Petal Storm
Petal Storm
The last smoldering embers of the campfire flickered and went out. Pipp Petals watched as the unusual group she’d fallen in with on the way to Bridlewood lay down to rest for the night. She couldn’t fault their logic, not on that score at least.
To her irritation, she saw that Zipp had no trouble getting to sleep. She just lay down and almost instantly began to gently snore as calmly as if she was back at home in her own bed. Everything always came so easily for Zipp Storm… Pipp wasn’t so lucky. Sleeping in the dirt or on cold hard rocks was torture; her wings ached, her back was sore, and no matter how much she twisted it felt like there was always a rock jabbing her in the flank.
Despite how tired—no, utterly exhausted she felt, sleep eluded her. Even the perpetually energetic Izzy was dozing, though her legs kept twitching. Pipp tried counting the number of times Hitch whinnied in his sleep, but had enough when she hit triple digits and was still wide awake.
Getting up, she made her way over to the large, lonely tree covered in cherry blossoms that sat on a hill on the other side of the tree bridge. Once she reached it, she sat down and hesitantly pulled out her phone. She began scrolling, looking at the news from Zephyr Heights, trying to find out what happened to Queen Haven. Finding nothing, she looked for mentions of herself and visited her own streaming accounts.
Pipp closed her eyes. There had to be a way for her to fix this, some way to find the right words that would make everypony love her again. She’d always been good at figuring out what made ponies happy and finding a way to give it to them.
Maybe she could say that the wires were for helping with a few pinpoint turns that couldn’t be safely done in a confined space? After all, even acrobats worked with nets under them. Showing the pegasi of Zephyr Heights they were thinking of them and trying to keep them safe would help, right? She set that idea aside and thought of another: an apology tour. Nothing resonated more deeply with audiences than the idea that you were unburdening yourself to them, taking them into your confidence, and reminding them that they were just a pony too. Making mistakes was universal, right?
She sighed.
“You really can’t go one night without checking that can you?”
Pipp leaped back up and whirled around, almost dropping it in her panic at the creamy, white coated apparition she needed a second to realize was her sister. “Aah! Zipp! What are you doing sneaking up on me like that?”
Zipp quirked her brow. “I walked up to you with all the subtlety of Mom’s guards on parade. You were just too engrossed in looking at your phone to notice anything going on around you. You know—like usual.” She tousled Pipp’s violet mane with her wing. Right after she’d gotten it back to normal too!
“Oh whatever,” Pipp huffed, batting her sister’s hooves before turning away. She cleared her throat, adopting a less familiar tone. Being royalty and a celebrity were a lot alike: act like you’re a star and the world will follow. “Maybe you should act like a princess. Or did you forget that you were one at all?”
Zipp made a show of looking around. “Not seeing any thrones or guards or cameras out here and it’s probably for the best.”
“That, dear sister, is solely your view,” Pipp snipped at her. “We are still princesses wherever we are. And you are still the Crown Princess.”
“Yeah, wow. Somehow that must’ve slipped my mind,” Zipp drawled. “Thanks for the reminder.”
“Clearly somepony had to.”
Zipp lowered her voice. “You should get some sleep. Tomorrow’s going to be a long day.”
“Tomorrow?!” Pipp glowered her, wishing she was taller so she could actually stare Zipp in the face. “Today was a long day in case you somehow hadn’t noticed.”
Zipp frowned but didn’t argue. “I guess it was. But it’s over now at least.”
“Over?” Pipp’s eye began twitching. “It’s not over. Not until we get mom back and figure out how to make everypony loves us again!”
Zipp leaned back, her brow furrowing. “Pipp, this isn’t important right now.”
“Not—not important?!” Pipp stamped her hoof. “You think mom isn’t important? My career, my life isn’t important?!”
“That’s not what I meant—”
“Isn’t it?” Pipp scoffed. “I was exposed in front of all of Zephyr Heights. Everypony turned on our family. Mom was arrested and thrown in jail! We’re fugitives on the run! Does any of that matter to you? Nope! You’re all ‘Forget about all that!’ All you care about is your little field trip with your new friends, the earth pony and unicorn you just met earlier today!” She glared at her sister. “Have you even thought about Mom?”
