Hitch Trailblazer

Hitch Trailblazer is a male Earth pony and one of the main characters of My Little Pony: A New Generation and My Little Pony Generation 5. He is the law-keeping sheriff of Maretime Bay and a childhood friend of Sunny Starscout. As of My Little Pony: Make Your Mark, he is the adoptive father of the baby dragon Sparky Sparkeroni.__TOC__
==Development and design==
Hitch Trailblazer was designed by character artist Celia Kaspar. During the film's concept phase, Hitch was known as simply "The Protector".
Hasbro filed a trademark for the name "Hitch Trailblazer" with the United States Patent and Trademark Office on February 25, 2021.
==Depiction in A New Generation==
In the film My Little Pony: A New Generation, Hitch first appears as a young colt and friend to Sunny Starscout and Sprout. Like most other Earth ponies, Hitch has been taught to view unicorns and Pegasi as dangerous enemies, though he is willing to play along with Sunny's games where all the pony races are friends, and attempts to mediate Sunny and Sprout's wildly differing views on the subject.
Years later, Hitch is the peacekeeping sheriff of his hometown of Maretime Bay, with Sprout as his deputy. He frequently bails Sunny out whenever she gets into trouble while spreading her message of friendship and unity with other pony races, such as when she sneaks into the Canterlogic factory and interrupts their annual presentation. When the unicorn Izzy Moonbow comes to Maretime Bay and causes a panic, Sunny foils Hitch's attempts to apprehend her and runs away with her. Hitch decides to go after Sunny so he can place her under arrest.
Hitch follows Sunny and Izzy to the Pegasus city of Zephyr Heights, where he infiltrates a royal celebration while disguised as a Pegasus in order to capture Sunny, almost preventing them from claiming the Pegasus Crystal along the way. In the process, however, he becomes an unwitting participant in Sunny's quest to bring magic back to Equestria. Though he initially helps out just to make sure Sunny faces the consequences of her actions, he later comes to view Izzy as well as the royal Pegasus sisters Zipp Storm and Pipp Petals as friends.
Hitch and his friends acquire the Unicorn Crystal in Bridlewood, but nothing happens when the two crystals are joined together. With their quest seemingly ended in failure, Sunny and Hitch return to Maretime Bay and soon get swept up in Sprout's destructive plot to wage war against unicorns and Pegasi. After Sunny succeeds in bringing the three pony races together, Hitch and his new friends happily welcome a new age of friendship and magic.
==Depiction in Make Your Mark==
In the hour-long special My Little Pony: Make Your Mark, Hitch struggles to keep the peace when Earth pony resentment toward Pegasi and unicorns starts to build. He also finds an egg on the beach and elects to take care of it, and he helps his friends with preparations for the Maretime Bay Day festival in hopes of reuniting the tribes.
When the tensions start to boil over and make magic go haywire, Hitch finds his hooves magically stuck to the ground. After the crisis is revolved and magic is stabilized, Hitch finds that he is now able to communicate with his animal friends. The egg he was caring for also hatches, revealing a baby dragon, whom Hitch adopts as his own.
In Izzy Does It, Hitch saves Izzy from falling when the "tower of friendship" she constructs collapses.
In Growing Pains, he becomes increasingly uncomfortable with the Earth ponies' new magic. He attempts to ban the Earth ponies from using it, then when the unused magic starts building up and releasing involuntarily, try to remove the Earth pony crystal from the Unity Crystals. He decides against the course of action at the last minute, and witness a message from Twilight Sparkle from the Crystals.
In Ali-Conned, Hitch lets Pipp look after Sparky, unaware that she is hoping to imitate his popularity on social media. He and the others also cheer Sunny up by making a community garden.
In The Cutie Mark Mix-Up, Hitch and Sunny get into an argument over whose duties are more demanding. When Sparky accidentally switches their cutie marks and personalities, they decide to switch jobs too, only to struggle with them. The two of them gain new respect for one another, and their cutie marks switch back.
Hitch briefly appears in The Traditional Unicorn Sleep-Over, playing with Sparky before taking him home.
In Hoof Done It?, Hitch is asked by Sunny to form a town meeting over the disappearance of her lantern. Hitch declines, pointing out that it may not be such a good idea.
In Have You Seen This Dragon?, Hitch is distraught when Sparky suddenly goes missing, becoming so desperate to find the baby dragon that he takes on a masked vigilante persona and starts ransacking Maretime Bay looking for him. With his friends' help, he manages to find and joyfully reunite with Sparky.
In the My Little Pony: Winter Wishday special, Hitch and Sparky join their friends on their holiday trip across Equestria in the Marestream. Their first stop is the home of Hitch's beloved Grandma Figgy. While Hitch claims to the others that his grandmother can be "particular" about holiday traditions, it quickly becomes clear that he is the one who particular. After departing from Grandma Figgy's, Hitch and his friends visit Bridlewood and Zephyr Heights, get caught up in a magical snowstorm, and make it back to Maretime Bay in time to watch the Wishing Star flying overhead.
