Lockdown - a series of Equestria Girls Short Storiesby Ron Jeremy PonyChaptersGamer GirlFlame WarDesigning, Inspiring, and TellingFamilyOh BrotherGamer GirlLockdown - A series of Equestria Girl Short Stories Based on Nico-Stone Rupan’s Sour Sweet Stories Gamer Girl Sunset’s New Job “It’s okay Sunset, you’re a gamer, and you’ve worn strange outfits more than once,” Sunset said to herself as she looked at the mirror. What she was seeing wasn’t lost on her. The skin tight suit didn’t hide a single curve. It was masterfully designed to look like the same bodysuit that Rei wore in Neon Genesis. Her normal job had shut down, thanks to the lockdown, and so she was trying to find a way of making some extra money. The decision to do this came when she looked online at Twitch, after a friend had suggested it, and saw more than a few gamer girls that dressed as various anime characters and seemed to be pulling a decent amount of views and donations. It certainly wasn’t her first choice, but since she already had a decent following on Youtube for her various Let’s Play, and New Challenger videos that she had recorded, edited, and published online. There were enough views, and subscribers that she did manage to make some extra money from the ad revenue, or did until Youtube began to demonetize Let’s Play videos by the hundreds. There was an email explaining that it was a mistake, it would be corrected, and during that time she had lost a good chunk of what had been her income. There was still some ad revenue coming in from the New Challenger videos, but it wasn’t enough to pay for everything that needed to be paid for. She had basically pounded the pavement until she found something that would work as a part-time job, and then from there she worked about three nights a week to finish supplimiting her income. The result was having enough money to pay bills, rent, and get the basic needs. The job she had gotten wasn’t that much. She was working in a small call center that reminded people that their warranty was about to expire for their cars. When the state began to lockdown, thanks to the Outbreak of Covid-19, the call center simply closed up, laid everyone off, and she was left without even unemployment because she hadn’t been working there long enough. She had talked about it with all of her friends, but it was surprisingly Rarity, well actually Vignette Valencia that had suggested the idea of doing a Twitch Gamer Girl session. She breathed in, took a look at the mirror, and felt herself die a little inside. She was fine with Cosplaying. Actually, she had been to more than one Comicbook convention, and each time she went she ended up doing a decent Cosplay of one of her favorite characters from various animes that she loved. The last time she went, which was before the pandemic, she had dressed as Albedo from Overlord. She had considered doing that Cosplay, but Vignette had mentioned that Neon Genesis was making a huge comeback, and that now would be the time to take advantage of it. Rarity had watched a few episodes of the series, and made her Rei’s body suit. She had the head band that looked like the mental connection ports for controlling the Eva. Rarity had made the bodysuit perfectly, but it didn’t have much room left for anything under it, so she was actually just wearing the body suit itself. She walked to the computer, put on a wireless headset, and logged into her Twitch account. Vignette had spread word around about the Twitch stream, and of course she had made a New Challenger Video and told her fan base about the upcoming Twitch event. She started the game, which there was current trend of playing some of the favorite previous generation games, and the one she selected was a fan favorite. She was going to search for Eldorado, The City of Gold in Uncharted. She smiled at the camera as she went live, and waved. “Welcome! This is Sunset, and we’re doing a Let’s Play on Uncharted. Since this was one of the most requested games I thought we’d walk through it together, and of course I’ll give my personal spin on what I think, what I’d do differently, and why I like, or dislike the game.” She saw a few posts pop up from some of her long time fans. “Belle’sButton08, always good to see you posting!” she exclaimed, “And yeah I love the Uncharted series.” She saw several new names pop in, and she realized that they must have been from Vignette’s circles. She smiled, waved, and felt less tension as the numbers of attendees climbed to be about sixty. It was a good solid beginning and if she kept this going for the next four hours she could get some solid donations going. She saw a post from a new member, and she read it as it appeared, Wow, Vignette wasn’t kidding, you’re a decent gamer and sexy to boot! “Ummm, thanks Papasmurftastic01, I always like a compliment.” She saw a donation, and smiled, twenty dollars, already, and it was from one of her normal subscribers, “Thanks for the donation Belle’sButton08!” Of course she had done her normal fist pump, and in doing so didn’t realize that with no support one of her girls had been fairly well exposed under the bodysuit. The exact shape, present for the world to see. Another message came on from Papasmurftastic01. She read it, I’ve got thirty bucks that I don’t mind donating if you can stand and play. She stood, stepped back, and began playing. Of course as normal she would lean, bend, jump, and stoop as she moved the character along. And as she did this she began to notice a few more donations coming in. Some from the new folks, but also more than she thought she would get from her own subscribers. As she played the donations continued, normally between ten and twenty dollars, but then she saw another post pop up from Papasmurftastic01. She looked at it, and saw that he was offering her fifty dollars if she would give a side profile while bending at the waist. She didn’t pretend not to understand what was going on. It was an invitation to become a camgirl. She had swore that she would never end up doing that. She was a gamer purely on merit, and damn it her subscribers loved her on Youtube because she was witty and filled them in on her thoughts. Not to mention sometimes she would just kill the sound for the game and fill in with her own voice overs. But this, this was a step away from stripping on Twitch for donations. She looked at it, fifty dollars, it wasn’t stripping, and she could keep it from getting that far. She was already at two hundred dollars. Bitting her lower lip she turned to the side, bent at the waist, and continued to play. She saw the donation, realized that she had swallowed her pride and did something she wasn’t completely comfortable with, but at the same time it had yielded some great results. That was when another poster, Reismywifu posted something for her. She looked at the post, I’ll donate forty dollars if you can do an impersonation of Rei and say a few lines from Neon Genesis. She smiled, this was just fine with her, “Reismywifu, here you go,” she said as she cleared her throat and channeled her best impersonation of Rei Ayanami, “Man fears the darkness, and so he scrapes away at the edges of it with fire. He creates life by diminishing the darkness.” As soon as she finished she saw the donation. She continued to play, the donations still came in, but less frequently, and then she saw one from one of her subscribers. Belle’sButton08 posted when you finish the current area, could you jump and fist pump? I’ll donate forty-five dollars. She shook her head, and she was indeed about ready to finish the current objective. She had found the old Uboat, and she had explored it. Right after this was heading back and then the cut scene. She got to the cut scene, jumped and fist pumped only to receive her forty-five dollar donation. Suddenly there was a bid war on her hands, and she realized that all of them were clambering for her to do more. Bend over suggestively, lick her console, open the top of her bodysuit, just a little, wink and kiss at the camera, turn around and bend over allowing them to get a good view of her posterior. She stood surprised as the stated donations climbed. She shut down a few that were pushing her too far. Take it off, and the donation would be eighty dollars. Perform felicalo on the controller, even for sixty dollars that was a hard pass. But Papasmurftastic01, Reismywifu, and Belle’sButton08 were each trying to outbid each other in order to get the next act for her to do. Despite her previous feelings about more or less doing cosplay, and posing, while streaming she couldn’t deny that she was making more than enough to supplement her income. In truth it was entirely possible that she could, if she really went for it, turn this into her full time job. But was that what she really wanted to do with her life? She saw another few join the stream, among them was DrSweetPerson. She wondered why Sour Sweet was on the Twitch stream, but a moment later she saw a post from Sour Sweet. I’ve got a hundred bucks if you say that Asuka is better than Rei. Which she saw another post from Reismywifu01. No, don’t do that! I’ll match that, no I’ll give you a hundred-ten to say that Rei is the best character in Neon Genesis period! She was about to comment on that before a new name popped up again. She looked, and the name seemed familiar. Anon’sPublishingBooksBitches posted a single message. I’ve got two hundred bucks for you to stop being a tease and just get nude already. She looked at the message, “Yeah, no. Sorry Anon, but I’m not that kind of gamer.” Then she watched as DrSweetPerson made another comment. Hey Anon, how’s it feel to know that you lost to a superior author? And that started a flame war. Anon’sPublishingBooksBitches began calling out DrSweetPerson, and her husband, on their relationship, his writing, and how it was obvious that out of the two of them he was far more talented than her husband was. He then explained that he would be willing to let her hop on his joystick and find out that he was likely better in every way possible. Sunset felt glad that people couldn’t reach through their monitors and pull anyone else through, because she had a feeling if that was possible that DrSweetPerson would be beating the holy hell out of Anon’sPublishingBooksBitches right now. She looked at the time, and then at the donations. She was up to six hundred dollars. She had to be shutting down in about twenty minutes. After all she wanted to unwind, thank Rarity for making the bodysuit, and then maybe get a pizza and chill out with a good movie. Honestly the Princess Bride sounded awesome, although she could go for watching Cowboy Bebop as well. “Guys, we’ve got twenty minutes before the stream is going to end, so I’ve got time for one or two more requests,” she said. The flame war between DrSweetPerson and Anon’sPublishingBooksBitches seemed to be going pretty steady, but she saw a single request. It was from SavioroftheUniverse. She looked at the name, and she sung a bit of a song that had that lyric in it. She smiled when she realized that it had to be Flash. I’ve got thirty bucks if you don’t mind to sing your outro. She grinned, “You’ve got it SavioroftheUniverse.” ♫Who’s been pwning noobs, Who’s never shown her boobs, Who’s gonna get the sick stats And who’s never gonna show her rack? Who’s gonna play a mad game And who’s gonna prove some of them are lame? Sunnybuns that’s who!