Gales of Fateby Gamer ScriptChaptersChapter 1: A New CaseChapter 2: A Name On The WindChapter 3: Linking The LinesChapter 1: A New CaseIt was a dim morning in Maretime Bay, the sun just beginning to rise from beyond the waves as the usually prosperous and buzzing town was only just beginning to awaken. Ponies getting their stalls and shops set for the oncoming bustle, the Canterlove Studio's cleaning crew, or at least the huffy red stallion that was told to clean what was 'his', coming in to start the day. The usual sights to any of the town's residents. To that end also was the sight of the town's Sheriff out for his usual morning jog with a teal tank top, light blue sweatpants and matching head and wristbands as he made his way down the main strip leading to the studio. Hitch took even paced breaths as he made his way up the hill, a determined look in his eye as he made it to the top and took a moment to sigh and look out on the scenic view of his home being slowly draped in the gentle sun's rays. He put his hands to his hips and smiled proudly at the town he'd sworn to protect, the shimmering ocean and the ponies going around starting their mornings. He then looked over towards his next destination that was Sunny's Lighthouse. Looking down at a notebook he'd withdrawn from his pocket, he made a check mark next to the Studio on a list of other places, "Alright, now I just gotta get to the lighthouse and my jog for the day is done! Man, Zipp really knows how to make a pony work. This regimen is amazing to keep in shape, but it worries me I might fall behind if they go running off on another adventure." He chuckled as he rubbed his head before hearing a pair of wings come up next to him. Looking over, he saw the pegasus in question zoom down and land by his side from a triple axle, her wings flared out as she rose and brought them back in, "Speak of the evil Alicorn and she shall appear." She smirked with a risen brow as she crossed her arms, wearing a black sprinter's outfit with blue, pink and white stripes on the sides of her hips and across the chest and back of the top as she nodded, "Morning to you too, Sheriff. Enjoying your route I wrote out for you?" She asked curiously as she gave him a light punch to the shoulder. "Yeah! I was just talking about it with," he paused looking around a moment as he chuckled nervously, "Uh... Myself, I guess." He admitted bashfully before looking back at her, What're you doing over here, though?" He said as she shrugged. "You think I just wrote that thing out for you? That's my flight path every morning, duh." She explained as she tapped the notepad to emphasize her point. As he looked back at it closer he realized why he was having a bit more trouble than he originally thought with it, "So that's why my lungs felt like they were on fire! These spots are so much easier to fly to than to run!" He said as she chuckled at his frustration. "Don't laugh! You think it's so easy to run this?" "Uh... Yeah. Yeah, I do." She said matter-of-factly as she tilted her head, "What's wrong, Hitch? I thought you said it was good exercise." "It is! But the point is that you don't run these, you fly everywhere!" "What, you wanna race or something?" "What? No, I-- ... Y'know what? Yeah! Yeah, I do! First one to reach the Lighthouse, on foot, wins! Deal?" He said as she looked at his outstretched hand and nods, taking and shaking his hand. "May the best pony win. Cause I know I will." She said as she got into a starting position, Hitch doing the same as his little bird friend hopped over and rose it's wings much like a drag race starter, tweeting to signify a countdown. On the final tweet, the two took off running. As they came down the hill, they were neck-and-neck, neither one giving an inch as Zipp laughed looking over at Hitch, "Look at you! Didn't think you'd actually keep up!" "When you spend your entire life chasing Sunny to stop her from causing civil unrest or getting herself hurt, you gotta be fast!" He said proudly as they rounded a corner. As they ran, neither one of them heard the approaching gallop of a third pair of hooves quickly catching up to them as what could only be called a blue blur surged past and between them both, catching them off-guard. "Whoa! Hey, that was really dangerous!" Hitch called out as the blue trail made it past and gone in a few seconds. While Hitch scolded where the pony was last standing, Zipp's eyes widened a bit as she took a sharp turn after them to his surprise, "Zipp? Hey, where're you going?" He said as he ran to follow her, his prior exercise starting to catch up with him as he began to slow down. Once the two were fully out of sight, he groaned and made his way towards the lighthouse again. Opening up the door, he saw Izzy and Sunny over in their kitchen area while their newest addition, a messy haired unicorn girl slept holding Sparky to her chest. He smiled momentarily watching the two before he sighed and made his way to the other two, "Morning Izzy, Sunny." Catching their attention from what they were making, seemingly pancakes, Izzy waved whackily as she normally would, wearing a crop top and a necklace made of well-assorted paperclips and beads, "Goooood morning Hitcharti!" Sunny, wearing a purple t-shirt and sun-spotted red pajama pants waved as well, taking a sip from a tea cup as she sighed, "Morning, Hitch. You're up early. Again." She said curiously as he nodded. "I was out for a jog. Finally decided to put that route that Zipp wrote up into action. But anyway, speaking of Zipp, something happened." He said as he sat at the island countertop and groaned, "I think it was... That stallion again." Izzy tilted her head confusedly before turning to Sunny who groaned, "Him? Hitch, I don't get what your big deal with him is." "He's reckless, a destruction of property waiting to happen, a violation of the rules of crossing the road, road safety, public safety," he listed as Sunny rolled her eyes. "Just because he doesn't seem to look where he's going sometimes doesn't mean he's some public danger. We've been over this." "Yeah, and I'm still right! Remember that time he crashed into your stall and nearly broke your blenders? Or the time he crashed into the sheriff's office? Or maybe that time when--" "Hitch, he crashed into the office when your dad was still the sheriff." She said poignantly as she crossed her arms. "Wassup~! Morning Hitch, Iz, Sunny!" Came the melodic voice of Pipp, flowing down the stairs and into the kitchen in a dainty spin wearing a bright white robe with golden and lavender accents as she came over and leaned in the island next to Hitch, "So, what's the big goss with whoever you two're talking about?" "Morning, Pipp! I have no idea, but it's kinda fun to watch!" Izzy said as she munched on a pancake, holding one out to her with her magic as she took and started eating it herself. "This stallion in town." "This menace of the town." The two of them spoke in unison before they looked back at one another in disbelief, "What???" They said in further confusion at one another's statement as they began laying into one another. While Izzy and Pipp watched confusedly at the two, they heard a pair of yawns come from the doorway as Misty came stumbling over with her eyes closed carrying Sparky in one arm while rubbing her eyes free of sleep with her opposing arm, Sparky doing the same. She wore a white button-up and a pair of jeans with minor rips in the knees as she sat next to Hitch whom Sparky crawled into the arms of with a delighted, sleepy gurgle nuzzling into him as he paused in his ranting to smile and peck his head, "Oh, hey Sparky! Sorry bud, didn't mean t'wake ya." Sunny sighed as she looked to Misty, "Sorry Misty, didn't mean to wake you up either." She said as Misty groaned a bit and was given a pancake on a plate which she groaned and fell face-first into, making Pipp and Izzy chortle a bit as a light munching sound could be heard from the tired, disheveled mass, "Anyway, what did that stallion have to do with your morning?" "He nearly crashed into Zipp and I on our way here! She went chasing after him and I decided that if anyone could catch him it's her. Also," he groaned leaning his head on the counter, "I was tuckered out from finishing up the route." He groaned as Sunny rolled her eyes and placed a couple pancakes in front of him with a small cup of Sparkleberry Syrup. "Well, if you say so. Not like she's in any danger or anything chasing him down. At most she'll come crashing in as tired out as you are--" she was cut short as the sound of the front door bursting open resonated, making Misty shoot up haphazardly from her pancake and scream in surprise before falling back only to be caught by Izzy under her arms, "There she is." Following the noise was the sound of panting and flapping wings as Zipp rounded the corner and landed at the entrance of the kitchen, "Yeesh... Whoever that pony is can sure book it. I lost track of him tons'a times." She sighed as she made her way past the others and opened up the fridge, snatching out a bottle of water and waterfalling it into her muzzle with a contented gulp and sigh. "Believe me, I know the feeling." Hitch groaned leaning on his free hand with minor annoyance as he unconsciously opened his mouth to the floating fork of food pressed to his muzzle by Izzy and giving it a munch. "You know him?" "We both do." "Pretty sure Iz, Misty and I are just finding out about this mystery speed stallion today. Neither of them have given him a name besides 