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.
Chapter 2
My wings are grateful to have finally been given a break from this long trip into the forest. After passing by the sign guiding me to my next destination, I’ve decided to just walk the rest of the way as the map shows it is just at the end of this path. Above the high branches of the trees, rises a stream of dark smoke to disperse into the sky. That can only mean that the town must be right on the other side, and that my heart will be bouncing around inside my chest. I trot, kicking up clouds of the dry dirt, anxious to view this new town. Clearing the barricade of trees, I am brought to a sight that utterly destroys every thought in my head, and replaces them with a blank space.
The stream of smoke appears to have been puffing from a crooked metal chimney poking up from a rather dingy, tall building. It seems that every little shack that composes this little village is in terrible condition, and even the bigger cottages look as though they’ve been abandoned for years. However, a closer look reveals that ponies are moving about in the windows. The dirt roads are void of life, it seems everypony is hidden in their homes. The air smells like charred wood, and something else I can’t quite distinguish; but whatever it is, my snout wishes it hadn’t taken it in. This place is so quiet that the only noise I can hear is the grinding of the dirt beneath my hooves as I take my first steps into the village. I had been so used to seeing nothing but vibrant colors and movement, that seeing the complete absence of it here is jarring.
This can’t be Shine Village, not with a name like that. I must’ve taken a wrong turn somewhere, but the map says I’ve followed it correctly. I need to reassure myself that this is the right place, so I walk onto the creaky wooden porch of the nearest cottage and stand before the door, reluctant to knock. My hooves now feel glued to the dirty doormat as I glance left and right down the empty road. For some reason I can’t shake the feeling that somepony somewhere is watching me, I just can’t see them. My hoof trembles as I lift it up to the door, and every consecutive knock sends a shiver up my spine. Painstakingly, I wait for someone to answer, and the sounds of heavy hoofsteps inside the cottage approach the door. The knob twists, and the hinges scream. The shadowed inside of the cottage is revealed, and a gray-coated stallion stands in the doorway. He glares down at me, which somehow makes it difficult for me to breathe. “Who are you?” he asks.
“I’m . . . I’m. . .” I stutter.
“You’re who? Speak up please.”
“I-I’m the papercolt.”
“The papercolt? We don’t get the paper around here, you must be lost.”
“Is . . . Is this Shine Village?”
“Well, yes but . . . why do we all of sudden get the paper now?”
“M-My boss said that I-I have to deliver here. H-Here you go sir.” I reach into my bag and grab one of the rolled up newspapers with my teeth, and hold it up to the ominous stallion. He takes it from me, and I shut my eyes out of pure fear of what might happen now.
“Well, thank you. I really appreciate it. . . Um, hello?” I open my eyes just a tad to see what’s going on, and he’s holding his hoof out to me for a hoofshake. Reluctantly, I place my hoof, which is considerably smaller than his, against his where he then shakes my hoof. Noticing how tense I am, the stallion tilts his head in confusion. “Hey, are you alright kid? You look a bit stiff. Can I offer you something to drink? Some water?”
“Oh, uh, no th-that’s okay.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah . . . thank you though.”
“If you say so. You have a good day, and thanks again.”
“. . . You’re welcome.” The stallion shuts the door, leaving me unsure if I should have been afraid that entire time we spoke. My tense muscles relax, allowing me to move on to the next little shack. I leave a newspaper on every doorstep I find; but as I do, I can see pairs of eyes watching me from the windows, and the dark silhouettes that belong to them. I fix my eyes forward and hang my head down low, trying desperately to pretend I don’t notice them, but I know they’re still watching. Suddenly, one of the doors that I left a newspaper near opens, and a dull, green mare steps out to collect it.
“Thank you!” she shouts, waving to me from down the road. One by one every other door opens, and the ponies pick up their papers where they proceed to thank and wave at me. I stop to turn and wave at each one of them. I can feel my heart calming, and my posture straightening back up. As I continue down the road, stepping up to every door to lay down the newspapers, somepony opens the door just before I can so that they can accept the paper personally. Something that I hadn’t expected to feel from this town, was the warm embrace like I had felt from Ponyville. The anguish from the fear that loomed over me when I first walked into this town, feels like it’s mysteriously vanished.
The next shack I approach, an elderly stallion steps out onto the porch curiously glancing up and down the road. Most of his mane has gone missing, but what remains is a dull silver; and his coat, an olive green. “What’s all the commotion?” he asks, adjusting his glasses.
“Hello sir!” I greet in a joyous tone that I seemed to lack previously.
“Who’s there. . ? Oh! Good afternoon to you, young lad! I haven’t seen you around the neighborhood before, are you visiting?”
