The Legend of Mare-Do-Well

by JD2K

Chapter 9

The Legend of Mare-Do-Well
Chapter 9: My Little PWNy
by JD2K

“…and that’s why I’m no longer allowed in the bowling alley. But it was totally worth it!” Rainbow Dash said with a laugh. “I mean, Mr. Kingpin needed somepony to liven up that stuffy place!”

“Hee hee hee hee! <snort> That’s a riot, Dashie!” Pinkie Pie giggled as she served the multicolor-maned pegasus a cup of cocoa before she heads out for the night. “And here I was wondering why they went overboard with the floor wax! It looked more like a skating rink than a bowling alley with everypony slipping and sliding around. It was so much fun!”

“That is why, my dear Pinkie Pie, I am the High Queen of all Pranksters! Nopony is better than me. No! Po! Ny!” Rainbow Dash gloated as she beat her chest with a hoof with each syllable.

The pink pony server raised an eyebrow and a smile formed. “So you consider yourself the best of the pranksters, eh?”
“Yup! I’m the best! Nopony can compare with the great Rainbow Dash when it comes to practical jokes and pranks!” she beamed in arrogant pride.
“Rainbow Dash, remember what happened the last time you considered yourself to be the best…” Pinkie Pie cautioned as she wiggled her eyebrows once.

The smile left the pegasus’s lips as she pouted. “Oh yeah. That…” She cleared her throat. “Well this is different! I’m not pretending to some big hero! I’m just showing I’m the best at one of my hobbies!”

“Oh, I know you are, Dashie. But remember, I also like a good prank as well,” Pinkie responded with a half-eyed gaze and a small smile.

Dash raised an eyebrow. “Oh really? I bet there are some ponies you can’t prank!”

“Name one!” Pinkie shot back.

Now it was the pegasus’s turn to smile and give her a half-eyed gaze. “Fluttershy.”

That caused the pink earth pony to freeze in place and gulp. Her eyes darted all around the bakery trying to find a way out but her friend played her trump card and she walked right into it.

“Well…um…” Pinkie Pie stammered as sweat ran down her brow.

“Yeeeeeessssssssssssssss?” Rainbow Dash cooed softly.

“Oh, I can give her a prank that wouldn’t hurt her! Yea, that’s it! Last time we did that was just a set-up for you to fall for the black eye special!” the earth pony retorted with a smug grin.

“Is that so? Well, I wanna make a bet with you. I will make a list of ponies that I’ve never been able to prank, would be too crazy to prank or that are downright smart enough to not fall for one. If you manage to prank all of them tomorrow, then I will admit you’re better than me.” Rainbow Dash began, only to again lower her gaze and grin. “But if you fail, I get free snacks at Sugarcube for a whole week!”

Pinkie tapped her chin with her hoof as she pondered this. She finally extended it out to her. “You got yourself a deal!” Rainbow Dash tapped her hoof with her own and the deal was struck.

The cyan Pegasus called out to Officer Peppermint Pops nearby. “Hey, Pepper! Wanna help me out here for a sec?”

The unicorn police filly excused herself from Officer Booker as she walked over to the duo. “Hey Rainbow. Hey Pinkie. What’s the problem?”

“Oh nothing much. You think you can help me write a list of ponies? Me and Pinkie got a bet going on and well…” Dash said sheepishly as she lifted her blunt hooves.

“Oh, gotcha.” The candy-colored unicorn officer replied with a giggle as she used her magic to lift a quill and paper nearby.

“Ok, here’s the list:” Dash began as Pinkie listened intently. “The egghead, as in Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Big Macintosh, Granny Smith, Applejack, Derpy, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, the Retirement Village residents …”

She then gazed at Pinkie with a cold expression followed by a sly smirk. “The Mayor, Captain Halberd, Cranky Donkey and Fluttershy!”

Pinkie gulped. Pranking her friends was one thing, but pranking law officials, her newest friend and then Fluttershy?! Suddenly, she was feeling not as confident as before.

“And last but certainly not least: ME!” Rainbow Dash finally said as she handed the paper to a visibly-shaking Pinkie Pie while Peppermint Pops went back to her table. The Pegasus was quick to notice it. “Ooooh, getting scared, aren’t ya? You know, tomorrow I think I’ll be taking a couple cupcakes with my cocoa. Free. Of. Charge.” She punctuated every word with a poke on Pinkie’s chest.

The earth pony snapped out of her shock and scowled. “You’ll see who’s the best and who’s the rest!” She snatched the paper in her teeth only to jump up as a surge coursed through her back. She looked to the side with a serious expression as soon as she landed.

“And with that, you-know-who is needed again,” she responded as she took of her server’s cap and gave the Cakes a knowing nod. The pony couple nodded back knowing what their employee was to do now. She then turned her head back to Rainbow Dash.

“See you tomorrow, Dashie. You’ll enjoy the little surprise I got cooking up for you.” She then clamped her mouth shut. “Oopsie! That’s supposed to be a secret! Bye-eee!”

With those last words, Pinkie Pie rushed up the stairs and towards her new room to “change”. Rainbow Dash felt uneasy. Would she really go through and prank every single name on the list? She shook her head twice.

“What am I thinking of? Pinkie Pie? Being a better prankster than me? Ha! That’ll be the day!” she scoffed as she downed the rest of her cocoa, set some bits on the table and left.

As she took off into the night sky, Rainbow Dash saw the form of Mare-Do-Well leaping from rooftop to rooftop a few feet below her. Before she could give her a knowing nod of departure, Mare-Do-Well looked up and just stared silently at her and merely tugged the front of her hat before leaping away. Again, the uneasy feeling crept up on the rainbow-maned pony as looked at the vigilante vanish from sight in the distance. The worried expression was still on her face as she arrived home.

*********************

Rainbow Dash walked around Ponyville and found it strangely quiet. The streets were empty and devoid of ponies and not a sound was heard. She started to grit her teeth nervously and pushed on. She took one step and that’s when she heard it.

Giggling.

Very familiar giggling.

“P-P-P-Pinkie Pie?” the pegasus managed to stammer out. Her fear was quickly replaced with coolness as she stood firm. “Ok, Pinkie Pie! I know you’re out there! What did you do to Ponyville? What did you do to everypony?”

“You know, Rainbow Dash, I was quite the prankster before you came to Ponyville from Cloudsdale.”

She turned around seeing nopony stand there. She wasn’t imagining the soft yet cold voice of the pink earth pony whispering into her ear.

“The ‘High Queen of Pranksters’? Seriously?”

She whipped her head in direction of the voice only to find nothing. Her calm demeanor was starting to crack as she began to sweat.

“Well, ‘Queen’, you’re about to get usurped.”

