I cannot easily explain what I experienced after my encounter with Spring Glory; during the following two days, I tried to absorb myself in my sculpting work, but I couldn’t keep her out of my mind. What I felt was entirely against my nature; as far as I know, I’m the shiest pony around other than Fluttershy. She has many friends, though, whereas I keep to myself. Somehow, I even manage to keep under that crazy party pony’s radar. I never want to see anypony unless it’s absolutely necessary.
Despite my efforts to distract myself, I couldn’t deny that I wished to see Spring Glory again. Three days after my visit to her shop, I decided to clear my head in the Everfree forest. It’s not as dark and dangerous as most ponies believe it to be. The real dangers lie only in the deepest part of the forest; other than that, paranoia is the only other menace. I tend to stay near the edges of the forest, where I can easily fly out if need be.
I saw the zebra, Zecora, again while I was out. Out of everypony in or around Ponyville, I think I see her the most often, since I go on so many strolls through the forest. We’ve never spoken, though. My guess is that she understands my desire to be alone; she seems to want the same thing. Usually, she’ll nod in acknowledgement, and then we go our separate ways.
The distraction worked only while I was out, and by the next day I found myself idly carving small patterns into a block of wood whilst contemplating how I could approach Spring Glory at her shop. I found some parchment and scribbled down everything I needed for my garden. I lingered around my house for another half hour or so, nervously envisioning every way I could possibly embarrass myself. Finally, I left, and before I knew it I was sitting in the same small alleyway, looking at the small garden shop across the road. It looked no different than it had two days earlier. The “Grand Opening” banner waved towards me in the light breeze. I double-checked my saddlebag for my list and my pouch of bits, then stepped out into the road.
When I opened the door, the little bell jingled again, and I flinched even though I knew it was there. I froze in the threshold, stunned to see Spring Glory sitting at the register counter with her face in her hooves.
She’s crying, I realized.
She looked up at my startled face. “Oh, dear. I’m so sorry about this,” she quietly sobbed.
I could see the tears in her eyes, and I began to panic. I took a step back, wishing I’d never returned.
“Wait!” She shouted. “Please, don’t go.”
Though I intended to run away, my hooves led me further into the shop. Not knowing what I was doing, I said nothing. She wiped away her tears and smiled at me.
“You came back,” she said. “I wasn’t sure if you really would. Thank you for coming back.”
After a long moment of hesitation, I nodded nervously. She looked as if she expected me to say something uplifting. I tried to speak, but all that came out was an unusual mix of sounds. I cut myself off and caught my breath.
“I came by... I just wanted to... Um... If now’s not a good... Should I come back later?” I cursed my timid nature, wishing I could speak steadily rather than ramble like an idiot.
She gave me a quizzical look and, to my surprise, giggled a little. “You don’t get out much, do you?” she asked.
I was frightened that she could see right through me. Usually, everypony literally saw right through me; I’m invisible to them by my own design. At this point, I had no defenses left.
“Well... no... I don’t,” I murmured.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to explain anything to me. I won’t judge you or anypony else,” she said. “So... what brought you back?”
“I made a list of things I need... I wanted to see you― uh, if you have what I need.” I fumbled around with my bag for a moment, then set the list on the counter for her to see. She looked at it, then back at me.
“Heart’s Desire? What do you need that for?” she asked.
My heard nearly stopped. “Huh?”
“Right here, you wrote Heart’s Desire. See?” She showed me the list, and there it was, hastily scribbled at the bottom of the list.
“But― uh, I... must have made a mistake. I didn’t mean to write that,” I said.
She looked at me disbelievingly; she knew something was up, but she didn’t seem willing to press any further. “Well, I have everything you need. Just a moment.” She went into the back room to gather my requests.
I can’t believe I was that stupid, I thought. I wrote Heart’s Desire?
She returned with everything I needed and set it all on the counter. “Will that be all?”
“Yes.”
“It’ll be ten bits― oh, let me get you a bag.” She trotted into the back room again as I fished ten bits out of my bag. When she came back, she seemed slightly different―excited, perhaps, but I couldn’t quite tell for sure.
“Thank you,” I said.
“And thank you, Mr....?”
“Arc... My name is Archaic Smile.”
“Thank you, Archaic Smile.” She smiled at me again; she looked the complete opposite of how she had when I first arrived, almost as if I had brightened up her day. I feebly tried to match her beautiful smile, then turned to go.
“Oh, wait, there’s one more thing,” she said.
I turned. “Yes..?”
“Well... You were my first customer. You still are, actually. Nopony else came in before you did... and nopony has come since. They’ve only looked in through the windows, but they never come in. That’s why I was so upset when you came in,” she said. “I think it’s that pony Roseluck’s shop on the other side of town... I don’t blame anypony, though. It seems everypony knows everypony around here, and they’re only keeping loyal to what they already know they can trust.”
“Oh... I’m sorry,” I said.
“No, no, you mustn’t be. I’m very thankful you came. But... why did you come? Don’t you trust anypony?”
“Well... no... not yet.”
“Yet?”
“Yet.”
“Hm. Okay. Thank you, Archaic Smile.”
“You’re welcome.”
“I hope I’ll see you around.”
“Uh... Yeah.”
Me too, I thought as I left the building. During the entire flight back home I was wondering what had happened back there. Eventually, I decided it was best not to dwell on it.
There were a few hours of daylight left when I got back, so I thought I could start working on rejuvenating my garden. I pulled the paper bag out of my saddlebag and poured the contents out onto a table. When the last item fell out, I froze in place. On top of the pile of herbs, flowers, and seeds was Heart’s Desire.