Welcome to the Christmas Special edition of this contest! All the usual rules apply, with one important difference: in an exclusive one-month deal, the maximum word count has been raised to 250! You don't have to use the extra hundred words, of course, but you can if you wish.

Here are the full rules.
Please use this word counter.
For this month only, you may substitute "250" for "150" in Rule 4.

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

Remember, there is no prize, as such, for this contest -- but if you win, you will be able to choose the prompt for the next contest. You'll also get a mention on the group's front page. That may also be a Christmas Special edition, but in this case it may be that I'm still full of Boxing Day food by the end of the month and have to be nudged about it...

Prompt: "And Some Pain Too" (selected by Soft Shake)
Rating: E or T
Word limit: 250
Closing date: Thursday 21st December 2023, 11:59 pm UK time (world clock)

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

Entries are now open! Have fun!

7910644
This month, I was given 250 words to work with, making this month a very special.

So I should, in turn, do the same with this clever idea that I deeply enjoy. Sorry in advance, Sunny.

"I fold here, and..." Izzy levitates a paper airplane, "TA-DA!"

The paper airplane immediately explodes.

The sight of the falling pieces of paper causes Izzy to sob into her hooves, "Why does this keep happening with everything I make?"

"Don't... worry... Izzy..." Hitch pats Izzy as slowly as he talks, "we'll... fix... this..."

"I hope so," Pipp muffles, "the Pippsqueaks are expecting a facial appearance soon."

"There, there," Sunny comforts without any issues of her own, "have some confidence, Pimple."

"I kno- wait!  What?!"

"...Pipp!  I meant 'Pipp'!!"

"I FOUND the cause!" Zipp declares with a sudden screech in her voice.

"And?"

"Ask the PERFUME expert."

Everyone turns to the pink pegasus with the paper bag over her head, "...I don't need eyeholes to know that you're all staring at me."

"It's thanks to a FLOWER called 'Poison Joke'.  Upon CONTACT, the flower induces VARIOUS effects on the individual that FALTERS a trait about them."

Sunny contorts her eyebrows, "I don't get it."

"It takes something SPECIAL about you and messes with it.  Like how I can be SNEAKY and stealthy, yet now I'm a LOUD mouth.  Hitch is a STALLION of action, but NOW he's all slowed down like."

"I get that, but what about me?  I was the first one to be sprayed by the perfume of Poison Joke, but I'm perfectly fine.  So why is that?"

Everyone else looks at each other with awkward expressions on their faces.

"...!" it dawns on Sunny, "Oh I hate this plant!"

You'll note that Rule 6 accommodates G5 entries. Since this means that an active generation is permitted, please bear in mind Rule 9 on spoilers.

Not participating, as always (sorry bud!) but I laughed at this, because while MYM has ended, TYT continuing into 2025 means this stance will have to be kept up for two years, even though something like 95% of it will have bugger all to spoil. Oh, the irony…!

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“I’m sorry,” was the first reply Flash Sentry got when he declared his love to Twilight Sparkle.

He didn’t understand what she meant by that, but it didn't matter. Their relationship grew and every day was better than the previous one.

But then, Flash Sentry experienced the worst day of his life. He had just been dumped by his girlfriend, who moved back to Equestria. She had told him that they were too different, that their worlds were too far apart. She had said it was for the best.

He had tried to wish her well, but he couldn't help feeling abandoned. He felt like his heart was ripped out of his chest. He loved her more than life itself, and he had thought she felt the same. He had given her his all, and she had thrown it all away. He had dreamed of a future with her, and she had shattered it.

He wandered through the streets, trying to forget her face, her voice, her smile. But everywhere he looked, he saw reminders of their time together. The park where they had their first date, the movie theater where they had their first kiss. He wanted to erase those memories, to be free of the pain.

Finally understanding, he looked for the hundred time at the last memory of her, a simple message on his phone, the last words from his love, “I’m sorry.”

