Sweet Rose

by Nobrains

Rating: teen
Tags: Derpy Hooves, Slice of Life, Human, Roseluck, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Comedy, Romance
Length: 12090

[2nd Person] When you become the new mailman for Ponyville, you aren't sure whether to be happy or horrified after meeting a mare that you never thought would catch your eye.

Life at the post office has always been the same since you got to Ponyville, and worse, you always end up sleeping on the job! It almost seems like you're destined for a life of getting chewed out by your boss as you just can't seem to stay interested with sorting through the mail.

It seemed that way before you met the most lovely pony on a delivery that was forgotten but one of the mailmares. Now you can't seem to get this beautiful mare out of your head, and you're both ecstatic and horrified of interacting with her on a daily basis, now that your boss has officially made you a mailman.

You're not sure if this is fate, or if this is just the worst luck you've ever had. It looks like you'll just have to wait and see!

[It's a 2nd Person Romance, Starring YOU and Roseluck!]

Published 2014-02-22 18:10:07 UTC
Last updated 2014-04-05 17:53:46 UTC

Chapter One: One Last Delivery

*Inspired by this simple little song.*

Chapter One: One Last Delivery

“Anon! Wake up!”

You stirred awake, slobber dripping off your lips as you picked your head off of the filing desk. Oh god, why did you always fall asleep at the filing desk? You looked around to see if you left any saliva on any more poor unsuspecting people’s letters or packages. Everything seemed to be looking okay.

“Huh?” You finally spoke up, whirling around to see your merciless boss Express staring you down.

He did not seem too happy from both his tone of voice and the look he had. “Anon, why were you sleeping on the job again?”

You didn’t know what to say to your pegasus boss. You couldn’t just tell him what you did over here was the most boring shit you’ve ever had the displeasure to put up with. The only time this was exciting was when that gray furred cross-eyed pegasus came to help you with sorting out the mail. She was fun to be with and talk to, but her appearances were a rarity, since she was the mailmare, and you were simply a sorter at the office.

“Sorry… can’t sleep at home…” you half-yawned out in response. You didn’t want to admit it, but there might have been more truth in that statement than you’d want to let on. A year here in Equestria after that damn accident, and you were still having trouble adjusting. You missed your old friends, your family, and you missed human women.

Express trotted up behind you and gave you a pat on the back, and even though you were sure it was meant to be encouraging, the words that followed left you mixed in emotions. “Then I suggest you take a day off before you drench everything in your spit.”

You both sat there awkwardly for a long moment before your boss spoke up again, scratching the back of his head with the tip of his hoof. “Just… get the rest of this crap done today, will ya?”

You grabbed at the letters sitting on the desk before you. “S-sure thing, boss.”

“There you go,” and with that he was back out into the front desk, out of sight dealing with anyone the others couldn’t take care of. You wished the cross-eyed mare was here to help you finish up. You grumbled and went back to work, placing the letters in small section along the tray, labeled by address. At least street numbers were easy to figure out here in Ponyville.

By the time you were done, it was fairly late into the afternoon. You sighed and pushed out of your seat, heading to the front where you would grab your jacket and start heading back to your shitty old house in the middle of town.

You snatched up your jacket and were nearly out the door when Express called back to you. “You mind doing a favor for me, Anon?”

You gritted your teeth and turned back to him, faking a weary smile. “Not at all. What's up?”

“It seems like Derpy forgot one of her packages, and I thought since the address was on the way to your house you might be able to hand it off to the recipient?” He slid the small package your way.

“Uhh… yeah,” you walked over to the desk and picked up the small box, hearing a bit of bits rattling inside. Weird. “What’s in it?”

“I don’t know, like… seeds for flowers and junk,” he shooed you off. “You head on home, alright? And sleep for Celestia’s sake.”

You sighed and walked out the door, holding the box in your hands. Seeds huh? Only pony that used seeds you knew would be Carrot Top, but this definitely wasn’t her address. The late day sun was now only reaching in between the buildings and not above them, and you were walking in the shadows as the blue sky slowly turned to orange and purple.

You looked upwards, and found several figures crossing through the sky. You swore you could see Derpy above, going about her business and returning back to the office the way you had come with her satchel at her side. You weren’t positive however.

You rattled the box once more, trying to hear all the contents. It sounded like a bag of chips, and you began to feel your stomach responding to those thoughts. Just great, now you were hungry. You just hoped this pony would be at their house when you arrived. After checking the address you realized this house was on the same street as yours. Well that made things so much easier.

You hummed a tune as you went around a corner and through a small alleyway, popping out onto your quaint little street. For the first time you looked around and studied all the other homes besides yours. They were all a tad bit better than yours, okay, a lot better than your little one-story shit stacked building, but they all looked fairly the same. Well, except for one.

A roof garden could be seen growing off from the top of the house and down the side of it’s walls, disappearing into the green wooden fences that lined all around it. It gave a sort of a feeling you weren’t sure how to describe other than lively. You were almost positive this was the place you would be dropping off the package.

After checking the address again to confirm, you headed off towards the building, running right up to the small gate that came up to your waist. From here you could see into the pony’s yard, and you were not disappointed as it only built on your past sight.

Plethoras of small patches of flora lined all around the house, all nearly cut off by tiny rope-made fences, declaring their borders to grow. Some went right over the perimeter but you doubted it did much to break away from the beauty as all the colors were on display all throughout the yard. You could even see a fountain at the corner of the wooden fencing, where water was constantly being shot out and sucked up again.

You took a nervous gulp and opened the gate, walking up the cobblestone steps to the door and knocking on it lightly. You were suddenly afraid that you would be nothing more than a blemish upon this pony’s lawn. You hoped you wouldn’t get yelled at.

No answer. You knocked again, and you swore you could hear something, like the sound a screen door opening, but still you were met with no one. You didn’t bother knocking again, and after about two minutes you began to turn to leave when the door finally opened.

“I apologize, I was in the backyard, working on my tulips,” the voice was smooth and feminine, and you were immediately prone to turning around to see just who it belonged to.

The earth pony before you standing in the doorway looked worried, as if she had offended you. Her pale chartreuse eyes reflecting a sort of rushed behavior, likely from rushing across the entirety of her home to get to you. She pushed her raspberry mane out of those eyes, trying to present herself as kindly as possible before you with her pale yellow furred covered hoof.

You couldn’t help but stare for a long moment before speaking up. “Y-yeah I got this here-a… package for you. Flower seeds, right?”

She smiled. “Oh yes, just place that down here on the porch, I appreciate this. You aren’t the usual mailpony that comes though, why is that?”

“Uhh…” you put your hand behind your head. “Yeah, I guess that might be partly cause I’m not a pony,” you feigned a horrible laugh, trying not to implode internally. “She was-a… she forgot this package for you I guess, well uhh… I think that will be everything. I guess I should be going now…” Oh god you wanted to cry inside.

