PROMPT TAG COLLAB

Welcome to the official prompt tag collab of the Cutie Mark(ed) Crusaders group! As long as a single writer wants to carry this on, this collab will never die. Wow, it's immortal!

HOW IT WORKS

CREDIT: THIS COPYPASTA ORIGINALLY COMES FROM THE APPLEDASH PROMPT TAG COLLAB AND IS INTENDED TO BE FOR SHIPPING GROUPS, BUT HAS BEEN MODIFIED TO SUIT THIS GROUP'S USES

I'll start off by writing a very short (100-1000 words) CMC mini-fic about the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who can be with or without their cutie marks. When I'm finished with it, I'll post it in this thread accompanied by a one-word prompt at the end. If you would like to write a 100-1000 words CMC mini-fic relating to that prompt within the next few days, comment right away to claim that prompt. Add the story to this thread when you finish and post a one-word prompt at the bottom of it for the next person to claim.

Simple enough?

Just to make sure everything is clear, then:

- The mini-fic can be in any style: AU, humanized, whatever, as long as it isn't NSFW. It can be a cute scene, a snippet of conversation, or an excerpt from an Equestrian history book. It's not expected to be preread or proofread, and if you've never written before, it's fine. Just try to make sure it's 100-1000 words of fiction relating in some way to the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and make sure it relates somehow to the prompt you claimed.

- Claim prompts with a quick post responding to the last post. Just the word "Claimed" is fine. When you finish, add the mini-fic here, and post the next prompt in this thread as well.

- Your claim is valid for a day to keep someone from accidentally holding things up all week. After a day, another person can post a claim for the same prompt. If you ran out of time, and no one else has claimed it, just go ahead and reclaim it if you still want to write it.

- In the event that people become confused and two fics are added for the same prompt, the first writer to have finished and posted the next prompt is the one to decide the next official prompt.

- Please post a one word prompt in this thread after you post your fic here. There are lots and lots of words in the English language, and they can mean lots of things, so it's up to the next writer what they want to do with it.

- Prompts cannot be used again. For example, if Sad has already been used, then you can't do it again. Be creative with your prompts!

The first prompt is Disaster. Please do not claim this as I'll be writing this myself.

Anyways, if you have any more questions, please do not hesitate to ask me via PM.

Prompt - Disaster

Scootaloo groaned in exasperation. "Guys... I know it's great that we have our cutie marks now, but ever since we got them, every day is just so boring!"

Apple Bloom cast a sideways glance at the pegasus. "Well, Ah sure can't say that Ah'm not agreein' with ya. It has been pretty boring, y'know."

Sweetie Belle snorted, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, and our big sisters are too busy with their own stuff to let us help them. I'm happy for Rarity now that she's got a huge order to fill, but whenever she does so, she completely ignores me!"

Scootaloo kicked at a nearby rock, sending it flying. "Rainbow Dash says she's too busy practicing some new tricks. She won't even show me, for Celestia's sake! I'm supposed to be her number-one fan!"

"Applejack and Big Mac's been busy with the apple harvestin', too. Even Granny Smith's up and about, dancin' all over the place now that Zap Apple season's gettin' near."

Scootaloo suddenly stopped as an idea came to her, her eyes lighting up.

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom halted as well, glancing at their friend curiously. They recognized that excited look on her face; it was one they were too familiar with.

"We could go to Twilight!" Scootaloo squeaked excitedly. "She's bound to have something for us to do! I mean, she's the Princess of Friendship now! We could help her with her royal duties!"

The other two Crusaders exchanged glances with each other before smiles slowly crept onto their faces.

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS ROYAL HELPERS! YAY!"

"Oh, hi girls! What brings you here today?" Twilight asked, opening the door for the three fillies.

"We want to help you with your royal duties!" Scootaloo responded with a huge grin.

"Our big sisters are busy doing stuff, so we thought you'd have stuff for us to do!" Sweetie Belle piped in.

"We're gettin' really bored. There aren't any ponies that need our help," Apple Bloom added.

Twilight smiled. "Well then, that's great! You can help me with reshelving the books in the library!"

