The Minific Collection

by Slate Sadpony

Rating: everyone
Tags: Main 6, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Other, Original Character, Comedy, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Random
Length: 2744

A collection of all the stories under 1000 words which were written as part of the Writeoff competition.

A collection of all the stories under 1000 words which were written as part of the Writeoff competition.

Expect these to vary greatly in topic and content due to their nature as standalone independent works.

This story will be updated with new chapters as each competition is completed, or I am knocked out, whichever is sooner.

Published 2015-05-25 00:10:02 UTC
Last updated 2015-05-25 00:10:02 UTC

Back On That Horse

Back On That Horse

Scootaloo flapped her wings as fast as she could. The wheels of her scooter whined as she propelled herself towards the concrete ramp. The handlebars gripped firmly in her hooves, she gritted her teeth and narrowed her eyes, bending her knees to absorb the minor bounces and shocks that hit her as she approached her goal.

The lift of the ramp hit her wheels with a shock. Horizontal momentum became vertical propulsion, and her legs buckled with the sudden change in force. Her wings ached, but she refused to give up. She leaned in to the handlebars, trying to shift her center of gravity forward, to make herself "fall" in the direction she wanted to go.

Of course, try as she might, she could not fall "up," and when her scooter left the ramp, her rising soon gave way to falling. The horizon began to take up more and more of her narrow view, and the ground went from passively retreating to aggressively advancing. Time was short, and grass was coming at her quickly.

Kicking her legs as hard as she could, she began to make the scooter spin, making the platform rotate around the handlebars. This shift in balance and center of gravity made her wobble, but still, she kept at it. Once. Twice. Three times. She was almost there!

But before the scooter could make a fourth rotation, Scootaloo found herself in contact with the ground. She had been so focused on the timing and placement of the kicks that she hadn't realized she had already fallen too far. The scooter hit first, bouncing out of her grasp and flying off into the field, twisting and spinning wildly. Scootaloo tried to put down her hooves, to catch herself in the fall, but all she managed to do was turn a belly-flop into a rolling, tumbling spin.

When she finally came to a halt, she saw the world inverted, the sky peeking out from between her back legs while most of her view was dominated by the thick grass she'd crashed on to. Righting herself, she examined the damage. Scrapes here and there, but nothing serious. Still, she slammed her helmet down on the ground, burying her face in her hooves.

"Are you okay?"

Scootaloo looked up to see a familiar blue face staring down at her. "Not really."

Rainbow Dash landed, putting her hoof on Scootaloo and examining her. "Awwh it's just a scrape. You can take it, you're the toughest filly I know!"

"It's not that." Scootaloo retrieved her scooter, surprised to see it had likewise suffered only minor damage. "I've been trying to do a 1080 all day, and all I get for it is bruises."

"Eh, you just got your pride wounded. And you know what's the best medicine for wounded pride? Getting back up." Rainbow Dash picked up Scootaloo's helmet, holding it out to her.

"Easy for you to say." Scootaloo took her helmet, setting it on her head. "Since when do you faceplant?"

"Since whenever I was your age. Here, lemme show you something." Rainbow Dash moved in close, lifting the portion of her mane that covered her lower neck.

"Sweet Celestia!" Scootaloo gasped as she saw a horrid, jagged scar almost a full hoof-length in size.

Rainbow Dash removed her hoof, letting her mane fall back down over the scar."When I was your age, I was obsessed with flat spins. The school's front windows though...Oh man, there was blood everywhere, and everypony was screaming..."

"Were you okay?"

"I'm standing here aren't I?" She put a hoof around Scootaloo's shoulder, hugging her close. "Yeah, it hurt, and the stitches were super itchy and definitely not cool. But I kept at it, and you've seen me go in and out of a flat spin like nopony's business. I can even do it in freefall!"

"If it's okay with you, I kind of...Don't want to get hurt like that."

Rainbow Dash sniggered. "You won't, not while I'm watching anyway. But if you're going to show off that 1080 to all your friends like you wanted, you'd better get back there and try again." Rainbow Dash righted the scooter and pushed it towards Scootaloo.

Scootaloo gulped, looking back at the ramp behind her. Somehow it looked taller from this side. Scarier. But she hopped on her scooter and pushed, moving towards the long paved portion to try again. She had to.

Rainbow Dash took to the air, grinning. "Don't worry! I'll catch you!"

Author's Note

This was my first minific entry, and also my first Writeoff entry.

As such, I was flailing with inexperience. I didn't know you could enter multiple times, I didn't know how much of the rules or prompt worked, and I didn't know how to do anything other than put text in a box. Despite this, I managed to make it through the first round of voting, although my place (#28) put it almost as low as it could go, and my final rating (5.13) was pretty abysmal.

