> A Heatwave in Maretime Bay
>  by NovaAce75
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> A Heatwave in Maretime Bay (Complete)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a bright and sunny day out, a lovely summer evening to some, but a dreadful day for others. For Izzy, it was a horrid day. The Unicorn was alone in the brighthouse that day, with her roommates all in Zephyr Heights for the past two days organizing some event for the large city. Sunny was the one who initialized the idea, and Zipp and Pipp made sense going to Zephyr Heights to help support the earth pony’s endeavor. But that meant Izzy was all by herself. Of course, it really wasn’t anything new, she managed just fine without friends for years already, admittedly lonely years but she managed either way, but today in this heat Izzy felt horrid. But hey, they were supposed to come back by the end of the day today, so at the very least that was something to look forward to. 

Izzy groaned, climbing out of her bed and attempting to find the air conditioning in this place, if there even was any. The more she thought about it, the less she figured they had any air conditioning, mostly because their home was so open and wide, not to mention: it was a lighthouse after all, if they needed air conditioning they could stand out on the balcony high above the sea and feel the fresh breeze. Even still, with this heat wave, Izzy was too afraid to even step outside, lest she die of dehydration at the slightest touch of the sun. Izzy pouted, wondering just what else she could do to beat the heat. She put her hoof to her chin, “think Izzy, think…” She didn’t get to think for too long however, as she heard the ring of the doorbell. “OOH! I’ll get it!” Izzy called out to the friends she forgot weren’t home. It was a force of habit, she loved checking who opened the door, it was always a pleasant surprise! So Izzy rushed downstairs, sliding down the ramp that lead up to her shared room, good thing the ramp doubled as a slide given how steep it was. She giggled as she made it to the bottom before trotting over to the door. She opened the door wide, followed by, “yesssssssss?~” 

It was none other than Hitch Trailblazer, carrying a sleeping dragon in a baby chest carrier. While Sparky looked like he was having a fine time, Hitch looked exhausted. “Oh, hey Izzy, d-do you mind if I come in?” Izzy shook her head in a way of saying ‘not at all’, stepping out of the way so Hitch could come inside. “Thank you…” 

“Sheesh Hitchieho, you look like you’ve seen better days.” Izzy giggled, closing the door behind Hitch as she trotted up in front of him. Hitch took a seat on the ground, sweat rolling down his body as he looked around, noticing the lack of the other mares. 

“Long story… Not really.” Hitch cleared his throat before explaining what had happened to him. “I woke up this morning covered in sweat, it turns out my air conditioning malfunctioned, and a repair pony has to come by and fix it. The problem with that is, the repair ponies have their hooves full today, a bunch of other air conditioning malfunctions, some ponies wanting new air conditioning installed in their homes, and the list goes on. They said it might take a few hours before they can get to my house.” Hitch sighed, rolling his eyes. “I thought I could wait it out, but my house was basically cooking me alive in it, so I figured I’d try and come out here. I was thinking of relaxing in the sheriff’s office, but I also figured I could hang out with you and the others. But sheesh, that five minute trot from Maretime Bay to here felt like five hours. The sun is going to turn me into a baked potato at this point.”

Izzy held her hoof against her chin, nodding in response as Hitch told his story before nodding, “well you made a horrible choice!~” Izzy explained, giggling a bit. She felt a bit bad for the stallion but it was also a funny turn of events as well. “Y’see, Sunny, Zipp and Pipp are all in Zephyr Heights for the rest of the day, silly steed! Oh, and we don’t have air conditioning, trust me, I tried looking for it, but I can’t find it anywhere.” 

One of Hitch’s eyes twitched before he shook his head, “ah screw it, I’d rather stay here than take the trek back down to Maretime Bay. I’m already exhausted, I feel like I might collapse any minute now.” Hitch groaned, standing back up. 

