A Puzzle Wrapped in an Enigma
Author's Note
It's amazing what a deadline can do to one's writing ability, isn't it?
This looked like a fun contest! Please don't hate me for turning this in so late, Omegathyst. 
Quick warning for mentions of homophobia and parents disowning their child because of it, as well as discussion of death.
A Puzzle Wrapped in an Enigma
For as open and honest as Izzy Moonbow was, Sunny also found her mysterious. "A puzzle wrapped in an enigma," like her father used to say; it was one of his favorite answers whenever she asked him a question he didn't know the answer to.
She liked to think he'd be proud of her. She was sorry he couldn't be here to see the recent return to harmony.
One morning in the Crystal Brighthouse, she awakened to the feeling of the sun on her face. As she smiled and stretched, one of her ears perked. Busy noises were coming from the kitchen.
Sunny blinked rapidly as she made her way there. Izzy was already up, flitting to and fro about the stove, humming to herself.
Sunny couldn't resist the urge to smile. "Morning!"
The grin Izzy gave her was dazzling. Of course, that might have been because of the trace amounts of glitter that was always somewhere on the unicorn's body; the sunlight beaming through the windows seemed to make her shine that much more. "Ooh! Good morning, Sunny! Thought I'd surprise you all with breakfast." Indeed, Sunny could smell coffee brewing and eggs cooking in the pan. To the left of the stove, she saw a plate. Izzy had clearly already been up for some time; it was stacked high with pancakes.
Sunny chuckled. "Wow...here I thought I was a morning person." It always used to bug Hitch and Sprout, how cheery and energetic she'd be in the morning. Sprout, especially, had been annoyed when they'd reached adolescence and become yearlings; back in those days, she'd be lucky to get so much as a glare or a growl from him during their walk to school. "What about your breakfast butler guy?"
Izzy's smile turned sheepish; maybe it was a trick of the early morning sunlight, but Sunny could have sworn that the skin beneath the fur of her cheeks turned pink. "I tried using him, but, uh...well..." She looked over in his direction. The poor thing lay in a crumpled heap in the corner of their kitchen. "I thought I'd practice using my magic some more. I only wasted three eggs, even!" Sunny saw some spattered yolks on some of the counters. That's progress, she thought to herself; at least none of them made it onto the wall this time! " I thought I had it down, but then there was an incident with the pancake batter, and...well, I think I can fix him! But while he's on the fritz, I figured it wouldn't hurt to do things the old-fashioned way." With one of her front hooves, she jiggled the handle of the frying pan. Sunny heard something sizzle, and the smell of butter and eggs made her stomach growl.
"Well, I look forward to it! It smells great." She felt bad for the breakfast butler, though. "You sure you can fix him? Do you think you'll need help?"
"Nah; I don't think so. I know how he works." Izzy tilted the pan in her hoof, tossing the two fried eggs up in the air; they landed back in the pan on the other side, making a satisfying sizzling sound. "I built him myself, you know!"
Sunny blinked. "You...built him?" she repeated.
"Uh-huh!" Izzy didn't look up from her cooking. It was like she admitted to building functioning robots all the time. "Back when I lived in the Bridlewood Forest, I had to learn to cook for myself when I was pretty young. I thought it'd help!" Sunny didn't miss how her tail drooped or how her ears swiveled back for a split second. "Honestly, I think I had better conversations with him than a lot of the other unicorns."
Sunny's mouth opened briefly, then shut. Opened again, then shut again. She had questions she wasn't sure she should ask; Izzy would probably give her answers, but then again, they hadn't been friends for very long. Besides, she'd seen proof of how seriously unicorns handled taboo words; maybe this was a subject she shouldn't breach?
We're all more alike than different, she thought to herself, but that doesn't mean we don't all still have different cultural things. Her father had worked his flank off, teaching her to be open-minded.
But still, her curiosity was now piqued. Before she could say anything, though, Izzy trotted over to her, plate of over-easy eggs balanced on one of her hooves. "Here you go! First batch!" she sang, placing the plate before her. "Let me know if they're good; if they're not, I know all sorts of other ways to make eggs! Boiled, sunny-side up...ooh! Do you like them scrambled? How about an omelet?" Izzy continued to chatter as she headed for the fridge, leaving Sunny to chew her eggs.
She still had questions...but she had to admit, the eggs were very good.
"Right there....aaaaand perfect."
