"So what happened?" asked Mario.
The group, their faces etched with concern, gathered in the boy's dorm's living room. Following the sudden duel Hitch had taken part in, they all returned to campus just before curfew kicked in. Sunny was still unconscious as they all got the girl back to her room and put her into her bed. Once they ensured she was okay, they all regrouped in the siblings' dorms to discuss with their friends how it came to be.
"It's like I said. Me and Sunny went to fetch the car when we had trouble remembering where we parked. Then I heard something and noticed Sunny wasn't nearby. I also noticed some creepy guy in a robe and chased after him. Then we got sucked into this weird energy ring where the damage was real."
"Shadow duelist," said Zipp.
"What?" said Hitch.
"Hitch, that robe guy you faced is dangerous," explained Roll.
"Why? Who are they? And why did they attack me and Sunny?" asked the boy.
"They're hell-bent on bringing about chaos and destruction."
"He said something similar to that statement," said Hitch to the girl, "How darkness will engulf the light and other mumbo jumbo."
"This isn't good, guys. If these Shadow Duelists are here in Canterlot City, that could spell trouble!" said Zipp.
"So what do we do?" asked Pipp.
"Right now, let's just process this stuff tomorrow. It's a free day, and we'll have plenty of time to convene and talk more about this issue with Sunny once she wakes up," said Roll.
"Sounds like a plan," responded Zipp as they decided to leave and sneak back into their dorm rooms.
"Looks like they found us," said Roll to her brother as their friends left. "We need to let Mom and Dad know."
Mario just sat back and crossed his arms. Morning came as the sun arose over the campus of CHS; Sunny had awoken, confused about how she had woken up in her bed, and the last thing she remembered was seeing someone in a cloak. The girl soon talked with her friends as Roll filled her and Hitch in on all the details regarding the Shadow Duelists and what went down at Zephyr Heights during their Winter Break.
"Authorities have no clue as to what could have caused this damage to occur. Not to mention several cars being flipped over by some massive force…"
Isaac and Twilight were in their hotel room watching the news report about last night's unusual incident. The two looked at the destroyed parking lot as the many holes that were shown didn't sit well with them.
"There are still no clues as to what…"
The World Champion shut off the TV as he sighed.
"I was afraid this would happen," said Twilight to her husband. "If the kids-"
"I'm sure they were okay," responded Isaac to his wife.
"It seems the kids aren't safe there either."
"We don't know that for sure, honey. It's concerning that this happened so close to them, but hopefully, they don't know where they are. They'll be here in a few days when their Spring Break starts; we'll talk to them about this then."
A phone then went off as Twilight pulled out her device to look at the ID.
"Looks like we won't have to," responded the woman as she showed her husband her phone to reveal their daughter was calling them. "Hello."
As Twilight talked with her daughter on the phone, Isaac just sat on the edge of the bed's other side and spotted his deck on the nightstand. He grabbed it to look at them as the World Champion's mind was focused on his upcoming main event duel with Applejack. His mind also flashed back to his face-to-face conversation with the country gal the other day.
"... You're just not good enough to be World Champion in the same business as Applejack!"
"Yeah, I don't know how you can say that shit, Aj, when I'm standing before you as the freakin' World Champion, you dumb blonde hillbilly bitch!"
"I'm ending this, Aj!" said the World Champion as he tightly gripped his deck, his monsters feeling their master's emotions.
At CHS, the entire school was preparing for the upcoming Spring Fling, as it would be the final school event to send the students off to their Spring Break. The entire student body was getting things ready for the special event. As for our group of characters, Pipp was chosen to lead decorating as she had many people working nonstop to help get things together. The pop star diva had wanted to film a short ad read for the school in hopes of sparking interest from the rest of the student body instead of her usual livestream to promote it; as such, she had requested the help of friends in shooting it.
"Should I start now or…?" asked Sunny, growing slightly impatient about whether they would shoot the thing.
"Just a few more seconds, Sunny," responded Pipp as she adjusted the camera stand Hitch was operating to ensure it was at the perfect angle to capture it all.
"You've been saying that for the past 15 minutes, chica!" yelled Mario as he was tired of holding up the boom mic and not trying to hit Sunny on the head. "Now, either start this shit now, or you find somebody else to be your slave!"
"Ugh, fine. You're so unbearable sometimes," remarked Pipp as she turned to address her friend. "Okay, Sunny. Just remember. Pretend you're talking to us and not, like, all of the school, and you'll do great."
"Uhhh…." said Sunny, feeling nervous about this as Roll was nearby watching the live shot from the computer.
