That's right folks, its finally here. Fimfiction has been sorely lacking in Twidance, and what better way to boost the ship than a collab?

Rules copied directly from Twilestia Prompt Tag Collab, which in turn copied it from the Twiluna Prompt Collab, with the original source being the AppleDash Prompt Collab and Drizzle Quill.

Rules are as follows:

Someone starts off by posting a 100-999 word mini-fic about Twilight and Cadance. At the end will be a one word prompt. If you would like to write a 100-500 word Twidance mini-fic relating to that prompt within the next four hours, comment right away to claim that prompt. Post the story when you finish, and add a one word prompt at the end for the next people to claim.

Simple enough?

Just to make sure everything is clear:

* The mini-fic can be in any style, any tag, AU, humanized, whatever. 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 that's just fine. Just try to keep it rated teen or lower and make sure it's 100-999 words of fiction about Twilight and Cadance and 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, make a post with the mini-fic and the next prompt.

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

* In the event that people become confused, and two fics are posted for the same prompt, the first one posted contains the official next prompt.

* Please include a one word prompt at the end of your fic. There are lots of words, and they can mean lots of things, and it's up to the next writer what they want to do with it.

If you'd like to play, I'll make the first prompt. After we have about ten(or so) prompts completed then I (ArguingPizza) will put it into a story and we'll just update that as we play on this forum.

Here's the first prompt, whoever is up for it.

Prompt: Thunder

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More Princess shipping ahoy! Hopefully this will gain steam as this gets going.

I'll take a stab at Thunder.

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Damn, beat me to it.

I think this might be a bit cliche/cheesy but I guess it works.

Prompt: Thunder
A loud crack rang throughout the room, the powerful storm outside was reaching its peak; the winds howled and rattled the windows. Two ponies were lying next to each other by a warm fire or rather they were until one pony had jumped during the last strike of thunder.
“Twilight are you okay?” asked Cadence, wrapping one wing around her companion.
“Y-yeah, fine. Just a bit on edge.” answered Twilight.
“I thought you got over your fear of storms years ago.”
“I did. Well I thought I did but I've been working with Luna a bit lately and well” she trailed off.
“Well?”
Twilight sighed, “It’s her whole dramatic thunder and lightening, she’s toned it down a lot but she still tends to do that from time to time and when she does it just makes me a bit jumpy.”
Cadence hugged her tightly, “I think it’s a bit more than a little jumpy.”
Twilight just huffed, “I guess.”
Cadence was reminded by how this scene was like what had happened years ago when she foalsat Twilight. All those times that Twilight was afraid of the storm, at this point she came up with an idea of how to calm the pony next to her. “It’s been years but maybe we could do what we used to when a storm came?”
“A story?”
“Sure, perhaps this one”, lighting her horn she brought down a well worn book from the nearby shelf, “So how about it?”
Twilight seemed a bit reluctant but then she just nodded and leaned herself in more waiting to hear the story come to life.

Let's see if we can get this prompt rolling.
New Prompt: Cake

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Great start to the collab

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Thanks, I just hope we could get some more people to notice and get this rolling.

3173722 Well, I am in. As soon as I have an idea, that is. We could always do like the other prompt collabs, and throw some more prompts out there to make it easier.

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Maybe we should, biggest problem is this ship is more underrated and less populated than the other TwilightxPrincess ships so it could be a while before gains steam.

3174481 Indeed it is. Other than the one HermitKlam (Celestia bless him) just wrote, there are only two other Twidance-stories probably feely enough for me. One is onesided, the other is far from the point where the romance kicks in.
So yeah, the sooner we get Pizza's story out, the sooner we will be spreading the Twidance. So, if our thread master agrees, why not add, for example, Beach, Bouquet and Bribery?

I might try my hand at Bribery if it is up for grabs

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Alliteration day? I would have said wedding themed but Bribery is unrelated to that.

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Go right ahead.

