Wayfarer didn't know which was scarier as he walked through town with Celestia at his side. It was either the fact that Celestia was grinning ear to ear or the fact that she wouldn't tell him what was so funny. Wayfarer got the feeling that even if he knew what had put the Solar Matriarch in a good mood, it'd just make him more nervous. Then again, that smile and occasional evil laughter would probably haunt his nightmares for weeks to come.

"And I thought the Beast was bad," He thought to himself. "Luna's probably gonna have a busy month keeping my dreams in check.

At last the two arrived at their destination, and Wayfarer was still a little on edge when he saw the bell hat roof and the jack-in-the-box sign. The prank shop: a favourite locale for foals of all ages, though most notably Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. Wayfarer sighed, having a pretty good guess as to what direction this day was going in. Celestia ignored him though and quickly began rushing about the store, grabbing numerous gag objects and shoving them onto the counter of a store clerk who looked even more concerned about Celestia's manic expression then Wayfarer did.

"Uhh... Sunny?" Wayfarer said, stepping in front of the disguised Alicorn as he did. "Would you kindly fill me in on what exactly your battle plan is? Also you are really scaring me with that grin, could you tone it down a bit?"

'Sunny' seemed to snap out of a trance at that point, like she was previously caught in a high brought about by a cupcake spiked with way too much sugar and Wayfarer's concerned face was the insulin shot she needed. Her smile disappeared for a moment, then came back with much more restraint.

"Sorry," She said, calmly walking back to the counter, where the store clerk was desperately trying to keep the mass of products from toppling on top of him. She effortlessly pulled a few items off the top and placed them in seemingly random locations near the middle, which instantly balanced out the precarious mound and saved the clerk. Sighing in relief, the clerk spared a quick glare at Celestia before ringing up her purchases.

"Now," Wayfarer said, smirking with bemusement at Celestia. "What's this about?"

"I'm glad you asked, 'partner,'" Celestia responded with her own smirk. "We're going to have some fun with Twilight and her friends! Now that I've been in Ponyville for a while, I think I've got a pretty good idea what pranks will float well with them."

"Oh boy," Wayfarer said, rolling his eyes. This was going to be an interesting day, he was definitely sure of that now. "Alright, When do we start, and who's first on your hit list?"

"I started this morning, and as for my first victim, why, it's you silly!" Celestia said, grinning evilly again as she pulled out her coin purse to pay for her purchase.

"What," Wayfarer said simply, before quickly turning and twisting around, looking all over himself and trying to find out what she might have already done to him. Seeing nothing, his thoughts went to his room back at home. "Sunny, what did you do?"

"Oh you'll see," she giggled. "But trust me, it's not going to be that obvious."

Their first stop brought them outside of Ponyville, to Fluttershy's cottage of all places. Now of Twilight's circle of friends, Wayfarer was certain Fluttershy would be the least receptive to practical jokes, but Celestia insisted that she be the first pony they pranked. Wayfarer was now hiding in the bushes, keeping an eye on their target as she walked around her yard, feeding a number of larger animals. Out of the corner of his eye he'd see Celestia flying up into the sky bringing down cloud after cloud, zooming them into Fluttershy's backyard whenever her back was turned. Some of Fluttershy's animals must have noticed this, because eventually they began pulling at her hair and tail, pointing at the house and chittering loudly. Celestia took this moment to return to the bush with Wayfarer, smirking about whatever she had done.

"You sure this isn't going to send her in a panic?" Wayfarer asked as he watched Fluttershy walk behind the cottage.

"Well," Celestia said mischievously as her forehead started glowing. "Maybe for just a moment."

From the other side of the house that Fluttershy went around, a long train of clouds snaked into the front yard. The animals were all startled by this, especially when the clouds started forming limbs and a face. Wayfarer oohed in surprise as the world's fluffiest and friendliest looking dragon ever scuttled into the cottage just as Fluttershy was rushing back out front. The animals started squeeking and crying and jumping around, gesturing towards the door where the cloud dragon was looking out of. Fluttershy gave a eep in surprise when she saw it, falling to the ground and doing her best to disappear behind her hair and wings. The dragon waited there in the doorway for a while as she cowered, before snaking its head back out and giving a confused sounding purr. Fluttershy peaked up through her bangs, then the dragon sprayed her with a mist of water. Fluttershy lept back, at first terrified, then confused. The dragon started panting like a dog, pulling the rest of itself out of the cottage and wagging its tail. Fluttershy cautiously walked up to it, then it dropped its head to the ground at eye level to her. It blew another mist at her, causing her to flinch back again, then it started bounding around the yard and off the top of her cottage. Fluttershy just watched the bewitched cloud formation with bewilderment as it darted around, occasionally spraying water into the air.

