To Prank a Glimmer

Chapters

Chapter 1: Getting Roasted, Petted, Owned, and GlimGlamed
Chapter 2: A Question For Josh and a "Horn" Discovery
Chapter 3: Starie vs Ms. Rosy

Chapter 1: Getting Roasted, Petted, Owned, and GlimGlamed

Hey there, Eric "Buggie" Reed here.

As you probably know, Rainbow Dash loves to do pranks. She used to prank anypony, and at any time, even if they didn't like pranks. But after she got the scare of her life, when all of Ponyville got her but good, to teach her a lesson, she's cooled it.

So Rainbow now usually just does pranks to those that enjoy it, who were mainly just Pinkie Pie and myself. While we might prank each other at any time, we mainly focused our fun during a "prank week/war" that we started having, and planned for it to be monthly. It brought back memories of the prank wars I did in my old human world with my two big sisters there, so I jumped at the chance when they asked me if I wanted to do it. I'm not sure if it's a bit immature to still have prank wars at eighteen years old. But if it is, I don't care, it's fun.

To try to keep things under control, the three of us mostly limited doing pranks to just each other, and we had to be careful to not get anypony caught in the crossfire of our pranks, especially during our prank week. But even though we loved it and really haven't been doing it that long, Rainbow, Pinkie, and I were still getting a bit bored with only pranking each other. Even if it could just be once, we needed a new patsy, uh I mean, somepony, to prank, and who also wouldn't mind it...much.

Rainbow, Pinkie, and I were at Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie was just about done with her shift and was finishing decorating the last cake for the day on a wooden table, and Rainbow and I were both sitting in chairs near the front door to Sugarcube Corner, facing Pinkie's direction, waiting for her to get done. It was the first day of our prank week, but we haven't yet made it official. But like I said, we were getting bored with pranking just each other and even wondered about skipping it.

"Whew! This day was a rough one! But I'm about to be done with my shift."

Rainbow asked, "You want to just rest for a while, Pinkie?"

"Nah, I'm good. I don't want to miss the start of our prank war!"

"Yeah, about that, Pinkie. I don't know about you two, but I kinda want to skip."

"Wait, you're tired of pranks, Rainbow? I have got to be dreaming!"

"Oh, very funny, Eric. It's not that I'm tired of pranks, I'm just tired of just doing them to only you two."

Pinkie stretched her forelegs. "Yeaaaah, I get what you mean, Rainbow. I'm a bit bored of you guys. Uh, bored of pranking you guys, that is."

I admitted, "To be honest, I was getting tired of it just being you guys too. You want to just skip our prank war this month?"

Starlight came through the open door of Sugarcube Corner, saw the three of us looking bored, and waved a hoof at us. "Hi, guys, what's wrong? You three look bored, and I thought you'd be more excited for your prank war."

I turned my head in Starlight's direction. "Hey, Starie, and yeah, we're bored."

"We're just tired of only pranking each other." Rainbow yawned. "And I never thought I'd say that."

"I see. I guess I can see how that'll be boring --" Starlight turned her head up a little in thought "-- In fact...hmm."

"What's with that 'in fact' part, Starlight?"

"Well, Pinkie, I don't know how Twilight would feel about it, but if you three want somepony else in your prank week, I can join it."

"Wow, really, Starlight? I didn't know you like pranks."

"It's not that I like them, Pinkie. But if it's all in fun and you don't get carried away, I'll do it. But I have a request for a new rule."

"Okay, what is it?" Rainbow asked.

"You three must only try to prank me."

"Whaaaat? Only you, Starlight? Why?"

Starlight's lips curled into an oddly smug grin. "Because, Pinkie, if you don't, you'll never get me. In fact, you three wouldn't get me anyway."

Rainbow's lips formed a confident smile. "Oh, really? You think you can take on all three of us?"

"Oh, I don't think I can, I know I can! I'll be your biggest challenge yet!"

Pinkie's lips also curled into a big 'ol confident smile. "Challenge, accepted."

I formed a big 'ol grin myself, and rubbed my hands in anticipation of the fun I was about to have. "Accepted indeed! This is gonna be fun, but just remember, Starie, you asked for it! So don't get mad if we bury you in pranks!"

Hopping around Starlight in circles, like she's giving Starie a taste of what she's in it, Pinkie warned, "Yeah! We could come at you at annnny angle, at annnny time, Starlight!"

"Don't worry, I won't get mad, if you can even land a prank on me!" Starlight's smug smile turned upside down into a confused frown. "But..."

"What's wrong? You're not scared already are you?"

"Of course not, Rainbow. I just want to ask when do the prank war start."

"Oh. Well, I guess it could start now if you're ready, Starie."

"I'm ready. Let us begin!"

And with that, our prank week has officially begun, and it's open season on Starlight Glimmers. With the new rule in place about us only pranking her, Pinkie, Rainbow, and I decided to work together to get her pranked and pranked good, and we even came up with a team name: The Prankster Trio! But I never knew Starlight was that sure of herself in anything, other than maybe in her magic.

DAY ONE OF THE PRANK WEEK/WAR

The three of us picked the first prank to try. It's gonna be the classic of the classics: a Whoopie Cushion. In the library part of Twilight's castle, we hid it under a part of the couch where Starlight likes to sit on whenever she hangs out there. My follow pranksters and I sat at a different couch, pretending to just be there to read, waiting for our patsy to come, since I knew she'd come really soon.

Two minutes later, Starlight walked in the library. "Oh, hey guys. What are you three doing here?"

Still looking in the Daring Do book I was holding, I casually said, "We're just reading some Daring Do books that Rainbow got earlier."

Rainbow, in just as casual a voice as my voice was, added, "Yeah, you really should check them out one day, Starlight."

Starlight seemed to think about that, and put a hoof just below her mouth. "I have nothing to do right now, so I could do it now. What one would you suggest reading first, Rainbow?"

As Starlight was saying that, she was walking to the couch, right to where that Whoopie Cushion was. As she got close to the couch, I thought that this was too easy, and that she was just all talk this time. But, when Starie sat down, nothing happened.

Staring at Rainbow and tilting her head a bit to the side, Starlight asked, "What's wrong? You didn't say which Daring Do book to read first."

With her mouth open from...surprise, Rainbow stuttered a bit, before answering, "Oh, uh...I would suggest reading this one first" -- Rainbow pointed at the book she was reading -- "but can you excuse us? I gotta talk to Pinkie and Eric."

Rainbow wasn't the only one that was "surprised", and taking Rainbow's cue, Pinkie and I quickly hopped off the couch, followed Rainbow out of the room, and we formed a huddle in the hallway.

Rainbow whispered, "Okay, why didn't it make a sound?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know, Rainbow. This has never happened before!"

"Yeah, I don't get it either!"

Rainbow rubbed her head. "Maybe something was wrong with it?"

I put a finger on my chin and tilted my head down slightly. "I guess it could be, and we could get another Whoopie Cushion."

We decided on that idea, and we went back in the library. We really were reading those Daring Do books, so we weren't there just to prank Starlight. But as we all sat down on the couch we were just on, at the same time, we heard an embarrassing sound. Rainbow, Pinkie, and I stood up fast, looked under the couch pillows, and yep, there were three Whoopie Cushions there! Starie, still sitting on her couch, burst out in laughter at the sight of us.

You have one guess on who put them there, when the three of us were out of the room.

"Wha...wha...what? How?!"

Starlight waved her hoof at us smugly. "Ha! Please, Rainbow! You really thought that I wouldn't think you three were up to something? And I knew you put a Whoopie Cushion under that couch, so I teleported it away, right before you saw me come in the room."

And a second before Starlight called out to us in the library, I thought I heard that "pop" sound, that usually happens when Unicorns teleport something, or someone, away or to us! I just didn't think much of it.

Rainbow, Pinkie, and I just stood there with our mouths wide open, dumbfounded, and embarrassed.

"But really, Whoopie Cushions guys? I thought you three could do better than that old prank, and I only did it because you tried it!"

Starlight set up from the couch she was still on, walked over to us, or more so to me. While chuckling, she lightly petted me on my head a few times with a hoof, to rub it in some more, making me give a low growl. It's Starie's job, as one of my two Equestrian big sisters, to do that kind of stuff to me sometimes and even Twilight, my other Equestrian big sister, might do it too if I give her an opening. Starlight is usually careful to not do anything that would truly bother or annoy me though, because of what she once went through with Trixie, when Trixie got carried away with her.

After she got done petting me, I told Starlight, "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, Starie. Laugh it up. We're gonna get you next time!"

"Yeah! We are gonna do something a lot, lot, lot, lot better next time!" Pinkie said.

Starlight smirked, walked out of the library with her head up, eyes closed, looking so smug. She left us, The Prankster Trio, to try something else.

