The five friends quietly exited the theater, stepping out onto the path lit by street lamps and moonlight. For a moment, everypony was silent. Then Hitch decided to speak:
“That… wasn’t a good movie.”
“I’ll say,” Izzy added.
“No kidding,” said Sunny.
“Horrible,” replied Zipp.
“You said it,” Pipp said.
Sunny then began to walk back towards her home. “But the effects were decent,” Hitch said as he followed her.
The friends soon found themselves wandering the streets at night. As was quickly becoming normal, Zipp chose not to follow them on hoof, but instead to hover just above them as they walked. “Psst.” Her ear twitched at the sound of the voice. She looked down to notice Izzy was walking just below her. “Hey you,” Izzy said, flashing Zipp her trademarked grin.
“Hey,” Zipp said with a small smirk.
“Whatcha doing?”
“Flying.”
“I see that,” Izzy said with a giggle. After a brief pause, she added: “So, how’s the weather up there?”
“Probably not too different from what it’s like down there.”
“Oh. That makes sense,” Izzy replied. She frowned, as if thinking something for a moment, before sprouting another grin, albeit a smaller one. “You really are a mare of few words, huh,” she said. It sounded like more of a statement than a question.
“Um, I guess?” Zipp suddenly felt tense. Was she being rude? She hoped Izzy wouldn’t think she was mad at her or anything. She just… wasn’t feeling chatty at the moment.
“You know,” Izzy said, ending Zipp’s musings. “I heard something back in Bridlewood. About Pegasi.”
“Oh, really?” Zipp asked, her curiosity piqued. Izzy nodded and gestured for her to come closer. Zipp flew as low as she could, craning her neck so that Izzy could whisper directly into her ear.
“Back in Bridlewood,” she said conspiratorially, “they said that Pegasi lay eggs.”
“What!?” Zipp shouted incredulously. “N-no, we don’t!”
“But that’s what everypony home says,” Izzy added teasingly.
“Then they're wrong!” Zipp retorted. “We’re mammals! Just like you. My mom squeezed me and Pipp out the exact same way yours did!”
“What the heck are you two talking about back there?” Hitch asked. Zipp suddenly realized that the rest of their friends had all stopped and were, in fact, staring at them.
“I uh… uh,” Zipp trailed off, as Izzy suppressed a chuckle.
“Well Hitch, I guess you know what it’s like to be on the receiving end,” Sunny added.
“Wait, what? Are you still talking about the calendar?”
“I don’t know,” Sunny said with a knowing smirk as she turned and started walking again. Hitch trotted after her.
“Sunny, I told you! That photo shoot was for charity! We were going to use the money to help orphans!”
“Sure you were…”
The remainder of the journey was carried out in silence. Eventually they arrived at Sunny’s home. While the upper portions of the lighthouse still needed repairs, the first floor was thankfully still inhabitable. Hitch had decided to bid the gang goodnight while the three mares agreed to sleep over at Sunny’s. Soon Zipp found herself in the guestroom with Pipp and Izzy, laying in her sleeping bag and staring at the ceiling.
“Hey Zipp,” Izzy whispered, careful not to wake Pipp. “Are you still awake?”
“Yeah,” Zipp answered.
“Did you really not hatch from an egg?”
Zipp groaned in annoyance. "Goodnight Izzy." She rolled over in her bag, facing away from Izzy even though neither could see the other. The two laid in silence for a moment, the only sound being Pipp’s snores.
“Hey Zipp?” Izzy repeated. Zipp rolled her eyes, annoyed by being denied the chance to fall asleep. “Do you like hanging out with me?”
“W-wah?,” Zipp stammered, momentarily taken aback by the question. “Of course I do,” she said. She pulled herself onto her haunches and spotted Izzy’s bag in the darkness. Zipp ran through her memories of that evening, trying to find any insult. “What’s wrong?”
“No. It’s just… nevermind.”
“Hey. We’re friends here. If something’s bothering you, you could tell me.”
“It… It’s about Hitch and Sunny,” Izzy said with a sigh.
Zipp frowned. “Did either of them say something?”
