Glowin Up; Lovey Dove
The first time Hitch Trailblazer saw the pink pegasus, he thought she was beautiful. He had galloped into the throne room, and as soon as he saw her, his eyes widened, and he stopped in his tracks. Her voice...it was so melodic. It was breathtaking. And the way she sang, it was her passion, he could tell. She didn't just love to sing. She loved to use her music to make others feel as good as she did when she sang. Safe. Protected. Happy. Loved. That was something familiar to him. It was how he felt when he was protecting Maretime Bay. It was how he felt when he got his cutie mark.
His flank began moving in rhythm to the music. That, surprisingly, had snapped him out of his stupor. He shook his head in disdain. None of these thoughts, none of these feelings were his. This must all be a ploy. Some kind of hypnosis trick. It had to be. He couldn't feel this way about a pegasus. He was an earth pony. Pegasi were dangerous and sly and vicious, just waiting to take advantage of the weakest link.
He pushed all these unwelcome thoughts away. He needed to look for Sunny and that unicorn so that he could bring them back to Maretime Bay to face the full force of the law. Besides, he needed to question the unicorn as soon as possible to see if he should be expecting any more 'guests' at Maretime Bay.
As he searched the crowd looking for Sunny and her new unicorn friend, his eyes kept drifting to the singing pegasus. He told himself it was because he was at a tactical disadvantage. While he certainly never believed the nonsense stories Phyllis Cloverleaf spouted about pegasi swooping down and snatching you up, mostly because they were the same size, he did believe that flying around in the air, having a bird view of everything below, gave the pegasus the ability to see that he didn't belong. That he was an earth pony in a pegasus city. He had to keep an eye on her, in case she figured that out and sounded the alarm. She was his biggest threat.
After a bit of searching, he finally happened upon Sunny and her friend. However, as soon as they saw him, they quickly backed up into a curtained room in hopes of escaping him. For a moment, he was torn with indecision. It was clear nopony was supposed to be back there. Following them into unauthorized areas would only lead to more suspicion, casting attention upon himself that he didn't need. His plan, if the whole thing didn't fall apart, was to get in and out without even being noticed. But at the same time, he couldn't lose Sunny again. It was hard enough tracking her here all the way here to Zephyr Heights. If there was another exit from the curtained room, he'd have to start all over.
After a moment, however, he decided that he should stay in the throne room, and hope that she'd come back out. After all, that's probably how Sunny got all the way here without killing herself. Through dumb luck. Equestria knows Sunny didn't plan any of this before she took off to a pegasus city. That was how she got through life without being thrown in jail. Simple dumb luck that Hitch was able to find technicalities and loopholes to use so that she wasn't technically breaking the law.
As he waited, however, the spotlight suddenly flickered on and off before finally landing on him. He froze, unsure what to do. The flying pegasus stopped in her tracks, looking completely confused. It wasn't that he had stage fright, or was scared of all the watching ponies. He was used to that. He often had to give unscripted and scripted speeches to the ponies of Maretime Bay. It was all just part of the job. He also had to be confident enough to penalize anypony who broke the law, even if they were his friends. Well, anypony except for Sunny it seemed. For some reason, to those who knew her, Sunny seemed to have this aura around her that made it near impossible to want to penalize her for breaking laws. Probably because her intentions were always pure, always wanting to put ponykind's well-being over everything else, including herself. Like what Hitch was willing to do for Maretime Bay. It was hard to find that nowadays, and it was even harder to punish somepony for it.
No, it wasn't the spotlight that made Hitch terrified. It was the pressure on him that made him freeze in fear. If he didn't play this off, if he gave the pegasi any reason to suspect he wasn't one of them, it was all over. He wasn't just your average, everyday, run-of-the-mill earth pony. He was the sheriff. A pillar in his community. Ponies in Maretime Bay looked up to him. They relied on him to uphold the law. In times of fear, it was him they looked up to to have all the answers. If there was anypony they'd want to capture most in hopes of finding a weakness in Maretime Bay to infiltrate, it would be him. He had to keep his disguise intact. It was imperative for the safety of Maretime Bay.
After racking his brain a bit, he decided to continue the song. He had to admit, he was a worse singer than he was a dancer. And he was even worse at creative improvisation. Seriously, what even were these lyrics? Throwin' up, find a glove? You're like why, I'm like what? Crisp and dry, eat some mud? He made a mental note to himself that he had to work on his improvisation after this was all over.
