Bridlewood - home of the unicorns. A forest, nearly impossible to find if you did not know where it was situated. Once upon a time, the forest had been filled with colour, the crystals reflecting the radiant light. Now, the forest had lost its sparkle - quite literally. The inhabitants went about their day, doing what they needed to, barely cracking a smile.
All of them, except one.
Izzy Moonbow was often told that she was different from the other unicorns. But the young unicorn didn’t mind. She was about eight years old, with a gradient mane fading from blue to purple, and a glossy lavender coat.
Izzy didn’t understand why the other unicorns seemed so glum. The forest had been dull and lifeless for as long as she could remember. Her parents told her - that once upon a time - the unicorns had magic, and they used it for everything. Teleportation, levitating, you name it.
The young unicorn never knew magic, but she wondered what it was like to use it. How did it feel like being able to lift something up into the air, or being able to appear in one place as quick as a blink?
She tried to imagine, she really did. She imagined her horn lighting up with a beautiful light. Her friends, however, weren’t too enthusiastic about her new game.
“C’mon Swirl! It must be so cool to use magic!” Izzy said to her friend, Strawberry Swirls, one day when they were playing together.
Swirl shook her head from side to side. “Don’t say that word, Izzy. You know it’s bad luck! Mommy says we’ll get jinxed.”
Izzy frowned. She had said magic many times before, and hadn’t got jinxed. But she didn’t wanna make Swirl sad by saying the word. So she settled for something else. “Okay, we don’t have to play Magic. We can play flying instead!”
Swirls eyes went wide. “Flying? Like, what the pegasuses do?”
Izzy stopped. She hadn’t thought of the pegasi. Come to think of it, what was it like to fly? If she had magic, could she levitate herself so she could float! That would be so cool!
“Yeah, sure,” she said happily. “We can pretend we have wings and---”
Swirl shrieked, cutting her off. “You said the word, Izzy! YOU SAID THE WORD!”
Izzy winced. Oops…
“Quick, before we get jinxed!” Swirl yelled.
“But…” Izzy protested.
BING! BING BONG BING!
Izzy sighed, trudging back towards her home after performing the ritual to ward off the jinxes. She didn’t like doing the ritual, and she especially didn't like jinxes! Why didn’t the jinxes just leave them alone? They were as bad as the earth-ponies and pegasi!
But… the other ponies don’t hurt us like the jinxes…
Mommy and daddy said the earth ponies and pegasi were bad. But Izzy had never seen one before. Mommy said that if she saw an earth pony she should slowly back away. She said the earth ponies were extremely smelly and would make her smell bad. But, mommy said, they couldn’t hurt you. Pegasi, though, were a different story.
As Izzy walked, she caught sight of a few crystals on the floor. They were the only thing that didn't look like they lost their sparkle. Izzy hummed. They would look so beautiful on a necklace. She bounded over, looking at them carefully, seeing what would look good on a piece of jewelry.
Then she stopped. Something was being reflected in the crystal! Something in the sky…
Izzy looked upward. Something was floating in the sky! It was far away, and Izzy couldn’t see what it was! But it was glowing, and looked kinda pretty.
Curious, the unicorn weighed her options. Chasing the floating thing seemed more fun than collecting crystals. In a few seconds, Izzy was running after the object.
After a few minutes of sprinting, Izzy started to get tired. Fortunately, the floating thing was starting to descend. After a while, Izzy saw it land. She excitedly galloped over.
The object wasn’t very big. Izzy poked and turned it. She finally figured out that the floating thing was a lantern. And a very pretty one. It was decorated with drawings and scribbles on the sides.
Izzy saw something wedged in the lanterns side. Curious, the unicorn tried to pry it out. When she succeeded she examined it. It looked like it was a note, and it had a drawing of a unicorn and pegasi and an earth pony on it.
Izzy frowned. She couldn't read the writing very well. Well, only one thing to do!
“What’s this, honey?” Hazel asked as he took the page from Izzy. Izzy eagerly handed her dad the note.
“I found it in this old lantern,” she piped, jumping up and down. “What does it say?”
Hazel rolled his eyes at his daughter's antics. “Okay, okay, let's see.” He squinted at the page. “Dear unicorns and pegasi, you have friends at Maretime Bay. Come visit us.”
Hazel’s eyes widened when we finished reading, and his expression darkened. Izzy frowned. “Daddy, what’s Maretime Bay?”
Hazel's eyes flicked nervously from side to side. He knew lying to his daughter would be pointless. Despite her happy-go-lucky attitude, Izzy was smarter than she realized. “It's an earth pony town,” he said bluntly, through gritted teeth.
The gears in Izzy’s head started to turn. “So… an earth pony sent the letter? And they wanna be my friend?” she asked slowly, with wide eyes.
Hazel sighed. “Izzy, sweetie, I told you, the earth ponies are bad news. This is most likely a trap.”
“But what if it’s not?” Izzy asked innocently. “What if an earth pony really does wanna be my friend? Whaddya' think Maretime Bay looks like? What---”
“Izzy Moonbow, I don’t want to hear you talk of Maretime Bay again, okay?”
“But…”
“Izzy.”
“Okay, daddy.”
Hazel smiled. “Thanks, Izzy.” He walked to the door of the room, taking the note with him, before scrunching it up and throwing it into the trash can. He exited the room, the door swinging shut behind him.
All was silent.
Izzy stood motionless. When she was sure her father was gone, she creeped over to the trash can, looked left and right, and fished out the note.
Izzy unscrunched it, and looked at the drawing of the three ponies.
Izzy had always wondered about magic. She had always thought magic was about levitating and teleporting stuff. But maybe it wasn't? An earth pony - who mommy and daddy and everyone else said were bad - had sent a letter. A letter that she had received. A letter that said that she had friends... earth pony friends!
Maybe they weren't as smelly and dumb and mean as everyone said?
She smiled. She wouldn’t ask dad about Maretime Bay again.
Dear unicorns and pegasi, you have friends at Maretime Bay. Come visit us.
But she did want a new friend.
And she still wanted to visit.
She would…
Someday.
10 years later…
A unicorn mare stood outside the entrance of the small town. A small earth pony town.
Izzy wondered if the pony who sent the lantern was inside…
She wondered if her friend was inside.
Izzy straightened her posture and grinned. Maybe the pony who sent the note was inside, maybe they weren’t. But there would still be other ponies inside.
Other ponies who might, just might, like to be her friend.
Izzy hummed to herself.
Today was going to be her day.
