MLP: The Prank of the Century. Part 2

Pinkie Pie sat in deep thought as she sat at her desk, her head laying upon her wrists. She sniffed meekly as her tears began to dry, the sorrow in her eyes shrouded behind her lank hair. She felt truly betrayed, having her good nature taken advantage of by her own friends; her best friends. They had taken note of her reliance on companionship for mental security, and manipulated her for their own twisted amusement.

This was the first time she has ever been genuinely angry at them, and possibly always will be from this moment onward. She couldn't even stand thinking about them in the slightest, or she would likely explode in a frenzied rage. She left her seat and crawled over to the nearby corner of the room, before leaning back against the cold surface and continuing to consider the traumatic event that had unfolded.

"Pinkie Pie?"

Pinkie Pie's eyes shut tightly as she yelled "Go away! I don't wanna talk to you…" before she paused and opened her eyes, "…whoever you are". Her rage was instantly replaced with curiosity as she pondered who this voice could belong to, the voice itself remaining unfamiliar to her. Pinkie Pie's gaze shifted around the supposedly empty room, before she asked "Who said that?" into the cold night air.

"I did" the feminine voice answered, though it didn't seem to have come from anywhere specific. "Who's there?" she nervously asked, her whispers echoing faintly throughout the building. "I'm not anywhere, Pinkie Pie" the voice replied. Suddenly, realization dawned on her; she wasn't actually hearing this voice. She pondered what this could mean to herself, before coming to a somewhat obvious conclusion. She stared upwards, attempting in futility to see her own forehead.

"Are you… in my mind?"

"Wait… Don't you remember me?" the voice then asked faintly, sounding somewhat concerned in its tone. This confirmed Pinkie Pie's suspicion; this voice was inside her own head, but the voice's question sent her mind reeling with new questions to ask. Eventually, she settled with "Remember you?" as her response. The voice giggled happily, before replying "We were the best of friends a long time ago, back when you were a filly".

Pinkie Pie thought back to the memories of her young fillyhood on the rock farm, in an attempt to better understand this voice's claim. She could remember how incredibly lonely she was at that time, and her family were always uninterested in her, as well as too busy to pay any attention to her. Due to this solitary lifestyle, the only one she could talk to, and would listen to her, was herself. The pieces were starting to fit together in Pinkie Pie's head.

She remembered how she would spend hours sitting somewhere secluded and talk to herself over her own feelings and opinions; and the voice was always there to listen, allowing her to carry entire conversations without the need of her family or anypony else. Then she remembered the party she threw for them, and how the voice was there to help her when she needed it. This thought brought a smile to Pinkie Pie's face. "Yes! That's right! I remember that!" she beamed cheerfully.

The voice then added in a soothing tone "Whatever you feel or want to say, I'm here to talk to you. No matter what problems you run into, I'm always here to help you through them. We were together for the longest time, and I loved it". Such happy memories flooded Pinkie Pie's mind like a tidal wave, and filled her with a newfound happiness as she giddily hugged herself with joy. However, a new thought crossed her mind, and she asked "What happened to you?"

From this question, the mood turned somewhat sour.

"You forgot all about me… after a while" the voice responded, suddenly sounding deflated of its previous joy. "What? I did?" Pinkie Pie asked in surprise. The voice distraughtly replied "You left me behind when you came to this place, and got new friends". Pinkie Pie was left speechless, stunned in disbelief. She had always wanted a friend throughout her dismal fillyhood; but the voice's claim meant that when she finally had a friend, she abandoned it to make more friends. This thought resulted in a sharp pain in her chest; leaving her feeling nauseous.

"I…" was all she could utter, her lungs having tightened beyond fluent breathing, much less the capability of speech. Before she could think of anything to say, her mind went blank as all she could think of was the first friend she ever had being discarded without a care. The voice cried "I don't understand, Pinkie Pie! Everything I did was to make you happy! It's been years, and I've spent them all desperately trying to talk to you! You were the only pony who could possibly hear me! I don't wanna be stuck by myself anymore! WHY DID YOU DO THAT TO ME?!"