Zipp frowned, her wings tensing. “Of course I’ve thought about Mom! I hate the idea of her being locked in a dungeon somewhere, I feel terrible thinking of her being there.”
“Good. You should feel bad, because it’s all your fault she’s in that dungeon.” Pipp poked her in the chest.
Zipp reared up. “All my fault?! She was arrested because our family’s been lying!”
“She was arrested because everypony found out!” Pipp snorted. “And the only reason they found out was because you and your new friends sabotaged my show!”
“That wasn’t the plan!” an exasperated Zipp groaned. “We never meant for that to happen.”
“But it did happen!” Pipp stomped her hoof, shoving her head forward and forcing Zipp to step back. “That’s what matters here: you caused that, Zipp! You outed me, wrecked my show, ruined my career, got Mom thrown in jail, and you still haven’t even said you were sorry for any of it!”
That was when the thoroughly nettled Zipp snapped. “That’s because I’m NOT!”
Pipp was struck silent, her mouth moving wordlessly. When she finally regained her voice, there was a tremble in it. “Y-you … you’re what?!”
Zipp winced, looking regretful. “I—I didn’t mean that.”
“…yes,” Pipp said softly. “You did.”
“No! Well, I did but not the way it came out.” Zipp rubbed her face. “I’m not sorry I chose to help Sunny and Izzy out of the dungeon. I’m not sorry I helped take the Pegasus Crystal or came out here with them. It was the right thing to do, all of it.” She lowered her voice and softened her tone, forcing Pipp to lean in. “I’m not sorry for what I did, but I am sorry about how it happened. I never meant for you or Mom to get into trouble. But this was something I had to do.”
Pipp didn’t say anything for a while. “This all mattered that much to you?”
Zipp nodded, relieved she seemed to get it. “Yes of course it mattered—and not just to me, but for everypony.” She gestured towards their still sleeping companions. “We could bring back magic! We could change all of Equestria! This is—this is the most important thing I’ve ever done!”
“More important than me and Mom?”
“I—I, what?” Zipp shook her head, trying to process the question. “That’s not a—”
“If you could do it all over again,” Pipp pressed her, “knowing what would happen—would you still do it?”
Zipp bit her lip, falling silent.
Pipp’s nostrils flared. “I’m not hearing a ‘no.’ That says it all, doesn’t it?”
“It’s not like that!” Zipp groaned. “It’s not that simple!”
“Yes it is! You chose your new friends over your family! You chose to break them out of jail but never even thought about going back for Mom! You chose to go with them while you. Left. Me. Hanging!”
Zipp stomped her hoof. “I am getting really sick of you blaming me for everything that happened. Or are you forgetting the fact that what made everypony so angry was the fact that we LIED to them! Our family has been lying to them for generations! We betrayed their trust and you and Mom went along with it, were just fine with it!”
“It’s how things have always worked!” Pipp protested. “Nopony would’ve found out if not for you and everything would still be fine!”
“Horseapples.” Zipp snorted, taking Pipp aback by her earthy choice of words. “That’s your idea of a plan? Lie forever and hope nopony ever finds out? Forget about ever actually flying and just settle for faking it? Or did you completely fool yourself into thinking that lying to the citizens forever was somehow the 'noble' thing to do?”
Pipp quickly rallied. “It’s what all our ancestors did and it kept the citizens happy. They loved watching us fly. We were an inspiration!”
Zipp sighed and shook her head. “No, we weren’t. You want to know who actually was an inspiration for ponies—not just their fellow pegasi, but all ponies?”
“Is this that team you told me about?” Pipp huffed. “The Blunderdolts, or whatever they were called?”
“It’s ‘Wonderbolts’, and yes!” Zipp turned away and sat down, looking up at the night sky.
Pipp sat down next to her, almost reluctantly, trying to see what her sister was looking at. Her eyes still on the sky, Zipp started speaking with more excitement and intensity than Pipp was used to hearing from her. “The Wonderbolts were the most spectacular team in all of Equestria. They awed ponies, inspired them, fired up their imaginations, made them want to reach the same heights as them.” She turned to her sister, pinning Pipp in place with her intense stare. “But even if the ponies watching them would never be capable of pulling off a Sonic Rainboom, there was still a connection there that we’ve never had with the citizens. You know why?”
