//------------------------------// // Bonus: Prank // Story: Where did you come from? // by Jeweled Pen //------------------------------// Sweetie giggled softly into her hoof while she set up the chair, before nodding to the others. “Okay, it's all good. Signal Scootaloo.” Applebloom gave a nod before racing to the window and waving her hoof. She, Sweetie, Silverbelle, Silver Spoon and Button all quickly took their seats, giggling and chuckling amongst themselves as they did it. All except for Diamond, who just rolled her eyes as she sat. “Don't you all think this is a bit silly? It's not even a good set up.” “Aw, come on. He'll love it!” Applebloom said with a big grin. “He probably neva got a chance tah try this back home!” “Yeah,” Sweetie said with a little giggle. “It'll be hilarious, trust me.” Diamond shook her head, but finally gave a grudging nod. “Fine. I still think it's silly. We could have been far more clever about all this.” “Too clever an' we'll probably make him all upset again. Yah all know how sensitive he can--” The door swung open and Applebloom quickly went silent. Scootaloo walked in, followed by a confused looking Val. “I still don't get what you were talking about. That tree looked absolutely NOTHING like Big Mac.” “Ughhhh, how could you not see it? It looked just like him! It was huge and everything! He totally would have seen the resemblance.” Val gave a shrug. “I guess? I just don't see it.” He then perked up. “Wait, is Claw not here? YES! Has he finally been kicked out?” “... No,” Scootaloo said flatly before taking her seat. “He's just busy helping Rarity gather some more jewels. So, go on, sit down and we can start.” “Awwww. We should totally kick him out, though,” Val said with a quick nod. “If we did that, we'd have to kick out you and Button,” Diamond said quickly. “What? Why me? Nooo!” Button whined. “Go on Val, sit!” Sweetie said with a light snicker, making the other girls facehoof. Val blinked, then shrugged. “So, what are we--” When he sat down a loud tooting sound filled the air as the cleverly hidden woopie cushion under the cushion erupted from the added weight. He sat there in horror, his eyes wide. A moment later, the ponies burst into laughter. “Okay, I hate to admit it but that was a little funny,” Diamond said with a light snicker. Val just sat there for a few moments, before jumping to his hooves, little tears in his eyes. “I-it wasn't me! It wasn't! I'm innocent! I-it was a spell or-or some kind of trap or a monster or--” “It was a woopie cushion, Val,” Scootaloo said with a snicker before walking over and lifting up the cushion with a snicker, revealing the plastic toy. “You know, a prank.” “A... a prank?” he asked softly, staring at it. “Yeah, yah know. A joke. Come on, laugh, it's funny,” Applebloom said with a light snicker. Val stared at it for a few moments, intently eying the cushion before a low chuckle escaped his lips. “I... see. I think I understand.” Diamond nodded. “Good, so--” “It's a little... toy designed to humiliate a pony.” “Err... well, no, it's just meant to be a prank. Yah know, a harmless prank.” He stared at it, slowly picking it up in a hoof. He then nodded. “I see.” “Good, so let's--” “VERY WELL!” Val yelled, lifting it up, before slamming it to the ground. “If... you think I'll just stand by while you all HUMILIATE me, you don't know me at all!” “Err, Val?” Sweetie said softly. “It was just a--” “No! This slight will not go unavenged!” “Val, calm down,” Scootaloo said nervously. “I will not calm down! If you all want pranks... then very well. I will create the greatest, bestest, most powerful prank of all time!” With those words, the colt raced from the tree house, slamming the door shut behind himself. “You better watch your backs!” “Did... did we all go a lil too far?” Applebloom asked nervously. “It... was woopie cushion,” Silver Spoon said softly. “I mean... well, a woopie cushion.” “But... this is Val we're talking about,” Scootaloo said softly. “Who gets this upset over a woopie cushion?” Sweetie asked. “Should we all be worried?” Applebloom asked. “Nah. It's just Val, he... oh,” Sweetie said weakly. “Has absolutely no self restraint,” Diamond said softly. “Oh dear,” Scootaloo added. “I'm sure it'll be fine,” Silver Spoon said quickly. “I mean, he'll probably just drop a water balloon on us or something and then, boom, done.” “Huh? Oh, yeah,” Sweetie said with a shrug. “It's not like he'd do anything actually dangerous.” She and the others laughed, though there was just a hint of nervousness to them. ------ Chad shrieked as he ran for his life, tears in his eyes as the hydra raced after him. Why, why did he want that double bean chili and brussel sprout carrot surprise so badly? ------ Applebloom groaned softly before