Ultra-short stories from Flashfic150's most prolific EqG-focused author, including some contest-winners!
Don't have time to invest in a long story? Or even a one-shot? Never fear! EileenSaysHi is here to save the day with their collection of entries from Loganberry's Flashfic group, which hosts the monthly Flashfic150 competition! I post a new entry every month; check out the group if you want to read new entries while they're still in competition.
This fic serves as a repository of past entries, beginning with December 2021. As you can see from the chapter names below, each contest is built around a prompt. In general, these are all unrelated stories, unless otherwise specified in Author's Notes. If a story won an honor, I will describe that in the author's notes.
The majority of entries are Equestria Girls stories, with a few FiM and G5 entries mixed in. All entries are either E- or T-rated.
Enjoy! New entries added at the end of each competition.
Featured in 2023 (28 August and 29 December) and 2024 (27 February and 29 April)!
Don't Make Twilight Sparkle's Bestie Angry, Santa Claus
"Oh, and in case you even thought we were anywhere near done yet..."
Santa sighed. He was deep into the fifth consecutive hour of a stupendous tirade from dimensional immigrant Sunset Shimmer, who had snuck into his workshop, broken his security elves' resolve with some sort of empathy power, hijacked the reindeer and flown directly into his penthouse. All while wearing the lightest of winter jackets in the arctic -- it seems hot-blooded rage was enough to stave off hypothermia.
"...And you made her cry! On Christmas! I know she nearly broke the universe once, but-"
"Oh, for heaven's sake, Miss Shimmer, I agree with you! Miss Sparkle was indeed on my nice list! But there are regulations to consider; even I can't go casually dispensing samples of uranium-238!"
“Pinkie!” Twilight dashed toward the balloon-marked mare, who looked at her with a befuddled expression. “Thank goodness I found you! I’ve lost the portal to the human realm!”
“Oh, uh…”
“Pinkie?”
“Well… Cheese Sandwich came by and said he needed something he could use in a funhouse he made for a big party, and… I may have told him about the dimensional mirror thingy and let him borrow it for a day.”
“You did WHAT?”
Sunset looked up from her precalculus exam to the sound of consternation outside. She peered through the window and saw a mass of confused people gathered around the former Wondercolts statue, many panicking, most on all fours and one singing and dancing with an accordion. Then she watched two more stumble out of the statue base, then another three.
Sunset didn’t even bother backing up from the P.O. box before tearing open the envelope, an expression of overwhelming glee spreading across her face.
She’d gone to the DMV two weeks earlier to fill out the forms and get her photo taken for her learner’s permit, and she’d had a paper copy since then. But that flimsy black-and-white scrap was nothing compared to what she was now holding.
There it was. Her first-ever official photo ID as a human. It wasn’t the most flattering picture, but who cares? It was proof that Principal Celestia’s efforts to help her obtain a birth certificate had paid off.
After years of legal limbo, Sunset Shimmer could show, without a doubt, that she belonged in this world.
Officer Glim Thistlebrush had gotten unsettlingly used to these sorts of calls out of Canterlot High School over the past year. A "sudden wall collapse" during the Fall Formal, some sort of "light show incident" at the Battle of the Bands… and now there were reports of chaos at the Friendship Games.
And each time, Principal Celestia, rumored to have scandal-fearing royal relations, had reached into her deep pockets to keep the paperwork clean.
Glim walked onto the campus. The iconic Wondercolt statue was in ruins, but everything seemed physically sound otherwise. No one seriously injured. The students had mostly left, barring a few stragglers. Should be fairly easy to write up as a mere competition-related prank gone wrong -- with the right enticement, anyway.
“Sweetheart, you’ve been up here crying all night. Can… can we please just talk?”
“There’s nothing to talk about.”
“Wallflower.”
“…”
“How can I help you if I don’t know what’s hurting you?”
“You can’t help me!”
“Why not?!”
