9 days after Zipp’s breakdown
There was nothing that Pipp valued more than her family. While the exact definition can be debated from pony to pony, Pipp knew exactly who the ponies she called family were. And none of them meant more to her than her sister Zipp.
When they were fillies, they were the definition of opposites attract. They would do everything together despite their different interests. And whenever one was feeling down, the other would be there to pick them back up.
So seeing how her sister was now broke Pipp’s heart. That was actually the first part of the problem, she rarely even saw Zipp nowadays. The older pegasus sister kept maximum possible distance from Pipp, pretty much refusing to share the same room with her out of fear of attacking her again, despite what the rest of her friends kept telling her about it being an accident. If Pipp wanted to so much as catch a glimpse of Zipp for more than a few seconds, it would’ve had to have been while watching her big sister while she slept and made sure she didn’t have nightmares. If she did, then Pipp would have to get Sunny or Izzy to wake Zipp up while she stayed out of sight so her sister wouldn’t freak out at the sight of her and assume the worst again.
And what little Pipp did see worried her immensely. Actually, it worried all of Zipp’s friends. Zipp was starting to look worse instead of better. She was rarely eating, barely groomed herself, only slept for about an hour at most, and had lost quite a few pounds. This was especially worrisome as Zipp’s feathers wouldn’t grow back if her body wasn’t healthy.
If there was any comfort for Pipp, it was that Zipp at the very least didn’t avoid her friends like she did for her. They could sit by her and talk with the white pegasus, but they weren’t getting much back in terms of conversation. Sunny had tried to set up an appointment with a therapist known as Dr. Uaminifu, who helped her when her father passed, but Zipp’s lack of opening up was no doubt going to make the sessions go nowhere.
Nopony really knew what to do going forward regarding Zipp’s recovery, and it was making them all worry. Pipp didn’t have the luxury of worrying all the time. She was an influencer/pop star/mane stylist/product designer, and she had an appearance to maintain. In actuality, all her work was actually something she welcomed with open hooves, more so than usual. It distracted her and allowed to think of things other than her sister.
So Pipp kept on doing more and more activities to distract to herself while her friends handled Zipp. It seemed to be working quite well. However, there was one detail that Pipp either overlooked or chose to ignore. When she overworks herself she gets sick. And the more she overworks, the sicker she becomes.
“Aaah-aaaah-ACHOOOO!” Pipp sneezed into her tissue with so much force that it flew out of her hooves and right onto Sunny’s face. “Sorry, Sunny.” She apologized before resting her head back on the pillow. “Uuuuuuuugh.”
“It’s okay, Pipp.” Sunny assured her friend as she removed the tissues from her face, boogers and all. “Uck!” She said in disgust as she threw it into the trash. “Just a minor price for taking care of a sick friend.”
“And believe me when I say it’s very much appreciated.” Pipp said before coughing a fit.
“Oh, no! Are you about to lose your lunch?” Izzy worryingly asked as she levitated over a bucket. “Because I don’t want you to lose that tea I made you.”
“No, Izzy. It was just coughing this time.” Pipp eased the unicorn’s concerns as Hitch brought her a bowl of soup. “Thank you, Hitch.” She said before taking a sip.
“No problem.” Hitch replied before asking. “Is there anything else that we can get you?”
Pipp put down the bowl and laid her head back down. “You could put me out of my misery.” She groaned in pain.
“Anything within reason?” Hitch asked again.
Pipp thought for a second and then just rolled onto her side, facing away from her friends. “I think I just need to rest.” She told them as she picked up her phone to stream something.
“Okay.” Hitch nodded. “We’ll give you your privacy so you can sleep. But remember-“
“No work. I know.” Pipp repeated what she had been told over twenty times that day. “Trust me, everypony, I feel so crummy right now that I can’t do anything no matter how much I tried.”
“I was going to say call if you need anything, but that also works.” Hitch replied as he, Sunny, and Izzy went back downstairs, though not before Sunny shot one last concerned look at the sick pegasus.
In the living room, Zipp simply laid on the couch, presumably attempting to take a nap. But her nagging thoughts and pounding heart were preventing the pegasus from being able to relax herself. Her ears twitched when she heard the hoofsteps of her friends coming down the stairs. Opening her eyes, she saw them as they reached the floor level.
