My Little One Shots

Chapters

Reversing the Roles
Lit by Campfire Light
Failed Birthday Attempt
Mourning is Hard

Reversing the Roles

Author's Note

A note for before we begin. This fic was directly inspired by Episode 15 of Tell Your Tale, so I would reccomend watching that before reading this! I just would have liked to see the roles reversed, and while I did enjoy the bonding between Zipp and Pipp man this episode had so much missed potential hah. But that's just me anyways.

Reversing the Roles

Hitch hummed softly to himself, trotting up to Mane Melody with Sunny in tow. Pipp had called them both over to try out a new facial mask she had cooked up and to say they were intrigued would be an understatement. She mentioned in the text that she even managed to get Zipp to try on a mask, so it must’ve been a hard sell! Hitch smiled as they made it up to the store’s entrance. “And here I thought Mane Melody was closed today, I guess Pipp just comes here in her free time sometimes.” Hitch smirked, opening up the door.

“Hah! Yeah that sounds like the case. Though now I’m pretty excited to try out this new face maaaa…ssssk…” Sunny’s voice trailed off as she slowly entered the store. Her pupils shrunk as they darted around the store.

Hitch paused, looking to Sunny curiously, “huh..? What’s up?” Hitch asked, walking into the store right after her before he copied her reaction, stopping right next to Sunny as he stared into the store. The place was an absolute mess! There was an assortment of shampoo bottles almost everywhere, suds covered the ground, glitter and makeup scattered across the room! It was as if some wild beast came through and tore everything apart. “What on Equestria…” Hitch’s mouth was left gaping.

Sunny looked around nervously before hearing what sounded like whimpering coming from the back. “Wait…” Sunny trotted forward, looking around nervously as she did. It was almost as if she was reliving a horror movie, though it being the middle of the day did make things significantly less scary. Hitch was dreading the thought to even step closer into the building, but he followed behind Sunny. The whimpering only got louder as they approached the back of the building, nearing the employee’s only section. Sunny was getting more nervous as she made it to the back entrance door. The whimpering was just on the other side. “Hnnnnnngh…” Sunny was too terrified to open the door, shaking in her hooves at the thought of what could be on the other side! Sunny looked back at Hitch with pleading eyes, not wanting to open the door herself. Sunny did HORRIBLY in scary situations, there hasn’t been a single horror movie she’s watched where she didn’t cower in fear the entire time.

Hitch grumbled softly, realizing that Sunny wasn’t going to, he walked up to the door himself and placed a hoof on the knob. He gulped before slowly opening the door. He bit his lip before throwing the door open fully, relieving the tension as the sound of the whimpering was shown front and center.

Izzy was laying down in the fetal position, rocking back and forth with shrunken eyes. She looked horrified, though at what? Izzy jumped up a bit the moment she heard the door open, causing her to whip her head in the direction of Sunny and Hitch. “Wh- SUNNY! HITCH!” Izzy quickly got up before charging at them. Hitch quickly dodged out of the way, not wanting to get impaled by Izzy’s horn anytime soon. Sunny gasped, not quick enough to jump out of the way of Izzy’s charge and in turn getting tackled down to the ground. Izzy cried, hugging Sunny tight. “OH THANK GOODNESS YOU’RE HERE!” She cried, nuzzling her head into Sunny’s own.

Sunny was utterly baffled, but at least the Unicorn hugging her made her feel much safer in turn. She gave Izzy a confused smile, “uhm, w-why’s that Izzy?” Sunny asked, a bit concerned as she pried Izzy’s face from her face for a moment so she could speak.

Izzy sniffed a few times as tears ran down her face, “please! You gotta help me! Those two are a nightmare!” Izzy cried out, pointing her hoof back towards the backrooms. Sunny gulped, eyes shrinking once again as she heard Izzy’s desperate plea for help. Once again, she was frozen in fear, which didn’t help anyone.

Hitch looked at the frantic Unicorn, then the frazzled Earth Pony before groaning. He had the feeling he wasn’t going to like what was past there but he was really the only one who was going back to check anyways. Hitch sighed, rolling his eyes before trotting into the room Izzy was in. Of course he played it cool but Hitch was scared himself. If it was scary enough to make Izzy that way it must be horrid! Hitch looked around, and aside from the general mess and clutter, the room was seemingly safe, but there was a storage closet with a chair in front of the door to keep it stuck closed. Hitch shivered at the sight before hearing banging coming from the other side of the door. A chill ran down the sheriff’s spine as he slowly approached. “O-Ok Hitch, no need to panic. I’m sure… there’s a perfectly reasonable thing behind the door making the noise… Yeah… Izzy’s just overreacting is all!” Hitch attempted to reassure himself before the banging against the door got even louder. Hitch was resisting the urge not to just high tail it out and run for his life! Even still, he got closer and closer to the door, slowly putting a hoof on the chair to pull it away.

Izzy quickly stood up, shaking Sunny, “Sunny! We’ve got to go! Hitch will just have to be our sacrifice so we can make it out safely!” Izzy shouted at the Earth Pony, causing Sunny to gasp in shock.

“WHAT?! What’re you talking about sacrifice?! What the heck is back there, Izzy?!”

“The most horrible little creatures I’ve ever had the misfortune of encountering! We need to save ourselves, Sunny, before it’s too late! I barely managed to escape with my life by locking them in the closet!” Izzy cried, shaking Sunny even more.

