Epilogue
Seasons passed. Bridlewood remained the same. The trees grew older still, the village quiet as ever. But Izzy Moonbow stood tall and proud, for she had friends to visit.
Or she would be there right now, if her thoughts weren’t racing so much. For here in Luna’s garden, she paced back and forth, muttering all the way.
“Okay, big day! Or night, I guess. I’m gonna head out there and… hmm, what am I going to do? Do I just… talk to them? Oh, there’s so much to think about!” she exclaimed, scrunching her nose in thought, and she stopped, turning to look at Luna. “Do you think… do you think whoever wrote it is still around? I mean, they could have moved away and all. It’s been a while.”
“Sweet child,” Luna said, shaking her head, “you’ll do just fine. Greet them, say hello, ask them to play with you. Anything, anything. You are Izzy Moonbow. You can do this.”
She stood up to her full height. Izzy, tall as she was now, could only reach up to her chin, all in all. “Come,” said Luna, patting the space next to her. “I have a gift for you.”
Izzy followed her lead, seating herself. Her eyes widened when she spied the item in Luna’s hoof – crystals and threads.
“Is that a…”
“Headband?” Luna finished. “Why yes. You ought to appear your best when you meet them. If you’d allow me…”
When it was all done, her headband in place, her long mane was a little more tidy now, she could tell. Izzy hopped off the seat, looking back at Luna. As she always did, she kept up that elegant outlook even when those tell-tale bashful twitches came through her facade.
“What do you think?” Luna said. “Your examples were rather useful.”
“Well,” Izzy said, chuckling, “I don’t have a mirror on me right now, so I guess I’ll have to ask them first.”
Luna let out a fond laugh. “That is true. Now, do you remember what you need to do?”
“Follow Orion’s horn, towards where the wind blows,” Izzy recited. “Right? There’s a bunch more like, the scent carried by the wind or, or the other constellations but… did I get it right?”
“Lovely. You remembered my lessons.”
“Well, duh,” Izzy replied. “You sure know a lot about nights.”
“I remember every night,” answered Luna, “as I shall remember this one.”
She gave Izzy a sly little wink, one that she returned in kind.
In the five years that had gone by, neither of them had ever spoken much of the dream. Luna, Izzy had concluded, had no real desire nor reason to speak of it or the forgotten past again. But the smell of lavender had been stronger than it was before, for Luna had grown so much more of it in the moonlit garden.
For Twilight, Luna had said then, nothing else. Izzy didn’t mind much. Luna was her friend, and that was all Izzy needed to know.
“Oh! I almost forgot,” said Izzy. Before Luna could reply, she’d rummaged through her satchel, presenting a woven straw hat. “A gardener can’t do without a hat, right?”
Wordlessly, Luna accepted it in her hoof. She placed it upon her head, where it tilted slightly.
“Oh, darn it,” Izzy bemoaned. “I forgot to fit it first.”
“That is alright,” Luna assured, a hoof upon her shoulder. “’Tis a comfortable wear, and I thank you for it.”
She tipped her new hat.
“Remember, Izzy Moonbow,” Luna said with dramatic flourish. “Should you need aid, know that I will always watch over you.” She reached up to brush away a strand of Izzy’s mane, smiling warmly. “But I believe you have it well-taken care of.” She paused and her gaze turned a little more serious. “Izzy. Do you remember how, when we first met, you asked about stardust and what it was?”
“Yes…” said Izzy. “And you said it was magic, and that it was gone from the world.”
“But it is not entirely,” said Luna. “Not to those who know where to look. For it still touches all ponies at least once in their lives, in that one crystalline moment of realisation of who they are, the transition from childhood, when their purpose becomes known to them.”
Her eyes followed a certain trail meaningfully, and Izzy’s gaze followed where Luna’s led, towards the little symbol of the blue-buttoned heart on her flank.
“Go out there,” Luna whispered, “and make your mark.”
Feeling her lips quiver a bit, Izzy had little else to say, but one.
“Thanks, Luna. For everything.”
Their last hug was the tightest. Nothing else was said, only quiet little glances. As she was about to push the vine curtain apart, Izzy looked back at the garden. There Luna stood, Tiberius upon her head, the two of them waving goodbye.
Izzy waved back, and off she went on her way. Down the tunnel where she’d travelled down for so long over the years, out into the village. For a brief, fleeting moment, Izzy thought to look back, to see if the tunnel was still there, to see lingering stardust upon the forest floor and leaves.
Perhaps she’d even spy those blue-green eyes again, looking out for her from between the trees.
The moment passed, though the warmth remained as always. Izzy continued her walk, past the quiet homes of her neighbours, through the mists, until she reached the edge of the treeline.
She saw an open field, with rolling green hills. Above, the stars went on and on, forever past the clouds. Izzy could just see it now, her mother painting upon the easel, a grassy sunlit field beneath clouds and the bright blue sky.
And without another hesitation, with the letter close to her heart and torch at the ready, Izzy Moonbow departed Bridlewood beneath the starry night.
