100 stories in 100 words, following the prompts of the Fanart 100.
Drabbles are stories told in 100 words. The Fanart 100 gives 100 prompts (95 filled, 5 left to the creator) to address in whatever manner the author sees fit. Here will follow 100 stories in 100 words over 100 days, beginning August 16, 2012.
“It…it’s awfully…big,” Celestia whispered, wings closed tight to her flanks.
“Two times ten to the thirtieth kilograms,” her mother agreed, tail flipping as she held in a smile at her little one’s discomfort.
“One point nine eight nine,” Celestia corrected, rather distractedly.
“Oh. My apologies, Celly.” Leaning down, she nuzzled the filly’s shoulder, dislodging her hooves from the ground. Rather impressive, considering she’d been standing there like she’d stepped in concrete hours before. “Well…ready?”
Celestia’s wings fluttered and she swallowed, throat moving in one long pull. Then, she spread her wings, gathered her spindly legs…and flew.
This story is my attempt to fulfill the prompts of the Fanart 100, with drabbles (100 word fics). There will be one chapter per day.
The Fanart 100 gives 95 prompts and 5 blanks for artist's choice, but I'm putting creative power in your hands. For each chapter, each reviewer can give a single-word prompt. My final five prompts will be picked with a random number generator.
You can repeat a prompt suggestion. Thus, if you really want a certain prompt (muffins?), review each chapter and end with that prompt each time, and it's in 95 times! Prompt are single words, not lengthy descriptions. No explicit prompts will be accepted.
His wife had never been…small. At least, not since his darling had begun spending evenings with his family at the start of their courtship. Which was fine! He loved his wife’s curves. Many ponies were self-conscious about their shape, but she never seemed to notice, and she was still as physically active as any other pony.
Now, though, it was sort of…fascinating. He sat back and watched as Cup Cake tied an extra length of string to the original apron ties, and it still barely managed to reach around her very, very occupied belly.
She was losing them. They would never come back. No words. Nothing. Just…this was it.
The best she could do was imagine what would happen as they grew older. New jobs. Relationships. Perhaps even marriage and foals. Then…illnesses and failures and deaths. But she’d never know. Could never know. This was all she would get, cursed by their creator to forever wonder, hope, and dread.
Twilight hesitated. Considered just stopping. Putting off this final goodbye forever. Leave it this way and protect her heart.
But, despite the dread, she couldn’t resist, and so she turned the final page.
Oh, she was just…just fantastic. He could tell. He could always tell, deep down, when he found a really good one. Sort of like picking out the ripest melon in the grocery. Just with less rapping and listening for hollow sounds.
Well, normally. Some species, it helped.
This one, though, a-mazing! Intelligent. Brave. Feisty. A pony, true, but that was only weird according to certain definitions of “weird.”
The brown stallion opened the door and stepped back, waving a hoof to usher the mare in. She took three steps…then stared.
“Oh…Dear, are you really going to wear that thing? Ponyville is rather small. Everyone already knows you don’t have hair.”
Cranky smiled softly at Muriel, then at himself and his false hair in the mirror. “Of course I’m wearing it. It makes me look…dashing.”
Despite her earlier remonstrations, she giggled. “Oh, Cranky, Dear…I already think you’re dashing. You don’t need to wear a toupee to convince me of that.”
“I know, Darling,” he said, mussing his love’s own hair with a gentle nuzzle, “I suppose I mean…it makes me feel dashing.”
Twilight Sparkle imagined Luna was going to have little trouble fitting in back in Canterlot. The city straddled day and night, shops opening whenever it struck the keeper’s fancy, staying open until they grew restless to wander the city under starlight.
Of course, Luna might do even better in Los Pegasas, that desert city that only thrived when the hot sun was down and the moon granted a little lunacy to night-long parties.
Twilight just hoped Luna would wait to visit Ponyville, because in that little town, no one found it strange that Twilight awoke to watch the dawn.
“Do you think…she forgot us?” Velvet asked, looking to her husband.
“Twilight? No,” he said, far too quickly, giving his son a darting glance. “She’s just…very busy. Ponyville hasn’t had a librarian in years, you know. She’s got a lot to do, cataloging, evaluating the collections, planning events—”
“So she forgot us,” Velvet said, a quaver in the words.
“No, Mom,” Shining Armor said, reaching over to rest a hoof on her shoulder. “I know Twilight thinks about us all the time.”
Velvet looked at the ground and sniffled. “I just wish…she’d think of us…in writing….”
Pip couldn’t read calendars. He’d barely met Cheerilee, after all, and class was just getting to the end of the alphabet song (he couldn’t wait to find out how it ended).
However, the calendar at home had two panels for each month, the bottom for dates and the top for a picture. Hearts and Hooves day had a couple standing on a bridge. Winter Wrap Up was birds in trees, singing.
He turned and turned pages until he felt a chill on seeing a dark mare rearing before a moon.
Sighing, he turned back and scratched one more red X.
Hmmm…what do you imagine I am going to do to you when I return, dear sister? What could it be? Your imagination is…passable, but I was always better when we played pretend.
I think…I’ll start with whatever little foal you’ve taken on as your latest pet project. You’re always so…motherly to them. I wonder how protective you actually are…after all, you betrayed your own blood. What of someone you’ve just taken up as your latest fancy?
Then…after they’re ruined…I’ll move onto you. Oh, but Celly…Celly…I’ll let your newest little foal watch.
It wasn’t that he had nothing to say. Certainly not that he had nothing nice to say; he was a cheerful guy and saw good in the world at every moment.
It was just that he’d said it all…and no one had ever listened. Applejack working herself half to death, Mayor Mare governing Ponyville into the ground, Applebloom doing insane things she hated, trying to find out what she was destined to do for the rest of her life….
So he kept it to himself and watched, ready to be the strong shoulders that put it all back together.
“Really, Equestria’s current tax structure is just broken. Ruby Heart and I had to cut short our vacation in Cloudesdale this year. We’ve never had to do so before.” “I know what you mean. Just last month, Catamaran told me that we wouldn’t be able to remodel the kitchen! And I was so looking forward to getting those new stainless-steel appliances by Maretag.” “If we can’t live in comfort, then how does Celestia expect the rest of Equestria to manage?” “Exactly!” “Hordurves, miss?” The blank-flank filly looked up and shook her strangely bare head. “Naw. I ain’t hungry.”
The birds were a big help. Each would stay up until they had to fetch the nursemaid, and then they would pick the next bird to replace them for a shift. And, right now, the shifts were only lasting about…a half hour. So the birds were doing fine. Fluttershy, though…. She had lulled herself to sleep, this time, though even in dreams her wings remained curved around the small, white body sucking so greedily at a bottle that seemed twice his size. Angel reflexively kicked out, startling Fluttershy back awake, but she just looked down on him and smiled.
Guess whose computer died right when she decided to begin a story that demands daily updates! Hopefully will get back on that very, very soon. Review and leave your prompt!
