The Long Walk Home & Hitch's Heart
“But, why didn’t it work daddy?”
“Because it was all make believe.”
The words echoed in Sunny’s head, leaving her feeling hollowed out inside. She was so sure that bringing the crystals together would’ve brought about magic returning to their world. Every pony gathered was first stunned, then disappointed when the valent effort of the two princesses of Zephyr Heights and their friends proved to be just a wild goose chase.
The legendary Equestrian magic didn’t return as Sunny had theorized and believed for so long. It was heartbreaking for all the ponies standing there, witnessing the failure. She turned away, heading back the way she’d came with her hooves shuffling, head hanging low from the terrible disappointment. With a resigned sigh, Hitch duly followed after but not before turning around to speak one last time.
“I guess this is goodbye, friends.” Hitch couldn’t believe it himself; he was leaving these new friends after all they’d been through together.
“You better hurry, sheriff.” Zipp’s words were quiet, almost inaudible if it were not for the terrible silence around them that made it possible to hear her. She, too, felt the keen sting of disappointment, her heart heavy from the hope of the magic returning being dashed. Oh, how she longed to fly like she dreamed since foal-hood!
Pipp, Zipp, Queen Haven their mom, Izzy, Alphabittle and the other unicorns silently turned away as well, all saddened by the seemingly permanent loss of their world’s enchantment.
The sheriff of Maretime Bay took one last look around at the departing ponies before facing forward to watch Sunny plod along ahead of him. He followed after, aware that it would take the better part of the night to walk all the way back to Maretime Bay. Knowing Sunny and her determination, she’d unwaveringly make the trek without pause for water or rest.
I think it’s better let her keep her mind on her thoughts. If she wants to say something, she’ll talk when she’s ready.
He could only guess what she must be going through right then, the emotions she must be feeling. Hitch was hoping she would be the one to break the silence that stayed between them during the long trek back home. The only sound in his ears the whole way was the sound of their hooves steadily walking along and the various nocturnal animals out and about in the moonlit darkness.
Hitch wanted to say something but how could he? Everything his best friend of better than twenty years believed in and held true was seemingly falling apart around her and there was nothing he could do to help.
The first rays of the new dawn were just peaking over the horizon as they reached crest in the road that led back down towards Maretime Bay town. In five more minutes, they would be at the split between the main road and the hoof path that led to Sunny’s lighthouse. The seconds ticked away, still the silence remained and Hitch grew more concerned by Sunny’s mute state. She never uttered a sound the whole trip. Finally, they reach the fork and Hitch paused his step, letting Sunny walk on home.
For Heaven’s sake, say something! She’s your best friend! Are you just going to let her walk away like that?!
His mind screamed out, watching her trudge away with her head hanging low. He managed to say at least one thing to her, probably the only thing he thought would help.
“I’m right here if you need to talk, Sunny.”
Sunny stopped, something on her mind she had to know right there and then. It was something that had been in the back of her mind for a very long time and needed definitive answering.
“Hitch,” she drew a shuddering breath when she spoke his name. Instantly, he was right behind her, waiting for her to say more.
“Yeah?”
She turned around to face him, seeing the care he had for her in those comforting brown eyes of his as she gently put both forehooves on his withers, looking right into his eyes. Her chin started to quiver.
“When… when we were little foals and… and… and…” Sunny’s voice started to break, the sadness now manifesting itself as her expression began to twist with indescribable hurt. Hitch instantly recognized that look, he’d seen it once before.
It was his withers she’d cried on and leaned on for support when her father passed away not so long ago. It was he who stayed with her at the lighthouse for three days and nights afterwards, being there for her by taking care of things while she was in mourning. Most of the time together had passed in silence, punctuated by moments of intense tears followed by stretches silent depression between half-eaten meals and restless sleep.
“…and… and we’d play ‘Protectors of Equestria’ and had so much fun together. You… you believed it too, right? That the magic would come back if the three pony races united again; like how we were in the past, like my dad use to tell us?” She was almost begging him to agree.
The look in her eyes was almost unbearable for Hitch to see, like the look of a drowning pony desperate for a lifeline, unable to clutch any more straws. Hitch took a deep breath before choosing his words very carefully.
