The rain comes down in buckets, and in near seconds I'm drenched. I quicken my pace, keeping the last of the mail in my pouch as dry as possible. Ever since my bills have been going up, I've had to take double shifts, even nightly ones. Usually I'd just deliver them as fast as I could, but with the dark and gloomy storm passing over Ponyville tonight, I'll have to walk.
The route I take is unfamiliar, for I don't use it all of the time, but this mail needs to be delivered so far out of town, and every other way is blocked by carts and full of puddles threating to soak through the envelopes I carried. I wish that it wasn't so cold tonight, the wind bites at the tips of my ears and my face, and I find my teeth chattering.
Despite this unwelcoming evening, my job wasn't all so bad. I loved to see my friends and my family all of the time when I gave them their mail, or when I found them on my route around town. They're the most important things in my life, always there by my side and not judging me for my 'wall-eyed' glare, or my clumsy ways and how something wrong always end up happening in ways I can't ever explain.
I always find myself in tough situations, but somehow, I always get lucky, somehow able to get out of them completely; well, almost. I've had to take a lot of jobs in the past to keep the old run down house I have, and often got fired, many times because somepony always ended up getting hurt, mostly myself.
It wasn't much of a life I had, it wasn't as grand or fancy as other ponies like a princess's, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
But even surrounded by a lot of friends and loving family, I can't help but feel lonely. There's no other pony out there who can truly understand the way I feel, with my derpy eyes and my silly ways, or how I wasn't always so quick to catch on to so many things. I guess that living alone does that to you. Always waking up to plain empty walls instead of anyone else. It just feels as though there's someone else for me out there.
I sighed in relief as I finally approached the mail slot and quickly slipped the mail through the seemingly vacant house. I made a quick turn for home, trying to get out of the gradually pouring rain before I can get home. I can't wait until I can go to my warm bed, even if only the walls and the muffins I baked earlier today are the only things greeting me in the morning.
The wind howled and my ears felt sore from the gushing winds. I continued quickly as I dared on the slippery road, trying to get to my welcoming home as quickly as possible. I'm so glad that I don't have to go to work tomorrow, everyday just gets colder and colder, though I'll probably just stay inside all day and sleep in.
I decided to take a short cut, already starting to feel stuffy from staying out in the rain this late. I went through a passage way with tight space, it was one of the few parts of Ponyville that was full of trash, broken bottles, emptied cider cups, plastic, and cardboard. I pass this place all the time when delivering mail, always managing to frown at the sad scene that differed so much from the rest of the usually happy town. The only times it seemed to fit in was when a crisis happened. Yet clean up always somehow manages to over look this part. I walk slowly to avoid cutting myself on any unnoticeable glass shards.
I can't help but look to my right as I walk past one dead end. Through my drenched mane, I make out a dark blob far into the corner. I stop, not seeing it there before. Any other pony might've had the sense to walk away from it and assumed it was another piece of trash that found it's way there.
But I let my curiosity get the best of me. I walk up to it cautiously, afraid of there being something terrifying inside. The rain seems to fade from existence along with everything else when I hear a small tired sound, drowning everything else out as the world seemed to stop spinning.
I freeze, my stomach doing a flip as I swallow a lump that formed in my throat. I look to it again, deciding on whether or not to leave it or not. But something tells me to look inside. I take a deep breath and walk to it.
Progress towards it is slow, considering there can be anything in that box, that one box, so small and yet noticeable to spark my curiosity. Every step I take is hesitant, but I eventually find myself standing directly above it, noticing a small opening in the flaps. When I hear another sound again, I freeze, my heart begins to pound as I inch my hoof towards it, taking hold of the flap, I squeeze my eyes shut and open the lid.
I eventually open my eyes and turn my head towards the inside;
Only to find a small purple foal inside.
My heart feels like it breaks into two when I notice how thin it is. Dark purple bruises wrapped around it's body. I could count the bones under her purple coat. She looked so fragile and defeated in there, as though she'd been there for days, which she probably had. I notice tears on the side of her face, and find her an unhealthy pale color. She looked so fragile and small, as though the wind would've taken her away had the box not been there.
