Author's Note

I rewrote this chapter seven times and, while I feel the start is a bit clunky, the rest is pretty good. Enjoy.

A New Beginning

Snickers woke up and curled himself against the warm body he was pressed against, nuzzling against the soft flesh he felt at the end of his muzzle. He inhaled and a sense of extreme calm rushed through his mind and he hummed. He opened his eyes and saw two nipples in front of his eyes, startling him into jolting slightly. He noticed whose they were and slyly smiled.

He dug deep within himself and threw his dignity out the proverbial window for the prank he was about to play. Snickers curled up and whimpered, sniffling. Rarity’s magic enveloped him and turned him so he was lying facing at her, then he starting crying in a loud, nasally tone in short gasps.

“Oh… oh dear, whatever’s wrong with him?” Rarity asked starting to hold him. Snickers started moving his forelegs and one of his forehooves touched his mouth, then he started sucking on it, his cries dying away and were replaced with random cooing and sniffles. “Oh, sweet Celestia’s flaming flank,” Rarity said looking down at the colt, “he’s an infant?”

Twilight stepped closer and her horn lit, scanning over Snickers while his eyes opened and tracked the light, gathering all his attention and focus. “Rarity, I don’t understand why,” Twilight said, “he’s the same as when he was this morning! What do we do?!”

“Darling?! Are you asking moi? I’ve never cared for an infant, much less a young stallion as an infant…” Rarity started breathing heavily. “I… I’ll do my best,” Rarity said while starting to hyperventilate, “I’m not… his mother by birth… but, I swear that I won’t,” she inhaled and held it, “I won’t leave him to fend for himself,” she said on the calming exhale. “I’ll be the mother we both need him to be,” she said and rolled him to her chest and hugged him.

Snickers was struck silent with her words, he was only planning on playing an infant for a quick laugh. Why does every prank I pull turn around on me? He thought.

Snickers hugged Rarity and hummed contentedly. “Mom?” He asked curiously. “Are we back?”

Rarity gasped and sat up, sitting him up with her so she could look at him. “Oh, my darling little colt! I’m so glad you’re not an infant.” Snickers raised an eyebrow. “Ah, um, what I mean is that I’m glad you’re back and we can finally be a family.”

Snickers looked around the room at the fillies that were returning to eating their hospital meals on their trays. “Uh, hi, everypony.”

Scootaloo did a spit take spraying partially chewed carrots and peas across her blanket. “Did he just say ‘anypony’?!”

There was a chatter in the room behind Twilight, who grinned at Snickers. “Well, it’s certainly nice to hear you say that, but are you saying it because it feels right, or because you feel compelled?”

Snickers looked at his hooves and thought it over. “It feels natural to say it… but I know I can still say ‘anyone’, if the need arises. I have a lot more freedom that way,” he smiled to himself and then turned his smile to Rarity. “Mom, can we go home soon?”

Rarity smiled back. “I’m not certain, but there’s probably a day’s wait for you, since you were the central link in a massive mind link,” she gestured to the fillies and mares around the room.

Snickers waved to Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. “Hi,” Snickers said to the pegasi mares.

“Hey, dude. Wanna go prank some ponies around town?” Rainbow asked.

“Rainbow Dash, he’s in no condition to join you in one of your prankings,” Fluttershy admonished her friend, “but I’m sure I can have a talk with the staff about having him under the care of Twilight and myself, since most of this is magical and therapeutic in nature.”

Snickers groaned and fell forward onto his belly. “I just wanna go home and snuggle with my herd in bed… wait,” Snickers pushed himself up and looked at the fillies in the room. “I have an announcement to make.”

The room’s attention was on him. “What’s on yer mind, Snickers?” Apple Bloom asked.

Snickers reached to pull at the collar of his shirt, only to find out he was naked again. “Really, mom?” He said looking from his underbelly to her. Rarity shrugged. “Whatever, anyway; the herd is over. Broken up, done for. I’m sorry, but it’s too much stress and tension for me.”

