//------------------------------//
// Helpless to Fate 
// Story: Letting Go 
// by Flamewarrior02 
//------------------------------//

“And after that, my mother declared my sentence and I was led away. The whole time, ponies were yelling at me, calling things like ‘an outrage or a disgrace’ and throwing whatever that had on hoof at me.” Zipp finished recapping her most recent nightmare as she laid on the couch of her therapist’s office.

“I see.” The Therapist said as she wrote down some notes. Ever since Zipp’s breakdown months ago, she had been coming to therapy at least twice a week, which was an improvement from her previous every day of the week visits. “And do you know how your sister passed exactly?” 

Zipp shook her head. “The dream started and ended in the courtroom. I was never given any details other than ‘I killed her’ so I don’t know if this is related to the cave in incident or my jealousy winning this time.” Zipp sighed and rolled onto her side before giving a crude chuckle. “If it’s the latter then that at least I’d know I was getting my comeuppance.”

The Therapist nodded again and wrote down more details before beginning to ask Zipp the regular questions. “Have you been eating regularly?”

“Yes.”

“Any thoughts of depression or hopelessness?”

“No.”

“Any thoughts of running away again?”

“No.”

“Any thoughts of harming yourself?”

“No.” Zipp gave the same answers she usually gave. She felt that this routine was pointless by now, but she didn’t want to come off as disrespectful.

“And what about your medicine? Do you think we need to up the prescription?”

Zipp pondered this. She had been taking medicine prescribed by The Therapist since these sessions started to hopefully lower her stress. Despite her recent dream, it seemed to be effective during her waking hours, when they would be most effective anyway. “No, I think keeping it at 60 should be enough.” She told The Therapist.

“Very well.” The Therapist said as she finished jotting down the rest of her notes. “Anything else you want to talk about?”

Zipp shook her head as she got up from the couch. “No, I’m good. Thanks again, Doc.”

The Therapist smiled. “Think nothing of it, Zipp. Remember, my door is always open.”

Zipp smiled back and left the room and went into the lobby where she picked up her recent refill of medicine. As she left the counter, she was greeting by Hitch and Sparky waiting for her. The baby dragon cooed happily when he saw Zipp appear and ran over to hug his unofficial stepmom’s foreleg. “Hehe. Hey, kiddo.” Zipp greeted him as she rubbed his head with her free hoof before she gently moved him aside and greeted Hitch with a brief kiss. “Hi, honey.” 

“Hey, Zipp.” Hitch said back as they hugged. “How did it go?” He asked once they broke off.

“Same old, same old.” Zipp replied. “I take it you’re going to be my bodyguard for today?” She asked with a smirk. One thing that resulted from the breakdown was that Zipp now rarely went off on her own, out of fear of corrupt or negative thoughts returning to her. She was almost always with one of her friends nowadays to keep her mind on other things, usually Pipp or Hitch. 

“I guess so.” Hitch shrugged with a smile before gaining a teasing look. “Unless you’d rather go flying with your sister.” 

Zipp faked a gasp. “And give up time spent with my handsome coltfriend? I think not.” She replied teasingly as she nudged his side and the two of them walked out the door with Sparky climbing onto Zipp’s back.

As the three of them made their way through the streets of Maretime Bay, Zipp found herself leaning against Hitch, nuzzling his coat. In the months prior, she would never display this much PDA, no doubt feeling it would make her look soft and mushy. But nowadays she had seemed to find great enjoyment in it. Perhaps it was because she enjoyed Hitch’s reactions to every surprise kiss or nuzzle, even though she did that so often they might as well not be surprises anymore. Or maybe it was because it made her feel safer. That none of her dark thoughts could come after her when she was by the side of the brave sheriff.

Really she felt that way whenever she was with any of her friends. Whether it was skating with Sunny or helping her with the smoothie stand, to crafting with Izzy, to doing detective work or couples things with Hitch, to flying or cuddling with her sister, Zipp felt she was able to let her guard down with them. And after the recent conflict with Opaline that ended with her defeat and Misty leaving the evil alicorn, the pegasus felt like a massive weight was lifted off her shoulders. She no longer had any suspicions of Misty or had to worry how her friends would react to such suspicions. Although she hasn’t had many chances to interact with the unicorn. Whenever she tried to, Pipp would show up and lead her away to do something else. Zipp didn’t know why Pipp kept doing this, but shrugged it off as her little sister wanting to be with her.

