Art and Stories and Inspirations by B_25

 

 

 

Introduction

B_25

 

 

Howdy gang. It ain't like me to drop in on you like this, in here, wearing a suit and a tie, writing like normal where fiction is supposed to roam. But these stories are something else. This is my first time composing an anthology and, hell, I feel like Harlan Ellison during his collection of Dangerous Visions.

 

Artists are indebted to each other. None make it in this craft alone. It is in the reading of different stories and the hearing of other's creative experiences that enlightenment arrives on our own. How often have we gone to a friend because our writing feels like crud? Ray Bradbury is my biggest pal in inspiring me to write again during slumps.

 

But that's just a part of it. How often have you come from a movie or the ending of a novel with a burning will to strike the page with words that sing? That a moment in another story has built the foundation for the entirety of your own work?

 

Good art is composed of a variety of sources, from other novels and books to creative discussions with friends. Talks with your readers inspire the will to produce the next chapter, maybe to attempt something a little differently. Good editors supervise your journey while prescribing everything you need to complete it.

 

Even though this is a quest none of us will finish.

 

But where does the biggest source of my inspiration come from? I speak for more than myself that, upon surfacing the web for art—something catches your eye. Unexpected stumbling that captures you fully. Clicking on the image summons you to a different world.

 

It's hard to say everything that happens here... but I would like to take a crack at it. You stumble on a piece of art and become lost to it. Your eyes pass through the screen and into this captured moment of another place. Your imagination wonders of everything that has happened, that is happening, and what will happen next.

 

An idea sparks. This world opens up. Imagination explores it.

 

Of course. The rest of the moment is spent admiring the art. Everything that composes it and fixating on the things appealing to you. When I've been in the dumps for ideas, a search through some images, always, sparks the design to something new.

 

And there's more buried in spontaneous stories than you may think.

 

I would say NC Mares/Raps is the greatest artist working within the fandom—but I don't hope to offend them with such words. Rather I'll keep to the objective as few artists can deny that. They have created good work that has served as covers for countless stories.

 

More than that, however, is how he inspired the tales behind them in the first place.

 

Art inspires stories and stories inspires art. It's a beautiful cycle of inspiration where the act of sharing improves everyone. Keeping within this theme, I have gone around the web and, quite suddenly, asked my best of pals to compose a story based on an image from NC to their choosing.

 

Micro and macro are, of course, inbound. But there's more than that. Just as NC is more than a one-trick pony, the stories contained attempt to cover his spread, the versatility of his works. Everything they create feels as though a story looms behind it. And these writers have set forth to compose their inspirations and interpretations.

 

I've done my best to edit the following entries to the best of my ability though, in keeping to the skills and desires of others, I haven't touched any document too severely. I hope you enjoy these stories. You can find a note from me after most entries should you wish to endure my voice some more.

 

And before we close the drapes to the stage.

 

Happy birthday, NC!

 

 

~ Yr. Pal, B and The Boys ~

 

 

 

In Princesses We Trust

Drider Pony

 

 

Credit Check sighed as he heard the clock on the wall behind him ticking away the minutes of his life. Was it only eleven? It felt like he'd been working for hours already. Not that he'd done any work thus far. Feeling his eyes start to droop as he tried to maintain a respectfully stiff posture, he resigned himself to the start of another hour of pony-watching.

 

That was one of the drawbacks of working at the largest and most upscale bank in Equestria. While the clients who patronized them were often interesting and eccentric ponies, they were also wealthy enough to afford their own personal liaisons with the bank. No one rich enough to need their services was pedestrian enough to use the general services counter. Thus Credit Check—whose placement in the hierarchy was only slightly higher than the janitor's—was used to suffering through hours-long stretches of nothing but smiling politely and learning to read ponies as they passed through that lobby that made up his small world.

 

There went Mrs. Black, the heiress, followed by her gaggle of lawyers whose collective age easily surpassed that of the Princesses. Judging by her veil and lack of a stallion at her hip, she was there to have another will read: her third one this year.

 

And here came Lord Pumpernickel. If his uneasy expression and second-best suit was any judge, he'd been following his son's investment advice again and needed to liquidate some assets, pronto.

 

And there... who was that? Credit prided himself at being able to recognize all the bank's usual patrons (it was not a long list) at a glance, and yet here came somepony he didn't know. A unicorn, which wasn't too unusual, but she didn't walk with the elegance of the nobility nor did she dress in the latest fashions like the business magnates. She looked like a perfectly ordinary, everyday mare.

 

The mare continued through the door, followed by a companion who made Credit forget to breathe.

 

Princess Celestia!

 

There was no mistaking her. From the regal height with which she towered over nearby ponies, to the elegant way in which her hooves barely seemed to touch the floor. Like any citizen of Equestria, he'd had her image ingrained in his mind from an early age, yet never had he expected to see her in pony!

 

And yet... somehow, she seemed a little different from what he'd been raised to believe. Perhaps it was the way her pastel mane drooped lazily behind her and dragged on the floor. Or the dirty hoodie that did little to hide the golden petryal beneath. Maybe it was her slack-jawed expression that didn't change as she walked head-first into a pillar. Who could say?

 

The other patrons gave the princess and, presumably, her attendant, a wide berth. Even the brownnosers quietly hurried about their business and tried not to stare. They were no fools, and neither was Credit. If the princess wanted to be recognized, then there'd have been a message ahead of her arrival. Also guards. And trumpets. Maybe even a parade.

 

But there were none of those things. So clearly, the princess was trying not to be recognized. A slightly futile effort, given that she was, inherently, the princess, but the attempt was clear enough that any pony with an ounce of sense knew better than to try and break the illusion.

 

"Hello."

 

A voice rocked Credit back to his senses. He'd been so absorbed in the fact that the princess herself was visiting that he hadn't noticed her and her attendant walking right up to his desk.

 

Why were they here?! Surely the princess, of all ponies, had private accountants and financiers? Tartarus, what could she possibly even need a bank for? She owned the Royal Treasury for goodness sake!

 

"Y-Yes?" he replied, years of customer service kicking in where his conscious mind had stumbled, "W-Welcome to Equestria First National, m-m-my Princess. H-How can I- we be of service to you?"

 

He then noticed that it was not Princess Celestia who had spoken, but the smaller purple mare at her side. He then noticed the tiara which the smaller pony wore. One that had rather more spikes and jewels than the Princess' one.

 

The pony who clearly was more than just an attendant smiled sweetly. "We would like to apply for a loan."

 

Credit's eyes moved to the princess, who had yet to say a word. Her expression was blocked by large, black shades, making her impossible to read. Her-

 

"Don't mind her," the unicorn's voice cut through his thoughts with sword-like deftness, "She's just here to cosign."

 

The Princess? Here only as a second? "I- yes, of course." Credit's customer service training kicked in and he reached below his desk for the proper forms as he chastised himself. Who was he to question the actions of the princess? Even if said princess was currently drooling on his desk.

 

He produced the document and inkwell but, much to his horror, found himself without any quills. His hooves danced beneath the desk, searching for a single feathery implement to save his hide from embarrassment in front of such an important client.

 

His purple customer noticed his distress and sighed. Her magic lit for a moment and the princess flinched slightly. "Here," she said as she produced a long white feather, her magic already shaving the end into a proper nib.

 

"T-Thank you." Credit dipped it into the inkwell and forced himself to take a deep breath. She was just another client. He didn't even have to deal with the princess herself: just her mysterious companion. That much he could deal with. He exhaled into a smile and tried to pretend that the Mare Who Ruled Over All He'd Every Known wasn't standing in front of him. Just a normal unicorn. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

"Name of loan applicant?" he asked.

 

"Prin- Sorry, Twilight Sparkle. Just Twilight Sparkle." She giggled at some unknown joke and Credit tried to ignore her comment of 'can't get ahead of myself' that she muttered under her breath.

 

"And P-P-Princess Celestia is the cosigner?" He turned to the slumping regal figure and immediately regretted it as his hastily built mental fortifications threatened to come crumbling down. Quickly, he returned his attention to the much more believable unicorn.

 

"Yes," she agreed.

 

Credit jotted it down. "And the amount?"

 

Just Twilight Sparkle pondered that for a moment, hoof tapping her chin in thought. "I think... twenty million bits will suffice."

 

Once more Credit found himself forgetting to breathe as the number rang through his head like a cannonball in a church bell. "T-Twenty mill-"

 

"Yes," she interrupted with a firmer tone. "That should be enough to start."

 

Credit risked a glance to his sovereign. She hadn't reacted to the number at all. If anything she seemed entirely disconnected from the conversation. Thankfully, once more his deeply-trained service instincts allowed him to push through the shock with prepared statements. "This will be a business loan, then?" His quill already moved towards the appropriate line.

 

"No, a personal loan." He nearly dropped the quill.

 

"M-Ma'am, with a personal loan and a value that high, the interest rate alone would be-"

 

"You let me and my co-signer here worry about that." She pulled the Princess close. An old banana skin fell out of the hoodie and was ignored. Alarms still rang in Credit's mind, but the simple thought of 'Princess Celestia is involved' seemed more than sufficient to beat them back into silence. He nodded dumbly and reached under his desk for a copy of Form B-25-FNA.

 

"F-For amounts this large, the bank requires-"

 

He froze as a lavender hoof touched his non-searching one. Credit looked up into a pair of eyes that had taken on a much more serious expression. "I don't think there's any need to run a credit check." Her voice was calm and sweet as ever but accented with an edge that stung. Like cupcakes laced with arsenic. "This is Princess Celestia here. Some ponies might think that even so much as questioning her credit might be considered an insult to royalty. Now, I wouldn't consider myself one of those ponies." Her gaze seemed to harden as it pierced through his own. "Would you consider me one of those ponies?"

 

"N-No ma'am."

 

"Wonderful!" And just like that, the poison was gone, like it had never been there in the first place. "With that unnecessary step out of the way, I think we should move on. What would the next section be?"

 

What was the next section? Credit glanced down, his eyes skimming past the portion to attach a credit check document. "Ref-" No! He couldn't ask her for a reference! In some ways, that would be more insulting than questioning the Princess' credit! He marked that section not applicable and moved on.

 

"Some form of id-" No! What would the princess even give him as identification? A bit with her face on it?

 

"Pay stu-" No! That wouldn't even make sense!

 

Credit began to sweat as he skimmed past line after line of questions that were sounding more and more like invitations to get thrown in a dungeon (or worse) for lese majeste. Finally, he found a safe haven. Or so he prayed.

 

"Purpose of loan?" he ventured meekly.

 

"Boo- I mean, research materials."

 

That was vague. Far vaguer than he was supposed to allow, but Credit just wanted this nightmare to end already before he somehow ended up getting disappeared by a magical hit squad for asking the wrong questions. He practically sang out with joy as he realized he'd reached the end of the scroll.

 

"I'll just need your signatures then and we'll be all done."

 

He flipped the document over and slid the inkwell and quill across the table. Twilight took the quill in her magic.

 

"Hoofwriting only, please," he said automatically, then flinched and immediately began searching the balconies and skylight for concealed wizard snipers. No such ponies emerged, but the unicorn frowned and transitioned the quill to her hoof. She signed her name in a showy flourish that overran the signature line on all sides.

 

"Here you go, Princess," she said, slightly stilted, and passed the loan agreement across. The princess said nothing. In fact, she barely moved other than to raise her forehoof. She gripped the quill through her golden-covered hoof, a feat Credit was sure was only possible due to the glowing purple enchantment that encompassed it. Her signature was shaky and uneven, but legible enough.

 

"Thank you so much for your help," Twilight, speaker for the princess, said as he took the document back. She passed him a slip of paper. "When it goes through, have them send the funds to this address. It's the third tallest tower in the School for Gifted Unicorns. They can't miss it." Credit also did not miss the fact that she had no qualms about the possibility of it not going through.

 

She smiled once more and turned to leave, the Princess gliding away behind her, her legs barely moving. Credit remained frozen in a terrifying smile until the door swung shut behind the two mares. Then he collapsed like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

 

After this experience, Credit realized he didn't really mind having nothing to do all day. It was so much safer than the alternative.

 

 

“Hey Twi! It Worked!”

B_25

 

 

Clattering objects. Teacups within saucers vibrating across a hardwood surface. They formed an orchestra around the table—around her. Twilight breathed through it all, ears vibrating to the dull sounds evoked by the cheap dishware.

 

And yet, to her laboured breaths, it served as pleasant percussion against the horrific salvos increasing from the distance. The falling of something massive to the crashing of something majestic. Starting then stopping. Roaring, though tamed, followed BOOMS followed by silence... joined with the heavy slicing of winds then—BOOOM silence BOOOM conflicted winds BOOOOM!

 

“I-It’s probably n-nothing, right?” Twilight scratched the scruffy-fluff on her chest, left unbrushed, the neglect of grooming expressed in the frizzles of her mane. “Just a storm on a clear and sunny day. Nothing more.” Her hoof went and wrapped around the teacup within her magic, its saucer floating beneath it. “I’m sure all the ponies here would agree, right?”

 

Her head cracked to the left, moving an inch at a time, the dim interior of the shop revealing itself. Wooden tables and chairs and stools were scattered around the floor. The place was filled with tea and coffee, cups and mugs, all a sleep-deprived mare could ever crave.

 

Twilight being the sole patron was of no importance.

 

BOOOM-THRUUUUM!

 

The booms compounded into a spot before whizzing up. A high whistling of winds consumed the mare’s ears before fading into nothing. Silence filled the seconds after. The thumping of the foe no longer resonating. Safety! Twilight could drink her fourth cup in—

 

BRUUUUAAAAAMMM!

 

Twilight was looking straight—smiling as she did so—as if to let everypony know that if she was in a panic attack, she was okay about it, or not even having one to begin with. Her head cracked to the right this time. Glancing out the window, the filtering sunlight warmed her face... but the long-ropes of prismatic strands slithering across the grass removed all said warmth.

 

“Just ponies s-setting up decorations! Must be some holiday today!” Twilight kept her eyes to the window but her muzzle to the cup of tea, sipping as if to remedy her anxiety. It didn’t help. Never did. Yet another sip was taken anyway. “Explains why nopony is sitting around! So busy helping around! M-must be those sounds I heard earlier too, r-right?”

 

Her forelegs crossed over one another, rubbing together, unable to cease their jitters.

 

“Ponies with carts and carriages will pass any second now.” She nodded. It helped. Somehow. “I’m sure of it.” At least the resulting smile was genuine.

 

Outside came the appearance of ponies. To the far left on the window, blocked by the corner of a building, a portion of the road revealed itself to Twilight. She saw a parade of pony folk. They waved their hooves in the air like they didn’t care while screaming with glee. Twilight did the same, waving back.

 

BUNCK-POOOF!

 

The mass of a wooden cart shot from the air, slamming and exploding in the lane beyond the window, dust expelling, a ball of smoke appearing. Boards of wood shot outward with wheels rolling into the sides of buildings.

 

“Somepony incompetent messing with fireworks...”

 

Carriages fell from the sky into the remains of the cart. Once this explosion cleared, a mountain of wood had mounted. Twilight blinked. Distant monolithic creaks echoed through the air. They drowned out the screams. Whoever was doing sound-effects was doing a good job.

 

The ponies had cleared. No screams or marching of hooves or anything of the sort. Sounds of the broad movement were the only noise now. Across the street, something great landed on its roof, right in its middle, causing the structure to bend and crack down its center.

 

The shape arched out of the ground, rising from beneath the earth, with dirt cascading and roots dropping. The crashing of air came again. That shop dropped and clattered back into the place. Twilight’s head zipped right, following the whispers of the piercing current. Another building had cracked in the middle, compressing into itself, arching to balance the weight of something great, of something massive.

 

“Nope! Nu-uh! Not take responsibility for this one!” Twilight shook her head, no longer a nod of disillusion, from which her previous words were born. Now her breaths issued from a different reality. With various tactics this time. “It’s not my fault. It’s not my problem. It’s not here. It’ll go away if I keep quiet.”

 

BOO-CRAAA-OOOM!

 

Billows of dusty clouds erupted from beneath the sudden pillar of blue, crashing into the collection of carts and carriages, flattening them beneath the circumference of the abroad hoof. More creaking and cracking. The rising decibels of groaning wood undertaking greater weight.

 

Twilight glanced up. Waterfalls of dust poured from the sides of hovering beams. On the arched ceiling came the creaking. Cracks tore across its surface, shallow and superficial at first, then a storm of crashing winds that were followed by a monster crashing into the roof. The splintery fissures deepened and spread like spiderwebs across and down the entire establishment.

 

“Everything will be okay... everything will be okay... everything… thing...” Something heavy was appearing towards Twilight’s side. The monster was emerging in all of its beauty. Twilight took a gulp before gazing outside. Thick strands of rainbow draped before the glass. Followed by a massively blue something. “...will be...”

