Starlit Roots

by Willow NightSong24

A True Family

The Crystal Brighthouse was full of conversation as two of the ponies made their calls. When two hours had passed and they had received no word from their two friends, they grew increasingly worried. Now that another hour and a half had passed and Misty and Izzy, and apparently Comet, were still M.I.A, they began to panic.

"They're not at Misty's Together Tree in Zephyr Heights," Pipp called out as she hung up the call she had made to Queen Haven. "But Mom did say she'd have the guards keep a lookout throughout Zephyr Heights."

"I just got off the phone with Alphabittle! He didn't see them at the Wishing Tree in Briddlewood either. But he did say he'll also keep an eye out." Sunny added, putting her phone down. "Dang it! I forgot to ask him if the Night Market was open." She muttered to herself.

Zipp sat at the coffee table, scrutinizing the note Izzy left behind. "I'd think he'd tell you if it was open or not since you did ask if they were at the Wishing Tree.," Zipp muttered, not looking away from the note.

"Well?" Sunny asked as she walked up to Zipp. "Any closer to figuring out what this note means?"

Zipp groaned, dropping her chin on the table. "No…let's face it. The only pony who understands Izzy lingo is Izzy."

The doors to the Crystal Brighthouse opened, and the three ponies quickly looked towards it, only to see a sullen Hitch with Sparky on his back, slowly walking in. The three mares sighed heavily, clearly disappointed that it wasn't Izzy and Misty as they had hoped.

"Well?" Sunny asked, guessing from Hitch's mood that he got nothing.

"I got nothing. They weren't at the Maretime Bay Together Tree and I had Kenneth fly out to the one by Opaline's dark castle to see if they might be there, but Kenneth didn't see anything out of the ordinary. I had the rest of my animal deputies keep an eye out for them, but nothing."

The three mares groaned. Where could they have gone? With the Marestream no less. How could a huge flying magical motor home fly around Equestria incognito? What were they missing?

Pipp sighed, landing on the ground next to Sunny. "I hope they're okay."

"Me too," Zipp muttered, thinking about Allura and trying not to panic.

"What if they ran into trouble? What if the Hope Lantern went out again?" Sunny asked, her panic starting to build with no stopping it.

"Hey, I'm sure they'll be fine. They can take care of themselves." Hitch comforted, setting Sparky on the ground, who waddled up to Sunny and hugged her hoof.

"But why wouldn't they at least text us?" Pipp asked, looking through her phone in case she missed any texts from them.

"Well, Izzy did forget her phone again and I'm not sure if Comet has a phone," Zipp filled in, dropping her phone on the table that was filled with notes about what the note from Izzy could've meant.

That was when the doors burst open and an exhausted-looking Izzy and Misty slowly walked in, both of them yawning. The four ponies gasped and galloped over to them, hugging them tightly.

Once they separated, Zipp began her question barrage. "Where did you go? Why were you gone for so long? Where's Comet? What happened? Did you guys run into Allura? Did the Hope Lantern go out again? Are you hurt?" Zipp then noticed the necklace around Izzy's neck. "What's that? Where did you get it? Who gave–"

Zipp was cut off by Izzy hugging her. She then picked up the rest of the four ponies, including Misty, and brought them all into the group hug. The four ponies were confused but shrugged and complied anyway. Izzy smiled softly, knowing in her heart she made the right decision.

"I missed you guys," Izzy said, finally letting go.

"We missed you too, Iz. But…umm…what was all that about?"

Izzy smiled softly. "Let's just say, I learned what having a true family means. And you guys are my true family."

The four of them smiled as Hitch said, "Thanks, Iz."

"We'll always be your family. No matter what." Sunny added.

"So, where did you go?! We were so worried about you!" Zipp said, flying down until she was a couple of inches in front of Izzy.

Izzy tilted her head. "Didn't you get our note?"

Zipp flew to the coffee table and picked up the note, flying back to her friends as she read it aloud. "'To friends. Gone to Together Tree #4 to go to SR w/Comet?' What in the hay does that mean?"

"Yeah. What's Together Tree #4?" Sunny asked.

"And what's SR?" Hitch added.

Misty turned to Izzy. "I told you they wouldn't understand what it meant."

Izzy shrugged. "I thought they'd put it together." Izzy turned to her friends. "Together Tree #4 is the one at…" Izzy paused, glancing at Misty who was watching her just like everypony else. Izzy smiled softly at her. It was the least she could do after everything Misty helped her through back at Starlight Ridge. "At the Butterfly Castle, formerly known as Opaline's dark castle." At everypony's confused looks, Izzy added, "I thought of a different name for it. Why not name it after the best thing that happened there? Misty getting her cutie mark, which is a butterfly." Zipp opened her mouth, but Izzy cut her off before she could say anything by waving a dismissive hoof. "That place needed a new name anyway." Izzy winked at Misty, who blushed and smiled back softly.

