#prompt 385

[notyouraveragewritingprompts]

Prompt #385

A: So what do you do for a living?

B: You're gonna laugh at this, but I'm a demon hunter.

A: I have no right of laughing, I'm a ghost therapist.

[wonderful-prompts]

Prompt #385

“I’m chapped on an emotional level.”

[appcllo]

She felt like a wish. Like the hopeful glance you throw at your clock, 11:11 glowing, bright. Like a midnight ritual full of secrets and longing. She felt like that. At the tip of my tongue. And I wish I wish I wish I could get to her. And her eyes are bright like the moon Who told me to hold on, She’ll come around. And her smile is sharp like the edges of my dreams. And please don’t hurt me. This feels like a wish turned to reality. And I’m afraid. Afraid to let it slip away. But day and night I can see you Becoming a dream Again. Why are you leaving me here. Why. Am I invisible? Like the thoughts I kept to myself for so long. Please. You’re my wish come true.

wish upon a star (385) // m.e.t.

[thirtyminuteponies]

Prompt #385: "Heard it all Before," by rwlart

"I do apologize, Pinkie," Rarity said. "I suppose I've just grown used to it."

Pinkie frowned and glanced behind them as they walked through the open air market, passing stalls for crafts, cosmetics, fruits and vegetables, and even a few of Rarity's competitors in the clothing business. Rarity gave them a smile and a nod as she passed even as some of them did not return the courtesy. She would take particular pleasure in proving to those ones that they were not, in fact, any competition at all.

"Well... I'm not," Pinkie said. "It kinda creeps me out."

Rarity stopped and sighed, nodding. "There's no avoiding it. I'll have to have a talk with him."

Pinkie leaned in and patted Rarity on the back, and Rarity smiled and gave her a kiss on the cheek before she turned around.

"Spike?"

He tensed up and his face was lit by a blush. He stood by the cosmetics stall, seemingly pretending he hadn't seen her before looking up and showing a crooked grin.

"O-oh, hi! Hi Rarity!" Spike said, turning halfway to face her.

Rarity approached him with a look that she hoped was gentle but stern. It would not do to seem either too pleading nor too aggressive. A light touch was required.

"Good afternoon, Spike," Rarity said. "Have you been following us?"

Spike's eyes widened and he shook his head. "No! No, I was just, uh..."

He turned to the cosmetics booth next to him as if looking for the answer there. Rarity and Pinkie exchanged a glance.

"You were shopping?" Rarity asked, raising an eyebrow and pointing at the makeup on the counter. It was nothing new, really. She'd heard all the excuses before. It was a little tiring to deal with, though.

Spike's blush grew and he waved his claws in frantic denial. "T-Twilight! I was looking for something to get Twilight!"

Rarity and Pinkie shared another glance, and Rarity could not think of a time that Pinkie looked more skeptical. The very idea of Twilight wearing makeup, Rarity thought. It was no more believable than Spike himself wearing it.

Spike sighed and slumped over. "Okay. I'm sorry. I was following you."

Rarity nodded. "Thank you for being honest with me." She stepped in and sighed, placing a hoof gently on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Spike. You know I care for you a great deal, and I'm flattered by your affections, but--"

She saw Spike tense up again, his hands formed into tight fists, and she could swear she felt him shudder.

"Spike? Are you alright?" Rarity asked.

"It's... it's not that," Spike said. He swallowed and blinked repeatedly as if trying to keep his eyes dry. "It's... something different."

Rarity pulled her hoof away and blushed. She'd heard that before too. She remembered other young colts and fillies having cute little crushes on her, and being confused, scared, and ashamed when those feelings started to change. It was nothing new, but she didn't relish the idea of Spike having such thoughts about her.

Pinkie stepped in and wrapped a hoof around Spike's back. "Hey. Let's get outta here, alright?"

Rarity and Spike both nodded, and Pinkie led them out of the market and towards the open, grassy field beside it. Rarity kept glancing over at Spike. He didn't have the usual expression, the guilt of a child with their hooves, or hands in this case, in the cookie jar. He looked almost terrified for his life, and part of her wanted to hold him, even as most of her wanted very much not to do that.

Pinkie looked back at the market and sat down in the grass, smiling at Spike. "I know you're scared right now. I just wanna tell you, what you're feeling is normal." She cracked a grin. "I mean, really, we've all had those thoughts about Rarity."

Rarity snorted and lifted a hoof to her muzzle, hoping her grin was hidden. There weren't many other ponies who could say exactly the wrong thing and make her smile anyway. Spike on the other hand, stared at Pinkie in confusion, like she were speaking a foreign language.

"But it's okay. It's okay to feel that way," Pinkie said. "We all have needs, and it's okay to take care of them if you need to."

Spike's eyes widened and he blushed, shaking his head vigorously. "What? No! I don't..."

He froze and stepped back, hanging his head. "I... I don't mean that."

Rarity's eyebrows raised, and she was surprised that he actually seemed to mean it. It was a bit of a relief, really.

"Then what?" Rarity asked.

Spike took a deep breath. Then another. He shook on his feet and his eyes seemed to grow wet. Rarity wanted desperately to hold him, and she was relieved when Pinkie leaned in closer and did it for her, resting a hoof on his back and holding him steady against her chest.

"You're just... you're so strong," Spike said. "And you're so smart and generous and kind, and..." he swallowed. "You're so beautiful."

Rarity held back a sigh. It was nothing she hadn't heard before.

"I just wish... I just wish I looked like you," he said.