Wordlessly, Pipp shook her head.
“Because when they saw the Wonderbolts perform, they got to see ponies at their very best—the pinnacle of talent, skill, and determination. Even if you could never be that good a flyer, never do a Sonic Rainboom, you still wanted to be as amazing as them in whatever made you special. You wanted to try to be more, to be better. They made you want to aim for the heavens, even if you risked coming up short, instead of settling for the ceiling and not going any higher.”
Zipp sighed. “That’s not what we did when we pretended to fly. Any joy the citizens felt was because they knew this was as close to flying as they’d ever get to experience for themselves. That’s not us being an inspiration, it’s being a consolation prize.” She shook her head. “And what makes that even worse is that our family wasn’t even trying to find out a way to get them to fly. We were too concerned with keeping up the lie for the sake of appearance.”
“You say that like our royal ancestors didn’t try everything to get pegasi to fly again,” Pipp argued. “Do you really think that you were the first and only pegasus in the entire royal family to ever try to figure out how to fix this? Are you arrogant enough to think that everyone in the history of Zephyr Heights was just stupid, selfish, and lazy except for you?” She rolled her eyes, nudging her irritably with one wing. “Come on, Zipp! They probably tried for ages, but you know what? Nothing. Worked.” She bit off each word with as much emphasis as she could pack into them. “At least telling the citizens that some of us could still fly gave them some hope, some idea that all the magic wasn’t gone, that maybe it could come back someday. They were mad because you took that away from them.”
Zipp shook her head. “If it was about giving ponies hope, we would’ve been busting our tails day in and day out until we found an answer. But every time I even tried broaching the subject or any of my findings with you or Mom, you just rolled your eyes and brushed me off!” She scoffed, starting to stalk back and forth.
“This wasn’t about trying to keep their spirits up while we worked on a solution. It was about keeping our family’s comfortable, fashionable lifestyle intact. Yeah, maybe in the past our family might have tried to figure out how to get pegasi to fly again, but you know what?”
Zipp looked down, using every extra inch she had over Pipp to drive the point home. “They. Gave. Up. You don’t get to say this was about giving ponies hope for a better future when our family was doing nothing to actually make that better future possible.”
“So, that’s it?” Pipp asked. “Everything our family did for however many generations, all their reasons, all the thinking that went into their decision, everything Mom had to say—none of it matters because Zipp doesn’t approve. You’re just right and everypony else is wrong?”
Zipp squared her shoulders. “The truth is the truth, that doesn’t change no matter how many ponies accept or reject it. Living a lie isn’t any kind of life, especially when it’s such a self-serving one. It doesn’t matter if everypony says that up is down, or white is black, or wrong is right. They’re wrong. Don’t you get that?”
“Not everypony is like you, Zipp! Not everypony can be so arrogant to think that nopony else’s opinion ever matters!” Pipp threw down her phone on the grass, stunning Zipp. She instinctively reached down to pick it up—but hesitated when she saw what was on the screen.
“Fraud Pipp!”
“Prosecute the Phony Princess Performer!”
“PippSneak!”
“You broke my heart Pipp. Now I hope you rot in jail.”
“I’m throwing away all my records. Go away and don’t come back Pipp!”
“Rotten Royals!”
“Ruiner!”
“Liar!”
“Pipp Pipp BOO!”
Zipp wordlessly scrolled down, the comments growing increasingly angry … and vicious. Her jaw clenched when she saw what ponies were saying about her sister. She had wanted to stop living the lie, but she was half-tempted to head back to Zephyr Heights right now to set them straight, one way or the other.
When she looked over at her sister, she found Pipp glaring at her with tears welling up in her eyes. “You might be satisfied with your equations and your experiments and secreting yourself away, but I actually like other ponies! I enjoy being around ponies who appreciate me! But all you ever do is make me feel like I’m stupid and shallow for caring about their opinions!” She rubbed a hoof roughly across her face. “I’m a performer, Zipp, I actually need to know if there’s something I have to improve on! I need to know if my music is connecting with ponies or not. I can’t just sit at a blackboard and go, ‘Nope, the numbers say I’m right so forget what every other pony says!’”