A cold hoof grabbed her shoulder and Rainbow Dash spun to see Pinkie Pie stand there. Only she wasn’t like she normally was. The first time she saw her like this was when she was fetching her to her surprise party last year while she was in her room throwing another party with those creepy “guests” she made up. The last time was when she, the rest of the girls and the Cakes were waiting for her to show up after she was released from jail after her freak-out. Both times sent shivers up her spine with her straight mane and tail and the darkened hue to her pink coat. But one thing this Pinkie had which the other times didn’t was the expression on her face.

She was smiling. A large grin from ear to ear. An unnerving otherworldly grin. Rainbow Dash never felt fear in her entire life, but this form of Pinkie with her dour expression and darkened hues and straight hair sent a shiver up her spine. Seeing her with a giant grin however made it even worse.
“Here, Dashie. Have a sniff of my beautiful flower!” the unnatural Pinkie said as a daisy magically appeared on her chest which squirted her with water.

Rainbow Dash took a few steps back as she sat down to wipe the water from her face only to hear a loud razzing noise. Embarrassed, she looked down and saw she landed on an enormous whoopee cushion. The straight-haired Pinkie Pie began to click her tongue and shake her head.

“Wow Dashie, you should cut down on beans! Here, let me help you up,” she replied as she lowered a forehoof at her. Rainbow Dash sighed as she took it and quickly regretted it. An enormous surge of electricity began to course through her body as though she was caught in the middle of a thunderstorm and every cloud shot a bolt right at her.

Landing on the floor and shaking as the few electrical impulses left her body, she failed to see Pinkie Pie reveal a handbuzzer and quickly tossed it away. She then revealed a small pouch filled with a strange red-colored powder. Sprinkling some in her hoof, she softly blew the powder as it formed a cloud over the hapless pegasus. Before too long, Rainbow Dash began to itch like crazy and began to scratch herself all over using both her forehooves and her wings as they became crude finger-like extensions. Eventually, the speedster was dragging herself on her back as the itching became intolerable.

“And now, the coop da gracey!” the dark-pink pony exclaimed as she revealed a familiar blue flower and tossed it at the luckless victim.

Rainbow Dash was far too preoccupied dragging around and controlling herself from the unbearable itch from the powder that she didn’t realize her back grazed the Poison Joke that Pinkie dropped. As soon as she did, her wings began to twitch and they suddenly changed position back to the form they were once the first time she encountered the vile plant. Then, her wings took life of their own as they began to flap wildly.

“Hey! Wait! What’s going on? Why can’t I control my wings?!” she said as fear began to run its course as she took flight and could do nothing but wild patterns with no control over her wings.

Pinkie could just look up and giggle madly at her pranks. Rainbow Dash shook her head. The only thing going through her mind was wanting for all this to end.

“Make it stop… Make it stop. Make it stop! Make it-”

*********************

“STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!!!!!”

Rainbow Dash woke up with a start as she clamped her mouth shut. She looked up and saw she was back in her room and the Sun was already in the sky. She shook her head a couple of times and slapped her cheeks a bit. A nightmare. It was only a nightmare.

That was totally uncool… No more dandelion-daisy pizza with extra alfalfa before bed…

As she went to her bathroom to freshen up, she chuckled to herself. Pinkie Pie turning into some sort of pranking monster and actually going through with the list they made. The silly notion itself was more than enough to make her smile again.

That was when a knock came to her door followed by an envelope dropped through the mail slot. Rainbow Dash trotted over to the letter and saw the envelope. She leaned down to pick it up until she saw the name written in a whimsical style.

TO DASHIE FROM PINKIE.

The multicolor-maned speedster quickly rescinded her head back as her mind played a scene in her head.

{Pinkie Pie with her straight mane, dark hue and mad grin took a bag with a picture of a pony sneezing and sprinkled some powder from the bag and coated it all over the inside of the envelope. Giggling madly, she sealed it and dropped it in the mailbox.}

She shook her head a few times.

Aw come on, Rainbow. You’re getting some silly dream get the best of you! Pinkie wouldn’t even consider doing something like that!

She chuckled heartily only to look at the envelope again and her laughter became slower and unsure. “But better safe than sorry!” She declared as she kicked the envelope out the open door and flew up on the morning breeze. She slammed the door behind her and went back to her morning chores.

Finally, Dash flew out of her house with her saddlebags draped across her back. She looked towards the library and swooped down to her target. Unfortunately for her, Twilight Sparkle had yet to open the windows and her normal point of entry was sealed shut.

“Aw, ponyfeathers…” she grumbled to herself as she braced herself for the impact. The tree itself shook for a good while after the pegasus slammed against the side. After getting her balance back, Dash walked up to the door and found it locked. She knocked a few times hoping Twilight or Spike would answer.

“Hellooooooooooooooo? Anypony home?!” she called out. She leaned her ear close to the door and heard some muffled conversation between the unicorn and her baby dragon assistant. From the sound of it, Twilight was very alarmed. Soft steps were heard and the door opened up a bit to show the face of Spike peeking out.

“Oh, hi Rainbow Dash. Sorry but the library is closed right now. We got…um, an emergency,” the drake explained.

“Just came to bring back the latest Daring Do book Twi lent me. You sure I can’t come in?” the cyan pegasus inquired as she handed the book to the young assistant.

Before Spike could reply, a blackened purple hoof grabbed him and hauled him away.
“HiRainbowDashyoucametoreturnthebook?Greattohear!We’renotfeelinggoodatthemomentsowe’lltalklaterok?Bye!”

With that, the door was slammed shut and locked and bolted, followed by yet more panicked words from Twilight.

Rainbow Dash was curious over what happened to her friend so she hovered up to a window nearby and peeked in. She was shocked to see Twilight Sparkle’s coat all blackened with soot or smoke, her mane standing straight up and her tail frizzled and curly. The look in her eyes reminded Dash of the time Twilight was beyond hysterics over the fact she was “tardy with a report to Princess Celestia”. Just what happened to her?

Dash’s eyes then focuses on a table close by where smoke was pouring out and managed to make out what remained of two flasks and a decanter all shattered with the contents splattered everywhere. A book nearby was opened but also singed with some pages burned out. No doubt due to whatever happened moments before her arrival. That’s when Dash’s eyes lit up in shock.

{Evil Pinkie snickered as she crept up to the Library with a strange flask of liquid in her mouth. Opening the door carefully, she made her way to the table Twilight was conducting her experiment. The royal protégé was too preoccupied writing some notes down in the book to not see the madly-giggling straight-maned pony dump some strange liquid on one of her flasks which immediately made it start to bubble and quickly sneaked off. Twilight took the decanter with her magic and carefully added a drop of the liquid into the tampered flask. Twilight had no time to gasp as the flask exploded making a mess of her experiment and her own body with her blackened coat, ruined mane and poofy tail.}

Rainbow Dash shook her head and laughed. “Yeah, right! It was just an accident! I mean, that egghead is always doing her weirdo experiments and one of them was bound to blow up in her face!”

