~10 years later~
I heard the whistle blow in the factory, signaling the start of the next shift and the end of my own.
"See ya later Ive." One of my co-workers called as I took off from the loading dock.
"Later Rainbowshine." I called back.
The work at the Cloudsdale Weather Corporation wasn't demeaning in any way. The pay was good, the managers are nice, and even us grunts don't have that much hard work to do. Even with all that said, it definitely wasn't the job I wanted to have for the rest of my life, even if I did get promoted to one of the higher paying jobs. It just wasn't who I was.
"I'll never forget that day at the day spa back in Ponyville, when a couple of my fellow interns, Aloe and Lotus were trying to reach that herbal bath mix on the top shelf in the store room by forming a triangle with me and Lotus on the bottom while Aloe tried to reach it. She got it down, along with the rest of shelf on top of us. We were quite the sight to see, one of the larger jars of seaweed wrap fell busted and covered us head to hoof with the stuff. I don't think I ever saw Vera so mad." I thought to myself with a chuckle.
I lived on the other side of Cloudsdale so it would always take awhile for me to get home. I'll admit it's not a dump by any means, but it's still a bit small for wanting to start your own business. What would be the living room is devoted to tending to the Pegasi who need to unwind. I mostly get ponies from the corporation but every now and then somepony will come to me on a recommendation. The kitchen is nice and has all the essentials to it. It's a good thing that me and Lilly Winds are the only two who live here, otherwise it would be incredibly cramped since there are only two bedrooms. I got back just when Ditzy came by on her rounds. "Good evening, Ditzy." I said to the wall-eyed mailmare.
"Hiya Ivory! I got some letters for ya!" She replied cheerfully, afterwards digging around in her mail pouch and pulling out a mouthful of mail.
"Thanks Ditzy, give Time Turner my best." I said as I took them in my hoof.
"Okie dokie!" She said, and flew off.
I went inside and checked the time, it would still be awhile before Lilly got home from school so I had some time to myself. I tossed out the junk mail and opened the first letter on the stack.
"Dear Ivory,
How are you doing? I know you moved to Cloudsdale last year to start your own spa. How's that going? Things are going well for me in Canterlot. The Royal Archives are so much bigger than the Golden Oaks Library back in Ponyville, but that just means more for me to read. As the main caretaker of the Archives I'm allowed to live in there like I did when I took over at Golden Oaks when Margret retired. How is everypony doing? I haven't heard from them in so long. I'll try to make time and come visit some time.
Love,
~Lemon Wedge"
I set the letter aside, thinking that it was good that Lemmy was doing well as I picked up another letter. I sat that letter down and picked up the next one on the stack. This one seemed to be an invitation of sorts.
"Howdy there, cousin! We'd love to have y'all down here at the farm this weekend for the Apple Family Reunion! We're gon' be havin' this 'er ho-down at Shaddy Acres over in Hollow Shades this year! If'n yer close by or jus' really wanna come, get yer tails on the train and come on down with you and yer possie!"
I looked over the invite again to make sure I had the date right and checking the little calender on table to confirm I had this weekend off before moving to the next letter.
"Dear Ivory,
How have you been? I heard from Miss Pages that you moved up to Cloudsdale. Nice place, from what I've heard that is. Lil' Scoots talks about you and Lemmy all the time, whenever she's not drooling over her idol or out with her friends trying to find their marks. She's a great kid, you and Lemon Wedge did a good job with her while you had her. She's got such an adventurous spirit to her, I think you and I both know where that comes from, eh? She's also not so little anymore. She's growing up fast Ivory, I wish you could see her. The only thing I'm worried about is that her wings aren't really growing all that much and she's still fluttering about. Since Claire and I are both Earth Ponies, we don't really know much about Pegasus physiology so we thought we'd ask you if you had anything like that when you were around her age. You should really come see her sometime before she grows up on all of us.
Sincerely,
~Nicholas Winters"
I thought back to when I was ten years old for a second, that was around the time that I was first starting to get off the ground. I'd have to tell them that she just needs to practice a lot and she'll get the hang of it.
"Hey Ive!
How ya been? I've been doing great! I finally got your mailing address (you wanderer you) and decided to send ya a letter! Oh, and another thing... WHY DIDN'T YA TELL ME YA WERE RUNNIN' OFF FROM THE ORPHANAGE?! And why didjya wait so long to do it? ;P But seriously though, not to sound like I got somthin' against ya or anything, but I kinda wish ya told me you were plannin' to get the hell outta dodge soon that day we stopped by Guy's place. Woulda been nice ta know it'd be awhile before I saw ya again. Anyways, hope to hear back from ya soon and maybe get together some time in the future.
Yer old pal,
~Flash"
It felt good to hear from Flash after all these years, I made a note to write him back as soon as possible before I went on to the next letter.