'menace'." Pipp spoke up as Izzy and Misty nodded in agreement as Izzy was playing 'Airplane' with Hitch's fork of food before he snatched it out of the air and began eating on his own again. "Menace, huh? Weird... Kinda sounds familiar for whatever reason..." She said curiously as she leaned over onto the counter herself between Izzy and her sister. "Now that you mention it... Yeah, it totes sorta does! There was so totally someone like that back home, wasn't there?" "Hmm... Something like that, I think... Hey, Sunny! What is this stallion's name?" Zipp inquired as Sunny passed out proper portions of puffy pancakes to the rest of of her pony pals. "Hmm? Oh, easy. His name is-- ... Uh... Huh. Now that you ask I don't think we ever actually got one. He and I never spoke much. And... Honestly, thinking about it more? I don't even remember him living anywhere in town." She said with a bit more of a curious concern dripping into her voice before looking to Hitch, "Hitch, any ideas?" "Well, he's... He's obviously... He lives around... Uh... Wow, um... No. I have no clue either. He's been around since we were little fillies and your dad was still around, but even back then he was always getting into trouble. Even more than you did." He said teasingly before he rubbed his chin in thought. "So lemme get this straight: The four of us have memory of a speedy stallion that got into trouble but not a single one of us can pin him down physically or even think of his name?" She explained to herself as the others seemed to agree with varying states of concern, "Sounds like a case to be cracked! And I'm the one that's gonna do it!" She said as she slammed her hands to the counter and swiped up her breakfast, "Whenever you guys are good and ready, let's get this guy! The mystery of the speedy stallion is a go!" She said racing away upstairs. Izzy blinked a bit confusedly as everypony peered around at one another before shrugging, "Well, that'll be fun! I'mma go see about some Unicycling supplies calling my name! Toodles and thanks for the pancakes, Sunny!" She said trotting happily out the door. Chapter 2: A Name On The Wind"Alright, so how are we gonna figure out who this stallion is?" Pipp said curiously as she checked her make-up using her phone as a mirror. Hitch and Sunny both looked at one another curiously as well before turning their inquisitive glances over to Zipp. "Well, first things first, we gotta pin down what each of us remember of the pony we recall. Anything at all from our pasts that we can recollect will be detrimental to our success in cracking this case. So, who's gonna go first?" Zipp said expectantly looking around the room at those present. Sunny, Hitch and Pipp all peered around at one another as if wordlessly asking each other who would go first. It was then that Hitch groaned and rose his hand, "Alright, I'll start. I remember first seeing the stallion back when Sunny and I were kids," he said as he gazed off and recollected the events. 'It was after a playdate with Sunny. Sprout's mom picked us up and walked us back into town. She asked if I needed to be walked all the way to the station but I told her I'd be fine and went ahead with Sprout. On my way there, I saw him. Or rather, I felt him as he nearly ran me over, a blue colt no taller than me with an aquamarine mane and tail, his legs shifting to a snow white shade. When the two of us went tumbling and finally stopped, I got up to give him a piece of my mind! But before I could even look up, there was this strong gust of wind... And he was gone in a flash.' "When I told my dad, he said he'd thought he saw something blue run by, but passed it off as a trick of the light. Admittedly, my dad's eyes were pretty bad without his glasses. And he was just finishing up a long day complete with a short nap when I'd come in." He finished with a nervous chuckle before giving a sigh. "Alright, good stuff! So we've got a physical description of when he was a colt and can probably pair that up to now! Anything else?" Zipp said with great enthusiasm as Sunny rose her hand, "Go on, Sunny." "Well, all I can really give is my personal account. I never met him directly, but I do remember..." 'One day while my dad was out and I was playing at the top of the lighthouse, I remember a really heavy breeze blowing by and making me lose one of my Mane 6 figures over the edge. I think it was my Rainbow Dash. A-Anyway, I got worried it was lost for good or got broken, but when I got down to the front door, it was sitting right on my doorstep in perfect condition and that same breeze came through. I could just make out a blue trail heading into town.' "Thinking about it now, that was maybe five or so minutes after you and Sprout had left, Hitch!" She said in a shocked realization as Hitch quickly turned to her. "No way, really?! Wait, which way was he coming from do you think? Y'know, for my current working theory." Zipp said as she continued writing on her whiteboard. "Hmm... If I were to guess he'd come from my door. But it wouldn't have made sense for him to run back in to town, so... He could've come from the same direction as the breeze, so from behind the Lighthouse." She said as she seemed to be calculating the possibility a bit more. "Good, good! So we've got those down. Now, Pipp? You got anything for me?" Zipp inquired hastily to Pipp, obviously trying to keep the train of thought on track. "Oh! Uh... Let me think." She said as she crossed her arms and bowed her head in thought before her eyes opened wide with a gasp, "Wait, yeah! Zipp, remember when we were fillies? That one day after our 'flying' practice?" She said suddenly. 'I was totally exhausted an begged mom if we could get smoothies! She agreed and sent us with a pair of guards while she hung back when some ponies came to get some royal stuff figured out. While we were walking I was streaming to the Pipsqueaks at the time about the first song I'd started writing! They were so over the moon to hear it and I remember the adoration it got when it came out, so totally worth it!' "Sis!" 'Right, right, sorry! Anyway, on our way back, there was that ridiculous rogue wind that blew past us and I felt someone bump into me and made me drop my smoothie! I was so in shock and upset that the guards ran off to go get me a new one. But you shouted 'Hey, come back here and apologize, jerk!' before you ran off after them. I remember... A pair of emerald green eyes. And then they were gone and you were running after them.' "After that, the guards came back with my new smoothie and after they dropped me back off, a bunch more went to go find you." She said pointing to Zipp as the other two followed her gaze at the confused look on their winged friend's face as she crossed her arms. "Wait... Yeah, that does sound pretty familiar... Yeah! I remember now!" She said with a growing tone of realization as she punched into her open palm. 'Like you said, sis, it was after practice with Mom. The guards took us out to get the smoothies you begged for, it was knocked outta your hands by that colt and I went after him. Since we couldn't actually fly yet, I could only race after him and was gaining. I went to tackle him and just barely managed to get him down, but before I could get a good look at him, there was a freak burst of wind that knocked me off him. When I looked again he was outta sight. The only thing he left behind was a cerulean feather.' "That's so wild... How could I have forgotten that?" she said in a disappointed tone as Pipp pat her shoulder reassuringly. "To be fair, we both did. But it's super weird that we all have some kinda memory of this colt... But there's no way it's the exact same one." She said looking back at them before pausing, "... Right?" "Though it's definitely unlikely given the state of affairs between the different races until very recently, we can't rule anything out." Sunny stated as she looked around at them, "Maybe if we can find this stallion we can all ask him what's going on here. Even if it is the same one, he's obviously made his home somewhere around here, so all we have to do is figure out where he's staying and ask him--" "Interrogate him to find out why he's on the run from the law/Zephyr Heights!" Hitch and Zipp said in unison as Sunny groaned. "No! No interrogating, no accusing! We're going to calmly and politely ask him who he is and why he's here. He's a pony just like the rest of us!" She said decisively before giving a sigh of minor annoyance as she took a slow breath, "So, any ideas on how to locate this mystery stallion?" At the inquiry of how they would find him, the three of them looked at one another and then to her, all with sheepish looks on their faces as she groaned, "Perfect... Oh, maybe Misty or Izzy have an idea? Izzy's always so creative in how to track down ponies and items." She said hopefully as she looked around with a curious gaze, "... Huh. Where're Izzy and Misty anyway?" "I remember Iz mentioning she was heading out to do her Unicycling thing, so she's probably already in town either collecting junk or on her way back and Misty... I... Huh, that is super weird... Where is Misty?" Pipp said, bewildered to the sudden disappearance of their newest friend. "You don't think she went back to Opaline, do you?" HItch said in a concerned tone as the others looked over and began to share the same look of concern between them. "I guess she does have to keep up her act... But she swore she's not on her side anymore, and I think we can believe her. She's our friend, after all." Sunny said as the others looked around and nodded. As they continued talking among themselves on how they'd track the mysterious stallion, Misty was crouched by the stairs listening as her eyes widened and she looked at the friendship bracelet on her wrist, a soft sigh escaping her as she shuffled away before breaking into a sprint towards the town. 