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*
“Nice day for it. She would have liked it.”
“Yup.”
Nobody’d expected my sister to be the first to go. I certainly hadn’t. And from the look of every line in my big brother’s face, he’d have given anything to change places with her.
At least it was a nice day. Bright and warm, with an apple-scented breeze coming over the orchard to the hill we were all gathered on. Yesterday, cousin Braeburn had planted a cutting from sis’s old tree, Bloomberg, right smack in the middle of the hilltop, and the little branch stood strong and upright in its patch of turned earth. It was good soil up here. ‘Course, it was good soil everywhere on the farm. My sister had made sure of that.
I jammed my eyes shut when that thought made them start burning. For a second, I couldn’t breathe. My chest felt like it was full of hot pins, and I choked it down hard. I couldn’t cry. Not yet. I had things to do yet today. ‘Sides, if I started crying, so would my big brother, and once he starts, he doesn’t stop. Applejack wasn’t around to be strong for us anymore, so I had to do it.
By the cutting from Bloomberg, my sister was laid out in a box Mac had made for her with his own hooves. It was planed out of wood we’d taken from the trees that had fallen in the storm last year. Good Apple Family apple wood. She would have liked that.
The Prompt: On the page from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #8 shown above, five ponies have five memories involving Rarity. Choose one and show us the story of that memory.
“It Only Takes A Moment: Rainbow Dash” by Gojira007
“It Only Takes A Moment: Pinkie Pie” by Gojira007
“We’re Sorry” by Professor Piggy and Midnight Specter
“It Only Takes A Moment: Fluttershy” by Gojira007
“Emergency Repairs” by ThunderTempest
“It Only Takes A Moment: Twilight Sparkle” by Gojira007
I’ve always loved colors. I’ve been drawn to rich and bright colors my whole life. Even when I got my cutie mark, I was drawn to gems filled with more color than I had ever seen before. I guess maybe that’s part of why I fell for her. If Rainbow Dash is anything, she’s colorful.
“Er… please tell me again why you’ve brought me up here, darling?”
Luna turned to look at Rarity with head canted; after a few moments under the Moon Princess’ solemn gaze the unicorn gulped, taking half a step back.
“Er… I mean, Your Highness, of course.”
“Fret not,” Luna said slowly. “We… I… do not object to familiar terms of endearment. Indeed, your token of affection is a boon.”
“I… that is… hm, yes.” Rarity nodded, clearing her throat after a moment. Luna smiled tentatively, and Rarity smiled just as tentatively in return before continuing her stately walk up the stairs.
“I wished to present something to you. I fear it isn’t a present one can keep, but I wish to share it with you nonetheless.”
Rarity nodded, glancing up as they stepped onto the balcony. Luna’s night was in full glory, a waxing gibbous moon presiding over an endless array of stars, and both mares smiled faintly at the sight of it.
The hottest of flames find inside them a shade of blue so entrancing she feels as though that beauty could never be replicated in any other way. But that beauty is one that will leave the deepest burns when approached. She’s only ever seen that blue twice; once when she was at a blacksmith’s shop and the second time as she watched Rarity at work. When the white unicorn’s magic was activated, it would glow that shade of blue that sent Rainbow’s heart fluttering. It looks almost otherworldly and she always finds that she cannot take her eyes off the fiery glow no matter how hard she tries.
“Rarity is scared she’ll be forgotten! We must remember her, or she’ll give into the Nightmare Energy forever!”
Twilight’s words of warning rang clearly in the ears of each of her friends. Each one locked eyes with her the moment she spoke them, moving quickly and without hesitation to form the circle she invited them into.
“Remember something, anything you love about her!”
And that was exactly what they did.
Applejack closed her eyes…
…and walked alongside Rarity through the trees of the White Tail Woods. The calm, quiet air of the forest was a welcome change of pace from the hustle and bustle of Los Pegasus, that much the farmer knew for certain; sure, it was fun to soak in all the lights and sounds for a little while, but the novelty wore off fast, and while Applejack hardly regretted coming with Rarity and the others to the city for the unicorn’s newest fashion show, it was still nice to get away from it all for a while. So when she and Rarity had been the first up that morning, she had thought it a fine opportunity to simply take a stroll through the nearby forest.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t exactly panning out as well as Applejack had hoped.
Maybe I was adopted? Rarity dragged her hooves over the ground. It chipped the hooficure she had gotten last week, but she didn’t bother. She had saved her allowance for a whole month to go to the spa, but it no longer mattered. Ever since her parents had the new foal, Rarity was only second rate. For a moment she wished Nightmare Moon would just steal Sweetie Belle away and … That little foal could hardly crawl; Rarity knew it wasn’t at fault. But that meant it wasn’t the baby. It was her parents: they didn’t love her anymore. She walked down the jetty in front of her house and plopped down at the edge. Her reflection in the water looked just as unkempt and crushed as she felt.