Who would do this to such a small foal? Who would do something this evil? Where did she come from? Where are her parents? I notice just how poorly her coat had been cared for. I tear up immediately, the lump in my throat only growing bigger as I hear a tired raspy sound escape her lips. She was on her back, only having a small blanket she managed to wiggle herself out of. She couldn't have been a day over two weeks old. She looked defeated, malnourished and ready to give up. She was hugging herself so tight around her stomach as a wind blew, scrunching up in a tiny ball.
Who could care for her? Her parents obviously couldn't care for her. It isn't until she begins to cry and shake that I decide I had seen enough. I reach into the box and start getting worried when I barely get a response. I pick up the blanket, a small horn poking through the tuft of golden hair she has.
I swaddle her with the damp blanket, wrapping it around me in a way so that her front side may face me. Her breathing is frantic and she's so hot and wet. I'm wondering if she has a fever from being out in this rain for so long.
'What am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to take care of her when I can barely manage to keep my own home? I can't just leave her out here like this though.' I cradle her close in my arms, finding that she's really weak from her soft kicks, she's surprisingly calm, though she's breathing frantically. I move my head to block her face from the rain.
A crack of thunder causes the both of us to jump, and she starts to cry, bringing her face to my chest. "Shh" I whisper, "you'll be ok." I wrap her in my arms and flap my wings, going as fast and steady as I could to my home.
"Shh." I whisper to her, "Shh."
'What am I thinking? How am I supposed to take care of a for her by myself? Am I up for this?' The faster I flew, the more I continued doubting myself. She eventually falls asleep from the steady beating of my wings. As I rush through the night, I do my best to avoid any unwanted eyes on me. Not wanting anyone to question why I was out so late, or why I had a sleeping foal in my arms.
As I flap my wings, I start to grow more and more worrisome about this decision I was making. 'What will she eat? All I have is hay and carrots, a few other vegetables and the muffins I made earlier today. I guess I'll have to think of something.
I finally arrive home and slip through the door as quickly as possible, setting down my mail carrier on a nearby stand. I rush into the living room, flipping on a light switch to see. She wakes up once the light is on and I stop, immediately going back to crying, her voice was quite raspy for a foal's.
'I have no idea what I'm doing.' I think to myself. 'I just hope that this works. How do I take care of a foal in the first place?' I set her down. gently placing her on the pillows. The sound of thunder and lighting shakes the walls, and she grows even more antsy.
I begin to grow nervous, worried about how to calm her. I try rocking her, but this only intensifies her crying.
"Shh, shh, it's ok." I say. "You'll be alright, there's nothing to worry about." She barely softens and look up to me, her eyes large and full of pain.
"Don't worry," I assure her. "You'll be ok with me." I say, putting on a gentle smile. She continues shaking and clenches herself together in a tight ball. She begins to cry again.
I don't know what to do, all I can think of is give her something to eat, so I scoop her up and balance her on my back, using my wings to keep her there. I go into the kitchen, taking out a milk carton and pouring it into a small pot, warming it on a low temperature.
I set her down on the table across, and she resorts to lying on her stomach, kicking her outstretched legs.
"Shh." I say, holding a hoof to my mouth, repeating myself over and over as I assured her she'd be alright. When that didn't work, I took hold and tried every trick I could think of, but hardly got any results. Eventually the milk was done, and I resorted to pouring it into a bowl and taking a spoon to feed it to her with.
I bring her to the next room, where I cradle her in my arms again and scoop a spoonful of milk. I look down to her.
"Shh, hush, don't worry little one, it's okay. You'll be fine." She looks up to me, big fat tears about to spill over her eyes. "Here you go, drink up." I say, trying to use a light tone in my voice. She continues to look up to me blinking once as her mouth gaped open.
