Several years pass and as hoped, Pipp adapts well to the flying aids. “Pipp, you enjoying your clouds?” Zipp cracks a smile as she giggles at her little sister.
“Yeah,” responds Pipp with a smile as she unbraids her mane with her hooves before putting on her crown. “They honestly make me feel normal. That I’m not different from every other Pegasus.” She lets out a sigh. “I don’t know what I’d do if our subjects ever found out.”
“Pipperoni, relax,” responds Zipp as she sits down next to her sister, “they wouldn’t care. Our subjects, they love you. Different or not, they love you for who you are.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” responds Pipp with a sigh. “You’re right. I’m their favorite princess. That will never change.”
“Yes, exactly,” responds Zipp with a smile as she ruffles her little sister’s mane with her hoof. “Exactly.”
A few minutes later, the two are summoned into the throne room by their mother where they soon stand face to face with three ponies unfamiliar to them.
“Who are and what are you?” Queen Haven inquires curiously yet firmly of the three strangers before her. “Not here to ponynap me or my daughters, I hope.”
“No, not at all,” the sun colored earth pony mare assures her. “You see, your Majesty, there is a magical artifact built into your crown and we need it to reunite all ponykind again.”
“Okay?” Responds the Queen as she raises an eyebrow. “I’ll think on it.” She then hops down from her throne and leaves the throne room at last leaving the strangers alone with the princesses.
“Sorry about mom,” Pipp pipes up, being her friendly and perky self. “Do you mean it when you say these crystals will help reunite all ponykind?”
“Yes,” responds Sunny with a nod. “I do mean it. My name is Sunny by the way.”
“And I’m Izzy!” Pipes up Izzy with a smile.
“Hitch, nice to meet you, your Highnesses,” responds Hitch with a bow.
“And what are your names?” Sunny inquires with a smile of the princesses.
“Zipp,” responds Zipp with a smile. She’s confident, bold.
“And I’m Pipp,” responds Pipp with a smile as she lets out a little bit of a sigh.
“We can steal the gem from mom at the concert tonight, maybe,” Zipp finally pipes up.
“But that’s wrong, Zipp,” whines Pipp.
“But don’t you want to truly fly?” Zipp soon snaps at her little sister, covering her mouth in shock once she realizes what she’s done.
“Magic or not, Zipp, you know I’ll never fly,” responds Pipp with a sigh as she bows her head in tears, soon leaving the room as she’s galloped after by her big sister, leaving three very befuddled and confused ponies behind to comprehend what happened.
“What did we fall into?” Inquires Hitch trying to make heads and tails of everything.
Soon enough, Zipp soon finds her sister in the garden, cuddling her fillyhood doll close to her chest. “Pipp, I…” says Zipp as she reaches for her sister. Pipp just bats the hoof away.
“You, what, Zipp?” Pipp snaps at her big sister. “You what?! You’ll get to fly! I never will! Not truly! And you know that?! The clouds aid with flight, sure, but I’ll never be able to fly unassisted, even with magic returned.”
“Yes, I know, and I should never have said that,” responds Zipp with a sigh as she sits down next to her sister, “I really am sorry, Pipp. I’m your biggest supporter. Your biggest fan. Your protector. You know I’d never intentionally hurt you. I just got carried away, that’s all.”
“Yeah, I know,” responds Pipp with a sniffle as she falls into tears in her sister’s hooves, “I know. You’re the best big sister I ever could’ve asked for. You’re right. You’ve been my biggest support, my biggest fan, and my hero since day one. I’ll forever be grateful for that. That being said, for me, the return of magic, it’ll still mean nothing. Just know that. I’ll let you do what you want, steal mom’s crown, but just know, to me, it means nothing."
"Okay," responds Zipp with a sigh and an understanding nod as she hugs her little sister close to herself to comfort her. "That's understood. Thanks Pipp."
"Yes, of course," responds Pipp with a sigh and a feigned smile, she's still hurt regardless of the make up, "of course. Now go. I have to practice for tonight."
"Okay," responds Zipp with an understanding nod. "Okay." She then leaves the garden, leaving Pipp alone once more. Once she's sure her big sister is gone, Pipp reenters the palace as well, retreating away to her room to warm up for the concert while Zipp converses with the guests in one of the auxiliary meeting rooms.
"So, what is the plan?" Sunny inquires curiously of Zipp. "And is everything okay between you and your sister?"
"Yes, everything is fine," Zipp lies through her teeth. "As for the plan, I'll sneak mom's crown while she's distracted by Pipp's performance. Okay?"
"Okay," responds Sunny with a nod. "What did your sister mean when she said she'll never fly?"
"That's not my business to tell," responds Zipp with a sigh. "She'll tell you when she's ready. When she trusts you. Okay?"
"Okay," responds Sunny with an understanding nod. "Okay."
Later that night, the concert goes off without a hitch and according to plan, as a result, Zipp nabbing her mother's crown, only to be confronted by her little sister. "Pipp, I thought you said you wouldn't interfere," says Zipp with a sigh.
"And I'm not, don't worry," responds Pipp with a sigh. "With mom busy with the whole media mess of our subjects knowing we all can't fly and all, I want to come with you and the others. You're the only family I have left, Zipp."
"Yes, but," responds Zipp.
"I'll be fine, promise," responds Pipp with a sigh. "Promise. Now where to Next?" She looks over to Sunny, Hitch, and Izzy.
"Alphabittle has the horn shaped stone," says Izzy. "To get it from him, we'll need to play his game and win."
"Okay," responds Pipp with a nod and a sigh, "okay."
A few minutes later, the five leave Zephyr Heights and make their way to Bridlewood at last, soon heading to the teahouse after a much needed disguise glowup. Once there, Sunny beats Alphabittle at his game and retrieves the unicorn crystal. They then return to the lighthouse at last where Sunny soon finds the earth crystal in the floor all thanks to her father's old journal.
And after a few more events, they reunite the crystals at last and the broken picture and restore magic to the world. Not long after they do, Zipp takes to the sky while Pipp remains grounded, confusing the rest.
"Why don't you fly like your sister?" Izzy inquires of Pipp with concern in her voice as she hands the princess a box of tissues with her magic.
"It's because I can't," responds Pipp with a sigh as she takes a tissue and dries her tears. "I was born with deformed wings. The cloud sleeves help me float, sure, but proper flight, not really."
"Oh?" Inquires Izzy as she sits down next to her new friend. "I'm sorry to hear that, but there's nothing wrong with being different. It's not something to be ashamed of."
"Yeah, I suppose you're right," responds Pipp with a sigh. "I suppose you're right." She puts the tissue to the side and grabs at her cloud sleeves with her hooves.
"What are you doing?" Inquires Sunny of her new friend, not entirely sure of what's going on.
"I'm being honest with you. Showing you my true self," responds Pipp with a sigh. She gently pulls off the clouds from her wings and hands them to Zipp to hold. "These are my true wings." She begins to tear up once more, soon taking another tissue from Izzy to dry her tears. "They're small. Broken. Useless." She takes the cloud covers back from Zipp and slips them back on. "I never meant to disappoint you guys. I'm sorry I can't fly."
"Well, don't be," says Izzy as she hugs her friend and dries her tears. "We love you for who you are, wings or no wings."
"Mmhmm," agree the rest with a nod in unison as they join in on a group hug to comfort their new friend. "Wings or no wings, you'll always be our friend. Wings or no wings, you'll always be our friend…"