As Cadence smiled in approval, Pipp immediately knew she had made the right choice.
"You are very brave, my dear, braver than I could ever be. I am proud to have a connection to you," Cadence said.
"Yeah, but...isn't Sunny better than me? And Izzy? Even Hitch and Zipp. I'm just a social media pop star."
"No, Pipp. You might not realize it, but you are the bravest of all your friends, in a way. It's true that Sunny Starscout stood up even when things looked hopeless, and that Izzy's acts might have seemed cowardly to some, but she was only trying to save you and your friends in the safest way without hurting anyone. That Izzy has a kind heart. But so do you. You were willing to let yourself be taken away and even...killed...by that annoying Chrysalis just to save your friends. That takes a lot of courage I don't have."
"Huh. When you put it that way, it almost does seem like I'm brave." Pipp smiled.
Cadence smiled back. Then she remembered Sunny and Izzy were still waiting for Pipp. But there was one more thing left to do.
"Come closer," Cadence said, and because Pipp trusted her, she did just that.
Cadence put her horn to Pipp's horn. She cast a spell, and the two ponies were suddenly surrounded by a glowing blue light - Cadence's magic. Pipp's wounds were magically healed, and her headache disappeared. And Pipp also felt better mentally, much calmer and less nervous.
After a few more seconds, the light disappeared and Pipp was as good as new. "Thank you so much! I feel so much better," Pipp cried happily. She jumped onto Cadence and gave her a big hug. Cadence seemed surprised at first, but then smiled and hugged Pipp back.
After the two were done hugging, Cadence told Pipp it was time for her to go. But Pipp had one more question to ask.
"I really like you as a friend. How do we keep in touch?"
"Well...I believe we'll meet again soon, sometime in the future. You'll know when it's time," Cadence replied, with a somewhat mysterious smile on her face.
"...Alright," Pipp smiled.
And then Pipp saw Cadence light up her horn with magic. The whole room was filled with the glowing blue light, and Pipp only had time to yell, "Goodbye!" before she was back with her friends, at the place where the Changeling hive had previously stood.
Sunny and Izzy immediately started asking questions at the same time, but Pipp waved them off and said, "Everything is taken care of, and the kingdoms are saved."
"But what happened to your horn?" Sunny asked. Pipp put her hoof up to the place where her horn had previously been. It must have disappeared when I came out of the vision, she thought, and smiled.
"Nothing comes without a price. I had to get rid of that horn in order to save the kingdoms."
"Whoaaa...how? Ooh! Wait, don't tell me, I wanna guess. Did you slice it off with...oh, wait, no. Eww, that's so gross. Okay, never mind, tell me! How?!" Izzy said, happily and bubblily. And Pipp laughed. She was glad Izzy hadn't been traumatized by the battle. This was the old Izzy she knew and loved.
"And, um, what happened to your, um, broken bones and...stuff?" Sunny asked. "There's not a scratch on you."
"I'll explain everything to everypony when we get back to Zephyr Heights," Pipp smiled.
And she did. Everypony was surprised, especially Queen Haven, who nearly fainted and had to breathe through a bag for several minutes to calm down.
"So, sis, you've got this sort of connection with that Cadence pony and the Crystal Empire? That's so...wacky and cool," Zipp said excitedly.
"What I can't believe is that you gave up your horn and title as Alicorn to save the Crystal Empire and Zephyr Heights. I mean, we could have tried to partially rebuilt them. That was really generous of you," Hitch said.
Pipp just smiled. "It was the right choice."
And somewhere out there, a Princess of Love sat on her throne and smiled down at Pipp and her friends proudly.
The End