'It couldn't be... Right? Opaline told me that it was just a stupid dream that I had when I was a filly. An imaginary friend that I made up from loneliness! But... Opaline's lied to me before...' She thought as she looked around with an air of frantic worry, "There's only one way to tell though..." She said as she found herself at the shore, looking up and taking a deep breath before whistling a little melody, the waves calm enough to not drown it out. She stood there for a time as she seemed to wait for something to happen. After a few minutes of waiting, she sighed in disappointment and turned to walk away. "I guess that was the one thing she didn't lie abou-- Oof!" she groaned as she seemed to run into something as her hand was grabbed to stop her from falling. Looking ahead at who caught her, she felt the air in her lungs escape as her eyes widened in disbelief, "N-No way... Y-Y-You're... You're real..." After an hour or so of deliberation between the investigating party of Zipp, Pipp, Sunny and Hitch, the whiteboard had been brought downstairs and had the highlights of their stories written out at the top and multiple constantly changing plans, made evident by the eraser marks and scratching out of certain parts. Zipp, dropping her marker to the ground, began laughing excitedly. "Alright, finally! I think we got a solid plan here! Hitch, you start spreading the word that we're looking for this pony and to report to you if anything is found out about them. Sunny, you go find Izzy and figure out how you're gonna interr--" She paused at Sunny's stern glance as she chuckled, "I-I mean, what you wanna ask this guy when we find him. Meanwhile, Pipp will get the word out to her Pippsqueaks that we're looking for him and I'll go around town and look for any clues that might lead us to him or maybe even find him myself! Any questions? Please tell me there aren't any questions." She groaned as the others all looked around and shook their heads, "Good, now let's go, team!" She said before the sound of their door opening once again got their attention, "Oh thank hoofness, Izzy! We can fill you i--" Zipp stopped short as she saw that it was in fact not Izzy at the door, but Misty. "Misty! We were worried you'd already gone back to Opaline! We'll need your help with the investigation!" Hitch said as he jumped up onto his hooves. "W-Well... About that, actually..." She said as she turned and stepped aside as Hitch's eyes widened seeing somepony walk up the hill behind her, their emerald green eyes shimmering behind a cerulean blue mane, a white tank top and red and blue striped button-up on with a pair of faded blue jeans on, just barely cutting off above his white-furred hooves. The rest of them gasped and shot up looking over themselves as the stallion in question was by her side. As they watched him appear, he smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder and leaned down to whisper to her as she nodded, "Y-Yeah... These are my new friends." "Misty, you... You found him? How?" Sunny said in surprise as Zipp groaned and kicked her whiteboard away and into Izzy's storage area as the sound of clattering pens and the board itself could be heard crashing into the different boxes and such. "W-Well, the thing is, uh..." She paused and froze for a moment as she felt her shoulder be patted as she seemed to take a moment and breathe, "... When I heard all of you talking about this 'mystery pony', each of your recollections sounded familiar. They reminded me of something from before Opaline found me." She said as she looked up at the stallion. 'It was when I was a filly. While I was wandering around lost, I remembered this oddly happy colt talking to me and helping me through the woods. Keeping me company, telling jokes, and more than anything... He kept me calm by teaching me to whistle a little song to keep me from panicking. Once we got to a point I recognized, he told me that if I ever needed him again to whistle and he'd be there in an instant before he ran off.' "Once Opaline found me and I told her about it, she told me that it was just a silly little dream that my stupid filly brain came up with. An imaginary friend... That I didn't need stupid distractions." She said as she looked up at him with a sad smile. He smiled at her and pat her head, "I'm so glad it wasn't a dream." She said hugging him tight as he gave a big, toothy smile of his own. "That's beautiful and all, Misty. Like, for real something out of a fairy tale, but like--" "Who are you?!" Hitch and Zipp blurted out as Sunny groaned and facepalmed. Misty paused in thought before looking at him, "I... Forgot your name too." She said as she groaned and pulled away from him, "Ugh, stupid Misty! Of course you'd forget the name of your first friend you ever had! Just like you forget everything else, stupid! Stupid! Stupi--" "Swift Gale." He stated simply as she stopped and looked back at him as he put his hands behind his head with one leg behind the other, "My name's Swift Gale." As everyone stared wordlessly at the now named stallion before them, the door at their side kicked in as Misty yiped and jumped to the other side of Swift as Izzy laughed excitedly, "I found a new wheel for my newest and greatest Unicycling project eve-- what're we looking at?" She said before looking to her side at the two startled ponies, "... Oh! Hi Misty, hi Swifty!" She said as she skipped along up the stairs before a gasp and clattering came from above and she rushed back down, "Swifty!?" Chapter 3: Linking The Lines"Alright, Swift Gale, if that is your real name--" "It is." Izzy spoke up from behind Zipp as she groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose before continuing. "We've got some questions for you, and you better answer honestly! Capiche?" She said in a more threatening tone as he blinked confusedly and smiled. "Yeah, alright. I got nothing to lie about, so lay it on me, Princess!" He said as he leaned back with one leg crossed over the other sitting in one of their kitchen chairs. "I'll go make some tea!" Izzy said nonchalantly as she skipped along and down the stairs. "First off--" "Who are you and why are you here in Maretime Bay? And why are you always causing so many commotions with the road laws!?" Hitch interrupted abruptly as he got into Swift's face suddenly. Swift blinked a bit but smiled as he slowly pushed Hitch back with a finger to his muzzle, "First off, Sheriff, you know my name. Second, I took up residence nearby maybe five or six years or so ago? Not sure, been a while. Third, I don't cause commotions, I solve the ones you and your friends can't get to when you're busy off elsewhere. I speed around town helping ponies with their 'not so important' problems. Y'know, simple stuff like cats up trees, overgrown gardens, keeping Sprout from being an idiot. Y'know, usual stuff." He explained calmly. Though he took a bit more of a sour tone upon mentioning the 'not so important problems' and especially speaking on Sprout. Though that didn't seem to surprise any of those in the room. "What do you mean 'not so important problems'? Every problem is important if our friends are having them!" Sunny said in surprise at Hitch's lighter outburst and the wording Swift used. "I definitely think so. But you all seem to worry about the more extra big dilemmas. Like how you'll celebrate your holidays, how you'll plan a singing festival in Bridlewood. Or, my personal favorite, opening up a community garden." He said a bit more pointedly as he leaned forward and leaned on his hand against his knee. "I've seen the good in your actions, don't get me wrong. But I've also seen the problems you're not around to solve or don't recognize. For example, did you know Dahlia's knee got sprained bad after your animals tripped her up on her skates? Bed ridden and unable to go shopping for herself, I did it. Spent a week and a half keeping her place tidy. Oh, or how about when Sugar Moonlight had to work through her panic attack when she nearly got flattened by a giant tomato that was suddenly summoned from nowhere? I stayed by her side and have been helping her work through it by using techniques I've been reading about in self-help books. From all three cities! For the last month!" He said with a lightly aggravated chuckle before giving a sigh, "... And I had to do all that while searching for my only friend I ever had..." He said leaning back with a sad smile looking over to Misty who stared wide-eyed back. "You-- wait... You've been searching for Misty?" Zipp said confusedly before groaning, "Y'know what? We'll get to that. My questions now. Where are you from originally if you only showed up here five or six years back? Where are your parents? How do you know Misty and why do all of us somehow remember seeing you?" She listed off impatiently as he shrugged. "You want the whole story? Fine. It was maybe back when I was a colt," he started as he looked to the ground. 