“Sunny, we all did our part; you, me, Zipp, Pipp and Izzy to prove it true, but-”
He was cut off mid-sentence as Sunny practically lunged at him, embracing him tightly with her head buried against his neck as she finally broke down.
“No, don’t you dare! Don’t you dare lie to me, Hitch Trailblazer! I know your heart! I know it because I saw it that day! Don’t lie to me!” Sunny wailed loudly, her body trembling as her faith in her father’s legacy of work was dangling by the thinnest of threads in her heart, down to mere fiber strands left.
Instinctively, Hitch threw his forelegs around her, holding on as tightly as she was to him, feeling the wave of emotion building inside him to make him choke up more, her unhappiness triggering him.
“Sun-n-n-n-ny!” Hitch groaned with empathy for her, clapping his eyes shut as he held onto her, his mind racing back to that day which she was referring to. Better than twenty years ago, it still felt like only yesterday they were playing with her carved wooden figurines…..
======*****======
“We did it!” Sunny made the winged lavender pony figure swoop down over the other five figurines in a graceful arc, circling around to land right in front the pink and the tan colored earth pony figurines Hitch was playing as. He was smiling along happily with Sunny, enjoying their story time.
“Ya’ hoo! That nasty ol’ dragon been givin’ the ‘what for’ this time, ya’ll! Cloudtown’s now safe!” Hitch tried changing his voice, getting into the acting like Sunny by trying to come up with a different voice for each of the figurines.
“The Magic of Friendship has saved the day again!” Sunny was happy that Hitch was getting into the roleplaying, something he wouldn’t do when Sprout was with them, no matter how much she pleaded. It was something he did only with her, making their time special. He even braved letting her ‘dress him up’ in a pair of pegisus wings she made especially for him so they could pretend to be flying, running around the lighthouse’s yard together, having a marvelous time pretending. Heaven forbid should Sprout have ever seen that!
“Wait ‘till every pony back home in Stableville finds out! We should throw a super-duper big party to celebrate!” Hitch’s voice cracked terribly when he tried to make that high-pitched ‘squeaky voice’ for the pink earth pony figurine with the big curly mane, making Sunny laugh.
“Looking simply fabulous while saving every pony just comes natural to us, doesn’t it girls? No ponies could have looked better while applying the proper motiva-”
“We totally kicked some serious dragon butt! Yeah!” Sunny quickly switched to the light blue pegisus with the rainbow mane and tail figurine from the white one with lavender mane and tail to deliver the punchline, going around the collection to play each character, try to imbue each one with a different persona.
“Oh, I had enough of scary dragons for one day! Can’t we go home now?” Sunny ended with the pink maned yellow pegisus, giving the figurine a soft and demur voice, completing the circle of characters to act as.
Argyle was finishing up getting their lunches made, listening to his daughter and her best friend playing together for the past few hours together, and enjoying Sunny’s storytelling of ancient Equestrian times. He was pleased to see Hitch participating with the roleplaying and genuinely having a good time. Hitch then broke the moment of imagination.
“Wait, Sunny, I’m confused.” Hitch cocked an eyebrow, trying to understand some aspect of the pony characters they portrayed. “If the princess has special powers to share the Magic of Friendship and she shares the magic with the uinicorns and the pegisus and the earth ponies together, shouldn’t all of them be able to fly? Unicorns don’t fly but having the Magic of Friendship can make them fly, right? So earth ponies should be able to fly too, if they have the same magic. If not, wouldn’t all of them fall out of the sky from the cloud they’re standing on?”
Sunny was pulled out of her imagination and into reality, trying to suddenly answer Hitch’s question.
“Umm…uh, wait. I mean, the magic is different for unicorns and…” She turned to her father, in the kitchen nearby. “Dad?” She could not answer Hitch’s question and looked to her father, like a referee with some kind of guide or rulebook, like in a game.
Argyle was grinning, having to disappoint her a little. “Sorry, sweetheart, but no pony is really sure how the magic worked. But it was very imaginative story.”
“Oh, well, it’s no big deal.” Hitch didn’t seem to mind if it didn’t make sense, this was all just pretend for him. Playing with Sunny was a chance to let his imagination be free. “It was a neat adventure to come up with. You’re really good at it.”