“Huh,” she frowned giving you a concerned look. “Well… alright, you have a pleasant evening,” she began to drag the package inside as you quickly ran down back the way you had come.

“Y-you too!” You slipped out the gate and fell behind her fence, hyperventilating.

What the hell was that?! Why were you panicking so bad right now!? What’s wrong with you?! You hurried on down the street towards your home, having a horrible episode filled with panic and heart wrenching confusion.

It was about as impressive as a van down by the river, but your small house at least had no holes, though the paint on the sides was slowly fading away. You would probably have to do something about that before everyone thought where you lived was abandoned. Then again, that one time you caught that homeless pony in your house going through your pantry probably already meant that it was about as bad as it could get.

You unlocked the front door and rushed inside, feeling as if your legs were going to buckle at any moment. You fell onto your couch in the small living room, groaning like an idiot. Who was that pony? You had never seen her before in your life, and she left you a blubbering imbecile!

You’ve tried to date mares in the past, you really have, but the prospect bothered you beyond anything more than a date; as you nearly felt sick to your stomach about being with something other than a human. You wish you could conquer that, but it just didn’t seem in your nature.

Well now here you were, unsure what to feel after that encounter. She was… well very pretty, and although you knew several mares who would count as pretty, this was beyond anything you could ever have imagined. Her colors and eyes were just, perfect! You couldn’t help yourse-NO!!

You kicked your legs into the air, roaring out a growl of protest. No! That wasn’t who you were, you weren’t going to let someone like that leave you a mess! You only have seen her for like two minutes and then ran off like a big pussy! This couldn’t mean anything! Except she was the prettiest thing you had ever laid eyes on-NO!!

This was getting you nowhere. You got up and went to your kitchen and opened the cupboard. Cans of food and several boxes of cereal were really all you had, and you were fine with that. You missed meat… you missed meat almost as much as human women… not that they could compare to whomever that mare-NO!!

You slammed the cupboard door shut and retreated to your room where a bed and a small night desk were the only features. On the nightstand was a single picture you had kept in your wallet that contained you and your family together at that one last bowling party you had went to together. You couldn’t remember how long you had cried realizing you would never see them again. It almost made everything that much more gloomy here, despite the bright and vivid world you lived in now.

You jumped into bed, suddenly not hungry at all. All you could think about was that beautiful mare, and no matter how much you tried to fight it, her raspberry mane and her concerned eyes always burned into your mind. You laid there, nearly sweating as the realization crept over you.

Oh god, were you in love?

Chapter Two: Back At It Again

Chapter Two: Back At It Again

“Oh, come on Anon! Wake up!”

“I didn’t burn anything!” You shot up and immediately fell backwards into a pile of mail, sending everything up into the air. You shook your dizzy head, hoping to be brought back to reality.

Your boss was standing right over you now, shaking his head. “You know what Anon?”

“Wh-what?” You asked, scared for your life right now. You wouldn’t be surprised if he took you to the back and beat you with a trash bin until you were down for the count at this point.

“I think I need to keep you doing something more active, so you won’t fall asleep on me anymore,” a grin began to take form across his muzzle. “Yeah, I think that’s a pretty good idea. Anon, you’re going to be our newest mailpony.”

“I’m not a pony,” you point out quickly. Probably not the best course of action right now.

“Mailhuman yeah, whatever. When Derpy shows up to get the mail, why don’t you go with her and help her out when she’s making rounds on the ground? How does that sound?”

“Not too bad, actually,” that was hardly a problem. You enjoyed hanging out with the pegasus, and you know you could do it on a regular basis hopefully. Maybe not regular… this was probably just temporary until you got your shit in order.

Express pulled you up with a hoof and you patted yourself off. He looked at the mess you had made and called out for one of the other sorters down the hall to fix your mess. “I just want you ready when she comes, alright?”

You nod. “Alright.”

“And Anon.”

“Yeah?”

“What in Tartarus is keeping you awake at night?”

You pushed the tips of your fingers together, trying to come up with an answer. You didn’t want to tell him you were stuck up all night thinking about that beautiful mare. When your boss got a whiff that anyone had a crush on somebody, he would tease them on end and try to get them together within the week like some sort of crazy matchmaker. “Uhh… uhmm… stomach issues…”

“Huh?” Express raised an eyebrow at you. “Stomach issues?”

“Uhmm yeah, bad… food, you know.. kept me up all night…” You wanted to escape to the side at this point, but you weren’t going anywhere as long as your boss had eyes on you.

He looked at you for a long time, his expression changing slightly to a more disgusted judging gaze. “Forget I asked…” He turned around and went back up to the front.

You turned to look at the clock and found it would still be an hour before Derpy showed up and the ground shift would commence. You always wondered why they only began delivering on the ground in the afternoon and not in the morning, but you were met with realization that who did the deliveries was like a total of five pegasi, and there was a lot of mail to go around.

The Ponyville post office not only covered this town, but three other adjacent smaller settlements around, so you could guess why it took so long and why they were all pegasi. Maybe with you, you could get everyone in town while the others did the other settlements, that way everyone’s day ended earlier. You’d still need to learn the routes though. Good thing you were already halfway there already with being familiar with addresses and street names.

So you sat at your desk for the rest of the time. After that, your only friend here would be your mail bag, as you delivered junk across town. Maybe you’d even get to deliver something to that mare on your street. Oh no, you might actually have to deliver something to her again!

You had already accepted the fact you were smitten, but your goal was to stay away and hide like a scared little puppy until you could forget about her. You weren’t sure this was a viable idea as it seemed impossible to have her outside of your mind any longer than a few minutes. Here you were again, swooning over her in some ambivalent mix of horror and infatuation.

The hour passed and you were called out to the front. Express stood by the front door with Derpy, who was tapping her hooves all over the place and whistling. One of her eyes focused on you as you entered the room. “I heard you were going to be a new mailpony! That’s awesome, and I get to show you how I do everything!”

You smiled faintly. “Yeah, I’m glad it’s you that’s showing me,” honestly, you were. If it was anyone else this would be horribly awkward.

She nodded. “Well, I’m glad it’s you that I’m gonna be teaching!”

Express came up to you and handed you a heavy mailbag. “Here you go, Anon. Try not to drool on everything.”

“I won’t boss,” you gave him a thumbs up as he shooed you both out the front door of the post office. You left your boss baffled by the expression.

Derpy immediately began heading down the street towards the first line of houses. You caught up with her quick, holding onto your mailbag closely. “Hey, don’t forget I’m with you.”

She shook her head. “I won’t and there’s nothing to this, really.”

“Yeah, I thought so, but still I could at least, you know well… study,” you looked around, wondering why you were even talking. You should be delivering the mail.

Derpy seemed to grasp the situation at hand. “Well, we aren’t going to be slow about it, silly. We’re going to do this quick, like I always do, and then you can do it by yourself eventually!” She left you there as she went back to moving at her previous pace. You were forced to jog to keep up.

