Stories they weave

by Jeweled Pen

The reading

Twilight laid in her bed, eyes closed, as she faced the window. Behind her she could hear her assistant's breathing getting steadier as it drifted into soft snores. The unicorn waited a few moments before she slowly slid the blanket down her body and glanced over towards Spike's bed.

The little dragon was curled up into a little ball and gently suckling his thumb. She let out a happy sqwee of delight as she hopped out of bed and landed on the ground with a loud clatter of hooves on wood. She froze as she turned to the sleeping form of her assistant, but he didn't stir. She let out a soft sigh of relief as her horn glowed and a small package hovered out from the nearby closet, wrapped in her magic.

The package was dropped on her bed and opened, revealing her black sneaking outfit that she had once used to (skillfully) infiltrate a forbidden wing of the Canterlot library. She chuckled as she quickly got dressed and gazed down at the dragon. He had yet to stir. She made up her bed, using the box and puffed up blankets to make it seem as if she was still there. With a triumphant grin she tip toed past Spike's bed and was soon at the top of the stairs.

“Perfect,” Twilight said with a smile. “Now to just sneak down and EEK!” she shrieked as she missed the first step and went tumbling down. She landed at the foot of the stairs with a pained groan.

“What?” Spike asked as he sat up, his eyes dropping from sleep. “Wuzzat? Who? Twilight?”

The unicorn gulped and pushed herself flat against the nearby wall. After a few moments she heard the dragon yawn before returning to his gentle snoring.

Twilight let out a sigh of relief as she slowly opened the door and slid out into the library. With a skip in her step she trotted over to wear the groups stories were laying flat on the desk and picked up her own. “Okay, I can just fix a few minor issues, expand on a few scenes and maybe add an alternate ending. That wouldn't really be writing, it would just be tidying up,” she said to herself as she gripped the nearby quill in her magic and flipped over to the second page.

It was blank.

The unicorn froze as her eyes went wide. “W-what?” She quickly flipped to the next page, which was blank as well. “What?!” she shrieked again. Page after page she flipped until finally she came to the final page, which had very small writing in the bottom right corner. She squinted as she leaned in to read the barely visible text.

“'Dear Twilight,'” she read aloud, “'this is the fourth night in a row you've tried to sneak down to work on the story. As such, I'm not in the mood to come down and drag you away. Again. Instead I've decided to have some fun with it. You'll find that all of the ink is gone.' Wait, what?” Twilight asked before she glanced inside the small quill vial. It was bone dry. “You clever little dragon... Let's see... 'I have stored it all in the basement and hidden the key. If you want the key you will first have to find all five pieces of your story. Hidden with each is a clue. I have given each story to one of your five close friends to guard. Good luck. P.S. You could always just go to bed. Applejack will finish up with the fields in a day or so and then this will all be over.'”

Twilight stared at the note nervously as she began to pace around the room. “Spiiiiike... how could you do this? I can't let them know I'm trying to work on the story,” she whined before humming “Of course! Whodin Neighs book! A hundred and one magical trips for bypassing locks!” she said proudly as she ran to the bookshelves and began searching for it. After a few moments she came up empty hoofed. “Where is it?” she mumbled as she ran a hoof over where it was supposed to be.

“Of course!” she said with a soft chuckle as she dove into the library records and began looking through. “Found it, checked out by... Snips? Why would he need a book like this?” she mumbled before shaking her head. “No matter! I'll just go visit him and retrieve the book!” she paused as she glanced at the clock. “... I'm sure he'll be up. Probably,” she mumbled as she darted out the door.

From above her the window of the library popped open as Spike leaned out. “Well, there she goes,” he mumbled.

“A-are you sure this is okay?” Fluttershy asked nervously as she perched on one of the tree branches above.

“It'll be fine,” the dragon said with a chuckle. “Once she gets Pinkie's she'll be probably have the riddle figured out from that alone. She'll be back in no time. She's not the only one who's really smart and good at writing, you know,” Spike said with a chuckle.

“Hey, smarty scales,” Rainbow said with a motion of her hoof. “I don't know where she's going, but it's not too Sugarcube Corner.”