She was going to ask them how Pipp was but stopped herself. The less she knew about how weak her sister was right now the better. That was the whole reason she refused to go upstairs at all. Zipp knew that seeing Pipp in such a vulnerable state was too great a risk. She already tried to kill her once, and she vowed she’d never do it again. It wasn’t easy avoiding her sister, but if it kept Pipp safe then she welcomed the pain.
Unfortunately for Zipp, her plan hit a snag when her friends walked over to her. “Uh, hey, Zipp.” Hitch said awkwardly. “So…..Pipp’s doing fine.” He told her.
“I mean once you get pass the sneezing, and the coughing, and the throwing up, then yeah, she’s doing great.” Izzy interjected before chuckling nervously at the annoyed looks Hitch and Sunny sent her.
“That’s good to hear.” Zipp muttered.
The three friends looked at each other with concerned looks. They knew that the nightmare from a week ago was scaring Zipp into keeping herself away from her sister. They had hoped that the issue might’ve resolved itself by now, but it was clear that wasn’t the case, and definitely wasn’t going to become the case unless they stepped in.
Zipp clearly needed her sister, just as much as Pipp needed her.
Sunny shared a look with Hitch and Izzy that told them she would try and make the effort. “Well, I guess I better get back to the station to check on Sparky.” Hitch said as he left to check on his dragon son.
“And I should get started on more soup for Pipp.” Izzy said as she left for the kitchen, leaving Sunny and Zipp alone in the living room.
Now that she was alone with Zipp, Sunny thought very carefully about what she would say to her friend. While she was trying to push Zipp into taking action, she also didn’t want to force her hoof. The pegasus princess clearly was afraid of herself at the moment. And somehow Sunny had to convince her to confront that fear in a possibly extreme way that could easily backfire and send them all back to step one.
But Sunny wasn’t a pony to give up just because the odds were stacked against her. Especially when it was related to her friends. She sat down next to Zipp and told her. “You know, there is one medicine that we’ve been trying to get Pipp that we haven’t been able to acquire.”
Zipp already knew what she was talking about. “I’m not going up there.” She told her firmly.
“But, Zipp, she’s your sister.”
“The sister I nearly killed!” Zipp lifted her head off the couch and yelled at Sunny. “Or did you just so happen to forget that ‘little’ detail?” She asked rhetorically with a glare at the earth pony.
Sunny winced at Zipp’s tone. Truth be told, she did kind of forget that Zipp did openly admit to nearly strangling Pipp to death when they found her in the cave. “Zipp-“
“Had I not realized what I was doing a second too late, Pipp would be dead and I’d probably be preparing to go after my mom next. And now I’m getting dreams where I’m killing them both more graphically than strangulation. So you tell me, why I should go and see my sister when she’s too weak to even move?”
Sunny said nothing as she placed a hoof on Zipp’s shoulder. She knew what she was going to say, but she wasn’t proud of it. ”Forgive me.” She said silently before saying what she needed to say.
“Zipp, I know you think that by keeping yourself away from Pipp that you are protecting her from whatever harm you see yourself doing. But the truth is……you’re doing to exact opposite by avoiding her like this.”
Zipp looked confused and surprised at what Sunny told her. “Wh-what?”
“You know why Pipp is so sick?” Sunny asked her with a serious look on her face.
“Because she overworked herself again.” Zipp answered.
“Yes, and you know why she has been overworking herself?” Sunny asked, but this time didn’t wait for Zipp to answer before saying. “Because she was looking for anything possible to distract herself so she wouldn’t be constantly thinking about you. I know because…” She paused as the unpleasant memories played in her mind. “I was the same when my father died.” She said with a choked sob.
The orange earth pony quickly wiped her eyes before continuing. “I would do anything possible so I wouldn’t think about my dad and the circumstances surrounding his death. But that did nothing to help me and only ending up hurting me, both figuratively and literally. And now Pipp is in the same situation I was in. She’s hurting because of you.”
Zipp was taken aback by this and shook her head in defiance. “N-no, I’m not hurting her. I’m protecting her!” She tried to say otherwise, but her tone was indicating she was starting to believe Sunny.