Zipp bit her lip, her ears flattening against her head. “I—I never wanted to make you feel bad for doing what you loved. You’re a great artist.”
“Not anymore,” she hiccupped. “Now everypony hates me, thanks to you.”
“Pipp...” Zipp stretched out her wing, gently laying it on her sister’s back. “The only thing I ever had a problem with was the lying. You know I always hated it, right?” She waited for a faint murmur that she took for agreement. “So as a pony who hates lying—believe me when I say you are amazing. That’s the thing: you never needed to pretend to fly in order to wow ponies. You’re friendly, outgoing, great with ponies, and an outstanding, talented, singer. I’ve always known that and none of that has changed.” She stroked her back. “Even when every pegasi starts flying for real, you’ll still stand out among them all as an amazing performer. My amazing little sister.”
Pipp’s breath hitched and she let out a small sob. “You left me hanging.”
Zipp closed her eyes and sighed. “I know.”
“Those Wonderbolts you went on about? Would they have hung a teammate out to dry?”
Zipp closed her eyes. She swallowed a lump in her throat that threatened to choke her. When she spoke, her voice was hollow. “My friends needed that crystal.”
“A-and I-I needed my big sister…” Pipp sniffled, tears trickling down her muzzle.
“I’m sorry.” Zipp hugged her tightly. “I never wanted to leave you there. Everything just—it all happened so fast and if we didn’t get away with the crystal, then everything would’ve been for nothing and—” She shook her head, biting off the rush of explanations. “I’m so sorry. That’s what I should’ve started with when you came and found us.”
Pipp rubbed her eyes and said nothing for a long while. It felt to Zipp like the silence dragged on forever. She was almost startled when Pipp finally spoke up. “I get why though.”
“What’s that?”
Pipp traced her hoof in the grass. “I get why you were so excited to go off with Sunny and Izzy. You finally found ponies who cared about what you were interested in. I’ve been too busy with my career and rehearsals to be there for you lately. You’ve come to every one of my shows but I was never that interested in what you did. So … I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Zipp leaned against her. “To tell the truth ... as much as I would’ve liked it if we were on the same page more, I still liked having my own space, you know?”
“Not really.” Pipp found herself nestled under Zipp, her head resting on her own. “I just know you don’t like being around other ponies as much as me and Mom.”
Zipp sighed, shrugging slightly. “I like not being constantly surrounded by guards or having everything I do get livestreamed for everypony to see. We’re in the public eye so much as it is that I don’t get you and Mom actually wanting even more—but that’s just me.”
Pipp chuckled. “You’ll be the first queen whose coronation takes place behind a locked door in a secret lab you have set up someplace.”
“You know about my lab?!” Zipp gasped, pressing a hoof against her muzzle. “But I was so careful when I set it up under your room!”
“Don’t even joke!” Pipp nudged her. “I know you’re sneaky enough to actually pull that off, so don’t go around trying to make me all paranoid about you doing something like that.”
Zipp chuckled. “No promises.”
The two sisters shared a laugh. Pipp looked up, seeing the cherry blossoms falling from the leaves. She stretched out a wing and let the petals collect on them. “This feels nice. You and me, being together as sisters. I don’t know why but something about this spot feels really … calming.”
“I know what you mean.” Zipp placed her own wing beside Pipp’s, also catching the falling petals. “This is a nice place. I promise, when we fix everypony’s magic and the pegasi get to the skies again, we’ll go for a flight together. Just you and me. We’ll come back here, maybe have a picnic in the branches.”
Pipp smiled softly. “I’d like that. A lot.” She looked out to the horizon, back towards Zephyr Heights. Home. “Do you really think they’ll accept us if we bring magic back?”
“When we bring back magic,” Zipp corrected her. “Giving pegasi the sky back is going to overshadow anything that happened today.” She hesitated, but honesty compelled her. “Maybe there’ll still be some ponies who are upset, but that’s what happens when you lie to them. If you want to win them back, you have to recognize what you did wrong and then set out to be better going forward.”
Pipp bit her lip, but nodded. “Like your Wonderbolts?”
“Exactly.”
“Maybe they’ll come back too, if—when—pegasi start flying again.”
Zipp smiled at the thought, tilting her head back. “That’d be something to see.”
