With magic restored and all pony tribes reunited, it meant that five particular friends consisting of two pegasi, two earth ponies and a unicorn would never have to be apart. Right now, they were relaxing together at Maretime Bay. Hitch and Sunny were currently showing their new friends around the town, Izzy particularly happy that she didn’t frighten the whole town again like last time. Sunny gave them smoothies for them all to sample, and Hitch showed off his sheriff skills proudly. He was slightly concerned though when Pipp stumbled upon a certain calendar hanging on the office’s wall. He would have been mortified to know that Pipp posted the item on Ponygram.
Right now, they were currently back at Sunny’s lighthouse, now fully reconstructed in its former glory. Sunny showed her new friend’s a collection of her dad’s artefacts, telling stories of what her father told her about ancient Equestria. They sat around the kitchen whilst Sunny told stories about a unicorn who befriended five ordinary ponies and became the Princess of Friendship. The others, apart from Hitch who heard these stories with Sunny growing up, were captivated and hung onto every word. When her stories ended, Hitch unexpectedly turned to the unicorn of the group.
“Izzy?” Hitch asked unexpectedly, causing the others to turn to the stallion.
“Yes?” Izzy perked up, drinking another smoothie out of a straw. This was her sixth cup already.
“I’ve got a question about when we went looking for the crystals,” Hitch explained.
“Go on,” Izzy urged him on with a hoof.
“Remember when we found out that the bridge across the ravine collapsed and we were arguing on the other side?” Hitch continued his questioning.
“Hmm,” Izzy made a sound of acknowledgement.
“Well, I was wondering,” Hitch coughed hesitantly, “How did you get that tree down?”
“Didn’t any pony notice what I was doing?” Izzy looked at the others. The group shook their heads.
“Sorry, Izzy,” Sunny smiled sheepishly, “I was busy telling them what we will do when we were arguing.”
“You gave us quite the talking to,” Zipp added.
“You sounded like our mum when we would argue,” Pipp nodded in agreement.
“Well then, my friends,” Izzy gave a cocky smile and a wink, “I will show and tell you how I managed to get that tree down.” She began to clear her throat as if she was going to tell some elaborate story.
“Before we had magic now, we didn’t of course,” Izzy began, earning a few groans from the four ponies around the table as Izzy told her story in typical Izzy enthusiasm, “And since we didn’t have magic, we had to find other ways to do some simple tasks. Hooves can only go so far. Sunny saw me do just one example when I arrived at Maretime Bay.”
“I did?” Sunny perked up.
“Remember when you gave me that can of beans and wanted to see me do magic?” Izzy wiggled her eyebrows at Sunny.
“You used your horn to… Oh…” Sunny’s eyes widened at what Izzy hinted at.
“I’m going to need some context here,” Zipp looked between Sunny and Izzy.
“Make that two of us,” Pipp and Hitch said in unison before looking at each other.
“Why do we keep agreeing on the same things?” Hitch sighed.
“Beats me,” Pipp shrugged before turning towards sunny for an explanation, “So what’s with the can?”
“I wanted to see what magic looked like so I gave Izzy a can of beans to see it glow and float,” Sunny went on, “Instead, Izzy used her horn to pierce the can open.”
The other three nodded before, one by one, realisation struck them.
“Wait…” Hitch said slowly.
“She didn’t…” Pipp said next.
“Did she?” Zipp asked.
The three turned to the unicorn and up towards her horn.
“Now you all get it,” Izzy beamed, “I used my horn to chisel away at the tree and then it collapsed.”
The four ponies’ eyes bulged and their mouths dropped to the tabletop.
“Remember when you pointed your horn at me when you first got into my house,” Sunny slowly said, “That horn looked pretty sharp when it was aimed right at me.”
Hitch was looking at Izzy’s horn with mild curiosity. His mouth was opening and closing as he looked at the protruding pony appendage.
“…How?” Hitch gaped.
“Like this!” Izzy bent down and pointed her horn at one of the table’s legs.
“Izzy don’t-!“ Sunny warned.
Too late.
Izzy was already using her horn to peck away at the leg, wood shavings flying everywhere. It came off with a snap, causing the table to lose its balance and spill smoothies on every pony.
“I just washed my mane!” Pipp squealed in horror.
“Ta-da!” Izzy gave her signature catchphrase of triumph, “Oh I got an idea!” She then dashed off out of the kitchen. The others got up and dried themselves off. The sound of wood being chiselled away made Sunny’s blood run cold.
She dashed out of the kitchen, the others following close behind her. what they found next gave Sunny a small heart attack. It was as if an actual woodpecker flew into the house and decided to fly and practice its pecking skills. There were holes in every wooden item of furniture. The door was left hanging open with a hole through it.
“Wow,” Zipp commented as she looked around at the chaos, “She’s committed.”
“When Izzy gets going, it’s hard for her to stop,” Sunny sighed Hitch assessed the damage.
“You want me to arrest her for property damage,” Hitch quirked an eyebrow.
“No, no,” Sunny chuckled and waved a hoof, “I’ll just give her a very strong talking to.”