"Discord?" Fluttershy called aloud, flicking her head every which way.

"Right here my dear," The draconequus said, popping into existence right next to her. The cloud dragon then sprayed a full jet of water at him, soaking him entirely. "I see you've made a new friend," he said with annoyance as he pulled a towel out of his ear and started drying himself off.

"It's not one of yours?" Fluttershy asked. The dragon took this moment to examine Fluttershy's flowerbeds, spraying a bit more water into them.

"No," Discord said. "It's way too 'sunny' to be one of mine."

Wayfarer could swear that Discord's eyes were staring right at him and Celestia at that moment.

"So was that one for Fluttershy or Discord?" Wayfarer asked as they hopped over the fence that bordered Sweet Apple Acres. They'd left the cloud dragon to keep Fluttershy company, she seemed to be warming up to it when they left, giggling at it hiding under bridge and pouting when it made Discord angry with another jet of water.

"Little of column A," Celestia said. "Little of column B. Come on, I've got some really good ideas cooking for Applejack."

"And what would that be?" Came a voice from up in an apple tree. Rainbow Dash poked her head out from the branches, with an accusatory grin on her face. "What are you two scheming?"

"Just some harmless gifts for you all," Celestia said. She reached into her saddle bags and pulled out an unassuming looking can with a plastic lid. "Here you are Rainbow Dash, this one is for you!"

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and grabbed the can. after a moment of examining it, she raised an eye at Celestia. "Really Princess?" She asked with a dead stare. She opened the can and was not in the least bit phased when four cloth covered springs sprung from the inside. "Canned snakes? Laaaammmmme. C'mon, where's your A material?"

"Believe me Rainbow Dash," Celestia said, smiling pleasantly. "I only have A material. And those were only canned snakes before I got ahold of them. Enjoy your gift now!"

"Wha-" was all Rainbow Dash could get out before the 'canned snakes' sprung into action.

All four of them had remained aloft in the air after they had shot out of the can, but now they were all encircling Rainbow Dash. She dropped the can and was about ready to bolt into the sky before one shot forward and latched onto her foreleg, then another went for the opposite limb. The surprise caused Rainbow to lose her balance and fall from the tree, front first. The springs quickly slipped themselves onto her legs like socks, then when her forelegs hit the ground, the magic springs bounced her back into the air, where the other two springs were waiting to slip onto her hind legs. Regaining her composure, Rainbow extended her wings and started to hover in place.

"What the hay?" she said, looking at her new accessories with immense confusion. "What are these?"

"Spring Socks!" Celestia said excitedly. "I thought about how Pinkie Pie bounces around like she's made of rubber and wanted to recreate the feeling for other ponies! Go on give them a shot!"

Rainbow Dash looked at Celestia like the princess had finally snapped and gone off the deep end. "Eh..." she said worriedly. "You do know I can fly right? What's the point of bouncing when I can fly?"

"Oh don't be a kill joy," Celestia said. "Just try them."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and sighed, snapping her wings to her back and letting gravity take control of her. The moment she hit the ground, the Spring Socks propelled her back into the air, sending her right over Celestia and Wayfarer. "Whoa!" she gasped, resisting the urge to spread her wings again as she headed back to the ground. "This is-" she tried to say as she bounced again. "A lot harder-" She said as she bounced off the side of a tree. "To control-" She bounced right onto the fence and into the fields outside of the orchard. "Then I thought!"

"Say hi to Fluttershy and Discord for us!" Celestia shouted before bursting into laughter. "Oh, I'm patenting that one! Come on Wayfarer, times a wasting!"

Wayfarer and Celestia snuck through the trees of the orchard, keeping an ear out for the sound of trees getting kicked or any other sort of farm work that Applejack or her siblings could be in the middle of. The repeated thud of hooves against wood caught their attention and led them to a clearing where Applejack was kicking, not her trees, but the side of a very large wood container. Her brother Big Mac was holding up the side of the structure while Applejack kicked nails into it. Apple Bloom was nearby, holding a bucket of nails whilst she watched the other two work.

"Alright," Applejack said, swiping sweat from her brow. "That oughta hold a while longer, least till we can build a whole new one. How we do'n on time Apple Bloom?"

"Just short'a noon Sis," Apple Bloom said, setting the bucket aside. "You wanna get started on the south east field? "

"Nah, we're ahead of schedule, I say we take a nice long break at the waterhole. C'mon, let's rustle up some grub and then go for a swim." All three Apples walked away toward their farm house, leaving Celestia and Wayfarer to come out of their hiding place and into the clearing.

