//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Present - Purpose // Story: Purpose // by Admiral Producer //------------------------------// Misty was awoken from her sleep by the sound of whimpering next to her, the dream she was currently having ripped away from her mind in an instant. She looked over to her right and saw Izzy softly crying, holding Señor Butterscotch close to her. Wanting to comfort her, she reached out with a hoof and gently tapped Izzy’s own, alerting the other unicorn to her presence. Izzy’s eyes opened and she looked at Misty with tears in her eyes. “Did I wake you…?” Izzy asked quietly. Misty nodded slowly. “Yeah. Don’t worry about it though, it…wasn’t a good dream anyway. What’s wrong?” Izzy took a shaky breath. “I dreamt about them, Misty…the day they abandoned me. I still remember it all…” “Your parents?” A short nod was all that she got in response. Misty felt horrible. She had essentially forced Izzy to relive all that trauma by asking her about what her upbringing was like. It didn’t help that for some reason that she couldn’t pinpoint, she had the same vision as well. It was a bit fuzzier for her, but she could’ve sworn that she remembered being carried in a silver earth pony mare’s hooves while the Bridlewood Forest was on fire. It felt strange to her that she and Izzy had the exact same dream at the same time, more so because Misty had never even thought about where she came from up until this point. Perhaps the lavender unicorn opening up about her past was what triggered the memory within both of them. “I’m sorry…” Misty apologized. “I…I-I shouldn’t’ve brought it up. But since we’re on the topic, I…I had the exact same dream too, Izzy.” Izzy seemed surprised at this. She sat up in bed and looked at her. “You had the same dream? But how? You weren’t there. You didn’t come from Bridlewood.” “I must’ve,” Misty replied, sitting up as well. “It’s a bit blurry for me, but…I was there…being held by your Mom as a foal…there was fire erupting all around us and…she and your father barely got me out alive.” “I…don’t understand…” Izzy shook her head, clearly confused. “The only foal that Mom was holding when she and Dad got chased out was my baby sister. Unless…” She shook her head, refusing to believe it. Misty shared the same feelings as her. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing either. It all made sense, but she wasn’t entirely sure just yet. “Izzy…your little sister. What was her name? Did it start with the letter M?” “I did overhear Mom rattling off some names from my room…” Izzy admitted. “Some names included…” She scratched her head as she tried to remember. “I think I heard ‘Marky’ and ‘Minty’…I’m not sure which one came first though. Why?” Misty took a deep breath as she braced to tell her. “Izzy, this is going to sound crazy, but…there’s something I have to tell you.” “What is it?” Misty threw the sheets off of her and climbed out of bed, motioning for Izzy to follow her. The other unicorn did so and trailed behind her until they were in the center of the room. Misty took a deep breath and looked at her squarely in the eyes. “I remember all of it now,” Misty told her. “Our last day together as a family, the way we all hugged each other, the mob chasing us as we fled Bridlewood, your Mom holding me tight all throughout the ordeal…I remember it, Izzy.” “Wait,” interrupted Izzy skeptically. “You can’t possibly remember all that. You couldn’t’ve been there with me unless you were…” She trailed off, her eyes widening with shock. “Yes, Izzy,” Misty said, smiling happily for the first time in a long time. She couldn’t believe it either, but it was true. It was really true! It all made sense to her now. Fate had guided her towards this moment. It was destiny. “We were all there together. I was the foal that your Mom gave life to. I’m…your little sister!” Izzy looked back at her in utter shock, eyes filling with tears. “I knew you looked familiar from the moment I met you…the color of your coat, the mane…but how?” “Our parents left me outside of Opaline’s castle after traveling for days,” Misty explained, the memories flooding back to her. “That was where she found me and took me in…she raised me until I was old enough to be sent on missions. My mission to spy on you ponies was when I met you. I understand now. Fate let me survive that cold winter night when I wasn’t meant to, so it could one day reunite me with you. We were destined to reunite, Izzy. I’m home.” Izzy wiped tears that were falling from her eyes. “I was feeling lonely since moving to Maretime Bay…I asked our gods for help one night.” She smiled, her first genuine smile in so long as well. “Misty…they sent me you!!” With this news, the two unicorns ran towards