Mornings in Maretime Bay were always delightful. There was nothing Izzy liked more than waking up to the sight of light streaming in through the windows of the Crystal Brighthouse, bringing with them the promises of a new day filled with amazing new possibilities. And this day in particular promised to be a great one.
After all, it was only yesterday that she and Pipp had become real marefriends. Sure, they had hung out together a lot, and they'd even gone out once, but all that had mostly been to test the waters. But yesterday they had decided to make it totally official, and had told their friends, Queen Haven, everypony. Pipp had even made a special announcement video on her blog, which meant that basically the whole of Equestria knew that the pretty pegasus princess was hers! The thought had made Izzy so excited, she'd barely been able to sleep last night.
Speaking of Pipp....
She leapt out of her of bed and rushed over to Pipp's beside. "Pipp! Pipp! Pipp~♪" She sang. "It's time to get up— huh?" Izzy pushed aside the blankets, revealing a pile of blankets, but no Pipp.
Huh? Pipp was always in bed for Izzy to wake up early in morning. She glanced at the table. Her phone was off it's charger, so had she just woken up early? That was unusual. And disappointing. She'd been looking forward to waking up Pipp so they could spend the morning together. And if she wasn't here, then where was she?
"Pipp?" Izzy called as she headed down the stairs. "Where are you?" The entryway looked clear. Maybe she was in the kitchen? She peered through the doorway... yes! There she was! Sitting slumped next to the dining table was Pipp, phone in hand as always.
"Pipp!"
Pipp's ears twitched in response, but she scarcely had time to turn her head before Izzy had her enveloped in a bear hug. Her wings flared out a surprise and she let out a surprised yelp.
"Good morning!~" Izzy said with a laugh.
"Izzy..." Pipp groaned as she wriggled out of Izzy's grasp. "You shouldn't sneak up on people like that! You scared me!" Despite her protests, she too was laughing, and blessed Izzy with a smile that sent her heart racing.
"Sor-ry." she replied before giving Pipp a nuzzle. "I was just so happy to see you! When I saw you weren't in bed, I was worried that you'd gone out." Her eyes drifted towards Pipp's phone, which was sitting on the edge of the dining table. "Ooh, watcha looking at?" She asked, reaching her hoof towards it.
Before she could take a peek, however, Pipp quickly flipped over the phone and slid it away from Izzy's grasp. "Nothing! That's nothing!"
Noticing the startled look on Izzy's face, Pipp gave her a reassuring smile. "I mean... It's nothing that you would interested in. Just ordering stuff for Mane Melody. Super boring stuff."
"Pfft!" Izzy replied. "That's silly! I love hearing you talk about mane stuff. You always sound so smart and professional, and your sparkle gets even more sparkly!"
Pipp blushed at that. "Aww, that's sweet. Still, maybe we should save that kind of stuff for another day? It is my day off after all."
Izzy nodded vigorously. "I agree! Ooh! I got it! And since it is your day off, we should totally go out somewhere to celebrate! What are you thinking? Day at the beach? Amusement Park? Karaoke?"
"Loving all of those! Oh, or how about—"
Pipp's voice was cut off by the simultaneous sound of their stomachs grumbling, and her face turned red with embarrassment. "...On second thought, how about brunch?"
Izzy nodded. "Sounds good. Where to?"
"Good question." Pipp picked up her phone. "Let me me see if I—"
That's when it happened. For a split second, a hurt look flashed across her face, and her luminescence, which was usually all bright and sparkly, dimmed slightly.
"—can find us a good place." She finished, as if she had never paused in the first place. She continued scrolling, wearing the same smile that she had been wearing before.
Izzy tilted her head slightly. Did that really happen, or was I just seeing things? "Um... are you..."
Pipp looked up from her phone. "Yeah?"
She took a closer look. Everything seemed fine enough. Maybe she was just seeing things. "Did you find a good place?"
"Not yet, but..." Her eyes lit up at something on the screen. "How about this place?"
Izzy peered at the screen. It displayed a rustic-looking building on a cliffside. Breakfast by the Beach , the signage read. "Looks cute, doesn't it?"
"Oh yeah! Looks great!"
Pipp beamed. “Great! Just let me get ready first!” She leaned over and gave Izzy a peck on the cheek. “See you in a minute!~”
Izzy just stood there, letting the warm feeling of the kiss spread through the rest of her body. She was really excited— it would be their first official date as marefriends!
Still, the image of the frown on Pipp’s face still lingered in her mind. Just what happened there?
Izzy smiled as she took another bite of her waffle. It was a delicious; a fluffy masterpiece topped with syrup, whipped cream, chocolate chips, strawberries, and practically everything else that the restaurant had to offer. All the toppings were expertly arranged as to make it look like a work of art, and it tasted just as good as it looked.
"Mmm-mmm! So good! We really picked a good place, didn't we Pipp?"
No response. Izzy looked up from her meal to see Pipp, in contrast to Izzy, was staring absentmindedly at her food, almost as if she was looking right through it.
Izzy frowned. It happened again...
Although Izzy had written off Pipp's strange behavior in the morning as a one-time thing, was turning out be far from it. Sure, for the most part, she was engaging in conversation and otherwise acting like her usual self, but every now and then she would just get this far off look and it seemed like was somewhere else. Her eyes kept drifting towards her phone, too, and Izzy swore that she saw her sneaking a peek couple of times
But… It's our first official date! Everything else is going great! The food’s good, the restaurant is charming and the view’s spectacular! So why is she acting so weird? Am I... doing something wrong?
