//------------------------------// // I didn't mean to... // Story: It's just a Prank... // by Inactive Pone //------------------------------// "*sigh* I messed it all up..." Rainbow Dash sighed, sitting on the couch in Twilight's castle library, as her friend was casually reading books on her comfy armchair. Twilight, out of curiosity by her words as she didn't speak for a good 5 minutes upon her entry to the room with a blue face, closed her book and turned to her. "What's the matter?" She said as she sat next to Rainbow. Dash sighed. "I... I may or may not have pranked somepony... Again." Twilight let out a groan of annoyance. "Seriously? I thought you learned your lesson!" Rainbow's frown got just a little wider from her words. There was literally no one else to blame this time, and she really did mess up big time. "I'm not mad at you, Rainbow, if that's what you're thinking," Twilight comforted, noticing her frown and pulling her close with a wing. "No, you may if you wish to be," She replied, nudging the purple wing on her back to move it away. "I deserve it." "Why?" Rainbow turned her head to a side, sniffing and wiping a tear from her eye before turning to Twilight again. "Well... You know how human technology has been a very new thing for us, Twi?" She asked, her friend nodded. "I... I just couldn't resist. The mischievous side of me just... Took over again. I wanted to experiment with it and see who I can prank with the new knowledge we have." Twilight tapped her chin with a hoof. "Mhmm... Carry on..." That made Rainbow feel uneasy. "Wait. Promise me you won't tell anypony about what I'm gonna say?" "Pinkie promise," Twilight replied with a grin. "Good. Moving on," She began, "I secretly stole our friend Nathan's new invention to execute the prank. You know, the thing that allows us to recreate things from video games or images on the internet?" "Uh-huh, so...?" "So... I went to prank Fluttershy and-" "Fluttershy!?" Twilight yelled. "You know she's always scared of scary things! Why would you do that to your best friend!?" Rainbow stuffed her mouth with a hoof, and sighed. "Do you want me to just explain?" Twilight nodded after her mouth was uncovered. ******* It was around half-past ten at night. Fluttershy usually goes to sleep in her cottage early, but tonight she was a little more busy taking care of animals, so she went to bed a little late. She just got up to her room after taking a pleasant shower and was ready for rest. "Phew," She said to herself, yawning. "I've been doing a lot lately and I get tired easily... Better go to sleep." She snuggled into her bed and put the blankets over her, but as soon as she snuggled herself into a good position, the lights went on and her pet bunny Angel rushed in, holding Fluttershy's phone. "What's the matter, sweetie?" She asked, worried. Angel jumped onto the bed to let her see the text messages. She got a shocking text from her best friend, Rainbow Dash. "Fluttershy! You gotta come to the castle and help me! I've got a serious problem on my hooves right now!" She gasped and jumped out of the bed. "Oh, my goodness! Thanks for telling me, Angel, I'll be back soon!" She flew over quickly to the friendship castle, even though it was late and she needed rest. But of course, she wasn't one to sit by and do nothing when her best friend told her something so worrying. Most of the ponies have gone to sleep already at this point, sleeping soundly. Because of this, Fluttershy didn't want to make a sound while she walked through the halls. She brought a flashlight in her saddlebag just in case it was dark. "H-Hello?" Fluttershy squeaked, worried. "Dashie? You wanted to find me for something?" She continued walking on to the lounge. It was a relatively new room, since it was mostly comprised of things brought from the human world and they wanted to make a cool new play area. There were books, video games, places to sit and chat, and so on. "Is anypony there...?" She took out her flashlight and crept into the lounge. She saw that the couch had a small note. She picked it up with care, afraid it's a trap. "Turn around." The pony turned to the TV, to see a giant scary image of her, with crazy sharp teeth and with an evil grin. Fluttershy shrieked and dropped her tool, and started backing up as it faded. "What was that!?" She yelled. Suddenly, sounds roamed around the room. "Me Tattletail... Me love you..." Fluttershy bit her lip as a strange looking plushie appeared on the table. It was purple and it looked like some kind of a small bear. She knew what it was. "Oh no... Nathan told me about