Maretime bay was bustling with activity in the night. A rainbow aurora could still be seen lingering above the city. Street lights were turned on, music could be heard across the entire town, earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns could be seen interacting with each other while groups of ponies fixed the remaining damages suffered in the town.
In the sky, Sunny Starscout and Zipp Storm fly together around Maretime Bay, both mares trying out their newly acquired pegasus magic and observing the activities occurring in the town.
Zipp suddenly stopped flapping her wings, halting herself with Sunny following, “It was fun flying around Maretime with you Sunny, the feeling of truly being able to fly is amazing,” she turned to Sunny, “I got to catch up with mum and my sister, have to sort out the mess we caused in Zephyr Heights,” the Pegasus chuckled lightly.
However, Sunny couldn't recropicate the feeling, instead she was reminded that two of her friends and their mum were still fugitives in Zephyr Heights. Sunny hoped that the return of magic to Equestria would decriminalise the ex-royals and make everypony in the city forgive them but she was still worried and unsure.
Zipp noticed the change of attitude in her friend, “What's wrong, Sunny?”
“I’m just worried about you all,”
Zipp smiled, “Don’t worry, we returned flight back to the city, they will be ecstatic to have us back as royals,” Zipp paused, scouting her surroundings beneath, “The guardponies also did not apprehend us yet which reminds me that I should be heading off, bye Sunny,”
Zipp waved before speeding off, Sunny waving her right fore-hoof goodbye until she couldn’t see the pegasus anymore.
Sunny looks around, smiling at the combination of earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns strolling down the streets doing activities, without the fear and disgust that filled every pony prior, instead replaced with joy, laughter and acceptance. The re-construction turned celebration has so far lasted for several hours and expanded further from Maretime, with Alphabrittle and Zoom Zephyrwings sending invitations to their respective cities (Queen Haven insisted that she do it but was stopped when reminded that she was still widely hated in Zephyr Heights) to join in, which some ventured in with curiosity. Sunny spent her time with her new friends and striking up conversations with passing ponies.
While this was all Sunny worked towards her entire life, it was still overwhelming to her, especially with the new body parts she was gifted with? She wasn’t entirely sure if they were temporary or permanent. She noticed her smoothie stand, void of anypony and flew down to a spot nearby which she was very familiar with. She sat down and stared into the ocean. Projecting an image of her dad with her new horn, she starts speaking out loud to herself.
“I wish you were still here dad, to see what I’ve accomplished; what we’ve accomplished. We finally showed everypony that there is nothing to fear about each tribe of ponies, that each difference is a thing to be celebrated. I want to show you my new friends that I made on my adventures,” Sunny paused the catch her breath, “Izzy is a very energetic, ecstatic and creative unicorn; her presence alone brightens up mine and anypony else’s day, she can make the most amazing stuff and can solve problems in way never thought of. When we were stuck by a river, she found a way to make a makeshift bridge to allow us to cross.”
Sunny again paused to catch her breath, she may be an alicorn now but she still has the need for air. “Zipp is an athletic and smart pegasus; she’s a princess of Zephyr Height and natural at parkour and flying. When Izzy and I were going through a canyon near Zephyr Height, she jumped between cliffsides, making us believe that pegasi could fly.”
“I forgot to mention that the unicorns and pegasi lost their magic, similar to how you hypothesize that we lost our earth pony magic long ago. Due to the loss of magic, the unicorns become hopeless and superstitious while the pegasi created a grand city in the sky which looked like how you described Canterlot. The pony tribes started blaming each other for the loss of magic. The royals of Zephyr Heights lied to their citizens by faking flight, which Zipp disagreed with. She showed us an old ruin below the city which had a panel of Twilight Sparkle’s cutie mark and two crystals, which with a third crystal from the projector you gave me, restored magic to Equestria with friendship. She studied physics to fly with her wings and devised a plan to take the pegasus crystal.”
“Zipp has a sister called Pipp. Pipp is an amazing performer, especially in singing. She is also loyal to her sister, staying with her despite the hardships we caused her. She was a symbol of inspiration to Zephyr heights and I believe in her to continue being an inspiration with every pony race.”
Sunny started smiling, “And finally Hitch, you already know him, he still remains to be the prideful, dutiful, reliable and kind sheriff of Maretime bay. I can’t describe how happy I was when Hitch finally started believing. Believing that the other tribes were better than what Canterlogic made them out to be and promising to play his part in restoring magic,”
Sunny sighed, “I don’t know what will come ahead for me and my friends but whatever it is, I will never lose my faith in what you told me, and together, we will triumph over any challenge; I just wished you were still here with me dad,” she dissipates the projection when finishing her soliloquy
She continued to gaze at the ocean, paying special attention to the rainbow aurora in the sky, until she was surprised by some clopping.
She turns to look behind her and notices Hitch, who now stopped, “Nice speech, Sunny,” the stallion complimented.