♫ Flame WarLockdown - A series of Equestria Girls Short Stories Based on Nico-Stone Rupan’s Sour Sweet Stories Flame War A Sour Sweet Story The day had started pretty much like any other day. Getting up Sour had fixed breakfast for her family. The quarantine that they had subjected themselves to was something she felt had to be done. After all, the first official case of Covid-19 had been found in her clinic. She had worried, exceptionally so, that she might have brought the virus home to her family. But so far those fears were thankfully in vain. Instead Bitter was happily talking about the boat movie, which she had watched six times so far this week, and then she had moved on to talking about how Gretchen wasn’t able to be on the computer for more than a few minutes before she was in trouble and was kicked off of it. Thankfully Second had more than stepped up. He was the father she knew he could be, and he was also being exceptionally supportive. Her way of thanking him last night had been an experience in and of itself. Of course the use of duct tape had ensured that she didn’t wake their daughter from a peaceful night’s slumber. “What’s on the docket for today?” Second asked as he sipped on his coffee. Sour shrugged as she finished up the platter of pancakes she had been working on. Second had done most of the cooking through this entire ordeal, and well before, so she felt it was only right to take some of it off of his shoulders. She separated the pancakes onto three different plates, grabbed the butter, honey, and peanut butter and sat it all on the table between the three of them. Bitter began slathering peanut butter on her pancakes, and Sour watched as her daughter topped it with the honey before cutting into it and eating as if she was starving to death. Joining in Sour felt her phone vibrate. She feared looking at it. Her own quarantine was basically over, and since there was no sign of the virus she was going to reopen the clinic, for emergencies only, tomorrow. But if there was an emergency right now she would go ahead and go. Instead it was an update from Vignette Valencia. She’d followed the trending queen since highschool, and to be honest Vignette was usually pretty spot on when it came to trends. So to see her talking about a great Twitch Stream featuring Sunset Shimmer, well, she couldn’t help herself. Her fond memories of doing the Youtube videos with Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom were nice to look back on. She finished breakfast, Second offered to do the dishes, and she decided to let him as she went to the office. The office itself was one that she shared with Second. He usually did most of his writing in here, although he normally did it when Bitter was asleep, at school, or at a friend’s house. He’d been doing most of his writing at night, or early morning, since the beginning of the Pandemic. She walked to her computer, fired it up, and went onto Twitch. She had every intention of finding Sunset’s stream right away, but that intention ended when she noticed the dozens of camera girls who were basically pandering for money. One of which was offering to do whatever her highest paying donor wanted, on a private show, for an entire hour. She sighed, signed in, and of course found herself adding her two cents to it. You know, I get that times are tough, and your career is your business, but seriously, you’re pretty much selling yourself for money, she wrote. Her two cents were met with a series of other posts. Of which one stood out to her. (.)(.)arelife wrote, Hey, it’s her choice if she wants to let us tell her to do stuff. Sour rolled her eyes. Yeah it was her choice. She was all about choice, but this seemed like it was setting everything back. It was establishing women as a sexual object. Maybe the girl wanted that, but it felt wrong. She shook her head, left that stream, and instead began looking for Sunset’s. Her search ended when she saw a stream that had been going for at least an hour and a half, if not longer. Sunset was wearing some kind of bodysuit, but she was dressed. While she was doing some poses she wasn’t undressing, and she wasn’t doing anything that would be overly sexual. She could see some of the earlier posts and she laughed at the one where some weeb had wanted her to do an impression of Rei and say a few lines form the Neon Genesis anime. She honestly wouldn’t have known too much about it, but Indigo Image, formerly Zapp, was a fan of the series. She had gotten to watch quite a bit of it, and she couldn’t help but notice all of the various Christian imagery in it. Luckily the series was actually pretty enjoyable. Still, she felt like messing with someone a little bit. She looked at the screen and wrote, I’ve got a hundred bucks if you say that Asuka is better than Rei. It was quickly countered by the poster from earlier. She then watched as someone else entered the stream. Anon’sPublishingBooksBitches wrote, I’ve got two hundred bucks for you to stop being a tease and just get nude already. She smiled when Sunset shut him down, and she couldn’t help but throw in her own little jab. She wrote, Hey Anon, how’s it feel to know that you lost to a superior author? A moment later she watched as another message from him popped up, Really? Because as I understand it your husband tends to write self insert drivel about a Tsundere bitch that finally warms up to him, gives him some decent pussy, and then they live a life of bliss. She was already proud that Second had won, but now she wished that maybe he would have punched him once or twice. She watched as his post continued, I guess that he’s drawing from the only inspiration he has, which is his real life. In truth, I’ve got more talent in my little pinky toe than he has in his entire body. In fact, if you want to meet up sometime I’ll let you jump on my joystick and I’ll show you just how much better I am at everything than he will ever be. She looked at post, and she growled as she typed, I can guarantee you that he’s got you beat. Besides, I’ve heard from a few people that your joystick should be downvoted. Quite a bit. He was quick to retort, I’ve had nothing but pleased sounds, and excellent sex tapes that say differently. Really? She wrote, Because I heard that you bumbled around more than a blind individual without their cane in an unknown area. In other words, you have no experience! From there the insults just kept climbing until she watched as he simply disappeared. She didn’t try to find out where he went to, but instead she leaned back. Sunset’s stream was ending, but it felt good. She managed to get a few jabs in on Anon. That was certainly the markings of time well spent. Designing, Inspiring, and TellingLockdown - A series of Equestria Girls Short Stories Inspired by Nico-Stone Rupan’s Sour Sweet Stories Designing, Inspiring, and Telling A Rarity Story The entire inspiration room was practically wrecked. Rarity looked at the bolts of fabric that lay haphazardly around the room. She sighed, it would be a bit to clean up, but then it was to be expected. She heard footsteps and saw Coco. She smiled at her friend/business partner and Coco gave her a wave as she walked into the room. “Wow, there was certainly a number done on the inspiration room,” Coco stated as she picked up a bolt of white fabric that needed to be dyed. “Yes, there certainly was,” she said under her breath. She looked toward the stairs of her home, “Sweetie Belle, darling, would you mind to come here for a moment?” A few moments passed and finally a very exhausted looking Sweetie Belle managed to make her way into the inspiration room. She looked at it, groaned, and then turned her eyes toward Rarity. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that they had made such a mess. Button is usually really good with keeping them from getting too out of hand.” Rarity sighed, “It’s fine. I’m not exactly angry. Unsettled, disappointed, absolutely certain that I will not finish my work on time, but not exactly angry.” Sweetie walked forward and began helping to pick up the fabric, “I’m really sorry Rarity. We’d be out of your hair, but we’re restricted to staying here in Canterlot City until the lockdown is over.” Rarity sighed, “I know,” she said as she began to help clean up, “And I understand that it isn’t your children’s fault either. I don’t even blame Button Mash. I understand that he does have his work to do as well.” Sweetie nodded, “He does. It’s great that he can do it remotely, and it’s even better that the gaming company is letting him write the lore for the games from here. I know that it can be time consuming, but I’ve got a career that’s been put on hold too.” Rarity nodded, “I know, and I feel absolutely proud that you managed to get a recording deal,” she looked at her sister, “But as you said at the moment it’s on hold. Perhaps you could spend more time with my nephew and niece?” Sweetie nodded, “I really should anyway.” The sound of smaller footsteps caught Rarity’s attention and she turned to see her little nephew and niece walking into the room. Her niece looked at the room, stopped, and began to stick out her lower lip. There was absolutely no denying that she was of the same stock as Sweetie Belle and herself. She looked at the little girl, with her soft caramel colored skin, and light purple hair. Her eyes, which were similar to Button’s more so than Sweetie Belles, began to wet with what Rarity liked to call stage tears. “Arpeggio Octave Mash, do not even attempt the puppy eyes,” Rarity said. The little girl stopped, looked at the floor, “It’s not my fault,” she said, “Joystick wanted to play in here.” Rarity looked at the little boy who was looking at his sister. Arpeggio herself was five, a very gifted little girl, and easily one of the smartest children she had ever met. Joystick, who was an off white, much like Sweetie Belle, had a shock of orange hair, and a set of beautiful blue eyes, was barely three years old. He was sweet, clever, every so interested in Sesame Street, and from what she had seen not someone that exactly wanted to do anything on his own. Could he have wanted to play in her inspiration room, perhaps, but the likely one was Arpeggio. “Joystick, did you want to play in here?” The little boy looked at her, and then back at his sister. Rarity touched his shoulder, “I’m asking you dear, not your sister.” He looked at her, “I wanna watch Big Bird, but sissy said, sissy said, sissy… she said we needa go exploring.” “You tattler!” Arpeggio shouted. Joystick turned on his heels to run, but Rarity caught him, “It’s okay,” she looked at Arpeggio, “Why would you shout at your little brother? He simply told me the truth, and you were trying to throw him under the bus, so to speak.” Arpeggio looked at the floor, “Do I gotta help clean?” Rarity smiled, “Yes, I believe it would be wise for you to do so. Go help your mother, and Joystick can help to.” She looked at the little boy, who was wearing a red Big Bird shirt diapers, and a set of mismatched socks. A small part of her wanted to correct the socks before anything else, but she left that alone. It was likely they had just gotten up, snuck out of their room, and managed to make it down stairs before Button Mash realized what was going on. Arpeggio, who was dressed in a soft lavender sleeping gown Rarity had made for her, seemed less willing to help than her brother who stumbled forward and tried to help his mother pick up the bolts of fabric off of the floor. “Why do I gotta help clean?!” she said her voice taking on a whining tone. “Rarity looked at her, “Arpeggio, do not take on that tone with me. There is no reason for you to whine.” Her niece looked up at her, “I’m not whining, I’m complaining, this is whining! I don’t wanna clean! All of this is messy and it will stain my nightgown! Everything is disorganized and I’m afraid that I will chip a nail!” Rarity looked at her, “Darling, while your attempt is noteworthy I have years of experience in complaints and whining on you. Now, go ahead, help clean, or you can kiss ice cream for dessert goodbye for the rest of your stay here.” With that Arpeggio rushed forward to help clean. It took a far shorter time than she had thought it would. Especially after Button Mash managed to wake up, walk down stairs, see the group of them cleaning, looked at his children, and then pitched in to help as well. There are a multitude of things that could be said about Sweetie’s husband, but none of them could really be considered bad. Once the inspiration room was cleaned both Joystick and Arpeggio wandered off to the kitchen. Behind them Sweetie and Button followed. Rarity looked at Button and gave him a knowing look. He nodded, and she was glad that he understood our silent agreement. He was to cook. Sweetie was a wonderful sister, talented songstress, fantastic model for some of my clothing lines, but at the end of the day she was still a terrible cook. Rarity was very happy that Love Tap had taught Button how to cook, and that he actually did very well in the kitchen. Granted his clean up needed some touch ups, but all in all he was as good of a cook as she was. With the room cleaned, organized to the chaos that she thrived in, Coco and Rarity sat upon our newest fashion line. It was meant for a more utilitarian client than most of my work. The line was for uniforms normally reserved for Private Security Contractors. As she focused on the task at hand Coco and Rarity looked over the various designs already out in the world. Most of which seemed very drab, but understandably it was for a security firm. She looked at the Company’s own colors, and she was relieved to see that they had red, black, and white. Working with that would allow a pleasant aesthetic to what could normally be considered a very plain uniform. After three hours the idea for the uniform was taking shape. A white shirt, with black flaps for the welt pockets. The black pants would be red lined, and of course there would be a wonderful red tie with black stripes. After admiring the design, and deciding that it looked the best we began on prototype. Rarity had no sooner finished putting the finishing touches on it when her cell phone began to ring. She excused myself, and suggested that Coco may want to take a break as well. She stepped away, answered the phone, and she was greeted with Honored Glory’s face. Rarity smiled as she looked into the eyes of the man that had managed to capture her heart. “Honored, I’m so glad to see you!” He smiled, his soft gray skin glistened with what was obviously sweat. She could see his cropped charcoal black hair, and his soft blue eyes looked happy. “I’m glad to see you too Rares. I hate that the lockdown happened before I could get back. I was home less than a month ago for Silent’s funeral, but I had to report back in.” She smiled at him, “I understand, although if you’re calling then there’s obviously something admiss, would you care to clue me in on it?” He grinned, “Well actually I just wanted to call and tell you that I love you, but yeah there is something else. Apparently we’re gearing for monitoring state boundaries. So I’ll still be able to make calls, but it might be a little later than usual.” She nodded, “Of course,” she smiled, “You have been missing quite a collection of chaos here.” He laughed, “Oh, I can imagine. How are the two rugrats?” She smiled, “They’re good. Arpeggio seems to have taken to trying to talk her way out of trouble by looking quite contrite.” He smiled and shook his head, “Sounds like she’s learning to act like her mom and aunt,” he looked at her, “I miss you Rares.” She blew a kiss to the screen, “And I miss you.” He stood there a moment, “Rares, are you alone?” She nodded, “At the moment yes,” she raised an eyebrow, “Why do you ask?” He grinned, “Want to text me a picture of the girls?” She rolled her eyes, “really?” He laughed, “Only if you really want to, but if not then it’s fine.” She sighed, looked around, and unbuttoned her top. She unsnapped the front of her bra, and her breasts, which was she very proud of, popped free. She then took a picture of them, and then at the same she texted the picture while letting Honored get a nice look. She then snapped her bra, buttoned her top, and looked at Honored, “Okay, I’ve sent your lewd little photo. Just so you know I would like one of you, later as well.” He smiled, “I’ll make sure that it happens. I’ve got to go. I love you. Maybe when I get home we can work on cousins for our niece and nephew.” She smiled at him, “I love you too, but please don’t get your hopes up. You do remember what the doctor said.” His wonderful smile never faded. Instead he looked at her, “Rarity, sweetheart, you know me, and you know that I take the long shots. If I didn’t then I would have never talked to a wonderful girl that was way out of my league. Okay, I really got to go, Love you.” She smiled, “I love you too,” and she waited until he hung up. She looked toward the doorway and saw Sweetie standing there, “How’s Honored doing?” She smiled, “Well enough, so how long were you standing there?” Sweetie grinned, “Long enough to see that you did the same thing I sometimes do for Button.” She neared her sister, “You know, there’s some great doctors that my agent knows. If you really want to go for it. I can make a few calls. I’m sure that they can get you in.” Rarity smiled at her, “That would be wonderful darling, although I doubt that I will allow myself to get my hopes up too much.” She laughed, “In truth, I’ve been considering the idea for a while of asking Honored how he would feel about fostering and adoption.” Sweetie Smiled at her, “Really?” She nodded, “Absolutely. It would be an ordeal, I’m certain, but it would be one that I am sure we could overcome. Plus, if we did have a baby they would have a brother or sister already here.” Sweetie smiled, “You’re a generous woman sis, but ummm, maybe you should talk to a few Foster parents before you do it.” FamilyLockdown - A series of Equestria Girls Short Stories Inspired by Nico-Stone Rupan’s Sour Sweet Stories Family An Apple Bloom Story Apple Bloom looked around at the greenhouse. Gardening had been a huge part of who she was. There was no mistaking that working on the family orchard had certainly shaped who she was. The fact that she went into horticulture, and then herbology was no mistake. She had gotten her bachelors in herbology, and with that she took to teaching. She was also currently working toward a master’s degree in the same discipline, but she was taking all of it online, or at least as much as possible. Still, there were no physical classes for the foreseeable future. The events with the Pandemic and the lockdown had seen to that. Instead she was teaching via online