If Pizza is fine with this then the following prompts are available;
Cake
Beach
Bouquet
Bribery (Bekdontraz)

Bribery:
Twilight groaned looking over her shoulder at her dormitory door. A soft knock echoed through her darkened room.
“Twilight?” A gentle melodic voice called through the wood. Twilight felt a blush creep to her cheeks at the thoughts of the older girl just outside her room. “Twilight, please open up you’ve been locked in there for days!”
“I’ve got to study Cadence” Twilight responded as she stood reaching out to open her door slightly peeking a violet eye out at Cadence. Her blush deepened as she saw the older girl, no woman, standing in a pink dress her hair tied back in a simple ponytail.
“Twiliy come on, you’re already the youngest student in the University. You need to relax some time. Come on, lets go out.” Cadence’s smile made Twilight's heart flutter.
“I can’t. If I don’t study hard I might get sent back to highschool!” Twilight’s response was automatic. She wanted to go, she’d had the biggest crush on her old babysitter for years.
“What if we went somewhere educational then?” Cadence’s purple eyes twinkled mischievously. “Like that Starswirl festival that opened today?”
“B...but those tickets sold out months ago!” Twilight stammered stepping back from her door. That was all the opening Cadence needed she pushed into Twilight's dorm with a warm smile.
“I’ve got two tickets,” She said pulling the golden tickets from her purse. “We can go just you and I.” She waved the tickets in front of Twilight. “I hear they’ve even got several artifacts found in his old study..” She grinned now locking eyes with Twilight. “We could even make it a date..” She added with a wink.
“I..I...need to brush my hair..” Twilight stammered almost fainting.

PROMPT: Popcorn

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Thread master(best title) definitely agrees.

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Claiming Popcorn

3175205 I look forward to it.

3174604>>3173598
I'll claim cake

If it's not taken by tomorrow can I claim Beach?

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You can claim it now if you like. Pretty much the only rule regarding prompts like this is you can't claim your own

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Popcorn

*Pop!*

“That certainly is loud.” Princess Cadance frowned slightly as more tiny explosions sounded from the microwave. “Is this a new brand?”

“Nope. It might be a new bag design though.” Twilight smirked as she trotted past Cadance with a bundle of blankets and pillows for their movie and sleepover night festivities. “Or, it might possibly be my microwave has cheap soundproofing.”

“You can get a better one, you know. You ARE a princess now, Twilight.”

“Maybe. But it still works, so no reason in replacing it.”

Cadance shrugged as the microwave dinged and powered down. Her horn glowed as she took the popcorn and poured it into a large bowl. “How much butter and salt?”

Twilight called out from the library’s main room. “Salt: light. Butter: copious!”

---

The romantic comedy they rented had been beyond predictable. Cadance had to force herself to not roll her eyes every time the main characters got into an awkward situation designed to bring them closer. That she found herself in a similar situation wasn’t lost on her.

About halfway through the popcorn they had somehow migrated under the same blanket on the floor in front of the screen. Twilight had started out the night very animated and teased her about the cheesy portrayal of “love” in the movie. It was just like when they had been younger and instead of a girls’-night-in they were watching a movie while Twilight’s parents had been out and Cadance was getting paid by the hour.

But now...things were different. It wasn’t a cute little foal resting against her shoulder. It wasn’t a dorky prepubescent unicorn snuggling into her side as they watched a movie before bedtime. It was Twilight. Twilight, the adorable savior of both Equestria and the Crystal Empire. Twilight, the alicorn Princess of Magic itself and her very own sister-in-law.

Cadance knew love. To many, she was just as much the Princess of Love as Twilight was Princess of Magic. She knew that she loved Twilight just as much as she would if they were sisters by more than marriage. Cadance also knew lust. She knew passion and desire like the back of her hoof, as they so often were the boon companions of the love she controlled.

Cadance swallowed the lump that kept forming in her throat as Twilight yawned and pushed herself closer. The mare was older and wiser now but she still seemed to have the habit of leaning on other ponies when she got tired. Cadance did her best to control her breathing as Twilight got comfortable against her. If she could hold out until Twilight fell asleep then she could extract herself and get to her overnight bag in the bathroom and Twilight would be none the wiser.

Perhaps she should have invested in more saddlebags, then she could keep her pills on hoof for whenever the need arose. She was certainly in need tonight. The repetitive thoughts were already starting. She kept her eyes and ears on the screen as the bumbling stallion knocked over a fruit stand in a fumbled attempt to avoid being caught staring by his paramore. She couldn’t even remember the character’s names or how the movie had reached the scene. Twilight was starting to crowd everything else out of her mind. She could smell Twilight’s shampoo as Twilight continued to lean onto her shoulder.