We picked the next prank. In the kitchen of the castle, we got a special cup that has a very small hole near the top, that's next to impossible to see. We filled the cup with some juice that Starlight likes to drink. When she tries to drink it, it's gonna spill out of the hole, and on her. This time, to not tip-off Starie by simply being together, we're gonna stay hidden in a corner of the kitchen, and we put a box in the corner of the kitchen to hide in so she wouldn't see us.

"Okay, Eric. You sure Starlight's gonna come?"

"Yep, I'm sure, Rainbow. I heard her tell Twilight she was getting thirsty, so she should be here to get a drink any second."

Pinkie warned, "Ooh, ooh, I think I hear her coming now!"

Rainbow whispered, "Okay, let's get in that box and get down!"

We jumped into that box, and Starlight walked in, humming to herself, and to the cup we set up to drink. But, instead of just picking it up with her magic and drink, she first turned the cup around half-way, before lifting it up to drink from it. Because of this, the hole was pointing the other way, so none spilled out. Then after she got done, she went out of the kitchen. This left us scratching our heads. How the buck did that pony know to do that?!

Rainbow muttered, "Okay...that happened."

"Can you tell me what it was?"

"It must be luck, Pinkie. There's no way Starie could know that we set up that cup."

"Well, why did she do it then?" Pinkie asked.

"No idea. But I am getting thirsty, so I'll get something to drink too."

"I'm getting thirsty too, I'll join you, Eric." Rainbow said.

"Me three!"

The three of us came out of the box, went to where we had that "trick cup" in place, to pick out our own cups that were also there, then poured in them some of that same juice that we poured for Starlight. When we tilted the cups towards us to drink from it...some of the juice poured out from a very small hole in it.

Shocked by that juice leaking out of our cups, Pinkie, Rainbow, and I gasped, stepped back, and we tripped on something on the floor that was slippery, making the three of us yelp and fall backward. We found ourselves rolling several feet on the floor, ending up on our backs.

After we stopped and shook our heads to get our bearings, we found that we were covered in purplish pink paint, the same coat color of a certain Unicorn.

We turned our heads to our right, to a very smug, giggling figure walking up to us holding a near-empty paint can with her magic, shaking her head.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, guys. You left a filled cup out in the open? That has 'it's a prank!' all over it! Now, what I just did is how you do it, and I even set up those cups before you three even came in the kitchen!"

The three of us tried to stand up, but before any of us could fully stand, we slipped on the paint and fell on our backs again, and we all groaned at the same time.

"No fair! How did you sneak up on us so quietly, Starlight?"

"What can I say, Pinkie? When you got it, you got it!"

With the three of us still lying on our backs on the floor of paint, dumbfounded again, and not even trying to stand up, Starlight walked right up to me, right on the edge of where the paint on the floor was, but was still in hoof-reaching range. With a big grin, and with me looking up at her, she petted me on the head with her hoof to rub it in again.

After she was done with that, her horn glowed light-blue, the paint on us disappeared, then she walked out of the kitchen, with her head tilted up a little, smiling, and even had her eyes closed again for that max smug effect.

Smuglight Glimmer got us again.

We decided to give up for the rest of the day, and to try again the next day.

DAY TWO OF THE PRANK WEEK/WAR

This time, we set up an "exploding" cake, that has Starlight's favorite flavor icing on it outside, near the castle doors. She's been having a bit of a "sweet tooth" lately, so she'd want to cut herself a slice as soon as she sees it. When it's cut into, as the name suggests, it'll explode -- not a literal explosion of course -- covering my sister in icing goodness! There was already a "real" cake there that looked the same, which Starie already knew about, and we just swapped them out. So unlike that trick cup bust, nothing should tip-off Starlight that it's a prank this time. We were already hiding in some nearby bushes to watch.

"All right, we're gonna get Starie this time!"

"And Starlight's on the way, right, Eric?"

"Yeah, Rainbow, she should be here soon."

"Hope it's soon, because --" Pinkie turned her head to her right and gasped "-- uh-oh."

"What do you mean 'uh-oh', Pinkie?"

Rainbow turned her head to the right, to see what Pinkie was talking about. "Oh, that's not good."

That made me finally turn my head to the right, and my heart sunk at what I saw. "Oh, no, no, no! Not her! Anypony but her!"

A mare came to the cake, and it wasn't Starlight. It was Ms. Rosy, a dark-green Earth Pony that's bigger than a usual mare, and is almost as big as Big Mac. She's been in Ponyville only three days, but the three of us already knew that she's a big bully that just does whatever she wants. There have even been times she's thrown ponies through the air that got her mad! The only reason that a certain Princess of Friendship hasn't dealt with her yet is because she didn't yet know about that bully.

With Ms. Rosy about to dig into that cake, Rainbow, Pinkie, and I jumped out of our bush, ran up to her, yelling to not touch that cake! But we were too late. She tried to cut herself a slice, and the cake blew up in her face, completely covering her in cake and icing!

The three of us gulped, when that big mare became fully aware of what just happened, and glared down at us.

"Uh...do that cake taste okay, Ms. Rosy?" Pinkie quietly asked.

Ms. Rosy growled and replied, "Oh, it's just peachy. And I take it you three made this?'

"Uh...you could say--"

But as soon as I said that, Ms. Rosy wrapped her big forelegs around all three of us, picked us up, while squeezing us really tight so it would be painful for us. With us squirming and grunting in pain, she then threw us about ten feet in front of her on the ground in a three-person/pony pile! That big bully huffed, then walked off.

"Ow!" Rainbow rubbed her head. "Are you two okay?"

I rubbed my own head. "Yeah, I am. How about you, Pinkie?"

"I am too. But that big meanie's always doing whatever she wants!"

"One of these days, I'm gonna kick--"

"Never mind her, Rainbow. Since our prank got 'interrupted', we better just try another prank, far away from Ms. Rosy."

"But can we do it tomorrow, Eric? I need to go feed Gummy!"

"And my wings are sore from that throw, so I second that."

"Okay, we can try again tomorrow."

DAY THREE OF THE PRANK WEEK/WAR

For this prank, Rainbow, Pinkie, and I will try to literally catch Starlight. We disguised a net on the ground, so it just looks like a normal part of the ground. I noticed that Starie often walked by a certain bush when she goes to certain places, so we set up the net in front of it. Pinkie got it about an hour ago.

With the three of us circled in a huddle again, in front of that bush, I asked, "That net's set correctly, right, Pinkie?"

"Yep! When Starlight steps on it, it's gonna catch her niiiice and good!"

Rainbow pointed her hoof in a direction behind me. "Guys! Here she comes! Let's hide!"

I turned, and saw Starlight walking towards us in the distance, and was just far away to not yet be aware of us. We ducked in the bush behind us, and watched her come closer and closer to the hidden net.

"Just a little closer..." Rainbow said under her breath.

Our smiles got big, nearly as big as the ones the CMCs had when they were hiding in bushes, when those three fillies tried to ~~ship~~ bring Big Mac and Cheerilee together for Hearths and Hooves Day. But our grins got turned upside down when Starlight walked on the ground with the hidden net, with nothing happening, and she just kept on walking.

"What? It didn't work?!" Rainbow facehoofed out of frustration.

"Okay, seriously, how was Starie able to do that?! Her horn wasn't glowing, so it wasn't because of magic!"

"Wowzers! She is good!" Pinkie admitted.

And I hate to admit it too, but Pinkie was right.

Really confused, the three of us got out of the bush, and walked over to the ground with the hidden net. We tapped on it a few times to try to see what happened. The next thing we knew, the net hidden on the ground suddenly curled itself up and swallowed us.

Yep, we stupidly got ourselves caught in that net!

With us trapped in the net, squirming, feeling like Wile E. Coyote, Starlight walked back to us, laughing.

"Guys? You know you're supposed to catch me, not yourselves in these pranks, right?"

"Oh ha-ha, very funny, Starlight."

And Rainbow wasn't wrong about that. It was funny...if you're Starlight Glimmer! Or for you guys, if you're enjoying how Starie keeps on embarrassing Pinkie, Rainbow and me!

"But why didn't that net catch you? You weren't using magic, Starie!"

With a smug as buck grin, Starlight bragged, "I thought you three might try something like this. So when Pinkie was picking out nets earlier, while she wasn't looking, I made sure they were all the same kind of net. They can't be triggered by something as light as one pony."

I wanted to yell "Pinkie!" but it really wasn't Pinkie's fault, so I just facepalmed instead, while Pinkie and Rainbow "facehoofed."

More smug than ever, Starlight first used her magic to free the three of us from that net, then she pulled me over to her with her magic. I gave a low growl, knowing what that Unicorn wanted to do to my head.

Yep, she petted me on the head. But to rub it in even more, she even said, "beep beep!" as she was walking away, like a certain Road Runner that I told her about once, when I was telling her stories about what I did in my old world. Including some other cartoons that I watched, besides the one that she's a part of.

