Author's Note
This story does not include Misty and Spark btw because i kind of set it to be slightly after MLP New Gen and before MLP MYM
20 questions later…
Slouching on the bar stool, Zipp downed the rest of her drink in one and let out a breath. Even though it was valentine’s day, there were several couples in the bar, displaying their affection for each other. In a corner a couple were making out, stopping in between passionate kisses to whisper to each other how much they loved the other. Near the bar counter, a couple shared a drink, a cape codd with a splash of soda, Zipp identified. Zipp had visited the bar often enough to identify any drink upon sight, at most she would need to get a whiff of the drink to identify it. Near the entrance of the bar a couple was playing darts and they’d kiss each other every time they came anywhere on the board. She left the table and sat at the bar counter, closest to the wall.
“A Vodka shot, light”
“A Vodka? C’mon you can do better than that princess,” The bartender said, as he shook around a couple of drinks.
Zipp ignored the comment and waited for her drink as she scrolled ClipTrot.
Slouching on the bar stool, Hitch downed the shot in one and let out a breath. Even though it was valentine’s day, there were several couples in the bar, displaying their affection for each other. In a corner a couple were making out, stopping in between passionate kisses to whisper to each other how much they loved the other. Near the bar counter, a couple shared a drink, a dilute pink drink he’d never seen before. Near the entrance of the bar a couple was playing darts and they’d kiss each other every time they came anywhere on the board. He left his table and sat at the bar counter, and saw a white Pegasus’s face illuminated by her phone screen.
“Fancy seeing you here,”
Zipp turned her head the slightest to look the amber stallion up and down. She sat up, “Never thought I’d see you in a bar, Sheriff,”
“Oh please, I’ve been here often enough,” Hitch said, sliding into the stool next to her.
The bartender slipped her shot glass to her, she picked it up and knocked it back. Zipp wasn’t nearly as intoxicated as she would’ve liked, and she thought to have a little fun with the Sheriff.
“Hey Sheriff, what d’ya say for a game of 20 questions, we tell the truth, and anything you don’t answer, a hard Vodka shot down in one,” She said, bringing the glass down on the counter, “Unless you’re too intoxicated already and cant take anymore?”
“Bring it on,” He replied, hearing her challenging tone.
A smile spread across her face and she called out, “Barry, get me a 20’s set, go hard,”
The bartender, hearing her request brought out 2 shot glasses and a bottle of Vodka.
“So it’s that kinda night, have fun folks,” He said, setting the bottle and glasses on the counter.
“Oh I will,” Zipp said, pouring the vodka into their glasses.
“Ok, I go first, have you ever kissed?”
“Nope, never remotely kissed anypony before. Me next, most embarrassing thing you’ve done while fully intoxicated,”
“Shit,” Hitch said and he threw his head back while the drink disappeared down his throat. The liquid burned in his throat, and he let out a a fit of coughs, earning cackles from Zipp. “Hot damn that’s really strong,”
“Good that you know, cause it’s about to get worse,” Zipp said.
“Fine then, err what’s the most embarrassing thing that you’ve done in public, while on camera?”
“Ha, this is more funny than embarrassing though,”
“No…No way you… you actually fell off..!” Zipp said in between gasps of laughter. Hitch was laughing too and he almost slid off his chair.
“Alright-alright, i’ve got 2 questions left, ok, last time you had a full on break down,” Hitch said, looking at his phone where the suggestion had popped up from.
The smile left Zipp’s face and it became one of solemnity. She quietly picked up the glass and downed it.
“Zipp? You ok?” Hitch asked.
She was silent for a while, gazing at the floor before saying, “Pipp got mad at me, because I accidentally entered the frame while she was live-streaming and all the attention went towards me. She said she hates me, but I’ve heard her say that before, I hate myself too. The way I walk, the way I try to find a bad reason for everything unusual, the way my teeth show when I smile. Then she said that I should just kill myself.” She said, looking at the door to her right. She was silent for longer while, then she picked up the bottle and drank straight from it, more than a shot glass. “I’d been thinking of suicide for the longest time, since the day I turned 10 , but id never actually tried it, never thought of how to do it, just thought that I should end myself, but the things that always stopped was how much Pipp would miss me if I did succeed. And after what she said, I knew there was no pony out there who would actually miss me or cry over my coffin if I succeeded, and that just made me crumble, I spent 2 hours finding the best ways to end it all,” she said, taking another longer swig from the bottle. “This happened a week ago, by the way,” She said, her eyes glassy while silencing a hiccup.
“Zipp, why would you think that?”
“Think w-hic-hat?”
“That no pony would miss you if you were gone?”