She was always like this, quick to act, and when talking came to mind, her attention span dropped considerably. You were just going to have to keep with her and observe, or fail horribly in the near future.

From house to house you went, tossing things on the front porch or knocking on pony’s doors for more important packages. After a few hours and trips around, you found you were nearly done, and luckily, the only letter to an address on your street was to your very own home. A letter from the princess, probably just to see how you were doing. You always thought she was too nosey though. You would make yourself seem so boring writing back, that she would never respond again, now that was a plan.

You and Derpy were crossing the market when you nearly had a fit of cardiac arrest. From across the square, the one mare that you didn’t want to see at the moment was there in a small booth filled with all sorts of different flowers. What the hell?! Why was this your luck?

You yelped and immediately diverted from your pegasi companion, diving into an alleyway, where you attempted to bring yourself under control. You couldn’t be this easy to move! Nobody got you to act like this ever before. This wasn’t going to be a permanent thing, was it? Thoughts of moving away just to keep yourself free of these overwhelming emotions flooded your mind.

The mailmare came into the alley not long after, looking for you. When her one eye focused on you, she smiled, but looked a bit confused. “What’s wrong, Anon? You screamed like a filly and ran off.”

You frowned at her. “I d-don’t… well I guess I freaked out just a bit…”

“You screamed pretty loud. I think everypony heard you,” she looked back down the way she had come. “They definitely heard.”

You were nearly sweating bullets. “Ah… crap… I-I hope she didn’t hear…”

“Who’s ‘she’?” Derpy asked, confused. Her eyes focused on you for once as she seemed to get something.

“N-nobody, Derpy… Nobody at all…” You looked away from her, trying to keep her from seeing your face. You were likely blushing from how flustered you felt right now.

She tapped you on the back, but you didn’t turn around. “So you’re afraid of somepony huh? Well, you know it’s always best to face your fears.”

That sounded like a horrible idea. “You can’t make me…” You wouldn’t even try to look her in her… eyes? You weren’t going to show weakness. Of course, cowering in an alley might have already done you in for any attempt at trying not to.

“You know I can, Anon.”

She sounded serious. The only time you had heard her really serious was when one pony forgot the muffins at the office’s Hearth’s Warming party. The poor stallion that had only brought donuts was in the hospital for like a week.

You slowly turned around, putting a hand across your face. “D-don’t hurt me….”

All you could see between your fingers was a determined look. You were going to do what she wanted whether you liked it or not. She was your friend, but holy shit, this was like worse than watching those japanese horror movies.

You got up slowly and she nodded, gently gripping your arm with her mouth. Aww, man you could feel her dripping saliva on you. You dared not complain, in fear that she would bite down. She dragged you out of the alleyway where everything in the market seemed to be going just as normal and your eyes locked on the mare by her flower stand again.

“Wh ih aht…?” You heard Derpy asked from your side. She didn’t even bother to pull her mouth free to talk. Sheesh she was determined.

Perhaps you could trick her, but then some other poor unsuspecting mare would get the wrong idea and you’d be in even worse trouble than before, especially when she-who-you-could-not-even-name-if-you-wanted-to was still here in the market.

Derpy jerked your arm, causing you to break out of monologue. You raised a weak and shaking arm towards the mare at the flower stand, wanting to be put of your misery in any way possible.

The mailmare let go of your arm then. You looked back at her and she gave you an impatient look with her uneven eyes. “Well? What are you waiting for? Go talk to her!”

“..but?” You half expecting to be dragged up there.

“What? You thought I was going to go do the talking for you? Anon, stop being so silly and just go talk to her so we can get on with the rest of the day!”

You faltered. “Stick with me here, alright? Be my wingman…” You were really thinking yourself pathetic at this point.

“I’m a pony Anon, and a mare at that,” Derpy pointed out to you. You frowned at her but remembered how often you took the time to point out the opposite to others as well.

“Can you at least back me up? Just stand near me?”

Derpy nodded after a long moment. “Sure thing, Anon. I should have known how scared you were to talk to her from that scream of yours.”

You didn’t have time to ponder whether or not she was mocking you as you approached the flower stand. The pale yellow mare seemed to be having a slow day as she leaned on her booth’s counter, her eyes on her hoof that was tapping the wooden surface.

She brought her gaze up as you stood in front of her booth. She immediately sat up straight, ready to make a sale, but realized who the two of you were. “Oh! It’s my two recent mailponies. Did you want to take a look at my flowers? I got all sorts of bouquets for special somepony’s.”

“Uhh…. no…” You looked over to Derpy for reassurance, but she just gestured to the mare. “We-er… I was just wondering how you were from yesterday. I sort of ran off pretty quickly, didn’t I?”

She nodded. “Oh yes, I suppose you did. Was everything okay? You seemed distressed.”

You instinctively pressed your fingers together nervously. “Yeah… just uhmm… you know… stomach issues…”

“Stomach issues?”

“Y-yeah…” You were about to drop dead.

The mare looked around for a short bit before returning to you. She must have took in all the possible meanings of stomach problems. “Well, think nothing of it,” she extended a hoof across the counter. “I’m Roseluck, and you are…?”

“C-call me Anon,” you took her hoof in your hand and nearly lost yourself in her soft fur. You fought the urge to lul back your head in ecstasy and simply shook it, eventually giving it up. You pointed to Derpy. “And this here’s Derpy…”

“I always wondered what your name was,” she waved to your mailmare companion, who waved back and gave her a big dumb grin, Derpy’s trademark, but misleading feature.

She studied you both for a second before speaking again. “So why are both of you together here?” Her eyes grew narrow with a grin. “You two aren’t a couple are you…?”

“N-NO!!” You blurted out immediately, causing Roseluck to withdraw backwards into her booth more. You noticed Derpy looking away and blushing profusely, shaking her head. “I mean… we aren’t… we’re… we’re just friends…”

“Well… alright, I was just asking…” Rose seemed a bit shaken, but no worse for the wear.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-” You started, but were interrupting by the dreamy mare.

“It’s quite okay…. so… are you going to be a regular mailpony now?” She was quick to keep you comfortable and switching the subject. Maybe you weren’t in too much trouble here. It was actually kind of easy talking to her when you thought about it.

“I think so, but I’m not entirely sure. I… I just worked at the post office before this,” you began to explain, feeling more confident. You almost forgot Derpy was there, and it was just you and this pony called Roseluck.

“They must have thought you would be a good mailpony then. Celestia knows we need more of them around here. We’re always getting our mail late in the day,” she dragged her hoof along the counter as she spoke.

“We’re trying our best,” Derpy popped up right between you and the counter to confront her, knocking you in the chin and causing you to bite your tongue. You took a step back as Derpy dropped back onto the ground after her short flight.

Roseluck nodded, raising her forelegs in front of her. “Of course, I know you’re doing all that you can, but it still would be nice to have somepony to get us in the mornings.”

