//------------------------------// // Clear Betrayal // Story: Path to Peace // by Flamewarrior02 //------------------------------// 64 days after Zipp's breakdown "K-kill her?" Misty staggered out after hearing what Opaline just said. The alicorn in question groaned and rolled her eyes in annoyance at her minion's ineptitude. "Yes, kill her. What, do you need me to explain it in a song?" "No! No! I get what you're saying." Misty quickly assured her mistress before asking with a nervous smile. "It's just...why do we need to focus on killing Zipp? Shouldn't our priority be getting you dragon fire?" "We won't get any dragon fire with that princess flying around!" Opaline yelled, knocking Misty back into the wall. "Haven't you figured it out yet that she's suspicious of you!" She scolded the unicorn before she lowered her voice and said. "That is why you destroyed my necklace, correct? To make her trust you?" If Misty wasn't scared before, she was now. Opaline didn't say anything about the necklace when she returned that fateful day, so she assumed she didn't notice or cared and didn't say anything about it. Anything was better than telling Opaline the truth of why she did it. "Oh, uh, yeah! Definitely! Just some good old deceit to keep her off my trail." She blurted out nervously so Opaline would still be convinced otherwise. Thankfully, it seemed she took the bait and nodded in satisfaction. "Good. Then it shouldn't be too hard to complete the job then." "That's right." Misty nodded as she got back onto her hooves before she replayed what Opaline said in her head. "Wait, job? What job?" She asked. "Ugh." Opaline facehoofed at Misty still not picking up the obvious and needing to be explained things like a dumb filly. "The job you have of killing that princess." Misty’s face went from horrifed to utterly horrified. “M-me?” She stammered out. “You want me to kill her?” “I can’t go out in public, otherwise I’d gladly do it myself, so it has to be you.” Opaline reminded her. “Oh….right.” Misty said depressingly before asking another question she knew she would regret asking. “How am I supposed to do it?” “I don’t care: poison her, drown her, decapitate her. Just as long as she’s dead.” Opaline answered, starting to get fed up with Misty’s constant questions. “Is that enough to follow?” She asked harshly. “No! No! I got it!” Misty fearfully replied as she prepared to leave the room and end this horrible conversation. “Oh, one more thing.” Opaline stopped her before she could get out the doors. “Yes?” Misty hesitantly turned around. “Because this mission is of the upmost importance, and you’ve made a habit of letting me down when it counts, I am making sure you take this task more seriously than any other mission I have sent you on before.” Opaline said as she levitated a dagger and a box from behind her throne. “Until the princess is dead, you are forbidden to return here. And to make sure you have completed the job, I demand you bring me proof of her demise: her head, her heart, her entire body even.” She explained as she floated the items over to Misty, who hastily caught them in her hooves. “Do we have an understanding?” “I-I-I-“ Misty struggled to say anything at all. And his annoyed Opaline to the point she got up and walked over until she was towered over the unicorn like she was an insect about to be crushed. “I said Do We Have An Understanding, Misty?” She coldly demanded of her minion. “Y-Y-“ Misty swallowed a huge gulp before answering. “Yes, Opaline.” She said as she bowed her head. Opaline smiled at the unicorn’s cooperation. “Good.” She said as she gently patted Misty’s head. “Complete this, and I promise you’ll have your Cutie Mark. Now, isn’t that nice of me?” The alicorn asked as she lifted Misty’s chin so she was looking into her eyes. “It is, Opaline.” Misty replied, feeling a great sense of discomfort with her mistress touching her. Opaline smiled again as she backed off, much to Misty’s relief, and sat back down on her throne. “Now then. Go and pack everything you’d need. I’m expecting you’ll be gone for a while.” “At once, Opaline.” Misty said as she bolted out of the room as fast as her hooves could carry her. Once Misty was gone, Opaline looked into her pool as an image of Zipp and her friends appeared. “Soon, my sweet little Zephyrina. Soon you will learn the price for your attempts to defy me." She declared before laughing evilly. “Mwahahahahahaha! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” After packing all her belongings, which wasn’t much to begin with so it was possible, Misty got as far as she could from Opaline’s Castle, while also not getting within Maretime Bay’s borders, and stopped. She needed to talk with somepony about everything that had just transpired. Fortunately, she did have somepony to talk to, even if they weren't exactly living, and pulled out the toy unicorn she made for such occasions, placing them on the ground as she sat on her haunches and spoke. "Oh, I really mucked it up now, Madame Taffytail!" She cried. "Opaline wants me to kill Zipp, as in actually full on murder her, and won't let me back into the castle unless I succeed! What am I gonna do?" Being a toy, Madame Taffytail didn’t say anything, so Misty had to conjure up a response to her own question. “No, I’m not going through with it!” She yelled at the doll as she stood back up. “I can’t, no, I won’t do it!” She corrected her wording before explaining. “Yeah, Zipp might be a little mean to me compared to the others, but that’s just because she’s worried for her friends and everyone else. You can’t hold it against somepony for accusing you of being evil when you are doing something evil. No Cutie Mark is worth having somepony killed to get it, especially a friend.” A horrible thought then came into Misty’s head. “If this is how she wants Zipp dealt with, what would’ve happened if I brought her Sparky?” She tried not to imagine, but the image of the baby dragon being tortured appeared as clear as day. This was soon followed by the rest of her friends, each suffering a different, horrific fate from Opaline that she helped bring them to. “GAH! What’ve I done?!” She shouted as she fell to the ground and looked like she was about to start crying before she stopped herself. “NO!” She said with forced determination. “Now is not the time to feel sorry for myself. I have to do something!” She declared. Misty