“Hello, Rary! What are you doing here? I’m on the way to the park to meet Cheery and the girls, and we want to play in the park, and if you want to you can totally come along, that would be super fun and I like fun, I wonder what fun … we … could … have … together,” Pinkie Pie ran out of breath as she wheezed the last words.
Pinkie Pie. Why did it have to be her? The pink earthpony had joined Rarity’s class last month. Rarity didn’t like her very much, she was loud, even obnoxious at times, and didn’t care for her looks or for acting ladylike. She wasn’t a bad pony, but she could be so … exhausting.
“Are you sad, Rary?”
“Rarity is scared she’ll be forgotten! We must remember her, or she’ll give into the Nightmare Energy forever!”
Twilight’s words of warning rang clearly in the ears of each of her friends. Each one locked eyes with her the moment she spoke them, moving quickly and without hesitation to form the circle she invited them into.
“Remember something, anything you love about her!”
And that was exactly what they did.
Twilight Sparkle closed her eyes…
…and coughed. And sneezed. And sniffled. Again, and again, and again. Spike had gone to Zecora’s to fetch medicine (“Only the best for you, Twilight!” he had insisted), but the bed-ridden unicorn could not take much comfort from that. Getting in and out of the Everfree Forest was no easy task, after all, and though she did not doubt the young dragon could take care of himself, that nonetheless meant it would be some time before she could get proper relief. Certainly, none of the medicines that Pinkie and Applejack had brought in from town were doing the trick, and even reading or writing had proven beyond Twilight’s ability in her sickened condition. ”It’s gonna be a long day,” she muttered, hooves tightening a little around her blanket.
And then a knock came at her bedroom door.
One of the better things about the Wonderbolt Academy, ignoring the near disaster with Lightning Dust, was that once they’d finished, the recruits were allowed to keep their uniforms. Sure, it wasn’t an official Wonderbolt uniform, but to Rainbow, it was a first and important step towards the illustrious blue and yellow. So was the shining gold Lead Pony badge pinned to the breast, and to almost the same extent, the silver Wing Pony badge that Spitfire had mailed to her three days after the academy finished, the same Wing Pony badge that Rainbow had tossed onto Spitfire’s desk in order to make her point. That badge now rested in Rainbow’s little trophy cabinet.
“Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no!” moaned Rainbow, as she stared at a tear running up the side of her recruit uniform. She had just received a letter, inviting her and several of the other recruits to an official Wonderbolt function up in Cloudsdale in a few days, and the letter had requested that they be in their recruit uniforms, so as to differentiate them from the actual Wonderbolts. Rainbow couldn’t be showing up in a torn uniform, Spitfire would have her head for that. The obvious idea came to Rainbow immediately, and she picked up the uniform, and flew out of her cloudhouse, and down into Ponyville proper, eventually coming to a stop just in front of Rarity’s door. She entered, and as the bell above the door tingled, Rarity turned around from the dress she was making, and began reciting her shop’s little motto. Rainbow let her finish, and then spoke up.
“Rarity is scared she’ll be forgotten! We must remember her, or she’ll give into the Nightmare Energy forever!”
Twilight’s words of warning rang clearly in the ears of each of her friends. Each one locked eyes with her the moment she spoke them, moving quickly and without hesitation to form the circle she invited them into.
“Remember something, anything you love about her!”
And that was exactly what they did.
Fluttershy closed her eyes…
…and sighed in disappointment. ”Oh no, no, no, Angel, this won’t do at all,” she said, ears drooping as she looked her rabbit friend over.
The wreath of flowers sat uneasily around Angel’s neck, his expression one that could have easily wilted each bloom. ”We’re never going to win the Prettiest Pet Shop competition with you looking so…plain,” Fluttershy said glumly, then immediately patting her pet on the head, “Not that you don’t look wonderful! It’s just, um, that is…I want you to look as wonderful as you possibly can. Not that you don’t always look that wonderful, just…just…oh dear….”
As she struggled to find the words, and the way to fix the problem they were meant to describe, the pegasus heard happy humming slowly coming toward her cottage. ”O-oh dear…!” she yelped, “I got so hung up on getting you ready for the show, I lost track of time…!”
Angel looked absolutely wonderful. Not that she was at all surprised by that - after all, Rarity herself had designed the collar he was wearing, and Rarity’s work almost always looked wonderful. Not even almost always, really - just always, all by itself. Even those times that nopony actually asked her to do anything, and she just turned up one day and started measuring animals. Not that Fluttershy minded - not at all! She appreciated the effort Rarity had gone to, even if she didn’t quite understand why. After all, even Angel loved it. He was pretending not to, of course, pouting and scowling at the both of them as if he were terribly upset, but she knew her little friend well enough to know that he was just playing the part. After all, the only thing that could possibly have made Rarity’s ensemble more adorable - not that it needed to be made more adorable, with the big, flower shaped collar and the cute little bow, but she was pretty sure it couldn’t hurt - was a pouting baby bunny.
