A few days later, back at the Crystal Brighthouse, the Mane 5 and Team Sonic regrouped in the living room to discuss on how to track Discord down, now that they know he's going to try and destroy the Pegasus Crystal.
"How are we going to stop Discord in time if we don’t know where he could be" Sunny asked the group.
"I cloud ask my Pippsqueaks if they’ve seen him" Pipp suggested with a smile.
"Not this time, Little Pipp" Sonic replied. "In other circumstances, it would be fantastic, but right now? Not a good idea" he pointed out. "Besides, who's gonna believe that a guy with a body made of the animal kingdom stoled the Pegasus Crystal and wants to destroy it?" he added on a little sarcastic tone.
"Sonic's right, guys" Zipp replied, as she walked back and forth on the room. "We don’t want to panic everypony. There’s gotta be a better way" she added, as she tried to think on some other way.
"Well, I did a little research on Sunny's dad notes about Discord - since she gave me permission - and if this guy is really chaos itself, finding him is gonna be tricky. He could literally be anywhere" Tails explained with concern.
"So, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack?" Knuckles asked with a frown and his arms crossed, sitting next to Izzy.
"Even worse" Tails replied with worry. "He's been here on Equestria before we even born, so he probably knows every possible hideout like the palm of his hand. So again, finding him is gonna be tricky" he added.
"Too bad we can’t track his luminescence. It was totally glitterific. Like a super shiny rainbow" Izzy said with sparkling eyes and a smile.
Zipp placed a hoof on her chin, with an idea finally forming on her mind. "True, but you might be onto something, Izzy" she said with a smile. "We can try---" she tried to explain, but her phone started to ring and she stopped. Zipp brought out her phone and saw that her mother was calling. "Mom?" she asked, answering the call.
"Zipp, sweetheart, where are you? It’s almost time for me to leave." Haven answered through the phone.
"Leave?" Zipp questioned, wondering what her mother was talking about.
"For my Unity Summit, Dear!" Haven said. "You’re supposed to be dog-sitting Cloudpuff while I’m away" she added, reminding Zipp the reason she should be on Zephyr Heights right now.
"That's today?!" Zipp asked with a panicked face, since she totally forgot about that. "But Mom, we have bigger things to worry about!" she cried out, but of course, she could not tell her mother what things she had to take care of.
"Bigger than my darling Cloudpuff? I doubt it!" Haven replied with joy. "I’ll see you soon, dear! Toodles!" she finished, and then hanged up the call.
Zipp sighed and dropped her wings, since this is something she can’t avoid. "So much for investigating, and Mom is putting me on Royal Dog Duty. I want to help you guys sleuth this out, not pander a prized pooch" she complained with a bored expression.
"That’s okay. This means you can look for leads in Zephyr Heights!" Sunny said with a smile. "We’ll hold down the fort while you’re gone" she assured.
Sonic approached to her and putted a hand on her shoulder. "See it like this: while you take care of the doggo, you can search for clues on this guy at your home. The more ground we cover, the best, right?" he said with a smile.
Zipp sighed and looked at the hedgehog. "I guess searching for some clues on ZH would count as helping..." she said, considering the idea.
"Go fulfill your Royal Duties, Princess. We’ve got this" Hitch assured with a smile.
Zipp gave him a deadly stare and then flew out of the Brighthouse, on her way to Zephyr Heights.
Some time later, Zipp arrived at Zephyr Heights just in time, while Queen Haven gave her a list of things to take care of Cloudpuff, as well as some boxes with thins she was going to need, with Thunder and Zoom behind them carrying Haven's bags for the summit.
"... And if he hasn’t had his bath and paw message by eight, he gets grumpy, so make sure you’re on time" Haven listed out the last thing so Zipp could remember what to do.
"Yes, mom" Zipp answered, getting every detail of what her mother just told her.
Haven decided to gave Cloudpuff one last nuzzle. "You be good, all right? I’ll be back tomorrow morning" she said to the dog. Then, she placed Cloudpuff on Zipp’s head and trotted off with a smile. "Have fun, you two!" she cheered to, and then headed out of the castle.
Zipp rolled her eyes and took Cloudpuff to his bed, while she started to read on the list. She putted a bored expression reading some of the points on the list, since she find them really unnecessary.
