Chapter Six.
Wanted.
David sped down the road, looking at the wing mirror. His eyes widened in alarm as the guards threw Pipp to the ground. He went to pull on the handbrake but froze.
"Why do I want to save her?" He asked himself, "Well, she did seem to be the only pony here to truly treat you with an ounce of respect." His mind replied, "Oh, what the hell!" He shouted out loud, yanking on the handbrake. The car skidded around 180 degrees, the trailer following suit. Tyres screeching, the front wheels briefly left the ground as David rapidly picked up speed, shifting through gears.
"Is that getting closer?" One guard asked another as the headlights got brighter.
"Fall back!" The lead guard shouted as the car's horn blasted out, the guards all jumped back as the car skidded around, placing itself between Pipp and them.
David threw the passenger door open as the car stopped right next to Pipp, "Get in!" He shouted.
Pipp didn't need to be told twice, jumping into the car as David put his foot down on the gas, grabbing her phone in the process. Engine roared as the speedometer needle quickly reached 90mph.
"After them!" The guard shouted, as his fellow guard got back on their hooves, quickly giving chase.
"David! What are you-" Pipp tried to yell before instinctively holding on to the seat for dear life.
"Hold on! We're going for a ride!" David shouted, wrapping a seat beat around Pipp before shifting into maximum gear. Headlights illuminated the way as the car tore down main street, the road quickly becoming gravel.
"Look out!" Pipp screamed as a sign appeared in their path.
"Hang on!" David ordered as the car smashed through the sign, the wood splintering behind them as the car kicked up a cloud of dust in its wake.
"Stop! Let them go!" The lead guard ordered, skidding to a halt just by the remains of the sign.
After a few minutes, David brought the car to a halt. He looked over at Pipp, breathing heavily.
"Well..." He muttered, running his hand through his hair as he breathed out, "That was exciting, right?" He grinned, hands still clutching the steering wheel.
"Exciting? EXCITING?!" Pipp shouted, hitting David in the face with her hoof, "What in Amore's name were you thinking?!" She screamed, wriggling out of the seatbelt and climbing out the door. The gravel crunched under her hooves as she paced around.
"Hey now, Calm down." David replied, hopping out of the car, and spriting over to the small mare, "Everything is going to be fine. Look, we can hide out here until morning, then you and go back to your friends and explain everything. I meanwhile will be long gone from here."
"You don't get it do you?" Pipp slammed her hoof down, "The guards saw me flee with you. If... No, when this gets back to Zephyr Heights, It's going to be the-" She cut off, placing a hoof to her neck, "It'll be off with my head..." Her eyes shrank.
"What, no. I seriously doubt they'd behead you for this." David looked at the trailer, "It'll be 4-5 years prison time max. Besides, you're a royal, so at most, you'd get a slap on the wrist, uh- hoof and a fine."
Pipp snapped, lunging at David, and tackled him to the ground, "You don't understand anything, do you?! Under Zephyr Height's law, any Pegasi caught stealing high-value goods from one of the other tribes, no matter their social status, will be charged with high treason. And the punishment for high treason in Zephyr Heights is execution!" She screamed, tears filling her eyes.
"That's a little harsh." David thought to himself as Pipp jumped off him.
Pipp sat down on the grass, crying into her hooves, "M-my life is over, and it's all your fault! Zipp was right, I shouldn't have trusted you!" She screamed, tears streaming down her face.
"Pipp, I-" He stuttered.
"Shut it! Leave me alone. You've done enough..." She sobbed, wings fell at her sides. The cold night air made her cheeks feel frozen as she sat there. Broken.
"Come with me."
"What?" Pipp spoke dully, her voice hoarse from crying. She turned her head towards the human, who knelt down, holding his hand out towards her.
"Come with me to the Crystal Empire." He calmly spoke, "The Empire isn't a part of Equestria, so your mum would have no jurisdiction over trying to get you there. Believe me on that one." He smiled, Pipp glared at him, "Hey, scouts honour here." He shrugged, doing a mock scout salute.
"And why should I even trust you, after what you just did." She spoke coldly, resisting the urge to spit in his face.
"Because at this stage, what more do you really have left to lose. You said so yourself, it's the death sentence for you anyway." He shrugged.
"This isn't making me feel better." Pipp grumbled.
"Look, tell you what. You come with me to the Crystal Empire, and in return, I will march right over to your mother and hand myself over. Even that means I get the death sentence. Deal?"
"Ok, deal." Pipp placed her hoof in David's hand before yanking him towards herself, "But know this David Wyne, if you break your end of the deal. I will haunt you for the rest of your days. Understand me?" She snarled at him.
"Ok ok, no take backsies." He gulped. Pipp pushed him away, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"Ok, if we're really going to be doing this, we would need somewhere to sleep. I have a trailer in Zephyr Heights we can use." Pipp mused, rubbing her chin with her hoof.
"But won't that just get us caught?" David asked.
"Not if we head there now. The royal protocol is to not give Mom any bad news until after she's had her morning coffee. That should buy us a few hours to get there, get my trailer and get out." Pipp trotted over to the car, "Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go already!"
"Here goes nothing." David sighed, hopping into the car after her.
"Next stop." Pipp pulled out her phone, loading up the GPS app, "Zephyr Heights."
