Thirty Minute Pony Stories
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alexanderkrizak I Was A Dragon Once... -
babysealburritos Conversations with Kaitlyn -
bombasticbookman The Bombastic Bookman -
donnys-boy Pony Shipping with Donny's Boy -
norsepony NorsePony's Mead Hall -
obselescence Planned Obselescence -
professorpiggy A Study in Nonsense -
rwlart RWL's Daily Art -
theobscurereference *Sobs because future trio*
This is the compilation for Prompt 28, from June 27, 2012. 17 stories for your reading pleasure, and there was a lot of variety in today’s turnout. Enjoy.
The Prompt: One of the Mane Six or Spike reveals a skill nopony expected them to have.
As always, stories are listed in the order received.
“The Fire of Apple Acres”, by Versulia
“Who Has To Know?” by Red Pen Ninja
“The Challenge,” by Norse Pony
“Harsh Lesson,” by Obscure Reference
“Refraction,” by Hurricane’s Ghost
“I Didn’t Know,” by Donny’s Boy
“I Fold,” by A Typical OC Pony
“Beauty and Peace,” by Midnight Spectre
“Twilight the Vampire Slayer,” by Bombastic Bookman
“Making up for Lost Time,” by rwlart
“What is This I Don’t Even…” by Baby Seal Burritos
“Super secret special skills” by Nugar
“Twilight Sparkle Teaches Scuba Diving… Kinda” by Baby Seal Burritos
“The Princess has asked us to go on another diplomatic mission, Fluttershy.”
Fluttershy tried to hide the trembling of her limbs. She was not fond of the missions that the Princess saw fit to send her on; usually when it was her that was chosen as the second pony it was because they would be talking to some ferocious animal or scary beast. Fluttershy knew it wasn’t Twilight’s fault, but she was still a bit shaken up from the last trip they had gone on together. All the way up in the Caneighdian Mountains, wouldn’t you know, to try and smooth things between the Norse Ponies and the Scandy Griffons. It had been terrifying when the Griffons had begun screeching obscenities, and Fluttershy had hidden behind Twilight nearly the entire time.
Twilight was incredibly brave. Fluttershy wasn’t even sure why she didn’t just go on these missions herself instead of bringing along another burden to look out for.
Applejack sat in a dim corner of the barn, hay surrounding her and shielding her from view. She smiled down at her work, and wondered what pretense she’d come up with this time for why she had it.
Knitting. That was what Applejack did. Usually, she said she had seen it at the market, and simply had to have it. She had done plenty of scarves, and was working on a hat when the barn door swung eerily open. Applejack was lost in the click of her needles, mesmerized by their even rhythm as she finished yet another row. Stealthily, a unicorn stalked towards the clicking sound, and leaped at it.
The ballroom was fancied up as much as it could have, with shimmering velvet curtains and shiny floors. There weren’t any tacky streamers or pink balloons, nor was the customary ‘Pin the Tail on the Pony’ setup. There was even a chandelier.
Not bad for a ballroom owned by Pinkie Pie.
It was already filling with guests, the doors having opened only a scant minute before. Rarity was winding her way through the initial stream, searching for her friends. She glided through the gaps between ponies, a quick apology if she were to bump into one.
Finally, she reached a spot with some room to breathe. She noted the tablecloths with some scrutiny, but found them perfectly acceptable given the rest of the decor. The food seemed to be of a higher standard than cupcakes or sweets, and not a cookie was to be found. She tried to think happily at how far her little Pinkie had come, but all she could feel was that rumble in her stomach where a cookie would’ve helped.
“I think I see the problem,” Twilight muttered as she eyed a brass gear in her hoof critically. Several more pieces, including two projector reels and the bulb, as well as a large number of screws, bolts, and nuts, were held aloft by her magic in the order she’d removed them. “Looks like the spindle on the drive gear is stripped. It’ll either have to be replaced or fixed by someone with a torch.” She held up half the magilectric motor in the other hoof and sniffed . “On the other hoof, I think I can krazyglue a sapphire or a ruby into the frictionless primordial plasma generator, if Rarity will let me have one. Brass shavings got into it and the frictionless plasma got a little too much… friction. Just the conducting gem was cracked, though. If it’d let the magic purple smoke out, we’d have had to replace it, too.”
“Aww, I wanted to see those home movies of yours,” Pinkie said, disappointed.
“Hey, Twilight!” Rainbow Dash called, grinning mischievously. “Think fast!” and she underhoofed a cupcake at her nerdy friend’s face.
As Rarity became better known in the fashion world she began holding little soirées in Ponyville. It only spoke to her talents and connections that many of the Canterlot elite deigned to hop on a train and make the trip to attend, but it spoke even more about Rarity that she allowed Pinkie Pie to plan them. When Rarity had first had the idea, Pinkie had begged and pleaded to be the one to put the whole thing together. Rarity had been just the tiniest bit nervous about the prospect.
“It’s not that kind of party, Darling. Just a… social gathering with light music and hoof sandwiches.”
Pinkie had pouted for days on end before Rarity reluctantly relinquished the reigns. To her eternal surprise, Pinkie had thrown together a thoroughly appropriate party. There had been a classical band playing soft music in the background, dainty bite-sized snacks, and the decorations! Rarity had been so impressed that she announced in her over the top fashion that she’d never doubt Pinkie’s prowess again.
