Singular Entitiesby CynicalChaptersTreesPillsHeistTagWaterCauseConsequenceCloudsTourAlcoholMorningComplicatedMoltBirthdayQuillsImportanceNibblesWonderboltOwlWrestlingSpiralSkyfallSocksSeaSinsSpongeDesertNightmareDancersBitsThe End of the Day (Post S3)And Nopony Cried (Not Related to Previous)Powerful (Not Related to Previous)On a Sunny DayPackageAftermathStormMakeoverPicnicPrankNewNatureFallingRumourProtestZombiesLostUpdraft (Post-S3 short)TreesTrees… trees… there was something about trees that Rainbow Dash just hated. It wasn’t that they made for good napping points, no, she quite enjoyed that fact. Was it that Applejack seemed to always shake her out of them? No… not quite. While it was annoying, it was bearable. She groaned… Oh yeah… that was why, they always seemed to pop up whenever she was practicing stunts near the ground… Stupid trees. Groaning, Rainbow raised her head and looked around. Thankfully, she knew this tree pretty well. Maybe not to the point of Fluttershy’s ability to talk to the plants… but she had a pretty good passing acquaintanceship with this particular tree. There was the impact she’d made last week, oh, and if you looked closely enough, you could see the area where she first impacted it… somewhere inside the other areas she’d done the same thing. She got to her hooves, breathing heavily at the simple action. Folding her wings in caused her to wince, immediately extending them again and glancing down at the area which hurt the most. It looked like yet another cracked rib… thankfully it was none of the ones which were already cracked, but all the same… it looked like a trip to the hospital was going to be in order… again. It was then that the door in front of Rainbow opened suddenly, a silhouette could be made out against the crackling fire in the library. “Rainbow Dash? What are you doing awake at this hour?” the silhouette asked groggily, glancing towards the starry sky above. “Hey Twi…” Rainbow replied, “Nothing much… just practicing my stunts again…” she said, trying to hide the pained inhalations from the unicorn in front of her. She was cool, cool ponies didn’t show pain, they were protected by the power of awesome or something… Not that it mattered, Twilight stepped forwards towards Rainbow, “Are you ok Rainbow?” she asked, concerned at her friend’s well-being. “Yeah… I’m fine.” Came her answer, pained gasp and all. “Hmm… well assuming that you’ve been practicing some of your more dangerous stunts again, added with the light available, that would mean that you were only able to see the library at the last moment, so you were practicing something involving sharp turns… again meaning that you crashed into the library with a lot of momentum behind you. And if we look at where you crashed… that looks like…” the studious unicorn paused, then gasped. “Dash… have you cracked your ribs again?” Rainbow closed her mouth, long-since accepting the somewhat unbelievable conclusions that the unicorn could draw from practically nothing. She nodded her head automatically, causing the unicorn in front of her to sigh. “Come on then, I can help you this time. I finally took the liberty of studying how to heal broken bones after the last ten times you’ve managed this.” Twilight turned, going into the doorway and waiting on the other side, giving Dash an expectant look. Rainbow sighed, following her in and whispering to her as she passed, “Thanks Twilight” as the door shut behind her. Author's Note Slightly less obvious TwiDash is slightly less obvious. Still, I cut down the words and kept it as an actual mini-fic, not that it couldn't be continued further... I just chose not to. Written in 25 minutes. PillsRainbow Dash groaned, wincing as she stretched her wing and she felt her under-used muscles protest against her. It was yet another pitfall of her frequent visits to the hospital and even more crashes. All of a sudden, she heard a small click from her wing and the pain flooded in moments later, causing her to grit her teeth and hiss loudly, trying to hop away from the pain somehow. “Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow,” she hissed under her breath, trying to manoeuvre her frantic hopping towards the bathroom and associated medicine cabinet. Closing her eyes against the pain, she somehow managed to find her way onto the tiled floor of the bathroom. She grimaced in triumph before turning around and managing to whap her head against the cabinet. “Ow…” she groaned, attempting to raise a hoof up to massage her sore head before another bolt of pain shot through her side and she quickly lowered it. A single eye cracked itself open and began its search for the cabinet in the blindingly bright white room. She stepped forwards and nosed open the culprit of her banging head, trying to focus on the brightly coloured bottles inside. The colours blurred and span, making reading the labels impossible, so she simply reached inside the cabinet as far as she could and brought her head back. The bottles span in the air before clattering to the floor and smashing themselves open, spilling their contents all across the bathroom floor. A loud ‘bang’ echoed up through the house, resonating in her eardrums and making her wince, sinking down to the floor and groaning loudly as somepony shouted into the house, making her ears ring. She groaned in reply, covering her ears and eyes with her hooves and simply laying her stomach flat against the pill-ridden floor. Everything hurt so much… The muffled cry of a pony reached through her defences and set her ears humming again. Some force surrounded her hooves and tried to pry them away from her eyes and ears but she resisted, shaking her head side-to-side pitifully as her assailant tried to play her like a puppet only to stop a moment later. She felt the force disappear from around her forehooves and move around her midriff, lifting her up into the air and around the house. She groaned pitifully as another bolt rocked its way through her. After some time, she was placed carefully onto something which felt very much like a mattress and someone scurried off seconds later. She tentatively opened her eyes and thanked Luna that the pony had thought to turn the lights off in the room. The dim moonlight shone through the curtains, too slight to cause her harm, and revealing her surroundings. She was interrupted from her musings when the sound of the pony climbing the stairs two at a time reached her ears which no-longer hummed. Twilight Sparkle burst through the door, shutting it behind her and pausing. Rainbow thought that she could just make out the outline of a glass suspended in mid-air. Twilight approached Rainbow, smiling benevolently at her and proffering the glass and two small pills. Rainbow immediately swallowed the pills dry, only pausing to take a gulp of the water when she felt the pair catch against her dry throat. “I thought I told you to stay laid down.” Twilight accused, still smiling as Rainbow bit her lip. Twilight chuckled, “Try to get some sleep Rainbow, that’s the best medicine for you at the moment.” Author's Note I Aitn't Dead! HeistThe midnight burglar crept through the house, leaving no hoofprints in her wake. She’d slipped the window and made her way across the front room, climbed the stairs and navigated the landing, now all that was left was the dragons’ lair itself, literally. Twilight Sparkle’s bedroom. The burglar twisted the handle and opened the door, the well-oiled hinges staying silent as the thief slipped through, closing the door to behind her. The burglar allowed herself a sigh of relief before looking around the room for her prize. Was it a collection of quills, all lined up against one another in size order? Nope. Was it the dragon, curled up with a fat ruby in his claw? Fat chance. Or was it what the purple unicorn herself was clutching to her chest in her sleep? Bingo. Now all she had to do… was get it. Nothing that hard, right? The thief looked around the room for something, running her eyes over every little detail in the room, looking for something to help her. Aha, that would do it. The thief crept up alongside the bed, being careful of the squeaky floor and the sleeping unicorn within, and proceeded to pick up the object on the bedside table, grunting slightly at the weight. Another moment later, the thief had balanced the object on one hoof, already planning out the next stage in the theft. She made her way around the bed, coming to the side which Twilight faced with the treasure within her hooves. The thief sighed again. Surely this part would be as simple as they made it out in the adventure books dotted around this very library? Just a simple switcharoo? Or something… Well, thinking about it wasn’t going to get the thief anywhere, so after another calculating stare, the thief got to work, slowly sliding the tome within her hooves, into the unsuspecting embrace of the unicorn below. And the book that the unicorn had held, closer and closer to the thief’s own reach. Closer… Closer… Nearly there… And yes! The thief’s face broke into a smile at her achievement, clutching her treasure to her chest tightly before stowing the treasure on her back and making her way out the silent room again. Unbeknownst to the thief, the unicorn in the room smiled to herself. “Completely predictable Dash.” Author's Note Continuation is now optimal. Premise is that Rainbow saw a book while she was getting her ribs fixed. TagThere was an enormous crash as the window gave way, spreading millions of tiny fragments into the building along with Rainbow Dash, out of control as she plummeted into the library along with most of the window. Then she stopped in mid-air, surrounded by a purple aura as she was lowered gently towards the glittering ground. As she drew nearer, the glass directly beneath her started rolling away, fleeing from her as she landed on the floor of the library before stopping, surrounding her in a circle. Twilight Sparkle sighed, closing the book in front of her and turning around to face the disturbance in what had been a very engrossing book. “Afternoon Rainbow, third time today right?” she asked, an almost bored-like tone to her voice as she surveyed the damage. Rainbow herself looked fine, slightly dizzy but fine nonetheless, then there was the window. The Same window, now resting in pieces on the floor with Rainbow in the middle, looking around sheepishly. “Um… sorry?” Rainbow offered, her smile hopeful. Twilight sighed, she couldn’t stay mad at her really… well she could, but that wasn’t going to repair the window. “Fine… I suppose there’s no use in me saying not to do it again?” Rainbow shook her head, her smile transformed into a grin. “None at all.” She vocalised. Twilight snorted, a small smile barely hidden as she gathered her magic and focussed on the floor in front of her. All around Rainbow, the glass which had laid still moments before started rising. Then one by one, they all started rolling into collections in mid-air. Rainbow stopped paying attention. She’d seen it twice already today, first she’d gather the glass, then she’d melt it, then she’d press it back into the hole where the window had once been and hey presto, new window. Not really that interesting. “Anyway, Twi?” “Yes Rainbow?” Twilight replied, still focussing on the clouds of glass Rainbow knew to be just above her head. “Guess what I found?” she asked in a sing-song voice, subconsciously pressing her wing to her side to make sure the package was still there. “Hmm?” Twilight enquired, looking over at her friend as the cloud of glass started spinning, glowing a light red. Rainbow leant her head into the crook of her wing and brought forth a book, the cover depicting a neon star inside a circle with the words ‘The Restaurant at the End of the Universe’ raised up from the book and Twilight knew that on the bottom of the cover somewhere, the author would read ‘Douglas Adams’. Twilight’s eyes widened and she dove at Rainbow, all but snatching the book from her with her hooves, running one down the cover reverently, “But this looks like the first edition, Rainbow, where did you find this?” she asked, amazed. Rainbow smiled at Twilight, “Found it in one of those antique bookshops you’re always telling us about, you like it then?” Twilight nodded emphatically, “I love it, but how much did you have to pay for this? It must have cost you a hoof and a leg.” Rainbow’s smile faltered slightly before reinstating itself, Twilight was right, it had been an amazingly large sum to get that one book, but the smile on Twilight’s face made it worth it, “Don’t worry about it, like I said, it’s a gift.” A moment later the scent of coconut filled her nostrils as Twilight engulfed her in a hug. Rainbow awkwardly tried to return it, patting Twilight on the back until she drew away. “Thanks Rainbow” Twilight said, smiling widely at her friend, “I’ll get straight to it after I finish fixing the win… dow.” Rainbow followed Twilights gaze to the ceiling at the glob of molten glass that had attached itself there when Twilight had ran forwards to claim the book. Her work done, Rainbow turned around and flapped her wings once or twice, “Well nice seeing you again Twilight, sorry about the window… again.” She said before giving her wings a mighty flap and zooming towards the still-empty window pane. Or at least she would have been zooming towards it if Twilight hadn’t caught her tail within her magic and yanked her down again. “You think I’m going to let you go so you can inevitably smash my window again?” Twilight asked incredulously, out of Rainbows field of view. “You might have done?” Rainbow said hopefully. She heard Twilight chuckle and saw a few boards start floating over to the missing window, already boarding it up. “No, my windows are safer while you’re here, come on, let’s read that book.” Author's Note Find the interpretation of 'Tag' :) Water“Why did I agree to this again?” “Because you were guilty about crashing into my lab equipment for the third time today, now hold still, you’re scaring the fish.” Twilight Sparkle stood at the edge of the lake, a notepad and pen held within her magic as she looked towards the centre. More specifically, she looked towards where a rope had been suspended by the aid of a tree, and to the Pegasus that was dipping her hooves into the middle of the lake, holding onto the rope to stop herself from sinking. Silence reigned for a few more minutes, with Twilight taking the occasional note here and there. But Rainbow Dash’s patience was wearing thin… “Why am I doing this Twilight?” she asked, exasperation heavy in her voice. “Hmm?” came the reply, “Oh, it’s because I’ve read this book on the amazing marine diversity in the Ponyville lake and I needed somepony to attract them all to one place.” Rainbow Dash shifted nervously, gripping the rope slightly tighter than before, “Umm… what species are we talking about here?” she asked, scanning the lake intently now to look for anything out of the ordinary. “Oh you know, the usual… cod, haddock, carp, mini-sharks.” Rainbow felt a cold shiver echo down her spine at the last name, “You did just say… sharks right?” she asked, looking over at Twilight with a worried expression. Twilight met it with an enthusiastic smile, “Yeah, really tricky to research though, you have to use a live pony as bait to conduct any useful evidence.” Not two seconds later, there was a whoosh, a splash, and a shuddering pony on the river bank, scanning the water with paranoia as her companion cracked up, laughing hysterically while Rainbow regained her bearings. Rainbow looked around for another moment, realising that she’d been had. She stalked over to Twilight and prodded her with a hoof as she lay snorting on the ground. “Not cool Twi.” “Not cool.” Author's Note Not cool indeed. Anyway, this is why I don't write comedy often... it usually becomes very slapstick and not really all that good in my opinion. CauseThe Everfree surrounded her. She’d sought comfort in the hidden crevices that belonged to the castle in the centre of the forest, she’d wanted to hide from the events not an hour or two earlier. She wanted to forget, for things to go back to how they used to be… when things were simple. That didn’t look like it was going to happen though; her thoughts were already whirling around in her head, bringing the events of the last day back to her with frightening clarity. Sugarcube Corner, she’d gone there to meet with her friends, to find out how they’d been doing over the past few weeks and to make a confession. It wasn’t an easy confession to make for her, she’d waited patiently at the bakery until they were all there with her. Applejack and her Stetson, tilted back on her head. Fluttershy, sitting quietly on one of the chairs and smiling meekly. Pinkie Pie, buzzing in place slightly. Rainbow Dash, laid back in her own chair as she waited for the next thing to happen, And Rarity, elegant as always, in a deep blue silken dress. They’d all sat patiently as Twilight had started to explain something she’d come to realise over numerous years, something she’d accepted a long time ago and something that she hoped would not remain as a sticking point between her friends. That silence afterwards had been one of the tensest in her life as she waited with baited breath for their reaction. She got the reaction… Just not the one she wanted. The silence had reigned supreme for a little while longer, then Rarity had spoken up. “Excuse me if I misheard dear, but did my ears deceive me or did you just admit that you were sexually inclined towards mares?” “She just said that she was gay if that’s what yer were askin’.” Applejack drawled, throwing Twilight a look of revulsion. She shrank away slightly. Pinkie was still sat there, a thoughtful hoof against her face, but the evidence already there was damning enough. Applejack, and now Rarity were staring at her with expressions of disgust while Rainbow Dash was looking at Twilight with her jaw wide open. Desperately, Twilight swung her gaze towards Fluttershy who had remained silent throughout, and was struck numb by what she saw. The same disgusted glare emanated from the usually easy-going pegasus, not quite a Stare, but a glare from Fluttershy was damning enough. She took another look at the ponies in the room, then fled. Turning around and running from Sugarcube Corner, escaping from Ponyville and losing the judgemental gazes of the ponies she’d known as friends. That was how she’d ended up here after her mad sprint through the Everfree, running past twisted branches and crooked roots, paying no heed to the battering her body took. That was why she now sat here, alone under the night sky, and likewise within the world. Until she heard a voice. “Twilight?” Author's Note Part one of 3 Might not be strictly true to my own headcanon, but it should provide enough of a reason why no-one else is within these mini-stories which are gaining increasing amounts of plot-ness... If that's a word. Consequence"Twilight?" "Are... you alright?" The unicorn was sat with her back to Rainbow Dash, the little that she could see of her close friend in the gloomy light was bruised and battered, her usually colourful appearance splotched with mud and blood. "I'm fine Dash... just fine." "You know that's not true." Twilight spun about on the floor, bringing Dash face to face with the scarred expression belonging to the unicorn. Her eyes were puffy and there were two trails on her face where the tears had cut their course through the mask of pain, there was a small cut above her left eye and her mane was cut haphazardly. "And what do you know about truth?" she spat at Rainbow, causing her to step back in surprise. “What do you know about truth? Your friends didn’t just completely abandon you again, you still have your life, your family… me?” Twilight let out a strangled sob, her glare softening as it lost focus. “What’s left for me?” Twilight slumped down onto the floor, her eyes tearing up once more as the gates were opened and Twilight started crying. Rainbow sat down next to her and hugged her unresponsive friend Author's Note Part 2 out of 3 of a mini bit thingy. Part 1 is named Cause, Part 3 is named Aftermath. CloudsThe sky was silent, the clouds so high above that they appeared as mere wisps from far down below on the ground. Twilight didn’t come out here very often anymore but it still served its purpose, it was still her last safe haven. The field around her was far away from Ponyville, along the other side of the Everfree. She sighed, lying back against the tree, hiding in the shade. It’d just be her luck for Rainbow Dash to see her like this; she was the only one who would even have a chance of finding this place. Twilight had made sure of that. If she looked into the sky, towards the Everfree forest, she could almost kid herself that she saw a small speck of cerulean against the sky, looping and twisting through the air without a care in the world. She let out another sigh, sending her gaze directly skywards to the clouds far, far above. She trusted Rainbow to know when to give her some space, but surely there was no better space than the sky? It was the odd times like this where she wished she’d been born with wings rather than magic. Flying away would have been so much easier. Author's Note It's nice to be alone. Every once in a while. TourThe cloud-house slowly appeared, coming closer and closer as a large hot air balloon rose to meet it. Its lone occupant was currently talking to her companion, flying by her own wings alongside it. “So remind me again why you never showed any of the girls around here?” The pegasus rubbed her head somewhat bashfully, pushing a lock of rainbow-coloured hair over her eyes in the process. “Well, you know I’ve always been eager for the attention?” she replied sheepishly. Twilight Sparkle nodded and Rainbow Dash continued, “Well, getting away from the world is nice too… I just like having a place which no-pony else really knows about if you get me.” Twilight nodded again as Rainbow started guiding the balloon forwards towards her house by a small rope hanging over the side, “I suppose so, so why are you showing me around then?” Twilight replied, a hoof around one of the supports as Rainbow propelled them onwards, closer and closer towards the house. Rainbow said something unintelligible around the rope in her mouth and sped up slightly, letting go of the rope when they were almost at the house, “I guess because, well, what with everything going on lately and that…” Twilight winced, “Well, I thought you might like to borrow a bit of haven too, I know the library isn’t exactly isolated.” Twilight smiled faintly at Rainbow, the events from a week ago still raw in her memory, “Thanks Rainbow… I don’t really know what to say.” She said, choking up slightly before taking a deep breath and hopping out the balloon onto the clouds below, cloud-walking spell already firmly in place. “So, are you going to give me the tour?” she asked, looking back at Rainbow, only now alighting on the cloud next to her. The effect was instantaneous, Rainbow smiled brightly at Twilight before taking her hoof and all-but dragging her to the door, pushing it open and bringing Twilight along for the ride as she sped into her house, the door slamming shut behind her as it rebounded off the wall. Author's Note Well... updates are slightly more infrequent than I'd like, probably something to do with the damn TwiDash chat thing in Skype... it's impossible to get anything done now, I tell ya. Too damn distracting. AlcoholTwilight Sparkle sat at the side of the room, the speakers around the bar blaring their loud noises around the packed establishment. In the middle of the room, there was a large dance floor, the lights above casting the mob of ponies below in shades of cyan, green and red. Twilight sighed, turning back towards the table and the drink that rested upon it, a tall glass with an electric-blue liquid within. She lifted it up within her magic and took a sip of the drink, grimacing at the sharp taste as the alcohol made its way down her throat. Funny thing that, she’d heard all about how alcohol was meant to skew your judgement, how you were meant to become more susceptible to other ponies dares and more likely to let go of your inhibitions… yet she still felt absolutely normal. No sudden urges to jump onto the table and start dancing. No epiphanies that the world was actually pretty damn sweet. And no reason to join the throng that was the dance floor in front of her. In any case, Rainbow Dash had done that almost immediately after downing one glass of her own cocktail, something that was probably substantially stronger than Twilight’s own glass of liquid fire. But that was nearly fifteen minutes ago, and Twilight had been unable to see neither hide nor hair of her companion since she’d left her alone. Not that she was really surprised, the lights made recognising anypony in the throng difficult… and that was without the throng itself. Still, Twilight thought back to why she was here in the first place… Dash had insisted that she come out for a little fun earlier today during one of their reading sessions, upon further enquiry, she’d suggested coming out with her tonight to this ‘really cool place’ and wasn’t really willing to take no for an answer. Looking around, she decided that hers and Dash’s ideas of ‘cool’ were very different. “Probably would have been better if she hadn’t disappeared into the crowd at the first opportunity.” She mumbled quietly to herself, taking another sip from her drink. “Not that she wants to waste her fun night sat next to a boring egghead.” The drink was drunk. She went to order another. She was so caught up in her own self-pity that she didn’t notice when a pony sat herself next to her at the bar. It was only when she heard the scratchy voice she knew so well, that she turned around sharply, looking for Rainbow Dash. She looked… drunk. She was slumped on her seat slightly, head bent slightly forwards with her mane plastered to her head. From the looks of things, she hadn’t noticed Twilight yet either. “Rainbow?” The pony next to me immediately perked up, her ears swivelling towards me, closely followed by her head, bringing her eyes around to meet my own. “Hey Twi’.” She replied, smiling at me while her head seemed to sway constantly. “Howw’re you?” she asked, her voice slurred from whatever liquid poison she’d been ingesting. “Well enough.” Twilight replied, sighing slightly, but somehow, Rainbow picked up on it, even from within her drunken stupor. “Something wrong, Twi?” She asked, voice still slurring slightly, but otherwise, she looked sober. Twilight sighed again, she was mindful of the fact that Dash took great care of her pride, and that she’d picked this venue out specifically for her, because she’d thought she’d find it fun… then again, she had asked her what was wrong. “It’s just that this really isn’t my idea of fun Rainbow, I know you picked it for me specially, but there’s just nothing here which captures my interest. Thanks.” Twilight said sincerely, looking at Rainbow, before glancing back at the bartender who’d just tapped her on the shoulder, signifying the arrival of her new drink. Twilight turned back to the bar, shifting her drink closer to her body as Rainbow replied. “I’m sure I can think of something which should capture your interest.” “Like what?” Twilight asked, willing to see if there was something she’d missed somehow. She turned back to Rainbow and was met by something pressing gently against her face, or more specifically, her mouth. Her eyes widened momentarily as she looked at the cerulean eyelids of the pony kissing her, tinted pink by the lights above, then they fluttered shut as she returned the kiss. She’d question this whole incident later, but for now, she let the alcohol and the pegasus take care of her mind and send her into ecstasy. Author's Note Boredom struck again, and I had this one mulling about my head for a little while anyway. Slightly longer than the others, and there's actually a plan somewhere for a direct continuation of this... should probably make that the next priority but there are oh-so-many potential prompts... I really do have too much time to spare with not enough self-motivation... Meh. Morning“Urr…” Came the groan from Rainbow Dash as she woke up into the cold light of the morning. Looking around, she recognised her surroundings, she’d certainly been here many times, and if she was honest with herself, she’d woken up here more than once after a late night reading. Thinking back, she couldn’t quite remember what she’d done this time… She could remember inviting Twilight out to go to a ‘proper’ party at some nightclub or other, hell, she could even remember taking Twilight to the place. Everything after the open door though… was a blank. She sighed, sitting up on the library’s sofa and placing her pounding head in her hooves. Best case scenario, she’d remember everything any time now and how she’d managed to wake up here. Worst case? Well… hopefully she’d not broken anything expensive this time. She was startled from her reverie by a thump from upstairs, then more thumps at Twilight Sparkle came into view, yawning as she made her way down the stairs. “Hey Twi.” She said, causing Twilight to look up and smile at Rainbow. “Morning Rainbow, sleep well?” she asked, before making her way into the kitchen to prepare some breakfast. “Yeah… about that. I think I’ve got the mother of all hangovers, plus I can’t actually remember what happened last night.” There was a silence from in the kitchen before Twilight replied, “Nothing?” The pegasus sighed, “Nothing after I entered the club until I woke up here… speaking of which… why did I wake up here?” Twilight returned, carrying a mug of steaming liquid within her magic which she passed to Rainbow, “Umm… well after we entered… you got somewhat drunk and started dancing.” She started, Rainbow providing her with a rapt audience, “Then I think you probably drank some more…” Was it Rainbow’s imagination, or was Twilight blushing? “Then you sort of, well, passed out a few minutes after midnight. I picked you up and took you back here for the night… and that’s that.” She finished, her cheeks still slightly red. “That’s that? I didn’t break anything this time? I didn’t do something that I’m going to regret when I find out about it?” Rainbow asked desperately, taking a swig from her mug before giving Twilight her full attention again. “Didn’t seem like it at the time…” Twilight murmured quietly to herself before her blush increased tenfold and she forced a smile onto her face, starting to usher Dash out of the library. “Well, it was nice seeing you, brilliant party and thanks for the company. Anyway, I’ll talk to you later, ok?” Twilight said, almost pushing Dash out of the door before shutting it after her. Rainbow stood up and looked back at the library, “Wonder what that was about…” Author's Note This takes place the morning after Alcohol. ... Yeah, apparently if I don't write consistantly, I get slightly rusty. Enjoy. ComplicatedTwilight watched at Rainbow twisted and spun in the air, performing complex knots, spirals and rolls, the likes of which made Twilight’s stomach turn, even from down here. How Rainbow could even keep her lunch inside her, let alone know which way was up by the end of her routine, was beyond Twilight. Yet, there was a certain simplicity to her flight, everything was clean and smooth, not one unnecessary flap was taken and everything was upon her own wings. If Twilight was honest, she was slightly envious of Dash, able to soar without a care in the world in the simple sky. Maybe she’d work on that wing spell again, the one that she’d used on Rarity so long ago. She’d have to modify it extensively, the wings would need strengthening, they’d need substantiality, maybe she’d even change the wings themselves, to pegasi wings perhaps… Twilight wore a small smile as she thought through the spell, it would be complicated, maybe, but it would eventually allow her the simplicity of the sky. Author's Note The actual prompt was: Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis Therefore... Complicated. Molt“Rainbow Dash?” Someone was calling her… it was a voice she knew, yes, but she couldn’t quite remember where she’d heard it before. Maybe she’d realise who it was after another nap. “Rainbow, are you alright?” There was that voice again, trying to interrupt her nap further than it had already. She attempted to open her eyes, yet failed miserably… she’d get to it after her nap. But still… she felt like she should really recognise that voice. Meh, probably better to sleep on it. “Rainbow Dash!” The sudden change in volume startled her enough to raise her head groggily and look around sleepily, yawning, “Morning Twi’.” That was who the voice belonged to, her friend, Twilight Sparkle. She looked around as Twilight started saying things to her… probably something she wouldn’t understand. Speaking of things she wouldn’t understand… why was she currently sprawled on the floor of the library, one wing trapped under her, with Twilight standing over her… “What… happened?” she asked, her brain sluggish as she tried to ask the question, cutting Twilight off from her rambling. “That’s what I’ve been trying to ask you… you crashed in here a few minutes ago, at least, I assume you crashed… I was upstairs tending to Spike when I heard a crash and came down here to find you… what happened?” Rainbow groaned, her eyes shutting against the bright light of the sun, pouring in through the broken window above her. ‘What had happened?’ She’d been practising a new stunt, she could remember that much, she’d been experimenting with water and cloud properties, trying to keep a sphere of water held up within her own whirlwind. It’d needed 800 wingpower to lift Ponyville reservoir, so it followed that 16.5 wingpower would be enough to lift a smaller amount. Not that she’d ever admit to anyone she’d been using that physiky stuff for her flying… that sounded too much like an egghead’s thing to be doing. But… she could remember doing it, succeeding in lifting a sphere of water from a bucket, and holding it in mid-air. She’d not done anything overly amazing with it though… not yet anyway. Then what… she’d flown back to Ponyville from where she’d been practising, in high spirits and her ego soaring higher. And then… what? She’d planned on coming back to Ponyville, maybe flying over to Twilight’s and celebrating with her… she deserved that at least. Then she’d maybe finally pick up the courage to… Oh yeah, that was why she’d flown towards Twilights… “Are you ok Rainbow? You’re looking a little flushed…” Ah… Maybe it would be better to contemplate that when she was alone and when she hadn’t just mucked up a landing through Twilight Sparkle’s home, destroying her window in the process. She shot to her hooves, wincing as the wing beneath her flexed, a few feathers skewed out of place. Damn… she’d need to get rid of them later. “No, no, I’m fine, just… fine, yeah.” She said, emphasizing her point by nodding furiously, hoping to dissuade the curious unicorn from asking any more questions, her blush slowly rising as she realised just how badly she’d mucked this one up. “Well-it-was-nice-seeing-you, gotta-go, bye!” she said within the space of a breath, turning and preparing to take off, flapping her wings and hissing as the twisted feathers rotated uselessly. “Are you alright Rainbow?” Twilight asked, probably hearing Rainbows hushed hiss and spotting some of the more noticeable gaps within her wings. Screw letting the molting process take care of things, Rainbow leant her head into the damaged wing, yanking out a mouthful of feathers with a pained gasp, luckily for her, they were all concentrated in one spot, meaning she only had to do that once. It might mean that she’d have a hard time flying home… but she didn’t call herself Equestria’s greatest flier for nothing. Dumping the feathery bundle from her mouth onto the floor, she stretched both wings and flew out the smashed window above, trying to hide her burning face from Twilight as she fled towards her house. Leaving Twilight stood there, gazing after Rainbow with a worried expression on her face. Twilight sighed, she tried to be a pillar of support for her friends, but that only helped if they were willing to seek said support. She looked around, her horn lighting up as the shattered glass gathered itself into a pile, on the floor. Lifting it carefully, she moved it over to a box next to her lab station. She’d been meaning to experiment on the properties of glass anyway. Next to face the magic was the current absence of a window, it was still early noon but it was unlikely that she’d find time to go and order a replacement today, Spike had come down with the flu and she needed to take care of him. She sighed again; it looked like the wooden boards she’d bought after the last incident with Applejack, a tree and her window, would be used once again. Next there was the bundle of sky blue feathers on her floor, picking them up in her magic, she separated each of them from one another, until she held four feathers in the air. Three of them were bent with one of them having snapped at the base completely. The fourth though, was intact. Twilight placed the three broken feathers in a box next to the glass, twirling the fourth around in her magic carefully. She’d wanted to study pegasus feathers for a long time, sadly pegasi were notorious for hiding and secreting away all their feathers. But… here she had a perfect specimen, a feather, unbroken and fresh from a young pegasus… But she didn’t want to experiment on the feather… This feather was unique; a feather dropped from Rainbow Dash… how many ponies could say they had one of those? No. She’d keep this feather for herself, to facilitate her shameful secret. She never knew, maybe Rainbow would actually give her a feather one day. Author's Note 1000 words for a minific thing which was meant to be between 100 and 500 words? Screw limits. Anyway, could easily continue this if I chose... (Had half a mind to as well, but didn't). Anyway, have some vague TwiDash. BirthdayThe celebrations lasted most of the day, Pinkie Pie’s trademark exuberance in full flow as the party continued… and continued… and continued further into the night until the library was littered with discarded rubbish and a rather large number of bottles, the banner was still miraculously intact, albeit slightly worse for wear, and still sported the proclamation Happy 20th Birthday Twilight Sparkle!!! And now the only ponies remaining in the front room were Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Twilight, Pinkie Pie having left some time ago to track down a missing peanut. The state of the remaining friends was another matter though, Applejack was slouched back against the sofa, snoozing quietly while Rarity had abandoned all ladylike behaviour and had crashed on the floor, asleep to the world. Fluttershy was slightly better, she was awake at the very least, but her gaze was far from steady, the normally-quiet pegasus having tried one or two of the bottles littering the floor. That left Rainbow and Twilight, sitting behind the sofa, away from the unfocused gaze of the tipsy Fluttershy behind them. “So, what did you think of the party?” Rainbow asked, glancing towards Twilight, sat next to her with her head leant on Rainbow’s shoulder. “Hmm?” asked the groggy Birthday Mare, turning her head to look up at Rainbow, “I think so, yeah.” She replied, smiling up at her companion. “You still haven’t gotten my gift yet you know?” Rainbow said, smiling down at Twilight. “I literally can’t wait.” Twilight replied in a flat voice before breaking down into giggles a moment later, “What is it?” she asked when she regained control of her voice. Surprisingly, Rainbow stood up from beneath Twilight, “Come on.” She said, “I want to show you something.” And with that, she stooped to help bring Twilight to her hooves, then led the way to the nearest doorway and the cool night beyond. They stood beneath the starry sky, cleared as a special occasion for today, the moon hanging perfectly above them under the midnight skies. Twilight glanced to her guide with puzzlement, to which Rainbow simply smiled and replied, “You’ll see.” Once they were a bit away to the library, Rainbow turned, and said, “Hop on.” “Wait… you want me to hop on… you?” Twilight asked, somewhat mollified. Rainbow snorted, “No, I want you to hop on Pinkie obviously, come on, or do I have to carry you?” she asked, her smile belying her sarcastic tone. Twilight quirked her head slightly, taking a step back, “Now Rainbow…” she began, but even as she said so, she saw Dash’s grin as she replied, “Too late.” Dash lunged at Twilight enveloping her into a powerful embrace and shooting up into the sky, trailing the unicorn’s screams behind her. Eventually, Rainbow stopped, hovering and holding the shaking Twilight in her hooves, “We’re here.” She replied smugly, “You might want to put on that cloud walking spell.” Rainbow called down to Twilight as she drew level with a sparse cloud bank. Twilight’s horn flashed once before becoming inert once more, Rainbow took that as her cue to drop Twilight gently onto the cloud and alight next to her, carefully ignoring the withering glare Twilight was sending her way. “So, what do you think of the view?” she asked nonchalantly, watching Twilight’s expression out the corner of her eyes. Twilight sighed and lifted her eyes from Dash, looking around at their scenery. Silence. “Wow.” Author's Note Early Morning Prompt deployed. QuillsScritch-scritch-scritch The sound of a quill was the only sound in the library, save for the breathing of the mare behind it. The mare had drawn the blinds to the sun outside, the only light in the room being that of a small lamp next to her, sending a flickering yellow flame upwards. The mare wasn’t worried about her house catching fire, it had already been protected against such an eventuality several times before. And even if the worst came to the worst, her… friend would be able to find help sufficiently quickly. She was still her friend right? After this, after what she asked? Scritch-scritch-scritch Of course she was, she was just… a better friend than before, that was right wasn’t it? But that meant she was prioritising her friends, that wasn’t right, she was almost certainly sure about it… Scritch-scritch-scritch So what was it then? The mare still hoped that they were… friends, but why did her stomach lurch uncomfortably whenever she even thought of being… just friends. What was it that she’d called it before? Being her special somepony? That seemed more… fitting, but again, her mind rebelled. None of her friends were more special than the others, they were all equally brilliant in their own unique way. Scritch-scritch-scri- Her quill snapped. The mare let out an explosive sigh, her head sinking as she realised just how caught up she’d become in her thoughts again. A few moments later though, she felt a tap on her back. She turned around and saw her… friend, holding a cerulean feather in her smiling mouth. Twilight Sparkle smiled and took the feather from Rainbow Dash. Screw thinking, she really was special. Author's Note Another mini-prompt, this one is actually one that I gave myself. I liked the idea, so I created it. Wonder what the actual response will be... ImportanceWhere to start… that’s always the question, isn’t it? There are usually others – minor qualms and worries that need satisfying – but it always comes down to that one inevitability. There has to be a point, somewhere along the line, where someone looks up and asks it. I bet that’s what happened when someone decided to document the history of the world. The world is a big place; it has a lot of history and a bit of it would have happened at the same time. How do you start something so monumental and important? There’s never a right way; that’s for certain. There’s never a right way to write the number eight on a sheet of paper. There are wrong ones, yes, but there’s never an exact formula for the unmistakably correct way of writing it. You could start from an infinite number of locations; the top, the middle, the bottom, the side, the other side, between them. As long as you kept bisecting the line, you’d always find a new starting point that was neither wrong nor right, that part solely dependant on how you continued. They probably had that trouble with the maps of the world. Once you mark one line of one village, it’s there; you can’t lift the ink away from the paper anymore, you have to live with the choice and move the features of the land around that one line. It’s why the start is so important; why the end doesn’t have to matter so much. The end is just another stage in completion - The start is the stage itself. A plan is made up of two stages: the idea, and the implementation. They’re useless without each other. You need one to give vision and the other to lend substance to that idea. To have one without the other would be pointless. And where did all plans start? That was the question. The plan is important. The idea is flexible; drawing a circle is easy - flexible. The implementation is not. It’s where you pick one of a million- a billion- possibilities, and follow on from that as best as you can in theoretical terms alone. The execution was where you had to excel. That was where your plan was set in stone, where the start of your plan was put to the test along with all subsequent decisions. It’s always such a simple question; that’s the beauty of it. Where do you start? How do you know what possibility out of many is the right one. There are nearly 319 billion combinations of the first four moves in a standard chess game. All of those spring from twenty different ways to open the game. The start opens the way to new possibilities; it sets you on a path that you cannot change. There’s no way to tell which of those is the right – or the wrong – paths until you have followed them to the very end. I suppose one start is as good as any other though – and it’s certainly better than no start at all. I suppose this is my own; my own declaration of intent and my own promise of what I am doing. ‘Dear Princess Celestia…’ Author's Note There's something to be said about writing at this hour in the morning... I miss it quite a bit actually... It's generally more fun. Chess statistics taken from Here NibblesThe creature advanced slowly upon her prey, the pegasus in front of her, hopelessly ignorant of it as it continued to creep slowly towards her, its eyes fixed upon a point just above Rainbow Dash’s neck. Closer and closer it crept, its target now clear as the creature grew nearer and nearer. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash yawned, throwing her legs skywards as she stretched, leaning her head back to an encore of small cracking and creaking noises, causing the creature to freeze completely. The pegasus opened her sleepy eyes and looked straight at the creature. “Mor- Morning Twi’.” She said, yawning. The creature sighed, standing up. “Hey Dash.” The creature, now revealed to be Twilight Sparkle, looked at Rainbow, who’d rolled herself onto her front and had tilted her head, scrutinising her. “Say Twi’, why are you wearing my super-awesome Spy suit?” Twilight glanced at herself, the catsuit she’d borrowed from Dash still covering her frame. “Research purposes…” she offered lamely, hoping that her infamous sociability would deter any more questions. Her eyes flitted back to her previous target again, then back into the face of Dash as the other pony shrugged and closed her eyes again, resting her head on her hooves. “Well alright… just give it back when you’re done, mkay?” “Sure.” Twilight’s eyes moved back slowly, drawn to the point from earlier as her hooves started silently forwards again. She was almost there… She could do this… Her head was inches away… Then Dash twisted beneath her, two hooves enveloping her in a hug as Rainbow brought her head up and started… Nibbling on Twilights… ear? Her eyes widened for a moment, having expected her target to have been somewhat more… mouthy. Her eyes flicked over to Twilight, scanning her expression, which had become decidedly more relaxed as Dash continued to knead the ear between her teeth. She followed Twilights’… surprisingly static gaze towards her own ear. Rainbow let go of Twilights’ ear, chuckling softly. “Almost egghead… almost.” Author's Note Slightly odd one this was... The original idea was that Twilight's read up on a small pointer that nibbling a pony's ear is meant to relax somewhat... After that... It degenerated somewhat. WonderboltShe’d finally made it! The Wonderbolts, her lifelong dream was within her reach. Her dream had finally started coming to life when she’d received a summons to Spitfire’s office at the Wonderbolt training centre. She’d been going there for a year now and as far as she could see, she’d been going from strength to strength, her moves were the fastest, the most elegant, and after the first time, she’d hardly broken anything around the course… Much. When Spitfire invited her in with a smile, Rainbow had wondered what was going on, Spitfire NEVER smiled at a recruit whilst they were in her office, it was unheard of. It was when she’d sat Rainbow down and poured her a whiskey that she’d started to suspect something, and if that wasn’t enough, then the question came. “Why do you think you should be a Wonderbolt?” Even now, as she whispered the revered question, she couldn’t help but shiver in anticipation. But even then… She hadn’t answered until she’d thought things through, and even the answer she’d given was a simple one. ‘It’s my dream.’ That was when Spitfire had smiled widely at her, and passed her an envelope. An envelope with a lightning bolt seal on the back. She was graduating with full honours and a position within the Wonderbolts. And if that wasn’t enough, she’d told her marefriend, Twilight Sparkle about it, and she’d smiled wider than Spitfire had done, and hugged Rainbow tightly. All she'd told Rainbow between the happy cuddles, was this. “I’m happy for you.” Author's Note Made in 5 minutes... The ending changed 4 times while the setting remained constant... Try to guess where it is. Owl“Say Twi?” “Mmmm?” “Where does Owlicious go after he finishes up here?” Twilight paused in her eternal writing, turning towards Rainbow Dash, sat behind her and looking at her owl’s perch. “I’m… not sure really, I’ve never exactly followed him, I just assumed that he went into the forest somewhere to sleep or to hunt, why’d you ask?” “Just thinking…” Rainbow replied distractedly, still staring at the perch, the book in front of her long-forgotten. Twilight shrugged and turned back to her studies, dipping her quill into the inkpot again and resuming her scratchy writing. “Twi?” “Yes Rainbow?” “Fancy finding out?” Author's Note 1/2 parter. Wrestling“No.” “What did you say?” “I said no.” The ponies passing by the library shot a confused glance at the building as a pair of voices inside steadily rose. “For the last time Rainbow, I don’t care if you’re the best damn flier in the whole Universe, you’re still living under my roof and you have to follow my rules!” “And when I don’t want to have my live dictated to me by some obsessive unicorn with a tendency to blow up at the sight of one measly unwashed dish?” One of the voices inside let out an explosive sigh, trying to contain her simmering anger, “It’s not just the dishes Rainbow… it’s the complete lack of disorganisation for crying out loud. How are you supposed to live your life when you have no checklist or rules or anything to keep you in check? More importantly, how am I meant to keep track of my studies when you keep interrupting them incessantly?” A pause. “Rainbow… oh, sorry, I didn’t-“ “Is that all I am to you then? A distraction?” “Rainbow, I didn’t mean-“ “Sorry for distracting you then, I’ll just go and remove myself so you can get your ‘important’ work done shall I?” The venom in the voice was unmistakable. “Rainbow, I’m-“ “Save it, I’ll talk to you in the morning, maybe.” And with that, a prismatic-maned pegasus slammed open the door to the library and flew off into the night. Author's Note Interpreted to fighting. Thank you interpretation :) SpiralTo Twilight, it was the epiphany of all that was wrong in her life at the moment. The endless and monotonous line, closing inwards towards a foregone conclusion. Maybe… maybe she’d hoped for this too much? Maybe she’d meant what she’d said? It didn’t matter. She’d taken her temper out on Dash, and now she was paying the consequences. One wrong move, and her life had ground into a standstill, a singular point. All that she had to do now, was lift the pen from the paper. Except… no, she’d remembered what it felt like for her, for everyone you love to abandon you and leave you alone. She’d never wish that on anyone. Not even her worst enemy. No, she’d fix this before she closed the book. Even if it did become worse, she’d try to simply reinstate everything to before they started their relationship. As the best of friends. Who knew what could happen though? As she stared off into the distance, her quill, Rainbow Dash’s feather, re-traced the spiral she’d drawn on the paper. From a singular eventuality, into the horizon. Author's Note Another morning edition... Have fun. Skyfall‘This is the end’ The bar was strangely quiet, the only prevalent noise coming from the mare crooning softly upon the stage. The bar itself presided over a single mare, slouched over the counter as she watched her amber poison swirl about in its glass. The mare’s normally vibrant colours were dulled somewhat, cast into shade by the dim lighting. ‘Hold your breath and count to ten’ She kept one bleary eye on her glass, she wasn’t sure how many of them she’d had, all she knew was that it wasn’t enough; it would likely never be enough. ‘Feel the earth move and then’ Where had it all gone wrong? That was the question swimming around the drink, both in her head and in her glass. Sure… things might not have been perfect, but they’d been getting along, they’d been going steadily, they’d both made a point of working out their differences as much as they could. So why had things taken a turn for the worse? ‘Hear my heart burst again’ A small part of the mare’s brain, not yet tainted by the alcohol, spoke up. Things hadn’t been perfect, not by a long shot. They’d tried so much, too much; it had become detrimental to their relationship. No relationship was ever perfect, every relationship had its flaws, it was how the partners dealt with them that mattered. They shouldn’t have done what… what Twilight had done, stamping out every issue as if it was one of those ants which found their way underhoof most of the time. It should have been a concerted effort by the two of them to find a solution to each problem as they saw fit. ‘For this is the end’ And look where it’d got them instead. This wasn’t a healthy relationship; things would only get worse and worse as time progressed. There’d be more fights, more niggles, more disagreements, it would all end in apathy if it went on like this. She didn’t want that to happen. It didn’t seem right, they’d had awesome times together, the times when she’d wrap Twilight in a hug and lay her head across her neck, when Twilight would let out a soft chuckle and would ask where the real Rainbow Dash was. ‘I’ve drowned and dreamt this moment’ She didn’t want the relationship to end like that, with no regrets, if Twilight and her broke up, she wanted to remember the times they’d had together, she wanted to be able to look back on their memories and smile whimsically at them, she wanted a small path for her to recover their relationship. ‘So overdue I owe them’ In the end, it all boiled down to another ‘what-if’ scenario. What if she broke it off with Twilight now, after cleaning up the current mess that is, it’d be clean, there’d not be many hard feelings, it’d be like the last several months never happened, as if she and Twilight had never started dating. ‘Swept away and stolen’ Or what if she offered Twilight an ultimatum, to help her fix the relationship, to work through their problems together, to find solutions which worked for both of them, to let their relationship continue and to do her best to keep it functional. ‘Let the Skyfall’ Making her decision, she downed the whiskey in front of her and made her way towards the door and the dark night of Ponyville. Author's Note James Bond title music is too damn good to pass up a prompt on. Music is from: Here Socks“Stay… perfectly… still… and gotcha!” A flash of bright phosphorescent light lit up the library momentarily before it faded back into the dark gloom. Inside, the photographer was fiddling impatiently with the camera’s back, trying to pry it loose with the aid of tooth and hoof. After a minute of struggling, she finally managed it, letting forth a triumphant cry of “Aha!” She extracted the roll of film with patient care before placing the camera on the side and unrolling the film. Eventually she stopped about mid-way through the reel, coming to rest on a picture of a Unicorn with a grumpy face, shooting daggers at the camera. That wasn’t what the photographer cracked a smile at though, preferring to snicker quietly at the socks which crept up Twilight Sparkles legs as she sat there glaring at the camera with a disgruntled frown. Rainbow couldn’t help herself, she squee’d at the photographed pony and hugged the film tightly to her chest. She’d have to ask Twilight to develop it for her later. Another glance at the photo. Correction, she’d ask someone in town to develop it for her. She was disturbed from her reverie by the other voice in the room, from the subject of her photograph herself. “So how does it look Rainbow?” she asked, folding her forehooves and looking at her photographer, completely oblivious to the second squee rising in Rainbow’s throat. Instead of an answer, Rainbow settled with pouncing onto Twilight, hugging her tightly as she kissed her. She was going to receive some sort of payback for this… But it was so worth it. Author's Note Thank you Cedric Inuzuka for the prompt... Welp, there goes my previously unbroken record at not using memes like squee-ing and such... Any regrets anywhere? SeaShe sucked in a breath; she could do this. She’d done it before and she had no doubt that she’d do it again. She simply had to focus; to control herself and to control her emotions. It was the whole point of