Luckily, however, this torturous scene of horrible song lyric writing didn't last long. Next thing he knew, the mysterious mare began screaming as she was pulled through the air by some mysterious force. Everypony, including him, gasped and watched her, wondering what was going on. His instincts urged him to help her, the ones that urged him to help any creature, no matter what or who they were. But he had to put Maretime Bay first, and that meant finding Sunny.
He scanned the crowd, ignoring the pegasus's screams. Everypony was frozen in shock, which made spotting them easy since they were the only ones moving.
"Freeze!" He yelled, causing them to freeze in their tracks. Everypony turned to see what he was yelling at and that was when the panic started.
"It's the prisoners!" He heard somepony yell before the screaming began. Prisoners? Oh Sunny, what did she get herself into now?
He didn't have long to dwell on that though when the flailing pegasus whizzed by, pulling his disguised wings with her. As she did, he could see that she was being pulled by some kind of wire she was connected to. Why was she connected to that? Could she not fly? He couldn't think about that now as he stood frozen, everypony beginning to realize that he was an earth pony. What should he do? He can't get captured. Maretime Bay needed him. He sure as hell couldn't rely on Sprout to keep order in Maretime Bay for long. Hell, he barely trusted Sprout to keep order for as long as he's been gone.
Fortunately, however, all eyes weren't on him for long as the screaming pegasus finally came to a stop upside down in the middle of the throne room. It was clear she couldn't fly, but everypony seemed more shocked and alarmed by this revelation than they did when they discovered the earth ponies and the unicorn in Zephyr Heights. As one, the crowd began to murmur in panic and pull out their phones and snap pictures of the upside-down pegasus as she hung there stuck. He felt disgust well up in him. This mare clearly needed help and instead of putting their phones down, they were snapping pictures and just staring at her.
"Zipp?" She muttered, staring at a pegasus behind him.
He turned around in time to see Sunny bump into a white pegasus mare with a pink and blue mane, urging her to hurry. The mare was frozen in panic and horror, indecision tearing her up if the expression on her face was anything to go by. But, she seemed to make up her mind as she and Sunny sprinted towards the exit.
Hitch felt bad for the pink pegasus, but he didn't let his feelings stop him from following Sunny and bolting toward the exit. The pegasus's unwilling reveal gave Hitch the perfect opportunity to escape and he was going to take full advantage of it. He wasn't going to risk his safety, Sunny's safety, and the safety of Maretime Bay for some pegasus he didn't even know.
Despite all that though, he did hope she'd be okay when all this was done and over with.
"What am I even doing here?" Hitch muttered to himself, shaking his head and rolling his eyes in exasperation. "Hoofing it across daisy fields looking for a magical crystal that DOESN'T EVEN EXIST!" He yelled, hoping Sunny heard him and understood how idiotic this whole mission was, though, he seriously doubted it. The only reason he followed her was to keep her safe and make sure she didn't do or say anything that would put Maretime Bay in more trouble than it already was. And perhaps a small part of him was following her so he could be there when she failed or it completely blew up in her face. Just a small part though.
"It was supposed to be my best show ever," The pink pegasus from the show in the Zephyr Heights castle whose name he learned was Pipp, sorry, Princess Pipp, muttered to herself. He had forgotten she was there, and while he still didn't trust her, he was glad to know she was just as suspicious and pissed off as he was. Though, he had to admit that he was glad she was okay after that whole fiasco in the throne room, not that he'd ever admit that to anypony else. "And now it's over. I'm...a criminal. And it's all because—"
"Of them." They finished together, Hitch finishing a thought he was thinking out loud.
"And that is so not cool," Pipp finished with malice in her voice, walking ahead of him and jogging to her older sister Zipp.
"No, it is not." He agreed, thinking of the way Zipp had just left Pipp hanging there in front of everypony, completely humiliated and embarrassed. She was lucky that Pipp was okay, but what if she hadn't been? How could her sister leave her like that? He stopped in his tracks. "Did I just agree with a pegasus?" He asked himself. He told himself it was just that they agreed about how ridiculous this escapade was, but he couldn't ignore how protective he felt over the fact that Zipp just left Pipp hanging there. No, he could. And he would. Because it meant nothing. Absolutely nothing.
