The Tale of Neon Light

by DeffBwade

Chapter 12: Make Your Mark Part 1

The Tale of Neon Light

Written by DeffBwade

Chapter 12: Make Your Mark Part 1

---

"I don't understand. The magic is back. I felt it. And I know you did too. So why can't I...?"

...

"What do you mean it's not strong enough? There was literally a sudden surge of it that spread across Equestria. Shouldn't that be enough?"

...

"Stabilized? Since when did magic have to be sta—? Oh wait. Never mind. I think I see what you mean. After all, it's been... Well, I don't even know how long it's been since magic first disappeared."

...

"Jesus. Has it really been that long? Time really flies by. It feels likes barely any time has passed actually. Oh well. So...I just have to wait in the meantime?"

...

"*Sigh* Alright. If I really have to... So...not to be inpatient or anything, but...how long do you think it's gonna take them? One week? Two weeks? Hopefully not too long?"

---

2 months later

---

Princess Zephyrina Storm was on a mission.

The pegasus mare was carrying a bag and a radio as she flew through the skies of Equestria, the wind flowing through her mane and tail. When she saw some pegasi approaching, she quickly hid behind some clouds. Luckily, they were busy looking at their phones and talking to each other to notice the mare hiding. Zipp poked her head out of the clouds, some of it sticking to her mane, and saw the pegasi flying away from her location. She shook the clouds away and continued her mission.

She eventually arrived at Zephyr Heights, and continued onwards to the Castle. She flew to one of the many windows and struck herself against it, but it neither opened or even cracked. Thinking of another way to get inside, Zipp gently laid a hoof against the window in though...only for it to open and for her to fall onto the floor of the Castle.

"So did you get it yet, Zipp?!" Pipp said on the radio, worry evident in her voice.

"Almost..." Zipp replied with a little annoyance.

"Well, hurry uuuuup!" Pipp cried out desperately.

"On it! Maximum sneaky engaged!" Zipp said with a confident smile as she stood up.

She then noticed Zoom and Thunder walking in her direction, to which she quickly flew up to the ceiling. The two guards closed the open window and looked at each other in confusion, and then started to leave without noticing the pegasus mare.

Zipp sighed in relief and continued on. She landed in a hallway and proceeded to go maximum sneaky, doing some (unnecessary) flips in the process. She then noticed a portrait of her and her sister when they were fillies with their mom hugging them.

"Hey, Mom," she said jokingly.

The pegasus mare eventually found the room she was looking for, which was Pipp's old room. She placed her hoof on the scanner and opened the door and went inside. Scanning the room, she spotted her objective: Pipp's lucky microphone. She quickly took it and placed it in her bag.

"Mission accomplished!" Zipp announced on the radio as she started to run on the same hallway.

"Good! Now fly fast!" Pipp said.

"No problems with that!" Zipp said with a smirk before she jumped out of the window and flied freely, making her way to Maretime Bay.

Hey!
You gotta let it glow
Hey!
You gotta let it shine

Oh, let's make our mark together
Just riding on forever
Just keeps on getting better, better, better
Hey!

Everypony, everywhere
You can feel it in the air
Find your spark and just glow and shine
Make a mark that you can share
Hoof to heart, you know we care
Oh ponies, come on, let's all unite

After flying for a while, Zipp finally arrived to Maritime Bay. As she observed ponies going about their daily lives, she suddenly heard some screaming. She turned and saw that two pegasus fillies crashed into each other and were falling to the ground. Zipp immediately took action and flew over to them, catching the fillies in the air.

"Heads up, everypony!" Zipp announced, as she landed on the street and gently put the fillies down.

"I'm so sorry..." one of the fillies apologized, then looked at the pegasus mare, "Thank you, Princess Zipp."

"Zipp! Just call me Zipp!" she pleaded, not quite comfortable being addressed by her royal title, "And don't worry about it. The magic from the Unity Crystals in the Brighthouse is new to all of us," she assured as she looked at the Crystal Brighthouse and the rainbow light it's emitting, "It takes practice."

Unbeknownst to her, or anypony for that matter, the Unity Crystals started to move strangely.

It was as if they were...failing.

---

"Should I start now, or...?" Sunny asked as Pipp was pointing the camera of her phone at her, preparing a livestream for a special announcement.

"In a sec, Sunny," I said, looking around trying to spot a certain pegasus, "We're still waiting on Zipp."