this exercise; to control her emotions. There was her calm, deep blue and chilly, just beneath the surface. It had been her friend for longer than any true pony she’d care to mention, her patience, partially hidden by her calm and glowing amber through the seas in her mind. The golden sun hovered above her; tired and wan. She paused to collect herself and dove deeper into her core and the seas of emotion in her mind. The water frothed and thrived as she threw herself into the tense waters of scarlet; all calm forgotten and lost. She steadied herself in the seas and focussed again, blocking out her own emotions and simply looking through the scarlet sea. Somewhere to the left of her there was a lime green reef of hunger, unnoticed until now. Deeper below her, a pale-blue light throbbed and ebbed. She swum down again, ignoring the angry orange of frustration next to her, lining the rocks like algae. Further and further down into the water she went, noticing the gradual change from red to white to pale blue. The water was warming up too, imperceptibly yet still there as she grew warmer along with the surrounding tide. There was a cave, just visible through the clear blue water, far below her. The water grew warmer and warmer as she continued towards it, ignoring the heat as best she could, grimacing as it stopped being warm and became hot instead. Ignoring her fur, starting to itch as the skin beneath it heated up, she swam into the cave of orange rock. The glow kept pulsing, coming from deeper inside and lighting up the frustrated walls and the green stalactites of fear. The cave twisted this way and that, pressing down on her as she explored further, the walls pressing in against her chest as she squirmed down jagged corridors of scalding water. Then she was out. She broke through into a cavern, leaving the water behind as she stood up in the heated opening. She was sweating already as she looked around in the hazy room. The orange rocks were dimmed, the icy blue light stronger than ever. There was a seed in the room and on the charred sand of an emotion she had no name for. It was no bigger than an apple, looking more like the stone from a peach. Even from the walls, she could feel its contents writhing, twisting and screaming from in its container. Despite that, she kept moving closer, letting the heat wash over her until she was stood over the glowing rock of icy blue. She regarded her anger curiously. Celestia had told her to try and siphon some of it off, telling her that it would only explode if left untapped. Looking at it for herself, she wondered how she hadn’t noticed it before; her anger, no matter how good she was, shouldn’t have been able to fit into something this small. Cautiously, she reached out a hoof, wondering how she’d go about it; she had no real idea beyond this point. Then again, this was her own mind, it shouldn’t matter what she did, only why she did it. Steeling herself, she lifted her hoof higher, holding it over the stone. Then, schooling her features, she stomped down onto the stone and let it shatter beneath her hoof. Twilight Sparkle gasped, opening her eyes as she felt an unbearable heat wash through her. The full force of her rage ran rampant through her body, unleashed by her mind. Her coat turned iridescent then white-hot, the skin beneath it doing likewise as her mane smoked into flames. Had she looked in a mirror, she would have seen her eyes, once violet, now the same icy blue as the stone in her mind. Twilight Sparkle growled as her anger grounded itself in her. It was time for revenge. Author's Note Colours were running through my mind. Along with about seven different songs. SinsRainbow Dash whistled a jaunty tune to herself, she’d not felt this happy in a long time. Everything was finally looking up, she had the job she’d dreamt of, the life she’d hoped for, and the mare she loved. There was nothing that could tarnish her good mood. Nothing, that is, until she saw the note tacked onto the door of the library by a small nail. She frowned, lifting the small note from the nail and holding it out in front of her. It was exactly the same as the other pieces of paper she’d found randomly dotted around Twilight’s library, the same five words: Debts outstanding: Twilight Sparkle’s soul And just like every other note she’d found, she scoffed and forgot about it a moment later, opening the door to the library and slipping inside, looking around quickly for a moment before sighing to herself, she knew exactly where Twilight would be. She’d already known where Twilight would be if she was honest, it was the one thing that did intrude on her good mood. A few weeks ago, Twilight had started having strange dreams, when Rainbow had asked about them, Twilight had clammed up tight. Rainbow had gritted her teeth and tried to get Twilight to share that, going so far as to pull out the old card of ‘working through their problems together…’ It hadn’t worked. She’d just shook her head silently and stayed that way until about Rainbow had called it quits. Like it or not, she couldn’t force her marefriend to tell her something against her will. Twilight had her own stubborn streak that was probably a few miles longer than Applejacks own for that matter. She had refused to budge and so Rainbow had just sighed and spoken quietly. “I’ll be here when you can trust me enough to tell me” Twilight hadn’t moved as Rainbow left the room, shaking her head slightly. She’d made a promise to herself that day, she wouldn’t try and press the secret, whatever it was, from Twilight, she’d do that herself in her own time and when she was good and ready. Which was why Twilights’ request two days ago had been completely out of left field, almost to the point of worrying Rainbow into breaking her promise. “I want you to promise me something Rainbow, no matter what, no matter when, I want you to protect me” Rainbow had smiled warmly at Twilight, held open her forelegs, and held Twilight tightly, letting that simple gesture say all the words she needed to. She’d been burning with curiosity inside, but she’d had a distraught Twilight within her hooves at that time, she’d had to prioritise. But it had set Rainbows’ nerves on edge, that cool exterior from earlier now paper thin as she was reminded of the abnormal occurrences that had been plaguing Twilight for the past week or so. So much so that Twilight had taken to permanently retiring to her study whenever the library was empty, hiding away from the world in her workroom lit by four candles with a large tome from the main library. Rainbow sighed and knocked gently on the study door. The library remained silent. Seeing an opportunity to try and get Twilight to lighten up, her face lit up with a pranksters smile and eyes gleamed for a moment. Careful to be as quiet as she could, she opened the study, expecting to see Twilight, asleep on the floor. She wasn’t. Her eyebrows creasing, Rainbow strode into the room, pranksters smile turning quickly into a worried frown as she looked around the small room. A slight breeze was flowing through, caused by the window, slightly ajar from its holding just above the desk. Rainbow walked over and shut it, brow still furrowed. She made sure the window was locked, then looked down at the desk. There was a note, hammered into the flat surface by a single nail. Rainbow read it, blinked, and read it again. A moment passed, then she tore out from the room, yelling for her marefriend at the top of her lungs. The paper fluttered gently in the backdraft of Rainbow’s hasty escape. Your debts have been paid Think on your sins Author's Note This is somewhat wayward The two notes were somewhat tricky to plan... they don't quite have that feeling of malevolence that I was looking for. SpongeThe land before her was peppered with craters and holes, and more holes filled each of them, creating huge pitfalls every few paces apart. Rainbow Dash smiled to herself as she looked over the barren waste of red rocks and burnt stone, what was it Twilight might have called it? Swiss cheese? She managed a quiet chuckle to herself before she cut it off and shook her head slightly. Here she was, on the path to Tartarus itself, and she was thinking about what Twilight would have said. Her smile faltered as the memories hit her again. She’d sworn never to let any beast of Tartarus touch her, and yet here she was, fighting past the gates of hell to rescue Twilight from beasts which should have never trapped her in the first place. Rainbow had vowed to herself to go after Twilight, to the very depths of the abyss if that was what it took, she had vowed to fix this wrong and give the beasts of Tartarus a damn good kick on the way past. She’d lost Twilight once before, she wasn’t going to let it happen again. Author's Note Never underestimate my abilities of interpretation. Thanks to Timeaus again for the prompt. DesertThe pony gasped as she entered the desert, stretching its black sand in front of her and in every other direction, the biting chill of the desert contrasting with the scorching heat of the crags before. On a whim, she turned around, finding no trace of the crags she’d travelled previously, only more of the cold and black desert. She spun about, looking for a feature, a hill or a valley, something to tell her where the hell she was. Then she remembered. This was death, this was the path that every pony took upon dying, the dark desert was watched by the bony spectre whom lets only the dead pass. She caught herself muttering a half-remembered prayer from long ago. She stilled her tongue and took a step forwards into the black desert. If memory served, the desert was immense, larger than the whole of the Earth and without water or sunlight. It was the promise of the bony spectre, ‘you will walk the desert, one way or another, but you will walk the desert.’ Rainbow Dash licked her lips with a dry tongue. Somewhere within the dark desert, Twilight was waiting for her, cold and alone in the blackness, just waiting for the bony spectre to claim her. And he would if Rainbow didn’t find her, she would die, alone and afraid inside the dark desert, and it would be Rainbow’s fault. She set off; her pace determined and confident as she started her search of the twilight desert. NightmareRainbow Dash laid next to Twilight, a foreleg wrapped around her as she tossed and turned in her sleep, grunting every now and then. She felt so… helpless. Give her a Dragon and she’d buck it in the face ten times over. If it threatened her friends, she’d beat it to a pulp to protect them. If it dared to threaten Twilight Sparkle, she’d damn well try to launch it to the moon. But she couldn’t help her now… Not in her dreams. They’d started a week or two ago. It really wasn’t surprising that Twilight could have bad dreams, if not worse than her friends. She’d been through hell and back once… literally, and Rainbow suspected that there was yet more she refused to share. They’d asked Princess Luna to help, yet she’d revealed that Twilight Sparkles dreams, and all elements of harmony, were no-longer under her domain. She’d have to fight them herself. But she didn’t have to sit next to Twilight every night before bed and coax her to her nightmares. She didn’t have to lay there next to her as she tossed and turned, mumbling at horrors Rainbow herself could only dream of. She didn’t have to feel the guilt every morning as Twilight woke and vowed not to sleep that night, even as she made plans to make her do so. Yet she could not be mad at the Princess for something which she could not do… no matter how hard she tried. She just had to wrap her hooves around her marefriend and hold her tight, protecting her against the unspeakable horrors of the night. Author's Note Two chapters made in less than an hour? Whoo :) Alright... I'm actually going to order them now, so the authors notes are no-longer going to make sense chronologically. DancersThe band played a slow tune as the dancers spun and twirled in slow circles and orbits, stepping in time with the slow beat and tune of the music. Two of the dancers, older than most of the others, made their own way across the floor, independent of the others as they swirled and twisted through the others. But when the singer started, crooning softly into the microphone, the pair stopped, dead centre of the dance floor as the other couples kept their orbits. I want to live life Never be cruel The couple started spinning, clockwise whilst the others rotated widdershins I want to live life And be good to you They span slowly, each of them simply leaning against the other as they turned I want to fly And never come down Both of them wore simple dresses, made for practicality more than style Live my life Have friends around Yet one dress was made to accommodate the wings of the Pegasus within, while the partner rested a slender horn against the other’s back We never change do we? No, no The band’s tune turned eerie as the dance floor acted as one, each partner dipping their other as the music played across the floor, each pair becoming whole as one We never learn do we? The pair in the centre brought themselves back together and closer, finishing in their hug once again So I want to live In a wooden house A pause as the eerie music wafted across the hall, then they started turning again, their directions reversed I want to live life Always be true Again, they settled back into the slow turn as the music flowed past them, the orbits of the dancers back in place I want to live life And be good to you The dim lighting was provided by the stage and a single candle-lit chandelier, high above. I want to fly And never come down It wasn’t much, but it was enough to show the milky-blue and lavender-grey coats of the two ponies dancing below, the sun amongst the planets. Live my life Have friends around No-pony noticed the details though; they were all watching their other partner. We never change do we? No, no Again, the eerie noise echoed throughout the hall. Again the partners dipped. We never learn do we? Again the partners lifted and again, the partners hugged. So I want to live In a wooden house Then they stopped, the partners simply rocking from side to side in time with the music And making more friends Would be easy One held out their hoof to the other and the other took it, a smile present on every face Oh and I don't have a soul to save As one, half the dancers started spinning, their hooves guided in circles by the rest Yes, and I sin every single day They span and span and span, until the centre of the system saw just black and blue, repeated in a blur We never change, do we? And as abruptly as it had begun, it stopped. We never learned to leave. And the dancers spun and twirled upon the dance floor. So, I want to live in a wooden house, Making more friends would be easy, I want to live where the sun comes out. Author's Note Not so much Out-and-Out TwiDash as what is implied. Also, this little idea came thanks to Timeaus and his song-prompt collection. We Never Change by Coldplay BitsIt was a house in the country. Far from the cities and the lights and the noise. The house belonged to two ponies, they’d bought it when they were young and lived there since. Within the house the timeline was laid out in odds and ends, bits and bobs. Upon the mantle in the main room, just above the fireplace, there rested a picture of the two of them, many years ago and some before that, the day of their wedding. As if that wasn’t enough happy memories for them, the rest of the shelf was crammed with pictures, all framed and kept smudge-free, all enchanted to repel dust. From left to right, there was the earliest, a picture of six mares, all smiling and laughing and having fun together, then four of the ponies disappeared from the rest. A picture, taken on the seaside by a passer-by, another on the highest peak of Canterlot Spires, one more of one, then the other. Their travels were scattered within the house, an antique pot from Eastern Equestria, a thank you present from the Zebras, but none of those could match the memorabilia, and they were dwarfed by the books, yet both were nothing against the albums and even they could never match the memories. The kitchen, the scorch mark where one of them had set the pan on fire, the bigger mark where the other had tried to put it out. The study, a writing desk of neat piles and ordered pots, with a quill of sky blue. The library where they had both unwound and the bedroom where they’d both been loved. Now finally the garden, their lasting possession, ‘Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash’ ‘Together Forever’ Author's Note Apologies for the absence of prompts. Mixture of burnout, being busy and probable procrastination... Take the damn story and go! The End of the Day (Post S3)"You are dismissed." The order rang out across the great hall. As one, the guards turned smartly, trotting out of the large double doors at the end of the hall before they swung shut. There was silence for a few moments, then the only pony left in the room shuddered and sighed. Princess Twilight Sparkle slumped back into her throne, gazing around herself at the tapestries and gentle lights of the twilight court. She wasn't sure what had been harder to get used to, the ponies calling her a princess, or the fact she was the sole ruler of the afternoon and twilight courts. Luna held the night court, Celestia held the dawn court, and she held the afternoon and the evening courts. It hardly seemed fair to her; why couldn’t Cadence take over the afternoon court? There were enough of them now so that the workload could be shared out evenly. Yet it was Twilight who found herself picking up the slack here, there and everywhere as Celestia and Luna were kept occupied elsewhere. It reminded her of when she’d been small and when she’d asked Celestia why she gave up so much of her time for the courts. “I make sacrifices for my ponies, Twilight,” she’d said, “I am the one who will do it because, if I don’t, who will?” She hadn’t replied that it was because she was the ruler of the land; she’d said that she was a pony, just like everyone else, and like everyone else, she had a job to do. She woke up every morning and went to work, then came home in the evening; just like a normal pony. There were some differences, sure; Celestia didn’t have to suffer the morning commute. Celestia never took a day off sick. Celestia had no-one to return home to at the end of the day. And now Twilight was expected to follow in her hoofsteps. She would dedicate herself to her- their ponies, and she would be a good ruler, a good listener, and a good friend to those in need. And she would have someone to return home to at the end of the day. She would be able to go home to someone who understood what she went through at work and she would be able to go home to someone who cared for her. She was a princess now, that was true enough, but that didn’t mean that she had to be lonely. How could she be lonely? She had several friends that would ensure her time spent here would not be in loneliness. Of course… they wouldn’t be able to be here all the time. That was why one of them never left though, wasn’t it? They stayed so that she would never be lonely; that she would always have someone to return home to at the end of the day. She stood up from her throne – custom-built by herself – and went through a small door behind the throne, closing and locking it behind her as she continued down the passageway. Just like normal ponies, she had her secrets now. She had the secret buried in plain sight of everyone. It had its own thrill – the joy of knowing something that no-one else knew; the pure, unadulterated pleasure of simple possession. Even if she was sure that no-one would mind anyway… She found herself in front of a staircase spiralling upwards. Stepping onto the enchanted stairs, she muttered the word “up,” and steadied herself as the staircase leapt into life, spiralling upwards towards the upper levels of the palace and towards her quarters. The secret wasn’t the passages and alcoves hidden about the castle. Nor was it how some of the paintings were fake. It wasn’t even that she’d quietly had Shining Armour re-tasked so that he was always there during the twilight court. The staircase stopped and she stepped out from behind a particularly ugly gargoyle, stepping into the hallway and moving towards her room in the ivory tower. She pushed open the doors to her house and stepped inside. “Yo, Twilight… I thought you said you were going to be back earlier tonight. Court ended a whole fifteen minutes ago.” “Sorry, Rainbow… I got distracted.” Author's Note This story isn't dead... It's just mostly so... And Nopony Cried (Not Related to Previous)And nopony cried On the day that pony died. They uttered no words. And nopony cried. Once she lived, since then has died. No tears did drip; drop. And nopony cried When Twilight Sparkle did lie Upon the marble. And nopony cried When the ice queen was felled. When ice found death; fire. Did nopony cry When she, the student, was tried? They wept no clear tears. Did nopony cry When the graves and tombs were dug? Soul returned to soil. Did nopony cry When the true word was returned? Unforgivable truth. Did nopony cry The day Twilight Sparkle left? Disappeared to die. Did somepony cry Once her mind turned stale and sour? Once judgement did flee. Did somepony cry When actions spoke louder words? And life was taken. Did somepony cry The day when madness arrived? Broken words, no thoughts. Did somepony cry When Twilight Sparkle took sick? No flu nor fever. And somepony cried When Twilight Sparkle did rest. Dead on a table. And somepony cried When everything had ended. Quiet nights, silent days. And somepony cried For a pony once she loved A pony once hers. And somepony cried On that bittersweet day; that Twilight Sparkle died. Author's Note This is what happens when I don't write for a while... Odd things appear. In this case, exceedingly odd... Obviously enough, this is a set of sixteen haikus detailing a single event. This was influenced by the Godfather, not by Nickelback, surprisingly enough... Powerful (Not Related to Previous)How do you go about describing power to someone? It’s amazing how many ponies aren’t satisfied with my description of ‘feeling powerful’. But, again, it’s not something you can really put into words. How do you describe the feeling of blood rushing through your veins, burning its way through your system as your senses are kicked into overdrive? How do you go about re-telling the experience of when the world seems to pause and wait for you to make your move? The simple answer seems to be that you just don’t tell them how it feels. It’s apparently a tried-and-true method of staying out of both the dungeons and the looney bin. Yet even that method doesn’t work sometimes. Have you ever had an experience that you simply couldn’t keep to yourself? Power can be a bit like that… It whispers to you, reminding you about that one moment of bliss that only you could achieve. It begs to be shared amongst others so that they may know of true power. But, again… if you tell them that you can crumble a rock to dust with mere thought, they start to doubt you. If you tell them that you can turn that dust to lava with a command, they start to avoid you. If you tell them that you can float that lava and use it as a weapon, they start to fear you. Someone once said that it was for those with great power to decide whether or not they wanted to use it. I think I can see what they meant now. Great power removes the choice of good and evil and changes it for another. It asks the user whether they choose to be feared or to not use magic at all. It’s very hard to not fear someone with great power, especially if you’re there, stood next to them as they lose control and turn everything in their way to smoke and ash. I’ve lost control once or twice in my life… Simple things… Every unicorn loses control at least once when their power is awakened. It’s a simple estimate as to how much power they can control at the time and can usually be controlled. Thankfully this is usually when the unicorn is still young, meaning that the magical fallout from an unstable unicorn is usually minimal. The worry generally comes when an older unicorn loses control… One of the first things a unicorn is taught is control. It’s accompanied by the grave warning that control must be kept at all times, else the unicorn is likely to endanger both themselves and anyone around them. The more powerful a unicorn is when they lose control, the more danger they put themselves in. But losing control of your power… is one of the most cathartic experiences in the universe. For every second you aren’t in control, you relax more and more, letting the built-up emotions inside of you loose onto the world. You learn to love the feeling of power coursing through your body; that wondrous feeling of being completely invincible and unbeatable. You become accustomed to knowing that you can truly do anything, and the sudden lack of that becomes a barrier. You start thinking that perhaps control is optional; that to loosen control is to improve yourself until you have no control yet your complete power. It’s the wrong theory, of course. Control is a method of stemming the flow of power through you. If you lose control for too long, you run out of magic to burn and you start burning up yourself for fuel. But… it’s still enticing, sometimes, to let go. To feel the blood heat up in my body, to feel my senses widen and my well of power open. Some would probably say that to enjoy the feeling of my mane crackling into flame, and to relish the sensation of the power sat behind my horn, is to invite fear unto myself. To them I say: “I don’t care.” Author's Note Ta da... I'll go away now... I'll see you in 2015 with the next meagre update to anything. On a Sunny DayShe’s behind me now; she has been for a while. She sounds so carefree- so… blithe and cheerful. That’s who she is though. She’s me on a happier day- a sunny day. She looks just like me too… I guess… That’s who she is. She’s me- part of me- another part of me- a happier part of me. My mind- our mind- is vast… it’s the expanse of the sky and the height of the world; infinite wonder in which we live. Myself and I. We live as owners of our own world. An unearthly tune starts up behind me; she’s playing some sort of instrument now… a shell of sorts. It sounds eerie- alien. I shiver to myself and look out into the world again. We’re moving across it; I don’t think I mentioned that. Me, myself, and I, we’re moving across a world of sky on our own ship- our own wings; an island with a windmill… turning slowly behind us in the windless sky. She pauses in her tune and I hear hoofsteps in the grass – moving towards me. “Yo, are we there yet?” The newcomer’s voice is sharp, slightly scratchy, and fast. It suits her… “There’s nothing stopping you from going there yourself…” I reply, not facing her as she starts to play another note on her shell. My voice is a burr; low and slow. She hears it though… I would bet that she does too. “Yeah… but there’s only so much you can do on this place… and it’s no fun without you or her with me.” “Then be patient,” I reply calmly. “You and me know that that’s her business… not mine.” “You and I,” I correct, still not looking around – I know it annoys her. “Then be fast – that’s you, right? Go and amuse yourself.” She huffs behind me as another note echoes from the shell. “Fine… be like that,” she mutters under her breath – it doesn’t matter… I can hear her anyway – before turning and stalking off. Wings unfurl somewhere in the background and she takes off, flying into the sky of our mind. The music hitches as she pauses. “You shouldn’t antagonise her,” she states. Of the three of us, her voice is the closest to normal that we have. She sounds almost normal… it’s a wonder why she’s the least normal of us. “I thought I was being fair,” I reply, a smile forming on my own face at my own hollow humour. “She’s just being who she is,” she says matter-of-factly, “It’s no wonder that she leaks through the most.” “And yet you don’t,” I say sadly. The pregnant pause says it all. A minute later, she starts playing the shell again, letting the music sail into the sky. She’s the smart one of us three. She’s the one who likes the arts – the one who gets lost in a novel, the one who can draft a piece of haunting music, the one who can sculpt anything she wishes. And she’s right… it’s no wonder that she bleeds into us so little when she is here. It’s a pity… considering. There’s me too… the one who steers; who looks for adventure and for something new to see. Be it creature, place, or face. Speed, Art, and Wonder. The three of us that make up her. Speed is the character of us… she is who we seem to be most often. The pony with the wind racing through our mane and the world in a blur below us. I am the explorer; courage if you like. The one who will never give up; never back down; never stop looking. I suppose I am Loyalty… some part of it anyway. And she – Art – is none of us. Hers is the mind that is seen once in a blue moon when a particular cover is opened or when a cloud is shaped in the midnight. Speed doesn’t really like Art… ‘what’s the point of something static that is only there to look at.’ She’s strangely sweet on her though, I’ve never really understood why… Art is the smarter of us three too. It’s her choice, I think… She’s probably smart enough to push her way into us… to make herself the predominant trait if you will. She doesn’t though – thank Dash – instead, she just sits in our mind and works… I think I like that about her… I wish Speed would slow down and let her shine… Author's Note See Melody for where I got the idea from. If there are still doubts by this point... these are the three traits of Dash. PackageRainbow Dash tapped her hoof against the desk in front of her and the pony across from her squirmed. He had learnt very quickly that she was not a very patient pony, yet there was nothing he could do. Yes, he’d acknowledged that the mail usually took three-to-five working days to arrive from Canterlot to Ponyville, and that yes, she’d placed her order exactly five working days ago. Sadly, she hadn’t been as pleased when he’d told her that the package was not – against all previous information – actually here yet. As a matter of fact, none of the packages due for arrival today were. They were still waiting for todays’ mail to arrive. “So…” Rainbow Dash said, breaking him from his reverie, “When do you usually get the mail?” “Around 9, usually,” he replied, glancing at the clock, which had apparently decided that the world could live without 9 AM for one day and was already making significant headway towards 10. “Maybe you could come back later?” he asked hopefully, well aware that she was driving a slight dent into his desk with her constant tapping. “Can’t do,” she said, shaking her head and continuing to tap – tap, tap, tap – against the desk. “Well, how about-“ – tap, tap, tap. He groaned through his teeth. “Listen,” he said, trying not to sound angry, “Could you please stop that incessant tapping?” Rainbow stopped tapping and gave him a dead stare. “How about this,” she replied, “I’ll stop tapping when the mail arrives.” He met her glare and winced as he heard the tapping start up again, this time to a tune he was unfamiliar with – if such a tune could exist anyway. He forced himself to breathe in and out as she continued tapping with no apparent rhythm or rhyme. There was a buzz that cut through the air and someone spoke over the intercom: “Mail’s here.” After another three minutes and twelve seconds, he’d rooted through all the mail bags in order to find that dratted mare’s one package. Now that it was in front of her, she smiled at him and left the post office, humming another unfamiliar tune to herself. Rainbow Dash glanced at the package on her back again and smiled to herself. “I wonder if Twilight’s awake yet…” Author's Note This is certainly one way to get back into writing... It seems that the Twidash Prompt thread is active again. I must do my duty as current holder of the 'most prompts completed' accolade :P AftermathRainbow held her there as Twilight wept, it was all that she could do, but she still felt helpless to stop Twilight from feeling this way. It was a while before Rainbow realised that she’d stopped crying. “Why did you follow me Rainbow?” Came a small voice from within her hooves. Rainbow looked down to see Twilight’s tear-streaked face staring morosely back up at her. “Because that’s what friends do, right?” she said, smiling softly at Twilight. “Then where’s everypony else?” Rainbow’s smile became somewhat forced as she sighed, lowering herself to the ground so that she was sat next to Twilight. “I don’t know Twi… we all stayed after you left, me, Fluttershy and Pinkie were worried, Applejack and Rarity were less so. They said some… less than nice things about you after you left. That made Pinkie deflate, and things just tailed off after that. Rarity left, then Applejack with a simple ‘I’ll see you later,’ then Fluttershy left… then I did, to come after you. Pinkie just stayed there, I should probably check on her when we get back.” “When we get back Rainbow?” “Yeah, you and me, who else am I going to be bringing back with me? A manticore?” A smile played around Twilight’s mouth before she sighed, expression heavy once again. “I… don’t think I want to go back Rainbow.” “Don’t be silly… not going back? Then what would I tell the others when they asked where you were?” “They wouldn’t ask. You know that.” Dash sighed, hugging Twilight again. “I’m sure some people would ask. What about Cheerilee, the Cakes, Carrot Top, Lyra, Bonbon, all those friends you made in Ponyville over the years.” “You mean like Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy?” Rainbow winced. “Ponies would still ask about you though.” “Name three.” “Pinkie Pie, Celestia and Shining Armour.” Rainbow said almost immediately. Twilight scoffed. “When was the last time I had regular contact with my brother, I could have been living in a swamp and he’d be none-the-wiser. Celestia is my mentor, it’ll look odd if she simply stopped noticing me and you said it yourself, Pinkie wasn’t herself, you don’t know how she actually took my ‘coming out’.” Rainbow sighed again. “I’d ask.” Author's Note yep... I had a whole day and I write this... enjoy Storm“Hey Twi.” Twilight Sparkle looked over to the voice, her face breaking into a smile as she saw Rainbow Dash hovering just next to the balcony. “Hey Rainbow.” Twilight glanced up, any hint of the open sky above had been hidden by a thick layer of clouds, dusky grey and blown about by an ominous wind. Rainbow had spoken about this before, the Great Storm which only happened once every two years. Rainbow had explained it to her a few nights ago, apparently the normal occasional storms that were scheduled by the weather team weren’t actually that efficient. There was always some rain left over after the very occasional storms and it was always being joined by the water cycle, sending more vapour skywards. As if that wasn’t enough, they also had to deal with a fair amount of cloud from the Everfree drifting across into Equestria… It all added up to the Great Storm. She shivered slightly as the wind blew its chilly tune into every nook and cranny that it could reach, the storm wasn’t going to start for another few minutes, but that didn’t stop the atmosphere from making it suitably spooky. A few moments after the gust passed her by, she heard a muted thud and felt, rather than saw Rainbow sit next to her. Twilight leant gratefully against the warm pegasus, who was more than willing to wrap her friend up in one of her wings. Neither of them said anything, neither of them did anything. They simply revelled in the calm before the storm. Author's Note ... Game on. Also you can thank bats for turning me into some sort of mini-prompt addict... Moar... MOAR! Makeover“Come On Rainbow!” “No, I don’t care, I’m not going.” “It’s only one afternoon trip to the spa with our friends.” “I’m still not going, there’s no way, no, way, I’m going to be caught in some stupid spa after last time.” Twilight sighed, she’d expected that she’d have some difficulty persuading Rainbow to come along with her. “Which is why Rarity took the liberty of hiring out the private section of the spa this time.” “Still don’t care, I have to practise my flying if I’m ever going to get into the Wonderbolts.” A frustrated groan caused Rainbow to look over the side of her cloud at the unicorn below her, now with a hoof firmly attached to her face. “You alright there Twi’?” “Fine… just fine. You know what, I'm not even being sarcastic here, I’ll just rescind my own invitation, I’ve some tomes that I needed to finish anyway.” The hoof lowered from Twilights’ face as she turned around and started her way back to the library. Not five paces later though, her path was blocked by Rainbow. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, just because I said I didn’t want to go doesn’t stop you from going, I know you like that stuff. It’s just me that doesn’t.” Twilight shook her head slightly, angling her head towards the ground, “No, it’s fine, I just thought, no. Nevermind.” Rainbow quirked her head at Twilight, “You thought…?” Twilight mumbled something, far too quiet for Rainbow to hear. “What?” Rainbow asked, “Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that.” “I thought you’d make it a bit more bearable…” she muttered in reply, her gaze now fixed on the floor as her face flushed red. She stayed like that for a few seconds, then gasped, her head shooting up as something feathery laid itself across her back. A glance to her side revealed Rainbow, smiling encouragingly at her. “Let’s go back to the library shall we? There’s a new book you keep telling me about.” “Maybe we could read it together.” Author's Note Hmm... wonder if I could somehow fit all these prompts into a progressive order from non-TwiDash into a relationship... That's not actually a bad idea. Also, because I'm bored... anyone who suggests a mini-prompt will get a story. What order you get any of these hypothetical responses in is completely of my choosing. PicnicWas everything ready? Everything looked ready; there was the cloth, the basket of food, the soda, the spring water, the sun above her and the sparkling lake before her. So why did she have the nagging feeling that she had forgotten something. Not that that was an option here, everything has to be one hundred percent awesome or else… No, she wasn’t going to think about that, she wouldn’t mind if it was a complete disaster, not her. Speaking of her… she should be here any minute now. Rainbow Dash looked around from the top of the hill, Ponyville reservoir behind her as she gazed down the long winding path towards Ponyville. The long empty winding path towards Ponyville. No, it was fine… Rainbow was probably just early, yeah… there was no way she’d miss a date with her friends. She’d just said date didn’t she? No, no, this wasn’t a date. Dates were for uncool ponies or something. But… if ponies were going to judge her for having a date with her, then screw them and their damn… what’s the word… lameness! She’d date whoever she damn well wanted. Screw what they said. Still, she let out a sigh of relief as her companion of the hour appeared through the treeline, making her way towards the lake. Rainbow gave the other pony a wave, which Twilight Sparkle returned with a bright smile, causing Rainbow’s heart to pause for a moment, then start beating again. “Hey Rainbow.” Twilight said when she reached the picnic blanket. “Hey.” She replied with barely hidden enthusiasm, then froze, all thoughts of her amazing plan, gone from her head. “So-do-you-wanna-come-and-join-me?” she asked, not daring to pause should her tongue freeze up again. Twilight giggled, sending Dash’s heart into overdrive, there was something about her laughter that made it so… so… nice. “Sure, I don’t know what else you were expecting me to do.” Rainbow snapped back to the present just in time, smiling giddily as she led Twilight to the blanket, lying down on the far side of the basket. Twilight joined her, her soft smile still fixed on Dash. Dash smiled back at her, she could do this. She could show Twilight the awesomest time ever, then she could hopefully ask her for another time… With her newfound confidence, she flicked open the basket with her nose, and found what she’d forgotten. Author's Note As requested by Timaeus Hope you enjoy it. *Sigh* I've written around 3000 words on this, and not another word within my actual workload... Meh. PrankTwilight Sparkle moved about her silent house, a sandwich held within her magic. It was gone midnight and the unicorn had been up late, experimenting on the workings of pegasus magic. But now she’d finished for the night. She’d rolled her experiment notes into a scroll and stored them within her safe where she kept her most cherished research. Now she’d finally be able to get some sleep, if her partner allowed it that is. She blushed, starting up the stairs and finishing her sandwich. It was taking some… getting used to, that was for certain. But at least Twilight could easily say that it’d never been boring around the place. Far from it. With a barely suppressed smile at her memories, Twilight opened the door into her bedroom and was immediately splattered with something viscous and dark. Before she’d even had a chance to open her mouth, that was followed by a sudden cascade of snowy feathers and a Rainbow Dash shortly after, who promptly secured a rubber beak onto Twilight’s muzzle and stood back, admiring her work. Twilight stayed stock still, just in case there was anything else coming, but loosened up as Dash lost her cool and collapsed onto the floor into a fit of raucous laughter. Twilight’s eyebrow twitched. “Oh hello Rainbow Dash… nice to see you too.” Twilight said cooly, her voice echoing oddly through the ‘beak’. The giggles paused for a moment as Rainbow looked up at her, then came back full force as she lost it again. Twilight sighed. So much for a nice peaceful evening. She left Dash to her laughter, heading towards the bathroom with weary acceptance. She paused, looking towards the large mirror that stretched across the tiles. She couldn’t help but chuckle softly at her own appearance, no wonder Rainbow had broken down like that. Shaking her head slightly, she prepared herself for the arduous task of washing off the gunk in the shower. Like she’d said. Far from boring. Author's Note If you wanted to follow a set storyline... this would probably be some time before 'Wrestling'. If you don't want to follow a storyline, this occurs in time x with Twilight and Rainbow. Anyway... huh, new comment. Ok, it's another picture from Timaeus, I'm sure it won't be that- HNGGGG *Thump* NewIt was before the crack of dawn in Ponyville, just as it was for most of Equestria. The streets were empty, the doors were closed and ponies laid in bed, sleeping the remnants of the night away. Yet some ponies refused sleep, rushing around their rooms, fixing up telescopes and binoculars, all working tirelessly to prepare the delicate equipment for this, the first solar eclipse in a millennium, to happen at five minutes past five in the morning. Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle were not rushing around and setting up their own stargazing equipment, Rainbow’s own kit consisting of little more than a spyglass she used for detecting rogue Pinkie Pies. Twilight on the other hand, did have her own kit, but Rainbow had flat-out refused to carry it for her after getting a look at it. All several tonnes of glass, steel, aluminium and notepaper. Instead they sat against a tree, out in a field a few miles out of town, gazing with their eyes alone as the two spheres drew steadily nearer to each other. “Remind me why there hasn’t been one of these ecliptical thingies for a thousand years again?” Rainbow asked. “It’s an eclipse, and mainly because it was incredibly hard to keep the moon and the sun going in two completely different orbits around the Earth,” Twilight started, “and also because Celestia never liked to look at the moon while her Sun was in the sky, I suppose it brought back some bad memories.” They sat there watching the sun silently as it began its journey behind the moon. Twilight shivered slightly as a cool breeze blew across the field, the shadows already visible as they made their way across the landscape. Rainbow looked to her side as Twilight shivered, unfurling a wing and slipping it around Twilight before drawing it tight, causing Twilight to glance down in surprise before relaxing against Rainbow with a muted “Thanks.” Rainbow smiled, resting her own head atop Twilights, keeping an eye on the eclipse as the sun disappeared completely behind the moon. And that’s where they stayed, watching the sun emerge again, framing the new moon in their minds as they sat together, neither willing to break the embrace. Author's Note Welp... big story that will include happy TwiDash or mini-prompt which also includes happy TwiDash... So much choice. NatureThe two ponies steadily made their way through the undergrowth, trying to make as little noise as possibly as they followed the tiny spec above them, fluttering and flapping this way and that in the cold night air. Twilight, the pony bringing up the rear, was wondering how on Earth she got herself into these situations. Presumably it was linked with the amount of time she spent with Rainbow Dash and consequently the amount of time she spent listening to Dash’s ideas. Although she had to admit, this one had intruiged her every now and again. She had always secretly wondered where her owl, Owlicious had flown off to every morning, staying the day away from the library somewhere within Whitetail woods. She’d just never thought to question it further until Dash had brought up the idea the previous day. It was certainly turning out to be a long trek in any case, they’d been following him for the best part of half an hour since he left the library, not that Twilight could complain, he flew at a steady speed, about that of a quick trot as the pegasus flies. They never lost sight of him, at least not for long, and Dash had done her part, flying up every now and again to make sure that they were still following the bird. Eventually, after another five minutes or so of walking, they finally saw Owlicious fold his wings upwards and drop down towards a large cedar tree, the only one in a clearing. Twilight and Rainbow continued to approach stealthily, avoiding the dry leaves which littered the forest floor and dodging the twigs that dotted in other places. Eventually, there was just one more tree between the two of them and Twilight’s owl, Rainbow pressed herself up to it and leant around the tree as Twilight watched with a barely repressed smile. Then Rainbow froze, still looking around the tree and obstructing Twilight’s view. Immediately, she walked over to Rainbow and leaned still further around her before freezing, just as Rainbow had done. There, sat on a low branch, was Owlicious, staring at them with what could only be called bemusement. That wasn’t what caused Twilight to freeze though, it was the two owls behind his own that were peeking around his body that did that. Twilight felt something feathery embrace her back as she looked at the owls, glancing at the pony beside her with a smile. Owlicious had his family. Twilight had her own. Author's Note Part 2/2 FallingTwilight was falling. There was no other word for it, she constantly seemed to go downwards within the spiral of darkness. Except that falling was a silly word for it, there was no true up or down. She could have simply been flying forwards for the sake of argument. But there was just… something about this that spoke of falling to her subconscious mind. It was unexplainable, which irked Twilight immensely. But the thing that irked her even more, was the apparent disregard for time and space in this spiral of darkness. There was no indication that she fell closer to the ground, or for any significant length of time for that matter. It was just falling. Constant falling. Until she looked to her side, and saw her partner within the darkness of the spiral. She smiled at her companion, and her companion smiled back. Twilight turned within the air and embraced her, holding on tightly as the world shifted slightly. So that they were flying through the seven shades of the rainbow. Author's Note Dream sequence, engaged. Shorter than usual and more... odd. After butchering that sentence and verb structure, I'm going to lie down for a little while... Thank you coffee... RumourIt was quiet in the library, the two ponies snuggled on the floor in front of the crackling fire paid no heed to the rain outside, nor to where they knew Luna’s moon to be beneath the cloud cover. Rainbow Dash had her wing laid across Twilight’s back lazily, providing an extra layer of warmth, while Twilight herself had pressed herself into Rainbow, keeping as much contact between the two as she could. “Twilight?” The named pony stirred against her, looking up at Dash after a moment. “Hmm?” “I talked to my boss, Spitfire, after work today.” “That’s good.” Came the drowsy reply. Rainbow sighed, shifting her wing slightly, and immediately it was as if someone had turned on a switch. Twilight blinked and looked at Rainbow with sudden wakefulness, “Sorry, what did she want?” “She wanted to say that she was, well, happy for me.” “Aren’t you happy Rainbow? I don’t quite get what’s wrong.” Rainbow looked into the fire, speaking up after another moment, “Sorry, of course I’m happy. I guess that I’m just not used to ponies ruminating on my private life.” She continued to look into the fire, then looked away into the eyes of the pony who was nuzzling her. “Let them say what they say, we know the truth right?” Rainbow Dash chuckled softly, returning the nuzzle and replacing her wing around Twilight again. “We know the truth.” She echoed, resting her head atop Twilight’s own and looking into the fire again. Author's Note 'And the truth is what matters' Is one way to finish that short... The others are slightly darker, but you choose what they say to one another. 'Snot like I'm leaving any of this open to interpretation or fitting them all into a longer story... <.< .> Protest“No, nuh-uh, anything but that.” Twilight just smiled a grin and advanced slowly upon the retreating Rainbow Dash, matching her step for step with her evil grin. “I’m serious Twilight, anything, you can do anything, anything but that,” Rainbow said, looking behind her at the oncoming wall every few paces and gulping at how close it was. Her tormentor finally spoke, “I think it’s an acceptable remuneration for your antics with the socks, now I think it’s my turn,” she replied, grinning widely and continuing her advance. Rainbow gulped, looking behind her again just as she met the wall. “Oh ponyfeathers,” She muttered, turning back to face Twilight as she pounced upon Rainbow, holding her still beneath her. “I suppose begging for mercy is out of the question?” Rainbow asked hopefully, laid flat below Twilight. “Completely,” came the reply as Twilight lifted a single blue feather, twirling it within her magic and slowly lowering it towards Rainbow’s chest, giving no quarter as the pegasus squirmed beneath her. But just as the feather was about to begin its treacherous deed, it stopped, barely a hoof above Rainbow’s chest as Twilight’s grin widened further. “No… I seem to remember somewhere else that could use some experimentation.” It took Rainbow all of two seconds to realise what her captor was planning, “no, please, I beg you!” she cried out, writhing and trying to throw Twilight off balance, yet she to no effect, both of their eyes following the feather as it closed in on the defenceless target. Peals of laughter echoed up and down the library as the pegasus within Twilight’s domain broke down, howling helplessly as the torture continued. Rainbow attempted to withdraw away from the wretched instrument of torture, finding moments later that Twilight was a lot stronger than she looked as another guffaw wrenched its way up her throat. All as Twilight swished the feather back and forth about the tip of Rainbow’s hoof. Author's Note ... I really should try to make truly independent chapters again. Now they have references which only pertain to this... ZombiesRainbow was surrounded. Everywhere she looked she saw the shambling dead closing in on her. Flying away was out of the question, the stifling and silent air was too heavy to even stand a chance of escape. The corpses were a mixture of species, ponies, griffons, armadillos and eagles were all in there somewhere, each of them with missing flesh, wings or organs, all of them closing in on the anomaly, the living pony within them. Rainbow Dash smiled. The zombies drew ever closer as the pony waited patiently, waiting for the opportune moment. She saw it. She took it. She lunged forwards into the first victim, delivering an almighty punch to the dead griffon before spinning on her front hoof and bucking the next two in front of her in the necks. A unicorn and a pegasus fell down, their necks at odd angles even as their executioner continued onwards. The zombies swarmed her, no-longer bound by the shambling walk that they’d entertained moments before, now they entered the fray, running on rotten limbs into the cloud of hot dust that littered the arena and surrounded the anomaly. The silent crags watched the cloud of dust swirl and settle in the molten air. A lone pony strode out of the still-settling cloud of red, her gaze determined. They’d tried to stop her in her quest. They’d tried to stop her reaching Twilight Sparkle. They’d tried to stop her from rescuing the love of her life. They’d paid for their sins. The silent crags and heavy air watched the pony stride through the ashes of the dead towards the black desert ahead. Author's Note Thank Genetic Anomaly (Spark of Twilight) for this little short. Determined Dash is not to be underestimated. LostShe was lost, she swore she’d passed this exact same dune thrice before. The desolate landscape was getting to her after all this time; she’d been wandering around in the dark for, what seemed like, hours with not a thing to look at past the ever-rolling dunes. There were no hints of white amongst the black sand, nor the violet shade of Twilight that she searched for. It was just sand. Sand and dunes. There were no stars in the sky to guide her way, nor a wind to carry her feathers, the air remained perfectly still despite her movement. Almost as if she walked through a vacuum. She’d tried to fly up and see further than the next hillock of dark sand, but the air had pressed her down, refusing her flight and denying her the empty sky. She rounded another corner, hoping against hope that she’d see a colour which wasn’t in shades of dark and groaned audibly. It was the dune. The same dune. She’d drawn a cross in it with a hoof the last time she was here, and there that cross stood, clear as day and marked into the foot of the dune. Who was she kidding? She would never find Twilight, this desert was playing her for a fool, driving her in circles and circles until even the grains of sand could be recognised. Twilight had trusted her to keep her safe and Rainbow had tried… she’d failed. She slumped to the ground, the black sand shifting around her, accommodating her as she gave up and set her gaze on the cross. She’d been stupid, she’d been arrogant and idiotic, she’d thought that she could take on the beasts of Tartarus themselves and still hold her ace. She was an Element of Harmony for pony’s sake! That had to stand for something, right? Some element. She was going to die here, just like Twilight, and she’d never see her friends again, she’d never be able to tell them how sorry she was for all she’d done over the years, she’d never be able to apologise to her parents, never be able to tell Scootaloo that she was impressed about her skills. She’d never be able to say sorry to her. Twilight would probably die here too, then the beasts of Tartarus would come for her and Rainbow held little hope that she’d ever see hide or hair of Twilight again. So much for loyalty. No, you know what, screw loyalty, this was love, she loved Twilight and she wasn’t going to let any petty spectre made from bones stop her from reclaiming her marefriend. A shining halo of light, signifying Rainbow’s power from the element of love did not appear. The sands around her did not shift into a path directly towards Twilight Sparkle. The black skies above her remained starless and empty, the air still oppressively still. Rainbow groaned to herself, getting to her hooves and standing heavily. Grimacing slightly, she started off in a different direction, she might not have been the most loving pony in the world, but she’d be damned if she let her determination to find Twilight Sparkle be undermined. High above, a lone, ice-blue, star appeared. Updraft (Post-S3 short)“Yes everything’s going to be just fine!” Was the last thing I said before I passed over something beneath me… It felt warm, which meant that it was only hot air, but hot air rises… meaning that I’d just hit my first updraft, with no idea on how to deal with it. I had just enough time to draw in one hesitant breath before my left wing twisted behind me, rolling my over and sending me into an irreversible barrel roll. How on Earth was I supposed to reverse this, I just kept rolling and going… slightly… downwards… “Oh horseapples.” I muttered from within the mini-tornado as the land began to replace the sky. I hated landings. Bracing myself for the inevitable impact with the ground, I almost didn’t notice when a quiet whooshing sound passed me by. That was when I impacted. Except the impact didn't make any sense… I should have still been at least 100 hooves into the air by now, gravity shouldn't have affected me that fast, even if I was adding to my momentum slightly. Added to the fact that there didn't seem to be any pain… A gasp from behind me finally forced me to open my eyes. “Rainbow Dash?” The named pegasus behind me smiled. “As if I’d let you fall.” Author's Note Written in 10 minutes? With no coffee? And having just woken up? The answer to all of these is yes, as to the imaginary fourth question on whether I should be doing other... more important things? Also yes.
