> Rebirth of Magic: Zipping It
>  by The Blue EM2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Sound the Alarm, Shatter me like Glass...
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It is said that in times of  danger, heroes will come together to face the rising tide of evil, and  fight back to preserve the light. These heroes can come from the  strangest of places.

This is the story of one such hero. Although she appears to be Zipp Storm, you may be surprised to learn her true origins...

Alright, time to stop talking in the third person. The person, or pony, should I say, is me. I'm Zipp Storm. It's a pleasure to meet you, though I have to ask how we're having the conversation.

I guess that's another magical mystery for me to work out. As you can probably guess from the blurb I left above, I wasn't originally a pegasus. No, I wasn't originally a unicorn, as that infamous typo in a YouTube video suggests (seriously, what were Netflix thinking?).

No. To truly understand both my story and the story of the chaos that nearly destroyed Equestria, we must first go back in time to a place far from here. A town in a place called England.

This town was called Nottingham, and it was a pretty nice place to live. Not a very big place, but not that small either. It was the sort of place where you could easily walk a few minutes from heavily built up places and find yourself in fields and nature without too much difficulty. It was a nice place to live.

As you've probably picked up, this was where I lived. This small house on Gregory Street was where I lived all that time ago.

Tom was my name back in those days. I was a graduate of the University of Nottingham, and at that stage of my life was preparing for a sudden shift in my life. I was going away from Britain for a long time, to study in the United States (something I had planned to do before the dreaded disease hit).

That morning had begun like most others. Get up, shower, eat, brush teeth, and then prepare to head out for my business. I had some shopping to do, but I got the heavy stuff into my home via internet ordering. I didn't have space for a proper car in a garage, and instead used a motorbike to get about town. I decided I would collect the few supplies I needed to purchase after going to another place which is close to my heart.

So, I got my gear on, hopped onto the bike, and wheeled it off the drive before stopping on the road. The engine roared into life. "Imagine doing this on a Black Shadow," I said to myself. I would have liked to own one, but they were quite rare, and also pretty expensive. I was also a complete shortarse, so would have struggled to start it without jumping on the levers.

So it's was my faithful Kawasaki it was. I kicked the engine into forward movement, and flew down the road at great speed. So far, my life seemed normal as I blazed down the roads.

I had no way of knowing that many parallel versions of myself had experienced strange things on this street, and it had become a weirdness magnet of sorts for much of the country. And it was about to become the same for me. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.





Just north of the A52 lies the familiar land of Wollaton Park. It was once a country estate owned by some rich gentleman- I think the person who built it was mates with Queen Elizabeth I- and it had since become a public park which housed a natural history museum and a large industrial collection.

I arrived at the scene to go and park at the bottom of the hill, and then shut the engine off to go and get a ticket. I soon secured it, as parking tickets were mercifully still cheap (the Council, thankfully, hadn't taken the recent economic instability as an excuse to jack prices up). I plopped the ticket on my bike, which I had parked to ensure other motorists had seen it, and set off into the park, leaving my helmet and jacket behind at the bike.

I wasn't heading for the house today. Off to the side of the site is a large lake, and near that lake are several small areas of trees. I'm not sure what you call them- it's been a very long time since I used all those sorts of words.

I'm rambling again, aren't I?

Up ahead along the pathway was one such area. This place was known for strange and unnatural phenomena, such as one story where children were chased out of the forest by gnomes driving little cars. This story sounded both hilarious and horrifying, and I felt merited further investigation. I advanced into the tree line, noticing the barrier that used to exist there had curiously been broken. Who had done this? A gnome, possibly? That's ridiculous, as gnomes don't exist.

I made my way, noticing the tree branches closing overhead as I walked in. It made the place feel spooky and empty. No wonder so many horror stories in European folklore take place in forests. They must have seemed quite scary, empty places full of danger to people before the Industrial Revolution.

I stopped when I was partway under the line of tree branches, and spotted something odd. It looked as though a massacre had happened here. There was a gigantic cloud of feathers on the floor, with them being scattered haphazardly all across the ground. Clearly a bird had been killed here.

Or so I thought. The plumage resembled no bird I had ever seen. The feathers were a confusing mix of blue and purple, with some being mixed blue and purple shades. Had I discovered a new species of bird?

I picked one of the feathers up as a curiosity to show to friends or ornithologists. This was a mistake.

An electrical shock flowed through my very body, and I toppled over backwards into the grass below the trees. I tried to get back up, but my limbs wouldn't cooperate.

"Arise, brave hero!" said a voice. "Take her place!"

As this was set, bluish whirling energies flew about, and something weird began to happen. My entire body shrank in size, before my legs snapped backwards with a series of bangs. I also lost all sensation in my feet as my boots fell off and landed on the floor. Below where they had once been were... hooves?

This couldn't be happening. I tried to bash my head against something in a futile attempt to stop the pain as my chest began to expand. A rather personal area started to tingle, and before I could even curse it was sucked into me. Not only did it seem I was a centaur, I was a female centaur.

Something else was added in that region, as most of my clothing was torn apart by the combination of my shifting frame and uncontrolled movements. My neck snapped backwards, sounding like it was broken. Moments later, my arms snapped into a different shape, and my hands were distorted into hooves.

Two bony structures erupted out of the sides of my back before being covered in flesh, skin, and a layer of fur. Feathers popped out of the back, in shades of dark blue, purple, several sets of ones inbetween, and a small set of light blue feathers.

My mouth and nose merged together as I was still unable to process what was happening. My mouth and nose were crushed together into a muzzle, which then moved forward a few inches in a sequence that would have made John Landis wonder how on Earth it was pulled off.

My eyes turned blue and grew in size as a layer of white fur covered my body. My hair was pulled upwards, and shifted to a mixture of blue and pink. A tail in the same colours popped out of my ass.

At last, the pain faded away, and I tried to drag myself up the bank. I say 'tried'. My limbs wouldn't cooperate. They moved randomly in different directions with no sense of cohesion. I reached the top of the bank, before a voice shouted.

"Mummy, look! It's Zipp Storm!"

I then saw a child pointing at me. No, this couldn't be happening! Zipp is a made up character! What the Hell was going on?

I tried to move forward, but one of my legs slipped and I began to roll down the hill. I gathered speed as a rolling block of flesh and limbs randomly flailing as I approached the water of the nearby lake.

I slammed into it, the water flying high into the air as I drifted over. I continued to flail in a desperate attempt to stay on the surface, but you try swimming with six unfamiliar limbs.

I drifted under, and it seemed as though the sweet release of death would free me from this nightmare.

Life, however, had different plans for me.
> I Trot these Lonely Streets
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The world was foggy and unclear as I began to regain consciousness. I distinctly recall there being plenty of beeping as I slowly regained my senses, and some faint and unclear voices.

What could those noises be? This was a question I thought in my head as my vision continued to clear, although it was still badly fogged. It was as though I was looking at the world through badly fogged up glass, which made things rather confusing to me.

Suddenly, some of the machine became more distinct to my view. From what I could tell most of it was medical equipment sitting around me. This suggested I was in a hospital.

This was a positive development. I could only assume somebody found me and pulled me back up here out of the nightmare or fit I was having to be checked over. That was one wild dream, though. Or whatever it was. Being turned into a horse? That sort of thing only happens in weird stories on the internet. No way it happened down here in real life.

The sounds were getting a little clearer now. A little too clear for my liking.

"Keep monitoring her blood flow."

"Cranial readings are looking good. She took a pretty big knock out there."

"Blood pressure is stable and holding. Nervous system is running as normal."

I assumed the voices I was hearing came from doctors tending to another patient. They normally treat multiple people in a ward, after all.

What was said next confused me.

"Feathers seem a little clipped. Should we investigate?"

What? Who let a bird into a medical ward? I know the NHS is cash strapped but I thought such an obvious breach of the sterile environment policy was beyond even them.

I tried to move my head around to see where I was, and soon realised this ward was much posher than any I had previously been to. The walls were painted a nice colour, and I could only see two other treatment cots. The room also seemed to be air conditioned. Had I been taken to a private hospital?

I tried to say something, but only confused and strange noises came out. I guessed I didn't have enough consciousness yet to actually form coherent sentences, but this was normal, I thought. It may take a while for all the relevant systems to come back online.

Just then, a voice spoke. "Mom! She's waking up!"

I knew that voice from somewhere, but couldn't place it. I tried other parts of my body, and found I wasn't getting a response in either my fingers or toes. Perhaps the anasthesia was still yet to wear off in those bits of my nervous system.

"Where am I..." I said quietly, only to stop. My voice sounded completely wrong. It was still low in pitch, but too high to be my natural register.

