A collection of short scenes of developing friendships
They may have brought the magic back to Equestria, but they still have a long way to go. Years of distrust don't vanish overnight. Sometimes leading by example is best, and letting everypony see new friendships being built is the best example they can provide.
Hitch polished his badge idly as he stood by the gazebo on the seashore of Maretime Bay. “Greetings and welcome to Maretime Bay,” he murmured, then again, starting to pace. Behind him, in the shade of the structure, the members of the official town bass band chatted among themselves.
A rustle of wings roused him and he looked up, then snapped to attention, as Princess Zephyrina Storm swooped in above the gazebo, flanked by two Royal Guards, and slowly descended to the ground in front of him. She stood with her chin raised and wings spread wide, looking as regal as her title.
Hitch nodded to the band leader and a moment later a rousing (and almost deafening) rendition of the town anthem filled the air, drawing the attention of many ponies along the waterfront.
He nodded again as the song slowed, then turned to the Princess and opened his mouth to speak. The band blasted into the last phrase of the song, leading to an annoyed glare from the sheriff and a slashing gesture to stop. He cleared his throat again and stepped forward.
“Your Highness, welcome and greetings to Maretime Bay!” he said proudly, then winced at the mix-up.
Zipp stepped forward, still the model of regal formality. “Sheriff, thank you for your eloquent greeting. I bring the warmest regards of Her Royal Majesty, Queen Haven, for you and all of our earth pony brothers and sisters in Maretime Bay. It is her greatest hope that our visit will advance the cause of unity and understanding among all ponykind.”
A ripple of applause came from the ponies around them, and the band leader took the moment to provide a grand crescendo to the occasion.
The music died out, and Zipp folded her wings to her sides. Her regal composure evaporated into a warm smile. “Now bring it in, dude. It’s been too long,”
Hitch chuckled and stepped in close, meeting Zipp in a warm embrace. “It’s good to see you, Zipp. How are things back in Zephyr Heights?”
Zipp sighed, pulling back and looking Hitch in the eye. “Let’s just say I’m looking forward to a week where I don’t have to look at an air traffic control plan. It’s wild, suddenly having every pegasus winging around the city wherever they like.”
“Whoa, I can only imagine,” said Hitch, trying to picture having to enforce ordinances in all three dimensions at once.
Zipp glanced at her honor guard. “Why don’t you two grab a smoothie or something. The Sheriff and I need to catch up.” They both saluted, then grinned and trotted over to the smoothie cart along the shore.
She looked back to Hitch. “Now that the formal stuff is over, what do you like to do for fun around here, Hitch? We’ve got a whole week to take care of what should be an hour of negotiations, tops, so I intend to relax.”
Hitch laughed, and gestured to the businesses around the seafront. “The town is yours, Zipp. There’s a lot to choose from, but how are you at bowling?” She grinned in response, and the two trotted off toward the bowling alley to begin “negotiations.”
The sun shone radiantly through the leaves of Bridlewood, brightening the windows of The Crystal Tearoom like never before. The once-dreary interior glowed with the colors of the stained glass. Alphabittle smiled at the cheerful lightshow it created on the stage, contrasting sharply with the brooding poetry being recited by his regulars, and kept wiping down the bar by hoof as he'd always done.
The front door swung open wide, framing the regal profile of Queen Haven in a bright halo of sunlight. Striding into the tea room, she stopped in a practiced pose and removed her sunglasses, smiling. The other patrons barely looked up from their tea. After a few moments the Queen's smile faded into disappointment as no cameras flashed.
Alphabittle chuckled from behind the bar. “Well, if it isn't Her Majesty from Zephyr Heights. Come on over, and welcome to my little tea room.” He nodded his head toward the other ponies around the room. “Don't mind them. They're a little stuck in their ways and are used to keeping their eyes in their teacups.”
Haven sighed, smiling again as she approached. “It's a habit, I suppose, for me to expect the paparazzi to snap photos whenever I enter a room. This is certainly more... humbling.” She laughed ruefully. “It's certainly a... unique look you have here, Alphabittle. Very cozy.”
“My customers seem to like it. I'm hoping to make it more exciting now that we can do things like this.” His horn glowed and moments later a teacup and saucer floated down to the bar in front of the Queen before a teapot quickly filled it with steaming, fragrant tea. An adorable little armadillo carried over a small pitcher of milk, pouring some in at Haven's nod.
