The small mare had come back during the day, risking being seen in order to watch the mailbox in the center of town. She wanted to see if her letters were picked up. Because if they weren’t, then everything she had planned for would go to waste. So now she was hidden in a bush, watching ponies walk by the mailbox like it wasn’t there –and it wasn’t- until suddenly she saw Twilight walk into the area. Her breath froze in her throat and her heartbeat sped up as she watched Twilight hesitantly walk toward the mailbox. And then hope soared into her chest when Twilight plucked a letter from the sign and tucked it away into her mane before she trotted away and vanished from sight.
She had to stop herself from jumping in glee for that would give away her cover. And no matter how happy she was, if her cover was blown then she would never be able to get home, let alone out of the center of town. So instead of showing any emotion of how joyful she felt, the mare didn’t move, didn’t twitch, didn’t even change her expression. Entirely satisfied and assured that the others would get their letter as well, the mare stood up and flicked up her hood, planning a route to take in order to get home. She moved to follow it when she saw a new pony walk up to the mailbox in a trance. She was surprised to see the berry colored coat and mane of this pony. Was this one yet another that could…?
The mare watched with growing surprise as the berry-colored pony quickly shoved a letter into the box and hurriedly glanced around before trotting off quickly and vanishing into the crowds. The mare wanted to go take the letter now, but there would be no way for her to get to the mailbox without being seen by somepony. So instead of hurrying to gather the letter, the mare sighed and rested her head on her hooves and closed her eyes, waiting for the night to come.
And when the sun did sink and Luna brought up the moon, the mare stirred, yawning before she glanced around from the safety of the bush. Nopony did she see and so with hesitation she put a hoof outside of the bush. No sound came as she held it there, no croons or screams did she hear. Relieved, she jumped out of the bush and trotted up to the mailbox, glad to see that her other letters were gone. Hopefully they’d listen to what she’d written. It was everypony’s only chance…
With a flash of soft silver, the mare popped open the mailbox and retrieved not one, but two letters before she shut it again. Surprised by the second letter, the mare tucked both under her grey cloak before she turned around and vanished into the shadows.
Mailbox.
You know-
Well, you’re a mailbox, you wouldn’t know.
But still. Though I know this I still find myself compelled to write this. And in red ink, no less. Regardless, I find it odd that I feel as though I’m not making my hoof move to write this. Even now, I’m having trouble putting down-
putting down
words-
The mare frowned at this section of the letter that was heavily blotted out with red ink as if the writer had spilled her container all over it. Shaking her head, the mare continued reading where it picked back up.
I spent my next days in the cellar of my home, mixing different fruits and juices into the most delicious types of punch that anypony could ever imagine. I had found myself again and I wanted to tell everyone about my revelation.
But when I told my friends they just scoffed at me. I told my neighbors and they acted like they’d been told something very personal by a stranger. No one I talked with seemed to understand that I had changed, and they didn’t seem to remember who I even was. They just grimaced and went on their way.
andthenI
thenI why am I writing this? What’s compelled me to explain-
to explain my life story? I don’t have any idea. Please, it’s like my hooves are not my own as I write this. Thank Celestia I’ve run out of ink to write with.
Something strange is going on in Ponyville. Please tell me I’m not alone.
Berry Punch
The mare was alone in her basement again, a touch of silver holding the letter she was reading as she blushed a bit and scoffed at herself. “I think I may have made that particular spell too strong for earth ponies. Sorry about that Berry. But I do wish I could read the entire letter.” The mare set the letter down and then smoothed out a new sheet of paper with her magic and picked up her quill and dipped it in her ink and began writing. As she did so though, she laced her magic into the letter, planning that it would lessen the effects of her previous magic on Berry Punch. She finished the letter with a flourish and then sealed it and labeled it with an elegant ‘Berry Punch’ before she set it down and picked up the letter whose owner she hadn’t seen.
Dearly so to Somepony,
Quite frankly, when I first saw your mailbox in the middle of town, I didn’t understand why I felt so drawn towards it. Even now, I can’t explain the feelings that compelled me to write. Maybe I just need to vent on an unknown ear. Yes…I think that’s it. Please, forgive me for troubling you with these letters upon this page. But I have to get my suspicions out of my mind.
To explain what I mean, it is important that you know that I have a special somepony. Well…it’s not official through marriage just yet, but we were already starting to plan our wedding. We don’t sleep in the same room yet either because of our jobs. (This is important I assure you, more so because I have to venture out late at night for my job. Hence, why we don’t sleep together. I don’t wish to wake her.)
As of late when I come home I’ve taken to softly playing my lyre for my special somepony, knowing that she often mentioned how she loved to wake up to hear me playing an alluring and calming tune. And she’d come to her window and look down and smile. She’d listen with that sweet smile of hers, her blue and pink curls of hair draped messily about her face. It was the most beautiful thing...
Forgive me for rambling, I’ll get to the point.
