the party pony reached the library, and began to pound on the door as fast as he could manage.

“Twilight, open up, quick! I need your help!”

All of a sudden, the door pulled back from under his hoof, and Twilight stood there frowning. Her expression shifted from disapproval to confusion once she’d taken in the scene before her. This was a pony with the right physical aspects of Pinkie Pie, but with one important difference: This pony was male.

“And who are you?” Twilight asked. Pinkie Pie opened his mouth, then closed it, looked down at himself, and gave a sheepish grin.

“I’m Pinkie Pie. If you let me in, Twilight, I’ll explain how this happened, but please just let me in! It’s an emergency!”

Twilight sighed, and fully opened the door to let the pink stallion inside.

“Can I use your shower?” asked Pinkie, as he dashed inside.

“What?”

“I need your shower. Or a bath. Or even just some hot water. We’re all out over at Sugarcube Corner.”

Twilight rubbed a hoof over her nose. “Shower’s through there, Pinkie,” motioned Twilight. A second later, the alicorn was bowled over by the pink stallion rushing past. After a few moments, she heard the sound of running water, and then a few short moments after that, it stopped, and Pinkie Pie emerged from the doorway.

“Oh, that feels much better. Thanks, Twilight!” exclaimed Pinkie, now back to her usual appearance.

“Huh? Wha-?”

“Oh, right,” said Pinkie, looking at the very confused alicorn, “I promised I’d explain this, didn’t I? Okie dokie lokie!”

“But...You...That’s not scientifically possible! You can’t be a stallion one minute, and a mare the next! Which one are you?”

Pinkie sighed. “Twilight, just let me explain. When I left the rock farm after I got my cutie mark, I found these neat set of springs of water. There were lots of warning signs and stuff, and I fell into one of the pools. Now, whenever I get cold water on me, I turn into a stallion, and hot water turns me back into a mare. But I think Mr. Cake took a really long shower this morning, and used up all the hot water, so when I took my turn, I changed.”

“Jibbawha-?”

“The reason that it’s an emergency is that I’m meeting my sisters at the train station later, and they don’t know about this little problem of mine. So I have to be a mare.”

~~~time~~~

“But...Mare...Stallion...Pinkie,” stammered Twilight, still having trouble getting her horn around the concept that one of her closest friends could become a stallion almost at will, “You know what? Fine. You fell into a magical pool of water that affected you for the rest of your life, and caused you to become a stallion whenever cold water touches you, and only hot water changes you back.”

Pinkie giggled, “Oh, The pools weren’t magical-they were cursed. Later, Twilight! Thanks for letting me use your shower!” Pinkie Pie bounced out the door, off to meet her sisters.

Back in the library, Twilight’s eye twitched.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #332-These Things Aren't Binary
The prompt: A stallion for the time being

Also, if you weren't sure, the cursed springs are a reference to Ranma 1/2.

Prompt #333-Is It A Triangle?

No one had ever said that love was easy, and no one knew that better than Rarity. She couldn’t honestly say what had attracted her to the pegasus...maybe it was the attitude. Yes, it was probably the attitude. Nothing sounded better than a mare who was confidant. Despite knowing next to nothing about the Wonderbolts, or flight, or the mechanics behind the many tricks that Rainbow Dash constantly talked about, Rarity could honestly say that she could listen to that voice forever. The day that she could count the weathermare among her friends was one of the best days of her life. And the Sonic Rainboom was perhaps the most beautiful thing that Rarity had seen in years, far more wondrous than any dress she could create. But yet, she knew it was never to be, as she doubted that Rainbow would ever be ready for a full relationship, let alone with somepony that couldn’t fly. But she could wait. Yes, she could wait until Rainbow Dash finally slowed down.

Love is kinda stupid. To Rainbow Dash, this was a pure and simple fact of life. Hearts and Hooves day was pure proof of that for her. Why should she spend the day being all smoochie and sickening, when she could spend it being awesome? Still, the mare was not completely without feelings, and that if she was completely honest with herself, there was a mare she thought of as possibly being more than friends with one day. There was a mare whose awesomeness would stand up to being with the Dash, but even Rainbow knew that it probably wasn’t going to happen. It had taken Rainbow a long while to admit that yeah, Twilight Sparkle was kind of awesome. After all, how many non-alicorn ponies could teleport? Not many, that was for sure. And she’d introduced Rainbow to the second best thing in the world: Daring Do. But Twilight was speeding away from Rainbow, with her coronation and preceding ascension into an alicorn, and who knew where the mare would go next. So Rainbow resolved to not be left behind, and promised that she’d only get faster.

Socially awkward she may have been, but even Twilight Sparkle knew about love. She’d never had to do anything about it before this, though. Everytime she looked at her, her heart felt like it was in her throat, her thoughts turned to mush and her vision seemed to go rose-tinted. Pinkie Pie was just a marvel, in Twilight’s eyes, and not just because of all her little impossibilities. The pink party pony always had a smile on her face, and always had time for everypony, no matter how busy she was. It was an attitude that Twilight had tried her best to emulate. She was so giving that it was impossible for anypony to dislike Pinkie, and an inevitable conclusion that Twilight, so unused to any kind of affection, would fall for her. But yet, Twilight knew that because she was a princess now, that a lot of things would change. She probably wouldn’t get a chance to act on these feelings, but honestly, just being around the party pony was enough for Twilight. So she put on a smile, and promised that she’d try and make time for Pinkie when she could. And maybe things could go from there.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #333
The Prompt: Three ups, three downs of three ponies in love.

Prompt #334-Good Advice

Scootaloo made a face that was best described by ‘blegh’.

“Really? Why is everypony’s cutie mark story so sappy? Why can’t they all be like Rainbow Dash’s, and be awesome?” moaned the orange filly, as the latest pony the Cutie Mark Crusaders had interrogated about their cutie mark story walked away.

“Hey, I thought it was a nice story!” protested Sweetie Belle. As another argument began brewing between the young unicorn and pegasus, Apple Bloom gave a sigh, and a half-hearted look at her flank. Still bare.

“Still haven’t got your cutie mark?” came a voice from behind the youngest member of the Apple family.

“Eeyup,” said Apple Bloom, as she turned to face the voice, and found it was Rarity, Sweetie Belle’s sister, “So, y’all must be here to get Sweetie Belle?”

Rarity gave a smile, “Not at this time, Apple Bloom. Actually, I wanted to speak with you. Would you happen to know where Applejack is? I need to check to see if she can take Sweetie for the night. I have a large order to fill, and can’t have her running about, distracting me.”

“Well, I think she’s over at town Hall,” answered Apple Bloom, “somethin’ about zonin’ regulations or somethin’ like that.”

“Thank you, dear. Now, is there anything else I can help you with?” inquired Rarity, seeing the downcast look on the young filly’s face.

“It-It’s just-I know we asked you your cutie mark story already, and just ‘bout every second pony in town as well, but we ain’t gettin’ any closer to ours, it feels like.”

Rarity smiled at the young filly, and leaned in close to whisper, “I’ll let you in on a little secret, Apple Bloom. You can’t just do something and hope you’ll get a cutie mark in it. Do what comes most naturally to you, without worrying about it, and it will appear soon enough. Now,” Rarity straightened up, “I’d better go find your sister, and you should probably stop your friends arguing in the middle of the road.” As Rarity wandered off, and Apple Bloom pried Sweetie Belle off Scootaloo, the young earth pony thought about what Rarity said.

“Do what comes most naturally to you...,” Apple Bloom mused out loud later that day, back out at Sweet Apple Acres, in the old barn by the house. Closing her eyes, Apple Bloom reached out, and grasped the first tool she came to.

~~~Time~~~

Time passed without the filly ever being aware of it, as she hammered and sawed with complete concentration. Making things had always been a hobby of hers, especially after she’d fixed up the clubhouse, and Applejack and Big Mac had given her this small workspace in the barn where she could mess around without interference, though only after a long session on tool safety. It was nearly dinner time when Applejack, with Sweetie Belle in tow, came into the barn to see where her younger sister had gotten to.

A soft smile grew on Applejack’s face as she watched her sister nearly dance around her project, hammering, joining and cutting with a skill that belied her years. As the project neared completion, Applejack began to see a glow on her sister’s flank, faint at first, but getting stronger all the time.

“Come on, Sweetie Belle, let’s get you inside, and y’all can help us set the table fer dinner,” said Applejack, leading the young unicorn away from the barn.

“But what about Apple Bloom?”

“She’ll come when she hears the bell. Ah think, anyway. Best to leave her to her work right now, though. Ah’m sure, once she’s finished, she’ll have plenty to talk about with you.”

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt 334-Just-so stories
The Prompt: How the pony got its cutie mark.

Prompt #335-Histrionics

“Oh, woe is me!” moaned Rarity through the door of Carousel Boutique, “My career is ruined! My reputation is truly unsalvageable now! Leave me alone!”

Five ponies stood outside the door to the fashion house, all smiling nervously at each other.

“Come on, Rarity, it can’t be that bad, can it?” called Twilight Sparkle.

“Like I said last time, she’s gonna become a crazy cat lady, and they’ll call her Rarity, the Crazy Cat Lady of Ponyville,” said Pinkie Pie, “And this time, we don’t even have a Gala dress to fix for her to get her outside.”

“Can’t be that bad?” cried Rarity “Of course it’s that bad! Clotheshorse called them atrocities, and I had the foolish notion of attaching my name to them. My career is finished! Over! Done for! Just leave me alone!”

Twilight Sparkle turned to the other four ponies outside Rarity’s home, “Any ideas, girls?” Silence reigned, and crickets chirped.

“Well...I might have one,” began Pinkie Pie, “But I’m not sure if it will work,” and then Pinkie turned to face the door, took a deep breath in, and Twilight and the others covered their ears.

“Rarity! There’s a giant crab attacking Ponyville!” Pinkie Pie bellowed. An instant later, the door slammed open and shook the house as Rarity flew out of her house as if her tail was on fire.

“WHERE?!” gasped the unicorn.

“There’s no giant crab, Rarity. Pinkie just said that to get you out of the house,” explained Rainbow Dash, “It’s kinda hard to talk to somepony through a door, you know?”

“Rarity, I know you weren’t happy with being forced to stick with certain designs and colours for the Coronation, but those are official outfits- the kind I’ll only ever wear once in public,” said Twilight.

“Even once was too much, dear,” replied the unicorn, “And while I know you and the princesses are grateful for my help, it still doesn’t change the fact that now everypony thinks I’m a horrible designer.”

“Have you considered writing to Clotheshorse and explaining the situation?” asked Fluttershy, “You know, only if you want to, though.”

As Rarity put her hoof up to rebuke Fluttershy’s suggestion, she paused.

“No, no I didn’t. Oh my, I’ve been such a fool. Of course, the editor did say at Shining Armor’s wedding reception that I could write to him whenever I wanted to. All I have to say is that the dresses were not designed by me in any way, and that should fix things,” mused Rarity, “I was being overdramatic again, wasn’t I?”

“Eeyup,” grinned Applejack, “But ya wouldn’t be the same if’n ya weren’t.”

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #335-Second Verse, Same as the First
The Prompt: It's happening again.

Prompt #336-For Great Justice

“Will the accused please take the stand?” As the aforementioned pony trotted up to the seat beside the judges’ bench, Thunder Tempest wrung his hooves nervously, and even the normally calm and collected Tight Ship was sweating from the nerves. The two had shown up to support their friend who was on trial, but now it was time for the most nerve-wracking part of the trial process. They had to wait for the judge to deliver the verdict. Their friend sat down and fixed her eyes on them. They could only hope now that their final gambit would pay off.

“Does the defence have any further evidence to present before the judgement is rendered?” called the judge.

“Yes, Your Honour,” stated the lawyer that Tight Ship had hired to defend their friend. “We would like to move that our client be magically tested by Her Royal Highness, Princess Twilight Sparkle, to fully ascertain that the client has not been magically tampering with anypony.”

The judge frowned and then began the next step. “Does the prosecution have any objections to this?”

“None, your honour.”

“Call in the Princess, then.” A few moments later, the purple alicorn walked into the courtroom.

“Your Highness, could you please explain the spell you are about to cast-briefly.”

“Yes, your honour. It’s a spell designed to detect if any magical mind manipulation spells have been cast by the target within the last year. I will project the results for the court. Magical manipulation will show up as green, and all other spells will show up as blue.” Her explanation finished, Twilight turned to the pony on the stand, and pointed her horn at her.

“Casting the spell, Your Honour.”

“Proceed, Your Highness.”

A purple beam shot from Twilight’s horn, and scanned the pony in question, while at the same time, a floating projection appeared above the Princess, displaying a full body diagram of a pony. Not a single ounce of green was on the projection. The defence lawyer rose.

“As you can see, Your Honour, my client has not cast a single mental manipulation spell within the last year, lending credence to my client’s claims that she has not been tricking ponies through the use of it,” the lawyer turned to Twilight Sparkle as the Princess made her way back to her seat, “Thank you, Your Highness, for coming on such short notice.”

“Does the prosection have any final evidence to declare?”

“None, your honour.” stated the other lawyer. The judge nodded.

“I will now render my judgement.” The tension inside the courtroom was palpable.

“I, High Judge Fair Call, of the Canterlot Board of Judges, hereby find the defendant...” In the silence that proceeded the judge’s final statement, a pony could have heard a pin drop.

“Not Guilty. Court Dismissed.” The judge magically levitated his gavel, and banged it twice, signalling the end of the case.

“YES!” Thunder Tempest propelled himself into the air and gave a cry, garnering a chuckle from the judge, who turned to the pony on the stand.

“You have some good friends there, you know,” smiled the judge, as he watched the pegasus practically dance around in the air, and then his unicorn friend magically pulling the pegasus back down to earth.

Cudenshoti of the Twenty Third Generation, known to her friends as Cuddles, smiled, “Oh, I know, your honour.” And with that, the changeling was escorted from the stand by the bailiff, and back to sort his release out.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #336-'Twilight Sparkle: Ace Alicorn'
The prompt: Justice for all

Prompt #337-Days of Yore

Twilight had honestly never realised exactly how large Canterlot Castle was. She supposed that more or less growing up in it with Princess Celestia as her private student had warped her sense of scale of the place. But now she was older, and an alicorn princess herself, and thus had taken it upon herself to more fully explore the castle. Most of the places she had visited thus far had been empty rooms, though one or two had been repurposed as guest rooms for visiting dignitaries. With a slight smile on her face, Twilight magicked open the next door, and entered.

The room was dark. That was the first thing that came to Twilight’s notice. Still, that was a problem that was easily solved, and a glowing orb of light leapt from Twilight’s horn and hung in the air like a miniature sun for the room. This room only contained two items, but they were amazing. Two alicorn-shaped ponyquins, matched to Princess Celestia’s and Princess Luna’s dimensions rested in the room, and each was covered in a suit of armour. One was golden, and the other was blue-silver. Twilight moved over to have a closer look. The armour was not pristine, as she thought it had been, but rather covered in small pockmarks and cuts. As Twilight reached out to brush a hoof along a particularly long gash on the side of the golden armour, she was interrupted by a voice.

“Impressive, are they not?”

Twilight whirled around, and then relaxed when she saw it was Princess Luna.

“Princess, you frightened me!” exclaimed Twilight, and then turned back to the sets of armour, “And yes, they are very impressive.”

“These were our armour, back in the days when such things were necessary,” began Luna, moving over to the silvery set of armour and giving it a loving stroke, “Over time, as Equestria became more and more peaceful, we began taking them off, piece by piece, and storing the full sets away. It also helped our little ponies to become accustomed to seeing our faces.”

“But why did you even have the armour in the first place, Luna?”

The alicorn of the Night made a thoughtful noise.

“Back when it was needed, Equestria was a much more dangerous place. Pegasi were still very much warriors, and even unicorns and earth ponies were familiar enough with battle. And then there was Discord.”

“But I thought Discord only played tricks. Cruel tricks, but still just tricks.”

Luna shook her head, “No Twilight. The Discord you faced was not the one we faced. When you turned him back into stone after his accidental release, he’d been just warming up. Chocolate rain, ignoring gravity and mutating creatures was just the beginning. Discord was a fickle creature, and easily bored. He kept making the world more and more chaotic, and dangerous. The armour here was very much needed against him. Do you see this gash here?” Luna motioned to the large cut that Twilight had found earlier, “That was from a creature of his own design that had started off as a manticore. It nearly mortally wounded Celestia.”

Twilight frowned, “I hadn’t realised that Equestria used to be so dangerous.”

“Fear not, Twilight Sparkle. My sister and I worked hard to pacify the land. The only truly dangerous place left in Equestria these days is the Everfree Forest.”

~~~time~~~

Luna ran another hoof over the silvery-blue armour. “We keep these suits of war not for future emergencies, but to remind ourselves of what we had to go through to get to today. Still, it is good to see them again. For years, they were our protection against the world, while our rule was still in its infancy. But come, Twilight! We doth desire thy company as we prepare our sister’s birthday cake!” Luna threw a hoof forward dramatically, and marched from the room. Twilight took one last look back, and followed the Night Princess to the kitchens, extinguishing her light and shutting the door behind her. That was enough exploration for today, at least.

Author's Notes:

Written for prompt #337-Legend of Zecora
The Prompt: A link to the past.

Prompt #338-Open At Your Own Risk

“What have we here?” murmured Princess Celestia, as she strode into the Starswirl the Bearded Wing of the Canterlot Archives, past the scorch marks that refused to budge from Twilight’s mishap with time travel, and down one of the many partitions to finally stop at a door that had not been there the day before. The door itself was rather plain, a simple wooden affair, with a brass handle and an etching of Starswirl’s cutie mark on it, and an inscription above the door in Old Equuish that translated as ‘Do Not Open’. Celestia thought back as far as she could, and still couldn’t remember a room being built off the wing. But perhaps the records would prove more reliable than her memory. A quick summoning spell, and the most recent floor plan of the Wing in question appeared in the air before her, and revealed much the same as her memory. There was no room here, no door. She poofed the records back to their storage room, and focused on the door again. A detection spell revealed no hidden magic behind, around, or in the door. When trying to open the door magically though, the Solar Alicorn found that her magic could not get a grip on the handle, instead sliding right off as if it were covered with oil.

“Curious. Very curious,” said the Princess under her breath. Gingerly, she lifted a hoof and rested it on the equine handle. Experience had taught her that opening unknown doors quickly was not a good idea. Slowly, and very carefully, she began to push down on the handle, hearing the mechanism inside turning and retracting the bolt. Finally, after a surprisingly anxious minute for the Princess, the bolt released, and she pulled the door towards her, equally slowly, keeping the bulk of her body behind the relative safety of the door. Another lesson from experience, as this would let her push with her full weight if an eldritch demon was behind the door, and cut it off from entering the world. Once the door was fully open, though, what she found silenced her.

Nothing. The door was just that. A door. It lead to nowhere, and when opened like now, simply revealed the wall behind it. A hoof probed the wall, just to make sure it wasn’t a thin sheet. It wasn’t. However, on the inside of the door was posted a message.

“Got you! –Princess Luna.”

~~~time~~~

Celestia giggled. Then it devolved into a chuckle, and finally she was rolling on the floor, howling with laughter. This lasted several minutes before the solar princess managed to compose herself, and get up again. Once she did, she closed the door, and summoned a peice of parchment and a quill, and began to write.
“My Dearest Twilight, ...”

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #338-Keep All Princesses Away From This Door
The Prompt: The Thousand-Year Door

Prompt #339-Unexpected Discoveries

Twilight hopped out of her balloon, and landed softly on the cloud they had pulled up next to. A dark thunderhead was brewing nearby, so they wouldn’t be here long. Pinkie Pie followed shortly after, and Rainbow Dash hovered over both of them as Twilight rummaged in her bag. Finding what she was after, she pulled a wide piece of parchment out and rolled it out, holding it magically in front of her. She stared at it for a few minutes, before rolling it back up and turned to the others.

“Right. We’re lost,” She stated, “I have absolutely no idea where in Equestria we are, and we’re certainly not near those Old Featherwing Ruins.”

Rainbow Dash turned to face Pinkie, her mouth set in a hard line, “I told you we were going in the wrong direction when you said to turn south by ten degrees.”

“But my Pinkie Sense was tingling, and it was getting stronger in this direction!” defended the pink party pony.

“Your Pinkie Sense is not a reliable source of navigational information!” shot back Rainbow. As the two’s argument escalated, Twilight looked at the cloud bank nearby, which seemed to be...parting?

“Girls,” she said, attempting to interrupt the argument.

“Well maybe you shouldn’t eat so much sugar all the time!”

“Girls.”

“And you shouldn’t be such a grumpy-frowny-meany pony!”

“GIRLS!” yelled Twilight, attracting both of their attentions. Twilight pointed towards the parting cloudbank.

“What the heck is that?” muttered Rainbow Dash, as a city became visible from their cloudborne position.

“I have no idea,” replied Twilight, “But I want to go over there and have a look. Let’s get back into the balloon.” The three ponies piled back into the purple balloon, and floated over to the mysterious city. As they landed, and Twilight secured the balloon, they looked around in wonder. The city itself was not at all like the elegant structure of Cloudsdale. No, this was far more simple and blocky, almost militaristic in its construction. The clouds around them were dark and grey, instead of the peaceful white of Cloudsdale.

“Who’d be mad enough to build a city inside a thunderhead?” called Rainbow Dash, as she flew ahead of the others, “Every pegasus knows that it’s supposed to be impossible!”

-time-

Twilight was studying the cloud arch at the entrance to the city. It was in old Equestrian, but she managed to get a translation quickly enough.

“Let’s see, it says ‘Welcome to Pegasopalis’. This is the possibly the first cloud construction from the unification of the Three Tribes. Pinkie, you’re a genius!” Twilight exclaimed, “Or just very lucky,” she added under her breath. Pinkie, however, just looked confused.

“But I don’t get it, Twilight. My Pinkie sense told me that something was going to fall.” Just then, there was an ominous rumble.

“Oh no,” said Twilight, “we’ve gotta get out of here! Come on, back to the balloon!”

The three ponies watched from a distance as the cloud city crashed into the ground and dissipated.

“So much history, all lost,” sobbed Twilight.

“Yeah yeah, Twilight. But we still have a bigger problem,” said Rainbow, “We’re still LOST!”

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #339-'The Expedition'
The Prompt: Explorers of the Air

Prompt #340-The Road To Hell

Dark, dank, and rife with monsters. That was the best description that one could give of the Gates of Tartarus. Set deep in a cave below a mountain, in this place, the rules of Equestria meant nothing. Fire flowed like water around the cavern, breath was visible like on a cold day, and as the Gates themselves approached, faint screams echoed around the chambers with every step. This was not a place that Rainbow Dash wanted to be. The Gates of Tartarus themselves were massive hunks of stone, covered in glowing runes that pulsated and writhed before her eyes, never seeming to stay in the same place for too long. Rainbow Dash may have been a loyal friend, and may have bragged that she would brave Tartarus for her friends, but she never imagined that she would actually have to do it one day. The Pegasus gulped nervously, and approached the door.

“Right, you’re Rainbow Awesome Dash. Tartarus is no problem. Just go in, get what you came for, and then get out. No need to linger,” muttered Rainbow, “Oh, ponyfeathers. Cerberus.” The giant three-headed dog had emerged from the shadows in the cave, and was now growling at the pony, drool dripping from its teeth. Rainbow Dash, however, had been given some advice on dealing with the massive black beast, so she straightened up as best she could, and yelled, “My Name is Rainbow Dash, and I Seek to enter Tartarus to find my friends and bring them back to Equestria!”

A few silent moments passed in the wake of the pegasus’ proclamation, before the dog let out a long, rumbling growl, and backed into the shadows once more. Rainbow Dash sighed in relief, and approached the Gates, and gingerly placed a forehoof on the cold stone, and gently pushed. The gate, with a deep rumble, began to open. Once it had ground open enough for her to fit through, she darted through the gap, and placed a hoof on the other side, stopping the door’s advance, and then she turned to face the plains of fire and ice which she would have to traverse to find her friends.

“Ok, what did Princess Luna say?” murmured Rainbow “All roads are the same in Tartarus. What matters is not the direction you travel, but what you want to do. Keep your mind on the friend you want to find, and you will find them, young hero.” Rainbow closed her eyes, spun around, and picked a direction.

“Hold on, guys, I’m coming!” called Rainbow, as she ran off into the distance.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #340-'High Stakes Adventures!'
The Prompt: So you want to be a hero
OR
The Prompt: Trial By Fire
OR
The Prompt: Shadows of Darkness

I wrote this with all three in mind, but it tends to lean more towards Trial by Fire than anything else.

Prompt#341-Repayment

Dinnertime in the Cake household had become ever more troublesome once Cup Cake had birthed Pound and Pumpkin. As the twins were still young, they couldn’t eat solid foods just yet, meaning they had to cook two meals. Carrot Cake thanked Celestia that Pinkie was with them, as without a single word of protest, she had taken over cooking the dinner for herself and the elder Cakes, leaving Cup Cake to take care of the meal for the little pegasus and unicorn of the family. At first, he had been nervous, worried that Pinkie would take the opportunity to bake more things to satisfy the mare’s impossibly sweet tooth, but like with the foalsitting, he had been proven wrong.

“Pinkie!” called Carrot Cake, as he finished closing up Sugarcube Corner for the day. “Can you come out here for a second?”

“Okie-dokie-loki!” came the cheerful reply from the kitchen, and a few moments later, the pink mare bounced out from the kitchen and came to a stop in front of Carrot cake, “So, Mister Cake, what did you want to talk to me about?”

“I just wanted to let you know that both Cup and I really appreciate what you’ve been doing for us lately, helping us with dinner, foalsitting the twins, and that we wanted to show you how much we’re grateful for your help.”

“Aww, you don’t have to do that, silly!” smiled Pinkie Pie, “I just like helping ponies!”

“Still,” replied Carrot Cake, as Cup Cake entered the room from the stairs, a covered dish on her back, “We don’t feel right asking you to do all of these extra things without some kind of repayment. So Cup and I came up with this,” he explained, motioning to the dish on Cup Cake’s back.

Cup Cake walked over to a nearby table, expertly slid the dish onto it, and then she grasped the cover with her mouth and pulled it off with a flourish.