"All right, Cloudpuff. I don’t have time for your whole routine today, so we’re going to have to compromise" Zipp said, still reading the list. "I couldn’t find 'Fresh water from a crystal waterfall,' but there was bottled water in the kitchen" she told Cloudpuff, as she gave him his bowl filled with regular water, while the dog gave a boring expression. "And I may not be able to take you for an 'Evening stroll around the promenade,' buuuut..." she said, then placed a ball next to Cloudpuff, whose expression hasn’t changed one bit. "... You can play with this while I’m gone!" she adde, as she walked off to the door. "I’ll be back soon, don’t worry" she assured with a smile, and then flew off the room.
Cloudpuff stretched a little, and then placed something down his sheets, and the ran away from the room as well, while Zipp didn't noticed that at all.
Meanwhile, in Maretime Bay, Tails was researching with Sunny on more of her dad's notes, while Izzy and Knuckles were playing chess and Pipp was scrolling down her social media. Sonic, however, was sitting on a couch with his arms crossed, still thinking on his little chat with Discord when he stopped time around him.
The remaining Emerald it's here in Equestria... but not at the same time Discord's voice echoed on his mind. Sonic frowned a little, still not getting the message.
"What does that even mean?" Sonic said, not so loud since the rest did not listened. However, Pipp did heard him, and putted her phone aside and looked at the hedgehog.
"It's everything okay, Sonic?" Pipp asked with worry.
Sonic realized that he was not alone, and that he probably spoke loud when he just wanted to think. However, he knew that keeping secrets was a bad idea now, and he promised to not hold anything anymore. So he looked at her with worry and decide to speak honestly. "Something weird happened the other day with Discord, and I'm not talking about the 'stealing the Pegasus Crystal' thing" he confessed, as he looked at the ground with a frown. "I can't help but feel that he has something to do with the Chaos Emeralds failing" he added with concern.
"I've been thinking on that as well" Tails said, still looking on the notes. "He says he's the Lord of Chaos, and the Emeralds were made out of chaos" he pointed out. "Maybe he is the reason they're failing in the first place" he suggested.
"Agreed" Knuckles said, still focusing on the chess game as he moved a piece. "That guy kicked our butts on a really chaotic way, and I'm not proud to admit that" he added with a frown.
"And what was that weird thing that happened?" Pipp asked, getting the subject back to Sonic.
"That's what I can't still explain..." Sonic replied with a frown. "You know I can stop time for a few moments and still walk and run normally, right?" he asked to the rest, as they al nodded. "Well... when Discord told the actual reason he told us that story, I wanted to think before anyone could explode on him, but Discord... he talked to me at the same speed. He was... talking to me like if I never stopped time at all..." he revealed, still not getting how Discord did that.
Tails blinked a few times before he could speak again. "He... was going as fast as you?!" he asked in shock and fear, since the last guy that could do that almost killed Sonic.
"I mean, he's chaos embodied in a creature, so it's pretty much possible that he could reach that speed even if he didn't tried" Sunny pointed out with a little smile.
"Maybe... but that's not even the weirdest thing" Sonic kept saying, still with a frown. "I accused him of the failure of the Chaos Emeralds, but he said he did nothing... and then he told something that I still cannot understand" he explained with a concerned look. "He told me that the remaining Chaos Emerald it's here in Equestria, but not at the same time" he said. "What does that's supposed to mean?!" he yelled in frustration, still not getting the meaning behind that phrase.
"It's here in Equestria, but not at the same time... that doesn't have any kind of sense" Tails pointed out with a confused look.
"This guy not only has a terrible fashion taste, but also says nonsense half of the time" Pipp commented with a bored expression.
"I don't get what he means, but I'm down to find out the meaning of that sentence" Sonic stated with determination. "And, of course, find him and the Pegasus Crystal as well. Besides, I need to make some more questions to that guy" he added with a smirk, while his eyes and quills turned on electricity for a moment.
"And I need my rematch" Knuckles stated as well. "I am not letting him punch me and get away with it!" he yelled out in frustration.
"Checkmate!" Izzy said with a smile, as she defeated Knuckles on the game.
"Aw, come on!" Knuckles complained, as he hit his face on the table.
"Well, I'm down to find him as well. We need to track him down before loose magic forever, right?" Tails said with a smile, as he got close to Sonic.
"Oh yeah!" Pipp cheered, standing at Sonic's other side.