“No! Nothing like that,” she hastily added. “They’ve been nothing but nice to me. It’s just… when we’re together, sometimes I feel like I’m interrupting.”
“Interrupting?”
“Yeah. I don’t think they mean to do it. It’s just they’ve known each since they were foals. So sometimes when we’re all together I feel a little… left out.”
“Oh,” Zipp replied. “I’m… I’m sorry you feel that way.”
For a moment, everything was quiet again, sans Pipp’s snores. “Have you tried talking to either of them about it?”
“What if they think I’m a bad friend?”
“They won’t,” Zipp stated matter-of-factly. “Come on. They like you. We all do. So much so that we brought magic back.”
Zipp heard Izzy sigh again. “You’re right. I’ll try talking to them.” Another pregnant pause. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For being my friend,” Izzy replied. “Also, sorry about the whole egg-thing.”
“Pfft. I’ve heard worse,” Zipp chuckled. Although she couldn’t see, she imagined a smile on Izzy’s face. Suddenly the Unicorn let out a yawn.
“Alright, I think I should get some shuteye,” Izzy said. “Goodnight Zipp.”
“Goodnight Izzy,” Zipp said with a smile as she laid down in her sleeping bag. She shut her eyes and quickly fell into a peaceful slumber.
“You sure you don’t wanna come in, Pipp?” Sunny said. She was beside Zipp in the sea, the two standing up to their withers in water. “Come on. The water’s fine!”
Pipp nervously took a step forward. Ever so slowly she extended a hoof, cautiously lowering it to touch the water. She shrieked as a wave splashed her, instinctively leaping into the air and hovering for a moment.
“N-no,” she stammered. “I think I’ll stay here on dry land.”
“Aw, come on,” Izzy said, lazily paddling around in circles. “You're missing out!”
“I’m fine! Really,” Pipp lied. “Besides, somepony’s gotta keep Hitch company.”
“Now that you mention it, where is he?” Zipp asked Sunny.
“Hey! That right there is a violation of code CB-308,” a shout answered for her. She then spotted him on the shoreline, yelling at a group of teenagers with a dorky dollop of sunscreen on his nose.
“I thought you said he took the day off?”
“I don’t think he knows what that means,” Sunny grumbled.
“You there! Pick up that litter!”
“Aw Geez. Looks like I gotta go explain the concept of vacations to him again,” Sunny said as she headed back up the shore.
“Good luck with that,” Zipp called after her. She let out a content sigh, relaxing as she of the sea around her.Izzy’s head suddenly burst out from under the waves.
“Hi,” she said quietly.
“Hey there,” Zipp replied, unperturbed. “What’s up?”
“I found a shell!” Izzy beamed, doing a little happy prance. Zipp used her wings to shield her face from the resulting splashes. “Wanna see?”
Zipp nodded. A seashell then floated into view, above the water by Izzy’s telekinesis. Zipp snatched it with her hoof to inspect it closer. “Hmm. Looks like you got a moon snail.”
“A moon snail!?” Izzy beamed. “Wait! I’m a Moonbow!Does this mean we’re related?”
“I dunno. Are you a predatory marine gastropod mollusc?”
“I understood what half of those words meant!” Zipp shook her head, although she still smiled in spite of herself. She then extended her hoof, offering the shell back to Izzy. “Ah ah ah. Keep it.”
“W-wah, really?”
“Mm-hm. I want you to have it.”
“I-Izzy, you don’t understand,” Zipp said. “Shell’s are really valuable to Pegasi. Ever since we stopped trading with ponies by the sea. A shell like this could cost a fortune back in Zephyr Heights.” Granted, as a princess Zipp’s allowance would have more than covered the coast, but still.
“Nope,” Izzy stated, shaking her head. “I want you to have it. Consider it a thank you.”
“Thank you?”
“Yeah. You, for what you said a couple of weeks ago. After we saw the movie.”
“Oh,” Zipp said as the memory dawned on her. “So, you talked to them?”
“Yeah. You were right, they weren’t mad. They just said that if I ever felt left out again I should just tell one of them about it.”
