Chapter V - Foundations
Chapter V. Foundations
The bathtub was more of a sealed depression in the floor of a small room, occupying half the space. The other half consisted of some shelves, some carrying hygiene products, others towels and brushes, with maybe space for one pony to dry off. Two at a squeeze… Sunny noted with burning cheeks. The walls, floor and ceiling were all made of stone. Everything was warm underhoof, every surface laced with steam when she and Izzy had entered, thanks to Pipp and Zipp. Sunny had to thank them for that; though it smelt of nothing in particular, the sheer heat in the air relaxed her from deep within the moment the door opened.
But first, they trimmed their hooves and teased and scrubbed the sand from their coats, manes, and tails. Couldn’t really enjoy a soak with all that grit and grime swilling around. After studiously looking the other way while Izzy teased one last knot from her tail, the pair rinsed off, washing away the sweat and lingering filth into the drain, allowing them to refill the tub with clear, hot goodness.
Now they could relax..
Sunny’s groan evolved into a full, unashamed moan as she lowered herself into the steaming hot water, which hugged her body nicely, already working wonders on her stiff joints. She couldn’t stop the wide smile that formed on her face, not that she even wanted to. Izzy didn’t sit down on the little step inside the tub, but rather laid straight down, facing away from Sunny. Her body lay completely underwater, leaving only her head out, which she rested onto a small bundle of towels she had perched on the rim.
Izzy closed her eyes with a long, dragged-out sigh, and levitated a brush from the shelf. Without even bothering to open her eyes, she started brushing her coat, dipping the brush into the water with seemingly no effort, the teeth smoothly coursing the length of her barrel in smooth, precise sweeps. Sunny couldn’t tear her eyes away from the shimmering brush. Goodness, it looked so easy. So pleasant and relaxing and… simple. To just let your own magic take care of—no, pamper!—you, directed as though by the whims of your own subconscious while the rest of you took it easy… Who wouldn’t want that?
Sunny bit it back. Izzy had taken the desert harder than everypony and it had looked brutal; she couldn’t imagine how it felt. She deserved this moment and not to be groused at—internally—by some nag for it!. Besides… she could certainly enjoy watching Izzy as she idly brushed herself. Her prone form, submerged and almost hidden, and her relaxed expression stirred something inside Sunny. Not to mention the way she squeaked and giggled to herself, or the little hitches whenever the brush caught! Her stomach fluttered and her cheeks reddened, although that last one she blamed on the heat. Izzy was truly a gorgeous mare—nothing untoward in appreciating that, right?! Her silky curly mane, now flattened by the water and framing her lofty withers, her vibrant lavender fur that was soft and smooth to the touch, her button and heart mashup of a cutie mark that spoke of so many creations fizzing away in her, her dark pink eyes that were staring back at Sunny…
Sunny blinked in surprise, and she felt a lump in her throat, as if her whole stomach had decided to exit her body that way.
Izzy only looked at her with a content smile. At least… she hoped it was. “What are you thinking about?” she asked with a low tone, as if speaking any louder would be a massive effort on her part. Her lidded eyes and her head still nestling into her pile of towels only made her look all the more relaxed. Nevermind the brush that was still working on her own back, now so meticulously smoothed it shone even in the dim. It was… at ease, fur.
Sunny sucked in a breath and struggled to keep her eyes locked straight on Izzy’s. Nope. She might get lost in there again. She tried to focus on Izzy’s glowing horn. “Not much,” she replied, barely a whisper. “I just… I think I just feel different…” She closed her eyes, dizzying herself in a cluster of so many places and faces and ideas. “When we left Maretime Bay three weeks ago, I was acting on impulse and…” She sighed. “I only wanted everypony to see that we could work together, live together…”
“And? We can!” Izzy said, flicking between them with the brush. “We proved we can. Aren’t you glad?”
“Of course I’m glad!” Sunny replied quickly. “My dad’s dream became a reality. And I’m glad I met you,” she murmured, smiling, heat buil— “All of you,” she finished smartly.
