Rebirth of Magic: Find your Voice

by JimmyHook19

I Won't be Coming Home

"AARGH! BESTIE! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO PACK IN ON ME NOW?!"

This place absolutely sucked. I was stuck in the middle of nowhere with a group of idiots who had made a mess of things and were constantly goofing off to do other things. I had no signal, and we'd left in such a hurry I'd had no chance to pack a charger. Then again there was no guarantee the plug would fit in unicorn sockets, and I thoroughly doubt anypony had thought to make adapters. And I didn't trust Izzy to make an adapter, as I was pretty certain she'd only succeed in blowing herself up. Not only that, her constant cheeriness was really getting on my nerves.

I looked about and snarled in anger. All this stuff for apparently nothing! "I HATE THIS STUPID PLACE!"

I narrowed my eyes at the tree we were near. It looked kinda familiar. I thought I had seen it somewhere before. Was it the Crystal Tree from the ninth season of Friendship is Magic?

Before I could think further, I heard a voice behind me. "Hey, are you OK?"

I turned to see Sunny, looking at me. You have no idea how badly I wanted to punch her, seeing as she was the one who got us into this mess. Not only that, she clearly couldn't see the steam coming out of my nostrils. Honestly, the nerve of some ponies! "What do you think? Does my face look OK to you? Does anything look OK to you?"

Sunny tilted her head. "There's no need to be-"

I was sick of hearing her voice by that point. I was so angry I didn't care what I said. "No, Sunny, you've done quite enough talking for today, so how about trying something you find hard- listening?"

Sunny jumped backwards like somebody had flashed a camera in her face, and simply looked shocked as I went on with my complaints.

"Absolutely everything has gone wrong! My mane and coat have mud in them, my hooves are scuffed from all this damned walking, and we're living like primitives! I had to relieve myself in a bush earlier today! Do you have any idea how dirty that felt?"

That really was a pet peeve. Why would anypony choose to relieve themselves in the bushes when we have toilets? Sometimes ponykind seems to be evolving backwards!

"Not only that, the stunt you pulled? You left me hanging- literally! In that spotlight!" I moved forward and shoved my face into Sunny's, to the point she could probably see down my nostrils. "I know what type of friend leaves somepony out to dry like that! A REALLY SHITTY ONE!"

Sunny's eyes widened in shock. But I didn't give her a chance to reply.

"I had to watch them beating mom up as I escaped! Now mom and Zipp are probably dead or in a crummy jail cell with only cheddar and bread to eat... and it's all your fault. So I think at the very least you need to say sorry to me, instead of being all high and mighty and constantly throwing your problems our way."

Yeah, I know that may seem insensitive considering what we know now, but at the time a few bad dreams was small potatoes compared to your own mom being imprisoned by nutcases.

Sunny stammered a few words, clearly still in shock. "P- Pipp, I know this'll sound hollow, but I truly am sorry for the mess I've caused. I've been a terrible friend, and I've only made things worse. But I promise that I'll make things up to you, no matter what happens. We'll fix this world, save your family, and get things back on track- just not necessarily in that order."

She turned away from me. And before I could react she started sobbing.

All the anger I felt towards her melted away in an instant, and I realised what I was seeing. Sunny wasn't a monster who drove like a bulldozer through other pony's problems. She was insecure, broken, clearly struggling with how much was going wrong.

I trotted over and pulled her into a hug. "Sunny, if you're suffering, just let us know. We can fix this together, but we need to have a common baseline for our decisions or else chaos will result. And if we can bring magic back like you say we can, I think I can find it in my heart to forgive you."

I knew she was truly sorry. A pony who is just saying that to get what she wants doesn't react the way Sunny was. I helped her dry her eyes, and then we were back on the road to our next campsite.

---

I was certainly feeling a lot better when we arrived at our next stop. Izzy had calmed down a bit, and we got to talking.

"Aquamarine?" I said, with a smile. "That's my sixth favourite colour! Of course, you'd know that from having watched the movie!"

And yes, I had revealed to them I was in fact a former human. It was gonna become known eventually!

Hitch eventually joined us, after an attempt to go his own way, but we were soon sitting around discussing the game plan. Our next stop was Bridlewood, but Izzy was concerned. I sensed the person she had once been had experienced some sort of misery or possibly dysphoria when in their old life, as the line about being comfortable in her own skin really struck a chord with me. Even if that skin had a lot of fur over it.

Not to mention all the things that have gone wrong.

Sunny spoke to encourage us in these difficult times. "Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Izzy, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something."

"What was that?" Izzy asked.

"That there’s some good in this world, Izzy… and it’s worth fighting for.”

I think I may have misunderstood her after all. She's not dumb at all. Behind those eyes is a surprising amount of wisdom. That, naturally, had me wondering precisely who Sunny had been before all this began.

As we retired to our tents for the night, I checked my phone- Izzy had somehow produced a power bank and a USB cable from nowhere to let me charge my phone- and I still had no signal. Not even data worked out here. I was just a little pony far from home. A home I may never see again.

I looked up at the sky, and saw the moon hanging over the terrain, casting its light across the landscape and bathing our little campsite in its light. It was then I remembered something Zipp had said to me long ago.

"Even if we're apart, we can always find each other. Find the moon, and look up. It's the same moon we can both see."

I sighed, and sat down. "Please let them be OK," I whispered.

"Pipp," said a voice.

I looked around with a start. "Who's there?" I asked.

Suddenly, a white formless spirit appeared over the campfire, and stopped. "Pipp, I know things seem hard for you right now, but all things shall be well."

"How can I when so much has gone wrong?" I asked. "I miss my family. This was a chance for me to start again with my life, and it's all gone wrong!"

The spirit spoke again. "I assure you they are safe, but your mission is vital to the future of ponykind. There is an evil one out there, one who seeks to bring about the end of the world and all who live in it."

Great. I was hoping we wouldn't have to deal with Opaline until Make your Mark. "Great. What's Opaline up to?"

The voice was still there, and I suddenly recognized it. It was the exact same voice that had told me to take her place!

"You are the one who sent me here!" I realised.

"Yes, Pipp," the voice replied. "I brought you to this land for a very special purpose. Now that purpose is soon to be fulfilled. There is always the dream of a better tomorrow to fight for, and that means working alongside your friends. Soon, others will join you in your quest to save Equestria, and unlikely foes will become allies."

I didn't like where this was going. "So, who are you?"

"I'm afraid that's a mystery to be solved another time, Pipp," the voice replied. "Now you had best be off to bed. You and your friends have a long road ahead of you."

With that, the spirit vanished, and I went to my tent to sleep. I dropped off like a rock quickly. Turns out being visited by strange spirits really does a number on you!

Author's Note:

Sorry about the hold-up. Had a few other stuff that was being done on my laptop that needed doing. ^^

Anyways... halfway there now with this week's leg for Pipp Petals. :)

Comments

[Comickook]

Another really well-done chapter. Again, there was some beautiful work in the dialogue, characterizations and future chapter set-up. Again, the stuff from earlier stories in this series shown from "Pipp's" viewpoint were definitely appreciated. Especially when "she" admitted that some of "her" earlier assumptions born from anger of the situation were rather wrong.

REALLY looking forward to more of this.

[JimmyHook19]

11802307
Indeed =3

[lalisa167]

I thoroughly enjoyed your article. For me, this is an excellent piece of paper. I bookmarked it and will return to read any fresh content.
papa's freezeria

[JimmyHook19]

11802379
Uh what?

[shining paladin]

nice chapter mate keep it up cant wait for the next chapter

[JimmyHook19]

11802599
Naturally =3