The slot tinked merrily in her ears as she put the letter through, hearing its soft fwap as it touched down on the floor, and she carefully lowered the front shutter of the letterbox with a pleased smile. Another one finds its home, for good or ill; words simply must. Turning around from the oak half-door, she trotted away down the cleared smooth path to the rustic cottage's picket gate, gently closing that behind her too.
Glancing down at her sturdy messenger bag she undid the clasp and lifted the flap with a wing, smiling gently at the sight; she was almost done for the day. A pleasant sign of a job well done. Celestia's Sun was almost caressing the horizon and Ponyville was being nicely bathed in a lovely warm flush of orange and pink to contrast the cold weather, the sky's clouds hued with deeper pinks and moody purples with the rapidly dimming light. She felt it was a beautiful sight not often appreciated. Taking in a lungful of fresh crisp evening air, she cantered for a quick moment before throwing out her wings on the soft breeze that travelled through the countryside near the Everfree, innate magic surging to assist her in taking off on the wind.
She lightly flapped a few times to give herself some extra lift and evenly pushed out her wings, keeping herself evenly level on the air current as she tucked her legs in and gently trailed along with a slight tingle from the chill. Every time her gathered momentum faltered there was another mild beat to her wings to keep her sailing, her primaries whistling as they caught the low stream, the softness of it tickling along her arches.
There was a serenity to the simple moments between deliveries, almost always as nice as observing a gentle evening like this one.
She rolled herself right for a few seconds and lifted her wingspan up as she skirted by some others coming into the town proper, and she gave them a friendly wave as they greeted her in passing. A content hum followed as she lowered back into her pleasant glide, a minor gust then propelling her as she pushed up, her feathers fluttering as every inch of her wingspan utilised the air with ease. She lazily glided along through the sleepy town's wide snow-filled streets, softly careening to and fro around small obstacles in her path. She could always fly herself a little higher and miss having to encounter the bustle, but there was a primal desire within her, as with all Pegasi, to use her wings however she could no matter how baffling or tedious the path. Even with taking a 'slower' route to admire the giant decorated tree for Hearth's Warming in the centre of town, it didn't take her very much time at all to arrive at the last location she needed to make a delivery to.
Splaying her primaries, she neatly landed outside the charming little house's front garden awash with white, hooves giving a slight clop as she touched down, back then fore. She felt some small amusement in seeing the mailbox out the front of the house rather than a letterbox at the door as it was somewhat random as to who had what style. With their haphazard distribution there was usually a specific route she had mapped out for saving time and making speedy deliveries, yet afternoon delivery days like these she could just fly in a much more relaxed circuit. She reached a wing into her bag and soundly withdrew her quarry, the other wingtip opening the mailbox's tiny door as she carefully placed it in to let it rest flat and perfectly centred.
Closing the little door, she flicked her wingtip at the flag on its side to mark it as having contents within, taking another breath of crisp air with her job done as she brushed off its top for good measure with one of her primaries. She took off again looking at the picturesque sky, its fluffy clouds having become wispier and almost resembling cotton candy with how the sunlight still bled through them to keep them pink, and quickly rose, wings swishing through the wind as she slowly moved through the air towards the only place that she needed to go now. She momentarily spun on the air with her wings pushing out to let her hover for a moment, smiling as she heard a squeaking voice below; the front door of the house had swung wide open and a small filly was cheerfully coming racing down the path towards the mailbox.
She waved a hoof at the little filly, her wings repositioning as she twisted about and spread them, giving a moderate push to propel herself on with some greater amount of force. She went from a gentle hover back into a nice glide, levelling herself out and tucking in. She took no predetermined paths, just content to go wherever the current path seemed to travel, and that seemed to be around Ponyville's outskirts today.
As it was, she made it back to the D.H Postal Company just as Celestia decided to bring the evening to a close and lower the Sun below the horizon completely. It had been a wonderously drawn out sunset too for the winter season properly coming in. She landed softly before the main door as Luna gently started to have her Moon rise into the sky.
Shaking herself as she landed with a gentle yawn, she opened the door with a hoof and stepped inside the warm interior of the rustic entrance foyer, automatically shivering through the temperature shift and ruffling her wings to get some heat passing through them. She got past the entrance way and the office's own small Hearth's Warming tree before she almost immediately found herself accosted by her overbearing receptionist Cinnamon Swirl, the gentle startling making her head swim for a second and her eyes dance around a little.
"Derpy, it's nearly eight! Why were you out there so long?!" Cinnamon fretted as she came up to Derpy with worry in her features.
Smiling kindly as her vision slowly settled back to normality and refocused on Cinnamon's pretty copper-hued eyes and the soft ochre hue of her coat, she waved with the lazy swish of a wing as she took off her messenger bag with the other one, hanging it on a small hook near to the door along with her cap. "It's fine, Cinnamon, I was just enjoying a short flight after my deliveries."
Cinnamon pouted, her cherry-red mane falling over one eye. "...Well, it worries me, you know. You've been taking longer to get back lately, I never know where you go at the best of times, and with your disabi-"
"Deliveries." Derpy softly replied, keeping her smile.
