//------------------------------// // 6. Out // Story: I love you, Izzy Moonbow // by Hoofprintz //------------------------------// "Ahhhh," Izzy sighed in relief. She shook her head back and forth, her mane sweeping this way and that. "It feels much better in here." "Central air is a godsend," I agreed, moving to stand underneath a powerful jet of icy cold air. "OH! Ohhhh..." the small unicorn joined me, fully experiencing the marvels of modern ingenuity. She looked like she was in heaven, her long mane and tail moving about in the intense wind. "I don't think I ever want to move from here." "You and me both," I closed my eyes and looked up at the fan. I hated the summer, but the blast of an especially powerful air conditioner was always a welcome distraction from the intense heat. ... "Alright, come on," I sighed as I left the comfortable zone. "Unless you want to stay here. I can pick you up on the way out if you want." "No. That's okay," she smiled up at me as she followed along. "I wanna see the rest of this place," she looked around us with glee. I got a cart before we moved further into the interior of the market. I couldn't help but bask in the good luck I was experiencing, not a thing going wrong thus far. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The trek to the market had been a decently long walk, about fifteen minutes through the sweltering heat. Izzy and I had passed by countless people. Men, women, children, even some dogs and a cat had crossed our path. Not a single one of them seemed to be particularly concerned with the unicorn. Vivid nightmares of Izzy being captured by the government and experimented on were quickly dashed when she stopped a small child's soccer ball from going into the street. I was a little worried when she picked it up and handed it back to the kid with a smile, but he -- as well as his mother -- just said a polite thank you before continuing on their way. Although she had been wide-eyed the entire way -- and honestly probably a bit too excited for such a mundane activity -- the rest of the trip was fairly uneventful. Well, other than all of the questions. "What's that!?" "That's a stroller. People use them so they don't have to carry their kids around all day." "And that!? What's that in his ear!?" "He's probably talking on his phone... or listening to music." "WHAT ABOUT THAT!?" "That is a bus," I grabbed her by the shoulder, pulling her back onto the sidewalk. "It's pretty much an even bigger car so lots of people can travel a long distance at the same time." "I see," she grinned, falling into step next to me again. "So those dogs we saw... they don't talk?" "Nope. Most animals on earth don't talk," I explained as I wiped some sweat from my brow. Freaking sun... "There are ponies here too," I had to hold her down from jumping into the air at finding out that fact. "BUT they're a lot different than you are, Izzy." "Oh..." she only looked a little disappointed. "Are they like Sunny or Pipp?" "No. They don't talk... and they don't have wings or anything like that," I lifted my hand away just as she tried to move it herself. "They're just like most other animals." She grew quiet, the exuberance that just possessed her suddenly gone. She stared straight forward, walking with a lot less vigor than seconds before. ... Something is definitely wrong. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything. I knew it might've been a little much to tell her, but she was bound to find out eventually. I didn't want her to think I was trying to hide anything from her. "Hey, Jon?" she finally spoke. "What is it?" "Do you think I'm just another animal?" she didn't lift her head to look at me. "Of course not, Izzy," I sighed. I knew that revealing information of the nature I had might hurt her. I didn't know she'd think it might change how she thought I perceived her. "We're friends. Aren't we?" I glanced down at her. "Yeah," she giggled, keeping her happy gaze forward. "We are." "Friends are equals, right?" I continued. "Yeah," she looked up at me with those big magenta eyes of hers. "They are." "Good," I patted her on the head as we continued to our destination.