A collection of short oneshots and drabbles from various prompt tag group collabs I have participated in.
A collection of short oneshots and drabbles from various prompt tag group collabs I have participated in. Mostly shipping. Who am I kidding, of course it's all shipping!
Twilight wandered around the gardens of the castle aimlessly, enjoying the peace and tranquility. She needed time to think, and for once the stuffy interior of her private office wasn't going to do it for her.
She stretched her wings and bent down to look at a pink rose. Celestia had told her they’d been genetically engineered using the DNA of two different types of flowers. Twilight had always found genetic engineering fascinating, and in fact they’d there were stories of technology that could clone a pony properly.
Maybe there would be time to oversee and participate in the process, if her royal duties allowed time enough to get away -
“If I pushed you in the flowers, would you tell Celestia?” a male voice sounded from behind her, and Twilight Sparkle nearly did fall in the flowers, except this was from shock.
“Discord, what are you doing here? Are you following me?” she questioned, narrowing her eyes at the grinning draconequus.
“It’s a free country. And you looked troubled. I merely thought I could offer a distraction for your so obvious sorrow.” He smiled at her.
“Well, you’re not really helping, are you?” She frowned, sitting down on the grass neatly.
“Did you expect me to?” He chuckled, then snapped his fingers. A purple cloud appeared, and he rested on it beside Twilight. “Tell Uncle Discord your troubles. Your wish is my command.”
Twilight snorted, then sighed. “You wouldn't understand.”
“Wisdom, comes with age, m’dear. You can’t stay silent forever, Twi.”
Twilight sighed again. “There’s this mare -"
“There always is. Is she cute?” Discord winked at her, and she glared back.
“Not helping,” she said through gritted teeth.
“Don’t worry, I’m sure Pinkie Pie would give you a chance. She sounds like a mare who doesn't like turning people down.” He smiled - kindly for once. Maybe he really was trying to help.
“Yes, but now that I’m an alicorn, she may think - wait, PINKIE PIE?! How did you - When did I - What?” Twilight Sparkle stammered, blushing faintly.
She took the ‘kindly’ back now.
“You talk in your sleep,” Discord said with barely contained mirth.
“Have you been spying in my bedroom?” she yelped. He placed his paw on her shoulder.
“I like to help out the guards at night by looking in to all the rooms, using my magic. I may have happened upon you having a … interesting dream.” He smiled at Twilight’s quickly reddening face. “And I’m sure all your thoughts are poppycock. From what I’ve heard, she thinks the world of you. So, off you go. Move.”
Twilight grinned at him warmly. Discord reformed wasn't actually that bad.
“Oh, and take this.” He plucked the pink rose from the flowerbed, “and don’t tell Celestia.”
Twilight walked away, happy with Discord’s reassuring advice. Suddenly, a thought struck her.
“Wait, how can I trust your advice?” she called back to Discord, who was juggling spoons and carrots.
He smiled cheekily back at her. “There is no logic in love, after all.”
The Canterlot graveyard was always full with people paying their respects to their loved ones, laying flowers on the graves and polishing statues until they shined. But tonight it was empty.
A single mare walked alone, her path one walked by many, as she made her way into a separate area, more like a garden than a grave for a much-loved pony.
One statue towered above the grass, the polished, well cared-for marble shining in the moonlight. It depicted a unicorn, a crown resting upon her head depicting the same star of her Cutie Mark.
Just a statue. They never found her body.
The mare sniffed, tears clouding her eyes so she couldn't read what was engraved on a plaque below the statue; she’d memorized it a long time ago.
There is knowledge, and there is wisdom. To be wise you must truly understand what it means to be alive. What it means to love. And the magic that is friendship.
Knowing there was no one around to see her, Pinkie Pie’s tears fell freely as she laid the flowers on Twilight Sparkle’s empty grave. They’d buried the coffin anyway. Celestia insisted.
She never showed a liking towards flowers - much preferred studying them to admiring them - but Pinkie Pie knew her absolute favourites were pansies. Purple pansies.