 

Then it came. A vertical pool of whiteness vast enough to swim across. It dropped and dipped until the mass of the monster’s head had reached the ground and pressed against it. Currents of mane flopped and spilled across the grass — all to allow the glowing sphere of violet to consume the entirety of the window’s screen.

 

And then the sphere narrowed with confidence.

 

“Okay! Everything will be okay!” Twilight spread her forelimbs out to the sides and reached for the wooden blinders, each of which hung on the side of the window. After a brief struggle, Twilight grasped and slammed them shut. She heaved within cool, cold darkness. “No problem what-so-ever!”

 

Glows of lavender seeped through the closed blinds.

 

“Leave! That’s all I have to do. Leave.” Twilight arched onto the floor with shaky forelegs, wobbling on all fours. She hovered her drink before her muzzle, sipping still. “Just walk out. Go away. Let this allllll take care of itself.”

 

Twilight walked across the establishment--only for the ground to rise beneath her hooves. The flooring lurched upward as she slid downward, her hooves clattering against the loosening tile, struggling to find footing. Soon, Twilight’s bottom swept across the shop and, by the time it levelled out, the mare was already poised out the front door.

 

“Hey, Twi.”

 

Twilight sat within the entrance of the door, hope draining from her expression upon staring outward. Though moments had passed, time did nothing for her comprehension. Her mind had booted, only to require yet another instant restart.

 

Rainbow Dash. Her head was *looming* despite being only a few feet away. Its upside-down form consumed the width of the street lane—demolishing into a far building on the far end, behind overturned wagons and loose-leaning fire hydrants. Her eyes were half-lidded, going from pool to pond. Waves of her mane flattened and flowed across the street, thick enough of a current to swim in.

 

Her snout hovered above Twilight’s entire field of view and--beyond even that--the cavern of her maw parted open.

 

“It worked.”

 

Twilight didn’t say anything. She stood as still as she could muster between jittery sips from her tea, most of which had splashed completely out of the puny cup by now. She too felt as small and empty, suddenly.

 

Rainbow rolled to the left, the dome of her skull crushing deeper into the ground. Confidence blossomed across her gigantic expression. Utter satisfaction now inbound.

 

Another sip, and Twilight’s cup was drained. Not much else could be done, that was, before raising the cup into the air—and slamming it against the ground. The glass clattered and shards blasted in different directions.

 

It was only the morning on the weekend.

 

 

The Witching Hour

Short Skirts and Explosions

 

 

Once upon a time, friendship—like most magics—was not a weapon of war. But Apple Bloom could scarcely remember it. Through the ash and soot of yet another exploding shell, she couldn’t pierce through hard enough to recall the color of sunlight—for which she fought so hard. For which they all did.

 

Another shell landed—much closer this time. Half a second of cacophony later, dirt and bone fragments showered across Apple Bloom’s canvas gear, kissing her bruised coat as she lay deep in the mud of a low trench reeking of gunpowder and decay. A wavering murmur bristled through the huddled bodies squatting all around her. There was squeaking, a cracking voice or two—scared and youthful—on all sides of the muddy depression. It almost sounded like music, a precious chorus hidden amidst all the mud and metal.

 

At last, Apple Bloom opened her bloodshot eyes, peering over the charred black blades of grass bending before her.

 

A dark horizon stretched between No Mare’s Land, flat and desolate beneath an even darker sky. A wide-open field lay before the Equestrian offensive line. Save for a few sporadic potholes carved into the ruined earth by random artillery, it was a clean gallop straight to the treeline. And that treeline was Death—for it was where the enemy hid.

 

An enemy that was currently lobbing more magic shells at the Equestrian position.

 

“Incoming!” somepony squealed, not that it would amount to much. The shells landed where they would—and it was by the grace of Harmony that they exploded an innocuous cluster of bullets far south of their position.

 

As the latest salvo of thunder settled—serenaded by chunks of debris hailing down on all sides of the trench—a familiar figure wormed up towards Apple Bloom’s right side.

 

“What in Tartarus’s name are we waiting for?!” Scootaloo hissed. The green mana glow of her scout goggles faintly illuminated a camo-painted muzzle, currently twisted with impatience as she spat into the mud and ash. “We got them backed into an isolated cluster of Everfree!”

 

“You don’t think they know that?!” squeaked another mare to Apple Bloom’s left. Three years into this senseless conflict, and her voice still sounded like harmonic chimes against the continuous bass of war. “They got us pinned down! As soon as we show our heads—”

 

“Nightmare One and Nightmare Three are further ahead than the rest of us!” Scootaloo gestured at the dozens of bodies huddled low in the trenches around them. Grimy metal augments along the edges of her fetlock clicked like chainsaw teeth in the death lights. “We ground to make up! And if we don’t, we’ll no longer have a solid line to advance with!”

 

“Have you forgotten our orders?!” Sweetie Belle squeaked. Her ammo bandoliers and equipment rattled as she snarled at her comrade. “The Shadowbolts will be providing air support at any moment now! Then we wait for the flare—”

 

“And I’m tellin’ you, they won’t have made it past the flak line!” Scootaloo hissed back. “We’re waiting for nothing! You think any of the other squads will issue a charge at this point?”

 

“Why are you itching so hard for a scrap?! You know what it’s cost to bring us this far!”

 

“I’m just sick and tired of hiding from these freaks! Are we going to take down that stupid radio spell or not—?!”

 

As the two mares continued bickering into the mad and shadows, Apple Bloom’s weary eyes settled on a pale image before her. Soft petals—flimsy and drooping. A single flower was bravely sticking sideways out of a collapsed patch of earth in front of her. She reached forward with her left forelimb to touch it. The metal teeth of her augments squeezed towards it, like a squid’s beak. But she stopped just a hair’s width before so much as grazing the flower, knowing that she would only crush it. Apple Bloom’s teeth clenched, and a deep growl rose from her muzzle, before bursting towards both her left and right.

 

“Cut the chatter!” She silenced her friends—her subordinates—in a single grunt. Another roll of thunder, but not from the landing shells this time. “It’s the Witchin’ Hour. Them invaders have stockpiled all their fancy black magics to let loose for this one slobber knocker. And if they’re fixin’ to protect that cluster of Everfree so dang hard, then we know for sure that what we’re aimin’ to destroy is in that there woods.”

 

A shivering pony two meters away stammered across the trenches: “What’s the w-word, Two-Alpha?”

 

Apple Bloom looked back at the soldier. “We wait for air support.” She rolled her body sideways, adjusting the full weight of her rifle and checking its magazine. “Then the flare.” Rattling augments shifted the weapon’s bolt in and out of place. “Then... we stampede.”

 

Scootaloo took a deep breath. “Night Mares take point.”

 

“Eeyup.” Apple Bloom rolled back and aimed down the sight, surveying the battlefield ahead of them. “The regular infantry will take the rear.”

 

“Just like we trained,” Sweetie Belle added.

 

“Good to know we’re all in agreement.” Apple Bloom’s lips tightened as she studied each of the dim tree trunks lingering in the dark, dark distance. “So stop the dang yappin’ and know yer places!”

 

Sweetie and Scootaloo shuddered, falling silent. The same solemn hush fell over the rest of the trenches as everypony lingered. Waited.

 

“This... this here’s the last charge,” Apple Bloom murmured into her own issued emptiness, scanning the deathly edges of the forest. “It has t’ be.” Her ears flattened beneath the bullet-riddled scrap of a pink bow. “Blessed Night Mothe—”

 

Just then, her entire sniper scope lit up, blinding her. She shook her head loose, squinting over the obsidian horizon of carved earth. As her vision came into focus, she saw—as everypony did—a rising curtain of bright streaming fire issuing upwards from the Everfree Treetops.dk

“Incoming salvo!” some scared pony shouted several bodies away. “They’re trying to finish us off!”

 

“No, look!” another pointed skyward, noting how the volley was still rising, piercing the soot-stained clouds above. “It’s anti-air!”

 

“That means—!”

 

Everypony flinched as a sonic reverberation issued overhead. An expanding bubble of pegasus magic rippled outward in every direction, flattening the remaining grass as over a hundred winged bodies tore north through the blackened atmosphere. Clothed in blue and hugging bombs to their chests, the daredevilish squadron spread their limbs and dropped their payloads into the treeline below.

 

The bombardment was haphazard. Sloppy. Desperate—but it was enough to drag the attention of the hidden enemy away from the Equestrian frontline. Pretty soon, the sky filled with amber streaks of tracers and fiery-enchanted ballistics. The blackened countryside lit up, and—for the briefest of gasps—Apple Bloom and her companions could see huddled masses of artillery stations huddled between the trunks of the Everfree cluster.

 

“What did I tell you?!?” Wind chimes. Sweetie Belle’s smile lit up with each burst of flak above.

 

“Let’s not waste it!” Apple Bloom hollered. The augments of her rear hooves dug into the mud, anchoring her as she flung her forward half over the edge of the trench. Something tiny was crushed underneath her, and she blew the pale petals away, slinging the rifle over and out until it was aimed at the tree line. “Open fire! Send them varmints to Tartarus!”

 

A rousing round of neighs boiled through the hidden squadron. In a solid glinting column, no less than five dozen rifle barrels swung towards the furthest horizon. Their muzzles flashed with enchanted gun powder, and soon the earth was screaming with a dance of shrapnel, surging due north.

 

The noise was skull-splitting, but Apple Bloom was used to it. She took even breaths, firing her rounds slowly and taking brief moments between bolt action reloads of her rifle to scan the treeline for any changes in the pattern of chaos. Sure enough, the anti-air salvos had lessened, but there was no sign of fallen targets. Even when squinting down the sight of her scope, Apple Bloom saw fallen trees, scattered leaves, and split branches—but no bodies.

 

It certainly didn’t help that Equestria never quite knew if the invaders were actually capable of bleeding.

 

“Yeah! Yeah!” Scootaloo shouted, goggles rattling from the vaporous discharges of her grenade launcher. Each distant explosion reflected off the two serrated metal wings emerging from her backside. “Can’t take it as well as you dish it out, huh?! Ya black magic punks!”

 

Sweetie Belle grimaced as she aimed down her the sight of her semi-automatic. “Scootaloo?! Must you—?”

 

But before Apple Bloom could chew either of them out—

 

—the entire eastern edge of the field lit up in a bright, blinding orange.

 

Apple Bloom looked up, pupils shrinking at the sight of an enormous flare slicing through the lower flak.

 

“What?!” A soldier down the trench stammered in the middle of reloading her rifle. “Nightmare Three?! Already?!”

 

“It’s too soon!” Sweetie Belle’s voice cracked. “We can’t stampede through this! We’ll be cut to ribbons!”

 

Apple Bloom swallowed hard. Just then—another flare. This time burning the sky to the west, where Nightmare One was hidden. She took several deep breaths—inhaling the soot and decay... and exhaling a growl. “Like Tartarus we will...!”

 

Mud bubbled beneath her from the mana exhaust of her augmented legs powering up. With a mechanical hiss, Apple Bloom’s body was propelled vertically. Her trained body adjusted to the bipedal stance. After another hiss of hydraulics, she was boosted forward in a blink, scaling the edge of the trench and raising her muzzle high enough so that her following shouts would be carried to every hidden meter of the battle line.

 

“Foals of the Night Mother!” She screamed, her tattered bow flailing like a battle flag in the necrotic winds. “Stampede! The Witching Hour is ours!”

 

“Awwwwwwww ponyfeathers...” Scootaloo grinned in spite of her expletive. One slap to the chassis of her grenade launcher, and its shed its outer metal panels, converting to a portable weapon that steamed in the dark air.

 

Sweetie Belle shook her shoulders. With a little help from her glowing horn, a shiny cylinder emerged from her backpack. Speakers sparked to life with miniature bolts of lightning, playing a loud and crackling rendition of the Matriarchy’s battle anthem.

 

And just like that, every scared mortal soul galloped up and out of the trenches, hollering in one hellish accord: “For Equestria!!!”

 

“Onward, Crusaders!” Apple Bloom shouted, taking point. It was impossible not to; her augments threw her forward like a locomotive shoving a bound infant. Her vision rocked from the steady bipedal sprint, and yet she found the strength to scream into the madness, aiming her rifle in mid-stride. “Take down the radio enchantment at all costs!”

 

The army of Equestria charged north, galloping towards a forest on fire. The smoke overhead cleared briefly, revealing a sun and moon hanging statically in the sky—a desperate measure by the Princesses to illuminate the enemy for the kingdom’s finest. This accomplished very little, however, for soon the spaces between the flak were filled with the bodies of unlucky pegasi falling to the earth, most of them reduced to indistinguishable chunks from the anti-air that swiftly responded to their attack.

 

Apple Bloom gnashed her teeth, strafing left and right as tattered wings and shattered vertebrae rained down to the muddied earth. In her peripheral vision, she spotted the companies of Nightmare One and Nightmare Three advancing. Echoes of the royal battle march echoed Sweetie Belle’s device from the fringes, and soon all three companies converged as one, forming a solid line as they charged the forested cluster head of them.

 

At last, the enemy regained their focus—and hot streaks of black magic ballistics sailed towards the advancing Equestrians. Amber tracers filled the air with the smell of burning metal dust and acid.

 

Apple Bloom jumped several projectiles with a hiss of hydraulic augments. Half-a-scream later, she landed, her prosthetic rear limbs grinding through the earth and kicking up a blinding wall of dust to shield her comrades. The soldiers took the opportunity to duck low, prop their rifles up, and return fire at their foe. As the dirt wall settled, Apple Bloom dashed up towards a moss-covered boulder and took cover.

 

The Night Mare grasped an enchanted ammo clip from her bandolier. She breathed on the bound bullets, causing them to glow faintly. Then—flicking a metal barb loose from the side of the clip—she proceeded to cut a shallow slice into her left flank—just above her scarred cutie mark. Her blood oozed over the bullets, and the enchanted ammunition illuminated like hot bricks. She promptly loaded this into the chamber of her rifle, bent around the edge of the boulder, and took aim at the source of the enemy’s bullet fire.

 

One by one, she took focused potshots of the tree line. Each enchanted bullet landed with remarkable force, exploding magnificently and sending wooden shrapnel flying every which way for yards. As she squinted down the steaming scope for signs of a return-fire, she spotted bright flashes of blue light. Hissing under her teeth, Apple Bloom ducked low behind the boulder, her ears twitching at the sound of multiple prolonged whistles.

 

The air above her strobed with a pale blue light, illuminating dozens... hundreds of equine bodies charging into the fray. The first of several artillery shells landed. They were blue spheres of unearthly magic. Upon impact, they lifted back up, hovered a meter above the earth, then fluctuated with arcane fury. Within seconds, anything that was not rooted down—and some things that were—were forcibly sucked into the infinitesimal nexus of the spell. Apple Bloom watched helplessly as multiple soldiers were lifted off their hooves and thrown together—screaming. After the ensuing flash, what was left of the ponies were congealed into a crimson mass of squirming muscle and tattered limbs, too cancerous and writhing to die quickly.

 

Apple Bloom wrenched her eyes from the casualties. She spotted a pale body just a few yards west of her. “Night Mare Beta!” she shouted. “Engage siege mode!”

 

Sweetie Belle looked her way. She nodded, horn already glowing. The speaker in her back popped its panels loose, undulating to reveal several metal barrels that floated off her gear. She kicked her rear hooves into the ground. With sparks issuing, the augmented digits folded away, and a pair of miniature tank treads mushroomed into functional existence underneath the bend of her fetlocks. At the same time, the barrels levitated by the Night Mare’s magic, forming the rough floating skeleton of a minigun. With a shake of her backpack, Sweetie Belle unribboned an absurd length of fifty calibre shells into the heart of the levitating, spinning chamber. Strafing smoothly on the miniature treads, Sweetie Belle glided fearlessly towards the enemy position, all the while firing a murderous string of hot bullets from the floating minigun which leveled the outer forest cluster to bits.

 

Apple Bloom knew this would only give her company thirty seconds to spare at most. She capitalized with a hydraulic leap, hurdling over the boulder and charging once more towards the burning walls of Everfree. As Sweetie Belle’s cover fire tore into the western reaches of the cluster, heavy shadows came bursting out of the eastern flank.

 

A jolt rang through Apple Bloom’s heart; she wondered if she was finally laying eyes on the enemy. Within seconds, her heart sank. Quadruped shapes were charging towards the Equestrian stampede. The moment she saw the bodies absorbing the bullets of her comrades, she knew what they were facing.

 

“Eyes right!” the Night Mare shouted. “Constructs—!”

 

Just as she hollered this, they accelerated, kicking up dirt and bloody fragments of fallen pegasi. Their gnarled wooden bodies flickered against the artillery bombardment—timberwolves fused to foreign metals, glowing hot and blue from within. Their fanged jaws open wide, and projectiles zipped from their mouths. These bullets did not fly straight—however—but zipped and flitted about with pale trails before landing on the necks and chests and flanks of ponies, upon which the projectiles achieved a demonic autonomy, burrowing and carving their way into the flesh of equine soldiers via buzzing mandibles.

