Chapter 11
At 7 o'clock, Hitch and Sprout closed the station. Pipp gave Sprout a friendly farewell, and the prejudiced deputy hesitated before giving her an awkward wave as he headed to his mother's house. After saying farewell, the newlyweds decided to see Sunny to get smoothies before going to Hitch's house for dinner.
When Hitch and Pipp got to Sunny's stand, they saw her getting ready to close up until she saw them coming. Sunny smiled and lifted the metal shade back up. At the same time, Izzy and Zipp were walking over from the direction of Sunny's lighthouse. Finally, Zoom and Thunder came, making sure it didn't look like they were following Hitch and Pipp.
"Evening, Mr. and Mrs. Sheriff," Izzy chirped.
It took a moment for Pipp to get the joke before she giggled, covering her mouth with her hoof.
"Hi, Izzy," she said. "Did you two have fun?"
Izzy blew a raspberry and rolled her eyes as though the answer was obvious.
"Only, like the best time ever!" she exclaimed. "I showed Zipp every single part of Maritime Bay from top to bottom except for the sheriff's station so that Hitch and Pipp could continue spending time together. Zipp even had a lot of fun when I showed her all my unicycling stuff back at home."
"Is that right, Zipp?" Pipp asked.
"Shockingly, yes," Zipp said. "I was initially uncomfortable when she kept showing me where she gets glitter and all the various places where she finds stuff for her projects, but the stuff she creates at the lighthouse is pretty neat. I think you'd really like them, Pipp."
"Really? Well, I totally got to check it out if you recommend it," Pipp said. "Anyway, Sunny, can we trouble you for more smoothies?"
"Absolutely," Sunny chirped. "Although, if you're hoping to get what you got last time, I'm afraid I'm fresh out of oranges and kiwi."
"Since when are you out of oranges and kiwi?" Hitch asked.
"Since ponies found out Princess Pipp Trailblazer is the new gulpathon champion, and that was her drink of choice," Sunny said.
"Aw. And I was hoping to enjoy an orange and kiwi smoothie without chugging it all down," Pipp whined. "It's just like when my favorite taco place in Zephyr Heights was out of my favorite quesadillas because everypony found out about it."
"Hehe. Yeah, I remember that. I think they named that dish after you," Zipp said.
"I wouldn't be surprised," Pipp said. "But enough about that. What else do you got, Sunny? Any recommendations?"
"Hmmm. Well, the Grape Strawberry Splash is a classic, and Blueberry Plum Blast is the best seller," Sunny said. "Actually, I recently created a new flavor called Strawberry Razzle."
"Ooo, Strawberry Razzle. Now, that sounds tasty," Pipp set. "I'll have a large one of that, please."
"Sure thing," Sunny said. "And I assume the usual again, Hitch?"
"You got it," Hitch said.
With a smile, Sunny went inside to make the smoothies. As Hitch and Pipp waited, Zipp glanced at Izzy, who watched Sunny in hopes of placing an order as soon as Hitch paid. Zipp loudly cleared her throat, catching Zoom’s attention, and the two of them moved several feet away from the others before huddling together.
"Report," Zipp commanded.
"Ma'am, the sheriff showed your sister around town and grabbed lunch just as planned. Then, they went into the sheriff's station, and we were unable to investigate further because the only windows in the building are at the front entrance, and they were covered with blinds," Zoom said.
"Eh, it would have been hard to be sneaky if you tried to spy on them through the front entrance without ponies noticing you," Zipp said.
"The most we heard was a high-pitched scream from inside not too long after they went in, but it didn't sound like it came from the princess or the sheriff," Zoom continued.
"What makes you so sure it wasn't either of them?" Zipp asked.
"Well, Your Highness, it sounded more like somepony perfectly impersonating a chicken," Zoom said.
"A chicken? Are you messing with me?" Zipp asked.
"No, ma'am. It really sounded like there was a chicken that got scared and was flailing around the place," Zoom said. "The sheriff did mention having a deputy who is still prejudiced against the unity. Perhaps this Sprout pony was surprised by your sister being there."
"A grown stallion is so scared of a pegasus that he'd sound like a chicken when screaming?" Zipp asked.
"There was nopony else inside, and none of the sheriff's animals are chickens, Your Highness. I can't imagine anypony else screaming," Zoom said before glancing at Thunder and leaning into Zipp's ear. "And between you and me, it's my experience that some stallions are not as courageous as you'd think they would be."
Zipp looked past Zoom to see Thunder looking at the night sky and humming a tune with a bubbly face.
"Fair enough. I'll have to ask Pipp if anything, in particular, happened when I get the chance," Zipp said. "Does Pipp look comfortable around Hitch?"
"Yes, she does," Zoom answered. "She looked like she was having a lot of fun seeing the town when they went looking for a place to grab lunch, and both she and the sheriff were smiling when they left the police station with the deputy. For all intents and purposes, she appears to be very comfortable around the sheriff."
