Gentle Breeze was the loveliest little lady in all of Equestria, or so her husband swore anyway. On more than one occasion he had claimed she outshone Celestia and her sun, a fact that she was eternally humbled by, and eternally embarrassed by. She lived in Ponyville currently, but had come from a small, nearby town following a woodcutter who had been following after her for several years before he finally proposed.
She had managed a small business selling quilts and scarves of her own design and make until she became aware of the strange bad luck that took its toll on the inhabitants of the town. The proximity to the Everfree Forest seemed to invite misfortune, but the ponies lived on anyway, though with a few more bruises and cuts than they had the day before. So, Breeze’s business swung from sewing quilts and knitting scarves to stitching bandages. She worked with a local botanist to soak the cloth in healing potives that, while nowhere near the potency of the brews the zebras made, was enough to ward off infection and encourage renewal.
Nowadays she managed a job at the local hospital where she did her best to help the infirmed, and while she found great joy in helping those around her she was nonetheless pleased when the time came for her to take a day off.
So now she sat idly in her house, perusing a paper of chicken scratch as she pondered on her chore. She sat in subtle silence while her mind maneuvered over the stock of their kitchen. She added two more lines to the list before deciding she had everything she could think of. From the next room she heard the pouring of liquid and the bitter, invigorating smell of coffee filled her nose. Taking the opportunity to confirm her list’s completion, she roused her voice to call into the other room.
“Honey? Can you think of anything we need from the grocery store?”
There was a sip in response, followed by a pause, punctuated by a thought.
“I think we’re out of soda?” He offered as he took another loud sip of his brew from the other room..
“You could do with drinking more water anyhow.”
“Then what about some powdered donuts.”
“You just finished them off two days ago.”
“I think I worked my way through all of our Hay Flake cereal.”
“You really should consider-” She paused. “Actually no, that’s fine.” She added it to her list. “Anything else?”
“Eh… nothing I can think of off the top of my head. You got all the usual culprits written down? Milk and its cohorts?”
Breeze nodded to herself as she glanced over the list again. “Yup.” She stood from her chair, tucking the list away for safekeeping. “Alright that should do it, I’ll see if I can get you anything to quell that sweet tooth of yours.”
He moved through the doorway between them, a cup of coffee levitating beside him. “Thanks dear.” He said with a smile, giving her a kiss on the cheek. She returned the act, feeling his five o’clock shadow prickling on her lips for a moment before she pulled away. “Have a good day off.” He whispered to her. He smiled as he placed his forehead to hers, locking eyes for a moment.
“Have a good day yourself,” she returned with a playful smile, moving to the door with saddlebags and list in tow.
“A stallion can try right?” He said as he took a sip of coffee, waving goodbye, she mimicked the action and he remained waving until the door closed and she made her way off to the store. Letting his waving limb fall to the floor he made his way contentedly to the counter where the newspaper awaited his arrival. He smiled a bit as he saw she’d left it open to the Funnies section. “She knows me so well.” He said to himself, another sip of coffee marking the silence as he read through the jokes.
Breeze, meanwhile, made her way down the beaten dirt road that led the way into Ponyville proper. She double checked the list in her head to the sound of her hoofsteps, wanting to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything, but as the sounds of traffic and bustle grew around her she was forced to pay attention to the road. Her eyes moved through the streets, streets that had been growing more and more choked with new neighbors as the town’s fame grew.
The arrival of Twilight Sparkle, and subsequent discovery of the elements, had made the town quite a tourist attraction and among the tourists were those who wanted to reside there permanently. Breeze was happy for the influx of new homes and new homeowners of course, she’d gotten a raise out of it after all, but she worried that before too long her quaint little town would be a bustling city, precisely the kind that she had avoided for much of her life.
It was a long ways off still, but it was a constant issue. The mayor, old as she was, seemed to share that opinion. A half dozen parks had been ‘founded’ as the population spiked in an effort to maintain the nature around them. The apple family too had made clear their stance on the issue, and were doing their best to enforce, kindly, the events that made Ponyville what it was. Both the running of the leaves and winter wrap up had been maintained and even celebrated for their old appeal.
Still, she worried. She suspected it was because she was getting into her late forties, the appeal to never change was starting to set itself in her mind, or perhaps it had always been there and only now in the face of change did it make itself known, she didn’t know which.
She neared the corner that held the grocery, but her mind wandered as she grew nearer, and her hooves wandered as well. She ended up, not entirely unconsciously, in one of the self-same parks that she had been thinking about. The trees seemed to welcome her, and she gladly joined them, leaving the bustle of the street behind.
The shade of the trees seemed almost pristine in their dance, a dance guided by the singing of the rustling leaves. She stepped with lackadaisical intent, her steps lingering on the dirt roads that twisted between the greenery. She picked her way through the swaying paths to the center, where a massive tree marked her destination.
It’s boughs hung heavily with the weight of their leaves, no doubt due for a trim sometime soon, but though the massive branches were impressive they did not draw Breeze’s gaze. She looked to the trunk, smiling softly. She placed her hoof against the bark, closing her eyes as she did so. When they opened they were heavy with memories. She removed her hoof and looked again the to trunk, to the carving of a heart that held two letters inside of it and her smile lingered, soft and lost to time.
Somethings, at least, didn’t change.
She lingered longer but eventually left, lest the leaves and the like keep her for the remainder of the day. She made her way to the store, and purchased the items. She greeted the ponies she knew, and those who knew her greeted her as well. She walked the bustling streets and returned home. But in her mind, she was still there at that park, still among the peace and serenity of the park. It wasn’t until the sun was setting and her husband came home that she returned. A moment all the sweeter, accompanied as she was by the one who had carved it.