//------------------------------// // Failed Birthday Attempt // Story: My Little One Shots // by NovaAce75 //------------------------------// Hitch looked around curiously on his way up towards the Crystal Brighthouse. It was high noon, so he didn't expect any of the mares to be asleep at this time. However he was showing up unannounced, so he wasn't sure what they were doing. Hitch made it up to the entrance of the home. Sunny provided Hitch with a spare key, even if Hitch didn't live in the Brighthouse, he was still a part of it, and best friends with everyone inside, she felt he should be allowed to come whenever he wanted to. Even so, Hitch didn't use the key, instead knocking on the door. It felt too awkward to just use the key to walk in, especially unannounced. He didn't want to walk in on anything unexpectedly after all. There was no response for a couple of seconds before Hitch could hear hoofsteps approaching the door. The door opened up, and on the other end was Izzy, "Huh? Oh hey, Hitch!" Izzy smiled brightly. It sounded like the other ponies were inside too, as when they heard Izzy announce it was Hitch, another set of hooves made their way to the door, this time being Sunny who stood by Izzy's side. Sunny looked a tad surprised, "Hitch?" "What brings you around, Sheriff?" Izzy asked curiously. Sunny on the other hand looked a little panicked, turning back to look inside and waving her hooves. Hitch caught onto this before clearing his throat. "Hey Izzy, Sunny! I got a bit bored, and I wanted to see if you girls were doing anything today! Maybe I could tag along?" Hitch asked curiously. Izzy beamed in response, "well of course you-" "Actually Hitch, today is uhm… Mares… Day. "Eh..?" Both Hitch and Izzy spoke in unison in response to this 'Mares Day'. "It's a Pegasus thing." Sunny quickly followed up, avoiding eye contact with the sheriff. "On Mares' Day you uhh, you hang out with your best mare friends and ONLY your best mare friends for the whole day… and that's it. No stallions allowed." Sunny cleared her throat. Hitch looked puzzled but found himself sighing, "well, if that's the case, then where's Zipp and Pipp?" "They're-" Izzy began speaking, but Sunny cut in once again. "Upstairs, getting a movie ready for us to watch!" Sunny responded giddily before gently nudging Izzy back inside. "Well, it was great talking with you Hitchie! But we've got a movie to watch, haha! Uhh… bye!" Sunny shut the door, a lock coming right after. Hitch stared at the door for a moment, his ears flattening against his head before he turned around. "Alright then…" He sighed, making his way back to Maretime Bay. On the other end of the door, Izzy was staring back at the door, frowning as she looked back at Sunny. "Poor Hitch, he must feel left out…" Izzy sighed. "I'm sure he is, but we need to get his surprise ready! I feel bad for blowing him off, but he never remembers his own birthday! I usually have to keep reminding him every year, but now Hitch has three new friends to celebrate with!" Sunny declared, giving Izzy a friendly nudge before rushing back to meet up with Zipp and Pipp. Izzy sighed, "well if you say so Sunny, though I can't help but feel like this might not go the way we planned." Izzy responded before trotting after Sunny. After a couple of minutes of walking, Hitch made it back to Maretime Bay, head held low as he thought of things to do to keep himself preoccupied. Still, there was nothing he could think of. "Maybe I should just head home…" Hitch thought, raising his head before spotting a curious sight. There was a blue unicorn with the most peculiar mane. It was wavy, curls reaching far down. Just looking at it made him want to touch and feel it, it must be so soft. Though then the realization hit him: wait, that's a new face. He hasn't recalled seeing this pony before. He walked up to them curiously as they leaned against the railing overlooking the ocean. "Hey there?" The blue-furred mare looked over at who directed her attention. "Huh?" Now that she was looking right at him, Hitch could see she was a Unicorn! That might explain why he hadn't seen her before, not as many Unicorn lived in Maretime Bay as Pegasi and of course other Earth Ponies. "Wait, aren't you?" Hitch paused, curious to hear she might know him. "Nah, no way you're the sheriff. The sheriff looks much more photogenic." "Wha..?" Hitch looked a bit baffled. Well, she knew who he was, though he wasn't expecting that kind of response. Hitch took a moment to recover from that wording, "what? I look just as good- no, I look better in person than I do in my photos!" Hitch declared, holding a hoof to his chest defensively. This warranted a laugh from the mare, snickering to herself. Hitch's cheeks dusted red for a moment as he watched her laugh, growing a bit more defensive in the process. "Relax Sheriff, I'm only kidding!" Misty smirked, pulling herself off the railing. "My name is Misty, it's nice to meet you, Sheriff!" The unicorn smiled, holding a hoof out to greet the stallion. Hitch took a moment, leaving the hoof in the air for a couple of seconds before slowly reaching out and meeting her hoof with his. They had a small shake before Hitch pulled away, "well, nice to meet you too Misty. You can just call me Hitch if you want, I don't mind." "Hitch then, cute name." Misty smiled, before leaning back over the railing, staring at the coastline. Hitch gave her a curious look, ignoring the remark on his name as he leaned over the railing next to her. Misty smiled, looking