this game once..." Fluttershy cried. But a second later, she shook her head. "No! I won't surrender to my fears so easily! I must know how to conquer it!" She cautiously walked over to the plushie and poked it. Nothing happened. Fluttershy sighed in relief and took it, now in one of her hooves. Suddenly, some kind of music box played a familiar tune. She stopped dead in her tracks and started to tremble. "Isn't this... The puppet's theme?" She asked herself. Then she gasped, and felt the sweat trickling down her cheeks. "But that means..." Fluttershy slowly turned her head to a nearby closet, which was usually filled with cosplay clothes for whoever wanted to have fun in a cosplay party or something. But she knew- Something- Someone was behind the door. Trying to take a step forward while she breathed, she heard a loud bang on that very door. "*gasp* Who's there!?" She squeaked, dropping the plushie. She wanted to make a run for it, but as soon as she took one more step, a giant animatronic thing looking like that evil image bursted out the door and charged straight at her! Fluttershy had the loudest scream in months and ran away quickly, but the bot was right on her hoofsteps! She ran across the corridors again. She banged on Nathan's door. "Nathan! Are you in there!?" She cried, repeatedly banging on his room door, hoping he did stay for the night instead of going back to the human world. But there was no use- For he had put a sound barrier for everypony sleeping in the castle so they can sleep quietly. It's a new thing he came up with his magic. She went to bang on Twilight's door too- No response. And soon, the bot caught up. It chased all the way to the top floor, straight to the balcony. Fluttershy looked behind, and tried to flap her wings to fly away, but she was caught by the mechanical arms of the animatronic. Now she's backed into a corner, curling up into a ball. "Please! Please... Please don't hurt me!" She begged, crying. "I never did anything!" She covered her eyes with her hooves to not see the 'serial killer'. Her fur on her hooves got moist and wet from the tears. It was like a living nightmare. Just as it got close, laughter roared from behind. "Alright, that's enough, buddy!" "*gasp* Dashie?" Her eyes shot open and looked behind the robot, to see Rainbow Dash dying of laughter behind it, holding some kind of cubical gadget. She pushed a button and the animatronic was sucked inside. "*giggles* Gotcha, Flutters!" She giggled as she walked over. Fluttershy gasped- It was all a prank she had set up for her! Immediately, the mare's face scrunched up in rage. "You called me to come just to prank me, Dash!?" She yelled. Rainbow shrugged. "Oh, I just wanted to help Nathan test this gadget out. I can explain..." Fluttershy stomped the ground in anger. "Oh come on! We've been through this many times already!" She moaned. "And what is that thing anyway!?" A blush of embarrassment climbed up Dash's face. "Well... basically our friend Nathan has been trying to experiment this with a lot of games and he asked me to carry out another test on a horror game, so..." But she couldn't finish her words- For her friend let out another annoyed moan and pushed her face against her's. "Oh, sure!" She said sarcastically. "You are just finding an excuse to prank me! That's what you're doing! You think that's funny, pranking your best friend of your life? Have you ever thought about how I would feel when I saw that? It was terrifying! Why would you do that?" Rainbow started backing up as Fluttershy forced her to back up against a wall, her muzzle being squeezed by her friend's. She knew she took it too far. "It's just a harmless prank! I swear!" Dash confessed. That was enough. Fluttershy was already fed up with how her fillyhood friend treated her other friends with mischief in the past, and she knew with the revolutionary change in technology, it can only get worse. "That's it!" She yelled. "Stop with your excuses, we're done! Hmph!" With a fit of anger, Fluttershy turned around, slapping Rainbow in the face with her tail and flew away of the balcony. Rainbow Dash could only stand there- Stagnant, looking at what she has caused. "Well, if you want to be that way, then suit yourself!" She yelled back. But it took only a second for the prankster to take back what she just said- For she sighed and felt tears welling up in her eyes. As she observed that her friend was nowhere to be seen, she flew in the opposite direction back home. ******* "Gosh, Fluttershy must be really mad at you!" Twilight cried. Rainbow looked down. She didn't mean