"Girls! When I said reshelving the books, I didn't mean this!" Twilight's eyes were wide with shock as she inspected the scene in front of them. The library was in a state of disarray even worse than it'd been before. Books were scattered all over the place, loose pages were lying around, and most importantly, the Cutie Mark Crusaders themselves were standing on top of a hastily built book tower.

"Oh, er..." Apple Bloom chuckled nervously.

"This will take even more time to clean up!" Twilight groaned, facehoofing. "SPIKE! WHERE ARE YOU?"

"Coming, Twi!" Spike's voice called back from somewhere else in the castle.

Twilight turned back to the three fillies. "Girls, I really do appreciate your, erm... dedication, but I think you should go home now. It's getting pretty late and your sisters must be worried sick about you."

"But Twilight-" Scootaloo began, only to be silenced as Sweetie Belle placed a hoof over her mouth.

"Let's just go, okay? We've caused enough trouble for Twilight already!" Sweetie Belle hissed, releasing her grip only after Scootaloo nodded.

"Alright then, Ah guess! See ya later, Twi!" Apple Bloom hurried out of the castle, followed by Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.

Twilight sighed. "I'm really in the mood for some ice cream right now..."

Next Prompt - Fun

Claimed! Story comes swift!

The Crusaders came to a halt as they had brought some distance between them and the castle. Now they allowed themselves to trot again. Twilight could be very dangerous if somepony did something to her books and while in the library, they already saw that risky glimmer in her eyes. She could barely hold herself together. But now, they were far away enough.
Scootaloo sent another stone flying. "Great, now Twilight gave us something to do and that turned out as so boring that we started to play with the books instead and now she threw us out and we have nothing to do once again!"
The other two fillies just nodded sadly. "I wish we could have some fun!", Scootaloo said groaning.
"Did I hear fun?", a voice suddenly sounded out of nowhere.
In the next second, Discord appeared at their side. Usually they were happy to see him, but now not. They were just sad and so were the looks they gave him. "Oh my, why are you making those faces?" he said, pretended to be shocked.
"Because we don't have anything to do and we're bored," Sweetie Belle answered.
"Oh, bored you say? Let's say if I can't change this!"
By a quick snap with one of his fingers, their cutie marks suddenly got detached from both sides of their flanks and the six symbols floated into Discord's claws.
As they had arrived there, he started to juggle them.
"Hey! Give them back!", Apple Bloom yelled at him.
"Oh, but why would you want that?" he asked. "Didn't you say you want to have some fun?"
"Yes, but that ain't funny!" she replied.
"Yeah, Apple Bloom's right!" Scootaloo added. "Do you really think it would cheer us up to be blank flanks again, or what?!"
Discord's face became pale. "Oh. I suppose that's right."
He snapped his fingers again and their cutie marks appeared back on their flanks where they belonged. All three of them did an instinctive look on their flanks to see if everything was alright.
As they had made sure that their cutie marks were really back, on both sides of their flanks, in the right colors and not suddenly upside down, they sighed relieved.
"I had better laughs than that....." Scootaloo said and crossed her hooves, still miffed by Discord's stupid joke.
"So, where's ya fun now?" Apple Bloom asked provocatively. " Ya claim ta be able ta do something funny for us and now we wanna see if ya really can!" She smirked.
"Oh, most certainly, my dear Apple Bloom!" With these words, Discord snapped his fingers again and when the Crusaders looked around, they couldn't believe their eyes.

Next Prompt: Crush

4843425 What do you mean by crush btw? Sorry I wan to write but I've no idea right now...

4844317

What do you think it means? The prompt collab is all about own interpretations, you can do everything with a word that comes to mind.
Just think about what "Crush" can mean and let your mind wander from there.
It doesn't have to be more than 100 words.

4841075 4844580

Oh really so that how it works huh? So I have to leave it to my imagination about what the prompt means to me huh? Well, at least that answers that question… Okay then let us begin then! Claimed the Crush Prompt!

The Crusaders were watching somepony, specifically Lyra, on a wheelchair getting crushed by random objects. First a flower pot crashes on their head, then an anvil, then a hay wagon, and finally being crushed by a piano. They were rubbing their eyes trying to understand what Discord was showing them. Discord hid a smirk as he asked, “Well? What do you think?”