each other as fast as they could and enveloped one another in a warm embrace, refusing to let go. Izzy wrapped her hooves around Misty and sobbed into her shoulder, overwhelmed with emotion upon realizing that the little sister she lost had been reunited with her the whole time, and she just didn’t know it. Misty shared in the moment as well. She wanted it to last forever and she didn’t want it to end. It was the first moment of pure happiness that she had experienced ever since Sunny’s betrayal. It was as if for once, all of the terrible events that had transpired throughout her entire life made sense and had led her to this moment. Light began to shine in through the windows as the Sun began to rise above the horizon. The sunlight illuminated them both and burned away the darkness that had been with them the whole night. It lit up the bedroom with its gentle rays and cast a divine spotlight on the two sisters, giving their figures an almost ethereal look if seen from a distance. It was a magical moment. The sunlight was a representation of all their personal demons being banished in this one moment. It didn’t matter what happened next. They were together, they could take on anything. In fact, it was said that if you looked closely enough at the two unicorns embracing in the holy light, you could almost make out the transparent spirits of Moon Watcher and Star Collector, the forbidden lovers, doing the exact same thing, standing over their children while doing so like watchful guardians. The door then opened and Pipp walked through, intending to go back to bed. However, she stopped in her tracks upon seeing Misty and Izzy hugging each other. In her mind, she knew that she had most definitely missed something important, but she didn’t intend to pry just yet. She just watched them for a minute with tears in her eyes. Not even for a moment did she think to get her phone out and record, which would’ve been her natural instinct. This wasn’t content, and she knew this. This was a real moment to actually experience and live through. They deserved their space. They deserved to have each other’s company. Meanwhile, Hitch was watching the news with Grandma Figgy in the cottage. It was close to dawn and the reporters were detailing the latest attack that had befallen a previously unknown pony civilization by Sunny and Opaline. It was well known by this point that other towns did lie beyond Maretime Bay, Bridlewood, and Zephyr Heights, but not much was known about them as these suburban offshoots mainly kept to themselves. When magic returned, various attempts were made to negotiate alliances, but the local chiefs rejected each one as they preferred isolationism. However, now it seemed that the constant attacks were drafting these villages into war as the videos showed small armies of unicorns and earth ponies being ruthlessly slaughtered in droves by the two alicorns. Hitch watched with deep concern as the grainy footage kept cutting to Opaline tearing ponies to pieces with just a simple blast. She was unstoppable, her power and lust for vengeance unmatched. Grandma Figgy turned towards her grandson. “We might want to change the channel now, Hitchie. Seems like this could be too upsetting for you.” Hitch shook his head. “I’m the sheriff, it’s my job to stay informed, no matter how I may be feeling.” “Yes,” Dazzle Feather spoke gravely. “The town of New Trottingham fought bravely. But they were no match for the might of the two alicorns. Chief Steelhead was reported dead as of a couple minutes ago, some reports say that he was found in a smoldering heap underneath a pile of rubble. Now whether or not Opaline or Sunny caused this was unknown, but it seems likely to be the work of the latter considering she was said to be at the scene when the hut collapsed.” It was then that the footage cut to a clear view of Sunny in her alicorn form in the midst of all the chaos pushing the collapsing hut on top of the wounded earth pony stallion, and Hitch’s blood ran cold. His eyes widened as he watched this. He was not used to his childhood friend being this ruthless. Not even when she destroyed the Crystals did she show such callous disregard for the life of a fellow pony. Her face was one of no emotion. She carried out Opaline’s orders like it was just another smoothie order. She showed no hesitation, no signs of stopping. Her eyes did not reflect any empathy, nor did it show any resemblance to the happy and positive pony she once was. The hut fell on top of Steelhead, exploding into a massive burst of flames that she just watched without moving an inch. It was like she had no choice in the matter, but she didn’t say a word to try and get out of it either. “Oh Sunny…” Hitch whispered, shivering. “What