• Published 23rd Apr 2022
  • 492 Views, 15 Comments

Cheating at a Thousand Words - SparklingTwilight



Rainbow Dash's thousand word flight school essay unintentionally leads a pony who looks up to her down a dark path.

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...But Are They Any Good?

Rainbow Dash had to write a thousand word essay for school. The going had been tough, but a proper pegasus kept going and eventually the work was finished--one way or another. Rainbow Dash wasn't a "proper" pegasus. She had speed, gobs of it, but not endurance or focus.

She chatted, helped Fluttershy brush up on flying technique, then dashed to the store and picked up extra clouds to shore up a sagging corner of her trophy room, burgeoning with prizes commemorating racing victories won even against cheaters.

Despite athletic prizes, Dash had failed too many classes, so her academic status and future employment depended on the essay. She had offers from weather districts and applied to the Wonderbolts--the most-awesomeist aerial performance group; however, the Wonderbolts would never be interested in a failure.

But friends came first, and when Fluttershy returned to Dash's with a big smile after passing the remedial flying course's final, Dash threw a foreleg around her. "Awesome! Time to Par-tay!" And they did, with nose-candy, cake and snooker, reflecting on how Dash's imparted lessons were key to Fluttershy's success. When Dash first offered to help, she had imagined it would only take a brief few hours instead of an entire school year! But she was loyal to her friend, no matter the cost... and anyway, she would not have used freed-up time to study.

Thus, it was early in the morning when Rainbow Dash finally began her essay.

"This thousand word essay takes a thousand words to tell a story of a thousand words that is a Thousand Words of Awesome!" Rainbow Dash started. "A THOUSAND words seems like only a little bit, but it can really become super-duper-califragilistic-frustrating to reach, so I'll add some fluff. Fluff. Fluff. Fluff, fluff-fluff-fluff-fluff-fluff-fluff-fluff-fluff-fluff..." and it went on like that for 940 words--Dash's counting skills weren't great.

An hour before the essay was due, Fluttershy returned. Hearing Dash's deep and monstrous snoring, she shrieked, but soon recovered, realizing a monster had not replaced her friend. So, she shook Dash awake, "Are you ready?"

"Blew it away," bleary-eyed Dash bobbed her head.

"May I look?"

"Sure," Dash hoofed it over.

Fluttershy's brow furrowed. "Oh, Dashie. This... needs some work."

"Noooooooooooooooo!" Dash buried her face in her hooves.

"...You still have time... not much, though. Your assignment was--"

"Gotta write a thousand words."

"On what?"

"A thousand words."

"...May I see the prompt?"

"The what?"

"The assignment."

Dash merely blinked, so Fluttershy sifted through papers until she uncovered one. "Discuss, in at least a thousand words, how you overcame a struggle about flying."

"I've always been an awesome flyer!" Rainbow Dash declared. "I can't write about struggling! Wait. There was a topic?"

Fluttershy sighed. "Dashie, I'll help."

"Okay!" Dash nodded.

"Can you dictate--"

"Mmmph." Dash put a hoof to her mouth, laughing.

"What?" Fluttershy asked.

"You said dic-"

"Dash!" Fluttershy bopped her friend's snout. "Focus!"

"I've never struggled at flying."

Fluttershy frowned. "But your endurance and focus... you didn't follow the instructions."

Dash shrugged. "Guide me. I'll dash it off--heh-heh."

"You could write about your struggles with focus and endurance."

Dash, lightning-fast wrote, pen in mouth. Soon, she hoofed the product over to Fluttershy.

"Oh my," Fluttershy frowned. "This won't do."

"Why not?"

Fluttershy squinted: "'I focus bad. I tire fast. I have bad focus. Try hard. Work better. No sleeptime. Win.' Then, it repeats."

"Let's adjust..." Fluttershy kindly inserted carats and expanded sentences with a wavering pen and a sweating brow.

"Class is like in thirty minutes," Dash noted.