Yeah, that mare's just going out of her way to troll us, especially me! At least Trollestia would be proud.

Yep, it's war now. Even more of a war than it already was, with it being a prank war and all.

Because we're trying to prank a mare, we're entering dangerous grounds with this next prank. But like I said after that last bust, it's war now. We swapped out a bottle of Starlight's favorite "mane wash", that she just bought, with an identical looking bottle that had "mane wash" that would ruin her mane! She left the bottle on a stand outside, so all we needed to do was switch the bottles. We're standing in a huddle, close to some bushes that we were about to hide in, and wait for Starie to come.

"Uh, Rainbow, are you sure we should try this prank?" Pinkie asked, a little nervous.

"Yeah, I'm sure, Pinkie, and we'll help Starlight fix her mane after our prank, so no biggie."

"You better be right, Rainbow. Starie promised me months ago that she'll never hurt me, so I'd be safe. But you two might not be so lucky if this gets her mad."

"Nah. If this was the old Starlight, maybe. But the new Starlight wouldn't do that over something like this."

Pinkie pointed a hoof to the direction I was facing away from. "Wait, guys, Starlight's coming!"

Hearing Pinkie's warning, we all ducked in those bushes we planned to hide in. But when we did, we suddenly became really itchy, making us jump out of it, and fast!

"What, what's going on?! What's happening to us?!" Rainbow shouted, literally rolling on the ground and scratching all over.

Pinkie and I quickly joined her on the ground, rolling and scratching.

As we rolled on the ground scratching, Star-Smug walked up to us, laughing.

"Did you three really think I'd leave that bottle out in the open with our prank war still on, unless there's a reason I did? How do you like that green itching powder I put on that bush?"

Still scratching our butts/flanks off, Rainbow, Pinkie, and I turned our heads to that bush we just tried to hide in. Yep, there was green-colored powder all on it, but was just hard to see, with the leaves themselves being green. That pony was one step ahead of us, again!

Rainbow, rolling on the ground and scratching faster and faster, shouted, "Okay, you got us, Starlight! Can you use your magic to stop our itching?! I can't take this anymore!"

"First, can I have my real mane wash back?"

Barely able to take the itching anymore myself, I yelled, "It's on the other side of that bush, so help us, Starie!"

Starlight smirked with her horn glowing, and the next thing we knew, the itching just stopped, and that powder on us was gone.

Then Glim-Smug-Glam pulled me to her with her magic to do the usual rubbing it in by petting me on my head. She went around the bush to get her mane-wash, then trotted off, with the bottle of the fake mane wash still on the stand.

But after Starlight was out-of-view, while we were catching our breaths from that rolling and scratching, things got worse for Rainbow, Pinkie and me. Out of nowhere, somepony grabbed that bottle, and...oh buck!

It was that big bully, Ms. Rosy!

Before we could say anything, she put some of that "mane wash" on her mane. It made pockets of her hair in her mane collect and spike up, making her mane "spiky", like a Super Saiy...you know. That bully glared at us, and knew we had something to do with it.

Pinkie chuckled nervously, and quietly said, "Hey, uh...Ms. Rosy? If it helps, it looks good on you."

"If so, I should thank you three. Come here."

That bully "thanked" us by grabbing and throwing us again another ten feet, and we landed on some short grass in another three-person/pony pile-up. We even hit our heads on some rocks, giving each of us a bump on the head.

I yelled, "Ow! I hate that mare!!"

"Yeah, that big meanie! Why she gotta keep throwing ponies?"

Rainbow freed herself from our pile, stood up facing where Ms. Rosy walked away and gritted her teeth. "That's it, I'm kicking her flank!"

I was about to just let Rainbow go and do it, but then I thought of a more delicious idea. I quickly got to my feet to put my hand on Rainbow's back to calm her down. "Hold it, Rainbow. I already thought of a better idea on what to do with Ms. Rosy."

"What you have in mind with her?"

"Oh, let's just say she's gonna have some light trouble later, Pinkie. For now, we need to think of another prank idea for Starie. But I'm sore from that throw, so let's do it tomorrow, okay?

DAY FOUR OF THE PRANK WEEK/WAR

In Pinkie's "Party Cave", Rainbow, Pinkie, and I were sitting on the floor in a circle, trying to think of a different angle to come at our pranks. How we were doing it at this point was just not working.

"Okay, Eric, Starlight's been like your big sister for months, so you know her better than Pinkie or me. And you've seen some things from our "cartoon" that the rest of us still don't know about, right? Does she have any weaknesses that you know about that we can use to prank her?"

"Well, I know of a few, Rainbow. But we're trying to prank Starie, not hurt her feelings or make her cry."

Pinkie frowned, and asked, "So you know nothing that we can use?"

I place a hand on my chin and turned my head down, trying to think of something. After a few seconds, I lifted my head back up with a smile. "Hold on, I think I know something that we can use against her."

"Well, what is it?!" Rainbow asked.

"I don't know for sure if Starie still has this side to her, and I only saw it when she was still Twilight's student. But I saw that she was a bit of a show-off with spells, when Twi was testing her magic skills."

"Wow, really? I didn't know that she had that side to her. Our egghead sure isn't like that."

"But how can we use that to prank her, Eric?"

"Easy, Pinkie. If we can get her to show off some spells, and do it near one of our pranks, she could get caught off-guard."

"Hmm, that's a good idea." Rainbow stood up. "So who's gonna be the one to get her to show off?"

"I'll take care of that, and I'll probably be the most effective at it. As you said, Rainbow, I know Starie better than you two."

"Okey-dokey-mokey!"

"Then, Pinkie, Eric, let's pick our next prank, and finally get Starlight pranked!"

Back at the castle, we prepared our next prank idea. I was going to get Starlight to show off some hard spells (for most Unicorns) and while she was busy hamming it up, Rainbow and Pinkie was going to sneak up on her and put a big bucket of light-blue paint behind her --guess who picked the color for the paint -- so when she either steps back or turns around to walk away from me, she'll trip on the bucket and fall right into that paint! We also needed to get that pony back for that "paint job" she did on us earlier anyway, so this prank would kill two birds with one stone.

Standing right outside the library door, I whispered, "Okay, there she is, in the library. You two know what to do, right?"

"I know, just keep her attention away from Pinkie and me, okay, Eric?"

"Don't worry, I'll take care of that. Remember, wait for about thirty seconds, then come in the library. Now let's do this!"

"Good luck!" Pinkie told me, as I was about to go through the doors to the library.

I went in the library, closed the door to it so Pinkie and Rainbow wouldn't be seen and walked up to Starlight, who was reading a book on that couch she liked being on.

"Hey, Starie? I have a favor."

Noticing me, Starie sat the book she was reading down beside her. "What is it, Buggie?"

"That spell you were trying to learn earlier. Did you ever get it down?"

"Yeah, I did. Why do you ask?"

"I just wanted to finally see it in action. You mind?"

Starlight rolled her eyes up for a few seconds, and seemed to be thinking about it. "Well, I could. But could you get me that book over there? That's what I was reading to learn it."

"Sure." I turned around and pointed. "It's that book on the table, right?'

"Yep."

I got the book Starlight asked for, she grabbed it with her magic, and she quietly read a page on it. After she got done, she went to the middle of the room, facing away from the doors to the library, and started doing that spell, with me standing about ten or so feet in front of her. It was a "delayed Transmutation spell", that would turn something into something else a few seconds after a beam of magic hits it, instead of it happening right away like it normally happens.

I half-pretended to be impressed -- she's Starlight Glimmer so I knew she'd master it -- and after about thirty seconds after I walked in, Rainbow and Pinkie slowly opened the library door, slowly crept up, placed that big bucket of paint behind Starie, then backed quietly out of the room.

After Starlight did that spell, by turning a book into a pink teacup five seconds after hitting it with a light-blue magical beam, then back into a book the same way, I said, "Wow, that's great, Starie, and I knew you'd do it! But I think I've seen enough, so I'm gonna head out to ask Rarity about something."

"Okay. See you later, Buggie."

With Pinkie and Rainbow both now peeking in the room, Starlight turned around and took a step, and tripped on the bucket of paint. But as she was falling, she vanished!

Seeing that, Pinkie and Rainbow ran in the room. We just stood beside each other, all looking down at the bucket of paint that Rainbow and Pinkie placed behind Starlight, with our mouths open and so confused.

"What just happened?"

"Beats me, Pinkie. Even I'm not that fast!"

"And this wasn't part of the spell she was showing me. Starie turned her head away from me when she fell, so I couldn't see if her horn glowed. But even if she used a spell, there's no way it was teleportation. There wasn't that sound that happens when something or somepony teleports!"

"Then what happened to her?"

