//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: Sandy Hooves and "Sea"-sons Greetings 
// by Darkblaze15 
//------------------------------//

The season of Hearth’s Warming usually brought about pleasant tidings of yuletide sights and sounds as the ponies of Equestria prepared for the annual winter holiday.  For the sleepy rural town of Ponyville, however, the season was currently opening with a chilly reminder of how harshly the wintertime weather could behave.  Fierce frosty winds whipped and howled through the quiet streets, battering anypony unfortunate enough to be caught up in its fury.  A bitter coldness set into the town and its neighboring vicinities, biting through layers of fur and clothing and nipping at ponies' skin underneath.  Sheets of freezing snow and ice continuously pelted against ponies' bodies and soaked right into their fur, further exacerbating the winter's cold grasp on everypony in town.

Such was life for Ponyville’s resident wall-eyed mailmare as she fluttered through the barren streets, finishing up her last deliveries for the night.  Wearing nothing more than her woefully thin and uninsulated delivery uniform and cap, one might conclude that she must be crazy to stay out in such inclement weather.  However, years of practice and building up her endurance against the elements allowed Derpy Hooves to brave the fiercest winter nights in her never-ending plight to maintain a diligent delivery schedule.  The mere thought of delivering even one package late pushed her to continue onward in spite of tiring herself out often with fighting against the elements and working so late into evenings.  Though the long working hours and harsh weather conditions had taken their toll on the mailmare over the years, Derpy's unwavering perseverance and loyalty garnered the respect of her coworkers and community.

Presently, the gray pegasus glided as best she could through the whirling winter winds before setting down in front of the last house listed on her usual route.  Nestled just beyond the Ponyville town limits, the quaint little cottage was relatively unassuming and unlike most other buildings in Ponyville with its shingled roof line and lack of exposed exterior beams.  As she approached, Derpy spied a line of smoke exiting the chimney, indicating the homestead's residents were present, and politely rapped her hoof on the front door in greeting.  A few moments later, the door opened, revealing a light tan jenny with a curly brown mane wearing a lacy white collar, held together by a blue pearl.

"Why hello there, Derpy!" the donkey in the doorway greeted, gasping slightly at the sudden influx of cold air, "Wasn’t expecting to see you out and about so late, my dear, especially on a night like tonight," she added.

Derpy smiled warmly, "I know, Matilda, luckily you're my last delivery for the night, so I’ll be going home after this!"

"Well thank Celestia for that, it’s freezing out there!" Matilda commented with a shiver, "Honestly, I don’t know how you manage to make your deliveries in these terrible conditions."

"Oh it’s not all bad, Matilda, I’ve gotten rather used to it by this point," Derpy stated as she dug through her saddlebags, eventually collecting two wrapped packages and a few envelopes and passing them to the Matilda. "Anyways, here’s your mail for today, sorry it’s so delayed," she added with an apologetic but friendly smile.

Matilda's expression brightened upon seeing the packages, "Ah, we’ve been waiting for these, thank you Derpy!" she exclaimed with delight. "And no apologies needed, I understand this is a very busy time of year for you ponies over at the post office," she added before growing quiet for a minute, seemingly gathering her thoughts, "I imagine it must be rather tiring, though, having to deal with so many packages and demanding ponies."

Derpy tilted her head in brief consideration before shrugging nonchalantly, "I’ll admit the holidays are a bit more stressful than other times of the year, but I honestly love what I do so much that I don’t think I’d have it any other way," she added with a cheerful smile.

Matilda shivered again, "Still, though, ponies like you deserve some time off for yourself, especially now." She suddenly squealed excitedly, an idea popping into her head, "Maybe you should call out tomorrow, enjoy some holiday vacation time for you and Dinky?"

Derpy frowned slightly, "Oh, I don’t know about that, Matilda," she declined politely, "I mean, that sounds lovely, but I imagine they’ll still need me in town over the next couple of days."

Matilda waved a hoof and scoffed, "Oh, I’m sure the post office has plenty of other ponies they can call on if needed." She lifted her hoof and placed it on Derpy's shoulder endearingly, "Maybe just give it some thought, okay sweetheart?"

"Okay, Matilda, I will," Derpy conceded with a smile, "Have a good night!"

