The Best Laid Out Plans 0: An April Fools Prequel

by Bysen

The Set-up and/or Recap

After Twilight had gotten over her brother completely forgetting to tell her he’d proposed to Cadence only to have an invitation arrive at her dorm three days before the wedding at which Chrysalis, Shining’s ex, had drunkenly crashed and declared her undying love for Shining before throwing one of her eight children [octuplets from some guy in europe] at him before being arrested, she, meaning Twilight, her brother, sister-in-law, parents and mothers-in-law sat at a table in a donut shop in ripped up clothing from the brawl that had ensued.

“I’ll be honest..” Cadence spoke up. “I really thought that was going to be another of your pranks.”

“My pranks?” Shining asked back.

“Ok, our pranks.”

“I still feel like I’m included in the word ‘our’. Yours and Twilight’s.”

“Ok… my and Twilight’s pranks.”

“Hey, I only pulled one to get back at you for the first two you pulled.” Twilight added.

“Can I just finish my thought?” she asked with exasperation.

“Also, it would be ‘Twilight and I’.”

Cadence just deathstared her aunty Lulu. There was no response. “Thank you. Now, I honestly thought that that was one of the pranks and I was fully prepared to just walk away from this entire family. Both sides of it. But, I guess it just turns out my husband has a way ladies. That came out wrong. Chrysalis is just crazy.”

“Eeyup.” said everyone.

Celestia put down her donut [a rarity for her] and asked “I’m aware of the third prank, having facilitated the school’s on-ground police to help sell the fake kidnapping of Twilight by Fluffle Puff. Who thinking about it, I wonder if she’s still stalking/living with/stockholm syndroming Chrysalis? Regardless. I know it was meant to be pulled on Shining Armour and Cadence with Velvet being in on it, only for it to turn into Velvet thinking it has actually real while Shining didn’t buy it at all and tried to prank Twilight in turn by using the ransom money to instead buy an engagement ring. But what were the first two pranks?”

“Sister, that was an incredibly rambly and run on sentence.”

“Well sorry, I’m drunk. You’re driving right?” Luna just facepalmed.

Shining answered her. “Well, the second one was probably why Twilight tried to pull one on me and Cadence. Cadence had told one of my friend to get me black out drunk at a party th-”

“I didn’t tell them anything, they just did it anyway.”

“-at chrysalis was at. The point being to make me think I cheated on her with Chrysalis. And as you can guess, it backfired.”

“You actually cheated on her?” Celestia asked.

“Uhh… maybe a little. Does kissing count?” he said nervously eying Cadence whose face wore a ‘it’s cool, kinda my fault’ expression. “So long story short, Chrysalis then broke into my house, put some fake messages on my phone, then lived in my shed for a few days to fake her death and make Cadence think I’d killed with the messages and had to cover it up. Meanwhile, I started a garden for some home grown flowers at Chrysalis’s advice for Cadence. Chrysalis buried a pig carcass under it and Cadence dug it up thinking she’d found the body. Oh, and Twilight was in on the whole thing from Cadence’s side and also thought I was coming out to kill them for finding the body.”

“What the rut…?” Celestia asked in disbelief.

“Chrysalis is just crazy.” Cadence answered.

“Yeah…” her ‘mother’ agreed. “And the first prank? Was it as bad?”

“Well no, but actually yes.” Shining answered.

“Go on…” Luna egged.

“So Cadence and Twilight were arguing over who I loved more… so naturally the logical answer was to find out by having Chrysalis fake holding them hostage at gunpoint saying she was going to kill one of them and I could only save one.”

“Cadence, what the rut?!” Celestia muttered.

“Oh it gets better. This was like 6 years ago and I think Twilight was 12 at the time.”

“Hehehe…” Cadence let out apologetically as she shrunk under the gaze of everyone at the table. Even those who already knew but were revised the details.

“Luckily for me, and this is the only time I have ever pulled a prank, Chrysalis told me about this and so I faked shooting myself instead of having to choose to turn the prank on them. But, then I also turned it on Chrysalis who I left alone with Cadence and Twilight who taped her to a phone pole. So that’s why Cadence thought Chrysalis would be willing to prank me back a year later with that cheating thing. Also I think Fluffle Puff legit abducted her from that phone pole…”

“Wow… that’s…” Celestia said.

“Hilarious!” Luna finished. And laughed loudly. “So every prank backfired on the person who pulled it? Uh, so much karma, it’s great!”

“Well. All in all, I’d say it was still better than our wedding.” Velvet, Twilight/Shining’s mother, said.

“Tough call honestly.” Orian Comet, or OC for short, Twilight/Shining and I guess also Cadence now too’s father, replied.

“Oh yeah…” Cadence spoke up. “Last year you mentioned a prank you pulled just before you two got married. What was it?’

Velvet turned to her husband and said “Well, it all started back in 1999…”

*Music plays as the scene fades away and a overtly 90's montage plays*