Royalty Before Family

by Willow NightSong24

Fights

"Good morning pipsqueaks!" Pipp exclaimed, wearing her social media smile as she livestreamed. "It's another glorious day" Pipp vocalized the last two words with her iconic singing voice. "here in Maretime Bay! So, I know I don't usually livestream at—" Pipp glanced at the clock on her phone. "8:30 in the morning because, let's face it, none of us are alive that early in the morning. But...I woke up to the best surprise in the world. My amazing cf here...Hitch, say hi," Pipp switched from selfie to the main camera, which was pointing at Hitch.

Hitch smiled awkwardly, slowly waving a hoof in greeting. "Heeeeyyyy...." He said slowly and awkwardly, chuckling nervously at the end.

Pipp switched the camera back to selfie mode, internally cringing at Hitch's total lack of a camera persona, but on the outside, she was smiling more cheerfully than ever.

"—Surprised me with....wait for it...drumroll..." Pipp switched the camera view again, but this time, it was facing her lap. "Breakfast in bed! That's right, pipsqueaks. Hitch woke up Mom knows when and cooked this amazing-looking breakfast!"

"With help from Sunny," Hitch interjected nervously, giving a wary chuckle.

Pipp resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Yes. With a little help from Sunny. But you know what they say, pipsqueaks. It's the thought that counts. I hope all of y'all are out there right now, appreciating your sweethearts, because I sure am. And to all of you single pipsqueaks: don't stress about finding a special somepony right away. Don't be afraid to hold out until the right one comes because, let me tell you, it is so worth it. But also, don't hold back because you're scared they don't feel the same way or you're just scared in general. That almost happened with Hitch and me and it broke both of our hearts until my devious sister and the rest of our friends put together a scheme to trap us in a room until we confessed. Just...don't let it get to that point. #happilyinlove. Alright, I'm going to enjoy this delicious-looking breakfast in peace with my coltfriend. Pip pip hurray!" And with that, Pipp turned off the livestream.

Outside the Crystal Brighthouse bedroom, Princess Pipp Petals and Sheriff Hitch Trailblazer could hear the echoing "pipp pipp hurray" from their friends downstairs, making the two of them blush. It was one thing to know millions of followers were watching her live streams about her romantic life, but it was completely different to know that despite living together, their friends wanted to know every juicy detail about their relationship, through every means possible.

Hitch chuckled softly to himself, relieved that the livestream was over. He loved Pipp with all his heart, and he loved how invested she was in her pipsqueaks, which was only matched by how much Hitch was invested in his job as sheriff and the ponies he swore to protect. But...well...sometimes it felt like she was a little too invested. Of course, there was nothing wrong with her dedication, but sometimes it felt like he was dating her pipsqueaks rather than Pipp herself.

Despite being awkward in front of any camera—Hitch and Sunny's failed smoothie show as proof—he knew what he was getting himself into dating a social media star, just like Pipp knew what she was getting into dating a sheriff. It's just that, Hitch made compromises when it came to his job—getting off work early so he and Pipp could spend more time together, actually taking lunch breaks instead of skipping them like he used to do so they could eat lunch together, and completely switching off the sheriff part of his brain, or, at least, as much as possible, when he's off duty so when they spent time together, Pipp could feel like she's spending time with all of him. Before they started dating, it felt like Hitch was never off the job, even when he was technically off the clock. He'd always be examining for law-breakers, always keeping an eye for dangers. But, he learned how to turn that part of his brain off, for the most part.

But, even after two years of dating, it felt like Pipp hadn't made any compromises when it came to her social media. She was still live streaming almost everything including date announcements, with the location tagged so when they got there, there was a whole crowd of pipsqueaks waiting for them, demanding autographs. Livestreaming bits and pieces of their dates, and posting some of the things Hitch told her about how much he loved her. Things he had preferred to keep private. A word Pipp didn't seem to completely understand.

That was the whole point of this breakfast-in-bed thing. Honestly, it was all Sunny's idea. Hitch had vented to his foalhood friend his concerns and frustrations and, ultimately, for advice. Hitch may be good at giving speeches, and may be a good listening ear, but he was in no way good at expressing himself. He had no idea where to even start in talking to Pipp. He didn't want to sound accusatory, or not accepting of her social media life. Or like he wanted her to give it up altogether. All he wanted from her was to dial it back a bit. A little less livestreams. Maybe not giving away the location of their next date until after the date is over. And not posting intimate things said between them. Was that really too much to ask for?

