Rabbit Tracks

by Krickis

Under the Mistletoe (Pinkiedash)

It was just one of those things that ponies did around this time of year. It didn’t mean anything, not really. Just a fun tradition.

After all, no one thought anything when Pinkie hung up the mistletoe. No one thought anything when she caught Big Mac and Sugar Belle under it. They’d all cheered as the shy stallion kissed his wife in front of everyone. And later, when Pinkie caught Twilight and Fluttershy under the mistletoe, well, they’d all cheered again.

It was just one of those things. Just a silly little tradition. Twilight and Fluttershy weren’t even dating – at least not yet, but Pinkie had some idea that they weren’t under the mistletoe together by coincidence.

Nor would Rainbow Dash. She’d be caught under the mistletoe next, and it would be Pinkie she’d be with. But not because Pinkie wanted to kiss Rainbow. Sure, she didn’t mind kissing her friend, but that wasn’t what she was after.

No, this was part of a prank. Rainbow had said that she’d hate to be the stallion that caught her under the mistletoe, so Pinkie asked what would happen if it wasn’t a stallion. Rainbow had gotten flustered and didn’t answer, so Pinkie took that as a challenge.

And sure, she could probably get Rainbow under the mistletoe with a different mare, but there wouldn’t be a better angle to see the look on her face.

So Pinkie waited. That was the key to this. She danced with her friends, keeping an eye on Rainbow. She took careful note of Rainbow leaving the dance floor, and soon excused herself as well, all the while looking for her opening.

“Rainbow!” Pinkie called as she approached her friend.

The pegasus turned and grinned at her. “Heya, Pinks.”

“Done dancing?” Pinkie asked.

Rainbow shrugged. “ I thought I might go grab some cider. Wanna join me?”

Pinkie beamed. Surely she could use this for her plan. “Sure! Lead the way!”

The two friends made their way to the snack table, which was conveniently close to the doorway that Pinkie had hung the mistletoe in. She didn’t rush things though. She had to take her time with this or else she’d blow the whole thing.

Not only did Rainbow have to be under the mistletoe with Pinkie, but she had to not even notice she was until it was too late. No, this was not something to rush.

“So hey, great job setting up this party,” Rainbow said as she poured a couple mugs of cider for them.

Pinkie took a sip of hers. “Thanks, Dashie. I’m just glad everyone’s having a good time.”

“You know we always do at a Pinkie Pie party!” Rainbow grinned and held out her mug. “Cheers another holiday with good friends!”

“Cheers!” Pinkie said, then clinked her mug against Rainbow’s. She took a long drink of it, debating all the while how to play this interaction.

She didn’t debate for long. Applejack came over to see the two friends, stumbling a little. She’d clearly had a few ciders herself. “Howdy, you two. How’s the cider?”

“You know it’s great,” Rainbow said. “It really hits the spot.”

“Done dancing?” Pinkie said, wishing she were still preoccupied. She didn’t want anyone to get in the way of her great prank.

“Yeah, for now. Course I could still dance circles around you.”

Rainbow laughed. “Yeah right! Why don’t you put your hooves where your mouth is?”

“Maybe, but let’s do something a little different than dancing. Hoof wrestling, go!”

“You’re on!”

Things were not going how Pinkie had planned, but that was okay. There was always room for improvisation in a good plan. The three mares walked over to a table, where Pinkie adopted the role of a referee. “Okay, I want a good clean match! No funny business! And believe me, I know all about funny business, so don’t think you can sneak it past me!”

Applejack and Rainbow locked eyes as they locked hooves, waiting for Pinkie’s word to start.

“Ready… set… go!”

The two mares both tried their hardest to bring the other one down. Pinkie could see their muscles straining, and at first, it really looked like neither one was going to gain ground on the other.

Then slowly, Rainbow’s hoof started going down. She tried everything she could to bring it back up, but Applejack was built Apple tough, and she would not yield.

Rainbow’s hoof fell onto the table with a thud, and reluctantly, Pinkie cheered, “Applejack is the winner!”

“Ha! I knew it!” Applejack threw her hooves into the air, then stumbled a bit.

Although she caught herself before she hit the floor, Pinkie stepped closer in case she needed to brace herself on a friend. “You okay?”

“Yeah, just got a little caught up.” Applejack chuckled nervously. “What about… aww, don’t be like that, Dash!”

Rainbow was already flying away. Pinkie frowned and walked after her.

“Rainbow?” Pinkie promoted when the pegasus landed. “It was really close.”

“Yeah…”

Pinkie reached out for Rainbow, then stopped short. Rainbow and Applejack did stuff like this all the time. Sometimes Rainbow won, sometimes, Applejack did. It didn’t usually get to her like this.

She frowned, her only concern being her friend. “You’ll get her next time, I’m sure.”

Rainbow didn’t say anything.

“Hey, I bet you can beat me in hoof wrestling! Wanna give it a shot?”

“Hey, Pinkie?”

“Yeah?”

Rainbow pointed up. Pinkie rose her head to follow where her friend was pointing, and she saw they were right underneath the mistletoe.

Before she could react, she felt Rainbow’s lips on hers. Pinkie’s eyes went wide, and her hoof went to her mouth as Rainbow pulled away. She could still taste the cider.

Rainbow grinned. “Happy Hearth’s Warming, Pinks.”

“Uh… yeah, happy Hearth’s Warming…”

Rainbow flew off, and Pinkie felt a smile creeping across her face. It occurred to her that she’d been played perfectly, but she couldn’t manage to be upset about that one little bit.

Author's Note:

This was written for my writing club I host on my Discord server, with the them "Fool Me Once". The original idea was stolen from Hoofclid. It's actually exactly 1000 words but Fimfiction's word counter is a little off

Comments

[Jay-155]

Excellent short story, very cute!

[Grainne Ni Bhroin]

Adorable.

[Krickis]

10795568
Glad you think so

[FanOfMostEverything]

I do love Dash being more clever than she looks. She can think strategically but she rarely chooses to outside of pranks. Lovely bit of fluff.

[Krickis]

10795726
Thank you! Originally Hoof's idea was to have Pinkie truck Rainbow into a kiss but then oh no she likes it, then when I was writing it, I just knew that Rainbow had to turn the prank around haha