Trials of Sarah: A New Mark

by Zipp Storm

Chapter 2: Growing Pains

Author's Note: Race has his pony form in this chapter being a Pegasus before his Element of Faith was created in Pokemon Play: The Endless Night

---

Morning comes in Maretime Bay as the sun begins to rise as Hitch is walking by with a cheerful smile on his face as ponies from the stores are setting up their signs to show that their stores are now open.

“It’s another beautiful day in Maretime Bay.” Hitch smiled as he was walking through the peaceful and quiet streets. “The sun is shining the Pegasi are flying and absolutely nothing can go, WRONG?!”

Suddenly his calm demeanor turned shocked when he found Daliah near his station and vines blocking the exit. “Oh hi Hitch. Sorry about this. I was trying to open the station for you.” She apologized. “I know you don’t like magic.”

“Whaat? Me not like magic? Pfft!” Hitch tried to play off. “I’m totally cool with it now.”

Looking at Daliah with a nervous smile the camel Earth Pony left before Keith chirped at him. “What Keith?!” Hitch exclaimed and Keith mimicked someone looking at a watch to check the time.

“Oh right! I’m already late for my morning rounds!” Hitch panicked an galloped to do his morning rounds but….

“Good Morning Sheriff Hitch.” Five fillies; Sunlight Burst, Amber Light, Glory, Peach Fuzz and Seashell called to the Sheriff in a odd situation; being caught in Seashell’s magical vine.

Amber Light was a young peach colored Unicorn filly with a burgundy colored mane with a lighter shade. Her cutie mark was a black crescent moon attached to a blue sphere with a white star on it.

Sunlight Burst was a young alicorn fully with dark purple coat and her tail and tail were streaked with fiery red, yellow and fushia pink. Her cutie mark was three stars surrounding a circular sphere.

Glory was a young light blue pegasus pony with a pink ribbon on her tail, white hooves, blue eyes, pink and white feathers on her wings and has her mane and tail being light purple with light blue lines.

Seashell herself was a young purple Earth pony with white socks, pink hooves, she has green eyes and green mane and tail. Her cutie mark is a green conch shell and two pink stars

Peach was a young orange unicorn with light green eyes and red hooves. Her mane and tail are white with blue, yellow and red streaks, she wears a red ribbon on her tail. Her cutie mark is a red peach with some sparkles around it.

“Gah!” Hitch yelled before trying to recompose himself. “I mean…g-great job Seashell. L-let me help you down.” Hitch helped the five of them down from the vine.

”Thanks.”

”We we’re actually stuck.”

”Magic is pretty wild, huh?”

"I love magic!" Peach, Seashell, Glory and Amber quipped.

“Too wild of you ask me.” Hitch squealed nervously.

”Oh no. Are you upset?” Peach Fuzz asked.

“Me?! Upset? About magic? Never!” Hitch reassured.

”So we can use all the magic we want then? No rules? No holding back?” Seashell asked excitedly.

”Woah, Woah little fillies.” Sarah chided as she and Edge Blade hovered down to the scene.

“Just because Hitch is a bit on edge cause of magic it doesn’t mean he’ll-“ Edge started before Hitch interrupted.

”You we’re holding back!” Hitch quipped nervously, “Uh….of course.”

That earned shocked jaws from Sarah and Edge Blade before the five fillies declared together loud and clear, “HITCH SAYS USE ALL THE MAGIC YOU WANT! DON’T HOLD BACK EVERYPONY!”

“Ohhh…this won’t end well.” Sarah frowned knowing everypony heard that including Sprout, whom was working with his buddies and bragging about his magic being the most powerful out of the trio. The two ponies didn’t believe him and walked off as he tried to activate his magic which worked but it created a large grapefruit plant behind him.

“Uh-oh! That’s a new feature!” Sprout quipped before two large grapefruits fell off, forcing him to run. “My magic is too powerful! RUUUNNN!”

His two buddies turned behind them and yelled at the rolling fruit and ran away from them.

“It’s everypony for themselves!” His friend yelled and Hitch, Sarah and Race saw the huge grapefruits rolling and bouncing side to side as Sprout and his buddies dodged them frantically.

“Berry Attack! This is not a drill!” Hitch exclaimed and moved to get ponies out of the way.

“Race! Shield Trap!” Sarah exclaimed and her boyfriend nodded at her. Sarah flew in front of one berry as it was getting closer to her as Race ran behind it and together they used their magic to create a magical Shield around the rolling berry catching it and making it splatter into berry juice.

“Fruity crisis averted.” Sarah smiled to herself as she and Race dropped their shield and Sarah picked up the berry remains with her magic and conjured up secret jars and placed the remains inside. “This should be helpful for Sunny’s business.”

"And be more food for the trio." Race smiled.

Hitch pushed other ponies out of the way but he tripped into a cart and rolled down the street before his cart bumped into a book and made him fall out. The cart also caused the berry to launch high into the air.

“AAAAAHHHH!”

SPLAT!

The berry smashed into Hitch and coated him and part of the street in berry remains and juice. “Yes….just another day in Maretime Bay.” Hitch sighed as he laid down, slightly discouraged.

---

(The scene opens up with Sunny and Sarah roller skating out of the Brighthouse and Castle of Friendship together with Edge Blade, Tempest Sparkle, Glimmer Glow and Snowdrop Winterfell flying beside them on her back and Spike and Discord on the side before Sunny changed into an Alicorn and their cutie marks appeared behind them)

Hey!

