Of Flame and Shadow

by Garuda IV

Chapter 22- Prank Wars

Twilight jumped out of bed when she heard the scream. She didn't know who it came from, just that whoever it was is in trouble. The other thing she was wondering was how they got so far into her castle without setting off any of the wards she had placed. Granted that Pinkie was able to do just that, but Twilight considered her to be an exception. Throwing open the doors to her bedroom, she was met with Spike just leaving his. While Twilight was happy to see that it didn't come from Spike, he however, just stood where he was, unable of what to make of Twilight.

"Uhh, Twilight?" he asked questionably. "What happened to you?"

"What do you mean, Spike?" Twilight questioned. "I'm perfectly fine."

"Then what happened to your coat and mane?"

Not knowing what Spike meant, Twilight decided to go over to her mirror to check for herself. Once she did, she saw that her tail, wings, and forelegs were black, her mane blond, and the rest of her coat was turned to a blazing-orange. Although she was initially curious as to who was screaming, Twilight was now wondering how she managed to get Dark's coat and mane colors. With the Prank Wars in mind, and with Spike now participating, Twilight went back over to Spike to confront him.

"Spike," she called suspiciously, "you wouldn't by chance have had anything to do with this, would you?"

Spike cocked an eyebrow at her. "No. I was asleep all night. I just woke up when I heard that screaming. It wasn't you, was it?"

"No, it wasn't," Twilight answered.

Not wanting to waste anymore time, Twilight put Spike on her back as she began searching the castle. After five minutes of checking for the source of the scream, Twilight stopped, noticing that she hadn't seen Dark yet.

"Spike," Twilight addressed as she turned her head to look at him, "where's Dark?"

"Probably up in his room?" Spike guessed.

"Then why would he still be in there if a scream like that could be heard throughout the castle? Wouldn't he have come out to try and help?"

"I guess." Spike looked over to the direction of Dark's room. "You don't think that it came from his room, do you?"

Twilight thought about it as she followed Spike's gaze. "Well, we haven't checked that area of the castle yet, so I don't think that it would hurt to look."

With that, Twilight and Spike made their way up to the guest rooms. Once up there, they began checking the rooms one by one until they finally came to Dark's room. With a gentle knock, Twilight called through the door.

"Dark? Are you in there?" she asked.

Few seconds later, she heard some scrambling before the room went silent.

"Is it alright if I come in?"

After going a few seconds without an answer, Spike hopped down from Twilight's back.

"Alright, I'm heading in," he said as he reached for the doorknob.

"Spike, wait!"

But before she could do anything, Spike had already opened the door and walked inside. With an irritated sigh, Twilight followed Spike into Dark's room. The place was still clean and nothing looked displaced, that is, except for the bed. Beneath the bedsheets was a small mass trying to hold still so no one would notice it. It didn't work, however, as Twilight and Spike walked over to the bedside.

"Dark? Are you alright?" Twilight questionably asked, getting a headshake from under the blanket. "Is something wrong?" The blanket nodded. "Will you at least tell me?" Twilight asked slightly irritated, getting a headshake in response.

"Seriously? Is it so bad that you can't even speak to us?" Spike questioned, getting a silent nod in reply.

With a sigh, Twilight leaned over to the blanket. "Listen, Dark, I get the feeling that you're embarrassed about something, but it's alright. Look at me for example, somehow I've got your coat and mane colors."

Hearing this, Dark pulled the blankets back so that her draconic eyes could peek out from under the blanket. Looking out, she saw that Twilight did in fact have her coat colors. As she looked out, Twilight in turn got to see her golden eyes looking back at her. However, Twilight immediately noticed that there was something off about them, like they were softer than usual. Feeling as though she's starting to get through to her, Twilight decided to try urging her a little bit.

"That's better," she smiled. "Now that you've seen what's happened to me, can you show me what happened to you?"

Dark really didn't want to show her what had happened to herself, but she also didn't want to upset Twilight by hiding away like this, so she needed a way to show her without showing her. Getting an idea, Dark slid a lavender claw out from beneath her blanket to show Twilight and Spike.

"Do you have my coat and mane colors like how I have yours?" Twilight guessed, getting a thumbs up from Dark. "So, is that why you're not wanting to come out?" she asked, getting a so-so wave from Dark's claw.

Getting irritated from this guessing, Spike decided to take action as he walked up and grabbed the corner of the bedsheet.

"Alright, enough games," he said as he started pulling off the covers. "Now, what is it that you're hiding?"

Once Spike pulled the blanket completely off of Dark, he and Twilight were greeted with the sight of a lavender Dark cocooned in her wings.

"Oh, come on!" Spike shouted before sighing and turning to Twilight. "That's it, I'm done. You can handle this from here."

As Spike walked over to the dresser and sat on it with folded arms, Twilight reached over and gently placed a hoof on Dark's wing, causing her to flinch.

"It's alright," Twilight reassured, "having our colors swapped isn't that bad, is it?"

"That's not the problem," a muffled voice answered.

While Twilight would've smiled to finally get a verbal answer, she instead just continued looking confusingly at Dark. She immediately knew that the voice she heard wasn't Dark's natural male one, but that of a female's. Cautiously, Twilight gently brought her hoof to the top of Dark's wing and slowly began pulling it back, only to be met with resistance.

"Dark, can you please let me look at you?" Twilight gently asked.

With a reluctant sigh, Dark allowed for Twilight to continue moving her wing off to the side. Once Twilight had removed Dark's wing, she was met with a sight that made her freeze in place with her jaw hanging wide open. While Twilight had expected to see something strange, what she didn't expect was to see a female version of Dark sitting before her. Nervously shifting around, Dark looked back up to Twilight.

"Well?" Dark meekly asked.

Twilight didn't reply as she was still frozen from the shock. Curious as to what Twilight found out, Spike hopped down from is sitting spot and walked over to Dark. Unlike Twilight, though, once Spike saw Dark's condition, he immediately fell to the floor and began laughing at her. With a look of embarrassment, Dark looked down to the laughing Spike.

"This isn't funny!" she whined, causing Spike to laugh even harder.

