“Ugh...”
Her vision was bleary, and her eyelids were closing and opening before she was ready to completely open them.
“What time is it?” She asked with a groggy voice along with her hoof stumbling and hitting objects from her nightstand table.
Without much thinking, she grabbed her phone and the light burned into her eyes, making her immediately squint and close them. After the tiny headache that came with the flash, she immediately made sure she lowered the lighting bar.
And now, to finally answer her question, the clock told her the hour.
It was early... Incredibly early. That type of early that everyone's sleeping, and it still looks late. The sun hasn't even been set yet.
‘Ugh, I knew I shouldn't have binge-watched that season of Ponyphoria...’ Pipp's entire biological clock was screwed up. She could go back to sleep, but that would just make her wake up tardier than the rest of her friends. And she was also not tired at all, especially after that moment of blindness. om, just for the two of them. Perfect for Pipp, too big for Zipp. A place full of white and golden decorations that represented the elegance of the castle. It's not like she missed it, she loved sleeping in the lighthouse with all of her friends, but it still was a lot to think of considering how much her life changed after meeting Sunny and company.
In comparison, the room she was in was big but small. And of course, it was smaller, she had many roommates now. Though that brought the disadvantage of waking up to Izzy's magical shenanigans and feeling a weird entity in the place. She remembered how Zipp was teasing her that there was a ghost in the lighthouse; Sunny's father to be exact. Oh, Zipp and her obsession with spooky and detective stuff. It was all a funny joke to her.
But it wasn't funny to Pipp.
She looked at her sleeping sister, who she was carrying (more like hugging) a book of Sherlock Clops. The white pegasus must've fallen asleep while reading it. Then there was Izzy, sleeping in the most strange of ways. Pipp wasn't even going to turn her head upside down, asking how was the unicorn even able to sleep like this. It was Izzy after all. Not much had to be said. That pony had fun being stuck inside a metal box!
And finally, she looked at Sunny. Was she... whimpering? The orange earth pony shifted several times on her bed, getting tangled with her own blanket and holding it tighter each time she rolled over.
Pipp looked side to side, making sure no one would wake up, not even Cloudpuff who was in his tiny bed sleeping peacefully. The pink pegasus took off her robes and quietly opened a drawer from her nightstand.
This wasn't much, but it was all she could do for the mare without disturbing her. It wasn't sure if this would help her, but it worked for herself... it was worth a shot.
Pipp turned on a humidifier, a candle, and some incense, making the room more calm and scented. Finally, she took one of her old phones she had in case of an emergency and connected it with Bluehoof to a speaker. Then she played a relaxing ASMR video on PonyTube.
The mare kept walking, finally reaching her sister's bed. She took the book and looked around, searching for a bookmarker. Oh, silly Zipp. She had it on her teeth! Carefully, the pegasus took it off and placed it on the page before closing the book and leaving it next to her sister's nightstand.
Her green eyes stared at Izzy.
She didn't need any help. She can fend for herself.
At last, she looked at the newest addition to the room. A yellow and aquamarine bed with a very chaotic organization on the nightstand... lots of papers... probably from cases. She sighed.
He was out already? How early did he leave?
Pipp knew Hitch always left earlier than the rest. Heck, everyone did know this. Sheriff duties.
And it seemed like he took little Sparky as well. Poor little thing, it could've slept more in that comfortable bed of his.
From her understanding, Hitch was a very... proud pony. Both in good and bad ways. He was responsible, diligent and loyal, but... his ego sometimes flew over his head. Not like Sprout, luckily. The colt acknowledged his nice attributes and qualities, and she enjoyed that. It takes a lot to take pride in oneself. Hitch was also a colt that gave acts of service as affection. That and his pride did not match, for he most of the time rejected personal help, which brings us to the day Sunny, Zipp, Pipp and Izzy were trying to convince him to move into the lighthouse.
It 's too far away. He said once, and Zipp objected that it was for the best to be living here close to the crystals. As the sheriff and now one of the responsible ponies of bringing the magic back, it's a shared duty between the Mane 5 to take care of the artifacts.
I can keep just visiting. He gave another excuse, to which Sunny argued back that sleeping in the lighthouse was way more comfortable than in his office.