Haven gave the little critter a gentle scratch on its head, making it coo happily.
“On the house, Your Majesty,” Alphabittle said with a sheepish smile. “I never did really thank you for saving me and these little guys from that big robot machine.”
“You can call me Haven, and don't mention it. I couldn't very well let these adorable little cuties be crushed, now could I?”
He chuckled, shaking his head. “Certainly not.”
Haven sipped at her tea. “Mmm, delicious!” Glancing past him to the shelves behind the counter, she slowly raised a brow. “Tell me, Alphabittle, why do you have a rubber chicken on the shelf?”
He glanced back at it. “Oh, I won that in a game of darts a couple years back. The owner actually claimed it was a family heirloom.”
“Ah, yes, my daughters said you like betting on games. They told me to ask you about an “Ultimate Challenge” if I dropped in here.”
Alphabittle smirked and his horn glowed, pulling back the curtain next to the bar, revealing his Just Prance machine in all its glory. “Behold! The Ultimate Challenge!” he said with a laugh. “I usually reserve this for very special bets.”
Haven grinned, stepping around to inspect the machine. “I can see why.” She met his gaze. “What do you say to the loser buys a round for everyone?”
Alphabittle raised a brow, looking her over. “Are you certain? I wouldn't want to embarrass you on your first visit.”
She laughed. “Oh, I may be a Queen, but I wasn't always proper. Try to keep up, big guy.”
He chuckled, motioning for the critters to prepare the machine. “Best out of three?”
Their eyes met, and narrowed. “It is on!” they said in unison, and jumped into the ready position.
Pipp Petals frowned as she fluttered over the breathtaking auburn canopy of Bridlewood. "Oh, this just can't be happening!" She raised her phone high up, turning a circle in the air and staring at the small red x over the signal icon. "How can there be no signal here? The view here is too gorgeous not to livestream it."
Pouting, she sighed and lined up a quick selfie instead, framing her face with the beautiful view and switching to a more alluring expression. Tucking her phone away, she winged her way down toward Izzy’s house. She swooped down through a gap in the tree cover, gracefully landing before the door.
“Hi, Pipp!” came a bright and bubbly call from behind her. Izzy Moonbow trotted up the path from town with several full bags floating along beside her, encased in the purple glow of her magic. “Were you waiting long? I just needed more supplies for our unicycling session.” She stepped close, bringing Pipp into a hug.
Pipp smiled warmly at the greeting, hugging her friend tight. “Oh, no, I just got here. You would have beaten me here if there were any signal in these woods.” She pulled out her phone again, pouting at the hated red x. “I wanted to livestream the view from above the trees for my Pippsqueaks. It is just so gorgeous!”
Izzy nodded. “Oh, yeah, we never really had cell phones around Bridlewood before.” She extended her magic to open the door, leading her friend inside. “I understand one of the companies from Zephyr Heights is negotiating to install cell towers here, but it might take a while.” Bags were floated to the work table and Izzy spun around. “Welcome back to Casa Izzy!”
Pipp giggled softly, looking around the room again as she followed Izzy. “Your place is so wonderful, Izzy! I’m still astounded that you made all your decorations yourself. Is that a new windchime?”
Izzy’s grin grew wide and she hurried over to it, giving the chimes a tap with her hoof and filling the room with an increasing scale of five tones. “Do you like it? I made the chimes to look like our cutie marks. Yours and mine and Sunny’s and Zipp’s and Hitch’s, to commemorate all of us coming together as friends!”
“It is gorgeous!” Pipp sang, fluttering her downy wings. “You are so talented with your unicycling, Izzy. I only wish I could stream our crafting session to let everypony know how good you are.”
Izzy’s smile faded a little, and she turned to the crafting table. “Oh, well, if you want to delay it until you’re able to livestream, I’ll understand.”
Pipp wrinkled her brow, watching Izzy’s body language change with each step. “Are you joking? I love my Pippsqueaks, sure, but I came here to spend time with my friend, Izzy.” She trotted over beside her, giving her flank a light bump with her own. “Think you can teach me how to make something as beautiful as those chimes?”
Izzy looked back to Pipp, her own smile flooding back to full brightness. “Honey, you came to the right cottage.”