He closed his eyes, ready for some backlash, then heard quiet clopping of hooves. He looked up to see Apple Bloom grinning at him and clapping, then Scootaloo joined in, smiling warmly. Sweetie Belle joined in nodding in approval, and lastly Silver Spoon clapped, grinning at him and gave him a wink behind her glasses that warmed his cheeks.

“Whoo-hoo! Ah’m glad ta hear ya made the right choice, Snickers!” Apple Bloom called over the din. “The herd was crumblin’ like a tower of apples in a windstorm.”

Snickers snickered and nodded. “Yeah, it was pretty bad. I only hope,” he said gathering the attention as the clapping quieted, “is that we learn from this and don’t make the same mistakes in our futures.”

Scootaloo cheered. “Right on! Woo-hoo!”

“Wow, mom,” Snickers said to Rarity, “they’re really into this, huh? Was it that bad?”

Rarity shook her head. “No, it was just the first you’d all been in. It’s traditionally a bit of a celebration when a trial herd ends without any broken hearts or major problems. Why, when you’re older and start a relationship with a fine mare, I’m certain you’ll even have a small separation party if it doesn’t work out.”

Snickers cocked his head. “That is crazy, but I’ve gotta learn a lot still… I’m just a colt, after all, right?”

Rarity pulled Snickers to her and hugged him. “You’re not just a colt. You’re my colt, for better or worse.”

“Awwwe,” the room chorused.

“Well, I’m not hungry anymore and I need a new blanket… how about I get the nurse to send us home?” Scootaloo offered kicking the blankets off herself.

Apple Bloom raised a hoof. “Scootaloo, ya mean we get discharged.”

“Woah, I don’t wanna see anypony in here discharge anything!” Rainbow quipped and got smacked in the face with a pillow by Fluttershy and laughed loudly.

“That’s not funny, Rainbow Dash!” Fluttershy scolded her friend while blushing.

Rainbow took the pillow off her face and was assaulted by one from Rarity. “Such references to female issues aren’t appreciated!”

“Hey,” Rainbow said, “I was just jo-” *whumph*

The pillow Twilight threw carried enough force to knock Rainbow from the gurney she was laying on. “I wanna play, too!”

“Pillow fight!”

Pillows flew from bed to bed, Twilight conjured pillows, adding to the ammunition and screams of laughter filled the room, halls, and floor of the hospital as every pony in the room whacked, slapped, threw, and blocked pillows. Four nurses ran to the room and stopped just outside the doorway looking with shock at the feathers flying freely through the room.

“Stop this nonsense!” A nurse shouted with a voice that could rupture an eardrum. The ponies froze, one fell from the edge of a bed onto a small pile of pillows that cushioned her fall.

“I’m okay!”

“What in the world are you doing?” The nurse asked as she walked in, followed by the other three nurses, all sporting strict expressions.

“Duh, pillow fight,” Snickers said holding a pillow in his forehooves standing by Sweetie Belle.

Scootaloo swung hers and pomf’d Apple Bloom. “See, pillows.”

“I know what a pillow fight is!” The nurse shouted. “Why are you having one in my hospital?!”

Rainbow Dash snickered from above the nurses and when they looked up, Rainbow dropped several pillows on them. “Because it’s fun! Game on!”

The screaming resumes and pillows started swinging and flying again for several seconds, then they all stopped, surrounded by a purple hued glow. “Awww,” the room whined.

“No, Twilight’s right. This is not the place for such activities. Thank you, nurses, Twilight will be cleaning the mess, right?”

Twilight looked at Rarity for a second intently, then back to the nurses. “Yeah,” her horn flashed and all the extra pillows vanished showing Spike holding a hospital pillow over his head, about to attack Twilight. He dropped the pillow and started whistling nonchalantly. “Yeah, not buying it, Spike.”

The nurses cleared their throats. “In any case, you all should be resting and recovering, not running around like crazed lunatics, okay?”

The ponies nodded, then Snickers stumbled sideways and fell over. The nurses rushed to his side and began checking him over. “Ugh, I feel so dizzy and kinda dizzy,” he yawned.