have you done…?” “If Argyle were to see her now,” Grandma Figgy replied, shaking her head. “He’d be so disappointed. It’s in times like these where I’m glad that he’s not around to witness the heartless monster his own daughter has become.” Hitch turned towards her. “It’s more than that. I…don’t even recognize her like that. My Sunny would never…intentionally kill anypony.” “Sometimes ponies change for the worse,” Grandma Figgy told him. “And it’s up to us to figure out how we reconcile that.” She began to walk away before being stopped by Hitch. “Grandma,” he called after her. When she turned around, he continued. “I’m afraid I haven’t been…completely honest with you. There’s something else that’s been gnawing at me too, and it has to do with…what Sunny did.” Grandma Figgy looked confused. “Well aside from the obvious, that being magic disappearing, she couldn’t’ve caused anything else to happen…could she?” Hitch sighed. “Do you remember…when I came to you with my calculations…I thought Sunny’s betrayal would start a chain reaction that would…destroy all of Equestria?” Grandma Figgy nodded solemnly. “I remember it well. What of it?” Hitch stared back at her, a haunted look in his eyes as the memories began flooding back to him in droves. He couldn’t deny it any longer and the more he denied the truth, the more it ate away at him. He had to be honest with himself. He was scared. “I believe she did…” he said fearfully, his voice trembling with terror. Grandma Figgy walked away from him, but Hitch couldn’t hear her. All he could hear was the relentless stomping of hooves in his head that blocked out all rational thought. The words of Dazzle Feather from the television screen began to be jumbled up in his mind, becoming an incoherent mess that he could barely detect. His thoughts began to spiral out of control and the painful memories he had been trying to suppress flashed one after the other in quick succession. He saw himself stepping in a pool of Sunny’s blood as he stopped at her bedside to comfort her, before that was followed up with the image of the Crystals on the floor, shattered into a million pieces beyond repair. Pegasi began to drop out of the sky in droves, some landing on the floor headfirst and breaking their skulls. He stared into nothingness as the images just kept flashing through his mind. Suddenly, he was taken back to that infamous speech he gave, where the crowd ganged up on Zipp and Pipp, who barely managed to escape in time. He could still see the savage anger on their faces and the way they tore into the white pegasus, bashing her head hard against the ground and punching her multiple times across her body, before sending a blow directly through her chest and knocking the wind out of her. He could still see the way her body was bleeding all over and how they tossed her aside like a rag doll once they were done with her. He remembered pleading desperately for them to stop all throughout it all, but his words fell on deaf ears. The scene shifted to Bridlewood slowly burning to the ground in flames as screaming residents ran for their lives into the forest before the scene shifted again to Sunny brandishing a sword and decapitating Onyx’s head off, showing it soon afterward to a distraught Alphabittle. The images then turned into premonitions as he saw Sunny mourning over the drained, lifeless body of Sparky laying discarded in the corner of Opaline’s Castle. The last image he saw was of Opaline and Sunny standing on the top of their newly-created castle balcony, staring down at a large crowd of loyal ponies chanting their names and holding banners with their cutie marks in the center. A war in their name. He then shut his eyes, unable to bear the pain any longer. That morning, Misty walked through the town square, finally feeling good about getting out of the Brighthouse. Pipp has assured her that she would be fine, and the unicorn felt like taking a casual stroll anyways. It was the first sunny day that Maretime Bay had seen since magic died, and she wanted to maximize it before the clouds eventually took over once more. She skipped through the sidewalk, humming happily to herself. Reuniting with Izzy the previous night had done wonders in helping to relieve the heavy burden she carried on herself. As she walked through the Maretime Bay streets, an intriguing sight to her right caught the corner of her eye. It was of a light purple earth pony filly with a seagreen mane and tail complete with a pink bow, selling smoothies to a group of interested customers inside Sunny’s smoothie cart. Misty instantly recognized the girl as Seashell, one of Pipp’s most devoted fans that made up the Pippsqueaks. She had no idea that somepony had taken over