Fluttershy set aside her edits. "This is a terrible idea, but get a new sheet."

"Okay!" Dash dipped a quill in its ink reservoir.

Fluttershy related how a pegasus lacked confidence to focus, but a friend helped her endure and pass an important test!

"That doesn't seem cool enough," Dash complained.

Fluttershy fixed Dash with a strong stare. "What looks less cool--being held back or writing about learning!"

"When you put it that way..." Dash considered. "Both sound pretty uncool. I'm not an egghead."

Flutttershy filled her cheeks, then released their contents with a shout: "You could fail!"

Dash blinked: "But isn't writing a thinly-disguised story about you cheating?"

Fluttershy sighed. "It'll also be true for your experience when you pass."

"But it isn't my words."

Fluttershy swallowed. "Don't you want to pass?"

Dash nodded, visions of Wonderbolt membership dancing in her head.

"Write."

Dash finished scribbling. "So... I'm a cheater," Dash frowned.

Fluttershy shivered. "It's... not really cheating."

"Whaaa?" Dash cocked her head.:rainbowhuh:

"You... wrote it...and you aren't plagiarizing since I'm dictating."

"Huh," Dash nodded. "Plague-ism has to be written?"

"Yes," Fluttershy said, authoritatively.(She's wrong.)


"So," Rainbow Dash admitted to her friends gathered around the campfire for Truth or Dare. "That's my greatest secret."

"Ya' mean ya' shouldn't have graduated?" Applejack, the Element of Honesty, narrowed her eyes.

Apple Bloom's mouth gaped wide.

"And Fluttershy helped cheat!" Rarity exclaimed.

"Yeah," Dash elaborated, whispering to Rarity, "she's sort of a cheater... don't tell you-know-who."

Rarity blushed, then made a sign over her lips with a hoof.

"I knew I should be cheating!" Scootaloo turned to Sweetie Belle with a look of disgust. "I've already got things going against me," she indicated her undersized flightless wings. "Like Rainbow Dash, I should seize every opportunity. You can't argue that Rainbow shouldn'ta been held back in school! If she had, she might not have become an Element of Harmony and saved Equestria!"

Sweetie Belle, who had been counseling Scootaloo against cheating, studied the ground.

"Heh, heh," Rainbow Dash chuckled. "Maybe, but that also led to my greatest shame."

After another round, Rainbow Dash explained that due to her poor understanding of mathematics, she spent a week in tax prison for improperly calculated taxes. Nowadays, her Wonderbolt salary would let her hire professionals, but: "If I had studied better, Scootaloo, then I wouldn't have had that problem."

Judging by the gigantic grin on Scootaloo's face, it was unlikely that the filly would take the warning to heart.

Author's Note:

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy's dark secret... Cheating. Beware shortcuts. The difference between long-term tutoring and desperate last-minute measures.... Sadly, people may twist themselves rhetorically to justify cheating and those who do unfair things can sometimes succeed.

Ultimately, this story is primarily intended to be a tragically humorous joke about Rainbow Dash's dark past leading Scootaloo astray. :rainbowwild:

Fie. :applecry: Is this what society teaches us? :raritycry: Is this our doom? :facehoof: To be fair, there are consequences when one is caught. And some will be caught. :ajbemused: Will Scootaloo succeed? :scootangel:

Good luck to those of you whom are entering final exam season!

A similar topic of struggle:

EProject Dillemma
Rainbow Dash misses out on her project
onekface · 1.2k words  ·  20  1 · 718 views

- Enjoy my other Thousand Words contest entries HERE.

Comments ( 14 )

Upvoted, mostly because it was a cute story. A little bit lazily written though.

It was not very kind of Fluttershy to force Rainbow Dash to cheat like that:fluttershbad::fluttershyouch::fluttershysad:

11221083
Thank you! Re: the second part of your comment- is that because of Fluttershy repeating herself or something else?

11221449
The dialogue just feels very basic, even for Rainbow Dash. Especially when it comes to some of the written bits.

