Rainbow Dash challenged Discord to a "prank-off." The victor would become the inaugural Equestrian Heavyweight Prankster Champion, and Ponyville would be the de facto ring.
Thanks to a prank-off ruling forbidding even alicorns from stopping prank-offs from being declared and a consequences clause giving them protection (both to Princess Twilight's extreme dismay), Rainbow "Odds-beater" Dash and Discord "The Stone" were set to go all-out for the championship. Even bringing in the ultimate boom-or-bust factor was fair game...
The idea of Discord and Rainbow having a prank war was suggested by the informational dude as a special story I wrote celebrating my 4-year anniversary of writing on Fimfiction or writing period for that matter...
Chapters (3)
Ho boy, welp I'm off to my cabin in the woods. See ya when the dust settles, if there is anything left of ponyville that is, there should ba a property damage clause added if twilight can't ban the prank off.
Hey look, multiple chapters! That's cool, I expect this to be a one-shot. Oh well, not that I mind. I like to have a bit on my plate at times.
I have no idea how RD is going to top Discord's pranks, especially without help.
Rainbow is not going to win this. That is obvious.
So we don't have to worry about an unexpected contender popping up, right?
11450960 From the dark and dismal toxic waste fens of central New Jersey, deep within the gnarled and withered Pine Barrens... an entity stirs!
The Dark One RISES from the mire! "FOR 10,000 YEARS I LAY DORMANT! WHO HAS DISTURBED MY SLUMB- oooooooo! A prank championship! I am SOOOOOOO there!" And so, the horrifying LORD ALONDRO, THE DEUS EX SELF-INSERT tore open the barriers between the worlds and EMERGED in this story!
"And now, I shall replace the cherries in these chocolates with 6-month old mayonaise! MUWAH HA HA-"
"SIMPSONS DID IT!!" shouted Twist. "Also South Park."
"No... noooo, that can't be!" cried Alondro in mounting despair. "THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!!"
"Search your Internet history!" Twist declared in her deep base voice. "You know it to be a meme!"
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, NOOOOOOOOOO!!!" screamed Alondro, falling to the ground in anguish.
Discord and Dash share popcorn, "This is a good movie!"
And then Rainbow and Discord's prank-off destroyed Equestria. The end.
11451318
Perfect ending
11450591
Heading to the woods until the prank-off is over is probably the smartest thing somepony in Equestria could do, and hopefully Ponyville will still be here to come back to
11450849
It was originally planned to be a one-shot story, but it ended up being long enough and structured in a way that I could just divide it into three chapters. And safe to say this is not going to be an easy battle for ol' Rainbow, help or no help.
11450960
It may or may not be spoiler spoiler spoiler.
11451214
Well, that would be an "interesting" turn of events if it happens.
11451318
11451522
If Equestria gets destroyed during the prank-off, at the very least Twilight wouldn't have to worry about banning future ones
11451613
Oh that's true. Gotta think about the positives
Uh oh, not starry. Thats it, I'm leaving the country! I'll be in the dragon lands for the foreseeable future. Goodbye Equestria, it was nice knowing you.
I really hope Discord and Rainbow Dash suffer some consequences for this prank war because they usually wouldn't in canon.
11456124 Alondro grins and steeples his fingers, cackling all Palpatine-ish and stuff.
Welp, Starie's going to be able to do some MUCH more serious damage, that's for sure.
11456124
Discord from the past cackles evilly. "Now all I have to do is wait..."
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11456926
Safe to say things might go big the chapter 3 now that Starlight's stepping into the ring, even if it looks like even she knows she should stay out of it.
11456117
Can't say if they will, but they would have to do something that voids the consequences clause for that.
11456124
Either a retard, a trickster/somepony that loves pranks too much, or both. Probably both.
11457984
It can't be Discord. No way Celestia and Luna would've agreed to them. So I say it's one of them. Will probably never know.
I have the BESTEST prank! Turn all the ponies into a steaks and unleash a swarm of lions on them!
Everypony:
No no, you see, they'll be IMMORTAL steaks! So even if they get TORN APART AND DEVOURED FOREVER, they'll never ever EVER die! THEY CAN SUFFER UNIMAGINABLE AGONY and still live! Isn't that BRILLIANT?
Everypony:
Discord, "HEY! Aren't YOU the one always bashing my sadistic grimdark versions?! You hypocrite!"
Oh, it's ok as long as nopony dies! 1 trillion years of torment? A-OK!! Death? BAD!
Discord hmms, stroking his goatee, "So THAT'S the trick to this... I have some ideas..."
(And so, the worst Crapsack Pony World fanfics of all time began to self-write...)
Now I wanna know what the hay happened here. They both had it coming obviously.
It seems that in order for this to be a true prank off anyone should be allowed to participate.
Which would include retaliatory pranks.
The rules in this instance seem awfully contrived, not going to lie.
The crush is still alive.
Also, hooray for ponkey poon winning the championship!
Incidentally this story is cute and fluffy, so I'll upvote despite some really shifty legal rules.
11462920
Not gonna show it anytime soon, sorry to say. It could be revealed in a sequel if I ever get an idea for & chose to write one.
11463002
Others joining the prank-off was allowable, but most ponies in Ponyville didn't want to. They just wanted it to be over with ASAP. They also didn't want to make themselves an even bigger target if they had joined just to prank Discord and Rainbow back, since they could have taken it as a challenge and started going after the new challengers specifically with more pranks, thus defeating the purpose of a retaliatory prank. it could be one of those times where fighting back actually makes things worse than if you just be patient and weather things out.
Also, glad you enjoyed the story, shady rules or not!
Pinkie has a habit of winning things she never participated in. She's just that unpredictable.
Starlight, whatever you’re thinking… DON’T!
This occurs to me, but why did Starlight even help Rainbow Dash. She’s impulsive, not stupid. If she didn’t help, the prank-off would have ended quicker than it did and Ponyville wouldn’t be covered in paint.
11463341
And a little lucky this time.
11464041
Starlight said it herself: because Rainbow begged her to, and since Rainbow was also assuring her things wouldn't be that bad, it added just enough to make her relent and help her. Starlight may not be "stupid", but she does, especially at this point of the timeline, seem like the type that would do stupid things if she's pressured. Though it just makes her more flawed and even more interesting IMO since it makes her more unpredictable, even if the unpredictability is still there somewhat in seasons 8 & 9. It also didn't help that while covering Ponyville with paint was a pain, given the stuff Starlight can do with her magic, it was probably something she could have fixed herself, given the spell she cast wouldn't backfire.
I do doubt seasons 8 or 9 Starlight would have helped, which was a reason I chose to place this story not long after the "Every Little Thing She Does" episode where she was still very insecure and somewhat immature.
11464084
Is this after Season 6 though?
11464149
It's very early season 7, so some of the things she learned in season 6 were beginning to sink in, but it hasn't yet "stuck" if you know what I mean.
11464657
So before A Royal Problem. Got it.
This really feels like it should have been a Season 4 episode, with Discord learning to be friends with ponies, and goofing up in silly ways like this.
11472718
Save for Starlight being in it and Flutterhulk's actions, this really does seem like it could fit pretty well as an actual episode 4 episode.