Alrighty everypony, it seems like the Hundred Member Games are going smoothly and as planned. While we wait for our final admin interviews, it's time for the second event! Behold, the Drabble Contest!

In this contest, every member of the group is invited to write a drabble and to post it on this here thread. All of us adminy ponies will read them all, then choose our favorites for the prize of... *pause for dramatic effect* recognition! That's right our six favorite drabbles will be posted on the front page of the group for as long as we see fit.

So get on it! Write those drabbles. The contest is open for a week!
For those who don't know, a drabble is a fanfiction of five hundred words, no more, no less. It'll be a challenge, but I've got faith in you guys!

Grumble I say! You got me into trying to write again! Grumble I say! Grumble!

599387
Drabble contest, huh? Heck, I'm game.

Well, I have an idea, but I'm not centairly sure I will manage to write it in exactly 500 words...

Anyway, good luck for all participants! Stay Awesome!

599387 Sounds good! Do the five hundred words include the title?

599430

No, just the fic itself.

Hey, I just came up with an idea!

Okay, you will choose 6 the best stories, but why only publish it on front page of group? Maybe let's publish it like : "Authors Helping Authors Short Stories, or whatever you will call it.

So we can just start posting the fics here whenever they're ready?

599449 Well if we publish it on front page... you'd clicks on your user and thus you get views for the stories you've written.

599457

yes indeedy

Grandma Got Run Over by a Rainbow

By: BassTheBrony

Dear Diary,

She's finally cracked, she has. My granny's got totally loco in the coco, and this time I mean it! This is nothing like the talking lion incident. She was walking home Christmas Eve, when she was apparently run over! No, not by a car, nor even a reindeer, but a pony with wings. Yeah, that's right, a pony with wings, imagine that. She claims that the pony who ran her over knocked her unconscious, made her faceplant, right there in the snow. Now Grandma, I told her, there isn't a such thing as ponies! But no, she insisted it happened. Said the pony took her to a magical land, straight out of a cartoon. Lived in a cloud, she said! Bah, I think she's just trying to be 20% cooler than my granddad this year, but all she's managed to do is get the whole family to think she's gone nuts. She told me she even got to meet the rainbow pony's leader, even went so far as to knit 'er a sweater. Now that I could believe my Granny would do, but giant ponies with wings and a horn! Y'know what? I bet my granny went and got hammered on eggnog. Wouldn't be the first time, and she's done far crazier things. You're getting me off topic, here's the real kicker...

Meanwhile, in Equestria...

"Princess Celestia, why are you wearing that tacky sweater?" the young lavender unicorn asked as she attempted to poof the monstrosity of joy, holiday spirit, and felt snowmen into the pits of Tartarus, where it belonged.

"Because, my Faithful Student," Celestia looked around the Royal Court "it is driving the nobles mad, and it is surprisingly comfortable! Now come here, she left one for you as well!"

The resulting scream of horror was heard all the way in Ponyville, where a certain fashionista's spidey senses were tingling, forcing her to hunt down every last blemish to the world of fashion, and a guilty rainbow pegasus was snickering at another prank successfully done.

Back in the retirement home

She started going on and on about a city made of clouds and rainbows a few hours ago, right after my parents decided to take her to an assisted living home. Real pity, if you ask me, the whole world of ponies with their lives founded on the principles of friendship sounds like an amazing place. They had a loving ruler, who guided her subjects with the utmost patience. Their cities, and a lot of their sayings, seemed to be pun versions of ours, like Manhattan and Manehattan, somebody and somepony. The level of detail my granny came up with while in a possibly drunken stupor is incredible, it's almost as if she pulled it out of the television...hold on.
I'll have to get back to you on this, diary, I've been stuck with a fantastic idea.

Your faithful writer,

Lauren

[A/N: This was written for the AHA drabble writing contest. I don't own the characters, and the story was based off the song "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" Enjoy!]

Hmm, this could be interesting.

599462 Oh now that's a good one. Real kicker! Well done.

Some Stallion from Ponyville Try to Write a Poem
By Verlax

On the armchair in the dim room Plot Twister took a sit. He was a black pegasus, with really short golden mane, and rather small wings. His cutie mark was a feather immersed in the inkwell, to suit his profession. He was a writer and poet, and he just moved to the Ponyville, searching for inspiration for his work.

Worst Idea Ever

He was sitting in his chair, preparing to write first sentence. This one is always the most important. He grabbed a feather with his hoof and started writing. No, please go back. He didn’t started, because he have no idea how to open this master piece.