Still, it's cute, and for a first try it is at least competent.

The prompt was "The Best Medicine," by the way.

Justifiable Nivicide

Spitfire adjusted her tie and glowered down at Rainbow Dash. The blue pegasus was likewise clad in full dress uniform, although much less smartly. She glowered over her sunglasses. "The fact that nopony was injured and no serious damage was done is not at issue here, Dash. Although that is why you're before this formal inquiry instead of answering to the Equestrian judicial system."

"Your honor, I was totally justified in what I did!" Dash stood up, stamping her hooves on the table in front of her. "If your pet had likewise been threatened by h...By hyyy...By needing to sleep all winter, you would have been just as desperate to delay the season."

Twilight grabbed Dash's shoulder, trying to pull her back down. "Dash, she isn't a judge, and this isn't your time to speak!"

Rainbow Dash wrenched free. "Like hay it isn't! I've been sitting here for like an hour, listening to Spitfire and all these other pegasi chide me for being irrational, irresponsible and dangerous, even though nopony got hurt. Heck, they should be thanking me, for turning a five-day winter weather application into a six hour single-weather event!"

"And a seven day snow dispersal and disaster cleanup period." Spitfire shuffled some papers on her desk, and then retrieved a few, handing them to her colleagues. "You made quite a mess, Rainbow Dash, and a lot of bits had to be spent cleaning it up."

"More bits than it would have cost you to lock that door, or install emergency termination systems?" Rainbow Dash leaned back on her chair, crossing her legs and huffing. "Anypony could have wandered in there. What if some Changelings broke in and flooded half of Ponyville? Or some curious young filly accidentally dropped three tons of snow just because you couldn't be bothered to stagger your lunch break."

Twilight Sparkle rose to the fore, putting herself between Rainbow Dash and Spitfire. "My client makes a good point, Spitfire. Where were the security ponies assigned to guard the weather station from intruders? Why weren't mandatory safety shut-off systems engaged automatically once Dash began to overload the system? These are serious shortcomings in your safety protocols, and we should consider ourselves lucky that it was Rainbow Dash who tampered with the system, not some pony bent on more serious mischief."

Spitfire opened her mouth to speak, and then closed it, leaning over to whisper into the ear of the pegasi nearest to her. They conferred for a bit before Spitfire cleared her throat to reply. "Princess Twilight Sparkle, I'll remind you that as this is only an inquiry, and that you have not been admitted to the bar, Rainbow Dash is not on trial and even if she was you couldn't be her attorney. Nonetheless, we will note of the security shortfalls in our final report to the Crown, and implement new security and safety measures before next year's winter."

"To hay with that! You just don't want to admit you're wrong!" Dash moved in front of Twilight, almost pushing her aside. "I don't regret what I tried to do in order to spend more time with Tank. Anypony who's lost a pet, even just for a few months, would work just as hard as I did to try and keep that pet in their life. It's not my fault that you left the doors open and the machines running. You practically invited somepony to come in and make a mess!"

Spitfire stiffened. "Well we didn't actually invite you in. Still, you and the princess have made good points, and in light of this, we aren't going to strip you of your rank, or employment. Just place you on a six week unpaid suspension, and remind you that it was very unusual that you got off this lightly. We won't be so kind if this happens again next winter."

Dash fumed, frowning at Spitfire. Twilight grabbed her by the shoulder, keeping her from taking to the air. "Rainbow, take the win."

Rainbow Dash turned around and walked towards the exit. Stopping before the door, she spun to face Spitfire, throwing her hooves into the air. "I REGRET NOTHING!"

Twilight winced. "She's sorry, really. And it won't happen again."

Spitfire stood up then adjusted her uniform smiling at Twilight. "I just hope the Crown remembers my benevolence when it comes to your investigation into our little...Security lapse."

Twilight stood at attention, frowning at Spitfire. "The crown doesn't trade favors. Celestia will see you next week."

Author's Note

Another Minific, another prompt, this time "I Regret Nothing!"

Last time I walked into the minific competition with an idea in mind, intending to bend it towards the prompt. This time I came up with it on the spot, basing it on a recent episode, and using my desire to defend my favorite character (seriously, if this stuff is so dangerous, why does everypony just wander off and leave it unguarded?) It's all quite silly but it makes some fun points and I'm hoping its enjoyable to read.

I still worked the prompt into the minific, even though it's not required, and I'm proud that I was able to make it a stereotypical Rainbow Dash line.

