Redemption for a Cloverleaf

-/-Somewhere in Bridlewood-/-

“I hope that went well”. Phyllis Cloverleaf thought to herself as she trotted back to her hotel room. She had just gotten done with a meeting with a few Unicorn ponies about the possibility of putting a Canterlogic factory somewhere in or near Bridlewood. She had done the very same not too long ago in Zephyr Heights.

Truth be told, she fully expected to be offered to put her factory on the outer towns of both of those places. There were two towns near Bridlewood, that being Pointyvale and Sharpington. She had a feeling she’d be put in Pointyvale. Not necessarily a BAD place to put it, but it just wasn’t a big enough town to put a big factory like hers there.

As for Zephyr Heights, there ALSO were two towns on the outer parts there too. That being CloudsVu(which, according to legend, used to be called Cloudsdale, though it’s never been proven) and Skytown. She felt she had a little bit more of a chance for her factory to be put in Zephyr Heights, although she worried about the major costs of being put in a place where a Queen lived. Might be a bit TOO expensive.

However, as she thought about her business ventures, she also thought about her son. Her little boy. Her sugercube.

She remembered after he took her job offer, he always came home looking super depressed. Like he had just about the worst day you could imagine. Though, whenever she would ask him about it, he’d always say the same thing to her.

“I’m fine, Mommy”

And then he’d spend the evening by himself. Not talking to her. Or anypony else for that matter. She had asked him a few times if he ever tried talking with Sunny and Hitch, but the answer was always No. Which made her sad. Those three were as close as siblings growing up. They did so much together, and now they don’t talk at all because of his mistake.

It was behaviors like this that REALLY worried her. She just KNEW that Sprout was depressed. After his actions, which she also knew he felt extreme remorse for, he had pretty much just shut himself out. Being friendless. Bottling everything up.

And that was HER fault. That was something she regretted to tell him when he was growing up. Never let them see that they get to you. She told him that after her husband Bright passed away so suddenly from a brain aneurysm. She told him that they had to be strong for him. And that he wouldn’t want them to be sad and mourn forever. He’d want them to move on.

Also, due to Bright passing away so soon, SHE was given ownership of Canterlogic. Add on to that fact that she had a little 8 year old colt to raise, she didn’t really give herself time to mourn the only stallion she ever truly loved. She just kept moving forward and not looking back.

Maybe that was another reason as to why Sprout never talked with her about his feelings. Seeing how she was and how she carried herself, Sprout wanted to mold himself to be like her. She, pretty much, told him to never talk about your feelings, bottle it up and just keep on working. What a mistake that was.

What made this worse was she also knew how her employees felt about her son. She saw, or at least heard about, all the looks and comments about her son that her employees would give him. Behind his back or even to his face. Now, if she ever ACTUALLY saw one of her employees doing that to him, she’d fire that pony in an instant. She wasn’t gonna tolerate that treatment towards her son. Even if Sprout didn’t tell her anything. Which scared her tremendously.

However, what TRULY filled her with fear, was the possibility of Sprout thinking about…well…ending it all. She didn’t want to sound overly dramatic, but she did have a really sick feeling that her son might try to commit suicide. That’s why she so desperately wanted him to talk with Sunny and Hitch again. Or meet new ponies. Make new friends. If he wasn’t gonna talk with her, or anypony else, who did he have to talk to? No pony.

Phyllis felt herself to be a bad mother. Even if Sprout chose to wreck havoc with that giant machine of doom, she was the one who filled him with fear about Unicorns and Pegasi. It was her that made him think he could be better than Hitch. It was her who filled his head with impossible dreams.

It was all her fault. She made her son like that. She made her son into a dictator. She turned her son into a criminal. Everything that happened was all her fault.

And she was so scared about losing him. Losing her husband was bad enough, but losing her son too? She knew she’d either go insane or she’d probably join him in death too. That way, they’d all be happy together in the afterlife. At least she wouldn’t be alone.