Argyle removed the pot from off the stove, pouring the tomato soup into the two bowls on the kitchen table for the two playmates. “I think you two should take an adventure break and have some lunch.” He made sure they each had a glass of chocolate milk to drink and made the two peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches cut into perfect triangles. The two youngsters hurried over to take a seat at the table, eagerly digging into the mid-day meal.
Sunny and Hitch had been playing together since late morning, making Argyle pleased to see Sunny make such a good friend with the colt from just down the street. They talked about summer vacation plans and what they wanted to do while together today.
“We can do some drawing after eating, if you want? I have some new markers to use and I made a picture I think you’ll like!” She was eager to showcase her new masterpiece to him, sure to surprise Hitch with something other than more pictures of unicorns and pegisus ponies. He was never one to turn down a chance to draw.
“Mah, mure!” Hitch wiped off the smudge of jelly off the side of his muzzle with the back of a foreleg, the crunchy peanut-butter keeping his tongue momentarily glued to the roof of his mouth, mumbling his words as he tried to talk.
“Okay, I’ll be right back!” Sunny hopped off her chair and trotted over to the lift, wanting to get up to the next floor and her bedroom. With a forehoof, she tapped the small wood panel on the corner of the platform that would activate the mechanism to raise the lift.
“Careful there, Sunny. I have to adjust the counterweights on the lift today. One of the knots in the ropes slipped so it doesn’t move steadily.” Argyle, sitting at his desk reminded his daughter, watching her unsteady ride down this morning before breakfast as the platform suddenly dropped her three feet just as she neared the bottom.
“I know.” Sunny braced her legs, ready for the sudden motion it might take. A third tap of her forehoof released the lock and allowed the platform to ascend, moving steadily upwards this time. There a was a distinct squealing sound coming from one of the spools that the lift ropes wound itself around when being raised and lowered. Suddenly, the platform stopped about six inches too low from the surface of the floor on the upper level. Argyle recognized the sound; it one of the knots getting caught in the rope windings and was now jammed against a support beam.
“It did it again!” Sunny hopped up off the platform, called back to her dad who was sitting at his desk. She had a perfect line of sight of him from her vantage point, the view provided by the six-inch gap between the floor and the still-stuck platform.
“I know. I’ll get it unstuck.” Argyle got up from his chair, walking over to the lift to examine the suspect rope that was now jammed.
“Thanks for the lunch, Mr. Starscout. You make the best peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches.” Hitch popped the last bit of the sandwich into his mouth and washed it down with his chocolate milk, slipping down off his chair and walking over to look up at the large sketched-out map that hung on the living room wall.
“I’m glad you like it, Hitch. You know you’re always welcome to stop by to visit Sunny.” Argyle gave a hard tug on one of the suspension ropes, successfully getting the knot unstuck from the spool. He was returning to the chair at his work desk when he observed Hitch’s curious gazing at the map.
“Gimmie a second; I’ll be right there!” Sunny announced into the air as she scurried about her room to collect the markers and new pad of drawing paper. Tucked inside the sheets of the pad was the picture she was to show Hitch, something that would surprise him.
“Uh, okay.” Hitch answered but still kept looking up at the map, studying the various details drawn on it. He took a few steps closer, reading the names of the places illustrated by Sunny’s dad.
Argyle sat back down at his desk, returning to the manuscript he was studying but noticed how Hitch kept looking up at the map, the young colt’s interest clearly piqued by the story Sunny had come up with based on his work.
“Hitch,” Argyle began quietly, “did you have a question?” He didn’t get up or make any sudden motion to distract Sunny’s friend, wanting Hitch’s concentration to remain on the map.
Hitch was quiet for a few seconds, studying what was before him before finally asking.
With her pad of paper and bag of coloring markers clutched next to her body by one foreleg, she hopped down on the platform, instantly spotting Hitch standing in front of the big map her father had made from scratch. She was about to say something when she heard her father post the question to him, unaware she could see him standing there. Sunny pulled herself down low onto wooden planks she stood on, trying to conceal herself in shadow as she crept forward to the edge so she could see better. She knew it was wrong to eavesdrop on any pony, but this was her best friend and he was interested in her father’s work.
Sunny felt her heart thumping harder in her chest, excited to see and hear Hitch interacting with her dad, curious as to what his research was about. She waited with baited breath at what Hitch would ask.
