//------------------------------// // 7. Foal Me Once // Story: Sonic The Hedgehog x My Little Pony: Tell Your Tale // by BronySonicFan //------------------------------// It was another sunny day in Maretime Bay. The ponies were going about their business, when suddenly a pony galloped past them at high speed, surprising them. This pony turned out to be Hitch, as he trotted across town smirking while wearing sunglasses. Four ponies were chatting to each other, but when they saw Hitch trotting to them at high speed, they moved out of the way. Fifi, who was carrying her fruit cart, saw Hitch coming towards her and gasped in fright, thinking that Hitch would crash into her. But Hitch jumped over Fifi, who was ducking for cover, and the ponies around him gasped in amazement. Fifi stoped covering her head as she saw Hitch galloping away. Hitch then skidded his hooves to a stop as he came in front of an earth pony mare in front of her flower stand. "What seems to be the problem, neighbor?" se asked the mare with a smile. The earth pony mare pointed to a spilled trash can next to the stand, and Hitch gasped in shock at that sight, because if there’s one thing Hitch hates besides ponies breaking the law, is litter in the streets. Hitch took a picture of the spilled trash can, drew a circle around it with some chalk, used a cotton swab to get a sample of the trash and put it in a tube for evidence. Then he took out his measuring tape to check size as he got back up to the mare with a smile. "I'll get to the bottom of this" he assured the mare, but suddenly a bunnycorn jumped up and down, trying to get Hitch’s attention. Hitch looked down and found other two bunnycorns holding a sandwich to him. "Not now, bunnycorns!" he told the bunnycorns since he didn't had time to eat right now. "The only thing I'm hungry for... is justice!" he said on a cool tone, then galloped away from the earth pony mare and the bunnycorns. The bunnycorns sigh in disappointment that Hitch won’t even take a lunch break, because he is so attached to his job as sheriff of Maretime Bay, that he would do nothing but get the job done. In the end, one of the bunnycorns chomped the sandwich, so at least it won't get to waste. Hitch galloped back to the station to solve the case of somepony made that litter from the trash can. But once he entered the station, he saw all five of his landline phones ringing off the hook on his desk. He came up to the desk and answered one of the phone’s. "Sheriff's station. You got Hitch!" he answered with a smile. "Hitch, all the fruit. It's gone!" Sunny called out on worry. "What?" Hitch questioned in shock, but didn’t get an answer as another phone was ringing. "Hang on, Sunny" he told her as he picked up the other phone. "This is Hitch!" "They're gone… All gone!" a pony stallion answered, leaving Hitch confused. "What's gone? Are you there?" Hitch asked over the phone, but another phone ringed, so he hung up the two phones and picked up the third one. "Hitch here!" he called out. "Are you listening? Hanging on the wall, the picture was right here…" Posey called out that a picture was missing, and Hitch had a feeling that it must be from the Maretime Bay museum. Hitch cringed, getting a little overwhelmed, and then another phone started ringing. "Yikes! Be right with you!" se said to Posey, then hung up and picked up the fourth phone. "Hello?" he asked, but only heard sobbing from a pony stallion. And then the ringing intensifies as the other phones starts ringing at the same time. Hitch tried to answer them by juggling the phones around all at once, but he only got himself tangled in the landline phone wires. And then the left door opened, as Zipp poked her head out. "Hitch! Is this a good time?” she asked. Then, the other door opened completely as Sonic stepped in. "I was going to ask the same..." he said while looking at Zipp. But once they turned to see Hitch, they saw him tangled up in the phone wires as he tried to keep his balance. "... Maybe we did came in a bad moment" Sonic said as he smirked a little. "Yeah, because you seem to be a little... tied up" Zipp said in a pun as she tried to stifle her laughter, but Sonic did laughed up loud. They both came close to Hitch. "You really should find a new deputy" she told Hitch, since Sprout was fired because of some... actions of his. Hitch grunted, while tried to get the phones' wires off him. "I've got this under control, guys" he grunted as he pulled the wires off him, but then fell to the ground and then got up. "Anyway, I work alone" he said with a narrow determined look as Sonic and Zipp looked at him. "There's only one perfectly groomed sheriff capable of handling it all: Me!" he said with a smirk and his sunglasses on. "Crime waits for nopony!" he yelled, then ran towards the door. Zipp rolled his eyes with a smile, and Sonic facepalmed in