//------------------------------//
// LP77: Prank/Counterprank [Slice of Life] 
// Story: Half Hour Horses: Legacy Prompts 
// by HoofAndQuill 
//------------------------------//



The Prompt:

Pranks for Everything



It was another quiet, peaceful day in Princess Twilight Sparkle's castle.  She sat idly reading through a book she was fairly certain she'd already been through twice, as the birds twittered pleasantly outside and warm breeze filtered through the windows.

It was nice, in a way.  Quiet and peaceful meant that nopony was hurting or in trouble, but it was also a bit boring.  Which is why the sound of galloping hooves (and the pat-pat of baby dragon feet) was both a welcome distraction and a bit of a concern.

"Twilight!  Twiliiight!"  Spike's voice called out loudly.

Rainbow Dash's voice followed after.  "Hey, Twilight!  You're in here, right?"

Twilight set a bookmark in her book, and then stood before calling out to them.  "I'm in here.  What do you two need?"

Spike burst through the door, running as fast as his little legs could carry him, with a scroll clenched in one hand.  "Twilight!  I got this letter from Princess Celestia yesterday, but-"

"But he forgot to bring it to you until now!"  Rainbow Dash came soaring in after him, up in the air like usual.

"What?  Spike!  You know better than to hide letters from the Princess!"  Twilight took the letter in her magic, while Spike's face fell.  She glanced over the royal crest, but then broke the wax seal and unrolled the scroll.

Rainbow grinned, and held out a hoof to Spike.  Spike just glanced aside, nervously.

Twilight's eyes moved left to right as she read.  "My dearest Twilight, an urgent matter has come up in Canterlot, and I need you to come alone to my chambers, as quickly as possible."

Twilight paused, before continuing.  "My royal guard will not be expecting you, but you must come immediately.  -Princess Celestia."

She turned the scroll over, and then back again, frowning.  ".... That's all it says."

Spike held his tail in his hands and fidgeted a little with the spines.  "Sorry I didn't give it to you earlier, Twilight, I.. uh, forgot?"

"It sounds pretty bad, Twilight.  I mean, you know, Princess Celestia asking you to go all the way to Canterlot."  Rainbow tried to look serious and worried.

"That's... true."  Twilight spoke, half-distracted.  "But why alone?  Why wouldn't' she tell her guards?  It's like she doesn't want anypony to know I'm coming."

Rainbow nodded again.  "Yeah, sounds serious, right?"

Twilight nodded and scanned over the short text again.  "And the writing... it's not quite like her.  Hm."

A few moments passed, and then Twilight set the letter down, and spoke as if coming to a sudden decision.  "A changeling.  Princess Celestia is being impersonated by a changeling!"

Rainbow's eyes went wide.  "What?  No, I uh, I mean, that's kind of..."  She rubbed the back of her neck.  "Not likely?"

"Yeah, come on, Twilight.  No changeling could replace Princess Celestia!"  Spike squeezed his tail nervously.

Twilight shook her head, starting to pace back and forth in an unpleasantly familiar way.  "No, it's the only thing that makes sense.  Why else would she want me to come alone, when a real crisis would need all my friends?  Why wouldn't she tell the guards?  This way she could replace me and nopony would even suspect anything!"

"Uh..."

"Nope!  I know what to do.  I'll just have to teleport right there, and show that impostor who's boss!"  Twilight's horn glowed brightly, and before anypony could react, she disappeared in a flash of purple magic.

"No wait!"  Rainbow leaped forward through the air, but too late.  "Wow, she's really going to go blast... we've gotta go, Spike!"

"But wait!"  Spike started, before Rainbow scooped him up in her forelegs and darted out of the room in a rainbow-colored trail.

Twilight waited until they were out of sight before giggling quietly to herself.  The invisibility spell had worked perfectly, even if Spike might have learned enough about magic over his lifetime to recognize that she hadn't really teleported.  Twilight glanced over the letter from Princess Celestia again.  It was plainly Spike's handwriting, and he'd even misspelled 'immediately'.  Of course, knowing Rainbow Dash, they'd be halfway to Canterlot before he could manage to get a word in.

She settled down to her book again, still invisible.  A little excitement could be fun on a boring day, after all.