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It's not really any different than keeping the equivalent rule for G4 when only Pony Life was happening, so it's fine. Excuse my brief response, I'm not irritated, I just need the thread to concentrate on submissions.

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(Note the "Tri-Cross Relay" is the name of the second event of the Friendship Games.)

No one had noticed Wallflower Blush on the bleachers during the Tri-Cross Relay.

No one had noticed her leaving, either.

In fairness, they had good reason to be distracted; massive, hostile plants with giant flytrap-esque jaws had suddenly emerged onto the field, in what seemed to be adding an extra level of unnecessary peril to an already alarmingly dangerous event. Wallflower wasn’t particularly concerned for their safety, though — or her own, for that matter.

She needed to study.

It didn’t take a genius to guess that this was some form of magic that Sunset Shimmer and her cronies had unleashed, but that didn’t mean a new species of plant wasn’t worth investigating. She approached one of the smaller manifestations, its length about half her height, which flailed as it reached vainly for the track that was too far away.

If she could just get a sample…

She’d have to be careful, especially with the glowing swirly midair hole that thing was stretching out from. But she could handle it, she was sure. And once she had it contained, she could replant it, study it, place it in the garden… it’d certainly make an interesting addition, and one never knew when they might need a handy carnivorous—

The plant suddenly snapped backwards, clamping its jaws around her right leg. The distant peal of dirtbikes drowned out her scream.

---

Still bleeding as she limped toward the nurse’s office, Wallflower wondered if she’d end up becoming a were-plant. That damned Shimmer.

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250 words!?

Oh, I get it. 25 days till Christmas, 250 words. Yep, makes total sense now.

Anyway, I got nothing clever for this one. Just silliness. So obviously... Rarity's involved somewhere (oh, and Pinkie too).

“I don’t think… corsets… ‘me’ me to me,” rasped Pinkie, straining.

“No,” scolded Rarity, “you’re supposed to say, ‘Corsets aren’t me’.”

“Still… happy to… help!”

“Oh, take the dratted thing off, if you must breathe.” Moodily, Rarity levitated corsets around the dressing room.

Once freed, Pinkie hummed doubtfully. “This is fun?”

“It’s not about fun, Pinkie. Sometimes, you have to suffer for your art!”

Pinkie looked confused.

Sighing, Rarity explained, “This winter, the goth-retro-historical-timeless-Victorious look is making a comeback, and I intend to ride that antiquated wave…”

Pinkie heard: Fashion fashion fashion gasp! Darrrrrling! Pretty stuff! Nervous-cited! Good clothes! My idea of fun, is it not!? WAAAAH-ha-haaa!

“…and the hourglass figure never goes out of style. So pleeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaase just bear with me.”

“I’m not really a got-metro-hysterical-tigress-Victoryful-quarterback-anti-quainted-waif kind of pony.”

“Very well! I shall try it! When I say, just pull the strings.”

“Um…?”

Rarity rolled her eyes. “It’ll be fun.”

“OK, then?”

“Pull!”

Pinkie did. Rarity grunted.

“Pull!”

Pinkie did. Rarity gasped.

“Pull!”

“Isn’t that super-tight already?”

“Pull, curse you!”

“Well, if it’s art, I guess.” Pinkie pulled. “Tight enough?”

Thud.

“…Rarity?”

---

The siren of the ambulance cart was especially loud tonight.

---

“Happy Hearth’s Warming! Presents!” cried Pinkie at Rarity’s bedside. She’d already given presents to everyone else in the ward.

“Happy Hearth’s Warming.”

Rarity lay back on the pillow, wobbling. She had a band-aid around her waist. It hadn’t need full-sized bandages.

“It’s an hourglass cake! Yay! You suffered for your art! Congrats!”

“Stuff suffering for your art.”

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I feel like I may have trimmed down my entry too much to make it fit, but I'm stubborn and refuse to go back to square one.

The sun was dipping low in the sky as Twilight trotted toward the edge of town, fresh snow crunching beneath her.

