Prickle glanced left and right as she went before reaching up for the handle and slowly pulling the door open. "Mom?"
She didn't get to do much more than that before a shape emerged from the shadows of the house and tackled her to the ground in a mess of tears and a joyful squeal. When she cried out in pain, her mother recoiled like she had just touched something hot. "What happened?" Her eyes traveled to Prickle's bandages before she picked Prickle up, carefully, and took her inside while standing on her hind legs awkwardly.
"It's alright, mom," assured Prickle as she was carried. "I won..."
"I know you did." Junebug placed a little kiss on Prickle's forehead. "Everpony was talking about it. They're all gasping and gushing about Tiny Titan." She carefully crouched and let Prickle half-slide from her forelegs onto her bed before she began tucking her in and pulling up the comforter over her. It was, as its name demanded, comforting.
Prickle felt guilt simmering. "I'm sorry I kept you waiting."
Junebug sat beside the bed. "Forget that, for now. Tell me what happened, exactly. I want...I'm your mother, but I'm also your #1 fan." She gave a gentle smile, haunted as it was a little. "Tell me everything."
So Prickle did, explaining how the bugbear arrived. "There was this huge crash, and it had Carrot Top!" She went on through how she and Rainbow Dash fought against it. "She was keeping it busy while I snuck up on it, then bang!" And it all came to a head with rainbows. "I never thought it was so bright and colorful, but it's different from seeing it on the ground. I threw a punch just as it started and I felt the bugbear, but just for a moment. I felt it then it was gone. It made a huge ditch in the ground, and we won."
Junebug leaned in and kissed each cheek. "You are a very brave filly." She smiled a little. "Then what?"
Prickle blinked. "Huh? I won."
Junebug rolled a hoof. "The bugbear didn't give you those bandages. Then what?"
Prickle tried to sit up, but her mother gently pressed down on her. It wasn't as if Prickle couldn't just get up anyway, but she didn't defy her mother and settled back on her bed. "Rainbow, um, Miss Dash took me to the hospital. They were very nice there. Once I thought of you, I came running to let you know I was alright."
Junebug raised a brow. "I don't imagine that was their idea."
Prickle warmed in her cheeks. "N-no mom..."
"I'll go tell them what happened."
Prickle paled. "B-but, the secret!"
Junebug rested a hoof on Prickle's lips. "I will be discreet. I'll just talk to your nurse. Which was it?"
"R-redheart," mumbled out Prickle. "She really was nice..."
Junebug smiled. "Then I'll be sure to thank her. I'm not angry at anypony that helped take care of my precious Prickle." She rose to her hooves. "Now you just relax here. Do you want a drink before I go?"
"Yes please..."
All too soon, Junebug had left for the hospital, and Prickle sat up with her glass of water, considering her life. Was her mother really alright, or was she... Prickle didn't know. "I don't deserve you," she sighed to herself with a smile. She had the best mom ever, she decided. She would have to get the biggest besterest mother's day card...
A knocking came from a window and Prickle's eyes darted to see Scootaloo peeking in through it with a huge grin.
Prickle felt the urge to smile in return. "Come in!"
Permission given, Scootaloo dropped from the window and soon the door opened to admit all three of the crusaders.
Sweetie was the first to Prickle's bedside, but only because Apple Bloom was holding Scootaloo back. "That was quite the engagement if I heard correctly. Are you alright?"
Scootaloo burst free of Apple Bloom's embrace. "Is she alright?! She got to kick flank with Rainbow Dash! I'm so jealous right now I could explode!" She jumped right on Prickle, hugging her.
It would have been a nice thing, if not for Prickle's injuries singing out in a symphony of pain. Her own throat raised to join the chorus before Apple Bloom pulled Scootaloo free. "Sorry 'bout that. Ya hurt bad?"
Prickle shook her head. "It just hurts. The nurse said it should be fine in a week." She put a hoof behind her head. "Sorry to bother, but could you bring home my work from school for me while I'm stuck in bed?"
Sweetie gave a firm nod. "I'll be sure to do that. I'm glad you're alright though. Was it scary?"
"Yes," admitted Prickle. "I was sure it was gonna get me a few times..." She reached out a hoof. "But I did what I had to, and I think it's all of your fault... Thank you."
Her outstretched hoof was met by three others in a communal hoofbump.
Apple Bloom, smiling radiantly, nodded. "Well, yer officially a hero now. Are ya gonna keep it a secret still?"
Prickle's eyes went wide. "I have to!"
Apple Bloom rolled a hoof. "Not that we're arguin' any, but ah'm curious, why?"
Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "Because superheros do that, and she's super, and a hero."
Sweetie Belle tapped her hooves together. "We all know. Rarity knows, Rainbow knows." She tilted her head at Prickle. "Do the nurses and doctors know?"