Finally, after about ten minutes of useless tea drinking, he finally got an idea. Better, he heard the muse of his poet soul. His passion slowly began appearing on the paper.

I swam into the dry space of the ocean.
The wagon falls into the green,
just as the woading of a boat.
Along the bustling waves of meadows
Though the floods of the flowers
I bypass that coral storm spur

“BLAAAAM”

“What in the…”

“I just don’t know went wrong.” – somebody said from high upwards. He could hear it, because anvil made a hole into his house celling and pierce though the floor. Then, a grey pegasus mare with weird looking eyes flew though this hole, grabbed anvil and start lifting it into the air.

“Sorry. I really didn’t mean to disrupt you. Have a nice day!” – she said, and simply flaw though the gap with no problems.

He was to concern with writing a poem to complain about it. He needed to go back to it, before his muse will disappear again. Once again :

Though the floods of the flowers
I bypass that coral storm spur…

“DAAAAAAAAAAA, DA DA DADADA DA!!!”

“Oh no, please not this again.” – he thought. The poet ran to the window and looked outside. He wasn’t surprised by what he saw.

“Pinkie Pie, for a love of Celestia, please go somewhere else!” – the poet begged

Pinkie Pie, who was now holding the entire orchestra equipment didn’t even looked on him, maybe because she couldn’t hear the black pegasus complain. Her music was a truly pain to his strained mind. Pegasus writer trotted to his kitchen, and brought his Special Emergency Cupcake. He made a way to the window again, and he throw the ultra-sweety-diabetes cupcake as far as possible. The pink pony immediately started chasing the cupcake. The poet have totally no idea, how she was able to run so fast with all instruments on her back.

He was totally exhausted by this village. Why ponies here can’t just do everything normal? Poet made a way to his chair, sat down and again went backed to his masterpiece.

Though the floods of the flowers
I bypass that coral storm spur…

“CRAAACK”

Plot Twister looked on the Rainbow Dash who just crashed though the wall of his house.

Facehoof he delivered to himself was the most memorable thing in his life.

[Author's Notes] 505 Words, will it pass? Dammit, just a dozen more and I could end it much better. But I think it's still quite good.

So how much of this need to be new? Because I have some small things lying around that I think I could make into 500 words, but I have posted the drafts on my blog

599923

If it's not up for comments as an actual story, I'm all ears. Besides, those would only be drafts. This would be the final version.

600065
Ahh good good. Back to the keyboard than and put some more words into my poem then

My google doc says that it is 500 words, so I think that it should be legit.

A Wasteland Dream
Poem set in the world of Fallout Equestria by Doomande.

This is a personal tale,
About finding what means most,
Of one and one and two,
Of dreams coming true,
So listen,
and listen well,
While I tell my tale

Enter a world burned by dragon's fire,
Enter a world blown to a million bits,
Enter a world slumbering for decades,
Enter the Wasteland of long lost wars.
Enter the asylum of forgotten foals,
Enter a land of second chances,
Enter a home with room for plenty,
Enter serenity from a burned world,
Enter four guardians,
Enter four friends.

An orphanage, born in Wasteland,
An oasis for blooming life,
A place for growth,
A place with plenty,
An rare place indeed.

This is the setting of a happy tale,
One of the few I can tell,
But that was the place,
Where are the characters?

The Changing one a home he sought,
The Beaked one he found in the north.
The south the Striped pranced from,
The same home as the Pawed one.
The road they all found together.
The four of them connected forever.

Four oh so different,
Four yet the same.
Four walking each their route,
Four routes tangled together.
Four creating one,
Four becoming a home.

First an ever-changing stranger,
First with not a drop of blood on its soul,
First clean creature in a world full of death.
First looking for a place to call his home,
First finding a group made of peace.
First fulfilling a dream.

The first wandered alone,
Lost to all, even himself.
Until he found the second.

Old beaked knight,
Old order forged his spirit,
Old misty weapon,
Reforged soul oh so old.
Olden sawing sword in talon
Wings lost in time too old,
An old search for codes long forgotten.

First and second forged bonds,
But we heard about four not two,
So listen some more to my tale.
To what there happened in the land of the striped

Mare with a striped horn,
Mare born of two worlds,
Mare broken between both,
Mare with runes, rituals and horn,
An mare fugitive from all,
An mare without her own future.
A mare playing with the shadows,
a mare bending to her command,
An mare surrounded by friends,
But yet a mare all alone.

Smith with metal paw
Smith of many wonders and more,
Smithing the destruction of just as much.
Smith with secret runes lost and old,
Smithing them to his will
Smith of forgotten magic.
Smithing a bond between broken heath.