Letting off a soft blow from her pursed lips, she spread her wings up and flew off. “Imagine that. Pinkie pranking the egghead. Even if she did, Twi’s always an easy target!”

Doubt began to creep up on her again and she bit her lip. Her eyes closed in on the direction of Carousel Boutique.

“You know it wouldn’t hurt to maybe check in on her. Just to get this nagging feeling off my back…” she mused to herself as she approached Rarity’s house.

As soon as she knocked the door, she heard a voice call out. “No no! The Boutique is closed today! Nopony is allowed to come in! Come back in a few weeks! Or months! Or next year if possible!”

Rainbow Dash’s brow arched. “Hey, Rare! It’s me, Rainbow Dash! Lemme in, will ya?”

A few latches and locks were removed and the door creaked open just a bit only for a form covered completely in a black cloak to peek out halfway. Dash was surprised. Not a single bit of a pony’s body could be seen under the baggy wrap as though somepony didn’t want to be seen.

“Rarity? Is that you?!” the pegasus said in curious shock.

“Oh, Rainbow Dash. I’m sorry, Darling, but I’m a bit…indisposed at the moment. Please come back very soon, as in very VERY soon. I don’t want anypony in Ponyville to see me right now…” replied the fashionista’s familiar voice from the loose cowl that covered her entire head and face.

“Wait a sec, what happened?” her friend asked with concern. She tried to open the door but Rarity held it fast. Not about to give up, she pushed it even harder and managed to overpower her and walked in. As expected, all the curtains were drawn and every single window was closed tight. Then she saw the form of the cloaked Rarity and managed to spot one of her hooves and was surprised to see it… naked?! The familiar whitish coat color of her hoof was gone.

Rarity immediately shrieked as she sunk her bare hoof back into her cloak. Rainbow Dash became more concerned as she grabbed the edge of the wrap’s cowl and tried to pull it down. The unicorn however, turned on her magic and prevented the pegasus from pulling the hood down. However, the speedster wasn’t about to give up and managed to rip the cowl out of the cloak and revealed Rarity’s head.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes could not believe what she saw. Rarity’s entire head was… BALD! Her beautiful white coat, her attractive purple mane curled and styled with care, her sultry eyelashes. They were all gone! That’s when she managed to see her neck and what could be seen of her back. They were also hairless! Rarity was completely shorn of all hair!

The Pegasus clamped her mouth shut as she refrained from laughing, more so since her unicorn friend was staring at her with sorrowful eyes.

“Rainbow Dash, do not tell a single soul of what you have just seen or, by Celestia, I will ruin your life!” Rarity seethed only to cry and land on her familiar red couch.

“Hey, I’m the element of Loyalty, remember? So, what happened?” Dash replied as she placed a comforting hoof on her cloaked body.

“It was a disaster! I was taking my bath as I do every morning but when I put on my usual shampoo and body wash…” Her lips then quiver as she buried her head in her hooves and sobbed. “They all fell out! My coat! My mane! My tail! My… cutie mark!!” Nothing but hair all over! This is. THE. WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Rainbow Dash felt sorry for her friend as she prided herself in her appearance. Sure, it would all grow back but it would take a while. As she patted her in condolence, her eyes shot up again.

{Evil Pinkie tiptoed up to the Boutique and made her way inside to Rarity’s bathroom. She held out another flask with a vile-smelling liquid inside and poured its contents into the bottles of shampoo and body wash nearby. With a malicious chortle, she made her way outside as she heard Rarity hum a happy tune and went inside the bath. She heard the water turn on, followed by some more humming. Then the humming stopped, followed by a loud gasp and then a glass-piercing shriek. Pinkie rubbed her forehooves in sadistic glee.}

Rainbow Dash gulped as she began to sweat. “Two down…” she said nervously to herself.

“Darling, is something amiss?” Rarity asked her only for her friend to shake her head nervously.

“Uh, no no. All’s cool. Listen, Rare, hope your hair grows back. Your secret’s safe with me. Gotta go! Later!” With those words, Rainbow Dash sped off. The unicorn shrugged her shoulders as she locked up her doors as soon as her guest left.

*********************

“Aww, lis’en to yerself, sugar cube. Yer gettin’ all worked up over nuttin’!”

Applejack snorted with disdain as she walked towards a silo behind the Sweet Apple Acres barn while Rainbow Dash simply stared down at her angrily as she hovered overhead.

“I’m telling you, Pinkie Pie is going all out with her pranks! She’s already got Twilight and Rarity, and everypony here at Sweet Apple Acres are next! First Big Macintosh, then Granny Smith and finally you!” the Pegasus said exasperated.

“Pinkie Pie? You gotta be pullin’ mah leg, Rainbow Dash. Ah’m sure as spit Ah haven’t seen that pink pony ‘round these parts today,” the farm pony replied. “Big Macintosh is over yonder bringin’ the latest harvest on the cart, Granny Smith’s rockin’ on her chair on that there porch an’ Ah’m on my way to take inventory of the apples in the silo. Jes’ another day here on the farm.”

Rainbow Dash however didn’t pay any attention to her as she was focused looking at Big Macintosh going up the hill nearby carrying a heavy cart filled with apples. Suddenly, the cart itself broke off from the shafts as Big Mac jerked forward and landed on his head. Both the elements looked on in horror as the cart went careening down the hill and smashed itself against a tree below. All the apples spilled over and the cart was now a broken mess.

“Oh no! The harvest!” Applejack cried out as she galloped down the hill with Rainbow Dash flying close behind her. Big Macintosh managed to get on his legs despite still attached to his end of the cart’s shaft and followed the two fillies.

“Why did this ever happen?! Our harvest for the day’s gone! An’ the cart’s smashed up! Consarn it!” the orange pony muttered as she kicked the ground beneath her.

The hardy red stallion could do nothing but hang his head low. Applejack looked at her brother with care. “Aw, it ain’ yer fault, Big Mac. Jes’ this old cart must’ve been on its last legs, y’know.”

“Look there!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she pointed to the cart on the area where the shaft is supposed to connect, specifically the hinges. Upon closer inspection, they saw the hinges were very loose on the surface as though the screws that held it in place and connected it to the shaft were taken out. Without those screws, the shaft would be unable to hold the weight of the cart and the hinges would break off.

“Now what the heck happened to those screws?!” Applejack grumbled angrily. Rainbow Dash suddenly had another vision.