Cinnamon's pout deepened. "You always say that."
She shrugged in response. "Because it's always the case."
With only a slight frown, Cinnamon grumbled and turned away. "I always have to wait here until everypony else has gone home, and then I always have to wonder about you being the only pony that goes further than anypony else. It upsets me that my boss doesn't just delegate the bulk of her work to others like any other boss."
She scoffed gently, regarding her receptionist. "I've told you I can close up by myself, and as to the joys of delegation; you remember two weeks ago with that new delivery mare? She decided that she couldn't even be bothered with the Cloudsdale route and dumped the bag in Ponyville Park, most Pegasi like to fly their own post so that's the least heavy route there is..." she huffed with a slight eye roll, "It's been a slow week anyway, she had less than a hundred to post."
"I know, I know... it's just..." Cinnamon sighed, glancing at a tinsel wrapped tree next to them and back with concern. "You get like this every year for the special deliveries. You didn't need to take it upon yourself to do that usual route as well."
"I really did," she quickly returned as she slowly trotted through the main foyer and into the atrium ahead. "Everypony else had gone home by the time you got a call to your desk about the abandoned letters."
"You could easily have left that until the day after."
"I really couldn't, you know that, Cinnamon."
Derpy quietly left it at that and turned, going up a long straight flight of stairs to the atrium's surrounding second level where the overnight rooms were. She heard Cinnamon sigh again from the bottom of the stairs and the mare's voice partly echoed in the late night of the empty building as it trailed up after her.
"Sleeping here again?" Cinnamon asked.
"I've got the Crystal Empire route tomorrow," she replied back over her shoulder.
Cinnamon huffed and turned away. She appreciated the concern from her receptionist, but it wasn't going to change how she operated. She was going to be up in less than six hours, so she needed all the shut-eye she could get; the route into the Frozen North was a long, cold, and arduous one, so she was going to have to be alert. She'd stop by Sugarcube Corner on her way out of town and get Pinkie to whip her up something heavily caffeinated for that extra punch in her primaries.
She opened the door to the first room inward as nopony else would be using it, seeing as it was a weekend, and from the schedules she knew she was the only one with a long flight tomorrow. The overnight rooms were very spartan, containing just a bed, a desk and seat, and a nightstand with a lamp. It was all that was required for somepony coming in from a long flight, and given what she used to sleep on in her foalhood they were near divine, but of course some ponies would forgo their usage as they preferred the comfort of their own beds. She slowly trotted to the bedside, chucking off her uniform and placing it on the nightstand before pulling back the duvet and getting in.
The telltale sound of Cinnamon closing the front door came from below, no jangle of keys to lock up as she was here to hold the fort. No doubt her fretful receptionist would be up early before dawn just to see her off. Cinnamon worried far too much in her humble opinion, and should allow herself to sleep in for once.
Derpy laid back into the cotton pillow and waited for dreams and sleep to claim her.
Heavy winds were buffeting against her everything.
She captured careful moments to swiftly flap her wings between the bouts of forceful gales; she didn't want to get her wings caught by too harsh a wind and be sent rocketing backwards through the air. She tucked her entire body in against the messy current as it picked up, snow scathing against her face. The flight goggles she wore over her eyes thankfully weren't getting too covered with frost thanks to the enchantments inlaid into their inner-edges to keep them clear, though it sadly didn't quite stop them from misting on the inside faces.
It wasn't a problem.
She squeezed the fluffy winter jacket a little tighter around herself and checked her messenger bag was secure as the opportunity finally arose to dive. Coming to the main slipstream that was winding itself through the mountainous region, she swiftly fell into it with a sharp dip. Her wingspan flared out immediately and pushed with a rapid flick of force to increase her velocity, arching her wings back to a learned degree and tucking her legs in again the split second she'd started to pick up momentum.
Wings knowingly tilted in accordance with the flow to keep her speed even and her primaries splayed when she needed to bleed it off, although she was hurtling fast enough that it was starting to make her ache heavily from the intense force bearing past. She was absolutely freezing and snow fiercely built up over her as she went. It was simply the standard fare for this intermediate route, but it needed to be done by her as nopony else short of Rainbow Dash could probably manage it as much as she did, and delivering fancy letters just wasn't the flashy Wolderbolt's thing. It wasn't to say that she thought herself as excellent a flyer as Dash was, just that she succeeded through the same level of sheer stubborn determination.
She crossed a huge distance in very little time at all, speeding through the current with the winter landscape zipping past her vision almost in a blur, some further details becoming little but smudges in her peripherals. Her bag bore down against her as she zipped between the snowy peaks like a shooting star across the early morning sky, Celestia's Sun doing its best to keep her warm through the light frost that clung to her body. She bled off speed as she neared bends in the stream, sweeping through them neatly enough with her wings partly spread, rolling with the flow and stroking heavily when things moved back into the straight. With her current speed she wasn't long away from the second waystation along the travel route now, and she could see its blip approaching already before the next major bend. She wouldn't need to stop by it and rest, though it was a good landmark to know she was progressing along well enough.
