The Papercolt

Chapter 1

“Now son, remember what I told you, be careful when you’re flying,” my Dad says as he helps fasten my mailbag around my waist. He tightens the buckle and returns to me, knelt down to meet my eyes.

“I will,” I assure him.

“Did you even comb your mane? It’s so messy.” He licks his hoof and tries to settle the jumbled disaster that is my mane.

“Dad, it’s just going to get messy again from the wind.”

“Well, at least it won’t be ‘that’ big of a mess when you get to work. Now, it’s very windy out there, so when you’re flying make sure you—”

“Keep my hooves out, and my body straight.”

“Right, also where’s your goggles? You should always wear your—” I reach back into my mailbag, and retrieve my goggles to hold them up to him. “Oh, so you remember everything else except for combing your mane?”

“Dad. . .” I chuckle. “I’m gonna be late!”

“Okay, okay, I just want to make sure you’re all set.” He turns and unlocks the front door, pushes it open, and allows the great gale entry. I step out onto the soft cushion of cloud that our home rests upon, and wrap the strap of my goggles around my head while adjusting the position of the clear, oval shields over my eyes. “Have a good day! Love you!”

“Love you too Dad!” I spread my wings, and hop into the air whilst flapping to keep myself afloat. I fly up to where all the big office buildings and factories reside, as most of other ponies’ homes are a bit further below. I can see the glare of the sunlight against the plastic surface of my goggles, and beyond that is the great open blue of the sky. Everything about living up here just makes my heart explode with excitement. I love bursting through a smaller cloud and feeling the cool mist over my face. I can see the big sign reading, ‘Cloudsdale Postal Service’, and the big white building with other pegasi flying in and out, carrying mailbags of their own. I land on the cloudy stairwell leading up to the front doors, and a quick trot up the steps causes me to accidently ram right into somepony just exiting the building carrying a stack of boxes. All the packages fall and sprawl across the stairway, and the mare falls to her rump.

“Hey! Watch where you’re going kid!” She fumes.

“Sorry, I’ll help.” Understanding that I need to get in the building and meet up with my boss very soon, I have no time to waste. I hover up and help the mare to her hooves, then glide around the staircase picking up each box and setting them back in her grasp in a matter of seconds. Surprised, she seems to have lost her anger towards me.

“Oh . . . well, thank you.”

“Sure thing!” I burst through the doors in search of my boss, leaving her still in a soft state of shock. I gallop down the hall, nearly bumping into other ponies exiting their white cubicles as their manes blow about from the wind I drag behind me. I can see my boss’s office just at the end of the hall. I can only hope I’m not late. Approaching the door at full speed, it opens and out steps my boss in his striped, button-down shirt and almost intimidating facial hair. I, in a desperate attempt to slow myself down, skid across the floor to a screeching stop right before him as he looks down at me with a single eyebrow raised.

“Well, I see you’ve already forgotten one of the most important things I thought you’d understand by your second week on the job,” he says.

“. . . Don’t be late?” I assume.

“No, it’s no galloping in the office. You could hurt yourself, kid. Late? If anything, you’re right on time! Step into my office, I have your papers as well as something new for you.” Relieved, I follow him back into his office where he walks behind his big wooden desk. On top lies a stack of rolled and rubber-banded newspapers with which I begin placing each individual paper into my brown mailbag. “Now, what I have for you is a new map.”

“But I already know my route.”

“Right, but it has been brought to my attention that we have actually neglected to deliver to one particular area.”

“Why?”

“Because it would seem that it’s located deep in the Everfree Forest, cut off from all the other towns. So, I am giving you the responsibility of delivering to this little village as well as your current route. It’s marked right here on this map, it’s called Shine Village.” With my bag now stuffed with every newspaper Mr. Tuftwing had laid out on his desk, I take the map in my teeth and see just how far this new place is. Knowing that I deliver to Ponyville, the gap between there and this 'Shine Village' is quite large. What I still fail to understand, is why has this place not had the newspaper delivered to them before? “So, can you handle it kid?”