It was then when Sparky was brought into the picture by Sunny.
Are you sure you can take care of him? I know you do, but do you really think having him sleep here is the best for Sparky?
With hesitation, he ended up accepting, and so far, things have been amazing! His friends have totally been helping him with the baby. Thanks to his communicating abilities, Hitch discovered dragons enjoyed eating gems, and Izzy offered plenty of the ones she carried back home. Zipp distracted the dragon sometimes, even taking him to fly! Sparky was officially one of Sunny's smoothie's beta testers, even! And Pipp... well...
“Twinkle Twinkle little StAR, how I wonder that you—”
“WHAAAAAAAA!!!!” Loud crying echoed in the hallways of the lighthouse in the middle of the night. A desperate and worried Hitch was cradling and panicking, trying to sing even with voice cracks in an attempt to calm the baby dragon.
The colt immediately ran from the room as soon as he heard the baby crying in his crib. He didn't want to wake everyone and at this moment he was rethinking his decision of staying here and that it was a better idea to stay at the office.
Almost immediately, he heard fast hooves clacking against the floor.
He looked to see who it was. It was a lilac mare with pink eyes and a blue wavy mane with purple tones. His unicorn friend, Izzy Moonbow!
Without exchanging words, she walked closer to the dragon with a facial expression of concern.
“What's wrong? Why is he crying?” She asked.
“I uh— uh... I don't know.” He stammered. “He started crying all of a sudden.”
“Maybe he's hungry?”
“I tried to bottle-feed him, and he kicked it.”
Izzy closed her eyes and a rainbow aura appeared around her horn, illuminating the room. In a matter of seconds, a couple of gems floated to where they were.
“Maybe he needs gems!” The unicorn grinned. “Open up! Big Sparky boy!”
Maybe Izzy was too enthusiastic because that grin of hers and basically shoving the gems up to the baby's face just made it worse. The baby cried louder and flailed his little arms around, throwing all the gems and causing a bigger mess. Both visually and audibly.
Izzy took some steps back and frowned.
“It's okay Izzy. You tried your best.” Hitch said, trying to cheer her up.
“I made it worse...”
“And so could've I. Don't think much of it.”
Both ponies looked at the crying baby.
“What should we do?” A sad Izzy asked, but then her frown turned upside down. Her eyes sparkled. “That's it! Stay here! I have an idea!"
And that's when Hitch saw Izzy run away. Oh geez, what was that pony up to?
Eventually he saw her back, pushing a tired Sunny to where they were. His eyes opened like plates.
“If this is your definition of help, I don't want it! The least I wanted to do is to wake up more ponies!” He stage-whispered at her.
“Oh pfff—” Izzy blew a raspberry, moving a dismissive hoof. “I was in my way to the bathroom when I found you here with crying Sparky.”
“Hmmgh?” Sunny rubbed her hoof against her eye. “Sparky was crying? Is that why you brought me here, Izzy?”
“Yes!” Izzy responded. “We wanted to see if you could offer us some help.”
“Before you ask, he's not hungry.” Hitch added, and suddenly lowered his ears when the baby dragon started to cry harder.
Now it was Sunny's turn to approach the creature.
“Can I hold him?” She asked, looking at Hitch with doubtful green eyes. Hitch nodded and she proceeded to hold the baby. Sunny slowly shook him and cradled him. The baby still cried.
Sunny hummed and placed her hoof over Sparky's forehead.
“He doesn't have a fever...” She continued to move the baby to his back and gently pat his back, trying to get some burps out of the green dragon, but alas... nothing.
“Weird... and you say that he's not hungry?” She asked, handing him back to his father.
“Nope.”
“I still think that he's hungry.” Izzy responded.
“He's not, we've been there! We saw how—”
Sparky interrupted Hitch again with more incessant and louder crying, the trio of ponies stayed more preoccupied at this very moment.
Now it was so loud it could wake anypony.
“I'm just so... worried. He's crying too much, I don't want him to get his throat sore after all of this.” Hitch said, the wrinkles of his face appearing more with his eyebrows.
“Has he gone to the bathroom, Hitch?” Sunny asked.
“Yes, well— tried to at the very least. He wasn't interested.”
