Author's Note
This is yet another story ported from my Fanfiction.net account. Pipp x Hitch is easily my favorite ship from G5 (so far anyways), so I had plenty of fun writing this one.
Chapter 1
Sunny hummed softly to herself, skating down the large hill which connected the Crystal Brighthouse to the rest of Maretime Bay. Today was her day off from the Smoothie Shop, so it gave her some time to relax in Maretime Bay, or at least that was her plan. Izzy had stayed at home, getting into more of her Uni-Cycling shenanigans as to be expected. Zipp had left the Brighthouse early to have her own fun with her flight, and Pipp- well Sunny had no clue where Pipp was. Chances were she might be at Mane Melody, but if she recalled correctly, today was Pipp's day off as well, meaning Jazz and Rocky would run the shop in her place. Ah oh well, it wasn't much trouble to Sunny anyways. She bladed her way off towards Mane Street and right up to the Sheriff's Office.
"Oh Hitchieeeee~" Sunny called out to the Sheriff, attempting to push open the door before slamming right into it. "Ow!" She recoiled a bit, holding her skate-covered hoof to her mane. She looked a bit puzzled, this time pushing on the door without moving, but the door wouldn't budge. "That's… strange?" She tried to peek through the blinds before yelping as the blinds opened slightly, followed by lime-green eyes peeking through them! Sunny exchanged glances with the eyes, a bit startled before the voice spoke from behind the door.
"OH! Sunny, thank goodness you're here!" The voice spoken was familiar. Sunny was still unaware who was speaking to her, but before she had the chance to even guess the door would open up for a second, followed by a hoof suddenly grabbing, and yanking her inside, followed by the door closing again and locking.
"Huh? What's going on?!" Sunny asked a bit in shock, looking around before spotting Pipp, looking particularly panicked. "Wha? Pipp? What're you-" Sunny was cut off as Pipp quickly interrupted her.
"Sunny, please, I need your help!" Pipp pleaded with the Earth Pony, bowing on the ground. Sunny was baffled, to say the least. She looked down at Pipp in confusion. "It's Hitch! He's sick…" Pipp explained softly. Sunny's eyes widened, now beginning to understand the severity of the situation already.
"No…"
"Yes!"
"Oh jeez, quick, call Zipp and tell her to grab Izzy, we're gonna need them for this!" Sunny exclaimed, shaking the smaller Pegasus. Pipp wasted no time, quickly tapping away at her phone, calling her elder sister.
A few minutes would pass by before sudden knocking would be heard at the door. Pipp opened the door and allowed Zipp and Izzy to enter. Zipp seemed to be a bit worried, though she was admittedly handling this much better than Sunny and Pipp. Izzy seemed to be as carefree as always, it was clear she had no clue why Hitch being sick was such a big deal in the first place. Either way, the situation was a bit severe.
"Ok girls." Sunny spoke up, walking over to behind Hitch's desk. "We've got a huge problem. According to Pipp, Hitch has come down with a cold. He's been bedridden since this morning, and he's too weak to even leave his house!" Sunny recapped the other ponies. Zipp frowned, whereas Izzy looked a bit confused. "Had that been it, it wouldn't be such a big deal but… Since Hitch plays a HUGE part in Maretime Bay! He's the Sheriff after all! Not to mention ever since he lost Sprout as a Deputy he's had to increase his workload, not only that but now he has to take care of Sparky too! Now that I think about it, I don't even think I remember Hitch being sick before… ever! So we're going to have to help pitch in, sorry to ruin your plans today girls…" Sunny sighed, finally getting her small tangent out of the way.
Of course, Sunny had to use her off day as well, so she wasn't totally exempt from this. Izzy didn't exactly work but she did have a big art project she wanted to work on, guess she was going to have to postpone it for now. Zipp was thankfully on the other end of the spectrum, it meant she had an excuse to ignore her mother's foolish requests for a day, besides, she kind of wanted to try being a Sheriff, it was always something on her bucket list of things to do in life. Pipp hadn't had any plans today, she was just coming to check on Hitch when she found out.
"Looks like we'll have to split up for now. Zipp and I will act as part-time sheriffs for now. I've had some experience being Hitch's Deputy from time to time when Sprout was away, so I've got some advantage in this case. Zipp'll be a great Sheriff in Hitch's place too given her detective skills and such! Together we can totally make up for Hitch being gone!" Sunny explained, followed by a "YES" under Zipp's breath. "Izzy, can you take care of Sparky? You've got tons of energy, besides, handling a baby shouldn't be too big of an issue for you either!~"
"Yes Ma'am!~ We're gonna have so much fun together!" Izzy saluted Sunny, already thinking up a fun list of things to do with Sparky.
