Endeavor

Looking up to Luna's starry night sky up above, I wait for the world to stop turning to give me the time I need to gaze upon such celestial beauty.

A year has passed and a few things have happened during that time, yet I prefer to look towards the days ahead. The experiences brought about the joys and sorrows of life in varying contrast of colours and shades.

I first received a letter one day informing me that there was a need for my 'special wood'. Obscure and cheek-reddening it may have been towards the start, as I read on I soon realized that the sender was referring to the Everfree trees that had grown freely on the grounds of my abode - the request for Everfree timber had been made by a wealthy, anonymous pony who had signed the letter by the name 'C.C.'

These were the only Everfree trees that would grow from outside of the forest and I had chosen to live my life within these grounds as I would keep watch and let them be, protecting them if need be. That never had been the case as these trees were to never be touched by the irregularities that would occur all across Equestria.

The Everfree Forest had magical properties that stemmed from the enchanted roots of the many trees that inhabited the land. The weather above the canopies would be subject to strange abnormalities that would cause clouds to move of their own free will, abiding to none but themselves. Those very same clouds would be recreated above the trees me and my house took residence beneath.

Being outside the bounds of the Everfree Forest itself, the purchase of lumber from these trees had been made legal as confirmation was made that despite the origins of these trees, they had managed to differentiate themselves from the trees forbidden by both Luna and Celestia's law. The magical properties of the trees within the Everfree had proven dangerous, having helped to generate the many perilous dangers that lied within, whether the effects of such dangers were the cause of residual spell properties or from the fauna that would encompass the entire forest, stemming from the very trees those of my own had come to call their ancestors.

Princess Luna herself had paid me and my home a visit about nine months ago to discuss matters regarding these trees, having been occupied over recent times since her return to her sister's side on the Royal Thrones to once again govern the land together, sisters reunited from a millennium's worth of time spent apart from one another. Equestria had rejoiced, but I had not been part of the jubulous acts that day upon her return. I had pressing matters at the time which to this day I still wish not to disclose with any other being - princess or not.

Two weeks had passed since I had received the letter and I had sent a reply a week earlier informing them that their request was granted, having been given the details on what they planned to use the lumber for and how they were going to use it. Insurance had been given alongside their reply back to me within a second letter, giving me the funds I needed to live on for the next eight months. Even with all those bits, I still knew better and that I needed to get out more frequently and communicate with other ponies.

I just... didn't really have the luck of being entirely socially acceptable over those past few months prior to the letter. Ever since those darn rumours were started by the mare that ran the carrot stall in the town market. It surprisingly didn't take long for those rumours to be cast aside and proven false as the baker I came to know as Pinkie Pie had provided a substantial amount of evidence to prove me innocent of the lies that had been spread from stall mare's mouth. Me and Pinkie became acquainted and I grew to enjoy her company, but I still preferred the quiet I had by myself at home among the trees on the outskirts of Ponyville.

The mare who I'd spoken to on that one day, from behind the stalls - the one who would then turn out to be responsible for those rumours - the one who I'd thought to have been a favoured customer of... I couldn't bring myself to forgive her for her actions... not fully at least.

I know I shouldn't feel hatred towards other ponies... but... it's just so hard not to sometimes, you know?

I had made my attempts to find out what was wrong and what her problem was with me, but I never managed to figure out what she had against me after all this time. Was it something I said? Did I promise something that I'd forgotten? No... I don't forget things easily, despite my wanting to turn away from the past.

Upon my return trip home from picking up supplies from the market, having been on the receiving end of the glares that would not stop coming from the carrot stall's owner as per usual, I managed to get back home with the supplies I needed to cook up something good.

Never before had I stopped to think of how long I had been without carrots... despite receiving a basket of various fruits and vegetables, including the carrots my eyesight and taste-buds had been missing, from an anonymous source once every few weeks or so. I had just left it down to curious ponies being curious and I was thankful for the 'offering' as I soon came to call them.

