//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2: Against the Storm 
// Story: Lost Fate 
// by Fluxxdog 
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Chapter 2: Against the Storm

Slipwind flew against the air current. It was brisk, but considering he was flying from Fillydelphia to Ponyville, he wasn’t worried. The sun was nearly overhead and the wind never worried him. He enjoyed these trips. It wasn’t the quiet. He loved talking to other ponies. It was the peace that he enjoyed. His yellow fur and red mane and tail made him stand out against the patchwork of gray clouds that were being positioned. Looked like Ponyville was in for one last snow.
Most of his packages went to the post office, but this one they paid extra for direct delivery. He had delivered to Filthy Rich plenty of times before. Mr. Rich was usually happy to see him and one of the few customers who knew him by name. There was Fancy Pants in Canterlot, but he seemed to know everypony.
A butler answered a knock on the door of the estate. “Yes? May I help you?”
“Delivery for Mister Rich.” He knew better than to mention his first name. Seriously, what parents would think it was a good idea to name their kid Filthy? Maybe it was poetic, maybe they were drunk… Didn’t matter. It was just nuts. Of course, he knew better than to say that in front of Mr. Rich.
“I’ll take that, thank you.”
“Sorry, Mr. Rich needs to sign for it himself. Delivery orders.”
“Very well, wait here please.” The butler closed the door. Slipwind looked around while waiting. He’d been delivering for quite some time after leaving Canterlot. He knew Mr. Rich depended on couriers and others to do the dirty work… He chuckled at the irony.
Still, living on a courier’s pay isn’t bad. He’d saved up enough to maybe consider finding a home somewhere. It was just a question of where. As he contemplated it, the door opened.
“Ah, Slipwind, so good to see you! You say you need me to sign?”
“Yes sir!” He pulled out a small clipboard and quill. Filthy Rich signed, Slipwind exchanged the clipboard for a thick envelope, and his delivery was complete.
“How much do I owe you?”
“Nothing this time, Mr. Rich. Delivery was paid in full in Fillydelphia.”
This seemed to elicit a look of surprise from Filthy Rich. “Wait, these were supposed to be sent out this morning. Are you telling me you made it here to Ponyville before noon with this wind?”
Slipwind blushed a little. He wasn’t a braggart, but every now and then he liked to toot his own horn. “They did say it was important to get it to you as soon as possible. I was just doing my job.”
Mr. Rich reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a few bits. “Then consider this a bonus for a job well done! I’ll have extra time to review this information. Thank you very much.”
“Thank you, Mr. Rich! Have a great day!” Slipwind took off. Mr. Rich rarely tipped, but fortune smiled on Slipwind and Mr. Rich was in a good mood. And now, Slipwind was in a great mood!


Slipwind was in a horrible mood. “What do you mean no new deliveries?”
The postmaster, Stamp Collector, pushed his glasses up. “Sorry, Slippy. Winter Wrap-Up is t’morrow. Ponies ‘round here are focusing on their jobs f’r t’morrow.” His speaking pattern always had Slipwind waiting for him to start a sentence with ‘When I was your age…’ “And I know, once spring is here, yer not gonna get a lot of work. Heck, I rarely see ya stick ‘round, even if there’s a town-wide party thrown by Pinkie Pie.”
Slipwind flinched only slightly at the name for reasons he wanted to forget. “Sorry, Stamp. I just wanted to get another delivery in before sunset. Would you mind if I slept in the aerie tonight?”
Stamp Collector looked lost in thought. Slipwind knew he wouldn’t forget that there was a delivery, so what had him lost? He was about to prod him when he spoke up. “You know, Slippy, I might have a delivery for you, but it’s a unique one.” Curiosity got Slipwind’s attention.
“I’ll be honest with ya, Slippy, Ponyville is growing. Right now, I only have 3 mail ponies, Derpy, Post Haste, and Mr. Zippy. The load is getting t’ be a bit much, and if one o’ them were t’ get hurt, it’d be terrible. I need another mail pony, and I know yer a hard worker.” No, he couldn’t believe his ears. He wasn’t… “Slippy, I’d like to offer you a job. Now, if yer up…”
Slipwind didn’t hear him after that. He became a courier because he didn’t have a chance to apply for a postal job, weather job… Heck, he didn’t think he’d make it past a background check. I mean, there was that gambling problem he had after flight school, but he’d paid that off. That shouldn’t come back to bite him after all this. Would it? He didn’t know! Here was a golden opportunity! How could “SLIPPY! ARE YOU LISTENING?”
Slipwind came back to reality. “Sorry, Stamp. I just… wow. I didn’t think you’d ever offer me a job like that. I’m just… I don’t know what to say!”
“Well, I would hope you’d say yes! First day of spring, I get m’ budget renewed and I can hire an extra worker at my discretion. All this time, you’ve been respectful, hard-workin’, and on top of things. I just need you t’ make one last delivery for me.”
“Oh, right, yeah, sure!” Slipwind felt flummoxed. Was flummoxed a word? He didn’t know but that was how he felt. Wait, delivery? “Uh, what do you want me to deliver?”
Stamp Collector pulled a little sack, with a bit of paper sticking out. Slipwind could hear the jingle of bits as he set it down. “Take this to Carousel Boutique and await return instructions.”


