//------------------------------//
// Tea and Advice 
// Story: Of Crystals and Jinxies 
// by SuperPinkBrony12 
//------------------------------//

For Alphabittle, it started out like any other day. There he was, hard at work in the Crystal Teahouse, the finest (and only) tea shop in all of Bridlewood. Customers came and went without fanfare, aside from when the occasional one foolishly thought they could beat Alphabittle at one of his games. Oh well, at least it gave the tall stallion another item to add to his growing collections of trinkets and knick knacks. He'd probably start clearing out space eventually, probably pawning off some of the less valuable stuff. In the meantime, he was happy to display his collection on a shelf for all to see.

Suddenly, as the stallion was dusting off his puzzle cube and giving it a good polish, the doom and gloom that usually permeated the entirety of the teahouse was interrupted. For in bounced a unicorn filly with a pretty pink coat, her dark blue mane and tail all styled into a pretty set of curls. And there were her bright and rich purple colored eyes, eyes that seemed to be full of life and happiness. A very rare sight indeed around Bridlewood.

The filly wasted no time in bouncing right up to the counter and making her presence known. "Hiya, Mr. Alphabittle, sir!" She cheerfully greeted while swishing her tail.

Alphabittle sighed, groaned and tried not to bite his lip. He had never met this filly before, but something told him that she was trouble (trouble for him, anyway). "You don't have to call me Mr. Alphabittle, kid," He grumbled in that deep voice of his. "Just Alphabittle, please," And he then frowned. "What is it you want, kid?"

The filly giggled in that childish tone of hers. "I have a name, it's Izzy. Izzy Moonbow."

"Well, Izzy," Alphabittle responded as he tried not to sound too upset, his grayish-blue eyes trying to scan Izzy's eyes for a hint of intention. "What do you want from me? And where are your parents? Do they know you're out this late?"

Izzy chuckled, the apparent insult flying right over her head as if she'd never heard it. "It's not that late, Alphabittle. Besides, I'm a growing filly, I can take care of myself," She proceeded to pull out some kind of crumpled up paper as she proudly proclaimed. "I just found this letter attached to a lantern. I think it's some kind of invitation. It wants me to come to Maretime Bay, wherever that is. It's also addressed to pegasi, and it says pegasi and unicorns have friends in Maretime Bay."

The stallion snorted and rolled his eyes. "Oh, how wonderful."

"Hey, come on," Izzy pouted when she noticed Alphabittle's expression. "I had to tell somepony."

"So why not tell your parents?" Alphabittle questioned.

At that, Izzy's cheerful mood seemed to fade ever so slightly. "Mom and Dad would never understand. They never seem to understand anything I do. They think I'm some kind of freak because I'm not a gloomy gus like they are. You probably think I'm a freak too."

Alphabittle immediately protested. "I never said that. I had no idea who you were until you came barging in to my tea shop like this," In a somewhat more sympathetic tone he added. "There's nothing wrong with the way you act, as long as it doesn't hurt anypony. It's great that you haven't been infected by the doom and gloom yet. You should enjoy your innocence while you still have it. Someday, you'll come to understand that there's little to be happy about around here."

The pink coated filly began to smile again. "That's why I'm going to Maretime Bay. I'm going to run away, even though I'm only medium sneaky! The letter says I have friends there, friends just waiting to meet me. I had to tell somepony about it that I could trust. And there's nopony more trustworthy than you. You're pretty much the leader here in Bridlewood. Everypony says you're the one to come to when there's a problem. The guy who puts out the fires. Well, not obviously because you're not a firefighter."

Alphabittle sighed. "I don't see why everypony always comes to me with their problems. I'm not a miracle worker. All I do is make tea, and give advice when asked for. It's how I get by," And then he added. "And if you want my advice on that letter of yours, kid. I'd say forget it! Don't even think about trying to run away, even just for a day or however long it takes to get to Maretime Bay and back."

Izzy immediately saw fit to question such "advice". "Why not?" It sounded like she legitimately wanted to know why anypony should consider staying in Bridlewood.

The stallion looked at the filly and told his fellow unicorn. "Kid, you don't understand how the world works. You haven't been around the block like I have. The world out there, it's big and it's dangerous. It's a cruel and unforgiving world. Ponies stopped being friends with each other long ago. We all just mind our own business, and that's just how the world is."

"But what if it doesn't have to be?!" Izzy pleaded in protest. "What if we didn't have to live alone all the time? What if we could make friends with the other pony races like in the old days? The days when the ponies all trusted each other and could travel freely, even to places where no ponies dwelled?"

