//------------------------------//
// Back to the Fans 
// Story: A New Age 
// by James Pwyll 
//------------------------------//

Across all of Zephyr Heights, pegasi young and old looked to their phones with excitement and eagerness, as a channel that had been quiet for an unprecedented amount of time suddenly fired up again. Smiles were abound across the city-state as Pipp Petals, their beloved and recently reinstated princess, addressed her audience once more. "Goooooooood morning, Zephyr Heights! This is your princess, Pipp Petals, back online and ready to stream to you all yet again!" Stepping back, the young mare gestured to the rest of her room, smiling widely. "As you can see, I'm back where I belong and ready to update all of you on what I've been doing." Looking back to her camera, she spoke again with her usual eagerness. "There's a lot of ground to cover and I'm raring to get going with it, but first..." She glanced to the side. "We have a surprise for you today! Making her online debut is my sweet sister, and your future queen, Zipp Storm!" After a long silence, Pipp frowned, reaching over to the side. "I said, Zipp Storm!"

Sure enough the older sister was pulled into view, letting out an irritated sigh as soon as the camera caught sight of her. "I can't believe I agreed to this," Zipp mumbled under her breath.

Pipp, eyeing her camera nervously, elbowed Zipp slightly. "Well? Say something!" she whispered.

Frowning to Pipp for a moment, Zipp eventually did as she was asked, clearing her throat before speaking to her new audience. "Er...hello, Zephyr Heights. Zipp Storm here. It's...good to be here?"

Pipp rolled her eyes. "Okay, sure, we'll work on that, anyway!" She nudged past Zipp to once more become the centre of attention. "Let's start things off by recapping what we've been up to. As you've no doubt heard by now, pegasi will be reuniting with earth ponies and unicorns after centuries of being apart! So get yourself ready for some new visitors to our grand old city in the near future! Also, totally get yourselves a train ticket to go and visit Maretime Bay sometime. It is totes gorgeous!" Then, she felt a tap on her shoulder, turning to see Zipp give her a knowing look, which flipped a switch in her mind as she merrily clapped her hooves together. "Oh! Of course! How silly of me! Zipp, you wanna take this one?"

Zipp chuckled as she again took prominence on the screen. "As of today, my mother, Queen Haven, has decreed that the old Zephyr Heights trains station will be renovated to provide better travel between pony communities. So, if you want a look at a piece of genuine history of our city, head on down there to have a look-see."

Pipp squealed with delight. "You heard it here, folks! Soon you can take a fancy new train wherever you ponies want!" She giggled. "I mean, obviously you're gonna want to try out those great new, working wings of yours, but still, travelling by train sounds pretty neat to me."

Zipp took on a smirk. "And speaking of flying, I'm sure we're all excited about finally being able to get up in the skies again, like pegasi are supposed to. But, at the request of a new friend of ours..." She shared a look with her sister, who gave her a silent nod before giving her the floor to continue. "It's been recommended that we all take a moment to stay calm and practice our new flight in safe environments for the time being. Places are being set up in public spaces around the city for those who want to see what they can do. Remember, we've been out of the game for a long time now, and if we rush headlong into it, ponies will get hurt."

Pipp fluffed up her own wings, admiring them for a moment as she enthusiastically flapped a few times. "Maybe Sunny can dig up one of those old books of hers to see of all those old-timey pegasi had any flying tips. Should make for some pretty popular content."

Zipp tapped her chin as she considered that. "I'll ask her next time I see her." She looked over to Pipp, thinking for a moment before again looking to the camera. "And for those looking forward to my sister's next performance, please know it won't be solo for once."

With her eyes widening with that sudden remembrance, Pipp immediately launched herself back into frame to look to her unseen audience with glee. "Oh my gosh, she's right! I totally forgot! Some of our new friends will be coming over and practicing with me on the weekend and we're gonna livestream it to all of you wonderful Pipsqueaks!"

Zipp chuckled. "You heard it here, ponies. Pipp Petals sharing the stage. Will wonders never cease?"

Pipp gave her a playful shove after that and the two laughed together, but then, when the laughter was over, they took on a more sombre look. After remaining silent for a time, it eventually fell to Pipp to finally speak again. "And...before we go, we wanted to say, from all of us here in the royal family, that we're sorry for having lied to all of you for so long."

Zipp nodded grimly. "Yeah. We didn't like it, and we thought we had good reason for pretending we could fly for all those years. But even so, it was no excuse. Ponies should be able to trust those who lead them, and we broke your trust by tricking you." She bowed her head to the camera. "We hope that, one day, we can earn it back."

Pipp followed her sister's example and, in a move that left the entire city speechless for some time, joined her in bowing humbly before the masses. Then, after almost a full minute of not saying anything, Pipp whispered to her sibling. "Even though it was totally not cool for them to arrest our Mom after finding out."

Standing up again, Zipp actually resumed her smile from that. "Yep, definitely not cool, Zephyr Heights."

Regaining her prior perkiness, Pipp held onto her sister and smiled happily to the camera. "So from both of us here at the palace, have a great day, Pipsqueaks!"

Zipp nervously grinned "And you too, Zipp...squeaks?"

Slowly, Pipp turned to frown at her sister. "Okay, we're definitely gonna have to work on that one."