"Ooohh," Celestia hummed. "My inner trouble maker is giving me an idea!"

"You're really starting to worry me, Celestia," Wayfarer murmured under his breath, shaking his head.

"What sort of trouble are we talking about?" Came the bubbly voice of Pinkie Pie as she leapt right out of the wooden container the Apples had just been working on and giving both Wayfarer and Celestia heart attacks. "Is it a mean kind of trouble or a fun kind of trouble?"

"Is Sweet Apple Acres just the place to be at the moment?" Wayfarer asked in a wheezing voice. "And why were you in Applejack's barrel, silo, thing?"

"Oh, I wasn't," Pinkie said. "I just made it look like I jumped out of it. Anyway, I was just having my late morning cupcake when my nose got itchy and teeth got chattery, which meant some of my friends were doing some hard core pranking and hadn't invited me. So I followed my nose to Fluttershy's house where a fluffy dragon was helping her feed the animals and Discord was being all grumpy, then me and Dashie bounced into each other on my way here and she said you two were doing some practical jokes, then she bounced away with springs attached to her legs which looked super duper fun. Then I got here and found you two!" After finishing her long winded explanation, Pinkie turned her head to the side and made the biggest puppy dog eyes to Wayfarer and Celestia. "Sooooooo..." she pouted, making sure to quiver her lip. "Can I help pull some prnaks?"

Wayfarer looked to Celestia, who in turn looked back at him. Neither of them seemed particularly keen on upsetting Pinkie when she put on a face like that. With a sigh, Celestia nodded. "Alright, you can join us. BUT," Pinkie was half way into the air in her leap of joy when Celestia stopped her. Celestia then smirked and pulled out a cupcake of her own and handed it to Pinkie. "You have to eat this first."

Pinkie took the cupcake and started to examine it, pulling at the wrapper and sniffing the frosting. "Is this the prank you had in mind for me?" She asked, the disappointment evident in her voice.

"It is," Celestia said. "Now eat it."

Rolling her eyes, Pinkie shrugged and shoved the entire pastry into her mouth. After barely a chew or two, she swallowed it, then waited to see what sort of effects it would have on her. After almost half a minute, she confusedly looked at Celestia. "I don't feel that different," she said, though she definitely sounded different. "W-what?"

Wayfarer could not stop himself from falling backwards in laughter. Never had he heard something so ridiculous in his life then the sound of Pinkie's voice drastically dropping in timbre.

"Low Tone Tablets," Celestia explained, trying her best not to join Wayfarer in his joyous outburst. "Creates the same effect as breathing in sulfur Hexafluoride, only for much longer and without the risk of asphyxiation. It'll fade away in a couple of hours, but until then I recommend not screaming at anyone, you may terrify the dickens out of them." She then tried to get Wayfarer to stand back up and get over his sudden laughing spasm, but she herself could resist no longer and started snickering uncontrollably as well.

"You think this is funny?" Pinkie asked, her face turning sour and angry. "I sound like a monster now! You've turned me into a monster!" Celestia and Wayfarer's laughter stopped almost immediately as they turned to look up at a seething Pinkie. "And if I'm going to be a monster," she continued, her grinding teeth and frown slowly upturning to a vengeful smirk. "Then I might as well act the part! By taking over all of Equestria! MUHAHAHAHAHA!!"

The silence that followed was defining. No one moved even an inch, until both Celestia and Wayfarer burst into laughter once more. Had that low, murderous proclamation come from anyone else, it might have been horrifying. Coming from a pink, bubbly, fluffy party pony though, it was nothing short of ridiculous. Pinkie Pie grinned and started laughing herself, the monster voice caused some mood whiplash, but that only made them laugh harder.

"C'mon you two," Celestia said, snorting with mirth. "Let's get this stuff ready before Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Big Macintosh come back.

The water hole in the middle of Sweet Apple Acres wasn't anything special. It was certainly big enough for a pleasant swim, but more often then not Applejack and her siblings used it for the purpose of refilling barrels of water for tending to crops farther away from the farm house. The three Apple siblings were running full tilt towards it at the moment, Big Mac hesitating for the briefest of moments to drop their picnic basket. The three of them leaped into the crystal blue waters at nearly the same time, disappearing in massive splashes. After a moment, the three reemerged, giggling and laughing as they bespattered each other, not realizing that they'd all undergone a change in color. Wayfarer, Celestia, and Pinkie all stepped out of their hiding spots, laughing just as hard as the Apples, save for Pinkie, who was doing her best to restrain her demonic chortling. The Apples looked up to see them, smiling all the way, still unaware of anything out of the ordinary.

