They Don't See The Beauty
"Mommy why do we make the leaves fall off the trees in Fall?"
"I never told you that story? Well long ago there was a little filly named Leaf Drop, who loved Fall more than any other season..."
~~~~~
"Alright, class dismissed!"
Miss Flora waved the young fillies and colts goodbye as they ran out into the chilly Fall environment. Today had been a nice day of teaching and learning, along with some outside play for the foals. She couldn't let them play too long, Fall was in full swing and soon her little ponies' were shivering in their little horseshoes. Inside the school there was more heat, but it was still frigid. Nopony wanted to play outside much anymore, they preferred to keep their hooves and heads at least slightly warm from the insolation of the school walls.
Except for one.
She watched as Leaf Glow, one of her youngest students, packed her bag with books and homework. The little filly always stayed out longest, the cold didn't seem to bother her. She small filly was quite a sight, her mane was poofy, a nice yellow color and tipped red. Her tail was shaggier and had no red in it. Her coat was pale orange and she had big brown eyes that twinkled brightly. Leaf Glow was a very quiet little filly, she never spoke to anypony besides Flora herself. She seemed to be nervous around all the other students and they often teased her about it. The little filly was incredibly forgetful, not on purpose but she just couldn't remember everything. It was what made all the others make fun of her for the most and it troubled her, she often had to scold the older students for their actions.
Leaf Glow could feel her teacher's bright green eyes on her, it was starting to make her nervous. She loved Miss Flora, the older mare was very kind and gentle towards her. Miss Flora was the color of a clear sky with a yellow curly mane and tail. Her cutie mark was a closed book with a flower on the cover, showing her talent for teaching. Leaf turned and looked at her teacher, eyes wide and nervous. "Um... Y-Yes Miss Flora?" She asked quietly, pawing at the ground with a forehoof.
The blue mare realized she'd been staring and quickly snapped out of it, shaking her head. "Sorry Leaf Glow, I just zoned out for a moment there. Don't forget about tomorrow dear, we're going on our field trip to help clear some of the leaves before they die on the branches." She reminded, smiling as the young filly waved a timid farewell before trotting out of the classroom. The moment her quiet hoofsteps retreated, Flora sighed and a concerned look came onto her face. "I wonder when she'll realize that I'm not somepony she needs to be afraid of..." She sighed, rubbing her forehead with a hoof. She felt so much worry for the little filly, with her short-term memory loss she forgot many things except some names and the things she needed.
But no matter how hard she tried, Leaf Glow couldn't forget her heartache.
Leaf Glow walked through the forest, eyes on the bright leaves. Brown, orange, red and yellow were such pretty colors, the very colors that made up her appearance. No matter how down she felt, when she walked through the woods and looked at the Autumn leaves she always felt better. She'd forgotten about the field trip tomorrow, it was nice that her teacher could remind her. She always told herself that she didn't need to be nervous around Miss Flora, but every day she felt scared of the gentle mare. She just didn't know why.
Her eyes trained on the leaves and for a moment she stopped, breathing in the crisp fall air. Fall was her favorite season, the season when the colors burst to life. To others it brought cold and foul moods, but to her the colors were like a dancing fire that swayed in the breeze. She felt warm looking at those leaves and one of her rare smiles lit up her small face. Lots of ponies complained about the leaves, how they died on the trees and turned black and soiled them. She didn't like the complaining, she always thought that they needed to look at the true beauty of the season. She'd heard of a word to describe how they were acting; pessimistic. They just saw the bad in the good, they only remembered the bad things instead of all the joy it could bring. She felt like the only filly in the world who appreciated Fall and she didn't like it.
She wanted others to appreciate Fall just like her.
~~~~~
Underneath the moon's light, Leaf Glow went to her favorite spot in the forest. She didn't know what time it was, but she had something to do. She looked around before turning to her trees, smiling as the colors glowed in the moonlight. She was going to make ponies see the beauty of Fall, she just had to! Fall was such an amazing time of the year, but nopony appreciated it like she did. She looked at the trees once more and sighed, a cloud of breath going from her mouth and escaping into the cool night air. "They don't understand you like I do. My mommy always told me that when the nights are quiet and there's a breeze, the trees sing and they sing loudest in Fall, when the leaves are looser and move more. But nopony cares to listen to your song..." She sighed sadly and shook her head, a few tears coming to her eyes. "Nopony would ever listen to me..."
"Mommy it's cold..." Leaf Glow whimpered, clutching her little coat closer to her.