“Is-is that what I think it is?” said Pinkie, her eyes watering from sheer joy, “Is that a chocolate and hot sauce triple layer mud cake?”

Both of the Cakes nodded.

“It was a pain to get right, but it’s just how you like it, Pinkie dear,” said Cup Cake, “You don’t have to worry about our dinner tonight-you just enjoy your cake.”

Pinkie’s eyes went impossibly wide as she stared at the cake.

“All that-for me?” she breathed.

The Cakes nodded, and retreated up the stairs. “Have a good night, Pinkie. And once again, thank you for all your help.”

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #341-'Labour of Love'
The Prompt: Cooking Mama

Prompt #342-The First OR The Road To Hell, Part Two

The problem with travelling in Tartarus, aside from the occasional run-in with a vengeful spirit, was that there were no defined routes to get anywhere. The land was a mass of fire and ice and earth, and despite being underground, a blood moon hung overhead, lighting the land with a red glow. But this was Tartarus, and the normal rules didn’t apply, because otherwise Rainbow Dash would have simply flown to her friends. As she ran along the ground, avoiding pillars of fire that seemed to be made out of burning and wailing souls, she concentrated on rescuing the first of her friends. But which friend should she rescue first? That thought stopped the athletic Pegasus in her tracks. She’d never had to think about which pony she would save first, just knowing that she had to save them. Scowling to herself, she thought about it. Fluttershy, sad as it was, would probably have to wait until last. Rainbow hated even thinking that, as it felt like she was betraying her oldest friend, but the other Pegasus was not built for action, and would likely not take well to all the running around that they’d be doing. Rarity was in a similar situation. Pinkie Pie could keep up, but Rainbow wasn’t sure she could really be of much help. Applejack was in much better condition physically than perhaps even Rainbow herself, so that would be an advantage, but Twilight Sparkle had magic, which in the weird land that was Tartarus, could be a massive help. But then again, Tartarus had nullified her flight, so maybe it had nullified Twilight’s magic. Applejack it was, then. Fixing the earth pony farmer in her mind firmly, while offering up a silent apology to her other friends, Rainbow hurried onwards.

As Rainbow crested a ridge, she rolled to the side to avoid a sudden pillar of ice that landed from the sky and got pelted with small fragments for her trouble, she spotted the first of her friends, Applejack, in the valley below her. The Earth pony was just standing there, as if in a daze, and Princess Luna’s words once again came to mind.

“Ponies who are dragged into Tartarus unwillingly will not know they’re in Tartarus,” Princess Luna had told her, “Fortunately, simply touching them will break that spell, and then they’re free to help you.”

Running up to Applejack, Rainbow bushed a hoof along the farmer’s back. Applejack blinked three times, and suddenly noticed Rainbow Dash.

“RD? What the heck? Where am I? What is this place?” inquired the farmer.

“You’re in Tartarus, AJ. I’m here to get you out,” explained Rainbow Dash.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #342-'Action Plan'
The Prompt: Alpha Protocol

Yes, this is a continuation of Prompt 340-The Road to Hell.

Prompt #343-Unexpected

The final notes of the song echoed out around the concert hall, and silence prevailed for a few brief moments. Then the clapping started, not slowly like she was used to, but an instant thunderous applause from everypony in the audience.

‘I guess they liked it,’ Octavia thought to herself, as she placed her cello to the side in order to take her bows, applause still ringing throughout the theatre. As she bowed, her eyes caught sight of a wild two-tone blue mane in the audience, and she smiled fondly. Then, as Octavia bowed again, the owner of the mane got up from her seat, and moved over to the wall, and grabbed a rope that had been secured there before the concert had started. Carefully unwinding it, the pony then took the rope in her teeth, and leapt from the balcony to gasps from the patrons nearby, and soon the entire concert hall was watching her swing down onto the stage, and landing only a few meters away from Octavia.

“Vinyl Scratch, What are you doing?” Hissed Octavia. Rather than reply, Vinyl just sauntered towards Octavia and then kissed the cellist full on the lips. Once again, silence prevailed throughout the theatre. In the middle of the kiss, Vinyl’s horn lit up, and all the lights in the concert hall went out. A few thuds then echoed around, a moan came out, and then,

“Who’s my little wubsy? You’re my little wubsy, yes you are,” came Vinyl Scratch’s voice.

“Oh, Vinyl,” giggled Octavia through the darkness, “Never change.” In the audience, jaws dropped, ponies blushed as their imaginations took over, and then the lights came back on. Octavia was still on stage, still wearing her signature bow tie, and not a single hair on the concert cellist was out of place. Behind her, Vinyl Scratch had somehow set up a mixing deck, and three stacks of giant speakers, and to the ponies in the front row, they could see that the speaker stacks were labeled ‘Wubsy’, and realization began to set in. Just then, the speakers powered up, and high-energy electronic music washed over the concert hall. Echoing her partner’s move from earlier, Octavia strode up to Vinyl, kissed her full on the lips, and then moved back over and picked up her cello.

“I am Vinyl Scratch, and this is Octavia,” called the DJ, lowering the music slightly in order to make herself heard, “And you are now part of our wedding reception.” And then cello and electronic music joined in joyous harmony.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #343-'Word of Mouth'
The Prompt: Everypony was surprised to see them kiss
Special rule: The reason everypony is surprised should be something more than not knowing the kissing ponies are a couple. That’s fine as an aspect of it, but there should be something additionally surprising about the kiss, the couple, or the circumstances of it.

Prompt #344-A Trail of Awesome

Rainbow Dash flew as fast and as hard as her little wings would let her, and even at this young age, it was plain to see that the filly had a talent for flight, though her cutie mark had yet to make itself known to the world. All her concentration was on the race. The older pegasus she was racing against knocked the filly off course, and narrowing her eyes, she adjusted course, heading down for the cloud gate nearest to the ground. It would look better if she beat the jerk by racing on a longer course anyway-it just meant that she had to go faster. As she flew for the cloud ring, she felt something beginning to rub against her front hooves, and her eyes closed reflexively from the sharp wind. She just had to beat Hoops, and show him that she wasn’t Rainbow Crash anymore, that she was Rainbow Dash, and Rainbow Dash did. Not. Lose. She gritted her teeth, and prepared to show that bully what real speed looked like.

She made the turn.

Boom.

Adrenaline coursed through Rainbow Dash as she dived vertically down, her wings flapping as fast as she could make them. The stadium passed in less than a second, and the world blurred past her. Her heart was racing a million miles a minute, and soon enough her wings weren’t doing anything to speed her up again, so they folded up against her sides, and she streamlined her body as much as possible, throwing her hooves out in front of her. She didn’t want to think about what would happen if she failed to pull this off, she wasn’t going to think about the thousand other times she had failed to do this. The barrier began to scrape at her front hooves as her eyes narrowed against the onrushing air. Something inside the pegasus shifted, and the barrier changed from a dome into a cone that wrapped ever tighter around her body as she sped up, and her eyes wrenched closed and moisture fell backwards, driven out by the stinging wind, not because she was crying because she might not make it through the barrier in time. She gave one last push, one last all or nothing attempt from deep inside her.

Boom.

Rainbow Dash shot off the platform at Canterlot Castle at Celestia’s whisper, leaving the ground far behind. All in all, invasion attempt aside, today had been a good day, and it was about to get better for the pegasus. She reached the barrier in record time, and all that practice had paid off, as she no longer needed to be going down to do this, but this was for royalty. It had to be extra special. A wide smile spread across her face, as the stinging, biting wind once again forced her eyes shut, the now familiar barrier rasping over her hooves as it tightened and resisted her attempt to shatter it once more. The smile only got wider as she thought of how this wedding would be remembered in the future, and Rainbow Dash would not let the ending down by failing to lend the unique brand of awesome she could provide.

Boom.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #344-'I Second That Emotion'
The Prompt: A character is feeling a very strong, nearly overwhelming emotion. Write a story about this character and the emotion being felt without mentioning the name of the emotion or any of its synonyms.

Prompt #345-Creation

On the First day, all was darkness. The pale alicorn paid no heed to this, however, and gathered dust and dirt, and with her magic, compressed it into a ball, as tightly as she could. Then, her work done, the alicorn laid down to sleep.

On the Second day, the alicorn created a ball of fire, and hung it in the sky over the ball of earth, bringing light. But the alicorn saw that there would need to be a time for work, and a time for sleep, and so she created the cycle. And upon seeing the night, she found that it was lacking in beauty, so she gathered up more dust, and made a smaller ball, and hung that on the opposite side of the world. And then she named the ball of fire Sol, and the smaller ball of earth Selene. And with her work done, the alicorn laid down to rest once more.

On the Third day, the alicorn awoke with the rising of Sol, and turned her attentions to the ball of earth she rested on. She gathered air around the ball, so that things could live. She created water, and poured it over the ball, and it formed oceans, lakes, rivers and streams. She created flora, too. Grass, trees, flowers and crops. She gathered many trees into one spot, and called it a forest, and the open spaces she called plains. And with her work once more finished, she once again rested.

On the Fourth Day, the alicorn awoke at night, as Selene shone dimly above her, and the alicorn saw that this was good. However, the sky was still too bare, and so she hung the stars in the sky, and one star, she placed over the top of the world, and made it shine brightly, so that none would ever lose their way. This done, the alicorn laid down to rest again in contentment.

On the Fifth Day, the alicorn awoke, and created fauna. She created the small bees and insects, the larger birds which would feed on those insects, the animals which would feed on the birds, and the animals which would feed on those animals. Nothing was created without purpose or reason. And as the air around the alicorn hummed with life, the alicorn once again laid down to rest.

On the Sixth day, the alicorn awoke to find a new presence in her world, one made of many different creatures, trying to undo what she had wrought. Their battle was long and fierce, and left a scar upon the earth, a scar of chaos magic, but she sealed the chaotic creature away in a stone statue. She placed this statue at the centre of the forest that had sprung up from the chaos magic scar on the land, and seeing the forest’s refusal to obey her commands, named it ‘Everfree’. And thus, exhausted and depleted, she once more laid down to rest.

On the Seventh day, the alicorn awoke, and created the griffins, regal hunters of the high peaks to the east. She created the dragons, noble and long-lived dwellers of the south hotlands. Then she created the ponies, divided into three races. Pegasi, the masters of the sky. Unicorns, the channelers of magic, and Earth Ponies, carers of the land. And thus, tired and exhausted from her seven days of labour, did the alicorn perform her last two acts. The first was that she cast a powerful spell over the ball, an enchantment that would allow each pony to find its special talent and be proud of it, and second was to name her creation ‘Equestria’. And thus, the alicorn faded into the magic of the world, to rest eternally.

Tomorrow would be the dawn of a new world.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #345-'Dawn Of A New Day'
The Prompt: The world is all darkness. Tommorrow will be pitch black.
Alternate Prompt: Tomorrow will be great day.

Prompt #346-Down on the Farm

The morning after her birthday, Apple Bloom was awoken at the crack of dawn by Applejack pushing her out of bed. As the young mare flailed about and tried to extract herself from the sheets tangled around her body, the elder gave a light chuckle, and placed a single hoof on the struggling bundle. Apple Bloom paused, and let her older sister pull on the sheet, untangling it for her.

“c’mon, Bloom. Ya had better get on downstairs fer some breakfast. Can’t have ya workin’ on an empty stomach,” explained Applejack as she left the room. Apple Bloom grumbled slightly, but picked up her fallen and tangled sheet, and placed it back on her bed. She could untangle it later, she thought, as she headed down the stairs of the family household as quietly as she could, not wanting to disturb Granny Smith’s sleep. Breakfast was also quiet at this hour of the morning, as the three younger member of the Apple family were in various states of awareness, some just waking up properly, like Apple Bloom, while Big Mac seemed like he’d never even gone to sleep in the first place, and Applejack was somewhere in between the two.

“Right, Bloom,” began Applejack, as the three headed out to the fields, “Yer old enough now to really start helpin’ out here, so I’m gonna teach ya how t’ buck.” The two females stood in front of the beginning of the orchards, and each picked a tree to start with.

“Now, the real important thing about buckin’ is to keep a good grip with yer front hooves, let the power o’ the earth flow through yer, and push it out through yer back hooves,” said Applejack, as she demonstrated the technique, which Apple Bloom watched closely. Applejack’s hooves connected with the tree, and the apples fell neatly into the buckets set below it. Applejack turned to her younger sister, “Now you give it a shot.”

Apple Bloom nodded, and lined up her hooves carefully, got a good grip, closed her eyes to concentrate on the feeling of the earth under her hooves, and then threw her hooves backwards.

Thunk! The youngest Apple opened her eyes to see that most of the apples had made it into the baskets, but a few were still left on the tree. Applejack gave a whistle, “Not bad, for ya first attempt, Bloom. All ya need now, I reckon, is practice. And fortunately, the south field needs to be bucked, so off ya go.”

“But the south feild is the largest!” complained Apple Bloom.

“Are you sayin’ ya can’t handle it, Bloom? Didn’t ya spend all o’ yesterday goin’ on about how y’all was a ‘big pony now’?” Applejack teased, a smile gracing her lips, as Apple Bloom grumbled for a minute or two, but then began walking off towards the south field.

“Don’t take too many breaks, Bloom!” called Applejack, a smile still on her face as Apple Bloom shouted something obscene back, still grumpy about being awoken so early.

In the end, it had taken Apple Bloom from sun-up to just after sun-down to completely buck the south field, and by the end of it, she was so exhausted that rather than try and make it back to the homestead, she dragged herself and her sore hooves to the nearest tree, sat with her back against it, and was soundly asleep within minutes.

-time-

Applejack and Big Macintosh found their younger sister like that a few minutes later.

“Well, I reckon she done good today,” began Applejack, a soft smile on her face.

“Eeyup,” came Big Mac’s response.

“Best to get her back to the house, and into her bed,” continued Applejack, “She’ll appreciate that, ah think.”

“Eeyup.” And with that, Big Mac and Applejack gently picked up their little sister, placed her on Big Mac’s back, and they began the trek back to the house together.

Author's Notes:

written for Prompt #346-'Growing Up'
The Prompt: Coming of Age

Prompt #347-For The Love Of...

It wasn’t in Pinkie Pie’s nature to be quiet. The pink mare was naturally outgoing, and always had been, ever since she got her cutie mark. But then again, she had never once imagined that she’d be in a relationship. Pinkie loved everyone equally, but apparently, her heart loved this mare even more than the rest of her, and these days it was all she could do to not shout her affection from the roofs of Ponyville, as her heart’s desire had requested that she keep it secret until the other felt ready to divulge the information on her own terms. But for the sake of the one that she loved, Pinkie Pie had promised, Pinkie Pie Promised even, to not tell anyone.

And so the pink party pony was stuck sneaking off in the evenings to meet her one true love. Nopony else had ever inspired this feeling in the mare, which had her acting so crazy. Even though the two had not entirely had the best start to their friendship, Pinkie hadn’t been as quick to judge since that fateful meeting, and had slowly gotten to know the other. The friendship that they had born then quickly matured into a relationship when they discovered that there was nothing more enjoyable than spending time with someone who shared many of your tastes. And so, Pinkie Pie snuck through the Everfree Forest, heading for her meeting with the one she loved, because today, the mare had promised to show her something special.

“Psst! Hey, Zecora, are you there?” hissed Pinkie Pie.

“Here I am, pony of the pink. You should be more observant, I think.” Came Zecora’s rich voice from behind the party pony, and soon the zebra was engulfed in a hug.

“Did you remember to get the stuff for today?” asked Pinkie Pie, and Zecora simply nodded for a reply, and the two made their way back to Zecora’s hut, deeper in the Everfree.

“The recipe I will teach you,” began the zebra once the two were back in her hut, “has been in my family for one hundred generations, perhaps two. It is a recipe for creating hot breath, but some would call it ‘The Kiss of Death’.”
“Ooh. Sounds spicy,” murmured Pinkie.

“Indeed, this is the hottest spice meal I know, but it to you, I will show. Now, pay attention, for the steps must be done exactly right, or your tongue will be saying goodnight.”

And as Zecora cooked, Pinkie watched and learned, and the two mares bonded by a love of spicy things were content for the night.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #347-‘Just A Touch Of Your Lips...’
The Prompt: The kiss of death

I have no idea where this idea came from.

Prompt #348-Wonders of the Night

Vinyl Scratch sat nervously in the restaurant, twirling her mane around a hoof restlessly. At her roommate Octavia’s insistence, her normally wild mane had been tamed into something resembling more like Octavia’s own style. The date had been Octavia’s idea too, and Vinyl swore to Celestia that if she was stood up, she’d cut off Octavia’s tail. Vinyl glanced up at the clock. It was nearly eight, and her supposed date should be here any minute now. Every time somepony walked through the door, her uncovered ruby eyes flicked over to watch where they were going. Fancypants, much to her surprise, was the next to enter, but just as she thought the classy pony was her date, he veered off and sat down next to a grey pegasus mare.

“What is this, weird couples night?” muttered the DJ, glancing back up at the clock, sweating almost imperceptibly. Exactly as the clock struck eight, another pony entered the restaurant.

“BEHOLD, LOYAL SUBJECTS! YOUR PRINCESS HATH ARRIVED!” Boomed Princess Luna.

‘Please let it not be the princess. Please let it not be the princess,’ thought Vinyl, watching where the princess of the night was headed, ‘Dammit, it’s the princess. Octavia, your tail is going to get dyed if I get out of this alive,’ continued the DJ’s thoughts as Princess Luna sat down opposite her.

“Thou art my companion for the evening?” said the princess, at a much more normal speaking volume, drawing a blink of surprise from Vinyl.

“Uhh...yes, your highness. I guess I am,” replied Vinyl, “I’m Vinyl Scratch, and I guess there’s no need for you to introduce yourself. Uh, No offense, Your Highness.”

“None taken, Miss Vinyl Scratch. We are a...recognizable pony,” replied Princess Luna, “But please, there is no need to stand on formality. Please refer to us simply as Luna.”

“Alright then,” Vinyl unconsciously swallowed, “Luna, who set this up for you?” It was a relatively safe topic of conversation.

“Twas our sister, Celestia. She felt that we ‘Needed to experience the nightlife of our little ponies’,” mimicked Luna, making air quotes with her front hooves.

Vinyl, despite her nervousness of having dinner with a Princess of Equestria, grinned, “Nightlife, huh? I know a few things about that. I’m a DJ at one of the clubs here in Canterlot.”

-time-

“Dee Jay? What profession is this? We cannot say that we have ever heard of it, nor these ‘clubs’ that thou speak of,” asked Princess Luna.

“Do you want me to show you what some ponies get up to during the night?” asked Vinyl, offering a hoof to the Princess. Luna hesitated for a brief moment, but then took Vinyl’s hoof, and the DJ lead the Princess out of the restaurant, towards one of the more popular nightclubs in downtown Canterlot.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #348-‘Love is (Not) in Bloom’
The prompt: Two of the following characters go on a blind date: Bon Bon, Thunderlane, Princess Luna, Braeburn, Vinyl Scratch, Fancypants, Ditzy Doo/Derpy Hooves.

Prompt #349-One For The History Books

The storm was massive, much bigger, and much more savage than anything the town’s pegasi had ever seen before. This was a true Wild Storm, a harkening back to the days before the pegasi controlled the weather. Weather magic arced around the clouds in translucent, flowing, jagged streams as lighting flashed and thunder boomed. A bolt of lightning struck the centre of the town, and as if that was the signal, the storm opened up the full might of its fury on the hamlet. Winds howled as they ripped and tore at the thatched roofs, lifting anything that wasn’t secured down. Rain cascaded down, drenching the streets in seconds, and water poured off the houses in miniature streams as the thunder rattled the windows and lightning lit the town like brief flashes of daylight. And through it all, ponies huddled in houses, holding their loved ones close. Foals cried and wailed at the noises made outside as their mothers desperately tried to calm them, older ponies sang songs and gathered together, fearing that this may be the return of the Windigoes, and those with pegasi friends and relatives prayed to Celestia for mercy from the storm’s wrath.

“Keep the storm from expanding!” bellowed a brown Pegasus as he bucked another bit of cloud into nothingness, straining to make himself heard over the wind, “Don’t let it get all the way down the valley!”

“Captain, we’ve lost Iridescence and Cloudy!” called a young blue Pegasus colt, barely able to keep his position in the storm’s winds.

“Dammit!” called the brown Pegasus, the weather captain for the region. “At this rate, we won’t have any ponies left to fight the storm. We need to stop this thing before it spills over into the rest of Equestria!”

Just then, a lightning bolt arced out from the nearby stormhead, and barely missed the weather captain. Fortunately, the older Pegasus recovered quickly from his near brush with death, and furiously bucked the cloud into non-existence, the rest of the pegasi joining him, bucking and kicking with all their collective might, desperately trying to disperse the storm before it could do too much more damage. Even the young blue colt, who didn’t even have a cutie mark yet, and several others like him had joined in, all understanding the gravity of the situation. Every now and again, a bolt of lightning would tear outwards, and strike a pegasi, or one would get caught in a whirl of wind and smashed into something solid, or blinded by the rain and fall down, but the rest never stopped battling the freak storm. There would be time to mourn their loss later, after the storm had been taken care of.

-Time-

The next morning, Celestia’s sun shone through a still cloudy sky, crespular rays striking the hamlet...or what was left of it, anyway. The devastation left by the storm had been catastrophic. Not a single house was intact, many were flooded, and most had been struck by lightning at some point. The town hall was mostly intact, though, and it was here that the survivors of the storm gathered.

All one of them.

Author's Notes:

written for Prompt #349-‘Set Sail, Coming Home’
The Prompt: The Calamity

Prompt #351-Queen Nothing

Snakes. They were all snakes, Rarity Decided. They may have looked like ponies, acted like ponies, and talked like ponies, but they were absolutely, positively snakes. That was her singular impression upon leaving Canterlot after the fiasco that was Twilight’s birthday party at the castle. The ponies of the so called ‘High Society’ were nothing more than a bunch of writhing, slithering snakes, biting each other in a desperate attempt to be on top as their forked tongues hissed lies behind other ponies backs. Nothing else, no other creature in the wide, wide world of Equestria could be so positively vile. The one refreshing pony had been Fancypants, whose pure and simple honesty had touched the Ponyville designer like a cool breeze after the storm.

“...And this is Rarity. She’s a good friend of mine,” muttered Rarity, as she stared out of the train window at the mountainside city. Logically, the fashionista knew that in order to have a viable career as a high level designer, she would need the approval and reputation that only the Canterlot social scene could provide for her. However, her brief reign there as ‘the kind of pony that everypony should know’ had been a fantastic and terrible eye-opener. The white unicorn gave a weak chuckle at the lyrics of the song she had sung on a whim. Perhaps she was just too used to the packed earth streets of Ponyville, where everypony said what they meant, and never hid behind veiled insults or upturned snouts. Maybe, with enough time, she’d get better at the vicious social game that the Canterlot high society played. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t ever imagine acting like those snakes. She would be like Fancypants, she decided, and always tell the truth. If she thought it was good, she would say so, and damn her reputation. The unicorn sighed. Such things only worked if you had a secure position socially already. Perhaps she could simply avoid insulting anypony on purpose? Yes, that would work out better. She could still work her way up the social ladder, while avoiding becoming one of the snakes.

As the train pulled into Ponyville station, and Rarity gathered up her bags with her magic, she smiled as she inhaled the fresh scent of rain and earth. She was home, she realised. Her business and passion may take her to Canterlot, but it would never truly be home to her. Not the way that Ponyville, with its honest and earnest ponies would be. And if the unicorn was truthful with herself, she would rather conduct her business from here than Canterlot. Because then, only the customers that actually desired a dress would ever make it out here, and that suited the designer just fine.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #351-‘...And I Won’t Feel A Thing’
The Prompt: Be careful what you wish for...because you just might get it.

Prompt #352-Refreshing the Mind

It was practically a guilty pleasure for him, these days. A way to unwind from the stresses of duty and diligence, to get his head screwed back on straight. Being the stallion that he was, he didn’t get chances to do things like it often, but it was a way to escape his responsibilities for a while. And now that he was married, and a co-ruler of the Crystal Empire, he had even fewer chances for it. And so, Shining Armor made a decision, and snuck out of the Crystal Palace in the middle of the night, left a pre-written note where his beloved wife would see it, and ran with all his might towards the train station. Once there, he bought a ticket for the next train to Manehatten.

Once on the train, the soft rocking of the car, and the gentle click-clack of the train as it passed over the tracks soothed Shining’s mind, and he was soon fast asleep once more. The conductor was kind enough to wake the captain of the guard when the train was due to pull into Manehatten as the sun rose over the eastern sea. Upon disembarking, Shining headed straight for the ticket office, and the list of trains leaving that day. There was one about midday, which would take him all the way over to Los Pegasus. Booking the ticket, he then wandered out into Manehatten, to find himself some breakfast, and to waste time before the next train.

Shining Armor looked out of the window as the train rolled over the tracks, watching the scenery pass by, as the noises of the train all but drowned out his thoughts. Out here, in this train, he wasn’t Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard. He wasn’t the Life-Partner of Princess Cadence, or Ruler-In-Partnership of the Crystal Empire. He was simply one of the many ponies who used the rail system every day. Here, he could just sit and watch and listen. In this space, this state of mind, his mind calmed, and he re-centered himself. He could clear his mind and magic like this and get his focus back onto things that mattered.

-time-

It was nearly three days, and several more trains later when Shining Armor finally returned to the Crystal Empire, and his wife, a much more relaxed stallion than when he left. He cantered easily into the Crystal Palace with an easy smile on his face, and greeted his wife.
“I’m back, Cadence.”

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #352-'Pooped'
The Prompt: My favorite way to unwind
Or
The Prompt: The best way to calm down
Special rule: Your story must take a creative step beyond the obvious. If your story is about Fluttershy snuggling with animals, Twilight reading some books, or Celestia banishing Luna to the moon, it will be promptly sent up to our beloved sky sphere after her. To clarify: your story does not have to do something I’ve never seen before, but it should bring something new and interesting to the table. Savvy?

Prompt #354-All Out

“Yeah, I got nothing.”