“I’d—I’d like to help bring them back for you.” Pipp ruffled her wings. “I want to help bring the magic back. To be a pony my fans, my citizens, actually deserve.” She ducked her head. “And be the sister you deserve.”
“Aww, Pipp.” Zipp hugged her with her wing. “You don’t have to prove anything to me. But if you really want to help bring back flying and the Wonderbolts, I’ll save you a seat at their first performance … if you can promise not to livestream and talk over the whole show.”
“Maybe,” Pipp said coyly. “Can you try not to block the view with your big, toothpaste-flavored, ice-cream-cone mane?”
Zipp smirked. “Not my fault you’re so tiny, Pippsqueak.”
“My name for my fans is meant to be ironic, Zipp.”
“And yet, here we are.”
“Nerd.”
“Diva.”
“…love you, sis.”
“Love you too.”
THE END
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This just in: Operation "Make Pipp Petals Lovable" is a smashing success!!!
Seriously, though, I feel like Pipp's insecurity and Zipp's cockiness were not emphasized enough in the movie. If this scene were in the movie, it would have been a very meaningful lesson for children and adults alike. Just because you're internet famous doesn't mean you have to be a superficial person with plastic emotions.
The writing style is good too, it's hard to pull off a story with mostly dialog. I can just picture the two of them talking in the night like a TV drama.
Believe me, I know about tough spots in stories.
And this was great, and yeah, it would have been nice to have a scene like this in the movie, the two sisters talking. You did a really good job here.
11016562
Thank you! Zipp is actually my favorite of the G5 cast and Pipp, well, isn't let's just say. But I do think it's unfortunate she really wasn't given a chance to shine and win people over, hence why most people seem to place her near or at the bottom of the G5 rankings. Plus we didn't really get a scene with the sisters hashing things out or giving Pipp a motivation to want to take part in the group.
For what it's worth, from my take, I wouldn't say Zipp is 'cocky' so much as she is certain about how she thinks things should be. She is reportedly very scientific and technical-minded and as the movie showed, very frustrated with the lies her family perpetuated. This makes her very driven and focused on the truth, which is good, but maybe isn't as aware of the importance of addressing feelings as she might be.
Pipp is the opposite. She knows how to get ponies to like her, knows how important feelings and catering to the feelings of others is--but is so fixated on that side of things that she misses the bigger picture.
Zipp did all the right things for all the right reasons. But her blase responses to Pipp's not unjustified anger and her overall lack of concern over stuff like the arrest warrant out for them (or responding to her mom's arrest with nothing more than a gasp) showed that she might have difficulties adjusting to or taking into account the wants or feelings of other ponies. I.e. If X is the problem, then Y is the solution, so we'll do Y, feelings be damned. It makes for a good scientist or a good, honest person, but not necessarily the most sensitive of ponies.
Pipp is the opposite. She's very in tune with other ponies' feelings which is why she can connect with them and get them to like her ... it's just that her motivation for doing so is pretty limited, shaped by her mom and the society she grew up in which was pretty dang shallow. Her reactions to all the things that happen to her are pretty understandable...it's just that she's more focused on her wants/needs than on the bigger picture, which is where Zipp comes in.
So my thought was that this was sort of an ongoing issue with them. Zipp undoubtedly has the better sense of priorities, but her go-it-alone, this-IS-the-only-answer regardless of feelings approach can make her be seen as arrogant, while Pipp undoubtedly cares about what other ponies think and feel---but cares too much to want to go against that, even when it's what's necessary to do, which makes her seem shallow. I don't think either description is really accurate or fair, but it's understandable why this perception can arise.
That's my take, at any rate.
11016571
Thank you!
Trust me, I know what you mean--but you're nowhere as far behind as I am.
Hey you!
This is amazing! I love the way you write and actually doing Pipp and Zipp some justice with their personality. I think you nailed them. Sad that some parts are cut out from the movie due to time limit.
11016627
Thank you!
I don't know for certain that there was a scene with the two that was cut or anything ... but it really feels like there was, or at least that there should have been one.
Oh this is really nice! I love a good PippFic and you really got their personalities down and I agree that this definitely feels like it should be part of the movie. Grats!
