//------------------------------//
// 1 - Wannabe 
// Story: The Dark Truth 
// by David Silver 
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Izzy pronked down the city streets of Maretime Bay. It was a lovely day! The sun was shining down on her, practically saying hello. The ponies around her were happily going about their daily tasks. She waved at at least half of them on her way. "Hi! Howdy! How ya doin'?!" she called as she went.

She couldn't let any of them think she wasn't happy to see them. They were all her lovely friends of the city. Most ponies of the city were earth ponies, but that had changed since bringing back magic. More and more unicorns, like Izzy, and pegasi had arrived. Izzy giggled to herself, looking at a pegasus make googly eyes at an earth pony. Yes, the tribes were coming together.

"Oooo." She saw a new face and bounced towards them. A unicorn, just like Izzy! Maybe they could swap unicorn stories and share in unicorn holidays! That'd be nice... "Hello there, friend I haven't met yet."

Most unicorns had livened since the return of magic. That one, though she had her colors, had a flat expression and wore dark clothing. She exuded a down personality and frowned as Izzy approached. "What is it?" she demanded, patience thin at best.

Izzy blinked at the brusque greetings. "Um, hi. I'm Izzy. You are?"

"Orchid." The unicorn continued her walk, as if deciding the conversation was over.

Izzy inclined her head at the new unicorn, studying her. Orchid was dark grey in her pelt. She had a dark blue mane and tail. The hair there was straight and smooth. She had a collar around her neck, showing a few little spikes and some blue makeup on her face. "So... Welcome to Maretime Bay." Izzy bounced alongside the new unicorn. "I know all the best places, so if you need any help, just ask!"

Orchid let out an exasperated sigh as the bubbly pony bounced alongside her, babbling on about the town. She just wanted to be left alone to brood. This "Izzy" character's relentless cheerfulness grated on her last nerve. 

"Enough," Orchid snapped, stopping in her tracks to glare at Izzy. "Please, just leave me be." 

Izzy's smile faltered slightly, but she quickly hitched it back up. "Oh, but Maretime Bay is such a friendly place! I couldn't let a new pony go without a proper welcome."

Orchid narrowed her eyes, seeing through the transparent act. She decided to call Izzy out. "You can cut the fake smile. I'm not buying it." 

Izzy's eyes widened. No one had ever questioned her outward joy before. She laughed nervously. "What do you mean? I'm just being friendly."

"Yes, so very friendly that it's clearly exhausting for you," Orchid said dryly. "Why are you pretending to be happy when you're not?"

Izzy opened her mouth to protest but found no words. She shook her head vigorously. "It's not like that!" But Orchid was already walking away. Izzy didn't have it in her to chase the unicorn further. "Hey..." she weakly called out, but Orchid was gone, off to her business.

She, Izzy, was a magical pony. Sure, she was a unicorn, so that went a bit without saying, but she was magic, even for a unicorn. She didn't understand the hows of it, exactly... But she could see the sparkles of other ponies, and her own. Her sparkle was taking a darker turn. Smiling felt harder by the moment. "No..." She was a cheerful unicorn! She was happy!

But her insistences weren't making her sparkle brighten. And sparkles didn't lie. They never lied. Izzy trembled, seeing it grow gloomier by the moment. But what could she do about it? Nothing jumped to her mind. Wait, no, smile! She forced a great big smile on her face, but it felt like her face was aching. Some part of her just didn't want to smile.

As her sparkles reached an inky blackness, it began to spill over her physical form. Her colors muted and her hair fell around her like a curtain, losing the bouncy nature they held before them. She trembled as her magic conjured clothes for her. Perhaps she took inspiration from Orchid without thought, but she was soon garbed like a true goth, all traces of smile lost. The careful mask of cheerfulness had been broken.

Good mood pierced, Izzy walked along the road, not feeling the energy to bounce. "Look at you." Posey came in from the side, matching Izzy's pace. "Did I miss a notice? This a crazy unicorn holiday?" Her eyes wandered up and down the sullen unicorn. "Crazy." Posey had no idea of unicorn traditions, but tried to guess. "Um, is this.... like... a remembering holiday?"

Izzy raised a brow at Posey. "No. It's not a holiday." Speaking felt like effort she didn't have the energy for.

Posey frowned, not used to this sullen version of her bubbly friend. "Izzy, what's going on? This doesn't seem like you at all."

Izzy sighed, avoiding Posey's concerned gaze. "I don't know...I just woke up feeling so unhappy today. Like all the joy had been drained from my life." 

Posey's eyes filled with worry. She stepped in front of Izzy, halting her slow walk. "Oh Izzy, why didn't you tell any of us you were feeling this way? We want to help."

Izzy shook her head uncertainly. "It just hit me all of a sudden. One minute I was fine, the next...this." She gestured at her gloomy appearance.  

Posey gave her friend a comforting hug. "You don't have to go through this alone. We're all here for you. Let us cheer you up and try to figure this out together."

Izzy pushed Posey back. "Thanks, but no." She didn't feel cuddly at that moment. "And why do you care? You're angry half the time anyway. Shouldn't you be happy I'm not feeling good?"

Posey took a step back with a wince. "H-hey! I get angry because ponies are not being reasonable. I don't want you to be sad. That isn't..." she trailed off, seeing Izzy already walking off. "What I get trying to help." Posey huffed, trotting along with a frown.

