The Weight of Shadows are the Heaviest

It was nighttime in Maretime Bay, and all good fillies and colts were all snug and warm in their houses with their families. The only ones that should still be out and about were those that wanted to break the law and those that were against those criminal scums. It was up to the good ponies to stop the bad ponies.

Hitch Trailblazer, Sheriff of Maretime Bay, was one of these ponies. It was his nightly patrol at the end of his shift to make one last stroll through the small town to make sure that everyone and everything was peaceful for the long night to come. Sure, it was a lonely path for a young warrior like Hitch, but with his partners - Kenneth and friends - by his side, the night was sure to go by fast.

It wasn't all that boring for Hitch, there was much excitement to be had for the young sheriff. He had stopped a chain of litterbugs from litter-bugging all over the street. Helped an old mare with her groceries to her home. Helped the small group of Pipsqueaks out of a predicament of their own making. Hitch had even come across Pipp and Izzy hanging out at the beginning of his patrol.

But all good deeds must come to an end. The end of Sheriff Hitch's shift was soon coming to an end and soon he would head back home with his little buddy, Sparky. Everything was going well as he turned a corner when something caught his attention.

Hitch had now found himself on the path to the nearby park, and while he couldn't see everything for the trees, he could see flashing slashes of lights through the branches.

Maretime Bay's sheriff rolled his eyes with a slight chuckle. Seemed like somepony was having themselves an outdoor movie showing. But luckily for this other pony, Hitch was in a good mood. He would just give them a quick verbal warning and let them clean up their act and not put them on cleaning duty. So, Hitch trotted himself over.

Turning around the tree trunk, Hitch saw the pony that was watching the film. When he laid his eyes on the young mare it caused him to pause in his tracks. "...Sunny?" Her back was facing him, but he could easily tell that it was his long-time mare friend. She was just sitting silently on the green grass, a projector next to her as she stared intensely at the wall.

Hitch smiled. Whatever his friend was watching, she hadn't even noticed that he was there. So, he started walking over towards his friend. "Hey Sunny-"

"Surprise Sunny Bunny~"

Hitch paused as his ears perked at the sound of a familiar voice. He turned his head, turning to the same direction that Sunny was facing, to the source. His eyes went wide at what he was looking at.

Sunny was watching a film that had been discovered by her not too long ago. It was an old recording of an older light blue colt. It was somepony that Hitch knew. It was Argyle Starshine, Sunny's father.

Seeing the video of his friend's father playing before them, Hitch slowly turned to look back at the young earth pony. And he really saw her as she was at this moment.

Sunny Starscout sat on the green grass with her shoulders drooped with her eyes peeled to the screen. The once enthusiastic pony that Hitch had always known her as no longer had that energy. It was hard to see from his position, but he could tell that she had been crying.

Hitch's ears lowered, "...sunny..." his voiced leaked from his lips. It hurt his heart to see his friend like this.

Sunny continued to stare into the flashing lights in front of her, as if trying to study every single detail of the colt in front of her. "...dy..." a cracked whisper left her lips.

"...and hoof to heart, I'm sure you'll find it someday."

Hitch looked back over as he saw Argyle holding onto the little filly that was his daughter. He closed his eyes as he winced, a sharp pain tore through his chest. He opened his eyes to look over at his friend.