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Hearth's Warming Care Package · FiM Short Story ·
Organised by PonIver
Word limit 1000–15000

Hearth's Warming Care Package

This is a special event that looks for a story that can be illustrated, printed, and sent to Kiki—a seven-year-old diagnosed with brain cancer—alongside a package full of holiday cards, toys, and wishes for her speedy recovery.

Prizes

  • 1ˢᵗ place will have their story illustrated, printed and sent to Kiki, and will receive a 14" commissioned pony of choice (courtesy of createdwithlove).
  • 2ⁿᵈ and 3ʳᵈ place will receive commissioned cover art of choice, as well as a shirt of choice from welovefine.
  • All entries will be included in a bound anthology that will be sent with the care package to Kiki and her family.

See the press release for more details.

Show rules for this event
Born to Scoot
Scootaloo barreled down the streets of Ponyville on her scooter. If she could pull this off, this was going to be her most epic trick yet. She just had to believe in herself. Sweat streamed down the little pony’s forehead as she closed in on the ramp she had set up at the end of the road. The next thing she knew, Scootaloo was rocketing off the ramp like a bullet.

The orange pegasus filly flapped furiously as she tried to fly, but it was no use. She fell to the ground with a cartoon-like “thud.” Her eyeballs spun as she tried to regain her composure.

Flying overhead, Rainbow Dash noticed our hero, upset and annoyed, below. Rainbow quickly dashed down to see what was wrong.

“You okay, Squirt?” asked Rainbow.

Scootaloo looked up at her idol with tears in her eyes. “I just don’t get it! Why can’t I fly?!? Even Pound Cake can fly, and he’s just a baby!”

“Hey, don’t sweat it, Squirt! Every Pegasus learns to fly sooner or later.”

Scootaloo buried her face in her hooves. “That doesn’t really make me feel any better.”

Rainbow Dash sighed. She couldn’t stand to see her biggest fan like this. She knew she had to help her. “You know what? I’m going to teach you!”

Scootaloo immediately hopped to her hooves. “You will?!”

Rainbow flashed a wide grin with her usual confidence. “Sure! With my coaching skills, you’ll learn to fly like nopony—other than me, of course—has ever flown before!”




Before long Scootaloo was standing at the top of a cliff. Peering over the edge, her stomach flip-flopped all over the place, partially because she was nervous, and partially because the idea of jumping off a cliff wasn’t exactly thrilling to her.

“Are you sure this is going to work?” Scoot gulped, as she turned to Rainbow Dash, standing just a few feet behind her.

“Trust me. Nothing helps a pegasus get her wings going like heart-stopping danger!” Rainbow said, without a hint of doubt.

Scootaloo took a deep breath as she turned back around. It was time for her to fly! “Alright, let’s do this!”

Without any warning, Rainbow ran up and bucked Scootaloo right off the edge of the cliff.

“AAAAHHHHHH!!!!”

The little filly instantly plummeted straight down like a rock, thumping against the ground at the bottom. Thankfully, Rainbow Dash had anticipated this possibility, so she picked a cliff that was only a few feet tall.

“I don’t think that worked,” said Scoot as she staggered to her feet.

“O-kay, Plan B!” said Rainbow Dash.




The two ponies decided to try a different approach at the Ponyville Playground. Scootaloo stood on one end of a teeter-totter as Rainbow positioned herself near the other end.

“Alright,” said Rainbow, still failing to lose even an ounce of assurance, “if we can launch you into the air fast enough, then maybe it’ll jumpstart your wings!”

Scoot didn’t have a lot of faith in this plan, but she trusted her hero. “Alright!”

Rainbow flew high up into the air, then bolted straight down and slammed into her end of the teeter-totter with full force, hurling Scootaloo skyward like a pony being hurled skyward.

“AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!” screamed Scoot.

Rainbow watched her pupil with an ironic sense of pride. “Looking good, Squirt! Now just—uh oh…”

Faster than anypony could have predicted, Scootaloo came falling right back down and crash-landed, colliding with her flying instructor, and knocking them both to the ground.

“Hmmm…maybe we needed a little more force on the launch.” Rainbow pondered in her slightly-dazed state.

Unfortunately, it was at this moment that Diamond Tiara drove by on her brand new, electric scooter. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t the flightless bird!”

Scootaloo barely had time to open her mouth to speak before Rainbow Dash got up and accidentally dropped her onto the ground.