That old familiar burn started to build up in her nethers. The tingle it sent up her spine felt good but she knew it for the siren’s song it was. If she didn’t put a stop to it soon she would be in for a very uncomfortable set of conversations later, to say nothing about what it would do to her pride. She hadn’t had a relapse in months and having one during a rare free moment with Twilight was the last thing she wanted.

A loud crash from the movie snapped Cadance’s thoughts back to the here and now. Another funny scene was playing out and she couldn’t remember how it had been reached. The tingle felt like a live wire worming through her. She couldn’t wait any longer.

“Twilight? Could you pause the film? I have to visit the little fillies room.” Cadance stood abruptly and shrugged off the blanket. If Twilight noticed the stiffness in her movements she didn’t mention it.

---

Cadance sighed as she looked back at herself in mirror. Her deceptively festive pill organizer sat open on the counter, now missing one of the tiny blue doses. The tingle faded quickly. Her heart was slowing back to normal speed and her crotch didn’t feel hot enough to set fire to anything. She kept her breathing deep and even and focused on a spot of wall just above and to the right of her head. It usually took about twenty minutes for the medicine to kick in. She couldn’t hide in the bathroom that long without raising questions from Twilight however.

Cadance stood and flushed the toilet for effect while she closed and slipped her organizer back into her overnight bag. She could do this. It was Twilight. Her sister, for crying out loud. The medicine quelled that urge. She had to have faith. The medicine and the therapy silenced that voice. She had to have faith. She was a normal pony.

She had to have faith.

Ok, gonna try doing a series of connected prompts with this. We'll see how that turns out.
Word Count: 894
Next Prompt: Brother

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Nicely done, an interesting idea and will be looking forward to it as you build on this.

3176449
Oh this was good. I'm looking forward to more of this

And we have officially reached critical mass for the Collab, though I think I'm going to wait until we have at least 5 prompts up before submission.

Claiming Bouquet.

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I just hope I can treat the subject of addiction and recovering from it with the proper weight it deserves.

3176003 IN the morning then oh benevolent overlord.

3176501 The Fuzzy One is here!
Nice prompt story, looking forward to the continuation.

3176685>>3176629>>3176501>>3176493>>3176491
Sorry that this took longer than expected. I was busy throughout the day and didn't really have a chance to do it.
Current prompt: Cake

Twilight Sparkle raced back to the library with a couple of bulging saddle bags, filled to the brim with ingredients for a delicious meal. She burst into the door and slid to a halt, panting heavily as she stopped. Cadence had her tongue stuck out a corner of her mouth as she tried to gather up the ingredients they did have.

“Cadence, I got the other ingredients. Now what?” Twilight asked her. She had no knowledge of whatever Cadence was planning prior to her grocery shopping. Cadence smiled at Twilight. While Twilight was out buying groceries, Cadence had been preparing everything else. She had a couple of mixing bowls set out and her own set of ingredients placed beside one of the mixing bowls.

“Now. I want you to get your ingredients out and placed them next to the other bowl.” Cadence instructed. Twilight did as told and waited for more instructions. This was like what they used to do when Twilight's parents were out. “Remember how we used to bake cakes and make it a race between us?” Cadence asked Twilight.

“Of course I remember … NOW I know what we're doing! We're doing a cake race!” Twilight said in delight. She gave a jubilant smiled and waited for the starting cue.

“Three ...” Cadence started the countdown.

“Two ...” Twilight continued it.

“One …” Cadence finished the countdown.

“GO!” They both shouted at the same time. Cadence immediately grabbed the flour and dumped about half a bag in the bowl. She then grabbed a couple of eggs and lightly tapped them against the side to crack them. She then split both eggs and tossed the shells to the floor.

Meanwhile, Twilight had carefully measured everything out and placed the right amount of flour in the cups. She tapped the eggs against the bowl, cracked them, and tossed the egg shells into the nearby bin. She then added about 500mL of milk and stirred the current concoction to make a paste. In a separate bowl, with amazing speed, Twilight created the other part of cake batter.

Cadence was just tossing her ingredients in left and right, trying to be the first one to finish. After making sure it was the right amount of course. She added the milk and quickly stirred it; cake batter flew everywhere. Cadence then prepared the other half of her cake in a separate bowl like Twilight. After doing so, Cadence then immediately poured all of the mixture into the bowl and stirred to make both batters mesh together and create one smooth concoction.

