"Oh yeah, I can't believe I got invited to this year's Grand Galloping Gala. I'm sure all four princesses will be there, too. Perfect." Artcraft was getting ready to leave his home as he held onto his ticket and had a chest intended to pull pranks on somepony. "There's the front gate, and I can't wait!"
"Excuse me, Sir. May I see your ticket, please?" The guard said that as Artcraft showed his ticket, it got hole-punched by the guard with a unique tool to check legit tickets. "Okay, you're good to go; enjoy your night." The guard let him through as he grinned and pulled his chest with him.
Princess Luna
"Oh my, these desserts do look lovely. Tia, Which one would thou prefer?" Luna asked her sister.
"Hmm, that's a tough choice, Sister. I'd say... one of each. Oh, dear. I really should go on a diet, shouldn't I?"
"Not tonight, at least. Just enjoy thineself, okay?"
"Of course, Luna. I shall then." Celestia went to the banquet table to sample some of the ponies' homemade cakes and other sweets. Luna made her way over to a bridge looming over a beautiful Canterlot Gardens pond.
"Perfect, she's isolated and vulnerable. I wonder how well she'd fancy a dip in the water?" Artcraft wore a mask to hide his face as he adorned it with creepy features to spook her. "Yes, that's right, keep your back turned to the lovely scenery."
"This view is breathtaking. A perfect moonlit pond and refreshing atmosphere." Luna sighed in contentment and breathed deeply of the fresh lavender that wafted from the gardens. Little did she realize, Artcraft was slowly approaching behind her. Right at that moment, Artcraft was poised behind Luna who was leaning over the bridge railing to inhale the fresh outside fragrances deeply.
Booga Booga Booga!"
"AAUGHH!?"
Splash!
Luna fell over the railing and went into the water with a resounding splash. As she rose from the water, her once flowing and decorated mane for the occasion was ruined and soggy; a lilypad with a small frog could also be seen on her head- the frog was wearing her crown as it ribbited in confusion.
"Yes! I scored! Ooh!" Artcraft was hoof pumping in the air victoriously as he giggled and ran from the bridge.
"Vile, little heathen! Oh, oh my, this is cold. T-This water is cold!" Luna was shaking her hoof angrily as she was shivering and trying to get out of the pond she was spooked into. She laid down on the pond's shore, facing the rest of the Gala. "I will locate thee. And you shall be punished greatly for this injustice!" Luna yelled out in rage as Artcraft skulked away into the distance.
"One down, three to go."
Princess Celestia
"Oh my goodness, this cake is simply divine. Your recipe for this must be astounding. Oh? Luna's back. Hey Luna, over here!" Celestia then saw three things; Luna's furious scowl on her face, her body, drenched with water, and that lilypad still on her head with the frog wearing her crown. Luna glared at the frog and swiped her crown back, knocking the frog and the lilypad off her head.
"Give me that!" Luna then placed her crown back onto her head as she wrung out her mane, and at least a quart of water was squeezed out of it.
"Luna! Are you okay?"
"Doth it look as if I'm fine to you, Sister?"
Celestia huffed a short but firm breath and said, "no."
"There is a troublemaker amidst these festivities. I just got spooked and fell into the nearby pond."
"You mean the one that's in our gardens? Oh, dear. You poor thing. Let me go and get a towel for you; it's cold around this time of year." Celestia then used her magic to grab a folded towel that rested next to the punchbowl and gave it to Luna.
"Thank you, Dear sister." Luna then dried herself off as she decided not to go sightseeing outside the Gala anytime soon.
"I can't believe that this is what she's afraid of. Oh, this'll be great. And I already know Twilight's fear as well." Artcraft waited for Celestia to return to the banquet table as he set down a cage with a cloth and lifted it, revealing a hopping chicken inside.
"Alright then, little guy. Here's your mission, spook the non-existent pants off of Celestia." The cage was set; all he needed now was a distraction, a reason for her to investigate. The chicken was already scared and confused as it thrashed about in its cage, which got Celestia's attention as her left ear twitched.
"That's funny, but I could have sworn that sounded like a- oh no, Celestia. It's fine. Just too much work during daytime court can mess with your mind." Artcraft then jostled the cage, urging her to inspect the noise source. As she made her way around the table, she saw the cell as the door slid open, revealing a freaked-out chicken as it was screeching chicken-ese at her. Celestia's face turned pale than her already white fur as a cold sweat bled from her forehead. "I-It's a-a.. a CHICKEN! Aaahhh!"
The chicken then flew up as it got in her face, which did not help ease her stress. Celestia whinnied in fright as she backed up to the banquet table and fell back onto it, splitting it in half and causing all the sweets and cake from either side to collapse. She looked like a doughy, icing blob at the center of a broken-down table as she was freaking out. Luna and Twilight both came running as soon as they heard her screaming.
"Celestia!?" They both said together.
"Yes. Two down, two to go." Both alicorns then rushed over to her aid.
Princess Twilight
"Celestia! Are you okay? We got you." Twilight said as she was there with Luna.
"Help! Chicken! Please, get it out of here." Celestia screamed as she was silenced and buried under the large mounds of sweets and pastries.
"Don't worry, Celestia. We'll get you out of there." Twilight said as she and Luna used their magic to pull Celestia's cake and pastry-stained body out from the now ugly glob of mashed sweets onto the table. Poor Celestia was shaking like a leaf and had a frightful and traumatized look in her eyes.
