Argyle Starshine strolled down the path, away from the lighthouse he called home. He’d grown up there, himself, and now he was raising his daughter there as well. The lighthouse had been passed down from generation to generation on his mother’s side of the family.
The thing that he liked most about the old lighthouse was that it was located outside of town, well off the beaten path. Argyle was now keeper of the family tradition, and custodian to the greatest treasures of antiquity. The lighthouse had more history crammed inside its nooks and crannies than the Maretime Bay Historical Society’s building in the center of town. In a perfect world, it would be a museum.
But Equestria was hardly a perfect world. By all accounts it had never been perfect, but he had more than enough evidence to prove that it had once been a much better place. A world where magic existed. A world where earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns lived in harmony.
The ponies of Maretime Bay had always been closeminded. They’d been just as afraid of the other tribes when he’d been a colt, and his mother and grandfather had both confirmed it had been that way when they were each younger too. It was hardly an appropriate environment to raise his own daughter, his only surviving family.
His parents had long since passed on, barely even having a chance to meet their granddaughter before succumbing to old age. Sunny had few memories of them, and it broke his heart. It was his own fault for waiting so long to start a family. Well, partially his fault. Most ponies had been avoiding him his whole life, as they didn’t like the words coming out of his mouth. Friendship and tolerance were lovely things, they’d say, but not for flying brutes or mind-reading hornheads. Then one day, a young mare, almost half his age, listened to his message. They clicked. It had been love at first sight. She’d born him a lovely daughter, and a son. A son that he’d held in his hooves exactly once.
He could still remember that night vividly. He’d taken Sunny to the hospital to witness the birth of her little brother. It had been a miraculous day, and the rumor of unicorn blood in his family line had been proven true, as the little colt had been born with a horn. He and Falling Star had named him Twilight Star.
Then he’d taken Sunny home for the evening, so the hospital could keep an eye on mother and newborn son. There was nothing unusual about that. He’d gotten the call an hour or so after putting Sunny down for bed. There’d been ‘complications’ from the birth. Neither his wife nor son had made it.
He was convinced the only complication was that his child had been born a unicorn and not an earth pony. Records indicated that it hadn’t uncommon for two ponies of one tribe to have a foal of a different tribe. At least not back then. The blood of all three tribes still flowed through most ponies, so what happened when an earth pony bore a unicorn or pegasus foal? The foal disappeared and it was recorded as a stillbirth. Falling Star had fought back. He’d found out about that much too late from a nurse who’d been there. A nurse that had objected until they’d threatened to make her next.
Sunny was all he had left. Sunny, and a burning desire to reunite the three tribes once and for all. Now, he was being taken from both. Hitch Trailblazer had come to his home in a panic, warning him that the townsponies were tired of his heretical talk and had formed a lynch mob. Hitch had begged him to take Sunny and escape. Argyle had refused, and tasked the young stallion with keeping Sunny safe. Safe, and oblivious. If she were to have any hope of uniting the tribes, it would do her no good to know that the ponies of Maretime Bay had killed her mother, baby brother, and her father. She would resent them. She’d run away to Bridlewood or Zephyr Heights and there was no telling what might happen to her there. It was one thing to invite ponies from other tribes to come visit you, it was quite another to walk unannounced into one of their centers of population.
He hurried down the path, desperate to put as much distance between himself and the lighthouse as possible. They’d killed an infant, he couldn’t trust them not to kill a filly too. If they caught him in town, he sincerely hoped it would be too much trouble to go to the lighthouse to get Sunny too. If they did, Hitch would have enough warning to get her to safety. He was a good colt. In a perfect world, he’d have welcomed Hitch as a son-in-law. But Equestria wasn’t a perfect world. That much was apparent as he drew closer to town and the angry mob that had gathered there.
He was quickly grabbed by the town’s sheriff and dragged to town square, then forced into the noose. Argyle was relieved as he saw that the mob seemed satisfied with only him. Nopony was headed to the lighthouse. Sunny was safe, and she would be able to continue their sacred mission to restore magic to the world.
The floor dropped out of the makeshift gallows and everything went black as Argyle's neck snapped.