Zipp is best new Princess. She understands truth and working for the good of all. I want to send her a copy of Ta eis heauton.
I see the difference between Zipp and Pipp as something like his: Zipp is a being who understands logic, while Pipp is a being who understands pure emotion.
Zipp is a being of logic, and that's why she hates having to lie about her family's situation: because to someone who seeks truth, lies are poison.
But Pipp is different, in that she understands emotion: she succeeds because she knows what the public wants and knows how to deliver. So yes, she lives a lie, but it is a lie that is more in line with what the denizens of Zephyr Heights want.
I consider myself to be something of a being of logic: I seek the truth that isn't blinded by emotion, folly, propaganda, and outright lies. And I seek to spread it because I feel it will improve society. But the sad truth is this: emotions can win over truth in many circumstances. Just because I tell the truth doesn't mean I will win or that people will accept what I say.
In one example, not get political, I asked a relative of mine, who believes the 2020 election was stolen, to give me an unbiased source that proves this. He proceeded to...go apeshit on me yelling. So yes, telling the truth isn't always proper, since not everyone has the ability to put aside their feelings.
Pipp understands this very well: yes, she has built a career on lies, but ultimately that's what has brought her and her family enormous wealth and fame. She understands, unlike Zipp, that PR and good marketing, mixed in with some falsehood, was a good money maker.
The problem here is that emotion and logic were applied in terrible ways.
The rulers of Zephyr Heights preferred fake emotion and built a myth that they could fly, rather than trying to solve the magic problem, and were trapped in a web of lies.
Zipp tried to undo those lies with logic but did so in a very hamfisted way that nearly destroyed her family's well-being.
Thank you for making this story; because I really felt this was an elephant in the room that needed addressing.
11016735
If thou findest in human life anything better than justice, truth, temperance, fortitude, and, in a word, anything better than thy own mind's self-satisfaction in the things which it enables thee to do according to right reason, and in the condition that is assigned to thee without thy own choice; if, I say, thou seest anything better than this, turn to it with all thy soul, and enjoy that which thou hast found to be the best.
11016744
Truth is good.
But today, and especially in our social media-addled society, people don't want to listen to the truth, and me saying truth can lead to retaliation.
That's why we call it "post-truth" politics. Our former President succeeds because he plays to emotion and not reason.
11016735
As I said in reply to another comment, while I think Zipp is a supporter of the truth (scientific truth, historical truth, personal truth, etc.) and using that as the foundation for her decisions, and Pipp much more about connecting with ponies emotionally, the way you framed it feels a touch overstated. Truth and logic are not the same thing, nor are Zipp and Pipp Spock and McCoy, with Zipp totally blind or oblivious to the role of emotion or Pipp a volatile mess. There is something to the dichotomy between the two, but I'd be wary of overstating the case.
11016769
I never said the two are defined by any specific ideal. Since you are such a good writer, you've given them enough emotional depth to not be simple caricatures.
I'm saying their predicament is largely because they didn't apply their ideals in a strategic manner.
Straight through the heart. What a nice and compelling dialogue between these two. I wholly agree it should've been in the movie!
11016906
Thank you! Though I did feel mildly hypocritical writing that first line since ... yeah, the Wonderbolts have totally hung out a teammate. Multiple times, in fact. Buuuut given how long ago it was, I didn't think that would be common knowledge. And sometimes the idea of a thing can be better or more inspiring than the actual reality.
But yeah, I really wanted to amp up the feels with these two since there wasn't much in the movie.
11016769
So Zipp is Captain Picard?
i.pinimg.com/736x/56/35/eb/5635ebb21cace8e2c0cee7b5582e2542--star-trek-jean.jpg
11016591
Interesting take on Zipp and Pipp's characterizations — as was the fic itself. It's definitely something I would've like to see more of in the film, that's for sure. Nicely done!
On a related note: I've mentioned this gut feeling once or twice elsewhere, but I definitely got the sense that the screenwriters were afraid of mishandling Pipp's quote-unquote "influencer" status right out of the gate and getting the entire film — and, by proxy, G5's entire launch — castigated as "cringe" in the process. Now that they've tested the waters, here's hoping they'll have the confidence and mental wherewithal to give her some good development in the series itself.
