The timing had to be perfect. The key here is to be out of sight, out of mind. That's the whole game, and not many knew it. Snowdrop, a white pegasus mare with long, tangled and messy sky-blue mane and tail. Her eyes were the same color and held an ounce of pain in them. The feathers on her wings have splits and bends in them which told anypony that they needed to be preened and cleaned, but Snowdrop hasn't had time for that. There were other things more important than her wings, and more important than her.

Her coat had a few smudges of dirt on it and her body is skinnier than usual do to a lack of eating the past week. Yet somehow she still managed to get up every morning to attempt to steal any scraps of food left unattended or forgotten. Snowdrop sat on a park bench, watching a couple set up a picnic. Her mouth watered at the thought of finally getting something to eat. The lack of food had started causing stomach pains a few days ago.

The couple laid out a blanket and a wicker basket which she could only assume had food in it. Sure enough they start pulling out bread and lettuce a various fruits. The two talked but Snow couldn't hear what they were saying and decided to wait. It took a lot of patience to wait as long as she did, and the pain in her midsection was only getting worse by the hour.

Soon enough the stallion had started to flirt with the mare he was with and before she knew it the two were on the ground in each other's hooves, making out right in the middle of the park. Snow saw her chance and quickly, silently trotted over to the couples stuff. The two were completely oblivious to her presence and Snow quickly snatched the basket which was a little heavy with food.

Seeing that she now has the food she could easily get away... "Hey!" Snow heard someone yell. She looked down at the stallion with fear and the mare stared back up at her. Now in a complete panic mode Snow took off running in the opposite direction with the stallion now chasing after her to give them their stuff back. Snow kept running even though she could hear the stallion catching up to her.

Snow ran into the residential areas of the small town, Ponyville, and into an alleyway. To her unpleasant surprise the stallion was still chasing her. He's yelling at her to stop even though she wont. She passes some boxes and stops momentarily to topple them over, causing a loud ruckus. It took the stallion seconds to climb over the fallen boxes and continue to pursue the white pegasus. Snow continued to run through the alley and soon came to an exit close to the market. Lucky for her today is one of those busy days.

Snow bolted out of the alley to find large masses of ponies moving about to different stands to buy various items. Without hesitation she made her way to the crowd and pushed her way through in attempt to lose the stallion chasing her. She looked behind her for a brief moment and saw the stallion looking around for her, obviously confused as to where she was. Snow didn't want to take any chances however and continued through the crowd, careful to not lose her grip on the basket.

After a few minutes Snow made it through the crowd with little problems and made her way back to the alleyways. She trotted quickly not wanting to be out too much longer sense she wanted to get this basket back home. Turning a corner, Snow yelped as she fell to the ground, the basket spilling its contents on the floor. The sound of hooves behind her began to approach but she couldn't move, her midsection hurt too much.

The pony who tripped her stepped in front of her and she looked up, cringing as pain shot through her. It was the same stallion she had stolen the basket from. He sneered at her before turning to collect the various fruits. Snow pushed herself onto her side. She laid there, watching as the stallion reclaimed his items then leaving once he had everything. She felt like crying then but that wouldn't solve anything. She needed to get back home.

Heaving a heavy sigh, Snow painfully pushed herself up onto her hooves, stumbling slightly. She made her way through the rest of the alley. Soon she came out and into the residential area. Ponies glanced at her as she passed by, some not really caring, others giving her a worried expression. No doubt she knew some of the ponies, not that she has met them, but others were old friends who she now avoided not wanting their help. If she had made it this far without their help, she most certainly didn't need them now.

Snow passed by a bakery, a well know one in Ponyville. A certain pink party pony worked there and it served as an opportunity to get food. The bakery looked like a giant gingerbread house. The roof looked like chocolate covered cookies for shingles and frosting lining around it. Atop that were two giant cupcakes stacked on top of each other. Windows went around the whole building, some of them having the same frosting looking stuff going around them.

