Can I Ask You A Question?
“What’s wrong, Izzy?”
Izzy Moonbow’s ears perked up, hearing Sunny’s voice. She had been so distracted in her own thoughts after talking with Pipp that she had completely forgotten her friends were there. She had just been worrying about whether she would still be allowed to continue to be friends with Sunny and the others. With the prospect of bringing back magic on the horizon and one crystal already being in their possession, the end of their adventure was soon to be in sight.
What if her friends forgot about her afterwards? She had made huge efforts to make friends with them. Did they think the same way? She didn’t know. She hoped so at least. She knew Sunny would still be her friend. She at least cared about her…right?
Izzy sighed. “It’s just…being with you ponies has been the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. I just don’t want our adventure to end…”
“But Izzy, you’ll get your magic,” Sunny encouraged her.
Izzy smiled. It would be nice to have magic back. What is it like? She thought. She had been born without magic. All of the Unicorns her age had been born without magic. Her horn was basically useless. She didn’t care of course as she didn’t know, but she had always been curious when older Unicorns in Bridlewood began ranting about the lack of magic.
Hitch Trailblazer broke the silence.
“Can I ask you a question?” She nodded. “Why did you come to Maretime Bay?”
There it was. The question that she had been trying to answer since she had first gotten that lantern all those years ago. Why did she come to begin with? The answer should’ve been obvious, right? She wanted to make friends. She was the only happy Unicorn in Bridlewood. Everypony else was just so glum and depressed all the time. And after hearing that maybe other races would want to be her friend, she had to give it a chance, right?
But then why did she wait so long? Why did it take her years to finally go?
The truth was more complex than just a longing for friendship and she knew it. She knew that there was more to her decision than just longing. Far more. She just didn’t know how to tell them. She didn’t know if they would understand.
But here they were sitting in front of her, concerned about her. She owed them an answer, even if she didn’t quite know herself. Maybe reliving my past will help me find one.
She took a deep breath, all of the years of memories coming to the surface, all the hope, and all the yearning she had her entire life.
“Well,” Izzy began, smiling wistfully, “I’ve always wanted to visit…”
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"It was said that our magic disappeared when I was born. At least that’s what everyone in Bridlewood thinks. One moment, everypony was happy. The next moment, no one could use their magic. Their horns went dormant, never again to cast another spell.
The leader of Bridlewood, Alphabittle, then decreed that words like ‘wing, magic, feather, and mayonnaise’ would be banned as they were associated with the old days, and that they had to move forward as a society. Whenever a pony said any any of those words, a special ritual would have to be done to cleanse themselves of jinx and bad luck.
Everyone blamed my parents. After all, they were the ones who had me: the troubled filly, the walking bad luck, the source of all their problems. Of course, I was just a foal back then, too young to understand why everyone hated me so much. As I grew older, I assumed they were depressed because of their magic disappearing. And so, I vowed to be the source of all of their joy. I would bring happiness to Bridlewood. I would be the optimist in the face of all this hardship.
I tried to make everypony happy, whether that was waving at ponies as I passed by, or engaging in conversation with fellow fillies my age. Every time I would come close to making a friend, their parents would take them away, calling me names and cussing me out.
To say that Alphabittle, took my existence personally would be an understatement. Unicorn society rapidly declined since the magic had disappeared and many ponies were out of a job. So when it came time for me to go to school, he taught all the classes. Alphabittle hated me. I can’t say I blamed him at the time. I still don’t. He once was the proud leader of an industrious, magical society, and I took that all away. Not to mention the fact that my young mind was prone to questioning everything. In history class, I would question the art of our supposed enemies. I would question the legitimacy of this “war” with the other races we supposedly had. Heck, I would even question how Bridlewood was built. I just wanted to learn.
It was also there that I learned about Maretime Bay and Zephyr Heights, where you guys came from. I was always curious about the other races, about you guys. Why did we dislike them? They were ponies like us, weren’t they? Why were we in perpetual war? Was the history we were taught even real? My parents, wanting to protect me, forbade me from bringing up the other races at home.
But one night, everything changed.
It started one night after I had gotten into a heated argument with my Dad over the legitimacy of our hatred of the Earth Ponies and the Pegasi. Mom tried to back me up, but he got mad at her too. He grounded me for the week. As I was in my room, I opened my window for fresh air and saw this floating lantern fly towards me. I was mesmerized by it, almost as if it was meant for me to have. I picked it up and saw that it had a message inside. It said that I had friends in Maretime Bay!"
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Izzy paused her story when she saw the shocked look on Sunny’s face upon seeing the letter that she wrote with her father all those years ago actually reach someone.