“Nothing? Nothing at all?”

“Pretty much.”

“Not even one tiny little...”

“Nope.”

“Are you absolutely, positively sure, Spike?”

“Yep.”

“Well, thank you for trying. I guess I’ll go ask somepony else.”

“Alright then. Good luck.”

“Thanks, Spike.”

**************

“Eenope.”

“Are you one hundred percent positive about that, Big Mac?”

“Eeyup.”

“Damnit. Guess I’d better head back into town. Thanks for looking, anyway.”

“Eeyup.”

**************

“Oh come on! You’re never out!”

“Well, this time we are. I’m sorry, miss, but I honestly can’t help you.”

“But...But...I need it!”

“I am truly sorry, but I simply can’t give you something I haven’t got.”

“Sorry for yelling, but I just really need this.”

“I know the feeling, miss, but like I said, we ran out early this morning.”

“It’s fine, I’ll just go elsewhere.”

****************

“Not even one itty little bit anywhere in here, Pinkie?”

“Noperroni! Ran out two days ago. It’s been real hard on the Cakes. You’d be surprised by how much they go through.”

“Really?”

“Oh yeah.”

“Well, maybe I’ll try Rainbow Dash. She might have some, right?”

“Maybe. I dunno.”

“Thanks for looking anyway, Pinkie.”

****************

“Nope. Don’t have any.”

“You sure, Rainbow Dash?”

“Twilight, I think I know what’s in my own house. I don’t have any.”

“Right, sorry.”

“But hey, while you’re up here, want me to give you some flying pointers?”

“AAAAAHHHHHHHH!”

“...I have never seen her move that fast before. Was it something I said?”

*****************

Twilight Sparkle trudged through Ponyville, head down, completely dejected. She’d asked all of her friends, their entire families, and berated more than one innocent shopkeeper. Why couldn’t they understand that this was serious business? It was more than want, she needed it.

“How can a town be completely out of parchment?”

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #354-'Scrape It Real Good'
The Prompt: Scraping the bottom of the barrel
Also, you can replace the word 'parchment' at the very end with your favourite Twilight obession (eg coffee), and the story still works.
Even I didn't know it was about parchment until I wrote it.

Prompt #356-Luna's Discovery

“Don’t you see, this could completely revolutionize Equestria?”

“I agree with you, Luna, but...”

“But what, sister?”

“I am not sure that our little ponies are ready for it,” explained Celestia, “I’m not even sure I’m ready for it,” she added under her breath.

“I...had not considered that, Sister,” murmured Luna, looking over her discovery with new eyes.

“It is a fine find, Luna. But it is not one that is...easily accepted. Many ponies would revolt over this. It has just as much potential to harm as it does to help.”

“So, then, sister, what shall we do with them?” Luna pointed a hoof to the twin stone slabs that lay propped up against the mountain, where Luna had found them, and had been studying them. Celestia was silent for a while, as her wings gently ruffled while she was deliberating.

“We shall take them. Hide them until our ponies are ready for their contents, and then perhaps let them be discovered by somepony else.”

“By somepony else? Celestia, this was our find, and we are not keen on letting somepony else take all the credit for something that we toiled to remove!” yelled Luna, setting her hooves in the ground firmly as her nostrils flared. One metal clad hoof scraped the ground sharply, as the Princess of the Night lowered her horn.

“Luna,” whispered Celestia. The Lunar Princess jerked up, to look at her older sister.

“I know that this will not rest easy with you,” continued Celestia in the same whisper soft tone, “But think, if these were introduced by one of us, there will be some who may think that we are trying to gain more power over the ponies.”
“But that isn’t true, Celestia,” replied Luna, “We just want to help.”

Celestia nodded, “I know, Luna. But there will always be ponies who think that, and neither of us can change that. However, if we let them be ‘discovered’ by a normal pony one day, the number of dissenters will be greatly reduced.”

“Another one of your white lies for the good of the country?” muttered Luna, making a face like she’d bitten into a sour grape, and Celestia gave a sad smile.

“You are the Elements of Loyalty, Honesty and Magic, Luna, and you do each of them credit. But telling the truth all the time does...”

“Does not lend itself to ruling a country. We know, Celestia. You have said so before,” interrupted Luna, “We will go along with this plan, sister. We will not necessarily like it, but we shall go along with it,” huffed the younger, as her magic grasped both of the immense stone tablets and lifted them up, enshrouding them in a gentle dark blue shimmer.

“We shall put these in the Canterlot caverns. It is as good a place as any, and nopony goes in there.” Celestia made a noise of agreement with Luna’s suggestion. Her mind was still reeling from the implications of the two stone slabs.
‘The Laws of Dramatic Storytelling as Applied to Equestria,’ Thought the alicorn as she unfurled her wings in preparation to fly after her sister, and return to Canterlot in order to lower the sun for the night.

‘Who’d have thought that our lives could be governed by the same ones that govern narratives?’

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #356-'I Have Found It'
The Prompt: The Discovery
OR
The Prompt: The invention

Prompt #357-Snoring in Concert

It was the sort of thing that nopony would believe even if she told them, and a constant source of amusement for her roommate. Octavia gave a long suffering sigh as Vinyl Scratch rolled around on the floor, laughing her horn off.

“Can we please move on from this?” inquired the cellist.

“Oh, look at you, trying to act all composed and regal. You just fell asleep while playing your own instrument!” shot back the unicorn, as she dissolved into laughter again. Octavia rubbed a hoof along her nose in annoyance.

“The cello is an elegant instrument, and I was practicing a lullaby, Vinyl. At least my instrument has the tone required to lull ponies to sleep!”

“Yeah,” gasped Vinyl, “But your audience can’t applaud if they’re all asleep! And besides, I’ve seen you fall asleep while playing a gigue.”

Despite herself, Octavia blushed. There was something about playing the cello that relaxed her. Often, it relaxed her too much, and put her to sleep. That was why, before every concert that the cellist gave, she had to hype herself up on coffee, just to make sure that she didn’t accidentally drift off in the middle of a solo.

“Like you’ve never fallen asleep while performing, Vinyl!” retorted the cellist, “Remember Manehatten, three years ago? You started snoring in the middle of your performance.”

“Hey, I passed out. That totally doesn’t count. Besides, I’d been up for seven days straight. Nopony held it against me. You, on the other hoof, fell asleep even after getting a full night’s rest.”

Try as she might, Octavia couldn’t fault Vinyl’s apparent logic. True to her words, back then, the unicorn had been awake for a full week when she finally passed out in the middle of her eighth concert, and had been so firmly unconscious that the security ponies had to carry her back to the hotel. And so, the cellist resorted to the oldest trick she knew to get Vinyl to leave.

“OW! Tavi!” whined the DJ, as the cellist flicked the end of Vinyl’s horn. As Vinyl left the room, Octavia picked her cello back up from where she’d set it down, and reassumed her playing position.

“Hey, you want some coffee, Tavi? I can make a fresh batch.” teased Vinyl, sticking her head back through the doorway.

“OUT.”

-Time-

“Ok, ok, I’m going,” snickered Vinyl, “You want anything from the shop?”

Octavia paused for a moment.

“Actually, yes. If you’re passing by Vincenzo’s, can you pick me up a new block of resin?” called the cellist

“Righto. Don’t fall asleep from boredom while I’m gone!” cackled Vinyl as she left the house.

“Honestly, that mare,” muttered Octavia, returning to her practice, “It’s not like I have narcolepsy.”

Ten minutes later, her snores disagreed with her.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #357-‘Counting Sheep’
The Prompt: Falling asleep at really odd moments.
Special Rule: Luna is not allowed to be featured, mentioned, or alluded to today.

Prompt #358-Research Journal, Page 301

This isn’t the first time the Crystal Empire has vanished and reappeared. It’s not even the second or third for that matter. It’s a little difficult to trace, because of the nature of these dissapearences, but from what I can see, the Crystal Empire has vanished and reappeared a grand total of six times. Old earth pony legends speak of a great fertile land to the north, lit by a diamond tower. Of course, anypony who ventured up there before the reappearance of the Empire was only ever going to find ice and snow, but that never stopped them from trying. Pegasi too had their own legend about a land in the north, this one about where the sky was always blue and wide open, and again, illuminated by a great tower of diamond. The unicorn one was a bit more obscure, but it does mention a ‘land of crystal and green, whose shards tremendously amplified the wearer’s magic when made into jewelry’. The most common thread between all of these, and other stories is not actually the Empire, but rather the palace itself.

This commonality got me thinking. What if the curse that Sombra placed on the Crystal Empire one thousand years ago wasn’t actually a curse, but rather the activation of a spell? A spell so terrifically complex, delicate and powerful that it was built into the very structure of the Crystal Palace itself? A spell that could preserve the Palace, and it’s surrounds, including the very weather, and lock them in a temporary temporal bubble, removed from reality, and only break the spell when the magic fueling it ran out, or a significantly large outside magic force disturbed it. Such a spell would be the last ditch attempt at defense, a final chance to deny any outside forces a hope of taking the Palace.

Thus, here is my theorem: The Crystal Palace, located at the heart of the Crystal Empire, which itself is centered on more than one major magical leyline, possesses in some shape or form, a spell which can trap everything within a certain radius of it, living or deceased, in a state of magical stasis, and then place them all within a state where they are unable to interact with our current world until such a time as this spell is broken by either internal or external measures.

It is also interesting to note that from the air, the layout of the Crystal Empire shows a distinct resemblance to one of many magical channeling symbols, wrought on an immense scale. It also looks like the central design of my cutie mark.
*************

Princess Cadence looked up from the letter that Celestia had given her.

“Should I be worried, Celestia?”

“Not precisely,” began the bigger alicorn, “But as I’m sure you know, once a subject grabs Twilight’s interest...”

“Yes, indeed,” mused Cadence “If such a spell were to exist, she may attempt to trigger it out of sheer curiosity, and that would not be a good thing.”

“You don’t know?” asked Celestia, and Cadence shook her head.

“Much of the Crystal Palace is a mystery to even me. As far as I can remember, the Crystal Palace has always been at the heart of the Empire. Though, Auntie...”

“Yes, Cadence?”

“There is another name for the Crystal Palace. It’s not one that crops up often, but in rediscovering the history of my own Empire, I ran across it enough times for it to stick.”

“What is it?”

“The Cleansing Light.” There was silence between the two alicorns for a moment.

“Let’s not tell Twilight about that little tidbit, Okay?”

“What tidbit, Auntie?”

“Exactly.”

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #358-'Domino Effect'
The Prompt: the Crystal Empire falls

Prompt #359-A Retrospective

It’s not entirely well known, but each city in Equestria has their own little defences against criminals and calamity. Canterlot, of course, has the Royal Guards and the Princesses, while Ponyville has the Elements of Harmony. Fillydelphia has the League of Associated Combat Musicians, and Manehatten? Manehatten has Equestria’s finest police force, and me.

While my legend began in Ponyville, as a friendship lesson of all things, It is here in Manehatten that my skills are put to best use. And unlike the grandiose beginnings that the Elements of Harmony cooked up, my own were far lower. I am not an alicorn, but rather just a single unicorn of some skill. And yet, I have done more for this city, my city, than any Elements of Harmony ever could.

That first year was both terrifying and exhilarating for me. Like any good hero, I started small. Busting drug rings, stopping petty crime and mostly building a reputation. I wanted ponies to feel safe in this city at night, knowing that Mare Do Well was on the prowl, taking care of crime. To do that, I had to inspire fear into the scum that fed off this city. And sure enough, after a few months, the criminals began to fear the night. Or perhaps more accurately, they began to fear what hid in the dark corners of the alleyways while they went about their dirty lives. Ponies began to walk the streets at night again, sensing the change in the air, that the city was getting safer. But, of course, that first year was not without its trials.

The major crime bosses of Manehatten were unhappy, to say the least. They were losing business, and losing it quicker than they could get it back. Crafty Hooves was the first to truly take action against me, by setting up a false deal that would attract my attention, and tried to take me out when I came to interfere. He very nearly succeeded that night. That was also when the Manehatten police, as much as I respected them and tried to avoid confronting them, were forced to consider me a problem, as I delivered a bruised and beaten Crafty Hooves to their front doorstep. In retrospect, that was the major turning point of my career, such as it was.

My face, masked and cloaked, became a source of terror to the criminals of this city. The police called me ‘vigilante’ and were ordered to arrest me on sight, but behind closed doors, were deeply appreciative of the things I was doing. The average ponies were...divided. Some agreed with those who called me a danger, while others wanted to give me a medal. Yet there is one thing, one single thing that all who have heard of me will tell you, one single thing that everypony agrees with.

I’m cleaning up this wonderful, rotten city.

It has been an eventful first year, and it’s only going to get more interesting from here. So I say bring it on, Manehatten. Let’s see who wins.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #359-'Mare Do Well Begins'
The prompt: Mare Do Well, Year One

Prompt #360-Working Holiday

To a normal pony, a year was a long time. A pony’s life could change radically over the course of a year. They might gain and lose several jobs. They could fall in and out of love. They could have fights, make up, fight again, and make up. They could make many new friends.

To Princess Celestia, it seemed like all she had to do was blink, and a year would pass. There were times when the alicorn almost envied the average pony. Being the immortal avatar of the sun had its own downsides. Ponies had grown accustomed to her constant, unchanging presence, relying on it as a source of comfort. That even though they might die tommorow, the day after, Celestia would still raise the sun, and then lower it and raise the moon. And Celestia would. She would repeat the cycle until her sister came back. However, it came to pass that one day, after raising the sun one Summer Solstice, that the Princess had vanished from the castle, leaving only a cryptic note.

‘See you in a year’

For an entire day, the courts and nobles of Canterlot Castle, which was still under construction, had run around like headless chickens, desperately trying to find any clue, any pony who knew what had happened to the Princess, and would the Sun even rise the next morning?

In all the confusion, nopony noticed a young, demure white pegasus mare with a pink mane slip out of the castle, and head for the weather centre.

***********

“Name?” intoned the large brown pegasus sitting behind the desk at the Canterlot Weather Centre.

“Cloudy Skies.” Stated the white pegasus.

“Experience level?”

“Average.”

The brown pegasus made a thoughtful noise as he consulted a roster of duties.

“You’ll be on long-range weather control. That means you’ll be taking care of the weather outside of the bounds of Canterlot airspace.”

“Oh, thank you!” grinned Cloudy Skies, moving to hug the larger pegasus, who moved away.

“You’re a freelancer for the moment. Work hard, do good and we’ll bump you up to permanent member. We’ll have your pay waiting for you here every seventh day. And as for accommodation, you’ll be bunked in the temporary pegasus housing, just inside the wall. Hope you like close quarters,” explained the brown pegasus. Cloudy Skies nodded, collected the bits of information she needed, and flew off.

“Next!” called the brown pegasus.

**********

Cloudy Skies shivered and chattered as she bucked the winter storm clouds coming out of the Everfree. No pony had told her that long-range weather control had meant dealing with whatever that despicable forest spat out on occasion. She’d been up here for five hours, bucking and bucking with nary a moment’s rest, and only two other pegasi to help her.

**********

Cloudy swooped down through the streets of Canterlot, making sure that everything was squared away in preparation for her first actual thunderstorm in Canterlot.

“All Clear!” she yelled, and the weather captain sounded the start.

**********

“Oh hey, the Summer Solstice is coming up again. Hey, Cloudy, you reckon the Princess is going to come back?” called one of Cloudy Skies’ coworkers on the long-range patrol as they bucked a few clouds into oblivion.

“She might. She might not. I kinda hope she does. But I don’t know, do I, Silverstreak?”

“Yeah, I hope she comes back too.”

************

As the sun rose on the morn of the Summer Solstice, Ponies looked on with wide eyes and open mouths as Princess Celestia strode down the wide halls of the still unfinished Canterlot Castle, and took her throne once more. When asked where she had been for the last year, Princess Celestia had simply smiled, and replied that she’d been, ‘Just clearing the clouds in my head, and getting a new perspective on things.’

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #360-‘A Year In The Life’
The Prompt: How do you measure a year in the life? … How do you measure the life of a woman or a man? In truths that she learned, or in times that he cried, in bridges he burned, or the way that she died …” (“Seasons of Love,” from Rent)

Prompt #361-Rarity's Ramble

Fifty-Two. That was the exact number of letters that Twilight Sparkle had sent to the Princess in her first year in Ponyville. One for every week in the year. One friendship lesson every week. Thinking back, I find it rather hilarious that our dear Twilight treated it so much like a homework assignment. Of course, we all witnessed her eventual mental breakdown when she finally had no friendship lesson for the week. And ponies call me a drama queen! Ahem. I do suppose I have no right to criticize dear Twilight like that. Yes, of course we’ve all had our own little moments of weakness, but it must be said that ours didn’t lead to mind-controlling the entire town to chase after a doll. Twilight has always had a penchant for overreacting to things, and yes, I am justified in saying so. Fortunately, she has myself and the others to help her work through that. And to her credit, she has stopped freaking out whenever the slightest thing goes wrong. But just between you and me, darling, the best way to get her attention is to move something in her study. It never really gets old, watching her jump like that.

Oh, my, listen to me ramble on. Surely you have some other pony to talk to? Ah, yes, an excellent choice. She will have some definite insight into our new Princess. But, dear, while I know that Twilight seems strong sometimes, she still has her moments of weakness. All I ask is that you be...gentle. She is still unused to the pressures of her new position. While she has come a long way since that first year in Ponyville, Twilight is still socially...naive, you might say. She is still not fully aware of many of the finer points of conversation, and has a tendency to take ponies at their word. As you can imagine, this has lead to some rather interesting events, and for Twilight’s sake, I will not repeat them here. As myself and the girls have explained to her many times, there are some things that simply cannot be learned from a book. She is rather hilariously defiant of this idea. What’s that? Oh, yes, as a matter of fact, we do have our own little plan to try and teach her that particular lesson. Pinkie Pie, the dear that she is, is still putting the plan together. Now Pinkie Pie, there is a pony that you should talk to about our newest princess. As much as it shames me to admit, Pinkie has spent a lot more time with Twilight than I.

Yes, that second year in Ponyville for Twilight was certainly easier on her. After the aforementioned mind-controlling doll incident, the number of letters dropped from fifty-two down to twenty-six. Yes, perhaps it was one every second week, but we have learned that Twilight needs time to break her habits. We’re still working on her coffee one, darling. But she’s getting better. She was certainly more relaxed about everyday life, to say the least. Her little assistant, Spike, has been an absolute godsend when it comes to helping that mare deal with all her little neuroticisms. There’s nothing wrong with wanting an organized workspace, but the degree to which Twilight takes it is something else entirely. Did you know, dear, that after that terrible Discord incident, we found her trying to straighten every leaf on her library? Perhaps understandable, given what happened that day, but when we found her doing it again a few months later, we knew we had to step in and help her learn to deal with things. I can say, with no small amount of pride I might add, that yes, while Twilight is still obsessed with organization, we have managed to make her contain her twitches about it to her study. What? You didn’t think Rainbow Dash crashed into the library by accident all the time now, did you? No, sometimes she did it on purpose, just to mess things up, trying to help Twilight deal with mess in her own way. Now, you should really be on your way. I’ve shared enough about Twilight, and I do have dresses to finish. What publication did you say you were from, again? TMP? I will keep an eye out for your article, dear.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #361-“The Calendar Comes ‘Round Again” (Theme Week, Day Three)
The Prompt: A Year Older, and a Year wiser

Prompt #364-This Day In Trixie History

Trixie knows what you are thinking. How could an absolutely stupendous, fantastic and wonderful mare like Trixie be stuck in this run down bar, with nary a bit to her name? Well, because Trixie has always appreciated an audience, she shall tell you. Also, Trixie may be slightly drunk. Hic. But that has nothing to do with this.

You see, tomorrow is the anniversary of the day that Trixie’s life began to go downhill. It is the beginning of the life on the road for The Great and Powerful Trixie! It is the day that Trixie was kicked out of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. Hic. The stupid old mares and stallions there clearly couldn’t appreciate the greatness and powerfulness of Trixie, and so they kicked her out. All Trixie did was practice her show techniques. Unfortunately, one of Trixie’s fireworks exploded in the dean’s face. But, Trixie explained over and over that it was not her fault that the stupid mare walked around the corner at the wrong time to see what all the noise was about. None of them believed Trixie, and she was hoofed out onto the streets. So, now do you see? Trixie was completely innocent in this. So maybe Trixie had not always been the best student. And maybe she spent more time perfecting her stage presence than doing homework. Hic. And just possibly, there is the slightest chance, that Trixie may have made that firework explode when it did on purpose. But that’s just a miniscule possibility.

Alright, so maybe Trixie deserved it. Trixie regrets nothing. But Trixie does have to wonder if the universe has it out for her. This time three years ago, Trixie put on a show in a backwards town called Ponyville. It was supposed to be a simple show. You may not believe it, but Trixie used to be quite arrogant. Magic, a bit of flair and a standard tale about defeating an Ursa Major were the fare in Ponyville. But then she showed up. Hic. Twilight Sparkle. Trixie cannot honestly say that she hates another pony more than she hates Twilight Sparkle. That stupid unicorn showed up Trixie, and made it look easy. So Trixie fled the town. Trixie waited, plotted and searched, and two years later, she returned to Ponyville, this time armed with the Alicorn Amulet. Trixie challenged Twilight to a magic duel, and won, banishing Twilight from Ponyville. But a week later, Twilight returned, and challenged Trixie, and won. Something about friendship. Trixie doesn’t fully remember. Trixie apologised for the Alicorn Amulet incident, and left again. Hic. And now Trixie is here, one year later.

Why am I always second best? Am I just a failure of a magician?

Why am I always alone?

Hic.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #364-'The Bell Tolls For Thee'
The Prompt: Tomorrow is the anniversary.

Prompt #367-Baking is Magic

It wasn’t an overly well known fact, but Ponyville baker and premier party pony Pinkie Pie couldn’t bake an apple pie. And it wasn’t from lack of trying, either. She’d consulted every recipe book that Sugarcube Corner had, borrowed a few from the library, and even managed to get her hooves on the Apple Family’s Super-Secret Apple Pie recipe over the years. None of it worked for the pink pony, and she really wanted to bake one, to surprise Applejack for when the farmer got back from Appleloosa. Pinkie knew that all their other friends had their own surprises for Applejack already sorted out, so she didn’t want to bother them by asking for their help. Setting her face in a stern visage, Pinkie Pie turned from the cookbook she was looking at back to her pile of ingredients.

“Right, you silly ingredients. Prepare to be Pie’d.”

Smoke filled the kitchen at Sugarcube Corner, and Pinkie Pie sighed. She opened the oven door, and retrieved the roughly pie shaped pile of burning pastry and apples, and dumped it into the bin with the five others she had already tried to make. Pinkie turned back to the cookbook and stared at the instructions again.

“What am I doing wrong?” muttered Pinkie. Dejected, she closed the book for a while, and headed out into Ponyville. She needed more apples, so she headed for the Apples’ stand in the market, where Big Mac was taking care of sales while Applejack was out of town.

“Ten bits, right Mac?”

“Eeyup.”

Pinkie hoofed over the required money to the stallion behind the stand, and then she spoke up again. “Hey, Big Mac, you wouldn’t know how to bake an apple pie, would you?”

“Nope,” drawled the stallion, his stalk of hay shifting to the other side of his mouth, “Sorry.”

“That’s ok,” sighed Pinkie, walking off with her apples, heading back to Sugarcube Corner, “I’m sure I’ll get it eventually.”

“Eeyup.”

For the seventh time that day, smoke poured out from the burnt and charred pie remnants in the oven, and Pinkie was really glad that Sugarcube Corner was closed to business today. She removed the remains, dumped them in the bin, and got ready for her eighth attempt.

“Stupid pie,” growled Pinkie, “Why can’t I bake you?”

***time***

By this point, anypony could have asked what the steps were to make an apple pie, and Pinkie would have been able to recite them from memory. As her hooves worked, Pinkie looked over to the cookbook anyway, making sure that each step was correct. She wanted this pie to be perfect.

Ding! Pinkie opened the oven door, not daring to look at whatever catastrophe she had made now. But oddly enough, she couldn’t smell smoke. It actually smelled kinda good, and her mouth began to water. Quickly wiping the drool away, Pinkie pulled the pie tin, and it’s hopefully delicious contents out and placed it onto the benchtop. The pastry was golden brown, and the delicious smell wafted off it. Prying the pie loose from the tin, Pinkie Pie carefully cut a slice, and let out a sigh of relief when the pie didn’t collapse, like her fifth attempt, or explode, like her second. Now came the real test, though. She tasted the pie, and quickly spat it out.

“Ugh. Too much sugar,” she grumbled, “Now what am I going to do for Applejack’s birthday?!”

Author's Notes:

written for Prompt #367-‘A Most Meaningful Pie’
The Prompt: Apple Pie

Prompt #369-Cons, Cons Everywhere

“Look out!”

“Yaaaaa!”

The front end of the magic-powered machine slammed into the wagon, caving the side in and exposing the interior. Flim and Flam backed their Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 up, and winced as the wooden wagon collapsed as the machine withdrew.

“I think we should get out of here, Flam,” said the slightly younger unicorn.

“I wholeheartedly agree, Flim,” replied the moustached unicorn, and they prepared to once again fire up the machine with their magic and escape. However, before they could, a light blue unicorn mare emerged from behind the collapsing wagon, and glared at the two salespony brothers.

“Hold it! Trixie demands that you take responsibility for the damage you have caused to Trixie’s home!” yelled the showmare. The two brothers glanced at each other for a brief moment, and Flim winked at his brother.

“Now just hold a moment, young miss. You were the one who left your wagon parked in the middle of the road. We can hardly be faulted for hitting it. And besides, your wagon may have damaged our transport as well. Flam?”

“I can’t get the front panel open,” replied the unicorn from his position by the front end of the Cider Squeezy 6000, “It’s completely mangled. Who knows what damage has been done to the delicate machinery inside?” Flim and Flam were perfectly aware that beyond a little superficial damage, their machine was fine.

Trixie narrowed her eyes as she stared at the two brothers, “Trixie would like to know how you two dunderheads propose we solve this situation, then.”