"Ugh, where is she?" Pipp asked with desperation, while Izzy and Hitch looked worried, "I really wanted to use my—"

"Lucky microphone?" Zipp finished for her sister as she finally arrived, much to the relief of Izzy and Hitch.

"There she is!" Izzy exclaimed with happiness.

"What took you so long?" Pipp asked with frustration, "Don't tell me you were sneaking around the palace again..." she said as Zipp winked at her with a smirk, "You know you can just enter through the main doors! It's our house!"

I looked at Zipp with a deadpan face.

"But if Mom knew I was there, I'd get stuck doing one of her random princess lessons," Zipp pointed out as she handed the microphone to Sunny.

"Good point," Pipp replied.

"Yeah, I saw one of them. It was boring as heck," I saw, remembering how much I wanted to sleep or leave, but didn't out of the kindness of my heart (I hate myself sometimes). I looked at Sunny and said, "Alright, Sunny. Some last minute advice: take a deep breathe and pretend you're just talking to a camera and not the entirety of Equestria. Cool? Cool."

Based on the fact that Sunny still looked anxious and unsure what to do, I'd say my advice was...slightly effective.

"A" for effort?

"You're live..." Pipp said before pressing the record button, "...now!"

"Like, 'now' now?!" Sunny asked, still nervous, to which Pipp nodded, "Uh...hey, everypony! I'm Sunny Starscout, and I'm live here in Maretime Bay with my friends!" she started, as Pipp switched the camera to point at the rest of us (with me automatically feeling nervous for showing my face on a livestream; thankfully I don't have to commentate; I'm a wuss), and then quickly switched it back, "A lot has changed around here in the past few months. Maretime Bay used to be the place just us Earth ponies live, just like how unicorns always stayed in Bridlewood and pegasi never left Zephyr Heights. But when we found the three Unity Crystals and brought them back together, it brought us back together! All pony kinds were reunited in friendship! Now anypony can live...anywhere! And...we have magic again!"

Pipp pointed the camera to a unicorn levitating some bags of apples, but a pegasus flew too low to the ground and knocked the bags out of said unicorn's telekinetic grasp.

"To do..." Izzy commented as she grabbed some of the apples with her magic, "...well, what unicorns and pegasi do!" she said as she dropped the apples in the air, one of them landing on her horn, "Ta-da!" she exclaimed before looking at Sunny, "Now you, Sunny! Show everypony what you can do!"

"Ooh, yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah! Turn into an Alicorn!" Pipp pleaded before she pointed the camera at herself, "That's an earth pony, pegasus, and unicorn all in one!"

When Pipp pointed the camera back at Sunny, she only seemed nervous.

"Uhhh... You know it doesn't really work like that, guys," Sunny pointed out, "I can't just, uh... Anyway..." she continued, "...the point is, magic powers or not, I think everypony can agree that our lives are way more magical now that we're together again!"

"You know iiiiit~!" Pipp sang as she popped into the shot, then looked at the earth pony mare. "Okay, Sunny! Do the thing!"

"Do you like super fun times? Are you interested in learning more about earth pony traditions and tasting local treats? Do you want to see ponies sing in a big concert?" Sunny asked with an announcer voice.

"Yes! You bet! And yeeees!" Izzy jumped in, as she started to dance a little.

"Then you should come to our annual Maritime Bay Day Festival! For a day of fun in the sunshine! It's going to be a blast! And I'm not just talking about the fireworks show. All pony kinds are welcome!" Sunny continued with a smile.

"Oh! Oh! I love Maretime Bay Day!" Hitch jumped in as he grabbed the phone, "You gotta come check it out! The live Maritime music! The sand castle contest! The caramel ponycorn! Ah! It's the best!" he said excitedly before a bird flew by and grabbed Pipp's phone in its beak, "Hey! Give that back!"

"Hitch! My phone!" Pipp cried out with an (overdramatic) gasp before we all ran after the bird.

We all followed the bird through Maritime Bay, dodging the ponies we passed by, trying to retrieve Pipp's phone. Zipp almost caught the bird at one point, but the animal passed trough a train cart, Zipp almost crashing into the pony driving said cart, but she just crashed into their hat, so she threw it away and kept her pursuit.

The bird proved to be persistent as we were now leaving the town.

