So I sat there at the desk with nothing to do and my mind starts to wonder, like it always does. I stare up at all the things Hitch has on his walls… I see some sports awards he must’ve got earlier when he was in school and I also see a plaque saying Best Maretime Bay Sheriff… I blink and wonder just how big an award that actually is, before sipping my coffee with my forehooves and shuddering from the bitterness he always makes his morning coffee with… I really should talk to him about that later!
Suddenly, the phone rings!
I widen my eyes and frantically set the cup down with my forehooves and fumble to lift the phone out of the receiver as my hooves desperately try to grasp it, when finally, it lands on the right side of my neck and I start and smile as I jitter, “Um, yes! Sheriff’s office! Helper Little Snack speaking!”
I hear a familiar stallion voice on the other end say, “Little Snack! You don’t have to announce that you’re my helper!”
“Well, you said I wasn’t your deputy yet and that I was just your helper now, so I thought that was my title?”
“Uh, no Little… Never mind! Uh, is everything okay there?”
“Well gee, Hitch! You’ve only been gone for twenty minutes!” I blink.
The stallion giggles, “Well, yeah! But you know I worry about you, squirt!”
“Oh, okay… Hey! Have you been captured by bad guys?”
The stallion is silent for a moment, “Uh, no! Why do you keep asking me that, Little Snack?”
I blink again and start, “Oh, I don’t know? Just seems like something that’ll happen later! Is your patrol going okay?”
“Uh, it’s going fine!”
“Anypony been asking about me?”
Hitch sighs, “Well, there has been some talk about a new filly living in my house and working at the station…”
I start again, “Oh, wow! What are they saying?”
“Well, they’ve been asking your name and where you came from… I really wish I had more to tell them! You really have no idea how you got warped over into our space and time?”
I blink again, “No idea!”
“Well, that’s not your fault, Little… Sit tight! We’re gonna take care of you!”
“Awesome!” I jitter slightly.
“Well, I need to get going soon! You hold down the fort and call my cell if ANYTHING comes up, okay?”
I smile and nod, “Sure thing, boss!”
“Goodbye!”
“Bye bye Hitch!” I say before putting the phone back on the base…
I sigh, before deciding to take another swig of my stout coffee and shuddering again… I blink and think to myself that I really wish I had something to do… Then, I remember that I brought my ball!
<*****>
I look down as I’m flying over the town and I see the landing at the top of the station’s steps. I swoop down and try my best to angle my wings to land… I still don’t quite get it right and end up skidding across the wood on my hooves! I stop right in front of the big dark blue door to the station and knock with my right forehoof. Knock knock knock!
I hear what sounds like rubber bouncing in the distance behind the door before it opens and instead of being greeted by a yellow stallion, I instead see a much shorter orange filly there with long green pigtails! She smiles at me, “Oh, hiya Jessi! How’s it going?” and I can’t help but notice the red rubber ball bouncing gently on the other side of the filly and the desk.
“Well, I can fly to Bridlewood now and back here without breaking a sweat!”
Little nods, “Oh, right! Hey! Doesn’t Cozy er, Twinkle Shine also have wings?”
I can only stare blankly at the earth filly, “Well, yes…”
“Maybe you two should fly together? It would give you more practice?”
I smile, “Funny you should say that! She’s not at Izzy’s and Misty is gone too, so I figured I’d look up my other friend!”
Her eyes widen and mouth shrinks, “Oh, wow! So, I wasn’t your first choice!”
Suddenly realizing that that may have come out wrong, I frown and say, “Well, I never know what to do with you?”
She frowns, “Well, I’m about to order pizza for lunch. Wanna come in? It’ll be fun!” she jitters.
I blink again and begin trotting in as she moves back and say, “Well uh, I suppose I could, yeah? I mean, if I’m not interrupting anything?”
She eagerly nods from her new position to the right of me and the door, “Oh, no! I uh, just got done with some super important helper business! Yeah! Uh, how’s alicorn-hood or whatever, treating you Jessi?”
I turn my head to smile at her and say, “Oh, I’m starting to realize that having wings is amazing! Don’t know about all this new magick power, though, and I’m kinda worried about using it, still?”
Her eyes widen as her head shakes, “Oh, yeah! I mean, that much power might be an issue! What if you mess up and like, kill thirty ponies in a giant fiery explosion, or something like that?”
