//------------------------------// // Night Stars // Story: Ultimate Prank Challenge // by sunshinemonster //------------------------------// This is going to be spectacular! I've always been bored during the night, so this will be a great way to spend the nights. I've never really understood why I've been able to survive on one hour of sleep every night. I guess I'm just exceptional to the "five hours every night" rule that most pony doctors use. Which means I get an extra four hours to spend planning and pulling pranks every day, or night. When Cadence told me about this, I was excited! I mean, who doesn't love pulling a couple pranks? I'll probably never have such fun in a long time! I mean, when you are the Alicorn of the Night, how much fun can you have? Everypony's always asleep when you are awake. And I'm never fully awake during morning meetings. Celestia literally has to plan my entire week for me. And that argument over whether nights or mornings are better, I spaced out halfway through Celestia's hour long lecture about how the sun helps everypony in Equestria. I've never been a morning pony. I teleported to Twilights library. I landed on her bed, and noticed Celestia right in front of me, setting a trap for Twilight. I quickly melted into the shadows, watching her. I've always been one of the best at undoing traps. It would be SO funny when Celestia realizes that Twilight never fell into her trap, I think. I wait for a while, until Celestia's little talk with Twilight is over. How dare she claim that she is the master of pranks? It's ridiculous! I guess, Celestia does love to do a ton of bragging. I use my magic to make a quill appear for Owliscious, who brings it to Twilight. I've always liked owls. Like me, they stay awake throughout the night. Twilight disappears, probably off to write a plan. I still don't get the importance of planning. I'm the master of improvising, and pranks involve a lot of improvising. I step out of the shadows, and grab the clock. I speed forward the time by a couple hours, before hanging it on the wall. I rattle it a bit, to get Owliscious' attention. I hear the flap of near silent wings, so I melt back into my shadow form. My hearing has always been extraordinary, I'm able to hear the slightest of sounds. It's probably a byproduct of me being awake during the night, when everything is quiet, but not silent. Owliscious looks at the clock with pure panic. I don't understand how Owliscious and Twilight are so similar; they both follow schedules very strictly. He flies out of the room with the clock in his talons. I undo the trap Celestia set, and then wait for the characteristic yell of Twilight, and giggle. I stuff my hoof in my mouth to stifle my laughter when Twilight appears a moment later. Shoot! I left a moon behind! I have a small pouch of moons and stars that I used to create the night sky. Sometimes stars need adjusting, and the moon has so many phases! It gets annoying remaking everything from scratch every time the stars or the moon shift, so I created a bunch of stars and moons for pretty much every phase that the night sky goes through. No wonder they say the night is so predictable, I think to myself, I haven't changed the phases since they last millenia! Reminder to self: I must remember to change up the night a bit tonight. That gives me an idea! I should change the stars a lot, and confuse everyone. Wait, no one actually bothers to notice the night sky. I slip out of the dark shadows again, and see Twilight snoring soundly. I suppress another round of giggling, and make sure Owliscious is out of the room before grabbing the clock and pushing it forward by several hours. Twilight's reaction to being late will be hilarious. I use my magic to push the other clocks forward or backward by several hours, until they all read something different. I grab my dropped moon, and check to make sure I left no traces of anything, before flying away. I don't like teleporting. At all. It's all too random. I mean, you just can't predict what will be there when you teleport somewhere. Flying is much better, which is why I hid my castle in the night sky. When I was a filly... "Luna! Luna!" ponies chanted. "Luna! Luna! Luna! Go! Faster! Luna!" A black Alicorn zipped past the crowd gathered, easily overtaking the older Pegasus. Her black wings flapped harder, a trail of stars shimmering in her wake. She crossed the finish line first, beating the others by a lot. "I knew I could do it!" she grinned, spinning in circles in the air. "Cici! I did it!" A white Alicorn smiled at the younger Alicorn, "I knew you could too." The black filly flew up into the air, and dove back down again. As she neared the ground, a blast of silver spread across Equestria. She flew up again, and a did a figure-eight in the air to celebrate. A silver trail shimmered with stars behind her. I've always taken a liking to Rainbow Dash, the first pony to ever repeat my feat of making a Sonic Starboom. They call it a "Sonic Rainboom" now, but I can't complain. Rainbow was the first to do prove it wasn't a Mare's Tail, so I guess she deserves the honor of having it named after her. Besides, I can only do a Sonic Starboom at night, when everyone's asleep. I push harder, nearing the speed needed to do a Starboom. My mane and tail start glowing. I'm actually doing it again. The chilly night air slips under my wings, and I smile. One last push, and a wave of silver spreads out like a ripple across Equestria. I can swear I hear a small voice chanting, "Luna! Luna!" What a great feeling it is to fit in again. To feel wanted. I do a few loops in the sky, before I reach my hidden castle. I must rest now, for tomorrow will be a big day- for pranks. I open up my book, and watch Twilight snoring. I may or may not have left a small star behind to watch Twilight with. This prank war will be stupendous. And I will win this.