"Hey bro." I heard voice call as the door closed. I looked up and saw a green pegasus filly with a caramel mane and tail and light brown bow whipping her hooves on the mat.
"Hey Lilly, how was school?" I asked.
"Eh, it was school. But I can't complain too much, I got Elizabeth to hang out with when I can." She said with a smile.
"It's a good thing you two don't have any classes together, otherwise you wouldn't learn a thing in that place." I said as I ruffled her mane with my hoof.
"Hey! I learn stuff!" She retorted, putting her mane back in the style she always had it in.
"Nightmare Moon was imprisoned and redeemed by the Elements of..." I said, stretching out the last word to entice her to finish.
"Purity...?" She answered, almost like she was asking a question.
"Harmony. C'mon Lilly, the Elements themselves live right down in Ponyville." I said, causing her to turn her head to hide her embarrassment which caused me to sigh.
"Just promise me you'll try a little harder in school, ok?" I said as I wrapped my wing around her.
"Ok bro." She said as she leaned her head on my shoulder.
"Now how are you doing in gym? Have you gotten any higher off the ground?" I asked enthusiastically.
"You bet I have! I got three whole hooves higher than I did last week!" She exclaimed, jumping up in the air.
"Great! Keep it up, this is a very important time for developing your wings."
"I know, I know. You've only told me like a hundred times." She teased.
"Oh, and we've been invited to an Apple reunion this weekend." I said as I tucked the last letter away for later reading.
"That's cool, have fun without me." She said as she walked off to the room where I had my masseuse equipment set up.
"You don't wanna come?" I asked, following her to get things ready for an appointment later.
"I don't really know the Apples like you do, I'd just be a weird pony there."
"Until I tell them you're my sister, then they'd be as friendly as can be to ya. Why don't you see if Elizabeth would like to come?" I asked, thinking that was the real reason she didn't want to go. It's near impossible to separate those two sometimes.
"Actually, Elizabeth asked me if I wanted to sleep over this weekend." She said, grabbing the head-cushion for the massage table.
"What did ya tell her?" I asked as I lit an incense.
"I said I would ask if it was ok. So.. is it?" She asked hopefully.
"Sure, you two don't have a lot of chances to hang out anyway." I said with a smile.
"Yay!!" She cheered, almost dropping the head-cusion she was fluffing.
"Hello? I'm here for my appointment." A voice came at the door with a knock.
"Coominng!~" I called as I opened the door that led directly to my business room.
"Thanks for squeezing me in on such short notice." He said as he walked in and stood beside my table.
"No problem, we would've been stuck taking stock if you hadn't got a hold of me." I chuckled. "Now what's givin' ya trouble?"
~<(^)>~
The visit from Crescent Moon earlier was the only business I had today so me and Lilly decided to go ahead and take stock after he left anyway. She was inside doing homework now while I was on the roof looking up at the night sky.
Ever since Luna's return it had been so much prettier. It just seemed like more effort was put into making it, taking extra care to place each star in its place. It made even my little patch of cloud shine. I pulled out the last letter I got today and and opened it to read in the moonlight.
"Dear Ivory,
How have you been? Me and Aloe have been doing great running the day spa down here in Ponyville. I still can't believe that Vera trusted us with running this place after what happened with the seaweed wrap, but I guess if being wrapped up in seaweed for as long as we were gets you your Cutie Marks I guess that's kinda a sign."
I stopped reading for a moment and looked back at my flank to admire the image that had been there once we finally got the last of that stuff off of us, a pink lotus flower with golden stamens. Aloe and Lotus also got lotus flowers, but they were slightly different from mine. Mine had a few more petals than theirs and was also pink while theirs were both white.
"Sometimes I think that if you hadn't moved to Cloudsdale Vera would have picked you to take over the spa instead of Me and Aloe, you were always so good at running things whenever Vera would be sick or out of town. But you had plans of your own that you intended on seeing through to the end. Aloe and I have always wanted to come see how much progress you've made on that! If only we were Pegasi so we could fly up there and see how you're doing with your own spa. But oh well, I'm sure you're very busy trying to work your own business up. Just remember to take a rest every now and then, and come see me- errr.. I mean, us! Did I really just write that? Arghh!!
Love,
~Lotus Blossom."
I set the letter aside and looked up at the stars. I wasn't as oblivious as I had been when I was a colt, I could tell when a mare was interested in me now. I thought about all the good times me and Lotus had when we were both working back at the spa in Ponyville. I couldn't say I didn't feel the same way, maybe I could bring her with me to the reunion this weekend.
"Ivory!" I heard Lilly call from the window.
"Yeah!" I called back.
"Isn't it getting kinda late?"
"Heheh, I supose so." I said as I flew in the window.
"G'night Windy." I chuckled as I tucked her in.
"G'night flower-flank." She said as she laid back and fell asleep with a smirk.
I dimmed the lights, headed to my room across the hall and fell asleep as soon as I was under my covers.
~The End~