It was a day like no other in Ponyville. The birds sang, the bees buzzed, and the giant board building landed right in the middle of the town. A large sign adorns the building with the large letters "B. O. B." Several ponies walk past the structure, looking up at it in sheer terror. The door to the building opens, revealing a large earth pony with a cutie mark of a chiseled block of stone on their flank. He cackles in delight.

"Already, our plan is in motion! We shall deny this world of all of its creativity!" he shouts loudly, his eyes mad with glee.

No, you can't do that. We need creativity so we can be happy!

The earth pony glances right up at the author and grins widely. "I don't think you have much choice, author. You will come down with the worst case of WRITER'S BLOCK you have ever seen!"

But I can't have writer's block, I already know how this story ends!

"Do you? Do you, really? I don't think you do," Writer's Block replies.

But I–

—

It was an average sunny day in Maretime Bay. The ponies flocked to the Boardwalk, laughing merrily as they rode the rides, had cotton candy, and even played sports with each other. Out of nowhere, another large board building appears at the end of the pier. Hitch Trailblazer and his friends rushed to the Pier and glared up at it.

"What do we do, Sheriff?" Zipp Storm says as she lands next to him.

"I don't know, Zipp. This doesn't look good at all," Hitch says. "Does anypony know what this thing is?"

I do.

"Wait... who said that?" Pipp says. "We all just heard that, right?"

"I know, it's the author of the story!" Izzy says excitedly. "Hi, author friend!" She bounces up and down, waving at the sky.

"Izzy, who are you waving to? The author of what story?" Pipp says, her face looking very confused.

Hurry, you all need to help before he arrives!

"Too late, dearest author! Didn't you hear, G5 is over!" Writer's Block calls out from the board office. "Your time is neigh!"

Did you just make a horse pun? That's not–

—

It's time for Ciderfest 2024! All the ponies are getting their badges and getting ready for the biggest game of Buckball the convention has ever seen. The teams are the Wondercolts versus the Crystal Preppers, and the Wondercolts are up a game. At the head of it all is the emcee with the most talent of all time, Taylor B! This pony is decked out in the colors of his favorite pony, Starlight Glimmer, and on the sidelines is his best friend, the referee known as Red Card.

"Alright folks, we got ourselves a game here. The Wondercolts are up by one to the Crystal Preppers, but that Sour Sweet; she is one heck of a player so she may push the Crystal Preppers to victory!" Taylor says into the microphone in front of him. "You all sound like you're having a great time out there, so if our teams are ready... let's play Buckball!"

Suddenly, the door to the Buckball area bursts in and a familiar pony enters. "A SPORTS FIC?! And a self-referencing meta-level one at that! No, we can't have that one, not at all. NEXT!" he shouts.

But I—

—

The world of Exandria. A place of beauty, and wonder, and the home of a young tiefling woman named Jester Lavorre. One day, while journeying alongside her friends known as the Mighty Nein, Jester enters a cave and is instantly transported through a magical portal. Upon waking, she finds herself surrounded by several pastel equines.

"Oh, I must have hit my head really good there," she said in her very thick accent as she rubbed her temples. "Am I dreaming? Wait, are you a unicorn?"

"Uh, hi," one of the pastel equines, a purple one with wings and a horn, says. "My name's Princess Twilight Sparkle, and we found you out in the forest. Are you okay? You seemed like you hit your head."

"Oh. MY. TRAVELER! You are soooo cute! I can't believe it! All of my dreams have come true. I‘d been wishing to meet some real unicorns and now I'm here!" Jester says excitedly. "The only unicorns I've ever seen are the ones I make with my magic! But wait... how do I get home?"

Writer's Block enters the picture, scowling at the author. "Really? This is what you had to throw at me? I don't even know what this is!"

It's supposed to be a crossover! You know, a character from a different world ends up in Equestria? I hear they're quite popular.

"It's a poor attempt to beat me, author, and you know it. The lowest-hanging fruit! It proves that you'll never win—and you'll never be a great writer!" Writer's Block says, cackling with delight. "It's fine for you to be FINISHED!"