Also, was this story meant to be marked as incomplete?EDIT: It's been fixed.Yes. Absolutely. Just ask Soarin'. And Rainbow, more than once.
11017363
Trust me, I KNOW. There are, literally, no characters in the series that piss me off more than the Wonderbolts, and I'm including the actual, official villains in that.
Buuuut given just much raw emotion we saw in Zipp's face when she looked at that old poster, I couldn't ignore how much they, or at least the idea of them, clearly meant to her. Plus the series is (seemingly) set far enough in the future that the ugly realities of the Wonderbolts would be forgotten in favor of the more optimistic legend.
This was a wonderfull conversation. They both explained their problems, used logical arguments and while they stood still to their views, neither of them accused of other being (not completly) wrong and then talked things out. And finished with a sisterly banter. Because every sibling conversation had to a little bit of that.
This was great. Show a lot of depth of the characters, making them likeable. Though, in the defence of Zipp, she might have known that telling everyone the truth would bring disaster, but the truth went out she just had to keep going. Their plan was to just steal the crown, everything else was an accident. But I'm not saying you're wrong, just speculating. We really are just getting to know The Mane Group.
The mention of the place being calming was great touch. The Devil is in the details.
And this might out of the topic, but I think Zephyr Heights' Royals might actually be quite competent at acually running their City/Country, with the lie notwithstanding. I mean, the City itself is pretty clean and everyone seems happy. Also the Guards were quick to defend Haven when she was insulted by Alphabittle. Plus, Haven managed to escape from the dungeon, pretty fast, so she must know what she's doing. Little details, that might mean something
11017543
Thank you!
And yeah, that's a thing that's worth noting. People are already speaking of Zipp and her dislike of the Big Lie as making her comparable to Applejack. But while later seasons (inanely) tried to portray Applejack as someone who never ever lied (which was just untrue), Zipp was okay with being sneaky and exercising good judgement. She didn't just blurt out "My mom's lying to everyone, we can't fly!" or something dumb like that.
I don't believe Zipp did anything wrong per se, just that she might not have shown sufficient sensitivity in dealing with Pipp's pretty understandable ire over how everything shook out. Zipp, I think, was so focused on the big picture that she didn't take the time to say a few words that might've unruffled Pipp's feathers and gotten her onboard.
The moment of leaving Pipp hanging was clearly an emotional one, and something done in the heat of the moment. There are good, valid reasons for Zipp to continue on with Sunny and Izzy and not stop to help that can be made--but that's not the focus of this story. The reality is that regardless of whatever Zipp's reasons were, and even regardless of whether they it was the right call to make or no, it did have the affect of hurting Pipp's feelings, which felt like that really needed to be addressed in the movie at some point, but never was.
This is quite a nice story and the issue between Zipp and Pipp needed to be adressed. I also note that it's stated that the lie about the royals being able to fly is generations old which I've seen multiple times. I am unsure where that idea came from since it's never stated in the movie.
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Thanks!
And no, it's never said when the pegasi royal family started the lie, but this doesn't feel like something just cooked up by Queen Haven. How else would it work? That for however many years and generations, no pegasi flew at all and then all of a sudden Queen Haven said "Oh yeah, by the way, the royal family can still fly and has been able to fly all along but we just didn't feel like mentioning it until now" ? I can't see how anyone could possibly buy that. The lie had to have started at least some time ago, maybe not the instant the pegasi lost their ability to fly, but at least far enough back that no pony would think twice about it by the time the movie starts.
Thank you for this story. We really needed this in the movie, not that they just glanced over it, but it really was a big deal. Leaving your sister hanging like that, it really was the big sore thumb in the whole Zipp likability for me.
It was a good and fair conversation, with them both having good and bad points, and it felt real. Really good work.
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Thank you!
For me, it wasn't so much the act of leaving Pipp behind that I felt needed resolution as Zipp's reaction when Pipp caught back up with them. There's arguments that could be made about the idea that Zipp leaving was the right choice: that if she stayed she could've been detained or the crystal (the entire reason that mess came about) could've been confiscated, etc. Plus the fact that it was a split-second decision and all.
But even if (and I freely admit this point is debatable) that leaving Pipp behind was the correct move for Zipp to make in that situation--her nonchalance in the face of Pipp's ire when she next saw her was another matter.
