//------------------------------// // Chapter #7: Distraction // Story: My Little Pony: Dark Star // by WestRail642fan //------------------------------// Chapter Seven. Distraction. "Yeah, no way." Sprout Cloverleaf said bluntly, crossing his hooves as he leant in the doorway. "You are not going to be using my Sprouticus Maximus, just so you can go after you're little mare friend." "First off, Pipp is not my mare friend. And second, because she's in danger of losing her royal title and possibly being expelled from zephyr heights!" Hitch replied, standing in front of Sprout. Izzy, Sunny and Zipp stood behind him "And I should care why? She stole from my mom's factory. I'd rather get front-row seats to her being expelled." Sprout smirked. Zipp then stood forward and stared at Sprout with eyes like that of a tiger's. "Listen here pal, my little sister is missing and she's being framed for a crime. So if you wanna help but not give us your machine" She said as she stood super close to Sprout with eyes filled with fire and flames. "You're gonna have a problem with me, understand?" She finished as she looked into Sprout's eyes like a tiger waiting to pounce at its prey. "Ok ok, fine!" Sprout grabbed the keys, "But I'm going with you." "You? Want to come with us?" Sunny said, confusion on her face. "Do any of you know how to drive?" Sprout pointed his hoof at each of the ponies, "Besides, I want to see your little friend get her just deserved punishment." He chuckled. Zipp slapped him in a fit of rage. "DO YOU HOW IT FEELS TO LOSE SOMEONE YOU LOVE ?!" Zipp yelled at him. "I LOST MY FATHER AT A YOUNG AGE AND I'M NOT LOOSING MY LITTLE SISTER TOO!" She added. Sunny and Izzy grabbed a hold of Zipp, dragging her back from the red stallion. "LET ME GO UGH I WANT TO MAKE HIM FEEL THE PAIN I'M GOING THROUGH!" Zipp yelled. "Assault!" Sprout shouted. Izzy and Sunny held Zipp back and gave her back pats to calm her down. "We will find her Zipp, don't worry." Sunny said as she hugged Zipp. "We could try using the air stream?" Izzy suggested. "No, it's still pretty banged up from that rough landing last week." Zipp said as she started to shed tears over fears of losing her little sister. "Ok, fine." Sprout sighed, ears falling flat against his head, genuinely feeling sorry Zipp, "But, It'll take maybe an hour to get it in a workable condition." Sprout closed the door behind him. "Thank you, Sprout." Sunny smiled, still comforting Zipp. "Whatever." Sprout grumbled. *A Few Hours Earlier* "So, your home is up there?" David looked up at the mountain as he poured some of the fuel from the trailer into his car. "Yep." Pipp replied, sitting on the hood of the car as she scrolled through Canternet, "So, the good news is that it doesn't look like the news hasn't broken yet, that'll buy us some more time." She smiled. "Well, only a matter of time before it does." David added, closing the fuel cap. "I just hope it stays out of the news long enough." Pipp looked up at the mountain, "But I do know a pony who works at the news station, she may be able to assist us here." Pipp smirked at David. "Right. The tank is full. Lead the way." David said, hopping into the car, Pipp followed suit. "Just keep heading up this road, we should be at the top in no time." Pipp shrugged. "So, this pony, what does she do at the news station?" David asked Pipp as he shifted gears, the car beginning to climb the slope. "Her name's Dazzle Feather, she's one of the big reporters for ZBS." Pipp checked the time on her phone, "She should be getting ready for the breakfast show now, we should be able to get there in time and talk to her before it goes on air." Pipp smiled, "We used to go to school together, in fact. She is the reason why my singing career took off, she got me in contact with a record company for a demo." "Well, let's hope you're right." David smiled nervously as they made their way up the mountainside. "Now who's the doubting one?" Pipp smirked smugly. "That’s the ZBS Studio." Pipp gestured over to the large warehouse-looking building. The rising sun shone down on the ZBS sign on the side of the building. "So, how do we get past the workers? You'll be fine, but I'll stick out like a clown in a forest." David said, peeking out from behind a nearby wall. Pipp scanned the area, spotting a clothing rack with some outfits on it, "Hmm. I've got an idea." She smiled at David, causing him to gulp nervously. A few moments later, Pipp was peeking out from behind a shipping crate, "Ok, the coast is clear." She turned around, "Come out." She waved her hoof. "This disguise makes me look stupid." David spoke as he slowly peaked out from behind the shipping crate also. "Oh come on, you look like a cowboy with that one." Pipp giggled, "Besides, it was the best I could do. Now, come on!" Pipp jumped out from behind the crate, making a b-line for the ZBS studio. David followed her quickly, sprinting across the studio backlots. Pipp opened the door, holding it to allow David to enter before quickly following him. "This way!" Pipp pointed towards the sign that read 'Dressing rooms'. "Which door is it?" David asked as the pair sprinted down the hallway. "This one." Pipp skidded to a stop. She knocked on the door. "Who is it?" A voice called from the other side. "Dazzle, it's Pipp-" Pipp spoke