Finally, my vision cleared up, and with considerable effort I pulled myself back to see what I was looking at.

It was then I connected the voice to figure. Looking intently at me was Pipp Petals, who remarkably was not on her phone, streaming this. Beside her was Queen Haven, whom I noticed had her crown on. Seriously, who wears jewellery to a hospital visit?

Wait, what? How could Pipp Petals and Queen Haven be looking at me? They're made up characters from a Netflix movie! There's no way any of this could be real!

I moved a limb up to take a look. And was promptly greeted by a hoof and white fur.

No. No no no no no no NO!

This had to be a nightmare. There was no earthly way I was a horse. I started thrashing about wildly whilst still stuck to the bed, screaming all the while.

Pipp backed up, seemingly both confused and frightened at what was going on. She did well to back up, as my movement disconnected several of the sensors on my body. I fell out of the cot and landed on the floor.

"Mom, what's going on?" I heard Pipp say.

"I don't know, but I suggest we let the doctors handle this," Queen Haven replied.

There was very little handling for them to do. Before I knew what was happening I was running for the door. I had to escape this nightmare and get back to the place I was before. Before long, I heard a familiar six-eight beat starting up as I moved along the corridor.

I glanced down and saw my limbs were moving in something resembling a coherent order. OK. So this was how cantering worked. I needed more speed though, and so tried to speed things up. Could I pull off a gallop?

It took a few attempts, but a distinctive beat of four hooves against the floor soon replaced the previous triplet pattern that had echoed through the hospital.

"To all assets! Princess Zephyrina has escaped the Royal Ward! Intercept her immediately and return her for further treatment!"

That I was not prepared to do. I had to get out of here. I was looking for any exit to get out of here. It was then I remembered a bit of trivia surrounding nightmares. If somebody is in a nightmare, a sufficiently heavy impact in the dream is enough to wake the person up, as it's impossible to actually die in a dream.

I appeared to mostly have gotten the hang of galloping, at least for now, but that was about it. I decided to experiment with the other bits. My ears swivelled up and down, which produced some very odd sound effects indeed with the pitch rising and falling seemingly at random. Beyond that, it was anybody's guess what the other features did on my body.

My mouth worked, as I'd already communicated. Despite having a thicker tongue and a differently shaped mouth I had no difficulty forming words and sounds. Muscle memory, maybe? That could explain a lot of things in this strange place.

However, I soon hit upon a problem. I decided to try my wings and see if I could simply fly away. After all, there's magic in this world, right?

I flared them out and flapped downwards. I got about two inches off the ground before crashing back down again.

I tried again to try and gain some air before exiting the building. But this seemed to be utterly futile, as no matter how much force I applied I could not fly anywhere. I could barely even glide, although the lack of a decent running start was probably the cause of that. I was forced to stop and reavaluate the situation.

I was getting a sneaking suspicion of when I was, not so much where I was. An exit nicely presented itself on the side of the corridor. This would be my ticket to freedom. All I needed to do was go find a nice wall to glide into and this nightmare would all be over. Or so I hoped.

I kicked the crash bar and the door flew open, and I dashed through it onto the next area. Once there I spotted something weird. The ground below me was made of glass, which was producing an odd echoing noise. At the end of the section was a large wall, painted gold and decked out in an art deco style.

I slowed down to avoid crashing into it, and looked down to see what was down below.

An incredible vista opened up before my eyes down below. A golden city slowly loomed out of the clouds, with massive skyscrapers that seemed to scrape the heavens themselves with their pointiness. Several golden and glass walkways spread across the landscape, connecting rocky islands in the sky. The sun shone off glass and steel masterpieces, with some structures being faced with marble and inlayed with golden plate.

The result was absolutely beautiful, and took my breath away, even if only for a moment. If this was a nightmare, it was a seriously pretty one.

It was then I recognised this place. It was Zephyr Heights, from the newest generation of My Little Pony! When watching movie I recalled thinking this place would be incredible to visit in real life. And now seemingly I was here, with this place unfolding before me.

Or was I? I still needed to get to the bottom of that.

I raised a hoof and wacked myself across the face with it. The collision produced pain in one of my cheeks, and I winced in pain. Those sensors were much more sensitive than I was expecting, to be honest. And not only that it did not bode well for the future for me, it caused me to have a profound realisation.

Somehow, somewhere, I was Zipp Storm. I was in Zephyr Heights.

As my eyes widened in horror at this realisation, I knew exactly what all of this meant for me.

I was trapped in a nightmare.

A nightmare from which I couldn't wake up.
> Rhapsody in Gold
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Zipp?"

I was so caught up in my thoughts that the voice made me jump. I swung around in surprise and looked closely at the figure standing there.

A certain pink pegasus with fluffy wings and a streaming addiction had caught up to me, it seemed. Not only that, she sounded like Sofia Carson, which gave me a suspicion as to when I was, not so much where I was. I already knew I was in Zephyr Heights. That much was obvious. "Pipp?"

Pipp nodded. "Yes. That's me. I'm glad you seem to be at least physically OK, Zipp. Do you need any help? Is there a problem?"

Oh, if only she knew. I waited for a moment to process all the information. The clues gave me a sneaking suspicion as to what time period this was, so I decided to ask. "Pipp, have you heard anything from Sunny recently?"

Pipp looked confused. "What? Who's Sunny? I don't know a Sunny. Zipp, that bang to the head must have been pretty bad for you to be hallucinating friends of mine!"

I was surprised. This confirmed it all. The strange speech, the inability to fly, Pipp having her movie voice, and now her having no idea who Sunny Starscout is. I was stuck at some point before the movie began, with no clue exactly when. I knew what was coming. The storms that were approaching. The danger we all were in.

And there wasn't a thing I could do about it.

Pipp noticed me seemingly staring off into space, and turned to speak again. "Zipp? Zipp!"

That snapped me out of my thoughts. "Err, sorry, were you saying something? Kinda lost in my own thoughts."

Pipp trotted forward and, to my surprise, gave me a hug. "I'll always be here for you, Zipp," she said. "I know we don't agree on everything, but as long as we have each other that's a good thing, right?"

I nodded. "Thanks, Pipp." The absurdity of the situation could have made me laugh. Here I was, stuck in the body of a fictional character in a fictional place, taking advice from and talking with another fictional character. This was either the wackiest comedy or the harshest tragedy ever made.

I indicated to the view. "Zephyr Heights looks lovely today. No clouds or rain or anything."

"One of the benefits of living above the cloud level," Pipp replied. "There's nothing to interfere with data or WiFi signals either, which makes streaming SOOOOO much easier."

"Excuse me, your royal highnesses?" asked a voice.

We both turned to see a pegasus dressed in a labcoat. "I don't want to interrupt your moment together, but the doctors need to do some last checks on Princess Zephyrina to ensure she's completely fine and ready to be released."

I stayed silent, instead choosing to nod. "OK. Do what you have to do, doc."

As the doctor, Pipp, and me headed back indoors, Pipp spoke up again. "It must be quite bad, then. You didn't object to being called Zephyrina!"





Once inside, the doctors gave me a full update on what had happened out there. Apparently, I had been out looking for something when I had slipped on a banana peel and banged my head on a wall. This, the doctor claimed, explained my apparent confusion earlier and my memory issues, fully expecting my memories would return to normal at some point.

"And so, Your Royal Highness Princess Pipp," he said. "You need to be careful when interacting with her. There are probably going to still be some gaps, so patience is required when interacting with her."

"I can walk normally," I said. Several sets of eyes looked over to me quite suddenly.

"Sorry, I meant trot normally." My lack of understanding of pony movement speeds was rather showing here.

"That's a positive sign," the doctor continued. "Just keep it easy during the next few days and all should be fine." He turned to Queen Haven. "Your Majesty, I would suggest scaling back Princess Zephyrina's duties for the next few days until she is fully recovered. Once she is back to her former self, she may resume them."

Queen Haven nodded. "I understand. It won't be challenge handling a few school openings for a few days." She turned to both of us. "Well, that was quite a fright. But it has given me a rather splendid idea!"

"Oh?" me and Pipp said.

"I suggest we go on a city tour. It will both let us relax a bit after the stressful situation but may also help to jog Zephyrina's memories." She glanced back to the doctor. "Is that safe?"

"Provided she doesn't move too quickly for now she should be fine, Your Majesty," the doctor replied.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Showtime!"





True to Queen Haven's word (it still felt a bit weird calling her mom) we were soon onboard a sky shuttle. Turns out that the city had found all sorts of creative ways around the whole 'inability to fly' thing. Not that the public knew about this, of course. Seeing as the Royal Celebration hadn't happened yet I could only assume they were still in the dark.