“Nurse Peck, check his chart for any blood pressure or heart problems. I’ll get him back into bed.”

Twilight stepped up while the nurse moved Snickers to a bed in her magic. “Nurse, he has a healing heart murmur, so you know.”

The nurse set him in his bed and turned on Twilight with a vicious glare. “And just so you know, he should be on bed rest until he’s cleared to be moved by a medical professional. I need every pony that isn’t under the age of seven out of this room, now!” The mares started to disagree, but a point by all the nurses and stern glares encouraged the mares to leave with kind and loving words as they passed.

“Well, now that that’s taken care of, I’ll call the doctor back so he can check your heart, young stallion. Stay, in, bed until we say otherwise, do you understand?” One of the nurses asked.

“Yeah, sorry... just gonna rest.”

***

Snickers, blindfolded and led by Rarity, was guided into the Carousel Boutique. “Almost there, darling. Just a few more paces… and… stop! Wait right there, and no peeking.”

“Awww, but mom… I wanna see the surprise you told me about!” Snickers whined and sniffed the air, his ears perked high when sweet scents filled his olfactory senses.

“Take it off,” Rarity advised.

“That’s what she said,” Snickers joked as his forehooves slipped the blindfold off. He was temporarily blinded by the light for a second, then his heart felt like it stopped as he stared down the barrel of an oddly shaped canon.

“Surprise!” The room erupted at once and Pinkie had a short rope tied to her right forehoof. She tugged it while grinning the grin that haunted him.

Snickers screamed and leapt back. “Fuck, no!”

The canon fired streamers and confetti over him, knocking him back more by his life experiences than the minor pressure that struck him from the blast of paper bits. Pinkie stood over Snickers and slipped an elastic string under his muzzle and then used her forelegs to scoop him back onto his hooves.

“Welcome to your ‘all better’ party, Snickers! It’s all for you, so go have fun, and if you need anything, your auntie Pinkie Pie is just a shout away.”

“Pinkie?” A mare called from the side of the showroom.

“Coming! See,” Pinkie leaned close, “just shout and I’ll be here in a blink. Have fun, try the punch; it’s got sherbert in it!” Pinkie announced to the room as she moved through the crowd and left Snickers’s sight.

His fellow CmC ran up to him wearing party hats and huge grins. “So, were ya surprised?” Apple Bloom asked happily.

“Yeah, we’ve been keeping this a secret for two days,” Scootaloo exclaimed with a hop.

“And you went back into the hospital, so we thought it was gonna be put off, again,” Sweetie added.

“Girls,” Snickers said reaching up and poking the hat he was wearing, “it’s fine. Honest. I love it, it’s more than I’ve ever had or could have hoped for… is that pony wearing headphones?”

The fillies looked where he was looking and Sweetie spoke up. “Yeah, that’s Vinyl Scratch. She’s a local DJ and plays music that doesn’t really speak to me… not that I don’t like her music, but it’s beats are all over the place.”

Snickers looked at the mare bouncing her head to an unheard beat, holding a cup of punch in her magic. “Huh, well ain’t that somethin’? I’ll have to say hi, someday. For right now,” Snickers grinned and walked through the small opening the fillies made for him, “let’s party!”

Snickers ran with a half dozen foals; colts and fillies he did know that were as friendly as any other pony he’d met. As unusual as it felt, it was truly welcome to be a part of the herd… in as much as he could be. Adults frowned at the various games the young played through the night, everypony ate cake, sweets, and treats until the tables were cleared and bellies ached, yet the party went on until the foals started feeling sleepy and began laying under tables, on their parents’s backs, or even on the stairs as they wound down to watch the party carry on.

Twilight giggled when Snickers yawned as he walked up to the conversation she, Rarity, and Applejack were having. “So,” Twilight asked, “how are you enjoying your party?”

Snickers burped quietly. “Excuse me… it’s been great. I’ve never had so much fun, I’ve made new friends and I get to go to school tomorrow and they’re gonna,” he yawned again, “help me catch up where I need it.”