“This little guy doesn’t seem too bothered by the heat! Man I wish I were as tough as you, little Sparky~” Izzy said adorably. Hitch couldn’t help but chuckle a bit in response. Izzy was always like this around Sparky, almost treating the baby dragon like a little brother of her own. It made finding someone to take care of the young dragon whenever he was too busy a work of ease, Izzy almost always sprung at the opportunity to watch him, at some times Hitch was worried that the dragon was seeing her more than him! Of course he greatly appreciated the help, he would take all the help he could get with a dragon of all things. He got to witness Izzy play, interact and care for Sparky, and at this point he couldn’t trust any pony more for the job of taking care of Sparky, aside from himself of course. 

“Well, according to Sunny, dragons used to live in volcanic areas, and they even swimmed in lava. I guess heat resistance is just part of the job description when it comes to dragons.” Hitch explained back to Izzy before making a move to the living room. There was a crib set up over by the couch, the girls allowed him to have a crib here given they took care of the dragon sometimes and wanted him to be comfortable as well. “Can you help me put him in his crib?” He asked Izzy curiously. 

Izzy beamed, nodding eagerly as she trot over to him. Izzy used her magic, pulling Sparky out of the carrier on Hitch’s chest and slowly floating him over into her arms. She squealed lightly in glee as she held the sleeping baby. The sight of this made Hitch’s heart skip a beat. Goodness she looked adorable holding the baby dragon like that. Izzy was realistically the closest thing that Sparky had to a mother figure as well, given how much time and effort she took into raising and playing with Sparky. It was an endearing sight to say the least. Hitch sighed happily, trying to resist the urge to nuzzle up against Izzy as she held Sparky, although part of the reason he wouldn’t was because he was doused in sweat and he didn’t want to get that over Izzy too.

Hitch began pulling off his carrier, placing it down against the couch. The sight of Izzy holding Sparky in a cradle only made Hitch wonder what it would be like if she was holding his own foal or filly. He knew he would be some time before he ever got to that phase in life, but boy did the thought entrigue him nevertheless. Izzy giggled a bit more to herself, but she didn’t want to continue holding Sparky, not wanting to risk waking up the baby dragon. She instead moved him over to the crib, gently placing him down inside. Hitch watched with a smile. It was hard to believe Izzy was so caring when it came to children, he would’ve figured that the Unicorn would be horrible when it came to babysitting or taking care of things in general, but no, when it comes to children she was as gentle as possible. It was a sight to see, and the more he watched the more he couldn’t help but fawn over the idea of Izzy being a wonderful parent of her own one day.

Now that the baby dragon was settled in his crib, Izzy looked over curiously at Hitch, catching him in the middle of staring at her. “Huh? Is something the matter, Hitch?” Asked Izzy, tilting her head to the side adorably. 

Hitch caught himself, shaking his head, “ah, no sorry! I was just staring off is all!” He chuckled. Izzy knew what he meant all too well, it was probably one of her favorite pastimes to stare off into the distance. It helped to rack her brain and come up with more ideas. “So what were you doing just before I got here anyways?” Hitch asked curiously, “and you wouldn’t happen to have a rag or towel just laying around would you?” He was referring to his sweat. He hated the feeling of sweat matting down his fur, and while it made sense to take a shower as well, Hitch didn’t exactly feel comfortable showering over at the Brighthouse. 

Izzy nodded, trotting away for a moment as she made her way towards the bathroom for a moment before coming back with a towel resting on top of her head. Seems she got it from the bathroom closet. “Here you go good sir! Annnnnd, as for what I was doing… nothing.” She hummed nonchalantly as she did, handing over the towel. After thanking Izzy, he took the towel, now wiping his mane and fur from the sweat he collected on his way up, getting his mane all frazzled up as he ran the towel through it. Izzy held back a small giggle, truthfully his mane didn’t look too bad on him while ruffled up like this, but still, it was a cute sight to see in Izzy’s mind.

After a few seconds, Hitch stopped, “really? Huh, guess we both don’t really have anything to do today, do we?” He added.