looked at Madame Taffytail, imagining the toy saying something again. “I can’t just move in with my friends and pretend nothing happened. Sooner or later, Opaline will realize I’ve failed and probably will take matters into her own hooves. I don’t know what she’s doing when I’m not around. For all I know, she’s much stronger than she realizes, even without dragon fire.” She told the toy. “I have to tell my friends and warn them. It’s the only way to stop Opaline.” She said before picking up her doll and starting running straight for to the Brighthouse, or would have if another important point hadn’t been brought up and made her stop. "But, if I tell them about Opaline, then they'll know that I've been working with her this whole time." Misty realized. "They'll be furious with me. They'll hate me for sure. I'll probably even be locked up forever!" She exclaimed as she grabbed Madame Taffytail and pulled her to her face. Misty stared at the toy, imaging what she was saying, and sighed. "You're right. I helped make this mess, I have to help clean it up and take responsibility for what I've done. They all may hate me forever, but at least they'll still be alive and have each other." She told herself as she put the doll away again and this time went to the Brighthouse without any interruptions. Well, there was one interruption, and that being when she got there her friends were all dressed up and seemed to be ready for a big event. As it turns out, tonight was the night of the Manesquerade Ball at Zephyr Heights, and they all were just about to leave for the event. This through a curve ball in Misty's plans. She was going to tell her friends, namely Zipp, about everything she had done and what Opaline was planning. But now, it just didn't seem right to ruin their fun night with betrayal. So, against her better judgement, she decided she'd go to the ball with them and tell them everything tomorrow. It would be nice to have one last moment of fun with them before she loses their friendship forever. Everything seemed to be going well once at the ball, that is until Misty noticed that Zipp seemed to be sneaking off from the party. “What are you doing?” She asked herself before coming up with a possible theory. “Looking up information on Opaline?” The unicorn wasn't aware on just how much Zipp had uncovered about Opaline, if she even knew the alicorn by name. If she didn't, which seemed likely given she was leaving the party to do research, then she could possibly help her uncover information. Like she stated earlier, she didn't know everything about Opaline and could be unaware of a very important detail. The last thing she wanted to do was send her friends to their deaths because of her ignorance. Following the pegasus in secret, force of habit on Misty's part, the unicorn noticed Zipp enter a large room that appeared to be restricted and quickly followed her inside before the doors closed. Oblivious to her follower, Zipp put on her visors and began to scan around the massive library for any possible books that could tell her about the evil pony of Twilight's warning. From what she could gather, which was so far only based off the single message she recorded, the evil pony had to be an alicorn since it was unlikely a unicorn, pegasus, or earth pony would push Twilight Sparkle, an alicorn herself, into such a corner that she'd have to do what she did. And since from what she could remember from Sunny's notes, alicorns were not common ponies and only were among a select few. That meant that there was a pretty good chance that there was some information about this particular alicorn written down and logged in one of these many, many books. “The question now is just which book is it.” Zipp muttered to herself as she zoomed in on the one self to begin to search among the titles. “Magic for Ponies. History of Zephyr Heights 10th edition. Unexpurgated Book of Unicorns and Their Diets. I don’t even want to know why that’s a thing.” She told herself before resuming her search. But her search was interrupted when she heard the sound of somepony sneezing, followed by a loud “Oww!”. Alarmed, Zipp quickly landed and got into a defensive stance. “Who’s there?! Show yourself!” She demanded. To her surprise, emerging from behind one of the selves was Misty. "It's just me." She said nervously, hoping she didn't scare Zipp too much. "Misty?" Zipp said in confusion to the unicorn's presence. "What are you doing here? How did you even get in?" "I, uh, saw you coming in here and decided see what you were up to." Misty answered nervously, not wanting to get Zipp worried by accident. But she quickly realized what she said was the wrong thing and covered her mouth in a vain attempt to minimize the damage. "So you were following me." Zipp glared at the unicorn. "No!" Misty blurted, before realizing she messed up again. "I mean, I was, but just because I wanted to see what you were up to in here." She said before cursing herself again for her mess up. "Damn it!" If Zipp wasn't suspicious already, she defiantly was now as she flared out her wings in anger, frightening Misty even more. "All right, that is it!" She shouted as she stomped towards the unicorn. "Ever since we first met, you have been acting suspicious and hiding stuff from me and the rest of our friends, and I have had enough of it!" Misty backed away in fear as Zipp got closer and closer, looking like she was literally going to harm her, until she was backed into a corner and fell onto her haunches. "Enough of these dumb games, Misty! Tell me what you're hiding or I'm going to force it out of you!" Zipp threatened, pawing her hoof to let Misty know this wasn't an empty threat. But Misty didn't get the chance to confess as just after she said that, Zipp looked at the unicorn's horrified expression and posture and realized what she was doing. "Oh, my gosh." She whispered to herself as she backed up to give Misty some space. "I am so sorry, Misty." She apologized to the unicorn before she started berating herself. "Ugh! Why did I think this was a good idea?! I shouldn't have done this alone!" The detective scolded herself for assuming she was ready to go off on her own already. Clearly she still wasn't able to do that without regressing. Misty didn't understand exactly what Zipp was so upset about, assuming it to be stress in solving the case more than anything else, and decided