Oops! Got Your Soul!by CaedroChapters1. Magic is Safe, I Swear!2. Stuck in You3. Sharing is Caring1. Magic is Safe, I Swear!"Sooo, do ya like it?" Huge, magenta irises stared expectantly into ambivalent green ones. Sprout's gaze shifted down to the object that had just been placed in his hoof--an assortment of colorful beads threaded on a single string. A "friendship bracelet", he had been told. He turned his hoof slightly, watching the small, translucent shapes glimmer in the sunlight. Izzy had invited him to a little copse of trees beyond the outskirts of Maretime Bay for a relaxing picnic, and after they'd finished sharing tea and cookies and peanut-butter-and-banana sandwiches, she had given him... this. "Wellllll?" Izzy leaned in close and blinked rapidly as she waited for his answer. Sprout shrank back, avoiding her ardent stare. "It's... neat, I guess. But what's it for?" The wavy-maned mare playfully rolled her eyes and gave a grin that accentuated her chubby cheeks. "It means we're best friends forever, silly! I made it specially for you. Well, I actually made it like a dozen moons ago back when I didn't have any friends, but I kept it so I could one day give it to a very good friend. And now that day is here!" She finished with a short chuckle, but her smile faltered when Sprout did not put the bracelet on and say, "Gee, thanks Izzy! You're my bestest buddy in the whole wide world and we'll def be friends forever and ever!" Instead, his ears drooped and his shoulders hunched. He glared at her gift as if it had just spat on each of his ancestors' graves and bulldozed his favorite ice cream parlor. "How can you say that? How do you know we will be friends forever? You can't! You're just making it up, and this bracelet proves nothing!" His nostrils flaring as he let out a sulky huff, he tossed the bracelet onto the ground at Izzy's hooves. Izzy's mind spiraled in confusion as Sprout abruptly got to his hooves and began striding back to the bay. "Wait!" she cried out. "What's wrong? I really do wanna be your friend forever and ever and ever and ever--" "You're lying!" Sprout shouted back, without slowing down or even looking over his shoulder. "Nopony's my friend." "But we had peanut-butter-and-banana sandwiches togetherrrrrrr!" Izzy hollered. But it was no use. Watching Sprout disappear over the hills, she plonked onto her haunches and let out a sad, whimpering sigh. What did she do wrong? She glanced at her precious friendship bracelet lying in the grass. Seeing it discarded like that caused an unpleasant twinge in her tummy, but what hurt most of all was that she had made Sprout angry... no, it was more like he was sad. "Poor Sprout," Izzy murmured to herself. Sprout's Luminescence--which was green--had always been dim, but during that moment, it had barely been visible at all. Ever since harmony had returned to Equestria, everypony was happy to move on from the past and accept one another in friendship and peace. Nearly everypony's Sparkles were shining brighter than ever before! So why was Sprout still so miserable? Whatever the reason, Izzy knew one thing for certain. She would do anything to prove her words were genuine. She would make Sprout her forever friend! One week later, Izzy was trotting down the streets of Maretime Bay, bobbing her head from side to side as she hummed a happy little tune to herself. Her luxurious tail, washed with blueberry-scented shampoo that morning, flounced behind her. She was in a gloriously good mood, and it wasn't just because she had added 18 more jars of glitter to her collection--Her vow to make Sprout her forever friend was about to come true, if she had anything to say about it! Reaching her destination, Izzy pushed open the doors of the sheriff station to find Sprout snoring away at his desk. "Good day, uh..." Izzy squinted at the desk's homemade name plate, which was a scribbled-on, folded up scrap of paper. "Huh. I guess Sprout is just a nickname. Good day, Depooty!" "Mmh...?" Sprout sleepily lifted his head, caught flashes of purple and blue through his hazy vision, and scrambled to sit upright. "Oh! Good morning, Izzy. I was just, uh... looking into this one police report. About murder. Serious stuff." Sprout grabbed a random piece of paper from his desk and held it up to his snout, studying it intently. Izzy trotted around to the other side of the desk and peered over his shoulder. "Looks blank to me. I guess that means somepony reported that there's been no murder. Yay!" Izzy bounced on the spot once, before placing her front hooves on Sprout's office chair and spinning it around to face her. "And you're 3 minutes late. It's 12:02PM, so it's not a good morning anymore!" "Hey!" The blank paper fell from Sprout's grasp, and his ears pinned back with discomfort as he found himself face to face with the pony he hadn't seen since the day he had stormed off after their (admittedly delicious) picnic. He pressed himself against the back of the chair as far as he could, Izzy's hooves now gripping the seat on either side of his thighs. "What do you want? Y-you're not mad at me, are you?" "What? Of course not! Do I LOOK mad?" She smiled a smile bright enough to melt the sun, and the tension in Sprout's shoulders eased just a little. Thankfully, she let go and took a few steps back before saying, "Remember how you said I was lying about being your best friend forever? Well, I searched for a way to prove I'm serious, and I found it!" "Not this again," Sprout muttered. He jumped out of his chair and looked ready to make a dash for the station doors. "Wait, please don't run away again! I really mean it," Izzy pleaded. Sprout took one look at her face, her innocent eyes wavering with emotion, and hesitated. Snatching her chance, Izzy immediately dove into her explanation. "I made a trip to my ol' hometown earlier this week, and I found a really old, really dusty book in Alphabittle's collection. It was about magical spells for all kinds of things! And... I found a spell that'll make you a part of me forever! It means you'll never have to worry about me forgetting you or abandoning you. We will be together forever!" Sprout lowered his stance and regarded her with suspicion. "Sunny told me all unicorn magic could do was make things float..." His eyes widened as realization struck him. "Wait, if you can do other spells, does that mean unicorns really can fry pony brains?!" "No!" Izzy quickly shouted. "I mean, I didn't see any spells like that but technically they could exist..." She watched Sprout's pupils shrink in horror and she frantically amended, "But I'm sure they don't! And if they did, nopony even knows how to use them!" "Doesn't matter, I'm not letting you use magic on me!" "Sprout, please..." Izzy's tone was shockingly gentle, and the sincerity behind it practically forced Sprout to lift his ears and heed what she had to say. Seeing his defensive stance fade as he straightened his legs, Izzy continued in a volume that was just one hoofstep above a whisper, "I don't know what happened to make you think you can't have friends. But I promise I really, truly want you as my friend. More importantly, I want you to have a friend, Sprout. And this spell will make sure we stay friends no matter what." Sprout blinked slowly and asked, "Will it hurt?" "It won't, I promise." Izzy actually wasn't certain whether it would hurt or not, but it couldn't, right? In fact, she wasn't exactly sure what the spell would even do, but it seemed clear enough that it would establish some sort of permanent bond between them. The following minute was filled with silence save for the quiet breathing of both ponies, until at last, Sprout responded. "Fine... but you better be careful." His voice low and barely audible, Sprout stared at the floor. Seconds later, his ears pricked at the sound of Izzy's approaching hoofsteps. "It's gonna be fiiiine," she assured. She held out a purple hoof, Sprout's vision meeting with the comforting heart shape that was naturally engraved in all pony hooves. "So, are you ready?" Sprout's lungs emptied out as a nervous, shaky breath. "I guess so." Izzy grinned as he placed his hoof onto hers. Her tail swishing in delight, she shut her eyes and prepared to conduct the spell. She tensed her temples and magic began to build up within her horn. Sprout flinched as the magenta glow illuminated the crevices of her horn, but thankfully he dedicated all his willpower to staying put. Izzy felt her heart swell as the amount of magic inside her surged, and right when the light shining from her horn was nearly blinding and she thought she was ready to burst, she breathlessly chanted the spell. "Until the end and from the start Now and forever, you'll be in my heart!" FWOOSH. The light became so