Melting Hearts (And Minds)
If you had told Sprout that one day not only would pegasi and unicorns come to Maretime Bay, but that he would get used to seeing them, he would've thought you were crazy. He'd heard endless stories from his mother about how dangerous the pegasi and unicorns were, and had laughed off the suggestions from Sunny and her father that the pegasi and unicorns just wanted to be friends.
Yet everywhere you looked now, you'd never have guessed there was a time when the three pony tribes were torn apart and didn't interact with each other in the slightest. Now, it was as if that utopia those ancient ponies from hundreds of years ago had created had never ended. And Maretime Bay was essentially the new capital of Equestria, given that pegasi and unicorns flocked to it far more than did earth ponies and unicorns flock to Zephyr Heights or earth ponies and pegasi flock to Bridlewood.
For the longest time, Sprout had tried to resist the changes. And looking back on the pony he used to be made the red coated stallion shudder and whimper. He'd tried to do horrible things to Sunny's friends just because of who they were, things that could've gotten innocent ponies hurt, or worse. Bad enough he'd damaged Sunny's home beyond repair during his brief stint as emperor of Maretime Bay. Hoofness only knows what could've or would've happened had he not stopped then, or if his efforts afterwards to stir up anti-pegasi and anti-unicorn sentiments hadn't been thwarted.
"I just don't get it," Sprout thought to himself as he went about his day like normal, taking notice of all the pegasi and unicorns that came and went so often: Chief among they were a trio of foals that were known to be huge fans of Pipp, one of Sunny's pegasus friends (and Sprout had to admit he was actually quite fond of Pipp's various livestreams). "Everypony acts like it's no big deal, like nothing ever happened and they're just picking up where they left off. Have they all had their minds erased or something?"
The stallion stopped in his tracks, shaking his head and dispelling the thoughts. "There you go again, Sprout. Next you'll start thinking the unicorns fried everypony's brains again, or that the pegasi are secretly plotting to take over. When will you learn that that's not who they are?" As he tried to get rid of such bad thoughts, he found himself thinking more clearly about the friends he saw Sunny and Hitch hanging out with all the time. In particular, he thought about the unicorn, Izzy.
It was so weird, she'd never been hostile to Sprout the way Zipp and Pipp were. She'd needed no prompting to forgive Sprout for what he'd done, and had been the only one among the new circle of friends who'd occasionally asked about him or even just came by to see him in the immediate aftermath of his "emperor" stint. It was like she lived in her own little world where first impressions like the one he'd made never mattered.
The more he thought about the unicorn, the more Sprout found himself feeling something he'd never recalled feeling with anypony before. This wasn't merely friendship, not even a close friendship. He didn't know what to make of it, because he knew there was only one logical explanation: He was in love with Izzy, with a unicorn of all ponies. It was like he'd lost his mind!
Yet the stallion with a gleaming red coat found that he simply could not take his eyes off her whenever he saw her, even from afar. He could see her now and picture her clearly if he shut his eyes: That pretty pink coat that shone and sparkled in the sunshine, her curly blue mane and tail that she almost never bothered to brush, those rich dark purple eyes that were so full of cheerfulness, even her cutie mark depicting a blue colored heart with a button in the middle and three pins. And her laugh: Oh hoofness, her laugh was so contagious. It matched her manner of speaking so perfectly, how she carried herself as if she never had a care in the world.
Try as he might, Sprout couldn't help but feel attracted and drawn to her. It was like she had seen a side of him that even he had never known was there before, and had singlehoofedly managed to draw it out of him.
But therein lay the problem. What else could a pony such as her ever see in a pony such as him? He didn't know if she might already be in love with somepony else. All he knew was that there was nothing he could offer her compared to some of her friends. He wasn't a big world saver: Whenever trouble or danger reared its head he would always panic and run away. Sure, he'd stood by the unity tree and supported it during that time when the evil alicorn Opaline had threatened Equestria. But he hadn't even been the first pony there to take a stand. From what he'd heard, Izzy had even briefly tricked the evil alicorn, showing a courage Sprout could only wish he had.
