Prickle Berry Tries to Be Careful

by David Silver

18 - Schoolyard Hijinks

Prickle sat obediently in her chair, eyes on the chalkboard as Miss Cheerilee gave a lesson on math. Prickle was alright at math. Far from the top, far from the bottom. She was average. That was, in some strange way, comforting to her. She was average at something, and that was perfectly fine.

When Cheerilee let them out for lunch, Prickle grabbed her package out of her bag. She could smell the delightful aromas coming from within. Her mother had not let her down! With a smile, she trotted outside. She saw the crusaders were at a table, gabbing among one another. Sweetie Belle spotted her coming out and waved her over.

Prickle accepted the invitation and soon hopped up beside Scootaloo and set her lunch down. "Hello!" She started unwrapping her food. "How are you all doing?"

Apple Bloom pricked an ear. "Huh, being, uh, you know, it's workin' for ya."

Scootaloo clopped her forehooves together. "Of course it is. So, hey, how do you get, you know, hero powers?" She grinned hopefully.

Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes. "I don't think she did anything specific."

Prickle nodded quickly. "It just happened. I didn't ask for it."

"Figures." Scootaloo stuck out her tongue. "But if you ever find anything that does that, you'll let me know, right?"

Prickle considered her lame friend. Not lame as in, uh, lame. Scootaloo was amazing! But she couldn't fly. She was literally lame, as far as pegasi went. She was painfully below par for what she was, and there Prickle was, being stupendously above the mark. Prickle felt a wince coming on. "You're not... angry, are you? I mean..."

Scootaloo blinked and shook her head quickly. "No way! Maybe a little jealous a little... But we're the ones that got you where you were." She threw a leg over Prickle and hugged her close. "You're a friend!" That got the other two giving a little cheer of agreement.

With that aside, Prickle got to chowing down on the delightful repast her mother had prepared. There was some of that muscle-building juice also in there, which she put aside and proceeded to ignore.

Sweetie's horn began to glow as she lifted the forgotten thermos over, unscrewed the top, and gave a sniff before her face scrunched right up. "Uck! What is this?"

"Lemme see!" demanded Apple Bloom before it was passed to her for her to get a whiff. "Whooee! Smells right powerful whatever it is."

Scootaloo wanted her turn and reached across the table to snag it. "Wow! What is this stuff, Prickle?"

Prickle flushed lightly in her cheeks. "Mom made it for me. She's trying to help, but I don't need muscle juice like Mister Biceps uses."

Scootaloo blinked softly. "Huh..." She sniffed it again as if seriously considering it.

Apple Bloom knocked it out of Scoot's hooves, splashing on the floor. "Don't even think about it."

"Aw..."

Two fillies approached the table, both familiar. Silver Spoon smiled lightly. "Hello, girls. Prickle, nice to see you."

Diamond Tiara glanced aside at her companion. "Afternoon, girls." Her eyes focused back on Prickle. "So, she one of you now?"

Scootaloo shook her head. "If you mean a crusader, nah. She had her cutie mark before we got there."

Sweetie smiled sweetly. "But she's still our friend."

Apple Bloom's brow creased. "Which means ya shouldn' mess wit' her."

Diamond waved it off. "I'm not here to cause trouble. Besides, we're friends, right?"

Prickle pointed at herself, uncertain.

"Not you, the others." Diamond rolled her eyes. "Silver wanted to talk to you though."

Silver stepped closer with a nod. "I was thinking..." Silver fidgeted a little on her hooves. "Due to our previous arrangement, maybe..."

Diamond nudged her friend lightly. "Go on. Be assertive." She seemed to enjoy encouraging Silver.

Silver nodded firmly. "Right. Prickle Berry, you will meet with me after school, alone." She pointed to a hill outside of town. "There."

Prickle looked off towards the lonely hill and back. Silver was a friend, right? No harm in meeting with a friend, in... theory? "Al--"

"--Don't you go bossin' her around like that!" chastised Apple Bloom.

"Yeah!" chorused the other two.

Prickle sat up straight. "N-no, it's alright..."

Sweetie Belle blinked with renewed confusion. "Are you certain?"

"Yes." Prickle bobbed her head, then looked to Silver Spoon. "I'll be there."

Diamond pointed at Prickle. "You'd better! C'mon." She walked away with Silver, saying something quiet and laughing as she went.

Prickle started when she felt a hoof come down on one of hers lightly. Sweetie was reaching across the table, looking at her pointedly. "It's probably nothing." Her voice lowered, "I mean, she is in your fan club."

Scootaloo blinked. "Oh yeah. I forgot that a moment there."

Prickle put her other hoof on Sweetie's. "I think she's a friend. It's probably nothing at all."

With lunch time over, everyone gathered their things and headed back inside to finish the day. When it was over, Prickle trotted out and turned to the hill. What had Silver wanted from her so badly? There was only one way to know for certain, so she got to hiking up there. It was half an hour out of the way, but compared to sparring with Bon Bon, it was an easy task.

When she got there, Silver Spoon was already there, panting and wheezing. Prickle hurried towards her. "Are you alright?"

"I'm... fine..." she assured before she stood up with an explosive sigh. "Sorry. I didn't think this hill was that tall." She smiled at Prickle warmly. "Sorry if Diamond bothered you."

Prickle shook her head resolutely. "No! It's alright. What's wrong?" She looked left and right, trying to spot anything besides Silver Spoon. "Something's wrong, right? Why are we here?"

Unseen by either of them, the crusaders were gathered in a bush, watching the two intently.

Apple Bloom had binoculars out and was peering through them. "They're just talkin' so far."