Sunny, now at this point, was trying to avoid losing her lunch before stopping Izzy. “What’s THEM?!” She asked, now as panicked as Izzy was, and she didn’t even know what had gotten the Unicorn so scared in the first place!

Hitch gulped, getting the chair out of the way and reaching for the doorknob. Every possible instinct of his was telling him not to open the door. The banging only got louder and louder. Hitch was sweating bullets before he finally bit the bullet and grabbed the knob, yanking the door open. He held his eyes closed for a moment, fearing for the worst. However, after a few seconds, nothing happened. Hitch slowly opened his eyes again and looked forward. There was nothing. “Huh…” He frowned, tilting his head before looking down slightly, that’s when he saw it. Hitch’s eyes dilated as he spotted two fillies standing in the closet. IT WAS ZIPP AND PIPP!
Pipp looked like she was on the verge of tears, ready to let loose waterworks, whereas Zipp was covering Pipp in a protective manner, looking scared herself. Hitch was at a loss for words, but he didn’t move in on them. If working with critters has taught him anything, don’t ever approach a scared animal, be it a critter, a pony, or any creature really, a scared animal has nothing to lose. Hitch took a step back, keeping his eyes on the two for a moment before slowly sitting down, doing his best to appear as non-threatening as possible to his two supposed friends. “H-Hey girls…”

Zipp lowered her guard around the sheriff, meanwhile Pipp finally let the waterworks loose as she began crying. She broke free from her sister’s grasp as she ran towards Hitch. Hitch flinched, watching her run up, which warranted Zipp to run over as well. Pipp was quick to jump into the sheriff’s hooves, crying up a storm against him as Zipp nervously stood a foot away from Hitch, even as her sister hugged him as if her life depended on it.

“What on…” Hitch was beyond confused before staring down at Pipp, then back over to the closet. There was no light on in the closet, “ohh… You’re afraid of the dark..?” He asked the filly. Of course he didn’t really get a response, only Pipp continuing to cry him a river. “Oh jeez, Izzy, what were you thinking?!” Hitch sighed before slowly pulling himself up, keeping a hoof up in order to support Pipp against his chest. He looked over to Zipp, seeing the Pegasus’ feathers begin ruffling up as he picked up Pipp. Zipp was clearly attempting to be the older filly in this case, willing to fight the full grown stallion if she had to. “H-Hey it’s ok Zipp! I promise, no more dark closets, hehe…” Zipp frowned, slowly calming down before approaching the Sheriff. She got closer and closer, easing into things a bit before finally nudging against his leg, looking up longingly. Hitch sighed happily, he assumed getting the trust of Zipp was going to be much harder than it actually was. Hitch nodded, slowly moving to walk out of the backroom and towards the public area. “Let’s find out how to get you two back to normal… and preferably fast.”

Hitch walked out of the backroom with the two fillies. Pipp was beginning to calm down, crying a lot less as she hugged the stallion’s big fluffy chest for comfort, whereas Zipp carefully looked around from the safety behind Hitch. “Hey Izzy, do you maybe want to explain why our friends are fillies now..?” Hitch asked before flinching as he looked around. Izzy and Sunny were nowhere to be seen. That is until Sunny poked her head out from behind an overturned couch.

“Wait what?!” Sunny asked in shock, jumping over the couch, where Izzy poked her head out from as well, staring daggers at the two fillies. Sunny quickly ran over and looked at the two in shock, however Zipp jumped backwards in response to Sunny getting so close. “Oh… Oh wow… So these are the troublemakers who thrashed Mane Melody…” Sunny sighed, turning back to Izzy. “I thought they’d be dragons or pegabulls, or unicorn rats. I didn’t expect… well… two fillies to do all this damage…” Pipp slowly pulled her head out from Hitch’s chest, staring over at Sunny cautiously.

“Well, I found them in the back closet, Pipp I found out doesn’t really like the dark all too much.” Hitch sighed, sitting back down and now using another hoof to help support Pipp. Zipp used the opportunity while Hitch was sitting down to hide behind his back, staring daggers back at Izzy.
“They did cause all that trouble! Do you know how much work it took for me to get them both in the closet?! Now you’ve let them out, they're gonna cause more havoc!” Izzy shouted from her place behind the couch. Sunny and Hitch sighed.

“Ok… How about we focus on this mess… after we find a way to get our friends back to regular mares..?” Sunny groaned, looking at Pipp and Zipp anxiously. Izzy meanwhile kept behind the couch, she knew what those little monsters were capable of after all, they were nothing like Sparky, that’s for sure.

Hitch looked over to Izzy, “Izzy, can you tell us exactly what happened before we got over here..?” Hitch asked the Unicorn, not bothering to stand up as the two pegasi fillies were behaving around him. Zipp kept behind Hitch while Pipp finally calmed down to a point where she wasn’t crying into Hitch anymore.

Izzy sighed, “oooookay. So… I was with Pipp and Zipp when she sent out the texts to you guys. P-Pipp had just put the face mask on Zipp and offered to put it on me. I told her I wanted to wash my mane first, so she put the face mask on herself instead. Pipp told me to go into the back to grab a bottle of shampoo, so I did and the minute I got back they were both fillies!”

Sunny and Hitch looked on in disbelief. How could this happen? It seemed impossible. Sunny began pondering the issue. Could it have been a spell cast from a unicorn? Well surely Izzy wouldn’t do this, she was horrified by them. Wouldn’t it also be a huge task to do so as well? She imagined it couldn’t be a very easy spell anyhow.

