Jip trotted down the street towards Sunny's house. He had a bowtie on and a letter in his mouth. He had a goofy smile as he slowly sped up. He could see Sunny in the background, but she was with another pegasus.
"So...you like the Wonderbolts?" The stallion was rather skinny and his coat was dark lavender.
"Pfft! What kind of pegasus would I be if I didn't?" Sunny giggled as the stallion konked his head. Jip sped up rather quickly.
"Hey Sunny, who's this?" The pink mare looked rather surprised to see him.
"Oh, hey Jip! This is Silver Script. He's a new pegasus from Manehatten. Jip stared at the stallion from head to toe.
"Uh...hi." The stallion greeted, offering a hoofshake.
"Hi." Jip greeted him rather harshly. He stuffed the letter underneath his feathers before accepting the hoof.
"What's with the get-up?" Silver Script asked, getting a panicked reaction from Jip.
"Um...FAMILY DINNER!" Sunny stared at the pegasus doubtfully. "Yep! I had a family dinner."
"Anyway...Jip, do you want to hang out with me and Silver?" Jip's face heated up. "We were heading down to help Ginger with her plants! ...Jip?" Jip grinded his teeth and stomped away, mumbling under his breath. "Stupid Silver Script. Ruining my chance with Sunny." Jip looked up and saw an aqua pegasus gently kicking clouds away. He groaned as the mare gave him a wave.
"Hi Jip!" She said as she reached the ground. "You look kind of down, what's up?" Sirena, the only pony he had ever been jealous of, at least before Silver Script showed up... 'Wait, what!?' Sirena waved a hoof in front of Jip's face.
"Sorry Sirena. Kinda spaced out."
"That's okay!" She said with a smile. "It hapens to the best of us...but seriously, what's wrong?"
"There's a new pegasus in town, his name is Silver Script." Sirena stood there, sucked into the conversation.
"Is he mean or something?"
Jip shrugged. "Not really, at least he SEEMED nice. I just don't like him for some reason..." He said, raising a suggestive hoof. Sirena nodded.
"Are you jealous?"
"Why would I be jealous?!" Jip asked rather harshly. Sirena scooted backwards on her haunches.
"I-I don't know!" Jip turned and took to the skies, searching for a certain pink pegasus. "Where are they?" 'We were going to go to Ginger's to...' Jip stopped in his tracks. He had been going the wrong way!
***
He landed in Ginger's backyard to find the two ponies gardening. Sunny turned around to grab some flowers when she saw Jip.
"Jip! I'm so happy you could make it! We really need the extra hooves." She said, hinting to Silver Script who was trying to set up sprinklers.
Jip gave her a false grin. "Happy to help!" He enthused. Sunny smiled and left Jip alone, heading over to Silver Script to help. Jip sighed and picked up some tulips, placing them in a previously dug hole. He could hear laughing behind him but he dare not look. The screen door flew open, a blue unicorn jumping out. He was levitating a tray of lemonade and, luckily for him, none was spilled. He was shortly followed by a reddish brown mare. She had violet eyes and her cutie mark was a spice flower. Sunny got up and trotted over to her, pointing out that Jip had arrived. The blue unicorn was still wagging his tail to an imaginary beat as he set the tray on a patio table. He plopped himself down on the ground next to Jip, and started levitating flowers into holes.
"Sorry you don't get any lemonade, pal. Me and Ginger only made enough for us, Sunny, and that new stallion, Silver Script." Jip crushed one of the flowers at the mention of Silver Script. Sparky stared at the flowers, then at Jip. "What the heck, man?"
"Nothing, just forget it." Jip got up and disappeared behind the shed.
***
Sunny giggled as the sprinkler fell over for the sixth time. She stopped when she heard sobbing coming from behind the shed. She got up to investigate, and realized Jip wasn't next to Sparky. She slowly approached the shed, and could see a brown tail.
"Jip?" The sobbing stopped, and the tail was pulled back behind the shed.
"What?" He asked, angrily. Sunny grew more concerned.
"What are doing back here?" She knew that wasn't what she really wanted to know. "...and, why are you crying?"
"I'm not crying."
Sunny turned to walk away, and heard a sniff from behind.
***
Jip slowly walked down the street to Sugarcube Corner, he couldn't think about anything except Silver Script. 'Silver Script this' Silver Script that'! He shook his head vigorously. He opened his eyes to see Pinkie Pie leaning towards him.
"Hi!" Her smile stretched out for a mile, no joke. Jip unfortunately didn't feel like returning the favor.
"Hi Pinkie." He replied as he continued to walk.
"What's the bummer, Summer?" She skipped alongside him as he started to speed up.
"Nothing, Pinkie." He said, starting to get annoyed.
"Sure doesn't seem like nothing..." She said with a persuasive smile.
"Well it is!"
"I can tell it isn't!"
"It's none of your business, Pinkie!" They were at a full gallop and Jip slowly flew into the air. He flew for a minute or two before resting on a cloud. "Finally, some peace."
"I'm a friend, I can help!" Pinkie was sitting beside him on his left side.