“Mr. Starscout,” Hitch began innocently, “how… long ago was this? I mean, a really long, long time ago?” His eyes never left the map awaiting the answer.
Argyle gave a soft chuckle as he answered. “So long ago, Hitch, that we can’t count up the number of moons it was.”
Still, Hitch’s attention never left the map. Then, he said something that made Sunny’s heart skip a beat when it hit her ears.
“Unicorns, pegisus ponies and earth ponies all living together; hmmm?” The spark of curiosity flickered in his eyes as Sunny could tell by her friend’s expression that he was having something of an epiphany; that the three pony races were supposed to live together. Sunny was ecstatic and she could barely contain herself.
Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! He believes it! Hitch believes in it too! I knew I could convince him! He wants the magic to come back too! Sunny had to compose herself and not let on that she’d seen him express interest in her dad’s research, aware how Hitch would clam up when confronted with something he would think embarrassing.
“I’ll be right there!” She made sure to say it loud enough to snap Hitch from his thoughts, warning him of her return. She hopped up and down on the platform, in part trying to get it moving but also celebrating a tiny bit.
Whir-r-r-r-r! Clunk! The platform gave a shudder and suddenly dropped down a few feet, startling Sunny and causing her to lose footing for a split second.
“Woa-a-a-ah!” She managed to stay upright, her hind legs scooting out from under her body.
“Sunny!” Hitch rushed to the landing in a flash, thinking Sunny might be in danger. But the platform continued its steady descending to the lower floor, the squeaking hub getting louder. Sunny jumped off at the last foot high or so, unafraid of getting hurt.
“Okay, I’m going to look at that hub right now.” Argyle gave a small huff, annoyed at the mechanism for faltering again. “Some pony is sure to get hurt. I’ll be down in the cellar for a few minutes, Sunny.”
The stallion rose once more from his chair to exit through the front entry, the cellar door being accessible only from outside. He had some quick instructions for them before leaving.
“I might have to call out to you two from down there to work the platform up and down a little so I can set the counterweight height correctly.”
“Okay dad.” Sunny had done this before. Sometimes the ropes would stretch and slip, needing attention now and then, especially with the changing of seasons.
“C’mon. I want to show you this.” With an insistent tug at a foreleg of his, she had him sitting back at the table so they could draw together. From within the first two sheets of the new drawing pad, she presented another masterpiece to him, biting her lower lip in anticipation of his reaction.
Hitch gasped a little, his eyes widening some at what it was.
“Hey!” The surprise in his voice and smile on his face delighted Sunny, relieved to see he clearly liked it.
“It’s… it’s us!” Hitch had expected the usual ‘masterpiece’ from Sunny; more pegisus and more unicorn pictures. But this was out of left field and a complete surprise.
“You like it? I want you to have it.” Sunny had created a picture of them playing together on a large grassy field, the picture titled; ‘Best Friends of Summer’.
“I do! Thanks! I put this on my wall with the others. It must have taken you a long time to do this.” The line work and coloring showed how much effort Sunny put into the gift and he gave her an appreciating hug for it. Sunny hugged him back twice as hard.
“Ooof!” Hitch felt the air suddenly squeezed from his lings and thought he felt a ribcage bone crack from the pressure Sunny was exerting.
“I knew you’d believed it!” She squealed with excitement, but instantly realized what she’d said. It didn’t get past Hitch, either.
“Wait, what?” He pulled back as much as he could from her embrace, looking at her and trying figure out what she was talking about. She thought of something super quick for cover.
“I said I knew you’d like it.” She released him from her enthusiastic embrace.
Hitch didn’t object, the questioning look instantly gone. “Oh, yeah. I do. It’s got to be one of your best.” He turned his attention to the markers and paper, eager to draw some scary monsters for maybe another adventure story. Sunny was so relieved that he didn’t pursue this more, afraid she would have to tell him what she’d seen and heard.
After assisting her dad with the platform lift a few times and getting to draw together for a few hours more, Hitch had to leave for the day.
“Thanks for having me over today, Mr. Starscout. Sunny and me had a great time together.” Hitch never had a bad time when spending an afternoon at her place. There was always something fun to do or look at when at her house. She walked him out the front door as he waved to her dad.
