Scattered Tales - App Stories from Ponyville Ciderfest

by Trinary

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: A New Generation, Dinky Hooves, Adventure, Opaline, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 2932

Two short stories from the Ponyville Ciderfest storytelling event.

For the Ponyville Ciderfest 2023 Storyteller theme, attendees found code words hidden around the convention. These codes gave them access to short stories with multiple choice endings that decided which faction (Hero, Villain, Chaos) would gain one of the scattered pages from the Book of All Stories.

Submitted are the two in-app stories that I wrote. What choices would you have made, if presented with these options?

Published 2023-11-22 23:10:01 UTC
Last updated 2023-11-22 23:10:01 UTC

#Adinkable - The Daring Dinky Doo and the Mystery of the Blank Page

Dinky Doo hopped around the Ponyville mail office, humming to herself. She was in a good mood because was the luckiest filly in the world. She knew she was because she had the best mommy in the world! Her mommy was Ditzy Doo and she had the SUPER important job of delivering the mail! Sometimes Dinky would help her, which was what she was doing today!

Miss Pinkie had invitations go to ALL the ponies in Ponyville for her super-big party to celebrate … something. Dinky forgot what it was cuz Miss Pinkie kinda had a lot of parties. But they were a lot of fun and she always remembered to make Dinky a SUPER special treat just for her!

So Dinky was helping out by putting invitations in ALL the mailboxes. There were lots and lots of them, that’s why mommy needed her help! She reached into the bag to pull out another invitation, but this time she got a funny piece of paper. It looked like somepony pulled it out of one of Miss Cheerilee’s history books, the real old boring books. She stuck out her tongue. She should do something to make it more fun!

Deciding to take a little break (mommy said break time was important, though mommy broke things ALL the time, even when she wasn’t s’posed to!) Dinky pulled out her crayons and turned the page over, doodling on the back. History would be much better if they had more muffins in it.

Just as soon as she finished writing about it, she spotted a muffin sitting on a chair! It was banana-nut too, her favorite! Just like the one she wrote about! “Whoaaaa!” She gasped, looking at the paper again. She decided to try an ex-spear-a-mint, like Miss Twilight would, and wrote about something else! This was about a super-cute otter she saw when she visited Miss Fluttershy. She called him Skipper and he was SUPER snuggly otter!

The second she was done, there he was! “Skipper!” Dinky squealed as the silly otter squeaky-barked, slipping and sliding around the room like a big fuzzy noodle. As soon as he saw her, he scampered over and began hopping up and down. “I’m happy t’see ya too!” She hugged him close as she realized what this meant. “Whoaaaaa!” she said again, looking at the page. “Miss Cheerilee said reading was like magic, but I dun think this is what she meant!”

Then she got really excited. “I can do all kinds of really cool stuff with this page! What do you think, Skipper?” Skipper squealed, his tiny paws rubbing at his head. “I’mma take that as a ‘yes.’”

What could she do? She thought about it and had a whole bunch of ideas! Some of them were really nice things she could do for other ponies, but some were SUPER silly and that was fun too. “Hmm, I can’t decide! Skipper, help!” She held out her right hoof. “Should I do nice stuff?” She held out her left hoof. “Or silly stuff? You choose!”

Skipper sat up, sniffing at Dinky’s hooves.

[CHOICE] What should Skipper have Dinky do with the Page?

Do nice things for Ponyville. (Hero)

Do silly things around Ponyville. (Chaos)

[ENDING A: HERO]

The otter booped Dinky’s right hoof. “You picked nice stuff! Okay, I’m gonna do that!” Dinky grabbed the page. “Come on Skipper, let’s help mommy first!” She began scribbling on the page, with Skipper doing the extra important job of curling up on her back and keeping her cozy.

She wrote that mommy’s boss came in and gave her a BIG raise because she worked so hard. Oh! And Princess Luna should come too and give her a medal for being such a good worker! She beamed, barely able to hold back a giggle as she poked her head out to see it all happen! Mommy looked confused, but really really happy!

