Prickle and Immovable stood before a building. It was an unremarkable building. Red bricked and without any sign, except a street number, eluded most guesses at what it could be. Immovable reached over and tapped Prickle on her withers. "Are we in the right place?"
"This is the address," confirmed Prickle as she fished out their pins and held out Immovable's.
Immovable lifted it on a wing for a closer look. "Huh wow, it has a picture of me. That's nice of them. What's yours look like?" She leaned over to see the alicorn Prickle was affixing on her chest. "You're not a princess... Are there gonna be princesses here?"
"I don't know." Prickle shook herself out. "Let's find out." She approached the door and gave a feather-light tap.
"Um, a little harder than that?" suggested Immovable.
"I was being extra careful." She repeated, loud enough to be heard, but nothing came of it.
"Harder..."
Prickle huffed before bringing in her hoof with a loud bang that shook the door and rattled the area around them. The door swung open almost instantly, revealing a duo of ponies in outfits similar to their own.
"You won't break your way in here!" declared one of them, earth-pony mare.
"Not again," continued the stallion at her side, his horn glowing fiercely before it guttered out. "Hey, wait, isn't that Tiny Titan?"
"You know me?" Prickle sat on her haunches and put a hoof behind her head, cheeks warming. "I didn't think I was that popular."
Immovable's wings spread out. "Of course they know about Opposing Forces!" She struck a dramatic pose.
The mare tilted her head. "Opposing forces? Well, you have pins, so you're allowed in."
Prickle saw her partner deflate and stepped forward. "You heard something about my sidekick, right?"
The stallion pointed at Immovable. "You're on the probation list. Play nice."
Prickle winced, that was far from the recovery she had hoped for. "She's my sidekick! She's a good pony."
Immovable gave a little smile. "At least one pony thinks so. C'mon, let's see what's inside."
"Welcome!" both spoke in unison, moving out of the way for the two as they walked past.
Stairs led the way down shortly after entering, and then everything changed. It expanded out into a huge complex and the noise of many ponies talking greeted their ears. The floor shook faintly with the distant sounds of energetic explosions. As they descended, they could see all sorts of displays, super ponies showing off, and they knew they had arrived.
Immovable forgot the event above, peering over the railing as they descended. "It's... amazing."
Prickle wasn't sure yet which kind of amazing it was. "It's impressive." That much she could say easily. "Let's try to stay--" Immovable had vanished, taking off into the crowd as they hit the bottom. "--together..." Prickle sighed softly, then forced a smile. "Maybe she'll make some friends."
She decided to start exploring, roaming the busy hall of the convention.
"Hey, shortstuff!" came a loud female voice.
Prickle looked over to see another super mare that was as small as she was. "Always nice to see another pint-sized hero!" She clapped Prickle on the shoulder. "The name's Small Package. Get it, big things, small packages?" She laughed at her own joke. "What's your handle?"
"Tiny Titan," gave Prickle with an uncertain expression. "I'm not... short. I'm still growing."
Small blinked. "Oh, wait, how young are you?" Prickle gave her age. "Oh wow! You're fresh! Have you bested a significant villain yet? How'd you get in here without an adult?"
Prickle bristled a little. "I've taken on an entire dragon wing!" she hotly defended. "And a body switching unicorn, a manticore, some timber wolves, and a hydra!"
Small Packages held up her hooves. "Woah woah, sorry. There I go, complaining people judge me too fast and I shove a hoof right in my mouth. Nice job. Hydras can be tricky, but I want to hear about how you managed a bunch of dragons at the same time." She pointed towards a concession stand. "Tell me over a soda, my treat for being a jerk?"
Prickle felt a genuine smile emerging. "That sounds nice. So, you come to these a lot?"
"Fourth year," proclaimed Small with some pride, leading the way.
Perhaps it wouldn't be a bad visit.
Immovable saw exactly what she wanted. A great big booth advertised 'Can you handle it?' with pictures of ponies being comically squashed, zapped, and otherwise inconvenienced. There was a short line before it, which she skipped to go to one of the ponies that seemed to be operating the stand. "What is this?"
The slender earth-pony nodded at her. "Hello there. Oh, a sidekick? This may be too intense for you."
Immovable's nose wrinkled. "Tell me what it is first."
"Alrighty." He pointed to a stand where another pony already stood. "It's a contest, to see who can stand the punishment we deal out. Depending on how long and hard you last, you get a pin for it, like the one that got you in here."
Immovable clopped her hooves excitedly. "Sign me up!" Here was a contest she was sure she could handle. "Nothing can move me, it's in the name."
"What name might that be?" asked the worker as everything became light a moment. The pony behind them had just been zapped something awful, and flopped over. "Oops, looks like they're done. Give me a second." He trotted over to haul the downed hero away. "Next!" Up came a little unicorn mare with a big smile.
Immovable waited until the guard came back. "I'm Immovable, sidekick of Tiny Titan."
"Not from around here, I gather? No offense but I haven't heard of either of you."