Izzy turned back to her friends. "And SR stands for Starlight Ridge. And if you're wondering where Comet is, he decided to stay in Starlight Ridge."

"Ohh…" All four ponies said at once. That somehow made so much sense, and yet, they all knew they wouldn't have cracked it themselves.

A thought then occurred to Zipp. "How did you get there without the Nova Charm?"

Misty and Izzy looked at each other with knowing expressions before Misty said with a shrug, "We never needed the Nova Charm. We had the connection we needed all along."

Huh?" All four ponies asked, furrowing their brows in confusion, completely at a loss.

Izzy yawned. "It's a long story. One we'll tell you all about once we get some sleep. It's been a long day."

Sunny smiled, understanding. It was pretty late. "Yeah. It's already ten thirty at night," Sunny agreed with a yawn of their own.

As three of the mares slowly walked up the ramp with heavy eyelids and as Hitch left the Brighthouse, Izzy and Misty looked at each other, before softly chuckling and giving each other a quick nuzzle.

"Thank you, Misty," Izzy whispered. "I wouldn't have been able to do any of it without you."

Misty smiled back. "A true friend helps a friend in need. I'll always be by your side, and I'll always do what I can to help you."

"And I you, Misty."

---

Two Weeks Later

Izzy sat at her desk, staring at her most recent crafting project for an Izzy Does It order. It was half finished and now she was at a creative block about what to do next with it. She scrunched her mouth to the side and stared at it intently.

Nothing.

She looked at the necklace locket that was hanging from her lamp. She grabbed it with her magic and looked at the two ponies inside, smiling at them. She wondered what her mother did when she had a creative block. She looked at the cherry blossom flower that was still somehow magically alive on the other corner of her desk, smiling softly.

She spun around in her chair and looked at her most recent treasure she brought back from the last time she and Misty went to Starlight Ridge a couple of days ago. Her mother's first sewing kit from when she was a filly.

She made a promise to herself that she'd visit Starlight Ridge once a week, though, Izzy didn't want to go alone. So, she asked Misty if she'd like to go with her whenever she visited, to which Misty quickly agreed. Anything to help out a friend.

Even though she told her friends the whole story about who her mother was and about her being half auroricorn, she still felt more comfortable bringing Misty than anypony else. Probably because she was there right alongside Izzy for the whole thing, experiencing everything right along with her.

Her friends knew of her weekly trips and understood completely why she only brought Misty. But, Izzy hoped that one day, she'd be ready to bring her other friends, so they could learn about who her mother really was.

Izzy turned to Misty, who was lying on her bed, reading a book. "Hey, Misty?"

Misty looked up at Izzy. "Yeah?"

"I'm having a bit of creative block. I was thinking a walk around Maretime Bay would give me the inspiration I need. Wanna come with?"

Misty closed her book with her magic and jumped off the bed. "Always."

Izzy quickly clasped the locket necklace around her neck as she and Misty walked out of the Brighthouse. As they walked through Maretime Bay, they found themselves approaching Sunny's smoothie cart, seeing Zipp, Pipp, and Hitch all there as well.

As Izzy watched her friends, Pipp and Zipp playfully arguing, Hitch trying to get his sheriff's badge back from Sparky, Sunny and Misty chatting as Sunny put together all of her friends' favorite smoothies, Izzy smiled softly as her heart warmed.

Yes, Starlight Ridge was a special and magical place, but it could never compare to Equestria. At least for Izzy Moonbow, daughter of Snow Blossom and granddaughter of Skye Ice. Because while Starlight Ridge had an awesome leader, the best cocoa specialist, and snow that had healing properties and was super slippery and slidy, Equestria had something Starlight Ridge would never have.

Her family. And it was her family that would make Equestria her home. For now and forever.

Author's Note:

Alright…that's the end of Starlit Roots. It was hard not to go dark on this one…since I always somehow go dark in all my stories, especially when it came to the beginning of the second chapter and and when Izzy's mom visited Izzy.

But, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I don't think I'd be able to do it better even if I tried, and I hope you guys had as much fun reading it as I did writing it.

And, last but not least, my disclaimer: (perhaps I should just put blanket disclaimer in my bio just to get it out of the way. Jk…but seriously, this is getting annoying )

I do not own the song Celestia's Ballad. That honor goes to Hasbro. I just used it for my story. So, yeah.

Hakuna Matata!

Comments

[Admiral Producer]

This story was beautiful. Great job!!

[Willow NightSong24]

11979062
Thank you so much! You have no idea how much that means to me, coming from you. You're actually the reason I started writing fimfiction. I'm a big fan of your Misty Saga and I've read every story you've written. When I learned you had ASD, and you were able to write amazing stories, it inspired me. I also have ASD as well as other things, so thank you.