“That’s good to hear,” Zipp said. “Come on, let’s go back and put the shell someplace safe.”
Izzy nodded in agreement. Zipp walked slowly and cautiously, trying not to slip. In contrast, practically had a skip in her step, humming a tune to herself as she splashed water everywhere.
“Uh, Izzy? You’re kinda splashing me here.”
“Hmm? Oh, sorry.” Izzy then slowed down, walking with a much less chaotic gait. At least for a moment she did. Then Zipp suddenly felt another splash. “Oops,” Izzy said mischievously. They continued for another moment, until Izzy splashed Zipp for a third time.
“Hey! You’re doing that on purpose!”
“Maaaybe…”
“That’s it!” Zipp said, springing into a combative stance. Izzy made a small ‘eep!,’ and then ran the remaining distance to the shore, narrowly avoiding colliding with Pipp. Before either had a chance to react Zipp flew above them, rapidly flaring her wings to dose them with water.
“Argh! Zipp!” Pipp said, reflexively trying to cover herself with her wings. She then turned to glare at Zipp as she landed. “Zipp! My phone could have gotten wet!”
Izzy let out a small snort behind her, before tumbling onto the sand with laughter. “It’s not funny!” Pipp insisted, stomping a hoof.
Zipp smirked. “It’s kinda funny.”
“Zipp, over here!” Izzy said, waving towards her friend. Zipp smiled once she saw her at the table, the two carrot dogs balanced on her wings. After quickly adjusting her sunglasses with a hoof she began to make her way past the crowd of ponies driven to the park by the warm afternoon. Once she had arrived at Izzy’s table she set the carrot dogs down before taking her set.
“Bon Appetit,” she said to her eager friend. Izzy grabbed her food with her magic and took a bite. Her eyes widened, and she made a quiet ‘mmm’ as she chewed.
“I take it you like it,” Zipp said with a chuckle. Izzy nodded her head in response. “Told you, best carrot dogs in Zephyr Heights.” Izzy flashed her a smile before taking another bite. For a moment the two sat there enjoying their meal in silence. Then Izzy suddenly froze, her carrot hovering in mid-air as she frowned in thought.
“Something on your mind?” Zipp said, setting her half-eaten bun down.
“Do sunglasses really make that much of a difference?”
“Um, I’m gonna need you to elaborate.”
“There are a lot of ponies in the park today,” Izzy said, gesturing with a hoof to the ponies around them. “And you’re royalty. Everpony in the city should know your face, but it looks like no pony else recognizes you. I mean, I could still recognize you with your glasses.”
“Oh. I get what you mean.” Zipp leaned forward. “You see, everypony has seen my face, but how many have seen me up close?” Izzy blinked, clearly more confused than before. “Think about it. Every time they see me or my sister, we’re either inside our palace, or somewhere surrounded by armed guards. They think we’re like some sort of precious jewel or piece of art that needs to be locked away from the masses. They’d never expect one of us to go to the park and buy a carrot dog.”
“It kinda sounds like you don’t like it very much,” Izzy stated. Zipp blinked, momentarily discombobulated by the statement. “S-sorry, I get it if it's not something you want to talk about…”
“N-no! It’s fine. Really.” Zipp sighed. “It’s just… it’d be one thing if everything was for some higher cause. But we weren’t. Ponies were out there in the streets, struggling to get by, while we were just sitting there looking pretty, so that some poor pony could look at us and think that maybe if they tried hard enough they could fly to, even when we knew it was a lie…” Zipp sighed again and shook her head.
“But aren’t things different now, since you could fly again?”
Zipp rubbed the back of her head with a hoof. “Kinda. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m glad magic came back. But sometimes I… I just wonder if anything has really changed, you know.” Zipp chuckled. “Sorry. You probably didn’t come here just to hear me complain.”
To her surprise, Izzy reached across the table to squeeze her hoof. At first she tensed up, but she soon relaxed upon seeing the warm smile on Izzy’s face. That suddenly disappeared, however, once Izzy noticed something off in the distance. “Uh, Zipp? Does the Royal Guard normally patrol this park?”
