(A Quick Note) So to me, Alphabittle is not the leader of the unicorns. He does not feel like the leader to me. I don't think they've officially said he is supposed to be the leader, but it seems like the unicorns should have a royal family as well. To me, Alphabittle seems like Izzy's uncle. Because they clearly know each other and Alphabittle clearly does care for her even if he teases or messes with her. He went to Maretime Bay in the movie to try to get Izzy back. He's not her dad, so uncle seems like the best fit. I also don't believe Sprout's mom is the leader of the earth ponies. The show actually makes it out like Hitch is the leader of the earth ponies. Because the show makes it out like Maretime Bay is the 1 earth pony city and Hitch makes and enforces all the rules. I think they should have a separate, proper head of state though. I'm actually not settled on if the earth ponies should have a royal family or a president yet.
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Izzy was stress crocheting hard. She already had a whole shelf of crocheted bunnies, birds, bees, and turtles. It was not good. Very not good. Not the animals, those were super cute, but the trip to Bridlewood had not gone as well as she'd hoped.
She didn't think Sunny had really noticed, the earth pony had been too excited at seeing magic, but Izzy's party recruitment hadn't been quite the best. Only four unicorns had agreed to come. Which wasn't the worst, but it was nowhere near as many as the other tribes. Even her uncle had said no, Alphabittle was too busy dealing with the returning magic and the hunt for spells.
It was never going to be easy; she'd known that. She did kind of understand why the unicorns weren't jumping towards travelling to a strange earth pony town for a party. Even though the idea of new friends was so, so exciting! Magic coming back was super important to unicorns and a lot of them were still wary of the other tribes. Also…
Izzy sighed as she remembered what Snowy Rose had said.
"I just don't think it's a good idea, Izzy," the white unicorn mare said apologetically. "It's not that I necessarily don't want to go. I'm obviously super grateful to you and your friends for bringing magic back, but I don't have a good grasp on my magic yet." She poked at the ground with her ruby hoof abashedly. "I tried to use a light spell the other day but it was way too bright. I blinded Silver Spirit and Dazzle Flash for a few seconds. They were understanding, but I don't think the pegasi and earth ponies will be. They dislike us just for having magic. Anything could set them off."
Picking up the bunny she'd just finished crocheting, Izzy gazed down at it gloomily. "I know Mr. Bunny. I was hoping more unicorns would come too." The bunny's blank eyes stared back at her. Izzy's ears perked up. "You're right, four is better than none." Then she slumped onto her crafting table. "I just don't want Sunny to be disappointed."
This was too depressing to think about. Stress crocheting wasn't helping. She needed to do something else. Ooh, the party decorations! She could start on those! That way she was helping with the party again! She'd need more supplies though. What decorations did beach party's usually have. Hmmm. She'd have to do research. And ask Sunny.
Humming a song, Izzy zipped around the room to pack her bag: her inspiration notebook, phone, bits, and emergency crafting supplies. She'd stop by Sunny's smoothie stand on the way to the shops.
Skipping out the door, she made her way into town. It was a bit of a trot from the Brighthouse, but at a brisk pace it only took a few minutes. A lot of the other Bridlewood buildings were more distant from each other so she was used to having to walk a little.
Izzy was only halfway down the first street when her mind suddenly registered that she'd seen something unexpected. She backpedaled quickly and- yes! A unicorn! In Maretime Bay!
Her excitement exploded like a cloud of improperly opened glitter. And to think she almost hadn't seen her. The unicorn was at the balcony by the cliffside, almost completely hidden by some inconveniently placed shrubbery, and was looking over the cliff with her binoculars. The unicorn was light blue with super fun curly dark blue hair with light blue streaks. Her fur faded into pink by her hooves and on her underbelly. It was the same pink that swirled up her very unicorn horn. Her cutie mark was a butterfly. Izzy had never seen her before. She was very good at remembering faces and she never forgot a cutie mark and that was a mark she'd never seen before.
Izzy leapt over to the unicorn eagerly. "Hi, friend! What's your name? I'm Izzy Moonbow!" The unicorn startled, turning to look at her with wide green eyes and nearly dropping her binoculars. It was a good thing she didn't because that was a nice pair of binoculars.
"Uh, Misty," the unicorn just revealed to be named Misty stuttered. She was moving her hooves a lot, playing with her hair or tapping them against the ground. "I- um- just got into town, but now I gotta leave. Bye!" She started walking away.
Izzy followed her. "Oh, I remember when I was new in town." Navigating a new place was always tough. Even more so when you were a unicorn in an earth pony city. "Where are you going?" She had to speed up a bit because Misty was walking really fast. Almost running. Was she getting faster? "Do you want me to show you around?"
"Oh, um, I, well…" Misty stumbled. She must be as excited as Izzy was! She couldn't even fully put it into words!
"This is incredible," Izzy gushed. "You, me, us, we can be U-NI-CORN FRIENDS! I was not expecting this today but then I saw you and, poof, new friend, just like that!" Izzy gave a very stiff Misty a hug, lifting her into the air. "Sorry," she said, putting her back down. "I've been told my hugs can be pretty intense."
"Oh, um." Crouching down, Misty tried to slip around Izzy.
"I mean, I've known other unicorns, of course," Izzy continued. "but something about you feels… different." She leaned in to study the unicorn, trying to put a hoof on what made this friendship feel special. Well, all friendships were special, but this one was a special kind of special.
