Author's Note

This is my first one, I’m sorry for all the errors, I worked with two people that tried to help me

Chapter 1: Zipp

As Zipp was laying on her bed, she continued to talk to the pony on the other side of the phone. “Yes Mom, I know that in two days I will have to head back to Zephyr Heights to continue with my Princess studies, I haven’t forgotten our deal. I was the one that proposed it, remember?”

“Oh yes I do dear, I was just making sure you remember and that you have everything you need packed up,” said Queen Haven, looking at her daughter on the screen with a warm smile. However, the Queen noticed that Zipp wasn’t paying attention.

Instead, Zipp was looking at a picture that was next to her bed: it was of her and Hitch, when she officially became the town's detective and assistant to the Sheriff.

Sighing a little, Queen Haven thought of what she was about to say. “Zipp, why don’t you go tell him?” she said softly.

This seemed to instantly get Zipp’s attention. She almost dropped her phone, but managed to catch it before it hit the ground. Frantically Zipp tried to look as nonchalant as possible, “W-what are you talking about, Mother?”

“Sweety, I know that look, and I know who that look is going to,” Queen Haven said with soft eyes and a small smile, in an understanding tone.

Zipp turned bright red and stumbled hard on her words, “Y-you do, M-mother?”

“It’s that sheriff that you hang out with every single day, Hitch if I remember correctly.”

“Ummm—“ was the only thing Zipp could say, as her face started to look like a bright red tomato.

“And don’t you think you can lie to me. I have been in the same position as you when I fell for your father. I know when a pony is falling in love, because I fell in love in the past,” Queen Haven added with a smile and a knowing wink.

Zipp turned away from the camera. With one of her wings, she covered her face because she was starting to feel even more embarrassed by her mother’s words.

“Zipp, please look at me, this is nothing to be embarrassed about, Sweetie,” said Queen Haven in a soft voice.

Slowly, Zipp slowly turned back to the camera. She looked at her mother and said, “I know, Mom. It’s just I have had these feelings since we first met, the moment when he and Sunny went back to Maretime Bay, when Sunny and Izzy failed to unite the crystals. I didn’t want to say goodbye, but I also didn’t want him to leave without one.” She shed a tear as she remembered back when Hitch and Sunny had to leave. “Pipp may have been the one that started to run back to them, followed by Izzy, but I almost left with you to go back to Zephyr Heights before I realized that if we could find a way to unite those crystals, then I would be able to be with him. When that moment came, when you accepted that Pipp and I could stay here in Maretime Bay, I couldn’t find the courage to go ask him, even to this day.”

Looking at her daughter with worry in her eyes, the Queen spoke softly again, “Zipp, you are one the bravest mares I know, and Hitch is one the most caring stallions I have met. What’s stopping you from telling how you actually feel?”

Almost inaudibly Zipp said, “Rejection…”

“Oh sweety, I know that is something scary, but don’t think about that. Once you tell him, you will feel so much better. Even if he doesn’t accept you, at least you will know how he feels, rather than you getting stressed out. It might hurt for some time, but getting hurt is a part of life. One will just have to know how to navigate around that pain so that they may continue on with their lives.” Queen Haven was hoping her words could comfort her daughter, but they didn’t seem like they did.

“But I don’t think I will be able to just navigate myself away from that pain. I don’t think I will be able to take on that pain and live on with my life, I want to be with him, but…” She stopped herself as she felt herself starting to cry. Again she looked away from the camera and hid her head beneath her wing.

Queen Haven took this opportunity to speak up, “You won’t have to take all this pain alone, you have your other friends with you and you also have your little sister Pipp. They will help you get through all that pain, they will be there to comfort you. Zipp, you can go to him, you can tell him, you can take on all that pain if he doesn’t accept you, you just have to trust yourself.”

Zipp slowly turned her head back to the camera, the fur beneath her eyes soaked with her tears.

“Thank you, Mom. I will think about it, I promise.”