she fell into bed, nuzzling her pillow affectionately, the lights off. However, she froze when she saw something out of the corner of her eye. She looked over and saw something shadowy inside her closet. A low smirk formed on her mouth and she slowly crawled out of bed, internally chuckling. She couldn't believe Val was so... silly. Jumping out and scaring her at home? How simple could yah get? Well, she'd turn it right around on him and get all of this prank business over and done with. She slowly crawled forward before leaping. There was a loud thump followed by her shriek as she wrestled with the varmint. A few moments later the light came on and Applejack stood in the door, looking worried. She stared down at her little sister, who was in the middle of wrestling with a basket of laundry. “Applebloom, what in tarnation? Ah jus' washed those!” Applebloom blinked and looked down, before looking up sheepishly. “I... errr... I thought...” Her cheeks burned. “Yeah, ah ain't really got anythin'...” Her sister rolled her eyes before closing the door. “And yah get tah bed! Yah got school in the morning!” “R-right,” Applebloom said sheepishly as she untangled herself from the laundry. She trotted over to her light and switched it off, before walking back over to bed. She couldn't believe she'd done that. How big a dope could she be? ------ Chad screamed as he ran from the two manticores. He couldn't believe it. How did he manage to run into their nest? All he wanted were some blueberries! ------ Scootaloo took a deep breath before she looked down the cliff, her scooter at her side. A big grin formed on her face. “This is going to be so, so awesome,” she said with a happy squeak. “Is it safe?” Val asked. “WHAT?” Scootaloo jumped, looking back to the colt. “When did you get here?” “A few minutes ago. I saw you up on the hill and I was bored so I came to visit. Are you going to go down it?” “Maybe,” Scootaloo said nervously as she eyed him suspiciously. She then looked down at her scooter, then the hill. Was it possible he'd done something? He wouldn't actually do anything that might kill her, would he? He'd only just got here. What could he have done? “Cool! I wanna see!” Val said quickly. “You... do?” she asked nervously. “Yeah! I really have nothing better to do. Mom told me to get out of her hair for a little bit because I kept asking her about why donkeys were able to talk but goats weren't and she just kind of got annoyed. Then I asked about manticores and she told me to go away or she'd take away my sugar cubes with dinner and those are kinda awesome.” Scootaloo looked down at her scooter, chewing on her lower lip. “Y-yeah. Just... err... just a moment.” She looked down at the hill, then her scooter. A grin flashed on her face. “Yeah. Watch this!” She jumped on the scooter and started racing down the hill, dodging around the rocks. However, after a few moments she began to feel panic. Whatever he'd done wasn't going off yet why wasn't it going off was it going to wait until she went superfastohmygoshhewasgoingtokillher! Panic rose in her and she let out a shriek, before veering off hard to the right. She slammed face first into a tree, flying forward and bouncing off it, before landing on the ground. She now had little swirls for eyes. “Owwww...” “Scootaloo! Scootaloo, are you okay?” Val asked as he ran up. “That was awesome!” The pegasus groaned. “Hate... so much...” ------ Chad ran for his life, the three griffon's chasing him with spears out. This time he was sure it wasn't his fault, he hadn't even done anything but sunbathe! How was he supposed to know it was some ancient burial site? It looked like a nice lake! ------ Sweetie and Silverbelle painted slowly, Precious looking over them. “Very good, Sweetie. You're getting much better at doing it within the lines. Silverbelle, you're doing marvelous as always, but you must try to be spectacular. Ms. Richerford's only accepts the greatest.” “I know, mother,” Silverbelle said softly. “Oh Sweetie! Silverbelle! Claw! Your little friend is here,” Rarity called out from the other room. “Val,” she added in a flat tone. “Hey!” A moment later Val was in the room, darting past Precious. “Guess what!” he said excitedly, making the two fillies take steps back. “Err... what?” Silverbelle asked, eying him worriedly. “Mom said because I was really good and didn't try to destroy anyone in school today or threaten or promise unholy vengeance I could get a treat for me and my friends!” He then reached back and pulled out a few chocolate cupcakes. “Here! Take one!” Sweetie reached for one, then froze. The color drained from her face before she looked to him, then the cupcakes. “You... know what? I'm really not hungry. How about, errr, you can have mine.” Silverbelle