However, he felt as though mares were a landfield. Say one thing and they interpret it into something completely different, then they explode and you don't even know why they're exploding in the first place. Let's just say, Hitch has bought more than his fair share of apology bouquets in the last two years. So, to talk to a mare, he needed a mare. Which is why he went to Sunny. Sunny knew him best and would give him the exact help he needed.

Thus, that's where the breakfast in bed and the memorized talking points he rehearsed several times, as well as scripted responses to nearly every possible outcome came from.

He cleared his throat, trying to remember the opener Sunny told him to say, no ifs ands or buts about it. He took a deep breath and began the dreaded conversation, with a nervous smile, which Sunny didn't specifically say to leave in or out.

"So, Pipp...that was a...great livestream. I'm sure a lot of pipsqueaks were watching." He thought back to Sunny's words. "It's perfect because it shows interest in the very thing you're asking her to dial back on. It shows that you care about it and that you're not asking out of ignorance, but genuine feeling." He prayed Sunny was right.

"Eh," Pipp shrugged, taking a bite out of her pancake. "Most of them are either asleep still or at work. Well, except in Zephyr Heights. At my mother's request, they broadcast all my livestreams on every town TV. Just on the news channels though. Not every channel. Could you imagine getting your program interrupted every half hour for some pony's livestream?"

There. Sunny said to do small talk until he heard an opening. He tried asking what that might be, but all she said was that he'd know it when he heard it. Yeah, she was very specific, Hitch had thought to himself. But, he was certain that was the opening Sunny was talking about. He steeled himself, praying to any deity that would listen that he was right.

"R-right, well, umm..." He cleared his throat again. "That's what I actually wanted to talk to you about..." He trailed off, unsure how to continue.

"Shoot, I'm all ears," Pipp said, taking another bite of her pancakes.

"Yeah, umm..." Hitch sat down next to Pipp's bed. Remember the script, he thought to himself. "So, you know how I've been dialing back on sheriff duties so we can spend more...quality time together. I've been trying to prio—" Hitch stopped midsentence. Sunny told him specifically not to use the word prioritize, lest he sound as though he's accusing her of not prioritizing their relationship. He opened his mouth to correct himself, but he realized his new sentence was also off-limits. "Do not use the word effort either,", Sunny had told him. "Just make it sound like it's on you not her."

Right. He could do that. Cause it was on him. Right? He felt as if...Bingo! That was a Sunny green word. Feel. Alright. Here goes nothing. "It's just that I feel like...umm...not to say that it's not important to you or them it's just that..."

"Oh, for unity's sake, Hitch, just spit it out," Pipp groaned. She still wasn't fully awake and this sweet gesture was starting to get ruined.

"I just think you're on social media too much!" He said in a rush. He squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself for the worst. Even he knew he should not have warded it like that, without Sunny even having to tell him that.

"Excuse me? Please tell me you totally did not mean it as it came across."

Hitch sighed. Okay, this was good. She was giving him a chance to redeem himself. "No. I did not. What I meant to say...what I've been trying to say is that...I understand how much your pipsqueaks mean to you and how important you are to them. It's just that...I feel that maybe you spend too much time worrying about them instead of focusing on us."

"Uhh...for real?"

Hitch looked at Pipp and by the expression on her face, he knew he messed up...again. So he stayed silent, refusing to say anything else to put him in deeper. Though, he probably should have, so at least he could attempt to swim out of deep water instead of letting himself drown in it.

"Seriously? Hitch, you know how important my pipsqueaks are. It's not like I've been keeping it a secret. Since the moment we met, you knew how important they were and how much time I need to spend dedicated to them."

"I know, it's just that..." Hitch paused, not sure what to do. Finally, he decided to hell with the script. He can't get any deeper now. He might as well improvise. Besides, how bad at communication can he really be? "It's just that I'm the one who's been doing all the compromising and you haven't given up a thing."

"Are you seriously pulling that with me right now? I know how difficult it is for you to pull back from playing sheriff but I have a lot on my plate!"

Hitch stood up, anger now masking any worry he previously had. "Playing? Are you kidding me? If anypony's playing, it's you. I mean, you claim to have a full plate, but really, how much do you do all day? You play princess, look pretty, record some videos, and do makeovers all day. While I sheriff an entire town, which, might I add, has tripled in population overnight!"