As we were trying to figure out the answer to Pinkie's question, we took a few steps back and...we tripped on and fell on one of three skateboards that somehow ended up behind us! They took us halfway across the library, screaming, and we crashed into the bookshelves of it. The thud of us slamming into the shelves knocked down a bunch of books, burying the three of us!

After we freed ourselves from that "book avalanche", rubbing our heads, we saw Smughorse, sitting down in front of us! Not only was she laughing, but she was mockingly clapping her hooves at the "race" that she just saw Rainbow, Pinkie, and I have on those skateboards. This was just getting sad for The Prankster Trio.

"Hey, what's wrong guys? I thought you three were going to bury me in pranks, not bury yourselves in books! But too bad none of you saw that there was more than just one of me around."

"Wait, more than 'one' of you? I don't get it," Pinkie questioned.

"Okay, Starlight, seriously how did you do that?"

"Wait, Rainbow, I think I know. Starie, When my back was turned when you asked me to get that book, you combined an Accelero spell with a Similo Duplexis spell to be in two places at once, didn't you?"

"Yep! And the 'real' me snuck up behind you when you thought I 'vanished'! You know me well, but I know you well too, Buggie, so I thought you might try something like this soon. Why do you think I was reading down here? You forgot I usually read in my room, not in the library?"

"BUCK!" I facepalmed hard and groaned. I couldn't believe I forgot that!

We were more embarrassed than ever, as Starie stood up, used an Accelero spell to become the pony version of The Flash, to put all the books back on the shelves in about three seconds. After that, she came back to me and petted my head, yet again!

"I'm surprised that you remember the names of spells like that, Buggie, but I think you've been around Twilight for too long. Burying yourself under books is something she would do." Starlight walked out of the library with her head held high, eyes closed, like a boss.

At this point, I probably should think about asking Rarity to put "Property of the Unicorn Starlight Glimmer" on all my shirts, because between turning pranks against me, saying something to roast, and even pet me on my head, I was getting owned by her! And get some of those shirts made for Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash, because the Element of Smugness owned them too: she just wasn't petting them like she was doing to me.

Man, no matter what we did, Rainbow, Pinkie, and I tried to do in this prank week, we couldn't stop getting GlimGlamed!

We're not going to throw in the towel yet, though. We're going to get that pony in day five of our prank week...I hope.

Chapter 2: A Question For Josh and a "Horn" Discovery

DAY FIVE OF THE PRANK WEEK/WAR

Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and myself AKA "The Prankster Trio", found ourselves up against Starlight "Smug" Glimmer, in a three-on-one prank war, thinking we had ourselves a new patsy for our pranks. But so far, we have been Starlight's patsies! Not only are our pranks not working on her, but she keeps turning them back on us, and the three of us are just getting embarrassed by that pony!

But it's day five of our week-long prank war, so we're not done with Starie yet.

Back in Pinkie's party Cave, we were sitting on the floor in a circle, trying to think of another gameplan. There just had to be a way to do a prank that would work on Starlight, and not have it end with Rainbow, Pinkie and I getting GlimGlamed!

"Okay, Rainbow, Pinkie, we are getting whipped by Starie in this prank war! There gotta be an angle that we haven't tried yet that can work on her."

"I don't know, Eric. Maybe we really can't prank Starlight."

Rainbow wasn't having that, and shook her head hard. "Oh no, Pinkie. I'm not giving up! There just has to be...wait hold on."

"What's wrong, Rainbow?" Pinkie asked.

"I just thought of something. We have been pranking Starlight one prank at a time right? So if one prank won't work, how about we set up more than one?"

I smiled, and said, "Oh, of course, Rainbow! Starie might be able to avoid one prank, but even she'll have a hard time dealing with more than one at the same time!"

"Oh, yeah! Why didn't I think of that?"

Outside the doors of Twilight's castle, we set up three pranks for my favorite Unicorn.

First, we set up a bucket of glitter over the doors, so when Starlight comes out the doors, it'll land on her head.

But if she somehow avoids it, about a foot from the doors, we hid another net on the ground. This time, we made sure it'll be triggered by just one pony, and we kept an eye on that net since we got it, so Starie wouldn't be able to switch it with another one that wouldn't.

And if that mare somehow avoids that net, we placed some itching powder that's next to impossible to see, about two feet ahead of that net, and it's spread out about another three feet. So if she keeps walking, she'll step in it. Yep, we wanted to get her back for that prank she did on us with itching powder!

With all of us standing just outside the range of that itching powder, Rainbow asked, "Are we all set guys?"

Pinkie took a quick look at all the pranks we had set. "Yep, all set, Rainbow!"

"I don't see Starie getting out of this one! At least one of them will get her, and if we're lucky, she'll get caught in all three!"

Rainbow suddenly remembered something, and her eyes got big. "Wait a second. Do you know when Starlight will leave the castle, Eric?"

I facepalmed. "Oops. I forgot to ask Starie when she'll leave! For all I know, she'll spend the rest of the day in the castle!"

"Uh-oh."

"Maybe I could fly in one of the windows, and ask her?"

I shook my head at Rainbow. "That won't work, Rainbow. If you do that, she'll know we're up to something, and would be really careful about going out of the door."

"Well, what do we do now?"

As we were trying to decide on what to do, a really loud scream came from behind us, making us jump forward. When we landed, we tripped and rolled into that itching powder.

The momentum we still had made us keep going, and we rolled on the part of the ground with that net, making it swallow us!

And it just kept getting worse. Despite being in that net, we had just enough momentum from our rolling to bump into the castle doors, making that glitter fall down on us!

As we lay there in that net and glitter, scratching all over, we looked to where we heard that scream, and Starlight was there, laughing at us again!

"Three pranks this time, huh? I'm impressed! If I didn't look out one of the castle windows and saw all this, you might have actually gotten me! Emphasis on might have."

"Oh, come on!" Rainbow yelled out, and facehoofed.

"Wow, you are super-duper good at this, Starlight!"

"But how did you get out of the castle, Starie?!"

Starlight "answered" my question by pointing at her horn with a hoof. Of course she used her magic to either fly out of a window or to teleport herself out of the castle! Her horn glowed, and the next thing we knew, all that stuff on us vanished, and we stopped itching. At least she got that stuff off us without us asking her.

Starie then walked up to me and -- you guessed it -- petted me on the head. Then, with as smug a smile as ever, and with her head up and eyes closed, Glim-Smug walked off.

This must be how Twilight felt in the season five finale when she couldn't stop Starlight from stopping the Sonic Rainboom, and eventually had to just talk her out of it.

It did not feel good. And I don't think that we can just "talk" Starie into a prank.

Two hours later, we got to work on another idea. Starlight told me an hour ago that she ordered herself some special kites two days ago, and she had to go somewhere. She asked me if I could keep an eye out for them to come, and they just got delivered to the castle. Rainbow, Pinkie, and I are gonna take the kites out of the package they're in, pack it with confetti, re-seal it, and later give it to Starie. It'll be so packed, it'll fly all over that mare when she opens it!

Because Starie herself asked me to get her package, I thought that maybe she's starting to slip, and this prank would catch her off-guard. Why would she ask me this, knowing we're in a prank war?

After getting the package -- a square brown box that's just big enough to hold a normal-sized kite -- from a certain cute cross-eyed grey mailmare, I took it to my two partners in crime to open it, who were already waiting in my room.

Holding a bucket with that confetti for the prank, Pinkie asked, "Is that it, Eric?"

"Yep. Are you two ready to open this thing?"

Rainbow replied, "You don't need to ask me, Eric. Let's do it!"

With Rainbow and Pinkie beside me looking at it, I carefully opened that box.

But when I did, a lot of pepper flew out of it and right in our faces, making all three of us a sneezing mess!

"What...achoo! Just happened...achoo!"

"I...achoo! Don't know, Pinkie...achoo! Do you know, Eric? Achoo!"

"No, I don't...achoo! But some paper...achoo! Fell out of that box...achoo!"

Sneezing a few more times, I picked up that paper, and it was a note.

Dear Eric Reed, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash,

I knew you three would want to open up this box to get me with some kind of prank, so I mailed this to "myself". But it's really for you guys. I hope you enjoyed what I put in it, and I hope it is nothing to "sneeze" about!

Your friend/sister, Starlight Glimmer

P.S. I told you three that you would never prank me!

P.S.S. Eric, don't worry, I know I owe you some petting on your head.

After we read that, the three of us sneezed one more time, and we yelled at the same time, at the top of our lungs, "OH, COME ON!!"

I do not know why we didn't even think that it might be a prank from Starlight!

We are still refusing to give up on getting that smug pony. But the three of us have had enough for now, so we're gonna give it a rest, and try (again) in day six of our prank war.

