A series of one shots written in response to monthly prompts for the Writer's Group On FIMFiction
A series of one shot stories written in response to monthly prompts for the Writer's Group On FIMFiction in 550 words exactly. Many amusing and thoughtful stories about ponies ensues.
The kitchen was as it always was, with various ponies scurrying about, making sure the salads were fresh, the hors d'œuvres were satisfying yet not too filling, the main course divine, but most importantly, they were putting the finishing touches on the dessert. In particular, a very large cake, sat slightly to one side, its white frosting and undoubtedly chocolate insides ready for the evenings banquette. In fact it may have been too inviting, for another pony was stirring, one who was not supposed to be in the kitchen at this hour. Staying close to the walls in order to stay hidden, she slunk past the cooks and sous-chefs, keeping her special prey in view. Closer and closer, she tiptoed. The cake was just in her reach. Only a few more steps and she could have one tasty bite.
“SISTER!”
Celestia froze with her mouth inches from her precious cake. Princess Luna stormed over to her. “I thought so. You’re trying to sneak a taste of cake again.”
“I suppose you’ve caught me red-hoofed, dear sister,” Celestia admitted.
Luna groaned. “We’ve discussed this. You need to stop snacking on cake in between meals. It’s not healthy. And besides, what would ponies say if they ever found out you had such a sweet tooth?”
“Oh, Luna, I doubt somepony would print that in a newspaper or something. Besides,” Celestia licked her lips, “it’s not like one little bite would hurt.” Celestia leaned down, intent on her prize.
“No! I forbid it!” Luna swept the cake away from Celestia’s mouth with her magic and held it close. “It’s true that many of our royal traditions are outdated in this new age, but keeping up one’s appearances is still quite valid. If you want cake, you are going to have to wait for dessert like the rest of us.”
Celestia smiled. “Okay. You win, Luna. Oh, by the way, would you mind looking out that window for a moment?”
Luna raised an eyebrow at the window to her immediate right. “As you wish. What exactly am I looking for?” The only thing she could see outside was a very beautiful afternoon.
“You must pay very close attention, dear sister, because there is about to be a SOLAR FLARE!”
Luna screamed and covered her eyes when a sudden light blinded her. It lasted for only seconds, but in that time, Luna felt the cake ripped away from her magic grasp and heard hoof steps galloping away. Rubbing the white spots out of her eyes, Luna seethed. “If that’s the way you want to play, fine!” Then she flew out the window.
Celestia meanwhile, giddily galloped down the hall with her precious cake. “I can’t believe she fell for that a thousand and ten years after the last time.” She looked at the cake and licked her lips again. “Sorry, Luna, but it’s time for a snack.” Celestia happily closed her eyes and opened her mouth as she ran on. As a result, she didn’t see the dark shadow that flew in the doorway ahead of her.
“Huzzah! The surprise is-” SPLAT!
Celestia screamed, “Cake!” However, her precious cake was now smooshed on Luna’s face and crumbling onto the floor.
Luna licked her lips. “Mmmm. This is good cake.” Celestia lowered her head in defeat.
Fluttershy hurriedly yanked the feedbag out of the pantry and dragged it across the floor to where all the bowls lay. A mixture of sounds greeted her as she opened it and poured shares of it into individual food bowls. Her animal friends immediately started chomping away. Fluttershy was about to head out back to feed the rest of her animals when a knock came at the door. Panicked at how little time she had, Fluttershy rushed to the door.
“Come on Fluttershy, what’s taking you so long? We’re going to be late for the pet play date.” Rainbow Dash tapped her hoof on the ground expectantly as her pet tortoise, Tank, slowly nodded his head in agreement.
“I know, I know, but I just need to feed the chickens, the cats, and the warthog and I’ll be done. Just give me five minutes… if you don’t mind that is.”
“You always do this. Don’t you think you have enough pets yet?”
“Oh, they’re not my pets. They’re all my friends,” Fluttershy said as she flew out the door, dragging the feedbag behind her.
“Friends? Really? All of them?” Rainbow looked around at the scads of mice, birds, raccoons, lizards, and various other animals that crowded Fluttershy’s cottage. “What does she do, let them all mooch off of her?” Shaking her head, Dash noted another animal that was standing directly in front of her. Angel was nibbling away at a carrot, but at the same time, the tiny bunny was giving Rainbow a stink eye. “What do you want? Got a problem or something?”
Angel stopped nibbling on the carrot, chewed slowly and swallowed. “Where do you get off saying that we mooch off of Fluttershy when you’re always bossing her around.”
“I do not… What the!” Dash did a double take. “Did you just talk?”