How in the wide world of Equestria could the earth pony stallion find out if the unicorn mare felt the same way towards him as he felt towards her? The last thing he wanted to do was make that spark of friendship between them feel awkward by asking her out and being turned down. He'd never be able to show his face in her presence again if that happened. He'd probably even go so far as to run away from Maretime Bay and go to the farthest reach of Equestria just to avoid having to see her.
It all seemed so hopeless. So Sprout did the only thing he could think to do: He pushed it to the farthest recess of his mind, hoping that he would soon forget he'd ever felt the way he did about Izzy, and that all would be right with the world again.
Fate, it seemed, had different plans.
As Sprout was trotting along absentmindedly, doing his best not to think about Izzy, who should he quite literally bump into but his childhood friend Hitch? The same Hitch who he'd once worked for as a deputy and had briefly usurped as the central authority figure in town? Sure, that was all water under the bridge now, Hitch had long since forgiven Sprout. But that didn't mean it wasn't still awkward for the two stallions to meet.
Hitch briefly flinched as a result of the unexpected encounter! But when he saw it was only Sprout he quickly recovered. "Sorry, Sprout. Didn't see you there. Come to think of it, I don't think I've seen you around since... well, the Opaline incident."
"Y-yeah," Sprout nervously replied. "It's... been a while. Still... all's well that ends well, right?"
Hitch nodded ever so slowly. "You could say that," His tone of voice made it clear the sheriff suspected something was off about his former deputy. "Say, Sprout, is everything alright?"
At that the stallion with a bright red coat stepped back, blinking rapidly. "Of course it is. I mean... why would you ever think otherwise? I haven't done anything bad, have I?"
"It's not that," Hitch explained with a shake of his head. "You just don't seem to be yourself. You seem to be... distracted."
Sprout snorted and sighed. "It's really that obvious, is it? I guess I should've known I can't hide anything from you, Hitch. It's why you're the sheriff."
The sheriff just replied. "Look, if you don't wanna talk about it, that's fine. I don't think anypony else has noticed yet. Still, it's not good to stay distracted. Whatever it is, I feel like you'll feel better if you don't try to hide it."
Sprout sighed anew. "If you must know, Hitch, it's about Izzy." He even briefly gestured a hoof over towards her general direction.
Hitch smiled as he observed Izzy currently in the midst of riding around on that old scooter she'd fixed up, with Sparky in tow in a carefully crafted basket hanging off to one side (and wearing his own helmet for protection of course). Said scooter was currently loaded down with supplies for various crafting projects, and Izzy seemed to be humming a cheerful little tune to herself. "What's wrong with her? I thought you two got along. Did you have a fight or something that I didn't hear about?"
The stallion with a bright red coat rolled his eyes. "Don't be ridiculous, Hitch. Izzy is a pony that you can't possibly get mad at. She doesn't know how to hold a grudge. I just don't understand how she can be so innocent and happy-go-lucky. It's like she doesn't care what the world around her is like."
"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Hitch said with a chuckle. "Izzy does tend to live in her own little world, but she notices things just like the rest of us. I've definitely seen her get mad once or twice. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen."
Sprout groaned and turned his head. "Forget it, Hitch! It doesn't matter anyway! I don't wanna even think about it, it's so silly and stupid!"
Hitch refused to allow his former deputy to drop the subject. "What makes you think I would think that, Sprout? I want to help you, but I can't do that if you won't tell me what's wrong between you and Izzy. If Izzy did something to you or you did something to her, I need to know about it in case it affects the peace and security of Maretime Bay."
"We didn't have a fight or anything if that's what you're thinking about," Sprout grumbled as he hung his head. "She doesn't even know that the problem's entirely with me. We have a good friendship going, one that shouldn't even be possible given everything that happened the first time she came to Maretime Bay. And I don't wanna ruin it by asking a silly question."