My eyes widen as I frown, “Oh, dear! Do you really think it could get that bad?”
She blinks, “How would I know? I’m not an alicorn! I’m an earth pony!”
My mouth straightens, “Oh, right! Uh, you mentioned pizza?”
<*****>
I trot to the right of the pegasus as we both trot down the road towards Maretime Bay. I turn my neck to her and ask, “Why are we going to Maretime Bay again?”
Twinkle looks back at me, “Well, we got friends there!”
“I like my kittens…”
“Look! You can’t just be with your kittens, okay? Contact with other ponies is a good thing!”
I eye this pink pegasus very carefully, “You’re out of books to read, aren’t you?”
She starts and widens her eyes, “Uh, it’s a strong possibility…”
I smile, “And you’re also out of dope, too! That’s why we stopped by that shack on the way out of town!”
She sighs, “Well, obviously! But what can I say? Smoke Stack has the best bud this side of Zephyr Heights! Which reminds me! I wanted to head there with Izzy soon!”
“How did you buy papers and a lighter at the corner store when you’re just a little filly?”
Twinkle smiles, “I’m very persuasive…”
“Are you gonna smoke while we’re out and about?”
Twinkle nods, “Also true! Now let me go off into that grove coming up on our right and I’ll roll a new joint! Uh, you want some?” she asks before opening her eyes, questioning me while tightening her mouth…
My eyes widen, “Oh uh, no Twinkle! That’s your thing! I’ll just uh, stand watch while you roll! Yes!”
She smiles and nods again, “Suit yourself!”*
<*****>
Oh, golly! My mind thinks as I take the first magnificent hit off the filter-less joint I just rolled in the grove! I feel the rush of the hot smoke as it goes down my throat into my lungs and I can almost feel the cannabinoids beginning to take effect in my mind as I shake my head and look over to Misty as we trot, “So uh, you doing okay Misty?”
She smiles at me while turning her head left to me and says, “Oh, yes Twinkle! I mean, I “she blinks. “I didn’t know what I was gonna do after, well, I did what I did and now, I just feel so much better because of everything all of you have done!”
I blink, “That was a surprisingly straightforward response!” before pursing my lips on the burning paper roll in my mouth to bring in more warm smoke towards my throat and eventually down into my lungs…
Misty giggles slightly, “Yeah!” she blinks, “I realized that since Opaline was mean and evil, that I probably had no choice!” she sighs. “But I do have a confession…”
I breath out smoke towards our destination at my front while keeping my head turned right towards her. “Go on?” I say out the left side of my mouth.
Misty sighs again, “I uh, never really considered that she’d hunt me down and get rid of me… I REALLY just wanted her to PAY! It had nothing to do with anything she did or might do!” and blinks. “I guess I’m not such a hero after all?”
I breathe smoke out of the left side of my mouth while being careful to keep a hold of the joint on the other side, “Well, yes and no…”
She blinks, starts, and widens her eyes, “What?”
I half-smile out of the free side of my mouth, “Yeah! You’re still a hero, because at the end of the day, Opaline was still evil and had to be dealt with… And you took care of that…”
“So my motivations don’t matter?” Misty frowns…
I shake my head, “Not really! Only the end result!” before pursing my lips on the stoge to take another drag…**
I think long and hard on this before finally saying, “So it’s really about what I do and how I act, then?”
I smile and giggle with the burning joint out the right side of my mouth, “Oh, golly yeah! You can think all the bad thoughts in the world Misty! But unless you act on them, they have no power over you!” before pursing again to take another drag and again, wondering precisely when I became a therapist?
Suddenly, I hear a voice in my head speak, You know, she does have experience in the whole evil helper business, right?
I blink as I exhale, before taking a breath in and out of my nose, and then, pursing my lips around the herb roll to take another drag to make Cozy Glow go away...
<*****>
I widen my eyes to the purple unicorn as she frowns at me from her doorway, “Well, I don’t know where Jessi went and I just assumed she’d be with her best friend!”
Izzy widens her red eyes, “Uh, nope! They’re not here! Jessi came by earlier and I told her what I will now tell you! Twinkle and Misty left for Maretime Bay!”
“Oh, wow!”
