With a sparkle in her eye, Layered Plots had made the trip to the communal oasis where she knew Party in the Back liked to sunbathe. She did not intend to sneak up on the other doe, but Party in the Back was so relaxed splayed out on the warm grass that the latter did not sense her approach at all until she was looming over her and casting a shadow to block the midmorning desert sun.

With a nudge from her nose on the unwary doe's side, Layered Plots loudly exclaims, "Time to get up sleepyhead! I've discovered something fantastic and have come up with a delicious plan! And it will take both of us to pull it off!"

Party in the Back was dreaming of dancing wildly at night with all sorts of kin, which in the waking world was reflecting in some odd twitching of hooves and limbs. She was splayed none too elegantly, absolutely carefree and happy to expose her underbelly to the warm sun. So when she felt something nudge at her side, it simply translated to her dreaming mind of another kin sidling up to her for a dance.

The loud voice however, jolted her awake. Opening her eyes, she looked up to find her Best Friend Forever, the coolest, smartest, bestest doe in the whole world! "Ooooh! That sounds super funsies! Am I gonna need to bring Mister Pokesie?" she hoped she would be allowed to bring the Very Big Stick to whatever it was Layered Plots had in mind.

Layered Plots rolled her eyes at the mention of Mister Pokesie. She understood that Party in the Back had a unique perception of the world which results in an even more unique way of thinking. But Layered was always loathe to bring the Very Big Stick into her schemes. Yet Party in the Back was her closest friend and her most adept collaborator, so she always puts in the effort to find some use for "Mister Pokesie".

"Yes, yes. You can bring Mister Pokesie, I'm certain his contribution will be essential. Anyway!

I have found a small cave north of the central oasis where an ascended mare lives. In the cave is a huge orange tree that she supposedly talks to. Isn't that a curiosity? She also is known for giving visitors a taste of the fruit that grows on the tree. We can get some berries and color all of the oranges blue!

Where you come in is as the unwitting visitor. Have the mare give you one of the fruit and pretend to perish from poison! You will have to really sell it, give your best performance to date. Then I can hide behind the tree and speak as the tree's voice and scare the mare! Imagine her reaction, it would be so funny!"

Layered Plots could not help but snicker in mischievous glee.

Party, still on her back, listened in rapt attention. She made no attempt to hide how impressed and wowed she was with the other acha's plan. "Golly, how do you come up with all of this?" she giggled in glee, though less mischievous and more innocent. She saw nothing wrong with the plan, "I'm in! I've been practicing my game face! I don't laugh at stuff so easy anymore!"

A barefaced lie, Party in the Back absolutely still had a difficult time keeping a straight face, especially in the midst of a joke. (Oh the number of times she failed to tell one because she just kept bursting into laughter mid-telling.) But she was determined to do her very best for her very best friend.

She rolled sideways back onto her feet, her leafy tail rustling in excitement. The vibrant acha half skipped, half danced over to a nearby pile of sticks and from the very center, dragged out an exceptionally gnarled branch. With the chunk of wood in her mouth, she said "Mister Pokesie knows the very best berry bush with the bluest blue berries!"

Layered Plots nodded while maintaining a skeptical expression as Party in the Back talked about practicing her game face. Both of them knew that the latter would just break down laughing before the prank was completed and the former would have to come up with a contingency to save the situation. But that's how it's always been between the both of them; Layered plots made the plans, Party in the Back would somehow do something completely unexpected, and then both of them would have to work together to actually get the job done. Any other kin might resent the predictability of chaos, but Layered Plots reveled in it. The unpredictability of her friend is what made their little acts of mischief fun!

"VERY GOOD! You're even ahead of me on step one of the plan today Party. Have Mister Pokesie lead the way to that blueberry bush!
After acquiring and crushing some blueberries to make a bowl full of blue paste, Layered Plots leads Party in the Back through the desert and to the small cave north of the central oasis where the ascended mare can be found. The cave was a natural rock formation of three orange stone boulders sticking out of the sand and leaning onto each other creating an enclosure with a large entryway in front of it. The inside of the cave was well lit because of a small hole on the very top of the cave where the tips of the 3 boulders didn't perfectly overlap and seal. The hole was just big enough for a kin to go through, but one would have to brave the difficult climb up the face of the boulders in order to get to the top of it.

