“Well, here we are, guys! La Villa Izzy!” Izzy gestured broadly around the colourful, homely cottage. The other ponies trotted in behind her, gasping and murmuring amongst themselves.
“Wow. Did you make all this?” Zipp inspected one of Izzy’s hoof-crafted decorations with mild amusement.
Izzy showed the others around her various uni-cycled knickknacks and her unfolding tea set to praise and great acclaim. Sunny watched in silent awe, walking with Hitch toward the kitchen. It was already dark outside, and the weight of the day felt heavier than usual.
“Izzy said there should be some biscuits in the cupboard. Enough to get us by until the morning, I think.”
“Yeah.” Hitch leaned on the counter, his voice low. “Listen, Sunny, I’ve been meaning to talk to you.”
Sunny knew. She wasn’t foolish or naive and she hadn’t forgotten for a second the expression on Hitch’s face last night. She gulped dryly, the concern written all over her face for a brief moment before she brushed it aside, putting on her usual brave and determined demeanour instead.
“Oh? What about?” She kept digging, trying to look busy until she’d found a small container. “A-ha!”
“C’mon, Sunny, don’t play dumb. You know…” He leaned across the counter, his voice hush. “You and Izzy? I saw you last night.”
“Oh…” Sunny’s ears flattened. She supposed there was no use denying it. She slumped down onto her haunches.
“I guess it just sorta happened? I didn’t mean for it to. But it did, and I’m not going back.”
“It’s just…look, you know I’m always trying to look out for you, right?” Hitch moved a little closer.
“Are you sure about this, Sunny? I mean, with her?”
“Why, because she’s a mare?” Sunny furrowed her brow and gave him a look of defensive annoyance.
“What? No! I always knew that you…I’m talking about her being a unicorn. Aren’t you afraid of what ponies are gonna think?”
This caught Sunny off guard, more than she’d expected it to. Of course, she’d considered that, but any time she disagreed with public opinion about something she didn’t care what they thought of her. Now was no different.
“No, I’m not. I’ll be fine, Hitch. I can handle myself. It would just be nice if I had you on my side, at least. Are you?” She studied him cautiously for his reaction.
Hitch sighed and lowered his head, looking a little defeated, but mostly tired and worn out.
“Of course I am. You know I always am, Sunny. You should be with somepony who makes you happy. I’m just worried for you is all. Ponies could really take this too far.”
Sunny let out a sigh of relief and gave him a shoulder nudge.
“Hey, listen,” she lowered her voice especially low now, “she makes me really, really happy. Isn’t that enough?”
Hitch looked up, meeting her eyes. When he saw that look of determination he was so familiar with, he knew she was right, and even if she wasn’t there was no use arguing.
“It is. I’m sorry I doubted you, Sunny.”
They joined the other ponies with the basket of treats and the others eagerly dove in and dipped it into tea. Sunny and Izzy shared a glance but no words were shared, their understanding was clear enough.
“Oh man, it’s been a long day,” Zipp stretched her wings and yawned. “I’m beat. So what’s the plan?”
“I think we need some shut-eye before we do any more adventuring,” Hitch remarked.
“Most of Bridlewood is gonna be asleep anyway. I’ve got lots of space for everypony to sleep around here and we can get a fresh start in the morning!”
“I’ll make breakfast!” Hitch grinned proudly. Finally, something useful he could contribute. The pegasi sisters didn’t seem convinced but that was only because they hadn’t tried his cooking yet.
“Let’s see…” Izzy moved and bustled around, making space. There were a couple of couches in the living room and a large beanbag chair in the centre of the cottage that made up her reading nook. She cleared these off and grabbed extra blankets.
“Everypony make yourselves at home! Mi Casa, Su Casa!” Izzy gestured grandly as the other ponies were already settling in. Sunny glanced at the precisely one too few sleeping spaces.
“Uh, Izzy?”
Izzy turned, a mischievous glint in her eye.
“I know.”
“But where—“
Izzy nudged Sunny’s side with a hoof, whispering from the side of her muzzle.
“With me.”
“Oh.” Sunny’s face went bright red and her ears flopped. She could have sworn she heard somepony snicker. Hitch was turned in the other direction, fortunately, and buried his face in his makeshift bed.
“Anypony need an extra blanket? A cushion? A glass of water?”
“We’re okay, thanks!’ Pipp called.
“Mhhff.” Hitch’s voice was muffled under the blanket, trying to drown out the light.
“Alrighty. Well, everypony sleep tight!” Izzy shut off the light as she went to the stairs, silently beckoning Sunny to follow, and after a short stumble on the first step, she did exactly that. Sunny thought she heard whispering coming from the living room, but it was probably just the sisters.
