• Published 2nd Feb 2017
  • 5,079 Views, 888 Comments

Prickle Berry Tries to Be Careful - David Silver



Prickle didn't ask to become so strong, but it just happened. Now, as a growing foal, she's mightier than many grown stallions. What's an earth-filly to do? She tries her best to move forward and not draw attention to her supernatural strength.

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27 - On Patrol

Prickle had finally escaped school. With her suit guarding her identity, she felt ready to pound any pony that would do such a thing to her teacher. She landed from an athletic bound.

"Hey TT." It was Scootaloo, smiling. "Looking for the jerk that messed with Cheerilee?"

"Uh huh," she quickly replied as she looked around for any signs of bad ponies. "Have you seen them? 'Brightly dressed unicorn mare' only goes so far." Prickle sighed softly.

Scootaloo gave a helpless shrug, then smiled. "I'll help you look though, then I can see you show her what's what."

Prickle didn't like the idea, but Scootaloo looked so excited to come with her, she didn't have the heart to turn her down. "Alright. I'll go north." She pointed. "You go south. If you see her, shout." Scootaloo bobbed her head quickly and hopped up onto her scooted gracefully, taking off on her own patrol.

Prickle watched her go a moment before she sprang from the ground. A streak of rainbows zipped just in front of her nose, stopped, and came back. Rainbow was there, grinning. "Hey champ." She was following Prickle as she arced in her jump. "Are you looking for who I think you're looking for?"

Prickle waited until she touched down on a roof before replying, "The pony that switched Cheerilee and Snails. Are you looking for her too?"

"You bet! Twilight said we should look separately, so she can't switch us around. If there's only one pony coming to beat her up, then she's out of luck."

That made sense to Prickle and she bobbed her head. "We should split up then."

"If I find her first, I'll give her something for ya, promise." Rainbow grinned, then sped off into the distance.

Prickle peeked into alleys, searched rooftops and even a few bells, but there just didn't seem to be any sign of the scoundrel anywhere.

Until she saw two confused ponies, two familiar ones. She hopped down beside Lyra and Bon Bon. "What's wrong?"

"Everything," said one of Bon Bon's many voices from Lyra.

"This is awesome," reported Lyra from Bon Bon's body. "I always wondered what being Bon Bon was like. I'm gonna bake so hard!"

Bon Bon arched Lyra's brow. "And you expect me to start playing an instrument I never tried before?"

"And we'll both fail dramatically," said Lyra as if it were the best thing ever. "Then we can laugh and show each other how we messed up. It'll be great fun. C'mon!"

Prickle shook her head slowly at her mixed up friends. "Which way did she go?"

They both pointed, and Prickle took off in a gallop. When she wanted more speed and less upwards mobility, she could run faster than she could jump, though it took more out of her. She was determined to catch up with that criminal! First her teacher, than her fighting mentor? It was inexcusable.

A loud yelp caught her attention and Prickle veered a hard right, kicking up dirt before she took off in the new direction. As she emerged past a set of buildings, she saw the brightly-dressed mare leering at Scootaloo. "Poor little thing. I've heard so much about you. You're so sad, stuck in a body that doesn't work right."

Prickle surged without thought. That wasn't true, she was thinking a lot of things, mostly about not letting Scootaloo down. She had started screaming without noticing, rushing at the masked pony.

The pony turned towards her. "What perfect timing! You'll do nicely." She reared up and threw her forehooves wide. "Have a change of perspective!"

White light filled the square. Prickle's body gave a surprised yelp before flopping to the ground in a tumble.

Scootaloo's form jumped at the mare without a pause, swinging a hoof with a loud scream of battle. It bounced off the mare's chest with a light thud.

She laughed softly. "Nice try. You run along now." She made a dismissive wave, then she just trotted away as if nothing important had happened.

Prickle jumped after her, and didn't go anywhere important. Her new wings buzzed wildly, trying to get her further, but she accomplished little more than hovering in place a moment before she came back to the ground. The villain was getting away!

Scootaloo stood up. "I got her!" She made a super jump. Too super. Prickle winced as she watched it, following Scootaloo's scream until it passed far beyond sight.

Prickle sighed softly. "I remember doing that..."

"Hey squirt." It was Rainbow Dash, zipping in speedily. "You alright? You should be careful. There's a magic jerk around here and we don't want you getting zapped."

"Too late," sighed out Prickle.

Rainbow blinked softly. "Pr--uh, Tiny Titan? Wait, that means? Oh wow..."

Prickle shrank in place. None of that went according to plan. "We have to stop her. She went that way." She thrust out a hoof.

"I'm on it!" Rainbow took off in a streak of light.

Prickle was left alone to take stock of the situation. She circled on herself, looking at her pegasus filly body as best she could. She tried spreading one wing, then the other before she bounced up and down a little. She had none of her strength, but that made sense. She was Scootaloo.

