//------------------------------// // Chapter 12–The Team Assembles // Story: The Little Pony Legend: A New Generation // by MaggiesHeartLove //------------------------------// The sirens blared all over Zephyr Heights. The entire kingdom itself in complete chaos. Ponies and elves polluted the streets, making it rather tricky for Allura and Zipp to lead the others to safety. “Quick, this way!” Zipp instructed. The princesses led the team down a darkened alleyway. Everywhere they look, the jumbo screens flared red with repeated imagery of Lance and Pipp entangled in their wires. Allura and Zipp were raddled with guilt. How could they abandon their younger siblings like that? Despite their differences, Zipp and Pipp had always shared a close relationship. Despite how vain Pipp seemed, Zipp knew she was a sweetheart at the core. She was just very good at masking her disdain for keeping up a lie if only for her fans. Finally, they decided to make a stop by a pair of trash cans in an alleyway. “I think we lost them,” Allura panted. All of a sudden, the tin cans spilled revealing Hitch and Hunk hiding behind them. But the moment Hunk spotted the Pegasi… he screamed. “AAAHHHH!!! Please don’t eat my brains! Oh please, pleeeeease!!!” He cowered and curled up into a ball, shaking heavily. “Hunk?” Keith gapped. “Is that you?” He couldn’t believe it. Hunk Garrett, his cowardly friend had followed them. And all the way from Maretime Bay? Even Keith couldn’t help but be impressed. “HITCH!!!” Sunny, too happy to think straight, rushed into her childhood friend and embraced him. “I can’t believe you’re here—wait!” She quickly released him, ignoring the heat generating off her face. “What are you doing here?” “Arresting you!” Hitch said, quickly catching himself. “And ‘saving’ you. So, you know, a little of both actually. You’re welcome!” “Oh-ho-ho, gee, thanks,” Zipp remarked, eyeing suspiciously. “But we don’t need any saving, okay?” “And you are?” “Her mom is one of the queens!” Izzy jumped in. “Wait a minute. So that means… you’re a princess?” “Huh. Look at that,” Zipp teased. “The sheriff just became a detective.” “What?” Sunny… wasn’t too keen about the cheeky way Zipp said that. If she didn’t know any better, she assumed Zipp was ‘flirting’ with Hitch. Thankfully, Hitch was too adorably clueless to even notice. Sunny, as subtly as she could, shoved her way past Zipp and closer towards Hitch, hoping to convey the message. Soon the news jingled, and a jumbo screen showcased the female fairy announcer. “Breaking story – Zephyr Heights is un turmoil tonight after the shocking revelation that the royals cannot fly.” The camera switched to a large, and very angry, crowd of Pegasi and fairies. “Pipp used to be my favorite!” A young colt said in the microphone. “If we can’t trust our own royalty, who can we trust?” A female Pegasus asked. Her male elf friend snatched the microphone and spoke directly into the camera. “I blame the Jewel-Horns and the Earth Folk! They ruin everything!” Sunny and Keith exchanged regretful looks. Sunny couldn’t deny that this was their own doing. Well, more Sunny than anyone else’s. She was the one who implanted that idea in Zipp’s head that uniting the crystals could restore the magic and fix the world. And while Keith won’t deny that those two were snobby based on first impressions, he never meant to actually sabotage their concert. He knew these people deserved to know the truth, but he never meant for this. Sunny, meanwhile, could only hope this whole endeavor wasn’t a hunch. Because if this worked, it could fix ‘all’ of this. The camera switched to the news anchor again, only this time she was given a piece of paper from offscreen. “This just in – Queen Haven and Queen Rosalyn have been arrested for being a couple of phony-pony full of baloney.” Zipp and Allura gasped at the image of their mothers beside the anchorwoman. The camera switched to a scene of both queens escorted away by two guards. One of which happened to be Soren. Haven kept her head high despite the predicament, while Rosalyn, her hair a shambled mess due to her crown ripped from her head, looked down in shame. “No comment!” Haven spoke. “And no photos! Okay, one photo.” She smiled and posed for the camera, much to the guards’ confusion. Rosalyn narrowed her eyes in annoyance. That pony could never get enough of the spotlight. “Ooh… kay…” Hunk uttered, raising a hand. “Can anybody fill us in?” “We had to get the crystal,” Sunny answered. “What crystal?” Hitch asked. “Look.” Sunny poked a hoof into her saddlebag… but it was empty, save for her notebook. “Oh no, no, no, no! It’s not here!” “What?!” Allura and Keith exclaimed in unison. “Seriously?!” Zipp and Katie exclaimed. “On the bright side, we had so much fun losing it,” Izzy said brightly. “We have to go back!” Sunny insisted. “You saw how big the grand hall is!” Keith pointed out. “It could be anywhere! For all we know, someone could’ve—” The sound of a clattering can caught everyone’s attention. Out of the shadows, deep in the alleyway, Lance and Pipp emerged. Their hair was an unruly mess, while Lance’s clothes were a shambolic mess. “Alright! Somebody better start talking!” Pipp declared. “Trick question: You two are!” Lance pointed at their sisters. “Lance, honey, that wasn’t a question.” “I thought we agreed that you’d come in and say: ‘Who’s talking?’ and then I’d say, ‘Trick question: You two are!’. We literally rehearsed this!” “We ‘never’ agreed to that.” “I’m pretty sure we did.” Pipp groaned and walked ahead, confronting her twin sister and Allura. “Somebody seriously needs to explain why this thing was so important that you had to ruin our whole show over it!” Pipp pulled out the Skyling crystal from underneath her wing, much to the delight (And relief) of everyone… minus Hunk and Hitch, who were still lost. “Trust me, it was,” Zipp said. She reached to grab for the crystal, only for Pipp to pull it away from her reach. “Yeah, okay. I had that coming.” “You think?! I cannot believe you just left me hanging up there! In the spotlight!” “I know, and I’m sorry. But I didn’t know what else to do and—” “Oh, forget that!” Lance interrupted. He stormed forward in a huge, pointing an accusing finger toward Allura. “I hope you’re happy! Not only does everybody know we can’t fly, but our entire reputation is ruined! Kaput! Down the toilet! Adios! Finished! Zilch!” “It’s not like I meant for that to happen!” Allura insisted. “Please! You’ve always been jealous that I was the one with talent in this family. You’ve already got the throne; meanwhile, I had sponsors, talent scouts, and a ton of kids depending on me to be the voice for the voiceless! But you couldn’t just let me have this!” “Don’t you ever think about anyone but yourself?!” “Don’t you?!” “EVERYBODY STOP!!!” Having heard enough, Keith jumped between the two siblings, and they immediately went silent. “Look, I’m sorry we cut your concert short. But we’ve got more pressing matters to focus on right now. Like, oh I don’t know… NOT getting arrested!” Pipp’s phone buzzed, and she pulled it out from underneath her wing. The screen showcased a newsfeed and the anchorwoman with an image of the Queens’ mugshot. “A warrant is out for the arrest of the prince and the princesses,” The anchorman declared. The image of the queens increased, and Haven spoke before Rosalyn could say anything. “Kids, quick! Save yourselves!” Haven warned. Finally, she struck a pose just as the camera flashed, with Rosalyn staring her down in annoyance. “WHAT?!” Lance and Pipp screamed. “This is not happening!” Pipp panicked. “This is so not happening!” “Okay, okay, okay! Let’s not panic, we can figure this out!” Lance pondered, rubbing his temples. “Um… I’ve got it! We’ll feign innocence; say it was all ‘their’ idea. Yeah, we were forced into doing it! Maybe they’ll go easy on us if we turn them in first!” “LANCE!!!!” Allura, Zipp, and ‘even’ Pipp herself were appalled over Lance’s suggestion. “I’m sorry! This whole thing has me stressed out! Is that a zit? Oh my feathers, that’s a stress zit! Oh, could this day get any worse?!” Lance turned and finally noticed Hunk and Hitch. The former waved feebly toward him. “More Earth Folk?! WHY?!?!” “Excuse me, young man, but I’m a sheriff!” Hitch announced, showcasing his badge. “Loved your song, by the way,” Hunk added, pulling out a piece of paper. “Can I have your autograph?” Lance lifted his chin up hoping to maintain some semblance of dignity, as he took the paper and signed with a pen hidden in his coat. “Well, least this one’s got good taste,” Lance admitted. “What will we do? What’ll we do?” Pipp asked frantically. “What ARE we going to—” Zipp grabbed her sister with his hooves and shook her firmly. “Pipp! Get a hold of yourself. Mom and Aunt Rosalyn will be fine, I promise.” Pipp breathed slowly, reading her sister’s eyes and understanding her hidden message behind the words. “We think we finally found a way to bring back magic,” Zipp assured. “To bring back our flight!” “What?” Pipp couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Her sister, trying for years to find a way to restore there flight, had finally found it? Judging by the determined, sure-fire look in her eyes Pipp knew Zipp believed in this theory with all her heart. What more did they have to lose? “Come on!” Lance groaned, shaking his head. “Not this again!” “We’re serious, Lance!” Allura insisted. “Allura, you’ve been saying that a thousand times and every time you wind up with nothing! What makes you think now is any different?” “Because the only way to restore the magic is with the Skyling crystal.” “Okay, now I know you’ve lost your mind!” “Please, little brother. This might be our only chance.” “If you think for one second that I’m—HEY! Pipp! What are you…” Lance was suddenly hoisted onto Pipp’s back, soon as she shifted into her larger form. “Come on! I know a way out,” Pipp said, galloping ahead. “Follow me!” “What?! Pipp, this is crazy! Pipp, honey?! Are you even listening to me?! PIPP!!!” Pipp ignored Lance’s words and soon the other elves rode their respected ponies after Pipp. Including Hunk and Hitch, albeit reluctantly. “Wait, we’re following Pegasi now?” Hunk asked, already shaking. “I don’t like this any more than you do,” Hitch admitted. “But I’m not letting Sunny out of my sight again.” “You mean Sunny and Keith, don’t you?” “Right, isn’t that what I said?” “Uh no, you said—WHOA!!!” Hunk bit his tongue once Hitch started galloping away, hoping to get as far from Zephyr Heights as possible.