The three ponies hummed, until they heard the fast flapping of wings, meaning that was...
“Zipp!” They shouted all together.
“I heard crying! What's going on?” She panted and asked with intrigue.
Hitch raised Sparky, Sunny pointed at the baby with an awkward grin, and Izzy just shrugged.
“It's Sparky. He's been crying for over 20 minutes.” Hitch explained.
“And we still haven't found the reason or a way to calm his down.” Sunny frowned and tried to use her hoof to pet his belly, but he pushed her back.
“I uh— I should apologize for waking you up, Sunny.” Izzy scratched her back while looking at the latter mare.
“Don't worry Izzy.” She left her hoof over Izzy's body. “I was having a really bad nightmare while sleeping.”
Sunny shared a look with Izzy and smiled at the unicorn.
“So I should thank you for waking me up.” She smiled wider, now showing her teeth. Sunny playfully bumped her best friend, making her purple friend giggle and bump her back.
“It still didn't prevent Zipp from waking up...” Hitch looked down, ashamed.
“Me? Waking up? Pfff! Dude! I was pulling an all-nighter watching Noir movies! Man, Hitch! We should probably watch some eventually! But yeah— uh...” She tapped a couple of times, some accessory in her ear. “Airpods. Couldn't hear Sparky until I finished a movie.” Zipp looked at the baby dead in the eye and then Hitch.
“Hungry?”
“Nope.”
“Sick?”
“Nope.”
“Has he taken a dump?”
“NO ZIPP!” He shouted and complained.
“Maybe it's tha—"
“Look. He doesn't want to go potty!” He responded, now more irritated.”
Zipp laughed at the terminology.
“Shit man! Don't take it on me!”
Sunny furrowed her eyebrows and took the role as the mom of the group.
“Hitch, we get it that this is stressing you out, but don't use Zipp or any of us like a punching bag.” She scolded.
Hitch's eyes widened, feeling regret for his mistake.
“Oh dang, I... I didn't realize, sorry, Zipp.” He frowned back at the pale pegasus, taking accountability of his actions.
“No offense taken, man. The way I see it, you and this baby need to relax!” She walked in front of Hitch and the crying dragon baby he was holding. She waved at Sparky, but he ignored her. “Mind if I borrow Sparky? I'm gonna give him the flight of his life!”
“Please...” Hitch begged, now with eyebags on his face. “Anything for the mother of Celestia...”
Without any seconds to waste, Zipp immediately grabbed the baby dragon and flew out of the window.
And now, there was silence. Such peaceful silence that wasn' t taken for granted until a green baby dragon was screaming his lungs out.
All three ponies sighed in relief.
“I'm so glad Sparky hasn't awoken anyone...”
“Uh, well... there's Pipp.” Izzy responded to Hitch. “When I came to look for Sunny, I remember seeing her asleep.”
“The last thing we want is to wake her up.” Sunny added. “Didn't Zipp mention something about her getting all cranky in the morning?”
“Wait... really?” Hitch giggled and raised an eyebrow. “She doesn't seem like the type.” He tapped his chin and looked down with a tiny smile, trying to think into that situation. Somehow... such a tiny pegasus all fluffed up and angry seemed adorable.
Sunny slowly moved her head in confirmation.
“I can assure you that she seems like it. I don't know what you mean about her not being the type?”
Hitch was definitely biased. From the moment he saw her the first time, he thought of her as a graceful angel, and maybe he accidentally kept that state of mind after all the adventures and friendship.
“She definitely is the type. I had to see it myself.” Izzy grinned awkwardly, reminiscing a moment she had with the mare after accidentally waking her up. “But maybe she kind of held a grudge on me after taking some of her stuff...”
“The gift incident?”
“The gift incident.” Sunny answered to Hitch.
“And I still apologize for taking all of your things...”
Sunny hugged Izzy.
“That's okay, Izzy. The past is in the past.” Sunny looked at Hitch and smiled. “It might be too late for smoothies, but how about I make some hot chocolate to relax?”
Hitch lit up.
“That's a great idea! I think I need some of that sugar energy right now..."
“I love hot chocco! But why can't we have smoothies right now?”
Sunny remained with her leg over Izzy's body.