“What?” the dragon asked as he caught sight of the unicorn disappearing down a side street. “Uh oh. We should probably follow her...”

“On it!” the rainbow-maned pegasus said as she took off from the tree and flew straight after the unicorn.

Twilight stopped outside a small house with an attached greenhouse on the side. All the lights, aside from in the glass structure, were shut off. She slowly tip hoofed towards the home and lightly tapped on the door. There was no response.

She sighed before trying to turn the knob. Unsurprisingly, it didn't budge. She glanced around and let out a gasp of delight as she saw a window a few feet from the door and she quickly moved under it. Her horn glowed as she tried nudging it and it began to go up.

Within a few moments it opened and she dove inside! A second later she let out a shriek as she fell head first into the sink before tumbling backwards out of it and crashing to the ground.

“I SAID KEEP IT DOWN, DOWN THERE!” a voice yelled from upstairs. Twilight whimpered and went completely still, not even moving to rub her aching back and neck. She didn't hear anything else so the mare slowly got to her hooves and crouched down low. She glanced left and right as she tip hoofed into the other room.

“Hah, totally- eek!” she shrieked as she hit something warm and soft with her hooves and tripped. She landed face first into something just as warm and soft as it began to wiggle. Suddenly screams began to pierce the air as the things she landed on began to twist and writhe! She screamed as she tried to free herself, fighting back against the fuzzy monsters in the darkness!

Suddenly, as she was about to give up hope of survival, the lights came on. “Just what in Tartarus are you two...” the voice trailed off. Twilight looked up to the doorway of the room and saw a very disgruntled green mare, wearing a cheap pink bath robe and plenty of mane curlers, staring at her. She realized she wasn't wrapped up by some fuzzy tangle monster, but instead a blanket.

A short and plump unicorn colt, with a turquoise coat and orange mane was sitting across the living room from her and staring. Another, much taller and slimmer, unicorn colt, with an orange coat and turquoise mane, was hiding under the couch and staring as well. Snips and Snails respectively. The librarian coughed nervously as she waved at the annoyed looking mare. “I... I can explain. Really, I can.”

Twilight fidgeted in her chair as she lightly nudged her hot cocoa(with only one marshmallow). She was sitting in the kitchen while the other mare, Snip's mother Mrs. Clips, paced back and forth. The two colts were sitting just outside the room, popping their heads around the corner as they tried to listen in.

“So, if I have this right,” Mrs. Clips said as she stopped to ground a hoof into the floor, “you broke into our house, woke all of us up, scared my son and his friend half too death during their sleep over all so you could come and retrieve a... book? From the library?”

“Y-yes,” the younger unicorn said meekly as she gently sipped her drink.

“And it couldn't wait until morning came, because you had to break into your basement tonight?” the mare asked as she turned to Twilight and just glared.

“Y-yes...” the librarian squeaked as she tried to sink into her chair.

“I see,” the elder pony said as she continued to stare. After a few moments she shook her head and looked to the living room entrance. “Snips! Go get the book,” she grumbled.

“A-are you mad?” Twilight asked as she poked her hooves together.

“No, no,” Mrs. Clips said with a shake of her head. “I'm not mad. I'm just... disappointed.”

The purple unicorn whimpered as she lowered her gaze to the ground. “S-sorry, Mrs. Clips... it won't happen again. It's just really, really important that I get this book...”

“... Yes. For your little contest,” the green mare said slowly. “Snips, just get her the book.”

“But mooooom,” the little colt whined. “I need it for our talent show tomorrow! I'm going to wrap Snails up in chains and padlocks and undo them while he's underwater!” he said proudly.

Twilight and Mrs. Clips stared at the colt in horror before his mother spoke up. “One, you are to never, EVER do anything like that. Two, go get the book so we can get some sleep. Three, miss Twilight, next time just... just don't do this. Four, I'm going to bed. Lock the door on your way out,” the mare grumbled as she turned and walked out from the kitchen. Her mumblings and grumblings could be heard as she walked up the stairs. “Element of harmonys... grumble... call the guards but they probably know her... rabble... hit her upside the head with a flower pot... grumble...”