A group was gathered but not all goes well

A foal they found on their long road,
A foal expelled by its parents,
A foal kicked out by other kin,
A foal on the verge of death.
A foal they did bring to town,
A foal none would help,
A foal who caps could not save,
A dead foal before the morning.

Dreams was born that day,
Dreams conquered a farm!
Dreams gave trouble with the law
Dreams made dreams in sun and rain,
Dreams flourished under rainbows.

Here is my entry. The story is hackneyed, but I mostly did it just so I could get some practice in writing alliterative sentences.

Enjoy

Twilight tames a topiary
By: Fimbulvinter

Twilight’s eyes narrowed as she focused on her opponent. Neither of them moved an inch as time slowed, the seconds extending into minutes.

Twilight had studied her foe thoroughly. She knew its weaknesses like the back of her hoof, but for every defeat she had wrought it, it would only come back stronger and more determined the next time.

Spike sat silently, stashed off to the side, spectating the showdown.

Ever since her last near breakdown, Twilight had been undergoing court ordered therapy. This meant that she had to maintain a hobby of some sort and Celestia had assigned her the task of growing a bonsai tree, something which Twilight had never shown an aptitude for, but demanded may of the skills she possessed – focus, determination, precision.

Today, Twilight was truly going to try and tame this topiary tree, a threat that she had thoroughly thrust upon herself.

Upon her desk, a sad and sick seeming specimen of shrubbery sat, a silent sentinel of sheer green and shades of brown.

Twilight hefted her pair of clippers in her hooves. She had vowed to do this without the use of her magic, so she could prove that it wasn’t a crutch for her.

Ok Twilight, you can do this. How hard can it be? Applejack manages a whole farm. You can handle one little bush.

Balancing on her hind hooves while she held the shears proved to be harder than she thought however, and Twilight fell over with a resounding crash into one of her many stacks of books. Books and quills scattered in all directions from her impact, but the topiary remained untouched, mocking Twilight with its mere presence.

Below, Spike looked up at the sounds of crashing emanating from Twilight’s bedroom before shaking his head and walking over to a piece of parchment he had prepared earlier. On it he ticked off an image of Twilight falling over before a small tree.

Twilight next tried to put the bonsai on the ground, so as to get at it easier, but as she lifted it up and off the table, her back hoof slipped on one of her loose scrolls and she tripped again, the tree flying into the air and landing with a clunk on her head.

Spike marked off the next image on the check list – Twilight on her back with a tree on her face. There was only one more to go.

He heard the sound of magic coming from upstairs and rushed to find Twilight.

He arrived just as Twilight flung a furiously flaming fireball forward against her foe, cackling like a crazy pony.
As the conflagration crumbled to cinders, Twilights eyes shrank and a wide grin split her mouth. Spike shrank from the sight of his step sibling, seriously scared for his safety.

Twilight turned to look at him, her eyes piercing his very soul.

“Spike, take a letter.

Dear Princess Celestia.

BUCK YOU

Your faithful student
Twilight Sparkle

Spike marked off the last image.

Exactly 500 words (surprisingly) so it should be allowed. Oh, and don't ask me how I came up with this because I don't have an answer

The Unexpected is Expected
By SpeederClaw

A brown coated pegasus floated down towards the hard, Equestrian earth and brushed his jet black mane stylishly. He smirked to himself and promptly opened the door in front of him. Standing before him, next to a wooden table, was a flaming creature he had never seen before. His grin dropped. “Ohh,” he started reluctantly. “I must have the wrong-”

“Vice, am I correct?” the being said.

“Yep, that’s-a me,” the pony addressed as Vice said regaining his somewhat sinister smile.

“Good, good. I read that you’re hot stuff. I’m pretty hot stuff myself.” The being closed in on Vice and sent a wave of heat circulating around the slightly terrified pegasus. “Call meh ScareFlare, I’m an inferno specter. I’ll be your partner on this mission.” Vice eased away and noticed something peculiar. The being was a pony, but completely made out of machinery. Flames flowed in and out of various pipes and tubes, the pony’s skeletal eyes were white circles of fire.

“Cool, so-”

“Cool, where? I don’t like cool, are you cool?” ScareFlare accused pointing its steaming hoof at Vice.

“No-yes-uh can we get on with what I came here for?” Vice said trying to cover up his broken pride.

“Yes, yes, the work. Must be done. So, you know the big man hot shot, Bullet Buster, correct?”

“Yeah, he’s the reason I’m here. You realize we’re going to take him down, right?” Vice eyed his so called companion with doubt.