Sunny’s business, let alone a pony so young, so she decided to check out the stand. She walked over to it and got in line, waiting patiently until the other ponies had left before taking a step forward until she was face to face with the smiling filly. “Good morning, Misty!!” Seashell greeted cheerfully. “What can I get you today? We got pineapple, regular, or…whatever you’d like!” Her expression changed to one of concern as she looked around the area. “Let’s see, where did I put that menu? Oh! There it is!” Her grin instantly returned upon snatching up the smoothie menu from the back counter and walking back over to explain each of the items. “Oh, don’t worry,” Misty told her, shaking her head. “I’m not thirsty. I’m just wondering how you were able to buy out Sunny’s business. She told me that she only got to sell smoothies when she was at least twice your age.” “To tell you the truth,” Seashell replied, her smile fading. “I’m not really selling them. And…I’m not really allowed to be in here anyway. I’m just trying to give back to the community like she did. If Daddy were to find out I was hijacking somepony else’s smoothie cart, he’d kill me.” “So…you’re not selling them? You’re just…giving them away for free?” Misty asked, confused. Seashell nodded. “Mhm! I know that a lot of ponies don’t have the time for fun, so I’m trying to ease their worries a bit by not having them worry about paying for these. And Sunny’s cart was sitting dormant, so it beats setting up my own stand by all means! Plus, I kinda needed something to do after…” She trailed off, looking down in sadness. Misty understood, her heart breaking more and more for the poor girl. “After Glory and Peach Fizz left.” Seashell’s silence was all she needed for an answer. “I’m sorry.” “It’s okay,” Seashell replied, her tone more upbeat. “One thing Sunny was really good at was making the most out of a bad situation. And in these times, I’m sure we could all afford to be more like her.” “I’m not sure anypony else feels the same way though,” Misty said. “You seem to be the only pony doing something to combat the bad mood around here.” “Well somepony’s gotta do it,” answered Seashell. “And if nopony else is going to take the first step and try to change things around here, then I don’t see why I can’t. Giving things to other ponies makes them smile, and in turn, they become your friends!” “I wish life was that simple, Seashell,” Misty countered glumly. “I’m not sure everything can be solved just like that. You make it sound so easy.” “Well you never know until you try, Misty,” Seashell encouraged her, reaching out with her hoof. “I may be too young to fully understand how the world works, but one thing I can do is offer something nice to others to distract them from their hard days. Like these smoothies! Here, I’ll give you two. It’s the Fellow-Pony-With-No-Cutie-Mark-Double Deal!” Misty laughed. “Wow! Not sure if I can say that ten times fast! Thank you so much, Seashell!” “No problem! So what’ll it be?” “Well in that case, I think I’ll take a pearnana deluxe and her personal favorite, the Friendship Smoothie!” Seashell’s eyes lit up with excitement. “That’s the best order I’ve been given all day!! Coming right up!” She went into the back in order to to process the smoothies. It was at this point that more ponies were beginning to take notice of Seashell’s fledgling free smoothie empire and started to get in line, salivating at the prospect of getting some for themselves. The queue increased until it stretched a total of three blocks, the whole town uniting over their shared love of smoothies and soft drinks. Misty could not believe her eyes. Seashell’s kindness and generosity was bringing the community together once again. The ponies in line were smiling widely, casually chatting along with one another, and seemed actually invested in the day. It seemed like the Maretime Bay of old was back for but the most fleeting of moments. One pony taking the first step can bring together a whole nation. Misty realized mentally. She suddenly realized why Sunny chose making smoothies as a career choice. It seemed like not the most profitable venture on the surface, but the undeniable fact was that giving away to those in need was what really brought ponies together and inspired them to be better. Sunny had done that, and now other ponies were picking up where she had left off. Her impact had not been lost on them. Seashell returned with the two smoothies, to which Misty thanked her and went on her way. The whole time she was walking back to the Brighthouse, she couldn’t help but think of the sweet filly and how she was taking the initiative when nopony else was. Her kindness alone was enough to get the town buzzing again. It made