Canterlot was bustling with activity as per usual. The jewel of Equestria was a magnet for tourists with today being no exception. Ponies and various other creatures from across the world could be seen sight seeing around the city, many of which were equipped with cheap polaroid cameras that had likely been bought from one of the many stores situated around the city. The permanent residents of Canterlot only gave these tourists a passing glance having become accustomed to the way most of them acted but if anypony had been paying attention to the current tourists of the city they would have noticed that something was amiss. Some of the more observant nobles had often noticed something odd about the crowds around them or saw something out of the corner of their eye but chose to ignore what they had seen, simply claiming it to be a trick of the light or the long week of work getting to them.
There was one particular pegasus however, that believed what she had seen. Her name was Lu Natic, the local conspiracy theorist of Canterlot. The problem was that when a conspiracy theorist yells in the streets like a mad mare about yet another plot to destroy Canterlot it is met with silence or ignorance as she would like to call it. The mare in question stood in front of the large water fountain in the center of Canterlot square holding a sign reading 'Look around you!'.
"Don't you see it!?" She wave the sign in front of a startled brown earth pony who had the misfortune of walking slightly too close to her. "Look at your fellow ponies!" She grabbed him by the withers and spun him around so that he faced the small crowd that had formed. "Do you see how strange they are acting?" The earth pony broke out of her grip and backed away from her slowly. "They are watching us. They're always looking."
"They're looking at you, you crazy mare!" The pony turned and ran through the crowd, hoping to gain some distance between himself and the crazy pegasus.
The mare continued her rant, now addressing the crowd. "Don't let them fool you! The second you drop your guard, they'll grab you."
"You're nuts, lady. Just go home already." Someone from in the crowd yelled. This was soon followed by a round of laughter and muttered agreement.
"Aren't you hearing what I'm saying? If we don't act now then who knows wha-" She was interrupted as an armoured hoof was placed on her shoulder.
"Miss, I am going to have to ask you to stop." Lu looked behind her to see a small group of four guards standing behind her. The guard that spoke was Steel Plate. Unlike most guards his armour was made of a heavy but thick grey metal instead of the thin golden armour most guard wore. His expression held no emotion as he spoke.
"What, why?! I haven't done anything wrong." Lu argued.
"We have received numerous complaints from various individuals relating to your protests. You are to leave the area immediately." Steel didn't change his tone but Lu felt shiver run down her spine nonetheless.
"N-no! I will not be silenced. Ponies need to know what is happening." She stabbed her sign into the ground and moved a step closer to him so that she was only inches from his face. "This is important. I need to help these ponies."
"Miss, this is your final warning. Cease your protests at once." Steel didn't move a single muscle but the crowd moved a step away from Lu instinctively, not wanting to be associated with the pegasus.
"I know what you're doing... You're one of them!" She yelled as she grabbed Steel by the withers. "I will not stop. You may be able to fool them, but not me." Lu tapped his armour accusingly just above the sternum. "I'm watching you."
Steel Plate remain silent before raising his hoof in the air and pointing it at Lu. "Arrest her."
"What?!" Lu's eyes widened in surprise as she was tackled by two of the guards. The first soldier pinned her wings forcefully to her side despite her protests while the other shackled her hoofs together. "What are you doing?! I didn't do anything wrong!" She screamed, wincing as her wings were bent at an awkward angle.
"The erection of structures associated with a protest or demonstration require approval from the day court. We can also add resisting arrest and assault on an officer to that list." The fourth guard seemed to be taking notes in a book he had brought out. "Did you get all that?"
"Yes sir." He responded with a salute.
"Wait! Hold up." Lu yelled. "I didn't build any structures. You're just making stuff up. You can't do that!" She tried to struggle against the guards pinning her to the floor but they didn't budge an inch.
"The broadest definition of a structure applies and includes anything that is built. Structures therefore include any element fixed to or staked in the ground." He glanced over to the sign she had planted in the soil. "Looks like a structure to me." He now addressed his fellow guards. "Take her to the dungeons. Make sure to take the scenic route." The guards nodded in understanding.
"No! You can't do this. They need to know the truth. Let me go!" She shrieked as the guards dragged her away. The crowd simply stared at her as she was pulled away from the square. As soon as she was out of sight the crowd quickly dispersed, each pony going back to their previous task. None of them caring for the mare or her fate.
