21 - End Episode 5: Facing Issues
"No," stated Prickle firmly, clopping a hoof on the ground. "If you're trying to help, you aren't. We have enough lies."
Silver gave a soft 'hmm'. "Are you going to tell her the truth then? Tell her about being a superhero?"
"N-no." Prickle shrank back a little. "But I can be honest about the rest of it. We can be... friends."
Silver sat on her haunches. "That's very brave of you, just like I'd expect from my hero." She rose a hoof to adjust her glasses. "Like, if there's anything I can do, you just have to let me know."
Prickle wasn't sure what to do with Silver Spoon. Silver was a confusing pony that made her feel confused in return. It was a bit of a mess. "I have to take responsibility myself." She tapped her own chest with a hoof. "Now I should go, I have a fight to be ready for."
"A fight?!" Silver squeaked. "Is another monster coming?"
"No." Prickle glanced back at the Everfree. "Another hero wants to test me."
Silver's eyes widened. "We'll be there!"
Prickle blinked rapidly. "Who'll be there?"
"Your fan-club, of course, to like, cheer you on." Silver bounced to her hooves. "Don't you worry." And off she went, trotting purposefully.
Prickle applied her hoof to her face a moment before she got to her own trotting. She had homework to do, and a fight to prepare for.
The work of a superhero wasn't easy.
She didn't even get home before running into one of those fans. Scootaloo was bouncing up and down, wings fluttering. "Who's challenging you?!"
Prickle recoiled a little, glancing around to make sure that question wasn't overheard. "Silver told you already?"
"Nah, Sweetie Belle, but I bet she heard from Silver Spoon." Scootaloo shrugged. "Small town. So who're ya fighting?"
Prickle sighed with a little sag. "The Manehattan Mauler."
"Huh, with a name like that, I bet they love grabbing ponies. You better watch out for that."
"They're a unicorn," pointed out Prickle. "Does that change things?"
Scootaloo reached up to tap her own head where a horn was not. "That means she likes grabbing ponies with her magic, probably. Have you seen her use it so far?"
"She can fly, with her horn." Prickle bobbed her head. "She must like using that."
Scootaloo flashed a grin. "So there's your target. Don't, you know, hurt her bad. It's a spar, right?"
Prickle gave a slower nod. "I think so? Why does she want to fight other heroes?"
"To test herself, or practice, or a bunch of other reasons." Scootaloo shrugged. "It's kinda cool! I'll be there, promise. We'll be cheering you on." She made an energetic pump with a foreleg. "You'll show that out of town hero what Ponyville's like."
Prickle began to color faintly. She hadn't thought she would be representing the town like that. "I'm still new at this..."
Scootaloo pat Prickle on the shoulder. "We know that. Relax. You do what you can do and we'll be cheering either way. And if she acts mean about it, well, we'll just have to gang up on her." She stuck out her tongue a little. "Like Ponyville's full of helpless ponies."
Prickle blinked at that. "But it kinda is...?"
Scootaloo waved it away. "We'll handle it! You just focus on being you, Prickle. Leave the fangirling to the fangirls." She tapped at Prickle's hoof until it raised just high enough for Scootaloo to clop her hoof against it. "We have your back."
Prickle smiled at that, feeling better about the whole spar. "Thanks, Scootaloo. I'll see you all tomorrow." She pointed up at the hill where it would happen. "Just when the sun's about to go down."
Scootaloo looked where directed. "Alright! I'll be sure everypony else know when and where to be. You better rest up and be ready." She trotted off, making a few fake swats at the air with martial-arts noises as she went.
When Prickle arrived at home, her mother greeted her with a warm hug. "You're a bit late. Did something happen?"
Prickle flicked an ear back. "A timberwolf almost ate Berry Punch."
"Oh dear." Junebug put a hoof at her mouth. "You stopped that from happening, I imagine?"
"Uh huh. Pinkie helped." Prickle moved to start her homework. "Then another hero showed up and challenged me to a pretend fight."
"What?!" Junebug moved to sit beside her daughter. "It's bad enough you have to deal with monsters, now other ponies are trying to hurt my little porcupine?"
Prickle went warm and red. It was at once both comforting and embarrassing to have such a loving mother. "It's just... for fun." She hoped. "Like a hoof wrestling contest... with super powers."
Junebug shook her head slowly before she perked up towards the stove and hurried towards it. "Dinner's about ready. You just be careful, and finish your homework."
Prickle might have been a superhero, but she was still a filly. She did her homework, enjoyed dinner with her mom, and got some sleep. There would be plenty to deal with, but that was tomorrow's problem.
In the shadows, the Manehattan Mauler landed lightly. "She doesn't suspect a thing."
The other form already in the shade nodded. "Good, now we can test her properly. You know exactly what I want you to do, right?"
The Mauler rolled her eyes. "We've been over this enough times, yes."
"It never hurts to be sure." An ornate scroll came free of the obscured figure. "I have a list if you'd like to refer--"
"No, thanks. I have this. You just watch us and get all the information you've been dying to get."