She might not have been out of the woods yet, but Zipp couldn’t be happier with her life right now.





The family trio continued on their way to the Brighthouse, partaking in the occasional small talk or giving brief romantic gestures to each other while Sparky just napped on Zipp’s head. When they reached the Brighthouse and opened the front doors, Zipp was expecting to see the warm and welcoming faces of her friends. Instead, what she got was Sunny, Izzy, and Pipp sitting on the couch watching the TV with Izzy in tears, Sunny comforting her friend, Pipp with a surprised look on her face, and Misty nowhere to be seen. 

“What’s going on?” Zipp asked, her detective side immediately springing to action.

The response she got from Izzy surprised her. “MISTY’S BEEN ARRESTED!” She sobbed before blowing into a handkerchief Sunny provided.

“What?!” Both Hitch and Zipp said at the same time, the noise waking Sparky from his nap. 

“Just look.” Sunny told them as she pointed at the TV.

Zipp and Hitch walked over to the couch and saw Skye and Dazzle reporting the latest news from Zephyr Heights. “And this just in, Maretime Bay resident Misty Brightdawn has recently turned herself over to ZH authorities, confessing to crimes including, but not limited to, attempted assassination on Princess Zephyrina Storm.” Skye announced to the viewing world.

Hearing that made Zipp stop breathing. ”She did what?!” The pegasus wasn’t unaware of what they were talking about. Misty had confessed everything to her and her friends not long after moving in with them, which included the trapping of her and Pipp in the cave. But Zipp forgave her for all that, and so did the rest of her friends. So what in Equestria possessed Misty to go and say such things to her mother; the Queen of Zephyr Heights?

Zipp’s thoughts came to a halt when she heard her mother on TV addressing a crowd of ponies. “As a mother, I can say that I have never been more furious to hear that somepony is single-handedly responsible for putting my daughter through so much misery. If I have my way with her, I’ll-“ Queen Haven stopped herself mid sentence and took a deep breath. Now wasn’t the time for her to lose her cool. “I’m sorry, I need a moment.” 

Zipp couldn’t even remember the last time she saw her mother look so furious. Against her initial wishes, her friends convinced her to tell her mother about everything that had been troubling her as of late, namely pointing out that it would be impossible to explain her clipped wings off as something else. As she expected, when she came clean, Queen Haven became hysterical and embraced her daughter tightly, crying into her mane and whispering much needed words of assurance for the both of them.  She was able to convince her mother to let her stay in Maretime Bay with Pipp and her friends, letting her know they have been helping her greatly with her recovery. But in return, she promised to give her mother updates every day about her condition. 

Now seeing how angry her mother was, close to declaring threats for all of Equestria to hear, Zipp was beginning to worry about what Misty said to her. 

The screen switched back to the reporters as Dazzle took over. “The Queen has already declared that the prisoner be escorted to the deepest dungeons of Zephyr Heights until her trial can commence.” She said as she screen cut to Misty being escorted away by Zoom and Thunder past a crowd of angry ponies. Chains were placed on each of her legs and linked together to prevent her from escaping. The unicorn had a look of utter defeat on her face. Her now brightly colored mane dropping to the point her eyes were covered. “However.” Dazzle spoke over the footage. “As you can see, it is going to be a very short trial with nopony in Zephyr heights offering support to this criminal.” She said as her voice indicated her own displeasure with Misty as audio from the scene began to play.

Zipp and the others could only watch as ponies yelled at Misty, throwing any insult they could at her, along with any objects they had. “You’re a disgrace!”

“An outrage!”

“A scandal!”

“We don’t want you!” 

“Judgement day is here!”

“Yes, your day is here!”

“Judgement! Judgement!”

As Zipp watched Misty getting pelted both physically and verbally, her mind began to replay the dream she had the pervious night. This was exactly how it was in her nightmare, right down to the exact same insults being thrown. And as more harsh words were played, Zipp began to not see Misty there any more. Instead she was seeing herself in Misty’s place with the same look of shame on her face, receiving all those hurtful words.