“Pipp…?” Izzy gingerly asked.
Pipp's head jolted upwards. “Yes?”
“Were you… paying attention?”
Pipp forced a smile. “Uh, well, you see… I was…” She hung her head low. “No… Sorry, I spaced out for a second there. But I’m listening now!” She sat up straight, eyes and ears rapt at attention.
“I know, it’s just… you’ve been pretty spacey today. Is there anything wrong?”
Pipp shifted nervously in her seat. “Nope! Everything’s cool!”
“Really? Because you can tell me anything, you know that right? That’s what I’m here for!”
Pipp leaned back. “Yeah, but this is nothing that you have to worry about, honest!”
Izzy’s ears perked up at those words. “‘This’? So there is something?”
Pipp stiffened. “No! There’s nothing! And you shouldn’t worry about it! And there’s no problem!”
Izzy tilted her head. “Wait, so is there a problem or no?”
“You see— Well— The thing is—” She suddenly stood up. “I have to use the little fillies’ room! Be right back!”
A part of Izzy wanted to get up and run after Pipp, but the other part was feeling too down and figured that it probably wouldn't amount to anything. So she just slumped down on the table.
I don't get it. What's wrong with you? You ran off so quickly... you didn't even take...
Her eyes widened.
...Your phone!
Izzy levitated the phone towards her. Had she left it unlocked?… Yes, she had! What luck!
It was wrong to be snooping around her marefriend’s phone, true, but she had been left with no other options! If Pipp wouldn’t tell her what was wrong herself, then maybe she could at least get a hint from what she was looking at.
“Okay phone, what sneaky little secrets do you…” Izzy’s voice trailed off as she looked at the screen.
It was the video of their relationship announcement that Pipp had posted yesterday. Or more specifically, the comment section for the video. There were loads of comments full of heart emojis and congratulations, but there were also…
ugh. what was with all that crap about ‘sparkles’? theres clearly something wrong in the head with that mare
Why her??? Don’t get me wrong, none of her so-called ‘friends’ would EVER be worth dating, but she takes the cake.
The Zephyr Heights royal bloodline should be PEGASI ONLY!!!!111!!!1
…and so many others, each seeming more cruel and vicious than the last. Izzy felt her stomach twisting as she scrolled through them.
“Izzy?”
Pipp’s voice barely registered to Izzy's ears as she continued scrolling through the comments. Most of them were familiar; she had heard similar comments whispered behind her back all the time when she still lived in Bridlewood. They brought back a swirling tide of bad memories that she’d tried her best to put behind her.
“Izzy!”
Izzy felt the phone being ripped out of her magical grasp, and the face of her marefriend appeared where the string of negative comments once was. “Izzy?” She repeated again. “I’m sorry— You weren’t—” She sighed, ears drooping. “I didn’t want you to see those.”
"...Are these what you've been looking at?"
Pipp looked down. "No!" She shook her head quickly. "I mean I was but it wasn't while we were here! Well, I checked a little while we were here, but not a whole lot! I mean—"
"—I'm sorry."
Pipp paused and looked back up at Izzy. "Sorry? For what? I'm the one who should be apologizing. After all, you weren't the one who—"
“But—” Izzy pointed her hoof at the phone. “Those mean comments. All those ponies are mad at you, and it’s all because of—”
“No!” Pipp unexpectedly spread her wings out and stamped her hoof on the ground, causing Izzy to jump back. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to yell like that. I’m not mad at you, just…” She smiled and pecked Izzy on the cheek. “You’re amazing in so many different ways I couldn’t even begin to list them. If some of my so-called ‘fans’ can’t see that, that’s their problem. I love you Izzy, no matter what anypony else says.”
Before Izzy could open her mouth to let out a retort, Pipp had her wing wrapped around her. Tears began to stream down her face.
"There, there." Pipp said gently. "There's no need to cry. They're just some nasty old ponies who don't know the first thing about you. You shouldn't worry about what you think."
Izzy sniffed and leaned into her touch. The two stayed like that for a while, until all of Izzy's tears dried up.
"Feeling better?" Pipp asked.
Izzy sniffed again. "Yeah, thanks. Hey Pipp?"
"Yeah?"
Izzy scuffed her hoof on the floor. "It's just... you said that those commenters are nopony worth worrying about."
"They aren't."
"So... why were you worrying about them?"
Pipp looked taken aback. "Uh well... that's..." She sighed. "Truth is, I'm not really sure myself. I guess if I were to try to explain, I guess I'd say that I feel like I have too... but that doesn't really work, does it?" She sighed and smiled at Izzy. "I'm really sorry. You're right. I was dumb and focused on a bunch of random ponies when I should've been focusing on you. Can you forgive me?"
Izzy beamed back and wrapped Pipp in another bear hug. "Apology accepted! You don't have to worry. After all, I probably would've kept looking at those nasty comments too if you hadn't taken back your phone!"
Pipp laughed. "Izzy... too tight..."
Izzy let go and stepped back. "Come on, Pipp! The day is still young, and we haven't even finished brunch yet! Let's make today into a real celebration!"
Pipp grinned and placed a kiss on Izzy's lips.
"I think I'd like that a lot."