“A dog.” Cheerilee looked down at the two dejected unicorn students, who at least appeared to be honest in their explanation of why their four-page report on Equestrian rivers and streams was absent.

“Well.” Snips scuffed one hoof against the schoolroom floor. “We thought it was a dog.”

“It grabbed our report when we were coming to school,” declared Snails. “After we had spent hours and hours and hours—”

“and hours on it!” said Snips. “We chased after the dog, but it ran really, really fast and just when we were about to catch it—”

“The dog turned into a changeling!” said Snails. “Like a real arthropod with wings and everything! I wanted to put it in a jar, but it still had our report.”

“It tried to fly but we shot magic at it! Boom! Pow! Zap!” declared Snips, hopping around the floor.

“And it crashed into the river.”

“With our report.”

“We tried to use our magic to pull out the pages before they got too wet.”

“But they were all soggy and came apart, except for one page that Snails was pulling really, really hard on.”

“Only it wasn’t a page of paper,” said Snails. “It was a sea serpent! A great big one with a giant mustache like the ones the Great and Powerful Trixie gave us when she beat the giant Ursa Major.”

Cheerilee held up a cautionary hoof. “I thought Twilight Sparkle gave you two mustaches after that disaster. And it was an Ursa Minor, and Twilight was the one who made it leave town.”

“Well…” Snails got a look of extreme concentration, or perhaps constipation. “Maybe.”

After a brief pause to scratch the itchy area on her forehead, which was most certainly not a facehoof, Cheerilee said, “Okay. What about the sea serpent?”

Snips nodded. “Yeah, the Great and Powerful Trixie could chase away the sea serpent if she really wanted to.”

“I think she wanted to know about our report,” said Snails. “But we could go get Trixie and show her the sea serp—”

“The report,” said Cheerilee a little harsher than she wanted. “Just… The report, please.”

“The sea serpent couldn’t help us get the report back either,” said Snips. “But he said he’d help us re-write it, if you give us another day.”

“Or two, if you want it writ up really good,” said Snails.

Cheerilee had just gotten done silently counting the first twenty primes and was seriously contemplating taking up a hobby like skydiving when there was a light tapping at the schoolhouse door, done by a welcome and familiar pony.

“Raindrops,” said Cheerilee in what she hoped was an indoor voice. “Are you here to escort your brother and his friend home?”

[i]I hope.[/i]

“Yes, Miss Cheerilee,” said the ever-polite pegasus. “Are they in trouble again?”

“No, nothing too bad,” said Cheerilee with a cautionary glance. “Just a paper they need to rewrite by tomorrow.”

“Awww,” chorused the two troublemakers.

“Now hurry on home,” said Cheerilee. “I expect to see your report on my desk by the morning bell.”

Snips and Snails shuffled out of the schoolhouse and down the road next to Raindrops until they were out of sight, at which time their dejected trudges turned into eager gallops.

“Come on, Thorax,” called Snips over his shoulder.

“Yeah, Mister Magnet said he’d show us where a whole bunch of frogs live down in the river.” Snails stopped galloping and gave several long, springy hops. “I want to put them in this report. Frogs are the best part of rivers and screams.”

“I’m coming,” said the changeling as he shifted into his natural bug form and began flying to catch up. “Are you sure you two didn’t get in too much trouble when I grabbed your homework? It was just so full of love I couldn’t help myself.”

“Naa,” said Snips. “We do this to Miss Cheerilee all the time. She loves it.”