"Yeah, like three years ago! Give me a break. And for your info, I don't just play princess, record some videos, and give makeovers! I run an entire beauty salon, by myself might I add. Have my own beauty line. Am a social media star. And, to top it all off, am a royal princess with royal duties!"

Hitch scoffed. "What royal duties! You're not even first in line for the throne! Zipp is! And she has way fewer royal duties than you claim to have. So, what possibly can keep the second-in-line princess so busy, she has her plate full!"

"Oh, you did not just go there!"

Outside the bedroom, Sunny, Zip, Izzy, and Misty all cringed at Hitch's last words. When they heard Pipp yell and then Hitch yell back, they were...concerned about their friends' relationship and their wellbeing.

"Ouch, that last one had to hurt," Zipp whispered.

Sunny groaned. "Ugh, Hitch and I went over the script multiple times to avoid this very thing. Why did he go off it?"

"You guys made a script?" Zipp asked, not sure whether to be amused or concerned.

Sunny shrugged. "He's not the best at communicating and he was nervous. You know how much Hitch loves his plans."

"Well, at least we know it can't get much worse," Izzy said hopefully.

"Well, maybe if you weren't so dramatic all the time, you'd actually get stuff done and not be so incredibly busy that you have to make sacrifices in the first place! And yes, I'm talking Operation Glitterbomb, because that totally helped find Sparky!"

Zipp looked at Izzy. "You were saying?"

Izzy chuckled nervously, "I'll shut up now."

"Maybe one of us should go in there and diffuse the situation before it gets too much worse?" Misty suggested.

Zipp waved a dismissive hoof. "They'll sort it out. It's gotten worse and they sorted it out all by themselves before. They're grown ponies, I doubt they need us in there holding their hooves. Anyway, I always thought that intervening in other ponies' relationships was just asking for disaster."

"You claim to have so much on your plate, but you refuse to give yourself a break and dial back some on social media! Are you really that self-centered?!"

"You know more than anypony how much my pipsqueaks need me!"

"Oh, give me a break! They'll live if they don't see your face every five minutes. And if they're really that desperate, they can just watch your old videos on ponytube for a bit until they're satisfied!"

Pipp gasped. "How dare you. I don't even post ponytube videos!"

Sunny looked at Zipp. "And now?"

"And now I think Misty's right."

They stood there for a moment, as if unsure whether or not they should go in there. Zipp seemed to make up her mind when the fighting suddenly stopped. Worried that her sister physically hurt Hitch—her sister's wrath was not a force to be reckoned with—she slowly opened the door. All four mares widened their eyes in shock and their blushes could be seen from across the room.

Both Hitch and Pipp were glaring at the four mares, as though they were just waiting for them to open the door. "Enjoying the show?" Pipp asked sarcastically.

Zipp chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of her neck with her hoof. "We were just worried."

"We could hear you all the way downstairs. We were just wanting to see if you were okay." Sunny explained.

Pipp rolled her eyes, opening her mouth to say something, when she was interrupted by Hitch. "Oh, look, Pipp, more of your concerned fans, intruding on our relationship. How wonderful." Hitch stated flatly.

"Oh for the love of...you are so damn desperate!"

"Me? Desperate? That's rich." Hitch said with a scoff.

Pipp huffed. "Hitch, these are our friends. Who live here. They're not just 'concerned fans'. One of them is my sister for crying out loud!"

Hitch threw up his hooves in frustration. "That's it. I'm outta here. I got better things to do." He mumbled as he stomped out of the room.

"Good! Bout time! Go run along and play sheriff. I'm sure the world's going to end if you're five minutes late!"

"Not as late as you getting a life outside of social media!" Hitch hollered back before the five of them could hear the front door of the Brighthouse slamming shut.

Zipp, Sunny, Izzy, and Misty just stared after him in shock, wondering how in Equestria things escalated so quickly. It just felt like ten minutes ago, Pipp was live streaming about how wonderful of a coltfriend Hitch was and now they could barely stand to be in the same room.

The four mares looked at each other as Pipp turned away from them and fell face first onto her bed, with tears in her eyes, Izzy scrambling to pull the breakfast tray out of the way with her magic before Pipp landed on it. Not that Pipp would've cared. She was just so angry and hurt. How could Hitch say all those horrible things? She thought he understood how important her pipsqueaks were to her. How could he say that she wasn't focused on their relationship? She had never been so committed to anything in her life. Didn't he know that? Why was he being such a jerk about this?