“So?” Izzy finally rose from her towels, head tilting. “What’s wrong?”
Sunny shook her head, lowering herself in the water until it touched her chin. “Then we learned about the Unity Crystals, and suddenly everything got… bigger. The stakes got so much higher, but I still didn’t stop to think of it. Even now it still feels like a dream. Like I’m going to wake up any time and still be a silly mare with sillier ideas.” She blew some of the steam away, making it twist and twirl until it disappeared.
“But you were never silly, Sunny,” Izzy declared. Couldn’t she bathe in those eyes instead?
Another snort gouged the water. “Honestly, Izzy, you’d be surprised.” Placards on the Canterlogic stage. Like that worked the previous five times, Sunnybunny. “But the point is… now… now everything is real. It feels real. I’m not rushing and running and acting on gut feelings, but the opposite. We aren’t going completely blind, since we have directions and a clear objective…” She threw her head back and looked at the ceiling. “The stakes are higher than ever. I’m… I’m afraid I’ll screw it up… That last time was just stupid luck…”
A splash brought her eyes back to Izzy. “What’s wrong with stupid luck?”
“Huh?” Izzy could be… a little in her own head, and who wouldn’t want to be there, but… did she not appreciate all that had to go just right for them in the last few weeks?
“Think about it,” Izzy said as she levitated the sopping brush to start working on her mane. “When you were a little filly, you sent a friendly message via a flying lantern. What are the odds that it flew aaaall the way to Bridlewood and landed only a few hooves from my house?” Sunny had no words for that, and not just because of the lilt as Izzy said ‘all’ with four ‘a’s. Izzy’s smile warmed her almost as much as the water. “Sure, working hard and doing your best is important, but you shouldn’t dismiss luck just like that. I mean, I’m happy I was lucky enough to find your lantern, you know?”
Sunny felt her heart leap, and she hoped Izzy would think her blush was because of the heat. She let herself smile and nodded. “Thanks,” she said. She still wasn’t very convinced—at the very least, Hitch was right that they were lucky to run into somepony so hospitable first thing—but she appreciated Izzy’s comfort. And she could certainly take advantage of that fortune while she could. The rest of their bath went by in relative silence, with only a few words, barely more than grunts or mewls, about how tired they were, and how the desert had been a lot tougher than going from Maretime Bay to Zephyr Heights. Despite that aura still dazzling her, Sunny could see Izzy was struggling to keep her eyes open.
When they had finished drying off, they stepped into the living room. Pipp was lying on the couch on her back, looking at the ceiling with vacant eyes and an emptier expression. She found Zipp and Hitch on the floor playing Clop-Toc-Knock, and for a moment she was a little filly again, giggling her heart out as she and Hitch bashed their hooves together and on the floor. The old rhyme would never leave her head. Out one morning went two foals, the heroes of the story. The sun was warm and high and bright, to herald summer’s glory. Granted, it was never really her strong-suit—she always found herself getting lost around the time she would need to swish her tail for that one word. Well, she had been six, and that was already after the rhyme had them whistling and clicking their tongues—it was a lot for a little foal already dreaming of unicorns and reuniting the world, she had a lot on! But still… Hitch always looked so proud whenever he won—and told her how well she also did. She didn't think she'd seen him happier when she showed him that hoofshake she'd come up with!
“Underwater she had found, the treasure of the story,” they sang in that clipped rhythm, like a plow team in harmony. Fast—they must have been some verses in. Zipp’s face was straining fit to burst. “Dripping on the ground and on the rocks, the treasure of her country. Wet and salty for the waves, the chest was full of gold and jewels. Daring was the pony’s name, she was glad she broke the—”
“Thundering skies!” Zipp yelled as she clipped her hooves on the floor, glaring Hitch’s outstretched pair. “Why is it so darn difficult?!”