Rarity side stepped closer to Snickers. “Are you feeling sleepy, by chance?”

Snickers teetered slightly. “A little, but I’m not going to bed yet. I’ve got to see ponies out, and drink more punch, and play with my friends s’more, and,” Snickers yawned large enough that his body shook, “I’m not even that sleepy.” Snickers looked up at the mares and then noticed emerald green eyes looking at him from under a hat. “You’re Apple Bloom’s sister, not mother, right?”

Applejack nodded. “Yup, Ah’m her big sis. Ah’ve raised her like Ah was mom, though. Ah’ll never replace the real thing, and Ah’m not trying.”

Snickers nodded. “I get it, Aj. Don’t sweat it.”

Applejack shook her head. “Ah don’t mean ta sound rude, but only my friends call me Aj, Ah’d prefer if ya’d call me Applejack,” she leaned closer to Rarity and whispered barely loud enough to be heard. “And maybe he’ll be a brother in law b’fore too long, huh?”

Snickers felt a righteous fury burn within him. How dare she plan my future like that, walking barnyard steak. Snickers smirked and both Twilight and Rarity knew what was coming. “So, I can’t call you Aj?”

“Ah’d prefer if ya didn’t,” Applejack answered.

Snickers nodded. “I can respect that, Jacqueline Apple. But, I’ll call you Jacqueline for short, since I’m not friend material for you.”

Applejack frowned and stomped a hoof on the flooring so hard the room slightly vibrated as a whole. “Now, don’t ya start callin’ me that, ya little…” Applejack looked at Rarity when the mare’s horn lit for a split second. “Look, only ma and pa called me that, and even then it almost never happened, so don’t.”

Snickers rolled his eyes. “C’mon, Jacqueline, listen to your future machine brother in law that’s gonna pound your sister and make her pop out foals like a factory, since that’s all she’s apparently good for, right?”

Applejack’s stetson smacked his head and he didn’t see her leap at him with short sighted fury because Applejack was caught and teleported away by Twilight in the instant the farm mare threw her hat at him. Rarity took the stetson from Snicker’s head and picked him up, setting him on her back while the hat was rushed to Rainbow Dash for safe keeping.

Rainbow was looking at Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle sleeping behind a mirror. Once the hat was dropped on her rainbow mane, Rainbow took it off and grinned, hugging it to her chest and smelling the rim. Twilight and Rarity shared a weak grimace, knowing a faux pas had just been done. “You take care of Rainbow, darling. There may be some confusion as to why she has Applejack’s hat, and, by-the-by… where did you send our rustic friend?”

Twilight blushed sheepishly and started moving to Rainbow with Rarity following. “The town fountain, so she’d cool off between there and here…” Snickers giggle snorted and started trying to get off Rarity.

“That’s awesome! She’s gonna come back wet… for Rainbow Dash. This’s gonna be great to watch.”

“Oh, I think not, my sleepy little colt. It’s almost bedtime, if ever there was one.”

“But, I’m not,” he yawned again, ending with a frustrated growl, “I’m not sleepy. I’m just… lacking energy from having so much fun earlier.”

Twilight looked back. “That’s a definition of tired and sleepy.”

“Twiglina, take my side here.”

Twilight stopped in place causing Rarity to bump into her rump. “That’s not my name, and I’d appreciate it if you’d not call me that again,” she said. Her horn glowed faintly and Twilight smiled, showing her teeth, two canines were elongated and caught his attention. “Please.”

Snickers gulped and nodded, cowering back behind Rarity’s mane. Twilight started walking again and Rarity kept close. When they’d reached Rainbow, Rarity stopped Twilight and leaned close to share some private words. “Did you have to scare him like that?”

“It was a little glamour; I masked my horn and gave myself vampire teeth. Hardly what I’d call extreme, especially since I can’t have that name being associated with me for reasons I’ll discuss later, if ever.”

Rarity nodded in understanding. “Very well, now about our darling Rainbow Dash’s love interest?”