She regretted not calling him the past two nights. The meetings and other things got in the way. She also didn’t want to interfere with his work schedule or wake him up in the middle of the night. Even still, she just wished that she would’ve called him and just asked how he’s feeling. If everything is going alright at work.

That’s when she came up with an idea. When she would get back to her hotel room, she’d call her sugercube and ask him, when she gets home, if he’d like to take a vacation with her. Maybe, take him to Zephyr Heights to see the sights. Or come back to Bridlewood and check out the unique stores here. She was going to cheer up her son. She was going to sit down and talk with him about EVERYTHING. And she meant EVERYTHING.

Bright, that stupid saying she gave him growing up about his feelings, Sunny and Hitch, his job, everything. She wasn’t gonna hold ANYTHING back.

He was her son. And she loved him with all her heart. And she wanted him to feel happy to be alive.

While she thought all of this, she found herself back at the Hotel she was staying at. It was a pretty nice one. Not overly fancy, but not some rundown crackhouse, like in Clopton. She was just about to enter the lobby, when she heard a familiar voice call out to her.

“PHYLLIS!” The loud voice cried, causing her to turn around, feeling startled. She saw it was Alphabittle Blossomforth. The huge, grey unicorn came running at her with worry in his eyes. She wondered what had gotten into this stallion?

She also wondered what he was doing here in Bridlewood? He had been in Zephyr Heights a LOT lately, from what the residents of Bridlewood have said.

Perhaps it was to see a certain royal family member that he had been tagging along with quite a bit lately? Perhaps it was to help out that certain royal family member with some tasks around the kingdom, just to be around her? Perhaps…it was to just stare in wonder and captivation at this beautiful royal family member?

Phyllis just giggled thinking all those possibilities as to why Alphabittle was here in Bridlewood.

“Yes, Alphabittle? What’s wrong? You nearly scared me half to death.” She said, kinda scolding him in a motherly tone.

“Sorry about that, but you NEED to see this. It’s about your son.” He said frantically, while getting his phone out.

Phyllis felt her heart rate rise a little bit when he mentioned Sprout. What’s he talking about?

“What do you mean? What’s going on?” She asked, obviously sounding worried.

He then showed Phyllis his phone. “This went viral last night. Your son got into a fight with Queen Haven’s daughter in Maretime Bay.” He said, before clicking play.

As the video of Zipp and Sprout’s altercation in the town square of Maretime Bay played, Phyllis almost felt like she was gonna have an anxiety attack. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. This couldn’t be happening.

But it was.

What made it worse for her was, after seeing Zipp accuse Sprout if murder, then tackling him to the ground, him striking her in the face. Hard. Causing her to almost be out on her hooves.

After the video was done, and Alphabittle put his phone back, Phyllis felt scared out if her mind. What had happened yesterday? What caused all this?

Was Sprout in jail?

Her heart rate started to soar. “Oh No. My little sugercube.” She said, backing away a little bit in fear.

“You need to go back to Maretime Bay right now. This whole situation looks ugly. Queen Haven and I are gonna go too. I’m gonna accompany her when I go to Zephyr Heights. She’s seen it too. That’s why I showed it you.” He told her.

Phyllis nodded her head in agreement. “I need to check out early. Thank you, Alphabittle.” She said, quickly rushing inside and up to her room. She quickly packed all her bags and rushed out the front door.

As she ran towards where the start of the forest was, she felt her heart rapidly beat in concern and worry for her son. What was going on in Maretime Bay? What had caused Zipp Storm to tackle Sprout to the ground like that?

She sincerely hoped that Hitch could give her all the answers to her questions. She hoped that Sprout wasn’t in jail for simply defending himself. She hoped she wasn’t too late.

By Celestia, she truly hoped.

-/-Maretime Bay Sheriff’s Department-/-

”You and the killer have the same mother.”

After Charnelle, the ME Pony, revealed that shocking result to Sprout and everypony in the room, not a single one of them had spoken a word. The shock was just too great for them to comprehend. They all just couldn’t fathom it.