“Alright, so it must have been something they did that you didn’t… Wait they put on face masks and you didn’t?” Hitch had already hit the nail on the coffin. Sunny’s eyes beamed before she began looking around, quickly spotting and finding an open jar, with the presumable face mask inside.

“Uhm… why is it glowing..?” Sunny peaked into the contents of the face mask before grabbing it in her hoof. It looked… like glitter? It looked so familiar to her but why..?”

Izzy bounded over, looking at the face mask. “Ooh, it’s really pretty! The glitter is pink too, just like when you use your alicorn powers to blow things up!” Izzy declared nonchalantly.

“I-I don’t b-blow things up!” Sunny spoke defensively before it clicked. “Wait… it IS my glitter!” Sunny gasped in realization before flinching as she quickly wiped her hoof off, not wanting any adverse effects herself as she cleaned the glitter off of herself.

“So… Pipp used Sunny’s magic glitter… for her face mask?” Hitch asked for clarification. He looked down at the filly in his hooves, who was bordering on falling asleep.

“Well… that’s what it looks like… So we know how they got turned to fillies but… how do we change them back..?” Sunny asked, putting the jar down as she looked over to Pipp and Zipp. “Do you think I could change them back using my magic..?”

“What? No way!” Hitch spoke out defensively before sighing, “sorry, no offense Sunny but your magic is still really touchy! I wouldn’t trust myself around you sometimes, trusting you to use them on fillies is a bit much.” Hitch sighed, rubbing his head.

Sunny frowned, looking down, “yeah yeah I get it…” Izzy walked up, gently nudging Sunny before looking back to the two Princesses.

“Well… Maybe I could give it a shot?” Izzy chimed in. “I mean I DO know a little bit more magic.” Izzy added, looking at Hitch.

“Uhm… well…” He looked to Pipp, who had at this point, fallen asleep. Zipp was still very weary, hiding behind and continuing to glare daggers at Izzy for her little stunt earlier. Hitch rolled his eyes, “anything is worth a shot. Cute as they may be, I don't think any of us are qualified to take care of them. If they stay like this we might have to give them back to Queen Haven, and then we’ll lose them forever… or for 20 years, but at that point they probably won’t even remember us!” Hitch groaned, rubbing the bridge of his snout as he tried to calm himself down.

“Mommy..?” Zipp asked, hearing Hitch say Haven. Hitch paused before looking down anxiously at her. “Uhm y-yeah! Mommy. S-She’ll be here soon to pick you up.” Hitch responded anxiously. Zipp looked delighted, releasing the ease on the filly as she trotted around Hitch in circles. Hitch then turned to Izzy and Sunny with pleading eyes. “Nevermind, Sunny, you have my permission, as long as we get them back to how they used to be.”

Sunny gulped, Izzy stepping forward and looking to Zipp. “Uhm, might need to hold her still for a little Hitchieho. I don’t want to accidentally hit you while she’s running in circles…” Hitch nodded, before scooping up Zipp as she passed by his front, now both of his hooves were full, as both fillies rest in them, although Zipp seemed a bit upset about being picked up, pouting her cheeks a little.

“Alright… Let’s… phew, let’s hope this works.” Sunny sighed before holding her breath. She was able to get a fairly decent grasp on her magic at this point, enough to make her horns and wings appear when she needed them to. Soon enough her horn manifested on her head, which she aimed at the fillies. “Ok, don’t blow them up… Don’t blow them up…”

“PLEASE, don’t blow us up.” Hitch begged.

Izzy sighed before psyching herself up and aiming her horn at the fillies. Sunny and Izzy shared a look of hope, while Hitch held his breath, hoping for the best at this point. Sunny and Izzy began counting down.

“Three…” Izzy started.

“Two…” Sunny continued.

“One…” Izzy finished.

“FIRE!” Sunny shouted the last word before a magic beam was shot out from her horn. While Sunny’s horn landed against Zipp, Izzy’s horn landed against Pipp, encasing both fillies in a white light. Hitch had his eyes closed as he hoped for the best, he’d cross his hooves if he wasn’t holding two fillies in them. The white light surrounding them got brighter and brighter until the entire room was soon lit up. Anyone looking through the curtains on the outside would be met with quite the light show.

After a few seconds, the white light soon faded, and the ponies were able to open their eyes again. Sunny whimpered, almost too afraid to open her eyes, but Izzy did so for her. “Sunny, look!” She called for the Earth Pony, shaking her lightly. Sunny gasped, opening her eyes to see the results of their efforts.

Hitch was laying on the ground, with both Zipp and Pipp laying on top of him. They were back to being mares again! Zipp groaned, slowly pulling herself up and shaking her head. “Ugh… What happened to me… My head is spinning like crazy. Feels like I- I…” Zipp paused as she looked down, spotting Hitch looking up at her. Zipp flinched, feeling the Sheriff’s hoof held onto her flank and her cheeks flared up as she saw she was sitting down on him. “W-WHOA WHOA WHOA!” Zipp shouted, quickly jumping off of Hitch, her cheeks housing a rosy blush as she forced herself to look away from Hitch. “Please tell me I didn’t drink too many of Pipp’s Pineapple Potions…” Zipp asked sheepishly, just to be tackled to the ground by Sunny and Izzy immediately after.