to hurt her feelings so badly. "I know," She sighed, her ears flopping down. "This is kinda the first time I really felt sorry for my pranks." Upon the words, Twilight put her face close to Rainbow's with a smirk. "Excuse me, Dash?" The blue mare didn't understand at first, but she figured it out a few moments later. "Okay, maybe not," She said. "But... Yeah, I'll admit. I'm sorry about it." Twilight pulled herself back into position and thought for a bit. "Perhaps you should really go make up with her, Dash. You don't want to see her continuously getting mad at you about it, right?" "Of course not, but..." "But...?" Twilight put a wing behind Rainbow and sat close to her. "Well, she's been my best friend since we were fillies. And... I never did anything this bad to harm her intentionally... I'm not sure if she'll forgive me, what if she doesn't? I don't want to spark another fight with her if we meet..." "Come on, Rainbow," Twilight encouraged. "You're confident at doing anything. That's what I love about you. You are so brave that... *chuckles* You even prank others without feeling guilty most of the time. Sure, it's bad, but... I'm so jealous on how courageous you are on trying anything." Rainbow thought for a moment. Her princess friend is indeed telling the truth- She never felt very guilty about any pranks that she did in the past, at least not often. On every adventure, she seldom hesitates when trying something different- And she succeeds. "You're right," She replied, smiling. Twilight giggled and patted her on the back with a wing. "That's more like it. Now, go make up with Fluttershy, will you?" "Mhmm, okay. But I'll wait for tonight. Yes, yes, it's still afternoon but I have a plan in mind." Dash responded. Upon hearing that she had a plan, Twilight was instantly intrigued to know. "Hmmm... Are you gonna go cuddle her at night or something...?" Dash blushed. "Oh, uh..." "*snickers* I ship it~" Twilight snickered. "Ugh, Twilight! Stop shipping everypony!" Rainbow jokingly shoved her. "You've been reading too much fan fiction recently, haven't you?" ******* That night, Rainbow Dash flew over to Fluttershy’s cottage early. She was out doing something, so she wasn’t home yet. Dash decided she’ll secretly hide somewhere in her room, not to scare her- but to surprise her. The thoughtful pony brought a present with her- just to say sorry. It was stored in a yellow-coloured heart gift box, with pink ribbons. It was a little big, around as tall as her hooves to her body when she sits down on the bed, which is where she placed the gift on. Then she went hiding behind the bedroom door, since she knows Fluttershy wouldn’t check and it was dark so she wouldn’t be easily noticeable. Around ten at night, she finally returned. She was planning to go to sleep once she finished her post-bedtime routine, when she spotted the present on her bed. “Huh? What’s this?” Fluttershy asked as she got up on her bed and sat on the greenish-blue blanket. She was going to open it, but she hesitated after what happened the previous day. “Oh, not this time, Dash!” She said, letting out a hmph. “I won’t fall for it this time!” But she noticed the note on the present- It was very neatly written and it looked very convincing. “My sweet Fluttershy, will you forgive me?” She thought for another second- Rainbow did already feel a bit guilty last night. And who would be so cruel to do the same prank twice in a row? Blushing, she opened the gift. And she gasped. “Awwww! That’s cute!” Inside, there was a letter and two plushies- One was Dash and one was Fluttershy, both hugging each other with a smile. She put the two plushies close to her heart and put it beside as she read the letter. “Dear Fluttershy, I don’t know if you’ll read this, but I hope you do. I’m so sorry for what happened yesterday. I really didn’t mean to hurt you so badly. I know, it’s bad, but not like this... I know you’ve been my best friend since we were fillies and I thought you’d got used to me doing these silly pranks on you by now. I know it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have done such a thing. I just wanted to apologize... But if you’re still mad, I understand. Will you forgive me? Please? Dashie <3” “O-oh...” Fluttershy cried, covering her mouth with a hoof and blushing. Rainbow Dash was right behind her, and she was trying so hard not to blow her cover as she heard Fluttershy starting talking to herself how regretful and sorry she was. Because she didn’t know that Dash was here, Fluttershy even started to remind herself about the huge crush she had on