Twinkle/TOCP's Thirty Minute Ponies Stories

by Twinkletail

Prompt #16: The New Mare in Town

The prompt: Whatever happened to the Mare Do Well costume(s)?

"Come on, Spike!" Twilight said in that lilty, somewhat-motherly-yet-at-the-same-time-respectful tone that she would often speak to Spike in. "Only one more box to sort!" The two had been spending the day cleaning out Twi's basement, as it had grown quite cluttered. The space was supposed to be used for her occasional delves into the world of mad science, and a clean mad scientist was a happy mad scientist. Although that was probably an oxymoron.

"What do you want me to do with this?" Spike asked, pulling a costume out of one box. Twilight looked at the purple and blue costume and chuckled a bit.

"I can't believe I forgot to throw this out!" Twilight said. "Rainbow Dash would probably be annoyed if she knew I still had it." She floated the Mare-Do-Well costume over, inspecting it. It was still in pristine condition, just the way she left it (save for a few creases from being folded in a box for so long). She had no need for it, though, and Dash's reaction to seeing it was not one that she particularly wanted to witness.

"Should we throw it out?" Spike asked. A nod from Twilight sealed the deal.

Meanwhile, a young colt was passing by the library. He often took this route to his best friend's house. He never had any interest in visiting the tree-turned-library, but today, for some reason, his gaze turned towards the building. He didn't know why; he certainly didn't feel like reading. Maybe he was meant to look at the library today; maybe something interesting was going to happen there! Just as he thought this, the door opened, and Spike placed a box of garbage on the doorstep. The door closed, and the colt took a few steps forward. He was nosy sometimes, and for some reason he just had a feeling that he should be looking through this particular garbage. As he approached the box, he gasped. Was that...the costume of the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well?! Surely it had been thrown away by mistake...but one pony's mistake was another pony's opportunity! The colt snatched the costume from the box and ran back towards home, beaming the entire way.

"Moooooooooooom!" Snips shouted as he entered his house. "You gotta do me a favor!!" Snips’ mom looked up as she heard her little pride and joy call for her. It was tough raising a rambunctious child like Snips while also trying to keep up her trade as a tailor, and she was very busy working on alterations for a recent customer, but for her little Snips, she could take a break.

"What is it, kiddo?" Snips’ mom asked, trotting into the room. Suddenly, everything went dark. She shook her head out and pulled the costume that Snips had thrown at her off of her head. "What's this?"

"I need you to alter this costume so that it fits me!" Snips said, bouncing excitedly. "That way, I can dress like a real-life superhero, and all the fillies and colts at school will HAVE to be my friends! Then I'll be the most popular colt ever to be in Miss Cheerilee's class!" Snips’ mom chuckled. He sure was a hoof-ful.

"Alright, honey," Snips’ mom said, starting to trot back into her workroom. "I'll have it ready by tomorrow morning!" Snips cheered loudly. He couldn't wait for tomorrow. Snails was an awesome friend to him, but he didn't like not having any other friends in school. That would all change after tomorrow, though.

"Uhh...Snips?" Snails said, in his usual slow pace, as the two trotted towards school the next morning. "You look sorta different."

"I'm in a superhero costume, Snails!" Snips said. "Everypony loves superheroes! When I show up in Miss Cheerilee's class like this, everypony will be so impressed, and I'll have all the friends I could ever need!"

"Uh...I'm your friend, Snips," Snails said, grinning blankly.

"I know!" Snips said. "But soon I'll be friends with EVERYPONY!" The two continued on their way to school. Snails kept his vacant smile, even though he knew something was wrong. Snips was going to become popular and get all the friends he could ever want. He wanted to be happy for him, but something in the back of his mind frustrated him. Why wasn't he enough of a friend for Snips?

"BEHOLD!" Snips shouted as he burst into Miss Cheerilee's classroom. "It is I, the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well!" The fillies and colts in the classroom stared at the pudgy superhero standing in front of them. He took it all in, beaming behind his mask. He had the attention of the entire class! Next would be the calls of admiration, the offers to be his friend, the...

"Ya DO know that 'mare' means GIRL, right Snips?" Apple Bloom offered. She regretted it the moment she said it, because it was then that the rest of the class started laughing.

"Snips is a maaaare!" Silver Spoon said.

"SNIPS IS A MAAAARE!" Diamond Tiara repeated. Pretty soon the majority of the class was chanting those four words at the little colt. He tried to say something, but it was quickly drowned out by the chanting class. Snips was glad he was wearing his mask, because that way, the class couldn't see him begin to tear up as he ran out of the room. Snails frowned and followed him.

"What a looooooser!" Diamond Tiara laughed. She was met with a cold glare by Apple Bloom, before she too exited the room. Diamond Tiara shrugged and continued to laugh.

Snips had slumped against a tree just outside the classroom. There was no way he could show his face, masked or otherwise, in that room again after what had just happened. It wasn't fair...he was supposed to be a cool superhero...he was supposed to have all the friends he ever wanted.

Snails sat down next to Snips. "Uh...are you okay, Snips?" he asked. "Uh...I mean, Mare-Do-Well?" Snips just shook his head.

"No," Snips said. "Just Snips." The pudgy little pony looked down forlornly, and Snails frowned even more. He then looked up to Apple Bloom, who had just arrived. Bloom sat on Snips’ other side and patted him on the back. Snips looked at her through the costume's sky-blue eyes.

"Aren't you gonna laugh at me too?" Snips asked. Bloom shook her head.

"Ah ain't," she said. "S'not nice what they said ta ya. Where'd ya get that anyhow?" Snips looked down.

"I took it from the garbage at the library," he said. "I thought being a superhero would get me all the friends I'd ever want."

"Uhh...I'm your friend, Snips," Snails said, as slowly as ever.

"An' Ah'll be yer friend too," Bloom said. "An' Ah'm sure Scootaloo an' Sweetie Belle will be too! We know how it feels ta feel like ya don't got any friends." Snips looked up at the two and smiled, although it was still hidden behind his mask. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe he did have all the friends he'd ever need.

Comments

[Makokam]

It's funny how the obvious can be so obvious but still be beyond your grasp. As soon as Snips took the costume I knew it was not going to go well. I just couldn't figure out how. Then, as soon as he said, "It is I, the Mysterious Mare-do-well!" I went, "oh crap" and then Applebloom went ahead and said exactly what was hovering just out of my reach until the previous line.