//------------------------------// // Part 4 // Story: My Little Twiny April Foals Day // by Rated Ponystar //------------------------------// “I didn’t mean for you guys to get harmed. I’m really sorry! I didn’t know there were bees in the jar! I’m so so sorry!” Cadence apologized over and over as she applied healing spells nonstop to the two guards, her fore-hooves held together in a pleading gesture. Red welts could be seen all over their bodies from their necks to their flanks. Spike chuckled at the sight of his fellow prankster companions, grateful for his scales. “I’m starting to think maybe we should have gone with the rotten eggs instead,” muttered Steel Blade, wincing as the welts disappeared. “At least the only thing we would need to worry about then would be getting a bath.” “Well, if you had arrived earlier, before Twilight got us, you would have gotten me and Shining easily,” assured Cadence while her coltfriend glared at the two guards, which made them nervous. Despite their closeness, Shining Armor was still their boss and he could make their lives a living nightmare if he chose too. “Yeah, can’t believe Twilight managed to get ahead of us. Again!” grumbled Spike with a hint of admiration in his annoyed tone. “For a pony who's never done any pranking before today, she sure is getting around fast.” “It’s gotta be Philomena,” said Overwatch, shaking her head. “We've been outmatched from the get go because of that bird.” Shining Armor growled and stepped forward with all eyes on him. “Oh, that’s the least of your worries! You two are in big trouble for what you were going to do.” Cadence saw the terrified look on their faces and was about to stop Shining, but stopped at the wink of his eye. Turning his gaze on the squirming pair, the captain continued, “I have half a mind to court martial you two for what you just did! Do you have any idea what could have happened if Cadence, my marefriend and a princess’s niece, or me, your superior officer, had been been stung by those bees?! For all you know either of us could have been allergic?!” The three pranksters gulped and looked at each other with pale faces. They hadn’t considered that. “Attention!” shouted Shining. All three of the pranksters stood up straight, trying to their best to not pee themselves as he marched in front of them. “Pranking is fine and all, but you are all still servants of the crown and as such you must face punishment for actions that threatened not only my well being, but Lady Cadence’s as well.” “But Twilight also—” started Spike, but quickly shut up when Shining’s death glare was upon him. “Twilight isn’t here. It’s just us!” Shining turned to his marefriend and bowed politely, “My lady, since you are the victim of all this. What punishment must they face?” Cadence, rubbing her chin, pretended to ponder on what ‘punishment’ to give the three who were looking at her with pleading eyes, begging for mercy, even Spike who seemed to forget that he was not a guard. After waiting few more seconds until she noticed first drop of sweat on Steel's forehead, she smirked and motioned for Shining to come over as she whispered into his ear. Meanwhile, Spike leaned over and whispered, “What are we gonna do? What are they gonna do to us?” “No idea, but I feel that maybe I got in a tiny little bit over my head with this idea,” muttered Overwatch before glaring at Steel. “This is all your fault. We just had to go and prank the captain during his date, we might as well have gone after Princess Celestia at the same time,” Steel Blade replied, his hoof pointing at his partner accusingly. “You’re the one who said: ‘go with the bees!’ If anyone, you should get the hangman’s noose!” “Quiet!” shouted Shining Armor, turning back to them. “Your punishment has been decided. Now turn around!” The others didn’t argue and quickly turned away, the back of their heads facing away from the princess and captain of the guard. “Now... lower your heads and raise your hindquarters!” They blinked and slowly turned their heads around in confusion. “Wait, what?” asked Steel, finding the courage to speak for the group, only for the swift movement of Shining's hoof to make him flinch. “Did I say you could speak? No? Then lift those rears!” Slowly, the two ponies and one dragon did so, feeling awkward as their behinds were exposed for all to see. They lingered there for a while until... SLAP! SLAP! SLAP! “Yeow!” all three shouted as their poor behinds were suddenly smacked by three planks formed by Shining Armor’s magic. The captain then proceeded to spank the pranksters like they were naughty children.   “Don’t worry, only a few more to go before your punishment is over,” laughed Shining Armor, his animosity gone and replaced with mirth. Cadence was wincing and giggling at the same time while the three did there best to hold through it until it was finally over. When the spanking had stopped, all three bruised individuals rubbed their sore behinds, glaring at the laughing couple. “Oh, real mature, you guys. I’m gonna have problems sitting for the rest of the day...” muttered Spike, wincing at his red backside. It turned out that the rectum area was the weakest part of dragon’s body, much to his embarrassment. “S-sorry,” giggled Cadence. She cleared her throat and smiled. “But you asked for it.” “Fine,” grumbled Steel who was only glad nopony else was there to see this. “Can you at least tell us what direction Twilight and Philomena were going?” “It looked like they were heading back towards the castle,” answered Shining Armor, who gave them a smirk. "If you are going to prank her, make sure it is very humiliating. She and that Phoenix pet deserve it..." his glare hardened, "Just don’t hurt her or I will start spanking you with chains next if you three go too far. Got it!?" The three quickly nodded and retreated. Once away from the loving couple, Steel Blade spread his wings while Overwatch and Spike jumped onto his back before he flew towards the castle. The moment they disappeared from sight, Cadence nuzzled her coltfriend and said, “You know....” as she seductively whispered in his ear, “Tonight... do you think you can punish me a bit? Chains sounds quite an exciting idea actually.” The captain turned red in an instant as Cadence giggled, satisfied from getting reaction she had hoped for. If anything, she really enjoyed teasing her knight in shining armor, and he looked so cute when he was embarrassed. “I will gladly demonstrate how much punishment an alicorn can endure.” She lightly bit ear of her now motionless special somepony who shivered at the touch. “Please, go all out on me.” Upon not receiving any reply, she poked Shining lightly with a hoof, only for him to fall to the side like a statue. With a growing smile, she added, “You still got it Cadence, you still got it.” *** Having suffered a painful defeat, the trio swore their next targets were going to be Philomena and Twilight, because they had been counter-pranked thanks to the latter’s blabber mouth. Thanks to Shining’s info, the three wasted no time and hurried past the opening gates, searching the gardens for any sign of the now infamous prankster duo. “Shouldn’t we be trying to catch up on the number of pranks we pull instead of pranking Twilight and Philomena,” suggested Overwatch, pulling her head out of a bush. Steel, checking under a rock, shook his head and growled. “Let’s face it. Twiny’s too far ahead for us to catch up and the sun’s almost set. Even if we don’t win, I still want to pull a good prank on her so I have some satisfaction.” He rubbed his rear and moaned. “Besides, my butt’s been sore all day thanks to her. First stuck on a toilet and then spanked by a plank. I’ll need to pay her back times ten before this day is done.” He bit his lips, the image of terrified tiny unicorn being spanked flashed in his mind. "On a second though, a small prank will do." “I don’t care about Twilight, but pranking Philomena is something I’ve wanted to do for quite some time now. I will prank her no matter the cost before the day is over, mark my words,” commented Spike, clenching his claw. The group continued their search until they heard a caw from overhead. Looking up, they gasped upon seeing a familiar bird of flames soar above them. Quickly hiding behind a tree, the three of them watched as the mythical bird above flew towards the high tower and into the chambers of Princess Celestia herself. “Come on!” urged Steel. Spike hopped onto his back while the pegasus grabbed Overwatch by the foreleg and took off towards the tower. Despite the extra weight, Steel managed to make it to the balcony of the tower and the three of them slipped against the wall. Overwatch slowly poked her head out for a peak and spotted Twilight and Philomena talking to each other, but couldn’t hear much thanks to the low volume the little unicorn spoke in. The two then walked out the door while the others crept behind them, doing their best to stay out of sight. “Why aren’t we pranking them now?” asked Spike. “Because it looks like they got something planned, and I want to know what it is so we can turn it against them,” answered Overwatch. The three of them ducked behind walls, doors, and columns as Twilight and Philomena continued walking without any sign that they knew they were being watched. Suddenly, the two nodded to each other, and Twilight sped down hallway to the left while Philomena flew off towards the right. The