a princess and her sheriff

a minor hitch

Racing to make it to the cafe in time, Pipp Petals beelined through the main street, toppling over a nearby pedestrian as she did. While still dazed and in a panic, she extended her wings to halt her running legs. She skid across the dirt haphazardly and pivoted to assist the poor unfortunate soul that had the bad luck of being in her uncoordinated path. Carefully, Pipp assisted them to a stand and brushed the young pony off with her wing.

Sorry about that! I’m late meeting some friends, I guess I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going, miss…” Pipp bowed her head apologetically at the pony before her.

Clearing their throat, the pony raised a brow. Their dark pink coat was now covered in dirt, as they adjusted themselves. When their voice exited their mouth, however, it came out in a deeper tone than Pipp expected.

“I’m a guy…” They spoke with a squared eye.

Pipp could feel the blood rush to her face as she realized her mistake. “Oh… Ummm… Well, this is awkward… Sorry again…” Pipp rubbed her neck nervously.

The stallion scoffed, rolled his eyes, and trotted off, a bit of annoyance in his step as he muttered something about Pegasi being clumsy and careless. Pipp wanted to rebuttal but realized that perhaps a pegasus that had bumped into someone because she wasn’t paying attention to where she was going wasn’t the best candidate to educate other ponies on stereotypes of Pegasi being careless.

With a sigh, she scolded herself internally before she remembered why she had taken out that pedestrian in the first place. Right, the cafe! I’m so late!

With a flap of her wings, she put some hustle in her step and darted her way to the cafe at the corner. She was still getting to know the bay area, but she and her friends had made this spot a regular hangout.

Looking down at her phone, the princess gulped as she saw the time: 2:38 PM. She was horrendously late.

Pipp composed herself and ran a hoof through her stylish mane. She took a few breaths and then made her entrance into the cafe. There at a round table, she could see her friends. Sunny was attentively listening, while Pipp’s sister Zipp sat in silence. Izzy, of course, had her face buried in a milkshake which she was loudly slurping down without a care in the world.

Then, of course, standing at the end of the table speaking was Hitch Trailblazer. His styled mane swayed just slightly as he spoke. Pipp got lost for a moment as she examined him, his strong hooves, his impressive physique, and his gorgeous eyes.

The mare snapped out of her fantasy as she remembered how late she was. Approaching carefully, she cleared her throat to speak. “Uh… Sorry, I’m late, I was…”

Hitch’s eyes narrowed as he glanced over at her. “Why should I be surprised that you’re late for this as well?”

“I’m really sorry…” Pipp’s ears flopped down.

He shrugged. “No worries, I just finished up anyway. Thanks to everyone who came…” He looked back at the rest at the table.

“Hitch, I-“ Pipp didn’t get to finish her sentence before he held out a hoof to dismiss her.

“I have to get back on duty. See you later, I guess…” He said before marching out the door.

A long exasperated sigh escaped Pipp as she sat down after Izzy scooted over to make room for her. Her head flopped onto the table in defeat as another sigh emitted from her. “I suck…” She announced.

“Well, you did miss his commendation ceremony last month, and now you missed him announcing his promotion to Marshal. You can’t really expect him to not be mad,” Zipp reminded.