"Something on your mind, deputy? You seem distracted," Sheriff Hitch told his underling as they walked together out of the Maretime Bay Sheriff's Department.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. It's been an interesting couple of weeks, that's for sure," Sprout replied as they stepped out into the evening air.
"Yup, I'm guessing Maretime Bay is going to go through quite a few changes. Not to mention quite a few traffic jams as CanterLogic pulls up all of those unicorn capture pads. Then we'll have to patch over all those holes," Hitch said as he turned to put the key in the door and gave it one whole turn, locking the dimmed office up for the evening.
"Hey Hitch? I need some advice," Sprout said as Hitch removed the key and turned back to the street intersection.
"Oh? About what?" Hitch asked as he deposited the front door key into his saddlebag.
"Well, how do you start talking to a mare? Like, one that you're interested in?" Sprout said, his red cheeks getting a bit of a pink tint to them as his gaze fell to the ground.
"Oh, so you need dating advice, eh? Not sure how much help I can be there, Sprout. Haven't really been making much of an effort in that department myself," Maretime Bay's sheriff replied.
Sprout deadpanned at that response. As if Hitch even needed to put in an effort with that calendar that he had put out at the end of last year. Did he seriously not see all the mares practically tripping over their hooves as they stared longingly at him on the walk into work each morning?
"So who is she? Do I know her?" Hitch asked.
"Who doesn't know you in this town, boss? And nice try, but I don't want you to try to get to her first," Sprout told him.
"Come on now, I wouldn't do that to you, Sprout, even after everything that's happened. But fine, if you don't want me to know, I'll go ahead and respect that. It's not like I've got my eye on anypony anyways. So, I mean, the most important part is to be yourself. If you like this girl and you want her to like you, you shouldn't put on any kind of mask or facade. Show her who you really are," the suave stallion told him.
"Uh, honestly, Hitch, I'm not sure how good of an idea that is. I mean, most of Maretime Bay is currently changing who they really are, myself most of all," Sprout countered. The memories of being the ringleader in their 15-minute warpath was already unpleasant to him, and he figured that was a good thing; it showed he was already changing mentally, and getting rid of years worth of racial bias.
"Well, in that case, without specifics, which I'm okay with, just tell her how you really feel, and mentally embrace the pony that you want to change into. And in these changing times, I'll say to be confident, but be ready to accept rejection. Regardless of how you feel, if she doesn't feel the same way, that's where it has to end. Stalking isn't attractive to anypony," Hitch told him matter-of-factly.
Sprout resisted deadpanning again.
'You might want to tell that to half of the mares that ogle you on your patrol routes every single day there, boss,' he thought to himself. Heck, some of the fan mail that he received at the station every week almost certainly qualified as stalking.
"So, you gonna go home and practice in front of a mirror or something?" Hitch told him as he glanced down the street in the direction of his house.
"Nah, if I did that I don't think I'd stop until it was perfect. I'm just gonna make it from the heart, and see what happens," Sprout told him.
"Well, alright then. Best of luck, and I'll see you at work in the morning, deputy," Hitch said, giving him a curt nod before trotting off down the street. Sprout took a deep breath before heading in the opposite direction, towards the coast.
The night air was cool and crisp, and the brightest part of town this time of night was still the CanterLogic factory, even with half of the lights dimmed or off for the reduced third shift that went through the night. It was undergoing heavy restructuring as they had suddenly stopped production of virtually all of their anti-unicorn and pegasus products.
Maretime Bay didn't have much of a nightlife, and almost all of the businesses in town closed as the same time as the precinct closed up for the evening. A few ponies still mingled on the walks and streets, either on their way home or finishing up a late dinner.
He made his way to the southwest outskirts of town, to where Maretime Bay's lighthouse was currently undergoing repairs. The residence of one Sunny Starscout, activist and catalyst of Equestria's current reunification.
Taking another deep breath, he trotted up the hill towards the structure, and saw dim lighting coming from the ground floor windows. He steadied his breathing, and stepped up to the front door, which had been repaired. Taking one last breath, he raised his hoof, and knocked on the front door, and waited.
He heard muffled hoofsteps come towards him, a moment before the front door opened, revealing Sunny Starscout.
"Oh, hey Sprout. Awfully late for a house call, isn't it? Is everything alright? What can I do for you?" Sunny Starscout asked as she looked at the stallion as he ran a hoof over his blond, slicked back mane.
"H-Hey there, Sunny. I just wanted to apologize again for what I did to your home. I wanted you to know that I've volunteered to help the construction team help out with repairs," Sprout told her, as he began to tap at the ground with his left hoof.
"Thanks, Sprout. It'll be nice to have this place completely livable again. I've been sleeping on the couch because I can't really go upstairs. But it should go faster with unicorn help. In fact, everything but the third floor is just about done. All they have to do is seal the ceiling up before working on the top of the tower."
Sprout smiled, then took a deep breath.
"And, listen. I was uh, I was wondering if you wanted to go to a movie sometime. Maybe this weekend? We could go see Harry Trotter. Tickets are on me, what do you say?" Sprout asked her with a smile.
Sunny gave the red stallion a gentle smile.
"Oh, Sprout... No."
"What? But I thought—"
"No."
*Slam.*