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Leaf-ing The Dream

by Twinkletail

Fluttershy yawned as she woke up from a deep, peaceful sleep. As she slid one hoof out from under the covers and onto the floor, she noticed a strange crunching sound that she'd never heard before. Upon further inspection, she found a smattering of leaves adorning the space by her bed. This in itself was odd, but what made it even more peculiar was the coloring of the leaves; a pale pink, the same color as the pegasus' mane. There wasn't a single tree with pink leaves anywhere near her house, so even the idea of them blowing in through the open window didn't quite add up.

Confused, Fluttershy walked out of her house. As she looked around, she noticed a blue pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail flying by.

"Rainbow Dash!" she called out. Rainbow looked over, smiled, and flew down to meet her friend.

"What's up, Fluttershy?" Rainbow asked.

"The strangest thing just happened to me!" Fluttershy said. "I woke up and found a bunch of leaves on the ground by my bed, and they were all the same color as my mane." Rainbow looked confused for a moment, but then her eyes went wide.

"Fluttershy!" she exclaimed. "Do you know what this means?"

"I can't say I do..." Fluttershy responded, backing away a bit from her friend's sudden outburst.

"Remember the other day when we were on the train to Appleloosa?" Rainbow asked. "You said you wanted to be a tree, right?" The yellow pegasus nodded in acknowledgement. "Well, Princess Celestia must have granted your wish!"

"She did?" Fluttershy asked, astonished.

"I've heard of this happening before!" Rainbow said enthusiastically. "My mom always told me about her friend who wished the same thing. Then she woke up to find leaves around her bed like you did, and at sundown the same day, she transformed into a tree, right then and there! She stayed a tree for a week, then changed back, and now she can change into one whenever she wants!" Fluttershy's eyes lit up, shocked that her desire was going to come true.

"You should go read up on trees a bit, Fluttershy," Rainbow said, smiling. "You don't wanna be caught unaware when the change happens!" Fluttershy nodded vigorously.

"And make sure you don't tell anyone about this!" Rainbow added. "If you tell them what's going on, your wish won't come true!" Fluttershy smiled, made a zipper-closing motion over her mouth, and ran off in the direction of Ponyville. As soon as the yellow pegasus was out of sight, Rainbow burst into laughter. "Oh, this is gonna be the best April Foal's prank yet..." she said between laughs.

~~~~~~~~~~

Pinkie Pie sat outside her house, waiting for her friend to arrive. It was unlike Rainbow Dash to be late, considering how fast she was. Pinkie didn't mind, though. She was having a great time rolling around in the grass.

"Oh, hey Dashie!" Pinkie said happily as the blue pegasus landed on the grass right in front of her.

"Hey Pinkie!" Rainbow said back. "Sorry I was late, it's just..." Rainbow was unable to finish her sentence, because she had started to laugh uncontrollably. Pinkie joined in her laughter, always happy to have a good laugh.

"Sooo what are we laughing about?" Pinkie asked, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Pinkie...I just pulled the BEST April Foal's Day prank ever!" Rainbow said, almost collapsing back into laughter.

"That's great!" Pinkie said. "What did you do?"

"OK, so get this," Rainbow started. "Remember that whole conversation we had on the train to Appleloosa, where you thought I thought Fluttershy was a tree?"

"You definitely know she isn't a tree though, right?" Pinkie asked.

"Yes!" Rainbow shouted. "Well, I borrowed some paint and painted a bunch of leaves pink, and put them by Fluttershy's bed, and I convinced her that Princess Celestia's gonna turn her into a tree by sundown! Isn't that great?!" Rainbow burst into laughter again, but slowed down as she looked at Pinkie, who was looking unnaturally stern.

"Rainbow!" Pinkie said, glaring at her. "I thought we talked about this! I loooooove pranks and all, but Fluttershy's too sensitive! You'll hurt her feelings!"

"Aw, lighten up, Pink!" Rainbow responded. "It's just a bit of harmless fun! Now, what did you want me to come over for anyway?"

"Oh, I just wanted to say hi!" Pinkie said, returning to her cheerful demeanor. "We don't say hi enough, don't you think?" Rainbow looked at her quizzically.

"...You just wanted to say hi," Rainbow said flatly.

"Yep!" Pinkie said, going back to rolling around on the grass. “La la la la la...”

"Pinkie Pie, you are SO random," Rainbow said as she flew off. Once the blue pegasus was safely out of sight, Pinkie stood up, a determined look in her eyes, and ran off.

~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight Sparkle sat quietly in her library. The trip to Appleloosa a few days ago had heightened her interest in buffalo, and she had been scouring the library for books on the fascinating animals. She had already learned so much about them, and had only read a little bit from the first book she had found. At the same time, though, she figured she probably could have learned even more if it hadn't been for...

"Twilight!" Fluttershy called from the other end of the library. Twilight sighed, then put on her best happy face as she turned to her friend.

"What is it now, Fluttershy?" she asked, trying to mask the frustration in her voice.

"Can you bring me another book on trees, please?" Fluttershy asked. Twilight was starting to get annoyed; she'd had to interrupt her studies repeatedly in order to give more and more books about trees to the yellow pegasus. She was really beginning to wonder what Fluttershy needed with all this tree information. She wanted to be left alone to her studies, but she felt bad asking Fluttershy to leave.

"Here you go," the purple unicorn said, floating a book entitled "Planting Your Roots: A Tree's Story" over to her friend. It was really more of a filly's book, but it was the first one she could find without having to get up and look, and Fluttershy was satisfied regardless, so there was no harm done.

A few minutes later, Twilight had nearly finished the book she was currently on. As she was about to finish the last paragraph, Fluttershy called over to her again.

"Twilight?" the pegasus called. "What's an aerating root?" Twilight rolled her eyes.

"It's when..." Twilight started. Then she stopped, shaking her head. She had to ask. "Fluttershy, why are you so interested in trees all of a sudden?"

"Oh!" Fluttershy said. "Well..." Suddenly she remembered Rainbow Dash telling her that she couldn't tell a soul about what was going to happen to her, or else it wouldn't come true.

"...No reason at all, really," the pegasus finished weakly. "I just figured I'd learn about them...if that's OK with you, I mean..." Twilight gave her a look. She didn't quite believe that there wasn't an ulterior motive behind this sudden interest in trees, but she let it go.

"Anyway, I think I've learned enough," Fluttershy said. "Thank you, Twilight!" Fluttershy trotted happily out the door as Twilight stared after her. She was confused, but her confusion was counteracted by her joyful realization that she could continue her studies unhindered now. The purple unicorn sat down to continue her reading, and was startled by another knock on her door.

"I'm never going to be able to finish this studying, am I?" Twilight muttered as she headed towards the door.

“Twilight!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed as Twilight opened the door. “We need to talk.”