Snips, grudgingly, tugged the book out from his school bag and brought it to the purple unicorn. She squealed as she grabbed it in her magic and spun around a few times. “Yes yes yes! Now I can get back to work! Sure I'll need to start a brand new story so the others don't find out and... errr...” she stopped spinning and dancing with the book when she noticed the two colts staring at her in confusion. “I... errr... heh heh... bye!” she squeaked as she ran out the door, leaving her cocoa behind. A moment later she darted back to lock the door and then departed once again.

As the purple unicorn ran from the house a rainbow colored flew flew over head and past her, zooming away towards the library.

Twilight grinned triumphantly as she opened the door to the library, without even using the key. Instead she used a small spell from the book to unlock it and let herself it. She froze after a few steps and glanced towards the door again. “I should probably fix it so some pony can't just break in at night...” she mumbled before running towards the basement door.

Her horn glowed as she gripped the handle and began to cast the spell, but stopped. She cocked her head to the side as the knob easily turned and opened. “He forgot to lock it,” she grumbled as she face hoofed. “Dang it, Spike. I could have avoided all that...” The mare trotted inside. It was pitch black so she reached out and switched the light on.

As it came on suddenly confetti exploded all around her. “SURPRISE!” Six voices yelled. Pinkie stood a foot in front of her and blew on a noise maker.

“AHHHHHHH!” Twilight screamed as she tried to step back, her wild steps making her hooves slip on the ground. She fell backwards and kicked the air for a few moments as she tried to escape. After a few moments she stopped and nervously gulped as she got to her hooves. “W-what is every pony doing here?”

“Bwa ha ha ha!” Rainbow laughed out as she rolled around on the ground, holding her stomach.

“We're here for the readings, you silly billy,” Pinkie said as she hopped around behind the unicorn and pushed her towards the stairs.

“Errr, really?” she asked as she looked down to the bottom of the stairs, her friends all gathered around. “I thought Applejack had a lot of work to do on the farm?”

“Ah always got work tah do,” the earth pony said with a chuckle. “But me an' Big Mac got tha apples all harvested an' put away so we won't have any problems. The fruit bats can freeload anotha day without problems.”

“Heh heh, yeah,” Rainbow said as she motioned to the stack of stories. “We woulda had the whole thing done ages ago if yah hadn't slept so long. Was like yah were trying to re-enact Drowsy Looker,” the pegasus teased. She stopped her chuckles as Rarity gave her a nasty glare.

“Now darling,” Rarity started, “despite what Rainbow said, we all understand how badly you needed your sleep. You really must take better care of yourself. Going days like that without sleep is just horrible for you! Not to mention what it can do to your appearance. Wrinkles, dark eyes, droopy skin, my, the effects are just too horrible to imagine!” the unicorn said as she lifted a hoof over her head and swooned.

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “That and the whole wasting the day sleeping. I mean, who does that?” Every pony, and a dragon, turned to stare at her. “What?”

“... Well, movin' on,” Applejack said as she walked over to the stacks of papers. “We were all waitin' to surprise yah at Sugarcube Corner, but it seems yah had others plans.”

“Yeah, what were you doing breaking into that house?” Rainbow asked as she sat down. “Trying to steal their ink?”

“What?!” Twilight asked as her mouth fell open. “I-I would never steal another ponies ink! I-I was just trying to get a book to unlock the door down here,” she grumbled as she held up the book.

Spike chuckled as he looked up. “So you got a book so you could work on your book? Anyway, here it is,” he said as he pointed towards the tallest stack of papers in the center of the room. “All ready to- eep!” the dragon took a step back as the purple blur charged past and put a hoof to the papers.

“Well if we all have time now I really do need to get back to work on it,” the unicorn said as her eyes practically sparkled. “I still planned to come back to page sixty-three and expand on the capture scene. I can-”

“Oh no you don't!” Rainbow said firmly as she galloped up and put a hoof over the papers.