Easiest. Delivery. EVER! He knocked on the door. He’d heard about this place, some hoity-toity dress shop. Actually, didn’t he do a delivery for Hoity Toity before? Or was it to him? Yeah maybe it was “Hello, welcome to Carousel Boutique, where we make the meek look chic!”
He just looked at the goddess… uh, that is, unicorn who answered. She smiled sheepishly. “Well, maybe that tagline needs a bit more work. Terribly sorry, darling. Won’t you come in?”
Slipwind chuckled a bit nervously. “Actually, I have a delivery from Stamp Collector for Miss Rarity. Is that you?” He held out the pouch.
Rarity took it from him and pulled out the paper inside. “Oh. Oh my! Congratulations! Oh you must come in now!”
Slipwind walked in hesitantly. The door closed behind him. He couldn’t decide if it was ominous or a sign from Celestia herself. The unicorn motioned for him to move to a spot. “Dear Stampy wants me to put together an outfit and carrier bag for you. I’ll have to insist you take the bits back to him. I told him I would do it no charge.” Measuring tape started to wind itself around him with a glow. “Especially after that fiasco last year when I had to get those designs to Fancy Pants tout suite. I was practically atrocious, though in my defense I-.”
“Rarity!” A small voice interrupted the enjoyable gossip. “Have you seen my crayons?” Slipwind turned to see one of the cutest little fillies he’d ever seen. Like a small version of the angelic… err, the lady before him.
“Sweetie Belle, don’t be rude. I’m working with a customer! Have you looked next to gem box?”
A bit of rustling indicated she, in fact, had not. “There they are! Thanks sis!”
“My sister, such a darling, but she can bit a tad rude at times… Oh my, I do apologize. I just realized my own rudeness. My name, if you hadn’t guessed, is Rarity.”
Slipwind smiled and bowed. “The pleasure is mine, miss. My name is Slipwind.”
“Well, nice to know there are still gentlecolts. I bet you’re the kind to open the door for a lady.”
“As a courier, I didn’t get the opportunity to meet many ladies such as yourself.”
“Oh, courier? You must… um, hold your head straight please… you must see a lot of Equestria.”
The door to the boutique opened with a gruff mare saying, “Hey Rarity, you got a minute?”
“One moment dear.” Slipwind went to see who entered. “No no, hold your head straight, I’m almost done.”
The other mare said, “That’s okay, I just need you to talk. As weather manager, I need to get the birds to come back north. You know how I usually send Ditzy Doo to get them?”
“Yes? What about it? Hold still, still need a couple measurements.”
“Yeah, she came down with the feather flu last week. I don’t want to send her on a long distance flight, but I can’t spare anypony else. What’s worse is there’s a strong southern wind coming in. I know those nests are important, but do you think I could borrow one of the pegasi from your crew?”
“Darling, I’d love to, but I’m running a skeleton crew as it is. The twins, Glacier and Iceberg? They had a family emergency in Cloudsdale. They were the only… hold still, nearly there. They were the only pegasi on my nest-building team.”
Slipwind cleared his throat. “Maybe I can help. I just got hired on at the post office, but I won’t be starting work for a bit. I could help. And I’m great at flying against the wind. My special talent, in fact. There’s nopony faster than me against the wind.”
The mare who entered chuckled. “Nopony faster than you, huh?”
“Well, not against the wind. If you wanted fast otherwise, you’d be looking for Rainbow Dash. She’s the fastest.”
“Oh really? Do tell.”
“Well, she’s the fastest pegasus there is, hooves down. She’s won the Young Flier’s Competition with her trademark Sonic Rainboom, she set new records at the Wonderbolt Academy, and rumor has it she’s the personal flight instructor for Princess Twilight Sparkle.”
“Wow, she sounds awesome.”
Rarity chuckled. “I think you’re teasing him a bit, dear. Okay, all done.”
“Hey, I could let this fanboy ramble on, I don’t mind, especially if he’s going south for the birds.”
Fanboy? FANBOY?! He wasn’t going to take that lying down! He turned to the other mare. “Maybe I am a fan, but that doesn’t mean she’s not awesome!”
The blue Pegasus chuckled a bit. “Okay, buddy. Just answer me one question. What job does Rainbow Dash have?”
“Well, weather manager of Ponyville. Everypony knows that.”
The silence was astounding. The blue pegasus with the rainbow mane smirked. Slipwind was wondering why that was important. Rarity finally broke the silence. “Darling, I don’t think he…”
A blue hoof was held up. “Give him a second. He’ll put two and two together.”
Slipwind was wondering what she was talking about. It’s like she didn’t care about one of… no, THE most awesome flier in all Equestria, the one who faced down Nightmare Moon, fought Discord and Tirek, was on the front lines in the Changeling Invasion, who did this weather manager think she… wait, weather manager? Blue pegasus? Rainbow mane? IN FRONT OF HIM?!
His eyes widened in disbelief, causing her to say, “And he just got four.”
The two mares watched him overload his brain and pass out. Rarity gasped, “Rainbow! I think you broke him!”
“Wow. I knew I was awesome, but I didn’t think I was that awesome.”