Shaking her head free, Twilight brought a hoof to her mouth to hide her amused smile as she looked back to Dark.

"Wow," she giggled. "Now this I didn't expect."

"Me neither," Dark agreed. "Now how do we fix this? I would much rather prefer being a guy."

"Really?" Twilight questioned, "because you look rather cute as a mare."

Dark's face was completely flushed by Twilight's comment. She didn't know whether she should be flattered or... something else that she couldn't think of at the moment. With a small pout, Dark looked back up to Twilight.

"But I'm not suppose to be cute. Can we please change me back?" she asked.

"Alright," Twilight giggled, "just give me a second."

Twilight lit up her horn as she began casting an counter spell on Dark. However, when the spell was cast, nothing happened. Confused, Twilight tried recasting it repeatedly till her fourth failed attempt.

"That's weird," she commented. "My magic isn't working on it."

"So what now then?" Dark asked. "I can't-"

Dark was interrupted and froze as he heard the sound of a camera shutter snapping. Slowly turning, Dark saw Spike with a camera taking photos of him. With a squeak, Dark shielded herself with her wings, trying to hide from having anymore embarrassing photos taken of her.

"Spike!" Twilight scolded. "Why are you taking pictures of Dark like this?"

"Because this is just too good to pass up," he explained as he took another picture. "Besides, when was the last time somepony got gender swapped like this?"

"Never that I'm aware of, now put that camera away. Dark's embarrassed enough without you harassing him- I mean her."

With a dejected sigh, Spike lowered the camera and exited the room. Once the sound of his footsteps were gone, Twilight turned back to Dark.

"It's alright, he's gone now," Twilight said, causing Dark to peek out from her wings.

Seeing that Spike was indeed gone, Dark folded her wings and hopped down from the bed. As she stood up straight, she saw that she was now at perfect eye-level with Twilight.

"So now what?" Dark asked.

"First, I think that we should get something to eat," Twilight suggested as she turned to head to the kitchen.

Following Twilight, Dark groaned. "And what about the Prank Wars? I can't be seen by our friends like this!"

"I'm sure that they'll be fine with it."

"And what about everypony else in town? What will they think when they see that I've been turned to a mare and that we've switched colors?"

Twilight didn't let that little fact bother her. Since weird things would happen in Ponyville, and that the ponies knew what today was for Twilight and her friends, they probably wouldn't question it too much. As they entered the kitchen, a question came to Dark.

"Umm, Twilight?" she called. "When you were explaining the rules, you didn't say anything about team members pranking each other."

Twilight cocked an eyebrow at her. "Are you asking if I did this to you?"

"Well you did say that I looked cute, so I just thought that maybe your curiosity got the better of you?"

As the realization of what Dark had just said caught up to her, she looked to see Twilight giving her a shrug.

"While you do look cute as a mare, I'd personally prefer you as a stallion. And besides, teammates aren't suppose to prank each other during the Prank Wars," Twilight explained.

With a sigh of relief, Dark trotted up alongside Twilight. As they continued towards and into the kitchen, Dark and Twilight sat down to eat while going over their prank plans.

"So, how bad is this going to mess up our plans for pranking our friends?" Dark asked.

Twilight looked over Dark, then down to her list of pranks before looking back to answer her.

"Looks like we'll have to cross out numbers twelve through fifteen," Twilight answered as she conjured a quill and crossed them off.

"And what about the prank for getting back at Spike?"

Twilight smirked as a pink bottle appeared on the table. "Oh, that one's still on."

With a mischievous and eager giggle, the two finished their breakfast before making to the castle door. As they made their way over, Dark's pace slowed down.

"Something wrong?" Twilight wondered.

"Just a little nervous is all," Dark answered.

"Alright, I'll go first," Twilight sighed as she opened the door. "Besides, I doubt that- EEEEKK!!"

---

Ten minutes earlier, Spike was sitting outside the castle door waiting for his team to meet up with him. As he waited, he looked down to the camera in his claws, eager to get them developed. Chuckling to himself from what he saw earlier, Spike didn't notice a shadow sneaking up behind him until it blew into his ear. With a yelp, Spike leaped forward before turning around to see Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo.

"Hey, Spike," Sweetie Belle greeted. "You ready for today?"

"More than ready," Spike nodded as he lifted his camera, "and boy has this morning been funny."

"What happened?" Apple Bloom asked.

"I can't do it justice," he chuckled. "You'll just have to wait and see it for yourselves, or when I get these pictures developed."

"Okay, so are we gonna get this started yet?" Scootaloo asked, balancing a tin bucket full of water on her back. "This thing's getting kinda heavy, and it's super cold."

"Did you put ice cubes in it?"

"Eeyup," Apple Bloom answered.

"Great, they'll never see it coming." Spike turned to Sweetie Belle. "Hey, Sweetie, could you attach this hanger up above the door and hang that bucket of ice water onto it?"

With a devious smirk, Sweetie Belle did ask Spike asked. With their prank all set up, the four jumped into a nearby bush to wait and watch. They laid huddled up against each other for a while before they could hear voices from the other side of the door. Waiting in anticipation, the door opened, the top of it pushing against the bottom of the bucket and causing it to tilt. With one last push, the bucket spilled all of its ice water down onto its unsuspecting victim. Hearing the sound of water splashing and a surprised scream, the four swiftly and silently ran off to find the next pony to prank.

---

Twilight stood there frozen in place by the freezing water that was just dumped on her. Seeing Twilight's shocked expression and shivering body, Dark immediately ran up to her.

"You alright?" she asked.

"S-S-So, c-c-c-co-cold," Twilight answered.

"Alright," Dark began as she draped a wing over Twilight to help warm her up, "let's get you into the shower so you can warm up."

With a shivering nod from Twilight, the two made their way to the bathroom. After running the water for Twilight, Dark stepped out and sat by the door, wondering if these sort of pranks were normal for today. While the ice water prank did make a small part of her laugh inwardly, and the color swapping with Twilight wasn't that big of a deal for her, she just couldn't get over who could make her swap genders like this.