The tall stallion with a dull gray shaded coat could only shake his head. Why was this child being so stubborn and unwilling to listen? Anypony else would've accepted his argument. Leave it to Izzy to be the exception to the rule.

Izzy began tapping her hooves on the floor in impatience. "Come on, I wanna know!" She demanded of Alphabittle. "Do you really think things can't change? That we have to always live in fear, not only of other ponies but also the jinxies? Aren't you tired of the way things are?"

Alphabittle groaned anew. "You think you're the first pony who's complained, because you're not. I've seen so many ponies in my time complain nonstop about how bad things are. They all said they were going to do something about it, but in the end nothing came of it. I learned long ago to stop complaining or caring. The world isn't going to change just because somepony wants it to. That's not how it works."

"You really don't believe earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns could ever be friends?" Izzy frowned as she adopted a most unhappy expression. "I'll bet you don't think magic could ever come back."

Upon hearing the word "Magic" be uttered, Alphabittle and everypony else in the tea shop immediately started chanting: "Bing! Bong! bing! Bing, bong! Bing, bong! Bing, bong! Bing, bong!" over and over again, all the while doing the most ridiculous dance ever imagined.

When at last the dancing and chanting were done, Alphabittle glared at Izzy and sternly scolded her. "Didn't anypony ever tell you that it's forbidden to say ma..." He quickly corrected himself. "That m word?! Or those other forbidden words we're not supposed to utter if we don't want the jinxies to come after us?! Are you trying to curse us all for eternity, kid?!"

The filly seemed to realize her mistake as she apologized. "I'm sorry, Alphabittle. But wouldn't it be nice if we could live in a world where we didn't have to do that silly routine all the time? If we could live without fear of the jinxies? If going to Maretime Bay could change all that, why shouldn't I go? Nopony else is going to go, nopony else is going to do anything."

The tall stallion simply replied. "Listen, Izzy. If you really want to just up and abandon the only world you've ever known for a vague promise from a letter, at least wait until you're older."

"You mean, as old as you are?" Izzy pondered.

Alphabittle snorted again. "I'm not that old. And you don't have to wait that long if you really don't want to. But at least until you're all grown up and can make your own decisions. Then if you still want to go and see this 'Maretime Bay', you can and nopony will be able to stop you," But after looking all around and noticing that no eyes were on him, he leaned close to Izzy and whispered. "If you do that, I promise I won't tell your parents about the letter. It'll just be our little secret."

It seemed that promise was enough to make the pink coated filly sparkle anew with happiness as her eyes went wide! "You really mean it?!" And when she received a confirming nod, she all but shrieked with joy! "YES!" For a second, it seemed like she had jumped into the air. But it passed so quickly it was impossible to tell for sure. "Oh, thank you, Alphabittle! You're the best! Really! No wonder everypony says you give good advice and make great tea."

Alphabittle could only reply. "They're right about the tea, but I don't know about the advice," Then he demanded. "But I think you've wasted enough time here. Ponies might start to get suspicious if you keep hanging around here. So, are you gonna buy some tea?"

"Nope! I'm good!" Izzy insisted, and then bounced away while humming a little tune to herself. A tune that only she seemed to understand.

Alphabittle watched as the little unicorn slowly bounced into the distance, fading from view. "That kid is going to drive me crazy one of these days." He thought to himself. Yet secretly, a part of him couldn't help but feel jealous of her optimism. What he would give to be as young and hopeful as she was.





The years came and went as Alphabittle continued to run his tea shop out of that tree. And ponies kept on coming to him to buy tea, and occasionally to ask him for advice. The stallion did his best to please every customer, but it frustrated him to no end that he continued to be seen by the other unicorns as their de-facto leader. He'd never asked to be put in charge of anything, he'd never asked to be made into basically a king or a mayor (or whatever it was that other unicorns thought he should be). All he wanted was to run his little tea shop in peace.

Of course, it was hard for Alphabittle to ignore Izzy. Slowly but surely, he watched as she grew from a little filly into a full grown mare. All the while, it seemed like nothing could get her to change her mood or her mind. She continued to retain that child-like innocence and cheerfulness. If anything, she seemed to further commit herself to it the older she became, something that defied all logic and explanation. Why hadn't she had been broken by the gloominess and the dread of Bridlewood?

Well, Alphabittle neither knew or really cared. Izzy wasn't his responsibility, he hadn't been anything close to a permanent fixture in her life and had never wanted to be. It had been a spur of the moment decision to agree to keep a secret for her.

Then, one day, Izzy came back to the Crystal Teahouse. And was it the stallion's imagination, or did the mare have an even brighter smile than she usually had?

"Hiya, Mr. Alphabittle!" Izzy greeted in her usual chipper tone.