Hitch chuckled, puffing out his chest as Sunny had seen so often before. “Well, to be honest, this is your first time playing.” He looked to the side and spotted Sunny. His smile broadened. “But she did pretty good, didn’t she, Sunny?”
Sunny nodded. “Getting to that speed on your first try is pretty impressive.”
“It was the third,” Pipp croaked without glancing away from the ceiling. “The first time she didn’t even get to finish the verse once.”
Sunny shook her head, but couldn’t avoid smiling as she trotted to them. “Still, don’t feel bad for losing, Zipp. Hitch is the champion of Clop-Toc-Knock for five consecutive years.” She tapped his shoulder, and if it were possible he seemed to grow by her side. “And even before then, only a hoof-full of ponies have managed to get to the whistling part before losing.”
Hitch let out another chuckle, missing Zipp’s stare. “Mister Argyle did beat me that one time.”
Rolling her eyes, Sunny walked up to the other couch and sat down. “Yeah, a pony thirty moons your senior, while teaching you how to play.”
Zipp narrowed her eyes and stiffened her jaw as she glared at Hitch. “You tricked me.”
“I only suggested the game,” Hitch replied with a grin, shrugging a hoof at her. “You were the one that said we had to play it.”
“Because I thought it sounded easy enough!” Zipp yelled as she rose to her hooves, spreading her wings as wide as she could.
“Why are you so angry?” Sunny asked, fighting her voice level. This was the second time today…
“Yeah!” Izzy said chirpily, hopping onto the couch, next to Sunny. “Your sparkle’s getting all reddish! It’s kind of cool, actually.” Not helping.
Zipp opened her mouth, hackles high… but bit back her words and took a deep, loud breath. “Fine,” she grunted, looking at Hitch with a frown. “You win.” She sat down with crossed hooves.
Sunny looked between her friends with her head cocked. “What was that about?”
Pipp spoke up as she kept staring at the ceiling, twitching a hoof at the stallion. “Hitch said you and him should go alone to the village to look around.” A faint nudge at her sister. “Zipp said we should all go in disguise.” She closed her eyes and sighed. “I passed on voting, hence their game.”
“I still don’t see what the problem is,” Hitch said, grin sensibly ditched, side glancing at Zipp.
“We should stick together,” Zipp replied, her wings ruffling. She tore her stare from the floor, landing widely on Sunny. “We’re in completely unknown territory.”
“And what would happen if you two and Izzy are discovered?” Hitch countered, brows firming into their Sheriff position. “You heard Bella. Ponies in this village are just like the ones back in Maretime Bay before the magic returned!”
“Speaking of which,” Sunny said. “Where is Bella?”
Zipp looked at her, frown wavering, feathers slowly leveling. Great… them going at it was probably going to be a running trend. Had something happened in her chambers before they left? “She, uh…” She blinked several times, jostling her head for a moment. “She just went to her room, saying she’ll bring us blankets for the night.”
Sunny looked out the window. The sun was still up, but it was starting to decline, staining the few clouds pink on its way. They had maybe one hour left of daylight. She raised her eyebrows. Sure, she hadn’t paid much attention to its position for three days, it mainly just being high and to be avoided, but she had thought they had arrived a lot earlier on the day. Maybe they had, and she and Izzy had just spent longer than expected in the bathroom.
She shook her head and turned to Hitch. “So, we’re going to the village tomorrow?” She hadn’t been aware they had decided to do that.
“Yes,” he replied. “Our supplies won’t last us all the way to the Frozen North and back, so we’ll accompany Bella to run some errands and see how much Zephyr Heights money is worth. If we can stock up before going to New Canterlot, that’ll be the best. If not, then… Well, we’ll have to figure it out.”
Sunny nodded slowly. That was another thing she hadn’t even given a thought to! Another mistake born from the experience of the last adventure. Just because leaving with no money or supplies last time had turned out fine, it didn’t mean it would work out again this time!