'I was born in Zephyr Heights, my mom was a Pegasus. Sweetest mare you'd ever know... But my dad was an Earth Pony that just so happened to sneak his way into the city even with it's anti-Earth-Pony Pony/Unicorn way of thinking. They fell for each other, he stayed with her and they had me a little while after. From how my mom put it, some guards found out about him and took him into custody, deaf to my Mom's pleading cries... Or mine. I don't know what happened to my dad and my Mom didn't exactly take it well. She was heartbroken and I wanted to find a way to help her and maybe even get some answers about my dad. So, while she was off shopping, I went to go find answers and ran into you two, the princesses. You seemed like a semi-reliable source, so I decided I'd tail you back to the castle or maybe just ask for your help... Unfortunately, I was never great at controlling how fast I go and ended up nearly trampling you and getting chased off by the guards as well as your sister, Zipp. I wanted to ask you if you knew anything, but as a kid being chased after tackling royalty, I was scared I'd end up like my dad and leaving my Mom all alone. So, I escaped by...' "Leaping from the mountain... That's why I remember you! I thought you--" "Bit the dust? Nah... Well, almost. Being unable to fly and all it kinda made the landing rougher than I'd have liked. Though it's crazy what adrenaline can do in the face of possible imprisonment or who the Hells knows what." He admitted as he sighed, "I kept running. Day and night, night and day, planning a way to get back one day when everything calmed down... Before I knew it, I was lost," he said as he continued on in his reminiscent tone. 'I was tired, hurt, and scared outta my mind, but I found my way to Bridlewood and collapsed outside of some house. I guess they took me in cause I woke up to a giggly lavender airhead of a filly smiling down at me with a cup of tea in her hands waiting. I was startled and a bit scared at first, but then I remembered something my dad would always say and I decided to trust her. Glad I did, cause that tea was the best and I was in no shape to move around.' "Huh, so that's why you know Izzy? She treated you while you were down for the count after running away? How long was that in between?" Swift looked up at the ceiling as if contemplating things as he groaned, "I was running until the moon rose... So I had to be running for at least a good few hours into the night." "Oh, oh! I can answer that!" Izzy said excitedly as she skipped up the stairs and hovered a teacup into his outstretched hand and poured him some tea, "He was unconscious for a few days and I got kinda worried he wouldn't wake up but I remember my gram-gram telling me about this tea that woke up anyone from anything any time! Took a while to find all the ingredients, but it was worth it cause when I held it up to him he woke up in seconds! So... Probably like five days to a week if I had to give a good guesstimation!" She said as he nodded his thanks to her and took a sip. "Alright, so a week after Pipp got tripped and I chased you off, you met Izzy. What then?" Zipp said as she wrote everything down, looking over to him expectantly. 'I spent a few days healing up with Izzy's help. After a while and some great tea, I was able to run again and I told her I had to go. She gave me some snacks and some crystals to ward off any 'Jinxies' or something and I took off. Didn't get too far though, cause then I found... Her. I found this frightened filly crying her eyes out and wandering around on the far outskirts of the woods. You basically get the gist from what Misty told you earlier. I figured that Izzy might know her so I did my best to lead her back towards her house. When I saw this big, brooding looking unicorn outside her house, I told her to wait a little bit and hide and that if she ever needed me to whistle the song I'd shown her. After that, I tried my best to re-trace my steps back home since I basically ran in a straight enough line and finally made it back after... Maybe a few days? I climbed back up and tried to sneak back home, but...' Swift sighed as he held his cup tight, "... She was gone. Mom had left a note saying she was going to find my dad and I, assuming I was with him. She left me a note saying that if I came back that the fridge was stocked and everything was as I left it... I couldn't go in. I couldn't face it without my Mom being in there." He said as he kept his sad smile, "Cause in running to escape capture, I left my Mom alone anyway... Like an idiot, I did exactly the opposite of what I wanted." He chuckled as he shook his head. "Course, being a tired, hungry colt I had no choice and went in. She was right, food was ready, my room was made up... But she wasn't there." The group all stared at him as Hitch's once hardened glance turned soft and full of self-disappointment while Sunny moved forward with Misty to sit near him, "I'm so sorry, Swift... If you don't mind, was there anything else you remember?" "Funny you should ask... Yeah, there is. I found a note from my dad at the bottom of my toy box. Guess he left it as a 'just in case' thing. It told me to 'Find the tower of light by the sea' or something. Had no idea where that was, so I checked an old map I remembered my mom and dad had in their room that they showed me when I was, like, two or so. It led me... Here." He said as Sunny tilted her head confused. 'I went running to find the tower of light and followed the message the best I could. Having never seen a lighthouse, I had no clue where I was going. While I was going by, I heard someone shout in shock and saw this odd little figure fall from this weird-looking tower. I ran over and snatched it before it fell and figured I'd leave it on the front step before I took off towards town for directions.' "I had no idea I had gone to Hitch's dad but I knew law enforcement when I saw it. He told me that this place was probably what I was looking for. Since it was never lit though, I ignored it and decided I'd keep looking, using my old home as a base of operations I guess. Over the years, I got better and better at traversing the distance and I've been able to get to all three places in a single day. Then in a single hour." He said with a growing grin as he leaned up, "And since magic has returned, I've been able to kick it into overdrive." He said proudly. "Yeah, I don't buy it." Hitch said as he wiped his eyes and took a breath to compose himself, "You're fast, I'll give you that. But to make it to Zephyr Heights or, especially, Bridlewood in an hour? It took us days and even with the Marestream it takes us a few hours." He said with a blatant tone of disbelief as Swift chuckled, "What's so--" "Hey Princess Pipp," he said as Pipp looked curiously at him, "Anything from home you'd like picked up?" He said as if issuing a challenge as she smirked and crossed her arms. "Get me my back-up brush from my room. Third floor, right of my bed and middle drawer. You have five minutes." She said with an amused smile as he stood and cracked his back as he rose up and turned to look back at her. "I only need three." He said as he took a crouching stance and, in a shockingly familiar surge of wind, he was gone. With his disappearance, everyone stared in shock at where he once was standing as Izzy was the first to break the silence, "Wow, he really has gotten faster!" "Izzy, why didn't you say you knew this guy?! That would've made all this so much easier to nail him down!" Zipp said in frustration as Izzy shrugged. "I know how much you like solving this stuff on your own! And besides, I was going out to go find him anyway since he brings me all this cool stuff from Bridlewood and Zephyr Heights in his free time!" She said as she rose up a box of oddities and baubles. "So that's where that propellor piece came from. Alright, that tracks. But still, you should'a at least mentioned that he was a friend of yours to Hitch or Sunny! And another thi--" Zipp was cut off as Pipp's phone went off. Pipp pulled it out and blinked confusedly, "Huh. It's Mom..." She said as she answered and put it to video call, "Hi Mom~! What's going o--" "Pipp, darling! The strangest event just occurred! I was having the most delightful time in the garden with Alphabittle having tea and listening to his tales. Oh, it was just divine--" "Mother!" Pipp interrupted as Queen Haven loomed at the screen startled, "What happened that you were calling about?" "Hmm? Oh, yes! When all of the sudden, a sudden powerful breeze, far stronger than is normal, came through. Next thing I know, the window to your room is wide open! I went to go check in case you'd come home for a surprise visit or you'd forgotten something! But when I went to look--" "Wait, was my right dresser middle drawer open and my extra brush missing?!" " Why... Yes, yes it was. So you did come home for something! Well, my conscience is clear then. Thank you for putting your mother's mind at ease, my dear! Kisses~!" She said before hanging up as Pipp stared wide-eyed at her phone, slowly looking back at the others who were also staring back at her save for Izzy who had hopped over and sat next to Misty. "No way... There's literally no--" "Delivery, your highness." Swift said as he sat where he had been before, holding out a lavender brush with silver bristles, Pipp's cutie Mark on the back of it on a golden plate engraving. Pipp, awestruck, slowly took the handle as Izzy shot up and dragged Misty with her as she stumbled behind to show her a timer she was holding that read '2:59'. "Just under three minutes..." She said in a light gasp as she looked back at him, "What... Are you?" Swift chuckled as he shrugged, "Nothing special. Just the fastest runner in all of Equestria."