“…”
“Honey, please, just say something! I’m trying my best to reconnect—”
“That’s just it, Mom. We shouldn’t have to reconnect. We weren’t apart. We did all kinds of things together, fun things, good things… you just don’t remember them. And it’s my fault.”
“You keep saying stuff like this, and it doesn’t make any sense. Why wouldn’t I remember?”
“…I wish I could make you understand. But if you did, you’d never look at me the same.”
“Wally… of course I’d understand. What could be so terrible?”
Wallflower Blush inspected a shattered piece of rock in her hand. “You have no idea…”
“…It’s the way I think about it. The way I’ve been living… it felt stable. Controlled. Just living the life I’m supposed to live, like every other boy.”
Sunburst waits expectantly.
“But when I try to imagine where that life will lead me, it’s horrible. I don’t want it. I’ve known that for a while, but… changing that life means giving up control. I don’t like giving up control.”
He nods.
“Now, though… I’m done clinging to this. I know how it ends if I keep trying to manipulate everything in my life to be what it's supposed to be. The way I see it… I’m not fixating on what’s in front of me anymore. I’m finally looking up, at the stars in the sky.”
Sunburst smiles, holding out a hand. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Starlight Glimmer.”
Sunset Shimmer couldn’t help but smirk as she coyly extended a foot to her right, sending Rarity plummeting onto the hard hallway floor. She guffawed as the fashionista nursed a bump on her forehead, stumbling back to her feet and limping away.
This pathetic world… Sunset had entered this place without even knowing so much as how to use her new body, and yet she’d had these humans groveling at her feet in mere months. Utter child’s play.
And now her plan was already in motion.
The portal had opened that morning. Her scouting expedition had been a success. The Element of Magic was there, waiting for her on the other side. By nightfall it’d be hers. Those buffoonish guards would never stop her.
And then…
I conquered a whole alien species with no effort, no powers, Sunset mused, grinning darkly. What chance does Celestia have?
July 2022: "I Didn't Think the Leopards Would Eat MY Face!"
It was the first thought that entered Twilight Sparkle’s head when she finally retook control of her mind. It was also the next several thoughts.
I did this.
She was floating inside a blinding white void, facing a girl with brilliant golden wings, who was stretching out her hand in an offer of friendship. Let me show you there's another way, she’d said.
What good was that hand to a monster like her?
Twilight could feel her own wings, mild jolts of pain shooting through her as they tensed. Dark magic radiated from her body. Tears welled as the weight of what she’d become sank in deep.
I wanted magic. I wanted to understand. Now look at me.
She’d gotten everything she’d sought. And the bill had been her soul.
Finally, she reached out and took the girl’s hand. It was all she had left.
There was a distant rumble of thunder as the rain came down in heavy droplets outside the Crumbles-Flanks residence. Standing inside the doorway, Rarity could see that the orange-haired girl on the porch had been absolutely soaked by it, and was shivering as she looked up at her.
Rarity had seen her before, around school. The new girl, though her attendance had been irregular at best. It was a minor miracle Rarity remembered her.
Yet here she was.
“I just—” the girl stammered. “I can’t stay where I was anymore, and no one will take my bits… I’ve been stuck here two moons and I barely know what I am.” She shuddered, eyes trailing downward. “I don't know what to do, I… need help.”
Little of that made any sense, but Rarity mainly fixated on how pained the word help had felt.
“Of course, Sunset.” She stepped back. “Come inside.”
“We can spare a few moments,” Adagio growled in reply.
“I don’t see why you should encourage her. How can we get any closer to restoring our power acting like this?” Aria paused. “Perhaps I’ve let you play leader too long—”
Suddenly, there was a hand gripping her chin. “Oh, little Aria wants to be in charge, does she? Little Aria’s got a plan, does she?” The hand squeezed, and she squirmed. “Maybe little Aria should remember her place.”
The hand released, and Aria stumbled back, scowling.
From behind, Adagio heard a door open as someone skipped towards them.
“Mmmmm, this place has the best fish tacos! Thanks for stopping here!”