The voice had begun growing louder, to the point of ringing in her ears. Pinkie Pie began to panic and yelled "I'M SORRY! I'm so sorry! I'm sorry for abandoning you like that! I…" before being interrupted by the pain welling in her chest. She cringed to herself "Ugh! I feel so awful!" Pinkie Pie's eyes began shedding tears again by this time. She felt so hypocritical; the fact that she shut her friends out for mistreating her for their own desires, when she herself was guilty such an atrocity. She laid her head against the wall in disappointment with herself.

Eventually, the depressing atmosphere had lifted; and the voice, apparently not caring about such facts, reassured with motherly delight "It's alright, Pinkie Pie! Hehehehe! We're together again now, and that's what matters!" Pinkie Pie rubbed her cheeks of the drying tears and asked "After what I did to you? Abandoning you for new friends, it doesn't bother you?" The air felt thick around her, evermore adding to her difficulty to breathe. "I don't blame you at all. I knew those phonies were never truly your friends as soon as I saw what they did to you!"

Pinkie Pie raised an eyebrow tilted her head in confusion from this strange change of topic. "What?" she questioned, to which the voice sneered "What kind of friends would do such awful things to somepony like you?! They never realized how torturous that was for you to experience, and for all we know, they didn't care at all!" Pinkie Pie sighed from hearing this accusation, knowing it to be true in her heart. She shivered from the cold air and confessed "It was horrible! They scared me so bad today! But… they weren't trying to be mean to me. They wouldn't… would they?"

The voice then howled "After all of that!? A true friend would know when to stop entertaining themselves at your expense, to at least make you feel better from it all by the end". Pinkie Pie slammed both her front hooves on the ground in a fit of rage, shouting "You're absolutely right! They're just a bunch of phonies! I can't believe they would do something like this!" before hanging her head in sorrow. "But I can!" the voice answered in disagreement, "But don't worry, Pinkie Pie. I'm gonna help you get back at them!" Pinkie tilted her head in confusion, asking "How?"

Something in Pinkie Pie had changed by this time. Her previous feelings of guilt for her friends, her fits of boiling rage, anything that encompassed her emotions. They were all gone, forgotten; and now, there was nothing but her and this voice.

"By pulling our own 'Prank of the Century' on them!"

As this was said, Pinkie Pie suddenly felt herself rise from the floor, despite her lack of intent to do so, and staggered her way to the nearby window, where stood a mounted telescope that she received from Twilight. She grabbed it and packed it into its nearby bag before staggering her way to the front door.

Pinkie Pie opened it and was greeted by the intense cold, almost chilling her to the core. She wandered her way through the streets while carrying the telescope, observing the roofs for a suitable setup spot. However, Pinkie Pie then came to a sudden realization; even though she had reunited with her colleague, she had no clue what her friend's name was anymore.

"Something on your mind, cherub?" asked the voice in a singsong tone. This felt strange to Pinkie Pie, since she couldn't recall being called something like that before. She admitted "Well, I feel bad for saying this, but… I've kinda forgotten your name". She blushed in embarrassment for this, but the voice merely laughed heartily and replied "Oh! That's fine, Pinkie Pie! You shouldn't beat yourself up over things like that".

Pinkie Pie had begun to enjoy this voice, finding its complimentary attitude and the way it spoke to her as incredibly comforting and uplifting. The voice continued "Well… you actually gave me your name, because you told me that you preferred Pinkie Pie". Suddenly, Pinkie Pie abruptly stopped in the middle of the street, though she hadn't intended to do so. Pinkie Pie felt as if she had lost control of her body, feeling a tight strain in her movements. Her eyes widened into a sinister gaze as her mouth soon twisted into a large, disturbing smile.

"Pinkamena".

---

Meanwhile, within the Town Hall, the annual April Fools competition awards were being readied for announcement. All of the guests who attended had spent most of the party eating and drowning their thirsts in anything of a liquid substance, provided of course.