The mailmare gritted her teeth but eventually relaxed, going back to the side as you held your jaw, your tongue still stinging. You kind of wish she wasn’t here, but you wouldn’t be talking to Rose otherwise without her coercion.

“Are you okay?” Roseluck asked seeing your obvious discomfort.

“Yeah… just… bit my tongue…” You frowned, hoping Derpy hadn’t indirectly ruined your chance with this pony.

She gave a slight smile. “Well, I’m sure it isn’t nothing too bad.”

You nodded and began to grin yourself. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

For a long moment, you and Roseluck just stood there across from one another smiling. You were feeling really dumb and awkward all of a sudden.

Derpy tugged on your arm after a few. “I think we should really get to finishing up. There’s probably a lot of ponies waiting for their mail.”

You huffed out a sigh. “Alright…”

Roseluck looked at Derpy with some form of irritation. “Well, if you both have to go, I hope everything goes well for you.”

“Yeah, we do,” Derpy said impatiently, beginning to head off.

“Hopefully I’ll see you again?” Rose asked as she waved to you both as you began to follow Derpy.

You nearly tripped after hearing that. “C-count on it.”

You left out onto your home street, where you were nearly melting into a puddle of infatuation. Derpy sighed once as she went and dropped off a letter into a mailbox. She looked at the window of the home to see a stallion standing there, his eyes angry.

“Yes, good evening Mr. Weed!”

Even from your spot outside of the home you could hear the stallion’s voice reverberating all the wall through window and wall to get to you two.

“Waited all… Suppose to get a letter from my… took you long enough!”

“Yeah yeah yeah,” Derpy motioned for you to follow her to the next home, which in fact happened to be yours.

You looked back at the house. “Is this what I have to look forward to?”

“Well no,” Derpy answered, trying to pick out any mail for you from the bag you held. “Since we’ll finally be able to deliver in the morning with you. You’d likely be their savior.”

You frowned at your friend. “Is everything okay Derpy?”

“Yeah, it is,” she pulled out a letter with your name on it and threw it into your mailbox with an unnecessary amount of force. This did little to change your frown.

“What’s wrong?”

“Well…” She hesitated, he gaze slipping to the ground before she left you in the dust once more, moving to the next house. “I’m not sure I like that mare.”

You were confused now. “What? Why wouldn’t you? She’s amazing.”

Derpy sighed once more, this time with blatant anger. “Yeah, I know. She just didn’t seem nice to me was all.”

“I’m sorry. Maybe you two will get another chance to talk?” You suggested hopefully. Partly because you weren’t sure you could talk to Roseluck by yourself still.

“Maybe Anon, I don’t know…” She finished delivering the mail to another as you went on through, continuing your discussion.

You began to drone on about the possibilities. “Maybe I’ll see her at her little booth again and we can all chat and have a good time and-”

“Anon, knock it off,” the mailmare was practically dragging her hooves now.

You gasped. “But… but…”

“Anon, if you’re going to deal with her, I want no part in it,” she sounded serious again. Oh boy.

Driven by the need to learn why she was acting like this and your overall feelings towards Rose, you pressed further where you should have really stopped.

You mustered up the most hurt expression you could, as if you had been completely and utterly devastated by her recent actions and behavior. “Derpy, why are you acting so mean? Roseluck hasn’t done anything to you…” You made sure to step in front of her, clasping your hands together to appear pitiful as you stuck out your bottom lip, quivering it.

“Please stop,” she went right around you to the next mailbox, leaving you standing there, disappointed.

You turned around and kept the pace with the fuming pegasus. “Derpy, I need you to help me with her… I’m not good with girls-err-mares.”

She stopped and sighed. You hoped you hadn’t caused anything to snap in her little noggin. The second that happened you were a dead man, likely to be dropped from Cloudsdale. A sort of light shined across her eyes as she looked at you, her nose scrunching with mental confliction.

“Alright Anon, I’ll help you, but only because you asked, and not for… her.”

You nearly erupted into cheers, but Derpy calmed you down with a hoof, heading down the street to the next set of houses, your street done with. You stayed a bit back, unsure whether or not keeping pace with her now would cause her to have a relapse into anger.

The day came to an end soon after that, and after avoiding another angry resident throwing a rock at you for “being lazy good-for-nothing’s” in regards to your job here in Equestria.

Derpy left you surprisingly reluctantly. You weren’t sure why, but she frowned when the last home had received their mail.

“Be careful going home, okay Anon?” She had told you, beginning to fly off rather slowly, looking back at you several times.

You waved, but felt she wanted to say something else. It was probably regarding Roseluck. You weren’t sure why she would even care, or how she had even bothered her the way she had. It was probably that comment about the post office needing more ponies. Well, you were going to make things much better for the ponies here in Ponyville. All by yourself. Yeah.

Back at your home, it was just as you remembered it. You were hoping it might have turned into a castle while you were gone, but even though magic existed here in Equestria, you never seemed to catch a break, ever.

Inside, you made yourself dinner, a few hard boiled eggs, and went to read a book. You really wished they had some interesting literature here, but maybe your threshold for fantastical adventures in written form was raised a bit too high since you were living in a fantasy world yourself. Still, this book on the many adventures of a dropout unicorn was somewhat entertaining and before long you caught yourself beginning to doze off on your couch.

You dragged your tired body to your bed, mumbling about how things were going to be real different starting tomorrow. Up early, out early, doing your job early and then you’d have the whole day to yourself… and maybe Roseluck.

That made you smile as you pulled the sheets over your exhausted form. It was going to be a good day tomorrow. A new job, and possibly more time to chat with the only pony that had ever caught your eye.

You fell asleep, wondering how the hell you would embarrass yourself tomorrow.

Chapter Three: An Eventful First Day

Chapter Three: An Eventful First Day

The thing was, you didn’t really sleep all that well. This was expected you suppose, as after about an hour of slumber, you ended up rolling and tossing in bed, fear and excitement and everything in between coursing through your veins, a toxic adrenaline that had eventually forced you up out of bed well an hour before you had initially planned. It was for the best, you guessed, it was better than sleeping in, though you would pay for it later on into the day. You hoped you could do your job before it came to that.

It was still dark outside when you went to the kitchen, and ate breakfast, just a bit of bread. The way you felt, you didn’t really want to eat anything huge on an important day as this. You were almost surprised that you hadn’t thought of Roseluck for nearly an hour, but then you realized you had just thought of her and sighed. What was it about her? Could any man really explain any woman that had wrapped them around their finger or hoof without citing the obvious beauty or seamless nature of their fancied spouse?

Caught up in your musings, time went by rather quickly and you forced yourself out of the door and into the cool early morning air after getting on some presentable clothing. You weren’t going to run out there looking like a slob, not even if the ponies here couldn’t tell the difference. You still had standards you set yourself to, surprisingly. You wondered if anyone would even say anything if you just stepped out of the door naked.

