"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!