 

Soldiers writhed and screamed, falling into the puddles that their eviscerated bodies were becoming. The constructs splashed through the viscera, converging on what remained of Apple Bloom’s company.

 

“Night Mare Delta!” Apple Bloom hollered, all the while taking futile shots at the regenerating wooden legs of the mutant timber-beasts. “Blades out!”

 

“On it!” Scootaloo hollered, charging from a dozen screams away, illuminating the battlefield with a voracious smile. She sent a single shrug through the length of her body, and her augments sparkled. The two serrated blades extended further from her back. With a running leap, she glided over the battlefield, landing in a spinning slide that nimbly cut the legs off two constructs from underneath them. Before she stopped gliding, the mare reached her forelimbs back and grasped both wings—unsheathing them as a pair of lengthy scimitars graffiti’d all over with the hash marks of past kills.

 

She then proceeded to add a fresh number to her record, slicing deep into the necks of the constructs, severing their black magic circuitry and exposing the fluctuating manacores. At one point, she sliced the chest of a timber-wolf wide open, causing its metal core to fall out. With a grunt, Scootaloo backflipped, bicycle-kicking the orb into an advancing wave of intercepting constructs.

 

Apple Bloom exhaled, steadying her body as she narrowed her sight on the flying orb and took one expert shot. The bullet sliced through the carnage, impacting the core and rupturing it. Blue plasma erupted across the battlefield, taking out multiple constructs with the improvised discharge. What remained of the constructs became easy pickings for Night Mare Delta, and Scootaloo’s victorious growls urged the remaining soldiers onward with their charge.

 

A short breath—nothing more than could be afforded—and Apple Bloom swiftly slapped a new magazine into her rifle before moving forward...

 

...and that’s exactly when her left rear leg exploded.

 

It wasn’t until Apple Bloom’s muzzle was carving angel wings into the dirt beneath her that she became aware of her own screams. A blood-tinged sky rolled and broiled above her. Heaving inward, she wrestled her lungs to submission just long enough to throw a reluctant glance down to see the damage.

 

An enemy bullet had landed into one of the manacircuits of her fetlock augments. What remained was a splintery mess of wires, bone, and muscle strings. The cauterized edges of her flesh steamed into the flickering air.

 

Apple Bloom smelled that morning’s breath. Shivering, she wiped the fresh vomit off her chest and—like a good soldier—reached a numb hoof out towards her rifle. She heard her name being screamed. Panicked eyes darted eastward.

 

Scootaloo’s figure blurred in and out of focus. She charged across a sea of corpses towards Apple Bloom, repeating her name in louder echoes, her goggles rattling above a worried face. Pausing once or twice—if only to deflect incoming projectiles with her blades—the mare made a mad dash for her companion. “Don’t worry, Apple Bloom!” She galloped. She slid. “I’ll get you to—!”

 

A blue shell landed, floated, and flickered—like a flower.

 

Scootaloo’s breath was sucked in, and then her body. The twin scimitars spun, folded, and crackled—flying towards opposite ends of the sky like dragonfly wings. What remained of Scootaloo herself fell in a wet lump on the grass, with writhing sinew circling around the fragmented facsimile of a skull.

 

Tiredly, Apple Bloom rocked her head towards another source of screams—like wind chimes fracturing down the center.

 

She saw Sweetie Belle in two places—being pulled further apart. A pair of timberwolf constructs were fighting over her head and abdomen, and both predators were winning. As more and more of Night Mare Beta’s entrails were exposed, she threw a vomitous look of desperation at Apple Bloom. Eyes pleading... tearing.

 

Deadpan, Apple Bloom jerked the bolt of her rifle and aimed at the holocaustal scene. The black cross of her scope lingered on Sweetie Belle’s pallid forehead... then reluctantly switched to the manacore of one of the constructs devouring her. For Apple Bloom heard the thunder of more automatons rushing in and there was only way to take them all out and spare the lives of more soldiers.

 

One last, musical shriek—and Sweetie Belle vanished beneath the erupting magic. Apple Bloom flinched as twigs, metal shards, and pieces of her friend rained down on her. More breakfast. She shook, strained, and struggled to get up. Pain rippled through her body, but her remaining augments carried her soon-to-be-corpse forward.

 

Limping, wobbling, she inched a bloody streak towards the treeline. Apple Bloom was so close. She could almost smell the enemy—a queer, leathery smell that used to mean the cusp of victory, but now...

 

“Varmints...” She cocked her rifle, propped herself on one good prosthetic, and fired randomly into the cluster. Shot after shot. Chasing that ever-elusive radio spell into the black gasp of Hell. “Filthy... peevin' varmints...” Bullets returned. Enchanted projectiles—one with the mandibles of a demon scarab, going straight for the jugular. “Mother of Nightmares give me strength... I’ll send ya high-tailin’ back to Tartarus—”

 

One projectile landed, slicing its way into Apple Bloom’s liver. A second bit onto her left forelimb. The third—exploded into her rifle, taking out a chunk of her face.

 

Apple Bloom fell, gargling her own essence. She rolled back onto her flank, peering skyward in fitful spasms as she felt the scarabs chewing their way through her digestive track and into her lungs. High above—through the ash and soot—the sun and moon hung like pale pallbearers over a neverending dirge. Her eyes clouded red, crossing, losing focus. The moon and sun converged until one became an eclipsed crescent from the other...

 

...and then the pain was gone as Apple Bloom came to.

 

The crescent hung still, cold and clear, the effigy of a banner hanging from the rafters of an ancient citadel.

 

Apple Bloom breathed—and there was no enchanted projectile butchering its way through her lungs. In a spastic jerk, she sat up—rattling the edges of a canvas cot stretched out beneath her.

 

She was surrounded by ponies. Ponies in beds. Beds filling every square foot of an enormous palatial chamber strewn-over with the Lunar crest.

 

Panting, shivering, and drenched in more than a little bit of sweat, Night Mare Alpha looked all around her. The familiar visages of fellow comrades lay in fitful slumber, their faces awash in discomfort and stress. To her right, Apple Bloom made out Scootaloo’s sleeping figure; the pegasus’ face was frozen in a permanent frown, teeth-gritting like a canine’s.

 

A harmonic whimper. Apple Bloom looked to her left. Sweetie Belle lay curled up under a canvas sheet, her clenched eyelids squeezing loose hot tears.

 

Just then, Apple Bloom heard the scuffle of hooves. Her heartbeat had slowed to a calm crawl by now, and she casually glanced up to see one of several hooded figures trotting towards her.

 

A veiled stallion came to a stop just before her cot, all the while his companions continued closely monitoring the rest of the fitfully “sleeping” soldiers. An amulet with the lunar crest hung below the neck of his cloak, and a set of fangs glinted as he spoke towards the waking warrior.

 

“Another failure, then?”

 

Apple Bloom breathed in and out. She remained silent.

 

“Her Majesty expects a report, Alpha,” the stallion added tersely.

 

“The entire charge was obliterated,” Apple Bloom muttered, rubbing her head. The augments built into her fetlock scratched hard through her scraggly, partially-grayed mane. “We... lagged behind Nightmare One and Two.”

 

“Then the rest will be waking shortly.” The stallion’s slitted eyes briefly shone from beneath the hood. “The Night Mother will recreate the dream in the morning. Prepare thineself.”

 

Apple Bloom’s teeth momentarily gnashed. “It would help if we could remember our failures into the next exercise...”

 

The stallion calmly peered at her from above. “If the Night Mares cannot succeed in a singular isolated engagement, then why should thou deserve the lives that thou hath pledged to ensure?”

 

Apple Bloom’s body went limp. She hung her head.

 

“The Night Mother doth not choose her warriors lightly,” he said. Again, fangs. “Thine good dreams are forfeit. All that’s left is to survive the Nightmare, and carry it—along with her fury—into the actual battlefield.”

 

Silence.

 

“Doth thy pledge remain true, Alpha?”

 

Apple Bloom sat up straight, finally saluting. “It does, goodly sage.”

 

He nodded slowly in response. “Rest thy mind. The Witching Hour repeats in the morning. Prove thine worth in the Nightmare, or else thou will not hath earned thine limbs.” With a shrug of his shrouded withers, the stallion rejoined his brethren in pacing about the cathedral, monitoring the slumbering soldiers laid out from wall to wall.

 

Apple Bloom sighed. She rubbed her aching scalp a few times, wincing from the clitter-clack of her metal augments. She let her forelimb hover before her face, examining the grimy metal digits up close. Parts of the prosthetic glittered from pale moonlight, and she turned to look at a tall stained glass window hanging above her cot. From her vantage point, the ebony visage of Nightmare Moon hovered upside down, framed by a gray malaise of “sky.”

 

Everything beyond was pale, static, a war without end.

 

There was no sense in refusing to begin.

 

In a heavy breath, Apple Bloom lay back down on the cot. She sensed the fitful jerks of Scootaloo in her sleep—the sobs of Sweetie Belle to the opposite side. Friends, they once were—but like all good weapons they needed a good sharpening.

 

So she closed her eyes...

 

...and meditated in the darkness.

 

 

Pressence

Clopfics in the Comments

 

 

“All ready girls?” Rarity smiled over her shoulder.

 

“You betcha! Can’t wait to get more use out of these pom poms!”

 

“Pinkie, went you just throwing a party with them last week?” A grumpy apple farming Pony groused from near the back of the pack of cheerleaders.

 

“Those are my everyday pom poms, these are my special occasion pom poms, duh!”

 

“Awww, lighten up AJ. We get to be the center of attention at a Ponyville Pillagers goofball halftime show!” Rainbow Dash zipped forward on her outstretched wings, peeking through the drawn curtains toward the roaring field and cried just outside. “Didn’t think you’d get so nervous about showing off some stunts.”

 

“It h’ain’t me who’s nervous,” Applejack sighed, soaring a glance to the butter-yellow pegasus currently in the process of trying to Myrtle with the stadium tunnel wall. “Not every pony has made a goshdurn career outta flipping her tail up and showing her stuff in front of the whole dang county!”

 

Rainbow blushed, getting the hem of her cheerleading skirt and pulling it downwards as much as she could. “Just what are you implying?”

 

“What I’m saying is that them there Wonderbolts regalia has been gettin’ mighty tight this past season. “

 

"That isn’t my decision! Spitfire loves to show off the junk in her trunk!”

 

“Uh-huh, strange that you are the centrefold in all them magazines still!”

 

“Hey! Sports Hoofistrated is a legitimate periodical! Don’t get all snorty just ‘cuz you caught your brother in his room with my edition jer-”

 

“GIRLS!” The final voice in the group barked, shaking her head with annoyance. “I know you’re both nervous, but now is neither the time not place for these antics.” Twilight sighed before trusting her hair back into a ponytail.

 

“R-r-remind me again why we’re doing this…” Fluttershy peeped, peeking out from between her long pink bangs, which had been converted into a makeshift curtain for her to hide her face behind.

 

“Because it’s super-duper fun, silly!” Pinkie was starting to bounce off of the sides of the tunnel, getting dangerously close to reaching ‘peak-pink’.

 

“Because we promised the hoofball team,” Twilight interjected, placing eyeblack under her eyes as she did so, “we told those colts that if they managed to get a collective score of 90% or higher on all six of our classes, we’d dress up as cheerleaders and do a routine for the big homecoming game.”

 

“I wouldna guessed them knuckleheads had it in ’em.” Applejack moaned, taking off her stetson and hanging it on a nearby hook.

 

“Really darling, you underestimate the lengths to which a stallion will go for the sight of a mare’s plot.” Rarity grinned, even as she ignited her horn to fix the hem of one of her skirt’s many pleats. “Particularly one as fine as my own.”

 

“And that’s another thing, what in tarnation is up with these lycra undershorts?” Applejack grunted, lifting her rear-left leg somewhat uncomfortably. “They’re stretchy, sure - but boy howdy do they snug up into every crevice.” The freckled-orange face was coated with a rather red shade of embarrassment. “Feels way more embarassin’ than wearing nothing at all!”

 

“Well, a lady must be able to promise much, while revealing little.” Rarity tittered, flicking her purple-blue tail from side to side, experimenting with what angle she should lift her skirt. “And Twilight needed something stretchy for her big finish!”

 

“Rarity!” Twilight hissed through her teeth, waving her arms. “That’s supposed to be a surprise.”

 

“I didn’t say anything, darling!”

 

Rainbow Dash whirled back from the curtain, striding right up into the alicorn’s face. “What, are you changing the routine we practiced, Sparkle?” Rainbow frowned. “Trying to steal the limelight by altering the show on your own, huh? You know what we call that in the wonderbolts?”

 

Twilight backed up against the tunnel wall, her lycra-clad rump being pressed into the concrete under the withering questioning from the fiery pegasus. “....uh…. Initiative?”

 

“We call it treason.”

 

“Dashie, you changed the Wonderbolts routine last week so you could rainboom over the Manehattan statue of liberty last week!” Pinkie asked with an arched eyebrow, head tilted. “It was in all the papers.”

 

“That wasn’t really a change, so much as a tweak, OK?” Rainbow rolled her eyes, but backed off of Twilight. “Just promise that I get to do the final she-bang with the rainboom, alright?”

 

Twilight grinned. “I promise Rainbow, I’ll just be filling the background, nothing more!”

 

“That’s our cue!” Rarity squealed with excitement as a fog-horn like blast filled the arena just outside, and the roar of the crowd reached a new fever pitch.

 

 

 

 

 

Twilight had indeed planned to steal the spotlight from Rainbow. Well, not so much steal as share the spotlight.

 

It wasn’t that she wanted attention in the way that the sparky little firebrand did - few ponies could really match the blue racehorse’s need for external assurance that she was the awesomest pony on four hooves… but she’d been irked by the ay that Rainbow had teased her about not having enough presence at public events.

 

IT might have just been a passing comment at their last girls-night-out, but during Rainbow’s half-drunken tirade she’d set herself up as the paragon of public life and interacting with fans that Twilight should aspire to.

 

Twilight was an alicorn princess, thank you very much. And she was ready to rub Rainbow’s nose in it.

 

Throw in the fact that her family, including her brother, sister-in-law, and niece would be present… as well as the chief of the Society for Magical Experimentation… and the Princesses of the Sun and Moon… and the stake were raised even further.

 

The timing was almost too perfect - just a few weeks before she’d discovered and re-invigorated an entire branch of magic around expanding size and presence. It was no easy task. From her research, the complicated thalamic networks and biological considerations had meant that not even Clover the Clever had been able to manage more than the odd appendage expansion (though the texts neglected to mention just which appendages had been grown).

 

But Twilight had done it - created a whole new field of magic. And she was ready to wow the crowd with a fantastic finish to their cheerleading routine that would go down in the history books for millennia.

 

And rub Rainbow’s muzzle in her ‘presence’.

 

…

 

So it was that after a rousing set of twirls, flourishes, leaps and soaring… set to the modern sensual rhythms of the latest Sapphire Shores single... the raucous cheers of the whole student body, the town of Ponyville, and the visiting nobility, burst forth.

 

Almost too quickly, the sweating mares had flown through their dance and were reaching the end of their routine.

 

Coy flashes of panties and seductive strutting were the aims of the last demonstrative positioning, with five of the world-famous teacher-heroes planning to finish their bawdy routine by, in unison, turning away from the crowd and flicking their rear ends up in a most suggestive pose… while Rainbow Dash would put an exclamation mark on the even with an overhead rainboom.

 

Twilight stirred her horn at just this moment, gathering the thaumic energy needed to expand her body. She’d planned to grow to three or four times her size, larger than any pony known on record, even the infamously clumsy Troubleshoes.

 

Unfortunately for Twilight, she had not considered what the impact of a nearby sonic rainboom might have had on the delicate thaumic field.

 

In moments, the buildup of energy around the rapidly accelerating pegasus swelled through the complex matrix, powering her horn at a nearly exponential level.

 

The sensation was strange, much different than her experiments with the spell… every single one of her muscles, bones, sinews, organs… all growing massively at the same rate. Strangely, she felt more like the world itself was shrinking away from her than her own size increasing.

 

Dimly, through the rush of the pounding blood in her ears and the creaking pops of her joints, she heard the roar of the crowd turn into stunned gasps… she felt the bumping of her friends’ bodies against her own as she quickly expanded and overtook their personal space. A dull thump against her plot was felt as Rainbow careened into her at speed, sinking partway into her squishy flesh as she did so.

 

The lycra shorts and magically imbued cheerleading outfit had managed to hold, stretching and straining outwards but growing with her own size increase, instead of shredding off of her body as might otherwise be expected. With a hideous, creaking crack, the small wooden stage upon which they had been performing gave way and collapsed into a pile of flinders under her multi-ton plot.

 

Then it was all over.

