Equestrian Stories
Contents
Core Rulebook
The Greatest Lollipop
(Transcript from [[1]] by Ravenskysong )
Citris barely noticed the clicking clock, as she stared intently at her latest batch of lollipops. The clock was annoying most days, but Citris liked it because it annoyed her sister Candice. Candice wanted nothing more then to get rid of it, but she had been overruled. Everypony else seemed to either like the clock, and ponies like her little brothers and sisters liked that it bothered her. Citris glanced up as the birds start to sing. It was already late in the morning! Ponies would be coming into the store soon. Her mother was trotting over to put out the open sign. Citris's heart felt heavy, as she slowly put the tray of her green lemon lollipops and taffy next to the bright orange ones her sister made. To her eyes her sister's looked nicer, brighter colored, better in shape. Each day that month Citris and her sister Candice had sold the exact same amount of lollipops, but Citris wanted to be the best! "Is Chief of the kitchen too much to ask for?" she whispered and looked forlornly at her mother on the far side of the store. Mother was the one who awarded the title. Every Candy-Clan pony wanted to be Chief of the Kitchen, but the moment another member of the family made better candy, came up with an amazing idea, or sold a huge amount of candy, the title went to them. Candice was Chief of the Kitchen for a while now, after making her "Super sweet surprise lollipop". Citris glanced at her lollipops in the tray, snorted and trotted out. She didn't want to hang around, fidgeting until each lollipop was sold. The sad little pony made her way outside, towards the edge of Hoofington. When she was out of ideas she usually went to the edge of the Hayseed Swamps, or visited the farmers. You never knew when you would find inspiration or a bright idea. And she needed a really bright idea to beat Candice! She glanced at the sun, it was heating the town already, and felt nice and warm on her fur. It had been badly overcast lately, but the dark clouds present on the last few days had been blown north towards the horseshoe bay, instead of staying over Hoofington. "Hmm... candy that changes temperature? no... spicy candy? no..." she groaned with frustration and pawed at the ground with her hoof. "Candice has done all the best flavors already, what's a pony to do?!" she sighted, her mane dragging on the ground as she walked down the road. "Just ONE time, just one time I wanna be Chief..." she muttered. She headed towards the farms near the swamp, maybe she could find a berry no one had used in candy yet. But... her brothers did berry candy already. Even if she found a new berry, they would probably make it better then her. She sighted again and kept on sulking, until she passed a fully packed wagon rumbling along the road connecting the farms. The wagon made a huge ruckus rolling along the road. She could see the crumbly old hat atop of the dusty grey mane of Penny Shack rushing about. Citris paused and looked a little confused, waving at the traveling vendor. "Hey! what's all the hurry?" she called out to him. "Sorry too butt in.. just wondering..." she added, as Penny Shack stopped his rolling wagon. "Hey Citris, long time no see. I'm just finished making my tour. With the Zap Apples an' all." The old stallion grinned "I'll catch up when I come back to these parts, take care now ya hear?" He started to pull on his wagon again. Citris stared after him, her eyes wide, frozen as the gears turned inside her head. Zap apples.. the best apples.. the flavor.. the color... "THATS IT!" she hooted, jumping into the air "ZAP APPLES! Ooooooh Candice I'm gonna show you up!" She gallopped after Penny Shack "heyheyhey waitwaitwait" The trader skidded to a halt "Something wrong sweetie?" Citris panted for a moment after the sprint and looked at Penny Shack with eyes that would make a puppy jealous. She blurted out: "IreallyreallyneedthebestlolipopeverandineedcolorandflavorandzapapplesgimmegimeepleaseillbeyourbestistfriendforeverandeverandevercuzI'llbechiefofthekitchen!!!!" Penny Shack blinked. "Say what now sweetie?" Citris took a deep breath. "I need to make the most best lollipops EVER! And for that, I need Zap Apples! Think of all that flavor, in a lollipop! I'll find out how to pay, anything you want, just-" The old sales-stallion looked uncomfortable and raised his hoof in a motion to stop "Easy cheri... I'm afraid it ain't that simple." Citris squeaked "whatwhatwhatbut pleaaasseeeeeeee?" Penny Shack patted her shoulder "Sweetie, you KNOW how popular, and how rare