This place sure does seem like a shrine of sorts the more I look at it from outside the area...

Anyway, as I came home with supplies in my saddlebags I saw a rather tantalizing sight - a unicorn mare of dark violet hue with mane and tail of black. I began to sweat through my coat as the feathers of my wings began to flicker about from their tight hold, responsible for the secure grip of the saddlebags on my back, that had soon managed to slip off from one side as vegetables began to drop out and roll along the path - a short distance between the mare and myself, causing her to notice my presence. Darn my eyesight and a diet without carrots! I hadn't noticed the distance between us until I had rubbed my still-weary eyes to get a clearer view of such a lovely-looking mare.

She was noticeably young, but not too young a mare, looking to be only two or three years below my age taking in to consideration the build of the average mare for that age. I was never a pony with preference over interests, especially in this department of things, but this mare shone out more-so than I had noticed from Luna herself, celestial beauty she may be, it just could not compare from what I saw at that very moment. I had been shaking on my hooves and it didn't take me long before I noticed it myself. She giggled, having probably noticed before me of my nervousness as she made her approach, giving off a sense of calmness, causing me to relax the closer she drew.

'Well... hello there! Um... I'm guessing that you are... Mr. Silvermane?', she said as she began to help me with gathering up some of the dropped goods, placing them back in the according pockets of my saddlebags.

Dropping all the items in my grasp at the sound of her voice, '...oh! Uh, yes! Skylight Silvermane, reporting for du-', I cut myself short, having realized what I was saying off of impulse.

The last time I had felt this way around a mare was several years back, when I still had a job to do guarding the borders of Equestria. I'll leave that story for another time.

The mare I had been struggling to make conversation with was beginning to get nervous herself and I briefly noticed as a hoof pawed at the ground, her gaze cast to the ground towards her side. She had managed to place all of the remaining items in my saddlebags in such a brief amount of time that I hadn't noticed in my state of shock from having realized how much of a dumb-flank I was being, only to soon realize that I had just become an even bigger one, having let her do the rest on her own without my assistance. I spent the next minute and a half apologizing sincerely at my lack of courtesy.

Waving a hoof, she informed me that it was fine and that I need not worry about it, considering what I was due to give her.

Only a few feet away, she introduces herself. 'The name's Cumulus Clarity. I... sent the letter about the timber?'

'Oh... Oh! You're the anonymous pony?'

'Yup!', she replies as she bounces lightly in place on the tips of her hooves, admittedly cute.

'...and you came here looking for wood.'

Less of a question and more of a statement as I continue, lightly sweating in place.

'Yes siree!', a smile spread across her face, eyes closed happily as she continued to hop about, getting closer to me.

'The legal, Everfree kind?', I ask as I draw my head back at her closeness only inches apart now.

'Aren't they just magical~?', she says as she leans on to me, rubbing her neck along my own as her gaze draws along the canopies of the trees overhead. 'It must be so much fun to live life here!'

'Technically, they're limited on the magic juice, so it's relatively safe to live within these parts with a permit of course, so no "big, magical adventure starts here" kinda stuff. But you'd know that already, being the pony purchasing, correct?'

'Yup! That's me!, she replies yet again, rubbing herself along my side.

Feeling both increasingly nervous and aroused, I question her closeness.

'Uh... what's with all the affection you're giving me...? It's... kinda creepy', I lie.

'Oh! Sorry!', she smiles looking a slightly lighter shade of violet around the cheeks, 'My dad was a pegasus and... my mother's a unicorn, so... you know how it is.'

'Actually, I'm not sure I quite understand... but I'll leave it for the time being', I state with a brazen look upon my face, knowing all to well the secret habits of male pegasi, being one myself.

Having settled in with our conversation that grew slightly suggestive over time, whilst somehow managing to maintain the professionalism between contractor and employer, we came to an agreement on the terms and conditions our contract had for the request of legal Everfree timber.

'Shall we?'

'We shall.'

...and so work began.