But the city was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! The skyscrapers poking out of the clouds, the streets spilling out over the mountaintops, and large boulevards filled with traffic. This must have been what seeing New York for the first time as a boat traveller must have been like in the early years of the 20th Century!

Pegasi everywhere were looking up and either focusing on screens or glancing at huge screens which either were advertising things or were playing news. True to form, they even had that bizarre 'Perfume la Pipp' advert playing on one monitor, complete with stealth insult. I can only assume that was Hasbro making a dig at Chanel after the lawsuit over Coco Pommel. Oh well. The city absolutely bustled with life, and the news was full of things going on.

"And this just in Sky," said one of the newscasters. "It has just been confirmed that Princess Zephryina Storm has recovered from her earlier accident and is now back on her hooves. Three cheers for the Royal Family!"

I turned. "Pipp, did you post something?"

"I did!" Pipp replied. "I got, like, a gazillion PMs asking if you were OK, so I posted something that you were fine."

"I'm pretty certain gazillion isn't a real number," I replied, and went back to looking out of the window. I was so caught up in the moment that the next voice shocked me a bit.

"Erm, Zephyrina, I'm not quite sure how to say this, but perhaps you could step back from the glass a tiny bit?"

It was only then I noticed I had my muzzle squished up against the glass, which was leaving a mark. I pulled back and looked about. "Sorry," I said.

Queen Haven nodded. "That must have been a rather severe bang on the head," she sighed, as she moved over to one side. "Perhaps this runs in the family? I should hope not."

What an odd thing to say. I focused on the view, but still had the suspicion something wasn't right. After a while, we docked at the palace station and trotted in the side entrance. The palace, another art deco masterpiece built to maximise natural light as much as possible, was absolutely stunning to see in the flesh, so to speak, so much so I briefly stopped to take it all in.

I remembered having my breath taken away by Zephyr Heights in the movie. And here it was, for real, unfolding right in front of my eyes!

Pipp then spoke again. "Zipp, what are you doing? We see this view literally every day. It's our house!"

Huh. So Pipp can use literally correctly when she wants to. "You never know when you might lose something," I said cryptically.

Pipp nodded. "I know. Still, I believe we should live out lives to the fullest with the time we have available. Isn't that right, Pippsqueaks?"

So she had been streaming the entire time. "Pipp Pipp Hooray!" called a chorus of voices so loud it could be heard over the clifftops.

I made my way in through the doors and was greeted by a loud fanfare. "Her Majesty, Queen Haven, and Their Royal Highnesses Princesses Pipp Petals and Zephyrina Storm!" called a voice.

This was far too over the top for my taste. After dinner later, which I'd rather not talk about in detail, it was time for bed. I excused myself and found my way to my dorm for the night. It was handy all the doors had names on them.

I opened the door and prepared to go in, when suddenly Pipp spoke. "Zipp, if ever you need anything, just let me know, Kay? Sisters and all that?"

I nodded. "Sure. Thanks Pipp." I went indoors and, after a shower, went off to bed. I needed to be fully rested if I was going to glue my memory back together.
> I Seek to Dream and Differ from the Hollow Lies...
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning saw me reaching the floor rather faster than I had planned, as I was suddenly awoken by a loud thud.

"What was that?" I asked, as I looked around. I then realised I was on the floor, having fallen out of bed and onto the carpet. Having said that, the carpet was soft, and felt strangely nice against my fur. That was a sentence that I just said.

I slowly pulled myself to my hooves and wandered over to the mirror to check everything was in order. I looked to be in good shape, all things considered. As I went through my things on the table, some thoughts occurred to me. I certainly looked like Zipp, and I also had her voice (and the mannerisms I could best imitate from what I remembered of the movie at that point). But there was one critical things missing. I didn't have her memories or thoughts, and that was a problem.

If I was going to survive out here, I needed to learn the information that would be considered common knowledge among pegasi, and use that in combination with my knowledge of upcoming events in order to influence things for the better.

I adjusted my mane as best as I could. If my guesses were correct, I knew precisely where I had to go and what I must do today. Hopefully I could wrangle some time out of other duties and get a chance to head away from this particular place.





Later at breakfast, I was amazed at how busy the place already was. Something they didn't show you in the series was the massive army of ponies needed to keep Zephyr Heights functioning. There were guards, soldiers, civil servants carrying red boxes, waiting staff, guardsponies, cooks, butlers, and many others. I said guards twice, didn't I? I couldn't help but notice that the guards seemed to divide into two types. I recognised Thunder and Zoom, but the others were new to me, and wearing very different armour to the others.

Enough of that. I suddenly realised I was thinking too much when a voice interrupted me. "Is everything OK, Zephyrina? You've barely touched your food."

I looked down and noticed this, whilst Pipp had gotten stuck in with hers. "Sorry. I was thinking, that's all."

"Well, that's always a healthy mindset to encourage," Queen Haven replied. "Anything in particular?"

This was my chance. I had noticed on the map of the transport yesterday one of the stops was the Museum, and this provided my best chances to get caught up on Equestrian history. "The past, mainly. I was thinking of going to the museum to do some research, if that's OK."

Queen Haven smiled. "Of course. I'll go with you."

"Really?"

"It just so happens there's an exhibit on our music industry I'm interested in seeing, and the current paperwork can easily be handled by the staff. Today's a Parliamentary recess, and the few bills coming through can be easily dealt with later."

So it was sorted. I was off to the museum... with mom in tow. Feels a little easier saying that now.





The journey to the museum was just as incredible as yesterday. The news was afire with information and broadcasts about the pegasi enjoying another year of record economic growth, and the fact peace seemed to be the norm. Pipp apparently had a new single out (how fast does she churn out songs?), and it was nearly 25 years since Queen Haven had taken the throne. Remember that, dear reader. It will be relevant later, I promise.

When the flying machine docked at the museum, the driver looked back. "Thank you for travelling with ZHRT, Your Majesty and Your Royal Highness," he said.

"ZHRT?" I asked.

"Zephyr Heights Rapid Transit," the driver replied politely.

The door slid open, and as we stepped off onto the marble dock and towards the museum, I discovered they'd laid out the red carpet for us.

Literally.

A full military band had assembled, the carpet was flanked by soldiers all standing perfectly still. Cameras were flashing relentlessly on either side, and crowds had assembled to watch the spectacle unfolding.

"Isn't this overdoing it a bit?" I asked.

"We do need to keep up appearances," Queen Haven replied, before glancing over. "Morning, my faithful subjects!"

I looked away in annoyance. If this was going to happen everywhere I went, no wonder Zipp found it all so annoying in the show.

The brass band began to play a tune oddly familiar to me. Clearly they have a pony version of John Bull here, I thought to myself. The melody is the same as the British national anthem.

The words were different, of course, partly as we're in a different place and the monarch is female here. (RIP Queen Elizabeth.) The public's adoration seemed to be genuine, though.

"Smile," Queen Haven told me, before turning to the cameras. "No pictures! OK, maybe one." She then did a pose.

Maybe this was just one massive PR stunt, and I had missed the memo somehow. I simply kept my face up and tried to look vaguely presentable as I made my way into the museum. All this pageantry and ceremony for a museum visit? I dreaded to think what a coronation would look like!

That was probably in the museum as well, if I'm totally honest. After what seemed like an eternity of walking, we were inside, and the silliness stopped.





The inside of the museum was just as wondrous as the rest of the city. The interior was made of marble, and polished to perfection, and light poured into the structure through enormous glass windows up above. Golden trim lit everything up in a glorious golden haze, light spilling over objects and landscape and into the main courtyard.

At the centre was a large rotunda, and in front of that a statue depicting a pegasus diving into battle whilst an earth pony and unicorn look up in shock. The piece was titled Semper Fidelis.

I checked a map to get my bearings. The museum had numerous levels, each devoted to a different aspect of pegasus culture. I was probably looking for history, which was on the ground floor.

Mom said something about coming and finding me, but I wasn't paying much attention. I simply nodded and got on my way into the relevant gallery.

The bombastic nature of the presentation was certainly consistent with everything else in Zephyr Heights. The gallery opened with a short film giving the history of the nation in fast forward mode, which was a handy overview of events. After that, I stepped into the first gallery, which depicted events prior to the founding of Zephyr Heights as the capital of pegasus territory.

The displays started some point after the events of The Last Problem, and told of the breakdown of relations between the three tribes, with the situation eventually becoming so bad they went and lived in different places.

Unfortunately, it was difficult to tell what was legitimate historical fact and what was propaganda, as both seem to have been expertly weaved togther. What I could assess as being the case was that the three tribes were once allies but that the unicorns and earth ponies always wanted pegasus resources. They allied to take technological marvels produced by pegasus engineers and invaded pegasus territory.