“Anytime, Hitch. Anytime.” He waved back and Sunny closed the front door behind her, walking him all the way to the end of the path to the road.
“You’re coming by again, tomorrow?” Sunny was hoping it was so but Hitch had to disappoint her.
“I can’t. It’s the first weekend of summer vacation so we have to go visit my aunt and uncle up in Blevinsville. I won’t be back until late Sunday night.”
“Oh.” Sunny’s head dipped a little and her ears drooped some. Hitch had a quick comeback, thinking fast on his hooves.
“But, hey, you can always have Sprout come over for a while.” Sunny’s expression soured some by the mention of the other colt living down the street from her.
“He’s no fun. He doesn’t like to play the same way you do.” Sunny didn’t mince words. Sprout Cloverleaf was not her preferred playmate.
“He’s okay. You just have to give him a chance.” Hitch always gave his colt buddy the benefit of the doubt; aware of Sprout’s more rambunctious nature and his tendency to get bored easily. She sighed a bit; resigned to the fact she would not have Hitch around for two whole days and would have to deal with Sprout or play by herself. Quite frankly, being alone and not having Sprout around seemed like a better situation. But, wanting to share the Magic of Friendship like she did when playing with Hitch, she would honor him.
“I’ll try.”
Hitch was glad to hear it. “Great! I guess I’ll see you on Monday!” He was about to trot away when Sunny stopped him.
“Hitch, wait… Wait…!” She pulled at his foreleg, getting his attention. He turned around to see she was holding up her right forehoof in the air, smiling. “You almost forgot.”
“Oh, right. Just go a little slower this time. I’m not sure I’m doing it right.” He reciprocated with his left forehoof, touching hoof-tips. Sunny led them slowly through the special ‘friendship greeting’ they’d come up with together. Yet one more special bond of friendship they shared.
“Up high… down low… Hitch it to a post. Flip it Sunny side up…. and on a piece of toast!”
He got it right this time, usually getting tripped up on that ‘sunny side up’ part.
“You did it!” She giggled, giving him a playful bump of her body, making a small blush appear on his cheeks.
“Okay, I’ll see you Monday.” Hitch trotted away with a small spring in his step, glad to have spent his afternoon with Sunny. The drawing Sunny had made was safely tucked in his bag slung across his back, soon to join the others Hitch had collected and treasured on his wall. But this one was a very special drawing and would be the new centerpiece of his collection.
She stayed to watch him trot up the road to the crest and then disappear back down the other side. By herself at last, she jumped up and down and bucked her hind legs out like never before, her heart light and happy with satisfaction.
“He believes too! I finally convinced him!” She felt so light on her hooves she thought she could actually fly like a real pegisus pony. She bounded back up the path to the lighthouse, her heart recharged with the Magic of Friendship so that it would last the next two days.
=====*****=====
It was something Sunny would privately but very gently tease Hitch about through their growing up and on through their primary and secondary school days. At times of she would tease him about how he loved playing their pretend game and how he wished for the magic to come back too. He would repeatedly deny it, as if acknowledging how he felt playing those silly games with her back then made him appear immature or un-stallion like in her eyes. But she knew him, knew his heart all too well.
Feeling Sunny trembling like this in his forelegs brought him back from deep within his memory of that day, how it made him feel to share in something only he and Sunny could have bonded in true friendship over.
“Please, Hitch! Tell me I convinced one, just one pony, in Equestria that it was true! Please!” She needed this, more than ever right then. She was desperate to hear that everything her father had researched and she believed in was true to him too; that he did believe in the magic, like he did when they were little foals.
His breathing started coming in shorter pants, triggered by her unhappiness and feeling the tears starting to pool in his eyes as the storm of emotions threatened to pull him in.
“Sun-n-n-n-ny!” He groaned in agony once more, pulling back from her embrace to look at her again. Seeing her crying like this was the most painful thing he’d experienced in all his years alive. Sunny desperately searched his eyes, looking for that gleam of hope that she saw when they were just a colt and filly that day.
She could see him wrestling with this, in his heart, trying to find the light and make the leap like she knew he so desperately wanted to in his heart.
Just let go! She silently pleaded to him with her eyes. For the briefest of moments, she watched the gleam once more shine in his eyes like they had that day in his youth, aching to say ‘Yes, Sunny, I believe in the magic too!’ to her.