You gotta let it glow

Hey!

You gotta let it shine

(Switching to the Mighty Ones, Zipp and Pipp, the sisters were flying above the clouds together with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy before Zipp flew in front of Zephyr Heights as her cutie mark appeared behind her while Celestia, Luna, Cadence and Pipp appeared in the Mane Melody stage with Jazz Hooves and Rocky signing as Pipp's cutie mark appeared behind her.)

Oh, let's make our mark together

Just riding on forever

Just keeps on getting better, better, better

(Izzy, Rarity and Pinkie Pie is seen next uni-cycling before she happily leaps up and shows Izzy's cutie mark in the background. Applejack, Hitch and Sparky come out of the Police Station together with Hitch's animal friends as he poses and Sparky flies off his back as Hitch's cutie mark is shown)

Everypony, everywhere

You can feel it in the air

Find your spark and just glow and shine

(Opaline's Dark Castle is shown next with the evil Alicorn and Misty in front of what appears to be a magical pool of water as Opaline smirks evilly before the final scene features Edge Blade, the Filly Trio, the Mane Five, the Mighty Ones, their Pokemon all together with Sarah, her family, the Guardians of Harmony, Celestia, Luna, Cadence, adult Six, Discord, Queen Novo, Princess Skystar, Throax, Pharynx, Prince Rutherford and Grandpa Gruff, walking and flying to the beat as Sunny's lantern is shown with Prisbeam Power inside of it before the title appears with the Guardians of Harmony, Celestia, Luna, Cadence, Mane Five, Mighty Ones and Sarah all together as Sunny changes into her Alicorn form)

Make a mark that you can share

Hoof to heart, you know we care

Oh ponies, come on, let's all unite

Trials of Sarah: Mark Your Mark

---

Sunny opened her Smoothie truck for business before she noticed Hitch walking by coated in glimmerberry juice and couldn't help but laugh as she joined him at his side, "Wish I could have been around earlier. Sounds like you made a real impact." she joked and laughed.

"Ha, ha, ha." Hitch frowned and he pulled the vines off of the Police Station door. "Laugh all you want Sunny, but fruit juice funck can stay in your mane for weeks."

"Oh well, looks like someone had a chaotic morning." Discord chimed in gleefully as he popped beside Hitch and the girls.

"Ugh...not now Discord." Hitch frowned.

"This plant-powered magic is something special." Sunny declared. "Growing stuff at the stop of your hooves! Incredible!"

"Ugh, more like incredibly unpredictable. I mean we don't even know all that it can do yet."

"Earth Magic is highly complex with many aspects to learn about Hitch, there's no telling what can come without some guidance." Sarah advised.

"Well we know enough. Like, you and Sarah seemed to be the only ponies who can understand animals as Sarah can understand her Pokemon and Dragons and Mythical Creatures. But have you tried to grow anything yet?"

"To be honest, I'm to after this morning." Hitch admitted.

"Come on, you can't judge all Earth Pony Magic on one little mishap." Sunny reassured.

"Yeah, one bad mistake doesn't make all magic horrible." Sarah added.

Hitch sighed, "Maybe you just need to see the scene of slime for yourselves."

---

At the old Canterlogic Factory, Race, Hitch, Sunny, Spike, Sarah and Discord interrogated Sprout who grew the glimmerberry plant. "I swear, I don't know what happened." he repeated. "All I did was stomp my hoof. Like this." Stomping his hoof, his Earth Pony magic activated and effected the plant to Hitch's fear.

"Stop the Stomping!" Hitch exclaimed and Sprout stopped before it could disturb the plant behind him. "First Maretime Bay gets shook up with dark magic and I said nothing!"

"Uh that's not true. I actually said alot." Sunny pointed out.

"Then Earth Pony Magic came. Now I say something!" Hitch frowned before walking away. "I keep this place safe and its too dangerous without rules."

"But if your magic produces crops and fruit in this perfect condition, you'd be able to feed yourselves and god know how many others, Hitch. Applejack and her family used to work on Sweet Apple Acers farm in Ancient Equestria and produced food for all of Ponyville and Equestia back then. You can do the same. I used my Plant Growth to help in the garden where I plant Carrots and such for my family." Sarah praised.

"There's no limit to what it can do. We can't cut off a whole planet of possibilities." Sunny added.

"More like a cosmos of calamities!" Hitch argued.

Sunny groaned, "But how are Earth Ponies gonna grow and learn....and learn with restrictions?"

"Even Unicorns and Alicorns need to learn how to control their magic. Twilight's been studying magic since she was a filly." Spike added. "And look at her now."

Sprout sneezed cause of some dust from cleaning up the mess which activated his magic and affected the plant, making it grow bigger.

Sunny nervously chuckled, "Uh just consider what I'm saying before you jump to conclusions."

Hitch sighed, but claimed, "I'll think about it, but the safety of ponies in Maretime Bay is my top priority." Sunny and Sarah took some of the glimmerberry juice from Hitch's chest before he went to clean it off.

Tasting the berry, Sunny and Sarah liked the taste alot before they took out their Alicorn Mirrors to look at them selves.

---

At the dark castle, Opaline gasped seeing Sunny, who is still licking the berry juice off, with Sarah behind her, “Misty, quick! That Alicorn is using the mirror we gave her, and that Sunset is behind her!”