The slipstream started to lessen for the exit current as it merged into the main, and as she pushed her wings up through the dwindling wind in order to propel herself out of the main stream and into the diversion, her left wing suddenly strained. A rising twinge travelled through the muscles of her pectorals on that side, and she realised something wasn't quite right.
She suppressed the chill of worry down her spine as the familiar burn touched at the base muscles of her coracoid, she couldn't fully extend her wing without possibly causing it to seize up and cramp within seconds.
She didn't panic as the fumble caused her to miss the exit, she quickly lowered her right wing to the left's level and tucked them in for a moment, it was making her pick up speed again and this was going to be close, but she would heavily pitch herself up with a buffet of air as she caught the pick-up in the stream's current on from the dive, and then thrust herself out at its barrier instead.
Not yet... not yet... hold, hold, hold, go!
She sharply spread out after a few moments of resting and gave one mighty flap as the draft suddenly increased into the full stream again, jerking herself up towards the sun as the rushing channel ran over her arches. She soared up through the slipstream and tightened her profile better, although her wing was beginning to really deeply ache, but she kept on with gritted teeth and went for one huge push.
Her wing painfully seized as she spread out, and she stalled. The muscles trembled through the jolting sensation and the limb felt almost unresponsive as she strained to drag it back in.
If she was the type it would have been a perfect time to swear.
She immediately tried to correct, yet it wasn't possible.
The heavy winds only mounted as she careened along the slipstream, catching her right wing as it extended out further than her left, and it sent her reeling into an uncontrollable tailspin she couldn't stop, her bag's weight clumsily dragging with her and only emphasised her lack of power. At this point panic was readily blossoming, hooves flailing as she hurtled along towards a steep bend that she now had no ability to steer herself away from crashing into, a bend that led around a mountain. She knew the one, and she loved sweeping around its massive face. It was a major highlight along the route however now it was about to be her end. She felt extremely faint as she quickly sped towards her demise, at this almost terminal velocity she'd just collide with the mountain and turn into a smear on its surface.
Rationality reigned and tried to take hold, surely she could do something, and she could do something, she could! This wasn't her end, she had a duty! The face of it was rapidly growing larger and her wing was still impossibly hard to move, both wings at this point through the force buffeting against them, but she struggled with it and strained to drag them in, pulled the heavy bag tight against her right side, focused the right wing, push, push! Come on! Just enough to-
She managed to fully thrust out her right wing and expand it in the current. The harsh force instantly caught her, the gale smashing into her wing like a hammer blow and causing her to painfully snap almost to one side as her messenger bag acted as a counterweight, and she was spinning even wilder than before, yet she desperately hoped it was at enough of an angle. Her vision had skewed out of normalcy, and messily swam with stars as the climbing pressures threatened to make her black out, her heart pounded in her ears while she tumbled out of any semblance of control, she barely saw anything let alone the mountain and all she could do was brace. She tucked in as best she was able and prayed to Celestia and Luna, hoped-
Thwwoooooooooosh!
The deafening roar of the massive mountain past her ears, a jolt of pure cold terror arcing down her spine as the air forced past her like a freezing tidal wave, followed by an even colder wash of pure shock that arrested her heart. She felt herself slingshot out through the barrier as she spun past her death.
She'd done it, just barely by the width of a feather it seemed, but she'd done it.
Her heart was in her throat, still beating against her ribs, and her eyes had gone completely cross-eyed in her panic, turning her world into confusion as the usual blur of the landscape muddied together. She felt herself tremble considerably with the piercing cold, as well as the gravity of how close she'd come to her candle being snuffed out looming in the forefront of her mind. With shock mercifully lowering a little as she wrested back her faculties, she could finally begin to calm and go through a small stage of relief, but truly, only some. Despite the middling level of ease that came from still being alive it didn't get her very far as she continued to careen out of control.
At the very least the hardest stage had passed. She breathed heavily while she clumsily rolled and her eyes danced, another full body shiver crawling through her as she tried to push her wings out again. The deep ache in the left hadn't lessened at all and her right burned horrendously, yet she drove past the incredible discomfort in her mind and in her body to try and grasp the wind. She might be reeling at quite some speed, yet it didn't matter now, she'd wrestle back control of the situation and herself as the momentum slowed soon enough.
Calm down, mare, you're-
Pain.
She didn't register, as for a few excruciating seconds her body was nothing but unfathomable fiery agony as her back solidly connected with something completely unyielding, stars sparked through her vision as she was shocked through with lightning, overwhelming and sinking her into inky blackness.
She fumbled.
Dear merciful Luna, she wasn't dead.
"Oh, issat yew bak, quine?"
The odd voice was distant, millions of miles away from her.
"'Mon 'en, quine, rouse yerself. ...'Mon, up ye git."