trio looked at both directions, unsure which way to go, at least until Overwatch called out, “You two try to catch Philomena. I’ll handle Twilight!” The two guards nodded as Steel took Spike with him to the right. Overwatch licked her lips and ran down the same hallway as Twilight. She had a suspicion that both of them knew that they were being followed, hence why they split up in the first place. Turning down the hallway, Overwatch expected to see Twilight nearby, but to her surprise, she was standing right outside the barricaded door of Prince Blueblood’s room with some sort of potion by her side. It was steel reinforced with barbwire, warning signs and shield barriers. It wasn’t a surprise considering how Prince Blueblood had been the biggest victim of pranking in previous April Foals and he seemed pretty determined to keep himself prank free this year. Overwatch had to wonder if he was one of Twilight’s targets and, if so, how was she going to get inside. Though she quickly had her answer when Twilight blinked out of existence. “Ah, of course.” *** While the barrier was an unexpected obstacle, Twilight wasn’t fazed as she grabbed a potion between her hooves and disappeared in a flash, easily bypassing such basic defenses with a simple teleportation. Slowly opening her eyes, she looked around, but failed to see anything because of complete darkness. Twilight put the potion on the floor and lit her horn, only now noticing that Blueblood’s entire room was sealed with the lights off and curtains shut, blocking the rays of the sun coming from windows. Slightly confused, she stepped forward, trying to make sense of what was going on while searching for her friend. “Hello? Blueblood? It’s me, Twilight!” Twilight stopped at the sound coming from the bed; She quickly turned to lighten the area, only to tilt her head at the sight of a trembling bed. Suspicious, she rushed over and climbed under to find herself staring into the surprised and startled face of Prince Blueblood who was wearing very thick armor. The noble gasped and yelped “Rat!” with terrified voice before shooting up, only to bonk his head as the sound of crashing metal followed. Twilight winced at the sight while Blueblood shook his head and tried to crawl out from under his bed, how he managed to fit under it in the first place was a mystery, as he soon got stuck.  Twilight ran out of the way and hopped onto the bed, looking at him with worry as he struggled to get out. With push from her telekinesis, she helped the prince out from under his massive bed before levitating her potion onto nearby table so it won't be stomped upon and asked,  “Are you okay?” “Y-yeah, just need to give it a moment,” grumbled Blueblood as he turned on the lights. Twilight noticed something unique about what he was wearing. It looked a lot like the royal guard’s armor, but it seemed double padded, black colored, and had spikes on the spaulders. Blueblood noticed her staring and reared back, poking his hoof against the armor as if proudly displaying it. “Like it? Had it custom made just last week. Worth every bit.” “It looks like you're getting ready for war,” commented Twilight. Blueblood snorted. “Might as well be. It’s April Foals Day and every year I get pranked mercilessly by the guards, maids, even my own friends prank me. I’m everypony’s biggest target because of how I act in public and some of them still give me nightmares.” He then eyed Twilight and nervously gulped, pointing his armored hoof at the tiny mare. “You’re not here to prank me, are you?” “I’ve never even done a prank before,” Twilight lied, although a part of her felt a pang in her heart for doing so. She could only hope Blueblood would forgive her later as she had a bet to win and Philomena counting on her and it was too late to turn back now. She made a mental note to make it up for Blueblood once it was all over. “I just came to check up on you since everypony else is busy pranking one another.” “Oh, thank you for being so considerate,” said Blueblood before pointing a prepared tea set at a nearby table. “Let’s help ourselves to some refreshments while everypony else out there gets covered in sap, sits on whoopee-cushions, and shakes hoof buzzers.” “Sounds nice!” said Twilight while clapping her hooves, quickly jumping from the bed to the table. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and Blueblood rolled his eyes. Twilight could easily tell he was tense by one look at his face and at his trembling armed legs. It was making her second guess the prank she had planned for both Blueblood and Overwatch, but since she had come this far already she might as well go all out. Walking towards the door, Blueblood asked, “Who is it?” “Um... house cleaning. I’m here to serve you, Prince Blueblood,” said a voice that sounded nothing like Overwatch. Despite change of her guard's voice, Twilight knew that it was one of her stalkers as she made a mental note to ask Overwatch how she learned to do this. Blueblood opened a small peephole and growled. “Nice try, Overwatch, but I’m not falling for it.” He turned around, huffing, and noticed the look of distress on the tiny mare. “Twilight? What’s wrong?” The little unicorn sat on her hind-legs while her forelegs were curled against her belly and her eyes widened at Blueblood as if she was a pleading puppy. “Can Overwatch join us at the tea?” The prince blinked, stunned by such a display as his heart started to beat fast. Overwatch was going to prank him for sure, but how could he say no to Twiny’s puppy-dog stare? “Pretty please,” Twilight added with a sad tone, pout on her face. Blueblood was unsure whether he was sweating because of his massive armor or Twilight’s stare as he replied, “I would rather not…” “Awww,” Twilight grabbed her potion between her tiny forelegs, displaying in front of Blueblood as she spoke. “But I worked so hard to make this. It is a special potion full of healthy vitamins and it makes the tea taste much better. I wanted to share it with all of my friends. Please!” “B-but…” Blueblood wanted to refuse, but could not get himself to do so. “I will make sure that Overwatch won’t prank you, I promise!” The little unicorn leaned towards the edge of the table as her eyes sparkled. With a deep sigh, Blueblood nodded and turned towards the door, “Ugh… fine.” Twilight beamed as her horn glowed brightly. Blueblood could only stare in astonishment as his barricade formed of futurine levitated to the side piece by piece. With shake of his head he opened the door as his small barrier disappeared. Overwatch stood at the entrance in a maid’s uniform and stared back at him in confusion. Blueblood stared at Overwatch with suspicion. The guard in maid’s uniform responded with a mocking smirk. Both unicorns sat at the table with full cups of tea as Twilight opened the potion lifted with her forelegs. The little unicorn walked on her rear hooves towards each tea, dropping few drops into it. Overwatch’s attention glanced towards her tea before looking back at Blueblood, who levitated his own tea to his mouth. It was more than obvious that it was some sort of prank; luckily the clueless prince was about to test it for her. Curious, she stared at Blueblood who puffed stream of his tea before tilting it towards his mouth, taking few small sips with regal posture. “Mmm… that tonic of yours is quite delightful, Lady Sparkle. May I ask what you made it from?” Blueblood looked at the table, only to raise his eyebrow as Twilight was gone. His attention focused on Overwatch who stared back at him expectantly, her tea not even touched. “Did you see where Twi–” his mouth opened wide in an instant while his ears and tail shot upward. “What’s the matter, Your Highness? Something wrong with the tea?” Overwatch’s large smile vanished in an instant as she felt something strange in her gut. Something felt wrong, and her intuition had never failed her before. “Is… something on my face?” Blueblood’s passive facial expression turned into a cheerful one, large smile forming, “Has anypony told you,” his foreleg straightened and wrapped around the back of Overwatch’s neck, pulling her head towards his armored chest, “That you are like the cutest, most irresistible, and wonderful cutie pie?” Overwatch felt the urge to vomit as she slid her head out of his grasp, walking backward step by step away from the advancing prince with hearts in his eyes. She was so going to be sick after this is all over. *** “You think she went in here?” asked Spike as he followed Steel through the the halls of ancient farming tools earth ponies used Pre-Equestria. Since many ponies wanted to see the royal palace, Princess Celestia allowed tours to come in and explore the place while also including a small museum that the she’d had made in order to display the history of Equestria and her allies. “Positive, and she couldn’t have picked a worse place,” said a smug Steel. “After all the times Twilight dragged us here? I know this place like the back of my own hoof.” Turning left, Spike and Steel’s eyes bugged out at what they saw. Every painting in the corridor had been ruined. A simple twirly mustache now decorated all the faces on each painting like some cliche cartoon villains, each in different colors. In addition, the few sculptures that were on display now had funny faces painted on them instead of their usual stoic expressions. If Celestia, or even Twilight, had been here to see this they