The three rubbed their eyes again before glancing at the Chaos Spirit at first very not pleased, before covering the mouth as they snickered. After some snickering, it erupted into laughter, “Ah said fun! This is not a’ all fun! This is just crazy awesome!”

Discord laughed seeing them, “Well if you look up you’ll laugh even more seeing who dropped those.”

The Crusaders indeed only to laugh out louder seeing Derpy scratching her head, “My bad Lyra! I just don’t know what went wrong!”

Lyra’s head popped out of the junk looking at Derpy, “Oh sure like you did not know! I seriously wonder how you became a mailmare in the first place.” Derpy just shrugged with a funny smile

The three fillies slowed died down their laughter as they looked at Discord, “Thanks Discord we really needed that.”

Discord still felt a bit mischievous, “Well then, you want to see another funny trick?”

All three stood up as Sweetie answered that question, “No thanks Discord, I think we’re good for now. We’ll just take our leave.” The fillies left him as they walked home. Sweetie still could not stop snickering a bit imagining that over again, “I never thought to see something like that!”

“Yeah! I don’t think I’d be forgetting that moment ever!” They continue up the route to see something they did not expect.

Next Prompt - Scary

4844605

Scary, eh? I'm not claiming it yet, but if no one else does I will.

No one wants to take the "Scary" prompt? Well, fret not!
Scary is my metier, so have fun with making your pants wet as this prompt is now taken!

All of a sudden, it became dark around them. They had not seen the sun going down behind the horizon, it was just like somepony had switched off the light. Besides, it was too early to get dark anyway.
And strangely, it wasn't COMPLETELY dark. There was a weird, green glimmer around them everywhere, that managed it to light up the town a little. It looked eerie and gave them shudders.
"Girls?" Sweetie Belle squeaked in fear. "What is happening here?"
"I don't know....." Scootaloo answered. "But I have no good feeling and I don't like that."
Like to confirm her feelings, a loud siren suddenly sounded across town.
The air flickered and slowly, the ground underneath them, the buildings, the fountain, everything around them changed. Where the town looked once nice and clean, everything was dirty now, like Ponyville had been abandoned for hundreds of years.
Then the creatures came. They looked like ponies, but their heads were growing out of their chests and where their heads should have been was just a open stump that allowed to look into the inside of their throats.
The creatures were all dirty and bloody and from their throats emerged gurgling sounds. It seemed like they tried to speak, but couldn't because their heads weren't connected to their vocal chords.
And as the fillies just saw now, their heads didn't even make any movements. They didn't turn them around and there was no blinking of their eyes. Instead, the eyes were permanently closed.
But somehow, the creatures could see the three fillies anyway, which became apparent to them as they suddenly started moving into their direction.
"No! No! No!" Scootaloo expressed in fear, then she pushed her two friends who stared in complete shock and dragged them along with her, until they suddenly started to move away from the demons on their own.
The three fillies began to run. They called for Discord to help them, but the draconequus wasn't here anymore and they received no answer.
Dashing as fast as they could and dodging several of the scary creatures, they saw a big building in front of them and ran up to it.
As they had reached the door, they quickly proceeded to open it, rushed in and slammed it shut behind them. There was a bar on the door and they put it down to prevent any of the creatures from coming in.
Turning around, they saw where they were. They had entered the Ponyville Hospital, once a nice, friendly place, but now it was as dirty and scary-looking as the rest of Ponyville.
A foul stench waved through the air. "Okay and what now?" Scootaloo asked. Her voice was shaking.
"We need ta find somepony ta help us. Come, girls!" Apple Bloom said.
Together the three fillies ventured ahead into the dark building.....

Next Prompt: Nurse

4853610 4841005 Nurse eh? Well might as well continue this then, claimed the Nurse Prompt!

Venturing further into the building, they discovered some of the changes were getting more profound and the smell of death lingered within their nose. Around a corner, they heard a scream of a pony echoing through the hallways, one that sounded familiar to their ears, “Nurse Redheart!”

All three bolted pass through the swinging doors trying to find the elusive mare. Her screams echoed through the hallways getting louder as they closed in on the mare. One more scream was elicited from her and it was very loud. All three reached the room where the last scream was and saw the nurse sitting completely still, “Nurse Redheart, yer okay!”

