Recovering Your Groove
56 days after Zipp’s breakdown
It was another sunny day in Maretime Bay, and Zipp was currently returning from a flight with Sparky, the little dragon still giggling in his carrier. Zipp smiled at her unofficial son’s excitement before she landed in front of the Sheriff’s Station. She was just about to open the door when she heard the sound of a conversation going on inside. “Come on, man!” Came the unmistakable whining voice of Sprout. “Just give me another chance!” He pleaded on his knees.
“Oh, brother. Here we go again.” Zipp groaned with an eye roll, knowing all too well that Sprout was once again trying to get his job back since whatever new job he had he most certainly just lost again. She decided to not to enter at the moment and let the scene play out as it usually did.
Inside the station, Hitch had the same annoyed look on his face that his marefriend had as he sat at his desk and listened to whatever pathetic reasons the red stallion came up with to be rehired this time. “Sprout.” He groaned. “No matter how many times you ask, the answer is still going to be no.”
“Come on!” Sprout whined again. “I thought we were friends.”
“And it was because of that friendship that I gave you the position of deputy and made one of the worst decisions of my life.” Hitch said in response before signing again. “Look, Sprout, even if you were somehow qualified for the job, the position has already been filled.”
“Oh, so you can’t give it to your foalhood friend. But your marefriend, totally acceptable for the job!” The red stallion said angrily.
“Zipp proved herself as a trustworthy partner long before we became couple.” Hitch pointed out, frowning at his marefriend being dragged into this.
“Oh, come on, Hitch. Everypony in Maretime Bay knows she’s washed up at this point.” Sprout said, earning a glare from Hitch he paid no attention to. “I mean, when was the last time she did anything detective related? Anything useful? Way before she had her wings clipped, I’ll tell you that.” From outside, Zipp heard all of that and frowned.
It took everything Hitch had to not slap Sprout just like he did to Sugar when she talked badly about Zipp. Instead he just looked at the former deputy with a dark look that said everything. “If you were half the pony she is, you’d understand why she’s more worthy of the job than you’ll ever be.” He said before getting up from his seat.
Knowing what was about to happen, Zipp moved away from the door. A few seconds later, and Sprout was sent flying out of the station and crashed against the rail. “Eeesh.” Zipp winced at his pain before entering the station herself.
Initially greeted by Hitch’s annoyed face, it soon turned to one of happiness when he saw his marefriend come in with his son. “Hey, Zipp!” He greeted her as they hugged.
“Hi, honey.” Zipp greeted back with not as much enthusiasm.
Something Hitch easily noticed and didn’t need to ask to know where it came from. “How much did you hear?” He asked her as they parted, now a concerned look on his face as he grabbed Sparky from the carrier and placed the baby dragon on his back.
“About the last minute or two.” Zipp answered truthfully as she unclipped the carrier from around her waist. “He wasn’t completely wrong, you know?” She said as she went towards the window.
“Zipp.” Hitch started to say before the pegasus stopped him.
“Don’t deny it, Hitch. It’s true. I haven’t done anything involving my investigations since….” Zipp looked down in shame, unable to finish the sentence.
Hitch sensed her distress and walked over to wrap a hoof around the pegasus mare and pull her into another hug. “And what’s stopping you from starting that up again?” He asked.
“……..I don’t know where to start.” His lover responded as she nuzzled into his chest. “I mean, the last time I did an investigation I put us all in danger of being corrupted forever. That alone makes it difficult for me to trust in my own instincts again. I’ve been barking up wrong trees before, how do I know I won’t just keep doing it again?”
Hitch stroked her back. “You have good instincts, Zipp.” He assured her. “You’ve succeeded more times than you think.”
“I guess.” Zipp said, though not sounding as convinced as Hitch would like. “Still, I……I want to start up again, I really do. I just don’t know how or where to start.”
Hitch slowly pulled away and looked into Zipp’s eyes. “Zipp, remember what you told me? Baby steps. You don’t have to start with doing everything at once. Pick something smaller first, and then work up from there.”
“But-“ Zipp tried to say something before Hitch stopped her, already knowing what she was going to say.
“After everything you’ve been through, we’ve been through together, you think I’m just going to replace you because you needed some time off?” The stallion guessed what his marefriend was going to say. “Sprout’s just being spiteful as always. I would rather you take a whole year off than force you back into work again.” He said before chuckling. “Besides, I’d say you’re doing something with mothering Sparky while I’m busy.”