 

She’d easily grown to the size of a 200-foot tall pony, pretty much large enough to cross the entire hoofball field in only two strides.

 

She could feel Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity pinned under her enormous squishy thighs. Dash was currently in the process of trying to retrieve the latter from her fleshy prison.

 

PInkie crept up over the curved globe of her right asscheek, a giant smile on her face as she let loose a crazy, overly-excited laugh.

 

A stunned Twilight looked over her shoulder with trepidation at the whole crowd - her friends, family, colleagues… who had all been given a front-row seat to her completely exposed, lycra-covered, gigantically magnified plot. At that moment, Twilight could feel the tight green inseams of the shorts where they traced in and along her most delicate folds, hugging the outline and central creases of her mound… and snugly gripping around the fat ring of her tail hole.

 

There was really nothing left to the imagination.

 

She could feel tears of embarrassment growing in her eyes as she looked among the shocked crowd, students, family, friends, neighbours… all pouring over her most intimate bits, now magnified to tremendous size.

 

Then, she heard her brother.

 

“Three cheers for Equestria’s largest princess-plot!”

 

With that, the entire crowd exploded into a fanfare. Every pony cheered and waved their flags, yelling and hooting with abandon at the sight of the princess of magic’s completely exposed macro-scale butt.

 

Some ponies argued with each other about the giant tush’s best features, be they the plumpness of her glutes, the swell of her mound, the colour of her dock’s fur, or the roundness of her tailhole’s bulge.

 

The hoofball team cheered and slapped one another on their backs, proud of their accomplishment and the confirmation of much of their internal team discussions about which of their teachers truly had the best bottom.

 

Up in the stands, Celestia and Luna grumped slightly - sad that in mere moments the rankings of royal rumps had been overturned forever. Both were already making plans in their own minds about ways to show off their own regal rears to combat the expected shift of public opinion toward the princess of magic.

 

Flashbulbs exploded and shattered as newspaper ponies shot their film, capturing for all time and the history books the exact number of wrinkles present on the princess’s royal rosebud. Many stallions had to cease their clapping and ashamedly bring their hooves to cover their laps, becoming the target of teasing elbow pokes from their marefriends and wives.

 

Even Shining Armor and Night Light had to endure the disappointed looks of their special somepony’s with resigned shrugs as they attempted and failed to hide their shameful reactions to Twilight’s beautiful exposure.

 

Twilight could only blush and sit there on display.

 

But, at least, she’d shown Rainbow Dash just how much ‘public presence’ she could bring to bear.

 

 

Aftermath of the Canterlot Heist

JackRipper

 

 

“Ten thousand bits? Really?” Twilight scoffed, gripping the edges of the poster and threatening to crumple them. “I’m at least worth twenty—if not thirty.”

 

It was true: she was a small-time heister. At least, she was so far. Canterlot was a dangerous first step, but it was lucrative, too lucrative to pass up. But it was also her home.

 

Celestia knew that too.

 

“Celestia,” Twilight growled and turned, leaning the back of her head against the wall. “Probably have your plastic soldiers set up on every city block after tonight, don’t you?”

 

She blew a heavy exhale, upward, through pursed lips.

 

The page crumpled easier within the violet aura, crushing, compacting, compounding into a paper ball. She chucked it in the overflowing trash bin before setting her MAC-10 on the table. It could be cleaned later. There wasn’t a need for it yet, thankfully.

 

Twilight sighed. She meandered over to an old television set, beating a hoof against its side, the static then settling into black-and-white clarity. Even if the payout wasn’t high, the message was: the majesty of Canterlot, owned by royalty and protected by an army, could be robbed. Even if no bank had been for the past millennium.

 

What would the princess say?

 

A loosely-suited reporter stood on the sidewalk before the Equestria National Bank. He looked seven cups of coffee away from having a good day.

 

“This just in! An hour ago tonight, the Equestria National Bank was robbed by an armed, masked mare.” He pulled at his collar, fiddling with his tie—always off-centered.“Despite the hockey mask, worn to the scene of the crime, authorities have identified her to be Princess Celestia’s former prodigy student: Twilight Sparkle.”

 

Twilight grinned. The mask wasn’t to hide her identity. She wanted her name to be known. When the mask was on, she wasn’t just a former prodigy.

 

The mask was a new identity, a chance of something more, of being more, of… wanting more.

 

The reporter’s expression shifted as he looked off-screen. Twilight’s attention returned to the report. “I’ve just been informed that Princess Celestia has decided to make an official statement!”

 

The screen was too small to fit her full face. The camera was lifted to capture her gaze. Even the whiteness of her muzzle was pristine despite the poor video quality. Two eyes consumed the screen, burning and violet, two bundles of tamed flames.

 

Princess Celestia let out a heavy sigh, then spoke. “As many of you are aware, the Equestria National Bank was robbed tonight by my student... Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight’s name rolled off her tongue like oil.

 

“She was troubled last we spoke, but I never anticipated that she would go the lengths she did.” Her gaze hardened; Twilight was unphased. “Let it be known this is the first and final time something like this will happen again. The next time we see each other, she will pay for the crimes she has committed, and the danger she put my little ponies in.”

 

Twilight’s smile touched the bottom of her ears. An uncanny response to a public declaration like that, but for her, this was only a challenge.

 

“Do you really think this is the best I can do?” Twilight whispered under her breath. Her grin slowly parted at the lips. “Because it’s about to get a whole lot worse for you. That I can guarantee.”

 

She needed another heist. The itch to commit the deed was already back. Although, robbing Canterlot again with Celestia this hot on her tail would make quick work of her robbing career. Twilight needed somewhere lowkey, yet recognizable enough to make the news.

 

After several minutes of studying maps, the answer became almost too apparent.

 

“Ponyville.” Twilight smiled once again. “This looks like the perfect place to go.”

 

 

"I Ern't Dis..."

Not Enough Coffee

 

 

I took a deserved breath. Saving a city takes a lot out of a mare—especially a hard-working one. Kaiju aren’t going to kick their own butts. I wonder what these citizens would do without me.

 

Probably die, honestly.

 

Oh well. At least there’s after-work lunch to enjoy. Now I play the waiting game.

 

Waiting.

 

Waiting.

 

That building is shaped funny.

 

More waiting.

 

Okay. This sure is a lot of waiting.

 

Ooo, that rock looks tasty.

 

Bleh! It wasn’t. But it was colourful. I thought it was candy rock. Why were rocks allowed to be colourful and not tasty?!

 

Yup. I can say with a high degree of confidence that this waiting is going nowhere. So is my appetite.

 

I stretched my back, and I was rewarded with a satisfying pop in my lower lumbar. My Celestia, nothing is more satisfying. Well, maybe not as satisfying as food. Taking another deep breath, and started to trot my way across the city. There had to be a truck carrying pony oats around here somewhere.

 

It was almost like the city was taunting me, cause there was nothing even remotely oat related in sight. And I’m a big mare. I can see all over the city if I stand upright. Are the humans mocking me purposely? How rude! I just saved their sorry butts! I should kick theirs next…

 

Okay, maybe not. Doctor Dad would get really upset if I did. Still, those tiny human butts were looking really kickable right about now.

 

Wait a moment, is that… YES. Yes, it is?

 

Just past the next block was a pony oat delivery truck with my name on it. Licking my lips, I continued my pace with gusto. Any moment now. Any mouth-watering moment now I would have my precious.

 

CRASH! BANG! KABOOM!

 

Suddenly, as if the heavens above wanted to mess with me right now, another kaiju just burst through the building to the right of me knocking me down to the ground.

 

Okay, that was it, I am gonna show this monster that now is not the time. Dodging its barrage of bites towards my face, I hooked him right in the side, knocking the air right out of him. Taking advantage of my time, I grabbed hold of his right pincer and ripped it clean off, blue, gooey blood splattering everywhere.

 

There were screams, and I probably looked like some sort of savage, but to hell with it, I wanted to eat now and this guy got in my way. An unforgivable sin if I do say so myself.

 

I then took his severed pincer and shoved it as far as I could into his eye. I heard it scream a bloody agony, and it filled me with glee. I bucked my legs as hard as I could into his torso, launching him into the harbour. His body, and his screams, dropping below the waves.

 

Now, where was I? Oh, yeah, chow time!

 

I finally made my way over to the pony oats truck, the occupants long abandoning ship, and lifted it up to my teeth. I tore open the container, and got myself a mouthful of the succulent, mouth-watering pony oats.

 

A news helicopter hovered next to me, filming my lunch. Yet another news report on my constant battle for the cities safety.

 

I stared into their camera with annoyance. “I ern’t dis…”

 

 

Cloudkicks & Chill

Shakespearicles

 

 

Zephyr Breeze had already managed to screw up even the most basic of tasks like dipping cloth in vats of dye and wiping down windows. But his sister, Fluttershy, was determined to help him get a job.

 

“Alright Zephyr,” Fluttershy started. “I guarantee there won’t be any fooling around on the next job.”

 

“Next job?” Zephyr nervously asked.

 

“That’s right Zeph!” Rainbow Dash said as she flew in from above. “You’re coming with me!”

 

“Don’t you mean: ‘coming in you’?” Zephyr asked with a sly grin; Rainbow Dash pretended to have not heard him. “You don’t need to come up with some excuse to hang out with me Rainbows! Let’s just go for a fly and see where the day takes us.”

 

“Ugh. We’re going to Wonderbolts headquarters,” Rainbow Dash said. “And I am going to give you a job so simple and straightforward that not even you can weasel your way out of it! And the second you try, I’m gonna zap you with a storm cloud! Got it?”

 

"Oh I got it." Zephyr grinned. “I can already feel the electricity between us.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and cut a look at Fluttershy, speaking: You owe me big time.

 

“Come on!” Dash barked at the stallion to follow her.

 

Fluttershy waved her hoof as Zephyr took off to fly with Rainbow Dash.

 

She headed back to her cottage to clean up the mess her brother had left behind while staying there. Hoofprints of Vaseline and Cheeto dust accompanying a variety of ‘mystery stains’ on her couch. That, and all the crumpled tissues on the floor not making it into the trash bin.

 

Meanwhile, Zephyr Breeze and Rainbow Dash flew to Wonderbolts headquarters.

 

“Quit lagging behind!”

 

“Don’t mind me, Dashie,” Zephyr said, making no attempt at subtlety with his lecherous staring under her tail. “I’m just enjoying the scenery.”

 

Rainbow couldn’t effectively tuck her tail in mid-flight. So she made a wide loop in the air and ended up behind him.

 

“Just keep flying straight ahead,” she said.

 

“Well well, Dashie,” he purred, looking back at her. “If you wanted to be the one checking out the scenery, all you had to do was ask.” He waved his rump at her with a flourish of his tail. He reached back underneath himself and cupped his balls with his hoof. “If you want a closer look, I’ll let you wear these like Saddle Arabian goggles.”

 

Rainbow Dash groaned and looked away. Zephyr rolled over to fly inverted with a backstroke flap. He slowed down to let Dash drift closer and he stroked his sheath.

 

“You know, if you get tired, I could... give you a ride,” he said, pointing at the tip of his dick poking out of his sheath. Rainbow Dash didn’t look anywhere but straight ahead and then pulled up suddenly to avoid the cliff face that Zephyr flew backwards into. Rainbow Dash grabbed the pegasus before he fell to his death and dropped him off on top of the tall mesa that served as the Wonderbolts headquarters.

 

“We’re here,” she said.

 

Fleetfoot trotted over to look at the incapacitated stallion and grinned.

 

“Fresh meat!” Fleetfoot purred with her usual lisp.

 

“Hello there,” Zephyr greeted. She looked his dong half-hanging out of his sheath

 

“So whaths up? You one of the new traineeths or sthumthing? Need thum sthress releasth?”

 

Zephyr was sorely tempted to take the mare up on the offer.

 

Rainbow Dash momentarily considered letting Fleetfoot have her way with him. Fleetfoot was somehow both the biggest slut she knew, and yet she still had her hymen. A power-dom bisexual mare with a penchant for pegging stallions with her impressive collection of strap-on dildos. She’d turn his anus into a damn construction zone with her high tech sex toys that were more like power tools. And by the end, she’d have her hoof elbow deep in his rectum, playing him like a sock puppet. After a night with Fleetfoot, a stallion would never shit right again.

 

Rainbow Dash smirked at the thought of Zephyr trying to explain his ruptured colon in the Cloudsdale General emergency room.

 

But this was a favor to Fluttershy.

 

“Sorry Fleetfoot, he’s working with me today,” Rainbow Dash said.

 

“Yeah. I hate to be a heartbreaker,” Zephyr said. “But Dashie and I are together.”

 

"Working together!"

 

“Aww yeah,” Zephyr said, making a thrusting motion with his hips. He leaned towards Fleetfoot. “Maybe you can join us later for the threesome.”

 

“No!” Dash scolded.

 

“You’re sush a fucking teesth Dash!” Fleetfoot said. “When are you gonna let me all up in that snasth of yours?”

 

“Ugh! Come on Zeph!” Dash said, dragging him away from her. They flew into the air above the headquarters mesa. “The sky above the mesa needs to be kept clear of clouds. As a pegasus, all you have to do is just kick the clouds to evaporate them. It could not be simpler.”

 

“...I guess.” Zephyr grumbled.

 

“I will show you how to do it once,” Dash said. “And then you will do the rest.” She flew over to a cloud and kicked it. It evaporated into nothing. “Now you kick one.” Zephyr flew over to another cloud and kicked it. It evaporated into nothing. “Perfect! Now do the rest of them!”

 

“When do I get paid for this?” he asked.

 

“You get paid at the end of the week,” she said, taking a seat on a cloud of her own to supervise him. He huffed and flew away to the next cloud. She watched him to make sure he stayed on task. He kicked another cloud and drifted back over to her. “What’s the hold up?”

 

“Oh! I just wanted to take a break to admire the most awesome flyer in Equestria.”

 

"I know I am. But your ass isn’t smooth-talking your way out of work.”

 

“But this work is so hard! How do you make it look so easy?”

 

“I go to the gym,” Rainbow deadpanned.

 

“Ooh! You’ll have to tell me what your workout routine is!”

 

“Not right now.”

 

“Do you need a workout partner?” he asked, landing beside her on the cloud. “Because I know a good exercise we could do together, with lots of reps...” he said with a grin. He shifted over and flopped on top of her. Her eyes went wide as she felt his shaft moving behind her as he slid it forward, just barely missing its mark and buffeting off of her pubic mound and sliding between her legs, under her belly. “... of the penis-in-vagina variety.”

 

Rainbow Dash panicked and kicked the cloud out from under them. They both fell to the ground in a controlled glide. She landed first, and he landed right behind her. She turned quickly and slapped him hard in the face with her tail. He half grunted and half whimpered as his dick bobbed stiffer underneath him.

 

“What the fuck, did you just get harder you sicko!?” she shrieked and swung around with a haymaker to the other side of his face. He staggered from the blow, but his dick just started dribbling precum. It was at that moment that Rainbow Dash realized that Zephyr Breeze was a masochist.

 

“Yeah,” he said, rubbing his jaw. “Mom never disciplined me when I was a colt. So it’s a huge turn on when mares hit me.”

 

“That explains sooo much about your personality.”

 

“Sit on my dick and hit me again! All the mean things you’ve been saying to me have been edging me all day. I’m so close!” he said. Rainbow Dash looked up at all the clouds still left in the sky.

 

“Fine, but not here. Up there. On a cloud.” She took off and he flew after her. He flew upside down underneath her again, staying clear of the ground or any cliffs this time. “This one,” she said. He never took his eyes off her as drifted down and settled onto the dark grey cloud, laying on his back with his member standing proud, upright, waiting for Dash to sit on it.

 

“Come on Dashie! Let me cum inside you! It’ll be so hot rutting you while your pregnant. I mean, I know you’ll have to quit your career with the Wonderbolts. And I’m not really the father type. So I’m not gonna stick around once the foal gets here. After all, there are other mares out there that I need to rut. Every mare deserves to have a foal as beautiful as me! But you’ll get to have me live with you for a while.”

 

“Wow. How are you still single?” Dash asked.

 

“I know right!? Now come on, forget the clouds. Let’s do this!

 

“Alright, close your eyes,” she said. He did. She kicked the storm cloud, setting off the lightning. Zephyr Breeze got 30,000 volts straight to the scrotum. Whether it was his masochism or the electricity making all of his muscles seize, it did the job of getting him off. His dick spurted hard and his sperm arced over his chest and splattered him in the face, getting in his mouth up his nose, and in his eyes.

 

Zephyr finally understood why mares didn’t like it when stallions ‘dotted the eyes’.

 

“Argh! It burns!” he screamed, wiping it out of his eyes.

 

“There! Now get back to work bucking those clouds!” she said.