Immovable pouted a little, but it was somehow better to be unknown with company. "We're from Ponyville. I mean, she is, but I work there now, uh, so can I try?"
He directed to the short line, which seemed to have grown shorter after the savage zapping of the last contestant. "Oh, I didn't mention, but the most stalwart hero gets an extra prize."
She had been sold on it already, but with the knowledge that there was a prize above and beyond an official 'I am tough' badge, Immovable took her place, grinning ear to ear.
Small nodded. "Secret identities can be tricky. I don't want ponies around me to get into trouble because of me, ya know?"
Prickle tilted her head a little. "That can happen?"
"What, why else would we have 'em? Super villains love going after your weak spot, and what's weaker than your not-so-heroic friends and family?" Small sipped from her cup through a straw in a loud slurp. "So it's better if they don't know who we are under the mask."
Prickle's mind danced with the visions of a pony that was little more than the outline of a pony, twirling their moustache, their only visible feature. They were busy tying her mother to some train tracks. She squeaked in horror at the mental image. "Oh no! I've... been really bad about my secret identity!"
Small rested the hoof that wasn't holding her drink on Prickle's closer shoulder. "We all make mistakes. Any villains know about you already?"
"No?" ventured Prickle in an uncertain voice. "But... lots of ponies around town... Hay, the mailmare delivered the invite to this place to me when I wasn't even disguised."
"Oh, that ain't too bad." Small set her cup aside, drained. "You got what's known as a 'public secret'."
Prickle's mouth moved a moment before words caught up. "If it's public, how is it secret?"
Small flashed a bright smile. "That's easy, because only people that like you know. It means you got a tight community. If someone did try to start trouble with them, they'd take action. Bad guys can't hide so easy. If you aren't going to go full secret, this is the next best thing. I mean, they do all like you, right?" Prickle nodded. "Then it's alright. Where'ya from?"
"Ponyville," squeaked out Prickle. "Why?"
"Ponyville? The Ponyville? Home of the newest princess that isn't still wearing a diaper? You don't have a problem." Small stood up. "You've got a perfect storm on your side. You're surrounded by heroes in a low-villain area. Any villain big enough to be a real issue is going to get all their attentions. Any villain that doesn't, you can probably handle. Now, see, some of us don't have that luxury. It's us against the bad guy on our own. Everyone else is too busy with their own fights to lend a hoof half the time. Now Ah ain't saying that makes you less or anything, just lucky. Enjoy it."
Prickle wondered about that a moment, but Small Packages was already rising to venture off with a wave. She returned the parting and looked around. There was so much to see.
Immovable sat down on the smooth panel. It felt like it was made of metal. She set herself securely. She could feel the world moving around her, but she was not moving. Nothing could move her. "Hit me with your best shot."
Pop! A ball of rubber came flying and bounced off the back of her head. "Was that the best you have? I barely felt it."
"Everyone has to work up to it," advised the worker. "We'll see how tough you are."
A thin blade protruded from her side. It reached out slowly and gave her a poke, but she was unimpressed. It was forced to slide along her rather than causing any harm, though it did cut her poor clothes in a little line. "Hey..."
"Costume repair is just over there." He pointed the way. "It may get worse before you're done."
The blade drew back, then swung in a wide arc. It broke on contact with her unyielding flesh, the freed tip flying and bouncing off an unseen field of force. Immovable made an overdone yawn. "Can we skip a few steps?"
"You qualify for a first degree rock, but let's see how you do against energy assaults."
Immovable tensed with worry. Bon Bon's words echoed in her thoughts.
She had been scowling at her. "Look, I'm not trying to inflate your ego, but you are, basically, invulnerable. Nothing can move you."
"Nothing can move me!" That much Immovable agreed with.
"And that includes little things. A fire is just a lot of little things trying to move you. Don't let them, and you won't be hurt."
"But fire doesn't push you..."
Bon Bon put a hoof to her face. "That's the problem. It makes just little bits of you move way too fast, and you get burnt. It's complicated, but you don't need to worry about that part. It wants to move you. Don't let it. Be still. That's what you do, right?"
"Don't let them," she whispered to herself as a mantra, repeating it as she saw a flame thrower raise from below. She swallowed thickly and forced a brave smile. "Yer... gonna need... a bigger one... than that..."
The workerpony shook his head. "We have to warm that up, it isn't the first. We start with lasers."
"Las--" Pew! A unicorn was pointing her horn at Immovable and a thin beam of magic jolted her on the side. That stung! "Ow! Hey, cut that out."
"Giving up?" asked the worker. "You can at any time. Passing out or stepping off the platform will also end the test."
Was the laser like fire? Immovable set her rump down on the ground and tried to become one with the world. She could not be moved. She would not be moved.
The laser came, and it stung, but it stung a little less than the first time. She hadn't moved.
"Each time will get stronger," advised the worker.
It was meant to be intimidating, but it made Immovable start grinning. That was stronger, but she had felt it less. She could do it. She would do it.
Nothing could move her.