Secret Penpal

Hi Melody!

I think there was some kind of mix up or something because I didn’t join any kind of penpal service and I still got your letter. I didn’t even know I could join a penpal service, but that’s ok. I’ll still be your penpal even if I’m not supposed to be. We can be secret penpals. That sounds kind of exciting. I’m kind of excited now!

My name is Ishmael Kabela Bibble. It’s really long and weird and it’s kind of hard to say all the time, so I tell my friends to call me Ishkabibble instead. I think being a penpal is like being a friend, so you can call me that too! I think Ishkabibble kind of sounds like a pony’s name too, which is kind of neat. ~~and I don’t feel left out~~

I forgot to say earlier, but I’m not a pony, I’m a griffon! I live in Fillydelphia, and there aren’t a lot of other griffons around except for Mr Baldini, but there’s a lot of ponies around. I think I bother them sometimes, but they’re still pretty friendly. ~~Are the ponies in Canterlot friendly?~~ You seem pretty friendly too, and I like friendly ponies, and you don’t seem like you’re too busy either. Fillydelphia is pretty busy just like Canterlot is, and ponies are always rushing around and saying “I don’t have time right now Ishkabibble”, but you sent me a letter even if I wasn’t supposed to get it so thank you for having time! Being a secret penpal is super exciting!

I look pretty normal too, except I have a big scar on the side of my head and griffons don’t usually have those, I think. Mr Baldini doesn’t have one, at least. I don’t really remember how I got it, so I don’t think it was very important. I’m a painter too, but I only work from home when it belongs to someone that isn’t me. I’m a cleaner too, and a gardener, and a carriage driving instructor, and all kinds of other things. I mostly do whatever Mr Baldini tells me to do, but what I really want to do is be a chef, even if none of the ponies here will hire me even though I think I’m pretty good. I tried to make the bruschetta that you told me about in your letter. Mr Baldini got kind of mad when I showed it to him and he said I should be saving my money for an emergency, but he tried it anyway, and then he said he was about to be brilliant and went into his idea room. I don’t know what happened, but he seemed really happy, and it’s all because I made a recipe you told me about. You’re the best secret penpal ever, Melody!

Your letter said that you think you need help. I’m all the way over here in Fillydelphia, so I don’t know if there’s much I can do. I guess I could take the train to Canterlot and try to help you out that way, but then you’d probably have to go outside, so maybe that won’t work. Maybe there’s something I can do so you won’t be so afraid to go outside? Sometimes it’s scary outside in Fillydelphia too. Not usually, and not even really at night either because there are lights everywhere, but there’s a building a little way down the road from my apartment that I don’t like walking or flying by, and I don’t know why. I kind of sort of remember that something really bad happened there before, but I don’t think it happened to me. Mr Baldini says ~~it’s better to not remember sometimes~~ that when something bad happens, it’s always better if you have a friend who will be your friend no matter how bad it gets. It sounds like something really bad happened to you too, but it doesn’t sound like you have a friend who will be your friend no matter how bad it gets, so from now on, I’m going to be your friend no matter how bad it gets. I’ll be your friend even if you don’t want to be my friend and just want to be my secret penpal, but I think I’d really like you to be my friend too. ~~since none of the ponies here have time~~

You sound like you’re sad a lot of the time. When I get sad I like to cook because it helps me feel better. Sometimes I share with Mr Baldini or some of the ponies in the building, and when it makes them smile I feel even better. Maybe if I send you one of my recipes, you can try to cook it and maybe you’ll feel better too? I don’t think you should try to cook in your art room. It sounds like a really cool room, but it also sounds like a really sad room, and sometimes you should avoid going into sad places. I’ll write it on the back of the last page, once I think of a good one to write.

You don’t have to be sorry, Melody. I said I would be your friend no matter how bad it got and I mean it! I think I understand what Mr Baldini meant now. Sometimes when something makes me sad, I tell him about it, and I feel better, but there are some things I don’t think I should tell him, so I don’t. Maybe I can tell some of those things to you instead, and you can tell me some thing that make you sad, and we can help each other feel better. That’s what friends do, and I’m your friend now, which I think is even more exciting than being a secret penpal!

I guess I am kind of busy, but I have ~~more time than the ponies here~~ time, and I’ll always write back to you because you’re my friend!

Hope to get a letter soon,

Ishkabibble

P.S. I had to scratch out some parts of my letter too. I guess neither of us is perfect, but that’s ok! We can be not perfect together.

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