Loneliness was the only emotion she was never used to feeling. Phyllis Cloverleaf wasn't used to being lonely. She was normally having lunch with her son or a couple of her employees that worked at her company. But, at this moment, she wanted some time to be alone. She was sitting at a picnic table that was perched on the sidewalk, staring down at the top surface and not bothering to look up at whoever was around her.
Not only loneliness was the only thing that she was feeling, but she was also feeling regret. Ever since Hitch Trailblazer went on his journey to find Sunny Starscout, after she went behind his back, she made her son, Sprout, temporary sheriff until he came back. Hitch was made sheriff of Maretime Bay years ago, but Sprout wanted that opportunity. Sprout went too far and took advantage of his temporary position. He built a giant remote-control robot that was made to kill unicorns and pegasi. His mother disapproved of that and tried to stop from using it, but he wouldn't listen. He was all caught up in making sure that the city was safe, he destroyed Sunny's home and her father's possessions, while she was trying to assemble three crystals together to bring magic back to the ponies. It turns out that all ponies were looking out for each other during the battle of destruction, which caused their magic to come back.
After all that, Hitch made the decision to put Sprout in a jail cell to think about his actions. When Phyllis watched the real sheriff take her son away, she began to feel regretful of what she made her only child into. She also didn't allow anypony to come talk to her and check on how's doing.
It's been one day since her boy was put in jail, and she was still feeling lonely. Luckily, that was about to end.
"Hey.", said a low male voice.
Phyllis looked up to see Alphabittle, with two cups of tea, floating in his magical aura. "Oh, hey.", she said softly.
Alphabittle sat down on the opposite side of the mare and set the cups down on the table. "You feeling alright?", he asked her.
Phyllis shrugged. "A little, I guess.", she simply answered.
"I figured you've been alone long enough.", Alphabittle said taking the first cup in his hooves. "Also, I got this drink for you." He pushed the second cup toward Phyllis.
The mare slowly took the cup and gently sipped the tea. She sighed contently, savoring the taste. "Thanks.", she said. "Is there a reason why you came to see me."
Alphabittle set his cup down on the table and sighed. "I wanted to come tell you that... that I'm sorry about your son.", he said.
Phyllis hung her head. "I figured you were gonna say that.", she said sadly.
"And considering the fact that you've been out in public a lot, you've allowed nopony to come see or talk to you after what happened yesterday.", Alphabittle said.
Phyllis bit her lip. "That's because I'm Sprout's mother.", she said. "And he completely acted like a mad stallion, trying to murder a couple of innocent ponies."
Alphabittle fiddled with his cup. "If I may ask, what was he problem anyway?", he asked.
Phyllis gulped and fidgeted with her hooves. "Well, I told my son that he was temporary sheriff after Hitch left the city to go find Sunny." She put her hooves to her temples. "And I just sat aside while my son got the courage to become what he wasn't to begin with. Even though, it was for a short amount of time. Heck, he decided to pronounce himself as emporer. He wasn't even supposed to be one anyway."
Alphabittle looked around at the buildings. "Besides, I don't think this city would be suitable for that kind of thing.", he said, sipping his tea.
"Indeed.", Phyllis huffed. "And there was this worst thing I've ever seen him do, he invented this ginormous toy that I knew was gonna be dangerous. I told him to power it off, but he just kept going with it. And not only that, but he also destroyed Sunny's property, her home. And everything in there, it was all that was left of her father, in which everypony thought he was crazy." She slammed a hoof against the table. "If only I had told Sprout what to do, he could've been a proper sheriff! I should've known about that toy he created, if only I had saw what he was making! If only I had control over him, he... he... he wouldn't have ended up in..." She burst out crying, flopping her head against her forehooves, burying her face in them.
Alphabittle was used to seeing ponies all gloomy in Bridlewood, but he's never seen anypony break down into tears before. He reached out a hoof and rubbed Phyllis's right foreleg.
It caused Phyllis to stop crying. She looked up at the grey unicorn stallion with bloodshot eyes and makeup-stained tears matted on the cheeks.
Alphabittle gave her a caring smile, like a father comforting his child when it's troubled. "It's not your fault.", he whispered. "It's true, you could've paid attention to what your son was doing, but I want to let you know that you are still a great mother. I dare say, Sunny told me about her past with him, how he never believed that all ponies were meant to be friends and went on about this tale of how unicorns can use their powers to fry pony brains. I didn't know that was a thing for unicorns. Ah, anywho."
To Alphabittle's surprise, Phyllis smiled and let out a laugh.
"What's funny?", the stallion asked.
"Oh, nothing.", Phyllis giggled, wiping a tear from her face. "I guess I just needed a laugh."
Alphabittle smiled. "Well, I'm glad you got your happy spirits back.", he chuckled. He then tapped his chin, coming up with an idea. "I think I know what you should do."
Phyllis's ears perked up. "Oh yeah, what's that?", she asked.
"Ask for permission from the sheriff if you could visit your son in his jail cell.", Alphabittle said.
Phyllis gasped. "Really?", she asked.
"Of course.", Alphabittle said. "I'm sure your son will be happy to see you, probably after not wishing him a good night last night."
Phyllis downed her tea in one gulp and set the cup down on the table. "You know what, that's exactly what I'll do.", she said, standing up on her hooves. "Thank you." She darted off towards the sheriff's office.
Alphabittle looked on, a smile on his face. He knew in his heart, he did the right thing.