“Outsider!”

“Witch!”

“How dare you!”

“Hate filled bitch!”

“Liar!”

“Shame on you!”

“Coward!”

“Trouble maker!”

“Evil incarnate!”

“Go away!”

“Deceiver!” 

“Pathetic child!”

“You’re getting what you deserve!”

“I hope you burn!”

“Failure!”

“Agitator!”

“Murderer!”

“Banish her!”

“We won’t forget this!”

“Get lost!”

“You’ll never be trusted again!”

“Alone forever!”

“Good riddance!”

“Disaster bringer!”

“Black sheep!”

“Never show your face again!”

“Your days of bringing sadness are over!”

“This is what your kind deserve!”

“We’re not blind to your lies anymore!”

“Vengeance will be ours!”

“This is what you get!”

“You’ll never be one of us!”

“Never!”

“Never!”

“Never!”

Everything was playing so fast in Zipp’s head. Her breathing increased heavily as her heart rate skyrocketed. She couldn’t keep her footing and fell to the floor. Immediately her friends were at her side. “Zipp!” Pipp cried as she flew over to her.

“What’s wrong?!” Sunny fearfully asked.

“She’s having a panic attack!” Izzy quickly realized.

“Zipp!? Zipp!? Say something!” Hitch pleaded with her as he shook her. But Zipp couldn’t hear them. She couldn’t hear anything outside of the continuous words of hate, her beating heart, her deep breaths, and the defending pitch that blocked all else. She was essentially trapped in her own head.

“You don’t belong here!”

“Everything you say is a lie!”

“No one trusts you!”

“You’re not wanted anywhere!”

“Damn troublemaker!”

“Disappear forever, why don’t you?!”

Her friends began to freak out. They were constantly calling to Zipp, shaking her, anything to snap her out of her trance. They didn’t know what else to do. They had seen Zipp break down into tears a few times since she ran away, but this was the first time she had an outright panic attack. The first time she was completely unresponsive.

Sparky saw his stepmom’s distress and quickly ran over to her to comfort her, as he had done many times in the past when she had nightmares. He climbed onto her stomach and gave a concerned coo before he laid down and hugged her. Hitch saw this and quickly ushered everypony else back. “Give them some space!” He told them.

“But, Hitch!” Pipp tried to counter, not wanting to leave her sister’s side.

“No, wait, Pipp. Look.” Izzy assured her as she pointed out the change in Zipp’s behavior.

The gentle feeling of Sparky’s touch seemed to be working as Zipp raised the hoof off her chest and rested it on the dragon’s head. Her breathing and heart rate started to slow down as the noise and voices in her head quieted down. Once she stopped panting to the point she could speak again, she looked at Sparky and weakly smiled. “Thank you, Sparky.” To which the young dragon smiled in response and hugged her face.

Seeing that Zipp was receptive to the outside world again, the rest of her friends immediately approached her. “Zipp!” Pipp exclaimed as she pulled her sister into a hug while Hitch examined her.

“Are you all right?!” He asked frantically. “Is your body temperature normal?! Do you have a flu?! Fever?!”

“Whoa, ponies, calm down.” Sunny interjected, lightly pushing the two of them away from Zipp. “Let’s not overwhelm her.”

Despite not wanting to be any distance away from Zipp right now, Hitch and Pipp reluctantly agreed and backed away so Zipp could shakily stand back up on her feet. Once the white pegasus seemed to have found her footing, Sunny spoke. “Zipp? Are you feeling all right? That was a very bad panic attack.”

“I’m fine, Sunny.” Zipp assured her, her voice shaky. “I think I just need to lie down for a bit.”

“Then that’s what you’ll do.” Pipp said as she was back at Zipp’s side, allowing herself to be leverage for her big sister.

“Thank you, Pipp.” Zipp said as she leaned into Pipp, unable to keep herself balanced, while they went up the stairs to the bedroom. 

“Do you need anything else, Zipperdoodle?” Izzy asked.

“Maybe a glass of water or two.” Zipp weakly replied.