{Evil Pinkie approached Sweet Apple Acres just before dawn and looked with wicked intent at the cart with attached shaft. Grabbing a screwdriver with her teeth, she managed to loosen and unscrew all the restraints of the hinges. Chortling, she sneaked away.}

The cyan speedster bit her lip as she left the two confused siblings and went back up to the porch where Applejack said Granny Smith was in her rocking chair. The old mare was sleeping soundly as she lazily rocked back and forth in the chair. Before Dash could warn her, the chair suddenly began to shake and the matriarch received a rude awakening as the chair broke apart, dumping her on the floor.

“Yeowch! Mah hip! Mah good hip!” she exclaimed. Rainbow Dash just stared on in terror as the two siblings galloped back up to check on their grandmother.

{Evil Pinkie slinked away from the cart and found the rocking chair on the porch. Giggling madly, she grabbed a saw in her teeth and began to make soft yet subtle cuts all over the rocking chair. Strong to hold the old mare’s weight, but just enough for it to fall apart if rocked for too long. Rubbing her forehooves again, she tiptoed away.}

“Dad gum it, whah’s everythin’ goin’ screwy around here today? First the cart breaks loose, then Granny Smith’s chair fell apart, what’s next?!” Applejack muttered angrily as Big Mac helped his granny up on her legs. The seething orange pony stormed off to the silo. “Maybe countin’ all them apples will make me feel better!”

Rainbow Dash was still frozen in her last vision to not see Applejack walk towards the silo. She then looked down in fear as she realized she was next! She zoomed off to get her.

“Applejack! Wait! Don’t open that-”

It was too late.

As soon as Applejack opened the door, a thick yellowish sludge began to pour out of the silo and buried her under the gloppy mess.

“…silo…” Rainbow Dash managed to whisper out as another vision came.

{Evil Pinkie walked over to the silo and opened it up, seeing all the mounds of apples the Apple Family were storing inside. Chuckling madly, she revealed yet another flask with a new potion. Tossing the flask inside, the contents quickly spilled out and the apples began to turn into the disgusting-looking yellow slime. Just before the ooze could spill out, she slammed the silo door and quickly made her way out of Sweet Apple Acres with all her pranks all set in place.}

As Rainbow Dash remained frozen, Big Macintosh went up and starting digging around the oozing yellowish slop and managed to grab on to a blond tail and managed to pluck his sister out of the muck. The formerly orange filly along with her hat was now covered completely in the slimy stuff and her green eyes showed rage.

The Pegasus finally regained her senses. She was too late. The Apple Family have all been pranked. Just a few more remain. She was in full blown panic. Derpy was the next one followed by all three Cutie Mark Crusaders. Without a second to lose, she zoomed off back to Ponyville.

*********************

Her instincts told her she needed to head straight to Sugarcube Corner without a second to spare. On arriving, she was shocked to see a small crowd of officers standing watch over a form in the center of the pony barricade. She hovered up and looked at the figure the officers were watching over to see the clumsy gray pegasus pony on the floor. She was looking very bad with her face colored green, her stomach bloated and she moaned constantly in pain.

“Oooh… Muffins... No… more…muffins…Oooh…” she managed to moan. Golden Harvest was nearby shaking her head in sadness. Right on cue, an ambulance cart arrived to pick up the sick pegasus to take her to the hospital. Rainbow Dash gasped as another jolt hit her brain.

{Evil Pinkie stood there holding a tray of freshly baked muffins along with a sign reading “FREE SAMPLES”. Before any of the ponies around her could snatch up a free muffin, Derpy barreled into them and snatched up all the muffins and swallowed them in one gulp. Everybody then saw the Pegasus scrunch her face as she fell to the ground, face turning green and her belly bloating up. She began to moan in pain as several officers came out and called in an ambulance. The darkened-pink trickster managed to sneak away during the confusion as she threw away an empty bottle with a picture of a pony sticking its tongue out in disgust.}

As she heard the ambulance’s bell ring away in the distance, she and everypony else heard an explosion coming from inside Sugarcube Corner. The officers on standby as well as all the onlookers stampeded inside. Rainbow Dash was still too shocked over her latest vision that she was unable to enter the bakery until it was too late and there was a large mob blocking her view. She feared the worst considering who was next on the list.

Just as she suspected, a familiar trio of schoolage fillies were led outside as several officers kept them boxed in. Not like the Cutie Mark Crusaders would escape and scatter as the three girls were all stuck together in a blend of what seemed to be cake batter, frosting and chocolate chips.

“Ya gotta believe us! We were tryin’ ta get our cutie marks by helpin’ Pinkie Pie!” Apple Bloom protested. Rainbow Dash’s ears picked up the name and her brain flashed.

{“Yep, that’s all I need you to do! Just put these cakes in the oven while I go run a little errand!” Evil Pinkie said with faux sweetness as she showed the trio of fillies a tray of strange, bubbling cake batter already decorated with frosting and chocolate chips placed in tins ready to be put inside the oven.

“Are you sure we should be helping you here in the kitchen, Miss Pinkie?” Sweetie Belle said with apprehension as her snout scrunched at the sight of the bubbling batter before her.

“Don’ li’sen to her, Pinkie Pie! Ya can count on us!” Apple Bloom said as she clicked her hooves together.

“Yeah, baking these babies are gonna be as easy as pie! No pun intended!” Scootaloo added with a sheepish grin.

“I’m counting on it…” Evil Pinkie replied with malice as she ran out the back door. This sudden reaction left the Cutie Mark Crusaders confused, but with the hopes of earning their cutie marks, they soldiered on.

Using thick mouth guards, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo placed the tray of odd cake batter tins into the oven and closed the door. Apple Bloom turned the oven on and the trio sat around. However, they saw the oven start to shake and vibrate very strangely.

“Uh oh! She’s gonna blow!!” Apple Bloom shouted as she and her friends dove behind a preparation table as the oven burst open with a boom and the batter flew up in the air and splattered all over the trio, leaving them stuck in place and unable to run away.

From outside, Evil Pinkie smirked wickedly as the Cakes and nearby officers entered the ruined kitchen.}

“We didn’t mean to cause the oven to explode! Please believe us!” added Sweetie Belle as Rainbow Dash finally came to.

“That’s the last time I’m ever setting foot in a kitchen!” Scootaloo groaned angrily.

“I say, that will be quite enough, dearies,” Sergeant Trot Fuzz said with a snort. “We sort all this out after we let your parents know you will be at the station. Well, come along then.”

As the trio was led away, Rainbow Dash could shake her head slowly as she trembled in fear. Pinkie was out of control! Never in her life did she ever pull of a prank and get someone in trouble for it. She had to stop her, but how? She remembered the next name on the list. The Ponyville Retirement Village! Those old stallions and mares were in trouble! She picked up speed as she went to the old ponies’ home.