At that, a smile slowly spread across Hitch's face. "Oh, you mean you're..."
Sprout immediately jumped and moved to clamp a hoof across Hitch's mouth! "Not so loud, Izzy will overhear!" He waited until he was certain she was out of sight before releasing his hold on his fellow's stallion's muzzle. "Yes, Hitch, I am. And I have no way of knowing if she feels the same towards me. How would I even prove it to her? I doubt she'd take me seriously if I just asked flat out."
Hitch shrugged his hooves. "I can't help you with that, buddy. It sounds like it's a you problem. And I in no way claim to be an expert on love," He still encouraged. "If you want my advice, don't worry so much and overcomplicate it. You just need to be yourself, your best self, the self that Izzy clearly wanted to be friends with. She's never been bothered or worried about who you are: I've seen it for myself. Even when Pipp and Zipp still didn't trust you, Izzy had nothing bad to say about you. So don't worry. As long as you remember that, it doesn't matter if she feels the same way towards you or not. And won't you feel better once you don't have to worry about knowing if she feels the same way about you as you do about her?"
Those words seemed to spark a realization of sorts within the red coated earth pony stallion. Suddenly, he seemed to know what he should do and how he should do it. "You know what, Hitch, you're right! I can't put this off! I have to tell her! And I think I know just the way to show her that I'm serious!" With a newfound spring in his step, he began to race away, though not without saying loudly to Hitch! "I'm off to buy flowers, and maybe some chocolates!" And soon, he was completely out of sight.
As it so happened, while Sprout was busy trying to get ready to confess his feelings to Izzy, Izzy was wrapping up her crafting assignments that she had assigned herself to do on this day. She'd made sure specifically not to give herself too many assignments today, because she wanted to take some time off to do something that was very important to her.
So it was that the unicorn mare with a pretty pink coat finished up her last crafting project, dropped Sparky back off safe and sound at the sheriff's office, and then rode her scooter all the way across town to the Crystal Brighthouse to see her pony friends. There was something she wanted to get their opinion and advice on.
Sure enough, when Izzy set hoof into the Brighthouse, there were Sunny, Zipp, Pipp, Misty, and even Comet. And as soon as they saw Izzy they all came trotting over to see her. Sunny was the first one to speak up. "Hey, Izzy, you said you had something you wanted to ask about? Something you said was 'really important'?"
Izzy nodded quite slowly. "Yes it is," And she wasted no time in blurting out all at once! "IthinkI'minlovewithSproutandIreallyneedyourhelptofigureouthowtoconfesstohimsopleasehelpmeout!" Only after she had finished did she take the time to catch her breath.
Comet was the first to blink and rub his eyes. "Uh, what was that? It was something about Sprout, I think? Why do I feel like I've heard that name before?"
"Sprout?" Sunny blinked in surprise. "I think Hitch said he's been acting kind of off lately."
Zipp could only shrug her hooves. "Whatever it is, I'm sure he'll be back to his usual self before long. Although, I could swear I've seen him staring kind of funny looking at Izzy these past few weeks. Then again, maybe I've just been seeing things. Nopony else seems to have noticed anything."
Misty then pleaded with her fellow unicorn. "Could you repeat what you just said, Izzy? A little slower this time, perhaps?"
Izzy obeyed. She took a deep breath, and then repeated word for word her earlier sentence, only this time she remembered not to say everything all at once. "Did you get all of that?" She asked her friends afterwards.
One by one, Izzy's friends all smiled and nodded, confirming that they had. Pipp was the first one of the bunch to offer up her sentiments. "I guess if there was anypony who'd be in love with Sprout it would be you, Izzy. You never seemed to be bothered by anything he ever said or did. Obviously, things between him and I are a lot more... complicated. But he's always logging in to see my livestreams so... guess it all works out."