Mist came to her side as she continued, “Soon their magic will be—!” She was cut off when Sunny closed the mirror as it frizzled out and showed another screen where they are watching the group from above as Sunny and Sarah followed Hitch, leaving Sprout behind so he can get back to his community service. “—Teasing us as it trots away!”

The the screen faded out as Opaline paced side to side “Why has that young Alicorn barely used it?” She questioned while mentioning Sunny “If it was me, I'd have checked my pout every minute on the minute.”

“And what a pout it is, Opaline!” Misty cheered. “Equal parts chilling and charming!”

“Don't pander to me, Misty.” Opaline said with a dry tone as she walked up to the pond, admiring her looks. “Even though you are right.” She said with a smile, finding Misty’s words true. “Well, now it's time for me to tell you to do something else.” She said to Misty in a serious tone as the pond then started to glow.

“Uhhh…” Misty said nervously,

---

At the station, Hitch is looking at the board with flashcards of magic that’s been happening lately.

“Creating an inventory of all magic types…” Hitch listened as he placed flashcards on the board. “Limiting magic to the magic hour of dusk... A card that's bit in half—” He stopped once he realized that the next card that he was holding had a bite mark on it. “Hey!” He called out, wanting to know how that happened.

Hitch had a guess on who did it as he turned and saw Sparky chomping on a card while babbling as he got up and walked to one of his desks where his cups are as he climbed up and tipped some of the cups.

“Sparky, careful!” Hitch called out as he tried to catch him as Sparky runs around. “Sparky, come here!”

Sparky then hid behind the board Hitch was using as he gave an assuring smile to Sparky.

“You won't be in trouble, I promise!” He assured Sparky whom titled the board over. “Ah! Sparky, wait!” He called out as he chased after Sparky. “Sparky! No dragonfire!”

Sparky kept babbling cheerfully as he smiled cutely at Hitch.

“Aw, I can't be mad at you, Mr. Sparkeroni.” Hitch said to Sparky, can’t be mad at him as he nuzzled his dragon. “You're just too cute.”

They then hear the bell ring, which caused Sparky to jump out of Hitch’s hoof in excitement as he ran around the room again and ran to a trash can as he babbled in excitement.

“No, no, no, Sparky, don't!” Hitch cried out as the trash can then got tossed into the air and headed straight for Hitch as he gasped as the trash can then landed on his head, with the trash inside falling on him and some clattering on the floor.

“Love being a dragon dad…” He was muffled inside the trash can.

“Whoa.” Izzy said as she came in from the front door, having seen the whole thing. “That... was so funny!” She cheered with her usual smile, finding it funny as Sparky babbled on Hitch’s desk while holding a telephone. “And also, you may need some help?”

Hitch got the trash can off his head, while some crumpled up paper is still on top of his head as he looks at Izzy as he coughed. “Whatever gave you that idea?” He asked as he shook the papers off his head as Sparky kept running off again as Hitch picked up some stuff that fell over.

“Sparky's been excitable lately. He was a hoof-ful already, but he's literally chomped through my desk!”

Izzy levitated a stool chair, with Sparky chewing on it while dangling from one of its legs as Izzy gives him a cute smile. “Awww, he's just adding his flair to the furniture. Aren't you, Sparky? You know, if you ever needed a dragon-sitter, I'd be happy to look after him."

“Wow. Really, Izzy? That'd be great!” Hitch cheered, glad that Izzy will help him babysit Sparky while he does other things he needs to do. The two ponies then heard chirping as they turned to the door and saw Kenneth flying around while chirping. “Kenneth, I know, I know. It's already time for my town hall.”

He gave Sparky over to Izzy, “Thanks, Izzy! You're the best! And this helps me out a lot! If you need anything for Sparky, there's a comprehensive list of dos, don'ts, and potential threats and dangers. See you later! I'll be outside!”

He then quickly left the station, leaving Sparky and Izzy behind.

“Potential threats and dangers?” Izzy repeated in confusion on why Hitch would write that down. “What's so dangerous about you?” She asked while giving Sparky a cute smile.

Sparky burped some dragon fire came out of him as it poof away as Sparky laughs a bit while being held by Izzy, who is giving him a smile.

---

Hitch held a meeting in front of the police station. Race, Zipp, Hawlucha, Pipp, Swanna, Izzy, Maractus, Sunny and her guardians, Sarah, her Mentors, Zeraora, Zoura, Discord and their pokemon were in the crowd as they listened.

"Ahem, I know we started the day with a pretty disastrous---I mean magical morning. After surveying the recent magical changes in Maretime Bay and the messy ways they have disturbed our daily lives, I have decided there will be no use of Earth Pony magic whatsoever!" Hitch declared to the crowds shock as they gasped.

"Until I've collected enough data from all of you to form proper registrations and guidelines. "Hitch added which got groans from the Earth Ponies. "I assure you, this is all for your own safety. We don't know what's possible with Earth Pony Magic yet. Until I've taken proper inventory of every flight, float, flora and fauna power, magic is off limits. That is all."

Just then Discord teleported next to Hitch, "Or maybe you should talk to the little Alicorn who have the same magic as your Earth Ponies." Discord gestured to Sarah, who lowered her ears at all the eyes looking at as she nervously chuckled and waved to them.