Rarity's eyes widened. Or, perhaps it was something new after all.

Spike pressed his face into Pinkie's chest and she held him closer as he seemed to only shake harder, pulling his tail in as if to defend himself. Pinkie looked up at Rarity with pleading eyes like she were out of her depth, and Rarity stood still, frozen, unable to think of what to do or say. She tried to think what she would do it a little filly came to her, wanting to be beautiful.

She thought of where she found him, and she took a hesitant step forward. "Do you mean... like wearing makeup? Or dresses?"

He shook his head against Pinkie's chest. "...No. Not just that."

Rarity felt a shudder over her body. Of course it wasn't so simple.

"Still," Rarity said. "Would that be an acceptable place to start?"

Spike pulled his head from Pinkie's chest with wide eyes, looking up at her in shock.

She smiled down at Spike, struggling to keep her eyes from getting as wet as his. "All the resources of Carousel Boutique are at your disposal."

He blushed and hung his head, but his cheeks were spread by a grin, and he nodded.

"Yeah. I'd like that."

BSB Comments:

[thirtyminuteponies]

Prompt #385: "That Is Not a Memory" by Versulia

Twilight Sparkle was in darkness. Hooves grounded and sturdy, and horn glowing furiously. Sweat fell from her head and her eyes were narrowed ferociously.

That didn't feel like a memory Twilight Sparkle-- more like a floating image in her head that didn't want to go away.

That was all. No indication of spell cast, no reason why she cast the spell-- and not even the slightest bit of setting. Just Twilight Sparkle and the spell she was about to cast.

That was all.

She sighed and a hoof to her head. "I don't forget things like that," she said to herself, "it's too important to forget."

Closing her eyes, she tried to focus. Underneath her eyelids, the memory reappeared but remained as a static image, like a painting.

Twilight Sparkle experienced a memory like that once. While lulling an Ursa Minor to sleep, she recalled performing the same actions as the static memory. But even that was different; her memory with the Ursa Minor felt like a memory. She felt tension and worry when she recalled it. Ponyville appeared before and so did the ground beneath Twilight Sparkle. The spell she had to cast in the memory was clear and distinct-- a spell designed to manipulate the sound of wind into a lullaby. Even now she felt the force of the spell tap into her source of magic.

But not that memory. To Twilight Sparkle, it felt as if somepony had thrown her into a dark prison with nothing-- not even a floor. If she could at least remember the spell she used in the memory, she could simply trace the events in the memory based on the use of her spell.

Twilight Sparkle's eyes clamped tighter. Her calm expression twisted into a snarl. After a long while she opened her eyes and scowled. Twilight Sparkle looked to her horn. Casting a levitation spell on a nearby book, she saw her horn glow.

That memory could have been her lifting something heavy in the darkness, for all she knew. The simplest of spells could be amplified to great strengths like the one in that memory. Twilight Sparkle sighed and stopped her spell, causing the book to fall.

"Just what was  I doing?" she asked.

She rubbed her head anxiously. The pressure made her head sting.

"Think, think, think, think! Something this important shouldn't have been forgotten!"

She closed her eyes again. That memory was unchanged-- a still image. That was all.

"There has to be a spell for this," she mumbled desperately, "just to trace it-- just to help me remember something important."

She cast a spell on a shelf of books. In an instant, Twilight Sparkle was surrounded in a sphere of books, their pages wide open and flipping rapidly. She studied the books, then pointed her horn at one. All the other books fell as one book floated closer to her.

Her hoof ran down the book. A wide smile grew on her face.

"Okay," she said while she held down a laugh, "just a simple tracing spell and all of this will be over. That's all."

Twilight Sparkle closed her eyes. That still memory appeared again. She cast the spell.

A force pulled at Twilight Sparkle's body. For a moment she felt her body arch lower and her horn flare violently. Her face twisted with anger, like in that memory.

But like the memory, she saw nothing. And just like that memory, her body was frozen in place.

A force threw her out of that memory. She rubbed her head and took the book she used.

"No, no, no!" she said quickly, "I can't have forgotten something like this. What if it's important-- like a spell to stop an evil pony? I need to remember more."

Twilight Sparkle slammed the book shut. Again she closed her eyes, recalled that still memory and cast the spell.

A force launched Twilight Sparkle into that bent position. Again she felt that reservoir of magic flare and ready to burst.

But again she saw nothing-- did nothing. That was all.

A force thrust Twilight Sparkle out of that memory. She roared, threw her eyelids down, and recalled that memory. She cast the memory spell.

For the third time, a force threw Twilight Sparkle into that frozen position surrounded by nothingness. And for the third time that memory was just an image to Twilight Sparkle.

That was all.

  BSB Comments:

[thirtyminuteponies]

Prompt #385: "A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words"

The Prompt: Write a story that explains the circumstances surrounding one or more of the pictures used in the prompt posts for today (Image 1, Image 2, and the one above.).

Special Rule: The stories may not be related to the circumstances from which the pictures have been lifted; they must be obviously of your own design.

This is a thirty-minute writing prompt; you have thirty minutes (not including time spent thinking and planning) in which to write a story inspired by today’s prompt. You have six hours from the start of this prompt to submit your stories; submissions will be closed at 9:00pm Pacific, 12:00am Eastern, and 4:00am GMT. If you don’t happen to have a Tumblr account, you can submit your story by emailing it (in the body of the email, not as an attachment) to [email protected]; do not submit using Tumblr’s email submission system, as it tends to deliver us only the titles of the stories submitted using it.