 

“Buck clouds!? NO! Buck that! And buck you!” he yelled, flying away in a huff back to Fluttershy’s cottage. He had cleaned most of himself off by the time he got there. He threw open the door, still looking toasted, with his fur and mane charred from the lighting. “Rainbow Dash is crazy!”

 

 

A Small Friend

SynthBasist

 

 

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

 

Hoof met door with a quick and rough rat-a-tat-tat. An annoyed scowl was definitely becoming plasteed across my face. This. Was. UNBELIEVABLE! A tapping sound filled the cold air as my leg bounced over and again against the concrete doorstep. Glancing up towards the dark night sky sprinkled with a few twinkling stars, I couldn’t help but groan. It seemed to take FOREVER for somepony to answer the gosh darn forsaken fu-

 

Crrrrrrrrreak~

 

“Hello?”

 

The voice broke my train of thought and sorta kinda surprised me; but I totally didn’t jump or anything, and I had to take a step back to get a good look at the mare that opened the door. Orange curled mane, an off yellow coat, grassy green eyes? Checkeroni! A stone cold yet flat and neutral stare? Yeeeep, got that too.

 

Yup.

 

This was Carrot Top alright. “H-Hey hey hey, Carrot Top! How’s it goin’? Life treating you well? How’s those carrot fields treating yaaaaaaaaaaa-and it’s winter ....”

 

There was a very awkward pause as she kinda just stared at me and I tried to find something else to look at. It probably didn’t help that I was standing on her front porch in socks and a sweatshirt with a pillow tucked under my wing. Probably not my best look ever... but hey! These were awesome Wonderbolt branded merchandise—super comfy on top of that!

 

Besides, I needed these for what I was missing at this very moment. Flicking an orange lock of my rainbow coloured mane from my face, I fumbled to find something to say. Just ask her if he’s home, it’s not hard Dash…. After a few moments of her just staring, a tired sigh pushed past her lips and she stepped out of the way, pointing inside. “He’s in his room, go get him. Just close the door when you leave the house this time, alright?”

 

Squee~

 

“Not a problem! I’ll be in and out in no time!” Giving a sheepish grin and sneaking past Carrot Top, I could only chuckle awkwardly before finding the stairs and; after fumbling with the first step, climbed them to the very top.

 

Nerves already overworked to their limit of broken social interactions, I needed a moment to collect my thoughts and took a deep breath before knocking on the closed door.

 

“Hey, B?” Pushing the door open and into the dimly lit room, sticking my nose into the small crack to peer into the room to try and spot the creature I was here for.

 

A bed laid perfectly made in the far corner seemingly untouched for a long time, not a spot of clothes on the floor; or anything else for that matter, kind of made me nervous for a moment before realization dawned on me.

 

I always looked at the wrong spot.

 

A window, adjacent to the bed and with a tall dresser right up against it, the top reaching just below the sill and that’s where I spotted his stuff. A tiny bed, mimicking the one in the room already, a tiny dresser that was a carbon copy of the one these objects sat on top of. There was a small night stand, a bookshelf, a tiny desk with even tinier pieces of paper and a quill on top of it.

 

“I’m not hungry, Carrot Top…” Ears flicking as the quiet voice was almost lost under the overwhelming noise of the door creaking open. They need to lube these doors up or something! Stepping further into the room as my eyes narrowed along with moving ears to try and figure out just where he was hiding. Like, yes he was small but I should be able to spot him no problem at all! Catching a soft sigh that could’ve been easily mistaken for my own breath in the silent room, my head turned and sitting at the far side of the window was just who I was looking for!

 

A quick trot across the room got me in front of the dresser, but I had to rear up on my hindlegs so I could peak over the top. Sitting with his hands and arms wrapped around his legs was the first, only, and smallest human in Equestria. His hair was wild; even by my standards, it was pretty long sticking out the front, but somehow still looked really good on him. His cheeks, chin, and up his jaw was covered in a five o’clock shadow I think he called it? Though, now it was more like an unshaven beard that hasn’t been tended to in a few days. A vacant stare in his normally shimmering green eyes kinda made me feel a little upset. He looked really hurt.

 

 

Like, on the inside.

 

“B?” I whispered as to not startle him, though he jolted out of his thoughts and turned his head quickly to look at me. And the look I got, Faust that look. He looked like he always did at first, so happy to see me; maybe even more so, but that quickly turned sour before he ripped his gaze from mine.

 

“Rainbow Dash…. Funny seeing you here.” Flat. To the point and very abrupt. My ears fell backwards, wincing at the cold tone that was not at all what I expected from him. What? Why is he so hostile? D-Did I hurt his feelings or something? Shuffling nervously on my sock clad hind hooves, I tried to wiggle a little closer.

 

“Ben? What’s wrong?” Asking very quietly, begrudgingly almost choking on my own words as my heart ached. I’d never seen him like this, never this miserable looking nor…. Angry. It was like he was angry at the entire world, even me. “I-I….” Clearing my throat, taking a deep breath before regaining my voice. “I just came from Twilight’s, and she told me you never answered the invitation, how come?”

 

This only seemed to make a flash of anger and frustration fill his neutral gaze. “Why did I not answer? Hard to answer when you never got one…” Spitting hatefully, lips turning slightly downwards as his eyes went back to looking out the window.

 

A pain filled my chest, my own eyes going wide as my brain processed just what he said. “N-Never got one? What are you talking about?! Pinkie said she hoof delivered all the invitations! She would never miss anypony!”

 

Chuckling darkly, clearly holding back tears, Ben wiped his right eye with the back of his small hand. “Yeah, well, I’m not a pony. It’s not surprising that she didn’t think of me, or better yet, she probably just didn’t want me ruining it all. None of you do. And I get that. It’s not like anyone cares for me in this godforsak-”

 

Stomping a rear hoof to silence the human, I felt my own anger boiling up inside me. “You shut up, right this second and listen to me! You know as well as I do that’s a lie, they all care about you more than you’re thinking right now. I care about you, you’re my friend just as much as you are theirs. I’m sure this is just a whole big misunderstanding that can easily be resolved when we go to the library and ask.”

 

Though he didn’t look convinced, instead curling up tighter and turning away from me again. “I’m not going…” He said simply, as if that was going to deter me into leaving. Surely, Ben had forgotten that I was one of the most stubborn pegasi ever to exist! And yes, I say that proudly. I never give up, not when there is a will there will always be a way.

 

An eyebrow raised, surprised turned to determination before I let out a little snort. “Oh yeah? And who’s gonna stop me from taking you with me, little guy?” Lifting a blue hoof up over the top of the dresser; and being very very delicate, I plucked the puny person from his perch upon the sill.

 

“Hey?! Let me go right now Rainbow!!” Ben yelped a little in surprise at being lifted up and over the bureau before being placed inside the neck area of my sweater. Feeling his hands cling to the fabric, his back being pressed lightly against my fluffy chest.

 

“No can do, B. Now hold on tight. We’re late enough as it is for Twilight’s sleepover!” Pulling the strings for the hood a little tighter so Ben wouldn’t accidently fall out, I turned and fell back down to all fours before dashing out of the room.

 

“R-Rainbow!!!” His voice trembled as I turned the corner and went down the stairs three at a time, out the front door (and making sure to close it this time!) and into the cold night once more. Getting my bearings for only a moment, I smiled widely before taking off like a bullet towards the library. Pillow still tucked snugly under a wing and Ben tightly held against my chest for safety and warmth, all my mind was focused on was getting to the library as quickly as I could. “D-D-Dash, I swear….”

 

I only smiled, dipping my nose down to breathe warm air down my collar while nuzzling his head with the tip of my nose. “Don’t worry little guy, I’m not gonna let anything bad happen to you, alright?” A strong surge of pride? No, happiness? Ehhh…. There’s a better word for it…. Fulfilled. Having him this close to her made her feel fulfilled, even though we’d done this many times before.

 

Many times I'd have him hold onto my mane, or my neck whenever we all would hang out as it was much easier for me to keep track of him. Or, at least that's what I told the others, though in truth I never felt right when somepony else carried him around.

 

So, I made it a point to carry him as much as I could, even going as far as to get a small pouch made to hang around my neck for him to ride in. It was much safer than letting him just hold on for dear life, clinging to hairs that separated him from a nasty fall. It felt a little shallower sometimes, so unless we were flying I usually just let him sit atop my head.

 

Though this felt different than any of those times before. This felt better. Far better than it ever had before. Taking him from wallowing in his own self pity to being around those that cared for him. Heck, having him this close to me was good enough to make my heart flutter a million times over. Giving him a small peck with my lips almost unconsciously, I doubled down and ran faster. Though my cheeks were red from the cold, there was no denying that a bit of the colour came from the embarrassment of the affection I felt for Ben.

 

I… I really don’t know why I felt the way I did, but it felt good. It was the most amazing thing I’d felt in a long time like life had finally given me a purpose instead of just perusing my own goals. It was to make him as happy as I could while protecting him from the big and scary world. Silently promising him and myself that I’d never let anypony hurt him ever again, I almost didn’t notice the library quickly coming into view.

 

All the lights were already on, a few shadows making themselves known in the panes of glass that dotted the outside. “Rainbow….” I could feel shivers coming from Ben, the sweater I had on probably did very little to keep the rushing cold air from quickly dropping his temperature. Another hot breath pushed down my neck in an attempt to keep him from getting too cold as the door came closer and-

 

Woosh!

 

Opening the door as quickly as I could and closing it shut behind me, panting for breath as all eyes landed on me. “Rainbow Dash! You’re back! Did you find Ben? Oh I hope he doesn’t think we don’t like him anymore, that would be awful!” Fluttershy quickly ambushed me at the door almost to the brink of tears, trying to clutch onto me for dear life.

 

“I-”

 

“Rainbow! Did you talk to him? Did you tell him that it was a misunderstanding? Oh please please please tell me he is still in Ponyville.” Twilight came from the other side, asking question after question that I couldn’t answer in time.

 

“No, he’s stil-”

 

“Dashie!! Oh you’re back you’re back you’re back! I mailed his letter but I wanted to make every invitation personalized so I made it really teeny tiny just like Ben is but I think the mailmare didn’t realize that it was a real letter because it was so itsy-bitsy like REAAAAAAAALLY small. OHHHHHHHH I knew I should’t have done that stupid stupid idea, please tell me he doesn’t hate me, PLEASE!!” Popping up from behind me somehow, Pinkie Pie wailed before landing on my back; though she surprisingly didn’t weigh anything...

 

“Pinkie, stop, he’s righ-”

 

Just as Applejack opened her mouth to ask yet another question, I groaned loudly and stomped a hoof. “HEY! Just, everypony shut your flappers for a moment, alright?! Geez, this isn’t twenty one questions. Besides, I’ve got him right here.”

 

Gently pulling back on the collar of my sweater, revealing the tiny human that held onto the fabric tightly. All eyes went to him and I could see that they were all preparing to talk at the same time, but Ben quickly cut them off. “You… You girls wanted me here?” Upturning my hoof so he could climb out onto it, the human sat cross legged in the center of my frog.

 

“Well of course we did, darling. I mean, you’re our friend after all. And friends never leave anypony out.” Rarity smiled, though her face was covered in that gross facemask stuff. “Rainbow Dash was the one that first suggested that we include you, and we all agreed that would be more than fine.”

 

A chuckle came from the orange cow pony next to her, her eyes looking into mine with a weird look. “Eeyup, she figured that you’d just absolutely love to come to a slumber party with her.”

 

My face felt warm, really warm but I just cleared my throat. “W-Well, I thought that you might like to, y-ya know just come and hang out with us and junk. Stay up late, read a book or two, eat some junk food and just, have a good time. Ya know?”

 

Ben turned to look up at me, as if searching for an answer to a question not yet spoken, but nevertheless he smiled and patted the bottom of my hoof. “I appreciate the thought, Dash. It’s nice to know I’ve got a good friend looking out for me. Thanks.”

 

A few ‘daws’ came from the group as I pushed though, trying to keep my face from engulfing in the fire that slowly rose. “Don’t m-mention it…” Trotting to the snack table and spotting the delicious cheese covered nachos that I had to turn away from earlier, I grabbed the plate I had left along with a cup full of punch, and walked over to the nook that I had claimed as my own. “I uh, would you want to do a bit of reading with me, Ben? I’ve got the new Daring Do book.”

 

Placing my pillow for my back and head to rest against inside the cozy nook, I quickly crawled in and slumped backwards while placing him onto my chest. “I’d love to Rainbow.” Ben looked way better than when I first saw him tonight, as if the world was lifted off his shoulders and his eyes slowly regained the life that I remember being in them. Snagging a blanket that I had ‘acquired’ from Twilight, I brought it up over my lower half and left enough for the small human.

 

The book resting between my hindlegs so we both could see it, I grabbed a hoof full of nachos to shove into my mouth as my belly growled. “Daring Do: The Quest for Crystal Quetzal. Chapter one, A Risky Spotter.” I began as Ben laid back, using my sweater like a makeshift bed and pulling the blanket up over himself. Reaching for the nachos once more, I grabbed one of the smaller broken pieces and offered it to him.

 

Taking it with a smile, his hand gently holding my hoof for a moment before I felt a pair of lips touch the fine hairs. “Thank you so much, really…” Blinking back tears as well as trying to regain a racing heart, I leaned down and nuzzled his hair once more.

 

“Thank you, for being as awesome as you are, Ben. I love you little guy.”

 

“.... I love you too, Dash.”

 

A moment or two passed, the library around us filled with the chatter of the others but I paid them no mind. This was my focus right here, right now. Just me, this book, and the best friend I could ever ask for. “Dawn. A new day started but Daring Do was up well before the sun even was. Though, to be specific, she had never fallen asleep the night before. Currently the mare was on a very risky, dangerous, and potentially life threatening stake out to catch Dr. Caballeron red hoofed in the act. This was her only chance to catc-”

 

I continued to read well into the night, sharing everything I could with Ben in every way I could think of. Food, drinks, stories and my warmth. Though as the night grew longer I held him gently with a hoof, his hand stroking the front side of it as the story drew to a close. Though as one story ended, another was quickly beginning.

 

 

What Princesses Do on the Weekends

Silver Eyed Wolf

 

 

Twilight entered the small room, smiling serenely at the mare leading inside. She nodded whatever the other was saying.

 

"No,” Twilight started. “I think I'll be set without a wake-up notice in the morning." She smirked at the stacked luggage delivered earlier that rested before the bed. "I have a meeting tonight, and I have a good feeling it’s going to be a long one. Think I'll be taking the rest of the night getting ready."

 

"As you wish, princess," said the maid with a dip of her head. "If you need anything, we will, of course, be waiting for your bell."

 

Twilight kept her smile until the mare left, waiting until the door shut gently before giggling and prancing over to the bags waiting on the soft bed. She levitated two of the larger bags away, carelessly tossing them to one side of the room, as she pulled the small remaining case to her.

 

She ran a hoof over the simple but sturdy fabric, simple black canvas, before flipping her hoof under one of the brass snaps and flicking upwards.

 

A simple mechanism she'd built into the case activated, and the lid rose smoothly to display its contents.

 

Her hoof rose and ran over the silky, smooth fabric, then slowly pulled the piece out of the case. Pulling a chair over, she jumped into it before she used her hooves to pull the soft, stretchy fabric over her right back hoof, pulling until she could gently snap it over her thigh. She then straightened her leg out, cat-like, smiling at the simple pink and magenta striped sock.

 

She tugged a little more at the top of the item. It was getting a bit stretched out, and was looser than she liked, but it would do for tonight.

 

She reached forward and pulled another sock from the suitcase, pulling this one on faster, more eager now. She still hesitated as it flowed up her leg, luxuriating in the feeling as it covered her pale coat and wiggling her hoof a little to feel it flow over her limb just a moment longer.

 

The next two were harder, the front socks always were, but she managed it alright between her mouth and the other leg.

 

The next thing to come out of the case didn't only feel silky, but was actually a blend of silk, cotton, and a specialty fabric made of a certain tree from of a friend of Rarity's. Not only did this blend have remarkable stretch: it resisted normal wear and was easily kept clean.

 

Twilight raised her rear legs and stepped through the holes, using her hooves to pull the clinging piece over her legs, her frogs tracing the stockings as she pulled the stretchy fabric all the way up to her thighs.

 

She jumped out of the chair, balancing on the bed with one of her hooves as she reached back and finished pulling the panties up to her dock, smiling smugly when she glanced at the mirror in the corner of the room and wiggling her hips slightly to make her tail wave over the same pattern as her socks. The cloth was just a bit too tight for her, the bands around the legs sinking into her soft skin and creating a soft, very slight, ramp up to the rest of her thigh.

 

Giggling again, she gave her tail one last wag before slipping a rubber mane band onto one hoof, dipping into the suitcase and pulling a mid-barrel zip-up hoodie out, black to help her stealth mission through the castle's halls.