Misty wonder what she was doing, sitting around and feeling sorry for herself. Yes, she blamed herself for what happened, yet Seashell did the same and still found the courage to move past her grief and forge a bond with the ponies around her in an attempt to bring them back together. And if a filly like Seashell at so young of an age could possess the maturity to deal with her problems in a positive way, then why couldn’t she? The question still remained on her mind the whole way home and she couldn’t shake it. Her friends were all either emotional wrecks or near death. She was the only one who could provide hope to them. When she arrived at the Brighthouse, she saw Hitch standing alone in the main room, clutching Sparky’s blanket and holding it close to him. “Hitch?” Misty called out, getting his attention. Hitch turned to look at her, glaring upon seeing her face. “What do you want now?! Go away!” “I brought home two smoothies,” Misty explained. “I know Sunny’s gone, but Seashell’s managing the place now. She gave me these for free. Hopefully they’ll make you feel better.” She handed them over to him. Hitch took them in his hooves and looked at them sadly before looking back at her. “Thanks, Misty. That was…very nice of you.” “You’re welcome. Do you know where Pipp is?” The sheriff pointed towards the ramp. “Upstairs with Zipp. She hasn’t slept all night. Now please leave me alone.” Misty nodded. “Of course.” She headed up the ramp towards the bedrooms once more, intending to tell Pipp about what she experienced that day. Zipp’s eyes opened. Pipp looked up from the ground upon feeling the sheets move. To her astonishment and relief, she watched as her older sister slowly sat up in bed, removed the breathing tube from her mouth with her free hoof, and looked around the room in confusion. She couldn’t believe it. She blinked twice in order to make sure that she wasn’t imagining what was in front of her. The impossible had come true. Despite everything the doctors had said for weeks, a miraculous feat had occurred. Fate had intervened and saved her life. It was a miracle. Without a shadow of a doubt, Zipp was alive and well. “Z-Zipp?” Pipp stammered, her eyes wide in shock. “Y-you’re alive!” “Pipp, is that you?” Zipp looked down at her from the top of the recovery bed. “Where am I? I was in the town square last I remember. Why’s there an IV in my hoof?” Without answering the question, Pipp climbed on top of the bed as fast as she could and wrapped her sister in a massive bearhug. All the emotions she had been building up rushed to the surface and she sobbed into her shoulder uncontrollably, her grip getting tighter as she did so. Zipp gently pushed Pipp off of her. “Whoa whoa whoa, steady there, sis. Everything still hurts, you know.” She smiled. “How much did I miss?” “Um, what?!” Pipp demanded indignantly. “You mean to tell me that the first thing that you say once you wake up from a two-week long trauma-induced coma is ‘How much did I miss?’ No ‘I hope you weren’t worried about me’ or ‘Are you okay’ or anything like that?!” “I guess that is important too,” Zipp admitted sheepishly. “You know me, I always want to assess what’s going on before anything else. But alright. I suppose I was being a little insensitive there, sorry. Were you really that worried about me, Pipp?” “I mean, yeah!!” Pipp replied. “We did constant checkups, the doctor said you were gonna die multiple times, they were going to take you off life support, they couldn’t treat your injuries, I thought you were going to die, Zipp!!” Zipp seemed to realize the gravity of the situation judging by her surprised reaction. “Oh…my. But I was only out for 30 minutes, right? I remember that my head was bashed against the pavement and that’s when I blanked out. It’s been two full weeks?!” Pipp nodded. “Trust me, you’ve missed out on a lot. Can you walk?” “Well, my hooves are numb from the lack of movement,” Zipp replied. “And there’s this stupid IV in my hoof. Could you help with that?” “But Doctor Redcross will skin me alive if I-“ Pipp groaned, smiling playfully. “Ugh, fine. For you. What are sisters for?” In truth, she was so relieved to see that Zipp had survived that she didn’t care if she was violating any medical procedures. Any scolding would be worth it with her sister back by her side again. She climbed up the side of the bed and began gently tugging at the tube with her mouth until it slid off. She covered the bleeding with her hooves and grabbed a first aid kit from the top of one of the operating machines left behind. She then proceeded to wrap the bandage around the wound until it was fully covered. Zipp got down from the bed and stood on all four hooves, wobbling a little as she did so. “Gonna have to