“That’s easy, Miss Trixie,” said Flim, and magically withdrew a single coin from a bag on the Cider Squeezy 6000. Green magic floated the shiny coin over to the salespony, “We’ll flip for it. Tails, we will take you and your wagon to the nearest town, and pay for repairs. Heads, we’ll all just go our separate ways. Seem fair?” explained Flim, as Flam stood beside him.

“Fair enough,” grumbled Trixie, “Toss the coin.”

Flim gave the coin a flick with his magic, and watched as it tumbled through the air. It landed on the hard earth road with a gentle clink, and all three ponies moved over to inspect the result.

“Heads. Well, that will be us off, Miss Trixie. It was pleasant meeting you,” said Flim, bowing deeply and taking his hat off. Trixie didn’t reply, and just moved closer to the coin, and flipped it over with her hoof. Then she laughed.

“A double headed coin? Come now, Trixie saw that one coming from a mile away.” The brothers glanced at each other, wondering what this mare was going to do now that she had figured out their trick.

“Trixie suggests that we try again, but using this coin,” said Trixie, floating a bit of her own over, and carefully showing both sides to the brothers, so that they could see it was quite clearly a standard coin.

“All right then,” said Flim, “Go ahead and flip.” The coin tumbled through the air, and landed on the ground.

“Tails,” smiled Trixie, as Flim and Flam groaned.

“A deal’s a deal, Miss Trixie. We’ll take you to the next town, and pay for your wagon to be fixed.”

***Time***

Once everything was hooked up, it didn’t take long for the three unicorns to arrive at a nearby town. Once there, they quickly located a carpenter who could fix the collapsing wagon, and there they used the last of their bits to fix up Trixie’s wagon.

“Trixie thanks you two for fixing up Trixie’s home. She also thanks you for your couch and hospitality, and suggests that you not try to con Trixie again.” As the unicorn brothers were pondering that statement, Trixie hooked herself up to her wagon, and beat a hasty escape. The two brothers turned back to their Cider Squeezy, and discovered that not only was the couch, and all their worldly possessions missing, but in Trixie’s attempts to get the couch detached, she had also demolished half the machine.

“Flim?”

“Yes, Flam?”

“I think we got conned.”

“Oh, she’s good.”

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #369-‘Flipping Bits’
The prompt: Let’s decide with a coin toss.
Optional suggestion: Try deciding the results of your fictional coin toss by flipping a coin for real!

Prompt #371-Princess Rhyme

‘Twas the Night before the Solstice of the Sun,
And Princess Sparkle puzzled and pondered.
She searched in books, but the answer was lacking in each one,
And so the library she left, and the castle she wandered.

She sought out the Solar Princess,
To ask her question, her answer to find.
Her quarry was in the main hall, covered with mess,
If Rarity saw this, she probably would have died.

“Princess,” began Sparkle, “When is your Day of Birth?”
The avatar of the sun smiled and laughed, and stood up,
Even as her eyes twinkled with mirth.
“Why do you ask this now,” said the Princess, “Before I go and pull the sun up?”

“My birthday is on the day of equal length, in the spring.”
Said the princess, “and my sister was born on the same in the fall.”
Sparkle nodded, for this had a familiar ring,
And hastily departed the hall.

Upon leaving, the youngest alicorn collided with the Princess of the Night,
And wanting to confirm what the Day had told her,
Asked the same question, preparing her mental might.
The Lunar Princess was quiet a while, before she answered her.

“We were born at the dawn of the longest night,” said Luna,
“And our sister was born at the eve of the longest day.”
Explained the Princess of the moon,
And then she hurried away.

Two different answers, two different stories.
Remember this, young foal, as the moral is here for you.
When requesting the Princesses of tales and stories,
Never ask more than two.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #371-“My Name is BSB and I Made This Prompt for Thee”
The Prompt: Once upon a rhyme
Special rule: No mention of Zecora or zebras today.

Prompt #373-The House of Equestria

The white unicorn studied his reflection in the mirror of his dressing room, and finding nothing out of place, he departed the room, and began to walk down the halls of the house he resided in, the illustrious House of Equestria. His name was Canterlot, and he considered himself a stallion of some class and stature, and walked with his head held high. Though he was a noble pony, he wished he could say the same of the other ponies who resided in the House with him. As he approached the dining room, looking to break his fast with some oats, he could already hear the brewing of another argument.

“Oh Yeah? I’d like to freakin’ see you try, you namby pamby pegasus. Go back to your gossip columns and putting more glitter on everything you own, and let the grownups discuss this,” came a rough male voice. Canterlot knew that voice, even if he heard it far less than he heard any of the others who resided in this house. It was Stormholm, one of the pegasi of the group. Stormholm lived right near the top of the House, up near Crystal Empire’s domain. He was a hardy, no-nonsense pegasus, who had little use for anything that was only there for the visual appeal. As such, he barely tolerated, let alone got along with the other pegasus who lived in the house, the one he was arguing with, Los Pegasus. Canterlot entered the dining room, to find Stormholm hovering over the table, completely drenched and with the marks of fierce lightning strikes all over his body.

“Now now, Stormholm, just calm down. You know that if we could have, we would have helped you,” explained a unicorn mare, as she snacked on her daisy sandwich, “Morning, Canterlot.”

“Good morning, Fillydelphia,” Canterlot replied, as Stormholm spun to face the unfortunate unicorn.

“Would have helped, my flank! I sent messages. You guys had been ignoring me for years before this. ‘Oh, we don’t need old Stormholm, now that Crystally’s coming back. In fact, let’s build an elevator up to her room, rather than the stairs,’” Mimicked Stormholm, “You only liked me because I was useful at keeping the weather out. And you!” Stormholm turned to face Canterlot.

“Hey. Take it down, Stormholm, or I’ll take you down,” threatened a dark Earth pony, as he nursed a bottle of something.

“Yeah, right, Manehatten. You’re too ‘busy’ to even do anything. Manehatten, the pony that never sleeps! Manehatten, the pony so concerned with trying to be like Canterlot that he can’t even see when his friends are being shocked to death by the weather. Go and get liver poisoning, you alcoholic,” said Stormholm, wheeling to face the earth pony, as a few of his feathers fluttered to the ground and water continued dripping off his mane.

Just then, a cheerful-looking earth pony entered the dining room, took in the scene before her, and gulped.

“I guess this is a bad time, huh?”

“You,” intoned Stormholm. The pony who had just entered was called Hoofshire, and was moving into Stormholm’s old room. Understandably, the tough pegasus was not fond of the earth pony.

“You know what?” began Stormholm, “I’m done with you guys. I used to think we were friends, but now I see it was just a friendship of convenience. You all had chances to help me, and you all turned them down. I didn’t ask for much. Just occasional companionship, and you guys used to indulge me. We may not have always been on the best of terms, but we used to be content. Now, with Crystal coming back, and this...pony moving into my old room, you guys obviously have ‘bigger’ things to worry about. So screw you guys, I’m finished.” And with that, the pegasus stalked out of the dining room, slamming the door behind him.

***time***

Canterlot sighed, and hurried after the pegasus.

“Stormholm, wait.”

“Shut up, Canterlot.”

“Stormholm, Stop.”

“Shut up, Canterlot.”

“Stormholm,” began Canterlot, grabbing one burnt and smouldering wing with his magic, and stopping the bitter pegasus in his tracks, “What happened to you? You used to be more forgiving than this.”

“Oh, I don’t know, Canterlot. Maybe it was all of you guys abandoning me in my singular hour of need. Where was Los Pegasus when I needed another cloud bucker? Where were Fillydelphia, or Manehatten when I needed supplies on the job? Hell, where the buck is Cloudsdale? None of you wanted to help me, despite my attempts to stay in contact. We ain’t friends, Canterlot. We never really were. You guys were, are, worth nothing to me. It’s time I left,” said Stormholm, and with that, the pegasus shook his wing free of Canterlot’s magical grasp, and walked out of the door into the night, never to be seen again by any resident of the House of Equestria.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #373-'Sombra's Gate'
The Prompt: For years, I clung to the memory of it. Then the memory of the memory. And then nothing. I look upon you and feel nothing. I remember nothing but you turning your back on me, along with all the others.

Prompt #375-Undisclosed Madness

Pinkie Pie and the Cakes dashed around the kitchen of Sugarcube Corner, the three bakers trying to balance the making of the Cake’s newest product, their Ponyville infamous range of Triple Layer mud cakes, and trying to look after the two twins.

“Icing is done and chilling!” called Pinkie from over by the refrigerator.

“Bases are in the oven, and the twins need changing!”

“I’m on it, Mr. Cake! Who’s looking after the filling mixes?”

“I’ll get it, Pinkie,” replied Cup Cake, “And thank you for agreeing to watch the twins this afternoon, too.”

“It’s not a problem, Mrs. Cake. Oh, for the love of Libman, I forgot the muffins in oven two!”

“Taken care of, Pinkie,” called back Carrot Cake, pulling the aforementioned muffins out of the oven just in time. Once everything in the kitchen had been taken care of, the three bakers relaxed, and the Cakes got ready to leave.

“Relax, Mr and Mrs Cake. Me and Twilight have got everything taken care of. Go and have fun.”

“You’re really sure about this, Pinkie?”

“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” replied Pinkie, making the motions for her promise, and waved goodbye as the Cakes left the building. Pinkie took a seat in the bakery with the twins, and waited for Twilight to show up.

“Oh, you guys are gonna love Twilight! She’s seriously smart, and really adorkable, too! Ooh! Hi Twilight!” Twilight Sparkle entered the bakery to find Pinkie Pie with the twin baby Cakes in a hug.

“Hello, Pinkie. I hope the Cakes didn’t mind me helping you out tonight.”

“Of course not, silly! They’re just happy they can take the time off and not have to worry about their little bundles of joy!” Just then, a foul smell made itself known throughout the bakery, and as Twilight pinched her nose to try and block it out, Pinkie moved over to the cupboard where they kept the diapers, only to find it empty.

“Oh no. Twilight, here! Watch the twins. I have to run down to the store,” fired off Pinkie, and then she was gone, leaving a pink trail as she dashed out the door and down the street. Twilight smiled at Pinkie’s antics, and turned around to keep an eye on the twins, only to find them gone.

“Oh no,” she murmured.

****Time****

Twilight soon located Pound Cake, flapping up near the ceiling, and after several unsucessfull attempts to grab him, she finally remembered that she was a unicorn. A gentle purple glow surrounded the little pegasus, and moved him down to Twilight’s level. However, her concentration was soon broken by the baby unicorn of the family levitating herself and slamming into Twilight’s side, and the magic field was disrupted around Pound. And with that, the two were off, and Twilight followed after them.

When Pinkie Pie returned twenty minutes later, she found Twilight huddled on the floor, stroking her tail. Pinkie Pie smiled gently, and went to find the twins. A bag of flour, two bottles of milk and a change of diapers later, the two babies were safely in bed and sleeping, and Pinkie returned to Twilight.

“Come on, Twilight. Up and at ‘em.”

“They’re menaces. Evil. Evil, I tell you, Pinkie,” muttered Twilight from her position on the floor.

Pinkie giggled, “Nah, you just don’t know how to handle them. They can be a bit of a hoof full, but they just like having fun,” smiled the pink pony.

“I am never, ever having foals.”

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #375-‘Playing Favourites’
The Prompt: Pinkie has to watch the Cake twins again, but this time it’s Pinkie’s special somepony that bears the brunt of the twins’ wrath.

Prompt #376-Origin Tale

Once upon a time, in a little village called Ponyville, there lived a young dragon, called Spike. He lived with one of the Princesses, and in him she instilled all kinds of lessons, but first and foremost she gave him a love of literature. As the drake grew alongside his pony friends, and his princess caretaker, they had many adventures together.

But then one day, one of his pony friends left the world, starting the next great journey, and he grieved for a friend lost. And one by one, each of the dragon’s friends left the mortal coil, transcending the need for mortal flesh and bone, and joining each other in the Great Field above. And each time, the dragon grieved and remembered.

After the last of his friends passed on, the drake retreated into himself for a while, leaving Ponyville and travelling all over Equestria. While out on the road, he met many a mare and stallion, of all walks of life. He conversed with the high nobility, rubbed shoulders with the rich and famous, and chatted with the farmers, and helped the poor where he could. During this time, he came across an old acquaintance.

Trixie Lulamoon. The mare who had once been so arrogant, so proud, was now permanently bedridden, but yet her mind was still as sharp as ever, trapped in a failing body. She, of all ponies, gave the dragon a piece of advice. ‘Do not cry for those that you have lost, young dragon,’ she had told him, ‘Instead, celebrate what they gave you everyday, and make use of it. To do anything less is to demean their memory.’ The dragon considered these words, thanked Trixie, and left as the mare’s heart finally gave up its fight to keep the former showmare alive.

From that day, Spike the Dragon, now fully deserving of that name, set about his task. He returned to Ponyville, and drove out the old dragon living in the Everfree Forest, and then, using his great claws and wings, carved a path through the forest to the cave. In here, he gathered old and rare tomes, preserving them for future generations. He catalogued history, etching it out in stone through pictures and words. He cared for the animals around his home, leaving them food. He made sure that everypony in Ponyville knew that they were always welcome in his cave, and he made his collection available to anypony who had need of it.

Over time, as ponies passed on, and bequeathed him their worldly possessions, and his collection grew, he began to be known by a new name, the one we know him as today: The Caretaker, who looks after the ponies, helps them where he can, and is always welcoming. Today we celebrate the Caretaker, and the ponies who inspired him to rise above his own nature, and live for others.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #376-‘And Merry Christmas, Too’
The Prompt: The birthday of a legend!
Special Rule: The legend is not Nightmare Moon.

Prompt #378-Evolution

Enforced Magical Evolution. That was the official term for the transformation that Twilight had undergone when she turned into an alicorn. In the few months after her transformation and coronation, Twilight researched the phenomena with all her considerable might. Unsurpisingly, there was precious little information on it. Indeed, she was only able to find one other pony who had undergone a similar experience: Princess Cadence. However, there were countless theories about Enforced Magical Evolution, and some of them got Twilight wondering.

What if there was a state of existence beyond alicorn? Twilight knew that her magic, already impressive, had taken a giant boost when she’d grown her wings, and would grow at a steady rate for the rest of her life. But Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna both seemed to be immortal, and somehow, Twilight knew she was not. Maybe the two elder princesses were something more than an alicorn, and so Twilight designed an experiment to find out.

“So you see, Spike, the crystal array will feed my magic back in on itself, subtly amplifying it and taking care of the channelling in a controlled reaction. Once my magic gets to a certain level, I should be able to get a glimpse into the very fabric of reality, and if there’s an existence beyond alicorn, it will either magically evolve me into it, or at the very least, i’ll be able to see what it is.”

“I dunno, Twilight. This doesn’t sound very safe. Are you sure you can’t just ask Princess Celestia?”

“First hand knowledge is always better, Spike. Still,” Twilight mused, “It might be helpful to warn her. Oh well. I’m starting the experiment, Spike. Charging the crystal array.”

Twilight’s horn lit up as she stepped into the centre of the ring of crystals and wires. Six crystals surrounded her in a ring, and eight smaller ones laid out a path beyond the ring. A constant, thin stream of purple magic leapt from Twilight’s horn, connecting with the first of the bigger crystals. For a moment, both Twilight and Spike thought it wasn’t going to work, and then a hum began to build. Five streams of magic arced off the crystal Twilight was channelling into, each one connecting with one of the bigger crystals, and soon the whole array was alight with purple witchfire. Then the six main crystals began to launch Twilight’s magic back at her. Beams of magic, wider than a pony’s body, connected with the youngest alicorn, and Twilight’s eyes glowed.

*****

Power. Light. Darkness.

Whorls of colour spun before her. Power. The universe heaved and pulsed, resonating with her own magic.

“Show me what I want to know!”

Power. Pulse.

A star died and was reborn.

“Tell me if there’s anything after alicornation!”

Power. The universe pulled apart, reality tearing, and only static was visible through the cracks.

Pulse. Pulse. Power.

“SHOW ME!”

Power. Light.

*******

Spike watched from outside the library as it practically glowed and a column of purple magic roared off it, extending into the sky. He was joined by the other Elements of Harmony and practically the whole town as they came to watch the possible destruction of the library. His sharp eyes then noticed two specks in the distance, flying towards the town extremely fast. As they got closer, he made them out to be Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna. Without stopping to aknowledge the crowd of ponies, both dived into the library.

****Time****

The two princesses found Twilight in the basement of the library, and one swift buck from Princess Luna disrupted the carefully laid crystal array, causing the feedback of magic to cease. However, it was still several minutes before the magic had calmed down enough that the Princesses could actually enter the ring proper and check on Twilight. The young alicorn was smoking, her horn was actually glowing from overuse, but she was allright for the most part.

“I was,” coughed Twilight, “so close. Why’d you stop me?”

Princess Celestia stepped foward, and placed a gentle hoof on Twilight’s mane, speaking softly, “You were not yet ready for it. Your body was barely able to handle the transformation into an alicorn. In time, you may still be ready for the next step, but for now, rest, Twilight.”

Twilight took that as a cue to collapse, and she was asleep within seconds. Princess Celestia levitated her, and teleported them both to the local hospital, and then came back after checking Twilight in.

“There is no next step after alicorn, Celly,” said Luna, as the two studied the remains of Twilight’s array, “Unless, of course, you’re counting That.”

“I am,” said Celestia, “And Twilight is not ready to become part of Discord. Likely, she never will be.”

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #378-‘Metamorphosis’
The Prompt: The next step beyond Alicorn

Prompt #380-Getting the Message Out

-lo? Hello? Is this on? Ah, excellent. It seems we’re transmitting clearly. What, no, Rainbow, don’t touch that! If you disrupt the matrix now, we’re going to lose our sig-

-est. Test. Good. We seem to be back again. Now that that little technical issue has been sorted out, I should get on with what we wanted to do. This is taking more magical power than I anticipated, and that’s even with using the Crystal Palace as a transmitter.

My name is Princess Twilight Amethyst Sparkle the Second, but you guys probably just call me Twilight Sparkle, or Princess Twilight if you’re feeling formal. I can’t believe I’m doing this! Talking to another dimension! Ahem. Sorry.
Anyway, like I was saying. I know that you, the people out there, are aware of us. From my understanding, in your world, you see us as fictional characters, and that many of you watch snippets of our lives on a regular basis. However, unlike you, the ponies of Equestria have not yet fully mastered the delicate science of controlling dimensional rifts without consuming more power than a small city. It’s why I had to wait until after my ascension before I could do this.

The reason I contacted you people, and as I understand it, this will be through something called a ‘ThunderTempest’ and a ‘TMP prompt’, is that me and my friends need to set the record straight on a few things. I have prepared a list.

One. Princess Celestia has asked me to say that while she enjoys a practical joke every now and again in order to alleviate the stresses of ruling a nation, she is by no means a ‘troll’.

Two. Yes, my middle name is Amethyst.

Three. Princess Luna has asked me repeatedly to say this: The reason that she was not at my brother’s wedding was not because she is nocturnal, and nor was it because she was secretly the mastermind behind the changeling invasion. Princess Luna has a mild form of autism. She doesn’t do well in crowds. Celestia only lured her there with the promise of a barrel of alcoholic punch.

Four. Yes, Pinkie Pie really is that crazy.

Five. Contrary to what your beliefs may be, Trixie and myself aren’t hated enemies. We enjoy a semi-friendly rivalry as only two professionals in their field can. I’m actually quite impressed with her skill. She knows how to control her magic so precisely it baffles me sometimes.

Six. Yes, Pinkie Pie really is that crazy.

Seven. The reformation of Discord. This is still a touchy subject, even with us, but it needs to be said. What you saw in your dimensional rift took place over not a few days, but actually took three weeks. We nearly turned him back into stone four times before Fluttershy finally prevailed. As for what he’s doing now? As I understand it, Princess Celestia has him cleaning up potential messes before they start-like removing the caves under Canterlot.

Eight. The reason I didn’t mention my brother to my friends before his wedding was because I’m under a security agreement not to. I can’t talk about him, what rank he holds in the guard or what his responsibilities are to anyone not already in the know. Of course, when I received the invitation, I knew they’d be meeting him anyway, so I figured it didn’t matter anymore. I still got a talking to by Celestia, though.

Nine: Yes. Pinkie really is that crazy, and yes, she’s aware of you guys. Don’t ask me how it works. It’s Pinkie Pie.

And-oh, it looks like I’m running out of magic. Well, I have to go. Maybe sometime in the future i’ll figure out how to actually travel to your world. I’m sure we’ll have so much more to talk about!

This is Princess Twilight Amethyst Sparkle the Second, signing off. Alright Rainbow, now you can buck the arr-

((A/N: This somehow appeared on my computer while I was having breakfast. Weird.))

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #380-'Knowing is Half The Battle'
The Prompt: And now, a public service announcement...

Prompt #381-Emergency Repairs

One of the better things about the Wonderbolt Academy, ignoring the near disaster with Lightning Dust, was that once they’d finished, the recruits were allowed to keep their uniforms. Sure, it wasn’t an official Wonderbolt uniform, but to Rainbow, it was a first and important step towards the illustrious blue and yellow. So was the shining gold Lead Pony badge pinned to the breast, and to almost the same extent, the silver Wing Pony badge that Spitfire had mailed to her three days after the academy finished, the same Wing Pony badge that Rainbow had tossed onto Spitfire’s desk in order to make her point. That badge now rested in Rainbow’s little trophy cabinet.

“Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no!” moaned Rainbow, as she stared at a tear running up the side of her recruit uniform. She had just received a letter, inviting her and several of the other recruits to an official Wonderbolt function up in Cloudsdale in a few days, and the letter had requested that they be in their recruit uniforms, so as to differentiate them from the actual Wonderbolts. Rainbow couldn’t be showing up in a torn uniform, Spitfire would have her head for that. The obvious idea came to Rainbow immediately, and she picked up the uniform, and flew out of her cloudhouse, and down into Ponyville proper, eventually coming to a stop just in front of Rarity’s door. She entered, and as the bell above the door tingled, Rarity turned around from the dress she was making, and began reciting her shop’s little motto. Rainbow let her finish, and then spoke up.

“Hey, Rarity.”

The aforementioned unicorn gasped dramatically, “Rainbow! Have you finally decided to purchase one of my exquisite creations?”

“Nah, I still think that stuff’s too girly. I actually need your help, Rarity. Can you repair this?” Rainbow dumped the recruit uniform onto Rarity’s work table, and the white unicorn levitated it up to have a good look at it.

“Yes, I do believe I can, my dear. It won’t be a moment’s work,” smiled Rarity, as needle and blue thread were floated over from the shelf. She expertly threaded the needle, and was stitching the material back together in no time. Less than ten minutes later, Rarity was watching as Rainbow pulled the uniform on.

“Wow, Rarity! It’s like it was new again! Thanks a bunch!” exclaimed Rainbow, and began to carefully pull it off once more. Once she had it off, she turned to the fashionista.

“How much do I owe you for that, Rarity?”

“Not a thing, dear. I don’t charge for work that takes under half an hour, especially not for my friends.”

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #381-Everypony Loves Rarity
The Prompt: On the page from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #8 shown above, five ponies have five memories involving Rarity. Choose one and show us the story of that memory.

Prompt #384-First Class

“But mom, I don’t want to!” whined the filly unicorn, as an older one dragged her along magically by her hind legs.

“Now look sweetie, just because you’ve got your cutie mark doesn’t mean you can’t do other things. Your father and I both think that you should learn how to defend yourself, and it will stop you from getting too pudgy,” the elder unicorn explained, as she renewed her magical grasp on the filly, “And besides,” she continued, “some of your classmates will be there as well. Don’t you want to see them?”

“I don’t want them to see me, though. I’ll be all icky and gross!”

“Oh look, we’re here,” chirped the elder unicorn, as the two arrived at a large building on the outskirts of town. The outside was well kept, and a small rock garden was laid out next to the entrance, and the sign above the door proudly proclaimed the owner and their rank. Upon entering, they saw ponies of all shapes, sizes and types engaged in various practice routines. Some were limbering up, swinging their legs and stretching, others were running through routines, and towards the back of the hall, a group of fillies and colts seemed to be engaged in a game of tag. As the two unicorns watched all this, one of the unicorns in the class spotted them, and made her way over to them.

“Hello, dears. Are you here to sign up?” greeted the unicorn, “my name is Rarity, by the way.”

“No,” muttered the filly.

“Yes, we are. Well, my daughter, at least,” said her mother, giving the filly a short glare.

“I remember being like you, once,” laughed Rarity, bending down to the filly’s level, “I didn’t want to do this either. But it has saved my life on more than one occasion. How about this, then: if you do this class, just try it out, I’ll tell you all about the time I fought a horde of changelings.”