would have blown their tops like an erupting volcano. They might have even tried to kill the phoenix who was currently getting ready to paint a toothy smile on the Pony Lisa. “Get her!” shouted Steel, once the shock wore off. He and Spike charged forward as Philomena quickly turned around and saw that she had been caught. Taking a red paint tube from her small box of artistic tools, she aimed it at the duo and squeezed, hitting them square in the face and chest. With her pursuers blinded, Philomena flew off, cawing in an almost mocking way. Spike wiped the paint off his face before growling. “I’m going to kill that bird!” “Get in line,” grumbled Steel before giving chase again. The two dashed forward as fast as they could, Philomena weaving left and right to avoid pillars. Steel grinned before shouting, “I know this area. There’s a cutoff point nearby. Keep on her tail!” He then spread his wings and flew left past another corner as Spike continued to follow the phoenix. Philomena looked behind her and saw that she had given one of them the slip. Smiling in satisfaction, she looked ahead as she headed into the ancient gunpowder weapons room, filled with ancient muskets and cannons made by the griffins, some of their unique war weapons from ages past. Philomena thought she was in the clear as the corner was approaching her but suddenly, somepony flew out from behind the corner and headed straight for her. “Gotcha!” shouted Steel, charging forward. At the last second, Philomena teleported herself. Steel gasped as he covered his face to avoid getting burned by the flames. Spike, realizing that his friend was heading straight towards him, tried to jump out of the way, but it was too late and the two of them crashed right into each other. They rolled on the floor until they slammed into a set of ancient armor, which fell apart on top of them. The flames from Philomena’s teleportation spread out and managed to light some of the leftover gunpowder on display, causing devastation through the entire display. Ancient muskets and cannons fired loudly enough to alert everypony in the castle and a few streets beyond it. Musket balls shot out, hitting the walls and breaking glass cases. Spike and Steel, kept their heads down despite being protected by their scales and armor. When the final blast had finished, the entire room was covered in thick smoke. Steel looked at Spike and asked, “You okay?” “Yeah, none of them got me. Even if they did, scales would have endured them. What about you? Are you bleeding?” asked Spike worriedly as he saw red on Steel’s chest. Steel wiped some of it off as he shook his head. “Naw, it’s that paint we got hit with earlier. Kind of looks like....” Steel’s eyes lit up before he gave a sinister grin. “Hey I got an idea.” *** The exploding sounds from the gunpowder room had startled Philomena as she waited outside of it, but she soon regained her focus and waited for the two who were chasing her to resume their game. Much to her surprise, there was no sign of them. She began to grow curious. After flying towards the entrance of the smoking room, she looked around, spreading the smoke away with her wings, only for a weak noise to reach her ear. Hiding behind a pillar, she watched as Steel Blade stumbled out, moaning and clutching his stomach as red liquid spilled from the top of his chestplate. “Ugh I think I'm hit." He stumbled to a stand before falling sideways into a nearby wall. "Oh sweet Celestia, I can see the light!" He shouted and raised his other hoof, his back legs gave up the fight soon after and he collapsed onto his stomach. After pausing a moment he rolled over and stared at the ceiling, "Grandpa...is that...you?" His eyes fluttered a moment then closed, his tongue fell out, and he became still. All Philomena could do was roll her eyes before rushing over and pecking Steel in the head, who yipped and shook Philomena off. “Alright! Alright! So I can’t act, can’t blame a guy for trying.” Philomena scoffed. “Well, I’m not done yet! Spike, let’s get her!” shouted Steel. The only reply was silence. “Spike?” A worried expression overcame Steel as he rushed back into the gunpowder room much to Philomena’s confusion. A second later he heard him scream, “Spike!”  