TreesTrees… trees… there was something about trees that Rainbow Dash just hated. It wasn’t that they made for good napping points, no, she quite enjoyed that fact. Was it that Applejack seemed to always shake her out of them? No… not quite. While it was annoying, it was bearable. She groaned… Oh yeah… that was why, they always seemed to pop up whenever she was practicing stunts near the ground… Stupid trees. Groaning, Rainbow raised her head and looked around. Thankfully, she knew this tree pretty well. Maybe not to the point of Fluttershy’s ability to talk to the plants… but she had a pretty good passing acquaintanceship with this particular tree. There was the impact she’d made last week, oh, and if you looked closely enough, you could see the area where she first impacted it… somewhere inside the other areas she’d done the same thing. She got to her hooves, breathing heavily at the simple action. Folding her wings in caused her to wince, immediately extending them again and glancing down at the area which hurt the most. It looked like yet another cracked rib… thankfully it was none of the ones which were already cracked, but all the same… it looked like a trip to the hospital was going to be in order… again. It was then that the door in front of Rainbow opened suddenly, a silhouette could be made out against the crackling fire in the library. “Rainbow Dash? What are you doing awake at this hour?” the silhouette asked groggily, glancing towards the starry sky above. “Hey Twi…” Rainbow replied, “Nothing much… just practicing my stunts again…” she said, trying to hide the pained inhalations from the unicorn in front of her. She was cool, cool ponies didn’t show pain, they were protected by the power of awesome or something… Not that it mattered, Twilight stepped forwards towards Rainbow, “Are you ok Rainbow?” she asked, concerned at her friend’s well-being. “Yeah… I’m fine.” Came her answer, pained gasp and all. “Hmm… well assuming that you’ve been practicing some of your more dangerous stunts again, added with the light available, that would mean that you were only able to see the library at the last moment, so you were practicing something involving sharp turns… again meaning that you crashed into the library with a lot of momentum behind you. And if we look at where you crashed… that looks like…” the studious unicorn paused, then gasped. “Dash… have you cracked your ribs again?” Rainbow closed her mouth, long-since accepting the somewhat unbelievable conclusions that the unicorn could draw from practically nothing. She nodded her head automatically, causing the unicorn in front of her to sigh. “Come on then, I can help you this time. I finally took the liberty of studying how to heal broken bones after the last ten times you’ve managed this.” Twilight turned, going into the doorway and waiting on the other side, giving Dash an expectant look. Rainbow sighed, following her in and whispering to her as she passed, “Thanks Twilight” as the door shut behind her. Author's Note Slightly less obvious TwiDash is slightly less obvious. Still, I cut down the words and kept it as an actual mini-fic, not that it couldn't be continued further... I just chose not to. Written in 25 minutes.
PillsRainbow Dash groaned, wincing as she stretched her wing and she felt her under-used muscles protest against her. It was yet another pitfall of her frequent visits to the hospital and even more crashes. All of a sudden, she heard a small click from her wing and the pain flooded in moments later, causing her to grit her teeth and hiss loudly, trying to hop away from the pain somehow. “Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow,” she hissed under her breath, trying to manoeuvre her frantic hopping towards the bathroom and associated medicine cabinet. Closing her eyes against the pain, she somehow managed to find her way onto the tiled floor of the bathroom. She grimaced in triumph before turning around and managing to whap her head against the cabinet. “Ow…” she groaned, attempting to raise a hoof up to massage her sore head before another bolt of pain shot through her side and she quickly lowered it. A single eye cracked itself open and began its search for the cabinet in the blindingly bright white room. She stepped forwards and nosed open the culprit of her banging head, trying to focus on the brightly coloured bottles inside. The colours blurred and span, making reading the labels impossible, so she simply reached inside the cabinet as far as she could and brought her head back. The bottles span in the air before clattering to the floor and smashing themselves open, spilling their contents all across the bathroom floor. A loud ‘bang’ echoed up through the house, resonating in her eardrums and making her wince, sinking down to the floor and groaning loudly as somepony shouted into the house, making her ears ring. She groaned in reply, covering her ears and eyes with her hooves and simply laying her stomach flat against the pill-ridden floor. Everything hurt so much… The muffled cry of a pony reached through her defences and set her ears humming again. Some force surrounded her hooves and tried to pry them away from her eyes and ears but she resisted, shaking her head side-to-side pitifully as her assailant tried to play her like a puppet only to stop a moment later. She felt the force disappear from around her forehooves and move around her midriff, lifting her up into the air and around the house. She groaned pitifully as another bolt rocked its way through her. After some time, she was placed carefully onto something which felt very much like a mattress and someone scurried off seconds later. She tentatively opened her eyes and thanked Luna that the pony had thought to turn the lights off in the room. The dim moonlight shone through the curtains, too slight to cause her harm, and revealing her surroundings. She was interrupted from her musings when the sound of the pony climbing the stairs two at a time reached her ears which no-longer hummed. Twilight Sparkle burst through the door, shutting it behind her and pausing. Rainbow thought that she could just make out the outline of a glass suspended in mid-air. Twilight approached Rainbow, smiling benevolently at her and proffering the glass and two small pills. Rainbow immediately swallowed the pills dry, only pausing to take a gulp of the water when she felt the pair catch against her dry throat. “I thought I told you to stay laid down.” Twilight accused, still smiling as Rainbow bit her lip. Twilight chuckled, “Try to get some sleep Rainbow, that’s the best medicine for you at the moment.” Author's Note I Aitn't Dead!
HeistThe midnight burglar crept through the house, leaving no hoofprints in her wake. She’d slipped the window and made her way across the front room, climbed the stairs and navigated the landing, now all that was left was the dragons’ lair itself, literally. Twilight Sparkle’s bedroom. The burglar twisted the handle and opened the door, the well-oiled hinges staying silent as the thief slipped through, closing the door to behind her. The burglar allowed herself a sigh of relief before looking around the room for her prize. Was it a collection of quills, all lined up against one another in size order? Nope. Was it the dragon, curled up with a fat ruby in his claw? Fat chance. Or was it what the purple unicorn herself was clutching to her chest in her sleep? Bingo. Now all she had to do… was get it. Nothing that hard, right? The thief looked around the room for something, running her eyes over every little detail in the room, looking for something to help her. Aha, that would do it. The thief crept up alongside the bed, being careful of the squeaky floor and the sleeping unicorn within, and proceeded to pick up the object on the bedside table, grunting slightly at the weight. Another moment later, the thief had balanced the object on one hoof, already planning out the next stage in the theft. She made her way around the bed, coming to the side which Twilight faced with the treasure within her hooves. The thief sighed again. Surely this part would be as simple as they made it out in the adventure books dotted around this very library? Just a simple switcharoo? Or something… Well, thinking about it wasn’t going to get the thief anywhere, so after another calculating stare, the thief got to work, slowly sliding the tome within her hooves, into the unsuspecting embrace of the unicorn below. And the book that the unicorn had held, closer and closer to the thief’s own reach. Closer… Closer… Nearly there… And yes! The thief’s face broke into a smile at her achievement, clutching her treasure to her chest tightly before stowing the treasure on her back and making her way out the silent room again. Unbeknownst to the thief, the unicorn in the room smiled to herself. “Completely predictable Dash.” Author's Note Continuation is now optimal. Premise is that Rainbow saw a book while she was getting her ribs fixed.
TagThere was an enormous crash as the window gave way, spreading millions of tiny fragments into the building along with Rainbow Dash, out of control as she plummeted into the library along with most of the window. Then she stopped in mid-air, surrounded by a purple aura as she was lowered gently towards the glittering ground. As she drew nearer, the glass directly beneath her started rolling away, fleeing from her as she landed on the floor of the library before stopping, surrounding her in a circle. Twilight Sparkle sighed, closing the book in front of her and turning around to face the disturbance in what had been a very engrossing book. “Afternoon Rainbow, third time today right?” she asked, an almost bored-like tone to her voice as she surveyed the damage. Rainbow herself looked fine, slightly dizzy but fine nonetheless, then there was the window. The Same window, now resting in pieces on the floor with Rainbow in the middle, looking around sheepishly. “Um… sorry?” Rainbow offered, her smile hopeful. Twilight sighed, she couldn’t stay mad at her really… well she could, but that wasn’t going to repair the window. “Fine… I suppose there’s no use in me saying not to do it again?” Rainbow shook her head, her smile transformed into a grin. “None at all.” She vocalised. Twilight snorted, a small smile barely hidden as she gathered her magic and focussed on the floor in front of her. All around Rainbow, the glass which had laid still moments before started rising. Then one by one, they all started rolling into collections in mid-air. Rainbow stopped paying attention. She’d seen it twice already today, first she’d gather the glass, then she’d melt it, then she’d press it back into the hole where the window had once been and hey presto, new window. Not really that interesting. “Anyway, Twi?” “Yes Rainbow?” Twilight replied, still focussing on the clouds of glass Rainbow knew to be just above her head. “Guess what I found?” she asked in a sing-song voice, subconsciously pressing her wing to her side to make sure the package was still there. “Hmm?” Twilight enquired, looking over at her friend as the cloud of glass started spinning, glowing a light red. Rainbow leant her head into the crook of her wing and brought forth a book, the cover depicting a neon star inside a circle with the words ‘The Restaurant at the End of the Universe’ raised up from the book and Twilight knew that on the bottom of the cover somewhere, the author would read ‘Douglas Adams’. Twilight’s eyes widened and she dove at Rainbow, all but snatching the book from her with her hooves, running one down the cover reverently, “But this looks like the first edition, Rainbow, where did you find this?” she asked, amazed. Rainbow smiled at Twilight, “Found it in one of those antique bookshops you’re always telling us about, you like it then?” Twilight nodded emphatically, “I love it, but how much did you have to pay for this? It must have cost you a hoof and a leg.” Rainbow’s smile faltered slightly before reinstating itself, Twilight was right, it had been an amazingly large sum to get that one book, but the smile on Twilight’s face made it worth it, “Don’t worry about it, like I said, it’s a gift.” A moment later the scent of coconut filled her nostrils as Twilight engulfed her in a hug. Rainbow awkwardly tried to return it, patting Twilight on the back until she drew away. “Thanks Rainbow” Twilight said, smiling widely at her friend, “I’ll get straight to it after I finish fixing the win… dow.” Rainbow followed Twilights gaze to the ceiling at the glob of molten glass that had attached itself there when Twilight had ran forwards to claim the book. Her work done, Rainbow turned around and flapped her wings once or twice, “Well nice seeing you again Twilight, sorry about the window… again.” She said before giving her wings a mighty flap and zooming towards the still-empty window pane. Or at least she would have been zooming towards it if Twilight hadn’t caught her tail within her magic and yanked her down again. “You think I’m going to let you go so you can inevitably smash my window again?” Twilight asked incredulously, out of Rainbows field of view. “You might have done?” Rainbow said hopefully. She heard Twilight chuckle and saw a few boards start floating over to the missing window, already boarding it up. “No, my windows are safer while you’re here, come on, let’s read that book.” Author's Note Find the interpretation of 'Tag' :)
Water“Why did I agree to this again?” “Because you were guilty about crashing into my lab equipment for the third time today, now hold still, you’re scaring the fish.” Twilight Sparkle stood at the edge of the lake, a notepad and pen held within her magic as she looked towards the centre. More specifically, she looked towards where a rope had been suspended by the aid of a tree, and to the Pegasus that was dipping her hooves into the middle of the lake, holding onto the rope to stop herself from sinking. Silence reigned for a few more minutes, with Twilight taking the occasional note here and there. But Rainbow Dash’s patience was wearing thin… “Why am I doing this Twilight?” she asked, exasperation heavy in her voice. “Hmm?” came the reply, “Oh, it’s because I’ve read this book on the amazing marine diversity in the Ponyville lake and I needed somepony to attract them all to one place.” Rainbow Dash shifted nervously, gripping the rope slightly tighter than before, “Umm… what species are we talking about here?” she asked, scanning the lake intently now to look for anything out of the ordinary. “Oh you know, the usual… cod, haddock, carp, mini-sharks.” Rainbow felt a cold shiver echo down her spine at the last name, “You did just say… sharks right?” she asked, looking over at Twilight with a worried expression. Twilight met it with an enthusiastic smile, “Yeah, really tricky to research though, you have to use a live pony as bait to conduct any useful evidence.” Not two seconds later, there was a whoosh, a splash, and a shuddering pony on the river bank, scanning the water with paranoia as her companion cracked up, laughing hysterically while Rainbow regained her bearings. Rainbow looked around for another moment, realising that she’d been had. She stalked over to Twilight and prodded her with a hoof as she lay snorting on the ground. “Not cool Twi.” “Not cool.” Author's Note Not cool indeed. Anyway, this is why I don't write comedy often... it usually becomes very slapstick and not really all that good in my opinion.
CauseThe Everfree surrounded her. She’d sought comfort in the hidden crevices that belonged to the castle in the centre of the forest, she’d wanted to hide from the events not an hour or two earlier. She wanted to forget, for things to go back to how they used to be… when things were simple. That didn’t look like it was going to happen though; her thoughts were already whirling around in her head, bringing the events of the last day back to her with frightening clarity. Sugarcube Corner, she’d gone there to meet with her friends, to find out how they’d been doing over the past few weeks and to make a confession. It wasn’t an easy confession to make for her, she’d waited patiently at the bakery until they were all there with her. Applejack and her Stetson, tilted back on her head. Fluttershy, sitting quietly on one of the chairs and smiling meekly. Pinkie Pie, buzzing in place slightly. Rainbow Dash, laid back in her own chair as she waited for the next thing to happen, And Rarity, elegant as always, in a deep blue silken dress. They’d all sat patiently as Twilight had started to explain something she’d come to realise over numerous years, something she’d accepted a long time ago and something that she hoped would not remain as a sticking point between her friends. That silence afterwards had been one of the tensest in her life as she waited with baited breath for their reaction. She got the reaction… Just not the one she wanted. The silence had reigned supreme for a little while longer, then Rarity had spoken up. “Excuse me if I misheard dear, but did my ears deceive me or did you just admit that you were sexually inclined towards mares?” “She just said that she was gay if that’s what yer were askin’.” Applejack drawled, throwing Twilight a look of revulsion. She shrank away slightly. Pinkie was still sat there, a thoughtful hoof against her face, but the evidence already there was damning enough. Applejack, and now Rarity were staring at her with expressions of disgust while Rainbow Dash was looking at Twilight with her jaw wide open. Desperately, Twilight swung her gaze towards Fluttershy who had remained silent throughout, and was struck numb by what she saw. The same disgusted glare emanated from the usually easy-going pegasus, not quite a Stare, but a glare from Fluttershy was damning enough. She took another look at the ponies in the room, then fled. Turning around and running from Sugarcube Corner, escaping from Ponyville and losing the judgemental gazes of the ponies she’d known as friends. That was how she’d ended up here after her mad sprint through the Everfree, running past twisted branches and crooked roots, paying no heed to the battering her body took. That was why she now sat here, alone under the night sky, and likewise within the world. Until she heard a voice. “Twilight?” Author's Note Part one of 3 Might not be strictly true to my own headcanon, but it should provide enough of a reason why no-one else is within these mini-stories which are gaining increasing amounts of plot-ness... If that's a word.
Consequence"Twilight?" "Are... you alright?" The unicorn was sat with her back to Rainbow Dash, the little that she could see of her close friend in the gloomy light was bruised and battered, her usually colourful appearance splotched with mud and blood. "I'm fine Dash... just fine." "You know that's not true." Twilight spun about on the floor, bringing Dash face to face with the scarred expression belonging to the unicorn. Her eyes were puffy and there were two trails on her face where the tears had cut their course through the mask of pain, there was a small cut above her left eye and her mane was cut haphazardly. "And what do you know about truth?" she spat at Rainbow, causing her to step back in surprise. “What do you know about truth? Your friends didn’t just completely abandon you again, you still have your life, your family… me?” Twilight let out a strangled sob, her glare softening as it lost focus. “What’s left for me?” Twilight slumped down onto the floor, her eyes tearing up once more as the gates were opened and Twilight started crying. Rainbow sat down next to her and hugged her unresponsive friend Author's Note Part 2 out of 3 of a mini bit thingy. Part 1 is named Cause, Part 3 is named Aftermath.
CloudsThe sky was silent, the clouds so high above that they appeared as mere wisps from far down below on the ground. Twilight didn’t come out here very often anymore but it still served its purpose, it was still her last safe haven. The field around her was far away from Ponyville, along the other side of the Everfree. She sighed, lying back against the tree, hiding in the shade. It’d just be her luck for Rainbow Dash to see her like this; she was the only one who would even have a chance of finding this place. Twilight had made sure of that. If she looked into the sky, towards the Everfree forest, she could almost kid herself that she saw a small speck of cerulean against the sky, looping and twisting through the air without a care in the world. She let out another sigh, sending her gaze directly skywards to the clouds far, far above. She trusted Rainbow to know when to give her some space, but surely there was no better space than the sky? It was the odd times like this where she wished she’d been born with wings rather than magic. Flying away would have been so much easier. Author's Note It's nice to be alone. Every once in a while.
TourThe cloud-house slowly appeared, coming closer and closer as a large hot air balloon rose to meet it. Its lone occupant was currently talking to her companion, flying by her own wings alongside it. “So remind me again why you never showed any of the girls around here?” The pegasus rubbed her head somewhat bashfully, pushing a lock of rainbow-coloured hair over her eyes in the process. “Well, you know I’ve always been eager for the attention?” she replied sheepishly. Twilight Sparkle nodded and Rainbow Dash continued, “Well, getting away from the world is nice too… I just like having a place which no-pony else really knows about if you get me.” Twilight nodded again as Rainbow started guiding the balloon forwards towards her house by a small rope hanging over the side, “I suppose so, so why are you showing me around then?” Twilight replied, a hoof around one of the supports as Rainbow propelled them onwards, closer and closer towards the house. Rainbow said something unintelligible around the rope in her mouth and sped up slightly, letting go of the rope when they were almost at the house, “I guess because, well, what with everything going on lately and that…” Twilight winced, “Well, I thought you might like to borrow a bit of haven too, I know the library isn’t exactly isolated.” Twilight smiled faintly at Rainbow, the events from a week ago still raw in her memory, “Thanks Rainbow… I don’t really know what to say.” She said, choking up slightly before taking a deep breath and hopping out the balloon onto the clouds below, cloud-walking spell already firmly in place. “So, are you going to give me the tour?” she asked, looking back at Rainbow, only now alighting on the cloud next to her. The effect was instantaneous, Rainbow smiled brightly at Twilight before taking her hoof and all-but dragging her to the door, pushing it open and bringing Twilight along for the ride as she sped into her house, the door slamming shut behind her as it rebounded off the wall. Author's Note Well... updates are slightly more infrequent than I'd like, probably something to do with the damn TwiDash chat thing in Skype... it's impossible to get anything done now, I tell ya. Too damn distracting.
AlcoholTwilight Sparkle sat at the side of the room, the speakers around the bar blaring their loud noises around the packed establishment. In the middle of the room, there was a large dance floor, the lights above casting the mob of ponies below in shades of cyan, green and red. Twilight sighed, turning back towards the table and the drink that rested upon it, a tall glass with an electric-blue liquid within. She lifted it up within her magic and took a sip of the drink, grimacing at the sharp taste as the alcohol made its way down her throat. Funny thing that, she’d heard all about how alcohol was meant to skew your judgement, how you were meant to become more susceptible to other ponies dares and more likely to let go of your inhibitions… yet she still felt absolutely normal. No sudden urges to jump onto the table and start dancing. No epiphanies that the world was actually pretty damn sweet. And no reason to join the throng that was the dance floor in front of her. In any case, Rainbow Dash had done that almost immediately after downing one glass of her own cocktail, something that was probably substantially stronger than Twilight’s own glass of liquid fire. But that was nearly fifteen minutes ago, and Twilight had been unable to see neither hide nor hair of her companion since she’d left her alone. Not that she was really surprised, the lights made recognising anypony in the throng difficult… and that was without the throng itself. Still, Twilight thought back to why she was here in the first place… Dash had insisted that she come out for a little fun earlier today during one of their reading sessions, upon further enquiry, she’d suggested coming out with her tonight to this ‘really cool place’ and wasn’t really willing to take no for an answer. Looking around, she decided that hers and Dash’s ideas of ‘cool’ were very different. “Probably would have been better if she hadn’t disappeared into the crowd at the first opportunity.” She mumbled quietly to herself, taking another sip from her drink. “Not that she wants to waste her fun night sat next to a boring egghead.” The drink was drunk. She went to order another. She was so caught up in her own self-pity that she didn’t notice when a pony sat herself next to her at the bar. It was only when she heard the scratchy voice she knew so well, that she turned around sharply, looking for Rainbow Dash. She looked… drunk. She was slumped on her seat slightly, head bent slightly forwards with her mane plastered to her head. From the looks of things, she hadn’t noticed Twilight yet either. “Rainbow?” The pony next to me immediately perked up, her ears swivelling towards me, closely followed by her head, bringing her eyes around to meet my own. “Hey Twi’.” She replied, smiling at me while her head seemed to sway constantly. “Howw’re you?” she asked, her voice slurred from whatever liquid poison she’d been ingesting. “Well enough.” Twilight replied, sighing slightly, but somehow, Rainbow picked up on it, even from within her drunken stupor. “Something wrong, Twi?” She asked, voice still slurring slightly, but otherwise, she looked sober. Twilight sighed again, she was mindful of the fact that Dash took great care of her pride, and that she’d picked this venue out specifically for her, because she’d thought she’d find it fun… then again, she had asked her what was wrong. “It’s just that this really isn’t my idea of fun Rainbow, I know you picked it for me specially, but there’s just nothing here which captures my interest. Thanks.” Twilight said sincerely, looking at Rainbow, before glancing back at the bartender who’d just tapped her on the shoulder, signifying the arrival of her new drink. Twilight turned back to the bar, shifting her drink closer to her body as Rainbow replied. “I’m sure I can think of something which should capture your interest.” “Like what?” Twilight asked, willing to see if there was something she’d missed somehow. She turned back to Rainbow and was met by something pressing gently against her face, or more specifically, her mouth. Her eyes widened momentarily as she looked at the cerulean eyelids of the pony kissing her, tinted pink by the lights above, then they fluttered shut as she returned the kiss. She’d question this whole incident later, but for now, she let the alcohol and the pegasus take care of her mind and send her into ecstasy. Author's Note Boredom struck again, and I had this one mulling about my head for a little while anyway. Slightly longer than the others, and there's actually a plan somewhere for a direct continuation of this... should probably make that the next priority but there are oh-so-many potential prompts... I really do have too much time to spare with not enough self-motivation... Meh.