Hitch stayed with Sunny that evening, listening to her talk about tribal unification, and even dressing up like a unicorn while Sunny pretended to be a pegasus. He didn’t believe any of her words, and he hoped that she’d eventually grow out of such nonsense once her father was out of the picture. Argyle was a good stallion, though misguided. He certainly didn’t deserve the fate the town had sentenced him to. In a perfect world, the sheriff would be protecting the citizens of Maretime Bay, not stirring up a vigilante mob against an innocent pony just to be rid of a perpetual irritant.
He periodically looked out the window, but not once did he see the glow of torches. The crowd’s bloodlust had been sated with Sunny’s father. But how much longer could they be held off from removing Sunny from the equation too? The silly filly was merely misguided, not evil. She wanted what was best for the world, just like he did, and just like her father did. He mentally cursed the stubborn stallion for not running away. He cursed him for martyring himself to a cause that had but one believer, a believer he was leaving alone to fend for herself.
But mostly he cursed himself for letting things get out of hoof. But what good could one colt do? All he could do now was protect Sunny, as he’d promised Argyle he would. As he’d promised when that maddeningly stubborn stallion marched down the hill to his death. He looked out the window for the umpteenth time. No angry mob. But no Argyle either. All he could do was hope the stallion would see reason and return home to the daughter he loved. Whether that be to flee, or to cheerfully announce he’d renounced his beliefs to the crowd in exchange for his freedom. Would they cut him free? He pondered that, knowing damn well that there was no way Argyle Starshine would ever do so. It was as much a part of him as it was a part of Sunny.
Sunny, the filly he’d been friends with his whole life. The only pony in town willing to speak to her for more than basic interactions.
Sunny, the teenaged filly he was now tasked with protecting.
Sunny, the soon to be orphan.
Sunny, the annoyed young mare who was frustrated by his lack of enthusiasm for unity and friendship.
Sunny, the innocent, naive angel he’d fallen head over hooves in love with despite her kooky beliefs.
There was nothing he wouldn’t do for her. His heart leapt to his throat when somepony knocked on the door. He’d gotten lax in keeping his vigil and now he feared for Sunny’s safety. He shadowed her as she opened the door.
When he saw it was the sheriff, he made his presence known, standing behind her. The sheriff kept it brief and formal. There’d been an accident. Sunny’s dad didn’t make it. Hitch draped a foreleg over Sunny until the sheriff reminded him that there was a curfew, and that if he ever wanted to be with Maretime Bay’s police force, he’d better get home before it went into effect.
The sheriff escorted Hitch out of the lighthouse, leaving Sunny alone. Alone to face her grief, her confusion, her fear of what was to come next.
‘Accidents happen.’ At least that was what ponies said. Hitch replayed the sheriff’s words in his head as they walked away from the lighthouse. Without turning around, he knew that Sunny would be staring out the window, watching the last pony in the world who cared for her leave her alone in her time of need.
The sheriff boasted about how they’d taken out Maretime Bay’s worst offender once and for all. He was proud of what his angry mob had accomplished. Hitch bristled as the sheriff casually mentioned that Hitch should keep Sunny on a short leash lest the same fate meet her in the future.
They turned the corner, finally out of sight of the lighthouse. Would Sunny stand silent vigil at the window, hoping against hope that he’d return once the sheriff marched him home? Maybe. But Hitch had no intention of going home, and even less intention of letting the sheriff get away with arranging the murder of an innocent stallion.
‘Accidents happen.’ It was what ponies would say when the sheriff’s body was recovered. It was dark, the path was slippery, and he stumbled off the edge of the cliff, landing on the rocks jutting out of the ocean hundreds of feet below. Hitch would never admit to pushing the bastard, not even to Sunny. Few mourned the passing of the sheriff, but fewer still mourned the death of Argyle Starshine.
Sunny wasn’t at the window as he made his way back up the path. He found her curled up in bed, under the covers, sobbing uncontrollably. Hitch assured her that he would be there for her. To comfort her. To protect her. To periodically remind her to forget about the pegasi and unicorns.
Deep in his heart, Hitch knew that ‘an eye for an eye’ was wrong. In a perfect world, it wouldn’t be necessary. In a perfect world Argyle and Sunny wouldn’t have strayed so far from the herd. In a perfect world, he wouldn’t have murdered a murderer in cold blood.
But Equestria wasn’t perfect.