"Hey y'all," Applejack greeted them. "What's so funny?"

"You three," Celestia said, pointing to them. "Though I must say, red is definitely not your color Applejack."

Applejack raised an eyebrow at that, then lifted a hoof to look at her coat. She was now as red as Big Macintosh and, turning to look at her siblings, she saw that Apple Bloom was now orange with blonde hair and Big Mac was now yellow with red hair.

"What in tarnation!" Applejack swore as she started scrambling out of the waterhole. "What'd y'all do to us?"

"It's called 'Colour Swatch Swap,'" Celestia said, bringing out a canister of what looked like laundry detergent. "Swaps the colours of whatever you throw into it. We had to put almost the entire jug into the pond just to make sure we got you."

"You put that stuff in our water?!" Applejack shouted, angrily stomping over to the three pranksters. "What's that stuff gonna do to our crops? And how long does it last?"

"Calm down Applejack," Celestia said, waving a hoof dismissively. "It's nontoxic, lasts only a few hours, and if that's too long for you, it comes off with untreated water. You and your apples will be fine."

Applejack snorted and looked ready to argue more, but the sound of Apple Bloom and Big Mac going back to splashing each other and laughing about their sudden colour change, distracted her. Rolling her eyes she went to the picnic basket and grumpily pulled out the blanket and food. "I look like a burnt tomato," she grumbled.

"What's all the commotion over here," Came a voice Wayfarer was unfamiliar with. "I thought you three was gonna have some fun, not go yell'n at each other." A very old looking mare came into the clearing. Her hair was white and her coat was lime green, she wore an orange neckerchief and had an apple pie cutie mark. Wayfarer hadn't met her in person yet, but it was pretty obvious to him that this was Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Big Mac's grandmother, Granny Smith.

"Howdy Granny," Applejack said with annoyance.

"What in the," Granny Smith started as soon as she saw her grand daughter, then she smiled and started to chuckle. "Applejack sweetie I'd say somepony left you out in the sun too long."

"Oh the sun certainly had something to do with it," Applejack said through grated teeth, eyeballing Celestia as she and Pinkie leapt into the watering hole as well, swapping their own colours with each other.

Wayfarer walked over to Granny Smith and Applejack, giving the later an apologetic look before reaching a hoof out to Granny. "Hello, I'm Wayfarer."

"Pleasure to meet'chu, Wayfarer," Granny Smith said, grabbing onto Wayfarer's hoof and giving it a hardy shake. "Heard a bit about ya from Apple Bloom and Applejack. You sound like a respectable fella, so I hope their not just spin'n yarn about ya."

"I do try my best," Wayfarer said with a shrug. Apple Bloom, Big Mac, Celestia, and Pinkie chose that moment to get out of the water and join them.

When Granny Smith caught site of Big Mac though, her eyes went wide and she placed a hoof over her chest. "Goodness," she said as she looked at her grandson like she'd just seen a ghost. "Big Macintosh, with your coat and hair all switched around like that, you're the spittin image of your pa." She got really quiet as she just stared at Mac, then she looked to Applejack and gestured to her. "AJ, give Mac your hat for a second." Applejack did so with a bit of confussion, and when Big Mac put the hat on Granny Smith started to tear up.

"Consarn it," she said, wiping the tears away. "Whose idea was it to do this to y'all?" Celestia slowly raised a hoof, nervousness in her eyes as she did so. "What's your name girly?"

"Sunny Days, ma'am," Celestia responded.

"I don't know whether to hug you or hit you for make'n an old woman cry like this," Granny Smith said, shaking her head. "It ain't right for me to see my son again before I even crossed over to the other side." She sighed, still staring at Big Mac. After a while she smiled at them all. "Y'all keep enjoying your day, Big Mac, you and your sisters better be the right colours before you come home, ya hear?"

"Eeyup," was all he said.

Granny nodded once, then headed back into the orchard. The tension in the group was palpable, everyone looked really uncomfortable now.

"You really do look like Pa, Big Mac," Applejack said. Immediately Mac grabbed Applejack's stetson and pulled it over his eyes, but he couldn't hide his smile.

"I'm sorry," Celestia said, kicking at the dirt. "That didn't go how I thought it would."

"Aw shucks Miss Days," Apple Bloom said. "It was a good prank! We all look ridiculous right now." She then took a glance at Applejack and snorted. "Plus, I ain't got any memories of my Pa, so," she hesitated for a moment, then tackled Big Mac's side with the biggest hug she could muster.

"I need to leave before my heart implodes," Wayfarer thought.

