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// Prompt #519: Butterfly 
// Story: Ponywatching 
// by ThunderTempest 
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The line had been there since early that morning, each pony hoping to get a glimpse of her. However, on this day, the curtains were drawn, the windows and doors were locked and nopony had seen her since the previous night.

Yet she had clearly shown enough forethought to place a bag beside her mailbox, along with a beautifully decorated sign proclaiming what the bag was for, knowing what would happen today. The bag was steadily filling up with pink envelopes of all shapes and sizes. Some were decorated with hoof-made hearts, more carried the label of a popular card maker, but all went into the sack.

And with each pony that placed their letter in the bag, they departed with a hopeful sigh, praying that this year, she would return their affections. It was not difficult to see why she attracted so much admiration, from stallions and mares alike. She was beautiful. Perhaps not in the classical sense of her kind, but she had been admired for years by a number of ponies, even when it was not her intention to do so. 

Halfway through the morning, while the sun was nearing its full height in the sky, the mailmare arrived, carefully wound her way around the line and avoid stepping on any tails, and dumped the entire contents of both her saddlebags into the sack beside the letterbox.

She returned thirty minutes later and repeated the process. Only on the third trip did she empty only half of her bag into the sack outside the house, and then quietly slip two normal letters into the actual mailbox before taking her leave.

The sun had gone down before the line finished. It was only once the last pony was completely out of sight of the house that a mare slinked out of the forest behind the house. Fluttershy looked around, making absolutely sure that nopony was in sight. She didn’t like going into the Everfree Forest, but it was the only way to absolutely avoid everypony on Hearts and Hooves day, and going into the forest was certainly easier than dealing with ponies. 
With another sigh to herself, she untied the bag from her mailbox, and hauled it inside her cottage, before going back out and collecting the actual mail.