"Aha!" Zipp exclaimed! "So I wasn't just seeing things! He's probably noticed how different you've been acting around him, Izzy. And he has no idea that you're in love with him."
The unicorn mare with a pretty pink coat nodded back. "Uh-huh. And that's why I need you all to help me. You're the first ponies I thought of. What do you think is the best way to confess to Sprout about how I feel? It's gotta be something that shows how serious I am."
Comet swallowed hard, adjusting his glasses. "I... I really don't think that's my department, Izzy. I don't have a lot of experience with love because of, well, a lot of things. If it was me, and I know you're not me... I think I'd want to do something extra special. And it would have to be something I know I've never done before. From what little I do know about love, it seems like ponies like it when you do really nice things to show how much you care about them. Although, I think that they say to do that even when you're not in love so..." He gave off a nervous laugh. "M-maybe don't do that."
Pipp put a hoof to her chin, deep in thought. "I think Comet has the right idea, Izzy. You've gotta do something that Sprout would never ever expect from a pony like you. It's gotta be something that'll sweep him right off his hooves!"
"Funny, I don't recall that working out when you suggested Jazz do that with Rocky," Misty pointed out to Pipp, then said to Izzy. "Sounds to me like you're way overthinking it, Izzy. You don't need to do anything, really. If you truly love Sprout, then your love for him should show no matter what you say or do. Just say it to his face the next time you see him, and go from there."
At that, Sunny frowned. "If you just say it outright, it's not going to have any meaning. You have to do something," She tried to think. "Maybe you could take Sprout on a trip to Bridlewood? A change of scenery's always romantic, isn't it?"
But Zipp waved a hoof. "Unless you wanna walk all the way back to Bridlewood, you'd need to take the Marestream. And something tells me Sprout isn't used to not having his hooves on solid ground just yet," Then she stated quite bluntly. "Misty has the right idea, Izzy. It doesn't need to be anything grand. Just do something simple, something that most ponies do to show their love to one another."
"Something simple..." Izzy pondered, deep in thought for a moment. Then, suddenly, it was like a lightbulb went off inside her head! "Of course, that's it! Why didn't I think of it sooner?!" She exclaimed, then kicked her back legs! "I've gotta go make reservations right away! Sprout is totally gonna love this!" And before anypony else had a chance to ask her what she meant, the unicorn had already zoomed away and disappeared from sight. Whatever she was going to do, it was going to be out of their hooves.
Sprout smiled as he came trotting out of a candy store with a box of the finest chocolates that money could buy tucked under one hoof. In another hoof, he held a freshly picked bouquet of flowers. So what if it was cliche? If it helped Izzy to see that his love for her was sincere, that was all that mattered.
Now it was just a matter of finding the unicorn and confessing. A task easier said than done given that Izzy could be anywhere in Maretime Bay (or might have even gone back to Bridlewood completely unannounced, because she was like that sometimes).
All of a sudden, a pinkish blur appeared over the horizon! Sprout knew who it was, and so he clutched his chocolates and his bouquet tightly! He regretted not having time to get his mane done or find something suitable to wear but oh well, there was no time for that now. Izzy was coming, and the stallion knew he needed to be ready. He may not get a more perfect opportunity like this. Everything had to be just right, the object of his affection deserved only the best.
Izzy, for her part, had no idea about the flowers or the chocolates. Yet by sheer chance, she managed to skid to a halt right before she would've collided with Sprout and ruined all his hard work! Without even taking a moment to compose herself, she immediately shouted out to him! "Hey there, Sprout! Guess what?! I booked an exclusive dinner at the best pizzeria right here in Maretime Bay, just for us!"
"O-oh," Sprout blinked as he processed the unexpected announcement. "That's... really nice of you. You didn't have to do that just for me."
The unicorn mare giggled and swished her tail. "Aw come on, I know how much you love pizza: I'll even order us an extra large plain cheese pizza, just the way you like it. I still say you're missing out not trying pineapple, but hey, there's no wrong way to pizza."