“Nope…” Izzy sighed before groaning, “except this heat is killing me. I think I took Bridlewood for granted, no way it would get even nearly as hot as it is now!” Izzy exclaimed as she threw her head back, staring up at the ceiling. “I might need to cut my mane shorter, it just feels hot all over.” She sighed, looking at her mane for a moment. She wasn’t actually GOING to, she loved her mane, no way she’d cut it down not even to save time on rendering herself for animation! Obvious fourth wall breaks aside, the idea that she even had to cut her mane because the heat getting to her was a scary one. 

Hitch looked at her puzzled, the answer was so obvious. “Uhh Izzy, you know you can just tie up your hair, right?” Asked the stallion as he trotted over to her. Izzy gave him a confused look in response. She looked like he had just spoken gibberish to her, she had no clue what he meant. Hitch paused once more before sighing, “c’mon silly, follow me.” Hitch chuckled lightly before making his way up the ramp leading to the mare’s room. Izzy smiled, trotting behind him mindlessly. 

When they made it up the steps, Hitch looked over to Sunny’s side of the room, which is where he led Izzy off to. It felt awkward being in Sunny’s room when she herself wasn’t here, but at the very least Izzy was here to offset the strange feeling somewhat. Hitch smiled, making his way to the earth pony’s dresser. Her room had plenty of things from her old room in the lighthouse. While her room in the lighthouse was much smaller than the now combined room of all four mares, it was also technically smaller since she now only had a quarter of the space. Still there was a good amount of the same furniture there as well, and with it he opened one of the drawers on her dresser and out came a sea of scrunchies! They were all purple, with a lone blue one sitting in the middle. “Bingo.” Hitch smiled confidently, taking out a scrunchy from the large collection of them before turning to a mirror. “Here Izzy, sit in front of this.” He issued her over to the mirror.

Izzy was surprised to see Sunny’s massive collection of scrunchies. What kind of pony needed THIS many scrunchies? Surely she could just reuse her own? Now that she thought about it, she never saw Sunny use a scrunchie ever since obtaining her new rainbow streak through her mane either, her rainbow hair just tapers off at the perfect height, or maybe the rainbow streaks covered the scrunchies underneath? Izzy wasn’t really sure about it herself, but she didn’t choose to worry too much about it as she moved over and sat right in front of the mirror, looking back at Hitch through it. “Like this?” 

Hitch nodded in response before walking up behind her. He licked his lips as he gently grabbed her mane slowly pulling it up and away from her back. Her hair was pretty soft, it wasn’t amazing by any means but it was better than he thought it would feel like. He hummed a soft tune as he collected all of her mane, slipping the scrunchie around it. How he was able to do this with simple hooves was nothing but a mystery but soon enough Izzy should be able to learn how and do it much easier using her own magic. He twisted the scrunchie into the form of an 8 before feeding her mane through it once again, which tightened it enough to keep it from falling out of her hair. Had her mane be a little shorter, that would be the end of it, but for a little reassurance, Hitch grabbed another scrunchie from the drawer and fit it on at the end of her mane, repeating the process slightly, just now much lower down on her mane. “Bada Boom, Bada Bing, we’re done!” Hitch declared confidently, admiring his work on her mane, not looking into the mirror to see her face yet. 

The process of putting on the scrunchie pinched a little bit in the beginning as he pulled all of her hair up into one spot, pulling a bit on her hair but she could tell he was being as gentle as he could so she didn’t mind. When he finished she could feel the slight tugging of her mane back into those tight scrunchies, but over time they’d loosen up and she still had plenty in the front of her face too, just how she likes it. When it was all said and done, Izzy looked back at her new mane style. She looked at it in curiosity in the mirror, tilting her head to catch a glimpse of all the angles. When she was done looking over herself through her eyes lit up. “I feel like Pipp! I feel so pretty hahaha!~ And it worked, I don’t feel nearly as hot as before either!” She giggled before turning over to Hitch, smiling up at the stallion. “What do you think?!” Izzy asked, beaming with excitement.