interactive streaming. Youtube, Skype, and surprisingly the gaming platform of World of Warcraft had been used. Being in the greenhouse, working with the plants, filming the care needed for the new breeds of medical grade plants was part of what made her feel as if she was doing more with her life. She felt the swell of her stomach, her pregnancy was truly beginning to show, and part of her wondered how long it would take before she wouldn’t be able to do this on her own. Tender Taps had already been offering to help, and while she certainly considered having his help the truth was he didn’t have a green thumb. Actually, he could do basic care, but he wasn’t exceptionally good when it came to the more delicate work that she would need to do. No, when the day came that she couldn’t do it on her own she would have no other choice than to ask her sister or brother. She had a feeling that Applejack would be fine with helping her. Even her husband, Applesnack, most likely wouldn’t mind. It was funny that she met him in Las Pegasus of all places. He was a nice enough fella, ex army, and currently he worked for a Private Security Firm. With the global lockdown happening he had been stuck across state lines. Her sister was doing pretty well with it, and Rainbow Dash was hanging around helping out. She stretched and walked outside of the greenhouse. Just in the distance she saw Big Mac with Sugar Belle Apple. Her two nephews, and youngest niece, all standing there near the two of them. “Doing well y’all?” she asked. “Eeeeyup, jest comin’ ta see if’n y’all needed some help.” She smiled at him, “Ah’m pregnant, it ain’t the end of the world, but thanks. Actually, Ah figure the day is a comin’ that the doctor is gonna tell me that Ah gotta go on bed rest. Figure y’all can mind the class greenhouse for me when it happens?” He nodded, “Sure, dun’t mind at all. Y’all comin’ over fer supper?” She gave a nod, “Sure am.” She watched as he waved and left. The house was still full of life, although it was certainly different. She locked the door and walked to her own car, getting into it she considered the differences. Granny Smith was gone. She died last year after catching a bad case of pneumonia. When she passed it was as if a huge part of their lives was simply gone. With Big Mac, Sugar Belle, their kids, and Applejack with Applesnack staying there it was as if the house was still a home. Life still existed in it, and it still felt welcoming. She would have stayed, but after getting out and going to college she wanted to have her own place. She couldn't get away from the fact that she loved working with the ground, with plants, and she loved watching something grow into its potential. Instead she accepted this was simply part of who she was. Her car, an economical throwback to a simpler time, started on the fourth try. She felt the small miss in the Pinto’s engine. Granted, her brother, sister, and husband had tried to talk her into getting something different. The Pinto itself was a few decades old at this point, but it had been a reliable old car, and honestly she liked it. She pulled the floor shifter into gear, and soon she was leaving the greenhouse. Her classes were over, she was heading home, and she turned on the old radio, which still sported an eight-track tape player, and listened as K-Dust played some classic country. Listening to it was almost like having Granny still around. She stopped at the intersection, didn’t see anyone coming, and pulled forward. There are times in everyone’s life that terrible occurrences happen. These times are often presented with almost no warning. They simply come to be. Perhaps more terrible things could’ve been presented later, but normally the thing that triggers them all had little to no warning at all. Such was this event. Apple Bloom pulled out, her small Pinto dutifully doing what it had been created to do, and without warning a large construction van plowed into the side of her small Pinto. Having been created in the 1970’s the Pinto was made of steel. There was no fiberglass, no reinforced plastics, but instead the frame, body, and floors of the older economical car were designed around the idea of steel being stronger. Even so, the impact from the van crushed into the driver’s side of the car. Apple Bloom screamed as the car was forced into the ditch. K-Dust played on the radio, the sound of Boot Scootin’ Boogie flowed from the speakers. She tried to move, but upon her attempt she found that it hurt to do so. She looked toward the van, and she could see someone moving around. She tried to move again, and finally her hand found her purse. She lifted it, dug around in it, and found an old Nokia cell phone. The phone was a hand me down, something that Granny Smith had lying around in her kitchen, and Apple Bloom had taken it to a small cellphone company, reactivated it, and now she was using it. The phone rang a few times, and Apple bloom wondered if there would be an answer. After a few rings she heard a soft click, and she prayed that it wasn’t someone disconnecting. “911, which services do you require?” She breathed out a thankful sigh, “A van jest plowed inta my car. We’re north of town, near Canterlot High, the school’s greenhouses,” she said, “We need a firetruck and the ambulance.” “No problem, we will have emergency services sent out to your location as soon as possible.” She relaxed, glad to hear that they would have help. She considered closing her eyes, but instead she heard the sound of a siren. It was too soon for it to be the firetruck or the ambulance. Instead she saw what looked like a patrol officer’s car. “Everyone okay?” a voice asked. She looked to see Shining Armor, Twilight’s brother, standing outside of her car. “Ah’m kinda hurt,” she said, “Not sure ‘bout the other fella.” He nodded, “That’s fine, just relax. I’ll contact emergency services,” he said. She shook her head, “Ah already called 911. They said they’re sending a firetruck and an ambulance.” He nodded, “Okay, in that case I’m going to make sure that you don’t need to be moved yet.” A few seconds went by before she heard the passenger door open. “Apple Bloom, right?” he asked. She nodded, “Yeah.” He smiled, “Okay, I know it’s going to hurt, but we need to get you clear of this car, and we need to do it now.” She unbuckled her seatbelt, and she felt him help her move across the seat. She wanted to scream with each movement, but soon she was out of the car, near his patrol car, and the driver of the van was the same. She looked to see what was going on, and she realized that her fuel tank had ruptured under her car. A stream of gas had leaked all over, and it would just take a small spark to set it off. Within a few minutes the firetruck and ambulance arrived. She saw Snails as he set to covering the gas with something that was fire-retardant. He gave her a wave, and then from the ambulance Snips came over. He checked her, and the van driver. She took a look at the fella from the truck and she finally placed him. It looked like Rumble. He was still partly out of it, but at least he didn’t look too hurt. “Well, Apple Bloom it looks like you’ve got a broken ankle. I hate to do it, especially with what’s going on, but we need to get you to the hospital. We’re going to take Rumble in too. From the looks of it he’s got a concussion.” She nodded, felt herself, and then Rumble, loaded onto the ambulance. In a moment it was off, and she tried to relax as the ride took her to a place she had no intentions of going to. Once it arrived she was carted inside, and the doctor finished looking her over. Her ankle was put into a cast, and then she was told that she would be staying the night for observation. Twenty minutes later she got a call from Tender Taps. She smiled as he asked how she was, and she told him that the doctors just wanted to hold her for observation. It felt good to know that he was worried. Of course she didn’t doubt that he would be. As she relaxed into the bed, she realized that this was the start of summer break, and also that she had no reason to not buy a new car. Oh BrotherLockdown - A series of Equestria Girls Short Stories Based on Nico-Stone Rupan’s Sour Sweet Stories Oh Brother A Fluttershy Story The animal clinic was busy. Being the owner, and oncall Veterinarian was something that Fluttershy felt great pride in. Although at the moment she felt mostly tired and ready to sleep. The Pandemic hadn't shown mercy to any of the pets, and there was a few that seemed have suffered some nasty infections. She was glad that there were a few other Vets willing to help, and some of them were in the clinic right now. She looked at the table she was sitting in, the floor above the clinic was her apartment. She heard a loud belch, and her eyes rolled. "What's shaking Flutters?" She glanced toward the sound and saw her brother, wearing a pair of boxers and a very familar shirt. "Zephyr, is that my spaghitti string top?" He looked at it, "Huh, guess it is. Sorry, and hey, thanks for letting me crash here through this." She sighed, "It's fine. I'm glad that you're not sick. Have you talked to Mom and Dad in the last couple of days?" He shrugged, "Nope, sorry. I've been talking to my boss,” he replied, “He said that the store isn’t going to be opening any time soon.” Fluttershy sighed, “I suppose that makes sense,” she studied him, “Zephyr, since you’re staying here why don’t you get dressed? I mean really dressed.” He shrugged, “Naw, it’s all good sis,” he smiled, “It’s kinda like having a bunch of days off!” She rolled her eyes, “I suppose,” she looked around, “Not that I mind you being here, but why aren’t you staying with your girlfriend?” He laughed, “Yeah, about that,” he grinned, “You know Lighting got kinda mad at me. I mean it wasn’t even my fault, but she got really upset, and I had to take a hard pass on that.” Fluttershy groaned, “What did you do?” He looked at her, “Sis, I didn’t do anything. Well… Maybe not anything. Okay, so we were doing something, using the backstage, you know, and then I might sort of maybe called her Rainbows.” The facepalm was epic, “Seriously?”
