The young mare pushed her mane back as she crossed over the river. She felt a kinship with the ponies that had come before her, taking such similar steps across barriers, knowing full well that there might be no retreat. Granted, she was crossing a bridge over a canal instead of forging the waters of a frigid, raging river, but she felt the tension nonetheless. Before her hoof landed on the opposite bank, she paused, hesitating...
She shook her head. No, she told herself. I must go on. It was as the great minotaur philosopher Cao Tzu once said: "When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be." Thus strengthened by that ancient wisdom, she made her way up to the mansion high on the hill overlooking the village. Narrowing her eyes, she stared hard at the towering edifice beyond the imposing gate. She would tell the Lord of the House what was on her mind; she would say to him what needed to be said.
She would tell that dashing stallion that she loved him! And donning her finest dress, how could he resist her? It was a stunning red taffeta dress that hugged her just so around her barrel and swayed ever-so-slightly with her hips with each hoofstep. And that was to say nothing of the necklace she wore! It was gold, with a bright emerald at its center - bought just the day before from Poniaget's - and it went perfectly with her earrings which he had given her (a very nice touch indeed, she thought!).
She was greeted at the door by the servants, who then showed her up the stairs to the lavishly furnished master's quarters. When she entered, she saw him standing there, and her breath caught in her throat. He was as handsome and radiant as the day she first met him. His elegantly coiffed golden mane was cut short, but just the slightest adorable cowlick fell over his sapphire blue eyes. And the way he wore that black suit that hugged that muscular body -- oh, if only she could be that suit! She took a deep breath and stepped forward into his chambers.
She was about to tell the big lug why she was totally the most awesome choice for a marefriend, but then the windows all broke when like a bazillion ninjas all crashed threw them. The guy was all "Oh no!" and started ~~panicing~~ panicking but she was like "Heh. These guys again? Just chill cuz I got this!"
So she tore off the frilly little red dress to show that she had on this black vest with all these pockets and they were filled with smoke bombs and ninja stars. All the ninjas kept pouring into the room and breaking down doors while the stallion was all shaking and scared under the automan, so she just dove at this ninja and bucked him so hard he went flying into this other ninja and then into another ninja and they all fell back like a bunch of dominoes. She laughed her flank off at this and then she just started karate chopping the other bad guys and tossing them back out the window. She'd just go like POW! BAM! HIIIYAAA! and some chump would go flying even though he wasn't a pegasus.
Then suddenly they all cleared the way and this huge ninja that was like twice the size of all the others came in. He took off his mask and he had this killer scar across his face and red eyes that looked into her soul. She could tell he was strong and she could see the evil in his eyes, but did she back down?
She swallowed, because deep down she really did want to back down! She took a step backwards and the big, mean stallion started to laugh.
"Ha ha ha! You may have bested my ninjas, but your feeble skills cannot defeat me!"
She just wanted to run home and curl up under her bed until her mother called her for dinner. But just then, she heard a voice, saying "Be strong!"
She turned and saw a masked stallion in a tuxedo and a top hat with a cape that was waving in the wind. He turned to smile at her and her cheeks began to burn.
"Graahh, who are you?!" the big ninja demanded.
"I am the brave warrior of justice, The Masked Rose!" he declared, and tossed a rose directly at him. It exploded in a beautiful burst of bright red petals! The big mean ninja shouted and backed away in confusion.
"Now, young mare, transform into Bunny Princess Flururun!" The Masked Rose shouted.
She gasped. "What?! B-but how did you know?" He didn't respond, but leapt away through a nearby window.
"You heard him!" said her talking magical bunny pet. "You've got to transform, now!"
She looked to him and nodded, giving a grin. "Right!"
She brandished her magic wand and began her incantation: "Tralala, Stallion Davis, Carrot Salad! Transformation activate!"
In a bright flash of light, she stood there, bunny ears adorning her head and wearing a cool, but adorable sailor suit. "I am Bunny Princess Flururun!" she said. "In the name of all the cute animals of nature, I will stop you!"
"Tee hee! You look so silly in that bunny suit!" the big mean ninja said. He fell down and started laughing so hard that beating him in a fight was pretty easy.
So then she looked around to try and find the handsome guy, but he wasn't actually around anymore!
"Darn!" said the fashionista-scholar-superbunny mare. "I wonder where he went? Do you know, Miss Narrator?"
