"This is how a unicorn walks. This is how a unicorn talks." Izzy found herself humming that tune to herself again, like she often tended to do. And she didn't care if ponies stopped and stared at her, thinking she was weird for singing out loud. It was who she was, it was how she showed off her inner sparkle. She'd always seen herself as a free spirit, even back when she lived in Bridlewood and was the only pony who seemed to not care about how gloomy and boring life was.
Now, even though she still did have her cottage back in Bridlewood for the times when she felt really homesick, Izzy had moved to and settled into Maretime Bay. And the unicorn with a lovely pink coat couldn't be happier. She got to see her friends every day: Sunny, Hitch, even Zipp and Pipp. And sometimes, she would make an entirely new friend, or just see an old friend she hadn't seen in a while.
On the subject of friends, however, the chipper unicorn noticed that there was one "friend" who she hadn't seen much of since moving to Bridlewood. Well, he wasn't really her friend because she hadn't known him at all. But he apparently had been friends with Sunny and Hitch growing up (something Izzy wished she'd had. Not that she was jealous.), much to the surprise of many longtime residents of Maretime Bay. Yet now, this "friend" seemed to be nowhere in sight no matter where Izzy looked. That struck her as most odd. Friends didn't just stop hanging out with friends unannounced.
Well, luckily for Izzy, she knew who she could ask to figure out where to find this missing friend was. If he'd been friends with Sunny and Hitch, surely he could be friends with her too, right? As long as he didn't smell like rotten sardines, there shouldn't be a problem.
"Hello, Izzy," The familiar voice of Sunny called out, interrupting the unicorn in the middle of her wandering thoughts. "Nice day, isn't it?"
Izzy looked up, locking eyes with her best friend in the whole wide world of Equestria. True, she had a strong connection with all her friends. But her connection with Sunny just felt extra sparkly for some reason. So lost was she in that train of thought that she almost didn't realize she'd been asked a question. "Oh, yeah, I guess it is. It's always sunnier here than it is in Bridlewood, no trees to block out the sunlight."
Sunny smiled. "I'm glad you think so, and I'm glad you're living here full time. It just wouldn't be the same having to always have you come over here, or pop over to Bridlewood just to say hi to you," Then she saw fit to comment on her unicorn friend's wandering mental state. "Is something on your mind, Izzy? You seem to be... well... distracted. Or, more distracted than usual, I guess."
The young unicorn was quick to confess. "I was just thinking about friends. About you, me, Zipp, Pipp and even Hitch. You know, how we're all friends and like to hang out together. And it got me to thinking. Didn't you and Hitch have another friend before you met me?"
The earth pony stopped and blinked. "Oh, you mean Sprout?" It appeared she hadn't given that stallion much thought recently. "Yeah, Hitch and I grew up with him. He was the pony who made himself emperor of Maretime Bay while we were trying to bring the crystals together, remember?"
"Oh yeah, that," Izzy commented as the memory came flooding back to her in an instant. "That was actually kind of scary. But nopony got hurt. And even though your house got destroyed, we all pitched in to help you build an even cooler one that could serve as a hangout spot. So, how come you haven't invited Sprout over to see it, yet? Or you have, how come I've never seen him around anywhere? He's really missing out if he's never been to the brighthouse before, it's got everything!"
Sunny sighed as her previously cheerful mood seemed to fade. "Things have been... complicated since I met you, Izzy. Sprout really believed in all those nasty things earth ponies used to believe about pegasi and unicorns. And unlike Phyllis, he's not the kind of pony who's going to change his ways overnight. It's not easy realizing that everything you thought you knew was a lie, especially when you were so sure it was true."
"Yeah, but if you and I could overcome those superstitions, then so can he," Izzy encouraged. "Besides, I'm sure he's learned his lesson by now. And everypony deserves a second chance. Even Alphabittle told me he was sorry for how grumpy he used to be."
Sunny appeared to nod in agreement. "It's not like I've abandoned Sprout or anything. Hitch and I, we kept tabs on him for a while after the whole 'Emperor of Maretime Bay' incident. Had to make sure he was okay and that he wouldn't try to do anything else crazy. But..." She seemed to trail off in uncertainty.