Sunny Starscout trotted up the lane from Maretime Bay toward the ruins of the town’s lighthouse, her home. Weeks after the day she and her friends found the secret to bring magic back to the world, the same day that saw the destruction of her beloved home, the civil engineers sent word that they’d reached a conclusion about the structure.
Cresting the hill, she saw dozens of ponies in hardhats spread out over the site, shouting orders and moving the rubble into discrete piles. Her smile grew in anticipation. This much activity must mean something good. She drew closer and soon a pony looked up from a group, then tapped on the shoulder of an older pink mare with a curly blonde mane sticking out below her hardhat. Phyllis Cloverleaf turned, smiling at Sunny’s approach.
“Sunny!” she called as she trotted closer, picking up a spare hardhat from a cart as she passed. “I’m so glad you were able to come. I have some great news from the engineers.” She handed Sunny the headwear, then gave her a brief hug.
“That’s what I was hoping, Mrs. Cloverleaf,” Sunny answered, strapping the hat on.
“Oh, you call me Phyllis, Sunny. After all that’s happened, I think we’re past formalities.” She started walking with Sunny back toward the work site. “So, my engineers tell me that while the light tower was a total loss and will have to be rebuilt, and the lower structure suffered significant damage over 18% of it, the foundations of the building are totally intact. Isn’t that wonderful?”
Sunny smiled, turning the information over in her head. “It certainly sounds like good news.” She raised a brow. “Does that mean we can fix it?”
“That means we don’t have to demolish the building and start over.” She waved a hoof at Sunny’s shocked expression. “The mayor declared the lighthouse as a site of historical significance, so we’d rebuild it either way, but now we should have you back in your home in a few weeks instead of months.”
“It really is so generous of you to pay for the repairs,” Sunny said, looking back to Phyllis. “But I didn’t expect you to oversee the work, too.”
Phyllis shook her head, looking down. “After the part Canterlogic and I played in causing the damage, it’s really the least I can do to make it right again. I really am sorry I let things get so far out of hoof.”
Sunny smiled and stepped in to hug her briefly. “You did the right thing in the end, Phyllis. That’s what matters.” She pulled back and pointed to the rainbow streak in her long mane. “And I got an awesome new look out of it.”
They laughed, turning toward the building again. Phyllis spoke first, nodding to Sunny’s forehead. “Do you know what happened with the, um, the rest of it?”
Sunny shook her head. “My horn and wings? I’m not entirely sure. The best bet Izzy and I can come up with is that the initial surge of magic revealed something of a… potential form. My dad found some descriptions of the ruling Princesses in ancient Equestria, and they all seemed to combine aspects of all three types of ponies.” She chuckled. “He always thought that was some poetic license on the part of the writers, showing equality between the tribes. Who knew it was literal?”
Phyllis laughed with her, adjusting her glasses. “Y’know, I may have given your father a hard time for ignoring what everypony thought they knew, but deep down I really did respect him, Sunny. He always stood by what he believed. That takes a lot of courage, and it’s clear you got a lot of that from him.”
Sunny nodded, smiling at the memories. “Thank you. That, and so much more.”
Phyllis glanced at her watch. “Oh! I have to go. I have a meeting with executives from some of the Zephyr Heights communication companies. If all goes well, Canterlogic will produce the cell phone towers and devices to link up Maretime Bay with the rest of Equestria.”
“Good luck, Phyllis.” Sunny looked around, seeing only busy workers. “Who should I talk to about getting in to recover some of my stuff?”
“Ah, honey, most of it’s been pulled out already to make sure nothing gets damaged with the renovations. My foreman can show you where it is.” She waved toward a large group of ponies. “Sprout, sweetie! Come over here for a minute.”
Sunny smiled at the call. “Sprout’s your foreman? What about his job as deputy?”
Phyllis nodded as the red stallion reluctantly approached. “Well, he’s still on indefinite suspension after the whole ‘attempted coup and trying to start a war’ incident, so I gave him a job so he can keep up his mortgage payments. Plus he really wanted to help with rebuilding your home.” When Sprout arrived, somewhat reluctant to look Sunny in the eyes, Phyllis turned to him. “Sprout, sweetie, can you take care of Sunny? She needs a few of her things from the house.”
“Um, sure, mommy,” Sprout murmured, and Phyllis gave them both quick hugs before trotting back toward town.