You shook the dumb thoughts away, wondering how the hell your mind got to you running around Ponyville naked. Oh well, you’re a weird fellow. Everyone’s weird, you just keep it all to yourself… well most of the time.

Things were so different out here for you. The sky was a dark twisting purplish gray, the clouds looming overhead giving you a rather drab indication of what the morning was going to be like. Shame on the pegasi for doing this to you on your very first day. You just hoped it didn’t rain.

You crossed the slumbering town to the post office, one of the few places that was lively even this far into the morning. It just had to be. You wondered if you’d find Derpy inside picking up her set of mail for her own rounds. Maybe you could discuss different ways to approach Roseluck as well. Now you were thinking!

Stepping on in without a care through the front door you found Express groggily at the front desk, a fresh cup of coffee sitting on the surface, it’s steamy fumes heading into the air and disappearing without a trace. He yawned, but livened up as he saw you. He waved a hoof, beckoning you over.

“Wow Anon, didn’t think you’d show up!”

“Yeah,” you didn’t like the doubt you were getting from your boss. “I always show up on time.”

He just smiled as you approached, reaching under the desk and pulling out a large bag. “Well here you are Anon, one bag full of all the mail for Ponyville today. You’re a bit early, I think the other mailponies are in the back chatting at the moment, you should totally go hang out with them for a few.”

“Hmm… sure,” you began to drag the mail the bag off the desk when it slid across the surface knocking the cup of coffee over the side.

You gasped at what seemed to happen in a split second. Express reached all the way over the desk for his cup and caught it before it could hit the ground, not a single drop lost.

He placed the cup back on the desk as the bag now hung over your shoulder. He gave you a displeased look, as if he had expected better from you. Funny when just a second ago he was commenting about how he didn’t believe you would even show up.

“Uhh… I should go,” you decided, heading for the back room.

“You do that, Anon,” he watched you the entire way as you went into the back where you once did your mindless sorting. You wondered how he put up with you when he was clearly using a death gaze until you left his sight, and this wasn’t the first time you had been the subject of it. Still, it was time to put that behind you, for this was the very moment you truly became one of the elite here at the office. A real celebrity you were sure.

“Oh hey, it’s the new guy.”

All the mailponies (all five of them) were huddled around a single table, their own bags on their backs. They all looked at you with either curious or judging eyes. You waved awkwardly stepping in between a mare and stallion, seeing what everyone was up to. “So uhh… whatsup?” You finally spoke up.

You now noticed Derpy across from the table. She didn’t look too pleased with whatever when the stallion next to you answered your question.

“We were just discussing how the weather ponies really didn’t do us any favors today.”

This you could talk about. Even though you weren’t going to by flying around in the air, this development had surely put a damper on even your day. “Yeah, I was kind of hoping they wouldn’t do this on my first day of the job.”

“Well you’re going to have to live with it, rookie,” the stallion shrugged, but you didn’t really care for his actions. You could suddenly feel Derpy’s halved gaze upon you. It was almost making you uncomfortable.

“Well alright,” the mare to your other side said. “We better start heading out. Good luck everypony.”

They shuffled out but you remained behind. You noticed that Derpy had moved across the perimeter of the table to stand next to you. You almost didn’t want to acknowledge her, but that would be just impolite, plus you did have things to discuss after all. “Hey, Derpy,” you finally looked down at her, faking your best smile.

“Yeah, hey Anon,” she spoke grumpily, looking you over with a frown. “Why didn’t you come stand by me? I could have talked to you about what you want to do after we’re done with our routes.”

“Oh yeah, we could talk about what I should do if I go see Roseluck today!” You exclaimed rather loudly. You sure hoped Express didn’t hear that.

Derpy didn’t seem to share your sudden enthusiasm. “Uhh… yeah that too. Maybe we could go to a restaurant and talk about that, then?”

“Sure,” you decided. You always had a few bits that you never really did spend anyways.

She nodded, suddenly growing a bit softer. This was good, you didn’t need her glaring at you the whole time when you were going to be discuss how to put the moves on the enchantress that was Roseluck.

"Okay Anon, it’s a d-err plan. I’ll see you over here at the office when we’re both done,” she trotted on out of the room, leaving you there by yourself.

You performed a silent fist pump to signify your anticipated victory. You had a plan for the day, and you weren’t going to screw it up. Everything was set. Get done delivering this mail, go have an afternoon lunch with Derpy and perhaps approach Roseluck after that. It was a good start.

Express was taking a sip of his coffee when he saw you coming back out to the front. He gave you a silent nod as he continued to drink the substance. You waved at him, the best of intentions in mind, when he suddenly dropped his mug onto the counter, shattering the cup and sending coffee in all directions, specifically all over his face. He growled as you immediately walked out of the post office, suddenly wondering if you had superpowers.

You slipped out onto your first street, the sky a light murky gray now, examining some of the mail you had. It was mostly just letters, a few packages, and a couple of magazines. Most were quite innocent in nature but a few you knew implied more. You coughed awkwardly, stuffing them back into the bag as you approached the first house on the street, an incredibly austere building that did little to please your eyes.

You looked at the address, rummaged through some of the mail, and produced a small package. This wasn’t going to fit into the mailbox here, and that left you with only one thing left to do…

With a pop to your step, you approached the door of the home and knocked on the door, looking around to pass the time. You heard a muffled yell at a bit of thumping as whomever was inside approached the door. The door opened a crack and a grizzly stallion eyed you through the space.

“What do you want…?” He grumbled, looking as if he had just slept on a bed of rocks.

“You have a package,” you waved the small box in your hands, so as best to signify that you were in fact, a legit mailman.

He eyed you curiously, as if you couldn’t be real, but then opened the door further, reaching out to the box in your hand. You allowed him take it as he yawned out a thanks before slamming the door in your face, leaving you standing there, expecting more when there obviously wasn’t. You couldn’t help but call this a resounding success.

You left the house and deliver a few letters in the mailbox to the next home on the street, absolutely no contact with the resident of the house needed. This was going to be easy, you began to glide through your work, delivering letters and such to whomever the numbers in the bag told you to.

You approached another house farther into your rounds whistling a merry tune, a package in hand. Something about this house seemed quite familiar though… almost as if you had lived in it… oh.. hold on… wait… this was your house. No wonder no one was answering when you knocked on the door.

Looking around to make sure no one saw you knocking on the door to your house, looking like an idiot, you quickly slipped inside and examined the strange package that was apparently addressed to you. You wiggled the box around as you took a seat on the couch, leaving you bag on the floor. The small box in your hand made no indication of its contents as it remained silent with each motion in your hands. How weird.

You placed it at your side, deciding that this would have to be looked into later. You still had a bit more mail to deliver. With that, you left your house and went on with your business, heading farther out to the outskirts of Ponyville.