"Well, we'd better eat and then get back to work," Applejack said. She then turned to Wayfarer, Celestia, and Pinkie, scratching the back of her head as she did so. "Sorry I snipped at you three. Apple Bloom's right, you got us good.

Celestia smiled, then bowed to Applejack. She turned away, and gestured to Wayfarer and Pinkie that they should leave now and give the Apples some time alone.

As they left the clearing, Wayfarer was barely able to pick up Apple Bloom asking the other two what their parents were like.

"So we've given Fluttershy a new friend," Wayfarer said, counting off all the pranks they'd pulled off so far. Pinkie and Celestia were currently standing in a creek they had been passing on their way into town, washing their correct colors back into their hair and coat. "We've turned Rainbow Dash into a bouncy ball, discovered that Pinkie Pie can make even a voice straight out of Tartarus hilarious,"

"I'm a pretty pink princess!" Pinkie shouted, her deep voice making that statement even more ridiculous. "I'M CADENCE!"

All three of them had to stop what they were doing for another round of laughter before Wayfarer continued. "And finally we've reconnected the Apple's with the memory of their father. This is going better than I thought it would."

"Glad you think so," Celestia said, leaping out of the creek and onto the bridge to stand with Wayfarer. "So who should we visit next? Rarity or Twilight?"

"Definitely Rarity," said a lamp post next to the bridge, which then turned into Discord. "You want to save the best for last, so I say you finish with the ringleader."

"Hello Discord," Celestia said politely, if not friendly. "Enjoying the new friend we left you and Fluttershy?"

"Well right now she's cuddling with it in the sky over her cottage," Discord said. "Which left me to deal with this." At that moment, he raised a claw and caught a very fast, very loud, and very blue ball of hair and feathers. "Is this your handy work?"

Rainbow Dash was shaking and muttering to herself as she hung by her hind leg from Discord's grip. He rolled his eyes and tossed her into the creek alongside Pinkie Pie. As soon as the cold water splashed over her face, Dash shot up and gasped for air. Looking around her in a near panic, she finally locked eyes on Discord, who merely waved at her before she rushed at him.

"I'm gonna kill you!" She cried out.

"Oof, that wasn't very Y-7, Rainbow Dash," Discord said as he ducked under her pounce. "Maybe instead of saying 'kill' you should say something like, 'deal with' or something along that line."

"What did you do this time?" Celestia said, rolling her eyes.

"I merely improved the design of your wonderful socks," Discord explained as he dodged another blow from Rainbow Dash. "Instead of just her hooves, I made her entire body turn to rubber, then I tossed her here all the way from Fluttershy's cottage."

"That's almost a kilometer and a half away!" Celestia gasped.

"Yes!" Discord said, grabbing Rainbow out of the air. "And as you can see, she's completely unharmed."

"At least with the socks I had some degree of control!" Rainbow Dash yelled. "What you did took all control away from me! Let's see you go that fast and be unable to stop yourself! I was terrified!"

"You'll never get to be an astronaut pony with that attitude."

"Can you just leave me alone and go back to doing whatever it is you do when no one wants you around!" Rainbow Dash then bit down hard on the arm that was holding her, getting Discord to immediately drop her.

"Fine! I can take a hint." Discord snorted and started folding himself in half, then again and again, until he could no longer be seen.

Rainbow Dash looked like she was a bomb set to explode. Pinkie quickly rushed to her side and started rubbing Dash's shoulder blades. "Easy Dashie," Pinkie said. "Think of something nice, like how good Soren looks in his Wonderbolt uniform, or how good Spitfire looks in her Wonderbolt uniform." Pinkie then turned Rainbow Dash's head around to look at Wayfarer. "Or how good Wayfarer would look in an Wonderbolt's uniform."

"Nah, let's not," Wayfarer said, waving a hoof. "Spandex probably agrees with me about as well as the colour red agrees with Applejack."

Pinkie and Celestia laughed at that, but Rainbow Dash's attention was on Pinkie. "Pinks," she said. "What the hay is up with your voice?" That got everyone laughing again.

"Well, I know something that'll cheer you up Rainbow Dash," Celestia said. "Why don't you come with us and give Rarity her 'gift.' What do you say?"

"I say that sounds like fun, what do you got in mind?"

