It was a normal day at the Crystal Brighthouse. It was quiet, and while that was typically unusual in the morning or evening, it was pretty normal for midday. While most of the ponies who lived there were busy, the only two ponies who remained were Izzy Moonbow and Misty Brightdawn.
Izzy would often make an effort to be at the Brighthouse at this hour. It was when it was the most peaceful and she could get the most work done. While she always made an effort to be with her friends when they were all at the Brighthouse, it left very little time for getting her unicycling done, especially when she got Izzy Does It orders. So, unless she wanted to get behind again, Izzy shivered just thinking about that mess, she thought it best to just come here when the Brighthouse was empty so she could let her creative juices flow freely.
Even though Misty was just reading a book on her bed, Izzy was glad she was there. When Izzy first started coming here, the silence and the loneliness would drive her crazy. So, she asked Misty, who never really seemed to have much to do at this time, if she'd just keep Izzy company while she worked, to which Misty quickly agreed. Anything to help out a friend.
Even though they didn't talk all that much during this time, both of them doing their own thing, it made Izzy feel that much better knowing she wasn't the only pony in the whole Brighthouse. She spent much of her life alone in Bridlewood. She refused to spend any more time alone. Misty's presence made her feel that much better.
That was when Misty and Izzy heard a knock. They didn't get many visitors at this time of day, but it wasn't rare. The two mares glanced at each other as though silently debating who'd get it. Eventually, Izzy stood up from her desk and walked down the ramp of the Brighthouse, walking to the door.
When she opened it, her face brightened at the familiar face it felt like forever since she'd seen. "H-hi," the blue auroricorn said shyly, adjusting his glasses. Izzy hugged him tightly, surprised by how much she missed him, only letting go when he claimed he couldn't breathe.
"Misty! Get down here. You'll never guess who came to visit!" Izzy called behind her, moving aside to let Comet in.
He walked past Izzy into the Brighthouse, looking around at it like he always did when he came to visit. He spent his whole life in Starlight Ridge, and even after spending a year in Equestria, visiting new places and trying new things, everything here still felt so new to him. It was so different from Starlight Ridge. The only place he could find that reminded him a bit of it was Bridlewood, where Izzy was from.
"Queen Haven? No. Alphabittle? Nah. Zoom and Thunder…" Misty's voice could be heard coming down the ramp as she guessed who could be visiting.
Once she got to the ground level however and saw Comet, she gasped in surprise and ran up to give him a quick hug.
"Comet! What a nice surprise! What are you doing here?" Misty exclaimed when she and Comet separated.
Comet readjusted his glasses again. "Well…umm…as you know I've been traveling Equestria, but umm…well, I've been a little homesick so umm…I was wondering if we could visit Starlight Ridge for a bit?"
Izzy jumped around in joy. "Of course we can visit! I've been wanting to see that place for a while, but, umm…well, there's one itsy bitsy problem," Izzy said, squinting her eyes as though to show how small the problem really was, though, if they wanted to visit Starlight Ridge, it wasn't that small of a problem at all. "I kinda sorta don't have the Nova Charm."
Comet gasped with wide eyes as he stared at Izzy with horror. "You lost it?!"
"No. No. I didn't lose it. I know exactly where it is," Izzy amended.
"Then let's go get it," Comet said, already running towards the door, tripping a bit over his own hooves, but he righted himself before he could fall.
"Umm…normally I'd say heck yeah to that but um…well, it's kind of in pieces right now."
Comet turned to Izzy, seeming to look at her with even more horror than before if that was even possible. "You BROKE it?!" Comet exclaimed with growing dread.
"No. I didn't break it. It broke itself." Izzy corrected as though that was just a normal occurrence for a magical gem to break itself, though, for the six ponies in Maretime Bay, it might as well be.
At Comet's confused look, Izzy explained. "Well, you see, I sort of had a nasty case of the Blockywockys and I couldn't create, so Zipp suggested I go on a quest to find the cure. Turns out that was the right call because that was when the Nova Charm took me on an epic magical quest where I star danced with an auroricorn and did trust falls with dragons in the dragon lands and swam with a sea pony named Destiny in the sea! At the end of it, it took me to these abandoned fairgrounds by the boardwalk and my creative juices were flowing again. It then gave me the power to make what my mind was envisioning super duper fast and that's how the board trot was made!"