The door to the bakery opened and a familiar purple colored pegasus mare trotted out with a bag in her mouth. This was definitely not the pony Snow wanted to run into right now. Her silver mane was spiked in a weird way, her tail the same. Her eyes were a sort of pink color, Snow couldn't really describe it that well. The mare turned in Snow's direction and to her dismay the mare spotted her and began to make her way over.

Not wanting to deal with the mare Snow quickly turned tail and trotted in the opposite direction. Snow yelped and stopped in her tracks when the mare landed in front of her, setting the bag down. The purple mare smiled at her, her eyes calm and caring. "Snow, it's been a while! Wow... you look terrible, worse than when I saw you last."

Snow forced a smile to her old friend. "Yeah, it's been a rough day." she said trying to keep her voice upbeat.

The mare, Cloudchaser looked her over, her expression growing more and more concerned by the second. "I see that. We're you limping?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Fit as a fiddle." Snow fibbed to her friend, though her slim form told otherwise.

Cloudchaser did a double take, getting a look at all angles. "If you want you and Be..."

"We're fine." Snow assured Cloudchaser, but it didn't do much to ease her worry. "Reall, Flitter and I wouldn't mind helping you two out. It's the least we could do for you guys knowing.... you know."

"We're fine!" Snow snapped, flaring her wings out and taking a step towards her friend then bringing them back in, unskillfully snagging the small bag on the ground and hiding it in her wings. "We don't need you, your sister, or anypony else! Got it?"

"Have you been eating, Snow?" Cloudchaser asked, the genuine worry practically dripping from her.

Snow was about to say yes but hesitated. "No..."

"Has Belle?"

"You know I wouldn't let her starve."

Cloudchaser smiled then gave Snow that smirk that told her she knew something. "Well, I should get going. Oh, you can have those by the way. Tell Belle I said happy birthday for me." she said before taking off to the skies. Snow's mouth hung open as she watched Cloudchaser take off without the baked goods she probably had just bought.

Without second thought, Snow took off in the direction of the Everfree forest. She wasn't too far from there and quickly passed by the warning sign that kept most ponies out, save for her, her daughter and that zebra. Snow went into the darker area of the woods, getting branches and leaves stuck in her mane as she went. She soon came to a small 'clearing' and at the far end is a wall of pony sized leaves. Their dark green color blending in perfectly with the surroundings.

Snow checked around to make sure no timber wolves had followed her before making her way to the small hut. She opened the door which was made of multiple branches tied together by some vines, then the hinge just being the door tied to the frame of the hut. Inside was dark unless the portable lamp they had was on, which it was. It lit the hut in a dim orange light which was just enough to allow her to move around without bumping anything.

Inside the hut were a few things that she has had for years and were now beginning to rot. There was a medium sized table and small wooden bookcase with a few novels in them along with plates and bowls. In the back corner there is a rain collector for their water. On the table is a bowl filled with a few different berries. It wasn't enough to feed both her and her daughter because they were seasonal berries and the place she got them from was difficult to get to, which was why Snow was forced to steal from other ponies on a daily basis.

The floor of the hut is covered in hay to keep them warm during the cold season and it also acted as an last resort food source. One that Snow had neglected using the past week because she need to get more from the local farm. Snow strolled over to the table and set the bag down on it. She looked over near the bookcase to see a light-grey filly wrapped up in a blanket. Snow quietly approached the filly and nuzzled her.

The grey filly slowly woke, yawning and opening her eyes. They're a deep green, like her father's, and her mane and tail were jet-black and had a wavy quality, but was kept short so it was easy to maintain. She had wings and the feathers were kept in an semi-good condition sense Snow would preen her feathers every now and then.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Snow asked softly, again nuzzling the filly to wake her up.

"Tired. And hungry." the filly replied.

Snow smiled slightly, "Well I got us something."

