Random Acts of Fictionby TaliaChaptersChallenge 1 :: FireworksChallenge 3 :: The WellChallenge 5 :: The Lair of the BeastChallenge 2 :: Chocolate RainChallenge 1 :: Fireworks It was the perfect ending to a perfect night... almost. The moon shown down on the two ponies standing upon the plateau, its pale light washing softly over the valley. The mid autumn night was quiet save for soft burble of the stream behind them and the scream and booming pop as the fireworks whistled their way into the sky for their brief moment of luminescent fame. “They’re beautiful,” Calliope whispered to the stallion next to her. “You’ve truly outdone yourself this time my love.” “I made them for you Calli” replied the earth pony as he tried to keep from breaking into a thousand pieces on his last night with the pegasus he’d fallen so thoroughly for. It was earlier that day she’d told him she was leaving. Today was the celebration of the Autumn Moon festival and Talc had been putting the finishing touches on his last rockets that were to be shot off that night. At this Calli laughed, “You big liar, you made them because the village hired you to, for the festival.” The sound of her laughter was like the sonorous tones from a flute dancing through the night air. She took a step towards him, bumping her flank against his, and nuzzling his neck. “They're spectacular though, and I’m glad we could spend tonight watching them like this.” “I don’t want you to go Calli,” Talc said with a hard edge to his voice. He’d been so unsure about so many things in his life, but for once this was not one of them, he hated the idea of losing her. “Doesn’t that make any difference at all?” The villagers had begun the evening’s dancing, the two ponies on the clifftop could hear the faint sounds of music and singing wafting up on the breeze, adding a light melody to the continued explosions above. The festival was the penultimate celebration of the year for the village. It signaled the first harvest of the season, and it had been a bountiful haul this year, which meant the remaining harvests were liable to be large as well. “Of course it means something Talc,” she replied after a moment’s pause. “You mean so much to me, and I hate to have to leave you, especially like this, but you know I have to go.” The notice of the expedition’s approval and departure had reached Calliope just that very morning. She had been hoping for, and at the same time dreading its arrival for months now. Calli had applied over a year ago, at Talc’s urging, which was why it was so hard for her to see him so obviously distraught over her leaving. He had known it was a possibility. That was the trouble with love, you seldom got a choice in the matter, and it never took into account the direction each pony’s life might take. The multicolored explosive display was picking up its pace, as was the music from the village. The sheer excitement and jubilant tones were a palpable counter to the somber ponies beside the quietly trickling stream. Talcum knew the fireworks routine by heart having designed most of it himself, the finale was drawing near. “It’s going to be hard to say goodbye to you when you leave tomorrow. Not knowing if, or when, you’ll be back.” Talc looked over at the violet mare, her coat washed out to a light grey in the moonlight. He tried to look confident for her, but he was a terrible liar and he wore his worry like a zebra wears stripes. Calliope didn’t say anything to that for a while, she just watched the beautiful star flowers bloom in the sky, the creations of the colt she cared for more than any other. Finally she took a half step away and spoke, looking Talc firmly in the eyes, “Don’t say goodbye then. I’ll be back, I promise. Some day.” The light display was reaching its crescendo as all the remaining rockets were launched into the night air to burst in fiery glory. Talcum couldn’t bear to look at Calliope just then, it was all too overwhelming. He hung is head and tried to hold back the tears, his heart leaping to his throat, choking him. The pounding boom of the fireworks mimicking the throbbing of his head, drowning out any words he might have said, had he been able. Finally the festival’s fireworks ended, right on queue thought Talc. He lifted his head to look once more at his beloved mare, to tell her once more how he felt about her. It was only then that he realized he stood alone on the cliff. Author's Note Seto did the art up there in 30 minutes, with nothing but a description of "an earth pony + pegasus, night, river". I attempted to follow that time limit, but got distracted and took about an hour. I totally <3 Seto, he puts up with my crazy whims all the darn time. :) Challenge 3 :: The Well Listen and attend now oh Best Beloved, and hear the tale of Willow Dancer and the Dragon’s egg. This is a tale of when Equestria was still new and the land still fresh. Ponies had not yet explored the land before them, and they all lived withing the walls of Canterlot. This story is that of a young azure pegasus who we shall call Willow Dancer, Best Beloved. Though back in those days ponies used much longer names of grand distinction, which were often times very confusing, and not terribly helpful at actually helping ponies remember one another. But I feel it will be easier if we just call her Willow Dancer for this story. Willow was a young mare and loved to fly and find new things. She wasn’t an explorer yet, but only because explorers hadn’t been invented yet. So instead the other ponies of Canterlot called her a “pony who finds new things”, and this seemed to suit her just fine because that was of course one of her two favorite things to do. And so it was that Willow Dancer would go out flying every day. She would fly as far as she could each day until the sun was so high up in the sky that all the shadows of the land fled in fear of warm fiery gaze, many of thing shrinking down to almost nothing. This is because it is well known that shadows always flee the sun for they are its children and they have all been out playing far past their bedtime. They know that when the sun catches them they will be in trouble, so they always try to stay between something else and mother sun. So as the purple maned pegasus would fly she would to each of the furthest corners of the land she could read by the time the sun had made its way to the top of the sky, knowing that she would need equal time to fly back to the castle. She did not want to be caught outside the castle after the sun went down. One day she would fly East, and the next she would fly West. Some days she would fly North, and others she would fly South. On rare occasions, when she was feeling extra brave she would mix the directions together in the ways they seemed to like best. Some days she would try flying to the North and East at the same time, and would find herself in a completely new place than either the North or East had brought her before. For you see oh Best Beloved, this was in the days before ponies truly understood geography and maps. She was certain that the hills and trees would dance below her whenever she flew above them. Some days when she was out she would find a new thing, like a platypus, asparagus, or a rock that looked like a manticore sleeping. Else on occasion she would learn new things while she was out, like what ducks did in the summertime, or where waterfalls came from. Today was a special day though, oh Best Beloved, because today Willow Dancer found a new thing that she had never found before. Today on this most driest of Summer days, when the sun was high and it was ever so hot up there in the sky, Willow Dancer looked out as far as she could see. There at the edges of her seeing something winked at her. This new thing twinkled and sparkled and shone ever so scintilatingly at her, and it did make her wonder ever so much with curious curiosity. Not thinking about it for even the tiniest of seconds the purpled maned pegasus flew to this curious new thing as quickly as her wings would carry her. When she finally reached the source of the shining shimmering light that winked at her Willow Dancer found herself very far from the castle indeed. The sun was laying its self to rest as the moon slowly crept out to cover the sky in her dank blanket of night. In front of here was something which surprised Willow Dancer very much. It was a new thing, but it was a thing she already knew. Before her, on a ledge overhanging from a cliff, was a well. The young pegasus knew what a well was, they had them all over Canterlot, they were wonderful ways of bringing water up from the ground for everypony to drink, but this well was strange to Willow Dancer. She couldn’t imagine who would have built it way out here, so very far away from where any other pony had ever been. What was even more of a confusion was where the water came from. Willow Dancer took many turns flying to the well