she could give her a small truth tonight before the big one tomorrow. "Actually, you are right, Zipp. I have been hiding something from you." She admitted as she stood up and rubbed her flank, revealing it to be blank. Zipp gasped at the revelation. "You don't have a Cutie Mark?" She said in shock. Misty sadly nodded in silence. "But why didn't you tell us?" Zipp asked. "At first it was to blend in with the rest of the crowd." Misty explained. "What would ponies think when they saw a grown up unicorn without a Cutie Mark? But then as we started to become friends, I felt that if I revealed it that I'd lose that friendship." Even if she was leaving out details regarding Opaline, everything Misty said was the truth. And Zipp seemed to know that if the guilty look on her face was anything to go by. "Oh, Misty. I'm so sorry. I should've been more welcoming of you, instead of trying to push you away." She scolded herself again. "No, it has nothing to do with you specifically. Even if you were as welcoming as everypony else, I still would've been afraid of losing my first friends." Misty said as it looked like she was about to start crying. Zipp noticed this and immediately forgot about her own self pity and went to comfort Misty, wrapping a wing around the distraught unicorn and pulling her into a hug. "There. There." She assured Misty with gentle pats on the back. "I promise, you're not going to be losing any friends over this." Misty looked up at Zipp, surprised by the pegasus' words. "I'm not?" She repeated. "Nope." Zipp shook her head with a comforting smile. "But, I lied to you all. Why aren’t you angry with me?” Misty asked. She didn’t understand. If this was Opaline she would’ve felt whatever wrath the alicorn felt like unleashing upon her. But Zipp…she didn’t seem to hold any grudges whatsoever. “Because holding grudges isn’t something we’re known for doing.” Zipp said. “Especially over things as small as hiding a lack of Cutie Mark.” As they remained in the hug, Misty felt a sense of comfort she never experienced before. But also a sense of dread. True Zipp, and by extension the rest of her friends, might forgive her for this. But what about when she reveals everything about Opaline? It was a question she was afraid to find the answer to, but it was going to come wether she was ready or not. Thinking about Opaline made Misty remember why she followed Zipp in the first place. “Um.” She spoke up nervously. “So, if we’re cool now. May I ask what exactly it is you’re looking for?” Thankfully, this time Zipp seemed to be much more cooperative and said. “I’m looking for a book about alicorns. I’ll explain why in more detail later, but it’s extremely important for a major case I’m working on.” “You think this book might help then?” Misty suggested as she ran to retrieve one of the books that fell from the shelf when she sneezed into it. Zipp took the book and gasped at what the title read. “Alicorns of the Ancient World?! This is perfect!” She exclaimed as she spun around in the air with excitement. “With this book, we might just have the key to saving Equestria!” Despite Zipp’s enthusiasm, Misty only partially shared it. “Yay!” She forced out, though Zipp didn’t seem notice this. The rest of the ball went off without any problems and once they returned to the Brighthouse, Misty said her goodbyes and departed. Though she didn’t travel far, Opaline wasn’t going to let her back in anyway, so for that night she slept in a tree. It was very difficult to get comfortable, so she didn’t fall asleep until very close to sunrise and woke up late morning. She didn’t know if she slept in too much and Zipp was already gone for the day, but she knew that today was going to be the day she told them everything. Making sure to go over everything so no details were skipped and overlooked, Misty stood before the massive doors of the Crystal Brighthouse. “All right, Misty.” She told herself. “This is it. No turning back. No running away. This is what must be done.” She encouraged herself as she opened the doors. On the other side was not only Zipp, but also Hitch and Sparky. The young dragon was currently playing with a large ball while his parents watched on, his mother wrapping her wing around his father as they nuzzled. Seeing such a loving scene warmed Misty’s heart, but also cracked it as she knew this family was in immediate danger. The doors opened all the way and Misty stepped into the Brighthouse living room, letting those present know she was there. “Hey, Misty!” Zipp greeted her with a smile and friendly wave. “Hey.” Misty replied back without the enthusiasm. Something that Zipp noticed this time. “Is there something wrong?” She asked as she and Hitch got off the couch and walked over to the unicorn. Misty saw there concerned looks and swallowed a massive gulp. This was it. “There is.” She said. “Zipp, there’s something I need to tell you.” “What is it?” Zipp asked, her concern growing from the way Misty looked. The unicorn was looking utterly ashamed with herself. Like she had just done something unforgivable. “The alicorn that you were looking up information for last night…..she wants you dead.” Misty confessed. Her confession surprised the duo. “What are you talking about? Who wants me dead?” Zipp asked. “Opaline. The evil alicorn after the Unity Crystals and Sparky’s dragon fire.” Misty revealed. “How do you know this?” Hitch asked before the answer quickly came to him. “You’ve been working with her this whole time.” He glared at the unicorn. “You’ve been using us.” “It was my job.” Misty tried to explain. “I was supposed to get Sparky, but then-“ “You decided to get the rest of us for bonus points!” Hitch shouted accusingly at her. “No!” Misty tried to deny, but failed in convincing them otherwise. “I should’ve known there was more to you than simply not having a Cutie Mark.” Zipp said as she flew over to Sparky and pulled him close to her, the young dragon confused, and slightly frightened, by the sudden change in his parents attitudes. “And to think I started to trust you enough to the point I was going to let you in on my investigation.” She glared at the unicorn she comforted just the night before. “Please, I’m sorry-“ Misty tried to say before Hitch tackled her to the floor and restrained her, one hoof grabbed a foreleg while the other went around her neck. “No, you’re not!” Hitch said before tightening the