"Uhh…Izzy," Misty said from next to Comet. "You were explaining what happened to the Nova Charm, remember?"
"Oh yeah, right. So, anyway, after it made everything my mind was envisioning, it broke apart into different colored pieces and now serves as the power source for everything there."
Comet looked at Izzy with wide-eyed shock, his right eye twitching a bit as he internally panicked. He couldn't believe this. The first pony they trusted outside of Starlight Ridge with the Nova Charm, and she broke it?! No, sorry. It broke itself?!
"Oh no no no," Comet said as he lowered himself to the ground and put his hooves over his head as the room began to suddenly feel very small. "No no no. I'm stuck here?!" His eyes widened as he realized what he said. "Not that this place is horrible or anything but…"
"You'd like to go home. That's totally understandable," Izzy finished.
"There must be another way to Starlight Ridge," Misty said in thought, wanting to help her friend.
The room was silent for a bit while they all thought before Comet stood up with a realization. "The first time you came to Starlight Ridge you didn't have the Nova Charm. How did you get there then?"
Misty's eyes widened. "The together trees! Comet, you're a genius!" Misty felt herself excite, until she remembered something. "Oh, wait. That won't work. We don't know how to open the portal. The very first time we opened it, we had to wait three hours before it opened again."
"Ooh! Ooh! Idea!" Izzy exclaimed, raising a hoof. "What if our cutie mark magic can open a portal?"
"I don't know Izzy. I'm not sure how we'd do that, not to mention there are only two of us and–"
"I know, but this time," She slid next to Comet, pointing him out, making him nervous. "We have a secret weapon. Well, more of a secret key than a weapon, but same thing."
"I'm not sure I follow. My cutie mark magic's a bit different," Comet said, adjusting his glasses, a nervous habit for him.
"Exactly!" Izzy said.
At Comet's confused look, Misty clarified. "You have a connection to Starlight Ridge. You're from there, just like the Nova Charm. So with your magic combined with our cutie mark magic and the magic of the together tree, we just might be able to open one at command." Misty explained helpfully.
"Perfect, then let's go find one!" Comet paused, looking at Misty and Izzy. "You do know how to find one, right?"
"Oh silly," Izzy put a hoof around Comet's neck. "We don't need to find one. They're all over Equestria! There's one here in Maretime Bay, one in Zephyr Heights, the Wishing Tree in Bridlewood, and one at Opaline's dark castle."
"We need to come up with a better name for that," Misty muttered to herself.
"Dark castle? I didn't hear of that in my travels."
"Of course you've heard of it. Okay, maybe not heard of it, but you've definitely been there. That's the place where you first stepped hoof in Equestria!"
"Oh. You mean that bridge thing?"
Izzy nodded.
"You said there's a together tree here in Maretime Bay? Then what are we waiting for?"
"I don't think that's such a good idea," Misty said, holding up a hoof. At Izzy's and Comet's confused looks, Misty continued. "The Together Tree here is in the middle of the town square. If it's anything like last time, the portal will stay open for a couple of hours. If some curious ponies walk by and for whatever reason decide to jump through a mysterious portal with no idea where it goes…" Misty gestured with her hoof for Izzy to continue.
It took a couple of seconds, but it clicked for Izzy, who gasped. "They could get lost in Starlight Ridge! That cannot happen. Opaline's dark castle it is then! To the Marestream!"
"The what?" Comet asked at the same time Misty muttered, "We really need to find a better name for that place."
"Misty! Izzy! We're home!" Sunny yelled as the three mares and a single stallion with a baby dragon on his back walked through the door of the Crystal Brighthouse.
There was no answer which didn't really worry the four ponies. They simply assumed Misty was lost in a good book and Izzy was lost in her latest project. Well, it didn't worry three of the ponies. It worried Zipp, the detective of the group.
"Izzy? Misty?" Zipp called again, a little louder this time.
"Chill, Zipp," Pipp said as she flew passed Zipp and into the Brighthouse kitchen. "They're probably lost doing their own thing, or they probably went into town real fast."
"But it's almost dinner time. They're almost always here by now," Zipp countered. "I think I'm just going to check the bedroom real fast. Just in case."
Before anypony could say another word, Zipp had already flown up the ramp to peek into the bedroom to find it empty. She flew around the room real quick to see if there was any clue as to where they may have gone when she saw a note on Izzy's desk.