Sprout Cloverleaf has an older brother? An older brother he had never known or heard of all his life, until now? Phyllis Cloverleaf has another son and never told anypony?

It was especially shocking to Hitch and Sunny. Sprout and the two of them had grown up together. Known each other all their lives.

Now, they find out that Phyllis has another son out there. The one who brutally murdered Lilac Summer’s. To say it was all so much to take in would be an understatement.

“Y-Y-You’re joking.” Sprout weakly muttered, causing everypony to look at him. “You have to be joking.” Hitch and Sunny felt like a knife had just jabbed their hearts when they heard that tone from him. They both felt tremendous pain for Sprout right now.

Izzy and Pipp looked on in sympathy at Sprout as well. Hearing news like this must be devastating to hear. Izzy especially wanted to console Sprout and let him know that she was head right now and would listen to him if he needed to talk.

Zipp couldn’t believe she was thinking this, but she also felt bad for Sprout. She probably would’ve felt how Sprout must be feeling right now if she found out something as crazy as this.

Charnelle sadly shook her head. “I wish was Sprout. But, apparently, there IS another Cloverleaf out there. And according to the DNA found at the crime scene, if I had to guess, I’d say your brother is about 12, 13 years older than you.” She paused for a split second.

“I’m sorry you had to find out this way. I truly am.” She said with sympathy in her voice.

Sprout just looked down at the floor. Not saying a word.

“I’m gonna go now. I’ll let you know if I find anything else about Lilac Summer.” She said, walking out of the room, leaving every pony to think on what just happened.

After about a minute of silence, and Sprout continuing to look at the floor in shock at what he found out, Izzy slowly trotted over to Sprout with a sympathetic look.

“Sprout? Are…you okay?” She asked him, sounding genuinely concerned.

Sprout didn’t answer her. He just looked at the floor with that shocked look on his face.

However, Sunny and Hitch noticed it wasn’t just shock on his face. They also saw disbelief, hurt and betrayal. His own mother had another son all his life and never told him.

This time, Hitch came up to him. “Hey, Sprout, buddy? You wanna talk?” He asked him in a gentle voice, while patting his back in comfort.

Sprout still didn’t answer. It was almost like he couldn’t hear them. Like he was in a sort of hypnotic trance.

“Sprout?” Sunny tried getting his attention. “Say something.”

Pipp wanted to try and console Sprout as well, but she couldn’t figure out how. She barely knew him and didn’t want to say the wrong thing. It could make it worse.

However, Sprout did NOT say anything. After Sunny asked him to do so, and without even looking at everypony, Sprout turned around and slowly trudged toward the front door.

Sunny reached her hoof out and attempted to say something, before Hitch stopped her. He gave her a look that said to let him be. With finding out news like this, it probably is better for ponies to leave him alone for a while. They both didn’t like it and WANTED to help their longtime friend, but sometimes ponies just need to be left alone when dealing with stuff like this.

As Sprout quietly opened the door and left, Izzy let out a small whimper for him. She HATED seeing ponies so down. So depressed. So broken. So sad. And so…well, every word in the dictionary that described a negative emotion. She just wanted to run after him and hug him. Listen to ANY word he had to say about all this crazy reveal.

Maybe even stroke his good looking mane while doing so. That thought kind of made her blush. She quickly brushed it off. Now is not the time to think about how cute Sprout looked. This was serious time.

“I can’t fucking believe this shit.” Hitch said out loud, causing everypony to look at him.

“I’ve known Phyllis Cloverleaf since I was a colt, and I never ONCE knew she has another son. Celestia, this is so much to take in.”

Sunny looked sad. “Why would she keep something like this from us?”

While that was said, Izzy looked out the window to see where Sprout was going. However, what she saw now, shot up worry and anger from her as she let out a huge gasp.

“SPROUT!” She yelled as she ran out the door, startling everypony.