“Don’t promise me anything and don’t think too hard about anything. Love is one of those things that one can not think through. You just have to let yourself go and allow your heart to speak the words for you,” Queen Haven said sincerely and with a small smile.

Zipp slowly gave her a nod. With that, both mares said their goodbyes and ended the call. Zipp looked up at the picture again—at Hitch specifically—which caused her to let out another tear. She softly spoke, “I want you in my life, but I just don’t know how to tell you.”

From behind, Zipp heard the telltale noise of Pipp’s phone stop recording, she slowly looked behind her and sure enough, Pipp was right there at the foot of her bed with her phone’s camera pointed right at her.

“Shoot!” was all that she could manage to say, right before Zipp dived right at her.

“Pipp, you get her back right now and give me that phone!” yelled Zipp, as she chased her sister all over the Brighthouse.

Pipp was no athlete, and she knew that it wouldn’t be long until her body gave up and Zipp would catch her. She flew left and right, up and down, she went upstairs and even made it outside the Brighthouse and then back inside, but no matter what Pipp did, Zipp was right behind her. She had to think of something fast, then suddenly she remembered a trick she did to Zipp when there were both still fillies. Pipp started to pump her wings much more, giving herself a bit more distance, before suddenly she dove down, landed, and then shot up again toward Zipp. This caught the older pegasus by surprise and she instantly stopped so that the two wouldn’t collide. The trick worked, giving Pipp enough time to execute the second part of her plan.

Zipp hovered for a few seconds with her front hooves covering her face, expecting the crash that was to come… But there was no crash. Zipp looked behind her and saw the purple tail of her sister quickly turn a corner. Without thinking twice, Zipp raced towards her sister. As she turned the corner to follow Pipp, she ran face-first into an open door. The impact was so hard that the door even broke off its hinges, causing it and Zipp to fall onto the ground with Zipp.

Pipp hovered behind a little bit further away, cringing hard as she heard her sister hit the door and cringing even harder as she saw the door fall to the ground with Zipp. “Z-Zipp, are you o-ok?” she said, worry in her voice.

The only thing that came out of Zipp was a groan, which caused Pipp to scream a little before she took off.

As she was about to fly out of the Brighthouse, Pipp crashed right onto Hitch.

Both of them were lying on the ground, grunting a little in pain. Pipp was the first one to get up. As soon as she realized who she bumped into, she quickly ran to Hitch and spoke with a desperate voice, “Hitch quickly, Zipp needs your help, she’s next to the closet door. I’ll go and help the others down at the beach, see you later!” As soon as she finished saying that, she leaped into the air and flew so fast that the wind she created behind her nearly knocked Hitch off his hooves.

“Wow, I have never seen her fly that fast. I wonder what happened in here?” he said as he went inside, looking around and listening for Zipp. “Zipp, you okay? Do you still need my help?” When he heard no reply, he walked in the direction of the closet and as he rounded the corner, he saw Zipp’s passed-out body on the door.

“Zipp!” Hitch yelled, as he quickly went to her side and started looking her over. He saw that she had a small scratch on her head where she had hit the door and saw that it was bleeding a little.

Quickly picking Zipp up and putting her on his back, he went to place her on her bed, which was a little hard given that Zipp’s bed was elevated. He quickly went downstairs and got some warm water and a towel, as well as some bandages to cover up the bleeding.

As he finished tending to her wounds, Hitch was about to get off Zipp’s bed, only to be stopped because of a pull on his hoof. As he turned to see what happened, he saw that Zipp was nuzzling his hoof, she looked calm and happy. This brought a small smile to Hitch and he leaned down and kissed Zipp in between her nose. As he leaned back, his brain finally caught up to what he had just done. Without hesitation, he took back the hoof Zipp had been snuggling and quickly ran to leave the Brighthouse

Only to be stopped by a voice that he could hear all around himself, “Why are you denying what just happened, Sheriff?”