She picked it up, but she was at a complete loss for what it meant. She flew down the ramp to the Brighthouse kitchen where the rest of her friends were gathered.
"Okay, Izzy needs to work on her note-writing abilities. I have no idea what this says," Zipp said as she gave the note to Sunny.
"'To friends. Gone to Together Tree #4 to go to SR w/Comet? Love, Misty, and Izzy." Sunny read aloud.
There was a moment of silence before Pipp asked, "Which one's together tree number four?"
"And what's SR?" Hitch added.
"Beats me," Sunny answered with a shrug. "Well, if they're going to one of the Together Trees, I'm sure they'll be fine. Plus, Comet's apparently with them. They're grown mares and can take care of themselves."
"Sunny, must I remind you of the dozens of times we say that, and then something bad happens? And Allura is still out there!"
"Zipp, we have phones," Pipp pointed out. "If they were really in trouble, they can just shoot us a call or text."
"Besides, how much trouble could they really get in at one of the Together Trees?" Hitch added, waving a dismissive hoof.
"Aaahhh–oof!" Misty exclaimed as she hit the side of the cabin as it tilted to the left.
"Misty, are you o-whoa!" Comet started when he heard Misty exclaim. He had gone to help her, but as he did so, the Marestream tilted even more to the left and he quickly scrambled back with his hooves, trying to keep from falling on Misty.
However, he was never good at managing his hooves and he fell straight to the side of the cabin, smooshing Misty between himself and the wall.
He groaned, trying to find his hooves as the Marestream righted itself. "Sorry." Comet apologized, holding out his hoof to help Misty.
Misty gratefully took it. "It's fine. It's not your fault." She looked to the cockpit. "Izzy, I thought you knew how to drive this—aaahhh!!" Misty yelped when the Marestream swerved again, making her fall to her stomach.
"Umm…not really, no," Izzy said sheepishly, before exclaiming and turning the wheel harshly again.
Misty was able to stay on her hooves this time by performing complex moves she didn't know she could do without falling as she kept her balance on the swerving ship.
"Didn't you help Zipp build this?" Misty asked in a wobbly voice as she tried to keep from falling into Comet.
"Building something and knowing how to operate that something are two very different things!" Izzy replied as she clung to dear life on the steering wheel to keep from falling herself.
Suddenly, the Marestream turned upside down, making Comet and Misty fall to the ceiling. "IZZY! HOW MUCH LONGER UNTIL WE GET THERE!" Misty yelled.
"I'm gonna be sick!" Comet said, rubbing his head.
Just then, the Marestream turned right side up, making Misty and Comet fall back to the floor. While Misty landed on her side and was fine, in somewhat relative terms, Comet had hit his head against the wall on the way down and knocked himself out.
"Comet!" Misty called, crawling over to him and shaking him.
"What's going on back there?! I'd turn to look, but something tells me that's not a good idea!" Izzy yelled from the cockpit.
"Yeah, no! Definitely don't do that! Comet's knocked out. What in the hay happened?"
"I tripped and in my efforts to not fall, I grabbed the steering wheel, but fell anyway, turning it with me," Izzy explained before her eyes widened. "BRACE YOURSELVES! We're going in for a rough landing!"
"I'm beginning to think Comet's the lucky one," Misty muttered as the Marestream began to shake.
Just when she thought nothing could be worse than going upside down, as soon as the Marestream touched down, Izzy slammed on the brakes, and while the wheels stopped, the Marestream itself kept going. It tipped over before rolling several times, shaking everypony around inside, including Izzy who couldn't keep hold of the steering wheel, before surprisingly landing on its wheels right before the Together Tree right in front of Opaline's dark castle.
Izzy, who was lying on her stomach, face to the ground, raised her hoof. "Nailed it," She said in a wobbly voice with her face against the floor.
Comet blearily opened his eyes as he regained consciousness, groaning as he slowly sat up, rubbing his sore head. "Ugh…what happened?" He asked groggily.
"We stopped, dropped, and rolled. Literally," Misty said as she slowly sat up, suddenly feeling very dizzy. "Is everypony okay?"
Izzy rolled onto her back and said to the ceiling, "Define okay."
"Not dead?" Comet suggested.
