April 1st, 3096 Imperial Calender (1523 AD)
Scootaloo's House
DJ knew it would be a long day when he realized that Depressi was still in their room.
He sat up in bed, shaking the grogginess from his head with a quick shaking of his feathers. As he smoothed down the patches of red and white feathers, he looked over at the desk that Depressi had taken when they first got there. His brother was hunched over it, muttering something to himself. The various practice papers and schoolwork had been piled up on one corner of it, while small bits of metal and a large box of what appeared to be rubber bands dominated the workspace.
"What in the Gods name are you doing?", DJ asked, throwing the blanket off of him as he reached into his bag.
Depressi looked up from his desk, smiling. He said, "Ah, good morning. Just working on something."
DJ shot him a half-lidded glare, his one good eye filled with a mix of tiredness and concern. "What are the soda cans linked up to? Tripwire?"
"Really? You immediately assume the worst of me as soon as you wake up?", Depressi said. As the yellow and milky white eyes glared at him, he chuckled and shook his head slightly. "Yes, it is rigged up to a Tripwire."
"Why the hell have you broken out the old gloves and...", he said, looking around his brother's wings to take a look at the contents on the table. "Canter-Cola, Manetos, cardboard and plastic framing?"
"Do you remember what day it is, dear brother?", Depressi said, his slight smile returning.
DJ groaned, heading over to the cup and the small bottle on the dresser. He opened up the bottle and shoved one of the pills into his mouth, before taking the cup of water and downing it all in one gulp.
That proved to be a mistake, as he hissed and had to fight back the urge to gag. He looked back to the cup, realizing that there was a lemon slice wedged into the bottom of the cup. No, not just one lemon slice. Using one of his claws, he peeled back the top of the slice, revealing at least four stacked one on top of the other. As he came to his revelation, his brother said, "April Fools!".
DJ deflated, slumping his shoulders. He spun his tongue around in his mouth, trying to wash down the lemon taste under a wall of saliva. "This is going to be a long day."
+++++~+++++
Pound Cake and Flurry Heart looked at one another in sheer horror. "Oh no. What happened?", Flurry Heart asked.
Pound Cake said, "Y-yeah. What'd we do to piss him off?"
"Nothing, nothing", DJ said, walking alongside them. The three of them moved through the rows of lockers, the day starting soon. "It's just that... April Fools holiday."
"Oh. Does that make it better?", Flurry asked.
DJ shrugged. "I don't know. He's never really had a chance to... you know. Go all out."
"Really?", Pound Cake asked. "He didn't go on any streaks? From what he said, he was emulating his mom, and that was something she and Ms. Pinkie did."
"Nah", DJ said, reaching his locker. He opened his without fear, drawing looks from the other two. "He already got me this morning. I doubt he'd go for it again. Anyway, he may take... that aspect of Mom's legacy rather seriously, but even he wouldn't go all in like that. He's too 'Civilized' for that."
"As if", High Society said, trotting past them with Thunderhead behind her. "I mean, really? Wasn't your country run by bandits for the past thousand years?"
"And wasn't your country overrun by an unarmed swarm army in a matter of months and only liberated by us?", DJ asked. "Or do you still have that F in history?"
"Watch it, buddy", Thunderhead said, following after High Society to their nearby lockers.
Flurry Heart stuck out her tongue after them, before turning back to DJ. "So... what does this mean?"
"It means that Depressi is going all out", DJ said.
"And that means?", Pound Cake asked.
DJ said, "It likely means that he'll have hit everyone at school by the day is over, and about a quarter of Ponyville before the day is up."
His attention, as well as everyone else's, was drawn to a loud hissing noise, as well as girlish shrieking. Looking over to High Society's locker, they saw it had been thrown open, with the tips of two thin plastic bottles sticking out of it. Foam leaked from the tips, while a somewhat steady stream of the dark brown liquid fell to the floor. High Society, meanwhile, was drenched. Her mane had been ruffled by the impact of the burst, while foam and soda coated her fur and jewelry. On a sticky note in the door, the words April Fools had clearly been written in large font.
"Scratch that", DJ said. "Make that the school by noon, and all of Ponyville by sundown."
+++++~+++++
There was a disturbance. Pinkie felt it.
She sat in the small house that she owned along with her husband and wife. Both of them were out at the moment; Cheerilee was teaching her class at Ponyville Elementary and Cheese Sandwich was helping the Cakes at Sugarcube Corner. She had originally joined him, and was enjoying herself. She wasn't sexually interested in him, but he was still a dear friend, and the two of them worked together on many projects, including helping the aging cakes while their foals were in school.
However, her pinkie sense had kicked in and she had come back to her house. She sat on her bed, eyes closed, as various parts of her body twitched and moved about. It wasn't a doozy, but something had drawn her attention.
She was still there when the schools let out, and Cheerliee came back. "Oh, hi Pinkie", she said, giving her wife a quick kiss on the cheek. "How was your day?"
"Oh, it was fine, Cheers", Pinkie said, returning the kiss with one of her big hugs. "What about you?"
"Fine, for the most part", Cheerliee said, brushing some of her mane to the side.
Pinkie asked, "What do you mean 'for the most part'?"
"Well... honestly, I don't know why I didn't expect this, given what day it is", Cheerliee said, giggling. "But, well, I was pranked."
"Really?", Pinkie asked, her ear twitching.
"Yeah, really", Cheerliee said. "It's April Fools, and it wasn't serious, so whoever it was wasn't punished or anything."
"You don't know who it was?", Pinkie asked.
Cheerliee shrugged. "No; nopony confessed. But, again, it wasn't that big a deal. Whoever it was just put a whoopie cushion on my seat."
Pinkie nodded thoughtfully, pressing a hoof to her chin. "I see... Hey, why don't you go check on Lil' Cheese? You know how much he loves you, and I think he just woke up from nap time."
"Right", Cheerliee said, placing her saddlebags next to her large grading desk. She left the room soon after, closing the door behind her.
Pinkie sat back up, crossing her hindlegs into a ring. She closed her eyes, breathing in deeply, before opening them up, albeit narrowed. "You can come out."
Depressi stepped out of the shadow of the walk-in closet, tucking his wings back to his sides. He bowed his head slightly, saying, "Salve, Mulier Pie." He looked no different than usual; the same smooth red tunic, the same well-combed mane done back in a military-style Queue, the same calm, warm smile. Nothing that gave away the actions that he had committed that day.
"How many?", she asked.
Depressi cocked his head to the side, considering the number. "I'd say... at least a hundred at this point? Maybe more? None under the age of 12, I assure you. I have some standards, and children those ages tend to... overreact."
"Actually, you'd probably be fine doing a few harmless ones on them", Pinkie said. "Just, try not to overdo it."
"Don't worry", Depressi said, idly playing with a rubber ball in his wing. "I understand the limits of these actions, as well as those who wouldn't take kindly to it. I've taken efforts to avoid them... Well, except High Society."
"Well, don't let me stop you", Pinkie said, climbing off the bed and heading up to him. She placed a hoof on his shoulder, her serious expression exchanged for her signature grin. "If you're making people happy, then why stop, right?"
"The essence of the Prank, as well as its purpose", Depressi said, heading for the window. He opened it up, shooting one last smile at her. "For the honor of my family." With that, he jumped out the window, flaring his wings and soaring off into the afternoon light.
Pinkie moved to the window, closing it. As she did so, she jumped as a small shock traveled up her hoof. Looking down, she saw a small buzzer had been placed next to the windowsill, just below here her hoof would be to close it. "Well played", she said, before shaking her head with a sad smile. "You really are your mother's son..."