Prickle's ears fell. "Yes..." They snapped back up. "But Diamond Tiara doesn't know, and neither does Silver Spoon." Her eyes shone with hope. "They can't know!"
Apple Bloom squinted one eye shut. "Lemme get this straight. Yer hidin' from jus' those two?" Prickle bobbed her head. "Why?"
Sweetie Belle threw her hooves wide. "They're not that bad. They've become much nicer since the whole election thing when we got our marks."
Prickle's lips peeled back in a display of fear. "They still think I'm a creepy freak with weird strength."
Scootaloo prodded Prickle carefully. "Yeah, sure, but you're our creepy freak with awesome strength! You're a hero, Prickle."
Apple Bloom nodded. "Now, we ain't here ta force ya, right girls?" She gave Scootaloo a pointed look. "So ya can make yer own decisions. We're behind ya, 110%!"
"Is that possible?" Sweetie Belle looked uncertain. "For now, you should rest and get better. I'll bring you your work every day." Her horn began to glow and a notebook was produced from in her fur. "I have yesterday's notes!"
Scootaloo blinked. "We didn't even have class yesterday..."
Sweetie stuck out her tongue. "That doesn't mean all of us did nothing."
Apple Bloom pricked an ear. "If we don't get movin', girls, we're not gonna get any notes fer today either. C'mon. We'll see ya later, Prickle."
They fled with a chorus of bye, leaving Prickle alone, with Sweetie's notebook.
She reached for it and flipped it open. Inside were dense notes from the start of the year going forward through it. But there was more than that. It was also her diary! There were musings and thoughts about her life in general. It was as if Sweetie Belle just wrote things out in one unending stream of thought, whether it was about a school project or what she thought of that colt in the third row.
Prickle's cheeks went a bright red and she tossed it away onto her belly as if it were on fire. She shouldn't read that!
But then time passed, and she had nothing to do... She timidly reached for the notebook/journal. If she focused on the schoolwork part of things, that shouldn't cause any problems, right?
She flipped through quickly, trying to not read any more than she had to to get an idea of where she was in the year's lessons.
Then she found it.
They picked on her again today. I don't know what Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon have against Prickle Berry. She's a very nice filly, so far as I can tell. I don't even know what they think is so strange about her, and they won't say. They just have some secret they hold over her and they laugh and poke fun and even threaten her. I can't stand it! I wish I could do something about it...
Prickle didn't know tears had escaped her until one splattered on the page. She squeaked and quickly brushed it away before she flopped back on her pillow, taking a break from trying to find those notes.
The front door opened while prickle lay there. It was her mother. Junebug smiled at her daughter. "What's that?" She was looking at the notebook. "Are you studying, my clever little porcupine?"
That seemed a fine excuse. Besides, that had been her goal. "Sweetie Belle dropped off her notes before school."
"That was very kind of her." Junebug set her saddlebaskets aside. "Redheart was relieved to hear you were alright. She mentioned something about leaping out of a second story window..." Prickle wilted with shame. "She's just glad to know that didn't hurt you, but she was quite insistent you rest up until it stops hurting completely." She moved over to kiss Prickle's forehead. "I love you."
Prickle smiled at that, relief flooding her. "I love you too, mom. They, the crusaders that is, promised to drop off my work after school each day so I don't fall behind. Being a superhero doesn't get me out of school."
"I'm glad you see it that way." She ran a hoof slowly through Prickle's mane. "Some ponies, once they start on their career, abandon school entirely. I don't want you to. This... This is obviously what you want, and need on some level, but I hope there's more ahead of you than risking yourself for other ponies."
Prickle sat up a little. "What... else would I do?"
Junebug tilted her head at her daughter. "Whatever you wanted. You have a sharp little brain in that head of yours. You could do all sorts of things. I don't want you to feel you have to do this... I mean, even if you did want to use your strength, there are plenty of jobs where you could do that without being a fighter."
"Like?"
Junebug paused a moment before it came to her. "You could work in construction. A mare as strong as you? You'd be highly valued and save a lot of time and effort compared to how they'd do it without you. You're fast enough that you could be a courier. A mailmare is a perfectly acceptable position." She leaned down and pressed her forehead to Prickle's. "You can be so many things. I'm not telling you to stop. I just want you to keep your eyes open."
She trotted away and Prickle watched her quietly. It was clear to her that her mother would rather she put down her shiny suit and find another job, any other job... "Why aren't you telling me to stop?"
Junebug froze like a statue a moment before she turned back to Prickle. "Stop what, dear?"
Prickle smiled a little. "You know what. You don't want me to be Tiny Titan."
"I..." She raised a hoof to her chin. "I... want you to be happy, Prickle. I want to be a good mother. If being... this... is what you are, then I won't... stop you. That doesn't mean I have to... like it specifically, but I love you and I will be a good mother."