“Hey!” said Rainbow as she charged right up to Diamond Tiara. “Leave her alone! She—“ Rainbow Dash paused when she noticed Diamond Tiara’s scooter. “Hey, is that the Sonic Speed Scooter 7000?!”

Diamond Tiara’s expression of slight fear turned to a smug smile. “Why, yes, it is. My daddy got it for me for my birthday!”

Rainbow Dash was in awe. “Cool!” Then she looked over her shoulder to see Scootaloo lying on the ground, clearly upset. She turned back to Diamond Tiara. “I mean, go take your amazing scooter and your bullying attitude somewhere else!”

Diamond Tiara frowned. “Hmph! Fine!” And with that, she drove off in a huff.

Rainbow flew back over to comfort Scoot. Don’t listen to her. Come on, I have another idea!”




Before anypony could say, “Time to shoot a filly out of a party cannon,” Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo were in the middle of an open field with Ponyville’s pinkest and perkiest party pony.

“I sure hope you know what you’re doing, Pinkie Pie…” Scoot said as she climbed into Pinkie’s party cannon.

“Don’t worry, Scootaloo!” Pinkie Pie assured her, as she leaned back on the cannon. “I’m a professional!”

At that moment, the back of the cannon fell open, and a random assortment of balloons, streamers and presents fell out.

“Oopsy! I’ll get that,” Pinkie Pie said as she stuffed the stuff back into the party cannon and closed it up.

“This thing is sure to give you the boost we need to get you flying!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash.

Scootaloo’s faith in Rainbow Dash was all but gone. “Well, if you say so.”

“That’s the spirit! Don’t forget your helmet!” Pinkie thrust a party hat onto Scootaloo’s head before running behind the party cannon. “FIRE!!!!!”

Pinkie pressed the big, red button and Scootaloo blasted into the air in an explosion of confetti and streamers.

“AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!”




On her way up, Scootaloo collided with a grey, wall-eyed pegasus. The other Pegasus was sent spiraling out of control, but Scootaloo kept going.

“AAAAHHHHHH!!!” Scoot continued screaming.




Meanwhile, up in Cloudsdale, two construction ponies had just finished building an entire cloud mansion.

“Phew,” said one of the workers as he wiped his brow. “We’re finally done!”

Seconds later, our friendly neighborhood Scootaloo came rocketing up through the mansion, still screaming like a maniac. She halted a moment in midair, and then fell right back down through the clouds. The entire house collapsed into a heap of fluff.

“You ever think maybe we should stop making buildings out of cloud?” asked the other worker pony.




To conclude her comical crash course, Scootaloo landed face-first on the ground in front of Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. On the bright side, she finally stopped screaming.

Pinkie Pie hopped up and down with glee. “Woohoo! That was amazingly super-fantastic! Let’s do it again!”

Scootaloo got to her feet and spit out a piece of cloud. “Ugghh…I give up.”

Rainbow placed a comforting hoof on Scoot’s shoulder. “Hey, don’t be like that! I’ve still got loads of ideas to get you flying! Maybe if we just had a jet engine—“ At this point, Scootaloo abruptly pulled away.

“No, Rainbow Dash! Don’t you get it?!” Scootaloo had tears pouring down her face. “I just can’t fly, and I’ll never be able to!”

Rainbow Dash barely knew what to say. “But, Squirt—“

Scootaloo just walked away, feeling defeated.

“Awww…” said Pinkie. “I’ve never seen my party cannon make anypony so upset before.”




Over at the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ Clubhouse, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were trying to cheer up Scoot.

“Cheer up, Scootaloo,” coaxed Sweetie Belle. “We can’t stand seeing you like this!”

“Yeah,” drawled Applebloom, “you can’t just give up on learning to fly!”

Scootaloo pouted. “Sure I can. Just watch me.” Then she marched out the door, slamming it behind her.

“We have to find some way to cheer her up!” said Sweetie Belle.

“I know,” said Applebloom. “But how?”

The two little ponies took a moment to think. “Hmmmm…”

After only a few seconds, inspiration struck Applebloom like an apple on the head. “I know! What if we pranked Diamond Tiara? That might cheer her up!”

Sweetie Belle liked this idea. “Yeah! If pranking the pony who constantly causes us pain doesn’t cheer up Scootaloo, I don’t know what will!”

“Well come on, then! Let’s go give Diamond Tiara what’s coming to her!”




Sadly, this plan quickly resulted in Applebloom and Sweetie Belle sitting back-to-back, in the middle of their school’s schoolyard, tied up with a jump rope.