The middle-aged jenny wished her farewell and safe travels as Derpy took to the skies for the last time that night.  As she departed the from the Donkey homestead, she thought about Matilda’s suggestion and whether or not to accept it.  It had been the fourth time that night where she had been advised to skip out on work by somepony along her mail route.  Treating herself to a random day off from work was a relatively foreign concept for the dutiful mailmare, especially around the holiday seasons.  That being said, she would be lying to herself if she claimed that the stress of the holiday season had never prompted her to entertain such a concept.  Derpy continued to mull over her options as she fought against the raging elements, traveling through the bitter cold of winter towards home for the night.

* * * *

After the seemingly long flight, Derpy finally set down upon the front porch of her house, crossing over the threshold and promptly shutting the door behind her.  Sporting a similar appearance to other single-family abodes sprinkled throughout Ponyville, it was primarily comprised of a large dual-purpose kitchen and den with separate bedrooms jutting off the main living space.  The house's simple furnishings were adorned with several juvenile but charming hoof-made Hearth's Warming decorations, all sporting the handiwork of one particularly exuberant filly.  She shuddered slightly due to the sudden transition from the cold weather outside, but was immediately comforted by the warmth emanating from the blazing fireplace.  The pegasus was delightfully surprised to see a modest pot of carrot and lentil stew already starting to bubble over the roaring fire, mentally thanking the only other pony who could have pulled it together.

"Dinky, I'm home!" she called out, removing her soaked mailmare uniform and hanging it over the crackling hearth to dry.  In a matter of seconds, a blur of purple and yellow zoomed out from the neighboring room and tackled her to the floor with a surprisingly strong bear hug.

"Hi Mom!" a small lavender pegasus with blonde mane and tail greeted, squeezing her mother tightly, "Glad you’re finally home, it’s pretty bad out there!"

Derpy smiled warmly at her daughter's enthusiastic greeting, "Happy to be home, sweetie.  Thanks again for holding down the fort while Mommy’s out late," she added with a quick but loving nuzzle to Dinky's cheek, "I don’t know what I would do without you."

"No problem, Mom!" Dinky replied before breaking off the embrace, "I know how important getting everypony’s holiday mail out is to you; that's what makes you awesome!" she added with an extra bounce to her step, eliciting a brief giggling fit from the wall-eyed mailmare.

"I appreciate that, hon, thank you," Derpy complimented her praise before pausing, a heavy sigh escaping her lips before she continued. "Though days like these don’t make my job any easier, that’s for sure," she added, gesturing to a nearby window.  Snow and sleet pelted the glass and wind buffeted the panes, creating a most horrific racket rivaled only by the pops and cracks emanating from the flames within the fireplace itself.

Dinky shivered sympathetically, "Brrr, I can’t even imagine!  Will you have to go back out there tomorrow, too?" she looked up and gave her mother a quizzical look.

"Um, yes, I suppose I will…" Derpy responded, a hint of hesitation in her voice.

Dinky tilted her head, wearing a puzzled expression on her face, "What do you mean?  You’re not sure?"

Derpy scratched the back of her neck with one hoof, the other idly stirring circles through the pot of stew with a ladle as she contemplated Matilda's suggestion from earlier in the night. "Well, it’s been suggested to me," she began, "that it might be a good idea to take some time off from work for the holiday," she explained hesitantly, still unsure of her own thoughts towards such an action.  Dinky, on the other hoof, jumped up and down in place excitedly, contrasting Derpy's own reaction as her eyes widened with wonder.

"Ooh, that sounds like fun!" she exclaimed, zipping about the main room with fillyhood delight. "Where are we going?  I hope it’s someplace warm!  What are we gonna do when we get there?" she babbled enthusiastically.

"Now calm down for a minute, Dinky," Derpy chuckled, beckoning the filly to the table for supper as she ladled portions of stew into two bowls. "I haven’t confirmed whether we would or not yet!  It’s just the word of some ponies along my mail route that are suggesting such a thing," she explained as she blew gingerly over a spoonful of soup before consuming.

Dinky plopped down on the seat across from her mother with a slight huff, "Well, I think you should, too!  I mean, I can't even remember the last time you had a day off," she remarked innocently while digging into her own bowl.

