He Who Stands On Vigil

Morning met Nick Hawkri with the warm rays all around his face. He frowned slightly, rolling off the bed and scurrying around for his glasses. As soon as the world put on a slight greenish and dimmed hue, he yawned and proceeded downstairs to prepare a breakfast. This was going to be a long day for him and the little Glitter as well – today was the very day that he had to complete with the formal issues of custody, and also he had to do much more.

Else to say, his spare of money ran low, and he felt nothing like pickpocket anymore. Well, for the first few weeks he did it shameless, and the amount of money he accumulated was more than enough for a carefree life. But now things changed drastically, so, he needed a job. And he sure knew where he could get one.

The oatmeal began bubbling, drawing his attention, and the coffee began boiling as well, and Hawkri felt a sudden stab of a remorse for not having an additional pair of hands or a unicorn’s telekinesis. Alas, he had to deal with it.

The soft clip-clopping of hooves dragged his attention, and he turned his head to see the sleepy filly descending down the stairs, yawning:

“Good morning, mister Hawkri…”

“It’s Nick, Sunny. How much times should I repeat that?” – he scolded softly, smiling to the filly.

“Breakfast is almost done, go brush your teeth and come by”.

“Okay… Nick.” – the filly trotted away, and Hawkri just stood there, smiling gleefully to the warm sensation inside his chest, that had awoken after the small filly’s remark.

“I can grow used to that…” – he chuckled to himself, dicing some apples and adding them to the oatmeal with a helping of cinnamon – just like Glitter liked it. He finished preparations with his coffee and made some tea for a filly, who appeared at the threshold, refreshed and smiling.

“Breakfast is served, milady! Pray, honor us with your visit!”  - Hawkri bowed gently, mimicking the butler. Sunrise giggled, climbing up the chair and tasting a spoonful of oatmeal.

“Mmmm! This is great, just like…” – her voice stopped short, and her eyes began to water. Hawkri knew very well, what she had in mind.

It was about her passed away mother. The wound was still so fresh, and the filly was yet so young.

“So, Sunny, I guess that you’re not learning at school yet, are you?” – Nick tried to change the topic, staring intently at the filly.

“No, I am not. I was at the preschool!” – she answered, distracted, eating her serving.

“Crisis coped with. Smooth as always.” – our hero mentally scolded himself. He is supposed to be more careful when arising such a sensitive matters. Hawkri, you’re such a halfwit.

“Well then, my little pony, today we are having kind of a big day. Today we are again visiting miss Amethyst Star – remember her? And then I’ll speak to miss Cheerilee, the teacher – you know her?”

Sunrise Glitter waved her head in denial, eating spoonful after spoonful of her meal.

“Anyway, we’re going to get you to school! You’ll be a schoolfilly, and this means, you sure will find new friends…”

“Nick, you were serious when speaking you won’t let me alone?” – such a point-blank question made Hawkri slightly off the track. He sipped on his coffee to gather his thoughts.

“Absolutely. What I said was from my very soul, my little pony. I will not leave you alone.” – saying so, Nick patted his chest to indicate the sincerity of his intentions.

“Listen to me, Sunny. I know I am no match to your mother. I know I am not even your friend – but I will do anything it takes to make you happy the way you deserve it.” – Nick lifted the filly’s head with his fingers on her chin and saw the tears welling up in her eyes. He tried to smile and comfort her, but of no avail – the bitter frown came nowhere.

“You’re not my father!” – Sunrise cried out.

“Am not, you are right. But I will keep trying the best I can. And even more.” – her words sting hard, and Hawkri sighed heavily. He really was just a stranger – who now was just watching for her, living in her house, basically he was just filling the empty space in this house. Nothing more.

So he crouched near the crying filly and lifted her in his hands, enveloping her into the warm embrace, softly patting her back and rocking her back and forth, whispering quietly in her ear an ancient spell that helped relief the grief.