Sunny smiled up at Zipp, somewhat proud of her hoofsiwork. A framed picture of several pegasi wearing blue suits was now secure on the wall behind Zipp's new desk. "You were right; it does look good there." As her hooves touched the ground once again, Sunny pulled her wings and horn back into herself.
Zipp gave her a knowing smile. "You're getting better at manifesting those."
Sunny looked down at her hooves, suddenly feeling sheepish. "Well, you know...I've been practicing."
Zipp leaned back in her chair, draping her forelegs over her stomach. She looked contented and relaxed, like she'd always belonged right there. "Thanks again for helping me put my office together," she said; "you just know Pipp would be trying to put 'her touch' on everything..." She lifted her front hooves and jerked them down in air quotes as she emphasized 'her touch.' "Izzy would just cover everything in glitter, and Hitch..." she snorted. "That guy's a pony of many talents, but decoration? Not one of 'em."
Sunny snorted into one of her fetlocks. "Well, at the very least, I think he'll make a much better dragon daddy."
Zipp nodded, frowning thoughtfully. "Yeah...You should see him when he brings the little guy into the office." The skin over her nose wrinkled. "It's, like...ridiculously saccharine."
Sunny smiled. "I don't know, I think it's kind of sweet." She chuckled. "Guess it figures; my dad and Sprout's mom always thought he'd be the first one to become a dad. Don't think they would've ever expected this, though."
"Life's been pretty weird lately." A look came over Zipp's face. It intrigued Sunny; the princess came across as a rough and tumble tomboy, but from what Sunny had seen and heard, she was also remarkably intelligent. While she didn't doubt that her smarts were all hers by nature, she suspected having been born into royalty had also taught her to to navigate social scenes and to keep an eye out for things others might have missed. Really, when Sunny thought about it, it made perfect sense for her to be a detective. When she finally spoke, Sunny could tell that she'd just put a lot of thought into her words. "What...happened? To all your parents, I mean."
Sunny glanced across Zipp's new desk, trying to gather the right words, herself. Her eyes finally landed on a picture of Queen Haven, flanked by her two daughters. She and Pipp smiled and waved, while Zipp looked stoic and aloof.
"I mean..." Zipp shook her head, magenta forelock swaying. "If you don't want to talk about it, I'll get it. I'm sorry, I--"
"No...no, it's okay." It might help to talk about it, she thought. "My mom died when she had me...and my dad..." She smiled shakily. "He was always a good stallion. Too good for his own good...There was a storm one night. He had me stay at the lighthouse, to keep it lit...and he left to go see who else might need help." She finally looked up at Zipp, who stared back at her wide-eyed. "He never came back."
"Oof..." Zipp shook her head. "That's..."
Sunny shrugged helplessly. "Yeah. I know. I love it here in Maretime Bay, but as beautiful as it is here...as beautiful as the ocean is...it's also dangerous. It took Sprout's dad when we were about three...Between you and me, I think that's why Phyllis is so overprotective of him. You know...why she spoiled him so much?"
Zipp nodded. "Yeah...that checks. He's still a huge tool, but now that I know that...I think I get it." She slipped out of her chair and walked around the length of her desk. She was just a tad bit taller than Sunny, so she had to look up every so slightly to meet her eyes. "I'm sorry. I really am." With a wing, she lightly touched Sunny's shoulder.
"Thanks, Zipp."
"If it helps, I know what that's like. My dad's gone, too." Zipp's aqua eyes looked far away. "He was sick...Pipp was too little to really understand what was going on, but I still remember seeing him on his...deathbed." She sighed. "There was a week of mourning after that. I don't think I'd ever seen more ponies in one place than I did at his funeral. I was quiet and poised, just like Mom wanted me to be...and all I wanted to do was scream. They were all crying and snotting, sobbing and making a ruckus, and I wanted to shout 'You didn't even know him!'"
Sunny leaned forward to pull Zipp into an embrace.
Zipp gave a humorless chuckle against her braid. "Feels kinda like we're swapping war stories, doesn't it?"
"Yeah...it kind of does." When she pulled away, there was a new lightness to Zipp's stance. Like she'd just been unburdened of something for the first time in years. How long had she been keeping that to herself? "Honestly, I think that's why Hitch has put up with me and Sprout for as long as he has; his parents are both still alive. I think there's a part of him that always felt sorry for us, you know?"
Zipp shook her head. "Hey now; that's not cool. He's a good guy; you really think he'd do that?"