Zap apples are right?" The grey stallion started walking towards his cart, and Citris followed. "Citris, sweetheart, every year people go crazy for the Zap Apples I bring over here from Ponyville. I get more orders then I can fill sometimes, it's hard to know how many apples I'm gonna get. If I sold the apples before I got 'em..." Citris let her head hang, sighting. "Oh I see, you wouldn't have enough for everyone..." The old grey stallion nudged the young pony "Cheerup sweetie, why don't you come round when I come back and I'll see if I can buy up more this time." Citris smiled and nodded "Thanks Penny Shack, I'll let you get back on tour now." She stared up at the trees for a moment, then waved goodbye and headed back. Maybe he WOULD get more apples and she could... She froze as she thought of the crowd asking the trader for Zap Apples the last time he came into town. "Oh come on! who am I kidding, its going to be worse then cider season on a hot day!" she sulked and followed the trader a little on his way down the road. She muttered angrily to herself and sighted, "Can't you help them harvest the Zap Apples to get some more? Must be an awful lot of work..." Penny Shack replied "You have no idea! but at least I don't like to fight off Timberwolves like their granny." Citris trotted beside him. "What do you mean? I can't picture a sweet old granny fighting anything!" The trader giggled "you should have been there, when she told me that story! Granny Smith got the first Zap Apples! She had to get them from the Everfree Forest and the Timberwolves nearly gobbled her up for her trouble! She's a mighty special granny." Citris froze in her tracks. "The Everfree Forest..." Citris said softly, and stared off into the distance for a few moments. A wide grin started to spread over her face. "HA! Wild Zap Apples! I don't need to wait on the delivery at all!" She bolted forward, vanishing down the road.
Into the Dragon's Cave
(Transcript from [[2]] by Arti and Hawk Johensen)
Lion Heart was tired after a long day of wandering through the Everfree. Summer had come and with it the sweltering heat. The young adventurer was tired, thirsty and covered in a thin film of dirt and sweat.
As the sun began to set, Lion Heart sat down in next to a large tree. He closed his eyes and listened to the forest for a while. The nocturnal animals were just getting ready to come out from the sounds of it and the young colt figured that he'd better find shelter for the night.
He stood up and felt a cool breeze from up ahead. Shuddering from the sudden chill, the brave little colt felt compelled to investigate. After wandering through some brush, he found the opening to a large cave and decided to wander inside to explore.
As the young foal ventures into the cave, another creature was already moving deep inside...
The ice covered walls of the main hall in this cave shine brightly, light shimmering all across the room. A large, white dragon lays in the center, claws clutched around a saddlebag with bloodstains on it. A burn arcs across his back, but the cold keeps the pain down. The freezing dragon stretches, yawning widely and looking around himself. His icy domain had been his for a couple years, ever since he flew down from the arctic north, and living here for so long had permanently frozen the cave.
He lays back down, hearing very faint hoofsteps coming from one of his tunnels. He sighs to himself, annoyed that somepony was stupid enough to come down here, especially into a dungeon where he would have an extreme advantage...
Lion Heart walked deeper and deeper into the cave. For a moment, he could have sworn that it went on forever, eventually fading into darkness and a sudden wall as most caves he explored did. This cave was somehow different though as the cold breeze reminded him. The young adventurer followed the chilly trail and soon came a chamber with shimmering, ice-coated walls.
"Whoa..." Lion Heart breathed. He had never seen a place like this before, especially not in Summer. What really got the pony's attention wasn't just the ice, but the moving mass of scales, teeth and claws in the center of the room. The young colt excitedly stepped forward and tried to get a better look at this new creature.
Frostbite looks up at the young pony, rising to his full height. Now the size of a large cart, the dragon moves forward slightly. "Who are you... and what are you doing in my cave?" He had just fought a Thunderbird, and wasn't in the mood for company. And he hadn't invited this colt inside anyway, something that greatly annoyed the dragon. Didn't this foal know about privacy?