Gamer GirlLockdown - A series of Equestria Girl Short Stories Based on Nico-Stone Rupan’s Sour Sweet Stories Gamer Girl Sunset’s New Job “It’s okay Sunset, you’re a gamer, and you’ve worn strange outfits more than once,” Sunset said to herself as she looked at the mirror. What she was seeing wasn’t lost on her. The skin tight suit didn’t hide a single curve. It was masterfully designed to look like the same bodysuit that Rei wore in Neon Genesis. Her normal job had shut down, thanks to the lockdown, and so she was trying to find a way of making some extra money. The decision to do this came when she looked online at Twitch, after a friend had suggested it, and saw more than a few gamer girls that dressed as various anime characters and seemed to be pulling a decent amount of views and donations. It certainly wasn’t her first choice, but since she already had a decent following on Youtube for her various Let’s Play, and New Challenger videos that she had recorded, edited, and published online. There were enough views, and subscribers that she did manage to make some extra money from the ad revenue, or did until Youtube began to demonetize Let’s Play videos by the hundreds. There was an email explaining that it was a mistake, it would be corrected, and during that time she had lost a good chunk of what had been her income. There was still some ad revenue coming in from the New Challenger videos, but it wasn’t enough to pay for everything that needed to be paid for. She had basically pounded the pavement until she found something that would work as a part-time job, and then from there she worked about three nights a week to finish supplimiting her income. The result was having enough money to pay bills, rent, and get the basic needs. The job she had gotten wasn’t that much. She was working in a small call center that reminded people that their warranty was about to expire for their cars. When the state began to lockdown, thanks to the Outbreak of Covid-19, the call center simply closed up, laid everyone off, and she was left without even unemployment because she hadn’t been working there long enough. She had talked about it with all of her friends, but it was surprisingly Rarity, well actually Vignette Valencia that had suggested the idea of doing a Twitch Gamer Girl session. She breathed in, took a look at the mirror, and felt herself die a little inside. She was fine with Cosplaying. Actually, she had been to more than one Comicbook convention, and each time she went she ended up doing a decent Cosplay of one of her favorite characters from various animes that she loved. The last time she went, which was before the pandemic, she had dressed as Albedo from Overlord. She had considered doing that Cosplay, but Vignette had mentioned that Neon Genesis was making a huge comeback, and that now would be the time to take advantage of it. Rarity had watched a few episodes of the series, and made her Rei’s body suit. She had the head band that looked like the mental connection ports for controlling the Eva. Rarity had made the bodysuit perfectly, but it didn’t have much room left for anything under it, so she was actually just wearing the body suit itself. She walked to the computer, put on a wireless headset, and logged into her Twitch account. Vignette had spread word around about the Twitch stream, and of course she had made a New Challenger Video and told her fan base about the upcoming Twitch event. She started the game, which there was current trend of playing some of the favorite previous generation games, and the one she selected was a fan favorite. She was going to search for Eldorado, The City of Gold in Uncharted. She smiled at the camera as she went live, and waved. “Welcome! This is Sunset, and we’re doing a Let’s Play on Uncharted. Since this was one of the most requested games I thought we’d walk through it together, and of course I’ll give my personal spin on what I think, what I’d do differently, and why I like, or dislike the game.” She saw a few posts pop up from some of her long time fans. “Belle’sButton08, always good to see you posting!” she exclaimed, “And yeah I love the Uncharted series.” She saw several new names pop in, and she realized that they must have been from Vignette’s circles. She smiled, waved, and felt less tension as the numbers of attendees climbed to be about sixty. It was a good solid beginning and if she kept this going for the next four hours she could get some solid donations going. She saw a post from a new member, and she read it as it appeared, Wow, Vignette wasn’t kidding, you’re a decent gamer and sexy to boot! “Ummm, thanks Papasmurftastic01, I always like a compliment.” She saw a donation, and smiled, twenty dollars, already, and it was from one of her normal subscribers, “Thanks for the donation Belle’sButton08!” Of course she had done her normal fist pump, and in doing so didn’t realize that with no support one of her girls had been fairly well exposed under the bodysuit. The exact shape, present for the world to see. Another message came on from Papasmurftastic01. She read it, I’ve got thirty bucks that I don’t mind donating if you can stand and play. She stood, stepped back, and began playing. Of course as normal she would lean, bend, jump, and stoop as she moved the character along. And as she did this she began to notice a few more donations coming in. Some from the new folks, but also more than she thought she would get from her own subscribers. As she played the donations continued, normally between ten and twenty dollars, but then she saw another post pop up from Papasmurftastic01. She looked at it, and saw that he was offering her fifty dollars if she would give a side profile while bending at the waist. She didn’t pretend not to understand what was going on. It was an invitation to become a camgirl. She had swore that she would never end up doing that. She was a gamer purely on merit, and damn it her subscribers loved her on Youtube because she was witty and filled them in on her thoughts. Not to mention sometimes she would just kill the sound for the game and fill in with her own voice overs. But this, this was a step away from stripping on Twitch for donations. She looked at it, fifty dollars, it wasn’t stripping, and she could keep it from getting that far. She was already at two hundred dollars. Bitting her lower lip she turned to the side, bent at the waist, and continued to play. She saw the donation, realized that she had swallowed her pride and did something she wasn’t completely comfortable with, but at the same time it had yielded some great results. That was when another poster, Reismywifu posted something for her. She looked at the post, I’ll donate forty dollars if you can do an impersonation of Rei and say a few lines from Neon Genesis. She smiled, this was just fine with her, “Reismywifu, here you go,” she said as she cleared her throat and channeled her best impersonation of Rei Ayanami, “Man fears the darkness, and so he scrapes away at the edges of it with fire. He creates life by diminishing the darkness.” As soon as she finished she saw the donation. She continued to play, the donations still came in, but less frequently, and then she saw one from one of her subscribers. Belle’sButton08 posted when you finish the current area, could you jump and fist pump? I’ll donate forty-five dollars. She shook her head, and she was indeed about ready to finish the current objective. She had found the old Uboat, and she had explored it. Right after this was heading back and then the cut scene. She got to the cut scene, jumped and fist pumped only to receive her forty-five dollar donation. Suddenly there was a bid war on her hands, and she realized that all of them were clambering for her to do more. Bend over suggestively, lick her console, open the top of her bodysuit, just a little, wink and kiss at the camera, turn around and bend over allowing them to get a good view of her posterior. She stood surprised as the stated donations climbed. She shut down a few that were pushing her too far. Take it off, and the donation would be eighty dollars. Perform felicalo on the controller, even for sixty dollars that was a hard pass. But Papasmurftastic01, Reismywifu, and Belle’sButton08 were each trying to outbid each other in order to get the next act for her to do. Despite her previous feelings about more or less doing cosplay, and posing, while streaming she couldn’t deny that she was making more than enough to supplement her income. In truth it was entirely possible that she could, if she really went for it, turn this into her full time job. But was that what she really wanted to do with her life? She saw another few join the stream, among them was DrSweetPerson. She wondered why Sour Sweet was on the Twitch stream, but a moment later she saw a post from Sour Sweet. I’ve got a hundred bucks if you say that Asuka is better than Rei. Which she saw another post from Reismywifu01. No, don’t do that! I’ll match that, no I’ll give you a hundred-ten to say that Rei is the best character in Neon Genesis period! She was about to comment on that before a new name popped up again. She looked, and the name seemed familiar. Anon’sPublishingBooksBitches posted a single message. I’ve got two hundred bucks for you to stop being a tease and just get nude already. She looked at the message, “Yeah, no. Sorry Anon, but I’m not that kind of gamer.” Then she watched as DrSweetPerson made another comment. Hey Anon, how’s it feel to know that you lost to a superior author? And that started a flame war. Anon’sPublishingBooksBitches began calling out DrSweetPerson, and her husband, on their relationship, his writing, and how it was obvious that out of the two of them he was far more talented than her husband was. He then explained that he would be willing to let her hop on his joystick and find out that he was likely better in every way possible. Sunset felt glad that people couldn’t reach through their monitors and pull anyone else through, because she had a feeling if that was possible that DrSweetPerson would be beating the holy hell out of Anon’sPublishingBooksBitches right now. She looked at the time, and then at the donations. She was up to six hundred dollars. She had to be shutting down in about twenty minutes. After all she wanted to unwind, thank Rarity for making the bodysuit, and then maybe get a pizza and chill out with a good movie. Honestly the Princess Bride sounded awesome, although she could go for watching Cowboy Bebop as well. “Guys, we’ve got twenty minutes before the stream is going to end, so I’ve got time for one or two more requests,” she said. The flame war between DrSweetPerson and Anon’sPublishingBooksBitches seemed to be going pretty steady, but she saw a single request. It was from SavioroftheUniverse. She looked at the name, and she sung a bit of a song that had that lyric in it. She smiled when she realized that it had to be Flash. I’ve got thirty bucks if you don’t mind to sing your outro. She grinned, “You’ve got it SavioroftheUniverse.” ♫Who’s been pwning noobs, Who’s never shown her boobs, Who’s gonna get the sick stats And who’s never gonna show her rack? Who’s gonna play a mad game And who’s gonna prove some of them are lame? Sunnybuns that’s who!♫