“Really? You fought changelings?” inquired the filly, “Well, I guess trying this out wouldn’t be so bad,” she continued. Rarity straightened up from where she’d been talking, and gave the mother a subtle wink as she did so, before leading the filly off to meet the owner of the gym.

~~~

“Mom, Rarity is so cool! She’s fought changelings and everything!” exclaimed the filly, as the two left the gym a couple of hours later.

“So you’ve said, dear. I take it you want to go back next week, then?” asked her mother.

“Yep! And the class was pretty fun, too.”

“I thought that you might like it.”

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #384-‘Throw Down’
The Prompt-Learning to Fight

Prompt #384-Trading Fours

It was well known by everypony that the magic of Equestria often manifested as music. Everypony, no matter how bad a singer or musician, had music in their hearts, and making a town break into song could often be almost disturbingly easy for the right pony. For this reason, musicians held a special acclaim in Equestrian society, sometimes regarded as the accompanists of the pony’s lives. But for the majority of ponies, this innate manifestation of magical music was simply a pleasant distraction every now and again. For a few conspiracy theorists, it was a sign of Celestia’s tyranny, but nopony really listened to them.

But for a very select few, the music wasn’t just music. For those with the aptitude, the focus and the passion, the music was a way to defend their home from whatever might come their way.

****

The pegasus was soaring over the streets of the city when a bolt of blue magic slammed into his side, as he fell, he tucked one wing in, extended the other all the way out for a brief moment, using the motion to stabilise his fall, and he hit the pavement hooves first. On his way down, he had caught a glance at his attacker, a yellow earth pony mare with a blue mane, and holding a fiddle. The pegasus’ eyes cut to the nearby rooftop as a jaunty tune began to ring out over the nearby streets, and then more bolts of the self-same blue magic began arcing out over the buildings, exploding on contact with the ground, and the pegasus took off, running down the streets, as the magic continued to pepper the ground around him.

On the rooftops, the mare with the fiddle gave a sombre smile, and began to move after the pegasus, leaping over rooftops, and unfortunately having to stop her playing momentarily as she leapt over gaps between the houses, but it was always resumed shortly after landing, and each stroke of her bow across the strings of her fiddle sent another bolt of magic screaming along the neck of her fiddle, and out the head, aiming for her winged target.

The game of cat-and-mouse continued for some time, when finally the earth mare dropped to the street in front of the pegasus, and let loose a furious flurry of bolts as the pegasus slid to a stop, rearing up onto his rear hooves, and reached for something on his back. The magical bolts impacted, momentarily shrouding the pegasus in dust and smoke from the impact of the magic. As the smoke cleared, she saw that the he had pulled his own instrument out-a full-sized, magically amplified bass guitar, and it was this which he had used to deflect the magic at the last moment. Both combatants stared at each other for a few moments, each waiting for the other to make the first move, the pegasus still holding his bass by the neck, like a bizarre parody of a sword, and the mare’s bow poised over her fiddle. Eventually, it was the pegasus, unable to take the tension anymore, who moved first.

He rushed forward, letting the bass slide down his hooves, and switching it to a more traditional hold, more suited for playing, and his front left hoof wrapped around the neck, tapping several notes out even as he rushed towards the earth pony mare. Sparks of green magic flared around him with each note, amplifying his speed. The mare, for her part, the moment she saw the pegasus move, put bow to string and began playing, not the jaunty tune from before, but a slow, stately funeral dirge.

~~~time~~~

And rather than the quick bolts from before emerging from her fiddle, this produced long blasts of blue magic tearing themselves out from the bridge of the instrument. Utilising his wings, the pegasus flipped up and over the beams of magic, and for a single moment in time, he was suspended directly over the mare, his hooves already in motion on a tune of his own, a heavy bass riff. Green witchfire gathered around the magical pickups on his bass, and as he landed, it blasted out, smacking the earth pony in the back.

“Finis!” he cried, as the earth pony got back up onto all four hooves.

“By Celestia, you’re good,” said the earth mare, bumping the pegasus’ hoof.

“Only because I was in the exact same position as you more times than I can count. You’ll get the hang of fighting like this soon enough,” replied the pegasus, “It just takes practice, learning to channel your internal magic in this way. Still, you’re pretty good for a new practitioner at this.”

*****

The ponies who use the magic and music of Equestria as a tool to defend her borders all gather together in an organisation, where they can trade notes and practice tips, and help each other hone their skills.
They call this organization the League of Associated Combat Musicians.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #384--‘Throw Down’
The Prompt-Learning to Fight

Prompt #386-Deciding Match

Pinkie Pie stared at the other pony. The other pony stared back at Pinkie Pie. Simultaneously, they tilted their heads to the side, eyes staying locked, not blinking. Blinking meant losing, and Pinkie didn’t want to lose. She didn’t want to go back in there if she could help it. In there were things that were best not spoken of.

Most ponies that experienced Pinkie Pie only ever saw the smiling, laughing party pony. But like an onion, there were layers to the pink pony. They also could make you cry if you dealt with them wrong, and Pinkie could do the same. So far, only Rainbow Dash had even gotten a glimpse of what lay beneath the outer shell of Pinkie. Ponies liked to say that she was random, but perhaps something closer to the truth was that sometimes, Pinkie’s mouth worked too fast for her brain to catch up. Having a split personality didn’t particularly help, either. And it was because of this condition of hers that Pinkie tried to remain as happy as possible, because she didn’t want her to come out again.

Pinkamena glared at the other pony. The other pony glared back. The two ponies lent foward at the same time, noses nearly touching. Neither one’s eyes even so much as fluttered. Pinkamena desperately tried not to blink, because if she blinked, that would mean she’d spend even more time locked inside that overly saccharine-sweet shell which she despised so much.

Very few ponies ever saw Pinkamena, and for that, she was grateful. Pinkamena was a loner by nature, a pony who liked solitude. She couldn’t stand being around large groups, small groups, or even just one other pony. Yet, she was constantly forced to endure being inside this silly pony, to put up with her permanently perky personality. She had to be content to just take the few chances to come out when she could. Being constantly surrounded by the usually happy pony’s thoughts was enough to drive anyone mad, and so Pinkamena had retaliated by doing her best to drive the party pony mad. Both ponies had succeeded.

“Doctor, are you sure she’s alright? She’s just been staring at the wall for the last ten minutes.”

“Pinkie Pie possesses a rather...unique condition, Princess Sparkle. She has the most developed case of Magical Split Personality Syndrome that I have ever seen. When she’s lucid, she describes her other personality as a ‘grumpy-meany pants pony, who doesn’t like parties.’ And from the few times I’ve met Pinkamena, as she calls herself, I would have to say I agree.”

“But why is she just sitting there? This is the most still I’ve ever seen her since I met her.”

“As she describes it to me, Pinkie Pie and Pinkamena decide who runs the body for the day by a staring contest. Ninety nine percent of the time, Pinkie wins. But when Pinkamena wins, like on the day you brought her here...Well, you saw what happened.”

*****Time*****

Pinkie Pie and Pinkamena stared at each other from opposite sides of the mirror, each following the other’s movements perfectly. Neither one smiled, because Pinkamena never smiled unless somepony else was miserable, and Pinkie because if she smiled, she might blink, and then Pinkamena would get out again.

“Stupid pony,” hissed Pinkamena, “give up already.”

“No way, you grump. You aren’t getting out again.”

Then they blinked, and then she was in control.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #386-'It's Not All Fun and Games'
The Prompt: Pinkie Pie isn't laughing.

Apparently, I like driving ponies insane.

Prompt #390-Wild Weather

The thing about living next to the Everfree Forest was that the weather couldn’t entirely be predicted. The Everfree produced its own weather, and occasionally it rolled out of the forest and into Ponyville. Normally, this took the form of light rainstorms, or just out of season weather. Once this happened, it was up to Rainbow Dash and the rest of the weather patrol to manage this unruly weather. But every so often, the Everfree would spit out something more dangerous.

The day had started out like most days in autumn in Ponyville did- with mostly clear skies, a slight chill in the air and Rainbow Dash sleeping in. In Ponyville proper, Rarity had begun work on a commission for a high profile Canterlot client, Twilight Sparkle fell out of bed after rolling over her wings, and Pinkie Pie exploded out of her room, singing. But out at Fluttershy’s cottage, as the pegasus was helping several of her squirrel friends gather up nuts and acorns for the oncoming winter, she happened to look up and out over the forest skyline. Dark clouds were gathering over the forest, but as they were still separate, she didn’t think to warn anypony.

By lunchtime, the clouds over the Everfree had congealed into a single massive thunderhead, dark and menacing. As if they were sentient, they began their slow crawl towards the little hamlet nestled just outside the forest’s borders. The weather patrol sprung into action here, racing toward the cloudmass, attempting in vain to stop the oncoming storm. The birds and animals in and around Ponyville fell silent, scurrying and winging their way to their homes, taking shelter in preparation for what was to come.

From this initial encounter with the storm by the weather patrol, which left Thunderlane with one singed wing from a light lightning strike, Rainbow acted as quickly as she could. Knowing that this was no ordinary, manufactured storm, and far greater in strength than any storm from Cloudsdale could ever be, she flew into the mayor’s office and ordered that the town be evacuated. Realising that they were in actual danger, the mayor approved, and Rainbow Dash and the other members of the weather patrol began to race around Ponyville, warning ponies and telling them to evacuate the town.

****Time****

By five o’clock that night, the storm had well and truly unleashed itself upon the now empty Ponyville. Fortunately, most of the houses in Ponyville had lightning rods, and so were spared the potential worst of the damage. But when the ponies who lived in the hamlet began to return the next day, it was to a flooded and waterlogged town. Princess Celestia dispatched a unit or two of her Royal Guard to help get the town back into order and remove the massive amount of water now flowing through the town. It took a few days before the water level had dropped enough that ponies could walk through the town again, and nearly a week before life began to approach normal again. The Princesses commended Rainbow Dash and her entire weather team for their quick thinking, as without it, the potential damage may have been much greater.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #390-‘Look On In Awe’
The Prompt: A natural disaster strikes Ponyville, and there’s nothing anypony can do to stop it.

Prompt #391-Remembering War

“Princess Celestia!” said a member of the Royal Guard, as he ran into the throne room at Canterlot Castle, “The negotiations have broken down. The minotaurs have declared war.”

The Sun Princess was silent for a while as she processed this information, finishing her signature on another official document.

“And what of my Sister, my little pony?” asked Celestia, “What happened to Luna?”

“Our apologies, Princess,” said the guardspony, bowing, “but we were unable to prevent her from being captured. She fought well, taking down several of the Bullhead’s Honour Guard before finally succumbing.”

Once more, silence reigned in the throne room of Canterlot Castle. When Princess Celestia spoke, it was with all the authority and experience of her millennia long rule.

“Sound the alerts, my little pony. Send out the messages, and beat the drums. Equestria did not want to, but to preserve our way of life, Equestria will go to war if we have to.”

“Yes, Princess,” replied the guard, bowing once more, and running from the throne room.

Over the next few weeks, the entire of Equestria began to shift from a peaceful gatherer nation to preparing for war. Blacksmiths all across the country were suddenly receiving more orders for armor and arms than they were farming equipment or kitchen knives. Weather ponies found themselves receiving instruction on the use of lightning as an offensive weapon, and the entire city of Cloudsdale turned from weather factory to war forge. Recruiting centers were set up in every major city, and began accepting anypony over age who wanted to help. Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns began teaching the older students both destructive and healing spells.

Even the Princesses themselves were not immune to the shift, as Twilight’s weekly magic sessions with Princess Celestia now included a healthy repertoire of war spells for her to learn. Up in the Crystal Empire, Prince-by-Marriage Shining Armor began ruthlessly drilling what he could into the Crystal Ponies, in an attempt to provide more troops to take the hit of a minotaur charge, while Princess Cadence underwent a tough magic-strengthening routine, trying to boost her magic levels for any possible advantage.

****Time****

The day had finally come. The day when the world would see if the Equestrians still had the mastery of war that they once did, the mastery that had allowed them to drive out the griffons aeons ago. The ponies all lined up, armored and armed, as ready as they ever could be. Three alicorns strode among the ranks of ponies, who had not two months ago been farmers, shopkeepers and weather ponies but were now soldiers and healers, all committed to defending their home to the last.

A horn sounded through the mists that had settled on the plains where the ponies waited.

“Ranks, spears!” bellowed the captains, and the first two ranks of earth ponies leveled spears, locking them in place.

“Archers, ready!” behind the spearponies, unicorns notched arrow to bow, and signaled their readiness.

“May the princesses watch over us,” muttered several of the captains, as the foreign horns sounded again, and the earth began to shake under the pound of foreign hooves.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #391-‘Horns and Hooves and Tails, Oh My!’
The Prompt: The minotaurs are coming. (Or the minotaurs are here; I’ll accept either one.)

Prompt #392-Magic Duel,Take Two

What’s this? You’re back? A story about Twilight, dear? Hmmm...no, that won’t do. Perhaps this one, then? Ah, I promised her I’d never breathe a word about that particular one to anypony. Idea! Yes, I’m sure Twilight wouldn’t mind me telling you this one, dear. You heard about the Alicorn Amulet debacle, like everypony else did, correct? Good. Now, our little story takes place a few months after that terrible incident, shortly after we reformed Discord...

Twilight, the dear that she is, is nearly impossible to rouse before nine in the morning. Only Pinkie Pie can manage it with anything approaching regularity. However, on this morning, she was yanked out of her bed, and dumped rather unceremoniously on the ground. The pony doing this unseemly act was none other than the not so Great and Powerful Trixie. I’m sorry, I really shouldn’t be so critical of that mare. After all, I completely understand that it’s all an act, intended to inspire her audiences, but she carries on the act even off the stage, and that grates my nerves. Oh, I seem to have gotten off track, dear. Where were we?

Ah, yes. After waiting for Twilight to come to her senses after being awakened so rudely, Trixie then spoke to Twilight in her most regal voice, declaring that since both of them were powerful and talented unicorns, they should have a magic challenge upon a single topic. Apparently, the topic they picked was ‘Fire’, as both of them had, in the past, demonstrated some form of control over it. Twilight had gone first, and had charged her magic so potently as to change her mane and tail into pure flame. In hindsight, she admitted that performing a spell like that while inside a library was not the best idea. Oh, nothing happened, but I don’t think she ever forgave herself for what could have happened, dear. Trixie’s response to Twilight’s spell was much less impressive, as she simply created a small orb of flame hanging in mid-air, shaped like a pony, and made it dance around Twilight’s head a few times, before dissipating it.

After their little challenge was over, and Twilight declared the victor, and they agreed that if Trixie came back, they shouldn’t do the next one inside the library, they went to one of the cafes nearby. I must admit, without her cloak and hat, Trixie does have quite the stunning figure. It would be such a wonder to design a dress for her that matched her colours. This is just...professional curiosity, nothing more. Get those thoughts out of your head right this instant, dear. But back to the story.

Now, I happened to be walking with Fluttershy to the spa as this next part happened, so I know it happened. The two of us watched as Twilight and Trixie ate lunch together, occasionally conversing about some ridiculous minutiae of magic or some other thing. Apparently, Trixie once attended Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, and I think Twilight was happy to have something approaching an intellectual equal, even if was Trixie. Then, the next thing we knew, Trixie had thrown her salad into Twilight’s face, and stormed off in a huff. I mention this, dear, because as she left the cafe, she smiled. Not cruelly, like she had while under the influence of the amulet, but like you do when you see something that you are fond of. But it only lasted a moment, and then it was back to normal Trixie.

Fluttershy and I went over to Twilight, who was also smiling. A bit odd, considering she still had salad plastered over her face and her companion had just stormed off in apparent anger. We helped clean her up, regardless, and then asked if Trixie had done anything to harm her.

****Time****

Twilight replied with that yes, she was fine, and that no, she didn’t know what had set Trixie off. After I sent Fluttershy on ahead to make sure our spa reservations were still fine, I asked what had really happened. Twilight had simply repeated her earlier statement, but added that she thought that Trixie would be back in a few months.

And that, my dear, is how Twilight and Trixie started their little ‘duels’ every few months. It’s always a bit erratic, as Trixie doesn’t like to keep to a set schedule, something which annoys Twilight to no end, but it’s more or less become a routine for the two of them. If you ask Twilight about it, she’ll tell you they share a semi-friendly rivalry, but it’s probably the closest that Trixie has been to having friends in a while, and I applaud Twilight for giving her a chance. Celestia knows I wouldn’t.

Oh, my, look at the time! I really did get into that, didn’t I? I must run, dear. I promised I’d see Sweetie Belle’s school play this afternoon, and I do hate to let her down. You’re still at TMP, yes? Excellent. I’ll be watching for your article.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #392-“Telling Tales”
The Prompt: One of the main six tells or writes a story about another of the main six.
Special rule: Your story must be written as though it were the story being written/told.

Prompt #394-Corruption

She couldn’t see the thing that taunted her so. And yet, she knew it was there, haunting her sleep, nibbling at her consciousness during her waking hours. Though she might laugh it off, and say she was fine, she had yet to have a single good night’s rest ever since coming back. More often than not, she awoke in the middle of the night, sweating ice and breathing hard. She simply couldn’t shake the feeling that ever since she came back, something had shifted inside her.

It was twelve months later, when she was finally beginning to get a full night’s rest once more that the dreams started. The actual events of each dream varied, but they always ended the same way. A mocking laugh echoing around her skull, and the vision of a smile, filled with teeth far too sharp to be a pony’s. She never told anypony about these dreams. But the worst part was that somehow, she knew the mouth with the teeth and the laugh were hers, and that terrified her.

When the stars and planets align
And moon covers sun while on high
The walls of the prison will vanish.
To save the world from hell,
Search for the Death’s Knoll
And the tome of Ancient Binding.
Take book and Knoll,
And stand upon the top of the world,
Recite the spell of Deep Imprisonment
And all will be well.

She watched in equal parts horror and fascination as the moon slid over the sun with agonizing slowness, and somehow knew that somewhere, the Gates were opening. Behind her, Twilight Sparkle was rushing about, trying to find the right spell in the ancient book, her words an inaudible mutter to her ears. The instant the moon fully covered the sun, a ringing began to echo in her ears, quickly growing to painful levels, and then, something inside her changed. Then she changed on the outside.

She took off once her hearing returned, revelling in the power of her new visage, and couldn’t help but laugh. This was fantastic! So much power, so much speed. So much better than her old, weak form. She angled her body downwards, speeding up tremendously, and the cone formed around her far quicker than she had ever managed it before. She broke through the barrier, and the sky lit on fire in six different colours.

As the new and improved pegasus soared through the sky, trailing fire, destruction and a mocking laugh in her wake, as she had once trailed rainbows, she remembered the purple pony on the mountain. She couldn’t let the purple pony complete the spell that would at best, seal away her new power, or at worst, drag her down into the Eternal Prison. She changed direction in a heartbeat, and was back at the mountain in a second.

As the former pegasus and the purple princess fought, the pegasus remembered that had it not been for an innocent and well-intentioned desire to rescue her ‘friends’ once upon a time, this might have never come to pass, and she never would have had this power. For she was Rainbow Dash, and she was Loyal to herself, and nothing would ever change that.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #394-‘A Pure Heart’
The Prompt: All things truly wicked start from an innocence

Prompt #397-The Listener

Fluttershy stood in the field, watching from below as Rainbow Dash practiced her ever-expanding trick repertoire. She knew why they other pegasus wanted to have somepony watching her, and it wasn’t just to fulfill her big ego. Rainbow could sometimes crash when attempting something new, and she occasionally needed somepony to drag her either back home, or to the hospital, in the rare case that she landed on a wing. Not that she had ever actually admitted that to anypony. Rainbow liked to have Fluttershy there because Fluttershy was still a pegasus, despite her preference for the ground. She still understood some of the forces and stresses that could be put on a pony’s body during acrobatic flight, and Rainbow asked for her advice from time to time. And Fluttershy was always happy to help, and be there for her oldest friend whenever she needed her. She ‘ooh’ed and ‘aah’ed and ‘woo-hoo’ed in all the right places, even if her volume was a bit lacking. But Rainbow knew that come rain or shine, she could always count on Fluttershy to help her with her practice.

Fluttershy lay down on the couch in the Ponyville Spa, as Aloe dabbed a touch of facial cream on her cheeks, while Lotus smeared it over Rarity’s, and flicked two slices of cucumber over the unicorn’s eyes.

“And then, dear, he calls my designs ‘Common trash’! The nerve of that pony, honestly,” said Rarity, as the two settled in for their weekly catch-up.

“Oh no. So what happened after that, Rarity?” asked Fluttershy.

“Well, as it was at one of Fancy Pants’ soirees, I quietly, and to the right ponies, let slip that he may not have been entirely honest about his qualifications. Well, you should have seen his face the next day...”

As Rarity rambled on about the ongoings of the Canterlot social scene, Fluttershy just listened, and nodded in the right places. She updated Rarity with a few tidbits of information that had happened while Rarity had been away. Fluttershy knew that these weekly spa dates were largely for Rarity’s sake, to give her a chance to vent, both about her business and her adventures in climbing the social ladder, and Fluttershy was happy to listen to the unicorn.

Fluttershy sat at the cafe’s table, as Twilight Sparkle sat across from her, guesturing her forehooves widely as she explained some obscure magic spell that Princess Celestia had sent her that week. Even if most of the terminology that her friend was using was plain and simple gibberish to the pegasus, she still sat, listened and sipped her cooling tea.

“And so, if I increase the thaumic output flux to 1.8 gigathaums, I should, in theory...Huh. Fluttershy?”

“Yes, Twilight?”

“I just realized. In all the time I’ve known you, I’ve never heard about any dreams that you have.”

“D-dreams?”

“Yes!” said Twilight, getting enthusiastic, “You know, ambitions, goals, those kinds of dreams. I have not once ever heard you say anything about yours, and yet we meet week after week and you listen to me ramble on about magic research for the better part of an hour. So, come on, do you have any goals that you want to achieve?”

“Well, um, not really, Twilight,” whimpered Fluttershy, beginning to pull her face back behind her long mane, “Really, I’m just happy to listen to you.”

“Not one dream? At all?”

Fluttershy shook her head in a negative. “I’m just an animal caretaker. But I know that you and our other friends all have big dreams, and if I can help you girls even by just listening to you for a while every week, then I’m happy to do it.”

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #397-‘Number One Assistant’
The Prompt: I don’t need my own dreams if I can help you achieve yours.
Fluttershy is hard to write.

Prompt #398-The Most Precious Gift of All

Ponyville, for all the insanity that happened there, was actually a rather safe town, and as such Nurse Redheart was sitting at the front desk of the Ponyville General Hospital, completely and utterly bored. Through the open door, she could see fillies playing, ponies laughing and,

“Get out of my way!” screamed Rarity, as she barrelled into the hospital lobby, her sister Sweetie Belle held within her magical grasp, bleeding profusely, “I need a doctor, right now!”

“Hang on, I’ll get him. Go down the hall, and first room on your left is free. Put your sister there.” Nurse Redheart galloped off down the halls, heading for the doctor’s office. In a few minutes, the two were back with Rarity and Sweetie Belle, where the younger unicorn was lying on a bed, her blood flowing oddly freely from a deep wound in her side, staining the sheets beneath her.

“Rarity, it hurts,” whispered Sweetie Belle.

“I know, Sweetie. We’re going to make it better, I promise.”

“What happened, Miss?” asked the doctor.

“My sister was injured badly while playing with her friends. This alone wasn’t the cause for my rush though, Doctor.”

“And what was?” asked the stallion.

“My sister has a rather acute form of hemophilia. All of our family has it, in various forms. I just happened to get a mild version.”

“Right. We need blood donors, right now, then. Nurse Redheart, try and stop the bleeding,” said the doctor, “As her sister, Miss Rarity, I should ask...”

“Yes. I’m compatible. I’ve had to donate blood to her before.”

“Excellent. We’ll get started right away,” said the doctor, who then poked his head out the door, and called for another nurse to bring the blood collection kit. Behind Rarity, Nurse Redheart worked to slow, or stop the bleeding coming from Sweetie Belle. In a few minutes, another nurse arrived with the equipment required to extract Rarity’s blood, and soon the elder of the sisters was sitting with a tube coming out of her foreleg, leading to a steadily filling blood bag. A few short meters away, behind a curtain, the doctor and several nurses worked to seal Sweetie Belle’s wound.

Once the bag was full, a nurse detached it, and was about to pull the tube from Rarity when the unicorn interrupted.

“Put on another bag,” said Rarity.

“You’ve given as much as we’re allowed to take,” explained the nurse, “Regulations state that...”

“My sister is going to need as much blood as she can if she wants to live through this, nurse. I can recover from a few lost bags of blood. My sister will not. Put on another bag,” said Rarity, interrupting the nurse once more.

The nurse sighed, and attached a new empty bag to the end of the tube. Rarity gave a small wince as she felt the blood begin to drain from her once again, but it was easily ignored. And once that bag was full, the nurse again detached it.

“Another, nurse,” said Rarity, before the nurse could extract the tube. The nurse wordlessly attached the new bag, and Rarity could not disguise her grimace of pain this time.

****Time****

Eventually, another donor was found in Ponyville, and Rarity collapsed on a hospital bed, having donated half her blood to save her sister.

“How is she?” were Rarity’s first words upon waking up much later in the hospital, “How is Sweetie Belle?”

“It was touch and go for a while, Miss Rarity,” said the doctor, as he polished his glasses, “Your sister lost a great deal of blood. Your donations, and your haste in getting her here saved her life. It will be some time before she fully recovers, but she’s out of danger. Her wound is sealed, and she’s sleeping now. You just recover for now, Miss.” With those words, Rarity smiled, and collapsed back on the bed.

“Thank you, doctor. I think I will.”

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #398-‘Generosity’
The Prompt: Give ‘til it hurts.

Prompt #399-Choosing Loyalties(Contains mild gore. You have been warned.)

(Gore Warning) (A continuation of #394-Corruption)

Twilight stared at the thing that had once been Rainbow Dash as it lunged towards her, mouth open and full of razor sharp teeth. Twilight dodged backwards just in time, narrowly avoiding the snap of Rainbow’s jaw, aimed for her neck.

“Rainbow, what in Equestria are you doing?” cried the princess, “You promised you’d help me!”

“Sorry, Twilight. But this speed, this body...it’s so much better than my old one. I can’t let you take that away from me. I can’t let you send me to the Eternal Prison,” said Rainbow, stalking forwards, and Twilight retreated and looked at Rainbow’s new body. Rainbow left small pillars of multi coloured fire where she stepped, and where her tail dragged on the ground. Her wings had changed from the normal pegasus ones into bigger, more powerful dragon wings, and Twilight could see the light of madness in her eyes. Rainbow shot forwards while Twilight was taking stock of her new form, her jaw unhinging unnaturally.

Twilight wasn’t fast enough this time. Teeth met flesh. Flesh ripped and tore, and blood dribbled down Rainbow’s chin. The former pegasus gave a savage grin, and spat several feathers out, before swallowing what meat she’d ripped from Twilight’s wing.

“You know, I kinda like the taste of pony princess,” mused Rainbow, “It’s got an awesome,”

Twilight interrupted Rainbow by blasting her with the strongest magic she could muster. The beam threw Rainbow off the mountain top, but less than a second later, a Sonic Rainboom rocked the sky, and the very air caught fire in Rainbow Dash’s wake. The supersonic corrupted pegasus slammed into Twilight Sparkle, who only just managed to reinforce her body with magic before the impact, or the result didn’t bear thinking about. Twilight felt Rainbow’s teeth dig into her again, on the same wing as before. As the two separated, Rainbow’s head jerked back, taking another chunk.

