//------------------------------//
// 4. By the fire 
// Story: A Sprout to a Better Path 
// by soniana-draws 
//------------------------------//

Earth was a familiar thing for Sprout.

It was related to his name, part of his cutie mark, the kind of pony he was; he saw it every time he fell over and now, after the way he embarrassed himself back at the bridge, earth was there to greet him once again.

Hearing laughter from the mares not far away didn't help. Felt mocking even when it wasn't because of him, and only made him curl up further over the dusty surface. 

Sprout just had to open his mouth when Sunny was telling each one of them what they would obtain from this mission to avoid any fighting, he thought interrupting her to exclaim proudly he would earn the respect of the citizens would make him look cool somehow. Sunny blinking and answering with an 'I...was going to say you would get smoothies and pizza after this, but that can happen too' showed that no, none of that was even close to cool. 

Not content with that, the earth mare also pointed out how Sprout didn't know the way back home when he tried to leave. Not to bother him he knew, just her thinking she was being of help. She wasn't. Never was.

The worst thing was that Sprout would've been content just with the pizza and smoothies.

"Deputy, I'm in need of more wood for the fire." Hitch's voice suddenly reached his ears uninvited. Again he was giving orders, acting as if he hadn't looked at his deputy like he had said the stupidest thing in the world back there.

"Isn't that the sheriff's job?" Sprout didn't bother to turn around, hoping his mocking tone was enough to deliver the message. If he was forced to be there the least he could do was be a nuisance for the rest. 

There was silence, followed by wood dropping and someone sitting down not far from him.

"Okay, what's with you today?" Hitch asked, hoofs already on the task of setting up a bonfire.

"Tch, like you care." 

"Huh? Of course I care, what are you talking abo-"

"No, Hitch, you don't." Dust flew up as Sprout stomped a hoof on the ground to sit up and face the sheriff. "It's always like this, you want to take care of every little problem and I have to follow you around and get the short end of the stick. Look at everything we had to go through for those-! Those…"

Sprout made weird gestures with his hoofs in his look for a fitting word, but could find none as Hitch interrupted him.

"Sprout you- solving problems is our job. I can't just leave you lazing around all day while I do all the work." Torn between being offended or baffled at the other's words, Hitch avoided eye contact by picking up a stick to attempt to make a fire. "This is not training camp."

The last was said in a murmur, but Sprout still heard it. A wave of unwanted memories came to his mind and he had to squeeze his eyes shut to keep them out. 

When he was able to open them again, the scowl on his face was deeper than ever. This wasn't about himself. He wasn't going to let it be.

"You might as well, it's not like you or anyone in town needs me. Whenever there's a problem it's always 'but where's Hitch, Sprout?', 'the sheriff should handle it, Sprout', 'let me do my job, Sprout'." 

The words burned as the red pony let them out, tone mocking but his memories vivid. "Don't think I don't know if I stayed behind it would be as if the station was empty for everyone. Because you don't get what it is to be second place. You don't have to struggle to get what you want. You are the perfect sheriff. You. Never. Fail."

Just like how the deputy had dreamed of doing before, Sprout had gotten up, finally was able to face Hitch, tell him off until his voice could no more. But the success was brief. Because at no moment was there yelling from his part, no glaring or even the smallest frown in his face. 

Sprout's eyes throbbed. A symptom from fighting back the glasiness threatening to appear in his eyes, and just then he realized it wasn't anger what had been lying behind those thoughts all this time.

The red pony body returned to its previous position. Lying on the ground, giving his back to the sheriff as if that could avoid anything. Sprout's gaze landed on the mark on his flank. "I'm not like you, Hitch." 

For a moment not a single noise was heard. Just the girls gathering wood, them whispering here and there, and the movement from Sprout as he curled up away from the cold and everything around. Even the fire, so important for the sheriff a moment ago, seemed to have been forgotten. 

"...Why did you want to become sheriff, Sprout?" Hitch's voice was hesitant to break the silence, but determined to know nonetheless.

One of Sprout's ears twitched. He turned around to lie on his stomach, ready to give his grand answer-

Only for his mind to stay blank. 

He...knew he had wanted it all his life. As the son of one of the richest and most respectable ponies in Maritime Bay, as someone popular(or so he thought) in his foal years for that reason, he was born to be at the top of the food chain. It didn't matter if he never got more than 'you tried' ribbons in everything he did, it didn't matter he wasn't as cool as his mom yet. It would all come together one day. Because Sprout's fate was that badge.