The point being that just last night when I came home from a normal serenade of a dinner that I’d been hired for, I started to play her a song like normal. But she did not come to my call. She didn’t appear at the window. Worried about her and thinking that she may be sick, I trotted inside and dropped off my lyre and then went to her room. I softly knocked a few times on her door and then waited a bit impatiently for her to come to her door. When she opened it she gave me a soft blush and glanced at me in confusion. She asked me if I had been playing music. I replied that I had and then she blushed and pawed at the ground. She said with a small voice that she thought it was sweet, but that she really didn’t think I should be playing music for her. We were only roommates after all, because I had needed a place to stay.
I had been so stunned. Those words shook me to my core and I froze. I watched her nod nervously and then shut the door on me. I barely managed to get back to my own room. What had my love meant? I questioned her the next day and yet she avoided every question I asked. She gave me blank stares and simply started to avoid me altogether.
I tell you, I am truly heartbroken. Something is not right in this situation. My love would simply just not stop acting as if I didn’t exist to her as a special somepony without at least some reason.
What can I say? I am deeply troubled and confused. Do you have any advice to offer?
My dearest apologies for troubling you with this,
Lyra Heartstrings
Mechanically, the small mare set down the letter and then used some silver to create a new one, taking her time with it like Lyra seemed to have done with her own letter. The mare touched off the newly sealed letter with a ‘Lyra’ and then set it by the other. Satisfied with them both, the mare stood up and collected the two letters before sticking them in her side bag. This would be the last night for her to go out and deliver these letters before her careful plan would be set in motion if everything went correctly.
***
High above the sky at night, in the clouds that were allowed to float and accumulate now that everyone was sleeping, a small Pegasus was trotting along daintily. She was humming to herself quite happily, enjoying being out at night in the heavy cloud cover. Luna’s moon hung high above her head and bathed the clouds around her in a silver-blue light that dazzled her eyes. She loved being alone at night up in the sky. It was the only time that she didn’t have to worry about doing something wrong. The mare smiled and kept trotting along, enjoying the feeling of the damp clouds beneath her hooves until suddenly, that feeling vanished.
Scrambling with her hooves, Raindrops fell through the clouds where they had parted and she hadn’t seen them end. Fear rushed through her veins and she flailed her hooves, forgetting entirely about her wings. She fell like a stone then, until she finally did remember about her wings and spread them out wide. She didn’t have the strongest wings though, and soon the ground was upon her.
She landed roughly on her one wing and skidded a bit before she came to a stop. Wincing, she blinked open her eyes and realized that she was laying in front of something. Something that was standing over her. Blinking painfully, Raindrops looked up and was surprised to see a mare in a grey cloak that was looking at her in shock. Raindrops blinked a few times, about to ask for help when the mare suddenly bolted away from her view. Raindrops’ hope fell as she heard the mare galloping away. Realizing that she was all on her own, she shakily pushed herself to her hooves and winced as her wing hung limp. Her one was fine, but the other flashed with pain if she tried to move it at all and that same side felt badly brush burned.
Raindrops realized that she could still walk though, and so she glanced around and saw that she was in the center of Ponyville, not too far away from the fountain. But then she remembered that she didn’t quite know a lot of ponies in Ponyville, not to mention the fact that she didn’t know anypony that she could go see about her wing or ask for a place to stay for the rest of the night. Dejected and depressed by her thoughts, Raindrops slowly started walking away from the middle of town, her damaged wing dragging on the ground as she went. She wandered around and past many cold-looking homes until she noticed a sign in front of a different style of home that depicted a little book. Looking up, Raindrops took in the sight of a tree-house that looked inviting. There even was a light still on in one of the windows even though it was so late.
Hope filling her eyes, Raindrops walked up to the door to the house and softly knocked upon it with her uninjured hoof. She waited anxiously for somepony to answer her knock, debating if she should even bother this particular pony. But the pain in her wing kept her in place, and so she stood silently as she heard some movements from inside.
Suddenly, the door clicked softly and was pulled open, letting light flood out and momentarily blind Raindrops. She squinted against the light as her eyes adjusted, and then immediately found herself stammering for words because of the pony that was standing before her.
“Are you alright?” The mare before her asked with a concerned look. Raindrops blinked in surprise and then pulled some words out of the air.
“E-excuse m-m-me P-Princess…b-but I-I f-fell f-from the sky a-and hurt m-my w-wing.” Raindrops said shyly, awed that she was talking to the Princess. Much to her surprise, the Princess’s face fell and she stepped aside from the door.
“Please come in then my friend! I’ll take a look at your wing and see what I can do. I’m no Doctor, but I know the basics. And if you have no place to go, I’ll find you a bed for the night.” Stunned, Raindrops took the offer and hesitantly walked inside before the Princess shut the door and trotted off to the other side of the room, already using her magic to pull down various books as she searched for what to do.
Raindrops looked around in wonder, staring at all the walls of books as the Princess pulled books from them and replaced them in successive motions. Raindrops walked to the middle of the room and then sat down politely, waiting for the Princess to find what she was looking for. And yet, Raindrops still could not believe that she was in the Princess’s house. She glanced at the ground and shook her head in disbelief before she winced and then glanced absentmindedly to her left. Raindrops then tilted her head softly as she noticed a letter-like paper that was sitting upon the desk. And she faintly wondered whatsoever the Princess could be writing about, and to whom. For, after all, why would a Princess need to be writing her own letters?