Three (Not So) Little Unicorns
At first, spending every day in Maretime Bay seemed exciting to Comet. And it was. There was so much about the world of Equestria he'd never known before. To think that he had missed so much as a result of spending his life up to this point in that snowy village.
As time went by, however, the luster started to wear off. And that was when Comet first began to notice it: That feeling deep down inside him. A part of him still longed for the familiarity of Starlight Ridge: Where he had been born, gotten his cutie mark, and made the earliest memories he could recall.
Comet tried to ignore it, hoping that it would go away. It didn't. It continued to gnaw at the unicorn day after day, refusing to leave him alone no matter what he did or what else he tried to think about. There was no denying it: He was home sick, at least partially.
So what could the glasses wearing unicorn stallion do? He didn't really know. That is, until he remembered that he had friends now, real friends at that. And two of them were unicorns like him. Well, maybe not exactly like him since they were not aruoracorns like he was. But they were unicorns all the same, and he felt a stronger connection to them than he did to any of his other friends. He decided then and there that he would talk with them the next chance he got.
The chance came sooner than expected for Comet. Only a day or so after he'd made up his mind, he found himself alone in the Brighthouse with Misty and Izzy. Zipp and Pipp had gone back to Zephyr Heights (something to do with their mother, apparently), and Sunny and Hitch had their jobs at the smoothie cart and as the town sheriff respectively. So it was just the three unicorns alone in the Brighthouse for the day.
Izzy was the first to both notice Comet wasn't his wide eyed self that he'd been since first discovering the Brighthouse, and the first to try to engage him in conversation. That was just who she was and what she liked to do. "Hey, Comet. Why the long face? Aren't you happy and excited to be here in Maretime Bay, the greatest place there is?"
"I... think so," Comet pondered as he tapped a hoof to his chin and took a deep breath. "Look, I don't want to sound ungrateful or anything. It means a lot to me that you and your friends would let me come with you and see the world."
Izzy flashed a smile. "Hey, what are friends for? Besides, I'm always happy to make new friends, Comet."
Misty, however, could sense much better what Comet was feeling. She herself was a pony who tended to be better suited to sensing things ponies might keep hidden. "You miss your village, don't you, Comet?" She asked him in no uncertain terms.
Comet's sigh deepened. "It's that noticeable and obvious, is it? I guess it would be silly if there was a part of me that didn't miss it, even after everything that happened. Yeah, it may have been ruled over by that evil snow leopard Allura, but it was still home," He gazed longingly out of a window. "I know Violet gave me her blessing to go with you guys, but it feels like Starlight Ridge was just starting to truly shine when I left. And I won't get to see it for... who knows how long? Do you know what it feels like? For your heart to be in two places at once?"
"I think I kind of get what you're saying, Comet," Izzy spoke up as she trotted closer to him. "I love Maretime Bay a lot, but there's always going to be part of me that'll feel a special connection to Bridlewood. Sure, until we found the unity crystals and put them together it was all doom and gloom for everypony else, but it wasn't like it was the worst thing ever."
"I don't think that's quite the same, Izzy," Misty chimed in with her own sentiments. "You and I can go back to Bridlewood any time we want to. Comet can't do the same with his village. We don't know when that portal to Starlight Ridge will open again, or if it'll ever be open again at all."
Izzy nodded. "Yeah, but you didn't even know you were from Bridlewood until just before the final battle with Opaline. Remember there was the whole ordeal with those flashbacks and that key? And only after we took care of that did we learn that you were Alphabittle's daughter."
Misty nodded back quite slowly, the memories still fresh and vivid in her mind as she shut her eyes. "Yes, I remember. I can't really explain what it felt like to finally have the answers to my questions about who I used to be and where I was from," A smile crept across her face. "It was nice. But it was only part of who I was. After all, if I'd wanted to just remember the past, I would've stayed with my dad instead of with you and the others. I didn't."
