when worlds collide

Izzy still hadn't fallen asleep when the sun began to peek up from underneath the horizon. She heard Zipp attempting to get up beside her. She half closed her eyes to make it appear as though she were sleeping as she watched the pegasus. Zipp was trying to kick off the ground hard enough to take flight but her legs were collapsing under the pain of her broken hoof. She watched Zipp lay back down and to Izzy's surprise, small tears began welling up in Zipp's eyes.

Zipp shook her head to stop herself from crying and got back up. She beat her wings as fast as she could and finally managed to get up in the air. everything was easy after that and Izzy watched as she flew off. Hitch stirred soon after. When he woke up, Izzy got up with him. She sneaked up behind him and tackled him. Hitch yelled as Izzy scared him.

They both got up laughing. Somehow, the noise hadn't woken up Sunny and Pipp. Hitch had always known Sunny to be a late sleeper but he didn't know Pipp was one as well. He tapped both of them with a hoof. "Come on girls! Time to get up, we only have about ten miles left to Bridlewood!" He looked around the campsite. "Hey where's Zipp?"

Izzy perked up. "Oh yeah, she went off for her morning flying."

Pipp squeaked slightly. "What is she doing out there! She could get hurt! Izzy how could you let her go?"

Izzy shrugged. "I didn't think it was such a big deal. She's a skilled flier, she'll be fine."

Just then, the group heard the beating of wings. Zipp was flying towards them with a very worried look on her face. "Everypony! This was a bad idea! I can't land or I'll hurt my hoof more!" Suddenly, Zipp felt a jolt of pain. Because of how long the wound was exposed, it hurt more than it ever had. Zipp's wings wobbled and she began to fall.

Pipp screamed and everypony looked away. Everypony that is, except for Izzy. Izzy leaped towards Zipp's bag and grabbed the dead matter. She rolled over to quickly turn around and faced the sky. She aimed her shot quickly and got a clear hit. Zipp was pulled into the dead matter. Izzy aimed the ball down to the ground and set Zipp down.

Hitch breathed a sigh of relief. "Good thinking Izzy. That could have been really bad."

Zipp was trying to process what happened. She looked towards Izzy. "Yeah Izzy, thanks. I don't know how many more injuries I can take." As she was saying this, Pipp came up behind her and hit her on the back of her head with a hoof. Zipp yelped as Pipp started yelling.

"You moron! What do you think mom would say if you died because you fell out of the sky! I don't know what to do with you anymore!"

Zipp held up a hoof to stop her. "Look little sis! Everything is fine!" Pipp glared at her but resigned because she knew Zipp was right. Sunny on the other hand, was more interested by the object Izzy held in her hooves.

"What is that thing?" Sunny asked, poking it. "It doesn't look like anything I've ever seen."

Izzy looked back cheerfully. "It's called dead matter. It's like a holding place for something."

Sunny's look of confusion grew. "Well that was definitely some quick thinking. Good job Izzy."

They packed up their small camp and they resumed their journey towards Bridlewood. After about five hours, they had finally reached the edge of the forest. "We can drop everything extra off at La Villa Izzy." Izzy said walking up towards the cottage.

"One problem." Sunny said. "We still need to take Zipp in the cart."

"Nonsense." Izzy replied. "We can hold her in the dead matter."

Zipp looked back. "I don't know if I want to spend a whole lot of time in there. I don't even remember what it was like in there. It was almost like I didn't exsist."

"You'll be fine," Izzy said with a small shake of her hoof before pulling Zipp into the dead matter by pushing the button. "Just in case though, we might want to hurry. It's like a twenty minute walk through the forest."

They began walking through the forest, greeting some of the ponies they knew on their way through. Posey was here on a flower delivery. Sunny felt a small feeling of happiness that at least somepony was out of town when it had been destroyed. Sunny climbed up on a small pillar in the middle of the road and called out to the ponies surrounding her.

"Everypony! Maretime Bay has been destroyed! Sunny called out, seeing worried and confused looks spreading throughout the gathering crowd. "A group of ancient creatures called changelings have trashed the town. I would advise that everypony stays here until we get everything all sorted out and confirm that Maretime Bay is safe again."

Just as she had expected, Posey was the first to walk forward. Angrily, she shouted, "So what! You expect us to just sit here waiting for you five to gallivant around Equestria? I haven't ever even heard of a changeling and I don't think anypony else here has either. I demand to go home."

Sunny continued to speak calmly. "No one is stopping you from going home Posey. But we are warning you that there might not be much of a home to go back to. And it could be seriously dangerous."

Sunny climbed down from the pillar and walked back over to her friends. "I figured the best thing I could do was warn them all." She said as she received nods form everypony.

Izzy jumped. "Come on everypony! We're almost there." They continued walking until they had reached a small house with a blue front door. The house itself was built into a giant tree with a red first aid symbol painted on it. Izzy wakled up to the door and immediately hesitated. She looked back to her friends. "You know, maybe Zipp's hoof will heal on its own. We don't really need the healers do we? They're probably busy."

Sunny looked confused. "What do you mean? We need them to heal Zipp if we're going to have any chance of defeating Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow."

Izzy let out a small sigh and then tapped a hoof to the door three times. A blue mare opened the door. She caught sight of Izzy and shot her a glare. "What do you think You're doing here. Have you finally come to apologize?"

