Kimono's Wish

As a child, I grew up with My Little Pony Comics, which had some amazing ways of introducing new Ponies. Inspired by this & a few other things, including the G3-sized Disney Princess costumes, I wrote this story below:

KIMONO’S WISH

In my Ponyworld, the Ponies love dressing up in costumes. They may not need clothing, except in the depths of winter, but they enjoy the chance to pretend to be somepony else. It can often help their creative juices flow in a great number of ways. So it was with Kimono. She was becoming very frustrated with everything going on. Millie’s work was taking up a lot of her time, & her assistance in Kimono’s web-comic had been invaluable! But now Kimono had run out of ideas for her popular feature, normally a page published weekly in the Hoofprint. She had writer’s block, & she despised it! It seemed nothing new was happening which amused her enough or caught her attention. These days she hung out at Connie’s cafe, sipping black teas there while her brother, Butler, waited on her & listened to her woes. “Try dressing up,” he’d suggest to her regularly. But nothing about the frills of the other Ponies’ fancy attire stuck out to her. She wanted something simple, something easy to move in, something subtle & bright & modest &… the Jasmine outfit! She loved Eastern culture, & Jasmine was a very big part of that. Many Ponies felt like dressing in Princess attire gave them powers. Belle’s costume gave them focus & concentration, while Ariel’s gifted its wearer with kindness & curiosity. Aurora’s helped a Pony rest & relax more, while Cinderella’s helped them make light of drudge-work. Snow White’s allowed them to be gracious hosts, & many of Butler’s work colleagues wore it before heading to work for that very reason. Tinkerbell’s costume eased their worries, & Jasmine’s exotic attire granted its wearer with vivid imagination, which was exactly what Kimono needed! It was said in the Human world, Jasmine herself was the creation of another princess called Scheherazade, who had to tell stories to her future husband to keep him from falling victim to a horrific curse which caused him to kill every lover he tried to bed. So finally, after yet another wasted day sat at Connie’s, Kimono visited the Sweet Reflections Dress Shop to hire the Jasmine Costume.
“Do you want the lamp?” Daisy Dancer asked her as she looked out the costume.
The lamp! The lamp which in the story could grant any wish! Why not, Kimono thought. Anything had to be better than what she was enduring now! “Yeah, go for it,” she replied, shrugging. It was worth a try!
Kimono returned home to her laptop, & put the costume on while it was powering up. Once fully dressed in it, she took the lamp in her forehooves, held it, & stated full of conviction: “I wish I could be inspired to write a story!” Nothing happened. Frizz it! Why did nothing happen? There was no time to go any further though; her friend Cherry Blossom was knocking on the door. Kimono put the lamp down, frustrated as she went to get the door, not noticing the lamp beginning to glow with a blueish light.
“The Jasmine costume? Really?” Cherry Blossom, who had often worked with Kimono on her productions, asked her. Had it really got this bad she was turning to Disney princess costumes to inspire her?
“Lamp too,” Kimono admitted as she showed her friend in & put on her kettle for their black China tea.
“You know,” Cherry Blossom informed her friend, “I’ve seen that pantomime many times, & watched the DVD with my little sisters. You do know in the story the lamp needs to be rubbed for it to work?”
“RUBBED!” Kimono rushed to grab the lamp. Rubbed rumpmarks, that was it! She grabbed a tea-towel in her other forehoof, placed it on the lamp, stated once more: “I wish I could be inspired to write a story!” & rubbed the lamp. Its faint blueish glow intensified as she rubbed, until a strange mist surrounded her & Cherry Blossom, staring at it. When at last the mist cleared, standing in front of them was a Pony. A glittery G1-aged unicorn with a white coat & bright blue tinselled hair blinked, looked around & realised what had happened.
“My name is Genie,” she told the confused Ponies, “& you’d better get that kettle!”
“Oops!” Kimono rushed to the kettle, which was now boiling, & poured its water into the special teapot she had, adding leaves of tea to the water to infuse & steep, before replacing its lid & wrapping it in her tea-cosy.
“Much better,” Genie smiled as Kimono rushed back. “Now, I can grant you three wishes for freeing me from the lamp, but then I have to go back inside & wait another thousand years.”
“No!” Cherry Blossom cried. She’d heard of Ponies struggling in their plastic bubbles, desperate to be broken out, & that was traumatic enough, let alone being stuck in a lamp for a thousand years!
“My first wish,” Kimono said, “is for myself. I wish I could be inspired to write a story! My second is for Ponyworld. I wish for all the Ponies to be free of that school & arrive here. My last wish, however, is for you. I wish you never had to be trapped in that lamp ever again & could instead live with us in Ponyworld. The Horn Society would be all too happy to welcome such a powerful unicorn as you!”
Genie stared at Kimono! What? Nobody in all the millions of years the lamp had existed for had ever wished for her freedom before! She didn’t know what to say: she was that dumbfounded.
Cherry Blossom was not dumbfounded though; she simply saw the wishes working as Kimono’s mind gained a new light, streaks of light raced all over Clopton & beyond, & the lamp finally stopped glowing, now just a prop, as a new, silver lamp appeared next to it, glowing with its own light. She picked up this smaller lamp, which formed a chain to wind round Genie’s neck, allowing her to walk freely & grant any wishes which were deep in the hearts of Ponies. She hugged the Pony as she tied the chain round her neck. “Welcome to Ponyworld, Genie!” she greeted her with joy.
“It’s always good to welcome new Ponies,” Kimono smiled, planning to write all about her experience as she poured tea for her two guests. “Sugar?”

I hope you like it!