Comet turned around, adjusting his glasses as the auroracorn looked at Misty. "Wait, you didn't know where you were from? How could anypony not know? Doesn't everypony have at least some idea of where they come from? I know I don't remember everything from my past, but I know for sure I'd never left my village until after you guys helped to defeat Allura."
At that Misty let out a gulp. The memories now coming to her mind were far from pleasant. And since Opaline's defeat she'd been trying her best not to dwell on them. To bury them deep away. Yet all it had taken was one conversation to bring them bubbling back up to the surface once again. She shuddered for a brief moment. "It's... kind of a long story, Comet."
"Hey, I don't believe you ever told me the whole story about how you got separated from Alphabittle and got taken in by Opaline," Izzy remarked as she began to press her snout closer to Misty's. "Come on, you gotta tell us now, Misty!"
Misty was still understandably hesitant to obey the request. "... I'm not sure if I really want to. I've been trying so hard to block out those memories and just forget about them. It's hard to cope with them, to think back to the worst years of my life."
"If anypony knows what it's like to have a past you don't like talking about, it's me," Comet chimed in in a sympathetic tone. "My entire past was spent living in fear of Allura, of what she'd do to me and to the other villagers if we ever tried to rebel. We had to work for her, we had no choice. And Violet could only do so much to keep our spirits up whenever Allura wasn't watching us. I may not know everything about who this 'Opaline' you mentioned is, but she can't be any worse than Allura."
Misty sighed, sensing that her fellow unicorns were not going to be satisfied until she answered their requests. "Well... I don't remember everything exactly. For the longest time, I thought the memories were just dreams," She opened her eyes very slowly and began to recall as best she could. "I know it was a long time ago, like a really long time ago. Probably before you were even before, Comet." And just like that, the memories came flooding back to her.
A much younger Misty was being pushed on a swing hanging from a tree in Bridlewood. Her father, Alphabittle, still in the prime of his youth, was laughing and giggling as he pushed Misty every time she swung back towards him. She was his pride, his joy, the only child he would ever have (at least, that's what he'd led himself to believe at the time). Hard to believe it had been so long since she was born. Seemed like only yesterday he was bringing her home from the hospital, officially giving her the name of Misty Blossomforth. Now, within a year or two, she'd probably have her cutie mark. She was growing up so fast.
Alphabittle had to stop and use a hoof to wipe away a lone tear in one of his eyes. Unicorns weren't supposed to let their sadness show. It was bad luck, the kind that would bring on the dreaded jinxies. He couldn't let anypony see him like this. Bad enough some of his fellow unicorns looked upon him with suspicion for daring to be happy.
Misty paused in her swinging due to her father not pushing her. She looked up at him and noticed something seemed off. "Daddy?" She sweetly asked him. "Are you okay?"
Alphabittle managed to force out a nod. "Yeah, I'm fine, kid. Just... thinking about things is all."
"Were you thinking about Mommy again?" Misty asked with a sweet smile. "You said she might come back someday. Do you think someday will be soon?"
Alphabittle didn't have the heart to tell his only child what he really believed about her missing parent. Only he knew the truth about why she had left in the first place. "Yeah, it probably will be, Misty. And I have a feeling she'd be so proud of you, seeing how big you're getting. Pretty soon, you won't even need your old stallion for anything. You'll be ready to take on the world all by yourself."
The blank flanked filly giggled as she hopped off the swing, hugging her father as best she could. "Nu-uh. I'll always be your little filly, daddy. I'll never outgrow you. Never! Even when I'm all big and strong like you, I'll still want to be with you. You're the best daddy ever!"
"Oh, Misty," Alphabittle sweetly and sentimentally remarked. "What did I do to deserve a filly like you?"
The young Misty just grinned, swishing her tail from side to side. "Don't know, Daddy," Then she settled on an idea of how she could cheer her father up. She began to run off, giggling with childish innocence. "Come on, Daddy! Catch me if you can!"
"Hey, pumpkin, wait up!" Alphabittle playfully called as he ran after his daughter, trying to keep her in sight. "Didn't Daddy tell you not to wander off?"
