Prickle Berry Tries to Be Careful

by David Silver


36 Start Episode 9 - Doing the Job

Prickle slammed down from the sky, her hooves striking the earth in an explosive shot of turf that went into the eyes and shook the angry manticore. The beast roared in fury and swiped at Prickle, but there was a pony in the way.

Immovable grinned at the beast, unharmed by its vicious assault. "Is that the best you have?"

Prickle darted ahead even as it bellowed in Immovable's face. She came up just under its chin, hoof-first. Its maw was forced shut instantly, fortunately missing its tongue. The beast's head snapped backwards, and the entire thing began to fall over backwards from the impact.

The manticore ended up on its back, unconcious. The battle had been won.

A chorus of cheers erupted as ponies began to emerge from their hiding places. They were faster to swarm their known hero, but many were curious about the other, the pegasus that had helped.

Silver Spoon thrust a hoof at Immovable. "Tiny Titan, like, who is this?"

Prickle waved a hoof dramatically at Immovable. "Say hello to my sidekick, Immovable! Nopony anywhere could hope to move her when she doesn't want to be, and she can't be hurt, I think."

Immovable swelled with pride. "I will be Tiny Titan's shield to her sword."

The crowd clopped the ground in approval of the duo.

Mayor Mare cleared her throat softly as she approached the front of the crowd. "Are you certain you don't have that backwards? Immovable looks to be at least twice your age."

Immovable turned her gaze on the mayor. "Experience does not always match age. I have much to learn from Tiny Titan, and I don't care how young she is."

Prickle was busy grinning widely. "Immovable's brand new to the hero business, but she's already shown such promise. We'll be working together to keep Ponyville safe!"

Age mismatch or not, the cheer returned. Ponies began to wander off. They had business to do, classes to attend, and businesses to run, which they could thanks to timely intervention.

Mayor Mare pointed at the knocked out manticore. "What do you plan to do with this?"

Prickle tilted her head at it. "Oh! I know just the pony." She hefted it up over her head with ease, though its bulk dropped down on either side. "Onwards!" With a sudden bound, she was gone.

Immovable snapped a salute at the mayor before she took off more conventionally with her wings.

Fluttershy accepted the poor bludgeoned manticore. "I'm sure there must be something wrong for her to wander into Ponyville like that."

Immovable tilted her head. "Her? It's a she-manticore?"

"Why, yes?" Fluttershy sounded confused. "How else are baby manticores made? Females don't usually act this way though. I'll take care of this. Thank you for bringing her to me."

Prickle dipped her head. "I knew you were the right pony for this job. Have a good day, Miss Fluttershy!"

Fluttershy smiled gently. "Fluttershy will do. Bye!" She waved as the two heroes took off into the sky.


Prickle dove to the side as the great jaws of the beast closed on where she had been moments ago. "Why is it even here?!" she called out.

Immovable had no idea why the hydra had wandered close to the town and could only give a bit of a shrug before she slapped one of the heads trying to chew on her fruitlessly. "You can't move me."

Prickle bore down and lashed out her hindlegs, catching a head as it came rushing at her. It was sent flying back against its own body and went limp. The other heads roared in collective fury at the blow. "You can't resist me," said Prickle with a silly smile. The irresistible force and the immovable object. It was growing on her.

She was too busy enjoying herself that she missed a head sneaking up on her. Suddenly she was in a very dark and wet place. Prickle squealed in surprise and no small amount of terror. She lashed out without thinking and fell free of the injured maw, The beast made muted whimpers, its jaw refusing to cooperate after the brutal lashing it had received.

Prickle didn't get to hit the ground. Immovable caught her on her back as she flew past. "Let's finish this," she said with determination, pointing at the hydra as she made a wide circle around it.

Prickle shook some of the slime that had gotten on her free. "Alright. Get me in close."

"I'm better at not moving," warned Immovable as she dove and jigged out of the way of hungry mouths. "I don't even like flying. I'm better on the ground."

Prickle tensed with readiness, then surged off the back of Immovable. Were it much anyone else, the force of her jump might have knocked them clear from the sky, but Immovable wasn't easy to move, even in the air. Prickle let out a mighty cry as she came in on the root of all the heads with a single hind leg extended in a kick. She collided with the wide of its scaly hide and the entire massive bulk began to slide and roll at once. By the time she hit the ground, the entire thing was on its side, the fight having been beaten from it. A massive furrow showed where it had slid along with the impact.

Immovable landed beside Prickle. "It never ceases to amaze me. Good job, boss!"

Prickle colored a little. Was she a boss? The idea felt new and strange to her. Was a boss like a mentor? In some ways, perhaps. "Let's stick with mentor. I'm not your boss. Good job, Immovable." She smiled up at the larger pegasus. "That would have been way harder without your help."