Zipp turned around and spotted a pair of guard stallions speaking to the somepony at the carrot dog stand. “Dang it, Mom! I’d said I’d be back after lunch.” Zipp rolled her eyes. “Sorry to cut this short, but it looks like they want me back.”
“Aww…” Izzy said, before suddenly sprouting a mischievous grin. “Actually, I think I might be able to do something about that…”
Zipp cocked an eyebrow. Izzy’s horn then began to shimmer with purple magic. Zipp followed her gaze to see that a trash can sitting next to the carrot dog stand was now eveloped in her aura. Suddenly the can toppled over with a loud thud. “Quick! While they're distracted.”
“Izzy what are you…” Zipp trailed off once she realized that her friend had already taken off running.
“Come on! What are you waiting for!?” Izzy called over her shoulder. Zipp then looked back to see that the guards were now looking directly at her. She then leapt into the air, flying alongside her friend as she ran. In spite of herself a smile appeared on her muzzle.
“Hey! Don’t touch,” the curator said. Pipp gave him a sheepish smile.
“Sorry. I was just trying to take a selfie,” she said as she backed away from the piece of crystal shaped like a heart.
The curator glared at her. “You need to be careful down here. These are priceless artifacts here!”
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry.”
Zipp was watching the exchange with mild amusement. The five of them were standing inside Zypher’s Heights' newest attraction: The Museum of the Guardians of Harmony. Technically, it was not supposed to be open to the public for another two weeks, but the sisters had managed to pull some strings.
“Hey, check this out!” Sunny said. She and Hitch were observing a gem stone set behind a glass case. Zipp and Pipp flew to join them.
“Woah,” Izzy said as she slid into place beside Zipp. Really close beside her, in fact. So much so that their flanks were nearly touching. She tried to ignore the heat rising in her face and focus on the stone instead. It, like many of the ones that have been preserved, displayed an image when the light was reflecting at the right angle. The image depicted the Guardians, all dressed in formal attire, standing together inside what appeared to be some sort of hall.
“A wedding?” Hitch suggested.
“Looks like it,” Sunny added. “We know very little about what happened to the Guardians after the princesses retired. One of the only things we know is that Rainbow Dash married one of them sometime afterwards.”
“Aww, she married one of her friends,” Pipp added as she leaned forward to get a better look. “That’s so sweet…”
“Hey! Don’t lean on the glass!”
Pipp obeyed, although not without an eye roll, Zipp noted. “There’s so much we still don’t know,” Sunny then added. “We don’t even know which of them she married.”
“We don’t?” Hitch asked. Sunny shook her head.
“It’s actually a point of contention among some scholars,” Zipp added.
“Yeah,” Sunny said. “Applejack seems to be the most likely based on established cannon, but there are quite a few who will insist it was actually Twilight or Fluttershy instead. And those three are just the popular interpretations.”
“Huh,” was Hitch’s reply. He then noticed something out of the corner of his eye. “Hey, what’s that?”
The friends quickly rushed over to the next exhibit. Zipp, however, noticed that Izzy had not moved to join them. Instead, she continued to look at the glass, with a strange look on her face.
“You like the picture?” Zipp asked as she stepped beside her.
“Yeah,” she responded after a moment “Sorry. I space out sometimes.”
“No need to apologize,” Zipp said with a chuckle. Izzy gave her a weak smile in return.
“I just like the way things were back then,” Izzy said, almost longingly.
“What do you mean?”
“These ponies,” Izzy said, gesturing to the picture, “They are all happy. They knew what love was. That things like gender shouldn’t matter, that we should be able to like whoever we like.”
“Wait, you said ‘we.’” A realization suddenly dawned on Zipp. “Oh.”
Izzy answered Zipp’s suspicions with a nod of her head. “Unicorns, well, they don’t really like ponies like me all that much,” she said with a sad sigh.
“Oh,” was Zipp’s reply. She then put a hoof on Izzy’s withers. “Hey, look at me.” Izzy slowly lifted her head to meet her gaze. “You know we’re friends no matter what, right? Pipp, Sunny, Hitch, all of us. You understand?”