"...No." Sunny shrank a bit; she'd mostly meant it as a joke, but now she felt a bit guilty. She's right...why would I think something so awful about my oldest friend?
"Besides, no one has to feel sorry for you to hang out with you." Zipp nudged her shoulder with her wing again. "You're pretty great all on your own!"
Sunny giggled. "Thanks. I think." She nudged Zipp's nose with her own. "You're pretty great, too."
The pegasus princess scoffed, but for a brief second, Sunny could have sworn that she saw a pink tinge to her white cheeks.
It was a rare time in Maretime Bay; one where there seemed to be a lull of activity, dangerous or otherwise. There weren't any chores to do around the Crystal Brighthouse, there were only a few instances of crime--Hitch had only caught one single colt defacing public property with graffiti, and Zipp had caught about three separate ponies littering--and the magic connected to ponykind's newfound harmony was perfectly solid.
With the sun high and the sea air thick, the five friends found themselves spending the afternoon on Maretime Bay's shores. Pipp sunned herself on a bright pink towel as she sported a new pair of stylish sunglasses; Hitch and Zipp amused themselves by glancing around at all the other pony families having fun in the sand and waves, and then eventually the clouds. All the while, Hitch's new charge alternated between playing with his mane and the sand.
Feeling lighter than she had in a long time, Sunny dashed into the waves, closing her eyes in bliss as the warm saltwater ran over her legs and back. She kicked instinctively; her father always used to brag that his Sunny-Bunny had been swimming since before she could walk. She wasn't sure if that was true, but right then, surrounded on all sides by sun and sea, she felt at home.
The sound of a squeal made Sunny open her eyes. Izzy seemed to have galloped in after her. She was quite a sight; impossibly long, wavy hair billowing about her withers in the air and through the waves, eyes closed, smiling open-mouthed as she experienced Maretime Bay's warm waters. For the first time, Sunny absently realized; since magic had returned, they'd all been so busy these last few weeks that they hadn't had an opportunity to visit the beach just to relax.
"What do you think?" asked Sunny. She realized she asked the question with more anxiety than she'd meant to; the idea of her new friend liking her foalhood home was suddenly incredibly important to her.
"It's beautiful!" Izzy doggy paddled in quick, excited circles around Sunny. "The lakes in Bridlewood Forest are pretty, too, but they don't feel like this. They're way colder."
"Oh." Sunny remembered seeing bodies of water in the forest; they'd had a beauty all their own, still enough that they reflected the trees and crystals, but it had never occurred to her what it might feel like to swim in them. "Did you go swimming a lot?"
Izzy shook her head; the water made her thick mane dark and heavy-looking, making it cling to her long, slender neck and withers. "Sometimes, but not a whole lot. I...actually learned how to swim kinda late in my life." Right then the unicorn seemed to find some of the white crest on one of the waves particularly interesting. "It was only....gosh, three years? Yeah, I think it was three years ago that somepony taught me." She perked up a little. "Her name was Java Heartbeat. We dated for a little while! Nice pony." It looked like she attempted to swish her tail, but the long hair had weighed it down into the ocean. "You'd probably recognize her if you saw her; she was the unicorn with the beret."
"Wait..." Sunny splashed thoughtfully, having difficulty pushing past the fact that her new friend had, apparently, once dated another mare. "A fillyfriend taught you to swim?" The next few words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. "What about your parents?"
The smile on Izzy Moonbow's face all but vanished. There was no look of sadness replacing it; there was barely any look at all. If Sunny had to assign a word to it, it would be 'empty.'
"I..." Sunny wanted to kick herself. "I'm sorry, I...I shouldn't have asked..."
"You're fine." Izzy's tone of voice told Sunny that she wasn't, in fact, fine. Her voice didn't sound like it belonged to Izzy, at all; it was completely flat and devoid of feeling. "You couldn't know..."
"'Know?'" Sunny shook her head. "I'm sorry...if you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to." Talking about these things could help, she now knew, but she suspected that it would hurt more than help if it was forced out. That was the last thing she wanted to do to Izzy.
"I was ten when I kissed a pony for the first time. Another filly." Izzy shrugged. "I don't know who saw us or how it got back to them...but when I came back home, all my things were outside."
A lump found itself suddenly, curiously lodged in Sunny's throat. No matter how she tried, she couldn't seem to swallow it down.