He glares at the pony, his cold sapphire eyes gleaming with menace, trying to intimidate the little intruder into leaving.
The young colt stood his ground. The giant creature had just spoken to him and now the chill in his body was from more than just the cold. What did the other ponies call this feeling? Was it fear? THIS was fear?
Lion Heart chuckled a bit to himself. Fear wasn't nearly as bad as he thought and he could find no reason for it to make him retreat. He took a few more steps so that he was right in front of the monster's nose and proudly declared, "I am Lion Heart the Bold, Hero of the Everfree!" and then asked, "Who and what are YOU, Mr. Big Lizard Thing?"
Frostbite stares incredulously at the tiny colt. Any insult he would have taken from being called a lizard was drowned out by the sheer idiocy of this little foal. "I am Frostbite, Frozen Dragon from the Arctic Rookery. This is my lair. And you are trespassing." The dragon leans down to glare at Lionheart at his level, narrowing his eyes in both anger and confusion. Who did this little punk think he was, a grand hero? He had a lot to learn... like not to mess with dragons.
"A dragon?" Lion Heart asked to clarify, "You're a dragon? That is so COOL! Do you have magic breath and armored scales and tre..."
The adventurer suddenly stopped talking. He put a hoof up to his mouth and looked off to the side, thinking. A look of realization slowly crept across his face and he looked up at the dragon. "You have treasure," he said, wide-eyed and smiling, "That's AWESOME! Can I have some?"
"No. I only collect diamonds, and everything else is spent to gain more diamonds. You can't have any. And yes, I do have magical breath. Would you like a demonstration?" A nasty smirk crosses his face as he asks this question. He knew the little foal would say yes to it.
He hadn't been expecting the colt to actually react to him in such a way, though... It made him look both brave and stupid. While Frostbite had no intention of killing the little colt, he was quickly annoying the dragon, and he might have to take the colt away himself...
"Hmmm..." Lion Heart had to think for a moment. It was something he didn't do very often, but he found that when he did do it he spent his days with a lot fewer injuries. He tried to remember what else he could tell about dragons from all the old stories he had heard.
The young colt recalled the story of Beopony, a brave hero that fought a dragon and became a king. The colt muttered under his breath, "I'd like to be a king," before looking up at the dragon, bracing himself and challenging, "Show me what you've got!"
A torrent of icy power flows over the colt's legs, freezing him to the floor and encasing his limbs in ice. Frostbite opens his maw all the way, mist pouring out over the colt, and cold power flowing out. The freezing power chills the colt to the bone, and the dragon snaps his mouth shut less than an inch from his face.
"There. I won't strike you with all my might, as that would instantly kill you. I have no interest in harming you. If I free you from that ice, will you leave me alone?"
Lion Heart struggled against his icy bonds for a few seconds. He strained, he grunted, he pulled and twisted his body but it was to no avail. The young collt became very fed up and started gnawing on his frozen restraints when the dragon offered to free him.
"I don't need help," Lion Heart told him, "I can get out of this on my own. Just, you know, give me a few minutes," he went back to biting at the ice. He soon realized that he was making very little progress and corrected himself, "You better make that hours," before getting back to work.
Frostbite turns and walks back to his position, picking up his saddlebag and dumping the contents in front of him. A foal-sized pile of diamonds falls out, all of them with veins of golden energy running through them. Frostbite leans down, admiring the yellow diamonds, and tentatively picks one up and examines it.
"I have to wonder if all the legends about these are true..." he says to himself. He really hoped they were... Breathing lightning as well as ice would be quite amazing. The dragon glances over to the colt, expecting to see him staring at the diamonds in awe.
"Legends about what?" Lion Heart asked through a mouthful of ice. He glanced up from his work, but kept chewing away. He couldn't help but be curious, but he was also very determined to free himself even if it took all night. At least he wouldn't have to deal with the heat outside tonight.
"About these yellow diamonds. They say that if a dragon eats enough of these charged gems, it will give them the power to breathe a type of power. These yellow ones have electrical power inside them... They would let me breathe lightning if the legends are true!"
