Sins of the Sister
70 days after Zipp’s breakdown
The battle had been long and intense. Not just the scuffle against Opaline, but also the struggles of Zipp Storm after she nearly was consumed by darkness. Many times had the pegasus suffered from nightmares and the unwelcome thoughts of the villain she could be. But now, it seemed that the light at the end of the tunnel was able to be seen. Zipp seemed to be almost exactly like her old self again, only ever having to worry about nightmares that she talked with her friends or therapist about. And with the evil alicorn locked away forever in the underground prison, peace was seen in the future for everypony.
Unfortunately, the path to peace still has a long way to go. And nopony is about to learn this more than Zipp's own sister; Pipp Petals.
Throughout the long recovery period, Pipp had always been at her sister's side, refusing to leave Zipp alone over the fear of losing her permanently. The thought worried everypony in Zipp’s life, but it affected Pipp most of all. The pink pegasus princess would often have her own nightmares alongside her sister, but kept them to herself as to not shift the attention away from who she considered to need it more.
"It's not like they're hurting me anyway." She often told herself after each one and went about her day as normal.
Her nightmares were usually ones related to finding Zipp too late after she ran away, her big sister already having passed and being unable to do anything except sob into her lifeless corpse. But there were also nightmares that involved Zipp going mad, becoming the pony she feared, or standing on trial where Pipp was only able to watch as her sister received the harshest punishment her mind thought of.
However, it wasn’t until after the battle with Opaline that the worst nightmares began. It started with Pipp in a room of sobbing ponies, all wearing black, facing an altar in the center. The scene was very reminiscent of a memory from her foalhood that she would try her hardest to forget; her father’s funeral.
Seeing how everypony was then compared to now gave Pipp a very good idea on what was going on. Still, she found herself asking. “What happened?” Ponies heard her, but none responded beyond just staring at her and turning away. Realizing she wasn’t going to get a verbal answer, Pipp walked towards the center of the room, and slowly went up the stairs of the altar and saw an open coffin in the center with a pony inside. Against what her mind warned her, she walked up to the coffin and looked to see who it was. As she feared, it was Zipp.
Seeing Zipp dead in her nightmares wasn't something new for Pipp, but that didn't make it any less horrifying to see her sister's corpse before her. But what made this one worse than any of the previous nightmares was Zipp's face. It wasn’t disfigured or showed any signs of being attacked. Instead, it had a smile on it, like Zipp was at peace, indicating that she wanted this.
The fact Zipp took her own life was what made this the worst nightmare of them all.
Tears already dropping from her eyes, Pipp stumbled back from the corpse. “Wh-wha-how did this happen?” She asked aloud, hoping somepony would answer.
The answer she got was not the one she was expecting. “You should already know.” Hitch said with clear hatred in his voice as he appeared behind Pipp with Izzy and Sunny before shouting. "This is all your fault in the first place!"
"Wh-what?" Pipp stammered out from the accusation.
"You did this to her, Pipp!" Sunny yelled at the pink pegasus. "It's because of you that Zipp felt the wasn't worthy of anything! She kept thinking she wasn't good enough at anything she tried, and it's all from what you did!" She pointed a hoof accusingly at her.
"Had you just left well enough alone, she'd still be alive!" A teary eyed Izzy screamed at her before Sunny pulled the unicorn into a hug all while still glaring at Pipp.
It was then that Queen Haven appeared from behind Pipp. The younger pegasus backed away from her furious mother, feeling like an insect under her shadow. "Mom, tell me it isn't true." Pipp pleaded with her mother as she ran up to hug her. "Tell me I didn't kill Zipp!" The response she got was Haven smacking her away with her hoof. Pipp fell to the floor and looked up at her mother, crying as she held a hoof on the cheek that was hit. "Mom." She whimpered out.
“Do you know how it feels as a mother to see your daughter dead by her own hooves? Do you?!” She screamed at her daughter so loudly the room shook, but Pipp was the only one who reacted. “No! You wouldn’t! Because you never cared for anypony else but yourself before!”
“No, it’s not true!” Pipp denied as she shakily got back onto her hooves. "I love Zipp! I never wanted this to happen to her!" She cried. "It's not my fault!"