Misty tuned out her father's words, instead focusing on running through the forest as it glowed in the bright early evening light. As she ran, she didn't seem to be aware that her father was fading from view. He was becoming smaller and smaller in her vision, until finally he was reduced to just a silhouette on the horizon. And as he got farther and farther out of sight, his voice began to fade too, until she could no longer hear it even when she tried intentionally to listen for it.
Suddenly, it was as if a fog was settling in! Now Misty was frightened, scared even! She was all alone in the middle of the forests of Bridlewood, separated from her papa, and she hadn't the faintest clue of where she was or how to get back home. She looked all around, but could find no trace of a familiar face or a familiar place.
"I just want to go home!" Misty thought to herself! She regretted that she had run off so thoughtlessly and carelessly earlier. She quite understood now why the grown-ups always told her never to wander off anywhere in Bridlewood alone. Supposedly, those who did ended up being snatched away by earth ponies or pegasi, and that's if they weren't claimed by the strange monsters that once called Bridlewood home.
How long the filly remained frozen in fright, she could not tell. All she knew was that her surroundings were growing darker by the minute. A fog was actually surrounding her now, making it even harder for her to tell where she was or which way was what. She wanted to go home, to get out of this scary, spooky forest. But she didn't know how that would be possible. It felt like she was truly lost. Even her father seemed unlikely to find her now.
Then, out of the corner of her wandering eyes, the blank flank unicorn saw a great, almost blinding light pierce the darkness! It almost beckoned her towards it, even as a nagging part in the back of her mind told her not to look at it. She trotted slowly forward, the light growing brighter by the second. She thought she saw the outline of a large tree of some sort. Then, suddenly, it was as if something emerged from the light and snatched her up!
Alphabittle, for his part, was completely unaware of what had happened. He was too busy running through the forest, wishing more than anything that unicorns had magic so that he could illuminate the path and dispel the darkness. "Misty? Misty?!" He frantically, desperately called. There was no reply. "Come on, pumpkin! Where'd you go? It's almost dinner time." Yet even after an entire night of searching, he could turn up no trace of his daughter. All too soon, he had to face the fact that his beloved Misty was gone, possibly forever! Just like his wife, she had left him abruptly and unannounced. And this time, it might not have even been his fault that it had happened.
The light faded almost as quickly as it had come. Yet Misty knew she was not home. She didn't recognize anything about the place she was in now. It was dark and cold, lit only a little by torches and a strange glow from a circle.
And there was a voice complaining, talking to itself. "Curses! That spell should've worked! I finally managed to store up enough magic to break the enchantments, and nothing happens!" There came the sound of hooves frantically stomping on the ground in frustration! "That blasted Twilight Sparkle! Who is she to tell me I don't understand magic? That I need friends? Friends are useless! It's not my fault I'm so much better than everypony!"
Misty shivered with fright. She didn't know who that voice belonged to, but she knew it didn't sound the least bit friendly. Oh, how she wished her father was here now to drive away that scary voice and the scary monster it surely belonged to. Oh, how she wished it was all a bad dream and that she was safe at home.
Suddenly, trotting up to Misty was a pony the likes of which the filly had never seen before. This pony was tall, really tall, taller than any pony Misty had ever known before. The pony had both wings and a horn, and her entire coat was a dark purple. Something about her seemed to radiate the faintest hint of warmth, but of a very harsh intensity. Her eyes looked cold and intimidating, which made Misty shrink from their gaze.
"Oh, what have we here?" The tall, winged unicorn greeted as she spotted Misty and pulled the filly close. "What are you doing here, little one? Nopony ever comes to visit me, the Great and Powerful Opaline."
The frightened filly was frozen with fright and spoke not a word.
Opaline just chuckled, cackled even as she held the filly in her grasp. "This is perfect! I've always wanted a friend. Now I can finally prove that Twilight Sparkle was wrong to ever look down on me. I'll make the most perfect friend there is! And with that magic of friendship, I'll be able to finish what I started against that pesky wannabe alicorn long ago! I should've been the one to rule all of Equestria, not her!"