As much as she wanted to stay and give mommy a hug, she had lots of other ponies she could too! She raced outside and saw one of her favorite ponies, Rainbow Dash! She was so cool and had a really pretty mane! She gasped as she got a new idea! She wrote that Rainbow Dash got an extra pair of wings so she could go even faster than fast!

Dinky felt really good about helping ponies. It was like she was a superhero! “That’s it Skipper!” A quick doodle on the page later and Dinky was transformed! A cool one, not a stinky one with a dumb name like Mare-Do-Whatever. She had a uniform the same yellow color as her mane and covered in katydids! And a cape. Cuz capes are cool! She was … the Fantastic Katydid! “Oh, and you’re my sidekick, uh…” she thought hard about it. “Captain Skipper!”

Skipper squealed his agreement. “Glad you like it, come on!” She galloped down the street, righting every wrong with a flick of her crayon! “We got ponies to help!”

Pipsqueak’s kite was stuck on a roof? “Oh noes! Fantastic Katydid to the rescue!” She wrote that she could jump really really high and then she did! She picked the kite off the roof and hopped back down. “Tada! The FantasticKatydid has returned your kite, citizen!”

“Why’re you talking like that, Dinky?” Pip turned his head.

“No Dinky here! I’m the Fantastic Katydid, ya silly cootie-colt!” She stuck out her tongue and giggled. “Nopony can know a superheroes secret indemnity! So ya can’t know who I am, duh!”

“Uh okay...” Dinky recognized that tone: it meant she had won, and Pip was unable to counter her super-smart argument! “What’re you gonna do now?”

“I’m gonna help foals everywhere and…and punish bad ponies in the name of…stuff!” She nodded. That sounded right. “Oh and get Captain Skipper some fishies cuz even though they smell GROSS he really likes ‘em.”

Skipper thumped his tail and rubbed his head against her cheek, which meant he agreed.

Pipsqueak rubbed his neck. “Well, uh, good luck Di–I mean, Fantastic Katydid!”

“You bet!” Dinky hopped away, Skipper in tow as she sang her new hero theme song!

(+1 Page for Heroes)

[ENDING B: CHAOS]

The otter sniffed at Dinky’s left hoof. “You wanna do something silly? A’kay!”

Dinky thought about the last time something super-silly happened and got an idea. She raced outside and wrote that it was raining–but instead of boring old rain, instead it would rain down muffins! Special muffins that wouldn’t get dirty or fall apart when they hit the ground. Everypony should have muffins! Like when Mister Discord made it rain chocolate milk that one time, but without all the other stuff that made it kinda bad.

Dinky giggled as ponies looked up in confusion, wondering why muffins were falling. Mommy’s friend Doctor Whooves pointed his special beeping stick at one and took a bite. “Hmm, not pears. Good!”

Scampering off, Dinky looked for other things to make better. There was Sugarcube Corner! She always thought it’d be funny if it actually tasted as good as it looked, so one quick scribble later, and it was made of sugarcubes, gingerbread, and frosting! While she was at it, Carousel Boutique began to spin around like an actual carousel! She thought she heard Miss Rarity yelling, but she was always yelling about something.

She saw Miss Cheerilee carrying heavy bags. Probably full of homework or something. “Bleugh. Gotta fix that!”She wrote that school was out forever (or forEVERRRRR, as Miss Pinkie would say when she poked her head out of her toybox)! Miss Cheerilee deserved a break, and so did her friends from school!

She watched as Miss Cheerilee dropped her bags in the street and started doing cartwheels. “Guess what my little ponies?! We’re all on permanent vacation forever! No more homework or tests ever again!” All the foals on the street who saw and heard this gasped and broke into cheers.

Dinky beamed. “That’s better for everypony! This must be how Princess Celestia and Princess Luna feel!” She paused, gasping in shock. “Skipper! I can do it too!” She grabbed the page and and with a shaky hoof, wrote the most important words she’d ever written (well, second most, after ‘I love you mommy!’).

A crown appeared on her head and wings appeared on her back. “I did it!” She squeed, trotting around in a circle trying to get a better look at them. “I’m an alicorn and a PRINCESS!”