intense, Izzy was suddenly lost in a world of white that still burned into her vision no matter how tightly she squeezed her eyelids together. Her head felt like a teddy bear in the process of being stuffed with way too much filling, and the pressure behind her horn was unbearable. The overwhelming sensations seemed to go on for moons, but in reality, it couldn't have been more than a few seconds before the light dimmed and Izzy could finally catch her breath. "Whew..." she wheezed, staggering a bit before landing on her butt. "That really took a lot out of me. Hmm..." She blinked several times to make sure her vision had recovered, and glanced around the station. Sprout was nowhere to be seen. Instantly, one of Izzy's front hooves flew to her mouth. "Oh no!" she gasped. "I exploded him!" Or maybe he had run away after all? If he had, her muscles were too weak from the spell to give chase. She hadn't heard any hoofsteps or the door opening, but it could've been easy to miss while her other senses were being assaulted. SMACK. Izzy suddenly and involuntarily socked herself in the face. "OW! Ow!" She rubbed her sore cheek and frowned. She was sure she hadn't meant to say "ow" twice, but a more pressing matter was why she had hit herself in the first place. Then, to her bewilderment, her mouth opened and began to talk on its own! "Izzy, I'm HERE! You dweeb, what did you do?!" The perplexed purple pony covered her mouth with both hooves, her pupils darting from side to side. What in Equestria was going on? "You're right, me," she mumbled into her hooves. "What did I do?" Her heart raced as her body moved without any input from her; it stood up on all four hooves and began pacing around in frantic circles, and once again, "she" began to speak without even meaning to. "It's me, Sprout! I'm... trapped inside you or something. Whatever it is, you better fix it NOW!" Izzy drew in a lengthy breath as the truth of the situation dawned on her. "Oh dear, looks like that spell was a lot more literal than I thought. And I don't think there's a way to undo it. But hey, at least we'll always be together now, right? Just like I promised!" Her worry dissolving like a snowflake in summer, she held her head high and cantered to the building's entrance before pushing the doors open and stepping out into the warm sunlight. She had things to do (like hanging out with her friends) and places to be (like wherever her friends were), and nothing was going to stop her from enjoying the rest of her day! She suddenly lurched as her hooves halted in their tracks. "You're not seriously gonna leave me in here, are you?!" A few passing ponies shot Izzy confused looks while she, in their perspective, shouted nonsense at herself in the middle of the street. She grinned sheepishly and turned away from them before whispering, "I told you, I can't. But I'm going to see my friends, and Sunny might be able to use her alicorn powers on us." "Great, more unpredictable magic," Sprout mumbled, and Izzy felt her lungs deflate as he sighed. "But fine. And if it doesn't work, I am so gonna stuff you in a trash can." Izzy giggled. "You might wanna rethink that one, buddy." Author's Note Long time no see! I hope the first chapter of my new story was enjoyable enough. I probably won't be taking ideas as I already have most of this story planned out. Most chapters will indeed fall under Comedy, but there will be more emotion later down the line. Have a great day! 2. Stuck in You"SPROUT'S INSIDE MEEE!" The heads of Sunny, Hitch, Pipp, and Zipp shot up as the doors of the Crystal Brighthouse swung open to reveal Izzy Moonbow. A few moments of silence reigned after her unexpected outburst before Hitch broke it with, "Izzy, we didn't need to hear that." "Oh, but you do!" Izzy insisted, her voice ripe with urgency. She galloped over to where her friends were seated around a circular white table in the Brighthouse's central room. On its surface was a squat little teapot surrounded by four steaming cups of tea, wafts of various herbal and fruity scents dancing their way to Izzy's nostrils. Her hooves squeaked as she skidded to a halt on the multicolored mosaic floor and frowned. "Wait a minute--Were you guys having a tea party without me? All four ponies' jaws dropped as the horror of their mistake struck them like lightning and flowed to the tips of their nerves. Rustling her wings, Pipp was the first to fumble for an excuse. "It's not what you think! It's not a tea party, it's a..." Her anxious gulp was both seen and heard. "It's a, uh... partie de thé." Sweat crawled down Sunny's forehead as she added, "Yeah! And besides, you said you were gonna be busy with something else today." She gave a lighthearted smile that failed to conceal the quaver in her voice. Izzy narrowed her eyes and stuck out her lower lip as her gaze flashed between Sunny and Pipp, but then she quickly shook her head, her ears flopping and her blue locks swishing about. She had to focus! "Nevermind that, I need your help! I somehow sucked Sprout into me!" Hitch reached for his cup and slowly brought it to his face with a blank expression, before filling the following silence with a loud, drawn-out siiiiiip. Sunny and Pipp both avoided Izzy's gaze, the latter pulling her phone out from under her wing and gluing her eyes to the screen without even bothering to switch it on. Only Zipp made direct eye contact, one eyebrow slowly rising. "Izzy, I don't think I want to know what you're trying to say." The unicorn's muzzle then scrunched with uncharacteristic anger, and the quartet of ponies flinched as she sharply stamped a hoof against the floor. "Oh for peaches' sake, you ponies! She means she did some kind of wacky magic spell that trapped me in her body, and now my body is GONE!" A series of stunned glances passed between Sunny, Hitch, Pipp, and Zipp. The voice had been Izzy's, sure, but there was something anomalous about the enunciation and flow. Sunny's countenance wore a distant look as the gears in her head turned. She let out a breath as she fought for composure. "So what you're saying is... both you and Sprout are in your body? But h-how's that possible?" "SHE TOOK MY SOUL!" Izzy--or rather, Sprout--wailed dramatically. Izzy cleared her throat and took over. "I found a magic spell in a reaaalllly old book from Alpabittle's collection. It must have been even older than Hitch!" "Hey!" "Anyway, it said it would unite any pony with the unicorn who casts the spell... but I thought it was figurative!" Sunny stood, brow tightened in a serious expression, and walked up to Izzy. "Do you have the book? Was there a counter-spell?" "Oh, no," Izzy laughed and tossed her mane. "I tried winning the book in a game of Twister, but I lost." Pipp held a hoof to her mouth and gasped, wings fanning out in shock. "But Izzy! You're, like, the Twister champion!" "I know," Izzy responded, her voice airy with exaggerated sadness, "but Alphabittle is the champion of Twister champions. And I don't think there was a counter-spell, unless it was somewhere else in the book." Sunny rubbed the fur beneath her chin thoughtfully. "I never would've guessed unicorns would still be capable of such powerful magic. There are records of unicorns teleporting, swapping cutie marks, and even traveling through time. But I've never heard of this before." She set her hoof down firmly. "Right, there's only one thing we can do. I'm going back to Bridlewood to see what I can find!" "Wait, aren't you gonna try using your alicorn magic first?" Izzy asked. Sunny shifted her weight and hesitated. "I... I'm not sure that's safe. