//------------------------------//
// One Word 
// Story: Dragon Family 
// by Flamewarrior02 
//------------------------------//

"All right, Sparky. Let's go through it one more time." Hitch said as he held five photos in his hooves while sitting in front of his son, who was currently playing with his new dragon plushie brother.

After a wild, cake monster filled birthday yesterday, or just Thursday in Maretime Bay, Hitch, riding off the excitement from hearing Sparky call him dad for the first time, had been trying to teach the baby dragon how the same the names of the rest of their friends. 

For the most part, it had been successful with Sparky saying their names without fail, as shown when Hitch showed him a picture of Sunny. "Now who is this?" Hitch asked.

The young dragon looked at the card and happily answered "Suny!"

Hitch nodded, letting his son know he got it right, before moving onto the next photo. "Izy!" Then the next. "Pip!" And the next. "Misi!" 

"Eh, it's Misty, but close enough." Hitch said before he looked at the last photo he had. For whatever reason, this seemed to be the one Sparky struggled with the most. "All right, Sparky, last one." He said as he showed him the photo of Zipp. "Who is she?"

Seeing the picture of the pegasus, Sparky hopped onto his feet and excitedly shouted. "Mama!"

Hearing that made Hitch have to suppress a groan to not accidentally upset his son. "No, it's Zipp. ZIPP. Can you say that?" He asked Sparky after some emphasis.

"Zip." Sparky repeated.

"OK, good. I think that's enough for today." Hitch said as he stashed majority of the photos away, only keeping out the one with Zipp on it, while Sparky went back to playing with his plushie brother.  The stallion looked at the photo with interest and confusion as the question repeated itself in his head.

Why was Sparky calling Zipp his mother? 

That was something Hitch was struggling to find an answer to. Sure, he and Zipp did spend a lot of time together, but so did the rest of the girls. It wasn't like he only spent time alone with Zipp, baring a few exceptions such as the Bridlewoodstock festival. 

Yeah, they were problem solving pros, but was really just it, right? They were partners in the teamwork sense and nothing else. 

Or were they? Hitch had to admit, as rude as it might sound, he did enjoy spending time with Zipp over the rest of their friends individually. Not just when they worked together, like when finding Eggmund, but also when they just spent time having fun together.  

Looking more at the picture, there was also the fact of her appearance to take into account. All of his friends were pretty in their own way, but Zipp.....Zipp was beautiful with a capital B. 

From her appearance, to her personality, to that wonderful smile of hers, it all blended together to make the perfect pony.

Still, Him and Zipp? They were just good friends that worked well together, enjoyed each others company and absolutely nothing else. Sparky was probably just confused. He was still only a baby learning to talk after all. As long as he didn't say it to Zipp's face, they should be fine.

Not realizing he had been zoning out, his thoughts were interrupted when the bell above the station doors rang, altering him to somepony entering the station. Placing the photo down and turning around, he saw that it was, ironically, Zipp who had came in. "Hey, Hitch." She greeted him with a smile. 

"Hey, Zipp." Hitch greeted her back.

Sparky looked up from his cuddling and saw who was at the door. Before Hitch could stop him, the baby dragon's eyes widened in excitement and he ran over to the pegasus, shouting. "Mama!" Before leaping right at her.

"Huh?" Zipp said in surprise before catching the youngster in her hooves. Thinking that her ears were playing tricks on her, she looked down at the dragon she was holding and asked. “What did you say, Sparky?”

“Mama.” Sparky repeated as he nuzzled into the pegasus.

Shifting her glance towards Hitch for a possible explanation, Zipp saw the look of absolute terror on his face. The one thing he didn’t want to happen just happened, and he had no idea on how to repair the damage. So he did what anypony would do in this situation and started blurting out apologies as fast as his brain could conjure up words. “Zipp, I am so sorry! I’ve been trying to each Sparky your names, and he keeps on calling you his mom for whatever reason! I swear I’ve been trying to get him to stop!” He practically pleaded.

Zipp however wasn't listening to Hitch and instead looked back down at Sparky, a blush covering her white cheeks. Truth be told, she was almost as freaked out as Hitch was right now. She had no idea how to respond to what Sparky called her. 

She did have an unmistakable crush on the sheriff. When exactly it started was hard to pinpoint, but the pegasus did know for sure that her crush was what drove her to Hitch so many times. She had teased him many times, but never seemed to go beyond that, despite knowing full well she liked him more than just a friend and work partner. 