“I know you’re still in there, Rainbow Dash,” said Twilight, “Rainbow Dash wouldn’t betray her friends like this. She’s the loyalest pony in Equestria.”

“Are you done, princess?” asked Rainbow, swallowing the peice of Twilight’s wing she’d been chewing on, “I’m still me. I just had a realization. The only pony I need to be loyal to, the only one deserving of it, is myself.”

“I don’t want to Fight you, Rainbow. I don’t want to destroy our friendship,” said Twilight, her horn lighting up in preparation for the spell to restore the world to normal again.

“Then don’t cast that spell in that book.”

“What?”

“If you promise to not cast that spell, I won’t hurt you. We can be friends still.”

“I...I can’t. Tartarus needs to be resealed, Rainbow.”

****Time****

“Then I guess we know where you stand, princess,” said Rainbow, and she darted fowards once more. Twilight cast the spell.

It was testament to the ferocity of Rainbow Dash’s final charge that she resisted the spell pulling her down into Tartarus long enough to wrap one hoof around Twilight’s neck, and sink her teeth into the same wing that she had bitten twice before, and ripped a large chunk from it. Then the spell grabbed Rainbow with its full force, and dragged Twilight’s former friend off to the Eternal Prison, the only evidence that she’d been there was a bloody and mangled wing, and the Element of Loyalty sparkling on the ground.

“I’m so sorry, Rainbow,” muttered Twilight, “I’m so, so sorry.”
And with that, she collapsed.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #399-"Loyal To The End"
The Prompt: I’ll be loyal even as you destroy me

Prompt #400-It Keeps Happening

Vinyl Scratch sat in the bar, steadily working her way through her second hard cider for the night. Her drinking buddy for tonight was Pinkie Pie, and the mare was already on her sixth. The two had met up to discuss arrangements for the Royal Wedding reception later that week, and after their business had concluded, had agreed to go out for a drink together.

“I think you and that grey pony you live with would make a great couple, Scratchy!” slurred Pinkie, “You’re so fun, and energetic, and, like, the complete opposite of her. Plus, you both like music, right? You two should kiss.”

For a response, Vinyl just rolled her eyes, and took another swig of her cider.

“No, serioushly, you two would be great for each other!” said Pinkie, finishing off her eighth stein quicker than Vinyl could blink. “I’m not as think as you drunk I am. Hey, why can I see ducks?” and with that, Pinkie pitched forwards, and was asleep before her head hit the table. Vinyl sighed, took a few seconds to finish her own stein off, then deposited a small bag of bits on the table, enough to pay for their drinks, plus a tip. She then hauled the pink pony out of her seat, and began the process of taking the pony back to the castle, as the DJ remembered her saying she was staying there.

****

Octavia sipped her glass of wine as she sat in the lounge, steadily conversing with Rarity. The two had met at one of Fancy Pant’s soirees a few months back, and upon hearing that Rarity was designing the dresses for the Royal Wedding, Octavia had decided to see if they could catch up, and maybe get a performance there. Unfortunately, Rarity had revealed that she was not in anyway able to influence who was picked to play at the reception, but had at least promised to bring her name up.

Rarity, while not from Canterlot, was like a breath of fresh air when compared with the other unicorns around the city and Octavia always enjoyed anytime they managed to catch up. She was refreshingly pleasant, and always said what she meant. Octavia didn’t normally wear clothes for her performances, but she may just have to make the trip out to Ponyville to at least look at Rarity’s boutique, just for being pleasant company. It was the polite thing to do, after all.

“My dear, you and this ‘Vinyl Scratch’ sound just perfect for each other,” said Rarity, as she swirled her wine around, “Why, it’s a pattern I see all the time. Shy, reclusive but talented artist, meets loud, outgoing performer...It’s practically a done thing!”

Octavia gave a long suffering sigh, and was about to carefully interject with a rebuttal, but then Rarity glanced up at the clock.

“Oh my. We seem to have gotten a bit carried away, dear Octavia. I still have a great deal of work to do, but this was a welcome distraction.”

Octavia placed her glass down on the table, and nodded her agreement. The two shook hooves, and parted ways, Rarity heading back to the castle, and Octavia back to her apartment.

****

Vinyl entered the apartment she shared with Octavia, having hauled her drinking buddy, and now employer, she guessed, back to the castle. Octavia was already home, and getting ready for bed, which sounded like a fantastic idea to Vinyl right now.

****Time****

As Vinyl made her way towards her room, and her very comfortable bed, Octavia coughed to get her attention. As Vinyl looked over at the cellist, Octavia gestured with her hoof at a blackboard hung on the wall. The board was divided into halves, one side reading ‘Vinyl’, and the other ‘Octavia’. Vinyl rolled her eyes, and nodded once. She watched as Octavia put down another mark under the Vinyl column, and then add one to the Octavia side. Vinyl gave a chuckle, then moved into her bedroom, falling onto her bed, and was asleep within minutes.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #400-‘The Truth Hurts’
The Prompt: Not All truths need to be spoken.

Prompt #403-Liebe Ist Für Alle Da

Rarity sat on the very comfortable couch in the wine lounge, one of her favourite spots in Canterlot. As much as she loathed the social game that the majority of ponies played here, she had a few friends that she adored almost as much as her Ponyville ones, and it was to see them that she travelled all the way up here every other weekend. Fancy Pants and Fleur sat opposite the designer, laughing at a particularly funny anecdote that Rarity had just related.

“My my, Rarity! And you say that she had no idea until she finished?”

“Oh, yes. It was rather hilarious. As much as I love her as a friend, she can be a bit...obtuse, the dear,” said Rarity, taking another sip of the wine, and smiling pleasantly as it slithered down her throat and gently warmed her.

“But, Fancy Pants, I do actually have a question to ask, if I may?”

“By all means, my dear.”

“Why did you introduce me as your friend, all that time ago, at the first Wonderbolt Derby I attended?” Rarity placed her glass down onto the table between them, a sign of how serious she was.

“Were we not friends, Rarity?” asked Fancy Pants in return, putting his own glass down.

“I ran into you in the street, dear. I knocked you down. And yet, you invite me to one of the major social events of Canterlot, introduce me as your friend and knowingly expedite my rise in the Canterlot social scene.”

Fancy Pants nodded with every point that Rarity made, and once she was done speaking, he turned to face the mare fully.

“I believe that everypony is deserving of my time, but few are deserving of my friendship, Rarity. You are one of the few,” said Fancy, giving a sigh and then continuing on, “But so many ponies in this city are obsessed with their ‘social status’ and being popular for no other reason than being popular. When I introduced you as my friend, Rarity, it was because I believed that we were. There is something about you, something that other mares here don’t have. Despite the fact that it was your mention of staying in the castle that attracted my attention, I very much meant it when I told you that I thought you were somepony worth bumping into.”

Rarity looked ready to interrupt Fancy Pants at this point, but the stallion held up a hoof to forestall any counter-arguments for the time being.

“I have been trying for years to get the ponies here to begin to accept actual friendship, like you and your charming friends have, into their hearts. I know that some here do not deserve it,” Fancy Pants gave a cough that sounded oddly like ‘Prince Blueblood’ at this point, then continued on, “But despite this, I have not yet given up. I offered you my friendship that day, Rarity, and you accepted it. Unconditionally, unquestioningly. You expected nothing in return for simple friendship. And I’d say our relationship has worked out for the better, wouldn’t you?”

Rarity was silent for a moment, then nodded her agreement and understanding and picked up her wine glass again.

“Now, Fancy Pants, I do believe I have something interesting for you. You recall my friend, Rainbow Dash? Well, she told me the other day...”

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #403-“Too Much Love Will Kill You”
The Prompt: Not everypony deserves friendship, but I’d die before I give up.
Alternate Prompt: I’ll try to be your friend even if you won’t try to be mine.

Yes, the title is a Rammstein song. It means 'Love is for Everyone'

Prompt #404-Cocooned

It was in the dark hours of the morning, well before the dawn that Pinkie Pie woke up. Easing herself out of bed as quietly as she could, she gave Gummy a cuddle, and wrote a short note, which she then carried downstairs with her into the bakery’s kitchen, still moving as quietly as she could. She didn’t want to wake up any of the Cakes, baby or full grown. The bakery was oddly silent at this time in the morning, and Pinkie knew that in only a few hours, the Cakes would be getting up for the day.

Once in the bakery’s kitchen, she then opened a trap door in the floor of the pantry, and emerged after a few minutes, with a large round wooden base, complete with four hoof-sized depressions, and six full bags of chocolate. A quick rummage in the cupboards, and Pinkie had the two largest pans she could find. She half-filled one with water, and set it over the stove, which was promptly lit, and for the moment, kept on a low heat. The other was filled to the brim with as much chocolate as she could. This pan, she set over the steaming water. She then left that, and turned the oven onto a low heat, and picked out several large metal bowls, knowing that for what she had planned, one pot of chocolate would not be enough. She licked her lips, almost unconsciously, but then she slapped herself with a hoof.

“No, Pinkie. You can’t eat this chocolate yet,” she whispered to herself, and then returned to her task. By now, the chocolate in the pan was almost completely melted, and the pink pony took a spoon in her mouth, stirring the thick, velvety and absolutely delicious-looking melted chocolate. Pinkie slapped herself again. Once she was sure that all of it was completely melted, she grabbed one of the large metal bowls, and carefully poured the chocolate into it. Leaving the pot for a while, she then placed the bowl into the oven, where it would keep the chocolate warm and liquid. Pinkie then refilled the pot with solid chocolate, and repeated the process, until all the chocolate she had pulled up from the storage room had been melted.

Pulling all the bowls full of liquid heaven out of the oven, and placing them on the stovetop, where they could still be kept warm by the burners, she pushed the wooden base over to near the stove, made sure that the note that she had written before was clearly visible on the kitchen counter, and that the kitchen was as clean as she could make it. Mrs. Cake hated it when Pinkie cooked and left a mess behind. This was where it got tricky. Taking a deep breath, Pinkie placed her two rear hooves in two of the hoof-slots in the wooden stand, grabbed the freshest pot of chocolate, and began practically painting it onto her rear legs. The chocolate was warm and comforting, and it went on thick and easy. Once the pot had run out, Pinkie leaned over as much as she could without disturbing her already setting legs, grabbed the bowl furthest away from her, turned off it’s respective burner, and continued the process.

Pinkie continued to slather her body in chocolate, making sure that the covering nice and thick. She was suddenly glad that she’d picked a pose that let her balance on two legs this time, rather than four, as otherwise this would be really hard. The last bowl was the trickiest, but it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. Turning the last burner off with her mouth, as her forelegs were already setting, she gripped the edge of the bowl with her mouth, and with almost practiced ease, flicked it up and over. The chocolate spilled over her head, covering it completely and perfectly, with none going onto the floor. Her tongue flicked out, once, twice, poking two nose holes and keeping her mouth clear. The chocolate oozed into her ears, blocking her sense of hearing almost completely, and since she closed her eyes when she tipped the chocolate over her head, she was now completely cut off from the world.

Had she been able to, Pinkie would have smiled as the chocolate set over her body, hardening into an almost impenetrable shell. This was Pinkie Time, her own little hideaway from the world. She’d stay in here until she was refreshed and ready to face the world once again.

****Time****

When the Cakes came down an hour and a half later, they found the chocolate-covered pony completely set, and her note still sitting on the counter.

“Dear Mr. And Mrs. Cake (And Pound and Pumpkin too, but I don’t think you guys can read this),
Yes, I’m in the chocolate. Don’t break it, please! I needed some time to myself. I promise, Pinkie Promise, that I’ll pay you for what I used! Don’t be mad, please? Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.

Buut, if you guys could do me a favour, and move me out to the shop floor so ponies can look at me? They might get a laugh or two out of it. Oh, and a big ‘Do Not Touch’ sign on the base, too. That would be superrific! And try to keep me cool, as well. There’s a great spot near the south end. Maybe you could get Twilight to cast a cooling spell or something.

Pinkie Pie.”

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #404-“Cutting Loose”
The prompt: Pinkie Pie enjoys some peace and quiet.

Prompt #407-Suspicions

Twilight Sparkle liked lists. Everypony who spent five minutes around the mare could tell you that. She had lists for everything, including her morning routine. But there were a few lists that she had that nopony would ever see. One of these was a small list that she had started shortly after coming to Ponyville. It only ever came out of her locked desk drawer when she absolutely needed it.

It was list of things about Celestia. Twilight, being the Princess’s personal student since her Cutie Mark Event, had more or less grown up believing that Celestia was infallible, and that she had all the answers. After she had been in Ponyville for a few days, Twilight’s mind had thrown her a rebellious thought.

‘If Princess Celestia was so powerful, why did she need my friends and I to defeat Nightmare Moon?’ The thought, though seemingly simple, and with an equally simple answer, began to undermine the image of Celestia in Twilight’s head, and thus Twilight had began to keep the List, so as to keep track of these things.

1. Princess Celestia needed my friends and I to defeat Nightmare Moon with the Elements of Harmony.

2. Princess Celestia needed us to defeat Discord, using the Elements again.

3. Princess Celestia was defeated by Queen Chrysalis, and she ordered us to go and get the elements.

The first part of the third item was written in large lettering, and underlined several times. This one event had shaken Twilight more than any of the others on the list. Seeing Princess Celestia fall to the bug-like pony had soundly demolished the idea that the Princess was all-powerful. Twilight being Twilight, she tried to rationalize it away, but the fact remained that Princess Celestia had been defeated. It was only a few days later when Twilight began to see the pattern. If there was a threat to Equestria, Princess Celestia called upon Twilight and her friends to use the Elements of Harmony.

4. The crystal Empire.

Why did her test need to be saving an Empire from an ancient evil? Sure, there were benefits to having the Crystal Empire as an ally of Equestria, but why did it have to be only Twilight who saved the Empire alone?

5. The Discord reformation.

This one had really begun to work Twilight’s brain. For what possible reason could Celestia want Discord turned to good? The only creature alive who was purely and absolutely more powerful than all the princesses combined? Who had power over reality itself? The more Twilight thought, the more she was coming to the conclusion that Celestia was not only not infallible, she was also performing a long term plan.

6. My Ascension.

For what reason, other than a massive plan, could Celestia want another Alicorn Princess for? Twilight may have demonstrated all the nessecary qualities for it, but so had most of her friends, and they weren’t made into princesses. Twilight, by this point, was now fully aware that Celestia was not the radiant, god-like perception that she had in her youth, and was almost certain that Celestia was playing a long game of chess, and the ponies of Equestria were her pieces. But who she was playing against, and to what end still eluded Twilight. After all, this game might not be in the best interests for the rest of Equestria, so she would continue to wait, and watch, as the seeds of doubt festered and grew in her mind.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #407-“Most Faithful”
The Prompt: Her Most Faithful Student has started to doubt

Prompt #417-Fighting Fire With Fire

The heavy beat of leathery wings filled Twilight’s ears as she stood on the ground, neck craned uncomfortably upwards. Every now and again, a wave of heat would wash over the alicorn, causing her to break out into reflexive sweat, but she dare not move. At this distance, she could only just make out which of the two combatants was her adopted sibling and best assistant ever. For all the preparation that Spike had done for this, Equestria’s one and only chance to avoid full war, a war which they were woefully unsuited for, Twilight wasn’t sure that Spike could pull this off. He was still only a young dragon, and his opponent was both many times his size and age.

A blast of flame, red-hot and bright green, scoured the ground less than a ponylength away from Twilight. The others had long since retreated to a much safer distance, but Twilight had remained. She needed Spike to know that she trusted him. That even though she had her doubts, she had placed her faith in him. She had known it was risky, pushing Spike into this so soon after him growing out of his baby drake stage, but both she and Princess Luna had agreed it was the only way. Twilight hated this, hated making other ponies, or dragons for that matter fight Equestria’s battles for her. But dragons were highly magically resistant, and even an experienced spellweaver such as Twilight was would have a hard time pushing even a basic spell through a fully grown dragon’s hide.

She watched from the ground as one dragon raked their claws alongside the other’s underside, digging deep, and drawing a distant cry of pain. She prayed it wasn’t Spike as the two dragons separated. Blasts of fire ripped through the air as the dragons fought, diving and twirling around one another with serpentine grace. Another cry of pain pierced the air, and Twilight suppressed a wince. She watched as the smaller dragon darted around to the back of the larger one, and aimed a claw swipe at the larger dragon’s wings. The larger dragon began to fall, plummeting from the air and landing with a heavy crash that shook the earth under Twilight’s hooves. A second heavy thud signalled Spike’s own landing. Still, Twilight did not move. It may not be over yet.

She could feel heavy footfalls approaching her, and Twilight soon made out her assistant’s signature just short of transparent green spines, as well as his purple scales, once so clean and shiny, now stained and blackened. Twilight couldn’t hold it in any more, and left her spot, dashing to her lifelong companion.

“I knew you could do it, Spike! Oh, I knew it, I knew it!” Twilight nuzzled up against Spike’s forelimb. The air thrummed and pulsated as hundreds of dragons took wing, and began to scatter to the four winds once again

“When have I ever let you down?” wheezed Spike, laying down on the ground, “I could really do with a nap right...now...”

****Time****

Spike laid his scaled head down on his forelimbs, and closed his eyes. Twilight lay herself next to him. Spike’s breathing slowed as the two fell asleep, curled up together like many a night in Ponyville, and then his chest stopped heaving, and the long gashes that the elder dragon had carved into his underside stopped bleeding at last.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #417-“Gone”
The Prompt-Spike Didn’t Make It

Prompt #420-M.A.D

Vinyl Scratch, also known as DJ Pon-3, quietly slipped into her bedroom in her shared apartment with Octavia. It had been a long day for the unicorn, being up at the crack of dawn so she could sort out her arrangements for the upcoming music festival, and get registered as a performer. That alone had taken until lunchtime, then she’d had to swing by the Canterlot Conservatory to submit her latest essay for her belated final year of study, and naturally, had then been roped into a demonstration by her tutor for a few hours, leaving the unicorn with only ten minutes to get from the Conservatory in the upper districts to the socialite party she had been recruited to play at. And worst of all, they hadn’t wanted her to play any of her usual fare, just casual background music.

She gently shut the door to her darkened room, and fumbled around for a minute, levitating her saddlebags off and tossing them into a corner. As she began to stumble her way towards her bed, one of her ears twitched, and she turned to face that direction.

“No, I can’t right now,” she whispered, “ ‘m too tired.” Though there was no audible reply, Vinyl seemed to read the mood of the room.

“You always do this. You’re like an addiction for me, and just when I think I’ve gotten out, there you are, pulling me back down. But I can’t be doing this every night. I’ve got essays to write, research to do, and yeah, I know i’d promised I’d do that big project with you, but I have to prioritize things right now.”

Another brief silence fell over the room, and Vinyl turned away, her eyes shut.

“I sometimes ask myself ‘why?’, you know? Why do I put up with you sometimes? I know a lot of ponies don’t like you. Heck, I know Tavi hates you. But I can’t help it. I know you’re not good for me, but I love you, no matter what other ponies say. But that’s why I gotta do all this other stuff right now. Aw, look, I didn’t mean to hurt you. C’mere.” Vinyl moved over and gave something in the corner of the room a hug.

The light flicked on, and Octavia stood in the door of Vinyl’s room, dressed in her ridiculous pink fluffy dressing gown, her jaw nearly scraping the floor, and her eyes frozen in shock. Vinyl, for her part, never let go of the gigantic speaker she had been on the verge of kissing. Her head turned to face Octavia.

“Yeeah. This is...exactly what it looks like.” Octavia, for her part, just reached up, flicked the light back off, and backed out of the room.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #420-“Love Hurts”
The Prompt: Why does it hurt so much to love you?

Prompt #422-Freedom of Expression

Vinyl Scratch collapsed on the ground in the alleyway beside her apartment. Her attackers, four identical white unicorn stallions, all wearing black suits that obscured their cutie marks and dark sunglasses, gathered around her.

“What?” panted Vinyl, “You need four guys just to subdue little old me? What did I do to deserve this?” Vinyl spat a broken tooth from her mouth.

“We represent a group highly invested in the cultural well-being of Canterlot. They have deemed that your ‘music’ is not in line with the cultured and refined image of this great city. Thus, we have been tasked with getting rid of you before you become a problem,” said one of the white stallions.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Vinyl couldn’t help but choke out a short laugh.

“What, you guys are like Canterlot’s mafia? Oh Celestia, that’s hilarious!” Vinyl buckled over herself, laughing until she was stopped by a front hoof slamming into her side.

“No pony is coming to help you. Give up now, and your demise shall be relatively painless,” said the same stallion as before.

Vinyl gave another short chuckle. “You guys seem to think getting rid of me will solve the ‘problem’,” said Vinyl, making air quotes with her front hooves, “And sure, for a while, it might. But sooner or later, somepony is going to pick up where I left off. Ponies are going to experiment with music the same way they experiment with chemicals, or magic.”

Another white hoof slammed into Vinyl’s side, driving the air from her.

“You know,” said Vinyl coughing as she regained her breath, “Kicking ponies isn’t really a good way to get them to do what you want. Sure, you guys can kill me now. But to a lot of ponies out there, beyond Canterlot’s walls, I’m not just a musician. I’m not just a DJ. I’m an innovator. I’m an inspiriation. I’ve shown ponies that music can be anything, that they don’t have to stick with the same chords and notes as what they learn in school. Heck, to some, I pretty much am wubstep. I taught them musical freedom. And that, guys, is why killing me won’t change anything.” Vinyl Scratch finished her little speech, and looked up at her tormentors.

“You never shut up, do you?” said the stallion, and brought his hoof up to slam down on Vinyl’s head.

“Nope,” said Vinyl, “Viva la revolution de musica.”

The hoof smashed down.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #422-“Endurance Without Death”
The Prompt: You can kill a pony, but you can’t kill an idea

Prompt #424-Now That's A Party

You could say what you liked about Fillydelphia, but the ponies there knew how to party. Of course, the city may have stunk when the wind blew from the repugnant seaweed farming district, and all its associated processing, but the ponies who lived there were always up for a good time. And obviously, with the upcoming Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year and the return of Princess Luna, it was a prime time to have an all-night party.

Such was how Vinyl Scratch found herself in the Fillydelphia hoofball stadium, checking over her equipment as her and several technician ponies performed the final soundchecks. It had already been a long day for the unicorn, as her temporarily uncovered eyes surveyed the overhauled stadium. She’d had to catch the dawn train from Canterlot just to get out here in time, and then it had been an hour’s trot across the city to get to the stadium. Since then, she’d been hard at work, toiling right alongside the road crew and the techs, connecting amplifiers, charging magical batteries and making sure that everypony who entered the stadium would have the best Winter Solstice Celebration ever. She planned for her set to run from sun-down all the way through to sun-up. Or perhaps that should be from Moon rise to moon set? Shrugging, and shaking off a yawn, the unicorn connected the final of her speakers, massive affairs that they were, bigger than a pony standing on another pony.

“How long until moon-rise?” called Vinyl from her turntables. Eight boxes full of records stood ready on the floor beside her, and Vinyl selected the first two, levitating them out with a soft blue glow.

“Half an hour, Miss Scratch,” replied one of the technicians, “But we’re still figuring out how much to charge for entry.”

“Three bits per pony,” was Vinyl’s immediate reply, “That should cover all of our expenses.”

The tech pony nodded, and went off to inform the front entrance of the pricing. Back up on the stage, Vinyl took a few deep breaths, and made sure that the inbuilt icebox in her turntables was full. She’d have to carefully manage how much alcohol she drank. Didn’t want to collapse halfway through the set, like she’d done once before. All-night sets were tricky like that.

The first ponies had begun to trickle in by now, and Vinyl put on some easy background music, something to get the ponies moving a bit, while the volume was still low, and the stadium was still filling up. Then, one of the tech ponies from outside signalled that the sun had dropped below the horizon. Any second now, the moon would rise, and Vinyl would begin her set. She lowered her glasses. The second signal came, and Vinyl Scratch stopped the background music, and kicked things into high gear to a roar from the crowd.

*****

Vinyl stumbled out of the stadium, floating in the slightly unpleasant space between too tired to stay awake, but buzzed enough from the alcohol that she didn’t want to sleep. She blinked as the sunlight hit her face, and was very glad she was wearing her glasses. She began stumbling off, unable to suppress the yawn that emerged from her as she searched for a hotel. She supposed it had been rather silly of her, not to secure a hotel before coming to the show, but she’d been pressed for time. And when was the last time she’d done an all-nighter like that? Vinyl couldn’t remember. Usually, her sets finished around two in the morning, but then again, she also usually had other acts supporting her.

****TIME****

She felt a hoof land on her back, and she slowly spun to face one of the tech ponies, a brown earth pony.

“Miss Scratch? You look dead. Where’s your hotel?”

“Don’t have one,” murmured the DJ, “Need to find one.”

“Come on. You can sleep at my place. It’s not far from here,” said the tech, gently guiding the unicorn towards a modest house at the end of the street.

“Thanks.” The moment that the tech got Vinyl inside, she spotted the couch in the living room, stumbled her way over to it, and immediately collapsed upon it, snoring like a small thunderstorm while the tech locked the door. The tech draped a blanket over the unicorn, gently pulled the mare’s signature glasses off, set them on the end table beside the couch, and then went to bed himself.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #424-“Did I Sleep In?”
The Prompt: Somepony really needs to sleep

Prompt #425-Rooftops At Twilight

The sun slowly sank over the horizon, dipping behind White Tail Woods and lighting everything with a dim orange glow. Octavia stood on the roof of her house in Ponyville, watching the sun as it traced its path through the sky. It was a little tricky to balance on the thatched roof, but this was not something that Octavia was inexperienced at. The same could not be said of her companion, though.

“Whoa!” cried Vinyl Scratch, as she overbalanced and nearly fell off the roof, only saving herself by throwing her front hooves over the peak of the roof.

“You know what?” said Vinyl, mostly talking to herself, “I’m just gonna stay like this.”