Morning broke over Maretime Bay. Sunny slapped the top of her alarm clock as it buzzed.
"Morning Izzy! Morning Zipp! Morning Pipp!" She cheerfully called out as she hopped out of bed, doing her morning stretches with a yawn.
"Morning Sunny." Zipp replied, eyes focused on her large pin board, pinning down what she and Misty had talked about the previous night.
"Wow, you're up early." Sunny tilted her head in surprise.
"Yeah... I couldn't sleep. I had a chat with Misty last night, however. I think, or rather, we think that Opaline is, or was, a Crystal Pony!" Zipp declared proudly, showing off the pinned notes on the board.
"Hey, wait a minute. Where's Pipp?" Sunny asked, noticing Pipp's bed was empty and not made.
"Huh, you're right, Where is she?" Zipp questioned also.
"Didn't she say she would get up earlier today so she could hang out with that human?" Izzy smiled cheerfully as per normal, while in the middle of her latest unicycle project.
"Well, I don't trust that human. Him showing up on the exact same day we arrested Opaline is highly suspect. Wouldn't surprise me if they're working together on this and he's only acting like Pipp's new friend so he can still the crystals!" Zipp gestured upwards towards the next floor that housed the Unity Crystals.
"If Opaline had wanted the Crystal, why didn't she simply come and get them herself? If I was her, I wouldn't exactly trust what is basically a hairless monkey for that task." Sunny responded, wrapping a hoof around Zipp, "Besides, Pipp seems to trust the human, so I'm willing to trust him."
A loud knocking echoed from downstairs.
"I'll get it!" Izzy shouted, running down the stairs from their sleeping quarters, "Hi, Hitch!" Izzy waved happily as she opened the door, "What brings you here so early?" The Unicorn added.
"Unfortunately, official sheriff's business. Is Pipp here?" Hitch asked, his face showing how serious he truly was.
"Pipp's not here." Zipp spoke, gliding down the stairs, landing just in front of the stallion, "Why, what's wrong?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Maybe we should take this somewhere more private." Hitch nervously rubbed his leg.
"If it's about Pipp, I'd rather have her friends be put in the loop too." Zipp replied, grabbing Sunny and Izzy.
"Ok." Hitch sighed, "There was a robbery last night at Canterlogic, and the guards stated they saw Pipp escaping with the robber." He continued, pulling out his phone.
"No! You're mistaken. Pipp wouldn't do such a thing!" Sunny shouted defensively.
"Look, I know. I didn't want to believe it myself, so I went through the CCTV camera from the area where the guards spotted Pipp and the robber talking." Hitch played the video recording on his phone, presenting it to Sunny and Zipp, "And I found this." He added, the video showed Pipp talking to someone in a blue vehicle, the guards showing up, and the vehicle driving off.
"See. Pipp didn't even escape with them!" Zipp pointed out.
"Keep watching." Hitch spoke bluntly. The footage then shows one of the guards forcing Pipp to the ground. Zipp briefly saw red at this display of aggression used on her little sister. Zipp was surprised when the vehicle came back, scaring the guards away, allowing Pipp to jump inside before it quickly left the frame, guards giving chase.
"I'm sorry to tell you this, Zipp. But as of right now, Pipp is wanted for accessory to robbery. But... I'll let you know this. Pipp only appears in the footage taken from mainstreet. The footage from Canterlogic doesn't show her even there. So there is a case for her to be proven innocent. We just need to find her." Hitch put his phone away.
"We need to find her, preferably before Mom finds out about any of this." Zipp spoke in a hushed tone.
"Why can't Haven be told?" Izzy tilted her head, injecting herself into the discussion.
"Let's just say, even as a Royal, Pipp can still be arrested for a crime like this, and the punishment isn't that good either." Zipp replied, she stopped when she felt her phone buzzing. Pulling it out from under her wing, her eyes widened. "Shit, it's mom."
"ZEPHYRINA STORM!" Haven's voice shouted down the phone.
"Hi, Mom..." Zipp spoke nervously, "How are you?" She tried not to stutter.
"Really?! What's this I hear about Pipp being involved in a robbery over there?!" Haven screamed in reply.
"Oh..." Zipp gulped, "You know about that huh?" Zipp winced
"Of course I know! It's all over the news! To top it off, Pipp was just spotted here with that thing you call a human! They took off with her trailer!"
"What! Pipp was there?! Why didn't the guards stop her?!" Zipp spoke calmly into the phone.
"She had that news report friend of hers, Dazzle Feather, make up a false sighting claim as a distraction. Zoom caught Pipp sneaking out of her old bedroom!" Haven continued to screech. The sound of paper rustled over the phone, "She left this note on her bed. 'Going to the Crystal Empire' That's all it says." It sounded like Haven was now crying, "What does that even mean?!"
"Wait. Did you say she's going to the Crystal Empire?" Sunny spoke, just loud enough for Haven to hear her.
"Yes." Haven replied, sounding calmer now.
"We'll be right over there, your majesty, we will prove that Pipp is innocent. I promise." Sunny grabbed Zipp's phone, speaking directly into it.
"Thank you Sunny." Haven replied, still sounding like she was crying. "I'll be expecting you all soon." The phone hung up.
"Well, you heard Haven. Let's get packing." Izzy cheered.
End of Chapter Six.