Sunny and Izzy were walking through Bridlewood towards the latter’s old cottage. They had spent the last few hours trying to get the Unicorns of Bridlewood to celebrate Pride Month with no success. Most Unicorns seemed to hold an outdated view on such topics and the two had proved unable to sway them into changing their minds.
“Sunny? Izzy?” Sunny looked back to see Alphabittle approaching them. Izzy gave no sign she had heard the stallion and kept on walking. Sunny turned back to talk to Alphabittle.
“I’m so sorry about this,” he apologised. “I know you girls worked so hard to set all this, but the residents of Bridlewood were stuck in another era before you came along and the sad truth is most of them still are.”
Sunny nodded in silent agreement. Zephyr Heights embraced modern concepts in all aspects, from culture to architecture to technology. Maretime Bay was somewhat outdated in comparison to the Pegasi city in terms of architecture and technology, but could still be considered modern. Bridlewood on the other hoof with the exception of Izzy’s cottage and the Crystal Tearoom felt like it had come out of the previous century. Sadly it seemed the same could be said for the locals. Any Unicorn that was looking for a change had left for Maretime Bay or Zephyr Heights after the tribes reunited, while the Unicorns content with the way things were, stayed.
“It’s okay,” Sunny said. “Give it time. They’ll come round.”
“I hope so,” Alphabittle said, then he glanced up at the departing Izzy. “You better go check on her. From what Haven and I’ve heard you can cheer her up like nothing else.”
Sunny nodded. “I’ll take care of her. Don’t worry.”
Bidding Alphabittle farewell, Sunny ran to catch up to Izzy, reaching her just as they arrived outside Izzy’s cottage. The usually cheerful Unicorn was noticeably down in the dumps.
“Hey. You alright?” Sunny asked.
Izzy didn’t answer. She simply opened the door and trotted inside. Sunny followed her in. There was definitely something wrong with Izzy. She started walking towards the kitchen, then stopped halfway and dropped to the ground.
“Izzy?”
The Unicorn hummed in response, though it sounded more like a grumble. Concerned Sunny walked over to the kitchen to try and find something to cheer Izzy up. After checking all the cupboards she settled on a bag of marshmallows. Izzy looked up as she heard Sunny returning, saw the bag she was holding in her mouth and took it in her magic as she pushed herself into a sitting position. Sunny sat opposite Izzy as she opened the bag and stared at the contents for awhile.
“I thought they could change” she said finally before popping a marshmallow into her mouth.
“The Bridlewood residents?” Sunny asked. Izzy nodded before offering Sunny a marshmallow. Sunny tried to think of a response while she was chewing but she got a bit distracted. Rays of sunshine were shining in through a window on the second floor and hitting Izzy in such a way that it made her mane sparkle like the night sky. Feeling a similar heat rising to her cheeks Sunny looked away before her friend could see her staring.
While Sunny loved all her friends she could safely admit that Izzy was her favourite. The Unicorn’s cheerful, energetic and creative personality always gave Sunny a warm feeling inside when she saw it in action. That and Izzy was stunning, particularly in certain lights which had the aforementioned effect on her mane. Sunny had known for a long time that she was into mares, but with all of Maretime Bay (with the exception of Hitch and his grandmother) treating her with varying levels of hostility most of her life she had never had the chance to pursue a relationship. Until Izzy came along.
At the start Sunny was afraid to say anything for fear of ruining their blossoming friendship but as the two grew closer Sunny began to notice how Izzy acted. Wanting to stand next to her, nuzzling her during even the smallest interactions, stealing glances when she thought Sunny wasn’t looking (even though she was standing in Sunny’s line of sight) and according to the others being extra cheerful whenever Sunny was around. Izzy was anything but subtle.
At first Sunny thought Izzy hadn’t said anything for the same reason she had, but now the pieces were starting to fall into place. Izzy had been raised in a community that held very negative views on same sex couples, meaning the Unicorn probably thought being in love with Sunny was a bad thing. Sunny recalled when she had described the whole thing to Pipp and Hitch during a conversation. ”You’re drawn to each other. The sun and moon coming together to form an eclipse,” that was how Pipp put it.
While Sunny was thinking everything over Izzy was watching Sunny think. She looks cute like that, Izzy thought. Oh, what am I saying, Sunny always looks cute. And Sunny wasn’t just cute either. She was friendly, sweet and gentle, the best friend Izzy could ask for. Of course Izzy saw Sunny as more than just a best friend. She was fully aware of why she had fallen for the Earth Pony, she was her first friend, the first one to not look at her like she was different or weird, ironic considering how they met. Sunny had been the first to welcome Izzy for who she was with open hooves and that simple gesture had been enough to sweep Izzy off her hooves. But after a lifetime growing up in Bridlewood Izzy was afraid. What if this was the one thing that could make Sunny hate her. But as Misty rightly pointed out when the two had talked privately about their feelings, Sunny wasn’t from Bridlewood. She was raised in a town that had far less prejudice. Izzy had seen several same sex couples around Maretime Bay, including a Unicorn friend of hers with an Earth Pony mare. Seeing that gave Izzy a spark of hope.
Realising that keeping her feelings bottled up would probably only hurt her (and possibly Sunny as well) in the long run, Izzy decided to take a leap of faith. She cleared her throat. “Sunny?”
Sunny snapped out of her train of thought and gave Izzy her full attention. “Yeah?”
“I, er… have something to tell you,” Izzy started, tapping her hooves together nervously. She was already second guessing her decision, but she couldn’t stay quiet forever. “So you see, I kinda, sorta…”
Izzy’s face went redder by the second as she started pulling at her mane. Sunny realised what Izzy was trying to do and gave her an encouraging smile.
That gave Izzy the confidence to complete her sentence. “Li… love you.” Izzy squeaked and shut her eyes. She heard Sunny move closer then felt the other mare’s lips connect with hers. Izzy melted into the kiss as Sunny pulled her closer. Sunny’s lips felt soft and sweet, just like Izzy imagined, and the two still having the taste of marshmallows on their breaths was a bonus. Eventually the two pulled apart and Sunny started gently stroking Izzy’s cheek with her hoof.
“Hoof to heart, I promise I’ll always love you too” Sunny whispered softly.
Izzy squealed and started nuzzling her cheek against Sunny’s. Suddenly the Earth Pony felt a familiar feeling and sure enough her Alicorn form activated, her ethereal wings and horn appearing in a flash of light. Izzy heard the flash and stepped back, staring at her.
“Woah. Your sparkle… both our sparkles… wow.”
Sunny looked at her wings for a second, then an idea came to her. “Hey Izzy. What do you think about arriving back in Maretime Bay in style?”
Izzy looked at her curiously. “Oh. I’m listening…”
From outside the cottage, two ponies were watching through one of the windows.
“Yes. I told you it would be worth it leaving Mane Melody unattended for a few hours” Rocky declared.
“Alright, I admit it. You were right,” Jazz rolled her eyes before pulling out her phone. “That’s two down, just one more to go.”