frustration. "Guess he'll learn the hard way, then..." Sonic said, then smirked a little. Hitch opened the door ready to roll, but in front of him were his animal critters as they chirp in cheer to Hitch. However, he didn’t noticed and he galloped away, leaving the critters a little sad since he didn’t notice them. At the Maretime Bay Museum, Hitch was investigating the case of the missing painting, which happens to be the Pony Lisa. Things have gone missing from all over town I've gotta inspect, gotta write things down Posey, with a beret hat on her head, pointed out to the missing Lisa as she freaked out. Hitch looked around at the rest of the paintings, looking for clues while taking out his magnifying glass to see if the thief left a hoofprint or a clue. A little while later, Hitch was outside while write down what he learned in his journal of the missing painting, a fruit smoothie picture, sunglasses, a horseshoe and some lines drawn to connect the dots of the missing things. Hitch is closing in with his well-groomed face Hitch turned around and looked at Sunny with a worried face. He stopped at Sunny’s fruit stand as she showed him an empty fruit box, as somepony must’ve stolen them. Just a few more steps and we will close this case Hitch inspected the box and sniffed the box for a scent of some kind. Hitch took a closer look of the box and found something, so he grabbed it and it appeared to be a green piece of fer in the box. Time to catch this devious colt or mare. Hitch then head to the glasses stand to find that the stallion that owns it revealed that all his glasses are gone as he is having a breakdown, while Hitch writes down what he is saying. A mastermind is behind this. But who, and where? Hitch was having a thought as to who has been stealing these things lately, and where they are now. Back at the police station, Hitch was putting together a mystery chart of all the things that were stolen from the ponies that he had seen, while connecting red strings to find out the source. "Hitch knew this was the work of a genius criminal mastermind" Hitch spoke out in third person. "But somehow, someway, he would connect the dots" he said, as a red string came off from the top of the Pony Lisa. "Uh... strings" he corrected himself, as putting the string back in place. But suddenly, he began to cough as he touched his throat. "I'd arrest somepony for a super citrus smoothie right now" he said, since his throat was dry and coughed again. Suddenly, he heard a thunk and turned his head, just to find a smoothie on his desk. "Woah. That's convenient!" he said surprised with a smile. "I don't remember picking this up" he added, as he took the smoothie and slurps some of it. "Strange... Delicious! But strange..." he said with sparkly eyes, but then looked with suspicion at the smoothie, wondering where it come from. The next morning, Hitch yawned and got up with his mane having a bedhead. "Look out, crime! Hitch is coming for ya!" he cheered, getting the blanket off him and getting out of bed. Hitch came to his closet to get ready for the day, but as he opened it, a mountain of stuff fell over him. Hitch got his head out of the pile as he looked at it and then gasped in shock at what he was seeing. "Smoothie cups?" he saw the smoothies that were either spilled or emptied as he began to worry; "Sunglasses?" he saw the pile of glasses on the ground as he freaked out. "The missing painting?!" he cried out as he saw the Pony Lisa on the ground, and then gasped. "Am I the criminal mastermind?" he asked himself as he thinks he was the one who stole those things. Later, Zipp came to the station along Sonic to check on how was Hitch progressing. "Hey, Hitch! We came to--" Zipp spoke, but then stopped since she realize that Hitch isn’t at his desk. "Uh... Where did he go?" Sonic wondered, but then he heard an harmonica playing. Both Sonic and Zipp turned to the cell, just to find Hitch looked up inside playing the harmonica. "This is... unusual" Sonic said with confusion. "Uh... Whatcha doing in there, buddy?" Zipp said with a confused expression and smile, wondering why Hitch locked himself in the cell. "I'm all washed up, guys" Hitch cried out in despair as he took out the keys and gave them to Sonic and Zipp. "Here. Take the keys! Find a new sheriff!" he cried out, as Zipp picked up the keys as she and Sonic looked at him in confusion. "Dude, what the hell is going on?" Sonic asked, not getting why Hitch locked himself just like that. "Something caused Hitch to snap" Hitch answered in third person, then pointed to the mystery board as Sonic and Zipp walked to it. "He had gone down a dark road..." he added, still thinking that he may be the theft that’s been stealing things in Maretime Bay. Zipp and Sonic looked at the board, looking through the things Hitch investigated. Sonic was confused at first, but Zipp