Initially, Izzy didn’t understand why Sunny was so mesmerized by it as she once was, but then the pieces fell into place. Tears came to her eyes as she realized it, “It…it was you…”
Sunny nodded slowly as she took the letter, smiling wistfully, “I made it with my Dad. We promised each other that we would prove that all ponies were meant to be friends. We’ll do our part…” She hugged the letter close, “…hoof to heart.”
It was there that a switch seemed to come on in everypony’s heads as they each faced Sunny, each offering their condolences for her father’s death. Even Pipp Petals, who had long resented the rest of the ponies for getting her exiled from her home, joined in.
Izzy never imagined that she would have a close group of friends as she did now. Each one of them disagreed with the system in some way, and now, they were finally putting past their differences and coming together. It then occurred to the purple unicorn that she was the cause for this, that if she hadn’t strolled into Maretime Bay that afternoon, then none of this would’ve happened.
She was the one that brought them all together.
Sunny then faced her, as well as the rest of the ponies, all looking right at her as they did at the beginning of her story.
“And then what happened?” Sunny asked her.
Izzy nodded and continued her story.
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"Mom instructed me to keep the letter safe, for if Dad were to discover it, then anger and unbridled rage would certainly ensue. I tucked the letter in my mane, which is where I’ve kept it for all these years.
I tried to continue life on as normal, but things soon fell out of favor for both me and my family a couple years later. I was expelled from school the following day after one of my old essays from second grade was discovered in which I questioned whether everything we were taught was even real. School officials claimed that I was in “secret kahoots” with the Earth Ponies and the Pegasi, and that I was a traitor to my own kind. Soon after that, my Dad lost his job at the gambling pub because Alphabittle had cheated him out of his job, hiring a “more loyal” employee in the process. Then after that, my Mom got sick with cancer the following week and couldn’t get treated because she had me.
I didn’t know what to do. I felt worthless, and all I ever did was try and make ponies smile, and learn about the world in my own unique way. That night, my Dad flipped out at me, calling me a disgrace to the Unicorn race and that he never wanted to see me ever again. On her deathbed, Mom instructed me to run away.
‘Run away,’ she pleaded with me, ‘Run away from here and find out the truth. You were sent that letter for a reason. And…even if it takes you the rest of your life…find out what that reason is.’
I was only nine and scared to go out alone, but I couldn’t deny Mom’s dying wish. I promised her I would bring the magic back no matter what. I escaped the house that night in the rain with only my saddlebag, some food and water, and that letter. I would find out the truth. I would find the Earth Ponies and the Pegasi.
I would save Bridlewood and prove that I wasn’t worthless like everyone told me I was. I would make Mom proud."
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Izzy finished her story, tears streaming down her face as she wiped them hurriedly. Her friends were all looking at her with sadness and sympathy. Even Hitch Trailblazer was wiping tears away too, and he had long despised the group coming together, and he had also despised her. But here he was, offering his sympathy.
“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” Hitch comforted her, “No one should be treated like an outcast, no matter who they are. I see that now.”
“Thanks…” Izzy thanked him. She faced her friends, “Don’t be worried about me. I’m fine. Reliving this has just been hard.”
“Have you thought about how others will receive you when you return tomorrow?” Pipp inquired of her.
Izzy shook her head. “We’re going to keep a low profile. I’ll have to get you guys to blend in. And…hopefully nopony notices me.”
“We’re with you until the very end.” Sunny promised her, “No matter what. If I have to defend you from your idiot father, I will. I’ll do my part.”
“Why?” Izzy asked, knowing full well the answer she was going to get, but she wanted to make sure her friends were up for this.
“Because that is what friends do.” Sunny replied firmly.
Hitch smiled. “Hey, I want to do my part too. What have we got to lose, hm?” Everypony cheered at the sight of him joining them. “I have to admit. A Unicorn forest sounds pretty magical.”
Sunny blew out the campfire and everyone lay next to one another on the ground. It didn’t matter to Izzy that it was cold outside. That was how she lived her entire life since she ran away.
She spotted Sunny laying down next to her. The two friends faced one another.
“You ready to return home after all these years?” Sunny asked her cautiously.
Izzy nodded. “It’s time I face my past again. Telling you guys has been extremely helpful…” She yawned and curled up, “Thanks for being there for me, Sunny…” Then she was fast asleep.
Sunny lay awake for a few minutes, processing everything Izzy had just told her. Determination set in her tired eyes, she looked at the sleeping Unicorn beside her. “You won’t go through this alone, Izzy…
Not anymore…”