Izzy blinked as she noticed the look reflected in her friend's sea green eyes. "But what, Sunny? Did something happen to Sprout that I wasn't aware of?"
The earth pony mare just sighed and shook her head. "Hitch can probably explain it better than I can. After all, Sprout used to work for him. And nothing goes on in Maretime Bay that Hitch doesn't know about, that's why he's the sheriff."
"Okay then," Izzy immediately declared without skipping a beat. "I'll just pay Hitch a visit and ask him what he knows. Thanks for the tip, Sunny. See you around." And off she trotted to find the sheriff's office, and by extension Hitch.
"It's open, come in." Hitch called when he heard the sound of hoofs knock knocking on the sheriff's office's front door.
The doors swung open a second later, and in Izzy strolled. She soon spotted the pony she had wanted to see and trotted over to him. She saw that Hitch had set up a little nursery of sorts for that baby dragon that had hatched. Currently, said baby dragon was fast asleep, curled up into a little ball with a small blanket draped over it to provide warmth.
Hitch smiled as he swung his chair around to lock eyes with his visitor. "What can I do for you, Izzy? Is there a problem?"
Izzy shook her head. "Nope. I just came here because Sunny told me you were the pony to see if I wanted to know where Sprout is."
At the mention of Sprout, Hitch's smile faded as it morphed and contorted itself into a most peculiar frown. "Oh, him," And he saw fit to ask. "Why do you wanna know about him? Hardly anypony's asked ever since I fired him from the role of my deputy."
"Fired him?!" Izzy all but gasped as she put her hooves up to the sides of her face! "But why?!" She realized that was probably a silly question to ask, Hitch wouldn't have fired somepony without a reason.
"Yes, I'm afraid I had no choice," Hitch willingly confessed. "If I'm being honest, he wasn't a very good deputy to begin with. He was always looking for an excuse to get out of doing his job, always complaining about something and somehow found a way to mess up even the most basic of tasks. Against my better judgment, though, I let him stay. He really didn't have any place to go. Nopony would hire him for anything."
Izzy could only shake her head. "Everypony in Bridlewood always looked down on me and avoided me. That's part of why I took to unicycling, it helped me make ends meet when money was tight. Nopony should ever have to be treated like they're worthless."
The sheriff could only protest. "I tried my best to set Sprout straight. It's why I often tasked him with keeping an eye on Sunny for me, mostly so I could make sure she wouldn't get hurt or do something dangerous. But after he took over the town in my absence and destroyed Sunny's house, I knew I couldn't overlook his crimes. Even if nopony got hurt, what he did wasn't something that could just be swept under the rug," In a somewhat more gentle and sympathetic tone he saw fit to add. "It was either I fired him, or I threw him in jail. I couldn't bring myself to do the latter. Even Sunny would've probably chewed me out for that."
"So, what happened to Sprout after you fired him?" Izzy inquired, hoping that her tone of voice indicated how concerned she truly was.
Hitch simply shrugged his hooves. "I don't really know. He just went home and that was it. I've talked with his mother, and she says he's doing alright. I know she has no reason to lie to me. Whatever Sprout's doing now, it's something that isn't hurting anypony. Sunny and I have tried to reach out to him on multiple occasions, give him a chance to just talk to us about anything. But he's never responded. He seems to just stay at home. If he ever does leave it or leave town, he's never told anypony why."
It was then that the unicorn mare seemed to get an idea in her head. "Sounds like he could use somepony to cheer him up. Somepony to let him know that he doesn't have to be a gloomy gus all the time. Life's too short to spend it to yourself feeling down in the dumps. Well lucky for him, I'm just the pony who knows what that feels like. And therefore, I'm exactly the kind of pony who can get him to stop feeling blue, or whatever color he's feeling right now."
The sheriff stallion could only sigh and shrug his hooves. "I don't suppose you have any interest in being talked out of this?"
"Nope." Izzy chipperly replied without missing a beat.
"I was afraid of that," Hitch commented with concern. Yet he still slid the unicorn a piece of paper. "This is the address for Phyllis Cloverleaf, Sprout's mother. If Sprout's anywhere, he's probably there. No promises, though."