Sparky took this moment to jump onto Zipp’s head and nuzzle into her mane as she chuckled to herself. “Hehe. Yeah, I guess I am doing that.” She said before kissing Hitch on the lips. “Thanks, babe. You really know how to lift me back up when I’m down.”
“Pretty impressive for an earth pony to accomplish, I must say.” Hitch joked, earning a playful jab from Zipp was they both laughed and exited the station together.
However, while Zipp wasn’t ignoring what Hitch told her, she still wanted to do something that would get her back in the field of detective work. Her friends depended on her figuring out what Twilight’s message was and what it meant for the future. But with a lack of confidence in herself, that wasn’t going to be easy.
Night came and went, as did another nightmare for Zipp, and soon it was the next day. Once again finding herself as the last to wake up, Zipp made her way downstairs. When she got there, she noticed that her friends were surprisingly absent. “Strange.” Zipp said as she went into the kitchen and saw what looked like half eaten breakfasts, implying they left in a hurry. “Hmmm.” Just as she was about to pull out her phone to call them, she noticed a note taped to the refrigerator. “What’s this?” She asked aloud as she took the note and read it.
“‘Zipp, Hitch called us about an emergency and we’re all meeting at the Sheriff’s Station. Please join us as soon as you can. Pipp.’”
“This can’t be good.” Zipp said as she immediately spread her wings and flew out the door towards the station.
When she arrived, she saw a massive crowd of ponies gathered outside. “Excuse me. Pardon me.” She said as she pushed her way through the anxious crowd before entering the station.
Inside, her worried friends heard the bell ring and saw the pegasus coming inside. “Zipp! Thank hoofness you’re here!” Hitch said in relief as he ran up to hug her.
While being hugged by Hitch wasn’t anything new for Zipp, the way he did so concerned her. “What’s going on.” She asked once they parted.
“Maretime Bay Bank has been robbed.” Sunny answered.
Zipp’s eyes widened when she heard this. “What?” She said in disbelief.
“It’s been completely emptied. There’s nothing left.” Sunny continued.
“Without any money in the bank, all of Maretime Bay is starting to panic about what they’ll do when whatever they have on hoof runs out.” Pipp added.
“It’s the ultimate Jinxie!” Izzy shouted in fear. “I’ll never be able to buy crafting supplies again!”
“Do they have any idea who did it?” Zipp asked.
Everypony else shook their heads. “No, they took out all of the security cameras before they struck.” Hitch answered.
Zipp frowned at this news, but not for the reason her friends expected. “All right, whose idea was this?”
“Huh?” Her friends said in confusion to the question.
“Look, I get you guys want to help me and all. But I thought we learned that starting a crisis just so I’d have a mystery to solve is never a good idea.” Zipp said with a frustrated look on her face.
“Wait, you think we did this?” Sunny asked, surprised by the accusation.
“Just yesterday, I was saying how I was struggling to get back into the groove of detective work. And now there’s a bank robbery with no idea of who did it or where all the money is. Seems a little too coincidental.” The white mare pointed out.
“Zipp, come on.” Pipp tried to reason with her sister. “When have we ever-“
“Did you forget about the missing lantern incident?” Zipp cut her off, leading to the pink pegasus blushing and chuckling nervously as she rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment to that mistake.
Seeing she was still not convinced this was real, Hitch tried to reason with his lover. “Zipp, I know it looks like this is all just some set up, but I swear this is an actual emergency that we need your help with.”
Hitch’s distress did help convince Zipp slightly that this wasn’t a ploy, or at the very least that they wouldn’t let up on this mystery until she solved it, but she still had questions. “And why do you need me specifically to solve this? Can’t you just do it yourself?” She asked Hitch.
“Because ignoring the fact you are a much better detective than I am, me and the girls need to remain here to keep the populous from panicking and rioting in the streets.” Hitch answered.
“Yeah, there won’t be a Maretime Bay for much longer if we don’t keep the peace.” Pipp said, concerned about both that and her saloon since she knew that would be a hot bed for looting.
Hearing what her coltfriend and sister were saying, Zipp knew that she didn’t have another choice. Her mother had taught her to always treat emergency situations as if they were real, even if she believed they were fake. And this situation was starting to sound more and more real with everything they were saying.
She did keep telling herself she’d need to get back into the groove sooner or later. Better to start now then wait for something worse to happen.
Besides, if this was all some ploy to get her back into the detective business, then she’d be sure to give them all an earful that’ll last for weeks. Months on Hitch’s end.
“All right.” She said with a sigh. “I’ll see what I can figure out.”
Her friends cheered at her agreeing to help as they all pulled the detective into a group hug. "Thank you, Zipp! You're a lifesaver!" Hitch basically cried in joy.
