• 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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55 - You Did What?!

Immovable stepped off the train and took a deep breath. "I've only lived here a little while, but it's starting to feel like home."

"Yeah?" Small looked left and right over the platform. "The buildings here seem a lot smaller than back at home. I can transport myself if you point the way."

Immovable raised into the air with a powerful flap. "Alright! Wait, where are we going?"

"To find your friend?" Small raised a brow. "Where is she usually?"

Immovable sank back to the platform. "She usually just... hops up and says hi as I'm flying around and we go on patrol..."

"So... you really don't know much about her, huh?" Small sucked in through her teeth in a light hiss. "She told me it's practically a public secret who she was. I thought you'd have more than that..."

"Public secret?" Immovable looked baffled at the very concept. "Isn't one not the other?"

Small wobbled a hoof. "Let's not get distracted. Follow me." With a powerful leap, she launched herself and got her first real look at Ponyville. Compared to the city she had come from, it seemed small and squat. Even the town hall, which seemed the largest in the city, was nothing compared to most of the buildings she navigated on a daily basis. "How do they even fit ponies in there?" She saw her target though.

She landed right in the middle of what was apparently a farmer's market. Carrots were being sold on one side, apples on the other, and another was offering up strawberries with a smile. They all looked at her curiously, conversations fading away.

Immovable landed beside her. "Heya everypony!"

Their reaction to her was warmer, waving and calling out in greeting. The apple salespony tipped her hat. "Did ya go and pick up a new superpony friend?"

Immovable put a hoof right on Small's head. "Yep! This is Small Packages. She packs a full hero into half the size and makes it look good while she's at it."

Small's cheeks warmed. "H-hey... I mean, that's not wrong..." She shook her head. "I'm not used to other folk speaking up for me. So, uh, you two know each other?"

Immovable pointed at the apple farmer and moved on to the carrot salespony and the strawberry seller. "That's Applejack, Carrot Top, Strawberry Sunrise. We've all talked at least once."

Strawberry's eyes rolled. "She's Ponyville's second superpony, and P--Tiny Titan's sidekick. Still a bit odd if you ask me, an adult being a filly's sidekick."

Applejack waved away the statement. "Don't pay her no mind. So how can we help? Ya came food shoppin'?"

Small shook her head quickly. "If I heard right, I have picked correctly. Tiny Titan went missing and we're hoping she came home. Catch, we don't know where her home is, so we can't go check on her. Any help?"

All three mares were looking at Small with a new intensity. Applejack frowned a little. "How do ya mean 'went missin''?"

Immovable put a hoof behind her head. "She... kinda ran off after winning a contest."

Carrot Top did little to conceal her bafflement. "If she won a contest, why would she run away?"

Strawberry leaned forward on her stand. "Well, she is shy. I could see her running away if she got all flustered."

Applejack pushed her hat back. "That's all well n' good. Where was this contest?"

"Baltimare," echoed both superponies.

Applejack's jaw dropped. "If she's all the way there, why are you two back here?!"


Prickle wandered the streets. She had not returned to the convention. It wasn't... for her. She was just a girl, for the moment. She didn't want to be a super anything. She could just be another filly, nothing more or less, if she tried hard enough to fake it. She walked past a city playground and paused to look in at it.

There were fillies and colts running around, playing tag. Their parents weren't far off, keeping an eye on them, but mostly letting them be foals. Two fillies were off by themselves, dolling themselves up with a makeup kit they seemed quite proud to have. They were a bit young for full makeup, but that didn't stop them from trying to assume glamour, and the adults weren't reacting poorly.

It was all quite nice really. Prickle raised a hoof, considering trying to join, but that same hoof came down. If she reached out to tag someone and got a little excited, she could knock a foal across the playground. She could try to play with the makeup fillies... That seemed safe. She dared approach them with an uncertain smile. "Hey..."

They looked up at her, surprise worn before it became caution just as quickly. The larger of the two clapped the kit shut and shoved it behind herself. "Like, hey... who are you?"

"Oh, me?" She pointed at herself. "I'm Prickle Berry, nice to meet you."

The smaller reached out a hoof. "Hello, Prickle. Um, your... it's streaking a little..."

The larger blinked and leaned in. "Oh yeah, look at that. Want us to fix that for you?"

Prickle had no idea what they were referring to. "What's wrong?"

The kit came back out and the filly grinned. "Your streaking a little. Did you get wet? That'll do it every time!"

The smaller one popped the kit back open and got out a puffball that she strapped onto the end of one of her hooves. "You were smart to come to us. We'll fix you up in just a moment."

Prickle didn't fight them. Hay, that was what she came for. She tried to be still as they began powdering her face, then brushing it. As they worked, she realized what they had seen. Her tears had left lines in her fur, and they were cleaning that away. She wouldn't look like a distressed filly at least. She smiled a little as they fussed over her. It was kind of nice. "You two are good at this."