Chapter 1: A New CaseIt was a dim morning in Maretime Bay, the sun just beginning to rise from beyond the waves as the usually prosperous and buzzing town was only just beginning to awaken. Ponies getting their stalls and shops set for the oncoming bustle, the Canterlove Studio's cleaning crew, or at least the huffy red stallion that was told to clean what was 'his', coming in to start the day. The usual sights to any of the town's residents. To that end also was the sight of the town's Sheriff out for his usual morning jog with a teal tank top, light blue sweatpants and matching head and wristbands as he made his way down the main strip leading to the studio. Hitch took even paced breaths as he made his way up the hill, a determined look in his eye as he made it to the top and took a moment to sigh and look out on the scenic view of his home being slowly draped in the gentle sun's rays. He put his hands to his hips and smiled proudly at the town he'd sworn to protect, the shimmering ocean and the ponies going around starting their mornings. He then looked over towards his next destination that was Sunny's Lighthouse. Looking down at a notebook he'd withdrawn from his pocket, he made a check mark next to the Studio on a list of other places, "Alright, now I just gotta get to the lighthouse and my jog for the day is done! Man, Zipp really knows how to make a pony work. This regimen is amazing to keep in shape, but it worries me I might fall behind if they go running off on another adventure." He chuckled as he rubbed his head before hearing a pair of wings come up next to him. Looking over, he saw the pegasus in question zoom down and land by his side from a triple axle, her wings flared out as she rose and brought them back in, "Speak of the evil Alicorn and she shall appear." She smirked with a risen brow as she crossed her arms, wearing a black sprinter's outfit with blue, pink and white stripes on the sides of her hips and across the chest and back of the top as she nodded, "Morning to you too, Sheriff. Enjoying your route I wrote out for you?" She asked curiously as she gave him a light punch to the shoulder. "Yeah! I was just talking about it with," he paused looking around a moment as he chuckled nervously, "Uh... Myself, I guess." He admitted bashfully before looking back at her, What're you doing over here, though?" He said as she shrugged. "You think I just wrote that thing out for you? That's my flight path every morning, duh." She explained as she tapped the notepad to emphasize her point. As he looked back at it closer he realized why he was having a bit more trouble than he originally thought with it, "So that's why my lungs felt like they were on fire! These spots are so much easier to fly to than to run!" He said as she chuckled at his frustration. "Don't laugh! You think it's so easy to run this?" "Uh... Yeah. Yeah, I do." She said matter-of-factly as she tilted her head, "What's wrong, Hitch? I thought you said it was good exercise." "It is! But the point is that you don't run these, you fly everywhere!" "What, you wanna race or something?" "What? No, I-- ... Y'know what? Yeah! Yeah, I do! First one to reach the Lighthouse, on foot, wins! Deal?" He said as she looked at his outstretched hand and nods, taking and shaking his hand. "May the best pony win. Cause I know I will." She said as she got into a starting position, Hitch doing the same as his little bird friend hopped over and rose it's wings much like a drag race starter, tweeting to signify a countdown. On the final tweet, the two took off running. As they came down the hill, they were neck-and-neck, neither one giving an inch as Zipp laughed looking over at Hitch, "Look at you! Didn't think you'd actually keep up!" "When you spend your entire life chasing Sunny to stop her from causing civil unrest or getting herself hurt, you gotta be fast!" He said proudly as they rounded a corner. As they ran, neither one of them heard the approaching gallop of a third pair of hooves quickly catching up to them as what could only be called a blue blur surged past and between them both, catching them off-guard. "Whoa! Hey, that was really dangerous!" Hitch called out as the blue trail made it past and gone in a few seconds. While Hitch scolded where the pony was last standing, Zipp's eyes widened a bit as she took a sharp turn after them to his surprise, "Zipp? Hey, where're you going?" He said as he ran to follow her, his prior exercise starting to catch up with him as he began to slow down. Once the two were fully out of sight, he groaned and made his way towards the lighthouse again. Opening up the door, he saw Izzy and Sunny over in their kitchen area while their newest addition, a messy haired unicorn girl slept holding Sparky to her chest. He smiled momentarily watching the two before he sighed and made his way to the other two, "Morning Izzy, Sunny." Catching their attention from what they were making, seemingly pancakes, Izzy waved whackily as she normally would, wearing a crop top and a necklace made of well-assorted paperclips and beads, "Goooood morning Hitcharti!" Sunny, wearing a purple t-shirt and sun-spotted red pajama pants waved as well, taking a sip from a tea cup as she sighed, "Morning, Hitch. You're up early. Again." She said curiously as he nodded. "I was out for a jog. Finally decided to put that route that Zipp wrote up into action. But anyway, speaking of Zipp, something happened." He said as he sat at the island countertop and groaned, "I think it was... That stallion again." Izzy tilted her head confusedly before turning to Sunny who groaned, "Him? Hitch, I don't get what your big deal with him is." "He's reckless, a destruction of property waiting to happen, a violation of the rules of crossing the road, road safety, public safety," he listed as Sunny rolled her eyes. "Just because he doesn't seem to look where he's going sometimes doesn't mean he's some public danger. We've been over this." "Yeah, and I'm still right! Remember that time he crashed into your stall and nearly broke your blenders? Or the time he crashed into the sheriff's office? Or maybe that time when--" "Hitch, he crashed into the office when your dad was still the sheriff." She said poignantly as she crossed her arms. "Wassup~! Morning Hitch, Iz, Sunny!" Came the melodic voice of Pipp, flowing down the stairs and into the kitchen in a dainty spin wearing a bright white robe with golden and lavender accents as she came over and leaned in the island next to Hitch, "So, what's the big goss with whoever you two're talking about?" "Morning, Pipp! I have no idea, but it's kinda fun to watch!" Izzy said as she munched on a pancake, holding one out to her with her magic as she took and started eating it herself. "This stallion in town." "This menace of the town." The two of them spoke in unison before they looked back at one another in disbelief, "What???" They said in further confusion at one another's statement as they began laying into one another. While Izzy and Pipp watched confusedly at the two, they heard a pair of yawns come from the doorway as Misty came stumbling over with her eyes closed carrying Sparky in one arm while rubbing her eyes free of sleep with her opposing arm, Sparky doing the same. She wore a white button-up and a pair of jeans with minor rips in the knees as she sat next to Hitch whom Sparky crawled into the arms of with a delighted, sleepy gurgle nuzzling into him as he paused in his ranting to smile and peck his head, "Oh, hey Sparky! Sorry bud, didn't mean t'wake ya." Sunny sighed as she looked to Misty, "Sorry Misty, didn't mean to wake you up either." She said as Misty groaned a bit and was given a pancake on a plate which she groaned and fell face-first into, making Pipp and Izzy chortle a bit as a light munching sound could be heard from the tired, disheveled mass, "Anyway, what did that stallion have to do with your morning?" "He nearly crashed into Zipp and I on our way here! She went chasing after him and I decided that if anyone could catch him it's her. Also," he groaned leaning his head on the counter, "I was tuckered out from finishing up the route." He groaned as Sunny rolled her eyes and placed a couple pancakes in front of him with a small cup of Sparkleberry Syrup. "Well, if you say so. Not like she's in any danger or anything chasing him down. At most she'll come crashing in as tired out as you are--" she was cut short as the sound of the front door bursting open resonated, making Misty shoot up haphazardly from her pancake and scream in surprise before falling back only to be caught by Izzy under her arms, "There she is." Following the noise was the sound of panting and flapping wings as Zipp rounded the corner and landed at the entrance of the kitchen, "Yeesh... Whoever that pony is can sure book it. I lost track of him tons'a times." She sighed as she made her way past the others and opened up the fridge, snatching out a bottle of water and waterfalling it into her muzzle with a contented gulp and sigh. "Believe me, I know the feeling." Hitch groaned leaning on his free hand with minor annoyance as he unconsciously opened his mouth to the floating fork of food pressed to his muzzle by Izzy and giving it a munch. "You know him?" "We both do." "Pretty sure Iz, Misty and I are just finding out about this mystery speed stallion today. Neither of them have given him a name besides 'menace'." Pipp spoke up as Izzy and Misty nodded in agreement