“It’s…” she paused for a moment, searching for the words to describe just how terrific Angel really looked, “…nice.”
“It really is, isn’t it?” Rarity replied, pursing her lips thoughtfully as she peered through her glasses at the bunny. Nevermind the elaborate blueprints hidden away under lock and key, in a box labeled ‘Angel Bunny Beautification’—seeing her work in the flesh, it was already better than all of those. Momentarily, she thought about giving minimalism another go, but then she remembered Princess Cadance’s wedding, the Grand Galloping Galla, all the beautiful dresses she had made—and gave the idea a flat ‘Nah.’ “But really, It’s just right. There’s really only so much one can do for smaller animals before it becomes just plain gaudy, but on your little Angel, it is truly… nice.”
“Rarity is scared she’ll be forgotten! We must remember her, or she’ll give into the Nightmare Energy forever!”
Twilight’s words of warning rang clearly in the ears of each of her friends. Each one locked eyes with her the moment she spoke them, moving quickly and without hesitation to form the circle she invited them into.
“Remember something, anything you love about her!”
And that was exactly what they did.
Pinkie Pie closed her eyes…
…and slid into the Spa’s hot-tub with a sigh and a giggle. ”You were right, Rarity,” she said, “this place is nice!”
Rarity’s smile spread from ear to ear. ”Haven’t you learned by now, Pinkie?” she asked, giving her mane-curl a little toss, “I’m always right when it comes to relaxation.”
The unicorn suddenly found herself victim to a piercing Pinkie Pie eye baring down on her. ”ALWAYS always?” Pinkie asked.
“Rarity is scared she’ll be forgotten! We must remember her, or she’ll give into the Nightmare Energy forever!”
Twilight’s words of warning rang clearly in the ears of each of her friends. Each one locked eyes with her the moment she spoke them, moving quickly and without hesitation to form the circle she invited them into.
“Remember something, anything you love about her!”
And that was exactly what they did.
Rainbow closed her eyes…
…and was sulking in silence atop a little storm cloud hovering lazily through Ponyville. Even as the cloud’s little column of rain drenched anypony unlucky enough to fall under its drifting path, she could only sigh dejectedly and cross her hooves.
Until, that is, a familiar shriek snapped her back to attention.
Looking down at last (and realizing only then just how far she’d let her little cloud-seat travel), she saw Rarity, dripping wet, brows and jaw both clenched. ”Oh…um, sorry, Rare….” the pegasus mumbled, leaning limply over the cloud, wings pointedly tucked to her sides.
For a moment, the fashionista looked as if she was going to start spewing fire out of her mouth…but as soon as she laid eyes on Rainbow, that fire dissipated. ”Oh dear,” she said in a shockingly calm voice, “I take it you’re in a bad mood?”
“Something like that,” Rainbow sighed.
Rarity couldn’t possibly have been thinking clearly when she agreed to this. It was altogether quite possible that she hadn’t been thinking at all, due to the amount of wine she’d consumed earlier that night. Yes, this was one of those rare moments in Rarity’s life when she simply didn’t think. Usually, those ended in embarrassment or awkwardness, but never before had then ended up in a tub. The water was warm and the scents of the bubble bath were downright intoxicating (as if Rarity hadn’t had enough intoxication for one evening) and despite herself, Rarity felt her entire body relax as the warm water lapped up against her.
Her bath partner stared at her, glimmering blue eyes wide with concern. “Feeling better, Rare?”
Rarity’s head was still throbbing from the alcohol and her vision was blurry and she was sweating (either from the bath or the awkwardness of the situation, but Rarity wasn’t sure which), so it was quite plain to her that no, she was not feeling better but she put on a brave face and nodded.
“A little,” she replied, her voice slightly raspy. Her words still slurred and even to herself, she sounded drunk out of her mind. But it was a sad kind of drunk now, the weepy, slow-worded, pondering kind that made no sense but was overflowing with emotion.
Pinkie looked up through the water at her prey. It wasn’t prepared, not in the least. In place of a giggle, which would have been hard underwater, she settled for a smile. Now all she need was…there! The prey turned its back. Pinkie launched out of the water and shouted “Surprise!”
Rarity jumped and turned so quickly water sloshed out of the tub. “Pinkie?” she gasped. “What…how…”
Pinkie giggled. “That’s not how you make sentences, silly. That’s okay. Ponies seem to forget that sometimes. And I really wanted to surprise you for your birthday, so I hid in here. And I thought maybe we could have a bath party!”