Twilight sighed. She had to skip another of Pinkie’s party and disappoint all her friends again, and then she had to do her routine job. This attack wasn’t even fun! A stallion roared behind her atop a tombstone, but he was quickly silenced by a magically propelled stake to the heart, and he melted away into dust.
“Ugh, could you guys please give more of a fight? At this rate, I won’t bother to mention you in my letter to Celestia.” Two vampires leaped at her from the shadows, but they were easily stopped in the air. “You know, I actually feel kinda sorry for you guys,” she commented, lifting them in tandem with her mannerisms. “My magic isn’t the exactly the most fair thing in the world, is it?” She sheepishly smiled and blushed, and the vamps shrugged in confusion. “You know what, Princess Celestia told me to keep practicing my close range training and not rely on pure magic all the time!” She dropped the two on the ground, and patiently waited for them to get back up.
Twilight panted as she collapsed on Fluttershy’s bed. Fluttershy crawled up and draped herself over Twilight’s back. They were both sweating. Twilight was new to this and she struggled to think of what to say. Good job? She got the feeling that’d be awkward, not to mention being the biggest understatement in history. Thank you? But was it a favor? She at least hoped Fluttershy liked it too.
“Wow…” she finally said. Wow. Very eloquent, she thought.
Fluttershy nuzzled her ear. “Um… I’m sorry.”
“Sorry?!” Twilight’s head whipped around to face her. “What’re you sorry about? Fluttershy, that was amazing!”
Breathe.
With that, Rarity placed her legs firmly into the ground, peering into the distance at her target, which stood, small, stocky and round, far away into the distance.
A bird chirped right beside her, and she glared at it, shutting it up immediately. All things must know how important this was to her; her one moment of peace, utter content, in all the hubbub of life, with her dressmaking and her often tiring friends - though both, she loved with all her heart.
Focusing her magic into a shaft of bright blue light, she smiled. Then, keeping the shaft in place, she reached down with a spare thought, picking an arrow from her quiver, and then nocked it, bringing her bow to bear against the target that seemed oh-so-far away.
Krizak Comments!
Nice swerve there, Stagman; I thought it was going to be about Fluttershy’s ikebana hobby, and then it suddenly swerved into Rainbow Dash’s own flower-arrangement skills. Something everyone seems to agree on in this prompt is that when Dash has an unusual skill, she still approaches it with her usual gusto, and to see that attitude applied to such a generally calm ability is quite interesting.
“Ughhh…” Rainbow Dash groaned. “So BORED!” Applejack nodded quietly in response. She was always taught by her family that only those with weak minds got bored, because there was always some sort of way to occupy oneself. She knew her mind wasn’t weak, and neither was Rainbow’s, but she couldn’t deny her utter boredom. The two had done nearly everything they could think of, and nothing was interesting enough to keep their attention for very long. AJ sighed lightly and looked over to Rainbow then blinked a few times.
“…The hay is that, Rainbow?” Applejack asked, staring intently. Rainbow raised a brow, then glanced down at her hooves, where AJ was looking. In her hooves was an origami swan. Rainbow blanched.
“N-nothing!” Rainbow said nervously. “Nothing at all!” Applejack stood up and trotted over.
For just the briefest second, Pinkie Pie froze when she heard the voice. When she heard that voice on the breeze, warm and familiar, yet ringing out in a way she’d never heard before:
The time has come to welcome spring
And all things warm and green …
Twilight Sparkle … was singing.
Pinkie shouldn’t have been surprised. Lots of ponies sang, after all, and practically no pony sang more than Pinkie herself. It shouldn’t have been surprising to hear Twilight doing so. And yet, it was.
Another night, another bag of bits. Spike loosened his tie as he entered his home. He looked around the foyer of the library, hoping that Twilight wasn’t awake. Seeing that the purple unicorn was nowhere in sight, he quietly closed the door. He crept up the stairs leading to the room he shared with his guardian. Gentle snoring could be heard from the other side.
“Who?” Spike’s bones nearly jumped from his body. His head quickly turned to see two yellow eyes staring at him through the darkness.
“Oh, Owloysius, I was just going to bed.”
“Who?”
“Me, I was going to bed.”
“Who?” Spike gave the owl an unamused look.
“I’m too tired to run with this gag. I’ll see you tomorrow night before I go to work. Goodnight.” He walked into the room and set his bits into a small chest. His clothes were deposited into the same chest before it was closed. With a yawn, he climbed into his basket, and made a well-deserved trip to the land of Nodd.
“Alright, Rainbow Dash, Truth or Dare?” Twilight asked, laying the grass with her friends. They were all taking a break from their pet play date to play a game, with the exception of Fluttershy who’d lain down for a nap and immediately become the approved snoozing site for all pets present.
“Dare,” three ponies interrupted before Rainbow Dash could answer.
“Hey,” Rainbow said to her friends, “I didn’t say anything yet.”
“Yeah, but you always pick dare Rainbow Dash, figuring out what you’re going to pick is super easy,’ Pinkie Pie countered.
“You are kinda a one trick pony RD,” Applejack affirmed.
“Hey, I know lots of tricks,” Rainbow dash disagreed.