In My Little Pony: Bridlewoodstock, Hitch witnesses the "Lumi-Bloom" in Bridlewood alongside his friends. When Pipp has an idea to hold a music festival to celebrate, Hitch and Sunny help by convincing legendary music group The Dreamlands to attend. When the Troggles disrupt the proceedings, Hitch and his friends work to stop them.
In Top Remodel, Hitch struggles to hide his fear as the Mane Five work to renovate the abandoned Canterlogic factory. He and Pipp soon find first Sprout, then a group of winged mice that have taken up residence in the factory. He and Pipp convince the mice to leave with a song, and are present for the unveiling of the building's new purpose as "Canterlove Studios".
In The Jinxie Games, Hitch prepares for the Forest Critter Field Day sports event in Bridlewood. When he finds that the rules forbid Sparky from being his partner, he pairs with the visiting Cloudpuff. Unfortunately for Hitch, the unusual rules of the events keep him from winning any of them.
In Sunny Side Up, Hitch is convinced to film a cooking show alongside Sunny to show off Canterlove Studios. The show is troubled by Hitch's stage fright and clumsiness, but he and Sunny eventually manage to be on the same page.
In The Manesquerade Ball, Hitch attends the ball alongside his friends, Sparky and Misty, and takes part in Sunny's unity dance.
In A Little Horse, Hitch tries to cheer up a sick Pipp with a performance involving his critter friends, but only succeeds in boring her.
In Missing the Mark, Hitch is distraught when Sparky once again goes missing. When Misty reveals she knows where Sparky is, Hitch and the others follow, despite their suspicions. When Opaline captures them (revealing that Misty is working for her), Hitch is horrified and betrayed. After Misty has a change of heart and frees them, Hitch and Zipp manage to rescue Sparky before he is drained of all his magic and falls to his doom.
In Cutie Blossom Bash, Hitch and his friends take Misty to Zephyr Heights to celebrate her getting her cutie mark, and shares the story of how he got his cutie mark along the way. Once there, he and Zipp work to make sure nothing disrupts the ceremony.
In Family Trees Pt. 1, he expresses concern over Sparky, who still has not recovered from having his magic drained. In Family Trees Pt. 2, he is overjoyed when a trip to the strangely-deserted Dragonlands restores Sparky's energies. He also witnesses the reunion between Misty and Alphabittle.
In Father of the Bridlewood, he convinces Pipp to give Misty and Alphabittle some time by themselves. In Mane Smelody, he sets up a safety drill for Sparky, and offers to help Sunny and Zipp with the map they found by looking through his station's archives. In Nightmare on Mane Street, Hitch organizes Nightmare Night activities and events for Maretime Bay. He is also present when Sparky's fire reveals a way to the Isle of Scaly on the map Sunny and Zipp found.
In The Isle of Scaly, Hitch and his friends reach the dragons' home. While there, Hitch struggles with the idea of letting Sparky reunite with his own kind. In Roots of All Evil Pt. 1, Hitch and his friends find that Opaline attacked Maretime Bay in their absence, taking the ponies' cutie marks. When Spike and the other dragons decide to go to Opaline's castle, Hitch reluctantly allows them to bring Sparky with them. When Opaline attacks Maretime Bay again, Hitch confronts her, but is defeated and loses his cutie mark. In Roots of All Evil Pt. 2, Hitch aids in Opaline's defeat by singing alongside everypony. Afterwards, he feels like Sparky should return to his fellow dragons, but the young hatchling makes it clear where he considers his home truly is.
In My Little Pony: Secrets of Starlight, Hitch and his friends find themselves in Starlight Ridge. When they notice the portal that brought them there is growing smaller, Hitch suggests that they leave before it closes, but is convinced to stay a little while. While there, Hitch and his friends meet the Auroricorns, and help them defeat Allura.
==Other depictions==
Hitch is featured in the film's book adaptations, including My Little Pony: A New Adventure, My Little Pony: Ponies Unite, the My Little Pony Annual 2022, and My Little Pony: Story of the Movie.
Hitch also appears in the 2D animated YouTube web series My Little Pony: Tell Your Tale, which is set after the events of A New Generation. He appears in My Little Pony: A Maretime Bay Adventure in a non-playable role.
===IDW comics===
Hitch features in the 2022 comic book series by IDW Publishing. In , he leads a group of ponies on a nature walk, which Izzy accidentally ruins by talking too loudly and scaring off the animals. He and his friends later discover that one of the Unity Crystals has been stolen, and they set out to track down the thief. In , they discover the ruins of Canterlot, and learn that Discord stole the crystal, and plans to destroy it in hopes of ensuring peace in Equestria.
In , Hitch is called in by Zipp to help her find the runaway Cloudpuff, and mediates for her when she apologizes for having neglected him. In , Hitch is busy helping put together a street fair.
In , Hitch and his friends follow a lead on Discord's whereabouts to a lighthouse owned by Lightning Rod, who tells them stories of the Mirror of Mayhem, a dangerous artifact created by Discord himself. In , Hitch and the group follow one of Discord's animal friends to Fluttershy's old cottage, finding a message Fluttershy left for Discord inside.