Pipp Petals: "Somepony seriously needs to explain why this thing was so important that you had to ruin my whole show over it!"
Zipp Storm: "Trust me. It was."
And she wasn't even looking or sounding apologetic over it, just smiling--not at Pipp's situation, certainly, but so relieved at getting the crystal back that she didn't seem to take Pipp's feelings into account. Ditto at the very next exchange right after this, when the arrest warrants are put out for them.
Pipp Petals: What?! "This is not happening! This is so not happening!"
Zipp Storm: "Pipp! Forget about all that. We think we can bring back magic, but we need that crystal."
This really doesn't do anything to address Pipp's emotional state or her concerns. Zipp's so focused on the task at hoof that she let all that slide when she really shouldn't have.
Let me be clear: none of this makes Zipp unlikable and it's perfectly okay to show that the characters are not perfect. Being motivated, driven, and focused at the task in-hand are all find qualities. But occasionally they need reminding about things they overlook in the heat of the moment, things that may not seem as immediate in the necessity to deal with, but are still important nonetheless.
Likewise, Pipp needed a scene to explain how she went from grumbling about her ruined show being all their fault and arguing with Zipp to being on board with their quest. All we got was Pipp liking Izzy's color for her, then taking part in a group song, and helping Sunny with a tip for a dance contest. That was it. There was no reflection on the way she was back in Zephyr Heights, showing any change of attitude towards her family's deception or why things needed to change. That's a bigger omission so I tried to tackle both at once.
Indeed it seems like Zipp's main issue is her having a very hard time understanding what motivates others. Her goals are noble, but she's... self-centered about it. She doesn't mind as much leaving that old princess life behind, because she didn't like it, and she doesn't undestand why Pipp would be upset about the same because she, Zipp, isn't.
The Wonderbolts story shows it as well. To Zipp, it's a truly motivational tale... but she seems to believe that because she found it motivational, everyone else should as well, and when Pipp asks her whether they, the Wonderbolts, would've left a comrade behind, she can't actually counter that point. It didn't fit into her personal experiences or emotional state, so she failed to notice the contradiction.
And I would argue, this is something she should work on, because I know folks who mean well but thoughtlessly pushed other people away their whole lives. Fortunately, her new group of friends appears rather robust.
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I don't think it's self-centeredness or her not understanding what motivates others. I see more as possessing a certain myopia that comes when you've fixated on a goal for so long that when you finally have a chance to realize it you aren't always as aware of other things, like how Pipp feels about the fallout of that goal and what it cost her personally.
That said, Pipp didn't exactly wow us with her empathy towards the regular pegasi with her breezy (no pun intended) comment about how of course they'd help ordinary pegasi if they could. Given that degree of flippancy, which I imagine is not a new thing, I can well imagine Zipp getting used to tuning out Pipp's more self-involved statements and comments---which left her less sympathetic to Pipp than she should have been now that Pipp actually has a pretty justifiable reason for being upset, which Zipp didn't seem to acknowledge.
Congrats, reading this made me forget part-way through that I'm reading a fanfic and not a cut portion of the script
We needed something like this in the movie, Zipp and especially Pipp got practically nothing the Zephyr Heights part of the film was done.
Yeah, the film definitely needed something like this. (On the other hand, if it had had such a thing, you likely wouldn't have written this, so...)
I'm always a sucker for some good Royal Pegasisters content, and this is no exception, good stuff.
Regarding some of the conversation happening in the comments, i really like the concept of zipp being very focused on Truth, and pipp being very focused on Emotions/connection. They bith have a blind spot for the other's strength, which can make some interesting stories.
In myers-briggs terms, it feels very much like Fi (introverted feeling, basically about My feelings, values, goals, etc.) Vs Fe (extroverted feeling, basically about Other's feelings, connecting with others, keeping the peace). And as someone who uses Fi and enjoys science, i really relate to Zipp
Now i cant help but try to add a southern drawl to Zipp's voice, lol
Wow, this story was one hell of a rollercoaster. You characterized both characters perfectly, and you almost made me tear up halfway through the story. Well done, this has to be one of your best stories.
Great little interaction between sisters