In the New Generation movie, Canterlogic has only been around for 20 moons. So why does Hitch say he stops Sunny every year? Just how long has Hitch been stopping Sunny from sneaking into things? And why is it so important, not just for her sake, but for all of Equestria?
Here's a look at the backstory leading up to Sunny and Hitch's confrontation in the New Generation movie, and also on some of the mysteries surrounding Sunny's life in Maretime Bay in general.
(Marked AU because this takes things in a different direction than the Make Your Mark series.)
Chapters (5)
Well. Sunny is trespassing, and Hitch is just being nice by letting her go with a slap on the hoof. At some point, Canterlogic would stop being nice, and deal with Sunny themselves, and I doubt it would be pretty.
And Hitch would be unable to do anything precisely because of Sunny's prior record, and his constant warnings to stop, and her refusal to listen. Equestria is just racism talking methinks.
Before I read the story anyway, that's what I think.
oohhh i love this!! and especially love the dark mysterious shadowy figure [cough cough luna cough] that seems to be... abducting ponies? killing them? possessing them? all very interesting
MLP seems to have a very nebulous idea of what "moon" means in regards to length of time.
11708289
It means a year in pony language.
11708289
11708380
The writers literally said that they never explained how long a moon was because that way it'd be impossible to notice any plot-holes in the timeline.
Sometimes curiosity can be very tricky especially can kill a cat but sometimes we just had to look for the truth
I did remember reading a couple of stories about how hitch makes a promise to Argyle to help out sunny since she's pretty much alone in the world
Yeah it's a very difficult situation that I've always wondered about that
You be very surprised how Legends comes true especially back in the day when we found out about some Legends were pretty much true for an example of The Disappearance of the Crystal Empire the Sea Ponies the pillars and even fictional characters who is kind of real like Daring Do
11708401
That is true, but moons seem to have become synonymous with years according to the term’s usage in both FIM and Make Your Mark respectively. Stands to reason that moons are just a unit of measurement that indicates how pony society measures years.
I've always heard or read about Argyle passed away from sickness or suddenly disappeared and it's still sad
Okay so this is a pretty interesting story here about the origin of Sunny and hitch how they went through so it looks like it's just a normal day hitch and sunny are just hanging out and Argyle is basically doing some interesting business and everything and things will look like we're pretty normal but he looks like he was worried about something and I'm sure it's sunny and needs to keep an eye on her in case something happens and it looks like something did happen I wonder what it is
Seriously I wonder what really happened to him
Ouch but I guess that's a good way to remember even though that's incredibly painful
Yeah what the heck is going on did everybody forgot about him and what kind of spell is it I thought the magic is not around
Ohhhhhhh I should have known that she was behind this like crazy Alicorn lady
Okay this is really interesting and very intense so it looks like years has passed and apparently Argyle went missing and sunny needs to know the truth what was going on and what happened to him and hitch tried to reason with her that they will find the truth sooner or later but it looks like officer light was pretty impressed what hitch did and it looks like made him as Deputy which that's pretty cool and afterwards officer light want to talk with Phyllis about Argyle and she still has no idea about what happened to him and she really wants to make a plan to make a factory sooner or later and then later that night officer light was feeling something was not right and checking out the outskirt of town but then she met up with some mysterious Pony and I felt like I know who that is but she looks like she knew about Argyle and apparently she's going to do something to official light I wonder what she did to her
Oh dear she also disappeared as well wouldn't people be in a panic something is wrong
Aww their secret handshake that is kind of cute when I first saw that in the movie
A familiar face what the heck is she talking about