“Um, well, no. I’m here to deliver your newspaper!”
“The newspaper eh? That’s odd, out of all my years living here not once can I recall this place ‘ever’ getting the newspaper.”
“Why’s that?”
“Well, you know, this place tends to go unnoticed. These woods are like a cage that keeps us in place and hidden from the world it seems.”
“Why don’t you leave?”
He chuckles. “You make it sound so easy. I couldn’t leave even if I wanted to. I don’t have a single bit to my name, I just wouldn’t be able to afford it. Besides, I don’t think I could ever bring myself to leave this place. Everypony here is like family to me. Considering I’m just a withering old stallion, living alone in this little cabin of mine, they make me feel like that same bright, young stallion I used to be. I don’t know what I’d be without these kind ponies. You’ll have to excuse me, I must be going on one of my many ramblings again. Although I must say, I’m surprised you haven’t gotten to sleep like many of the other young fillies I ramble to!”
“Oh no, it’s okay. Actually, um . . . how long have you lived here?”
“Wooh, I’d say . . . forty-seven years I’ve lived here.”
“Wow.”
“And I’ll tell you what, when I first moved here, this was a completely different village. It was during a time when this little town truly shined brightest. However, as the years went on . . . things changed, and as I’m sure you’ve seen, they haven’t changed for the better. Ah, but there I go again. I wouldn’t want to bore you with such a long story.”
“N-No! I’d love to hear it!”
“Are you sure you have the time for it? I mean, surely you must be on some sort of schedule.” As much as I wish I could force myself to stay, there are still many newspapers remaining in my bag, and my Dad must be wondering what is taking me so long to return home.
“Oh! Yeah. . .” I sigh. “I forgot, I-I’m sorry.”
“No worries.”
“I mean, I’d like to hear your story, but I need to finish my deliveries, and—”
“Calm down lad, will you be delivering here tomorrow?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“Well, we can talk about it then if you’d like. Although I must ask, just why are you so interested anyway?”
“Um, I don’t know, I just. . .”
“Young curiosity eh? I understand. Tomorrow when you stop by, I’ll be sure to tell you all about it.”
“Thank you Mister . . . um. . .”
He extends his hoof to me. “Flare, Mister Flare.”
“Nice to meet you Mister Flare!” I say excitedly as I shake his fragile hoof.
“Likewise.”
“Oh! I almost forgot your paper!” I reach back into my bag and retrieve for him one of the rolled up newspapers.
“Thank you very much, I hope to see you tomorrow.”
“Same to you! Bye Mister Flare!” I waste no time before giving him a quick wave goodbye, and rushing to last remaining cottages. After leaving many more papers on their doorsteps, I have one paper remaining. Approaching the last cottage, I hop up onto the doorstep and drop the rolled up newspaper to the doormat. Just as I trot away from the cottage, I catch a glimpse of something behind the glass window. A little filly’s head is peeking over the windowsill, staring straight at me with her half-hidden eyes. Her swirly mane is of a vanilla white color, and her coat is beige, but is coated in blotches of what looks like gray soot and dirt, much like every other pony in town. Lost in her stare, I freeze in place, unsure of what to do. I raise my hoof, and wave to her, but she just continues to watch me. I can’t quite tell, but I can see something behind those eyes. Whether or not it’s fear, nervousness, or sadness, I guess I’ll never really know. Right now, I need to focus on getting home as quickly as possible.
With the heavy weight of all the newspapers off my back, I stretch out my wings as I walk to the exit of the village. Which reminds me, I suppose I don’t have to follow the path out of here, I can just fly up and back to Cloudsdale. Readying my wings, I take one last glance back at the village. I didn’t expect to see many of the townsponies still standing outside their homes with their eyes glued to me. I don’t know why, but a part of me feels guilty for having to leave. I wave to them all, and they wave me goodbye. Back down the path, I see the little filly from the window peeking out through the doorway to her cottage. She’s waving at me with her little hoof, and so I give her one more wave farewell. In a burst of energy I take off into the air and through the mass of leaves that shield the village from the sun. Flapping my wings violently, I can’t shake this strange feeling in my stomach. Just seeing nearly everypony wave me goodbye, leads me to believe that those ponies mustn’t have had a visitor come by in who knows how long. Mr. Flare said that that village used to truly shine, I wonder what happened to turn everything upside down. After seeing how all those ponies have to live in a place like that, it really makes me think.