Zipp, Sunny, Izzy, and Misty all left the room so that they could discuss the next step for them. After some whispering and some agreement, they all left to do their assignments. Izzy and Zipp left to find Hitch while Sunny and Misty stayed to try and console Pipp's broken heart.

Sunny and Misty walked into the bedroom they shared, only to find Pipp still sobbing hopelessly in her pillow. Sunny and Misty both stared at each other, unsure of how to even begin. Misty shook her head, a clear signal that she was not going to start this conversation. Misty had no idea where to even start when it came to relationships. Spending a decade in Opaline's castle, not seeing another pony until a year ago made her a bit on the lacking side when it came to knowledge about romance, as in she knew absolutely nothing about it.

"Are you okay, Pipp?" Sunny asked, concern filling her voice.

"What do you think? You heard the whole thing. I think you can answer that." Pipp snapped back, making Sunny and Misty flinch.

"Yeah, sorry for eavesdropping. We shouldn't have done that."

"We were genuinely concerned for you and Hitch," Misty added.

"I know Hitch said some things, some very hurtful things, which I will talk to him about later, but you know he never meant to intentionally hurt you. He was just...upset and...reactive. He loves you more than life itself."

Pipp sighed, knowing Sunny was right. She turned onto her side, curling into a ball. "I know, I'm not mad about the things he said when the fight escalated...too much. I still totally expect an apology. It's just that...it's how this whole fight began that hurts me. I love my pipsqueaks, almost as much as I love him. Almost. And I just...thought he knew that."

"He does, it's just that..." Sunny paused, unsure of how to continue, but luckily, Misty picked up where she left off.

"Hitch is no camera pony. Like me, he enjoys his privacy away from the public eye. I mean, you don't include me in your livestreams nearly as much as the others because you know I don't like the camera or the idea of millions of ponies watching my every move. Hitch is just asking for that same respect and consideration."

Pipp sighed again. She was right, of course. She should've been more considerate of Hitch and how uncomfortable the camera made him. He just seemed so willing and he hadn't said anything regarding it before. Perhaps that's why she was so caught off guard earlier. It just seemed to come out of nowhere.

Pipp looked at Misty again. She remembered all the times she struggled to speak up for herself, especially when it came to her friends, and while she was getting better at it, they still had to remember from time to time to stop and ask if Misty was actually enjoying whatever it is they're doing, or if she's just putting on a facade to make them happy. She struggled to put herself first sometimes.

Pipp realized Hitch was a lot like that. While he had no problem speaking up for himself, when it came to those absolutely closest to him—like Sparky, Sunny, and herself—he sometimes struggled to speak for himself about whether he was uncomfortable or not having the best of times, especially when he saw his loved ones having so much fun. Hitch sacrifices for the ones he loves, but sometimes he doesn't always understand when to stop sacrificing and think of himself for once until it's too late. Like now.

But also, this was partly Pipp's fault. She's known Hitch for almost three years now, two of those she spent dating him. She knew of his tendencies to oversacrifice. It's one of the things she loved most about him. The fact that he was willing to give anything and everything for those he loved. And while that seemed valiant and noble, and in some aspects it really was, it could also be very unhealthy. Pipp should've been more considerate, knowing he didn't like the spotlight, but tolerated it more when he was with her, and cut back a little on the livestreaming. And the geotagging. And the posting of intimate things said between them. Pipp was not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, and since dating Hitch, she's grown so much. However, this time, by the time she learned her lesson, it had already come to a head and both parties said things they regret.

Pipp groaned, pressing her face against the pillow. "You're right. Ugh, I'm so stupid. And such a horrible marefriend." She sat up in sudden epiphany. "I need to go fix this. I need to make this right."

Pipp was about to get up when she felt Sunny's hoof on her shoulder. "Maybe you should wait. At least until both of you have slept on it. That was a pretty intense fight and it's still pretty fresh. Hitch might not be in the mood to talk right now or listen, going to him might make it worse, especially if you guys don't completely agree on something. You're all wound up and your adrenaline is pretty high right now. Maybe you should wait until both of you have had the chance to calm down and have the time to think things through." Sunny gave Pipp a warm smile.