She stared at him and gave a crude chuckle, “My *hic* mother hates me, stated it plainly, so does my sister, it takes Sunny and Iz-hic-zy a whole day to notice I’m gone, what makes you think anypony else would miss me if my own *hic* family and friends don’t?”
“So you don’t consider me your friend?” Hitch asked, looking deep into those blue eyes that hid a world of pain and torment.
“Huh-*hic*-what?”
“You didn’t mention me,”
“Oh yeah, and Hitch, well,” she said, feeling her words slur as the alcohol began to travel through her blood. She was fairly intoxicated now, perhaps a little more than she would have liked. “Yeah, and that Hitch, I’ve seen him lo-*hic*-look at me as though he’s in *hic* love with me or something. And he’s so c-cute, but I don’t get why he would fall in *hic* love with me, I mean look at me, I’m a *hic* drunk little Princess bitch with depression, and h-he’s the handsome S-*hic*-Sheriff of M-Maretime bay. H-he’s so nice, and respectful a-and p-perhaps the only one who *hic* n-notices me and l-like asks me how I’m f-feeling,” she stopped speaking as she felt her vision began to blur. Hitch opened his mouth to say something, but suddenly Zipp put her head on the counter and fell asleep. The last thing she heard was the Sheriff opening a door.
She woke up with a mild headache and feeling seriously hungover. Even so, she could still notice how her surroundings were different than her normal pink and blue bed at the Brighthouse, but not the same as her king-size bed back in the Palace. The bed was the exact same firmness as a cardboard piece, just like she liked it, but the sheets were a teal blue and there was a clock that read 10.34am. She rubbed her eyes and took in her surroundings: the green sheets, tea cups here and there, and a picture of her friends. No doubt this could only be Hitch’s house. She immediately got out of bed, and she swayed a little and held the bedpost for support before she could confidently make the bed without falling to the ground. She opened the door, and followed the slight humming to find Hitch in the kitchen.
Her hoof steps drew his attention, “Hey Zipp, did you sleep well?”
“y-yeah, a little hungover, what happened after I passed out? I don’t remember anything before or after that.”
“Well, it started to rain, you were completely drunk, and the Brighthouse was quite a distance from the bar, and I live 2 blocks away, so I managed to get you here. Here’s some carbs, it’ll help with the hangover,” he said before tossing her a slice of bread. She caught it but asked again before taking a bite, “I managed to walk 2 blocks in a completely drunk state?”
He rubbed the back of his neck as he slid her a cup of coffee on the counter, “Well not exactly, we were about a hundred yards away from the door and you completely passed out, cold. So I carried you in here and put you in bed,” He averted his gaze to his coffee, feeling his cheeks burn.
A pink tinge graced Zipp’s cheeks, “Oh-um, well thanks for that, and uh what happened before th—“ she stopped as she remembered their conversation in the bar, every moment coming back to her as the pink tinge turned red, matching the colour of the apples in the basket on the counter. As Hitch realised that she had remembered, he too began to blush scarlet, remembering all the things she had said about him the night before.
“Hitch-I” she began, before Hitch interrupted.
“Zipp, I can’t believe you actually noticed that about me,” He said, looking at her.
“B-but I don’t get it, what about me makes you notice me that the other’s don’t?”
He closed the distance between them, so his face was inches away from hers, “Everything about you makes me notice you. The way your face lights up every time you take to the skies, the way you get worried whenever any one of us is not ok, the way you can make out when somepony is hiding their feelings. And then there’s how effortlessly good you look, like your wings—its like a rainbow explodes every time you take off. Your white coat that’s perfect in a way like you’ve seen the rough days, and you’ve made it through them. And your mane, it looks just the perfect amount of wild, like you’ve flown through a storm but you owned that storm. And then there’s those sparkling blue eyes that are like endless oceans that I could sink and drown and die in every time I look at them, they’re so sharp, like you’re ready to take on whatever’s next. And how your lips curve into a smile like the sun coming through the clouds after a thunderstorm. How you always have your guard up towards anypony new, the way you’re always willing to accept that you’ve made a mistake and you work on it, the way you—” He stopped, seeing her look at him with the same blue eyes that he got lost in all the time.
“Wow, I-I’ve never heard anypony say anything like that about me,” she said, mumbling and mirroring the flushed look on his face.
“But it’s the truth Zipp, I’ve felt this way since the day you came to Maretime bay, since that moment you decided to say “I’ve got your back, Hitch” when I tried to stop Sprout’s machine. You were the only one who stood by me that day, and when I almost tumbled off, there was a high chance you could’ve fallen too, but you reached out, not giving a care about what would’ve happened to you, and then you—I’m sorry I’m rambling here, but you get my point Zipp,” he said his voice suddenly husky. She stared into his amber eyes, seeing a sunset, the endless horizon that made her want to keep looking.