“And take him down to town we will. You see, he is the only stallion to have a shooting mechanism, a gun, in all of Equestria. Very big. Big, big gun.”

“You trying to be phallic with me?” Vice said with obersvation.

“No. If I was, I would’ve said he had a big penis.”

“Right, gotcha. You, uh, know what they always say, guys with big guns-”

“Like to anally fist their relatives, yes, shall we con-”

“That’s not where I was going at all-where the hell did you get that from?”

“My mommy-wait, I don’t have a mother…my creator said that to me once. I think he might’ve been a strange guy.” Vice gave ScarFlare even more looks of doubt and even worry.

“Look, I’m gonna be honest. You seem like a…great, fun guy. But, I-”

“You listen here, Vicey, I’ll roast your sexy ass body into a crisp. I will leave no flesh; your charred, bony existence will be fed to the parasrpites. I’ll make sure of this,” ScareFlare whispered softly, and extremely erotically. “And if you scream, you’ll only be fueling my mechanical ecstasy.” Vice stared perfectly straight at the wall and didn’t make a sound. “Now the, some tea for your troubles?”

“Yes, tea, sounds delicious, sounds like great sex in a cup,” Vice blurted quickly. He watched as ScareFlare exited the room and reappeared with a tray full of cups. Vice mechanically reached for one and held it close. “Mmm, really good, what’s in this?” he said with a sip.

“My piss.”

True Feelings
by FrontSevens

“Hello, Rainbow Dash!” Fluttershy greeted with a wave. She was outside of her cottage, feeding a stout little tortoise.

“Hey!” Rainbow responded as she landed next to her pet. “Thanks for looking after Tank for me!”

The yellow pegasus nodded. “Oh, anytime. He’s made such good friends with the frogs.”

“Oh, cool! They’re all reptiles, I guess.”

“Um, frogs are amphibians.”

“Right, right…” The rainbow-maned pegasus shifted slightly. “Say, Fluttershy… There’s something I feel I should tell you…”

Fluttershy fell silent, as Rainbow scratched the back of her own neck. “I don’t really know the best way to tell you this. I mean, there are probably many ways to say this, but I can’t come up with a good way, you know? I’m not good at that sort of thing. That’s more of an egghead thing.”

Unsure of what was going on, Fluttershy allowed her to continue. “Okay…”

The blue pegasus traced her hoof on the ground. “Can… can we be honest with each other, for a second? We’ve been through a lot. We’ve been friends for a while, now, and I think it’s only fair.”

“Sure, sure.”

“You see… You’ve been a good friend, Fluttershy. You’re so sweet and kind, taking care of these animals and stuff. I’d never want to hurt your feelings, and so… that’s what’s making this so difficult, I think.”

Her friend blushed. She had a hunch as to where this might be going…

“I… I can’t keep going like this. All this… All this time we’ve been friends, I’ve always kind of… felt this way. I’ve always wanted to say something, but I’ve been afraid to.” She stomped a hoof on the ground. “And I’ve never been afraid of anything! But, I’m scared to say this, and I don’t know why…”

Fluttershy sat down. She didn’t feel ready; she wasn’t prepared for what her best friend since childhood was about to say. Would she be able to handle it? She mustered up as much confidence as she could and said, “Don’t be afraid, Rainbow Dash… You can tell me anything.”

“Thank you, so much. I care about you, you know? I hope you understand.”

“It’s okay, Rainbow…” She put a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “Don’t be afraid. I promise that I won’t take it the wrong way. I can handle it.”

“Well, here goes…”

Fluttershy held in a breath and felt herself shaking. She had to be ready. She knew that she could be there for her, no matter what-

“Your lemur creeps me out.”

“Oh…” She looked down at the small creature clinging to her arm. Surprised, she said, “Um… thanks for… letting me know.”

Rainbow smiled. “Well, I’m off to nab something to eat with Tank. See ya later, Fluttershy!”

With that, she took to the air and flew away to Ponyville. Fluttershy sighed and looked down at the curious little animal, giving him a reassuring smile. With her free hoof, she scratched his back.

“One day, Mr. Lemur. One day…”

605111 Awwww

599462 O_O What a

The End of Magic

The cold autumn wind tickled my grey mane as I walked along the almost vanished path. I was surrounded by young birches typical for the Whitetail woods and the charred remains of older, long-ago burnt trees. The first leaves had already fallen, and were now dancing around in gusts of wind, creating beautiful rainbow-colored patterns.