"Don't thank me yet." Zipp cautioned as she broke the hug. "I haven't solved anything."
Seeing that Zipp, while agreeing to help, still needed some encouragement, Izzy decided to step in. "Ooh! Ooh! Can I help, Zipp?!" She excitedly asked while raising her hoof in the air like a filly in school.
"Huh?" Zipp said in surprise to the request. "You?"
"Yes, me. I can be your sidekick. Helping you find clues you might've accidentally looked over. Not saying you would, but you never know." Izzy started rambling as Zipp considered the unicorn's offer.
Truth be told, she usually preferred to do her investigations by herself. However, she still felt safer lately when one of her friends were with her. And since Hitch was going to be busy keeping the peace, Sunny and Pipp no doubt helping him, Izzy was really the only option she had. "All right, Iz. Let me get my gear, and I'll meet you at the bank."
"Eeeeeeh!" Izzy shook with excitement. "I'll go get my bubble pipe!" She exclaimed before bolting out of the door.
Despite her uncertainties, Zipp couldn't help but chuckle at the unicorn's shenanigans. "Never change, Izzy." She said as she flew to the Brighthouse.
Considering how much she was doubting herself and her detective skills lately, Zipp found it to be very fortunate she never got to the point she destroyed her equipment. Who knows how long it would've taken to replace the Rad-Visor.
Thinking about that made the princess detective recall when she first got them. More specifically, how she completely failed in remembering where she put her own sunglasses and just accused her friends because they were there.
Really that's how it always was, wasn't it? Attack first and ask questions never. And no matter how many times she was proven completely wrong, she just kept doing it. It made Zipp question why she even agreed to this idea in the first place. Desperation was literally the only reason.
"Zipp? Zipp!" Izzy shouted into Zipp's ear, startling the pegasus and making her jump into the air. "Sorry." The unicorn apologized with a sheepish smile.
"It's fine." Zipp assured her friend as she flew back down before giving her instructions. "Just, look around the area and look for anything out of the ordinary. I'm going to see what the cameras picked up."
"But Hitch said the cameras were taken out before the thief struck." Izzy pointed out before asking. "How do you plan to get any information from them?"
"It should hopefully give me a clue on who possibly took them out and how, and then narrow the suspects from thERE!" Zipp suddenly exclaimed as she slipped on the floor and landed on her chest.
"Zipp, you okay?" Izzy asked as she ran over to her friend's side, and ended up slipping herself. "Whoa!" She exclaimed before crashing into Zipp. "Oops." She said in embarrassment.
"It's fine, Izzy." Zipp assured her friend as she looked at the floor bitterly. "Somepony just doesn't know how to mop the floor properly."
"Much like how I don't know how to solve this case at all." She said as she went to see if she would have any luck with the security cameras while Izzy inspected the vault.
"Case update: Nothing but failure and disappointment." Zipp dully recorded onto her phone.
She was now back in the Brighthouse, looking over everything she and Izzy had found during the investigation, what little there was found. All Zipp got from checking the security cameras, other than messy hooves from the filthy control panel, was ponies coming in and out of the bank, most of whom were employees who had no reason to commit the crime.
Izzy, even though Zipp knew she tried as much as she could and the pegasus couldn't ask for more, wasn't much help. The unicorn took many, many pictures of the scene, but none of them were of any use. They all just showed an empty vault with no signs of forced entry, or they were pictures Izzy accidentally took when she tripped, which had happened a lot.
"Ugh." Zipp groaned as she banged her head against the desk. "You just had to accept this case, Zipp" She scolded herself. "You just had to get your friends and everypony else to rely on you and then fail them."
It was at that moment she heard hoofsteps coming up the stairs and turned around to see Hitch enter the bedroom. "Hey, Zipp." He greeted her as he walked over to the pegasus. “How’s the case coming? Izzy said that you were hitting some snags.”
“If by snags you mean that I've completely failed again, then you'd be correct." Zipp replied dryly before flying over to her bed and flopping down on it with a defeated sigh.
Hitch frowned and climbed onto his marefriend’s bed and sat down beside her, putting a hoof around her neck. “Hey, I’m sure you did better than you think.” He assured her.
“Look at the board, Hitch. There’s nothing there that could help anypony solve the case. At best, I’d just fly around like an idiot and start accusing those ponies at random. Everyone knows I’ve done it before. I just can’t ever seem to be helpful. If this is how I keep handling emergencies after all this time, how can I be expected to rule over Zephyr Heights?” Zipp said before grabbing a pillow and burring her face into it.
