A collection of shortform writing produced for the Ponyville Ciderfest 2023 Storytelling Adventure by, well, me!
For the 2023 Ponyville Ciderfest, a great effort was undertaken to create an interconnected, story driven alternate reality game by the My Little Pony fanfic writing community. We had dozens upon dozens of volunteers, writing hundreds of stories, consisting of hundreds of thousands of words.
These are some of my personal contributions.
Evil Twin Trouble - You come across two Twilight's fighting in a swamp. Each claims to be the real one in the confusion, and things were so chaotic you couldn't be sure. Thankfully, you have a plan.
About the Authors - A look into the brilliant minds leading the Storytelling Adventure Project!
Closing - A coda written for the story collection Scattered Pages. A closing of the tale, but also a thank you note to everyone involved.
All three stories were edited by Sonicsuns. About the Authors and Closing were also edited by Vivid Syntax.
The swamp is absolutely miserable. The air clings to you like a wet blanket, and the ground gives way under every step, feeling more like dough or soup than actual, walkable, earth. The sucking sounds it sometimes makes as you lift up your feet are also something you could do without.
You push another branch out of your way and pause, skin crawling as you feel something skitter across your neck. A quick panic dance and pat down later, and thankfully nothing got on you but a leaf. But… did you just hear something?
Yes! Voices! Up ahead! You quickly (or as quickly as you can) stumble over another few bushes, fallen logs, and rather irritated snakes to see… two Twilight Sparkles?
“You’ll never get away with this!” One shouts.
“‘You’ll never get away with this!’” The other waggles their head back and forth and speaks with a mocking tone. “I’ve gotten away with it multiple times, Princess!”
“Why you!”
Before you can react, one Twilight dives on the other, sending them both rolling through the muck and grime. Not sure what to do, you leap into the clearing and shout for them to stop. Two Twilights snap their heads up at you, and before you can open your mouth again, they both leap up and start shouting at once.
“It’s Queen Chrysalis! She’s an imposter!”
“It’s Queen Chrysalis! She’s an imposter!”
“You have to get me to my friends!”
“Don’t listen to her! It’s a trap!”
“You have to trust me!”
“No, no! Trust me!”
Your head spins. Between the rolling around and the shouting, you already lost track of which was which. Your eyes frantically scan each of them as they advance toward you, pleading with identical faces and voices for your aid, looking for some kind of tell. You almost get overwhelmed when it suddenly hits you. The solution!
Your posture straightens as you give a confident smile. Both Twilight’s stop short, sensing you’ve come to a decision.
You tell them to tell you something only the real Twilight would know!
“I’m madly in love with Princess Celestia!”
“I’m terrified of ladybugs!”
The two turn and stare at each other, equally shocked and appalled.
“...Ladybugs?!” One utters, seemingly ready to burst with confused anger.
“C-Celestia?!” The other stammers, red faced, shocked beyond all belief.
You have your answer. Now all that is left is to choose.
[CHOICE]
> The one in love with Celestia is clearly the real one. (Villain)
> The one afraid of ladybugs is clearly the real one. (Hero)
[ENDING A: The one in love with Celestia is clearly the real one (Villain)]
It’s obvious. The nervousness. The need for approval. The way she can’t even think about making her unhappy. You know puppy love when you see it, and Twilight clearly has it bad.
Confident in your decision, you scoop up Twilestia Twilight and plop her over your shoulder, giving her a comforting pat. You make sure to let her know she’s gonna be okay, and that no stupid changeling is gonna fool you. You make sure to give the stammering, red faced doppleganger a pointed look to emphasize this.
With that, you turn and make your way back the way you came. It was high time both of you made it out of this miserable swamp.
As you trudge away, the other Twilight blurts out, embarrassed anger clear in her voice; “I’m not in love with Celestia! I’m not!” You don’t care though, what’s done is done.
Unfortunately though, with her flung over your shoulder, you can’t see the smug, green-eyed sneer the fake Twilight you picked up gives to the very real one you left abandoned in the swamp.
Chrysalis makes sure to tell you what a good job you did, and how clever you were, the entire time you take her back to her ‘friends.’
(+1 page for Villains)
[ENDING B: The one afraid of ladybugs is clearly the real one (Hero)]
Maybe you’ve seen the short. Maybe you’ve heard it mentioned by other Bronies. Maybe you just realize there’s no way someone would make up a lie that insane on the spot. Either way, you know which Twilight is your Twilight, and scoop up the one afraid of ladybugs into your arms.
Without another word, you wheel around, and make your way back through the swamp. Twilight thanks you profusely. You tell her not to worry, you were glad to help. You are real curious though about the ladybug thing, much to her chagrin.
Somewhere, far behind you, Chrysalis sputters into the empty swamp, still confused and enraged beyond reason.
After speaking with that staffer, you watch them leave, but something sticks in your mind. You’re curious. You want to know more. So you follow.
Rounding a corner you see a door ajar. You’re not sure you should be there, but there are no “staff only” signs, and you’re pretty sure you saw them head this way. You approach the door and stop. There are voices on the other side! And you recognize one of them is the staffer you spoke to!
“I’m just saying the aardvark is a deeply symbolic animal, and Fizzy turning into one will add so much pathos to the story!”
“I mean, I just don’t see it. Plus don’t you think Discord river dancing Grogar to death in the finale is a bit much?”
“I’m kind of iffy on both of those, but where are we going to fit in the Soarin/Braeburn scene? I really think that will tie the whole thing together!”