“OH ZIPP! Thank goodness! You’re back! And not a filly!” Izzy cried, nuzzling into Zipp’s chest and hugging her tightly, almost a bit too tightly as Zipp had to force her off somewhat less she suffer not having air.

“H-Hah… What…” Zipp asked confused to no end as she looked confusedly between Izzy and Sunny.

Sunny nuzzled into Zipp similarly, “it’s a long story- well it’s not… but I’m too relieved to care right now!” Sunny sighed as she continued.

The constant affection didn’t exactly help Zipp’s blush either. “Wh, hey! G-Get off of me! H-Hitch, Pipp, help me out here! W-What happened?!” Zipp tried to ask, looking over to the two.

Hitch had fainted, his eyes turned to swirls as he lay on the ground. Either Zipp accidentally knocked him out, or the stress of the entire ordeal had finally taken its toll on him. Pipp on the other hand slept like a baby… or rather a filly, smiling as she laid on top of Hitch.

Lit by Campfire Light

Author's Note

This chapter is a port from a story I did on Fanfiction.net! It was much smaller than I thought but perfect for a One-Shot so here it is!

Lit by Campfire Light

"I have to admit, a unicorn forest does sound kind of magical."

With a giggle, Sunny nodded in response to Hitch, "yeah it does! We'll be able to make it late in the morning at the pace we're going at." She responded with a giddy smile, seemingly unable to hold back her excitement much if at all.

"Well in that case, I think it's best that we all rest up then. We'll have a long day tomorrow after all, and the last thing we need is somepony needing to be carried around because they didn't get enough sleep… Pipp." Zipp responded with a smirk, shooting her sibling a glance.

"Gosh, it was one time! I swear I didn't mean to stay up that late, I just… lost track of time." Pipp answered hastily, pouting at her older sibling. This just issued a laugh from the other members of the group, which only caused Pipp's cheeks to go red. "Drop it! Let's just go to sleep already." The pink Pegasus responded with a huff, turning herself away from the group and laying down. Zipp let out one final giggle, before joining her sister to assure she was alright.

From there, one by one, ponies fell asleep. Izzy was the first to pass out, looks like using up so much energy in the day did mean the Unicorn needed to rest, and wasn't just a fountain of energy. When she passed out, she passed out hard, no way she was waking up, at least not until morning anyways. Zipp seemingly went to sleep shortly after, using her wings like a makeshift blanket, wrapping it around herself to keep herself warm. Sunny was next, though before she removed the bands in her mane, allowing it to fall free, she'd tie it back up in the morning anyways. Pipp eventually found herself falling asleep as well, cuddling up closely to Zipp in doing so, and mimicking the wing blanket her sister had done before. This left Hitch, who actually stayed up far longer, eyes locked onto the campfire.

"Why am I doing this…" He asked himself as he stared into the dying campfire. It'd go out soon without more wood to fuel the flames, not that they needed anymore fire, given everyone was already fast asleep. Hitch just couldn't fall asleep though, his mind racing with worry as he dug his hooves through the ground. Just thinking about it all was enough to keep his mind racing and his body awake, he couldn't go to bed like this, not easily anyways. The poor earth pony groaned in dismay, before finding himself a spot to sleep. He chose to sleep closer to Sunny, she was the only one he was fully comfortable with after all; his childhood friend. Whereas he couldn't definitely say he was as comfortable with the Pegasi and Unicorn in their group. It's not like he didn't know they didn't have their magic, they were relatively harmless! Well… except Izzy, one wrong move and that horn could poke an eye out or something, but still, relatively harmless. He simply wasn't as comfortable with them is all. Hitch let out a soft neigh, grumbling as he laid out on his back, the last bit of flame by the fire dying out, leaving the ponies without a heat source.

Hitch sighed, wishing he had at least packed himself a blanket, yet then again he wasn't exactly planning on sleeping outside with a fugitive of Maretime Bay. Was he even happy with how things have turned out? No, of course not, once they got home, he was just eagerly awaiting to throw Sunny into the jail cell back at his office- no, no he wasn't. He just wanted Sunny to come back home. In fact, he didn't want her to be risking everything to bring back magic; was what she had back home not enough for her? He shuddered at the mere thought, he didn't want to lose a friend. She and Sprout were all he had, if he lost her he wasn't sure what he'd do. The thought made him grumble and groan, placing a hoof to his head in anguish. He began shivering, mumbling softly to himself. No, he'd make sure she'd get back home safely, he'd make sure that she wouldn't get hurt and that they'd be alright, and maybe, once they got home he wouldn't have to throw her in jail, and maybe, just maybe, they'd remain as friends.

"I hope you're right about this, Sunny…" He muttered softly.

"I am."

Hitch flinched, hearing a response, turning over towards Sunny. She was awake, laying on her side and looking over at him, eyes welling up. "I'm positive…" She muttered back. The two of them locked eyes for a moment, as if locked in a deep staring contest, though simultaneously staring into each other's souls more like it. The sight of each other was reassuring, and the stallion soon relented, closing his eyes with a soft sigh.