serious wounds. Then again, he was a baby dragon, the scales might not have been fully developed; a thought that made Philomena’s heart stop. “... ugh... mmm...S-Steel?” asked Spike, weakly, as he opened his eyes. “Spike?!” shouted Steel. Then, after a moment’s pause, he forced on a smile. “It’s me little guy... don’t worry... I... I’ll get somepony to help and...” “... it... it hurts...” muttered Spike, closing his eyes in pain. “I don’t... I don’t think... I’m gonna make it... I just want it to stop hurting...” “Spike, look at me! Look at me with those green slitted eyes of yours!” shouted Steel. Spike did so, although Philomena could tell he was in much pain. “You have to stay strong, Spike. Think about all of us who would miss you if... if... think of Twilight, Spike!” “Twilight...” whispered Spike, smiling. “Tell her... tell her thanks for everything... and that I... always saw her as a mother...” His smile faded as he winced in pain. “It hurts... so much.” “Shhh,” said Blade as he caressed Spike’s cheek. “It will all be over soon... just rest Spike... rest...” Spike nodded and closed his eyes, seemingly relaxing. “Do... do they have gems in the afterlife, Steel?” “Yes, Spike... they do.” “... cool...” muttered Spike before his chest stopped rising and was silent. Steel lowered his head in mourning and folded Spike’s limp arms over his chest before kissing him on the forehead. “Be at peace, Spike. Be at peace.” Steel the glared at Philomena. “Well?! Aren’t you going to say your respects? It’s the least you can do since this is all your fault!” Philomena nodded and walked towards Spike’s body. Suddenly, one of her sharp talons, strong enough to slice steel itself, clutched the tail of Spike which caused him to scream in pain. He jumped up and down holding it much to Philomena’s disbelief. Her eyes soon formed a glare as she slowly turned to a sweating Steel who was rubbing the back of his head. “Um... it’s a miracle?” Philomena’s response was to shine brightly until both of the fakers were covering their eyes. *** Since it was April Foals Day, many ponies were used to seeing strange things due to pranks and jokes set up by members of the staff, and it certainly wasn’t a surprise to see Blueblood get pranked since every year there was a betting pool to see how many pranks the poor prince would be a victim of. But seeing a love struck Blueblood chase after a guard who was steadily turning green with sickness took the cake. Everypony stepped out of the way or were pushed aside by both ponies as Blueblood continued to profess his love, sweat all over his face as his heavy armor made a lot of noise with every step. “My love! Stop this running! Games are all well and good, but we must stop this and find my aunt so she may wed us! We’ll be prince and princess of Equestria! All the riches in the world will be yours!” “I’d rather be tossed into tartarus you freak! Ugh!” cried out Overwatch, fighting the urge to throw up. She didn’t know if it was because Blueblood was proclaiming his love or the words he chose that were making her own body sick. If I don’t find some way to get out of this problem, I’m gonna lose my lunch! She cursed Twilight Sparkle for her unpredictability and wished she had the little unicorn in her sights right now so she could prank her back. Using her magic to push away a few maids, Overwatch spotted the barracks and dived in, catching the attention of some of her fellow guards. One of them, a unicorn by the name of Lightedge, walked over to her and asked, “You okay, Overwatch? You look like you just ate something made by Steel.” Overwatch would have laughed if she wasn’t too weak to even moan. She leaned forward, nearly losing her balance, but Lightedge was there to save her. Blueblood soon stormed into the barracks and gasped at the sight. “You there! Let go of my mare!” “Y-your mare?” asked Lighhoof in hesitation. Overwatch shook her head and muttered ’love potion’ which made him nod. “Prince Blueblood, you’re under a powerful potion. You need to relax so we can get you cured.” “Cured?! The only thing I need to be cured of is you! Taking my little cherry pie while you pretend nothing is going on! I should have your quartered for this!” Blueblood walked up to the guard and slapped him. “I challenge you to a duel! Hoof to hoof! Stallion to stallion!” He raised his forehooves out and jabbed the air a few times. “Come on then!” Lightedge raised an eyebrow and turned to his fellow guards, including Overwatch. “Um, should I?” “Yes!” They all shouted. Lightedge shrugged and in one split second made his right hoof connect with Prince Blueblood’s unprotected jaw, resulting in the armored unicorn getting knocked out instantly. Lightedge sighed in relief. “That felt so good. Are we sure it’s not Hearths Warming Day? ‘Cause I’m feeling like it is.” The guards all laughed except for Overwatch who groaned and held her stomach. “S-sorry,” she said as the guard focused on her. “I... I think I’ll need a bathroom for a bit... he made me sick in more ways than one,” grumbled the female specialist as she limped towards the ladies room. Wishing that Steel managed to punish the bird for giving Twilight such a sick idea for a prank.