Soft snowflakes drifted downward, dampening the air with the peaceful sound of winter silence.
The morning atmosphere was thin and crisp, with faint sounds of whistling winds blowing in the distance. Far above the ground, white and fluffy clouds were painted hues of orange and yellow as the sun lit them from below the horizon, giving the illusion of warmth when in reality there was none. The first morning of winter had arrived unexpectedly, as it had always seemed to. At least to Fluttershy.
Her cottage appeared as quaint as ever, if not more so due to the cozy sight of snow filling every open space on its exterior. It was already piling up quite heavily, occasionally sliding off the sides of her steep rooftop and creating piles below. Icicles had also formed along the edges, which had always made her nervous when stepping beneath them. A steady plume of smoke billowed from the chimney, indicating that a fire was certainly roaring inside.
Fluttershy poured a cup of piping hot tea from her kettle, watching the steam rise out of the mug as the warm aroma of chamomile filled the air around her. She paused to take in the scent, knowing that tea was meant to be experienced, not simply drank. The warm steam billowed upward, filling her nose and wetting her cheeks. She brought her tea to a chair near the window instead of her usual spot by the fire, so that she could admire the snow as she sipped from it slowly. It was less warm, but to her the trade-off felt worth it.
The snow fell heavily outside, which was surprising for the first snowfall of the season. Usually her fellow pegasi made certain to ease everyone into the cold, but she reasoned they must have over-calculated this year. Outside of her cottage, the snow had already begun forming drifts, and every tree was filled with as much as their brittle branches could bear. She took another sip of her tea and sat back in the chair, admiring the steady buildup of snow alongside her window and on top of her several bird-feeders that swayed in the wind outside.
It was then, though, that she had a more pensive thought. Although the winter was beautiful, it also meant a necessary change of life for many of her animal friends. She knew the birds migrated to warmer climates, and that the burrowing creatures...burrowed. But knowing those facts didn't do much to help with the sad nature of it all. Winter was always that way to her -- a combination of beauty and sadness. Looking out at the rest of the dreary landscape, there were no clear signs of any other wildlife either. Fluttershy sighed in melancholy contemplation and took another sip of tea.
As if on cue, Angel Bunny hopped up onto her, with the sole intent of being coddled and flipping onto his side to indicate as such. Fluttershy smiled, thankful, and put down her tea. She was more than happy to oblige, so she pet and cuddled with him. After several minutes, a bird suddenly flew onto the outside windowsill next to her. She placed Angel aside, who shot her a begrudging look, and then made eye contact with the creature on the other side of the window. The small, twitchy bird stopped for a moment, seemingly intrigued by the mysterious figure on the other side. Fluttershy put the tip of her nose against the icy glass, somewhat caught off-guard by how cold it felt. The bird hopped once slightly forward and cocked its head to get a look look, then hopped twice more in quick succession towards the glass until its beak was against it. It lightly pecked a couple times.
Seeing an opportunity, she rose to her hooves and trotted towards the closet, grabbing a striped scarf and quartet of unimaginably soft snowboots that Rarity had gotten her as a gift last Hearth's Warming Eve. After slipping them on and bracing herself for the winter cold, scrunching her nose and closing her eyes in preparation, she opened the front door. Icy winds rushed inward for several moments, sending a flurry of shivers down her spine and instantly making her fur stand on end. Angel scurried beneath the couch to escape the sudden rush of chilling air, and Fluttershy quickly slipped outside and closed the door. It slammed shut behind her and snow from her roof tumbled to the ground from the resulting shake.
She immediately looked for the bird, and saw it fluttering off towards the trees. Likely scared by the sudden noise and movement, she reasoned. She braced herself once more, pulling the scarf around her neck extra tight, and began trudging through the snow that had piled up onto the path. As she did so, she felt the soft sensation of snow crunching under her hooves, giving way easily at first but quickly becoming firm beneath them. Not wanting to deal with wet, melted snow in her boots later, she made extra sure to carefully follow her own front hoof-steps. Though there wasn't much she could do about the long, flowing mane trailing behind her on the ground.
As she made her way through to a clearing in the forest, she finally stumbled upon the bird from earlier. It was atop a lonely tree branch covered in snow everywhere except where it had decided to make its perch. It seemed to notice her and decided to hop up onto a higher branch. Fluttershy moved forward slowly, admiring how fearlessly the bird braved the cold winter morning. She slowly held out a hoof and waited, as she always did with birds. She knew them better than most animals, and as such, she knew that the best way to befriend a bird was to let the bird befriend her, when it was ready. In a way, birds were a lot like her -- timid, cautious, alert. And they didn't like the cold too, she reasoned.
She stood stoically on three hooves for quite the while, to the point of shivering even, in hopes that the bird would take her invitation of friendship. In that time, it seemed mostly to ignore her, but Fluttershy knew what she was doing. The bird would only come willingly to her if she could be as tall, proud and unmoving as the tree she stood next to. Any sudden movements, like her shivering, would likely scare it off. But after almost giving up, the bird finally hopped down to a lower branch. Then another. And then once more, onto her outstretched hoof. They locked gazes.
Fluttershy smiled, knowing she'd made a new friend.
The bird seemed to take this as further invitation and hopped further down further, quickly burrowing itself into her soft pink mane. Celebrating victory quickly, Fluttershy turned around and trotted back towards her cottage, shivering all the way. This time she wasn't so concerned with wet boots. When they arrived inside, a wave of warmth overcame her and tingled her nose. The bird left its roost from inside her hair and flew around the room for a few seconds, gaining its bearings in the warm and toasty oasis of her cottage, until it finally decided to settle down atop the inside of the windowsill where she sat before going outside.
After taking her boots and scarf off, she said a cautious hello to the bird, and was met with a few short chirps in reply. Fluttershy made her way to the pantry to grab a bag of birdseed, and sprinkled some in a small bowl she used for feeding Angel and set it on the table. The bird flew over instantly, obviously hungry. It performed its little hopping dance, as if to make sure the offering was safe, and then began to eat. Fluttershy smiled again, happy that despite the winter temperatures, she could still be of use to the few creatures that did stick around.
Leaving her new friend to get comfortable, she returned to the spot by the windowsill to continue looking outside. The sun was beginning to rise higher in the sky, providing more light and more warmth to the land below. And with that warmth and light, the landscape that surrounded her cottage became more vibrant, with the wintry creatures of the forest beginning to wake up and scurry about. A smile grew on her face as she watched the winter forest come to life, so she took another sip of tea, and watched the birds flutter about in the first snowfall of winter.
