It's snowing.
The first decent snow of the year reminds me of Pale Flurry. It would be seven years ago now when I met her. I was running my delivery from Canterlot to Neighton. Delivering medical supplies from Canterlot Central to various towns and cities that might not have a dedicated rail service available. I'd only been a runner for a couple months, and I was dreading the season. For an earth pony, snow meant slippery roads. A misplaced hoof and I'm house-bound for the season with a broken leg. Pegasi had it a little better with smaller loads, but even they could find themselves on the wrong end of quick blizzard out in the mountains. Jokes about unicorns and their complaints about the cold were too easy to bother. Winter is when a lot of runners wash out.
The second stop on the route was a little town called Whiteforge. At the time, I was delighted that it had lots of notable historical landmarks. In the center of town was a beautiful statue dedicated to Archmage Sunset Shimmer in memory of her defense during The Twelve Day Siege against the United Forces of the Commonwealth. A fancy name for an admittedly large chunk of various griffin mercenary groups.
When I entered the nursing facility on the edge of town, I noticed an elderly pegasus kneeling on the couch and looking out the large window at the snow. Her eyes were wide and as bright as any foal's who might do the same. When I entered, she hopped off the couch, surprisingly spry for an old mare, and beamed at me.
"It's snowing!" She happily cried, doing an excited little dance in front of me.
"It is!" I said excitedly, matching her demeanor. My feelings of running through it not willing to dampen her obvious joy.
"My name is Pale Flurry," she said with a curtsy, and offered her hoof in greeting.
I set the totes down that I was carrying, took her hoof and bowed back at her with a smile. Old folks are quirky, but she was so excited that it was impossible not to be charmed in the moment.
"I'm Shale, Ms. Flurry."
"Oh, so good to meet you," she said, "Where are you off to in the snow tonight?"
"Headed to Lakeside from here, then Ponyville, then all the way back up to Canterlot." I said, motioning on an imaginary map.
"Oh dear," she said, suddenly worried, "You're heading to Lakeside? There's going to be accident tonight in Twilight's Pass."
"Oh yeah?" I asked, not one to argue with the bizarre things residents of nursing homes sometimes say, "It's not so bad. It's a pretty night out there. I'll try to be safe."
"Oh, do." She suddenly looked back to the window where the snow was beginning to accumulate and then back to me. Then her look of concern melted away. "You're right. I'm sure you'll be okay," she said, patting my shoulder and smiling.
"I will," I said with another bow, "You have a good night, ma'am. Enjoy watching the snow."
I began to walk away after picking up the totes and she said something I couldn't understand, but that ended with "only when the snow falls."
I took my totes to the nurse's station and made the usual small talk while the nurse checked in meds. The nurse from the other ward brought her empty totes for return as we chatted.
"Heard you talking in the front room from around the corner."
"Yeah," I chuckled, "Pale Flurry was excited about the snow."
"Who's Pale Flurry?" the nurse asked.
"She was the older pegasus mare in the front room," I said.
Both nurses looked at each other before the second nurse hurried off down the hall to the front room. "There is no Pale Flurry here," the first nurse said. "Maybe Pitter Patter or Prologue?"
"She said her name was Pale Flurry. Definitely two words."
The other nurse returned. "There's nopony there," she said, picking up the radio.
"Bed check?" first nurse asked, already walking away.
"Yeah," the second said, speaking to the pony on the other end, "Bed check on our side. I didn't see anypony, but the delivery colt said somepony was in the front room. No. No, he said she said her name was Pear Flurry."
"Pale Flurry," I interrupted.
"Sorry. Pale Flurry. Yes. Okay."
I stood there stunned. What I thought was a weird little bit of small talk had escalated into a missing pony search.
"Everypony accounted for down here," said the first nurse, returning from her walk.
A call later and the second nurse responded with "Same here." Both nurses cast a skeptical glance at me.
"The hay?" I said, "Maybe the wife of a resident?"
Both nurses let out sighs of relief.
"That could be!" nurse two said.
"Earnest Flyer had a guest over before our shift tonight," the other suggested.
"Oh good," the other said, "He was grumping about the snow earlier in the week." She turned to me with a smile, "Earnest use to fly delivery routes when he was younger. He forgets that he doesn't have to fly them anymore and was going off on how much he disliked the snow."
"Whew. That got spooky for a second," I laughed as I grabbed the return totes. I waved as I walked back out, "Have a good night."
When I walked out the front door, I saw hoofprints in the snow leading from the front door to the waiting area for wagons, then they ended. Figuring she'd flown off into town, I hitched back to the wagon while amusing myself with the creepy things my mind could conjure.
Called Twilight's Pass, it was supposedly created some time ago when the empress fought a mythical centaur that escaped from Tartarus. Regardless, the stretch of road between Whiteforge and Lakeside is unforgiving. When it snows, it's treacherous. The sheer peaks hide the moon's light and make it one of the darkest roads in Equestria. As I came up on the tall bridge that spans the lake of Lakeside, (called Twilight's Wrath from the same battle) I saw the flashing lights of the emergency workers spellcraft. I slowed down and nodded to the EUP guard members at the side of the road as I continued on. The snow told the story. Tire tracks showed where a wagon had skidded and lost control before plunging into the ravine. News would later report that the unicorn pulling it didn't manage to escape.
My night continued as usual, albeit a bit slower than normal due to the snow. I put the whole incident with Pale Flurry out of my mind. Until the next night.
I arrived at Whiteforge nursing facility like usual. At the nursing station, I was told the other nurse on duty was busy so I would have to pickup my returns from the other station. We finished the paperwork and I walked down to the other station. As I passed a room, two aides wheeled out a gurney, the obviously deceased resident covered in a white sheet. The nurse at the second desk thanked me for coming down and passed over my return totes. Both nurses were different from the previous night, so I couldn't even bring up the conversation with Pale Flurry without giving the whole back story. With my returns and paperwork completed, I wished her a better night.
As I passed the deceased resident's room on my way out, I got full body chills when I read the name plate.
Earnest Flyer
It's still snowing. And I'm not complaining one bit.