“On it!” Izzy saluted and immediately went to get some beverages. 

As the two sisters ascended the stairs, Pipp looked back at the TV, still showing Misty, and glared at it. “Damn you, Misty.”





Once upstairs, Zipp immediately collapsed onto her bed. Pipp soon crawled in beside her, embracing her sister with her soft wings and pulled the blanket over the both of them while Zipp buried her head into Pipp’s chest. The sound of Pipp’s breathing and heartbeat were able to allow Zipp to quickly fall asleep.

When she opened her eyes again, she found herself not in the Brighthouse anymore. She instead found herself in her mother’s throne room. At least, it appeared like that, only it was so dark it was hard to tell. “What the?” Zipp wondered and tried to move before she found that she couldn’t. Looking down, she saw that she was chained, one linking each of her legs together and one around her neck attached to the floor. “Huh? What’s going on?” She asked as she struggled to free herself.

Suddenly, the rest of the lights in the room throne turned on, and Zipp was greeted with an unwelcome sight. The entire room was filled with ponies, all giving her looks of pure hatred, even her friends were among them. Zipp’s eyes widened as she recognized the dream she was in. “No! No! No!” She pleaded. This was the last thing she needed to experience right now.

But she couldn’t stop the dream as the trumpets signaling the arrival of the queen played. Zipp looked up and saw the silhouette of a pegasus descending from the sky. She was expecting it to be her mother, looking at her oldest daughter with a look of disappointment no child could bear to witness. But instead she found her jaw dropping to the floor as it wasn’t her mother flying down. It was herself. Only there were some big differences. The most obvious being the horn on her forehead, right above that accursed crown. The same crown she smashed to pieces the first chance she had. She also noticed that around the queen’s neck was another object that should’ve been destroyed; Misty’s necklace.

When the other her landed, one of the guards announced. “All bow before Queen Zipp! Ruler of Equestria!” And like that, everypony else in the room was immediately on their knees.

Queen Zipp opened her eyes, showing her dark red pupils, and looked at her chained opposite before smiling and addressing the crowd present. “Ponies of Equestria. We have gathered today to witness the trial of the pegasus who dares to call herself Zipp Storm.”

Several ponies in the crowd booed at Zipp, the most hurtful ones coming from her friends. Still, Zipp kept her feeling bottled up. Now was not the time to show any signs of weakness. “And what exactly am I on trial for?” She asked her other self, attempting to sound brave.

But Queen Zipp saw right through this and laughed. “Ha! You mean you haven’t figured it out?” She said before he looked turned serious. “For being a failure. All this time and you still live a life of insecurities, letting the opportunities to fix that go flying by. Pathetic!”

The Queen looked off to the side and Zipp followed her gaze. What she saw horrified her. There were two giant stained glass windows showcasing events she assumed the queen her did. One window showed Queen Zipp towering over the destroyed Unity Crystals. The other showed Queen Zipp standing proudly over the body of a pony with blooded hooves. At first Zipp feared the worst out of that image, but she was given the slightest possible relief when she saw it was Opaline who was slain, not her sister or mother.

“You see that?” Queen Zipp asked her prisoner. “That is how a real ruler acts. They don’t hesitate. They take what is rightfully there’s the first chance they have, no questions or compromises.”

“And what? Betray all of their friends along the way?!” Zipp shot back with the first counter argument she thought of.

“Friends?” Queen Zipp repeated before laughing again. “Ha! Don’t make me laugh. What have friends ever done for us? Need I remind you that it was their doubt in you that lead to your first breakdown? And what happened in the end? You were right about Misty and they didn’t believe you until it was almost too late! But I didn’t let some petty guilt get the better of me! I made that slime of a unicorn talk! I took the magic of the Unity Crystals to become an alicorn myself! I killed Opaline all by myself! Had you just taken matters into your own hooves like I did, you’d find yourself where you belong. At the top, beyond even the mightiest!” She declared as the ponies in the room cheered. 

“You tell that imposter, Sister!” Zipp heard Pipp call out.

“No one is more worthy of magic than you!” Sunny said after.

“We’re lost without you!” Izzy said next.

“Truly the greatest there has ever been!” Hitch added.

