//------------------------------// // Make Your Mark: Izzy Does It // Story: The Second Dream // by totallynotabrony //------------------------------// Hitch and I, and Sparky the dragon, were on our way to the Crystal Brighthouse one morning.  It was Sunny’s birthday, and there were a few other things we’d planned on, as well. We came upon Izzy singing to herself and building some sort of monstrous contraption in the front yard.  Zipp landed beside us just then and we stared up at whatever it was Izzy was doing. Kenneth, one of Hitch’s bird friends, cheeped. “Good question,” Hitch replied.  “Zipp, do you know what Izzy’s doing up there?” Kenneth apparently spoke for us all.  I was wondering the same thing. Zipp, however, shrugged.  “Not a clue.” She then glanced at Sparky, who’d been riding on Hitch’s back, but a moment ago had hopped down to approach the pile of junk.  “Uh, what’s your dragon doing?” Izzy meanwhile had answered the question, though only raised more.  “This is gonna be the best birthday present for a friend I've ever made because I finally have a friend and it's her birthday!” I didn’t think Sunny wanted a pile of junk for her birthday, but instead of saying that, I stepped forward to go after Sparky.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t fast enough and he yanked something out of the bottom of the pile that caused the whole thing to start coming down. Hitch was involuntarily pulled forward by a weird green magic around his hooves, and Izzy, having fallen from the top of the pile, landed on him. “Huh, more glowing cutie marks,” Zipp noted, indicating Hitch’s hip, “and random Earth pony plant magic. Also, somepony's gonna have to clean this up.” Sparky dropped the object he was holding.  Smart kid. Hitch picked himself up.  “I wish I could figure out Earth pony magic. I don't like how crazy it is.” As if she’d been summoned at the mention of magic, Sunny burst from within the Brighthouse.  “Did anypony hear that crash? It shook the whole building!” Izzy jumped up.  “Happy birthday, friend! And happy first-time-saying-happy-birthday-friend to me!  I made you a present!”  Out of the pile, she pulled a decorated strip of fabric, a keychain or lanyard or something. “Aww, Izzy!  This is the most amazing birthday present ever!  I need to show it off!” Sunny apparently didn’t know what the thing was, either, and hung it in her mane as a decoration. “Want to go to the Maretime Bay Craft Fair?” Sunny asked the group. With my friend on her birthday?  Of course I wanna go to that!” Izzy replied.  The two of them set off. “All right, you two have fun,” said Hitch.  “We’ll clean up all...this.” We roped Zipp into helping, too.  She didn’t look pleased, but was always dependable. Fortunately, with the four of us pitching in, it was quick work and we were done in just a few minutes.  Sunny and Izzy weren’t that far gone, so we headed off after them towards town. Along the way, we encountered a blue unicorn mare who was whispering furtively into a makeup compact.  She hurriedly put it away as we approached, giving us a cautious glance, and walked off in the opposite direction. “I wonder who that was,” Hitch said.  “I haven’t seen her around before.” I got a notification on my phone and saw that Pipp was streaming.  She’d apparently met up with Izzy and Sunny in town and they seemed to be having a good time at the craft fair.  Also, apparently the thing Sunny had hung in her hair was a bracelet. As the group of us walked, Hitch said, “So, you know how my hooves glowed when the ground moved and then I heroically saved Izzy?” “‘Heroically,’” Zipp snorted. I was ready to defend Hitch, but he brushed it off.  “Good. That's how I remember it, too.”  He went on, tone changing.  “You think that all this Earth pony magic stuff is safe, right?” “Of course,” Zipp replied.  “You Earth ponies can grow plants with your hooves.  How could that be bad?  But I’m still investigating what else our power can do.  I do know one thing’s for sure: whenever anypony’s ‘sparkle’ really starts to shine, their cutie mark glows.” “Has it ever happened to me?” I asked. “Not that I’ve noticed.” I hadn’t thought so, which might imply that I’d never really gotten my sparkle going. I did wonder, given my unique circumstances, if something like that was even a thing I could do.  Hitch and the others seemed to be using magic unconsciously, so maybe it was just happen on its own.  If it ever would. Arriving in town, I saw Izzy freaking out about something.  Apparently not just Sunny but everypony had liked what Izzy made so much that they also wanted one, and she was having a creative meltdown. Pipp - well, I’m not going to say Pipp had it handled, but she was at least already giving Izzy advice, and there was no getting a word in edgewise to that, so I stayed out of it. That left me more time to hang out with Hitch and Sparky.  