“Oh, silly Izzy! It's midnight!” With her hoof, she poked the unicorn's snout, and Izzy giggled.
“Then what are we waiting for?! Let's get those hot chocolates!” Izzy raised her hoof excitedly.
Just when the ponies were in the direction to go to the kitchen, Zipp entered from the window immediately.
“Zipp!?” Hitch shouted. Zipp didn't say a word and gave him the crying baby dragon like a heavy sack of potatoes. Her face was tired and full of scratch marks. She was an entire mess.
“He didn't want a ride.”
Now Hitch was walking in circles trying to figure out what was going on.
“I say that he's hungry!” Izzy suggested.
“No, he's not! Didn't you listen to Hitch?” Sunny responded.
“I say that he needs to take a fat dump. He hasn't taken one.”
“Yeah! Because he's sick!” Sunny also responded to Zipp.
“HE'S NOT ANY OF THOSE THINGS! This is MY baby, and I'll know what he has wrong!” Hitch shouted now angered and apoplectic.
“But you don't! You don't even trim his nails!” Zipp responded now annoyed.
“Hey! Respect each other!” The earth pony berated.
“Oh— THAT'S IT! You don't get to judge how I take care of my child!”
The tension was so thick it could be cut with a knife and like a boiling pot of tea, it was overflowing. The ponies kept shouting and arguing, except for Izzy, who then again had another one of her amazing ideas by the look of her inspired elated face.
“Wait! Guys! Stop!”
But they didn't listen.
“Guys if you please—”
“Hey...”
Izzy took a deep breath and...
“GUYS. COULD YOU PLEASE LISTEN TO ME!?”
Everyone suddenly turned quiet, except for the crying baby dragon, of course.
... That was too deep of a voice to be imagined on Izzy.
“I have an amazing idea that I think will solve Sparky's problem!”
All of the ponies stared at her.
“Let's make funny faces at him! That'll cheer him up!”
“Eh, it doesn't hurt to try,” Zipp said with a shrug and a smile.
“Do we have another choice...?” Hitch sighed, feeling that he was setting himself up for something humiliating, although he was ready to do anything for his child.
“Nope! By the looks of things, we don't!” Sunny said enthusiastically. “C'mon everypony! Let's show Sparky our most funny faces!”
Like zombies, they all started making weird noises and facial expressions at the baby dragon. However, instead of happiness and clapping, the ponies were faced with a baby that was petrified and was crying louder.
Now all three ponies started panicking at the same time, and this did not help at all. Because they started being more clumsy and causing a cacophony and a disaster, which made the baby cry even more.
“WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?” A different voice spoke loudly, and all ponies froze, looking at where it came from.
“Pipp, we already have a crying baby, we don't need you being all moody and all over the place.” Zipp exasperated.
“Is this what's going on and causing all this mess?” The pegasus appeared into the light, wearing delicate robes and a creepy-looking facial mask, which she took right there.
Everyone looked at Hitch.
“I'm too tired to explain it again.” He groaned.
“Sparky has been crying for no reason for an hour.” Sunny started to explain, to later on being interrupted by Hitch.
“IT'S BEEN AN HOUR?!”
“And we've tried everything, food, bathroom, playing with him, taking him outside... A-anything! And he still hasn't calmed down!”
Pipp hummed and looked at the baby. She looked at Hitch with no hesitation.
“Give me the baby.”
He was obedient and gave the crying child to her. She sat down and looked at it.
“Aw, you poor little thing...” With her, she tried to pet his head, but he tried to not let her touch him.
Pipp cleared her throat and started to hum a song that was very familiar to all ponies.
“Aaaa~”
Sparky slowly stopped moving and the more Pipp sang, the quieter he became until it was silent, and the only sound was Pipp's vocals. The baby was entranced, looking at her.
But he wasn't the only one, all of them were. Especially Hitch, who was looking at her fixation.
Out of stress, he didn't take the time to look at her properly. She looked so delicate with those robes, and even without makeup, she remained just as beautiful as she was with it. Her bedhead was adorable. And... something about seeing this mare taking care of his baby dragon was... attractive?
The last sentence crossed his mind, and he moved his hoof to his mouth, blushing slightly at his own mind.