“Wait for me, my love,” she managed to say through her tears. She said this every night, asked the same thing of the cold lifeless statue and the crumbling earth. “Wait for me.”
And every night, she swore she could hear the ghost of a voice on the wind, faint and strained, as if speaking was an effort. A very familiar voice of the unicorn she loved.
Celestia was used to order. To things going the way she planned, ponies listening to her - after all, she was their ruler.
Chaos had never appealed to her. She liked her routine and she planned to stick with it for another thousand years.
Though, there was a part of her routine that got a bit ... lonely, to put it nicely.
She was awake during the day, and should be asleep during the night, but her mind was active, rearing to go, ready for excitement and wonder.
But she was alone during this time. Her sister was working, and she had next to no friends or colleagues that she could consider spending this time with.
However, there was a certain appeal in disguising herself and mingling with regular ponies. It was definitely interesting seeing how they treated and thought about her when she wasn't wearing a crown.
And, if in these escapades she did happen to have somepony take her home, well, it was an advantage. A very pleasant advantage.
But she'd never in her wildest dreams think she'd be picking up someone she knew - and then Rarity came along and spotted her in the crowd right away, seeing straight through her mask.
Celestia did always appreciate those who saw her for who she was.
She'd also never think that this arrangement would be semi-permanent. Then again, the whole point of this exercise was to change her schedule.
Maybe "Rarity-time" was a decent addition to her timetable.
Celestia stood on her balcony, staring out at Canterlot, watching the ponies go about their nightly business. It was a wonderful sight that always made her a little bit nostalgic. Canterlot was her city. In a way, she felt like a proud mother, looking at how it had flourished under her rule. The sky was beautiful as well; Luna had done an excellent job. The stars were bright, the moon was clear, and it was a perfect evening.
Well, almost. Celestia was never a big believer in perfection, choosing to set her views in a more realistic fashion. What was the point in lying to herself anymore? She was done with lying and scheming.
So her night was not perfect. It was close to midnight, and the slow clam of the evening was dying now, being replaced with the bustling Canterlot night scene. Ponies laughed and joked with each other, cracking jokes and having fun.
Celestia sighed. It had been a while since she'd had a chance to actually relax. Maybe she needed a holiday.
She chuckled at the thought. As if Equestria could bear to give up its beloved leader for a week or two.
No, it was better if she stayed where she was doing exactly what she did best.
And what she did best was rule. However, she could have a little fun on the side - she was a princess, she must be entitled to it somehow.
She smirked, thinking of the fun she was going to have this evening. It had been months since she had seen him, he'd been off doing whatever he did best, while she was in Canterlot doing what she did best. But tonight, at midnight, it would be just them.
She sighed at the thought, like a teenage filly going on her first date. 'Sentiment' seemed an appropriate word to use, but love seemed a bit too ... vague.
What she had been through with Discord, all the things they'd done to each other ... they had passed love long ago, left in in the dust on the trail of broken hearts.
Sentiment.
She could hear a clock chiming midnight and her body tensed, knowing the time was drawing near. The time when she would finally be with her beloved again.
He was never late, and true to her word she felt the familiar pop as he materialized behind her. His lips found her neck and kissed her lovingly, on the spot he knew made every nerve in her body tingle.
"Ready to do what we do best?" she muttered into his ear. Discord smirked at her and pecked her on the lips.
"Of course I am. Who do you take me for?"
And so they carried on walking the trail of broken hearts, streaked with blood and tears. It may have been love, but by this point Celestia found she didn't care any more.
Celestia yawned, thankful that nopony was around to see her this disheveled. It had been a long day filled with many tedious royal duties, and she was just about ready to drop. All she wanted to do was curl up and sleep for ten hours straight, and maybe even cuddle with Twilight for a bit. She hadn't seen her since this morning; their schedules were often so packed nowadays that they could never find the time to see each other.
Celestia smiled as she thought of Twilight, and her pace quickened as she walked along the corridor leading to their quarters.