 

She slipped it on quickly before throwing her crown on her head and tossing the last thing in her case on her back before she slipped out of the room, her horn lighting and gathering the shadows to herself, a trick that Luna had taught her to sneak around more easily. The guards she slipped by either didn't notice her, or at least ignored her passing, and she made her way easily to the large central courtroom, the only place large enough to hold tonight's... activities.

 

Reaching the large doors, Twilight took a moment to giggle and prance in place, before shaking her wings loosely and taking a few steadying breaths, wiping every trace of expression from her muzzle.

 

Pasting on a confident smirk, she placed a hoof against the small door inset to the massive ones and strode inside.

 

Luna barely glanced her way, over by the refreshments table that was surrounded by a protective dome. She took a last bite of one of the several dough rings orbiting her head, chewing as she walked to a place marked by some black tape on the left side of the hall, the other two donuts floating above her horn and slipping down to her forehead, Luna easily ignoring the chocolate smear down her horn.

 

Cadance sat directly opposite her in the square room, her eyes closed with a gentle smile on her face. Her wings were slightly spread, and she was breathing slowly, surely, calmly.

 

Both mares were wearing their own "Uniform" of sorts, Luna's socks and hoodie a deeper, darker reflection of Twilight's own, while Cadance had an olive green hoodie stolen from Shining Armor over her own (hopefully they weren't her brother's) set of light- and forest-green socks. Both of them also wore their tiara, the focus of what was about to happen.

 

And then, directly ahead of Twilight, Celestia sat on the shared throne.

 

She wore a hoodie that had probably been white once, but after all of the washes it had gone through it was a dingy, dim gray. Her socks, however, were newly ordered from Rarity and featured stripes of a solar yellow and a pumpkin-y orange.

 

She also wore a deep smirk as she stared down at her protege. "Are we ready, then?"

 

Twilight schooled her expression into a deep, furrowed frown.

 

Celestia raised a white cloth into the air in the middle of them, her horn twinkling with its signature bright golden glow. After the cloth had settled in the air, her horn went dark, signalling the end of magic use.

 

Twilight pulled her secret weapon from her back as the light, thin cloth floated through the air.

 

The pillow that Spike slept on at home.

 

As soon as the cloth touched the ground, there was a barrage of artillery from either side of the hall. Twilight stood resolute, letting Luna and Cadance exhaust themselves as she focused on her mentor, on the mare who sat slightly above her and grinned down.

 

She took three steps forward, the fluffy white pillows flying freely through the space between the two combatants, almost instinctively missing the Alicorn who strode into no-mare's land.

 

Celestia's already wide grin grew.

 

"Oh? You're approaching me? Instead of running away, you're coming right to me?"

 

Twilight's grimace deepened, her eyebrows almost touching above her nose.

 

"I can't beat you with this pillow without getting closer."

 

 

Settle Down

Semillon

 

 

It’s been four years since the alicorns of Equestria decided to become gigantic because they were, in Princess Celestia’s words, “bored of being small”. After a brief adjustment period, life has, for the most part, gone on as normal, but today is not a normal day. Today, Princess Cadance feels like scratching her ass with a building in the middle of Manehattan. No one can stop her from doing this, of course, but in the process she’s causing millions of bits in property damage.

 

This would be fine on a normal day, but again, this is not a normal day. On the other side of the city, Princess Luna is using the waters of the Horseshoe Bay to take a nice, relaxing bath. The waves that she’s causing are messing up cruise ship traffic and causing minor flooding to the nearby streets. Because she got to Manehattan first, all of the appropriate assets are currently engaged in negotiating with her.

 

This leaves one pony to deal with Princess Cadance: a young pegasus with a red coat named Settle Down. He’s been recently hired by an anonymous agency that works to deal with princess related matters such as this. Today is his second week on the job, and his first time on the field. Theoretically, he should be fine. His special talent is compromise, after all, so this should feel as easy as breathing.

 

It doesn’t feel at all like breathing. Settle’s terrified. He’s never seen an alicorn in real life. When he comes across the gargantuan princess in the department store parking lot, every inch of him is shaking in fear. He’s aware that it’s not very rational—the princesses would never hurt anypony—but Princess Cadance is just so...pink.

 

He lands on the roof, just in front of where Cadance is resting her forehooves that most definitely could crush him like a bug. She’s licking and sucking a green lollipop that’s perfectly proportioned to her mouth, and when Settle lands, her eyes flick down towards him. Settle backs up a few steps. For a moment, he’s completely lost sight of his training and his special talent.

 

Cadance tilts her head when she sees him. “Hi there. Are you here to make me leave?”

 

Settle stutters a couple of times before he remembers how to speak. “W-We uh, um, we can’t make you do anything.”

 

“Great,” says Cadance. She sucks on her lollipop especially loud. “What’s your name?”

 

“Settle Down. M-Ma’am. I mean, uh! Your Majesty.”

 

That makes her giggle, and Settle’s heart begins to race as he stares up at that huge mouth of hers. “That’s a cute name.”

 

Settle blinks. “Thank you, Princess. You have a nice name too. I mean, it’s, it’s like, really beautiful.”

 

Cadance’s tail whips to the side, causing a wind that sends a few stray pegasi off of their courses. The rest of the department store and the adjacent buildings have been evacuated, but there are always a few stupid ponies who try and travel near the titanic princesses anyway. She squints at him. “How much are they paying you for this?”

 

Settle Down wants to say not enough, but he just shakes his head. “That doesn’t matter, Princess. Can I ask you why you’re holding that ice cream cart?”

 

Cadance’s glossy eyes take their focus off of him and go to the second thing in her telekinetic field: the aforementioned ice cream cart. “I figured that I’d make this bigger after I was done with the candy, but if you want it back…”

 

The cart floats down to the roof, beside Settle. He gives Cadance a grin, though his legs are still quivering with fear. “Thanks, Princess! You’re really nice, you know that?”

 

Cadance smiles at him again, and Settle starts to feel something other than fear. His eyes stray from her face and wander to her hind legs, which are currently fitted snug with fine lingerie. He wonders what it must feel like. Soft. Probably soft. Cadance has a husband, doesn’t she? How do they…

 

A soft giggle snaps Settle out of his daze. He turns to Cadance, but feels a warm grip around his entire body. Cadance’s telekinetic field. She floats him to her eye level. Settle prepares himself for death.

 

“You wanna come home with me?” Cadance asks. Her tone is sultry. Her voice is loud enough for the entire block to hear.

 

Settle’s heart is going fast enough that he’s worried it’ll give out. “Um. What?”

 

“You’re so cute,” says Cadance. “I think me and Shiny would really like you.”

 

“Y-You would?” Settle asks. He isn’t sure about the protocol, here. He’s heard rumors, of course, but he’s always figured that it was simple locker room talk. What could a single stallion do with so much princess?

 

“You wanna find out?” Cadance purrs. “And yes. You said that out loud.”

 

Settle Down blushes. “If you’re offering…”

 

Cadance smiles, and Settle begins to sweat. He wonders if her field can feel every part of him, because if it can then—

 

A giggle from the giant princess tells him yes. She floats him closer.

 

“You wanna ride on my head or in my panties?”

 

Settle swallows hard. He tells her the only correct answer.

 

 

Pinky Pie (and Friends)

The Drider Pony

 

 

It has often been said that a morning in Ponyville is like taking in a breath of fresh air of tomorrow. Twilight was never much one for metaphors (or similes, as the case may be) but on a morning as perfect as this, she thought she had some idea of what that poet had meant.

 

The sun shone as vibrantly as the Princess who shepherded it, accompanied by a light breeze that left the body neither too cool nor too hot. The wind also carried with it the scents of small town life. The earthy notes of loam and trees providing a base for the flightier scents of baked goods and clean laundry left out to dry. And everywhere she turned, there was another friend ready to greet her with a smile and a wave.

 

"Good morning, Bon Bon!"

 

The chocolatier knocked some stray dust off her doorstep with a broom and waved back. "Morning Twilight."

 

"Good morning, Roseluck."

 

"'Ornin'," she replied as best she could with a mouth full of flowers.

 

"Good morning Pin-"

 

A guttural roar split the idyllic atmosphere. A flock of sparrows, startled, alighted from their tree and somewhere a babe began to wail. Like drums of a distant war, the sound of powerful footsteps reverberated through the earth, making water glasses shake and small objects fall off shelves. It came at inequine speed; all distorted muscle and heavy breathing and three-clawed feet that dug through the hard-packed soil like plowshares. There was nothing Twilight could do. No time to react. No time to dodge. It hit her head-on, driving the unicorn back twenty feet into a fruit stand. Her coat and the grass shared a deep crimson stain.

 

Twilight wiped the pulped pomegranate juice out of her eyes and giggled. Leaning forward, she gave the slobbering fanged maw before her a friendly muzzle. "And an especially good morning to you, Pinky Pie."

 

The behemoth gave an affectionate growl. A nearby mirror cracked.

 

Twilight laughed again as she used her friend as leverage to stand up. "What's got you so extra energetic this morning?"

 

The mountain of throbbing muscle and exposed bone spines gnarred in response and lowered its head to reveal a small yet colorful hat.

 

"I'll never understand how you remember so many birthdays and anniversaries with such ease. If it were arcane formulae, I could understand, but-"

 

"Hey!" The pair looked up to a rather cross vendor. "Somepony's gonna have to pay for all that fruit."

 

Pinky coughed. She hacked and she heaved. Finally, she disgorged a pile of bones and gold coins, only slightly corroded by acid.

 

The shopkeep sighed and scooped up the coins, his thick gardening gloves sizzling at the touch.

 

A flash of rainbow caught Twilight's attention. She leaned around Pinky and squinted to try and make it out, but she needn't have bothered.

 

Rainbow Dash landed with a meteoric impact that sent dust flying out in all directions.

 

"Hey Das-"

 

"No time for that!" the pegasus interrupted, "There's a new villain in town and he's calling us out!"

 

"Is he that much of a threat? Surely the guard can-"

 

"No, I mean he's literally demanding that the Elements of Harmony come out and face him."

 

Twilight's eyes sharpened and Pinky made a throaty gurgle like a drowning chicken. "He must be serious then. Lead the way Dash!"

 

Rainbow Dash took off without another word, Twilight hot on her heels, and Pinky bounding along gaily behind them as her springy pink curls bounced and sproinged between her horns with each frog-like leap.

 

---

 

Their friends were already there when they arrived.

 

The villain of the week was easy enough to spot. Be it the way he prowled across Ponyville Plaza like an impatient jungle cat or the clearly ancient artifact which clashed so terribly with his coat.

 

He snorted as they arrived. "Finally, the stragglers are here. Now we're getting somewhere."

 

"What's his deal?" Twilight whispered to Applejack.

 

The farmpony shrugged. "Dunno. Said somethin' about wantin' to crush all of us in one fell swoop."

 

"Personally," Rarity added, "I think somepony's been reading a few too many adventure novels. He seems to have a very specific notion of how this is supposed to play out. Oh, and good morning Pinky. I didn't see you there for a minute."

 

Pinky made a noise that was not wholly proper sound and several nearby pebbles cracked.

 

"Quite."

 

"Enough of your chattering!" Twilight and her friends turned their attentions back to the angry stallion who had apparently finished his pacing. He reared up to strike an imposing silhouette (which would have looked much more imposing against a backdrop of thunder and lightning rather than a sunny morning).

 

"Elements of Harmony!" he cried, "Today you meet your end! For today it is I, Mood Eye, who shall strike you down and take my rightful place as King of Equestria, and later, the world!"

 

His speech continued, but it was so full of tired tropes and phrases that Twilight and her friends quickly tuned it out. What Twilight did not ignore, however, was the mysterious golden helmet atop the pontificating pony's head. Whatever it was, it was clearly ancient, though it still left to be seen whether or not it would give Mr. Eye any real power.

 

"...and thus, with the power of the Sorcerer's Spectacles, I shall be able to see everything! Your truths, your lies, your darkest secrets and deepest desires! I can brush past illusions and see the true, unfiltered truth of the world!"

 

"Other than getting potential blackmail," Dash whispered, "Will any of that actually make him more powerful? It doesn't sound like it."

 

"I concur," Rarity agreed, "While I'm none too keen on having my designs for next year's spring season exposed, this seems like rather less of a job for the Elements of Harmony and more one for the local Guard."

 

"Sounds like it. I reckon we can just beat some sense into him, haul him off to jail, and mail the artifact off to Yearling for safekeeping."

 

"Stop ignoring me, I'm important!" Moody shrieked. He took a second to compose himself then continued. "But if you're so eager to meet your demise, then be my guest. Avador! Mangala! Hetania!"

 

As the magic words passed his lips, the gemstone atop his helmet began to emit a pulsing light. Moody steadied himself and took a deep breath, ready to reveal the dark secrets of Equestria's greatest heroes to the world, as a pair of emerald lenses descended from the visor to cover his eyes.

 

“AAAIIIEEEEEEEEE!”

 

His squealing scream was not unlike that of a little filly who'd just had an ice cube dropped down her Cutecinera dress. Possibly the whole tray. He fell backwards and scrambled away, all the while pointing, horrified, at the group.

 

"M-M-M-M-Monster!"

 

Five mares and Pinky looked around expectantly, but saw nothing.

 

"What are you talking about?" Twilight asked.

 

"That- that thing!" His shaking hoof was doing him no favors in clarifying his target. "That huge, monstrous, pink beast!"

 

Most of his descriptors poured off the mares like water, but one word stuck out. "Pink?" Rainbow Dash pointed to Pinky. "You mean Pinky Pie?"

 

"YES!" He cried both in fear and relief. "You're supposed to be the heroes, aren't you?! So do your job and defeat that huge, hulking brute!"

 

"Huge? Hulking?" Rarity huffed before stepping between the stallion and her insulted friend. "A villain and a rogue you may be, but if you think that that means you can insult a mare's figure, then good sir you have gone too far!"

 

"But it's hideous!"

 

Pinky loosed a barbaric yawp and Fluttershy, who was also present, patted her dorsal horn softly. "Shu, shu, shush. Don't you mind him at all. You're a beautiful mare, Pinky and don't let anypony ever tell you any different."

 

"Ya know," Applejack began, "I was thinking he'd be easy to take down between the six of us, but now I think we might just let Pinky take this one on her own. You girls okay with that?"

 

"I'm cool."

 

"An excellent idea."

 

"You just work out your stress, Pinky."

 

"Yeah! You show him what happens when you mess with our friends!"

 

"No..." Moody Eye gasped. He tried to crawl away, yet found his limbs struggling to respond. "No, please... don’t set that beast on me. I-I'll be good! I'll learn friendship! I'll... AIIIEEE!"

 

Pinky Pie was having a great morning. She'd said hi to her friends, prepped for two birthday and one anniversary parties, and she'd acquired a new chew toy. All was well in Ponyville.

 

 

Attempts Were Made

Duke Lucifuge

 

 

“Yeah right!” the private said. “YOU wake her up!”

 

“Don’t make me pull rank.”

 

“But-”

 

“You seem to be perfectly capable of waking her up on your own,” the corporal replied. “I don’t see why we both have to be dragged into this. ”

 

Two Royal Guards, corporal Swift Bolt and private Steel Cut, had been given the unenviable task of waking Twilight Sparkle. A pony roughly the size of a small house. They stood before her looming figure. Twilight rested on her side, using her foreleg as a pillow. Four pink-striped socks spanned across her limbs... and she had a poor case of bedhead.

 

Steel gulped and tried the first thing that came to mind.

 

“Hey, princess! Wake up!”

 

A snore was his answer.

 

Both felt Twilight’s hot breath engulf their bodies.

 

Steel tried his next idea. Gathering his courage he walked closer to Twilight until he was inches away from her. After some hesitation, he kicked her. Nothing happened. Steel looked back at Swift.

 

“I don’t think this is working,” Steel said.

 

Swift rolled his eyes “Do you really think such a light kick would accomplish anything? Do it harder.”

 

Steel Looked back to Twilight. Gathering his courage he slowly raised his leg, pulled it back, and kicked her hard as he could. Just like last time, nothing happened.

 

“Corporal, I don’t think this is going anywhere.”

 

“I am very confident in your ability Steel. You’ll come up with something that works as long as you keep trying new things.”

 

Faced with the threat of having to do something drastic on his own, Steel tried something new.

 

“We were both ordered to do this corporal, so unless you want to disobey princess Celestia’s orders you’ll help me.”

“But-”

 

“No buts!” Steel interrupted. “You wouldn't want to make the princess angry, would you?”

 

Anger flashed on Swift’s face “Fine! I’ll help.”

 

“Okay, now come over here,” Steel said. “I have another idea.”

 

Swift did as told. “What’s your plan?”

 

“First, I’m going to lift you on top of the princess's leg.” He flicked his chin upward. “Then you’re going to help me up.”

 

Swift got on Steel’s back reached up to the top of the princess’s leg and pulled himself up.

 

Swift looked down at Steel. “Alright, now jump and I’ll pull you up by your forelegs”

 

Steel did so.