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do." Izzy's voice suddenly increased by about 10 decibels and a look of panic claimed her face. "Just do it, Sunny! Even if you erase me from existence, that's a better fate than being trapped in somepony else's body for the rest of my life!" Sunny bit down on her lip, her lungs straining with a breath she was holding back, before setting free a deep exhale as she gave in. "All right, I'll do my best." Sunny took a few steps back. Her shoulders hunched and her legs bent as she braced herself, her teeth clenching as she willed with all her might for her horn to materialize. Izzy stood still and waited patiently, while Pipp, Zipp, and Hitch looked on with silent curiosity. Eventually, a shimmering silhouette began to extend from the apricot earth pony's forehead. Izzy flinched--though Sunny assumed that must have been Sprout's reaction. A golden wing simultaneously grew from each of Sunny's sides, and once her horn was at full mast, she lowered her head and pointed it at Izzy just before a golden ray burst from the tip. Izzy jolted as she was enveloped in a sparkly aura. Sunny raised her head and caught her breath in the form of sharp, heavy gasps. Her wings and horn dissipated like stars fading in the light of day. Izzy lifted each of her legs one at a time before turning around in a circle, waiting for something to happen. The rest of the ponies watched expectantly, pupils dilated and ears alert. The glow lingered for a few moments longer before fizzling out, and then... A little green sapling sprouted out from Izzy's mouth. Her eyes widened and a choke erupted from her before she turned her head and spat it out on the floor. "Well, looks like you got a sprout out of me, but you didn't get Sprout out of me." Sunny's gaze dropped to the floor as she sighed. "I knew it. I'm sorry for letting you down." She then reestablished eye contact and added, "For letting both of you down." From inside Izzy's body, Sprout stared back at Sunny, feeling the sincerity pouring from her words. He was disappointed and his stress had tripled, but he couldn't be mad at her. Sunny went on, "Like I said, I'll take a trip to Bridlewood and search through that book Izzy mentioned. It'll take me a few days to get there and back, but--" "A few DAYS!?" Sprout sputtered. "I can't wait that long!" "Don't worry, buddy," Hitch assured, before pausing to take a brief sip of his tea, "I'll let you take a break from work until you're back to your normal self." "I wasn't even thinking about work..." Sprout grumbled, kicking and scuffing his front hoof against the floor. It was bizarre to see Izzy's form displaying such temper and impatience. Only, something seemed a tad out of the ordinary... "Hold on..." Pipp rose to her hooves and approached the purple pony. "Izzy, you look different." Her bitter expression fading as Sprout took the backseat, Izzy turned and blinked at Pipp. "I do?" "Yeah!" She pointed at Izzy's face. "Your eyebrows are a teeny-tiny bit darker and," Pipp batted Izzy's mane with her hoof, "your hair is a teeny-tiny bit shorter." "Oh my hoofness, you're right!" Sunny remarked, eyes widening. Zipp grinned. "Nice attention to detail, sis!" Leaning an elbow on the table, Zipp rested a cheek on her hoof and addressed the dual-souled pony in the room. "So what's it like? Do you both have equal control over the body, or...?" Sprout was the one to answer. "Kind of, but I think Izzy is naturally the pony in charge. Doing stuff takes more effort than it did in my own body." He lifted a foreleg and stared at it, the purple hoof and lavender fetlock a strange and unfamiliar sight to him. "It feels like I just woke up from a nap and don't have all my bearings yet. But even when I'm not controlling this body, I can still see, hear, and feel everything Izzy does..." "Hmm... Interesting," Zipp mused. "But whatever happens next, I don't think we should let the public know about this incident." Pipp flicked an ear. "What do you mean? I thought you hated lies." Zipp took her time downing the rest of her tea before explaining, "We all know Izzy meant no harm, but if the earth ponies and pegasi find out what happened, they might become scared of what magic can do. And if the fear and mistrust spread, magic and harmony will be thrown into jeopardy all over again." "As much as it hurts to say this, I think she's right," Sunny admitted. "Sorry, Izzy and Sprout. But I promise I'll try to get this fixed as soon as I can." "But what about my mom? And everypony else who knows me? I can't just disappear off the face of Equestria!" "We'll tell everypony you went on a trip," Hitch proposed, "to do some... soul-searching." Sprout snorted and pinned his and Izzy's ears against the sides of their head. "Whatever..." They immediately pointed back up when Izzy put on a reassuring smile and said, "Look on the bright side, Sprouty-wouty! You're always so moody and you almost never hang out with other ponies. But I have lots of friends and do lots of things, so you'll get to have all kinds of fun and you don't need to be shy 'cause everypony will think you're me!" Sprout groaned. Izzy's smile only returned, wider than ever. "In fact, I'm participating in one of Posey's group painting sessions tomorrow. But I'll let you do the painting! Won't that be fun?" "Yay, fun," Sprout muttered. "But the sooner this is over, the better." Author's Note I wanted to get 2 chapters of this story done before making it public, as they both play a part in setting the story up. Chapter 3 will be called "Sharing is Caring". See you next time! 3. Sharing is CaringSprout had never been within the walls of the Crystal Brighthouse's bedroom before. Or wall. The room was shaped like a circle. Across from the entrance was a small seating area with a curved, rose pink sofa that fit snugly against the wall, right below a window that was currently welcoming in gentle starlight. The rest of the floor was divided into four distinct sleeping areas, each bed immediately recognizable as belonging to the glamorous Pipp, the steadfast Sunny, the sleek Zipp, or the imaginative Izzy. And directly in the center of the room was a huge glass cylinder where the light of the Unity Crystals softly glowed, a vertical rainbow that reached both into the sky and towards the earth. Izzy had just finished up in the bathroom (which had been a mortifying experience for Sprout, although the ever blithe and carefree unicorn had hardly been bothered by the act of relieving herself with somepony else in her body). She hopped into her hammock bed; It hung from a thick, gently arced beam of wood close to the ceiling, and Sprout got hit with a brief bout of dizziness as the bed swayed from the sudden extra weight. As the movement eased, Izzy grabbed one of the several pillows nestled around her and began fluffing it. "Hey, Izzy, hold still for a minute." Izzy paused once the words had finished leaving her mouth, inquisitively tipping her head to one side. "Hmm?" "Pat your head with your right hoof." Izzy set down her pillow and reached up before proceeding to pat the space just behind her horn. She felt the corners of her mouth stretch as Sprout grinned. "Now watch this." Her left hoof moved to rub circles on her tummy at the same time, coaxing a giggle out of her. "Wow, this is amazing!" Sprout let out a halfhearted chuckle before moving their hoof away and explaining, "It's easiest for me to control individual parts when you're not using them. But moving muscles you're already using takes more effort, and gaining control of your whole body is even tougher." He was quiet for a moment, and then he sighed as a sudden blanket of misery draped over him. "Hey, what's wrong, buddy?" "It's just not fair," Sprout muttered, voice pinched with despair. "You're the one who got me into this mess, but everything's fine for you. You get to sleep in a bed you're familiar with and stay with your friends, but I can't even go home to my mom." Izzy kept her ears perked as she listened attentively. Then they immediately drooped as sadness and guilt sunk into her fur. "I'm really sorry, Sprout. But Sunny already left for Bridlewood, so you'll get your own body back in a few days. I hope." Pushing for a more chipper tone, she added, "And tomorrow, I'll let you do whatever you want! Besides, this is your body now too, and sharing is caring!" "Really?" Reluctant gratitude clung to the word. Izzy chuckled. "Right after that group painting session I told you about, of course! Now relax. Pipp and Zipp will be coming to bed soon, and I'm sure you'll feel hunky-dory after a nice long snooze!" With that, Izzy snuggled amongst her nest of pillows and curled up into a cozy little ball, before pulling her teddy bear close to her chest and giving it a good squeeze. Yet as she lay there, chin resting upon her teddy bear's head, she thought she felt a single tear moisten the corner of her eye... It was the day after one of the many contenders for the worst day in Sprout's life. He remained dormant as he felt Izzy opening up a box of paints, and through her eyes he saw a large, blank white canvas. They were in the garden outside Maretime Bay's renowned art museum--the Houvre--and were about to take part in the painting session led by the museum's curator, Posey Bloom. They were joined by three other ponies: An earth pony, a unicorn, and a pegasus, none of which Sprout had yet learned the names of. "Who are they?" he asked while Izzy finished setting up. In a whisper, Izzy responded, "That teal earth pony with the amazing hooves is Jazz, that pegasus with the fiery mane is Flare, and the unicorn with the beret is Onyx. Y'know, I knew her in Bridlewood and she's really good at poetry--" Izzy's jaw snapped shut once she noticed Posey glaring at her with her brows scrunched together. Izzy chuckled nervously before wetting her lips with her tongue and whistling an innocent