"Yes it is!" The entire room angrily shouted back at her as it and the ponies in it turned hellish red
“I didn’t want this to happen!”
“You still did it!” They shouted back as massive comments started flying towards Pipp that she had to duck to avoid. Almost all telling her to die just like her sister did.
“It’s not my fault!” Pipp cried again into her hooves.
“It’s always been!” The crowd replied.
“NO! IT WASN’T ME!” Pipp raised her tear soaked head and screamed.
“There’s nopony else to blame!” They told her.
Pipp looked around frantically for someway, anyway, to escape from the constant attacks and hateful words, both vocally and through giant floating comments, being thrown at her. That was when she noticed somepony in the crowd. “Wait! It’s not me you want! It’s her!” She pointed her hoof accusingly at Misty.
The shouting stopped and everypony in the room was quiet, letting the pink pegasus know that she had to explain herself more. Swallowing a massive gulp, the pink pegasus continued. "S-she was the one who drove Zipp to madness. It was her necklace that corrupted all of us. She was helping Opaline the whole time. She stole the lantern and Sparky for her! She even was the one who gave Opaline the reason to try to kill Zipp in the first place!" The more Pipp spoke, the more she started to fully believe everything she was saying. She already had a hard time trusting Misty in the first place after the unicorn came clean before, but she didn't know why until now.
And it seemed that everypony else present agreed with her as their outrage was shifted from Pipp to Misty. The unicorn was helpless as the angry mob surrounded her like wild dogs about to pounce on a kill. Whatever Misty was trying to say to get them to back off Pipp didn't hear. She didn't care. That traitor deserved it after all the hell she put her sister through. "It was always her fault." Pipp told herself.
That wouldn't be the last time Pipp had that dream. It would come back night after night. And every night it would end the same, with Pipp directing the hatred that she was feeling for herself towards Misty, the real criminal that hurt her sister.
And those thoughts from the dream started to effect Pipp in real life. She would make sure that Zipp was kept as far away from Misty as possible. There was no way she was going to let her sister be hurt by whatever that horrible mare did ever again. She swore it.
Still, she couldn't outright tell Misty to get lost and never return. Her friends would never allow it. Besides, she was a princess, she knew better. So she kept that hatred bottled up and stomached it.
Until the day that Misty had to ask a certain question and she snapped.
Misty going to her mother and turning herself in was not something Pipp ever expected the unicorn to do, but it was something she certainly had no problems with. Especially after just the sight of her was enough to drive Zipp into a full on panic attack. Now her big sister can rest easy knowing that the mare responsible for putting her in so much danger was going to be locked away for good. The thought made Pipp smile as she looked down at her sleeping sister.
She was about to join her in slumber when Sunny suddenly stepped into the bedroom with Sparky on her back. "Uh, Pipp?" The earthpony mare asked quietly, not wanting to wake Pipp up if she was asleep.
An annoyed groan told Sunny that at the very least she succeeded in waking the pegasus up. "What is it?" Pipp asked as she sat up and looked at her friend.
"Sorry to bother you, but it's just that you left your phone downstairs and your mother is calling." Sunny explained.
"She is?" Pipp said in surprise, not expecting to hear from her mom so soon after the news was released. She knew that if she was calling right now that it was important, but she didn't want to leave Zipp alone while she slept.
Sunny noticed her friend's predicament and stepped in to help. "Don't worry. Sparky and I will watch over her." She assured Pipp before turning to the dragon on her back. "Right, Sparky?" Sparky's response was a nod and some babbles.
Pipp couldn't help but smile at the baby dragon's reply and felt some assurance from the two of them. "Okay." She said as she hesitantly got out of the bed and flew downstairs.
Once there, she saw Hitch and Izzy with the stallion holding Zipp’s phone in his hooves. He silently handed it to her, and Pipp answered. "Hello?" She asked as her mom's face appeared on the screen.
“Pipp? Is that you?” Queen Haven asked. “Where’s Zipp? I need to speak with her about something important.”
"She's...upstairs resting." Pipp answered, deciding not to mention why as to both not worry their mother and respect Zipp's privacy.