"Alright… I trust you, Sunny." He nodded, before nearly gasping as Sunny moved over to hug the other pony, hooves wrapped around the larger pony as she nuzzled her head into his chest. Hitch was taken aback, a redness tinting his cheeks as he glanced down at the earth pony in shock. It's not like they haven't given each other hugs in the past or anything, it was just the suddenness of it all. This hug felt more passionate, it filled the stallion with warmth. Sunny kept her face nuzzled up against his chest, refusing to say much else or more away, though Hitch didn't mind. He liked this, he loved the feeling of this more than he originally thought to. With a soft sigh, Hitch soon let his hooves wrap around her as well, pulling her into a full on embrace. Sunny would smile, though obscured by her face in his chest, and Hitch would smile brightly all the same. It didn't take much else before Hitch finally found himself asleep, breathing slowly. The rise and fall of his chest against Sunny's face was all she needed to reassure herself, as she too fell asleep in his hooves.

Once morning came, and the sun slowly rose over the horizon, Hitch had woken up. He was used to waking up early, he was a sheriff after all, it was practically instinct to wake up at the crack of dawn for him. However as he slowly opened his eyes, what he saw was Sunny, still wrapped up in his hooves. So he wasn't dreaming after all. He grew a soft smile, content with this outcome; however what he didn't expect was… Well now Sunny wasn't the only one. To his sides were Izzy, Zipp and Pipp as well! Izzy was nuzzled up against Sunny, with Pipp and Zipp on his opposite side, both with wings spread out. Pipp was closest to Hitch, her wings spread out and practically giving Hitch a nice blanket. The stallion was flush red, blushing madly at the sudden realization that everypony had probably woken up last night and saw him and Sunny snuggled up together. While that was probably true, they were seemingly just as cold as he was, as they all snuggled up close to the sleeping pair to get warm! Hitch huffed lightly, there was no way he could move with all of them like this, so he waited it out, his blush slowly fading as he relaxed himself and allowed the others to get in more sleep before they departed.

Maybe he didn't mind the others as much as he thought he did, but hey, whaddaya gonna do?

Failed Birthday Attempt

Author's Note

Uhh, disclaimer this was made before I saw anything relating to Make Your Mark Chapter 2. From the trailers, I kind of got the vibe that Misty might just be a misguided mare under Opaline's guidance, of course, I could be absolutely wrong in which case I'll eat my own words later, but I digress.

Failed Birthday Attempt

Hitch looked around curiously on his way up towards the Crystal Brighthouse. It was high noon, so he didn't expect any of the mares to be asleep at this time. However he was showing up unannounced, so he wasn't sure what they were doing. Hitch made it up to the entrance of the home. Sunny provided Hitch with a spare key, even if Hitch didn't live in the Brighthouse, he was still a part of it, and best friends with everyone inside, she felt he should be allowed to come whenever he wanted to. Even so, Hitch didn't use the key, instead knocking on the door. It felt too awkward to just use the key to walk in, especially unannounced. He didn't want to walk in on anything unexpectedly after all. There was no response for a couple of seconds before Hitch could hear hoofsteps approaching the door.

The door opened up, and on the other end was Izzy, "Huh? Oh hey, Hitch!" Izzy smiled brightly. It sounded like the other ponies were inside too, as when they heard Izzy announce it was Hitch, another set of hooves made their way to the door, this time being Sunny who stood by Izzy's side.

Sunny looked a tad surprised, "Hitch?"

"What brings you around, Sheriff?" Izzy asked curiously. Sunny on the other hand looked a little panicked, turning back to look inside and waving her hooves. Hitch caught onto this before clearing his throat.

"Hey Izzy, Sunny! I got a bit bored, and I wanted to see if you girls were doing anything today! Maybe I could tag along?" Hitch asked curiously.

Izzy beamed in response, "well of course you-"

"Actually Hitch, today is uhm… Mares… Day.

"Eh..?" Both Hitch and Izzy spoke in unison in response to this 'Mares Day'.

"It's a Pegasus thing." Sunny quickly followed up, avoiding eye contact with the sheriff. "On Mares' Day you uhh, you hang out with your best mare friends and ONLY your best mare friends for the whole day… and that's it. No stallions allowed." Sunny cleared her throat.

Hitch looked puzzled but found himself sighing, "well, if that's the case, then where's Zipp and Pipp?"

"They're-" Izzy began speaking, but Sunny cut in once again.

"Upstairs, getting a movie ready for us to watch!" Sunny responded giddily before gently nudging Izzy back inside. "Well, it was great talking with you Hitchie! But we've got a movie to watch, haha! Uhh… bye!" Sunny shut the door, a lock coming right after.

Hitch stared at the door for a moment, his ears flattening against his head before he turned around. "Alright then…" He sighed, making his way back to Maretime Bay.

On the other end of the door, Izzy was staring back at the door, frowning as she looked back at Sunny. "Poor Hitch, he must feel left out…" Izzy sighed.

"I'm sure he is, but we need to get his surprise ready! I feel bad for blowing him off, but he never remembers his own birthday! I usually have to keep reminding him every year, but now Hitch has three new friends to celebrate with!" Sunny declared, giving Izzy a friendly nudge before rushing back to meet up with Zipp and Pipp.

Izzy sighed, "well if you say so Sunny, though I can't help but feel like this might not go the way we planned." Izzy responded before trotting after Sunny.

After a couple of minutes of walking, Hitch made it back to Maretime Bay, head held low as he thought of things to do to keep himself preoccupied. Still, there was nothing he could think of. "Maybe I should just head home…" Hitch thought, raising his head before spotting a curious sight. There was a blue unicorn with the most peculiar mane. It was wavy, curls reaching far down. Just looking at it made him want to touch and feel it, it must be so soft. Though then the realization hit him: wait, that's a new face. He hasn't recalled seeing this pony before. He walked up to them curiously as they leaned against the railing overlooking the ocean. "Hey there?"