hold and adding. “Not yet.” He normally tried to avoid violence when possible, but finding out that both his son and lover were in danger, he decided to make an acception. “Please!” Misty begged. “I just want to help you!” “And you think after everything you’ve done we’d trust you?!” Hitch shouted at her. “You’ve got to at least listen to me!” Misty pleaded before Hitch tightened the hold, almost choking the unicorn. “Enough of your lies!” Hearing his father sounding so angry, as well as seeing Misty in distress, was too much for Sparky and he started to cry into Zipp’s coat. Truth be told, as mad as she was, Zipp also was getting uncomfortable by seeing Hitch holding Misty down as the unicorn pleaded for them to listen to her. She seemed to really be serious in what she was saying. What if she was telling the truth? “Hitch. Let her go.” Zipp calmly told the sheriff. “What?!” Hitch said in surprise as he looked over at his marefriend. “Zipp, did you not just hear what she just said?” “I did. But look at Sparky.” She gestured to the whimpering dragon in her hooves. “Don’t let him see his father like this.” Seeing his son crying because of something he did broke Hitch’s heart and made him forget about his anger. Releasing Misty from the hold, the stallion ran over to his son and scooped him up in his arms, nuzzling and assuring him it was over and he was very sorry. Taking a moment to let her heart rate slow down, Misty tried again to speak with them. “Please. I know I’ve betrayed you before, but I promise that now I only want to help you defeat Opaline.” “And why should we believe you?” Zipp asked as she walked up to the unicorn, making her shrink down as she approached. “Everything you’ve ever told us was a lie.” “………..Because you’re my friend.” Misty answered. Zipp’s expression didn’t change much from this answer, and Misty feared that she failed in convincing her too. The pegasus mare backed up slightly before she gestured Misty to follow her. “Come with me.” She said. “Huh?” Both Misty and Hitch said in confusion to Zipp’s request. “If you truly are wanting to help us now, you can start by giving me information on Opaline I couldn’t find in the book that could be helpful.” Zipp explained. “But, Zipp-“ Hitch tried to convince her otherwise, but she stopped him. “Now’s not the time to be stubborn and hold grudges, Hitch.” Zipp told her coltfriend. “If what Misty says is true, we should use this knowledge to defeat Opaline.” “I guess so.” Hitch replied with uncertainty before asking. “But are you sure we can trust her? For all we know, this could be part of some kind of plan.” Zipp paused and thought about last night. Everything Misty said that night felt genuine. The crying she felt when holding the unicorn, that was real. Her instincts warned her about Misty before, and they were right, even if she didn’t follow them completely. Know they were telling her to give Misty a chance. “We won’t get anywhere if we don’t try.” She said as Misty joined her on the stairway, keeping her head down in shame. “Go and tell the others that there’s going to be an important meeting here in about an hour or two. But don’t say what it is, or especially how we found out. It’s better to hear all that together.” “Okay.” Hitch said as the two mares went upstairs while he pulled out his phone to send the message before joining them upstairs to help with the planning. In the bedroom, Zipp pulled out the book she got the previous night and opened up the page on Opaline. “All right, Misty.” Zipp said as she turned to face the still nervous unicorn. “Tell me what you know about Opaline’s power.” And that’s exactly what Misty did. She explained about Opaline’s need for dragon fire, her current inability to steal the Unity Crystals, her plan to get around that issue, and many other things, including Opaline’s recent mission for her to kill Zipp. She also answered many questions asked by Zipp, most of which regarding around previous missions of hers and how she ended up with Opaline in the first place. Zipp, and Hitch when he joined them, were shocked to hear all of this. Not just from what Opaline was planning, and for how long she’s been planning her revenge on ponies they assumed were long dead, but from the way Misty spoke. The unicorn seemed afraid, not of them and what they would do to her, Zipp assured Misty she wouldn’t be harmed many times since they started. No, instead it seemed like Misty was still frightened of Opaline. Despite stating her powers couldn’t get into the Brighthouse, the unicorn constantly seemed to look around in fear that the alicorn might be listening in and will kill her in revenge for her betrayal. Hitch noticed this and frowned. Being the Sheriff, he’s had to deal with many different cases, and abuse was not as uncommon in the bay as one would’ve initially thought. Seeing Misty now, it was as clear as day that Opaline was not a caring guardian to her. It almost made the stallion forget that this is the same mare who admitted she kidnapped his son. Almost. Once Misty finished giving all the information she could, she looked down in shame again. “I’m sorry.” She apologized again. “I should’ve never done any of what I did. You can take me away now. I won’t resist.” She said as she defeatedly held out her hooves for the hoofcuffs to be clasped on. Zipp looked over at Hitch, silently letting him know that it was his call. Hitch didn’t know what to do. Sure, Misty confessed to many crimes to earn her jail time for months, maybe even years, but was that really the right thing to do? Was that Justice or vengeance? Hitch’s thoughts were interrupted when he saw Sparky walk over to Misty and hug the unicorn’s leg in comfort, making her smile briefly at the gesture. His son, the one she dragonnapped, seemed to forgive her. That helped him in making his decision. “I’m not going to arrest you, Misty.” Hitch told her. “Huh? You’re not?” Misty said in confusion. “But, I’ve been working with Opaline this whole time. I tried to steal Sunny’s lantern. I trapped Pipp and Zipp in a cave. I dragonnapped Sparky!” She shouted as she looked like she was about to cry. “I did so many horrible things. Why wouldn’t you want to lock me up for good?” “Because it sounds like you already escaped from one prison.” Hitch told her, placing a gentle hoof on her shoulder and smiled reassuringly at her. “It would be wrong of me to put you