"I just said magic is off limits Discord, which goes for Alicorn Magic too!" Hitch barked.

"How else are ponies gonna learn how to harness their new magic if they avoid the one pony who has the magic all three pony kinds and has been practicing for years compared to you?" Discord questioned.

Hitch groaned and just walked away from Discord, not listening to him only to get an earful from Sunny, "I thought you said you weren't going to do anything drastic!"

"No! I said I would think it over and my thoughts are telling me its bad and its gonna get worse if I don't step up."

"Ugh, but Earth Pony Magic is powerful!" Sunny exasperated.

"Exactly! Too Powerful!" Hitch barked. "What's gonna happen if we have more mishaps. It's my job to make sure everypony is safe."

"Earth Ponies need to practice. Like Pegasi, Unicorns and Alicorns had to!" Sunny added.

"And everypony is safer with magic once they learn how to fully control it." Race chimed in.

"What are you gonna do if Opaline appears here again and Pegasi and Unicorns's magic can't deal with them alone, leaving only Earth Pony magic to save the day." Keldeo added.

The friends spotted Seashell, Peach Fizz and Glory tied up in Seashell's vines again, "Growing pains, they'll get it," Sunny reassured.

Sarah levitated the three fillies out of the vines, "Guessing you ponies were too tied up for the town hall meeting earlier?" Hitch sarcastically joked. "Just a little reminder of the rules."

Conveniently he made Anti-Earth Pony Magic stickers which had a red outline, purple background with a vine crossed out in the middle. He placed them on the fillies hooves as they sighed in sadness.

"Race, Sunny and Sarah have a point Hitch. It's too early to know if Earth Pony Magic is anything to worry about." Zipp agreed.

Hitch sighed, "Look I'm part of the reason why Earth Pony magic is here now. What if I become the reason Earth Ponies get hurt. As Sheriff I can't let that happen!"

---

At the police station, Sparky popped up from inside the trash can as it tripped over and clattered on the floor as Sparky started to babble and ran around the station.

Izzy watched Sparky as he ran around the station. “Oh, come on, Sparky! Hey, you hungry? What about food? Will that calm you down?” She asked Sparky with a smile, which got the baby dragon attention as he turned to her with a smile. “Whoa, guess that's a yes! I am great at this. Woo-hoo!”

She turned to Hitch’s snack cabinet behind his desk as she opened the second one and saw a note in it as she read it. “‘Play me?’ Well, I have never said no to a talking TV before. Sure!”

Izzy turned on the TV as it showed a video of Hitch in it.

“If you're watching this, then you are dragon-sitting Sparky. Here are some important things to know…” Recording Hitch started, apparently Hitch left a recording for anypony to babysit Sparky if he is out as Izzy then grab Sparky close to her as they watch the instructions. “Sparky's prone to grunting, grubbing, grabbing things that aren't his, running, racing, wilding out around the office until you've exhausted all reasons for why he could be running in the first place, and by that time, he's already resting in a dragon nap.” He explained, which threw Izzy in a loop of knowing that much about Sparky. “Experiencing drowsiness while dragon-sitting is normal. Though if fire-breathing occurs, consult the list of foods, fire-safety-and-fun suggestions, as well as Sparky's safety schedule located in the cabinet to your left.” He listed out.

Izzy babbled a bit while shaking her head from that much information Hitch explained as she looked at Sparky with a smile.. “Food list! That sounds like a good start.” She said, knowing that the food list is helpful to know what Sparky eats. “Now, where's that cabinet…” She said with a determined look and smile as she looked around for the list as she placed Sparky down on as she found the list in one of the cabinets.

Recording Hitch continued. “Be careful not to cross out any items on the Sparky schedule. It's important he does everything in order.” It said as Izzy unrolls the list, and apparently it's so long, it hit the floor. “Don't let him eat before sleeping, don't let him sleep before eating! Don't let him do this all unsupervised.” He stated.

“Huh? Even if he asks me to?” Izzy asked herself in confusion from what Hitch just said.

“ESPECIALLY if he asks you to! He's a baby dragon! He doesn't know any better. You're the one in charge.” Recording Hitch finished his instructions.

Izzy looked on in confusion but since Sparky is still a baby he can speak yet as Izzy then looked at Sparky, who was eating some cookies that he grabbed.

“Well... you seem happy, and nothing bad has happened.” Izzy said to Sparky with a smile. “I'm sure this is nothing to worry about.” She said as she continued to read the list.

Sparky then burped, which made his dragon fire to come out as it turned a cookie into purple leaves. Sparky babbled cheerfully at this as the leaves then hit the floor as they disappeared.

---

Race, Sarah, Sunny, Hitch and Zipp were outside Dahlia's house with Dahlia herself, preparing to do some tests on her earth pony magic.

"This is a controlled magic experiment to collect data, Dahlia." Zipp explained to her with a smile, holding her phone to record Dahlia while Hitch looked with a bored expression, Sunny looked worried and Sunset watched on to see how this goes.

"Just muster your magic in a little burst..." Race added.

Dahlia nodded and she made her magic appear, stomping softly her hoof on the ground, which made a giant green explosion happen and blinded the rest for a second.

"Whoa! Dahlia? Where'd you go?" Hitch asked worriedly.

Dahlia was now covered in gardenias, and she poked her head out. "Is now the time I mention I'm allergic to gardenias?" she asked with a sheepish smile, and then she sneezed.