Hearing those words come out of her friends mouths, even if this was all a dream, made Zipp cringe. She had no doubt that queen her did something to them, to everypony, as there would be no way they’d just sit by and accept her becoming this. “But don’t you see? By doing what you did, you’ve become just like Opaline!” She yelled at the queen.

This seemed to get to Queen Zipp as she frowned and walked right up to Zipp and looked her dead in the eyes. “And that right there is what I despise about you the most, Zephyrhina. You are a coward.”

“W-what?” 

“You heard me loud and clear. You’re a coward. You can’t make any decisions for yourself anymore. You can’t even do anything by yourself anymore. You always need one of your friends with you so you can keep ‘the dark thoughts at bay’.” Queen Zipp said the last part mockingly, earning harsh laughs from some of the other ponies before she sent them a glare that shut them up before continuing, her anger building with every word. “You plan on hiding behind your friends for the rest of your miserable life! Continuing to live on in a lie about the pony you really are. About who you can really be. If that isn’t the description of a coward, then it might as well become the new definition.”

“Still.” Queen Zipp paused and lifted Zipp’s chin so she was looking directly into her eyes. “You have the chance to make up for it. One more opportunity to prove yourself. So answer me this, Zipp Storm. Are you going to finally stop cowering like a scared filly, or are you going to continue to disappoint us all? You abomination.”

“Abomination!”

“Abomination!”

“Abomination!” Ponies shouted at Zipp as she felt the whole world was spinning around her. She tried to block out the shouts by closing her eyes, but it did no good.

It seemed to be another repeat of her panic attack, only now there was nopony there to snap her out of it. “Zipp?” Zipp’s eyes snapped open when she heard her name being called out in a nonvenomous tone. “Zipp?” The voice called out again, becoming louder every time.

“Abomination!”

“Zipp?”

“Abomination!”

“Zipp, wake up!”

“Abomination!”

“ZIPP!”





The pegasus’ eyes snapped opened again. Looking around frantically, she saw that she was back in her bed at the Brighthouse. She looked down and saw that she was unchained. Feeling immense relief, she felt a hoof on her and looked to see Sunny sitting across from her with Sparky. “Sunny?” Zipp said weakly.

“Here.” Sunny reached over to Zipp’s nightstand and grabbed a glass of water. “Drink this.” 

Zipp didn’t need to be told twice as she grabbed the glass and chugged it down as fast as she could. When finished, she placed the glass down and looked at her friend. “Where’s Pipp?” She asked the earthpony mare.

“She needed to talk with Hitch about something, so I volunteered to keep an eye on you so you didn’t get any nightmares.” Sunny answered before looking down sadly. “Though it seems I didn’t do a good job, did I?”

“Don’t blame yourself.” Zipp assured her. “None of you can stop the nightmares from happening.” 

Seeing how tired Zipp still looked, Sunny debated whether or not if she should ask. “Do you wanna talk about it?”

At first Zipp wanted to say no, not wanting to relive the dream again. But the pegasus mare knew from recent experience that keeping such things bottled up would only end up hurting her in the long run. She sighed and began telling Sunny everything, her friend just listening in silence. When Zipp finished, she rolled onto her side away from Sunny. “I thought I was getting better. That I finally was feeling happy again. Now I’m getting panic attacks and more nightmares. It just seems that I’m back where I started.” She admitted. 

“Oh, Zipp.” Sunny said sadly as she pulled her friend into a hug with Sparky joining in. 

“Sunny?” Zipp asked, looking up at her hugger. “Be honest with me. Am I a burden to you? Do you ever get annoyed with constantly having to watch over me like a foal?”

Sunny was taken aback by this question. “Wh-what? No! Of course not! Zipp, I enjoy the time I spend with you. We all do. You mean so much to all of us, and none of that is because you’re a princess. It’s because you are an amazing pony. You’re like the big sister I never had. So please, don’t start thinking that you don’t deserve our help. You deserve it completely.” Sunny’s hoof began rubbing along Zipp’s mane, and the pegasus seemed to calm down. “Listen, I’m going downstairs to see how everypony else is doing. You stay here until you feel ready to join us. Sparky will keep you company. Won’t you, Sparky?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Sparky said, or rather tried to say with a cute little salute that made both mares chuckle.