Scootaloo grabbed them, yanking Apple Bloom with the strap, not that she paid much attention to that and took her turn to stare. "What do you think they're talking about?"

Sweetie Belle had a one-hoofed spyglass she clearly borrowed from her sister, floating in her magic as she watched with one eye closed. "They don't look upset, so I guess it's alright..."

Across from them, all the way on the other side of the clearing, sat Diamond Tiara in her own bush. "If that Prickle so much as touches a hair on her..." she grumbled to herself, glaring at the two from her hiding place. "Don't worry, Silver. I have your back!"

Silver ran a hoof through her mane, gently undoing some of the frayed edges from her gallop. "Thank you for coming. It's about that other pony that's looking for, you know, you. The Mauler."

Prickle went tense a moment. "Is she a good or bad pony?"

Silver produced an envelope from within her fur and held it out towards Prickle. "I did some digging around. She's a good pony, works out of Manehatten."

Apple Bloom wrenched her binoculars back from Scootaloo and blinked through them. "What's in that envelope?!"

Sweetie Belle leaned forward. "Whatever it is, Prickle seems interested in it."

In her own bush, Diamond snickered softly. "Oh, that's bold, Silver. Is that what you have on her? Very bold. Don't-- Dang it!" She swore as the envelope was clearly snatched away by Prickle, at least in her eyes. "Rookie mistake, Silver..." Then she sat back. "Unless that's just a copy, just to prove to her what you have... Yes! You are better at this than I gave you credit for."

Prickle took the envelope and curiously pulled the tab open in her lips. "Thank you. You didn't have to."

"But I did." Silver smiled gently. "That's what friends do for each other, and fans..." She glanced away and back. "Please don't be angry at Diamond."

Prickle was distracted from opening. "Huh?"

"I know you're super angry at her, and, like, you have every right to be, really..." Silver Spoon rubbed one foreleg with the other. "She's really trying to change, really... I'm trying to help, can you... Can you help too? She's a good pony, really she is."

Sweetie blinked and withdrew her spyglass a moment. "I know I'm no scholar on the matter, but the way Silver is acting..."

Apple Bloom leaned forward with her binoculars, only to have them snatched away by an eager Scootaloo.

Scootaloo gasped dramatically. "Are they about to kiss?! Can fillies do that?" She let go of the binoculars and looked to her friends. Both shrugged.

"Don't see why not," admitted Apple Bloom. She shrugged before she pulled her binoculars back into place. "That's quite a way to go from where they were, let's not assume nothin'."

Prickle reached and placed a hoof on Silver's shoulder. "I'm not trying to fight with her."

Silver reached up, putting a hoof on Prickle's. "I know that. You're too... You're nice. You wouldn't fight her." She took off her glasses and polished them with a clean fabric. "But it's more than that. She needs friends... Real friends, not ponies who are scared of her. You aren't scared of her."

Not scared of her?! Prickle cringed visibly.

Diamond snickered softly, watching Prickle cringe and fall back a step. "Oh what I wouldn't give to hear what she just said... Go on, Silver, you can do it!"

Sweetie tilted her head faintly, watching the exchange. "Whatever she just said, Prickle looks upset."

Silver's expression faltered. "Are you?"

Prickle danced from hoof to hoof, struggling to find the right words. "She... terrifies me," she finally got out in barely a whisper. "When she looks at me, I feel all weak and helpless."

Silver gave Prickle a skeptical look. "You could pound her without even trying. She's... loud... but she isn't strong, like, not even close to where you are."

All of those words made perfect sense, in her head, but the rest of her wasn't so eager to agree. Prickle sank to her haunches. "What do you want me to do?"

Diamond rubbed her forehooves together, watching Prickle sag to the ground with that defeated expression. Clearly Silver had proven victorious, just like her friend should. "I was silly to even worry about you. You got this in the bag, girl."

Sweetie shook her head. "Whatever they're talking about, they both look consumed."

Apple Bloom wobbled a hoof, the other holding up her binoculars. "Whatever ya call it, somethin's clearly up!"

Author's Note:

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Comments

[Booster Spice]

Chinese whispers heard by lip reading in the rear view mirror through an open window may be quieter than they appear.

[RadicalDishonesty]

I can't decide if "you're stronger therefore you automatically shouldn't be afraid" is a bad attitude or not.

On one hand, the world where the person who has strength basically is entirely above any judgements from others can be pretty bad.

But on the other hand... why would it be bad to be, you know, confident? Self assured?

Not afraid of a bully?

Course, there are some serious issues about a bullied person becoming a bully out of a desire to never be controlled again... so they become a cruel controller. And it's tragic.

Fortunately none of that applies here. Poor Prickle is beside herself dealing with her ex-but-kinda-still-one-bully. Her being physically strong doesn't change that DT scares her.

[David Silver]

8001667 Prickle Berry is just trying to be careful, is all.

How did you like the way the scene was set up?

[RadicalDishonesty]

8001851
With the two parties having their own assumptions from not being able to hear anything?

Yeah it was pretty cool.

[tsaukpaetra]

That was great, and an excellent example of why you need much more than apparent visual evidence to get the real story.
The Crusaders' "wait, are they going to kiss.?!" knee-jerk reaction was golden, and Diamond's willful ignorance may prove useful later...
Keep going! ;)

[zalla661]

And the world of misunderstandings has just opened up ladies and gentlemen! Brought to you by bad lip reading and facial expressions with no context! Oh, I can't wait to see who the Mauler is. My guess is either Starlight or Sunset Shimmer in disguise.

[Lancerlot]

Silver Spoon is either delusional or lying when she's describing Diamond Tiara, and I'm leaning toward "delusional."

[Gizmo Gear]

8204637
Likely.