//------------------------------// // Dinner // Story: Unicorn Attack! // by milesprower06 //------------------------------// Hitch was beginning to wonder if the very first seeds of doubt were beginning to creep into his mind as he occasionally glanced over from his desk at Sunny and Izzy sharing their large pizza outside the jail cell. Maretime Bay's sheriff was finishing up the incident report for today's disturbance. The unicorn hadn't used an ounce of detectable magic, and though Sprout wore his anti-mind reading device as he occasionally glanced over at the pair, his deputy wasn't complaining about any brain melting. In between bites, sometimes even during bites, Izzy was happily answering each one of Sunny's one hundred and forty-two questions she had written down in her journal to ask a unicorn. Her first question, her hometown, had been answered by his own questioning. After that, Sunny found out that unicorns did live in trees, they did eat pizza, and that Izzy's favorite topping was pineapple, which Hitch and Sprout both shuddered at. Hitch glanced at the front doors, seeing that the sun was just about behind the horizon. "Alright, you two. As soon as you're done with dinner, we can head towards the lighthouse. We'll go straight down the coast, and we'll get you a hooded cloak, Izzy, so we can prevent a repeat of this afternoon's incident. Once we get there, stay there until you're packed, then head straight northeast out of town." Sunny nodded as she swallowed her next bite of pizza. "Deputy, hold down the fort while I get them there," Hitch told the red stallion sitting across from him. "Don't need to tell me twice," Sprout replied as he started into his next slice of supreme pizza. 'For once,' Hitch thought to himself. After crossing all the T's and dotting all the I's on the incident report, Hitch put it in a folder, and rotated around in his chair to the filing cabinet, opening the bottom drawer and putting the folder under 'U'. With that, he got up, and came over to the cell, sliding the key into the keyhole, and opened the door as Sunny got up and put away her journal back into her saddlebags. With the door open, he went into the backroom, and came back out with a long cloth hooded overcoat, giving it over to Izzy, who draped it over her shoulders and brought the hood up. It wasn't the absolute perfect disguise, but the hood was loose enough to conceal her horn, even if it did prop up the hood a bit. "Alright, follow me, stay close," Hitch instructed, leading them to the front doors. He pushed them open, and the trio of ponies stepped out into the Maretime Bay evening, and immediately turned to the right, leading them down the coastal road at a brisk pace. The coast towards the lighthouse was rocky and steep, so there was no beach to walk down, so they kept to the road, following the sheriff towards the lighthouse. They encountered a couple ponies walking on the streets, and got a few suspicious stares, but Hitch's presence was enough to keep them calm and about their business. After passing about a dozen buildings, they had cleared the city proper, and were now on the dirt path that went around the bend to the lighthouse that was still visible against the dusk sky. It was a two story dwelling, save for the lighthouse of course, which towered above the rest of the structure. Sunny unlocked the door, and opened it, ushering Izzy inside as she removed the cloak, which she handed back to Sunny. "Make yourself comfortable, I'll be right in," the earth mare told her guest, before closing the door and turning back to her foalhood friend. "Thank you, Hitch. For being reasonable," she said, sincerely, returning the hooded cloak to him. "Yeah. Listen, Sunny, are you sure you want to do this? Going gallivanting off with this unicorn in search of magic? What if she's right? The pegasi could be dangerous," Hitch said, his voice full of concern. "Just like the unicorns are dangerous, brain-melting mind readers? What would you have me do, Hitch? Stay here and continue to be ridiculed for my stances?" Sunny asked. The question stung Hitch a bit in the chest; he was all too aware of how he and the rest of Maretime Bay had treated her over the years. "You know what I believe in, how strongly I believe in it, and how far I'm willing to go to prove it." Sunny's answer was full of confidence, and Hitch knew immediately that there would be no convincing her otherwise. "I know, Sunny. Just... Be careful, alright?" Sunny didn't directly reply to that, and merely nodded, before opening the door again. "Good night, Hitch," Sunny said with a soft smile, stepping inside and gently closing the door. Hitch let out a soft sigh, turned around and headed back down the dirt path. Sunny, who was watching through the bottom corner of the door's window, saw him trot down the hill, and then turned back to her new unicorn friend, who was looking through the lens of her telescope. "Are you tired at all, or do you think you want to get an early start towards Zephyr Heights?" Sunny asked. "You mean, leaving right now?" Izzy asked. Sunny nodded. "I think that's for the best, before Sprout, his mom, or anypony else get too curious about where you're staying tonight. It'll only take me about ten minutes to grab my camping supplies and enough food. What do you say?" Izzy thought about it for a moment before shrugging her shoulders. "If you think that's best. You know this place better than I do," Izzy conceded. "I'm sorry it wasn't exactly a warm welcome, but hopefully we can go get some answers as to why things are the way they are." By the time Hitch made it back to the Sheriff's office, the last rays of sunlight had gone, and the only sources of light were the lamp posts and CanterLogic up on the hill. He couldn't get his mind off the idea that was taking deeper and deeper root in his head, and by the time he pushed the doors back open, he had all but made up his mind. Sprout more or less hadn't moved, his stomach stuffed with pizza, and looking like he was ready to go home, but there was still another hour or so left before the office closed up for the night. "Sprout," Hitch said, sharp enough to get his deputy's attention. "Yeah, Hitch?" Sprout asked, lazily lifting his head from it's reclined position in his chair. "So, holding down the fort... Think you can do that for a bit longer if I go and make sure Sunny stays safe?"