Her first suspect was Discord, since he has chaotic magic and all. Next up was Pinkie Pie. While she didn't have magic like Discord, she did have something that nopony could explain, so for all she knew, Pinkie could have something to do with her being female. Dark briefly considered Celestia, but quickly put that thought out of her mind, not thinking that she would actually come down to compete in it. And besides that, she didn't even show up to the meeting to go over it. Going through her head as to who else might be responsible, Dark found himself sitting there for over a half-hour before he heard the door open. Looking over to the door, Dark could see Twilight walking out of the steamed room looking perfectly fine.

"Feeling better?" Dark asked.

"Much," Twilight replied with a refreshed sigh. "Alright, ready to head out?"

"Sure."

After grabbing their bags by the door, the two made their way back to the castle doors, checking them first before passing through them. The walk through Ponyville was rather unnerving for Dark as she tried hiding herself against Twilight. They continued their way to Sugarcube Corner, hoping to grab a bite to eat. As the two opened the door and walked into the shop, their eyes immediately turned to see Pinkie, Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow sitting at one of the tables. Not expecting to see the four all here, Dark started frantically looking for a place to hide before they saw her. It was too late for her, though, as the bell above the door caused their eyes to turn to her and Twilight, and to start laughing loudly at them.

"Hey, Twilight, hey, Dark," Pinkie laughed as she waved to them. "Come have a seat with us."

As Twilight walked over, Dark stayed where she was. Seeing as Dark wasn't following, Twilight went up behind her and started pushing her to the others. The feeling of embarrassment returning, Dark covered herself with her wings before the other got a good look at her.

"What's up with Dark, Twilight?" Rainbow snickered. "Is he too embarrassed with his new colors?"

"Not exactly," Twilight answered.

"Ah still can't believe that y'all were able ta pull that off," Applejack complimented.

"Wait, Pinkie and Rarity are the ones who did this to us?"

"It wasn't that hard, darling," Rarity said. "After all, I had the coat and mane dye on hoof, and Pinkie Pie has her ways of going unnoticed. Though it still surprises me how she was able to do all of that without waking you two up."

"It actually wasn't hard at all," Pinkie shrugged.

"So who's idea was it to swap our colors?" Twilight asked.

"That would've been mine, actually," Rarity proudly answered. "And don't worry about the dye, it'll wash out in a day or so."

"Any specific reason why you would pick this prank?"

"Well, isn't it obvious? It's because you two are a couple, are you not?"

"Not yet," Dark answered from beneath her wings, causing everypony besides Twilight to look at him curiously.

They each picked up on the tone of her voice, wondering as to what happened to her now. At first they thought that it might've been the Poison Joke which caused her voice to change like it did with Fluttershy, but they weren't completely sure. Standing up, Applejack walked over to Dark and poked at her wing.

"Hey, Dark?" Applejack called. "You alright there?"

"Not really," she mumbled.

Applejack looked over to Twilight who brought a hoof to her mouth to stifle a giggle before turning back to Dark.

"Well would ya mind at least lookin' at me when Ah'm talkin' ta ya?"

Hearing her request, Dark sighed and peeked an eye out from the top of her wing. Almost immediately, Applejack saw something different in her eyes. She'd spent enough time with Dark and looking into those golden eyes when they talked and ate together. But now, she saw something very different in them, a look that could only come from a mare. Peeking through the gap in Dark's wings, Applejack saw that Dark was indeed a female now. A split second later, Applejack burst with laughter as she fell to the floor and began rolling around, holding her sides as she continued to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Rainbow asked, flying over to Applejack who couldn't even answer her.

Desperate, Dark looked over to Twilight who was snickering slightly.

"You might as well show them now and get it over with," Twilight suggested.

With a reluctant sigh, Dark opened her wing to show her friends her new look. Upon seeing Dark's new body, Rarity's jaw dropped in shock while Pinkie and Rainbow joined Applejack on the floor laughing their hearts out. Hearing laughing coming from her side, Dark looked to see Twilight giving her an apologetic look while she tried to contain her own laughter. After a few more minutes of laughing at Dark, Pinkie finally found her voice again.

"Wow, Darky," she began, wiping a tear from her eye, "I can't believe that you got Rule 63'd."

"I got what?" Dark confusingly asked.

"Somepony swapped your genders, silly."

"Yes, I knew that much, Pinkie." Dark froze as Pinkie's words fully caught up with him. "Wait, so this wasn't your doing?"

"Nope. You were still a stallion when I snuck in and dyed you."

"Then if it wasn't you, then that means that-"

"It was me," a disembodied voice answered from behind Dark.

Snapping around, Dark looked around the room for the owner of the voice.

"Where are you Discord?!" she shouted.

"Oh don't get your panties in a bunch, Miss Dark," Discord gleefully laughed.

Annoyed by Discord's antics, Dark flared out her wings as her tail began wildly thrashing about.

"I swear, if you don't show yourself and change me back, I'll-"

"Um, Dark?" Twilight interrupted, her face covered with a deep blush. "You should probably stop moving your tail around so much."

Dark tuned to her and cocked an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Well... you're starting to flash us."

With an "eep", Dark tucked her tail between her legs while her wings wrapped around her body, which in turn caused Discord to laugh even louder. Her embarrassment now overcome by anger, Dark looked back around for Discord.

"Why are you doing this?!" she demanded.

"Why?" Discord returned before breaking into laughter again. "Remember when I told you at your party that I'd be getting you back for that little comment of yours?"

"You mean the one where I said that Fluttershy had you whipped?"

"That's the one."

"You've got to be kidding me! Is making a funny comment like that really worth all of this?"

"Hmm, let me think about that... yep!"

Having enough, Dark began casting his Soul Eyes. Upon completion, Dark looked around and quickly spotted Discord floating just a few feet away from him. With a growl, Dark flared out her wings.

"I'm warning you, Discord, return me to normal so I can have my nuts back, or so help me, I will tear you a new one!"

"You're welcome to try~" he sing-songed.

"Very well then," Dark lowly replied before disappearing in a shadowy mist and reappearing on top of the invisible Discord's back.