Rarity's boutique was bustling with activity. The mares of Ponyville were coming in to pick up their finished sun dresses and beachwear, and Rarity was reaping the rewards of her hard work. Wayfarer felt kind of bad about interrupting a successful business day, so he had managed to convince the other three not to go all out on this one, to which they thankfully agreed. Although what they came up with instead of wrapping up Carousel Boutique in water soluble streamers felt less like a prank towards Rarity and more like a prank towards him. He entered in through the front door, greeting a few of the customers as he walked around the edge of the store towards a phonograph in the corner, playing some gentle music. The phonograph was near a window, where outside he could see Celestia, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie peaking in. Rainbow flicked one of her primary feathers up in a gesture of "Go get em!" to Wayfarer.

"Why Wayfarer!" Rarity said, approaching him. "What a pleasant surprise! Are you here for your suit?" The three outside the window ducked out of sight, and Wayfarer had to restrain a sigh as he began his part in this scheme.

"That's the plan Rarity," he said, turning to give her his full attention. "But if you're too busy I can always come back later."

"Nonsense," Rarity said, pulling him through the crowd to a raised display surrounded on one side by mirrors. "In fact, I'm certain some of these mares would be interested in giving their thoughts as well." Some of the other customers giggled at that, and Wayfarer felt blood rush to his face. "Now," Rarity continued as she magicked out a rack filled with suits of different designs and colours. "Before I create a custom ensemble for you, I'd like to get a better idea of what suit 'suits' you. So I hope you don't mind playing dress up with me for a bit."

"N-not at all Rarity," Wayfarer stammered, trying to ignore the six other mares eyeing him as he pulled off his button up. Through the window, he caught a glimpse of Rainbow Dash zooming past. Suddenly, a mass of cloth was roughly shoved over his head, and after a bit of struggling, his head popped out to see Rarity forcing another button up and a black vest onto him.

"Hmmm..." she hummed, ignoring the annoyed look Wayfarer gave her as he adjusted the shirt on his forelegs. A few ties flew off the rack and she held each one up to his head to compare the colours of his mane and coat to them. "Definitely not green." She said with disdain, tossing away the offending tie. "Red? Ehhhh... no. Yellow isn't very flattering either, though I guess that would go with your Cutiemark. Hmmm... speaking of which." She then held up an azure blue tie and oohed at it. "Now that one works rather well. What do you think ladies?"

"Oooh! Yes!" One of them said.

"It really pops against the steely grey of his coat!" Said another.

"And complements his hair too!" Said a third.

"Well that settles it," Rarity said with a smirk as she started wrapping the tie around Wayfarer's neck.

"Now hold on," Wayfarer said, holding a hoof up and preventing Rarity from preceding. "Don't I get a say in this?"

"Wayfarer, darling, trust me," Rarity said with a bemused look. "I've done this song and dance many times. Blue is definitely your colour, anything else would clash horribly with either your mane or your Cutiemark."

"Well," Wayfarer said, casting a glance at the window again. Celestia was peeking in, she smirked and gestured for him to keep going. He sighed, he'd have to keep this going for a bit. "I was thinking of... purple?"

Rarity pursed her lips, then looked to her clothing rack. She pulled several different 'Purple' ties out and started holding them up like before. "No, no, absolutely no." She then held up one that matched her mane. She seemed to realize this and slowly smiled at Wayfarer before whispering at him. "You're not trying to impress me, are you?"

"W-what?" Wayfarer hissed back. "No! I just like purple."

"Oh you do?" Rarity said with a smirk. "Purple like my mane, or Purple like Twilight's coat? Or..." She glanced knowingly at the window. "Purple like a certain alicorn's eyes?"

"WHAT!" Wayfarer shouted in his head. All he could do is grin nervously, hoping Rarity was just fishing for something ridiculous and didn't actually know who was outside at that very moment.

"Lilac it is then!" Rarity shouted, bringing the appropriate tie up and threading it tightly under the button up's colar. "I think the blue looks better on you, but this isn't half bad either. Although we may want to think about giving you pants as well, as this still clashes with your cutiemark. Ladies? What do you think?"

"Meh," one of them said.

"It sort of blends with his coat," said another.

"Doesn't go with his hair as well," Said a third.

"Well that settles it," Rarity said as she finished tying the full Windsor knot. "You have horrible colour coordination Mister Wayfarer."

"Ughh..." Wayfarer said.

Half an hour later, Wayfarer was paying the upfront charge for a custom made tie, vest, button up, pants, and jacket. Rarity did not go easy on Wayfarer's wallet this time, though she did promise to throw in an extra tie of his choice when he realized how much better he looked with a blue one. Stepping out of the boutique, he was almost immediately pulled away by Rainbow Dash, Celestia, and Pinkie Pie. He barely had enough time to look back and see that the entirety of Rarity's shop was coated in the single most garish shade of pink he'd ever seen in his life.