"AAH!" Jip took off in the direction of Cloudsdale. He crashed next to a lavender alicorn sitting on a parkbench., causing her to jump. Pinkie bounded after him, balloons strapped to her waist.
"Jip! Come back!"
"No!"
"Jip, I can help!"
"No you can't, go away!" Jip bolted for his house, knocking a few ponies over on the way. He ran inside, slamming the door behind him. He put his ear to the door, then, after a few silent moments, slipped it away. He marched up to his room, not sure if he was angry at Pinkie or Silver Script. He lifted a picture off of the nightstand and sighed, admiring the good old days. In the picture was a small colt and a pink filly. Jip set the picture on his bed before stuffing his face in the pillows, crying it all out.
***
Sunny knocked on Jip's door several times before growing impatient. She flipped out her notebook after sitting down. With the pencil in her mouth ready to go, she just needed to figure out what to draw. Jip opened the door and she was just able to stuff it into her saddlebag before he could see the beautifully drawn portrait of a certain stallion.
"Hey Jip!"
"Sunny?" Jip glanced into Sunny's saddlebag and saw a glimmer of orange from her notebook. "What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to make sure you were okay..." She blushed a little. "I haven't seen you for days, and I was getting kind of worried."
"I've been at home...thinking."
"..."
"I know it's none of my business, but...are you jealous of Silver Script?"
Jip looked at the ground shamefully. "I...didn't like him hanging out with you."
"Why?"
Jip bit his lip, took a deep breath, and let it out. "BecauseIsawhimhangingoutwithyouandIgotjealousbecauseIthoughthewashittingonyouandIdidn'tlikeitbecause, I like you!"
Sunny blinked, then started laughing. "Oh, Jip! You know that you'll always be my best, best friend. Even when my other friend is a colt!" She thought over her choice of words, then smiled triumphantly. Jip gave a relieved sigh.
"Oh good! Because I thought you'd be mad!" Sunny's smile quickly faded.
"Wait, you like me?" Jip blushed, chuckling nervously.
Jip sat moping on a cloud. He sighed. Sunny had been asking for the new Crystal Empire snowglobe, but it was too expensive for him. He watched as Sirena and Sparky walked by. They were laughing and having a good time together.
"What's with the frown?" Jip jumped as Silver Script asked him the question.
"Silver! What are you doing in my moping spot?"
"Doing my job." He replied with a tap on his badge. "I'm Rainbow Dash's newest recruit on the weather team!"
"I don't think they give out badges on the weather team."
"They don't!" Silver Script said proudly. "Rainbow made it just for me!" Jip rolled his eyes at Silver Script's stupidity. "Anyway, what's with the frown big boy?"
"I can't get Sunny what she wants for Hearths Warming!"
"Hmm..." Silver Script scratched his chin. "Just get her a hug!"
Jip raised an eyebrow. "Seriously!?"
"It's Hearths Warming!" Silver saw Rainbow Dash in the distance. "Watch the master."
Silver Script pulled out a rose, headed in Rainbow's direction, and was soon flying into the Everfree.
***
Jip hung his head low as he continued his search for the perfect present. He was about to give up when he bumped into someone.
"I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going!"
A pale green alicorn dusted himself off with a smile.
"It's alright, everypony makes mistakes." The stallion had dark green hair, blue eyes, and his feathers were a lighter green. His cutie mark was a bit in front of a star.
"Cricket..." Jip shook his head. "Uh, Prince Cricket!"
"May I ask what distracts you so much?"
"It's this mare..." Jip sighed. Cricket continued listening, his eyes fixed on Jip. "I'm trying to find her a Hearths Warming present."
"Something tells me it is more than a silly present." Jip looked up at Cricket, who was now frowning at him.
"Yeah, I like her." A smile returned to Cricket's face. "But no matter how much I try, I can't tell her how I feel."
Cricket nodded. "I understand. Now if you'll excuse me..." Cricket's wings spread, showing off his uniquely colored feathers. "I myself have a mare to find." He leaned in to whisper in Jip's ear. "By the way...give her a present from the heart."
"Huh?" Before Jip could say 'wait' Cricket had already taken off.
***
Jip ran through Cloudsdale, searching for Sunny Days. He finally found her, but not without becoming out of breath.
"Sunny! Thank goodness-*gasp*-I found you! *gasp*-I've-*gasp*-been looking-*gasp*-all over for you!"
"Jip? Are you okay?"
"No-*gasp*-time for that-*gasp*-right now! I need to talk to you!" Jip handed her a small box with a note attached.
Dear Sunny, you probably weren't expecting this. We have been friends since we were foals, and I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you. Thank you. Inside the box is one of the most valuable, one of the rarest, one of the most prized things I could give you...my heart
Sunny carefully opened the box, and inside was a ruby...in the shape of a heart.
"I know it's not exactly the kind of thing you would expect, but I carved it myself and it's from the heart. So do you like it?"
Sunny stared at the gemstone in front of her, awestruck.
"Sunny? Helloo-hm?" Sunny Days held Jip in a tight embrace, tears flowing down her cheeks.
"It's perfect..." She whispered.
