//------------------------------// // Fun with tape // Story: Prank War! // by Ashfur //------------------------------// It was a very good day for Rainbow dash!  She had just gotten back from a wonderbolts rally, and she had gotten so much merchandise!  Trading cards, an autographed poster, a new sports cap, and even a rare action figure! She had, of course flown home and stashed them all in her house before flying back to Canterlot to deliver Ponyville's monthly weather report to Celestia.  Well, she was supposed to deliver it to her supervisor in cloudsdale, but she delivered them to the princess herself because she was awesome like that. She had just passed off the papers to a rather irritated-looking Celestia when she passed by Nick working on some kind of craft in the cafeteria.  He had a bunch of papers, and glue, and tape scattered all over the place. "Oh, hey there, Rainbow!" The human shot a cheerful grin to the speedy pegasus.  "You seem to be in good spirits. Didya win a race or something?" "Ha!"  Rainbow let out a barking laugh as she trotted over.  "Nah, although if there had been a race, I woulda won for sure.  I was just happy because of the wonderbolts rally earlier today. Did you go?  It was sooooo awesome!" "Oh!  No, I've been working on these paper airplanes to pester Twilight with on her next visit.  Here," Nick continued, ripping off a piece of tape. "Hold this, will ya?" He held out the strip of tape, which Rainbow took without thinking.  Most non-unicorns didn't use tape because of how annoying it was to use, and the memories of the tape fiasco with the CMC came flooding back as it adhered to her tongue. "Uh-oh.  Uh… Nick?  I fink I scwooed up."  She batted her tongue with a hoof, trying to get it unstuck, but it didn't budge.  Nick chuckled at her predicament. "Pfft, Rainbow!  You goofball. Here, let me get that for you.  Say 'Ah'..." Rainbow obliged, opening her mouth and sticking her tongue out.  Nick responded by slapping another piece of tape on it. "There ya go! Now it won't be lonely." "Nick, yoo jerk!  Get dith tape off my tong!"  Rainbow lunged at the human, but he sidestepped and placed a third piece of tape on her cutie mark.  "Hey! Thath's not thair!" She pawed at it with a hoof, trying to get it off, and this time it did slide off her body… and adhere itself to her forelimb.  She stomped on it, but that only served to transfer it to her other leg while Nick snuck up and placed yet another strip of tape on the back of her head. "Hey!" Rainbow tilted her head back like a cat, moving it left and right as she desperately tried to get rid of the offending tape.  This served to her benefit, though, as she saw Nick closing in with the tape roll. "Oh, no yoo don'th!" With the acrobatic prowess befitting of an athlete like her, Rainbow performed an on-the-sopt backflip to try and land behind Nick for a follow up move, but her tail snagged on the tape roll and left her dangling upside-down from the back of Nic's head as the tape stuck straight up his chest, over his face and looped over his head to leave rainbow hanging.  Squawking like a panicked chicken, Rainbow started flailing her wings and legs, instinctively trying to regain control of herself. Her back leg got stuck in the center of the tape roll, though, and her frantic movements only drew more tape off the roll. "Gah!  Rainbow!  Cut it out, you're only making it worse!" "Then get me down and get thith tape off me!" "I can't if you keep- whoa!  Flailing like this! Calm down!" "No!" "Rainbow!" "Night court is now open.  May the first petitioner please step forward and present their case before us!"  Princess Luna finished her proclamation with a wave of her hoof, and her night guards opened the throne room doors.  Night court was usually slower and less frantic than day court, but Luna had a feeling today would be interesting. And interesting it was, as the first petitioners struggled their way into the throne room.  Nicholas Abernathy, hopping on one leg, wrapped up like a Hearth's Warming present in semi-transparent tape.  Firmly secured to his back was a furious Rainbow Dash, upside-down and equally covered in the adhesive ribbons, with only one wing free.  The pair used a strange combination of one-legged hops and single wing flaps to… well, Luna wasn't sure what word to use for it, but 'hopped into the room' seemed appropriate. "Rainbow?  Nicholas? What in the name of my moon happened to thee?"  She suppressed the urge to burst out laughing, if only due to her concern for her friends' well being. "Just a prank gone wrong, Moonbutt.  Can you just get this off of us?" Rainbow mumbled affirmatively through her impromptu tape-gag. Luna's look of genuine concern turned to a malicious grin as soon as she heard the word prank.  "Oh, well if thou hast fallen victim to thine own machinations, it seems fitting to add injury to insult, as the saying goes,  yes?" "Actually, it's 'insult to injury', but- wait, Luna don't-" There was suddenly a loud, single ripping noise, followed by a pair of screams the woke the entire castle.