What are Little boys made of?

by DaisyDaedal

First published 17th of May, 2015

Snips and Snails begin to wonder about how their Cutie Marks will apply to their future, and how it'll affect their social standing

Snips and Snails have their Cutie Marks, but finding out what they want for a career is hard. Snails would rather stay young and carefree, but Snips knows who he wants to grow up to be. Will Snips be able to face the teasing that may come from that dream? Can Snails grow like his friend, or will their difference in ambition break their friendship apart?

Part 1- Friday

Snails was supposed to have gone to sleep at least an hour ago. It certainly would’ve been easy for him. He was wearing his red footie pajamas and lying under a sheet, comforter, and three layers of quilts to protect him from the winter storm brewing outside. But the lanky, tan unicorn colt had spotted something that was unusual for the winter months.

It absorbed his attention. In the upper right corner on the ceiling above his bed was a small spider web that had been spun since his mother cleaned last.

Snails knew the gray long-legged spider sitting in the web was a harmless to ponies- Daddy Long-legs. But what kept him from sleeping was trying to remember its scientific name. Last field trip to the library he had snuck a peek at a book about Arachnoids, and he took some pleasure pronouncing the long fancy words ponies had given the spiders. He knew he had looked this spider up, but as he gazed at the tiny creature in the dim light he produced with his horn, the name escaped him. Pholcus phal..?

He had been aware of the hushed voices of his parents in their room next to his, but hearing his name spoken made his ears focus on the words. Their voices were still too soft to make out, but his curiosity was peaked. He crept out of bed, shuddering a little in the stale cold air outside his bed, and he tiptoed to the wall separating his and his parents’ room plus pressed his ear against it.

“He has his cutie mark, it’ll all work out,” Snails’ father was saying.

“But we don’t know how he got it! And I worry that his passion in life is ‘taking things slow’. How can he make a career with that? Whom can he apprentice under?” his mother’s worried voice chittered.

“Maybe a massage therapist? Or a guidance counselor?” his father tried to suggest.

“But he’s not good with dealing with others! I just don’t know what to do with my colt…”

Snails sighed quietly and tiptoed back to bed. His mother was always trying to give him different stuff to do, and always looked worried when he didn’t seem interested so this conversation made a lot of sense. But finding out what he wanted to do with his talent always seemed so grown up. He was still a colt. He would worry about that later.

“Pholcus phalangioides!” he muttered to himself, as the name for the spider finally came to him. Cozy under the covers, he finally drifted off to sleep.

***

Snips had a full belly- he had eaten two servings of his Mom’s best-in-the-world Oatmeal that contained many dried fruits, chopped apple, walnuts, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Maybe the other little colts would’ve flinched at the presence of raisins in their food, but to Snips it just added to the Oatmeal harmony. Usually breakfast was enough to keep him warm for the day, but today it was snowing- so Snips got to break out his favorite navy and custard hat plus scarf combo that he thought looked best against his pale-green fur.

He was trying to decide whether he wanted to tie his scarf so the ends went over one shoulder or both when his mother called from the next room.

“SNIPS! Snails is here!”

“Coming Ma!” he answered, quickly flinging the loose ends of his scarf over one shoulder as he left his room.

“Are you sure you won’t need a sweater?” the chubby emerald-coated unicorn asked when she saw her little colt.

“I’m sure, Ma.”

“Don’t forget your snowshoes!” she added while levitating a ‘Trixie the magnificent’ lunchbox to her son with her magic.

“I was just about to put them on!” he whinnied, stashing the lunchbox into a saddlebag. Since he wasn’t good enough to do it with his magic yet, Snips pulled on his little yellow shoe boots with his hooves and got a goodbye kiss from his mom before racing outside to meet Snails.

“Yo dude!” Snips called out.

“Yo,” Snails answered, bro-hoofing his friend. It was freezing in the two feet of snow that covered Ponyville, but Snails always preferred to wait outside. Snips was okay with that, as his Ma was embarrassing, but in the winter it seemed silly. Snails was also dressed for cold weather, wearing a plum and evergreen scarf and hat set that Snips had given him two Hearts Warming Eves ago. It went very well with Snails’ yellow coat and light green mane. Snips envied his friend’s long legs as they kept Snails above the snow, which occasionally brushed Snips’ belly as he walked. It sure was chilly.

Snails, a slow talker in most cases, seemed to slow even more in the wintertime, walking around like a pony half asleep. Snips didn’t understand it. Wintertime was awesome! Hot cocoa, snowball fights, snow forts, and one other reason he wouldn’t tell anypony, lest he be teased half to death.

They crunched through the snow silently for a minute before Snips became bored.

“That homework load last night was the worst! I think Miss Cheerilee is trying to kill us!”

“Uh-huh,” Snails replied.

“Do you think she’ll give us a pop-quiz today?

“Uh-huh.”

“And then space invaders will come and kidnap Trixie so she’ll make her outfit for them.”

“Uh-huh.” Snails, trudging on through the snow, failed to notice his friend fall behind. He did notice the cold, hard, and wet, sensation that hit his flank and crumbled on impact.

“Hey!” Snails shouted in surprise, whirling around to see another snowball barely miss him. Much more awake now, the colts started scrambling around the snow to make more snowballs, hiding behind trees and laughing hard.
They were very late for class.

***

Snails probably would’ve gotten better grades in his math class if he didn’t spend his time adding legs to his numbers instead of adding the numbers together. But he couldn’t help making his eights into spiders and his ones into centipedes.

“Five minutes left, class,” Miss Cheerilee called out from her desk in front of the chalkboard. Snails was in trouble. All the extra lines made it hard to remember what the numbers actually were. Around him the eleven other students in their small one-roomed classroom seemed finished. Even Snips seemed relaxed.

Snails squinted at the bugs on his paper, trying to remember what numbers they used to be. Snails’ father had warned him that one more bad test and he wouldn’t get dessert until he brought his grades up and who knew when that would be? Reluctantly he erased the extra lines, missing the bugs already. The clock above the chalkboard said he had three minutes left. Furiously, he scrambled to answer as many problems as he could.

“Pencils down class,” his magenta furred teacher called out. Snails had only managed to complete the first four problems out of twenty this time. Quickly he wrote random numbers for the rest of the questions. The purple earth pony filly behind him tapped her test impatiently on his shoulder. Adding his to the pile, Snails passed the test sheets forward, he squirming in his seat.

School was the worst. In addition to having poor grades, Snails was uncomfortable at his desk. His long limbs didn’t fit as neatly in his seat as they used to. He was big for his age, he told himself. He didn’t want to admit it, but most ponies his size with their cutie marks had already moved on to their pony apprenticeships. Sure, some ponies returned to class on odd days if advanced subjects were needed for their job, but most stayed away.

The nastiest thing about ponies being at different levels in the same class was that many ponies around you had different tests. Snails couldn’t even cheat a little to bring his grade up. Goodbye desserts.

“Okay class, today I’m continuing our series of career talks with a special guest. Please get your notebooks ready while I see if she’s here,” Miss Cheerilee said. Papers shuffled around and hushed conversation broke out while she walked to the school’s front door. Snails had a wonderful thought.

“Do you think its Trixie?” he whispered to Snips in the seat to his right. The periwinkle Magician mare hadn’t been to Ponyville in a while. Snails and Snips were big fans of the mare- she reminded Snails of one of his favorite insects- the Orchid Mantis.

“I wish! These plebes never invite her wonderful-ness, though,” Snips whispered back.

“More like her lame-ness,” the orange pegasus Scootaloo whispered from in front of Snips. “Rainbow Dash is way-“
She was interrupted by Cheerilee’s loud shout from outside the classroom.

“WHAT? But you promised!” The entire class went quiet, but the reply was so soft it was barely recognizable as words. Cheerilee seemed to understand the pony anyway.

“Of course you’re a good enough guest- listen, you don’t want to teach these kids that breaking promises is okay, do you?”
Whether or not there was a reply was uncertain, but Cheerilee re-entered the room with her usual confidence.

“Class, please welcome my friend Fluttershy.”

The yellow pony that entered the classroom was one that Snails had seen around town before. The butterflies that made up her cutie mark had interested him enough to see if he could find look-a-likes in the edges of town last spring, but he had been unsuccessful. He still wasn’t sure pink butterflies existed outside of illustrations.

“H-hello, everypony,” Fluttershy address the class, her pink mane guarding her eyes as her head titled downwards.

“HELLO FLUTTERSHY!” the class chorused together. Fluttershy seemed to flinch at the noise. Cheerilee put a reassuring hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder and smiled at the mare.

“I’m sure many of you have seen Fluttershy around town, especially those of you old enough to join in the Animal team during Winter Wrap-up, but I’m sure not many of you know what exactly she uses her special talent for. Fluttershy, would you explain?”

“Oh. Um, yes. My job in Ponyville is a Critter Rehabitator. It means I provide care to sick, injured, and orphaned creatures so they can be returned to their natural habitat. Or, in some cases, a home with ponies who’d like a friend.”

Snails wasn’t really interested in bunnies or whatever cuddly creature she was talking about, so he let his mind tune out what she was saying. He was wondering if maybe he could get away with playing paper football with Snips when a gleam caught his eye. From the schoolhouse rafters, a tiny spider was propelling itself down on an almost transparent strand of webbing. Entranced, he watched the brown spider spool lower and lower, wondering what kind it was- until it was an inch away from the face of a certain pink filly wearing a tiara.
The screech woke the class from the spell Fluttershy’s soft voice had placed over them.

“SPIDER! Please, Someone SQUISH IT! Squish it NOW!” Diamond Tiara screamed. Her gray filly friend Silver Spoon and many other ponies joined in the panic as the tiny spider landed on the desk and dodged hooves that slammed down towards it. Snails quickly grabbed his Trixie thermos cup and raced over to it, pushing colts away until he was in the path of the retreating spider. Sweetie Belle had one hoof ready to end the arachnid when Snails plopped the cup over the spider, trapping it underneath.

“Leave it alone!” he shouted. The class looked at him, stunned.

“It’s a spider! It’s gross!” Silver Spoon argued.

“It wasn’t gonna do anything to you!” he argued back. “Miss Cheerilee, can I have a piece of paper?” Miss Cheerilee looked glad for an opportunity to get her class under control again.

“Yes, of course. Everypony else, go back to your seats please. Fluttershy, are you ready for questions?”

“Yes,” the mare squeaked in reply. Snails slid the paper Cheerilee handed him under his cup, and somehow got a squirt of purple magic out of his horn to levitate cup and paper together. He scampered outside, ignoring the freezing landscape around him and circled the schoolhouse to the back, where a pile of firewood lay stacked against the wall. Gently, he put the paper and cup down next to the wood, gasping as he released his magic. Snails wished his magic didn’t take up so much energy. He wanted to have magic like Trixie someday- or maybe Twilight Sparkle. Effortless.
Catching his breath, he grabbed his cup with his mouth and stepped back. The spider stood still a moment, so as not to catch a predator’s eye with any sudden movement. Then it skittered under the woodpile out of Snails’ sight. He hoped it would be okay out here in the cold.

***

Fluttershy’s baby blue and lavender scarf had grabbed Snips’ attention. Even from his seat in the third row, he saw the evenly spaced knits and pearls that had gone into each stripe. It hung on the clothes rack now, but when Fluttershy had walked in he admired the way she doubled her insulation for her neck and head by tucking her mane under her scarf. And with her mane held down, it allowed the fuzzy white earmuffs on top of her head to pop. She was a fashionable pony, but now that the outerwear was gone and with the excitement of the spider rescue new, Snips had trouble paying attention to her.

Snips was awe-struck by his friend! He had raced across the room and stood over that poor spider like a superhero. Snips preferred having his Mom move spiders out of his presence, so that fact that Snails could protect and move one while the entire school wanted it dead was almost Trixie-cool! He couldn’t wait for school to end so he could talk to Snails all about it. It was a little less than a year away, but Snips couldn’t stop daydreaming about the superhero costumes he could make for next Nightmare Night.

The door squeaked open, and everyone glanced at Snails before a cough from Miss Cheerilee drew the attention back to Fluttershy. Fluttershy answered the next question, but Snips couldn’t help noticing her eyes kept flicking over to Snails, even after his friend had been seated a while. Ha ha! Snails was so masculine and awesome he was even attractive to a full grown mare! Soon Snails would have so many fillies after him he’d have to keep the ones he didn’t want away with a stick.

“Just send ‘em my way, buddy,” He muttered.

“Did you have a question, Snips?” Miss Cheerilee asked in a voice to suggest he’d better ask one or clam up.

“No ma’am!”

“Thank you, Fluttershy, for talking with us today.”

“THANK YOU FLUTTERSHY!” the class cheered together.

“Oh, you’re welcome,” Fluttershy replied with a tiny smile. She re-adorned herself with her winter clothes, and, with one last quick glance at Snails, left the school building.

“And that wraps up class for the week! Before I let you go, I want to talk to you about your weekend assignment,” Cheerilee announced. Snips and Snails groaned in tandem with a few other ponies, but Cheerilee ignored it.

“I would like you to interview and write a report on an adult pony with a job you admire that isn’t related to you. My hope is that this will help those of you without Cutie Marks find a path you may not have considered before.”