as Izzy was playing 'Airplane' with Hitch's fork of food before he snatched it out of the air and began eating on his own again. "Menace, huh? Weird... Kinda sounds familiar for whatever reason..." She said curiously as she leaned over onto the counter herself between Izzy and her sister. "Now that you mention it... Yeah, it totes sorta does! There was so totally someone like that back home, wasn't there?" "Hmm... Something like that, I think... Hey, Sunny! What is this stallion's name?" Zipp inquired as Sunny passed out proper portions of puffy pancakes to the rest of of her pony pals. "Hmm? Oh, easy. His name is-- ... Uh... Huh. Now that you ask I don't think we ever actually got one. He and I never spoke much. And... Honestly, thinking about it more? I don't even remember him living anywhere in town." She said with a bit more of a curious concern dripping into her voice before looking to Hitch, "Hitch, any ideas?" "Well, he's... He's obviously... He lives around... Uh... Wow, um... No. I have no clue either. He's been around since we were little fillies and your dad was still around, but even back then he was always getting into trouble. Even more than you did." He said teasingly before he rubbed his chin in thought. "So lemme get this straight: The four of us have memory of a speedy stallion that got into trouble but not a single one of us can pin him down physically or even think of his name?" She explained to herself as the others seemed to agree with varying states of concern, "Sounds like a case to be cracked! And I'm the one that's gonna do it!" She said as she slammed her hands to the counter and swiped up her breakfast, "Whenever you guys are good and ready, let's get this guy! The mystery of the speedy stallion is a go!" She said racing away upstairs. Izzy blinked a bit confusedly as everypony peered around at one another before shrugging, "Well, that'll be fun! I'mma go see about some Unicycling supplies calling my name! Toodles and thanks for the pancakes, Sunny!" She said trotting happily out the door.
Chapter 2: A Name On The Wind"Alright, so how are we gonna figure out who this stallion is?" Pipp said curiously as she checked her make-up using her phone as a mirror. Hitch and Sunny both looked at one another curiously as well before turning their inquisitive glances over to Zipp. "Well, first things first, we gotta pin down what each of us remember of the pony we recall. Anything at all from our pasts that we can recollect will be detrimental to our success in cracking this case. So, who's gonna go first?" Zipp said expectantly looking around the room at those present. Sunny, Hitch and Pipp all peered around at one another as if wordlessly asking each other who would go first. It was then that Hitch groaned and rose his hand, "Alright, I'll start. I remember first seeing the stallion back when Sunny and I were kids," he said as he gazed off and recollected the events. 'It was after a playdate with Sunny. Sprout's mom picked us up and walked us back into town. She asked if I needed to be walked all the way to the station but I told her I'd be fine and went ahead with Sprout. On my way there, I saw him. Or rather, I felt him as he nearly ran me over, a blue colt no taller than me with an aquamarine mane and tail, his legs shifting to a snow white shade. When the two of us went tumbling and finally stopped, I got up to give him a piece of my mind! But before I could even look up, there was this strong gust of wind... And he was gone in a flash.' "When I told my dad, he said he'd thought he saw something blue run by, but passed it off as a trick of the light. Admittedly, my dad's eyes were pretty bad without his glasses. And he was just finishing up a long day complete with a short nap when I'd come in." He finished with a nervous chuckle before giving a sigh. "Alright, good stuff! So we've got a physical description of when he was a colt and can probably pair that up to now! Anything else?" Zipp said with great enthusiasm as Sunny rose her hand, "Go on, Sunny." "Well, all I can really give is my personal account. I never met him directly, but I do remember..." 'One day while my dad was out and I was playing at the top of the lighthouse, I remember a really heavy breeze blowing by and making me lose one of my Mane 6 figures over the edge. I think it was my Rainbow Dash. A-Anyway, I got worried it was lost for good or got broken, but when I got down to the front door, it was sitting right on my doorstep in perfect condition and that same breeze came through. I could just make out a blue trail heading into town.' "Thinking about it now, that was maybe five or so minutes after you and Sprout had left, Hitch!" She said in a shocked realization as Hitch quickly turned to her. "No way, really?! Wait, which way was he coming from do you think? Y'know, for my current working theory." Zipp said as she continued writing on her whiteboard. "Hmm... If I were to guess he'd come from my door. But it wouldn't have made sense for him to run back in to town, so... He could've come from the same direction as the breeze, so from behind the Lighthouse." She said as she seemed to be calculating the possibility a bit more. "Good, good! So we've got those down. Now, Pipp? You got anything for me?" Zipp inquired hastily to Pipp, obviously trying to keep the train of thought on track. "Oh! Uh... Let me think." She said as she crossed her arms and bowed her head in thought before her eyes opened wide with a gasp, "Wait, yeah! Zipp, remember when we were fillies? That one day after our 'flying' practice?" She said suddenly. 'I was totally exhausted an begged mom if we could get smoothies! She agreed and sent us with a pair of guards while she hung back when some ponies came to get some royal stuff figured out. While we were walking I was streaming to the Pipsqueaks at the time about the first song I'd started writing! They were so over the moon to hear it and I remember the adoration it got when it came out, so totally worth it!' "Sis!" 'Right, right, sorry! Anyway, on our way back, there was that ridiculous rogue wind that blew past us and I felt someone bump into me and made me drop my smoothie! I was so in shock and upset that the guards ran off to go get me a new one. But you shouted 'Hey, come back here and apologize, jerk!' before you ran off after them. I remember... A pair of emerald green eyes. And then they were gone and you were running after them.' "After that, the guards came back with my new smoothie and after they dropped me back off, a bunch more went to go find you." She said pointing to Zipp as the other two followed her gaze at the confused look on their winged friend's face as she crossed her arms. "Wait... Yeah, that does sound pretty familiar... Yeah! I remember now!" She said with a growing tone of realization as she punched into her open palm. 'Like you said, sis, it was after practice with Mom. The guards took us out to get the smoothies you begged for, it was knocked outta your hands by that colt and I went after him. Since we couldn't actually fly yet, I could only race after him and was gaining. I went to tackle him and just barely managed to get him down, but before I could get a good look at him, there was a freak burst of wind that knocked me off him. When I looked again he was outta sight. The only thing he left behind was a cerulean feather.' "That's so wild... How could I have forgotten that?" she said in a disappointed tone as Pipp pat her shoulder reassuringly. "To be fair, we both did. But it's super weird that we all have some kinda memory of this colt... But there's no way it's the exact same one." She said looking back at them before pausing, "... Right?" "Though it's definitely unlikely given the state of affairs between the different races until very recently, we can't rule anything out." Sunny stated as she looked around at them, "Maybe if we can find this stallion we can all ask him what's going on here. Even if it is the same one, he's obviously made his home somewhere around here, so all we have to do is figure out where he's staying and ask him--" "Interrogate him to find out why he's on the run from the law/Zephyr Heights!" Hitch and Zipp said in unison as Sunny groaned. "No! No interrogating, no accusing! We're going to calmly and politely ask him who he is and why he's here. He's a pony just like the rest of us!" She said decisively before giving a sigh of minor annoyance as she took a slow breath, "So, any ideas on how to locate this mystery stallion?" At the inquiry of how they would find him, the three of them looked at one another and then to her, all with sheepish looks on their faces as she groaned, "Perfect... Oh, maybe Misty or Izzy have an idea? Izzy's always so creative in how to track down ponies and items." She said hopefully as she looked around with a curious gaze, "... Huh. Where're Izzy and Misty anyway?" "I remember Iz mentioning she was heading out to do her Unicycling thing, so she's probably already in town either collecting junk or on her way back and Misty... I... Huh, that is super weird... Where is Misty?" Pipp said, bewildered to the sudden disappearance of their newest friend. "You don't think she went back to Opaline, do you?" HItch said in a concerned tone as the others looked over and began to share the same look of concern between them. "I guess she does have to keep up her act... But she swore she's not on her side anymore, and I think we can believe her. She's our friend, after all." Sunny said as the others looked around and nodded. As they continued talking among themselves on how they'd track the mysterious stallion, Misty was crouched by the stairs listening as her eyes widened and she looked at the friendship bracelet on her wrist, a soft sigh escaping her as she shuffled away before breaking into a sprint towards the town. 