Plushershy

In the lazy days of mid-April, gentle rays of mottled sunshine filter between the parting clouds of winter; dueling with the soft, life-giving rain that seeks to keep things from warming up too quickly. In times like these, a young pony’s desire blooms alongside the opening of each precarious petal of every delicate dandelion.

Love knows no season among the sentient ponies of Equestria, but there remains still, somewhere in the equine genome, a certain tickling of the nerves between the wings of pegasi, the horns of unicorns, and the sensibilities of staunch earth ponies, calling them to their season. Most civilized ponies simply go about their lives as usual. Others, however, take actions they may not otherwise have dared to before.

In Ponyville, the quiet hamlet under the cliffs of Canterlot that has a habit for producing ponies destined to save the world, a certain Pegasus stands outside a familiar cottage that changes with the seasons as much as any tree. Bathed in the late afternoon hues of a vermilion and violet sky, she waits impatiently by the mailbox, fluttering her sun-kissed yellow wings; a cocktail of anticipation and embarrassment churning in her stomach.

This is a tale of her springtime.

* * * * *

Fluttershy wondered if her cutie mark had detached itself from her flank, the butterflies choosing instead to flit about freely in her stomach. She went so far as to check her own flank, and ended up spinning in a semicircle before the sound of approaching hooves, moving at a ponderous pace in the dirt, roused her. She snapped to attention, blurting out a greeting to the mailpony before looking to see who had approached.

To her relief, her guess had been accurate. Before her on the path stood one of half a dozen or so ponies charged with the daily mail rounds throughout Ponyville. Fluttershy’s deliverypony was an aged stallion with a comb over; thick glasses on the tip of his muzzle seemed to do little to alleviate his squint. He was knobby in the knees, and his countenance was such that Fluttershy always had a latent desire to invite him in to warm himself despite the season. She knew he would never accept and she appreciated his diligence, even if he seemed as though a retirement community would suit him better.

“Oh, hello mister Rural Route,” Fluttershy waved to encourage the stallion to look in the right direction. “I-I’m right over here.”

The aged earth stallion known as Rural Route turned his head from the wrong side of the street, squinted until Fluttershy thought his eyes to be entirely closed, and cracked his droopy jowls back in a smile.

“Oh! Heh heh, Miss Fluttershy,” He laughed at himself, “What did I think you were this time, hm? Was it a rosebush or a honeysuckle sprig? Can’t say either one would be half as pleasant to the old sniffer than you, though!”

Fluttershy blushed bashfully and downplayed the innocent comment with a wave of her hoof, “Oh, I bet you say that to all the mares.”

“Not true m’dear, not true at all!” Rural Route croaked mirthfully, pausing to straighten his blue mailpony cap. “But I suspect you’re not waitin’ here beside the last stop on today’s route to hear a blind old codger like me rattle on about how a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.” He poked himself lightly in the muzzle, “My days of trackin’ trails throughout the Everfree are long behind me, but I’ll tell ya, they sure are right about your other senses getting’ sharper when one or two of them starts headin’ south to holiday in Appleoosa!”

Fluttershy smiled obliviously. “Oh, um, well…y-yes, certainly? Do you have anything for me today?”

Rural Route snapped back to attention so fast that Fluttershy could practically see the lightbulb appearing above his head. He unhitched himself from his mail cart, trotted around to the side, and stuck his face straight into it, rooting around through outgoing letters he had picked up throughout the day.

“Mmhm!” He replied gingerly. “I got somethin’ in here just for you, as sure as Hearth’s Warming has good bean dip! Big old package as I recall, too. Sorry about how late it took me to get out here today. I couldn’t fit it on my cart this mornin’ so I had to head all the way back to the depot before I could come see ya.”

Fluttershy put just enough concern into her voice to override a display of her anticipation. “You didn’t have to do that, I would have come out to get it…”

“Nonsense!” Rural Route’s muffled voice crooned. “Ain’t no rain, sleet, snow, dark of night, changeling tricks, nor timberwolf attacks that’ll ever keep these old bones from their appointed rounds!”

Fluttershy knew it, too. Rural Route was a friendly old stallion, except for the few times she had thought to help him out by picking up a package from the post office herself. She’d never intended anything by it, but apparently everypony on his route was stuck waiting for him to deliver the mail himself lest they draw his ire.

“All alone on such a nice night?” The mailpony went about small talk as he rummaged.

“I have company,” Fluttershy replied hastily, as she attempted to peer over her deliverypony’s head into the cart. “Princess Twilight is visiting for a bit.”

“Oh ho! The princess herself!” Rural Route bantered on, “I guess that ain’t uncommon for you though, hmm?”

“N-no…” Fluttershy beat her wings once in anticipation. “So you say it’s a big package?”

“Yup,” Rural Route replied, his stubby tail flicking aimlessly as he moved. “Ah ha! Here we go now!”

An instant later, the mailpony was hefting a rectangular cardboard shipping box on one hoof. It was both taller and wider than Fluttershy herself, not to mention the pony lifting it. All the same, Rural Route manipulated the package with ease and sat it down gently before her.

“Gee,” Rural Route commented, “Somethin’ like that I’d expect to weigh more than six sacks of potatoes, but I’ve picked up packages with a single cherry pie in them that were a might heavier. What’cha got in there, clouds from home?”

The return label did indeed indicate that the package had come from Cloudsdale, but Fluttershy knew that wasn’t its original starting point. Her parents had agreed to unwittingly funnel the item through their place, without knowing what was inside nor recognizing the name of the sender. Fluttershy was determined to keep to her secrecy.

“Clouds?” Fluttershy blinked, “O-oh! Clouds! Yes of course, clouds. Clouds from Cloudsdale, right?” She stuck out her tongue playfully and touched one hoof to her temple. “It’s the best place to get clouds after all, except for um…the rest of the sky!”

Rural Route tilted his head. “…well alright then. You pegasi are an awful particular lot, I guess.” He smiled again and produced a clipboard, “Won’tcha sign here please?”

Fluttershy took the pencil in her teeth and made her mark in flowing cursive. She then politely curtailed any remaining chatter with a smile and a thank you for her deliverypony’s time. Rural Route hitched himself up and took his leave back down the path, his body creaking along in time with the mail cart.

The package was dutifully disguised in a separate shipping box, but Fluttershy made haste escaping the late-day sun with it anyway.