Latching onto him, Dark hung on tight while Discord began flailing around, causing him to drop his invisibility. As she held on, Dark bit him began pounding her fist against Discord's head, causing him to change colors with each hit. As the two continued to struggle with one another, Twilight and Rarity were staring slack-jawed at them, Applejack and Rainbow were laughing at them, and Pinkie was happily watching while enjoying some doughnuts she got from the kitchen.

"Wow, did Dark just teleport?" Pinkie asked as she took another bite.

"No, he didn't," Twilight answered. "Remember when he was practicing magic with you watching that one time?"

"Oh yeah. I forgot about that."

"Excuse me, but shouldn't we do something about them?" Rarity asked.

"Probably not a good idea. Remember the saying 'Tartarus hath no fury like a mare scorned'? Well, I think that Dark might be experiencing her first one right now."

"All the more reason why we should stop Dark before he- pardon me, she damages something."

"Probably a good idea," Applejack agreed, her laughing fit now under control. "Besides, Ah don't think that the Cakes would like it very much if they found out that Dark accidentally destroyed everythin'."

"I guess you're right," Pinkie sighed as she swallowed the last of her doughnut.

Before they could do anything, though, Discord tossed Dark off of his back before flying out the door and slamming it shut behind him. With a sigh of relief, he wiped the sweat from his brow and leaned on the door. As he leaned up against it, he started hearing a whistling sound. Looking up, Discord was met with a pie to the face as he was launched into the door, knocking it open and laying sprawled out on the floor.

---

A few minutes earlier on a hill on the other side of Ponyville, Spike and the Crusaders were standing by a catapult that Apple Bloom had made some time ago, and a cream-flavored pie.

"Are you girls sure that this is safe to use?" Spike questioned.

"Of course it is," Apple Bloom assured, "Ah'm the one who made it. And besides, we've used it before and it worked just fine. Now, let's stop waistin' time and get ourselves ready."

Listening to Apple Bloom, Scootaloo began buzzing her wings and lifted herself into a tree with a pair of binoculars. As she landed in the tree, she took a moment to feel proud of herself for how much her lessons with Rainbow had paid off for her, especially since she didn't even feel tired afterwards.

Seeing Scootaloo settled in her lookout spot, Sweetie Belle levitated the pie onto the catapult arm while Spike grabbed the release lever. The four already knew where the others were going to meet up at and decided to wait go give them a catapult-flung pie to the face. As Scootaloo watched the commotion through the window of Sugarcube Corner, she called out to her team below.

"Get ready!" she told them. "Somepony's going to be coming out very soon."

"Apple Bloom?" Sweetie Belle addressed. "Are you sure that this thing is set right?"

"Of course it is," she answered with a pat on the catapult. "Ah got this thin' all positioned and calibrated yesterday."

Seeing the door open, Scootaloo shouted, "Now! Fire!"

Hearing the signal, Spike give a yank on the lever and launching the pie. As it flew through the sky, Scootaloo watched it through her binoculars. What she didn't know, though, was who it was that would be getting hit. Looking down to the door to Sugarcube Corner, Scootaloo's eyes widened as she saw Discord getting hit in the face by the pie and sent back through the door into the establishment. With a nervous look, she fluttered down to report the news.

"Well?" Apple Bloom asked. "Did we get them?"

"Yeah," she slowly answered. "And that's the thing. It turns out that we hit Discord square in the face."

With the news of their prank victim, the four immediately booked it to their next location.

"Do you think he'll be mad at us?" Sweetie Belle asked as she galloped.

"Don't know, don't want to know," Spike replied as he and the girls picked up the pace and got out of there.

---

Seeing Discord laying motionless on the floor, everyone ran over to check on him. Once they saw that he was still breathing, Pinkie went over and dipped her hoof in whatever was splattered over his face. After taking a lick, Pinkie's face lit up.

"Mmmmm, cream," she smiled.

"Wait," Dark said, "are you saying that this pie is cream-flavored?"

"Yep."

Seeing Discord starting to stir and open his eyes, Dark looked smugly down at him.

"You know," she snickered, "I'm tempted to make several obviously crude jokes about you right now off the top of my head, but I think that I'll hold my tongue on it this time."

"What happened?" Discord asked disoriented.

"From the looks and taste of it, you got a cream-flavored pie to the face," Pinkie snorted.

"A cream..." Discord glared at Dark. "Was this your doing?"

"I'm sad to say that I honestly had nothing to do with this."

Wiping the pie off his face, Discord stood up to face Dark as she and the other girls were all trying to hold back their laughter. Some did better than others as Rainbow, Applejack, Pinkie, and Dark all laughed at him, while Rarity and Twilight just stood there shaking their heads.

"Oh, is that so?" Discord questioned, a devious smirk forming on his lips. "I should have known that you wouldn't have had a part in it, Dark. Especially when you consider the fact that you don't have the balls to go through something like that."

His comment silenced the room as Dark began glaring angrily at him. Discord, however, just continued giving Dark his smug look, unaffected by her angry face. If nothing else, Discord thought that she looked kinda cute when she was angry... at least, as a mare anyway. A few seconds of silence later, Discord opened his mouth to taunt Dark some more.

"What's the matter?" he taunted. "Is changing your gender like this such a big deal that you-"

Discord froze as he felt an icy chill crawl up his spine, one that was coming from directly behind him. Slowly turning around, Discord was met with the unapprovingly eyes of Fluttershy as she glared at him.

"Oh, well hello, Fluttershy dear," Discord innocently greeted.

"Discord," Fluttershy warningly spoke, "are you really the one who turned Dark into a mare?"

"Of course I am," he laughed. "Besides, it's all fun and games here."

"Changing somepony's gender like that is beyond just 'fun and games'," she scolded. "Now, would you mind undoing the spell?"

"Sorry, but I can't. The spell will only wear off after it's duration is up at sunset."

Fluttershy flew up to be at eye-level with Discord. "If that's the case, then you'll be sleeping on the couch tonight."

"What?!" everyone shouted, Discord out of disapproval while the others were out of shock.

"You can't kick me out," he protested.

"It's just for one night. Besides, it's my house."

"I know that," Discord whined, "but we agreed to continue with our fun time tonight after you had enough time to recover after Sunday night."

