//------------------------------// // Snails 1/2 OVA SPECIAL: Winter Wrap-up Winter Wrap-up // Story: Snails 1/2: Vol 2 The Perfect Stallion // by kitsy-chan //------------------------------// Noot Noot. Noot Noot. Groaning, Snails thumped a hoof down on the “Off” button on his alarm and crawled out of bed. “I hate Winter Wrap-up.” It was the last day of winter, and like all ponies, Snails had to help out with the cleaning up of the season. Today, ponies all over Ponyville would be breaking up the ice, clearing the sky, and waking up the animals. While some of it was fun and easy, Snails’s dad would not have him doing something so simple as making bird nests. No. Not Snails. Walking over to his closet, Snails pulled out his green vest and blew the dust off it. He was a plow pony— his dad expected him to pull one of the plows for Applejack. He was supposed to help with the planting of the apples, carrots, celery stalks… and colorful flowers, too. He was expected to work so very hard; there’s just so much to do. Shaking himself out, Snails pulled on the vest and turned, heading downstairs. “Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad.” Gisa bounded over and landed on Snails’s back to get a lift downstairs. She let out a little giggle as she settled down, getting comfortable. “Ow, ow, ow! Claws!” Snails said, his tail and ears sticking straight up in alarm. “Yep! Griffins have claws!” Gisa replied, “Thanks for noticing.” Hopping off Snails’s back, Gisa sat happily at the breakfast table. “Not waiting for Escargot?” Long Haul asked. “Nope, too hungry.” Gisa said and swiped a muffin off of Snails’ plate. Snails shook his head and grabbed a muffin, starting to eat, himself. “I’m supposed to be on the Apple farm.” Snails said, “Applebloom will be there, too.” “Good to hear. I’ll be plowing the roads.” Long Haul said proudly. “This is the best time of year. Nopony is allowed to use magic, so everypony gets to get back to their true roots." A few minutes passed in quiet as the family munched on their breakfasts before nodding once, Snails stretched out. “I need to get to the farm. Bye, Mom.” As Snails turned, he found himself getting grabbed lightly by his mom. “Don’t forget your lunch.” Smiling, his mom dropped the saddlebag full of cheese and bread onto his back. “And remember to drink lots of water!” Nodding once and giving his dam a warm smile and a quick hug, Snails bounded out the door. “I will, Mom. Thanks!” *** Galloping through the city, Snails saw the girls off in the distance. Noi, Sweetie Belle, and even Dinky were playing with some of the small animals, but none of them had vests. Since they didn’t have their cutie marks yet, they weren’t officially assigned to teams. Looking back at his cutie mark, he wondered for a moment. What team would Escargot be put into? He supposed that she’d probably be given a brown vest and put on the animal team with Rarity and Fluttershy. They were less strict about magic on that team, too. Of course, the truth was that the weather team—with their flying around, clearing skies, moving clouds, and such—was all done magically. It was pegasus magic, but it was still magic. Snails wondered if a weather unicorn would be allowed to use their magic to help with Winter Wrap-up if it fell in line with their cutie mark. “Snails!” Jumping once with a start, Snails turned and smiled. “Appleboom! You got a green vest, too!” “Well duh! My sister wouldn’t have me in any other color.” Applebloom said, shaking her head with a smile. “Colts, sometimes.” Blinking, Snails huffed once before heading over and smiling at Applejack. “Here as ordered!” He said smartly, saluting. “Snails, ah have a special tractor waiting for you.” Applejack said, smiling. “It’s a smaller one, so it should be easy for you to push.” Applejack turned and brought Snails over to a small brown and green tractor. It was a little smaller then a half-sized model, but still like his father’s. “Thank you, Ma’am. I’ll do my best.” Snails said proudly. “Ah know you will.” Applejack said and poked his nose with a hoof, “and remember, no magic. Not like ah really need to worry or remind ya’.” Nodding proudly, Snails turned and started pushing. It was hard work—harder then he expected—but he had been practicing, so he was ready for this. At least his father would be proud about him, for once… he was doing something truly worthy of an earth pony. Looking over, Applebloom laughed. “Doing good, Snails!” Turning, she got to work herself by gathering food and drink and preparing to take the supplies out to the field. Wrapping up the season is very difficult labor, and the ponies in the field could dehydrate quickly, so she was filling cold water bottles and readying snack bags full of oat bars and salted snacks for all of the hard-working ponies. Once done with the prep, Applebloom loaded the tidily folded bags and sweaty bottles into Scootaloo’s wagon. With the supplies ready to be run out into the field by the little pegasus filly, Scoot could then zip out across the field, dropping off full water bottles and collecting empties to return back to Applebloom. In this way, the two could help everypony in the field. About a half hour into his work, Scootaloo stopped by Snails to offer him some water. Taking a big drink, Snails sighed. “Thank you, Scoots.” Suddenly, lightning traced across the skies as dark clouds started swirling over the town square. The speed and ferocity of the storm caught several of the pegasi off guard, chasing them away from the storm center. Blinking, Scootaloo and Snails shared a long and anxious look. “That’s not good.” Running up, Applebloom stopped by Scootaloo. “What do you think? Monster attack or friendship problem?” Scootaloo looked at the clouds, then back at her friend. “If it was friendship problem, it should be cleared up in about 24 minutes, right? This looks more like a monster attack to me.” Blinking, Applebloom looked at the clouds. “Yeah, too stormy for a friendship problem. Want to go see?” “Umm, girls? I don’t