"Then yes. I'm perfectly a-okay." Izzy slowly stood on shaky hooves. "Well, at least it couldn't get much worse than that."
"Get me out of this death trap!" Comet exclaimed before hurrying out, but he was still dizzy and wobbly, so as he ran down the tiny staircase, he missed a step and fell face down on the stone bridge.
Misty gasped and ran over to Comet. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine…I think," He answered as he took the hoof Misty offered him and stood back up.
Izzy skipped out, humming a merry tune. The three of them slowly walked up to the Together Tree that was made when Sunny defeated Opaline. They stared at it for a moment, in awe of its impressive beauty and how something so beautiful can come from something so horrible.
"So…umm…how does this work, exactly?" Comet asked after a bit.
"I'm not sure," Misty said, studying the trunk of the tree closely, rubbing a hoof to her chin. "The first time we opened the portal, it was by complete accident. We're not even sure how we did it."
"Maybe it works like unicorn magic?" Izzy suggested. "Like, you know how when you're doing a spell, you have to focus on it really hard and put your whole being into it or it won't work right? Well, maybe this is the same thing. If we focus all our magic and everything into the portal and we envision what it looks like, it'll open."
Misty and Comet looked at each other before shrugging. It wasn't like they had any better ideas.
So, the three of them held hooves, Izzy and Misty at the ends with Comet in the middle, and closed their eyes, thinking hard as they envisioned what they remembered the portal looking like and focused on it opening for them. At first, nothing happened. However, as they continued, their three cutie marks began to glow, softly at first before glowing brightly.
Suddenly, Misty heard whirring and she opened a single eye to see the familiar blue and white portal. She gasped, staring unbelievingly. It worked. It had actually worked.
Upon hearing Misty gasp, Izzy and Comet opened their eyes and were surprised to see the portal right before their eyes. They smiled at each other, but none of them made a move to jump in, as though nervous about what was on the other side if it didn't work.
"Comet? You wanna go first? This is your home after all," Misty offered, gesturing toward the portal.
Comet stood right before it, taking a deep breath before walking in. The two mares silently watched him before looking at each other as though wishing each other luck before stepping in together.
Snow fell on the trees of the quiet wood, snow bunnies hopping around and snow owls flying in the air, making for a peaceful setting. The three ponies looked around in awe as they took in the beauty of their surroundings.
Comet turned and looked at Izzy, a bit startled, as he readjusted his glasses. "Wow. You know, it always amazes me how much of an auroricorn you look like on this side of the portal." Comet observed.
"I know. It's weird, right? Well, except for this." Izzy pointed a hoof at her flat cutie mark.
"Wow. This is so beautiful. I can't believe it worked," Misty said before turning to face the portal. "We don't have Zipp's gadget thing to tell us how long we have, but last time, we only had about two hours. Maybe we should come back here then and see how small it is before we make a plan of action."
"Good idea. One of us should make a timer on our phones." The two ponies looked at Izzy expectantly. She looked at them both before she quickly said, "No, I really mean one of us because I forgot my phone back at the Brighthouse."
"I don't have a…phone," Comet said, twisting his mouth bitterly.
Those phone gadgets always confused him and the last time he got himself one, he couldn't figure out how to work it, and in his haste to make it work, he dropped it and it broke. He tried to stay as far away from phones as he could after and he never touched another one.
"I guess that just leaves me then." Misty pulled out her phone and opened the timer app. "I'll set it for one hour and forty minutes, just to be safe."
"Good idea. Let's go, I'm excited to see how Starlight Ridge is," Comet said as he ran in the direction of Starlight Ridge, slipping and sliding.
Izzy and Misty followed, but Izzy barely took two steps before she slipped and fell on her face. "Ugh. I see the snow is as slippy and slidy as it's always been," Izzy grumbled as Misty helped her up.
The three ponies continued, Izzy slipping and sliding, Comet not fairing much better. Finally, the trio got to the familiar hillside that overlooked the small town of Starlight Ridge.
The first time Misty and Izzy visited, it looked like a ghost town, not a pony in sight. Now, however, not so much. Ponies were everywhere. Music was playing in the background as ponies looked like they were dancing and cleaning at the same time. Misty and Izzy could immediately spot Violet Frost as she was the one singing, while she carried a broom with her magic as she danced and swept.
