//------------------------------// // Meta-some Ponies (Pickleless) // Story: The Prank // by Pickleless //------------------------------// The day Bucky and Stupid met couldn't exactly be called normal, in all honesty, it was technically the strangest day of their lives. Only technically, because they both have had MUCH stranger days before this. What makes this day so special, is that the both of them have no explanation for what conspired that day. Bucky owns a farm. For a herd of his size and with the problems they face, making your own produce is a definite plus. The fact that Berry has a way with, well, berries, definitely had an influence on this decision. Bucky specifically happens to own his own little garden nearby the border of the Everfree Forest. The size of it clearly showed this was more of a hobby of his than it serving any practical use. It was a small fenced in location growing a plant known as the Neighponese Arrowroot. The Neighponese Arrowroot is a vine that climbs and coils around anything it can reach. It's known to kill other plants by simply denying them light. It's considered an annoying weed by most and most farmer ponies try their best to kill the persistent thing. It flowers can be used to make jelly. If you're lucky, bees nearby will collect it's nectar, producing a form of red or purple honey that can taste like bubblegum. Dinky's control of insects meant that all the little fillies and colts would get an extra sweet treat from her father's garden. Ponies also can crush it into a fine powder to make herbal tea, much to Diamond Tiara's delight. The irony of this is Bucky actually does not care for taste of Neighponese Arrowroot. Nothing it makes pleases him really. Many ponies think he grows the plant because he feels he can relate to it. And thus, every day he wasn't away from home he would try to take the time to tend to his garden personally. Oddly enough, Bucky would always end this by reading his garden a haiku or two. On that fateful day that Bucky met Stupid, he found the fence to the back of his garden had been busted open. Breaking through his garden was a spontaneous growth of what Bucky first thought to be trees. What he was really looking at were large herbs known to grow a fruit called the False Banana. It was a large, green herb that shot up into the air by about 6 meters. The top spread open into a mass of large leaves that provided a great deal of shade. Growing at the top of the tree, just below the leaves, were the False Bananas. False Bananas looked nothing like bananas. They were oblong, red fruit that had dark brown seeds in them. The fruit itself was perfectly fine to eat, but the real use came from the herb it grew off of. The strong quality of the herb made for good twine, baskets, and weaving in general. It was a tree that grew all year round, and although it needed some protection from the cold, it was a good source of crop and material. Wandering into the cluster of herbs, Bucky found that they were connected to the Everfree. The herbs were so tight packed he could only make progress in one direction, right towards the Everfree. Right as he came across the border of the forest, he saw something most peculiar. Between two herbs that would lead into the dangerous forest, was a large pile of bright, yellow bananas blocking the way. Laying on top of the bananas, was Stupid, who happened to be unconscious. Since that day things have never seemed to be the same. The only pony, or rather changeling, who happened to notice that things have become a little... odd, was Stupid. Suddenly, worldwide peace had been declared. The griffon's homeland had been mysteriously repaired, and the death rate had decreased dramatically. Stupid didn't complain about this at first. These were good things. What was odd to him was how everypony seem to have lost all sense of self preservation. Nopony suspected that perhaps the Minotaurs declaring that they wanted peace might have been a ruse. Nopony batted an eye at the high class Unicorn supremacists suddenly being very open to the idea of adopting homeless Earth Pony foals and giving to charity. The whole world had become perfect. Too perfect. The day Stupid really started to question things, is the day he witnessed Derpy dying. It was a terrible accident which lead to a group of pegasi dropping heavy load on top of her, crushing her flat. Wondering how to break the news to Bucky and his family, Stupid found that Derpy was perfectly alive and well the next morning and nopony even remembered her getting injured. It was right then Stupid had a horrible suspicion welling up inside. Going off a hunch, he resisted his urge to tend to his False Banana herbs for a month. The effects were rather noticeable. The best way Stupid could describe it as... it's as if reality was falling apart. Randomly the sky would black out for a few seconds. Clouds would disappear and reappear. Certain, solid materials would sag as if the air had been let out of them. The worst moment, was when Rainbow Dash had been trotting along with a blank look on her face. She tripped and fell through the ground... and never came back out. Stupid started to panic when she didn't come back the next day. After tending to his garden, everything turned back to normal and Rainbow Dash spontaneously appeared again. It was right then Stupid confirmed that he had absolutely no control over his life anymore, and the goals that he had worked so hard to achieve were now irrelevant. Don't think about it. This has been Stupid's philosophy since that day, and it's been the only thing keeping him reasonably sane. As long as he didn't think too deeply about anything. Sure, things were dangerous occasionally, he should probably be a little more concerned when his friends are being threatened by something hostile. They always come back the next day though, and they're not really trying to keep themselves safe besides the token effort. Sometimes Stupid wondered if they were brought back to life, or if they had died and it was another version of them tha- Don't think about it. It's not like it mattered much anyway. Even if he did look into things it probably wouldn't lead anywhere productive. Ever since that day he got killed in an acciden- Don't think about it. Stupid firmly believed, that one of the keys to succeeding in life was to enjoy it. It wasn't that high of a priority before but now he felt more than ever that it's the little things that count. Day to day moments that make you laugh. Of course, Stupid had to wonder sometimes how many days he had ahead of him, nopony seems to be noticeably aging despit- Don't think about it. Today, Stupid had decided to investigate something that had been bothering him for awhile now. He made sure to take Bucky with him, he couldn't really defend himself and Bucky is good at killing things. Not that really needed to defend himself anymore but he liked to put in the token effort. "Explain to me again why we have come all the way out here?" Bucky questioned. "Something's been nagging at my mind recently," Stupid started. "Remember that banana pile you found me in?" "Vaguely." "Vaguely?" Stupid frowned. "That day is bit hard for me to remember actually." Bucky confessed. "Huh, that's odd." Stupid quickly dropped the subject. "Anyway, whenever I tend to my herbs, I see that banana pile." "And?" "It's still there Bucky, it hasn't started to grow old or mushy or anything." Stupid pointed out. "That is strange." Bucky mused. "I wanted to see if I could take make my way past them and see what's on the other side," Stupid explained. "Maybe it will clear up a few things." "What things are you talking about?" "Don't worry about it." Stupid lazily waved a hoof. Stupid and Bucky made their way to the pile of bananas. Taking a deep breath, Stupid braced himself and started climbing them. Touching the bananas made him feel good for some reason. His head felt clear, he able to focus on the task better. Feeling encouraged, Stupid put forth more effort to reach the top. The top was blocked off by the leaves of the herbs. After thinking about it for a moment, Stupid tried to tunnel his way through instead. After pushing his way through, he saw... Stupid, what did you find? ... Stupid, can you hear me? I see an endless amount of strange, furless faces staring back at me. ...What? Stupid dug his way back to Bucky, and got off the banana pile. "I stared into the abyss, and it stared back." Stupid quietly said. Stupid put his hooves to his forehead and focused. "...Aaaaaaaand gone, I don't remember anything anymore!" Stupid happily stated. "What did you mean by abyss?" Bucky tilted his head. Don't think about it. "I don't know, and I don't care!" Stupid smiled. "Let's go see if Dinky got anymore of that awesome honey your plants make!"