Slowly, Derpy cracked her eyes open despite feeling a heavy migraine pulsing through her head. That didn't seem quite right, she didn't drink, and she certainly wouldn't if she was making a long flight. The ambiance level was thankfully dim enough that it didn't hurt her senses that badly. She realised she was laying on a bed, a... bizarrely wide one, with a firm mattress and thick duvet to ward off the cold. She didn't feel any measure of chill in her so that was nice, probably thanks to the cracking fire she could hear somewhere off to her right. She opened her eyes a little wider, thankfully not staring off in two directions now, seeing she was in a quaintly rustic log cabin that definitely belonged to an outdoorsmare.
"Aye, 'as et, on ye go."
She blinked several times, deeply breathing in and promptly regretting it as a sharp stab of pain shot through her body. She winced, tensing up and going back to tucking herself inward until the discomfort settled.
"Easy gaan, quine. Yew took a coorse tumble oot inna snow, s'nae fun es et?"
She waited for the pain to subside as she smelled the scent of a rich dish in the air, carefully craning her neck down to see a steaming pot of wonderful looking thick vegetable soup being levitated in front of her in a deeply golden aura. Her eyes tracked to the source of the glow and found the moderate horn casting the corona, attached to what she believed was possibly the largest, strongest, curviest, and most freckle-faced mare known to ponykind. The colossal mare had succeeded in giving Big Macintosh a run for his bits on sheer size alone; she didn't know that Unicorns could grow that big.
The colossal mare's extravagantly full mane flowed like a blazing inferno with its iridescent tangerine colour. It was mostly tied back over itself in a multilayered plait to rest over and contrast against her silvery-white coat, her tail was similarly bright, layered, and braided like her mane. She could assume the style was likely to keep the mare from tripping over their sheer lengths. She saw on the mare's huge flank an intricate flowing knot-like symbol common to the mountainous Coltic ponies in the northernmost parts of Equestria. With the entire appearance, Derpy wondered if the mare stood in a blizzard if it would be entirely possible to spot her from her hair alone.
Eccentric proprietor of the cabin aside, slower than before she took in a very minor breath, the discomfort much less than it had been, although it was quite concentrated through her back. Exhaling, she saw a ladle in the pot float up and she gratefully accepted it against her lips, sipping down the hearty broth. It was absolutely delicious, and probably all the more so as she hadn't eaten since this morning.
"So 'en."
Derpy glanced up at the colossal mare.
"Foo's ye gaan, quine?"
The edges of her mouth tugged up in a smile at the thick northern dialect. "I'm... I think I'm fine. Sorry for being a nuisance, I didn't plan on... crashing."
The mare waved an imposing hoof. "Nae bother, happens tae alla us."
"Oh, so this happens often?" She wondered.
"Och, noo!" The mare laughed deep from within her belly, it was a little heavy against the migraine and made the floorboards vibrate. "Yer'a first inna long while, quine!"
Burning a little with embarrassment, she glanced away and quietly took another sip of the soup as it was offered from the pot. She swallowed, happily enjoying the savoury taste for a moment before she gently got her hooves under herself and carefully tried to rise. She saw the massive mare watch with a level of concern but then smiled as she pushed fully upright.
"Yer tougher 'an ye look, no' long oot an' ye bak tae dancin'."
Derpy offered her a smile. "Not so tough; my back feels awful, and my wi-" her eyes went wide then and she sharply twisted, the pain flaring yet willfully being powered through beyond a wince as she fixed her attention on her wings. The panic and breath that had risen caught in her chest, slowly melting away as she saw she still had both of them, her right wing lightly bound in a medical sling. She hadn't really 'felt' them as they were always a constant she was commonly aware of, and she was surprised it wasn't the very first thing she'd thought to check on. She must have been rather out of sorts.
She was extremely lucky and she knew it, Pegasi and speed-related losses were unsurprisingly highly linked. To still have her wings, all limbs, and to not be bedridden after hitting a mountain...
She knew a Pegasus in Cloudsdale that had lost a front hoof from racing heavily along speedways that were formed around that area; Corner Carver had himself a near brush with the open pastures of Elysium too when he was younger, being fortunate to just lose a small piece of himself rather than being painted across a mountain. No doubt he was still racing himself ragged whenever the opportunity arose.
She released a shaky breath in relief, the pain in her back gradually easing as she sat without moving for a short while. She was alive, fully intact, she could still keep going on her route and do her job.
Words must. Those special letters weren't going to deliver themselves.
Carefully, she moved her hooves out of the bed as her back protested the movement and twinged, sending a small pang up and along her arches right to the tips of her features and down along her spine. She grimaced at the slight discomfort but got her hooves under her, properly standing straight and breathing deep, and gritting her teeth through the tightness it caused in her chest.
Regardless of the pain ─of which it was more that she was steeling herself to bear it as much as possible, it really couldn't be ignored─ she looked back up with a warm smile at the colossal mare, that of her rescuer. It was probably best to introduce herself to the pony that had saved her.
"So uh, hello. My name's Derpy Hooves," she properly greeted the mountain, a slight uptilt to her head to properly look the mare in her molten-gold eyes. "What's your name?"
"M'name's Clootie Dumplin', wee Derpy. Clootie fer short, aye?" Clootie beamed a charming freckly smile at her.
"Aye." Derpy smiled back, causing Clootie to chuckle. The floorboards responded to the action again, the lighter vibration almost passing through the bedframe. "Thanks for saving me. How did you find me?"