Skipper hopped up and down in excitement, chittering the whole while. She fluttered her wings, lifting off. “WHOA! Oh wow Skippy! Now I can go flying with mommy and Rainbow Dash and all the pegasuses! Maybe Miss Twilight will make me her ‘prentice and we can do, um, whatever that means!” Picking him up in her hooves, Dinky wrote some more in the margins of the page. Soon she had a super big chair like the princesses did!

She giggled and climbed up onto it. “Hugs for the Hug princess! Muffins for the muffin throne!”

(+1 Page for Chaos)

#Hammy - Opaline’s Veterinary Army

Opaline Arcana the Fire Alicorn stood atop her tower as she undertook her daily morning ritual: practicing her cackling. A ruler without a good cackle was no ruler at all, in her book.

“MWAHAHAHA!” She threw her head back, letting her laughter ring out over the sound of crackling lightning and booming thunder. “Hrmm, could use a little more panache,” she mused. She took another deep breath to launch into a new bout of maniacal laughter.

“MUWAHA—ACK!” A stray piece of paper had the audacity to blow itself into her regal face! She practically choked on it. “Ugh! Really, litter? In my lair?!” She fumed as she pulled the offending paper off her. “What is Equestria coming to? Have ponies forgotten all sense of civic obligation? I’ll have to tend to that once I’m in charge…as for you!” she glared balefully at the paper. “I shall make such an example of you that even inanimate trash will know better than to profane the face of Opaline Ar—” her rant died before she could even complete her own name, her eyes racing as she truly looked over the paper in her hooves.

One side was jagged, as if it had been ripped from a book. There was writing on it as well, but that was less significant than the feel of the paper. It radiated with power. Power beyond anything she’d ever felt before. “It cannot be!”

“Umm, Opaline?” A shy voice called out from behind her. “Is everything okay?”

“Misty!” Opaline whirled on her. “What have I told you about interrupting me while I’m cackling?!”

Shrinking down, Misty winced. “You said not to—unless you wanted me to. A-and you never really explained how I would know if you wanted me to before I did it…”

Opaline rolled her eyes. “Really, Misty must I spell out everything for you?”

“No, I’m actually pretty good at spelling,” Misty took a half step backwards. “Sorry for interrupting you, I just wanted to let you know I was going into Maritime Bay to, uh, do evil things and there’s this pony here and I wanted—” she trailed off, coughing. “Um, did you want me to throw that out for you? Is that why you’re holding that paper?”

Opaline let out an appalled whinny, as if Misty had suggested throwing out her own child. “Throw it away? Never! Foolish filly, you don’t simply throw out a page from the Book of All Stories! Even you should know better than that!”

Misty tilted her head. “The book of what?”

“The Book of All Stories, honestly Misty, what are they teaching you?” Opaline asked incredulously.

“Um, but, you home schooled me…” Misty softly reminded her. “A-anyway, there’s a pony here and she–”

“And stop mumbling! Hoofness knows I can’t understand you when you mumble.” Opaline paused, then made one of her numerous disgusted looks. “Did I seriously just say ‘hoofness’? Ugh! I swear this generation…” Shaking her head, the fire alicorn remembered what sparked her tangent in the first place. “But with the Book, I won’t have to worry about this generation’s insipid language—or anything else! I can change it! I can change everything! I–I scarcely know where to even begin!”

Just as Opaline was about to begin her villainous plot to subdue all of Equestria, a raccoonicorn scampered onto the table, nibbling on some snacks Opaline had been saving. “Ugh, seriously?” She glowered, grabbing the page and writing on it. “That’s it, I’ve had enough with these vermin! I want them all gone!”

She flew to the nearest window and watched in satisfaction as raccoonicorns, bunnycorns, pegabunnies, pegasnails, and pegamice streamed out of the lair. She was momentarily put off by just how many there were. “Hmm, note to self: make sure to leave less food out.” She shuddered. “And have Misty sweep the basements more frequently.”

Watching the pests assemble she had an idea. A terrible, awful, wonderful idea! “I’ll turn these vermin into an army for me and unleash them upon Maretime Bay!”

“Excuse you?” a soft but stern voice interrupted. “You did not just call those cute fluffy little creatures the v-word!”