DAY SIX OF THE PRANK WEEK/WAR

By Trixie's wagon, The Prankster Trio's at it again. We already sent Starlight a letter that was from "Trixie" saying to stop by her wagon for something important. Trixie herself was away from the wagon, so there would be no risk of her getting caught in our prank. But we didn't have much time, because we knew that Trixie would be back really soon. It seems like she's really attached to that little wagon, since that pony hates being too far away from it for too long.

Anyway, the prank this time is a special blue ball that looks like a rare type of rock. Starie can sometimes be something of a "goody-goody" so she'll want to pick it up and take it to Maud. But, we rigged it to explode in a ton of pepper, making her a sneezing mess, as well as giving her a scare. Yep, we're taking a page from her last prank on us.

"Okay, Starie should be here soon. Is that 'rock' ready, Pinkie?"

"Yep! It's all set."

Rainbow asked, "And you're sure that Starlight wasn't able to do something like she did with that net, right, Pinkie?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm sure. I didn't let this out of my sight, so I know she didn't do anything to it."

"Good, because she's turned our pranks against us long enough! It's finally our turn to get her!"

"I agree, Rainbow. All right, Pinkie, drop that 'rock', and let's hide in that bush and wait for her!"

We dived into a bush that was beside Trixie's wagon, right after Pinkie put that "rock" on the ground, about three feet away from our bush. But as soon as we jumped in, confetti blew from it, and it had a lot of force! It even knocked Rainbow, Pinkie, and me back about two feet, right on our backsides.

I shook my head, trying to get my bearings. "What...just happened?"

I got my answer, and I should've already known what happened -- or should I say who happened -- when the future Princess of Smugness, as well as "The Great and Powerful Trixie", came out of Trixie's wagon, giggling.

"Sorry, Rainbow, but I think it's still my turn."

"And that was a great show you three just put on for us. Four stars! But don't you know that I don't send Starlight letters when I want something?"

"BUCK!"

"Eric! I thought you would know something like that from our 'cartoon'! Why didn't you warn us?!"

"I'm sorry, Rainbow! That cartoon didn't show Trixie too much, so I never had the chance to learn that about her!"

"Aww, don't worry, Eric. You can't know everything about 'The Great and Powerful Trixie' and --" Trixie's smile turned upside down and her eyes got big "-- wait, what do you mean it didn't show me too much? Why wouldn't that cartoon show more of 'The Great and Powerful Trixie'?"

"How would I know, 'Ms. powerful'? I wasn't in charge of how many times that cartoon showed you or why, and I just watched it. Maybe I can call out to Josh Haber the next time Twilight and Starlight use the spell to let me talk to someone from my old world, and you can come along to ask him that question."

Rainbow cut in to ask, "Never mind that, how did you do this, Starlight?"

"Long story short: I knew something was up when I got that letter, so I looked for and found Trixie without coming here. Then, before you three got here, I teleported us here to set up what sent you out of that bush."

Rainbow, Pinkie, and I just groaned loudly and stood up. I'm not even sure if Starlight's even trying, because she's making it look too easy!

Trixie smirked and "advised" us, "You know, you three really should stop hiding in bushes."

This is just great. Now Trixie Lulamoon's roasting our prank skills!

With a S-M-U-G smile and with her eyes closed, Starie walked over to me to pet me on the head once again. She turned from me and pretended to take a step, before spinning right back around to pet me some more.

I gave a low growl. I thought Starie must be giving me the pets on the head that she still "owed" me. Yep, she's a big sister all right!

After she really got done petting me, Starie left for real with Trixie, with them both still giggling.

Can things get any worse for The Prankster Trio?

Oh, yes. Yes, it can.

Once Startrix left, that bully Ms. Rosy showed up out of nowhere again! She picked up that "rock" we had for Starie, and it blew up in pepper! It barely made her sneeze, but it got that bully mad! She glared at Rainbow, Pinkie, and me with gritted teeth, and growled in anger.

I facepalmed hard, groaned, and yelled, "Buck! Not again!"

Pinkie pleaded, "Uh, Ms. Rosy, it's not what it looks like. We didn't put that down for you, we promise!"

"That so? But I should still thank you three for this "surprise."

Yep, you know what that big bully's about to do to the three of us. She picked us up with those huge strong forelegs of hers, threw us into that bush we tried to hide in, and once again confetti blew up from it, sending us flying back out of it, with me landing on Rainbow! We hit the ground with more impact this time, and I'm not as durable as ponies, so I might've gotten hurt if I didn't land on Rainbow here.

Ms. Rosy huffed, and walked off.

"Eric, is she going to have that light problem soon? Or can I go kick her flank now?

"It'll be soon, Rainbow. But I just want to get Starie in a prank right now, and then pet her head for once! So let's try to get her again, okay?

In Pinkie's Party Cave, we're again brainstorming. But we're running out of ideas!

"All right. What do we do now? It's like Starie knows what we're going to do before we do!"

"I think I got an idea." Pinkie pulled out what looked like a kitchen sink out of her mane and held it in front of her to us.

"Where and why do you have that, Pinkie?"

"Well, Rainbow, we have thrown everything else at her!" Pinkie tossed that sink in a corner of the Party Cave. "It really seems like Starlight just can't be pranked!"

"Can't you do anything else that doesn't require us to throw the kitchen sink yet, Pinkie? I mean, you're Pinkie Pie! Can't you use your 'Pinkie Pie' powers or something to help get Starie pranked?"

"Uh...I don't get what you mean, Eric."

I thought about that question I just asked Pinkie and facepalmed at asking it. "Never mind. I think I got another idea anyway. And it's not a kitchen sink."

"Well, what is it this time?"

"If we can't prank Starie while she's awake, Rainbow, let's set up a prank in her room, while she's asleep, so she'll fall into it as soon as she wakes up. No matter how powerful she is with her magic, even Starie can't do anything about pranks while she's still sleeping."

"Hmm...that could work, Eric, but how do we do it? Pinkie and I can't sneak in her room at night, and she might wake up before we can see it happen!"

"Yeah, and we want to see her fall to our prank too, Eric!"

"Don't worry about that. Maybe you two weren't paying attention, but before we came back to the Party Cave, I overheard her talking with Twilight, and she said she was getting tired and sleepy, probably from laughing at us so much. She should be wanting to take a nap soon, and they didn't see us when I heard them talking. That'll be our chance to sneak in her room and set up a prank."

"That's sounds good to me. If you and Pinkie are ready, let's do it!"

About one hour later, right outside Starlight's bedroom door, we're preparing to sneak in her room. We're gonna try to paint her horn red for this prank, to make her think she's sick. It's a very fitting prank, because we were sick of her owning us all week! She's a really deep sleeper, so it's unlikely that even painting her horn would wake her up, if we do it carefully. Starie doesn't lock her bedroom door much, so we didn't have to worry about that. We also knew she was in her room sleeping because of loud snoring that was coming from inside. Believe it or not, that pony's a really loud snorer!

"Okay, you guys ready?"

"Ready-dokey-mokey!"

"I'm ready, let's go in, and remember, be careful! We don't want to wake Starie up."

With me holding the bucket of red paint, we slowly and quietly opened the door, and carefully crept to Starlight's bed, and she was covering herself completely in her purple blanket, which had a bunch of kites designs on it. Ha, what a surprise. She really likes kites, you know, and she even got like ten of them all over her room.

But when we pulled the blanket off her head to expose her horn, we saw that the "Starlight" that was in the bed is actually just a big doll that's as big as a full-grown Unicorn. Then we heard a blaring sound come from it, scaring us big time! We screamed, jumped and tripped backward into a pile of glitter that suddenly appeared behind us. What a surprise. Not. Worse, I lost my grip on that bucket when I was falling back, so that red paint poured out on the three of us!

Then we heard some very familiar giggling come from behind us. The three of us looked to where it was coming from and saw -- who else -- Equestria's most smug pony, giggling, right outside her still-open bedroom door.

"If you ask me, I don't think red is any of your color guys. You looked better in purplish pink."

Rainbow, Pinkie, and I groaned loudly, and facepalmed/facehoofed. Man, how is Starlight this good?!

Still with a hand on my face, I asked, "Okay, Starie. How did you do it this time?"

"It's what I would've thought about doing at this point, so I put that doll there, used a spell to make snoring sounds come from it, and I bet it was your idea, Buggie. You're just like your sister, little bro."

BUCK!! It was usually not that bad a thing, especially since it's partly why the bond between Starlight and me became so strong: it's one of the reasons why I think of her as a "big sister", even though I'm not a pony. But this time, being something like a "Mini-Starlight" at times came back to bite me in the butt!

"You know, maybe you three should just give up, because you are not pranking me."

Rainbow shook her head. "Never! We still have one more day to get you, Starlight, and we're gonna do it!"