Whoa ok that was something so it looks like Phyllis finally open up her Factory called Canterlogic and she's even impressed about hitch how he deals with the situation ever since Sheriff light disappeared as well and it looks like he's going to be the sheriff and also making her son Sprout the deputy but also she wanted him to keep an eye on sunny since she's going to be a problematic so once that was done hitch talked with her and apparently showed him the lamp that's supposed to guide her father home if he ever comes back which it was still sad that she has to grow up like this without her father but at least she has hitch to help her later that night it looks like Phyllis had a dream and apparently a pony who kind of looks like official light gave her a warning that somebody will hurt them and that really spooked her but also gave her some inspiration to make the traps and even the slogan I mean at least that's she got the idea from
Try to be like a superhero I wonder if he ever got the idea from
So she's not freaking out that officer light is a little different fascinating
So it looks like it was a normal day and hitch is directing everybody making sure nobody is causing any trouble but then he saw sunny trying to sneak in and he stopped her at first it was okay but then things really got heated between them and having an argument but after that she went back home thinking about what happened and trying to apologize to Hitch tomorrow but then somebody visit her and apparently officer light was keeping an eye on her like a Watcher or something and both of them having a conversation about what happened and what she supposed to do and she just gave her whatever she has to do and make things right for her and with that she left but not before she visit hitch a little warning and try to say how sunny out which that was interesting and kind of scary
one of my favorite song of the movie
He'll be very surprised once he discover his other Talent which turns out to be like Fluttershy's which I was right about that
Oh wow we finally made it to the park where Izzy made it to the town and both her and sunny made an escape
A little shipping feel here aren't we which I think it's very cute I like those two together
Wow that was a pretty interesting story here so it looks like things did happen in the movie a normal day sunny is still trying to make a point about unicorns and Pegasus and hitch has to stop her before making mistakes and it looks like Izzy made it to town and causing havoc but thanks to Sunny both of them made their escape and hitch is reminiscing about their time together and even having a little moment so he made a decision to go after her either bring her back will help her somehow and basically this is the beginning of their Journey I got to say this was a pretty interesting take on I wonder there will be more something like this I guess that's another story either way keep up the good work
And of course Phyllis completely missed the point.
Well, I'm still confused. Why did Tempest kill Sunny's father and why was her body walking around without her? What's going on with people's memories? Why is most of the world gone? Why was it important to keep Sunny from sneaking in anywhere? What is the Scholarship? Nothing's been answered!
11708551
Not...really? Both FiM and G5 have used the term "moons" rather vaguely, without it ever being clear if it was really analogous to a year or not. FiM also used "years" as a measurement more than once, and generally very clearly as a measurement separately from "moons," so I highly doubt it ever meant the two to be synonymous, given the contexts it was generally used in. As for G5, there's insufficient evidence on just what is meant by "moons," and it only ever seems to come up solely in the context of referring back to the time of G4, such a long time ago that it doesn't matter whether its moons or years, it was a long time ago. And even then it uses "moons" specifically as if "years" isn't a large enough a measurement, or so it seems to me. Whatever the case, it probably only uses "moons" at all precisely because FiM did, in which case, whatever interpretation FiM used for "moons" probably applies to G5 too.
That all said, 11708401 is right, the writers never meant for there to be a specific answer to how long a "moon" is, because they wanted to keep it vague so to not have to worry about getting too technical and precise with their timeline. But since "years" is also used as a valid measurement, I again highly doubt "moons" are equal to "years."
11708811
To be fair, there is a bit of a hook there for future stories, and I also debated whether or not to reference the Princess of War in the story's summary and picture. But ultimately, the main goal here is, as the title suggests, to tell how Sunny and Hitch wound up at that scene where he says "every year I stop you". And why Sunny wound up in the position she was in -- all alone, as pony kind's last best hope for friendship. Plus also hint that you shouldn't judge mysterious, powerful ponies by appearance: what you might think would be the big baddy may actually turn out to be your best ally against an even worse problem. (Like Sprout with a Mussolini complex...)