think its safe to go looking into something like that.” Snails said, gesturing at the ominous clouds and looking worried. “Colts sometimes! Such worry warts!” Applebloom said, then turned and galloped off toward the scene. Her sister had already started for town and she didn’t want to miss a moment of the action. Scootaloo buzzed along beside Applebloom on her scooter, zipping down the path and over the bridge. “I really don’t like this.” Snails said as he galloped as hard as he could towards the town. His heart pounded as he heard the laughing. He recognized it… it couldn’t be that bad if it was her. Could it? It had to just be a friendship problem. *** “Trixie is the most powerful!” Called out the light blue unicorn, her cloak flowing dramatically in the wind. Twilight Sparkle shielded her eyes from the wind. “Trixie, the Alicorn amulets corrupt their users. You can’t control power like that!” “I can’t? I can do anything with it! I can control the weather! I can control other ponies! I can control magic itself. The Great and Powerful Trixie controls it all!” Trixie called out. The town square was filled with cowering ponies watching the scene. Applebloom and Scootaloo joined the other foals by the statue in the center of town. Trixie stood defiant in front of Twilight. Rarity, Applejack, and the others stood with Twilight for moral support, but this was a purely magical battle. “Please, Trixie, you need to stop this!” Twilight cried out. “Stop? Stop what? I haven’t even started! I can even raise or lower the sun if I so desire! I am truly the Greatest and Most Powerful Trixie!” The unicorn retorted, her horn glowing brightly. Twilight shook her head, shouting back over the increasing winds, “It’s the amulet, not you, Trixie! You are just using its magic.” Trixie laughed loudly into the wind as thunder crashed through the sky. “Oh, but I am controlling it, Twilight Sparkle! Even aging spells are not a problem for the Great and Powerful Trixie!” Turning her horn, she looked at the cluster of foals, seeing Scootaloo curled in a ball; Sweetie Belle trembling; and Noi, Applebloom, and Dinky huddling together, utterly terrified. Lashing out, she fired a vividly red blast of powerful magic at the five girls. “NO!” Snails yelled and closed his eyes, suddenly teleporting into the path of the beam with a loud pop. He felt the energy hit his side and wash all around him, but he couldn’t let it get past him to the girls. He just couldn’t. He felt the years—the decades—flow though his body but didn’t budge from his spot, even using his own magic to pull more of Trixie’s beam toward him, channeling everything he could to keep the girls safe. The Crystal Heart pulsed. Even if it cost him his life, he wouldn’t let them get hurt; they meant too much to him. He couldn’t be the filly they wanted, but he could at least let them grow up to be the fillies they could be. He concentrated hard, drawing all of the energy to him. No pony could survive being that old. No unicorn. The Alicorn Amulet flared as it poured out more and more of its power. Trixie’s insane laughter again filled the air as, horn lowered, she stepped towards the colt who was so stupidly defying her will. Holding his ground Snails didn't move. Tears formed in his eyes as he looked to the girls. He would be there for them. Far away in Canterlot, Princess Celestia looked up from her throne. Rushing to a window, she bore witness to the massive column of red energy sparkling with pink rising up from Ponyville. No pegasus. The Amulet glowed bright white as Trixie dug her hooves into the ground, unleashing everything into the one who would stand against her. She would push through him eventually and age all the foals to prove that she was the best. Letting out a laugh that matched Kodachi in insanity, she let the energy flow unrestricted through her horn. The tears flowed free as Snails refused to budge, he would not let Trixie's magic reach the girls. Even at the cost of himself. He stood for them. For their chance to grow up and find their cutie marks. For their chance to live in friendship. Princess Cadence gasped as a warm feeling flowed over her and looked towards Canterlot. The Crystal Heart hummed and pulsed brightly from its stand at the base of her castle. No earth pony. The Amulet exploded into red shards, falling away from Trixie’s neck as its energy was depleted. Trixie blinked and shrieked, looking down at the broken remains of her might. Raining down like broken glass, the pieces tinkled and clinked as they hit the ground at her hooves. The red gem at its heart flicked once before turning black and cracking. Snails stood blinking as the light faded, his wings spread wide in shock as the Alicorn Amulet’s magic danced through his feathers and horn. Panting, he wasn’t sure what had happened… no pony should have been able to survive that. Looking back at himself, he saw his peach-pink flank with Escargot’s diamond cutie mark, the white lace sparkling in the light. His tail and mane flowed with ethereal energy. But a true alicorn princess. Everypony in town looked on in shock as dust and smoke from the Alicorn Amulet drifted away in the wind. Everypony stood in silence, looking at Snails, or… not Snails, but… Blinking, Escargot slowly looked between his forelegs and down his belly. The visions in the Crystal Heart, the mare, the princess… “Oh, buck.” *** Princess Luna shook her head slowly as her horn glowed brightly for a moment. Appearing beside Escargot, she looked at the alicorn mare who was nearly the same size as she was. Spreading her own wings, she looked Escargot up and down then looked around at the townsfolk. “I… I… I…” Escargot stammered, blushing brightly as he stared around at the shocked ponies staring at him. “Wow… you are kind of a looker all grown up!” Princess Luna said with a smile. Blinking, Escargot whined, “But I don’t wanna be a looker!” “Well then, you should probably wake up. But really, was this a dream, a nightmare, or simply a bad joke?” Luna said with a giggle.