No wait, I can–

—

Wait. It's just me. I'm all alone now. There's nothing out there but the blackness of the void. Space. This is what he wanted. For me to be forgotten, cast aside. No one will remember me here. No one will remember any of our stories. They'll be dust in the wind, not even worth specks.

I wish there were a way that I could stop him, but he's too strong. I can't defeat him.

I must give up. I can't do it. I can't beat the inevitable. I tried… Everything failed.

"Silly author," a thick accent cuts through the blackness of the void. "You don't have to do it alone, you know. You have us!"

My gaze floats across the void. A blue tiefling woman stands there, flanked on one side by another familiar face. Izzy Moonbow beams as she glances up at Jester.

"Right! We're never alone, right new friend?" she says, smiling widely. "We work together to inspire others, to bring a little bit of creativity to all!"

This spark... this feeling. It grows inside of me. Behind Izzy, the rest of her friends appear. Pipp sings. Sunny's alicorn wings blare to life. On the other side of Jester, two more ponies materialize. It's Taylor and Red Card.

"You can do this, author!" Taylor calls out. "Let's beat this Writer's Block and afterward we'll have the best game of Buckball ever!"

"Yeah!" Red Card says, brandishing his referee flags. "I'm giving this Writer's Block a time-out!"

Behind them, the Ciderfest attendees slowly begin to appear as well. I can see Lucky Star, Note Worthy, and even Amber Evergreen and her herd. On each side of the three main groups, the rest of Ponyville appears out of thin air, replacing the void. Princess Twilight and her friends are ready and waiting for action.

You all came? For me?

"Of course we did," Princess Twilight says. "Friendship isn't easy, but there's no doubt it's worth fighting for!"

"Right!" Sunny Starscout shouts. "We're all with you, author! You got this!"

"Yeah, what the others said! I don't even know why I'm here, but this is pretty cool, and I kind of hope I'm here forever and..." Jester says, beginning to ramble a bit. "Well, like they said, you got this. The Traveler's blessings be upon you, my child."

I'm pretty sure I'm older than you, but okay. Well, if we're going to do this, we just need...

"HAHAHAHAHA!" a loud, brash voice shouts from the board building that has just appeared at the end of the street. Writer's Block steps out of the building. "You think that you can beat me! I'm going to end this story right here and right now, and there will never be any stories ever again!"

NO.

"What?" Writer's Block says, gasping. "What do you mean, no?"

I MEAN NO. No more. There will always be stories. We all have them, from our friends in G5 to G4, to even worlds beyond Equestria. We all have a story to share, and that spark, that feeling of inspiration will never disappear. We will always defeat you, because we will always be together, sharing our stories and continuing to be a part of each other's lives!

The spark will always remain, and you will never EVER wipe them clean from this place. Are you ready, everypony?

"Ready!" Izzy Moonbow shouts.

"Right here with you, author!" Taylor calls out.

"OH YEAH!" Bulk Biceps roars.

"But... but I... I WAS IN CONTROL!" Writer's Block fumes as the combined forces of the pony world descend upon the board office. "I WAS THE ONE IN CHARGE! You need to listen to me! NO MORE STORIES!"

Yeah, it doesn't work like that anymore. I have the final say now. And I say you're done.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!" Writer's Block shouts as he stomps back into the board room and it disappears from view.

The collective crowd of ponies (and Jester) cheer, stomp their hooves and look up at me expectantly. They're waiting with bated breath for what comes next. I smile.

Go now, I got this. Live your stories. Show others what you learned here today. Continue to share your light with those around you. And never forget to be a good friend!

THE END

Author's Note

This is a goofy little thing I wrote for the Ciderfest 2024 sub game, where the antagonists of the convention was the Board of Boredom (BaB) opposing Discord's fun and chaos. Stories were meant to give any spark to a faction (Writers, Cosplayers, Musicians, Artists, etc.)

It was a bit of a goofy fun back and forth, for sure.