Flame WarLockdown - A series of Equestria Girls Short Stories Based on Nico-Stone Rupan’s Sour Sweet Stories Flame War A Sour Sweet Story The day had started pretty much like any other day. Getting up Sour had fixed breakfast for her family. The quarantine that they had subjected themselves to was something she felt had to be done. After all, the first official case of Covid-19 had been found in her clinic. She had worried, exceptionally so, that she might have brought the virus home to her family. But so far those fears were thankfully in vain. Instead Bitter was happily talking about the boat movie, which she had watched six times so far this week, and then she had moved on to talking about how Gretchen wasn’t able to be on the computer for more than a few minutes before she was in trouble and was kicked off of it. Thankfully Second had more than stepped up. He was the father she knew he could be, and he was also being exceptionally supportive. Her way of thanking him last night had been an experience in and of itself. Of course the use of duct tape had ensured that she didn’t wake their daughter from a peaceful night’s slumber. “What’s on the docket for today?” Second asked as he sipped on his coffee. Sour shrugged as she finished up the platter of pancakes she had been working on. Second had done most of the cooking through this entire ordeal, and well before, so she felt it was only right to take some of it off of his shoulders. She separated the pancakes onto three different plates, grabbed the butter, honey, and peanut butter and sat it all on the table between the three of them. Bitter began slathering peanut butter on her pancakes, and Sour watched as her daughter topped it with the honey before cutting into it and eating as if she was starving to death. Joining in Sour felt her phone vibrate. She feared looking at it. Her own quarantine was basically over, and since there was no sign of the virus she was going to reopen the clinic, for emergencies only, tomorrow. But if there was an emergency right now she would go ahead and go. Instead it was an update from Vignette Valencia. She’d followed the trending queen since highschool, and to be honest Vignette was usually pretty spot on when it came to trends. So to see her talking about a great Twitch Stream featuring Sunset Shimmer, well, she couldn’t help herself. Her fond memories of doing the Youtube videos with Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom were nice to look back on. She finished breakfast, Second offered to do the dishes, and she decided to let him as she went to the office. The office itself was one that she shared with Second. He usually did most of his writing in here, although he normally did it when Bitter was asleep, at school, or at a friend’s house. He’d been doing most of his writing at night, or early morning, since the beginning of the Pandemic. She walked to her computer, fired it up, and went onto Twitch. She had every intention of finding Sunset’s stream right away, but that intention ended when she noticed the dozens of camera girls who were basically pandering for money. One of which was offering to do whatever her highest paying donor wanted, on a private show, for an entire hour. She sighed, signed in, and of course found herself adding her two cents to it. You know, I get that times are tough, and your career is your business, but seriously, you’re pretty much selling yourself for money, she wrote. Her two cents were met with a series of other posts. Of which one stood out to her. (.)(.)arelife wrote, Hey, it’s her choice if she wants to let us tell her to do stuff. Sour rolled her eyes. Yeah it was her choice. She was all about choice, but this seemed like it was setting everything back. It was establishing women as a sexual object. Maybe the girl wanted that, but it felt wrong. She shook her head, left that stream, and instead began looking for Sunset’s. Her search ended when she saw a stream that had been going for at least an hour and a half, if not longer. Sunset was wearing some kind of bodysuit, but she was dressed. While she was doing some poses she wasn’t undressing, and she wasn’t doing anything that would be overly sexual. She could see some of the earlier posts and she laughed at the one where some weeb had wanted her to do an impression of Rei and say a few lines form the Neon Genesis anime. She honestly wouldn’t have known too much about it, but Indigo Image, formerly Zapp, was a fan of the series. She had gotten to watch quite a bit of it, and she couldn’t help but notice all of the various Christian imagery in it. Luckily the series was actually pretty enjoyable. Still, she felt like messing with someone a little bit. She looked at the screen and wrote, I’ve got a hundred bucks if you say that Asuka is better than Rei. It was quickly countered by the poster from earlier. She then watched as someone else entered the stream. Anon’sPublishingBooksBitches wrote, I’ve got two hundred bucks for you to stop being a tease and just get nude already. She smiled when Sunset shut him down, and she couldn’t help but throw in her own little jab. She wrote, Hey Anon, how’s it feel to know that you lost to a superior author? A moment later she watched as another message from him popped up, Really? Because as I understand it your husband tends to write self insert drivel about a Tsundere bitch that finally warms up to him, gives him some decent pussy, and then they live a life of bliss. She was already proud that Second had won, but now she wished that maybe he would have punched him once or twice. She watched as his post continued, I guess that he’s drawing from the only inspiration he has, which is his real life. In truth, I’ve got more talent in my little pinky toe than he has in his entire body. In fact, if you want to meet up sometime I’ll let you jump on my joystick and I’ll show you just how much better I am at everything than he will ever be. She looked at post, and she growled as she typed, I can guarantee you that he’s got you beat. Besides, I’ve heard from a few people that your joystick should be downvoted. Quite a bit. He was quick to retort, I’ve had nothing but pleased sounds, and excellent sex tapes that say differently. Really? She wrote, Because I heard that you bumbled around more than a blind individual without their cane in an unknown area. In other words, you have no experience! From there the insults just kept climbing until she watched as he simply disappeared. She didn’t try to find out where he went to, but instead she leaned back. Sunset’s stream was ending, but it felt good. She managed to get a few jabs in on Anon. That was certainly the markings of time well spent.
Designing, Inspiring, and TellingLockdown - A series of Equestria Girls Short Stories Inspired by Nico-Stone Rupan’s Sour Sweet Stories Designing, Inspiring, and Telling A Rarity Story The entire inspiration room was practically wrecked. Rarity looked at the bolts of fabric that lay haphazardly around the room. She sighed, it would be a bit to clean up, but then it was to be expected. She heard footsteps and saw Coco. She smiled at her friend/business partner and Coco gave her a wave as she walked into the room. “Wow, there was certainly a number done on the inspiration room,” Coco stated as she picked up a bolt of white fabric that needed to be dyed. “Yes, there certainly was,” she said under her breath. She looked toward the stairs of her home, “Sweetie Belle, darling, would you mind to come here for a moment?” A few moments passed and finally a very exhausted looking Sweetie Belle managed to make her way into the inspiration room. She looked at it, groaned, and then turned her eyes toward Rarity. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that they had made such a mess. Button is usually really good with keeping them from getting too out of hand.” Rarity sighed, “It’s fine. I’m not exactly angry. Unsettled, disappointed, absolutely certain that I will not finish my work on time, but not exactly angry.” Sweetie walked forward and began helping to pick up the fabric, “I’m really sorry Rarity. We’d be out of your hair, but we’re restricted to staying here in Canterlot City until the lockdown is over.” Rarity sighed, “I know,” she said as she began to help clean up, “And I understand that it isn’t your children’s fault either. I don’t even blame Button Mash. I understand that he does have his work to do as well.” Sweetie nodded, “He does. It’s great that he can do it remotely, and it’s even better that the gaming company is letting him write the lore for the games from here. I know that it can be time consuming, but I’ve got a career that’s been put on hold too.” Rarity nodded, “I know, and I feel absolutely proud that you managed to get a recording deal,” she looked at her sister, “But as you said at the moment it’s on hold. Perhaps you could spend more time with my nephew and niece?” Sweetie nodded, “I really should anyway.” The sound of smaller footsteps caught Rarity’s attention and she turned to see her little nephew and niece walking into the room. Her niece looked at the room, stopped, and began to stick out her lower lip. There was absolutely no denying that she was of the same stock as Sweetie Belle and herself. She looked at the little girl, with her soft caramel colored skin, and light purple hair. Her eyes, which were similar to Button’s more so than Sweetie Belles, began to wet with what Rarity liked to call stage tears. “Arpeggio Octave Mash, do not even attempt the puppy eyes,” Rarity said. The little girl stopped, looked at the floor, “It’s not my fault,” she said, “Joystick wanted to play in here.” Rarity looked at the little boy who was looking at his sister. Arpeggio herself was five, a very gifted little girl, and easily one of the smartest children she had ever met. Joystick, who was an off white, much like Sweetie Belle, had a shock of orange hair, and a set of beautiful blue eyes, was barely three years old. He was sweet, clever, every so interested in Sesame Street, and from what she had seen not someone that exactly wanted to do anything on his own. Could he have wanted to play in her inspiration room, perhaps, but the likely one was Arpeggio. “Joystick, did you want to play in here?” The little boy looked at her, and then back at his sister. Rarity touched his shoulder, “I’m asking you dear, not your sister.” He looked at her, “I wanna watch Big Bird, but sissy said, sissy said, sissy… she said we needa go exploring.” “You tattler!” Arpeggio shouted. Joystick turned on his heels to run, but Rarity caught him, “It’s okay,” she looked at Arpeggio, “Why would you shout at your little brother? He simply told me the truth, and you were trying to throw him under the bus, so to speak.” Arpeggio looked at the floor, “Do I gotta help clean?” Rarity smiled, “Yes, I believe it would be wise for you to do so. Go help your mother, and Joystick can help to.” She looked at the little boy, who was wearing a red Big Bird shirt diapers, and a set of mismatched socks. A small part of her wanted to correct the socks before anything else, but she left that alone. It was likely they had just gotten up, snuck out of their room, and managed to make it down stairs before Button Mash realized what was going on. Arpeggio, who was dressed in a soft lavender sleeping gown Rarity had made for her, seemed less willing to help than her brother who stumbled forward and tried to help his mother pick up the bolts of fabric off of the floor. “Why do I gotta help clean?!” she said her voice taking on a whining tone. “Rarity looked at her, “Arpeggio, do not take on that tone with me. There is no reason for you to whine.” Her niece looked up at her, “I’m not whining, I’m complaining, this is whining! I don’t wanna clean! All of this is messy and it will stain my nightgown! Everything is disorganized and I’m afraid that I will chip a nail!” Rarity looked at her, “Darling, while your attempt is noteworthy I have years of experience in complaints and whining on you. Now, go ahead, help clean, or you can kiss ice cream for dessert goodbye for the rest of your stay here.” With that Arpeggio rushed forward to help clean. It took a far shorter time than she had thought it would. Especially after Button Mash managed to wake up, walk down stairs, see the group of them cleaning, looked at his children, and then pitched in to help as well. There are a multitude of things that could be said about Sweetie’s husband, but none of them could really be considered bad. Once the inspiration room was cleaned both Joystick and Arpeggio wandered off to the kitchen. Behind them Sweetie and Button followed. Rarity looked at Button and gave him a knowing look. He nodded, and she was glad that he understood our silent agreement. He was to cook. Sweetie was a wonderful sister, talented songstress, fantastic model for some of my clothing lines, but at the end of the day she was still a terrible cook. Rarity was very happy that Love Tap had taught Button how to cook, and that he actually did very well in the kitchen. Granted his clean up needed some touch ups, but all in all he was as good of a cook as she was. With the room cleaned, organized to the chaos that she thrived in, Coco and Rarity sat upon our newest fashion line. It was meant for a more utilitarian client than most of my work. The line was for uniforms normally reserved for Private Security Contractors. As she focused on the task at hand Coco and Rarity looked over the various designs already out in the world. Most of which seemed very drab, but understandably it was for a security firm. She looked at the Company’s own colors, and she was relieved to see that they had red, black, and white. Working with that would allow a pleasant aesthetic to what could normally be considered a very plain uniform. After three hours the idea for the uniform was taking shape. A white shirt, with black flaps for the welt pockets. The black pants would be red lined, and of course there would be a wonderful red tie with black stripes. After admiring the design, and deciding that it looked the best we began on prototype. Rarity had no sooner finished putting the finishing touches on it when her cell phone began to ring. She excused myself, and suggested that Coco may want to take a break as well. She stepped away, answered the phone, and she was greeted with Honored Glory’s face. Rarity smiled as she looked into the eyes of the man that had managed to capture her heart. “Honored, I’m so glad to see you!” He smiled, his soft gray skin glistened with what was obviously sweat. She could see his cropped charcoal black hair, and his soft blue eyes looked happy. “I’m glad to see you too Rares. I hate that the lockdown happened before I could get back. I was home less than a month ago for Silent’s funeral, but I had to report back in.” She smiled at him, “I understand, although if you’re calling then there’s obviously something admiss, would you care to clue me in on it?” He grinned, “Well actually I just wanted to call and tell you that I love you, but yeah there is something else. Apparently we’re gearing for monitoring state boundaries. So I’ll still be able to make calls, but it might be a little later than usual.” She nodded, “Of course,” she smiled, “You have been missing quite a collection of chaos here.” He laughed, “Oh, I can imagine. How are the two rugrats?” She smiled, “They’re good. Arpeggio seems to have taken to trying to talk her way out of trouble by looking quite contrite.” He smiled and shook his head, “Sounds like she’s learning to act like her mom and aunt,” he looked at her, “I miss you Rares.” She blew a kiss to the screen, “And I miss you.” He stood there a moment, “Rares, are you alone?” She nodded, “At the moment yes,” she raised an eyebrow, “Why do you ask?” He grinned, “Want to text me a picture of the girls?” She rolled her eyes, “really?” He laughed, “Only if you really want to, but if not then it’s fine.” She sighed, looked around, and unbuttoned her top. She unsnapped the front of her bra, and her breasts, which was she very proud of, popped free. She then took a picture of them, and then at the same she texted the picture while letting Honored get a nice look. She then snapped her bra, buttoned her top, and looked at Honored, “Okay, I’ve sent your lewd little photo. Just so you know I would like one of you, later as well.” He smiled, “I’ll make sure that it happens. I’ve got to go. I love you. Maybe when I get home we can work on cousins for our niece and nephew.” She smiled at him, “I love you too, but please don’t get your hopes up. You do remember what the doctor said.” His wonderful smile never faded. Instead he looked at her, “Rarity, sweetheart, you know me, and you know that I take the long shots. If I didn’t then I would have never talked to a wonderful girl that was way out of my league. Okay, I really got to go, Love you.” She smiled, “I love you too,” and she waited until he hung up. She looked toward the doorway and saw Sweetie standing there, “How’s Honored doing?” She smiled, “Well enough, so how long were you standing there?” Sweetie grinned, “Long enough to see that you did the same thing I sometimes do for Button.” She neared her sister, “You know, there’s some great doctors that my agent knows. If you really want to go for it. I can make a few calls. I’m sure that they can get you in.” Rarity smiled at her, “That would be wonderful darling, although I doubt that I will allow myself to get my hopes up too much.” She laughed, “In truth, I’ve been considering the idea for a while of asking Honored how he would feel about fostering and adoption.” Sweetie Smiled at her, “Really?” She nodded, “Absolutely. It would be an ordeal, I’m certain, but it would be one that I am sure we could overcome. Plus, if we did have a baby they would have a brother or sister already here.” Sweetie smiled, “You’re a generous woman sis, but ummm, maybe you should talk to a few Foster parents before you do it.”