Upstairs, the loft was even cozier than the main floor. Bookshelves, half-finished crafts and more nooks and crannies stuffed with cushions for reading were scattered everywhere. Sunny felt a little envious, her eyes fixated on a particularly shiny bauble hanging from the window that was catching the moonlight. Drawing her eyes away, she looked at some of the titles of the books on the shelf.
“Mushroom Cooking, 101 Home Crafts, The Little Unicorn That Could? I don’t know what I expected, Izzy.” Sunny chuckled to herself, slowly turning around. When she did, she caught Izzy’s gaze. Izzy was sprawled across the bed, watching Sunny with a bemused expression. She said nothing, raising a hoof and beckoning Sunny over.
Sunny took a step, forgetting all about the books, nearly tripping over the foot of the bed before she clambered onto it on hooves that suddenly didn’t seem to work right. When she’d hoisted herself fully up she was inches away from Izzy, the bed too small to allow any real distance. She could feel Izzy’s breath on her face.
“Iz—“
Izzy stopped her with an unexpected kiss right on the lips, connecting them instantly. Sunny melted right into it and her worries dissipated.
“Shh. Gotta be quiet.” Izzy whispered. She gestured to the balcony where the ponies slept below.
Sunny crawled over. She understood perfectly and nothing more needed to be said. Hooves found fur and they intertwined once more, clutching to one another and squeezing as if they never wanted to leave each other’s grasp again. Izzy slowly pulled Sunny closer and closer until the fur on their chests became intermingled into a mesh of orange and purple strands.
Sunny wanted to speak but dared not to: less for fear of the ponies adjacent to them, but more for the sake of ruining the moment. Izzy seemed to understand as she reached up and stroked Sunny’s chest.
The two fell down into Izzy’s makeshift bed in a tangled mess of limbs, the snoring sounds of ponies below reminding them of the risks and what was at stake. Only illuminated by the pale moonlight that seeped through the tree canopy outside, the two fell into a lover’s embrace.
Sunny tiptoed as quietly as she could down the stairs and across the hardwood floors of the main foyer. The house was quiet, and she hoped everypony was asleep. Following Izzy, they walked past Hitch where he was sleeping, and he stirred but didn’t wake. Past some curtains in the back was Izzy’s bathroom and a small walk-in shower.
They climbed in together, and though it was a little awkward, Sunny had to admit it was intimate. As hot water seeped into her coat she nuzzled against Izzy, who hummed and nuzzled back. Izzy turned around, albeit clumsily in the cramped space, and deposited a bottle of shampoo in Sunny’s hooves.
“Mind getting my tail?” Izzy grinned, whipping it back and forth and spraying water everywhere.
They dried themselves off with fluffy towels, Izzy’s mane looking poofy and frizzy, sticking in all directions. Sunny wasn't much better being out of her usual ponytail, but something about being mutually exposed at your most vulnerable seemed reassuring to her. They giggled and snickered at each other’s silly looks, Izzy stepping past the curtains first, with Sunny right behind.
There was Hitch, standing and waiting for his turn to use the bathroom. He simply raised an eyebrow as Sunny trotted out from behind Izzy. Being caught in the act like that caused Sunny to blush. She dipped her head down and scurried past the both of them, up the stairs, and into bed.
Izzy wasn’t far after her, no more than a moment. She climbed into bed next to Sunny and put her hooves around her.
“Everything okay with you two?” Izzy whispered, hooves rubbing Sunny’s back. Sunny wiggled in and pressed her face into the warm chest of her companion.
“Yeah, it’s fine. It’s just…he doesn’t think I should be with you. Because you’re a unicorn.” Sunny didn’t need to see Izzy’s frown, because she could practically feel it.
“Oh.” Izzy kept stroking.
“It's not like that, Izzy. He’s just worried for me. Earth ponies can be judgey, but I don’t care about them. This is the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“Aww, I know how you feel. Unicorns can be like that too, sometimes. But when we show the world that anypony can be friends they’ll understand us.” Izzy leaned down and kissed the top of Sunny’s head. Her free hoof stroked some of her mane from her face.
“You’re right Izzy. Thanks…for being you.” Sunny hugged the other mare tightly, clinging to her as she felt her eyes grow heavy. She stifled a yawn.
“Izzy?”
“Yeah?”
“I think I love you.”
An agonizing moment of silence passed. Seconds ticked by before Izzy answered.
“I love you, too, Sunny.”
They kissed, and fell into each other’s hooves, and Sunny quickly fell into a deep slumber. Izzy tried her best to stay awake, enjoying the embrace and the warm pony pressed against her, but Izzy always was a quick sleeper, and she wasn’t long to follow.