This helped. The quiet sobs were slightly dying down, and then little unicorn returned the embrace.

“Be my daddy?” – she asked.

Hawkri’s heart melted.

Before the noon they were already standing at the city hall – Hawkri, who put on his finest clothes, which he patched up together with Rarity – her materials, his handwork, and Sunrise Glitter – mane combed and braided, looking great. They entered the round hall and stepped up to the counter where Amethyst Star was presumed to be.

“Miss Amethyst?” – addressed Hawkri, looking to the back of the chair.

Chair turned round, revealing the blue and white unicorn, smiling to the visitors.

“Greetings, my name is Romena, and I am substitute for Amethyst. Poor dear got ill.”

“Oh. Give her my best wishes. What about the documents of custody I’ve applied for?” Hawkri inquired.

“Yes, about those… I am afraid we cannot answer you now… It seems like a really specific cause, so you’ll have to go to Canterlot and just speak to the Committee of Family Affairs upon this one…” – Romena smiled sheepishly, handing Nick a small envelope.

He tore the upper part and read the contents:

“Dear Mr. Hawkri,

We are obliged to state that your application of obtaining custody over the foal is rejected until further investigation. We fear that there are no precedents on the fact of human-pony custody or adoption.

We kindly ask you to come by to the conference of the Committee of Family Affairs in Canterlot to sort this out.

With respect and best wishes,

Chairman of Committee,

Brass Quill.”

“Okay, Miss Romena, I get it. Looks like I will have to get there soon enough to sort this out quick, right?”

“Yes, in fact. The best option would be to get there in a week, or otherwise little Sunrise would be considered an orphan officially.” – Romena sighed.

“There’s no way I will allow this. Well, thank you kindly, Miss Romena. This one is for you. “ – Hawkri put the box of bonbons on the table, bowed graciously and left, followed by the filly, who smiled and squeaked “Goodbye, miss Romena!”.

“He’ll be a good father. Now I can say it.” – Romena nearly jumped with shock, hearing the voice behind her. But that was just a Mayor Mare, who smiled and swayed her head.

“May I?” – she took one bonbon from the box and went back to her study, leaving startled Romena behind.

“Alright, Sunny, we’ll do this: now I’ll just leave you for a bit at the library with miss Twilight, okay? She’s a great pony, I think you’ll get on just great, while I’ll go find miss Cheerilee, fine?” – Hawkri explained, while they were walking down the streets from the city hall.

“Sure! I love reading!” – filly nearly jumped with joy and rushed forward to the library, leaving chuckling Nick behind.

“That’s great.” – he sighed out, lighting a cigarette.

“Hey – anyone home?” – answering his demand, a lavender mare’s head, sporting a neat horn, popped from the adjacent room.

“Hawkri! Is that you whom I see?” – Twilight demanded strictly, narrowing her eyes a bit.

“Well, back this morning it was still me.” – our hero chuckled, running a hand through his outgrown bristle. He could certainly use a shave.

“Well, Twilight, this is Sunrise Glitter. Sunny, this is miss Twilight Sparkle.”

“Hello miss Twilight!” – the filly cheered.

“Hello, my little pony! You sure are adorable!” – the librarian cooed, nuzzling the filly.

“Twilight, it’s kind of a long story…”

“I know, Nick. Don’t trouble yourself retelling. What do you need?”

“Basically, I’ll go talk to Cheerilee about Sunny’s enrollment to school. Could you, well, babysit her a bit?” – Hawkri smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck and raising his glasses to let Twilight see his eyes.

“She loves reading, by the way, so I suppose, you will have something to discuss, eh?” – he quickly added.

“Really?!” – Twilight was overjoyed with the news, and turned to Sunrise for approval.

“Yup! I sure love reading!” – she nodded with a smile.

“Why that’s marvelous! Let’s go, then!” – Twilight clapped her front hooves together in pure glee, and led the filly into the library.

“I’ll drop by when everything is sorted out!” – Nick called out, without some special expectations about the answer.