Twilight was already at the oven stage and it was just baking now.

Cadence was lucky that she preheated both ovens. She immediately placed the cake batter into the oven and slammed the door shut, nearly putting the flame out in the back.
-----------------------------------------------------
“Phew.” Cadence said after she was sure that both cakes were cooking nicely.

“I think I won.” Twilight said smugly.

“Ha. Don't be so sure.” Cadence replied and immediately started to laugh. Twilight joined and they both laughed until the ovens went ding.
-----------------------------------------------------
“Spike! Can you come down here please?” Twilight called out to her assisstant. When there was no answer, Twilight walked up the stairs and into the room she shared with the drake. She found Spike sleeping soundly. Grinning, Twilight teleported the both of them out of the bedroom and into the main part of the library.

“Ouch. I was having a nice dream about ice-cream.” Spike's mouth watered at that. Cadence giggled and used her magic to levitate both cakes out of the kitchen. Spike's face fell when he saw the levitating cakes. “Nope. Not doing this again.” Spike crossed his arms.

“Not even for a gem?” Twilight asked him and waved a big emerald in front of his face.

“You got me there. If this turns out like last time then this will be the last time I'm taste testing your cakes.” Spike sighed and grabbed the gem, making sure to save it for later.

Both ponies smiled at the slightly-suspicious dragon and Cadence levitated both cakes in front of him.

“Which cake are you going to try first?”
-----------------------------------------------------
Spike was currently in the bathroom and vomiting up the contents of both cakes.

“I didn't think they would be that bad.” Cadence said with a slight smile.

“That's because he tried your one first.” Twilight smirked.

I don't know what the word count is on this because I've been using OpenOffice.
Next prompt: Fish

3176449

Really, really nice. Managed to say so much with so little.

Also, tentatively claiming Brother.

Beach:
Cadence stretched out her arms under her aunt Celestia’s morning sun. The golden warmth illuminating the white sands all around her. Her tanned skin warmed by light she smiled unwrapping the silk skirt from around her waist and setting it on her light purple beach towel. She giggles glancing out and seeing her personal guards off in the distance.
With a slight pout she glances around wondering where her date was. It wasn’t like Twilight to be late. A smile grew on Cadence’s lips as she remember all the little freak outs the young Aetherian had over the years. It seemed like yesterday Cadence was bribing her former charge out of her dorm into the world, or trying to get Twi to calm down and just kiss her Princess.
A flash of purple light and a slight pop of air signalled Twilights arrival.
“There you..” Cadence trailed off turning to see Twilight standing nervously fidgeting with her hands. The scholar wore a dark purple bikini that showed more of her dark skin than Cadence had ever thought she’d see out in public. A nervous blush appeared on the girl’s cheek and she smiles. Cadence eyes were drawn to a simple necklace hanging across Twilight’s chest. A light crystal heart on a silver chain.
“H….hey” Twilight forced a nervous smile. She gasps as Cadence moves forward sweeping the girl into her arms and kissing her deeply. Their lips meeting Cadence giggles pink wings of mana forming from the taller woman’s shoulders and wrapping around to obscure the lovers for a moment.
“Where did you get this?” Cadence asked gently lifting the stone.
“I was researching in the library and I came across a book. Did you know that there was once an Empire in the north whose symbol was the Crystal Heart?” Twilight smiles and traces her finger over the similar mark on Cadence’s left shoulder blade. “One that looked just like your mark. It would help protect the people of the Empire and was said to help guide the peace of Equestria as a whole. I decided to make a necklace to remember both the legend, and my Princess” Twilight smiled up at Cadence.
“It is beautiful. I love the bikini too..” She added with a wink and smile. “My little Twiley is growing up.” She stepped away her wings folding and fading as she swoons in pride. Twilight laughed and mock pouted sending a burst of sand against her lover.
“Study showed that showing skin was a quick way to get an emotional response from a loved one.” She grinned and raised her head “I guess I should just head back to the libra...EEK!” She squealed as Cadence tackled her lifting her and gliding out over the water before dropping her into the warm ocean water.
“Sorry Twi, You were about to summon the soup box.” She said landing gracefully in the water swimming over to the floundering scholar. Twilight just smirked at her
“See if I dress sexy for you ever again.”
“You’re always sexy to me Twilight” Cadence pulled her into a kiss and smiled. “Lets just enjoy the day off from our lives.”
“Yes Princess” Twilight replied with a dopey grin

PROMPT: SWEET TEA

Prompt: Bouquet

Engulfed in her magic was a bundle of flowers that she had just received from Twilight as part of the birthday gifts she had brought over. It was a pleasant change to see the lavender unicorn, it had been a while and her job as an ambassador for Equestria meant she was often out of the country. She had returned to Equestria only a few days ago, in time to celebrate her birthday although the lavender unicorn had shown up with gifts a day early, her birthday was tomorrow.