"Oh, I see." Haven responded understandingly. "Well, when she wakes up, can you tell her that I wish for her to attend Misty's trial."
If Pipp had been drinking something, this would be the part where she spit it out. "You wish for her to attend?" She repeated in surprise.
"Yes." Haven answered before taking note of Pipp's look of uncertainty. "Is there a problem with that? Did something happen to Zipp?" She asked with increasing worry.
Knowing that Haven wasn't going to take any answer other than the truth, Pipp decided to come clean. "When we saw the news report of Misty being carried away, Zipp had a panic attack.”
Haven gasped at this news. “She did?! Is she all right?!” She asked frantically.
“Like I said, she’s upstairs resting.” Pipp assured her mom. “But I think you can understand why I don’t think it’s a good idea for Zipp to see Misty’s trial in person if just seeing her on TV is enough to freak her out.”
Haven nodded. “Yes, I’ll be needing to make sure that she’s put away somewhere she can never harm my baby girl ever again.”
Despite the implication, Pipp couldn’t help but smile at her mother’s words. “Good.” She said with a nod.
"Well, tell Zipp when she wakes up that mommy sends her love and I'll speak with you both as soon as I can." Haven said as she had to go prepare for the trial.
"Okay. Talk to you later, Mom." Pipp said before she hung up.
With the conversation over, Pipp tucked her phone away and looked over at her two friends. When she saw Izzy and Hitch, she saw confused by the hurt and concerned looks on their faces. "What?" She asked them.
"Pipp." Hitch spoke up. "Did something happen with you and Misty that you're not telling us?" He asked her.
The question took Pipp by surprise. Was Hitch accusing her of getting Misty arrested? "What does it matter? Misty made her choice and now she's' going to live with it locked up for the rest of her life." She brushed his question off, making Hitch frown at her response. It wasn't something she would normally say.
“They can’t really be that bad, right?” Izzy asked fearfully. “I mean, I thought the dungeons were all stylish and luxury.”
“That’s just where we keep ponies we’re not entirely sure what to do with yet.” Pipp explained. “They’re only like that to keep them from wanting to escape. But if a pony commits a crime akin to what Misty did then they’ll be locked up in the dungeons beneath the city for life.”
“For life?!” Izzy repeated with a horrified look on her face.
Hitch also was shocked at what fate awaited Misty. Even at his most furious he would never lock somepony away for life if he could help it. Especially one that felt remorse for their actions. “Pipp, I know you’re upset, but surely you can see that such a punishment is too much for Misty.” He tried to reason with her. “Hasn’t she suffered enough under Opaline?”
Pipp frowned and gave Hitch a serious look. Why was he so insistent on defending Misty? If anything, he has more reason than any of them to hate that mare since she not only endangered Zipp, but his son as well. “Considering how upset Mother sounded on the phone when I told her about Zipp’s panic attack, there’s no way her punishment would be anything less.”
It was then that Sunny arrived and the other ponies finally noticed her presence, Pipp’s expression changing into a worried one. “How is she?” She immediately asked as she ran over to Sunny.
“She had a nightmare.” Sunny answered truthfully. “But other than that, she seems to be doing fine.”
Hearing this made Pipp frown again as she looked back at Hitch. “You see what I mean, Hitch?”
“I can’t say that I do.” Hitch answered with a frown of his own.
“Well, let me put it in simpler words. Mom’s going to be the judge of the trial. There is no defense attorney that is going to go against the Queen, even if they did believe Misty was somehow innocent. With nopony to defend her, Misty is going to get the harshest sentence possible.”
Hearing that made Izzy’s lip quiver. “No.” She whimpered. She looked like she was about to cry herself when an idea suddenly came into her head. “Wait! What about you and Zipp!? You’re princesses! That has to mean you can defend somepony if possible!”
“I haven’t read up on law enough to be a reliable defense.” Pipp answered Izzy’s question sternly. “And if you think I am going to let Zipp go up there in her condition then you-“
“What’s going on?” Pipp’s words caught in her throat as she heard her sister coming down the stairs with Sparky on her back.
“Zipp!” Pipp said in surprise. “What’re you doing up? You should still be in bed.”
“I wanted to know what all the commotion was about.” Zipp answered.