I make my first stop at the postal office to report to my boss that I’ve finished my delivery, and he allows me to return home after thanking me for accepting the extra route. I land before the front door to my home, and as soon as I step inside I am immediately greeted by my Dad. “There you are! What was taking you so long? I’ve been waiting here all this time for you to come back, and you still haven’t shown up!”
“My boss gave me a new place to deliver to, so it took me a little longer to get home. I’m sorry.”
“Okay, well I wish I had known that earlier. I was starting to get worried you know. Hey, I’ve got dinner pretty much ready, come and get your plate.” Excitedly, I drop my mailbag to the floor and pull off my flying goggles to put them inside the bag. I race to the dinner table, where I watch my Dad pull out a tray of hay-grass casserole from the oven. My snout is overjoyed by the sweet scent of the spiced grasses as I watch him lay the steaming tray onto the table. “Be careful, it’s very hot.” Using his big cooking spoon, he scoops me up a portion of the casserole, and lays it on my plate. After he gets his own plate of food, we take a moment to let it cool. “So, he added a new town to your route? What is it?”
“Shine Village.”
“That’s weird, I’ve never heard of that place. Where is it?”
“It’s way in the Everfree forest.”
“All the way in there?! You didn’t get lost or anything did you?”
“No, my boss gave me a map.”
“Can I see it?” I hop out of my chair and retrieve the map from my mailbag. Upon returning to the dinner table, I give him the map where he scans over it. “It’s ‘that’ far away? Wow, that’s crazy.”
“It wasn’t that bad.”
“That’s far! It’s like halfway across the world this place! Weren’t you scared?”
“No, Dad, I wasn’t scared.”
“I would’ve been scared. I would’ve been crying!” I can’t help but smile and chuckle at my Dad’s sarcasm. He jokes around like this on a regular basis, and sometimes it’s even hard for me to tell when he’s supposed to be taken seriously. “So you’re a big shot now huh? He’s giving you new places to go, and you’re just getting the job done. You really weren’t scared? Not even a little?”
“No, I was fine.”
“How were the ponies there? Were they friendly?”
“Yeah, they were nice.”
“Good.” Halfway into our plates, it seems we’ve run out of things to talk about. I’ve been enjoying the soft, warm grass bite by bite. My Dad isn’t really a chef, but he sure cooks like one. When I watch him, he always talks about all the different factors he puts into his cooking. From the temperature of the flame, to the many different ingredients he puts into his food, and it really shows. He says I should learn how to cook, but to honest, I’m not too sure if I should trust myself around the oven. I’m always afraid I’ll burn or ruin something. My Dad’s let me help him occasionally in the kitchen. Whether it was to keep track of the time, or to mix and stir the certain ingredients in a pot. “Hey, did you hear about the weather?” he asks.
“Hm? What about it?”
“They said we’re going to have a big storm on the way.”
“What? Why?”
“Well, they said it’s because they’ve been putting it off for so long. The plants and rivers, they all need to be sustained. I mean, we haven’t had a storm in such a long time you know. The plants must be dying for water.” While my Dad might not be a certified chef, his real job carries much more responsibility. He works for the Weather Factory, in a separate district that keeps track of the rain, hail, or snow that falls from the clouds. They schedule when and where certain storms are needed to happen. He’s worked there for so long, he’s become some kind of ‘Region Manager’ he tells me. “Now, I don’t know if they’ll have you work that day, because I think the other pegasi said it would be held on a weekday. If they do, I just might have you call off.”
“Maybe I can do it.”
“No, I’m not letting you go out and fly in a storm.”
“Dad, I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
“It’ll be too dangerous. It’s going to be a heavy storm we have planned, and I don’t want you caught in the middle of it. So when I’m at work, I want you here at home where I know you’re safe.” There’s no way I can convince him I’m capable. When his word is final, he means it. I hope this storm doesn’t happen this week, I want to make sure I can be there at Shine Village for Mister Flare’s story as soon as possible. He said he’s quite the rambler, so I don’t know if that means his story will be longer than I think. It just might have to be split up into separate days considering my Dad’s tight time schedule he has me on, but maybe he’ll give me more time now that he knows I have a new route.
The night takes over the sky, and my mouth is refreshed by the mint of my toothpaste. “Goodnight, love you,” says my Dad from my bedroom doorway.
“Love you too Dad.” He gently closes the door, filling the room with silence. I settle onto the soft cushion of my bed, and drag my blanket up to my chest. The one great thing about going to bed, is the view from my window at night. The way the moon hangs and glows, as well as the millions of twinkling stars that overcrowd the sky. Usually, staring out at this hypnotizing sight leads my thoughts to just run crazily and do as they please, but this time is different. All I can think about is Shine Village and its inhabitants, especially that shy little filly.