11709175
I agree. I could maybe see an argument that "years" and "moons" are meant to be synonymous, maybe coming from parallel solar and lunar calendars somehow (like maybe earth ponies use solar, unicorns use lunar, and pegasi do whatever the hay they feel like). But just linguistically it feels wrong: "moon" as a unit of time suggests a month, or maybe a night. It's a stretch to claim that it's meant to be a year. (Though since ponies move the sun and moon and control the seasons in their world, you could in theory come up with a justification for almost any kind of calendar...)
11709183
If she's so helpful why'd she kill (?) Argyle, erase the sheriff, and is doing stuff to memories?
11709199
Who says she killed Argyle? He said there was nothing more for him to do. And rather than let him fade away as well, she took him away, while she still had the ability to do so. She removed a distraction, so Sunny would have to fall back on her own resources. Even though it wasn't something she liked doing, as she remarks while talking to Sunny later on.
The clues are there, you just have to put them together.
11709209
...Fade? Are any of these ponies real?
11709277
Along with the magic disappearing, so were artifacts and even ponies strongly associated with it. Another AU story, The Archivist, goes into this in more detail.
11709281
The summary also implied Hitch needed to keep Sunny from sneaking into Canterlogic for the fate of the world but I saw no sign of that
11709614
As their conversation in the final chapter notes, Hitch keeps Sunny from going too far, and she keeps him from becoming too serious. He's the reason she's in just the right place to meet Izzy, and set off to find the Unity crystals, stop Sprout, and bring back magic. That's pretty world-saving, right there. And it's because each of them needs the other that Hitch is determined to go after her and bring her back. "Arresting you! And... saving you. You know, a little of both. You're welcome!"
I really really liked this. I loved the mystery of the disappearing ponies and I loved how we delved deep into Sunny and Hitch's friendship and why it's so important :DDDD
11712476
Thanks so much! Sounds like you got this story exactly where it was coming from -- glad you enjoyed it!
Review time!
So, one thing that stood out to me was the lack of villains. Phyllis and Sheriff Light weren’t bad ponies, they’re just products of a system with a very messed up set of priorities. It’s good, it feels more realistic than them just being mustache-twirling bigots. Heck, even the dark, mysterious figure who abducts ponies and has mind-altering powers(?) also seems to want to reunite the tribes. Them seem almost Lovecraftain in a sense; it’s not just that we don’t know what they are or what they’re doing, but that it seems like we can’t . It’s a good contrast to the idealism of the story.
Speaking of which, the mystery! Obviously a lot is left unanswered, and I’m not sure if that’s because it’s supposed to be left up to interpretation or because of some future sequel. Some people might be put off by it, but I personally don’t mind it. And of course, the best part of this story by far is the relationship between Sunny and Hitch. You’ve really captured just how complex their relationship was at the beginning of the movie. Sunny knows that Hitch isn’t a bad pony, but he is maintaining something that is morally reprehensible. Hitch knows that Sunny will have no future is she doesn’t change her behavior, but would she really be happy that way? Both represent the thing that the other hates the most, and yet are the most important pony to each other. It makes you relived that the events of the movie let them finally have the friendship that they wanted.
Anyways, this was a very good story and if you ever write a sequel or anything else g5 related, I’d look forward to reading it. Please have a Derpy
11713535
Thanks much for reading, and for sharing your thoughts! As noted in a prior comment, there is intentionally some lead-in for potential future stories here, but the focus really is on Sunny and Hitch. It was fun trying to figure out how their relationship changes over time, and also figure out the instances in which Hitch "stops" Sunny from sneaking in somewhere, prior to the events in the movie. (I did try to make sure there was one such case for each "year" that passes if anyone's keeping score.) And yes, the Princess of War's motives here are somewhat mysterious and a little counter-intuitive, but that's intentional, and the subject of future stories. (She also appears in The Once and Future Princess and has a brief cameo at the end of The Archivist, so I'm not just being random -- there is a purpose here.)
Anyways, thanks much for the review! It's reassuring to know the story worked so well for you!
This is a nice story about the relationship between Sunny and Hitch.
Well, the magical memory wipe would explain why no one remembers Sunny s mom existing too