With no one looking, Adagio let herself indulge in a soft smile for the briefest of moments. “Of course, Sonata. We should get to enjoy the little things sometimes.”
Celestia was staring up at the moon, still high in the sky even as the mare who had raised it had disappeared off the face of Equestria. All that was left the dark visage of the Nightmare, burned onto the lunar surface for everypony to see.
And now it was time to return the daylight.
Heart aching, she reached out with her magic and grasped. She soon found the moon had a very different feel from the sun she knew. There was no warmth, no radiance to be found here. Just a cold, dead weight that pained her as she pulled it back below the horizon.
Was this what she felt, every time she moved it? Celestia wondered. Or is it the Nightmare, wrathfully robbing the lunar body of its soul, the way it did to her?
She knew she’d have a long time to speculate.
November 2022: "skintight bodysuit" (AWARD WINNER)
“Hold up. ShortStories wants ya to write about what now?”
“S-s-skintight bodysuits,” Fluttershy sputtered.
“Ah see.” Applejack replied with a tilt of her head, before leaning in to get a closer look at the prompt on Fluttershy’s laptop. “Ain’t that a little, well, odd, for a writin’ prompt?”
“Well, I guess they wanted to shake things up, maybe? But I don’t know…”
“Ah mean, ya don’t have to write anything if you don’t want to, Flutters.”
“Oh I know, but I wouldn’t want them to think I’m ignoring them. It’s just… how would I write about skintight bodysuits?”
“Well… what about those supersuits from the movie set?”
“I think we’re still under an NDA there.”
“Oh, right.”
They both stared silently for a minute.
“Well, ah ain’t gonna lie… this one’s got me stumped.”
Wallflower’s voice brought her back to reality. “Huh? Oh, sorry. Lost in thought.”
“Guessing those thoughts weren’t about anything science-y.”
Twilight swallowed. “Well, technically—”
“Everything’s science, got it.” Wallflower sighed. “Look, if you don’t want to be here, you don’t have to be. I wouldn’t be comfortable with me either.”
Twilight opened her mouth, but no words came out. The dark memory returned.
Sunset, get up, please—don’t leave, don’t forget, I’m only just remembering you and yet I know you mean everything to me, please Sunset, please remember me, I’m sorry I left you, I’m sorry I failed you, Sunset I love you don’t go—
She forced it down. That was a week ago. Sunset was back, and so was everything they had. It was stupid to dwell on that.
She gently placed a hand on Wallflower’s back. “You’re right. But I’m not leaving. It might take time, but… I believe in you, Wallflower. Second chances mean everything. Mean the world.”
Another memory surfaced.
I’ve tried apologizing, over and over again, but she asks me not to say them. She just wants me here, next to her, and she can’t stop talking about how happy she is that I’m here, that we’re together, that everything is right—
She smiled warmly as Wallflower looked up at her.
“Without my second chance,” Twilight mused, sitting in a courtyard once dominated by gaping rifts in reality, “I wouldn’t have had anything worth losing at all.”
"Do people ever look at you," Wallflower mused, "and see the monster?"
"Not really, no," Twilight replied, wincing.
"Do you ever wish they would?"
Twilight blinked. "What?"
"No one knows the truth about what happened, except you and your friends. No one knows what I did." Wallflower sighed. "There's a part of me that wishes they all knew. That they would look at me, and hate me."
"Wallflower..."
"I know. It's a terrible way to think about myself."
"No, I get it."
Wallflower startled. "You do?"
Twilight nodded. "I hated myself, after Midnight. I couldn't believe people weren't scared of me, or angry at me. I know Cinch pushed me to do it... but I'm the reason it was possible. And knowing that, I felt like I wanted to be judged."
Wallflower nodded back. "I guess we have another reason to thank Sunset."
"Hmm?"
"She depleted the school's hate reserves." Wallflower giggled. "They didn't have anything left for us."
