Snickers awoke to see Fluttershy looking down at him, he yawned and stretched. “? Where’d everyone go?”

“Oh, you can talk again, in two languages! That’s so amazing. You’re so amazing… Snickers, we were so worried when we couldn’t understand you. I hope you weren’t too scared, we’re all here for you, just don’t worry anymore,” Fluttershy sniffled and looked at him.

Snickers sighed looking up at her, then his eyes widened slightly. “I gotta pee!” he twisted and Fluttershy let him go so he could land on his hooves and gallop from the room. Fluttershy giggled and flew after him, watching from the doorway as he relieved himself. “That was close,” he said when all was said and done and then walked under Fluttershy.

“So… you’re all better then?” Fluttershy said softly and giggled when his tail brushed her belly.

Snickers grumbled then spoke up, “Yup, I wanna talk to Twilight about what happened, she owes me an explanation.”

Fluttershy’s wings twitched. “Oh, please don’t be mean to her. Remember what we talked about, treating other how you want to be treated?”

Snickers looked back at her with frustration that melted quickly when he saw her calm demeanor. “What if I wanna be treated like crap sometimes? What if I deserve it for everything I’ve done in both my lives?”

Fluttershy wrapped him in her forelegs and he sighed, the stress leaving him in her embrace while the feelings of self-doubt lingered. “Snickers,” Fluttershy said softly, “no creature deserves to be treated poorly, especially for what they might have done in another life before starting a new one.

“How old are you again, remind me?” Fluttershy asked the question she’d asked a dozen times over the past week she’d known him.

“Two weeks old here.” Snickers replied.

“And what should a pony two weeks old know about society and the nuances of life?” Fluttershy furthered her question.

Snickers hummed, knowing she had him beat in this line of logic. “Nothing much, Miss Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy giggled. “I’m not Miss Fluttershy, just Fluttershy. And you can’t redirect the conversation, young stallion. Stop beating yourself up and stand tall on your own four hooves, make a new Snickers, and show everypony exactly who you truly are, alright?”

Snickers tensed at the sternness in her tone, nodded, then stepped back from Fluttershy. “I guess I have some talking to do, then?”

“Yes, just please, do your best to be kind and show that you’re a thoughtful creature, not a beast that can’t control themselves.” Fluttershy quietly pleaded and advised.

Snickers hesitated before he stepped further away from her and then looked back with a sly smile. “Wanna help me pull a harmless prank?”

Rarity, Twilight, and Rainbow paced around the room, Rainbow was the only one doing it her own way by flying directly between the other mares and keeping a steady balance between their distance as a game to kill time until Pinkie was done baking some muffins in Rarity’s kitchen.

Applejack tapped her chest with a quiet rhythm that became louder as the flapping of Rainbow’s wing and the hoof steps intermingled. “Oh no,” Rainbow said as she felt a magic stirring within her. “Oh no... here we go. I feel a song~ coming on~” she sang melodically.

THe mares in the room started to sing. “We hear the beat and stomp our hooves, the tune will make us feel good.” The mares chorused and got into a circle, walking to a beat.

“All our worries will fade away... when Snickers comes around again to play,” The CMC added as they pranced into the showroom and joined the marching circle.

Snickers looked down at the singing group from the stairs and looked above him, noticing Fluttershy trembling. “Oh, go on and join in; I’ll be along when you’re done,” Snickers whispered and Fluttershy flew into the group, circling around the ponies with Rainbow Dash and singing a song of happiness and hope.

The mares changed positions, Pinkie held up a banner that had Snickers’s smiling face on one end with a sad face, cloud over his head and blue stink lines included, on the other with the words “Get Better Soon” between.

Four fillies flipped and tumbled like acrobats between the mares’ changing positions as each sang a short part regarding their growing friendship, affection, and future hopes for Snickers’s wellbeing.