found a connection between the dots. "Um, Hitch? These are all your favorite things" she said. Sonic looked at them again, and gasped. "Hey, it's true. These is everything you like, dude" Sonic pointed out as well. "This smells like a set-up. And…" Zipp stopped in midsection as she sniffs the air. "Super citrus smoothie?" she asked in confusion, as Sonic started to smell as well, wondering where it came from. They got their answer when they heard slurping, and turned to see Hitch slurping the said smoothie that he brought with him. Hitch stops slurping when he realizes what he is doing and screamed in panic while threw the smoothie away. The smoothie was going to hit Zipp, but Sonic trapped in time and started to look it around with suspicion. Hitch whimpered in shock, then looked at Sonic with the smoothie and then at Zipp, who looked at him with a bored expression. "Uhh, you might be onto something..." Hitch said, regaining his composure. He tried to get out of the cell, but he forgot that it was locked as he tried to push it open with a grunt effort. Hitch started panting, then remembered that he gave the keys to Sonic and Zipp as he turned to them with a sheepish smile. "Um... Guys? A little help?" he asked them. Zipp swings the keys around on her hoof as she and Sonic give Hitch a smirk. "Ohh, so you do need help?" she asked teasingly. "You're right, Zipp" Hitch answered with a smile. "Maybe I do need a new deputy..." "So you finally recognized, huh" Sonic said with a smile. "Better later than never, as they say. Now, maybe you should go make some justice, Hitch." "Good idea" Zipp agreed, then tossed the keys to Hitch. "Now go get 'em, sheriff!" she called out as Hitch caught the keys, and gave a determined smile while putting on his sunglasses, ready to solve this case. A little while later, Hitch’s office was dark until said earth pony turned the lamp on. Hitch was wearing sunglasses and paced back-in-forth. "You had me running all over town..." Hitch said in a tough tone, "But now we've finally got you" Hitch finished, as he slammed his hooves on his desk. It turns out that he was talking to a bunnycorn, but not just to him, Hitch turned the lights back on, and all the other animals that Hitch wasn’t paying attention to where there too. "What do you have to say for yourselves?" Hitch asked in a stern tone, but then a bunnycorn peeps as it gave a smoothie for him. "Wait. Did you steal those things for me?" he asked the critters as they giggle, basically answering 'yes', they did steal those for Hitch. "Well, I'm flattered, but you can't go around taking things. You've broken a dozen laws, not to mention health code violations…" he pointed out to the critters as they looked down in guilt. "Go return everything!" he lectured to them, as the critters nodded in agreement and smiled a little. At the museum, Posey was looking at the art as the creatures put Pony Lisa back in her place. Posey heard something behind and glanced sideways, but found nothing as the creatures hid. When he looked back from him to the front, the creatures turned to right Pony Lisa and turned away again. Posey looked back again, fully this time, and smiled with sparkling eyes when he saw that Pony Lisa had returned. At Sunny's fruit stand, Sunny looked around with a down expression, still sad that her smoothie supplies are missing. Then, the critters skated through the stand in Sunny’s roller skates, and putted the smoothie supplies back in their place, as well as Sunny’s roller skates, before Sunny notices them. Sunny turned around and smiled as she saw the smoothie supplies and her roller skates are back, but then she noticed the raccoons, who stopped when she saw them, and started to whistle while walked away. The critters then putted all the glasses back to the stand while the stallion was asleep, but not before a bunnycorn looked into the mirror, admiring himself and then flew away before the earth pony stallion woke up. Back at the police station, the animals cheered to Hitch as said sheriff is in the middle of the critters smiling. "I'm sorry for ignoring you" Hitch apologized to the critters as they shared a group. "But... you did the crime, and now you gotta do the time!" he said to them as he took them all for a snapshot. The critters gasped at this, while the camera clicks with their id numbers in font of them as they had guilty looks. After locking up the critters in little cages, Hitch sighed in relief that this case was closed. However, the door opened and Sonic poked his head. "Hey buddy, did you finished the case?" he asked with a smile and curiosity. "Yep!" Hitch assured with a smile. "And I looked the thieves already!" he pointed to the critters in the little cages. Sonic looked at them a little confused. "... Okey... so... If you finished, then can we now talk about..." Sonic looked around, he first