Hitch looked on with disapproval, and put a Sticker of 'No earth pony magic' on her hoof. Sunny groaned at this, and Edge looked at Hitch with a frown.

---

Meanwhile, at the station, Sparky was running around and making a mess, to the point that he moved an object that made many objects move around until a book landed on a bowl of fruits, and a tomato landed on Izzy's horn.

"Sparky! Don't do that again!" Izzy scolded him with a frown, and Sparky almost cried with sadness. "Unless I'm around to film it!" she said with a smile, taking out her phone as Sparky ran in a circle in happiness.

"Now do that again, but go even wilder! Let your freaky-fun-flag fly, Sparky! Fly!" Izzy told him with a cheery smile as Sparky immediately went to repeat what he did earlier as some trash are tossed around.

---

Around the time, Race, Sarah, Sunny, Zipp and Hitch were outside of Mane Melody, in front of a table with a watermelon and a watermelon seed, while at the other side of the table there was an earth pony stallion, waiting for the other to tell him what to do.

Once again, Zipp was recording with her phone. "And what's your magic?" Zipp asked the stallion.

The stallion made his hoof glow and touched the watermelon seed, turning it into an already grown watermelon. Zipp and Hitch looked at each, and Zipp put her phone away to take a watermelon that the stallion was giving to her. But then, he accidentally activated his magic and made the watermelon multiply, with one of them accidentally hitting Hitch's hoof in the process, which made Hitch fall in pain.

Once he stood up, he brought a sticker of 'No earth pony magic' and put it on the other stallion's forehead.

"Perfect, great. Don't do it again" Hitch ordered with a bored expression.

Sarah groaned at Hitch, while giving him an irritated look, “Hitch really needs to let ponies practice their magic. If they don’t they will never learn or defeat Opaline.”

---

Back in the station, Sparky was twirling around Hitch's office chair.

“That's the spirit! Abandon all order! Dazzle with destruction! Express yourself to the extreeeeme!” Izzy cheered as Sparky kept spinning and some paper as Sparky landed on the ground, a little dizzy, but still smiling.

---

“I… uh…” An earth pony stallion said sheepish as Edge, Sunny, Hitch and Zipp were in front of him, who was having trouble since he was trapped on some vines he accidentally grew, and looked at Hitch with a sheepish smile.

Hitch looked at him with a frown, and took out another sticker for no earth pony magic. "Don't do it again." Hitch warned him, but then another vine grew and tried to grab one of his hind legs. “Huh?” He moved the leg in time and kicked the vine away, then he put the sticker on the stallion's hoof.

"Okay, I'll admit that was a little dangerous, but still needs practice" Sarah muttered to herself, seeing that it was a little dangerous.

Hitch put more stickers on the other earth ponies, Posey included, who looked confused at Hitch. A little far from where Posey and Hitch were standing, Race, Sarah, Sunny and Zipp looked at Posey's and other earth ponies' hooves glowing.

"Look at their hooves!" Zipp pointed out what they saw.

"They're all glowing!" Sunny added as the three ponies turned around.

One earth pony touched the grass with his glowing hoof, and random vines starting to get out. Behind him, another earth pony touched a tree, and it started to change colors.

“And frizzing? That’s a new one.” Race said, never seen that part before.

Pipp and Jazz were looking at all that was happening with the earth pony magic confused.

"Okay..." Jazz commented with concern. "This is officially getting weird!" she added, looking at the color changing tree.

Pipp took out her phone to take a picture at the tree, but then Jazz magic activated out of nowhere and made a big bush grow below hers and Pipp's hooves.

"Eh? I didn't even want to do that!" she said confused, shaking her hoof to make the glow disappear. And then she took a picture with Pipp, who had the camera ready to take the selfie.

---

Meanwhile, Race, Sunny, Sarah and Zipp were with Hitch not so far from the Canterlogic Factory.

"See?" Hitch said with a smile, pulling out some blank papers. "I just need to plan and plot out a perfectly thought-out list of precautions all before you ponies can say 'Presto'!" he pointed out with a smile, thinking his plan of magic restrictions worked while Sunny, Race, Sarah and Zipp looked at each other with bored expressions.

“Hitch. This is your selfish idea, and it’s not right for everypony.” Race started with narrowed eyes at the sheriff. “Magic isn’t dangerous unless you practice it, it shouldn't be held in.”

“You’re just jealous that my plan worked, Race.” Hitch boasted with a proud smile. And then, behind him, an old earth pony mare and Posey made their magic appear by accident.

"Presto! Presto!" Race, Sarah, Sunny and Zipp cried out in worry.

Hitch looked at them with a bored expression. "Ha-ha. I didn't mean literally" he pointed out, thinking they are messing with him.

"No, Hitch, the ponies, they're––" Sunny tried to warn him, but Hitch cut her off.

“Safe and protected now that we've put a stop to this" Hitch said with confidence.

Sarah had enough of this. “Oh, for Celesita sake!” She said as she grabbed Hitch’s head, which startled him a bit from that. “Hitch! Look in front of you and see what we mean!” She turned Hitch’s head to where they were looking over town, and Hitch gasped at the sight of earth pony magic getting out of control.

"Magic is out of control again!" Jazz shouted to the group, with Pipp flying at her side.