“Miss Cheerilee!” Diamond Tiara raised her hand like it gave her permission to talk, and continued speaking without the teacher’s go ahead. “I know I want to inherit my Daddy’s business someday, so why do I have to talk with somepony else?”

“That is a good question, Diamond Tiara. Those of you with Cutie Marks may know what you want to do when you grow up, but often there are many more sides to a talent than what you might think. For instance, everypony knows Pinkie Pie’s Cutie Mark is about bringing joy to everypony, and she chose to express that through her Party Planning and her apprenticeship with the Cakes. But with that talent Pinkie could have just as easily become a businesspony like your father, Diamond Tiara. A pony who strives to make others happy and has good pony skills could-and has done great business.”

Snips chuckled at the image of Pinkie Pie in a gray business suit with her mane in a falling apart bun in his head. He could easily see her answering phones, throwing board “parties”, and screeching, “Wouldn’t it be fun to SELL SELL SELL!”

“So I want those of you with Cutie Marks to think about what careers could be related to your Mark when you pick who you want to interview, and to stay away from your immediate family. Ten pages on lined paper, in cursive, everypony!” The ponies began to gather their things as Miss Cheerilee rang the schoolhouse bell.

“Do you think Trixie will come to town this weekend?” Snails asked his friend.

“Naw, she’s doing a show in Las Pegasus, remember? Besides, everypony knows we love Trixie.” Snips replied.

“Oh yeah. Darn, who am I gonna interview then?”

Snips knew whom he wanted to interview, and it wasn’t Trixie. If word came out that he idolized the mare he was thinking of, his street cred would be ruined forever. It was kinda silly, but he’d hoped that she’d notice his work and take him on as her apprentice without his saying a word beside “yes”. Being discovered wouldn’t harsh his street cred. Asking would.

“Snips! Snails! Don’t go anywhere. Remember you have detention for being late this morning,” Miss Cheerilee reminded her misfit students. Snips leaned back in his desk and began to pull his notebook out of his saddlebag again- he and Snails were used to the detention parade.
Just one voice outside the building made him regret the snowball fight that had made being late worth it.

“Sweetie Belle! I had some free time, darling, so I thought I’d come pick you up!”

“Rarity!” the pale gray-coated unicorn filly greeted her joyfully. Snips raced to the window, and spotted the dazzling white unicorn mare with the curled purple mane. As his breath began to fog the glass, he stared in awe at her winter outfit: a tailored dark magenta trench coat and elegant black snowshoes, topped off with a navy cloche hat. It was all made by the Fashionista herself: Rarity.
Snips swiped away some of the mist on the window to get a better view. It was obvious Sweetie Belle admired and wanted the same talent as Rarity, but Snips doubted she’d ever go beyond basic knowledge of fashion. Rarity needed an apprentice that intuitively knew what went best on a pony. If only she’d notice him.

“Fluttershy? What are you doing here, darling? I hear the snow’s going to fall harder soon.” Snips watched the yellow pegasus peel away from the wall of the school building. It had been a while since Fluttershy’s speech in class, and she didn’t have a sibling in the class. All kidding aside, she had been watching Snails a lot in class. Was Fluttershy waiting for him? What could she possibly want with him?

“Oh, I was a guest today,” she explained to Rarity. As the mares chatted, Snips realized that with few of his classmates around to notice and tease him, now was the best time to possibly chat with Rarity about the class paper. Without dressing warmly or grabbing his bag, Snips galloped for the door.

“Where are you going, Snips?”

“Potty break, Miss Cheerilee! He yelled as he opened the door and stumbled through the snow. Perhaps that was his first mistake, as the shout and his speed seemed to attract attention. His left back hoof managed to ruin any class to his approach, as it slipped on a wet stone, and Snips was on his belly in the snow.

“Oh goodness! Are you alright?” Fluttershy asked, offering a fore hoof. Why was she helping him? Was Snips wrong, had she been staring at him during class? No, this pony was the Element of Kindness. She’d help anyone.

“I’m fine! Really,” Snips answered, avoiding making eye contact with his giggling classmates that were still present.

“Why ever did you need to rush…Snips, was it?” Rarity asked. Snips nodded enthusiastically.

“And look at you! You’re shivering! Don’t you have winter wear?” Rarity hovered a long ruffled maroon scarf from her saddlebag and draped it over Snips’ neck. “I felt a little warm earlier so I wasn’t using it- you can borrow this for now.”

“Thank you, Miss Rarity!” Snips’ smile filled his face, and he felt his checks grow hot. Rarity was talking to him! Even though he’d made a fool of himself. Would she really want to help an oaf like him? He needed a more subtle approach.

“Can we go now Rarity?” Sweetie Belle whined at her sister while fidgeting.

“I wanted to talk to Sweetie Belle!” He and Sweetie Belle hung out with different ponies, so they didn’t know each other well, but maybe getting close to Sweetie Belle could get him closer to Rarity.

“What?” the filly yelped. She didn’t look pleased at this turn of events. Snips started feeling the snow in the recesses of his hooves and shuffled them to keep them warm.

“Do you think, ummm... maybe I could…” His eyes slipped from Sweetie Belle and caught Rarity’s. All of his thoughts slipped from his mind. The mare smiled at him like the cat that caught the canary.

“What’s this, Sweetie? Do you have an admirer?” Her sapphire eyes looked from the colt to the filly expectantly. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon giggled- Snips hadn’t noticed they were still there.

“No way!” Sweetie Belle denied.

“Now Sweetie, let’s not be so indelicate to the colt.”
Snips’ lower lip trembled under his large front incisor teeth. He had no idea what he could say to make Rarity like him, and be not thought of as a pansy by his classmates.

“CouldIcomeoverandplaytomorrow?” he mumbled.

“What?” the sisters asked together.

“Could I come over and play tomorrow?” he repeated louder than he would’ve liked.

“But of course!” Rarity beamed. Sweetie Belle looked annoyed at her sister.

“Rar~ity!” she whined. But her sister was in her own world.

“We could have a little tea party- or would cocoa be better in this weather? I just had some cocoa beans imported, it’ll be divine! We’ll have to stop by Sugar Cube corner for some snacks.”

“Rarity, I don’t want-“ Sweetie Belle tried to protest again.

“Stop by anytime after one. See you tomorrow, darling!”
Snips couldn’t get enough of the scent of orchid that wafted from the scarf. He had an in! With any hope tomorrow he could get an interview for class- and maybe an apprenticeship!

***

Snails’ was sulking a little. Usually, detention lasted longer because he and Snips would pass notes while Cheerilee’s back was turned. Today, Snips barely paid him any attention. Ever since he came back indoors he would write a line of the essay Cheerilee assigned them, smell the scarf he didn’t have on before, and sigh, staring off into space for a while. Snails had gotten way more of the essay done than Snips.

“Psst! Snips!” he whispered as Cheerilee stepped into the supply closest. “What’s wrong with you?” Snips jolted alert, forgetting to whisper as he responded.

“Huh? Nothing’s wrong! I’m good! I like activities STALLIONS like!”

“I didn’t ask you about that.”

“I don’t hear writing in there!” Miss Cheerilee warned from the supply closet. Snips and Snails went back to writing frantically.

Soon an hour passed, and the colts were ready to go home. Even though Snails finished writing first, he waited for Snips. It didn’t matter that his friend was acting weird, Snails still didn’t want to walk home by himself.

“Are you colts going to be okay walking home by yourself? The snow’s getting pretty heavy now,” Miss Cheerilee asked, her eyes watching the snow drifting across her window.

“We’re not colts, Miss Cheerilee, WE’RE STALLIONS!” Snips declared. Miss Cheerilee held back a chuckle.

“Well, okay then, but be careful!”

“We will!”

Snips and Snails didn’t live far from their school. If they had, Miss Cheerilee likely would have insisted on walking them her self. Snails had wanted to check on the spider in the woodpile, but he sensed speed in his friend’s gait that meant he wanted to hurry home.
It was pretty cold out. His mother had warned him not to get home too late because the weather team was kicking up a storm that evening. Probably there wouldn’t be any bugs to watch in the snow, so Snails wanted to rush home too.
The lack of bugs made Snails so bored in the winter- every other season was more fun. It was one lazy spring weekend that had been his favorite.

That day, the ground had still been wet from the rain that had gone on that night. He had started splashing in puddles- even though his mother had told him not to- as he enjoyed the ‘splosh’ sounds his hooves made as they touched the water and watching rings ripple out as the puddle settled down. Sometimes the sun would even reflect mini rainbows in them.

After the twelve or so puddles in Ponyville’s park, Snails’ eyes caught a purple dewy shell down the road. As he stepped closer, he found the spiraled shell held a little pink snail, leaving a glistening trail behind it. He was just fascinated by all the tiny rippling muscles in the one form. On his parents’ way to get him from the stork, his Mom said she saw one in their garden glistening in the morning dew- a snail. His mom said he almost ate one as a baby, but he only remembered seeing them in picture books before.

The snail didn’t seem to notice the tall colt standing over it, and just slimed on. The tiny little stalks coming out of the top of the front part interested him too. Gently, he poked one with a fore hoof and was amused to see it sink into its body. That was fun to watch! Multiple poking made the snail tuck entirely into its shell. He felt a little bad for bothering it, and stepped away.
It stayed in its shell a bit longer before it eased out and continued the path it had been on before. Snails watched in fascination the snail’s little movements and was so attentive he missed the beat of hooves on the dirt. It was only when the gray fore hoof began to lower into his vision that he noticed and raced forward, head-butting it away.

“Ow, kid, why did you do that?” the stallion snapped at him.

“You almost stepped on the snail!” Snails cried.

“It’s just a pest, you crazy kid,” the stallion muttered, already moving on. Snails couldn’t believe something so beautiful was just a garden pest. Putting the snail on his back so no pony would step on it, he walked all the way across town to the Golden Oaks library to prove that stallion wrong.
It was called a Cornu aspersum, in science talk. And the neat thing that dragged it from place to place was a ‘foot’, or so the library book said. Snails was tickled both figuratively and literally to see that the snail could climb down 90 degree angles. Snails stopped reading a few times to move the snail from dangerous angles back onto his back, and observe it. He was interested both those activities he didn’t notice when the sky began to darken outside. When his mom finally found him and dragged him home for dinner, he found he had gotten his Cutie Mark somehow earlier in the day.

Other ponies knew exactly what their Cutie Mark was for, so why was Snails so clueless? It made it really hard to think of a pony even remotely related to his Cutie Mark for his school report. Maybe he could interview a snail? Where did all the Snails go in the wintertime again?

“Snails! Don’t look, but I think we’re being followed.”

“Wha?” Snails wanted to look. Who was following them? Had some Timberwolves left the Everfree forest? Were Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon preparing to tease them? Was Pinkie Pie trying to throw them a ‘Puberty Party’ AGAIN? Snails just thought he could make out heavier footsteps crunching in the snow behind them. All the other ponies were inside, preparing for the storm. He tried not to let his mind terrify himself anymore, and decided to see what idea Snips had. Snips had always had great ideas!

“What should we do?” Snails whispered.

“On a count of three, let’s run to my place- its closer.”

“Okay!” We kept our normal walking pace to fool whatever was following us.

“One,” Snips whispered. “Two…”

“Excuse me-“ a familiar mare’s voice spoke from behind them. But she was too late.

“THREE!” They galloped straight forward, doing their best not to trip in the uneven drifts of snow beneath their hooves. They kept running until they were safely behind Snips’ front door. Snips’ mother greeted the panting colts with a warm smile.

“Welcome home, Snips! Glad to have you back, Snails. Would you boys like a snack?” Snips squirmed in his mother’s hug and then after she released him, slipped out of his winter clothes.

“Stop smothering me, Mom! Snails and I are going to my room.”

“I’ll bring you your snack there,” she replied, chuckling.

Snips’ room was always kept clean, so Snails didn’t get to enjoy watching any spider webs or ants crawling around. Snails was always pretty impressed by the ‘Trixie the Magnificent’ merchandise Snips had. Action figures on his shelves, posters on his walls- Snails hadn’t even seen bedspreads, pillow covers, and curtains in the magician unicorn’s trailer last time she came to town. Snails’ collection was small fries compared to it. If only his Dad would give him a bigger allowance…

Snips’ mom had left them some stalks of ‘ants on a log’ (celery, peanut butter, and raisins). Although the raisins didn’t actually look like ants, Snails enjoyed the snack anyway. Snails wondered if she could make a snail out of food. That could be related to his Cutie Mark somehow, maybe he could interview Snips’ mom.

“Hey, maybe we could interview each others’ Moms for the homework,” Snails suggested out loud.

“Naw, I have an even cooler plan,” Snips replied. Snails wondered briefly if his friend didn’t think his mom was cool, and it hurt his feelings a little. Still, he was curious what Snips had planned.

“What is it?” Snails asked. Snips’ eyes widened.

“Uhhh…” Snips stared off in the distance with a worried expression. Snails began to get apprehensive. Did Snips just say he had a plan because he didn’t want to interview Snails’ Mom? Snails’ mom wasn’t a professional, but it was her special talent to keep the garden and plants around their house looking nice. She was always a little stressed when she just had the houseplants to look after in the wintertime.

“My mom cuts things too! She calls it pruning. It’s totally cool!”