"Hey, you hear that, Sunny?" Pipp began dancing to the music where she stood as Sunny turned her head to look at her. "Feel the rhythm take you over. You feelin' it?"
"Oh, I'm feelin' it," Sunny responded with a smile. She chuckled a bit before declaring, "I'm feelin' it!"
"Ya, you are, Sunny!" Pipp responded with equal vigor. "Yeah, you do this, Sunny! Whoo!" Pipp cheered as Sunny began dancing on the just prance game again.
"Yes! She's doin' it, she's doin' it!" Hitch said in shock as he watched Sunny play and actually start to win.
He was dumbfounded. He's never seen anypony except her father encourage Sunny like Pipp just did. Hell, nopony's ever encouraged him to the point where even he believed they could do this. Not even Sunny. Her confidence...it was different from arrogance. It was different than what Hitch had ever seen. It could make anypony, even the most spiteful, believe in themselves no matter how insecure they felt or how much they doubted themselves. It was a gift. One she probably didn't even know she had. One that only made her more beautiful. Er...she'd be beautiful to anypony.
Imagine his surprise when Sunny did win. He couldn't be more proud of her. After everything she's been through, after everything they've all been through, they were going to bring magic and ponykind back together. They were really going to do this. He couldn't help but cheer right along with them.
That is until Sunny's 'horn' flew off her head. As the unicorns around them gasped, the five of them froze automatically, knowing this couldn't possibly end well.
"An earth pony," Alphabittle muttered with absolute menace in his voice.
By then, however, both Pipp and Zipp had already taken off their capes and horns. Hitch had too, not wanting the ponies he had actually come to know as his friends go through this alone.
"And pegasi," Zipp declared, standing defensively next to her sister.
"And a unicorn...which, you knew already," Izzy proclaimed, standing next to her friends.
Sunny stepped forward to stand in front of them all, and all eyes went to her, including Hitch's, whose heart seemed to race. "I know it doesn't look like it, but we're here to help—"
"Help?" Alphabittle repeated, taking a step forward. "We don't need help." Another step forward. "Especially from ponies like you." Another step. "Give me the crystal."
Now Sunny took a step back, her ears flattening. "But we won." Sunny's voice trembled as Alphabittle continuously walked closer to them, not just one step at a time. Hitch glanced at Pipp before looking back at the altercation between Alphabittle and Sunny.
"You tricked me. The crystal." He responded, leaning towards the five of them imposingly.
Hitch racked his brain, trying to come up with some sort of escape. Surprisingly, the pony his gaze first flicked to wasn't Sunny, his foalhood friend, like he thought, but it was instead Pipp, who was cowering by her sister Zipp, holding the green pegasus crystal. That was what made him truly panic. He told himself it was sheriff's instincts kicking in, to protect the most vulnerable. Zipp could handle herself, he knew that much about her, and to make the trek from Briddlewood to Maretime Bay all by herself, he had no qualms about whether or not Izzy could handle herself, and he has definitely seen Sunny handle herself in close call situations. Pipp, on the other hand, seemed the most vulnerable, seemed to be the one who had no idea how to defend herself against manic crowds. He had to think of something. Anything.
"Now!"
Then he remembered something. A mistake he first made here in Briddlewood. It was time to learn from it. "Uh...uh magic! Wing! Feather! MAYONNAISE!!!" Hitch yelled like his life depended on it, which, if he thought about it, it did.
There was a pause where everything seemed to freeze as though time stopped and then Hitch heard the first "Bing" and then "Bong".
Sunny recognized the distraction for what it was, thank hoofness, and urged them all to go. Hitch did not need to be told twice. He hoofed it to the door, trusting the rest of them to follow. The only pony he made sure was right behind them, and momentarily paused so that she was in front of him was Pipp Petals.
The climatic moment had everypony at the edge of their hooves, including Hitch himself. He glanced over at Pipp, who had spread out her wings, quickly looking at Zipp, before looking back at Sunny and Izzy, who were slowly bringing the crystals together, to make himself feel better. What would their relationship be after they brought magic back? Would they see each other again? Would they continue to be friends? Hitch surprised himself by hoping they'd still be friends.