"I think she knew I was sent in to distract her," Wayfarer groaned at the three of them once they were a ways away. "So when she comes around demanding I scrub all of that off her house, I'm sending her your way Celestia."

"Don't worry," Celestia said. "Like the streamers, the Properly Pink Pastel Paint is water soluble. All Rainbow Dash and I have to do is place a few rain clouds over her house and it'll be back to the way it was."

"So now all that's left is Twilight!" Rainbow Dash said excitedly. "C'mon Sunny, what do you have in mind for her?"

"Nothing much, just a tea party."

Rainbow Dash's wings stuttered for a moment, then she scoffed at Celestia's suggestion. "A tea party? How is that a prank?"

"You'll just have to wait and see Rainbow. But I promise you, this'll be the best one yet."

The four of them Returned to Twilight's library, Spike was waiting beside the door examining one of his claws. "You're a little behind schedule," he said as they approached. "And you've got two more ponies with you."

"What, we weren't allowed to tag along for the ride?" Rainbow Dash said. "Maybe we should be pranking you next Spike."

"Nah, Celestia already got me this morning." He stood up and started to walk away, and as he did his spines, which each seemed to have grown ten feet in length, dragged along behind him. Celestia snorted, then led the way into the library.

Twilight was there waiting for them, a smug grin on her face. All around her the library seemed completely different, everything that could be nailed down had been nailed down, and everything that couldn't be nailed down was taped down with enough magic tape to build a boat out of. A scroll of paper trailed behind Twilight, out of the front room, into the kitchen, and Wayfarer assumed through the hallway because the other end came back around into the front room and up the stares to Twilight's loft. With a last flick of her quill she checked off something on her list and then started rolling it back up.

"I've checked every nook and cranny of the house and prank proofed everything I could," Twilight said proudly. "You won't get me like you got Spike and Wayfarer, Celestia."

"Wait, she already got you?" Rainbow Dash whispered to Wayfarer.

"Apparently," he responded. "Although I'm not sure exactly in what way she 'got me.'"

"You've been busy I see," Celestia said, smirking back at Twilight. "Why don't you join me for tea? As congratulations for thoroughly trouncing my attempts to pull the wool over your eyes."

"Why of course," Twilight said, before turning to head into the kitchen. "I'll pick out what brew we use though."

"Naturally," Celestia responded.

"Oooh, I've got chills," Rainbow Dash muttered. "What's she gonna do? What's she gonna do?"

Half an hour later Rainbow Dash got her answer. Twilight's completely unaltered cup of tea clattered to the table, her dumfounded look of confusion the greatest prize Celestia could have hoped for in response to her brilliantly thought out and masterful plan. Rainbow was grumbling in frustration whilst Wayfarer and Pinkie laughed uproariously, falling to the floor in hysterics. Celestia merely sipped from her own tea with a look of absolute triumph.

"Nothing?!" Twilight shouted, her voice cracking in shock. "You didn't leave anything for me? B-but Wayfarer's shirt, and Spike's spines, you pranked me by doing nothing?!"

"I didn't need to," Celestia said. "I knew just by planting the idea that I might try and prank you today would cause you to spend half the day trying to undo whatever it is I'd done or otherwise prevent what I'd do. So I merely allowed you to do what you do best, imagine a problem where none exists and prepare for anything and everything. You could have easily bested me by simply playing along and waiting for the prank to come to you."

"Uggghhhhhhh!!" Twilight groaned, slamming her face into the table.

"Congratulations Twilight," Pinkie said, her voice finally returning to normal. "You played yourself."

"Honestly, that was kind of a let down," Rainbow said. "I was expecting something flashier."

"Dash," Wayfarer said, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes. "The best practical jokes are catered directly to the person getting pranked. Anyone can startle someone or mess with their belongings or their person in a humorous way. Celestia just got Twilight to 'Twilight' right into her prank! That's hilarious!"

"I wouldn't laugh too hard, Wayfarer," Celestia said, finishing up her cup of tea. "You still haven't seen what I've done yet."

Wayfarer's smile immediately dropped. Slowly he picked himself up off the floor and headed into the hallway, stopping at his door and carefully reaching for the knob. He pushed the door open and stepped inside, wincing in preparation for whatever it was that was in store for him. Nothing happened, nothing looked out of place, no traps were set on the floor or behind the door, everything looked fine. At first, Wayfarer thought Celestia had pulled the same prank on him as she did on Twilight, he even went to the mirror and examined himself again. Then something Twilight said about his shirt got him to once more examine his person. He pulled off his button up and checked the inside, finally noticing that there were traces of blue powder sprinkled in the seems and hems.