You realize they’re talking about the main story! They must be the Storytelling Leadership Team and they’re working on the con’s story right this minute! You have a fly’s eye view of the actual future of the con at this very moment! Imagine what you could learn!
You lean in, helplessly eager to hear more. Unfortunately for you, what you hear is someone rapidly approaching the door.
“I’m gonna go get six more energy drinks in me before we edit the ballet/death battle/Rainbow Dash x Kitchen Sink romance scene, does anybody want - hey!”
The door swings wide to reveal one of the Storytelling Leadership team members glaring down at you. They seem displeased.
“You shouldn’t be here. This is a staff area, and we’re having a very important discussion about the deep symbolic lore of aardvarks, river dance, and Soarburn. You need to leave.”
You’ve been caught red handed. They’ve spotted you and none of them look pleased…
…but there’s an opportunity here.
You’ve been caught in a moment of CHOICE. Will you be a GOOD little guest and leave? Maybe you see a chance to do something quite CHAOTIC. Or, perhaps in a moment of Miltonian defiance, you will strike out and do something very VILLAINOUS.
[CHOICE]
> Be a GOOD guest.
> Cause some CHAOS.
> Be the VILLAIN you were always meant to be.
[ENDING A: Be a GOOD guest (Hero)]
You bow your head in shame and make to leave. You know in your heart it was wrong to eavesdrop, and hearing potential spoilers just makes it even worse! As you walk away, though, you feel lighter and start to raise your head up high. You made a mistake, yes, but you did the right thing in the end. The knowledge that, when the chips are down, you can make the right call lifts your spirits. As you stride out into the convention, you realize being good really is its own reward.
Plus, the team member who caught you seemed rather annoyed. Best not to take chances. They were already complaining about needing caffeine, and it’s never wise to cross someone when you’re between them and their energy drinks.
(+1 page for Heroes)
[ENDING B: Cause some CHAOS (Chaos)]
Now is your chance!
Using the skills you picked up over a lifetime of free running, navy seal service, ninjutsu training, and playing DDR you i-frame dodge roll through the staffer before he can even react. With a flying leap you dive onto their computer and begin furiously typing.
You make it canon! All of it! Your OTP! Your batpony headcanon! Your unsolicited opinions about Mare-do-well and the Anon-a-Miss comic! All of it is now canon to the con’s story, and they’re too slow to even hope to stop you! Screw the pages, you have direct access to the master G-doc for the entire con! Unlimited power!
“Stop them! Before they take out Sombra’s big musical number!”
But you only have so long. They’re closing in! But you’ve done everything you need to, and with another dodge roll you make it to the window and then take a flying leap out into the Milwaukee night air, effortlessly tech canceling the landing to prevent fall damage, and race off into the darkness.
Unfortunately for you, the team does just Ctrl + Z away all your edits. They appreciate your panache, though.
(+1 page for Chaos)
[ENDING C: Be the VILLAIN you were always meant to be (Villain)]
With a laugh, you shove the staffer aside. The fool! You rush the computer they were writing on, and before they can even react, you send a copy to yourself. Just as fast, you rush out, shoving the staffer again for good measure, you blackguard!
You start rushing through the con before they can recover and do the most vile thing you can: reveal spoilers!
Barley and Caramel end up [REDACTED]! Fizzy [REDACTED] then [REDACTED] and ends up [REDACTED]! Grogar [REDACTED]’s a [REDACTED] only to [REDACTED] with a spoon! Discord and Twilight [REDACTED] before [REDACTED] to Coco Beach!
But… wait, something is wrong. You try to shout more spoilers, but everything you say ends up… [REDACTED]
Unfortunately for you, you are still a character in the story we’re writing. Which means even if we let you get one over on us, we can still edit things to keep you from causing too much trouble. It was a nice try, but metafictional comedy is a tricky genre to exist in. Better luck next time!
But don’t worry, tomorrow you’ll [REDACTED]. Enjoy the convention!
Fizzy was a simple kirin. She had many interests and talents, things she loved, things that annoyed her, and many places she’d been, and on this day, she found herself alone, seated at a table. In her magic was held a book, and on her face was a soft smile.
“Wha’cha reading?”
Fizzy looked up and blinked in surprise.
“Oh, uh… a book?” Her smile became sheepish.
The pony laughed as she pulled in across from her. “I know that. What kind of book? I love the cover! It’s very pretty.” The pony’s smile was warm and curious.
Fizzy’s expression softened as she put the book down. She ran a hoof over the cover and gave that soft smile again. “Friends of mine… well, they kind of wrote it. It’s sort of a book of memories from an adventure we all had together.”
“Oooh! An adventure.” The mare’s eyebrows waggled in excitement. “Tell me more!”
Fizzy giggled. “It’s a bit of a long story.”
“I’ve got time!” The mare grinned. “If you don’t mind, that is.”
Fizzy leaned forward and her smile became a grin. After all, there was little Fizzy loved more than sharing joy with others. “Alright, buckle in, then,” Fizzy said, getting comfortable. “So it all started when I was asked to help with a convention…”
The two talked on into the afternoon, and while there were no lights, no portals, and no characters leaping from pages, a kind of magic happened. Fizzy shared her story – her thoughts and feelings, her regrets and triumphs – and in doing so, part of her story found new life in another. Even if Fizzy never saw this mare again, that story would live on in her. Coming to her in idle moments, springing to mind in conversation, falling into her considerations. On and on.
Stories beget stories. What we do, and what we say, and what we dream lives on in others.