This far out, the aesthetics of each home began to change drastically, some you might say even head scratching. Though there was that one library near the middle of town that was inside a tree so…

It didn’t matter, and you dropped off the mail to a shoddy one story shack that might have been a worse place to live than your own house. Needless to say, this left you with a growing air of confidence knowing you weren’t the only one living in such horrid conditions.

One last place to go. You had a single rectangular box, sealed simply at the top. You would shake it to see what could possibly be in there, but the bold black words on the package read: FRAGILE. Instead of musing how silly it would have been if I somehow managed to throw in a Christmas Story reference, you simply placed the box back into your nearly empty bag and made for the one little isolated cottage on the edge of town.

There was a time when you had enjoyed animals, even had a few, but that seemed like a distant memory and you weren’t willing to put up with any sort of pet here. You knew ponies kept dogs and cats just like your kind did, so it wasn’t really a problem in regards to obtaining a suitable animal companion, it was just that in a place like this, like Ponyville, so many ponies crossed each other’s paths on a daily basis that there wasn’t really any point to keeping a pet. If you wanted to pet a dog or cat, you could just walk outside, someone was sure to be walking around with one.

Which was why the owner of this quaint little cottage shocked you so. From what you had heard and observed from others here in town, the yellow pegasus was caretaker to a countless number of creatures, whether they were domestic or not. Some even said she took care of bears. As inviting as that sounded, you weren’t all too peachy on walking right up and knocking on the door, even if it was your job’s requirement. At least you weren’t taking signatures.

Stepping over the little bridge that ran over the pond in front of the shrubbery covered cottage, you took a deep breath, and shook your head to get rid of any nerves. Images of a bear bursting around the corner and coming down upon you jolted into your mental self. You wanted to do a 180 pivot right back across the bridge but that would mean that you failed as a mailman, and you weren’t all too willing to get chewed out by Express. He did it enough without any reason.

You scurried up the curving path, trying to keep all the sudden chirping out of your head from the birdhouses that were littered throughout the area. You berated the door with a few knocks, the unneeded adrenaline now pumping through your veins you just wanted to get out of here.

There wasn’t an answer, though you could hear something on the other side of the wooden door. Though something strange happened as you waited and listened in on the voice. A tiny little bit of pressure could be felt upon your foot and you looked down.

A snowy white bunny looked up at you curiously, its nose twitching as it pointed upwards towards your face. It stood upon your shoe, and you suddenly had the urge to fidget your limb to get the thing off of you. You wouldn’t though, you were too nice of a guy to do something like throw a bunny off your foot. Maybe if you kept telling yourself that, you might actually believe it. Still…

“Go on little guy, shoo…” you whispered down to the little bunny, motioning with your hand for him to move on off of your foot. The little rodent just tilted his head, as if not understanding you. It figured.

You were about to give into the urge of flinging the little bugger of your foot and in through the goal posts when you felt pressure this time on your other foot. You sighed, knowing what it would be: another bunny.

“Please, guys... I don’t need this right now,” you finally flicked them both off by a quick and sudden jolt of your legs, dropping them lightly onto the floor. “Now go on and door whatever it was you were doing before you bothered me.”

They just stood where you had dropped them, still staring up at you. In fact, there wasn’t just two of them anymore, there was quite a few of them… wait.. where were they coming from?

You looked around to see yourself surrounded by a contingent of bunnies, all looking at you curiously. Now things were getting a bit weird. You wanted to step away, but you were surrounded. You pretended not to care, and simply began to refocus on the door. You could swear that the noises inside were getting louder…

Now, why anybody made two separate halves for this cottage door was beyond you. It was simply just a door to a little cottage. Not anything particularly special. You supposed you should have noticed this before you knocked on the door, for the top half of the door swung open and made contact with the side of your face, sending you falling ungracefully to the ground below, the bunnies scattering like you were a falling tower.

Everything was blurry and the sounds you heard were like echoes amongst bells. You almost wanted to laugh, simply because of what happened to you. Even you had to laugh at this one. Though being laid out like that didn’t really leave you in the best mental shape for a bit. You felt what could have been hooves, feeling over your back. You groaned in response.

“I-I’m so, so sorry!” A frantic yet gentle voice clambered through the ringing in your head.

You lifted your chin up off the ground, the world around you just now beginning to return to normal. You clumsily reached for the bag that felt by your side. You rolled onto your back, your vision still distorted as you reached into your mail bag. You sure hoped whatever was fragile in the box you then produced didn’t break. At least it wasn’t your fault. You were going to blame the army of distracting bunny rabbits on this one.

“Oh! Could it be…?” The gentle voice hovering above you seemed to have taken the box from your hand and simply left you hanging your arm upwards. “Oh my… my new bird feeder. All the little birdies will love it so much… hmm…”

You hear the voice pause as you lay there, leaving you in some sort of delusional suspense. You finally managed to speak up, breaking the horrible silence. “Well? What is it?”

“It’s just… there’s a crack in the glass…” she sounded really depressed all of a sudden.

“Well you did just knock the shit out of me…” you chimed in on the ground.

There was a quiet pause, and you were about to pick yourself up when you heard the pegasus speak once more. “Yes… I’m sorry… well… I better get inside.”

So she left you there, and closed the door behind you. You were likely concussed, but you didn’t really care. You were just glad she didn’t stay out here with you. Maybe it was because you were a human. Whatever.

With a grunt, you picked yourself up. You were a bit wobbly at first, but looked to be recovering fairly quickly. You stepped on over and past the little bridge once more, glad it was all over. Now you could plot how you were going to talk with Roseluck with Derpy. That made you smile, and before you knew it you were already halfway back down to the post office.

You heard a rather light thumping following you however as you walked down the streets. You whirled around to see a lone little bunny that had been shadowing you. You looked around for signs of any others, but couldn’t find any. Were they going to make the rest of your day miserable as well?

“What do you want?” You asked with a cautious tone.

Just as you expected, you were rewarded no answer from the little animal. You gave it one last sour look before turning back towards your destination, but you knew it was still following. Maybe next time you would just drop that mare’s package off on the bridge, so you wouldn’t have to put up with this crap again.

You arrived at the post office shortly after noon and quickly slipped inside, carefully shutting the jingling door behind you. You were free of the bunny, for now. Maybe it would get bored and shuffle on out before you and Derpy went off to lunch? That was something to hope for.

Express was talking to a mare up at the front desk. She seemed a bit exasperated, but that hardly changed your boss’s uninterested expression. He eyed you as you walked in and you shook your empty bag before him, signifying you had done your job and slipped into the back room before he could react.

There were a few mail sorting ponies sitting at their desks, looking about as bored and tired as you had been just a day before. You felt sympathy for them and considered yourself privileged to have been given the opportunity to run around town and get knocked in the head on a daily basis now. Maybe they would follow in your footsteps eventually…

As you went to the table where the rest of the mailponies had been this morning you noticed that Derpy had not returned yet. This was no biggie, as you could simply take a breather at the table. In fact, the only mailpony that had returned at this point was the stallion that had called you “rookie.” Maybe you were good at this, or maybe you were just cheating since you got to do Ponyville.