When she reached her destination, she could see a pegasus seated atop a nearby hill, her pink mane dancing slightly in the breeze as Twilight approached

“Hi, Fluttershy. How are you feeling?”

The mare’s eyes were red and her voice was quiet as she spoke, “oh, Twilight, I hope you didn’t come all this way just to check on me.”

Twilight smiled sweetly. “I may have, I couldn’t leave you out here all by yourself!” Twilight retrieved a thermos from her saddlebag and offered it to Fluttershy. “Also, I brought you some hot cocoa, to help warm you up a bit!”

Fluttershy tried not to look dour as she accepted the gift. “Thank you, I really do appreciate it. But you should be getting home, it’ll be dark soon after all.”

Twilight took a seat beside the pegasus. “Are you sure you want to be alone right now? I could stay for a little while.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “It’s not that, I just couldn’t trouble anypony right now. I’ve lost so many of my animal friends over the years, I really wouldn’t want you to worry about it.”

“Then let’s not look at it like that. I just want to spend some time with you, drinking hot cocoa and watching the sunset, how does that sound?”

Fluttershy finally cracked a smile. “I think that sounds nice.”

I've been inspired in recent months both to get back into mlp and to write stories, so I figure this is as good a place as any to start!

Sunset looked across Canterlot High School's front lawn, spotting a prismatic-haired girl walking towards her with a confused face and a paper bag in hand.

"Hey Rainbow!" She waved the girl over. "Got the goods?"

Rainbow dash, still puzzled, nodded and passed the bag over. "Here you go. One croissant, fresh."

Sunset inspected the contents of the bag with smile that slowly turned into a disappointed frown, which she pointed at Rainbow.

"...aaand?"

Rainbow's face in turn morphed from confusion to concern, first looking at sunset and then at the surrounding premises to ensure nobody was watching. Once she was sure, she proceeded to sock Sunset in the shoulder.

"OW! What the heck, Rainbow?!?!" Sunset flinched back, grasping her shoulder in pain. "What was that for?!"

"What do you mean 'what was that for'?" Confusion returned to Rainbow dash's face. "You asked for it!"

"HOW???"

Rainbow stared at Sunset for a moment before fiddling with her pocket, pulling out her phone, and navigating to a text message that she showed her grimacing friend.

Sunset Shimmer [7:15 AM]: hey rainbow, you were gonna stop by that bakery we joked about, right? mind getting me a croissant while you're there?
Sunset Shimmer [7:18 AM]: oh, and get me pain too while you're at it lol thanks

Sunset read her own texts before frustratedly shouting. "I meant pain au chocolat!! We were riffing on the name last week!!!"

"Oh." Rainbow scratched the back of her head, embarrassed. "Whoops."

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7915889
I just realized my submission was supposed to be a reply, not a comment. I hope this one makes up for it. Sorry!!!

7915890
Yep, you're fine. It's just a request, not a formal rule, so your entry would be valid anyway.

7910644
I decided to do an entry just for fun. Been watching too many martial arts movies, so this is the result.

I'll Let You Try My Wing-Tang Style

"Tcha!" Rainbow Dash hollered. Her hoof shot out at amazing speed. The sparring dummy in front of her shook when the blow connected to its plasticine face.

Three feet away, Tempest Shadow looked on. Her eyes calmly wandered over Rainbow's figure from head to hoof.

"Your back legs are too far apart," Tempest said. Her voice was low, yet carried through the empty dojo with ease. "You're not getting the most power you could into that punch."

"But I need a wide stance in case I follow up with a kick!" Rainbow brought her front hooves back up under her chin and threw the same punch at the dummy, then brought her backmost hoof up in a swift roundhouse kick.

Tempest shook her head. "Kicking requires more space between you and your opponent. If you're trying to punch somepony, your focus should be on the punch, not a kick that may or may not happen."