Pipp reluctantly sighed. "You're both right. Again. Thanks, girls. I really needed a good talking to. I just feel so bad about what I said and how we left things. We were just so hurtful—"

Suddenly, Pipp was interrupted when all three of them heard arguing outside. Sunny hurried to the window, only to stop in surprise when she saw that down the road from the Brighthouse, Windy, and Posey were...fighting? She thought they became really good friends after the whole Maretime Bay Day fiasco two years ago. Why were they arguing? And from the looks of it, it looked pretty intense too.

"Sunny? What's going on out there?" Misty asked cautiously when Sunny just stared out the window.

Sunny shook her head, plastering a smile on her face. "Uh...probably nothing. It's just Windy and Posey arguing." Sunny almost said again, but that'd be a lie since Posey and Windy hardly ever argued.

Pipp looked confused. "Really? I thought they were good friends or whatever."

Sunny shrugged. "Me too. It's fine Pipp, you can stay here," Sunny added when she saw Pipp starting to get out of bed. "I'm sure Misty and I can handle it. C'mon Misty. Let's see what this whole argument is about and sort it all out. I'm sure it's just all one big misunderstanding."

Misty nodded and the two of them rushed out of the Brighthouse and down the road.

---

Zipp and Izzy ran down Main Street, trying to catch up with Hitch. They had finally spotted him when they turned a corner, and they raved to catch up.

"Hitch...wait! It's your....friends!" Izzy yelled, out of breath as they hurried to catch up. Hitch had a pretty big headstart and he could walk pretty fast when he was upset. "We...just wanna...talk!" Izzy called out between panting breaths.

"Well, if it's about the almighty Princess Pipp, I have no interest in what you have to say!"

Zipp rolled her eyes. "Oh enough of this..." She muttered to herself before spreading her big wings and lifting off into the air. She whizzed down the street and landed in front of him with a glare of her own. "Would you put your pride aside for two seconds and listen?"

Izzy finally caught up to them, now that Hitch was no longer power trotting. "Hey...guys...." Izzy greeted between heavy pants. "Hold on a sec...just need to catch my breath. Just continue, I'll catch up."

Hitch rolled his eyes, shaking his head. He walked around Zipp and continued power trotting. But Zipp, using her wings, was faster than him and she was in front of Hitch again in an instant.

"Ugh, dammit Hitch! You're going to listen whether you want to or not!" Zipp yelled, panting from anger.

Zipp got nothing but silence in response. This caught her off guard. Instead of arguing with her, he just stood there staring at her. Finally, when it was clear she wasn't going to say anything, he finally spoke. "Well, go on. I don't have all day. I do have a town to run."

Zipp was surprised and thoroughly confused, but she wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Shaking her head to clear its confusion, she sighed. "Look, Hitch. We understand where you're coming from. Trust me. I hate too when Pipp livestreams everything."

"I wouldn't exactly say I hate it since hate is a strong word, but it's a lot of pressure."

Zipp blinked. She had almost forgotten Izzy was there. At least until the lavender unicorn spoke up. She felt bad for what she was about to tell Izzy, but surely she would understand. The only reason she was going to share it with Hitch was because he was Pipp's coltfriend. One she had been dating for two years, longer than anypony Pipp dated before. Their relationship had gone through thick and thin, and the villains they faced persisted in trying to exploit it as a weakness. Zipp was not going to let their relationship end from a simple misunderstanding when it lived through a fire alicorn, an evil persuasion cat, and royal life.

But at the same time, it was only to Hitch that she was entrusting this information. She didn't even know if Pipp wanted to keep quiet about it, Zipp couldn't imagine why she would, but nonetheless, it was not for Zipp to decide. This happened to Pipp and therefore, it was her decision of who, outside of Hitch, she wanted to know.

Zipp took a deep breath. "Izzy...do you think you could give Hitch and me a second alone?"

Izzy's face was instantly crestfallen, making Zipp feel guilty. "W-why?" Izzy asked.

"It's not you...it's just...I'm about to share sensitive information with Hitch. Information I'm not sure Pipp wants out there. Heck, she'll probably kill me for telling Hitch, but he needs to know."

Izzy's face instantly brightened. "Oh, okay. I shall leave you two alone." Izzy gasped. "I can start on Hitch's patrol on the streets. You know, so you guys have more time and Hitch isn't getting all stressy."