“Hitch-I-“ she started again, but was cut off when Hitch completely closed the gap between their lips, her lips so soft it contrasted the urgency of the moment. She melted into it, the world around her seeming to fade away as the warmth of his enveloped her. It was more than a kiss, it was a confession of the unspoken feeling between them laid bare for them both to feel. As they broke apart, she gazed into his eyes and she gazed into his.
“I think the toast is burning,” she said, the edge and doubt in her voice softening at his loving gaze.
“oh yeah, right,” he said, yet he continued to look back and forth between both her eyes.
Without a word their lips met again, and this time Hitch put his hoof around her neck and pulled her in, their lips locked as their tongues passionately dancing like never before. They stood there in the kitchen, feeling their souls intertwining with every second that passed. Their heartbeats synced and they were both filled with an unspoken understanding that neither wanted to break away. When they did break apart, Hitch caressed her cheek and Zipp looked down, whispering, “I don’t want to go too fast,”
“That’s alright, my bed’s not big enough for 2 anyway,”
Epilogue: Orange sunset and blue waters
3 months after the incident at the bar, and Zipp and Hitch are together
“I wanted to ask Zipp, why did you drink so much that night at the bar?” Hitch asked, gazing at the sun lowering inch by inch.
“Well, sharing all my feelings, about you and myself, that took more courage than anything i’ve ever done before, and well it kind of blurred the line between reality and fiction and I never realised you were actually listening. The moment you asked that question, I immediately thought of the 2 hours i’d spent thinking up ways to end myself. But then I realised that if I was going to do it, I should tell you that I felt the same way, because I already knew that you did, and to leave you hanging, i’d never be able to live up there with that guilt, it would haunt me in my next life too,” Zipp replied, looking at the sand below her hooves. “It felt like I was ripping my own guts out, to get that out of me, i’d never mentioned it or written it anywhere, and frankly if I hadn’t been so drunk, if you hadn’t decided to take me to your home, I wouldn’t be here right now,”
“And, then what, you’d stare at me from up there watching me live in the guilt of not letting you know that there is some pony out there who loves you? I’d be bawling my eyes out Zipp,” He said.
When she remained quiet he asked again, “And what were according to you the most suitable ways for you to do that?”
She looked up slightly, watching the water come in and go out over ang over again before saying, “The best one I had listed was to slit my neck just so the blood vessels were cut, it wouldn’t look like a murder, so they wouldn’t have anypony to accuse of my death. I though of hanging myself, but that wouldn’t be too pleasing for anypony to see, me dangling like a Christmas ornament from the ceiling,” she said giving a crude laugh.
“Zipp, that’s…I honestly though you’d be choosing the ways that were the most painless, but this…Zipp what were you thinking?”
“I don’t know Hitch, ok? Maybe its just because I want attention, that’s what Mom said when I tried telling her that I might be depressed,” she let out a breath through her teeth. “But, I think im happier now that I’ve got out of that,”
He suddenly put a hoof under her chin and lifted it so she was looking right into his eyes. “Zipp, promise me that if you ever think of that ever again, you’ll tell somepony, wether it’s me or whoever, but you have to promise me you will,”
Her eyes moved between his and she gave that soft smile he loved before letting out a soft chuckle, “Of course, Sheriff,” She said, before sealing the pact with a long kiss.
“Y’know, I’m kind of glad that I went through that kind of depression,” She said after they broke apart.
“What? You enjoyed being held captive by the darkness and self-loathing of your own mind?” Hitch asked, looking at her incredulously.
“Well when you put it like that it sounds wrong,” Zipp started. “If you put it anyway it would sound wrong,” Hitch added, pointing a hoof at her.
“What I mean to say is, if I hadn’t gone through this, I probably would never have confessed to you, and we wouldn’t be here right now,” they both were silent for a while before Zipp said, “Thanks Hitch,”
“For what?” He asked, confused.
“Y’know, for being there for me, actually willing to listen to all of the stupid things I think, and also for not telling anypony about what I said to you that night,” Zipp said, the last bit referring to all the self harm thoughts she’d had.
Hitch let out a “Tsk” sound and swatted his hoof at her gratitude.
Suddenly Zipp stood up and went into the water that matched her eyes, so that it lapped at her hooves.
He followed her into the water and looked into her blue eyes with his eyes that matched the shades of yellow and orange that the sun cast upon them. He threw his hoof around her neck and brought their faces together, their foreheads touching.
“I love you, forever and always,” he whispered, his voice barely audible over the rush of the water, yet clear as day to her ears.
“Right back at you Sheriff,” she whispered back before their lips met. They stood there locked in the moment as time seemed to slow as though they had the freedom to stay there forevermore.