“Heh, you’re basically becoming my emotional support dragon at this point.” Zipp said as she pulled the dragon into a hug. 

Sunny smiled at the scene before getting off the bed and headed downstairs. “Don’t be afraid to call for any of us if you need anything.” She told Zipp as she went down the stairs.

“Yes, Mom.” Zipp said jokingly, to which Sunny couldn’t help but laugh at.

Once she was down far enough, Sunny was greeted with Hitch, Pipp, and Izzy in the middle of a conversation. “They can’t really be that bad, right?” Izzy asked fearfully. “I mean, I thought the dungeons were all stylish and luxury.” 

“That’s just where we keep ponies we’re not entirely sure what to do with yet.” Pipp explained. “They’re only like that to keep them from wanting to escape. But if a pony commits a crime akin to what Misty did then they’ll be locked up in the dungeons beneath the city for life.”

“For life?!” Izzy repeated with a horrified look on her face.

“Pipp, I know you’re upset, but surely you can see that such a punishment is too much for Misty.” Hitch tried to reason with her. “Hasn’t she suffered enough under Opaline?”

Pipp frowned and gave Hitch a serious look. “Considering how upset Mother sounded on the phone when I told her about Zipp’s panic attack, there’s no way her punishment would be anything less.” 

Sunny listened as they talked and suddenly found herself very glad she didn’t bring Zipp down with her. The last thing she would need right now is more negativity. As she reached the ground, the other ponies finally noticed her presence and Pipp’s expression changed into a worried one. “How is she?” She immediately asked as she ran over to Sunny.

“She had a nightmare.” Sunny answered truthfully. “But other than that, she seems to be doing fine.”

Hearing this made Pipp frown again as she looked back at Hitch. “You see what I mean, Hitch?”

“I can’t say that I do.” Hitch answered with a frown of his own.

“Well, let me put it in simpler words. Mom’s going to be the judge of the trial. There is no defense attorney that is going to go against the Queen, even if they did believe Misty was somehow innocent. With nopony to defend her, Misty is going to get the harshest sentence possible.”

Hearing that made Izzy’s lip quiver. “No.” She whimpered. She looked like she was about to cry herself when an idea suddenly came into her head. “Wait! What about you and Zipp!? You’re princesses! That has to mean you can defend somepony if possible!” 

“I haven’t read up on law enough to be a reliable defense.” Pipp answered Izzy’s question sternly. “And if you think I am going to let Zipp go up there in her condition then you-“

“What’s going on?” Pipp’s words caught in her throat as she heard her sister coming down the stairs with Sparky on her back. 

“Zipp!” Pipp said in surprise. “What’re you doing up? You should still be in bed.”

“I wanted to know what all the commotion was about.” Zipp answered. 

The other ponies didn’t know what to say. They didn’t want to start arguing in front of Zipp under the risk of sending the pegasus into another panic attack. Eventually, Hitch decided to break the ice. “We got off the phone with your mother and she says that she wants you at Zephyr Heights so you can witness the trial in person. We were just talking about how it would probably be best if you don’t make the trip considering your recent troubles and that it would be a very short trial anyway with no defense for-“

“When are we leaving?” Zipp suddenly asked. 

This question surprised her friends. “W-what? Zipp, did you not just hear Hitch?” Pipp asked her sister back. “After everything that’s happened in just this past hour alone, it’s best you remain here in Maretime Bay. Let Mom handle the trial.” She tried to convince her sister to change her mind.

But Zipp shook her head. “I have things I want to talk to Misty about, and if the trial is as one sided as you say it is, I might not get another chance.”

“But, Zipp. It’s a long flight from here to Zephyr Heights. You’re probably still too weak to make it.” Pipp tried again to change Zipp’s mind. 

“We can take the Marestream. Sunny, you’ve flown it before, right?” Zipp asked her orange coated friend, already knowing her friends would let her pilot it herself due to the recent events.

“I have.” Sunny admitted before quickly adding. “But that was months ago and only once. I’m nowhere near as experienced as you. And with all the stress you’ve been feeling, we don’t want to overwhelm you more.”

