Rainbow Dash was known for many things in Ponyville. Her rather lackadaisical disposition, her determination to be the best flier ever, her speed, and her propensity for pulling pranks.
What she was not as well known for, but should have been known for, was her ability to plot against those whom she felt wronged her.
There had been a grave injustice done to her by her mother, the town, and Rarity. Windy Whistles had forced her daughter to parade around in a tutu like some girly little princess, and Rarity had assisted in making it happen. The wearing of said tutu had been a punishment for her disobeying her mother and rearranging her silverware drawer as a prank. The entire town had seen her in that awful pink monstrosity, and though many townsfolk were innocent, that was irrelevant. She had a score to settle, and she was going to settle it her way.
It took a week of intricate planning. But finally, she was ready. Revenge would be hers, whether any pony liked it or not. And in this case, the answer would be definitely not.
The townsponies were first, since their prank could prove a good distraction to Rarity and let her move onto her prank simultaneously. There was a rainy day scheduled for the day before, so that meant that a rainbow could appear in the sky. Rainbows, as she’d once told Pinkie, weren’t known for their flavor. Well, now every pony was going to get to taste the Rainbow.
She’d taken a cloud to the weather factory and soaked it in the small rainbow pool outside of it. When the cloud was sufficiently soaked, she moved it just above the Rainbow, where it was out of sight. Many townsponies had gathered to see the beautiful rainbow gracing the town. Children were beaming, Adults were taking a moment to savor the beauty of it all.
Rainbow knew it was her time. Slowly, ever so slowly, she nudged the cloud. Not enough to make it rain, but enough for a few droplets of rainbow-colored rain to come out. She did not have to wonder of the surprise from the townsponies, for she could see it from there. Rainbows didn’t rain, did they?
The children, however, were fascinated. They stuck out their tongues, imagining what rainbow might have tasted like. Like strawberry, lemon, blueberry, orange, lime, grape. The possibilities danced in their heads. They were shocked to find out how spicy they were, their faces turning all kinds of colors.
The adults gasped, and Rainbow took her chance, kicking the cloud, and letting rainbow rain shower them all. Colors of all kinds came from below. She might have laughed, ordinarily, at something so funny. It wasn’t so this time. This was a task she needed to complete, and she was only a third of the way done.
Rarity was the next target, and mercifully, Rainbow had seen her out there, face as purple as her tail when swallowing the rainbow rain. Rainbow had made good on her name, and dashed to the Carousel Boutique. There, she gathered and occasionally undressed every mannequin in the store, and removed them, all of them, to Sweet Apple Acres’ orchard where they would be found, likely a bit worse for the wear, by Applejack.
The last target, though, would certainly be the most difficult. Her mother.
Oh, it wasn’t that she didn’t have a plan for how to get back at her mother. She did. It was just going to be much harder to prank her than anypony else, because her mother always knew when she was up to something unless she was out of the house. Nonetheless, she persisted.
First stop, to a mudpit on the grounds of Sweet Apple Acres to get herself a bit dirty. Just enough to seem as though she crashed. Next, to carefully arrange her feathers to seem as though she had hurt her wing just enough to need a bit of extra attention. And finally, she went to her parents home. She practiced her best pitiful face in the window before knocking on the door.
Her mother answered and saw her appearance, immediately becoming concerned. “Dashie, Honey, what happened?!”
“Hey mom. I was practicing a new trick and it kind of went downhill. Is it okay if I stay here for the night, to rest my wing? I didn’t want to go home and let Tank see me so… Defeated.” She explained, sounding small.
Windy Whistles, of course, didn’t hesitate to take her daughter inside. “Of course, honey! Don’t give it another thought!” She said. “Why don’t you go take a shower and I’ll make you your favorite meal to help you get your strength up?”
“Okay Mom.” She nodded. She’d gone to the bathroom, and once the shower was on and the door shut, had grinned like mad.
There was a method to her madness in doing things this way. Firstly, being injured was the best way to keep her mother from leaving the house and finding out what was going on in Ponyville. Second, it gave her a legitimate reason to spend the night at her mother’s home, so her real prank could be put into action. Finally, it was- simply put- a good source of attention.
She’d showered, made sure to keep her feathers a bit rumpled, and then gone downstairs, where her mother had her favorite sandwich waiting for her. She’d eaten it gratefully, thanked her mother, and lapped up her concern like a cat lapping milk.
When night fell, she’d gone to bed early. Exhausted, she’d said, from a long day. Windy had nodded understandingly and given her a kiss goodnight. But Rainbow had had a purpose behind that too. She knew her mom liked going to bed early, and the sooner she was asleep, the better it would be.
After two hours, the house was quiet. Rainbow flew silently from her childhood bedroom and put an ear toward her mother’s door. All was silent. Had her father been there, there would have been snoring. But Bow Hothoof was away at a cloudmowing expo in Las Pegasus for the weekend. Rainbow cautiously opened the door a tad. Her mother- she could see her in the dim lighting of the moon through the window- was sound asleep. Rainbow grinned. It was perfect.
The younger pegasus mare crept across the carpet, pink things and a camera in hoof, and set her plan to action. Within ten minutes it was over, and she could finally go to bed.
“RAINBOW DASH!” The sharp cry of her mother sounded, jolting her awake.
“Huh? Wha?” She asked, looking around wildly.
Her mother stood there, angry. “You fed rainbows to the whole town of Ponyville and hid Rarity’s mannequins?!”
“Wha?” She asked, not quite functioning.
“Twilight Sparkle sent me a scroll. This has got to stop, young filly. You could have hurt somepony! Apparently you nearly did when Rarity fainted after finding her mannequins gone.”
“Rarity fainted?” She asked, trying to suppress a snicker.
“Don’t laugh, Rainbow. That’s not funny. Do I need to get the tutu out again?”
Ah, the moment of revenge. Rainbow thought, and pulled out some photos under her bed. “I don’t think you will if you don’t want dad to see these.”
Windy studied the photos to see herself, dressed in a pink Tutu with ribbons in her hair. “You’re blackmailing your own mother?” She asked.
“If that’s how it has to be, then yes.”
“And you lied to me about your wing too.” She said. “I wonder how your Father will feel about you taking advantage of me and making your friend faint.”
Black fear rose up in Rainbow’s mind. An old memory flashed in her mind of her Daddy spanking her at five.
“Woah, Uh, we don’t have to tell Dad, right?”
“I suppose not, if we declare a truce and you agree never to pull any stunts of that caliber again.”
“Okay, Mom. Truce.”
They shook wings.
Later that day, the two of them went out for lunch at Sugarcube Corner, celebrating their truce.
“You know Mom, It was kinda fun getting in a prank war with you.”
“Oh, sweetie. Where do you think you got it from? Daddy wasn’t one to do that. You learned it from the best.” She smiled.
“I guess I did.” Rainbow smirked. “One of these days I’m still gonna get you though.”
Windy Whistles let out a small chuckle at that. “Maybe someday, little filly. But you’ll learn sooner or later the most important thing about pranking.”
Rainbow cocked her head to the side. “What’s that?”
Windy gave her a mischievous grin. “Never try and mess with the prank master.”
The look in her eyes made Rainbow feel very suspicious. But she maintained her cool, and kept a winning smile and said to her mother, “I know. You’re talking to her."
The two were silent for a moment, then shared a great laugh.