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Prickle Berry Tries to Be Careful

by David Silver

Chapter 30: 30 - From On High

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When Prickle emerged from her bath, dressed and disguised, she saw her mother looking at her oddly. "Is something wrong?"

She shook her head. "Your friend came by. I was confused at first, but nopony is what they seem to be right now." She pointed. "Your books and homework are here. Do you have time to finish it before bed?"

Prickle brightened and hurried to the table. She grabbed her notebook in her mouth and had it flipped open an instant later. Quill in mouth, she got to writing industriously. Homework seemed like a welcome relief from anything else bothering her at the moment, and she threw herself at it.

Junebug shook her head a little. "That is a workable answer. Thank you, Prickle. Your teacher will be grateful as well. I can't imagine every colt and filly is going to be equally as industrious right now."

Prickle glanced up a moment before resuming her work. It was math, and not even especially hard math. Math was nice and predictable. It was much like her life had not been. Still, she didn't have a had time imagining some foals were busy being distracted by whatever new body they found themselves in.

She found herself daydreaming as she worked a little, wondering what other forms she could have ended up in. She could be an old wobbly pony, that would have been awkward. She coulda been a stallion! No thanks. She coulda been a pegasus and tried flying, though she lacked the practice even Scootaloo had and imagined it would involve a lot of crashing and false starts and not a lot of actual flight.

Instead, she was a unicorn.

Then it hit her and she smiled. She imagined the quill floating. It took a few tries, but she soon had the quill bobbing beside her snout instead of in it. With a little giggle, she imagined the words she wanted to write and the quill set itself to the task, sort of. The words were being written, but her mouth was far more trained than her mental grip. It was sloppy, though it was also working, and that was kind of exciting. She clopped her larger hooves as she watched the quill obey her will.

"Little Porcupine." Junebug was peering at her skeptically. "I know you're curious, but you're an earth pony." The expression turned to a warm smile. "You are... Everything an earth pony should be, come to think. You're incredibly strong, and willing to help others. Gentle giants, that's what an earth pony is." She rest a hoof on Prickle's head. "We'll get this sorted quickly, I hope."

Prickle tilted her head at her mom. What was she worried for? "I like... being me, but I'm not me right now." It was only after she said it that she realized what she had said and the quill flopped to the tabletop. "I like being me," she echoed breathlessly. She was certain that wasn't true just a few weeks prior. She hated being a freak and outcast, but... Everypony liked her... Everypony... wanted to see her. She was still strong, but everypony liked that too.

She sat up, squirming as she did so. "I like being me," she whispered.

Junebug sat down behind her and reached her forehooves forward. She hugged her oversized foal gently. They sat there in silence. Prickle wasn't sure when she had started, but a tear had fallen free of her snout, splashing on her homework.

They were quiet the rest of the evening, and Prickle eventually went to bed, barely fitting with her considerably larger mare body.

The next morning, Prickle trot to school. She had her homework and her supplies and she felt ready to tackle the day!

Then she arrived at the schoolhouse. She delayed in the doorway, pace slowing to a hesitant walk. Half the class were adults, squeezed uncomfortable into their desks. She could only imagine most of the rest were scrambled among themselves.

"Move it," came a familiar authoritative voice. Prickle spun around to see Diamond's butler peering at her. "You're not the only one here." It was clearly Diamond, and she walked past with her aged snout upturned.

"She's a little mad," came Silver Spoon's voice from the body of Diamond Tiara just after her. "Can you blame her?"

Prickle glanced at the old form Diamond had been given then quickly shook her head. "I'd be mad too."

Silver gave a friendly smile, which looked very out of place on Diamond's face. "You got a nice one, wait... Isn't that the pony that did this?"

Other foals looked towards Prickle with renewed interest.

It was exactly the sort of attention that Prickle didn't work and her jaw clenched a little.

She was saved by the arrival of Snails, er, Cheerilee. "Alright class, everyone into their seat." But then she noticed Prickle and winced a moment. "Which foal are you?"

"Prickle Berry," she quickly identified herself, then dashed to her desk to awkwardly cram herself into it. "Ready!"

Cheerilee nodded. "Very good. Now kindly pass your homework to the front of the class. I understand this is a very... trying time, but school must go on. I won't be counting today's homework against anypony that missed it, but those who did do it are getting extra credit."

Prickle beamed proudly even as she heard soft groans from ponies who had undoubtedly missed the chance for extra points. She accepted the papers passed from behind her and added hers to the pile.

Cheerilee began her lesson. "Today seems like a fine day to go over this, since some of you are undoubtedly confused and concerned." She pulled down a sheet of paper that had an anatomical drawing of a pony on it, two of them, mare and stallion. "Let's go over the difference between a mare and a stallion."

