Izzy's Thief

by David Silver

7 - Is That?

Izzy sang as she worked. There were no words, but it didn't need them, just syllables and beats she gladly provided. "Doo be do da!" She slapped some glue and turned what she was working on around in her hooves. "La de hmm?" She squinted at it critically a moment. With a careful placement, a few popsicle sticks put to rest whatever her concern had been. "Absolutely perfect!"

Sunny peeked over Izzy's shoulder. "Whatcha making?"

Izzy span around in her chair, holding up what looked like a unicycled crown. "A present!"

Sunny considered the curiously glittering crown. "Who for?"

"For our new friend. Think she'll like it? I hear she's the only one of what she is. That must be kinda sad. I wouldn't want to be the only unicorn." Izzy rubbed at her cheek with a hoof, thinking about it. "Nope."

"Alright, but she's just a creature, not royalty." Sunny waved both hooves over the crown. "So why this?"

"Because she's royalty in my eyes! At least for right this moment. Silly, it's just for fun." Izzy set the crown down on her own head and hopped down to the floor the few inches. "It'll be fun."

Sunny followed after Izzy with a little smile. "I meant to ask, how's the magic coming along?"

"Coming along?" Izzy peeked over her back at Sunny. "Whattaya mean? Did we lose it again?!" She reached up to clop her horn between her hooves protectively. "We just got it back!"

Sunny patted at one of Izzy's arms. "It's alright! We still have our magic, promise. I meant, how are you doing in learning your magic? Unicorn magic's still a new thing. All of our magic is."

"Oh, that's way different." Izzy lowered her hooves to the floor and resumed her bouncy walk. "It's going great! I think about things and they happen! What could I complain about? Try me."

Sunny frowned with thought. "What about... a peach."

"What about the peach?" Izzy crashed to her haunches, making a peach shape with her hooves in quick turnings about the theoretical fruit. "Do you want one?"

"Let's say... yes. I would like a peach, please."

"No problem!" Izzy grunted with effort, her horn glowing as she focused her magical power. "Peach, peach.... peach!" With a final cry and a bright flash, a fruit did appear. But it wasn't a peach. A strawberry landed on Izzy's waiting hoof. "Close enough?"

Sunny took the strawberry, sniffing it lightly before taking a nibble. "Not bad. Wrong fruit, but still pretty cool. How hard was that?"

"Harder than I thought if we're being honest." Izzy raised a hoof to her chin. "Maybe it'd be easier if I was grabbing a peach from somewhere instead of making a new peach?"

"That makes sense." Sunny bobbed her head. "But I was just checking. I've heard of less sudden accidents, so unicorns are better about holding things where they don't slap into other ponies. That's good."

"We don't want to make other ponies mad, promise." Izzy held up a hoof in a solemn vow. "We're all getting used to our powers. Speaking of that! How's the earth pony thing shaking out?"

Sunny reared up and clopped her hooves together, green magic swirling with the promise of natural magic. "Going strong! Now, I should admit..." She came back to all fours, light fading. "I haven't been putting in a lot of time into that. I still have... this." She popped her wings and horn into being with a nervous smile, though she let them fade about as quickly. "It's a lot to take in."

"Wow, I imagine. I wouldn't mind trying out some wings." She reached back to her lack of wings. "Can you share?"

"I don't think I can." Sunny raised a brow with a smile at her sometimes silly friend. "I don't think it works like that. I don't have a... thing... to give you. How would I?"

"I dunno! Just an idea. It'd be pretty nice though. Oh well! If you're still all scattered, then I'll get better at unimagic faster than you." Her horn sparked in sympathy with her words. "Not that it's a race or anything."

"That didn't stop you from rubbing it in." She booped Izzy on the nose directly. "Silly. But you're not wrong. I seem to have a lot of 'oomph', but grace comes with practice, which you're getting more of, no argument."

"Good day!" Remi descended the stairs quietly. She had her pawfeet back instead of hooves. Hirrah for a lack of clopping. "Nice crown."

Izzy squeaked, grabbing the crown off her head and hiding it behind herself to limited effect. "What crown? I don't see any crown." She laughed nervously, eyes dancing.

Remi hopped down the last three steps to a graceful landing. "Is it a secret? I can keep a secret."

"Even you couldn't keep a secret in this case." Izzy grinned at her new vulpine friend. "Nope, no way. They'd find out instantly."

"I'm not that bad at keeping secrets." Remi rolled her eyes at the accusation. "Stop having so little faith in me. I will carry this secret to the grave."

"And they'd still know about it," half-sang Izzy, bouncing in place. "Sorry, but there's no way you could keep this a secret from them, not even for a second."

Sunny smirked at the exchange. "Stop teasing her. She can't tell you the secret because you're the one she's hiding from."

Remi started. "Oh, well, that makes sense... Why are you hiding a crown from me?"

Izzy pouted at Sunny mightily. "You told!"

"You didn't tell me not to." She stuck out her tongue at the pouting unicorn. "She made it for you."

"Aw." Remi crouched down to be on her level. "Why are you hiding my gift from me? Saving it for a special occasion?"

"Not really... unless it's your birthday soon? Is it your birthday soon?" Izzy's eyes sparkled with a refreshed smile. "Tell me it's your birthday soon!"

