The receiver

The crisp autumn air beat against every pony, it's hot air reminding every pony of the summer, now left behind. No pony wanted to be outside in the sweltering heat, no pony but one.

Mailmare Derpy raced against the hot winds, faster than most ponies, as she traveled to deliver the last of the letters. Everything revolved around her getting that letter to the receiver in time, nothing swarmed around in her mind more than that.

"Don't worry," The gray mares lips opened in a soft cry, barely heard to herself. "I'll get this to you, on time. I know I'm always late, but this time I wont be, promise."

She didn't know who she was speaking to, but it didn't matter. Maybe the receiver would hear her, and wait, just a little longer. As she raced against the winds, her wings snapped back painfully as she tried to accelerate. She was so close, the mare, she could feel it, see it in her disturbed and wrongly pointed eyes.

"Just another minute!" She cried, her tears streaming down, and she fought to keep them from hitting the letter in her muzzle. The receiver only got a letter a year, and it was special. It needed to be delivered, or the receiver would go away again. She always went away.

"Gah!" The mare screamed as she tried to stick the landing, but her hooves tumbled out from beneath her as she rolled across the ground with small unheard thuds and bangs. Slowly getting up, she didn't take the time to shake off the dirt on her coat, her mane, not even the muddy smears of dirt that mixed with her tears.

All she could focus on was the place she was to give the letter. Drop it off, and wait.

She trotted to the stone sticking out of the ground, and smiled, sniffing softly.

"Did I deliver it in time?" She asked, sticking the letter in the dirt as she sat. She watched the stone for countless hours, waiting for a sign that the receiver would come and get their letter, and the two would talk.

Finally, it was too dark to see the stone, and there was barely enough light for her to race into the sky once again.

"I just don't know what went wrong," She sobbed as she got up and turned from the stone that read: 'Here Lies Dinky Hooves, Daughter, Friend, Crusader. 2010-2011'

As she raced off, she left the letter. The receiver would come and get it, some day, maybe soon. Maybe soon she would wake up and smile, and the mare would hear her laughter dance across her ears, a smile forming across her lips as the two met once more.

But maybe it was just a thought.

But the mare believed that as soon as the receiver read her special once a year letter, she would want to come back.

The letter dedicated to her, every year.

She raced home and set down her mail bag, nosing through it for a moment to find the letter that got opened every day. It was addressed to her, from the receiver. The mare let soft sobs escape her lips as she read it once again,

Dear Mommy,

It's me, Dinky! Mommy, wen are you comin home? You are so busy always, I just want to give you a great big hug! The teecher says I have to stay with her a bit longer, but I don't wanna! Mommy, I want you! The teecher says you gave me up, but you wudn't do that, rite? Sorry for my bad speling, I don't think that will be my spechal talent any time soon.

Mommy, come home. You havent been the same since Daddy went away, but he's back now, promise! I saw him in town, he looked like he was looking for somethin, something inportant, like you Mommy!

Teecher says it was some pony else, but it cant be! It has to be you Mommy, you are so inportant. You deliver the mail, and without you, every pony would be sad because they didnt get the mail they wanted. Teecher says you werent fit to rase me, but you were Mommy. She also said you didnt want me having a bad life, so you let Teecher have me. She lies a lot, she's a horibl liar, I hate her sometimes.

But not you, I'll never hate you Mommy! Never ever! I love you, forever and always. I just want you back Mommy. If you come back, I promise to give you great big hugs forever and ever!

I gotta go now, some pony is nocking at the dor and it sounds like they are very mad at Teecher. She keeps telling them to go away, go far away and never come back, and that she has a child to take care of. That isnt true, you have a child to take care of, not her.

Anyway, I love and miss you,

Dinky Hooves

The spelling was off, the letters were often on top of erased spellings of them, but the meaning was clear.

"Why wasn't I there for you?" The mare choked, her tears managing to stay away from the faded writing. "I could have saved you, stopped that nasty pony from taking you, stopped him...I...I just don't know what went wrong."

The mare tucked the paper back in its envelope and returned it to her mail bag for tomorrow, when it would be read again, and the next day after that, until the lettering grew to be so faded, she would have to trace it over with ink. Something she would never do, it would ruin her daughters' beautiful writing.

Crawling into bed, she sighed and thought of the letter she had sent to the receiver, and got ready for another sleepless night filled with thoughts of her daughter running through fields, laughing with friends, and every good memory that would come to haunt the confused mailmare.

Dear Dinky,

Oh beautiful child of mine, my dearest Dinky. Where have you gone? I've read your letter, and I think I'm ready to come back now. I've been ready for awhile, but then you left. You left Mommy, but that's okay. I'll always forgive you. I dropped this off last year, with different wording. The letters are always gone, do you read them? Do you love them?

Do you love me?

Can you forgive me for letting you go, forgive me for being so confused? I've become even more so since you left, my eyes have gone cross after hours of trying to find you, looking both up and down, left and right, at the same time. Dinky please, help Mommy, Mommy needs you. I love you, I know you love me, or at least, I think you do.

Can you forgive me?

I shouldn't have left, never should it have crossed my mind. Maybe...Maybe you would be hear next to me, telling me stories about what you've done to try and get your Cutie Mark, or about your friends, Celestia knows I loved those tales. Remember the one you told me about the big bad Diamond Dog named Tiara? Of how she tried to steal your happiness, and I told you ones heart was a special diamond? I'm sure you don't, but that's okay.

If I could turn back time, I would. I would hug you everyday, remind you how special you are to me, how to me, you are the sun, the moon, everything in existence. I love you Dinky, oh my heart aches when I think of the possibility that you don't love me, but you have every right not to. I left you, what kind of mother does that? Not a good one, that's for sure!

And forget about the spelling, my dearest daughter, I love the letter. More than love, I cherish it. Sometimes I can feel you there next to me as I read it, I can feel your soft hair brush up against my coat as you smile. I see you in the few dreams I have, for I have become restless in my efforts to find you. But when I do sleep, I dream of you.

Of your soft smile, of your beautiful laugh, of you bounding across fields as you tried to get your Cutie Mark, try try and try again. So strong, you were. You still are! I know you are! But are you strong enough to come home, to your Mommy?

This is getting too long, I'm sure you're having difficulties reading this. I'll cut it short.

I love you. Forever, and always.

Derpy Hooves