and looking down into its clear blue waters to see how far down the well went, and then down below the ledge, trying to find where the water came from. For you see oh Best Beloved, the water extended down inside the well that Willow Dancer couldn’t have found the bottom if she’d swum down for a day and more. So it was that Willow Dancer knew the well must be magic, and a magic well was most certainly a new thing, and truly the best kind of curiosity she could have found. She imagined all the wonderful things the other ponies would say when she told them about the well that hung over nowhere but was filled all the way to forever with fresh water! This was exciting for her most surely. Then with a most fearsome GROOOOWL! Willow Dancer was reminded that she had not eat in so very long. It had been a whole day since she’d left the castle, and normally she would be eating by now, but she was far away from both food and drink. Now, you must remember that magic is a most potent thing and it is not for the likes of most ponies to play with, but this was long before anyone had realized this to be a true thing. So it was that Willow Dancer quieted her rumbly tummy by drinking from the magic well. Suddenly a splashy swirl erupted from the water in the well. It drenched the thirsty mare from head to hoof, causing her to leap back unexpectedly and shout a surprised shout at the watery cyclone in front of her. To the little pony’s surprise the water shouted back. “WHO WAKES ME FROM MY NAP?!” Roared a bubbly burbbly voice. “WHO DARES DRINK ME IN SUCH AN UNDIGNIFIED FASHION?!” Willow Dancer cringed and shrank away from the voice that was ever so frightening. She had never heard water speak before, much less shout at her and it scared her something fierce. This was a new thing, but this was not a good new thing and she wanted to put it back and not ever have found it. The splashing swirling pillar of water, who it must be known was a nymph of all things wet, seemed to notice Willow Dancer then, and inquired of her most loudly, “WAS IT YOU? DID YOU DRINK ME AND WAKE ME FROM MY NAP?!” Willow Dancer nodded, afraid to say anything to this fearsome nymph. “YOU?! YOU DRANK ME? HO HO, WELL ISN’T THAT SO VERY BOLD OF YOU?!” Now the nymph seemed to be almost bubbling over with laughter. “WELL THEN MY LITTLE PONY, FOR SUCH AMUSEMENT, SUCH BOLDNESS, I SHALL GRANT YOU THREE THINGS. SO TELL ME LITTLE ONE, WHAT THREE THINGS DO YOU WANT MOST AND THINK ARE BEST IN LIFE?” Willow Dancer looked up at the water nymph and thought carefully before answering, “Well... finding new things is truly a best thing.” The nymphed laughed at this and said, “INDEED IT IS, AND SO I SHALL GRANT YOU A NEW THING! A THING THAT CAN BE MANY NEW THINGS FOR YOU!” With a shake and splash the nymph plopped out a drop of its self to the ground next the well. Where the drop landed a small basket, with a large white and purple dotted egg nestled safely inside it, grew out of the puddle left by the drop of water. Willow Dancer looked at the egg in the basket and found a gleeful smile hiding in the corners of her face. This wasn’t so scary, this was so many new things, and presents. She thought about the story she would get to tell her friends when she returned to the city which reminded her of the second best thing which she promptly told the nymph. “I know the second best thing! It is love, from friends and family, and all the ponies. Love is a best thing.” The water nymph pondered this and spouted back to the pegasus, “INDEED IT IS LITTLE PONY! LOVE IS TRULY A BEST THING, WE GROW STRONGER AND BIGGER WITH EACH ACT OF LOVE WE RECEIVE! AND SO SHALL MY GIFT TO YOU!” It was then that she noticed how dark it was getting and she knew what her last best thing was, so she said without hesitation, “I know the last best thing, it is to be home and safe.” The Nymph spun wildly for a moment before saying back all wet and slippy, “INDEED IT IS, AND SO I SHALL RETURN YOU HOME WITH MY GIFT. TAKE IT AND CARE FOR IT, THEY WILL NEED YOU AS YOU HAVE NEEDED ME TODAY!” And with one final gigantic SPLOOSH the water nymph called upon an old old magic, one from so far back in the days when the world was truly young and it too was a new thing. It called upon a magic that took Willow Dancer and it’s gift back to Canterlot, back to her home, back safe. Now you see oh Best Beloved, the nymph had given her its magic, but you must remember that nymphs are old and ever so tricksy. Their gifts are often not what they seem, and their magic always has another side. For the water nymph was still angry at having been drank so rudely by Willow Dancer, so he gave her a gift in kind. Her gift was the children of the water nymph, touched by a pony. They would be new things all the time, ever changing like the water spirit they had been born from. They would drink love like Willow Dancer had drank of the water spirit that birthed them. And they would always seek to come home, like the water spirit had returned Willow Dancer to when the day was done and the night had arrived. Author's Note our third art exchange challenge! Seto drew this for us in a little over 2 hours, which I thought was pretty amazing. I on the other hand sucked this one all to hell and back. probably ended up taking at least 4-5 hours to write, though some of that was due to life interrupting and causing trouble. I tried for at least some of this to borrow some of Kippling's voice from his "Just So" stories. I like the format and the method of speaking, it's very soothing and rambling, great for bedtime stories. I know I didn't get it perfect, but I wasn't trying for complete emulation, just borrowing a stylistic reference. I also think Seto may have named the pony Lina Starswirl, but I didn't know that at the time of writing this, so in the story it became WIllow Dancer. I have to say I love doing these exchanges. They're truly one of the best parts of my week, and Seto is a wonderful artist to get to work with, and a great friend. I'm pretty damn lucky. Also, the editing on this is horrible, I'll probably come back to that when i can see properly again. Challenge 5 :: The Lair of the Beast “We’ve found it Mistress!” The drone practically buzzed with excitement as it delivered the message to the queen. “The scouts have returned; they’ve verified its location in an old cave just north of the river, deep in the old woods, my Mistress!” The Changeling queen looked at her offspring with wariness mixed with expectation, wanting the news to be true but having been disappointed too many times before with this hunt. She nodded at the drone to lead her to the scout, she wanted to hear the details for herself. With a sharp about face the drone trotted back the way it had come, leading its queen to to a small glade where several changelings were using as a landing field, coming and going with their various tasks, all in service of their Mistress. Resting beside a tree, looking worn and hungry stood one of the queen’s scouts; she didn’t know its name nor even recognize it, not that either mattered. “My queen!” exclaimed the exhausted scout. Her minions didn’t stand on needless ceremony, there was no bowing, no grovelling; they knew their place was to serve their Mistress, they knew their lives were hers. Queen Scyrilia stopped and faced the messenger giving it a look of inquiry, one that demanded information, the scout complied without hesitation. “I have located the creatures lair my queen. I was scouting the northern woods nearly two days from here and I found its trail.” Pausing for breath the drone continued, “I was able to follow the markings of its passage back to its home, your dark radiance. I made sure this is where it returns each time.” Scyrilia looked pleased at the scout’s report, this might finally be it she thought. “It is late now, we will leave in the morning.” The drone that had originally brought her news of the scouts return sharply snapped to attention, nodding its head in understanding. “I shall gather a company of warriors to escort you my Mistress, we shall be ready to fly at your command!” “No,” snapped Scyrilia, then softened her tone to one of contemplation, “no, we shall only take a small force, a larger one may alert the beast to our approach and it will be waiting for us.” As she considered the plan further she spoke nearly as much to the drone as to herself, “In fact I shall go alone, save for the scout who located the creature, he shall attend me.” “B-but, Mistress, y-you can’t go alo...” The look queen Scyrilia gave the drone withered its resolve mid sentence and it quickly recognized the error of its choice in phrasing. Recoiling in fear of reprisal the drone coward before its mistress. “I’m-m sorry M-mistress, I-i didn’t...” Turning her back on the stammering drone she called back the scout, still barely standing upright a few paces away, “You have done well to bring me this news scout, rest and