Suddenly as it disappeared, when Izzy lifted her head back up, her shining smile was back. "It wasn't all bad," she said. "Nopony else in our village was happy with them. So they were shunned right back! Alphabittle gave me a house that no one was using, a bunch of the grown-ups helped me fix it up how I wanted, and took turns looking out for me!" Her large magenta eyes shined in the sun, endlessly light even as she spoke. "Our whole thing is 'It takes a village to raise a child,' you know. No one pony raised me, exactly, but all the ponies helped out at least a little; I never went hungry or cold."
Truth be told, remembering all those dreary, humdrum ponies with their downcast gazes and monotone voices just made Sunny want to cry even more. "That's..." She cleared her throat, willing her voice not to crack. Izzy didn't seem like the sort of pony who would want others to feel sorry for her. "Still...that had to be so hard..."
"Sometimes, yeah." She swam up closer to Sunny, so close that their noses were now inches apart. "But a month and a half before I turned eleven, I got around to unpacking the rest of my things. Guess what I found in them?"
Sunny knew the answer already. It was the reason she and Izzy had met, in the first place; it was what had sent Izzy on a self-imposed mission to Maretime Bay all those weeks ago. It was what turned Sunny's world upside down, making it better than it had ever been before.
She managed a watery smile. "What, Izzy? What did you find?"
"A letter, welcoming ponies of all sorts." Izzy lifted a soaked hoof from the waves and pressed it to Sunny's chest. "'Hoof to heart.'"
Those were words Sunny had memorized as a filly. "'Hoof to heart,'" she repeated.
"Whenever I felt sad or lonely, I'd read it. It always made me feel better, knowing that there was somepony out there who wanted to be my friend. No matter what Alphabittle said." Izzy burst into giggles, and despite herself, Sunny joined her. That was Izzy Moonbow; so determined to find the bright side of everything, so willing to give the benefit of the doubt to everypony she came across, no matter what horrors or hardships she'd had to witness in her life.
"I'm glad." All of the times ponies had sneered or laughed at her growing up, all thinking that the three kinds of ponies could ever be anything more than distant enemies...It was worth it, she decided. "I'm glad it reached somepony who truly needed it. I'm glad it reached you." Because no matter how hard she racked her brain, she couldn't think of a single pony who deserved those heartfelt hoof-written words more than Izzy Moonbow.
Izzy's impossibly large, impossibly pink eyes were soft and warm in the sunlight, glittering from the bits of spray from the warm water around them. "Me, too."
As she leaned forward, Sunny didn't even have to think. She met her halfway. Her lips tasted like the salt air and felt like velvet. They pulled away after a moment with a soft, wet sound, and at the sight of Izzy's blown pupils and cheeks pinker than normal, Sunny burst into giggles again, heart feeling fuller than it had in a long time.
Growing up, the grown ponies in the small town had looked at Sunny and Hitch with knowing smiles. Sunny remembered them cooing "What a cute little couple!" or "Aw, puppy love." At least a few asked her father whether he was going to eventually pay for their wedding or not.
These sorts of comments tended to embarrass poor Hitch, but Sunny quickly learned to take them in stride. "Doesn't it bother you?" he'd asked her once when he was at the lighthouse. They'd been at an age where being seen playing with toys could be social suicide at school, but that didn't mean they couldn't sometimes do it in secret. She remembered that he'd had the Fluttershy figure in one of his hooves; in one of hers was Applejack, and in the other was Twilight. Her father had once told her that the only reason ponies knew what the Mane Six looked like was because of a historical book that had been saved from a fire at their library; to this day, Sunny thought he'd done wonderful work in the hoof-crafting and hoof-painting.
"Not really," she'd said with a shrug, making the two pony figures dance on the table. "They can say whatever they want. All that matters is what you and I think." She'd looked him straight in the eye and said "You're my best friend."
Hitch gave a sigh, and when he opened his eyes, he looked relieved. "Okay. Good. I feel the same way." That was the afternoon they'd invented their super duper secret hoofshake that no one, not even Sprout, knew.
The morning after their trip to the beach, Sunny had an idea.
"Your first day in town wasn't great, was it?" Sunny asked the morning after.
"What do you mean?" Izzy looked genuinely confused, and it warmed Sunny's heart.
"Well, you know...everypony else was running away from you screaming, or, you know...trying to trap you or attack you." Sunny winced as she said that, ears swiveling back.