“Got a problem with that?”
Dash’s jaw hit the ground. “Since when could you talk?”
“Doesn’t matter. But, let me just get one thing straight, we’ve got a nice setup here, so I don’t want to hear you giving Fluttershy any weird ideas.”
“What are you talking about? What ideas? And where do you get off telling me what to do? You’re just Fluttershy’s pet.”
“What do you mean by that? Are you calling me a pet?”
“Well-”
“Are you saying I’m a tail wagging, lick you in the face when you get home, pet, the likes of which you’re free to dress up in a frou-frou outfit so you can say how cute I am as you tote me around in your oversized designer purse, is that what you’re saying?”
“Well… not really…”
“I outta shove this carrot up your nose. I am not a pet. You got that?”
Dash gulped. “Got it.”
“Okay, I’m ready to go,” Fluttershy said as she flew back in the room. “There you are Angel. Have you been a good bunny while mama was out?” Angel nodded. “That’s a good boy. I’ll get another carrot for you to eat on the way.”
As she went into the kitchen, Angel turned, pointed at his eyes and pointed at Dash. Rainbow wiped sweat off her brow. “Wow. I sure am glad you don’t talk, Tank. Uh… you don’t talk, right?”
Tank looked up at her slowly. “Nnnope,” he replied.
Sparkler and her little sister Dinky Doo rushed into the hospital lobby only to hear a horrible scream come from the next room. Almost immediately, Sparkler saw a familiar pony she had seen around Ponyville many times. “Rainbow Dash!” she called out as the cyan pegasus looked back at her. “We came as soon as we heard. What happened?”
Dash appeared a bit confused at their arrival but complied, “Derpy Hooves got electrocuted by a storm cloud and now she’s acting weirder than ever.”
“Derpy?” Sparkler looked in the room where the scream had emanated from. “That’s our mother, Ditzy Doo.”
“Derpy has kids?”
“It’s complicated. And her name is Ditzy.”
“Ditzy? I know they look alike but that’s not Ditzy.”
“I would know her if I saw her!”
“Wait a minute,” another voice filled the room. “Perhaps I can clear this up.” Dash, Sparkler, and Dinky all looked when a strange stallion walked in.
“Who are you?” Dash asked.
“I’m the Doctor.”
“Doctor who?”
“Just the Doctor. Look, this is a bit of a complicated story but let me see if I can condense it. To put it shortly, I am a time lord.” Dash and Sparkler appeared completely unimpressed, if not completely unconvinced. “I suppose I should be used to that reaction by now. Anyway, I know this may be hard to comprehend but the mare in there… let’s just call her D for now… basically, I recruited her to be my assistant some years back and we traveled all across time together, saving civilizations, righting wrongs, and generally helping people… err ponies. Unfortunately…” The Doctor peered into the room where the grey mare was still screaming. “I failed to rationalize the sort of side effects time travel might have on an individual such as her after so many time jumps.”
“What do you mean? What kind of side effects?” Sparkler asked.
“It seems that in order to cope with the tremendous pressure of time travel, she developed a split personality complex. Thus both Derpy Hooves and Ditzy Doo were born.”
“They’re the same pony? I never knew that. I always thought they were twins or something,” Dash remarked.
“But which one is the real personality?” Sparkler asked.
The Doctor looked askance of them. “She is both and neither.” Another scream filled their ears and the Doctor winced. “The fact of the matter is I fear her electrocution somehow made her two selves aware of one another. She’s having an identity crisis and her simple mind can‘t handle it.”
“What do we do then? Can’t we help her?” Sparkler pleaded.
The Doctor was silent a moment. “I don’t have an answer for that.”
Abruptly a grey mare burst into the room. “Doctor!” she screamed when she saw him. “Doctor, please… who am I? Am I Derpy Hooves or am I Ditzy Doo? I just don’t know anymore.”
The Doctor stared at her, unable to answer. Dash turned away, not sure how to address her friend. Sparkler wanted to cry. Then Dinky Doo stepped forward and looked up at her.
“You’re neither,” she said softly. “You’re just mom.” And she hugged her.
Though silent for a moment, the grey mare slowly smiled. “You’re right. I’m mom.” She hugged her daughter tight and cried a few joyous tears. “I’m mom.”
Don’t Even Think About It By: GWFan (The Softcore Brony)
This was a strange world. The cat was sure of that. Looking around the little village, he could see pastel color ponies everywhere. Having decided this might be a great opportunity, he walked up to a random pink pony.
“Excuse me, my name is-”
The pink pony suddenly gasped loudly and jumped in the air before bolting away at the sight of him.