Nothing followed, and our hero went out of the library, smiling.

A short walk brought him to the building of local schoolhouse, that was quiet due to the studies time – the lunch have passed in a while, and Hawkri just sat on the bench, lighting a cigarette.

Time passed, and once already three cigarette butts were sitting quietly in the trash can, the bell rang out and the torrent of foals spilt away from the schoolhouse, separating behind the school gate into smaller groups. Hawkri couldn’t help himself but smile: those foals looked so carefree.

“Замечательное время – детство.” – He sighed to himself, standing up from the bench and proceeding to the schoolhouse, seeking for a special mare.

“Miss Cheerilee?” – Nick knocked at the door, seeing the mare in question sitting at the desk, doing her paperwork.

“My-my, if it isn’t the swear-lover!” – she teased, smiling at Hawkri.

“What can I help you?”

“Miss Cheerilee, I’ve a special affair. You see… “

“Is it about the Green Field’s daughter, Sunny?” – the teacher mare interjected.

“Well, yes. I’d like to ask you if there is a possibility to get her to school?” – Hawkri sighed heavily, sitting at the desk and fiddling with his fingers.

“Sure, there is, but we will need some documents for that!” – Cheerilee pursed her lips in thought, furrowing her brows a bit.

“She looks adorable. Well, adorkable.” – chuckled Hawkri to himself.

“Well, basically, we’ll need her birth certificate, the testament of being in custody… Is she already in custody?”

“That’s the very point. I’ll have to go to Canterlot and sort it out in there, and I shall do it in a week, or Sunny will officially be claimed an orphan!” – Hawkri never noticed, how his fists clenched until they were white.

“I see… Well, I can enroll her to a preschool for a while, individually, while you’ll get your issues sorted out?” – Cheerilee shrugged, bepuzzled.

“That’s the only option, I’m afraid.”

“That would be great, miss Cheerilee! I just need to know Sunny is being watched until I am spinning around. I am in your debt. Really.” – Nick beamed and hugged the teacher pony. She returned the favor.

“It’ll be a pleasure to help you. Really.”

When he finished the school issues, there were only two things left on the agenda: job and a babysitter.

Well, the first was easy to come by – Applejack was asking him if he was okay with some season working, so he should have just told her of his consent. Whereas with the baby, or, rather, a foalsitter…

The familiar door beaconed in front of Hawkri, who inhaled deep, threw away the cigarette and knocked three times.

“Fluttershy, Hawkri here!”

The door opened wide, and a yellow Pegasus greeted the guest warmly.

“Flutters, I would ask you for a great favor…” - began Hawkri, sitting at the comfortable sofa with a mug of herbal tea.

The whole story did not took long to be told, and, once our hero went silent, Fluttershy sat, immersed in deep thought.

“If you’re okay with that, I mean!”- Nick hurried to assure her.

“Sure.” – Fluttershy beamed at him so brightly, that Hawkri felt a large weight drop from his very soul.

He could turn to the most important part – the formal visit to Canterlot. And that was just what he considered doing first.

“Train to Canterlot departing in five minutes! Everypony on board!” – the raspy voice of a conductor ripped through the chilly air, as Hawkri stood on the platform, giving last instructions to Glitter:

“Behave yourself, my little Sunny, and obey Miss Fluttershy. Will you?”

He was rewarded with the approving nod from the filly, and his heart melted again when she embraced him and whispered:

“Come back soon, daddy.”

“I will, my little Sunshine.” – he managed to hide a single manly tear shed.

“Flutters, I owe you one!” – our hero cried out, jumping into the carriage.

“It’s okay! She’s lovely!” – the filly and the mare both waved Nick goodbye, as train swayed its way towards the capital city of Canterlot.

Hawkri sat next to the window and relaxed. He had all the documents, and he was pretty much determined to come back with a victory.

«Со щитом, а не на щите…» - was the last he muttered before dozing off.