"Ooh, what kind of fun were you two having?" Pinkie eagerly wondered.

"Wait," Dark interrupted, starting to piece everything together. "Sunday night... recover?" Dark's eyes widened as he looked back to see Discord proudly smirking at him with crossed arms. "Discord, did you and Fluttershy..."

"Bow chicka bow wow."

While everypony's jaws dropped at the news of Discord and Fluttershy being intimate with each other, most of Fluttershy's body had turned completely red from the intensity of her blush, and her anger.

"That's it!" she snapped. "One week on the couch, and no touching!"

"But-"

"No buts! Next time, you keep that sort of stuff to yourself."

"But aren't guys suppose to talk about that sort of stuff with other guys?" Discord questioned.

"Sorry, Discord," Dark smugly said, "but technically speaking, you're the only guy here."

Discord blinked a few times as his own plan backfiring against him. Turning from Dark to Fluttershy, Discord gave a defeated sigh as he lowered his head.

"I'm sorry."

"You should be," Fluttershy agreed. "Now go back to the cottage and wait for me there. I'll be right over once I'm done here."

With a silent nod, Discord teleported himself over to Fluttershy's cottage. Once she was sure he was gone, Fluttershy looked apologetically to Dark.

"Sorry that he did this to you," she said. "I told you girls... and Dark... that I would keep an eye on him and make sure that he didn't use his powers too much." She paused to sigh. "I should have known that something was up when he got up early last night. He never does that."

"So... you two really are together?" Rainbow asked.

Fluttershy nodded meekly. "For a few months now actually."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Pinkie asked. "I would've thrown you two a party for being together."

"Well... we actually didn't want anypony to know just yet."

"I suppose we can all understand that, right, everypony?" Twilight asked, getting a round of nods in return.

Feeling a bit more calm about it, Fluttershy smiled back at her friends. They went to take a seat at one of the tables before a thought came to Fluttershy.

"Um, excuse me, Rarity?"

"Yes, dear?" Rarity replied.

"You remember that book of yours that you let me borrow last month?" Fluttershy asked, getting a blushing nod from Rarity. "Would you mind if I held onto it for a little longer?"

"Why?" Rarity nervously asked.

"Because I might need it for tonight."

"... oh my. Poor Discord."

"Huh?" Dark questioned. "Why 'poor Discord'?"

Rarity blushed harder as she thought about Discord's fate. "... let's just say that Fluttershy's going to have Discord begging and whimpering by the time she's done with him."

Letting that subject die off, the group of mares decided to stay in Sugarcube Corner for some lunch. While they knew that they were wasting precious time pranking each other, the inside of Sugarcube corner was deemed as their "Save Zone". Sitting around the table, everyone laughed as they shared the pranks that were pulled on them today.

It turned out that when Rarity went to grab herself a morning shower, she found out that the contents of her shampoo bottle had replaced with mayonnaise, courtesy of Sweetie Belle. Applejack too had been pranked by her younger sister when she went down to eat some apple pie for breakfast, only to learn that it was a pear pie instead. While it didn't seem like that big of a deal to the others, Applejack didn't find it as funny as she'd immediately spat the pie out of her mouth with a gag. Apple Bloom didn't take any offense to it, though, as she could be heard laughing away in doorway.

With their meal done, they paid up front before heading over to the door to leave. However, as Twilight opened the door, she found a piece of string attached to the outside door knob. Seeing this as another prank trap, Twilight carefully cut the string. Seeing as nothing happened, she slowly opened the door to see a bucket of possibly freezing water hanging above the door. Feeling safe since she'd cut the string and disarmed the trap, Twilight walked out the door... only the pull on a tripwire that was attached to the water bucket.

---

Three minutes earlier, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo were setting up another water bucket prank for the ponies inside. As they were getting everything set, Scootaloo looked around at what they were doing.

"So, why are we having two strings attached this time?" she asked.

"Because," Apple Bloom began explaining, "if they see the one on the door and snap it, they'll think that they're safe, and that's where this here tripwire comes into play."

"Okay, then where's Spike?"

"He said that he had to go get those photos developed," Sweetie Belle answered. "But that was right after we catapulted the pie."

"I'm back!" Spike called as he ran up to the Crusaders panting for breath.

"There you are. What were you doing all this time? It seemed unnaturally long to just have some photos developed."

A wide grin was spread over Spike's face. "Oh, I just thought that the guards patrolling Ponyville would like to see this."

Spike brought out a photo and showed it to the fillies. At first the looked at it confusingly, but eventually turned to Spike.

"Who's that?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Turns out that Dark and Twilight had their colors switched."

"Yeah, we can see that Twilight has Dark's colors," Scootaloo said with an eye-roll. "What we want to know is who that mare with Twilight is.

"That's the funny part," Spike chuckled. "It's Dark."

"What?!" Sweetie Belle said in surprise.

"I'm serious! Dark got turned into a mare!"

"And every guard in Ponyville knows about this?" Scootaloo asked, trying to suppress the urge to loudly laugh.

"Ooh, yeah."

They were about to break into a laughing fit when they heard hoofsteps near the door. Ducking into a nearby bush, the four looked out to see who it was that would get pranked this time. They each held their breath as they saw the door open a little bit before stopping suddenly. After seeing the string on the door knob snap, they saw Twilight walk out and pull the trip wire, splashing yet another bucket of freezing water all over her.

"Not again," Spike groaned, facepalming for it being Twilight who had set it off.

"We should probably get outa here," Apple Bloom suggested.

"But if we do that, then we'll get caught," Sweetie Belle argued.

"Then we'll just stay here and wait for them to leave," Scootaloo said, getting a collection of silent nods in agreement.

---

"Not again," Dark groaned as she saw Twilight shivering out in the open.

Taking Twilight in her magic, Dark brought her back into Sugarcube Corner. As she sat her back down, Dark turned to see Pinkie appear beside her with a fresh towel in her hooves. Taking it in her claws, Dark removed Twilight's soaked saddlebag before drying her off. As she continued to rub her down, Dark could feel Twilight's shivering continue. Seeing as this wasn't working to warm her up, Dark remembered a small breathing lesson she had with Spike. Taking in a deep breath, Dark began breathing out warm steam onto Twilight, causing her shivers to die down as her coat started drying.

