A collection of drafts, cut content, and extremely short stories.
A collection of drafts, cut content, and extremely short stories.
Everything here is presented with little to no editing. There is no order, chronological or otherwise, to this collection. A story's inclusion here is not necessarily permanent and at any time it may be removed, either to be thrown back into the scrap heap, or to receive the editing it needs to be posted on its own.
Genres will be listed next to each story's title; descriptions as well as other information will be contained in author's notes at the top of each story.
Cover art by the incomparable rice. Make sure to check out the full quality image on DeviantArt here, because fimfic's compression really does not do it justice.
Twilight injected the dead rat with the solution--a solution, she corrected herself, one of thousands she had tried over the centuries. She watched it intently, hoping as she always did that this would be the one.
And, as always happened… well, nothing did.
Twilight sighed and rubbed the bridge of her muzzle. Another night of failure. She frowned. There was no point being defeatist now, she had invested too much into this.
She turned to write notes of the experiment down. As she brought pen to page, she heard a rustle. Her eyes shot wide and she grinned like a child at a carnival. Something different. Something new.
The rat was alive again.
"Yes yes yes yes yes!" Queen Twilight Sparkle jumped up and down, happier than she had been in a long long time.
She walked over to the special nitrogen and magic rich freezer and smiled. Through the viewing window she looked at the deceased form of her beloved.
the first time i saw you purple and white, mane and coat and eyes as blue as a crystal clear lake wrapped in regal dress i knew i was in love
you were my best friend i had seen you nearly daily for years you had been at my side through high times and lows and yet
and yet this was the first time i’d seen you
i shuffled over, a bumbling fool not even the addition of wings had given me grace and you smiled at me and giggled and my heart smoldered and i asked you to dance
Spitfire walked dejectedly into her room. It was plastered with Wonderbolts posters, there was a whiteboard with a detailed workout plan, and a calendar. On today's date, in big capital letters, was the word ‘RACE’, circled three times, with stars drawn around it. Spitfire growled and threw her bronze medal against it.
“How stupid do they think we are, giving two foals silver and two foals bronze?” she ranted as she paced around her room. “And then they claim I tied for third with Soarin? No! We tied for fourth!”
She began to see red as her breathing sped up and her anger gained heat. With a roar she flew to her nearest Wonderbolts poster and ripped it off her wall. She crumpled it up and threw it to the floor; one poster down, nineteen to go. She flew around the room, leaving a yellow and orange trail as she destroyed her most prized possessions.
After all, what point was there in dreams if some rainbow-maned filly four years younger than anyone else in their racing class could come in and nearly beat them all?
The red faded from her vision and finally reality set in again. Her posters, things she saved up her allowance for, things she had received as gifts, things she had waited in long lines through heat and cold and rain and snow to get autographed, all torn down. Tears welled up in her eyes and she circled down to her bed. Shoving her face into a pillow, she cried her eyes out.
She rolled over some time later, body drained of tears, and stared at the ceiling. This wasn’t like her, giving up like this. Her gaze drifted to the whiteboard with its workout plan. She flew over to it and began adding to it, making her workouts longer, more intense, more often. Her determination came back as the fire inside her reignited.
Maybe she was fourth best now, but that just meant she’d have to work harder to get back to the top.
Sweetie Belle woke up to the pitter patter of rain hitting her window. She smiled and hopped out of bed. It was finally here! She’d been waiting for this rainy day all week, and finally she would get her chance to sing.
She ran to her closet and pulled out her rain jacket. It was cute and pink, but most importantly, it was lightweight. She tossed it on and smiled at how she could barely feel it.
Thoroughly protected now, Sweetie slunk down the stairs, keeping an eye out for Rarity. Her sister couldn’t see her in this, she just couldn’t! Setting hoof onto the ground floor, she peeked around the corner and saw that her sister was preoccupied by making breakfast. This was her chance! Memories of spy movies running through her head, she tiphoofed to the door successfully.
Giggling and jumping, she whispered, “Yes! Wait until I tell Scootaloo and Apple Bloom how much of a stealth master I am!”
“Sweetie Belle? Is that you?”
Brought back to the present moment, Sweetie realized just how much noise she was making. “Uh oh.” She turned to pull open the door, but, in her haste, forgot to unlock it.
Rarity walked into the room and gasped in dismay. “Sweetie Belle! Is that a nylon rain jacket? I’ve told you, synthetic fabrics are not welcome in my home!”
“But sis, it’s so light, and I don’t have to do spell maintenance constantly to keep it waterproof,” Sweetie pouted.
Rarity sighed. “Go to your room, Sweetie Belle. We can talk about this later.”
Sweetie huffed and stomped up to her room. So much for her big plans.