The song ended with Scootaloo being held up by Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle while Apple Bloom knelt on one hind leg and pointed at Scootaloo while the mares encircled the fillies. The music died and Snickers blinked dumbly at the fiasco he’d just seen. The ponies split apart and returned to their previous tasks, adding to Snickers’s confusion while leaving a warmth is his heart that he was so cares about.

Snickers descended the stairs to the surprise of one filly that glanced up while returning to Silver Spoon to resume a heated game of Ropes and Snakes that Scootaloo was winning.

Scootaloo screamed and pointed. “OhmygoshitsSnickers!”

The room’s attention went from Scootaloo and followed the imaginary line she was pointing with to the colt standing on the stairs in surprise at the declaration. Rainbow flew to him and picked him up, carried him carefully to the center of the showroom, then dropped him from four feet onto his belly. Rainbow got dirty looks from everypony, Snickers included. “What, he slipped,” she said and landed with a smirk facing her friends.

Rainbow hiccupped and straightened, a look of pained surprise aimed at her friends. She took a careful step forward and flipped her wings open, hopped into the air, then turned around to look down at Snickers with her hind legs crossed. “Well played,” she said in a voice as high as Fluttershy’s.

The other mares looked at Rainbow curiously, not knowing that as he got up he brought a foreleg fast through Rainbow’s tail until it stopped abruptly. “” He snarked in his first language to everypony’s surprise.

Silver Spoon ran up to Snickers with a book in her mouth that she dropped at his hooves and flipped open. “Snickers, I know you can’t talk anymore,” she looked at the attention on her and swallowed loudly, “and I hope you understand that I’ll wait as long as I need to for you to let me join your silly herd club… but I wanna teach you to read and the other girls have decided to help you learn to speak Ponish again.”

Twilight’s horn lit and a pencil appeared beside Snickers with a notepad that fell to the floor. “And I’ll be supervising since we can’t have foals teaching life lessons and skills to other foals,” she giggled snorted, “that’s just crazy at the most basic levels.”

Rarity surrounded Snickers with bolts of fabric and held him in the air with her magic. “And while they’re teaching you the basics of speech, I’ll be helping you with the most important area you seem to need taken care of; clothing to cover your private bits and bobs.”

“Ya mean his ass and balls?” Rainbow supplied and got Snickers to smile.

Twilight lifted a forehoof and spoke up. “Well, they can also be called testicles, Rainbow Dash, for one instance. They can also be called--”

“Can it, Twiglina,” Rainbow interjected and got a laugh from Pinkie who was standing behind Rarity with a tray of muffins on her mane.

Rarity dropped Snickers with a scream in fright while Pinkie laughed. “Twiglina, that’s the best nickname for Twilight ever!”

Snickers pulled cloth from his head and extricated himself, found the frustrated purple mare, and pointed at her. “Twi-gyna!”

There was a second of silence, then the other mares burst into laughter at Twilight’s expense, only this time Twilight giggled at Snickers’s speech while the fillies awkwardly laughed along with their elders not really understanding the humor in missaying Twilight’s name. Silver Spoon poked Snickers and tapped the open page of the book.

“This is a book. Boo-uk. It is about a cat,” Silver tapped the cat and said the word again before moving on to the next word. The effort Silver was making quickly started to erode Snickers’s plan to start talking normally out of the blue, the risk of hurting her feelings was now too great, so instead, Snickers played along.

Snickers glanced at Fluttershy sharing the plight he was in after several minutes of Silver Spoon trying to teach him to read, not knowing he could speak and read again. Snickers was curious if he could read his old language, as well as write it.

“No… but that was a very good try,” Silver Spoon leaned closer to him and brushed her shoulder against his side. “Don’t worry, I’ll fix you the right way,” she whispered to Snickers and got him to gulp. Silver didn’t hear his guttural noise because she was set upon by Scootaloo again.

“Hey, you better not be whispering sweet things.” Scootaloo said landing beside Silver Spoon.

“Ugh, again, Scootaloser? Really?” Silver Spoon said with little energy.

Rainbow growled. “What was that, Silver Spoon?”