Octavia suppressed a giggle. Despite everything that everypony said, she did genuinely enjoy the DJ’s company, for a variety of reasons. As the twilight deepened, Octavia turned her back on the setting sun, and with some difficulty, Vinyl also turned herself around, adopting the same position facing the other way.

“Vinyl,” said Octavia, settling herself down on the ridge of the roof, “Did you know that Ponyville is reported to be the most affectionate town in all of Equestria? Ponies here aren’t afraid to show their love to their special someponies, no matter their gender or species.”

“Is that so?” said Vinyl. The unicorn’s horn lit up, and raised her glasses so they rested above her horn, revealing her magenta eyes, rarely seen outside the musicians’ shared house. The two were silent for a while, as the moon began to rise over the horizon, illuminating Ponyville in its soft light.

From their perch on the roof, the two could see much of the town. A few streets over, they could see that the lights in Golden Oaks library were still very much lit, signifying that Twilight Sparkle was probably on another all-night research binge. As the moon continued to rise, the lights in the town flickered off, one by one, until the only ponies awake were Octavia and Vinyl, still sitting on their rooftop, and Twilight Sparkle over in the library. Octavia stood up first, balancing easily on the peak of the roof. Vinyl followed, with slightly more trouble.

“Most affectionate city, you say, Tavi?” asked Vinyl, as she wobbled and eventually found her balance on the rooftop.

“Supposedly. You can’t believe everything you read, you know.”

Vinyl nodded, “Well then, I suppose that we should...” [TIME]

Vinyl was cut off from by a moan from the streets below. The unicorn moved carefully to the edge of the roof, and glanced down. Sure enough, she saw exactly what she was expecting to see.

“Zombie ponies,” monotoned Vinyl, turning to face Octavia, “Shall we?”

“Indeed,” replied Octavia. And with that, the two jumped off the roof of their house, and into the mob below.

She’s an overenthusiastic DJ. She’s a refined cellist. They fight zombie ponies.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #425-“We’ll Always Have Ponyville”
The Prompt: The City of Love.

Prompt #426-First Meetings

A young Twilight Sparkle sat impatiently in Donut Joe’s. A plate, littered with the remnants of her meal there (Two plain cinnamon donuts, and a glass of orange juice) sat in front of the filly. Twilight glanced up at the clock. It was nearly one in the afternoon, and Princess Celestia had told her that if she was at Donut Joe’s at one o’clock, she’d learn something interesting.

Twilight, for her part, couldn’t see what was interesting about being in a donut store, even one as good as Joe’s. She would rather be at the library, reading a book, but she’d come here because it was Princess Celestia telling her, and Twilight liked being her student, and who knew what might happen if she didn’t do what her teacher said. She might revoke her library card, and that terrified Twilight. The filly glanced up at the clock, and watched as with agonizing slowness, the minute hand clicked another space forwards. Three minutes exactly to go until she supposedly learned something.

To her side, the bell above the door tinkled as the door opened and then closed. Twilight could hear the soft patter of hooves across the polished floor of the shop. Wait, no she couldn’t. The rhythm was all wrong, and the soft ‘clop’ sound that her own hooves made when walking wasn’t there. Twilight watched as a young dragon of all things, scampered up to the counter and ordered a plate of chocolate covered donuts, depositing the correct amount of bits to pay for it from a backpack he was wearing. The dragon also seemed really familiar to Twilight. Purple scales, the exact same shade as her fur compromised his body, and just short of transparent rounded spines ran in a line from the top of his head all the way down to his spade-shaped tail. Twilight watched as the young dragon, who barely came up to her chest, picked up his plate of donuts, glanced around the mostly empty diner for a few moments, and then wobbled over and sat at Twilight’s table, and immediately shoved a donut into his mouth.

“Ahem,” said Twilight, clearing her throat. The dragon paused in his consumption of the donut and hastily swallowed what was in his mouth while Twilight continued, “Would you mind picking another table? I’m waiting for the Princess. She should be here at any moment, and I doubt that she would like a little dragon stuffing his face at her table.”
The young dragon, however, instead of replying verbally straight away, instead rummaged around in his backpack, pulled out a photograph, and looked back and forth between it and Twilight a few times, before nodding to himself.

“You’re Twilight, right? Twilight Sparkle? I’m Spike.”

“Right,” said Twilight, “Spike. Nice to meet you, but I’m still waiting for the Princess.”

“She sent me here. I’m your assistant.”

Twilight blinked, as her brain processed the information that Spike had just dumped on her.

“My...assistant?”

“Yep!” said Spike, “She said you’d be getting a lot of work or something soon. Oh, and there’s also this. The Princess told me to give this to you when I met you.”

***TIME***

Spike rummaged around in his bag for a few moments, eventually producing a bound scroll, which Twilight snatched out of Spike’s grasp with her magic, and unrolled it.

‘My Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle,’ began the letter, and Twilight had to suppress a rush of glee at the honorific before continuing.

‘By now, you will have met young Spike. He is indeed telling the truth, and is to be your new assistant. In addition to being a wonderful helper, he also possesses the ability to send letters to myself directly through his magical fire. Simply get him to breathe on the letter you wish to send, and it will make its way to me, and I can return in kind. Also, I have obtained your parent’s permission, and you are now going to live in the Library tower of the School. While living there, it will be your responsibility to keep everything organised and tidy. Spike should help you with that.
It is my hope that the two of you become fast friends, as well as colleagues.
Your teacher,
Princess Celestia.’

Twilight finished reading the letter. Then she read it again, just to make sure it wasn’t a hoax.

“I’m going to be living in the library tower?” she muttered to herself.

“I’m going to be living in the library tower!” cried Twilight, rejoicing at the thought of having all the books she could ever want, and then deciding that there was absolutely no time to waste. She rushed out the door, but came back in after a brief moment to magically grab her new assistant and yank him and his backpack after her, trailing them behind her as she galloped through the streets of Canterlot.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #426-“The Day It All Began”
The Prompt: When Twilight and Spike met.

Prompt #430-What.

The pig and the pony faced each other on the rooftops. Lightning flashed, and thunder rolled.

“You see, you cannot stop me, Donny. Ponyville will know the wrath of Professor Piggy!” The pig himself was, well, he was a pig. A little diminuitive in stature, perhaps, but that had never stopped anypony, or anypig, before. The cape fastened around the pig’s neck only served to enhance his majesty and presence.

“No, Piggy. I will stop you,” said Donny in reply, “And I will save Ponyville from your dastardly schemes and plots.” The pony facing off against the pig was a green earth pony, with a purple mane and a short goatee. A cutie mark of a pink quill with several ink drops flying off it adorned his flank. Another bolt of lightning tore itself from the dark clouds above, and the loud boom of thunder followed in its wake.

For a while longer, the two mortal enemies simply stared at one another, as if engaging in a mighty battle of willpower using only their eyes. Had anypony else been asked to describe their thoughts on the battle, they probably would have thought that the two nemeses would engage in deadly combat, with each so perfectly matched that neither would get the upper hoof as they did glorious, awesome battle.

What really happened was this: Professor Piggy charged towards Donny with a great cry of ‘For Angst!’ and immediately ran into the pony’s outstreched hoof, where his stubby limbs flailed as they strained to reach the pony, but fell short by nearly a foot. Eventually, Professor Piggy grew tired, and slumped down to the ground.

“Curse you, my nemesis. You have defeated me once more,” said the pig, and Donny just rolled his eyes. Overhead, a blue pegasus shoved his head through the cloud bank to look down at the pony and the pig.

“Hey, are you guys done with your thing down there? I had to bribe half the weather patrol to get this storm for you. Dramatic weather effects don’t come cheap.”

“Yeah, we’re done. You can get rid of the storm now,” called Donny, and the pegasus retracted his head back through the cloudbank so he could begin dissapating it.

*****TIME*****

“But why, Donny? Why do you always prevail?” muttered Piggy, as rays of sunlight began to break through the dark clouds.

“Aside from the fact that I’m a foot taller than you? Ponies like happy endings, Piggy. They want to see the champion get the mare. Sure, angst can be useful, but without the makeouts at the end of the story, it’s just a big stick with no cupcake at the end,” explained Donny.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #430-“The Wrath Of Pig”
The Prompt: Professor Piggy’s plans for Ponyville!

Largely inspired by This.

Prompt #431-A Different Kind of Nightmare

Twilight Sparkle dived into the whirl of magic that Nightmare Moon used to teleport the Elements. Shaking her head once back on firm ground, and no longer surrounded by the dark blue magic, she got back up onto her feet.

“Oh my gosh,” said Twilight, “You really are Nightmare Moon. At first, I thought it might have just been Princess Celestia in drag again. She dresses up as you sometimes, you know. Therapy or something. But the actual Nightmare Moon! You terrified an entire generation into not sleeping!”

“What are you babbling about, foal?” said Nightmare Moon, “Could it be that you agree with me? That the Night should Last Forever?”

“Oh, no. Of course not. I’m just a really big fan of yours. But I’m going to need the Elements now,” said Twilight, and began casually walking towards Nightmare Moon, “I may not be able to scare as many ponies as you, but even you have fears. And there’s a new spell that I’m dying to try out.”

******

When Applejack and Twilight’s other friends arrived, they found Twilight calmly sitting on a fallen pillar, the Elements at her hooves, and Nightmare Moon scrabbling at the far end of the room, in a desperate attempt to get as far away from Twilight as possible.

“Oh, girls, I’m so happy to see you!” said Twilight, throwing her hooves around Applejack, as a glimmer lit up her eyes. The Elements shattered, and reformed into necklaces around Twilight’s five friends, and the crown lowered onto her own head, resting nicely above her horn.

“Let’s purge Nightmare Moon.” And with that statement, the elements powered up, and shot their rainbow out towards Nightmare Moon, surrounding her with a whirl of colour and light. Nopony but her ever heard the sibilant whisper in her ear in Twilight Sparkle’s voice.

“I’m watching you.”

***TIME***

After Princess Celestia arrived, and went to comfort her newly reformed sister, amidst the constant repetitions of ‘I’m sorry’, the elder princess caught one sentence that was very much out of place.

‘Keep her away from me.’ At first listen, it could be referring to the spirit of the Nightmare, but Celestia had her own suspicions about who the ‘her’ was. There had been two nightmares in the castle that night. Only one could be cured.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #431--“My Little Pony: Friendship is Horror”
The Prompt: Reimagine My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic as a horror series.
Special Rule: No references to previously existing horror fanfics, such as “Cupcakes" or “Silent Ponyville."

Eh. I'm not good at horror.

Prompt #432-We Weren't Prepared For This

We should have known that the threat wouldn’t be over that easily. We should have seen it coming. Should have been preparing. But Equestria has grown too used to peace, to stability. We had been a race of fighters, once. In the old days, even before Princess Luna’s banishment, we were far more militaristic. We had allowed ourselves to grow soft, and our first victory against them was by mere fluke. Because Queen Chrysalis was a better planner than we thought. When she first attacked Canterlot, she brought only just enough for her plan. No more, no less. The second time, we had been greeted with the full force of the Changeling Hive. If a month of infiltration, love harvesting and a small army didn’t work, overwhelming force would, I think her reasoning was.

They swept in from the south, pouring out of every nook and cranny in the mountains, and we were forced to try and stop them, and were greeted with the horrifying truth of the Changelings. They could put new soldiers on the battlefield as fast as they could grow them. For every one we felled, six more took its place. Appleloosa and Dodge City fell first, and so quickly that nopony had a chance to even get a warning off. Ponyville was lucky. The Changelings had to divert around the Everfree to reach it, and that gave them just enough time to evacuate. And Evacuate they did-Into the Everfree itself. For some reason or another, that forest is anathema to the Changelings. When they arrived at Ponyville, they found a ghost town, and for that, I’m grateful. But Queen Chrysalis ordered the push towards Canterlot.

We’ve been holed up here for a while now. Food is carefully rationed. The only reason the City hasn’t been taken yet is due to the Princesses and myself carefully maintaining a barrier over the entire city. Nopony goes through it. Part of me is almost admiring of the Changeling’s strategy. They pushed hard and fast, preserving lives to feed off, and keeping the infrastructure mostly intact. They control most of Equestria right now. Every day, Chrysalis comes and floats right outside the shield to taunt us with the latest news-another city fallen, another sub hive established, trying to convince us that it’s just easier if we give in.

But despite her claims, we still have hope. We know that the ponies of Ponyville escaped, because you organized the exodus. And your letters can still pierce the barrier without compromising it, so we know that you’re building back up in the forest. Keep hitting them however you can, Twily. Move fast, hit hard. We’ve also received word that there’s a decent pocket of resistance in Fillydelphia and Manehatten, as well as a few scattered all over the country. Now we just have to figure out how to end this. But you’re smart, you’ll work something out.

Stay safe, sis.

Your BBBFF, Shining Armor.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #432-“My Little Pony: War Is Hell”
The prompt: Reimagine My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic as a war story.

Prompt #433-Friendship.exe

The pony, wreathed in a plain brown cloak, ducked into the alleyway off the street without a second’s hesitation. The soldiers, all the same grey unicorn, and clad in the flak vests and gold insignia to signify their membership of the Royal Security Force, followed soon after. However, when they entered the alleyway, they only found piles of detritus and refuse, as well as a bum, asleep or dead by the wall.

“She’s gotten away,” said one, checking that the bum wasn’t their target in disguise.

“She can’t be far. She must be recovered. Ruler Celestia wants her toy back,” said another, his uniform marking him as an officer. “You two double back. Make sure she hasn’t given us the slip prior to this. Contact Ariel Division, get them to sweep the sector.”

The soldiers left the alleyway, and a small metal spider crawled out of a pile of rubbish, its single red camera eye scanning the environment. Then, by some unspoken command, millions of similar robot spiders poured from their hiding places in the alleyway, and began lumping together. In under five seconds, the figure of a pony was standing in the alley, missing only a head. The last spiders, including one that was nearly double the size of a Sweet Apple Corporation Apple, formed the head. As the last spiders clicked into place, an electrical charge rippled over the pony’s body, activating a chameleon feature, turning her ‘skin’ purple. The pony’s horn lit up with a purple glow, pulling her cloak out from behind a bin and wrapping it back around her body. Her eyes checked both directions of the alley, making sure that nopony saw her, and then she ran off towards the other end, away from the soldiers.

****

If somepony was to try and describe Trixie Lulamoon in one word, that word would likely be ‘Annoying’. To the Royal Security Force, she was annoying because she was a damn good picker, capable of breaking into almost anywhere. To the ponies in the underground rebels, she was annoying because her optical implants could tell when you were lying, and thus could expose half of them with a single tip in the right place. And both groups considered her annoying because they needed her, and she knew it. She was also a rabid kleptomaniac, and unfortunately had the skill to back up her compulsion. Anypony giving the blue unicorn a hug would likely find their credbits missing afterwards.

****TIME****

But Trixie was one of those ponies who knew absolutely everyone. If you had stolen data, she could find someone who needed it. If you needed somepony eliminated, she could find somepony to do it. And it was this, despite all of her annoying personal habits and quirks, which kept her alive and in a delicate balance between the Security Force and the underground rebels. But Trixie hadn’t survived without gathering a few vital instincts. Thus, when a purple alicorn, (Trixie could make out the shapes of the wings under the pony’s cloak), stumbled into the software shop that Trixie ran, which also served as a front for the rebels on occasion, Trixie’s instincts blared at her to get the purple pony out of sight right the heck now. So she escorted her from the software shop’s floor upstairs to her private residence, and told her to wait for a while.

When she came back down to the shop’s floor, an officer of the Security Force was waiting for her.

“Lulamoon?” he growled.

“You’re talking to her.” Trixie casually pulled out a bottle of oil, and began lubricating her artificial front right leg.

“We have reason to believe that an escaped experiment was heading through this district. One of Ruler Celestia’s favourite ones, as well. Should you see this pony,” the officer passed Trixie a poster, “Please notify a Royal Security Force officer when you can. She’s supposedly dangerous, so don’t confront her yourself.”

“Got it,” replied Trixie as she stared at the poster for the pony currently in her upstairs bedroom, while the officer showed himself out of the store.

“Experiment SP-4-RK13, Twilight Facility?” she muttered to herself.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #433-“The Future Is Now”
The Prompt: Reimagine My Little Pony as cyberpunk.

I kinda like this universe.

Prompt #435-Existance

Twilight Sparkle stared at the image of herself formed by reflection and refraction of light in a polished and metal-backed piece of glass. She ruffled her wings uncomfortably, spreading them and then refolding them. She supposed that with time, she would get used to them. Ponies were so unlike the books she treasured and loved. Books, once printed, didn’t change, and that was good. It meant that their contents were fixed, an absolute. But ponies couldn’t be printed. Ponies changed, and that meant that if books were a constant in the equation, then ponies were the variables.

But if books and ponies could be reduced to simple mathematics, then that also meant that life in general could. Everything was just one big equation, being evaluated thousands, millions of times a second. Every time something changed, the equation would be re solved. Princess Celestia had said that this was her ‘destiny’, but the variable called Twilight wasn’t so sure. If destiny was an actual force, then that meant that nothing she did was of her own free will. It was all predetermined, laid out and declared as constant. If she jumped off the highest balcony of her tree of knowledge, would she crash to the ground, or would her wings save her? Which one was part of her ‘destiny’? if she was meant to crash to the ground, but saved herself by usage of her wings, would that be defying her destiny? Or was that her actual destiny?

Twilight walked away from the mirrored glass, and her horn lit up with a soft amethyst glow, pulling a number of books down from their positions on the carefully organised shelves. The dictionary was only helpful in providing a definition for ‘destiny’, (1. Course of events; pony’s fate. 2 the power which foreordains), which Twilight already knew. Astrology was also completely unhelpful, because horoscopes were too vague for what she needed to know.
Twilight absorbed the constants of information throughout the day, only suffering minor diversions to eat a grown tree-hanging fruit bought from her friend, and convincing the living permanent sugar rush that was Pinkie Pie that the library where Twilight made her home and her occupation was not an appropriate place to test the Party Cannon’s rapid fire feature.

As night fell, the unicorn-turned-alicorn-princess that was Twilight Sparkle placed the constants of information back into their positions on the shelves. As she climbed the stairs to go up to her bed, she reflected on the day’s study. Nothing she had found had adequately explained who, or what, determined a pony’s destiny. But if Princess Celestia had told her it was her destiny, then she must be telling the truth, right? The Princess was so much older and wiser than Twilight.

And so, Twilight Sparkle went to sleep. And then she was a fish.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #435-“Believe”
The Prompt: Reimagine My Little Pony as a Surrealist Tragedy.

I’m assuming that a Surrealist Tragedy is something like what indie filmmakers create, where everything is ridiculously overthought. I attempted to put a bit of surreal back into it.

Prompt #436-No Witty Remarks Here

Twelve ponies stared at each other as they faced off across the main street of Vanahoover. At first glance, these twelve ponies could be taken as allies, given their very similar attire, but the set legs on each pony, and aggressively hiked tails suggested otherwise. On one side, the Sailors of Harmony stood arrayed. Pinkie Pie, Sailor Laughter had her mystical Party Cannon weapon out. Sailor Honesty, Applejack was next to her, her metal-clad hind hooves set and ready to buck. Sailor Generosity, Rarity was levitating a gleaming sabre. Sailor Magic, Twilight Sparkle had a visible corona of magic pouring out from her, and if you looked closely, was actually levitating from the output of her magic. Rainbow Dash, Sailor Loyalty was actually on the ground for once, the edges of her armoured wings gleaming in the sunlight. Even Fluttershy, the normally timid Sailor Kindness, was standing firmly. All the Sailors of Harmony were clad in the japonese-styled uniforms, the scarves and skirts matched to their element colours. The actual elements themselves were around their necks, (or on her head, in the case of Twilight’s Big Crown Thingy), and were subtly glowing in anticipation of the upcoming battle.

On the other side of the street, a slightly more eclectic group stood. These six ponies were the Sailors of Music. Octavia, the Sailor of Emotion, stood with her cello bow in hoof. Upon closer inspection, the hair that normally comprised the bow had been replaced with a blade. Lyra Heartstrings, Sailor Lyric stood on only her hind hooves, but her breathing was calm, and her lyre was at the ready. Fiddlesticks, Sailor Melody, was a yellow earth pony with a blue mane in a similar style to Octavia’s (in fact, the two were distant cousins), had her fiddle ready, and was also only standing only on her two hind legs. She and Lyra were actually leaning up against one another, in order to stabilise each of them. Vinyl Scratch, Sailor Rhythm had her legs spread, and her tail high in the air, and her front hoof was pawing at the ground impatiently. Then came the strange thing, as the final two ‘Sailors’ in the Sailors of Music were stallions. Thunder Tempest, Sailor Bass, was floating just above ground level, his bass guitar in his hooves. And Frederick Horseshoepin, Sailor Harmony (not to be confused with the Sailors OF Harmony), had adopted a similar position to Vinyl, head down, tail up, and pawing at the ground.

***Time***

All of the mares in the Sailors of Music were dressed very similarly to the Elements of Harmony, the only difference being in colourations and other minor cosmetic differences. The two stallions were wearing more formal jackets in dark blue, and ties with their corresponding colours.

“This is our enemy! She’s a threat to all of Equestria!” cried Twilight Sparkle, waving a hoof at the unicorn sorceress who was standing between the two teams.

“Yeah, but she’s using music to do it, and that makes it OUR realm!” called back Vinyl. “Go back to Ponyville!”

“You go back! Princess Celestia personally asked me to deal with this mare!”

“If the Princess asked you to dive off the top balcony of your library, would you do it? She’s asked you to deal with an enemy that you have no idea how to beat! We, on the other hand, deal with this kind of enemy all the time. Do the smart thing, and let us handle it.” By this point, most of the two teams had relaxed from their ready positions. Pinkie Pie had vanished the Party Cannon back to wherever she kept it, Rarity had sheathed her sabre, and Lyra and Fiddlesticks had both dropped back down onto all fours while the two leaders argued about who was going to deal with the opponent.

Naturally, the sorceress, being an evil pony, tried to take advantage of the situation, and began to play her enchanting music once more. Both Vinyl Scratch and Twilight Sparkle instantly responded by blasting the unicorn at full force.
The combined power of the youngest alicorn in existence and the power of rhythm emitted from Vinyl Scratch quickly dispelled the enchantment on the music, destroyed the device used to emit it, and threw the unicorn back into a wall, knocking her unconscious. The two leaders of the teams glanced at the result, and then turned back to each other.

“See, I told you we could handle it!”

“Puh-lease. It was my power that did it!” Behind them, in complete synchronisation, the other ten ponies slapped their hoofs to their faces with a groan.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #436-“Hope and Despair”
The Prompt: Reimagine My Little Pony as a Magical Girl series.

I have no explanation for this. It's just...what.

Prompt #437-Noodle Incident Ramifications

“Court adjourned,” stated the judge, smacking his hoof on the desk to signal the end of the session. The court stood up at a command from the bailiff, and remained so until the judge had left the room. Once the door behind the stands had closed, everypony began to move around, and talk once more. Vinyl Scratch collapsed behind the desk next to her lawyer.

“Well, that could have gone better,” murmured the DJ, “Can I go home now? I’m still getting over my hangover.”

“Yes, you can go now, Miss Scratch. I’ll be by later in the week with all the official documentation,” sighed the lawyer, “Just remember what your sentence was.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m not stupid,” said Vinyl, getting back on her hooves, and trotting towards the door. She had a date with her bed at home.

******

Or at least, she would have if Octavia hadn’t been there, waiting for her in the living room. Vinyl suppressed a groan. She’d forgotten that Octavia hadn’t been able to attend the court session because she had been at a performance. Now she’d have to share the verdict with her roommate and friend.

“Well, how did it go? Did Sharp Wit get you acquitted?” asked Octavia.

“Not entirely.”

“What was your punishment, then?”

Vinyl sighed, “I am now no longer allowed within twenty paces of the Magic Horn, and Prince Blueblood tried to get me thrown out of the city. The judge laughed him off.”

“Well, that’s not so bad, I suppose...”

“I am also forbidden from entering any clubs in the city for the next moon cycle, being within the same building as Prince Blueblood, associating with somepony called Trixie Lulamoon and entering the Shakesmare Concert Hall.”

“At least you have some bits saved up, right?” was Octavia’s weak offering.

“I am also required to do one thousand hours of community service at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns as a librarian. I’ve also got a handler from the Royal Guard that I need to report to every seven days, and yes, he or she will be checking with my boss at the library to make sure I’m working.”

“It...could be worse?” said Octavia.

“I am also now not allowed to break a single noise ordinance here until my community service is done.”

****Time****

From Vinyl’s tone, that was clearly the worst punishment that the judge could have imposed.

“Well,” began Octavia, with all of her accumulated tact, “at least you aren’t in jail.”

Vinyl just groaned.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #437-“Trials and Tribulations”
The Prompt: Reimagine My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic as a courtroom drama.

Prompt #438-"Of Course Trixie Does."

Old habits die hard. Trixie knew that better than anypony else. When she was younger, she was taught about sleight of hoof tricks by her slightly deranged grandfather. Saying that she was skilled at sleight of hoof did not do her justice. Trixie Lulamoon was amazing at sleight of hoof. Of course, the skill didn’t just apply to magic tricks, and it did not take Trixie long to figure out these other uses. There had been a toy, or something that she had wanted, but lacked the bits to get it. But then, as she was trotting down the street of her home town one day, she realised that the pony in front of her had failed to close her saddlebag correctly, and Trixie could see the pony’s bitpurse poking out. A gentle bump, and an apology later, and Trixie was thirty bits richer. At first, she felt bad, and swore never to steal again. However, a few months later, Trixie had needed to buy a train ticket, so that she could go and see her grandparents. Unfortunately, on the way to the station, she had lost the money that she had been given for the train fare. Another bump into a pony, a hasty apology and a few fake tears later, the pony she had bumped into had paid for her ticket, and Trixie acquired some spending money.

From there, Trixie’s skill at conning ponies only grew. At first, she had promised to herself that she would only do it when necessary. But it was a rush for her, the adrenaline of subtly manipulating ponies to get what she needed, and later, what she wanted. The small world of her hometown was her oyster, and Trixie could open it up anytime she wanted.