Zipp's body eased up, and the edges of her lips curled slightly at this news. It hardly meant that she was okay with Hitch, but it was a comfort to know that he was carrying out her mother's request to hold on to Pipp's hope for the marriage as best as possible. She turned her head to the newlyweds just as Sunny finished making their smoothies and handed them to Hitch and Pipp. Hitch paid for the smoothies, and Pipp took a sip of hers before her eyes lit up like a flame, and she squealed.
"Oh. My. Dazzle. I think I just discovered my new favorite flavor. This is a million times better than orange kiwi!" Pipp exclaimed.
"I'm glad you like it. Just be careful not to declare this in front of everypony. I don't have all the strawberries in the world, you know," Sunny said.
"No way. I've learned my lesson. This is going to be our little secret. I might even order different smoothies in the future to keep ponies clueless," Pipp said.
"That might be tricky for several reasons, Pipp. Ponies might just order whatever you have, whether it's the same or not," Zipp said. "Anyway, where are you two thinking of grabbing dinner?"
"Actually, Hitch is making me dinner at his place," Pipp said. "He showed me his daily routine when he's on duty, and now he's going to show me his end-of-the-day routine."
Zipp furrowed her brow and she asked, "You two aren't going to be doing that alone. Are you?"
"Of course. Why wouldn't we?" Pipp said.
Zipp bit the bottom of her lip and looked between Pipp and Hitch. Knowing what was on her older sister’s mind, Pipp walked over and guided her away from the others until they were several feet away.
"Zipp, it's fine. There's nothing to worry about," Pipp whispered.
"How do you know? You've never been to a stallion's house before," Zipp said.
"I know, but I'm confident I can trust Hitch to be a decent guy while I'm a guest at his home," Pipp said. "If anything goes sour, I'll call you right away. I promise."
"Don't you think you're being a little too optimistic, Pipp?" Zip asked. "Or have you forgotten about Presto?"
"I haven't forgotten anything," Pipp snarled. "I'm just taking a leap of faith with Hitch. Besides, you're the one who researched him, with all of your info pointing to him being a good guy. Right?"
Zipp flinched and rubbed her front leg with her free with her other front leg.
"Yyyyyyyes, I did do that," she admitted.
"Well, there you go," Pipp said, smirking. "Besides, I'm a grown mare, so I can still choose for myself who I can trust. Not you."
Pipp walked back to Hitch without another word, leaving a stunned Zipp behind. It was shocking enough for Zipp that Pipp had the nerve to call Haven out to convince her to legalize her marriage. At this point, she grew worried about how stubborn her little sister had become since having Hitch marry her in Presto's place. She returned to rejoin the group just as Sunny closed her stand after serving smoothies to Izzy, Zoom, and Thunder. Sunny turned from her stand to see Zipp, and she gasped.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Zipp. I didn't ask if you wanted a smoothie, too," she said.
"It's cool. I'm not thirsty," Zipp said. "You and Izzy about to head home?"
"Sure are. We're making pizza tonight," Sunny said with a grin. "What about you? Where are you staying?"
"Oh, um, I'm just gonna go get a room at a hotel with Zoom and Thunder," Zipp said.
"What?! You shouldn't just stay in a hotel. You're our friend's sister-in-law," Izzy said.
Sunny gasped and said with a grin, "You know what we should do? We should have a sleepover at the lighthouse."
"Oooo, a sleepover. I've never had one before," Thunder said.
"Thunder, we're not here to play around," Zoom rebuked.
"Yeah, she's right. We're here to make sure Pipp is alright while she's spending time with Hitch," Zipp said.
"Oh, come on. Enough with that already. We've told you already that Pipp couldn't be in safer hooves, and I'm pretty sure she knows it, too," Sunny said. "Why, Hitch wouldn't let anything -"
"Sunny, wait," Hitch interrupted, stepping forward. "I'd like to speak for myself this time.
Sunny looked at Hitch, taken aback, before she smiled and backed away, gesturing to Hitch to go ahead with a wave of her hoof. He silently gulped to keep his ears back as he remembered her threat at Zephyr Heights.
"Look, Zipp, you have every right to be suspicious after everything that happened. Were I in your hooves, I would certainly do the same. What Presto did was so unforgivable that I personally don't know how he could live with himself," Hitch began. "That said, I consider myself a pony of honor. I have never looked at a mare the way that would lead me to want to do anything Presto did, and I've never given romance much thought before the wedding. I made an agreement with your mother and a commitment to be a lawfully wedded husband, and I will honor them to whatever end. I do whatever it takes to make sure all ponies are happy, whether I'm the sheriff or not. That's simply the moral code I live by."
Zipp raised an eyebrow, unfazed. Sunny and Izzy grew unsettled while Pipp glared at her sister, demanding her to back off. Zoom took a step forward with her wings half open, ready in case Zipp made a command. Thunder hesitated before he did the same. However, Hitch did not show any hint of nervousness in his stance or how he stared back at Zipp. After a minute, Zipp lowered her eyebrow and smirked in amusement.
"You know, some of that talk about being a husband and stuff sounds very similar to what Presto used to say about his love for Pipp," she said. “Still, all your talk about honor and commitment and trying to make ponies happy does match what I've heard about you, and Pipp seems to be enjoying your company so far. I guess you make enough of a valid point that I'll abide for now. Just don't forget what I told you at the hotel."
