April is here, and with it comes the opportunity for me to post an April Fool. I'm not going to, though, because then I'd have to edit it out again as we reached noon and I'm much too lazy for that. Instead, I'm just going to give you the rules. And no, those aren't an April Fool either. Look, what do you expect from me, originality?

Here are the full rules.
Please use this word counter.

You'll note that Rule 6 accommodates G5 entries. Since this means that an active generation is permitted, please bear in mind Rule 9 on spoilers. As always, comments are welcome in the relevant thread.

Remember, there is no prize, as such, for this contest -- but if you win, you will be able to choose the prompt for the next contest. That's not an April Fool either, I'll have you know! After all, if I wanted to go down that route I'd say something wacky and hilarious like "You will win a pony", because pony fandom, hahaha, right? Ahem. Moving swiftly on...

Prompt: "Knock It Off" (selected by Frazzle2Dazzle)
Rating: E or T
Word limit: 150
Closing date: Sunday 21st April 2024, 11:59 pm UK time (world clock)

Please reply to this post with your entry. This makes it easier for me to keep track. Please do not leave feedback until after the closing date.

Entries are now open! Have fun!

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"Knock it off!" Twilight yelled.

Applejack sighed. "Twi, it's apple-bucking season. 'Tis what I live for. Can't you read yer fancy books somewhere else?"

"No, this is an ideal reading spot. Trees provide shade for me and oxygen for my brain while direct sunlight establishes optimal lighting conditions. So, if you would just knock it off with your knocking, everything will be just perfect."

"It's called buckin', and I ain't knocking it off 'till I knock off the last apple."

Twilight sighed. "If you can't knock them, join them." Her horn blinked and all the apples were knocked off the trees.

The sight knocked Applejack to the ground. “This was supposed to keep me busy for at least a moon. What am I supposed to do now‽”

Twilight knocked off the top book from a tower of books and passed it to Applejack. “Knock yourself off.”

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Happy April y'all!

As winter break began to close, Twilight and Sunset were inspired.

The parakeet Sunset bought to commemorate their time at Equestria Land had gotten them thinking. As Twilight proved during Applejack’s holiday party, the Flim Flam Brothers could be bested, and the girls were eager to make up for their past losses.

With renewed vigor(and copious amounts of research on Twilight’s part), the two visited the amusement park again with a singular goal: winning the milk bottle toss. Supposedly, it was one of the fairer of the fair games.

As the pair reached the booth, they were greeted by Flim and Flam. How the twins managed to run every carnival game on their own simultaneously was anyone’s guess.

On a table stood five bottles. Knocking them down in one ball granted the big prize.

The brothers glared at Twilight. Sunset cracked her knuckles. 

Their parakeet would be earned this time.

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This is something that my own has threatened to do to me.

Rippling sunlight along the silk dress on display, thoughts of the upcoming hoedown begin to envelop Applejack.

She feels a tingle on her shoulder and gyrates it out.

"Hmm... it's too sissy."

Pressure on her shoulder causes Applejack to brush a hoof along it.

"Ahl just wear mah hat there."

Applejack nearly jumps out of her fur upon feeling a slap hitting her on the plot.

"Alright!" she turns back and gives a glare at no body, "You win, ahl wear the stinkin' dress to the hoedown."

Applejack huffs. It was nice reuniting with her at first, but now she's been making up for lost time on everything. Eating, associating, dressing, but she's a grown mare now that can lead her own life.

Turning to the dress, Applejack envisions herself in it. It is quite pretty, and to wear it...

Applejack smiles bittersweetly, "Even in death, you're still motherin' me."

I greatly enjoy interpreting prompts in multiple ways at once. A story with Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo was requested of me by AndyHunter, and I was happy to oblige.

“C’mon, knock it off.” Scootaloo sat before Rainbow Dash, who was keeping an eye on her poorly, meaning Scootaloo was playing in her den while Rainbow Dash slept on the couch.