Dash wasted no time as she went inside the Ponyville Retirement Village. Before she could warn the nurses on duty at that moment, she gazed at the scene before her and realized she was too late. Every single old stallion and mare was wearing a strange thick vest and were somehow scratching themselves all over as they twisted, jerked, lurched and shook in all manners of direction. The nurses and doctors on hand tried desperately to put them all under control but it was a losing battle.

“How?! How could this have happened?!” a panicked nurse cried out unaware Rainbow Dash was behind her. “That young Pinkie Pie kindly donated those vests and now they’re all acting crazy! Why?!” Rainbow Dash gasped in fear.

{Evil Pinkie held out a familiar pouch in her hand as she sprinkled the cart load of vests in a red powder that was quickly absorbed by the fabric of the accessories. She hid the bag as soon as some nurses and the presiding doctor came out of the Retirement Village. The straight-maned trickster merely smiled as she waved a hoof at the vests and the doctor and nurses nodded in joy. Evil Pinkie kept smiling joyfully as she waved the staff goodbye as they carted the vests inside. As soon as the doors were closed, the smile turned into one of pure evil as she trotted off and the sounds of uncomfortable itching old ponies were heard from inside}

The cyan pony snapped out of her daze and realized the list was nearly done. Four were left. The Mayor, Captain Halberd, Cranky Donkey and Fluttershy. Once they were pranked, only she would be left! She had to stop her before it was her turn! She left the bedlam behind and headed straight for Town Hall.

*********************

She didn’t need to realize she was unable to stop her crazed friend when she saw Town Hall in front of her. Gone were the beautiful colors of the gazebo-like structure and replaced by a garish mishmash of artistic anarchy. Red, orange and blue stripes, green polka dots on a pink backdrop, a gaudy gray-yellow and purple tartan pattern, and many other outrageous color patterns were all splattered on the formerly-pristine center building of Ponyville pride.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes quickly zoomed in on the distraught Mayor, whose mane and tail were a total mess. “How?! Why?! I thought… No!” she exclaimed as she stared in shock. Dash’s own eyes followed suit as another vision came.

{Evil Pinkie, wearing a black beret and artist smock, came wheeling in a cart of strange paint cans. She stood in front of the beautiful Town Hall building and giggled cruelly at what she had planned. Taking a paintbrush in her teeth, her body became a blur as she somehow managed to paint the entire Town Hall in the imaginative yet distasteful color scheme it now sported. Putting the tip of her forehoof to her lip, she gave it a small kiss as she scampered away.}

“AN OUTRAGE!!!”

Rainbow Dash was burst out of her vision when she heard the loud booming voice of Captain Halberd. Turning her head around, she saw the Ponyville Police chief flanked by his two sycophants approach the Mayor, who was still wallowing in distress.

The speedster had to shake her head a few times to see if she wasn’t imagining the captain’s face and uniform were all splattered with ink. Sadly, she wasn’t dreaming. His face and the entire front part of his uniform, including his medals, were all really stained with real dark blue ink. From the looks of his demeanor, this was not something he was too happy about.

“Madame Mayor, when I find the one responsible for this travesty of justice to my very being, mark my word he or she will never see the light of Celestia’s sun as long as I live!” he bellowed in absolute rage. Dash gulped.

{Poking her head through the main office’s window, Evil Pinkie went inside, tiptoed to Halberd’s desk and dropped a small pellet into the inkwell next to the writing quill. Chuckling with malevolent glee, she jumped out the window and waited. Halberd soon entered the room and walked to his desk where he used his dark green magic to lift the quill and dipped it into the inkwell to write a new document. However, the quill didn’t absorb any ink as the ink inexplicably dried out and became a stiff block. Halberd harrumphed in annoyance as he set the quill down and lifted the inkwell to his face. His eyes narrowed in curiosity as to why his ink dried out. With a small bang and explosion, the inkwell dumped its contents all over Halberd’s face and his uniform. Lock Up and Lock Down looked on in horror as Halberd lowered the inkwell and his body began to shake. An earth-shattering roar was heard from the office as Evil Pinkie rubbed her hooves at her successful prank.}

“…and furthermore it will take forever for my beautiful medals to be restored to their lustrous shine! I shall wreak vengeance on whoever made a mockery of me!”

Rainbow Dash was again brought back to consciousness after her small trip into her mind. Needless to say, she didn’t want to stay in the area another moment longer with Captain Halberd ready to incarcerate anypony who just looked at him the wrong way. Time was running short. Two were left and then Pinkie would come calling for her…

*********************

She knocked on the door to Cranky’s house hoping for the best. “With the luck I’m having, she probably got to him already…” she muttered to herself.

As expected with other doors she came across today, this one also opened halfway as Matilda peeked out from inside. “Why, hello Rainbow dear! What brings you here today?” she said with a kind smile but still didn’t budge from opening the door completely.

“Uh, hi there. Is Cranky home right now?” Dash asked with hope.

“Well, yes, he is, but he’s not taking any visitors at the moment. He’s had a little accident, so to speak,” the elderly donkey answered.

“Matilda! Just tell her to come back later! I just have to get it fixed and soon!” the old curmudgeon snapped as his head came into view. The pegasus’s eyes opened wide seeing his toupee. No longer was it the blond pompadour that Pinkie gave him after she apologized for ruining the old one but rather one that was…like her own multicolored mane and tail! She was confused as to how his toupee managed to become that way only for another vision to appear.

{Humming to herself, Evil Pinkie made her way inside without Cranky or Matilda hearing her come in. She saw the old donkey’s blond pompadour toupee on a wig stand nearby and chuckled as she revealed a bottle of Zap Apple extract. She poured the liquid all over the hairpiece and pretty soon it was all the colors of the rainbow. A loud cough from an approaching Cranky cued her exit and she made herself scarce.}

When she came to, the door was firmly shut. They didn’t even spare any time to bid her farewell as she zoned out. By now, Rainbow Dash was frozen in fear.

Fluttershy.

Sensitive, sweet Fluttershy.

She was the last name on the list. She spared no time as she took to the skies and zoomed off to Fluttershy’s cottage near Everfree.

*********************

Dash instantly knew she was too late when she saw the bouncing form of Pinkie Pie giggling happily to herself as she closed the door to the cottage and was making her way back to Ponyville. This was the moment of truth. She swooped down and landed on the ground, running straight towards Pinkie Pie.

“Pinkie Pie, what the hay have you been up to?! Do you know all the trouble you’ve been causing?!” Rainbow Dash snapped as she leaned her head forward at the smiling pink pony.

“Um, I dunno. What sort of trouble have I been causing? Oooh, that reminds me, your surprise is coming up! I hope you’re ready!” Pinkie replied with pep.