Morning“Urr…” Came the groan from Rainbow Dash as she woke up into the cold light of the morning. Looking around, she recognised her surroundings, she’d certainly been here many times, and if she was honest with herself, she’d woken up here more than once after a late night reading. Thinking back, she couldn’t quite remember what she’d done this time… She could remember inviting Twilight out to go to a ‘proper’ party at some nightclub or other, hell, she could even remember taking Twilight to the place. Everything after the open door though… was a blank. She sighed, sitting up on the library’s sofa and placing her pounding head in her hooves. Best case scenario, she’d remember everything any time now and how she’d managed to wake up here. Worst case? Well… hopefully she’d not broken anything expensive this time. She was startled from her reverie by a thump from upstairs, then more thumps at Twilight Sparkle came into view, yawning as she made her way down the stairs. “Hey Twi.” She said, causing Twilight to look up and smile at Rainbow. “Morning Rainbow, sleep well?” she asked, before making her way into the kitchen to prepare some breakfast. “Yeah… about that. I think I’ve got the mother of all hangovers, plus I can’t actually remember what happened last night.” There was a silence from in the kitchen before Twilight replied, “Nothing?” The pegasus sighed, “Nothing after I entered the club until I woke up here… speaking of which… why did I wake up here?” Twilight returned, carrying a mug of steaming liquid within her magic which she passed to Rainbow, “Umm… well after we entered… you got somewhat drunk and started dancing.” She started, Rainbow providing her with a rapt audience, “Then I think you probably drank some more…” Was it Rainbow’s imagination, or was Twilight blushing? “Then you sort of, well, passed out a few minutes after midnight. I picked you up and took you back here for the night… and that’s that.” She finished, her cheeks still slightly red. “That’s that? I didn’t break anything this time? I didn’t do something that I’m going to regret when I find out about it?” Rainbow asked desperately, taking a swig from her mug before giving Twilight her full attention again. “Didn’t seem like it at the time…” Twilight murmured quietly to herself before her blush increased tenfold and she forced a smile onto her face, starting to usher Dash out of the library. “Well, it was nice seeing you, brilliant party and thanks for the company. Anyway, I’ll talk to you later, ok?” Twilight said, almost pushing Dash out of the door before shutting it after her. Rainbow stood up and looked back at the library, “Wonder what that was about…” Author's Note This takes place the morning after Alcohol. ... Yeah, apparently if I don't write consistantly, I get slightly rusty. Enjoy.
ComplicatedTwilight watched at Rainbow twisted and spun in the air, performing complex knots, spirals and rolls, the likes of which made Twilight’s stomach turn, even from down here. How Rainbow could even keep her lunch inside her, let alone know which way was up by the end of her routine, was beyond Twilight. Yet, there was a certain simplicity to her flight, everything was clean and smooth, not one unnecessary flap was taken and everything was upon her own wings. If Twilight was honest, she was slightly envious of Dash, able to soar without a care in the world in the simple sky. Maybe she’d work on that wing spell again, the one that she’d used on Rarity so long ago. She’d have to modify it extensively, the wings would need strengthening, they’d need substantiality, maybe she’d even change the wings themselves, to pegasi wings perhaps… Twilight wore a small smile as she thought through the spell, it would be complicated, maybe, but it would eventually allow her the simplicity of the sky. Author's Note The actual prompt was: Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis Therefore... Complicated.
Molt“Rainbow Dash?” Someone was calling her… it was a voice she knew, yes, but she couldn’t quite remember where she’d heard it before. Maybe she’d realise who it was after another nap. “Rainbow, are you alright?” There was that voice again, trying to interrupt her nap further than it had already. She attempted to open her eyes, yet failed miserably… she’d get to it after her nap. But still… she felt like she should really recognise that voice. Meh, probably better to sleep on it. “Rainbow Dash!” The sudden change in volume startled her enough to raise her head groggily and look around sleepily, yawning, “Morning Twi’.” That was who the voice belonged to, her friend, Twilight Sparkle. She looked around as Twilight started saying things to her… probably something she wouldn’t understand. Speaking of things she wouldn’t understand… why was she currently sprawled on the floor of the library, one wing trapped under her, with Twilight standing over her… “What… happened?” she asked, her brain sluggish as she tried to ask the question, cutting Twilight off from her rambling. “That’s what I’ve been trying to ask you… you crashed in here a few minutes ago, at least, I assume you crashed… I was upstairs tending to Spike when I heard a crash and came down here to find you… what happened?” Rainbow groaned, her eyes shutting against the bright light of the sun, pouring in through the broken window above her. ‘What had happened?’ She’d been practising a new stunt, she could remember that much, she’d been experimenting with water and cloud properties, trying to keep a sphere of water held up within her own whirlwind. It’d needed 800 wingpower to lift Ponyville reservoir, so it followed that 16.5 wingpower would be enough to lift a smaller amount. Not that she’d ever admit to anyone she’d been using that physiky stuff for her flying… that sounded too much like an egghead’s thing to be doing. But… she could remember doing it, succeeding in lifting a sphere of water from a bucket, and holding it in mid-air. She’d not done anything overly amazing with it though… not yet anyway. Then what… she’d flown back to Ponyville from where she’d been practising, in high spirits and her ego soaring higher. And then… what? She’d planned on coming back to Ponyville, maybe flying over to Twilight’s and celebrating with her… she deserved that at least. Then she’d maybe finally pick up the courage to… Oh yeah, that was why she’d flown towards Twilights… “Are you ok Rainbow? You’re looking a little flushed…” Ah… Maybe it would be better to contemplate that when she was alone and when she hadn’t just mucked up a landing through Twilight Sparkle’s home, destroying her window in the process. She shot to her hooves, wincing as the wing beneath her flexed, a few feathers skewed out of place. Damn… she’d need to get rid of them later. “No, no, I’m fine, just… fine, yeah.” She said, emphasizing her point by nodding furiously, hoping to dissuade the curious unicorn from asking any more questions, her blush slowly rising as she realised just how badly she’d mucked this one up. “Well-it-was-nice-seeing-you, gotta-go, bye!” she said within the space of a breath, turning and preparing to take off, flapping her wings and hissing as the twisted feathers rotated uselessly. “Are you alright Rainbow?” Twilight asked, probably hearing Rainbows hushed hiss and spotting some of the more noticeable gaps within her wings. Screw letting the molting process take care of things, Rainbow leant her head into the damaged wing, yanking out a mouthful of feathers with a pained gasp, luckily for her, they were all concentrated in one spot, meaning she only had to do that once. It might mean that she’d have a hard time flying home… but she didn’t call herself Equestria’s greatest flier for nothing. Dumping the feathery bundle from her mouth onto the floor, she stretched both wings and flew out the smashed window above, trying to hide her burning face from Twilight as she fled towards her house. Leaving Twilight stood there, gazing after Rainbow with a worried expression on her face. Twilight sighed, she tried to be a pillar of support for her friends, but that only helped if they were willing to seek said support. She looked around, her horn lighting up as the shattered glass gathered itself into a pile, on the floor. Lifting it carefully, she moved it over to a box next to her lab station. She’d been meaning to experiment on the properties of glass anyway. Next to face the magic was the current absence of a window, it was still early noon but it was unlikely that she’d find time to go and order a replacement today, Spike had come down with the flu and she needed to take care of him. She sighed again; it looked like the wooden boards she’d bought after the last incident with Applejack, a tree and her window, would be used once again. Next there was the bundle of sky blue feathers on her floor, picking them up in her magic, she separated each of them from one another, until she held four feathers in the air. Three of them were bent with one of them having snapped at the base completely. The fourth though, was intact. Twilight placed the three broken feathers in a box next to the glass, twirling the fourth around in her magic carefully. She’d wanted to study pegasus feathers for a long time, sadly pegasi were notorious for hiding and secreting away all their feathers. But… here she had a perfect specimen, a feather, unbroken and fresh from a young pegasus… But she didn’t want to experiment on the feather… This feather was unique; a feather dropped from Rainbow Dash… how many ponies could say they had one of those? No. She’d keep this feather for herself, to facilitate her shameful secret. She never knew, maybe Rainbow would actually give her a feather one day. Author's Note 1000 words for a minific thing which was meant to be between 100 and 500 words? Screw limits. Anyway, could easily continue this if I chose... (Had half a mind to as well, but didn't). Anyway, have some vague TwiDash.
BirthdayThe celebrations lasted most of the day, Pinkie Pie’s trademark exuberance in full flow as the party continued… and continued… and continued further into the night until the library was littered with discarded rubbish and a rather large number of bottles, the banner was still miraculously intact, albeit slightly worse for wear, and still sported the proclamation Happy 20th Birthday Twilight Sparkle!!! And now the only ponies remaining in the front room were Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Twilight, Pinkie Pie having left some time ago to track down a missing peanut. The state of the remaining friends was another matter though, Applejack was slouched back against the sofa, snoozing quietly while Rarity had abandoned all ladylike behaviour and had crashed on the floor, asleep to the world. Fluttershy was slightly better, she was awake at the very least, but her gaze was far from steady, the normally-quiet pegasus having tried one or two of the bottles littering the floor. That left Rainbow and Twilight, sitting behind the sofa, away from the unfocused gaze of the tipsy Fluttershy behind them. “So, what did you think of the party?” Rainbow asked, glancing towards Twilight, sat next to her with her head leant on Rainbow’s shoulder. “Hmm?” asked the groggy Birthday Mare, turning her head to look up at Rainbow, “I think so, yeah.” She replied, smiling up at her companion. “You still haven’t gotten my gift yet you know?” Rainbow said, smiling down at Twilight. “I literally can’t wait.” Twilight replied in a flat voice before breaking down into giggles a moment later, “What is it?” she asked when she regained control of her voice. Surprisingly, Rainbow stood up from beneath Twilight, “Come on.” She said, “I want to show you something.” And with that, she stooped to help bring Twilight to her hooves, then led the way to the nearest doorway and the cool night beyond. They stood beneath the starry sky, cleared as a special occasion for today, the moon hanging perfectly above them under the midnight skies. Twilight glanced to her guide with puzzlement, to which Rainbow simply smiled and replied, “You’ll see.” Once they were a bit away to the library, Rainbow turned, and said, “Hop on.” “Wait… you want me to hop on… you?” Twilight asked, somewhat mollified. Rainbow snorted, “No, I want you to hop on Pinkie obviously, come on, or do I have to carry you?” she asked, her smile belying her sarcastic tone. Twilight quirked her head slightly, taking a step back, “Now Rainbow…” she began, but even as she said so, she saw Dash’s grin as she replied, “Too late.” Dash lunged at Twilight enveloping her into a powerful embrace and shooting up into the sky, trailing the unicorn’s screams behind her. Eventually, Rainbow stopped, hovering and holding the shaking Twilight in her hooves, “We’re here.” She replied smugly, “You might want to put on that cloud walking spell.” Rainbow called down to Twilight as she drew level with a sparse cloud bank. Twilight’s horn flashed once before becoming inert once more, Rainbow took that as her cue to drop Twilight gently onto the cloud and alight next to her, carefully ignoring the withering glare Twilight was sending her way. “So, what do you think of the view?” she asked nonchalantly, watching Twilight’s expression out the corner of her eyes. Twilight sighed and lifted her eyes from Dash, looking around at their scenery. Silence. “Wow.” Author's Note Early Morning Prompt deployed.
QuillsScritch-scritch-scritch The sound of a quill was the only sound in the library, save for the breathing of the mare behind it. The mare had drawn the blinds to the sun outside, the only light in the room being that of a small lamp next to her, sending a flickering yellow flame upwards. The mare wasn’t worried about her house catching fire, it had already been protected against such an eventuality several times before. And even if the worst came to the worst, her… friend would be able to find help sufficiently quickly. She was still her friend right? After this, after what she asked? Scritch-scritch-scritch Of course she was, she was just… a better friend than before, that was right wasn’t it? But that meant she was prioritising her friends, that wasn’t right, she was almost certainly sure about it… Scritch-scritch-scritch So what was it then? The mare still hoped that they were… friends, but why did her stomach lurch uncomfortably whenever she even thought of being… just friends. What was it that she’d called it before? Being her special somepony? That seemed more… fitting, but again, her mind rebelled. None of her friends were more special than the others, they were all equally brilliant in their own unique way. Scritch-scritch-scri- Her quill snapped. The mare let out an explosive sigh, her head sinking as she realised just how caught up she’d become in her thoughts again. A few moments later though, she felt a tap on her back. She turned around and saw her… friend, holding a cerulean feather in her smiling mouth. Twilight Sparkle smiled and took the feather from Rainbow Dash. Screw thinking, she really was special. Author's Note Another mini-prompt, this one is actually one that I gave myself. I liked the idea, so I created it. Wonder what the actual response will be...
ImportanceWhere to start… that’s always the question, isn’t it? There are usually others – minor qualms and worries that need satisfying – but it always comes down to that one inevitability. There has to be a point, somewhere along the line, where someone looks up and asks it. I bet that’s what happened when someone decided to document the history of the world. The world is a big place; it has a lot of history and a bit of it would have happened at the same time. How do you start something so monumental and important? There’s never a right way; that’s for certain. There’s never a right way to write the number eight on a sheet of paper. There are wrong ones, yes, but there’s never an exact formula for the unmistakably correct way of writing it. You could start from an infinite number of locations; the top, the middle, the bottom, the side, the other side, between them. As long as you kept bisecting the line, you’d always find a new starting point that was neither wrong nor right, that part solely dependant on how you continued. They probably had that trouble with the maps of the world. Once you mark one line of one village, it’s there; you can’t lift the ink away from the paper anymore, you have to live with the choice and move the features of the land around that one line. It’s why the start is so important; why the end doesn’t have to matter so much. The end is just another stage in completion - The start is the stage itself. A plan is made up of two stages: the idea, and the implementation. They’re useless without each other. You need one to give vision and the other to lend substance to that idea. To have one without the other would be pointless. And where did all plans start? That was the question. The plan is important. The idea is flexible; drawing a circle is easy - flexible. The implementation is not. It’s where you pick one of a million- a billion- possibilities, and follow on from that as best as you can in theoretical terms alone. The execution was where you had to excel. That was where your plan was set in stone, where the start of your plan was put to the test along with all subsequent decisions. It’s always such a simple question; that’s the beauty of it. Where do you start? How do you know what possibility out of many is the right one. There are nearly 319 billion combinations of the first four moves in a standard chess game. All of those spring from twenty different ways to open the game. The start opens the way to new possibilities; it sets you on a path that you cannot change. There’s no way to tell which of those is the right – or the wrong – paths until you have followed them to the very end. I suppose one start is as good as any other though – and it’s certainly better than no start at all. I suppose this is my own; my own declaration of intent and my own promise of what I am doing. ‘Dear Princess Celestia…’ Author's Note There's something to be said about writing at this hour in the morning... I miss it quite a bit actually... It's generally more fun. Chess statistics taken from Here
NibblesThe creature advanced slowly upon her prey, the pegasus in front of her, hopelessly ignorant of it as it continued to creep slowly towards her, its eyes fixed upon a point just above Rainbow Dash’s neck. Closer and closer it crept, its target now clear as the creature grew nearer and nearer. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash yawned, throwing her legs skywards as she stretched, leaning her head back to an encore of small cracking and creaking noises, causing the creature to freeze completely. The pegasus opened her sleepy eyes and looked straight at the creature. “Mor- Morning Twi’.” She said, yawning. The creature sighed, standing up. “Hey Dash.” The creature, now revealed to be Twilight Sparkle, looked at Rainbow, who’d rolled herself onto her front and had tilted her head, scrutinising her. “Say Twi’, why are you wearing my super-awesome Spy suit?” Twilight glanced at herself, the catsuit she’d borrowed from Dash still covering her frame. “Research purposes…” she offered lamely, hoping that her infamous sociability would deter any more questions. Her eyes flitted back to her previous target again, then back into the face of Dash as the other pony shrugged and closed her eyes again, resting her head on her hooves. “Well alright… just give it back when you’re done, mkay?” “Sure.” Twilight’s eyes moved back slowly, drawn to the point from earlier as her hooves started silently forwards again. She was almost there… She could do this… Her head was inches away… Then Dash twisted beneath her, two hooves enveloping her in a hug as Rainbow brought her head up and started… Nibbling on Twilights… ear? Her eyes widened for a moment, having expected her target to have been somewhat more… mouthy. Her eyes flicked over to Twilight, scanning her expression, which had become decidedly more relaxed as Dash continued to knead the ear between her teeth. She followed Twilights’… surprisingly static gaze towards her own ear. Rainbow let go of Twilights’ ear, chuckling softly. “Almost egghead… almost.” Author's Note Slightly odd one this was... The original idea was that Twilight's read up on a small pointer that nibbling a pony's ear is meant to relax somewhat... After that... It degenerated somewhat.
WonderboltShe’d finally made it! The Wonderbolts, her lifelong dream was within her reach. Her dream had finally started coming to life when she’d received a summons to Spitfire’s office at the Wonderbolt training centre. She’d been going there for a year now and as far as she could see, she’d been going from strength to strength, her moves were the fastest, the most elegant, and after the first time, she’d hardly broken anything around the course… Much. When Spitfire invited her in with a smile, Rainbow had wondered what was going on, Spitfire NEVER smiled at a recruit whilst they were in her office, it was unheard of. It was when she’d sat Rainbow down and poured her a whiskey that she’d started to suspect something, and if that wasn’t enough, then the question came. “Why do you think you should be a Wonderbolt?” Even now, as she whispered the revered question, she couldn’t help but shiver in anticipation. But even then… She hadn’t answered until she’d thought things through, and even the answer she’d given was a simple one. ‘It’s my dream.’ That was when Spitfire had smiled widely at her, and passed her an envelope. An envelope with a lightning bolt seal on the back. She was graduating with full honours and a position within the Wonderbolts. And if that wasn’t enough, she’d told her marefriend, Twilight Sparkle about it, and she’d smiled wider than Spitfire had done, and hugged Rainbow tightly. All she'd told Rainbow between the happy cuddles, was this. “I’m happy for you.” Author's Note Made in 5 minutes... The ending changed 4 times while the setting remained constant... Try to guess where it is.
Owl“Say Twi?” “Mmmm?” “Where does Owlicious go after he finishes up here?” Twilight paused in her eternal writing, turning towards Rainbow Dash, sat behind her and looking at her owl’s perch. “I’m… not sure really, I’ve never exactly followed him, I just assumed that he went into the forest somewhere to sleep or to hunt, why’d you ask?” “Just thinking…” Rainbow replied distractedly, still staring at the perch, the book in front of her long-forgotten. Twilight shrugged and turned back to her studies, dipping her quill into the inkpot again and resuming her scratchy writing. “Twi?” “Yes Rainbow?” “Fancy finding out?” Author's Note 1/2 parter.
Wrestling“No.” “What did you say?” “I said no.” The ponies passing by the library shot a confused glance at the building as a pair of voices inside steadily rose. “For the last time Rainbow, I don’t care if you’re the best damn flier in the whole Universe, you’re still living under my roof and you have to follow my rules!” “And when I don’t want to have my live dictated to me by some obsessive unicorn with a tendency to blow up at the sight of one measly unwashed dish?” One of the voices inside let out an explosive sigh, trying to contain her simmering anger, “It’s not just the dishes Rainbow… it’s the complete lack of disorganisation for crying out loud. How are you supposed to live your life when you have no checklist or rules or anything to keep you in check? More importantly, how am I meant to keep track of my studies when you keep interrupting them incessantly?” A pause. “Rainbow… oh, sorry, I didn’t-“ “Is that all I am to you then? A distraction?” “Rainbow, I didn’t mean-“ “Sorry for distracting you then, I’ll just go and remove myself so you can get your ‘important’ work done shall I?” The venom in the voice was unmistakable. “Rainbow, I’m-“ “Save it, I’ll talk to you in the morning, maybe.” And with that, a prismatic-maned pegasus slammed open the door to the library and flew off into the night. Author's Note Interpreted to fighting. Thank you interpretation :)
SpiralTo Twilight, it was the epiphany of all that was wrong in her life at the moment. The endless and monotonous line, closing inwards towards a foregone conclusion. Maybe… maybe she’d hoped for this too much? Maybe she’d meant what she’d said? It didn’t matter. She’d taken her temper out on Dash, and now she was paying the consequences. One wrong move, and her life had ground into a standstill, a singular point. All that she had to do now, was lift the pen from the paper. Except… no, she’d remembered what it felt like for her, for everyone you love to abandon you and leave you alone. She’d never wish that on anyone. Not even her worst enemy. No, she’d fix this before she closed the book. Even if it did become worse, she’d try to simply reinstate everything to before they started their relationship. As the best of friends. Who knew what could happen though? As she stared off into the distance, her quill, Rainbow Dash’s feather, re-traced the spiral she’d drawn on the paper. From a singular eventuality, into the horizon. Author's Note Another morning edition... Have fun.
Skyfall‘This is the end’ The bar was strangely quiet, the only prevalent noise coming from the mare crooning softly upon the stage. The bar itself presided over a single mare, slouched over the counter as she watched her amber poison swirl about in its glass. The mare’s normally vibrant colours were dulled somewhat, cast into shade by the dim lighting. ‘Hold your breath and count to ten’ She kept one bleary eye on her glass, she wasn’t sure how many of them she’d had, all she knew was that it wasn’t enough; it would likely never be enough. ‘Feel the earth move and then’ Where had it all gone wrong? That was the question swimming around the drink, both in her head and in her glass. Sure… things might not have been perfect, but they’d been getting along, they’d been going steadily, they’d both made a point of working out their differences as much as they could. So why had things taken a turn for the worse? ‘Hear my heart burst again’ A small part of the mare’s brain, not yet tainted by the alcohol, spoke up. Things hadn’t been perfect, not by a long shot. They’d tried so much, too much; it had become detrimental to their relationship. No relationship was ever perfect, every relationship had its flaws, it was how the partners dealt with them that mattered. They shouldn’t have done what… what Twilight had done, stamping out every issue as if it was one of those ants which found their way underhoof most of the time. It should have been a concerted effort by the two of them to find a solution to each problem as they saw fit. ‘For this is the end’ And look where it’d got them instead. This wasn’t a healthy relationship; things would only get worse and worse as time progressed. There’d be more fights, more niggles, more disagreements, it would all end in apathy if it went on like this. She didn’t want that to happen. It didn’t seem right, they’d had awesome times together, the times when she’d wrap Twilight in a hug and lay her head across her neck, when Twilight would let out a soft chuckle and would ask where the real Rainbow Dash was. ‘I’ve drowned and dreamt this moment’ She didn’t want the relationship to end like that, with no regrets, if Twilight and her broke up, she wanted to remember the times they’d had together, she wanted to be able to look back on their memories and smile whimsically at them, she wanted a small path for her to recover their relationship. ‘So overdue I owe them’ In the end, it all boiled down to another ‘what-if’ scenario. What if she broke it off with Twilight now, after cleaning up the current mess that is, it’d be clean, there’d not be many hard feelings, it’d be like the last several months never happened, as if she and Twilight had never started dating. ‘Swept away and stolen’ Or what if she offered Twilight an ultimatum, to help her fix the relationship, to work through their problems together, to find solutions which worked for both of them, to let their relationship continue and to do her best to keep it functional. ‘Let the Skyfall’ Making her decision, she downed the whiskey in front of her and made her way towards the door and the dark night of Ponyville. Author's Note James Bond title music is too damn good to pass up a prompt on. Music is from: Here
Socks“Stay… perfectly… still… and gotcha!” A flash of bright phosphorescent light lit up the library momentarily before it faded back into the dark gloom. Inside, the photographer was fiddling impatiently with the camera’s back, trying to pry it loose with the aid of tooth and hoof. After a minute of struggling, she finally managed it, letting forth a triumphant cry of “Aha!” She extracted the roll of film with patient care before placing the camera on the side and unrolling the film. Eventually she stopped about mid-way through the reel, coming to rest on a picture of a Unicorn with a grumpy face, shooting daggers at the camera. That wasn’t what the photographer cracked a smile at though, preferring to snicker quietly at the socks which crept up Twilight Sparkles legs as she sat there glaring at the camera with a disgruntled frown. Rainbow couldn’t help herself, she squee’d at the photographed pony and hugged the film tightly to her chest. She’d have to ask Twilight to develop it for her later. Another glance at the photo. Correction, she’d ask someone in town to develop it for her. She was disturbed from her reverie by the other voice in the room, from the subject of her photograph herself. “So how does it look Rainbow?” she asked, folding her forehooves and looking at her photographer, completely oblivious to the second squee rising in Rainbow’s throat. Instead of an answer, Rainbow settled with pouncing onto Twilight, hugging her tightly as she kissed her. She was going to receive some sort of payback for this… But it was so worth it. Author's Note Thank you Cedric Inuzuka for the prompt... Welp, there goes my previously unbroken record at not using memes like squee-ing and such... Any regrets anywhere?