Hitch’s frown increased. He was warned about this by Pipp before their first date. Zipp’s self doubts about herself were once again rearing their ugly heads. And there was no way he was going to let them plague his mare again, not if he had anything to say about it.
Going off of his first instinct, he removed his hoof from around Zipp's neck and placed both of his forelegs on her back, where her wings were spread. There he proceeded to gently press and knead her wings and the muscles around them. Zipp gasped at the sudden contact. "Hitch!"
"Sorry!" Hitch said as he suddenly pulled his hooves back. "You were just very stressed out. So I just thought, since I've heard that pegasus wings are a sensitive place, that maybe a wing massage would help you relax and think better." He explained. "But I should've asked for your permission first. I'm sor-"
"I didn't say anything about hating it." Zipp told her coltfriend as a blush appeared on her cheeks and she hid her face back into the pillow.
"Oh." Hitch said as he also blushed at the realization before resuming his massage.
"Oh, sweet stars." Zipp sighed as she rested her head against the pillow and felt as Hitch's hooves against her wings. Feeling as all the tense muscles stored up in her wings were smoothed down like they were silk. The pegasus closed her eyes and felt as if she was flying in a sea of clouds. No, not flying; floating. Moving through the sky without any effort of her wings whatsoever. It was pure bliss. A feeling she didn't ever want to end.
So when she felt Hitch pull his hooves away again, she was less than pleased. "Hey, what the heck, Hitch?" She groaned as she lifted her head and glared at the sheriff.
"Don't want you getting too out of it." Hitch said with a sheepish smile. "We do still have a case to solve after all."
"Oh, right." Zipp groaned as she got back up. Truth be told, Hitch's massage really did help in calming her down and easing her worries. She felt refreshed, like a new mare. She felt like she had a chance to solve his mystery and she was going to take it. Though, honestly, she wanted to wrap this case up less so everypony would get their money back and more so that she would feel Hitch's hooves on her wings again.
"Hooves?" Zipp thought as something came to her. "Wait a minute. Why would the bank mop the floor of a crime scene?" The pegasus then looked at her own hooves and another idea popped into her head. With speed that would make the Aerobats jealous, Zipp was suddenly at her desk with her visors on, scanning the photos Izzy was taking.
"What's going on?" Hitch asked as he watched Zipp scan the photos and then her hooves.
"Call me crazy, but I think I just figured it out." Zipp answered as she looked at the pictures of the ponies there at the bank that day.
"You did?" Hitch asked, surprised his massage not only gave Zipp her confidence back, but also seemed to accelerate her thinking.
"Yes, it actually makes so much sense when you think about it." The princess detective said as she lifted her visors and started explaining. "You see, when I checked the security cameras, the control panel was filthy and greasy, the same kind of greasy that was right outside the vault. That means that whoever committed the crime also was in the control room, taking out the cameras from the inside. That also would explain why the vault didn't look like it was forced into. It was opened like normal."
"But who could do that?" Hitch asked.
"Somepony who not only knows the ins and outs of the bank, but clearly knows machines very well. Somepony who likes greasy foods and had some right before they commit the crime. Somepony who would have worked at the bank, but doesn't anymore. Somepony who is both cunningly brilliant, but also a complete idiot."
"And that pony is you Sprout Cloverleaf!" Zipp finished her recap as she pointed a hoof accusingly at the culprit behind the bank robbery., the scene now having shifted to the Sheriff's Station where Sprout was sitting in front of the mugshot wall while a light was shined into his face.
Despite having been caught, Sprout smiled. "I must say, you're pretty clever for having me figured out, Detective." The red stallion said, all but confessing to the crime. "But it doesn't matter. The money is still gone, and there's nothing you can do that would make me talk!" He bragged before laughing evilly, or at least attempting to as he more sounded like he needed to be sent to the looney bin.
Despite the fact Sprout was right, at least somewhat right, in his threat, Zipp remained unfazed. "And you clearly are still an idiot as you don't understand the concept of diversions."
"What?" Sprout said in confusion to the claim.
"See, before I hauled you off here, I asked Izzy to take a look around the perimeter of the bank for anything out of the ordinary. And with a pony with an eye for detail like her, we should be expecting a report in three, two, one." She counted down with her wing before her phone rang. Pulling it out, all with closed eyes and a confident smile, she put the unicorn on speaker and asked. "Did you find it, Izzy?"
"Yep!" Izzy's chipper voice replied on the other side. "Found a bunch of new bushes, and there was the money." She said.