“Yes sir!” I solute.

“That’s what I like to hear.” Exiting the building and adjusting the position of my goggles to rest more comfortably over my eyes, I leap off the cloud lifting the office into the sky, fold my wings in, and dive straight down to the barrier of clouds below. I can feel myself slicing right through the air, but it still tries to resist by pushing against my face. I burst through the smoky clouds with the refreshing mist I love spraying over my coat. Through the shield of clouds, I reach a whole new world filled with color and life.

The seemingly never-ending ocean of trees stretches all the way to the horizon, accompanied by the snowy mountaintops hiding just beyond them. The closest mountain covered in rich green foliage instead of snow, is like a pedestal that holds the luxurious castle, home to the Princesses that rule this land as well as the skies with their celestial bodies.

I can already see my first destination approaching below, the little town of Ponyville. However, I don’t want to just dive right in and get my deliveries over with. I start a bit of a ways away, as there’s this one stream I like to follow all the way into town. I’m never really able to explore down here, Dad is always wanting to keep track of me and wants me nearby. If I could choose to spend more time below, I would do it in a heartbeat; but Dad always expects me home after a certain amount of time, and I’m sure he would start to worry if I stayed here any longer than usual. There’s just something about it down here that just excites me. Could it be the wondrous splendor of colors, or the bright and welcoming faces that inhabit this place? Whatever it may be, I don’t want to waste a single second of it. I release my wings as they act as a parachute to slow me down. Elevated over water, I soar and flow with the sparkling stream. Glancing down at the water, I watch my reflection soar with me, as little waves form in the water from my speed. I love to hover just above the water to dip my hoof through the surface. I pass through a flock of birds dipping their beaks into the stream for a drink, and they all disperse into the air then down into the thick field of grass beyond the stream. I never quite understood why they always avoid and hide from me. I’ve always wanted to fly with them, to be accompanied with them in the air. It sounds silly, but it’s just something I’ve had dreams of and wanted to do ever since.

Once I reach the town, I get my hoof ready to reach into my mailbag. Ponies fill the dirt roads as they converse with each other, or carry their groceries from the market near the entrance of town. Crates upon crates of all sorts of fruits and vegetables are laid out with one stallion in an apron accepting ponies’ payment as he fills a brown paper bag with their food. I land to my hooves, and trot along the dirt road into town. The street market stallion spots me with a look of surprise over his face. “Well, there’s the papercolt! I was wondering when I’d see you pass by!”

“Hey Mister Walt!” I greet.

“Got the paper for me?”

“I sure do!” I reach into my bag, and hand him one of the rolled up newspapers.

“Thank you son. Here, would you like an apple?”

“Oh, no I-I don’t have any money with me.”

“Oh don’t worry about that, just go ahead and take one. Look at it as my thanks for the paper. Besides, you must be tired from all that flying you must be doing, I think an apple will do you good.”

“Well, thank you sir!”

“Don’t mention it.” He then opens up the front page of the paper. I grab an apple from the crate with my teeth, and get ready to be on my way.

“Bye!” I attempt to say clearly with the apple lodged in my mouth.

“See you tomorrow!” I continue down the path whilst enjoying the sweet and juicy pulp of the apple, while at the same time getting greeted by almost everypony in town with either a wave or a friendly hello. One thing I am sure of, is that I feel I have much more friends down here than I do up there. The only real friend I feel I have up there is my Dad. At school, I’m not too much of a talker; but when I’m down here, I’ve never felt so compelled to let my voice fly. After handing out many more newspapers, or leaving them on the doormats to the cottages, I am greeted by another pony from her window as she waters her potted flowers along the windowsill.

“Well, if it isn’t the papercolt! How’ve you been today?”

“Been fine Miss Rose! How about you?”