“I have another pony to interview- sorry,” Snips apologized.

“Who?” Snails wanted to know.

“I… I…can’t say.”

“You’re lying! You just don’t wanna interview my mom!”

“I’m not lying!”

“Well, I don’t wanna interview your mom, either!” Snails snapped, and stomped out of his room.

***

Even the following morning Snips didn’t know what to do about Snails. Snips had told Snails he had gotten his Cutie Mark because he thought cutting stuff was fun, but that wasn’t true at all.

A couple of summers ago, a Noble cousin of his was getting married, and his mom had been shocked to find the day before the wedding that Snips had outgrown his fancy summer blazer. In a frenzy she dragged Snips to the nearest seamstress she could find- the not yet famous Rarity of Carousel Boutique.

Snips at first baulked over all the dark pink curtains that were draped over dark pink fabric walls, but it had begun to feel warming and calming the more time he spent there. Rarity seated his mother with a cup of tea nearby, and had Snips stand on a platform in front of three gold-rimmed oval mirrors. A stallion’s russet pinstriped blazer came off a dress form and was tucked around Snips. A flurry of pins in light blue magic spun around him, pinning up the sleeves, tucking in the sides, rolling up the ends while never once pricking him.

Then the silver scissors came, glittering in Rarity’s magic. All the excess fabric went away; except for a little Rarity said she could bring down when he grew again. She told them to come back in an hour and it would be finished. The coat was the most awesome thing he had ever seen! After he got home with his new coat, he borrowed an extra of his Dad’s and promptly tried to duplicate what Rarity had done. The end result was nowhere near what she had accomplished, and he would’ve been punished if his Mom hadn’t been so excited over his new Cutie Mark.

He had draped Rarity’s scarf over one of his bedposts overnight so it could be near him yet not wrinkle much more than wearing it had. Like how it hadn’t lost the fragrance of Rarity’s orchid perfume, Snips’ dream to work with Rarity was still there. He (and Snails) had gone to an Ursa Minor’s cave alone, certainly he could face the Element of Generosity and her sister, too. It was only a few more hours away.

Author's Notes:

Part one of two, most likely. I wanted this to be one short story, as I tend to write novels worth of text and never finish, but since I've been slow to update I thought this was a good halfway point.
Also wanted to say that Animal Rehabitators don't ever give the animals they care for as pets, but since the animals are tamer in Equestria and their habits in the wild are overseen by the ponies, I thought that the pet stretch is ok for this story.
I'll try to get the second part up in June, but I do have a lot of another projects I signed myself up for. ^^; Postive feedback does encourage me to move faster, though!

Part 2- Saturday

Author's Notes:

It's taking me forever to finish this, so I'm dividing this into three parts and an epilogue, each one featuring the events in a day. At least this way part 3 is already partially written.
I didn't have someone edit this so sorry for any errors made. Hope you enjoy it!

Snails hadn't wanted to get out of bed that morning. He imagined himself cocooned in his blankets like a moth that would be reborn into something that had new friends and someone to interview for school on Monday. That fantasy was quickly dashed. His blankets were forcibly removed, for a second flying in the air above Snails- like the moth he wanted to be was moving out of his reach.

“Breakfast is ready, Snails!” his mother declared cheerfully. The pale yellow-green unicorn mare hung the blankets over the end post of his bed with her orange magic, and made shooing gestures with her fore hooves.

“Moooomm,” Snails whined. He turned over and stuck his pillow over his head to try to block out the sound of her voice. It didn’t work.

“What’s wrong, Snails, are you sick? Should I take you to the doctor? Let me get a thermometer.”

“I’m fine, mom! I just wanna sleep in.” His words didn’t soothe his mother as she flew the blankets back unto her son and began levitating a thermometer, hot pad, and various types of medicines from the bathroom in the next room. Snails knew from experience Bird of Paradise always knew what was wrong with her plants, but not her son.

“Lethargic, huh? Sounds like sickness to me! Oh dear, what if it’s a serious disease? Wintertime is the worst time to get sick-“ Snails gave up, crawling out of bed.

“I’m up, Mom! I’m fine! What’s for breakfast?” his mother stared at him a moment and then smiled, sending the medicines back to the bathroom.

“Cream of whey!”

As soon as breakfast was over, Bird of Paradise made sure Snails was thoroughly bundled in warm clothing.

“Time to go outside and have some fun!”

“Mom, can’t I stay in today? It’s cold outside!”

“Cold or not, you need sunlight and fresh air, sweet pea.”

“I’m not a plant, Mom.”

“…Plants are living things too,” his mom replied uncertainly. She shoved him out the door before he could argue further. Sometimes Snails wondered if his Mom saw him as much of a pest as his namesake was to gardens.
Ponyville had been frosted with snow and ice during the snowstorm last night, and Snails could still make out the ice patterns the designers of the weather team drew on each cottages’ windows. Usually Snails would walk over to Snips’ on an almost daily visit, but even though sleeping had calmed him down he still didn’t want to see his friend- if Snails could still call Snips that. Instead, Snails found himself treading through the snow-covered road towards the town’s center where many of Ponyville’s stores resided.

Many of Ponyvilles’ ponies were early risers, so Snails quickly found himself under foot of many a mare and stallion bustling about to do their morning chores and checking in with their neighbors. The pink mares Daisy and Lily shoved past him. A sticky stallion carrying several jelly jars knocked him over with barely a passing “sorry”. When an older stallion muttering about his arthritis meds stepped on his left fore hoof passing by, Snails retreated against the nearest storefront wall to avoid the hoof traffic.

Close to the pink-brick building, the aromas of chocolate and sugar tickled his nose. He was in front of Bon Bons’ Candy, the name painted on the store’s front window in curly yellow and blue letters. Often Snails and Snips would come here after they got their allowances. The toffees were Snails’ favorite, but Saturday- the day before he got his allowance- was often his poorest day. He pressed his nose to the window and sighed. Bon Bon didn’t like unattended children in her store- especially when they didn’t have money.

“Snails?” A voice said next to him. It was Twist: a cream colored filly with a curly mess of a mane and a twin candy cane Cutiemark. Snails knew her from school, but he’d never been close to the filly. Twist removed her purple-framed glasses and wiped the condensation from the lenses with her scarf. “Where’s Snips?”

Snails avoided the question.

“Hi Twist. Working today?” With her special talent in candy making, Twist had been scouted for an apprenticeship with Bon Bon. It was a time consuming apprenticeship that Snails assumed was the reason he hadn’t seen Twist and Apple Bloom playing together recently. Yet Twist didn’t seem to be lonely- in fact, every time Snails came into the store Twist seemed to be having the time of her life.
Snails noticed the filly staring worriedly and knew the dodge had been noticed.

“Would you like to come in for some candy Snails? I need a taste tester for the new taffy flavor I came up with.”

“Yeah!” Snails replied, cheering up some.

The taffy-pulling machine swerved in and out in hypnotizing figure eights. It cleared Snails’ mind watching the creamy substance be stretched, broken in half and stretched over and over again, making Snails first miss Twist speaking to him.

“Hello, Snails? Free candy here.” Snails blinked, and came to attention.

“Are you sure it’s okay to just give it to me?” he wondered aloud.

“You’re just taste testing, its not like we’re loosing product we could sell. Although if you do like it, Bon Bon might consider selling it,” Twist explained with a smile. She handed Snails a round piece of blue taffy twisted into a wax piece of paper. He ripped it open with his magic and popped it in his mouth. Candy was candy, right? How could it be bad?
He wasn’t expecting salt to be the first thing he tasted in something that usually was sweet. Immediately the salt was overpowered by the taste of blackberries, followed by a hint of seaweed.

“I call it Ocean Spray taffy. People usually expect sea salt taffy to taste more like the ocean, right? I wanted to see if I could find something ocean-like that would taste good. It is good, right?”
Snails didn’t want to hurt Twist’s feelings, so he swallowed wordlessly while trying to think of a polite way of saying no, salt seemingly sticking to his mouth.

“How’s your progress on the report going?” Twist asked, changing the subject.

“Oh, um, good,” Snails lied. “How’s yours going?”

“It’s great. I asked my mom for suggestions, and she helped me make an appointment with Nurse Sweetheart this afternoon.”

“What does candy have to do with medicine?” Snails asked, dumbfounded.

“It doesn’t, really, but Nurse Sweetheart specializes in nutrition. In this case, I would be looking into nursing for ways to make healthier candy. That’s a twist, right?” Twist giggled.

Snails shudders at the idea- he’d eaten sugar-free candy before and hated it. Often anything with ‘health’ in it meant tasteless junk. Why did health-obsessed ponies have to ruin perfectly good food?”

“Was that Taffy… healthy?”

“Oh, no, that was just regular bad-for-you candy. But I guess it was bad in more than just that way, huh?” Twist laughed a little and Snails joined her, relieved he wouldn’t have to hurt her feelings. Catching Snails’ eyes, Twist’s smile grew even wider.

“Here, let me get you some candy Bon Bon made. It’ll be on me.”

“Thanks!”

“I’m glad you seem to be feeling better. May I ask what you seemed down about?” Snails didn’t want to say, but something about the tender gaze of the filly opened him up, and soon the entire story was out.

“-And now I’m gonna fail and its all Snips’ fault!” he finished.

“I’m sorry, Snails. Hey, maybe Bon Bon can help you with your report! She makes candy-shaped animals sometimes, maybe making candy insects could be a use of your special talent.”

“Maybe…” Snails replied, but he wasn’t certain. He thought he preferred to eat candy rather than make it.

“Good morning Twist!” Bon Bon called, walking into the candy shop’s kitchen. She spotted Snails, and Bon Bon’s sweet smile seemed forced.

“Hello, Snails. Are you… friends... with Twist?”
Twist’s face was unmistakingly red as she looked down at her hooves.

“He is,” she replied, and the look Bon Bon gave Snails was one he would recognize later in life as ‘angry dad with a shotgun’. The smile was back when Twist looked back up, but Snails didn’t want to linger. Flattening his ears and taking a step back, Snails said,

“I think I should go now.”

“Really?” Twist seemed confused. “But what about-“

“I’ll manage!” he replied, giving Bon Bon a wide berth as he stepped around her to go out the kitchen’s only door.

“Come again soon!” she called after him.

“Please do,” Bon Bon added. Snails had no intention of doing so.

****

Of course he had been in the shop before, but Snips felt a big difference in the titles “customer” and “guest”. He stood in front of Carousel Boutique debating whether becoming a frozen lawn ornament would be easier than knocking on the door and possibly being rejected by his dream mentor. Coming to the conclusion- with his weight and overbite- he would not make an ornament attractive enough for Rarity to keep, he lightly bumped his fore hoof on the purple door. A mouse’s sneeze would’ve made a louder noise.

‘What are you doing, Snips?’ He asked himself inwardly. ‘Aren’t your dreams important enough to risk a little hurt? Be a stallion!’
He knocked twice. It wasn’t a sound someone who wasn’t right on the other side of the door could hear, so he was surprised when it flew open anyway.

“Welcome, Snips! It’s a pleasure to see you, darling.” Rarity had wrapped herself in a Neighponese housecoat adorned with pink peonies, and tied her purple mane up into a bun held in place with pink crystal chopsticks.

“H-hello, Miss Rarity,” Snips squeaked. He silently groaned. He had wanted to sound confident and dashing, but his squeaky voice had ruined that. Rarity hadn’t stopped beaming at him, though, so maybe he wasn’t doing so badly.

“Come on in, Snips, you look freezing just standing there,” Rarity encouraged. She shut her door behind the colt as he took eager steps inside. The shop was just as femininely decorated as he remembered, and already he could feel the benefit to the draped-in-fabric walls- the chill from the open door was rapidly dissipating due to the insulation they provided. Snips’ attention was stolen by what must be Rarity’s current projects on the dress forms nearby. Everything just filled him with awe.

Rarity had become well known for dressing the Princess of Friendship and her friends, whom were becoming even more famous each time they saved Equestria. The dresses they wore from the Grand Galloping Gala made look-a-like gowns popular.
Ponies who wanted dresses like Fluttershy’s got delicate styles inspired by nature. Rainbow Dash’s line was spunky and energetic. Apple Jack’s were country-chic, and Pinkie Pie’s were playful with a touch of filly doll lolita. Rarity had given Princess Twilight Sparkle herself a classic elegance that fit the pony well, but somehow, the ornate dazzle Rarity put into her own dresses seemed much more suited for royalty.

Snips wondered if he might see the finished dresses for himself, rather than in the latest fashion magazine that always featured what the Princesses were wearing. It all depended on how well today went. Snips felt a tiny tug on his scarf and saw Rarity’s dainty white hoof on the end of it.

“May I get that for you?”

Snips nodded in response, and unwound it a little from the other end less Rarity do too much of the work.

“Sweetbelle, Snips is here!” Rarity called, and floated his outerwear unto a nearby hat stand. Snips remained still, hoping that Rarity would look closer at the coat he had worn but she barely seemed to give it a glance. After his first failed coat altering that gave him his Cutie Mark, Snips would often save bits of his allowance to buy coats from the loyal thrift store so he could try again.