The cyan Pegasus could only stare in doubt at her friend. How could she remain so calm and relaxed despite all the vicious pranks she has been pulling the entire day. Then, she looked up at the cottage behind her and felt something gnawing at her.

“Pinkie… what happened to Fluttershy? What happened in there?” she asked nervously.

The pink earth pony immediately rolled on the floor, giggling her head off. “You should’ve seen it! Fluttershy! Hee hee hee hee! She! Hee hee hee! So funny! I never laughed so much in my life! Hee hee hee!! I wish I could see it again and smile!”

Rainbow Dash’s wings drooped. Running past her laughing friend, she entered the cottage and found it empty. She suddenly heard a noise upstairs and wasted no time in going up. As she flew up, her mind replayed her current thoughts like a mantra.

She didn’t do it. She didn’t do it. She didn’t do it. She didn’t do it. She didn’t do it. She didn’t do it.
She didn’t do it. She didn’t do it. She didn’t do it. She-

“…did…”

Rainbow Dash couldn’t believe what she was looking at in Fluttershy’s bathroom. The meek yellow pegasus just laid there on her haunches next to the tub, head lowered and eyes closed. Her entire body, mane and tail were all soaking wet and she just stood there frozen like a statue. What happened to her?

Before she could come in any closer, Angel Bunny jumped up to her face and startled her. The rabbit tapped his foot in annoyance as he pointed outside. Rainbow Dash paid no attention as she took another step closer. This time Angel gave Dash a small kick to her hoof and pointed outside again. The cyan speedster realized Fluttershy was too depressed to even speak at the moment and decided to take her leave. The second she left the bathroom, Angel slammed the door shut behind her.

{Evil Pinkie dumping a bucket of water. Evil Pinkie throwing water balloons. Evil Pinkie turning a hose on at full blast. All of the above. Fluttershy didn’t stand a chance at the onslaught. She now laid there all soaked as her friend could do nothing but laugh and laugh at her misfortune.}

Rainbow Dash’s rage over how Pinkie was able to hurt the one she claimed she’d never touch because of her sensitivity was quickly cancelled out by a fearful epiphany.

She was next. The remaining name on the list.

Rainbow Dash took a few steps back and flew off through the bedroom window. Pinkie would no doubt be waiting for her. The “surprise” she mentioned yesterday was definitely the crowning moment of her day of vicious pranks and practical jokes. They were all the warm-up to what she was preparing for her.

“You want me, Pinkie Pie?” she said to herself. “You’ll have to find me!”

She made her way back to her house and was ready to open the door when she stopped dead in her tracks.

{Evil Pinkie was waiting for her from behind the door. Waiting to unleash the barrage that her dream warned her about.

“Come on in, Dashie… I was waiting all day for this…”}

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! You won’t get me!” she yelled to the door as she picked up speed and left.

She quickly made her way back to Ponyville, trying desperately to find a place to hide. She approached the Spa with its lights on.

{Evil Pinkie was lying on the hot tub, sipping some cider as she saw her enter.}

She stopped short and flew off in the opposite direction and landed near the schoolhouse. She was ready to open the door.

{Evil Pinkie was softly writing on the chalkboard one single sentence over and over again, filling all the available space there was.

“I WILL PRANK DASHIE”.}

She stopped again and flew off in yet another direction, landing close to the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ clubhouse.

She went up the small ramp and fearfully pushed the door open. Thankfully there were no visions. She was safe at last. She went inside and saw the small treehouse quiet and empty. Usually, the filly trio would be there planning their next quest to gain their cutie marks but after what happened today it was doubtful they had anything for this day.

Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but smile seeing what was obviously Scootaloo’s handiwork seeing a poster reading “The Top Ten Reasons Rainbow Dash is Best Pony” and a crayon-drawn image of her with a strange square-shaped body with a trail of rainbow flowing behind her. That brought little comfort to her as she huddled herself in a ball and managed to sleep.

*********************

“Rainbow Dash?”

The cyan pegasus merely stirred in her sleep.

“Rainbow Dash!”

“Mmmm. Just a few more seconds, Mom,” she replied woozily.

“Hey! RAINBOW DASH!”

That was enough to startle her awake and got on her hooves. She looked ahead of her and saw the Cutie Mark Crusaders stand there with Scootaloo looked up at her in admiration and Apple Bloom holding a lantern with fireflies illuminating the now-dark clubhouse. Rainbow Dash turned to the window and saw it was finally dark. How long has she been asleep?

“Wow, Rainbow Dash! It’s so cool that we found you!” the little pegasus filly beamed. “Everypony was searching for you and we thought we’d come pick up some of our stuff to help with the search and here you were!”

“Wha-? Huh? Who’s looking for me?” Rainbow Dash asked, still half-groggy.

“Pinkie Pie!” Sweetie Belle piped up and that’s when the adult pony froze again.

“Oh no! Nonononononononononono! Don’t let her get me! I’m the last one! She will get me just like she got all of you!” she yelled half-crazily as her mane and tail suddenly became messy and her pupils shrunk to near pin-pricks.

“Rainbow Dash, what are you talkin’ ‘bout? Pinkie Pie has been preparin’ somethin’ mighty special for you all day,” Apple Bloom explained.

Dash’s ears began to twitch as did her eyes. She looked down at them and had another vision.

{“Remember, girls, help me find Rainbow Dash and you will all join me in my ascension to the High Queen of Pranksters! Why, you’ll even earn a cutie mark!” Evil Pinkie proclaimed to the three fillies as their expression became dark.

“As you command, your Highness!” they all replied as the quarter began to laugh madly.}

Rainbow Dash chuckled nervously. “Oh, I see your little game plan. Everypony’s in on it! She’s going to make them all her subjects to her glory! All she needs is me to complete the sequence! Well, she won’t get me! Nopony is going to get me!”

The trio looked at each other in confusion.

Scootaloo approached her idol. “Rainbow Dash, is everything all-”

“Nopony is gonna get me! I’ll fly to the ends of Equestria! She’ll never find me there! Never!” she screamed out as she giggled madly and raised her wings.

Nopony will get me… Nopony will get me… Nopony will get me…

She turned around and prepared to fly off when she stood face to face with the bubbly Pinkie Pie smiling at her.

“Hi Dashie! Wow, you sure were hard to find today! So, ready for your surprise?” the pink pony asked as she raised a brown package between her hooves.

Rainbow Dash’s heart stopped as she stared with a twitch in her eye at the box before her.

{A short-exploding bomb that would coat her in sticky taffy. A spring-loaded pie tin that would slam its creamy payload on her. A cloud of sneezing and itching powder that would cause double the agony. A batch of Poison Joke which would cause all sorts of nasty yet whimsical effects on her body.}

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!” she threw Pinkie Pie aside as she flew off in a panic.