It seemed like Zipp was about to say something in response, but stopped herself. Pipp, Hitch, and Sunny smiled, thinking they’ve succeeded in keeping Zipp home and away from the stresses the trial would bring. That is until Izzy spoke up. “I can fly it.” The rest of her friends shot her looks telling her to keep quiet, but the unicorn ignored them as she walked over to Zipp. “If going to this is important to you, Zipp, then I’ll help you get there.” She told her pegasus friend as she took her forelegs. “I didn’t do anything when you were first hurting. I’m not going to make that mistake again if it means bringing you closure.” 

Hitch and Sunny’s looks of disagreement softened as they realized Izzy had a point. Pipp, however, did not seemed moved by the gesture. “Do you really think you’re up for it?” Zipp asked Izzy. “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to? I know you’d have a hard time watching Misty on trial.”

“Zipp, I want to do this because it’s important to you. It’s because of our friendship we were able to build the Marestream. If anypony would know how to pilot it besides you, it’s me.” 

“Iz, thank you.” Was all Zipp could say before the two of them hugged. When they separated, Zipp already started heading to the front doors. “Come on, ponies! We’re burning daylight!” She called out to them before leaving to board the Marestream.

The rest of her friends followed suit, but not before Pipp stopped Izzy. “Pipp?” Izzy asked at the sudden move from the pink pegasus.

“Izzy.” Pipp said without looking her in the face. “I trust you as a friend. If you think Zipp needs to see this to get better, I will believe you. However.” She lowered her wing blocking the unicorn and looked Izzy dead in the eye. “If all of this ends up making things worse for my sister, I will never forgive you.” She warned.

Izzy looked at Pipp and nodded seriously. “Trust me, Pipp. Going to see Misty will help Zipp become her old self again.” She assured the princess before going to board the Marestream, leaving a concerned Pipp behind in the Brighthouse.

Worried about everything that could go wrong.





The flight to Zephyr Heights was a relatively smooth one. True to her word, Izzy did know how to fly the Marestream and only really needed Zipp’s coaching to help with the landing. Once they disembarked from the Marestream, the five friends went straight for the palace’s throne room where Queen Haven was waiting for them. Barely even a second after the large doors were opened, Zipp found herself in her mother’s embrace. “Oh, my darling!” Haven cried.

“Mom.” Zipp said softly in reply. Normally she would’ve been embarrassed by this much affection in front of her friends, especially Hitch, but being hugged by her mother helped ease the pegasus’  nerves.

“I heard about your panic attack and expected you to not come.” Haven said as she began to nuzzle her Zipp’s head.

“Mom.” Zipp said again, though this time as a playful groan. “Come on. After everything that I’ve went through, you think that some cold wings would keep me down?” She teased.

“I guess not.” Queen Haven replied as she pulled away slightly to look into her daughter’s eyes. “Oh, my brave warrior princess. I’m so proud of you for how far you’ve come.”

“Thank you, Mom.” Zipp said as they briefly returned to the hug before she asked the important question. “Where’s Misty?”

Queen Haven was taken aback by this. “Why would you want to know where that mare is? Isn’t the fact that she’s locked up and away from you good enough?”

“I want to know because I wish to speak with her.” Zipp answered.

There was a silence in the throne room as Haven took in her daughter’s request. “Why would you want to speak with her? After everything she did to you? The pain she’s responsible for?” 

Zipp frowned slightly at her mother’s words. ”Misty, what in Equestria did you say to her?” This couldn’t have been just about the trap. There was more to this. “I have questions for her that I’d like to speak with her about in private.” She told her mother. 

Queen Haven looked at her daughter. Despite the seriousness on her face, something she hadn’t seen in a long time, she was still unsure about having Zipp and Misty alone in the same room, even if the unicorn was imprisoned. Seeing that his marefriend was struggling to convince the queen, Hitch decided to step in and help. “Please, Your Majesty. I worry for Zipp just as much as you do. We all do. However, I don’t want to hold her back from something that could help in her recovery. I feel that talking to Misty might be the final step Zipp needs in order to have peace in her life again. I trust Zipp knows what she’s doing. All I ask is that you do the same.”

