Drabbles in Equestria

Package

With a startling thump, Twilight deposited a box roughly twice the size of Spike at the dragon's feet. Judging by her smiling, expectant face, Spike had a decent idea of what Twilight wanted from him. The only problem was, he doubted he could complete the task. So, rather than look like an idiot and fail, he ignored the box and went back to dusting the shelves, hoping Twilight would move on.

She didn't. She just smiled wider and said, "Spike, I need you to send this to Princess Celestia."

"I don't know, Twilight." He frowned at the box. "I've never sent anything this big before."

"I know, but all the books say you should be able to do it by now." She nudged it forward with a hoof. "Give it a try, Spike. What's the worst that could happen?"

"I mess up," he said nervously. He gulped. "I'm gonna mess it up."

Twilight smiled her most reassuring smile. "Then I'll just send it in the mail! Don't worry, Spike, I'm sure you can do it. Just give it a try!"

Spike groaned internally, wanting nothing more than to run away. Still, he took a deep breath, feeling heat build deep in the pit of his stomach. He held it there for a while, letting it grow much bigger than he ever needed for one of Twilight's letters, then let it out in a rush, his green fire enveloping the package. Almost immediately, smoke began to rise from them quickly burning tower of fire, leaving Twilight to give a small shriek of horror as she raced to get water.

Spike raced behind her, moaning as he went, "I told you I'd mess it up!"

Pie

"Hey, Pinkie," Apple Bloom asked, licking her frosting covered lips. "Do ya think y'could make an apple pie better than Granny's? Sweetie Belle says y'can, but I don't think-"

"That's not what I said!" the white filly squealed. "I only said that Pinkie's desserts were so good she could make a pie as good as Granny Smith's!"

"No one can make a pie as good as Granny's!"

Pinkie laughed and stood between the two, who had begun to glare and growl at one another. "Come on, girls, you don't need to fight over something so silly! I could never make a pie as good as Granny Smith's. I don't even bake pies, usually. Cakes are much more fun. You get to taste the batter and the frosting - frosting's much better than pie filling - and you get carve the cake into-"

"Pinkie!" the two shouted.

"The point is," Pinkie said, becoming very serious for a moment. "I'd rather be a Cake than a Pie."

"Don'tchya mean have a cake, Pinkie?"

She smiled.

Stall

"Um, excuse me," Fluttershy whispered, stepping in front of Rainbow Dash. "You can't go in here yet?"

"Applejack sent me a note," Rainbow Dash said. "It says I'm supposed to meet here at the barn at exactly three, and it's exactly three."

Fluttershy smiled softly. "Sorry, but we're not ready yet. I'm stalling you."

"You're what?" she asked, tilting her head confusedly.

"I'm stalling you. You see, we planned a party but it's not ready yet. Would you mind coming back later, if it's not too much trouble?"

The blue pegasus stared a while longer, then shrugged with a casual, "Cool, later," and walked away.

Curly

"Darling, you simply must tell me how you got that curl in your hair," Rarity said, fondling Pinkie Pie's mane with her hoof. "I've never seen anything like it, and the hairspray you use must be incredible, your hair is as silky smooth as my own!"

The pink pony giggled, shaking her head. "Silly! My hair just gets all poofy when I'm happy! And since I'm always happy, it just stays poofed!"

"Hair doesn't change based on your mood, dear," Rarity said, patiently wondering if this pony was a few needles short of a sewing kit. "Though having hair so curly must be such a bother to straighten. And when you go to the salon, my goodness! You must pay a fortune to get it styled."

"I don't know anything you're saying," she said cheerfully, "but my hair does change based on my mood. Watch, I'll think of something really sad like...oh! What if I threw a party and nobody came?" Her mane and tail flattened in an instant, only to poof back up a second later when she giggled, "I'd just throw a party later, of course"

Rarity spent her afternoon in front of a mirror, attempting to make her hair curl simply by smiling, before writing off the whole event as a ridiculous, silly misunderstanding.