Izzy headed for home with a faint grumbling. Ponies were just too loud and annoying. Home felt like a good place to go. She pushed open the door to reveal a grinning pony face.

"Izzy," greeted Sunny. "Welcome home." She noticed then with an incline of her head. "Nice... outfit?" She stepped out of the way as Izzy came inside. "It's not your usual... What inspired it? Did you make it yourself? I know you love working with your hooves."

Izzy got an almost smile. "Yeah... I made it myself." Technically correct! Her magic had formed it. That counted, right? "You hate it." It wasn't a question, just a blunt fact.

"What?!" Sunny recoiled. "No!"

"What's with the gloomy clothes?" Zipp landed with a flap of her wings. "Was somepony having a clothing sale and you grabbed the first thing you saw?"

Sunny tried to elbow Zipp to be quiet, but the words has already been said. Izzy managed to frown more than her sullen expression already was. "No." She walked past her two 'friends'. "I'll be on my bed." She stormed past them without further words.

Sunny and Zipp shared a concerned glance as Izzy disappeared into her room. 

"What's gotten into her?" Zipp whispered. "It's like she's a whole different pony today."

"I don't know," Sunny replied worriedly. "But something is clearly very wrong. We need to help her, not make it worse with careless comments." 

The two slowly approached Izzy's closed door. Sunny knocked gently. "Izzy? Can we come in?"

"Go away!" came the muffled, bitter reply. 

"We just want to understand what's going on and be here for you," Sunny said earnestly through the door.

"Please, talk to us Izzy," Zipp added. "We care about you."

There was a long pause and then finally the door cracked open. Izzy stood there, eyes downcast and misty. She closed the door without a word.

"Oh Izzy..." Sunny murmured, heart aching for her friend.

"Let's figure this out together," Zipp said. She pulled down her investigator goggles she pulled out for such emergencies. "I'll hunt for clues!"

Sunny smiled, hope lighting. "Yeah, good idea.. I'll try to... get through to her." Even if she wasn't sure how she'd do it.

Zipp took off, scanning the town through her high-tech goggles. Birds - normal. Pony prints - standard. Thermal readings all within expected ranges. She wasn't picking up any obvious clues, but she was determined to keep searching, leaving no stone unturned. Anything to help lift Izzy's spirits back up.

Meanwhile, Sunny cautiously knocked on Izzy's door once more. "Izzy, I know you want to be alone right now. But I'm here for you, whenever you're ready."

No response came. With a worried sigh, Sunny made her way outside, hoping Zipp was having more success finding answers. She knew they had to keep trying to reach Izzy, no matter how long it took. Giving up on a friend was not an option.

In the room, Izzy beat on her pillow. "It's not fair!" Why didn't her friends see the way things were? She was the happy unicorn. She was the cheerful unicorn. Had she ever been either? They never noticed. It had taken some strange new unicorn to see any of it, and she'd done it with scarcely a glance.

Did her friends really just not care about her?

But she had been happy... right? She trembled, wrestling with her self-image and doubts. "Right?" she asked out loud, but the universe didn't deign to offer a reply. She rolled onto her back and sprawled her limbs out with a sigh. "Why does life have to be so complicated..."

She thought back to Bridlewood, her home. Home of most unicorns. All of them that she knew of? Well, at least most of them. The unicorns had been acting much like she felt that moment. Sullen, withdrawn, slow... But that was before magic was back. She had been all bouncy and smiling even during those dark times. She had always been smiling...

Izzy laid sprawled on her bed, lost in thought. She reflected on her time growing up in Bridlewood as a young unicorn. She had always been smiling, bubbly and bright, even when her fellow unicorns had been sullen and gloomy before magic returned. 

She thought back to specific memories - trying to cheer up other unicorn foals with a song and dance, but only getting weird looks in return. Putting on puppet shows, full of energy, while the crowd watched silently. Their moods never seemed to rub off on her. 

Or did they? Izzy pondered. Had part of her felt just as sad inside? Is that why today it finally spilled to the surface? She wasn't sure anymore. 

Izzy wished she could talk to Sunny and Zipp openly, but felt closed off, worried they wouldn't understand. She needed somepony who knew what this felt like. 

Then she gasped, sitting up with realization. Orchid! The strange new unicorn had seen through her cheerful act immediately. She clearly understood this bleak feeling. 

Izzy knew she needed to find Orchid again. Hopefully opening up to somepony who had been through similar struggles would help her begin to make sense of the confusion inside. She got up, renewed determination to seek out the one pony who might truly empathize.

With a little spark of energy, she rolled onto her hooves and started for the door. It was a shame the moment she opened it, it was like a summoning bell for Sunny. Sunny hopped off the couch she had been on and hurried over. "Izzy! Feeling better?" She smiled so hopefully.

Izzy tensed, her brief spark fading back to gloom. She wasn't ready to confess her true feelings to Sunny yet.

"I'm fine," Izzy muttered, avoiding Sunny's caring gaze. She started moving past her friend toward the exit.

"Where are you going?" Sunny asked.

"Just...going for a walk," Izzy replied evasively. She felt bad not confiding in her friend, but simply couldn't handle it right now.

"Oh, well let me join you!" Sunny offered. "We can talk, get ice cream..."

"Alone," Izzy interjected brusquely, making Sunny's smile fade.

With that, Izzy stepped outside, leaving a worried Sunny behind. She felt that pang of guilt, but knew she wasn't ready to open up to her friends. Not until she found the one pony who just might truly understand.