Pipp didn't know what to say, and thankfully her friends seemed to agree with her. They didn’t want to start arguing in front of Zipp under the risk of sending the pegasus into another panic attack. Eventually, Hitch decided to break the ice. “We got off the phone with your mother and she says that she wants you at Zephyr Heights so you can witness the trial in person." What he was about to say next he wasn't proud of. But he wasn't going to hurt Zipp even more. He would just have to hope Misty could forgive him until he found an alternative solution. "We were just talking about how it would probably be best if you don’t make the trip considering your recent troubles and that it would be a very short trial anyway with no defense for-“
“When are we leaving?” Zipp suddenly asked.
This question surprised Pipp “W-what? Zipp, did you not just hear Hitch?” The pink pegasus asked her sister back. “After everything that’s happened in just this past hour alone, it’s best you remain here in Maretime Bay. Let Mom handle the trial.” She tried to convince her sister to change her mind. There was no reason to attend. The guilty pony was caught and was going away for good. What more could she want?
But Zipp shook her head. “I have things I want to talk to Misty about, and if the trial is as one sided as you say it is, I might not get another chance.”
“But, Zipp. It’s a long flight from here to Zephyr Heights. You’re probably still too weak to make it.” Pipp tried again to change Zipp’s mind.
“We can take the Marestream. Sunny, you’ve flown it before, right?” Zipp asked her orange coated friend, already knowing her friends wouldn’t let her pilot it herself due to the recent events.
“I have.” Sunny admitted before quickly adding. “But that was months ago and only once. I’m nowhere near as experienced as you. And with all the stress you’ve been feeling, we don’t want to overwhelm you more.”
It seemed like Zipp was about to say something in response, but stopped herself. Pipp smiled, thinking she's succeeded in keeping Zipp home and away from the stresses the trial would bring. That is until Izzy spoke up. “I can fly it.” If the looks Pipp gave could kill Izzy would be a dead mare, but the unicorn ignored them as she walked over to Zipp. “If going to this is important to you, Zipp, then I’ll help you get there.” She told her pegasus friend as she took her forelegs. “I didn’t do anything when you were first hurting. I’m not going to make that mistake again if it means bringing you closure.”
“Do you really think you’re up for it?” Zipp asked Izzy. “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to? I know you’d have a hard time watching Misty on trial.”
“Zipp, I want to do this because it’s important to you. It’s because of our friendship we were able to build the Marestream. If anypony would know how to pilot it besides you, it’s me.”
“Iz, thank you.” Was all Zipp could say before the two of them hugged. When they separated, Zipp already started heading to the front doors. “Come on, ponies! We’re burning daylight!” She called out to them before leaving to board the Marestream.
The rest of her friends followed suit, but not before Pipp stopped Izzy. “Pipp?” Izzy asked at the sudden move from the pink pegasus.
“Izzy.” Pipp said without looking her in the face. “I trust you as a friend. If you think Zipp needs to see this to get better, I will believe you. However.” She lowered her wing blocking the unicorn and looked Izzy dead in the eye. “If all of this ends up making things worse for my sister, I will never forgive you.” She warned.
Izzy looked at Pipp and nodded seriously. “Trust me, Pipp. Going to see Misty will help Zipp become her old self again.” She assured the princess before going to board the Marestream, leaving a concerned Pipp behind in the Brighthouse.
Worried about everything that could go wrong.
And it seemed what ever could've gone wrong did when Pipp saw her sister be led away by Hitch to her bedroom after she went down to the dungeons to have a talk with Misty. With how shaken she was when she came up, Pipp could only begin to wonder what Misty told Zipp.
Sunny noticed the concerned look on Pipp’s face and walked over to her. “Hey.” She said as she gently put a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. "I'm sure Zipp is fine with Hitch for tonight." She assured the pegasus.
"I guess." Pipp said with uncertainty.
"Pipp?" Sunny said in confusion. Having come down mid conversation, she wasn't as aware as Izzy and Hitch about her anger towards Misty.
"I shouldn't have let her go down there alone." Pipp scolded herself. "Who knows what Misty could've said to her that made her that upset." She then turned to look at Izzy angrily. "You still think this was good for Zipp?!" She shouted at her.