The bird slowly lost its grip on the phone and dropped it. Izzy started using her magic and managed to catch the phone, but it wasn’t fully working (probably due to her still learning). She accidentally tripped and slid forward into a garden that sat at the front of a house.

"Got it!" Izzy exclaimed as we all caught up, but seeing as her face was now covered in leaves, we started to laugh. The unicorn mare smiled back and blew the leaves away. She looked at Pipp's phone and noticed that it was still streaming, "Oh, hey, look! It's still on!"

"See you at the festival," Pipp said when Izzy handed her back her phone, and then she turned off the stream.

"You okay, Izzy?" Sunny asked to the unicorn, who stood up.

"Oh, yeah, oh, yeah. I mean, a little ground glitter never hurt anypony," Izzy replied as she took off the remaining leaves in her mane and giggled.

"Well, thank hoofness for magic!" Sunny commented with a smile.

"Oh yeah!" Izzy said in agreement.

"Definitely," Pipp replied.

"For sure!" Zipp added as well.

"It is pretty cool," I commented.

"Well, I for one do not agree!" another voice said, causing us towards the door of the house we were in front of.

"Oh boy," I thought as I immediately recognized that pony that was currently looking at us in anger.

"Is this about your flowers, Posey?" Sunny asked as we stepped away from them, "It was an accident, but we'll fix them right away."

Of all ponies, it just had to be Posey Bloom. She's not a bad pony by any means, but she is a bit...um...

"No. What I meant was that I wish magic had never come back. And I'm not the only pony around here who thinks so," Posey clarified with a frown.

"Uh, what do you mean?" Sunny asked in confusion.

"You pegasi are always flying too fast! O-or too low! Or too high up!" she said with a roll of her eyes.

"Wait, what?" I said as I glanced at Zipp and Pipp in confusion.

...Yeah. She's like that.

"What's wrong with flying high up?" Pipp asked.

"Ugh! I just don't like it, okay?!" she yelled as she got close to Pipp's face, and then moved to Izzy. "And every time I'm at the market, there's some smug unicorn using their magic to shop!" she complained, "I almost got hit in the head by a bag of floating apples yesterday!"

"Jeez. Entitled much?" I mentally sighed, "At least she's not as bad as my old neighbors from Zephyr Heights."

"Magic is not very safe. At least not for the rest of us ponies who don't have it," Posey stated, then turned to Hitch, "Right, Sheriff Hitch?"

"Uh...I don't know if I would say that..." Hitch replied as he scratched the back of his head, causing the yellow mare to growl angrily.

"Everypony's just...still learning how to use it. That's all! Magic takes practice!" Sunny tried to explain.

"Well then, go do your magic somewhere else other than my garden!" Posey yelled before she went into her house and slammed the door behind her.

"...She was really nice, right guys?" Izzy asked as we all stared in shock of what just happened.

"Yeeaah. Real nice," I said sarcastically with a deadpan face.

As Zipp, Pipp, and Hitch felt uncomfortable with the situation, we all began to head back home. Izzy quickly fixed up the flowers while humming to herself.

"Oh! Come on you two! Let's go home!" Izzy called as Sunny and I lagged behind.

I started to follow, but then turned back after a few seconds when I noticed Sunny wasn't following. She was looking through one of the windows of Posey’s house and saw her staring at her, to which Posey closed the curtains angrily.

"Don't worry, Posey. I'm gonna find a way to show you and everypony else just how awesome magic can be," the apricot mare assured before leaving.

As she passed by me, I took one last look at the house and thought about what Posey said.

"At least not for the rest of us ponies who don't have it."

There was something about that made me think that there was more than just thinking that magic is unsafe.

Choosing to think about later, I shook my head and followed after the others.

---

Arriving back at the Crystal Brighthouse, we all unanimously decided to make some pizza for lunch (personally I would've preferred delivery because I'm lazy but teamwork makes the dream work, I guess). As Sunny and Hitch gathered the ingredients, with me offering to help, Izzy called Pipp to show her something, but they eventually returned.

As for Zipp...

She was kind of just sitting at a table, a face expressing that she was deep in thought.

"Zipp!" Pipp called out, but pegasus in question didn't reply, "Zipp!" she called again, but Zipp still didn't heard her. Pipp jumped straight to her side and shouted, "Zipp!"

"Huh?" Zipp finally said, getting her head out of the clouds and looking at her sister with an awkward smile.