Comet gasped in delight, not quite realizing how much he missed his home until he saw it. He ran down the hill, slipping all the way down, just barely staying on his hooves. The other auroricorns barely spared him a glance as one of them handed him a broom with their magic and he joined the cleaning dance almost seamlessly, if not a little clumsily.
Misty and Izzy looked at each other before shrugging and hurrying down the hill. Correction: Izzy slipped and fell, sliding down the hill, and knocking Misty down and they both slid down the hill until they got to the road.
Izzy chuckled a bit, quickly blaming the snow for the mishap. A group of auroricorns quickly ran up to them and helped them up, Izzy and Misty quickly apologizing. The auroricorns simply smiled and floated Izzy a rag and Misty a broom. The two unicorns smiled at each other before joining in the dance.
Misty danced, ending up next to Violet Frost as they danced with their brooms held in their magic. Izzy danced as much as she could as she scrubbed the crystal houses with a group of auroricorns without slipping and sliding too much, though she still knocked a few auroricorns to the ground, who played it off with a laugh. Soon, Izzy was laughing with a group of auroriccorns as they dumped water from the buckets on each other after Izzy slipped and knocked a bucket full of water on her face.
Misty was dancing, even getting a little courage to sing with Violet Frost. After another half hour, the whole Ridge was sparkling clean and the auroricorns and the three newcomers admired their work once they were finished.
Violet Frost breathed heavily a bit, but there was a big, bright smile on every auroricorn's face, including hers. She turned to Misty and Izzy. "Hey, thanks for helping us out. Cleaning day is not everypony's favorite day, but, since it has to be done, why not have fun while doing it?"
"Oh yeah, I agree. Especially when we had that water bucket fight!" Izzy exclaimed, jumping only to land and slip and fall. Violet Frost laughed a bit.
"It was our pleasure," Misty added as she helped Izzy up. "I'm always down for a good dance party."
"You can say that again," Izzy said as she wobbled a bit.
"So, what are you two doing here?"
"Bringing me!" Comet said as he ran up to Violet Frost, slipping and nearly falling, though Violet Frost caught him in time. He stood up, readjusting his glasses, and hurried to stand next to Izzy, who was standing next to Misty. "I was…getting a little homesick, so I thought I'd visit."
Violet Frost chuckled. "Well, Starlight Ridge has definitely missed its cocoa specialist." She then turned to Izzy. "Well, seeing as you're here, I take it the Nova Charm is well and good?"
Misty and Izzy kept their smiles plastered on their face as they internally panicked. Telling Comet was one thing, but telling the leader of Starlight Ridge that their thousand-year-old ancient magical relic broke into six different colored pieces was another.
"Uh…well…you see…" Misty trailed off as she tried to think of something to say that would lessen the blow.
"It's a funny story, really…" Izzy continued but soon trailed off herself.
There was a moment of silence while both of the mares stuttered and grappled for some kind of response when Comet suddenly blurted, earning a shocked gasp from all the auroricorns, "They broke it!" Comet quickly covered his mouth with his hooves as he whispered, "Sorry, Izzy. I can't keep se–"
Comet was cut off when Izzy took a step to the side, stepping in front of him as her smile widened nervously. Misty quickly followed suit, stepping up next to Izzy, staring at a steadily growing alarmed Violet Frost.
Comet peered around Izzy's other side and whispered, not so quietly, "Sorry," before cowering back behind Izzy.
"You BROKE the Nova Charm?!" Violet Frost asked incredulously. "You mean the very magical charm that's belonged to Starlight Ridge for thousands of moons and has never left Starlight Ridge before I entrusted it to you, Izzy, is now broken?! Y-you broke it?!"
"Umm…well…" Misty started, looking at anything but Violet Frost, or the other auroricorns.
"Correction: I didn't break it," Izzy replied smoothly, closing her eyes and raising a hoof, obviously meaning it as comfort.
And at first, it worked. All the auroricorns as well as Violet Frost breathed a collective sigh of relief until Izzy spoke again.
"It broke itself." When she opened her eyes to see all the auroricorns staring at her, she looked around, confused. "What? It's the truth. It is a magical charm after all."
Misty leaned in, putting a hoof to the outside of her mouth, whispering to Izzy, "I don't think that's a very relieving distinction."
"Why not?" Izzy asked, not whispering.
