Well, that got wild very quickly. In fact, it was so utterly belizzling I was still processing it as I galloped along towards wherever we were galloping to.
Not only was Misty here early, she was also Alphabittle's daughter? I don't remember this being established at any point in G5! Maybe it was a bit of background lore waiting to be discovered? Many possibilities, all of them strange, and none of them simple!
Misty seemed to be particularly baffled herself, and was breathing heavily. I dashed over to her. "What's going on, Misty?"
She looked at me, looking confused. "When was it established that Alphabittle's my dad?"
I shrugged. "I dunno. I guess we could discuss it a bit more if we get some time but-"
"Guys?" Hitch said. "Less discussing the plot, more running! I suspect Alphabittle's gonna have every unicorn in Bridlewood on our tail!"
I glanced behind me, and saw nopony on my tail. "There isn't a pony on my tail!" I said. "I doubt it could support the weight of a fully grown pony!"
"Not what he meant!" Sprout said. "Less talking, more running!"
We dashed through another clearing, taking several turns to try and throw our pursuers off us. It wasn't easy, though. I'm not exactly equipped for long distance running, you know!
I rolled through a bush and landed on the other side, trying to cover as much ground as I could.
"Anypony have any clue where we are?" Pipp asked.
"No clue!" Sunny said. "Dad's map doesn't include the interior pathways of Bridlewood!"
"No surprises there then!" Misty said. "I don't think he ever went to Bridlewood!"
Whilst we continued discussing this, we sped along another pathway and hid round a corner as a group of unicorns sped past.
"Find the earth ponies! Find the pegasus!" shouted a voice.
"That's kinda what we're doing!" said another voice.
I hadn't seen many soldiers yet, so that was a relief. Once the threat was clear, we moved forward and went behind another bush to try and hide ourselves from anything else that might pass us by.
My ears suddenly pricked up with the hearing of a strange noise, and my ears dropped. "Oh no."
"What's wrong, Izzy?" Sunny asked.
"I can hear engines! There are vehicles in the area!"
Hitch shook his head. "Tanks. You have gotta be kidding me.
We then heard another voice in the treeline.
"Our vehicles are unable to proceed further- the roadway up ahead is too narrow for our tracks. You'll have to continue on hoof, I'm afraid."
"Armored Personnel Carriers?" Misty suggested, as she looked about. "I hope not. If they are, they'll be carrying soldiers into battle. And dealing with those won't be fun."
"You think?" Sprout said. "I thought I'd escaped enough of this in Maretime Bay!"
Hitch sighed. "We'll talk later, Sprout. In the meantime we need to get out of here."
We dashed into a clearing nearby, hoping the vehicles couldn't follow us, with more extra shouts of BING BONG following us along.
Just then we heard another voice- one that I recognized. "This way!"
We popped out of a bush, and it was a face we hadn't seen in so long.
It was Zipp! She was alive, and boy did she look relieved to see us.
She wasn't the only one though, as Pipp's face lit up with a mixture of relief and joy as she saw her sister for the first time in a very long time. Or rather two people turned ponies who were now playing the parts of siblings, but you know what I mean.
She and Zipp reconnected, and we learned a bit of where she'd been. "Well, trekking across mountains and walking through forests rather does that to ya," Zipp said, followed by her sighing. "I could do with a shower."
"Walking across mountains?" Hitch said. "I don't remember that from the movie."
Safe to say that one surprised us. We weren't expecting a walk across the mountains from Zipp, but still she seemed happy to be with us once again.
Seems she wasn't alone, either. As we talked some soldiers turned up- but not to arrest us. They were on our side, after some prompting from Zipp of course. It would have made no sense for them to arrest Pipp!
And then to complete the complement was the Queen herself and a stallion nopony recognized. And in an interesting twist of fate he turned out to be Pipp and Zipp's dad! That answers that long running question.
Unfortunately, Alphabittle and his crew then arrived. So many ponies pointing guns at each other and arguing. The conversation between the Queen and Alphabittle got especially tense.
"His ancestors commanded the death squads that exterminated untold numbers of unicorns!" the unicorn ranted. Truth be told I've never seen him this annoyed. "For him to come here is the gravest of insults!"
"I'm pretty certain hooves are bloody on both sides of this fight," the Queen retorted. "None of this entitles you to the crystal!"
Alphabittle rolled his eyes. "What a silly old mare like you know about crystals?" he asked. "A decrepid old fool desperately holding onto a false crown, underpinned by the recollection and veneration of an imagined past."
Unfortunately, things soon got even worse, as that General guy did a broadcast that revealed he was even more crazy than I thought possible! Seriously, he makes dealing with Sprout look like foal's play.
Well, this was an interesting turn of events. The Queen quickly offered to form an alliance with the unicorns, reasoning that we shared the same enemy- that General. That meant quickly mobilizing our assets to return to Bridlewood, the place we had just been, and so we started our journey back.
This would not be easy, I knew. I had to be serious as I went along. But I knew that, with a little creativity, we would succeed and return this place to a sense of order.
Shame we can't fly back. My hooves were tired.