Also, for those of you confused by the title, "Nivi-" is the Latin prefix for snow, and "cide" is the latin suffix for "to kill." So "nivicide" would be "snow killing," which is what Rainbow tried to do, and "justifiable" well...The snow was coming to take her tortoise away!

This story did not make it through preliminary voting and did not place.

Clear Cut

Rarity knocked gently on the door in front of her, adjusting her mane with her hoof as she waited for it to open. Inside she could hear the sound of a phonograph playing classical music. She shuffled her hooves a bit, staring at the welcome mat before turning up to look at the mare who had opened the top half-door. "Yes, hello. I'm not late am I?"

"Oh goodness no!" The mare that answered the door was aged but not old, her fur a soft tan, her cutie mark a trio of well-kept manes. "You're quite early, in fact. I wasn't going to open up the shop for another few hours."

"Yes well I was thinking that discretion might be advisable." As the older mare opened the door, Rarity followed nervously, her head flitting this way and that. "If it's all the same, I'd like this to be an anonymous donation, Mrs. Makemane."

Mrs. Makemane nodded and gestured to a barber's chair. "As you wish. Although many ponies prefer to advertise their generosity with a bald head for a few months."

Rarity climbed into the chair and closed her eyes. "That may suit other ponies, but I'd rather not crow about this sort of thing in front of the fashionistas." She caressed her mane with her hooves, and then put her hooves in her lap as Mrs. Makemane hung a cloth around her neck.

"Well, the Equestrian Cancer Society will certainly thank you for the donation. I don't think I've ever collected such a resplendent mane as a donation." Mrs. Makemane retrieved and then started a large electric hair clipper. "Now are you sure about this? Once I start I can't stop."

Rarity took a deep breath. "I'm sure." She closed her eyes tight, wincing as she felt the cold steel press firm against her skull. She could feel he hair coming off, falling down her shoulders and across her face in large, thick lines, taken off expertly in enormous bundles. She did not open her eyes again until the clippers turned off. "I want to see myself."

"Are you sure about that?" Mrs. Makemane began to collect the hair she had trimmed, gently aligning it and tying it into small bundles with hair ties. "Most ponies wait until I've put their artificial wig on."

"I'm sure." Rarity waited for the sound of a mirror being wheeled out, and then opened her eyes. She gasped slightly, putting her hoof to her mouth as she saw her head. It was as bald as one of her dress mannequins.

"Now now, don't worry, I had your wig made up last week and it is an exact copy of your old mane style." Mrs. Makemane retrieved a box from a nearby shelf and opened it, extracting the contents and placing them on Rarity's head. "See? It even straps around your horn for a more secure fit. It's a very good synthetic weave, you could go swimming in it and nopony would know."

Rarity looked at her "new" mane, tapping it gently with her hoof. It was very well made, certainly, but anypony who got a good enough look could tell it was fake. It sat on her head unnaturally, with a springiness and color that were close but not right. Still, it was better than looking like a cue-ball for the next six months. "I suppose it will do fine if I pair it with a hat." She retrieved one from her saddlebags. "A chapeau is very 'in' right now."

Mrs. Makemane frowned a little before going back to collecting and sorting the hair. "Well yes, I suppose a fancy hat would help you hide the hem line."

Rarity climbed down. "I mean no offense, it's just..." She sighed and gave Mrs. Makemane a hug. "Thank you for helping me to give this gift. I couldn't have done it without you."

Mrs. Makemane smiled again. "I suppose not everypony is as comfortable with her first wig as I was." She adjusted her mane, yanking on the edges and making sure it fit tight. "Plus those synthetics never look quite right. That's why I was so pleased when you said you were donating your mane."

"Just treat it with the care I have for the past two years." Rarity walked towards the door, pausing one last time to adjust her wig and hat. "And don't worry. I'm sure you're right, nopony will notice." Nopony but Rarity, of course. But that was a small price.

Author's Note

My second entry into the "No Regrets" prompt.

Late at night I swung past Derpibooru and saw that the top image of the day was of Rarity crying as she held her cut mane in her hooves, apparently a story illustration for Rarity entering a nunnery and having to cut her hair. I thought of a more contemporary version instead -- of her giving up her hair as a donation to those who lost it during chemotherapy. But it was late and I was too tired to write, so I went to bed and churned this out as soon as I woke up. I hadn't even had breakfast!

I was worried that writing so early in the morning would ruin the story, but the deadline was looming and I had a busy Sunday coming up so it was do-or-die. As such I'm not sure if it works properly (the fact that I know nothing about hair donation or wig making doesn't help either) but I wanted to give it a try.

This story did not make it through preliminary voting and did not place.