All were merry and cheerful except for Rainbow Dash, who was still stricken with guilt over what happened earlier this evening, and had been throughout her entire time at the party. Across from her table, Applejack and the others still seemed annoyed with her for it too, but had loosened up by this time. They came to understand that Rainbow Dash was only trying to help the best way she could think of, even if it was the wrong way.

Applejack sat next to Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle, who was busy downing her… whatever it was. After chugging the rest, Applejack sighed meekly and turned to face the pegasus, "Hey Rainbow Dash… sorry for gettin' angry at ya earlier. I just thought ya pranked her just for a laugh" she admitted. Rainbow Dash was about to reply; but the unicorn on stage announced "And the winner of the umpteenth April Fools anniversary and competition goes to…"

She retrieved a slip of paper from the central podium and announced "Rainbow Dash!" Rainbow Dash slammed her head on the table, grumbling under her breath "… for the umpteenth time". Before her friends had the chance to question her statement, though, she had already flown from her table to the stage podium. Orange Swirl continued her announcement with "For her outstanding 'Prank of the Century' for which we all aided in scaring her best friend to death!"

She didn't actually say this, but Rainbow Dash believed that it would've been more accurate. Rainbow Dash stood in front of her accomplices with the trophy and said "Thank you so much, everypony. This prank took so much careful planning, and if it weren't for you all, it would have been doomed to fail". The unicorn beside her concentrated her gaze over the audience, before raising her eyebrow and asking "Say… Where is Pinkie Pie, anyway?"

Rainbow Dash's heart stopped dead from its typical rhythm, finding herself met with curious gazes from rows upon rows of an expectant audience. "Sadly, she…" Rainbow Dash began before pausing nervously, "…told me that she couldn't come tonight". She lowered her head and stared at the prize, confessing "But if she was, I'd… want her to have this prize. She deserves this a lot more than I do for her amazing… performance today".

Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie and her newly gained associate snuck inside the Town Hall through a second story window. She stepped in from of the balcony and peeked towards the bystanders below, quickly spotting her old friends sitting together at one table within the center of the hall. Applejack began looking around the building absentmindedly, admiring the decorative scenery that surrounded them. As she continued her analytical study, however, the pink observer was soon spotted.

Pinkie Pie immediately ducked away in a panic as Pinkamena yelled "Why did you look over the edge!? She's knows we're here now!" Pinkie Pie remained unfazed by this and simply smiled, replying "At least we won't be for long" and giggling to herself. Applejack left the table and proceeded to exit the main hall, neglecting to inform her colleagues of her motivation, and climbing the nearby staircase to the second floor. Pinkie Pie staggered down the stairs and crept behind the backstage towards the basement door, whispering to herself all the while to avoid any attention.

Before she could open the door, however, a certain guest crept up behind her, asking "Where are you going?" in a hesitant whisper. Pinkie Pie turned her head in disappointment, having immediately recognized the guest by her southern accent. She spun around to find Applejack, internally groaning in discontent. Applejack stood behind her with a curious expression on her face, soon to become an expression of concern. She stared at Pinkie Pie with widened eyes, dumbfounded from seeing her companion in her current state.

Pinkie Pie's hair was hanging downwards over her shoulders, the left of her fringe covering the left half of her face. Her skin was somewhat paler than it's more natural, healthy glow. But her face was the most diverting aspect of her features. Her eyes were wide open and her pupils had shrunken to disturbing measures. Her grin covered a majority of her cheeks, showing a large, white smile.

"Oh, it's her again. We need to get away from her, now!" Pinkamena beckoned within Pinkie Pie's mind. "Um… since you've caught me, you should know that I'm pulling a prank of my own" Pinkie Pie warned her consultant. Suddenly, she swung her head away from Applejack and gripped the doorknob, staring towards the ground. "NOT LIKE THAT!" Pinkamena shouted. "Well, you should have been more specific!" Pinkie Pie replied to herself in a panic. "I told you to trick her into leaving; that's not hard, is it?!" Pinkamena hissed. "Okay, maybe I could've said some-".