Everypony seemed to grow, standing straighter, their smiles growing as the crystals came closer, including Hitch's. Finally, things were going to go back to how they were meant to be. Finally, Sunny's dream was going to come true. Everything Hitch had watched her work for was for this moment, right now. He could see her smile and hopeful expression grow. Hitch's heart raced as the crystals were just a couple of centimeters apart.
And then...nothing. The crystals connected but nothing happened. His smile slowly fell as he realized what had happened. Pipp furled her wings back at her side, her smile fading along with everypony else's. It was like he had been punched in the gut. Like everypony had been punched in the gut.
Sunny looked at the crystals in confusion. "It...it..."
"Why didn't it work, Daddy?" Hitch heard a young foal ask.
"Cause it was all just make-believe." The worst part of it was that Hitch couldn't decide if he agreed with the foal's father or not.
"We can try it again," Sunny reasoned. "Maybe...maybe w-we did it wrong somehow..."
Hitch couldn't listen anymore. He couldn't watch Sunny's heart break like that, not after she got all her hopes up only to have them crushed. The crowd started to disperse until it was only the five of them, Alphabittle, Queen Haven, and her guards left. Sunny, desperate for anything, took both the crystals and began fitting them together again and again, begging for them to work. Hitch knew if he didn't do something now, Sunny would be there all day and night, repeatedly in vain trying to get them to work.
He took a glance at Pipp as though making sure she was okay before slowly walking up to Sunny, his hooves feeling as though they were ten-pound weights. He dreaded this moment since he found out she had it in her head that she could bring back magic. Now, it was time to do his job as sheriff, and as a friend.
"Sunny," He started softly, walking up behind Sunny who was sitting on the ground. "It's okay. You did everything you could."
She turned her head to look at him, the look in her eyes breaking his heart. It was pleading, begging him to make it all okay. To make it work. As though he could fix everything. "I...I thought it would work." She looked back down at the ground and the crystals in front of her. "I was so, so sure of it."
Hitch knew she didn't just mean the crystals or magic. She was so sure she could bring ponykind together. She was so sure she could make her father's lifelong dream come true. She was so sure everything she fought for in life wasn't for nothing.
He glanced at Pipp again. Perhaps she didn't bring all of ponykind together, but she did change some hearts. She did bring him and the rest of their friends together. And, perhaps one day, it'll be enough. Perhaps, one day, their friendship can serve as a beacon for others, and show them that interponykind friendship is possible. Today, however, it's just not meant to be.
Sunny swallowed and Hitch could see her face harden and become a mask hiding all of her emotions. His heart broke seeing this, wishing he could bring back his bubbly, hopeful, persistent, encouraging friend again. Sunny stood up and walked towards Alphabittle and Queen Haven.
She gave them back their crystals, apologizing for all the trouble she caused, unable to look any of them in the eye. The four of them watched this in horror, unable to believe the very pony who brought them all together, was giving up.
"Sunny! We can't give up!" Pipp spoke up. Hitch silently begged Pipp to work her magic, to bring Sunny back from this dark place.
"I thought that I could make a difference," Sunny muttered, staring after the retreating unicorns. "But, everywhere I go, I just make things worse."
"That's not true," Izzy argued as they all walked up to Sunny. "We're all in this together, right?" Izzy looked to the rest of them in confirmation, and all of them, including Hitch, agreed. All of them except Sunny.
"I'm so sorry I let you all down," Sunny said before turning and walking away.
Hitch didn't want to leave, but he knew he had to follow Sunny back home to Maretime Bay. That was his first and foremost responsibility. To protect Maretime Bay. But, suddenly, that didn't seem so important anymore. Not as he originally thought.
He followed her, pausing to look back at the four of them. Specifically Pipp. "I guess this is goodbye...friends."
"Better hurry...sheriff."
He stared at Pipp a little longer, before turning to finally leave.
Damn it! He knew it! He knew Sprout was going to do something like this. Okay, perhaps not this specifically, but he knew Sprout was going to start something. What was the one thing Hitch told Sprout not to do before he left after Sunny? Hitch's last words to Sprout rang through his head. Who am I kidding? Just try not to start a war while I'm gone, okay? He was being dramatic at the time, but now Sprout was actually trying to start a war. When they figured out how to stop this, Sprout was so fired from the police force.