"So, who's prank was that?" Rainbow asked, getting a group of shrugs and headshakes.

"But if none of us did it..." Applejack began.

"... then it must have come from our sisters?" Rarity finished.

"And probably Spike too," Dark added before bathing Twilight in another wave of steam.

"H-He's s-s-so gon-n-nna p-p-pay f-f-for this-s-s," Twilight muttered.

While they were busy with Twilight, Pinkie noticed something leaning out of Twilight's bag. Taking a look, Pinkie saw a bunch of pranking gear completely damp with cold water.

"I'm not so sure about that," she said holding up the soaked contents of the bag.

"Well there goes all of our pranks we had," Dark commented.

"Dang, sorry that that happened to you guys," Rainbow apologized.

"Yeah. Ah'm sure y'all had some pretty good pranks planned out for us," Applejack added.

"We did," Twilight sighed, her speech no longer affected by her shivers. "I guess we better head on back to the castle and plan out our next move."

"I'm sorry that today was ruined for you two," Fluttershy said.

"It's alright," Dark replied. "Besides, we still have time to pull off some kind of prank."

With that, Dark and Twilight left the building and headed back to the castle. As they walked out of earshot, the others looked to each other.

"So, what now?" Rainbow asked.

"Oh, we're not done yet," Pinkie grinned.

"We still have a few pranks to pull on you three," Rarity added.

"In that case, Ah suggest y'all start gettin' on that before we get ta ya first," Applejack countered.

"What about Dark and Twilight?" Fluttershy asked.

"It sounded like they weren't going to give up quite yet," Rarity said. "Don't worry about them, dear. They'll figure something out, and I'm sure that what ever it is will be great."

---

Dark and Twilight were walking down the road side by side. While Twilight's fur was mostly dried, the freezing water had chilled her to her core. As she continued using Dark to help keep her warm, the two began noticing the guards looking at them with funny expressions. However, upon closer inspection, they saw that they were directed more towards Dark more than Twilight. It wasn't until the came across their three guard friends that they got some answers.

"Hey, Dark," Aura snickered, barely able to contain her laughter.

"Hey, Aura," Dark returned.

"What happened to you, lad... or would you prefer lass?" Steel asked.

With a reluctant sigh, Dark answered, "Discord turned me into a mare in my sleep."

Cheeks puffed out, Aura turned to Steel. "Permission to laugh?"

"Granted."

With permission, Aura fell to her knees and began laughing out loud, quickly followed by Steel and Kite. As the three continued laughing, some of the other guards looked over to see the commotion before they too joined in. Curious about something she'd noticed, Dark looked back to the three.

"Wait, you were laughing about this before we even started talking," Dark observed. "How did you guys find out about this so quickly without even seeing us?"

"With this," Kite answered giving Dark what looked like a picture.

As Dark and Twilight looked over the picture, they then realized who it was that's responsible for spreading the news of what happened to Dark. Peeking up from the photo, Dark saw Kite rejoin his squadmates as they continued laughing at her.

"Spike gave this to you, didn't he?" Dark guessed.

"And just about every other squad in Ponyville," Aura added.

With a groan, Dark returned the photo back to Kite before she and Twilight continued back to the castle.

"Wait," Aura called out as she trotted up alongside them, "I was just curious as to whether this is permanent or not?"

"It'll last till sundown," Dark answered.

"Good, because you look much more attractive as a stallion."

Hearing this caused Twilight to shoot a warning glare at Aura, who immediately shrank back away from them.

"I was just kidding," she said defensively.

"I hope so," Twilight quietly muttered.

Not wanting to risk a potential catfight, Steel Hoof cleared his throat.

"I believe that we've spent enough time here. Besides, I'm sure that Princess Twilight and Miss Dark have somewhere the need to be?"

"Just getting Twilight back to the castle," Dark answered. "One of the pranks involved her getting doused with a bucketful of freezing water."

"In that case, we'll leave you be," Kite said before bowing to Twilight and leaving, followed closely by Aura and Steel.

As the two walked away from the three guards, Dark gave a defeated sigh.

"Think it's safe to say that if this Prank Wars would have a winner, it would easily be Fluttershy and Discord," Dark admitted.

---

After getting herself another hot shower, Twilight was laying down covered in a heavy blanket by a roaring fire that Dark had made in the lounge. The water had chilled her much more than she thought she did, and the wind that had picked up after talking to Steel's squad didn't help her either. As Twilight continued to lay there against the fire in her cozy blanket, she heard the doors open as Dark walked in with a pair of mugs. Sitting down besides her, Dark levitated over to Twilight her mug of homemade hot chocolate that Dark's mother had taught her. While the smell was strong and welcoming to Twilight, the sight of the steam rising off of it just made it all that much better.

Blowing on the top to cool it off, Twilight took a delicate sip so she wouldn't accidentally burn her tongue. As she sipped it, she could taste the flavors flowing over her taste buds. Continuing to drink it, Twilight then decided that this was by far the best hot chocolate that she'd ever had. She also made a mental note to apologize to Pinkie about that comment some time later on. Finishing off her mug, Twilight relaxed back into her blanket, feeling the warmth of the hot chocolate warming her from the inside.

"That was delicious," Twilight complimented to Dark.

"You want another?" she asked. "I made enough for about five or six mugs.

With an eager nod from her, Dark took Twilight's mug before leaving for the kitchen. It didn't take her long to return with Twilight's second serving, which she eagerly dove into. Settling back down alongside Twilight, Dark heard her cough lightly before looking over to her.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm alright," Twilight answered. "Just a little cough is all."

"Still, though, a little cough could turn into something worse. Want me to get you some cough medicine?"

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt," Twilight said with a nod.

Shadow Melding to make the trip quick, Dark grabbed the medicine before returning to Twilight. Having accidentally discovered that she could bring non-biological objects into the shadows with her when Shadow Melding a few days ago, Dark was back quicker than ever before. Returning to Twilight, Dark poured her some cough syrup before she began drinking it. Sealing the bottle and setting it down off to the side, Dark sat beside Twilight.