"Well, maybe. But I still had a great time! It was like a game of Tag and Hide-and-Seek mixed into one!"
"I'm glad you liked that. Still...I think you deserve another chance to see just how great Maretime Bay really is. How about I take you out on the town? It'll be my treat!"
Judging from the way Izzy clapped her front hooves together before trotting in place, Sunny suspected that she was on board with the idea.
As they galloped from shop to food cart to theater to shop, Sunny noticed all of the stares from everypony around her. She wanted to laugh; she knew that it wasn't because of the fact that she was trotting side by side with a unicorn this time.
"So, why's everypony staring at us?" Izzy asked when they finally stopped. Sunny had told her that this particular shop had the best frozen yoghurt in the entire town. Granted, that was because it was the only place in town that sold frozen yoghurt, but that had been enough of a sell for Izzy.
"It's, uh...kind of a funny story." Sunny pushed her spoon around in her half-vanilla half-chocolate swirl, smiling fondly at the memories of all those silly ponies. "See, a lot of the ponies I grew up with thought it would be Hitch I wound up with." I'm not just friends with a unicorn, Sunny thought to herself; I'm dating a unicorn. A really beautiful, creative, sweet one, at that! If I could just go back in time and tell my filly self... "So I think a lot of them are surprised I'm with you, instead."
"Really?" exclaimed Izzy. The look of shock on her face was so wide-eyed and exaggerated that Sunny couldn't help laughing. The expression only lasted for a second before it gave way to something more pensive. "Because actually...I can kind of see that."
"Really?" Sunny snorted. "Do tell."
"Well, it's kind of a romantic thought, you know? You've got the whole 'childhood friends' thing going on."
"Huh..." Sunny had never thought of it that way. "I guess. But then again, when you think about it..." She reached forward, nudging Izzy's bracelet with her hoof. "In a way? So do we."
Before now, Sunny hadn't known that it was possible to smile giddily, but Izzy found a way. "Oh yeah! I...guess we do."
They leaned in for a kiss over their yoghurt. Izzy's lips were cold and Sunny managed to catch a taste of the strawberry flavor she'd picked out. "I always kind of hoped that my first date would be like this," she admitted.
Izzy blinked. "Your...first date?"
"Yeah!" Sunny remembered the story that Izzy told her yesterday; that her first kiss had been when she was only ten years old. All of a sudden she felt sheepish. "I mean...I never really had time for romance. I had to work, and in between everything, I was trying to open up everypony else's mind about unicorns and pegasi."
"Oh."
"When my dad died, it was like a switch flipped in me. He wanted the three races to get along again even more than I did, and I was so determined to make it happen..." She gave her a weak grin. "I guess that dug into my social life more than I realized."
Izzy placed a hoof over hers and gave her a gentle smile. "I think he'd be proud of you."
Sunny gulped, throat suddenly feeling thick again. "Thanks, Izzy."
"And hey; we brought harmony back to Equestria! Sounds like you have all the time in the world now."
The unspoken words that followed that were And I want to spend it with you. Something Sunny found herself agreeing with whole-heartedly. "I can't wait."
For as happy as the two mares were, not all seemed to be going well in the Crystal Brighthouse. The response to Sunny and Izzy's new romance was overall positive.
Pipp had been delighted; she'd raised her phone and asked "What shipping name do you think sounds better? 'Sunizzy,' or 'Izunny?' Ooh! How about something like 'MagicSunandMoonshipping!?'"
Izzy later told Sunny that Hitch had taken her aside and given her the 'Be good to her; treat her right. Or else,' talk. Sunny shook her head. "You want me to talk to him?"
"No, no!" Izzy beamed. "Honestly, I thought it was kind of sweet."
Overall, everypony seemed supportive.
Everypony except Zipp.
At first, Sunny thought she was imagining things; at their announcement, she'd smiled, but it was the forced, fake smile she often saw in photographs of the royal family. As the days went by, she made herself more and more scarce, often using 'Detective stuff' as an excuse. It had been easy to buy at first, but after the fifth or sixth time, Hitch frowned and gently told them "Yeah, uh...I'm the one that accepts every case. We don't have any right now."
Most telling was that, while Zipp seemed fine whenever Sunny was on her own, she'd immediately grow tense whenever she and Izzy were together.
"Do you think Zipp's all right?" she asked Izzy one night. "Do you think she's been acting...off lately?"