He skidded to a stop, turning to look at the huge stupid robot. He had to stop that thing, before Pipp...er anypony got hurt. He shook his head. What was the point? He couldn't deny it anymore. He cared for Pipp. A lot. More than as a friend. Though, there was no way Pipp liked him back that way though. Still, he didn't care if Pipp liked him that way or not. As long as Pipp was happy, so was he. He just had to make sure she was alive long enough to be happy. And if that meant stopping a huge robot Sprout 2.0, then that's what it meant.
"I've got to reign that thing in," He told the others.
Zipp came to a stop next to him. "I've got your back Hitch."
They ran to the robot thing, both of them jumping on top of the lowest level. He hated leaving Pipp's side but knew Izzy and Sunny would keep her safe. They'd look out for each other. The best thing he could do right now was to keep this robot thing from reaching the lighthouse. At least until they brought back magic.
Both Zipp and Hitch looked around for some kind of off switch, but unable to find one, they looked for something, anything, they could use to slow it down. They found nothing though, and just began fruitlessly hammering against the damn thing. They stopped as they watched it approach the lighthouse, and Hitch's breath caught in his lungs. Two ponies he cared very deeply for, more than life itself, were in there. And this robot thing that was five times his height and a hundred times his weight was about to go crashing into it, and there was nothing he could do.
Zipp and Hitch braced themselves as the machine rammed itself against the lighthouse, causing massive cracks to appear in it, making it tip over slightly. Hitch clung onto the machine for dear life, looking around desperately for some way to stop it, still finding none.
"Sprout! Stop!" Hitch yelled desperately, hoping to reach the colt he's known since foalhood. He climbed up to the windshield, using all of his strength. Once he did, he put both his hooves on the windshield glaring at Sprout. "This...ends...now!" Hitched yelled through the windshield. He was not going to let anypony, especially somepony like Sprout, hurt the two mares he lo...cared for.
"What? And let them have magic? Never!"
Hitch's heart stopped as long metal rods with a hooked end, placed around a circular wheel, as though spokes on a tire, came out of each side. Hitch's heart raced as the Splat-a-pults began to whir to life. Below, ponies began running around, trying to dodge the balls of green goo that would cause them to be immobile.
Suddenly, the robot machine jerked forward, causing Hitch to lose his balance. He began to fall over the edge before Zipp grabbed his hoof, pulling him back onto the machine, just in time to save him from getting his head chopped off. The robot then crashed into the lighthouse again, causing it to shake and tip over even more.
All of a sudden, Hitch heard screaming that seemed to be an awful lot like Pipp's voice. Hitch's heart stopped as he looked towards the lighthouse, relieved that it didn't tip over completely, but worried as to why Pipp would be screaming. Zipp seemed to hear it too as her gaze followed Hitch's.
Then, as quickly as it started, the screaming stopped. Hitch had to believe it was because Pipp was okay and not because she was dead. He had to focus on the task at hand. He couldn't let Sprout bring down the lighthouse while Sunny and Pipp were still in there. While anypony was still in there.
He just prayed to anypony who listened that Pipp wasn't hurt, or worse, dead. He couldn't lose her, even if she didn't love him back, he just couldn't lose her.
"Hey."
Hitch turned around to see Sunny walking up to stand beside him. She was still in her alicorn form, though they weren't sure if it was permanent or temporary, since if it were temporary, Sunny hadn't yet figured out how to get out of it. Everypony was helping to clean up the mess caused by Sprout's robot, but, after a couple of hours of cleaning up and having the unicorns and pegasi help too, there wasn't too much left to clean up.
Before he oversaw any remaining cleaning that needed to be done, Hitch first forced Sprout to apologize to everypony, especially the pegasi and unicorns. He then made Sprout personally apologize to Queen Haven and Alphabittle, as well as Izzy, Pipp, Zipp, and Sunny. Especially Sunny. Sprout was then forced to pay for the labor and the resources it would take to build Sunny a new home after the lighthouse was destroyed. The second thing Hitch did was force Sprout to hand over his deputy badge, for obvious reasons.
He gave her a small smile. "Hey."