into another one. Especially when you helped us get all this information on Opaline we never would’ve gotten without your help.” Misty felt another hoof on her opposite shoulder and saw Zipp looking at her with the same reassurance. “Told you we aren’t ponies known for holding grudges.” The smiles and embraces made Misty’s heart warm and she smiled back at her friends. “Thank you.” She said quietly. They stayed like that until they heard the Brighthouse doors open below and Sunny’s voice call out. “Hitch? Zipp? We’re here!” Knowing they had work to do, Zipp flew over to her investigation board and began to roll it down. “Come on.” She told the other two. “It’s time we start putting an end to this.” Both Hitch and Misty nodded and followed after her downstairs where they saw the rest of their friends waiting in the living room. “What’s going on, Zipp?” Sunny asked once she noticed the white pegasus bring in the board. “Yeah, Hitch said you had something important you wanted to discuss with all of us.” Izzy said. “And trust me when I say it’s even more important than I initially thought.” Zipp told them as she set the board up before landing. “Um, Zipp?” Misty asked as she stepped forward. “Perhaps I should start with the explanation. It would make most sense coming from me.” Zipp knew from Misty’s words that she really meant she wanted to come clean now rather than later. Knowing the unicorn would have to at some point, she gestured for Misty to start. Misty took a deep breath, now feeling more assured with friends supporting her and willing to give her a chance of redemption, and confessed. When she was done, all three mares had surprised looks on their faces. Misty didn’t know what they meant, but soon got an answer when Izzy ran up to her unicorn friend and hugged her tightly. “Oh, Misty!” She cried. “I’m so sorry you had to go through all that! I promise I’ll still be your friend!” Surprised Izzy forgave her so quickly, Zipp and Hitch needed some time to process everything first, Misty accepted the embrace. “Thank you, Izzy.” She said as she felt tears of her own forming again. Especially, once Sunny joined in on the hug, with Pipp hesitantly following shortly after, letting her know they forgave her too. Zipp and Hitch smiled at the scene playing out in front of them before the pegasus cleared her throat, letting the four mares know that she still had something to say as they split from the hug and returned to their seats. “Now that we know the identity of the evil pony from Twilight’s warning, we need to act if we’re going to defeat her.” She said as she flipped her board around to show a layout of Opaline’s castle she was working on during Misty’s interrogation. “Thanks to Misty’s information, we know that Opaline was heavily weakened by something Twilight Sparkle did to her long ago.” “Or maybe her age is catching up to her if she was already well over 1,000 when Twilight became Princess.” Izzy interjected. “Or…. that.” Zipp said before resuming her explanation. “Regardless, without dragon fire, Opaline will be a lot weaker than if we fought her at full power. We can use this to our advantage.” “How so?” Pipp asked. “While Misty goes in directly and distracts Opaline, the rest of us will enter the castle through different ways that Misty pointed out, use maps and walkie-talkies to all meet up in the throne room where she is sure to be and surround her. With all of us fighting her at once, we should be able to eventually overpower her once she uses up her energy.” Zipp explained her battle plan. “It’s risky. Opaline will still pack a mighty punch. But it’s our best chance for victory.” Hitch said in agreement to the plan. The others were all hesitant, but still nodded in agreement. “Let’s do it.” Sunny said. “But, wait. Opaline won’t let me return unless I bring her proof that Zipp’s dead.” Misty pointed out. “I’m sorry, what?” Pipp said in shock to this revelation. The prospect of Opaline wanting Zipp dead specifically not being mentioned in Misty’s confession, somehow having accidentally overlooked. Thankfully, Izzy had a solution for that. “Don’t worry! My unicycling skills should be able to craft something within a day or two. We don’t need to invade immediately, do we?” She asked. “Considering we’ll need to train ourselves for the fight, figure out the layout of the castle, find a safe place for Sparky, and make sure that nothing is overlooked in the battle plan, I’d say it should take a few days before we can.” Hitch answered. “Regardless of when it happens, when it does we’ll be ready for it.” Sunny declared as the rest of her friends smiled and nodded in agreement. 3 days later, the Marestream took off from the Crystal Brighthouse. It's first stop was at Zephyr Heights to both drop off Sparky so he'd be somewhere safe and to let Queen Haven know of their plans so she'd be prepared to send the Royal Guards if they failed. The queen was obviously worried beyond belief for her daughters' safety, but with some comforting words from Alphabittle, she consented and wished them luck, promising to guard Sparky with her life. After that, Misty led them in the direction of Opaline's Castle, to which Izzy described as the spookiest place she's ever seen and Pipp couldn't help but marvel in the haunting atmosphere, and split up for the entrances the unicorn pointed out, The pegasus sisters and Sunny, in her alicorn form, going on high while Hitch and Izzy took the lower paths, each with a map that Misty created to help them navigate to the throne room Misty stood at the front door, a box in her hooves, waiting nervously for the signal to go in, anxiously hoping her friends didn't already encounter Opaline and were captured. "Is everypony inside?" She asked through her phone. "Me and Izzy have made it inside and are ascending the stairs of the basement now." Hitch confirmed. "We're coming down from the top room now." Sunny replied. "No sign of Opaline so far. I believe this means she should be in the throne room." "It's go time, Misty." Zipp signaled the unicorn. Misty nodded, hung up, and took a deep sigh before she grabbed the box and opened the door. She walked slowly to the throne room, carefully making sure Opaline wasn't already aware of her presence or their plan. So far, it seemed to all be working without any difficulties as Misty opened the door to the throne room, where Opaline was waiting for