The pink pony shook her head and sighed. “As if this hasn’t happened before. Oh well…”

Rainbow Dash flew in all directions and hid everywhere. At the tip of Town Hall, posing as the fountain’s statue, deep inside the foliage of the tree Fluttershy’s cottage was built on, on her usual napping spot at Sweet Apple Acres and even pretending to be a cloud, even if her wings and eyes could be seen popping out. Pinkie Pie found her without fail all the time. Dash was getting more desperate and crazed with everytime she was found until finally she was cornered in front of Sugarcube Corner.

The manic pegasus leaned up against the bakery wall as Pinkie Pie bounced up to her holding her package by its string in her teeth. Rainbow Dash finally gave up. Her eyes went back to normal, her mane and tail became less wild and she sat down on her haunches.

“Ok, Pinkie Pie. You got me. Just like everypony else you did today. I concede my title. You are the true Queen of Pranksters…” she sighed sadly as her head and wings hung low.

“Huh?”

Rainbow Dash looked up to see her friend look at her oddly with the package dropped softly before her. “Uh, what are you talking about, silly Dashie? Me? A Queen of Pranksters? How could you think that about me?”

“What are you saying? How you got everypony on the list and you got them all good! Twilight, Rarity, Applejack’s family, Derpy, the Mayor, Halberd, and even Fluttershy! I could never prank them all in one day and you did it!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

Pinkie Pie tapped a hoof against her chin. “Ohhhhhhh! That list!” She then giggled softly. “ I came back tired after you-know-who stopped some criminals and I just forgot all about it! I was far too busy getting your surprise ready!”

She then placed a hoof on the package and slid it over to her friend. “Well, go on! Open it, silly filly!”

Dash looked down at the box and carefully cut the string with her teeth and opened the box. She gasped seeing its content. It wasn’t a bomb or a bunch of powder or a bouquet of Poison Joke at all. It was a simple cake. A cake with Rainbow Dash’s own cutie mark in the center and the words reading “Happy Arrival-to-Ponyville Anniversary, Rainbow Dash!”

That’s when she realized it. Today was the anniversary of the day she first came to Ponyville from Cloudsdale! The day she first met Pinkie Pie and the first party she ever threw in her honor.

“Oh Pinkie… I-I-I just forgot all about it. I-I-I don’t…”

“Didn’t you get my letter this morning? It was to remind you to come to Sugarcube Corner and get your cake!” Pinkie Pie wondered as her head leaned to the side.

Rainbow Dash gulped. She remembered that letter all right…

She was now confused. “But, I don’t get it… If you forgot all about the list, then what happened to everypony? They were all pranked!”

“I think we owe you all an explanation…”

Rainbow looked to the side and saw her four friends stand there. Twilight Sparkle was back to her old self as her coat, mane and tail were back to normal. Rarity stood there happily with all her hair now back so soon. Applejack stood there tall and clean with no sign of the yellow goop she was drenched with anywhere. Fluttershy stood there calmly with no sign she was ever soaking wet.

“When you first came to visit me, I was in the middle of an experiment so I had all my windows shut to prevent any wind or outside influence from interfering with my studies. This was a very important experiment which I hoped to give the results to Princess Celestia,” Twilight explained. “But when you shook the tree after you crashed on it, I lost concentration and dropped more of an element into the mixture and, boom!”

“Yeah, uh, sorry about that, egg- I mean, Twilight…” Rainbow Dash answered meekly.

“The whole debacle with my… ‘accident’ was my fault, darling. I thought I was buying my regular shampoo and bodywash from the spa yesterday but I accidentally took two bottles of their hair remover by mistake!” Rarity said with a hint of embarrassment. “Imagine my chagrin when I saw the bottles again after you left and discovered my error! Thankfully Twilight had a spell to help with the rapid recovery of my beautiful coat, mane and tail which I then had styled back to their marvelous form.”

“After Big Macintosh pulled me out, Ah tasted that there yellow stuff an’ found out it was applesauce. The whole apple crop turned to applesauce!” said Applejack. “When Ah went to pick up Apple Bloom from the police station, she had confessed that she an’ her friends wanted to earn their cutie marks findin’ a new way to make our apples sell better so they broke into Zecora’s, fiddled around with her magic doodads an’ made a potion that they thought would make our apples bigger an’ juicier but instead turned them all into applesauce! We all gave all three of them fillies a thick ear as punishment!”

“But what about-” Rainbow Dash began before Applejack interrupted her.

“Big Mac’s accident? Turns out after lookin' at the hill, we found some of them screws had popped off from bein' all rusty! No wonder they fell out! An' Granny Smith’s chair? Seems them pesky termites have been chowin’ down on that old chair every night an' they were bound to break it an’ today was the day it went down.”

“I-I-I’m sorry if I was asleep when you came to visit me, Rainbow Dash…” Fluttershy whispered softly. “Pinkie brought Gummy over and he was so dirty so we gave him a bath, but he was quite slippery and I, um, accidentally fell inside the bathtub.”

“Hee hee! It was so funny too! I really wish I could have seen that again!” Pinkie Pie interrupted only for Twilight to shush her and allowed Fluttershy to continue.

“I was so tired that day after being awake all night helping direct Mr. Bat during his hunt after he hurt his ears so I didn’t sleep at all. Uh… once Gummy was dry, I let him out and just sat there in the bathroom to sleep while Angel kept watch over me. He told me you came after Pinkie left. I’m sorry I didn’t get to say anything before…”

Rainbow Dash did nothing but nod during the whole time. “Ok, so that was with all of you…but what about the others?”

*********************

“Ok, ok, lemme get this straight,” Dash said as she sat at the counter of Sugarcube Corner surrounded by her friends and some patrons who stayed for her “Welcome to Ponyville” anniversary party Pinkie Pie managed to finally begin as they all shed some light on today’s events.

“When Pinkie Pie delivered the cart of new vests on behalf of Rarity and they put them on, old stallion Waddle actually got an itch and began to scratch it. When he did that, every old pony in that home thought he came up with a new dance craze and followed him along with everything he did?!”

“Merciful heavens, yes! We tried very hard to calm everypony down but they didn’t listen. It was until Mr. Waddle stopped itching that we settled them down,” one of the Retirement Village’s nurses on her break said with a roll of her eyes.

“And you should’ve seen the Captain! Apparently one of his prized medals got lost and he tore up his office to find it, ending up accidentally spilling the inkwell's contents on himself which made him more furious!” Officer Hotshot explained with a laugh, “He called the theft of his medal ‘an outrage’ and that ‘he would bring the thief to justice’! Imagine his face seeing that medal having been in his house the entire time after he went there to change his uniform!” With that, all the other officers laughed along.