She cleared her throat and lifted her hoof. Hitch looked around, glanced down at his badge, then smiled, shaking his head as he too held up his hoof. Funny thing was, Hitch was no longer embarrassed to do this in public anymore, even if he was on duty. But then again, Hitch was no longer a lot of things anymore. None of them were. After that kind of adventure, there's no way it wouldn't change anypony.
"Up high, down low, hitch it to a post! Flipp it sunny-side up and on a piece of toast!" They chanted together, before chuckling.
"You know," He said after a while of silence as he watched the ponies interact and play with each other. "Your father would be really proud of you."
"He'd be proud of you too."
Hitch looked at Sunny in surprise, not sure why she'd say something like that. He wouldn't be proud of him. It was Sunny who'd brought everypony together. All he did was tag along for the ride. Hell, he even tried to stop Sunny from doing so. Not to mention the years he spent trying to talk Sunny out of this whole pony unity thing after Argyle died. Argyle wouldn't just not be proud. He'd be disappointed.
"Proud of what? All I did was chase you around Equestria to try and arrest you."
"That may have been your agenda at first, but when it mattered most, you put your prejudice aside and inspired ponies to do the same. That's big."
Hitch shrugged. "I never would have done it if it weren't for you."
Sunny and Hitch were quiet for a bit, just watching the ponies in Maretime Bay settle in. He wasn't sure if he'd ever get used to seeing pegasi and unicorns walking casually down the streets of Maretime Bay, without anypony panicking. It was ironic really. His whole life he was taught by everypony around him that unicorns and pegasi were evil, vicious, and mean, and now, here he was, in love with one.
Hitch then looked at Sunny. "What's going to happen now?"
Sunny looked at Hitch, confused. "What do you mean?"
"Well, I know that Maretime Bay and the other cities are open to all kinds of ponies and now anypony can go anywhere, but, what about the five of us? I mean, you and I already live here in Maretime Bay, but the rest of them have lives in their own cities. I mean, Pipp and Zipp are Princesses of Zephyr Heights, for goodness sake. We can't just ask them to uproot all their lives just to move here to Maretime Bay so we can see them more. Can we?"
"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about. Izzy is talking about this to Alphabittle since he seems to be seen as a leader among the unicorns of Briddlewood and Pipp and Zipp are talking to Queen Haven. Zipp, Izzy, Pipp, and I were talking, and we were thinking that we should maybe build a lighthouse."
"Like the one you grew up in?" Hitch asked, a little confused.
"Kind of. But instead of a normal lighthouse, this lighthouse will be a lighthouse for friendship, where we'll all live. We don't know what we'll call it yet, but we do know that we think that's where the crystals should be kept." Sunny took a deep breath before continuing. "Hitch, those crystals are the source of all of Equestrian magic. I don't know how magic in Equestria worked before, but this isn't the same Equestria. If something happened to those crystals, if they're separated again, we might lose magic..." Sunny paused, looking at Hitch. "For good."
"That'd be bad."
Sunny nodded. "It would. Which means the crystals need to be kept in a safe and neutral place. I don't want the responsibility of keeping all of the Equestrian magic safe but..."
"What safer place than in the protection of the alicorn?" Hitch finished.
Sunny nodded, looking down at the ground.
Hitch thought about it, before smiling. "I think that's a great idea." Hitch leaned down and whispered in Sunny's ear, "And I think you'll be the perfect protector." Before nuzzling against Sunny.
Sunny smiled up at him, already looking a tad less stressed.
"I just hope you have building permits for this 'lighthouse'," Hitch joked and they both laughed before settling down and staring at each other, neither of them saying a word.
As they did so, Pipp, Izzy, and Zipp came running up. Well, Izzy was running. Pipp and Zipp were flying. All, however, had happy looks on their faces.
"Mom said yes!" Zipp exclaimed.
"So did Alphabittle!" Izzy exclaimed, jumping up and down. "Now we never have to be apart!"
Hitch glanced at Pipp before putting his hoof in the middle with the rest of them before they all yelled together, "Hooves to hearts!"
They all laughed, Hitch closing his eyes momentarily so he could really absorb Pipp's beautiful laugh.
After chatting for a while, Pipp, Izzy, and Zipp left, chatting excitedly, leaving Sunny and Hitch alone again.
"You know, you're welcome to live with us," Sunny offered, leading them to a bench that faced the street of Maretime Bay.