SeaShe sucked in a breath; she could do this. She’d done it before and she had no doubt that she’d do it again. She simply had to focus; to control herself and to control her emotions. It was the whole point of this exercise; to control her emotions. There was her calm, deep blue and chilly, just beneath the surface. It had been her friend for longer than any true pony she’d care to mention, her patience, partially hidden by her calm and glowing amber through the seas in her mind. The golden sun hovered above her; tired and wan. She paused to collect herself and dove deeper into her core and the seas of emotion in her mind. The water frothed and thrived as she threw herself into the tense waters of scarlet; all calm forgotten and lost. She steadied herself in the seas and focussed again, blocking out her own emotions and simply looking through the scarlet sea. Somewhere to the left of her there was a lime green reef of hunger, unnoticed until now. Deeper below her, a pale-blue light throbbed and ebbed. She swum down again, ignoring the angry orange of frustration next to her, lining the rocks like algae. Further and further down into the water she went, noticing the gradual change from red to white to pale blue. The water was warming up too, imperceptibly yet still there as she grew warmer along with the surrounding tide. There was a cave, just visible through the clear blue water, far below her. The water grew warmer and warmer as she continued towards it, ignoring the heat as best she could, grimacing as it stopped being warm and became hot instead. Ignoring her fur, starting to itch as the skin beneath it heated up, she swam into the cave of orange rock. The glow kept pulsing, coming from deeper inside and lighting up the frustrated walls and the green stalactites of fear. The cave twisted this way and that, pressing down on her as she explored further, the walls pressing in against her chest as she squirmed down jagged corridors of scalding water. Then she was out. She broke through into a cavern, leaving the water behind as she stood up in the heated opening. She was sweating already as she looked around in the hazy room. The orange rocks were dimmed, the icy blue light stronger than ever. There was a seed in the room and on the charred sand of an emotion she had no name for. It was no bigger than an apple, looking more like the stone from a peach. Even from the walls, she could feel its contents writhing, twisting and screaming from in its container. Despite that, she kept moving closer, letting the heat wash over her until she was stood over the glowing rock of icy blue. She regarded her anger curiously. Celestia had told her to try and siphon some of it off, telling her that it would only explode if left untapped. Looking at it for herself, she wondered how she hadn’t noticed it before; her anger, no matter how good she was, shouldn’t have been able to fit into something this small. Cautiously, she reached out a hoof, wondering how she’d go about it; she had no real idea beyond this point. Then again, this was her own mind, it shouldn’t matter what she did, only why she did it. Steeling herself, she lifted her hoof higher, holding it over the stone. Then, schooling her features, she stomped down onto the stone and let it shatter beneath her hoof. Twilight Sparkle gasped, opening her eyes as she felt an unbearable heat wash through her. The full force of her rage ran rampant through her body, unleashed by her mind. Her coat turned iridescent then white-hot, the skin beneath it doing likewise as her mane smoked into flames. Had she looked in a mirror, she would have seen her eyes, once violet, now the same icy blue as the stone in her mind. Twilight Sparkle growled as her anger grounded itself in her. It was time for revenge. Author's Note Colours were running through my mind. Along with about seven different songs.
SinsRainbow Dash whistled a jaunty tune to herself, she’d not felt this happy in a long time. Everything was finally looking up, she had the job she’d dreamt of, the life she’d hoped for, and the mare she loved. There was nothing that could tarnish her good mood. Nothing, that is, until she saw the note tacked onto the door of the library by a small nail. She frowned, lifting the small note from the nail and holding it out in front of her. It was exactly the same as the other pieces of paper she’d found randomly dotted around Twilight’s library, the same five words: Debts outstanding: Twilight Sparkle’s soul And just like every other note she’d found, she scoffed and forgot about it a moment later, opening the door to the library and slipping inside, looking around quickly for a moment before sighing to herself, she knew exactly where Twilight would be. She’d already known where Twilight would be if she was honest, it was the one thing that did intrude on her good mood. A few weeks ago, Twilight had started having strange dreams, when Rainbow had asked about them, Twilight had clammed up tight. Rainbow had gritted her teeth and tried to get Twilight to share that, going so far as to pull out the old card of ‘working through their problems together…’ It hadn’t worked. She’d just shook her head silently and stayed that way until about Rainbow had called it quits. Like it or not, she couldn’t force her marefriend to tell her something against her will. Twilight had her own stubborn streak that was probably a few miles longer than Applejacks own for that matter. She had refused to budge and so Rainbow had just sighed and spoken quietly. “I’ll be here when you can trust me enough to tell me” Twilight hadn’t moved as Rainbow left the room, shaking her head slightly. She’d made a promise to herself that day, she wouldn’t try and press the secret, whatever it was, from Twilight, she’d do that herself in her own time and when she was good and ready. Which was why Twilights’ request two days ago had been completely out of left field, almost to the point of worrying Rainbow into breaking her promise. “I want you to promise me something Rainbow, no matter what, no matter when, I want you to protect me” Rainbow had smiled warmly at Twilight, held open her forelegs, and held Twilight tightly, letting that simple gesture say all the words she needed to. She’d been burning with curiosity inside, but she’d had a distraught Twilight within her hooves at that time, she’d had to prioritise. But it had set Rainbows’ nerves on edge, that cool exterior from earlier now paper thin as she was reminded of the abnormal occurrences that had been plaguing Twilight for the past week or so. So much so that Twilight had taken to permanently retiring to her study whenever the library was empty, hiding away from the world in her workroom lit by four candles with a large tome from the main library. Rainbow sighed and knocked gently on the study door. The library remained silent. Seeing an opportunity to try and get Twilight to lighten up, her face lit up with a pranksters smile and eyes gleamed for a moment. Careful to be as quiet as she could, she opened the study, expecting to see Twilight, asleep on the floor. She wasn’t. Her eyebrows creasing, Rainbow strode into the room, pranksters smile turning quickly into a worried frown as she looked around the small room. A slight breeze was flowing through, caused by the window, slightly ajar from its holding just above the desk. Rainbow walked over and shut it, brow still furrowed. She made sure the window was locked, then looked down at the desk. There was a note, hammered into the flat surface by a single nail. Rainbow read it, blinked, and read it again. A moment passed, then she tore out from the room, yelling for her marefriend at the top of her lungs. The paper fluttered gently in the backdraft of Rainbow’s hasty escape. Your debts have been paid Think on your sins Author's Note This is somewhat wayward The two notes were somewhat tricky to plan... they don't quite have that feeling of malevolence that I was looking for.
SpongeThe land before her was peppered with craters and holes, and more holes filled each of them, creating huge pitfalls every few paces apart. Rainbow Dash smiled to herself as she looked over the barren waste of red rocks and burnt stone, what was it Twilight might have called it? Swiss cheese? She managed a quiet chuckle to herself before she cut it off and shook her head slightly. Here she was, on the path to Tartarus itself, and she was thinking about what Twilight would have said. Her smile faltered as the memories hit her again. She’d sworn never to let any beast of Tartarus touch her, and yet here she was, fighting past the gates of hell to rescue Twilight from beasts which should have never trapped her in the first place. Rainbow had vowed to herself to go after Twilight, to the very depths of the abyss if that was what it took, she had vowed to fix this wrong and give the beasts of Tartarus a damn good kick on the way past. She’d lost Twilight once before, she wasn’t going to let it happen again. Author's Note Never underestimate my abilities of interpretation. Thanks to Timeaus again for the prompt.
DesertThe pony gasped as she entered the desert, stretching its black sand in front of her and in every other direction, the biting chill of the desert contrasting with the scorching heat of the crags before. On a whim, she turned around, finding no trace of the crags she’d travelled previously, only more of the cold and black desert. She spun about, looking for a feature, a hill or a valley, something to tell her where the hell she was. Then she remembered. This was death, this was the path that every pony took upon dying, the dark desert was watched by the bony spectre whom lets only the dead pass. She caught herself muttering a half-remembered prayer from long ago. She stilled her tongue and took a step forwards into the black desert. If memory served, the desert was immense, larger than the whole of the Earth and without water or sunlight. It was the promise of the bony spectre, ‘you will walk the desert, one way or another, but you will walk the desert.’ Rainbow Dash licked her lips with a dry tongue. Somewhere within the dark desert, Twilight was waiting for her, cold and alone in the blackness, just waiting for the bony spectre to claim her. And he would if Rainbow didn’t find her, she would die, alone and afraid inside the dark desert, and it would be Rainbow’s fault. She set off; her pace determined and confident as she started her search of the twilight desert.
NightmareRainbow Dash laid next to Twilight, a foreleg wrapped around her as she tossed and turned in her sleep, grunting every now and then. She felt so… helpless. Give her a Dragon and she’d buck it in the face ten times over. If it threatened her friends, she’d beat it to a pulp to protect them. If it dared to threaten Twilight Sparkle, she’d damn well try to launch it to the moon. But she couldn’t help her now… Not in her dreams. They’d started a week or two ago. It really wasn’t surprising that Twilight could have bad dreams, if not worse than her friends. She’d been through hell and back once… literally, and Rainbow suspected that there was yet more she refused to share. They’d asked Princess Luna to help, yet she’d revealed that Twilight Sparkles dreams, and all elements of harmony, were no-longer under her domain. She’d have to fight them herself. But she didn’t have to sit next to Twilight every night before bed and coax her to her nightmares. She didn’t have to lay there next to her as she tossed and turned, mumbling at horrors Rainbow herself could only dream of. She didn’t have to feel the guilt every morning as Twilight woke and vowed not to sleep that night, even as she made plans to make her do so. Yet she could not be mad at the Princess for something which she could not do… no matter how hard she tried. She just had to wrap her hooves around her marefriend and hold her tight, protecting her against the unspeakable horrors of the night. Author's Note Two chapters made in less than an hour? Whoo :) Alright... I'm actually going to order them now, so the authors notes are no-longer going to make sense chronologically.
DancersThe band played a slow tune as the dancers spun and twirled in slow circles and orbits, stepping in time with the slow beat and tune of the music. Two of the dancers, older than most of the others, made their own way across the floor, independent of the others as they swirled and twisted through the others. But when the singer started, crooning softly into the microphone, the pair stopped, dead centre of the dance floor as the other couples kept their orbits. I want to live life Never be cruel The couple started spinning, clockwise whilst the others rotated widdershins I want to live life And be good to you They span slowly, each of them simply leaning against the other as they turned I want to fly And never come down Both of them wore simple dresses, made for practicality more than style Live my life Have friends around Yet one dress was made to accommodate the wings of the Pegasus within, while the partner rested a slender horn against the other’s back We never change do we? No, no The band’s tune turned eerie as the dance floor acted as one, each partner dipping their other as the music played across the floor, each pair becoming whole as one We never learn do we? The pair in the centre brought themselves back together and closer, finishing in their hug once again So I want to live In a wooden house A pause as the eerie music wafted across the hall, then they started turning again, their directions reversed I want to live life Always be true Again, they settled back into the slow turn as the music flowed past them, the orbits of the dancers back in place I want to live life And be good to you The dim lighting was provided by the stage and a single candle-lit chandelier, high above. I want to fly And never come down It wasn’t much, but it was enough to show the milky-blue and lavender-grey coats of the two ponies dancing below, the sun amongst the planets. Live my life Have friends around No-pony noticed the details though; they were all watching their other partner. We never change do we? No, no Again, the eerie noise echoed throughout the hall. Again the partners dipped. We never learn do we? Again the partners lifted and again, the partners hugged. So I want to live In a wooden house Then they stopped, the partners simply rocking from side to side in time with the music And making more friends Would be easy One held out their hoof to the other and the other took it, a smile present on every face Oh and I don't have a soul to save As one, half the dancers started spinning, their hooves guided in circles by the rest Yes, and I sin every single day They span and span and span, until the centre of the system saw just black and blue, repeated in a blur We never change, do we? And as abruptly as it had begun, it stopped. We never learned to leave. And the dancers spun and twirled upon the dance floor. So, I want to live in a wooden house, Making more friends would be easy, I want to live where the sun comes out. Author's Note Not so much Out-and-Out TwiDash as what is implied. Also, this little idea came thanks to Timeaus and his song-prompt collection. We Never Change by Coldplay
BitsIt was a house in the country. Far from the cities and the lights and the noise. The house belonged to two ponies, they’d bought it when they were young and lived there since. Within the house the timeline was laid out in odds and ends, bits and bobs. Upon the mantle in the main room, just above the fireplace, there rested a picture of the two of them, many years ago and some before that, the day of their wedding. As if that wasn’t enough happy memories for them, the rest of the shelf was crammed with pictures, all framed and kept smudge-free, all enchanted to repel dust. From left to right, there was the earliest, a picture of six mares, all smiling and laughing and having fun together, then four of the ponies disappeared from the rest. A picture, taken on the seaside by a passer-by, another on the highest peak of Canterlot Spires, one more of one, then the other. Their travels were scattered within the house, an antique pot from Eastern Equestria, a thank you present from the Zebras, but none of those could match the memorabilia, and they were dwarfed by the books, yet both were nothing against the albums and even they could never match the memories. The kitchen, the scorch mark where one of them had set the pan on fire, the bigger mark where the other had tried to put it out. The study, a writing desk of neat piles and ordered pots, with a quill of sky blue. The library where they had both unwound and the bedroom where they’d both been loved. Now finally the garden, their lasting possession, ‘Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash’ ‘Together Forever’ Author's Note Apologies for the absence of prompts. Mixture of burnout, being busy and probable procrastination... Take the damn story and go!
The End of the Day (Post S3)"You are dismissed." The order rang out across the great hall. As one, the guards turned smartly, trotting out of the large double doors at the end of the hall before they swung shut. There was silence for a few moments, then the only pony left in the room shuddered and sighed. Princess Twilight Sparkle slumped back into her throne, gazing around herself at the tapestries and gentle lights of the twilight court. She wasn't sure what had been harder to get used to, the ponies calling her a princess, or the fact she was the sole ruler of the afternoon and twilight courts. Luna held the night court, Celestia held the dawn court, and she held the afternoon and the evening courts. It hardly seemed fair to her; why couldn’t Cadence take over the afternoon court? There were enough of them now so that the workload could be shared out evenly. Yet it was Twilight who found herself picking up the slack here, there and everywhere as Celestia and Luna were kept occupied elsewhere. It reminded her of when she’d been small and when she’d asked Celestia why she gave up so much of her time for the courts. “I make sacrifices for my ponies, Twilight,” she’d said, “I am the one who will do it because, if I don’t, who will?” She hadn’t replied that it was because she was the ruler of the land; she’d said that she was a pony, just like everyone else, and like everyone else, she had a job to do. She woke up every morning and went to work, then came home in the evening; just like a normal pony. There were some differences, sure; Celestia didn’t have to suffer the morning commute. Celestia never took a day off sick. Celestia had no-one to return home to at the end of the day. And now Twilight was expected to follow in her hoofsteps. She would dedicate herself to her- their ponies, and she would be a good ruler, a good listener, and a good friend to those in need. And she would have someone to return home to at the end of the day. She would be able to go home to someone who understood what she went through at work and she would be able to go home to someone who cared for her. She was a princess now, that was true enough, but that didn’t mean that she had to be lonely. How could she be lonely? She had several friends that would ensure her time spent here would not be in loneliness. Of course… they wouldn’t be able to be here all the time. That was why one of them never left though, wasn’t it? They stayed so that she would never be lonely; that she would always have someone to return home to at the end of the day. She stood up from her throne – custom-built by herself – and went through a small door behind the throne, closing and locking it behind her as she continued down the passageway. Just like normal ponies, she had her secrets now. She had the secret buried in plain sight of everyone. It had its own thrill – the joy of knowing something that no-one else knew; the pure, unadulterated pleasure of simple possession. Even if she was sure that no-one would mind anyway… She found herself in front of a staircase spiralling upwards. Stepping onto the enchanted stairs, she muttered the word “up,” and steadied herself as the staircase leapt into life, spiralling upwards towards the upper levels of the palace and towards her quarters. The secret wasn’t the passages and alcoves hidden about the castle. Nor was it how some of the paintings were fake. It wasn’t even that she’d quietly had Shining Armour re-tasked so that he was always there during the twilight court. The staircase stopped and she stepped out from behind a particularly ugly gargoyle, stepping into the hallway and moving towards her room in the ivory tower. She pushed open the doors to her house and stepped inside. “Yo, Twilight… I thought you said you were going to be back earlier tonight. Court ended a whole fifteen minutes ago.” “Sorry, Rainbow… I got distracted.” Author's Note This story isn't dead... It's just mostly so...
And Nopony Cried (Not Related to Previous)And nopony cried On the day that pony died. They uttered no words. And nopony cried. Once she lived, since then has died. No tears did drip; drop. And nopony cried When Twilight Sparkle did lie Upon the marble. And nopony cried When the ice queen was felled. When ice found death; fire. Did nopony cry When she, the student, was tried? They wept no clear tears. Did nopony cry When the graves and tombs were dug? Soul returned to soil. Did nopony cry When the true word was returned? Unforgivable truth. Did nopony cry The day Twilight Sparkle left? Disappeared to die. Did somepony cry Once her mind turned stale and sour? Once judgement did flee. Did somepony cry When actions spoke louder words? And life was taken. Did somepony cry The day when madness arrived? Broken words, no thoughts. Did somepony cry When Twilight Sparkle took sick? No flu nor fever. And somepony cried When Twilight Sparkle did rest. Dead on a table. And somepony cried When everything had ended. Quiet nights, silent days. And somepony cried For a pony once she loved A pony once hers. And somepony cried On that bittersweet day; that Twilight Sparkle died. Author's Note This is what happens when I don't write for a while... Odd things appear. In this case, exceedingly odd... Obviously enough, this is a set of sixteen haikus detailing a single event. This was influenced by the Godfather, not by Nickelback, surprisingly enough...
Powerful (Not Related to Previous)How do you go about describing power to someone? It’s amazing how many ponies aren’t satisfied with my description of ‘feeling powerful’. But, again, it’s not something you can really put into words. How do you describe the feeling of blood rushing through your veins, burning its way through your system as your senses are kicked into overdrive? How do you go about re-telling the experience of when the world seems to pause and wait for you to make your move? The simple answer seems to be that you just don’t tell them how it feels. It’s apparently a tried-and-true method of staying out of both the dungeons and the looney bin. Yet even that method doesn’t work sometimes. Have you ever had an experience that you simply couldn’t keep to yourself? Power can be a bit like that… It whispers to you, reminding you about that one moment of bliss that only you could achieve. It begs to be shared amongst others so that they may know of true power. But, again… if you tell them that you can crumble a rock to dust with mere thought, they start to doubt you. If you tell them that you can turn that dust to lava with a command, they start to avoid you. If you tell them that you can float that lava and use it as a weapon, they start to fear you. Someone once said that it was for those with great power to decide whether or not they wanted to use it. I think I can see what they meant now. Great power removes the choice of good and evil and changes it for another. It asks the user whether they choose to be feared or to not use magic at all. It’s very hard to not fear someone with great power, especially if you’re there, stood next to them as they lose control and turn everything in their way to smoke and ash. I’ve lost control once or twice in my life… Simple things… Every unicorn loses control at least once when their power is awakened. It’s a simple estimate as to how much power they can control at the time and can usually be controlled. Thankfully this is usually when the unicorn is still young, meaning that the magical fallout from an unstable unicorn is usually minimal. The worry generally comes when an older unicorn loses control… One of the first things a unicorn is taught is control. It’s accompanied by the grave warning that control must be kept at all times, else the unicorn is likely to endanger both themselves and anyone around them. The more powerful a unicorn is when they lose control, the more danger they put themselves in. But losing control of your power… is one of the most cathartic experiences in the universe. For every second you aren’t in control, you relax more and more, letting the built-up emotions inside of you loose onto the world. You learn to love the feeling of power coursing through your body; that wondrous feeling of being completely invincible and unbeatable. You become accustomed to knowing that you can truly do anything, and the sudden lack of that becomes a barrier. You start thinking that perhaps control is optional; that to loosen control is to improve yourself until you have no control yet your complete power. It’s the wrong theory, of course. Control is a method of stemming the flow of power through you. If you lose control for too long, you run out of magic to burn and you start burning up yourself for fuel. But… it’s still enticing, sometimes, to let go. To feel the blood heat up in my body, to feel my senses widen and my well of power open. Some would probably say that to enjoy the feeling of my mane crackling into flame, and to relish the sensation of the power sat behind my horn, is to invite fear unto myself. To them I say: “I don’t care.” Author's Note Ta da... I'll go away now... I'll see you in 2015 with the next meagre update to anything.
On a Sunny DayShe’s behind me now; she has been for a while. She sounds so carefree- so… blithe and cheerful. That’s who she is though. She’s me on a happier day- a sunny day. She looks just like me too… I guess… That’s who she is. She’s me- part of me- another part of me- a happier part of me. My mind- our mind- is vast… it’s the expanse of the sky and the height of the world; infinite wonder in which we live. Myself and I. We live as owners of our own world. An unearthly tune starts up behind me; she’s playing some sort of instrument now… a shell of sorts. It sounds eerie- alien. I shiver to myself and look out into the world again. We’re moving across it; I don’t think I mentioned that. Me, myself, and I, we’re moving across a world of sky on our own ship- our own wings; an island with a windmill… turning slowly behind us in the windless sky. She pauses in her tune and I hear hoofsteps in the grass – moving towards me. “Yo, are we there yet?” The newcomer’s voice is sharp, slightly scratchy, and fast. It suits her… “There’s nothing stopping you from going there yourself…” I reply, not facing her as she starts to play another note on her shell. My voice is a burr; low and slow. She hears it though… I would bet that she does too. “Yeah… but there’s only so much you can do on this place… and it’s no fun without you or her with me.” “Then be patient,” I reply calmly. “You and me know that that’s her business… not mine.” “You and I,” I correct, still not looking around – I know it annoys her. “Then be fast – that’s you, right? Go and amuse yourself.” She huffs behind me as another note echoes from the shell. “Fine… be like that,” she mutters under her breath – it doesn’t matter… I can hear her anyway – before turning and stalking off. Wings unfurl somewhere in the background and she takes off, flying into the sky of our mind. The music hitches as she pauses. “You shouldn’t antagonise her,” she states. Of the three of us, her voice is the closest to normal that we have. She sounds almost normal… it’s a wonder why she’s the least normal of us. “I thought I was being fair,” I reply, a smile forming on my own face at my own hollow humour. “She’s just being who she is,” she says matter-of-factly, “It’s no wonder that she leaks through the most.” “And yet you don’t,” I say sadly. The pregnant pause says it all. A minute later, she starts playing the shell again, letting the music sail into the sky. She’s the smart one of us three. She’s the one who likes the arts – the one who gets lost in a novel, the one who can draft a piece of haunting music, the one who can sculpt anything she wishes. And she’s right… it’s no wonder that she bleeds into us so little when she is here. It’s a pity… considering. There’s me too… the one who steers; who looks for adventure and for something new to see. Be it creature, place, or face. Speed, Art, and Wonder. The three of us that make up her. Speed is the character of us… she is who we seem to be most often. The pony with the wind racing through our mane and the world in a blur below us. I am the explorer; courage if you like. The one who will never give up; never back down; never stop looking. I suppose I am Loyalty… some part of it anyway. And she – Art – is none of us. Hers is the mind that is seen once in a blue moon when a particular cover is opened or when a cloud is shaped in the midnight. Speed doesn’t really like Art… ‘what’s the point of something static that is only there to look at.’ She’s strangely sweet on her though, I’ve never really understood why… Art is the smarter of us three too. It’s her choice, I think… She’s probably smart enough to push her way into us… to make herself the predominant trait if you will. She doesn’t though – thank Dash – instead, she just sits in our mind and works… I think I like that about her… I wish Speed would slow down and let her shine… Author's Note See Melody for where I got the idea from. If there are still doubts by this point... these are the three traits of Dash.
