//------------------------------// // Pranks // Story: Southern Skies // by Jondor //------------------------------// "Pinkie are you sure about this? It's not in the book." The studious lavender unicorn was frantically consulting her copy of Slumber 101: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Slumber Parties but Were Afraid to Ask. The group had been making heavy use of the last few, and consequently most advanced, chapters in the book. "Duh, because it's not in that book. It's in this one!" The pink party pony fought to keep her voice low as she pulled a copy of The Big Book of Pranks from out of nowhere, turning immediately to the right page. Having the answer spelled out in a book seemed to settle the matter for the unicorn. A pink hoof strategically covered the author’s name on the cover: By Pinkamena Diane Pie "I’m still not sure this is such a good idea, it seems kind of mean." The cautious yellow pegasus had no trouble keeping her voice low as she spoke from behind her flowing pink mane. Antagonizing their friends didn’t seem like the best idea under the circumstances. "Not to worry, darling. Rainbow Dash will see the humor at once. And I'm sure Applejack will enjoy the joke almost as fast." The elegant white unicorn tossed her perfectly styled mane with a chuckle. “Dash is always trying to get the upper hoof on her, I think she’ll enjoy finding she’s on top at the very least.” In the center of the four friends, two other ponies were asleep on a pile of cushions, cuddled up together thanks to the actions of the pink and white ponies now standing over them with large grins. The purple and yellow ponies had had nothing to do with the prank and now waited with trepidation for the outcome. The cause of all this mischief stood in the corner. A half empty barrel of Sweet Apple Acres finest hard cider. "I knew Rainbow was a lightweight, pegasi just can't help it, but Applejack passing out after only two mugs... I never would have guessed." Rarity was still sipping her sixth mug and didn’t seem the least bit tipsy. The situation was too perfect to pass up when she had found both of their tomcolt friends passed out on the sofa together. A quick word with Pinkie set the plan in motion, now all they had to do was wait. The orange cowpony emitted a low groan and twitched her hooves. "Ooh ooh, they're about to wake up!" Pinkie Pie bounced on the spot with excitement as the other three ponies turned their attention back to the unwitting cuddlebugs. Rarity shot Pinkie a sideways glance as if to say: “Remember to act surprised”. Pinkie caught it and gave her a look back that said: “Of course, Surprise is my middle name, well actually it’s Diane, but Surprise is so much cooler than Diane, ooh maybe I should change it, but then I’d have to change it on every copy of my book and...” Pinkie went on making faces to go with her inner monologue, but everypony else was focused on the two ponies just waking up. Applejack tried to stretch her legs, but found them stopped by a warm body. Imagining nothing wrong with the situation, she cracked open her eyes and smiled as she leaned down to kiss the blurry blue muzzle in front of her face. "Mornin’, Sugarcube." She said in a husky bedroom voice. The action and especially the sound aroused her blue, winged partner who enthusiastically kissed back. "Best kind of morning waking up to my AJ." The room was silent except for the comical sound of four jaws hitting the ground at once. Two pairs of eyes, emerald and ruby snapped completely open and looked around with tense horror. This wasn’t exactly how they had planned to tell the girls about their relationship. A scratchy voice broke the silence with a nervous chuckle as it’s owner tried to salvage the situation. "Nice prank girls, but I guess Opal's out of the bag now, huh?" Applejack covered her face with her hat as she awaited a response. Pinkie and Rarity shared a sidelong glance and wink before starting to laugh warmly. Twilight and Fluttershy quickly joined in followed finally by Dash and AJ as they gathered for a group hug.