~~~~~~~~~~

It was getting close to sundown, and Rainbow Dash was nearing Fluttershy's cottage. There was no chance she was going to miss the culmination of what was sure to be her best prank yet. As she approached the cottage, she thought she saw something yellow standing right outside. She got a bit closer, and realized that it was Fluttershy. The pegasus was standing on her hind legs, her forelegs outstretched above her head. She wore a crown of the pink leaves Rainbow had left by her bed that morning, and her hind hooves were partially buried in the dirt. Rainbow held back the urge to erupt into a fit of laughter, and landed gracefully next to her friend.

"Hey Fluttershy!" she said, smiling proudly. This was even better than she could have imagined.

"Oh, hi Rainbow!" Fluttershy said, smiling in her direction. "I'm glad you came by! Did you come to watch my transformation?"

"I certainly did!" Rainbow answered. "And I'm glad to see you got yourself all prepared!"

"Oh, yes!" Fluttershy told her. "I can't wait to see what happens!"

"Me either," Rainbow said, smiling.

The two ponies watched as the sun gradually set on Fluttershy's cottage. Rainbow waited for a moment,not wanting to reveal the nature of her prank until Fluttershy started to wonder why the change hadn't occurred.

"Feeling anything yet, Fluttershy?" she asked, getting ready to laugh. Fluttershy said nothing. She stared blankly, completely unmoving.

"Fluttershy?" Rainbow asked again, but still got no answer. She noticed that the pegasus looked a bit stiffer than she had before. Rainbow waved her hoof in front of Fluttershy's eyes, but she did not respond at all.

"...You OK, Fluttershy?" Rainbow asked, a bit of worry entering her voice. She looked her friend over. Something about her seemed different. After a bit of looking, Rainbow realized that her coat looked a bit darker than usual. Her usual pale yellow was starting to turn brown, like...a tree trunk. Rainbow gasped.

"Oh Celestia, is it really happening?!" Rainbow cried. Fluttershy still said nothing, and Rainbow stared in shock as her mane began to change tint as well, becoming greener.

"Oh, Fluttershy!" Rainbow yelled. "I thought I was pranking you, but this is really happening, isn't it?" The blue pegasus began to panic, pacing back and forth. She didn't know what to do; she had no idea that something like this could actually happen. She was trying to figure out what she would say to their friends, when she was interrupted by a snicker. She turned back to Fluttershy, to see her trying her hardest not to laugh.

"...Oh, I'm sorry girls, I can't hold it in anymore!" Fluttershy cried, and then fell to the ground laughing. As Rainbow looked on, more confused than she'd ever been, Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle emerged from a nearby bush, laughing almost as hard as Fluttershy was.

"APRIL FOAL'S!!!" Pinkie shouted at the bewildered blue pegasus. "We got you GOOD, didn't we?" Rainbow couldn't bring herself to say anything.

"Pinkie told me about you planning on pranking Fluttershy," Twilight said, her laughter finally starting to fade, "So we figured we'd pull a counter-prank on you!" Fluttershy, having changed back to her normal colors after Twilight's spell had faded, stood up and patted Rainbow on the shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Rainbow," she said, still chuckling a bit. "It was too good to pass up." Rainbow glared at the three ponies for a moment, looking a bit annoyed. Her grimace soon broke into a grin, and in a moment she was laughing just as hard as her friends had been.

"Oh wow, you girls got me good!" Rainbow laughed. "That was AWESOME!!" The four friends shared a good laugh together, then headed inside for a delicious dinner.

~~~~~~~~~~

It had been about ten minutes since her friends had left, and Fluttershy was in a wonderful mood. She had been a little hurt when she found out about Rainbow's prank, but she got over it quick, realizing the humor behind it, and she was glad that Rainbow was as good at taking a prank as she was at dishing them out. She sat down by her bed and reached over to her drawer, where she kept her diary. She began writing today's entry, smiling all the time.

"Dear Diary," she started. "Today, I nearly lived the dream."

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