“What?” Twilight asked as she nervously looked at her paper. “B-but it's not finished!”

“You told me it was,” Spike mumbled.

“Well, yes. The first part,” the unicorn said quickly. “As a stand alone piece, though? No. It still requires plenty of chapters explaining more of the motivations of the characters. You see, there are only three games so I wasn't planning to use it as an introductory story and-mmf!” her words were cut off as Rainbow jammed a hoof into the mare's mouth.

“Okay. We're going to sit down and just go through the stories, okay?” the pegasus said with a nod. “Then we're going to see how awesome my story is, and declare me the winner.” To their credit, her friends managed to not roll their eyes.

“But... i-it's not ready,” Twilight said pathetically as she gazed back to her story with nervous eyes. “I-it's only a B, B+ grade level at best. I still need to-”

“No! Sit, now,” Rainbow ordered before motioning to the ground. “Spike, start reading the storys.”

“W-what?” the dragon asked as he looked down at the stories. “Why me?”

“You're a neutral judge obviously,” the pony said with a smile. “Besides, you read Twilight's mail all the time. It's the same thing.”

“I do not read her mail!” the dragon said with an annoyed hmph. “I orally communicate the missives of the sovereign.”

“You read the letters the princess sends,” Rainbow said flatly. “Also known as, Twilight's mail.”

“Hmph,” the dragon harrumphed as he moved to sit at the desk. “Grumble... not just mail... very important documents. Fine, I'll read the stories. Every pony gather around and I'll... huh?” He picked up Twilight's story and looked through it. “That's weird. Weren't there four of them? Rarity's, Twilight's, Rainbow's... where's Fluttershy's?”

Every eye in the room turned to the pegasus, who was trying her hardest to be as small as she could near the back. “I-I don't know. I-It must have gotten lost, i-it wasn't good o-or anything t-though so t-there isn't any p-problem with skipping it...” the pony squeaked as she moved her wings up to hide her face. Unfortunately, the movement caused the story, hidden under her wing, to fall to the ground.

“Now darling,” Rarity said gently as she enveloped the papers in her magic and drew them over to Spike, “there is no need to be so worried. Here, Spike? Read hers first. You'll find it is quite good and nothing to be ashamed of.”

“N-no! I-it's horrible!” the pegasus shrieked as she tried to make a mad dash towards the dragon. She was quickly grabbed by Rarity and Pinkie as she sped by.

“Calm down!” the unicorn said as she held tightly onto the mare. “Just relax. Your story is fine. No matter what is in it, you'll always be our dear friend who we love and respect. Okay dear?”

Pegasus looked around with frightened, teary eyes before slowly nodding. “O-okay...”

Spike cleared his throat as he held the story in his claws. “Okay then. Moving along... ahem. Eh heh ahem,” the dragon mumbled as he cleared his throat repeatedly and shuffled the papers.

“Get on with it!” Rainbow snapped.

“Hmph, no respect for proper dramatic speaking,” Spike grumbled as he began. “The sun shone brightly over head as Daring Doo, the amazing adventurer, slowly climbed through the narrow natural tunnels of Falosian bay...” The dragon paused as he looked over the page. “This is the worst thing ever written?”

Fluttershy cried out and fell onto her stomach as she put her hooves over her face. “I knew it! It's deplorable! Disgusting! Distressing! Depressing! Dreadful!”

Rarity glared at Spike. “Why would you say such a thing? It is not bad at all!”

“What? No! I-I was reading it, look! It says right here, in parentheses!” the dragon yelled as he held the papers out.

The unicorn glanced at the words and sighed. “Oh dear. I'd forgotten about those. Just skip over those and read the rest of the story, okay dear? Don't mention the... notes.”

“Okay,” Spike mumbled as he started again. “The grass was slightly wet under her hooves and the scent of dew wrapped around her snout. I need to come back and fix this later because... err, sorry. That part wasn't in parentheses, but I think it was supposed to be.” The dragon continued on, reading from the papers as the others listened with rapt attention. Despite the yellow fliers great fears, no pony galloped from the room, threw themselves from the nearest window or tackled the small dragon in an attempt to destroy the story. As a matter of fact, as the story was finished up no pony let out cries of pained despair, or even a small whimper.