"Believe me, Your Highness, you painted a vivid picture," Hitch said.
"Good," Zipp said. "Then I guess sleepover it is."
Izzy squealed and hopped up and down like a little filly while Sunny smiled warmly at Zipp. Thunder opened his mouth to let out a yay of excitement but stopped himself and looked away so Zoom wouldn't notice. Hitch eased up and turned to Pipp, who gave him an impressed smirk, pleased that he talked her sister into leaving them alone.
"Well then, if you will excuse us, my husband has dinner to make," Pipp said.
Sunny smirked and walked over to Hitch.
"By specialty, does she mean just spaghetti and cheese?" She whispered.
"Of course not," Hitch claimed before he looked away hesitantly. "Not just cheese anyway."
"Haha. Sure. You might want to give your royal wife something a little more original and fancy, and then next time, Hitch," Sunny said.
"Hey, the kind I'm making is an old family recipe. You can't get more gourmet than that," Hitch said.
"Hey, you two, quit whispering, and let's get this sleepover started already," Izzy said. "I want to show you guys the methods and rituals of a true unicorn sleepover."
"Rituals of a unicorn sleepover? I'm in," Thunder chirped.
"Thunder," Zoom said in a warning tone before her face softened. "Although, I admit these so-called rituals among unicorns do sound fascinating."
"Then what are we waiting for? To the lighthouse!" Sunny explained.
With that, Sunny and Izzy led Zipp, Zoom, and Thunder to the lighthouse, with Izzy bouncing with glee. Hitch and Pipp watched the group until they were out of sight, and Pipp huffed as they began walking toward Hitch's house.
"Hitch, that was incredible," Pipp said. "I thought Zipp would never leave us be."
"Honestly, I didn't think she would either. I thought she was going to try to have your guards restrain me for talking to the future queen like that or something," Hitch said
"No, I wouldn't let her do that, and even if I couldn't stop her, I could just call Mom, and she would chew Zipp out good," Pipp assured.
"Would that really stop her?" Hitch asked.
Pipp scoffed as though the answer was obvious.
"Everypony in Zephyr Heights knows that I'm mom's favorite. I tell her everything. She always takes my side when Zipp tries to prevent me from doing something I want to do."
"Is that so? Well, then I guess I have one more reason to hope this works out," Hitch said.
Hitch froze in place, and his cheeks grew warm. Pipp stopped walking a couple seconds later as what Hitch said hit her. She turned to Hitch and gave him a kittenish look.
"There's more than one reason, is there?" She asked.
Hitch's cheeks turned into a deeper shade of red, and he stuttered, which only amused Pipp even more. She moved closer to him, making Hitch sweat. He wanted to step back, but he struggled to look away from her flirtatious, spring-bud green eyes. Pipp leaned her head closer to Hitch, and he whimpered until he saw his house past Pipp.
"Uh, hey, we're home," Hitch said, pointing past Pipp with a nervous grin. "I better put our smoothies in the fridge before they completely melt."
The next thing Pipp knew, her smoothie was out of her grasp, and Hitch raced past her like a bunny running from a predator. She turned around to see Hitch unlock the door and go inside, leaving the door opened to let her get in. Pipp glared at where she last saw Hitch with a bitter pout, but then her flirtatious demeanor returned as she walked to the front door.
"And here I thought he'd only be bashful at the wedding," she thought. "It's cute that he has a shy side to him. Too bad Zipp didn't see that. She might have let her guard down a little."
Pipp went inside and closed the door behind her. She went into the living room to explore Hitch's house while Hitch started making dinner in the kitchen. The walls were decorated with framed newspaper articles of Hitch. One was of Hitch after rescuing a foal from being run over by the trolley. Another had a picture of him and several firefighters covered in ash with a building half burned down behind them. A third one had Phillys handing Hitch a certificate for keeping the beach clean.
Pipp smirked as she looked at her husband's accomplishments. She then turned to a wall with pictures of Hitch from when he was younger. She found pictures of his first day in elementary school, losing his first tooth, getting braces, graduating high school, and ultimately his picture of his first day on the job as Sheriff with Sprout next to him as deputy. Finally, Pipp stopped at a picture of Hitch and Sprout as colts and Sunny as a filly in camping clothes with a dark blue stallion wearing spectacles standing behind them. Pipp stared at the photo curiously as she thought the stallion somehow resembled Sunny.
"Sunny's dad."
Pipp turned her head to see Hitch entering the living room wearing an apron that said, "Salute the cook." He looked at the dark blue stallion with a sad but fond smile as he stood beside Pipp.
"This took place a couple of moons before he passed away," Hitch said.
"Were you really close with him?" Pipp asked.
"Er, I don't know about close, but as the father of our childhood friend, he was very friendly to me and Sprout … even if we didn't really deserve it," Hitch said.
"What do you mean?" Pipp asked.
Hitch's smile faded, and he stared deeply into Sunny's father's smiling face as he thought of how best to explain.