The coat he had worn was his latest alteration. He didn’t think he had re-sewn the lining of the coat right as it felt itchy and the shoulders were tight, but the outside looked pretty great. He had even embroidered his scissors Cutie Mark unto the lapel pocket- so what if he had sewn it shut in the process and the spaces between the stitches weren’t even! The mare lead Snips out of her store front and into the kitchen, where the table in the center immediately caught his eye.

In the center was a crystal vase holding a large bouquet of satin pink, white, and red roses, each with a gem in the center matching the color of the rose. There was a three-tiered display of tiny sandwiches cut into triangles and rectangles on the bottom, circular scones with a tiny silver bowl of strawberry jam in the center on the middle, and cupcakes on the top, each with frosting roses on top that matched the satin roses. Her porcelain teapot, cream cup, sugar pot, cups, and plates set into three places also had roses decorated on them. Each plate had glistening silverware around it that had a rose shaped into the end, and a pink napkin sitting on top folded into a swan. And this all lay on top of a white lace tablecloth that had white roses embroidered into it.

Snips stepped towards the table and pulled out a dark brown chair to sit on when Rarity cleared her throat.

“Snips, you are young so I’ll forgive the faux pas, but you do not sit until the ladies are seated, and no one sits until every lady is present.”

“S-sorry!” he exclaimed, leaping back from the chair like it was red-hot.
Snips blushed, inwardly scolding himself. Of course Rarity would care about those manner things! What was it his Mom had tried to teach him? He could really only remember his ‘please’ and ‘thank you’s.

“Now while we’re waiting for Sweetie Belle, please do enlighten me- what are your intentions towards her?”

“Errr…” Right, that lie that got him here in the first place. “I just wanna be friends, Miss Rarity.”

“Oh?” she replied with a smug smile. She leaned in close, and coyly added: “Than why was it that you had such passionate feelings about having to come over today? You rushed out the schoolhouse like your feelings couldn’t wait another day. You don’t have to hide what you want, Snips, just tell me and I’ll help you.”
Snips’ face was completely red, and he couldn’t compose himself to reply. Some pony must’ve been looking out for him, because there was a knock on the front door.

“I’ll get it!” Sweetie Belle shouted from her room, and Snips clearly heard her hooves clunking down the stairs in a hurry.

“Don’t run down the steps, Sweetie!” Rarity called after her sister, stepping out of the kitchen back into the front room. Snips heard the front door click open, and a chorus of filly’s voices filled the front room.

“Hi Sweetie Belle! Hi Rarity!” Snips could tell it was Apple Bloom and Scootaloo even without looking- they were some of the loudest ponies in his class.

“Hey girls!” Sweetie Belle singed-sung.

“Hello, Apple Bloom. Scootaloo. Sweetie, can I have a moment alone with you?” Rarity asked.

“But we can’t leave the girls out in the cold. Can they come in for cocoa too?”

“Sweet! I love cocoa!” Scootaloo chimed in.

“Sweetie… don’t you already have a… play date… with Snips today?” Rarity asked with the careful words of some pony not wanting to hurt feelings. Snips peeked out the kitchen door to get a glimpse of what was going on.

“You mean we can’t join you?” Apple Bloom asked. She looked disappointed, but Snips caught a wink to Sweetie Belle when Rarity looked away to think.

“Please Rarity? Shouldn’t all my friends be friends with each other?” Sweetie Belle asked. Rarity glanced uncertainly at the kitchen and seemed to silently decide something.

“Of course you can stay, darlings, I just need to put out a couple more place settings.” The fillies now officially outnumbered Snips. Alone with four girls that seemed to be plotting something. He was doomed.

*****

Every time Snails was feeling down- if Snips wasn’t around- he only had to visit the park and find some insects to watch to cheer himself up. But this is where winter was extra hard- there weren’t any insects around to entertain him. He kicked the snow in frustration and heard a familiar-sounding screech.

“My angora scarf!” Diamond Tiara screamed. “You’d better be ready to pay for it if you’ve ruined it, Snails!”

“Yea!” Silver Spoon echoed.

“That’s not fair!” Snails protested. “There’s snow everywhere! If you didn’t want it to get wet, you shouldn’t have worn it outside!”

“What, you want me to go outside in something cheap like your scarf? I’d rub myself in soot first!”
Snails wasn’t quick to anger, but Snips had made him his scarf! Just because they weren’t getting along right now didn’t mean he would let Diamond Tiara insult it. He scooped up a ball of snow with his magic.

“Don’t you dare!” Diamond Tiara yelled.

“I’ll tell on you!” Silver Spoon added.

The snowball flew, smacking Diamond Tiara’s rump and making her screech in fury. Silver Spoon grabbed a clump of snow to retaliate, but Snails was already running away. Where could he go to avoid them? His mother wouldn’t let him in again until dinnertime, and that was several hours away! Glancing back and seeing he was out of sight of the fillies, he ducked behind a snow-covered bush and hoped he had dodged them.
All too soon, he heard their hoof steps clattering down the snow-cleared cobblestone path and stop nearby.

“Where did he go?” Diamond Tiara spat.

“I have no idea. Maybe he’s hiding.” Silver Spoon answered.

“A yellow unicorn shouldn’t be able to hide well in a snowy landscape. You look over this snow bank, I’ll go further down the path.”
Snips heard Silver Spoon take some steps towards his direction and cringed. She was going to find him! But then the steps of a third pony joined the bully fillies.

“G-good morning.” Snails heard Fluttershy stammer. “How are you girls today?”

“Hello Miss Fluttershy,” Silver Spoon answered the Pegasus mare.
Something small and furry poked Snails, and he looked down and saw a white bunny poking his hip. Noticing he had Snails’ attention, the bunny pointed away from the fillies, hopping up and down. Snails rose to a crouch, and followed the bunny further away from the danger.
The bunny continually looked over its shoulder to make sure Snails was following, and when they were out of sight of the pink and gray fillies Snails jogged slightly to keep up with the animal. Eventually they came out of the park and crossed an arched bridge over a frozen stream towards a little cottage on a slight incline. First thing Snips noticed was birdhouses hanging and sitting on almost every available branch or ledge. He imagined in the springtime the area would be filled with birdsong. A pony would cared so much about birds probably would have plenty of flora growing around, too, but that was just a guess on how the how the snow-covered cottage looked without snow all over it.

Going by the word of the street, he was looking at Fluttershy’s cottage. Snails hadn’t ever visited Fluttershy before, but from the way the bunny seemed to glare at Snails as it stomped his foot at Fluttershy’s front door, it was clear that the creature wanted Snails to go inside, and fast.
Pushing on the front door a little he found it unlocked. The bunny raced inside, and Snails tentatively put a hoof inside.

“Oh, hello there,” Fluttershy greeted Snails from behind the colt. Snails leaped back in surprise, the feeling of having done something wrong struck him despite Fluttershy’s friendly tone. He hadn’t heard the mare approach, but as he turned to face her from it was obvious from her still fluttering wings as she touched the ground that she had been flying. Her wings were as quiet as an owl’s!

“Um…. hi Miss Fluttershy,” he replied sheepishly. The mare gave him a small smile and said:

“Would you like to come in? If you’re not too busy, that is. I understand if you have things you’d rather do.”
Snails was about to reply an uncertain positive when a faint whirring in the distance picked up in his big ears. That sound he’d only heard once before, and he hadn’t been able to find the source before it went away- a mole cricket. Snails desperately wanted to see one, and look to at the appendages that made that sound. He thought they were in hibernation in the winter! Spring must be closer than he thought.

“Sorry, Fluttershy, I gotta go!” Snails dashed off without waiting for a response.

*****

“So Snips… do you really like Sweetie Belle?” Scootaloo asked after Rarity had gone into the cellar to fetch more of the ‘good china’. Alone with the three fillies in the kitchen, Snips was torn between planning escapes and hoping Rarity would come back soon.

“Scootaloo!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, blushing.

“What? The sooner we figure this out, the sooner we can leave and do something fun, like whatever ‘ice fishing’ is.”

“Tea parties are fun!” Sweetie Belle argued. Snips had no doubt she had had many with her big sister.

“If you like froo-froo stuff…” Scootaloo muttered.

“C’mon, girls, maybe we can get a Cutie Mark out of it, like for tea testing or manners… or something,” Apple Bloom suggested, quickly running out of ideas.

“What about Cutie Marks in interrogation?” Scootaloo suggested with mischief in her eyes. Three pairs of eyes pointed at Snips, and he gulped.

“Forgive me, everypony. It seems that my rose china only has four settings in all,” Rarity called as she made her way up the cellar steps. The white mare appeared levitating with her magic a white cardboard box and a couple of extra chairs. “I think these chrysanthemum-patterned cups and plates shouldn’t clash with the rose ones.”

Rearranging the places settings around the table and adding the extra chairs with her blue aura, Rarity flawlessly made her table display fit the ‘uninvited’ guests. Rarity’s presence while the ponies seated themselves kept the fillies from asking Snips awkward questions, but it also put an uneasy silence over the group.

What could you talk about in the presence of someone older than you that they could relate to? Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were both so rough and tumble compared to Rarity, Snips was sure it was hard for them to think of what they could talk to her about. Sweetie Belle admired her big sister but some of things she talked with Rarity must be embarrassing in front of her friends. Snips’ presence as a colt among fillies probably added another layer of uncertainty. And then there were some subjects could flat out get a kid in trouble when shared with an adult.

Snips knew what he wanted to discuss- Rarity, the school report, and their possible future together as apprentice and master. But those things were hard to talk about with the Crusaders watching. It seemed that the consensus of the kids in his class was that only weird stallions worked in fashion. He definitely didn’t want to be made fun of.

While the younger ponies floundered for a subject, the great hostess Rarity took the uneasy quiet in stride and began to serve the food, using it as a conversation starter. She picked up her teapot and began to pour a creamy brown liquid into Snips’ teacup.
The aroma of chocolate flooded Snips’ nose, a soothing nostalgic smell that eased his stress. While Rarity poured the others’ cups, Snips pressed his nose closer to his cup and detected a faint hint of roses in the liquid.

“This is cocoa?” he asked.

“I’m sorry, the tea set is a bit misleading, I’m sure. I special ordered this cocoa brewed with cream and a splash of rose water to add a hint of elegance. I only wish I had time to look into a cocoa serving pot for fine dining- it feels uncouth serving it in a tea set.”

“It smells really good!” Snips exclaimed. He wanted to try it, but if Rarity hadn’t wanted him to sit before everyone was there she probably wouldn’t want him to drink before she said it was okay. Rarity poured herself a cup and took a dainty sip.

“Thank you, dear. Do drink up, everyone. There are marshmallows in the sugar pot if you’d like some.” Everypony added marshmallows to their cup eagerly. Snips lifted his cup and it felt pleasantly warm in his fore hooves. Usually he’d blow on a hot liquid but the warmth of the cup made it seem like he wouldn’t scald his tongue if he dove right into it, so he attentively took a sip. Its taste gave him the feeling like he was like sitting in a chocolate store with a warmed towel around his body after he just got out of a bath with rose-scented soap.

He slurped up the rest of his cup- it was the perfect temperature and didn’t burn his tongue. Snips wanted seconds immediately, but he didn’t want to appear greedy. Rarity seemed to understand his desire and silently levitated the tea pot over to Snips to pour him another cup, topping off her own cup and then nudging the marshmallow pot in his direction with her hoof.

“So, Sweetie Belle tells me every pony in her class in interviewing ponies for a school project. Has every pony decided who you’re going to interview?”

“I’m interviewing Rainbow Dash,” Scootaloo answered.

“I thought Miss Cheerilee said it had to be some pony you wouldn’t normally think of,” Apple Bloom said.

“Aw, shoot, really?” Scootaloo groused. “I dunno who else I’d ask.”

“You could interview me,” Rarity suggested. “You may as well, Apple Bloom.”
The fillies looked aghast at the offer, but Snips couldn’t waste the opportunity. No pony knew Rarity was his first choice for his dream job.

“What about me? Could I do it?”
He was met with snickers and blank-faced Rarity. Rarity quickly regained her composure and answered,

“It’s only fair since I offered to the girls. Shall we make an appointment after we’re finished here, Snips?”

A knock on the front door interrupted Snips’ answer.

“That could be a customer. Do continue, I’ll be back when I finish helping them,” Rarity explained as went through the kitchen door to the storefront. Out of Rarity’s sight, the Crusaders’ attention zeroed in on Snips.

“You wanna be a fashionista, Snips?” Scootaloo asked, laughing.

“Naw, I think he wants an excuse to hang around Sweetie Belle more,” Apple Bloom teased.

“There’s cutting involved in fashion,” Snips said defensively.

“Cutting your way into Sweetie Belle’s heart is more like it,” Scootaloo joined in.

“Quit it!” Sweetie Belle snapped at her friends.

“Okay, okay, Belle,” Apple Bloom giggled. “How about we go back to trying for those Cutie Marks in interrogation now?”

“Yeah, that sounds fun!” Scootaloo agreed. “But won’t Rarity be back soon?”

“Not likely- she takes forever with her customers,” Sweetie Belle answered. Snips looked back at the door Rarity went through. He really wanted her to come back now. The fillies left their seats and started closing Rarity’s curtains.