Twilight sighed and Rarity sided with Twilight as they reached Rainbow, who was sitting and nuzzling the hat slightly. “Rainbow?” Twilight asked startling the mare. Rainbow donned the hat and grinned awkwardly.

“What’s up? Wanna see some stunt flying?” Rainbow said, taking to a hover. Snickers sat up and was about to say something snarky, but his nostrils flared and then he squeaked quietly. Three mares looked between one another, then at Snickers. Rarity and Twilight looked at Rainbow. “Oh, shit, my bad!”

Rainbow landed and folded her wings to her sides. “I totally didn’t think--”

“Exactly, you didn’t think about hovering in place after such lewd thoughts softened your nethers, did you? Honestly, Rainbow… nine years old and you act like you’re seven most of the time.” Rarity snapped and then blushed. “I have to get him into his bed, post haste… we’re going to have a little more to talk about, once I return,” Rarity said turning and moving through and around the pockets of chatting ponies herded together.

The suddenly firm sensation pressing into her back was enough to give her urgency to climb the stairs and deposit the blushing colt belly down onto his bed. She covered him with his blanket quickly out of respect for his personal beliefs before slowing down and catching her thoughts. “Okay, Snickers?” Snickers looked at her. “I have a gift for you I was going to give you shortly after the party started, but you were having so much fun playing… I guess I didn’t want to mess up the moment you were having.

“I have it in my room, and I think you’ll really like it. I’ll be right back,” Rarity trotted from the room and shortly returned with a small wrapped square box. “Would you like to open it now, or wait until the morning?”

Snickers rolled to his belly and lay prone with his head up. “Now, duh… and thanks for, you know,” he said swishing his tail under the blanket.

Rarity nodded. “You may take care of that once I’m out of the room, if you wish. Before I give you this, I should just cover the fact of self pleasure; bathroom or your own room with the door closed and, if applicable, locked. The times between when you go to sleep and you wake up are your time to take care of any physical needs, and you are to be alone during those times. I shan’t have any such foolery happening anymore under my roof by foals of your ages, am I understood?”

Snickers giggled. “Rule four, right?”

Rarity cocked her head and tried to remember. She grinned. “Indeed, rule four. So, without further ado… your gift.”

Rarity placed the box between his forelegs and let him tear into the packaging with his teeth and forehooves. He gasped and pulled out the fabric with her help and she laid it before him. Snickers sat up, the blankets and sheets showing his underbelly to Rarity before she could look away, glad to see nothing exposed that shouldn’t have been.

Snickers looked at the Crusader’s cape she’d made him and he exhaled a shuddering breath. “It’s great, mom. Thanks, I love it,” he gathered it in his forelegs and hugged it close. “It feels like I’m a little more home each time something life changing happens, which seems to happen a lot around here.”

Rarity nodded. “Oh, yes. Ponyville in nothing if not for a nexus of oddities, dangers, and world altering events as of late. Now, I’ll take this and hang it--”

“No! Can I sleep with it? Please?”

Rarity smiled and nodded. “Yes, you may. Just don’t wear it; Sweetie’s done that and it’s just terrible to the fabric and stitching.”

“Okay, will do,” Snickers said and lay back down.

Rarity covered him with his blanket and moved to the door. “Shall I close the door, or leave it open a crack?”

Snickers thought it over. “Open a crack, as long as you’re gonna be downstairs for about four mintues.”

Rarity snerked and started laughing into the back of her fetlock. “Oh, darling, I was, but I wasn’t, expecting that. I’ll be downstairs for a while, as will the others, so the room is yours. Enjoy your night, may the joys of dreamland find you, put the past behind you, and may Celestia light your morning with all her love.”

Snickers listened to her. “Thanks, I will. Sweet dreams to you, too.” Rarity turned the light off and nearly closed the door, making a bit more sound than needed as she left Snickers alone in his room. “What a fucked up day. And I swear that if I fall asleep and wake up from another vision, I’ll find Harmony and his brothers and kick their asses,” he promised quietly as he rolled to his other side, leaving the cape behind him. “Now, to figure out how to do this…”