When she ran out, Hitch ran after her as well. And when he saw what he saw happening to Sprout, his anger went from 0-100. He saw red.

Sprout was being beat up by two earth pony stallions. Both of whom were a bit bigger than he was. And QUITE older. In the double digits category go say the least.

One had a blonde, crew cut style mane, a white coat and a trash can cutie mark. The other was bald, had a beige coat and a broom cutie mark. Seems like these two guys are janitors at some place.

Possibly Canterlogic?

Sprout was down on the ground being kicked and stomped by these two guys, when Hitch ran up and punched the bald pony in the face.

The bald pony groaned in pain from Hitch’s punch, while he stepped back a little bit.

The crew cut pony stopped what he was doing, which caused Hitch to buck him in the face. He yelled in pain from the shot he took.

Sunny, Pipp and Zipp all looked on in shock and horror at seeing Hitch beat the hell out of these two scumbags. Sunny had never seen a side of him like this before. It was almost scary seeing Hitch look this angry.

She then looked over at Sprout and gasped in horror. She saw him on the ground, trying to protect himself from the beating he took from those two ponies. She ran over toward him and Izzy, who appeared to be trying to help him up.

“Sprout!” Sunny exclaimed. “Oh Celestia, are you alright?!” She asked him, sounding worried.

“Sprouty!” Izzy said with serious concern.

Thankfully, he didn’t look too bad. Yes, he did look a little bit roughed up. And it did appear he took a shot to the face. But, thankfully, Izzy saw what was going on literally when it first happened. Thank Celestia it didn’t go any further. So, it wasn’t serious.

As Sunny and Izzy helped Sprout up, Hitch continued to beat the hell out of the two ponies. Especially the bald one. The crew cut pony looked to be done with his beating. The bald one put up a little bit more of a fight. However, Hitch was just a little bit more tougher than BOTH of them. So it was not really a surprise that he beat both of their asses.

As he cuffed both of the scumbags, some of the townsfolk ponies heard the commotion going on, and decided to see what was up. Some ponies were shocked and surprised at Hitch’s brutality. Both ponies looked to be beat up REALLY bad. Especially the crew cut pony. He was even moaning in pain from his beating. While the bald one just grumbled.

When the two ponies were cuffed, Hitch came out of his anger induced rage. He saw the results of it on these two scumbag ponies. He had no idea what he had just done.

He looked at everypony in town staring at him in disbelief. He couldn’t help but feel remorse for them. He didn’t mean for them to see this. He just go so angry and lost control on these two.

However, he couldn’t help but ask a serious question regarding everypony in town at what just happened:
Why Didn’t Anypony Help?

After breathing a big sigh of both relief and disappointment, he turned around and brought the two ponies up.

“You okay, Sprout?” He asked his friend, who didn’t answer him. By now, Izzy and Sunny had let go of him and he was fine standing on his own.

He just looked away in shame. Why he felt that way was a mystery to Hitch. It wasn’t his fault he got beat down by these two assholes.

“Why are you asking if HE’S okay? You should be asking Zipp that?” The crew cut pony asked in anger at Hitch.

“Shut up and walk, fuckface.” Hitch said calmly.

As the two ponies did just that, the bald one called out to both Zipp and Pipp, who were still standing at the entrance of the Sheriff’s Department in shock and concern over what had just happened.

“We saw the video. You should be thanking us, Zipp.” He said.

When he said that, Hitch stopped in his tracks. His anger came back a little bit, though he was more in control of it now. He looked over at Zipp.

“What video?” He asked both of the scumbag ponies, while not looking at them.

Pipp had a look of embarrassment on her face, while Zipp looked away in shame. She did take one look over at Sprout and her shame doubled inside of her.

Sprout just shook his head at her in disgust and walked away. Again, Izzy wanted to go after him, but Sunny stopped her. Right now, he needed to be alone. Even if he was roughed up, Sprout needed to be alone to clear his head.