She knocked softly on the door out of habit, and the creaked open the door, staying quiet in case Twilight was already asleep.
What she found shocked her, though in hindsight she should have seen it coming.
Twilight was sat at her desk, her reading glasses on her face - and that's when Celestia knew this was bad. Twilight almost never wore her glasses unless she'd been straining her eyes.
Twilight had a simply ginormous books propped open, and she was taking notes while reading the pages carefully, her lips mouthing the words on the page, and habit of hers she'd never been able to break.
"Twilight, what are you doing?" Celestia sighed in an exasperated manner, though she wasn't really annoyed. She found Twilight's dedicated approach to learning admirable, but there were times when she just had to put her hoof down, and this was one of them.
Twilight blinked, as if she'd only just noticed Celestia's presence.
"I'm just reading this new book on ichthyology!" she chirruped, managing to sound energetic and enthusiastic even at eleven o'clock at night, though the small yawns that peppered her speech betrayed her.
Celestia came over to Twilight and nuzzled her. "My dear, you simply can't carry on like this. We're both tired, why don't we just get some rest, hmm?" She finished her little persuasive speech with a kiss to Twilight's cheek.
"But the ichthyology -" Twilight began to protest, but Celestia interrupted her swiftly.
"- Can wait until tomorrow. I don't even know what that is!" Celestia said. twilight removed her classes and set them down, following her love to the bed they shared.
"It's the study of fish and -"
"Twilight?"
"Right. Yes. Sleep. Sorry."
Celestia pecked Twilight's cheek again as they cuddled together.
"Goodnight, Celestia," Twilight murmured, feeling sleep take over her mind after it had been active for so long.
"Dream of ichthyology tonight," Celestia joked.
Twilight stifled a chuckle, and it was the last sound that was heard in their quarters as they both fell into a deep slumber.
"Darling, I simply don't see why we need to sit in the cheap seats. We deserve better than this," Rarity said, shuffling around uncomfortably. It wasn't that the cheap seats were badly made, but the idea of sitting in them was putting her off and she just could not settle down.
Twilight giggled. "Rarity! Don't be so uptight! These are just as good, and they're cheaper. Besides, it's good to show that we're ordinary ponies. It sets a good example."
Rarity sniffed. "I suppose so."
Twilight laughed again, knowing that Rarity hated admitting that she had been snobbish. She tried her best to be above such notions, but her old side shined through sometimes.
"Do you want a jelly filly?" she asked.
"Excuse me?"
Twilight held out a striped paper bag that she was levitating. Inside were several sweets dusted with icing sugar in a variety of rainbow colours. Twilight took a red one and munched on it happily. "They're very nice."
Rarity gingerly took one and placed it in her mouth. Twilight watched, grinning, as Rarity pulled a face.
"Lime," she said, the only explanation she was offering. Twilight smiled, and the lights started to dim.
"What are we seeing tonight?" Rarity whispered to her.
"To be honest, I'm not completely sure. I've never heard of it, but it appears to be good. It's called Wicked and it's about - " Twilight began to explain.
"Dear, you should have mentioned! Wicked is simply marvelous!" Rarity exclaimed, trying desperately to keep her voice down when inside she was exploding in the best possible way.
Twilight's face fell. "You've seen it before? I was hoping we'd both be surprised."
Rarity hated seeing Twilight downtrodden, and she pecked her marefriend on the cheek. "I'll gladly see it over and over again for the rest of my life," she reassured her, "and to watch the mare I love experience it for the first time is worth every second."
Twilight smiled and gave Rarity a long kiss, pulling away as the music started. "Thanks, Rarity," she said simply, and rarity smiled warmly, knowing that for Twilight, that was the sincerest form of gratitude.
Maybe the cheap seats aren't so bad after all, she thinks to herself.
Jack grunted slightly as she lifted the heavy pile of wood onto her back, her muscles tensing and her red checkered shirt soaked with sweat. She wiped her forehead dry with one hand and started to lug the wood across the orchard. They'd just decided to put a new fence up around the outside to replace the shabby old one, and Applejack hopefully wanted production to be over by the end of the week. It was supposed to be especially hot and, although she loved her work, these were the days she just wished for a chair in the shade and a nice cold glass of apple cider.