"Um, Pinkie Pie?"

"WHAT NOW!?" she shouted with mindless hysteria towards her former friend. Applejack tilted her head and stared suspiciously at Pinkie Pie; "Okay, somethin' is wrong here, Pinkie Pie. Are ya feeling alright?" Applejack asked. After shaking her head hard enough for it to almost twist off, she replied "Great! I've never felt better in my life! Heh Heheheheheee!" Pinkie Pie cackled cheerfully. Applejack was not convinced in the slightest, "Well… you shoutin' at yaself in two different voices and cacklin' like a maniac seem to say otherwise" Applejack accused.

Pinkie Pie stared coldly at the southerner; before suddenly, a loud crash could be heard in the main hall and Applejack hesitantly spun around to find the source. From what she saw, one of the unicorns had stumbled and knocked over a food cart, sending dozens of plates and cutlery crashing to the floor. Applejack only looked for a short moment; but upon turning back to face Pinkie Pie, the latter was nowhere to be seen.

Pinkie Pie had burst through the doors of the basement and dashed into the bowels of the town hall, before stopping and leaning against a wooden column to catch her breath. "Great! Now she knows we're up to something!" Pinkamena snapped. "Well then, we're gonna have to be quick" Pinkie Pie replied with a smirk. She detached herself from the column and crept stealthily towards a nearby table, brushing the dust away and laying her prepared equipment upon it.

"Thanks so much for these gas cans, Rainbow Dash; I can thank you for that much, at least" she whispered to herself, before lifting a black-painted canister from the collection. She originally intended to use the cans during April Fools Day, but unfortunately was distracted and forgot about them. Suddenly, upon reading the labels on the explosive cylinders, Pinkie Pie questioned "Laughing gas? Gee, this is a pretty demented plan. … Yeah, it is! Hehehehahahaha! … Don't you think we should worry about the kids that are reading this? … Nah, they should be fine. This is science!"

Unbeknownst to her, Applejack had overheard her from behind the door and quietly snuck inside, to Pinkie Pie's obliviousness. "What is she doin'?!" she pondered nervously from behind a shelf, "Is she talkin' to herself?" Pinkie Pie took the cans and reinserted them back into the box, before lifting the box itself to take along with her. However, upon approaching the door, Applejack stepped out from behind the shelf and stood in her path, yelling "Pinkie Pie! What are ya gonna do with those?!"

Pinkamena grumbled to herself in frustration and growled towards her challenger "You had better get out of my way!" Applejack then explained "What's goin' on, Pinkie Pie? Ya're friends are really worried about ya, y'know". Pinkie Pie rolled her eyes at the mention of her 'friends' and retorted "I don't think so. I've found myself a new friend, Applejack. She's really nice to me, and she understands me perfectly!"

Applejack suddenly came to a realization, "Ya've befriended yaself?" Applejack simply shut her eyes in disbelief, "Pinkie Pie, I know ya do ridiculous things, but that is just stupid!" she exclaimed. Pinkie Pie's jaw dropped in shock before she huffed sarcastically "How sweet of you to call me 'stupid', Applejack. Thank you so much!" By this time, Pinkamena had had enough, and took it upon herself to settle this matter in her own way.

With a slug between the eyes.

---

A few hours later, Pinkie Pie returned to the rooftop and took her place by the telescope, observing the Town Hall in preparation for what would occur. Pinkamena giggled "Hehehehe! This will be something sure to please, cherub". There was that nickname again, but Pinkie Pie had taken a liking to it by now; something about the way Pinkamena said it to her, coupled with her motherly attitude, seemed remarkably pleasant. Pinkie Pie's mind had wandered off from her pleasure, causing her to forget her appointed tasks.

"Hey! Wake up, Pinkie Pie! Quick, check the telescope again!" Pinkamena commanded within her mind, rousing her from her fantasies. Pinkie Pie obeyed the command and peered through the scope to see the current state of the building. By this time, the party was almost over, and several guests had left early, including Fluttershy. As the last of the strawberry cake was eaten and the last beverage was guzzled down, the party was officially over.