The pegasi, naturally, fought back with their superior technology and weapons, soundly defeating both tribes at the Battle of Thunder Bay. This didn't square with what was stated in the film. I'm pretty certain Sprout said the battle was an earth pony victory. I know, Sprout Cloverleaf, that source of scholarly information and facts. But I needed to press on.

The next display stated that the ability to fly was suddenly lost, except for the royal family. I looked at my own wings subconsciously, and moved them a bit. I knew that was a lie, and precisely what it was going to cost us. It was with a heavy heart I turned around and saw a diorama of the Battle of Thunder Bay. It had huge numbers of miniatures on the table, and vehicles rolling across the board. Seems that each group had developed tanks by this point, although pegasus tanks looked to be decades ahead of others, which appeared to be closer to WW1 machines in appearance.

The gallery then continued with the founding of the Pegasus Empire, and the forging of the Pegasus Crystal by Cirrus the Cumulus. A replica sat in a display case nearby. Of course, I knew the film, and knew that the crystal was a lot older.

By this point my notepad was covered in questions, and no answers. I was so caught up in my thoughts that I jumped when a voice spoke.

"Zephyrina?"

I looked over. "Ah! Oh, err, hi mom. Sorry, got a bit carried away."

Queen Haven smiled. "A healthy appetite for knowledge never hurt anypony," she replied. "I was going to ask if you'd like to go for lunch. It is midday, after all."

I quickly glanced from the cabinet with the replica crystal to the crown mom was wearing. "Yeah," I said. "I'd like that."
> Said you'd keep me safe, now you're tearing me down
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The cafeteria at the museum was not what I'd call modest. It seemed as though the architect had gotten drunk that day and had used the scale tool in the design software to absolutely ridiculous lengths. The building had a ceiling that was so tall that multiple trolls could have fitted under there with no difficulty, and the windows were each the size of a bus. On the flip side this meant that there was plenty of natural light flooding in.

The tops of the walls had gold relief and plating attached to the walls which caused them to glow. It was a good thing this day wasn't too sunny. On a truly hot day you'd probably need sunglasses to have any chance of seeing where you were going or what you were doing. The centre of the room had a large rotunda, much like the lobby, with there being a space to put your tray and take it to the food serving area. This certainly sped up food serving. The tables were off to the side and this left plenty of room to move through the centre. A very good bit of design, as usually these sorts of eating places are crowd control nightmares with bad flow.

When we arrived, the management of the cafe had rolled out the red carpet and spared no expense- again. Once again, there were people guarding the side and flanking the pathway, and the entire place turned silent as we entered. I could only imagine that people were looking forward to seeing this glimpse of royalty. I got the impression most people didn't get to see royalty on a regular basis, as there were only three of us. Assuming Queen Haven has no brothers or sisters. Or rather, that I have no aunts or uncles. I've only recently become used to that idea. I was an older sibling back in the human world, but the dynamic was a bit different back in those days.

We made our way to the food collection area, where the people we saw were bowing so low their muzzles were scraping the floor. "Most humble greetings, your most royal highness Zephyrina," said the lead cook. "Is all to your liking?"

I glanced at the offerings on display. This looked pretty upmarket for a museum, but then again it's possible somepony informed them of our visit and kicked the menu into overdrive. And my only real point of comparison was London museums, where the food usually ranges from mediocre to surprisingly good. "This looks great! And please, just call me Zipp."

"Of course," the lead cook replied. "If there is anything else you need, just let a member of staff know and we shall make it so." He was then on his way to the side where food preparation was also taking place.

I had no idea what the normal custom was, so I simply slid one or two plates onto the tray and then added what looked like a saucer.

"Would you like some tea?" somebody asked.

"Coffee, please," I replied.

The cup, now fully filled, was placed onto my tray. I then realised carrying it was going to be an interesting challenge. A device then came up, with numbers on it.

"Which table would you like the tray delivering to?" a voice asked.

I glanced to mom, who indicated to table number 25. I punched the number 25 in, and a conveyor belt shipped the tray over to table 25.

After a few moments of trotting, we were both in the right place, and as the second tray rolled into position it was almost time to start. I noticed everypony was looking my way. At least nopony was sneezing.

Mom peered over my tray in mild surprise. "Coffee at mid day?" she asked. "You must be tired. Or perhaps the medication is still affecting you. Normally you don't touch the stuff after 10."

I nodded. "I, uh, fancied trying something different!"

"Well, it's considered a bit odd in Royal circles to take caffeine after the mid morning unless you happen to be outdoors. It would hardly be proper for a Queen to be bouncing all over the place like a tennis ball, would it?"

What a strange expression. From my experience, tennis balls don't bounce very well at all. "And what if we happen to be outdoors?"

"It can be quite useful if it's cold outdoors," Mom explained. "These are all things that you will need to understand when you succeed me to the throne."

Oh no, here we go. This discussion, already? I thought I'd get a break on this until the events of Make your Mark! I tried to shift the topic. "Uh, cheers?"

Unfortunately, somepony in the room overheard me, and raised her glass. "A toast to her excellent Imperial Majesty, Queen Haven, and Her Royal Highness Zephyrina Storm! Long may they live!"

Oh dear. Before long, the room was thronged with ponies, who held glasses aloft and proclaimed, in one voice: "LONG LIVE THE QUEEN!" They then downed the glasses in one go, which was quite impressive.

"That was not what I'd expected," I said. This must have been what Medieval banquets were like.

"Patriotism is through the roof today," Mom replied, who based on the noises coming from the phone screen seemed to be watching a 24-gun salute. "Given my Silver Jubilee is coming up it's hardly surprising."

That gave me an idea. "Mom, we're in danger. Something bad's coming, and we need to be ready."

Mom scoffed. "In danger? In Zephyr Heights! Don't be ridiculous, Zephryina! Zephyr Heights is effectively impenetrable! A natural fortress! Not to mention the army is there to keep the citizens safe. There is nothing to fear."

"And earth pony and unicorn will arrive, and-"

"I highly doubt it. Earth ponies have very small brains, and unicorns couldn't find their way up here even if they tried! There is nothing to fear."

I was clearly getting nowhere, so I chose to shift the topic. "So, uh, about this Silver Jubilee, huh?"

"I know! The first formal milestone!" Mom replied. "It only feels like the coronation was yesterday. Funny how time skates by, isn't it? One moment the crown is being placed onto my head, the next 25 years have passed and you two have entered my life." She sighed. "Of course, we'll be having a grand party at the palace to which the entire citizenry is invited. And Pipp will be performing too! Won't it be wonderful?"

"Hopefully it won't be your last day on the throne," I thought to myself. If I could minimise the chaos that would be a big boon.





Once I returned to the palace I engaged ultra sneaky mode. I had to find Zipp's workshop, which from memory was underneath a grate. I wandered through the lower levels and passed the detention cells. It could be worth remembering where those were. They'd come in handy later.

A few moments later, I found a golden floor panel, and slid it out of place before dropping through onto a basket. This was rigged up to an improvised pulley system, creating a crude gondola of sorts. It skidded down, feeling like I was in the middle of a spy movie. It would not surprise me if Zipp was a fan of Mission Impossible, or whatever equivalent they had here. I mean, if they had pony versions of the Transformers and Terminator franchises, it stood to reason some version of Mission Impossible or James Bond existed.

At the bottom, I hopped out and looked about. I was in the abandoned cableway station that Zipp, Sunny, and Izzy visit in the film. The stained glass window was there, as were the abandoned posters and damaged winding gear. The place was caked in dust, but most notable of all was a large turbine, presumably left over from a ventilation system that had long since ceased to work. There was also a lemon squeezer in it for some reason. Not quite sure what was going in there, but OK.

I soon consulted the large blackboard sitting to one side. Numbers and figures were casually sprawled across it like soldiers on a battle, the author clearly waging a battle against science itself. Zipp must have been trying to figure out how flight worked without magic. Poorly, I suspected; planes are pointy because this shape reduces air resistance. Pegasi have a large flat area at the front which produces a lot of drag, which would make us about as airworthy as a Reliant Robin.

I decided to try and complete the calculations, but let's just say that math was never my strongest subject. I was finding this pretty hard to follow, and I focused hard on trying to get this finished that I had no idea what time it was by the time it had finished.

And as I looked on at my calculations in triumph, a voice made me jump.

"Zipp? What are you doing down here?"