Izzy accepted the paper and then turned to leave. "Thanks a bunch, Sheriff Hitch. Sunny was right, you're the best sheriff Maretime Bay could ask for! I don't know what the town would do without a pony like you!" And with that, she made her way out the doors and disappeared. In the process, she made so much noise that she inadvertently ended up waking up the slumbering baby dragon.
Hitch was at the crying infant's side in a minute. "It's okay, little one," He reassured the baby dragon as best he could. "Just go back to sleep, everything's fine," But under his breath he couldn't help but add. "I hope."
Sprout stewed about in his bedroom. Only occasionally did the colt the same red as the red hot anger he'd known for so long stop to look out his window, as if half-expecting there to be somepony down there for him to yell at. But of course nopony was there. He was all alone. Alone with his thoughts, and his feelings and his anger. In fact, that was pretty much all he had now. He had nothing left: No job, nopony willing to talk to him, nothing to do but stand there and grump.
The stallion kept on frowning, kicking about even though there wasn't anything to kick. "Stupid Hitch! Stupid Sunny! Stupid unicorns! Stupid pegasi! Stupid everything!" He yelled aloud! "You think you know someponies, then they go and dump you as soon as they say they've made new friends. Who cares about that dumb pegasi and unicorns? We got by just fine without them!"
Then Sprout's angry rants were interrupted by a knock on his bedroom door. "Sprout?" The voice of Phyllis (his mother) called from the other side.
"What is it, Mommy?" Sprout snapped. Not even she was enough to brighten his mood, not when she had specifically refused to support or defend him after Hitch had fired him. Even she had seen fit to scold him and ground him, punishing him for his behavior during his brief stint as emperor.
Phyllis seemed to ignore the outburst as she just replied. "You have a visitor. In fact, it's the first visitor I think you've had in a long time. And before you ask, it's not Sunny or Hitch."
That only seemed to further sour Sprout's already sour mood. "Well whoever it is, tell 'em to go jump in a lake or something! I'm not home!"
"Sprout!" Phyllis scolded. "I did not raise you to behave like that, young stallion! This visitor is here specifically to see you, they're not going to go away and I'm not going to lie to them just because you want me to. I've done enough protecting you already in your life, and we both know how that turned out. You're a grown pony now. Whatever your problems are with the world, you can face them like the full grown stallion that you are!"
Sprout only snorted and rolled his eyes. "Whatever!" He neither knew or cared about who could possibly want to see him. Anypony who might have cared had stopped caring long along as far as he was concerned.
"It's okay, Mrs. Cloverleaf," A voice unfamiliar to Sprout spoke up from the other side of the door. "I can handle things from here. I know how to deal with a grumpypants pony like him."
"If you're sure," Phyllis could be heard saying in a hesitant tone of voice as she unlocked the door. "Whatever your intentions are, I hope you won't make things worse."
The door then opened slowly, and in bounced the last pony Sprout wanted to see at the moment (or at least, one of many ponies that were on that list): Izzy Moonbow. "Hiya, Mr. Grumpy Face!" She greeted in that chipper, almost blissfully unaware tone of voice. Yet there was that slightest of slight hints that she knew the truth. That she knew why he was the way he was.
Immediately, Sprout jumped back and assumed a defensive position as he arched his back! "Get away from me, you freak!" He all but screamed at the top of his lungs! Why oh why did his mom have to let a unicorn into the house? Into his bedroom?
Izzy didn't seem to care about Sprout's reaction. She just strolled towards him as if nothing had happened in the short amount of time she'd seen him. "Yup, that's me alright! Izzy, the freak!" She giggled and swished her tail like she was a school filly, not a fully grown mare. "Always have been, always will be. And I wouldn't have it any other way. Because being a freak is what makes me unique."
"Don't you try to fry my brain with your fancy little horn! Or whatever it is you unicorns do now that you have magic!" Sprout frowned as he continued to step back. "I can't believe my mommy let you come in here. This is my bedroom in my house! It's like you unicorns have no respect for earth ponies' privacy."