“Daring chuckled softly as she tipped her hat forward. 'No problem!' she cried, 'it's what I do best.' With those final words the pegasus leaped forward and gripped the nearest vine, swinging out and onward towards her next adventure,” Spike said as he set the papers down and stretched out his claws. “Finished.”

Fluttershy let out a soft cry as she hid her face under her hooves. “I-I'm so sorry, I-I really tried my best but I couldn't figure out h-how to word it better and I know a lot of the scenes are silly and a waste of time and- mmph?” she went silent as Rarity covered the mares mouth with a hoof.

“Darling,” the unicorn started, “the story was marvelous. While there were a few confusing parts and a few minor inconsistencies, the story was all around good. We all liked it, isn't that right?”

The others nodded their heads as Rainbow shot into the air. “Yeah! That was awesome! The way you had her set that trap and let the villain think he won? That was soooo Daring Do,” the pegasus said as she did a few aerial spins. “I could definitely see that as part of the actual series. Well, a mini episode at least. It wasn't that long,” the pegasus said with a chuckle.

“You know,” Twilight said as she eyed the nearby ink well. “It really was quite good, I loved how you made mentions to the Golden Tail Brush of the Neigh Mang Dynasty. There were only six inconsistencies with the actual series canon, but considering a normal book can hold anywhere from eight to fifty-three, that isn't bad at all.”

“Eight to fifty-three?” Spike asked. A moment later a flow chart was dropped in front of him.

“Oh, yes,” the purple unicorn said as she whipped out a metal pointer and gestured to the chart. “As you can see, in book one Daring Do mentions how she dislikes spiders and just the sight of them gives her the heeby geebys, but by book six she doesn't even flinch when a pony has one in their little glass cage. Also, in book seven she mentions how she got wing rot when she was a child, but in the first book she said it was the first time she had been unable to fly. In book eight she-”

“Okay! Moving on!” Rainbow shouted as she looked to Spike. “Which story next? Read mine! It's awesome and filled with the most awesome characters ever.”

Spike shrugged and picked up the story. “Okay,” he mumbled. He picked up the story and cleared his throat. “Now... okay. Villains from all corners of the world gathered about in their evil sanctuary of evil, in a castle, on top of a volcano, underwater and... wait, really?” he cocked an eyebrow at Rainbow.

“Keep reading,” she ordered.

“Okay, underwater and surrounded by sharks that shot out lava from their mouths. Who also had laser cannons attached to their backs,” the dragon read aloud as his claws shook. He managed to barely keep a straight face, though the corners of his mouth kept trying to turn up. “This fortress, created thanks to funding from Dr. Destrucity, the Finanator and Rubyhorn, was currently the meeting place of five of the world's greatest super villains, and constant enemies of the amazing Daring Doo. As they discussed their plans to get rid of the cunning adventurer, once and for all, they were unaware of the pony hiding in the air shafts just above them. Special agent Prism Runner, of the Secretbolts... really?” Spike asked as he glanced to the pegasus. She motioned for him to continue with a glare and wave of her hoof. He rolled his eyes and continued the story.

The other ponies glanced towards Rainbow with worried glances, but after a few pages the focus was brought back to the story. As it neared completion even Applejack was staring at the papers with her mouth agape. As the story finally drew to a close the earth pony let out a low whistle. “Well, ah'll be. Dash, ah didn't know yah had it in yah.”

“Pfft, I told yah I was awesome. Of course my story would be so,” the pegasus said as she leaned back and puffed out her chest.

“Nah, not that,” Applejack said as she motioned to the story. “Ah mean how yah put yourself in the story. Prism Runner? I really expected her to take the show and relegate Daring Do to a side character, but yah made her an actual side kick.”

Rainbow coughed and looked off to the side as she rubbed the side of her head with a hoof. “What? Eh heh heh. I wouldn't do something like that. It's called Daring Do after all. Heh heh.”