Glad that she'd already put her toolbox under a tree the night before, Jack placed the wood down with a sigh, pausing to stretch and feel her muscles pop. She grinned at the familiar sound and grabbed her tools, ready to tear down the old fence and start putting up the new.
She spat on her hands and started to pull some of the wood apart, tossing it into a pile. Later they'd probably use it for a bonfire; the old wood wouldn't be much useful any other way.
Unbeknownst to her, she had gained a small audience of one as she worked, her undivided attention focused on not getting any splinters.
Rebecca stood under a tree, her lace parasol at her side and a glass of apple juice in one gloved hand. She made a stunning sight, her purple curls piled on top of her head in a way that looked both messy and tidy. Her usual extravagant clothing had been replaced with a simple white dress because of the heat. However, Rebecca, while usually a vain creature by nature, was entirely focused on Jack as the farm girl worked.
She was extremely drawn to the blonde for reasons she could not explain. They should have hated each other, because what else could they do? It was almost as if they were born with such different personalities they were destined to hate each other. But there was almost a hint of mutual respect between them, though she couldn't figure out why.
She should have hated Jack Adams. Instead, she found herself admiring the other girl's strength as she lifted wood up into the air and hammered it into the fresh earth.
She watched, unnoticed for a while, captivated by every move Jack made, every time her muscles could be seen flexing through her tight shirt.
Rebecca pondered on what a shame it was that Jack never wore a dress. She really would look quite nice - but then again, there was a sort of rustic charm to her usual apparel that Rebecca almost craved.
Finally, Jack turned towards her and noticed her casually leaning against the tree. Rebecca calmly took a sip of her apple juice, displeased with the fact that her ice cubes had melted so quickly, as Jack marched towards her. She placed it on a wide branch and made a mental note to come back for it later.
"May I help you?" she said, sounding vaguely frustrated. She hated being interrupted while working.
"I'm fine, thank you very much. I'm just simply observing you. Don't mind me." Rebecca smiled charmingly, licking her lips slightly.
Jack paused, finding herself drawn to Rebecca's luscious, full, red lips. She snapped out of it, shaking her head.
"Well, if yer not goin' t' offer a helping hand, then I'll just leave you to yer 'observing'," Jack said, strutting back to her work and lifting a particularly heavy piece of wood, her back straining with the wait.
"You're awfully strong, you know," Rebecca commented, her melodious voice a distraction for Jack. She sighed as she placed the wood down and leaned on it, accepting the fact that she was going to have to take a break for a while.
"I'm fit as a fiddle," she said offhandedly. "Listen, Rebecca, I gotta lot of work t' do today. I appreciate your support, but yer a bit of a distraction, to be frank with ya."
"A distraction?" She raised one eyebrow coyly. Jack swallowed.
Rebecca sashayed towards her, holding her parasol over their heads. "You know, I could help take some of that work off your delightfully strong shoulders," she said, leaning close.
Jack chuckled nervously. "I never figured you to be one for hard labour, Rebs."
Rebecca laughed, and to Jack it sounded like chiming bells. She placed one gloved hand on her shoulder and smiled charmingly.
"Not that kind of burden, darling."
Rebecca leaned forward just a tiny bit more and brushed her lips against Jack's sensually, surprised when the other girl gave a throaty moan and pulled their bodies together.
Jack hadn't realised how much she'd needed this until now. She supposed it was good to occasionally get a friend to take the burden off your back sometimes.
Jealousy was an unattractive look. Rarity of all ponies knew that. It was the facial expression you wore once your mask had slipped away, and it just wasn't becoming. Jealousy was ugly, green and sharp and sinister. It did bad things to a pony, mad things, and jealousy was a cruel master. You'd do things you would never normally do.