"You gotta work on your choice of words, Pipp," responded the girl, as she could see that those words were not comforting to Sunny.
"Later. You're on…" said the girl as she signaled Hitch to start recording. "... now!"
"Like, "now" now?" said Sunny nervously as Pipp nodded in response; Sunny spoke to the camera and gripped the microphone tightly while holding it up to her mouth. The girl was tense as she struggled to speak before the live camera. "Uh… Hey, everyone! I'm Sunny Starscout, and I attend CHS with all my friends."
Hitch used the zoom-in feature on the camera as he got a better shot of the girl while she continued her little speech.
"A lot has happened in the past few months. Most recently, our school won the Friendship Games after a hard-fought healthy competition against our rivals. And I couldn't have done it without the support of my friends, and I'd like to think it brought us closer to Crystal Prep." said the girl.
"Let's speed things up, Sunny. Do the thing!" said the stylish.
"Do you like super fun times? Are you interested in a night full of fun and tasting local treats? Do you want to see people sing and dance in a big concert?" said Sunny before Izzy jumped into the shot.
"Yes! You bet! And yeeees!" cheered Izzy as she started scatting before striking a pose.
"Izzy!" shouted Mario to the girl for ruining the shot.
"Should we stop?" asked Hitch.
"Keep rolling," said Pipp as she signaled to Sunny to continue her little speech.
"Then you should attend the school's Spring Fling for a night of fun-filled time before Spring Break kicks off. It's gonna be a blast! And I'm not just talking about the fireworks show." joked Sunny. "Everyone is welcome!"
"Oh! Oh! I love it! You gotta come check it out! The cameral popcorn! The…" said Hitch as he let his excitement for the event take over and grabbed the camera to focus on him while listing off the many events while taking the focus away from Sunny.
"Well, looks like this recording is a bust," said Roll, given all their issues.
"Cut!" yelled the stylish as she shut the camera off.
"Finally!" said Mario as he dropped the boom mic onto the grass.
"Did we screw it up?" asked Sunny.
"No," lied the stylish, not trying to bring the mood down. "Okay, so maybe we had one or two things not go according to the script, but that's okay. That's what editing is for. I'll… I'll fix it in post," stated Pipp.
"Do you even know what that means?" asked Roll.
"I'll figure it out!" shouted the girl to her friend, rather perturbed.
The others all began to pack up the equipment, and Sunny's phone began to beep when she pulled it out.
"Sunny, what ringtone is that?" asked Mario as he found the noise irritating.
"It's not a ringtone. My phone is trying to get me to do the next update. Doesn't matter?" responded the girl.
"Doesn't matter?" scoffed Hitch, "The last update put the calendar notifications on the bottom. Who knows what they'll dream of up next."
The girl just giggled at her friend's antics.
"Okay, it's ready!" shouted Izzy. "Feast your eyes on my latest design!"
All four teens looked at their friend as she stood before something shaped like an arch.
"What is it?" asked Roll.
"It's my contribution to the Spring Fling event. Now then… Time to test my latest sculpture. I call it- mm-" said Izzy, putting her hands together to her mouth as she tried to devise a name for her latest art project. "Memory Lane."
"How original," responded Mario sarcastically and unenthusiastically.
Izzy flipped the switch to turn the thing, which was pushing a computer key from an old keyboard she found in the garbage. The art sculpture lit up as it showed several pictures from the past few months. Aside from Mario, the others clapped at Izzy's newest recycling project before it began to short-circuit. It fizzed and produced some sparks, making the teens flinch and jump back before it shut down. The cord connected to an outlet emitted a pulse as it entered through an open window and into a wall socket, which caused the entire school to lose power. Celestia was in her office, doing some paperwork, when she saw the lights above her fizz before they exploded as she ducked under her desk for safety. Once darkness overcame her room, she peeked out before going to her window and peered out to see Izzy and the others as she had a feeling of who was responsible for the power loss.
"Izzy!" yelled Principal Celestia angrily from her window before slamming it with authority.
"My bad!" responded the girl nervously, knowing she would be in trouble later.
As if things couldn't get any worse.
"My phone!" shouted Sunny.
The others turned as they saw the girl was holding her now dead phone; it'd been connected to the laptop they used to record to charge as it had short-circuited due to the overdose of electricity that Izzy used to power her art project. The others saw how bad it was as Sunny quickly rushed off, returned with a small plastic bin, and dumped her phone into it before pouring rice grains all over it.
"Live!" cried Sunny as she pushed down on her device as if to give it CPR to revive it.