All the pretty attributes of the singing mare who was cradling now his child were highlighted by the moonlight.
Was she really a demon when waking up? Because he swore he was witnessing an angel.
Pipp caught on with his staring and looked away, feeling something different from how this pony stared at her in comparison to her fans. It wasn't anything bad, she welcomed it, but feeling her cheeks warm up and tickle and Hitch being the cause of it was something new.
Pipp finally stopped singing and looked down at the baby dragon, who had a tiny smile on his face.
All her friends were left astounded with their mouths agape.
“How did you do that!?” Izzy asked excitedly.
“Oh?—” She chuckled. “Me? Honestly, I just improvised.” Pipp kept laughing until she saw Hitch walk closer to her with a tender smile, even if his eyes looked tired.
“Pipp, thank you so much...” He said with a softer tone, making the fur on her neck spike up. Oooh. Goosebumps.
“I— uh—... you're welcome.” She grinned and looked down at the dragon, giving him soft pets.
Sparky smiled.
Maybe... too much. He looked extremely relaxed until...
Pipp felt something warm on her tummy.
And it wasn't exactly butterflies.
Sparky shoot her with vomit all over her robe, and the poor pegasus opened her mouth in disgust with a face full of terror and pain.
“Hah! I told you he was sick!” Sunny shouted with victory at Hitch, while Pipp kept panicking and trying to not let out the biggest scream she could commit.
After getting her makeup and hair done, Pipp quietly walked down the stairs to the kitchen. It was still dark.
Her friends and even herself noticed something new in the mornings. Almost, not every time, but a lot of times breakfast was already served on the table. It was Hitch. Every time he could, he made some breakfast for them before he left for work.
Pipp walked to where the dining table was and looked at the bowl that was at her seat. Orange juice and oatmeal with hay and bananas... She could smell the vanilla and cinnamon from there. It was a simple breakfast that morning.
She smiled at the sight of the oatmeal. Maybe one day she'll bring Hitch some breakfast, he deserved it.
Eventually, Pipp took her seat and stayed there until finishing her breakfast and leaving the dirty dishes in the sink.
Before leaving the lighthouse entirely, she took her phone and a package of candy, then headed outside.
If life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. And that's exactly what she was going to do.
The good thing about being awake at this hour is the chance of taking a mind-blowing picture of the rising sun.
Finally, she made her way to the beach and sat on the sand. The pegasus contemplated the waves and the shore. Looking at it after a while turned boring, so she ended up scrolling down her phone, looking at funny videos and memes.
The mare kept giggling and laughing to her phone, believing that she was alone. She finally opened her package of candy, and after having it in her mouth, she looked around to see if there was a trash can nearby.
It was so far away...
Pipp shrugged and threw the wrapper on the sand, keeping in mind to pick it up later whenever she left the beach.
“Pick up that litter!” A familiar voice shouted. Pipp squeaked startled and accidentally fell onto her back. Hitch was over her face, looking down at her.
Pipp gulped, and a sheepish smile appeared with a blush running across her face. Why did it feel so hot? The sun wasn't even out.
“I—I'll pick it up, heh...” Her green eyes had visual contact with his.
“I was messing with you.” He grinned and picked up the wrapper, trotting to the trashcan and throwing it away. “You were going to throw it away eventually, right?”
Pipp was already sitting and fixing her hair. She nodded shyly.
“Yup...” She looked back at Hitch with a tiny smile.
“Got room for two?” He grinned, and Sparky slowly came out of his saddlebag. “Sparky says hi.”
“Hi, Sparky!” She smiled and waved at the baby. She promptly nodded and let the sheriff sit next to her.
All this empty beach... and he was sitting next to her.
Pipp moved her tail to the side, letting the salty breeze of the sea hit her mane. The beach was one of the main things she enjoyed the most from Maretime Bay.
She looked back at the colt.
“So, sheriff. What finds you here at the beach? Any adventures as of late?”
Hitch smirked and the mare.
“Doing sheriff duties, as I always do.” He made a duck face and brushed back his aquamarine hair back in a prideful manner.
His hair was aquamarine, like one of Pipp's favorite colors... The color of her aura according to Izzy. If there was one pony that could pull off aquamarine hair was Hitch.