"Look aboot ye, yer inna waystation, quine!" Clootie gestured around herself with a smirk. "Yew go 'is wa' an awfa lot, I see ye hurl past right blaain yer wings aff, I da ken wye ye never stop fer a spell afore."
"Oh... you, uh... saw me crash?" Derpy reddened again.
"Oh aye, affa muckle, quine. Quite a show ye made spinnin' aboot, tho' ye made quick thinkin' on 'at exit, but 'en yew thumped 'at mountain ower a wa' instead. Lucky ye nae broke nothin', eh?" Clootie smiled and glanced over her. "Managed tae grab ye en mah magic afore ye dropped too far doon, didnae hafta come oot far tae git ye."
"Well, sorry, and thank you."
Clootie shrugged. "S'fine, et's mah job tae go wak aboot inna snow."
Derpy nodded, breathing in gently and found it a little easier than before, testing a step and not feeling any extreme twinges of pain. She took another, and another, across the floorboards until she'd walked the length of the cabin. She found she couldn't stretch out too far without her body protesting the action, although she could extend her unbound wing out most of the way before an abrupt shock shot up her back and along its arch. Tucking it in with a slow breath, she glanced at Clootie who was simply observing. She had a look on her face that Derpy felt that her mother would have once given her.
"Yer gaan oot, are ye?"
She gave another nod. "Planned to."
Clootie frowned with a gentle sigh. "Aye, figured so. I'd ta ye tae rest here fer a couple days, but ye look like a mare onna mission an' I dinnae tak folk hostage."
She felt the magic and saw the golden glow around her right wing, and the medical sling around it slowly came apart. As the binding was pulled away she gingerly unfurled, trying not to wince at the discomfort it brought, and stretched out both wings completely after a short while. Experimentally giving them a few soft flaps, she oddly found that the muscles didn't twinge quite as much when both wings were moving. Having her left tucked more than the right brought more stress down the right arch, and it ached deeply in the centre, likely from when she'd thrown it open to sharply turn out of the slipstream.
"Foo's et gaan?"
"Not terrible," she replied to Clootie. "Aches a lot, and my back's sore. I think I'll be alright."
"Think isnae know, mah mother a'wa's says."
"I will do it. I have to." Derpy told her.
"Alreet 'en," Clootie huffed with a roll of her eyes. "Yew winnae git far wi'oot some help though, an' ye could at least git some food doon ye first, eh?"
Derpy blinked as Clootie's horn glowed brighter, and the large pot of soup along with a big bowl came over before her, the ladle spooning the broth into the bowl until it was full to the brim. Derpy accepted the food while a large pack also came from where it was hanging on the opposite side of the room, along with some very fluffy garments for cold weather that still looked a bit damp from where Clootie must have come out earlier to rescue her, all going onto the larger mare in the space of a few seconds.
"You're coming with me?" Derpy asked between mouthfuls.
"Ye think I'm gaan tae let ye go on yer lonesome wi' those wings?" Clootie scoffed as she settled a large padded winter hat onto her head. "Yew'd nae mak et two-hunner hooves afore tha wind slapped ye bak doon. This'en's gaan tae be a wak, nae flyin' aboot," Clootie glanced at Derpy and chuckled as she saw Derpy's expression change. "Tho' I bet ye'd try an' de 'at an aw by yerself, aye?"
"...No." Derpy lied, feeling a little warm in the face.
"Ha! I like ye, quine, ye got spirit," Clootie grinned, watching as Derpy ate quickly, and lowered down when she'd finished the bowl. "'Mon 'en, hop on."
Derpy raised an eyebrow. "I can still walk."
"Oh aye, sure, right 'en, go on 'en an' tak a wak ootside." Clootie snorted, inclining her head towards the door as her magic took Derpy's empty bowl and deposited it elsewhere. "Ye nae hearin' that?"
She listened and wasn't sure what Clootie meant for a few moments, before she quickly came to realise there was a very low sound coming from the waystation's walls that she hadn't registered beyond simple background noise; the sound of a quite heavily falling snow. Through the mountains it turned into an unstoppable gale that she usually managed to avoid on the trip into the Frozen North, and only just started to feel its rush when she was already on her way back home.
She blinked. "Ah."
"Aye." Clootie smirked.
Derpy scrunched her face a little, but stepped forwards and got herself onto Clootie's huge back in due time, Clootie's horn glowing as she brought Derpy's jacket and goggles over along with her bag, and helping her with getting the jacket on before floating the bag around her torso. Derpy fixed her goggles on while Clootie grabbed her own pair off a table near the rack her clothes had been drying on.
"We ready tae move?" Clootie asked her.
"I think so," Derpy said, checking her messenger bag and seeing it was still quite secure and that its enchantments to keep weatherproof were still working. She had a quick peek inside and saw the letters were all perfectly intact. "Yeah, I'm ready."
"Alreet 'en, on we go!"