"Tia. How many hooves do you see?" Luna was waving her hoof in her face to help clear her senses.
"O-One. I see only yours in my face."
"Alright then, good. It's not as bad as I had thought." Luna then saw Cadence. Oh no, she could be next. "Oh, ponyfeathers. Is Cadence here as well? We should be careful and keep her under close watch. Lest an ill fate befalls her, too."
"Yeah. That's not going to be something I'd want to watch anytime soon... ever." Twilight said as little did she realize she was next. Artcraft was waiting for her to leave the other two to go and plan his next move.
"Alright then, I know your weakness, Twilight. Cheese, lots and lots of it." Artcraft was mixing dry cheese sauce powder into a massive bowl with some of the water he borrowed from the pond Luna recently fell into. Then, he added one dozen eggs, two gallons of milk, and three sticks of butter to make it nice and creamy. He hid in the bushes so he wouldn't be noticed then; he put in flour to make it thicker like slime as he poured the bowl's contents into a gigantic water balloon filling up fast.
"My goodness. There seems to be an awful lot of chaos tonight. Ho ho ho. Maybe the Gala might not be so bad this year after all." Discord was off into the distance, lounging onto a floating lawn chair, sipping a glass of lemonade, and spectating the havoc.
"Alright then. Trap assembled. Ohh, this is going to get messy." Artcraft used his magic with some considerable effort to hoist up the giant balloon of cheese sauce above the walkway through the Gala to the castle's entrance. The trip wire was also set to trigger the trap.
"Hold on, Celestia. I'll go into the castle to grab a larger towel to help you get cleaned off."
"Oh, perfect." Artcraft was hiding in the bushes with a Cheshire cat-sized grin. Twilight tripped the wire onto the ground with her hooves, not paying attention to the looming balloon of cheesy doom hanging over her. That was until she looked up and was frozen in fear as she knew that smell. The lavender purple drained from her body at that moment.
"O-Oh n-no... Meep." Then the balloon fell and splashed onto her body.
SPLAT!
Twilight looked like a covered-up blob of yellow cheddar with eyes as the sauce was hardening into an almost rubber-like casing as she yelled as loud as she could. "AAAUGHHH! It's in my mane, my fur... it's... everywhere." Then she dashed for the pond Luna fell into to get the cheese off her body as she dived into the water with a resounding splash.
Splash!
"And that's a score for me! Oh yeah! One more left to prank tonight."
Princess Cadence
"Princess Cadence. What a lovely surprise that you're here tonight." Luna tried to keep up her grin. In truth, she loved to see her niece, but this wasn't a good time for her to be here, given all that's happened so far.
"Oh yeah. It's so great to see you guys. Umm... was that Twilight that jumped right into the water over there? Is she okay?"
"She is fine, Cadence. There's nothing for thee to worry about. Tis just a wonderful night tonight."
"Auntie. No offense, but you're not a very good liar. Just be honest with me." Luna sighed in defeat as she then said to Cadence.
"A nasty troublemaker is going around and pranking us. I fear that you might be next on that prankster's list."
"Oh, you have no idea how right you are, Luna," Artcraft said as he hid in the bushes, staking out the two alicorns and waiting for his opportunity.
"I think you worry too much, Auntie. Just relax and try to enjoy tonight, okay?"
"He spooked me as I fell into the pond, Tia got spooked by a chicken and then drenched in cake, Twilight got dried cheddar hardened onto her coat- hence why you saw her jump into that lake over there."
"Oh dear- that's just terrible."
"Yes, it is. It would help if you were careful tonight, My niece. Pray that you do not become a victim." As they were chatting away, Artcraft went to work filling up a wine barrel with the top off with tar. Artcraft made a tripwire and hooked it to a tree limb to trigger the trap. Then he had two open containers of feathers, a red rubber glove for the top, and a clip-on beak for the face. He was ready; he just needed a volunteer.
"I will be sure to, Luna. Thanks for warning me."
"Tis no problem at all, Dearest niece." Luna then had a stern look on her face, "I shall scout about for that prankster and make him pay."
"I wish you luck with that, Luna." As Cadence said this, Luna trotted off, leaving her alone. Cadence saw a trail of glittering hearts onto the ground, likely decoration. "Hello, what's this?" Cadence followed the path to a secluded part of the Gala, housed by tall bushes.
"Hey, whoever left behind this trail? You can't leave a mess around here and expect things to be okay." Just then, Cadence's hoof got caught onto the tripwire as it snapped, and the rope connected to the tree limb had lassoed her hind hooves as she yelped in surprise before being hoisted up and her body dipped into the tar barrel.
SPLAT!
Cadence's entire body was covered in thick tar as Artcraft then came up and poured both containers of feathers onto her upside-down body, then applied the red glove onto her head and the orange beak onto her snout. "Aww. You're just the cutest little chicken. Yes, you're." Cadence's eyes rose with fresh tears as the prankster patronized her. "The prank master strikes again! My night is completed; all four princesses have been pranked successfully. Mission accomplished!"
"W-Why? Why are you doing this to us?"
"Eh, I was bored." Artcraft shrugged as Cadence broke down in tears more as she cried while still hanging upside-down.
"There you're, you foul heathen!" Luna then restrained Artcraft with her blue magical aura as he could not move. "I knew that if I tailed Cadence, I would find you."
Artcraft gulped in fear. "Uh oh."