"Anypony would back up to avoid a punch! That opens up for a kick...like this!" She twisted her body to face Tempest. Hooves up and legs wide apart, Rainbow threw the same punch.

To Rainbow's surprise, Tempest did not leap back. Instead, she rushed forward and slammed herself into Rainbow. The force sent Rainbow flat on her back.

Tempest looked down at her pupil with wry amusement. "Never assume your next move. Improvise based on outcome. Medium leg stance for all attacks."

Rainbow sighed. "Okay, I get it."

Two and a bit days left to get your entries in!

7910644
A bit of a desolate story, but an idea I had to write.

Broken Blood

Wallflower grit her teeth.

And marched away from the punch.

The hallway of muttering rooms whispered. She could hear the insanity trying to reach out. A crooked, red-stained nose hurt–badly. The shivering caused by the winter drafts of this dreary juvie did not help.

For one loaf of bread, those bastards in Canterlot's court system sentenced her to suffer for a year. Her body angrily quaked. She reached her cell. Just to rub salt in the wound, she wasn’t allowed visitors. Left to be forgotten by a rotten world

They weren’t technically cells, but potato potato. She’d just gotten her life back together thanks to Sunset. Wallflower strode to her sparse toiletry section. Yet, someone turned her in for a petty crime committed during her magical rampaging.

Eventually, she finished stuffing her nasal passages. So much for graduating normally. The sandpaper toilet paper itched despite doing its job. The mirror revealed her decrepit, depressed face. Two months in. And ten long ones to go.

She laughed at her disastrous condition. Bone-thin and always disheveled. Just a minor distraction when bored in the mandatory classes. Her health was a joke now. Her now dead garden used to be able could properly feed her.

The rusty sink creaked. Wallflower splashed a cold wave of relief over her half-bruised face. Drying it with her sleeves, she flopped across a filthy bed. The coiled springs squeaked. Decently comfortable for its appearance.

She could still hear the girls snickering.

She cried–truly, her life was hell.

I told myself I was going to avoid cutting it so fine this time, but oh well. Thanks to the generous extra word allotment, I've reached a word count sufficient to submit a collection of my very short stories to the group now.

Applejack felt like she’d been bucked in the gut. Really, she’d been bucked in the gut more than a few times in her life, and bucked in the gut a lot quite recently, and the pain she felt now wasn’t quite as bad as the former, unnoticeable compared to the latter. She lay on her side in the straw in one of the barns, the same barn in which she’d entered the world, and even feeling like an apple skin without much fruit in it couldn’t knock the smile off her face.

She looked at her deflated belly. For nearly an entire year, she’d looked at it, and wondered about the Apple therein. Now she had her answer. She looked past her postpartum body to again admire the newest member of the Apple family. Struggling to stand on wobbling legs, was a short and sweet little foal, a colt as green as Granny Smith and with hair as blond as that which framed Applejack’s vision.

He nearly fell flat on his face yet again, but she reached out her head to steady him, and marvelled at how her powerful neck and head were nearly the size of his entire little body. She let him stand on his own, and sweetly beckoned him into her embrace. He fell into her forelegs, and she hugged him tightly against her chest. The foal wasn’t crying, but she heard Big McIntosh and Apple Bloom were.

Now she had her son, and some pain too.

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That's Pretty Metal

"Yikes Sweetie Bell, you call that a wound? Do you know what I did with my sewing machine today?"

"Rarity!"

"Well, do you?! I was sewing, and I sewed right through my finger! Right. Through! Look at this, right here, Sweetie Bell! I even had to unpick the stitches it left!"

I think you'd have to puncture only a small amount of skin (say just the very edge of your finger, or the skin between your thumb and forefinger) in order for the stitching to stay in. Any more, and the thread and/or the needle is likely to break. If anyone is interested in an account of someone who actually suffered a needle through the finger, here's a blog I found about it! (non graphic)

Looking into sewing machine related injuries, there's a lot that goes into them. Depending on what kind of foot, the needle, the machine, what you're sewing, what part of your hand is involved, the severity of the injury can be anywhere from slight inconvenience to ER trip.