"And I have video proof!" Pipp said, showing her phone to the rest, playing a video of the changed color tree from before... wearing glasses and with some background music.

"In a sassy-sparkle filter too! I know, the sunglasses are a great touch, right?" she said with a cheery smile. "The Pippsqueaks made it just for me"

“Not the time for video media, Pipp.” Race said with a raised eyebrow from Pipp going through her phone at a time like this.

"And why didn't you try to tell me?!" Hitch yelled at the Pipp and Jazz, while Sunny, and Zipp looked at him with bored expressions and Sunset glared daggers at him as she smacked him on the head.

“Ow!” He cried out.

“We tried, but you were being stubborn as a mule to even listen to us, Hitch!” Race scowled at Hitch.

"I think it has something to do with the glowing hooves!" Zipp pointed out, while Jazz hooves started to glow again.

"Not a good look, Jazz!" Pipp cried out with worry.

Hitch put a hoof on his chin to think, and then Sunny touched his shoulder, looking at his hoof. Hitch looked at it too, and then he shrieked when he saw it was glowing. "What does this mean?!" he asked with a frown, looking at his glowing hoof.

"It's gotta be the built-up earth pony magic!" Zipp pointed out. "I don't think you're supposed to keep it all in!"

“I tried to tell you, Hitch! Magic can’t be held in, it has to be release! If not, then you're looking at a magic overload!” Edge Blade pointed out that magic was never meant to be held, if not, then it gets out of control, kinda like what’s happening now.

"I was wrong..." Hitch said with concern. "I shouldn't have put a pause to earth pony magic..." he added.

"Oh, I'm so happy to hear you say that!" Sunny told him with a smile.

“Wait for it, Sunny.” Race said with a bored expression, knowing what Hitch was about to say.

"I should've gone straight to the Unity Crystals!" Hitch said next. "When ponies united and the Unity Crystals were created, everypony got their magic. Maybe if we remove the earth pony one..."

“Wait! Huh?!” Sarah asked in shock, not expecting him to say that.

"What?!" Sunny asked in disbelief. "No! That's not what I meant!"

"You two were right, Sunny, Race and Sarah!" Hitch said to them. "Earth pony magic is powerful, too powerful! We never had it before, why do we need it now? Come on!"

With a determined look, and then ran towards the Crystal Brighthouse, “Hitch, wait!” Sarah called out as she, Race, Pipp, Zipp, and Sunny ran as they followed Hitch.

“The Crystals aren't the problem! But maybe if we interviewed everypony again, we could figure it out!” Sunny called out as she ran next to Hitch.

“There's nothing left to figure out!” Hitch argued. “This is the only way to keep Maretime Bay safe!” He called out.

Sunny groaned at Hitch’s stubbornness. “Rash decisions don't keep anypony safe!” She countered as an Earth Pony mare ran off when some giant flowers grew, releasing some pollen as the Mane 7, sin Izzy, ran through it.

Hitch coughed and sneezed from the pollen they ran through. “Look around! We have to try and reset those Crystals soon or else... I don't wanna know ‘or else’!” He said in worried as they kept running.

Sarah got in front of Hitch as he bumped into her and fell on the ground as Edge glared at Hitch. “Hitch! Your rash decisions are what got us into this, and you are planning to do something that nopony should do! And you are tarnishing Twilight’s legacy! You are not touching the crystals! They’re not the problem!”

Hitch pushed past Sarah, ignoring her. “I don’t have time for this Sarah!” He called out as he ran towards the Brighthouse.

Sarah groaned from Hitch not listening to them. “He’s as bad as Silvally when she’s stubborn from time to time!” She yelled in frustration as she and the others followed Hitch.

---

Back at the station, Spark excitedly babbled as he moved around the station, making a mess from the shelves and doing a flip to land on Hitch’s desk in front of Izzy.

“Ah! Did Zipp teach you that, Sparky?” Izzy asked the baby dragon in amazement as she then heard rumbling. “Huh?”

She turned and saw what was going on as Sparky burped and released a plume of dragonfire on Hitch’s telephone, which turned into ice cream which Sparky began to eat.

Izzy looked through the windows as she saw what was going on as she saw her friends running by while plants were growing like crazy.

“Hmmm... That looked more serious than a simple trot through town. Hey, friends! Wait up!” She called out to her friends as she opens the door

Sparky whimpered at Izzy leaving as he comes up to her as he hugs her front legs.

Izzy gave him a smile. “Awww. Looks like you got all your energy out. And right on time. Izzy has to pop out real quick, but if you're good while I'm gone, I'll…” She then gasped as she thought of an idea. “...uni-cycle your very own racetrack!” She excitedly said to him.

Sparky babbled cheerfully at Izzy’s offer as the unicorn gives him a crab plushie as Sparky hugs it.

Kenneth then came in next to Izzy. “Thought you'd like that.” She said to Sparky before turning to Kenneth and put him next to Sparky. “Okay, Kenneth! You're in charge! Watch Sparky for just a moment.” She said to Kenneth as the bird saluted her. “Okay! Good dragon! Stay right there! B.R.B.!” She said as she ran out the Brighthouse as she caught up to the others as Sparky waved at her.

---

At the Crystal Brighthouse, Hitch was in front of the Unity Crystals, with all the rest trying to stop him. "Taking the Earth Pony Crystals out is to keep everypony safe from mayhem." Hitch stated.