 

“What next?” Swift asked

 

“Follow me,” Stell answered.

 

They climbed on top of Twilight's muzzle.

 

“Now we are going to gallop into her right eyelid at full speed,” Steel said with determination. “If that doesn't wake her up I don’t know what will”

 

There was a pause

 

“No,” said Swift.

 

“Do you have a better idea?”

 

There was another pause.

 

“No,” said Swift

 

“Alright then”— Steel grabbed Swift and prepared himself —“on my mark, get set... GO!”

 

Both of them ran full speed at Twilight's eye. There was a meaty smack as they put their full weight into the collision. Steel and Swift walked back a few steps and anxiously waited. Twilight’s eyelids started to flutter open. Then all at once, she jolted awake, her eyes flew open and her head jolted up. Steel and Swift were flung off her muzzle and landed far away.

 

“Huh, is someone there?”Twilight as she scanned the room. There was no one to be seen.

 

Twilight Sparkle laid her head back onto her leg and fell back asleep.

 

She missed the unannounced visit from the Yak ambassador.

 

 

Routine

BootyPopperz

 

 

“Oh dear, it seems Angel Bunny is still out there somewhere.”

 

Fluttershy pulled the kitchen drapes together as she looked at Angel’s food bowl.

 

All the carrots and other vegetables inside had turned green and brown.

 

But Fluttershy didn’t seem to notice. Instead, she turned and went to her living room.

 

“These flowers are turning out beautifully!” Fluttershy grabbed some clippers with her mouth and snipped a few small bouquets. Using a rubber band, she secured the flowers to each other and placed a dozen of them in a basket.

 

Putting the basket on her flanks, Fluttershy looked up at her clock.

 

Seven in the morning. Perfect timing.

 

Fluttershy knew her friends would love these flowers. They always did. She was sad that they hadn’t visited her at home in a while, but she knew they were busy with the crisis. Once it was all over, she knew things would go back to normal.

 

Fluttershy told herself that every morning. She truly believed it.

 

On her way to the outside world, Fluttershy grabbed a mask full of herbs and spices and strapped it on. She couldn’t remember exactly how she got it; she thought she remembered some animals bringing it to her when they were still around.

 

Fluttershy could hear Twilight Sparkle’s voice in her head though, telling her how dangerous the air quality outside was. That was the last thing she remembered from her friend before the storm and everyone became busy.

 

Fluttershy wouldn’t doubt Twilight though. She stuffed it with a sweet mixture to help block out the sickly smell of the world out there.

 

Mask now on, and some fresh gray water in Angel’s bowl just in case he came home before her, Fluttershy slowly opened her and began her walk to Ponyville.

 

 

 

~~~

 

 

 

“Hmm, they must be opening late today.”

 

Fluttershy used a gentle wing and grabbed a bouquet full of pink and red flowers and left it on the counter.

 

Dozens of rotted flowers littered around the new, vibrant ones.

 

“Maybe I’ll come back later, and see if she’s open.”

 

As she walked out of Sugarcube Corner, Fluttershy stopped by a stall outside, and greeted the stallion behind it. “Hello, Mr. Newsfeed. How are you today?”

 

Newsfeed’s skeleton didn’t respond. Fluttershy didn’t mind, he wasn’t much of a talker nowadays.

 

Fluttershy, not wanting to take too much of his time, left a couple of bits and another bouquet on his stand and took a newspaper. Taking a quick glance at the cover, she noticed that the news still didn’t change much.

 

Trotting over to the Ponyville fountain, Fluttershy stopped to take a break on a bench. Like always, she spotted an old friend taking in the morning lazing on the bench she always went to.

 

“Oh, good morning Mr. Ingot! I grabbed today’s newspaper for you, I know how much you like to sit here and read them.”

 

Mr. Ingot just laid in the sun. It must have been hard to read without a head, but Fluttershy didn’t want to be rude and ask where it went. Instead, she sat down beside him and hoofed the newspaper over to him.

 

“It’s been so hard these last couple of weeks. Everyone has been so scared, and Angel hasn’t been around for a while. I do hope he’s ok and he’s having fun with his friends. But I miss Twilight, and Rarity, and Applejack…”

 

As Fluttershy trailed off, she carefully used her hooves to grab sole purple, yellow, and blue flowers out from her basket. Those colors were Mr. Ingot’s favorite.

 

“I do enjoy our talks, but I simply must go. I need to go visit my friends and make sure they’re ok.”

 

Mr. Ingot didn’t have any objections. Fluttershy bid him farewell, and trotted off towards the Apple family barn.

 

 

 

~~~

 

 

 

Knock knock.

 

“I wonder if no one’s home today.”

 

Fluttershy waited a minute before knocking one more time. She had hoped Apple Bloom would be home from school, or Big Mac was in the barn, but it seemed like she would have no luck.

 

Sighing, Fluttershy simply left another few bouquets for Applejack and her family. She turned back around and walked off the farm back towards the town.

 

Fluttershy took it rather slowly this time around; her breathing was becoming labored and her head was starting to hurt.

 

Fluttershy began talking to herself to take her mind off it.“I hope I’m not getting a cold. I would just hate to be stuck inside without seeing anyone.” Losing her balance momentarily, she hastily sat down and rubbed her temples through the mask.

 

Something seemed off. As she nursed her growing headache, Fluttershy tried to think of what was wrong. It just seemed like a normal day, so why was she feeling so ill?

 

“Maybe I’ll stop by the spa on the way home…” she whined. The twins also helped her feel better.

 

Powering through the pain ringing in her head, Fluttershy was able to walk all the way to the spa. She didn’t visit as much anymore, especially since Aloe and Lotus weren’t there hardly any now. She really hoped they would be in today though, Fluttershy really needed to relax right about now.

 

Coming to the front of the spa, she tested the door.

 

Locked.

 

“Oh please, please just be a mistake…”

 

Fluttershy knocked rather hard on the glass doors. She tried to see through them, but they were caked with dust and dirt.

 

Fluttershy waited. And waited.

 

No one answered the door.

 

“I still haven’t visited all my friends yet,” Fluttershy said softly to herself. “Perhaps I can visit them tomorrow though.

 

With a shaky hoof, she left two bouquets outside the spa, one for each twin. Their beautiful blue, pink, and yellow color stood brilliantly against the cracked brown and gray building.

 

Fluttershy went home as quick as she could. She wasn’t feeling any better by the minute, and she just wanted some rest. Practically throwing open her front door, she tossed herself inside and kicked the door shut behind her. She ripped the mask off, gasping for air as she coughed up a lung.

 

After a few minutes recovering, she croaked out, “Angel? Are you home?”

 

No answer. Again.

 

Fluttershy inspected his food and water bowls.

 

Still full of moldy food and gray water.

 

Fluttershy began to cry. She really hoped he was ok, and wasn’t avoiding her. She could really use a friend right now.

 

Picking herself up, Fluttershy weakly walked to the kitchen. She poured herself a cup of murky water and ate a brown apple from the fruit bowl. It didn’t make her feel better.

 

“I guess I just need some sleep. I hope the others won’t be mad that I didn’t visit them today.”

 

Throwing the apple core into the overflowing trash can, and bringing the water to her bedroom, she pulled the sheets of her bed down and climbed in.

 

Fluttershy laid her head against her pillow. She didn’t know how long it had been since she had seen all her friends. Maybe she should try writing them a letter. Maybe encourage them to go out on a picnic like old times.

 

Vision blurry and head still pounding, Fluttershy eventually fell asleep.

 

The remaining flowers growing inside her living room stood still, waiting to be cut in the morning, and to be delivered to the same spot like always.

 

 

And Fluttershy was Our Ship

IAmGoku

 

 

The lighthouse keeper stepped out onto the balcony, he’d heard the low approaching footfalls a few minutes ago in the distance and didn’t want to miss the opportunity to catch a glimpse of the passersby.

 

Lighting up his pipe, he savored the smoke as he leaned on the railing and looked to his left, watching as the large moving mass of yellow and pink came ever closer.

 

She wasn’t the first of her kind he’d seen, nor one of her size either. Ever since the war had broken out and Earth had found itself besieged by dragons, timberwolves, and all other manner of monstrous creatures from another world, a percentage of which had been changed by the magical forces that brought them through, making them literal giants among the human population.

 

However soon after, they received aid from the ponies of Equestria, as well as their allies, some of which being peaceful dragons.

 

The ponies allied themselves with the human military and various agencies to fight off the hostile invaders, some allecting or being chosen to undergo enlargement processes which made them too grow to gigantic proportions.

 

The last pony he’d seen that was like her had been a large blue pegasus with a rainbow mane, she had been outfitted as a mobile battleship.

 

This one who was approaching was also a pegasus, but had been outfitted as an aircraft carrier.

 

 

-o-

 

 

Fluttershy let out a relaxed sigh as she stepped through the water, to her however it felt like she was stepped through a puddle as it only came up just over her hoof itself.

 

She was making her way to base, there wasn’t any rush so she was taking her time.

 

“Oh my goodness!” she gasped upon seeing the human dwelling as she came up towards the shore.

 

Leaning her head down towards it, she took in the sight of a human male who looked to be in his twenties and leaning on the railing who waved at her.

 

“Oh hello there little one” Fluttershy said softly, though her voice filled the entire area.

 

“I love your tiny house, it’s just adorable” she crooned, taking note of the one story house beside the lighthouse.

 

The lighthouse itself, compared to Fluttershy was only a few inches tall in relative size, the house being even smaller. Both buildings could be demolished completely with a slight bat of her wing if she wanted to.

 

Hearing a command come through over her earpiece, Fluttershy looked up into the distance and nodded before turning back to the lighthouse keeper.

 

“It was nice to meet you, but I’m afraid I have to keep going, have a nice day”

 

Walking ahead, Fluttershy heard the approaching sound of two fighter planes approaching, extending her left wing which contained four runways along her feathers, the two planes landed.

 

Fluttershy’s uniform consisted of a white and blue naval uniform, with a blue pleated skirt, matching dark blue socks on her hind legs which had her cutie mark adorned on the tops, and large white metal hoof boots which doubled as individual decks and storage units for supplied below. She wore a white short sleeved top and a blue ascot.

 

Her front hooves were adorned with ‘bracelets’ which doubled as artillery posts for her tiny crew, both bracelets possessing three large double anti aircraft and dual purpose guns.

 

Her left ear held the communications hub, which also housed Fluttershy’s long ranged radar, and various jamming equipment.

 

Her back held the main deck of her crew, where the tiny aircraft were held, which was currently filled with human and regular sized ponies performing their duties.

 

Fluttershy took note once the planes had landed and came to a halt of the smoke coming from one of the planes engines.

 

“Oh dear! Is the pilot ok?!” she asked frantically, her eyes narrowing to observe as two other humans opened the cockpit.

 

“He’s ok Fluttershy” came the voice of Strong Current, a pegasus captain through her own earpiece in her right ear, it allowed for efficient and instant communication when she needed explicit details.

 

“A bit banged up, but nothing serious. He’ll be taken to the infirmary to get looked over and we’ll let you know how he’s doing then”

 

Fluttershy let out a relieved breath at the news.

 

“Please be gentle with him, we still have a whole day before we reach the base”

 

Fluttershy continued on her journey, taking extra care while walking despite knowing the infirmary and medbay were in one of the safest places on her body, practically invulnerable to outside attack.

 

When she’d first been approached by Princess Celestia and the other military leaders about the placement of the medical stations, she’d almost died of embarrassment, unable to even consider such a thing.

 

Though after some convincing from Twilight and the others, she finally concluded that for the issue of safety, it was an ideal position.

 

Twilight and the others who’d been enlarged, when they were on missions and were outfitted with their gear and crew, also had their medical facilities in the same location, so it made Fluttershy more secure in knowing she wasn’t the only one.

 

And at this point she didn’t feel any embarrassment at all, concentrating on the fact that she was keeping humans and ponies safe.

 

Though it had also taken some preparation and training herself, in order for her to be able to fulfill her duties without being distracted or allowing the sensations to get to her.

 

Glancing down under her skirt, she focused on the matching pair of navy blue panties, Fluttershy gave a nod of approval before continuing on her way.

 

 

-o-

 

 

Doctor Matthews was an average sized woman with a neat pixie cut of blond hair, she was currently leading their most recent resident, a young United States Air Force officer named Mark Anderson, who'd been in a fire fight on his way back to Fluttershy.

 

He’d escaped without any serious injuries, but had sustained a minor head wound and dislocated shoulder.

 

“So how long do you think I’ll be stuck here Doc?” Anderson asked as a unicorn nurse levitated him into his bed and tucked him in.

 

“Not too long, we’ll offload tomorrow when we reach the base and you’ll be transferred to the medical facilities there. Your head wound has been treated and bandaged, and isn’t too concerning, but we’ll be monitoring you overnight as you do have a concussion.” she said as he nodded, leaning back onto the pillow.

 

“This is actually the first time I’ve been in the medbay of one of the pony carriers” he said glancing around at the sterilized white room, it looked like any other hospital room.

 

“I thought it’d be...warmer”

 

Doctor Matthews nodded in understanding at his remark.

 

“We keep the inside temperature of the facility regulated to insure our patients comfort”

 

A snort from the bed to Anderson’s left caused the three present to turn to see another officer who was around the same age reclining back, he had his right arm in a sling and one of his legs propped up on a cushion and bandaged.

 

“Change the temperature and cover the walls all you want doc, still doesn’t change the fact we’re laying up in a giant pony pussy” the officer said in an Australian accent.

 

The unicorn nurse gave a small hmph of displeasure.

 

“Captain there’s no need for that kind of language” Nurse Tender Care said walking over and checking on his IV as she did.

 

“Now come on love, I’m not badmouthing the big lady or anything, just saying it’s a bit surreal being so far up her moot” he said before giving Tender Care a grin.

 

“Though it sure gives a bloke something good to think about at night eh? Too bad my right hand’s buggered to do anything about it”

 

“Captain Hughes, keep it up and we’ll sedate you” Doctor Matthews said sarcastically before turning to double check that sure Anderson’s bandages were in place.

 

“Hey mate” Hughes said with a smirk, catching Anderson’s attention. “Could be worse, we could have been stuffed up her clacker”

 

“I’m sorry, her what?” Anderson asked with confusion at the unfamiliar term.

 

“You know, up her date”

 

This received yet another look of confusion.

 

Hughes rolled his eyes before speaking up.

 

“Up her bloomin arse!”

 

“Where else did you bloody think I was talking about,” he added.

 

“O-Oh, yeah right. That’d be...concerning” Anderson replied with a small nod, mental images rushing to his head before he tried to suppress the growing hardness under his covers.

 

“You know, I heard when they first installed this place, the big girl ended up pissing all over the poor bastards in here, and flooding the whole ward, hows that for bad luck” Hughes said with a chuckle.

 

Anderson’s eyes widened at his words and this received another scoff from the nurse and Dr Matthews, who was quick to place a comforting hand on his shoulder.

 

“You have nothing to worry about. That incident was due to a malfunction with the facilities aqueduct and filtration systems, it was the only time an incident like that occurred. And believe me, Fluttershy almost died of embarrassment, the poor dear couldn’t look anyone in the eye for days. Not to mention the engineers and designers were chewed out thoroughly by the higher ups for missing the issue”

 

Anderson gave a small sigh of relief at her words, relieved that such an accident wouldn’t (or was not likely) to happen again.

 

“Now then, you two try and get some rest. We’ll be back to check on you in later” Dr Matthews said before she and Nurse Tender Care exited the ward.

 

Hughes gave another soft chuckle, leaning back on his pillow before turning to Anderson.

 

“You know, I’m not the only one who gets a bit turned on while riding around on her, plenty of blokes do.”

 

“R-Really?” Anderson asked, silently relieved he wasn’t the only one.

 

“Yeah I got two mates, Harry and Winter Strike, he’s a pegasus officer. They both like going down to her hind leg deck’s at night, down to the storage areas below deck and have a wank in private”

 

Anderson’s eyes widened at this.

 

“Seriously?”

 

“Yep, they get real turned on by her hooves. And there’s some areas of the storage facilities where they can access the outer areas of her socks, and the lowest sections are right under her hoof, Winter was able to use his wings to keep himself up off the ground and thrust his cock into the bottom of her hoof and sock the other week, basically fucked it till he came all over it” Hughes said with a grin.

 

“The bloke had the biggest bloody grin on his face the next morning. I’m not into her hooves personally, but overall she’s a pretty good lookin’ piece.”

 

“Yeah” Anderson said slowly, nodding as his own thoughts turned to all the places on Fluttershy he found attractive. “She is”

 

“Though be sure to keep it to yourself eh? If it got found out, a ton of us would get into trouble. Not to mention Flutters would probably flip out, or go balmy over the fact that a bunch of us regularly get our rocks off while riding on her”

 

“No problem” Anderson said after a moment, his thoughts going back to the sexy giant mare they were all on, or in his case in.