Clootie went to the door and chuckled at the sheer force outside that was making the wood groan inwards. Derpy for her part flinched back as the door was opened and a huge rush of noise, wind, and snow stormed into the now open gap, tucking herself down behind Clootie's head as the mountainous mare marched out with a great laugh. That Clootie had no issue marching out into a horrendous gale like this was a little shocking, it was giving Derpy some very present second thoughts and perhaps wondering if maybe they should wait a few hours for the blizzard to die down.
...No, words simply must. She could do this.
"Ya alreet bak there?!" Clootie shouted over the rush going past them as she closed the door behind them.
"Yes! Let's move!" Derpy spoke loudly in her ear.
She wrapped her hooves around Clootie's neck and held on tight, and really hoped she'd manage to stay on and not be blown off into the snow. She felt as if she did and Clootie didn't notice that she might be buried before she could be found. It was partly a real fear of both of them getting lost in the snow, but she also felt she could certainly trust Clootie to get them through the mountains safely as it was her job to navigate them, being a keeper of a waystation after all.
She just hoped they'd make it before she froze.
It was very frigid today in Frostpeak, it seemed.
He chuckled to himself at the common northern joke as he stepped out onto the cobbled main street from the side one, closing his front door behind him to see Celestia's Sun just about reaching its apex now as it turned to noon. Bright sunbeams arced down and hit the crystal of the surrounding buildings at a dozen different angles, exploding into dazzling fractal patterns that left the main street looking like a kaleidoscope, added to by the decorations the townspeople had put up. It never got any less pretty to behold, and part of the reason why he'd moved here to the Crystal Empire's middle region in the first place. That and he liked the weather, it was always snowy and cold here and that suited him very well with his shaggier coat.
Red Pines was of the tundra out to the north west, from a sleepy little nowhere town with little going on. He figured he should at least move to a town where it was just as cold, but where interesting things actually happened. He liked it here quite a bit, and Frostpeak also had a very lovely bakery.
He made sure he had everything with him and glanced around one last time, only seeing a few ponies going about their day. Sadly, it seemed the post wasn't coming today. That was quite a shame, he was expecting a letter from his sister down south. Unfortunately it seemed his return letter was also going to arrive to her delayed as the post office routes outward bound were currently on hold due to the heavier weather. With a small huff he shimmied his saddlebags around so they were more comfortable on his haunches and began to make his way through the main street to his little bookshop near the edge of town.
He wished a good morning to Miss Glacier and her son Snowdrift as he went and nosed in on Strudel's bakery too, picking up a strawberry tart to go for a slight energy boost for his frazzled mind. Despite that he wasn't getting his letter today it didn't mean the day had to be a bad one, even if his thoughts were a little distracted by it.
Red Pines soon made it to the edge of Frostpeak and the door to his shop, baked good in his mouth as he retrieved his keys from his saddlebag before he then stopped, hearing something alarmingly akin to an earthquake. With a partly unsure look to his right, he immediately spotted a blazing inferno with molten bright eyes slowly coming towards him. He almost panicked upon seeing it until he realised that it was actually just an extremely large and snowy mountainous mare, her fluffy garments absolutely sodden and plastered with snow and sleet. If not for the mane and tail she'd almost be invisible against the backdrop.
Strangest of all was the smaller passenger she carried, an equally sodden grey Pegasus mare that he saw as she peeped over the mountainous mare's head. After a few more thunderous hoofsteps the mountainous mare ─of which he believed she belonged to a Coltic clan, they had been an uncommon sight even out on the tundra─ came to a halt, let out a wheezing great laugh that shook his bones, and sat down heavily against the flagstones with a tired smile. He jumped a little as some resting snow laying upon his bookshop's roof came free and softly splatted down beside him.
A few short seconds later the Pegasus mare disembarked on wobbly hooves from the mountain mare's back, looking around and nodding to herself as she engaged in a quick conversation with her travelling partner, before turning and beginning to walk into town. Red Pines thought she seemed rather cheery for a mare that was plastered head to hoof in snow and that was actually shivering quite a bit. There had been a blizzard in the early hours of the morning, and it seemed they'd gone right through it. How mad must they both have been to have come through the high valley in this weather?
Oh, now wait a second, she had a messenger bag around her middle!
"E-excuse me, miss!" Red Pines blurted, strawberry tart falling from his mouth to the icy ground as he called out to her, causing her to stop mid-step and look at him. "Yes, hello, I was wondering if you had a letter for me?"
She nodded at him. "If you're expecting post from Ponyville, Cloudsdale, or Appleloosa."
"I am, yes, from my sister!" Red Pines beamed.
She smiled. "Then I'll get around to you soon, where do you stay?"
"Oh, uh," he faltered for a second, he supposed it made sense that she wouldn't go digging around for his letter out of turn. "Forty-seven Crystal Crescent, just off the main."
"I'll keep your letter in reserve then, and deliver it to you... here?"
He smiled amicably at her. "Yes, that would be lovely, thank you."
With another nod she looked back and kept on. He watched her for a few moments as she unclasped her messenger bag's buckle and delved a wing into it to retrieve the first letter, a content sort of smile on her face as she delivered it to the first residence. She continued to post letter after letter, apparently nothing but letters rather than any parcels which he found a little out of the ordinary. It wasn't every day he witnessed a special delivery run, those were few and far between.