“Maybe this wasn’t such a great idea after all,” said Sweetie Belle.

“You think?” mocked Applebloom.

“I can’t believe you two tried to spray paint my brand new scooter!” screamed a furious Diamond Tiara as she hugged her Sonic Speed Scooter 7000.

“We’re sorry, Diamond Tiara. We were just trying to cheer up Scootaloo,” said Applebloom. “Besides, the paint would have washed off!”

Diamond Tiara’s expression changed from angry to wicked. “Well, now you’re going to pay for trying to ruin my new ride. You don’t even want to know what I’m going to put you through!”

Thankfully, before Applebloom and Sweetie Belle could find out, the voice of a familiar friend came to their rescue. “Hey!”

All three little fillies turned to see Scoot standing a short distance away.

“Leave them alone!” she cried.

Diamond Tiara just laughed. “Or what? You’ll try to fly and fall on me?”

Unfazed by her really lousy comeback, Scootaloo strutted up to the bully of a pony and looked her in the eye. “Diamond Tiara, I challenge you to a scooter race! If I win, you have to let my friends go!”

Diamond Tiara was intrigued. “And if I win?”

Scoot sighed. “Then you can have myscooter in exchange for their freedom.”

“Scootaloo, are you out of your mind?!” Applebloom gasped.

“Yeah,” agreed Sweetie Belle. “The Sonic Speed Scooter 7000 is the fastest electric scooter ever!”

Scootaloo grinned. “Don’t worry, guys, I can beat her.”




Everypony gathered in Ponyville Square to see the big scooter race. Rainbow Dash stood next to Scootaloo at the starting line, giving her a last-minute pep talk.

“Don’t worry, I’ve seen you on your scooter before. You’re going to kick her butt!”

Scootaloo just gulped. “I sure hope so.”

Rainbow stepped off to the side as Scoot and Diamond Tiara exchanged a few glares. Then she shouted, “Alright. Ready, set, annnnddd…GO!”

Scootaloo and Diamond Tiara both shot over the starting line so fast that they looked like colorful blurs. They dodged around everything from haystacks to fine pottery as they raced for the finish. On the home stretch, they were neck and neck. Sweat poured down her forehead and stung her eyes.

Meanwhile, Diamond Tiara was so relaxed that she actually yawned. “Getting tired yet, Shrimp? Not so easy when you have to use your hooves to power your scooter, is it?”

Of course, if Diamond Tiara had been paying attention, she would have noticed that Scootaloo wasn’t using her hooves. She was using her wings. In fact, that snide comment was all the motivation Scootaloo needed to flap her wings at such a furiously fast speed that they became a blur. In the blink of an eye, Scootaloo sped ahead and crossed the finish line.

Pinkie Pie rushed to Scoot’s side and held her hoof in the air. “The winner is…Scootaloo! Woohoo!”

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, still tied up near the finish line, cheered for their friend.

“That was amazing, Scootaloo!” Applebloom shouted excitedly.

Sweetie Belle nodded. “Yeah! Umm…do you think you could untie us now?”

Rainbow Dash flew down beside Scootaloo. “I couldn’t have done better myself, Squirt. You’ve got some moves!”

Scoot blushed.

Suddenly, Applebloom gasped. “Scootaloo, look! Your flank!”

Scootaloo quickly whipped her head around and stared, mouth agape, at the picture of her scooter that was now etched on her flank. “Is that—?!?”

“Your cutie mark!” squealed Sweetie Belle.

Before the three friends could celebrate, Diamond Tiara finally crossed the finish line. She hopped off her scooter and marched up to Scootaloo with unbridled rage. “No fair! This is impossible! How could you possibly have gone faster than me on my Sonic Speed Scooter 7000?!?!”

Scoot turned her back to Diamond Tiara and looked over her shoulder with a smile. “We never agreed on a rule against wings.” Scootaloo fluttered her wings proudly.

Diamond Tiara was dumbfounded. “But—but I—but you—but—GRRRRR!!!!!” She climbed back onto her scooter and drove off.

“Seriously, though,” said Sweetie Belle, “can somepony untie us already?”




Dear Princess Celestia,

It’s always bothered me that I can’t seem to get the hang of flying. I always thought it made me less of a pegasus. Today I realized that just because I’m different, doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with me. In fact, I learned that sometimes what may seem like our biggest weaknesses can actually help us build our greatest strengths.

Your loyal subject,

-Scootaloo
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