Lion Heart spit out a chunk of ice. "Neat!" he cheered as he went back to work and asking, "So, does that work for just dragons or can I..."
When he tried to pull away from his freezing bonds only to find that his tongue was stuck. He pulled a few times, but nothing came of it and soon all he could do was let out a frustrated sigh and mutter, "Ouch."
"It only works for dragons, little one. And are you done struggling? I can break you out of that ice easily, but you have to promise to leave me alone." He gingerly tosses one of the gems into his mouth, biting carefully down on it. Nothing seems to happen, so he chews a bit and swallows the pieces of the diamond. He tosses another into his mouth, and watches the colt as he chews another piece.
Lion Heart tried to talk, but found it hard to pronounce anything right with his tongue frozen to the ice around his legs. The colt grew more and more frustrated the more he tried to speak before becoming completely fed up. He braced himself, gathered as much of his strength as he dared and pulled away from the ice as hard as he could. "OW!"he cried out as his mouth came free from his bonds, "Stupid ice!"
Frostbite shakes his head in annoyance, and eats another yellow diamond. He continues to watch the little colt, both amused and annoyed by his antics. I can't figure this pony out... Is he really that brave, or is he just an idiot? ...I think I'll put my gems on the latter... He doesn't seem like a very bright individual...
The little colt continued to struggle for a few more seconds before stopping to catch his breath. Breathing heavily, he asked, "What? Don't you still want another kind of magic breath? Why'd you stop munching those gems? Does this mean I can have one? I want magic breath! That would SO COOL! Wait... cool... HA! I made a pun! But seriously..."
He continued to ramble on and on and on and on...
The dragon finally snaps, and walks calmly over to the overactive colt. He grabs the pony, breaking him free of the ice, and starts walking out of his cave with the colt. "Where do you live?"
Lion Heart smiled, "I live in a tent out in the Everfree, but it's kind of hot out there tonight. Crazy weather lately, huh? I mean, it's really really hot and humid outside, but it's frozen in here! That's weird unless you're the one that froze the inside of the cave. Why would you do that? Do you not like it really hot either? Sometimes I got to Ponyville and get ice cream when it's this hot, but I don't stay for very long..."
...and on and on and on and on and on...
Frostbite takes to the air, wings flapping heavily against the forest floor. Within seconds, he's flying far above the Everfree, heading back to Ponyville.
As he flies above the school, he swoops down slightly and holds Lionheart down. "Goodbye, Lion Heart. Don't bother me again." He simply drops the young colt on the ground, sending the pony rolling through the empty playground. Afterwards, the dragon turns and flies back towards the Everfree...
"Wait!" Lion Heart called after the dragon, "What am I supposed to do here? Hello?"
The young colt sat down on the ground and growled at his misfortune. He didn't like being at the school. He just felt that he didn't really belong there. After a few minutes, he stood up and started walking back towards the forest. This had been and interesting day with an interesting lesson; dragons are jerks.
World Guide
Old Mare's Tale
(Transcript from [[3]] by Ginger Mint)
As the (modified) story goes, in olden pony times, dragons possessed the power of lightning, but they used it recklessly and irresponsibly. In order to limit the destruction, Celestia asked some of her assistants to take lightning away for safe keeping. Three old and cranky dragons were tasked with guarding lightning, but at night two of them slept while one of them kept watch.
Unicorn used her unicorn magic to turn invisible, she played tricks on the dragons, knocking things off the shelves, banging pans together. The dragons thought they were being haunted by a ghost. Whenever Unicorn picked something up to distract them, they would run towards her and she had to drop it to avoid being trampled. She realized she would never be able to grab the lightning and get away, even invisible, the dragons would see what she was carrying and trample her. She also realized that she if she kept distracting the dragons, they would grow tired and make mistakes, being unable to get a good night's sleep.
