//------------------------------// // Still a better prank story than Twilight // Story: Prank War! // by Ashfur //------------------------------// "Heya Sparky. What's up?" Nick leaned back in his chair, glancing at the purple pony princess. It was rare she visited for this long, but given the circumstances of the 'Murkweed incident' her presence was not surprising. The royal gardens held some of the bookworm's favorite study spots, so he honestly should have seen it coming. Twilight set down a wrapped gift box and pushed it towards Nick with her magic, keeping a safe distance. "Oh, nothing much. I just thought I'd get you a present! Happy Wednesday." And she scampered off, clearly in a hurry to get away. "Is she really that dense, or does she think I'm that stupid? I need to talk with Celly about this." He got up, and walked off, leaving the box behind, when suddenly... "Ah! Ape, what are you doing out here? Shoo. You are interrupting my private time and- oh, a gift?" Nick stifled a laugh, then shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, 's not mine, so whatever. I guess you can open it if you want." "Well CLEARLY since it was deliberately left in my usual strolling route, it is for me!" Woth that, yanked open the box, and was immediately soaked in a burst of blue liquid. Coughing, he got to his hooves and shook off angrily... only for a new hairs on his mane to spring out of place. The dreaded split ends had returned. "P-p-poision joke again?! AUNTIE!" and he galloped off in another direction. "...real original there, Sparks," Nick remarked to nopony in particular. "And overused joke, an overused delivery system, you were clearly up to something... I swear, you couldn't get a prank right if it was written...on...your...schedule..." Nick grinned. Had there been any guards nearby, they would know that grin meant 'run away as far as possible'. "I think I know what I'm going to do today. But I'll need help." Twilight had her reading interrupted by her number one assistant belching up a scroll with the royal seal on it. "A message from Celestia?! Give me that!" She swiped it out of Spike's claws, and read it aloud. "My dear friend Twilight, as you are currently a princess, you are the perfect candidate to help me out. I am very busy and do not have the time to do these very important tasks. If you could take care of these vital tasks, I would be most grateful. -Princess Celestia" Twilight reread the letter with a joyous grin. "I get to help with important tasks around the castle? This is amazing! Wait, where's the list of tasks?" The answer to her question arrived in the form of another scroll being received via dragonfire. She took it and unrolled the list. Sweet Celestia did she love lists. "Let's see. Thankfully we weren't preparing for anything important today... Ten in the morning: attend a brunch at the Canterlot museum. Don't forget your crown. Noon: head to the restricted section of the royal library and find Beasts of the rarest Breed: Hunter or Hunted edition. I need some information on the mating habits of chimeras. One-thirty: Cross through the gardens, slip and fall into the big mud puddle. You'll see it. Three in the afternoon: meeting with the leads of the trade guild about economics. Six P.M.: dinner. Eight o' clock: Go talk to Luna about a pony named 'Zibble Wibble, Oops! In my kibble, Walla-Walla-Walla-Walla the Third'. The pony in question has several alternate names, which she used to avoid detection. If you can learn any of the others, inform Luna of them. Nine in the evening: Join me for tea, and report on what happened." Twilight rolled the list up and trotted off. "Well, it looks like we have a full schedule! Let's get going, Spike!" The drake followed along, but seemed hesitant. "I dunno Twilight, some of those tasks seem... odd." "Nonsense! I trust Celestia completely. If she gives me a task to do, I'll do it to the best of my ability! Now pick up the pace, we'll fall behind schedule otherwise! And you KNOW what happens when we are behind schedule." That got the reptile moving. Nick and Celestia caught their breath amidst guffaws as the day drew to a close. "Wait, so not only did she freak out and turn the whole garden into a marsh when she couldn't find our nonexistent mud puddle, but she didn't wash it off??" the human asked, revving up for another round of laughs. "Yes, she most certainly did! I never put 'clean off the mud' on the schedule, so she assumed I didn't want her to! She attended a meeting of the trade guilds looking like a mud monster, and she STILL managed to make them leave happy with the economic changes!" Clestia wiped tears of laughter from her eyes with a wing. "I swear, that mare..." "She's such a Mary Sue... not that I think you know that term. What did Luna do?" "Well Twilight not only found the names you gave her that week, but she managed to get her hooves on your prototype name list. She didn't take kindly to it." Nick's expression sobered a bit. "Oof. How did she even get that, I thought I burned it... whatever. Luna's gonna throw me in the moat again, isn't she?" At that moment, a purple alicorn teleported in with a cheery smile on her face. "Nope! Luna asked me to do it instead, and I can just fit it in my schedule!" "Of course..."