“Rude.” He wasn’t going to get anywhere if all the ponies were like this.
“Oh my goodness! It’s a big kitty cat that walks on two legs!”
The cat turned around and saw a yellow pony with wings staring at him with big eyes. There was also a white unicorn with a lavender mane. Both of them appeared to be females.
“Hello there, ladies.”
The yellow one gasped. “And he talks!” She walked right up to him and smiled. “Hi, I’m Fluttershy. I never knew cats could talk.”
“I never knew ponies had wings and horns.”
“It’s only natural for us to have such fine qualities. My name is Rarity by the way. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a cat like you before.”
“Well-”
“Ahhhh. I’m going to call you, Whiskers.” Fluttershy snuggled him with her cheek.
The cat appeared briefly surprised but then smiled and hugged her back. “Except for the name, I kinda like where this is going.”
“I’ve never seen Fluttershy so bold before. Whoever you are, you are a great influence on her. I should really thank you in some way.”
“I can think of at least one way,” he replied with a smile.
“As can I. You really should do something about that awful red shirt. It doesn’t become you at all. Come to my boutique and remove it so I can see about making something better.”
The cat’s eyes lit up. “You want me to go with you to your house and take my shirt off?”
“Yes. Is there some problem with that?”
“Not at all. Lead the way, ladies. Only in togetherness can the world become a better place.” He placed his arms around both of their shoulders.
“Friendship is a wonderful thing,” Fluttershy agreed.
“And the closer the friendship, the better.” The cat moved his hands over their backs.
An explosion suddenly lit up in their ears. Before any of them knew it, the cat was sprawled on the ground with cake batter all over his face.
“Oh, heck no.” The pink pony from earlier suddenly appeared in front of them, pointing something right at him. “Don’t even think about it.”
“Is that a cannon?” the cat worried.
“If I were you, I would get out of town while I still could.”
The cat smiled. “Far out.” He got up and dashed away.
“Pinkie, whatever did you do that for? He seemed like such a nice gentlecat.”
“You just don’t get it, Rarity. That was Fritz the Cat.”
“Fritz?” Rarity started.
“The Cat?” Fluttershy finished.
The two mares exchanged confused glances. “I’ve never heard of him,” Rarity said as Fluttershy shrugged.
“Then you’re two of the lucky ones.” Pinkie Pie wheeled her cannon away and only took one look back to make sure Fritz the Cat didn’t return.
Rarity and Fluttershy just stood there, dumbfounded.
Rarity knocked politely on Fluttershy’s door and waited. Rainbow Dash tapped her hoof three times and knocked louder. It wasn’t long before Fluttershy answered.
“Y-yes?”
“Hey Fluttershy, you want to get some breakfast with us?” Rainbow asked.
“I can’t. I have company over.”
“Oh, Fluttershy, your animal friends can wait while you get a bite to eat,” Rarity told her.
“Actually… my mother is here.”
“Fluttershy’s mom?” Rainbow said quickly. “This I got to see.”
“Yes, please introduce us,” Rarity encouraged.
“Okay…” Fluttershy let them in and turned to a silhouette in the back of her living room. “Um, mom? These are my friends.”
Rainbow was about to greet her, when a very loud voice suddenly emanated from the shadows. “Well hey there, my daughter’s friends. How the hay are ya?”
Rarity and Dash looked between daughter and mother as the silhouette turned into a very lovely pegasus with a white mane and orange coat. Dash’s eyes went wide.
“Th-th-th-that’s your mom?” she suddenly yelled. “I… I don’t believe it. That can’t be your mom!”
“Do you know her?” Rarity asked.
“Know her!? She’s a Wonderbolt!”
“Actually she retired from-” Fluttershy started but Rainbow Dash cut her off.
“I know that! But… she is… I mean she was a Wonderbolt! You never told me your mom was a Wonderbolt! How is she your mom!?” Rainbow Dash dove in front of Fluttershy’s mom and grabbed her hooves, looking every bit like a pitiful pony. “How are you not my mom!?”
“Well, there’s a few reasons why but I’d have to explain a few things about genetics and the birds and the bees and what not.” She threw back her head and laughed loudly.
Rainbow’s eyes were full of tears when she looked back at Fluttershy. “Is this some kind of cruel joke? How can you of all ponies have a mom as cool as this?”
“Well… I could explain it but… um… you know… genetics and… the birds and the bees and… everything…” Fluttershy gave a few brief “ha ha’s.”