Rainbow. “*sniff* Oh, I wish I could take it back...” She cried, sniffing. “I yelled at her so angrily... Why would she forgive me so easily? Now she thinks I hate her... And she must be so sad... Oh, I...” Rainbow couldn’t wait any longer, and galloped over to cuddle her best friend from behind. “Because we’re friends, Flutters,” She said, smiling as she nuzzled against the fur on Fluttershy’s back. She gasped and turned. “Dashie!” She squeaked, giving her a big warm hug with her wings. “Oh, I’m so so sorry! Please don’t be mad... I didn’t mean to yell at you!” Rainbow kindly covered her mouth with a hoof, and giggled a bit. “Haha, of course I’m not.” “But... But I thought you said-“ “I didn’t mean it, Fluttershy,” She explained. “But the letter... I really do mean it. I’m really sorry about what I did to you last night. I just... I just couldn’t help causing mischief, that’s all.” Fluttershy rolled her eyes. “You’re such a jerk sometimes, Dash,” she cried. They both shared a giggle. “But... how does it actually work? I’m curious to know.” “Long story short, it’s a new gadget from our friend Nathan,” Rainbow briefly said. “I observed the results of his tests with it and... Well, let’s just say I didn’t use it for a good cause. I really didn’t expect it to be that realistic, to be honest. It was way more scary than I thought.” “Oh, now you know?” Fluttershy said, a little annoyed. Her face turned pink. “Yeah... When I was playing that game, I thought I could totally beat them up in real life. But when I saw how you reacted, I knew it must’ve been way too much for probably even me. I kinda replicated it without thinking of the consequences... So foolish of me.” “You really are,” Fluttershy commented, giving Rainbow a nudge. The two sat in silence for a couple more minutes, both fidgeting with their hooves and thinking about each other affectionately. Slowly, both of them turned their backs and started wiggling bashfully, their backs lined up against the other’s. They felt a warm blush of red take over their cheeks. “Hey, Dash?” “Hm, Flutters?” Fluttershy looked away for a moment, then turned back. “I still love you as a friend, if that’s what you’re worried about the whole time.” Rainbow sighed in relief. “Oh, phew. Glad you say that, I would’ve been so worried if you really said we were done.” “Under one condition.” “Go on.” Their heads pressed close, and they nuzzled their muzzles a bit. “Promise me you wouldn’t pull another prank like this in the future, or else I’m not gonna go easy on you.” “Okay. If that makes you happy,” Rainbow accepted. “So... Friends?” Fluttershy smiled. “Friends.” They both pulled each other into a warm hug, embracing with their wings. They were both pretty soft, and their wings gave them a lot of comfort. The two were just happy to make up for what happened. “I take that as you forgive me?” Rainbow asked, blushing. “Of course,” Fluttershy answered, followed by a quick kiss, making Dash cover her face in embarrassment. “Aw, you little Flutter Butter...” “Whoa, hey!” Rainbow pulled her friend down onto the bed, and gave her a kind kiss. She pulled the blanket over them as they got into position for sleep. “You wanna be the big spoon or little spoon?” She asked. “Well, how about we just snuggle tonight? I guess that’s a good way to make up after what happened,” Fluttershy chuckled as she snuggled under Rainbow’s head. “Mmmmm, your fur is so soft...” Dash purred upon the contact. “You too... I love you, Fluttershy... I won’t do anything bad to you anymore...” They both smiled and looked at each other in the eyes as they pulled their heads close together, giving each other a warm and tender kiss. As their lips connected, they closed their eyes and drifted off to sleep, slowly and soundly. Fluttershy stroke her best friend’s ear and leaned over to whisper. “I love you too, Dashie...” And the next day, the two found out that Nathan came over in the middle of the night to get proof that the ship is confirmed. And they weren’t so happy about it as soon as they saw it on Rainbow’s laptop at the lounge. “Nathan!!!” They both yelled, turning to him, who was casually sitting with Twilight on the couch. He shrugged. “What? This is for what you did, Dash! Twilly told me.” Her eyes shot open. “Uh oh...” The two’s eyes narrowed. “Uhhhhh gotta go!” She said, trying to be innocent. As she darted away, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash looked at each other and nodded. “I smell a prank war on the horizon,” Dash said to herself. “What do you say, best bud?” Fluttershy giggled as she gave Dash a high-wing. “I’m in.”