Misty's ears flattened against her head. "Oh, well…"
"It must be because you're my first official unicorn friend in Maretime Bay!" Izzy decided, hopping around Misty like an overcaffeinated bunny.
"Oh, yes," Misty agreed, letting out a breath and nodding. "That must be it."
Izzy skipped up the nearby pavilion steps. "I love Maretime Bay," she told Misty semi-somberly. "I really do. But I do miss Bridlewood and the crystals and our unicorn traditions. It's going to be so great to have a fellow Bridlewood unicorn to do unicorn stuff with."
"Oh, yes," Misty nodded. "I, too, enjoy- the- unicorn things, stuff. This city seems-" her eyes darted around. "nice though."
"Yeah," Izzy agreed, hopping down the steps. "The ponies here are super nice, and the city is nice, and the ocean is so pretty. I have a great view of it from my room. I live in the Crystal Brighthouse. Over there." She pointed back the way they had come, the Brighthouse was still visible from here. "You probably saw it earlier. Actually, if we go back to where you were before and used your binoculars, you could get a really close look at it."
"Oh, ha, ha," Misty laughed. She had a bit of an odd laugh. "Really? I couldn't do that. That- would feel weird. Looking into someone's house without them knowing. Watching them from a distance to see if you could- er, but I was using my binoculars to… watch- birds. Ocean birds. Since I've never seen the ocean before."
"Seagulls are so cute," Izzy said cheerily. "My friend Hitch is friends with some seagulls. Ugh, so sweet. My friend Sunny-"
"Sunny?" Misty interrupted, ears perking up. "Is that the alicorn? Or kind of alicorn?"
"Oh, yeah, she is," Izzy confirmed. "I know, I was surprised too. I'd always thought only unicorns could turn into alicorns. Turns out the earth ponies thought only earth ponies could and pegasus thought only pegasus could. We were all wrong, I guess. Any pony could probably become one if they were magic-y enough. I don't understand how it works."
"Wow, yeah, that's- interesting," Misty said, playing with her hair again.
Thinking of Sunny, Izzy suddenly remembered. "Oh, hey, Sunny's throwing a friendship beach party soon. You should totally come. It will be the first beach party for both of us!" What a great experience!
"Oh, yeah, never been to one of those before," Misty told her.
"I know," Izzy agreed, skipping over to look out at the beach. "Beach parties intrigue me."
"Er, beach parties, yes, that is what I meant," Misty nodded, shifting on her hooves. "Um, I could maybe come? It depends on- things… Time and stuff."
"Great!" Izzy cheered, twirling. "In the meantime, you should totally come over and hang out sometime. Like tonight. Are you available tonight? We could do crystal readings, make candy horns, bejewel our horns, play unicorn games. We could make it into a sleepover!"
"You'll… let me inside the Brighthouse?" Misty asked, quirking an eyebrow. Then she quickly continued, "Um, sure, I guess. Not sure yet if I'll be able to stay the whole night. I'd have to check on- some, things first, but I can definitely do- that other stuff you said."
"Amazzzing," Izzy sang, taking out her phone. "I'll give you my number."
"Oh, I, um, forgot my phone today," Misty apologized, "but I could just- write it down?"
"Oh, sure," Izzy shrugged, pulling out a piece of paper and a pen from her crafting supplies. She used her magic to write down the number and passed it over. "See you tonight! You can come around… six."
"Mmhm," Misty hummed, nodding vigorously. Then she ran off, probably excited to prepare for their maybe sleepover.
Wow, what a great day this was turning out to be! Sunny was going to be so excited. Oh, wait… Izzy had so much more to do now! She had to get ready! She had to make plans! Breaking into a canter, Izzy raced down the street, making a list of everything she'd need in her head.
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(Closing Thoughts) In the show, it didn't make sense to me that all the ponies were super into alicorns. Especially the earth ponies. You'd think they'd see alicorns as a horrific mix of the flight of pegasi and the magic of unicorns. Yes, they knew Sunny, but it doesn't seem like something they'd fawn over. So I have it so each race thought only their race could turn into alicorns, so it is more a superpower of their race and they saw it more as a pony of their tribe with upgrades rather than a new, sort of fusion being. Even then though, the magic should make the earth ponies at least somewhat nervous. It is still very unclear in the show what ponies know about the ancient alicorns. I can't even tell if they believed alicorns had been real before this or not.
It is little weird how in the show they sometimes seem to forget the Brighthouse is outside of Maretime Bay. They don't need to show them walking into town every time, but sometimes it just gets cut in a weird way. Minor gripe, not a big deal in any way, just an observation.
Looking back at G4, I've realized almost all the big villains were season starters or finales with very little lead up. Maybe some foreshadowing, but usually the main bulk of the seasons didn't have the big villains in them at all. Which makes sense, because there were mini villains in-between and if the main villain is constantly being brought in but not really doing anything or is failing, it really dampens both the character and the threat. Even in the final season, the villain squad were weakened but clearly making progress whenever we saw them and there was Grogar to worry about. Meanwhile Opaline keeps failing is dumb ways and is so far not interesting as a character. If they couldn't have her look competent, they should have left Misty as working for a mysterious figure spying on the cast and then had Opaline as the season finale. I don't feel like we are building up to anything expect Misty joining the friend group, Opaline feels very unimportant.