Whatever the case was, you were here first, so you snatched up the old chair you use to sit in when you were sorting through the letters, boxes, and other assorted postal goods, and brought it over to the table. It seemed like your old job was a bit harder to replace than you thought. Whatever, it got you your chair for the time being.

You twiddled with your thumbs as your brain went over possible scenarios with Roseluck. Most of these ended up bad even in your thoughts. You were either rejected or sent astray at some point during the encounter, and then you’d be brought back to rough reality in which you waited for Derpy in. You were hoping she’d show up soon so you didn’t have to wait much longer, even your own thoughts were starting to gang up on you.

She showed after what felt like an eternity, but you guessed it was probably only about half an hour. She looked irritable and exhausted coming into the back, but when she caught sight of you, that was immediately replaced with a sort of anticipation in her uneven eyes.

“Hey, Anon,” she spoke lightly. “How long have you been waiting here?”

You shrugged. “I guess maybe like a few dozen minutes. It’s not really anything I haven’t been through before.”

“I’m sorry,” she gave you an indifferent look, but you brushed it off and told her it was no biggy. She smiled after that and looked to be satisfied with your words. “Well, Anon… shall we?” She gestured towards the back door out, and you nodded.

It was now time to get a game plan forming for how you would tackle Roseluck. You popped out the back and went back out onto the main street of Ponyville. Derpy began to speak about how her trip went, but every time you tried to focus on her words, you kept going back to musing about Rose.

“-I just wish he wasn’t so chatty sometimes, you know? I don’t want to sit outside as he talks to me from the yard… it’s creepy,” you finally heard her say. You were about to speak again when Derpy interrupted you. “Anon, why is there a bunny following you?”

You froze in place and felt your brow furrow. Was this for real? You looked over your shoulder to see the bunny rabbit in question, hopping on after you. It, of course, paused once you caught sight of it, and it tilted its head as you two locked eyes, though yours weren’t nearly as innocent.

“It’s toying with me…” you suddenly spoke aloud, as if the realization just crept over you. What game was it playing with you? You began to walk again and gave Derpy a sudden push, producing an agitated yelp from the pegasus, as you both picked up the pace.

“What are you talking about…?” She spoke as you hurried on down the street.

“Never mind that,” you spoke with purpose. “Where was it you wanted to go?”

“Well, there was this really nice sandwich shop that-”

“Which way?” You were now in the most intense power walk of your life now.

“L-left at the next turn…. n-no right!” Derpy answered, now sounding as tense as you were. “Anon, why are we trying to get away from that bunny?!”

Your eyes narrowed in grizzly determination. “That rabbit is likely hellbent on my destruction right now.”

“Anon, are you okay? You didn’t fall on your head today, did you?”

“No…” you frowned. “I just got smacked in the head was all...” there was no point in lying, though you knew for sure that the bunnies intentions were malevolent.

Derpy stopped in place, giving you an angry look. “It’s just a bunny, Anon. It couldn’t hurt you if it wanted.”

You sighed. She wouldn’t get it. You slumped your shoulders as you walked back to her. The little bunny hopped right before you and was staring you right in the eyes again. Derpy nudged you and you took a deep breath, kneeling down to the bunny, its whiskers twitching.

“See Anon?” Derpy sounded off. “Harmless, I bet you could pet it, even.”

You gave her a pleading look, but all you got were those indifferent eyes. If you didn’t reach out, you were pretty sure she was going to wallop you. She was a good friend, but this was ridiculous. You reached out to the bunny. It watched your hands loom shakily above its head, but it made no move.

With a quick motion, you patted the bunny’s head, pressing down it’s ears under your palm. After that, you stood back up and the bunny took that time to hop onto your shoe. Derpy smiled as she watched you both interact.

“I think he likes you,” Derpy finally said as you were just about to fling the thing off your shoe. You gave her an unbelieving look, but she seemed to really think this was the case. “There’s no harm if he follows us around, is there?”

You folded your arms and grumbled. “Yeah, whatever…”

The bunny hopped off your foot and stood by idly. Derpy began to continue her walk, you begrudgingly following her, and the bunny in response, following you.

“I swear Anon, you overreact sometimes,” the mailmare began to say. “I wonder what you would have done without me.”

You shrugged. “I dunno,” you weren’t one for discussing hypothetical situations that involved you embarrassing yourself with another, just like the musing you had back at the office.

“You probably would have been running away from that bunny all day around town, looking silly,” she kept on. “You need somepony with you at all times practically,” the way she said it… it sounded more like a suggestion than a statement… weird.

“Yeah, maybe…” you looked off into the distance. Imagining if Rose had been here with you, but that was a bit harder to focus on than you thought. Oh well, it wasn’t going anywhere, you could worry about what ifs later. For now, you were just going to enjoy lunch with Derpy and lay out your plan of attack.

The shop Derpy had taken you to didn’t look all that impressive. In fact, the second you realized that you would likely just be eating the bread of the sandwiches and not any of the innards that went in between the two slices made you frown a bit.

You two slipped inside, and you found the bunny stop at the door, letting you and the pegasus walk in alone. It still watched you both with those innocent and curious eyes. Maybe he would slip away, but you soon found that to be a useless prospect, for you and Derpy were seated outside the restaurant.

It wasn’t long to find the bunny near your legs as you sat at the small table with Derpy. You glared down to the thing, but it was pointless, and instead opted to strike conversation with the mailmare, but she spoke up before you, sounding a bit more tense than you remembered her being.

“So… uhh… how was your day Anon?” She blurted out, looking at you with unintentional ferocity that caused you to raise an eyebrow and scratch the side of your head.

“It went better than I had hoped, actually,” you admitted to her. She bobbed her head up and down in response to this. You weren’t sure what had gotten into her again, but opted to change the subject to what really mattered.

“So any ideas on how to approach Roseluck?” You asked lightly, unsure of how she was going to act, though it was likely going to be negatively.

She seemed to drop in interest immediately, her panicky state absolved from her character almost immediately. She brought up a hoof to lean her head on as she studied you with a distasteful look. “Believe it or not, I didn't think of any, Anon.”

“Oh,” now you were feeling rather down, and this lunch just got a bit more awkward. You drummed your fingers across the table when Derpy spoke again.

“You just gotta be yourself.”

You pulled your eyes back up to her, and all you got was some sort of conflicted look from Derpy, but you knew she was serious about what she said.

“And how do I do that?” You ask, wondering what exactly she was getting at.

“Well,” she smiled and looked away. “Just keep being who you are. Even if it doesn’t mean you’re the most confident stallion-”

“Man,” you interject.

“-Man,” Derpy pauses for a second, seeming to let your little stint slide. “You just got to act natural, and if that works, then she’s meant to be with you, you know?”

“Examples?” You just wanted to be sure.

“Are you being serious Anon?”