"Sunny, that only works when it's wet!" said Roll as the rice trick wouldn't be able to return her device as she expected. "The surge killed your phone. I think it's time to let go."
"Fine," said the girl, removing her hands from the rice bin. "Let's call it."
"10 in the morning," Mario responded as he looked at his phone to give Sunny's phone the time of death like a doctor in a hospital.
"It's okay, Sunny. We'll go to the phone store and get you a new one," said Hitch, feeling sorry for his best friend, who had lost her device.
"I'll even pay for it," offered Roll.
"Thanks, guys," smiled Sunny, as she was glad her friends were willing to help her. "Just let me get my hard drive."
"What hard drive?" asked Hitch, as he didn't know Sunny had one.
"You know how I had all those photos on my phone from when we were younger. Well, I ran out of space before we started CHS, so Dad got me to move all my old photos onto it so I could make some new memories during my time here," said Sunny as she checked her backpack to find the thing but to her surprise it wasn't there. "Hey, h-have you guys seen my hard drive? It has every photo documenting my entire life from when I was a baby. It's purple with glitter and labeled: Sunny's Purple Hard Drive."
"No," responded Hitch.
"Not me!" said Pipp.
"We haven't seen it," responded Mario.
In the background, Izzy was tiptoeing away as she looked at her art sculpture, and sure enough, there was Sunny's hard drive. She used it as part of her art sculpture to power her thing, but it got destroyed in the surge.
"Izzy," said Sunny as she noticed her friend's back turned to them.
The girl put her forehead to the now-destroyed hard drive before pulling back to reveal it as Sunny gasped.
"Izzy, you used my actual backups for your sculpture?" said the girl as she approached her friend with her hands out as if to strangle her before Hitch and Roll held her back. "Why couldn't you just use an empty hard drive?"
"Well, if the hard drives were empty, the meaning would be, too," responded the girl.
Sunny was doing everything she could not to put her hands on Izzy as Hitch patted her on the shoulder.
"Hey, don't worry, Sunny… I'll kill her for you!" stated Mario.
Izzy yelled as the boy went right for her, and she dove out. Mario growled as Roll and Pipp came to their friend's aid and held the boy back from biting off Izzy's head.
"Izzy, you stupid idiot!" shouted Mario.
"Okay, take it easy, bro!" said Roll, trying to convince her brother not to murder their friend, who cowered in fear behind the camera.
"Let's not do something we're all gonna regret later," Pipp responded before addressing their friend. "Hey, Sunny. You still have a backup in the cloud, right?"
"You know I don't trust the cloud," responded Sunny. "How does it even work? You just throw your phone in the sky and wait for it to rain?"
"Mm, that's an oversimplification, probably," responded Roll.
"Oh, my god, it's really gone. All of my photos," said Sunny as she began to feel the devastation of losing her precious memories.
"Hey, it's okay. It's okay. We can fix this. We'll… recreate your memories," said Hitch.
"How? Are you gonna give me amnesia so I can reexperience everything for the first time?" stated the girl to her best friend. "Wait… did you already do that, and I already had this idea?"
"No. We'll act out your favorite moments and take new photos," said the boy to his childhood friend as she seemed to like that proposal.
"It's not a bad idea," said Roll.
"Yeah, well, that's all on your guys. I got other things to do," said Mario as he slung his backpack over his shoulders. "See ya!"
"Come on, bro. You're seriously leaving when Sunny needs our help?"
"Hey, I said I would help shoot the advertisement. I never agreed to any of this. Plus, I have plans," the boy said as he left.
"Don't worry, Roll. We can help Sunny recreate her memories without his help. Right, Sunny?" asked Pipp.
"I think. I made a list of my memories," said the girl as she gave it to Pipp.
"Let's see these. Okay, no. Nope. No." stated the stylishness as she was going down the list of Sunny's so-called "memories" as the ones from this year so far evolved Mario, and she immediately discarded those since he wasn't going to be present. "Oh, sweet Sunny. So pure of heart, so simple of mind."
"What do you mean?" said Roll, as she didn't see how that statement fit in the context of the situation. "Anyways, let's get started on recreating them! You're helping as well, Izzy!"
The girl nodded, wanting to make it up to Sunny. She smiled, glad her friends were willing to help her.
Zipp was in her room, and the girl was on her laptop, looking over some things. She then looked at her evidence board, which had some strings and pins connected, yet the board also had some question marks. At that moment, a knock on her door occurred, and she answered it.