'It couldn't be... Right? Opaline told me that it was just a stupid dream that I had when I was a filly. An imaginary friend that I made up from loneliness! But... Opaline's lied to me before...' She thought as she looked around with an air of frantic worry, "There's only one way to tell though..." She said as she found herself at the shore, looking up and taking a deep breath before whistling a little melody, the waves calm enough to not drown it out. She stood there for a time as she seemed to wait for something to happen. After a few minutes of waiting, she sighed in disappointment and turned to walk away. "I guess that was the one thing she didn't lie abou-- Oof!" she groaned as she seemed to run into something as her hand was grabbed to stop her from falling. Looking ahead at who caught her, she felt the air in her lungs escape as her eyes widened in disbelief, "N-No way... Y-Y-You're... You're real..." After an hour or so of deliberation between the investigating party of Zipp, Pipp, Sunny and Hitch, the whiteboard had been brought downstairs and had the highlights of their stories written out at the top and multiple constantly changing plans, made evident by the eraser marks and scratching out of certain parts. Zipp, dropping her marker to the ground, began laughing excitedly. "Alright, finally! I think we got a solid plan here! Hitch, you start spreading the word that we're looking for this pony and to report to you if anything is found out about them. Sunny, you go find Izzy and figure out how you're gonna interr--" She paused at Sunny's stern glance as she chuckled, "I-I mean, what you wanna ask this guy when we find him. Meanwhile, Pipp will get the word out to her Pippsqueaks that we're looking for him and I'll go around town and look for any clues that might lead us to him or maybe even find him myself! Any questions? Please tell me there aren't any questions." She groaned as the others all looked around and shook their heads, "Good, now let's go, team!" She said before the sound of their door opening once again got their attention, "Oh thank hoofness, Izzy! We can fill you i--" Zipp stopped short as she saw that it was in fact not Izzy at the door, but Misty. "Misty! We were worried you'd already gone back to Opaline! We'll need your help with the investigation!" Hitch said as he jumped up onto his hooves. "W-Well... About that, actually..." She said as she turned and stepped aside as Hitch's eyes widened seeing somepony walk up the hill behind her, their emerald green eyes shimmering behind a cerulean blue mane, a white tank top and red and blue striped button-up on with a pair of faded blue jeans on, just barely cutting off above his white-furred hooves. The rest of them gasped and shot up looking over themselves as the stallion in question was by her side. As they watched him appear, he smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder and leaned down to whisper to her as she nodded, "Y-Yeah... These are my new friends." "Misty, you... You found him? How?" Sunny said in surprise as Zipp groaned and kicked her whiteboard away and into Izzy's storage area as the sound of clattering pens and the board itself could be heard crashing into the different boxes and such. "W-Well, the thing is, uh..." She paused and froze for a moment as she felt her shoulder be patted as she seemed to take a moment and breathe, "... When I heard all of you talking about this 'mystery pony', each of your recollections sounded familiar. They reminded me of something from before Opaline found me." She said as she looked up at the stallion. 'It was when I was a filly. While I was wandering around lost, I remembered this oddly happy colt talking to me and helping me through the woods. Keeping me company, telling jokes, and more than anything... He kept me calm by teaching me to whistle a little song to keep me from panicking. Once we got to a point I recognized, he told me that if I ever needed him again to whistle and he'd be there in an instant before he ran off.' "Once Opaline found me and I told her about it, she told me that it was just a silly little dream that my stupid filly brain came up with. An imaginary friend... That I didn't need stupid distractions." She said as she looked up at him with a sad smile. He smiled at her and pat her head, "I'm so glad it wasn't a dream." She said hugging him tight as he gave a big, toothy smile of his own. "That's beautiful and all, Misty. Like, for real something out of a fairy tale, but like--" "Who are you?!" Hitch and Zipp blurted out as Sunny groaned and facepalmed. Misty paused in thought before looking at him, "I... Forgot your name too." She said as she groaned and pulled away from him, "Ugh, stupid Misty! Of course you'd forget the name of your first friend you ever had! Just like you forget everything else, stupid! Stupid! Stupi--" "Swift Gale." He stated simply as she stopped and looked back at him as he put his hands behind his head with one leg behind the other, "My name's Swift Gale." As everyone stared wordlessly at the now named stallion before them, the door at their side kicked in as Misty yiped and jumped to the other side of Swift as Izzy laughed excitedly, "I found a new wheel for my newest and greatest Unicycling project eve-- what're we looking at?" She said before looking to her side at the two startled ponies, "... Oh! Hi Misty, hi Swifty!" She said as she skipped along up the stairs before a gasp and clattering came from above and she rushed back down, "Swifty!?"
Chapter 3: Linking The Lines"Alright, Swift Gale, if that is your real name--" "It is." Izzy spoke up from behind Zipp as she groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose before continuing. "We've got some questions for you, and you better answer honestly! Capiche?" She said in a more threatening tone as he blinked confusedly and smiled. "Yeah, alright. I got nothing to lie about, so lay it on me, Princess!" He said as he leaned back with one leg crossed over the other sitting in one of their kitchen chairs. "I'll go make some tea!" Izzy said nonchalantly as she skipped along and down the stairs. "First off--" "Who are you and why are you here in Maretime Bay? And why are you always causing so many commotions with the road laws!?" Hitch interrupted abruptly as he got into Swift's face suddenly. Swift blinked a bit but smiled as he slowly pushed Hitch back with a finger to his muzzle, "First off, Sheriff, you know my name. Second, I took up residence nearby maybe five or six years or so ago? Not sure, been a while. Third, I don't cause commotions, I solve the ones you and your friends can't get to when you're busy off elsewhere. I speed around town helping ponies with their 'not so important' problems. Y'know, simple stuff like cats up trees, overgrown gardens, keeping Sprout from being an idiot. Y'know, usual stuff." He explained calmly. Though he took a bit more of a sour tone upon mentioning the 'not so important problems' and especially speaking on Sprout. Though that didn't seem to surprise any of those in the room. "What do you mean 'not so important problems'? Every problem is important if our friends are having them!" Sunny said in surprise at Hitch's lighter outburst and the wording Swift used. "I definitely think so. But you all seem to worry about the more extra big dilemmas. Like how you'll celebrate your holidays, how you'll plan a singing festival in Bridlewood. Or, my personal favorite, opening up a community garden." He said a bit more pointedly as he leaned forward and leaned on his hand against his knee. "I've seen the good in your actions, don't get me wrong. But I've also seen the problems you're not around to solve or don't recognize. For example, did you know Dahlia's knee got sprained bad after your animals tripped her up on her skates? Bed ridden and unable to go shopping for herself, I did it. Spent a week and a half keeping her place tidy. Oh, or how about when Sugar Moonlight had to work through her panic attack when she nearly got flattened by a giant tomato that was suddenly summoned from nowhere? I stayed by her side and have been helping her work through it by using techniques I've been reading about in self-help books. From all three cities! For the last month!" He said with a lightly aggravated chuckle before giving a sigh, "... And I had to do all that while searching for my only friend I ever had..." He said leaning back with a sad smile looking over to Misty who stared wide-eyed back. "You-- wait... You've been searching for Misty?" Zipp said confusedly before groaning, "Y'know what? We'll get to that. My questions now. Where are you from originally if you only showed up here five or six years back? Where are your parents? How do you know Misty and why do all of us somehow remember seeing you?" She listed off impatiently as he shrugged. "You want the whole story? Fine. It was maybe back when I was a colt," he started as he looked to the ground. 