Alphabittle just trotted over to Izzy, seeing as she was currently the only potential customer around. "How many times do we have to go through this? You can just call me Alphabittle," He lightly scolded. "Honestly, at this point I feel like a broken record."

Izzy just playfully swished her tail and giggled. "But I like calling you that. I mean, Alphabittle is probably what your friends call you. And we're not really friends, are we?"

The tall unicorn stallion could only shake his head from side to side as he replied. "Not really. I don't really know you all that well. I still can't believe you haven't changed since the day we met. You're still so much like that carefree filly that you were when you first strolled in here all those years ago."

"Yup! I'm all grown up now!" Izzy proudly boasted. "I've got my own home, my own job, you name it! I've even found a use for things other unicorns throw away. I call it: Unicycling."

"Lovely." Alphabittle remarked as the expression in his dull blue eyes didn't change in the least.

The pink coated unicorn mare was quick to change the subject. "Well, I just wanted to stop by to let you know that I've made up my mind about that letter. You know, the one I told you about all those years ago."

Alphabittle put a hoof to his forehead. "Don't tell me: You're still going to go to Maretime Bay to meet those 'friends' of yours, aren't you?"

The energetic unicorn happily nodded. "You bet I am! I just know they're waiting for me! I can feel it! Their sparkle is calling out to me!"

"'Sparkle'?" Alphabittle questioned with an arched eyebrow.

Izzy nodded again. "Yup. It's something only I can see. It's what's inside of everypony. But your sparkle is all dull and gloomy, just like everypony else's sparkle around here. That's okay, though. I know that once I make some new friends, everything will change for the better. Magic will come back to Bridlewood, and everypony will be friends with each other again."

"Bing! Bong! Bing!" Alphabittle exclaimed as he proceeded to do the routine necessary to ward off the jinxies yet again. "Why do you always have to bring up those forbidden words?" He complained to Izzy afterwards.

"Because I think the jinxies are silly. They're not really real, everypony here just thinks they are," Izzy said with a humph. "And I'm going to change all that, with the help of my friends in Maretime Bay. Together, we'll make all of Equestria a better place."

Alphabittle snickered ever so faintly. "Whatever you say, kid. I just hope you know what you're getting yourself into, for your sake," In a more serious tone of voice he added. "If anything happened to you out there, I'd... well... you know..." He trailed off, unable to bring himself to say what he wanted to say.

It seems there was no need for the stallion to do so, however, because Izzy seemed to get what he was trying to say quite easily. "Oh, you don't have to worry about that. I can take care of myself. So maybe the world is a big and scary place, and maybe it is a bit cruel and unforgiving. Me being all gloomy and unhappy isn't going to change that. Maybe it's silly to think I can change the world all by myself, but I'll never know for sure unless I try. That's why I have to go!"

"So I can see," Alphabittle commented ever so slowly. "Well, best of luck, Izzy. Not that I think it'll really matter. You'll do what you think you'll have to do. I've learned long ago that, when you set your mind to something, nopony can really talk you out of it. Just don't say I didn't warn you about what you'd be getting into."

Izzy waved a hoof. "Oh relax, Alphabittle. You worry too much, you know that? You should learn to lighten up and smile more often, like I do. You'd be surprised how much of a difference it can make in the world," Then her attention was drawn to something else. To a bright, shiny blue crystal resting up on a shelf behind Alphabittle. "Say, you're not using that crystal, are you? Could I borrow it? I feel like it's going to be important, somehow."

But the unicorn stallion shut down the idea immediately. "Sorry, Izzy. That crystal's too valuable to me to consider parting with it. That is, unless you have something just as valuable to trade for it. Or maybe you think you can take me in one of my games?"

"Nope," Izzy immediately replied. "You can hold onto the crystal for now. I don't even know what I'd do with it if I had it. But maybe when I come back to Bridlewood with my friends, maybe then I'll take you up on your offer."

Alphabittle chuckled. "That's nice, kid. Now isn't it about time you got going? I'm sure it's a very long way to Maretime Bay, especially when you can't teleport."

Izzy nodded once again and then trotted off. But just before she was out of sight, she turned back and waved to Alphabittle. "Thanks for everything, Mr. Alphabittle. You've been a bigger help than you probably realize. See you soon, with my new friends from Maretime Bay."

The tall unicorn with a dull gray could only sigh, and smile ever so faintly. Izzy was starting to rub off on him, even if he wouldn't admit to it. "Bless that pure heart of hers," He thought to himself. "If only there were more ponies like her in the world. She's just too good and too innocent for this world. I almost feel sorry for her." But it wouldn't do him any good to dwell on these feelings. So it was back to work.