The Mauler lifted to the air, shimmering with her own magic. "I have this entirely under control."
She zipped off, leaving the other figure there in the dark.
"Exactly why are we meeting in an alleyway?" asked a third, male, voice. "We could just do this at home, ya know."
"Oh shush." The female turned to the male, regarding him. "We don't want ponies knowing what we're doing."
"Why, exactly?"
"Prickle is very sensitive about her privacy and knowing I'm poking around about her would make her upset. It's for her sake, really."
"Yeah..." He didn't sound very convinced. "Can we go home now?"
"Sure thing." They began to walk off together. "This is going to be so exciting!"
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Dang it, Twilight!
Mysterious shadowy ponies. A unicorn that flies by magic, unless expicitly stated otherwise is Starlight Glimmer, meeting with a female freind with a list fetish is Twilight Sparkle, especially when followed by a male assistant with a +4 specialisation in snark which is Spike.
Then again, how difficult is it to find a match for an Earth Pony who is easily approaching Twilight or Glimmer class power levels.
The only way my OC gets close is because cutie mark, specialisation is recursive, and an Artifact.
Prickle Berry is pretty much unique, and such, extremely special.
Will Pinkie be selling carrots inna bun at the match? With named carrots?
Damn it, Twilight!
8015399
Yeah, no. Having super strength does not even begin to approach the versatility of a dedicated spellcaster, at least not presuming that the available degree of magic is at all notable (which it is here), and that versatility is a large degree of where their power comes from. Being able to hit things really hard, and be able to take similar hits, is not at all enough to put Prickle anywhere near Twilight or Starlight's degree of power.
Er, what? No, she's not. We've seen Maud Pie do similar stunts, and Big Mac has also. Her ability is like any other earth pony with a strength-related cutie mark. It's not common, but it's a far cry from unique.
8015492
Prickle is probably at least as strong as Maud. Remember, in the show she actually lifted the schoolhouse with one hoof. (Sure, Big Mac has dragged a house and Maud has pulverized a boulder, but Prickle is this strong as just a filly. Surely she'll get stronger still as she grows up.)
8015507 First, I acknowledged that her strength was comparable to Maud's; that's why I brought her up in the first place.
Second, as to whether or not she'll get stronger as she grows up, that's debatable at best. It's fairly obvious that most of Prickle's strength is magical in nature (presumably via her cutie mark, since other earth ponies don't exhibit comparable levels of strength), rather than being the product of actual muscular power, simply because she doesn't have much mass - and hence muscularity - to generate the necessary strength. Hence, it's unlikely that her strength will increase much, since there's no indication that cutie mark-based magic gets stronger over time. She'll get a little stronger as she grows up and has more mass to her, but that's not likely to be very much at all, compared to what she can already do.
It's a setup! Let's hope multiple types of hurt don't occur...
Keep going! ;)
8015515
Who's to say Prickle doesn't just keep getting stronger? Maybe puberty hits with epic vengeance and turns her into a real life Flutterhulk? Since I'm not the one writing this story, I can't say for certain but I'm looking forward to the further adolescent adventures of the Tiny Titan.
8018428
The premise of an affirmative statement isn't why something can't happen, but why it does/should/will. I granted that Prickle Berry might become slightly stronger as she grows up, in accordance with her physical development, but that's not likely to make a large difference overall. That's because she can already perform incredible acts of physical strength, to which the normal strength of an adult mare (compared to the filly she is now) isn't likely to add much. Given that there's no indication that a pony's personal magic (whether racial or cutie mark-based) gets stronger as a result of puberty, that's almost certainly going to be the only additional strength Prickle gets.
Now, if she really wanted to supplement that, she could try and bodybuild the way Bulk Biceps has, but she's already ruled that out in this fic, and so we can overlook that possibility as well.
Okay, list, unicorn who can fly, and a male character, and the scroll with an overly excited tone? If this isn't Twilight, Spike, and Starlight then you have really duped me. Cause I'm 20% more convinced it's them NOW then I was back then. Don't you dare destroy my hopes and dreams.
She rose a hoof - She raised/lifted a hoof
Hmmm... without reading the other comments I think you've successfully foreshadowed who the mysterious figures are.
What we know so far:
• a unicorn that can fly
• another that uses lists and an insatiable curiosity who also has
• a (technically) male companion
If it's not Twilight, Starlight and Spike then you have successfully fooled me again and should be ashamed of yourself
8018453
Man, people always gonna be a killjoy and science on everything.
Let fiction be fiction and have some fun. This isn't a pony-theory show or whatever.
8284658 Discussing the why's and how's of theories - and therefore getting into issues of what holds up to rigorous scrutiny and what doesn't (which isn't "science" so much as it is an examination of a particular piece of fiction's adherence to internal logic and self-consistency) - is fun.
On the other hand, just saying "stop that" to someone else is being a killjoy.
The ponies in the alley should respect Prickle's privacy.