“Thank you, Twilight although my birthday is tomorrow.”

“You’re welcome and I remember but”, Twilight hesitated, “I thought I could bring them over early and spend some more time with you. We don’t see each other very often these days.”

Cadance reached a foreleg over and hugged the the unicorn, “You’re right we don’t. I wish we could however but I’m usually aboard and even when I come home to Canterlot there might not even be time to see you. It’s also nice to find you somewhere other than buried in the Royal Archives, perhaps this is like before when you declared yourself the Queen of All Books.”

Twilight blushed, “Oh very funny, yes the mare who loves being buried in books and you who has to rescue her every time. This sounds so much like a fairy tale of a damsel and knight minus the dragon.”

She had yet to open her gift, that she would save for tomorrow but she turned back to the bouquet intent on placing in a vase, the bouquet consisted of a large cherry blossom as the center, her favourite flower, surrounding it were purple lilacs. A pretty combination of purple and pink and an unusual choice too, for many flowers all had different meanings. Cherry blossom could mean beauty and purple lilacs…. She did a quick double take, yes these were purple lilacs; purple lilacs were popular in Equestria to represent…. first love. She looked again, the colours of the flowers matched her coat and Twilight’s and Twilight likely knew what these flowers meant. Twilight may have been inept at social interactions but she had knowledge at her disposal, she either knew it or could find it.

‘She has a crush on me, this is unexpected but welcomed. I knew we were close when we were younger and I had realized we shared something special especially after she had left for Ponyville but I didn’t think I would have tried anything this soon. Maybe in a few months when I would be returning to Equestria for an extended stay but not now. I had no idea that she might have felt the same though but it’s hard to figure out when we can’t see each other very often.’

She turned back to Twilight who was shifting from hoof to hoof.

“You know what these flowers means right?”, her hopes rested on the following questions.

Twilight hesitated on answering but eventually nodded.

“Twilight, do you mean this?”

This time she answered, “I-i do. I-i’ve tried to s-say something for a while now but I wasn’t sure what or when….”

At this Cadance leaned in to kiss her, “I think I feel the same, so should we give this a shot?”

Had a second more comedic idea, come to me as I wrote this prompt, about how they got together which I will write soon. On the theme of birthdays/celebration and food prompts, New Prompt: Alcohol.
Another note with all the food prompts lately should we resubtitle this prompt as TwiDance: Shipping with Food?

3177874 I don't hate that idea.

3176491
By my count we have 6 prompts down so the posted story phase can begin!

3177874

New Prompt: Alcohol

Another note with all the food prompts lately should we resubtitle this prompt as TwiDance: Shipping with Food?

It's probably just what's on our minds. Or near at hand. Heaven knows I've just looked around my computer for an object to suggest as the next prompt.

3178468 Why I have no idea what you mean -sips glass of tea with pinky out-

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Alright, story has been submitted. You can see it right now here to if you'd like to double check the formatting for your stories at this moment. If I formatted something in a way you didn't like or missed an italics or something, PM me and I'll fix it immediately.

Side notes: I'm gonna go ahead and claim fish.
Active prompts are:
Sweet Tea
Alcohol
Fish(claimed by me)
Brother(claimed by Pearple Prose)

Edit: And its live.

3179119
I was planning on claiming Alcohol but wanted to wait and see if someone else did first. That being said I'll go ahead and claim alcohol now.

I haven't seen a prompt yet that jumps out at me. Give me something OTHER Than food to work with, I've already got a Raridash project that involves food.

3179119
I shall claim your Sweet Tea.

3177004
This somehow reminds me of your addition to the Marshmallow Prompt Collab.

Prompt Sweet Tea

Twilight shifted in her seat slightly, looking out over the Crystal Empire as a distraction from her current problem. The humming from the mare next to her as she sipped on her tea made this difficult, however.