Hitch paused, looking down at her face for a moment. He looked starstruck, if stars could actually replace his pupils they would have done so for her. Hitch looked on in shock, aweing her look. It was the exact same Izzy, just now with her mane up in a ponytail, so why… Hitch felt his cheeks turn red as he stared at her.

Izzy looked back up at him just as intently, still waiting on Hitch’s opinion. She soon got up from her sitting position and her face got closer to his. “Man, Earth Ponies really do love staring contests don’t they?~” Izzy said jokingly. Her face got closer to his own, and Hitch moved his head backwards. Her face was taking him by storm, those adoring eyes, that innocent smile. Hitch was speechless, opening his mouth to speak but words failing to leave. Izzy only got closer, which caused Hitch to move backwards more until he fell down, moving from his seated position to laying down on his back. Izzy didn’t relent though, standing over the stallion and looking down at him. Hitch felt so vulnerable, his face couldn’t get much redder than this. A long silence overcame them, Hitch was beginning to feel his heart beat out of his chest as her nose was practically less than an inch away from his! He was utterly powerless, but soon enough the silence was broken when Izzy blinked. “Gah! Dang it, I blinked. Man, you earth ponies are REALLY good at that!” Izzy got off of Hitch, giving the stallion a moment to breathe and recollect himself. He gasped for a moment, having held his breath the entire time, his heart beating out of his chest as he quickly rolled onto his front and stood up. “Whoa, you ok Hitch?” Izzy asked curiously, looking at the out of breath stallion. She was helplessly oblivious, especially when it came to more personal pony desires. 

Hitch took a few breaths to relax himself as he shakily answered back, “H-Haha… Yeah! Yeah Yep! I’m just fine.” He huffed, staring at the ground to avoid eye contact with the Unicorn, doing his best to calm his mind as his blush calmed with it. Izzy giggled lightly in response before her ear twitched.

“Oh? I think I heard Sparky wake up! Time to- WAIT! Eeee! I got Sparky a gift, I forgot!” Izzy responded giddily, turning back to the sheriff. “Hitch, can you go check on Sparky for a second? I’ll be right back!” Izzy informed him before running off to her creative studio downstairs. It was nice of the others to give Izzy a room downstairs all for her creations, it was like her own personal office. Though if it was out of the kindness of their hearts or because they didn’t want to see all of Izzy’s creations and belongings strewn around the house was up for debate. 

Hitch sighed, watching Izzy bolt downstairs. Hah, now she was asking HIM to watch HIS own baby dragon! The thought alone sent another shiver down the sheriff’s spine. Sheesh what just happened back there? He was lost in the unicorn’s gaze, like she cast a spell on him! Of course Hitch knew she wouldn’t actually cast a spell on him, at least not without his own permission, or he hoped that much anyways. He held his cheek in a hoof, sighing for a moment. He wasn’t sure what this newfound feeling for Izzy was, or where it came from. But now he was afraid of when it might happen again. Hitch shook his head, now wasn’t the time to worry about that anyways, he had a kid to go check on. So Hitch, after taking a few more breaths, traveled downstairs to check in on Sparky. 

Sparky was standing up in his crib, looking over at the now open door. Did Izzy run outside? Hitch made it down the stairs, staring at the open door, “Izzy?” He asked curiously. No response. He shrugged, maybe she had to fetch something quickly. He didn’t ponder on it too much, instead making his way to the baby dragon and lifting him out of the crib, smiling as he gently placed the dragon on his back and trotted outside. Good thing Sparky knew to hang onto Hitch’s mane when riding his back. It was one of the first things Hitch could’ve thought to teach the baby dragon, given Hitch did travel a lot, and he couldn’t always count on the baby carrier either. Sparky hugged his father figure as Hitch walked through the large double doors leading outside. “Izzy? Are you out here?” Hitch called out to the Unicorn.