Silver Spoon looked at the colorful mare and then to the others around the room that were giving her displeased looks. “Um, nothing. I just… Scootaloo doesn’t have to attack me every time I do something!”

Silver Spoon flipped her braid nervously and adjusted her glasses on her muzzle. Scootaloo looked away and moved back, sat down, then crossed her forelegs over her chest. “Whatever, I guess I’m sorry. He’s his own colt and can make his own choices, but you better not try to trick him to choose only you.”

Fluttershy clapped her forehooves together. “Now, girls. Let’s not start that again. I believe that Snickers may be ready to say something… anything... soon.”

Snickers repressed a sigh and went back to the book more sullenly. Silver Spoon nuzzled him and Scootaloo hopped over them both and landed on his other side, rubbing her side against his as she scooted as close as she could, nudging him closer to Silver Spoon, who thought he was moving closer on his own, getting a warm smile from the grey filly that didn’t stop looked into Snickers’s eyes. “It’s okay, Snickers. We’re going to help you until you can talk again. I know you’re going through a lot of stress right now; when Diamond Tiara’s around me she’s always bossy and has to be the center of attention.

“She won’t listen and always has something bad to say about somepony, and it’s really hard sometimes for me to be around her. But, now that I know you and have you in my life, I don’t need to be around Diamond Tiara and all her drama… and I can be a better pony...

“Maybe,” Silver Spoon looked at the CMC around the room then noticed Scootaloo across from her with a less frustrated expression, “I can even be friends with your herdmates.”

Snickers’s ears raised, he coughed dramatically, and cleared his throat. “Thank you, Silver Spoon, that means a lot to hear you say that.”

Scootaloo tackled him causing him to tumble over Silver Spoon while Scootaloo hugged him. “You can talk again, I missed your voice so much,” she gave him a kiss on the lips that got Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash to worry while Applejack furrowed her brow and looked at her sister, hoping Apple Bloom would be fighting to take over. Twilight, Rarity, and Pinkie felt torn between giving an ‘aww’ or pulling them apart for kissing at their age and with their personal issues.

Only two seconds had passed before Scootaloo took her lips from Snickers’s and she hugged him while the other fillies surrounded him and started talking, asking, and telling him about their feelings and thoughts about the entire event.

Snickers got to his hooves after Apple Bloom got Scootaloo off of him and Apple Bloom gave him a kiss on his cheek that got a whoop from Applejack. “Yeah, go get’m sis! Hey?!” Applejack shouted after Rainbow slapped the hat off her head.

“Scootaloo and Snickers don’t need you encouraging their issues, Applejack,” Rainbow stage whispered.

“What issues? Look at them, they’re as cute as a bee’s knees in the apple trees,” Applejack almost gushed as she set her hat back on her head and adjusted it.

The other mares looked between one another. “Excuse me,” Fluttershy started to Applejack, “but hasn’t anypony told you about Snickers or Scootaloo? Their individual cases and pasts?”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Snickers is an orphan and Scootaloo lives with her aunts while her parents are away. Not a big secret, girls.”

“Aj, we need ta have a quick talk,” Rainbow said and motioned to the sewing room. With Rarity and Twilight behind her, Rainbow led Applejack reluctantly to the next room.

Snickers finally stopped the fillies from talking to him about the last few hours and how urgently Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle had rushed to the library to get a book for yearlings to teach him how to read.

“Okay, okay, thank you all, I get it, really I do. Thank you for caring, it means a lot to me, honest. But, that’s over now and I’m kinda hungry, anyone wanna get a snack for me?” He asked and let the fillies run to the kitchen to grab him some carrots or whatever while he looked pointedly at Twilight. “What the hell happened, Twiglina?”

“Don’t call me that, Snickers,” Twilight replied sternly.

“I’ll call you whatever the heck I feel like! What, did, you, do?” Snickers asked.

Twilight shrugged. “I don’t know. There was no reason for you to have had any adverse effects from a simple scan like that. It wasn’t even anything advanced or intricate, it’s a scan that works in the same way as detecting headaches or migraines, only with a slight twist that was supposed to let me check for…” she trailed off and glanced away. “Well, signs of brain trauma caused by blood clots or impacts.”