Sprout then turned to Sunny. “Hi, Sunny. I, um, I’m really sorry about what I did to your house. It looks like we can fix it, and pretty quickly, but I shouldn’t have done what I did.”
Sunny gave him her best stern expression, which kept slipping into a slight smile when she spoke. “I’d be lying if I said I was happy about my house being destroyed, Sprout.” As he shrank away from the disapproving words, she dropped the façade and ducked in to hug him. “But I’m glad you weren’t hurt when the tower came down on Sprouticus Maximus.”
Sprout blinked. “You’re not angry at me?”
“Of course not, Sprout. You’ve been my friend since we were foals. We may have disagreed about a few things.” She stepped back, tilting her head. “And maybe you took things really way too far, but you’re still a good pony after it all.” She reached out a hoof. “And I still want to be your friend, if you’re willing.”
Sprout wiped a tear from the corner of his eye, then shook Sunny’s hoof. “I’d really like that.” Sniffing back more tears he stepped toward several covered trailers. “Now let’s get you the things you needed from the house.” They walked over together, Sunny giving him a gentle bump with her flank, bringing a smile to Sprout’s face.
Sunny Starscout sat at the table in Hitch’s kitchen, staring at the picture in her hoof, as the morning sun flooded the room with warmth and light. In her other hoof she held an oblong wooden medallion, the center carved out in the shape of a very familiar double star. A sad smile spread over her lips as she once again traced every contour of her father’s smiling face into her memory.
“We did it, Dad,” she said softly, looking out the window at the view of Maretime Bay. In the distance she could see a few pegasi flying over the seashore, and even the glow of unicorn magic as somepony left a shop followed by a floating array of shopping bags. “Peace with pegasi, unity with unicorns, we did it all, just like you knew we would. Even if the house got a little busted up in the process, it was worth it.” She looked back at the photo, tears welling in her eyes. “I only wish you were here to see it.”
Silence returned, broken only by Sunny’s occasional soft sobs. A few minutes later the door to the spare bedroom opened with a purple glow and Izzy Moonbow trotted out into the living area. “Good morning, Sunny!” she called cheerfully, pushing her messy mane back out of her eyes. “Oh, wow! The mornings are so beautiful with the sun over the water like that! That view makes me extra glad Hitch let me stay here with you while I’m visiting town.”
Izzy stopped when she saw Sunny, still looking at the photo with tears tracing over her cheeks. “Oh! Hey, I didn’t want to interrupt. I can… I can go out and get some breakfast, if you want to be alone.”
Sunny sniffed, wiping away another tear, then smiled at her friend. “No, it’s okay, Izzy. I’m fine.” She turned the photo so Izzy could see it. “I’m just missing him a lot this morning. I’ll be fine.”
Izzy moved close, gasping at the appearance of Argyle. “Is that your Dad? Oh, hi Mr. Starscout!”
“Starshine,” Sunny corrected softly.
“Hi Mr. Starshine!” Izzy continued, unfazed. “I’m sorry I never got to meet you, but I bet you’re really proud of your daughter. She’s become my best friend ever! She’s brave and loyal and kind and generous, and she always wants to help everypony in need.” She paused, then smirked and added, “Oh, and she helped unite all ponykind and brought magic back to the world, too. You really raised a wonderful daughter.”
Sunny couldn’t hold back anymore, tears flowing freely as she jumped up from her seat and pulled Izzy into a hug. “Thank you, Izzy,” she whispered. “You’re a great friend, too.” They held the embrace for a long time before Sunny pulled away. “Now let’s get that breakfast you mentioned before we check on the repairs at the lighthouse. We can go out if you want, or… I can show you how to make my Dad’s famous unicorn pancakes.”
Izzy beamed. “Oh! The pancakes, naturally! How could I pass up an original recipe? Maybe we can even find a way to sparkle them up even further.” She trotted over toward the kitchen area.
Sunny chuckled. “They are already pretty sparkly, but if anypony can add more sparkle, it’s you, Izzy.”
She set the framed photo on the table, then draped the medallion over it. Smiling, she gently touched a hoof to the image of Argyle’s cheek, then drew it back to rest over her own heart. “I love you, Dad.” Sunny turned and joined Izzy in the kitchen, laughing as they assembled the ingredients for their sparkly pancakes.