Pipp giggled and made herself more comfortable on the sand.
“Oh yeah? Like what, Mr. Trailblazer? What sort of Sheriff duties did you do?”
The tone of her voice, the nickname... it caused an awakening in him. His tail moved to one side and the colt fought against the butterflies in his stomach. Was this flirting? It couldn't be anything else...
Hitch knew he was fond of Pipp Petals, but that was it. He didn't think or indulge much into it. He was a sheriff with important duties and also a father... and also probably a hero in Equestria.
Hitch could only answer with a cheeky laugh and him scratching the nape of his neck.
“Ah well... Posey called me today.”
“Really? This early?”
“Yup. Something about a creature infestation in her garden.”
“Oh?” She raised an eyebrow. “I thought you were a *sheriff*, Hitch. Not animal control.”
“Can animal control have a pony that speaks to animals? I don't think so?” He moved closer, sticking his tongue out at her.
Now that they were this close, some tension was rising up between them.
“Did you get the critters out?”
“Of course. Have I told you I'm good at my job?” He smiled proudly and huffed his badge.
“Hah.” She scoffed, rolling her eyes. “You don't even need to tell me, I can see right through that big ego of yours!” Pipp attempted to snatch the badge out of him.
“Hey!” He clicked his tongue a couple of times. “Back off from my badge!”
Both ponies started to laugh together. The colt took a nice view of the smaller pony next to him. Truly a sight for sore eyes. He kept laughing, and he looked down. Hitch took off his saddlebag and left Sparky a towel over the sand, so the dragon could sleep in there, and finally took out something else from the bag.
“She... also gave me the opportunity to have these.” He gave Pipp a tiny bouquet of red tulips.
She held them with a gasp.
“These are beautiful! I'm happy that Posey has changed her ways and is becoming so good at gardening.” Pipp was about to hand them out to Hitch, but he raised his hoof.
“No, keep them. I don't really know what to do with them.”
In a way, he lied. Giving these flowers to Pipp was the reason he picked the flowers in the first place.
But, you know... Cool sheriff has to pretend to be cool in order to make attempts to court a very lovable pegasus who was probably out of his league. Crushes are so silly, aren't they?
Pipp was starstruck, with her mouth ajar she stumbled upon her words. Why was it so different when he gave her a bouquet of flowers instead of a fan?
“B-But these are yours?”
“Aw, Princess. Are you hesitating? I'll probably change my mind and take them away from you for throwing li—”
“NO. I LEARNED MY LESSON AND I WANT THEM.” She quickly responded, hugging tightly the flowers, causing laughter to the colt. Pipp took this opportunity and smelt the flowers, capturing the amazing aroma they had.
“These are amazing... thank you, Hitch.”
“I knew you'd appreciate them.”
Pipp looked into his eyes made of honey with a cute and tender smile, causing Hitch's heart to somersault. The more they were more comfortable around each other, the closer their tails were.
Hitch blushed partly, and coughed, trying to get rid of the feeling.
“You're welcome.” He kept coughing. “Now's my turn to ask, why are you here at this hour, entirely alone?”
“Oh!” Pipp batted her lashes. “I woke up earlier... so I figured: Hey, maybe I should watch the sunrise and take a picture of it.” She responded, looking at the sky that was now becoming clearer.
“Wait, really?” He grinned. “That means I'll have a sunrise buddy today!”
“You... you come here to watch the sunrise?”
“It's one of the few good things about waking up earlier.”
“Makes sense.” She kept looking at the sea, her tail slowly interlocking with Hitch's. Pipp looked at Hitch directly into his eyes.
“And... thank you for the breakfast, it was delicious.”
“You think so? I'm surprised it met your expectations.”
“Eh, you make oatmeal better than most of the servants at the palace.”
“No! You're lying! You've got to be kidding!” He said with a smile and was still surprised.
“No! I'm not kidding! I mean it!”
They started laughing again. Pipp opened one of her eyes to contemplate Hitch's smile, laughter... his hair... his... everything.
And maybe she contemplated too much.
“Ehem.” The sheriff cleared his throat. “You're okay there, Pipp?”