"Argyle Starshine was a friendly pony and a devoted father, but when it came to his interests beyond his duties at the lighthouse, he was the…oddball of the community," he said. "He researched ancient Equestria and how earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi used to live together in harmony. That unicorns used magic to light up the night sky, the pegasi created the weather, and Ancient Equestria was chock-full of strange magical artifacts. Sprout and I were all for hanging out with Sunny even when Phyllis told Sprout not to, but when it came to talking about earth ponies getting along with unicorns and pegasi, we never took Argyle seriously. We thought his research was as ridiculous as saying the sky is green or plaid when everypony else can clearly see that it's blue. Looking back, Argyle was much too forgiving. I wish I had a chance to apologize for how I treated his claims and that he could see all we've accomplished.
Pipp's ears lowered as Hitch hung his head. Then she smiled and nudged his side with her left front knee to catch his attention.
"Hey, no need to beat yourself up like that. We were all blind back then. Literally, every pony who's not Sunny or Izzy would have treated somepony that way. Why, I could see myself having recorded her father making such claims and then posting them online as if it was some crazy conspiracy video to give my fans a good laugh," Pipp said. "The important thing is that his dream came true and that we do all we can to preserve it."
For a moment, Hitch said nothing, making Pipp worried that he didn't hear her. Then he sighed and lifted his head to give her an appreciative smile.
"Yeah, you're right. We should also be very grateful for his determination and for passing down his determination and knowledge to Sunny," Hitch said.
"I totally agree," Pipp chirped before her cheerful demeanor disappeared, and she looked toward the kitchen. "By the way, I think something is bubbling."
Hitch let out a loud, sharp gasp and shouted, "My pasta!" He zoomed back to the kitchen and stirred the pasta until it stopped bubbling. Pipp covered her mouth to hide a giggle before she took out her phone and took a picture of the framed photo of Sunny, Hitch, Sprout, and Argyle. She looked at her phone to check how her photo turned out, and then something clicked in her mind before. With a devious smirk, Pipp began taking pictures of the other framed photos and newspaper clips of Hitch, planning to create an album of pictures of her husband on her gallery app later.
"Anyway, this is a nice place you got here," Pipp said as she took photos.
"Yeah, it's no castle at the top of a mountain, but it's home with paid-off mortgage and everything," Hitch called out from the kitchen.
"Oh, paid off mortgage, you say? Being the sheriff must pay very well," Pipp said.
"It has its benefits," Hitch said. "I prefer to think more about what I do for the community than how much I get paid, but at the same time, who wouldn't like paying off your mortgage?"
"Considering I've never had to worry about stuff like that I'll take your word for it," Pipp said. "Doesn't it ever get lonely, though?"
There was a pause before Hitch came out of the kitchen again, giving Pipp's question some thought.
"I haven't really considered that," he said. "I visit Sunny and Izzy occasionally, but I guess I'm used to living by myself."
"By yourself? No family around?" Pipp asked.
"My grandmother lives on the outskirts of town, but my parents passed away years ago," Hitch said.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Pipp said. "I know what it's like to lose a parent. Zipp and I lost our dad when I was very young."
"Yeah? What was he like?" Hitch asked.
"Cheerful," Pipp said plainly. "He loved spending time with Zipp and me, playing with us, making us laugh and sing songs while mom was doing her duties. He married into the royal family, too, you see."
"How about that," Hitch said. "I wonder what he would have thought of me."
"I'm sure he would've liked you…eventually," Pipp said. "He'd have to get to know you before he'd think you're safe to stay married to before we could try to make this work."
"That's fair," Hitch said. "Anyway, the pasta's almost done, so make yourself comfortable on the sofa, and I'll bring it here."
"You don't eat in the dining room?" Pipp asked with her head tilted in confusion.
"Well, I normally eat breakfast there, but I prefer watching TV while I eat, especially since my favorite detective show, Davy Bluecoat: Private Eye, is almost on," Hitch said ecstatically. "Have you done it before?"
"No way. We always eat at the dining table, and Mom often doesn't want me on my phone when we eat together," Pipp said.
"That's what I thought," Hitch said. "In that case, sit back and enjoy how non-royals spend their evening."
Pipp raised her eyebrow, intrigued by how Hitch advertised his plan for the evening. She decided to play along, sitting on the sofa while Hitch went back to the kitchen. As she patiently sat on her plot, she hummed one of her songs to pass the time until she noticed Hitch's TV on the opposite side of the wall. Pipp looked at it with a puzzled face, for, in her eyes, it looked to her like a rectangular brown box with a 24-inch flatscreen inserted through a rectangular hole in the box that fit the screen. Pipp had heard of earth ponies having different-looking TVs before becoming friends with the pegasi, but she had no idea what they looked like. The side of her that loved material things wanted to tell Hitch he needed a new TV, but she decided against it, wanting to be respectful to her host.
After a few minutes, Hitch returned, holding one plate of pasta on his right hoof and balancing a second one on his head. He carefully placed the one he was holding on the coffee table in front of Pipp before he took the one on his head and placed it next to the first plate. Pipp's ears perked up, and her eyes brightened as she saw the spaghetti covered in marinara sauce with mushrooms, onions, asparagus, and lots of Parmesan cheese. Hitch went back to the kitchen for a moment to bring silverware and a loaf of garlic bread wrapped in tin foil and placed them beside the plates. Pipp could feel her mouth watering as she stared at her plate.
