With a dull thump of her rump on the bench, the wood creaked with the force to match her loud sigh. Posey grasped at her dangling clover that hung around her neck. "The worst... Why don't they listen?" She lifted a hoof to the sky, as if cursing the fates, but they had few answers for her. "It's not fair..."
The day had started satisfactorily enough.... "But it rarely ends that way," she spat at nopony in particular. She saw some going past she knew and forced a smile, waving at them as they scurried past. Despite her attempts, they could tell she was having a sour day. "I'm the reasonable one..."
A soft squeak told Posey that somepony else had settled on the same bench, but who? Her pleasant face wasn't on... Most ponies just starting avoiding her, or ignoring her pain entirely. Maybe the latter? She looked up to see a pony she hadn't seen before, a pegasus with... Her mane was the same color, but lighter. Her pelt was the same color. Her eyes, ah ha, there was a clear difference. They were more of a cyan shade than the bright green that Posey had. "Hi?"
"Hello," spoke the new pony quietly, going silent immediately after.
Posey raised a brow high at the stranger. It wasn't technically a crime to sit on a public bench... "Nice day, huh?"
"Is it?" The new pony seemed to realize how bad that sounded. "I mean... You look... sad. Um... I must sound so strange." She worried her hooves together fretfully. "We don't even know each other, and here I am prying... Sorry..."
"Only one solution for that." Posey drew herself to her full height, still seated. "Welcome to Maretime Bay! Are you visiting or moving in? I'm Posey Bloom."
"Wow." Fluttershy curled a hoof at herself. "I'm Fluttershy... You came around quickly."
"It's a thing." Posey rolled her eyes. "I take my responsibilities seriously, so if a pony needs greeting, I give it. Somepony around here has to take these things seriously, or they wouldn't get done."
"Oh... I see. Hmm... I'm Fluttershy. It's nice to... meet you." She offered a hoof, the two clopping gently together. "I'm just visiting."
"If you need any help, I'm here for you."
"You're very nice." Fluttershy smiled gently at the earth pony. "You do take it seriously... I'm like that with animals. If I see a hurt critter, I can't do anything else until I've helped them however I can."
Posey snickered at that. "Only pony I know that has a thing for critters around here is Hitch, and he's a mess. Sheriff, but he spends most of his time with his adopted son, a dragon of all things!" She curled an arm, waving the hoof at the end. "Leaving the rest of us down a sheriff!"
"Oh, my... I can imagine that might be a problem. Don't you have any other guard ponies?"
"We used to!" Posey kicked a dangling hoof out into the air. "We had two. One went criminal and got fired. The other, dragon daddy. I swear, magic came back and swept all the common sense out of everypony." She buried her face in both her forehooves. "And I feel like I'm the only one that can even see it."
"That sounds hard." Fluttershy reached for Posey, resting a hoof on her shoulders. "So few ponies understand the work I do either... They think I'm being silly, or they... humor me, but they don't get it. Critters are just a thing in the background."
"Like a working city." Posey smiled thinly. "Yeah... Yeah, like that. So, how do you deal with it, since we brought it up?"
"I hide."
Posey flinched back. "You hide?"
"Um..." Fluttershy worried her hooves anew. "Not always. I'm getting better at speaking my mind, really... I'm trying... But my first instinct is to... hide... The critters don't judge me, except one, and he loves me very much." She smiled at the thought of Angel and their tough but caring attention. "Um, what calms you down?"
"Well... Hm." Posey frowned with the new thought. "I never really thought of it like that exactly. What makes me happy...? Well... I like a nice relaxing day. If I can get a good salon treatment and not get tackled or otherwise attacked? That's a nice day." She nodded with the memory. "If I can hang out with somepony without a bunch of drama..." She leveled a hoof at Fluttershy. "Like this, here. This is pretty nice."
Fluttershy gave a warm and genuine smile. "I'm glad to hear that. Sometimes, all a pony needs is somepony to talk to, without expecting anything." She put a hoof at her own chest. "I don't want anything, promise. Just, um, a new friend is nice?"