PackageRainbow Dash tapped her hoof against the desk in front of her and the pony across from her squirmed. He had learnt very quickly that she was not a very patient pony, yet there was nothing he could do. Yes, he’d acknowledged that the mail usually took three-to-five working days to arrive from Canterlot to Ponyville, and that yes, she’d placed her order exactly five working days ago. Sadly, she hadn’t been as pleased when he’d told her that the package was not – against all previous information – actually here yet. As a matter of fact, none of the packages due for arrival today were. They were still waiting for todays’ mail to arrive. “So…” Rainbow Dash said, breaking him from his reverie, “When do you usually get the mail?” “Around 9, usually,” he replied, glancing at the clock, which had apparently decided that the world could live without 9 AM for one day and was already making significant headway towards 10. “Maybe you could come back later?” he asked hopefully, well aware that she was driving a slight dent into his desk with her constant tapping. “Can’t do,” she said, shaking her head and continuing to tap – tap, tap, tap – against the desk. “Well, how about-“ – tap, tap, tap. He groaned through his teeth. “Listen,” he said, trying not to sound angry, “Could you please stop that incessant tapping?” Rainbow stopped tapping and gave him a dead stare. “How about this,” she replied, “I’ll stop tapping when the mail arrives.” He met her glare and winced as he heard the tapping start up again, this time to a tune he was unfamiliar with – if such a tune could exist anyway. He forced himself to breathe in and out as she continued tapping with no apparent rhythm or rhyme. There was a buzz that cut through the air and someone spoke over the intercom: “Mail’s here.” After another three minutes and twelve seconds, he’d rooted through all the mail bags in order to find that dratted mare’s one package. Now that it was in front of her, she smiled at him and left the post office, humming another unfamiliar tune to herself. Rainbow Dash glanced at the package on her back again and smiled to herself. “I wonder if Twilight’s awake yet…” Author's Note This is certainly one way to get back into writing... It seems that the Twidash Prompt thread is active again. I must do my duty as current holder of the 'most prompts completed' accolade :P
AftermathRainbow held her there as Twilight wept, it was all that she could do, but she still felt helpless to stop Twilight from feeling this way. It was a while before Rainbow realised that she’d stopped crying. “Why did you follow me Rainbow?” Came a small voice from within her hooves. Rainbow looked down to see Twilight’s tear-streaked face staring morosely back up at her. “Because that’s what friends do, right?” she said, smiling softly at Twilight. “Then where’s everypony else?” Rainbow’s smile became somewhat forced as she sighed, lowering herself to the ground so that she was sat next to Twilight. “I don’t know Twi… we all stayed after you left, me, Fluttershy and Pinkie were worried, Applejack and Rarity were less so. They said some… less than nice things about you after you left. That made Pinkie deflate, and things just tailed off after that. Rarity left, then Applejack with a simple ‘I’ll see you later,’ then Fluttershy left… then I did, to come after you. Pinkie just stayed there, I should probably check on her when we get back.” “When we get back Rainbow?” “Yeah, you and me, who else am I going to be bringing back with me? A manticore?” A smile played around Twilight’s mouth before she sighed, expression heavy once again. “I… don’t think I want to go back Rainbow.” “Don’t be silly… not going back? Then what would I tell the others when they asked where you were?” “They wouldn’t ask. You know that.” Dash sighed, hugging Twilight again. “I’m sure some people would ask. What about Cheerilee, the Cakes, Carrot Top, Lyra, Bonbon, all those friends you made in Ponyville over the years.” “You mean like Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy?” Rainbow winced. “Ponies would still ask about you though.” “Name three.” “Pinkie Pie, Celestia and Shining Armour.” Rainbow said almost immediately. Twilight scoffed. “When was the last time I had regular contact with my brother, I could have been living in a swamp and he’d be none-the-wiser. Celestia is my mentor, it’ll look odd if she simply stopped noticing me and you said it yourself, Pinkie wasn’t herself, you don’t know how she actually took my ‘coming out’.” Rainbow sighed again. “I’d ask.” Author's Note yep... I had a whole day and I write this... enjoy
Storm“Hey Twi.” Twilight Sparkle looked over to the voice, her face breaking into a smile as she saw Rainbow Dash hovering just next to the balcony. “Hey Rainbow.” Twilight glanced up, any hint of the open sky above had been hidden by a thick layer of clouds, dusky grey and blown about by an ominous wind. Rainbow had spoken about this before, the Great Storm which only happened once every two years. Rainbow had explained it to her a few nights ago, apparently the normal occasional storms that were scheduled by the weather team weren’t actually that efficient. There was always some rain left over after the very occasional storms and it was always being joined by the water cycle, sending more vapour skywards. As if that wasn’t enough, they also had to deal with a fair amount of cloud from the Everfree drifting across into Equestria… It all added up to the Great Storm. She shivered slightly as the wind blew its chilly tune into every nook and cranny that it could reach, the storm wasn’t going to start for another few minutes, but that didn’t stop the atmosphere from making it suitably spooky. A few moments after the gust passed her by, she heard a muted thud and felt, rather than saw Rainbow sit next to her. Twilight leant gratefully against the warm pegasus, who was more than willing to wrap her friend up in one of her wings. Neither of them said anything, neither of them did anything. They simply revelled in the calm before the storm. Author's Note ... Game on. Also you can thank bats for turning me into some sort of mini-prompt addict... Moar... MOAR!
Makeover“Come On Rainbow!” “No, I don’t care, I’m not going.” “It’s only one afternoon trip to the spa with our friends.” “I’m still not going, there’s no way, no, way, I’m going to be caught in some stupid spa after last time.” Twilight sighed, she’d expected that she’d have some difficulty persuading Rainbow to come along with her. “Which is why Rarity took the liberty of hiring out the private section of the spa this time.” “Still don’t care, I have to practise my flying if I’m ever going to get into the Wonderbolts.” A frustrated groan caused Rainbow to look over the side of her cloud at the unicorn below her, now with a hoof firmly attached to her face. “You alright there Twi’?” “Fine… just fine. You know what, I'm not even being sarcastic here, I’ll just rescind my own invitation, I’ve some tomes that I needed to finish anyway.” The hoof lowered from Twilights’ face as she turned around and started her way back to the library. Not five paces later though, her path was blocked by Rainbow. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, just because I said I didn’t want to go doesn’t stop you from going, I know you like that stuff. It’s just me that doesn’t.” Twilight shook her head slightly, angling her head towards the ground, “No, it’s fine, I just thought, no. Nevermind.” Rainbow quirked her head at Twilight, “You thought…?” Twilight mumbled something, far too quiet for Rainbow to hear. “What?” Rainbow asked, “Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that.” “I thought you’d make it a bit more bearable…” she muttered in reply, her gaze now fixed on the floor as her face flushed red. She stayed like that for a few seconds, then gasped, her head shooting up as something feathery laid itself across her back. A glance to her side revealed Rainbow, smiling encouragingly at her. “Let’s go back to the library shall we? There’s a new book you keep telling me about.” “Maybe we could read it together.” Author's Note Hmm... wonder if I could somehow fit all these prompts into a progressive order from non-TwiDash into a relationship... That's not actually a bad idea. Also, because I'm bored... anyone who suggests a mini-prompt will get a story. What order you get any of these hypothetical responses in is completely of my choosing.
PicnicWas everything ready? Everything looked ready; there was the cloth, the basket of food, the soda, the spring water, the sun above her and the sparkling lake before her. So why did she have the nagging feeling that she had forgotten something. Not that that was an option here, everything has to be one hundred percent awesome or else… No, she wasn’t going to think about that, she wouldn’t mind if it was a complete disaster, not her. Speaking of her… she should be here any minute now. Rainbow Dash looked around from the top of the hill, Ponyville reservoir behind her as she gazed down the long winding path towards Ponyville. The long empty winding path towards Ponyville. No, it was fine… Rainbow was probably just early, yeah… there was no way she’d miss a date with her friends. She’d just said date didn’t she? No, no, this wasn’t a date. Dates were for uncool ponies or something. But… if ponies were going to judge her for having a date with her, then screw them and their damn… what’s the word… lameness! She’d date whoever she damn well wanted. Screw what they said. Still, she let out a sigh of relief as her companion of the hour appeared through the treeline, making her way towards the lake. Rainbow gave the other pony a wave, which Twilight Sparkle returned with a bright smile, causing Rainbow’s heart to pause for a moment, then start beating again. “Hey Rainbow.” Twilight said when she reached the picnic blanket. “Hey.” She replied with barely hidden enthusiasm, then froze, all thoughts of her amazing plan, gone from her head. “So-do-you-wanna-come-and-join-me?” she asked, not daring to pause should her tongue freeze up again. Twilight giggled, sending Dash’s heart into overdrive, there was something about her laughter that made it so… so… nice. “Sure, I don’t know what else you were expecting me to do.” Rainbow snapped back to the present just in time, smiling giddily as she led Twilight to the blanket, lying down on the far side of the basket. Twilight joined her, her soft smile still fixed on Dash. Dash smiled back at her, she could do this. She could show Twilight the awesomest time ever, then she could hopefully ask her for another time… With her newfound confidence, she flicked open the basket with her nose, and found what she’d forgotten. Author's Note As requested by Timaeus Hope you enjoy it. *Sigh* I've written around 3000 words on this, and not another word within my actual workload... Meh.
PrankTwilight Sparkle moved about her silent house, a sandwich held within her magic. It was gone midnight and the unicorn had been up late, experimenting on the workings of pegasus magic. But now she’d finished for the night. She’d rolled her experiment notes into a scroll and stored them within her safe where she kept her most cherished research. Now she’d finally be able to get some sleep, if her partner allowed it that is. She blushed, starting up the stairs and finishing her sandwich. It was taking some… getting used to, that was for certain. But at least Twilight could easily say that it’d never been boring around the place. Far from it. With a barely suppressed smile at her memories, Twilight opened the door into her bedroom and was immediately splattered with something viscous and dark. Before she’d even had a chance to open her mouth, that was followed by a sudden cascade of snowy feathers and a Rainbow Dash shortly after, who promptly secured a rubber beak onto Twilight’s muzzle and stood back, admiring her work. Twilight stayed stock still, just in case there was anything else coming, but loosened up as Dash lost her cool and collapsed onto the floor into a fit of raucous laughter. Twilight’s eyebrow twitched. “Oh hello Rainbow Dash… nice to see you too.” Twilight said cooly, her voice echoing oddly through the ‘beak’. The giggles paused for a moment as Rainbow looked up at her, then came back full force as she lost it again. Twilight sighed. So much for a nice peaceful evening. She left Dash to her laughter, heading towards the bathroom with weary acceptance. She paused, looking towards the large mirror that stretched across the tiles. She couldn’t help but chuckle softly at her own appearance, no wonder Rainbow had broken down like that. Shaking her head slightly, she prepared herself for the arduous task of washing off the gunk in the shower. Like she’d said. Far from boring. Author's Note If you wanted to follow a set storyline... this would probably be some time before 'Wrestling'. If you don't want to follow a storyline, this occurs in time x with Twilight and Rainbow. Anyway... huh, new comment. Ok, it's another picture from Timaeus, I'm sure it won't be that- HNGGGG *Thump*
NewIt was before the crack of dawn in Ponyville, just as it was for most of Equestria. The streets were empty, the doors were closed and ponies laid in bed, sleeping the remnants of the night away. Yet some ponies refused sleep, rushing around their rooms, fixing up telescopes and binoculars, all working tirelessly to prepare the delicate equipment for this, the first solar eclipse in a millennium, to happen at five minutes past five in the morning. Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle were not rushing around and setting up their own stargazing equipment, Rainbow’s own kit consisting of little more than a spyglass she used for detecting rogue Pinkie Pies. Twilight on the other hand, did have her own kit, but Rainbow had flat-out refused to carry it for her after getting a look at it. All several tonnes of glass, steel, aluminium and notepaper. Instead they sat against a tree, out in a field a few miles out of town, gazing with their eyes alone as the two spheres drew steadily nearer to each other. “Remind me why there hasn’t been one of these ecliptical thingies for a thousand years again?” Rainbow asked. “It’s an eclipse, and mainly because it was incredibly hard to keep the moon and the sun going in two completely different orbits around the Earth,” Twilight started, “and also because Celestia never liked to look at the moon while her Sun was in the sky, I suppose it brought back some bad memories.” They sat there watching the sun silently as it began its journey behind the moon. Twilight shivered slightly as a cool breeze blew across the field, the shadows already visible as they made their way across the landscape. Rainbow looked to her side as Twilight shivered, unfurling a wing and slipping it around Twilight before drawing it tight, causing Twilight to glance down in surprise before relaxing against Rainbow with a muted “Thanks.” Rainbow smiled, resting her own head atop Twilights, keeping an eye on the eclipse as the sun disappeared completely behind the moon. And that’s where they stayed, watching the sun emerge again, framing the new moon in their minds as they sat together, neither willing to break the embrace. Author's Note Welp... big story that will include happy TwiDash or mini-prompt which also includes happy TwiDash... So much choice.
NatureThe two ponies steadily made their way through the undergrowth, trying to make as little noise as possibly as they followed the tiny spec above them, fluttering and flapping this way and that in the cold night air. Twilight, the pony bringing up the rear, was wondering how on Earth she got herself into these situations. Presumably it was linked with the amount of time she spent with Rainbow Dash and consequently the amount of time she spent listening to Dash’s ideas. Although she had to admit, this one had intruiged her every now and again. She had always secretly wondered where her owl, Owlicious had flown off to every morning, staying the day away from the library somewhere within Whitetail woods. She’d just never thought to question it further until Dash had brought up the idea the previous day. It was certainly turning out to be a long trek in any case, they’d been following him for the best part of half an hour since he left the library, not that Twilight could complain, he flew at a steady speed, about that of a quick trot as the pegasus flies. They never lost sight of him, at least not for long, and Dash had done her part, flying up every now and again to make sure that they were still following the bird. Eventually, after another five minutes or so of walking, they finally saw Owlicious fold his wings upwards and drop down towards a large cedar tree, the only one in a clearing. Twilight and Rainbow continued to approach stealthily, avoiding the dry leaves which littered the forest floor and dodging the twigs that dotted in other places. Eventually, there was just one more tree between the two of them and Twilight’s owl, Rainbow pressed herself up to it and leant around the tree as Twilight watched with a barely repressed smile. Then Rainbow froze, still looking around the tree and obstructing Twilight’s view. Immediately, she walked over to Rainbow and leaned still further around her before freezing, just as Rainbow had done. There, sat on a low branch, was Owlicious, staring at them with what could only be called bemusement. That wasn’t what caused Twilight to freeze though, it was the two owls behind his own that were peeking around his body that did that. Twilight felt something feathery embrace her back as she looked at the owls, glancing at the pony beside her with a smile. Owlicious had his family. Twilight had her own. Author's Note Part 2/2
FallingTwilight was falling. There was no other word for it, she constantly seemed to go downwards within the spiral of darkness. Except that falling was a silly word for it, there was no true up or down. She could have simply been flying forwards for the sake of argument. But there was just… something about this that spoke of falling to her subconscious mind. It was unexplainable, which irked Twilight immensely. But the thing that irked her even more, was the apparent disregard for time and space in this spiral of darkness. There was no indication that she fell closer to the ground, or for any significant length of time for that matter. It was just falling. Constant falling. Until she looked to her side, and saw her partner within the darkness of the spiral. She smiled at her companion, and her companion smiled back. Twilight turned within the air and embraced her, holding on tightly as the world shifted slightly. So that they were flying through the seven shades of the rainbow. Author's Note Dream sequence, engaged. Shorter than usual and more... odd. After butchering that sentence and verb structure, I'm going to lie down for a little while... Thank you coffee...
RumourIt was quiet in the library, the two ponies snuggled on the floor in front of the crackling fire paid no heed to the rain outside, nor to where they knew Luna’s moon to be beneath the cloud cover. Rainbow Dash had her wing laid across Twilight’s back lazily, providing an extra layer of warmth, while Twilight herself had pressed herself into Rainbow, keeping as much contact between the two as she could. “Twilight?” The named pony stirred against her, looking up at Dash after a moment. “Hmm?” “I talked to my boss, Spitfire, after work today.” “That’s good.” Came the drowsy reply. Rainbow sighed, shifting her wing slightly, and immediately it was as if someone had turned on a switch. Twilight blinked and looked at Rainbow with sudden wakefulness, “Sorry, what did she want?” “She wanted to say that she was, well, happy for me.” “Aren’t you happy Rainbow? I don’t quite get what’s wrong.” Rainbow looked into the fire, speaking up after another moment, “Sorry, of course I’m happy. I guess that I’m just not used to ponies ruminating on my private life.” She continued to look into the fire, then looked away into the eyes of the pony who was nuzzling her. “Let them say what they say, we know the truth right?” Rainbow Dash chuckled softly, returning the nuzzle and replacing her wing around Twilight again. “We know the truth.” She echoed, resting her head atop Twilight’s own and looking into the fire again. Author's Note 'And the truth is what matters' Is one way to finish that short... The others are slightly darker, but you choose what they say to one another. 'Snot like I'm leaving any of this open to interpretation or fitting them all into a longer story... <.< .>
Protest“No, nuh-uh, anything but that.” Twilight just smiled a grin and advanced slowly upon the retreating Rainbow Dash, matching her step for step with her evil grin. “I’m serious Twilight, anything, you can do anything, anything but that,” Rainbow said, looking behind her at the oncoming wall every few paces and gulping at how close it was. Her tormentor finally spoke, “I think it’s an acceptable remuneration for your antics with the socks, now I think it’s my turn,” she replied, grinning widely and continuing her advance. Rainbow gulped, looking behind her again just as she met the wall. “Oh ponyfeathers,” She muttered, turning back to face Twilight as she pounced upon Rainbow, holding her still beneath her. “I suppose begging for mercy is out of the question?” Rainbow asked hopefully, laid flat below Twilight. “Completely,” came the reply as Twilight lifted a single blue feather, twirling it within her magic and slowly lowering it towards Rainbow’s chest, giving no quarter as the pegasus squirmed beneath her. But just as the feather was about to begin its treacherous deed, it stopped, barely a hoof above Rainbow’s chest as Twilight’s grin widened further. “No… I seem to remember somewhere else that could use some experimentation.” It took Rainbow all of two seconds to realise what her captor was planning, “no, please, I beg you!” she cried out, writhing and trying to throw Twilight off balance, yet she to no effect, both of their eyes following the feather as it closed in on the defenceless target. Peals of laughter echoed up and down the library as the pegasus within Twilight’s domain broke down, howling helplessly as the torture continued. Rainbow attempted to withdraw away from the wretched instrument of torture, finding moments later that Twilight was a lot stronger than she looked as another guffaw wrenched its way up her throat. All as Twilight swished the feather back and forth about the tip of Rainbow’s hoof. Author's Note ... I really should try to make truly independent chapters again. Now they have references which only pertain to this...
ZombiesRainbow was surrounded. Everywhere she looked she saw the shambling dead closing in on her. Flying away was out of the question, the stifling and silent air was too heavy to even stand a chance of escape. The corpses were a mixture of species, ponies, griffons, armadillos and eagles were all in there somewhere, each of them with missing flesh, wings or organs, all of them closing in on the anomaly, the living pony within them. Rainbow Dash smiled. The zombies drew ever closer as the pony waited patiently, waiting for the opportune moment. She saw it. She took it. She lunged forwards into the first victim, delivering an almighty punch to the dead griffon before spinning on her front hoof and bucking the next two in front of her in the necks. A unicorn and a pegasus fell down, their necks at odd angles even as their executioner continued onwards. The zombies swarmed her, no-longer bound by the shambling walk that they’d entertained moments before, now they entered the fray, running on rotten limbs into the cloud of hot dust that littered the arena and surrounded the anomaly. The silent crags watched the cloud of dust swirl and settle in the molten air. A lone pony strode out of the still-settling cloud of red, her gaze determined. They’d tried to stop her in her quest. They’d tried to stop her reaching Twilight Sparkle. They’d tried to stop her from rescuing the love of her life. They’d paid for their sins. The silent crags and heavy air watched the pony stride through the ashes of the dead towards the black desert ahead. Author's Note Thank Genetic Anomaly (Spark of Twilight) for this little short. Determined Dash is not to be underestimated.
LostShe was lost, she swore she’d passed this exact same dune thrice before. The desolate landscape was getting to her after all this time; she’d been wandering around in the dark for, what seemed like, hours with not a thing to look at past the ever-rolling dunes. There were no hints of white amongst the black sand, nor the violet shade of Twilight that she searched for. It was just sand. Sand and dunes. There were no stars in the sky to guide her way, nor a wind to carry her feathers, the air remained perfectly still despite her movement. Almost as if she walked through a vacuum. She’d tried to fly up and see further than the next hillock of dark sand, but the air had pressed her down, refusing her flight and denying her the empty sky. She rounded another corner, hoping against hope that she’d see a colour which wasn’t in shades of dark and groaned audibly. It was the dune. The same dune. She’d drawn a cross in it with a hoof the last time she was here, and there that cross stood, clear as day and marked into the foot of the dune. Who was she kidding? She would never find Twilight, this desert was playing her for a fool, driving her in circles and circles until even the grains of sand could be recognised. Twilight had trusted her to keep her safe and Rainbow had tried… she’d failed. She slumped to the ground, the black sand shifting around her, accommodating her as she gave up and set her gaze on the cross. She’d been stupid, she’d been arrogant and idiotic, she’d thought that she could take on the beasts of Tartarus themselves and still hold her ace. She was an Element of Harmony for pony’s sake! That had to stand for something, right? Some element. She was going to die here, just like Twilight, and she’d never see her friends again, she’d never be able to tell them how sorry she was for all she’d done over the years, she’d never be able to apologise to her parents, never be able to tell Scootaloo that she was impressed about her skills. She’d never be able to say sorry to her. Twilight would probably die here too, then the beasts of Tartarus would come for her and Rainbow held little hope that she’d ever see hide or hair of Twilight again. So much for loyalty. No, you know what, screw loyalty, this was love, she loved Twilight and she wasn’t going to let any petty spectre made from bones stop her from reclaiming her marefriend. A shining halo of light, signifying Rainbow’s power from the element of love did not appear. The sands around her did not shift into a path directly towards Twilight Sparkle. The black skies above her remained starless and empty, the air still oppressively still. Rainbow groaned to herself, getting to her hooves and standing heavily. Grimacing slightly, she started off in a different direction, she might not have been the most loving pony in the world, but she’d be damned if she let her determination to find Twilight Sparkle be undermined. High above, a lone, ice-blue, star appeared.
Updraft (Post-S3 short)“Yes everything’s going to be just fine!” Was the last thing I said before I passed over something beneath me… It felt warm, which meant that it was only hot air, but hot air rises… meaning that I’d just hit my first updraft, with no idea on how to deal with it. I had just enough time to draw in one hesitant breath before my left wing twisted behind me, rolling my over and sending me into an irreversible barrel roll. How on Earth was I supposed to reverse this, I just kept rolling and going… slightly… downwards… “Oh horseapples.” I muttered from within the mini-tornado as the land began to replace the sky. I hated landings. Bracing myself for the inevitable impact with the ground, I almost didn’t notice when a quiet whooshing sound passed me by. That was when I impacted. Except the impact didn't make any sense… I should have still been at least 100 hooves into the air by now, gravity shouldn't have affected me that fast, even if I was adding to my momentum slightly. Added to the fact that there didn't seem to be any pain… A gasp from behind me finally forced me to open my eyes. “Rainbow Dash?” The named pegasus behind me smiled. “As if I’d let you fall.” Author's Note Written in 10 minutes? With no coffee? And having just woken up? The answer to all of these is yes, as to the imaginary fourth question on whether I should be doing other... more important things? Also yes.