revitalize yourself before we leave. You may feed on this one, it obviously has no more use for it’s sustenance.” Without looking behind her, Scyrilia walked back to her shelter smiling as she heard the pitiful whimpering abruptly silenced and the sounds of feeding commence; she was not one to suffer such insolence lightly. When morning came to the woods the changelings had occupied for their camp all was quiet as though even the plants and creatures of the woods understood the gravity of the queen’s pending task. Queen Scyrilia had not slept, so wound with tension was she that rest would not come. As dawn’s first light shown through the leaves of the trees she located the scout and together they took flight from the glade. Traveling north they headed towards her goal; soon she would have all the love she needed to sustain her brood. ~o0o~ The two changelings barely spoke on their journey to the cave, there was no need. Aside from a handful of commands from the queen, what conversation could truly be had between Scyrilia and her scout? At times she longed for the intellectual stimulation of a good discussion, however these were not those days. Her mind was occupied with anticipation of the beast which she sought and the bounty it possessed for her and her brood. It took them nearly three days to fly to the location, the changeling queen taking a slower pace than her smaller more agile minion. When the finally landed a kilometer away from the scout’s claimed location of the creature’s lair it was just past dusk. A hush had fallen over the forest here, though whether that was because of the beast’s presence or the newly arrived changeling regent one could not easily say. With stealth the two made their way to the cave, listening for sounds of the monstrous being residing within. They could hear the heavy sounds of breathing from within the darkened cave. The entrance was so dark not even their superior vision, which normally had no trouble seeing at night, could pierce the blackness of the cave. Whispering, the scout declared to his regent, “I believe it is asleep Mistress, we should be able to approach safely.” Nodding in agreement the two crept up to the mouth of the cave. It wasn’t until they were a handful of paces from it that they heard the deep rumbling laugh. The beast was awake, and it knew they were there! The changelings paused mid stride as the two glowing red eyes of the Trollolol opened ever so slightly and gazed out at them with smug amusement. In a moment of rare concern for her offspring Scyrilia shouted to the scout to flee, “FLY, QUICKLY, AWAY FROM HERE!” Turning and dashing away from the awakened terror the scout obeyed its leader, never once thinking she wouldn’t be following with. Scyrilia however had other plans, digging her sieve-like hooves into the cold hard dirt of the forest floor, she lowered her head and pointed her crooked horn towards the chuckling Trollolol. From within the earthen cavity came a derisive booming voice, “You think you can best me, you pathetic excuse for a two dimensional miscreant? You don’t have what it takes to bring me down!” “Wrong, beast! I shall destroy you and take what you have viciously stolen from so many!” With a shout Scyrilia let for a blast of neon green energy from her horn, sending it unerringly into the blackness, aiming right between the two glowing red eyes. As the viridian light flashed, pushing back the light-less void around the creature she saw it wince with what she hoped was pain. “HrraaaaarrrrrghahahAHAHAHA!” the Trollolol seemed to cry out, only to quickly begin laughing as though the charge of power had merely tickled it. “Heh, well if I’d known you were just here to titillate me I would have saved some dinner for you,” mocked the irritating monstrosity. In response the changeling queen unleashed a furious barrage of energy, throwing nearly every spell she knew a the creature. The trollolol merely laughed more, reveling in her inept attempts to subvert its defenses. Without any perceptible action the Trollolol began doing what it did best, Scyrilia could feel her life force being sucked from her as wave after wave of palpable malfeasance washed over her. She could feel her energy, her hard earned love being drained away, carried towards her foe. She knew this was going to be a difficult battle but she had never expected it to be this bad, already she could feel herself slipping away, losing her confidence. “Such a worthless creature you are,” it chided, the creature’s tone dripping with derision. “King Sombra could have made a better showing than this. Changeling QUEEN? HA, you won’t be able to DRAG your way out of this one dearie! Why don’t you take your little horde and vanish? Quit botherin’ me. It’s not like you have any real place in this world. I mean where do you even come from?” The ceaseless taunts hit her like hammer blows each time. She could feel her heart seizing up inside as the words seemed to mimic her own cruel thoughts. The red eyes seemed to gloat as they watched Scyrilia drop to her knees, her legs no longer having the power to support her. She tried one more feeble blast of magic, which fizzled and died centimeters from the Trollolol; She had nothing left. It was as she was about to just lay her head down in the dirt, giving her task up as a failure that she remembered what she had learned during her research into this creature. She had come seeking the love it had stolen from all those around it. The trollolol was rumored to drain the life from its prey by stealing its will, its love, its essence and trapping it away in a magical box. It was also believe to be nothing more than a figment; no one believed it actually existed, thinking it to be merely an old pony tale meant to frighten the gullible. Scyrilia had known it was no mere pony tale, but she began to wonder about the rest of it. What if the old scholars had been right? Her drones had brought here centuries worth of information, distilled to its useful bits, about the trollolol. Maybe what they’d found and relayed to her hadn’t been useless disbelief by the scholars. What if it had been more than that? Summoning the last reserves of strength she attempted to stand. Her legs wanted nothing more than to stay where they were, so each attempt brought here only halting upwards before one or more of her legs would give out and collapse beneath her. Unwilling to give up without trying this last thing Scyrilia kept trying, all the while the trollolol continue taunting her, mocking her efforts to thwart it. On the fifth try she finally managed to push herself upright, expelling the breath she’d held as she exerted all her will into the simple act of standing. “Now it is time to see what you really are you foul creature!” intoned the struggling polymorphic pony. Slowly she resumed her advance, no longer spending energy to fuel her magic, it was all she could do to put one hoof in front of the other. “I will suffer you vile litany no longer, trollolol!” “Oh why don’t you go back and cry about it to your minions you pathetic excuse for a princess wannabe,” chided trollolol, though the changeling thought she could detect a tinge of worry creeping into its commentary. She clung to that and used it to move herself forward a few more paces, she was nearly at the cave entrance. With one last grunt of effort she stepped into the cave. She could still hear trollolol abusing her, but it was as though she’d stepped passed some kind of barrier. The words no longer seemed to effect her as they had outside the cavern, from behind the invisible wall they almost seemed humorous and pathetic in nature. “They were right,” Scyrilia mused. “it was nothing more than a figment, an illusion all this time.” Astonished that she had allowed herself to be harmed by such a creature, much less a mere illusion, the changeling queen stepped boldly down through the cave, seeking her treasured reward. It sat on a altar at the back of the cave, a small slab of stone, glowing with a lambent white light on one of it’s surfaces. Within she could see the tendrils of love and worth stolen from countless ponies around Equestria. To Scyrilia it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen, to her it was a source of love and sustenance that would feed her and her brood for ages to come without fear of discovery or reprisal from Celestia or the rest of her princessly ilk. Scyrilia had seen well what had happened to Chrysilis and had taken to heart the folly of attempting to confront the pony princess on her on turf. Taking the magical slate in her magical grip Scyrilia exited the cave. The Trollolol unable to prevent her departure, swiftly becoming little more than a fleeting memory in the back of her mind. Stretching her gossamer wings she took to the air, and flew towards her waiting scout who hovered half a kilometer away, confident his queen would prevail. Together they took