I just, found this all interesting, and decided to include with my entry. Hopefully I'm not the only one who thinks so.

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The deadline passed just over six hours ago, so your time is up!

I wasn't at all sure how many entries this non-standard edition would get, so getting nine (not including Merallakos' time-ineligible snippet) is a bit of a relief, to be honest. Thank you all!

Feedback is open!

7918158

We should've got twelve, then we could've made our own "On the Twelve Days of Flashfic" song.

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♪ On the 10th day of Flashfic, the writers did wrote me.

Ten Corset's Funning
Nine Pretty Metals
Eight Wing-Tang Styles
Seven Untitles
Six Broken Bloods
Five Toxic Gags
Four Mean and Greens
Three Running Colds
Two Breaking Breads
And A Be Careful What You Wish For.♫

Hi folks. Quick FYI: due to my being very busy today, I'll be posting the results tomorrow. Don't worry, they'll still be along!

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All right, everyone: results time! As usual, an interesting variety of approaches to the prompt -- and it's always really nice to see newcomers to FF150 taking part, so welcome!

As it happens, though, my picks this time are both long established participants here:

Hon mensh: Impossible Numbers -- "Just silliness" it may have been, but it was amusing silliness with fun character interaction. Pinkie may consider that the timeless-Victorious is wrong, but I felt the story containing it was right.
Winner: EileenSaysHi -- I am not usually a particularly huge fan of Wallflower, but it's interesting she was used by two entrants this month. I seem to be in step with consensus judging by the upvote count on your fic, but that's not why I've chosen it. I've done that because everything falls into place perfectly for her character.

Well done to you! EileenSaysHi, you know the form: please give us January's prompt and post it in here. For the avoidance of doubt, yes we will be back to 150 words next time.

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Wooo! Always a wonderful sight. Sometimes the idea is just there for you, and this month it really worked out well. (And to make it even more exciting, adding this as a chapter in my anthology got me in the feature box, a rare sight for shorts collections that aren’t from someone Monochromatic-level big.)

Anyway, in the spirit of a new year (or at least, how it’s often celebrated here), my proposal for January is “Cue the Fireworks!”

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I think I've had more honorable menshes than wins at this point.

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Congrats on the win, and I look forward to tackling that prompt! 🎇

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All right, sounds good! Don't be surprised if I'm slightly later than usual putting up the thread, as I may be a little distracted at midnight on the 31st! But it'll be along as soon as I remember...

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Ah, but you've had more of both than I have!

This was a good batch of entries! Everyone did a good job making clear, concise stories that felt like they had points and explored what they were after. It's been pretty pleasant to read through them all! In fact, It's been an awesome year, and wanted to say I really enjoy each one these contests. They've given me something special to do each month.

I don't think it would be possible without Loganberry.

His remarkable consistency, patience, positivity and judgement plays a large role in sustaining this community. I'm really pleased to see new forays into the format of the contests in addition to the regular ones. And, while I've no idea how to pander to it, I have to admit he has taste. I'm really happy you give all us weirdos so much of your time each month. And I hope you continue to support this community for as long as you're willing. Thanks!

To all us contestants! It has been cool to write with all you regulars and newcomers! Even though these are casual contests, I've appreciated the courage between old members trying new things and new members throwing their hats in the game. I feel like possibly facing feedback each and every month is an exciting and sometimes intense part of this group, and I'm really hoping it's helping grow us all into better writers.

To anyone who comments or provides feedback! I want to say I know that at least I enjoy getting feedback so far. It's really validating to know someone engaged with my fic. It's also really interesting (often quite challenging) to get negative or candid feedback about weaker points of the fic. It pushes me to doubt my own biases and methods. To rework stuff or see things I couldn't before. I find lots of value in everyone providing and discussing their perspectives, and I hope they're be plenty more to help challenge, reinforce and grow grow authorial skill through next year.