“Behind the house!” Izzy called out to the sheriff. 

Hitch nodded, closing the two large doors and beginning to make his way around the circular brighthouse. On his way he heard the sound of running water, though wasn’t sure where it was coming from. Soon enough he’d find out though. Hitch made it to the backyard and gasped as he saw what was there. Izzy was filling up a rather large kiddie pool (in width not height), holding a hose in the air which connected to the brighthouse, and water already filling it up. “W-Whoa! What the? Wait, you got Sparky this?!” Hitch asked in shock. It didn’t look like an original Izzy creation, no Izzy liked to make things look more eccentric and stand out a lot more, but this pool looked like any other kiddie pool you’d find being sold.

“Yep! So one day I saw some foals in Maretime Bay playing in one, and they looked so happy! They were splashing each other, using cool water guns, they even had cute little duckies in their pool tool! It looked so fun, I was afraid Sparky was gonna miss out on that!” Izzy trotted in place, eagerly awaiting the filling of the pool. “At first I was going to make one myself, but Sunny told me it might not be the best idea and to just go buy one regularly. So I went to do that… but I didn’t exactly have any bits to pay for it. So I begged and pleaded to let Sunny let me work with her part-time so I could have enough bits to buy the pool! She let me work with her, and now a week later I finally had enough to buy this pool! Hahaha!~” Izzy said cheerily before pausing as she looked down at the pool, it was relatively empty, but not in water, no the pool was almost to the fill line, there were no toys it was JUST water. “Sorry though, I didn’t have enough bits to buy any water guns or cute little duckies either.” Izzy looked dissatisfied as she stared at her reflection in the clear water. 

Hitch felt his heart set ablaze as the stallion quickly, although not fast enough to accidentally throw Sparky off of his back, made his way over to Izzy before nuzzling up against her. Izzy nearly lost balance as the larger stallion nuzzled into her. “W-Whoa!” Izzy gasped. Hitch didn’t stop, no he continued on for a couple seconds longer. Izzy for once felt her cheeks grow a bit red. She didn’t understand though, why was she getting red in the face? Sunny and Pipp sometimes nuzzled against her, and she usually nuzzled against them both even more often, yet to be nuzzled against by Hitch and not to be the initiator. Izzy’s eyes darted all over the place, getting embarrassed, her magic faltered a bit, though not by the crystals powering the brighthouse, but her own shock causing her to drop the hose for a moment, though thankfully it fell into the pool meaning it continued to fill. “W-Wait H-Hitch!” Izzy gently placed her hooves against Hitch’s chest, pushing him off for just a second. “W-What gives?!” She asked defensively, just before shrinking back as she raised her tone with him, something she never did before… ever! She was growing more flustered by the second. 

Hitch was teary eyed, water welling up in those big eyes of his it looked like he was doing everything in his power to keep any tears from falling. “Y-You did all of this for Sparky? W-Why?” Hitch couldn’t wrap his head around it, why Izzy cared so much for HIS baby dragon, so much more than Zipp, Pipp, or Sunny. He would’ve thought that Izzy could’ve at least asked one of the two princess siblings, they ARE princesses after all, he was sure they could spare more than enough bits without making a dent in their personal wallets. “W-Why couldn’t you have asked anyone to help..? You worked all by yourself to buy a pool for Sparky, did you even get anything for yourself?” The stallion asked, his voice growing a bit strained, growing very very emotional. 

“Whoa whoa whoa!” Izzy shook her hooves up defensively as she saw Hitch’s face as if he was about to break into tears. “I just really wanted to get Sparky a gift! Part of me wanted to make the gift myself of course but then it would be just like the gifts I give to everypony! B-But if I went and worked real hard to get Sparky something really nice, It would be a more special gift and I would like it more too! I-I didn’t want to ask for help because I wanted my gift to be special, not a gift from everypony!” Izzy explained, quickly walking back up to him. “P-Please don’t cry Hitch! I-It’s ok, I can return the pool I think! It hasn’t even been a day!”