As the two does crept close to the entryway, Layered Plots turned to Party in the Back.

"Now we have to sneak in when the mare isn't in her den so we can paint the fruits without her knowing. Go sneak into the entrance and have a peek if she's in right now.

Party in the Back happily gathered the berries and smashed them with gusto. Admittedly she needed the other acha to reign in her enthusiasm but eventually they had what they needed. Now all she had to do was paint some fruits and then act her tail off! When they arrived, Party started to feel like the cave was familiar. She wasn't entirely sure if she'd been here before, but that sensation was growing stronger as they made the climb.

Her musings was interrupted with Layered Plots' orders. Any concerns she had about the cave or the mare within slipped out of her mind as she now had to focus on being sneaky! "AYE AYE!" she chirped, then coughed before lowering her volume "i mean, aye aye."

---

To Party in the Back, she narrowed her focus on ensuring each step was silent as a mouse, her treads feather light, her leafy features quiet of any rustling. Pressed flat against the cave walls she inched her way in, doing her utmost best to avoid detection by sight or sound! She would contort her body to suddenly duck, then dash forward to cover, before repeating the whole process.

Oh if Layered Plots could see me now, she'd probably think I look so cool doing this! Party proudly thought to herself.

Reality rarely aligned with how the brightly-colored acha actually perceived the world. Her movements were, to put it nicely, clumsy and awkward but very earnest. Somehow despite her less-than-graceful attempt at stealth, she managed to get all the way in without drawing the attention of whoever lived inside.

Which turned out to be because there was no one inside.

"All clear!" she called out.

Watching Party in the Back's jittery and exaggerated motions in her efforts to be "stealthy" as she slid into the entrance of the cave made Layered Plots wince in doubt at her decision to delegate the task to the other doe. But she knew that even in times of trouble, Party in the Back was capable of getting herself out of a sticky situation--though that usually came with lots of commotion, occasional breaking of things, and the rare unexplainable explosion. When she heard Party in the Back shout that they were clear to enter, she was relieved that chaos didn't have to ensue so soon into their little scheme.

Upon making her way into the cave, she marveled at the beauty of the interior. The hole in the ceiling was just large enough to let in enough light from the desert sun to illuminate even the furthest corners of the cave, the light bouncing off of the orange hues of the dry rock. In the center of the space stood a majestic tree with a gnarled trunk and branches. Its leaves were a mix of dry browns and very deep greens while its fruits were a bright orange--a curiosity that such fruit could grow here in the middle of the hot dunes. There are elevated rock ledges around the tree where they could climb and balance on to get to the fruit without having to climb the tree itself--perfect for all the re-coloring they were about to do!

"Good! Let's start slathering the berry goo on the fruits while the mare is out. We don't know how long we have, so let's work quickly. Did you bring Mister Pokesie? We might need him to hold us up for balance.

How exactly Party in the Back managed to suddenly brandish a large stick was a mystery. Perhaps she'd had it on her this whole time. Perhaps she found Mister Pokesies' identical twin-brancher. Perhaps it was just another large stick lying about. However she achieved it, the acha proudly placed the large stick against the tree to serve as another source of balance.

She normally would have used her tail to brush the paste on but given the stubby length of the leaves, she used her hair and horns. There was absolutely no concern or worry how messy she ended up.

"You know, I think blue looks really good on us too!" she giggled.

Though Layered Plots intended to paint the fruit with the berry goo quickly, Party in the Back's carefree manner of doing so got the colors all over herself and on Layered Plots, causing the latter to retaliate with a swipe of vibrant blue paint to the former's face. This little exchange devolved into a full blown vibrant blue brouhaha of running around and hurling colors at each other. They were able to eventually paint all of the fruits blue, but not before nearly fully covering themselves with the goop as well.