“If you say so,” Hitch rolled his eyes, “You’re a bit of a softie.”
“Whatever you say, Critter Magnet,” Sunny teased, causing Hitch to blush and stutter.
“Right now,” Pipp intervened, “We need to know where she went off to now.”
It was at that moment an almighty thud came from outside, causing birds to fly in every direction. Every pony jumped in fright and looked in every direction to figure out what and where the sound was. Two seagulls landed on the window sill and began pecking at the glass. Sunny and Hitch recognised them immediately. The other two pegasi looked at the two birds in surprise.
“Friends of yours?” Zipp turned to Hitch and Sunny.
“More like Hitch’s friends,” Sunny pointed at Hitch, “Those birds and a crab follow Hitch when he’s on duty. They even sleep outside his office.”
“Oh, I see where you get why you called him Critter Magnet,” Pipp giggled, “That’s so adorable!” Hitch was rolled his eyes and opened the window, trying to hide another blush on his face. The two birds were in panic and pointed towards the direction of the woods.
“I think I know where Izzy is now,” Hitch called to them, “She’s gone to the woods.”
“Then let’s go!” Sunny led the way, “I don’t want to think about what will happen if she makes it to town.”
By the time they made it to the woods, they found Izzy chiselling away at another tree. Her head was down, her horn pointing and pecking rapidly away at the trunk. She had a ferocious look on her face as her forelegs pushed against the tree until it collapsed with a hard thud. Her friends stood back at a safe distance so as not to get sawdust in their eyes which was flying everywhere in the breeze. They were amazed at how fast Izzy worked. The look of strong determination was amusing and also frightening at the same time when she took the tree down.
“Izzy, what did you do to my furniture?” Sunny sighed in defeat, “I just had everything bought.”
“Sorry,” Izzy chuckled sheepishly, “But when I have an idea I just have to go with it. Besides, I just came up with a brilliant idea!”
“Does it involve those trees you chiselled down?” Zipp pointed at the two now fallen trees.
“Yep,” Izzy rubbed her hooves together in excitement. She then, somehow, managed to get four blindfolds out of her mane.
“I don’t like where this is going,” Hitch gulped, “What are you planning?”
“Oh, don’t be such a scared colt and put them on,” Izzy rolled her eyes, “It’s a surprise!” The other four looked at each other, shrugged and put them one.
“Now, no peeking,” Izzy giggled as she got to work. Every pony’s ears swivelled left and right as they noted that Izzy was chipping away at the tree at different angles. Occasionally, she would ask one of them to turn around and they can feel Izzy holding one of their hooves or make their heads turn. Pipp was also instructed to take her phone out from under her wing. Izzy removed her blindfold and took her away from her work. When the pair returned, Pipp was instructed to put her blindfold back on and stood next to the others again.
“What did she ask you?” Hitch asked with his blindfold still on.
“For some reason, Izzy wanted me to strike a pose on my phone and asked how I would usually take a selfie.”
They didn’t know how long they were standing there, but they also wondered what Izzy was planning. Eventually, it was time to see what Izzy got in store for them.
“All right every pony! Take off your blindfolds and I’ve got a special surprise for you all!”
Every pony did as they were told and looked at what Izzy had crafted. For the second time today, their mouths dropped open as they took in the sight in front of them.
“Ta-da!” Izzy gestured to her work with a triumphant smile.
Standing in front of them, was a life-sized accurate sculpture of the five of them, with Sunny in the middle and her four friends around them in the form she took when she became an alicorn. Her wings were spread out and she was looking up with a hopeful smile. It was as if she was grateful all the tribes were reunited as one. Hitch was next to Sunny, a proud smile on his face and a strong pose, chest puffed out in pride as he displayed his belt and badge.
Zipp was displayed above him, a confident smile as she was flying. Pipp was next to them, her phone in a hoof whilst she was taking a selfie. A cute pout was sculptured on her face, winking as she took a picture with the phone’s camera. Izzy was her usual bubbly self in the sculpture on Sunny’s opposite site, a wild yet warm smile on her face.
To say that Izzy’s friends were shocked was an understatement. They stared at Izzy’s work with awe and wonder.
“Izzy!” Sunny gaped, “This is amazing!”
“Very life-like,” Hitch complimented with a smile.
“You really captured my mane,” Pipp said, impressed as she trotted over and inspected it, “I so wished I live-streamed it. The views it would get would go through the roof!”
“Amazing!” Was all Zipp to muster from her lips.
“I want to dedicate this sculpture to the first ponies who I can call friends,” Izzy smiled warmly at her friends, “And also how we restored magic and reunited the three pony races together.”
“You wouldn’t mind moving this to the centre of town?” Hitch turned to Izzy for permission. Izzy only beamed at Hitch’s idea.
“Of course. Art should always be there for display, right?” Izzy rhetorically asked, earning nods of agreement with the others.
“Is this so you can add this to the calendar of Hitch poses?” Sunny teased.
“It has nothing to do with that,” Hitch huffed. The others laughed at Hitch’s expense.
The five friends sat around the sculpture and chatted some more as the sun set below the sculpture in front of them.