I swung around in surprise. Standing there was Pipp, with a rather quizzical look on her face.
> From the Last to the First
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

There was deadly silence in that room. I had turned to see Pipp there, looking at me, and I simply stared right back in utter confusion, trying to process what was going on. This place, the workshop, was supposed to be a secret that only I knew about. And yet somehow Pipp was down here, with me, and was asking me what was going on. I had no idea how to react to this, so I simply looked on in confusion and a bit of fear as well. What if she told mom- sorry, that still felt weird even a few days in- about what was down here? That would throw a real spanner in the works.

"Pipp? What are you doing down here? How do you know where my workshop is?" was my initial reaction.

Pipp stepped forward. "I have a secret to tell..."

So she was trailing me. Fantastic. "H- how do you know what's down here?" I stammered in surprise, still trying to process this confrontation. "This place is meant to be a secret!"

"I might have followed you through the corridors whilst you were sneaking about," Pipp replied. "You really don't need to sneak about like you're a spy in a Tom Hooves movie, Zipp. This is literally our house!"

"I suppose it is in the middle of the street," I answered, trying for some light relief. I often did this when things were tense- a small joke can often relieve the tension in a situation.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem to work. This only seemed to make Pipp even more intent. "Now I know something's truly going on. You're quoting Madness? That's a really obscure reference for most peo- ponies."

I caught onto the slip of the tongue almost immediately. I decided to probe about it later. In the meantime I had to ensure no news of this place got out. "Pipp," I pleaded, "please don't tell mom. This place contains so much stuff vital to bringing the magic back, and if it were to be destroyed we may never be able to fly again. Keep this a secret, please?"

"Err, I kinda know this place is important, Zipp," Pipp replied. "Besides, where else would you have a place to write numbers on a chalkboard? Nowhere, that's where."

"That's true," I replied. "It beats being stuck in a boring princess lesson. Now, do I have your promise or not?"

Pipp nodded. "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

That was the last piece of evidence I needed to confirm my theory. Pipp had just quoted Pinkie Pie, knowledge she shouldn't logically have had considering the setting (most ponies don't even know Pinkie even existed- the only one who seemingly did was yet to turn up assuming things around here were happening as they did in the film). "Thanks. Now, can I ask you something?"

"Sure!" Pipp replied, quickly moving her wings about. "Sorry, had some wing cramp there. Helps to keep them moving about a bit."

I then decided to drop the million dollar question. "This is going to sound odd, but this is the million dollar-"

"Pound."

"Excuse me?"

Pipp showed what look like a note. "Zephyr Heights uses pounds and pennies, not dollars and cents. Seems each of the three tribes have their own currency."

Seems there was more to that one throwaway line in Portrait of a Princess than I'd realised. I nodded. "Well, let's rephrase that then. This is going to sound odd, but this is the million pound question is- where are you originally from, and who were you?"

Pipp paused, trying to establish if I was asking a trick question. "If you're asking what I think you're asking then I'm not from around here. I'm originally from another world, and wasn't originally a pegasus. Hopefully that doesn't sound too crazy."

Somepony else in the same predicament as me? That was a source of relief for my mind. I took a closer look and saw that, although it was indeed the body of Pipp, something about the body language was subtly different. "Looks like I need to tell the truth as well. I'm in the same boat myself. I'm from a long way from here in a different body that wasn't originally my own."

"Genderswap?" Pipp asked. "Yeah, I can tell you that's not fun."

I winced, remembering the agony of the original transformation that had gotten me in this mess in the first place. "Well, at least that cleans some stuff up. But I have to ask you something else?"

"You're asking a lot of questions today. This is busier than one of my 'ask me anything' streams!"

"If you're not from here, and originally a human as I suspect, how then were you able to blend in so well? Why didn't you arouse any suspicions from anypony?"

Pipp smiled. "You'd be amazed how easy it is to go undetected as a younger sibling. Not only that, I learned how to do all the mannerisms and actions pretty well. What can I say? It beats my old life, and having a thorough knowledge of G5 helps me along with the more difficult stuff."

So, another person turned pony who's a fan of the show and in the body of a prominent character? Interesting. Whilst one of us would seemingly be a happy accident, for there to be two of us in the same situation and in close proximity suggested something else. Like some sort of plan or grand design? Perhaps we were fated to be here by some unknown cosmic entity, and that we had a greater purpose.

"Brony or pegasister?"

"Brony then, technically pegasister now," Pipp answered. "Same for you?"

"Yeah," I replied. "Can get kinda awkward at times. When exactly did you enter the world?"

"Before you, I think," Pipp replied. "I was at a concert when I found this." She indicated to her coronet. "I then fell into this place, did some stuff in my bedroom, then a whole bunch of stuff you'd find boring happened. But you slipped on a banana peel and hurt your head! That was when I think you and the original Zipp switched places, as when you woke up you were totes freaking out!"

Memories of that hospital flooded back into my mind, and the same terror I had felt that day flooded back in as well. I tried to push it down as this new revelation brought new concerns. Pipp had been acting this entire time? She should try drama if she's this good. She's probably already in a drama group knowing her preferences.

But the swapping bodies bit disturbed me a bit. Did that mean Zipp had ended up in my world, in my former body? I can't imagine how nightmarish that would be. I tried to force the thought down and focus on the task at hand. "So, you said you know G5, right?"

"Yep! I take it you do too!"

"Mostly, though there are some bits of lore that aren't there, probably because the show hasn't talked about them." I paused. "That means we need to be on guard. The Royal Celebration is next week, and the program for the Jubilee is already underway. We need to be ready for Sunny and Izzy's arrival next week, or else things could be thrown into chaos which we really don't need right now."

"Great idea!" Pipp said. "I'll prepare a wel-"

"No!" I said. "Mom mustn't know what we know. If she hears what's going on and that we have information we shouldn't, she'll have us thrown in the loony bin!"

"Were you British or something?" Pipp asked. "And yeah, I can see the problem with that. Act normally, and pretend nothing odd is going on. No different to normal, then."

With all that cleared up, we left the chamber and went back to the surface, before taking a turn down the corridor and heading back towards the throne room. "So, wanna grab a quick bite to eat?"

"Certainly not!" Pipp replied. "I've checked my calorie intake for the day, and I only have enough space for dinner now. I can't afford to overeat. What sort of message would that send to the Pippsqueaks?"

"Exercise?" I ventured.

"As we established previously, I have shorter legs than you. The easiest way to avoid fat is to never put it on in the first place."

As we entered the throne room, an organ began to play. The court organist was practicing for later this week, it seemed, as it seemed organ music signalled the entrances and exits of the Royal Family.

A guard was waiting there, fully kitted up in ceremonial armour. "Good afternoon, Your Royal Highnesses," he said. "I bring an urgent communique from the State. The parade is beginning soon, and Her Majesty the Queen requires your presence on this day. Please proceed outdoors to the courtyard for more information. Good day, and Faust save the Queen!"

Well, this got strange. With the new knowledge we had, we could see how well we could act in front of mom. We headed out through the front door and into the piercing sunlight of another day in Zephyr Heights.
> Ain't Misbehavin'
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pipp and I made our way across the courtyard to where mom was. And I immediately twigged that something wasn't quite right. Not only was she squinting a lot, she was also looking at the palace in seeming confusion. I noticed she her eyes focused on the storage section entrance in front of her. This implied she had previously been there, which raised the rather obvious question. What had she been doing in the storage rooms? Nopony goes in there except the household staff to collect important items for state events.

I glanced over to Pipp. "Make this as normal as possible," I said. "We don't want to give her a nasty shock, do we?"

"Nope!" Pipp replied.

So, with perfect timing, we both spoke to her. "Mom!"

She glanced to us as one of the guards looked over, and trotted over. He was an older stallion with a greying mane. "Your Majesty," he said. "Is everything fine?"

Sorry, what on Earth was that accent? It sounded like a blend of a stereotypical British character you'd find in a colonial period drama and Tom Hanks' attempt at a Dutch accent in Elvis. Truly strange.

"I'm fine," Mom replied. "Just a moment of light-headedness, that's all."

After Zoom was instructed to give her sunglasses, it was time to head to the parade. Things continued to be a bit strange, with mom seemingly not knowing what that was despite it apparently being in the calender for months, and a few slightly odd jokes.

I got my biggest clue when I noticed her trying to sit like a human. That wasn't normal at all, and the way her body seemed to flop against the seat was mildly funny- for a bit. As the orchestra played a hornpipe down below to keep the crowd occupied (thankfully without the blowing of bus horns), I checked over to Pipp. She'd seemingly noted some of the oddnes, as she was recording something on her phone's notes section. I glanced about as the National Anthem began to be played for the second time that day. Being the kid of the subject of the words will never cease to be weird. Thought at least, in a moment of consistency, Faust seems to be the deity around here.