over at him, "so how can I help you Hitch?" Misty asked curiously, referring to how Hitch was the one who initiated their conversation. "Oh, right, sorry, I don't really need anything. I guess I got kind of bored, so I wanted to make a new friend I guess?" Hitch responded confusedly as if he wasn't too sure himself what he was trying to say. "Make a new friend? Don't you have dozens of friends, sheriff? What would you be friends with me for? I'm just some random mare enjoying the view~" Misty asked curiously. Hitch rolled his eyes before sighing, "well, I've got five good ones. Except one of them is currently doing community service to make up for destroying a lighthouse and seriously injuring a few ponies." "Uhh…" "And the other four are doing some… Mares' Day thing or something. Something about a Pegasi holiday? I think. I don't know, Sunny was really quick to push me away and go hang out with our friends without me." Hitch sighed, rolling his eyes. Misty smirked, looking over at the horizon. "Hey Hitch, I'd hate to be the one to break the bad news to yah, but uh, Mares' Day isn't a holiday." "Eh?" "Your friends must have just not wanted to hang out with you today. Or they're hiding something from you. Either or." Misty responded, waving a hoof before pulling off of the railing and moving to sit down at the nearest bench. Hitch gave her a baffled look as he followed her over to the bench in question. She sat down on it before offering the stallion the other end of the bench. "What? No, Sunny has no reason to lie to me! Besides, what would you know about a pegasus holiday when you're a Unicorn?" Hitch defended Sunny, crossing his hooves before sitting down on the other end of the bench. "You're kidding me?" Misty asked, holding back laughter. "Look Sheriff, people lie all the time. Sometimes lying is alright, but you never know until after the fact. Maybe you're right, and I'm the liar here, but I get the feeling you're just sticking up for your friends. How about that, am I around there?" Hitch paused, opening his mouth to talk back but stopping himself as he lowered his head in defeat. Misty sighed in response, "hey now, don't get too upset! They might have lied just so that they could avoid hurting your feelings too." Misty smiled. Hitch looked up, "I guess that could also be true…" Hitch sighed, placing his hoof against his cheek. Misty giggled lightly before inching closer to the stallion. "Well, either way, I'd be down to hang out with you for the rest of the day, Sheriff~" Misty perked up. Hitch looked at her curiously in response. "You could show me around Maretime Bay, this is my first time here, after all, I want to make the most of it!" "Really? You don't mind hanging out with me?" Hitch asked the mare curiously, eyes sparking back to life. "Of course, I don't. You seem like a pretty fun guy, all things considered! Besides, I wouldn't want to leave you after the whole telling you your friends were probably lying to your deal." Misty smirked. Hitch couldn't help but let out a chuckle in response before nodding. "Alright then, let's go. I can show you all of my favorite spots in town!" Hitch smirked, climbing off the bench and trotting past her, looking back at her happily. Misty giggled, climbing off the bench and following behind him. "Lead the way Sheriff!~" Hitch smirked, trotting off with Misty in tow. However, he didn't get to make it too far before his phone started ringing. The phone Pipp had gotten after they became friends. Sunny was calling him. "Hmph…" Hitch declined the call, just before flicking his phone to silent mode. "Sorry about that, let's continue!" Hitch smiled back at Misty before they continued on. "Ugh, why isn't he picking up?! Did he forget to charge his phone or something?" Sunny groaned, continuing to call Hitch multiple times though each time led straight to voicemail. Pipp chimed in, "it's either that or he has his phone on silent. Besides, it's not like Hitch to forget to charge his phone anyways, do you have any idea how organized that stallion is?" Sunny paused for a moment, she stopped attempting to call him after the 5th failed attempt to call him. "Wait, wouldn't that mean he's ignoring me?" "That's a harsh way to put it, but that's also probably not far from the truth either," Zipp responded, just before taking a sip of her drink. "Well, why is he ignoring me?! Was it something I-" Sunny paused, thinking back to earlier in the day? "Uhm. You don't think he's mad about the whole… Mares' Day thing, right?" "I told you! He probably feels left out!" Izzy retorted. "He might've found out Mares' Day isn't real. Which… in this context… would make ignoring you justifiable." Zipp followed up, attempting to call the Sheriff herself, but to no avail. "Scratch that, ignoring everyone." "Ughh, I just wanted to surprise him for his birthday! This isn't what I had in mind." Sunny sighed. "Uhm… Fillies." Pipp spoke up quickly, flying over towards the others. "Check out what Hitch just posted to his Ponygram!" Pipp showed off her phone to the three. There was a photo of Hitch and a blue-furred Unicorn. They were pseudo-hugging, each having a hoof wrapped around each other with Hitch holding up the phone used to take the photo. The photo's caption read: "Just met the coolest new friend! She's gonna teach me how she styles her mane, I can't wait!" The room was filled with silence for a couple of seconds. "Well… Maybe we can do Hitch's birthday tomorrow?" Izzy responded sheepishly, followed by a sigh from the rest.