Somnambula lay in bed and waited. She didn't get up when she heard Starswirl snoring from two rooms away. She probably could have; Starswirl had always been a deep sleeper, and that had only become more true as the years went on. There was little point in risking it, though, as she had a lot to lose.
Finally, when she could wait no longer, she snuck out of her room and walked down the hall of the inn. She paused outside the second door from the staircase on the right and, after glancing around once more, crept into the room.
Meadowbrook sat by the window, her forelegs folded on the sill. The moonlight played over her features, highlighting the way her messy mane, frayed from nearly always being tied up, fell across her withers. Other ponies might think she looked messy, but Somnambula thought she looked angelic.
Somnambula, staying as quiet as possible, walked towards her. Meadowbrook’s ears perked up momentarily, but her gaze never drifted from the moon, not even when Somnambula wrapped a powerful wing around her and kissed her cheek.
“Good evening, my love.”
Meadowbrook leaned against her, and for a moment said nothing. As Somnambula breathed in to say more, Meadowbrook said, “I think Starswirl knows we’re seeing each other.”
Somnambula gasped. “Do you really think so?”
“The looks he was shooting you and me when he thought we weren’t looking…” Meadowbrook finally broke away from the moon and buried her face against Somnambula’s neck, not finishing the thought.
Somnambula pulled her lover close against her, cooing and soothing as Meadowbrook sobbed against her coat. Even as she tried to project calm, her own mind was racing. If Starswirl knew they were seeing each other, he would not allow them to remain pillars. He had been clear that they all must be seen as above other ponies, which meant they could not love, especially amongst themselves.
Eventually Meadowbrooks tears ran dry, and when they did Somnambula said, “If he knows, there is nothing we can do, my love.” She pushed her marefriend back and lifted her face with a hoof. She smiled--even tired and weary, even with her coat streaked and matted with tears and bags beneath her eyes, her love was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. “There is no use in worrying now. We are together, and we should not feel shame and fear in that, especially not here, tonight, alone.”
“It’s not fair how you got the wisdom and the beauty of the two of us.” Meadowbrook smiled. It didn’t quite reach her eyes, but it was a start.
“Compared to you, I am a foolish mule.” Somnambula chuckled.
Before her love could respond, she closed the distance between them and kissed her passionately, delighting in the taste of peppermint playing across her tongue. Tomorrow they could worry again. Tonight they let everything outside drift away, and lost themselves in each other.
Sweetie Belle Says a Bad Word [Comedy] [Slice of Life]
Sweetie Belle gnawed on the end of her pencil, willing the words to come out, but the words just weren’t flowing. Timed essays were kind of dumb in general--like Twilight always told her, you can’t write a good essay without proper research--but the prompts Ms Cheerilee had given the class weren’t helping. They were, for lack of a better word, stupid.
Someone cleared their throat in front of her and she looked up to see Cheerilee glaring at her.
“I said that out loud, didn’t I?” Sweetie groaned.
“You did.” Cheerilee rubbed her head, a clear sign she’d be reaching for that alcohol she kept in her desk after this (Sweetie Belle was young, not stupid). She sighed. “You know that I’m going to need to talk to Rarity about this.”
“Yeah…”
Cheerilee grimaced. “Just… Just pack up your things and head home for the day, Sweetie. I’ll figure out your punishment later.”
Sweetie heard a knock on her bedroom door and she groaned. Maybe Rarity would just decide to leave her alone, or this pillow could suffocate her, or--
“Sweetie Belle? Are you in there?”
Sweetie shoved her face deeper into the pillows, hoping that would block out Rarity’s voice. Besides, Rarity knew she was in here, and Rarity knew she knew, and this was really all just a stupid formality, especially since the doors at the boutique had locks.
Rarity opened the door and walked through the room to the bed; Sweetie felt her weight settle down next to her. Rarity rubbed her back in soothing motions and, no matter how hard she tried to hold on to her bad mood, the tension slowly drained from her.
“Now, do you want to talk about what’s bothering you?”
“You already know,” Sweetie grumbled.
Rarity sighed. “I do, but I just thought you might like to say your piece first.” Rarity took her hoof off of Sweetie’s back. “And stop pouting, it is unbecoming of a lady.”
Sweetie whipped her head around. “I am not pouting, and I’m not a lady.” She lifted her hoof up and rubbed her muzzle. She was definitely pouting. “Okay, well, I’m not a lady at the very least.”
Rarity rolled her eyes and smiled. “Sweetie, darling, there are many different ways to be a lady, and yours does not have to be the same as mine.”
“Okay, fine, sure.” Sweetie rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling. “Can we just get this over with? It’s still prime sulking hours.”
