Comforting a scared unicorn
Thunder.
The only thing she hated, more than feeling alone, was thunder.
Ever since she was a filly, Izzy hated rainy seasons, especially when it rained with thunder. The sound and brightness that comes from bad weather terrifies her, and although in Bridlewood it was easy for her to ignore the sound by listening to music or distracting herself with Unicycling projects, living with her friends in the Crystal Brighthouse developed in her a strange tendency of imagining ideas that end in chaos: lightning striking the Brighthouse, her friends electrocuted, herself in imminent danger, among other things that only make her feel terrified and vulnerable.
Now, this wouldn't be a problem at all if it weren't for the fact that, every rainy season, Izzy can't sleep. The stormy nights are the reason why the others can't fall asleep because Izzy spends her time shaking and crying in her bed. They do everything so that Izzy can sleep, even a little: Sunny gives her headphones so she can listen to relaxing music; Zipp tells her some made-up story to distract her mind and make her sleep, Pipp sings something soft to her so she can fall asleep; and Misty lets her sleep on her bed since it can cover the lights and sounds a tiny bit.
The first few weeks it really works, and Izzy manages to fall asleep and forget about the bad weather. Even though the next morning it is still raining with thunder, Izzy can distract her mind on other things and stay calm, it is at night that she usually gets terrified. Like I said, her friends' methods worked for the first few weeks... but eventually, Izzy started shaking and crying, even when her friends tried to calm her down.
What for others was the most anticipated moment of the day, for the girls was hell. They loved Izzy, they really did, but her not being able to calm down during the night was starting to wear on them. So, to settle it once and for all, Sunny decided to talk about it with the only pony who could help her: Hitch. Why him, of all ponies? Well, it was no secret to almost nopony that Hitch and Izzy liked each other. The problem? None, just the two of them were the only slugs who didn't realize it.
But that's how love works, what else can one do?
The point is, Sunny knew Hitch might have the solution. Or rather, she knew Hitch was the solution.
Sunny walked to the station one morning. She didn't sell her smoothies in the rainy seasons, so she had a lot of free time. Once she entered the station, she found Hitch chasing Sparky as usual, to which she couldn't help but let out a small giggle.
"Do you need help, sheriff?" Sunny asked him with a mocking smile.
Hitch stood up, already with Sparky on his right hoof, and looked at Sunny with a bored expression.
"Hey, Sunny," He greeted. "Nah, I'm fine. Sparky is just a little hyperactive, I guess. Izzy is the one who usually takes care of him, but lately she hasn't been around."
"Yeah, well... it's just because of Izzy that I came," The Earth Pony mare said with a worried tone.
"What? Izzy is in trouble?!" Hitch asked, panicking.
"No, no! Well, more or less," Sunny replied with some anguish. "You see, she can't sleep at night. She shakes and cries all the time because she is afraid of thunder. Pipp, Zipp, Misty and I have already tried everything to get her to calm down... But nothing works anymore! We need your help, Hitch..." She added with a pleading tone.
For a moment, Hitch didn't answer anything. He just stayed silent and started thinking about what he could do. He loved Izzy quite a bit, and knowing that she wasn't sleeping properly broke his heart. Then, an idea appeared in his mind, but in turn it made crimson red appear on his cheeks.
"U-Uh... well..." The sheriff began to say. "I-I think I have an idea, but... uh... it's kind of embarrassing," He admitted with a nervous smile, while the blush of his cheeks grew bigger.
"Embarrassing, huh~?" Sunny said with a mischievous smile.
"Look, what I think is that... I-I can help Izzy, but to do it... I have to... stay at the Brighthouse with you, girls..." Hitch explained with some embarrassment.
"Is that so~?" Sunny kept teasing him.
"Sunny, p-please... don't make this more awkward than it already is..." The sheriff begged, his face completely red with embarrassment.
"I'm just messing with you, Hitch," Sunny said with a giggle. "But seriously, if that's really your solution, then I'll take it," She assured with a smile. "We'll wait for you at the Brighthouse, when you finish your shift. Oh, and if you must stay with Izzy, bring your blankets," She added, leaving the station and returning to the Crystal Brighthouse.
Hitch sighed in relief. He would have to take Sparky, and a few personal things too. He didn't like the idea of carrying around multiple things and Sparky in the rain...
But Izzy was worth it.
At night, around 7:00 p.m., Sunny was pacing back and forth in the living room, feeling worried. A stormy rain began, and as usual, Izzy was curled up in her bed, shivering and crying from the sound.
This time, Zipp, Pipp and Misty decided to wait with Sunny for Hitch to arrive, but they were also beginning to lose patience.
"Hitch should've arrived an hour ago!" Sunny complained. "Why hasn't he even arrived?!"
"Have you considered the possibility that, I don't know, he's not coming because it's raining?" Pipp said with a bored expression.
"Or maybe, hopefully not, something bad happened?" Misty suggested nervously.