The red coated stallion nervously replied. "Er... what I mean is... you really didn't have to... because I already was going to do something just for you. Because I..." He groaned and kicked at the ground. "Oh, this is so stupid! Why can't I just come out and say it?!"
Izzy giggled, immediately leaning forward as she pressed her snout up to Sprout's muzzle. "You don't have to say it, you big, silly goose! I know what you're going to say, and there's only one thing I have to say in reply: I love you too. There! See how easy it was? We didn't have to make a big production out of it."'
But Sprout growled in a low tone of voice, visibly frustrated. "And here I went through all this trouble getting you flowers and chocolates. I swear, it's like you can read my mind or something. Don't say you're not doing that, there's no other way you could've found the perfect way to complete upstage my big announcement without even meaning to."
The pink coated unicorn mare giggled once again. "Then if it makes you happy I'll play along," She opted for the most playful, childish sounding voice imaginable as she then dramatically proclaimed! "Mwahahaha! My plan has worked to perfection! By reading your mind, I made you fall in love with me, just as I hoped you would all along! Now nothing can stop me..." She leaned in close and kissed him right on the cheek! "From saying how much I love you, Sprout."
A blush formed on the stallion's cheeks that shone even through his bright red coat. He didn't care who else might see him in such a silly, vulnerable state. Right now, just knowing that Izzy felt the same way about him as he did about her made him feel like the happiest stallion in all of Equestria!
It was only now that Izzy finally noticed the flowers and the chocolates that Sprout had in his possession. Yet she acted as if she had no idea that they had been intended for her. "Oh, thank you, Sprout! You shouldn't have!" She smiled as she took hold of both the flowers and the chocolates with her magic. "The flowers will go nicely with our tablecloth at the pizzeria. And the chocolates will make a fantastic dessert, assuming we don't stuff our faces and stomachs full of pizza first!"
"Wait, we're still on for that? You're not going to cancel?" Sprout blinked anew in surprise.
The unicorn mare happily nodded. "Duh. After all the trouble I went through booking that reservation, there's no way in Equestria I'm cancelling! Besides, how can you say no to free pizza? I paid for it, and for hoofness sake I intend to get my money's worth! It'll be the perfect place for us to go on our first date," She kissed him anew. "See you then, Sprout." And then she bounced happily away with an exceptionally lively spring in her step.
For his part, the red coated earth pony stallion could only stand there and try to process the whirlwind of emotions going on inside of him. After all that, Izzy had made the whole thing seem like no big drama. What had he been so worried about? Why should he have expected any different from her? That was just the sort of thing he loved about her, after all. Izzy just wouldn't be Izzy if she didn't display a "Come what may" attitude about things like love. He only envied her and wished he could be more like that himself.
Well, that was something to hopefully work on with her now that the two were officially a couple. And so Sprout trotted off, already thinking in his mind about how best to break the news to Hitch and Sunny. And then there was the question about how best to tell his mom he was in love with and dating a unicorn. Unlike Sprout himself, his mother's relations with pegasi and unicorns was... complicated and delicate to put it gently. Even if Sprout was fully independent, his mother's opinion and support still meant a lot to him. She was sure to be shocked when word inevitably reached her ears about this.
Author's Note
Seeing as we never saw Izzy interacting face to face with Sprout during his only speaking appearance in "Make Your Mark", this ship has not been sunk by canon. It still seems like Izzy would be just the sort of pony not bothered by who Sprout is or what he was like. And when this idea came to me, it was too good to even think about passing up.
I've seen several other fanfics on this site that have basically run with the idea of Sprout liking plain cheese pizza, and Izzy liking pineapple on pizza. So I decided to more or less borrow those headcanons here. I also tossed in some nods to the video game "A Maretime Bay Adventure", since I feel like that's more or less intended to be Sprout's redemption arc, despite its questionable continuity.