Finally, thank you(?) any mysterious lurkers (Ghost Mike?) who may be reading this. I hope you're finding value in all these posts.

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After reading this one, I had a dream.
I dreamt of a world where the bellies of pregnant women swelled to such length that they fell and drooped onto their feet�. By the time they got to postpartum, their disengorged belly would drag on the floor like a deflated balloon. �It would trail behind them, like a slug's tail, befouling their hiding places.

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I thought the last line hit pretty well, and the overall feel of the story is okay.

I notice you have a lot of imagery, which is nice! I wouldn't have minded if the fic explored Wallflower's experience more deeply. What does it feel like to be bruised and half starved? What does Wallflower smell, taste and hear day in and day out? What elements of her face make her look "decrepit and depressing?" Is it her sunken, baggy eyes? The way her cheeks stretch like leather pulled in a wood frame? The way her tongue drawls dry and thick whenever she speaks? I'd love to see a deeper, more encompassing experience of juvie, so we can really feel how Wallflower feels.

I thought the grammar was solid, uh, good syntax.

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Three feet away, Tempest Shadow looked on. Her eyes calmly wandered over Rainbow's figure from head to hoof.

Well done! I feel like Rainbow and Tempest have a fun dynamic.

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I think this is one of my more favorite of your entries this year. It makes me smile.

That said, I am a buffoon and I haven't watched the MYM or TYT... What's the joke about Sunny?

7914993
This is my favorite entry this month! It's so much more mellow than all of the other entries. It feels cathartic.

The mare’s eyes were red and her voice was quiet as she spoke, “oh, Twilight, I hope you didn’t come all this way just to check on me.”

Although, my first thought when I read this was that this was Flutterbat. It wasn't until I finished reading it that I reread it and I was like, "Ohh! Red from crying! Duh."

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This feels very high-school-y.
I will give credit to Dash, Sunset's second text was not very clear, even knowing some of the context.

I think it might've been funnier if Dash had, like, really awkwardly pinched Sunset instead of punching her? That might just be me. Quality vibes either way. I lol'd.

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Congrats on the win!

I think by exploring what Wallflower was doing during significant helps make her feel like part of the world, and using that to kind of build out her interests and characterization is pretty clever!

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Heh!

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I think this is one of my more favorite of your entries this year. It makes me smile.

You have the episode 'Scents of Adventure' to thank for that (7910652 knows what I'm talking about).

That said, I am a buffoon and I haven't watched the MYM or TYT... What's the joke about Sunny?

When I was trying to think of what 'joke' I could pull on everyone, Sunny was the only one that didn't have anything that stood out and be taken advantage of to really hinder her everyday life in some way.

She's unique as she can turn into an alicorn, but she's still pretty new to it and doesn't turn to it unless someone's in danger. She makes smoothies and roller skates around town, but she doesn't abuse those skills enough that I would define it a characteristic like I would with Rainbow Dash with her flying or Twilight with her magic. Maybe I could've made her sense of balance impaired, but that just seemed too blatantly simple and not at all unique. It was getting to a point where I was starting to see what The Ohvist may be getting at with their deep hatred for Sunny, making claims that there's nothing definable about this character other than being a Mary Sue.

I waffled on the thought that there was nothing special about her to 'joke' with for a moment and found that it would be amusing to have this as the punchline. I'm sure that a lot of people could back me up that Sunny isn't the most investing character of the series.

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That's very kind of you, thank you. But really this community would be nothing without you authors, regardless of how good or bad I was at assessing the fics. I really did not expect when I began this group that it would still be active as we head into 2024. I intend to stick around for a while yet!

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Thanks! Though that part about looking at Rainbow's figure wasn't meant to be suggestive.

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Tempest Shadow looked on. Her eyes calmly wandered

over Rainbow's figure from head to hoof.

"Your back legs are too far apart," Tempest said.

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What have I done?