Taking my chance, I slipped it into her mouth. She takes this by surprise, clamping her mouth shut and swallowing. She then turns to me for more. I continue to smile down at her, saying any calming word hat could come to mind, not caring about the stains getting on the couch as she emptied the bowl. After patting her on the back, her eyes begin to flutter, and she turns over from her stomach. Lying on her side ad sticking a hoof in her mouth.
At some point I must've fell asleep too, because the next time I open my eyes it's day light outside, and the storm had stopped. I yawn tiredly, raising a hoof to my mouth. My vision clears a bit from it's blurry state and my eyes find the small purple filly in front of me.
Memories from the night before rush to mind, so fast it causes me to jump. She stirs, and I curse myself for disturbing her peaceful sleep. I lay there for a while, not sure of what to do next.
'This could be my chance to do something before she wakes up.' I think. I stand up, more careful not to disrupt her peaceful state, and head into the kitchen, taking a blueberry muffin or two from the oven. I gobble it up quickly, shifting my gaze in her direction every few seconds in fear she'd wake up. That's when a thought occurred to me.
'What do I tell my friends? Should I even let them know? But then won't they find out eventually? What will they think of me? If anyone else finds out, would they take her away?' More and more questions flooded my mind, and I started to lose my appetite.
She starts to shift more now, and I see her starting to wake up. I move over to her, taking her in my arms and bringing her close. I should clean her, she looked so rough and beaten up. I move to the bathroom, looking at the bathtub to determine if it was too deep for her.
I decide to rule it out, since she's so small for her size, I turn to the sink. I turn the faucets, making sure the temperatures weren't to hot for her. She stares at the water as it fills up the sink, when I add soap to the mixture, I set her in gently, stopping the faucets.
She looks at the water surrounding her curiously, as though she wasn't sure what to do next. I take the soap and lather it through her fur, taking note of her discomfort. I carefully clean her bruises and cuts, not even wanting to think how she got them. She continues to cry as I work through her coat and mane.
"It's almost over soon, I promise." I say sweetly. She reduced to silent tears and stopped pushing my arms away with what little strength she gained. I take an empty container and fill it with water, pouring it onto her so that all of the soap may come out. She sits in the sink drenched, crying her eyes out.
"It's ok, you'll be fine." I take a towel and scoop her up with it, wrapping it around her as she softened. I take her to my room where I find a small brush, and gently begin to brush her puffed out mane into place. She tries to push me away and scatters frantically, but I eventually get the kinks out of her mane. She looks at me with an adorable scowl and tears.
"I'm sorry, but I needed to clean you." I holding back a giggle at her frustration. I roll out a blanket on the floor, setting her down gently upon it and watching as she rolled onto her back and into her usual sleeping position, her cute little purple hooves sticking out through the air. As soon as she's asleep, I stand up and head out the door, shutting it silently behind me.
"Why do you need these Derpy?" A confused store clerk asked.
"I'm..." I rack my brain for an answer. "I'm... foalsitting my niece for a few days, her mother needed someone to last minute, and I need supplies for her." I lie, rushing through my words.
"Aw, that's awfully sweet of ya, how's about you bring her over sometime? I'm sure we'd love to see her." She said.
"No!" I say too quickly. She looks even more confused. "I mean... she doesn't like going outside all the time, and that weather last night gave her quite a scare, so, I'd best get back to her quickly." I say, taking the bag in my teeth, tossing the bits on the counter, and rushing off.
I return home to find she had awoken, and her head was whipping around frantically. I jump and rush over to her locking the door behind me.
'I'll have to be more careful, I can't just get too caught up outside, but I don't want to cause any suspicion either.' taking out the supplies as I go over to her. I smile as I extend my hooves down to her in an attempt to scoop her up.
And to my wonderful surprise, she smiles back.
The joy I felt of seeing her smile, of being the reason behind that grin, is remarkable, her smile was a beautiful thing to me, and it all of sudden felt to me like nothing else could compare anymore.
I want to keep that smile, to see it everyday from when we first wake, to be reminded that there's someone who's happy to be with me. I don't want to ever forget the first time she smiled up at me, or any other time she might. I don't want to feel alone again.
And I'll go at any length to make sure I won't lose her.