That was exactly the reason Rarity refrained from being jealous. Oh, she might have been in the past, but now she was wiser, now she knew that it just was not worth it in the slightest. She didn't need to be jealous. She had brilliant friends, she'd saved Equestria several times and her business was booming. She had everything she'd ever dreamed of as a little filly. Life was beautiful.
But then again ... she always felt something was missing. She felt empty inside sometimes, like there was a hole that needed to be filled, a gap in her perfect world. She threw herself into her work, into making her friends happy, yet there was still something wrong.
But no matter. It could be ignored.
But it couldn't. When she saw Pinkie Pie with Cheese Sandwich, laughing and spending all their time together, perfectly in sync, she knew what was the matter.
Some people got lucky and found their soulmate early. Others had to work harder for it.
Rarity had missed what had been staring her in the face for years and now ... Pinkie Pie was gone.
Rarity could feel the jealousy bubbling up inside her like a potion, spitting and shrieking and she shoved it back down again unpleasantly.
She wasn't going to get jealous. It just wasn't becoming for a lady like her.
The next dress she had to make was a wedding dress. She still didn't get jealous. The years passed, and she learnt to reel in her emotions, make a mask of perfection and forget all the pain she felt.
But when she had to make a dress specially adjusted for pregnancy, she did allow herself to get jealous. Just for a little bit, a bout of self-loathing.
After all, this was all her fault. If she hadn't been so stupid all those years ago she would have realised what Pinkie Pie meant by how she was always hanging around Rarity, always ready to help.
Then she wouldn't have to get jealous, have to break her mask.
But Pinkie Pie was with Cheese Sandwich now. They were married, and now expecting a foal. Jealousy was useless. She couldn't change anything, as much as she wished she could.
Wishing was for idiots. And so was jealousy.
Rarity guessed that made her the biggest idiot of all time.
Rarity looked at the room in satisfaction. It had been painted a light purple, with darker purple flowers scattered about. There was a mural of Celestia and Luna on the wall above a cot, and the carpet was a soft pale pink. The room was covered in toys, from a stuffed plush pink dragon to a working train set. There was even a pillow made to look like a cupcake. The room was perfect.
Rarity smiled, looking down at her swollen belly. The little filly would be coming any time soon, and Rarity really shouldn't have been up and about - Pinkie Pie insisted that she rested properly, the mare could be so protective when she wanted to - but she wanted to see the room one final time before the intended owner took over.
She wondered what their little girl would look like. Would she be a unicorn or an earth pony? Would she have a wild curly mane like Pinkie Pie or would it be curled like Rarity's? Dark or light eyes? A light pink or grey coat? Rarity almost squealed with excitement. She had been looking forward to this moment for the better half of six years, and now it had finally arrived. She and Pinkie Pie were finally going to have a family, a real family.
And Rarity almost couldn't believe it. Ten years ago if anypony had told her she'd be married to and have a daughter with Pinkie Pie, she would have scoffed in their face. But now it was reality. Pinkie Pie wasn't a prince in shining armour, she wasn't a high society businessmen, she wasn't even a rich model or actress. She was simple baker and party planner from a small town, and she was about as different from Rarity as night was from day.
But she wasn't simple at all. She was the most complex, beautiful, hilarious mare that rarity knew, who valued her so much and made her feel that every day was perfect when they were together.
Yes, they were different, but Equestria itself proved that night and day together were a strange but wonderful match. Together, they completed each other.
Rarity smiled, tears in her eyes as she thought about the years she'd spent with Pinkie Pie and the years that were to come - with their daughter by their side, a perfect combination of night and day.
Rarity's life was in no way going in the direction she'd planned, but just like her wife, it was full of unexpected twists and turns.
And just like her wife, she wouldn't want it any other way.
"Applejack, could you at least try and brush your mane for once?" Rarity said, wincing as Applejack glared at her - the look had been known to make mountains quiver.
"Not all of us have the opportunity to make ourselves look real pretty now, Rarity," Applejack said stubbornly, standing up from where she'd been sitting on the couch and going to look out the window. Rarity tossed her own mane.