"Well, you got that." Posey nodded at the curious pegasus. "I hate to bring this up... But I don't run into such a storng match that often. You look like me." She pointed to each color of Fluttershy. "Eyes excepted, and cutiemark, obviously."
Fluttershy leaned left and right, looking Posey over in kind. "Not exactly, but close, very close. What does your cutiemark mean? Mine is about the critters I care for." She patted the butterflies on her rump. "And my gentle flight. I'm not a fast flier..."
Posey waved that off. "Good! Finally, a pegasus that isn't trying to win every race every time they take off. I swear, it's not a contest! Sorry, my cutie mark." She pointed to her own. "Destiny wasn't feeling subtle that day. Just poseys. No greater meaning." She sighed with a huff. "I can't even be angry, really."
Fluttershy applauded gently. "Nothing wrong with a cutie mark that doesn't have a mystery, and no... Not every time has to be a race... I prefer to take my time."
"Me too." Posey grinned at Fluttershy radiantly. "You are a good pony, just in case you didn't know that already. My day feels better." She let out a slow breath. "But hiding can't answer your problems, just saying."
"No... No, it can't..." Flutterhy waved a hoof at Posey. "So what do you do, when the ponies around you can't see it your way?"
"Me? Ugh." Posey's cheery expression fell into a scowl. "I've tried yelling, shouting, berating, chastising..." She tapped her hooves with each near synonym she could find. "I've tried loud and quiet, none of it helps, so I just... I don't quit." She punched at the air once. "I keep on fighting, and life keeps running me over, but I'm not giving up!"
"You shouldn't, give up, that is." Fluttershy lifted into the air a few inches, hovering. "You have a lot to share, and the world would be a sadder place not hearing it."
Posey peered at the dangling Fluttershy with obvious doubt. "You're just saying that..."
"I am not," firmly rebutted Fluttershy. "I've heard you today. You are a caring pony. You want what's best, even if others don't always understand you... I know how that feels. I know how that can hurt. So... I know we just met... But don't give up. They... I don't know them... but I think they want to hear from you too. They just don't understand, yet."
Posey looked ready to stare her down, but it fell apart, along with her in a tired collapse. "How do I make them understand?"
Fluttershy landed beside Posey. "I'm still trying to figure that out."
"Oh..." Posey lifted an ear at her new friend. "I was hoping you'd have some amazing answer waiting for me."
"That would be nice..." Fluttershy gave a sadder smile. "But we don't always have that, the answer, that is... All I can do is point in the direction I think is right... That's what you do, I think."
"I try." Posey gently punched Fluttershy in the shoulder. "You are a pony full of the right kind of wisdom... Glad I ran into you." She threw herself to the ground and her hooves. "But I should get going. I'll keep your advice in mind, honest. Good stuff."
"I'll do my best to be a little louder." Fluttershy lifted from the bench on her gentle wings. "We'll both grow, in our different ways... If nothing else changes, know there's at least one pony cheering you on."
Posey aborted her attempt to leave, stuck in place a moment, a single tear escaping her. "Thanks..."
Fluttershy flew off, the two waving at one another, equally pleased for the chance encounter.
"What is this?" Posey picked up the little figurine in the lighthouse. It was a crude carving of a familiar pegasus, yellow, with pale pink mane and cyan eyes. "Where'd you get this from?" She waved it at Sunny. "Seriously, where?"
Sunny gently intercepted the waving figure with a hoof. "Easy with that... My dad made it... It's one of the--"
"Your dad made that?" Posey hiked a brow. "What is it?"
"One of the Elements of Harmony," sighed out Sunny. "Champions many many many years ago. A myth... But one I... I won't bore you with that." she waved it off. "Her name is Fluttershy."
Posey's teeth clenched, but she kept her thoughts to herself. "Fluttershy, huh... Um..." She reached for the figure. "Can... I have that?"
A little Fluttershy energy felt like a good sort to have around.
Author's Note
A one-shot requested and written about these two similar-looking ponies. It was a treat, for me. I hope it was gently touching for you too, dear reader. Drop some comments below on how it hit or missed. I wanna hear!
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