"Absolutely!" Izzy cheered as well.
"Definitively!" Knuckles stated with a smile.
"Then let's get to work!" Sunny said with a big smile, as they all gathered together.
"Hoof to heart!" they said in unison, as they putted their hooves and hands together.
After a while, Zipp walked through Zephyr Heights to find any clues on Discord.
How do I find a rogue draconequus with no leads? Zipp thought to herself as she looked around, until she saw a tail that looked just like Discord's. "AHA!" she called out, thinking she found Discord and chased the tail. "STOP RIGHT THERE!" she yelled out, but once she saw the whole body, she realized it wasn't Discord.
"Uh, princess?" a pegasus pony in a dragon costume asked.
"Horsefeathers, of course he’s not here" Zipp muttered to herself. "Have you seen anything… extra weird lately?" she asked the pony, but he shook his head saying 'no' before Zipp flew to the sky. "Thanks anyway!" she called out. Zipp looked from the sky, trying to find any clue. "Come on, weird chaos magic, where are you…" she asked herself.
Zipp started to search for any clues about Discord or anything related to him and his magic. She showed some ponies drawings of his body parts to verify if they've seen anything like them, but she got no results since the ponies never saw them before. She spent the whole day doing that, but got no results anyway.
She returned to the castle at the end of the day, frustrated since she got nothing.
Zipp entered her room on the castle with a tired and worried expression, carrying a tray of dog food for Cloudpuff.
"This is impossible, Cloudpuff" Zipp said on a sad tone, while 'Cloudpuff' was covered on his blanket in his bed. "We just got our magic back. I don’t want to lose it all again..." she added, while putted Cloudpuff’s food in front of his bed. "I guess it doesn’t matter to you. You’ll always be spoiled, magic or not" she said, and then walked towards her bed. "Goodnight, Cloudpuff. Enjoy your dinner" she finished.
The next morning, Zipp got up and yawned while stretched her hooves.
She got out of her bed and flew over Cloudpuff as she rubbed her eyes tiredly. "Hey, Cloudpuff. Not too long until…" she stopped and let out a yawn. "... Mom gets back" she finished after the yawn. "How about you join me today for---huh?" she stopped when she saw Cloudpuff dinner plate exactly like she left it last night. "Why didn’t you eat your dinner, little guy?" she asked, but got no response. "Cloudpuff?" she asked again, wondering if the dog was okay. Zipp got the blanket out and gasped when she did not saw Cloudpuff, but a beach ball with four taped up caps for the legs, a drawn face, two triangle cardboards on the top and a piece of white hair in the middle.
Zipp panicked and began to search for Cloudpuff around the room, but got no sign of him. "Cloudpuff! Cloudpuff! Come on out, buddy!" she called out to him, but not even a bark from him. Zipp sat on the floor and covered her hooves in despair and worry. "This is bad! If mom can’t trust me with pet duty, how will she trust me with the whole kingdom?!" she cried out in panic, then took a deep breath and calmed down. "No time to freak out. I just have to get him back before mom get’s home" she said to herself, as she took her phone out and searched for a number. "I just need a little help…" she said, as she called the one pony who can help her find Cloudpuff.
She waited a little, until the call was finally answered. "Sheriff Hitch Trailblazer, at your service" Hitch replied from the other side of the call.
"Sheriff, I need some backup. We have a critter caper on our hooves!" Zipp cried out with worry.
Even tho she could not see his face, Zipp felt Hitch was with either a determinate look or an annoyed one. "... On my way" the sheriff replied after a while, and hanged up the call.
Now, all Zipp had to do was wait for Hitch's arrival.
A little bit later, Hitch made his way to Zephyr Heights and Zipp told him about Cloudpuff’s disappearance and why she needed his help.
Hitch gave out a smirk at Zipp while hold the Cloudpuff dummy. "What did you call me in for? I thought Detective Zipp would want to handle this case on her ow" he said on a mocking tone.
Zipp smirked back at the sheriff. "I have a couple of ideas, but I was hoping our local animal psychic might be able to help narrow it down. Besides, every good detective has a sidekick" she explained.
Hitch putted the dummy down and placed a hoof on his chest. "I’m not Psychic. Animals just speak to me. I’m also not a sidekick" he pointed out, then pointed to the untouched dinner. "Look--- if he missed his dinner, I bet he’d try to get food somewhere else" he suggested.