their prize back to the hive. With a food source acquired she need only find a safe place for her and her children to reside, safe from the meddlesome influence of ponykind. Things were looking good for Scyrilia and her brood. Yes, today was a good day indeed. Author's Note The fifth challenge with Seto Entry found here: http://seto1337.deviantart.com/#/art/Drawing-Challenge-5-Cave-of-Legends-375831637?hf=1 He did this with the description of: Perilous, Night-Time, 2 ponies, anywhere Took him 2 hours. Mine took about 3-5 20(ish) installments, because life yet again got in the way. #IHateBeingAGrownup I love how similar the to the show style this came out, and his backgrounds are improving so much, it's really awesome to watch the progression of Seto's art. And he drew changelings just for me, 'cause we like changelings. Challenge 2 :: Chocolate Rain It was a beautiful day in Ponyville. The sun was shining, Rainbow Dash and her team of weather ponies had cleared nearly every cloud from the sky, and Rarity’s ear shattering scream could be heard for miles echoing off the hillsides. “SWEEEETIIIEEE BEEEEELLLLLEEEEE!” could be heard throughout the town. In the town square Thunderlane hovered and stared in disbelief as Rarity’s shop hung idly upside down over the Ponyville fountain which was still happily burbling away below. Words escaped the pegasus at that moment. One moment he was heading back from the market; the next he was pulling up short to keep from crashing into the shop as it suddenly appeared before him suspended in midair. Down on the ground Carmine Rosa looked on in fascination. She looked around quickly to see if maybe discord had come back to town, feeling that floating business establishments were surely a sign of the Draconequus’ return. She then called up to Thunderlane, “Hey Thunder, can you see any chocolate milk clouds up there? Bring them over here if you do, I’ll be back with a barrel!” After which the deep crimson pony rushed away from the town square procure a barrel. The sounds of a struggle could be heard inside the shop, followed by a series of crashes and muffled curses. “Ooof!” Crash! “Sweetie...” Bang! “...Belle...” Clang! Crunch! Boom! “But Rarity,” squeeked a slightly muffled but insistent voice from higher up boutique. “How else are we gonna figure out if... Hey why’s everything upside down?” Thunderlane listened to the exchange of voices coming from different parts of the inverted shop, continuing to hover a few feet from the building. He tentatively inquired of those inside, “Do you ladies need any...” “Heeeeeeeeelllllllllp!!!!!” came a cry from up above them all, getting louder by the second as though somepony was rapidly approaching the scene in distress. Thunder looked up only to see a tiny orange mass of flailing hooves and flapping wings heading straight for him. The dark grey stallion panicked for just a split second; it seemed like whatever was going on was bound and determined to kill him today. Then he realized it was Scootaloo barreling towards him completely out of control. Springing to action he raced towards the struggling filly and tackled her mid air. “Oooof!” they both uttered as the wind was knocked out of them from the impact. Scootaloo flailed for a few more seconds while gasping for breath until she realized she was firmly in the hooves of Thunderlane. “Careful there kid,” chided the winded stallion, “you were almost as flat as a parasprite caught in Pinkie’s waffle iron. What’re you doin’ falling outta the sky like that?” The response came from behind Thunderlane rather than from the purple haired filly in his arms. “We was bakin’ a Sue Flay!” came the twangy voice of yet another infamous young pony of Ponyville. Thunderlane spun in the air to view the speaker who was lounging against the inverted window sill bold as you please, just watching Thunder like nothing was out of the ordinary. “A-a-applebloom,” he stammered, not quite believing her relative calmness in the face of being contained within an upside down flying fashion boutique. “What Is Going On Here?!” Applebloom’s reply was delayed by the shouting of the shop’s distraught owner as she continued to make her way up to the shop’s bottom floor. “Sweetie Belle, you put my shop back properly. Right! This! Instant!” As if summoned, the little white unicorn filly appeared in the window sill with her companion and took in the sight before her, “Oh Scootaloo, you’re alright!” Then looking at Applebloom, said with a blush of embarrassment, “I think maybe its time we got Twilight Sparkle...” Applebloom considered this for a moment until she heard the crash and curse of frustration come from the next room over, significantly closer than it had been before. Sensing the rapidly approaching doom of an irate Rarity, Applebloom nodded and replied, “Good idea, come on Scootaloo, lets go find Twilight.” Without a second thought the yellow pony jumped up onto the window ledge, lept onto one of the shops hanging banners and slid down until she could safely drop upon the head of the pony statue adorning the top of the town’s fountain. Sweetie Belle immediately followed suite and Thunderlane just hovered there, jaw dropped in astonishment at the Crusaders and their antics, until Scootaloo took advantage the opportunity and lithely struggled out of his grasp to flutter her way down safely to the ground. As Scootaloo was dashing after her cohorts she called back up to Thunderlane, “Hey thanks again Thunder, and if you see my helmet just leave it here with Rarity, we’ll be back in a little bit!” Helmet? Thought the highly confused Thunderlane. Where would I find her... BONK! His thoughts were interrupted by a little blue helmet hitting him squarely on the head. His vision went blurry for just a moment and he lost control of his flight. Wobbling, the pegasus unintentionally drifted towards the open window the two fillies had just vacated. At the same time as a furious mare was climbing up into the same window, huffing and gasping for breath. When Rarity looked up she had only a second to see the concussed pegasus careening towards her before she was knocked gracelessly back onto her flank. The stallion lay dazed and confused, and briefly the two looked like a Yin and Yang sprawled upon the ceiling turned floor; his dark coat contrasting with her lustrous white one. Disentangling himself Thunderlane stammered an apology to Rarity, blushing furiously with embarrassment and still a little concussed. “Oh don’t worry about it dahling, I just simply don’t know what I’m going to do though. My shop is a mess and completely upside down! I swear when Sweetie Belle and her little friends return they will be putting all of this back in order.” Thunderlane took a moment to look around the room, apparently he had entered into the kitchen, though it took him a moment to realize it with everything being the wrong way around. “Wha’s goin’ on heres,” inquired the woozy and slurring stallion, “Do youf neez afy helps, Warity?” Rarity looked at Thunderlane in concern, seeing he was obviously out of sorts, “Oh no no no dear, you look like you need more help than me right now. Let me get you an ice pack.” She began to open the freezer door while explaining what had happened. “That is positively the last time I agree to filly-sit those three, they create utter catastrophes wherever they go. I thought letting them make lunch would keep them out of too much trouble...” Without warning Thunderlane decided helping such a beautiful pair of mares like Rarity would be a good idea. He began flying up towards the freezer where Rarity was working to pull out an icepack for him, “No no, hair Rartea, let me get dat fur you,” he slurred. It was then that the oven timer went off with a DING!. ~o:0:o~ Outside the shop Carmine Rosa was returning, trotting up with an air of giddy excitement, a large barrel on her back, singing “Chocolate Milk! Chocolate Milk! Chocolate Milk for MEEEEE!” When all of a sudden a loud KABOOM! Was heard from the top of the overturned clothing shop. A piece of smoking shrapnel arced its way through the air straight for the gleeful earth pony who immediately ducked in terror and screamed. With a WOMF! Carmine felt something land heavily directly inside the barrel. Shakily she stood back up and looked over her shoulder to see what had landed in her container. Immediately she gasped in surprise and gave a squeal of delight before turning and skipping back the way she’d come. “Well,” she said to no one in particular, “it’s no chocolate rain, but instead I’ll gladly take a Thunderlane!” Author's Note Challenge 2 complete! Seto took just under an hour for this one after I asked for a ponyville/village scene in the day with something "odd" happening. I gotta be honest I never expected something like this, and I love it! It took me again about twice as long to write it, but I also had to go back and edit a lot of what I'd written the first time as my lack of sleep made it nearly unreadable originally.