Twilight processed the remark, then found herself giggling too. They looked at each other, and fell into quiet, mildly ashamed laughter.
After some time, Twilight took a breath.
"It does pass, you know. Not quite... permanently. But enough that there's a day when you know that that's not you. Not anymore, and never again."
“This world of yours does have a certain appeal,” Celestia said, still finding herself examining her alien form as she sat on Sunset Shimmer’s couch. “And I’m thrilled to see you again, naturally.”
Sunset turned away from the video game on her screen and beamed at her. “You too, Princess.”
“I must confess, though, there are times I feel you’ve changed so much I almost don't recognize you, even apart from your physical appearance.”
Sunset shifted back to the game. “Me too, honestly, but- OH COME ON! YOU LOUSY STINKING PIECE OF- AAAAAAAGH! WHAT THE ACTUAL CRAP! THIS IDIOT BETTER HOPE I NEVER FIND HIM OR I’LL STUFF HIS CONTROLLERS DOWN HIS STUPID THROAT!”
As she watched her flustered, raging former student, Celestia suddenly found herself giggling helplessly.
Sunset looked at her again. “What?”
“Other times,” Celestia said with a smile, “it’s as though you never left.”
“—And I mean I don’t want Sunny to expect it when I ask her out, but I don’t want her to be so caught off guard that she doesn’t know what to do, you know?” Izzy sighed. “I just really hope this plan works.”
Looking over from the controls of the Marestream, Zipp flashed Izzy a smile. “Just try not to overthink things. You’re special to Sunny, y’know? She’ll know what you’re trying to say, even if it doesn’t feel like it’s coming out right.”
“You’re right, I just gotta… trust in myself!” Izzy breathed. “So she’ll know that I was just trying to protect the big surprise when I hit her in the head and stuffed her in a sack, right?”
Zipp blinked, then looked at the large, wobbling bag in the backseat area. “Huh. I waswondering what that was for…”
Pegasi scrambled to gather sufficient rainpower to douse the thick fires billowing from cottages, while unicorns banded together to combine their respective magical strengths in a desperate effort to prevent further destruction. But no matter; the massive, black-spotted yellow monster had descended upon the town, belching flame as it flew in erratic arcs around the remnants of the village.
From the balcony of the crystal castle that now served as one of Ponyville’s few remaining standing structures (albeit now bearing a gaping hole from which the beast had emerged), Twilight Sparkle was glaring daggers at a shrinking Sunset Shimmer.
“Okay, so maybe I didn’t fully consider how an interdimensional portal that turns dragons into dogs would react to me bringing a gecko the other direction…” Sunset winced as the sound of more screams echoed in the distance.
Sunset gently rested a hand on Twilight's shoulder. "Can I ask a question about... um..."
"Yes?"
"About Midnight."
"Oh." Twilight turned to face her. "Yeah, um, it's okay. I'm okay."
Sunset nodded. "I just wanted to ask why, if you think you know... why Midnight didn't try to really go after the Shadowbolts, or Cinch. Why it was just this unfocused attack, when there were people who had hurt you so much right there... though I guess we'd hurt you too."
Twilight shuddered. "Please don't say that. You had every right to say what you said to me."
"It was still hurtful--"
"Please." Sunset obeyed, withdrawing her hand, and Twilight looked away again. "But... I mean, Midnight came from me. She was my... id, I'd say. On overdrive. And as much as I felt, well, scared and helpless at Crystal Prep, I never once fantasized about getting revenge. I just wanted to get out. It was why Everton was so important to me... no more principal, no more bullies. Just my own independent study."
She looked back and met Sunset's eyes.
"Friends weren't really on my mind back then. Not when, well..."
"When any other school could have been Crystal Prep all over again."
Twilight nodded. "Exactly. So my deepest fantasy wasn't to exact horrible revenge on all my bullies. It was just to have that freedom, that lack of worry, to work on the things I wanted to work on, which, back then, was studying all this new magic I was detecting." She swallowed. "Not the way I did it during the games, obviously, I never meant..."