But then came the day he got his cutie mark, a plain purple beet with leaves at the top. The permanent reminder that his special thing was something that spent most of his life buried underground. 

'It means you are destined to grow, just like mine!' his mom had told him. Another hope Sprout grabbed onto, another one that failed him when training camp came along. More bad grades, more last places, and the worst of all: the badge ending on his best friend's sash right in front of his eyes.

It just hit him so suddenly back then. How much  Hitch had changed. How at some point the nerd, the rule-loving teacher's pet of the class who had always followed him around, had become the perfect sheriff Sprout had always achieved to be. Sunny too, though not as present in Sprout's life by then, showed up more mature on the day of Hitch's graduation; still overly optimistic, still delusional, but more taking on her dad's calmness and more clever answers when told she was wrong. Everypony around had grown up, everypony was already moving on to a new chapter.

And Sprout felt like he was the only seed left unchanged in the garden.

His mom's and Hitch's influence ended up earning him a spot as a deputy, sure. He had a badge, not as cool, not as shiny, but a badge nonetheless, sure. But continuous mistakes were no longer met with consolation prizes out in the real world: Ponies overlooked him, motivation became harder to find as nothing worked out, and at some moment even the one friend who had always been at his side…also started to roll his eyes at him.

So, why did Sprout want to be sheriff? The reasons were plenty. Make his mom proud, get all the respect she and Hitch had, be at the top like he was fated to…

To get to grow as well.

After opening and closing his mouth a few times to no avail, the deputy settled for the less personal option. "To keep everypony in line, duh. It's what sheriffs do, isn't it?"

After a moment of staring, realizing that alone was the answer, Hitch spoke up. "Well, yeah, and also protecting ponies, maintain the peace, being there to help when needed...Like your mom's job in a way."

That last sentence got different reactions from either side. While Sprout cringed at how on the nose that was, Hitch fell quiet as if he had just said something that didn't make as much sense as expected. Sprout chose to ignore the way the sheriff glanced at the other ponies.

"That's what the job has always been about for me at least." Hitch shook his head, then sighed. "It wasn't easy, you know? Not just to get where I am, but now as well. Keeping the group together between you and Sunny's fights when foals was already quite a task, now it's a whole town!"

"I do my best to do my job while trying to be a good friend but…" Hitch said this while looking at Sprout, but at some moment, his gaze had slowly drifted towards his other foalhood friend, "it seems that's a thing I keep failing at." 

Now it was Sprout's turn to stare. Hitch's expression was pensive, but in a sad, nostalgic way. Truly after all this time, after all the trouble she caused and both he and Hitch's infinite complaints, out of the two it was the sheriff who never gave up on her. 

'Opposite to me' Sprout could've thought, but he knew that wasn't true. Hitch had been the first to cheer him on his dream when foals, and the one to always give motivational speeches when days on training camp seemed hard to get through. Deep down, Sprout suspected that attitude extended to allowing his deputy to eat in working hours, turning a blind eye to his littering…plain and simple, just keeping the dead weight around. 

With that in mind, the only complaint Sprout could really hold to was the condescending attitude. But even that didn't feel right, because just now Sprout realized, despite his gaze being on Sunny, Hitch's failure at being a bad friend was referring to the both of them. He was recognizing his mistake, and on that Hitch had always been genuine.

Guilt slowly creeped to Sprout's features. Why? He wasn't quite sure. Maybe it was because of how easy it had been to talk things out all this time, or how it felt like Hitch being the only one to confess he was wrong didn't feel as earning. 

Not that Sprout thought he had a reason to apologize. Yeah he…may have complicated missions a few times. Just a few. Barely. But he always had logical reasons to justify that each time.

Still, without a single clue of what he was about to say to the other colt, Sprout opened his mouth. "I…"

"You guys need a moment?" Zipp, Pipp's sister, suddenly called for them from her spot over the bonfire. Unlike Hitch's poor attempt, theirs was alive and ablazing with warmth. "Some back up perhaps, sherriff?"

This killed the atmosphere in an instant. Hitch answered that 'no, thank you, he had this', only to fail miserably at creating even one flame, while Sprout simply turned around to curl up again. Not out of shame, this time he really was freezing.