Before Izzy could respond, Sunny leapt in between them. "Whoa, Pipp! Don't take this out on Izzy! She cares about Zipp just as much as you do!” She tried to reason with her.
“Seems more like she’s worried for Misty.” Pipp answered bitterly.
“Of course she’s worried for Misty. She’s our friend, too.” Sunny pointed out.
Pipp recoiled from what Sunny said. Hitch already made it clear he was against her, hopefully not anymore after seeing what Zipp went through in the dungeons, and Izzy wouldn't stop defending that traitor. But now Sunny was also turning against her. It was just like her nightmares. Everypony was turning on her and making her the victim. "It wasn't me." Pipp muttered as she backed away.
"Pipp?" Sunny asked, not clearly hearing what she said. Even Izzy was now showing signs of concern for her friend.
"IT WASN'T ME!!" Pipp cried before she unveiled her wings and, with a powerful flap, flew back to her room before Sunny or Izzy could stop her.
Once inside, she slammed the doors shut and locked them. When her friends arrived, they knocked on the doors and tried to get her to let them in. "Pipp, please talk to us!" Sunny pleaded, sounding like she was about to go into tears. And she had good reason to. Her friends were breaking up and there was nothing she was able to do to stop it.
"I'm sorry I upset you." Izzy apologized. "I just don't want anypony hurting anymore." From how she sounded, it seemed like she also was about to start crying.
But Pipp wouldn't let them in. Instead, she was lying on her bed with a pillow covering her ears from the sounds of what seemed to be the angry jury knocking on her door, fearfully muttering to herself. "It wasn't me. I didn't do it. It's not my fault. It's all Misty. It's always been Misty."
Eventually, Sunny and Izzy stopped their knocking, presumably because Queen Haven or the guards showed up and lead them away, leaving Pipp alone with nothing but her thoughts. No longer hearing the judgement right outside her bedroom door, Pipp slowly crawled out of bed and looked into her mirror. "You're not the guilty pony here." She told her reflection. “Everything that happened to Zipp was because of Misty and Misty alone." She said with a frown. "And come tomorrow, they'll all see that I'm right."
The next day did bring truth, but not the kind that Pipp was expecting. The trial started with how Pipp expected. Ponies furiously shouting at Misty, demanding she suffer a horrible punishment. Only her friends seemed to be offering support, but they were drowned out in the sea of hate Misty found herself in.
It seemed that all was going to go as it should, and Misty would be put away forever. Never to harm Zipp again, Pipp thought as she glared at the unicorn for whatever she did yesterday. But that was when Zipp appeared.
Surprising everypony in the room, and also those watching on phones or TV, she stood in the center of the court and declared she'd be Misty's defense for the trial. Pipp could barely believe what she was hearing. Here was Zipp, a pony who likes to live her life secluded, telling the whole world about her recent struggles for the past few months. And when Zipp walked up to Misty and said that she forgave her, no, never even blamed her, Pipp couldn't take it anymore.
“Zipp, no!” Pipp said as she flew out of her seat and landed by her sister. “Don’t do this to yourself!” She desperately pleaded with her. “It’s not your fault you’ve been hurting! It’s-“
“I am not blaming myself either, Pipp.” Zipp stopped her, leaving the pink pegasus speechless at her statement. “I have been spending all of this time hating myself, and it has brought me nothing but misery. While it might seem easy to just shift the grudge to Misty; the truth is all that will do is bring me misery in a new way.” She paused to look up at Hitch, and the stallion smiled at seeing his advice from the night before being put into full effect. “It is time that I accept the past for what has happened, without holding anypony accountable.”
“But there is somepony that should be held accountable.” Pipp tried to convince Zipp what she convinced herself. “Don’t you understand that if Misty had never-“ Pipp was cut off again. But this time it was by Zipp pulling her into a hug. “Z-Zipp?” She said quietly.
“It’s okay, Pipp.” Her big sister calmly said. “I understand.”
“Understand what?” Pipp softly asked back.