"I get what you mean." Sunset placed her right hand atop Twilight's left.
"But when you feed that fantasy into that... twisted, ethicless, corrupted, overpowered shell..."
Twilight was sniffling, and Sunset could see her eyes start to water. She wrapped her right arm around her back and pulled her close, reaching over with her left and softly stroking her hair as Twilight lay her head onto Sunset's right shoulder. "I've got you."
She listened as Twilight's rapid breathing began to slow down. "Thank you," she whispered. "I know I said I was okay, and I am, but..."
“—and oh my hoofness, I thought the first flavor I tried was the best food I’d ever tasted, but the double fudge chocolate kind was even better! Seriously, why don’t we ever get this stuff? Forget anything else, you should send me into Maretime Bay just for this. I’ll even use my own money! Not that I have much besides the allowance, but still! Anyway, the ponycorn. I think I’ve tried six flavors now, but what makes this kind really stand out is—"
“Misty!”
“…Yes, Opaline?”
“Ever since you found this ridiculous ponycorn, you can’t focus anymore. I asked you to report on your effort to secure dragonfire, not your latest snack venture!”
“Ohhhhh, what do you think ponycorn made with dragonfire would be like? Eh, it’d probably come to life or something, not what I want. Anyway, the double fudge chocolate ponycorn—”
Twilight Sparkle vs. The Mobile Morbid Equine Corpse Display
“Okay, I know it seems bad—”
“Oh, it’s not ‘bad’. It’s sick.”
“Look, Twi, it weirded me out too, at first. But—”
“Sunset, how is it not still weirding you out? If I, as Crown Princess, were to commission an attraction where ponies sat on effigies of humans stabbed completely through with giant poles, all of Equestria would rightfully be disturbed!”
“But ponies here aren’t like us! They’re like Applejack’s horse, they’re not sentient beings!”
“Oh, my mistake, it’s simply animal cruelty being celebrated here.”
“It’s not— ugh, look, the pole is just there to control how it moves and for people to hold! It’s simulating the idea of riding a horse.”
Silent against the jaunty music emanating from the carousel, Sunset watched the Princess's face as she processed the idea.
The eyes on said face narrowed considerably.
“…That’s disgusting. I thought this was supposed to be for children.”
Principal Celestia stared, disbelieving, as she looked upon the ashen remains of what had once been a thriving greenhouse.
The fire crew, mercifully, had arrived in time to save the building. But everything inside was gone. Every azalea, every marigold, every cactus, the hobby she’d spent years cultivating – there was nothing left.
Her refuge, incinerated.
She tensed, her body radiating fury. She’d known there was always some risk associated with asking students to help tend the plants while she was away. But arson? And from a student still in CHS’s junior high section, too?
That face, that sweet little doll-like face of hers, hiding pure evil…
Celestia clenched her teeth so hard she could feel them start to strain as she turned and stormed off.
“Ah know yer not one to put much stock in reviews.”
“Gahhhh…”
“Ah remember yer whole big tirade about how all them literary eggheads were wrong about Daring Do and the Realm of the Azure Skeletons…”
“Applejack, my stomach—”
“And ah remember when ya tore Zesty Gourmand a new one fer callin’ daisy sandwiches ‘unsophisticated’ too.”
“I really need a minute…”
“And ah ain’t sayin’ it’s wrong to have different opinions from critics—”
“Hurp!”
“—but the thing is—”
“Oh gosh, finally, there’s one! Outta my way!”
In a bright prismatic flash, Rainbow Dash zipped off to the nearest lavatory, wherein the sounds of an unpleasant bout of retching could instantly be heard.
Applejack, staring ahead, sighed and finished her sentence. “Ya just can’t use that same logic with food safety inspector grades, Dash.”
Sunset Shimmer, Royal Apprentice to Princess Celestia, wasn’t like other ponies.
Of course, she could say that about a lot of things. But what made her certain she was special, beyond merely her position, was a little guiding voice.