"Like what you see?" Hitch asked.
"This looks scrumptious. I didn't think anyone would put asparagus in spaghetti sauce," Pipp said.
"It's an old family recipe," Hitch said before glancing at the clock hanging on the wall. "Anyway, dig in. The show is about to start."
As soon as Hitch said, "Dig in," Pipp took her plate and fork, rolled up a bit of pasta with her fork, and put it in her mouth. Hitch smiled as he watched Pipp instantly enjoy his cooking and made a mental note to boast about it to Sunny. He turned on the TV just as the intro sequence of the title show played. Pipp momentarily looked away from her spaghetti to notice Hitch grinning like a colt excited to watch his Saturday morning cartoons as he ate his dinner. Pipp thought Hitch's demeanor rather strange for a grown stallion but decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, concluding that the TV series might just be that good.
After the show's intro played, Davy Bluecoat appeared in his office, leaning on his chair, resting his back hooves on his desk, and flipping a coin. A mare with an unnatural slim figure wearing a glittery red dress entered the office and told Davy that her grandmother's diamonds were missing. Davy began searching all over the city, looking for clues while encountering ponies trying to dispose of him or trying to get to the diamonds before he and the mare could. In the end, the mare tried to betray him after finding the diamonds and discovering that she lied about them belonging to her grandmother. Still, Davy outwitted her, so she and his other enemies were sent to jail, and the diamonds were returned to their rightful owner. When the episode ended, Hitch leaned against the couch and sighed in contentment.
"Boy, that was a great episode," he chirped. "That has to be one of the best mysteries on the show yet."
"Um, are you sure? Cuz if I'm being honest, that didn't look like that wasn't much of a mystery," Pipp said
"What? You're pulling my leg trying to sound impressive," Hitch said.
"The way the mare was looking at him while they were trying to solve the mystery together, it looked super obvious that she wasn't being honest with Davy Bluecoat," Pipp said. "Here, just rewind it, and I'll show you."
"Your Highness, it's a live broadcast. You can't rewind a show," Hitch said. "This isn't one of those streaming services. You are completely at the mercy of what shows or movies they have scheduled to air?"
"What? For real?" Pipp asked, flabbergasted. "How can you be okay with not being able to rewind, fast forward, or pause?"
"I just am," Hitch said, shrugging. "It's not that bad. It can be fun switching channels and seeing what's on. In fact, why don't you give it a try?"
"Excuse me?" Pipp asked.
"You heard me," Hitch said as he held the remote to Pipp. "Just keep switching channels until you find something that interests you. Whatever it is, we'll watch."
Pipp looked at Hitch as though he were a crazy pony. After a moment of hesitating, she took the remote and began flipping channels. The first channel Pipp flipped to was a history channel, which immediately disinterested her. The next one played a reality show about selling antiques. The channel after that played an animal documentary, and the one after that played a cooking show. The more she switched channels, the closer she got to giving up and rebuking Hitch for his lifestyle in terms of media.
Luckily, just when Pipp was about to give up, she switched to the horror channel. Her face lit up, and her wings perked up as she let out an excited gasp with her hooves on her cheeks. Hitch looked at it with unease and his ears hung low as spooky music came from the TV speakers.
"Um, why did you stop here?" he asked with a twitch of fear.
"Because I love spooky stories," Pipp chirped. "They're so fun and thrilling."
Hitch chuckled nervously as he looked back at the TV to see it announcing it was about to start a movie called Them.
"A-a-are you sure you want to watch something like this?" He whimpered. "It looks like they're about to play a film from before earth ponies became friends with unicorn and pegasi again. Horror films back then usually had to do with unicorns or pegasus as the monsters in some form or another."
"Oooo. Really? That sounds even more exciting," Pipp said. "I'd like to see what an earth pony's idea of spookiness they had back then."
Hitch whimpered again and said, "Are you sure? It might come as a little offensive -"
"Hitch, you said we can watch whatever I choose from switching the channels, and I say we're going to watch this," Pipp said.
Hitch gulped and forced a grin, reluctantly complying. A minute later, the film began, and Pipp squealed in delight. The film started with an earth pony couple walking down the street at night. They were smiling and holding hooves, with the mare resting her head against her husband's head. Suddenly, they were approached by a black cloud floating a few feet above the ground with the head of a unicorn with no mouth and glowing grayish-yellow eyes. The couple gasped an alarm, and their fears grew as two more black cloud beings appeared beside them.
The couple tried to run, but the leading cloud figure flipped its head, and a flash of light came from its unicorn horn. With a bang, the stallion broke into cubes and half spiral pieces as though he were made of building blocks. His wife screamed and ran as fast as she could, but not long before she took a wrong turn and found herself in a dead end with the cloud figures behind her. With another flash and a bang, the mare burst into thin, long pieces, making her remains look like a pile of yellow, violet, and rose-red string.