“What are you…” Snips started to ask, but the words fell away when the absence of light emerged. The bumps and rustling around him made Snips even more uneasy, so he tried to light his horn, but couldn’t focus well enough to bring up a couple of sparks. When Snips finally thought he couldn’t take enough and was on the verge of leaving, a round bright light shone directly in his face. The pain made him close his eyes to protect against the light, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to remain sightless in a room full of mischievous girls.

Squinting, he figured out it was a small desk lamp pointed in his face, and he thought he could make out the shapes of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, but they looked different. His eyes adjusted and he saw that they were wearing fedoras. He wondered briefly where they had found the hats in the kitchen, but then again, it was a clothing boutique they were in.

“Why are you here?” Scootaloo asked in a gravelly angry voice while banging her hoof on the tea table with her foot for dramatic effect.

“Yeah, you gotta ‘fess up!” Sweetie Belle asked in her gravelly voice, also banging the table.

“Girls, we can’t all be the bad guard! One of us has to be the good guard,” Apple Bloom insisted.

“But being the bad guard is the coolest!” Sweetie Belle whined.

“Girls, can you get the light out of my eyes? It hurts!” Snips complained.

“Not until we have answers!” Scootaloo demanded, banging both of her fore hooves on the tea table now.

“Scootaloo, we haven’t decided who the bad guard is yet!” Sweetie Belle protested.

“Let’s sun, cloud, and plant for it!” Apple Bloom suggested. Facing each other in a small circle while they shook their fore hooves in front of themselves, Snips took advantage of their diverted attention and quietly lifted the sandwich tray from the food platter tower. Ducking under the tea table with it, he hoped the tablecloth would hide him until Rarity came back.

*****

Last spring when Snails had first heard the Mole cricket’s siren song, he spent all afternoon trying to find the source but had no luck. He had been uncertain about what it was, but had a strong feeling it was a bug. He went to Ponyville’s library for answers the very next day. The library had been built inside a tree- in class he learned back when Ponyville was founded they had planted a tree ring that Earth pony magic had sped up the growth. The Earth Ponies had the saplings grow up together into one tree while still keeping the center hollow (aside from a couple of walls for rooms) and leaving open spots where they needed a front door and windows. Inside, they had built a multitude of shelves so not a single wall was unadorned with books. There was a basement that somehow hadn’t damaged the trees roots nor affected the structural integrity of the tree, and a second story where the Librarian- who in this generation was Twilight Sparkle- lived.

“Good morning, Snails!” The lavender unicorn Librarian greeted him warmly. Snails flushed when he saw her- no doubt he was firmly implanted in her mind after he and Snips had let a wild Ursa Minor into town. He didn’t understand why the unicorn didn’t resent him, like a lot of Ponyville still seemed to.

“Errr… hi,” he replied, looking down at his feet. Twilight Sparkle seemed to be waiting for him to say more, and it led to self-conscious silence between the two ponies. But maybe it was just self-conscious on his part, because the Librarian spoke up again without a waver in her voice.

“May I help you find something? Are you here for a book?”

“I… uhh… heard a buzzing outside,” Snails shared. The unicorn stood up and began to levitate books off of shelves as she glanced at the titles.

“Did it originate from a synthetic source or an organic one?”

“I think… it was a bug?” Snails replied. He didn’t recognize all the words in Twilight’s sentence so he wasn’t sure he was answering it correctly. The unicorn nodded and her pink aura returned several books back to their shelves. Shagging a couple others until she had five tomes in a neat pile, Twilight smiled as she set the books down in front of the colt.

“I grabbed the Insect Encyclopedia for you, but I think Ponyville’s Field Guide has better illustrations, even though there’s more in there than insects. I also stuck in A Beginner’s Guide to Creepy-Crawlies, Bugs & You, and Interesting Insect Sounds, which seemed relevant to your search. Did you want to read these here or check them out?”

“Here,” he muttered and dashed off to a corner with a pile out of Twilight’s eyesight. There was so much to read, it made his eyes hurt just thinking about it. Snails flipped through Interesting Insect Sounds, but was disheartened to find it didn’t have many pictures.
He spent at least an hour flipping through the books looking for a picture that could be the insect he had heard. He knew it wasn’t a wasp or a bee- the sound was way different. It was not a cricket’s chirp, either. But then he turned the page from the cricket in Ponyville’s Field Guide and saw something really cool looking: a bug with a long cylinder of an abdomen with wings folded over it, back legs like a cricket’s, average bug middle legs, and awesome massive forward folding front legs with spikes on them the book said was for digging. It was the Mole Cricket from the Gryllotalpidae family, and the males “sang” during mating season.

Snails looked into what he thought were soulful black eyes, and knew he wanted to catch one to have a closer look. Leaving his corner, he sought out the librarian’s help again.

“Do you have any books on bug catching?” Snails asked her. The unicorn looked hesitant, and Snails recognized it as similar to the unhappy look his mother gave him the last time he brought a really cool rhinoceros beetle home. Most mares didn’t like bugs, it seemed. Wordlessly she levitated a book to Snails and said,

“Be gentle with the little critters.” Snails couldn't believe she thought he would hurt them! He checked out the book and tried to only come when Spike was watching the Library from then on- even after Twilight had become an Alicorn Princess.

The book definitely had good catch and release techniques, so Snips prepared for the next time he’d hear the Mole Cricket. For a couple of months while he kept his ears open he’d spend his allowance on cheap spades, burlap sacks, butterfly nets, and empty jars he poked holes in the lid in. He made kits of one of each of those items and hid them in tree knotholes and abandoned nests throughout Ponyville’s park plus the edge of the Everfree forest.

If he heard the buzzing again, he’d run to the nearest kit and then capture it. Only every time when he came back with the kit the buzzing disappeared. It had taken to this winter when he heard it again. He wouldn’t miss it this time!

*****

“I win!” Scootaloo finally called out. Snips gulped down two cucumber and watercress sandwiches in nervousness.

“Okay Snips… where’d he go?” Apple Bloom asked, perplexity clear in her voice.

“Maybe he went to the little colt’s room?” Sweetie Bell suggested.

“Open the curtains back up, girls, he couldn’t have gotten far.”

Snips watched, as the light behind the tablecloth grew brighter until the winter’s daylight was clear, during which he finished all the cucumber and watercress sandwiches in his panic of being discovered. Moving on to the curried egg salad sandwiches, their heavenly taste almost took him away from his terrifying reality.

He heard the fillies stomping around the kitchen, the sound of every cabinet and drawer opening and closing making him jump. He shouldn’t really be afraid, he knew- the Cutie Mark Crusaders weren’t known for violence. But their ideas- that was the scary part: their ideas on what to try for their Cutie Marks included extreme sports and dangerous situations. What if their interrogations led to torture like wet willies or tickling? A tickled stallion was not a manly stallion.

They stopped banging around and started whispering to each other, which Snips did not like. He bet they knew where he was- and he noticed that he had finished off a plate of tea sandwiches that could’ve fed six ponies with leftovers. His mom wouldn’t be happy with him.
Something grabbed his back legs, and Snips felt himself starting to be pulled from under the table. Desperate, he managed to grab a table leg and hung on for his life.

“Come out from under there!” Scootaloo snapped. He glanced back to see Apple Bloom and Scootaloo each had one of his legs. Knowing that he might not defeat them in a strength contest, he began to flail his legs in hopes of shaking them off.

“No! You’re all being mean!” He yelped at them.

“We just wanna know what you’re really doing here,” Apple Bloom tried to explain, her voice strained in the act of pulling him. No way did Snips trust them not to laugh at the truth, though.

“That’s private!”

“I bet you want Rarity for your report so you can steal her designs and sell them to another designer!” Sweetie Belle accused.

“That’s not why- I don’t steal from ponies!”

“Then you want Rarity to teach you her gem finding spell so you can get rich quick!” Apple Bloom accused.

“I don’t want no stinking gems- I have an allowance!” Sweetie Belle wrapped her fore hooves around her friends’ torsos and tried to help pull Snails off of the table leg. Snips glared at them.

“Then you must want to interview Rarity to get closer to Sweetie Bell!” Scootaloo insisted.

“Yeah, you like her, so admit it!” Apple Bloom agreed.

“I DON’T LIKE SWEETIE BELLE’S UGLY MUG!” Snips yelled. The fillies gasped, letting go of the table. It tittered on its legs and flipped on its side away from the fillies. Chinaware crashed on the ground, and the uneaten food splattered everywhere, frosting & cocoa staining everything. Snips stared at the mess in horror, and looked up to see Rarity staring coldly at him. He realized in this position with his hooves on a table leg it looked like he had flipped the table. And why had he been so loud? Rarity must’ve heard his shout.

“Well,” the white unicorn mare’s voice sent a chill down his spine. “If you don’t like your hostess, than you really don’t have a reason to stay, do you?”

Snips’ eyes filled with tears, and he ran past the mare, only remembering to grab his coat and leaving Carousel Boutique’s front down wide open behind him,

*****

Snails wasn’t sure how long he’d been digging in Ponyville’s snow-covered park. He’d gotten too tired using the spade from one of his emergency kits in his mouth and it was too hard to levitate the spade with his magic, so he’d begun who knows how long ago digging many little holes with his hooves.

Pony hooves were more flexible and sensitive than the average hoofed mammal, but even through his boots all the various holes dug in the snow had begun to numb them. Snails could’ve sworn he’d heard the Mole Cricket a mere foot away not long ago, but then again, he didn’t have a means for measuring time.

Digging was a mindless task, so it left Snails all the time in the world to think about his fight with Snips. Snips and Snails usually did the easiest and least amount of work required to get passing grades on their homework, but this time it was clear Snips had a pony in mind. It wasn’t not an easy interview, not like his Snails’ Mom who knew Snips well would be, but some pony else who had Snips’ full attention.
Snips was just doing a homework assignment for now, but what if he liked that pony enough to get an apprenticeship with them? Snips wouldn’t have time to play anymore, and Snails would be alone. He talked with the other students sometime, but only Snips really seemed to understand him.

All this digging and worrying exhausted Snails. Falling on his side over a pile of snow, Snails had a vague thought about missing his favorite pillow. But sleep quickly took his thoughts away.

Part 3 - Sunday

Snips woke up on top of a pile of rags. Last night in his miserable fury he had taken out his favorite scissors and shredded everything made of fabric. Clothes, curtains, blankets- even his mattress had reminded himself how he had ruined his dream because he was too worried about being teased for wanting to make and tailor fashionable clothes. He had opted out of dinner last night and kept his door locked. His parents hadn’t seen the mess yet, but it was only a matter of time.

Under the morning’s light he couldn’t help feeling remorseful about his actions, but it was hard to imagine what he could do to fix it. Likely, his allowance would go to replacing Rarity’s dishes for the end of eternity, and he would be grounded forever for ruining all the stuff his parents bought.

Digging out his sewing kit from its hiding place under the bed, he began to sort his things into two piles: ‘mend-able’ and ‘damaged beyond repair’- the latter he used for patching what he could mend.

“Snips, breakfast is read- AAAAAAAAAAAH! Did a bear get loose in here?” his mother screamed. His dad, Crew Cut, raced in the room after hearing his wife’s scream.

“Curly, what’s wrong- SNIPS! What did you do to your room? Your clothes!”

Snips tried for a moment not to cry, but having his parents angry with him was just two ponies too many. He exploded into a ball of tears, and felt like more water than pony. Through his tears he noticed his parents moving, and felt the weight on the mattress he’d begun to patch up shift as they sat on either side of him. His mother wrapped her hooves around him and he stuck his face in her chest, soaking her apron with his tears and snot. He’d have to make her a new one after his.

His father gently stroked his son’s head.

“Now that I look more carefully, I see that not everything has been ruined. You’ve been sewing some things up, son?” Snips nodded in response. “I’d always wondered what pony made so many of the Trixie items in your room. I didn’t remember buying a lot of it.”

“And I can’t sew for the life of me. Who taught you to do this?” his mother asked.

“Grandma Wispy,” he answered.

“Ah, yes. Mom always did like making quilts,” Snips’ father said. “So that’s what you did when she watched you.”

"Why are you down, Snips?” Curly queried. Snips sniffed. He wasn’t sure he could tell his parents the whole truth without falling apart again.

“Every pony is angry with me, and lost my chance to interview a pony for my homework,” he muttered.

“We’re not angry with you,” Crew Cut comforted.

“Mostly not,” his mother relented. “I wish you had chosen a less destructive outlet for your emotions, but it means a lot that you’ve attempted to fix it.”

“Seems to me you need to apologize and make amends,” his father added.

“I’m sorry,” Snips whined.

“A lot of this destruction will come out of your allowance, for sure. But I didn’t mean just to us, you’ll need to make it up to the other ponies who you angered, too.”

“Even if they did the bad thing?”

“Did they?”

Snips couldn’t meet his father’s eyes. If he had shared his secret from the start, Snails wouldn’t have thought he was insulting Snails’ mother, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders may have helped him talk to Rarity. But the thought of ponies laughing at his dream still terrified him.

The Crusaders hadn’t really thought he wanted to be a Fashionista back at Rarity’s house, but the laughter at the mere suggestion really hurt. He couldn’t stand it if his best friend also thought it was funny.