“Clearly,” you stated.

“You know what? Just keep doing what you’re doing,” she spoke, clearly not pleased with your response to her advice.

“Can do,” you gave her a thumb up, but you left her just as confused as you had your boss. You weren’t sure why you still had this habit after so long.

“Is that good enough advice?” She asked you impatiently. Jeez, she really didn’t like talking about anything regarding Roseluck. You really thought you were going to make progress today. Guess that’s not going to happen at all…

You didn’t want to say no, so you just opted to nod, and that relieved the pegasus. She smiled lightly, and seemed to immediately return back to her normal self. “What were you going to get Anon?” She looked off towards the establishment. “I wonder why we haven’t gotten any service yet…”

Indeed it was a bit strange. Everyone else was eating around at their own tables, all chatting up about the days events. Derpy seemed to be getting impatient. You decided to answer her question.

“Uhm, maybe just a salad I guess. They got those right?”

She nodded, her unsynchronized eyes still trying to find some sort of service. “Of course Anon, though I gotta tell you: you’re really missing out. The daisy sandwich here is to die for.”

Images of eating the flower head of a daisy filled your mind. Your suddenly felt a little sick, but you just kept focus on the salad that was to soon be coming. Hopefully they’d bring croutons or something with it… those were the best…

Someone finally came to take your order and thankfully they did have a salad, and you pointed out the necessity for croutons to the waiter who took your request with about as much enthusiasm as you had expected. Derpy ordered the sandwich she had mentioned and he was off after that.

Derpy coughed and looked around, always glancing back at you with one eye or the other.
It was as if she wanted to keep talking to you, so you decided you would instigate some sort of conversation with her this time.

“So Derpy,” you spoke harmlessly, hoping you’d catch her attention.

You did more than that. In a split second, her ears perked up, and her attention was completely on you, waiting for whatever you had to say. Holy schmoly, what had gotten into her?

“Err-what made you become a mailmare?”

Whatever you had set off, it was too late, and the second she opened her mouth and took that deep breath, you braced yourself for the life story of the pegasus.

“Well, back when I was just a filly back at flight camp, I wasn’t one for all that racing-” oh boy all the way back to flight school? You weren’t sure what that was, but it sounded like the pegasus equivalent to grade school.

As she kept on about her life, you entertained yourself with all the sights of Ponyville. You could see, a bee buzzing by, an overly chatty couple, rivaling Derpy at the moment, and the pegasi flying about in the sky.

It was just a pretty day, and you kept help but smile just a bit. You soon realized Derpy had stopped talking when you focused back on the mare before you. She was just smiling back at you, and you felt a bit awkward, but you were free of the moment once your food came by.

Derpy examined her sandwich before taking a bite out of it. You were a bit less forthcoming to your food. Somehow, they had still managed to sneak in sunflower stems in there, but you wouldn’t complain, there was enough croutons in there to make up for that, so you picked them out of the salad as you and Derpy talked about what you were going to do tomorrow.

“-I might go see Roseluck tomorrow if not today,” you spoke shakily, just the thought of talking to her made you shiver all over and nearly crippling tense.

“Of course, but then what after that?” Derpy asked, very interested in your later plans.

“I don’t know? Maybe chill out at my house or something?”

“Well,” she played with her hooves for a second, glancing away from you. “Maybe I could come over to your house tomorrow then?”

You gave her a wide eyed look, wondering how the hell you would make your house presentable to her when she added in an extra phase.

“To talk about how you can approach Roseluck of course.”

Ding ding. You immediately relaxed, no longer worried about how shitty your house was. Derpy probably wouldn’t care anyways. You nodded to her. “You aren’t going to be all angry about it like you were today though, right?”

“N-no…” She glared at you, her face turning a bit red from the embarrassment. She was quite the card this one.

Before you could utter another word, a silky voice sounded off to your side.

“Oh, Anon! How are you?”

“Wazzat now?” You turn to see the mare of your dreams looking at you with a dazzling countenance. You nearly fell out of your chair.

“I was just passing by to set up my flower stand. I saw you and Derpy sitting here and thought I’d say hi,” she gave a nod towards the pegasus, who just folded her forelegs and grumbled to herself. “So, did you already deliver all your mail?”

“Yes, actually, heh,” you couldn’t help but bring a hand up to your shoulder to rub it. “Still can’t believe I didn’t screw anything important up.”

“And why would you?” She asked curiously.

“Well… I’m not the best… at well… most things,” you were having a mental battle with yourself to remain calm. So far, so good.

Rose shifted a bit as she chose her next words, leaving you a panicking mess on the inside of a cracking outer shell. “Anon, we all have a special talent, and you seem to be doing well enough as a mailpony already. Maybe you’re just discovering your talent?” Her words with tinge with just enough encouragement to help you form your next sentence if just barely.

“I… yeah… maybe you’re right… Roseluck…” it was almost as if you were getting worse at talking to her.

“Just telling you what I think Anon. Maybe we can discuss down by my flower stand later?” She looked at you expectantly, waiting for your inevitable answer.

You managed to piece together one last sentence from the jumble of words that swam around in your dense little lovestruck mind. “I’d be happy to…”

“That’s great, I’ll see you s- is… is that… a bunny…?” Her tone grew from cheerful to unsure and shaking as she pointed down towards your feet.

You peaked under the table to see that the little bunny rabbit had not lost a step, and was still right under you. You thought he would have lost interest by now. Hmm… still… if Roseluck noticed him then maybe…

“Yeah, it is. He’s been following me around all day, here,” you reached down and scooped the bunny rabbit up, both hands under its belly.

“That really won’t be necessary…” She was sounding even more anxious by the second. You wonder what her deal was.

“Nonsense, he’s just a little bunny… that’s what Derpy says at least…” You brought it up face to face with Roseluck who eyed the creature with a look of… trepidation?

She suddenly screamed, hopping backwards away from you, and immediately bolted down the street, screaming something that sounded like “The horror, the horror!” You were left still in place, holding the bunny up to where she was just a moment ago, dumbstruck.

“Uh oh, Anon,” Derpy spoke up finally. “I think you scared her.”

You placed the bunny on the ground, and immediately planted your head rather forcibly on the table, shaking the plates and bowls that sat upon its surface. You groaned rather loudly.

What the hell just happened? She’s scared of bunnies?! How the hell is that even possible?! So that was why that little bastard followed you all the way down here, just ruin your life. God dammit…

You could hear Derpy saying something rather softly to you, likely words of comfort, but all that was buzzing in your mind was Roseluck’s scream, and how you how managed to muck everything up in record time.

There was only way you were going to even have a chance to fix this, but you were scared now. Would she even talk to you after you had unwittingly shoved a bunny into her face, awakening some repressed memory.

You were going to have to talk to her again… make it up to her… aww jesus…

How were you going to dig yourself out of this hole?

Author's Note

Been listening to a lot of Lullatone writing this... awesome music for slice of life fics..