her. "I see you've returned sooner than I expected." The alicorn said once the door was opened. Her quick response slightly startled Misty, but she kept up the brave face. "Yes, I have." "And I hope that you haven't forgotten the condition we agreed upon for you to step foot in this castle again." Opaline warned as her horn started to glow with fire. "NO!" Misty suddenly blurted in fear, falling onto her haunches, before she reached behind herself and showed the box to Opaline. "I did exactly what you asked and got rid of Zipp for you." Opaline said nothing and levitated the box from Misty's grasp over to herself and opened it. When she looked inside, she saw what looked like Zipp's decapitated head. "Well done, Misty." She said with a smile. "It seems I underestimated-" She started to say before she looked closer at the head and noticed some details, or rather lack of certain details. "You were saying? You underestimated-" Misty started to say before Opaline cut her off. "Is this a joke to you?" She glared as she pulled the head out of the box and tossed it onto the floor in front of her. "Wh-what do you mean?" Misty stammered out. "I brought you Zipp's head as proof that she was dead." "Oh, this is actually her head?" Opaline rhetorically asked before asking. "Then where's the blood? The bones? Everything else!?" She yelled the last question. Misty's eyes grew wide. Alone, the head looked convincing as a real pony head, but there was no way for Izzy to replicate the blood or bones. They didn't think Opaline would notice. But it seems they should've given her more credit than that. "Uh, well, I, uh.." The unicorn stuttered as she looked around frantically for any signs of her friends, but didn't find any. Things only got worse when Opaline stood up and walked down to Misty while looking her unicorn minion dead in the eyes. "I gave you one job, Misty. One simple job that I warned you of the consequences if you failed, and you go ahead and attempt to deceive me." "No! It's not like that!" Misty lied in an effort to stall her punishment, but Opaline either saw right through it or didn't care. "Please! Give me another chance! I'll do it right this time!" She begged for her life. "You should've thought about that before you failed in getting me the princess!" Opaline yelled as her horn started sparking with electricity. "But she did bring you the princess." A third voice suddenly said, startling Opaline and allowing Misty to scamper away. "Who said that?!" The alicorn demanded to know. "Show yourself!" "Up here." The voice said and Opaline looked up near the stairs to see Zipp standing at the top, glaring down at her. "You." Opaline hissed at the sight of her assassination target in her castle. If that wasn't enough to anger Opaline, it would be when Sunny appeared from behind her. "And she's not alone." The pseudo alicorn said as she stood beside her friend. Hearing the sounds of more ponies entering the room, Opaline looked around and saw Pipp emerge from behind her throne, while Hitch and Izzy came from different sides. Seeing all of her enemies in her throne room surrounding her, it didn't take the alicorn long to figure out what had happened. "You." She hissed at Misty with even more hatred than she did at Zipp and Sunny. "You traitor!" She screamed before firing a blast to obliterate the unicorn on the spot for her treason. Misty covered her face, but wasn't as afraid as Opaline would've expected. And that was because, as she predicted, Sunny and Zipp flew down to save her as Sunny produced a shield that deflected the blast. Seeing that her attack was doing nothing, Opaline stopped the blast, allowing Sunny to drop her shield but still kept her guard up. “Sunny Starscout.” She said with interest of the pseudo alicorn in front of her. “We meet at last.” “So, you’re the evil alicorn Twilight warned us about.” Sunny responded. “The one that tried to steal all of the magic.” “Oh, is that all I’m being referred to nowadays?” Opaline replied, feigning being hurt. “Honestly, I would prefer if you refer to me as I am; the evil FIRE alicorn!” She declared as she stood proudly while flames erupted from behind her. Her display of power unsettled the ponies, but they held their ground. "Not exactly much of a fire alicorn if you can't even make your own fire." Zipp said mockingly. Opaline turned her glare from Sunny to the pegasus. "Zipp Storm. You have been making it a habit of getting in the way of my plans. I was hoping with your little episode would've prevented that from happening again." It took everything Zipp had to not make any reaction to that comment about her struggles, especially since she knew that the alicorn was the one responsible for the necklace and almost everything else that followed. She wasn't going to give Opaline that satisfaction. Seeing her friend was struggling to keep her emotions inside, Sunny took over the talking. "You can't defeat all of us at once, Opaline." She warned the alicorn "The choice is yours, Opaline. Either surrender yourself or fight." Zipp said, already expecting what the alicorn's answer would be. Opaline smiled as she lowered her head in submission. "Yes, of course." She said. "As you wish." Nopony else seemed to notice her horn glowing until she hissed out. "Your majesty!" She shouted before firing a blast at the ponies. "Look out!" Sunny called out before the they all just narrowly avoided the attack and were sent back flying, most of them crashing into the wall. Being behind Opaline at the time, Pipp spread her wings and flew directly for the alicorn and tackled her to the floor. Seeing the opening the pink pegasus gave, Izzy ran over to give her a helping hoof. But Opaline recovered and got back onto her hooves. "Get off me!" She yelled as she tossed Pipp off of her like a bull before smacking Izzy away with her hoof, sending the unicorn rolling into the wall. The alicorn was about to go and stomp her to death with her hooves, but Pipp appeared again and this time grabbed her by the mane and pulled. "Leave her alone!" She yelled as Opaline screamed in pain. Once again, Izzy got back onto her feet and went to go help Pipp. "Hang on, Pipp! I'm coming!" She assured her friend as she ran towards Opaline with her horn lowered. Opaline saw this and used Pipp pulling her mane back to her advantage as she reared onto her hind legs with ease. "I think not!" She said as she hit