Sunny slowly shook her head. “I’m sorry, Zipp, but that’s not true. How can you protect Pipp if your plan is to not even be a part of her life anymore? You’re not just hurting her, you’re hurting all of us.” She took Zipp’s hooves in her own. “We want you to get better, Zipp. We all hate seeing you like this. But you can’t get better if you don’t want to and not put in the effort to better yourself. So I have to ask you this, do you want to recover from all of this?”
Having said all she needed to say, Sunny left to go help Izzy in the kitchen, leaving Zipp alone to think about everything Sunny said.
Despite all her best efforts, Pipp just would not fall asleep. No matter what she tried, which wasn’t much given her lack of energy, she just couldn’t get comfortable. So she just decided to lay in bed and stare at the ceiling. She heard hoof steps approaching her bed, but didn’t look to see who it was. She just assumed it was somepony bringing her more soup. “Just leave it on the table.” She told them.
Their response surprised her as they actually got into bed with her and wrapped their hooves around her, pulling her into a hug and using their chest as a pillow for the pegasus. Before Pipp could ask who it was, she felt a pair of wings embrace her, telling her exactly the identity of the pony who was hugging her. “Zipp?” She said quietly, and a bit hopefully, as she looked to see her sister’s gently smiling face.
“Hey, Pipp.” Zipp spoke to her sister for the first time in a week. “Comfy?” She asked. Her response was Pipp nuzzling into her sister’s coat like a cat would. This adorable gesture made Zipp chuckle and she rubbed Pipp’s mane with her hoof, earning giggles from her younger sister.
“Mmmm. Much more now that you’re here.” Pipp replied verbally.
Despite the heartfelt answer, Zipp could help but frown. “I’m sorry, Pipp. I still haven’t really been a good big sister, have I?”
Shocked at what her sister said, Pipp lifted her head and looked at Zipp with a pained expression. “What? No!” She shook her head in defiance. “Zipp, you’re the best sister anypony could ask for!” She told her.
“You don’t have to lie to me, Pipp. I know that you’ve been missing me.” Zipp responded. “I’ve been so worried about what I would do to you if I got close that I didn’t think about what being far away from you might result in.” The older pegasus stopped briefly to sniff as she felt tears forming in her eyes. “You shouldn’t have to jump through hoops to get me to notice you, Pipp. I should’ve just-“
“Zipp, stop.” Pipp said firmly as she placed a hoof over her sister’s mouth. “Look, I was the one being needy and constantly trying to distract myself because I couldn’t give my sister some space.”
“You’re not needy for wanting to be able to have a basic conversation with me, Pipp.” Zipp said once Pipp removed her hoof. “You should be able to talk to me whenever you want about whatever.”
“I know, it’s just….” Pipp paused as she thought if she could continue. Zipp already felt horrible with herself as it was. Did she really need more guilt thrown onto her by her little sister?
Zipp noticed something was bothering Pipp and tightened her embrace. “There’s something else, isn’t there?” She assumed. “Pipp, you can tell me what’s wrong. I promise I won’t get upset if it’s about me.”
Pipp sniffled before burying her face into Zipp’s coat. “I don’t want to lose you again. You know how mom would say that as fillies we were attached at the wings?” She felt her sister nod against her head and continued. “As we grew up, we drifted apart and soon we barely spoke with each other. It wasn’t until we returned magic and moved here that I realized how much I had missed the days when we were always together. I feel like we were finally coming back together, maybe even more than as fillies. I just….” She paused as she hiccuped through her tears. “I just don’t want that to end. I don’t want to be a stranger to my sister anymore, just as much as I don’t want her to be a stranger to me.”
Hearing Pipp’s confession broke Zipp’s heart, realizing Sunny was right. She had been so focused in feeling sorry for herself, that she didn’t think about how much her friends were worried for her. How afraid they were for her. She knew that if things continued as they were that they’d all continue to remain miserable. She promised her friends she’d improve in the cave. It was time to start fulfilling that promise.
“Pipp, look at me.” The younger sister complied and removed her head from Zipp’s chest and looked at her with tear strained eyes. “I promise that I will never leave you alone again. That I will always be there for you to lean on.”
