Sunny had tossed and turned all night. She couldn’t put that colt out of her mind.
She’d been waiting for something special to happen all her life, and there he was. He wasn’t what she’d expected, of course—no wings and no horn—but she wouldn’t turn her back on a mysterious time-displaced pony on the other side of a tide pool over so little. Unless, of course, a pegasus or unicorn turned up. Then, she’d have some very difficult choices to make.
Until that happened, though, Sandbar had her full attention.
Perhaps a bit too much of her full attention. The whole deal was keeping her from sleeping.
Sunny tossed and turned. She tried reading the thickest and most boring encyclopedia in her dad’s old collection. Added an extra blanket. Removed the extra blanket. Removed the regular blanket. Put back the regular blanket.
She even broke out some of her old plushies, on the off chance that would help. It didn’t.
Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, her body told her overzealous brain to take a hike. Fixation stopped keeping exhaustion at bay, and Sunny fell asleep at last..
Bright sunlight. Bright sunlight right in her eyes. She really had to get better curtains.
Was it already dawn? Worse than dawn, the sun was fully up!
She had to hurry up, else she’d miss Sandbar, and who knows how long it’d take to get him to say it again, if he even would.
Oh, sorry, I overslept and missed our meeting involving this probably once-in-a-lifetime series of magical—does this count as magical? I’m pretty sure it does—events. Silly me!
Mane brush. Saddlebag. Notebook. Phone. Roller skates. Knock at the door.
Wait…
Knock at the door? What now?!
“Sunny, are you there?”
Hitch? She didn’t have time for him right now!
“Oh!” Sunny exclaimed with all the false nonchalance a mare late on her way to meet a stallion across a magic tide pool could muster. She opened the door, all smiles, standing in the doorway. “Hi, Hitch! Nice of you to drop by, but as you can see, I was just about to head out!”
Hitch nodded, motioning for her to pass by. “I’ll walk with you, if you like, I wanted to ask you something.”
Sunny edged past him and closed the door, quietly inching further and further on her wheels. “No, no, no, I shouldn’t take up your time like that. Wanna meet up for lunch later? We can talk all about it.”
“It’s no problem,” Hitch said, following her rolling one slow step at a time. “I’ve got some time before my next patrol.”
“Yeah, but you know…” Sunny looked to her watch-less right foreleg, lifting it for a better visual. “Oh! Would you look at the time? It’s already hoof past seven! I’d better be on my way!”
Hitch cocked his head to the side as she readied herself to dash away. He slowly lifted a hoof and held it out expectantly.
… That’s low, Hitch Trailblazer. That’s real low.
Sunny rose back up to a stable position and sighed. “Fine, if you’re not giving me a choice in the matter…”
Up high, down low, hitch it to a post!
Flip it sunny-side up and on a piece of toast!
She couldn’t resist a little giggle. “Alright, alright, you can walk with me for a little bit, but you might have to trot a bit, I really am in a hurry.”
“Fine with me! I could use the workout.” Hitch said, picking up the pace as they got moving. “Where are you headed, anyway?”
“Oh, you know…” Sunny playfully twirled on her skates.
Hitch rolled his eyes. “I don’t. That’s why I asked.”
Sunny grumbled a little. “Fine, fine. Not like I could hide it from you, anyway. I’m headed to the beach.”
“Again?” Hitch shot her a doubting glance as they passed by the big fountain at the center of town. “What’s going on with you, Sunny?” Doubt turned to concern as he continued. “That’s two days now I’ve seen you rushing to the beach and then barely got a glimpse of you all day, and now here we are on day three.”
Should I shove him into the fountain and make a getaway? … Nah, It’d work for now, but I’d have even more explaining to do later, plus he’d chase me down to the beach. I’d better make something up.
It would have been really funny, though.
“Well… uh… you see…” C’mon, Sunny! Think fast! “So I found these notes by my dad I’d never noticed before, and…”
“Uh-huh? And…?” Hitch nodded.
“And…” Sunny paused for dramatic effect, and absolutely not because she was stalling to think of something. “Seaponies!”
Hitch drew back, incredulous. “What?” He asked, flatly.
“That’s right! Seaponies! Remember that glittery tide I dreamed about the other day? Between that and my dad’s notes, I’m sure it’s them! There’s a bunch of legends about them, you know?” Sunny spun around to face Hitch head-on, skating backwards as she continued gushing excitedly. “Shiny scales, tails like those little critters at the aquarium,” she made a spiraling gesture with the tip of her right skate, “and they sing all the time!”
Hitch stopped in his tracks, leaving Sunny rolling away awkwardly. “... Have you been getting too much sun?”
“I know you’ve heard the stories too!” she insisted. “Shoo-be-doo! Shoo-shoo-be-doo!” She twirled around to her own little melody, swooping back to his side.
“Riiiiight, and you found those notes just now, months later, despite spending days on end checking every last little cranny of the lighthouse for days a long time ago.”
“Uh-huh!” Sunny nodded, all smiles.
“Uh-huh.” Hitch nodded, all doubt.
Sunny’s grin slowly melted into a pout, and she slumped on her wheels. “Fine. It was worth a shot,“ she muttered. “It’s not seaponies, and it’s not about dad’s notes. It’s just… I found something, two days ago. That something is becoming very important to me, but… I’m not ready to talk about it yet.” Sunny lowered her head. “I need to figure some things out first. This is something I need to do by myself for now.”
“Sunny… If you knew what you put me through, sometimes, I swear…” Hitch took a deep breath. “Promise nothing bad’s going on? Nothing dangerous?”
She nodded. “I promise. I’m pretty sure it’s safe, too.”
“Encouraging,” Hitch half-smiled. “You won’t do anything stupid?”
“Nothing too stupid, no,” Sunny assured and clarified.
Hitch rubbed at his temple. “Okay, I’ll let you do your thing, whatever it is. Just… I’ll be around if you need someone to talk to, okay? Town’s not been the same without your dad, and I imagine it has to be even harder for you. You don’t have to be alone, you know?”
Sunny’s lips quivered as Hitch extended his hoof for a quick hoof bump.
She drew him into a tight hug instead.
“Thanks.” Sunny smiled. “I’m glad to have you around… Wait, what time is it?” She glanced at the clock tower over his shoulder. “Oops!”
Sunny shoved herself off of Hitch, tipping him onto his rear end. “Gotta go! See you later!”
“Hey!” Hitch exclaimed, half amused, half outraged as he leaped back to his hooves. He drew his sheriff’s whistle and blew a shrill warning. “Speed limit, Sunny! Watch the speed limit!”