"Well, you've got the time now, haven't you?" she asked. "Let me do your hair, darling. Just the once."
The corners of Applejack's mouth lifted into a small smile. "Are you meanin' to tell me the whole darn reason you asked me over hear today was so you could braid my hair like a filly?"
Rarity scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous ... that was only 25% of the reason."
"And what was the other 75%?"
"Never mind, dear. Now, may I do your hair or not?"
Applejack sighed. Rarity was going to keep pestering her if she didn't give in, and there was no way in Equestria she wanted to hear Rarity whine at her.
"Fine." She sighed again.
Rarity squealed in excitement. "Oh, you won't regret this, dear. Trust me!"
"Just get it over with, plea - hey!" AJ complained as Rarity yanked her over to sit on her haunches beside the coach, and undid her hair ties with magic.
"Now, just sit still," she commanded. Applejack could almost feel Rarity looming above her while sitting on the couch, brandishing all her hair products. It made her feel very small very suddenly for some reason. Rarity had always seemed larger than life, larger than small-town living. She was as large as life in Canterlot, bigger and bustling and brighter and just more than anything Applejack knew. She was overwhelming.
A sharp tug on her hair brought her out of her thoughts.
"Could you try and be a little more gentle?" Applejack asked.
"Could you stop fidgeting? It's very distracting," Rarity said, but she said it fondly, and Applejack found she didn't mind complying and had no retort to make.
They spent time in comfortable silence, Rarity's brush combing through Applejack's blonde mane, easing out the tangles and frizz. It hurt at first, but soon, as rarity continued her efforts, it grew softer and softer until running a brush through AJ's mane was almost like running it through water.
"Like melted down gold," Rarity muttered.
"Did you say something, sugarcube?"
"No, no, I ... Nothing. Stay still," Rarity said, applying a gel to smooth down her mane. Applejack shivered slightly. "Done."
"That's it?" Applejack was shocked; she had expected something like this to take longer for some reason.
"Darling, it was half an hour. I wasn't expecting it to take that long myself," Rarity commented, as if she had read her mind. Applejack really didn't believe it had been that long. How could it have been that long, when all she did was spend it in silence with Rarity? She thought she'd have felt time drag on by in an event like that.
"Well, don't you want to see how it looks?" Rarity didn't wait for a response but simply dragged Applejack over to the full length mirror hanging on the wall.
Applejack stared at herself. It seemed as if Rarity had barely done anything, but there was a huge difference in her appearance. Her mane was loose and hanging down in soft waves like sunbeams. She stared at herself in shock for a minute.
"What do you think? Don't you look simply stunning?" Rarity said. She was feeling particularly proud of her work for some reason.
"Ah guess," Applejack said. "Do you think I look pretty?" she asked. Suddenly, it was of the utmost importance that Rarity answered this, and she didn't know why. It left an uneasy feeling in her stomach.
There was silence for a minute. Rarity blinked. "You look wonderful now, dear," she said.
"So what about the other times?"
"I-I'm not sure what you mean, Applejack," Rarity stammered.
Applejack snorted. "Of course ya don't. All you fancy people like is style. As soon as that goes away, you don't see anything."
Rarity tensed. "That is a ridiculous notion to make!" she exclaimed. "Applejack, you know I am nothing like any of those Canterlot ponies in this regard. I wouldn't be that type of pony ever, especially to you!"
"Then just say that I'm pretty!" Applejack yelled at her, blood rushing to her face. She stared Rarity down for a moment, and then turned away. She couldn't believe she was getting upset about something so small, but for some reason it mattered to her. She wasn't sure she wanted to know why.
"I think it's time I took my leave of absence. Goodbye, Rarity," Applejack said coldly, placing her hat on top of her hair and then leaving, taking extra care to slam the door.
Rarity winced. "Oh dear," she said to herself, staring at the red hair ties AJ had left behind, lying limply on the ground like flattened rose petals. "Oh dear," she repeated. "I think I've made a very big mistake."
