Izzy woke up with a yawn, exhausted.
she lazily got out of bed and tied her mane in a lazy bun.
she yawned again, slightly quieter but still quite loud.
the purple unicorn pondered for a moment when she realized Sunny's alarm was still going off.
she then sighed when she remembered Sunny was staying in the crystal empire for a few days and now the others had all forgotten to turn off the alarm before leaving the room.
Izzy calmly walked over to Sunny's bedside table with another yawn, tapping the off button on the clock.
as she left the room, she undid the lazy bun her mane was in and changed it to a tight bun.
a preteen Izzy yawned as she walked into the kitchen of her childhood home. her darkish blue and purple mane was tangled and almost went down to her shoulders.
"hey grandma" she yawned to the elder unicorn frying eggs on the stove. she was a teal unicorn with a vibrant darkish blue mane tied in a smooth low bun. she was also wearing a light purple hooferchief around her neck with the name 'Aly moonbow' embroidered on it.
"morning dear" her grandmother smiled as she turned around to look at Izzy.
Izzy yawned as she sat down at the kitchen table.
"fried eggs?" Izzy muttered as her grandmother pushed a plate of fried eggs in front of her with a fork on top towards her.
"it was your moms favorite" the teal unicorn explained as she sat across from her.
her grandmother gave a light laugh.
"sorry, I'm just really missing her today. you look a lot like her" her grandmother said.
Izzy moved around the scrambled eggs with the fork for a few seconds, unsure what to say.
"What were mom and dad like?" she finally muttered.
Izzy used her magic to grab the supplies she needed to make a butter and jam sandwich as she walked into the kitchen.
she then placed each slice of bread on the chopping board, oblivious to the pink pegasus stepping into the kitchen.
"hey Izzy!" Pipp said as she walked over, scaring the purple unicorn and causing her to throw the plastic lid of the butter container at her head.
"ow" Pipp hissed as the piece of plastic dropped to the floor.
"sorry, I got spooked" Izzy stated.
"its fine. you doing okay?" Pipp responded.
"I'm doing fine. I think I'm just having an off day" Izzy replied before she began spreading butter on one of the slices of bread using a butter knife.
"hey Misty!" a preteen Izzy yelled as she ran up to Misty. her mane was now untangled and tied back in a small bun.
"hi Izzy" Misty smiled in response. her mane was dark blue with a teal streak in the front and in a side ponytail.
"are you going somewhere?" Izzy asked as she approached the blue unicorn.
"I'm just going to go to the library. yay saturdays!" Misty cheered.
Izzy grew increasingly uncomfortable as the cheering caused ponies around them to look in their direction.
"you wanna come?" Misty asked with a grin.
Izzy nodded, the uncomfortable feeling dissolving.
Izzy sat down at her desk, munching a butter and jam sandwich.
using her magic, she gathered everything she would need to continue her current craft. it was a dark blue pillow covered in felt, glitter, stale macaroni and embroidery. she had been working on it for almost a month now and was nowhere near done, she hadn't even touched the other side of the pillow.
she quickly chomped down the sandwich before brushing off the crumbs from her hooves.
the purple unicorn became oblivious to the world around her as she began working.
"so what exactly are we looking for?" a preteen Izzy asked as she followed Misty down a particularly less light part of the library.
"magic" Misty replied with a wicked grin, the low lighting making her extra creepy.
"but that's jinky!" Izzy exclaimed, careful not to alert anypony else in the library.
"jinkies are as real as that rumor that all pegasi are brutes. not at all" Misty smirked as she turned around., giving a small shrug at the second sentence.
"why am I friends with you?" Izzy asked, her voice almost a whisper.
"because I'm the only pony besides your grandma who doesn't mind your weird behaviour" the blue unicorn replied, grabbing a book off a shelf.
Izzy twitched, remembering three years before.
"I seriously don't think we should be back here, we might get in trouble" Izzy said, her ear still twitching from nervousness.
"I've been coming here at least once a month since I was eight and was caught once when I was nine" Misty replied as she opened the book in her hoof.
"you mean to tell me you've been coming here for three years and were only caught once?" Izzy questioned.
"my dads always known me as a bookworm so he doesn't find it suspicious when I go to the library by myself. and then when a librarian caught me in here I told her I wandered in here and got curious about one of the books" Misty explained as she began scanning through the words in the book.
as Misty sat down and began reading Izzy looked over at one of the books and took it off the shelf. it was an old leather book labeled 'the history of canterlot' in golden letters with a picture of a white, yellow and purple castle underneath it.
taking a glance at Misty, Izzy sat down and began reading the book. although it was missing chapters 3-8.
"hey Izzy, lunch is almost ready" Pipp said as she gently shook Izzy's shoulder.
"what?" Izzy mumbled as she put down the scissors she was holding.
"lunch is ready" Pipp repeated.
"coming" Izzy sighed.
As she left, the sun shined on a light purple hooferchief with four gemstones embroidered on it, two teal and two purple.
a preteen Izzy walked into the darkest row of bookshelves wearing a dark blue saddle bag with a waning gibbous moon as the clip.
she looked over at one of the shelves and pulled out the history book.
she then reached into her saddle bag and pulled out an unlit lamp.
Izzy then walked to a darker corner and lit it.
she then opened the book and began reading the second chapter.
