The Drawing Board

Calm. Serene. Tranquil. Nary a whisper could be heard amidst the trees, save for the occasional falling of snow from a branch that could no longer bear its frigid load. Every morning, the sun's rays bounced off blankets of pure white, illuminating the woods in a dazzling light show, one sadly too bright to appreciate without risking blindness. Every night, the chill winds undid any progress the sun had made in clearing the ground, dusting the trees with a fresh layer of frost and fortifying the snow with thick sheets of ice. This is the way things had stayed for three peaceful months ever since the first snows had fallen and the woodland critters had taken to their warrens and dens to wait out the cold, harsh winter. However, on this day, as the sun reached its peak in the sky, the beating of wings and a melodic humming finally broke the silence.

Most ponies, pegasii in particular, usually preferred more open habitats. To find a pegasus here, of all places, wasn't unheard of. It was, however, unexpected, or it would have been if there were anyone around to witness the event. Even so, the unlikely creature soared amongst the trees, her grey coat of fur protecting her from the biting cold as the wind mercifully blew her lavender bangs out of her eyes so that she could focus on the task before her. It might have helped, if her eyes weren't closed anyway.

The pegasus hummed a tune softly to herself as she blindly barreled through the densely packed forest, blissfully unaware of the many close calls she had lucked out in avoiding. She bobbed her head in rhythm with the song with a wide grin plastered on her face, more than once narrowly missing a tree branch to the nose due to a well timed down note. Occasionally, her jolly mood would get the better of her as she let slip a few words.

"The time has come to welcome spring mmm hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm and it's also time to saaaay goodbye badum bum dee dee dee~"

A branch clipping the tip of her ear brought the pegasus back into the real world just in time to catch a large tree racing towards her at a higher speed than was entirely comfortable for trees to be moving at. One sloppily executed barrel roll found her on the other side of the tree no worse for wear, though her blue vest and saddlebag were now adorned with a few more stray leaves and twigs than they originally started with. Crisis averted, she picked up speed once again and continued her song, steadily increasing in volume as she lost herself to the music.

"How can I help? I'm new, you see. Yadda yadda doo doo doo. Umm something something about magic. I haven't got a cluuuuuuuuuuuue~"

By now, she was really getting into the song, bobbing and weaving back and forth, a twirl here, a loop-the-loop there. In her head, she was a graceful dancer. Her awe-inspiring movements painted murals of unrivaled beauty against the sky's sunlit canvas. Back in reality, she failed to account for the extra weight she carried in her saddlebags. The additional strain on her wings caused her tight loops to go wide and her fluid motions to flow more like wet cement.

"Winter Wrap-Up, Winter Wrap-Up!

'Cause tomorrow Spring is here!

'Cause tomorrow Spring is heeeeeee-Oof!"

A sharp pain in her chest forced the air out of the blindsided mare's lungs. Lacking any semblance of control, she tumbled through the trees leaving behind trails of grey feathers to mark her path. Surprise made way for fear as the frozen forest floor rushed up to meet the flailing ball of limbs. The panicking pegasus squealed in terror and kept her eyes tightly shut as she awaited the unforgiving embrace of solid ice.

The impact never came. As her hooves slowly moved away from her eyes, the pegasus could see that she had indeed stopped falling, though she remained suspended in midair. A clue to her savior's identity came in the form of the painfully tightened straps around her barrel, limiting her to short, and ultimately unsatisfying breaths. After fumbling around for what felt like eternity, her hooves located the clasp on her saddlebag. She gasped as the strap loosened, coughing and wheezing as she sucked in air.

A relieved sigh escaped her lips as her breathing returned to a more regular pace. Twisting her neck to peer over her shoulder, she confirmed that, yes, her saddlebags had snagged on one of many outlying tree branches, saving her from a potentially nasty spill.

"What happened? I didn't see any branches up there," she mumbled to herself. Before she could ponder her situation further, a familiar pain struck her between the eyes. She just barely caught sight of a small rock falling to the ground before her vision was obstructed by her own hooves. Shielding her face from further assault, she shouted blindly into the surrounding woods.

"W-who's out there? Show yourself!" Legs kicked wildly as the frightened mare struggled to maneuver into a more favorable position. Her erratic movements did little to offer her a solid defense, though her pendulous motion did make her a slightly more difficult target.

Her thrashing slowed somewhat when she heard a rapid tapping noise from above. Slowly uncovering her eyes, her gaze locked on the source of the sound. A squirrel stood perched on the branch she was currently attached to, tapping its foot impatiently while it hefted a sizable rock in one paw.

"Did you throw that rock? That wasn't very nice, Mr. Squirrel." The swinging pegasus tried to give her attacker an angry glare, but her slow mid-air rotation ruined the effect. "I could have been hurt. Anyways, aren't you supposed to be asleep?"

Not much information could be gathered from the squirrel's fast paced chittering, but the mare seemed to understand his body language well enough. He pointed at her, then stomped on the branch a few times, rustling the leaves and causing a racket. He then puffed out his chest and did his best imitation of the pegasus' singing that could be expected of a squirrel before gesturing angrily at a hole in one of the trees nearby where three infant squirrels could be seen poking their heads out with weary eyes.

"Oh wow, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake up your family, Mr. Squirrel." The pegasus bashfully rubbed the back of her head. "Sometimes I just get so excited, and I kind of get carried away. I'll try to be quiet from now on."

The squirrel sighed and dropped the rock he was carrying. He sat down on the branch, and pointed at the still suspended pegasus before cocking an eyebrow and shrugging his shoulders.

"What am I doing here? Well, that should be obvious, silly. I'm Ditzy Doo, Ponyville's official bird gatherer for Winter Wrap-Up day! I'm on my way to get the southern birds right now. Well, I was until someone, not gonna name any names, knocked me out of the sky with a rock. Actually, come to think of it, that was a quite a throw. Do you work out?"

Choosing to ignore that comment, the squirrel instead pointed in the direction that Ditzy had just come from with a quizzical expression on his face.

"Yep, Ponyville's in that direction. Why do you ask?"

The squirrel pointed his other paw toward the sun, and then back in the direction of Ponyville.

"Oh, you're right. It is getting late. I need to get a move on if I'm going to make it back in time." Ditzy struggled to free herself again, but eventually went limp as she swung helplessly once more. "I don't suppose you could help me out here? I'm kinda stuck."

************ To be continued ************