tune. Despite sharing her body with Sprout, neither of them could read the other's thoughts, which made communication terribly inconvenient in her opinion. Then again, she wasn't sure how pleased Sprout would be if a unicorn really could read his mind. "If we're all done whispering to ourselves," Posey began in a voice tart with sarcasm, "I think we can start. For today's session, let's work on our self-portraits!" A few murmurs of agreement ascended from the small gathering of ponies, followed by a peaceful silence that was touched only by subtle sounds of paintbrushes clacking and bristles gliding across stretched canvas. Izzy ducked her head, praying her face would be obscured by her easel, and whispered so softly that she was virtually mouthing the words: "Okay, Sprout, I'm gonna let you take the reigns. You gotta learn how to have fun around other ponies!" "But I don't know how to paint," Sprout responded lowly. "You know how to draw, right? Hitch said you used to doodle on the whiteboards in CanterLogic all the time, and that you even scribbled on the walls when you were a colt. So c'mon, just pick up a paintbrush and you'll do great." Izzy's throat was beginning to turn sore from whispering. After straightening his stance, Sprout selected a paintbrush with their right hoof and inspected it closely. He then brought the end of the paintbrush to their muzzle and began using it to pick their nose. "STOP!" Izzy yanked her hoof away and after a moment, quickly scanned the surrounding ponies. Most of them held confused stares, but Posey in particular was glaring at Izzy with a deep scowl warping her features. "Is it just me, or are you acting even more like a creep than usual?" Posey asked. "Heheh... Just drank one too many cups of schmoogleberry juice today!" Izzy said. A huge, awkward grin took up half her face. The lemony mare's eyes narrowed as she glared at Izzy for a few moments longer, before her gaze flitted back to her canvas. One by one, the other ponies' attentions drifted away as they were all absorbed by their paintings once more. Izzy's cheeks puffed out as a relieved sigh whooshed out of her. "Sprout, you're supposed to paint with the paintbrush," she breathed. "I know you're still mad about losing your body, but I said I'd let you do anything you want after this!" Sprout sniffed. "Fine." Much to Izzy's delight, Sprout behaved very well after that. He dabbed the brush into some red paint on Izzy's palette and began smearing it onto the canvas. Izzy had to admit that seeing and feeling her foreleg move without her say-so never felt any less strange, but the whole experience was becoming somewhat fun. It was as if she was attached to puppet strings, and being unable to predict exactly how her limbs would move was invigorating! She watched Sprout crudely paint himself onto the canvas, adding two green splotches for his eyes and thick streaks of brown paint for his eyebrows. Once they were done, Posey came around to inspect everypony's paintings. She stopped by the teal earth pony first. "Oh my gosh, Jazz, you're always such an incredible artist! So much attention to detail!" Posey marveled. Jazz lifted one of her forelegs and bashfully rubbed it against the other. "Aw, thanks Posey! I do get a lot of practice painting ponies' hooves at the Mane Melody!" Posey then strutted over to the next ponies, dishing out equal portions of praise for their paintings as well. Izzy giddily bounced on the spot, unable to restrain her excitement. She couldn't wait to find out what Posey had to say about Sprout's painting! The sad, sulky stallion could sure use a confidence boost. A few minutes passed, and Posey began reluctantly trudging towards the final pony. Izzy sucked in a deep breath through her snout to compose herself, putting forth her best efforts to stay still. Posey soon reached Izzy's easel. As soon as her eyes drank in the streaks and blobs of paint decorating the formerly blank canvas, and the gigantic eyebrows framing the comically lopsided eyeballs, she snorted and erupted into laughter. "What--HAHAHA--what the heck is this, Izzy?!" Posey struggled to form words through her hysterics. "You were always such an amateur, but this..." Unable to remain upright, Posey's legs folded as she flopped to the ground, chest heaving with hoots of laughter. "That is the worst painting I've ever seen! Everypony, come look at this awful painting!" Izzy took a few generous strides backwards, her teeth clenching together as Sprout cringed. She watched the other artists huddle around the easel to gawk at the source of Posey's amusement. "Oh no, when did Izzy get this bad?" one voice said. "It doesn't even look like her!" another exclaimed. Izzy flinched as Jazz looked over her shoulder to address her; thankfully, the teal mare's tone brimmed with concern rather than mockery. "Are you okay, Izzy? Usually you can paint a lot better than this." Completely at a loss, Izzy found herself unable to react, but she didn't have to. She let out a surprised yelp as she felt herself suddenly whip around and gallop off, each strike of her hooves against ground sending waves of pain up to her hocks. Yet she did nothing to stop it. She just silently waited as Sprout raced back to Mane Street, before slowing to a canter, then a trot, and at last walking to a bench and sitting down with a dejected sigh. "I'm so sorry," Izzy said after a minute. "I didn't know that would happen!" "I did," Sprout responded in a mutter. "If there's one thing I've learned, it's that I'm a failure at everything." "No you're not!" Izzy insisted. A few passers-by glanced in her direction, and she cleared her throat before lowering her voice to a more suitable volume. "Don't worry about Posey. She always acts like she has a crystal up her butt. I, for one, think your painting was fabulously funky." "It's not just that, it's..." Izzy waited for more words to leave her mouth, but none came. After a few minutes of silence, Izzy spoke up again. "Whatever we do next is up to you. So whaddya wanna do? Go to the beach? Bowling? Karaoke?" Sprout lifted their head and glanced around. Izzy felt realization seep in as Sprout found what he was looking for. His gaze locked in on Maretime Bay's pizza cart, which was only a brief distance away. "Oh, pizza! That always puts me in a good mood too. What kinda toppings do you like?" As Sprout got to their hooves and began to make his way to the pizza cart, he responded with, "Mushrooms... tomato... olives..." Instinctively, Izzy planted her hooves down firmly, stopping Sprout in his tracks. "Oop! Nope, nope, nope. Can't do olives. I'm allergic!" "What kind of pony is allergic to olives?!" Sprout asked in disbelief. Izzy sheepishly scuffed a hoof against the ground. "Me." "Well, I'm not," Sprout replied. Izzy felt her legs lug forward. "Stoooop!" she hissed, lurching as she abruptly stopped him again. "This is my body, so it will have the same allergic reaction!" The unsuspecting ponies of Mane Street watched the odd display, most of them tossing bemused glances in her direction before continuing on their way, though an increasing number of them stopped and stared at the strange little unicorn who appeared to be fighting some sort of desperate internal battle. Yet Sprout and Izzy were too caught up in their dispute to pay any mind to their surroundings. "Remember what you said? Sharing is caring! You promised to let me have this body for the rest of the day!" Sprout spoke through gritted teeth and yanked Izzy's body forward a few paces. Izzy scrambled a few steps back. "B-but I'll get a rash! My skin will turn red all over!" "Good, then I can look more like myself again!" "It'll be really itchy, too!" "So? My previous body was always itchy." Izzy bore down with all her might, tensing her leg muscles in an attempt to defend herself from being controlled by Sprout. "I'll get the rash all over my WHOLE, ENTIRE body, I'll be itchy all over my WHOLE, ENTIRE body, and I'll need to scratch all over my WHOLE, ENTIRE body." Izzy's shoulders rose and fell as she took a few heavy, exerted breaths and waited. A welcome wave of relief washed over her; she no longer felt any unwanted pressure tugging at her legs, so she allowed her muscles to loosen while Sprout weighed his options. Finally, she felt her lips part. "Whatever, then. I won't ask for olives." "Oh, thank you! You're the best!" She let Sprout resume his path towards the pizza cart, both of them oblivious to the gathering of ponies who had witnessed the whole spectacle. Foals and full-grown ponies alike stood in stunned silence with blank or bewildered expressions, Izzy's bizarre conversation with herself ringing in their ears. One elderly unicorn in particular sighed and shook her head pityingly. "That girl's clearly had too much schmoogleberry juice."
