"This is so awesome!!! I missed being with you guys here!" Scootaloo cried.
The three fillies were in thier clubhouse. Scootaloo had good reason to be excited. After the failed prank attempts on the princesses, or rather, the distastrous prank attempts, the three of them had been forced to clean up the mess said pranks caused, and then they had been grounded for the next two weeks.
"I'm so glad we're finally able to get together like this!" Sweetie Belle said. "It was awful to not do any crusading!"
"Yeah!" Apple Bloom agreed. She frowned. "Ah hardly think it was fair to get grounded on top of havin' to clean up Ponyville."
"Considering the damage we did," Sweetie Belle stated, "We're lucky that's all we got."
"Yeah, seriously." Scootaloo said, shaking her head. "Rainbow Dash was so mad! Impressed, but mad. I expected worse punishment than getting grounded."
"Ugh, no thanks!" Apple Bloom said. "Gettin' grounded, cleanin' up the town...that was enough." She shuddered. "Plus Ah have to live knowin' that Ah failed as a prankster. Ah got pride, ya know. It hurts to know Ah failed."
Something clicked in Scootaloo's head, and she sat up with a broad grin. "So...lets get back our pride!" She said.
"Huh??" said the other two, puzzled.
"Lets try again! Only this time, we make sure we don't fail!" Scootaloo said eagerly.
"Uh, Scootaloo?" Apple Bloom said, frowning. "Ah don't think that's a good plan. Applejack made it clear last time if Ah ever do somethin' like that again, I ain't gonna sit for a week."
"Yeah." Sweetie Belle said. "And Rarity told me that the next time I do something so foalish, she wouldn't hesitate to take her hoof to my flank. So I side with A.B. Bad idea."
"Eh, so?" Scootaloo said, shrugging. "Rainbow Dash told me she'd tan my flank too, but this is important! Our reputations as pranksters are at stake! And I say we do this and do it right!"
The other two stared at each other for several minutes before finally nodding.
"Ok, Scoots, we're in!" Apple Bloom said. "But, uh, Ah ain't hankering to get spanked, so if we could pick a mild prank..."
"Oh ho no!" Scootaloo said with an almost evil chuckle. "If we go down for this, we are going down in a blaze of glory!!"
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle stared hard at her and she chuckled nervously.
"Sorry. Read that in a book. It...sounded impressive?"
"Well, the point is, we have to be careful." Sweetie Belle said. "We cause too much trouble with our pranks, and the princesses are liable to tan our flanks before our sisters do!"
"Eh, I doubt it." Scootaloo said with confidence. "Now, same pranks as last time?"
"No way!" Apple Bloom burst out. "No pepper sauce and no itching powder and absolutely NO LOVE POTIONS!"
"Ok, ok! Relax!" Scootaloo said, wide eyed. "Then I guess we need some new pranks."
After doing some thinking, they finally came up with a plan.
Princess Celestia was going to get her favourite cake...with a substitute ingredient: salt, not sugar.
Princess Cadance was going to get hearts, lots and lots of them. Drawn on with permanent ink.
Princess Luna was going to get a rude awakening with a large amount of bright orange dye dumped on her head.
And as for Princess Twilight Sparkle...
"Ah don't think we should get her again." Apple Bloom said worriedly. "She didn't appreciate that itching powder."
"Oh, that wasn't epic." Scootaloo said, grinning. "Lemme ask you: what's her favourite thing in all of Equestria?"
"Uh, Princess Celestia?" Sweetie Belle said.
"Eh, true." Scootaloo said. "Ok, so...second favourite?"
"Her friends!" Apple Bloom said triumphantly.
Scootaloo face hooved. "Ok, ok, never mind! ONE of her favourites things in Equestria is what?"
Her two friends frowned and gave her a confused look.
"Her BOOKS!" Scootaloo shouted. "Come on! That was SO easy!"
"Uh, you're not gonna tear up her books, are you?" Sweetie Belle asked worriedly. "Cause she really WILL get mad and banish us!"
"Nope!" Scootaloo said, smirking. "We're gonna take them and hide them. Her whole library!"
Seeing thier horrified expressions, she said with a huff,"Ok, fine. Just two shelves full."
"Well, I guess these pranks are harmless enough." Sweetie Belle said slowly. "Although, how exactly do we cover Princess Luna in orange dye?"
"A bucket over a door, duh!" Scootaloo said.
"Ok." Apple Bloom frowned. "But how, and when?"
"Don't you remember our sisters talking?" Scootaloo asked. "The princesses were invited back here for a...what did Pinkie call it?...a make up party, or something. Anyway, they'll be here tomorrow. So tonight we go steal Twilight's books, and tomorrow we set the traps for the others. Apple Bloom, can you make the salt cake and swap it with the one Pinkie will make?"
The farm filly nodded in the affirmative.
"Ok!" Scootaloo said. "We'll help you. Tonight. At your house. Then in the morning we'll swap em at the bakery!"
"Yeah, but Applejack'll find out!" Apple Bloom said worriedly.
Scootaloo froze. That thought had occurred to her. She started pacing and muttering to herself, all the while trying to come up with a solution. Finally she stomped a hoof.
"I got it!" She said. "You bake that cake, Apple Bloom! And we'll let Applejack find out!"
"WHAT?!" her friends shrieked, clearly shocked.
"Are you nuts?!" Apple Bloom exclaimed. "Ah don't want Applejack to find out! That's the point in my askin' ya!"
"No, A.B." Scootaloo said with a grin. "See, you let her find out. Let her taste it. We'll taste it. And we'll all 'discover' we 'accidentally' used salt instead of sugar! Then we'll make a big show of getting rid of it...only we won't. And we'll take a slice and swap it out with Celestia's piece tomorrow."
Her friends gaped at her brilliant and devious plan.
"Sold!" Sweetie Belle yelled. "Now, how bout Cadence?"
"Easy!" Scootaloo said smirking. "One of us'll sneak up while they're eating and draw on as many hearts as we dare. Just a few will do. And that ink will last for days! Oh, and Twilight's books? It'll be easy to get those and hide them tonight. She always goes to her library in the morning."
"How do you know that?" Sweetie Belle asked.
Scootaloo shrugged. "Spike told me."
"And Luna?"
"Well, that's also easy. I heard Dash say that Luna is going to be going to Sugarcube Corner in the morning at ten. We'll make sure to rig up the bucket right before then."
Her companions were once again awed at her awesome suggestion.
"Wow, we are SO much better at planning this stuff than we thought!" Sweetie Belle said. "Definitely more than last time!"
"Yeah! This is gonna be so much fun!" Apple Bloom said eagerly.
The three fillies exchanged grins and put thier hooves together.
"Cutie Mark Crusaders Pranksters...again! Yay!!!!"