“Y-you mean that?”
“Hoof to heart.” Hearing that promise gave Pipp some much needed reassurance and comfort. She rested her head back on Zipp’s chest and smiled. “So, what were you watching before I came up here?” Zipp asked.
“Oh, just some YouHoof videos.” Pipp said with a yawn. “You can pick the show first, this time. I hear a certain show you like has dropped some new episodes.” She sang playfully before giggling at Zipp’s excited face.
“Seriously? Man, it feels like only yesterday since chapter 4 dropped.” Zipp said as she grabbed her sister’s phone and opened up the proper streaming service.
“I still don’t understand how you are so obsessed with a show that’s nothing but big lizards smacking each other around.” Pipp said teasingly.
“I believe you answered that yourself when I questioned what’s the deal with your favorites shows. ‘Spoken like an uncultured mind’ were your exact words.” Zipp joked back before tickling Pipp’s stomach with her wings.
“Zipp, you ass! Not while I’m sick!” Pipp laughed as she tried and failed to keep the wings at bay.
“I’m waiting, Pipp.” Zipp said expectantly.
“Come on! Can’t you just give me a break while I’m feeling ill?”
“Hmmm.” Zipp pretended to consider Pipp’s request before giving her predetermined answer. “Nope!” She said as she now got her hooves involved to make up for her shortened wings.
“Okay! Okay! I’ll say it!” Pipp surrendered. Zipp stopped her tickling, but still held her sister firmly to make sure she didn’t try and escape. “I’m your Pretty Pink Petite Pony Princess Pillow Pipp Petals. Trademark.” She said with a groan.
“You know, I was thinking of some other P-words that could be added. Perhaps plushy? Or poofy? Maybe plumpy?” Zipp laughed as Pipp gently punched her in annoyance.
Despite her sister’s annoying shenanigans, Pipp couldn’t help but smile. “Oh, how I’ve missed this.” She said as she gave another yawn.
“Aww, don’t fall asleep yet. We haven’t even gotten through one episode yet.” Zipp playfully complained.
“You’re not the one who’s sick, Zipp. Besides, you’re the one who always pesters me to rest.”
“And when you wake up, I will still be right here.” Zipp assured her sister.
“I know.” Pipp said as she felt her eyes getting heavy as sleep finally overtook her.
Two days later, and Pipp was back to her regular self. However, instead of live streaming to all of her fans now that she had the energy again, the pink pegasus was instead using this time to be with her sister. Zipp has finally mustered up the strength to leave the Brighthouse and go and meet with the therapist Sunny suggested. Knowing she’d need the support, Pipp decided to accompany her.
The two sisters were now sitting in the lounge of the office, waiting for their turn when the door to Dr Uaminifu’s office opened up and a brown earth pony mare stepped out. “Zipp Storm.” She called out for her next patient.
Hearing her name, Zipp hopped out of her seat and walked over to the waiting therapist. “That’s me.” She said with a weak smile.
“Nice to finally meet you, Zipp.” Uaminifu said as she shook the pegasus’ hoof. “Now, why don’t you step inside and tell me what’s on your mind.” She requested as she moved out of the way and allowed Zipp to enter the room.
Just as she was about to close the door, Pipp stopped her. “Can I please come in? She’s my sister.” She asked the therapist.
“I’m very strict when it comes to doctor-patient confidentiality. Unless Zipp herself says that-“
“She can come in.” Zipp said. “I’d honestly feel better if she was in here with me.”
Dr. Uaminifu looked back at the white pegasus and smiled. “If that is what you want, dear.” She said before allowing Pipp to enter the room and join them before closing the door behind herself. “Now then, Zipp. Tell me what has been troubling you?” She asked as she sat on a large chair while the sisters sat on a couch.
Zipp looked down, hesitating to reveal such details to a stranger, even if Sunny vouched for her. She felt a hoof place itself on her own and looked up to see Pipp’s comforting face. “It’s okay, Zipp. I’m here.” She assured her big sister.
Seeing her little sister’s smile made Zipp smile herself. Truly there was nopony that she could rely on more than her sister. The most important pony in her life.