“I swear Derpy’s muffin habit will be the end of her!” Golden Harvest complained out loud. “She has been eating nothing but muffins non-stop for the past two weeks! I told her it was bad for her to eat nothing but muffins, but noooooooooo… She had to eat that one last muffin and promptly got sick from them! Hopefully this will make her eat other stuff than muffins all day!”

“Hopefully the spare oven will be fixed soon. I swear those little rascals are so helpful but they have absolutely no clue what to do in the kitchen! Imagine trying to bake a cake for cutie marks!” Mrs. Cake said as she stood next to the guests to Rainbow Dash’s “party”.

“My dear Mrs. Cake, you have no idea how right you are in regards to the Cutie Mark Crusaders and their kitchen skills. I still feel goose pimples remembering my dear little Sweetie’s attempts at breakfast those days before the Sisterhooves Social,” Rarity replied with a shudder.

“Think that’s bad? Imagine the breakdown the Mayor had with the pegasi painters she hired who followed her instructions to gather the exact color-code paint cans to repaint Town Hall, only to realize her secretary made several errors with the codes and accidentally getting the wrong colors and painting everything until it was too late!” a filly civil servant spoke up. “I swear I thought the Mayor would get gray hairs for sure from that nervous collapse!”

Rainbow Dash chuckled at that only to direct her attention to a certain multicolored hairpiece-wearing donkey a few feet down from where she was. “So Cranky, how does emulating the coolest pony in Ponyville feel like?”

“Just because I tried to use one of those strange dyes on Matilda’s advice to change this hair to a better color and accidentally using too much doesn’t mean I’m copying anypony!” the irritable Cranky snapped back causing the others to laugh.

“Gee, Pinkie, I’m really sorry. I thought for sure you became a pranking monster only to realize it was all in my head. Will you ever forgive me?” the cyan Pegasus asked as her ears flopped sadly.

Pinkie Pie replied with a hug. “Aw, come on, Dashie! You’re always my friend! Don’t ever forget that!”

“Yeah, thanks. You’re one of the best,” the pegasus replied as she grinned happily causing all the guests to whoop in joy.

“I guess a certain somepony is going to have to send this week’s Friendship Report to Celestia now,” Twilight added matter-of-factly.

“Yeah, yeah, tomorrow after I come by and pick up my latest Daring Do from-” Rainbow Dash then stared at Pinkie with a sly grin “Hey Pinkie! Aren’t you forgetting something?”

Pinkie cocked her head to the side wondering what she was talking about.

The pegasus was just about to remind her of her end of the bargain since they made the deal, but stopped short. Shaking her head her grin became softer. “Nevermind. I just like things the way they are. Now and forever.”

*********************

Analysis Report Number: 441.
Title: Special Acquisition

Good fortune smiled as the recent sojourn of the servants into nearby areas of population came across a most unusual specimen, which was acquired without a struggle at a domicile of a pony known for an empathy and unusual ability to communicate with animals. Considering how rare apprehending such an infantile specimen of reptilian nature that is neither draconic nor of any regular denizen of the nearby woodland environment, there is high probability the results would yield positive feedback towards research.

Subject has been classified as a prime candidate to be infused with Formula-strain Gamma. Further notes will be dictated as soon as the infusion process begins. Soon, all the secrets shall be unlocked. I will not fail.

The Legend of Mare-Do-Well trots along.

Comments

[JD2K]

New Chapter up!

Feedback is welcome as always.

[Dream Catcher]

Gummy is the hulk? Wow.

[Jack Frankenstien]

Nice filler chapter. Looks like it came straight from an episode of canon MLP.

[Blackbelt]

wow. I was actually worried Pinkie was taking things too far.

[TheHiddenOne]

Let's see... the last villain was pretty much and expy of The Riddler... I'm gonna guess that this one is an expy of Scarecrow.

[JD2K]

511461
Thank you. I tried keeping it close to the original formula and I was quite pleased.

511920
Oh trust me, the next villian will be much worse than that. Won't spoil too much but it'll be a type of "Knight of Cerebus" (and one of the reasons this series is rated Teen). This is actually a chapter I've been waiting a long time to write and the past few chapters were building up the villian's appearance. Stay tuned.

[RLYoshi]

Wow, this seems like it'd actually make for a good MLP episode!

[SuperPinkBrony12]

Good filler chapter to help us simmer down. Wait what's this, they got Fluttershy, Mare-Do-Well is really going to have her work cut out for her this time.

[JD2K]

524809

I won't lie. This next chapter, Chapter 10, will be a major mood whiplash for the series.
This is perhaps both the darkest and saddest chapter I've ever written. Remember,chapters like these is the reason I placed the "random" tag there. Not all the chapters will be comedic or slice-of-life in nature.

If you thought the Game Marester was a piece of work, you'll come to hate this next villian.

*spoiler*

someone will die...

[SuperPinkBrony12]

526399 Oh no, I asume that by saying someone instead of somepony means that Mare-Do-Well will break one of her rules again, I jsut hope Fluttershy is rescued before she has to see that, otherwise she'll be tramutized.

[Spiritus Arcane]

I'm sure SOMEONE has done something similar, but this idea has stuck in my head since reading this:

(to the tune of...if I REALLY need to tell you Darkwing Duck, shame on you )
Daring Filly of mystery
Champion of Right
Gallops out of the shadows
Pony owns the night
Somewhere some villains scheme
But their number's up! (3-2-1)

Mare-Do-Well! (When there's trouble just call MDW)
Mare-Do-Well! (Let's get dangerous!)
Mare-Do-Well! (Mare-Do, Mare-do...Well!)

Burst of confetti and she appears,
Mistress of surprise.
Who's that cunning mare behind
That shadowy disguise?
Nopony knows for sure,
But bad guys are out of luck.

'Cause here comes (Mare-Do-Well!)
Look out! (When there's trouble you call MDW)
Mare-Do-Well (Let's get dangerous)
Mare-Do-Well (Better watch out, you bad colts)
Mare-Do-Well!

[MiddaySolace]

Any chance she'll get more gadgets? Like a grapple gun, body armor, and some type of shuriken( batarang would be a type of these for those who don't know). She might not be able to find an easy way onto a roof top quickly, or get clse enough to somepony to clock em, or might get hurt from a knife or some gun-like contraption(it's a crime syndicate; you never know). And lets not forget a glide cape for the off-chance she cant find a quick and safe way DOWN. So, anything planned?

[JD2K]

560944

Oh, be assured she well get some "wonderful toys" very soon...

[MiddaySolace]

563043

Sweet

[Alchemystudent]

I love this chapter and all. It felt very much like an episode, but... I feel a huge dissconnnect with anything from the main plot. I could remove everythign Mare-Do-Well related, replace 28 pranks later with this eppie, and there would be nother different in the story. Nothing! That isn't to say it's bad, just dissconnected.