Hitch and Pipp screamed, but Pipp enjoyed the fright. Hitch's gamboge face turned into a lighter shade of yellow, and he grabbed a blanket that was folded on top of the sofa and wrapped it around his body. He wanted to cover his face, but he forced himself to keep watching in a useless attempt to appear tough in front of Pipp. He covered his mouth with the blanket to cover his screams as the unicorn-headed figures continued to attack Earth ponies throughout the film.
Each death was more disturbing than the last. From one pony's head being sucked out of its body to another pony vaporized from the inside, to one of the figures creating a set of pegasi wings on an earth pony's back that flapped on their own, sending him floating all the way to space. It took all of Hitch's willpower not to go back on his word by grabbing the remote and switching channels.
Suddenly, halfway through the movie, he felt something wrapped around him. He squealed at first, afraid it was one of the creatures from the movie. Then he slowly turned his head, and his eyes widened, and his cheeks heated up to find Pipp sitting close to him with her front legs wrapped around him. She looked up and gave him a comforting smile that warmed his heart. Pipp then wrapped one end of Hitch's blanket around herself to move closer to Hitch, her cheeks heating up as she rested her head on his shoulder and wrapped her legs around Hitch.
Hitch wanted to ask Pipp what she was doing and why, but the words didn't come out of his mouth. He knew she wanted to comfort him, knowing that he was afraid. If Hitch were watching a spooky movie with Sunny or Izzy, they would tease him for being so scared, and yet here was this mare who knew that he was afraid but didn't mind. It was as if Pipp silently told Hitch it was okay to be spooked and that she was there for him.
After a minute of processing would have happened, Hitch smiled and scooted closer to Pipp as they went back to the movie. He still jumped at every scare, but with Pipp at his side, getting scared didn't feel that bad.
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The next thing Hitch knew, there was a distant ringing. He opened his eyes to find sunlight shining through the windows, and the TV was still on, playing a different movie on the horror channel, and the dishes were still on the coffee table. He looked at the clock hanging on the wall to discover it was 7 o'clock, and it hit him that the ringing was his alarm clock going off upstairs in his bedroom. Just as he was about to get off the couch, a pink hoof waved before him and bopped him in the nose. The hoof began bopping his nose repeatedly as he heard somepony mutter in their sleep.
"Come on, Bestie. Just five more minutes."
Hitch turned his head to find Pipp asleep, resting her head on his shoulder. His pupils shrunk to the size of grains of sand as he felt Pipp holding him tight as though she was sleeping with a large teddy bear. A part of Hitch wanted to stay wrapped around his blanket with Pipp, but he knew he couldn't fall asleep again with his alarm clock going off even if he didn't have work. He mentally sighed and lightly nudged Pipp with his leg.
"Your Highness. Your Highness, wake up," he whispered.
Pipp whimpered and robotically let go of Hitch. She yawned and stretched with her front legs in the air before turning to Hitch with a drowsy smile.
"Hey," she said. "What's that noise coming from?"
"It's my alarm clock upstairs. It's time for me to get ready for work," Hitch said.
Pipp gave Hitch a confused look with her eyes half open, for in her mind, it was still night time, and they were still watching the movie. She looked past Hitch to see the time on the clock, and her eyes widened. She turned to Hitch and her cheeks grew warm as she looked away from Hitch with an awkward smile.
"Whoops," she said with a bashful giggle. "Guess we didn't finish the movie."
"Guess not," Hitch agreed with a chuckle. "Gotta say, I never thought I'd fall asleep watching a spooky movie before."
"Me neither," Pipp said before she looked away, rubbing her hoof. "I also didn't think that's how we were going to fall asleep together for the first time."
Hitch covered his face with the blanket as his cheeks heated up more. He had initially planned to surrender his bed to Pipp while he slept on the couch, thinking going to sleep together was something to hold off until he and Pipp decided to live together if the relationship went that far. From the corner of Hitch's eye, however, he could see Pipp's cheeks were still a deeper shade of pink as she continued to look away from him. Hitch tilted his head in confusion, finding it odd that the beautiful princess was timid around him.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the front door. Hitch took off the blanket, got off the couch, and headed to the door. He opened the door to find an impatient Zipp glaring at him with her dark blue eyes. Zoom and Thunder stood behind Zipp, giving Hitch stern looks.
"Where is she?" Zipp growled.
"Um, in the living room," Hitch said with a twitch of unease.
Zipp pushed Hitch aside and let herself in as soon as Hitch finished his sentence, with Zoom and Thunder following. They entered the living room just as Pipp got off the couch, and she grunted in irritation.
"Zipp, what are you doing? You can't just barge into somepony's home," Pipp rebuked.
"I'm pretty sure I can when Mom tells us to head home, and you're not answering your phone," Zipp countered as Hitch returned to the living room.
Pipp looked at her sister, confused, and took out her phone. She pressed the power button, but the screen remained blank. Her eyes widened, and she let out a long, dramatic gasp as she realized her phone was out of battery.
"Bestie! Bestie, no!" Pipp squealed as though she were holding a live creature that died.
"Seriously? How could you forget to charge your phone? You never do that," Zipp said.