Zipp then smiled, as she had an idea."You’re right! Cloudpuff is a picky eater, so…" she started to say, as she flew out the room, with Hitch following her. "... He’d go somewhere with good food! I know just the place" she assured.
Hitch and Zipp arrived to a place called 'Chez Pedigree', where they asked to a pegasus stallion named Mr. Platter who works there if he saw Cloudpuff.
"Cloudpuff? Yes. 'E has a standing reservation with us. Came by just last night" Mr. Platter replied.
"Really?" Zipp asked with hope and a smile. "I mean-- Do you know where he went?" she asked.
"Hm…" Mr. Platter said, thinking about where Cloudpuff would go next. "Ah! I do not know for certain, but
'e and Queen Haven often head to the shops for redo after lunch" he answered.
"Of course! Thank you, Mr. Platter" Zipp thanked as she flapped her wings cheerfully.
Zipp and Hitch walked off to their next lead as Hitch turned back one last time. "You’ve been a great help, sir" he thanked Mr. Platter.
Mr. Platter nodded his head in gratitude. "Good luck, Princess" he called to Zipp, as she and Hitch continue their search for Cloudpuff.
While searching around, Zipp and Hitch looked at the bunch of shops around them for any signs of Cloudpuff.
"See anything?" Hitch asked.
"Nope" Zipp answered before she saw something. "Wait, maybe!" she corrected herself and flew straight to a store that had a poster of Cloudpuff winking as it said 'Cloudpuff Approved! on it. "Well, that’s new" Zipp commented, looking at the poster. She entered the store and the bell on top of the door rang.
The shop owner saw Zipp come in and waved to her. "Princess! How can I help you? Would you like to try our new oat mask?” she asked with a smile.
"No, thank you" Zipp answered with a worried expression. "We’re actually looking for Cloudpuff. Have you seen him?" she asked.
The shop owner brought out a cardboard cut-out of Cloudpuff. "Why, yes, that sweet pup modeled for my new line last night" she replied that he was there. "It’s a real bonus to have the Royal Pooch promoting my products, ya know" she added, then looked at the two ponies in confusion. "Did he not go back to the palace? I sent him off with one of my patented personal pampering packages" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No, he didn’t" Zipp sighed with frustration.
"Did you know which way he went?" Hitch decide to ask as well.
The shop owner shook her head saying 'no'. "The city guard must have seen him on his way out, but I’m afraid I can’t help" she added with a comprehensive smile. "Care to try some Mane Oil before you go?" she asked again.
Both Zipp and Hitch rejected and headed out of the store. "We could ask the guards, but we’re running out of time. Mom will be home soon and we don’t know who was even here when Cloudpuff left" Zipp sighed with worry since Cloudpuff is still missing. "It could have been anypony" she added with frustration.
Hitch turned his head and he a bunny waving at him, trying to get his attention as Hitch smirked. "Maybe we don’t need to find any pony" he suggested and came closer to the bunny as it spoke to him. Zipp gave a confused look since she has no idea what it’s saying. After speaking to him, Hitch smiled and galloped off while turned to Zipp. "Come on. I know how to find our missing pup!" he assured, as Zipp followed him by flight.
Zipp followed Hitch to a ledge where more bunnies were waiting and gathered around Hitch.
"These little guys say they know where Cloudpuff is" Hitch translated to Zipp.
Zipp smirked at Hitch and his ability to talk with animals. "Good sleuthing, Hitch" she congratulated him.
Hitch putted a proud expression. and pointed at himself. "Hey, I’m a sheriff for a reason" he said proudly. "Now, let’s go get your dog back" he declared as he pointed down the trench. "All right, lead on, little buds!" he requested to the bunnies, as they sled down the trench, with Hitch sliding down as well and Zipp following by flight.
Once they’ve made it down the trench, the bunnies lead the two ponies to a wall.
"Are you sure they know where we're going? This is a dead end" Zipp asked Hitch, confused since the bunnies led them to a rock wall.
Hitch raised his front legs as he stood and tried to touch the wall. "They say this is it. Something about it being a matter of---" he tried to explain, but when he was about to touch the wall, his hooves went right through it and he fell to the floor.
"Perspective!" Zipp cheered, as she waved her hoof through the wall. "From pony height it looks like a solid wall, but for a critter like Cloudpuff it’s clear as day" she explained with a big smile.