"Oh, thank goodness!" Izzy exclaimed. "I thought I might just be imagining things. Thought it might be a pegasus thing, you know?"
Sunny frowned, an unpleasant thought popping unbidden into her head. "You don't think she has a problem with...you and I. Do you?" Her heart sank. "What if she's...?"
"Like my parents?" Understanding blossomed in Izzy's eyes. It hurt.
"Yeah," Sunny murmured. "Like your parents."
"Oh, I don't think so. I tend to get a pretty good read on ponies."
That was true.
"It's in her aura. I've never seen anypony with an aura that color who was...like that."
Sunny chuckled. "I'll take your word for it." She wasn't sure she believed in the whole 'aura' thing, but then again, if it was true, it was just further proof that magic had been right there in ponies all along. Who was she to doubt her new marefriend?
Nothing exploded, metaphorically or literally, thankfully. One evening, Pipp took Sunny aside. "So, I've got an idea," she sang rather than said. "You and Izzy are just so cute, I thought I'd set a date up for the two of you. Tonight, right here in the house! I'll set up music, lighting, and ambience. I even asked the Pipsqueaks for ideas for romantic meals!" She gave Sunny a dazzling grin, one that could only fit a princess. "What do you think?"
"Well...okay! That's really generous of you, Pipp." Sunny thanked her.
"I know! That's me; talented, beautiful, generous Princess Pipp."
So humble, too, Sunny thought with a chuckle.
The day came and went, and sure enough, when Pipp led Sunny into their dining room, there were candles, soft lighting, and plates of fresh-looking salad on the table.
Curiously, though, Izzy was not the only one there. Seated across from the unicorn, looking like she'd rather be literally anywhere else, was Princess Zephyrina Storm.
"Huh?" Sunny raised an eyebrow at the sight before her. She turned her head to Pipp, thinking to ask for an explanation, but the other princess fluttered into the darkness on her newly functional wings.
"What's...going on?" she finally asked, stepping up to the table.
Izzy, who looked like she was just happy to be here, shrugged. Her mouth was already full of salad; she was using her new magic to lift up the fork, casting a bluish glow over the three.
Zipp sighed. "Look, guys...I'm sorry. This whole thing was Pipp's idea."
Sunny had pieced that much together, but it didn't answer all the questions she had.
"She wanted to find a way to get all three of us together. Alone." Out of the corner of her eye, Sunny saw something pale move; casting a glance back, she saw Pipp, grinning from ear to ear, looking like she was about to see something great. "...Mostly alone. I...should've just been honest with you guys from the beginning. Sunny...I..." Zipp took a deep breath. Maybe it was the dim lighting, but it looked like her face had taken on a rosy hue. "I...like...you."
Out of all the things she'd been expecting Zipp to say, that was not one of them. "Zipp..." Sunny found that she didn't know what else to say.
"I...well, I just..." Zipp sighed. "I've never been good at the whole 'feelings' thing. At first I felt...resentful?" She glared somewhere over Sunny's shoulder. She had a feeling that Pipp was the one who receieved it; Sunny found that that wasn't a place she ever wanted to be. "I mean...you and I shared a moment. We opened up to each other about our dead parents...I thought we bonded, you know?" She sighed again. "And I know...I know that's really awful and entitled. It's not like I told you how I felt...how could you know? It's not like I own you; not like I can just be like 'I liked her first!' I hated feeling like that towards you. So, uh...I dealt with it the only way I knew how. I ran off, distracted myself."
Her eyes were downcast; Sunny had a feeling that she didn't actually find her salad all that interesting. She glanced over at Izzy, who looked completely engrossed in what Zipp was saying. If she was offended or angry or upset that somepony else had just admitted to having feelings for her fillyfriend, she didn't show it.
"And that's...not the right way to deal with that. It's not what a princess should do, and it's not what a detective should do." She finally looked up, a look of stoic resignation on her face. "This is my problem, not yours. I care about you both; give me some time, I'm sure I can learn to be happy for the two of you. You think you can give me that chance?"
Sunny opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened it again. It seemed like she'd forgotten how to make words.
The whole thing was interrupted when Izzy made a noise. Sunny and Zipp turned their heads in her direction in time to watch her swallow her mouthful of salad. "Or! Or or or...I've got an idea!" Izzy bounced up and down in her seat, resembling what had happened once when Sprout had downed three cups of coffee in a row. "Maybe I'm an only pony, so I don't really get it, but...you know something...I could share!"