"I didn't get a chance to. We were having dinner and watching a movie, and then we… kind of dozed off on the couch," Pipp said
Zipp raised an eyebrow until she noticed the blanket on the couch, the dirty dishes and empty smoothie cups on the table, and the TV still on. She sighed, and Zoom and Thunder eased up before the oldest princess turned to Hitch.
"Sorry, Sheriff. I kinda freaked out from instantly getting Pipp's voicemail," Zipp said.
"It's all right. I get it. You're still skeptical about me, and it was your sister and my first night together," Hitch said. "That being said, I must inform you that it is against the law to come into somepony's house without permission, and you have no jurisdiction in Maretime Bay."
"That's fair," Zipp said. "Anyways, we better get going pronto."
"But, what about Bestie?" Pipp whined. "Can't I charge her before we go? And what about breakfast?"
"We grabbed some bagels and coffee for the trip, and you know there's no reception outside of town," Zipp said. "You can charge your phone when we get home."
Pipp pouted, but Zipp gave her an unfazed look. Hitch frowned, wishing Pipp didn't have to go already, then smiled as he walked over to Pipp.
"How about I walk you to the end of the borders of Maritime Bay?" he asked.
Pipp's ears perked up, and she gasped with a grin.
"Yes, please," she said.
Hitch smiled back, and together he, Pipp, Zipp, Zoom, and Thunder exited the house and began walking down the path to the outskirts of Maritime Bay. Pipp trotted close to Hitch again and glanced at him as they walked. Hitch noticed Pipp giving him another kittenish look and immediately turned his head away. Pipp covered her mouth to hide a giggle, then nuzzled her head against Hitch's. Hitch felt goosebumps all over his body, and he almost tripped on his front hoof, taken aback by the sudden moment of affection. He grinned sheepishly while avoiding eye contact with Pipp, which amused her more.
"He's like a little bunny," Pipp thought. "No, he's like a shy puppy too bashful to be petted. It's so adorable."
Pipp covered her mouth to hide another giggle, feeling like a school filly fawning over the colt she liked. After about 10 minutes, Hitch, Pipp, Zipp, Zoom, and Thunder were at the blue sign that said, "Now leaving Maritime Bay" out in the field. Pipp pouted again, wishing Hitch could stick around a little longer, then put on another cheerful face as everypony stopped, and she turned to Hitch.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I had fun on our first get-together," Pipp said. "We should see if we can rent that movie sometime to finish it."
Hitch squirmed before forming a grin so Pipp wouldn't notice.
"Y-yes. We should do that," he said. "Also, thank you again for getting through Sprout's thick skull. It may be too optimistic to say, but we made real progress with him.
"My pleasure," Pipp said. "Anyway, I'll text you as soon as we get home, then we can talk about you coming for a visit."
"Looking forward to it. Safe travels," Hitch said.
"Catch ya later, Sheriff," Zipp said.
Zoom and Thunder saluted before they and Zipp turned around and began their long trek back to Zephyr Heights. Pipp took a few steps following them, then stopped momentarily and checked to make sure her sister wasn't looking back. Hitch tilted his head until Pipp turned around, rushed over to him, and firmly kissed his cheek. Hitch stood paralyzed with half of his face beet red as Pipp giggled again, then rushed over to catch up with Zipp and the guards.
Hitch stared at nothing for a few minutes when Pipp, Zipp, Zoom, and Thunder were already half a mile away. When he came to, he waved at Pipp with a goofy smile even though she was too far away. When the pegasi were out of sight, Hitch began walking back to Maritime Bay. He put his hoof on the cheek Pipp kissed and wished she could have stayed longer. Going back to work and filing paperwork was starting to feel less attractive without Pipp there.
"It's going to be a long few days before I can hear from her again," Hitch said to himself with a sad sigh.
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This is a funny visual. Physically impossible, but funny.
11578535
Sorry. That was meant to be Thunder. Thunder is looking at the night sky and humming a tune with a bubbly face.
This is a good chapter but I feel like you missed out on writing on that sleep over since it would be nice to see more arcs with the other characters besides Pipp & Hitch. Like Zipp would slowly start seeing Sunny & Izzy as her new friends and funny moments with the two guards during the fun Unicorn Sleep Over.
If you haven’t plan to write about that scene maybe make chapters that are certain on the side characters or scenes that don’t make it to the main story? They could be “bonus” chapters showing what is happening behind the scenes from the Sleep Over, those girls who have a crush on Hitch, Sprout, and even the night of the wedding with Pet… whoever his name was the groom
who betray Pipp…
Just felt like you missed a part of this chapter. Btw that’s cool you are making a Pokémon Titanic story. Hope it’s going well!
11578541
Eh, honestly, that never crossed my mind. While there is focus on other characters (which sums up the next two chapters,) focusing on the sleepover would've put things to a halt, especially since the focus of chapters 9-11 is supposed to be on Hitch and Pipp.
Also, thank you! I hope the Titanic story will turn out alright.
11578544
That’s good and all for focusing on Pipp and Hitch though I feel like there should be a story development for Zipp at least because she is definitely wants to protect her sister after what happened at the wedding.
I don’t think it would stop the story, it would help build more of the world you are writing since there isn’t any magic, so Sunny would still have her old home that wasn’t destroyed by Sprout.