“Ah know,” the earth pony said with a smile. “With her intro and all ah really expected her to be jus' you in the story. Instead, she was a really well thought out character. Ah really didn't think yah'd have her get hurt like that. As companions go ah I could definitely see her being a good one.”

The pegasus blushed a bit as she prodded at the floor. “W-well, I can't take all the credit. I mean, I did show the story to Scoots and used some of her suggestions.”

“Ah,” Applejack said with a smirk. “Yah still did a really good job on it. Color me impressed.”

Twilight nodded. “Not to mention it's very rare that Daring has a pegasus companion. I felt she did a really good job with the implementation of a government support group.”

“Yeah,” Spike said as he plopped the story down with the others. “The beginning really threw me off, but it got really good.”

“Of course,” Rainbow said with a snicker. “I told you, awesome. I'm totally going to win this contest.”

“Right,” Applejack said with a snicker. “So, who's next?”

“Ohhh! Pick me! Pick me!” Pinkie said as she hopped up and down.

“How about Rarity's?” Spike asked with a chuckle.

“Pick meeee! Me me me!” the pink pony said as she jumped around and raised her hoof.

“Well, if no pony is volunteering,” the dragon said as the earth pony suddenly put her face up against his.

“Piiiiiiiiick meeeeeee.”

“Well, ah guess we could do Pinkie's story next,” Applejack said with a chuckle. “Though ah'm not sure she wants us too.”

“I certainly have no objections, does any pony?” Rarity asked as she gave Fluttershy another comforting pat. The others shrugged or nodded their approval as Spike moved to sit down with every pony else.

“Okay! So it starts off with Daring Do slinking through the forest in the middle of a snow storm...” the pink pony crouched low to the ground as she began slinking around the basement, moving around desks and other furniture. The others watched and tried to stay out of her way as she hopped, skipped, pounced, dressed, partially transformed and baked a pie while narrating her story. The others giggled as they watched their friends story. As it eventually ended the mare blew into her hoof and exploded, sending pink balls of cotton everywhere.

“P-Pinkie?” Spike asked nervously as he wiped pink fluff off his face.

“Yeah?” she asked as she popped out from behind the desk.

“How did you do that?” he asked with wide eyes.

“A duck showed me! He said only do it once,” she said with a knowing nod.

“Not one of my ducks I hope!” Fluttershy squeaked. “I-I don't want them doing anything s-so frightful...” she said gently.

“No, no! A different duck. Taller. So, what yah think, what yah think?” Pinkie asked as she returned to hopping about.

“Errr, hold on,” Twilight mumbled as she continued writing on a piece of paper with her quill. “Okay, I think I figured it out. Here,” she said as she held up the paper. “So the evil Daring Do grabbed the villains from the real Daring Do's universe, henceforth known as the second dimension, as well as the police force from the third dimension. Now, in the fourth dimension she grabbed the bat pony's and in the fifth dimension, our dimension, she got Chrysalis and Discord. However, when she returned to the second dimension to find the real Daring Do. The evil Daring Do almost destroyed the real Daring Do, except the real Daring Do got the transporter thing and... no, wait. That didn't... it wasn't then. It was before then. She grabbed the... no...” the unicorn groaned as she held her head.

“You're over thinking it,” Spike said with a chuckle. “The real Daring Do just got all the other good groups and fought against the evil Daring Do. The slap fight at the end was pretty funny. Having her work with a good version of Dr. Destrucity was hilarious.”

“Oh yeah,” Rainbow said with a chuckle. “I loved how you had him just as incompetent. 'Look, I'll use my wedgie gun on her!' 'She doesn't wear pants!' 'AHHHHH! It backfired!'” the pegasus said before falling onto her back and rolling around laughing. “That was hilarious!”

“Heh, it was pretty good,” Twilight mumbled as she poked at her flow chart again. “I really think I can figure it out though. Maybe if I apply Star Swirl's theory of transdimensional circumstantiated cylindric orbiting boundaries... It would explain how she was able to teleport directly to those dimensions and not... hmmmm...”