"Alright, I'm here. What do you want to talk about?" asked Mario.
"Perfect timing, lover boy. Come on in," said the heiress as she let her friend in. "So I was reviewing more evidence about Hitch's duel and what those strange marks might've been that we saw on our arms. First, let me ask you this? Have you felt anything since that night?"
"Not really," said Mario as he looked at his arm and rubbed the spot where the mark appeared.
"So it's not just me," responded Zipp as she quickly went to her bed and typed that down on her laptop.
"So, you've been scouring the net for any signs of marks?" asked Mario as he took a set on the bed facing the girl.
"I mean, come on, you gotta admit what happened with Hitch and then our arms glowing with those marks; it can't be a coincidence."
"I admit that," said the boy to his friend.
"See. Whatever this evil is, I think those marks we saw might be some key or at least some clue as to what this all means," responded Zipp. "Which is why I could use some help. You down?"
"Yeah, sure, whatever," responded Mario as the girl smiled before she began to pull up her notes and bounce off her ideas and theories of the boy to see what he thought about the evil they were facing.
While the two eldest teens were trying to crack open this mystery, back with Sunny and the others, they'd begun recreating all of Sunny's memories that she captured on film. Right now, Sunny and Hitch were in the girl's room, recreating another moment: when she picked up trash as part of a competition to help raise awareness.
"That's it. Work the trash. Be the trash. You are the trash!" said Pipp as she had Hitch holding up a phone to take pictures of Sunny picking up the litter from the small bin she was dumping while encouraging her.
"Wait, I'm the trash?" said Sunny as she stopped to process what Pipp called her.
"No, you're not the trash, Sunny," said Hitch as he reassured his best friend that Pipp didn't mean it like that.
"Alright, let's move on to the next memory on the list. Where are Izzy and Roll?!" stated the stylish as she left her friend's room to check on where the other two were as it left Hitch alone with his best friend.
As the boy went to put down the phone, a song from Pipp's room played over the speakers. It made the teen stop, as he remembered hearing it before.
"Hey, wasn't this the song that was playing when…"
"When we were kids, we danced where we used to live at that annual festival," Sunny said, unlocking a very old memory for the girl she'd forgotten.
"Yeah," chuckled Hitch as he set his phone down and then nervously put his hands in his pockets while looking at his best friend. "Would you… maybe want to… you know, just to get the photo."
"I guess, just for the photo," Sunny responded, as she, too, was nervous like her best friend.
The two childhood friends nervously walked toward each other as Sunny pushed away some of her hair in front of her face before putting her arms around Hitch's neck as the boy held the girl's waist. The two swayed slowly to the music as they looked at each other.
"You know what I just realized," said Hitch.
"What?" said Sunny, looking at her best friend.
"There's no one here to take the photo."
Sunny chuckled before it ceased, and she continued to look at her best friend. The girl began to feel herself slowly start to move closer when the door to her room opened.
"Sunny… Oh!" said Roll as she came in and saw the two best friends holding each other.
The two saw their friend, as they let go almost immediately. The two turned away and tried to hide the red that came on their faces.
"Did I just interrupt-"
"NO!" shouted both teens and Hitch decided to step out for a second to get some air.
After seeing Hitch leave, Roll turned her attention to Sunny as she tried to do something else to take her mind off of what happened.
"So… nothing happened at all between you two? Like… at all," said Roll.
"W-Why would it?" stuttered Sunny.
"Sunny, come on now. Before Winter Break, you told me how you kissed Hitch, and you sort of have these feelings for him. And now I walk in on you two slow-dancing."
"It's just a memory we had," said the girl as she turned to her friend. "Plus, we're just friends. Two completely normal best friends who've known each other their entire lives and are perfectly content with keeping their friendship stable and not worsening it, right?"
"Right…" responded Roll uncertainly at Sunny's line of thinking.
"Hey, we're ready!" said Pipp as she came into the room to tell the pair they had set up everything for the next memory on Sunny's list.
"Back to work," responded Roll as they continued recreating Sunny's memories.
When the sun went down, it was close to nighttime as the group worked on Sunny's latest memory. It was only Pipp, Izzy, Hitch, and Sunny, as Roll had to leave to take care of some stuff for the Spring Fling, which had nearly sold out from the small commercial they did.
"Okay, so this memory is from Winter Break when Hitch and I visited our old hometown, and we got to walk along the town square for the Winter Solstice Festival," explained Sunny as they had turned her dorm's kitchen into a makeshift restaurant of sorts with tons of clothed tables and lights.