The next few days seem to fly by in a blur, as relatively little of interest happened. True, we were both a bit surprised when mom offered to take us both to a water park, which seemed a little out of character. Having said that, we certainly all seemed to have good fun out there, with me doing my best impression of a steamship.

Dodging one of the cannonballs was pretty fun too. It was when we came together for a group selfie I noticed something unusual in mom's face. I assumed that, as a monarch, she had to wear an awful lot of different faces during her day.

And yet I noticed she looked... happy. Happier than before during my time here.





Some time after that, mom was off on business. Something about a new vehicle factory that needed to be inspected. That left Pipp and me back at the palace, and with an obvious obstacle I decided it was time to do some sleuthing about.

Truth be told, it wasn't hard to find the Palace Guard. They were busy drilling on the parade ground behind the palace. Based on the music the band was playing they were rehearsing a march for festivities later on. It was a very slow one though, so it was probably for travelling short distances.

"SLOW IT DOWN, PRIVATE GAZE! YOU'RE HALF A BEAT TOO FAST!"

"YES COLONEL!" a voice replied.

I made my way down there and spoke to a soldier nearby. "Could I talk with the Colonel quickly?"

"Yes, Your Highness," the soldier replied, and trotted over to the parade area.

This seemed to work, and there was a barked command. "CAPTAIN BRISTOL! TAKE CONTROL OF THE PARADE!"

"YES SIR!"

The Colonel then made his way over to me, and saluted as he came to a stop. "Your Royal Highness," he said. "How may I assist you today?"

"Please, just call me Zipp," I replied. "I was wondering if we could go over security arrangements for next week?"

"Of course," he replied. "I've increased troop deployments around the palace and- could we hold the music for a moment, please?"

"Yes, Colonel Opwinden!" called the bandmaster.

So Opwinden was his name? Interesting. "As you're probably aware security is a bit of a big deal at the moment."

"I understand entirely, Your Roy- Zipp," he said, quickly stopping and correcting himself. "I don't think there's anything to worry about, though. These festivities constitute the largest peacetime deployment in quite a while! It will certainly be good to showcase all the drill we've worked on."

I nodded, noticing they were still going even though there was no music. "Carry on, Colonel."

The Colonel saluted me back. "Good day, Your Highness."

So, heavy security and a large scale peacetime deployment? They didn't show us any of this in the movie, but then again the timeframe was restricted to the exact day of the Royal Celebration. It's possible all the deployment stuff was the week before, and the soldiers returned to their barracks before the event shown in the movie. This would explain why we only see palace guards in the film.

I made my way back indoors, and soon found myself heading back for the research facility I called home for a bit. Once down there, I checked the various strange artefacts and found a mysterious glowing thing amonst them. I looked closely at the object and was amazed.

Had I found a prisbeam object in this place? This was interesting, but it could wait until later. I had to test a theory of aerodynamics, so I fired up the fan and hopped onto it, experimenting with glide angles and positions.





I was retiring to my room for the night when I suddenly heard something odd coming from mom's room. I stopped and pricked my ears to listen closer. It was then I realised what I was hearing.

Was she in pain? Trouble?

I decided to investigate. I pushed the doors open and stepped inside. I knew that entering without knocking was technically a breach of Royal Protocol, but in the circumstances I didn't really care.

The room seemed mostly normal. Mom was next to her desk, seemingly shaking. I figured out fairly quickly what the sound was. She was sobbing.

I made my way over to her, being careful not to tread on things as I went through the room. As I looked at the scattered items on her desk, I spotted newspapers, old information cuttings, photographs- and a stack of letters.

I figured out what this meant almost immediately. Were these things relating to dad? I mean, Zipp's dad. I'd only really just gotten used to the idea of a fictional character being my mother. This would take a little extra processing.

Tears stained some of the paperwork on the table, turning some of them to a yellowy hue. I spoke up. "Mom, what's wrong?"

She turned to me. Her eyes were red, and the fur around her eyes and cheeks were wet. Wet with tears. Over her shoulder I saw letters filled with information about us. She had continued to write to him even after he'd seemingly died.

Mom then said the first words that she'd said the entire time we'd been standing there. "I miss him, Zephyrina."

I took her into a hug as she collapsed into a fresh wave of tears. "Hey, take it easy," I said. "We all do. We're all hurting." I continued to stay there as she continued to sob into my coat.

"There, easy. Just let it all out."

A few minutes passed, and mom stopped to seemingly compose herself. "Forgive me," she said. "That was most improper."

"Grief is completely natural," I replied. "Especially for somepony so close to you."

She sighed. "I... I just don't like it when you see me this way. It's weakness, and the people can't see that. I have to stay strong for them! Whatever would they think?"

I chose some words I had heard a wise man back in the old world say a long time ago. "Mom, ponies don't cry because they're weak. They cry because they've had to be strong for too long. We're only pegasi. The people can see that. And they miss him too."

Mom seemed legitimately touched by those words. "Thank you, Zephyrina," she said. "I guess I needed that." She glanced at a clock. "I'd best get these put away and off to bed. There's a full schedule tomorrow."

I nodded. "I'm gonna turn in too. Take care."

"You too."

Well, that was interesting. Turns out Queen Haven does have a heart after all. She was maintaining that image the entire time for their sake, not just her own.
> Welcome to a New Kind of Tension
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

When the alarms go off in the middle of the night, it's rarely good news. I certainly knew this one well, given my historical propensity to be jolted awake by noise (thunderstorms were horrible in that regard). So for an alarm to suddenly jolt me awake was pretty bad for my mind, to be honest.

As I woke up, I glanced at the clock in confusion and saw the time. It was only three in the morning! Brilliant. This just had to happen during Tirek's hour, didn't it?

In case you're not aware, pegasi have this curious supersticion that the time of 3 AM to 3:59 AM are spooky, and are somehow owned by Tirek. Curiously, few of them seem to have any awareness of who Tirek was, suggesting that the historical figure has somewhat faded away into legend and become a myth of sorts. I sometimes wonder if the other races are still out there, simply waiting to be discovered by us once again.

Anyway, the alarm continued to sound loudly. There was even a voice. "INTRUDER ALERT. INTRUDER ALERT. ALL ASSETS MOVE TO CAPTURE AND DETAIN  INTRUDER. INTRUDER ALERT. INTRUDER ALERT. ALL ASSETS MOVE TO CAPTURE AND  DETAIN INTRUDER."

This was pretty bad. I pushed open my doors after rolling out of bed, and then found Pipp stumbling out of bed, looking pretty exhausted. "Whatsh's going on?" she asked, yawning as she did so.

I glanced back. "Something about an intruder. We should probably go and look."

"Why did they have to intrude at three in the morning?" Pipp grumbled, but we got on our way regardless. The place was already chock full of soldiers standing on duty and heading about. I could hear some shouting from nearby, but it was hard to make out. My brain hadn't completely switched on yet, and as a result not everything was being processed correctly. We made our way around a bend, noticing most of the commotion was coming from the cable room.

Well, I did. Pipp seemed confused. "Who would steal something in the cable room?"

"Perhaps the intruder is there?" I suggested, as we stepped into the room. And sure enough, our intruder was there, suspended from wires.

Colonel Opwinden seemed to be annoyed with them. "You, miss, are in a lot of trouble tonight," he said. "Haul her in."

As whomever they were was hauled in, I spotted mom retreiving the crown from a bag on the thief's back. "Mine," she said. "We shall deal with you in the morning. In the meantime, place her in the cells. Colonel Opwinden, see to it that this is done."

As the Colonel led the prisoner away and the guards returned to their posts, we both made our way back to our rooms as per mom's orders. As was usually the case, my mind was buzzing with questions. How had we been broken into? What was the identity of the thief? And what did they want with the crown? It was all quite perplexing.





The next morning, I attended the court, as mom had instructed me to. I was fully expecting it to be boring, but the interrogation of the prisoner would allow me to put some of my fears to rest. The musicians were already playing as we 'flew' in. Unlike what I'd seen previously, the court was not in its full regalia (thank Faust. That stuff is seriously hot and uncomfortable).

The first order of business was, of course, the prisoner, and mom wasted absolutely no time in getting to the main portion of the discussion. "Guards, we have the prisoner to attend to. Remove her goggles so we can get a better look at her."

I wasn't entirely sure how she'd deduced she was female from looking at her, but presumably she had some knowledge I lacked. I hadn't heard the prisoner speak, after all.

Sure enough, the guard removed her helmet, and the entire court gasped in surprise- including myself, albeit not for reasons you may expect. The prisoner was Misty! What was she doing here so far ahead of schedule?

"What is wrong with her face?" asked a noble. "She has something on her forehead!"

She's a unicorn, you dolt, I thought to myself as the interrogation went on. It was as if many of them had never seen a unicorn in the flesh before. I mean, I technically hadn't, but let's not split hairs here.

