Surprise

Rarity swiveled in the chair behind her desk, the dim light leaking through the blinds behind her casting wild shadows on the office walls. "Wee! Oh, this cushioning is divine. I simply must know where they got this chair, I would so love to have one like it in my drafting..." she paused. "What are you doing?"

Rainbow Dash hefted the camera. She couldn't remember what she was doing here, but something spilled out of her mouth anyway. "Rarity, you know we're filming, right?"

She blinked, and her pupils shrank. She glanced off to one side of the frame. "Opal? Opal!"

A moment later, they resumed filming. She sat behind the desk, a pensive expression on her face as she stroked Opal's fur. "He's gone too far this time, Opal. We ought to do something about it... but what?"

Opal purred, and Rarity squinted at her. "Hm. Reliable, but not particularly stylish. I think we can do better." She sighed. "I suppose it's always an option, if all else fails."

Opal rolled her eyes. Rarity tapped her chin, and scowled at the wall. "Well, that's something, but it's a bit too... barbaric." She swiveled to the window and peered out through the blinds. "And even so, what would we do with the scooter afterwards?"

She stroked Opal absentmindedly. "I suppose there are things we could do, ponies I could talk to, but still, it might not be quite enough."

Opal cast a glare at her and tried to walk away. Rarity sat her back down, and she gave a low half-hissing mewl. Rarity blinked, and a smile crept onto her lips. "Oh, yes. Yes, I think that will work quite well." She turned to the window again and raised the blinds. "If you'll excuse me, Opal, I have some calls to make."

The cat popped off the table and scurried out of the frame and the office, apparently glad to leave.

- - -

Crinkle.

Jet Set's eyes popped open, and he couldn't imagine why. As he cast his gaze over the room, he couldn't see a thing out of place. The phone on the dresser, the briefcase by the door, the baseball bat leaning against the window sill. None even moved an inch, and nothing seemed unusual about the room. He turned over and was about to go back to sleep when he heard the noise again.

Crinkle.

He rolled over and glared into the black void by his bed. He wasn't sure what was going on. Perhaps it was the neighbors and their lawnmower again. He had half a mind to do something about that, but not tonight. And certainly not himself. He groaned and shut his eyes.

Crinkle.

He grated his teeth and turned on the lamp next to the bed, taking another quick glance over the room. Still nothing displaced, and yet something felt wrong.

Then he noticed the gray pegasus mare standing next to the bed.

A mad grin leapt across her features, and her misaligned eyes swiveled toward him. She finished eating a mouthful of chips from her bag, and shouted, "Muffin!"

If Upper Crust wasn't awake already, she was after her husband finished screaming.

- - -

Rainbow Dash blinked and stared up at her cloudy ceiling. She wasn't sure what she'd been dreaming about, but whatever the hay it was, she knew one thing. She probably shouldn't have stayed up watching mob movies with Pinkie last night. She groaned, and glanced over at the clock.

Seven. Way too early. She tossed over in her bed, and her legs knocked against something. That was weird. She was pretty sure she hadn't put anything on her bed last night. She couldn't remember. She had been looking for her copy of Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone last night, but she couldn't remember if she'd found it or not. Maybe she left it on her bed?

It was kind of uncomfortable, whatever it was. Maybe she'd get it... or maybe she'd wait until later. Too tired for now to actually get it. She stirred, and glanced at the foot of the bed.

A bright pink head sat in a pool of sticky red something atop her sheets, staring up at her with unblinking blue eyes.

Rainbow Dash screamed. She wasn't sure how long she screamed. It was a long time, for sure. Like, maybe five minutes? It was a while. Only when she ran out of breath did she hear the mad giggling coming from across the room.

Pinkie bounced up beside where her head rested atop the bed and grinned at her friend. "Surprise!"

She glanced from the head to Pinkie, and then back again. She wasn't sure whether to be confused or embarrassed. She decided to go for both. "Pinkie? What the hay are you doing in my bedroom?"

"Well, I was kinda bored last night and I couldn't get to sleep so I came here and you were all sleepy and I watched you for a while and that was fun but then it wasn't so I decided to prank you!"

She stared at Pinkie. "So, you've been watching me sleep all night?"

Pinkie circled the bed a few times, nodding vigorously for a moment before she hesitating. "Well, not all night. I got bored and did some other stuff."

"Pinkie, that's kinda creepy." She paused a moment to process what Pinkie had said. "Wait, other stuff?"

She screwed up her face and glanced around the room, apparently trying to remember, then grinned again. "Oh, I pranked you and I looked in the closet and then I brought Gummy over! He said he wanted to play with Tank."

"Oh, good." Rainbow Dash blinked. "Wait, closet?"

A minute later, Gummy came wandering out of the closet, a boxed figurine in his mouth. Pinkie pointed in his direction. "That closet!"

The box looked familiar. Very familiar, in fact. It took her a moment before the horror set in properly. She gasped, and the room blurred around her.

"Pinkie, that's my mint condition Spitfyre action figure!"

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