"Okay, then let's get started," said Pipp as if a knock on the door came on cue.
"Oh, that must be Hitch. Come in!" said the girl as Pipp went out of frame to wait for her moment to snap the pic.
The door opened, and Hitch saw his best friend and then looked around. He saw the kitchen environment as he started to process it.
"Is this…"
"From when we visited Maretime Bay for Winter Break. You know, we went to the Winter Solstice Festival, but since it never snows there, we all wear summer clothing. And then we took a walk around town and found that restaurant. Then that cute old lady spotted us and came to take our photo," said Sunny.
"Eh? Ah, look at the beautiful young couple," said Izzy, appearing dressed as an old lady and trying to put on an old accent.
Sunny giggled, while Hitch had a much different reaction. One that was full of dread and despair. The girl then signaled to Pipp, knowing that was her cue, and took a photo of Sunny standing next to Hitch, where the boy's expression was caught on film.
"And then I said that's perfect. Because I could live 100 years and never find a friend like you," said Sunny to Hitch.
"I can't believe you did this," muttered the boy to his childhood friend.
"Does that…"
"I can't believe you recreated the worst night of my life," stated the boy as Pipp and Izzy were taken aback by what came out of Hitch's mouth.
"Huh?" said Sunny, confused as well.
"That's not how it happened at all," stated Hitch as he wanted to set the record straight. "Right before we left for Winter Break, remember that cooking segment we tried to shoot as extra credit for Mrs. Sugar Belle's final exam. After that, we just resorted to baking a simple apple pie, and we passed. Then, we left, and as I walked you to your room, do you remember what you did?... You kissed me, right?"
"Y-Yeah," said Sunny as she wanted to see where Hitch was going with this.
"Then, we went on Winter Break. We went to Maretime Bay like we always do every year to escape the cold weather and remind ourselves of our old home before moving here to attend CHS. I could tell how excited you were this time around for the trip, and I, too, was excited because after you kissed me… I wanted to ask you to be my girlfriend. And I planned that restaurant for that exact reason."
"What?" said Sunny, shocked to hear what Hitch was saying. "But… you never said that."
"Right, 'cause that sweet old lady came along. She said, "Aw, look at the beautiful young couple." And then… you laughed," sighed Hitch heavily as he stared down his best friend. "You said no. Definitely not a couple. Just friends. Best friends."
"But you weren't upset. You were fine," said Sunny, as she didn't understand what was happening. "We ate gelato until…"
"Granny Figgy called me. Yeah, I made that up. I wanted to just run and hide from what you said. I went home and cried until Grandma Figgy came to comfort me."
"You… cried?" said Sunny.
"And I swore… that ever since that day, I would never let you string me along again."
"Hitch, I'm sorry, but I did not string you along," stated Sunny.
"You kissed me, and then a month later, you laughed at the idea of us being a couple!" stated the boy.
"I laughed because I was uncomfortable!" retorted the girl as the two raised their voices, which concerned Izzy and Pipp, who watched this unfold.
"You said that in 100 years I could only ever be your friend!" shouted the boy.
"I said that our friendship was the most important of my life! That meant something to me!" stated Sunny. "But I guess to you, being my best friend was just a consolation prize."
Pipp and Izzy reacted to that comment from Izzy as they had grimaced looks on their faces. No one was more shocked to hear that than Hitch, as he felt slightly hurt at what Sunny had just said.
"That's not fair," responded the boy at Sunny's low blow to him.
"No, what's not fair is that you made me the bad guy in all this just because I didn't like you back," responded Sunny.
"Then answer me this. If you didn't like me, why did you kiss me?!" demanded the boy. "You don't just kiss someone on the lips just because they're your best friend!?"
"To give us closure! So we could both move on!" stated the girl.
"Oh, well, gee. Thank you for the closure!" responded Hitch as he was hurtfully angry. "That was awfully generous of you!"
"Hitch! Hitch, wait!"
The girl tried to call out to her friend, but he just walked out and slammed the door behind him, making a loud thud. Pipp and Izzy looked at Sunny as the girl stood with a hurtful look.
"I-I… I can't believe this," said the girl as she sat down and put her head into her hands.
The two approached their friend as they gently patted her shoulder, and stayed with her to offer support and comfort after what had gone down. Mario and Roll were in their dorm living room when a knock was heard. The boy opened it, and Hitch stood there. The look on his face told it all.
"Come on in, bud," said Mario as he had an idea of what occurred.