"As expected." Zipp said smugly before looking back to Sprout. "You didn't realize how heavy all that money was going to be, and didn't think to plan for it, so you just hid the money in the first place you could, using your Flora Magic to cover it up." She paused before saying. "And yet that wasn't even your biggest mistake. You doomed yourself when you decided to have pizza right before commiting the crime and didn't wash your hooves, leaving grease all over the security panel and the floor."
"Hey! A big crime requires a big dinner so I'd have the energy!" Sprout retorted.
Hitch turned off the light and walked up to Sprout. "Sprout, what in Equestria possessed you to do this?" He asked. "I mean, robbing the bank of everything! Do you realize what could've happened had Zipp not solved this when she did!"
"And she's exactly why I did it!" Sprout snapped at the sheriff. "I thought that if I showed you how bad of a deputy she was that you'd finally see reason and give the position back to me!" He said dramatically, or attempted dramatically, before he glared at Zipp. "Mark my words, Zipp Storm. I will have my revenge! Ahahahahahahahaha!"
Sprout laughed like a maniac even as he was dragged away into the mental hospital and the doors slammed shut, leaving Zipp, Hitch, and Izzy on the outside. "Yeah, he's going to be in there for a while." Hitch told the two mares.
"Probably longer than a while if he seriously thinks about becoming a reoccurring antagonist. He just doesn't have that villainous feeling to him." Izzy commented.
Hitch nodded in agreement before turning to Zipp. "Zipp, I think I speak for everypony when I say thank you."
Zipp blushed at the praise. "Oh, well, I couldn't have done it without you and Izzy." She said bashfully before she smirked at her coltfriend. "Though, if you really want to thank me, you could always give me another wing massage. And this time, you're not stopping until I tell you to."
"As the princess commands." Hitch chuckled as the two of them left.
Leaving Izzy behind with one thought going through her head. "Are they going to wait until before or after the wedding?"
"Pull!" Opaline shouted at Misty.
The unicorn shakingly grabbed another newspaper, crumbled it up, and tossed it into the air for Opaline to blast with her magic and incinerate. It had been a week since the bank robbery, and Zipp's accomplishment had made the front pages all over Equestria. After having learned not only that Zipp was now back into her detective work, but also having been told by Misty that she was figuring out a message left by Twilight Sparkle, Opaline was absolutely livid. She thought she'd have more time to prepare herself. But now that time was running out, and running out fast.
Watching as the ash fell to the floor, Misty gulped before asking a question she felt would probably get her killed. "Uh, Opaline, don't you think that maybe you're getting worked up over nothing?"
The alicorn looked down at her minion with a blank expression. At first Misty thought that she might've dodged the blast with that question, but she would soon be proven wrong. Very wrong. "NOTHING!?" Opaline screamed with enough force to send Misty flying into the wall. "That detective girl is the biggest threat to my plans! How have you not noticed that yet!?"
"I-I-I-I thought Sunny was the biggest threat to your plans?" Misty timidly asked. "I mean, Zipp? She isn't even a pseudo alicorn."
"Where she lacks in magical powers, she makes up for in intelligence." Opaline explained much more calmly, though still very scarily, to Misty. "If she figures out where my castle is, then we can easily expect an entire army of ponies right on our doorsteps. And with how my powers are now, they could easily destroy us."
The thought of an army bursting through the castle doors and taking her prisoner, or worse, frightened Misty. "W-well, it was only a matter of time ponies would start figuring things out. I mean, what are we supposed to do? Kill Zipp?" She asked jokingly.
But Opaline looked at her with a pleased smile. "Precisely." She answered, confusing and horrifying Misty.
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Ah, yes. My favorite time of the week: Zipp doubting herself for the 50182038 time.
Sprout was really an idiot, but that's just accurate to canon.
Now, regarding my AU? The only changes I can think of are changing Tails' and Hitch's places (again) and instead of Zipp pointing out the incidente with the lantern, I think Knuckles would be the one mentioning it, which would led to Sonic smacking him in the head.
Like another mystery solve I wonder what the next Adventure going to be. If I was Opaline I would send in misty to see if she could seduce hitch Trailblazer.
Nice to see Zipp finally starting to get back on her hooves.
I can only imagine what Opaline has in store though
11682501
I think the deleted scene should give you the answer if you haven’t figured it out yet.
Depending on how the rest of this plays out, I may have another suggestion.
11686434
What is it? I’m always open to suggestions
11686437
Well, firstly, is Pipp gonna play any significant part in the upcoming chapters?
11686445
Yes