"Well, suit yourself." Starlight used her magic to get rid of the glitter and paint, pulled me over to her, did you-know-what to me again. After she got done ~~picking on her little brother some more~~ petting me, Starie walked out of her room, head held up, and her eyes closed again, for that smug look to be at its limit.

Maybe we really should just give up. During this prank war, all of our ideas to prank Starie had been like Celestia's Royal guards up to this point (Useless!) and The Prankster Trio's been nothing but the Queen of Smugness -- and for a brief time Trixie's -- entertainment! But I noticed something in the corner of my eye, at one of her bedroom windows. I formed a big fat grin on my face, and I got yet another idea.

"Hey, Rainbow, Pinkie, let's go back to the Party Cave. I have another idea."

"Wait, another one? Are you really sure this one can work?"

"Because none of them have worked, Eric. Er, no offense."

"None taken, Pinkie. But yeah, Rainbow, this one is gonna work for sure, and I'll explain as we go back to the Party Cave."

We headed back to the Party Cave, talking about part of my idea, and then once we were there, I told them the rest of it. It would take some time to set up, so we're gonna do it on the final day of the prank war.

FINAL DAY OF THE PRANK WEEK/WAR

At Sugarcube corner, one hour ago, we set up yet another prank for Starie. And this one's different compared to the others.

We prepared a twist on that "exploding cake" prank we tried before, and had some "exploding cupcakes" instead to use. I heard Twilight say to Starlight she wanted some cupcakes around to eat for the next time she and I read together, which we do sometimes for some one-on-one big sister/little brother bonding. Starlight said she'd get them for Twi. We rigged the cupcakes to "explode" when she picks up the plate they're on.

"Okay, are you really sure this plan of yours will work, Eric?"

"As long as we do everything right, Pinkie, it'll work for sure!"

Rainbow warned, "Guys, Starlight's coming!"

We ducked behind the counter of Sugarcube corner, and listened for Starlight to come in. But, for some reason, we didn't hear any hoofsteps. We peeked from behind the counter, but Starie was nowhere to be seen, and yet those cupcakes were gone too.

"Okay...where did she go?"

"I don't know, Pinkie. Maybe she teleported them to her?"

"Maybe, Rainbow. But let's take a look outside, and hope Starie don't embarrass us, again."

When we took a step outside, all of a sudden, those cupcakes fell and "exploded" on us, covering us in icing goodness! They were held in the air by Unicorn magic. You know who the Unicorn that magic belonged to is.

Yep, it's Smugness Incarnate that was standing on our rights, about ten feet away, laughing yet again!

"Wow, guys, you're really messing up now. Didn't you know those cupcakes wouldn't explode when they're picked up with magic, and that I usually pick things up with my magic?"

Rainbow, Pinkie, and I groaned, and I finally asked, "Okay, Starie, how are you doing this? I mean seriously, how are you able to read through all of our pranks?!"

"Are you reading our minds or something? If you can, what am I thinking right now?"

Ha, leave it to Pinkie Pie to ask that.

"Hmm...okay. I guess I'll tell you guys a secret. Okay, you can show yourself now! I think these three are finally done."

From some bushes by Sugarcube Corner, Twilight Sparkle popped her head out, giggling. Yeah, that got our attention, and our mouths dropped!

Rainbow rubbed her eyes, like she still couldn't believe what she was seeing. "Wait, Twilight? You're the reason why none of our pranks worked?!"

With a smug smile that could rival the one from the Bottomless pit of Smugness, Twilight replied, "Yep! Surprised?"

"Yeah, very surprised!" Pinkie rubbed her eyes too, and even pulled out some black glasses from her mane, to make sure she wasn't seeing things.

"'Surprised' would be putting it mildly for me. I wasn't even this surprised when I did my first Sonic Rainboom!"

"But I thought you didn't like pranks that much, Twi. So why are you in our prank war? And why didn't you just join us like Starie did?"

"I was thinking about how you said that your big sisters in your old world liked doing them with you. So as your Equestrian big sisters, I thought that, at least once, Starlight and I should be a part of one with you three. And I 'joined' it like this, so I could see the look on your face right now!"

Translation: Last week, without me knowing it, Twilight entered a type of "Big sister" mode that she doesn't enter very often -- the mode where she's much more playful than normal and would mess with me -- and this was a great way for Twi to do it, all week! She also knew Pinkie and Rainbow wouldn't really get mad over this.

I really don't think Twi had that side to her before I got to Equestria, and maybe she gained it subconsciously to try to fill the roles of my human big sisters, who did it to me, since I can't go back to my old human world. Or I just rubbed off on her.

"And that was the real reason I came to Sugarcube corner last week. Twilight and I was already planning on joining you three."

"Okay fair enough. But how does that have to do with you always seeing through our pranks, Starlight? You weren't around...wait." Rainbow pointed a hoof at Twilight. "Were you somewhere spying on us, Twilight?!"

"Oh, I wouldn't say I was 'spying' on you. More like, 'keeping an eye on you'."

Yep. That was why none of our pranks worked. Twilight was often somewhere nearby "keeping an eye" on us as we were setting up our pranks, warned Starlight what they were, and where we were. Even us overhearing them talk sometimes, such as when Starlight "told" Twilight she was sleepy or thirsty, was all an act: those two big sneaks knew we would want to act on that! Though a few things, like the confetti in the bushes by Trixie's wagon, Twilight had nothing to do with: that was all Starlight.

I gave a light facepalm, laughed, and said, "Well, I gotta say, you got me, Twi! I never expected this!"

Pinkie started hopping. "Yep, you two got us good! But how about we eat some cupcakes now? Ones that won't blow up?"

We all agreed, and the five of us walked towards the door of Sugarcube corner to eat some "real" cupcakes, with Twilight and Starlight leading the way.

However, once they got in, Rainbow, Pinkie, and I stopped right outside the doors, and Rainbow whispered, "Okay, Pinkie, now."

Pinkie pulled out a switch from her mane, pushed it, and confetti came from all over the room, covering a very surprised Twilight and Starlight.

Then some light-blue paint came from a bucket on the ceiling we secretly set up, and on them.

Some itching powder and pepper also came from a hidden bucket on the ceiling, covering them all over, making those two mares an itchy, sneezing mess!

And we're still not done guys. As they rolled on the floor scratching themselves and sneezing, to finish things off, they rolled on a net that we had hidden on the floor, and got caught in it!

Rainbow, Pinkie, and I cheered our heads off, high-fived each other (or whatever it's called for hooves) and just whooped it up! Oh, and everything we said, once we were setting up that "exploding cupcakes" prank, to this point, was an act. We were doing it to set those two ponies up!

Finally, after getting owned all week, The Prankster Trio finally caught Starlight Glimmer in a prank! And as a bonus, we caught ourselves a Twilight Sparkle, who was helping that sneaky pony embarrass us!

With Rainbow, Pinkie, and I still laughing, Rainbow, holding a bucket of green-colored anti-itch cream, flew into Sugarcube corner to the badly scratching Twilight and Starlight and poured it on the two prank sisters. They were itching and scratching so bad, it'd been hard for them to focus enough to stop the itching with their magic, so The Prankster Trio decided to help them to stop itching. We're not Unicorns or Alicorns, so anti-itch cream was the best we could do for them. Though they had to stop sneezing on their own.

Starlight, shaking her head after getting that cream poured on her, while sneezing, stuttered, "W-w...achoo! What? What?! What...achoo! Just happened?! Achoo!"

"How did...achoo! You three set all this up? I...achoo! I only heard you talk about that cupcake prank! Achoo!"

With a big 'ol grin, Rainbow answered, "Sorry, Twilight, but you and Starlight just fell into our real prank for today."

"I bet you were still trying to pick out some books I'd probably want to read, Twi, when we were setting up what just happened to you and Starie. And we didn't let you hear our real plan!"

After that failed prank to paint Starie's horn, outside the window, I saw part of Twilight's horn, and she didn't know that I saw her. That was all I needed to figure out she was a big reason why The Prankster Trio kept getting GlimGlamed. So late yesterday, to keep the Princess of Spying from "keeping an eye" on Rainbow, Pinkie, and me, I asked her to pick out some books I might want to read later. It always takes Twi forever to finish doing that, and she's probably still not finished!

We also made sure Twi was nearby when we talked about that "exploding cupcake" prank yesterday, pretended we didn't know she was there, but only talked about our real prank in Pinkie's Party Cave, where she couldn't hear us. By the time that surprisingly sneaky Alicorn got to that bush outside Sugarcube Corner today, everything was set, so even she had no way to know what we did.

After they finally stopped sneezing, Twilight and Starlight used their magic to free themselves from the net they were still stuck in, as well as removing that other stuff that's still on them, like confetti. But before they stood up, I tapped into my inner Pinkie Pie, skipped over to my big sisters with a big fat grin, looking at them, or more accurately, their heads. I was thinking that I was going to enjoy what I was about to do to them: pet both their heads, starting with Starlight!