My stomach had started to grumble as I reached my secret sanctuary in the middle of nowhere. In the shadow of a huge boulder and a pair of oaks I ate the sandwiches I had been carrying in my black saddlebags. I was certainly filled by the food, but the sense of taste had long ago left me, for enjoying the small moments of life had become something too hard for me to handle… the only thing left was sorrow and pain. Not even the happy chirping of a bluebird on one of the oaks could do anything to cheer me up or change my mind.

The deeper I got, the more apparent the new life that had been given to the forest came. I remembered these parts of the woods from my fillyhood, but everything had now changed: Instead of the majestic oaks there were aspen, birches and lots of new undergrowth. However, the most surprising newcomers in the forest were apple trees – I even had to stop for a moment to ponder how they could grow here, in the middle of so much other flora.

A clear pond, full of life like the rest of my surroundings was in front of me. My reflection was certainly nothing to adore – I had always thought that calling the marks of age beautiful was simply horseapples.

My pondering was stopped short when a tiny alligator splashed out of the water. The forest’s magic was certainly not matching that of the Everfree, with tiny versions of the giant monsters spawning in humble ponds like this.

When I finally got the graveyard, my eyes started to wet up. Everything was so beautiful at the site of my friends’ final rest. The gravestones had no dirt or bird poo on them – instead, they were shining a dim but noticeable light, something a certain mare had cast on them. The names on them were also masterfully carved… these stones would last centuries.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I know you will find this letter; you’ll come to search for me as soon as the light of the final element flickers out. Please don’t hate me for what I did, for I’m old and my place on this plane of existence no longer feels mine.

As time has passed, I have finally begun to understand what it must feel like to outlive anypony you’ll ever befriend... but luckily, I’m not an immortal Princess. There’s a warm hearth with all of my friends around it waiting for me in the Great Everafter, or so I believe.

Again, I’m deeply sorry.

Always your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle.

607793 right in the feels, good job

Nopony Must Know

“I think that should do it,” Twilight Sparkle announced as she plugged in the thick cord into the generator.
Princess Celestia looked at the strange contraption in front of her, “Twilight, what is this thing supposed to do again?”
Twilight turned around and pointed at the black board to the side, “By connecting this machine to electricity and plugging in this cord,” she lifted it in her hoof, “I hope to connect to something called the ‘internet.’”
Princess Celestia looked at her prized student skeptically, “Where did you hear about this ‘internet’?”
“I read it in a book about potential alien civilizations,” Twilight beamed.
“Was it in the fiction section?” Celestia asked.
Twilight walked over to the bookshelf and pulled down a large tome and brought it over to Princess Celestia. “I don’t think so,” she says, “But you knew Starswirl better than anypony else so maybe you could tell.”
Princess Celestia’s face shifted to pure, incredulous wonder as she flipped through the book. “How have I not seen this before?”
The Princess cleared her throat, “Very well, let’s see this ‘internet’ Starswirl wrote about.”
Twilight pranced over to the machine and plugged in the cord. Satisfied she pressed a button and the sound of whirling fans was heard. The large glassy box glowed and a large word could be read in the center.
“Princess, what is…….google?” Twilight asked.
“I don’t know, but the button says search,” Celestia analyzed. She watched a blinking horizontal line underneath the foreign word. “Maybe we put something in the box and press that search button.”
“Good idea,” Twilight said as her horn glowed. The box on the screen took on a purple hue, “What should we search for Princess?”
Celestia thought a minute, “Search for the both of us.”
Twilight focused and the words ‘Princess Celestia and Twilight Sparkle’ appear in the box. Twilight then pressed the search button. A new screen appeared with the results.
Princess Celestia eyes catch on the second one, “Lesbians! Surely there can be much more about that on this ‘internet,’ can there?”
Twilight shrugged and searched again only this time with the word ‘lesbian’ at the end of the query.
A new page showed countless results. Celestia and Twilight gawk at the information on the screen.
“This can’t be right,” Celestia said, “It must be fictitious.” Celestia charged her horn and added the word ‘fiction’ at the end.
The screen refreshed and before them were even more links.
Twilight paused. “Perhaps we should check out on the links before jumping to conclusions. Since this is alien technology and well, maybe to them lesbian is something different. Twilight clicked the third link. Together Celestia and Twilight read several stories on a place that called itself ‘fimfiction.net.’
After going through several of the stories, Twilight turned the machine off, “This technology should never see the light of day.”
“Twilight,” Celestia said worried, “Do you think anypony knows about us?”
“I hope not,” Twilight said. Then she kissed Princess Celestia passionately.