Remi held up a lone hand. "Sorry, can't do that without lying, and you don't want to celebrate a fake birthday, now would you?"

"I suppose not... but thanks for asking!" She pulled the crown out from behind her. "Oh well, guess I'll give this now, since the surprise is out and all. Ta da!" She held up the crown towards Remi. "Try it on!"

Remi folded her fingers around the menagerie that approximated a crown's shape. "What is it for? Besides wearing that is." To not be rude, she dropped it on her head, right between her twitching ears. "Does it fit?"

Sunny gave a hooves up. "Perfect."

Izzy was too busy clapping hers. "Love it! You're the queen of the kitsune. There aren't any others around, so you're undisputed. Those are the rules, I checked."

Remi stood up and made motions as if flipping through a book of some kind. "Mmm, yep, you're right." She turned the imaginary book around. "Says right here. When did you become so knowledgable about kitsune?"

Izzy looked far too pleased. "I'm a smart pony, your highness." She bowed properly to the royal kitsune. "Now, I didn't plan to spend all day coronating you. Since that's done, it's time to help Posey with her flowers."

Remi threw her head towards the door. "And I'm meeting other royalty, a royal meeting."

"Ooo!" Izzy reared up. "Fancy fancy royal on royal scheming? How exciting. I won't pry. State secrets, I bet." She fell to all fours and began walking away, giggling along the way.

Sunny shook her head at where Izzy was going. "That pony... I should get to my stand. When's your meeting?"

"That is actually a great question." Remi dug out her phone and fired a quick text to the royal sisters asking just that. "One way to find out." Her phone buzzed with a little jingle. "Fast."

Zipp
—
Today at 8:19 AM

Hey! Mom should be in by, what, the afternoon? Around 3'sh probably.

"Looks like I'm clear until the afternoon." Remi fired twin finger guns at Sunny. "Why don't you show me your stand?"

"If you want, this way." Sunny became the leader of their little caravan out of the lighthouse. "I sell smoothies."

"Smoothies?"

Sunny looked over her shoulder. "Smoothies? You never heard of those? Wow, do I have a treat for you." She accelerated with excitement, arriving at her garage and wriggling under a harness so her stand came along with her. "When we get there, you're my first customer."

"A customer usually pays," noted Remi. "A thing I am not well equipped for." She had a few bits, but not many. "Don't want to mooch."

"You're mooching, but it's alright. You're a friend from way out of town, I get it." She parked her cart and hopped inside of it. "Just wait right there. Got a favorite fruit?"

"Mmm." Remi considered, but then, any fruit from that world was likely foreign to her anyway. But likely sweet! "Surprise me. A local favorite."

"Local favorite it is!" A blender whirred to life loudly a moment, then again, slower and grindier as if the blades hit something harder the second time. "Almost... And..." She popped open the window on the side of her card, colorful cup attached to her hoof. "Ta da!"

Remi considered the off-green color of it. What was it? She couldn't tell. It smelled... a bit like sweetened grass and mint? "Thank you for being awesome." It was a gift, sneering at it would be rude. She took the plastic cup and sipped the inserted straw. Oh, yep, that was deffos grass, but, as it turned out, ground grass with other sweet flavors wasn't all that bad. "Mmm, liking i--- Ow..." She put a hand to her head as the sudden temperature change triggered the sharp pain of an ice cream headache. "Right, that's a thing... Slow down..."

Sunny laughed gently. "Sorry! Earth pony magic can't fix that. But it sure does take the edge off a warm day, and it feels like it's going to be nice and warm today. Not hot, but warm." She sighed with a happy expresison, clearly looking forward to the warmth. "Which will bring by customers, as a positive side effect. Oh, there's one now!" She waved eagerly at a pony approaching. "What can I get for you?"

Remi smiled at the exchange of bits for sweet treat. Old fashioned worlds had a real charm to them. You had to deal with an actual person, not ask a computer. Things were slower, but that was alright too, in the end. "Don't wax nostalgic for a time you never existed in," cut in the voice in her ear. "Good job gathering intel."

A compliment? "You feeling alright?" She sipped from her drink carefully. "You don't sound like yourself."

"I'm only angry when people around me screw up." He grumbled softly. "Which is often. Anyway, keep your eyes peeled. The static is getting louder. You are in it. It could be any time within the next 16 hours. You have a meeting coming up, right? Maybe it's that, or before, or after."

"Helpful."

"Best I can do," replied the voice with acid dripping. "I know you want to come home. The sooner we find what's off, the sooner we can make that happen."

"I've been on worse missions.. Is Octie alright?" Remi slurped from the smoothie, determining that grass was, surprisingly, alright when one got used to it.

"Let me see... Looks fine to me." Soft mumbles and clacks of keys could be heard across the line. "Your children have formed some kind of club with the other youths of your ship, a 'hybrid awareness club' of some kind. All very cute, and irrelevant. That's your catchup, mind back in the game?"

"Yeah yeah." Remi tossed her depleted cup in a nearby trashcan. "Point." Ah, the venerable tradition of throwing things through other things. A classic in about every civilization she's run into. "Let's have a royal meeting."

Author's Note:

Izzy's back! With a crown.

Join the special community of folks who like my stories and/or get your own written here at atreon!

Join my discord to chat!