Izzy directly with a blast of magic, this time knocking her out as she hit the wall for a third time. "And I think it's time you let go!" She yelled at Pipp, who was shocked by what happened to Izzy and lost focus on her grip, and hit the pegasus away with her hoof, knocking her out as well. "PIPP!" "IZZY!" Their friends shouted in horror before Hitch took action and used his Floral Magic to grow vines that grabbed Opaline's hooves and held her in place. "What is this?" She asked as she struggled to move. "Opaline Arcana, you are under arrest!" Hitch told her. Opaline did not looked impressed at the sheriff's attempt to subdue her. "Did you forget the part where I said I was a fire alicorn?" She said before burning away the vines with her magic. Hitch expected this and used this moment of distraction to charge forward with all possible speed. But Opaline was faster in her reaction and grabbed the stallion with her magic and threw him behind herself. "I still think not." She mocked as Hitch hit the floor hard before adding one more jab. "Makes you wonder how you expect to protect that dragon of yours if this is all you can do?" Hearing her threaten Sparky gave Hitch a rage boost that he was going to make the most of. "You leave him alone!" He yelled before he surprised Opaline and tackled her to the ground and held her in a restraint hold. Unfortunately, Opaline still proved to be stronger as she stood up with ease and tossed the sheriff off of her with her magic. But before she could go in and make sure he was either knocked out or dead, an orange blast of magic hit near her hooves. Looking where the blast was coming from, she saw Sunny standing with smoke coming from her horn, indicating it was just used for magic. Now seeing a more fun toy to play with, Opaline chuckled darkly. "Hmmhmmhmm! If you want to be an alicorn so badly, Starscout, then let me teach you how to properly be one!" She said before lunging forward with a mighty flap from her massive wings. Sunny didn't have time to react before Opaline knocked her to the ground and smacked her face with a hoof. The orange mare just barely had time to get out of the way before Opaline nearly hit her with a blast of magic. 'Whoa!" Sunny exclaimed before she formed a shield around herself when she saw Opaline about to crush her with her forehooves. The Alicorn's hooves pressed against the shield, trying in vain to get through while her horn crackled with power. "That magic was never yours to have!" She shouted at Sunny. Needing to get Opaline away from her, Sunny focused all of her energy into the shield and exploded it, knocking Opaline to the ground. After using all of that magic, Sunny took the moment to breath and hopefully quickly recharge some of her energy. "Sunny, look out!" Zipp suddenly warned her. Before she knew it, the earth pony mare was back on the floor with Opaline standing over her, about to go in for the kill. "Don't you dare touch her!" Zipp shouted as she flew towards Opaline as fast as she could as knocked the alicorn away from her friend, allowing Sunny the opportunity to scamper away. Opaline staggered to keep her footing, dazed by the sudden attack. "I was always expecting it to be Sunny to be the one who would be the biggest threat to my plans." She said as she regained her barring and searching for Zipp. "Who would've expected it should've been you I needed to worry about?" Zipp then suddenly flew right into Opaline's face and kicked her in it with her hindlegs. "What can I say? You don't have to be an alicorn to be a threat to villains." She mocked as she flew around the room, waiting for another opening to attack. "Indeed." Opaline said before she fired another blast of magic that scrapped Zipp's wing. "Aah!" Zipp hissed as she crashed to the floor. While she kept consciousness, and seemed to have avoided a broken wing, she couldn't move as Opaline had gotten right on top of her, pinning her down with her hooves directly on the pegasus' neck. "But I wouldn't say that means you can beat me in a fight. Even in my weakened state." Opaline gloated as she pressed down harder and harder. Zipp struggled to breathe and slowly began to lose consciousness. With none of her friends able to help her, it seemed this was the end. Only there was one friend left as Opaline soon screamed in pain when Misty actually managed to impale her flank with her horn. In so much pain from the sneak attack, Opaline staggered away again, blood seeping from the wound, and allowed Zipp to take a much needed breath of air. When the shock of the attack subsided, Opaline glared at her former servant with utter hatred. "YOU!" She said as she grabbed Misty in her magic and pulled her in close. "I'LL KILL YOU FOR THIS!" "MISTY!" Sunny and Hitch shouted in fear for their friend. They tried to go in to help, but a wall of fire prevented their approach. "I SAVE YOU FROM CERTAIN DEATH, AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME!?" Opaline screamed as she tightened her magically grip around the unicorn. "If.....you....were really....my friend.....you wouldn't.....make......me owe you.....anything." Misty choked out from being crushed by the alicorn's magic. This only further increased Opaline's rage. "If it is a blank flank you wish to be, then a blank flank shall you die!" She declared before she tossed Misty out of the windows behind her. "NOOO!" Her friends screamed just as Zipp recuperated from her strangulation. "That's one pest gone." Opaline said like she had just swatted away a fly before turning her attention back to her main target. "And now, Princess, it's time for you to die." She said before noticing a lack of the white pegasus in the room. "What!?" She said in disbelief. "Where'd she go!?" She demanded to know before she flew around the room and began blasting her magic everywhere. "SHOW YOURSELF, COWARD!" She demanded. Outside the castle, Misty closed her eyes, already accepting her fate, and awaited for the end. But it never came as the feeling of the wind rushing past her stopped and seemed to be going in the reverse direction. Opening her eyes, the unicorn saw that it was Zipp who had caught her. "Zipp?" She said in surprise to her savior. "I know you don't believe in getting even, but I'd say this makes us even on the life saving." Zipp said as she flew back to the shattered window. Back inside the castle, Opaline was still flying around