“Oh Fluttershy, my shy, shy, little pony, one of these days I’ll have you proudly calling jokes left and right.” She laughed loudly again and hugged her daughter close as she turned to the other two. “So who’s up for breakfast? Race you to the nearest restaurant!” Before anypony could respond, she was gone in a wisp of wind.
Dash’s mouth was still hanging open. “Fluttershy… how are you not cooler?” Fluttershy rubbed her hoof on the floor.
“I’m impressed Fluttershy. You come from a very prestigious family,” Rarity commented.
“I guess.”
“Whatever is the matter, darling? Don’t you love your mother?”
“Yes, but… how could I ever… I mean… I’m me.” Fluttershy lowered her head. “I could never be my mom. She’s so proud… and strong… and cool. I can’t be that.”
Her friends smiled. “Fluttershy, you’re the coolest pegasus I know,” Dash told her. “There’s no way I could ever look a dragon in the eye.”
“Or stand up to an angry minotaur,” Rarity put in.
“Or make a mother prouder.” The ponies turned when they heard a voice in the doorway. “Never try to be anypony else. You wouldn’t be my daughter otherwise.”
“Mom…” Fluttershy hid her face behind her pink locks, but a small smile peeked out.
With the night’s festivities over and the delegates from Saddle Arabia thoroughly amazed, Twilight was ready to hit the hay, though not after some late night reading of course. However, on her way back to the library, she noticed one thing that she had expected to be gone. Trixie’s wagon. Feeling curious, Twilight noticed that a light was on inside and opened the door.
“Trixie?”
Trixie abruptly shut the lid to a large rectangular box and sat on it. “Wha, uh, oh! Twilight? What are you doing here?”
“I was wondering the same thing. I thought you already left.”
“I did. I mean I was. Just leaving that is.” Trixie smiled with big teeth.
Twilight cocked her head at the sweat that was beginning to form on Trixie’s face before something else drew her attention. “Hey, is that one of those boxes you use to saw a pony in half?”
“Box? What box?”
“The box you’re sitting on?”
Trixie’s eyes slowly moved down. “Oh. You mean this box. Um… sawing ponies in half. Yeah, that’s what it’s for.” Trixie smiled again.
Twilight raised her eyebrow. “Can I see it-”
“No! You can’t see in the box!”
“I meant the trick where you saw a pony in half. Is there something in the box now?”
“No. No of course not. Why would there be?”
“Okay…” Twilight looked at the box again and was startled when she thought she saw it jiggle. “Hey, the box just moved!”
“Oh… did it? It is a magic box after all.”
“I thought it was for sawing ponies in half?”
“Well yeah but… um… it was an earthquake?”
“You just said it’s a magic box and now you think it’s an earthquake?”
Trixie’s smile somehow grew larger. “Yes?”
“Are you hiding something?”
“Um…” Trixie searched the room with her eyes. “Well, I was…” Trixie swallowed and smiled again. “It’s a present. It’s for you.”
“For me?”
“But you can’t open it now. It’s a surprise.”
“Why would you do that? This isn’t a trick is it?”
“No. I was just… hoping that we maybe could be friends?” Twilight raised both her eyebrows at that. “You know, because I am the Great and Apologetic Trixie and all, I was kind of hoping I could make it up to you?”
A very bewildered expression formed on Twilight’s face, but it was soon replaced by a small smile. “We’ll see.” Trixie appeared relieved and it was enough to make Twilight giggle. “I better go. I have some reading to catch up on.” Trixie nodded and smiled a large grin again. “By the way, it’s nice to hear you say I, rather than Trixie all the time.” Twilight smiled at her and closed the door behind her.
Trixie wiped the sweat off her face and smiled, this time in more of a grin. “Yes, the great and apologetic Trixie want’s to be friends.” Her form suddenly glowed in green as she opened the box and looked at the occupant tied up inside. “Isn’t that right, Trixie?”
Trixie struggled against the gag in her mouth as her other self transformed into a much darker form.
“Good thing I patched things up. I think Twilight and I are going to become the best of friends.” Queen Chrysalis laughed as she shut box.
I had been knocking furiously for about a minute when I heard hooves dashing like mad inside and the door flew open.
“What!? What is it!? Is the Boutique burning down!?” The occupant of the boutique, Rarity, looked haggard despite her still perfect mane with a sleeping mask tangled in it. She appeared frantic at first but stared at me with a strangely quizzical look once she stopped freaking out. “It’s five in the morning. This better be a fashion emergency in the least.”
If I had known better I would almost say she looked angry but I knew that couldn’t be true. “Rarity, I’m sorry to disturb you so early but I couldn’t wait any longer. I came to tell you that I think you and I are soul mates.”