Days passed as the Spring Fling event was soon upon them. The small commercial the group did manage to do the job as nearly the entire school was excited for the Spring Fling. However, one person wasn't so happy. It didn't take long for the rest of the group to know what occurred between the two best friends as while only Mario was allowed to talk with Hitch, the others focused on trying to cheer up Sunny, who'd locked herself in her room. She also wasn't answering any of their calls or texts, which worried them.
"Sunny! Sunny, can you let me in?" asked Roll as she knocked on her friend's door. It was her turn to try and see if she could get the girl to talk. "Sunny, it's just me."
A click was heard, and Roll knew she had unlocked it. Taking a moment to prepare herself, the girl put her hand on the handle and swung it open. She looked in, and Sunny was on her bed, seeming to be knitting something.
"Wow, you're hitting the needle hard," said Roll, trying to break the ice.
"I'm making a scarf," responded the girl as the tone indicated she was still upset over what happened a few days ago.
"Hmm," stated Roll as she grabbed the end of the scarf and saw how long Sunny had made it to indicate how much time she'd spent on it.
"It should be longer, right?" asked Sunny with somewhat of a crazy eye while looking at her friend.
"I regret walking into this energy," Roll said, a tad bit fearful, upon seeing the girl as she let go of the scarf. "So, listen… about Hitch-"
"Do you think I should talk to Hitch?" Sunny asked as she interrupted her friend.
"Sunny, you…"
"I mean, I would send him a funny meme to break the ice, but I don't have a phone. Would you mind printing off "the girl in front of a burning house" meme so I could tape it to his door?"
"Sunny."
"But then it's, like, do I even want to talk to Hitch? Maybe I'm still mad at Hitch. Or is how mad I am at Hitch just because of how much I like Hitch?"
"Sunny!" shouted Roll to get her friend's attention and stop her rambling. "Enough! Are you going to tell Hitch you like him or not?"
"He knows. He has to know. I mean, maybe I didn't say it with literal words, but…" At that moment, the girl realized something that made her gasp, "Oh, my god, he might not know."
"Sunny, if you want to be with Hitch, just go for it. Be an adult and tell him how you feel," stated Roll.
"But I'm scared," responded Sunny in a baby-tone voice.
"You will not be my friend and use that baby voice," said Roll, not letting the girl's tactics sway her.
"Look, if I tell him how I feel, and he doesn't reciprocate… I mean, you saw how bad I freaked out when I lost pictures of Hitch. But to lose the actual person? I don't know if I can handle that." answered the girl to her friend.
"Damn… that's a good point," responded Roll as she saw the logic in Sunny's statement.
"Maybe… we are better as friends. It's so comfortable. We just fit."
"Sunny, let me ask you something. When you hear Hitch's name, what comes to your mind," asked Roll, wanting to try something with her friend that might clear up some stuff.
"Tons. Like… how he's my best friend. He's been with me my entire life. We've grown up together. He's… the person that I can count on the most. Whenever I need a friend, he's always there for me. He's kind, gentle, caring, handsome… Not a day goes by when I don't imagine him not being here with me… I'm glad that he's stuck with me all these years, even when there were moments he could've stopped being my friend."
Sunny then took in what she said as she looked at Roll. The girl smiled as it was clear what had just happened.
"You know what you need to do?".
"Yeah. But… I'm gonna need the other's help," asked Sunny.
"Where do we start?" smiled Roll.
Sometime later, the Spring Fling was in full bloom. The school's auditorium had music playing, and some tents had games and activities just outside. All around, the CHS students were having fun, looking forward to the start of their spring break, and this was the perfect send-off before that. Mario was currently in Hitch's room, talking with Hitch about what had gone down with Sunny the past few days.
"... it's just… I keep going over what happened that night. Sunny planned this beautiful moment… and I ruined it," said the boy.
"You're being a little too hard on yourself, bud," responded Mario as he leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.
"I got stuck in the past, you know? You know how much it hurt that we grew up our entire lives and Sunny rejected me. It was like there was this huge sign that said: Just Friends. Best Friends. And I hate that that made me angry because I love being Sunny's friend.
"I get it, Hitch. It's tough that it didn't go quite as you expected. Take it from me; I know firsthand how bad rejection is. And I also know how bad heartbreak is." stated Mario as he got up from the wall and patted Hitch's shoulder.
"How is she lately? Have you talked to her?" asked Hitch, feeling some concern for the girl he thought had feelings for him.
"The girls have been trying their best to get her out of her room, but no success. She's… well…."
"What? She's what? Spit it out, bud!" said Hitch, as he didn't like Mario trying to protect him by not telling him something about Sunny.