before being cut off by the door opening. The pegasus who opened the door looked both ways down the hall before dragging Pipp and David into the room, slamming and locking the door shut. "Pipp. What the hell is going on? My boss just told me something about you being in a robbery." The lavender pegasus spoke in a hushed tone, "And who's he?" She added, her muzzle pressed up against Pipp's. "I can explain everything. But first, Dazzle Feather, meet David Wyne. David Wyne, meet Dazzle Feather." Pipp gestured to the two. "Hello..." David waved nervously. Dazzle nervously waved back. "Ok Pipp, spill." Dazzle raised an eyebrow. "Well, first things first, I wasn't involved with the robbery, it's a total misunderstanding. See, I was only there to talk him out of it, but I was too late. He had already stolen it." Pipp pointed a hoof at David. "Hey! It's not my fault the guards think you were part of the robbery!" David pointed back at Pipp. "Well, maybe if you had waited until morning!" Pipp raised her voice. "Alright! Let's not start, okay?" Dazzle interjected, placing herself between the pair, "Now, It's only a matter of time before the police find you." Dazzle continued, before looking up at the clock, "Right, so, I have to leave now for the breakfast news show. Both of you, stay here until I get back." Dazzle turned to the door, opening it, "I mean it. Stay put." She added, closing the door behind her. "She's quite the hassle..." David added, taking a seat on the floor by the dressing table. "She can be in a bit of a pickle when it comes to stuff like this, just don't do anything stupid alright?" Pipp sat down in the seat by David. "Soooo." Pipp looked over at him, "How do you intend on even finding the Crystal Empire? That's if it even came back when magic did." She added, nudging him with her wing. "With this." David replied, pulling out a crystal from his pocket, a small necklace chain attached to it, "This will lead me home." He smiled, handing the crystal to Pipp. "How does it work?" The pink pegasus asked, rolling the crystal around in her hoof. "Well, it only works in the Empire, but if you aim it, it glows, if the glow gets bright in a certain direction, that's the direction you go." He looked down, "It was a gift from my wife. Since the Empire is surrounded by snow in every direction, it's easy for someone not from the Empire to get lost. It's to help them find their way home." Soon enough, Dazzle returned. "Good, you actually listened." She smiled at the pair as they sat in the dressing room, "So, everypony knows about the robbery." "Great, just great." Pipp spoke, her voice sounding defeated. "But, no pony knows you're here in Zephyr Heights." Dazzle added, Pipp smiled a bit. "Question." David raised his hand, "How do we get out of Zephyr Heights now? Sure, no one knows we're here currently, but I'm pretty sure someone is going to spot me and her a mile away." He added. "Shit, you're right." Pipp frowned, ears falling flat against her head. "What we need is a distraction." Dazzle mussed, rubbing her chin. "Well, you have a tip line right?" David asked, Dazzle nodded. "Because we could always call it from a payphone and claim we spotted Pipp and me outside the city." "That could work, might give us just enough time to get to the palace to get my mobile trailer." Pipp rubbed her chin, she turned to Dazzle, "Well, do you do say?" "Let's do it." Dazzle nodded, she ran over to her dressing table, quickly scribbling something down on some paper, passing it to Pipp, "That's the tip line number, call it from a payphone when you're ready." Dazzle smiled, "Now go, quickly. I'll create a distraction." Dazzle ran over to the fire alarm and slammed the button. David and Pipp quickly ran from the room and out the fire doors. The pair ran through the studio backlot, climbing over the wall. David jumped down, landing on the hood of the car, Pipp floating down next to him as her phone buzzed, "Oh, it's a text from Dazzle, it says she’ll let us know when we should call the tip line." "So, what do we do for now? It'll take a while before they say the studio will be safe to re-enter." David asked, quickly removing the cowboy outfit, tossing it back over the wall. "Right now, we head for the palace. It's early morning, so no ponies should be around." Pipp suggested, pointing towards the tall palace poking out in the distance. "If you say so." David replied. The car sat idling in a back alley, on the far side of the bridge that led up to the palace. "How long does it take to give the all-clear to a studio?!" David groaned, looking over at Pipp's phone as the time slowly approached 7 am. "Patience. Dazzle has never let me down yet." Pipp smiled, placing a hoof on David's hand. Just as she went to put her phone down, a message popped up on the screen, "It's from Dazzle!. It's time." She added. "Finally." David grumbled, opening the car door. He and Pipp made their way over to a nearby pay phone. "Here goes nothing." Pipp breathed calmly as she dialled the number Dazzle had written down before passing the receiver to David. The phone rang, and rang, and rang before finally, a voice replied. "Hello, thank you for calling the ZBS tip line, how may I help you today?" The voice spoke, clearly a male voice. "Oh hello, I'd like to report a sighting of