//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1: Suspicion 
// Story: Remnant 
// by Ebonyglow 
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Maretime Bay was bustling with action. Pegasi, unicorns, and earth ponies roamed about, talking, playing, and shopping—all activities that kept the town's cobblestone streets lively. As lovely as the thriving village seemed, however, having plenty of ponies around also meant a hefty workload for a particular mare.

"And that's one Berry Blossom Blast smoothie for you!" Sunny chirped, waving goodbye to a now elated foal carrying his sweet treat. "Enjoy!"

She raised a brow, eyeing the line forming before her smoothie stand. Even with how fast she was working, her efforts didn't seem to even make a dent. Every time she served one pony, another seemed to get in line—a tiring cycle she appeared to have entered.

Signaling her next customer to come to her window, she rolled her shoulders and got ready for whatever the mare was going to ask for. Being this busy was tiring, but the extra flow of bits more than made up for it. As she patiently waited for the other mare to carefully read over the menu—who had every opportunity to do so when she was in the line but for some reason chose not to until it was her turn—she pursed her lips and glanced over towards the Crystal Brighthouse in the distance.

As of late, the Brighthouse had been behaving a bit peculiar, or rather, the unity crystals held within the top of it were. She had dealt with them 'glitching' before, but this was something else entirely. Like her, Zipp had quickly noticed the waves of magic flowing over and throughout the gems, and together she and Sunny had been keeping a routine eye on them. Their group had relatively poor knowledge of the relics, but even they had a hunch that something was amiss. Regardless, they had no way to determine what it was. Realizing that there was no choice but to wait and see if any changes would occur, Sunny observed anxiously. She kept an eye from afar whenever possible, her work pulling her away from her friends and the Brighthouse.

"I'll have one Chilled Cherry Combo, please!" her customer suddenly shouted.

Rudely snapped from her thoughts, Sunny was reminded that she was on the job and acknowledged the mare with a nod. Fumbling with an empty cup, she swiftly began creating the requested order. The motions came naturally to her, having run the stand even back when her father was alive, and in seconds she had a cup filled with a delicious, frozen delight before her.

After exchanging the treat for the requested bits, the two made parting remarks before Sunny motioned for the next customer to step forward. As much as she wished she could be back at the Brighthouse surveying the crystals, she had sacrificed enough working days to watch over them. Once she finished, it wouldn't be much trouble to press Zipp for any new information regarding them anyways.

“I’ll be able to check them once I’m home,” she quietly murmured. 

The stallion before her hummed to himself, perusing the menu as the mare before had. Sunny would've taken a moment to steal a quick peek at her home from afar, but her attention was quickly snatched by a massive group of foals lining up for some of her smoothies. 

Sunny sighed, her face unamused.

"That is, if I've got any energy left by then…"





"Are you seriously still ogling those crystals?"

Zipp springed to life, throwing her attention toward her sister after hearing her complaint. She'd been at the top of the Brighthouse for a few hours now, taking notes and studying the crystals as closely as possible - much to Pipp's apparent despair.

She wasn’t entirely sure how or why her sister didn’t seem to share her concern over the crystals.

 All the magic in Equestria hinged on them, and they acted as a literal beacon of hope and harmony. They were the accumulation of all the work and effort Sunny and the rest of them had gone through to reunite ponies made physical, and she was not going to treat any issues with them lightly.

"Hey, you said you'd help me record my new video! Hitch is busy with some kind of mess Sparky made, so you need to!" Pipp furthered, pouting her lips. "The crystals haven't changed at all, and they probably won't anyways!"

Zipp rolled her eyes, then side-eyed her sister as she focused on the gems once more. "But that's not saying they won't, Pipp. We know nothing about these things, and for all we know, the entire fate of magic could be at stake!" She furrowed her brow, glaring over at her sister. "I think that risk’s got a lot more importance than one of your videos."

"Well, I'm telling you, this is important to me!" Pipp huffed, matching her sister's glare. "Can't you just stop focusing on those crystals for, like, five minutes?!"

"Can't you, like, stop thinking about your followers for one minute!?" Zipp seethed, stamping her hoof against the ground. "I'm working!"

"Hmph! You don't get the stress of keeping an audience entertained!" Pipp retorted, rolling her eyes. "Staring at a bunch of rocks for hours isn't work!"

Zipp slammed her notebook shut, turned to her sister, and stepped forward - partially surprised the smaller pegasus stood her ground. "I don't because I don't care about all that stuff! And for the billionth time, the crystals are important! You know that!"

"Well I’m asking you for the billion-and-oneth time, do you seriously think that they - wha?!"

Pipp's reply was cut short, as she was taken aback by the crystals suddenly pulsing intensely with a dark color. Zipp's attention also snapped towards them, narrowing her gaze to try and understand what was happening. After a few moments, the aura around them ceased and they returned to their previous glowing yet odd state.

Pipp blinked wildly. She exchanged a look with Zipp, who shot her a knowing, smug one in return, then sighed in defeat. "Fine, point taken." She turned to leave, making her way down the steps. "I'll ask Izzy to help…"

Zipp, being gracious enough not to gloat, pulled out her notepad and began jotting down the observations she had just made, occasionally pausing to tap her chin with her pencil.

"That was new…" she mumbled, scratching her brain for any logical conclusions. More scribblings followed before she began to speak to nopony in particular, utterly enthralled in her research. "Dark, radiating aura pulsing out of the crystals. Ponies present: Pipp and Zipp. No visible change in the environment or ourselves. No understanding of what caused the effect either."

Closing her notepad, Zipp stowed it away beneath her wing and sat back on her haunches, the crystals once more becoming the center of her undivided attention. She was always a curious pony, eager and ready to solve a mystery, and right now, her mind was set on the question before her. She furrowed her brow at the sight of the crystals, determined to find an answer no matter how long it took. There was an answer somewhere, and she’d find it.