"She's worried you don't want to be friends at all," confessed Mario from what he heard.
"W-What? I-I have to see. Is she in her room?" asked Hitch as he stood up and got fearful.
"She's with Roll on the roof of the school."
Hitch exhaled sharply as he got up and quickly ran out of his room to get to the school's roof, worried about what might happen. Mario saw his friend leave before he pulled out his phone and pushed the call button.
"He's on his way," smiled the boy as he did his part in getting Hitch worked up.
Hitch rushed along the campus grounds, avoiding the many students playing games. He saw the school in sight before looking up at the roof where Sunny was. He entered the school and began to climb the stairs. He soon reached the top and burst the door open. When he got up there, he was stunned by what he saw. A very large tent was open, but the inside seemed a bit dark despite several lights illuminating the inside. He hesitated to enter at first, but since this still seemed to be Sunny's doing, he adventured inside. This was a great decision because the lights illuminating the path suddenly moved as soon as he did. Instead of pointing to the path ahead, they pointed at the walls, and he gasped loudly when they did so. The tent's walls showed him pictures and drawings of many memories he had made with Sunny long ago. Most of them were from years ago, but some were also from recent months, and there was even a picture of their sudden kiss before Winter Break. The last thing made him blush, but he still giggled and kept staring, amazed at all the memories he had made with Sunny.
And then, as he finally reached the end of the tunnel, he gasped loudly when he saw many reflectors illuminating Sunny at the very end of this mysterious place and the statue Izzy made. It was filled with lights and tons of photos that changed every few seconds, something that finally made him rush to her.
"Sunny?!" Hitch asked, surprised and in disbelief. "What are you... W-What's the meaning of all of this?!" He asked wonderfully.
"A little surprise I made for you. With the help of the others," Sunny smiled. "Did you like my Tunnel of Memories? I planned on narrating everything we went through together as you walked over, but then figured that just bringing you here to see the pictures and drawings was more than enough."
"Tunnel of memories?" Hitch asked while tilting his head, but then smiled. "You know? That name fits right with this place. My memory awakened so many good things we had together..."
"I wanted this place to have our best moments together," Sunny declared. "Our childhood, or teenage years, our happiest moments, the most intimate ones, the most embarrassing ones..."
The two friends stood by as they watched the sculpture that Izzy made. It flashed their best moments every few seconds, and they couldn't help but smile.
"How did you…"
"Like I said, I had the help of others. Roll's mother was able to fix my hard drive and upgrade it so that everything I upload to it will also upload to the cloud to be there whenever I want to access it. And… she got me a new phone free of charge," said Sunny as Roll called in a favor to her mother to help them. "Which is perfect for my plan."
"Your plan?" Hitch asked with a teasing smirk. "What kind of plan is that?"
Sunny took a deep breath now. She was incredibly nervous, but she knew it was now or never.
"It's been a long, long time ever since we first met, right?" Sunny asked with a nervous smile. "And it's also been a long time since I started feeling things nobody else causes in me. When we were little, everyone in town always said how good we looked together, how cute, how good of a couple we'll make growing up..."
"And we both always gagged at the idea as kids..." Hitch reminded with a nervous smile of her own.
"Yeah... Well... It's been a good minute ever since that idea stopped being gross and actually started to make sense, at least for me," Sunny said, his nervousness fading away to give space for more confidence.
"H-Huh?!" Hitch asked, surprised, with wide eyes and blush, clearly not expecting this change of attitude nor that answer.
"Hitch, we've known each other ever since we were kids," The girl pointed out. "We've both grown with lives, hopes, and dreams. We made new friends and got to make great new memories. But all these years have passed, and... one thing has remained the same. You're still my hero. You're the person who I can always count on. You're the person who makes me laugh, and you're the person who pushes me to do the things that I need to do, even when I really don't want to. And since I've never actually said it… and you deserve to hear it. And…"
Sunny struggled a bit as she tried so hard to say what she wanted to say to her friend, but the words couldn't come out.
"Okay, good talk," said the girl as she looked to leave.
"Hey," said Hitch as he quickly grabbed Sunny's hand to keep the girl from leaving and pulled her back to face him. "You can do this," stated the boy as he gave his support and confidence to his friend to say what she wanted.
Sunny took a deep breath before speaking, "My… feelings for you have changed, too. It took me some time to realize it, but… I… I like you, Hitch Trailblazer. In fact… I've been in love with you since 7th grade. I just didn't know it. But I do now. And I want to be with you."