Hitch got up from the floor and rubbed his head. "Yeah. I definitely knew that" he excused himself. Zipp decided to enter the cave as Hitch followed. "So where is---?" Hitch tried to ask, but Zipp cut him off.
"Hitch, look" Zipp said in an awed expression. She not only found Cloudpuff, who had kiwis on his eyes and was laying on a blanket, but she also found a waterfall that gave off beautiful sparkles. "Whoa!" Zipp said, since she never saw anything like this before. "Cloudpuff, what are you doing here? How long have you known about this place?" she asked her dog, as Cloudpuff lifted the kiwi from his eyes.
However, Cloudpuff huffed in response and looked away from her with his arms crossed.
Zipp then realized why Cloudpuff was like this, so she decided to came close and sat next to him. "I’m sorry I didn’t take very good care of you, Cloudpuff. I promise to do better next time" she apologized to the dog with guilty. "But mom will be home soon and she’s going to be worried if we aren’t there" she reasoned with him. "Come back with us, please?" she pled Cloudpuff to come home.
Cloudpuff turned to Zipp, smiled and barked at her, while Hitch translated what he was saying. "He says he'll come home as long as we don’t tell anypony about this place" he translated.
Zipp decided to hug Cloudpuff and smile at him. "I won’t tell you if you don’t" she said with a smirk, as Cloudpuff barked, meaning that he promised to not tell a single thing.
Later, at the Zephyr Heights Castle, Queen Haven returned wearing glasses and walking through the halfway, with Thunder and Zoom behind her.
"Zipp, Cloudpuff! I’m home!" Haven called out cheerfully with a cheery smile.
Just in that moment, Zipp and Hitch came bursting through the doors, with Zipp holding Cloudpuff, startling Zoom and Thunder as they came in.
"Phew, we made it" Zipp said with relief, but then gave nervous smiles when she saw her mother. "I mean… Mom! You’re back! How wonderful. We were just---" she tried to make a cover story, but Hitch stepped in first.
"Getting some fresh air!" Hitch called out with a sheepish smile.
"Yup!" Zipp said in agreement, playing along with Hitch.
Cloudpuff jumped out of Zipp’s hooves and ran towards Haven. He jumped into her hooves and gave her a lick on the cheek. "Awww, Darling! I’ve missed you too" Haven said to Cloudpuff as she giggled at his licks. She placed the dog a bit down in her hooves and smiled at Zipp. "Sweetheart, thank you so much for watching him. I hope he didn’t give you any trouble" she said to her.
Zipp gave her mother a smile. "Trouble? No trouble at all" Zipp answered, keeping her promise to Cloudpuff, as the dog smiled and winked at her, keeping his promise as well.
Back at the Brighthouse, Sunny and Tails were standing around while Pipp, Izzy and Sonic were playing cards to pass the time, and Knuckles was resting with a cowboy hat covering his face.
"Has anypony heard from Hitch? He was going to help me and Tails follow up on a possible Discord sighting, but I haven’t seen him all day" she asked her friends, wondering where Hitch was right now
"Nope" Sonic replied, still focusing on the games as he passed a card to Pipp.
"Na-ah" Knuckles replied, still laying on the couch.
Pipp just shook her head in negation as a reply.
"Maybe Zipp will know! She’s supposed to be back soon, right?” Izzy suggested, as she gave a card to Pipp as well.
And exactly at that moment, the door opened and Zipp and Hitch came in. "Was somepony asking about me?" she asked with a playful smirk.
"Woo, called it!" Izzy cheered with her hoof raised in the air.
"That was a perfect timing!" Sonic said with a surprised smile.
"Zipp! Hitch!" Sunny cheered with a smile. "What were you two up to?" she asked with wonder.
"Yeah, we were waiting for you" Tails added.
"Oh, you know. Drama, adventure, mystery!" Hitch decided to explain.
"Normal Dog-Sitting stuff" Zipp finished with a smirk.
This caused the rest of the Mane 5 and Tails to laugh, while Sonic rolled his eyes with a smile and Knuckles smiled a little as well, as Zipp and Hitch wink at each other.
But now that they were together, they had some important tasks to to handle: find Discord, decipher the clue behind his message and take the Pegasus Crystal back before magic disappears forever.
To be continued...