It was Sunny who walked towards them. Towards Hitch rather, who finally seemed to consider what Sprout had been claiming the whole trip: that it would be better to go back to Maretime Bay, that this whole magic thing was insane. 

But Sunny was Sunny, and just with a few words she got the sheriff to fall for her plan.

"You can come too, Sprout," She suddenly said, "never too late to start anew?"

This got Sprout to look back.

For a moment they were foals again. There had been a fight over unicorns and pegasi history, Sunny had come for Hitch to play, and every single time it looked like that would be the end of playtime in the lighthouse for Sprout, Sunny would call for him as well. Despite their weekly bickering, despite being both too stubborn to ever agree, she always had it in her to leave all that behind at the end of the day.

Sprout couldn't ever relate.

Or maybe at some moment he did. It had been long since the three of them hung out like old times. Sprout couldn't pinpoint the exact time and reason things just…changed. Was it him who decided he should have nothing to do with an earth pony obsessed with the enemy? Or her who had enough of Sprout saying she was wrong? His mom insisting on not wanting him to get brainwashed with weird ideas didn't help, that was for sure.

Which Sprout, by his many secret visits to the lighthouse, knew wouldn't ever happen. The place was filled to the top with the stuff, but offering unicorn cupcakes and letting them play with those 'guardians of friendship' dolls was as far as Mr Starshine went to show those ideas to he and Hitch. Sunny on the other hoof…

Well, she was so annoying with it you just got used to it. It became background noise after a while. Nowadays it was her bothering his mom and leaving propaganda around that Sprout had to clean what really got on his nerves.

And now this magic thing. Yeah, Sunny didn't say she was happy to have him there, it was just another tactic to make him change his beliefs of ponies who had wings and horns. To everyone there Sprout was irrelevant otherwise, as always. 

But he was firm, stoic as a rock. Hanging out with any of these lunatics won't change a thing for him.

To make his point clear, Sprout lied down again. While Sunny left with no insistence, a doubtful Hitch stood in his place.

"Just so you know, I'm glad you came along, buddy. Even if I'm not good at showing it." His tone was apologetic, waiting for an answer of some sorts. 

When Sprout gave none, he sighed and left as well.

The following minutes of abandonment didn't leave Sprout quiet on his misery. He didn't care enough to pry on what the others were talking about, but still he heard a thing or two. The reason that unicorn came(again, Sunny's fault), speeches about 'doing their part' and Hitch deciding he was on board with this whole madness as well.

Sprout wasn't even surprised.

Not as angry either, that was surprising.

It was when the deputy turned around to find everyone cheering just for going to a dumb forest that he felt the need to gag at the chessiness. With his snout now frozen however, all he managed to do was let out a loud sneeze.

"Ugh, dude, c'mon! You're gonna freeze to death at this ra-" Zipp's shouting came to a halt when Sunny lifted a hoof.

"Yeah, it would be bad if we had to use magic to bring a certain pony here instead," Sunny said this out loud and with a smirk on her face.

This was successful in getting Sprout in front of the fire in an instant. "Ooh no, if someone's gonna make me end up surrounded by deathly creatures that's gonna be me!" 

Then he sat down, momentarily enjoying the warmth until he realized: 1) in his prideful need to sit anywhere but beside either Hitch or Sunny, he ended up between a unicorn and a pink pegasus; 2) Zipp was holding back her laugh at the fact that-

"...wait a second, you mares don't have any magic!"

"Wouldn't be so sure, the magic of friendship worked just fine now." Sunny winked, and still as dumb as the joke was, it got everyone around to laugh.

Sprout just rolled his eyes and focused on defrosting his hoofs. Dirty tactics. Typical of Sunny.

It wasn't long after that everypony was lying down, fire gone so darkness would surround them, and that faint, whispered small talk as little by little ponies around fell asleep.

It reminded Sprout of the nights camping with the scouts. But now besides of Hitch and Sunny, there were ponies with wings and horns around; and instead of discussing what shapes the stars created, the small talk was about magic. 

Sprout looked up at the bright lights in the sky. Suddenly, as he heard Sunny and Izzy whispering what they would do with magic back, his mind got filled with cages, rays and wings taking ponies away, and never being able to see these stars again.

He lied down, squeezed his eyes. He tried to think about how his kind had won that battle years ago, how they were strong, how they had his mom's technology now.

'How could any of your mom's products do something against what isn't there?' Sunny's voice echoed in his mind, and Sprout frowned worried.

What were they doing?