Now that he’d come to terms with us being in a romantic relationship - was it still dating if we were already living together and raising an adopted child? - we’d begun talking more about long term future. We still had no idea what the deal with Sparky was, but he definitely needed someone to keep him out of trouble.  It would have been one thing if he only breathed fire.  As it was, he had some weird magic breath that sometimes transfigured objects into other things.  I’d once seen him turn a cell phone into a slice of pizza.  Not having control of a power like that, or at least letting a baby use it, might be a recipe for disaster. So, responsibility.  I had it now.  I mean, in addition to my law enforcement job.  The whole social media thing and commanding the thoughts of so many people following me was also something to think about. Sunny was working at her smoothie stand, even though it was her birthday.  Still, I guess getting money was a gift in itself, so I couldn’t blame her.  Hitch and I ordered smoothies, and let Sparky take alternating sips. “What’s this?” Sunny said, noticing a small golden object on the counter at the stand, wrapped in a purple ribbon.  “Pipp must've left me a surprise birthday gift.” “A walkie talkie?” I said. “I think it’s actually a makeup mirror,” Sunny said, turning it over in her hooves.  “Wow, it’s got a great-looking alicorn design on it!” “You know, now that you say it, Sentra, it does look a lot like the makeup mirror we saw that unicorn talking into outside town,” Hitch agreed. “Well…”  Sunny untied the ribbon and opened the mirror up.  “No, it looks like a normal mirror to me.” “But if it is anything like the one we saw that other pony using, then how or why would they have had one with an alicorn design on it?” Hitch said. “Not to mention, is it some kind of magic mirror communication device, was that unicorn using some kind of specially modified mirror-into-radio, or was she just crazy?” I asked. “Hmm,” said Sunny.  The three of us lapsed into silence, considering it. “Well, we’ll ask her the next time we see her,” Hitch said. It was just about time for Sunny to close up shop for the day, so she walked with us back to her house, to have her birthday party. Back at the Brighthouse, we found that Izzy wasn’t there.  She had left a note that said B.R.B.F.B.B.B. None of us knew what that meant, but it was pretty typical of Izzy, so we didn’t question it. “Maybe we should check on her to see if she needs any help?” Sunny suggested. “I’m on it!” Hitch volunteered.  He turned to the crowd of animals that were following him at any given time.  “Deputies, keep an eye out for Izzy!  Uh, maybe you stay here and be our eyes on the ground, Kurtle.” Good idea.  Kurtle, being a turtle, was pretty slow. Zipp said, “You named him ’Kurtle Turtle?’” “Turtle is his family name,” Hitch explained. Zipp looked like she was a little conflicted on how underwhelming and logical that was.  I’d gone through the same thing when I’d asked the same question some time ago. Just then, Izzy rolled up in a tuk-tuk.  “So, turns out bird hats are not a thing, but guess what I made!” None of us knew what that meant, but it was pretty typical of Izzy, so we didn’t question it. With a Vanna White flourish, she said, “Presenting... ‘Izzy Does It!’” It was a trike moped with a storage box on the rear.  She opened up the doors to show us what was inside.  “It’s my new uni-cycling cart!  My trailer of treasures!  My wagon of whimsy!  My crafty sash!  It’s got all the things I need for crafting on the go, any time, any where.  Glasses?  Check!  Tape?  Check!” She went on listing the contents.  I had an involuntary twitch when she mentioned glitter, because of course there was glitter. Hitch noticed and quietly excused us. “Thanks,” I murmured to him as we walked back to the station.  Sparky had fallen asleep on Hitch’s back, and I lifted him with my wings, taking a turn carrying. Hitch smiled at me, satisfied that he was doing something for me that I appreciated.  I did appreciate it.  It was good that we were getting to this level of nonverbal communication. The other reason we didn’t talk, because it might wake up Sparky, and we wanted him to stay asleep for when we got home. Sparky was just one factor.  It had taken Hitch some work to ensure that all his animal deputies wouldn’t be too voyeuristic of our time in the bedroom. In the development of our relationship, we’d even made the transition from having sex to making love. Hitch threw up in the morning again. I was starting to get a little concerned.