Baguette Knife is not a mare who asks for much. "Hard work is its own reward" was her father's go-to phrase during her foalhood, but such aphorisms fall flat when it comes time to pay for groceries, utilities, and the mortgage. So she works hard, saves her bits, and lives a frugal married life with the promise that one day everything will pay off and she can finally rest on her laurels atop a comfortably managed nest egg that will carry her into her golden years.

But corporate decisions do not account for trivial things like "dedication" or "dreams" when calculating cutbacks.

My final entry to the A Thousand Words Contest III, this one for the Drama category.

Special thanks to CyanideFairy and DaOtterGuy for prereading and feedback.

Wealth. Mares. Luxury.

That was what Buck Withers wrote down on the "Where do you see yourself in ten years?" question on his career aspiration survey.

Now, ten years later, how have things turned out? Certainly not the way his younger self would have imagined.

Written for A Thousand Words Contest III in the Slice of Life category

Special thanks to Kai for prereading, as well as Pneu and ScreamQueen for cover feedback.

Darkness hides the truth in a cloak of the unknown. One needs a light to see the truth as it fully is.
But not all lights are the same. Some lamps cast an unsteady glow that twist the truth into an unfamiliar shape.
Even the torchbearer may be unaware that their light reveals not the truth, but an even greater falsehood.

Daring Do is lost in the dark. If only someone had a lamp.

A spiritual entry to the A Thousand Words Contest III.
It was intended to be an entry for the Drama category, but a few prereaders pointed out that it was less drama and more just sad. But it was already written so here it goes instead.

Special thanks to DarkCyan and RB for prereading (as well as a couple other who asked not to be tagged).

They’d ruined it. They’d ruined everything!

Her secret revealed, her community upheaved, all her hard work shattered in an instant by a few nosy interlopers and a bucket of water. 

Why couldn’t they see? Why didn’t they understand that she was working for the good of Equestria? To save it from the dark and shattered future of her nightmares?

But this would not be the end. She still had her magic, her genius, and a little time to come up with a plan. No, her destiny did not end here!

An entry for both the the A Thousand Words Contest III (Horror Category)

Special thanks to Pneu and Flashgen for prereading and feedback.

An important foreign dignitary has arrived at Canterlot Castle to meet with the Princesses.
Unfortunately, she doesn't speak Equestrian.
Luckily, she has a translator.
A month is long enough to learn a new language, right?

A double entry, for both the the A Thousand Words Contest III (Experimental Category) and the Dialogue only contest.

Special thanks to Grey and Rb for prereading.

The wild, unsettled lands of Equestria are littered with ruins. Ancient temples, tombs, and testaments to long dead groups of ponies who decided to pass on the whole "Unification" fad and lost that gamble in Ozymandian fashion.

Some are filled with powerful lost magic relics. Others are overflowing with gold and treasure. (If you believe the legends, at least.)

There exist only a rare selection ponies who know how to safely delve these deathtraps to recover these lost pieces of history (and less still who would willingly accompany them).

But for these brave or foolish few, there is nothing more rewarding.

Written for the May 2024 Pairing Contest in the Original Pairings group.

Special thanks to Scream Queen for prereading and early feedback.

"The first time I came back, I thought it was a miracle. By the fifth or sixth time, I knew it was a curse."

Death is a reasonable fear, but it is also a constant reassurance. A promise that no matter how bad things get, they will one day end.

That promise was broken, leaving Rainbow Dash to pay the cost.

A very last minute entry for the 2024 SciFi Contest III.

Special thanks to ScreamQueen and Rb for prereading and valuable feedback.

General content warning: Some depictions of blood, death, and debilitating injuries, but no graphic descriptions. Some existential horror.

Earning a spot among the Wonderbolts will place you in the history books.

It'll also place you on store shelves nationwide.

Hey, somepony's gotta keep the lights on.

A submission for the Wonderbolts Site Contest

Pre-read (with all my thanks) by Pneu, RB, DarkCyan, Grey, and 6-D Pegasus.

When Shining Armor was in high school, he was given an assignment to take care of a bag of flour decorated like an infant filly. By the end of the week, "Floury Armor" was a prize-winning batch of muffins and the yearbook committee had unanimously voted him "Most Likely to Appear in a Future Villain's Tragic Backstory." This really should have been a red flag, but for some reason the Queen Bee of the school still married him anyway.

When Shining Armor found out that his wife was pregnant, he was quick to introduce the Crystal Empire to the idea of a gender reveal party. Luckily, that quarter of the city had been due for extensive renovation anyway and his explosion-proof wife appreciated the sentiment.

Now, when his daughter is turning into a pony he no longer recognizes (and he can't even blame the changelings this time), it's up to him and his self-proclaimed stellar parenting skills to save her from herself.

My entry for the Shining Armor is a terrible dad competition.

Proofreading and pre-reading very helpfully contributed by Light Striker, GreyTheGriffon, RB, Pneu, and Scream Queen

Flash Sentry is a noble pony. A loyal member of the Guard. His record is spotless; his image pristine.

He is praised by his bosses and adored by his squadmates.

His life is on a clear and unobstructed upward trajectory.

Until he has the terrible misfortune to wake up one morning and find his life overturned by a simple, dreadful declaration:

Written as part of the Quills & Sofas' Holiday Fic Exchange Event for daOtterGuy