1. Magic is Safe, I Swear!"Sooo, do ya like it?" Huge, magenta irises stared expectantly into ambivalent green ones. Sprout's gaze shifted down to the object that had just been placed in his hoof--an assortment of colorful beads threaded on a single string. A "friendship bracelet", he had been told. He turned his hoof slightly, watching the small, translucent shapes glimmer in the sunlight. Izzy had invited him to a little copse of trees beyond the outskirts of Maretime Bay for a relaxing picnic, and after they'd finished sharing tea and cookies and peanut-butter-and-banana sandwiches, she had given him... this. "Wellllll?" Izzy leaned in close and blinked rapidly as she waited for his answer. Sprout shrank back, avoiding her ardent stare. "It's... neat, I guess. But what's it for?" The wavy-maned mare playfully rolled her eyes and gave a grin that accentuated her chubby cheeks. "It means we're best friends forever, silly! I made it specially for you. Well, I actually made it like a dozen moons ago back when I didn't have any friends, but I kept it so I could one day give it to a very good friend. And now that day is here!" She finished with a short chuckle, but her smile faltered when Sprout did not put the bracelet on and say, "Gee, thanks Izzy! You're my bestest buddy in the whole wide world and we'll def be friends forever and ever!" Instead, his ears drooped and his shoulders hunched. He glared at her gift as if it had just spat on each of his ancestors' graves and bulldozed his favorite ice cream parlor. "How can you say that? How do you know we will be friends forever? You can't! You're just making it up, and this bracelet proves nothing!" His nostrils flaring as he let out a sulky huff, he tossed the bracelet onto the ground at Izzy's hooves. Izzy's mind spiraled in confusion as Sprout abruptly got to his hooves and began striding back to the bay. "Wait!" she cried out. "What's wrong? I really do wanna be your friend forever and ever and ever and ever--" "You're lying!" Sprout shouted back, without slowing down or even looking over his shoulder. "Nopony's my friend." "But we had peanut-butter-and-banana sandwiches togetherrrrrrr!" Izzy hollered. But it was no use. Watching Sprout disappear over the hills, she plonked onto her haunches and let out a sad, whimpering sigh. What did she do wrong? She glanced at her precious friendship bracelet lying in the grass. Seeing it discarded like that caused an unpleasant twinge in her tummy, but what hurt most of all was that she had made Sprout angry... no, it was more like he was sad. "Poor Sprout," Izzy murmured to herself. Sprout's Luminescence--which was green--had always been dim, but during that moment, it had barely been visible at all. Ever since harmony had returned to Equestria, everypony was happy to move on from the past and accept one another in friendship and peace. Nearly everypony's Sparkles were shining brighter than ever before! So why was Sprout still so miserable? Whatever the reason, Izzy knew one thing for certain. She would do anything to prove her words were genuine. She would make Sprout her forever friend! One week later, Izzy was trotting down the streets of Maretime Bay, bobbing her head from side to side as she hummed a happy little tune to herself. Her luxurious tail, washed with blueberry-scented shampoo that morning, flounced behind her. She was in a gloriously good mood, and it wasn't just because she had added 18 more jars of glitter to her collection--Her vow to make Sprout her forever friend was about to come true, if she had anything to say about it! Reaching her destination, Izzy pushed open the doors of the sheriff station to find Sprout snoring away at his desk. "Good day, uh..." Izzy squinted at the desk's homemade name plate, which was a scribbled-on, folded up scrap of paper. "Huh. I guess Sprout is just a nickname. Good day, Depooty!" "Mmh...?" Sprout sleepily lifted his head, caught flashes of purple and blue through his hazy vision, and scrambled to sit upright. "Oh! Good morning, Izzy. I was just, uh... looking into this one police report. About murder. Serious stuff." Sprout grabbed a random piece of paper from his desk and held it up to his snout, studying it intently. Izzy trotted around to the other side of the desk and peered over his shoulder. "Looks blank to me. I guess that means somepony reported that there's been no murder. Yay!" Izzy bounced on the spot once, before placing her front hooves on Sprout's office chair and spinning it around to face her. "And you're 3 minutes late. It's 12:02PM, so it's not a good morning anymore!" "Hey!" The blank paper fell from Sprout's grasp, and his ears pinned back with discomfort as he found himself face to face with the pony he hadn't seen since the day he had stormed off after their (admittedly delicious) picnic. He pressed himself against the back of the chair as far as he could, Izzy's hooves now gripping the seat on either side of his thighs. "What do you want? Y-you're not mad at me, are you?" "What? Of course not! Do I LOOK mad?" She smiled a smile bright enough to melt the sun, and the tension in Sprout's shoulders eased just a little. Thankfully, she let go and took a few steps back before saying, "Remember how you said I was lying about being your best friend forever? Well, I searched for a way to prove I'm serious, and I found it!" "Not this again," Sprout muttered. He jumped out of his chair and looked ready to make a dash for the station doors. "Wait, please don't run away again! I really mean it," Izzy pleaded. Sprout took one look at her face, her innocent eyes wavering with emotion, and hesitated. Snatching her chance, Izzy immediately dove into her explanation. "I made a trip to my ol' hometown earlier this week, and I found a really old, really dusty book in Alphabittle's collection. It was about magical spells for all kinds of things! And... I found a spell that'll make you a part of me forever! It means you'll never have to worry about me forgetting you or abandoning you. We will be together forever!" Sprout lowered his stance and regarded her with suspicion. "Sunny told me all unicorn magic could do was make things float..." His eyes widened as realization struck him. "Wait, if you can do other spells, does that mean unicorns really can fry pony brains?!" "No!" Izzy quickly shouted. "I mean, I didn't see any spells like that but technically they could exist..." She watched Sprout's pupils shrink in horror and she frantically amended, "But I'm sure they don't! And if they did, nopony even knows how to use them!" "Doesn't matter, I'm not letting you use magic on me!" "Sprout, please..." Izzy's tone was shockingly gentle, and the sincerity behind it practically forced Sprout to lift his ears and heed what she had to say. Seeing his defensive stance fade as he straightened his legs, Izzy continued in a volume that was just one hoofstep above a whisper, "I don't know what happened to make you think you can't have friends. But I promise I really, truly want you as my friend. More importantly, I want you to have a friend, Sprout. And this spell will make sure we stay friends no matter what." Sprout blinked slowly and asked, "Will it hurt?" "It won't, I promise." Izzy actually wasn't certain whether it would hurt or not, but it couldn't, right? In fact, she wasn't exactly sure what the spell would even do, but it seemed clear enough that it would establish some sort of permanent bond between them. The following minute was filled with silence save for the quiet breathing of both ponies, until at last, Sprout responded. "Fine... but you better be careful." His voice low and barely audible, Sprout stared at the floor. Seconds later, his ears pricked at the sound of Izzy's approaching hoofsteps. "It's gonna be fiiiine," she assured. She held out a purple hoof, Sprout's vision meeting with the comforting heart shape that was naturally engraved in all pony hooves. "So, are you ready?" Sprout's lungs emptied out as a nervous, shaky breath. "I guess so." Izzy grinned as he placed his hoof onto hers. Her tail swishing in delight, she shut her eyes and prepared to conduct the spell. She tensed her temples and magic began to build up within her horn. Sprout flinched as the magenta glow illuminated the crevices of her horn, but thankfully he dedicated all his willpower to staying put. Izzy felt her heart swell as the amount of magic inside her surged, and right when the light shining from her horn was nearly blinding and she thought she was ready to burst, she breathlessly chanted the spell. "Until the end and from the start Now and forever, you'll be in my heart!" FWOOSH. The light became so intense, Izzy was suddenly lost in a world of white