Snickers raised an eyebrow. “So, what’s that mean? You thought I might have had a migraine that made me hear you and everyone talking differently?”

“Oh, oh, I know!” Pinkie bounced up and down. “It means you had a seizure or stroke! Ponies think I’m having those a lot because of how random I act or how much sugar they think I eat,” she leaned towards Snickers, “but I really don’t have that much sugar. Most of my treats use natural sweeteners like carrot juice or berries!”

Snickers looked from Pinkie to Twilight. “ bitch!” He shouted between his languages and ran at Twilight, stopped by a blue aura that surrounded him. “You gave me a seizure! How the hell do you have the right to do magic still!? Give me that horn and I’ll--”

Snickers’s mouth was closed and he was turned to look into the furious eyes of Rarity. “You’ll do what with her horn? Would you do the same to me, or Sweetie Belle? If you’re going to say anything less than offer to pay a professional to take care of it, then I suggest you hold your tongue.”

Snickers swallowed hard and nodded to Rarity. When she let his mouth go, Snickers looked angrily at Twilight. “How do I know you won’t do that again to me?” He asked.

Twilight groaned and pointed a foreleg at Pinkie. “Don’t listen to her about anything medical related right now, Snickers. I didn’t give you anything, you didn’t have anything of the sort.” Twilight closed her eyes, calmed down, and inhaled, exhaled deeply, and then looked back into Snickers’s eyes. “You had some spell on you that caused what’s known as a reflection effect.

“Over the last two hours since you left the hospital I’ve thought it over and I’ve come to the conclusion that when I started to scan you, the magic for your linguistic abilities counteracted my magic scanning with that as my intent and not only stopped my spell violently, but broke the link between your language and ours.

“Girls,” Twilight said the the room, “I think he might be telling the truth, actually. At the very least, his native language isn’t Ponish, which isn’t impossible, but it’s not any language I’ve ever heard before.”

Rarity lowered Snickers to the floor. “I do agree. I’ve heard Diamond Dogs speaking and their language is more akin to garbled growling, barking, and grumbling. That’s the reason they speak so poorly, they have to use magic to translate their language to Ponish and our languages are barely compatible.”

“So,” Rainbow said returning from the kitchen with an ice pack in her hoof, “you’re saying Snickers’s language is super different than ours? Why don’t we just get a translation gem for him then?” Rainbow tossed the ice pack into the air and back flipped, catching it under her tail where it vanished from sight. Rainbow shivered throughout her body, barely staying aloft. “What? I’m a bit sore from a pounding I got earlier… wait! Not like that, honest, Aj!”

Applejack snorted and looked away from Rainbow, hiding her blush under her hat from the pleading mare above her. Regardless of how it seemed, having Rainbow plead for understanding was heart warming.

“Wait, I can talk now,” Snickers finally spoke up, “so what’s the problem? I’m better, Rainbow got a good pounding from some handsome stud,” Rainbow gasped in shock at the accusation knowing he caused her throbbing ache, “and life can go back to normal, right?”

Fluttershy landed beside Snickers and draped a wing over his back. “There’s one more thing, the reason you fainted and had everypony worried.” Snickers moved closer to Fluttershy until her down enveloped him. “You had a heart problem that could have been much more trouble had you not been hospitalized.”

Snickers tensed. “So, am I gonna die? Because that really sucks, if I had to.”

“No, no,” Twilight interjected, “nothing like that. It’s been fixed and as long as you stay calm for the next couple days it’ll have healed fully. It’s something that would have been fatal for a pony your age maybe two hundred years ago, but we’ve had significant medical breakthroughs since then.

“Princess Celestia personally encouraged the medical sciences to grow around that time and new spells were made to help everything from scratches to reparations of internal organs. As a caretaker of young, most mares learn basic healing spells like the one I used to fix your scratch without any trouble.”