Challenge 1 :: Fireworks It was the perfect ending to a perfect night... almost. The moon shown down on the two ponies standing upon the plateau, its pale light washing softly over the valley. The mid autumn night was quiet save for soft burble of the stream behind them and the scream and booming pop as the fireworks whistled their way into the sky for their brief moment of luminescent fame. “They’re beautiful,” Calliope whispered to the stallion next to her. “You’ve truly outdone yourself this time my love.” “I made them for you Calli” replied the earth pony as he tried to keep from breaking into a thousand pieces on his last night with the pegasus he’d fallen so thoroughly for. It was earlier that day she’d told him she was leaving. Today was the celebration of the Autumn Moon festival and Talc had been putting the finishing touches on his last rockets that were to be shot off that night. At this Calli laughed, “You big liar, you made them because the village hired you to, for the festival.” The sound of her laughter was like the sonorous tones from a flute dancing through the night air. She took a step towards him, bumping her flank against his, and nuzzling his neck. “They're spectacular though, and I’m glad we could spend tonight watching them like this.” “I don’t want you to go Calli,” Talc said with a hard edge to his voice. He’d been so unsure about so many things in his life, but for once this was not one of them, he hated the idea of losing her. “Doesn’t that make any difference at all?” The villagers had begun the evening’s dancing, the two ponies on the clifftop could hear the faint sounds of music and singing wafting up on the breeze, adding a light melody to the continued explosions above. The festival was the penultimate celebration of the year for the village. It signaled the first harvest of the season, and it had been a bountiful haul this year, which meant the remaining harvests were liable to be large as well. “Of course it means something Talc,” she replied after a moment’s pause. “You mean so much to me, and I hate to have to leave you, especially like this, but you know I have to go.” The notice of the expedition’s approval and departure had reached Calliope just that very morning. She had been hoping for, and at the same time dreading its arrival for months now. Calli had applied over a year ago, at Talc’s urging, which was why it was so hard for her to see him so obviously distraught over her leaving. He had known it was a possibility. That was the trouble with love, you seldom got a choice in the matter, and it never took into account the direction each pony’s life might take. The multicolored explosive display was picking up its pace, as was the music from the village. The sheer excitement and jubilant tones were a palpable counter to the somber ponies beside the quietly trickling stream. Talcum knew the fireworks routine by heart having designed most of it himself, the finale was drawing near. “It’s going to be hard to say goodbye to you when you leave tomorrow. Not knowing if, or when, you’ll be back.” Talc looked over at the violet mare, her coat washed out to a light grey in the moonlight. He tried to look confident for her, but he was a terrible liar and he wore his worry like a zebra wears stripes. Calliope didn’t say anything to that for a while, she just watched the beautiful star flowers bloom in the sky, the creations of the colt she cared for more than any other. Finally she took a half step away and spoke, looking Talc firmly in the eyes, “Don’t say goodbye then. I’ll be back, I promise. Some day.” The light display was reaching its crescendo as all the remaining rockets were launched into the night air to burst in fiery glory. Talcum couldn’t bear to look at Calliope just then, it was all too overwhelming. He hung is head and tried to hold back the tears, his heart leaping to his throat, choking him. The pounding boom of the fireworks mimicking the throbbing of his head, drowning out any words he might have said, had he been able. Finally the festival’s fireworks ended, right on queue thought Talc. He lifted his head to look once more at his beloved mare, to tell her once more how he felt about her. It was only then that he realized he stood alone on the cliff. Author's Note Seto did the art up there in 30 minutes, with nothing but a description of "an earth pony + pegasus, night, river". I attempted to follow that time limit, but got distracted and took about an hour. I totally <3 Seto, he puts up with my crazy whims all the darn time. :)
Challenge 3 :: The Well Listen and attend now oh Best Beloved, and hear the tale of Willow Dancer and the Dragon’s egg. This is a tale of when Equestria was still new and the land still fresh. Ponies had not yet explored the land before them, and they all lived withing the walls of Canterlot. This story is that of a young azure pegasus who we shall call Willow Dancer, Best Beloved. Though back in those days ponies used much longer names of grand distinction, which were often times very confusing, and not terribly helpful at actually helping ponies remember one another. But I feel it will be easier if we just call her Willow Dancer for this story. Willow was a young mare and loved to fly and find new things. She wasn’t an explorer yet, but only because explorers hadn’t been invented yet. So instead the other ponies of Canterlot called her a “pony who finds new things”, and this seemed to suit her just fine because that was of course one of her two favorite things to do. And so it was that Willow Dancer would go out flying every day. She would fly as far as she could each day until the sun was so high up in the sky that all the shadows of the land fled in fear of warm fiery gaze, many of thing shrinking down to almost nothing. This is because it is well known that shadows always flee the sun for they are its children and they have all been out playing far past their bedtime. They know that when the sun catches them they will be in trouble, so they always try to stay between something else and mother sun. So as the purple maned pegasus would fly she would to each of the furthest corners of the land she could read by the time the sun had made its way to the top of the sky, knowing that she would need equal time to fly back to the castle. She did not want to be caught outside the castle after the sun went down. One day she would fly East, and the next she would fly West. Some days she would fly North, and others she would fly South. On rare occasions, when she was feeling extra brave she would mix the directions together in the ways they seemed to like best. Some days she would try flying to the North and East at the same time, and would find herself in a completely new place than either the North or East had brought her before. For you see oh Best Beloved, this was in the days before ponies truly understood geography and maps. She was certain that the hills and trees would dance below her whenever she flew above them. Some days when she was out she would find a new thing, like a platypus, asparagus, or a rock that looked like a manticore sleeping. Else on occasion she would learn new things while she was out, like what ducks did in the summertime, or where waterfalls came from. Today was a special day though, oh Best Beloved, because today Willow Dancer found a new thing that she had never found before. Today on this most driest of Summer days, when the sun was high and it was ever so hot up there in the sky, Willow Dancer looked out as far as she could see. There at the edges of her seeing something winked at her. This new thing twinkled and sparkled and shone ever so scintilatingly at her, and it did make her wonder ever so much with curious curiosity. Not thinking about it for even the tiniest of seconds the purpled maned pegasus flew to this curious new thing as quickly as her wings would carry her. When she finally reached the source of the shining shimmering light that winked at her Willow Dancer found herself very far from the castle indeed. The sun was laying its self to rest as the moon slowly crept out to cover the sky in her dank blanket of night. In front of here was something which surprised Willow Dancer very much. It was a new thing, but it was a thing she already knew. Before her, on a ledge overhanging from a cliff, was a well. The young pegasus knew what a well was, they had them all over Canterlot, they were wonderful ways of bringing water up from the ground for everypony to drink, but this well was strange to Willow Dancer. She couldn’t imagine who would have built it way out here, so very far away from where any other pony had ever been. What was even more of a confusion was where the water came from. Willow Dancer took many turns flying to the well and looking down into its clear blue waters to see how far down the well