"you okay?" Zipp asked as she watched Izzy move around the food on the plate in front of her using a fork.
"hm?" Izzy hummed, looking up at Zipp, Pipp and Misty.
"you've been fiddling with your food for the past two minutes" Pipp responded.
"off day?" Misty asked.
"yeah. I just keep thinking about…them" Izzy replied with a small shrug.
"them?" Zipp questioned.
"Have you seen the hooferchief on her desk?" Misty whispered while Izzy began eating and fazing out of the conversation.
"yeah? I figured Izzy made it" Pipp shrugged as Izzy stopped listening.
"hey grandma" a preteen Izzy said as she walked into her childhood home.
"grandma?" she repeated when she heard a concerning sound from the living room.
"grandma!" she yelled when she saw her grandmother wheezing heavily on the floor.
"are you okay!?" she cried out, rushing to the teal unicorns side.
"get help" her grandmother gasped, her hoof against her chest.
Izzy ran outside.
"help! my grandmas having a heart attack!" she yelled.
Izzy gasped as she snapped back to reality. she had been scribbling future craft ideas when her mind had gone to that day.
"you okay?" Zipp asked from where she was sitting on the couch reading a book.
Izzy sighed before replying.
"yeah, I'm okay" she said with a forced smile.
"I just need some fresh air" she continued as she stood up and began walking to the front door.
"if you see Diano, tell them I'll totally beat them in our next race" Zipp replied with a smirk.
Izzy gave a small nod before going outside.
"is my grandma okay?" a preteen Izzy asked a doctor.
"she'll be okay. Do you have any family members to stay with while shes in the hospital?" the doctor asked.
"no. but I do have a friend I could hopefully stay with" Izzy responded.
"good" the doctor nodded.
Izzy walked past the ruins of a bakery, completely silent except for a few breaths every minute.
she sighed as she reached the market place.
the purple unicorn stopped when she saw one of the small stands collapsing onto somepony.
she ran over, stopping when she saw Lilylemon poking out from underneath the roof without her beanie, revealing her ear to have a missing chunk off the top.
"you okay?" Izzy asked as the orange pegasus disappeared back under to find her beanie.
"I'm fine" Lilylemon replied as she popped out, putting on her beanie.
"really? then what happened to your ear?" Izzy questioned.
"I was just born with it like that. I just prefer to hide it to avoid constant stares and questions" Lilylemon explained.
"so what's your name? I remember seeing you talking to Sunny a lot" Lilylemon continued.
"I'm Izzy, her roommate and friend" Izzy replied as she sat down next to her.
"roommate huh?" Lilylemon queried with a small smirk.
"oh shut it. I'm straight" Izzy responded, crossing her front legs against her chest.
"sorry, sorry. shouldn't have gone to assumptions. so what brings you here?" Lilylemon asked, giving her the side eye and a smile.
"I thought maybe a taking a walk would help me get my mind off...it" Izzy stuttered, rubbing her leg.
"it?" Lily repeated with confusion.
"the day my grandma died" she replied, her voice a whisper.
a newly adult Izzy sat in the corner of a dark bedroom, sobbing as she held up her grandmothers hooferchief against her chest. her long darkish blue and purple mane was draped down her back.
"Izzy?" a voice asked as the door opened, casting light on the purple unicorn.
she looked up, only to see Misty standing in the doorway. her curly mane was freshly dyed a calm darkish purple.
"are you okay?" Misty asked.
Izzy gave a small shake of her head before she went back to crying into the light purple material.
"I know you miss her. but it was just...her time" Misty sighed.
"why did it have to be her time?" Izzy cut in between sobs.
"everypony has to...you know" Misty replied as she walked over.
"your not helping" Izzy grumbled with a small scowl.
Misty said nothing as she sat down on the carpet next to the purple unicorn.
"I'm here for you" she finally said, hugging Izzy tight and causing her to break out into a crying mess.
"hey Izzy" Lilylemon caught Izzy's attention before blasting a loud confetti popper right in her ear, dust sprinkled across the confetti.
she gave a small cough at the dust, her ear twitching rapidly to remove the colorful paper from her fur.
"sorry, probably should've realized these probably hav-ach!" Lily hissed when she blasted another dusty confetti popper right in her face.
the orange pegasus spread her wings as she coughed repeatedly.
"there's so much more dust in this one!" she wheezed between coughs.
Izzy patted her back, trying to help get the gray dirt out of her lungs.
after a few moments Lilylemons coughing finally began dying down.
once she had finally calmed down, Izzy leaned against the cluttered table.
"so what are you doing here? besides choking on thousand year old dust?" Izzy asked.
"I was at sweet apple acres visiting my parents and decided to explore this place before heading home" Lily replied before giving one last cough.
"good to know" Izzy shrugged, her eyes looking at a scarred tree in the distance.
a slightly younger Izzy walked past the brown trees.
"why do these all look the same" she sighed.
she then stopped when she saw a tree slightly different then the others. it had 'A + K' inside a heart etched in the bark.
"weird" she mumbled before she saw a glimpse of grayish red in between the brown and green.
she turned her head, smiling when she saw mare time bay in the far distance.
credits
writing: hanhanlovesbananas
inspiration: my little pony make your mark, my little pony a new generation, my little pony friendship is magic