“I-It’s not that!” Hitch huffed, a few stray tears running down his face before he clenched his eyes shut for a moment and he wiped his face, pulling himself together enough not to leave his voice strained. “I-It’s that… Why do you… care so much about Sparky..?” He asked, hoping for a genuine answer. 

Izzy gulped, looking away for a moment. A moment of weakness, embarrassment, “well… When I was a young filly… I didn’t get any presents or gifts… And I… I really don’t want Sparky to grow up the same way! I want to give him as much affection as I possibly can so he grows up strong, just like Zipp, Pipp, Sunny, and you!” She gently placed her hoof against Hitch’s chest, emphasizing the you at the end. “I-I just… really want Sparky to have a really great life, one a lot better than mine. I-I mean, I was a fully grown mare before I even made one friend, and that was Sunny! But I just know Sparky is going to have tons of friends, he already has me and that’s never gonna change!” She huffed, pulling her hoof away as she looked down nervously. 

A moment of silence followed. Hitch was at a loss for words. Izzy looked down, ashamed of herself. “Izzy… I-” Hitch was stopped mid sentence as the pool which they had left unattended in their conversation began overflowing, causing water to flood out of the side. Izzy gasped, quickly pulling the hose out and tossing it to the side before Hitch quickly, still taking into account Sparky on his back, turned the hose off with the valve on the side of the brighthouse. Izzy sighed, sitting down in the warm grass for a moment before turning to the pool. Slowly she used her unicorn magic, now levitating a good chunk of water out the pool. Just enough to get the water right under the fill line, before then letting the floating water fall to the grass beside them, absolutely dousing it. 

Hitch gulped, worried he had struck a hard place in Izzy. He shrugged before gently grabbing Sparky and gently placing him down in the pool. “Behave, alright?” He informed the dragon before Sparky curiously looked around in the water before beginning to splash around happily. Meanwhile Hitch walked over to sit down right next to Izzy. Izzy saw this and looked away, though now her hair couldn’t hide her face from him. “Hey Izzy…”

“Mm… I’m… sorry for getting so attached to Sparky…” Izzy apologized, wincing a bit. She was resisting tears at this moment herself. “You don’t have to-”

Izzy wasn’t allowed to speak, instead, Hitch wrapped his hooves around the Unicorn and pulled her into a hug, gently pulling her head against his chest. “Izzy… I’m not mad. I’m just… surprised. Like, really surprised…” Izzy heard this and looked up at him, confused. “I just… never expected that the pony who would love Sparky so much would be you… Honestly after today I’m a little convinced you love him more than I do!” 

“H-Huh? N-No way Hitch! You’re his dad! You obviously love him more! He-”

“Just let me finish please.” Hitch stopped her again. Izzy gulped, but nodded, looking away bashfully. Hitch sighed before smiling as he pulled away from the hug for a moment. “Izzy… What you did was really special. I’m sorry I acted like that for a moment, I had no right to give you such a hard time. It’s just… wow. At the very least, this has… heh, it’s given me a lot to think about. But now, I’ve got a question for you.” Izzy gulped, looking up at him bashfully, nodding as she awaited this question. 

“Do you want to be Sparky’s Mom?”

Izzy was left speechless. Her eyes dilated as she stared up at Hitch. She threw her hooves over her mouth as her face turned beat red. “M…Me?” Hitch responded with a smile, nodding. Izzy could feel her eyes begin watering all over again. She couldn’t work the words to say yes, so she simply nodded. Her head shook up and down quickly. She meant yes. Hitch breathed a sigh of relief as he looked back at Sparky, and then back to Izzy. 