Fluttershy squinted: "'I focus bad. I tire fast. I have bad focus. Try hard. Work better. No sleeptime. Win.' Then, it repeats."

She's a jock, not a foreigner. She knows how to string a sentence together, even if it's just endless self congratulatory praise.

"I knew I should be cheating!" Scootaloo turned to Sweetie Belle with a look of disgust. "I've already got things going against me," she indicated her undersized flightless wings.

This story would work very well as a prequel to The Jet Powered Pegasus.

11221312

:fluttershysad: Pre-Season One Fluttershy thought it was kind, alas. But she probably has more to learn over the next few Seasons. :pinkiehappy:
(It's up to the reader, of course, however, I saw it as she convinced herself that it probably wasn't plagiarism and it was necessary...so she deluded herself and talked Rainbow Dash into it since for Dash, it was cheating or failure. That said, she's reasonably assertive here! :pinkiegasp:)
Thank you!

11221584
Understood! I appreciate the feedback. Thank you for taking the time! The terseness is due to Dash's time limitation and sleepiness; however, I can certainly see how it could raise concern with you and some other readers because that particular language indeed is basic!

I tried to balance that by conveying Dash's astuteness through relating her realization that Fluttershy's suggestion is a "thinly-disguised story about you [Fluttershy]"; however, there might be room for more finesse even with a 1000 word limit! I will think about it!

11221609
Thank you for the recommendation to take a look at The Jet Powered Pegasus! I generally welcome recommendations about other people's works (not their own) that are relevant. It's a great way to keep good older works in mind. I have added it to my to-read list!

11221763
No problem! I enjoyed the story, and I look forward to seeing what you make in the future! :twilightsmile:

11221755
oops forgot to favorite earlier. It was honestly the how forceful she was about it that makes it feel off. Like sure dash is showing pretty minimal resistance but shes clearly apprehensive about cheating. Fluttershy would have to know it doesnt feel great to be pressured into things even if the pony doing it thought they were doing it for your own good. So yeah little unkind and Flutters should have known it. But its not like the other bearers are perfect exemplars of their element at all times so its not like its some big deal.


Truth be told I just liked the story and wanted to comment and Flutters behavior felt slightly off so I wanted to joke about it and use some cute fluttermotes

11222193
Thank you! :pinkiehappy: Certainly, I too support opportunities to use the ponemotes!

11221781

Thank you again! Rainbow Dash also plays a part in the following story (chronologically set after this one) (certainly no need to reply to this suggestion, which is offered due to your comment that suggested a willingness to look at my other works--and of course, you may have already seen the tale):

EFlitterblocked
Cloud Chaser endeavours to (in a smothering way) protect her vain, airy sister after they join the Ponyville weather team. However, as the saying goes: no mare is an island.
SparklingTwilight · 4.8k words  ·  18  0 · 320 views

As long as Twilight doesn't find out, Dash should be mostly fine. If she does find out...

Yeah, I could see a friend's academic misconduct leading to Twilight turning to the dark side. :twilightoops:

Delightful bit of fluff. Unfortunately, it was entered in the Grim category and Grim alone...
Still, thank you for it and best of luck in the judging.

11265135

Delightful bit of fluff. Unfortunately, it was entered in the Grim category and Grim alone...

Thank you! :pinkiecrazy:

Rainbow Dash had to write a thousand word essay for school.

meta, nice!

She chatted, helped Fluttershy brush up on flying technique, then dashed to the store and picked up extra clouds to shore up a sagging corner of her trophy room, burgeoning with prizes commemorating racing victories won even against cheaters.

heh, wonder if the mention of "cheaters" will have an ironic sting later. and it's fun to think of pegasi as having to go to the cloud store now and again

She had offers from weather districts and applied to the Wonderbolts--the most-awesomeist aerial performance group; however, the Wonderbolts would never be interested in a failure.

considering just how many accomplishments Rainbow had to have under her belt before being accepted as a candidate, at this point this must have been a real long shot of an application!