"I have been asking you if you want extra cheese on your pizza for like 10 minutes!" Pipp explained while rolling her eyes.

"Yeah. I know I like to just sit and stare at nothing particular, but I've never you do it before," I added, "You alright?"

"Oh, sorry," Zipp apologized, "Just...thinking about something weird that happened earlier."

"The thing with Posey?" Pipp asked.

"Oh, uh... Yeah! That!" Zipp answered, but I knew it was a lie.

As I said before, Zipp wasn't one to lie to others. So why was she doing so now?

"Same here!" Sunny exclaimed in disbelief, "How could she not love magic?"

"Earth ponies have never had magic before," Hitch spoke up while flattening a pizza dough.

"Never? Really?" I asked in disbelief, to which the yellow stallion nodded. Of course. It all makes sense now, "Huh. No wonder Posey's a bit of a grouch. She's probably jealous."

"Jealous?" Pipp asked as she, Sunny, and Zipp looked confused.

"I know I am," Hitch confessed, "Magic seems a little scary, but it would be pretty cool to be able to levitate things."

"Like this?!" Izzy asked, as she levitated one of the pizzas with her magic and made it twirl in the air. However, she got distracted by a crab and unconsciously stopped using her magic, causing the pizza to fall onto her horn and face. We all laughed at this, and Izzy licked a little of sauce that fell onto her muzzle, "Worth it!"

"Ah, you're right, Hitch," Pipp said with a smile, "That is so much better than flying."

"So, have you figured out the whole magical wings and horn appearing at random times thing yet?" Zipp asked Sunny, walking up to her.

"No..." Sunny confessed with her ears down. "And it's been getting worse..."

"What do you mean?" I asked, joining in the conversation.

"Well..."

---

The other day, Sunny was attending to her smoothie stand as usual. After giving a pony their smoothie, the apricot mare's wings and horns suddenly appeared at of nowhere. While nearby ponies looked at her in awe, Sunny was trying to figure out how she did, but her distracted mind caused her to slip on a spilled smoothie, which caused her to fall onto the wall of the stand, which caused said stand to overturn.

---

"Yeesh," I simply said, thinking about how many ingredients were ruined and how much effort it took to pick up the stand, "...Maybe Posey has a point."

"Yeah," Zipp agreed, "Magic is unpredictable."

"It may be unpredictable, but it's not dangerous!" Sunny said as she took the pizza out of the oven. Izzy then used her magic to divide the pizza into six pieces to divide among us, "We just need to show the earth ponies that magic is nothing to be afraid of," Sunny continued as we ate our slices, "It makes Equestria a-a better place. And...it's fun!"

"And also unpredictable," I muttered.

"Wow! Are you ponies thinking what I'm thinking?!" Izzy asked excitedly.

"I think I might be!" Sunny said with a smile.

"Alright, everypony. On the count of three. One, two, three. Floating parade! Right?" Izzy yelled with a smile, to which Sunny just blinked, but then smiled.

"Not exactly, but close!" she answered, facing all of us, "We're going to use Maritime Bay Day as our chance to show off all the amazing things magic can do!" she explained. Zipp, Pipp, and Hitch looked confused, Izzy was just smiling, and I felt a bit...unsure, "Then everypony will remember just how special it is that we have friendship and magic in our lives again! Are you ponies in?"

"Yeah!" Izzy answered with a big joyful smile.

"Definitely, definitely!" Pipp answered next.

"I'm in!" Hitch replied.

I don't know why, but I just felt like using Maritime Bay Day to show the value of magic wasn't a good idea. I mean, isn't the point of it is bringing ponies together in friendship, harmony, and fun.

I don't know. It's probably just me.

"Sure," I said with a shrug. When Zipp still didn't answer, I glanced at her and saw her looking at phone and then growling before walking away. I raised an eyebrow as she continued to walk away, "Hmm?"

---

Princess Zephyrina Storm...was frustrated.

The pegasus in question went to the top of the Brighthouse, where the Unity Crystals were floating and projecting the rainbow light. She looked at her phone and saw that she was calling from her mother. She answered, albeit a bit hesitantly.

"Zephyrina? Are you there?!" Queen Haven asked, while she was trying to adjust the camera angle of herself, "He-Hello?! I can't see you."

"Hi, mom," Zipp said in a deadpan way.