There were a few titters and chuckles through the room, but many were blushing and looking awkward. Prickle was a little curious, but had no vested interest. She thanked Destiny for that.

Cheerilee broke it all down for her class. She didn't get into how foals were made 'That's for later,' she had admonished. She had gone over basically everything else there was to know.

At lunch, Prickle spied Rainbow Dash as a clear hint of where the CMC were, and Silver and Diamond were not hard to spot. Sweetie Belle was there, just beside Scootaloo. Prickle became curious and trotted over. "Sweetie, are you still you?"

"Yep," she said with a grin. "I stayed inside like my sister told me and I didn't get zapped. I mean, beside that one moment when I came to see what the shouting was about, but the zapper wasn't around, lucky me." She pointed a hoof at Prickle. "You're all grown up."

Scootaloo put a hoof behind her head, clearly wanting to say something, but she didn't.

Featherweight shook his head. "Well, the way ah see it, the sooner this is fixed, the better." Oh, it was Apple Bloom. "Why's featherweight have to be so... small?"

Scootaloo shrugged her enlarged shoulders then looked to Prickle. "Hey, uh, your secret's safe with me."

That got Apple Bloom and Sweetie's attention, and confusion. Sweetie tilted her head one way and the other. "It's safe with all of us, isn't it?"

Apple Bloom nodded her coltish head. "What brings that up all of ah sudden?"

Prickle knew. She knew and she smiled. "Thank you." She hopped up to join them and got out her lunch pail.

Sweetie pointed up at Prickle's new horn. "Can you use it?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah." She opened the package that held her food easily, unveiling a large apple and a glass container of something her mother had prepared. "I think my horn's already big and strong, magicly, from its, you know, original owner. I'm clumsy, but it works."

Sweetie stuck out her tongue. "Do you have any idea how much I had to practice before I could do anything? Cheater!" She didn't sound as angry as her words implied, and she got back to smiling and eating.

Apple Bloom snorted. "You two got lucky. Ah can barely help around the farm at all like this." She pointed at Scootaloo in her rainbow-hinted body. "You got one of the top athletes in town." She pointed at Prickle. "And you got to try being a unicorn, even if ah think yer better off as an earth pony."

Sweetie cocked a brow at that. "What's wrong with being a unicorn?"

"Nuthin'," Apple Bloom quickly assured. "Nuthin' at all, but that ain't what Prickle is, now is it? Ya want to be strong again, right?"

Prickle didn't immediately reply. She was stuck facing her previous doubts. She would have been so grateful to be not-strong just a short time ago, but then everything changed. She clopped her hooves slowly, tapping them. "Do you like it when I'm strong?"

Scootaloo leaned forward. "Don't you? You're a literal super hero! It's awesome! Of course we like it, but we like you, super hero or not. I mean--" She suddenly cut herself off as another pony approached.

It was Diamond Tiara, who hopped up right beside Prickle. "You're Prickle, right?"

"Yeah?" Prickle felt a cold sweat form. She wasn't sure how to interpret Diamond's tone.

"Huh, so you're her. Let's see who she is." She reached up for Prickle's face. Prickle fell backwards in sudden panic, falling right off the bench to the ground in a mess of hooves. "What are you freaking out about? We know it isn't you. Let's just see who messed us all up." Diamond slid her old body down, walking around towards Prickle.

Apple Bloom raised a hoof and took on the look of a clever filly, er, colt. "Actually, we don't have no proof that was the pony that did done anything. They coulda switched tons of times, from unicorn ta unicorn 'till they were caught."

Diamond furrowed her wrinkly brow. "Huh... You have a point there... How will we know who she, or he, was in the first place?"

Sweetie shrugged softly. "Princess Celestia will figure it out, or at least help Twilight get back to normal, then she can figure it out. She's a very smart pony. I bet she'll have it all calculated in no time at all."

Prickle gathered herself back to her new hooves. "Even if it wasn't, um, her, I don't want to take away her secret for her. It's not mine to give away."

Diamond rolled her eyes. "What would you know about that anyway?" The table grew quiet. "What? Anyway, anypony get word about when they're fixing this? I don't want to be like this longer than I have to be."

Apple Bloom gave a bucked smile. "Ah'm sure they're workin' on it right now. 'fact ah wouldn't be surprised none if Celestia came ridin' down right now on her chariot."

All eyes turned towards Canterlot, but no such chariot greeted them.

Author's Notes:

Answers? Solutions? Nah, just typos.

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Next Chapter: 31 - She Arrives Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 57 Minutes
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