3 days after the trial
It was a clam night, and that seemed to be reflected inside the Crystal Brighthouse. The inhabitants were all sleeping soundly after a long day and were reenergizing themselves for the day that’ll follow. However, not everypony was asleep at this moment.
Despite how she looked, Zipp was still very much awake. She couldn’t sleep. Not from a fear of returning nightmares, those had finally come to a stop, but instead because she was currently a pony on a mission. She had spent the whole day planning it out, and currently the white pegasus was waiting for the signal to make her move.
That signal came when she heard the sound of blankets shifting and a pony getting out of bed and walking down the stairs. She waited for a few minutes before checking to make sure the pony downstairs was who she expected. Sure enough, Pipp's bed was empty.
With everything falling into place, Zipp got out of her own bed and quietly made her way downstairs. At the halfway point, she looked over the railing and saw Pipp was sitting at the kitchen table with a full glass by her hooves. Zipp didn't need to take a closer look to know that it was clearly alcohol of some kind. Now, her sister was able to tolerate alcohol a lot better than she could, and she was no lightweight herself, but Pipp never drank outside of a cup or two at parties. To do so on her own accord was concerning.
"Oh, Pipp." Zipp sighed for her sister, silently also thankful that she hated alcohol so much she didn’t drink it during her own downward spiral or that would’ve probably taken way longer to bounce back from. She resumed her way downstairs, louder this time so Pipp knew she was coming. If the pink pegasus did, she didn’t show it as she just stared at the glass in her hooves.
Once she felt she was close enough to her sister, Zipp spoke up. "Mind if I sit with you?" She asked.
"Good ahead." Pipp mumbled out.
Zipp took her seat and looked over at Pipp. She still looked sobber, so now was the time to pounce. With a sigh, the older sister started the conversation. "Pipp, we need to talk."
"What's there to talk about?" Pipp rhetorically responded, already knowing where her sister was going with this conversation.
"You can't keep doing this to yourself." Zipp told her.
"I can and I will." Pipp responded with a hate filled glare. Zipp recognized it as not hatred directed at her, but rather Pipp's hatred for herself. With a sniff, she tried unsuccessfully to keep the tears forming in her eyes at bay. "You didn't see how I was behaving, Zipp. It wasn't just Misty, I was horrible to everypony!" She cried as the dam broke.
Zipp didn't waste any time and pulled her sister into the biggest hug she could give. Despite feeling that she didn't deserve the comfort, Pipp leaned into the embrace and sobbed into her big sister's coat. "Sssssh." Zipp gently soothed the sobbing pegasus as she gently swayed her own body like a hammock.
"I treated our friends like they were criminals. They were just trying to help me, and I pushed them away." Pipp started to explain everything that had happened that Zipp missed through her sobs. "I sent Misty to be locked away forever. Everypony treated her like a criminal because of the lies I told her! She only turned herself in because I screamed at her! All because I couldn't accept the truth that I was responsible for everything that happened to you."
"Pipp." Zipp said softly, reminding her sister of what she said at the trial with that one word.
"I know, I know. I've tried to move on and accept what has happened without blaming myself....BUT I JUST CAN'T!" Pipp sobbed loudly. "I'M SUPPOSED TO BE BETTER THAN THAT! What kind of influencer can I call myself!? What kind of princess can I call myself!?" She broke off from the embrace and pulled out her phone and opened it to show all of her various accounts across media. "I should just delete everything." She whimpered as he hoof hoovered just above the delete button. "After all I did, I don't deserve any of my fans. I've become just like Opaline."
That was it for Zipp. Before Pipp could even blink, she swiped the phone from her sister’s hooves. “Hey!” Pipp said in protest as she tried to get the device back, but Zipp kept it out of reach.
“I don’t want you ever saying something like that again, Pipp Petals!” Zipp scolded her sister. Pipp winced at both the strict tone from her big sister and her full name being used, but Zipp sighed and pressed on. “I’m sorry for scaring you, but you should never compare yourself to Opaline.”
“Why shouldn’t I?" Pipp rhetorically asked in response. "From how Misty described her, how are we both not glory seeking bitches that care only for power and being better than everypony else?"
"Because you did something Opaline never would do. Regret." Zipp answered.
Not expecting that kind of response, Pipp looked up at her sister in confusion. "What?" She choaked out.
"Opaline never showed any signs of regret for what she did to Misty or anypony else. She could've stolen all of our magic, leveled our homes, and all she would've regret was that she would've still lost in the end. But you realized what you did was wrong on your own and feel guilt for it. You apologized for what you did, something Opaline would've froze over a thousand times before doing." The white pegasus explained.
"Yeah, a lot of good that does though." Pipp retorted with a sniffle. "If you hadn't defended her then Misty would've been found guilty of crimes she didn't even commit, and then she-"
"But she didn't." Zipp gently reminded Pipp.
"She still could’ve!” Pipp shouted back.
Wincing slightly at her tone, Zipp still expected this to be a problem. After all, she had spend months worrying about the pony she could’ve become, so she understood how terrifying what ifs could be.
Doing the only thing she could currently think of, Zipp just kept on hugging and gently soothing Pipp while the small pegasus continued to cry into her sister's coat. They stayed like that until Pipp's sobs seemed to quiet down. Making sure the pink pegasus hadn't fallen asleep, Zipp slowly pulled away and looked into her still awake sister's tear stricken eyes. "Feeling better?" She asked with a comforting smile.
