"Well, one thing's for sure, Sunny. It's easy to see why your smoothie cart is such a success," Zipp said, taking another gulp of her Strawberry Kiwi Delight smoothie, with a crispy, crunchy hayburger with a pretzel bun sat half eaten on a plate next to it.
"Hitch's hayburgers aren't that bad either. This pretzel bun is going to go right to the flanks, I'm telling you," Pipp agreed, taking another eager bite of her burger.
This 'lunch' could very easily be considered a somewhat early dinner, as after they had dug out Argyle Starshine's twenty or so boxes of documents and research on Ancient Equestria, it was already approaching 4:00 in the afternoon, and the sun would be setting within the next few hours.
"Alright," Hitch began, as he was the first to clean his plate and his smoothie. "I promise I'm not trying to get out of going through your dad's documents, but I do think it would be a good idea to go check on Sprout, see how he's been holding up while we've been gone gallivanting around Equestria."
"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," Sunny agreed as she continued eating.
Once the food was eaten and the dishes were done, everypony except Hitch gathered around the boxes and boxes of Argyle's research, while the sheriff left through the front door and began trotting down the hill towards Maretime Bay proper.
"It might be a good opportunity to restock on supplies," Sunny told the others as she opened the first box, passing out the binders, journals, and file folders that the archaeologist had gathered over the course of his career. "In case this earth pony crystal is nowhere close by."
"Well, as long as we can get a little bit of relaxation squeezed in there somewhere," Zipp commented. "It feels like we've been on the move non-stop for the past three days."
With his appetite sated for now, Hitch casually trotted down the coastal street of town. He expected a little more in the way of crowds for this time of day, as ponies were getting out of work, and either heading home or out to dinner, or to a movie with family and friends. But aside from not quite as many Maretimers out and about, things looked relatively peaceful and orderly.
"So, Deputy," Hitch said to himself as his hooves clacked down the road. "You actually managed to do it."
The stallion came up to the Maretime Bay Police Department, and saw that the light was on, so Sprout had followed protocol there too. Hopefully he hadn't left it on while he went to go get an early dinner. Pizza delivery to the department was free, after all. The sheriff walked up to the double doors, and pushed them open gently, the drawn shades flapping gently against the windows. He looked over, and saw Sprout sitting at his desk to the left.
The red stallion's eyes widened, and a look of... Relief...? Seemed to wash over the deputy's face for a second.
"Hitch... You're back..." Sprout said, pushing back off of the desk and leaning into his chair.
Hitch took a quick look around the office, and saw that pretty much everything was as he had left it, if not actually a little bit cleaner.
"Wow, Deputy. I'm impressed. You've really turned over a new leaf. We might have to talk about a raise," Hitch complimented, turning back to his friend after his quick, glancing inspection of the surroundings.
Sprout's expression didn't change, and he didn't even crack a smile at the thought of more bits in his pockets.
Then Hitch noticed the bottle of apple whiskey on the desk next to the open pizza box containing all but a quarter of a supreme pizza. The sheriff took in the details carefully and quickly; he remembered giving Sprout that bottle of whiskey for his 21st birthday last year, and to his knowledge, his deputy had stashed it in the bottom drawer and had never opened it. The cork had been popped now, though, but it looked like not even an inch of the contents had been poured into the tumbler glass with two ice cubes in it.
The pizza in the open box was hardly steaming hot, and the only reason Sprout's mane wasn't frazzled was because he had always been so meticulous about keeping it styled. Everything else about his features told Hitch that his friend wasn't anywhere close to drunk, but he had lost his appetite, and was clearly stressed and worried beyond belief about something.
"Deputy? Is everything okay? Things haven't been that crazy while we've been gone, have they?" Hitch asked, chuckling softly to try and lighten the mood. When his lighthearted tone did nothing to soften Sprout's features, he knew something was wrong, and it was likely serious.
"Sprout? What's wrong?"
Sprout took a sip of the apple bourbon and swallowed before returning his worried gaze to the sheriff.
"Hitch... Did you bring Sunny back with you?" he asked.
"Yeah, Sunny's at the lighthouse."
"Anypony else?"
"As a matter of fact, yeah, we did. The unicorn, Izzy, came back with us, and a couple of royal pegasus sisters from Zephyr Heights, Zipp and Pipp. I know it sounds crazy, Sprout, but things out there aren't what we've been led to believe all these years. The history books are all wrong."
Hitch saw his deputy visibly shudder.
"That's all the excuse she'll need..." he said in a half-whisper, his gaze falling to the calendar on his desk.
"Deputy, what's going on?" Hitch asked, a bit more sternly this time.
Sprout's eyes met Hitch's.
"Things are getting out of control, Hitch, and I don't know if I can stop it."
"What are you talking about? Things look fine out there. I mean, sure the dinner rush could be a little busier, but it's a slow evening. What's the matter?"
"CanterLogic is going on, Hitch, and I don't know what to do. Help me, Hitch. Help me talk some sense into her... Please."