Haven took in what her daughter’s coltfriend said. How she missed her Zephyrina’s playful attitude, her rebellious nature, her enthusiasm in the air or solving mysteries, and her smile. As a mother, she would give anything to have her be happy again. She gave a long sigh. She just hoped that this was the right thing to give. “Zoom.” The blue pegasus guard stepped forward and saluted the queen. “Take my daughter down to the holding cell.” 

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Zoom saluted.

Smiling that she was going to get her audience, Zipp looked at her mother. “Thank you, Mom.”

“Just be careful, dear.” Queen Haven warned her.

As Zoom led Zipp away, Hitch gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “Good luck.”

“Thanks, honey.” Zipp said with a smile before it turned serious. “I feel I’m really going to need it.”





Zipp had almost never come down to the dark dungeons of the palace before. The only time she had beforehoof was when she was a curious filly and ignored her mother’s orders. Coming back down, she realized that it had barely changed since the last time she was there. It was pitch black, as dark as it was when Zipp imprisoned herself that fateful day. A lantern Zoom brought served as their only light source. There wasn’t a sound besides the hoofsteps of herself and Zoom. 

Eventually, Zoom came to a stop in front of a cell. “We’re here.” She whispered to Zipp as to not alert the occupant inside.

Zipp nodded. “Thank you, Zoom. You can leave us now.”

Zoom was unsure about this, but knew that she couldn’t disobey the princess’ orders. “Be careful.” She warned as she saluted. “There’s no telling what else she could do to you.” With that, she went back to the throne room, leaving Zipp all alone in the dark.

Once she couldn’t hear the hoofsteps of Zoom anymore, Zipp immediately started to get nervous. Being alone in the dark was something she always feared. Still, she knew that she couldn’t back down now. She had come this far, and everypony else was believing in her. She was not going to let them all down and cower away now. She was going to get the answers she was looking for. 

“Misty!” Zipp softly called out. Even with the light of the lantern, she could barely see into the cell, and certainly didn’t see Misty. “Misty!” She called out again.

Hearing her name getting called, the unicorn woke up from her nap with a groan. With it being so dark, she had no idea how much time had passed since she had been locked up. Was it time for the trial already? When she lifted her head, she expected to see a guard either prepared to escort her or offering her a meal. But to her horror, she saw on the other side of the bars the last pony she wanted to be near right now. “Zipp?” Misty said fearfully.

“Hey, Misty.” Zipp softly greeted.

Realizing it was Zipp in front of her, Misty immediately began to panic. “W-why are you here? You shouldn’t be here!” She said as she backed away as far as she could, making sure the pegasus had no chance of seeing her face.

“St-stay away! Please, don’t come any closer.”

Zipp briefly shook her head to remove the memory of her own imprisonment. “I wanted to talk to you.” She told Misty.

“Why would you want to talk to me? Wouldn’t you rather avoid me as much as possible?” Misty asked back.

“After hearing that you turn yourself in for a crime I already forgave you for, how could l not want to see you?” 

“You don’t understand, Zipp. I have to do this. I didn’t realize it before, but I’ve been hurting you more than I ever realized.”

”If I stay around you all, I’ll soon lose control of myself and hurt you all. That’s why I need to stay here.”

“Misty.” Zipp said with concern in her voice. 

“I didn’t know at first, I swear.” Misty said as it sounded like she was about to cry. “But when I found out what I had done, I knew that staying with you would only end up making your recovery worse. And after hearing just seeing me gave you a panic attack, I knew it was right of me to turn myself in.”

”The important thing is that you all would be safe from me!”

Hearing what Misty said made Zipp frown. The mention of her recovery could only mean one thing. Lifting the lantern, she was finally able to see Misty cowering in the very back of the cell. “Misty, what were you told?” She asked the unicorn. “Please, I need to know this.”

Misty didn’t want to continue talking with Zipp out of fear of hurting her more. But at the same time, telling her what she wanted would get her to leave and hopefully never see her again once her trial was done. Sighing, Misty began to tell the story. “Well, it all started one morning Pipp and I were alone in the Brighthouse kitchen.”

To Be Continued