The older mare looked down at her daughter with gentle green eyes and smiled softly. "Don't worry Leafy, it's just there." She whispered, guiding her daughter forward to stand in the middle of the trees. A breeze started whistling through the branches, shaking the brown, yellow, orange and red leaves. "Listen sweetie, can you hear the singing?" She asked softly.
Leaf Glow pricked her ears and settled down on the ground, tucking her legs beneath her as she strained to listen. After a moment she shook her head and slumped down. "I can't hear anything... All I hear is quiet and the wind." She murmured, sniffling a bit.
Leaf Glow's mother laid down next to her and looked at the stars in the sky, smiling a bit brighter. "Listen carefully my little filly. When the wind goes through the trees, the leaves start to sing but they sing the loudest in Fall, when they can move around more. You can't hear the song in Spring because the leaves aren't big enough, but right now they're big and can move more so the song is loudest." She explained, gesturing at the vast expanse of fire colored leaves with a white forehoof.
Leaf Glow looked around and pricked her ears once more, trying as hard as she could to hear the singing. After a moment she relaxed a bit and turned to her mother. "Can we wish on them mommy?" She asked, hope filling her gaze. "Maybe I can wish for my memory to be better, and then I won't forget so much." She added, eyes shining like the stars in the sky.
The white mare bit her lip and felt tears come to her eyes. "We can't wish on them Leaf Glow, they're not like stars and snowflakes. The song of the leaves is special, but only to those who can hear it. We take the little things like this for granted and we don't look at the real beauty of things when we should. The trees sing with joy my little Leaf Glow even though Fall is despised by most ponies. They still find it deep inside themselves to be happy and that's something special." She whispered, trying to blink away her tears.
The orange filly buried her nose between her hooves. "Why are you showing me this? I'll just forget like I always do. There's no point." Tears came to her big brown eyes and dripped onto her hooves.
The mother hugged her filly close to her. "You don't need to remember this place inside your head Leafy, you don't need your memory for the songs. What you need is your heart, because in your heart is where you'll remember everything you'll ever want to remember. In your heart is where the beauty is and as long as you can remember things in there, you don't need to worry." She murmured, kissing her filly's forehead.
The small filly looked up into the stars and smiled softly. A soft wind blew past her and the trees swayed. She could hear the whistling and the soft sound of the trees singing. It made her fell warm and happy and she smiled brighter, understanding what her mother meant.
"I can hear the singing!"
Leaf Glow looked around the trees, trying to find some way to get the leaves down. She would share the song with the whole world, but she needed some leaves. She didn't know how to climb trees, or she'd forgotten how. Just like her mother said, she always kept her most precious moments inside her heart, where she could always remember them.
The singing surrounded her and for a spell of time she stood on her hind hooves and acted like the conductor, like she was making her own music and performing it. The wind swirled around her and she closed her eyes, losing herself to the rhythm. She gently swayed and moved her limbs, torso and head as the wind whirled around her, brining with it the sound of the trees' music. After a few minutes she got down on all fours and looked around, wondering how to get the leaves down. She walked up to a tree and stood on her back hooves, shaking the trunk as hard as she could. No leaves fell, she wasn't strong enough.
For the next ten minutes, Leaf Glow tried everything from shaking to tapping. Her frustration steadily grew and after another failed attempt she turned around and bucked the tree as hard as she could. Her eyes widened when she realized she'd just kicked it and she whipped around, wrapping her forelegs around the tree. "I-I'm sorry! Please don't stop singing, I didn't mean to hurt-" She shrieked as something landed on her back and she ducked behind the thick trunk, trembling in fear as she peeked out to see what was there.
A leaf. It was large and round and the color of a fire ruby. A moment later two more fluttered down to join it, a pointy bright orange one and a smaller yellow one with brown speckles. A little orange muzzle sniffed them, smelling melted frost and tree bark. Her eyes lit up and she picked them up by the stems carefully in her teeth, running around with stars in her eyes. Leaf stopped after a moment, placing her leaves on the ground with a giant smile on her face when she noticed something amazing; her pounding hooves and shaken more leaves off the trees and now they were spread over the ground, creating a shining fire colored portrait of leaves. She squealed happily and scooped some up in the crook of her foreleg.
"Leaf Glow?"
The little filly turned to see her mother running up to her, breath coming out in a fog. The alabaster mare's eyes were full of worry, her pale green mane being whipped about in the wind.
Leaf Glow ran awkwardly to her mother, still holding the leaves. "Mommy! Mommy look!" She exclaimed. When she held out the leaves, they fluttered into the wind, swirling and dancing in the night sky, bright colors contrasting with the dark sky.
And just for a moment, Leaf Glow heard the flittering leaves sing.
~~~~~