A prophet.
Sunset Shimmer had a prophet in her head.
The others wouldn’t have understood how this could be. Even the Princess would’ve been baffled. After all, if one of them tried to test it with some insipid question, like what will the Gifted School chefs serve next week, she wouldn’t have had an answer. So Sunset didn’t talk about the prophet.
But prophets didn’t deal in such silly, needless knowledge. Prophets focused on what was important.
That was how Sunset knew she had a great prophet in her head.
Because it had told her what really mattered. Where her destiny lay.
Side by side, they sat. The cowgirl glanced at the athlete, before casting her eyes down once more.
“Ah just don’t get it, Dash.”
“Get what?” The voice was earnest, which made it painful.
“How… how we just weren’t friends, for months. Over somethin’ so dang stupid.”
She looked over again, witnessing the athlete’s nonchalant shrug. “Eh. We’re kids, right? Everyone always says we’re supposed to do stupid things.”
The cowgirl exhaled. “Ah guess. But Ah should be better than that. Like mah folks would’ve wanted.”
Concern in her eyes, the athlete scooted closer. “Applejack… look, maybe we needed a reminder from some magical pony princess, but, I mean, we are friends. I mean, I wouldn’t want to fight some crazy magic demon with just anyone, would I?”
“Ah reckon that’s true…” The cowgirl smiled.
The athlete smiled back. “Your parents would think you’re awesome, AJ.”
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.
“And just what is the plan? Well, Trixie will tell you what the plan is! It is intricate! It is cunning. It is a plan that will blow your tiny mind! For, as you can plainly see, the Great and Powerful Trixie does not settle for merely any meagre, simple plan. A plan must be well-considered! A plan must be foolproof! And thus Trixie did not conceive of her grand plan lightly, for that would be a fool’s errand. A good plan, after all, is much like one of Trixie’s magic tricks, which, Trixie might add, you can see later this week at the main stage in Appleloosa, where Trixie will be debuting her latest and greatest—"
Twilight let out an agonized groan. “Trixie, while you were blathering on and on, I came up with a real plan. Let’s go.”
The magician smirked. “And thus Trixie’s true plan is accomplished.”
Makeup smeared, eyeliner ruined, Rarity didn’t so much get onto her bed as fall on it, outstretched arms landing just short of where Opal was sleeping. The rudely awoken cat lazily yawned as Rarity gradually lifted her head up, their eyes meeting.
“Oh, Opalescence, dear, today has been the most dreadful day,” Rarity moaned. "Things began as merely annoying, but soon progressed to displeasing, and then infuriating. Just an all-around disaster! It was horrid, pure and simply horrid… I’m lucky I have you to understand and listen.”
Weakly smiling, Rarity inched forward and laid her hand on Opal’s white fur to stroke it. As soon as she did so, the cat stood, took a quick stretch, and then tromped directly off the bed and out of the room.
Arm awkwardly hanging in mid-air, Rarity rested her crestfallen face back down into the covers. “Or not,” she sighed, voice muffled.
At the sound of Pinkie’s whisper, Sunset blinked in the darkness. It was just the two of them, separated only by sleeping bags; their first solo sleepover.
But not, Sunset knew, the first time Pinkie had witnessed this.
“Are you okay? You were crying.”
“It… wasn’t real. Just a bad dream.”
“Was everyone still being mean to you?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Sunset said as she rolled over, away from Pinkie.
That didn’t deter her. “But I want to worry about it. I’m your friend, silly!”
Pinkie had always been affectionate, but that had increased significantly since the Battle of the Bands. In moments, Sunset felt herself being hugged tight.
“I just don’t want you to keep being hard on yourself.”
Sunset sighed. “I’ll try not to be.”
“Okey-dokey!” A deep breath. “AND LEAVE SUNSET ALONE, YOU DREAM-MEANIES!”
Slightly deafened, but comforted nonetheless, Sunset slowly settled back into slumber.