that still burned into her vision no matter how tightly she squeezed her eyelids together. Her head felt like a teddy bear in the process of being stuffed with way too much filling, and the pressure behind her horn was unbearable. The overwhelming sensations seemed to go on for moons, but in reality, it couldn't have been more than a few seconds before the light dimmed and Izzy could finally catch her breath. "Whew..." she wheezed, staggering a bit before landing on her butt. "That really took a lot out of me. Hmm..." She blinked several times to make sure her vision had recovered, and glanced around the station. Sprout was nowhere to be seen. Instantly, one of Izzy's front hooves flew to her mouth. "Oh no!" she gasped. "I exploded him!" Or maybe he had run away after all? If he had, her muscles were too weak from the spell to give chase. She hadn't heard any hoofsteps or the door opening, but it could've been easy to miss while her other senses were being assaulted. SMACK. Izzy suddenly and involuntarily socked herself in the face. "OW! Ow!" She rubbed her sore cheek and frowned. She was sure she hadn't meant to say "ow" twice, but a more pressing matter was why she had hit herself in the first place. Then, to her bewilderment, her mouth opened and began to talk on its own! "Izzy, I'm HERE! You dweeb, what did you do?!" The perplexed purple pony covered her mouth with both hooves, her pupils darting from side to side. What in Equestria was going on? "You're right, me," she mumbled into her hooves. "What did I do?" Her heart raced as her body moved without any input from her; it stood up on all four hooves and began pacing around in frantic circles, and once again, "she" began to speak without even meaning to. "It's me, Sprout! I'm... trapped inside you or something. Whatever it is, you better fix it NOW!" Izzy drew in a lengthy breath as the truth of the situation dawned on her. "Oh dear, looks like that spell was a lot more literal than I thought. And I don't think there's a way to undo it. But hey, at least we'll always be together now, right? Just like I promised!" Her worry dissolving like a snowflake in summer, she held her head high and cantered to the building's entrance before pushing the doors open and stepping out into the warm sunlight. She had things to do (like hanging out with her friends) and places to be (like wherever her friends were), and nothing was going to stop her from enjoying the rest of her day! She suddenly lurched as her hooves halted in their tracks. "You're not seriously gonna leave me in here, are you?!" A few passing ponies shot Izzy confused looks while she, in their perspective, shouted nonsense at herself in the middle of the street. She grinned sheepishly and turned away from them before whispering, "I told you, I can't. But I'm going to see my friends, and Sunny might be able to use her alicorn powers on us." "Great, more unpredictable magic," Sprout mumbled, and Izzy felt her lungs deflate as he sighed. "But fine. And if it doesn't work, I am so gonna stuff you in a trash can." Izzy giggled. "You might wanna rethink that one, buddy." Author's Note Long time no see! I hope the first chapter of my new story was enjoyable enough. I probably won't be taking ideas as I already have most of this story planned out. Most chapters will indeed fall under Comedy, but there will be more emotion later down the line. Have a great day!
2. Stuck in You"SPROUT'S INSIDE MEEE!" The heads of Sunny, Hitch, Pipp, and Zipp shot up as the doors of the Crystal Brighthouse swung open to reveal Izzy Moonbow. A few moments of silence reigned after her unexpected outburst before Hitch broke it with, "Izzy, we didn't need to hear that." "Oh, but you do!" Izzy insisted, her voice ripe with urgency. She galloped over to where her friends were seated around a circular white table in the Brighthouse's central room. On its surface was a squat little teapot surrounded by four steaming cups of tea, wafts of various herbal and fruity scents dancing their way to Izzy's nostrils. Her hooves squeaked as she skidded to a halt on the multicolored mosaic floor and frowned. "Wait a minute--Were you guys having a tea party without me? All four ponies' jaws dropped as the horror of their mistake struck them like lightning and flowed to the tips of their nerves. Rustling her wings, Pipp was the first to fumble for an excuse. "It's not what you think! It's not a tea party, it's a..." Her anxious gulp was both seen and heard. "It's a, uh... partie de thé." Sweat crawled down Sunny's forehead as she added, "Yeah! And besides, you said you were gonna be busy with something else today." She gave a lighthearted smile that failed to conceal the quaver in her voice. Izzy narrowed her eyes and stuck out her lower lip as her gaze flashed between Sunny and Pipp, but then she quickly shook her head, her ears flopping and her blue locks swishing about. She had to focus! "Nevermind that, I need your help! I somehow sucked Sprout into me!" Hitch reached for his cup and slowly brought it to his face with a blank expression, before filling the following silence with a loud, drawn-out siiiiiip. Sunny and Pipp both avoided Izzy's gaze, the latter pulling her phone out from under her wing and gluing her eyes to the screen without even bothering to switch it on. Only Zipp made direct eye contact, one eyebrow slowly rising. "Izzy, I don't think I want to know what you're trying to say." The unicorn's muzzle then scrunched with uncharacteristic anger, and the quartet of ponies flinched as she sharply stamped a hoof against the floor. "Oh for peaches' sake, you ponies! She means she did some kind of wacky magic spell that trapped me in her body, and now my body is GONE!" A series of stunned glances passed between Sunny, Hitch, Pipp, and Zipp. The voice had been Izzy's, sure, but there was something anomalous about the enunciation and flow. Sunny's countenance wore a distant look as the gears in her head turned. She let out a breath as she fought for composure. "So what you're saying is... both you and Sprout are in your body? But h-how's that possible?" "SHE TOOK MY SOUL!" Izzy--or rather, Sprout--wailed dramatically. Izzy cleared her throat and took over. "I found a magic spell in a reaaalllly old book from Alpabittle's collection. It must have been even older than Hitch!" "Hey!" "Anyway, it said it would unite any pony with the unicorn who casts the spell... but I thought it was figurative!" Sunny stood, brow tightened in a serious expression, and walked up to Izzy. "Do you have the book? Was there a counter-spell?" "Oh, no," Izzy laughed and tossed her mane. "I tried winning the book in a game of Twister, but I lost." Pipp held a hoof to her mouth and gasped, wings fanning out in shock. "But Izzy! You're, like, the Twister champion!" "I know," Izzy responded, her voice airy with exaggerated sadness, "but Alphabittle is the champion of Twister champions. And I don't think there was a counter-spell, unless it was somewhere else in the book." Sunny rubbed the fur beneath her chin thoughtfully. "I never would've guessed unicorns would still be capable of such powerful magic. There are records of unicorns teleporting, swapping cutie marks, and even traveling through time. But I've never heard of this before." She set her hoof down firmly. "Right, there's only one thing we can do. I'm going back to Bridlewood to see what I can find!" "Wait, aren't you gonna try using your alicorn magic first?" Izzy asked. Sunny shifted her weight and hesitated. "I... I'm not sure that's safe. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do." Izzy's voice suddenly increased by about 10 decibels and a look of panic claimed her face. "Just do it, Sunny! Even if you erase me from existence, that's a better fate than being trapped in somepony else's body for the rest of my life!" Sunny bit down on her lip, her lungs straining with a breath she was holding back, before setting free a deep exhale as she gave in. "All right, I'll do my best." Sunny took a few steps back. Her shoulders hunched and her legs bent as she braced herself, her teeth clenching as she willed with all her might for her horn to materialize. Izzy stood still and waited patiently, while Pipp, Zipp, and Hitch looked on with silent curiosity. Eventually, a shimmering silhouette began to extend from the apricot earth pony's forehead. Izzy flinched--though Sunny assumed that must have been Sprout's reaction. A golden wing simultaneously grew from each of Sunny's sides, and once her horn was at full mast, she lowered her head and pointed it at Izzy just before a golden ray burst from the tip. Izzy jolted as she was enveloped in a sparkly aura. Sunny raised her head and caught her breath in the form of sharp, heavy gasps. Her wings and horn dissipated like stars fading in the light of day. Izzy lifted each of her legs one at a time before turning around in a circle, waiting for something to happen. The rest of the ponies watched expectantly, pupils dilated and ears alert. The glow lingered for a few moments longer before fizzling out, and then... A little green sapling sprouted out from Izzy's mouth. Her eyes widened and a choke erupted from her before she turned her head and spat it out on the floor. "Well, looks like you got a sprout out of me, but you didn't get Sprout out of me." Sunny's gaze dropped to the floor as she sighed. "I knew it. I'm sorry for letting you down." She then reestablished eye contact and added, "For letting both of you down." From inside Izzy's body, Sprout stared back at Sunny, feeling the sincerity pouring from her words. He was disappointed and his stress had tripled, but he couldn't be mad at her. Sunny went on, "Like I said, I'll take a trip to Bridlewood and search through that book Izzy mentioned. It'll take me a few days to get there and back, but--" "A few DAYS!?" Sprout sputtered. "I can't wait that long!" "Don't worry, buddy," Hitch assured, before pausing to take a brief sip of his tea, "I'll let you take a break from work until you're back to your normal self." "I wasn't even thinking about work..." Sprout grumbled, kicking and scuffing his front hoof against the floor. It was bizarre to see Izzy's form displaying such temper and impatience. Only, something seemed a tad out of the ordinary... "Hold on..." Pipp rose to her hooves and approached the purple pony. "Izzy, you look different." Her bitter expression fading as Sprout took the backseat, Izzy turned and blinked at Pipp. "I do?" "Yeah!" She pointed at Izzy's face. "Your eyebrows are a teeny-tiny bit darker and," Pipp batted Izzy's mane with her hoof, "your hair is a teeny-tiny bit shorter." "Oh my hoofness, you're right!" Sunny remarked, eyes widening. Zipp grinned. "Nice attention to detail, sis!" Leaning an elbow on the table, Zipp rested a cheek on her hoof and addressed the dual-souled pony in the room. "So what's it like? Do you both have equal control over the body, or...?" Sprout was the one to answer. "Kind of, but I think Izzy is naturally the pony in charge. Doing stuff takes more effort than it did in my own body." He lifted a foreleg and stared at it, the purple hoof and lavender fetlock a strange and unfamiliar sight to him. "It feels like I just woke up from a nap and don't have all my bearings yet. But even when I'm not controlling this body, I can still see, hear, and feel everything Izzy does..." "Hmm... Interesting," Zipp mused. "But whatever happens next, I don't think we should let the public know about this incident." Pipp flicked an ear. "What do you mean? I thought you hated lies." Zipp took her time downing the rest of her tea before explaining, "We all know Izzy meant no harm, but if the earth ponies and pegasi find out what happened, they might become scared of what magic can do. And if the fear and mistrust spread, magic and harmony will be thrown into jeopardy all over again." "As much as it hurts to say this, I think she's right," Sunny admitted. "Sorry, Izzy and Sprout. But I promise I'll try to get this fixed as soon as I can." "But what about my mom? And everypony else who knows me? I can't just disappear off the face of Equestria!" "We'll tell everypony you went on a trip," Hitch proposed, "to do some... soul-searching." Sprout snorted and pinned his and Izzy's ears against the sides of their head. "Whatever..." They immediately pointed back up when Izzy put on a reassuring smile and said, "Look on the bright side, Sprouty-wouty! You're always so moody and you almost never hang out with other ponies. But I have lots of friends and do lots of things, so you'll get to have all kinds of fun and you don't need to be shy 'cause everypony will think you're me!" Sprout groaned. Izzy's smile only returned, wider than ever. "In fact, I'm participating in one of Posey's group painting sessions tomorrow. But I'll let you do the painting! Won't that be fun?" "Yay, fun," Sprout muttered. "But the sooner this is over, the better." Author's Note I wanted to get 2 chapters of this story done before making it public, as they both play a part in setting the story up. Chapter 3 will be called "Sharing is Caring". See you next time!
3. Sharing is CaringSprout had never been within the walls of the Crystal Brighthouse's bedroom before. Or wall. The room was shaped like a circle. Across from the entrance was a small seating area with a curved, rose pink sofa that fit snugly against the wall, right below a window that was currently welcoming in gentle starlight. The rest of the floor was divided into four distinct sleeping areas, each bed immediately recognizable as belonging to the glamorous Pipp, the steadfast Sunny, the sleek Zipp, or the imaginative Izzy. And directly in the center of the room was a huge glass cylinder where the light of the Unity Crystals softly glowed, a vertical rainbow that reached both into the sky and towards the earth. Izzy had just finished up in the bathroom (which had been a mortifying experience for Sprout, although the ever blithe and carefree unicorn had hardly been bothered by the act of relieving herself with somepony else in her body). She hopped into her hammock bed; It hung from a thick, gently arced beam of wood close to the ceiling, and Sprout got hit with a brief bout of dizziness as the bed swayed from the sudden extra weight. As the movement eased, Izzy grabbed one of the several pillows nestled around her and began fluffing it. "Hey, Izzy, hold still for a minute." Izzy paused once the words had finished leaving her mouth, inquisitively tipping her head to one side. "Hmm?" "Pat your head with your right hoof." Izzy set down her pillow and reached up before proceeding to pat the space just behind her horn. She felt the corners of her mouth stretch as Sprout grinned. "Now watch this." Her left hoof moved to rub circles on her tummy at the same time, coaxing a giggle out of her. "Wow, this is amazing!" Sprout let out a halfhearted chuckle before moving their hoof away and explaining, "It's easiest for me to control individual parts when you're not using them. But moving muscles you're already using takes more effort, and gaining control of your whole body is even tougher." He was quiet for a moment, and then he sighed as a sudden blanket of misery draped over him. "Hey, what's wrong, buddy?" "It's just not fair," Sprout muttered, voice pinched with despair. "You're the one who got me into this mess, but everything's fine for you. You get to sleep in a bed you're familiar with and stay with your friends, but I can't even go home to my mom." Izzy kept her ears perked as she listened attentively. Then they immediately drooped as sadness and guilt sunk into her fur. "I'm really sorry, Sprout. But Sunny already left for Bridlewood, so you'll get your own body back in a few days. I hope." Pushing for a more chipper tone, she added, "And tomorrow, I'll let you do whatever you want! Besides, this is your body now too, and sharing is caring!" "Really?" Reluctant gratitude clung to the word. Izzy chuckled. "Right after that group painting session I told you about, of course! Now relax. Pipp and Zipp will be coming to bed soon, and I'm sure you'll feel hunky-dory after a nice long snooze!" With that, Izzy snuggled amongst her nest of pillows and curled up into a cozy little ball, before pulling her teddy bear close to her chest and giving it a good squeeze. Yet as she lay there, chin resting upon her teddy bear's head, she thought she felt a single tear moisten the corner of her eye... It was the day after one of the many contenders for the worst day in Sprout's life. He remained dormant as he felt Izzy opening up a box of paints, and through her eyes he saw a large, blank white canvas. They were in the garden outside Maretime Bay's renowned art museum--the Houvre--and were about to take part in the painting session led by the museum's curator, Posey Bloom. They were joined by three other ponies: An earth pony, a unicorn, and a pegasus, none of which Sprout had yet learned the names of. "Who are they?" he asked while Izzy finished setting up. In a whisper, Izzy responded, "That teal earth pony with the amazing hooves is Jazz, that pegasus with the fiery mane is Flare, and the unicorn with the beret is Onyx. Y'know, I knew her in Bridlewood and she's really good at poetry--" Izzy's jaw snapped shut once she noticed Posey glaring at her with her brows scrunched together. Izzy chuckled nervously before wetting her lips with her tongue and whistling an innocent tune. Despite sharing her body with Sprout, neither