Before Hitch could protest, Izzy was off in a heartbeat, leaving a floundering Hitch and smug Zipp behind. After grappling with what Izzy just said, Hitch glared at Zipp's smug smile. Well, there went his excuse to cut this conversation short.

Zipp went to a bench that sat outside a hardware store and motioned for Hotch to follow. At first, he didn't, content to stubbornly stay standing where he was, but after a glare from Zipp, he finally joined her with an irritated sigh, knowing she would not relent until he did what she wanted.

After a moment of silence, Zipp was the first to break it. "Look Hitch, I understand where you're coming from. We all do. But, in return, you need to understand where Pipp is coming from."

Hitch rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I get it," He said flatly. "The pipsqueaks are important to her. I know. The ponies of Maretime Bay are important to me too, but you don't see me choosing them over my marefriend."

Zipp sighed, hoping Pipp would forgive her for this. "It's more than that though," Zipp started. "They're not just fans, Hitch, they're her family."

Hitch gave Zipp a flat look, clearly not falling for any of what Zipp was saying.

"Yeah, I know. If you told me that back when she started doing social media, I'd have the same reaction. But... not anymore."

Zipp paused, gathering her nerves. She had faced evil fire alicorns, angry mobs of unicorns and pegasi, evil snow cats, possible jail time, and a ginormous gaping black hole opening up in the middle of Maretime Bay, but nothing scared her more than those three weeks. It made her value the time she had with her sister even more, even though it was not always evident. Not a lot scared Zipp, excluding Pipp's scare tactics, but Zipp was never more scared than she was in those ominous weeks.

Zipp sighed, preparing herself to unhash the whole thing. "When Pipp and I were foals, Mom was very strict when it came to what age we'd start having royal duties. Yes, we were royals, but Mom wanted us to have a foalhood before the stress of royal life changed us. But, Pipp and I are two years apart, which means, I was starting royal training before she was. And let me tell you, royal training takes up so much of your day. My first year, I wasn't as busy, but the second, it hit Pipp hard. I was busy 90% of the day, and when the day was over, all I wanted was to go to sleep.

"Despite how...outgoing Pipp can be, we didn't have friends growing up. When Mom let us out of the castle, we always had to have at least one guard with us. Which, can sometimes be a little annoying when trying to make friends at twelve years old. Not to mention, Pipp and I are royals. Meaning it's hard to find genuine friends who don't want to be our friends just for the benefit. Pipp and I were all we had growing up, but then suddenly...Pipp didn't have me. I was too busy to be there for her like she needed me to and as a result, she began to feel incredibly lonely and depressed."

Zipp took a deep breath, knowing the hard part was coming. "Then mom let her download Clip Trot on her phone. After seeing so many live streams and seeing the love other influences got, she wanted to try it for herself. So, she made her first livestream. And then another. And then another and so on. She was an online sensation. She had fans for the miles. Whenever we spent time together, she'd gloat about how adoring and kind they were, and how they seemed to support her. I just told her they were superficial fans and as soon as she went out of style, she'd probably never hear from 95% of them again. Obviously, she didn't believe me. She insisted they loved her and that they'd do anything for her. I didn't believe it, but I relented for her sake, thinking she'd find out the truth soon enough."

Zipp sighed but persevered. "Then she got sick." At this Hitch gasped, looking concerned. "No no, it wasn't anything like cancer or anything like that. It was just pneumonia, but...it hit her hard. She was, for the most part, A-symptomatic, with only minor symptoms we overlooked as being a cold or the flu. And then, one day, during one of her livestreams, she collapsed. I happened to have a small window of free time and was watching it, just to see what the fuss was about. As soon as I saw her collapse, I dropped everything and ran as fast as I could to her room. When I got there, there was a group of guards and medics already there. She had been alone when she was filming, but most of her fans were watching and the guards got numerous reports from the citizens that Pipp collapsed. I had never been so grateful for them as I was at that moment. Not even when they saved us from that cave on portrait day.

"Turns out, she had walking pneumonia, but there was a complication and it caused respiratory failure, meaning she couldn't breathe without a ventilator. Part of it was because her body couldn't fight it properly, some immune system disorder thing, but it was minor. A big part was because it went untreated. Symptoms we mistook for a cold or the flu were actually pneumonia. I sat by her bedside every day, praying she'd get better.