Three weeks had past since Luna and Breeze began their quest for vengeance of Celestia. Needless to say, they hadn't made any progress much to the duo's disappointment. The two were also trying to figure out how to proceed with their relationship. Luna was hesitant to talk about it and couldn't help but feel weird about the whole thing. The very idea of even being even remotely interested in her guard unnerved her. While they had both agreed that they were in a relationship or at least something akin to a relationship, Luna couldn't help but feel awkward around Breeze. Breeze on the other hand seemed unfazed by the whole situation and had been acting no different than she had always acted.
Breeze put down the newspaper she had been reading and groaned. "Ugh! Well this sucks."
"What is it that sucks?" Luna spoke without looking up from her book. She was slowly becoming accustomed Breeze's presence but that didn't mean she was used to her as a pony. Breeze did occasionally get on Luna's nerves but that was bound to happen considering she was always by her side. Always!
"Your sister went on a rampage last night and tore my favourite club up." The mildly irritated batpony slumped to the ground. "Celestia stinks."
"Indeed she does." Luna nodded idly, hardly paying attention to her companion. A brief thought crossed Luna's mind but it quickly vanished. Luna placed her sapphire bookmark to mark her page before placing the tomb on her desk. "Breeze, could you please repeat that?"
"uh, sure, I guess. Your sister went on a rampage and-"
"No, after that." Luna gestured for her to continue.
"She stinks?" Breeze tilt her head slightly, wondering why Luna would want her to repeat something so odd and specific.
"Yes, that!" Luna said quickly. "What was it? What was it?" She began tapping her chin in thought, leaving Breeze to watching in confusion as the princess paced in front of her, all the while mumbling to herself.
"You okay? You're acting kind of odd." Luna ceased her muttering and walked over to the drawer where they had stored their rejected plans for pranking Celestia.
"I'm fine. I'm just thinking." Luna spoke as Breeze got to her hooves and walked to Luna's side.
"Thinking about what?" The batpony helped Luna pull out the many plans they had drawn up on pranking Celestia.
"I had an idea but I am not sure it will work." Luna shuffled through the pile of papers in front of her. searching for something in particular. Luna grabbed what appeared to be random plans from amidst the pile and laid several of them out neatly before her. "Ah, yes. This is it."
Breeze quickly scanned the rejected palns Luna had laid out on the desk but she couldn't think of anything in them that could help them. The batpony stood on her hind legs and rested hooves on the desk. "I'm not sure I follow." Breeze turned to face the princess. "Hadn't we already dismissed these ideas?"
"Yes and no." Luna grabbed three of the plans and handed them to Breeze who took them hesitantly. "I was thinking. What if we combined some of these plans together? Imagine it." Luna put her hoof around Breeze's shoulder. "A collection of simply pranks combined to form the most powerful prank of the all. Prank plus prank equals super prank!" Luna hopped on the spot while giggling excitedly. "It's the perfect plan!"
"I'm not sure that math works. Also technically we don't even know what our plan is yet."
Luna halted her bouncing but her smile remained. "My brilliant plan is to make the perfect plan." Luna summoned a roll of parchment into her hoofs and levitated a quill over from her desk. "Now all we need to do is draw up a heist plan."
"Cool, you do th-" Breeze did a double take. "Hold up. Heist plan? I thought we were pranking, not robbing a bank?"
"We are pranking but prank plan sounds too casual. Plus we do need to gather a few items for the prank so it's kinda like planning a heist but instead of stealing gold we will be stealing my sister's pride." Luna rubbed her hooves together menacingly as a sadistic grin grew on her face.
Breeze looked at Luna oddly. "Aren't I meant to be the weird one?"
Luna's evil grinned was replaced with a disappointed frown. "Can't you just let me have my moment?"
"Fine, continue." Breeze waved her hoof dismissively at the princess.
Luna quickly continued her evil stance and launched into a bout of maniacal laughter which lasted a full minute. Breeze was found it mildly amusing but the guard outside of Luna's room found it plain old creepy.
As Luna's laughter died down, Breeze couldn't help but grin at the situation. "Are you done yet?"
Luna seemed to mull this over before adding. ".......ha. Okay, now I'm done."