Soon she disappeared off the main street to continue her deliveries elsewhere and he turned back to his shop; she'd come back around to him in due time. He was certainly happier now, his mind eased and his heart a little lighter. He unlocked the door and glanced down at the baked good he'd dropped, a slightly miffed expression on his features. It was a fair trade for the knowledge, he supposed.
"Fit like?"
What?
Turning back around in the doorway he stepped back in surprise, glancing up at the colossal Coltic mare who was now towering over him and of which he was very certain wasn't going to be capable of fitting through the doorframe into his bookshop. He frowned a little as her horn flared into a deep golden hue similar to the molten colour of her eyes, and he watched with a mild level of concern as the strawberry tart he'd dropped glowed and floated up into the air, and he frowned deeper as she then took a bite of it.
"Waste not want not, mah loon."
Well... he wasn't going to eat it anyway.
Bemused by her actions, he went about going inside his shop and setting up for the day, opening displays and taking the more expensive books from their places behind the counter to put them in the window. It never felt like it took too long but ponies always told him he dallied, personally though he believed that just like a fable that slow and steady wins the race. When he was eventually done he flipped the sign on the door to open and waited for a moment. The Coltic mare had since gone away from his shop and wandered into town, apparently. It was a very odd interaction, but it was also interesting, he'd rarely encountered such a pony back in his nowhere village so the feeling was quite novel.
His thoughts slowly drifted back to the letter he was to receive. It was on his mind and with little else to do there was nothing to do other than ponder. He thanked Celestia that he didn't have to sink into his worries much longer as there was a gentle tapping at the door, and he glanced up from staring into space to see the grey delivery mare kindly smiling at him through the glass. He took a couple of steps back and opened it for her to come in with her promptly crossing the threshold, and she briefly shivered as the door closed behind her.
"Phew! Cold out there," she exclaimed, ruffling her wings to warm herself up as she properly moved inside so she wasn't blocking the doorway. "So, I have a letter for Mr. Pines."
He perked up considerably. "Yes, that's me."
The delivery mare's wing went into the messenger bag to retrieve his quarry, though she winced in discomfort for a moment and his expression lowered in concern. He wasn't an expert on Pegasi, though he was quite certain their wings shouldn't be swollen at the base like that...
"Miss? Are you alright?"
"Fine, sir," she quickly replied, her expression turning warm. "I just pushed myself too hard coming here, that's all."
Red Pines glanced out the shop window and out towards the large mountains in the distance. The snow was coming down lightly now but it really had been absolutely thunderous in the early hours of the day, not to mention the week had been just as bad. She and her travelling partner had come in from that, but an injured wing would have meant she had likely tried flying through it at one point, the idea sounded positively dreadful.
"The weather has been rough these past few days," he nodded, his eyes travelling to her wing as it pulled his letter free. "It might have delayed the post, but shouldn't you have waited until it cleared up?"
"I can't do that." She stated.
He was a little bewildered by the strange sort of determination in her voice, frowning. "Why?"
For a few seconds she regarded him, his letter still held in her wing. She lifted it to him and he gratefully nodded to then take it from her into a hoof, and he found himself smiling at the little thing. His sister had sent her usual envelope that she often did, a light scarlet one that she sealed with wax. The seal was pushed in with the image of a pheasant. It was a silly detail however he remembered that he'd bought her that seal stamping kit when they were younger. The quill shop hadn't any other designs but the pheasant left, yet she'd loved it regardless...
It had been to celebrate their new lives, and she still used it to this day.
He swallowed the gentle lump in his throat as he looked up to the delivery mare with the same grateful smile on his face, and she was smiling back as if everything was right in the world despite that he couldn't help but feel it was a very solemn one.
"Everyone has wishes and feelings they want to deliver to someone," she said softly, almost in a whisper. "Each and every letter is filled with somepony's heart and soul, sir."
"That's a very pretty way of looking at it."
She smiled a little deeper. "The words aren't always ones we want to hear, but for good or ill; words must."
He raised a brow. "Even through a blizzard? To the point of injury?"
"No letter that can be sent deserves to go undelivered, sir." She stated, sounding almost as serene as Celestia always managed to be.
With that said, she gave him a nod and a neat little bow with her other wing. She wished him a pleasant day and turned about, and he returned the goodbye as she left the shop. Truly, he didn't regret moving here, it was fascinating the sort of people he met with.
Turning his attention to the letter he sat down and raised his spare hoof, the lump rising in his throat again as he saw the pheasant in the wax seal. Not bothering with the letter opener he usually employed to neatly slice open the top he instead tore at the wax and opened the envelope normally, and carefully pulled the letter free to read its contents with his pulse rising just a little.
His eyes tracked over the first line he always saw.
Dearest brother,
After some very tense few seconds of reading further down he found himself breathing out in relief and his vision blurring slightly, but he got himself under control just as fast. A thankful smile graced his muzzle as he wiped at his eyes and took in a fresh breath, sharply rising to his hooves and quickly trotting to the doorway. He pulled the door open and stepped out into the chilled afternoon to try and spot the delivery mare before she was gone.