But, as quickly it returned, the glimmer faded away from his eyes. He was grown up now, the sheriff of Maretime Bay now, a pony of law and respected. It was facts, logic and reasoning that his mind used when confronted with conflict, not recounting fun little foal-hood stories about ancient lessons of friendship and ancient magic.
‘Just the facts, mare.’ was a catchphrase he often used when addressing a pony citizen that needed his help for some problem they had.
Hitch barely managed to keep it together and get a grip on his teetering emotions, trying to talk with Sunny again.
“I don’t think you should keep doing this to yourself, Sunny. I mean, even if everything your dad researched was true and every pony race used to live together and the magic was all around us, it was all the way heck back then and this is the now and that’s just the way it is.”
He didn’t want to hurt her anymore then she already was, but it was killing him to see her hopes so pinned on the idea of bringing Equestria’s magic back. After all they had been through over the past few days in search of a way and prove her right, it should’ve been clear to Sunny by now.
“Equestria’s magic is gone, Sunny. We tried, but we don’t know how to bring it back or if we even could for that matter, and we can’t wish it back no matter how hard we want it. Sometimes, we just have to let go of some dreams.”
“We… we just have to let go. And…” It went through her heart like an icy knife. And Hitch felt like the biggest meany in the world for squashing his closest and dearest’s friends dreams so coldly.
Sunny’s head slowly fell forward with her forehead softly colliding with Hitch’s chin, letting him hold her head up. She only had one question she hoped he could somehow answer.
“…and all this time…I… I thought you believed it. I thought I’d convinced you but I was wrong. You never really believed any of it, did you?”
“I…” It was all he could utter, nonplussed at that moment. He held her for a few seconds more before she finally let go of him, turning away from him to shuffle her way back to the lighthouse. The sudden cool sensation of not having her body pressing against him was slightly shocking, as if a piece of him had just been torn away from his body and he was no longer a whole pony.
Hitch stood there, watching Sunny head up the path to her home and crying to herself, feeling utterly powerless at that moment to help her. With the Spector of defeat cast its shadow over his heart, he turned away to head down the dirt road back into town. His thoughts drifted back to his youth and hearing himself speaking with his younger voice about happier times. Innocent times playing Protectors of Equestria and remembering things he’d said to Sunny during those fun and imaginative moments of sharing in her storytelling.
“…sure, Sunny, it’d be neat if the magic was real and stuff, I guess. Every pony could then fly and use magic to make stuff disappear with a zap from their horn.”
“…you think there were lots of princesses back then? I mean, there had to be more than one if the friendship magic lasted for so long.”
“…did you ever wonder if every pony could learn to use magic or if it was for unicorns only? You think they had school to learn magic like in the ‘Harry Trotter’ books?”
But now, those questions were never going to be answered and the empty feeling in Hitch’s heart made the world seem that much smaller and that much more ordinary without ever knowing if it were so.
Hitch stopped, now out of sight of Sunny’s lighthouse and still too far from town for any pony to see, he could not hold back the storm of emotion in his heart he’d held with a vice-like grip of control that now simply crumbled away with a flood of tears, no matter how hard he tried to hold them back.
A single choked sob escaped his mouth, terrifying himself at how upset and unhappy he was at how this escapade had fizzled into nothing. He had to let it out; this horrible pain in his heart was going to drive him as crazy if he didn’t.
“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!” Hitch roared as he furiously slammed his forehooves down against the road over and over again, sublimating his sadness into anger. He did this for a good minute or two, venting his anger like some spoiled little colt for being denied something he desired. Finally, Hitch stopped, panting hard from venting like he had. His head swam with dizziness, and he staggered back a few steps, his butt hitting the ground with a thump, exhausted.
“I… I wish the magic came back too, Sunny,” Hitch actually said it, his ears burning with the words of admission to sharing her dream, “and I’m so sorry it didn’t.” He allowed himself a few minutes to recoup, indulging in self-pity for the loss of a secret dream he shared with his best friend.
Hitch got to his hooves once more. He had to get into town and assess what, if anything may have happened since setting out after Sunny earlier this week. He’d left Sprout temporarily in charge and who knew what kind of problem he might have gotten himself into.