Izzy shook her head while not breaking eye contact, a glare forming on her face."No!" She practically spat out. "I'm here as a paying customer." She held out the dark matter and the blue mare backed off clearly unsure if this was a bomb or not. Izzy set Zipp down on the ground in front of the cottage. She showed her back hoof to the blue mare, to which the mare gasped.

The mare shot Izzy another glare. "Fine but you had better be paying greatly for this."

The mare used her magic to lift Zipp into the house with her and slammed the door. Izzy glared at the closed door and waved her hoof in a very rude gesture towards the door. "Buck you!" Izzy yelled at the door before kicking a rock off the front porch with such a force that it left a small dent in the house it had struck.

She stomped back towards her friends but passed right by them. Sunny spoke up. "Izzy what's wrong."

Izzy turned back around "Shut the buck up and don't follow me!" She yelled as she left in the direction of the crystal tea room. Sunny withdrew back towards her friends. None of them could understand quite what had happened. Izzy was fine until she saw that blue mare at the door. Then looking at the door, it all made sense. A sign hung on the door that read...

Moonbow Medical

Sunny began to run towards Izzy but Pipp grabbed her and pulled her back. "Don't do it Sunny." Pipp said. "She doesn't want to be talked to right now. Let her get out whatever unholy anger got into her somehow."

Sunny looked back. "No! You don't understand! That was her mom. From her story last night. That's why she hated her so much. See the sign says Moonbow Medical." Sunny walked towards the door and knocked on it. This time, a red stallion opened the door.

"I'm sorry. The doctor is busy. Please come back later." he said.

"We're close friends with the patient. May we please come in?" Sunny asked.

The red stallion raised an eyebrow. "Really? You three have nothing better to do in Bridlewood than watch your friend get medical treatment?" Sunny shook her head.

"No we aren't local so we don't quite know anypony else."

The stallion sighed putting a hoof up to his head. "Leave it to that disappointment to bring strangers into this forest." He grumbled while leading them inside.

* * *

At the crystal tea room, Izzy sat at the counter speaking with Alphabittle. "So anyways, they expect an apology from me even though I didn't do anything. I wasn't the one who gave my only offspring an ultimatum like that."

Alphabittle sighed. "Geode really ruined your life didn't he?"

Izzy's eyes widened as she looked shocked. "No! I was the one who told him it wouldn't happen. I know that I have some horrible parents but none of that was his fault."

Alphabittle laughed a little. "Well don't worry. That stallion is like a symbol of bad luck now. He's ruined two mare's lives now." He pointed a hoof across the tea room. Lucky Star was sitting at the table across from the counter. Izzy got up and walked across the restaurant. She sat down in the seat across from Lucky Star.

"If you're here to offer comfort of whatever, don't bother just buck off." Lucky Star grumbled.

Izzy actually laughed a little at this. "No. Listen to me. You probably don't know me but my name's Izzy."

"Oh yeah!" Lucky Star yelled while perking up. "Geode almost never shut up about you while we were hanging out as friends. No offense but I was pretty happy when you two broke up."

Izzy laughed again. "None taken. Anyways, I don't know about you, but my life was completely ruined by hanging around Geode. All I'm saying is don't let your feelings for him stop you from continuing your life."

Lucky Star sighed. "Oh trust me. I was completely fine yesterday until they found something near his body." She slammed a box down on the table with her name on it.

A ring box

Izzy gasped and said, "Well he completely destroyed my relationship with my parents so I think he screwed me over more."

Lucky Star laughed. She could tell Izzy was trying to make her feel better by turning her misery into a friendly competition. What she didn't understand was why this mare got through to her so easily.

They laughed and talked for a while until the sun was beginning to set. Lucky Star eventually left saying she had to go home to her parents. Parents, Izzy thought. Wouldn't it be nice to have some of those.

As Izzy began walking back towards the medical building, thoughts swam around her head. Her parents had abandoned her in her time of need. They had given her the choice between the love of her life and them. And she had chosen the former. Was she in the wrong here? Maybe she shouldn't have let them go.

Izzy shook her head clear of these thoughts as she almost walked nose first into the door of the medical office. She looked around and saw that her friends weren't anywhere in sight. They must have gone inside, she thought to herself as she tapped the door with a hoof. The blue mare answered once again.

"Oh it's you again. Figured you wouldn't come back. Thought you had abandoned your friends just as you abandoned us last moon." The mare smiled knowing she had easily agitated Izzy.

"Buck you" Izzy said waving her hoof in a rude gesture. "I'm here for Zipp. How is she?"

"The pegasus is no longer any concern to you. Your friends are already taking care of her now get out of here." The mare pointed a forehoof away from the house. "I thought you had your own house. You can sleep there tonight. Since you were so eager to get away from us that should be easy for you."

Sunny walked outside to see what all the commotion was. Shee saw Izzy and her eyes widened. "Hi Izzy. Glad to see your back!"

Izzy grabbed Sunny's forehoof and began leading her away. "Come on Sunny," She said. "We're sleeping in La Villa Izzy tonight."

The mare behind them laughed. "Oh! Is that what you're calling that ugly shack?" She leaned towards Sunny while saying. "Better watch out. She's known to leave friends and family behind. Better keep an eye on her."

Izzy turned around. The look of shock on her face was unmatched by anything Sunny had seen. Izzy's shock quickly turned to rage as she began charging at the mare. A loud pop was heard.

As a single forehoof connected with the blue mare's face.