After I got done, they stood up.

"But you two had us going until yesterday. I saw the top of your horn outside of Starie's window, Twi, and that let me figure out that you were the reason why our pranks kept ending in bust after bust!"

Twilight tried to roll her eyes up to look at her horn, and touched it with a hoof. "What?! My horn?"

Giggling, Rainbow said, "You should've flown at least a few inches lower, or left Starlight's window sooner, so Eric wouldn't have caught the top part of your horn."

"Yeah! And when we went back to my Party Cave, he told us the plan on how to prank you and Starlight up gooood!

"I couldn't see much of your horn. But it was enough for me to tell it was your horn."

But then I thought about something else. "But hold on. If you and Starie were working together to ruin our pranks before we even set them up, or while we were still setting them up, why didn't you do anything about Ms. Rosy?" I focused my attention on Starlight. "And for that matter, where were you when we set up that 'exploding cake' a few days ago, Starie? You never came to it."

Both Starlight and Twilight, with confused frowns, rubbed their heads, and Starlight asked me, "Wait, what 'exploding cake', Buggie?"

"And who is this 'Ms. Rosy'? I've never heard anything about her."

"Oh. I guess you two didn't know about that cake a few days ago. But as for Ms. Rosy, she's this huge green Earth Pony that sometimes came after Starie left us, 'fell' into our failed pranks, and then got mad and threw us!"

Twilight's and Starlight's eyes got big on hearing we got thrown. And especially about me being thrown.

"Wait, I know Ms. Rosy is a mean pony, but did you three say she threw you?"

Pinkie answered, "Yeah, Starlight! That big meanie threw us three times this week! And we still have bumps from one of them!"

"What?!" Twilight and Starlight yelled, near the top of their lungs, and with their mouths and eyes wide open.

Rainbow, Pinkie, and I tilted our heads down, to show a bump we got from one of her throws.

Uh-oh. My big sisters can be protective of me sometimes, but Starlight's especially prone to being overprotective. And they don't take kindly to anypony messing with their friends, either.

Twi kept herself in check, and seemed more or less calm, though obviously not happy, since she had an angry frown on her face.

But Starie on the other hand...oh boy...after hearing that big bully hurt us, and especially me, didn't stay calm. She entered her "Overprotective big sister" mode: a version of her "big sister" mode when she'd seriously kick some flanks and take names! That pony didn't exactly like that Pinkie and Rainbow was hurt too, making her even madder. No one messes with and hurts Starlight Glimmer's friends and little brother! She gritted her teeth, her horned glowed, and she teleported herself somewhere.

Rainbow turned her head around, trying to see where Starlight went. "Uh...where Starlight go?"

Chucking, I started counting, "One...two...three...four...five..."

"What are you doing, Eric?"

"I'm just counting till Ms. Rosy comes running in here and beg us to call off Starie, Pinkie. I guess she already knows where that bully is right now."

I got back to counting, and almost two minutes after Starie left, Ms. Rosy came running through that door to me. She was out of breath, like she was running for her life or something, and she was a mess. Heh, I wonder why?

"Okay, I admit it. I was way, way, way out of line when I threw you three. So I'm here to say I'm sorry! Look, here's a hundred bits, and if you can forgive me, it's all yours! Just call off that Unicorn that's saying she's your big sister, and" -- Ms. Rosy pointed at Rainbow and Pinkie -- "that they are her friends!" Ms. Rosy ran over to Rainbow and Pinkie. "And I'm sorry to you two as well, and here are a hundred bits for each of you!"

This was just too good, and I wanted to milk this. So while holding a bag with my new hundred bits, I teased, "Hmm...I don't know, Ms. Rosy. When my big sister gets like that, It's really hard for her to calm down, so she might not listen to anyone, not even us."

Pinkie and Rainbow had some fun too, as they nodded their heads, pretending to "agree" with me.

"Okay, here's another hundred bits for the each of you three, and there's more where that came from. Just, please, call off your sister!"

"Well...okay. We'll try to calm her down. But you better not pick on any other ponies, or she might be back."

"I won't! I promise! I'll be a good mare from now on!"

Now less six hundred bits, Ms. Rosy ran out the door of Sugarcube corner, turning her head back a forth a few times, trying to see if a certain angry, overprotective, purplish pink Unicorn was nearby, than ran out of sight. Rainbow, Pinkie, Twilight, and I burst out laughing.

Pinkie suggested, "Hey, how about we say our prank week is over, and go and really eat some cupcakes now?"

Twilight answered, "Sure, Pinkie, but let's wait for Starlight before we eat."

And Twilight, Pinkie, Rainbow, and I waited for Starlight. Twilight might not had seemed it, but she was really mad at Ms. Rosy. Why you think Twi didn't tell us to give that now ex-bully her bits back, or wanted to stop Starlight? That, as well as burst out laughing at Ms. Rosy like she did, isn't something the "Princess of Friendship" would otherwise do.

About a half-minute later, Starlight, still a little upset, came back. I told her what Ms. Rosy said, and asked her to lay off Ms. Rosy, unless that pony tries something like that again, and she agreed to leave her alone.

Starie also told us what she did to Ms. Rosy before she came running into Sugarcube Corner to ~~beg~~ apologize, and...oh boy...it wasn't just good: it was delicious!

In fact, it was too delicious, so I don't know if I should tell you guys what my big sister did! I'll think about it.

But if you were able to guess that, when I said that Ms. Rosy would have a light problem, I was talking about big sis Starlight, you get bonus points!

Author's Note

Celestia's royal guards finally did something in the season 8 finale, so they're not so useless now.

But because this story, from a "canon" timeline standpoint, would be during late season 7, those guards in this story would still be useless.

Chapter 3: Starie vs Ms. Rosy

In a large green house, in the center of a mid-sized green-painted room that's freshly painted, on a brown wooden chair in the room, sat a dark-green larger-than-average mare, Ms. Rosy. She had a light-green mane formed in a ponytail. Behind her was a window with a blue curtain covering the top half of it, which was about four feet away. To her left was a brown bookshelf along part of a wall, filled with books of varying thickness, about seven feet long with five shelves, about six feet away. To her right, a light-green couch, about one and a half times the length of most full-grown ponies, and farther away was a green closed door, with a small window near the top of the door. Warm sunlight penetrated the window, onto the floor and the back on the Earth Pony, who paid no mind to it. Her gaze and focus were completely on what laid on the huge wooden table right in front of her.

Sliding the many bits she laid out on the table with a hoof, in groups of ten, Ms. Rosy counted them greedily under her breath. There were around five hundred bits spread out on the table, with just over half collected in a huge pile on one side of it, about two feet tall at its highest. The rest of the bits was much more widely spread out on the other side of the table, covering about three-fourths of that side of the table. Another three thousand bits or so was divided into ten tied bags on the floor, beside the chair Ms. Rosy was sitting on. An eleventh empty open bag sat near the edge of the table that's closest to the mare, ready to collect the bits still being counted.

"Three hundred...three hundred and ten...three hundred and twenty--"

Sudden pounds on the door to the house ended the silence of the room, as well as causing the bits on the table to shake slightly. However, Ms. Rosy ignored the beating of her door, and continued to count the bits on her table. Ten seconds later, the knocking stopped as suddenly as they started.

With a pop that teleportation creates, Starlight Glimmer suddenly appeared in the center of the room with Ms. Rosy. Four feet away, with gritted teeth, Starlight scowled fiercely at the Earth Pony, with her eyes locked on the large mare in front of her, who was partially blocked from her sight by the table Ms. Rosy sat behind. Rage that comes from a good friend, or sibling, being hurt filled every part of the Unicorn's body. Starlight even needed to remind herself mentally that she's a changed pony, because her old self would be unable to hold herself back, if as angry as she was in this moment. "Ms. Rosy, we need to talk. Now."

Ms. Rosy huffed, stood up from her chair, walked from behind the table to the left side of it, so Starlight could see her completely. With an uncaring stare, Ms. Rosy demanded, "Who the buck are you? And can't you see I'm busy?"

"My name is Starlight Glimmer," Starlight answered calmly but sternly. "And yes, I can see you're busy, but you're in the wrong place. You're supposed to be saying sorry to my two friends and brother, for throwing and hurting them."

"Your two friends and brother?" Ms. Rosy very slightly lifted her head, placed a hoof below her mouth, trying to remember who the pony standing in her house was talking about. A cocky grin curled on the lips of Ms. Rosy, as she remembered who the three most likely are. "Do you mean a dumb pink Earth Pony with a stupid pink fluffy mane, a light-blue Pegasus with a stupid rainbow mane, and that stupid looking 'human' or whatever he's called that wore a white shirt and a stupid-looking hat?"