But before she could reply, she was interrupted by a loud knock on the door.
Everypony froze and looked at the door as if it could burst in flames at any moment. Another knock to the door, and Zipp immediately went to action, getting to the air in the cramped space and signaling Pipp to do the same. Pipp first looked out the window. When she saw nopony, she took flight and followed her sister to the kitchen. Izzy simply levitated the shade of a nearby lamp and used it to cover her horn and half her face.
With the unicorn hidden and the pegasi inconspicuously sticking their heads around the corner, Sunny nodded to Hitch, who, with a nod of his own, casually walked up to the door and opened it.
On the other side was a mare about the same height as Pipp. Her emerald green body was almost completely covered in bright white billowing fabrics, identical to the ones they had worn through the desert plus a pair of saddlebags. Her bright amber eyes looked up at Hitch, and she gave him the widest smile Sunny had seen.
“Hey there!” The mare said. Her voice was high pitched, but not uncomfortable to the ears. “I’m so glad you opened up! I wasn’t sure what I was gonna say if it had been another pony!”
A gasp distracted Sunny, and she turned her head just in time to see Pipp zip by and stop right next to Hitch. “Swifty!” She said as she hugged the newcomer. “You brought my batteries, right?”
Swifty, or Swift Feather, as Sunny remembered Pipp mentioning her name before, giggled and entered the house like it was her own. “‘Course I did, Pet! Any time I get hired by the royals is another bullet point to my curriculum!”
Pipp blushed profusely and whispered something to Swift’s ear as Hitch closed the door behind them.
“What?” Swift said. “Why wouldn’t I call you ‘Pet’? It’s a super cute pet name and, ohh,” she glanced at Hitch with a smirk. “You want to look cool in front of the gentlecolt, ey?” That made Pipp’s face turn bright red. “I getchu, girl. But you can’t deny me my only pleasure whenever we meet. I know all your deep, darkest secrets. Don’t tempt me.”
“Stop…” was the only thing Pipp said as she sat on her haunches.
Before Swift could say anything else, Zipp landed next to her. “Can you stop tormenting her for a second?”
Swift froze up and turned around, squaring up her entire body. Her fabrics ruffled, and when she noticed she couldn’t move her wings, she simply brought a hoof to her head. “Yes, your magnificence!”
Zipp slowly closed her eyes and let out a dragged sigh. “Did you come flying?”
“You bet I did!” Swift said, losing any trace of respect for Zipp’s authority. “I never thought crossing the desert could be fun! Just fly high, and it’s actually kinda fresh! And it’s very fast, too! It only took me two hours to go from the palace to The Heart of the Brave! This will save lots of water and time! Especially water.”
“Uh-huh,” Zipp said. “That’s all fine and all, but, did any pony see you?”
Swift huffed and rolled her eyes. “As soon as I saw your cart here I landed and walked the rest of the way.” She nudged to her fabrics. “That's why these are so clean, see? Barely a grain of sand.”
“My batteries,” Pipp said, poking at Swift’s side. Her face was still red, but she managed to keep a sort of calm expression. “I need them.”
“Oh!” Swift said, then opened her saddlebags. From them she took out two rather large boxes. “Here you go.”
Pipp took the boxes with renewed vigor and happily bounced to the couch. “Finally!” She opened one of the boxes and took out… another box. Sunny cocked her head as Pipp plugged a cable that stuck out of the new little box to her phone.
“Don’t ever let that mare without her addiction,” Swift commented with a smirk. She then proceeded to take off her fabrics and stretch her wings. Sunny couldn’t help but notice that her fluff was on the smaller side. It still made a nice curve on the mare’s chest, though. No stallion would be complaining about it, she was sure. Swift caught Sunny’s stare and her smile grew. Sunny felt herself heat up in the cheeks as the pegasus trotted up to her and sat down to her side. “So, what’s the plan, oh, mighty leader?”
Sunny started. “L-Leader?” she stuttered.