Sunny blinked slowly. "What," she said at the same time Zipp did.
"Well, I mean...you two like each other, don't you?" Sunny slowly turned her head to Zipp. She suspected the blank look on Zipp's face mirrored her own.
"Well...yes," said Zipp. "But I don't..."
"And Sunny..." The look of affection Izzy gave her was almost overwhelming; Sunny's cheeks heated, and she knew it had nothing to do with the candlelight. "Sunny's the most loving pony I've ever met. I think there's more than enough room in her heart for another." Izzy slid one of her hooves beneath Sunny's chin and gently pushed up, making the two of them meet eyes. "If you want...I'll never make you do anything, but if this could make you happy...then I'd be happy, too."
Zipp slowly shook her head. "I must be nuts...I have to be. This isn't happening, is it?"
Sunny's heart felt like it was about to beat right out of her chest. "Ponies have called me nuts my whole life, for thinking that we could all be friends again...it turned out we were right." She looked between Izzy, then Zipp, then Izzy again. "Maybe...what if you're right about this, too, Izzy?"
Izzy had begun bouncing up and down in her seat again, buzzing with excitement. "I am right a lot! Not all the time, but like...three out of four times!"
"Okay..." Sunny said softly, nodding slowly. "Okay! Let's try it!"
"Okay." This was the first time Sunny had ever seen Zipp look nervous. Without thinking, she reached out, placing a hoof over one of hers.
"Okay!" With all that settled, Izzy tucked back into her salad.
"Yes!" Sunny and Zipp both turned in time to see Pipp fiddle with her phone. "I got that all recorded! Oh, this is gonna make history!" She flew to her room, giggling the whole way.
Sunny turned in time to see Zipp's wings flare out. She pressed firmly down on one of her withers. "Let's not worry about it for now, okay?" At the sound of her voice, Zipp seemed to melt, all tension leaving her body. "For now, this night is ours. We've got each other, and we've got salad."
"You're right," Zipp said, smiling in a surprisingly soft way. "We do have salad..."
The rabble and commotion of Equestria could wait for just one night. As far as the three mares were concerned, the company was good, and the salad was delicious.
One night, Izzy woke the other mares up with a nightmare. It was an intense one; it made her horn glow every color of the rainbow and caused the lights to rapidly flick on and off. Sunny was the one to wake her; as Izzy looked up at her with teary eyes from her forelegs, Sunny knew she wouldn't have the heart to let her go tonight. They wound up falling asleep like that.
A few mornings later, after they'd found they preferred to sleep in the same bed, they found Zipp spooned up against Izzy's back, foreleg draped over the both of them. Sunny felt horrible, leaving her unable to get underneath the covers. That night, she instructed them both to get into bed first. Once she joined them, that was when she used her alicorn magic to drape the covers over all three of them.
It took Pipp exactly one teasing "Get a room, you three!" for them to do just that. They worked on setting up a king-sized bed elsewhere in the Crystal Brighthouse, somewhere they would have their privacy.
The sunlight woke Sunny first one day. Both Izzy and Zipp were early risers, so it was a rare time when she got to experience being sandwiched between the two mares while they slept.
Izzy's horn lay on the crook of her neck and foreleg; she watched the blue tangles of her mane rise and fall as she snored softly. Zipp was a quieter sleeper, but a heavier one; as she spooned Sunny with one foreleg draped over their middles, Sunny knew she wouldn't be moving until the pegasus woke up.
She thought of her father. What would he say, knowing that his daughter wasn't just friends with a pegasus and a unicorn, but dating them at the same time?
"What's love?" she remembered asking him when she was little.
"It's what I feel for you." She remembered rolling her eyes as he affectionately nosed her forelock.
"I know that," she'd said impatiently. "I mean, how does it work? Why do we feel it? And why do we feel it for some ponies but not others?"
"That, I don't know," he'd admitted. She'd always loved that about her father; he wasn't like other grown-ups, pretending to know everything. He always admitted when he didn't know something; he loved to learn. It was something she'd gotten from him. "It's a mystery; a puzzle wrapped in an enigma."
There was still so much she didn't understand about Izzy. And now she knew there was a lot she didn't understand about Zipp, either. She was new to this whole 'romance' thing, and there was still so much she didn't know.
"All that matters is that it's here. We feel it. And it's important. So never forget it, and never let it go."
And Sunny had no intention of doing so.
