Hitch honestly wasn't sure why he hadn't noticed on his gallop out of town, but it was now clear as day; Maretime Bay had a very, very big problem.

If citizens weren't carrying, wheeling, or dragging vastly overgrown houseplants out to the trash, they were trying to trim vines, leaves, and twigs from open windows, or sweeping up dirt and broken glass from shattered flower pots. In some cases, damage was done to storefronts and walkways as normally troublesome weeds looked as if they had been allowed to grow unabated for weeks.

"What in Equestria is going on?" Hitch asked.

He got his phone back out, scrolled through his slowly growing list of contacts, and tapped Sprout's name. After a ringing tone sounded a couple times, a video image of his deputy appeared, and it looked as if he was also out on the streets responding to what must be the phone ringing off the hook.

"Hey Hitch. Glad you could make it back so fast. The camp-out okay?" the red stallion asked.

"Well, the campers are okay, but a mysterious tree that grew overnight has undoubtedly ended the camp-out early."

"So any idea what this is? Unicorn magic gone haywire, maybe?" Sprout asked.

"Let's not jump to conclusions, Deputy, and let's keep hypotheses like that away from the public ear. For now, call Maretime Bay Sanitation, and let them know we'll need emergency pickups, get as many shifts as you can. We'll need inspectors looking over the damage, too."

"On it. I'll be in touch."

As soon as the video call with Sprout ended, a text notification popped up even before he was able to put his phone away.

Posey Bloom
I need you at my place as soon as you possibly can, Sheriff. You're not going to believe what I've discovered.

Hitch let out an exasperated sigh as he typed in a reply.

Hitch
Can it wait, Posey? Quite a big problem in town.

It was somewhat understandable if Posey had no idea what was currently happening; she lived so far outside of town that she probably had no idea that everyone else was currently experiencing the plant problems she was no doubt going through as well.

Rather than the three dots that signified that a reply was being typed, a small video player popped up instead, as Posey sent a 14-second video. Hitch pressed play, and the player went to full-screen.

The camera showed Posey's right leg. Hitch squinted as the hoof under her fetlock appeared to glow green. She placed it on the ground before panning the camera up, and the rose garden she was standing in front of suddenly became almost twice as crowded, as additional roses came up through the dirt, grew, matured, and bloomed in just over ten seconds.

The video ended, then the dots appeared for just a moment before another text came through.

Posey Bloom
Bigger than that, Sheriff?

With his eyes wide, Hitch quickly tapped in his reply, knowing it was going to be a very long day, and he was in for quite the workout.

Hitch
I'm on my way.

Author's Note