I Got a Rock
“See ya later, Snips!”
“Later, Snails!”
So, with another day having passed and neither of the young colts having done much of anything productive, Snips headed back towards his home at a particularly slow pace. He enjoyed the scenic route more than he probably should have when it got this late at night. This fact had put his parents on edge for many a late night when the poor boy hadn’t come home simply because he was “checking out this weird tree” he had found.
What was on the easily distracted colt’s mind, however, was not the abundance of interesting rocks or trees around him. Rather, it was a certain filly who had caught his eye several weeks ago, and one he considered completely unobtainable due to their differing social status. Diamond Tiara was an interesting filly, to be sure, but she was also blatantly rude and narcissistic. Poor Snips couldn’t help himself, though. Who could look at Diamond Tiara and not see how absolutely beautiful she was?
Well, everypony, as it seemed to be the case. He was convinced, as he made his way along the same dirt path he always traversed, that Diamond Tiara had a good side. Somewhere in her heart, there must have been at least an ounce of good. So, he decided that he had to do something of his own accord. Otherwise, nopony would ever see that Diamond Tiara wasn’t entirely a cold-hearted and selfish filly.
The problem with that plan was that Snips had none. He wasn’t really one to come up with ideas, nonetheless good ones, and couldn’t really manage to think straight for a long enough time to devise more than a one or two-step strategy. How was he supposed to bring out Diamond Tiara’s good side if he had no idea what to do in the first place?
That’s when poor Snips tripped and fell, clearly not looking where he was going.
The ground would have been particularly painful had it not been for a particular patch of land that was occupied by the branches of dead trees and numerous oddly-colored rocks that Snips had never seen before. Maybe it was his lack of attention to detail when it came to this particular sector of the forest or just his recent lack of time to explore, thanks to his friend Snails’ distaste for “the woods.”
As Snips stood from his fall and brushed himself off, however, he spotted something by a nearby tree. Not just any old something, but something that he could see reflecting the moonlight in another direction. “Rocks can’t do that, can they?” he thought. As he approached the unique and interesting sight, he turned it slightly so he could get a better view of what was reflecting the light.
It wasn’t just any rock; it was a diamond. This diamond had appeared as the answer to Snips’ prayers, and he didn’t even have to pray in the first place. With this newfound discovery came an idea. A simple one at that, so it was easy for Snips’ own brain to follow without any inconvenient headaches. With a new plan hatched, he left the diamond right in that exact spot, but not before making sure that it was well hidden under the piles of dead trees and other, more common rocks.
The next day, after school, Snips knew there was a glaring obstacle in his plan. The first thing he had to do was go over and talk to the stuck-up filly who had been invading his dreams. Unlike usual circumstances, though, she wasn’t with her close friend and confidante, Silver Spoon, as the gray-coated filly had been sick the past few days and couldn’t come to school. They had still seen each other each day after school, but they attempted to keep a good distance from one another until Silver Spoon felt better.
“This’ll make it much easier to get her into the forest with me!” Snips thought, rather bluntly. Gathering up the courage to walk up to her became a bit of a hassle for him, but he eventually made it close enough so that he could stand a few feet away from the confused-looking filly and try not to look incredibly awkward. Noticing his odd-looking approach and the uncomfortably forced smile on his face as he gulped nervously, Diamond Tiara spoke.
“What do you want?”
Snips laughed nervously, finding it difficult to put into words what he was trying to say to the filly who was typically very annoyed by his presence.
“Uhh, ehehe, I was just thinking that I could, you know, uhh, walk you home, or... something?”
Diamond Tiara looked even more confused than before. Had Silver Spoon been there with her, she would have given him no thought and burst into laughter right there on the spot. With nopony around to care, however, she had no reason to go out of her way to embarrass the colt. Instead, she asked while raising her hoof in a questioning manner.
“Why?”
“I just thought that, since you usually walk home with Silver Spoon, I could show ya the cool way through the forest! Plus, there’s this thing I found. I thought I must’ve been seein’ things, so I had to tell the first pony I knew, and that was you, eheh.”