She heard a sniffle, and she sat up, eyebrows raised. One lowered as she took in Rarity’s prideful smile and the tears welling in her eyes.
“Oh don’t mind me, Sweetie. You’ve just learned so well.”
“I mean, clearly I haven’t, otherwise we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.”
Rarity cleared her throat and regained her composure. “Right. Well, Cheerilee talked with me about how you used ‘inappropriate language’ during class today, but she didn’t give the specifics.”
Sweetie slumped and rested her head on her hooves. “Ugh, so, we were doing this timed essay, which was already stupid, but then the prompts were bad too. And, well, the words just weren’t coming, and I accidentally said ‘fuck this’.”
Rarity nodded. “It’s understandable to be frustrated like that, but some words are not acceptable for use in polite company. That’s why--”
“I shouldn’t use those words, and it’s wrong of me to do so, yada yada yada. I’ve gotten this talk from mom and dad before, Rarity, I know how this goes.”
Rarity closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and when she opened them there was a fire behind them. “I’m trying to think of the proper way to say this, but I think this situation calls for me being blunt, so…
“That’s fucking stupid.”
Sweetie Belle gasped and Rarity giggled. “Like I said, ‘polite company’, and this is not polite company.” Rarity winked and Sweetie giggled. “You know that I love our parents, but sometimes their rules can be… a little bit old-fashioned and impractical.”
Sweetie nodded. “Sure, but, if that rule is stupid, what’s yours?”
“Replace those bad words with acceptable ones. ‘Screw this’, for example.” Rarity smirked. “Use polite society’s rules against them and scrape by on technicalities.”
Sweetie felt like her mind was expanding, this new concept opening up a range of possibilities to her. She hugged her sister and smiled. “You’re the best, Rarity.”
Rarity returned the hug. “I know. You’re still grounded though.”
Sweetie groaned (but she definitely did not pout).
Rainbow Dash stared down from her cloud at Princess Twilight Sparkle. Her friend--her ex--talked and laughed with their other friends. But she couldn’t.
It isn’t that Twilight didn’t invite her or anything. She had personally shown up at Rainbow’s door to extend the invitation to her. All smiles, happy as can be. As if nothing happened between them.
Every ounce of willpower in Rainbow was used to not slam the door in her face.
Rainbow couldn’t go down there. She couldn’t laugh at Pinkie’s jokes, or rib Applejack about something. Not if it meant she had to smile while Twilight acted so normal. She just knew she would lose her cool and scream at her, ask her how she could just pretend to move on so quickly.
But Rainbow knew the truth. She had realized while Twilight stood on her doorstep, passing along the invitation. Frankly, she had known for a long time, but she hadn’t wanted to admit it to herself; couldn’t admit it to herself.
Their relationship had never been as important to Twilight as it had been to her.
While Rainbow had meltdowns, and flew back to Cloudsdale to hang out with old friends, and got shitfaced and made an absolute fool of herself, Twilight just kept living her life. Twilight had cared about her, sure, but she’d never really loved her, not fully. It made a sickening sort of sense that Twilight would move on so quickly, because what was there for her to move on from?
So Rainbow watched, and hoped that Twilight could someday find someone to love completely.
And when she couldn’t take watching anymore, she flew home and shut herself off to the world and screamed and screamed until her throat was raw, cursing Twilight, herself, everything and everyone. Eventually she ran out of the energy to stand and flopped over. And as Rainbow sobbed onto her cloud floor, some part of her wishing Twilight would walk in and wrap her wings around her again, she couldn't help but think:
Seastinger stared out at the lake longingly. He desperately wanted to go for a swim, and technically there was nothing stopping him. But it wouldn't be the same.
When he had left Mt. Aris and Seaquestria behind, he had also left the pearl fragment he shared with his brother. His brother had insisted he take it, but he knew Sky Stream would find more use out of it than he would. Even now he felt like it was the right choice.
But it still felt like something was missing from his soul; his very identity. He was a hippogriff, sure, but without the pearl's power he wasn't a seapony. Half of himself had been ripped away. The first week had been fine. The second week he had felt longing, but it had been mostly okay.
The third week had seen the start of the nightmares.
All of the pearl shards suddenly ceased working and everyone he knew and loved in Seaquestria drowned and sank like stones. His mother died moments before he could finish delivering her cure. The legends hadn’t been true and his journey had been useless.
He shook his head. It was useless to get lost thinking about any of those dreams. More importantly, it was dangerous. He needed to stay focused on his mission.
He pulled his journal and a pen out of his backpack and flipped past notes about the Ambrosia Apple. When he had first started this journey he had mainly kept logs, jotting down useful information in his quest to find the only cure for his mother’s rare disease. After that second week on the road though, it hadn't been enough. After the third week he knew he needed to do something or he was going to lose it.