"So," Dark began, "any ideas for another prank that we could do?"

Twilight put her mug down to think about it. However, she couldn't think of anything at the moment with how things have gone so far today.

"Sorry, but I don't think that I can think of anything right now," Twilight apologized.

"In that case, I'll just have to think of something."

Taking a sip of her hot chocolate, Dark began pondering on what to do. They lost almost an entire day's worth of pranking due to them being pranked, and losing the stuff they were going to use to prank the others with. The two laid in front of the fire in a silence only broken by the sipping of their drinks, and the crackling of the fire. It was about ten minutes later when Dark spoke up as an idea came to mind. It wouldn't be very nice, maybe even questionable, but it was all she had.

"I might have an idea," Dark said as she began explaining it to Twilight.

As she continued explaining her plan, Twilight's face turned to horror.

"Dark?" Twilight questioned. "Why would you want to do that? And could it even be done?"

"I'm sorry, but it's the only thing that I can think of. Besides, we already have what we need to pull if off. The only real thing we'll need will be our acting." Dark paused as she saw the uncertain look on Twilight's face before an excuse came to mind. "We'll be getting back at Spike and the Crusaders."

Slowly, Twilight's uncertain look turned into a mischievous grin.

"And you're sure that you can do it?" Twilight asked.

"If we do it right, then I don't see how it can't work."

---

Sunset had finally come around, and with it, the Prank Wars dinner party. This also meant that the spell placed on Dark had been lifted, turning him back into a male. As soon as he was turned back, he reached down to feel that his boys were also returned to him. With a satisfied sigh, he went to prepare for his and Twilight's last minute prank. Everyone who participated had brought in a dish that they themselves made, including Spike and the Crusaders, while Dark had to make two to cover for Twilight. Dark, however, had set their food out before the others got there so he and Twilight could execute their prank.

Once everyone including Discord showed up at the table, Twilight walked in pushing a food trolley with a white sheet draped over it, and a large silver food tray with a matching lid sitting on top. As she pushed it up against the table, she looked over those who've gathered.

"Alright," Twilight happily began, "I think that we're ready to start eating."

"Umm, Twilight," Fluttershy spoke up, "aren't we forgetting somepony?"

"Like who?"

"I believe that she's talking about Dark, darling," Rarity explained.

"Yeah, where is he anyway?" Rainbow wondered.

"Oh, he said that he had something to do and that we could just go on ahead without him."

With a cautious look, Applejack eyed out Twilight as the others sat down and began digging in, seeing that something was off about her. One thing that Applejack noticed over the years was when Twilight would lie, she would start acting slightly nervous. And while she had managed to hide it, Applejack could still see the signs. Knowing something was up, Applejack cautiously began loading up her plate. Once everypony was situated, Twilight sat herself down with food trolley parked right beside her. Seeing it still covered, Pinkie was the first to speak up about it.

"Hey, Twilight, what's in the fancy food tray?" she asked, causing everyone in the room to redirect their attention to it.

"Oh, this? Just a little something that I put together," Twilight happily answered with a pat on the tray lid.

"Well, what is it?" Spike asked.

Twilight subtly smirked. "Why don't you come and find out?"

Before Spike could get up, Rainbow was already over, curious as to what Twilight had cooked up for them. With possibilities running through her mind, Rainbow began licking her lips as Twilight took the cover in her magic and slowly showed everyone what was under it. What they saw, however, made everyone gasp in horror.

On the silver food tray was a ring of lettuce surrounding the familiar head of Dark, who's mouth was wide open with an apple inside of it. Taking a step back, Rainbow looked from the head to Twilight.

"Is this some kind of joke?!" Rainbow shouted.

"Easy, Rainbow," Twilight calmly said. "He's fine."

Looking back to the head, Rainbow then saw Dark's eyes snap wide open. With a yelp of surprise, Rainbow jumped back away from him. As her mind began to slow down from being spooked so badly, her face turned from shock and horror, to a knowing smirk.

"Nice job you two," Rainbow said as she walked back up to them, the others now closing in too. "I see what you did here. You cut a hole so that only Dark's head would show through the bottom, while the rest of him is sitting on the lower rack beneath the sheets." Rainbow reached down to grab the sheet covering the food trolley. "While I'll admit that that was a pretty clever plan and all, the jig is now up."

Rainbow then lifted the sheet up so they could see the rest of Dark... only to find it empty. Believing that Twilight had added an illusion spell to it, Rainbow began waving a hoof in the empty space. Her eyes began to widen as she was meet with no resistance, her fears from before returning in full force. As a last ditch thought, she crawled into the empty space. Seeing Rainbow like that, everyone slowly turned back to Dark's head just to hear him cry for help, his voice muffled by the apple in his mouth.

With fear and panic gripping them, Spike fainted on the spot while everyone else ran out of the room screaming. All except for Discord, who was now carrying an unconscious Fluttershy in his arms as he teleported the two of them away. When the screaming died down, Twilight burst out laughing which quickly turned into a coughing fit. Seeing Twilight laughing caused Dark to laugh too as he widened his mouth a little bit more before chewing down on the apple. After swallowing it, Dark pulled the rest of his body out of the shadows and stood alongside Twilight.

"I can't believe that actually worked," Twilight said in-between breaths.

"I know," Dark laughed.

"How did you even come up with that?"

"Remember when I asked you to blast me in the chest when I was testing my Shadow Meld?"

"Yeah," Twilight nodded. "Your body dissipated into shadows and all that was left was your head."

"Bingo. I already knew that I could do it with my arms, but not with my head. At least, not until up to that point."

"So, because of your Shadow Meld, you were able to maintain just your head?"

"Since the only light was artificial and slightly dim, it didn't hurt for me to be Shadow Melded, so yes."

While it was their only prank of the day, they were still proud of how much of an impact it had and how perfectly executed it was. Their celebrating was stopped, though, as they heard Spike groan.

"Ugh, what happened?" he groggily asked before his eyes snapped open from remembering. "Dark!"

"I'm fine, little buddy," Dark said standing before him.