Izzy giggled. "Oh come on, you know I was invited in. I don't just barge into places unannounced, even if it's kind of fun to do so. I'm only medium sneaky, after all."
The red coated stallion only turned his head, refusing to look his visitor in the face. "Just go away! I don't wanna talk to you, unicorn! Go hang out with Sunny and her new friends, the ones she never shuts up about."
The unicorn mare refused to obey. "I have a name, you know. I'm sure you've heard of it. It's Izzy Moonbow, but you can just call me Izzy."
The earth pony stallion simply hissed and snapped. "Whatever. Do I look like I care? Don't answer that, because I don't! Ever since you showed up, you've been nothing but trouble! I can't believe Sunny and Hitch bailed you out when you came into town uninvited. And it was like you didn't even care. And now, now you're living here full time even though we earth ponies lived here first," He rolled his eyes as he kept his head turned. "At least I understand why those pegasi like to come here. They're royalty, so they think they can do whatever they want. You'll never catch me bowing down to them!"
"I happen to have a cottage back in Bridlewood, where I came from," Izzy pointed out. "And I'm learning how to teleport so I can go back there whenever I feel like visiting it," Then she smiled. "But I like coming here. It means I get to make a fresh start: See new places, meet new friends, try things I never got to try before. It's like starting life all over again. And I think it's a lot nicer that ponies don't live in fear of each other all the time, or believe nasty things about each other."
All Sprout could bring himself to say in reply was. "Then why come here? What do you care if I spend all my time in my own house with my mom?"
Izzy's smile grew brighter. "Isn't it obvious, Captain Grumpy? I wanna make you happy. I can't stand the idea of anypony being unhappy. Nopony should ever stay unhappy for so long, it's not good for them," Her tone of voice briefly lost its chipper and upbeat tone as she proceeded to say. "Trust me. I know what it's like to feel down in the dumps. It was like... the worst thing ever! I never want to feel like that again, and I'll be darned if I let anypony feel like that without making an honest effort to cheer them up."
At that, something deep inside of Sprout began to stir. Nopony had ever spoken to him in such a way before, not even his own mother. "You... really mean that?" He hesitantly asked as he slowly turned to face the unicorn.
"Well duh, of course I mean it!" Izzy exclaimed as she scrunched her face up with her hooves! "I hate seeing anypony with a sparkle so dull. I wanna see if I can't make it shine like the sun! Call me crazy, but it's why I'm here now. And I'm not going away until I've done everything I can think of to make you smile, make you happy again."
Reluctantly, Sprout trotted up to the unicorn. "Alright, fine. If it'll get you to leave me alone."
"Great!" Izzy cheerfully shouted and grabbed Sprout by the hoof! "Come on! Let's get outside and get some fresh air! I'm still kind of new to town, so maybe you can show me all the places you like to hang out. You know, give me some ideas on what's hot and what's not."
Before Sprout had a chance to say anything in protest, he found himself being more or less dragged out of his house and out into the streets of Maretime Bay.
All Phyllis could do was smile as she thought to herself. "This might be just what Sprout needs. I really can't think of any other way to get him to change, short of outright forcing him to go see Sunny's new house and spend some time there."
The unicorn led her "captive" along for only a short time before she stopped and let go of his hooves. "So, Mr. Grumpy, got any ideas about where to take a newcomer like me?"
"Can you stop calling me Grumpy?" Sprout snorted as he had to resist narrowing his eyes. "You know that's not my name. How hard is it to say Sprout? I know you know."
Izzy only playfully retorted. "Grumpy totally suits you, though. That's your whole mood right now. Lighten up, smile more, stuff like that. Come on, you can't possibly still hold a grudge against somepony like me."
"Yes I can and yes I will!" Sprout hmphed as he stomped a hoof. "The day you showed up in town was the day I lost Sunny as a friend, and the day after you two brought those crystals together was the day I lost my job as Hitch's deputy. It's so not fair! He knew I wanted to be sheriff, so he took that away from me! And then he took away the next best thing I had! So maybe I destroyed Sunny's house, it was an accident! I didn't mean to do it and nopony got hurt."