To the World, I Died:
By: Flame Runner

A unicorn stallion ran through a half-deserted city. His deep brown mane and tail flapped in the wind as he pushed his muscles to their limit. He groaned with the exertion, as he was getting on in age, but still he pressed onward. There was but one thought in his mind: Get them to safety.
A terrible roar split the sky, making the stallion cringe at the noise. He knew that sound all too well: dragons.
“Clear out of the city!” he commanded as he ran.
Many ponies, all of high standing, poked their heads from doorways and windows.
“Get out now! There are dragons coming!”
The other ponies turned pale as another terrifying roar split the skies. They shrieked and ran, leaving behind their posh homes and possessions.
The stallion’s firm hazel eyes never wavered as he continued to run through the last of the city and urge the townsfolk to leave while they still had the chance.
Finally, his task finished, he slumped to the ground in exhaustion. Another gut wrenching screech announced the arrival of the horrendous beasts. Three massive dragons slammed into empty houses as they touched down. The dull yellow unicorn watched the fell creatures through half-lidded eyes.
“At least…the others are safe,” he wheezed.
“THE GREATEST HOARD IN ALL OF EQUESTRIA IS NOW MINE TO CLAIM!!!” roared a blood-red dragon with eyes the color of charcoal.
The other two cackled deviously with their red master.
“DOES NO ONE SEEK TO OPPOSE ME? SURELY THERE IS EVEN ONE WHO WOULD TRY TO SAVE HIS OWN WEALTH?” the red one snickered, seeing not a single living soul.
Nothing stirred.
“THEN THE TREASURE OF THIS CITY IS MINE AND MINE ALONE!!!”
“No,” stated a small and panting voice. “You cannot be allowed to have the power of a hoard that great.”
The three beasts turned a suspicious eye behind them and found the aging unicorn standing shakily. His physical strength may have been failing, but his eyes burned with a determination as fierce as any dragon fire.
“And now, you will fall!” roared the unicorn.
His horn ignited in a flash of brilliant light and power. Magic rippled through the entire city and even into the cliff upon which it had been built. Never had such a display of power been displayed in the mountain city as on that day. Tongues of flame licked at the sky and growls as loud as thunder shook the very earth. Until, at long last, the mountain itself gave way.
Boulders crashed and fell like meteors upon the town and pummeled it to dust. Rock crumbled and battered against the fiends and the unicorn alike, those who had fled turned back to watch the final doom of their city.
From inside the great catastrophe, the unicorn stood resolute. Even so, a small tear trickled down his cheek as he said his farewell, “Goodbye, Equestria.” Then the earth below gave way and dragons, unicorn, city, and all plunged into inky darkness below.

When I published my Drabble I thought it was good, and then other guys started writing theirs .

Seriously guys, your writing is awesome.

611962 Still a good effort.

I am... amazed at the turnout and the ideas being showcased in this drabble! Keep it up!

The Power of Fear

“C’mon, scaredy!” The taunts battered him. “Jump!”

“Scaredy blank flank!”

“Why don’t you use your wimpy magic?”

“I will!” The small dark unicorn colt stomped his hoof on the bank of the river, sending the ponies on the other side into fits of giggles. A pink filly, her translucent crystal mane shining in the sun, nearly fell over with laughter.

“Look, little Sombra’s mad!”

“Shut up!” Magic swirled, his horn glowing, but the spell sputtered, sparks falling into the rushing water below. Sombra took a step back, a shiver paralyzing him.

“Forget him,” a colt with a coat the color of wheat said. “Let’s go. He’s a freak, he can’t jump the river.”

“Wait!” Sombra shouted, trying to sound powerful and strong, like his parents said the Queen was. “Wait for me!”

The other colt rolled his eyes, looking over his shoulder. “Jump, then.”

He’d show them. He wasn’t a freak. He was a unicorn, the only unicorn born into the Crystal Empire. He was special. It didn’t matter if he couldn’t grow any food. He had magic, they didn’t. He didn’t need to grow food. He was better!

He backed up, hind legs tensing, sweat dripping down his forehead as the familiar cold chill went down his spine. This time, he ignored it.

He charged, aiming for the first rock.

The cold chill went through him again, his muscles tightening at the last moment his legs left the ground in half hearted leap. His heart hit his throat.

He was so afraid.

Cold water enveloped him, rushing over his coat and into his mouth and nostrils. The fear took over, and he kicked frantically, his hooves striking against the stone he was supposed to have landed on, bubbles churning and blinding him completely. His lungs burned, red and black tinging the edges of his vision, his heart beating hard and driving him to suck in some air.

Something grabbed him, teeth clamped on his neck, and he was dragged out of the water just as he took a breath.

“You really are pathetic,” the pink filly said as she dumped him on the bank.