"What? But- you-"

Spike didn't finish as his brain shutdown on him again. Seeing him pass out for a second time, Twilight and Dark looked to each other with a look of guilt on their faces.

"You think we might've gone a little too far?" Twilight asked with a cough.

Looking back down to Spike, Dark nodded. "Unfortunately, I think we did."

---

The following day was filled with Dark going to his friends and apologizing for going overboard with their prank. While Pinkie, Rainbow, and Discord had a nice laugh after Dark explained it to them, Applejack and Fluttershy took a little bit more convincing, and Rarity gave him a scolding. The hardest part was apologizing to the three fillies that they scared. Once Dark found them, he did his best to try and explain the prank to them so that they could understand. Unfortunately for him, the only way they would agree to forgive him was if he would buy each of them some ice cream. Even with the pleading eyes they were giving him, Dark was already intent on following up with getting them their treats. What he didn't know, though, was just how much those three could eat when it came to ice cream. As he watched them eat, he was reminded about Twilight back at the castle. As he figured would happen, the freezing water bucket pranks that she got hit with had caused her to catch a cold. He'd told Twilight that he was willing to stay and help her, but she wanted him to continue like he normally would, and to go out and apologize to everypony that they pranked the night before for both himself, and for her.

By the next day, things had returned back to normal as Dark reluctantly made his way to Sweet Apple Acres to work. Like Rarity had told them, the dye that had been used on him and Twilight had washed out, returning them to their normal colors. What Dark was reluctant about, however, was the fact that Twilight seemed to be getting worse before she went to bed last night. Dark offered Twilight that he'd ask Applejack if he could have the day off to stay and take care of her, but she convinced him that it was just a cold and that he shouldn't worry too much about it. However, while Dark trusted Twilight's judgement, a knot formed in the pit of his stomach as he saw a few of Twilight's feathers laying on her bedside.

And so, Dark made his way to the farm and got to work. As they day rolled on, Dark did his best to use work as a way to keep his worried mind off of Twilight being sick, but his thoughts always came back to it. Seeing his unease, Applejack decided to find out what was bugging him

"Hey, Dark," Applejack called. "Everythin' alright? You seem like somethin's botherin' ya?"

"Just a little worried about Twilight is all," Dark admitted.

"Because of her catchin' a cold? Ah wouldn't worry too much about it."

"I know, but it feels like I have this knot in my stomach, like something's wrong."

With a sigh, Applejack walked over and put a hoof on Dark's shoulder.

"Look, Dark, Ah understand that ya wanna help her, but Twilight-"

"Applejack! Dark!" a voice echoed through the orchard.

Knowing who that voice belonged to, Applejack called back to let Rainbow know where they were. A few seconds later, they saw her flying straight towards them. As she got closer, though, they could start to see the worried look on her face.

"There you are!" Rainbow exclaimed. "You two need to get on over to the castle!"

"Why? What's wrong?" Applejack asked.

"It's Twilight, we were wrong about her cold being just another cold!"

Just hearing that made the knot in Dark's stomach tighten. His mind then began racing with the symptoms of Twilight's cough, cold fever, shivering, and loss of feathers.

Wait, Dark thought to himself as a lightbulb went off in his head. Loss of feathers... oh Celestia no.

Placing the pieces together, a wave of dread washed over Dark. He'd lost a cousin and uncle to this before, and now Twilight's caught it too.

"Applejack," Dark shakily called. "We need to go, now."

Comments

[Mkchief34]

Oh shit. This is bad. Very bad.

[Hewolf]

FEATHER FLU!!!!!!!

[LordMentat]

*Drama Intensifys*

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

Chapter was hilarious, but dat cliffhanger!

[Ororon35]

You know. i know i kinda should feel bad, for Discord, but i don't. You don't mess with a man's nuts.(Not that way, get your mind out of the gutter.)

[Jonny Bench]

Nice monsters inc reference

[Dark Nightshade]

"Well... you're starting to flash us."

I couldn't stop laughing for about 3 minutes. This entire chapter was so funny! Thank you for writing this chapter/story!

[Xzaves]

6809811 ah yes, the dreaded horse cancer

[Admiral_Gravleos]

Latching onto him, Dark hung on tight while Discord began flailing around, causing him to drop his invisibility. As she held on, Dark bit him began pounding her fist against Discord's head, causing him to change colors with each hit. As the two continued to struggle with one another, Twilight and Rarity were staring slack-jawed at them, Applejack and Rainbow were laughing at them, and Pinkie was happily watching while enjoying some doughnuts she got from the kitchen.

Monsters Inc. Randal reference :)

[Mr mustash]

. . . This chapter, really pisses me off, not only did Discord change Darks gender, but everyone, literally evryone laughed and mocked him about something so demoralizing, even Twilight, Twilight acted like it was a joke, but the worst part, the absolute worst part was Spike, not only did he take a picture of him, but he showed it to every, single, guard in ponyvill causing them to all laugh at him, he got off with absolutely ZERO repercussions, at least with discord he was punished, but spike, nothing, if this chapter was supposed to lighten the mood it failed, horribly.

It takes having absulutly zero empathy to laugh at something like this.

[RC-0117]

gutes Kapitel mein Freund (German) (^_^)

[Nevermore777]

8228388
Are you kidding? It’s fucking hilarious! Not sure if I like that one more or the accidentally dirty one with the cream pie by the CMC

[Draige Dragonfire]

Latching onto him, Dark hung on tight while Discord began flailing around, causing him to drop his invisibility. As she held on, Dark bit him began pounding her fist against Discord's head, causing him to change colors with each hit. As the two continued to struggle with one another, Twilight and Rarity were staring slack-jawed at them, Applejack and Rainbow were laughing at them, and Pinkie was happily watching while enjoying some doughnuts she got from the kitchen.

that, my friend, would indeed be a Monster Inc. reference
bravo my good sir, bravo

Rarity blushed harder as she thought about Discord's fate. "... let's just say that Fluttershy's going to have Discord begging and whimpering by the time she's done with him."

Me: why is Flutters in that outfit?
Me: why does she have a horse crop?!
Me: oh my dear Celestia, why is Discord in chains?!!