Izzy's smile faded. "Maybe not, but you did do a bad thing. You really didn't have to do what you did, I wasn't a threat to you at all and you could see that," She then apologized. "I'm sorry if you think I took Sunny and Hitch away from you. I would never steal somepony's friends away, no matter who they might be. I think it's silly that Sunny and Hitch can't still consider you a friend just because they like to hang out with me, Zipp and Pipp. In fact, I think if you got to meet Zipp and Pipp you'd like them as much as I do. They're loads of fun!"
"Maybe for you! They're also part of the reason why I lost my job and my mommy grounded me," Sprout bitterly complained, kicking the ground with a hoof. "I finally had ponies who looked up to me and respected me. And then, just because of the crystals, they stopped believing me and started listening to Sunny. Then you just move into town like nothing ever happened, like you've always lived here. Worst of all, I'm told that I have to make nice with the pegasi and the unicorns, because otherwise bad things happen. But for all I know, it could just be a trick! You unicorns and pegasi could be sneaky like that!"
Izzy found herself shocked at such a declaration from... well, anypony really. But especially from Sprout! "You don't really mean that, do you?" She asked in a hopeful tone of voice.
The red coated stallion let out a long sigh and looked down at the ground. He suddenly seemed to be rather ashamed of himself. "No, not really. If you guys were going to do anything, you'd have done it by now. There's no way the whole 'We can't fly' or 'We can't use magic' could've been an act for so long. And I've heard wonderful things about Zephyr Heights and even Bridlewood. Mommy sells some of her re-tooled products there now, and she says everypony there is so welcoming."
"So why are you so unhappy?" Izzy pondered while trotting close to the downtrodden stallion. "Why do you keep acting like you're mean and nasty even though you're not that pony anymore? Isn't it time to give the grumpypants routine a rest?"
"That's so easy for you to say!" Sprout rolled his eyes. "Everypony makes it sound like it's easy to just forget about what I grew up being told, what I grew up believing. But how would you feel if all of a sudden, somepony just came along and told you everything you thought you knew was wrong? That everything you've ever valued, cared about or otherwise believed in was a lie? Everything's been changing since you showed up, Izzy. Everypony says it's for the better and I want to believe them, but..."
Izzy noticed a lone tear starting to form in Sprout's left eye, and she quickly wrapped a hoof around him. "-I know, it's hard to have to change everything you know and thought on a whim. That's what I had to do when I got Sunny's letter as a filly, when I realized that maybe everypony else was wrong: Maybe earth ponies weren't these nasty creatures that should be avoided. But I couldn't be sure until I actually worked up the courage to go to Maretime Bay and confront that possibility head on. I could've been wrong. And without magic, I would've had no way to protect myself if I really didn't have any friends."
"Well you really didn't," Sprout pointed out. "Sunny was the only pony who wanted to get to know you. Hitch only followed you because Sunny was with you, and he always cared about her. It was pure chance that he changed his mind about you and the pegasi," He then pondered. "Maybe if I'd let him drag me along on that trip, I would've seen what he saw and changed my mind. None of what happened when you came back to Maretime Bay would've happened."
The chipper unicorn was quick to declare. "Oh come now, don't start thinking like that. Don't think about what could've been, think about what can still be possible now," She began to smile brightly again. "At least one pony cares enough about you to want to make you happy. Don't you feel just the slightest bit better for knowing that somepony cares?"
Sprout slowly nodded as he looked up. "Maybe a little." Was all he could bring himself to confess.
"Exactly!" Izzy proudly proclaimed! "So stop being Mr. Grumpy Face all the time, Sprout. It doesn't suit you. It's not who you are. You need to get out there and give ponies a chance to get to know the new you, the real you that was inside of you all along. If Sunny and Hitch could change their ways, so can you. If other ponies can learn to live in peace with each other, I don't see why you can't be the same."
Sprout found himself all but at a loss for words. "How do you know so much about me when you've never really met me before?" He asked. "Is this some kind of unicorn secret? Do unicorns have x-ray vision or something?" He gasped! "Are you secretly melting my brain to make me agree with you?!"