"A unicorn? Here? In the Palace?" mom asked, seemingly legitimately concerned about where this was leading. "How did she get in? How did she bypass security?"

"My team are still trying to establish how she bypassed security, Your  Majesty. Please accept my apology for this most severe of slip-ups."

Mom attempted to ask Misty questions, but the guards weren't exactly helping. This was degrading into a farce pretty quickly. I was soon brought back to attention by another command.

"Zephyrina, ensure that the equipment in the cells is in order. Pipp, I want you to monitor communications. No news of this must get out, understand?"

I pretty quickly figured out that this was our cue to leave, and with a heavy heart I made my way to the cells. Truth be told, I'd love to talk to Misty myself, but probably not in the way they were imagining. I suspect it was the bright lights and dark room type of interrogation.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered the interrogation room and adjoining prison cells were absolutely luxurious. It looked more like a spa than a prison. I checked through all the equipment, which consisted of kit like movie players, a vibrating chair, and even some fruit. The window could be bigger, but that was out of my control. Having completed my investigation and ensuring all was in order, I took this as a chance to sneak out. I mean, if they were busy with Misty, I could check out the outer areas of the city and enjoy what sites it had to offer.





Time to see what pegasus biology can do, Enough theoreticals, practical testing. I hopped onto a rock, and leaped forward. I locked my wings into position, and quickly gained speed on the dive. The wind roared past my face and brushed through my fur. The adrenaline was pumping through my body as the ground rocketed closer. As it approached, I pulled up as best I could and touched down. Well, the confirms one of my theories. We could glide, just not very efficiently. I trotted forward and leaped down a canyon before flipping in the air and touching down on the ground.

Suddenly, I heard two voices talking in the canyon, and I dived into an alcove to avoid being spotted. My eyes widened when I saw them passing. I thought I knew who they were, and hid in there to try and confirm who they were.

One of them called a stop and began to speak to the other. I tried to get closer to listen to their conversation, but that only seemed to make them more concerned. It didn't help a rockfall started, which would panic most ponies.

I wanted to escape the rockfall as well, so I leaped forward, bounding between rocks and walls to try and get as much speed as I could to avoid it. I have to admit it was pretty exciting to be dodging all of this rubble. If this was what we could do without magic, imagine what pegasi could achieve with magic returned? And if these two were who I thought they were, that moment was closer than ever before.

I noticed both of them pulling themselves over. Clearly they weren't from here if it took them that much exertion to pull themselves up that small cliff. I leaped up it, my hooves and mouth effortlessly gripping the rockface, then launched myself up into the air, flaring my wings out as I flew into position in front of the sun.

The two figures screamed as I touched down and leaped forward between several rocks, executing rolls and jumps as I touched down, and finally got a proper look at the two.

Sunny Starscout and Izzy Moonbow stood before me, and I was secretly happy. Things were going to plan after all.

"An actual pegasus," Sunny said. Seemingly she wasn't familiar with me yet. I can work with that.

"Sunny and Izzy?" I said. "Huh. They're right on schedule."

Just then, I heard two guards clanking around the corner, and made my way to the cliff edge. "I'll see you two in the throne room," I said to the pair. "Just don't tell them you saw me."

Izzy said something else as I plunged down into the cavern system. I made my way back around another route, knowing another way into the palace from around here. I had a very important mission. Firstly, I had to inform Pipp of what was going on.

And second, I had to put the second stage of my plan into motion. No matter how long it took.
> Stick to the Status Quo
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It wasn't long until I returned to the palace. I entered the structure through a secret entrance that nopony else knew about. I won't tell you where it is either to reduce the risk of others learning where it is and sealing it off. I made my way through the structure and eventually found my way back onto the main level of the building, where I knew I had to look for Pipp. I made my way down several corridors and looked about for her. "Pipp? Pipp?"

After continuing through the building as best I could, it wasn't long until I spotted her. I looked out through a window and spotted her on a sun lounger, presumably trying to get a tan. I shook my head and headed outdoors before stopping in front of her. "Hey! Pipp?"

Pipp glanced up and adjusted a set of star shaped sunglasses. "Zipp, what's got you all worked up? I think a spa day would do you good."

"No. Way," I firmly replied. "And how are you supposed to get a tan? Isn't there fur in the way?"

"I am not trying to get a tan!" she said defensively. "I simply like being out in the sun for a bit! Why is that such an issue?"

I blinked. "Oh. Sorry. But I've got some news for you."

"Huh? What news?"

"Sunny and Izzy are here."

Pipp cheered up immediately, and hopped off fthe sun lounger. "Yay! I always like making new friends, and we can add three to the roster!"

I took me a few seconds to figure out who the third pony was. "Ohh. You mean Misty. Right. Well, I've not been able to establish if Sunny and Izzy are former humans yes- I only had one interaction with them that was less than a minute long- and I'll need more time to speak with them. In the meantime, we need to stick to the script."

Pipp pouted. "Zipp! I can't remember the dialogue exactly! I can't just watch a copy of the movie to refresh my memory! Seeing as we're kinda living in the movie!"

Thanks for the reminder of how absurd our situation had forgotten. I nodded. "Well, you don't need to have it 100% off. Just try and recall the gist of it. That's what I've been doing."

"Thanks for the tip," Pipp replied, just as a message began playing over the palace loudspeakers.

"Could Princesses Pipp Petals and Zephyrina Storm report to the Royal Chambers immediately. Repeat, could Princesses Pipp Petals and Zephyrina Storm report to the Royal Chambers immediately!"

I glanced up. "Well, that's our cue. Break a leg- not literally."

Pipp followed me along. "I wonder if this would be a good opportunity to test a new filter?"





Up in the cable room, mom briefed us. "Colonel Opwinden requested our precense in the trone room about some security issue," she said, as technicians finished fitting the harnesses and cables to our bodies. "I'm not sure exactly what he means, but I hardly imagine it's anything serious."

I tried to suppress my mirth at the irony of the words.

"However, I want both of you on your best behaviour. That means no pouting, Zephyrina, and no random musical interludes, Pipp. Understood?"

"Yes mom," we both said at once.

"Good." Mom trotted over to a control panel and switched on the intercom. "We are ready for launch."

"Copy that, Your Majesty. You should feel the winding gear taking up the slack now."

We were lowered into the throne room to the fanfare of blaring trumpets and the beating of drums, as had become standard procedure in this part of the world. I glanced forward to see Sunny and Izzy being held in a secure formation. Surely that level of security was a bit excessive? They're not that dangerous.

Mom started proceedings without any pomp or circumstance. "Guards, state your business," she said. It seemed her sunglasses hadn't been set properly as she was constantly adjusting them. "Pipp needs to rehearse, Cloudpuff here needs his bubble bath, and I need to practice my laugh." I internally cringed at how unnatural that laugh sounded. "Still needs some work."

After some confusion over titles, the guards then revealed Sunny and Izzy. I'm not sure how mom didn't spot or hear them earlier, seeing as Izzy addressed me only a few seconds earlier, but the second she spotted them she took what was posssibly the sharpest intake of breath in the known universe.

"What in Faust's name?" she asked. Seems the idea of Faust being a deity carried over from Generation 4, even though Faust had no involvement in G5's development. "A unicorn, and an earth pony, in Zephyr Heights? Why are you here? Who sent you?"

"We've got them both under control, Your Majesty," Thunder said. "We  fitted the shield, and this Earth Pony won't think to attack. Their capacity for logical thought is exceedingly limited."

I internally cringed to hear these characters casually throwing racist ideas around. I guess that's what happens when such ideals and thoughts become ingrained in a society, that otherwise seemingly nice ponies can be bigoted.

Mom continued with her concerned speech, but something sounded a bit strange. "Is this some sort of prelude to war? Or an invitation to dialogue? Nopony must know we have them here!"

And then Pipp intervened at the worst possible moment. "Check it out, guys!" she said, turning her phone towards Sunny and Izzy. "Something that hasn't been seen in millenia! It's a unicorn and Earth Pony!"

Oh no. When I said 'stick to the script' I didn't mean 'rigidly recreate moments from the movie'. Seems Pipp may be taking my instruction perhaps a little too literally.

This provoked a predictable response. Mom took the phone from her (albeit holding it upside down) and spoke into the monitor. "There's nothing to fear," she said. "They are under the custody of the army. We will protect you." The glare she shot at Pipp could melt a glacier. "Shut it off."

Pipp pushed some buttons, before mom casually tossed the phone back to her and resumed her position near her throne. 