The cold galloped through him, and her words twisted it into his anger. He focused it onto his horn, calling his magic without trying.

An aura of cold and dark spread around him, visible only to him. The pink filly’s eyes widened, and on the other side of the bank the colt moaned in fear.

Sombra stared.

The filly’s legs shook, and she sank to the ground, staring straight ahead. Her pupils were wide and black.

“I can’t breathe!” the colt shouted.

Sombra stood, his horn glowing as black as his coat. He knew exactly what they felt. He could make them feel it.

“H-help me,” the filly whispered, her body shaking.

They felt his fear. The fear of death, of not belonging, of being weak and different.

Sombra smiled, teeth glinting. He suddenly felt better.

When they were afraid, he didn’t have to be.

How Tacos Came to Equestria
By: RisingOne

Discord, still in his "Oh, no!" pose, was having some minor difficulties. He had not been imprisoned for long, but his thoughts still wandered. It was only natural, him being the Spirit of Chaos.

"So, if the Teddy Bear army marches south, that will leave my western front undefended from the radiator warriors. Perhaps if I send the Lemon Legion west, the League of Legendary Limes will join my cause. Lemon and Lime does sound like a good combination, I wonder if anypony has tried that before."

Meanwhile, a real fight was taking place just outside of his imaginary one.

"I'm not chicken! You are!" A young, alabaster colt accused.

"No way! I dared you to go touch the statue! Now, go do it, 'cause I won't!" The ebony unicorn pointed at the stony faced Spirit of Chaos.

With an angry growl, the white earth pony drew near the statue. In the moon's light, it did seem almost sinister. It was as if Discord was actually alive inside.

Slowly, he reached a hoof to the trapped Avatar of Chaos. He gently tapped the foot of the statue, and quickly withdrew. He could have sworn he heard a sound like the tiniest of bells when he did.

"There, are you happy now?" He called out to his friend.

"No, you chicken! Actually touch it!" The dark colored unicorn called back.

The two descended into fighting at that point. Right in front of the statue of Discord.

"Hmm? What's this?" Discord noticed the chaotic energy source right nearby him, "Just as I was about to steal the secret doughnut recipe from the Kitchen Sink Empire!"

Of course, he quickly focused on the energy in front of him. He could feel it flowing through him, weakening the seal.

"Just a few more seconds!" He strained, as the seal was less worn down from time.

Then, he felt it. The mobility in his joints was returning!

"Yes!" He exclaimed, "Free once again!" He struck a dastardly pose, with his fingers tapping right in front of his face.

But, it would seem as though the seal was not fully broken. For, just as he was about to leave, he felt a sharp impact to his stomach.

A stone statue now holding its hands just inches from its nose fell backwards onto the ground. Two ponies were not a second behind it.

"NO," Discord cursed, "I WAS SO CLOSE! I SHALL TURN YOU TWO INTO TACOS ONCE I AM FREE!"

The two colts quickly sobered up, and looked around frantically.

"Did you hear something about being close?" The black one said, standing and helping his friend.

"No, but I did hear the word 'taco,' what's a taco, anyways?" The earth pony questioned.

"I do not know... It sounds good, though."

Shrugging, and forgetting their fight, the two walked away into the night. One by the name of Tortilla Wrap, and the other Black Bean.

And that is how tacos were brought to Equestria.

Not to jump on anyone parade but a drabble is 100 words; as defined by the 20 volume Oxford English dictionary.

But I will be writing it to 500 words anyway... now what to write?

614324
Just a wild idea... But what about magical pastel ponies? I know that it is a weird idea, but I am sure that it will work!

614324 You should give them strange and personality defining names like Rainbow Dash or something.

614761 Yes... I see what you did there...

614796 Another engineer? How many of us are there on here!

615753 I have no clue. What kind are you?

615771 Product Designer by degree, Mechanical Engineer by hobby

616075 I'm a Mechanical Engineer by study, Innovator by hobby.

Pretty awkward to write a 500 word story, but I did it.

The life cycle of the Draconequus

Discord sat on his throne, looking down from the mountain top on which he perched.

Nothingness.

Barren.

Lifeless.

The land of Equestria was in ruins. Slowly decaying from the years of unrelenting, unwavering nature. Magic couldn't stop time forever. The land would always crumble and perish. That is the way the life cycle works.

World lives. Ponies live.

World dies. Ponies die.

Discord stared up at the giant red ball in the sky. The heat bore down on the draconequus harder than you could ever imagine, slowly burning up the land and evaporating the lakes and seas.

