//------------------------------// // Excessive Sparkles // Story: Prank War! // by Ashfur //------------------------------// Deep in the bowels of Canteot Castle, a madman was plotting a scheme to overthrow the kingdom. Okay, that was a slight exaggeration. Nick sat in his luxurious suite planning his next prank. And this one was going to be good, because he roped Twilight into it. "So, what exactly is the plan, Nick?" Twilight looked over the art supplies the human had gathered curiously. "We are making a very large, very obnoxious paint bomb. Glitter filled, magic resistant paint that cost me a pretty bit. This will take weeks to get washed out of their fur completely!" Nick held the melon-sized canister steady as Twilight carefully poured in the paint. "I can't believe you were on board with pranking this week. Without you enchanting the casing, I'd never be able to put this much paint in such a small space!" "Well, Celestia has been telling me to let loose a bit more. I asked if joining in your little war effort was a possibility, and she couldn't get me on board fast enough! So, here we are. I'll prep the detonation spell, it has to be strong enough to fling all the paint but not hurt anypony, and I do NOT trust your explosives to not cause damage." "Fine, fine. Do your thing, Sparky." Nick hopped up one his bed and idly kicked his legs in the empty air. "But where should we paint the girls? If we did it in the throne room, the mess wouldn't look good and might even damage the stained glass. I like those. Maybe the library?" "No." Twilight replied swiftly and firmly. It nearly shook the room. "Trust me Sparky, I wouldn't dare. That would cost a lot of bits and ruin books that I know are important. Pranks may be fun, but ruining priceless artifacts isn't. Plus, you'd be mad at me, and I prefer we stay pals." "So the cake room is out too? I don't think Celestia would like that." "She'd kill me! Not really, but she'd make me clean it up. No. And Luna's room is out for the same reason. In fact, both of their rooms! We need them together. Maybe a conference room? The courtyard?" Nick flopped back on the bed, only for his vision to be obscured by purple chest floof as Twilight hopped up into the bed to join him with a friendly nuzzle. "I still think this is a tad extreme though, Nick. We should have just gone with my idea." The mare sighed, then giggled as Nick booped her on the muzzle. "Sending them a letter through the mail instead of by dragonfire isn't a prank, Twi." "It is if you label it as being sent from Canterlit instead of Canterlot!" She huffed in annouance. "Clearly you need lessons from Celly about how to properly prank ponies... and people. If that came my way I probably wouldn't even notice! So, Sparky, we're gonna go through with this paint bomb. It's gonna be great, Celly and Luna are gonna toss us in the moat, and we can all have a laugh over it. So, what room should we redecorate to sparkly hot pink?" "Hm... how about this one?" Twilight asked, grinning. "Sparky, this is my room." Twilight stood up on the bed and hopped off with a chuckle. "I know. I said princess Celestia roped me into the prank war, but I never said who's side I was on." Nick shot up, only to be held firm by a lavender glow of magic. "You... you double-crossing, no good double agent! You had this planned from the start, didn't you?" He jabbed a finger accusingly in the purple pony's direction. "As soon as you explained the general plan, yes. Celestia asked me to sabotage your next prank to get the hang of things. Soo... sorry Nick! I hope it doesn't take too long to replace all the furniture!" And she teleported out, leaving Nick in the room with a paint bomb that was now slowly flashing red, and getting faster. "Sparky? Sparky this isn't funny!" Realizing he was free from the magic, he ran to the door, only to find it held shut by an unknown force. "Sparky? Open the door, you madmare!" "Sparky? Sparky? Oh, crudbiscuts, it's gonna-" Away in her private tea room, Celestia heard a *slpat* noise from somewhere. She shrugged it off as nothing, but when she learned of the situation later nearly fell over laughing.