"Oh!" Queen Haven said as she finally adjusted the right angle, "There you are," she said with a chuckle, "It's been ages since I've seen my fillies!" she said dramatically, "At least Pipp answers her phone when I call her. You never do! And you haven't visited Zephyr Heights at all!"

"Nope, you're right! I definitely have not been to Zephyr Heights!" Zipp lied, omitting the fact that she did visit Zephyr Heights briefly and sneakily to retrieve something.

"Well, it's not like you can't fly now, darling," Queen Haven pointed out. Then Cloudpuff came in the middle of the phone call and licked the camera, "Oh! Cloudpuff wants to say hi!" she said, and then she started to pamper him with her nose, until she realized she was still in the call, "You were saying?"

"Oh, it was just—"

""Listen, Zipp, dear" Queen Haven interrupted, "I called because I'm going to need you to move back home, okay?"

"What?! No! No way!" Zipp exclaimed.

"I know you've had fun with your new friends and all, but you're a princess, darling. You're going to be Queen one day!" Queen Haven pointed out.

"I know..." Zipp said with a roll of her eyes. "What about Pipp, though?"

"Well... your sister has her little salon project, and while I do like the idea of you being there to keep an eye on her, let's face it, she livestreams everything, so that's not really necessary" Queen Haven said, "You're the one I need here, studying my every move and representing the royal family!"

"But I'm not sure if I'm ready to leave just yet," Zipp replied with a sad tone, as she really didn't want to leave Maritime Bay and her friends.

"And why wouldn't you be?"

"Um... There's a festival soon?"

"Hmm. I do suppose festival planning does count as a useful skill for your future on the throne. As Queen, you'll be responsible for arranging state dinners, teas, parties..."

As Queen Haven continued listing off stuff, Zipp knew what she had to do.

Mimic static noises and end the call.

Zipp groaned and moved closer to the balcony, viewing Maritime Bay in its entirety.

"Hey..."

The pegasus in question turned and saw Neon approaching her.

---

"I uh...I caught a bit of that conversation with your mom," I said as I walked beside her, "You alright, Zipp?"

"Yeah," Zipp answered, but I had a feeling that was a lie, "It's just that...I love it here in Maretime Bay so much," she explained as we both looked at the town, to which I joined her, "I don't want to leave yet."

"Leave?" I asked as I turned to the mare in surprise.

"Go back to Zephyr Heights," Zipp said in a sad tone.

"Already? You've only been here for a few months."

"I know. I'm not ready to become a full-time, heir-to-the-throne princess yet" Zipp confessed, "Not the way my mom expects me to be, anyway..." she said with a frown. "But...I'm not sure if I fit in here either..."

"What do you mean? Of course you fit in," I reassured.

"Even if all I do is fly around and try out new moves?"

"Zipp, I'm a pony that plays videogames most of the time and is too shy to show his face online or perform in front of a crowd," I pointed out in a bit of a deadpan tone before smiling, "And yet you and Pipp still accepted me, as well as everypony else. What you love makes you who you are."

"I don't know..." Zipp replied as she frowned again, "Maybe my mom is right. Maybe I should just go back to Zephyr Heights and really try to be the kind of princess everypony is hoping for. I'm going to have to do it someday."

Being the heir to the throne has always been...a bit of a touchy subject for Zipp. As you know by now, she's not one to act like royalty or expect to be treated like one. She wishes to be free in the clouds, feel the wind flowing through her mane, do athletics, and generally just do her own thing.

I can't do anything about her situation, but I can at least give her some advice.

"...You're right. Someday you will be the Queen of Zephyr Heights. There's nothing you or I or anypony can do to change that. But here's the thing: you don't have to nor should you be the Queen that your mom or everypony wants you to be," I advised, "Be the Queen that you want to be."

Zipp still seemed a little unsure, though.

"Look, just take some time to think about it," I said, "But...at least wait until after Maritime Bay Day to decide...please?"

"...Okay, yeah. I guess I can't miss that," Zipp said, feeling a little better. She raised a hoof for a hoof bump and said, "Thanks Neon."

"Don't mention it," I said with a smile, reciprocating the hoof bump. Before we could do anything else, however, we heard screams. We turned and saw a couple of pegasi falling with their phones. We were about to go and help them, but then they just flied away, looking at their phones as if nothing happened, "Please tell me you saw that as well."

"I did..." Zipp answered, "...Weird."

Furthermore, neither of us noticed the Unity Crystals glitching out behind us.