As luck would have it she hadn't departed yet, she was standing alongside the giant mountain of a mare she'd come into town with. He wasted little time in going over to her and she automatically gave him a kind smile as she saw him approach.
"Thank you!" Red Pines said in a breath.
"You're welcome," she nodded, her smile growing. "Your sister's letter was a good one, then?"
He gave a deep bow of his head in return. "Incredibly so."
"You asked me why I injured myself trying to make my deliveries," she said, her smile staying in place as she idly pointed a hoof in his direction. "That's why."
There was a lull as he considered that.
"Of course I am thankful that it arrived today, and had I not have received my sister's letter I would have fretted, but," he paused, brow furrowing as his eyes went to the letter and then to her visibly injured wing."It seems very bizarre to hurt yourself in order to get the post delivered on time."
Her smile fell a little as she breathed in.
"Strabismus."
He blinked.
"It's an eye condition," she clarified. "When things become too stressful or I'm overwhelmed, my vision crosses or doubles up, and I lose depth perception."
Red Pines raised his head slightly as he thought. "Ah, I see. And you wanted to get the post delivered quickly because..."
"Delivered on time."
"Yes." He nodded.
"Because the first letter I ever received was from my mother," she said, taking another breath as she continued. "It... came to me around Hearth's Warming when I was in an orphanage. She was very ill and I couldn't see her, I wasn't allowed to in case I got ill as well, and I never saw her pass, never got to say goodbye properly."
Oh dear, he realised he'd opened a wound.
"The condition I have was rather unknown back then, and the illness she had had long since taken her voice, so she'd pre-written me a letter that explained it for others, and so that she could say goodbye," she trailed off for a moment, a wistful look on her face. "I'd been completely alone and misunderstood until I got her letter, and it was... painful, though it made me so happy to be able to have something from her. Her words to me were upsetting, but also inspiring and heartfelt, and whenever I felt lost or lonely I'd read it. I still do when I need to feel comforted, even if I know it off by heart."
She smiled at him, a similar serenity to it as when she'd spoken in the shop.
"I want to make sure people get their letters, because I know how important it is."
Red Pines didn't have much to say to that, but he certainly understood the delivery mare a little better than he had minutes previously. Without her determination and drive he would have been wondering about his sister for days until the blizzards had let up enough for normal postal routes to open again. He was quite sure that she didn't need his sympathies, so he decided his simple gratitude would suffice.
"Well, thank you again."
She bowed her head. "My pleasure."
Smiling, he turned away to return to his shop, and got a few steps before immediately stopping, his eyes widening as the thought came to mind, and he whipped back around to face her.
"E-excuse me, I don't suppose I could ask you a favour?"
Derpy looked back on the town from atop Clootie as the mountainous mare continued on their path back, a very happy smile on her muzzle as the familiar weight of her messenger bag rested against her side. Her wings ached as the wind blew over them, but it was a minimal thought to the prevailing happiness she felt.
"Eventful day so far, eh, quine?" Clootie rumbled beneath her.
She nodded in response, turning to face their path. "Hopefully without any more storms."
Clootie shrugged. "Nae likely, but dinnae discount et."
"Well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Derpy smiled. "I don't think a light storm will be anything to you after what we trudged through earlier."
"We? Och, wasnae yew 'at did tha wakkin', quine." Clootie chuckled.
Derpy snorted with a laugh. "Shush, you know what I mean."
Clootie grinned to herself as she kept on. After a moment she spoke up again.
"So fit 'id 'at wee loon give tae ye?"
"A letter for his sister," Derpy replied, resting down behind Clootie as the wind picked up a little. "The post office let me take their special deliveries out too, so I can deliver his and many others special letters without having to wait for the weather to clear up."
"Well 'at's good 'en," Clootie smiled. "Tho' I'm hopin' yew'll rest fer a spell when we git bak tae tha cabin, aye?"
Derpy gave a small nod. "Of course, for a little while. I want to make sure these letters get to their destinations as soon as possible, though."
Clootie scoffed. "'Course ye do."
Derpy smiled, she wouldn't mind a few hours of sleep, or a short nap to give herself a quick recharge at the very least and some more of Clootie's nice homemade soup before she set off for Ponyville again. Cinnamon was going to be quite distraught when she got back, which wasn't going to be anything unusual, she'd probably be grounded under pain of nannying to let her wings recover, but it was worth it for having done what she'd set out to do. Maybe she'd be able to get these new letters in her care out to their respective homes before her receptionist dragged her into a hospital for a full wellness check.
At the very least she'd go home, rest in her own bed, and pore over her own special letter.
Author's Note
I can't wait to see the people that had a brain aneurysm trying to decipher Clootie Dumpling's speech.
I hadn't planned on making her so vehemently Doric but these things happen and I think people should suffer as I do on a daily basis. 
Lemme know your thoughts. Like Luna's tiny bottom, your comments excite me so.
Please give the story a like if you enjoyed it.