"Woah, woah, slow your roll! You don't know that!" Zipp debated.

"Removing a Crystal is not like flipping a switch. We could lose everything just like we did with Scarlet Nightmare when we lost our magic before! You must remember that. We were helpless against her and her minions until Sarah and her family showed us where we went wrong. When we united in friendship it restored the Unity Crystals and gave us back our magic and defeated her. If we repeat history, even with the Guardians and the survivors returned, Opaline will destroy everything again, just like she did before.......is that what you want...?" Sarah preached to Hitch.

Thinking about she said, Hitch reminisced about the sacrifice Sarah made to restore Equestria to its former glory which nearly ended with her being stone forever if not for Ryu, the Mighty Ones and all of the Dragons and Pokemon of Equestria. And now with the original Guardians of Harmony, Spike, Discord and all the survivors of Opaline's first war back, there was much more at stake if one mistake was made.

"....You're....right....What was I thinking..." Hitch breathed realizing the error of his ways. "This isn't me! Guess I'm just...scared and unsure. Magic doesn't operate by any rules. Rule are what I know! But if I can't be the Sheriff everypony needs now?"

"You'll always be strong Sheriff Hitch because you care." Sunny reassured her fillyhood friend.

"And magic does operate by rules, you just have to learn them. Control, Triggers, Sources and all." Race lectured. "Myself, Island Girl and the Guardians can help you all learn the rules of Magic, but only if you'll allow it.."

Hitch sighed and apologized, "I'm sorry everypony. I just love Maretime Bay so much. But maybe having less magic isn't the answer."

"You were just very scared of your own magic cause you never had it before. To be honest. Before I realized my Sword was magical, I was pretty sacred of what I found too, especially with the prophecy that came with it, but instead of running away from my past, I embraced and you all saw how it turned out, we defeated my Uncle and Team Eclipse for good....together." Sarah admitted.

Hitch smiled at his Alicorn friend, "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you..."

"It's okay Hitch." Sarah smiled as the pair shared a hug together with the Mane Five joining in together,

In the distance, the ground rumbled, which startled the whole group. They all got out to the balcony, and saw that Maretime Bay was infested on giant vines now.

"It's time, Hitch." Hitch told himself. "You worked hard, researched, tried your best to keep the bay safe, but you've got to reverse action!" he told himself again.

“Um, who are you talkin' to?” Pipp asked Hitch in confusion.

“Hitch’s just talking to himself in the third person. Like Trixie." Discord chirped as he appeared.

---

Speaking of the evil pony herself she and Misty were watching the mayhem unfolding in Maretime Bay through the magical projector. "Ugh, if its another complication of my hooves Misty, I don't want to hear it. 'Hooftastic isn't a word and I refuse to acknowledge it."

"No, the Earth Pony Magic is getting worse!"

"Magic isn't getting worse. It's growing into something it never have been." Opaline replied observing the events unfold.

"But if its growing this fast? How're we going to stop it. Oh no, no, no. We won't be stopping it anything, Misty. In fact, we're going to let it thrive. So that when we pluck it, it will be the most powerful it has ever been."

Opaline manically laughed and Misty attempted to copy for adoptive mother but she didn't do it right and Opaline scoffed.

"If you're going to maniacally laugh with my Misty. At least me in sync. Ready?" Together, Misty and Opaline manically laughed once more.

---

In Maretime Bay, the Pegasi we’re trying to control the spiting vines but the magic from them was beginning to be too much and now there were flowers on the buildings.

The Patronus Nine felt the disturbance and were assisting in the chaotic manner while Discord was happily eating popcorn as if he was watching a movie.

"Ugh! These plants are too strong." Rainbow Dash quipped.

"It's the evolved magic of the Earth Ponies, only they can reverse this magic." Twilight replied as Sarah, Race and the Mane Five appeared.

“Forget what I said earlier! Use your magic as much as you can!” Hitch exclaimed.

”But this time you have to focus and control your magic. You tell your magic what to do not the other way around. Embrace it now.” Sarah advised.

The Earth Ponies listened to the Alicorn Princess and concentrated their magic, focusing and their magic spread to the vines and plants making them shrink and vanish from the city.

"That's it!" Twilight smiled.

"Keep at it ponies!" Applejack added.

“That’s it. Express yourself to the extreme!” Izzy cheered as the vines vanished one by one.

"That's right! Listen to Sunny, Twilight, Applejack and... Izzy?!" Hitch asked, since Izzy was supposed to be with Sparky. "Where's Sparky?" he asked her.

"Uh... He's back at the station dragon-napping!" Izzy replied with a smile.

"Oh, okay then..." Hitch said calmly at first. "Wait! Did you say napping?! He's going to be up all night now!"

Near the old Canterlogic Factory, Sprout, still a bit rusty used his magic and made a allege grape plant vanish. “Yes!” However the magic backfired greatly and created a huge grape fruit as large as the building! “Uh-oh!” One of the large grapes came off of the tree naturally thanks to gravity and nearly crushed Sprout if he had not dodged it!

“Waaahhh!” Sprout scream as he ran down the street and everypony saw the large grape rolling down the street and even worse Seashell, Glory and Peach Fuzz did it again and got themselves caught in Seashells vines!

“The fillies!”

“Oh no!”

”They’re gonna get smashed!” Sarah, Race and Hitch gawked in horror.