Belle's ears perked at the word us which meant food for both of them. "What ya get?"

"Go look and see. It's a surprise for us both." Snow said while helping Belle to her hooves.

Belle rushed over to the table and snagged the bag from up top, then peered into it. She let out a small excited gasp. "Cupcakes!"

Snow trotted over next to Belle, laying down with her fore hooves under her. "Cloudchaser says happy birthday. You remember her? I think you met her once."

Belle looked up with confusion. "I don't remember her." she said with a bit of disappointment.

"Yes you do." Snow replied, sitting on her rump. "Her mane looked like this." she said, taking her hooves and rubbing them through her mane causing it to frizz and spike up in a few places. This cause Belle to burst into a fit of giggles seeing her mom with such crazy hair.

"Yeah, I remember." Belle said before pulling out one of the frosted pastries.

"How many are there?" Snow asked a bit worried.

Belle peered back into the bag before pushing it over to Snow. "Enough, I think."

"Thank Celestia I finally get something!" Snow exclaimed, snatching the bag greedily. She pulled out a pastry and examined it. Maybe she did need help from somepony. She finally got to eat because of it. No, what was she thinking? She didn't need help before and she didn't need help now. They're were fine and they can survive on their own. They didn't need the pity, they didn't need society, they only needed each other.

"On second thought, you can have it. It is your birthday anyways." Snow said, putting the pastry back into the bag and sliding it back over to Belle.

Belle looked at it with concern, then up at Snow. "Are you sure?"

"I'm not really hungry. I ate before I came back." Snow lied. She hated doing that to her daughter but it was the only way she could get her to eat the food without feeling guilty. Unfortunately for her, her stomach didn't like the idea of passing up food and it growled to her dismay. Belle gave her that look that told Snow she knew she was lying but Snow just nudged the bag closer to her daughter.

"Mom?"

"Yes sweetie?"

"Do you not want it because Cloudchaser let you have it?" Belle asked with a sad tone.

Snow simply smiled. "Of course not. I just thought that sense it's your birthday you should have it."

"But I don't want it." Belle replied, moving the bag over to her mom.

"Yes you do, sweetie."

"But I don't."

"Yes. You. Do!" Snow growled back, standing and stomping a hoof on the soft ground beneath her.

Belle just glared at Snow for a few seconds before taking the bag. "Fine, but it's not my fault if you starve. If you and dad hadn't been so stupid we wouldn't be in this situation!" she shot back, catching Snow off guard.

"Don't talk about him like that! He was a good husband and you were lucky to have him as a father!" Snow yelled back, flaring her wings out to intimidate Belle.

Belle stood, flaring her own wings as well, "If I were so lucky to have him as a father then why are we here? Hmm? Can you answer that or is it going to be one of those bland answers you use just so you can get away without giving anything away? And you know what else? You're so thick headed, thinking that we can survive on our own and you won't accept any help from your friends, our family, anyone! And look where we are now. You've been starving yourself for almost a week because everyone in town is starting to understand your tricks, your tactics and what little you're able to get anymore you give to me!"

Belle took a minute to let what she said to sink in but her mother's expression never changed. "You're going to kill us. Maybe not right now, not next week, but eventually we are going to die because you have to do everything on your own." Snow still didn't say anything, just staring with a scowl. "I hope you're happy with that outcome."

Snow shifted slightly, looking at the bag on the ground then back at Belle. "Just eat the damn cupcakes. I'm through here." she said while turning towards the small pile of hay that she slept on every night.

"Yeah, I bet you are!"

Snow just ignored Belle and laid on the pile of hay. She could hear Belle stomping back over to her side of the hut along with the crinkling of the bag. Letting out a sigh she closed her eyes, letting herself drift of to sleep for the next day.
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Author's Note

Hey there everyone! Here's my first story, so constructive criticism would be nice! What did you like, dislike. Also if you disliked it an explanation would be awesome.