“Thank you Izzy~ This means the world to me. In fact, it means the world to Sparky~ I’m sure Sparky’ll have the best mom he could ever ask for~” Izzy was sobbing, though Hitch knew they were from joy rather than sorrow. She shook her head up and down her hooves over her mouth were the only things keeping the Unicorn from wailing with the tears that soaked her face. Hitch snickered lightly, standing up and offering Izzy a hoof. “C’mon now. No more crying, let’s go join our son.” Hitch smiled warmly. Izzy stared at that smile with nothing but a new found infatuation for the stallion. She shakily got up, taking his hoof in her own as she nodded. Slowly Hitch led her over to the kiddie pool, Sparky splashing around happily inside. Toys or not, he was still very grateful for the lovely gift given to him. Izzy looked on, watching Sparky with a happy sigh. Hitch snickered before stepping into the pool, and leading Izzy into the pool with him.

A few moments passed before Izzy had finally calmed down. Hitch was seated in the pool, gently splashing the baby dragon as they splashed Hitch, a brutal fight was happening in their imaginations, the two trading blows. Izzy watched on in glee. She sat right beside the stallion, watching the two play together, it filled her with warmth. Slowly she leaned up against Hitch, resting her head against his shoulder as she looked lovingly down at the baby dragon. Hitch smirked down at Izzy before continuing his little war against Sparky. The war waged on until the sun began to set off in the distance. 

Sparky fell asleep, resting in his father’s arms. The water had gotten fairly cold, as the heatwave ended. They had to head back inside soon, but Hitch wasn’t ready to go. He stared at the setting sun with Izzy. The view from the top of the brighthouse was ten times better but the view was a nice one either way. Izzy herself was beginning to get tired herself, letting out a soft yawn. “Hehe, maybe we should head back inside and dry up..~” Hitch recommended the Unicorn, to which she giggled lightly in response. That would probably be a good idea, less they wanted to catch a cold. 

Just before they could get out of the pool, a familiar face would show up. Hitch looked up, seeing a silhouette that flew in front of the setting sun. The figure was none other than their Pegasi friend, Zipp, who spotted them as well and landed close. “There you are! Yeesh you two, Pipp did give you smartphones for a reason, could you atleast send back a text if you’re not gonna answer your phones?” Zipp sighed before looking over the three. “...I feel like I missed something important?”

Soon enough the other two winged ponies came down to earth, Pipp landing gracefully next to Zipp whereas Sunny nearly crashed on her way back down. She really needed to work on her landing skills. Sunny skidded to a halt before breathing a sigh of relief. Then she looked over at the pool and the three in it. “Oop… S-Sorry did we interrupt something..?” She asked curiously. Izzy murred, closing her eyes and making a quick motion with her hoof, a ‘nah’ gesture for Sunny.

“We were just about to get out.” Hitch replied.

“Ooh, wait before you do!” Pipp stopped him, giggling softly as she aimed her camera at the three. “Ooooh~” She snapped a photo. “You three look soo cute~ Though man Hitch you are way too big for that kiddie pool~” Pipp giggled. Hitch responded with a snicker of his own. 

“Seriously, what did we miss exactly? We’ve been blowing up your phones for the past hour or so.” Zipp responded.

“Bweh… I’ll explain in a second, let me just get dry and we can…” Hitch paused, seeing Izzy had gone and fallen asleep against his shoulder. “Uhm…”

Pipp couldn’t help but squeal a little bit when she saw that, “oh sweet goodness this is so cute~” 

Sunny was starting to get a bit jealous, though jealous of who that wasn’t clear, cheeks puffing out lightly before she used her Alicorn magic to gently lift up the sleeping Unicorn. “Here, let’s get inside, Izzy needs to get dried, and so do you, Sheriff.” Sunny snickered, already beginning to trot off to the front doors.

Zipp and Pipp looked on, following behind. Hitch was the last to leave, picking up Sparky and walking them back inside. 