It’s alright to explore what’s happening to other characters. Like this marriage would affect everypony in different ways.
11578552
Well, yeah, I've been thinking that. Like I said, the next two chapters won't be Hitch and Pipp focused.
11578556
Alright, I hope those come out soon. Where are you writing the Pokémon story on?
Hands should be hooves.
I wasn't sure about this story at first, but I quite enjoy it a lot
11578562
Thanks.
11578559
I write all of my stories on Google Drive. All of my Pokemon stories and MLP stories are published on Wattpad, DeviantArt, and fanfiction, though I have yet to publish this story on either.
Shouldn't it be
11578714
...Yes. i fixed that hours ago.
Oh yeah that's right I remember she did that in the show
Hey spaghetti sounds pretty good
Yeah I've always wondered like what happened to his parents as well including Izzy because they never showed their parents as well
11578740
ah ok, sorry. i've had this page loaded all night and only just got to reading it
Mushroom and asparagus yuck I'm more of an Old Fashioned meat sauce and maybe mixture with onion I'm okay with that but the other two nah
Lol just like the good old days when I was a kid just watching shows Live program 😅 jeez I'm old
11578760
All good. I figured that's why you saw Zoom instead of Thunder.
I did remember she had a thrill of being spooked and everything
Awww that's actually really nice I like that moment
A very well chapter. Although it's my exam tomorrow, but I can't resist reading it
You can take as much time as you want, good stories obviously take more time
Sometimes you get distracted or sometimes you just feeling so sleepy you forget it happens
Awww this was a cute chapter so after hitch and pipp left the office they went to Sunny's smoothie kart and basically just hanging out and zipp was still a little bit cautious with hitch but he reassured her that nothing bad what happened to pipp even though she still cautious she can trust hitch words for now but it looks like she's going with Sunny and Izzy to the sleepover and it was just only the two lovebirds going to hitch's house they even like talk about their life and everything before they met each other and it's pretty sweet and kind of sad and then hitch made dinner for the both of them which awesome and they even watch a couple of movies and whoever thought that pipp love to watch horror movies but both of them really are comfortable with each other they even fell asleep in the couch but before they could have start zipp was at the apartment wondering what happened to her younger sister and it turns out pipp forgot to charge her phone and that's why she got super worried zipp apologize for the intrusion but they said they had to get home because their mother called and pipp was sad that she has to go including hitch but they did promise to each other that he will come to see her and she even gave him a little goodbye kiss which again very cute I wonder what else could happen guess we'll find out next time
*Dies from extensive blushing while reading.
11579681
Why would you be blushing extensively?
11579753
It's a fun read!
There were several instances of you putting "Maritime Bay" instead of "Maretime Bay".
Pipp is such a Zoomer!
I'm not sure if Hitch is reflective of a millennial too broke to have a subscription, or he's being a boomer that refuses to get a subscription service.
I think you intended to say "cubes".
Admittedly, it would be terrifying to see your spouse be explosively turned into office separations. Especially if they were fully assembled cubicles, and not just the parts.
Not sure if it would be more terrifying if you are a cubicle dwelling peon, or if your spouse was the cubicle dweller.
11580782
Ah. Might've missed fixing that from writing using the mic on my phone.
11580494
Yeah, that came from the beginning of this MLP Tell Yoir Tale episode.
https://youtu.be/xjmjrXq_BLg
I may have forgotten something from the post-movie stuff, but I have a hard time seeing the Stallion who, in the original timeline, infiltrated an enemy city, in search of
a fugitivehis childhood friend being that scared of a movie.11581299
???
I love how close it is to Hitch's line in the movie, "I have to admit. A unicorn forest does sound kinda magical."
I now wonder if it'll come out that Zipp and the guards made up Haven calling them, as an excuse to flee Maretime Bay and Izzy.
Argyle would probably have a permanent shit eating grin after his daughter's best friend married into pegasi royalty. He'd probably be happier about it than Sunny is.
He'd probably also be happy about the unicorn housemate.
11580897
Three of the instances of "Maritime Bay" instead of "Maretime Bay".
There may be more before those three.
This was a great chapter and I will be reading more.
11581317
Hitch seemed pretty calm infiltrating Zephyr Heights in "My Little Pony: A New Generation", so, in your story, seeing him get scared at an old horror movie feels a bit off.
Is that any clearer?
11584709
Ah. I guess I see your logic, but I'm also taking material from Tell Your Tale and Make Your Mark, and while Hitch can be that way, he can be spooked as evidenced by videos like this one.
https://youtu.be/7BVaiYFyYfA
11580798
It sounds like he has the funds, but Subscription Services are not available in Maretime Bay
Finally got to reading this after meaning to for ages. Very much looking forward to more! I’ve definitely become a fan of Pitch.
11597725
What about roll and yaw?
It's a flight joke.
Excellent story so far! I've had it downloaded on my tablet for a while now to read, and just now got around to reading it. Definitely my favorite Pitch story already!
Take your time on the chapters, great stories require time and dedication.
I'm now going to be like Hitch and listen to Pipp's songs.
I love this tory. I hope next chapter comes soon.