“How much did you hear,” Sunny asked, worried
“I saw you fly down and start talking to an image of your dad, nice spell I must say,” Hitch responded
Sunny sighed for her part, closing her eyes and facing the ground, “When I'm down, I come here and talk to myself, staring out to the coast. It makes it feel like I'm talking to the spirit of my dad, the projection was an unconscious spell I did.”
Hitch trotted next to Sunny and sat down next to her with some space in between them, “You never know, with the return of magic, maybe you are talking to a spirit,” Hitch then faced Sunny, with an expression of regret, “Look Sunny, I wanted to apologise,”
Sunny looks at Hitch, perplexed, “Apologise for what?”
“FOR EVERYTHING!”, The stallion yelled out, “I’m sorry for everything, for never believing in you and your dad, for yelling at you everytime you caused a mess in Canterlogic. You were right and I discarded you, what a terrible friend I was,”
Sunny looked even more confused, “Are you beating yourself over that! Come on Hitch, I could never stay mad at you, especially when you were the only one to stand up for me in Maretime bay. You weren’t a terrible friend, you were the best friend I could’ve asked for. You were right when you chastised me three days ago, I didn’t prove that pegasi and unicorns weren’t dangerous; no one can’t be blamed for not believing my words over centuries of established rumours.”
“I still feel bad,” Hitch replied
“You’re not at fault,” Sunny affirmed, now putting her right fore-leg on Hitch's back, with a slight blush coming from her, “Aren’t you supposed to be policing the celebration?” she removes her fore-leg from Hitch’s back
Hitch laughed, “If I were, I would’ve shut down the entire party with how many bylaws have been violated, so I’m taking a break for the night,” the sheriff then eyed a crumpled piece of paper on the pavement then pointed at it, “Though it is taking all my willpower to not shout at the that piece of litter,”
Sunny laughed in response, “Hitch, never stop being yourself, you know, you will make a great sheriff the entirety of Equestria,”
Hitch started laughing also, “Thanks for the compliment, but even that is too much for an amazing sheriff like me!” the stallion stood up and did a pose.
Sunny continued laughing, eventually they both stopped laughing and Hitch stood back down.
“Soo, Sunny, what’s next?”
“What do you mean?”
“What are you planning to do after tonight, other than facing anything that you said previously,”
Sunny thought for a second then frowned, hitch noticed and asked, “What’s wrong Sunny?”
Sunny shook her head, “Sorry, you just reminded me of the situation with the royals of Zephyr Heights, are they going to be okay?”
Hitch rubbed his left fore-hoof on his chin while in thought, “I can’t be sure but i’m sure they will be fine,” Hitch finally answered, “But can you answer my question?”
“Sorry, just worried about them, after the lighthouse gets fixed, I'm going through my dad’s old stuff and research to find out the most I can about ancient Equestria,” Sunny’s eyes widened, “I forgot to get a place to stay in!”
Hitch put his left fore-leg over Sunny’s back, smiling at her, “Don’t worry, you can stay in my spare guest room while the lighthouse get rebuilt,”
Sunny smiled back, “Thanks Hitch, but why did you ask?”
Hitch stood up with a grin, “Like you said Sunny, we will face the future together,” Hitch started acting out different poses, “I'll follow you wherever you go! Whether harshest deserts, the coldest tundras, no trail too dangerous, no problem too small!” The earth pony suspended his hoof in the air after the end, still grinning.
Sunny giggled at the act, “It seems like you had some practice to that,” the alicorn then noticed Hitch’s gesture and readily accepted it.
“Up high, down low, hitch it to a post! Flip it sunny-side up and on a piece of toast!” the two ponies energetically shouted while doing their hoofshake.
Hitch also giggled, “Yes, I practised in front of some fluffy bunnies,”
Sunny gives a playful eye roll, “You and critters, do you ever want to find out why you’re such a magnet to cute critters?”
Hitch gave a hearty laugh in response “Probably not, but, hey! I may get answers from one the guardians of harmony; what was her name? Butterfly?”
“Fluttershy... and she was a pegasus, not an insect,”
“Heh, sorry,”
“No need to apologise, at least you somewhat remember the element of kindness,”
They then gazed at each other, butterflies starting to form in Sunny’s stomach, ‘Maybe I should take my chance now,’
Hitch was confused by the extended duration of the stare, that was until Sunny quickly lunged forward and gave a quick peck on Hitch’s cheek, what followed was a completely red Sunny and utterly confused Hitch.
Sunny gave a concerned laugh, “Too forward? Sorry,”
Hitch started muttering, “huh- what?” Hitch shortly regained his consciousness, “No! That was actually quite… nice,”
Sunny was filled with both surprise and relief, “Really?”
“Yeah… maybe we should go watch Terminator neigh together… alone,” Hitch started blushing
Sunny smiled, still red in the face, “Sure, I’m down, it’s a date?”
Hitch laughed, “I guess so, I’m going to go to my office now, see you around Sunny,” Hitch started trotting away, while Sunny waved with her right fore-leg.
Sunny turned back to the coast, looking, now smiling and still remaining a tomato, “I know you will always be with me dad, and I will never forget you,” She whispered to herself.
Author's Note
I ship them 
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