The sun shone through my closed eyes. I rolled on my belly and turned my head the other way. When I jerked a hind leg, I felt pain where the branch had hit me at nighttime before I had come home. I arched back a bit and slid my foreleg across my abdomen down to my loins. Biting my lower lip, I gently touched the sore spot with a hoof. The skin was wrinkled and sensitive on the spot. It was more than just a bump. “Ugh… I can feel it,” I whispered while I softly caressed the area with my hoof to ease the pain. My touches felt nice, but it was hard to stroke myself with a foreleg because I had my weight on it. Holding the limb still between my thighs while moving my body up and down on it proved easier. “Mmm.” The pain all but dissipated. I moved my hips back and forth, caressing the injury against my stilled forehoof. “Oh, yeah, this feels so good.”

“She read A Different Use of a Horn,” Twilight commented.

“Whaa!” I jumped on all fours and looked between my spread hind legs in the direction the voice came from.

My room was full of ponies. They all pried at my mooning tush.

Rolling over, I grabbed the bedsheet with my mouth and pulled it over my body to hide at least some of me. My cheeks went from warm to hot. “What are you all doing in my room?” I squeaked.

Mom turned to Twilight, ignoring my question. “Why would you lend her a mature book like that?”

With a corner of my eye, I saw a white pony slip out of the room. Rarity?

“I didn't lend the book to her, she brought it to me,” Twilight shrugged her shoulders.

“Who would give her a book like that? Nopony should be exposing Sweetie to such material. She gets confused very easily. Who was the last one to borrow it?”

“It wasn't even from my library. Still, I couldn't say no to a book when she hit me with it. Even those sorts of books have their place in my top-shelf collection.” She blushed as she bowed her head and shuffled a forehoof on the floor. “For diversity's sake!”

“She hit you with it?” Dad asked “It was probably another one of her pranks,” he concluded.

“Her broken horn wasn't a prank!” Redheart slammed a hoof against the floor. “I know what I saw!”

“You are a medical pony, are you not?” Twilight faced her. “You should know that horns don't grow back if they break.”

“I know that…” Redheart tightened her body. “I'm not saying that it did.”

“What are you implying then?” Dad asked.

“Her horn was broken. That's all I'm saying.”

“It doesn't look broken to me.” Mom leaned over my bed and caressed my horn with a hoof.

“Ugh!” Redheart pushed her way out of my room.

Everypony looked back at me.

I turned to Mom and whispered to her. “What’s going on?”

Mom took a step back and raised her voice. “You gave everypony a really big scare yesterday. Did you want to get a prankster cutie mark? Have the Crusaders put you up to this?”

Applejack pushed through the mass of ponies to the edge of my bed. “Apple Bloom played no part in this!” She turned to me. “And you should get a Discord cutie mark for what you pulled off yesterday. I scouted the woods all night long. I only learned afterward that you’d been found long before.”

My vision blurred from the moistness in my eyes. “I didn’t mean to cause any trouble.” Tears formed in the corners of my eyes.

Mom pushed aside the nosey ponies and stepped before my bed. “Everypony, I’m grateful that you all joined the search party yesterday, but now that you know there’s nothing physically wrong with Sweetie Belle, I would ask you to give us some time with her.”

“Try talking some sense into that foal of yours, will ya’?” Applejack turned to the exit. “I’ve got chores to do around the farm and don’t have time to search for pranking fillies.” She left the room, thumping heavily with all four hooves.

The herd followed along toward the exit. I could hear ponies talking among themselves.

“How can you even pull off a prank like that?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“And make it so convincing at that,” Fluttershy added. “Redheart still can't accept she was pranked.”

“Hey, Rainbow Dash! Sweetie Belle might even be better at pranking then you are.” Pinkie Pie laughed.

“Na-a!” Rainbow Dash’s wings erected up from within the crowd. “One awesome prank doesn’t make her a master yet.” She folded both wings so they fitted through the door.

Mom lowered both eyebrows and pressed them together as she looked at me straight in the eyes. “Promise me you won't pull a prank like that ever again!” Dad stepped to her side and cocked his head while he observed me.

Even if I wanted to I wouldn't know how to pull off something like that as a prank. “I promise!”

“Good!” Mom nodded at me. “Now eat your salad. You must be starving.” She passed me a bowl.

Food! My mouth opened wide as I glared at the contents of the bowl before me

“I’m surprised you hadn’t already finished it yesterday. I knew you weren’t asleep yet when I brought it to you,” mom said.

“Is there something that you might want to share with us, Sweetie Belle?” Dad asked, slightly nodding his head at me. “You don’t have to be shy about it. Mom already told me about the light show in the evening.”

I forcefully took my eyes off the cabbage. It was already rotting on the edges, but the hungry part of me didn’t care. I raised my eyebrows and looked at mom. I had no idea what they talked about. If only they would stop, I could ravage the salad in peace. I was hungry!

“When I brought you the bowl I saw a rapid flickering under your door. It ceased as soon as I entered. You lay on the bed with closed eyes, but the grin on your face betrayed you. I wasn’t in the mood for any of your games. That’s why I just left the bowl with you and let you be. I thought you’d plunge straight into the salad, given how your belly grumbled, but you kept your sleeping-pony act up all through the night.”

Dad stepped closer. “Sweetie, you know you don’t have to hide your horn usage from us, right? We’re glad to see you advance your talents, as long as you don’t abuse them.”

What they implied made no sense. The day had ended the moment I hit the bed. When I had closed my eyes, the world always ceased until the morning. I could never remember the moment when I fell asleep, but I doubted that I would forget about my mom entering the room if I had still been awake. As for the use of magic, I should certainly remember that. Besides, I wouldn’t do that even if I wanted to. Zecora had told me not to use my horn for some time. She’d be disappointed with me if she heard that I disobeyed her. What they implied was too unbelievable to be true.

They probably just taunted me to bring me down. Twilight Sparkle, the snitch, must have told them that I sucked at magic. They likely just wanted to use my weakness to punish me for coming home late. I hoped they would stop teasing me if I called them out on it. “My magic went from decent to zero.”

“You’re being too hard on yourself, Sweetie Belle. Even I still have good days and bad days when it comes to casting spells. Mastery of your horn doesn’t come overnight.” She leaned in and kissed the boney surface, then immediately jerked back.

“I know.” My shoulders slumped if only I could use magic the way I had used to be able to, it would mean the world to me. At the time, I wasn't sure if I could even light up a basic aura, let alone be proficient in the arcane.

Mom wiped her mouth with a napkin and gazed at my horn. “You need a bath!”

Why does everypony try to bathe me all the time?

“But you should eat your vegetables first.” She pointed to the salad bowl on my bed.

Food! I clenched at it with all four hooves, making it my own. The muzzle plunged inside as if by itself, teeth gnawing at defenseless cabbage leaves. Rolling to my side, I turned my back to dad and mom. I held the bowl tightly and chewed on the insides. So hungry!