'I was born in Zephyr Heights, my mom was a Pegasus. Sweetest mare you'd ever know... But my dad was an Earth Pony that just so happened to sneak his way into the city even with it's anti-Earth-Pony Pony/Unicorn way of thinking. They fell for each other, he stayed with her and they had me a little while after. From how my mom put it, some guards found out about him and took him into custody, deaf to my Mom's pleading cries... Or mine. I don't know what happened to my dad and my Mom didn't exactly take it well. She was heartbroken and I wanted to find a way to help her and maybe even get some answers about my dad. So, while she was off shopping, I went to go find answers and ran into you two, the princesses. You seemed like a semi-reliable source, so I decided I'd tail you back to the castle or maybe just ask for your help... Unfortunately, I was never great at controlling how fast I go and ended up nearly trampling you and getting chased off by the guards as well as your sister, Zipp. I wanted to ask you if you knew anything, but as a kid being chased after tackling royalty, I was scared I'd end up like my dad and leaving my Mom all alone. So, I escaped by...' "Leaping from the mountain... That's why I remember you! I thought you--" "Bit the dust? Nah... Well, almost. Being unable to fly and all it kinda made the landing rougher than I'd have liked. Though it's crazy what adrenaline can do in the face of possible imprisonment or who the Hells knows what." He admitted as he sighed, "I kept running. Day and night, night and day, planning a way to get back one day when everything calmed down... Before I knew it, I was lost," he said as he continued on in his reminiscent tone. 'I was tired, hurt, and scared outta my mind, but I found my way to Bridlewood and collapsed outside of some house. I guess they took me in cause I woke up to a giggly lavender airhead of a filly smiling down at me with a cup of tea in her hands waiting. I was startled and a bit scared at first, but then I remembered something my dad would always say and I decided to trust her. Glad I did, cause that tea was the best and I was in no shape to move around.' "Huh, so that's why you know Izzy? She treated you while you were down for the count after running away? How long was that in between?" Swift looked up at the ceiling as if contemplating things as he groaned, "I was running until the moon rose... So I had to be running for at least a good few hours into the night." "Oh, oh! I can answer that!" Izzy said excitedly as she skipped up the stairs and hovered a teacup into his outstretched hand and poured him some tea, "He was unconscious for a few days and I got kinda worried he wouldn't wake up but I remember my gram-gram telling me about this tea that woke up anyone from anything any time! Took a while to find all the ingredients, but it was worth it cause when I held it up to him he woke up in seconds! So... Probably like five days to a week if I had to give a good guesstimation!" She said as he nodded his thanks to her and took a sip. "Alright, so a week after Pipp got tripped and I chased you off, you met Izzy. What then?" Zipp said as she wrote everything down, looking over to him expectantly. 'I spent a few days healing up with Izzy's help. After a while and some great tea, I was able to run again and I told her I had to go. She gave me some snacks and some crystals to ward off any 'Jinxies' or something and I took off. Didn't get too far though, cause then I found... Her. I found this frightened filly crying her eyes out and wandering around on the far outskirts of the woods. You basically get the gist from what Misty told you earlier. I figured that Izzy might know her so I did my best to lead her back towards her house. When I saw this big, brooding looking unicorn outside her house, I told her to wait a little bit and hide and that if she ever needed me to whistle the song I'd shown her. After that, I tried my best to re-trace my steps back home since I basically ran in a straight enough line and finally made it back after... Maybe a few days? I climbed back up and tried to sneak back home, but...' Swift sighed as he held his cup tight, "... She was gone. Mom had left a note saying she was going to find my dad and I, assuming I was with him. She left me a note saying that if I came back that the fridge was stocked and everything was as I left it... I couldn't go in. I couldn't face it without my Mom being in there." He said as he kept his sad smile, "Cause in running to escape capture, I left my Mom alone anyway... Like an idiot, I did exactly the opposite of what I wanted." He chuckled as he shook his head. "Course, being a tired, hungry colt I had no choice and went in. She was right, food was ready, my room was made up... But she wasn't there." The group all stared at him as Hitch's once hardened glance turned soft and full of self-disappointment while Sunny moved forward with Misty to sit near him, "I'm so sorry, Swift... If you don't mind, was there anything else you remember?" "Funny you should ask... Yeah, there is. I found a note from my dad at the bottom of my toy box. Guess he left it as a 'just in case' thing. It told me to 'Find the tower of light by the sea' or something. Had no idea where that was, so I checked an old map I remembered my mom and dad had in their room that they showed me when I was, like, two or so. It led me... Here." He said as Sunny tilted her head confused. 'I went running to find the tower of light and followed the message the best I could. Having never seen a lighthouse, I had no clue where I was going. While I was going by, I heard someone shout in shock and saw this odd little figure fall from this weird-looking tower. I ran over and snatched it before it fell and figured I'd leave it on the front step before I took off towards town for directions.' "I had no idea I had gone to Hitch's dad but I knew law enforcement when I saw it. He told me that this place was probably what I was looking for. Since it was never lit though, I ignored it and decided I'd keep looking, using my old home as a base of operations I guess. Over the years, I got better and better at traversing the distance and I've been able to get to all three places in a single day. Then in a single hour." He said with a growing grin as he leaned up, "And since magic has returned, I've been able to kick it into overdrive." He said proudly. "Yeah, I don't buy it." Hitch said as he wiped his eyes and took a breath to compose himself, "You're fast, I'll give you that. But to make it to Zephyr Heights or, especially, Bridlewood in an hour? It took us days and even with the Marestream it takes us a few hours." He said with a blatant tone of disbelief as Swift chuckled, "What's so--" "Hey Princess Pipp," he said as Pipp looked curiously at him, "Anything from home you'd like picked up?" He said as if issuing a challenge as she smirked and crossed her arms. "Get me my back-up brush from my room. Third floor, right of my bed and middle drawer. You have five minutes." She said with an amused smile as he stood and cracked his back as he rose up and turned to look back at her. "I only need three." He said as he took a crouching stance and, in a shockingly familiar surge of wind, he was gone. With his disappearance, everyone stared in shock at where he once was standing as Izzy was the first to break the silence, "Wow, he really has gotten faster!" "Izzy, why didn't you say you knew this guy?! That would've made all this so much easier to nail him down!" Zipp said in frustration as Izzy shrugged. "I know how much you like solving this stuff on your own! And besides, I was going out to go find him anyway since he brings me all this cool stuff from Bridlewood and Zephyr Heights in his free time!" She said as she rose up a box of oddities and baubles. "So that's where that propellor piece came from. Alright, that tracks. But still, you should'a at least mentioned that he was a friend of yours to Hitch or Sunny! And another thi--" Zipp was cut off as Pipp's phone went off. Pipp pulled it out and blinked confusedly, "Huh. It's Mom..." She said as she answered and put it to video call, "Hi Mom~! What's going o--" "Pipp, darling! The strangest event just occurred! I was having the most delightful time in the garden with Alphabittle having tea and listening to his tales. Oh, it was just divine--" "Mother!" Pipp interrupted as Queen Haven loomed at the screen startled, "What happened that you were calling about?" "Hmm? Oh, yes! When all of the sudden, a sudden powerful breeze, far stronger than is normal, came through. Next thing I know, the window to your room is wide open! I went to go check in case you'd come home for a surprise visit or you'd forgotten something! But when I went to look--" "Wait, was my right dresser middle drawer open and my extra brush missing?!" " Why... Yes, yes it was. So you did come home for something! Well, my conscience is clear then. Thank you for putting your mother's mind at ease, my dear! Kisses~!" She said before hanging up as Pipp stared wide-eyed at her phone, slowly looking back at the others who were also staring back at her save for Izzy who had hopped over and sat next to Misty. "No way... There's literally no--" "Delivery, your highness." Swift said as he sat where he had been before, holding out a lavender brush with silver bristles, Pipp's cutie Mark on the back of it on a golden plate engraving. Pipp, awestruck, slowly took the handle as Izzy shot up and dragged Misty with her as she stumbled behind to show her a timer she was holding that read '2:59'. "Just under three minutes..." She said in a light gasp as she looked back at him, "What... Are you?" Swift chuckled as he shrugged, "Nothing special. Just the fastest runner in all of Equestria."
