When some birds are born
Their mothers throw them from the sides of the nest
And tell them to fly.

An entry for the Thousand Words contest. Stop being weird. This is serious.

Following the accidental demise of an aging Lightning Dust, her lifelong photographer Photo Finish opens a new show in her memory. You wander the gallery walls examining each image carefully. As they flow together, slowly, a story begins to emerge. Is it the right one? Who gets to tell it? Who was Lightning Dust, really?

A meditation on memory, art, and time.

An entry for the May Pairings Contest 2023. Check out the other entries here!

An athlete like Lightning Dust is no stranger to doctor visits, and a nurse like Speedy Recovery is no stranger to receiving patients. It would take something pretty cataclysmic to throw them both off.

Or maybe all it takes is three bolded words on a psych results sheet.

This is an entry in the Snippet Series, an anthology of old oneshots I (and my good buddy Str8aura) wrote based around interesting pics I found. New ones will be posted every Thursday for the foreseeable future. If you like this one, check out the others!

Two years ago, Rainbow Dash stole Lightning Dust's dream from her. While the Element Bearer went on to become a Wonderbolt, Lightning Dust faded into obscurity. She worked what jobs she could find, but, bitter and broken, she spent more of her evenings inside the bar than outside of it. For two years, her dreams of becoming a Wonderbolt were just that: dreams, shattered and empty.

Then one night, Rainbow Dash reentered Lightning's life. The conversation that followed would lead Lightning on a second chance to achieve her dreams. But she never could have imagined what else she'd find along the way.

Editing and Prereading provided by Hap and SolidFire
Cover art by 8BitAmy
Honorable Mention in Jake the Army Guy's Horseword Extravaganza

Speed Reader may only be a temporary product of a fusion spell brewed by Dash and Twilight, but she's still got the Wonderbolt Barracks to herself for a whole half hour before she splits again. Just long enough to tangle with someone whom her halves would most certainly kick to the curb if either of them were in control.

But they're not in control. Speed Reader is. She can read ponies like books, and Lightning Dust is after something in the archives. Something important.

Now with a written review!

This is an entry in the Snippet Series, an anthology of old oneshots that I (and my good buddy Str8aura) wrote based around interesting pics I found. New ones will be posted every Thursday for the foreseeable future.