"Umm…because whether you broke it or not, it doesn't make a difference. It's still broken," Misty whispered with her hoof still raised, glancing at Violet Frost who looked like she was on the verge of a panic attack if she wasn't already there.
"The Nova Charm is broken," Violet Frost muttered to herself, pacing back and forth, staring at the ground with wide eyes. "I've been in charge for one year, and I already broke a sacred thousand-year-old relic. What kind of leader does that?!"
"Correction: you didn't break it. It bro–mph!" Izzy started, only to be cut off by Misty putting a hoof to her mouth.
"I think they get the picture," Misty whispered, staring at the auroricorns with a panicked smile.
Izzy stepped away, thoroughly confused. "Why isn't anypony seeing that this isn't as bad as it sounds?"
"Because you broke the most important thing in Starlight Ridge!" A brave auroricorn answered
"Whoa. First, the Nova Charm isn't the most important thing about this place. It's the auroricorns that make this place so special. I mean, without auroricorns, there'd be no Starlight Ridge. The Nova Charm doesn't make Starlight Ridge, you do. And Secondly, the Nova Charm broke itself three months ago. You ponies didn't even know until we just told you. Yes, the Nova Charm is special, but it isn't everything. You guys don't need it anymore. You already have a leader and we found a way to cross without it. I think the Nova Charm knew that, and went to somepony who needed it more. That's why knowing it broke itself was so relieving, at least for me. I mean, if I broke the Nova Charm, then…then we'd be screwed. But knowing it broke itself means that it's time to grow without it because your dependence on it was only holding you back. You can thrive just fine without it. You have been for the past three months, only now you actually know. Are you really going to let that piece of knowledge hold you back, or are you going to allow yourselves to continue thriving?"
Everypony was silent after Izzy's speech. Misty smiled at Izzy as she walked up to her, putting a hoof on her back in solidarity. The auroricorns were silent as they looked down and at each other as they processed everything Izzy just said.
Violet Frost sighed before taking a step towards Izzy. "You're right, Izzy. Again. We don't need a silly Charm to run this place. All we needed was each other. Once again, Izzy, you taught us another valuable lesson. And that means congratulations are in order. While you may not be auroricorns, and while Comet isn't the first auroricorn to leave Starlight Ridge, you three are the first to come back without the charm. Which means I should be putting your picture on the wall in the mess hall right next to hers."
"Whoa, wait a second. Back up. Comet's not the first to leave Starlight Ridge?!" Izzy asked, wide-eyed and spreading her forelegs in shock, only to slip on the snow again.
"Nope," Comet said as he helped Izzy up and then adjusted his glasses. "That honor goes to Snow Blossom."
"Snow Blossom? Is that the 'her' you were talking about?" Misty asked, looking at Violet.
"That's funny. My mother's name was Blossom. What a coincidence," Izzy muttered.
"Yep. She was the first to leave Starlight Ridge. I don't remember much. I was just a filly. This was over twenty moons ago. Legend says that Snow Blossom was the leader's daughter. She was super kind and creative, well, when it came to fashion. Rumors say she was unhappy here, and begged her father to let her leave. When her father finally agreed after months of asking, it's said that an aurora flare burst across the sky. It was one of the only two times when an aurora flare was caused by only one pony. The other time was when she and her father snuck out in the middle of the night, and, using one of the stars caused by her aurora flare, he opened the portal and she was about to walk through that portal, another one burst across the sky. I guess now we know he used the Nova Charm. After that, she was never heard from again. The leader never again granted another wish to leave Starlight Ridge. Her father was so heartbroken and regretful that he had his daughter's picture hung in the Mess Hall so she'd be remembered. You wanna go see it?"
"Sure!" Misty agreed, thinking it might be safe to take a picture for Sunny. She'd want to know all about it.
Violet and Comet began walking to the Mess Hall, and Misty started to follow when she noticed Izzy wasn't following her. She turned to see Izzy just staring at the snow, her face full of thought.
"Izzy? You comin'?" Misty asked.
"That's strange," Izzy said, as though finishing a thought out loud.
"What's strange?"
Izzy looked up, startled, as though just realizing Misty was there. "Oh, nothing. It's just that, my father used to tell me my mother was great at creating outfits. He said that all somepony had to do was give her a couple of spools of thread and she'd somehow turn it into fabric, which she would then sew into an outfit every unicorn in Bridlewood wanted to wear. He used to tell me she's where I got my creativity from. But…oh well," Izzy said with a shrug. "It's probably just another coincidence."