One night, when the dragons were very tired, Unicorn left them alone to fall asleep, which they all did. Earth Pony sensed the opening and ran up, grabbing the lightning from its bottle. But lightning makes a loud crash and rumble when it moves, so the dragons awoke to see the Earth Pony stealing their treasure and gave chase. Earth Pony was tireless and brave, running through the forests and plains, but the dragons could fly and she realized they would eventually catch her, so she called to her friend Pegasus.
Pegasus swooped in and grabbed the bottle. She flew fast and high, hoping to outrun the dragons, but no matter how fast or high she flew, they always managed to find her, even when she stayed still. She realized that the bottle itself was magic and that the dragons could sense its location, so she took lightning out of its bottle and hid it in the clouds, receiving a terrible shock for her troubles. Sure enough, the dragons found their empty bottle and though furious, never found it hidden in the clouds. However, even today, when a Pegasus flies extra fast, that little piece of lightning makes a thunderous kaboom.
Dark Ponies
The Night Mare's Return
In the northernmost outskirts of Equestria, a sinister figure stared towards the country’s boundary from its castle. The full figure of Nightmare Moon stood on the balcony of her new, corrupted home, disdain in her turquoise eyes as she thought back. Two years ago, the Elements of Harmony had torn her soul from Luna, the royal alicorn of Equestria. The malevolent mistress had tried to corrupt the young pony, but failed when the older sister banished her, along with her beloved younger sister, to the moon. After Nightmare Moon’s return and immediate defeat, her soul had been sealed by the royal magicians of Canterlot. Unfortunately for the foals, She though, they forgot that I could slowly drain power from inside my magical prison. After months of biding my strength, escaping had been easy. Now free, I will soon have my revenge!
Her brooding was disrupted by several knocked on a large wooden door. Scowling as thoughts of the destruction diminished, she turned and announced “Enter!” With the creaking of the aged wood, the door parted as an earth pony strode in. His pitch black coat and mane seemed to blend in with the lack of light throughout the castle. The fire in his red eyes swept from side to side until he knew that they were alone, and bowed in deep respect. “Nightmare moon, I have done my best to gather as much forces as I can. With the combined efforts of propaganda along the borders of the lands, I have acquired for you an army of about two thousand ponies who wish to overthrown the princesses.” “Two thousand?” The mistress inquired, the aura of her mane growing stiff in anger. “Two thousand? Is that all you could muster? Your efforts will be worthless if we do not bring more to the cause. Equestria, despite being peaceful, has twice the number of trained guards, while we only have a few militants!” The messenger cowered beneath the fury of his lord. “Your majesty, if I must say… we’ve spent months searching, and if it helps, we have the allegiance of a flock of griffins and a dragon. Is that not enough?”
“With forces like that, we would be better off throwing ourselves into the sea” She seethed, glaring at nothing in particular. It has come to realization that ponies would not be the answer to her desires, and a need for something more would have to take its place. The ebony alicorn softened her gaze, a sly presence creeping inwards. “Yet… all is not lost, my earth pony. What is your name, figure of darkness?” The underling shuddered, as if saying it would surely banish him to somewhere most unpleasant. “Shadow…. S-s-trike, your m-m-ajesty.” He said meekly. “Well Shadow Strike, follow my hoofsteps, as you will have much to learn about the devices of an Alicorn.” Nightmare Moon brushed past the pony she addressed, pacing to the far end of the castle. As Shadow Strike followed, sighing in relief, the fallen goddess continued speaking. “There’s a field of magic a lot of ponies do not know about. Unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth ponies all learn the simplest forms of magic, that of physical energy, weather manipulation, or earthly attunement, respectively. They never grasp the abilities that greater magicians have, and are usually left to live their lives in blind ignorance.”
As they proceeded to an unmarked room, Nightmare Moon shoved the door open, revealing a surprisingly small chamber. Vines slithered down the walls, hungrily attaching themselves to every crack and corner. A portion of the cobblestone roof had fallen, letting the moon shine in all of its glory on a pedestal on the center. A smooth, glass orb sat on top of it, a grey haze swirling in the center in mystical patterns. As the two stepped up to the platform, the alicorn set her hoof on the smooth, stone cold, sphere...