The blue-furred mare looked over at who directed her attention. "Huh?" Now that she was looking right at him, Hitch could see she was a Unicorn! That might explain why he hadn't seen her before, not as many Unicorn lived in Maretime Bay as Pegasi and of course other Earth Ponies. "Wait, aren't you?" Hitch paused, curious to hear she might know him. "Nah, no way you're the sheriff. The sheriff looks much more photogenic."

"Wha..?" Hitch looked a bit baffled. Well, she knew who he was, though he wasn't expecting that kind of response. Hitch took a moment to recover from that wording, "what? I look just as good- no, I look better in person than I do in my photos!" Hitch declared, holding a hoof to his chest defensively.

This warranted a laugh from the mare, snickering to herself. Hitch's cheeks dusted red for a moment as he watched her laugh, growing a bit more defensive in the process. "Relax Sheriff, I'm only kidding!" Misty smirked, pulling herself off the railing. "My name is Misty, it's nice to meet you, Sheriff!" The unicorn smiled, holding a hoof out to greet the stallion.

Hitch took a moment, leaving the hoof in the air for a couple of seconds before slowly reaching out and meeting her hoof with his. They had a small shake before Hitch pulled away, "well, nice to meet you too Misty. You can just call me Hitch if you want, I don't mind."

"Hitch then, cute name." Misty smiled, before leaning back over the railing, staring at the coastline. Hitch gave her a curious look, ignoring the remark on his name as he leaned over the railing next to her. Misty smiled, looking over at him, "so how can I help you Hitch?" Misty asked curiously, referring to how Hitch was the one who initiated their conversation.

"Oh, right, sorry, I don't really need anything. I guess I got kind of bored, so I wanted to make a new friend I guess?" Hitch responded confusedly as if he wasn't too sure himself what he was trying to say.

"Make a new friend? Don't you have dozens of friends, sheriff? What would you be friends with me for? I'm just some random mare enjoying the view~" Misty asked curiously.

Hitch rolled his eyes before sighing, "well, I've got five good ones. Except one of them is currently doing community service to make up for destroying a lighthouse and seriously injuring a few ponies."

"Uhh…"

"And the other four are doing some… Mares' Day thing or something. Something about a Pegasi holiday? I think. I don't know, Sunny was really quick to push me away and go hang out with our friends without me." Hitch sighed, rolling his eyes.

Misty smirked, looking over at the horizon. "Hey Hitch, I'd hate to be the one to break the bad news to yah, but uh, Mares' Day isn't a holiday."

"Eh?"

"Your friends must have just not wanted to hang out with you today. Or they're hiding something from you. Either or." Misty responded, waving a hoof before pulling off of the railing and moving to sit down at the nearest bench.

Hitch gave her a baffled look as he followed her over to the bench in question. She sat down on it before offering the stallion the other end of the bench. "What? No, Sunny has no reason to lie to me! Besides, what would you know about a pegasus holiday when you're a Unicorn?" Hitch defended Sunny, crossing his hooves before sitting down on the other end of the bench.

"You're kidding me?" Misty asked, holding back laughter. "Look Sheriff, people lie all the time. Sometimes lying is alright, but you never know until after the fact. Maybe you're right, and I'm the liar here, but I get the feeling you're just sticking up for your friends. How about that, am I around there?" Hitch paused, opening his mouth to talk back but stopping himself as he lowered his head in defeat. Misty sighed in response, "hey now, don't get too upset! They might have lied just so that they could avoid hurting your feelings too." Misty smiled.

Hitch looked up, "I guess that could also be true…" Hitch sighed, placing his hoof against his cheek. Misty giggled lightly before inching closer to the stallion.

"Well, either way, I'd be down to hang out with you for the rest of the day, Sheriff~" Misty perked up. Hitch looked at her curiously in response. "You could show me around Maretime Bay, this is my first time here, after all, I want to make the most of it!"

"Really? You don't mind hanging out with me?" Hitch asked the mare curiously, eyes sparking back to life.

"Of course, I don't. You seem like a pretty fun guy, all things considered! Besides, I wouldn't want to leave you after the whole telling you your friends were probably lying to your deal." Misty smirked. Hitch couldn't help but let out a chuckle in response before nodding.

"Alright then, let's go. I can show you all of my favorite spots in town!" Hitch smirked, climbing off the bench and trotting past her, looking back at her happily. Misty giggled, climbing off the bench and following behind him.

"Lead the way Sheriff!~"

Hitch smirked, trotting off with Misty in tow. However, he didn't get to make it too far before his phone started ringing. The phone Pipp had gotten after they became friends. Sunny was calling him. "Hmph…" Hitch declined the call, just before flicking his phone to silent mode. "Sorry about that, let's continue!" Hitch smiled back at Misty before they continued on.

"Ugh, why isn't he picking up?! Did he forget to charge his phone or something?" Sunny groaned, continuing to call Hitch multiple times though each time led straight to voicemail.

Pipp chimed in, "it's either that or he has his phone on silent. Besides, it's not like Hitch to forget to charge his phone anyways, do you have any idea how organized that stallion is?"

Sunny paused for a moment, she stopped attempting to call him after the 5th failed attempt to call him. "Wait, wouldn't that mean he's ignoring me?"