Pipp's entire imagination broke down, she opened her eyes wide and grinned sheepishly.
“Y—Yes! I am!”
“You've been staring at me for like a really long time.”
“I was?” She leaned her head.
“You were.”
“Would you believe me if I told you I was staring at your hair?”
Now he was dumbfounded.
“My hair?” He blew his cowlick.
“Mhm.” She nodded. “You know Izzy... she told me my aura was aquamarine... and it's actually one of my favorite colors! Just like your hair!” She explained with a smile on her face.
“If you like that color so much, have you considered dying your hair that color?”
“Oh no, no, no, no— Aquamarine would look ugly on me. I like my hair, just the way it is... I like the way your aquamarine hair looks on you.”
Hitch grinned, a blush seeping through his cheeks.
“You know... Maybe I should go to Mane Melody again.” He slicked back his hair with his hoof, closing his eyes and staring at the mare with bedroom eyes. Nice! For being such a jitterbug he was going so smooth to his friend.
“I'd love to work on your hair once more.” She winked back, and he smiled, turning his head to a side, controlling the reactions she was getting out of him.
He held his composure and smirked with raised eyebrows to what seemed an overconfident smug expression.
“Will I get a friend's discount?”
Somehow, that silly question broke some big laughter on the princess.
“Haha! Of course! Hahaha!”
If we're being honest, Hitch always had problems with flirting with mares, or... whatever was going on right now with Pipp. Sure, he was amazing at making them swoon, but that was his charm, his natural personality, but the feelings weren't there. Just... ego inflation? Now, when it was the opposite situation, he just entered into a state of nerves, mostly due to not knowing how to politely reject them, but this... this was different. Call him crazy, but he liked these... "special" compliments from the princess, and even so he enjoyed responding as if we were dealing with some sort of competition. But, what was the goal? The finish line? The so grand prize? What did he want to achieve with this? Was it Pipp? Did she have something distinctive from the other mares? Hitch knew he was drawn to her, however, the answers to himself remained unknown. He only knew one thing. That this shouldn't stop.
“Hey, Pipp?”
“Yes, Hitch?”
“I like the way your mane looks just the way it is.” He said with half-lidded eyes.
Pipp smiled nervously and played with her hair.
“I like the way it looks, too. And you should like it too, of course.” She scooted closer, sharing the same gaze the stallion showed her. “I take much pride in my appearance, after all.
Hitch was trying to be suave to her, but this sudden coy attitude of hers made his heart sink and internally panic.
“So, we share that thing in common. Awesome.” He tried to keep it cool, but now he started to sweat more, and now that she was closer, he didn't know what was next to him. Whatever it was, it was going to blow up his cover and ruin it for him. Pipp was winning.
But God was kind and had other plans for him.
Pipp stopped looking at him and pointed at the sunrise.
“Look! The sun is coming out!”
He moved his head to watch, and it was indeed a sun rising from the shadows. It shone gorgeous scarlets and auburns, gleaming over the waves of the sea.
“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god! I so gotta take pictures and a selfie of this? My first sunrise picture of Maretime Bay... at the beach!” She stood up, trotting her hooves excited.
Hitch admired the view and the beauty of it, and so did Pipp.
She admired the sunrise, and he admired Pipp.
She giggled and took a picture.
“Aw! This is perfect!” She moved her head. “Hitch! Come here!”
“Yeah!”
“Just... Stand up!”
He followed orders and walked to where she was. Pipp positioned herself next to him, and with her selfie stick, moved her phone higher, so they could fit together.
“A selfie? Ooh! Wait! I have to look nice!”
“You already look nice!” She giggled.
“Right, 'cause I'm so photogenic.”
“You really are.”
The mare and stallion moved closer and smiled as nice as they could.
“Cheese!” Pipp said excitedly, and the camera shuttered.
A nice picture came out of it, and she showed it to her friend.
“We look so good,” Pipp said proudly and walked to where her bouquet of flowers was, taking a good picture of them as well.
While Pipp sat and started to post pictures on her Ponygram, Hitch looked at the creatures that were coming close to him. Distracted by this, it took him by surprise when Pipp suddenly took off his badge.
“MY BADGE!!!”