Izzy suddenly rapped her forelegs around Zipp, pulling the stunned Pegasus into a hug. “Thank you,” she whispered.
Suddenly a loud crash rang through the building. The two pulled apart to find a statue laying on the floor, shattered into pieces. Above it was Pipp, who was holding her phone and giving the most apologetic look she could to the now fuming curator.
“Um,” Pipp said. “My bad?”
Zipp froze, her mind reeling. She was sitting on her bed, dumbstruck, with Izzy beside her.
Did that just… did she…?
“Oh my gosh,” Izzy said, looking mortified. She quickly covered her mouth with her hoof, taking a step away from Izzy. “I-I’m so sorry! I-I… I don’t know what I was thinking!”
Zipp blinked, looking around her bedroom as if noticing where she was for the first time. Okay, no need to freak out, she thought to herself. You just need to think rationally about what is going on.
“It was just a stupid mistake! Honest!”
See? She said it. Just a mistake. No need to fret about it.
“I-It’s just… I-I really like spending time with you Zipp. You’re really smart, and brave, and kind, and… and…”
You’re not still thinking about it, are you?
“...b-but I… but I understand if you don’t like me like that. I didn’t even ask you if you like mares…”
Does it matter if you did? The most likely outcome is that you will damage your friendship. You really want to risk that?
“...and I understand that you’re a princess, and I’m just some filly from Bridlewood…”
She’s got a point there. You know just how horrible the paparazzi could be. Do you really want to put her through that?
“...w-we could just pretend that none ever happened. Just forget about it.”
She’s giving you an out. What are you waiting for?
“What if I don’t want to forget?” The words were barely a whisper and yet Zipp could almost feel them reverberate around her bedroom. Izzy gaped at her, dumbstruck. Zipp sat down next to her on the bed, grabbing her hoof and giving it a gentle squeeze.
“Izzy, these past few months a lot of things have happened that I never expected. I never thought I’d actually be able to fly. I never thought the three tribes would be reunited. And I never thought that I would call some Earth ponies my friends.”
“Wait,” Izzy said. “If Sunny and Hitch are your friends, then what am…” She trailed off, her eyes shimmering with a fragile hope.
Zipp smiled. “I don’t know.” Izzy blinked, adorably tilting her head in confusion. “But I’d like to find out.”
Izzy took a moment to process her words. As she did, a smile slowly appeared on her muzzle. “You mean you… you want to be my marefriend?”
“Only if you want to be mine.”
Zipp was then sent toppling backwards onto the bed from the force of the hug. “YES!” Izzy shrieked, shaking Zipp so hard stars filled her vision. Izzy then stopped, blushing as she realized she was now laying on top of Zipp in her bed. “Eh heh. Sorry.”
“No need to apologize,” Zipp replied. She then grabbed Izzy’s shoulder, pulling her closer so that their lips could meet for the second time that night.
“Woah,” a flustered Izzy gasped.
“Woah indeed.”
“S-sorry if I was a little sloppy there earlier,” Izzy said, suddenly looking a little embarrassed. “There, um, weren’t a lot of mares back in Bridlewood willing to let me… practice .”
“Oh.” Zipp grinned. “Well, I suppose I could teach you the science behind it…”
Izzy giggled before leaning down to kiss her once again. This time Zipp decided to savor the kiss for as long as she could. The world around her quietly faded away, until there was nothing in the entire universe except the mare she was holding…
The bedroom door suddenly swung open. “Hey Zipp,” Pipp called. “Have you seen my… uh… I’ll come back later.”
“Come on. Come on,” Sunny hissed as she took the joystick into her hooves. She eagerly watched as the claw descended into the sea of purple plush dragons. “Yes,” Sunny whispered as it clamped down around one of the toys. Her smile grew as the claw hoisted its prize into the air by the tail. “Yes. Yes!” Suddenly the plushie began to slip through the metal fingers.
“No, no!” Sunny tried in vain to salvage the situation, but to her horror the claw released it’s grip and the dragon fell to join its brothers.
“Noooooooo!” Sunny cried, banging her hooves on the controllers, the sight causing several other fairgoers on the waif to stop and watch the scene. “You… you stupid, worthless, piece of road apples!”