Suddenly, we both hear a happy disco song playing when Izzy smiles and says, “I’m getting a phone call! Come on in!” before turning around and trotting inside…
I follow her and look to my right to magically close the door in a golden glow as Izzy stares at her table near the center of the room and forces the small box, contained in it’s colorful shell there to glow blue and lifts it into the air before her face as the disco music continues to play… She frowns, “It’s Hitch!” before blinking and using her magick to force the phone to answer and she floats it to the right side of her head, “Hiya Hitch!”
She nods, “Uh, huh! All four, huh? Oh wow!” as her mouth goes agape. She looks up at me with wide eyes and says, “All four fillies are at Hitch’s station! They’re having a pizza party and we’re invited!”’
My eyes widen as I frown, “Pizza party?”
Her eyes widen as she smiles and bounces, “Come on! It’ll be fun!”
<*****>
I tell the orange filly vehemently, “No! You gotta tag me, or it doesn’t count!”
Little nods at me from the other side of the room, “Yes it does! The rules for hide n seek are, I just gotta find you, and then you’re it! It didn’t say anything about tagging you!”
I look at Twinkle on the table in the dining room through the door, “Twinks! We need a ruling here!”
Twinkle finishes chewing her green pepper and tomato pizza and sets it down, before squatting on the chair and then flying over to us through the door and landing on the floor before shaking her head and saying, “Oh, golly gee! What now?”
I stare at Twinkle wide-eyed, “Hey, Little Snack says she just has to find me and I’m it! I say she has to tag me first!”
Little stares at Twinkle, “The book says I just gotta find her!”
I smile and say, “But Little Snack! There’s extra rules on the next page!”
Little turns to me and says, “Those are optional!”
Suddenly, there’s a knock on the door!
Twinkle looks up, “Jessi! Answer the door! Uh, please!” before looking at both of us. “You know, maybe you should agree on rules before you start playing?”
We hear a barely audible voice from somewhere in the dining room we can’t see, “On it, Twinkle!” before witnessing a small green alicorn trotting through the foyer with us there at the couch…
I stare at the pink pegasus, “Um, yeah I thought we did that?”
Little vibrates while saying, “We really should be more thorough!”
Suddenly the phone rings!
Little widens her eyes, “Oh, gosh!” before turning her body to the desk beyond Jessi and trotting over towards the ringing phone… She quickly grasps the phone with her mouth, and then uses her right forehoof to bring it to the right side of her head while remaining steady on her left…. Her eyes widen, “Sheriff's office! Little Snack speaking! Uh, oh wow! A robbery? Oh, okay ma’am!” she nods and smiles. “Just tell me where you are and I’ll call Hitch right over!”
Meanwhile, Jessi opens the door to reveal two ponies behind it… One smiling purple fluffy unicorn with red eyes on the left and on the other side, an orange alicorn with an orchid purple mane and tail, and featuring a concerned look in her cerulean eyes as she says, “Pizza party?”
Jessi smiles and nods, “Oh, yeah! We all just kinda met up here and now this is going on! We thought you might like some too!” she blinks and straightens her mouth. “Oh! We need donations for the petty cash now, if you got a few bits?”
While this is going on, Little Snack is on the phone at the desk and bouncing up and down while saying, “Hitch! There’s a robbery! You gotta go help!
<****>
I gallop towards the bank! My helper just called and told me there was a robbery and it’s my job to help!
I stop just in front of the large cement steps leading up to the bank, all 16 of them, and gulp as I stare upwards, knowing it’s almost hero time!
I begin to tentatively take steps up towards the bank, when I hear a scream! I hasten my pace and read the landing a few seconds later before staring at the glass entryway where I see a light blue unicorn wearing a darker blue ski-mask over his face with pale yellow lining around the eye holes and muzzle hole… He’s standing just in front of the glass door and holding a knife to his right in his yellow glow and holding it to the neck of a green earth mare, with brown mane and tail, whom he’s holding to his body with his right forehoof… He looks at me and says, “Sheriff! There you are! Ready to hear our demands?”
I frown at this scene, “Demands?”
He nods, “W-well, yeah! I got a hostage! And I want a million bits and a helicopter out of here!”
“You can’t be serious?”
“Oh, I’m very serious! My buddy has more hostages inside, so no funny business!”
I widen my eyes, “Oh, dear!”
(To be continued...)