“Yes,” Rarity added. “I’ve used quite the few spells of that type to heal my sister and her friends over the past year. However, it’s beyond both Twilight and my own abilities to heal more than minor injuries. Twilight may be able to repair a large cut, however I’m limited to smaller scratches and the like.”

Twilight nodded. “And the most I can heal right now are up to lacerations… but, that’s not important right now. What is important, is that you know you’re out of danger and can play a bit with your friend and herdmates, as long as you don’t overexert yourself. It’s almost dinner time, and I’m sure Spike has something nice for the two of us cooking at home, as the rest of us should go home, too.” Twilight implied what everypony was feeling in some ways.

“Ah know Ah do. Ah don’t mean any disrespect, but spendin’ the day frettin’ over here and there ain’t good fer the farmin’. Ah’ve got a mess a chores ta do now and that doesn’t even include the farmin’ Ah left fer Big Mac. Twi’s right, c’mon, sis. We’ve gotta get home,” Applejack declaired and walked to the door with Apple Bloom following.

Apple Bloom waved goodbye. “Ah’ll see ya tomorrow, Snickers. Ah hope ya get better quick, school ain’t gonna be the same without ya.”

“Wait, what if she stays the night?” Scootaloo asked.

“No can do, little filly. Mah sis has her own chores, not ta mention school work ta finish and Granny hasn’t seen hide nor hair of this little rascal fer two days and gets worried,” Applejack hugged her sister with one leg hard enough to get a strained squeak from Apple Bloom. “See ya later, gals.”

Apple Bloom left with her sister and Rainbow hovered to the door. “Uh, yeah, me too,” Rainbow said quickly, “I’ve gotta make sure they get home safe, thanks for the ice pack, Rarity. It helped a bunch,” Rainbow said lifting her tail and grabbing the ice pack. She threw it at Rarity, who screamed and caught it, but not various water droplets that pelted her face and got into her mouth.

Rarity, realizing the ice pack wasn’t very melted, screamed again and ran into the kitchen, leaving Fluttershy and Twilight giggling while Pinkie cocked her head. “I don’t get it, why’s the ice pack so scary?” Pinkie asked. “Maybe I should see if there are any scary ones back at the bakery,” Pinkie hummed and then pronked to the door and out into the night. “See ya tomorrow, tell Rarity I hope she stops being scared soon!”

Twilight looked at Fluttershy and motioned to the door. “Oh, yes! I forgot to feed my little friends and… oh, Angel! If I’m not there he’ll start wreaking havoc in my kitchen to make his own food, I’ll see you later, Snickers and girls. Twilight, don’t be upset with me, please, but--”

“Yes, yes, I get it, hurry up before that rabbit tries to start the stove or something,” Twilight said with a smile.

“Ohmygosh, Angel, don’t!” Fluttershy shouted with horror in her expression as she dashed from the center of the room out the door and into the sky faster than Twilight had ever seen her move.

“Well, are you all going to be okay? Silver Spoon, should I walk you home?” Twilight asked.

“No thank you, Miss Twilight. I’ve sent a letter to my daddy so he knows not to expect me this evening,” Silver Spoon said sitting proudly. Twilight had no other option than to take the filly at her word, so she left with a final goodbye to Rarity in the kitchen and left at a trot through the front door, mumbling something about dramatics.

Scootaloo looked at Sweetie Belle. “Well, can I sleep over?” Silver Spoon ran beside Scootaloo and asked the same question. Scootaloo glared at Silver Spoon, but noticed Snickers looking at his foreleg just past her and held her tongue. “Can we sleep over, Sweetie Belle?”

Sweetie tapped her chin. “I don’t really care, but it’s up to Rarity. I’ll go ask her, okay?”

Sweetie turned and trotted to the kitchen. “Sis, are you almost done watering yourself?” Sweetie giggled.

Rarity pulled her face from the water flow and exhaled. “That was the rudest and grossest thing Rainbow Dash had ever done. How can nopony else see it for that?”