Discord closed his eyes and savoured the moment, for peace like this won't be around again for a while. He may be the spirit of chaos, but he always enjoyed the rare peace and quiet that comes once every life cycle. It gives him a little time to prepare. Not that he needed to; Discord had been through the cycle many times before.

The heat intensified a hundred fold. It was time.

The embodiment of chaos stretched his muscles, He lifted his arms high into air, gliding towards the giant red mass and absorbing all the magical energy he could find. The seas bubbled away, and the barren wasteland cracked and tore as the forces of nature quickly tore the once peaceful world of Equestria into a chaotic storm of fire and rubble.

Discord neared the red fiery mass that was once Celestia's sun. He recalled his life on Equestria, how good it had been this time round. Lots of chaos, lots of laughter. Sure he'd been imprisoned in stone a few time's, but that was to be expected. After all, he would always get out sooner or later.

The draconequus drew in more magical energy, absorbing the magical force from the ground, the air and the sun; sealing it inside himself, compacting it, intensifying it; all the while drawing ever closer the fiery red mass.

This life has been good, Discord mused, steadily drawing in the last dregs of magic left in the world. He had reached the sun, and could feel the heat and magical energy radiating off of it. No matter how many times he did this, he was always amazed at how powerful the sun was.

Discord closed his eyes and concentrated. He focused on everything around him. The stars, the moon, the sun, everything. He held the magic inside him, drawing more energy from the burning sun, increasing, expanding, getting more intense by the second.

The sun flared, and discord followed suit. He glowed brighter and brighter, slowly absorbing more magical energy, far more than he could handle, but it was necessary.

The sun expanded, the stars burned out and Discord exploded in a supernova of magical energy and colour completely obliterating the remains of the world.

Draconequus lives.

Draconequus dies.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first signs of life crept out into the shining new sun, floating above a bright new world.

The life cycle continues.

617778 That's actually quite deep for a 500 word story. I'm impressed.

This is based off a fic I wrote a while back and is a tiny bit over 500 words (524), so if this is unacceptable please say so and I'll submit something else. The core idea is from a line in the very first episode:

The Stars Will Aid In Her Escape

Nightmare Moon had been imprisoned within the very moon she had once raised over the skies of Equestria. Her essence had melded with the celestial sphere in such a way that, from its dusty silver surface to its metallic iron core, she could no longer distinguish her own form from it. Thus did she gnaw away at the darkness, reduced to a spirit of malice and hate, an impotent evil that somehow only grew by feasting upon itself, surrounded by the even greater darkness of the black void between worlds.

How dare she do this to me?

The thought of Celestia ruling over their kingdom alone burned at Nightmare Moon’s diffuse consciousness. Vengeance became her only goal.

She will pay.

They will all pay.

Around her the stars blazed brightly in the vast reaches of space. Nightmare Moon was now closer to them than ever before. As she stretched her spirit towards them they responded with a tiny shift in their focus, aware of the dark presence imprisoned among them.

Stars of the heavens, Nightmare Moon pleaded. I beseech thee! Release me from this prison of my sister’s crafting!

There had only been a tiny spark of hope within her that she might receive a response, and that spark burned into a bright flame as the stars replied. Then the flame writhed black as she realized what they had said.

We art forbidden from interfering in the affairs of Equestria, Princess Luna.

Do not call me by that name! she screeched. Luna is dead! I am Nightmare Moon!

And why should we help thee, Nightmare Moon?

The Mare in the Moon twisted inwards upon herself. The stars would do nothing without fair payment. But Nightmare Moon had nothing to offer them... nothing to offer, except-

I will deliver Equestria to thee, she declared. It shall be thine to rule for a thousand years, in a state of eternal night.

Thou wouldst do such a thing, knowing the way in which we would rule?

I care nothing for their fate. They are the ones who imprisoned me here, and they deserve all that thee wouldst bring upon them.

A long silence followed. When the stars finally responded, their glow was eager.

Very well. If we release thee now, Equestria shall belong to us for a thousand years.

Nightmare Moon began to accept their offer, but a thought crept into her mind. No, it would not do to give all of Equestria to the stars.

Thou shalt not touch my sister, she declared. All else of Equestria shall be thine to command, but Celestia is to be mine.

There was a deepening anger within the stars. Why rule Equestria without its crown?

To impose thy order upon it. Thou needs not Celestia to do such a thing.

The heavenly orbs glared coldy. Then thy release shall wait. A thousand years thou shalt dwell within thy prison, in exchange for a thousand years of Equestria’s fate.

Very well, Nightmare Moon replied. In a thousand years I shalt be delivered back to Equestria, and it shall be thine for a thousand years, save for Princess Celestia.

We accept.