Prickle trotted with a reserved little smile. It had been a good day, arguably a fantastic day. She was a strange little pony, but she was a loved strange little pony. She was starting to feel just a little peace with that fact.

With a thump, Immovable landed in front of her, wings wide in an obvious blocking stance.

Prickle stopped, tilted her head, then raised a hoof. "Hello."

"Hello, small filly." Immovable's wings retracted. "Have you seen Tiny Titan?"

Prickle's nose wrinkled. "You can stop that."

"Stop what?"

"I know you know." She reached up for her larger sidekick's nose and bopped it gently. "Thank you."

"Thank me?" Immovable shook her head. "I mean... is it... alright?"

"It is." Prickle flashed a big grin that only lasted a moment. "Immovable, I am Tiny Titan, hero of Ponyville, Atlas Avatar."

Immovable's wings gave a powerful flutter. "I am Immovable, Tiny Titan's proud partner and sidekick." She reached for her mentor and plucked her off the ground into a hug. "Invulnerable to most anything except the littlest word from her. You have no idea how much I hoped you'd tell me."

Prickle nuzzled into her friend and partner before wriggling free. "If you knew, why didn't you just... say so? Every other pony didn't hide it when they found out."

"Because you were blocking." Immovable tilted her head. "If you were blocking, you must have had a reason to block. If you had a reason to block, I, as a friend, would wait until you were ready."

Prickle tilted her head at her larger sidekick. "Are you blocking?"

Immovable looked distinctly uncomfortable a moment. "We all have... our things to block."

"Then I will wait, and be here." Prickle stood up and resumed her trot towards home. "When you're ready, you can talk to me. You're my sidekick, after all."

Immovable sat there staring after Prickle a moment before she rushed to catch up. "You're not going to force me?"

"You waited for me."

"But people walk around me, or fly over me." Immovable stomped a frustrated hoof. "They don't wait for me."

"Too bad. I am."

Immovable's jaw clenched a moment before she circled around Prickle in an an angry stomping and plopped herself down in front of the filly. "I'm in your way."

"You are," agreed Prickle, but she sat down and did not try to push past Immovable. "We can talk now, if you'd rather."

Immovable's wings spread wide. "We may have to wait until it's dark!"

"My mother will get worried, but I will wait." Prickle remained calm with a little smile. "We will wait until you're ready."

"What if I never move?!"

"Then we won't move." Prickle reached into her backpack and pulled out her notebook. "It's alright if I start on my homework, right?"

"Y-yeah..." Immovable watched as Prickle got comfortable and began scribbling with a pencil held in her snout. "You'll wait, even after that's done?"

Prickle released the pencil to speak, "Of course. Forever, if we have to."

"Forever?"

"Forever and ever."

Immovable squirmed in place. "Darn you, Tiny Titan..."

"Mmm?"

"You're so good at making me move." She rose up and pounced the filly, hugging her tight.

Prickle hugged in return and felt moisture drop on her shoulder. Immovable was shedding her tears quietly in the hug. "What's wrong?"

"Nopony ever just... waited for me. It was... always 'Hurry up.', 'Get out of our way.', or 'You're too slow!'" She lowered her head to be on Prickle's level. "Nopony wanted to wait for me, the slowest pegasus."

Prickle winced softly. "Then why did you keep getting in ponies ways, on purpose? Didn't that hurt more?"

"Every time they walked past me was... awful." She sagged in place. "Every time they flew over my head and said nasty things... Only one pony would wait for me." She quirked a little smile. "Only one pony wouldn't walk around me... Prickle Berry, will you marry me?"

Prickle's eyes widened even as her pupils contracted. "Woah woah woah! Slow that right down!" Her voice had become a shrill cry but she stopped herself and took a slow breath. "I'm not ready for that. I'm not even a mare yet!"

"Then I'll wait." Immovable nodded. "I'm good at that." She glanced away and back. "I want us... to be partners, forever."

Prickle slumped a moment before she rose, starting to gather her dropped pencil and notebook. "For now, we're partners, mentor and sidekick. That's plenty."

"I'm happy being your sidekick." Immovable hopped straight up, bouncing in place. "Oh, what about Small?"

Prickle tilted her head. "She's nice, but doesn't she want to go home?"