While the two scumbag ponies were escorted inside the Sheriffs Department, and eventually put in a jail cell, Hitch gave her that same look of disgust that Sprout just did. He knew that after he was done booking these two assholes, he was gonna have a serious talk with her.

Zipp then looked over at Sunny and Izzy. What she saw on them was even worse. Sunny had a look that said nothing but disappointment and shame as she shook her head at her and walked away, possibly to start up her smoothie cart business for the day.

As for Izzy, the look she gave just broke Zipp’s heart. Izzy didn’t just look disappointed like Sunny, she looked hurt. She looked like Zipp had just betrayed her. And the incredibly sad look on her face just sold it. Izzy then trotted off, probably back to the Crystal Brighthouse.

However, the worst one was when she turned to her little sister Pipp next to her. She could see that Pipp was angry with her too, but there also was a look of disappointment on her face too. She expected better of her big sister, and after this whole incident, she was almost ashamed of her. She flew off, probably to find Izzy and comfort her as best she could.

Now, Zipp was alone. She was standing outside the Sheriff’s Department all by herself. With the exception of all the townsfolk, who either already left the uncomfortable situation they saw, or still stood there not knowing what to do. Some either looked at her in disgust or shame, or some even looked at her with a smile. Those ponies appeared to be happy that Sprout got beat down by those two scumbags.

It sickened her to think that ponies would find enjoyment in that. Why would anypony want somepony to get beat up that bad? Even if she still didn’t entirely trust Sprout, she was still disgusted with how those two scumbag ponies acted.

Eventually, the rest of the townsfolk stopped looking on at what just happened, and continued to go about their business. However, all Zipp could do was just stand there in shame. All she could think was one question she had about this whole situation. The whole situation that was now officially her fault.

”What have I done?”

*SLAM*

Went the jail cell doors, closing the two scumbag ponies inside their new little home. When interrogating them, he found out their names were Oscar and Sal. The bald one was Sal and the crew cut pony was Oscar.

They both worked at Canterlogic as Janitors for about 3 years now. Like almost everypony there, they HATED Sprout Cloverleaf with a passion. Always gave him looks and made comments about him behind his back.

Another thing they were, apparently, was major creep asses. One reason for them assaulting Sprout was seeing the video of Him striking Zipp and giving her a black eye. That was obvious. Another was, pretty much, they just HATE Sprout and wanted to beat him up.

However, the biggest reason for them assaulting Sprout, was that they wanted to impress Zipp and Pipp. Yes. These two older gentlecolt’s, who were probably 15 to 20 years older than them, wanted to impress two young mares in hopes of bedding them. These two creep asses wanted to get with two mares who were old enough to be their father’s.

Fucking disgusting much. Hitch got great pleasure throwing these two in a cell together. He just hoped he could keep them there for a LONG time.

However, now was NOT the time to think about these two creep asses. His attention was now focused on one pony. The pony who he now knows started all this shit.

His friend, Zipp Storm.

After Oscar and Sal were in their cell(while yelling obscenities at him), he walked back into the main lobby. Zipp stood right there with that same look of shame on her face. She probably could’ve left while Hitch dealt with Oscar and Sal, but with that angry look he gave her, she knew that would make her situation worse. He would eventually find her and make her punishment more than what he might have planned for her.

Hitch walked up to her with that angry look on his face again. Zipp had to look away from his piercing glaze.

“What video were they talking about, Zipp?” He asked her in a somewhat threatening tone.

She sighed sadly before she took her phone out and showed him that video. Hitch watched while Zipp tackled Sprout to the ground, resulting in her black eye. He shook his head in disappointment.

“Why?” Hitch asked.

Zipp didn’t answer.

“Why, Zipp? What were you thinking?”

“Hitch-“

“Don’t talk. Just listen.” He said, rather rudely. Which did kind of hurt Zipp a little bit.

“Do you have any idea what you just did? You accused the first stallion that came up in front of a lot of ponies. Ponies who don’t like him, and probably would believe you, even if evidence says otherwise.”