locked up the door, then pushed down the shutters. He got close to Hitch, looking his surroundings once again, "... The thing?" he whispered to his ear. At first, Hitch was confused at Sonic's attitude, but once he mentioned the thing, he gasped and then nodded to the hedgehog. Hitch walked over the board, and turned it around to reveal another mystery chard with pictures and strings, but these time being a bout the Chaos Emeralds and how they're not working properly. "Ok, so what's happened now?" Hitch asked, looking at Sonic. "I tried to activate the Emeralds with my electrical powers as I being doing the past 3 months since I found them, but... this time, I didn't stopped. Hitch, I... I made them glow until the very end..." Sonic confessed. "What?!" Hitch yelled in surprise. "And then what happened?!" "I thought they were going to throw some light ray and destroy the walls or the ceiling, but instead... they brought a paper out of nowhere and drew a map" Sonic explained, as he both remembered what happened when he activated the Emeralds without cancel his powers this time and took out the map. He opened de map on Hitch's desk, and the two male creatures examined it. Apparently it was a map of Equestria, showing the three cities that they both new already - Maretime Bay, Zephyr Heights and Bridlewood - and the distance that existed between them. However, there was another location that neither Sonic or Hitch have seen or heard of before: a dark purple castle that seemed to be hidden somewhere, far away of Maretime Bay. "Opaline's Castle?" Hitch said on confusion. "I've never heard about that place..." "Me neither" Sonic added, just as confused as Hitch. "Why would the Emeralds give a map with a place I've never seen before?" he questioned with concern. "And not only that, but it appears that there's somepony called 'Opaline' as well" Hitch pointed out, since the castle didn't had a proper name. "This si really suspicious, Sonic..." "Oh, but it doesn't end there, Hitch" Sonic revealed. Hitch looked at him surprised and them frowned a little as he let Sonic continue. "I tried to made them glow again, but it didn't happened... not even with my electrical powers" he explained. "Oh boy..." Hitch exclaimed. "Then that changes our theories a little... We thought that the Emeralds were not working because they were not in their dimension..." he explained, as he started to change some dots on the board and added a new one with the map. "But now that the Emeralds don't react with my new powers, we know that it has nothing to do with the new dimension they are on...." Sonic continued. "Then... maybe they are recharging?" Hitch suggested, but Sonic looked at him a little confused. "Think about it: they only worked when you used your powers, but once you let them glow completely and made the map, they stopped working again, right?" "Yes..." Sonic nodded, and then realized where Hitch was going. "Wait a minute! You're right! Maybe they were trying to recharge, but I just speeded the process! And once they were fully recharged and made the map..." Sonic started to theorize. "They went out of energy, and now they're recharging properly!" Hitch finished with a smile. Sonic nodded in agreement, smiling as well. "Ok, so now that we know why the Emeralds aren't working, maybe or next step should be finding out where's this Opaline's Castle, and why the Emeralds want me to go there" he stated, as Hitch nodded in agreement. They both looked back at the map, but Hitch focused on one of the corners of the map and saw something. "Wait a second... What is this?" he asked as pointed out the corner in the map. Sonic decided to take a look, and then gasped. "It's a drawing of the 7 Chaos Emeralds!" Sonic stated. "But... they're separated in three rows" he also said, as he saw one row with the three Emeralds he had and other two rows with two Emeralds each. "'Sonic's Emeralds', 'Opaline's Emeralds' and 'Remaining Emeralds'" Hitch read. "Wait, this Opaline has two Emeralds?" he asked in confusion. "This is bad... this is very bad..." Sonic said with a worried look. "This Opaline sounds like a bad one, and I mean a villain, Hitch. If they have two Chaos Emeralds, and finds a way to activate them, we're gonna have big trouble..." he explained. "Then let's start investigating about this Opaline" Hitch suggested with a determinate look and a smile, as Sonic put the same expression and smiled back. "Also, you should be looking for your surroundings more carefully from now on. If we can find the other Emeralds before this Opaline, or somepony else, we'll have a huge advantage" he stated. "Right!" Sonic cheered with a big smile. "Give me a high hoof, sheriff!" he said, as he raised his hand and high hoofed with Hitch. "We'll get to the button of this, no matter how much we have to work..." he assured with confidence. THE END...?