The larger one gave a little chuckle. "We've been practicing." She leaned back a little. "Just a little..."

"Yeah," whispered out the smaller, agreeing without many words being shared." She dipped her puffball in some color and gently touched it to Prickle, applying cosmetics to her carefully. "We'll make you shine!"

Prickle wasn't sure she wanted to shine, but she did want the company, and to just be... not strong... for the moment. She was happy to just sit there and let them use her as a canvas.

The larger one and the smaller one met eyes and they nodded at one another. She pulled out a small mirror and held it up for Prickle to see.

She was transformed. She had eye shadow and mascara on her eyes and a subtle blush of color worked into her cheeks. She really was dolled up. Prickle smiled at her reflection. No one looking at that would think they were anything more than an adorable filly, not some super-strong freak... "T-thank you... It's... It's really nice."

The two let out a shared gasp and jumped up as if their bottoms had been pinched. They looked at one another and their eyes quickly slid down to one another's rump, where new marks were found. One looked like an eye with a brush going through the lashes, the other was a big cosmetic puffball. They burst into delighted giggles.

They would be cosmetologists, and they couldn't look happier about it.

As they dashed away, likely to show off their new cutie mark to their parents or friends, Prickle stood up and got to walking for the exit. She had gotten her own mark some time ago, and its meaning was far less happy. She was a hedgehog. No matter how much a hedgehog may want to be friendly, it would always be dangerous. It couldn't help it, it was just its nature. She was that, and it was branded for all the world to see right on her sides as a clear warning to all that approached her.

She looked back at the symbol of her destiny, thinking of when she got it, saving a little hedgehog from a much larger and deadlier creature. In a contest of danger, a hedgehog could not compete with her, and the monster had even less of a chance. Her quills...

She thought back to the contest. She could lift the world. She could break it, break it all. She could destroy everything everyone loved. She sank on the sidewalk, barely aware of ponies and carts rolling past her.

Prickle squeaked as a pony bumped right into her. "H-hey!" She had been sitting down. How did someone run into her? The stallion muttered something, but was quickly leaving.

That's when Prickle noticed her pockets felt emptier. "Hey!" She repeated, far louder as she bounced up to her hooves. She didn't normally go around with many bits, so having them vanish was not something she could ignore. "Give those back!" The stallion burst into a run through the crowd, shoving other ponies aside. He was making good time, and Prickle could see far too many places he could duck into.

She brought down a hoof in a sudden bang. "Stop!" As if the call itself had force, it traveled out in a wave. Ponies and carts upended as the floor rippled beneath them. The stallion peeked back in time for his eyes to go wide. The shock wave threw him up a few inches and he came down on his side, joining the groaning mass of ponies on the sidewalk.

She bounded, closing the distance to the downed stallion in one sure hop. "Give me back my bits!" She was furious, shaking with sudden anger. "Give it back right now, or I'll..."

"Here! Here!" The stallion began to drop everything he had, her bag of bits included. "Just don't hurt me!"

Prickle's anger fizzled at the expression of horror on the bandit's face. The sound of moaning reached her ears and she realized just how many innocent ponies she had knocked down, carts she had casually flung aside, and other damage she had inflicted in her moment of hasty thinking.

With a trembling hoof, she snatched up her bag of bits. "T-thank you." She turned tail and galloped away as quickly as she could, putting the whole scene behind her. She ran. She was good at running. She had been running away from the things that scared her since she was a little foal. Run, hide, and wait for it to pass over. That was the safest way. No one would be hurt if she did that...

Prickle slumped against a brick wall, heaving for breath. The whole thing was far behind her, but it never really would be. She would always be... a hedgehog.


Small lifted her shoulders. "I was hoping she just went home, so we came to check."

Applejack put a hoof to her head. "Right right. Let's..." She trailed off a moment. "Tell ya what, how about ya two head up to Twilight's and Ah'll check in with her mother." She pointed up at the large purple tower. "She's right neighborly, just tell her Applejack sent ya. She already knows one of ya."

Immovable bobbed her head at that. "Uh huh. This way." She turned to lead the way towards the very large building they could all already see without help. "Let us know what she says."

Small trotted alongside Immovable. "You're not even going to try?"

"Try what?" Immovable's tone carried her confusion. "We just have to wait."

"Finding out who Tiny Titan's mom is, who she is?" Small wobbled a hoof as if trying to encompass everything.

Immovable shook her head. "I'm her sidekick, and her friend... When she wants me to know, then she'll tell me. I won't... I won't force it." She suddenly burst into giggles. "Besides, it's more fun when she forces me."

Small's eyes rolled. "You have no idea how weird that sounded," she snorted out as she walked, tail flicking.

Immovable stuck out her tongue. "I will sit and wait patiently. That's basically my super power, and I'm darn good at it."

Author's Note:

Emotions. Emotions everywhere!

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