looked confused, then realization dawned on her face. “Oh! Yes, right. Errr, you can have mine, too.” Val blinked, then let out a yelp as Claw jumped him from behind and engaged snuggle mode. “GAHHHH! Claw! Get off!” “Nope! Snuggle times!” “You can have a cupcake if you get off!” he shrieked. Claw jumped off and smiled, looking expectantly at the cupcakes. Val rolled his eyes before looking to the two. “Are you sure you don't want one?” “Sure! We're sure!” Sweetie said quickly, shaking her head. “Claw, errr, I don't think Claw needs one either.” Val shrugged. “He'll whine if I don't give him one.” He then tossed one to the dragon pony, before plucking one out and taking a bite, happily chewing. “So, you girls wanna--” “They're busy right now,” Precious finally interrupted, shaking her head. “We're in the middle of painting practice.” “Ohhhhh,” Val said with a nod, before glancing to their stuff. “Looks weird.” “It's an abstract!” Precious snapped, before grabbing him by the tail in her magic, making him freeze in place. “I think it's time you took your leave.” She scooted him out the door with a yelp and closed it behind him. “I don't know why you girls hang out with that boy.” Claw belched. “That was good...” ------ Chad raced for his life, tears in his eyes as four wyverns chased after him. He didn't even know Equestria HAD wyverns. But at least this time he knew it was his fault. If he'd just ignored that coconut and hadn't tried to use that feather in the cave none of this would have happened. ------ “Hey!” Val yelled as he galloped up besides Diamond and Silver Spoon. The two froze in place, turning to him. “Yes?” Diamond asked, forcing a nervous smile on her face as she looked him up and down. It had been almost a week now, was this it? Was this when he got them back? She'd been certain he would have done something by now, but she couldn't believe how patient he was being. Maybe he was a lot more cunning and tricky than she'd ever given him credit for. “Wanted to know if you two wanted to do something,” Val mumbled, looking around. “I can't find the other girls anywhere. I think they might be avoiding me.” He paused. “Did... I do something?” “What? No, I'm sure they're not avoiding you,” Silver said with a shake of her head. “We're really busy, though, so, err--” “Oh? Busy with what? Can I help?” “Errrr, no! It's fine, really, we just... err... have to... help my dad with some chores,” Diamond said quickly. “We promised him we'd help wash all the windows in his store today. That's where we're headed! Right now, his store!” Val blinked a few times, eying them suspiciously. “His store... huh?” “Yeah! Right now!” “Wow... I can't believe this,” the stallion said. “Your dad has a store! I wanna see!” “... Really?” “Yeah! Is it a cool store?” “It's... a general store,” Diamond said softly, looking around nervously. “I... errr... guess you can see... but then you really, really need to go.” “Sure!” he said before trotting after them. The two fillies shared looks and then sighed. ------ Chad could barely run anymore, sweat glistening from his body as he ran from five basilisks. He really had no excuse. He didn't know what he expected when he went through Basilisk Pass. ------ Button tapped away happily on his gamecolt, a wide grin on his face. He almost had a new high score. “Hey Button!” Val said. “Wanna play a game of--” “AHHH DON'T HURT MY GAMECOLT!” the colt screamed before galloping off, leaving his smoothie behind. Val just stared with confusion, before shrugging and taking the drink. “Mmm, orange.” ------ Chad dangled upside down from a rope trap, staring at the six zebras. He gave a nervous smile. “Err... Hola, senorita.” “I'm a guy,” the one in front said. Chad would have face hoofed if he could. ------ Val frowned and nudged a small bouncy ball around between his hooves. He just couldn't figure it out, all of his friends were acting so strange. All week they'd been avoiding him, even in class they kept giving him strange looks. He scoured his mind, trying to find out what could have caused this. But it didn't make sense. He was awesome, borderline perfect. Who WOULDN'T wanna hang out with him? Yet they were all avoiding him and didn't want to eat snacks with him or anything. What did he do? The door to the club house opened and he looked up excitedly. All six fillies, Claw and Button came walking in. They looked around nervously for a few moments, before finally Scootaloo stepped forward. “YOU WIN!” Scootaloo shrieked, kneeling before him. “W-what?” he asked, confused. “We give, you win! Just, just do your prank and get it over with!” “What? What in the--” “We can't take it anymore!” Applebloom shrieked. “Ah haven't slept a full night all week! Ah keep jumpin' at shadows! Ah broke two