And they did, with nose-candy, cake and snooker, reflecting on how Dash's imparted lessons were key to Fluttershy's success.

haha, i imagine "nose-candy" has a more literal meaning in this soft and fluffy TV-Y7 Equestria!

"A THOUSAND words seems like only a little bit, but it can really become super-duper-califragilistic-frustrating to reach, so I'll add some fluff. Fluff. Fluff. Fluff, fluff-fluff-fluff-fluff-fluff-fluff-fluff-fluff-fluff..." and it went on like that for 940 words--Dash's counting skills weren't great.

ehehe, meta! padding wordcount by having the character pad wordcount in-character, love it

Hearing Dash's deep and monstrous snoring, she shrieked, but soon recovered, realizing a monster had not replaced her friend

aww, she is so scaredy!

Wait. There was a topic?"

ahaha oof, i've been there!

"Can you dictate--"

"Mmmph." Dash put a hoof to her mouth, laughing.

"What?" Fluttershy asked.

"You said dic-"

"Dash!" Fluttershy bopped her friend's snout. "Focus!"

ah, this is so perfectly immature Rainbow Dash! dangit, how is she so #relatable?

Dash shrugged. "Guide me. I'll dash it off--heh-heh."

heh-heh

Fluttershy squinted: "'I focus bad. I tire fast. I have bad focus. Try hard. Work better. No sleeptime. Win.' Then, it repeats."

pure poetry, love it

Fluttershy fixed Dash with a strong stare. "What looks less cool--being held back or writing about learning!"

"When you put it that way..." Dash considered. "Both sound pretty uncool. I'm not an egghead."

aww, that Rainbow Dash pride is really working against her here

Dash blinked: "But isn't writing a thinly-disguised story about you cheating?"

Fluttershy sighed. "It'll also be true for your experience when you pass."

i love the layers to this! really makes the question of what it means to write about a personal experience philosophical

"Whaaa?" Dash cocked her head.:rainbowhuh:

perfect use of website-native emoji! wow, what a rich multimedia experience this is!

"Yes," Fluttershy said, authoritatively.(She's wrong.)

thank you for this helpful guidance from an external source!

"And Fluttershy helped cheat!" Rarity exclaimed.

"Yeah," Dash elaborated, whispering to Rarity, "she's sort of a cheater... don't tell you-know-who."

Rarity blushed, then made a sign over her lips with a hoof.

oh my! i would be as shocked as Rarity here

"I knew I should be cheating!" Scootaloo turned to Sweetie Belle with a look of disgust.

oh no, that is what i would fear most: Scootaloo taking the wrong lesson from Rainbow's bad example!

Sweetie Belle, who had been counseling Scootaloo against cheating, studied the ground.

augh, poor Sweetie! trying to be good and do the right thing

After another round, Rainbow Dash explained that due to her poor understanding of mathematics, she spent a week in tax prison for improperly calculated taxes. Nowadays, her Wonderbolt salary would let her hire professionals, but: "If I had studied better, Scootaloo, then I wouldn't have had that problem."

Judging by the gigantic grin on Scootaloo's face, it was unlikely that the filly would take the warning to heart.

ahaha, of course that would be Rainbow Dash's problem! and yes, that is possibly the worst example she could have used to dissuade a filly from all of the cool rewards that cheating can bring

Ultimately, this story is primarily intended to be a tragically humorous joke about Rainbow Dash's dark past leading Scootaloo astray. :rainbowwild:

that is definitely how i experienced it, so you did a fantastic job there! not to mention all of the fun metaness that is writing about a cheating at writing a thousand words while writing for a contest about writing a thousand words.

loved the characters in this, with Rainbow Dash being just the right amount of lazy and prideful without it being too much, and Fluttershy being there for Rainbow Dash's weaknesses in confronting a struggle, just as Rainbow had been there for her. great stuff!

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