“My pipsqueaks!” Pipp cried as the Mane Five, Race and Sarah ran towards the scene and stood in front of the giant grape.

“Link hooves just like we did around our Unity Crystals. Our magic is stronger together.” Hitch called as the grape for closer.

The Mane Five, Race and Sarah linked their hooves together with Race, Sarah's horn glowing as were Hitch’s hooves making him hesitant.

“Remember Hitch, embrace your new magic instead of resisting it.” Sarah advised.

“Just trust yourself, Hitch. You already have all you need.” Sunny added.

Together the Sarah, Race and Mane Five’s hooves and cutie marks glowed together they all combined their magic to create a large tree with crystalline flowers sprouting from the branches.

“The trees right in the berries path! Were protected! We’re gonna save the fillies. I can’t believe we’re actually going to do it!” Hitch smiled as Sunny laughed but when the berry collided with the tree it splattered and would’ve coated the ponies but Sarah and Race quickly shielded everyone with their magic.

”Alicorn Magic Shield.” Race chuckled.

The ponies all cheered for the heroes of the day, “See. Earth pony magic is something special. Who knew you could grow a whole tree?” Sunny smiled at the tree in front of them.

"Looks like Applejack can now teach you all a thing or two about planting and farming now." Spike grinned.

"Darn tootin!" Applejack smiled swinging her arm in front of her happily.

Upon closer inspection Zipp saw the tree had something familiar about it.

“Speaking of which have you seen this thing? It’s like five sparkle filters combined!” Pipp smiled taking her phone to take a picture as did Zipp but for research purposes.

”Zipps Phone 301: Flowers from magical tree look familiar somehow. Must investigate.”

”You were right Edge, Sarah and Sunny. I shouldn’t have tried to control all that magic, especially my own.” Hitch smiled.

“It’s okay Hitch. I know Magic can be a bit scary and unpredictable but you have to learn to go with its flow and not try to control every aspect of it. Magic works in mysterious ways and can affect many things as well.” Sarah grinned before they group heard a loud crash from the Police Station.

“What was that? It sounded like it was coming straight from the station.” Sunny exclaimed as the group saw green smoke coming from it.

Hitch gasped worried at the sight. "Sparky!" he cried out, running towards the station while the rest followed him.

Once he reached the station, he stopped suddenly. "Izzy, I thought I told you not to let Sparky make a mess... That is entirely cleaned up" he said, looking at the station clean and shining.

Sparky ran towards his adoptive father happily before leaping onto his back, while Kenneth saluted at him. "Wow! I've never seen Sparky this happy. Did you follow the Safety Schedule? Feed him before sleeping? Not sleeping before eating? Check all the boxes on the comprehensive list I left?"

"Nope, nope, and... nope!" Izzy replied with a smile, while Hitch just looked at her with a bored expression. "I tried that at first, but soon found out that ditching all the rules and letting Sparky run free was just what the dragon ordered! Isn't that right, little cutie?"

Sparky purred against Hitch and responds before getting on his hoof.

“Hitch. I wasn’t there when you told Izzy to dragon-sit Sparky, but what Izzy just said about this list thing is overreaction.” Spike smiled. “I know you worried for Sparky, but not everypony can do the things you do. And besides, Sparky is a baby dragon, he just wants to run around and have fun, Twilight let me do the same when I was just a baby even if I did make messes during those time."

Hitch smiled at the pair, “You’re right, Spike. And thanks, Izzy. I... may have over-thought it a bit..." he said, a little ashamed. "Trying to work on that. I mean, he's just a little dragon, what's the worst that could happen?"

And once again, Hitch jinxed himself since Sparky let out a big sneeze that spread some dragon smoke around the room and changed some things into balloons, party hats and balls.

The group looked in amazement while Hitch gave a sheepish look. “Aaaaaand there it is.”

"Wow! Sparky has magic?!" Sunny asked with disbelief, as the rest looked as surprised as her.

Sparky sneezed again, and made the balloon that Kenneth was holding turned back into the trash can again and fell into the bird.

“Amazing! Not only does Sparky have the magic, but it seems his magical dragon fire has the ability to change things into anything his dragon fire hits, and a second strike seems to return it to normal. Like Unicorn's Transfiguration spells!” Twilight Sparkle theorized.

"Now that's a never before seen power of dragonfire." Keldeo smiled.

"Not even Smolder or my own fire does that!" Spike gawked.

"What, you didn't know?" Izzy asked Hitch, since she noticed while she was dragon-sitting Sparky.

Hitch made a balloon fly away with his head, and looked at Sparky with a smile. "We'll clean that up later, buddy." he told him, going to clean up that mess later.

"You're a mysterious little dragon, aren't you Sparky." Sarah cooed at the baby Dragon who laughed at her.

---

At sunset, the ponies around Maretime Bay reunited around the tree that Hitch made grow as Hitch chuckled at the very thing he managed to create with his friends.

Sparky ran towards the tree and looked at it in awe. He got closer to it and touched the trunk with his eyes closed, while his horns glowed a little bit.

However, Hitch got close to him and grabbed him to put him on his back.

"Okay, Sparky, that's enough magic for today" he said with a smile, now walking towards the station, while Sparky kept looking at the tree with a smile, as the flowers on the tree started to shine and Sparky's smile grew bigger as he laughed a bit.