of them could read the other's thoughts, which made communication terribly inconvenient in her opinion. Then again, she wasn't sure how pleased Sprout would be if a unicorn really could read his mind. "If we're all done whispering to ourselves," Posey began in a voice tart with sarcasm, "I think we can start. For today's session, let's work on our self-portraits!" A few murmurs of agreement ascended from the small gathering of ponies, followed by a peaceful silence that was touched only by subtle sounds of paintbrushes clacking and bristles gliding across stretched canvas. Izzy ducked her head, praying her face would be obscured by her easel, and whispered so softly that she was virtually mouthing the words: "Okay, Sprout, I'm gonna let you take the reigns. You gotta learn how to have fun around other ponies!" "But I don't know how to paint," Sprout responded lowly. "You know how to draw, right? Hitch said you used to doodle on the whiteboards in CanterLogic all the time, and that you even scribbled on the walls when you were a colt. So c'mon, just pick up a paintbrush and you'll do great." Izzy's throat was beginning to turn sore from whispering. After straightening his stance, Sprout selected a paintbrush with their right hoof and inspected it closely. He then brought the end of the paintbrush to their muzzle and began using it to pick their nose. "STOP!" Izzy yanked her hoof away and after a moment, quickly scanned the surrounding ponies. Most of them held confused stares, but Posey in particular was glaring at Izzy with a deep scowl warping her features. "Is it just me, or are you acting even more like a creep than usual?" Posey asked. "Heheh... Just drank one too many cups of schmoogleberry juice today!" Izzy said. A huge, awkward grin took up half her face. The lemony mare's eyes narrowed as she glared at Izzy for a few moments longer, before her gaze flitted back to her canvas. One by one, the other ponies' attentions drifted away as they were all absorbed by their paintings once more. Izzy's cheeks puffed out as a relieved sigh whooshed out of her. "Sprout, you're supposed to paint with the paintbrush," she breathed. "I know you're still mad about losing your body, but I said I'd let you do anything you want after this!" Sprout sniffed. "Fine." Much to Izzy's delight, Sprout behaved very well after that. He dabbed the brush into some red paint on Izzy's palette and began smearing it onto the canvas. Izzy had to admit that seeing and feeling her foreleg move without her say-so never felt any less strange, but the whole experience was becoming somewhat fun. It was as if she was attached to puppet strings, and being unable to predict exactly how her limbs would move was invigorating! She watched Sprout crudely paint himself onto the canvas, adding two green splotches for his eyes and thick streaks of brown paint for his eyebrows. Once they were done, Posey came around to inspect everypony's paintings. She stopped by the teal earth pony first. "Oh my gosh, Jazz, you're always such an incredible artist! So much attention to detail!" Posey marveled. Jazz lifted one of her forelegs and bashfully rubbed it against the other. "Aw, thanks Posey! I do get a lot of practice painting ponies' hooves at the Mane Melody!" Posey then strutted over to the next ponies, dishing out equal portions of praise for their paintings as well. Izzy giddily bounced on the spot, unable to restrain her excitement. She couldn't wait to find out what Posey had to say about Sprout's painting! The sad, sulky stallion could sure use a confidence boost. A few minutes passed, and Posey began reluctantly trudging towards the final pony. Izzy sucked in a deep breath through her snout to compose herself, putting forth her best efforts to stay still. Posey soon reached Izzy's easel. As soon as her eyes drank in the streaks and blobs of paint decorating the formerly blank canvas, and the gigantic eyebrows framing the comically lopsided eyeballs, she snorted and erupted into laughter. "What--HAHAHA--what the heck is this, Izzy?!" Posey struggled to form words through her hysterics. "You were always such an amateur, but this..." Unable to remain upright, Posey's legs folded as she flopped to the ground, chest heaving with hoots of laughter. "That is the worst painting I've ever seen! Everypony, come look at this awful painting!" Izzy took a few generous strides backwards, her teeth clenching together as Sprout cringed. She watched the other artists huddle around the easel to gawk at the source of Posey's amusement. "Oh no, when did Izzy get this bad?" one voice said. "It doesn't even look like her!" another exclaimed. Izzy flinched as Jazz looked over her shoulder to address her; thankfully, the teal mare's tone brimmed with concern rather than mockery. "Are you okay, Izzy? Usually you can paint a lot better than this." Completely at a loss, Izzy found herself unable to react, but she didn't have to. She let out a surprised yelp as she felt herself suddenly whip around and gallop off, each strike of her hooves against ground sending waves of pain up to her hocks. Yet she did nothing to stop it. She just silently waited as Sprout raced back to Mane Street, before slowing to a canter, then a trot, and at last walking to a bench and sitting down with a dejected sigh. "I'm so sorry," Izzy said after a minute. "I didn't know that would happen!" "I did," Sprout responded in a mutter. "If there's one thing I've learned, it's that I'm a failure at everything." "No you're not!" Izzy insisted. A few passers-by glanced in her direction, and she cleared her throat before lowering her voice to a more suitable volume. "Don't worry about Posey. She always acts like she has a crystal up her butt. I, for one, think your painting was fabulously funky." "It's not just that, it's..." Izzy waited for more words to leave her mouth, but none came. After a few minutes of silence, Izzy spoke up again. "Whatever we do next is up to you. So whaddya wanna do? Go to the beach? Bowling? Karaoke?" Sprout lifted their head and glanced around. Izzy felt realization seep in as Sprout found what he was looking for. His gaze locked in on Maretime Bay's pizza cart, which was only a brief distance away. "Oh, pizza! That always puts me in a good mood too. What kinda toppings do you like?" As Sprout got to their hooves and began to make his way to the pizza cart, he responded with, "Mushrooms... tomato... olives..." Instinctively, Izzy planted her hooves down firmly, stopping Sprout in his tracks. "Oop! Nope, nope, nope. Can't do olives. I'm allergic!" "What kind of pony is allergic to olives?!" Sprout asked in disbelief. Izzy sheepishly scuffed a hoof against the ground. "Me." "Well, I'm not," Sprout replied. Izzy felt her legs lug forward. "Stoooop!" she hissed, lurching as she abruptly stopped him again. "This is my body, so it will have the same allergic reaction!" The unsuspecting ponies of Mane Street watched the odd display, most of them tossing bemused glances in her direction before continuing on their way, though an increasing number of them stopped and stared at the strange little unicorn who appeared to be fighting some sort of desperate internal battle. Yet Sprout and Izzy were too caught up in their dispute to pay any mind to their surroundings. "Remember what you said? Sharing is caring! You promised to let me have this body for the rest of the day!" Sprout spoke through gritted teeth and yanked Izzy's body forward a few paces. Izzy scrambled a few steps back. "B-but I'll get a rash! My skin will turn red all over!" "Good, then I can look more like myself again!" "It'll be really itchy, too!" "So? My previous body was always itchy." Izzy bore down with all her might, tensing her leg muscles in an attempt to defend herself from being controlled by Sprout. "I'll get the rash all over my WHOLE, ENTIRE body, I'll be itchy all over my WHOLE, ENTIRE body, and I'll need to scratch all over my WHOLE, ENTIRE body." Izzy's shoulders rose and fell as she took a few heavy, exerted breaths and waited. A welcome wave of relief washed over her; she no longer felt any unwanted pressure tugging at her legs, so she allowed her muscles to loosen while Sprout weighed his options. Finally, she felt her lips part. "Whatever, then. I won't ask for olives." "Oh, thank you! You're the best!" She let Sprout resume his path towards the pizza cart, both of them oblivious to the gathering of ponies who had witnessed the whole spectacle. Foals and full-grown ponies alike stood in stunned silence with blank or bewildered expressions, Izzy's bizarre conversation with herself ringing in their ears. One elderly unicorn in particular sighed and shook her head pityingly. "That girl's clearly had too much schmoogleberry juice."