“Language,” Izzy sang, next to a snickering Pipp and a grinning Zipp. Sunny let out a loud groan of frustration.
“Whoa, easy there,” said Hitch. He placed a hoof on her withers, gently steering her away from the claw machine. “Remember what we said about being competitive?”
“I’m not being competitive!” Sunny protested. “I used to be good at this game! I swear!”
“Suppose I might as well give it a shot,” Zipp said as she placed a bit into the slot. Her marefriend eagerly trotted up beside her, pressing her nose up against the glass to watch. Zipp leaned forward as she carefully guided the claw. “Come on…”
“You got this babe,” Izzy said beside her, causing her to grin.
“Almost,” she said as a plushie was carried towards the drop box. “Just a little more…”
With a satisfying thud her prize landed in the box. Izzy gave a small cheer, stomping her hooves in applause. Zipp graped the plushie with a wing, and with a smile held it out for the Unicorn. Izzy gasped, her eyes widening as she grabbed it in her aura. She then nuzzled against Zipp’s neck, causing the mare to blush and release a nervous chuckle.
Sunny watched the scene unfold in front of her, reminding herself that she should be happy for her friends and not upset about some stupid rigged carnival game. “I think I could use a funnel cake right now.”
“You guys go ahead,” Izzy said, ending their embrace. “Zipp and I are gonna head over to the Ferris wheel.”
The two watched their friends leave before beginning the walk towards their destination. “The Ferris wheel?” Zipp said to Izzy, who had placed her plushie on her back. She scratched her chin in thought. “Hmm, not a bad choice.”
“You know me, I’m full of good ideas,” Izzy replied. She then playfully bumped Zipp’s hip with her own, causing the Pegasus to blush again. Izzy giggled, marching ahead with a bounce in her step.
As the two walked the crowd around them thickened, forcing them closer together to avoid separation. Not that either minded, of course. The pair stopped, however, once they spotted the line of ponies stretching quite some distance from the Ferris wheel. “Oh, mayo,” Izzy said with a frown. “Sorry Zipp. Looks like we got to wait for a while.”
An idea suddenly popped into Zipp’s head. “No we don’t,” she said with a smile. She then began walking away from the crowd, a confused Izzy following close behind. Once she was far away enough from the other ponies she crouched down, looking over her shoulder at her marefriend.
“Hop on,” she said.
Izzy gasped. “Y-you… are sure?” she asked with a tinge of anxiety.
“Don’t worry. I won’t drop ya.”
With that Izzy slowly climbed onto her back, carefully tucking the plushie under her foreleg. Zipp turned to flash her a grin. “Ready?” Izzy nodded, though she shut her eyes tightly once Zipp took off.
Eventually, she felt Zipp crease accelerating. Cautiously she opened her eyes.
“Whoa,” Izzy said, gaping in awe at the sight of the town. “I think I could see Bridlewood from here.”
“I take it you like the view,” Zipp teased. She had turned to watch her reaction. Should couldn’t help but smile at the look of wonder in her eyes.
“It’s so… pretty.”
“I dunno about that. I think I’ve got a pretty view right here.”
Izzy giggled. “What did I ever do to deserve a mare like you?”
“Been asking myself the same question,” Zipp replied as she leaned in for a kiss.
Sunny tore off another piece of her funnel cake, chewing it with delight. As she swallowed she noticed something peculiar in her vision.
“Pipp, hitch, look!” she said. She pointed a hoof at the Unicorn and Pegasus embracing in the air, their bodies gently swaying like leaves in the wind.
“Well would you look at that,” Hitch said with a smirk.
“Aww…” said Pipp. Unusually, she was not reaching for her phone, instead deciding to clasp her hooves over her muzzle.
“You okay there, Pipp?” Hitch asked.
“I-I’m fine. It just seems like the other day Zipp was in diapers.” She sniffled. “They grow up so fast…”
Hitch frowned. “Wait. Aren’t you the younger one?”
“Shh,” Sunny said, putting her hoof on his lips to silence him. “Don’t ruin the moment.”