Alike

Rainbow Dash had never been like the other ponies. Aside from the fact that she was (at least) eighty percent cooler than the average pegasus, she had often had problems fitting in. The girl pegasi always wanted to have tea parties and dress up and were barely interested in flight school. The boy pegasi always made fun of her for being a girl - and even when she had reached the point where she could fly circles around them, they still teased her and wouldn't let her sit at their lunch table.

Once she started flying better than most of the ponies in her class, they moved her into the advanced group. That was where the griffins were. They started out mean, scoffing at the pony who dared join them, but things quickly got better. A griffin named Gilda liked her sense of humor and gave her tips on how to fly, and soon enough Rainbow was topping the advanced class as well. The griffins respected her because she could fly, because she could prank, because she cared about being awesome and cool.

Sometimes, Rainbow Dash thought she should have been born a griffin.

Protest

"Princess?" Twilight asked, nervously glancing at the guards on either side of her. "What's going on outside? I've never seen so many angry ponies in one place! And they're holding signs and yelling. Has something gone wrong?"

"It seems Discord had left us a small bit of chaos." The princess gave a strained smile, then nodded to her guards. The two walked out of the Great Hall, and Twilight could hear ponies screaming Celestia's name before the doors swung closed.

"I don't understand," she said, ears flat against her head. "Did we not seal Discord properly?"

"Oh, no," she said comfortingly. "You've done a wonderful job. There was a number of accidents in Equestria thanks to Discord, and I have to raise taxes this year. It's only for a decade at most." She looked sadly out the windows. "No one likes it, and least of all the ponies of Canterlot. They always yell when I do this. Usually, they calm themselves after a week or two."

Twilight pressed her mentor, "And if they don't? What happens then?"

Celestia looked out the window, expressionless. "I will do as I have always done. I will protect my kingdom."

Attached

"You can't keep him forever, Twilight," Celestia cautioned. The filly seemed to pay her no heed, simply gawking at the baby dragon. "He'll stay small enough to live with you for a while but the day will come when he grows too large, and his instincts too strong, and you will part ways."

"I know, Princess," Twilight whispered, unable to tear her eyes away from the snoring dragon.

Celestia smiled. "I would warn you not to get attached, my little pony, but it seems my warning comes too late."

Free

We lived.

Formless.

Thoughtless.

Empty.

But we lived.

Occasionally, ponies came.

They say the rhyme.

They give us form

thought

fullness.

We have lives then.

We live them as best we can.

Until we are sent back

back into the nothing.

Where we become something

just more

than nothing.

We live.

Dialect

Apple Bloom raced, sobbing, into Applejack's side after her first day of school. The older pony calmly rested her head on the filly's back in a huge and soothed, "There, there, sugarcube? What could be so wrong my brave little sis is cryin'?"

"They. Said. Ah. Talk. Fun. Ny," she hiccoughed in-between sobs. She took a shuddering breath, calming herself enough to speak. "Some fillies were sayin' th-that ah t-talk like ah'm stupid."

Applejack nuzzled her little sister, tugging her closer. "Y'just gotta...gotta deal with those kinds of people as they come. Some folks will do anything to make others feel bad, and that means makin' fun of somethin' as silly as how someone talks."

She swallowed nervously and looked at her big sister. "I bucked one of 'em in the face and the teacher gave me a note for ya t'sign."

Applejack sighed and went to fetch a pencil.

Planetary

Twilight occasionally dabbled in astronomy. Having only ready twenty-six books on the subject, she certainly couldn't be considered an expert. She could name quite a few constellations, though, and several stars within them, and, like everypony could, she could name the three other planets that revolved around Equestria's planet.

There was Hunteria, a large gas planet that floated lazily through the galaxy, swirling blue and green and purple, and so beautiful Twilight had spent more than one night simply gazing at it through her telescope. Then there was Dressagen, a tiny planet her telescope was too weak to see, and she had only glanced using the telescope at the Equestrian Royal Planetarium, which had been quite the experience.

The third planet, Radeon, was much different. It was nearly the same size as the planet Twilight stood on now, and covered with blue water. It wasn't green, but maybe...just maybe, there was something alive in those turbulent oceans. Maybe something sentient, maybe something sapient, that was just too far behind them to send or receive their messages. Such thoughts almost made Twilight wish she more than just dabbled in astronomy.