"Or maybe he's just running late," Zipp suggested as well.
Suddenly, somepony knocked on the Brighthouse door, and Sunny quickly ran to open it. Luckily for her, it was Hitch, who was carrying Sparky on his back with a rain hood, while also dragging a bag with various things of his and the baby dragon.
"Sorry I'm late," The sheriff apologized with an embarrassed smile. "It took me forever to get Sparky to sit still so I could put the hood on him," He explained, while on his back the baby dragon was pouting.
"I'm glad you came, Hitch," Sunny said with a smile.
Suddenly, thunder was heard outside the Brighthouse, and Izzy screamed in terror from the room. Just hearing her so scared was enough to make Hitch's heart ache.
"And just in time," said Pipp, a little worried about Izzy.
"Uh... Hitch?" Zipp called out. "What is all this?" She asked, pointing to the soaked bag in the middle of the room.
"Some things from Sparky for the night. And some of mine, too," Hitch responded, looking at the girls' bedroom door. "Um, do you mind if I go and...?"
"You go and help Izzy, leave us with Sparky," Sunny assured with a smile.
Hitch smiled back, took off his rain hood, and ran upstairs to comfort Izzy.
"Ugh, disgusting!" Zipp complained, pulling a dirty diaper out of Hitch's bag.
"I refuse to ask..." Misty said with a disgusted face.
Hitch slowly opened the bedroom door, and before entering completely, he took a brief look at the place. He looked around the room, until he stopped at the lump under the covers on Izzy's bed.
He walked to the unicorn's bed, and slightly lifted the covers, only to feel his heart shrinking again: The poor thing's eyes were red from crying so much; Her mane, which was already somewhat disheveled normally, was even more disastrous; and her cheeks had tear marks.
"Izzy..." Hitch called her with a sweet voice.
That was enough for Izzy to open her eyes and stare at Hitch. She didn't think twice, got out of bed and collapsed on the earth pony's chest, hugging him as if her life depended on it.
Well, in this case, it did depend on it.
Hitch soon pulled her towards him with a hoof and spoke to her in a sweet tone again.
"Calm down..." He said, while Izzy just sobbed into his chest. "It's over, Iz. I'm here with you..." He assured with a warm smile, and a slight blush.
Izzy managed to look up from her until she was looking Hitch directly in the eyes, while the earth pony reached over his free hoof and caressed Izzy's cheek gently, which managed to make the unicorn smile weakly.
But then another clap of thunder struck, and Izzy immediately took refuge in Hitch's chest, shivering again. Hitch knew that he had to distract her, one way or another, or else he wouldn't even sleep that night because he was so worried about Izzy.
"Iz," Hitch called her, to which Izzy raised her face and faced him, still shaking because of the thunder. "Let's go up to your bed," He said, somewhat embarrassed, but he had an idea of how to help Izzy.
The unicorn, for her part, just nodded slowly. Under other circumstances, she might feel embarrassed, but right now Hitch was what she needed to feel better. She was the first to get on, and Hitch got on immediately after.
Once they were sitting on the bed, Hitch decided to hug Izzy, who welcomed the gesture. They both felt their hearts skip a beat, especially Izzy, who was beginning to feel calmer in Hitch's presence.
While the earth pony hugged her and stroked her mane, he began to talk to her about anything else. It didn't matter what he was telling her, Izzy just listened attentively with a smile. Thunder and lightning were still heard outside, but Izzy was no longer screaming or shaking as she was so focused on Hitch's voice.
Eventually, Izzy fell asleep on the earth pony's shoulder, and Hitch could only smile, relieved that the unicorn was finally calming down. However, he was worried that her screaming and shaking would come back if he left her, so he carefully grabbed her and snuggled with her on the bed.
Slowly, Hitch began to close his eyes, but he would have a pleasant night this time, because the last thing he would see before diving into the realm of dreams would be Izzy's face sleeping peacefully with a smile.
Definitely, spending almost 10 minutes walking in the rain, carrying Sparky and that heavy bag, was totally worth it.
For Izzy, it was worth it.
Aside from the noise of thunder and rain, the silence in the Brighthouse caught Zipp, Pipp, Misty and Sunny's attention, with Pipp playing a little with the baby dragon and both Zipp and Misty trying to figure out the list of things to do for Sparky to fall asleep.
Sunny, on the other hand, decided to check how Hitch was doing with Izzy, but when she opened the bedroom door, she had to contain a scream of joy and start jumping around like crazy: Izzy and Hitch were curled up in Izzy's bed, hugging and sleeping peacefully. From the door, Sunny could see Izzy's smile, which meant that bringing Hitch had definitely worked.
For the first time in days, it looked like the mares would be able to sleep on a stormy night.
THE END
Author's Note
People tend to fight over StarBlazer and StormBlazer, but personally? I don't think MoonBlazer is appreciated enough. Which is why my next One-Shot is from this very same ship!
Constructive criticism is appreciated. Thanks for reading this story, bye bye! 