Hitch took in what Sunny had just confessed as he held her hand while looking at her. The girl waited to see what the boy would say before he spoke.
"When we were kids, I thought of you as my little sister, someone I could care for like a big brother does..." Hitch confessed. "But after we moved here and enrolled in CHS, I saw you in another light," he chuckled. "It took me a while to realize why, but I finally figured: I fell in love with you, Sunny, my best friend."
Sunny gasped, and her blush intensified. "H-Hitch..."
"I know that many people may believe the 'two childhood friends becoming a couple'' is a cliche many of them can't stand and that some even despise because it is used, but do I look like I care?" Hitch said with a snort, and Sunny snorted a bit as well. "I don't even know why I fell for you, Sunny. I didn't choose to... But I don't care, either. You are the light of hope in my life that I love the most, my sunshine... My everything."
"Oh, Hitch..." Sunny said, touched by his words and teary eyes, but with a smile.
"What I'm trying to say, Sunny... Is that I love you," Hitch went straight to the point. "You are the girl of my dreams, and if it isn't with you who I'm meant to be with, then it isn't with anybody else."
Sunny was now tearing up from happiness, but then she quickly wiped off her tears, launched herself to hug Hitch, and tackled him to the ground. Surprising the boy as he yelped in the fall, he still giggled as Sunny hugged him tightly with laughs while nuzzling his chest. Hitch eventually sat up, and Sunny sat up, too; none dared to break the hug.
"Sunny, I need you to know… being your friend is not a consolation prize. It is the best thing that I get to be," said Hitch as Sunny looked up at her friend with both smiling before he put on a serious expression. "If… we try this, and it doesn't work… I can't lose you."
"I promise, no matter what, you never will," assured Sunny to the boy.
"Is this really happening?" asked Hitch.
"I hope so. It took us long enough," chuckled the girl, as did her friend.
"Well, if that's how things are, then... Sunny Starscout, would you like to be my––" Hitch tried to say.
Yet all attempts to speak further died when Sunny locked her lips with his, completely on purpose and not out of some random moment like their first kiss. Her lips were as soft and gentle as said first kiss, but this time, it was more genuine and less messy because Sunny wasn't nervous. Hitch had no idea how to respond at first, but he still returned the kiss the best way he could. Like with their first kiss, he was still messy, but at least this was a more honest kiss. Eventually, the lack of air made them part ways, and they looked at each other in the eyes as they caught their breath again.
Sunny smiled as she spoke first. "Hitch, I'd be honored to be your girlfriend. But only if you wanna be my boyfriend?"
Hitch chuckled and lifted Sunny's chin with a finger. "I thought you'd never ask, Sun~"
Sunny smiled and placed her arms around his neck while they leaned closer again for another kiss. The kiss was soon interrupted by the sound of some squeals and clapping. The pair turned to the tent entrance and widened their eyes to see their friends.
"It's about damn time!" said Roll sarcastically.
"Oh, thank goodness! My pleas were listened to!" exclaimed Pipp dramatically.
"Why you two didn't get together is the bigger mystery. Like, seriously, what took you two so long!" joked Zipp happily as she playfully punched Hitch in the shoulder.
"Your sparkles are so bright right now that I can barely contain my excitement!" said Izzy.
"We're just happy you two finally got together, right, everyone?" asked Roll as they nodded.
Sunny and Hitch blushed before the boy put his arm around his new girlfriend and pulled her closer. In the distance, Mario was leaning against the roof door as he crossed his arms. The boy was content with being happy for his bro from afar as he could see the smile on Sunny's face as he was proud of the girl that had become his other little sister.
"Gotta hand it to you, lover boy. I didn't expect you to pull this off," said Zipp, as it was thanks to his help that he managed to pull off Sunny's idea. "You know, you got a knack for this love thing."
"Mmm," responded the boy as he got up and left.
He turned and began to walk down the flight of stairs as he exited. The girl watched her friend disappear before turning back to eye Sunny and Hitch as the fireworks went off behind them. Everyone looked up to see the show start, and it made them smile, especially as it was the start of spring break.
Author's Notes: Well, it seems things have finally come to blossom for Sunny and Hitch. And now... we have a new couple for the story. As you can tell from the small hints in prior chapters, it was building up to the childhood friends becoming a pair. In my opinion, they just fit so perfectly. Going forward, Sunny and Hitch will be the couple that lasts throughout the remainder of the story. But... that's not to say it won't be the only couple as we have another boy who's got his fair share of love interests, but we'll get to that when it's time. Anyways, hope you all enjoyed the sweetness of this chapter.