“Easy now, sugar cube,” Applejack said as she reached out to pull the paper away. “If yah try examining everything too close yah'll miss out on all the fun. How about yah just try to enjoy the story for what it is?”

Twilight sighed and prodded the ground with a hoof. “Fine... so, who's next?”

“Rarity's!” Spike said quickly as he jumped to his feet. He was over by it within moments and gripped it in his claws. He let out a soft sigh as little hearts floated over his head. “Sigh... it even smells like her...”

The others watched him for a few moments as he happily held the paper before Rainbow finally rolled her eyes. “... Stop groping it and start reading it. We don't have all night,” the pegasus snapped.

“Huh? Oh, right. The sun heated the beach of the Zebracon resort. Daring Do and Steel Hoof were lounging by the pool, sipping coconut juice from split coconuts. The stallion occasionally gave her longing glances, but she failed to notice. Unseen by them a figure...” the dragon continued to read as the others listened.

After a few pages Rainbow let out a groan. “Oh come oooooon. Where is the action? It's all... romancy and lovey dovey and stuff! I get it, he's a prince and all that, but where's the fighting? She didn't even fight off any of the guards!”

Rarity rolled her eyes. “Oh dear, it's not always about violence and action. Sometimes it's about drama and suspense. Come now, even you have to have read one or two romances in your... ah. Right,” she mumbled as she coughed into her hoof. “Spike, please carry on.”

“Gladly,” the little dragon said as he continued. “Daring sighed as she felt the hot shower run along her skin. Everything was going so fast, she didn't know what to think. She wasn't sure if she was ready, or even willing, to take up Steel Hoof on his offer. Even if it didn't affect her plans for adventure, could she really give up that freedom? To be shackled and held down to another pony? She was so lost in thought that she failed to hear as the bathroom door slowly slid open...” Spike read from the story as the others leaned forward in excitement. Even Rainbow was listening with rapt attention at the first sign of danger.

The story soon drew to a close as Spike flipped to the last page. “Daring sighed as she looked into Steel Hoof's eyes before leaning in to give him a kiss. After a moment she pulled back and smiled. 'I'm sorry,' she said. 'I'm just not ready. I need more time. There are so many things I still need to see and need to do. You have a home here that needs you. But... I promise. I will come back. When I do, if you're still wanting some pony like me... then the answer is yes,' she said before she turned and galloped away towards her plane. The stallion lifted his hoof towards her before shaking his head. 'I'll always be waiting for you, Daring. Until the stars themselves fall from the sky.'” There was a small pause as the dragon stacked the papers back together. “Finished!” he said as he looked around.

Fluttershy sobbed as she wiped the tears from her eyes. “T-that was so beautiful. T-the way he o-offered to give up everything for her. I-I really thought she was going t-to say yes,” the pegasus said before blowing her nose in a hanky.

“Well, ah will say it was quite a sweet story,” Applejack said as she wiped some moisture from her eyes. “Ah didn't expect her tah head off like that.”

“Well, I felt it was a little too predictable if they got together just like that,” Rarity said with a smile. “Though I'm sure if I ever wrote a follow up, the two would most definitely fall in love and never allow themselves to be separated again.”

“Oh gaaaaaag,” Rainbow said with a roll of her cheeks. Despite her objections her cheeks were bright red. “All that romance and kissy stuff was just gross. Should have had wayyyy more adventure. There is noooo way Daring Do would do any of that lovey dovey stuff.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Oh? So it must have been some other mare who squealed, giggled and grabbed my hoof when he rescued her from the vizier's trap, huh?”

The pegasus' face turned bright red as she shuffled her hooves. “I wasn't, I mean I never, that wasn't because, I was just, it...”

“Now darling, there is nothing wrong with a bit of romance once in a while,” Rarity said with a small chuckle. “As a matter of fact, I have a number of books on the subject that I imagine you would absolutely adore.”

“NO!” Rainbow said as she tapped her hoof on the ground hard. “A-Applejack, how about y-you just do your story, okay?!” the rainbow-maned pony squeaked.