Rainbow would’ve taken Scootaloo flying, or performed tricks while Scootaloo watched, but her late pregnancy sapped her vigor, so it was up to Scootaloo to make her own fun. Eventually, the fun included Rainbow’s sleeping form. Balanced on Rainbow’s barrel was one of Tank’s chew toys. Rainbow had already shown Scootaloo the ins and outs of her ins and outs, and Scootaloo got it in her head to see if she could make the foal do a trick.

Rainbow’s breathing was gentle, and neither of them moved, however. Scootaloo reared on the couch, and poked Rainbow’s belly with a hoof. “Knock it off, squirt.” Rainbow was asleep again before the last syllable.

“She’s not even trying.” Scootaloo complained, misunderstanding.

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“Sunset?”



At the sound of Pinkie’s whisper, Sunset blinked in the darkness. It was just the two of them, separated only by sleeping bags; their first solo sleepover.

But not, Sunset knew, the first time Pinkie had witnessed this.

“Are you okay? You were crying.”



“It… wasn’t real. Just a bad dream.”



“Was everyone still being mean to you?”



“Don’t worry about it,” Sunset said as she rolled over, away from Pinkie.



That didn’t deter her. “But I want to worry about it. I’m your friend, silly!”



Pinkie had always been affectionate, but that had increased significantly since the Battle of the Bands. In moments, Sunset felt herself being hugged tight.



“I just don’t want you to keep being hard on yourself.”



Sunset sighed. “I’ll try not to be.”



“Okey-dokey!” A deep breath. “AND LEAVE SUNSET ALONE, YOU DREAM-MEANIES!”

Slightly deafened, but comforted nonetheless, Sunset slowly settled back into slumber.

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The cross-eyed gray girl was the perfect mark. Sure, she was more accurate than Flim and Flam had expected, but she still couldn't consistently hit the milk bottles nor could she muster enough force to knock them down. They'd only needed to activate the magnets to cheat once.

"Sorry little lady, better luck next time!"

She pouted.

They grinned.

She turned and waved her hand in the air. "Babe! Could you win me the plush muffin? Please?"

Flim and Flam looked up and knew they were about to give away a prize. 'Babe' was a white and gold man head taller than either of the brothers and massed as much as them combined. Confidently, he strolled over to the carnival booth, took the baseball in hand, and gave it a test squeeze. Then, with a grin, he looked at the milk bottles and replied to his girlfriend.

"Yeah."

Just over two days remaning, folks!

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All right everyone, time's up! A small entry by recent standards, but plenty to consider even so. Thank you to all who entered!

Usual setup applies, so while I'm considering which fic to select as the winner, please feel free to post feedback!

Result coming tomorrow, folks. I haven't forgotten!

7953062
This was simple and cute, but Twilight started out acting unreasonable in this. The show never elaborated on this subject, as it does make Applejack look rather useless, but it hardly matters when using it for a nice scene like this. You can imagine what the title brought to my mind.

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Well, both of you chose the same scenario for your stories. I don't want to be rude, but I believe TCC56 did a bit better with his version, since his felt like less buildup and more knock-it-off action, even though both of your stories never show anything explicitly. I also liked his ending better.

7955158
This is an interesting submission, and the saddest. I don't have too much else with which to comment on it.

7957590
This is another interesting submission, but I also have little to say on it. All of these stories are very short, but this one felt particularly short.

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Hello folks, it's time now for the results post. Given the small entry, albeit (as usual) an interesting and enjoyable selection, there'll just be the one (non-)prize awarded this month. And that goes to... *drumroll*... or as they're more commonly known:

Winner: TCC56 -- A cute, amusing little vignette (can you even have a big vignette?) with Derpy winning the day and the FlimFlams getting their come-uppance. Hard to argue with any of that!

Well done to TCC56; please post your choice for May's prompt when you have it.

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Huh! Well, uh. Let me think for a minute.

How about 'In The Garden'?

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Sounds fine to me. I'll update the front page when I'm back on a computer.

I haven't forgotten about putting up the May thread btw, just been extremely busy. It will happen today!

Edit: Done!