Sweetie shrugged as she reached Rarity, who slumped to the floor. “I’unno. So, can my friends sleep over?”

Rarity brushed her mane from her face and looked at her sister with her blue eyes. “Only if you can all refrain from being hyper and causing undue stress to Snickers. You girls can’t be very rambunctious with him tonight, understand? His heart needs to heal, we can’t stress that enough.”

Sweetie hugged Rarity with a squishing sound as wet fur met dry. “Ew, go take a shower, Rarity, you’re all gross and you’re gonna start smelling soon.”

Rarity lit her horn and pushed Sweetie across the room at a walking pace. “Thank you for the advice, I’ll see you soon. I’ll prepare a quick supper then you can play inside the boutique afterwards. Do me a favor and flip the open sign to closed, won’t you darling? I’ve need for a washing and tomorrow I’ll schedule a spa appointment over lunch… oh, that sounds heavenly after the week I’ve had.”

Sweetie Belle tuned her sister out of her mind as she returned to her friends, Silver Spoon included. “She said yes!” They all cheered while Snickers watched from the side. “But, we have to remember for the night that Snickers needs to stay calm and can’t play running or jumping games, but he can play easier games.”

Scootaloo hopped. “Oh, I’ll get some board games out. It’ll be a blast… Silver Spoon, wanna come along and help me pick some out?” Scootaloo offered reluctantly.

Silver Spoon huffed. “Very well, if it’s for Snickers, then I’ll do it.”

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to be so prissy, you know,” she started as she cantered to the stairs and ascended with Silver Spoon discussing their point of views.

“Well, that leaves us, Snickers. I was playing a game of Ropes and Snakes that I can start over with you,” Sweetie Belle offered.

“Sure, how do we play?”

***

“No, I get to sleep at his front!”

“No, I do! You sleep behind him.”

“No, you can sleep on the floor.”

“No, you can!”

“No, you!”

“You!”

“You!”

“Girls!” Sweetie shouted from beside Snickers in his bed. “We’ll let Snickers decide. And Silver Spoon, if you want a chance in the herd, then you have to be agreeable with what we say.”

“Ha, ha, ha,” Scootaloo said slowly.

“And Scootaloo,” Sweetie said looking down on both fillies, “if you’re not going to be nice then you can sleep at the far end.”

Scootaloo babbled, pointing at Silver Spoon and then the bed while Silver Spoon closed her eyes and awaited the decision.

Snickers groaned and rolled to the edge of the bed, looking down at the two fillies. “Scootaloo in front, Silver in far back. C’mon, I’m tired after this crummy day.”

Scootaloo and Silver Spoon climbed onto the bed and got to either side of Snickers, then Silver Spoon scooted back for Sweetie to lay beside Snickers and rest her chin on his side. Silver Spoon wasn’t the happiest in the room, but not having to sleep beside Scootaloo was a bonus and sleeping as close as she was to Snickers was great.

It also helped that Sweetie smelled nice and was soft like a body pillow to Silver Spoon’s body. Rarity peeked in and switched the light off. “Good night, everypony. May Luna watch over your dreams.”

“Thanks, Miss Rarity, you too,” Silver Spoon said with a tiny yawn. Silver Spoon turned over and tossed her glasses to the end table and turned back, wrapping Sweetie Belle in a big hug from behind.

Rarity quietly giggled. “Silver Spoon the big spoon, I’ll have to remember that.”

Rarity closed the door and in the silence only breathing was heard.

“Snickers,” Scootaloo whispered super quietly and moved closer, “I’m sorry I tried to force myself on you. I know it was wrong, and I’d like you to forgive me when you’re ready.”

Snickers’s smile brightened Scootaloo’s night. “I forgave you after you got off me,” he whispered back so quietly Sweetie could barely hear him. He leaned forward and kissed her gently and stopped after a second, closed his eyes, and to sighed himself as eventually claimed them all.

Author's Note

Next Chapter; an accidental sexual scene.

Yah, he's talking in two languages now! Next time he meets Twilight maybe more can be explained, too.