"Well, she isn't either of our sidekicks... but superpony teams aren't always just those anyway. I bet if we asked, she might say yes."

"She might not."

"We won't know if we don't ask."

Prickle pointed towards her home. "Then we'll ask, but no pressure. If she wants to go home, we let her. It's alright to just be friends. If we invite every hero we find to be a team, that'll get silly really fast."

Side-by-side, the two made their way home. "Say." Immovable glanced aside at Prickle. "Should I get a superpony name?"

Prickle giggled softly. "You already have one. You'd need a normal pony name, and a normal pony identity."

Immovable's movement slowed. "Would you... help with that? Can you help me be a normal pony?"

Prickle could feel hurt there, and it was a hurt she had felt herself all too many times. "I... would be honored..." A quirk of a smile appeared. "But you'll never be normal, and that's alright. We're both rarities, and that's okay."

"We're both tailors?"

Prickle prodded her invulnerable ally in the side. "You are too silly sometimes."

As they reached home, Small hopped down from the roof. "Hey! Good to see you back, Prickle."

"Hello Small." Prickle dipped her head. "We had a question."

"Yeah?"

"Did you want to join our team, opposing forces?" She waved between herself and Immovable.

Small chuckled softly. "And if I did, how would I fit the theme? You two are the opposing forces."

Immovable suddenly looked so very smug and proud. "You would be the fulcrum, the balance." She pointed at Small. "You're stronger than me. You're tougher than her. You're weaker than her and squishier than me. You are the balance."

Prickle perked an ear at Immovable. "When did you learn that word?"

Immovable sat up tall. "I looked it up. I wanted to say just the right thing. So, gonna join?! We could kick bad ponies and monsters right in the rump and protect Ponyville!" She gave a powerful flap as her hooves rubbed against one another. "Say yes!"

Prickle held up a hoof. "Calm down. Small, it is entirely your decision to make, so no hard feelings either way."

Small shook her head. "Tempting, but nah. Ponyville's too small for me, which is funny just saying. I need a big city. I need action. You two have this place covered just fine." She spread her forelegs, balancing on her hind. "But that don't mean I don't want us being real friends! So you two better come visit once in awhile, right?"

They closed in and all three shared a firm embrace.

Small stepped back. "I'm going to head back to Baltimare. Somepony has to keep an eye on the place, and I don't trust the bigger heroes to do it right, ya know? You two wouldn't be up to joining me there? I might say yes then."

Prickle gave a slow shake of her head. "You know I can't do that..."

"Yeah, was pretty sure." She grinned at Prickle. "Stay in school, finish becoming a mare that they'll be writing legends about in the future. I'll be sure to pick up your comic when it comes out."

Immovable blinked with surprise. "They'll make a comic about us?!"

"I'd be shocked if they didn't." Small turned away. "So keep doing what you're doing, and I'll be glad to read about the adventures of my friends." With a powerful leap, she vanished, bounding off into the distance and to her own home.

Prickle watched her go before she advanced on her door. "I'm home!"

"Hello, little hedgehog." Junebug greeted her daughter with a hug and a kiss. "How was school?"

"School was... great, and... so is everything else." Prickle set her homework down on the table to get to shortly. "Oh! Immovable knows, and is allowed to know."

Junebug quirked a funny smile at Immovable. "I'm glad that awkwardness is behind us. Immovable, would you like to join us for dinner?"

Immovable tilted her head. "That sounds funny. Prickle, what's my not-super name?"

Prickle frowned in thought a moment. "You can be... Storm Stopper, a weather pegasus that specializes in stopping bad weather."

Immovable suddenly burst into joyful giggles. "Do you think they'd take me?! That would be fun!"

Prickle smiled gently at her friend. "I bet they would, especially with that name and specialty. We just have to get you some normal clothes, or you could just take off your super suit."

"Oh yeah." Immovable quickly shed her clothes, becoming a normal pegasus. "Ta da! Storm Stopper, ready for duty!"

Junebug gave a soft clop of applause. "Nice to meet you, Storm Stopper. Now have a seat and I'll get us something to eat."

So they ate together. They became a family. A curious family, to be sure, but one with love and support, and none of the three had complaints on the arrangement.

Author's Notes:

Fin. I hope this story brought joy to read.

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