“Oh, well you know, catering to my garden as usual. It’s hard work you know, to keep track of every little flower and making sure it gets the proper care it needs to bloom. Oh! Come and have a look at these!” I hover up to her window as she sets down her watering can to show me her new flowers. In the ceramic pots are these little richly blue flowers that are just beginning to unveil their pedals. “They’re called Star Flowers.”

“Why’s that?”

“Well, they’re not fully open yet, but when they are, they’ll be a bright blue color. But, it’s when the sun goes down that these little flowers truly shine. They’ll actually glow in the dark like a star in the night sky!”

“Really? How?”

“Well these flowers have a special pigment in their pedals that other flowers don’t. During the day, they absorb the sun’s energy to live, just like any flower; but they actually retain some of that energy throughout the day. So, when the sun goes down, that energy stays in their pigments, and makes it look like they’re glowing! These flowers are extremely rare to find, I was lucky to have gotten a hold of some seeds from some market during my vacation at Brite Parish. The only thing is, these flowers take such a long time to grow, but in the end it’ll be worth it to see them glow!”

“Wow.”

“Oh! Do you have the paper for me?”

“Oh, right, here you go Miss Rose.”

“Thank you hon! Same time tomorrow?”

“You bet!”

“Alright, see you then!” I fly away to the most dreaded time of my route, the last remaining deliveries of town. Well, at least I can look forward to this new place Mr. Tuftwing added to my route. I wonder just who I’ll meet there, hopefully nothing short of the warm embrace I felt from my first trip to this town. After dropping off papers to the remaining cottages, I fly to the last one on my route through Ponyville. This one is a bit further from the rest, and rests on a little hill a bit closer to the woods. I follow the path that is lined with flat stones to the front door of the cottage. I find the owner of this little cottage sitting in her yard tending to the little animals that surround her home. I walk up behind her as she spreads out some seeds for the birds in her yard.

“Miss Fluttershy?”

“Eep!” She yelps in fear. “Oh, it’s you.”

“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s okay, I just wasn’t expecting you to drop by. Is it really that time already? Gosh, time really flies by.”

“Yeah, it does.” I pout, remembering that my time down here is coming to a close. As I watch her feed these little birds, I feel amazed at how none of them are flying away despite how close she is to them. Some even perch themselves on her hoof or her back. “Hey, Miss Fluttershy?”

“Yes?”

“How come none of these birds are flying away?”

“Why would they?”

“It’s just . . . whenever I’m around birds, they always fly away and hide from me.”

“Oh, they’re just scared.”

“Of what?”

“You dear, they’re just little birds, they don’t know who you are and if you’re there to hurt them or not.”

“Well, how do I make them ‘not’ scared of me?”

“Just let them know you’re there to be friendly. Once they know, then I’m sure they won’t be afraid of you anymore.”

“But . . . how do I let them know? I can’t just ‘tell’ them.”

“Then try telling them in a different way. The way you act towards them plays a big part in them deciding if they can really trust you.”

“Okay, I’ll try.”

“That’s the spirit.”

“Oh, here’s your paper Miss Fluttershy.”

“Thank you so much, and you have a good rest of the day.”

“You too!” With nearly half my mailbag empty, I take out the map Mr. Tuftwing gave me, and look for the right path into the Everfree Forest. I fly through the dense woods with all the trees’ leaves along their branches, and the loose leaves scattered over the dirt path, rustling about with each flap of my wings. I don’t think it would’ve been a good idea to fly over the forest, as the trees’ branches would loom over the path; and if I were to look down from above, I'm sure it would make it difficult to follow this map. After so many turns I’ve made along this path, it feels like I’ve entered a maze. By now, I’m not exactly sure how far I am in the forest, but a glance at the map leads me to believe I must be headed in the right direction. Finally, I reach a fork in the path, and a wooden sign in the shape of an arrow that reads, ‘Shine Village’ pointing to the right path. The village should be just down this path.