"That's a harsh way to put it, but that's also probably not far from the truth either," Zipp responded, just before taking a sip of her drink.

"Well, why is he ignoring me?! Was it something I-" Sunny paused, thinking back to earlier in the day? "Uhm. You don't think he's mad about the whole… Mares' Day thing, right?"

"I told you! He probably feels left out!" Izzy retorted.

"He might've found out Mares' Day isn't real. Which… in this context… would make ignoring you justifiable." Zipp followed up, attempting to call the Sheriff herself, but to no avail. "Scratch that, ignoring everyone."

"Ughh, I just wanted to surprise him for his birthday! This isn't what I had in mind." Sunny sighed.

"Uhm… Fillies." Pipp spoke up quickly, flying over towards the others. "Check out what Hitch just posted to his Ponygram!" Pipp showed off her phone to the three. There was a photo of Hitch and a blue-furred Unicorn. They were pseudo-hugging, each having a hoof wrapped around each other with Hitch holding up the phone used to take the photo. The photo's caption read: "Just met the coolest new friend! She's gonna teach me how she styles her mane, I can't wait!"

The room was filled with silence for a couple of seconds. "Well… Maybe we can do Hitch's birthday tomorrow?" Izzy responded sheepishly, followed by a sigh from the rest.

Mourning is Hard

Sunny sighed, staring up at the ceiling as she laid in bed. “Hiiiiiiiiitch…” Sunny groaned, looking from the ceiling to the jail bars that kept her contained. Sunny was at the Sheriff’s office, doing time for another one of her activism speeches which ended… violently. Hitch was sitting in his chair, filing some papers and the like, whereas Sprout was out at the moment. Hitch’s ear flicked as he looked over at Sunny. Sunny locked eyed with him for a moment before climbing out of the prison bed and trotting over to the bars, now giving the sheriff an exasperated look. “Listen Hitch, you know me! Let’s put everything behind us ey? Look, promise, if you let me out now I won’t go and start another fight with Muddy Puddles.” Sunny sighed.

“Sunny, let’s be real, I’ve given you plenty of chances already. You know that nobody in Maretime Bay likes hearing your speeches or joining your cause. If that was it, you wouldn’t be here but you got into a fight with Muddy Puddles over it, I had to lock you up!” Hitch sighed, walking over towards the jail bars.

“He said sooooo many mean things about me! I wasn’t just going to-”

“Stop. Sunny look, we talked about this. No getting violent. Besides, Muddy Puddles is still just a teenager!” Sunny opened her mouth to speak back but stopped, before sighing, realizing it probably wasn’t the best idea to fight some teenager as an adult.

“Ugh…” Sunny pouted, looking away as she leaned back against the jail bars. Hitch saw this and grumbled to himself, sitting down next to Sunny on the other side of the bars. Sunny looked over at him, before then looking down. “Look, I’m sorry alright..?”

Hitch sighed, rolling his eyes, “I wish sorry could cut it, but it isn’t enough. You’ve gotta do your time just like every other troublemaker in Maretime Bay.” Hitch groaned. “But…”

“But?”

“How about after my shift we hangout at my place..? Just… order a pizza and relax..?"

Sunny looked over at Hitch a bit curiously, “you mean it? Just us?”

“Well, if it gets you to behave. Besides, I know you’re kinda lonely with… y’know…” Hitch sighed, referring to the passing of Sunny’s father, Argyle. Sunny paused, biting her lip for a moment as she turned away. She was fighting back tears at the thought of it. It happened not too long ago, in fact, only about a month or two, the memory still stung fresh in her mind about it as well.

“He said… something about Dad. I couldn’t just let him get away with that…”

Hitch flinched, looking over at Sunny in shock. “Is that what this is about..?” Hitch asked curiously, looking over at Sunny. Sunny responded with a solemn nod, still fighting back tears. Hitch sighed, now everything was adding up. Sunny was a passive pony by heart, she wouldn’t hurt a fly. Even after trying to convince others to join her cause and convince others that Unicorn and Pegasi were good she hadn’t fought anyone about it, not until today. Hitch looked over at the clock. They had a good thirty minutes before Hitch’s shift ended and he could go home. He slowly got up and walked over to his chair. He sat down and went back to filing the papers in silence.

Sunny remained silent, staring down at the ground as she continued to fight back tears. She was strong, she promised herself she wouldn’t cry again, yet it was getting harder and harder. This situation… it reminded her of the night after her father’s passing.

Hitch slowly walked up to the Lighthouse, carrying some take-out with him. Argyle had passed the same morning. Hitch kept calling Sunny, but she didn’t pick up any of his calls. He was growing increasingly worried about the poor mare. She didn’t have anypony else, and well, she was already a big enough outcast as it stood. He was all she had left. Hitch made it up to the doorstep, knocking on the door. There was no response. Hitch grumbled lightly, knocking once more. Once again there wasn’t a response. Hitch was beginning to think she just might not be around, however he put his ear to the door. He could hear… something… It wasn’t clear just what it was though, just that it sounded like it was coming from higher up. Hitch knocked one final time, no response. “Ugh… Sorry Sunny.” Hitch opened the door using the knob, looks like she left it unlocked. When he got inside the sound was much clearer. Still, the stallion had no clue what it was. He looked around before making his way towards the stairs, on route to Sunny’s room.