Cadence looked over her empire with a slight smile, happy with how things have changed for her. From her chance to escape the prudent nobles to being able to live happily with the pony she truely loved. Cadence was truely happy.

Twilight took a sip of her own tea, somehow unsatisfied by the taste it left in her mouth. Twilight stuck her tongue at as she glared at her cup. Cadence, catching her look, giggled lightly. She used her magic to loft Twilight's cup back to the lavender unicorn's lips. Twilight begrudgingly took another sip.

Before she could swallow, Cadence pulled the cup away and put her lips in its place, causing the unicorn before her to freeze. Cadence held the kiss for more than the nessecary time, enjoying the slight moan from Twilight. She giggled as she pulled away.

Twilight gulped down the contents in her mouth, finding the flavor to change. It was....sweeter. The unicorn giggled with a blush as she took another sip of her tea, leaning against Cadence as the couple watched the lives of their subjects below.

Even though I kinda wanted to due this prompt and it is probably the most generic ever.....
New Prompt: Pregnancy

3180119 IT IS MINE! AHAHA!

*cough*

Claiming Pregnancy is what I want to say.

3180190
Sure. Totally what you wanted to say....

3180263 You can't prove anything!

3179119 So, Big Boss O great and honorable Thread Master, what is the policy on going a bit... over 1000 words?

3180455 I put the limit at 999 since at 1000 you can publish it independently. What you could do if you'd like, something I've seen before is posting a trimmed down version or perhaps a fragment of the document as the prompt, and publish the complete version yourself. Or, if you feel like it, you could write an entirely new thing for the prompt here and self-publish what you have now.

3180489 Well, I am at 1075 and nearly done. There is not enough context to publish it individually, and it won't fit into the beginning of the Twidance story I have lying around. So I'll see if I can get it down under 999 and get back to you.

3180489 Right, I am never doing that again, just 'cause it feels really bad. My poor baby, cut down to exactly 999 words. Next time I go over the limit, I'll either restart from scratch or drop the prompt.

Anyways, here is the cut-down version of Pregnancy.

"Congratulations, me."

Cadance's whisper was the only noise sounding in the empty examination room of Canterlot Palace. Empty, except for her and the official document confirming what she already knew.

Pregnant.

Wrapped in her telekinetic aura, she had looked at it for the last ten minutes. It felt unreal, as if it might disappear, as if she would wake up at any moment. As if it was just a strange and intimidating dream.

She was happy, really. Shiny and her got along great, she had always wished for a loving family, to have foals of her own she could care for ever since she was a teenager.

There was knocking at the door. Hastily, Cadance put on a smile, and called "Come in!"

The door opened silently, and Cadance felt the familiar shiver of nearby alicorn magic. She felt her heartrate jump. It couldn't be...

To her relief, it was Celestia who stepped in, smiling.

"Congratulations, Cadance", Celestia said with a nod towards the floating piece of paper.

"Thank you", Cadance replied, smile warming. "It still feels a bit unreal to me, though."

There was something strange about Celestia's smile.

As fast as it had gone, Cadance's unrest returned.

"Is there something wrong, aunty?", she asked.

"No, not as such", Celestia assured her.

"Cadance, I know that few parents want to find out the species of their foal beforehand", Celestia began again. "I have to tell you, however."

Cadance held her breath.

"You're going to have an alicorn filly."

They stared at each other, Cadance's expression of shock turning to confusion.

"And that is a problem?", she asked with more than a tinge of hostility in her voice.

"A problem?" Celestia shook her head slowly, seemingly to dispel Cadance's anger. "No. However, since the foal belongs to a magically gifted species, we - or, in this case, I - took some additional measurements, just as a precaution. Her magic is strong. Exceptionally strong, in fact. Since there are no known cases of alicorn pregnancies, we can not rule out that this is normal. However, I felt something... familiar. So I personally tested the magic aura."

"It matches your own, in part, that much was obvious. But it did not match your husband. It matches Twilight."

Cadance felt her heart hammering in her chest. She wanted to shout, to accuse Celestia of making a joke. of trying to aggravate her.

"W-what are you saying? Do you think I cheated on Shiny? With his sister?" Her voice felt weak, and she had to take deep breaths to calm herself.