Meanwhile, Applejack awoke from her unconscious state to find herself in the basement; though upon attempting to stand, had found herself bound by her front hooves by duct tape. She fell forward and collapsed against the floor, leaving her dazed from the impact. She continued to look around and found a single gas canister tied in between her hooves, the timer ticking away and displaying '0:40 sec'. Applejack began to panic and desperately searched the room for anything sharp to cut with, thankfully finding a breadknife among a nearby assortment of cutlery.

Taking the blade's handle in her mouth, whilst simultaneously remaining cautious as to not the puncture the canister, she successfully detached the explosive and quickly made her way back to the first floor. She reached her table of friends and said "Gals, I need to tell y'all somethin'". Her friends, each individually half asleep, quickly paid attention. "It's Pinkie Pie. She's here, and she's gone bonkers! She's gonna gas the place with-". As the timers rang to announce their concluded countdown, the cans themselves, secretly hidden underneath most of the food carts, were activated.

'KABOOM! PSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!'

Within moments, the building was filled with a green mist, filling the lungs of everypony within the estate. Then there was the laughter; pure, mindless, psychotic laughter. The crowd rang out with the sound of hysterical cackling and choking. Applejack and her friends found themselves victim to the contagious oxide, but still had enough of their former common sense to try and head for the nearest exit; all except for Twilight, who succumbed to the madness completely. Pinkamena was observing this whole event and laughing to herself with pure delight.

"I told you this would be funny!" Pinkamena cheered. However, Pinkie Pie wasn't laughing; instead, she began feeling guilty for having to physically attack somepony, especially an old friend of hers. "What's wrong cherub? … I just- I don't feel good about this anymore. … What do you mean? Didn't you wanna get back at them for mistreating you? … I did, but… I didn't wanna hurt them. … You didn't hurt her, I did. She deserved it, anyway. … For what? … For calling you stupid! Nopony calls you stupid while I'm with you".

The conversation died away as Pinkie Pie peered through the telescope once again. Most of the ponies in the building had left in an effort to escape the influence of the gas, stumbling and tripping over eachother clumsily. Pinkie Pie then noticed her friends in the distance, all heading for her house. Swiftly, she made an effort to pack up the telescope and return home before they did. She slid down the slanted edge of the house's roof and sprinted off down the street.

Once she reached her home, she rushed through her front door and set about shutting all the windows and locking all the doors; but in her haste, neglected to lock the front door after entering her abode. By this time, all of the ponies were discussing what to do outside the window. She leaned against the door to hear what they we're saying, only to be met with four sharp knocks on the wooden surface.

"Um… Pinkie Pie? Are ya there?" asked a familiar southern accent. "Yeah, I'm here. What do you want?!" Pinkie Pie called through the door. Rainbow Dash leaned against the door and stammered "Pinkie Pie… can you… come outside?" "Never! She shouldn't have to listen to you lot!" spouted Pinkamena in bitter hatred. All the ponies looked at eachother in surprise from hearing her speak in this foreign, alien voice and Fluttershy stuttered "You were right, Applejack. She isn't alright at all". Applejack came to the door and said "Pinkie Pie, we need to talk right now! We know about your-".

"Her friend!?" Pinkamena snarled, "I've always taken care of her when she needed help. I've always been there for her, only because nopony else has! Nopony else cares about her, you all hate her!" Rainbow Dash slammed her hooves against the door in frustration, yelling "That's not true at all, and you of all ponies would know that! And I can't believe you would punch Applejack when she tried to help you! Applejack tried to warn everypony about the gas canisters!" Pinkie Pie began to feel the guilt well up inside of her, before whimpering "I just wanted… to get back at you".