And then she met Quick. Quick Hooves. The older earth pony used to be a dancer, but was herself a decently skilled con-artist. Quick took Trixie on as a pseudo-apprentice and eventual friend, and taught her everything that she knew. But after a while, Trixie’s interest began to wane. There was no more challenge in her hometown. That was when Trixie received the letter that would change her life. A letter accepting her into Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.

While at the school, her interest for magic was satiated, but there was another itch. She had already promised herself that she would not steal or con anything from her fellow students or staff. But as she would find out, old habits die hard. She held to her self-imposed ban on theft and conning for half a year, and then she needed a new book, and lacked the bits to get it. Before she’d even realised what she was doing, she brushed past one of the richer students, and made their bit bag a decent bit lighter.

****Time****

In her hometown, Trixie had never once gotten caught. Whether this was because she was just that good, or because everypony was an idiot was still up for debate for her. Her unbroken streak got cut off while she was at the School for Gifted Unicorns. Some colt caught Trixie’s hoof reaching into his bag, and took it up with a teacher. Trixie managed to get off with a warning, after pulling out the tears, and a story about how her family wasn’t particularly well off. After that, Trixie reinforced her self-imposed ban on theft. It lasted all of three months.

Eventually, Trixie was politely asked to leave the school. Trixie wasn’t stupid, she knew when to retreat, and left with minimal fuss. From there, Trixie set up her stage persona, which she had already been developing while at the school, and set off on her way as a travelling performer. Her magic was impressive for somepony her age, and her skill at conning ponies fed into her act, convincing them she was truly a Great and Powerful unicorn. And for a while, that was good. Ponies donated enough bits to keep her fed and moving, which also helped control Trixie’s urge to con ponies.

Trixie still refrains from abusing her talent most of the time, preferring to use her magic to make her bits. Largely because pulling con jobs and thievery is illegal, while putting on a magic show is perfectly legitimate, if occasionally a bit annoying. But while Trixie might only be a slightly above average spellweaver, she was practically at the peak of the con artist world. So the next time the Great and Powerful Trixie comes into town, consider tossing a few bits into her hat. Because the alternative is that she cons you out of everything you have on you. Because Trixie knows that old habits die hard, and this is one habit that she is very, very good at.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #438-“Liar’s Game”
The Prompt: “You think you can cheat me and get away with it?”

I like Con Artist Trixie for some reason.

Prompt #439-An Informative Meeting

“Ah, Miss Octavia, thank you for coming,” said the unicorn teacher sat behind the desk in the school. A rush of memories flooded into the grey cellist, as she had gone to school here herself. She took a moment to close her eyes, and bask in the memories. She opened them, and found the teacher looking at her expectantly.

“Oh, I’m sorry. This place holds many memories for me. Please, continue. My focus is solely on you now, dear sir.”

“So about your filly, Bridged Note. Academically, she’s doing well. High B’s in most of her classes. She’s one of our stars of the music classroom.”

“Yes, I would imagine that she gets it from both me and Vinyl,” said Octavia, smiling. She didn’t miss the miniscule frown that crossed the teacher’s face at the mention of Vinyl, though, but let it go.

“But, as talented as she is, we’ve had a few issues. Language, mostly. Several teachers have caught her swearing, sometimes at other students. One was reduced to tears from her insults.”

Octavia frowned. She remembered that incident. Bridged Note had been utterly horrified that her words could have that much of an effect on somepony else, and had spent the next week trying to make it up to the other pony.

“Yes, she probably picked that up from Vinyl. Vinyl does tend to express herself rather more crudely than most. I will talk with Bridged about that.”

“Yes, and where is Miss Scratch this evening?”

“Right now?” said Octavia, looking up at the clock on the wall, “She’s likely in the middle of her set in Manehatten’s hoofball stadium.”

“I see. There is also the matter of your daughter’s magic.”

Just as the teacher was about to go into an explanation, Octavia held up a hoof to forestall him, pulled out a notepad and pen, and set herself up to write. Then, with a nod, she motioned him to continue.

“Magic is perhaps the one class that your daughter truly has trouble with. She claims she practices every night, but yet we see little to no improvement each week. The other students are miles ahead of her. Now, I don’t know if this is because she has trouble grasping the concept in her mind, or because it’s from Miss Scratch being an inattentive parent, but...”

The pen fell out of Octavia’s mouth. The room went deathly silent, the only sound being the gentle tick-tock of the clock on the wall.

“How dare you,” said Octavia, her voice low and dangerous, “How dare you imply that Vinyl is anything less than a brilliant parent. I have taken much abuse on Vinyl’s part, sir. I know full well what the Canterlot upper crust think of her, and at every soiree, I suffer the same remarks about ‘that boorish, unrefined, uncultured unicorn’. But one line that nopony is ever allowed to cross is implying that Vinyl does not care for our daughter.”

***Time***

“Yes, Vinyl couldn’t be here tonight,” continued Octavia, “she hasn’t been here for many of Bridged’s other events either. Do you want to know why? It’s because she’s out there, working her flank off to provide the best possible life she can for her daughter. And both myself, and Bridged, know that. I am aware that by Vinyl’s absence, she cannot teach her daughter about her magic. It’s killing her that she can’t pass on her knowledge to Bridged except in short fits and bursts.”

As the teacher made to interrupt with a rebuttal, Octavia cut him off once more.

“Vinyl Scratch is Bridged’s favourite parent, dear sir. Do you want to know why? Not because they’re both unicorns, not because Vinyl lets her get away with things like eating half a tub of icecream, or staying up late on a school night. It’s because whenever Vinyl is home, she is never, ever too busy to listen to her daughter, or help her with her homework. It’s a crime that I am unfortunately guilty of on occasion. Now, I think I have heard enough, so I shall take my leave.” Octavia stood up, packed the notebook back into her saddle bags, and strode out the door without a single backward glance.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #439-“Schoolhouse Stories”
The prompt: Parent-Teacher Night.

Prompt #440-No Police Boxes or Phone Booths Allowed

Rarity liked to consider herself a decently capable unicorn. She knew that she was nowhere near Twilight Sparkle’s level, but then again, was there anypony outside of the Princesses who was? But still, Rarity was a capable spell caster when the time called for it. But never before had Rarity wished so badly that she could travel through time in any other direction than the slow plod forwards demanded by life, a feat which was very clearly outside her limited capabilities.

With Autumn coming to a close, and the changeover to winter happening next Tuesday, Rarity would have loved to be able to jump about a week and a half fowards in time. Just enough so that she could get an idea of what the fashions for this season were going to be, and then come back, so she could get a head start. This wishful thinking of Rarity’s happened every year, mostly around the season changes between autumn and winter, and the change between spring and summer. Of course, it never lead anywhere, because Rarity, while knowing that time travel was possible thanks to Twilight, it would also be impossible for her, as she lacked the sheer power of Twilight Sparkle.

Now, it should be noted that there is a fairly large magical leyline, the source of all magical power in Equestria, running through Ponyville. It also happens to run straight through Rarity’s house and Boutique. Normally, leylines are completely harmless, and only a very experienced spellweaver could tell that they are even there. The only side effect of them is a prolonged lifespan. At least, as long as the leyline is healthy. A fully ruptured leyline is among the worst of all magical disasters, as the separation between pure Magic and the real world dissolves and Magic spills into the world. The one running through Rarity’s boutique was developing a small tear. Whether the events that followed were laid out by some higher power, or if it was all just sheer luck will never be known.

Rarity, currently fixated on the idea of travelling forward a week and a half in time, was in the main room of the Boutique. The tear in the leyline took place in her kitchen. An overabundance of Magic poured through the house, transforming several peices of Rarity’s furniture into plants. And then it found Rarity, and latched onto the desire she was currently harbouring. Without any warning from Rarity’s point of view, her horn began to glow, fiercer than she had ever seen it glow before. And then, with a snap, crackle, and a pop, she vanished, the Magic casting her through the weave of time and space.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #440-“Wyld Stallyns”
The Prompt: I’m where? Wait, wait, wait, back up. I’m when?!
Note: Yes, Doctor Whooves exists, but you’re not the only one who thought of using him. Originality, ho!

Prompt #442-TVTropes Is More Correct Than It Knows

There are many ponies in Equestria. There are unicorns, earth ponies, and pegasi. There are even a small number of alicorns, ponies who possess all three racial traits bound in perfect synergy. And then there is Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie is about as much a pony as Discord is. Perhaps less so.

Pinkie Pie is, in every sense of the phrase, Fun Ponified. No, we are not talking metaphorically. She is the physical manifestation of fun. She is an abstract idea made solid, pink and somewhat adorable. Whenever she meets a new pony, she gets what their idea of fun is through plain eye contact, absorbs that into herself, integrates it into her personality, and immediately rushes off to prepare the customary ‘Hello New Friend’ Party. With each new pony met, her concept expands, and so do her little eccentricities. Pinkie being what she is, she is assured existence as long as one pony wants to have fun, effectively rendering her immortal or at the very least, exceedingly long lived.

Being the physical ponification of Fun, Pinkie Pie is also not bound by the normal laws of physics. As long as someone is having fun, or laughing, Pinkie Pie can do anything to keep it going. This includes little things, like stretching or compressing her body beyond its natural limits, all the way up to breaking the fourth wall. If someone thinks its fun, Pinkie Pie can do it. And since she is the Element of Laughter, this also applies to anything which gets a laugh out of someone, somewhere. This is also why Twilight completely failed to analyse Pinkie Pie. One, because fun is completely subjective, and two, because you can’t explain fun. You just have it.

Of course, with so many ideas of what is fun swirling around Pinkie Pie, it really shouldn’t come as a surprise that she is a little scatterbrained, being constantly distracted by the next fun idea, or party. Yet she can concentrate if she tries. There are also other downsides to being the projection of Fun into the physical plane. Madness is a kind of fun. Not a particularly nice kind, but it still is to at least one pony in the room. Maybe that pony is the only one having fun in the room, but it’s still fun to someone, and that means that it’s part of Pinkie Pie. Rejection by those she holds dear, perceived or otherwise, will cause Pinkie to draw on the darker aspects of Fun, often causing her to shift into the state called ‘Pinkamena’.

The Mirror Pool, unable to replicate the Avatar of Fun perfectly, simply copied Pinkie’s surface aspects, taking only the simplest idea of Fun. When Pinkie Pie realised this, she realised exactly what she had done, and had to set out to correct her mistake. But with all her copies taking all the fun in Ponyville, she began a slow slide towards the not-so-nice end of the Fun Scale. This actually allowed Pinkie to concentrate long enough to win the ‘watching paint dry’ contest, whereas the shallow copies, who lacked the deeper understanding of Fun, couldn’t keep their focus.

***Time***

Now that we have explored the What and the How of Pinkie Pie, we must attempt to explore the elusive question of Why. This is naturally a difficult question to answer, as Pinkie Pie’s entire existence is mostly dictated by the eloquently named ‘Rule of Funny’, which states that ‘As Long as an event is Funny, all other concerns are overridden.’ This means that large parts of Pinkie Pie’s abilities manifest because they are inherently funny, and thus cannot be explained any further.

“Let’s not forget the Sugar Rush ability which I was denied! That would have been really Funny!”

Yes, Thank you, Pinkie Pie. The aforementioned ability, which was planned for Pinkie Pie...wait. What.

“Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie! I would have interrupted earlier, but you were having so much fun, and I didn’t want to ruin that.”

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #442-“And Into her Own Reflection She Stared”
The Prompt: Who Is Pinkie Pie, really?

Ooh, I Like this site! It's got lots of pretty pictures up the top! Look, there's one of Dashie, there's one of me, there's one of Twilight...-Pinkie Pie.

Prompt #443-Family Is Everything...Right?

Whenever Fluttershy talked about her parents, ponies usually assumed that she inherited her quiet and reclusive nature from her mother. She wasn’t sure why, but ponies could be silly like that sometimes. Still, because both of Fluttershy’s parents were pegasi, and therefore lived in Cloudsdale, it was usually Fluttershy who visited them, not the other way around. Rainbow Dash usually tagged along for these vists, because somehow, she always just happened to ‘need to go up to Cloudsdale anyway’. Fluttershy may not have had the intrinsic sense for lying that Applejack had, but even she could spot such an obvious one. Still, she never questioned it too much, grateful for the buffering presence of her oldest friend.

Fluttershy and her parents didn’t entirely get along. They couldn’t understand her fascination and skill with animals, and she could never grasp more than the basics of flight, which disappointed both of them. Fluttershy hated letting ponies down, but sometimes it was unavoidable. And this was why Fluttershy liked having Rainbow there, mostly as a shield. And it wasn’t like Rainbow was oblivious to Fluttershy’s problems with her family. Her parents couldn’t really get started on all of Fluttershy’s failings with somepony else in the room. Still, if Fluttershy had to pick a favourite out of her parents, it was an easy choice for her-her father.

Most of the time, it was her mother who drove the train of failings fowards, and her father trailed behind. Pegasi are a naturally competitive speicies, and that competition is not always between ponies. Sometimes, it was with themselves, striving to be the best. Fluttershy’s mother was a prime example of this-she wanted her children to be the best they could be. Unfortunately, her mother’s worldview was rather archaic, in that she believed that no pegasus could, or should, have a talent tied to the ground so closely as Fluttershy’s was. Thus, Fluttershy was forced to endure constant railings against her flying ability, her weather working skills, which did little to endear her mother to her.

When Fluttershy and her father could get a moment alone though, he would only ever ask one question: “Are you happy?” When Fluttershy answered in the affirmative, he had nodded, and then expressed that while he was disappointed in her lack of flying excellence like her mother wanted her to be, he was at least happy that she was happy, and that she’d found her own special talent. Fluttershy would then give her father a hug, and then she and Rainbow would leave before Fluttershy’s mother could come back.

The truth was that Fluttershy hadn’t inherited her shy nature from anypony in her family. Both of her parents were completely unafraid of expressing what they thought, or what other ponies thought of them. She’d just grown up shy because of that. Her father was the calmer of the two, though, and it was for this reason that Fluttershy liked him a bit more.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #443--“Fathers And Daughters”
The Prompt: Daddy’s Little girl.

Fluttershy is still hard for me.

Prompt #444-"Glad It Wasn't Me"

To Twilight Sparkle,

Trixie hates you. Hate hate hate hate. You stupid unicorn, and your stupid natural talent. Can you not understand that it was an act? Do you not understand the idea of ‘stage presence’? Every stage magician embellishes themselves. While Trixie does admit that some of the blame for the event lies with her, it is not solely Trixie’s fault. It was those two stupid, dunderheaded fancolts, who thought waking up an Ursa was a good idea.

Still hate you.

From, The Great and Powerful Trixie

*****

To Twilight Sparkle,

What are you, the world’s biggest hypocrite? The first time you beat Trixie with sheer magical power against a living constellation, and now you resort to stage magic? Trixie thought that stage magic wasn’t ‘real’ magic? Oh sure, you can spout whatever you like about the ‘magic of friendship’. Trixie will even pretend to listen.

You’re Trixie’s nemesis now, Sparkle. Trixie’s rival. We’ll see who the better magician really is soon enough.

From, The Great and Apologetic Trixie.

P.S. Still hate you.

*****

To Twilight,

Discord? Really? You turned Discord? Alright, so maybe there is something to that ‘magic of friendship’ you keep going on about. Trixie will admit that you have some skill with magic. So maybe Trixie had forgotten that you had been tutored by Princess Celestia.

But still, Discord?

From, The Incredulous and Confused Trixie

P.S. Has anypony told you that you look ridiculous with your mane on fire?
P.P.S. Still hate you.

*****

To Twilight Amethyst Sparkle II,

Yes, Trixie knows your full name. No, Trixie will not explain how. Trixie must also apologise. Again. Trixie has been hearing more and more of your story as Trixie has travelled. You may be pleased to hear that The Great and Humble Trixie is no longer getting laughed out of towns, and her travelling magic show is more popular than ever. But Trixie is getting off track. Trixie will admit that you, and by extension, your hick-town friends, have done some impressive things. Trixie is almost amazed. Almost.

Don’t read into it.

From, The Great and Humble Trixie.

P.S. Seriously, Amethyst?
P.P.S. Still hate you. Really.

*****

To Princess Twilight Amethyst Sparkle II,

I do not hate you. There, I said it. I’m not even slightly jealous. Well, I’m a bit jealous. Go figure. I suppose that this is that ‘Magic of Friendship’ you keep talking about at work. Can’t even be angry at you anymore. Stupid Sparkle, stupid friendship.

If I have learned anything about you over the past few months, it’s that you are probably freaking out right now. Take deep breaths, Sparkle. Repeat to keep living. Unless, of course, you no longer need to breathe, being an alicorn now.

[Time]

If anypony deserves this, it’s you, Twilight. I know you don’t think you do. I know that you think I’d probably be complaining about how it wasn’t me that ascended, but I know I don’t deserve it. I’m not a good pony, and I know it. I don’t deserve that kind of reward. But you? You were practically an alicorn even when I first met you. Not everypony can deal with an Ursa by themselves. And while yes, I am a bit jealous of your power, I can also say, completely truthfully, that I am glad that it was you who won the genetic/magic lottery. Because can you honestly imagine me with your kind of power? The Alicorn amulet proved that I can’t handle power well, mind-controlling jewelry notwithstanding.

Your friend, Trixie.

P.S-You still look ridiculous with your mane on fire.
P.P.S. Your middle name is still stupid.
P.P.P.S See you in a few months. Good luck, Twilight.

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #444--“Instead”
The Prompt: It should’ve been you!

Would have actually submitted this to the tumblr, but my power went out literally as I was getting ready to send it.

Prompt #445-Hey Look, No Tree Sap!

“Hey, Girls, I think I found something that could do the trick!”

“Scootaloo, that’s a Daring Do book.”

“Well, yeah, but it’s not just any Daring Do book. It’s Daring Do and The Font of Destiny. In it, there’s a fountain that can show a pony’s destiny, or wipe it clean.”

“Ah dunno. Seems a bit silly, followin’ directions from a story book.”

“Well, it’s not the silliest thing we’ve done.”

“Ah can’t argue with that, Sweetie.”

“So you girls will give this a shot?”

“May as well.”

“Eeyup.”

“Great! ‘Cause I sorta already started making a map of where we need to go.”

*****

“Y’all are sure we’re goin’ the right way?”

“Positive. We just have to cross the mountains, and it should be somewhere in the swamps on the other side.”

“Somewhere? Scootaloo, please tell me that you know how to actually get to this fountain.”

“Well, the book is a little vague...”

“Ugh. Why Did I let you talk me into this?”

*****

“I HATE mud. Really. I’m starting to see why sis doesn’t like getting dirty.”

“Come on, Sweetie. We’d better hurry to catch up to Scoots.”

“Hey, Apple Bloom? Why’d you come along? I thought you liked your cutie mark?”

“Ah do. But mah sis told me that not lookin’ out for mah friends was the worst thing a pony could do.”

“Do you actually think this ‘Font of Destiny’ thing really exists?”

“Nnope. Fact o’ the matter is, ah know it doesn’t exist.”

“Really? How?”

“In the beginnin’ of every Daring Do book, the author puts a whatchamacallit, dis-something.”

“Disclaimer?”

“That’s it. It says that all magical objects are made up, and don’t actually exist.”

“So Why’d you come?”

“Like ah said. Somepony has to look out for you two, but mostly Scoots.”

*****

“But I don’t get it. It should be right here. Maybe we should have taken a left back at the weird twisty tree.”

“No, Scootaloo. Let’s face it, it doesn’t exist.”

“Eeyup.”

“Apple Bloom, what are you...”

“Read that, Scootaloo.”

“Lessee... ‘All ponies and griffons in this book are not actual ponies, and any similarities to real ponies are purely coincidental. All eldritch abominations and magical artifacts in this book are made up, and do not, and have not ever existed.’ Aw, shoot. You mean we came all this way for nothing?!”

“Eeyup.”

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #445-“Wiping The Slate Clean”
The Prompt: How to lose a Cutie Mark.

Prompt #448-All's Fair In The Music Business

Vinyl Scratch was a whirlwind of magic, mess and music as she flew through the apartment. Her magic was grabbing items left and right, discarding some with casual flicks, and shoving others into her saddle bag.

“Are you going out, Vinyl?” asked Octavia, from her position by her bedroom door. Vinyl paused for a second, her magic suspending two records and a toaster.

“Yeah, I am. Got an interview for a gig. Probably won’t be back until late.”

“I see. Well, good luck to you. I too, am also going out.”

“Yeah?” said Vinyl, her magic putting the toaster back down, and re-inspecting her saddle bags, just to make sure that she hadn’t accidentally grabbed any other appliances, “Where are you going?”

“I’m meeting up with Miss Rarity. She’s in town for the Royal Wedding. She may be able to get me a performance at the reception. Such a performance would be truly wondrous, a truly once in a lifetime opportunity.”

Although Octavia’s voice was calm, Vinyl could see the signs of excitement written all over Octavia’s face. It was this which made Vinyl unconciously swallow, her mouth run dry, and consider her next words very carefully.

“Well, I hope she can get you one. You performing at that kind of event would be perfect.” Vinyl didn’t dare tell Octavia that she was actually heading out to meet Pinkie Pie, the pony in charge of the reception, to be interviewed for that very job. She didn’t want to crush Octavia’s dreams like that.

“And you, Vinyl? Do you know where your gig is going to be?”

“Uh, lemme think for a sec,” said Vinyl, making a show of trying to remember, “The Rusty Horseshoe, or something like that. I’m not sure. I may have been drinking when the guy asked me.”

Octavia rolled her eyes, but wished Vinyl luck, and then vanished back into her room to keep getting ready for her meeting with Rarity. Vinyl, realizing the time, dashed out the door and down the stairs, heading for the place where she was due to meet Pinkie Pie.

******

The Wedding reception had carried long into the night, and for that, Vinyl Scratch was glad. She knew that Octavia, despite her slightly aloof nature, did keep abreast of the news. The fact that the entertainment at the reception had not been announced had only delayed what Vinyl knew would be waiting for her when she got home.

And sure enough, when Vinyl carefully unlocked the door to her apartment, Octavia was standing there, in the middle of the room, the thousand-yard stare fixed on her face.

“Alright, Octy, before you say anything, let me ask you one question. Would it really have been better if I told you what I was going for?”

“It would have been easier, certainly. Not knowing who was picked was sheer torture, Vinyl. Finding out that it was you, from the tabloids, no less, only made it harder. You could have at least told me yourself. You knew that I wanted to play at a royal wedding. And you lied to me.”

“Look, I didn’t want to crush you like that. I wanted to tell you, but after seeing you so excited at the possibility of being able to play your dream event, I just...couldn’t.”

“So you just went behind my back?”

“If it makes any difference, Pinkie Pie contacted me, not the other way around. You’ve been talking about performing at a royal wedding for years, Octy, ever since Princess Cadence became known to you. I didn’t want to take your dream away. I tried to drop hints about you. But I was the one that Pinkie wanted. So I just figured it would be better if I just...you know, never told you. Kept your hope alive.”

***Time***

After Vinyl finished attempting to explain herself, silence persisted in the living room for a while. Then, without saying a single word, Octavia turned away from Vinyl, trotted to her room, moved inside, and shut the door.

“Well,” muttered Vinyl, “that could have gone better.”

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #448-“Dissonance”
The Prompt: Sometimes loyalty requires you to lie, and sometimes honesty requires you to betray.

Edit: This short now has a reading! By the wonderful ObabScribbler! I am totally freaking out right now.

Prompt #449-Understanding Magic

‘The Light, it blinds. The Darkness, it binds. The Love, it cries. The Magic, it dies.’ So reads the inscription above the entrance to the Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. Most ponies who visited the school, even if they noticed the carved words, paid it no mind. For the few who stopped to wonder, the phrase made no sense. Most ponies worked out quite quickly that ‘The Light’ either refered to Celestia, or the sun. And after Princess Luna’s return, many easily made the connection with her and ‘The Darkness’. Some ponies, after seeing Princess Cadence’s special talent, assumed that she was ‘The Love’, and then, after Twilight Sparkle’s ascension and coronation, said that the purple princess pony was ‘The Magic.’

From there, many ponies inferred that the inscription referred to a future time, where Princess Twilight would die, and the other three phrases described how the other princesses would react. And everypony was happy with this explanation. It was nice, neat and wrapped up all loose ends.

It was also completely and utterly wrong.

‘The Light’ was a reference not to Celestia, but rather to her patron school of magic, the Art of Alteration, which could force powerful changes onto the natural world, such as revealing the hidden evils, and bringing light wherever she went. It was this which caused one of Celestia’s titles to be ‘The Harbinger of Change’

Similarly, ‘The Darkness’ did not mean Luna’s control over the moon, or the night, but rather her exceptional command of the Art of Restoration, for it is in the darkness that our wounds bind themselves closed, and the dark of night that offers refuge from harm.

‘The Love’, and its tie with Cadence was the most straightforward of the four phrases. Cadence is a master of the Art of Illusion, able to trick ponies into changing their emotional state. Interestingly, this also applies to Queen Chrysalis, and the Changeling Queen before her, and the one before her, and so on.

‘The Magic’, completely unbeknownst to Twilight, referred to her developing mastery of the Art of Destruction. While Twilight would fiercely debate any preference for any particular school of magic, and the other alicorns had yet to clue
Twilight in on the fact that any pony who was an alicorn, by any means at all, gained an intuitive mastery over one particular school of magic. This instinctual mastery went above and beyond what any pony, even another alicorn, could actually learn.

***Time***

This inherent mastery is also not chosen. What exactly assigns any particular school to a given alicorn is unknown. They suspect that it is somewhat tied to their cutie marks, and thus, tied into the deep, innate magic of Equestria itself.

But even with this knowledge, there is still a gap. The phrase above the School for Gifted Unicorns is incomplete, an intentional mistake. Because there are four alicorn princesses, and five schools of magic. There are only three beings in existence who know the full phrase, and only two of them are Princesses.

‘The Light, it blinds. The Darkness, it binds. The Love, it cries. The Magic, it dies. The Chaos, it rises.’

Author's Notes:

Written for Prompt #449--“Shine”
The Prompt: The Light, it blinds.

And yes, I took the schools of magic straight from Skyrim.