Misty whimpered. She had just met Opaline and already she didn't like this winged unicorn at all. She was scary, far scarier than any monster lurking under her bed or in the closet.
"Oh, come now, little one," Opaline seemed to coo in the most sickening tone of voice imaginable. "Don't be frightened. I'll protect you. Isn't that what a 'good friend' would do?" She then immediately saw fit to ask. "Tell me, what is your name? You do have a name, don't you?"
The little filly squeaked out. "My daddy says I'm not supposed to talk to strangers."
Opaline just laughed, brushing off the remark. "But I'm not a stranger. I want to be your friend. And the only way to be friends is for us to get to know each other. So come now, tell me what your name is. Or would you rather I just leave you here all by your lonesome self?"
"NO!" Misty screamed at the top of her lungs! Alone was the last thing she wanted to be right now. Reluctantly, she blurted out. "My... my name is... Misty. Misty Blossomforth."
"Well then, Misty," Opaline spoke up as she set the child down in front of her. "You don't have to have a single worry about anything anymore. I, the Great and Powerful Opaline, will take care of you. You and I will be the best of friends."
The flashback ended as Misty struggled to hold back the tears. "That was the day my life changed forever. The rest of my childhood was spent entirely under Opaline's cruel care," She let out a whimper. "She kept saying she wanted to be my friend. But looking back I can see that she never understood for a moment what a friend is supposed to be. I was just a servant of hers, a pawn that she could use and toss away whenever she wanted. She just used me to do what she couldn't do. And it was thanks to me that she almost became too powerful to stop."
Izzy immediately trotted over, pulling Misty into a hug. "Hey, come on now! That's crazy talk, Misty! You forget that your life changed again when you met me, and we became best friends! And our other friends helped you gain the courage to stand up to Opaline, and defeat her for good."
"Yes, I guess it did even out in the end," Misty reluctantly agreed with a sigh. "Still, when I think of all that I had to endure under Opaline: All the years of being looked down upon and being yelled at every time I failed, I only wish it never had to happen. I'll always wonder what life would've been like if I hadn't gotten lost on that one day so long ago."
Comet found himself astounded by Misty's confession. "I never knew it was that bad! Allura never even considered us equals, let alone friends. If Violet Frost didn't keep having those 'Starshine Time' events when Allura wasn't around," He shuddered. "I don't know if my village would've survived. We might have been reduced to nothing but mindless slaves."
Izzy swished her tail. "Guess it's a good thing you met my friends and I when you did, then. We seem to have a knack for putting power hungry meanies like Allura and Opaline in their place!" She then chuckled. "And to think, before they showed up, I thought we had it rough just having to deal with ponies like Sprout and Posey who didn't trust unicorns or pegasi. Compared to the threats we've faced since, those two seem tame by comparison. Heck, they've even turned over new leafs, whatever that means."
"I suppose life works in mysterious ways. Violet was always fond of saying things like that," Comet commented as he looked at Misty. "Still, you eventually got to go back. I don't know if I'll ever have that luxury. And Maretime Bay... it's fun, but it doesn't feel like a home yet."
"Hey, if anypony knows what that feels like, it's definitely me," Izzy willingy confessed as she energetically approached Comet. "Since Misty told her story about her past, it's only fair that I share my story about my past with you."
Comet sheepishly replied. "Oh, that's alright. You really don't have to, Izzy."
Izzy refused to take no for an answer. "Ah, but I want to, Comet. After all, it's kind of connected to Misty's past. If it weren't for me, who knows if Alphabittle would've been around to be reunited with Misty." And memories that, though long since passed had not faded, came flooding back to her in an instant. And they were memories partially aided by what Alphabittle had told her years down the road.
After Misty's sudden disappearance, Alphabittle sank into a deep depression. In the blink of an eye, everything about him changed. Even though only a few years went by, physically he looked as if it had been decades. His coat dulled and became gray instead of that light blue shade it had been before, his mane and tail turned a ghostly white as all the color drained out of them, even his eyes became faded and lost the vibrant expression they had known before. He didn't want to give up hope that one day his daughter would return, but as the years went by without a trace of her, that hope grew dimmer and dimmer.