and attacking everywhere she thought Zipp might be hiding. And it was beginning to take its toll on the place. "Sunny, this isn't good." Hitch said as parts of the ceiling started to fall around them, Sunny having to produce a shield around them and their unconscious friends to prevent themselves from being crushed. "You're right. We need to get out of here." Sunny agreed as she grabbed Izzy and placed her onto her back while Hitch did the same with Pipp. "But what about Zipp and Misty?" She asked Opaline seemed to be thinking the same thing, at least for one of the two ponies. "What's the matter, Princess!?" She shouted at nothing. "Too afraid to fight and deciding to fly away!?” "I'm not flying away." Zipp's said as she appeared in the window and placed Misty back on the floor, the unicorn quickly running off to help her friends escape while the pegasus princess slowly approached the evil alicorn. "Well, if you did you'd still be alive." Opaline gloated before she fired another blast at Zipp. Or at least she tried to, but all that came out was a puff a smoke. "WHAT!?" She shouted in rage as Zipp smirked. "You're all out." She mocked, making Opaline seethe with hatred before she lunged at the alicorn and the two met in a duel. Both royals, one by destiny, the other by their own force, and reared up as they began to fight like real world horses would. Size proved to be a major factor in this battle as Opaline was able to get more hits on Zipp's face with her hooves than Zipp was on hers. Opaline smiled with wicked eagerness at both her advantage and the damage her rival was taking as she went in for the kill. But Zipp used this moment to get the jump on Opaline, raised her hoof, and hit the alicorn in the face with all of her might, knocking her down to the floor. "Zipp!" The princess looked and saw Hitch standing by the door leading out of the castle, having handed Pipp to Misty while he made sure Zipp escaped. "Come on! We need to get out of here before the place comes down!" Seeing that not only was the ceiling cracking, but also the floor beneath her, Zipp nodded and started to follow Hitch to safety. But before she could reach the door, she felt something grab her tail and pull. "Agh!" Zipp shouted as she suddenly fell to the floor. "ZIPP!" Hitch shouted as he ran to help his lover, grabbing her hoof and pulling with all of his might. Turns out Opaline still had some magic left and she used that to her advantage as she pulled the pegasus closer to her with every intent of finishing her of slowly and painfully with her own hooves, not caring about the castle collapsing around her. Near the entrance, Sunny and Misty saw that Hitch and Zipp weren't with them and turned to see their predicament. "No!" Sunny shouted at the danger her friends were in. She was about to fly over and help them, but Misty stopped her. "Get Pipp and Izzy to safety! I'll help Hitch and Zipp!" She assured her before running off to help them. "Misty!" Sunny called out, but the unicorn kept running to save her friends, so she hesitantly focused on getting the wounded to safety. As Misty ran to help, she tried with all of her might to activate her magic. "Come on, magic! Work with me!" She pleaded. As if some higher being heard her prayers, her whole body began to glow and sparkle, briefly lifting her off of the ground. When it faded, Misty felt a surge of magic run through her. Looking down at her flank, she saw what caused that. "My Cutie Mark!" She said with glee before getting a look of determination. Back with Hitch and Zipp, Opaline's magic was proving to be stronger as it was dragging the couple towards her. "So much for true love!" She laughed evilly. Suddenly, there then was another magically force surrounding Zipp, this one pulling her away from the alicorn. "WHAT!?" Opaline shouted as saw Misty appear besides Hitch, continuing to pull them away with her magic. "Opaline, stop this! It's over!" Misty tried to reason with the alicorn. But Opaline wasn't listening. "NEVER! I WILL HAVE THEIR MAGIC AND THEIR LIVES!" She declared. At that moment, the top of the castle finally gave and the debris fell directly on top of Opaline, crushing her instantly. With Misty's magic being the only one now pulling Zipp, the trio of ponies suddenly found themselves getting flung towards the door. "WHOA!" Outside, Sunny could only watch as the castle began to collapse in on itself before it fell completely, the pieces rolling down the slope and off the cliff. "NOOO!" She cried as it looked like her friends hadn't made it out alive. But when the dust cleared, she saw them. Injured, but very much alive. "OH MY GOSH!" She shouted as she ran up to hug them. "I was so worried!" She cried into their coats. "Don't worry, Sunny. We're safe." Zipp assured her before looking over the edge of the cliff the castle and Opaline went. "We're all safe now." She said as her friends joined her as they looked over the edge with blank expressions. The battle was over, and Opaline was dead. Never to harm magic or anypony else again. At this, Misty began to softly cry. "I know she was a horrible pony, but a part of me still feels sorry for her." Misty finished her story. It had been days since the largest trial in Equestrian history that ended with Misty becoming Zipp's lady-in-waiting. She had just finished recounting her entire story to Dr. Uaminifu, who listened with interest. Zipp was at her side, a wing wrapped around her unicorn friend as she rubbed a hoof along her back. “It’s okay, Misty. Even if she was horrible, she was still like family to you. It’s perfectly normal you’d feel like this about her death.” She assured “Zipp is correct.” Uaminifu agreed. “I’d say it shows great strength on your end to not hold a complete grudge over her and still morn her passing. You saw what not letting go of your hatred could do with Opaline. And after the trial, I’d say you both learned that lesson more than ever.” “I guess we did.” Misty said as she smiled and stood up. “Thanks for listening, Doc. This really helped get this off of my chest.” “Anytime, Misty.” Uaminifu smiled. “Remember, my door is always open.” “I will.” Misty nodded before she left the room, leaving Zipp and the doctor alone. The therapist noticed Zipp not leave, and figured there was something else going on. “Anything else bothering you, Zipp?” Zipp sighed and said. “It’s less me and more my sister.”