“A thousand words!” Rainbow Dash cried as she scribbled on a piece of paper. She was sitting at a table just outside the cafe. After writing down a few words with a pencil, she began to examine her work. However, after reading the first sentence, she crumpled the piece of paper and threw it over her shoulder. “How am I supposed to write a story in a thousand words?!”
Twilight Sparkle had been walking by the café when she saw Rainbow Dash sitting at the table. Out of curiosity, she approached her friend. “Hi Rainbow Dash. What are you doing?”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes in frustration. “Ugh! I thought I’d try entering this writing contest I heard about. But all I’m getting is writer’s block!”
“Writing contest?” Twilight questioned. She was a little surprised Rainbow Dash would enter such a contest.
“Yeah! Daring Do is sponsoring a writing contest and I wanted to impress her. Plus there is a sweet bit offer to the winner,” Rainbow replied.
“Really?” Twilight said intrigued by the idea. She knew Rainbow Dash looked up to Daring Do and could understand her desire to impress her hero. “What are you planning to write about?”
“That’s the problem,” Rainbow replied, “I don’t know! Do I write a comedy! A horror! A drama! How do ponies write such short stories?! There’s just no room to make an epic adventure!”
Twilight looked past Rainbow Dash and saw the many crumpled pieces of paper littering the ground. Deciding to offer some assistance, she used her magic to unfurl the crumpled piece of paper in front of her and read it. “It was a dark and stormy night...?”
“That was my horror story,” Rainbow said.
Twilight picked up another paper and read it. “It was a bright and sunny day…?”
“That was my comedy one,” Rainbow answered.
“But, that’s all that’s written on these,” Twilight said.
“I know!” Rainbow replied, “It’s hard enough coming up with an idea! How am I supposed to write a thousand word story for the contest?! It’s impossible! I need room to expand my horizons!” Rainbow’s eyes then lit up the next second as she looked at Twilight. “I’m sure you can make a story with a thousand words!”
Twilight gave a small laugh at the request. “I think you are asking the wrong pony. Knowing me, my story would fall no shorter that one million words or more.”
Rainbow’s face slumped as she heard this. After taking a moment to consider who she was asking, she realized that Twilight was right. Everything Twilight wrote was long and drawn out. “Then what should I write about?”
Twilight could see that Rainbow was suffering from writer’s block. Even she had run into such instances many times in the past when she wrote reports to Celestia or made assignments for the university. Still she felt compelled to help Rainbow Dash come up with an idea. “Well, what about one of our adventures. I’m sure one of those could work.”
“Nah. Besides, everyone knows about them from reading that Friendship Journal we made,” Rainbow replied.
Twilight could not argue with that. Every adventure they went on was in that book. “Well, what do like to do?”
“Flying!” Rainbow Dash said happily. Her face then faulted. “But I tried that and it didn’t work. Most ponies know about all my greatest stunts.”
“Anything else?” Twilight asked.
“Chill-axing!” Rainbow replied, “But I don’t think ponies will like to read the about the best ways to rest.”
Twilight placed a hoof over her mouth to cover a small laugh. “No, they probably wouldn’t. Anything else?”
Rainbow Dash averted her eyes in thought as she scratched her chin,” after a few moments, her face slumped again in defeat. “No…”
Twilight gave her friend a sympathetic glance. “Cheer up. Maybe you just need time to think. I’m sure an idea will come.”
“But I can’t think of anything!” Rainbow Dash cried.
“Just write what you want right now. Don’t worry about the word count. Maybe you can make it a story you can relate to,” Twilight suggested.
Rainbow remained silent as she looked down at the blank piece of paper in front of her.
Twilight then levitated a pencil over to Rainbow Dash. “Just put your mind to it and you can accomplish anything.”
Rainbow took the pencil in her hoof and then looked to Twilight.
“I wish I could help you more, but I need to pick up Spike from Rarity’s. Talk with you later?”
“Yeah,” Rainbow replied solemnly.
Twilight left the next moment, leaving Rainbow Dash in open thought. She wanted to write about something she could relate to, but her mind was completely on winning the contest and impressing Daring Do. What could she right about?
It was then that a flash of inspiration struck her like a bolt of lightning. Quickly she took the pencil in hoof and began to scribble her ideas.
A few days later, Twilight Sparkle had decided to accompany Rainbow Dash to the announcement ceremony being held at the Canterlot library. As the announcer made his way on stage, a silent hush of anticipation washed over the crowd.
“And the winner of the contest is Rainbow Dash!” the announcer shouted.
The crowd of ponies cheered happily as they heard the announcement. In the audience, Rainbow Dash beamed with pride as she heard her name being called out.
“Wow, Rainbow Dash! You actually won!” Twilight said as she stood next to her.
“Of course!” Rainbow said as she stood with pride. “This was no contest!”
“But…What did you write about? I didn’t think you had any ideas after I left,” Twilight asked.
“I wrote about how you helped me write a story,” Rainbow Dash replied.
“What?” Twilight said in surprise.
“Yep! I figured the best way to win a writing contest is to write a story that tells the story about how I wrote a story!” Rainbow explained.
“Ugh!” Twilight shook her head in disbelief.