FamilyLockdown - A series of Equestria Girls Short Stories Inspired by Nico-Stone Rupan’s Sour Sweet Stories Family An Apple Bloom Story Apple Bloom looked around at the greenhouse. Gardening had been a huge part of who she was. There was no mistaking that working on the family orchard had certainly shaped who she was. The fact that she went into horticulture, and then herbology was no mistake. She had gotten her bachelors in herbology, and with that she took to teaching. She was also currently working toward a master’s degree in the same discipline, but she was taking all of it online, or at least as much as possible. Still, there were no physical classes for the foreseeable future. The events with the Pandemic and the lockdown had seen to that. Instead she was teaching via online interactive streaming. Youtube, Skype, and surprisingly the gaming platform of World of Warcraft had been used. Being in the greenhouse, working with the plants, filming the care needed for the new breeds of medical grade plants was part of what made her feel as if she was doing more with her life. She felt the swell of her stomach, her pregnancy was truly beginning to show, and part of her wondered how long it would take before she wouldn’t be able to do this on her own. Tender Taps had already been offering to help, and while she certainly considered having his help the truth was he didn’t have a green thumb. Actually, he could do basic care, but he wasn’t exceptionally good when it came to the more delicate work that she would need to do. No, when the day came that she couldn’t do it on her own she would have no other choice than to ask her sister or brother. She had a feeling that Applejack would be fine with helping her. Even her husband, Applesnack, most likely wouldn’t mind. It was funny that she met him in Las Pegasus of all places. He was a nice enough fella, ex army, and currently he worked for a Private Security Firm. With the global lockdown happening he had been stuck across state lines. Her sister was doing pretty well with it, and Rainbow Dash was hanging around helping out. She stretched and walked outside of the greenhouse. Just in the distance she saw Big Mac with Sugar Belle Apple. Her two nephews, and youngest niece, all standing there near the two of them. “Doing well y’all?” she asked. “Eeeeyup, jest comin’ ta see if’n y’all needed some help.” She smiled at him, “Ah’m pregnant, it ain’t the end of the world, but thanks. Actually, Ah figure the day is a comin’ that the doctor is gonna tell me that Ah gotta go on bed rest. Figure y’all can mind the class greenhouse for me when it happens?” He nodded, “Sure, dun’t mind at all. Y’all comin’ over fer supper?” She gave a nod, “Sure am.” She watched as he waved and left. The house was still full of life, although it was certainly different. She locked the door and walked to her own car, getting into it she considered the differences. Granny Smith was gone. She died last year after catching a bad case of pneumonia. When she passed it was as if a huge part of their lives was simply gone. With Big Mac, Sugar Belle, their kids, and Applejack with Applesnack staying there it was as if the house was still a home. Life still existed in it, and it still felt welcoming. She would have stayed, but after getting out and going to college she wanted to have her own place. She couldn't get away from the fact that she loved working with the ground, with plants, and she loved watching something grow into its potential. Instead she accepted this was simply part of who she was. Her car, an economical throwback to a simpler time, started on the fourth try. She felt the small miss in the Pinto’s engine. Granted, her brother, sister, and husband had tried to talk her into getting something different. The Pinto itself was a few decades old at this point, but it had been a reliable old car, and honestly she liked it. She pulled the floor shifter into gear, and soon she was leaving the greenhouse. Her classes were over, she was heading home, and she turned on the old radio, which still sported an eight-track tape player, and listened as K-Dust played some classic country. Listening to it was almost like having Granny still around. She stopped at the intersection, didn’t see anyone coming, and pulled forward. There are times in everyone’s life that terrible occurrences happen. These times are often presented with almost no warning. They simply come to be. Perhaps more terrible things could’ve been presented later, but normally the thing that triggers them all had little to no warning at all. Such was this event. Apple Bloom pulled out, her small Pinto dutifully doing what it had been created to do, and without warning a large construction van plowed into the side of her small Pinto. Having been created in the 1970’s the Pinto was made of steel. There was no fiberglass, no reinforced plastics, but instead the frame, body, and floors of the older economical car were designed around the idea of steel being stronger. Even so, the impact from the van crushed into the driver’s side of the car. Apple Bloom screamed as the car was forced into the ditch. K-Dust played on the radio, the sound of Boot Scootin’ Boogie flowed from the speakers. She tried to move, but upon her attempt she found that it hurt to do so. She looked toward the van, and she could see someone moving around. She tried to move again, and finally her hand found her purse. She lifted it, dug around in it, and found an old Nokia cell phone. The phone was a hand me down, something that Granny Smith had lying around in her kitchen, and Apple Bloom had taken it to a small cellphone company, reactivated it, and now she was using it. The phone rang a few times, and Apple bloom wondered if there would be an answer. After a few rings she heard a soft click, and she prayed that it wasn’t someone disconnecting. “911, which services do you require?” She breathed out a thankful sigh, “A van jest plowed inta my car. We’re north of town, near Canterlot High, the school’s greenhouses,” she said, “We need a firetruck and the ambulance.” “No problem, we will have emergency services sent out to your location as soon as possible.” She relaxed, glad to hear that they would have help. She considered closing her eyes, but instead she heard the sound of a siren. It was too soon for it to be the firetruck or the ambulance. Instead she saw what looked like a patrol officer’s car. “Everyone okay?” a voice asked. She looked to see Shining Armor, Twilight’s brother, standing outside of her car. “Ah’m kinda hurt,” she said, “Not sure ‘bout the other fella.” He nodded, “That’s fine, just relax. I’ll contact emergency services,” he said. She shook her head, “Ah already called 911. They said they’re sending a firetruck and an ambulance.” He nodded, “Okay, in that case I’m going to make sure that you don’t need to be moved yet.” A few seconds went by before she heard the passenger door open. “Apple Bloom, right?” he asked. She nodded, “Yeah.” He smiled, “Okay, I know it’s going to hurt, but we need to get you clear of this car, and we need to do it now.” She unbuckled her seatbelt, and she felt him help her move across the seat. She wanted to scream with each movement, but soon she was out of the car, near his patrol car, and the driver of the van was the same. She looked to see what was going on, and she realized that her fuel tank had ruptured under her car. A stream of gas had leaked all over, and it would just take a small spark to set it off. Within a few minutes the firetruck and ambulance arrived. She saw Snails as he set to covering the gas with something that was fire-retardant. He gave her a wave, and then from the ambulance Snips came over. He checked her, and the van driver. She took a look at the fella from the truck and she finally placed him. It looked like Rumble. He was still partly out of it, but at least he didn’t look too hurt. “Well, Apple Bloom it looks like you’ve got a broken ankle. I hate to do it, especially with what’s going on, but we need to get you to the hospital. We’re going to take Rumble in too. From the looks of it he’s got a concussion.” She nodded, felt herself, and then Rumble, loaded onto the ambulance. In a moment it was off, and she tried to relax as the ride took her to a place she had no intentions of going to. Once it arrived she was carted inside, and the doctor finished looking her over. Her ankle was put into a cast, and then she was told that she would be staying the night for observation. Twenty minutes later she got a call from Tender Taps. She smiled as he asked how she was, and she told him that the doctors just wanted to hold her for observation. It felt good to know that he was worried. Of course she didn’t doubt that he would be. As she relaxed into the bed, she realized that this was the start of summer break, and also that she had no reason to not buy a new car.
Oh BrotherLockdown - A series of Equestria Girls Short Stories Based on Nico-Stone Rupan’s Sour Sweet Stories Oh Brother A Fluttershy Story The animal clinic was busy. Being the owner, and oncall Veterinarian was something that Fluttershy felt great pride in. Although at the moment she felt mostly tired and ready to sleep. The Pandemic hadn't shown mercy to any of the pets, and there was a few that seemed have suffered some nasty infections. She was glad that there were a few other Vets willing to help, and some of them were in the clinic right now. She looked at the table she was sitting in, the floor above the clinic was her apartment. She heard a loud belch, and her eyes rolled. "What's shaking Flutters?" She glanced toward the sound and saw her brother, wearing a pair of boxers and a very familar shirt. "Zephyr, is that my spaghitti string top?" He looked at it, "Huh, guess it is. Sorry, and hey, thanks for letting me crash here through this." She sighed, "It's fine. I'm glad that you're not sick. Have you talked to Mom and Dad in the last couple of days?" He shrugged, "Nope, sorry. I've been talking to my boss,” he replied, “He said that the store isn’t going to be opening any time soon.” Fluttershy sighed, “I suppose that makes sense,” she studied him, “Zephyr, since you’re staying here why don’t you get dressed? I mean really dressed.” He shrugged, “Naw, it’s all good sis,” he smiled, “It’s kinda like having a bunch of days off!” She rolled her eyes, “I suppose,” she looked around, “Not that I mind you being here, but why aren’t you staying with your girlfriend?” He laughed, “Yeah, about that,” he grinned, “You know Lighting got kinda mad at me. I mean it wasn’t even my fault, but she got really upset, and I had to take a hard pass on that.” Fluttershy groaned, “What did you do?” He looked at her, “Sis, I didn’t do anything. Well… Maybe not anything. Okay, so we were doing something, using the backstage, you know, and then I might sort of maybe called her Rainbows.” The facepalm was epic, “Seriously?”