*****

Snails was warm. He felt multiple blankets wrapped around himself and some sort of cushion or mattress beneath his body. It didn’t smell like his bed- it was a gentle floral soap that left him with a nostalgic remembrance of being bathed as a foal.

He was so comfortable for him it was hard to open his eyes, but curiosity about where he was kept him awake. Opening his eyes, he saw a cozy room with feminine flourishes. He was lying in a four-poster bed, but it wasn’t the only bed in the room. All sorts of little beds, nests, and houses were mixed in and around the furniture. Remembering the exterior of a house he’d seen yesterday similarly decorated for multiple animal uses, he had a pretty good idea where he was.

Confirming his suspicions, Fluttershy rose from the ladder leading downstairs. Concern filled her face as she scurried to the side of the bed.

“Snails! Thank goodness you’re all right. If Ms Snowy Owl hadn’t warned me, you may have frozen outside! I was so worried that I was too late...” the pony trailed off, letting her long pale pink mane cover her face.

“Thank you,” Snails replied, and was surprised to find his voice was hoarse. His throat felt scratchy, and he was having a little trouble breathing out of his nose. Flutter gently placed her fore hoof on his forehead, placing her other fore hoof on her own. Her hoof felt cool, but not unpleasantly so.

“I made some carrot soup. Let’s get you some first and then I’d like to speak to you about something- is that okay?” the mare asked sweetly.

Snails nodded, and Fluttershy went back down the way she came. He still felt tired, but the idea of food seemed worth staying up for. The last meal he’d had was lunch, and it seemed pretty dark outside so he must’ve missed dinner. Were his parents worried about him?

Before long Fluttershy carried in a tray with two place settings of deliciously fragrant soup. She put the tray down in front of him and took a bowl and a spoon for herself. Snails realized that even through his stuffed nose he could still smell ginger along with the cooked carrots wafting from his bowl. He took a spoonful and blew on it once before taking a sip.

Fluttershy blew on and took a sip of her soup, too. They ate in a comfortable silence and when they’d finished, she removed the tray from Snails’ lap and piled the dishes back on it.

“I wanted to tell you, rescuing that spider in your classroom on Friday was really kind of you,” Fluttershy admitted with an embarrassed blush.

“Thank you! I really like spiders. Most bugs, actually,” Snips replied.

“Me too! Although I can’t communicate with them as well as I can with larger critters. Is learning about them your special talent?”

Snails paused to think. Maybe his special talent could be explained like that. But why was she asking? Fluttershy seemed to misread his silence.

“Oh, sorry if that was too personal! You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. Sorry.”

“It’s okay! I like watching bugs and learning about them, and I got it when I was doing just that so you’re not wrong. I just wondered why you wanted to know.”

“Oh, I… oh my, I’ve been thinking, and you remind me... oh, it’s not important.”

Snails was curious. He wasn’t sure he’d talked to an adult that was so uncertain before.

“You gotta tell me now! I mean, tell me please,” Snails asked. He wasn’t used to using his manners much, but the Pegasus seemed to use them a lot herself- which inspired usage in him.

“Well, I help a lot of critters- most of them are hibernating now, but when spring comes I was thinking it would be nice to have some extra… err… help,” Fluttershy’s last word was a terrified squeak. Snails had been listening hard to make out the words, and now that she’d finished, it took a moment to figure out what she meant.

“You want me to be your apprentice?” he asked unbelievably. The mare’s eyes grew wide in response to his tone.

“If its not a bother,” she replied. “But you’re the first pony I’ve met that I thought could do it.”

“But you barely know me!”

Fluttershy looked down at the dirty plates in shyness. Not making eye contact, she said,

“I’d like to get to know you.”

“But I’m just a colt! I’m too young to start a job,” Snails argued.

“Oh… okay,” Fluttershy replied sadly, and wheeled the dish cart back into the kitchen. Snails leaned back in the bed- he was safe, he didn’t have to get a job and grow up too soon. So why did he feel disappointed?

A tiny weight shifted the bed’s mattress, and Snails looked down at the cause: the same small white bunny he’d seen earlier. Usually bunnies are adorable- which since he was a colt, didn’t interest Snails much- but this one looked like he had eaten a lemon and it had made him angry.

It tapped a back paw on the cozy bedspread loud enough to make a sound, and then thrust an entire paw towards the front door. To Snails, the body language was clear- GET OUT!

“I’m going!” he told the rabbit. Snails moved the covers off his lap and slid off the bed to stand. The floor and ceiling swirled together, and before he knew what was going on Snails fell on Fluttershy’s wooden floor with a thud.

“SNAILS! Are you alright?” Fluttershy asked as she propelled herself back into her bedroom. She touched her forehead to Snails’ and gave a little gasp. “Oh dear, I was right- you do have a temperature!”

The rabbit hopped down from the bed with a softer expression as Fluttershy- with lots of effort- hoisted Snails back into the bed. She tucked him under the cover of her bed with only his head visible.

“I don’t-“ he started to say, but Fluttershy gave him a look that shut him up immediately. “The Stare” was so fierce it reversed a cockatrice’s stare- or so the Cutie Mark Crusaders had told their classmates. No pony wanted to be on the other end of that stare, and for a moment it had been directed at him!

“I gotta go home,” he whined weakly, not wanting to upset Fluttershy. She tucked the covers under her mattress, making it harder for Snails to leave in his weakened state.

“You have to stay here!” she said fiercely, but almost an instant later her face saddened, like she regretted her words. “Until your fever breaks, please.”

“My parents,” he croaked out.

“I sent them a message earlier, they know you’re here,” Fluttershy replied. She turned around and began to dig through her dresser’s drawers. After a moment she out a scrap of paper, plus a quill that from its pale yellow color Snails assumed it was one of her own shed feathers.

Quill in mouth, Fluttershy smoothed the scrap of paper with a hoof and wrote something short that Snails couldn’t make out. She set the Quill down and carefully folded the paper into fourths.

Fluttershy then opened the nearest window pane, and Snails felt the cold air even under the multiple layers of blankets. Scanning the snow-covered outside for something, Snails saw the profile of Fluttershy’s face light up and guessed she had found what she was looking for. Lifting her usually soft voice, Fluttershy called out:

“Oh, Mr. Raven! If it isn’t a bother, would you please do me a favor?” Snails heard a caw in response, and a large black bird landed on the windowsill in front of Fluttershy. She gently stroked the raven’s back and held out the folded piece of paper in front of the bird’s face with her other hoof, describing directions it should follow in the sky. The raven cawed in agreement, and then took the paper in its beak. Unfurling its wings, it turned around and flew into the air.

“Thank you! Be careful of icicles!” she called after it, waving a hoof. She then closed the window’s shutters and walked back to Snails’ side.

“I told your parents I’d walk you home after your dizziness goes away,” she explained.

Snails wanted to protest- he just wanted to be back home with his mom- but he felt too tired to speak. Fluttershy stroked his head gently, and Snails’ eyes felt heavy, so he closed them.

*****

Snips pounded on the front door of Snails’ house, worried about his friend. It had been the third time that afternoon he’d stopped by looking for his friend. He’d tried Sugar Cube Corner, Bon Bon’s, and all their other usual hangouts and hadn’t found Snails anywhere. After every other place he searched Snips returned to Snails’ house, hoping that some one would come home.

He couldn’t help but worry that his best friend’s entire family had gotten so upset that they all moved away forever. It didn’t seem like something adults would do, but the house’s shutters were closed and Snips couldn’t even peak inside to see if all their things were still there. In any case, Snips & Snails’ homework was due tomorrow, and without Snails’ help Snips didn’t even have a pony to interview, never mind starting to write the report. He didn’t want to get in trouble with Miss Cheerilee.

“SNAILS!” Snips yelled as he once again banged on the front door. “Please come out, I’m sorry!”

“Who’s that making all that racket?” An elderly stallion snapped as he hobbled out of the house next door. “I can’t enjoy my dinner in this racket!”

Snips fled, not wanting to get a lecture. He was envious that the stallion got to eat so early after lunch. Thinking of lunch made his belly rumble, and Snips was shocked to realize he had forgotten to eat today! He couldn’t remember ever having missed a meal before. Snips must’ve been more upset than he realized. He counted out his allowance and decided he could spare some bits for a meal out.

The bakery and soda shop known as ‘Sugar Cube Corner’ had been designed to look like gingerbread house. It was excellent marking, because every pony could tell with a glance what they sold- and their treats within were famous throughout Ponyville. The baked goods were delicious enough, but the shop’s owners owed a lot of their fame to their endlessly cheerful apprentice Pinkie Pie. Every pony served by Pinkie couldn’t leave the shop without a smile on their face, as her friends’ happiness was her first priority. Not one pony denied the pink mare friendship- even Snips, who usually avoided the company of “females”- counted Pinkie as a friend.

It was the weekend, so it was not surprising that the line for service went out the door. But the line usually moved quickly- especially when Pinkie wasn’t behind the register- and Snips was ordering his lunch before long. Snips got three carrot cake cupcakes -which he told himself were healthy due to their carrot content- and attempted to find a free table.

“Hey Snips!” Snips heard a filly shout angrily from behind. He turned, and saw Scootaloo and Apple Bloom glaring at him. Snips really wished he had gotten a ‘to-go’ box now. But Snips then saw the third filly that had remained sitting, her head down as she used a spoon to whirl around ice cream in a giant sundae.

Snips slipped his free fore hoof into his saddle bag, stroking the item inside. He hadn’t intended on giving the gift he made as an apology until he saw her at school tomorrow, but since she was here he might as well ‘bite the bullet’. Assuming her “gatekeepers” would let him pass. Snips flinched as Scootaloo and Apple Bloom stomped up to him, murder in their eyes.

“I-I-“ he started to mutter, then cried out as each filly grabbed a cupcake off his plate.

“Those are mine!”

“So you’re hogging treats like you did at Rarity’s, huh?” Scootaloo snapped, licking the frosting off the cupcake she had taken and putting it back on the plate.

“I bet you’ll make another mess, too- like this,” Apple Bloom smashed the cupcake she had into the top of Snips’ head, leaving a sticky, buttery mess in his mane. Scootaloo then smashed her hoof down on the plate Snips’ held, letting the two cupcakes on it break apart onto the floor. The shop went quiet at the sound of the plate hitting the floor (thankfully unbroken), but the two fillies were too angry to notice.

“Those things were bad, but the worst part of your visit is that you didn’t apologize to Sweetie Belle- she’s not ugly!”

“I know!” Snips whined, holding back tears- stallions didn’t cry. “I didn’t mean to say that, it just came out. Would you let me talk to her so I can apologize?”

“I dunno if that’s a good idea…” Apple Bloom mulled. “You were pretty mean to her.”

“Like you girls have been mean to me?” Snips sniffed. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo put their ears back, their eyes widened, and their jaws opened.

“We haven’t-“ Scootaloo started to say, but Sweetie Belle interrupted.

“No matter what he did, we didn’t have to wreck his lunch. I’ll listen, Snips.”

Despite having spoken up earlier, Sweetie Belle wasn’t talking now. Apple Bloom had mentioned getting some napkins to help clean Snips up and had dragged Scootaloo with her, but now Snips and Sweetie Belle sat in silence while the other pair of fillies took a suspiciously long time in the bathroom just across the room. Still hungry, Snips eyed Sweetie Belle’s melting sundae in horror. She wasn’t eating it because she was upset, obviously, but Snips had trouble letting something so delicious go to waste.

Snips knew mentioning it was folly- he had ruined a lot of good food at Rarity’s, after all. All the words that came to mind somehow had accusations in them that he didn’t want to speak- not when he was trying to apologize. Snips decided to let actions speak for him. He was too sticky to physically reach into his bag without ruining the contents, so used his magic to levitate out what he had hidden inside.

It was a scarf made up of light blue and purple strips of fabric woven together. Every third row or so Snips had stitched in a bead of rose quarts, and the scarf ends were each trimmed with white lace. But Sweetie Belle didn’t even look up to see what he was doing.

“This is for you,” Snips managed to say while he levitated the scarf into her lap. He nervously looked around to see his anyone was watching- was he imagining every pony in the store purposefully looking away? Deciding it was safe, he whispered;

“I made it.”

Sweetie Belle jerked up and her eyes locked onto Snip in surprise.

“Really?”

“Yeah!” Snips answered, but worried his reply had been too loud, added more quietly: “I mean, I like to make… clothes.” His words were practically a mouse’s squeak as he broke eye contact. “It’s my special talent.”

“But you’re-“ Sweetie Belle started, but mid sentence her body froze and her eyes widened to a size that was almost too big to fit in her face.

“You want to be Rarity’s apprentice!” she gasped, realizing his dream.

“Share it with all the world, why don’t cha?” Snips muttered, covering his reddening face with his fore hooves.

“Sorry!” Sweetie Belle apologized, bringing her voice down to a whisper. “This is what you were keeping from us at Rarity’s? We would’ve helped you!”

“I didn’t know that! Every pony seems to laugh at colts who are into fashion, so I thought you’d all laugh at me if I said anything.”

"Well, maybe we would have,” Sweetie Belle admitted, “But whenever someone doesn’t like her work, Rarity says artists have to be open to... to… cor-rit-tease-um? I think that’s the word. But what she means is negative feedback is still feedback that can help you grow as an artist. Not that I’d let any pony laugh at my cool new scarf.”