“I’m sorry, Hitch, I didn’t-“

“Sorry isn’t enough, Zipp. If I have to punish my best friend of over 20 years for his crimes, I have to punish YOU for your crimes too.” He said, rather calmly, but still had a little anger in him.

Zipp felt a cold chill run through her. What was he talking about?

“Hitch, come on, I didn’t know we were being recorded. I didn’t mean for that happen to Sprout. I’ve just been so crazy with finding the fucker who murdered Lilac. I didn’t mean to lose control. I’m sorry, okay?” Zipp said, now letting some emotional tears run down her face.

Hitch looked disappointed with a bit of sadness. He didn’t WANT to do this, but he knew he HAD to. He was the Sheriff after all. It was the right thing to do.

“I’m sure you didn’t mean to. But, I have to do this. You committed aggravated assault, Zipp. And now you unintentionally caused two ponies to commit assault on that same pony. You have to pay for that.” Hitch said in a soft voice.

Zipp felt her heart sink. She knew it. She knew what Hitch was going to do now.

“Zipp, turn around. You’re under arrest.” Hitch said.

It was in that moment that Zipp let out a small sob. She fucked up. She made a bad mistake and now she was going to pay for that. She turned around like he asked her to do and felt the hoof cuffs around her hooves.

“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law.” Hitch continued reading her her rights, while leading her to the jail cell that was in the lobby where they stood. He put her in the cell, took off her hoof cuffs, shut the cell door, and now Zipp was in jail.

Zipp Storm, the Detective, was now in jail.

“I’m sorry, Zipp, but I have to do what I have to do. I hope you understand.” He said softly.

Zipp sat on her bed, curled up in a ball and cried. Openly cried for her current situation.

About an hour or so after Zipp’s arrest, the Sheriff Department’s doors flew wide open. Startling Hitch and Zipp in the process. They were equally surprised at who it was that opened the doors with such force.

“Is my sugercube here? Where’s my son?” Phyllis desperately asked Hitch, who was sitting at his desk, looking at his computer for more facts on the case, before being interrupted.

When he looked at Phyllis, he saw the extreme look of concern and worry on her face. He knew she must’ve seen the video as well. Well, pretty much, EVERYPONY has seen the video. It’s probably one of the most viral videos on the web right now.

Phyllis looked over at Zipp in the jail cell. She felt both confused and relieved at what she saw.

“Why is Zipp in jail? If she’s here, where’s Sprout then?” She asked Hitch.

He knew she wanted to know if her son was okay. The fact that she cut her Trip short so soon showed that much.

However, when Hitch looked at her, he also felt like he saw a different pony altogether as well. This was a mare he’s known since foalhood. Somepony who almost felt like another family member to him.

Now, after finding out she has another son out there, and never told anypony, including him and Sprout, he felt like this was a different pony, but still had Phyllis’ face.

He also had a feeling that, what he was gonna do next, was NOT gonna be an easy conversation to have. What would she say? What would her reaction be?

He stood up from his desk. Then, walked very casually over to Phyllis, and said this to her in that calm voice he used when he arrested Zipp:

“Phyllis, we need to talk.”

The way he told her that felt unsettling to Phyllis. She had never seen that type of look on his face before. It kind of scared her a little bit. Why was he looking at her like this?

He motioned for her to follow him to an interrogation room. After a brief hesitation, she followed behind him. What could he want with her? Did something really bad happen to her son? Did something happen to her job while she was away?

She had no idea. All she did know was this was all feeling really strange. She didn’t like it one bit.

When they made it to one of the interrogation rooms, Hitch let her go in first. Even holding the door open for her like a true gentlecolt. And some say chivalry is dead.

When she walked inside, he gave a deep breath through his nostrils. He knew this was gonna be a really hard interview. This might be harder when he interviewed Sprout about the partial DNA match.

”This is not gonna be good.” He told himself internally, before stepping inside and closing the door.