"After a week of not posting anything, I thought for sure her fans would move on and slowly flu in a different direction. But, to my surprise, the opposite happened. Every day, Pipp relieved gift upon gift upon gift. During the time when citizens could come to Mom about concerns they had, she got bombarded with fan after fan asking how Pipp was doing, if she was okay, and just any form of update. Mom finally had me start a social media account titled Pipp's Progress, where every day, I'd write a post updating whoever followed every day. Most of the time, I ended up writing the same as yesterday, but in just a few days, the account had thousands of followers. When gifts would come in, the return name would always say a loyal pipsqueak. Her fans had given themselves that name while she was in a coma. That was when I realized, her fans aren't just her fans. They're her family. Because whenever they need her, she's there for them without fail and when she needs them, they're there for her in return. That's the definition of family. Being there for each other no matter what."

Hitch was silent for a long time after Zipp's story. Yes, Hitch knew that Pipp's pipsqueaks were important to her, but he hadn't realized the length of their importance. He had failed to realize that they not only needed her, but she needed them. He felt immense guilt well up inside him. He couldn't believe he had called her self-centered and how much he minimized her life on social media, reducing it to just recording a couple of videos. He didn't understand the extent to which they played a role in her life. Acting as though they meant nothing when in all reality, they meant everything.

Hitch groaned, dropping his head back as though he was looking at the heavens. "Oh my...I'm such an idiot. And a jerk. I'm an idiotic jerk."

"Oh, don't be so hard on yourself. There was no way you could've known."

"Ugh, but I should've let her explain. Or I should've asked, like a good coltfriend. Instead, I lashed out at her and accused her of being self-centered and melodramatic."

"Yeah, you could've. And you did." Zupp replied smoothly, causing Hitch to groan again.

Hitch's eyes widened. "I've got to go apologize and beg for her forgiveness for being so insensitive!" Hitch said as he started to stand up when he felt Zipp's hoof stop him.

"Whoa, slow down there, Casanova. You both just came out of a heated argument. You both need time to calm down before you go perform any grand gestures."

Hitch just sat back down, knowing Zipp was right when he heard a voice frantically calling his name. Both he and Zipp looked around desperate for the source of the voice when they saw Izzy running towards them with a frantic look on her face.

Both he and Hitch stood up, their concerned expressions turning into flat-out panic at seeing a scratch on Izzy's cheek. It was a small one, it barely broke the skin, but it was still there nonetheless and her frantic energy just added to the worry.

"Izzy! What happened? Are you okay? Who cut your cheek?" Hitch asked in a barrage of questions as soon as Izzy was in hearing range.

"Huh?" Izzy put a hoof to her cheek, as though just noticing it was there, her breath heavy from running. "Oh...that? That's nothing."

"That's not nothing, Izzy," Zipp insisted, looking at her with worry. Upon closer inspection, she could see she was sporting the beginnings of a bruise on the same cheek. "A bruise is forming. What in the hay happened? Why are you hurt? Who hurt you? And where is everypony?" Zipp asked, just now noticing the completely empty streets.

It wasn't uncommon for the streets to be slow, especially during bad weather, but Sunny skies were expected all day and it was ten in the morning. There should at least be some ponies out. But the streets were completely deserted, not a soul in sight, which was only seen during horrible, hurricane-like storms, which was definitely not the case.

"That's why...I came to...get you," Izzy said in between pants. She paused for a moment, catching her breath, before continuing. "There's a fight. At town square."

"A fight?" Zipp asked, worried and concerned.

"Yeah. It's bad and it's gotten physical." Izzy pointed at her cheek. "That's probably where I got this. C'mon! They need sheriff intervention. I'll explain on the way there," Izzy said before running off in the direction of town square.

Author's Note:

Alright, here's the sequel to "A Perfect Pitch" I was thinking about doing. Since the "You" story is on hiatus until I get a new laptop (details in my most recent blog) I decided now's a good time to do that sequel. And, man, I went in guns blazing. And trust me, that ain't even the half of it.

In the author's note at the end of "A Perfect Pitch" I did say that this story would be less heavy on the romance and more on the adventure and suspense, so yeah, though, I wasn't planning originally on staring the whole thing with a heated argument, but as I just let my imagination take the lead, well, that was the end result. Keep an eye out for updates. I've got big plans for this.

Comments

[Elias Villalba]

Uff, hombre pero que intenso, Se viene la vuelta de tuerca para la historia, lo espero con ansias 👍🏼