"And that leaves you, Pipp, do you think you can stay with Hitch and nurse him back to health?" Sunny asked the smaller Pegasus.
"H-Huh?! W-Wait why me?! W-Wouldn't you be better suited for that anyways?!" Pipp retorted, seeming very defensive about being made to look after the Sheriff. "I-I mean… I just don't want to get sick, that's all." She huffed, although Zipp would stare at the smaller pony with a sneer.
"I'm sorry Pipp, but you're the only one I could trust on this! I could do that but I'm also the one who knows the ins and outs of being a Sheriff, and Zipp being with me would make this much easier too. And as for Izzy… well she probably wouldn't be the best help for a sick sheriff if you catch my drift… Sorry, Izzy."
"I get it, it's fine~" Izzy giggled, waving her hooves.
"Uhm… I guess that's our only choice. Alright… Ok, I guess I can watch over the Sheriff until he gets better. But if I get sick you're all going to have to look after me, got it?!" Pipp huffed, crossing her hooves. Sunny smiled, trotting over and nodding.
"Of course Pipp~ Now let's move out girls! I and Zipp will go off and scout Maretime Bay. Izzy, follow Pipp to Hitch's house, you should take Sparky back home to the Brighthouse too, the last thing we need is the chance of another pony getting sick or Sparky for that matter, we don't even know if he can get sick or not, but best not to risk it either!" Sunny explained before walking over towards the door. "Ready girls?" Sunny was met with an enthusiastic nod from Zipp, and Izzy bounced up and down in place, Pipp still looking a bit frazzled. Sunny nodded and opened the door. "Let's go Ponies!" She called, trotting out of the door, Zipp quickly flying after her. This left Pipp and Izzy to go to Hitch's house.
Izzy trotted outside, ready to head out, now just waiting on Pipp to lead the way, given she didn't know where Hitch lived herself. "C'mon Pipp, we're wasting daylight! Besides, I want to teach Sparky the art of finger painting~" Izzy spoke cheerfully. Pipp sighed and flew over in response. She proceeded to lead Izzy off towards the stallion's home, biting her lip as she flew over, not particularly looking forward to her soon-to-be encounter with the sheriff, though the reason as for why was unclear.
It took a few minutes before they made it to the house but once they made it, Izzy energetically knocked on the door. "Oh Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiitch!" She called out to him behind the door, looking through the keyhole in an attempt to look for the stallion or Sparky. She was unable to spot either of them. Pipp tilts her head before gently pushing the door, opening it up easily. It wasn't locked. They were met with the living room of the home, it was neatly kept, which made some sense given Hitch was always a bit of a perfectionist. There were a few bookshelves with books lined alphabetically, the house was generally clean as well. Soon enough they could hear some coughing coming off towards a hallway. "Oop, sounds like a sickly stallion alright~" Izzy responded cheerily before trotting in towards Hitch's room with a soft smile.
Pipp was still nervous, slowly following behind Izzy. Soon enough the two made it to Hitch's room, opening the door to see their sick friend. Hitch was standing by his bed, trying to get ready for the day… a very late start to the day. He looked dazed, wobbling a bit in place as he tried to walk towards the door.
"Whoa-whoa Hitchster, no getting out of bed for you!" Izzy smiled, using her Unicorn magic to place Hitch back in bed.
"Huh? Hngh… Izzy? What… when did you…" Hitch's words were spread out, and he didn't have any energy to argue against the Unicorn, being placed into bed a bit submissively.
"There we are~ Nice and cozy! Now if you don't mind me, I'm gonna take Sparky far far away from you before you get him sick. And your good ol' friend Pipp is going to take care of you while I'm out!~ Have fun you two!" Izzy exclaimed before trotting off to find Sparky's room. When she did find the Dragon's room it was themed like a nursery! There was a playpen, an assortment of small, presumably toddler-safe toys, and even a few nanny cams placed around the room at multiple angles. Of course, there was a crib in the corner of the room, where Sparky was wide awake, standing inside and looking at Izzy curiously. "Hey, little buddy! C'mon, let's take you to the Brighthouse and have some fun!" Izzy declared, which caused a smile on Sparky as if they understood word for word what Izzy said. After a couple more minutes Izzy was out of the home, with the baby essentials and all.
Pipp was left alone with Hitch in his room, staring down a weak Sheriff, Hitch weakly staring back up at Pipp.