went, and then down below the ledge, trying to find where the water came from. For you see oh Best Beloved, the water extended down inside the well that Willow Dancer couldn’t have found the bottom if she’d swum down for a day and more. So it was that Willow Dancer knew the well must be magic, and a magic well was most certainly a new thing, and truly the best kind of curiosity she could have found. She imagined all the wonderful things the other ponies would say when she told them about the well that hung over nowhere but was filled all the way to forever with fresh water! This was exciting for her most surely. Then with a most fearsome GROOOOWL! Willow Dancer was reminded that she had not eat in so very long. It had been a whole day since she’d left the castle, and normally she would be eating by now, but she was far away from both food and drink. Now, you must remember that magic is a most potent thing and it is not for the likes of most ponies to play with, but this was long before anyone had realized this to be a true thing. So it was that Willow Dancer quieted her rumbly tummy by drinking from the magic well. Suddenly a splashy swirl erupted from the water in the well. It drenched the thirsty mare from head to hoof, causing her to leap back unexpectedly and shout a surprised shout at the watery cyclone in front of her. To the little pony’s surprise the water shouted back. “WHO WAKES ME FROM MY NAP?!” Roared a bubbly burbbly voice. “WHO DARES DRINK ME IN SUCH AN UNDIGNIFIED FASHION?!” Willow Dancer cringed and shrank away from the voice that was ever so frightening. She had never heard water speak before, much less shout at her and it scared her something fierce. This was a new thing, but this was not a good new thing and she wanted to put it back and not ever have found it. The splashing swirling pillar of water, who it must be known was a nymph of all things wet, seemed to notice Willow Dancer then, and inquired of her most loudly, “WAS IT YOU? DID YOU DRINK ME AND WAKE ME FROM MY NAP?!” Willow Dancer nodded, afraid to say anything to this fearsome nymph. “YOU?! YOU DRANK ME? HO HO, WELL ISN’T THAT SO VERY BOLD OF YOU?!” Now the nymph seemed to be almost bubbling over with laughter. “WELL THEN MY LITTLE PONY, FOR SUCH AMUSEMENT, SUCH BOLDNESS, I SHALL GRANT YOU THREE THINGS. SO TELL ME LITTLE ONE, WHAT THREE THINGS DO YOU WANT MOST AND THINK ARE BEST IN LIFE?” Willow Dancer looked up at the water nymph and thought carefully before answering, “Well... finding new things is truly a best thing.” The nymphed laughed at this and said, “INDEED IT IS, AND SO I SHALL GRANT YOU A NEW THING! A THING THAT CAN BE MANY NEW THINGS FOR YOU!” With a shake and splash the nymph plopped out a drop of its self to the ground next the well. Where the drop landed a small basket, with a large white and purple dotted egg nestled safely inside it, grew out of the puddle left by the drop of water. Willow Dancer looked at the egg in the basket and found a gleeful smile hiding in the corners of her face. This wasn’t so scary, this was so many new things, and presents. She thought about the story she would get to tell her friends when she returned to the city which reminded her of the second best thing which she promptly told the nymph. “I know the second best thing! It is love, from friends and family, and all the ponies. Love is a best thing.” The water nymph pondered this and spouted back to the pegasus, “INDEED IT IS LITTLE PONY! LOVE IS TRULY A BEST THING, WE GROW STRONGER AND BIGGER WITH EACH ACT OF LOVE WE RECEIVE! AND SO SHALL MY GIFT TO YOU!” It was then that she noticed how dark it was getting and she knew what her last best thing was, so she said without hesitation, “I know the last best thing, it is to be home and safe.” The Nymph spun wildly for a moment before saying back all wet and slippy, “INDEED IT IS, AND SO I SHALL RETURN YOU HOME WITH MY GIFT. TAKE IT AND CARE FOR IT, THEY WILL NEED YOU AS YOU HAVE NEEDED ME TODAY!” And with one final gigantic SPLOOSH the water nymph called upon an old old magic, one from so far back in the days when the world was truly young and it too was a new thing. It called upon a magic that took Willow Dancer and it’s gift back to Canterlot, back to her home, back safe. Now you see oh Best Beloved, the nymph had given her its magic, but you must remember that nymphs are old and ever so tricksy. Their gifts are often not what they seem, and their magic always has another side. For the water nymph was still angry at having been drank so rudely by Willow Dancer, so he gave her a gift in kind. Her gift was the children of the water nymph, touched by a pony. They would be new things all the time, ever changing like the water spirit they had been born from. They would drink love like Willow Dancer had drank of the water spirit that birthed them. And they would always seek to come home, like the water spirit had returned Willow Dancer to when the day was done and the night had arrived. Author's Note our third art exchange challenge! Seto drew this for us in a little over 2 hours, which I thought was pretty amazing. I on the other hand sucked this one all to hell and back. probably ended up taking at least 4-5 hours to write, though some of that was due to life interrupting and causing trouble. I tried for at least some of this to borrow some of Kippling's voice from his "Just So" stories. I like the format and the method of speaking, it's very soothing and rambling, great for bedtime stories. I know I didn't get it perfect, but I wasn't trying for complete emulation, just borrowing a stylistic reference. I also think Seto may have named the pony Lina Starswirl, but I didn't know that at the time of writing this, so in the story it became WIllow Dancer. I have to say I love doing these exchanges. They're truly one of the best parts of my week, and Seto is a wonderful artist to get to work with, and a great friend. I'm pretty damn lucky. Also, the editing on this is horrible, I'll probably come back to that when i can see properly again.
Challenge 5 :: The Lair of the Beast “We’ve found it Mistress!” The drone practically buzzed with excitement as it delivered the message to the queen. “The scouts have returned; they’ve verified its location in an old cave just north of the river, deep in the old woods, my Mistress!” The Changeling queen looked at her offspring with wariness mixed with expectation, wanting the news to be true but having been disappointed too many times before with this hunt. She nodded at the drone to lead her to the scout, she wanted to hear the details for herself. With a sharp about face the drone trotted back the way it had come, leading its queen to to a small glade where several changelings were using as a landing field, coming and going with their various tasks, all in service of their Mistress. Resting beside a tree, looking worn and hungry stood one of the queen’s scouts; she didn’t know its name nor even recognize it, not that either mattered. “My queen!” exclaimed the exhausted scout. Her minions didn’t stand on needless ceremony, there was no bowing, no grovelling; they knew their place was to serve their Mistress, they knew their lives were hers. Queen Scyrilia stopped and faced the messenger giving it a look of inquiry, one that demanded information, the scout complied without hesitation. “I have located the creatures lair my queen. I was scouting the northern woods nearly two days from here and I found its trail.” Pausing for breath the drone continued, “I was able to follow the markings of its passage back to its home, your dark radiance. I made sure this is where it returns each time.” Scyrilia looked pleased at the scout’s report, this might finally be it she thought. “It is late now, we will leave in the morning.” The drone that had originally brought her news of the scouts return sharply snapped to attention, nodding its head in understanding. “I shall gather a company of warriors to escort you my Mistress, we shall be ready to fly at your command!” “No,” snapped Scyrilia, then softened her tone to one of contemplation, “no, we shall only take a small force, a larger one may alert the beast to our approach and it will be waiting for us.” As she considered the plan further she spoke nearly as much to the drone as to herself, “In fact I shall go alone, save for the scout who located the creature, he shall attend me.” “B-but, Mistress, y-you can’t go alo...” The look queen Scyrilia gave the drone withered its resolve mid sentence and it quickly recognized the error of its choice in phrasing. Recoiling in fear of reprisal the drone coward before its mistress. “I’m-m sorry M-mistress, I-i didn’t...” Turning her back on the stammering drone she called back the scout, still barely standing upright a few paces away, “You have done well to bring me this news scout, rest and revitalize yourself before we leave. You may feed on this one, it obviously has