If she looked quizzical before, she appeared dumbfounded now. “I think I’m still half asleep. Beg your pardon?”
“I’ve been watching you for a long time now Rarity, and I realized that you and I belong together.”
“Ooooookaaaaay… Why?”
“Think about it Rarity, think about who you and I are. The fashion thing, we’re ponies, we don’t normally wear clothes. And yet here you are toiling day after day proving to the world that we’re more than ponies with your amazing designs. Ponies like us, we understand what others refuse to see anymore. The connection with the legends passed down over the centuries by the greatest of the great about the mysterious of the mysterious. We are meant to know what they were like and you benefit the cause with your desire to make us more like them.”
“Them? I don’t even-”
“And me. I’m doing what I can to spread the word, to make everyone remember these legends just like you do. I study them everyday, trying to be more like them and living as they did.”
“And what are-”
“With clothes. I know I don’t wear clothes in public much but I always do at home. Some ponies think its weird, but I know you don’t. You understand what we’re trying to do. The legend still lives on in our hearts and through our combined efforts, as a team, you and I could bring that legend alive in everyone’s lives. Will you join me Rarity? Will you travel down the road with me on our most glorious quest to bring these legends to life again?”
Though she still wore a look of complete cluelessness on her face, I knew she must have realized our connection long ago and that any moment she would fling her hooves open in an inviting embrace.
Oddly though, Rarity sighed. “It’s way too early in the morning for this. I realize you’ve probably had too much caffeine or something… I hope… but, I think you need some sleep and maybe see a psychiatrist… soon. So if you don’t mind, I’m just going to go back to bed and pretend this never happened for both of our sakes.”
“But Rarity…”
“Really darling, you need help. Good night Lyra.” And the door closed.
I stood there for a moment watching the door to see if she would come back out until the light inside turned off. I walked away and only looked back once with one thing on my mind. “She called me darling.”
Prompt: In the middle of the night, something crash lands in Fluttershy’s backyard
Aftershock By: GWFan (The Softcore Brony)
Fluttershy startled awake to the sound of a loud crash outside. Her first instinct was to hide under her bed, but the thought of the critters outside gave her enough courage to merely shiver in bed with the blankets pulled over her muzzle. What could the crashing sound have been? She remembered hearing a terrifying story from Rainbow Dash about horrible creatures from outer space that latched onto ponies while they slept and sucked the nutrients out of their victims in order to take their shape. Fluttershy had had trouble sleeping for quite some time before she finally realized that it was just a story. But now, it all seemed too real.
As Fluttershy thought about all this, Angel bounded into her room and hopped up and down in front of her, pointing out the window.
“There’s something outside, isn’t there…” Fluttershy said softly, hugging the covers tighter. Angel nodded and pointed outside more forcefully. “And you want me to go look?” Angel waved his paw as if to say he wanted her to follow him. “O-o-o-o-okay… we’ll go together.”
After about two minutes of not going anywhere, Angel finally dragged Fluttershy down to the backdoor where they stared out into the moonlit night. That’s when they saw it. Something was sticking out of the ground. Whatever it was, it had destroyed the chicken coop.
“Angel, wait,” Fluttershy pleaded as Angel hopped out to inspect it. “It could be a monster…” As Fluttershy followed, she fond herself frozen in fear at the sight. Sitting on the ground was something that looked like the back end of a pony. “The body snatcher!” Fluttershy cowered and covered her eyes. She jumped when something touched her. “No! I don’t want to be body snatched!”
Angel crossed his arms and glared at her before pointing at one of the twitching back legs on the pony behind. Looking at it more carefully, the tail looked familiar. Fluttershy inched forward and realized that it was not a pony’s rump sitting on the ground but rather the only visible part of somepony who was struck in the ground. Feeling more curious than cautious, Fluttershy put all her strength into pulling on the tail until something popped and she collapsed with a full body pony above ground again. When the dust settled, Fluttershy saw exactly who it was in the moonlight.
“Twilight?”
“Fluttershy?” Twilight responded with eyes that looked derpyer than Derpy’s. “Is Spike around?”
Fluttershy looked. “No.”
“Can you take a letter for me?”
“I guess.”
“Okay.” Twilight’s head wobbled back and forth as she dictated. “Dear Princess Celestia, today I learned that I should never try to read while flying. You’re friend, Princess Twilight Sparkle.”
“Is that all?”
Twilight nodded “Good. Just stop dancing in place, okay?”
“I’m not…” Before she could finish, Twilight fell back into the hole she had made with a thud. Her back leg continued to twitch though she made no other sound.
Fluttershy sighed and smiled. “Let’s get her inside, Angel.”