Seastinger had never been much of a poet back home, or really an artist of any sort--that was more Sky Stream’s thing. He still didn’t think he was very good, but it kept him sane when his mood and thoughts turned sour, and that was enough.
He bit his pen, organizing his thoughts. After a few moments, he put his pen to page.
Feathers ruffled and messy Preening a reminder of what’s lost I’m stuck in the mud And there’s no way to get out
I’d rip out my wings And claw at my neck If it meant I could swim Freely
If I swim I won’t drown But I’ll drown if I swim Like a seapony could
Satisfied, Seastinger put the journal and pen away and leaned back against the trunk of the tree he sat under. He shut his eyes and the cooling shade after a grueling morning of travel lulled him to sleep.
Pinkie Pie bounced happily through the deserted parking lot towards a building that looked like a horrifying cross between an old diner and a run down motel. Sunset and the others stood by the bus, eying it warily.
Halfway through the parking lot, Pinkie stopped and turned around. “What are you doing just standing there, girls? C’mon!”
The rest of the Rainbooms trudged onwards, as if walking towards the gallows.
“Honestly, ‘The Bad Luck Cafe’? Why on Earth would Pinkie want to stop here?” Rarity complained.
Sunset rolled her hand through the air. “Well, she said something about it being an ironic name.” She grimaced. “I’m starting to think she was wrong about that.”
“It doesn’t matter whether she was wrong or right, fact is, we don’t really have any other options at this point.” Applejack tilted her hat up and gestured at the barren desert around them, interrupted only by this building and a poorly maintained two-lane highway. “Nearest hotel is miles away whether we backtrack or not, and I don’t think any of us are up for more driving tonight.”
Sunset forced a smile onto her face as the others groaned and sighed. “C’mon, girls, maybe it won’t be so bad.”
"You're lucky I love you, Pinkie." Sunset groaned, her head bouncing against the window of the bus.
Pinkie smiled nervously at Sunset, who still looked a little green. Outside the back window, The Bad Luck Cafe was in flames, and at the front Rainbow Dash was gunning the bus away away from it.
"Okay, so the name was a liiiittle more literal than I thought it would be."
Sunset glared at her. "A little? A little? They served all of you things you hate, and then they gave me horse meat!" Flames flickered on Sunset's hands briefly. "That place is cursed and they're lucky I only burnt it down."
Pinkie rubbed her back and whispered soothing nothings into her ear, watching her girlfriend untense and relax. "It's okay, Sunny Bunny, the next place I booked looks way better."
A collective cry of "No!" rang out through the bus.
"Whaaat, I was just gonna say I booked some rooms at the Mareiott!" Pinkie Pie frowned and muttered, "I didn't even say that loud enough for everyone to hear."
The girls all groaned and sank into their seats a little further.
Twilight Sparkle looked at the position of the sun in the sky and sighed. She’d already wasted an hour here at Sweet Apple Acres when she should’ve been doing more research about Nightmare Moon. Curse her weakness for delicious sweets.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a mare sit down near her. She looked down at the green-maned mare and bit her lip. Twilight knew she was the first pony Applejack introduced her to, but that only meant it’d be more embarrassing if she got her name wrong.
“Um, Apple Fritter, right?”
Apple Fritter nodded, and Twilight thanked everything good in the world (which was mostly books and Celestia).
“Well, this is a very nice farm you’ve got.”
Apple Fritter grinned and held a hoof to her mouth; it looked like she was giggling, and yet no sound reached Twilight’s ears. Fritter bent around to her side with her mouth open, but paused. She looked back up in a panic, eyes darting around.
Twilight wasn’t much of a ponies-pony even on her best days, and she was completely baffled by the rapid change in emotions Apple Fritter was exhibiting. For all of her social faults, though, the sight of a pony in distress still upset her.
“What’s wrong?”
Apple Fritter looked back up, tears welling in her eyes. She sniffled a couple times, and then motioned to her throat before shaking her head. She then motioned as if writing on paper with a pencil, looked around, and then shrugged her shoulders.
Twilight’s mouth opened in understanding. She smiled at the mare and signed, ‘Don’t worry, I know PSL.’
Apple Fritter’s eyes widened. ‘You do? Why?’
Twilight shrugged. ‘Had a bit of a linguistics kick a few years back. Learned about seven different languages, PSL included.’
Apple Fritter nodded, before doing her silent giggle again. ‘You don’t have to sign, you know.’
Twilight giggled right back. ‘I know, but I always liked the idea of talking to someone in a crowded room with a secret code or something, and this is kind of close!’
Apple Fritter smiled at her, wide enough that Twilight couldn’t help but feel like her time at the farm hadn’t been completely wasted.