no more use for it’s sustenance.” Without looking behind her, Scyrilia walked back to her shelter smiling as she heard the pitiful whimpering abruptly silenced and the sounds of feeding commence; she was not one to suffer such insolence lightly. When morning came to the woods the changelings had occupied for their camp all was quiet as though even the plants and creatures of the woods understood the gravity of the queen’s pending task. Queen Scyrilia had not slept, so wound with tension was she that rest would not come. As dawn’s first light shown through the leaves of the trees she located the scout and together they took flight from the glade. Traveling north they headed towards her goal; soon she would have all the love she needed to sustain her brood. ~o0o~ The two changelings barely spoke on their journey to the cave, there was no need. Aside from a handful of commands from the queen, what conversation could truly be had between Scyrilia and her scout? At times she longed for the intellectual stimulation of a good discussion, however these were not those days. Her mind was occupied with anticipation of the beast which she sought and the bounty it possessed for her and her brood. It took them nearly three days to fly to the location, the changeling queen taking a slower pace than her smaller more agile minion. When the finally landed a kilometer away from the scout’s claimed location of the creature’s lair it was just past dusk. A hush had fallen over the forest here, though whether that was because of the beast’s presence or the newly arrived changeling regent one could not easily say. With stealth the two made their way to the cave, listening for sounds of the monstrous being residing within. They could hear the heavy sounds of breathing from within the darkened cave. The entrance was so dark not even their superior vision, which normally had no trouble seeing at night, could pierce the blackness of the cave. Whispering, the scout declared to his regent, “I believe it is asleep Mistress, we should be able to approach safely.” Nodding in agreement the two crept up to the mouth of the cave. It wasn’t until they were a handful of paces from it that they heard the deep rumbling laugh. The beast was awake, and it knew they were there! The changelings paused mid stride as the two glowing red eyes of the Trollolol opened ever so slightly and gazed out at them with smug amusement. In a moment of rare concern for her offspring Scyrilia shouted to the scout to flee, “FLY, QUICKLY, AWAY FROM HERE!” Turning and dashing away from the awakened terror the scout obeyed its leader, never once thinking she wouldn’t be following with. Scyrilia however had other plans, digging her sieve-like hooves into the cold hard dirt of the forest floor, she lowered her head and pointed her crooked horn towards the chuckling Trollolol. From within the earthen cavity came a derisive booming voice, “You think you can best me, you pathetic excuse for a two dimensional miscreant? You don’t have what it takes to bring me down!” “Wrong, beast! I shall destroy you and take what you have viciously stolen from so many!” With a shout Scyrilia let for a blast of neon green energy from her horn, sending it unerringly into the blackness, aiming right between the two glowing red eyes. As the viridian light flashed, pushing back the light-less void around the creature she saw it wince with what she hoped was pain. “HrraaaaarrrrrghahahAHAHAHA!” the Trollolol seemed to cry out, only to quickly begin laughing as though the charge of power had merely tickled it. “Heh, well if I’d known you were just here to titillate me I would have saved some dinner for you,” mocked the irritating monstrosity. In response the changeling queen unleashed a furious barrage of energy, throwing nearly every spell she knew a the creature. The trollolol merely laughed more, reveling in her inept attempts to subvert its defenses. Without any perceptible action the Trollolol began doing what it did best, Scyrilia could feel her life force being sucked from her as wave after wave of palpable malfeasance washed over her. She could feel her energy, her hard earned love being drained away, carried towards her foe. She knew this was going to be a difficult battle but she had never expected it to be this bad, already she could feel herself slipping away, losing her confidence. “Such a worthless creature you are,” it chided, the creature’s tone dripping with derision. “King Sombra could have made a better showing than this. Changeling QUEEN? HA, you won’t be able to DRAG your way out of this one dearie! Why don’t you take your little horde and vanish? Quit botherin’ me. It’s not like you have any real place in this world. I mean where do you even come from?” The ceaseless taunts hit her like hammer blows each time. She could feel her heart seizing up inside as the words seemed to mimic her own cruel thoughts. The red eyes seemed to gloat as they watched Scyrilia drop to her knees, her legs no longer having the power to support her. She tried one more feeble blast of magic, which fizzled and died centimeters from the Trollolol; She had nothing left. It was as she was about to just lay her head down in the dirt, giving her task up as a failure that she remembered what she had learned during her research into this creature. She had come seeking the love it had stolen from all those around it. The trollolol was rumored to drain the life from its prey by stealing its will, its love, its essence and trapping it away in a magical box. It was also believe to be nothing more than a figment; no one believed it actually existed, thinking it to be merely an old pony tale meant to frighten the gullible. Scyrilia had known it was no mere pony tale, but she began to wonder about the rest of it. What if the old scholars had been right? Her drones had brought here centuries worth of information, distilled to its useful bits, about the trollolol. Maybe what they’d found and relayed to her hadn’t been useless disbelief by the scholars. What if it had been more than that? Summoning the last reserves of strength she attempted to stand. Her legs wanted nothing more than to stay where they were, so each attempt brought here only halting upwards before one or more of her legs would give out and collapse beneath her. Unwilling to give up without trying this last thing Scyrilia kept trying, all the while the trollolol continue taunting her, mocking her efforts to thwart it. On the fifth try she finally managed to push herself upright, expelling the breath she’d held as she exerted all her will into the simple act of standing. “Now it is time to see what you really are you foul creature!” intoned the struggling polymorphic pony. Slowly she resumed her advance, no longer spending energy to fuel her magic, it was all she could do to put one hoof in front of the other. “I will suffer you vile litany no longer, trollolol!” “Oh why don’t you go back and cry about it to your minions you pathetic excuse for a princess wannabe,” chided trollolol, though the changeling thought she could detect a tinge of worry creeping into its commentary. She clung to that and used it to move herself forward a few more paces, she was nearly at the cave entrance. With one last grunt of effort she stepped into the cave. She could still hear trollolol abusing her, but it was as though she’d stepped passed some kind of barrier. The words no longer seemed to effect her as they had outside the cavern, from behind the invisible wall they almost seemed humorous and pathetic in nature. “They were right,” Scyrilia mused. “it was nothing more than a figment, an illusion all this time.” Astonished that she had allowed herself to be harmed by such a creature, much less a mere illusion, the changeling queen stepped boldly down through the cave, seeking her treasured reward. It sat on a altar at the back of the cave, a small slab of stone, glowing with a lambent white light on one of it’s surfaces. Within she could see the tendrils of love and worth stolen from countless ponies around Equestria. To Scyrilia it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen, to her it was a source of love and sustenance that would feed her and her brood for ages to come without fear of discovery or reprisal from Celestia or the rest of her princessly ilk. Scyrilia had seen well what had happened to Chrysilis and had taken to heart the folly of attempting to confront the pony princess on her on turf. Taking the magical slate in her magical grip Scyrilia exited the cave. The Trollolol unable to prevent her departure, swiftly becoming little more than a fleeting memory in the back of her mind. Stretching her gossamer wings she took to the air, and flew towards her waiting scout who hovered half a kilometer away, confident his queen would prevail. Together they took their prize back to the hive. With a food source acquired she need only find a safe place for her and her children to reside, safe from the meddlesome influence of ponykind. Things were looking good for Scyrilia and her brood. Yes, today was a good day indeed. Author's Note The fifth challenge with Seto Entry found here: http://seto1337.deviantart.com/#/art/Drawing-Challenge-5-Cave-of-Legends-375831637?hf=1 He did this with the description of: Perilous, Night-Time, 2 ponies, anywhere Took him 2 hours. Mine took about 3-5 20(ish) installments, because life yet again got in the way. #IHateBeingAGrownup I love how similar the to the show style this came out, and his backgrounds are improving so much, it's really awesome to watch the progression of Seto's art. And he drew changelings just for me, 'cause we like changelings.