After a few minutes of drying themselves off, Hitch gently placed Sparky down inside of his crib, whereas Sunny placed the sleeping Izzy in her bed before the four awake ponies convened in the center of their room. Hitch stretched out his hooves, yawning a bit himself, it had been a long day after all, for all of them really. 

“So, let’s get a few questions out of the way first.” Sunny started, looking over at Hitch, “did you do that with Izzy’s hair? Tie it into a ponytail I mean?” Asked Sunny.

“Yeah, she wasn’t doing so well with the heat wave, so I tied it up for her so she wouldn’t have to deal with her mane getting more bothersome.” Hitch responded softly. 

“Question Two, why haven’t you been answering our phone calls dude? I get Izzy, but you?” Zipp asked, narrowing her eyes at the stallion.

Hitch rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “Sorry about that Zipp, I guess I must’ve dropped it in this room earlier after…” Hitch paused, getting a flashback to hours ago when Izzy had him on his back and blushing madly. The thought itself made his face turn a light red. “Uhm… after I did Izzy’s hair… T-Then we went outside right after and I must’ve left my phone here by mistake.” Zipp glared at the stallion, noting his blush immediately. 

Pipp giggled before looking over to Izzy who was sleeping peacefully in bed, “Third Question. What was that kiddy pool doing in the backyard? Did you get that for Sparky? And what were you and Izzy doing in it? She looked pretty satisfied.” Pipp responded with a soft giggle.

“Ah, actually, Izzy bought that using her own bits. She really wanted to get Sparky his own special gift.” Hitch replied before shaking his head. “And Izzy and I just wanted to get away from the heat, ehehe…” 

“So THAT’S why she wanted to work part time at the smoothie stand!” Sunny huffed before sighing. “Oh Izzy, she didn’t have to do that, we could’ve just pitched in!” Sunny pouted, cheeks puffing out lightly once again. Zipp and Pipp nodded in agreement to that sentiment, as Hitch snickered, rolling his eyes, of course knowing they would as well. “So, I guess that’s all the questions for now. I won’t keep you here too long Hitchie.” Sunny smiled over at her best friend, standing up and nudging against him. 

Hitch smirked back at her before flinching as he realized something. “Oh right, uhm, before you girls go to sleep. I wanted to ask… Is it alright if I stay the night? I-It is pretty late already, and I wouldn’t want to risk waking up Sparky on the way back to my house I mean! I won’t bother you girls or anything, I’ll just sleep downstairs on the couch!” Hitch waved his hooves, hoping they’d consider it. 

The girls exchanged glances for a moment, followed by a girlish squeal from Pipp and a scoff from Zipp. Sunny chimed in, “Hitch, I already told you! You never have to ask if you want to stay over~ It’s why I gave you the key after all! If anything happens you can always stay with us, besides you helped build this place just as much as everypony else.” She smiled warmly. Hitch couldn’t help but return the warm smile himself as he relaxed.

“Thank you Sunny~” He smirked before standing up.

“You don’t have to sleep downstairs on the couch either y’know. There’s plenty of room on Pipp’s bed~” Zipp said teasingly, issuing a soft huff from Pipp.

“Hah, yeah right! Just because I use a king sized bed doesn’t mean it’s open for some stallions.” She huffed, although the idea of sharing a bed with Hitch did excite her somewhat. 

“Pfft, don’t worry, I’ll be fine on the couch~ Besides, I don’t want to risk anything! With that said though, goodnight girls~” Hitch snickered, making his way down the steps. Pipp breathed a both relieved and disappointed sigh but waved him off the same. Zipp and Sunny said their goodnights before the three mares went back to their own beds for a night of sleep. 

Hitch made it downstairs, climbing onto the couch and fluffing up the cushions a bit before laying his head against the armrest. He could see Sparky right across from him, so he’d be the first to know if the baby dragon woke up and started crying. He let out a soft sigh of relief before nuzzling his head into the couch a bit more. Slowly after the stallion began to drift asleep, straight into the land of dreams. Sweet Dreams, Hitch~