get used to not flying again. Where’s Misty? I need to talk to her. Poor girl’s probably blaming herself for everything.” “She is,” Pipp answered. “She…hasn’t quite been herself lately. I think seeing you will lift a major burden off of her.” Just then, the door burst open and none other than Misty ran in. She skidded to a halt upon seeing Zipp up and about, her mouth dropping open in utter bewilderment. She couldn’t believe her eyes. “Hey, Misty.” Zipp greeted her. “‘Miss me?” Misty ran over and hugged her tight as well, while trying to be as careful as possible while doing so. Never she been so happy to see somepony before in her entire life. They had all prepared for the worst, but despite everything, the plucky detective had survived her fatal encounter with the mob and was standing before them alive and well. Once Misty let go, Zipp faced them both. “I feel like I’ve missed out on way too much. Can you both fill me in on the details? Don’t worry, I can take it.” Pipp took a deep breath. “Right. So magic died, the ponies are all divided again, Opaline is on the loose, Sunny really has turned evil, Equestria is falling apart before our very eyes, Misty here has been blaming herself for everything that’s gone wrong, including what happened to you, Hitch has resorted to alcoholism and he got Izzy angry, so now the two won’t even talk with one another now, and…we’re pretty much lost on what to do.” Zipp was at a loss for words for a full thirty seconds before she regained her composure. Her expression was one of pure disbelief. “Wow.” “Also, I got some smoothies from Seashell.” Misty offered in an attempt to lighten the mood. Pipp turned towards her. “Wait, Seashell owns Sunny’s smoothie shop now? That’s news to me, especially since she’s so young.” “Well she doesn’t really own it, per se,” Misty corrected her. “It’s…more so she’s using it as a means to make ponies feel better and give back to the community like Sunny did.” “So it’s essentially illegal ownership then.” Zipp deadpanned. “Well…yes,” Misty agreed. “But Sunny isn’t here, is she? What she’s done is something that so many of us haven’t. She showed me that you can either choose to let a bad situation consume you, or you can make the most of out of it. A simple act of kindness can unite a whole nation.” “So what are you suggesting we do?” Zipp asked. “I can tell by that tone of voice, you have something up your sleeve. What is it?” “We need everypony in the same room,” Misty instructed them. “I have an idea, but you all have to go along with it.” It took a while to gather up Hitch and Izzy as the latter was hiding out in the storage closet by herself and the former didn’t want anypony’s company, but they were eventually coaxed out once told that Zipp was alive. The four ponies gathered in the main room of the Crystal Brighthouse. Hitch seemed exhausted from the lack of sleep, yet he still stood at attention despite that. Izzy refused to make any sort of eye contact with him whatsoever, clearly still mad at him for threatening to press charges against Misty the previous night. Misty stood in front of her friends, pacing back and forth as she told them what she had been through earlier that day. She knew that they were all on edge and not in the best mood for a discussion like this, but she felt like it was important. She knew in her heart that they could do more for the ponies around them and she was going to tell them whether they wanted to hear it or not. “Seashell was able to bring an entire community together by herself,” Misty explained. “just by being selfless and having a kind heart. She went through the loss of two best friends and still found the courage to go on. That’s what we should’ve been doing from the start. We should’ve been setting an example for others, inspiring them.” “What good would that do?” Hitch questioned. “We’re not Sunny. We’re not naturally gifted orators like her. Nopony can inspire hope like she can.” “I second that,” Zipp agreed. “We bet it all on her. Everypony took a leap of faith that night and trusted her implicitly. Look at what happened. Whatever chance we might’ve had of stopping Opaline died with her betrayal.” “I know,” Misty replied. “She meant everything to everyone, certainly a lot more than anypony else in the world. But we’re not nothing without her. We can’t let our grief over her consume us.” “Misty, what are our options?!” Pipp demanded. “The last time we tried doing something, we neglected Sunny to the point where she turned on us. Everywhere we go, we just make things worse!” “That’s not true!” Misty argued. “Pipp, you guys brought back magic! You all helped earth ponies manage theirs, and your actions brought ponies together! If anypony can inspire hope within the citizens of Maretime Bay again, it’s us!” “Misty…” Izzy stepped forward cautiously. “I admire your determination, but…what are we in comparison to them? We couldn’t even save our own friend, let alone an entire nation. We can’t do anything. And we’re certainly not shining examples to the community, not anymore.” Misty turned towards her. “We can either let what Sunny did consume us whole, or we can use what she taught us to inspire others in this time. We can do these things, because she was everypony’s hero. She taught us so much.” Hitch nodded slowly. “I miss her. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about what she would be saying to me right now if she was here. It’s part of the reason why I blamed you for everything…even though I know I shouldn’t’ve.” “I know you miss him. And Seashell did tell me that the one thing Sunny was good at was making the best out of a bad situation,” Misty told him, sighing deeply. Her expression then changed from one of simple determination to solid conviction. She knew full well what she was about to say would shock them, but she didn’t care. “I can let my past define me, or I can take the first step.” The others gasped. “Misty, no!” Izzy cried. “You can’t be thinking what I think you’re thinking,” Zipp added, shaking her head, her voice trembling with fear. “You’re not-“ “We’re the last hope that Equestria has!” Misty interrupted sternly, silencing the pegasus instantly. She then turned towards Hitch, staring him directly in the eyes. “Call it in.” Upon realizing what she was asking him to do, he gulped. “…a hero,” Hitch spoke to the assembled crowd of ponies in front of the sheriff’s station. He stood behind his podium, trying his best to invoke authority to the scared populace. Misty and Zipp were standing right next to him for support. On the walls was a large portrait of Sunny Starscout that hung down from above. “Not the hero we deserved, but the hero we needed. She was also…my childhood friend.” The crowd let out a large gasp of shock as they took this in. Many began to shout and scream at him in anger, cursing him for once allying himself with such a criminal. That was the exact reaction that he and his friends were hoping for, as it was in the following sentence that he announced his official resignation from office. He was giving up his position as sheriff in order to go after Sunny. Soon after the speech, his office was stormed by an angry group of ponies who hated the orange earth pony mare. They tore down all of his awards and ripped any calendars with his picture on it to shreds. Within hours, he was officially exiled in all but law from the town. Though he was sad about it, Misty let him know that this was necessary. This needed to happen. The townsponies needed to see a leader that was willing to lose everything he loved in order to fight for what he believed in. In her eyes, the truth wasn’t enough. Sometimes, ponies needed more. In these trying times, they deserved to have their faith in somepony else rewarded. His financial assets were ceased and burned in a bonfire that night. The ponies danced and paraded around it while holding up protest signs with Sunny’s face crossed out. While the town went mad, Izzy managed to recruit Windy and Jazz in order to help with refueling the Marestream in order to prepare it for the mission. As they worked tirelessly on getting it restored to proper order, Hitch stood outside with Misty, sadly watching the town he grew up in descend into madness. She was there with him the whole time, assuring him that everything would be okay in the end. It was then that they were greeted by an unusual visitor. “Hey, what are you doing, Hitch?!” came the voice of none other than Sprout Cloverleaf. The red stallion came running up the hill towards the front of the Brighthouse. He had clearly had a close encounter with them as cuts and scratches were all over his body. “What’s up with you?! I thought you’d be trying to calm that mob, not fuel it!” “I’m leaving, Sprout.” Hitch replied tiredly. “I’ve resigned.” Sprout was flabbergasted. “But how-I-what?! Resigned?! This isn’t like you!” Hitch smiled sadly. “I know you’re gonna miss me constantly ordering you around near the construction site, but this is for the best.” “We’re gonna get her back, Sprout,” Misty clarified. “The world needs Sunny, and so do we.” Windy emerged from the inside of the Marestream. “Alright, the ship is patched and will be ready to fly by morning.” “Thanks, Windy.” Misty thanked her politely. “We couldn’t’ve done it without you two.” She turned back towards Sprout. “This is what must be done. For her sake. Because she is our friend… …A beacon of hope…Sunny is out there somewhere… …and it’s time to bring her home…”