Once up the stairs the sound got ever more clear. It was getting louder, and it sounded like… crying. Hitch frowned, walking over to Sunny’s room, knocking on her door. There was no response, and the sound from earlier had ceased. “Sunny… It’s me… Hitch?” Hitch called to Sunny on the other end of the door. He attempted to open the door, however this door was locked. Hitch had no choice but to stay outside, however he was growing ever worried about Sunny on the other end of the door. “Sunny, please open the door… I-I brought some food from your favorite restaurant downtown!” Hitch called again, trying to convince her to come out. Still, no response. Hitch sat down, laying against the door. “Sunny… Please open the door… I’m getting worried…” Hitch pleaded with the earth pony. For a couple of seconds, nothing but silence. However then Hitch heard soft hooves against the wooden floor of her room. After a couple more seconds, a clicking sound was heard against the door. She unlocked it. The sound of hooves against wood would fade away with Sunny walking back. Hitch gulped, standing up and nodding, slowly opening the door.

The room was like how it always had been. He had been in here more times than he could remember as a kid, and even came over some times recently to hang out. Sunny was nowhere to be seen, but there was a suspiciously large lump in Sunny’s bed covered by bed sheets. Hitch sighed, “Sunny…” He put down the carryout and walked over to the bed. He didn’t touch or attempt to pull off the sheets, knowing Sunny was underneath them.
Hitch took a seat on the edge of her bed. “Hey Sunny… How’s things holding up…”

“...”

“You haven’t returned any of my calls, I was starting to get a bit worried y’know, you practically pick up my calls all the time after all.” Hitch chuckled softly, looking up at Sunny’s vanity, photos of her and Argyle lining the frame.

“... I’m sorry…” The lump of bed sheets responded. Hitch smiled, finally hearing Sunny’s voice for the first time since he arrived. He breathed a sigh of relief.

Hitch inched closer to the bed sheets, “y’know… If you want… you can stay with me at my place for a couple of days. I could use some company at my house.”

The lump would move a bit, squirming around before Sunny responded once more. “Are… Are you sure..?”

“Of course I’m sure… Except I can’t take a bunch of bed sheets to my house. This offer is only open to Sunny Starscout, not her blankets~” Hitch responded teasingly. The bed sheets moved around a bit more. “And… you can stay there for as long as you need, if that’s days… weeks… months, I’ll stay by your side until you’re better again, OK..?”

“I…” The bed sheets began shifting again, before they began to rise. Slowly, a hoof came out from beneath the sheets, slowly pulling them up, and off of Sunny’s face, finally showing herself off to Hitch. Her face was stained in tears, Her eyes welled up with more tears, if she kept going like this she was going to dehydrate herself. “Do you mean it?”

Hitch gave her his warmest smile, holding out his hooves as he looked her right in the eyes. “Of course I do. I’ll be here for you always. Cause that’s what friends are for.” Hitch responded confidently.

Sunny’s eyes welled up even more as she sniffed. It only took a couple of seconds before the waterworks came. Sunny soon began crying, rushing into Hitch’s arms and burying her face in his chest as she cried. She almost knocked Hitch off of the bed in the process, but the stallion held himself on the bed as she let her tears flow. “Waaaaaaaaa!” Sunny wailed, crying loudly into Hitch’s chest, surely getting Hitch doused in tears in the process. Hitch sighed, his own eyes welling up a bit too. He wrapped his hooves around Sunny, hugging her closely and rubbing her back as she cried. He didn’t move a muscle, not until she was ready to go.

They didn’t move for minutes, not until Sunny had run out of tears to cry. Once she was done, Hitch held her hoof, taking the mare back to his house. No more words were said on the walk to Hitch’s house. Sunny kept her head down, but in contrast Hitch kept his held high.

That was almost two months ago…

The large clock just above the large double doors struck 8. It was time to go home. Hitch got up from his chair, conveniently finishing all of his files at the same time, showing just how organized he was. Hitch walked over to the cell, taking the key and unlocking the door. “Hey Sunny, ready to go home?”

Sunny still had her head down. She hadn’t realized it was already time to go, but hearing Hitch’s voice snapped her out of her daze. “Huh..? Oh, uh, yeah.” Sunny got up, walking over to the bars. Hitch closed them off as Sunny exited, placed the keys away and walked out of the office with Sunny following behind. When they got outside, they were able to watch the sun mostly past the ocean horizon, it looks like they missed the best part of the sunset this time. It was going to get dark soon. Hitch began to head back in the direction of his house, Sunny stayed in place however. She stared at the setting sun for a while longer before looking over to Hitch, and then back to the Lighthouse. She mulled over her options for a second.

“Hey Hitch…” Sunny called to the stallion. Hitch paused, looking back at Sunny curiously. Sunny looked down. “You weren’t joking when you said I could… come over for the night, right..?”

Hitch flinched, pausing again before smirking, “I’d never joke about something like that. The offer is still open y’know~” Hitch smirked. “Oop, but it’s closing in five… four… three…”

Sunny jumped, quickly running over, “I’m coming I’m coming!” Hitch snickered, stopping his countdown and waiting for Sunny to reach his side before nodding as they walked back home together. Sunny stayed silent for most of the walk back to Hitch's house, not that Hitch mind all too much though. Sunny however pressed up against Hitch's side, leaning against him as he led her off. Hitch looked back at Sunny for a moment but his warm smile never faltered. He took her back home, where she'd spend the night with him.