"Well, I suppose it has been a while," Derpy conceded with a pondering gaze, "but tomorrow’s Hearth’s Warming Eve!  It’s my last chance to get everypony's packages and mail sent out before the holiday." She scoffed at the thought of leaving her responsibilities behind so frivolously, "I can’t possibly take off from work right now, the timing’s just not appropriate," she added defiantly.

Dinky tapped her chin with her hoof, clearly deep in thought over their current dilemma. "But aren’t there a bunch of other mailponies working at the post office?" she countered matter-of-factly, "I’m sure any one of them would be able to cover your shift for the day!"

Derpy sighed and ruffled her daughter's mane endearingly, smiling solemnly at her fillyhood innocence. "I'm afraid it’s not just about finding a replacement, sweetie," she responded gently, "I...I simply can't justify me taking time off from work without good reason when other ponies might need it instead."

Dinky pouted and began pondering the situation again, seemingly not giving up on her counter argument. "I guess, but I remember you covering for other ponies' shifts when they couldn’t or didn't come into work, right?" she inquired, waving an accusatory spoon in her mother's direction, "Like that time when Sunshower Raindrops left with her family on vacation to Vanhoover?  It felt like you were working overtime for ages, didn't you?"

"Well, that was only for a week, but yes, of course I have," Derpy responded, "Nopony else was around to stay on, so it was the right thing for me to do at the time," she added defensively.

"Okay, so then, why should you have to feel so bad about doing the same?" Dinky added, probing even further, "I mean, everypony has their own wants and desires that need tending to, so don’t you think you deserve some time to yourself at this point, Mom?"

Derpy opened her mouth, ready to question her daughter's unusual persistence into the issue at hoof, but closed it after some further contemplation.  On one hoof, the mailmare's mind raced with thoughts about all the potential problems and chaos that could ensue were she to shirk her daily responsibilities at the post office.  From delayed and misplaced deliveries to stressed coworkers and disappointed customers, she struggled with accepting any of these consequences for such action on her part.  She knew the post office typically granted its employees a certain amount of vacation time to use when needed, but she also knew that the holidays had always been a tricky time to utilize such a luxury.  Between balancing out the increased influx of tasks and responsibilities as well as trying to plan around other ponies' vacation time, Derpy often found herself unable to take her own temporary leave of absence.

On the other hoof, however, even Derpy could not deny the fact that she was well-overdue for a break in her busy work schedule.  She had gone the past several Hearth's Warming holiday seasons without asking for time off, and as such had accrued more than enough paid time off to validate taking a vacation now.  Despite any lingering doubts still swirling around in her mind, Derpy felt she owed it to herself and her daughter to indulge at least a little bit into the opportunity.  Even the short-term notice of her request might not be much of an issue, as countless years of experience with her boss and coworkers allowed Derpy to grow close enough with each of them that she knew they would not mind covering for her in the slightest.  The more Derpy realized how the positives of this opportunity outweighed any potential negative outcomes, the more she felt herself warming up to the notion of using some spur-of-the-moment vacation time.

Derpy sighed and looked over to her daughter, "Well…I suppose I could go for a little vacation after all," she finally stated.

Dinky gasped and leapt straight into the air, fluttering excitedly in circles around her mother, repeatedly exclaiming, "Yaayy!!" before setting back down on the floor again. "So, where’re we gonna go, Mom?" she asked enthusiastically, seemingly unable to sit still.

Derpy pondered the question for a moment before answering, "Well, you mentioned going somewhere warm earlier," she stated, "so...why don’t we visit the beach?"

Dinky grinned widely, "Ooh, sounds good to me, I'll go start packing then!" and without another word, she zipped away to her room in a flash.  As Derpy cleared their dishes from dinner, she giggled to herself upon hearing the  filly humming excitedly to herself while rummaging through drawers in search of items to pile into her travel bag.  Realizing that morning would arrive soon enough, she quickly completed the post-dinner clean-up and trotted into her own room to start packing her own belongings.  She still felt some semblance of hesitation eating away at her decision, but for the moment, the mailmare elected to worry about those nerves later and instead focus on preparing for their trip to the beach.