She let out a little nervous laugh. She got what she wanted, sorta. She wasn't a freak. Instead she was in her friend's body. That was... less than ideal.

"Everything alright?" asked Sweetie Belle. "I heard you from the boutique," she squeaked, voice hitching with worry.

Prickle gave a nervous smile. "Not really..."

"P-Prickle?" Sweetie blinked with wide eyes. "Oh no! This is terrible! Where's Scootaloo?"

Prickle pointed off in the direction Scootaloo had launched herself, but needn't have. A loud whooping laughter came from the same direction as Tiny Titan bounced back into view.

Sweetie sat beside Prickle. "She's... having fun, I think?"

Prickle applied her new hoof to her new face. "This can't end well."

Sweetie let out a little concerned noise. "Are you going to go to your house or her's?"

Prickle blinked at Sweetie. That was a big question, but... "We have to switch back!" She looked around. "We just have to find that unicorn and get her to flip us rightside up."

"I'm on the way!" echoed Scootaloo's voice. A bright flash erupted from elsewhere in the city.

Prickle sank right back to her haunches. "I think it just got more complicated."

Sweetie squinted in the direction of the flash. "Who do you think she was switched with this time?"

Prickle felt jaw tense. There weren't a lot of other ponies she could hope for and still come out of it reasonably.

A bright band of rainbows arced up over the town with the maddest of cackles. "Woooohoooo!"

Sweetie blinked softly. "Oh..."

"Oh," echoed Prickle, at once relieved and worried. Rainbow could be trusted with things, but...

Prickle, or her body, landed with a heavy crash beside them. "Did you see, uh, me?" she asked with Rainbow Dash's voice.

Prickle and Sweetie both pointed up into the sky where wild patterns were being drawn with rainbows.

Rainbow, the real one, let out a little chuckle. "I always knew she had it in her. She'd make a great flyer... But not in my body!" She pointed up to the berserk Scootaloo. "How do I get her down from there? You can't jump that high... Can you?"

Prickle hadn't ever tried quite that high. "Maybe, but landing is going to be rough if you can."

"Only one way to know for sure!" Rainbow wiggled her little filly rump in the air then pounced into the air with all the strength Prickle's body had to offer.

That was a lot of strength.

Rainbow Dash was gone from sight almost instantly, barely a speck in the sky. The ground she had been standing on was a sizable crater from the pressure, smoke rising lazily from the compression heat generated from the motion.

Sweetie squinted up in the sky, trying to see Rainbow, wherever she had gone. "I hope she's alright..."

"Me too," sighed out Prickle before turning her eyes to the much-more visible Scootaloo. She waved wildly at her. "Scootaloo!" Shouting at her seemed as valid a tactic as any.

To her surprise, it worked. Scootaloo turned in mid-air and came zooming towards them.

As eager as she was to fly, that didn't give her much grace. She crashed gracelessly about ten feet from them, laughing the entire time. "Oh wow, that was great!" she cried as she clambered back up to her hooves. "You have no idea how amazing this feels." She bounced from hoof to hoof, blind to any pain caused by the crash. "I'm strong, and fast, and look at these." She spread her wings as wide as they could go. "They're so big and perfect!"

Sweetie Belle gave an uncertain nod. "But they're not yours."

Prickle bobbed in agreement. "Rainbow needs them. How is she going to be in the Wonderbolts in my body?"

A trailing scream that grew in pitch as it approached drew all three of their heads upwards. There was Rainbow, descending like a meteor, flame trail included. She was blazing a path at a sharp angle. There was no way she'd land in Ponyville.

Prickle rose to her hooves. "We have to help her."

Scootaloo set a hoof on Prickle's shoulder. "Woah woah, hold on there. Let me handle this." She flapped her borrowed wings and lifted from the ground easily. "I'm a lot faster."

"It doesn't matter." Prickle stomped an impotent hoof. "She's all of our friend, and I didn't quit my job just because some bad mare hit me with some magic. I'm going to help her." She glanced around. "Where do you keep your scooters?"

"Huh? Oh yeah!" Scootaloo was gone, only to return a few instants later with the scooter in hoof. "Here you go." She set it down on the ground.

Sweetie clopped her hooves softly. "You can give Prickle a ride, just like you used to get from Rainbow."

"Oh yeah, great idea!" Scootaloo soon had herself tied to the front of the scooter. "I'll fly there, and you just have to hold on. Have you ever ridden a scooter before?"

"No..." admitted Prickle as she stepped aboard and clutched at the bars as best as her hooves could manage. "But we have to go."

"Well, alright then." Scootaloo took off in a streak towards her downed hero and Prickle found the world blurring past her. It was all she could do just holding on and hoping they wouldn't run into anything along the way.

Sweetie waved at the two as they took off. "Good luck... You're going to need it." Shaking her head, she returned home. She was quite sure she'd hear about how it went at school the next day.

Author's Note:

That went about as well as it could have, I think. Scoot's having fun at least?

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