Challenge 2 :: Chocolate Rain It was a beautiful day in Ponyville. The sun was shining, Rainbow Dash and her team of weather ponies had cleared nearly every cloud from the sky, and Rarity’s ear shattering scream could be heard for miles echoing off the hillsides. “SWEEEETIIIEEE BEEEEELLLLLEEEEE!” could be heard throughout the town. In the town square Thunderlane hovered and stared in disbelief as Rarity’s shop hung idly upside down over the Ponyville fountain which was still happily burbling away below. Words escaped the pegasus at that moment. One moment he was heading back from the market; the next he was pulling up short to keep from crashing into the shop as it suddenly appeared before him suspended in midair. Down on the ground Carmine Rosa looked on in fascination. She looked around quickly to see if maybe discord had come back to town, feeling that floating business establishments were surely a sign of the Draconequus’ return. She then called up to Thunderlane, “Hey Thunder, can you see any chocolate milk clouds up there? Bring them over here if you do, I’ll be back with a barrel!” After which the deep crimson pony rushed away from the town square procure a barrel. The sounds of a struggle could be heard inside the shop, followed by a series of crashes and muffled curses. “Ooof!” Crash! “Sweetie...” Bang! “...Belle...” Clang! Crunch! Boom! “But Rarity,” squeeked a slightly muffled but insistent voice from higher up boutique. “How else are we gonna figure out if... Hey why’s everything upside down?” Thunderlane listened to the exchange of voices coming from different parts of the inverted shop, continuing to hover a few feet from the building. He tentatively inquired of those inside, “Do you ladies need any...” “Heeeeeeeeelllllllllp!!!!!” came a cry from up above them all, getting louder by the second as though somepony was rapidly approaching the scene in distress. Thunder looked up only to see a tiny orange mass of flailing hooves and flapping wings heading straight for him. The dark grey stallion panicked for just a split second; it seemed like whatever was going on was bound and determined to kill him today. Then he realized it was Scootaloo barreling towards him completely out of control. Springing to action he raced towards the struggling filly and tackled her mid air. “Oooof!” they both uttered as the wind was knocked out of them from the impact. Scootaloo flailed for a few more seconds while gasping for breath until she realized she was firmly in the hooves of Thunderlane. “Careful there kid,” chided the winded stallion, “you were almost as flat as a parasprite caught in Pinkie’s waffle iron. What’re you doin’ falling outta the sky like that?” The response came from behind Thunderlane rather than from the purple haired filly in his arms. “We was bakin’ a Sue Flay!” came the twangy voice of yet another infamous young pony of Ponyville. Thunderlane spun in the air to view the speaker who was lounging against the inverted window sill bold as you please, just watching Thunder like nothing was out of the ordinary. “A-a-applebloom,” he stammered, not quite believing her relative calmness in the face of being contained within an upside down flying fashion boutique. “What Is Going On Here?!” Applebloom’s reply was delayed by the shouting of the shop’s distraught owner as she continued to make her way up to the shop’s bottom floor. “Sweetie Belle, you put my shop back properly. Right! This! Instant!” As if summoned, the little white unicorn filly appeared in the window sill with her companion and took in the sight before her, “Oh Scootaloo, you’re alright!” Then looking at Applebloom, said with a blush of embarrassment, “I think maybe its time we got Twilight Sparkle...” Applebloom considered this for a moment until she heard the crash and curse of frustration come from the next room over, significantly closer than it had been before. Sensing the rapidly approaching doom of an irate Rarity, Applebloom nodded and replied, “Good idea, come on Scootaloo, lets go find Twilight.” Without a second thought the yellow pony jumped up onto the window ledge, lept onto one of the shops hanging banners and slid down until she could safely drop upon the head of the pony statue adorning the top of the town’s fountain. Sweetie Belle immediately followed suite and Thunderlane just hovered there, jaw dropped in astonishment at the Crusaders and their antics, until Scootaloo took advantage the opportunity and lithely struggled out of his grasp to flutter her way down safely to the ground. As Scootaloo was dashing after her cohorts she called back up to Thunderlane, “Hey thanks again Thunder, and if you see my helmet just leave it here with Rarity, we’ll be back in a little bit!” Helmet? Thought the highly confused Thunderlane. Where would I find her... BONK! His thoughts were interrupted by a little blue helmet hitting him squarely on the head. His vision went blurry for just a moment and he lost control of his flight. Wobbling, the pegasus unintentionally drifted towards the open window the two fillies had just vacated. At the same time as a furious mare was climbing up into the same window, huffing and gasping for breath. When Rarity looked up she had only a second to see the concussed pegasus careening towards her before she was knocked gracelessly back onto her flank. The stallion lay dazed and confused, and briefly the two looked like a Yin and Yang sprawled upon the ceiling turned floor; his dark coat contrasting with her lustrous white one. Disentangling himself Thunderlane stammered an apology to Rarity, blushing furiously with embarrassment and still a little concussed. “Oh don’t worry about it dahling, I just simply don’t know what I’m going to do though. My shop is a mess and completely upside down! I swear when Sweetie Belle and her little friends return they will be putting all of this back in order.” Thunderlane took a moment to look around the room, apparently he had entered into the kitchen, though it took him a moment to realize it with everything being the wrong way around. “Wha’s goin’ on heres,” inquired the woozy and slurring stallion, “Do youf neez afy helps, Warity?” Rarity looked at Thunderlane in concern, seeing he was obviously out of sorts, “Oh no no no dear, you look like you need more help than me right now. Let me get you an ice pack.” She began to open the freezer door while explaining what had happened. “That is positively the last time I agree to filly-sit those three, they create utter catastrophes wherever they go. I thought letting them make lunch would keep them out of too much trouble...” Without warning Thunderlane decided helping such a beautiful pair of mares like Rarity would be a good idea. He began flying up towards the freezer where Rarity was working to pull out an icepack for him, “No no, hair Rartea, let me get dat fur you,” he slurred. It was then that the oven timer went off with a DING!. ~o:0:o~ Outside the shop Carmine Rosa was returning, trotting up with an air of giddy excitement, a large barrel on her back, singing “Chocolate Milk! Chocolate Milk! Chocolate Milk for MEEEEE!” When all of a sudden a loud KABOOM! Was heard from the top of the overturned clothing shop. A piece of smoking shrapnel arced its way through the air straight for the gleeful earth pony who immediately ducked in terror and screamed. With a WOMF! Carmine felt something land heavily directly inside the barrel. Shakily she stood back up and looked over her shoulder to see what had landed in her container. Immediately she gasped in surprise and gave a squeal of delight before turning and skipping back the way she’d come. “Well,” she said to no one in particular, “it’s no chocolate rain, but instead I’ll gladly take a Thunderlane!” Author's Note Challenge 2 complete! Seto took just under an hour for this one after I asked for a ponyville/village scene in the day with something "odd" happening. I gotta be honest I never expected something like this, and I love it! It took me again about twice as long to write it, but I also had to go back and edit a lot of what I'd written the first time as my lack of sleep made it nearly unreadable originally.