How could that be? She would never...

But there was a treacherous part of her mind that usually was content to remain silent during the day. It waited for those rare moments where she was alone, where she was not Princess Mi Amore Cadenza of the Crystal Empire, only Cadance, who dreamt of the fairy tale ending to her story...

That part found its voice now.

"But you want to", it said. "You wanted it for years. Only you were afraid to take a chance, to woo the shy, bookish mare you grew up with. The dashing knight was just so much easier to handle, right?"

Cadance felt the tear sting in her eyes.

"I never...never..." was all she managed to get out, her lips quivering.

"Cadance, listen to me!" Celestia's wing came out of nowhere and wrapped her in a warm cocoon. Desperate, she threw herself at her aunt, wrapping her hooves around the taller alicorn.

"I don't believe for a second that either you or Twilight would be capable of something like that. I know as sure as I know that Luna is my sister that both of you are incapable of something this deceitful."

"T-then what are you telling me?", Cadance whispered. She pressed deeper into the great white wing rubbing her back soothingly.

"I do not know. Is there maybe something you should be telling?"

When Cadance said nothing, Celestia continued. "We alicorns are deeply magical beings, not only in what we project on the outside. For example, Luna is much more attuned to my magic than to Twilight's, because we are sisters and thus much closer than she and Twilight are. We both feel the magic of the other influencing the moon or the sun."

"And you? You are the princess of love. And just maybe you longed for something, deep in your heart."

Cadance looked up into Celestia's face. She knew that she had to say it now. She knew what had happened.

"I... I wanted this", she said with a rough voice. "My body reacted to Twilight's magic because... because I am in love with her."

She gasped.

"I am in love with Twily", she repeated slowly.

She felt Celestia kiss her forehead softly. "I am glad", the older Alicorn said.

"But what should I do now?", Cadance asked, head once again buried against Celestia's neck.

"You came to Canterlot for the examination for a reason, didn't you? The only thing to do is tell them both. It won't be easy. Ponies will get hurt. But in the end, you have to follow your heart. Can you promise me that, Cadance?"

Cadance swallowed. It would be hard. She had no guarantee that Twilight would accept her. That Shining Armor would talk to her ever again.

But for the sake of the filly growing inside of her, with Celestia as her witness, she would try. And maybe she would have the family she always wished for.

"I promise."

New prompt is Longing.

Here's Fish

Twilight was a mare of many words. Her former side-passion as a librarian had brought with it an expansive vocabulary that would put a dictionary to shame. Her studies, both arcane and scientific, crafted her brain into a fine-tuned classification and designation machine. Last, but certainly not least, a friendship with Pinkie Pie brought with it a fountain of probably-not-actually words such as ‘nervouscited’ and ‘fantasterrific.’

Yet, as she watched Cadence laying morosely on the end of an empty pier at the farthest reaches of Horseshoe Bay, she had no idea what to say. Instead, she sat frozen next to her (former?) sister-in-law, the black dress she wore swaying in the light breeze blowing off the sea. Cadence’s own dress, or rather the shredded scraps that remained, floated on the surface of the dark blue Marediterranean.

The silence was chokingly thick, interrupted only by the sound of a pink hoof swirling about listlessly in the water. A small school of fish swam circles around the intruder, occasionally darting in to nibble in search of a meal.

Normally, the action would never fail to make Cadence giggle, but she didn’t flinch. Her face remained locked, her eyes glazed over and puffy from crying. Her fur was matted and dirty and her mane hung limp and lifeless.

Twilight took a moment to curse herself for being unable to console her friend. But what was there to say? The Princess of Harmony felt as if her stomach had been pulled out, mulched, and placed back inside ever since she had received news of her brother’s…she couldn’t bring herself to even think the word. For Cadence, it must have been a thousand times worse.

Lacking words, Twilight settled for laying down beside Cadence and draping a wing ever her. Cadence barely stirred, but did edge the smallest bit closer to Twilight. It wasn't much, but it was progress.

Next Prompt: Beneath

3180627 well damn, nice..

3180627 I know that feel. I'll put your story up tomorrow, since Bakmah Genesis's Sweet Tea went up today. I'm going for one a day, since Fuzzyfurvert's idea to give authors more individual exposure on their stories worked.

3180627
My I take this idea and turn it into a fic? (One shot or short multi chapter.)