Apple Bloom stood there seeing the nurse has made no movement to acknowledge that they were there. The silence was deafening for the three of them as they looked at the nurse, their heads tilting to the right wondering why the eerie silence, “Uh, Nurse Redheart, are you okay?”

Sweetie was worried for the nurse. Every few heartbeats the three made almost felt like hours as she just stood there motionless. She wanted to investigate what was causing this but the situation they were in what with the dilapidated environment, was not making this easy for them.

Scootaloo, despite her shaking voice, was offering to check the nurse out first, “I…I can check her out if you two. I mean.. I’m not afraid of anything at… all.” Despite trying her best to be brave for her friends, her body and her voice was shaking from the fear welling up inside her as she gulped.

Apple Bloom did not want her to investigate alone. All of this reminded her too much of what happened when she ventured off alone chasing after a ghostly filly and leaving Twilight's side. She did not want that to repeat to her friends, “How ‘bout we all check out Nurse Redheart? Ah’m afraid o’ all o’ this as much as ya three are...”

Both Scootaloo and Sweetie were silent as they look upon the nurse again. The utter silence and the loneliness of the three looking upon a still Redheart was enough to make them want to run away from the sight. Sweetie broke the silence wanting to end this morbid curiosity now, “I can’t take this anymore you two, can we just check up on her and go now? This whole place is scaring me…”

Both nodded silently nodded as they moved forward to scan the nurse. At first sight, upon getting close, her body looked as normal as it should be. Her coat had no signs of damage; her cutie mark was still there, and not a mess on her mane and tail. Those only made their worries escalate seeing almost no sign of a struggle.

Seeing the backside was in the clear, they went to check out the front of the mare. Upon seeing the front side of the mare, silence claimed all three of them as they saw what made the nurse speak no more.

Next Prompt: Suspense

4902240

All of this reminded her too much of what happened when she ventured off alone chasing after a ghostly filly and leaving Twilight side.

I see what you did here...

4902276 I couldn't help myself! It was too perfect for me to not pass up!

4902288

Oh, you sly dog...

4902297 Does Fluttershy's evil laugh in The Best Night Ever episode

4902301

Don't you dare drag poor Flutters into this!

4902309 I'm not dragging her into this, she's joining on her own volition! HA!

4902315

*looks at your comments again*

*squints at words*

*realizes something*

Wow, you've used the insane Pinkie emoticon in every single comment.

4902322 So? I don't see a problem with it, nope not crazy here

4902325

And you just did it again.

4902347 I've gone crazy with the Pinks!

4902354

I don't even...

4902240

Very good prompt. I'm getting ideas from this.
But I'll wait a little to see if someone else wants to take it.

4902240 I! CLAIM! SUSPENSE!

Scootaloo's wings suddenly clamped down against her sides, her chest struggling to force air into her lungs for just one desperate, horrified squeak of terror. Any more air than that, and she would've surely shattered her throat like a wineglass hitting pavement.

Sweetie Belle's breath came in quick, rapid bursts, sounding like a dog who'd just finished a marathon. Her eyes remained fixated, unblinking through the tears that painstakingly made their way down her cheeks and onto the floor. If only she weren't panting so viciously, the drip of water into a puddle could be heard, forming near her hooves.

Applebloom was frozen at the sight before her. Every muscle she had seemed intent on keeping her there like some sort of slowly breathing statue. The soreness from keeping so still crept steadily down to the core of her bones, before it began to take root in her very soul.

They each heard what could have been the snap of a bone or the crumpling of a paper, which signaled them, as one, to scream.

And scream.

And scream.

Until...