wagons and a cart! Yah got any idea how mad Applejack is at me?” “I can't even go around on my scooter anymore!” Scootaloo shrieked. “I've had to walk EVERYWHERE! Walk! Do you have any idea how LAME walking is? WALKING!” “I can't even eat any food without making sure it hasn't been tampered with!” Sweetie screamed. “I have to keep using Claw as a food taster!” Every eye fell on her. “What? He's part dragon. It's not like anything could actually hurt his stomach.” That seemed to satisfy the group. Silverbelle nodded along with her. “I... I thought this was going to be easy. Some water balloons or something,” Diamond said with a shudder. “I had to spend my whole afternoon cleaning shop windows thanks to you. Both me and Silver! Do you have any idea how horrible that was?” “I lost out on my high score!” Button said. “And I lost a smoothie!” Val just stared in confusion as the ponies knelt before him, half of them on the verge of tears. “You win! You beat us, just, just get it over with!” Scootaloo cried, shaking her head. The little colt's mouth fell open and he cocked his head to the side. Finally he shook his head. “What are you all talking about?” “The prank! Your prank! You said you were going to get us back!” Diamond wailed. “Oh, yeah. That. Huh, I guess I forgot.” Silence reigned in the treehouse for a few moments before Applebloom slowly sat back up, her left eye twitching. “You... you forgot?” “Oh, yeah. I mean, the... farting thing was kind of weird, but I guess it wasn't really so bad. I was kinda mad at the time, but after I calmed down I figured it didn't really matter.” He gave a shrug. “Besides, mom always gets mad at me and says I take things too far so I just decided to let it go this time.” The little ponies stared at him, then looked at each other, then back to him. Diamond took a deep breath. “Get him.” ------ Cheerilee sighed contently as she sipped her tea and started buttering her biscuit. It was such a nice morning and she had missed taking calm, relaxing mornings like this. It was the weekend, she deserved to treat herself. Before long the waiter would bring over her salad, she could hardly wait. Just some time to lay back, relax and-- “AHHHHHHHHHH!” Val raced by, pursued by all of his little friends. The teacher stared for a little bit, before shrugging and sipping her tea. “He'll be fine.” At least long enough for her to eat her breakfast, she was sure. ------ Cheerilee took a slow, deep breath before resting a hoof on her forehead. She swore she could feel a vein of annoyance starting to form. “So. You mean to tell me. You chased Val into the Everfree Forest where we had to spend NINE HOURS trying to find him... because he DIDN'T prank you?” “He... he didn't prank us for a whole week!” Applebloom said defensively. “I fail to see the distinction,” she said flatly. “I had to eat purple berries and they tasted awful!” Val said from the nearby table, wrapped in a blanket and sipping cocoa. Twilight was sitting across from him, her horn glowing as she made sure he was okay. “I got exposed!” “Exposure,” Twilight corrected with a shake of her head. “That too!” “And you were in the shade for most of the time, you didn't get exposure.” “Well, I got chased by a timber wolf.” “That... on the other hoof... is true. And actually worse. Why didn't you lead with that?” Twilight asked. “I have a flair for the dramatic.” “That's not... that's the wrong thing to...” Twilight face hoofed and shook her head. “Well?” Cheerilee asked, looking down at the children. “I just wanted to play tag...” Claw said softly. “We're... we're really sorry. We just got a little carried away,” Scootaloo said, hanging her head. The other fillies managed to look sufficiently dejected as well. Cheerilee gave a sigh and put a hoof to her forehead. “Fine. Mistakes happen. However, I can't just let this slide.” She took a slow, deep breath. “Grounded, one week. All of you.” “What?” they said in unison. “That's not fair, you're not our mothers you can't ground us!” Diamond said. She yiped at the look their teacher turned on her. “Do you want to make it two?” “O-one week is fine,” the filly squeaked. “Good. Now, you may all go,” Cheerilee said before looking to Val. “Val, honey? Are you okay?” “Oh, yeah. I end up in that forest a lot, though.” She gave a nod and a sigh. “Maybe it's time you meet Zecora... the girls would probably love to introduce you...” “Who?” Cheerilee shook her head. “Nothing. It can wait until later. For now, let's just make sure you're okay.” “All things considered, he's doing better than like... he usually does,” Twilight said with a shrug. “I wouldn't worry.” The teacher sighed. “Good. I just wanted a nice, warm biscuit and some tea...” “Huh?” Val asked. “Nothing. Come on, let's get you home.”