"Do ya really hate us that much, or did your 'friend' make you do it?" Applejack questioned. Pinkie Pie pondered this, before asking "Pinkamena, why did you hit her? … There just playing to your good side, don't fall for it" Pinkamena shouted in hesitation. "Answer the question! … Pinkie Pie, don't be foolish. … Pinkamena, I trusted you! … Cherub, be quiet! … Be quiet yourself, Pinkamena!"

"I'M SORRY!"

While Pinkie Pie and Pinkamena bickered, they heard a shout from behind them. She turned to see Rainbow Dash in the open doorway, gasping breathlessly as her eyes welled with sorrow. "I'M SORRY! For everything! I'm sorry for scaring you like that! I'm sorry that this happened!" She lowered her head distraughtly, crying to herself. She then quickly added "I was really stupid for doing that! I didn't think it would be so bad! I didn't think it would end up like this! I never considered it! I'm so stupid! I'm such a terrible friend, Pinkie Pie! I'M A DISGRACE!"

All were in shock at this outburst, as she wasn't saying it to anypony specifically, but to herself. Pinkie Pie suddenly understood the reason; Rainbow Dash never apologized for scaring her with the prank. This was probably the whole reason she thought she was hated, since it was uncommon for Rainbow Dash to apologize unless it was well warranted. Pinkie Pie thought about this deeply, as it was already rare for her to be apologized to, especially in this particular fashion. By that logic, Rainbow Dash's apology is undoubtedly genuine.

Pinkie Pie walked to her side to find her welling in a pool of despair; Rainbow Dash grimaced "I really should think about these things more often. I didn't mean-". "Uh-Uh-Uh! I don't wanna hear it! I'm not gonna let you cry like this" Pinkie Pie said before wrapping her arms around her best friend. Rainbow Dash warmly smiled, muttering "Pinkie Pie, you're way too nice at the best of times. I don't deserve it". Pinkie Pie shouted in shock "Stop it! I never want to hear you say that ever again! You're my best friend, Rainbow Dash!"

The pegasus wiped the last of her tears before replying "No. You were right to be angry at me. I wanna make it up to you, Pinkie Pie". "Well, why didn't you say so!?" Pinkie Pie suddenly shouted abruptly, ultimately shattering the dismal atmosphere with her joy. She pulled her friend to her hooves and said "Let's go somewhere, and have some fun". By now, the events of the previous hour had evaporated from memory. Applejack soon asked "Why don't we get somethin' to eat? Laughin' my guts out has made me kinda hungry".

'Go somewhere' seemed to have meant 'Go everywhere' by Pinkie Pie's logic, but her friends didn't seem to mind. They ordered a meal from the café and all ponies felt stuffed by the end. They were just leaving as the store closed, and Pinkie Pie stopped to stare through the window, eyeing what she could before the shopkeeper turned off the lights. Pinkie Pie's focus soon shifted to her reflection in the window, as she was not met with a friendly face.

Pinkamena glared into her eyes, sporting an expression of pure rage. Pinkie Pie panicked before feeling herself pulled against the window, the glass cracking slightly. Pinkamena stared with cold eyes into Pinkie Pie's soul before whispering "Don't forget about me, Pinkie Pie… Because I'm not going to forget about you!"

Applejack looked behind her and absentmindedly asked "Hey, Pinkie Pie, could ya please not break the windows- Wait! Pinkie Pie!?" Pinkie Pie pulled herself from the window and gasped for air from shock. "Hey Pinkie Pie, what's wrong!?" and multiple concerned faces was what Pinkie Pie was met with upon gazing to her left. "Um, I… just find it sad to leave those cakes to sit there for the night" she lied, the lie itself thankfully convincing her friends.

"Ugh… you're still not full yet? If I eat anymore, I'll explode!" Twilight chuckled. Applejack poked Pinkie Pie's stomach and said "Don't wanna get fat on us, do ya?" as Pinkie Pie stepped back in embarrassment and replied "Hey! I'll get you if you keep that up!" Her friends giggled as they made their way through the streets. Still, Pinkie couldn't help but cringe from Pinkamena's words, which haunted her all throughout her trip home.

She felt an evil presence watching her.

The End?