In , Hitch is excited to serve as deejay for the Harvest Moon celebration, but his attempts at setting up are delayed by his desire to help others. At the end of the day, his friends help him set up his deejaying equipment as thanks for his earlier selflessness. He briefly appears in a flashback in , enjoying the new smoothie Sunny and Izzy made together.
In , the Mane Five finally figure out where Discord is going, but the journey there is complicated by their weakening magic and slowly developing animosity. Hitch nearly falls through an old rope bridge, but is saved by Izzy. When the group find Discord, they are unable to stop him from capturing them and escaping once more.
In , Hitch helps enact the group's escape by enlisting some nearby bunnies to chew through the ropes holding up the cage. After the Mane Five reconcile, Hitch aids in the final clash against Discord, and later plays with his friends and the reformed Draconequus.
In , Hitch starts his own podcast, revolving around unsolved cases in Maretime Bay. With Zipp's help, he figures out what happened to Pansy Silverbell, who mysteriously vanished before she could take part in a baking competition. In , Hitch and his friends take part in the annual Maretime Bay Beachside Bake-Off. While they initially have trouble deciding on a recipe, they ultimately work together by combining ingredients that each one likes, with oats being Hitch's contribution. In , Hitch's animal-translating abilities help Izzy to see that she unknowingly forced a group of critters out of her old treehouse (which they had made into their home).
In My Little Pony: Bridlewoodstock, Hitch is seen in attendance at the festival.
In the My Little Pony 40th Anniversary Special story Tales of Dream Valley, Hitch helps Sunny with some of her father's old research books, one of which speaks of the ancient location of Ponyland.
In IDW Endless Summer - My Little Pony, Hitch helps Sunny to get over the end of summer by reminding her of her favorite fall activities. He also joins the rest of her friends in treating Sunny to one last summer outing.
In My Little Pony: Black, White & Blue, Hitch joins Zipp in investigating the sudden loss of color in Maretime Bay.
==Merchandise==
 Toys of Hitch Trailblazer include the articulated 3-inch Crystal Adventure Hitch Trailblazer and 6-inch Rockin' Ranger Hitch Trailblazer, each of which come with various accessories, 3-inch Hitch figures that are part of the Movie Friends and Best Movie Friends toylines and included in the 2021 Unicorn Party Celebration set, and a 6-inch Hitch figure included in the Shining Adventures Collection set.
==Personality==
 Hitch is portrayed as responsible, dutiful, and law-abiding in his role as sheriff. As a result, he is very popular and respected among the Earth ponies of Maretime Bay. He takes his responsibilities seriously, sometimes to the point of arrogance and overconfidence. He is shown to care deeply about Sunny Starscout and does not want to lose her as a friend, but his dedication to his sheriff duties can get in the way of their relationship, and he has no qualms about arresting her if she causes trouble.
Hitch has an unexplained magnetism that draws animals and critters to follow him everywhere, and he is shown to like music, sometimes bobbing his head or shaking his flank to whatever music is playing around him. He is also a highly skilled tracker, managing to pursue Sunny and Izzy all the way to Zephyr Heights.
In the Tell Your Tale episode Nightmare Roommate, Hitch is shown to believe in treating others kindly, even giving Rufus a drink and a biscuit while Rufus is in his holding cell. In Foal Me Once, Hitch is shown to like high-citrus smoothies, sunglasses, and art. In Sunny-Day Dinners, he goes into a wild panic when he learns Sunny and Izzy have gone missing. In The Game is a Hoof, he is scared by a horror movie he and his friends are watching. Both Clip Trot and Pony Partay depict Hitch as being a good dancer.
As an officer of the law, Hitch is dedicated to learning and enforcing every rule there is, not just for his job, but for contests (as seen in On Your Cutie Marks). His dedication to the law is so absolute that when he believes himself guilty of crimes in Foal Me Once, he locks himself up.
Hitch embraces his role of being a "dragon dad" to Sparky, being very attentive to the baby dragon's needs (if somewhat overprotective at times), often to the point of exhaustion (and falls into a panic when Sparky goes missing in Have You Seen This Dragon?). A Day in the Life shows that this has helped make him more receptive to the needs and wellbeing of others.
The My Little Pony: Winter Wishday special shows that Hitch adores his Grandma Figgy, and is very particular about upholding the traditions of Winter Wishday (though he claims to his friends that Figgy is the one who is particular).
Sunny Side Up shows that Hitch suffers from extreme stage fright, as he is unable to get a word out when he is first on camera.
===Official description===
*Responsible
*Kind
*Friendly
"Hitch is an Earth Pony. He is dedicated to helping Everypony in Maretime Bay as their beloved sheriff and always remembers to follow all the rules! Hitch is also very caring and nurturing, especially towards the cute animals and critters of Equestria who often follow him around!"
==Quotes==
==Gallery==
==References==
ru:Хитч Трейлблейзер
Category:Main characters
Category:Law enforcement
Category:Parents
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