Diamond Tiara threw him an incredulous look as she raised an eyebrow. Needless to say, she wasn’t interested in the unkempt slob of a colt that was Snips, but she did secretly share his love of the forest. She had been through there numerous times after being taught by her father to be brave and quickly learned to enjoy the peaceful silence that came with it. Throwing caution to the wind, she decided to hop off of the wooden bench she sat on and agree to the young colt’s previously unthinkable request.
“Sure. Lead the way.”
Snips couldn’t believe his luck. Not only did the filly accede to his request, but she also did so without even a hint of hesitance! He thought it would’ve taken more convincing on his part, but now, none of that mattered. He started off towards the forest and Diamond Tiara followed behind a few steps away to objectively see just where he was taking her.
Before he knew it, he found himself deep in the forest and attempting to re-capture the moment that led to him discovering the diamond. Fortunately, this time it didn’t have to involve tripping. At least, he hoped not. Diamond Tiara was getting a little bored, watching him silently look around, probably just trying to find something of interest now that he had gotten her in here.
Eventually, however, Snips finally found the patch of dead trees and oddly-colored rocks that he had been searching for. Wasting no time whatsoever, he called back to the filly as he galloped over to the spot he had left untouched since last night.
“It’s over here!”
Diamond Tiara followed after him at much slower run, trying not to get her hooves dirty, what with her lack of boots for the nearby mud. When he reached the pile, he eyed it carefully, scanning each and every piece of detail until he had found his own clever hiding spot. The rock containing the diamond sat exactly where it was under two branches of the tall tree next to it, and Snips quickly snagged it up and held it close to him before standing and smirking back at the filly behind him. Before she could manage to get out anything more than a confused glance, Snips flipped himself around and revealed his prize to her with a loud exclamation.
“Ta-da!”
She focused her eyes on the object held just inches away from her face. Her mouth went agape as she tried to form words accurately depicting her reaction.
“A...a diamond? You... found a diamond?”
“Uh-huh! And it’s for you!”
Diamond Tiara looked taken aback for a brief moment, a hint of a blush had been forming on her face as Snips admitted to her that he was giving his discovery to her for absolutely no reason. Or, at least, no reason she could fathom at the time. Poor Snips looked almost hurt at her shocked reaction and worriedly spoke as his words became shaky with fear of rejection.
“You... You don’t want it?”
“Daddy has plenty of diamonds at home. He has more than a filly like me could ever need.”
Snips looked heartbroken at this piece of information he had forgotten about. Of course she already had diamonds. He went out of his way to get her something she already had! The amount of facehoofing he’d have to do could never make up for his poor thinking. Instead of admonishing him more, however, Diamond Tiara stepped closer and eyed the colt behind the diamond as she spoke once more.
“But he only bought them for me. He never found any like you did.”
Snips’ face took on a look of confusion, but soon became dumbfounded as he stared into the gorgeous eyes that stared back at him. She was accepting his gift, and not only that, she wanted to give him something for his efforts. He couldn't tell what she might give him, at least not at first, but he blushed wildly as her face got closer and the blush on her own face deepened.
“Close your eyes.”
Snips obeyed her demand without a hint of reluctance. Soon enough, his reward arrived only seconds later: a light peck on his cheek. The colt almost wanted to leap into the air in victory as his face became almost super-heated. He couldn't wait to tell his buddy Snails about this! What a miracle!
“And could you... not tell anypony about this? Thanks.”
Within moments, the diamond was gone and so was she, but that didn’t matter to Snips. He had gotten more than he asked for and quietly rubbed his cheek, chuckling to himself as he sat there. Snips was glad to have discovered that even stubborn rocks can hold nice surprises if you can find them.
Or some other analogy like that, it really didn’t matter to him. He had just been kissed by the Diamond Tiara! “Well, on the cheek, but it counts!” he thought, joyously.