"Wayfarer?" Celestia called from the kitchen. "When would you say you got dressed this morning?"

"Ummm," Wayfarer said, staring at the blue dust still. "Right before breakfast? So about eight thirty?"

"Give it another few seconds then."

Wayfarer pulled his attention away from his shirt and looked back to the mirror, and as he watched... nothing happened. Baffled, Wayfarer started to leave, but not before his legs and eyes betrayed him and forced him to walk right into the wall with a loud thunk.

"What the-" he said as he tried again, this time walking into the wall on the opposite side of the door. "Ow!"

"Wayfarer?" Celestia called again, this time sounding concerned. "What happened?"

The sound of her getting up and walking his way reached Wayfarers ears. He stood still, trying to focus on the door, one step at a time he tried to walk through it again, but with each step the position of the door seemed to subtly change, like every movement caused the world to rotate, but standing still kept everything balanced. Vertigo started to set in as his panic grew, out of desperation he flung himself at the wall to try and find something solid to anchor himself to, only this time he actually made it through the door and crashed right into Celestia.

"Ow," he said again as the two of the collapsed into a heap on the floor.

"What happened?" Twilight said as she rushed into the hall.

"Blue powder," Wayfarer said as he closed his eyes, trying to focus with his ears instead and finding out that the direction of sound wasn't staying still either. "Messed with my eyes and my ears."

"Blue powder?" Twilight asked.

"Poison Joke," Celestia explained, pulling herself out from under Wayfarer and then immediately latching her hooves around him. "I put it in his shirt this morning, but I've never seen it have an effect like this.

"The hay is Poison Joke?" Wayfarer asked. He was annoyed with Celestia for doing this to him, but at the same time grateful that she cared enough to hold onto him. Some part of him was actually afraid he'd fall away if she let go.

"It's a plant from Everfree," Twilight said, rushing away. In the distance he heard a door open, then water running. "It causes different effects on different people," she yelled over the din. "Little jokes that play off each persons personalities and abilities. Like it makes my horn all wobbly and useless."

"And it turned my wings upside down," Rainbow Dash added.

"And made my tongue swell up," Pinkie responded. "And it made Applejack really tiny and Rarity look like a mop and Fluttershy sound like Big Mac!"

"But that's all harmless stuff," Celestia said. "It doesn't scramble your senses like this!"

"Maybe I'm allergic," Wayfarer mumbled. "Or maybe the Everfree Forest just hates me. The feeling's mutual honestly."

"Wayfarer I'm so sorry," Celestia said, Wayfarer could feel her body growing back to her alicorn form. She gently picked him up and started carrying him away, until the running water sounded like it was right next to him.

"It's fine," He said. "Just tell me you have a cure."

"I keep a bottle on hand at all times," Twilight said. "After the first incident we had, I didn't want us to have to make a trip to Zecora's every time this happened, so I have her herbal remedy right here and ready to go."

"Good," Wayfarer said. "Lay it on me, I'd rather not stay like this for longer than I have to." Celestia lowered Wayfarer into what he realized was a bathtub, but as she pulled away the feeling of vertigo started to return. He quickly grabbed onto her hoof and held on. "Sorry, he said, but I'd rather not drown myself in addition to everything else." He didn't hear a response, but Celestia didn't pull away. The sound of something else being poured into the bath reached his ears, the still running tap mixing it up good.

"Where's your shirt Wayfarer?" Twilight asked. "I'm going to run some tests on it, see if Celestia didn't just get a bad batch of Poison Joke."

"It's on the floor of my room," Wayfarer said. Things were already starting to calm down, the sound echoing around the bathroom retaining a level of consistency. "Please tell me we don't have to burn it."

"It should just wash out with the remedy." And with that, Twilight left the bathroom, leaving Celestia and Wayfarer alone.

"I'm sorry," Celestia mumbled again.

"It's fine," Wayfarer grunted. "Nothing's broken, just a little dizzy now, and a little terrified that the world is gonna just fall away from me."

"Not while I'm around," Celestia said as she gripped onto Wayfarer's hoof. He could hear an edge of self loathing in her voice. "So stupid, I shouldn't feel like this is my fault, Poison Joke shouldn't do this. Urgh, I should have tested it before giving it to you."

"You couldn't have known. If that stuff is just supposed to cause harmless pranks, then you can't blame yourself for not knowing it'd react differently to me."

Celestia sighed, then was silent for a moment. Wayfarer opened his eyes, the world thankfully staying still as he turned to look up at her. He tried to give her a smile, but she still looked down. "Next time," he said. "Stick to just filling my room up with balloons."

That got her to smile back a bit. "Deal," she said quietly.