The others snickered as the earth pony made her way front and center. “Sure, sugar cube. Mah story is a tad different. I'm gonna tell it, but ah brought notes. Hold on,” the mare said as she pulled a number of small notes from her saddlebag. “Ah call it Daring Do Jr Adventures and the Lost Sapphire Dove. It all began on a bright, sunny day. Daring Do and her best friend, Twitch, were once again exploring ol' Rustytooth's junkyard.” Applejack began as she occasionally moved through her notes. She stood there as she talked, refusing to jump or leap about like the pink mare had. She did, however, use spooky voices and made gestures with her hooves.

Before too long the story was finished, barely taking half as long as any of the others' stories. As she finished the last portion of her story she glanced up, her front legs crossed. “Daring Do let out a loud laugh as she and Twitch went off tah get sundaes, paid for by his mom as thanks for findin' the missin' sapphire dove. The end. So, what yah all think?”

“It was... short,” Rainbow said as he cocked an eyebrow. “Simple. I really thought you were going to have it turn out to be a criminal.”

“Nah,” the earth pony said with a chuckle. “I was gonna at first, but I felt it was more simple jus' tah have it turn out it got accidentally lost. Besides, I wanted them tah capture the poor ol' ghost and have it turn out not to be some bad pony. Jus' another freaked out pony stuck in the old run down mansion.”

Fluttershy whimpered as she clutched onto Pinkie, who was giggling. “D-did you h-have to h-have all those c-creepy sounds?” the pegasus asked as she trembled.

Applejack shrugged, “Sorry, sugar cube. Ah was just tryin' tah set the mood. Ain't quite as good as Pinkie, but ah like tah think ah did pretty well.”

“I'm surprised you didn't write it down though,” Twilight mumbled as she flipped through the note cards. “It probably could have made an excellent short story.”

“Nah, ain't never really been one for writin',” the earth pony said as she sat back down with the group. “Besides, this is one ah those stories ah can tell tah Applebloom next time she can't sleep. How about we get onta Twilight's story now.”

Spike nodded as he moved back up to the stack of stories and nudged Twilight's. “Are you sure? It's kinda long... and late...” the little dragon mumbled as he tried to flatten the stack of papers as best he could, though it was still over four times as tall as the rest of the stories put together.

“Nah, go ahead,” Rainbow said with a chuckle. “What's the worst that could happen?”

Spike sighed and nodded as he picked up the story and cleared his throat one final time. “My adventure was only just beginning as my carriage pulled into the front of a large golden hotel. Inside was my second interview of the week. A miss Golden Glitch. She was the second traveling companion of Daring Doo I managed to track and had agreed to discuss their adventures, so long as I met her at the hotel owned by her family. While, according to my sources, she had spent the least time with miss Do, their adventures were likely to be no less amazing. I trotted inside and was greeted by the scent of wild flowers...” the dragon read as the others relaxed and listened.

The story went on for ages and, though they tried their hardest, the gathered ponies could not stay awake for it. It began with the drooping of eyes. Then the soft yawns. Finally, Fluttershy fell asleep curled up between Pinkie and Rarity. Twilight laid down and nestled against Rainbow. Rarity closed her eyes just for a moment and laid her head against the yellow pegasi's neck, before passing out. Spike dropped down and fell asleep mid sentence. Applejack snored softly into the rainbow-maned ponies neck.

“Spike,” Rainbow mumbled as her eyes kept closing on their own, “gotta wake up... yawwwwwwn... story... reading... zzzzzzz...”

“Silly... billy... it's not...” Pinkie mumbled as she nestled against Fluttershy, “that... late... zzzzzz...”

Spike groaned and managed to wake himself, just for a few moments, so he could crawl over and nestle up against Twilight's side.

The gentle snores of the seven friends mingled into the night as the moon slowly trailed across the sky. Their dreams filled with adventure, suspense, romance and excitement as Daring Do lead them through dream land.

Comments

[Jeweled Pen]

And finished! So, now that you've all had a chance to read the story, tell us! Which of the writer's do you feel best summarizes your writing experience and which story do you think should win their little contest?