"A little." Pipp admitted with a sniffle before smiling back up at her sister. "Thank you, Zipp."
"Hey, you took care of me when I needed it. It's time for me to take care of you." Zipp said as she helped her sister off her seat and onto her hooves.
Hearing that did make Pipp feel better, but there was still a massive hole of sadness in her heart. "But..."
"Ssssh." Zipp interrupted with a wing on the lips. "One day at a time, Pipp." She said as they reached the bedroom. "One day at a time."
They arrived at Pipp's bed and the pink pegasus hopped on and slid under the covers. Zipp was about to head back to her own, when she saw the pleading look on her sister's face. Chuckling softly to herself, Zipp joined her sister and pulled her into a massive hug that Pipp returned.
As her baby sister nuzzled into her like she was a massive plush toy, Zipp gently stroked her mane until she felt Pipp's breathing go to that of a sleeping pony. Despite the fact she was exhausted herself, the pegasus didn't fall asleep. Not that she minded if it meant keeping an eye on her little sister to protect her from nightmares.
Normally it was her alarm or the chirping birds outside that woke Pipp up, but not today. Instead, it was a ticklish feeling in her ear that awoke her from her slumber. "Pipp." She heard somepony call to her in a teasing manner. Slowly opening her eyes with accompanying giggles, Pipp saw Zipp looking at her with a tired smile on her face. "Morning, sleeping beauty."
"Morning." Pipp responded sleepily with her own smile. She was about ask what her sister was doing in her bed, but then the night before came rushing back to her and she frowned.
Noticing her mood was already dropping, Zipp lifted Pipp's head with a wing. "Still feeling down about last night?" She asked.
"Yeah." Pipp nodded in response as tears started to form in her eyes again. "I know I'm supposed to move on and accept the past without blaming anypony, but I just can't seem to do it!" She cried before falling into Zipp's chest again. "I'm sorry I let you down!"
"Nopony said letting go was easy." Zipp said. "It took me months to get to where I am now. It'll take more than one night before you feel like yourself again."
"And you haven't let any of us down." Somepony else said.
Pipp gasped and broke the hug to see the rest of her friends standing by the stairs with smiles on their faces. "Wh-what do you mean?" She asked.
"What we mean is that we don't hold anything against you for what you did." Hitch told her as the rest of them approached the bed.
"We were mainly worried that you'd end up doing something that you would later end up regretting and couldn't take back." Sunny added.
"We could never hate you, Pippi." Izzy finished.
Despite the smiles her friends and sister were giving her, Pipp still found herself crying in sadness. "But you should." She retorted. "I nearly got Misty locked away forever and treated you all so horribly. How can you forgive me so easily."
"Because we know you weren't yourself when that happened." Misty said as she joined Zipp and Pipp on the bed.
"But I was!" Pipp countered with a sob. "There weren't any evil necklaces to shift the blame to! Everything I said to you I said on my own accord!" Seeing how distressed Pipp was, Misty took the opportunity to pull her into a hug of her own. "How can you forgive me so easily!? Because of me you're a slave to our family forever! How can you be okay with that?!"
".....Because you did the same for me." Misty answered, making Pipp look at her with confusion.
"Huh?"
"I wasn't sentenced because of what you said I did. It was for something I actually did do in trapping you and Zipp in that cave. Sure, you yelling at me is what made me go to your mother and say everything. But, come on, what are the chances she wouldn't have found out regardless." Misty joked, earning small laughs from the group, including Pipp.
"Yeah, Mom does have a tendency to be like a hawk when it comes to us." Zipp said.
"Besides, it's not like I'm really being punished either." Misty assured Pipp. "All I have to do is accompany Zipp to a few places and do favors for her. It's nothing I wouldn't do if I didn't want to."
"Trust me, I tell her she doesn't have to be all formal with me, but she can't take no for an answer." Zipp joked, earning another laugh from the group while Misty blushed in embarrassment.
Even Pipp was laughing with them now. And when she stopped, she wiped the tears off her eyes with her hoof. "Thank you, everypony. I still feel that I screwed up greatly. But hearing that you all still care for me helps me feel better."
"Hey, that's what friends are for." Sunny said as she and Izzy helped Pipp out of bed. "Now, come on! I got some breakfast with your name on it!" She beamed as the three of them went downstairs with Misty in tow.
Leaving Zipp alone with Hitch and Sparky in the bedroom. As she slowly got out of the bed with help from her coltfriend, she let out a massive yawn of her own. "Whoa. Somepony sure didn't get any sleep last night."
"Yeah, and while I would do it again if it means keeping Pipp safe from nightmares, I think I'm going to be catching up on some much needed sleep once breakfast is done."
Hitch smirked and moved closer to Zipp, her wing instinctively wrapping around him. "Need me to keep you company?"
"Hmmm." Zipp pretended to think about the offer. "It would allow me to sleep better." She said as she pulled him in closer. "But you're not leaving until I say you can." She teasingly whispered into his ear.
Hitch gave a feigned worried look and the two shared a laugh as they went downstairs to join the others.
It had been a long and tedious journey for Zipp. Many challenges, both physical and mental, stood in her way. But with the help of her friends and family, including a possible future husband if she had her way, the young princess could finally say that she had reached the end of the Path to Peace.