Princess Pipp Petals and that creature near the south side city entrance." David calmly spoke into the phone. "Oh, thank you for informing us, we will forward this onwards to the police and royal guards. If we use this information in our report, who should we credit this to?" The voice replied. "Rainbow Dash." David looked at Pipp and shrugged. "Ok, thank you, Mr Dash." The voice replied before quickly hanging up. "Let's hope this works." Pipp kept an eye on the royal guards stationed on the bridge. One by one, the royal guards slowly began to walk along the bridge, before starting to run towards the south side of the city. Soon after, the giant screens dotted around the city changed to the ZBS logo, and Dazzle Feather soon appeared on the screens. "Breaking News. Unconfirmed reports coming in stating Princess Pipp Petals and the creature have been spotted near the south side of Zephyr Heights. Both the police and Royal Guards are advising residents living on the south side to stay indoors until the sighting can be confirmed." "Come on, let's go." Pipp nudged David, the pair making a dash for the car. They quickly drove across the bridge, the car making its way towards the parking lot where Pipp's trailer was being kept. "Over there!" Pipp pointed towards the parking lot, "There's my trailer." Pipp smiled, hopping out of the car. "Where are you going?" David asked as he brought the car to a stop. "To go get some personal items, I'll be back in a few minutes!" Pipp replied, flying upwards. Pipp quietly flew past windows. "Aha." She smiled, quickly pulling out a credit card, slotting it in the window. With a jiggle, the window opened up, allowing her inside the room. Quietly landing in the nearly empty room, she looked around. "It's been a long time since I've been in my old room." She thought to herself, running her hoof along the dusty window ledge. "Now, where are those keys?" Her mind reminded her of the task at hoof. Quickly, but quietly, Pipp searched through the drawers of her dressing table, initially only finding the cloak Izzy had made for her when they first pretended to be Unicorns. "You're gonna fit right in..." She giggled to herself as she put the cloak on. The sound of something hitting the floor filled her ears, and looking down, she smiled. "There you are." She smiled, quickly picking up the keys, "Thanks, Izzy.." Pipp placed her hoof on the knot of the cloak. She turned to leave, but the sight of her old stationary kit caught her eye. "It couldn't hurt to leave mom a note right?" She bit her lip as she picked up the pen 'Dear Mother, By the time you read this note, I'll be long gone from Zephyr Heights. Despite what you might hear, it is all false. I am simply helping the human return to his home, the Crystal Empire. I don't know when I'll be back. Forever you loving daughter, Pipparina Petals.' A single tear escaped her eye as she removed her tiara, placing it next to the sheet of paper. Quickly turning around so as to not cry any longer, her tail knocked over a bottle of perfume. The glass bottle shattered on the floor. A loud knock hammed on the locked door. "Who's in there?!" A voice shouted, it was Zoom. Pipp's eyes shrank as she heard the door being unlocked, quickly running for the window, she turned around just in time to see Zoom enter the room and stare at her. "Oh, hey Princess." Zoom smiled before Pipp jumped from the window, Zoom ran towards the window and looked down below as Pipp glided away. "Huh, that's odd..." Zoom spoke to herself. Pipp gently glided down into the parking lot, seeing that her trailer was now inserted between the car and the fuel trailer. "Ready to go?" David asked, leaning against the side of the car. "Yep." Pipp replied, jingling the keys with a smile, "Keys for my trailer." She added, tossing them over to David, who caught them without effort. The pair got into the car and pulled out of the parking lot. As the odd convoy crossed the bridge, bright lights appeared from the palace, accompanied by the sound of loud sirens. "What the hell?" David asked, speeding up the car. "The palace is going on lockdown. Zoom must have reported it." Pipp winced. The fuel trailer narrowly cleared the bridge as bollards rose up out of the ground. "Now where?" David asked, looking around for an exit out of the city. "That way!" Pipp shouted, pointing to the left, "Down that road, it'll take us straight out of the city." "Hold on!" David said, quickly turning the car to the left with a skid, the fuel trailer narrowly hitting a building as it swung out with the sudden turn. "Stop!" A guard shouted, standing in front of a locked gate. The car sped up. "I said stop!" He ordered again "Brace yourself!" David said, holding Pipp back with his arm as they raced towards the gate. The guard jumped clear as the car crashed through the gate, sending twisted metal and broken concrete flying as it disappeared in a cloud of dust, "Uh, control, we have a problem.." The guard radioed in. "We did it! Pipp shouted, before quickly leaning over and kissing David's cheek. Her eyes snapped open when she realised what she just did, "Um... Ignore that... So, which way are we heading now?" "Right now." David looked over at her, his face a slight red, "We just keep heading north until we hit the snow." End of Chapter Seven.