Next Prompt: Lollipops

-Ru

5361926
Claimed. And continued.

"For Celestia's sake!" Applejack's voice cut over their screams. "It was her celery!"
The three crusaders stopped and looked up. The nurse at the table looked back, stock still, half the celery still in her mouth. She chewed once, awkwardly.
Applejack sighed and rubbed her hoof against her temple. "It ain't as big a deal as you're making it out to be," she groaned. "You crashed, you got scraped up, you need a tetanus shot. That's. It."
"I don't like shots," Sweetie Belle whimpered.
"You'll like tetanus worse," Applejack growled. "They called it lockjaw back in my day. Locks all your muscles tighter than a tree trunk in the middle of winter."
"All your muscles?" Apple Bloom asked fearfully.
"All your muscles," Applejack confirmed. "Your legs don't work any more. It always starts there. Then your face muscles. Then you start to have trouble breathing. And can't nopony do a thing about it."
The three crusaders were shivering once more, but this time not from rain.
And then the door opened. "Alright," Nurse Redheart said. "Who's up?"
"Me! Me! Me!" The crusaders shouted in unison and dove for Redheart's legs. Redheart looked down at the pleading fillies with mild surprise. This was not one of the more common reactions to having to get a shot.
Still, she was going to take full advantage of this.

***

Applejack smiled, relieved, as the four of them left the hospital. "You all doing ok?"
The three crusaders nodded happily, band-aids on their shoulders and lollipops in their mouths.
"Sure am!"
"You bet!"
"Totally worth it."
Applejack stopped short.
Scootaloo blushed. "Just kidding."

Next prompt: light

5362008
Claimed. :T

"... well," Applejack resumed talking-- and walking-- in the direction of Princess Twilight's castle, "Ah hope ya'll learned a valuable lesson from all of this."

The cutie mark crusaders followed a few feet behind, only partially listening to Applejack's lecturing, "Um, crusaders?" Apple Bloom mumbled past her lollipop as she walked between her two friends, "Ya think we just got duped?"

"What do you meant?"

"Ah mean--"

There was sudden flash of light, a crashing explosion and debris was strewn in every direction. Applejack was thrown for loop, flew backwards through the air and came down hard head first against a wall, leaving wide patch of cracks. She slumped to the ground under where she'd landed, unconscious, and her trusty Stetson settling down softly on top of her upturned rump.

Apple Bloom coughed. Her ears were ringing and her vision had become blurred by the sudden explosion. She waved the smoke away and called out for her friends, "Girls!" She began looking around frantically, "Are you okay?"

"We're fine," Sweetie Belle's voice returned through the white noise and she, with Scootaloo slumped against her side, stepped forward to join Apple Bloom.

"What they hay happened?" Scootaloo coughed and pushed herself away from Sweetie Belle's side. She wobbled for a moment before regaining her senses.

"Ah don't know." Was all Apple Bloom could say. She glanced around again. Best she could remember, they'd just gotten to the entrance of Twilight's Castle, there was a flash of light, and an explosion.

A throaty roar sounded, echoing from all directions through the fog. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo clung to Apple Bloom's side making her jump, "Wh- What was that?"

Next Prompt: Machete

Okay, I cheated. Wrote it then claimed.

Hi guys, thought I'd join in on the fun.

5479844
With a swish, the machete sliced through the undergrowth, and Scootaloo ducked underneath.
"The great adventurer, Scootaloo the Spectacular, carves her way-"
"Spectacular?"
Scootaloo scowled. "I needed a good adjective."
Sweetie Belle pursed her lips. "Yeah, but 'spectacular' makes it sound like you're a magician."
"I am," Scootaloo insisted. "I turn thick vines into open paths." She demonstrated by swinging the machete again, clearing the way again. "See?"
But her two fellow crusaders were looking past her. Uncomfortable, Scootaloo turned to see what they were looking at.
"Whoa! It's a hobo camp!"
For thus it was; a ratty old tent only partially set up, surrounded by junk. Scootaloo tipped over an old can of beans with the tip of her machete. Sweetie Belle lit her horn and lifted up a ponyform head with strangely colored things sticking out, as if it were a manestyle from Tartarus.
"Zephyr Breeze was here," Apple Bloom read the words etched on a tree.
"Zephyr Breeze was a slob," Sweetie corrected, barely daring to poke her head inside the lean-to.
"Yeah, sorry, girls; I don't think there's any treasure here."
"Maybe friendship is the real treasure?" Sweetie Belle suggested, looping her forelegs around both her friends' shoulders.
There was a pause.
"Should we go west, now?" Scootaloo suggested, pointing with the machete.
"Yeah, west is good," Apple Bloom said. "There's gotta be something out here!"

Next prompt: sleep