Bon Bon looked back and forth between the two so-called 'heroes'. "Now I have two of you..." She let out a long-suffering sigh. "Alright, you're 'Immovable', first seen in Fillydelphia as a petty criminal, reformed, now serving as Prickle's sidekick. Powers: Invulnerabilty and extreme stability. Do I have that right?"

Immovable rubbed at her warmed cheek. "I wasn't petty..."

Bon Bon's eyes fell to half-opened. "Your crimes included the blocking of walkways and interrupting the peace." She rolled a hoof lightly. "Pretty much what you did here in Ponyville until you ran into Tiny Titan here."

Immovable looked properly shamed, her head hanging.

Prickle moved in front of her. "Don't pick on her. She's my student and sidekick now."

Bon Bon's expression warmed a little. "I'm not picking on her. It's important to know where we've come from to know where we're going. I'm glad you've turned a new leaf. Now, tell me in one sentence, why you want to be a hero."

Immovable frowned at that, considering. "I..." The frown deepened. "I can think of a lot of reasons... but they all feel a little silly."

"Try me." Bon Bon rose and walked off towards some barbells. "It doesn't matter how silly it seems. Feelings are feelings."

"A-alright... I... was so sure I was meant to fight with Tiny Titan... She was the one that turned it around. I could fight with her, beside her... It feels good. She is the crushing force that cannot be stopped, and I am the anvil that cannot be broken. Together we are a pair that cannot be bested!"

Bon Bon cocked a brow. "You don't say?"

Prickle knew better and began to look around nervously. "You're going to prove her wrong, aren't you?"

Bon Bon flashed a smile. "Confidence is good, but too much of anything is bad. If you think you're unbeatable, you'll get lazy, then you'll lose." She picked up the barbell in her mouth. "Things can change in the blink of an eye." She suddenly threw it with all her strength at Prickle.

Prickle squeaked, but Immovable lashed out a wing to block it., letting it bounce from her immovable limb. "Is that the best you--"

Smoke exploded around her. While both were staring at the barbell, neither saw Bon Bon draw free a smoke bomb and hurl it at Immovable's hooves.

Immovable laughed. "You think some smoke is going to--" It reached her eyes and mouth and suddenly things began to hurt. Her eyes watered and she began to cough. She couldn't be moved, but it did little to protect her from the irritating gas.

She spread her wings and moved to flee, which is exactly when Bon Bon struck, suddenly tackling her and putting her in a leglock from above and behind. "Now imagine if I was a supervillain?"

Prickle let out a sudden exhale, blowing the smoke free of their training area in a massive woosh.

Both of the others blinked at her. Prickle put a hoof behind her head. "I guess that's a power I have?"

Immovable's surprise turned to delight. "You're powerful everywhere, even in your lungs."

Bon Bon lightly bopped Immovable on the head. "Pay attention." She slid off the invulnerable pegasus. "Never assume you have all angles covered. Life has a habit of finding just the one you didn't think of." She turned back around to face the two. "Now, I'm no super pony, but I do have a hint on what fighting super villians and monsters is like."

"How?" Immovable tilted her head left and right. "You're a candy maker."

"Shh," hissed out Prickle. "That's a secret."

Immovable pointed a hoof uncertaintly at Bon Bon. "Everypony knows she's a candy maker."

Bon Bon applied a hoof to her face. "That isn't the secret, or the point. We're here to talk about you two. You two are very extreme opposites." She cocked a brow. "I want you two to learn from each other." She pointed at Immovable. "You should work on being stronger and assertive." The hoof moved to Prickle. "You bruise too easily. You're both very good at your specialty, and I don't plan to stop addressing that, but shoring up your most obvious weaknesses is the next step." She clopped her hooves together. "I want you two to learn from each other, so we get something better than the two of you separately."

That made sense enough to Prickle, but... "How do I 'practice' not being bruised?"

"By becoming tougher." Bon Bon smiled confidently. "Your new friend here will help with that. I could make you tired with enough effort, but I couldn't give you a properly tough and immediately difficult workout. She's practically built for it. It will be her job to get in the way of your work, but not entirely. If she stops you from even starting, you learn nothing. She will make it harder, make you really stress those muscles and learn, mentally and physically, how to deal with adversity."

Her eyes moved onto Immovable squarely. "I see you grinning. Don't think you're not getting your turn. You're lazy. I can tell. You're used to just laying down and letting life try to do something about it." She rolled her eyes. "We're going to get to burning that right out of you. Just because you can be still doesn't mean that's what's needed at the time."

Prickle suddenly thrust a hoof in the air. "She caught me the other day when I was fighting."

Bon Bon nodded. "That's great to hear, exactly the sort of initiative I plan to encourage. Now, shall we begin?"