Snips uncovered his eyes and saw that Sweetie Belle had wrapped the scarf around her neck. He couldn’t stop the smile that broke out over his face.

Deafening pops came from above, and a large amount of confetti, glitter and streamers rained down onto their table. Snips moaned as he realized the half melted sundae had been made inedible by the bits of paper on it.

“Happy new friendship!” the famous pink mare of Sugar Cube Corner cheered, blowing a noisemaker to celebrate.

“Pinkie Pie?” Sweetie Bell asked sounding confused.

“Yepperino! To celebrate your getting close, I made you two the Baker’s Dozen Roulette Special!” The mare set down a shiny platter with four sparklers going off on the edges. On it were 13 cupcakes; each one with the cupcake, frosting, and wrapper being different shades of blue so no two cupcakes looked the same. They looked delicious- but a twinkle in Pinkie’s eyes worried Snips a little.

“Twelve of these cupcakes are absolutely-tootly normal flavors like vanilla or chocolate or lemon or red- I mean, blue velvet. But one of them isn’t a normal flavor~!” Pinkie Pie finished in a singsong voice. The mare bounced off, giggling, and Sweetie and Snips stared down at the delicious yet daunting dessert in front of them.

“You gonna hog all that food again, Snips?” Apple Bloom gently teased, having suddenly returned with Scootaloo from where ever they had gone to get napkins. Snips suspected it was the kitchen. Scoolatoo sheepishly put a pile of napkins next to him on the table.

“Not if you’re fast enough,” Snips challenged.

“Game on!” Scootaloo cheered.

*****

His sleep had been dreamless, so when Snails began to hear the familiar murmurs of his parents talking, he thought he was back at home again. Wanting to see for himself, he stirred and began to lift his heavy eyelids open.

“Birdie, he’s waking up!” his father whispered excitedly to his mother, and through his sleepy vision he saw their faces hovering over his bed, but despite their presence, he wasn’t in his bed back home- Fluttershy’s butterfly patterned quilts still covered most of his body.

“Snails, I’m so glad you’re ok! Your father and I were just beside ourselves when you didn’t come home last night!” his mother wept while stroking his head. “I want you to get fresh air, but in winter it is not okay to spend the night outside.”

“Yes Snails- what in Equestria made you think that was okay?” his father asked, a slight edge to his voice. Snails was still very tired, so where he might have fought tears at their words before, he couldn’t right now.

“Oh dear!” Fluttershy stood at the top of her stairs to her main room, a tray covered with a small teapot and four cups balanced on the top of her head. “Is Snails alright? Is he in pain?”

His parents actually looked ashamed at the question. As Fluttershy drew closer, her worried expression became clear. Snails was grateful for the comfort she projected simply by being there. Snails’ mother levitated the tray off the other mare’s head with her orange magic and placed it on Fluttershy’s desk. His father stepped aside to let the mare get close, and Fluttershy put a fore hoof on Snails’ head, putting her other one on her own.

“Your temperature is almost back to normal,” she said, withdrawing her hooves. “Is there any thing that hurts? Any aches or pains?”

Snails shook his head, trying not to look at either of his parents.

“Miss Fluttershy, do you think it’s safe to bring him home?” his mother asked. “We wouldn’t want him to disrupt your work.”

“I’m sorry, but I think he needs to rest more. Besides, Snails hasn’t been a disruption at all.”

“He hasn’t?” his father asked in surprise.

“Oh no. I’ve seen that he’s really well versed in insects. He could be a big help come springtime, if he wanted.”

“Our Snails?” his mother asked in shock. Snails’ ears drooped. He hadn’t told his parents of his hobby, but did they have to be so surprised about it? Fluttershy drew back, looking anxious again. Snails wondered if the mare was ever not troubled.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Snails. Snails has already told me he isn’t interested in helping me-“

“You want Snails to be your apprentice!” his mother almost shouted in glee.

“Yes, but-“

“Snails, this is wonderful! So studying insects is your special talent? Why didn’t you ever tell us?"

“It’s not my special talent!” Snails said as loud as he could, which was more like speaking loudly for a hard of hearing adult. He hurt his voice a little doing it, and he winced in pain.

“Oh dear, let me-“ Fluttershy started, but Snails had already thrown the covers off his body and was beginning to rise out of the bed.

“Miss Fluttershy says you need to rest, son.” His father said, attempting to gently push Snails back down. Snails flailed, knocking his father’s hoof away.

“I’m just a colt! All you two ever talk about is future this and work that. Why can’t you just let me be a kid?”

At his words, his mother seemed to be on the verge of tears while his father only shook his head.

“Getting your Cutie Mark is the first part of becoming an adult. Your mother and I won’t always be around to take care of you, and we’d like you to be self-sustaining in a job you love.”

“But you’re not that old! It’s going to be a long time before you die!”

“With all the uncertainties and dangerous creatures in our world, son? There’s no guarantee we’ll live our full life spans.”

“No! You’re going to live a long time! And I’m not growing up any time soon!” A burst of violet light came from Snails’ horn, responding wildly to his emotions. Noticing the adults had been blinded; Snails shakily threw himself out of bed and raced downstairs.

“Snails!” he heard his mother call after him. But Snails threw Fluttershy’s front door wide open and raced outside, only his fur protecting him from the cold winter.

Had it been silly to assume his parents would always been around? As he raced further away and into the depths of the Everfree, the touch of certain entropy scared him much more than the wild winter forest around him.

Long out of sight of Fluttershy’s cottage in an especially bushy part of the Everfree that had begun to gradually incline into a hill, Snails slowed down to a pace that an outsider may have wondered if he was dragging invisible chains on his hooves. If Snails hadn’t stopped crying for a moment, he would have believed the whine he heard was his own. Thinking it was an echo, he almost walked on when it repeated.

“Hello?” Snails asked the snowy forest around him- in a world with magic, you could never be too sure what would answer you. A desperate, much louder whine and yip answered. Snails strayed off the small path he’d been on to navigate the underbrush in the direction he thought he heard the cry. Pushing aside bush branches bare of leaves yet thick with sticks and snow, Snails spotted movement in a coil of thorn bushes emerging from the slope of the frozen hill.

An eager yip-whine told Snails he had the right place. Snails tried to push through the brambles to get a better look, but ended up scratching his forelegs. He had nothing to with which hack back the brambles - not even a spade from one of his bug-catching stashes, since they were all far away in Ponyville’s park. Could he use his magic to tear the thorny branches away?

The small whine came again, insistent yet sounding tired, and Snails realized he didn’t know how long this small furry creature had been here. What if he went for help, and the thing died of starvation, a predator, or freezing… Snails finally noticed he was without his winter wear and he, too, was in danger of dying from those things. He was short on time.

Snails’ magic blazed and surrounded the front branches. He thrust his horn to the side, straining to pull the thorn branches away. The brambles bent and finally snapped, a yelp of pain screeched the second they did so. Snails rushed forward to check on the creature.

Its long and matted gray fur had orange and black specks, and it too had snagged on the thorns. The little black noise on the end of its long snout was sniffing the air, and short, floppy ears on top of its head were almost lost in its fur, but they perked up at the sight of Snails, and the tiny stub of a tail started to wag from the animal’s hindquarters.

It was a dog small enough to be a puppy. Bending over it, Snails saw multiple bleeding scratches made by the thorns. One of the puppy’s stubby back legs was bent behind it in an angle that didn’t seem right, and its left eye was swollen shut.

“It’s ok, boy,” Snails said soothingly. Snails knew he had to continue to un-snag the dog from the brambles, and although he thought it might frighten the dog, he knew his mouth would be more dexterous for the task. He began to slowly pull on a bit of fur on a bramble with his teeth, trying to be gentle. It seemed to take hours, but Snails slowly un-snagged the pup. When he was only had the clumps near the dog’s head left, it licked Snails’s nose as Snails he put his head near.

Snails laughed at the touch, but the warm tongue also reminded Snails of how cold he was. Snails’ winter fur only was so warm- that was why ponies wore other winter accessories.

Finally free, the dog tried to stand, only to fall over when it couldn’t put weight on its bad leg. Snails had to get the little dog to some pony that could help. Some ponies brought wounded animals to Fluttershy, but Snails didn’t want to face her- and likely his parents- right now. The other choice was Ponyville’s Vet, but Snails had never had a pet before, so he didn’t know the Veterinary office was- but maybe some other pony did.

Snails levitated the dog into the air, and seeing as it yelp in pain whenever its bad leg was jostled, Snails tried to keep the leg steady in his aura. Uncertain how long it would be before he used up his magical strength, Snails ran back into Ponyville.

*****

Snips was trapped. Well, not literally, but after he’d bonded a little with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, they decided they’d help Snips, and insisted on walking him to Carousel Boutique to clear the air with Rarity. He pleaded with them not to, but the fillies insisted. Snips was sure he was being dragged to another soul-crunching rejection.

Sweetie Belle led the way, with Scootaloo “guarding’ the rear and Apple Bloom leading him by a head lock since Snips insisted he wasn’t going to take another step. Snips blushed furiously the whole time, telling himself that it was Apple Bloom’s earth pony strength that was keeping pull Snips from pulling himself free. They were almost a block away from Rarity’s when distant yells caught their attention.

“What’s that?” Scootaloo asked.

“Some pony help! PLEASE!” Apple Bloom let Snips go to take a step closer to the rapidly approaching figure trotting towards them. Snips would have used the opportunity to flee, but the voice yelling was one he’d known since they were in diapers, and the last time he cried like that they had been running away from an Ursa Minor.

“Snails!” Snips called, worry lacing his voice.

“It’s Snails?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“What’s wrong, Snails?” Apple Bloom called. Snails looked bad. His fur was sweated and mussed up, and he had scratches all over his forelegs. Stopping in front of his peers, Snails shivered, and Snips wondered why he wasn’t wearing any winter gear.

“What’s that?” Scootaloo asked, and Snips noticed Snails holding up what looked like a bloody, tail-less possum in his magical aura- its usually vibrant violet color almost clear. He wouldn’t be able to hold it up much longer.

“Apple Bloom!” Snails said after a moment of breathing hard. “Where do you take Winona to get better?”

“Fluttershy’s-“ Apple Bloom answered, and panic flashed across Snails’ eyes, and he whirled to face Sweetie Belle. Snips couldn’t help feel a little hurt Snails hadn’t turned to him. If this what about pets, Snips had a goldfish… once.

“What about your sister’s cat?” Snails asked urgently.

“To Fluttershy, I think. What’s this about-“ Sweetie Belle started to ask, but Snails had deflated at her answer. It seemed to stop whatever reserves were powering Snails’ magic, and Snails dropped what he had held in the air near his head. Instinctually, Snips moved to help his friend and caught the furry thing with his own magic. Snails met Snips’ eyes flashed him a relieved smile. A whine escaped the magic swirl, and Snips was pretty sure he knew what he was holding. Bringing it to his eye level with his magic, he gasped.

“A puppy!”

The fillies echoed Snips’ comprehension questioningly and drew in closer to see for their selves.

“Oh no, it's hurt!” Sweetie Belle proclaimed.

“It was trapped in some thorns in the Everfree. Does anypony know where the Vet is? It needs help!” Snails pleaded.

“Why not take it to Fluttershy’s?” Scootaloo asked.

“I c-can’t!” Snails whined. He looked at Snips for help. Snips didn’t know why he was avoiding the quiet Pegasus, but he wanted to help his friend.

“We should go to Rarity’s first- its closer, and Snails looks like he’s freezing! I bet she has fabric scraps we could bandage up the dog with, too,” Snips insisted.

“That’s a good idea!” Apple Bloom agreed. “Let’s go!”

“So you want to go to Rarity’s now?” Scootaloo teased Snips.

“Not in front of Snails!” Snips snapped. The fillies chuckled they all cantered the rest of the way to Carousel Boutique.

Like a tsunami every pony crashed through the front door of Rarity’s home and workplace, leaving wet hoof prints on the Boutique’s carpeted floor. Sweetie Belle shouted for Rarity while Apple Bloom and Scootaloo bickered about who had shoved who getting through the door. Layered over their voices was Snails’ yowl of worry that they already may be too late and it was entirely his fault. Snips thrashed his head around to watch the moving bodies, doing his best to keep the puppy elevated above it all with his magic.

A door across the room burst open and Snips observed a frustrated-looking Rarity canter in, her lips forming the words ‘what is going on?’ but her voice went unheard as it was overcome by the torrent of sound. Snips eyed the puppy- he didn’t know about medical stuff, but he really didn’t think there was time to fool around like this. He puckered his lips and blew, the sharp whistle silencing the ponies around him. All eyes fell on Snips, and he stepped forward, levitating the puppy near Rarity’s face. She gasped at the sight.

“What is that thing?” she asked with a hint of disgust.

“It’s a puppy, Miss Rarity, and its hurt. Please help!” Snips begged, fearing she may be too angry with him to help.

“Yeah, Sis, it’s injured real bad!” Sweetie Belle added, similar pleas followed from her friends.

Snips watched understanding flow into Rarity’s eyes, and Snips realized he had forgotten he was dealing with the Element of Generosity. Her blue magic aura gently engulfed Snips’ own aura as she took the puppy from him. Her magic safely cradled the pup, Rarity’s expression then became all business as she started to delegate tasks to the younger ponies around her.