“Yeah,” Swift leaned on her. She was as short as Pipp, so she had to literally look up at Sunny. Her toothy grin was friendly, sure, but there was something else. Sunny couldn’t put her hoof on what exactly, though. “Aren’t you the leader of this party? It’s thanks to you us pegasi get to fly again and unicorns get to levitate stuff again…” She then lowered her voice, almost to a whisper, and her eyes lidded slightly. “If you’re not the leader, then these ponies are out of their minds.”
Sunny felt her heart skip a beat. Up close, Swift was quite a cute mare. Her muzzle was thin and rounded with a small bump on the nose. Her eyes were wide and shined against the sunlight that filtered through the window. Her mane, a green so light it almost looked white, was styled in a similar fashion to Zipp’s, but longer, dropping from a side to her shoulders, below which was her—
Don’t look at her fluff, don’t look at her fluff, she thought to herself. On the outside, she forced out a laugh. “I’m not a leader,” she said. “If anything, Zipp—”
Swift leaned in more, forcing Sunny to lean back. She had to place a hoof behind her to avoid falling on her back. “Zipp’s the next queen of pegasi,” she whispered. “But you united everypony. I’d say you’re cut to rule us all.”
Sunny gulped. Not because of what Swift was saying, but because she was just so close Sunny could smell her. Her fur had the scent of the sun, mainly, but also a bit of salty sweat, although not too much. There was a pinch of something sweet. A fruit of some kind that Suny didn’t recognize. And her fluff—
“Swift Feather,” Zipp said, imperiously. “Behave yourself. We’re guests in this house, and more importantly, we’re trying to bring unity back to Equestria. And you getting ponies uncomfortable is not helping.”
Still smiling, Swift huffed and climbed off the couch. “As you wish, your majesty,” she said with her eyes twinkling. Zipp only shook her head.
Feeling pressure in her chest, Sunny felt a sudden need to look at Izzy. The unicorn still had the lampshade over her head and was humming a tune. For some reason, Sunny felt a wave of relief wash over her body.
“By the way,” Swift said, her voice taking on a surprisingly serious cadence. “I thought you’d like to know the royal guard is not happy with you.”
“When are they not?” Pipp asked with an uninterested tone. She had connected her phone to a battery, but hadn’t turned it on.
Hitch raised an eyebrow at Pipp. “What do you mean?”
Zipp sighed, still shaking her head. “They don’t really like me sneaking out into the chasms or to my… ex-private hiding place. In their eyes, the Crown Princess should act all proper and stay in the castle.” She shuddered.
“This might be a tad different,” Swift said. “They’re saying you finally left the queendom for good, what with taking the very first chance you got to go as far away as possible with a small fortune.”
Sunny cocked her head. “Did we really take that much money?” She remembered Zipp asking for five thousand clouds. Although she hadn’t seen the coins yet.
“Sort of,” Zipp admitted, her wings ruffling. “One cloud is worth a hundred raindrops —which are minted in copper and brass—, and each raindrop is worth a hundred clips, which are made of aluminum.” Her eyes darted from side to side, and her restless hooves betrayed her attempt at looking composed. “The cheapest zone to live in Zephyr Heights is Mistral Basin, which is closest to the crops and farthest from the castle… The price of rent there is about fifty raindrops.”
Sunny blinked. That sounded like a lot, with how Zipp explained their money, but she just couldn’t wrap her head around it. She blamed it on being used to Maretime Bay money —Suns, each of which was worth a thousand rays.
“How much is an egg worth in Maretime Bay, Sunny?” Pipp asked.
Sunny looked at her friend and found a small smile on her face. “Uhm… One egg?” Pipp nodded. “Well, uhm, less than one ray. Maybe half? We always buy them in tens.”
“One egg is worth two clips,” Pipp explained, waving her hoof in the air. “That means that, with one raindrop, we could buy fifty eggs. With one cloud we could buy five thousand eggs.” She went silent and waved her hoof at Sunny.