“I got your badge!” She responded proudly and laughed at him while running as fast as she could.
“Come and get it, Sheriff!”
He groaned playfully.
“You'll pay for this, Miss Petals! Your days of crime are coming to an end!”
“We'll see about that!”
Hitch immediately started to chase Pipp. Even if they were playing, they still talked while running.
“This reminds me of that commercial!”
“What ad?” Pipp giggled.
“Le princess smells~”
The pegasus laughed harder, remembering that silly perfume commercial.
“Stop distracting me, Hitch!” She started to flap her wings.
“HEY! No flying! That's not fair!”
“Aye, bummer! Party pooper!” Pipp stopped and turned back. “Take this!”
She flicked her tail, throwing sand at Hitch. Some of it got into his mouth, so he started to spit it while Pipp had a fit of laughter. Now she was distracted. With his hoof, Hitch splashed her with some water, and she gasped in surprise. And she, also, playfully splashed him. Eventually forgetting why they were running in the first place after this new splashing game started.
“How come you are so good at throwing water, and I'm not!?”
“Maybe, it's because I'm taller than you.” He teased with a smirk, splashing a bunch of water at her on purpose.
She gasped dramatically.
“Hey!”
“Haha!”
“If I give you your badge back, will you spare me?”
“Yes.”
Pipp walked closer and placed the badge on his hoof. Now they were so close and soaking wet with saltwater. This was the perfect opportunity, he had to take.
Immediately, he splashed the biggest amount of water on her! Pipp whined while he was leaving his badge back where it belonged.
“NOOOOOO! I thought we had a promise!”
“I deceived you!” He splashed her some more.
“Oh, you!” She fought back.
They kept being playful with each other for a while until Pipp felt something moving, and from the corner of her eye, she looked at what it was.
She gasped and poked at Hitch.
“Hitch stop! Look!” She pointed with eyes that were sparkling at the sight.
It was Sparky! He was...he was...
“This is the first time I've seen him ever crawl!” His smile went from cheek to cheek, and he beckoned the dragon to come closer. “Come here, Sparky! Come to us! Come to me and Pipp!”
Pipp, seeing what Hitch was doing and how Sparky was moving closer, she decided to motivate him as well.
“Come here, little cutie! Come to us! Come!”
The little dragon crawled his way to them and Hitch picked him up.
“Great job, Sparky!”
“Good job, little guy!” Pipp also praised him.
Both the sheriff and princess gave Sparky a kiss on one side of his cheeks. Pipp from the left, and Hitch to the right. If only... If only there wasn't an adorable barrier between them.
Zipp wasn't an idiot. She noticed how, later in the day, Pipp entered the lighthouse with the bouquet of tulips to get an intense shower. There was sand all over the place! And earlier, when she visited the sheriff's office, the same issue happened. Except that when she entered the place, she only heard the shower running.
Then there were the pictures on Pipp's Ponygram, and the behavior she's been analyzing from both.
As both Hitch's best friend and Pipp's sister, she had one thing to do. Zipp immediately started to play with her phone.
ZIPP STORM @ HITCH TRAILBLAZER 10:00 AM:
Is there something I'm missing with you and my sister? 🤨
HITCH TRAILBLAZER @ ZIPP STORM 10:05AM:
What??? 😅
Yes, Hitch. Keep playing dumb, or are you truly a clueless idiot?
Author's Note
Thank you for reading! This is so far my longest one-shot I've ever made. I've already seen fan arts of Hitchpipp with Sparky but not fics as of late... so, it was my turn to make a mark! I hope you enjoyed reading this. This is also my first time writing a mlp fanfic! These two ponies live in my head rent-free.
There are such a tiny amount of fics of these two and not with a huge length (not like mine is the exception) but when there's lack of food, I always make myself some more.
This was also my first time writing something related to parenthood at such a young state. Mostly because I don't like plots revolving around children (especially human) I guess what made it different was that Sparky is a baby dragon??? It's easier to visualize him being cute because of that.
I think it was rather obvious that at the end those were text messages.
Also, if you're into role-playing I have a G5 server on discord if you're interested!
Hope you enjoyed the reading, please leave kudos and comments, so I get the retribution needed to write more!
