After finally retiring from his full-time job as a caretaker for the Canterlot Petting Zoo, Snails finds himself lost in a void of uncertainty. No longer will he have to work a day in his life, but at what cost? Distraught and laden with melancholic dread the stallion hastily seeks the comfort of his dear childhood friend, Snips. They talk over their futures, and eventually, their very lives.
((Contains M/M Shipping
Special thanks to Dragon Emperor Geon for additional editing!
Featured on EQD on 5/25/2012))
Chapters (2)
This one looks really good, reading ASAP!
Looks good, really tried, and I'll read it later.
EDIT: Read it, very nice.
Manly tears
I love this read later button. Really useful for people who need to procrastinate to procrastinate.
I wonder if they've gotten any smarter. I shall be back soon.
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SNIPS AND SNAILS SHIPPING?
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Exhausted... To the read later list...
Nice story. Very cute, sweet, and makes me think about when I get old.
Awesome job!
I would have never thought to match his cutie mark with a slow-pace style of work, well done for that!
That awkward moment when you think your boss is about to make a move on you. Well that's what I thought at first glance, haha.
WOW I AM SLOW. Snips = scissors mark = barber. It all makes sense now!
Next chapter!
636865
Why thank you~ It looks like everything is going...
Exactly as planned
...
The boss is pretty much the epitome of pointless characters, but goddammit; I wanted a stallion with a fruity cutie mark that makes weird moves on his employees! It fits the theme... at least. Kinda.
636949
And again.
To clarify; this is a sort of unofficial sequel to "Dinner" in that I wanted to focus on how aging isn't a bad thing. It's inevitable, but it isn't something to be feared so long as you have warm connections to help you through it. I wanted it to be happy... kinda. The only sadness I see is that even at old age, Snips and Snails are still reluctant about the prospect of a relationship... but that's my own interpretation.
I actually really adore Snips and Snails... they're such underrated characters in that there's so much potential for them once they 'grow up'.
I love comments like yours. Hearing someone else's interpretation of my work always makes a crappy day better. Thanks for that c:
Physical disabilities with age seem daunting for many, but I don't think I'd mind much as long as I kept my mental state. I'm lazy enough as it is, and actually having an excuse would be pretty neat. Then again, I guess it depends on the seriousness of it, the way you described the shaking was quite scary- do not want. Still, Alzheimers sounds worse for me. Just my young opinion on an old matter, too much time left (hopefully) to worry about.
Don't have much else to say, I usually avoid sadfics in general when concerning characters from the show- I don't like the thought of them ageing and coming closer to the end- but actually giving the characters a personality and relationship was much better than their continued purpose of being idiots.
This story is now canon in my mind.
Very unique and touching!
620991 Now Snails is no longer foreveralone.jpg on that big shipping chart! :D
A wonderful read, especially for Snips and Snails fans who don't even like to ship them. You may have my cold, bloodies, severed thumbs.
This fic is beautiful... and I hope that Snips and Snails, even after so many years, decide to settle down with each other.
I may just be thick, but I wouldn't even see any kind of shipping aspect to this if it hadn't been made explicit by the tags. It seems to be a story about growing old, and friendship. Well-written, and mildly bittersweet.
This is kind of sad, but it was very well written. Great job!
Well I have no idea how this is going to turn out though the story is very well put together. I like that parts the keep hinting at Snail old age even though he doesn't seem to admit it to himself that he is old. From just this first glance it looks like to be about two friends reminiscing on their past lives and expect that despite the hardship of their lives they still have each others as friend and can smile, not be with each other romantically.
Truly what I thought from the romance tag that they would be thinking of their past romances in the younger days and how they didn't ended as they expected it to be. Though it is not exactly hinted at yet in the story, only reason why I'm thinking of it at all is cause of the comments below and I kind of hoping it doesn't.
For the time being I love the writing and will continue to read but I do have my standards and if it turns out to be what I think it is that is when I will stop. You may call them selfish or not but I am willing to admit the story has some great writing it is 'just not my cup of tea' in a way to put it for what I was expecting and wanting to read is all.
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Naw, this isn't going to continue. This was just a short story to act as a double bill with my "Dinner" piece. I did put in several references throughout that are meant to imply the current state of Snips and Snails' relationship. They're 'together', but in the sense that they feel inadequate when it comes to courting mares. They've never truly accepted the fact that they were in love with one another. I was strived for a subtle, underling theme regarding homosexuality in general.
The pegasi couple is meant to represent the potential that their relationship could have had. Their color schemes are a reflection of Snips and Snails', and they're seen near the end of the tale when Snails is having his mane cut, as a symbol of a sort of angelic tranquility that awaits them in the very near future.
I appreciate you taking the time to read.
It does mean quite a lot to me, even if this is probably some of my worst work. Near the end I literally had to force myself to write the rest. 
A very sweet, nice story. And although Snip and Snails have missed out on a classic relationship, I think they're happy with what they have.
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I like how there is a reply to a comment before the comment that was replied to was posted
This was....a beautiful story. I nearly cried. I'm not much for M/M shipping, but gosh darn this is beautiful. Now look, you made me cry over something I generally avoid.
Well done.
I ever stand in awe, though I notice with shame I never gave a comment here.
Beautiful. Touching. Moving. And heartbreaking. The ennui and fatigue of a long life dragging through the hammerblow-ticks of a day that means more than most in a job that is not really that much of a career. And then the second chapter... to meet what you could have been, long, long ago. Those two pegasi are both cruel and kind all at once. That they exist is a slap in the face, mocking things that never were. But they're also something more, an assurance that love lives, even in pairs often thought impossible. Also, the little thing about adotion and family activities was a sweet little touch.
Ol' Snips and Snails. The ship I call Puppy Dog Tails. Finally, I think, they see what they've always meant to one another.
1024078
I love getting comments like this.
I love it when people manage to point out things that I never really noticed myself while writing, in this case the subject of careers. I guess I never realized it myself, but Snips and Snails aren't really that 'important' in society. They're the everyday men, the kinds of folk that no one really notices or cares about...
Kinda makes it all just a bit more tragic, even accentuated by the two pegasi that, by their names alone, seem to have much more successful careers. I never even noticed that... dang.
Thanks for taking the time to write all that.
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Yea. They're important to themselves, and one another. But they have a... strange sort of import to others. Imagine if someone you see all the time in a casual capacity vanished. It's... jarring. It breaks the routine. Even the unimportant hold some portion of meaning in some small context. It might not shock and dismay as much as if a close confidante had vanished, but there's still something. That the pegasi remember the old man so well is a testament to that. Maybe he's not all that unimportant after all.
Meh, the sadness from growing up is the worst kind of sadness.
Wow, just wow! A great story! Never really thought about snails cutie mark being about taking time to look over his work carefully, and I can't believe I never thought of snips being a barber. Loved how this story is just a nice short story instead of an in depth and long novel like some, but it still makes you feel for snails. Great job with this, a like and favorite from me, which is defiantly deserved here.
A great story. I think it needs a Sad tag, though. Snips and Snails could've had so much...
I'm surprised Snails didn't get more flustered when those two pegasi talked to him. Lonely ol' boy. 
You get a like and a fav.
Beautifully written. I don't think it really needs the Romance tag, though.
Nice view of the future. Often we see grown-up foals being epic, or completelly miserable. You put Snips and Snails in the middle. Everyday stallions, and still wrote a great, moving tale. Well done