“Apple Bloom, run to Fluttershy’s and bring her here this instant!” she ordered, and Snips noticed Snails lower his head with a sigh of resignation.

“Yes ma’am!” Apple Bloom agreed, racing out the door.

“Sweetie, start some hot water boiling and grab some unused sponges from the cupboard.”

“Okay sis!”

“Scootaloo, fetch a blanket from the upstairs hallway closet for Snips here- he looks half-frozen!”

“Aye aye!”

Her magical hold on the dog unwavering, Rarity levitated a pair of scissors from a cutting table, followed folded pieces of a plain egg shell and a light pink gingham fabric from a tall basket. The pink gingham she kept folded and placed on the ground, gently laying the puppy on it, who squeaked when its bad back leg touched the ground. The scissors and eggshell fabric remained in the air and floated in front of Snips.

“You have a scissors Cutie Mark, so unless it refers to a metaphorical-type cutting you must be able to cut, am I right?” Snips nodded. Although he worried about the puppy’s well being, he was inwardly glad that at least he’d be able to cut something for Rarity once in his lifetime.

“But don’t you need it for your business? We could use old fabric scraps instead,” he asked hesitantly, cursing himself for asking even as he spoke the words.

“Egg shell is out of season, and without knowing when it’ll be back in style it’s just a space waster, like the gingham the dog’s on. As for my scraps, they’re really too small and oddly shaped to be used for bandages.”

“Ok. I’ll get right to cutting, ma’am,” Snips said as he took the items from her aura. Rarity turned away as she began to head for the door Sweetie Belle had gone through. Sensing he was missing his chance, Snips shouted after her.

“SORRY… about yesterday.” The mare paused without looking back.

“I see,” she answered, and then she disappeared through the door, widening the hole in Snips’ heart.

“What happened yesterday?” Snails asked. Snips had almost forgotten his friend was there. He may have been alone with his friend, but the pain from yesterday had reopened like an old wound. Talking with the Crusaders had begun to heal it, but he felt talking about it more would hurt even more, so he deflected to something else he had been thinking about.

“Why are you avoiding Fluttershy?” Snails didn’t answer, so Snips cut once into the fabric he had been given and then tore a long, narrow strip from the cut. Pleased with the even width of it, Snips continued repeating the process. He was on his forth strip when Snails broke the silence.

“Every pony is growing up and leaving me behind.”

“Huh?” Snips asked, confused.

“Every pony from our class is getting apprenticeships, helping out at home, or something else grown up, and I’m the only one who still wants to just be a kid.”

“I’m not doing grown-up things,” Snips argued. Snails looked up from his gaze on the puppy, making eye contact with the other colt.

“Are you? ‘Cause on Friday I was happy to get the report done as fast as we could so we could spend the rest of the weekend playing. But you had other plans…” Snails paused, and Snips winced as he realized his friend was putting two and two together.

“Hey, you were planning on visiting Rarity, weren’t you?” he accused.

“You haven’t told him you want to be a fashion designer yet?” Scootaloo asked coyly, after having slipped back in the room unnoticed. Snips glared at the filly as draped an old patchwork quilt over Snails’ shoulders and body.

“Scootaloo!” Snips complained.

“It’s lame to be embarrassed about your dreams. Rainbow Dash says only ponies that aren’t confident get teased about them.”

“It does explain why you keep giving me clothes as presents,” Snails said thoughtfully. Snips blushed- he didn’t realized clothes were all he was giving his friend.

“Did you sew all those Trixie decorations in your room, too?” Snails asked. Before Snips could answer, the door to the kitchen opened.

“Really, Sweetie, I’d have thought you’d at least know how to boil water by now,” Rarity signed as she and her sister trotted into the room.

“Mom said she teach me after she and Dad came back from their cruise,” Sweetie Belle explained sheepishly.

“That’s the sixth cruise this year! Sweetie, you and I are practically ORPHANS!” Rarity said dramatically. Her blue magic held a metal water kettle and a basket with various kitchen supplies inside it, which she set down near the dog and Snails. Levitating a mug and a tea bag from the basket, she plopped the latter into the former, and poured in some hot water. A refreshing, minty aroma filled the air as the mug flew to Snails.

“Here’s some peppermint tea to warm you up, darling.”

Snails eyed the cup warily- Snips knew that Snails had a sweet tooth as bad as his own, and tended to put a lot of sugar into tea. But Snails must’ve still been pretty cold, because he blew on the liquid and continued to take small, tentative sips even without adding sweeteners.

“Well, let’s see if we can get this pup cleaned up a bit for Fluttershy, shall we?” Rarity declared, pouring the rest of the hot water into a large bowl she retrieved from the basket. Rarity then removed a sponge from the basket and with her magic submerged the sponge into the water bowl, wrung it out slightly and gently began to wipe away debris from the whimpering dog’s coat.

*****

Snails felt like hiding under the quilt he was wrapped in when Fluttershy arrived, but he worried that moving it higher would leave his back hooves uncovered and colder than they were under the quilt. If he kept extra still, maybe she wouldn’t notice him amongst the other ponies. At least his parents hadn’t arrived with her- there was no hiding from them.

“How’s the dog doing?” the Pegasus mare asked, inspecting the pup with her tender touch. Rarity had done an excellent job cleaning up the dog, and its fur gleamed like a gem. Now that the dirt and blood had been washed away from the silver-coated puppy its wounds were easier to see. The puppy’s body had looked worst than it actually was. Most of the small cuts hadn’t gone too deep. Unfortunately, the scratched eye was still swollen shut, and the bad leg had seemed to hang uselessly off the dog’s torso. The dog had yowled in pain when Rarity touched it, so she had made Snips hold the pup down so it wouldn’t bite her while she had cleaned it.

Fluttershy now murmured softly to the dog who now only whimpered as she inspected its wounds, touches the injured parts as if she were a breeze instead of a pony.

“I’ll have to confer with Ponyville’s Veterinarian, but it seems he’s lost the use of his eye,” Fluttershy mused as she began to bandage the animal. “I worry about his leg, too. The poor dear says he’s in ever-so-much pain.”

Snails felt tears come unbidden, and in noticing them, dissolved into a mess of liquid.

“It’s all my fault!” he wailed. Every pony’s voice rose to comfort him, but somehow Fluttershy’s quiet one stood out.

“Oh, don’t blame yourself! The puppy says a timber wolf attacked him, and he only managed to keep from being hurt further by hiding in the thorn bush where you found him. He says you saved his life by freeing him from the thorn bush- you’re his hero!”

“But maybe you could’ve saved his eye if I went straight to your house, Fluttershy.”

“Oh, no, I’m not a surgeon- I only know first aid. Your wanting to find the Vet was the right thing to do.”

“Why were you avoiding Fluttershy, anyway?” Sweetie Belle asked. Fluttershy gave a frightened squeak at the question and immediately began to focus on splinting the puppy’s bad leg, refusing to meet any pony’s eyes.

“Is she a Cougar, Snails?” Snips asked. Scootaloo burst out laughing.

“No!” Snails denied firmly.

“She’s a pony, isn’t she?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Maybe its similar to when she turns into Flutterbat,” Apple Bloom suggested.

“No girls, no,” Rarity interjected. “Please, forget that word until you’re older. Snips, who taught you it?”

“Trixie,” he said, looking a little ashamed.

“I’m going to have to have words with that mare next time she comes into town,” Rarity muttered. “Now, you were saying, Snails?”

Once again, the urge to hid under the quilt rose. But Snails didn’t want the ponies thinking weird things about Fluttershy.

“She asked me to be her apprentice,” he said softly.

“She asked YOU?” Scootaloo said incredulously, her shocked expression mirrored on the other ponies’ faces out of the know.

"Fluttershy, darling, I’m so proud of you! You’ve been telling me you’ve felt overwhelmed for months now, but I never dreamed you actually ask some pony to be your apprentice!” Rarity gushed.

“The animals aren’t that much trouble…” Fluttershy argued weakly, eyeing Snails worriedly. It seemed that she was worried he’d feel pressured to change his mind. Would it really be so bad, if he could help animals like the puppy get better?

“I told her no,” Snails revealed, and Rarity’s gasp may have been audible across town.

“You told her ‘no’? How could- what do-,“ the ivory unicorn stuttered, seeming unable to land on a single question. Snails guessed it was because she didn’t know much about him. Snails was surprised then by Snips’ sudden laugh.

“You gave up your dream job so you could be a kid longer?” Snips chuckled.

“I don’t have a dream job!” Snails argued, starting to get mad again.

“Sure you do! I’m your friend- I can put two and two together. We go insect hunting a lot- we catch butterflies in the spring, beetles in the summer, and fireflies in the fall. And you never try to keep any of them- you always let them go right after you get a good look at them. Fluttershy’s all about humane creature treatment, and I’m sure she could teach you more about insects than anything you can find in the library or at school. Is learning more about insects not something you find fun?”

Snails glared at Snips, trying to be angry but finding it difficult.

“But apprenticeships are hard work!”

“Of course they are- but the best ones feel like play, too.”

“How would you know?” Snips argued weakly. “You’re not an apprentice!” Snips hesitated, and Snails noticed him avoiding looking at Rarity when he responded.

“You’ve seen my work- I imagine it would be much harder making clothes under some pony’s directions than just in my free time. But I could learn much more than I know, and thinking about that sounds fun.”

“You make… clothes?” Rarity asked Snips curiously. He nodded.

“He makes all his clothes, Rarity!” Apple Bloom pointed out.

“Yeah, and look at this scarf he made me to apologize for yesterday!” Sweetie Belle added, lifting the scarf Snails had seen her in off the hat rack by the door and bringing it to her sister’s close inspection. The mare levitated a pair of cat’s-eye glasses over her eyes and inspected the scarf closely.

“It’s rough, but certainly is creatively done, especially considering the amount of time you had,” she said after a minute of tense quiet. Snails had never seen Snips look that happy before.

“I wonder why you didn’t attempt to make one for me.”

“I didn’t think you’d like anything I made, after yesterday,” Snips sniffled.

“It wasn’t his fault yesterday, Rarity!” Apple Bloom confessed.

“Yeah! We thought he wanted to get Sweetie to do his homework for him for or something, so we were mean to him,” Scootaloo added.

“The table only fell over ‘cause he was hiding under it and we tried to pull him out,” Sweetie Belle concluded. “It’s no wonder he yelled at us.”

“And why didn’t you girls tell me about this before?” Rarity accused.

“We were still mad at Snips, so we kinda let him get them blame,” Sweetie Belle admitted.

“But it’s my fault too! If I had just told you girls my reasons instead of being embarrassed about it, that whole accident would’ve never happened!” Snips insisted.

“I see…” Rarity said. “Girls, we’re going to talk about that later. But for now- Snips, come upstairs with me. I think we should talk.”

“Yes, Miss Rarity!” Snips agreed. Snails had never seen a pony look so delighted and terrified all at once. But as the ponies left Snails found himself rooting for Snips and his dream. Snails was confused by the feeling- wouldn’t he have a lot less free time if his friend starting working for Rarity? But he couldn’t stop remembering the happy look Snips got when Rarity complemented her, and Snips’ words from before:

‘You gave up your dream job so you could be a kid longer?’

‘Is learning more about insects not something you find fun?’

‘I imagine it would be much harder making clothes under some pony’s directions than just in my free time. But I could learn much more than I know, and thinking about that sounds fun.’

Over the fillies giggling with each other, Fluttershy’s voice came softly.

“I’m sorry, I should really take the puppy to the Veterinarian now.” Snails was surprised at the panic he felt at her leaving, like he was loosing an important chance.

“Can I go with you?” he asked quickly. The mare smiled at the colt.

“Of course.”

A few weeks later….

Ponies' voices rose together in song as they got ready for spring. Pegasi in blue vests filled the sky, leading birds back and clearing clouds. Ponies in green vests pulled plows to remove snow, and planted vegetation in the uncovered ground.

For the first time, Snips and Snails were old enough to join in the work, joining their voices with the ponies in the brown vests.

“You’re doing a wonderful job with that nest, darling,” Rarity told the colt next to her. “Make sure you don’t take too long, or Twilight will be on our tails. The mare can be surprisingly scary when some pony gets behind schedule.”

“Yes Miss Rarity!” Snips answered with a wide smile, weaving the twigs into the nest he was working on a little faster. A short distance away, Snails tried to slow his excited pace to match the Pegasus mare’s next to him.

“We really get to wake up mole crickets next?”

“Yes, I know just where their burrow is,” Fluttershy replied.

“Yippee!” Snails cheered, leaping into the air. A three-legged puppy raced over at his pony's happy voice, and danced around Snails' legs excitedly. Hearing Snails’ voice, Snips whirled around in glee.

“SNAILS! Hey Snails!” Snips shouted at his friend, waving wildly with both fore hooves.

“HI SNIPS!” Snails called back. Across the distance, the two colts did their Best friend greeting where they imitated Trixie waving her arms around magically. Laughing, they rejoined their craft masters. Life was good.

Author's Notes:

It's finally done! Did you like it?
I really hope my next story doesn't take so long to write.