Izzy playfully scolded. "Ah ah ah! Don't be starting with those old superstitions again, Sprout! You know better!" She gave a wink. "I don't need x-ray vision or mind tricks. I don't even need magic. I can see inside ponies in my own way. It's what makes me special. That's how I can see their sparkle. And that's how I know who you are truly meant to be."
Sprout stuttered. "You... you think so?"
"Think so? I know so!" Izzy declared in a confident, assertive tone of voice. She proceeded to prance forward, and without being prompted to do so the unicorn proceeded to plant a kiss on Sprout's cheek!
That sudden, unexpected and unasked for kiss was enough to force a blush to break out across Sprout's face. Suffice it to say, the seemingly bitter stallion had been left speechless by such an action. It was a while before he could find any words at all, let alone the ones he wanted to use. "W-what was that for?" He finally managed to force out in a barely audible tone of voice.
Seemingly unaware of what she'd just done, Izzy only commented. "Hasn't anypony ever told you you're beautiful? Or that you're cute, even when you're trying to be all angry and grouchy?"
"You... think I'm cute?" Sprout pondered aloud in surprise.
"Oh of course I do. If I didn't, why would I have said that?" Izzy giggled. "You're totally cute no matter what mood you're in. But I really like you when you're like this, when you're letting down your hair. This is the Sprout I wanna see more of, not the grouchy, grumpy Sprout who used to think mean and nasty things about unicorns and pegasi. And I think most ponies would be happy to get to know this Sprout better than that Sprout."
Sprout could only comment. "How can you be so sure about these things? You're not Sunny, or Hitch or even my mommy. You don't know me like they do."
Izzy winked. "Which means I'm the perfect pony to help you find this new side to yourself. A better side. Don't you agree?"
"I... I guess so," Sprout found himself agreeing. The stallion still wasn't sure what he could say or do in a situation like this. He never would've expected his first kiss to come from a unicorn (or a pegasus for that matter). "Izzy?" He asked, finally working up the courage to address her by name.
Izzy spun around and locked eyes with the stallion she'd just kissed. "Yes, Sprout? What is it?" She asked in what sounded like a loving coo.
The stallion's blush showed even through his red coat as he managed to look the mare in the eyes. "Thank you."
Again, the unicorn seemed to feign ignorance as she replied. "For what?"
Sprout groaned. Maybe this was a unicorn mind trick. He then stopped and shook his head to dispel such an idea. He couldn't be thinking like that now. He knew better. "For just being you, really. You didn't have to do this. You didn't know me. Even Sunny gave up on trying to get through to me, she was content to just let me stay grumpy forever."
"Nah, she just couldn't find the words or the approach," Izzy explained. "I'm sure she would've taken action eventually if I hadn't. But I'm glad I did. I'm glad I could help cheer you up and get you to be a better pony. You're so much nicer now. I'd be happy to call you my friend anytime. Maybe even something more than that."
"You mean, you and I?" Sprout gasped! It hadn't even occurred to him until now that maybe he felt the same way about Izzy that she felt about him.
A firm nod provided the answer as Izzy beamed from ear to ear. "Sure. If you want to, that is. Might be fun to try it out together. We'll just go wherever our feelings take us. If it turns into lifelong love, great! If not, we'll have fun while it lasts. It's a win win if you ask me!" She then trotted close to him again and held out a hoof. "So, whaddya say? Interested?"
Sprout didn't hesitate to place his hooves in Izzy's. "Why not?" He proceeded to nuzzle into her side. "I wouldn't care even if you were using this as a chance to fry my brain. But I know you wouldn't do that."
"Oh, don't be so sure!" Izzy teased! "You're so adorable I could just eat you up! Grind up your hooves for a midnight snack!"
"What?!" Sprout gasped and nearly jumped back in surprise!
"Just kidding!" Izzy giggled.
Author's Note
After seeing some of the artwork floating around involving these two, the urge to ship just hit me. I could see it actually being a possibility: Izzy seems like the type of pony who wouldn't care who Sprout is and would keep on trying to break through to him, no matter what.
I decided to incorporate some elements from the "Make Your Mark" special. I figured it was about time.