“What?” Opaline turned around and gaped at who she saw standing with Misty, a canary-yellow pegasus with long flowing pink hair. “Fluttershy?! Impossible!”

Misty ducked her head. “Um, I was trying to tell you…”

“Not now Misty!” Opaline glowered.

“You should be nicer to her, and to those adorable little creatures. They can do a lot of good if you give them the chance!” Fluttershy insisted. “You were upset about ponies not picking up after themselves? You can let them help you!”

Opaline thought about it…

[CHOICE] What should Opaline do with her critter horde?

Terrorize and subjugate Maretime Bay. (Villain)

Pick up trash. (Chaos)

[ENDING A: VILLAIN]

…for all of two seconds. “You’re kidding, right? Civic responsibilities can be drilled into ponies once they bow before my fire alicorn power and become my subjects!” She gleefully scrawled her instructions on the page from the book, laughing villainously. “Go my pest-hoard of doom! Fly my–well, I won’t say pretties, but you get the idea. Invade Maretime Bay!”

Fluttershy frowned as the critters scampered and flew to Maretime Bay. “You’re being very terrible. It’s not right to treat poor little animals like servants.” She crossed her hooves. “You also shouldn’t be trying to subjugate ponies either.”

Opaline held up a wing, making sure she couldn’t see Fluttershy’s expression. “None of that! I know your little staring trick and it won’t help you! Behold my evil army!” It was hard to behold them with her wing covering her face, but she was able to peek out and watch them through her magic mirror.

Pegasnails, pegabunnies, and pegamice swooped down from the air, squeaking and gnawing at ponies’ manes, forcing them to flee in a panic. Raccoonicorns and bunnycorns roved the streets, scratching at hooves and clawing at doors.

(+1 Page for Villains)

[ENDING B: CHAOS]

…and sighed. “Oh fine. I suppose it wouldn’t be an appropriately worthy triumph if I seized power thanks to a bunch of ver–critters,” she corrected herself after a glare from Fluttershy. “I might as well show those foolish ponies how to properly address civic issues.” She issued her orders to the assembled creatures. “Go into town and clean up all the trash you see. You may feel free to throw it at anypony you see littering.”

Fluttershy looked as if she was about to protest that, but ultimately didn’t. With her magic, Opaline conjured images from Maretime Bay as the horde rampaged through. With adorable squeaky battle cries, they picked up loose bits of trash and recyclables and put them in their appropriate containers.

Opaline threw her hooves up wide and cackled. “Mwahahah! Yes! Yeeees! Sort those glasses and plastics! Show ponies how my rule will make Equestria the cleanest it’s ever been! And–oh for hoofness sake, that’s styrofoam! Who still even uses that anymore? No, don’t answer me just throw it away! Or give it to that one unicorn who likes recycling things.” She frowned as a racconicorn chittered something at her. “What did it say?”

“He said that her name is Izzy and she doesn’t recycle, she unicycles. I’m not sure how riding something with only one wheel helps and–oh.” Fluttershy listened a bit more and nodded. “Yes, I get it now. It’s very clever.”

Opaline rolled her eyes. “No, it really isn’t. It–wait, what was that?” She pointed to an earth pony with a canary yellow coat and long pink mane. Her name might be Posey or something like that. Opaline looked at her, then back at Fluttershy, and back to Posey again. It was uncanny.

Fluttershy looked as well, and was just as confused. “I–suppose she could be a relative?”

Before Opaline could say anything, Posey shrieked as a raccoonicorn ran across her path. “Eww, gross! Ugh, that nasty rodent better not have any diseases!”

“Yes, clearly she has your kind and pleasant disposition,” Opaline deadpanned.

Posey tossed an empty smoothie at a garbage can and missed. Just like that, a dozen critters’ heads shot up and all turned to her in sync.

“Well,” Opaline drawled. “This should be good…”

“I feel like I should say something…” Fluttershy mused as the critters began to pelt a fleeing, screaming Posey with globs of trash. “But…”

“Indeed.” Opaline shrugged.

(+1 Page for Chaos)