"Yes!" I said. "He's really the Rose Mask guy and I bet if you show up and tell him you like him, he'll think you're super-duper and you can both go out and love each other and kiss and eat a bunch of food until you both get really really old and die!"
"Yay!" said the bunny girl. "Oh, wait, where is he?"
"Downstairs, getting a snack in the kitchen. He was hungry. That's probably why he jumped out the window, because he was so hungry."
The young mare shook her head and smiled and ran back down the stairs because she was so excited! Her heart was all ba-bum-ba-bum, but she played it cool and walked slowly into the kitchen, knowing it was the most romantic of rooms.
The kitchen was empty. A glass was on the counter, drained of its contents, the faint print of lips left on the rim. But nopony was there now. The back door was still open. She walked out into soft light of the setting sun.
In the spacious yard of the estate, she felt a cold breeze on her face as she looked for her beloved. She saw him standing beneath a tree, and she went to him.
"You know me," she said softly.
"I see you know me as well," he replied.
She looked down, not knowing what to say. Just then, a bird in the tree began to sing and she looked up at it. It was a red cardinal and it caught her eye in an instant.
"Lovely birds, aren't they?" her beau asked.
She blushed. Then she nodded. "Yes," she replied. "I love their song. It fills me with hope for some reason."
He smiled. "You fill me with hope," he said, looking into her eyes.
Her heart felt full enough to burst. She looked up at him. "This was a crazy day. And I may not be what you expect. But if you'll give me the chance, if you can love me despite all the rough patches, then... then I'll..."
He placed a hoof to her lips. She knew his answer before she even asked the question.
Under the evening shade of the three, she held her breath, her lips parted, as he leaned down to her.
It was the end of one great adventure, but the beginning of another.
The End
Everypony sat in silence as Spike finished reading the tale. He and the others were all seated around the table in the cavernous Throne Room of Twilight's castle. The scroll in his claws was completely unfurled as he reached the end which caught them all unprepared.
"Wow," Spike said quietly, voicing the sentiment that they all shared. Slowly, eyes wide (and in Rarity and Rainbow Dash's cases, mouths agape) they each turned to look at Applejack.
"Aw, c'mon now," she said, chuckling as a blush came to her cheeks. "Y'all don't need to make a big fuss about it. It's just my luck that I got to go last. Had ta come up with a good endin' for this here yarn."
There was a tapping sound and they all turned to see Twilight gently knocking on the table with her hoof. "Well, everypony, I don't know if it was the best story ever, but writing it with you all sure was fun!" she said, flashing a smile as the group nodded their assent. "I hereby declare our group writing project a success! We should try writing a round robin story again sometime!"
"Actually," Rarity said, raising an eyebrow as she not-so-subtly glanced over at Rainbow Dash, "perhaps we should simply write our own separate stories to share."
Rainbow Dash shrugged. "If you say so, Rares. But if you want some feedback, just let me know. I bet I could spice your next story up just like with this one! You're welcome, by the way."
Applejack watched them all gabbing away like that excitedly. She swelled with pride as they all complimented her on her unexpected, simple ending; even Rainbow Dash liked it, and that was perhaps the best part of all. Perhaps her next story, featuring a humble earth pony and a fun, athletic pegasus, would get an even bigger reaction...
Hope you all liked this silly little one-shot. I also included a little shipping at the end for HapHazard, who heads the group and who put up the prompt that inspired that story. When I showed him the original and told him I'd included some AppleDash just for him, he replied with:
Gotta give credit to a guy who's that committed to his OTP.
And because it's me and my readers should probably expect it by now, it's time for Name that Reference!
-Poniaget's = Piaget's, a well-known jeweler.
-Rainbow Dash's section is a slight reference to the old website "Real Ultimate Power" as well as just a general reference to amateurish fiction in general. Note: I did not mean to imply that Rainbow Dash is stupid, because she isn't; rather, I see her as the least well-read among her friends and perhaps the least patient when it comes to crafting a good story.
-Fluttershy's section is basically a long "magical girl" manga type of plot, particularly "Sailor Moon." The handsome top hat-wearing stallion is me of course... no, just kidding, he's an expy of Tuxedo Mask, also from Sailor Moon. The main character's transformation incantation is a reference to the parody series "Magical Girl Pretty Sammy."