Zipp had to ask herself, what was honestly holding her back? Because to her it looked like there was nothing in her way.

And after what Sparky had done, it seemed she had found an easy route to take.

Zipp chuckled and tickled the baby dragon's stomach with her free foreleg, much to his enjoyment. "Hehe. Quite the smart kid you've been raising here, Sheriff." She told the stallion.

Glancing up from his begging position, Hitch looked at the blushing mare holding his son. "Huh?"

Zipp couldn't help but roll her eyes with a smile on her face. Hitch's goofy dorkiness was just another thing that drove her to him. Seeing that he wasn't able to connect the dots himself, she decided to give him a helping hoof. "Really, Hitch? If Sparky is already putting it together, I'd think you also should get it by now. I know I'm the sneakiest of the group, but even I have my moments I lack subtlety." 

"Huh?" Hitch said, either still not getting it or having a hard time believing what Zipp was implying. 

Deciding she needed to be more direct than ever, Zipp placed down Sparky and walked over to Hitch before wrapping her forehooves around him and pulled him close, blushes covering both of their faces. "Hitch, let's stop dancing around this, all right? I like you. I know you like me. We have honestly nothing holding us back. I say it's time we finally start becoming something more. What about you?"

Now Hitch had no excuse to play dumb and oblivious. Zipp had basically proposed a relationship to him, and the ball was very much in his court now.

As the pegasus looked at him expectantly, Hitch's mind raced with how he was supposed to answer. While to some the answer should be obvious, to him it was more complicated than that. He had constantly been telling himself that him and Zipp were only friends and nothing beyond that. Becoming lovers would be a huge change in their relationship.

However, he then felt Sparky tugging at his leg. Looking down, he saw his son holding up a drawing of the three of them with hopeful eyes. Seeing that drawing and the look his son was giving him seemed to give Hitch the confidence to answer appropriately to the question. 

He looked directly into Zipp's blue eyes and said. "Sure. I would love to be your coltfriend, Zipp."

Zipp's smile widened before she pulled Hitch into a massive hug and nuzzled him, a gesture her now lover was surprised by but was able to return.

When they parted, Zipp had a mischievous look on her face and jokingly said. "You know, if we are going to both be Sparky's parents, that does mean that we will be able to give him his wish of a brother, or maybe sister, at some point." She shook her flank to emphasize what she meant and was rewarded by Hitch becoming a blabbering, blushing mess at the implication.

"I-uh-I-uh-I mean-uh-me and you-uh-uh-uh." The poor stallion struggled to say.

Zipp laughed at a job well done, but decided she had enough fun for now. She looked into Hitch's golden eyes and said. "Hitch?"

"Uh, yeah?" Hitch replied.

"Just shut up and kiss me." The pegasus mare told him directly before she leaned in, expecting him to do the same.

After overcoming the initial shock from the request, Hitch complied and the two of them engaged in their first kiss. It was the most magical, most exciting feeling that either of them have ever faced as the world around them faded to nothing and all they registered at the pony they were locking lips with. 

They would've stayed like that forever if they could, but they were forced to separate. Not by a lack of air, but by Sparky coming in between them, saying happily. "Dada! Mama!" While hugging his parent's snouts.

Blushing at what had happened, the new couple both looked at each other and laughed before they nuzzled each other and their son.

What neither of them knew was that watching from a window were the rest of their friends. "FINALLY!" Sunny shouted. "Geez, I know Hitch can be an idiot at times, but this was just becoming painful to watch."

"I know! I felt like I was going to burst." Izzy agreed before she took a balloon from the party yesterday and popped it with her horn before saying. "Like that."

"I told them they would be the cutest little dragon family." Pipp said, somehow able to resist the urge to film or take a picture of the lovebirds.

"It is nice to see that Sparky now does have a mother." Misty said. "Might not have been exactly what he wished for, but I'd say that's a birthday present that won't ever be topped."

While Sunny nodded in agreement, Pipp and Izzy stared at Misty. "Is that a challenge?" Izzy asked.

"As our Sparky's new aunt, I'll have you know that I intend to make sure he gets the best possible gifts every birthday." Pipp declared.

"No, no, no, no! That's not what I meant!" Misty tried to tell them, but sighed as she knew it was pointless while Sunny couldn't help but laugh. 

One thing was certain for all six ponies. One way or another, their lives were going to get a lot more exciting and have a lot more Thursdays in the future.