Then, one night by chance, Alphabittle had his life changed yet again. On the step of the front door of his house lay a wooden basket. Looking down into the basket, he saw a note resting atop a baby pink blanket. Curiously, the wrinkly stallion picked it up and examined it. The lettering was faded and clumsy, having apparently been written in a hurry. If he squinted, he could just make out the words "Izzy Moonbow".
Lifting up the blanket, Alphabittle discovered a little foal with a faint wisp of a blue mane and tail fast asleep. Her pink coat was so... so... sparkly! It was almost as if it were made of glitter. She was a far cry from the colors seen on most unicorns these days.
The foal began to stir awake, gazing up at Alphabittle with her little eyes. She gurggled something, apparently quite filled with joy and admiration at seeing the stallion standing over her. Almost as if by instinct, she leapt up and grabbed his mane tightly.
"Ow!" Alphabittle exclaimed in only slightly exaggerated fashion, working to gently peel the foal off his face and set her down. "Alright, I'll bite," He grumbled. "Whose kid is this? You can come out now. This isn't funny." There was no reply of any sort.
Izzy sniffled and began to cry, her eyes quickly being stained red from tears.
Immediately, instincts long forgotten came flooding back to Alphabittle in an instant! "Oh no, no, no! Don't cry, Izzy!" He protested, lowering himself down to her level. "I'll take care of you until we can find your parents, okay?"
That seemed to satisfy Izzy, she let herself be scooped up by Alphabittle, who then bent down and retrieved the basket with the letter and the blanket. He then carefully carried his young charge into his house. Luckily, he still had some of his supplies from when he'd taken care of Misty. Since Izzy was going to be staying with him for only a short period of time, what harm was there in letting her borrow them?
Yet Alphabittle soon found that nopony in Bridlewood had heard of an "Izzy Moonbow" or of any ponies with the name "Moonbow". It was as if she'd showed up completely out of the blue, and only he had been there to see her. But that couldn't be. What sort of pony would just abandon a foal? And why would they have left said foal out for him to find? There was no way they could've known about his past. Since Misty's disappearance, he had avoided talking about the subject and anything related to it. Now, suddenly, he was supposedly being given a second chance at being a parent?
Alphabittle let out a sigh as he returned to his house after the third straight day of searching all of Bridlewood. Little Izzy had long since fallen asleep, her tiny little chest bobbing up and down with every breath she took. Seeing the little one stirred something deep inside the stallion. "What the heck? If nopony else is going to take care of you, I guess I'll do it," He whispered softly, taking care not to wake his charge up. "Sorry you had to be brought to be a place like this, Izzy. Bridlewood's not a very cheerful place. But something tells me you don't mind it."
Then and there, the stallion made up his mind. He was going to officially adopt Izzy. He wouldn't be changing her name. No, she was going to remain "Izzy Moonbow" for all time. He wasn't about to use her as a chance to "replace" his missing daughter. If Misty ever did come back, she wouldn't be pleased to discover such a thing. Besides, Izzy was not Misty, and that would be true regardless of any similarities they might have. But he was determined to do right with Izzy where he had gone wrong with Misty. "I'm never letting her out of my sight! Never!" He thought to himself.
So the years went by, with Alphabittle raising Izzy and doing his best to handle her energetic, fun loving spirit. It seemed like nothing could break it. No matter how many times other ponies in Bridlewood wanted nothing to do with her, no matter how many times she seemingly brought on the jinxies, he could never bring himself to truly stay mad at her. He stood up for her and defended her as best he could. "She doesn't mean it. She's just... different." He would try to say.
Izzy, for her part, was nothing but grateful for Alphabittle for raising and protecting her. Even if it slowly became more and more smotherly as she grew older, the bond they had couldn't be broken.