After some cleaning up and application of final touches, Layered Plots stands back at their work and proudly looks at all the blue oranges.
"Some of our best work Party in the Back. I can already see the mare's face when she looks at her precious orange tree again! Now we just have to wait until she gets back."

But what would be the best way to do it? Already the mare was gone for most of the day that the two does spent changing the colors of the fruit. Would the mare be gone for longer? Should they come back tomorrow? But that would rob her of the joy of seeing the mare's reaction!

Layered Plots weighs her options carefully and after some long thought, tells Party in the Back, "Alright, I know how we're going to proceed. I'll stay inside the cave and hide behind the tree. You hide yourself behind those nearby rocks and wait for the mare to come into the cave. Give her a little time to process what happened to the fruits, then come into the cave pretending to be hungry and thirsty and ask for he fruit. If she gives it to you, pretend to get sick and fall unconscious, then I'll speak as the tree and scare the mare!"

Party happily nodded in agreement. She'd gotten all she could enjoy from this prank. The sneaking around, the painting, the mess, perfect score, no notes! Now all that was left was to wait for the mare. As she dutifully trotted out to her hiding spot, she realized just how far down the path she could see from here. The acha blinked. There was a small, niggling thought in the back of her mind about their plan, the mare, this whole area.

Unfortunately, Party was not particularly keen of mind and putting things together in the immediate moment was not in her skillset.

But it might not be all too important, because if it was she'd be able to piece things together fast! So she'll continue to rely on her best friend's intellect. After all, Layered Plots hasn't led her astray yet.

-----

It was several hours of waiting with no other kin appearing before Party dared to sneak out of her hiding place and back into the cave. "Um, things are still all clear..." She began then asked "Didja see any sort of back entrance in there?"

With Party in the Back instructed and ready, all that was left in Layered Plots' plan was to wait. It shouldn't take too long as the sun was about to set and the nights in the desert tend to be too cold to bare without proper shelter. The mare will probably be back before dark, maybe have something to eat and then take some time to unwind. Certainly that would be no more than an hour or two of waiting.

2 hours pass and anticipation has turned into apprehension. The longer she stayed in the cave, the more she was able to inspect the surroundings, the more she began to see details that she missed. The cave floor was too clean beyond the traces that the two of them left. There were no implements or leftovers or stockpiles of things you'd typically see in a lived-in environment. Some of the fruits on the tree were already so ripe that they were on the verge of rotting. She now realized that she didn't even know what this mare looked like. She cooked up this entire plan solely on the rumor that one actually lived here...

Another 2 hours pass and her mood is now grim. She blames herself for not finding out more information before going through with the plan. She got too excited, and she even dragged her dear friend along with her for potentially no pay off. She should call it off, but she didn't want to disappoint Party in the Back.

As the sun was just starting to set and the cold started to be felt, Party in the Back came in to update Layered Plots on the situation outside.

Layered Plots knew there was no back entrance. She felt it in her bones that their target wouldn't be coming at all, if she ever even existed. But she would suffer the consequences of her own hubris before she would let her friend waste any more time on the matter.

"It would seem as though our quarry might be later than we expected in coming back. We will need more information to execute our plan. But for now, you should go home Party. It's about to get really dark and cold out there and I don't want you getting lost in the night again. Head back to the Oasis. I'll stay hidden here and extract the information needed, then I'll get back to you with a revised plan."

Layered Plots tried her best to keep a confident façade in front of her friend, but the feeling of defeat was taking it's toll on her composure already. Regardless, she would put up the ruse as best as she could so that Party in the Back would at least get a good night's rest back in the oasis. She'll find a way to break it to her tomorrow that her friend may not be that smart after all.

Party was not the most observant of kin and when she was, it would be over the oddest (if not most trivial) of things. She wasn't particularly smart either, and her view of the world was eccentric and a little too naive. But when it came to the feelings of other kin, she had a sixth sense for things bubbling beneath the surface.