Hitch thought about it, before quickly shooting down the idea. "Nah, I think I'd rather stay at the sheriff's station. Maretime Bay has grown in population and I need to be available at all hours. Anyway," Hitch glanced down at Sunny, casting her a sly smile. "The law is the law, Sunny, and I'm here to uphold it and keep everypony safe."
Sunny smiled back warmly. "Aha! You just said 'everypony'. That includes pegasi and unicorns."
They both laughed, before sitting in silence. Hitch just watched as Pipp began dragging an irritated Zipp in the air to force her to take a selfie with a group of foals. Zipp acted annoyed, but there was a small smile on her lips as she touched down and spread her wings far and wide. Once Pipp finished, a group of three fillies bombarded Pipp with what looked like questions, something that'd cause Hitch to freeze up and stutter a bit, but Pipp handled it with ease, answering all their questions, as well as asking her own, making the fillies blush and giggle in response. A small smile grew on Hitch's face.
"You really care for her, don't you?"
Hitch froze in worry. He wasn't too concerned that Sunny knew, but he was concerned about how. If it was that obvious, then did Pipp know? Did Zipp know? Was she okay with it? Did everypony know? Did Sunny really know, or simply suspect and was just guessing to get an answer out of him?
He sighed in resignation. "That obvious?"
"No, but I have known you since we were foals. I've never seen you look at anypony the way you look at Pipp." Sunny paused, watching Izzy lift a knocked-over tram with her newly acquired magic with a group of other unicorns, before setting it gently back on the tracks. "When did you know?" Sunny asked softly.
Hitch thought for a moment about all his interactions with her and then shrugged. "I guess I've always known. I just stopped denying it when I saw she was in danger of being injured by the Sprout robot."
There was a moment of silence before Sunny bumped her shoulder playfully against Hitch. "You should totally go for it."
Hitch shook his head. "Nah...she probably doesn't even like me back. Besides, things'll get awkward, and I don't wanna risk our friendship like that."
"I'm sure she does. Anyway, how will you get anything in life if you don't take a couple of risks?"
"I think I've taken enough risks for awh—"
"And have things turned out okay?" Sunny interrupted, raising an eyebrow.
Hitch scoffed. "I'm still not sure..." Sunny elbowed him playfully and Hitch chuckled. "Okay, okay, yes, they have. But I don't want to push it."
"I think you guys would make a beautiful couple," Sunny commented, looking from Izzy to Pipp, who was now chatting animatedly to a blue earth pony with a pink mane and a cream pegasus with a red and yellow mane.
"Oh, I don't know..."
"Don't you trust me?"
"I do but—"
"Then go for it!"
"Okay, okay, just give me a moment to process and think okay. This is pretty new to me too."
"Fine. Can you imagine what a relationship between a pegasus and earth pony will do for friendship between the ponykinds?" Sunny gasped. "If you two marry, bonds between earth ponies and pegasi will almost be unbreakable! Especially since Pipp is a pegasus Princess!"
"M-marriage?" Hitch stuttered. Asking Pipp out was nearly impossible enough, and that was before adding the possibility of marriage into the mix. And then hearing Sunny list all the ways a union between them can strengthen pony bonds, it was too much.
"Imagine how amazing and cute that'd be! Former enemies, falling in love. Ohh, that'd be the perfect headline."
"H-headline?" Hitch stuttered, his eyes widening.
"Imagine the possibilities that'll open up for future relations between all three kinds! This new Equestria is full of new possibilities! And marriage between the kinds is just the beginning!"
"Sunny—"
"Although, do you think this will weaken the bond between the earth ponies/pegasi and the unicorns? Hmm...we need a unicorn to marry and an earth pony or pegasus. Who should we set up together?" Sunny gasped again. "Do you think Onyx is a good option? Or...or maybe Alphabittle?" A louder and longer gasp. "What about Queen Haven and Alphabittle? Oh my hoofness, that'd be so cra..."
As Sunny continued on her excitable babbling about how a marriage between Queen Haven and Alphabittle would not only be beneficial but also if it would be possible or not, then listing both their qualities to see if they'd be a good match, Hitch thought about what Sunny said and he had to agree. This new Equestria was full of new possibilities. Possibilities Hitch wouldn't've even thought to consider a week ago. And, who knows? Maybe things will work out in the end for him and Pipp.