"Hey, Alphabittle!" Izzy energetically called one day as a little filly (she was around the same age Misty had been when she had disappeared. Alphabittle had never told Izzy once about it). "Guess what?!" She came bounding in to what was so to be the Crystal Tearoom, Alphabittle's lifelong dream.
The stallion was busy wiping down a table with a rag. He didn't bother to look up and make eye contact with Izzy, but his tone of voice indicated that he wasn't annoyed by her cheerful disposition. "What, kid?" He asked her.
Beaming from ear to ear, the filly proudly proclaimed! "I got my cutie mark! I actually did this time!"
"Oh, that's great," Alphabittle replied and went back to wiping down the table. It took a moment for the realization to strike him. "Wait, are you serious?! You're not pulling my leg this time, kid?!"
Izzy nodded, bouncing up and down with excitement! "Uh-huh! I just got it a short time ago when I recycled a bunch of old junk other ponies were throwing away. Or, unicycled as I like to call it!" She then happily and proudly showed off her cutie mark for Alphabittle.
Alphabittle was amazed and astounded! "Izzy... I'm... so proud of you!" He couldn't stop himself from tearing up.
"You... are?" The filly blinked, not used to this outward show of affection from the pony who had more or less been her father as long as she could remember.
The tall unicorn nodded back. "You bet I am. I don't know what I did to deserve a pony like you. If I hadn't found you when I did," He shuddered, briefly thinking back to the mood he'd been in since Misty's disappearance. "I don't like to think about what I might have done or what could've happened. I was in a bad place when I found you. And you helped me find the sun again," A smile started to form on his face. "I think you might be the one, the one to bring happiness and joy back to Brildewood after all these years."
"You really mean it, Alphabittle?!" Izzy asked in an excited tone of voice.
Alphabittle trotted over, embracing Izzy in a tight hug. "Yes, definitely! Thank you, for just being you!" Then he quickly recovered. "Now come on, we gotta start planning for your cutie blossom bash."
"So, does that mean you and Misty are technically sisters?" Comet questioned with a hoof to his chin as Izzy finished telling her story.
Izzy giggled. "We already were sisters. Friends are like family!" She trotted over and booped Comet on the nose. "We even sang a song about it once. And since we are family, that means you're family too, Comet."
Misty decided to ask. "Did you have any sort of family where you came from, Comet?"
The auroracorn stallion sighed, frowning a bit. "Not really. I mean, I'm sure I had parents at some point. But I don't know where they went or what might have happened to them. As far back as I can remember, Violet was always there for me," Memories briefly flashed through his eyes. "She took care of me, watched over me, and did everything she could to try to protect me from Allura until I was old enough to work for that evil snow leopard," In a regretful tone of voice he added. "I wish I'd have had the courage to tell her what she really meant to me when I had the chance."
"I'm sure she already knew, if you two were as close as you say you are," Misty commented with a smile as she trotted over towards her fellow unicorns. "And if there's anything I've learned since meeting Izzy, Sunny, and the others, it's that friends and family can be found anywhere. Maybe you can't choose what kind of life you're born into, or choose what sort of family you have originally. But you can choose the friends you want to make and the family you want to be part of."
"Plus, you're always more than just where you come from, Comet," Izzy pointed out. "Misty and I have been born and raised in Bridlewood, and we'll always be Bridlewood ponies at heart. But Maretime Bay is where we got to make a fresh start for ourselves, to start living the lives we wanted to live."
Misty nodded. "I couldn't have put it any better myself, Izzy."
Then Izzy got an idea, gasping before proposing! "Hey, I know, Comet! We should totally go on a trip to Bridlewood together sometime. Like say, maybe tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow. I have a feeling you'd really love it! You'd get to meet Alphabittle, and Elder Flower, and all the other cool unicorns who live there."
Comet was silent for a moment, thinking over the proposal in his mind. But it didn't take long for him to agree, smiling as he happily proclaimed. "I think I'd love it just as much as you and Misty seem to love it. It sounds like it would be just the thing to help us grow closer together: As friends and as family."