Blinking, Sunny made the math in her head. “So, if we have five thousand clouds, that’d be… Uhm…”
“Twenty-five million eggs!” Izzy said happily, her voice muffled by the lampshade.
Sunny felt her jaw hang, and for a moment she thought it’d hit the ground. “That’s…” She couldn’t even begin to imagine how many eggs was that. It was a number that she just was unable to comprehend. Still, she knew that no pony could ever possibly pay for that many eggs. Heck, with her job at the smoothies stand, she could barely afford to buy a few tens every month. She turned her eyes at Zipp, whose cheeks had turned pink. “That’s a lot of money.”
But Zipp, cheeks flushing and all, stuck out her chest and stomped a hoof. “We don’t know how long it’ll take us to get to the Frozen North, and we also need to think of coming back. Besides, we can’t be sure that our coins will be worth much. With any luck, our small fortune will barely be enough to scrap by.”
Swift Feather smiled and threw a wings over Zipp’s back. “Hey, I getchu, girl. I’m just telling you what the guards are saying, so you know what to expect when you return.” She turned around on her heels and walked up to the door.
“You’re leaving already?” Hitch asked.
“Yeah!” Swift replied, stretching her wings.
Sunny looked at the window. It was already getting dark. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay the night? We could—”
“Nah, girl,” Swift replied, opening the door. “Gotta get back to The Heart of the Brave. Word of the dragon’s existence is spreading like wildfire and Stormlight and I want to make a profit out of it.” She turned her head around and brought a wing to her forehead. “Good luck on your quest!” And with that, she broke into a sprint towards the desert’s direction. If Sunny had to guess, Swift would start flying once she was completely out of sight.
“I like her!” Izzy said, taking the lampshade off her head. “She’s really friendly!”
Zipp sighed, but smiled nonetheless. “She can be overbearing, but she has her heart in the right place. At least I now know I’ll have to do some damage control when we get back to Zephyr Heights.”
Pipp hummed in agreement, tapping at her phone. “She’s always quick to deliver packages, so I tolerate her.”
Zipp rolled her eyes, not losing her smile. “Anyway, it is getting late. What do you guys say we go to sleep as soon as Bella brings the blankets?”
They agreed, and Sunny, as inconspicuous as she could, stayed close to Izzy so that, when Bella did arrive, they’d share the same couch as a makeshift bed. Izzy didn’t seem to mind and immediately fell asleep, resting her head on Sunny’s torso.
Sunny was, once again, glad that Izzy was a snuggler.
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Are you accepting OCs into your stories?
Hmm. Considering that they literally just overthrew the monarchy... yeah.
Something tells me Pipp and Zipp might have a few surprises waiting for them when they get home...
half of this chapter is just Sunny saying "OH NO SHE'S HOT"
Awwww, adorable lil' Sunny! Poor confused girl...and Swift Feather, while enjoyable and I greatly hope she gets another appearance because she's written so well and I loved her, isn't exactly helping matters. Still, great chapter!
Consider me volunteered.
YAY!!! IT'S BACK!!!
This is a good chapter, Hakuno. I really like it! I'll be willing to see how this story goes, keep up the good work! Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.
I think there should be a be between the words, mare and without. Although, honestly, I'm not sure if even that would have the sentence make sense.
There shouldn't be an S at the end of wing.
If you still need an editor, at the very least, I can help you point out some grammar and spelling errors.
that was. "was that" isn't a correct ordering of the determiner here, unless it's being phrased as a question.
also, including the second sentence feels tell-y and redundant, not to mention that just was also feels like weird ordering in this context.
I'd love to help and sign on as editor/proofer/brainstormer, but I'm worried it might be a conflict of interest. I'm already writing my own G5 adventure AU with IzzyScout and HitchZippPipp...though it does seem to have much different story beats than where you're headed
More?
11218954
Dang re reading story and having whatched The Owl House, I have to agree!