“I understand why you’ve been feeling like this. You’re angry, Pipp. Not at Misty, but at yourself. You feel that you’ve failed me as a sister. That you are the cause of everything that has happened. You didn’t believe my initial suspicions of Misty. And because of that, not only did that lead to me doubting myself, it also was what allowed me to get corrupted in the first place. The others also may not have shared my suspicions, but you’re my sister. You’re supposed to always have my back, and you didn’t.” Zipp wasn’t accusing Pipp when she spoke, but instead gently said what she believed to be going through her younger sister’s head.
“Zipp.” Pipp whimpered as tears started to form in her eyes as the wall she had built around herself started to crack.
“You didn’t want to hate yourself like I did, and you ended up directing your frustrations at the first pony you could. But I know you don’t blame Misty for everything. You don’t really hate her. You just didn’t know what else to do with your anger.”
“Zipp.” Pipp whispered again before the wall fell and she lost control of herself. She buried her head into her sister’s coat and began to cry. “You’re right, Zipp! I’ve been such a horrible pony! I should have defended you, but I didn’t! I feel like all of this was my fault, and I don’t know what to do!”
“But I do.” Zipp said as she gently pulled back and looked Pipp in the eyes. “It’s time to move on, Pipp. We’ve both seen what holding grudges can do. If we really want to be happy, we need to forgive. I forgive you. Actually, I don’t even blame you. Now the question is, can you do the same?”
Pipp sniffed and wiped her eyes before nodding. “Yes, I can.” Said before she broke off the hug and walked straight over to Misty. “Misty, words can not even begin to express how sorry I am for everything I said that day. You are an amazing pony, and you didn’t deserve to be berated by me like that. You’ve already felt guilty enough for all you did for Opaline, and all I did was make things worse.” The Pegasus shakily offered her hoof to the unicorn. “I know it’s probably a lot to ask for, but………do you forgive me?”
Misty didn’t even hesitate and took the hoof. “Like Zipp said, I never blamed you.” She said before the two shared a hug.
That seemed like it was the end of it all. Misty got off on a merciful sentence and they all left the courtroom with smiles on their faces.
Unfortunately, it is never that easy. For behind that smile, Pipp was devastated. In her attempt to not feel guilty for what she did, she took it all out on an innocent pony, not to mention how harshly she treated the rest of her friends.
All because she couldn't face the truth and accept it.
What had she done?
"Hmmmm.” Dr. Uaminifu said as she tapped a pen under her chin once Zipp finished explaining everything. "This is indeed a serious problem."
"I can't say for sure if it truly was what happened at the trial that made her like this, or if she has always been hurting like I have." Zipp confessed. "But I do know that she is feeling ashamed with herself after all that's happened."
"I wish I can say that it is a surprise." Uaminifu said as she walked over to her desk and pulled out a file on Zipp's condition. "However, you should already know self loathing is something that can't go away so easily."
Zipp nodded silently. "But what can I do? She was always there for me. I can't do nothing while she's going through what I was."
"Well..." Uaminifu thought about it for a few seconds before coming to an answer. "If she has been hiding it like you said, then she won't come here. However, she will need to be confronted and face the reality of her problems if she is to improve." The therapist paused and looked at Zipp. "And you're the only pony I'd say that can do that for her."
Zipp nodded again with a determined look on her face. "Anything for Pipp."
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I'm seeing my second favorite chapter of your story right here, hands down.
Like with the previous chapter (timeline wise), I have a lot to share, so I'll leave it for our private messages again.
Misty can always try to take a plea deal
This is one chapter that I've been hoping for for a while, and it did not disappoint!
Like I said before, I did have trouble sympathising with Pipp in Letting Go, so I'm glad that was given more context here. I mean, before now, the best I could guess was that her deflecting the blame onto Misty was out of fear that she'd go down the same path as Zipp. She's seen the kind of damage that hating yourself caused to Zipp, so she likely didn't want that to happen to herself.
Her motives were ultimately a little more selfish than I expected, but I can still see how her nightmares would've influenced her behaviour.
Overall, I really enjoyed this, and I feel like I can fully appreciate Letting Go now.
If the end is coming up, then I think it could involve not just Zipp and Pipp, but Misty as well. These three have all faced their own personal issues throughout the story, so I think it would be fitting to end with them and show how they've all found peace in themselves.