 

As if there talk had summoned her, a familiar voice suddenly came over the intercom.

 

“Oh, um, good afternoon everypony...oh, and everyone, I’d just like to say that I’m so glad everyone onboard got back safely today, and hope you’re all looking forward to returning to base tomorrow, I know that some of you will be receiving time off and get to be with your friends and families. Oh, and before I forget, a special ‘get well soon’ to two of our fellow crew members currently in the medical ward, Captain Hughes and Officer Anderson, I hope you to rest up and have a pleasant trip back this evening”

 

As soon as Fluttershy’s voice disconnected, Hughes spoke up once again.

 

“Well, I know one of us will at least” he said before reaching over to his bedside table and opening the drawer and tossing two items over to Anderson.

 

Catching them, he saw that Hughes had tossed him a bottle of lubricant and a box of tissues.

 

“Enjoy, and try not to let the Doc find those”

 

A few hours later, after having his privacy sheet pulled across, Anderson made good use of them indeed.

 

Especially when Fluttershy’s voice came over the intercom once more, and wished everyone good night.

 

And it was a good night indeed.

 

 

-o-

 

 

Fluttershy let out a relieved breath as she removed the landing gear from her wings before doing the same with her back equipment.

 

She’d been back at their base for half an hour, and the entirety of the crew had departed and made their way to where they needed to be, and this allowed Fluttershy to remove her gear and equipment.

 

Leaning down on her front hooves, Fluttershy gave a relaxed sigh as she stretched her back out with a slight pop.

 

As she reached down to unhook her bracelets, she wondered how Twilight and Rainbow were doing, she’d have to check in after she removed all her gear. She knew that Twilight was accompanying three subs on an underwater reconnaissance and surveillance mission, which had the princess wearing aquatic gear and having a sub crew on her own person, similar to Fluttershy’s.

 

Rainbow was providing security and escorting a fleet of destroyers, she too like the others having her own crew.

 

As Fluttershy sat down on her flank, she reached down and removed her hind legs hoof boots and gave a soft moan, the boots weren’t uncomfortable exactly, but after wearing them for so long Fluttershy did feel relief to have her hooves free of them.

 

Placing them aside, she removed both her socks and began folding them up when something caught her eye.

 

“Huh?”

 

Bringing the sock further up to her face, Fluttershy squinted her eyes and saw small darker patches scattered across her socks in various spots around the bottoms.

 

“That’s strange, I hope none of the supplies were damaged,” she said to herself, thinking possibly some stored food, water or medicine could have become crushed under her hoof.

 

“I’ll have to have someone do inventory and check, oh I hope I didn’t break anything important…” Fluttershy said as she folded her socks up neatly beside her boots and exited the large hanger.

 

As she did, she made sure to take care of the tiny humans and ponies walking around, despite navigating around the tiny beings while back at the base being second nature to her and the others now, Fluttershy still was rather skittish regarding it, and took extra care when walking around.

 

Afterall, it would be horrible if somepony or someone wound up under her hoof…

 

 

Shimmer and Dimmer

Sketch

 

 

Sunset walked through the aisles slowly, eyes glancing over the shelves but not taking in any details. She couldn’t tell you what she was looking for, if she even was looking for something. It was early in the morning, and she’d only stopped by here on a whim.

 

The little corner store didn’t have too much to offer beyond the basics. Loaves of bread and milk, fruits and vegetables. Candy and the sort of stuff you threw in your pantry and forgot about. But it was close to the school, and it had snacks and drinks the students could enjoy on the go.

 

The music pumping through the store was starting to get kind of grating though, some kind of overdone pop song blaring out of the speakers. She popped in a set of earbuds and switched her player on. The beats slowly worked up in volume, and soon they were drowning everything else out, her head slowly swaying back and forth to the rhythm.

 

The shop was small, too small to get lost in, but you could hide from someone who didn’t know you were there. She was grateful for that when she saw a few familiar faces at the entrance. One of them was laughing, another looked dead on her feet, really, they never seemed to match up to each other.

 

She glanced back as she took out an earbud, heading towards the dairy section. She pulled her jacket closer for warmth, and waited a little for the high pitched fast talk to wander in the right direction. Checking around the corner she saw they’d stayed in their little group and quickly darted for the checkout.

 

It was a little nerve wracking paying for the small candybar she’d snatched up. But she would have felt awkward about wandering around for so long without buying something. She finally got through the doors and across the street not much later. However, she didn’t slip the earbud back in until she was sure no one was about to call out her name.

 

She stashed the chocolate in her bag, shoulders untensing as she followed the path. She let out a long sigh and focused her eyes straight ahead. Her boots hit the ground to the rhythm of her music, and she finally started to calm down. Today wasn’t one of the days she had much interest in talking. She was too tired, too distracted, too lost.

 

She passed the statue in front of the school, and walked right through the entrance. She wandered the empty corridors, the sound of her shoes hitting the ground just loud enough to hear over her music. She closed her eyes for a moment, just following the same old path she knew by rote.

 

It didn’t take long to reach the door she was looking for, slipping inside with barely a sound. The room was cluttered, instruments and books strewn about the ground. More people would come here later, but she knew from experience she would be on her own at least until class started.

 

She headed to a corner of the room, hopping up onto a large amp. She leaned forward, careful not to knock the guitar standing against it to the ground. A soft smile came across her face as she settled into a comfortable position. She looked out over the room, and lost herself to daydreaming.

 

 

The Art of Pony Battleship

An Intricate Disguise

 

 

The battlefield burned crimson as far as her eyes could see. Over the mast, cries and shouts, mortar and shell rose and fell like staccato raindrops on a sheet of dead earth. There was no god in this place—he’d averted his eyes from the horrors wrought by man in their inept, megalomaniacal attempts of dominance that as she understood it had predated even—

 

“Darling,” she interrupted my monologue much to my disdain. I forced a tone that belied a chipper smile. Her head couldn’t turn far enough to see me. “I believe I have an artillery shell caught in my tail. Would you be a dear and attempt to dislodge it?”

 

A sigh and rolling of eyes. Every pony and human aboard the vessel known as my big sister had been privy to that little exchange. “You got it, sis.”

 

“Wonderful, and if you have time afterwards, could you restring the hem of my dress alongside the starboard bow?”

 

I stifled a growl. “You interrupted my angsty internal monologue for this?”

 

Rarity’s voice was dripping in mirth. “It is rather important to maintain the structural integrity of the hull, is it not? A single breach could lead to disaster, Sweetie.”

 

“Your dress is not the hull!” I shouted in turn, much to the enjoyment of the chortling naval crew. Sometimes, I figured me and Rarity did them more of a service in providing some dramatic, airy reprieve from the blood and toils of our campaign than we did in actually providing manpower.

 

Or… pony power. No, that sounds silly.

 

I had a rather dismal view of the surrounding valley as I got to work on mending Rarity’s ‘hull’, one stitch at a time. My horn abuzz, I could see everything... the way the nearby woods, set ablaze in the struggle, bounced in an incandescent arc of refracted light off of the stream littered with dirt and heaving, thriving bodies, all looking for shelter or solace in what was rapidly transforming into a place of pure darkness.

 

There was placidity to be found in the noise, morbid as it may have sounded. Silence was the most fearful thing at this point. If things were quiet, something was wrong.

 

Also, Rarity’s dress looked as if it had eaten up a lot of the commissary provisions for their regiment. Like seriously, how much money did she spend on this? Was this why HQ wouldn’t supply us with fresh towels and linen this month?

 

Questions for later. As I moved to pull the lodged shell out of Rarity’s steel-strong tail, I felt one of my backup spells kicking into action, and not a moment too soon. Two fighter jets were shooting a beeline at my sister, racing at a million miles a second, and Rarity’s first instinct, as usual, had been to somersault out of the way. Honestly, it was a good thing I could pull this spell out in an instant, or me and our crew would’ve been killed a thousand times over by now.

 

“Oh, drat, I think I squashed a tank. Do you know how difficult it is to scrub those pesky little interlayers out of my horseshoes?” With a ‘tsk’ that could be heard a mile away, Rarity fired what I’d began referring to as a ‘spiral death beam’ at one of the offending jets, blowing off one of the wings and sending the pilot straight for the eject button. The other was circling around, preparing for a nosedive assault, but Rarity had other ideas for it. With a lift and a flick of her telekinesis, she pulled out a fresh tank-pancake from under her hoof and frisbee’d it right at the offending plane.

 

War was a harsh, brutal place. You didn’t know if you’d wake up the next day, a moment’s carelessness was all it took to get shot between the eyes. Ground troops had it the worst, dealing with wounds and illnesses that they didn’t know if they’d live through, burrowed in uncomfortable, waterlogged trenches hoping only to see home again…

 

War was bad enough as it was. Now imagine having a magical unicorn the size of a small mountain launching a tank at you like an Olympian discus thrower and tell me that anyone rightly deserves that.

 

“And she scores!” Rarity announced with glee as she sent the remaining plane plummeting into oblivion. “Honestly, I always found such games to be remarkably droll, but you wouldn’t believe how fun of a place a battle can be!”

 

“Rarity, those are living people with families down there.”

 

“Yes, yes, I’m aware. I don’t suppose you’ve forgotten my no-kill policy already, have you, sister?”

 

“Rarity, you just yeeted a tank you crushed under your hoof into a plane. I’m pretty sure those had people in them.”

 

Rarity laughed at me as if I was stupid. “Of course they did! But I was kind enough to place a protective barrier between the vehicles and their operators so as to ensure they wouldn’t be hurt in the collision!”

 

I peered at the back of her head. Was always hard to get a read on her when we were on the job. “That seems awfully contrived. You’re telling me you’ve not killed even a single person since we began working with the allies?”

 

“Darling, I’m a one-hundred and forty-foot pony with a naval ship and crew attached to my back that is able to shoot lasers and such without so much as making a mess of my mane. We ought not speak of contrivances, lest they dissipate.”

 

That was such a crock. I knew for a fact that she was a hundred and forty-six feet.

 

The sun’s blaze became obfuscated by clouds. Amidst the noise and confusion, a claxon sounded. I looked up from my work, already tired and beaten down from the long day, and realised very suddenly that it was about to get a lot longer still.

 

The claxon heralded a thunderous flap that echoed out through the valley in a sonic wave that pierced and battered the eardrums. A veritable mountain arose from the corner of my peripherals, and for a moment, I could’ve confused the fluffy, yellow, iron-clad ball with a type of synthetic sun.

 

It was only when I looked closer that I realised the full severity of the situation.

 

“Rarity,” I shouted, almost pleaded. She broke her attention from trying to clean her horseshoes and attempted to look my way. “They’ve got one too.”

 

“Ich bin Flütterflieger! Prepare to be obliterated!”

 

My whole world stopped in that instant. The enemy forces weren’t meant to have access to growth magic, let alone the ability to access other worlds! This changed everything, this added risk that I could scarcely comprehend to our struggle. There was a chance that I, my sister, that WE could be killed in an instant! Who knew what kind of training this pony death ball, approaching at terminal velocity might’ve been through, how powerful she was?!

 

“What do you mean ‘they’ve got one’?” Rarity harrumphed. “Am I simply a chic war machine that can be replicated by another designer? At best, their giant pony battleship is off-brand, and furthermore, I shall be having stern words with Herr Hugo Boss when this little conflict is over!”

 

“Rarity, now isn’t the time! She’s nearly over the valley!”

 

“No! You’re telling me that this thinly veiled attempt to undersell my brand is worth a damn because she’s breached the vale and salutes sieg hail while I’m a grand and dashing mademoiselle with a mortar shell lodged in her magnifique tail?” A scoff. “I could spend a month or more explaining how the flying creature with the butterfly kiester couldn’t steal my thunder if she threw me in a gas shower and maxed out the power! I shall defeat her, yes I’ll beat her if not for me, then for my leaders, for my country and for my nation I’ll wipe away this blatant staple of condemnation that hasn’t been named to keep things tasteful and then I’ll take my rightful place on the front cover of ‘ What’s Hot with Wartime Women?’ s spring feature!”

 

I watched as the giant flying pony ship approached. “Okay.” Squint. “Also, I don’t think ‘ What’s Hot with Wartime Women’ is a real publication. If it is, they probably don’t feature ponies.”

 

This seemed to only add to Rarity’s rage. To say that she was firing on all cylinders right now wouldn’t be inaccurate. Every cannon on the ship affixed to her shot off simultaneously as she took to the air, dodging the first swoop-carpet-bombing from Flütterflieger.

 

A horrific battle ensued, consisting mainly of two massive ponies jumping and flying around shooting magical beams at each other. War was a harrowing place.

 

Rarity seemed to be struggling to keep up though. This winged yellow pony just straight up had the advantage when it came to agility and strength. Slowly but surely, Rarity was being outmanoeuvred, and the result was a creeping, slowly building feeling of despair. It would come in small, tiny increments, and you could almost ignore it was even there if you really tried.

 

But then, all at once, everything would shatter.

 

Ten, maybe fifteen minutes into their struggle, Flütterflieger finally pinned Rarity. The ship on her back groaned as I struggled above anything else to hold the spells keeping the hull intact, my mind searing from the sheer mental force it took to maintain focus. I wanted to cry. This was it. We were going to die here, and I was powerless to do anything about it.

 

...and then, suddenly: “Why do they treat you like this, darling?”

 

The force all around them, previously unrelenting, hesitated for just a moment. I barely managed to steal a breath.

 

Above them, Rarity continued to speak to her aggressor. To barter for all of their lives, to buy a distraction and gain the advantage, whatever she was doing. I trusted her. My sister was crafty.

 

“All of this strength, all of this rage… and you’re still just a rat in a cage.”

 

A pause. “Are you saying… that I’m a bullet with butterfly wings?”

 

“I’m saying that the world is a vampire, sent to drain.” Rarity then stopped risking copyright infringement and switched her tone. “Why are you directing your anger at me, fraulein? What has made you so upset in the first place? Who has convinced you that you must as you so put it, ‘obliterate’ us?”

 

Flütterflieger hesitated a moment longer, but her familiar rhetoric persisted. “You are ze problem with our world, not us. Ve only vish to improve things, to make ze earth a better place, yet you vould be our impediment!”

 

“You really believe that?” A sigh. “If your people truly cared about anyone, about anything, wouldn’t they dress you better?”

 

A gasp. Flütterflieger’s grasp tightened for but a moment, then loosened. Her breath was short. Her accent almost slipped. “You mean… you mean that I do not look dashing in zis uniform?”

 

“Honestly?” Rarity’s words were measured, slow, direct. “What you’re wearing is tattered and off-season. It’s a mockery of ethical conduct, and the poor maintenance of the stitching alongside the odd stylistic choices in the fabric reflect a lack of direction in the eyes of the designer, which is only a symptom of the issue plaguing your entire movement.” Her eyes scanned the enemy horse fully, examined her from head to toe, which was quite a distance. “You’re conditioned to hate those that would hedonistically adorn themselves in finery, yet do you truly find it fair that you, the worker who struggles, should have to walk and fly around in such dreck?” A tut, and Rarity stopped resisting entirely. “Honestly, you deserve better.”

 

If my sister hadn’t known what she was doing, we all would’ve been crushed the moment she stopped pushing back. Instead, Flütterflieger spoke, though it was barely in a whisper. Well, a giant horse whisper, which is very loud. “You… you really think I could pull off an outfit like yours? I must confess that I would love to model such a garment…”

 

“What happened to your accent?” Rarity’s comment echoed my thoughts.

 

“Oh, I just put it on to fit in with the troops. You don’t really want to stand out as different there if you can help it… my name isn’t even Flütterflieger, honestly. It’s actually Dave.”

 

“Hello Dave!” said everyone, happy they were alive.

 

War is hell.

 

 

Epilouge

B_25

 

 

You may have noticed, through the author's notes within this volume, a certain theme. The most fabulous theme to these works is, of course: "Happy Birthday" for this collection is meant to celebrate the person behind the artist. The level below that, however, has been about the subject of inspiration... and its effect on those within its zone.

 

The summit of this piece has been not what NC means to me, and not only that, but all the friends joining me on this journey. We all go about different paths, but sometimes, during spots down the lane, all of our roads coverage—even if for a moment.

 

Inspiration is far more than a word and higher than a single act. This piece wasn't set to collect every aspect and function of it, but rather, to display the limitless existing amount. Every person and every piece brew something new to the meaning of the word. The same keeping true to the viewings of the art shown throughout these chapters.

 

I hope you enjoyed these stories. And I also hope you wished the big man a happy birthday as well.

 

Thank you for reading.

 

And I thank my friends for writing and, more importantly than that, joining me on this trek through the creative fields. May we keep together, chasing the horizon, knowing there is no end—but improving and inspiring each other to reach it regardless.

 

Keep well and do well.

 

 

~ Yr. Pal, B and The Boys