Izzy began trotting as Misty just stood there, thinking. The name thing was odd in itself, but the fashion too? Misty shook her head. It probably was a coincidence.
"Whoa!" Izzy exclaimed, snapping Misty out of her thoughts. Misty looked up to see Izzy flat on her stomach, attempting to get up on her own, only to slip on the snow again.
Misty ran up to Izzy and helped her up. Izzy smiled gratefully before continuing to carefully walk on the snow, grateful that they'd be going inside soon. At least there she'd be able to stay on her hooves.
"Wow, she's beautiful," Misty said in awe.
Izzy studied the mare on the wall, scrunching her mouth to the side and squinting her eyes as though that'd help her see it better. She was definitely beautiful but oddly familiar. She had a beautiful white coat, white as snow, hence the name Snow, and her mane was a beautiful cerulean blue with a violet ombre at the bottom, just like Izzy's. She had blue freckles, which only seemed to compliment her rather than take away from her beauty, and she had magenta eyes. In fact, if Izzy just stared at her eyes, it was almost like looking in a mirror.
Maybe that's why she looked familiar? Because she shared some similarities with Izzy? But…no, there was more to that, she knew it. She just couldn't place her hoof on it. She squinted her eyes harder, studying the picture more closely.
"I've never seen an auroricorn with a white coat before," Misty continued.
"Yeah. It's pretty rare. About one in a hundred are born with it. That's why her father put snow in her name. Because it looked just like Starlight Ridge snow."
Izzy looked closer and that's when she saw purple and blue specks, almost like glitter, on her coat. It was so faint you could barely see it, but it somehow made her coat look that much more beautiful, even when you didn't know it was there. It really did look like the snow outside.
"Unicorns used to joke that your mother wore her sparkle on the outside because in the sunlight, it almost looked like she wore glitter all over her coat, but it was faint, making her beautiful white coat all sparkly!"
Her father's words rang through her head and she widened her eyes. But…no, that couldn't be right. She shook her head, shaking away the thought. "That's funny. That looks just like my mother. Probably just another coincidence."
Misty, Violet, and Comet looked back at Izzy and then back at the picture. Violet Frost thought Izzy looked a tad bit familiar, but never in a million years would her mind go…there. Violet looked at the picture closely, then looked at Izzy. Those eyes. They looked just like the picture.
Violet couldn't remember much about Snow Blossom. She was just a little filly when Snow left. All she could remember was Snow's kind smile and happy eyes. And that after she left, her father was never quite the same. Her father was the last leader they had before Allura. A couple of years after Snow Blossom's father, Skye Ice, died, Allura took over.
But she'd never forget Snow Blossom's eyes. They were the same as Skye's. The same as Izzy's.
"Hey, Izzy? What was your mother's cutie mark?" Violet asked.
Izzy smiled, as though going back in time, sighing nostalgically. "I'll never forget it. Well, I don't remember ever seeing it, but I'll never forget what my father told me. He said that her cutie mark was a beautiful Cherry Blossom flower, the most beautiful he'd ever seen. But, one petal was torn down the middle. It was sad. But, halfway up the petal was stitched by needle and thread, like it was in the process of being fixed. My mother told him she got it for sewing, but my father believed it was because she could fix anything, no matter how delicate, because she had the gentle and softest nature to be able to handle something so delicate. And yet, if you messed with somepony she loved, or anypony, you would not want to be on the receiving end of her temper. It took a lot for her to get angry, but when she did…you better watch out." Izzy chuckled softly as she remembered when her father would tell her stories of her mother's stories so animatedly, it'd make her laugh.
That's when she noticed Violet and Comet staring at her with wide eyes. She looked at them both. "W-what? Why are you looking at me like that?"
Violet took a deep breath. "Izzy. I think…well, it's sounding very much like…maybe your mother was Snow Blossom."
Izzy blinked, as though it wasn't registering. And then it clicked and her eyes practically bugged out, her mouth dropping open. "W–wait! What?!"
"If that's true, and that's a very big if, then…what you're saying…is that…" Misty trailed off, unable to wrap her brain around it.
"I'm half auroricorn?!"