It was a beautiful sunny day in Maretime Bay as Violette trotted up the path toward the Brighthouse. The little young filly was once again visiting her favorite art teacher in the world, Izzy! Violette had been feeling down again, and for good reason. At home, she was still ostracized by her other classmates due to her odd-colored coat. She thought some time away with her favorite teacher would be good, but she still lingers on the hurtful experiences of home.
Violette made it to the Brighthouse and walked inside. Izzy was waiting inside and greeted the young filly as she entered.
"Violette! I’m so glad you could visit again! How are you? Do you need anything? Tell me, tell me!" Izzy bubbled with glee, but the young filly just sulked.
"N-no, I don't need anything Izzy. I'm fine. I'm just going to go upstairs for a while..." Izzy's smile faded as the young filly slowly trotted up the stairs.
As the filly disappeared from Izzy's view, a somber expression fell upon the mare. "Violette? Oh, what is it this time? What could be bothering her?" Ascending the stairs herself, Izzy made it to the shared bedroom. She gave the door a little knock. "Violette? Are you okay?"
From the other side of the door came Violette’s low, somber voice. ".....No."
Izzy frowned. "Can I come in?"
".....Yes." Violette replied.
Izzy entered slowly. As she trotted into the room she spotted Violette. She was hunched over on one of the beds. She was turned away from the door and Izzy could hear quiet sobs.
"What's wrong Violette? Please, I want to help you sweetie."
The young filly turned around slowly. Her face was stained with tears. "I said I was fine...I just want to be alone."
Izzy frowned again. "Well, clearly something is bugging my little ray of usual sunshine. There's no way I'm going to let you wallow in sorrow up here. So, I'll ask again. What's wrong, Violette?"
The filly took a deep breath and stopped crying. She wiped away her tears. "Well...the problem is everything. You and your friends are so nice and inclusive, but at home I get bullied a lot by the other fillies and colts."
"Again!? I thought me and your mom fixed that when we talked to those foals’ parents!" Izzy stammered.
"You did! But...these are new bullies. They' re new to my school, so as a sign of good faith I was the first to talk to them. But, when I did, they started berating me with names and insults because of my weird coat patterns, like the others did."
"WHAT!?" cried Izzy.
Violette nodded. "They called me 'Patches' and 'Checkerboard'. One of them was the main bully. He instigated most of it at me. He called me a 'Mistake of Nature'......."
Violette started to sob again, but soon she felt hooves wrap around her. Fur rubbed against fur as Izzy pulled Violette into a deep hug. The older unicorn was in tears as well.
"Violette...I'm so so sorry you've had to deal with all that. Don't listen to their nasty words! They're just words, they can't hurt you if you don't let them hurt you!"
Violette stuttered. "But what if they're right? My coat is not normal like every other pony's. I'm...different."
"You are normal! Just because your coat is different doesn't make YOU different. In fact, I know it doesn't. You're the same as any little filly. You're smart, funny, brave, and kind! Who cares what those bullies think?" Izzy smiled triumphantly.
Violette smiled a little. "You really believe all that?"
"I KNOW all that! Leave those bullies to me and your mom, and don't be afraid to talk to us about all this next time, okay?" Izzy asked.
"Okay, Izzy." Violette beamed.
"Good. Now, to get you out of that funk for good, why don't you and I do some drawing?"
Violette's smile grew. "Really?!"
"Really. Come on, I'll set up the easels. We're painting today!"
" Yay!" Violette leaped off the bed and grabbed her satchel bag. Inside were all sorts of supplies from pens to notebooks to brushes. She pulled out her apron and put it on and grabbed two brushes from the bag as well. Izzy came back into the room carrying two easels in her magic.
"Alright, you ready?" Izzy asked.
"Of course! I get to draw with my favorite teacher!" Violette giggled.
Violette hopped over to the easel next to Izzy, who already had her brush held in her magic. As the little filly looked into Izzy's eyes, both could see the absolute joy in the other's gaze. The two got to work, painting away in the harmonic silence of the Brighthouse. While Izzy painted with no real goal, Violette looked deep into her heart for the perfect thing to create. She settled on an idea and began to paint. After some time, the two ponies set their brushes down.
"Well, that was fun! Want to see what I drew Violette?" Izzy said with a smile. Violette nodded. "Alright, here it is!" Izzy turned her easel to show a beautiful landscape. Trees sprung up around the edges and the horizon had a gleaming sunset.
"Wow!! That looks so beautiful Izzy!" The filly jumped with excitement. "Okay, now let me show you mine! I made it special for you!"
Violette grabbed her easel and turned it around slowly, revealing something that gave Izzy pause. On the canvas were two figures. The one on the right was a small, multi-colored filly. It was Violette herself! The one on the right was much taller and had blue curly hair. That was obviously Izzy. The two stood under a massive red heart that had the words "Best Teacher Ever!" written in big bold letters. Izzy looked at the filly and her eyes started to water.
"V-violette! Thank you so much! You're the best protégée I could have asked for!" Izzy pulled the filly into a hug. Both were covered with paint but they didn't care. They just enjoyed the warm and inviting hug. When the two released, Izzy wiped away her tears and spoke again. "Violette, I know you're going through some tough times. But please, don't let them get you down. You're beautiful the way you are. I know it, your mom knows it, my friends know it, and you do too. Promise me you won't let those neigh sayers tell you otherwise. Okay?"
Violette smiled, a tear also running down her face. "Okay Izzy, I will!"
"Awesome! Now, let's get cleaned up and meet up with the gang for some real fun! Smoothies are on me!" Izzy leapt out of her apron, followed by the rambunctious filly. The two basked in their shared solitude while they cleaned up, happy for it to just be the two of them. It was truly a wonderful day.