Even more anger filled Starlight, hearing her friends and brother being called "dumb" and "stupid". She hid her raising rage well, and it only showed through a slightly madder voice, saying, "Yep, that's them. And don't call them stupid or dumb. Especially not the 'human'. He is my little brother."

"He's your 'little brother'? Ha! I'd love to see how your parents look, if you two are 'siblings' like you say you are."

Starlight nodded her head. "Maybe we're not 'blood siblings', but I still think of him as my own brother."

Despite the anger in the voice of Starlight Glimmer, Ms. Rosy showed not a single sign of intimidation. She moved back to behind her table and sat back down in defiance. "Whatever. And maybe I will apologize to them later, if I feel like it."

Starlight shook her head, showing that she would not take "no" for an answer. "No, you will do it now!"

"And what will you do if I don't?" A smile of a bully formed on the face of Ms. Rosy, and she glared harder than ever at Starlight, as a thought formed in her head. "In fact, maybe I'll throw you. How do you like that?"

"Well, try it, and see what happens. And let's go outside." Starlight didn't want to do anything in the home of Ms. Rosy, and wanted her to come outside. She slowly trotted towards the green door already half-open, to her left (Ms. Rosy's right) and exited the home of the large pony.

As Starlight was on the way out, Ms. Rosy stood up from her wooden chair, walked from behind the table again, and followed the Unicorn outside. Outside, Starlight stopped walking and turned around to face Ms. Rosy, with a scowl on her face, seven feet away. However, Ms. Rosy didn't stop walking and, menacingly, proceeded to close the distance between her and Starlight, with no signs of it being a bluff. The large mare was poised to deal with Starlight Glimmer the hard way. Her favorite way.

Starlight didn't move an inch. Her horn glowed light-blue, and Ms. Rosy's advances stopped on the spot. The green mare was lifted in the air by light-blue magic, almost motionless.

But Ms. Rosy was unfazed, and continued to glare towards the magical pony holding her in her grip. In a voice tone showing no fear, she stated, "Oh, big deal. I've been in Unicorn magic before, so you don't scare me."

"I see."

Starlight's horn stopped glowing, and Ms. Rosy was freed from her magic and dropped back on the ground in front of the door to her home, allowing her to resume her advances to carry out her threat to throw Starlight. However, one second later, the emotional pony's horn glowed again, and fired two light-blue beams of magic, one of them hitting Ms. Rosy on her legs, though there was no impact from the blast. However, Ms. Rosy's legs, on their own, crept backward.

Turning her head downwards to her self-moving legs, Ms. Rosy called out, "What...what's happening to my legs?"

"Just a little spell."

The Earth Pony's legs took a few more slow steps, until one of her hind legs stepped on a skateboard that Starlight's second beam of magic before materialized into existence. She yelped and fell backward into the air, falling onto it and three others that were beside it to hold the weight of the large mare. The momentum of the fall, with some cartoon logic being applied, sent Ms. Rosy back into her home, all the way to the bookshelf along the wall, making the green pony slam into it. An avalanche of books followed, burying Ms. Rosy almost completely, making her grunt at the impact of the books falling on her. Her green flank, with a Cutie Mark showing three yellow bits, remained uncovered.

Even several feet outside the house, Starlight felt the vibrations from the collision and avalanche of books on her hooves. The overprotective big sister in her allowed a small smile to form on the pony's lips, looking at the sight in front of her.

"Oh, you're going to pay for that!" Ms. Rosy roared, fiercely shaking off the books covering her. Starlight stayed still as the green pony stood up and ran back outside, before releasing another beam of magic above the large mare, right outside her door. A cake covered in pink icing, light-blue glitter, pepper and green itching powder all appeared above the head of Ms. Rosy. Everything remained in the air for a half-second, before raining down on the stubborn pony below. Intense itching all over her body forced Ms. Rosy to scratch fiercely, first on her left side, then her head, then her right side, and finally just scratched somewhere on her body randomly. On top of that, Ms. Rosy repeatedly sneezed loudly and powerfully.

"What..achoo! Just happened...achoo! And why am I...achoo! Itching so bad?!"

"Just another little spell I did, no biggie. Oh, and that's itching powder and pepper on you, so that's why you're itching and sneezing. And I'm not done."

Another beam of magic came from Starlight's horn, and a black net and pinkish-purple paint produced from the Unicorn's magic fell on Ms. Rosy. The Earth Pony flailed her legs about inside the net that engulfed her, but the more she struggled to free herself, the tighter the net wrapped around her body.

"Hey...achoo! Cut it out! You...achoo! Cheeky brat!"

Some of the old Starlight Glimmer re-surfaced, from the anger of her friends and brother being picked on and hurt, by the pony in front of her. Starlight, with an almost villainous smile, asked, "Where's the fun in that?"

Another light-blue beam of magic made Ms. Rosy, still in the net, bounce on the ground outside on its own three times, then she was spun rapidly in circles by magic, with the pony screaming. The spinning threw glitter, paint, pieces of cake and pepper that were still on the body of Ms. Rosy in every direction. Finally, Starlight, after a half-minute of spinning the large pony, stopped her 'fun', and let the helpless mare stop spinning, setting her down on the ground with her magic, and with yet another blue beam of magic, poofed away the net around Ms. Rosy from existence.

As Starlight watched on with an amused smile, the large pony before her, still covered in light-blue paint, a little bit of glitter and pepper, wobbled to her left and right, barely able to keep her balance. The shape of the pony's ponytail fell apart into a long, frizzed mane during the spinning, and her head also wobbled around wearily. Pupils spun in the eyes of Ms. Rosy. Unable to get her bearings from the rapid spinning the angered Unicorn had put her through, the stubborn pony finally fell to the ground, on her side, with a thud. As well as from the itching, since the itching powder's effect was still active, and Ms. Rosy resumed her vigorous scratching.

With almost a bit of glee in her voice, Starlight asked, "Now, are you going to say you're sorry to my friends and little brother, Ms. Rosy, or shall we do this some more?"

Shaking her hooves from side to side in submission, briefly stopping to scratch her sides, Ms. Rosy pleaded, "Okay, I give up! You win, Starlight Glimmer! I'll go right now to tell them I'm sorry! And I won't bother them again!"

With a more "normal" smile that she usually gives, Starlight responded, "Good. And give them some bits too, just so they know you're sorry. Maybe a hundred each? I saw you have plenty."

The eyes of Ms. Rosy grew larger at the demand of the powerful pinkish-purple pony in front of her. "A-a hundred each?! But that's three hundred bits total! I don't want to give away that many!"

Starlight's smile vanished, and an angry frown took its place. With a scowl, Starlight's horn glowed once again, and she said, in a very deep, threatening voice, "In that case, you better start running."

Ms. Rosy let out a gasp. Despite the itching she was still feeling, a look of fear still showed itself on the face of the Earth Pony. "No, no! Don't hurt me! I'll do it, I'll give them a hundred bits each, or more if I'll need to, just leave me alone!"

"Good choice," Starlight replied, more calmly. She fired a beam at Ms. Rosy to stop the itching. Another was fired to remove the paint, a bit of cake and glitter, that was still on her body. Though Ms. Rosy's mane remained ragged from the earlier spinning.

One more light-blue beam removed the cake, itching powder, glitter, and paint spread out in the area surrounding Ms. Rosy: Part of the outside of her home, a bit of the room inside the still-open door, and the ground ten feet away from where the pony spun around. Starlight's horn glowed yet again, and used an Accelero spell to move in a pinkish-purple flash back into Ms. Rosy's house, returned the books still on the floor back to the bookshelf they previously sat on, before Ms. Rosy smashed into it. Once done, she exited the house, still in a pinkish-purple flash, moved to stand right in front of Ms. Rosy.

Ms. Rosy lay down in submission and nervously stared up to the Unicorn that embarrassed her. Starlight used this chance to lightly pet the mare's head, then looked the Earth Pony in the eyes, with a slight scowl. "They are at Sugarcube Corner, and you have thirty seconds to tell my little brother and friends you're sorry."

Ms. Rosy didn't need to be told again. She sped back in her home, to her bag of bits still on the floor by the brown table she was sitting behind, grabbed two of the ten closed bags, spun around to trot back outside as fast as she possibly could, all the way to Sugarcube Corner, where Eric Reed, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle were waiting. Starlight looked at the fleeing mare's form become smaller as she ran farther and farther away, frowned, and thought that maybe she overdid it. The thought didn't last long, as she remembered her friends and little brother being attacked and thrown by the mare still fleeing away, and her frown turned into a proud smile, and said to herself, "Nah."

In Sugarcube Corner, not only did Eric already know Ms. Rosy was on the way, but he was even counting up the seconds till she got there. The young human knew his Equestrian big sister, Starlight Glimmer, very well.