Or maybe it was just keenly attuned to Layered Plots. The mare wasn't coming back to the den. Oh if only Party was going to have a clutch, she could use the rumor of Legendaries having a sixth sense for blessing parents-to-be to summon one so they could fall for the fruit prank. While Party was happy getting messy and spending time with Layered Plots, she wanted to see her friend's plan come to fruition.

Which gave the mullet-haired doe an idea. Rather than arguing and insisting that she stayed with Layered Plots, Party was going to go back down and find a mare to trick! Even if she had to make one up herself!

"Okiedokie! I'll leave Mister Pokesies with you, he'll keep you company and I'm sure he'll keep an eye out for any mares or stags!" She smiled proudly, mischievously, knowingly even! Then quickly remembered to pretend she was going back to the oasis.

----

What little Party in the Back knew of Legendaries, beyond being able to give blessings and being super cool and mysterious, was that they had some unique features to them. She managed to scrounge around for odd bits and ends, strangely gnarled branches, discarded feathers and scales, anything that gave off a 'mysterious' vibe to them. Knowing the plants, she used sticky sap as a means to adding her new-found accessories onto herself. She stuck the gathered oddities onto her body to change her silhouette and with the skies deepening into evening, it would help mute her bright colors.

She didn't want to spend too long before making her ascent a second time, and on the way up she practiced changing her voice. When she knew she was close enough to be heard from inside the den, Party in the Back said aloud "Ah, aaaah, I am quite hungry and thirsty. I cannot wait to have some of the fruit I have been growing and raising in my den!"

Layered Plots was almost drifting into sleep when she heard the commotion coming up the path to the cave opening. It couldn't be--could it?! She never counted herself as one whose plans panned out from sheer luck, but it sounded like someone who owned the den was coming in. The voice felt a little familiar though, but she shrugged it off as mystical guff that the ascended possessed.

She waited patiently behind the tree until she heard someone on the other side gasp from the realization that the fruit on the tree had changed color. In her best spooky attempt to mimic the sound and quality of the voice on the other side, she whispered through the tree's trunk, "Witness the product of your complacency! This is retribution for all those kin who sought out blessings and went unheard! Now your fruit is poison to all!" She held back the urge to snicker, quietly waiting for a shocked response. She only wished that Party in the Back was here as well to see the mare's expression.

Party had to keep herself from giggling as Layered Plots began the prank. Dramatically, the disguised doe gave an exaggerated gasp, "Oh no, oh MotherFather, say it isn't so! Not after I spent days, weeks, months tending and gardening and pruning and eating! Oh I cannot bear my shame and failure!"

She swooned and leaned her shoulders against the tree, "I have brought shaaaaaaaaame to my name and my dream!" The syllable prolonged in time as she slid down to the ground, unfortunately getting too caught up in the dramatics to notice that the sap was only strong enough to keep her disguise on provided she made no further contact with other surfaces.

As Party in the Back continued her monolog, she shed off more and more of the odds and ends. By the time she reached up to bite into the "poisoned" fruit as atonement, the only thing that remained of her disguise was the lighter pieces.

Layered Plots had to hold back her laughter as the mare expressed the exact reaction that she had plotted, and in such a dramatic monologue as well!

She could no longer stop herself--she had to see the expression on the mare's face! So she shifted her position ever so slightly; just enough to get a peek at the other side of the tree, hopefully without being seen.

And there she was, Party in the Back playing one of her greatest performances, completely oblivious that her improvised costume was falling apart with every exaggerated movement she made. Layered Plots' heart fluttered. Her friend knew what she was feeling, and instead of letting Layered Plots fail, Party decided to push the prank to its natural conclusion herself.

Unaware that her ruse has been discovered, Party in the Back continued her monologue as Layered Plots decided to step out from behind the tree and tap her on the shoulder with Mr. Pokesie as she finally spoke. "I know it's you Party. You can stop now." She couldn't help but smile at her friend's efforts.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you that I figured out the mare wouldn't be coming. I didn't want to disappoint you since I've put your hopes up and we already put in so much effort. But now that you've put on your excellent show, I guess our prank is successful. You made all of this worthwhile."