Sunny's voice then suddenly cut through the awkwardness of the moment. "Your Majesty, I have a few questions-"

Mom's interruption silenced any doubt. "I'll be the one asking questions, not you. Process them to the holding cells until Military Intelligence can question them. And confiscate the book!"

A guard took the book whilst the signal was given to take us back up into the cable room. As we were lifted away, I saw Sunny look dejected at having the book taken from her. Poor thing. I had to find a way to get it back to her.

"Well, that was rather a shock to the system," Mom said, as a technician detached her harness. "Fancy that! First one unicorn, then several ponies! It seems the other races are like buses- they all turn up at once!"

We laughed even though it wasn't particularly funny. It was then I had an idea. "Mom, I could interrogate the prisoners for you. Being questioned by a soldier isn't always something that makes a pony open up, but a civilian like myself might be able to get some info out of them."

Mom turned. "Well, if you're sure," she said. "But I'll have soldiers on standby round the corner to ensure you are safe. If they give you trouble, call for them. Understand?"

I nodded. "Crystal." I then headed off, but not before sending Pipp a quick text, reminding her of the importance of sticking to the script.





I passed by the collection room for confiscated items and picked up the book before heading to the main holding cells. Sure enough, Sunny and Izzy were there trying out all the equipment in the cell. What surprised me more was that they'd put them in the same cell as Misty. Having said that, the three seemed to be getting along. I cleared my throat to indicate my arrival. "You three, we need to talk."

Izzy then said something that made no sense whatsoever, so I simply asked her to call me Zipp rather than have to unscramble strange sentences. "Where are you two from?" I asked. "And not in the Equestrian sense."

Izzy's eyes widened in amazement, which I'll admit was actually pretty adorable. "Wait," she said. "Are you saying that you used to be a human too?"

I simply nodded, which seemed to excite Izzy. "Welcome to the club, Zipp! Seems like we're all in that boat in here. Well, maybe not Misty-"

"Yeah, actually," Misty said. "That's why I didn't react to the mayonnaise." Huh. That actually explains an awful lot, you know. Such as her being here ages before Make your Mark begins.

After they argued for a bit about mayonnaise, I decided to I could address my concerns to them on a fair and even keel. "So, I can speak more frankly with you guys. But we need to talk about magic, and specifically about this." I showed Sunny the journal.

The look on Sunny's face was akin to one a colt would get if he received all of his Wishentide presents for the next ten years in one go. "My journal!" she exclaimed. "What was it that interested you?"

So, no obvious chance to fit in the sneaky conversation. Bother. Oh well. I pointed to the front of the book. "See the symbol in the book? That's Twilight Sparkle's cutie mark. I've seen it all over the castle, and-"

Just then, a familiar fanfare played over two phones, and I glanced sideways. Pipp had arrived, and the two guards were playing the fanfare on phone speakers rather than playing trumpets. They then rolled a red carpet down the corridor. Pipp then walked down this. Well, she wouldn't want to get her hooves dirty, would she? Unlike the rest of us who actually work for a living.

"Zipp!" Pipp hissed at me, perfectly reproducing the tone of voice from the film. "What are you doing here? Mom told you to stay away!"

Of course, she hadn't, but I could only assume Pipp had forgotten this. "Right, right. Then what are you doing here?"

Pipp rolled her eyes. "For the content!" She then turned so that the other ponies were in the background and began taking pictures.

"Princess, why is nopony flying?" Sunny asked.

Pipp turned to her. "It's common knowledge that only we Royals can fly." She bounced into the air and flapped her wings innefectually in a display that would have fooled nopony. "And if we could teach it to the populace of the Empire, you know we would in a wingbeat! Right, Zipp?"

"Yeah," I said, flatly.

We were both suddenly interrupted by a loud buzzing, which turned out to be Pipp's phone. "Oh! Look at the time!" she said. "Dress rehearsal, gotta go!" She then glared at me. "So should you." She then did her vocal exercises and trotted off down the corridor, speaking to herself.

I offered to get the others out of prison, and I sped off for the chambers as fast as I could.





I soon found Mom's chambers again and knocked on the door.

"Enter!"

I stepped through the door, and found her working on a speech. "On this suspicious day- doesn't sound right."

I glanced up. "Auspicious?"

Mom smiled. "Thank you, dear. How did the interrogation go?"

"Smoothly," I said. "They're not armed, and not a danger to us. I think an act of kindness towards them would help them to open up. As you know, the other races don't exactly like us, and accuse us of thinking we're better than them. Melting the ice could work wonders."

Mom nodded. "That seems like a reasonable proposition," she said. "But on the one condition this never becomes public knowledge. The publicist told me Pipp's broadcast nearly caused mass hysteria, and I'd rather not repeat that."

I nodded. "That's fine by me."
> The Gondola Collective
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Turns out mom had a rather interesting interpretation of what I meant when I suggested an act of kindness. I was certainly quite amazed when instructed to report to makeup and styling at five in the afternoon to have my mane and tail done, and to prepare for regalia fitting.

Pipp was there too, and pretty confused as well. "Any clue what's going on?" she asked.

"Nope," I replied, as the staff moved different things around. "Only thing I do know is I don't like this at all. Seriously, why do our tails need doing? Nopony's going to see them!"

"We should always aim to look our best," Pipp replied. "Besides, that should be easy for you. Your mane's entirely on top, and therefore easy to wash. Mine flops all over the place. Do you have any clue how long this takes to get presentable in the morning?"

"No," I replied. "But I suspect it takes a while, based on mom's mane and tail."

They then brought out the regalia, and I was both concerned and a little embarrassed. Seems that whatever this event was, we were dressing up. Mom then arrived, looking like she was off on a state visit to another country rather than something inside the palace, having been fitted into a rather posh gown. "Ah! You two are looking excellent!" she said. "Remember to thank the stylists."

"What's going on? And why are we being decked out in... well, all that?" I indicated to her clothing.

"You suggested an act of kindness towards them, yes? I've organised a special banquet for them, which will allow us to break the ice and introduce them to pegasus customs. Not to mention it allows us to showcase how splendid the palace can be!"

I kept my objections to myself. When mom was off on one of her ideas, there was no stopping her. Trying to get her to slow down was like trying to stop a freight train with no brakes.





Well, it could've been worse. I've never been one for dressing up or posh meals. I'd probably have ordered in McWings and had a casual Ogres and Oubliettes session in one of the drawing rooms. But everything had to be done properly, it seems.

Although adapting to multiple courses and eating with this stuff on proved to be difficult (seriously, you try eating with both a restrictive gown impairing your movement and large amounts of metal on your chest) and wasn't easy, I did it eventually. The others eventually began speaking to us, and mom was convinced they were safe too. So they could now wander the palace as they saw fit, provided they didn't leave.

This was perfect for me. With the Royal Celebration in a week's time, I could finally move the plot forward and get us closer to reuniting! But I had to be careful. Too much fast movement and the cover could be blown. I began to plan out my idea in my mind as the music continued to flow and the conversation rattled back and forth.

This was mostly my memory of the movie talking, but I felt I could trust them, and that they would be vital for securing that crystal that currently sat in the crown.

Shame Misty's theft had thrown a spanner in the works. Thanks to that incident, mom was refusing to take the crown off. She was even sleeping and showering with the thing on! I could only imagine that quickly got very unhygenic, but I pushed that to one side. We had to secure the crown and the crystal, or else this would all have been for nothing.

Eventually, the meal came to an end, and we retired to another room for cheese and other things. I wasn't sure if I was in Zephyr Heights or an Edwardian period drama for a moment.





A week passed, and after a visit to the station I outlined my plan to my friends. Izzy stated that she needed a replacement crown for the plan, and requested a box of macaroni, a tube of glue, fourteen gooey bunnies, and three jelly beans. And a lot of glitter. That was oddly specific, but I guess she needed them all for something in order to assemble the fake. I popped into town on the Wednesday before the Royal Celebration and looked in several of the shops for the resources I needed. It was a good thing I'd identified on Canternet that several stores had the things in stock. Such a random assortment of items bought at one shop would surely raise eyebrows.

I collected the items and stuffed them into a single bag, and then made my way back to the palace before dropping them off in Izzy's room. I then went and did other things whilst waiting for her to finish her work.

Had I known what I know now, I wouldn't have asked for it. But I didn't know what I know now then, so I left her to it. I kept to myself for a bit, keen to ensure nopony realised what was going on in actuality.

Have to say the crown was pretty good when I saw it for the first time. Izzy's quite skilled as a junk modeller. All we had to do was wait until the night of the event.





The night of the event came, and my stage of the plan went into action. As with every single event the entrance to the Palace was swarmed with papparazzi. Hopefully there wouldn't be any chases or accidents. As per the agreement I would be making my way into the palace via the front entrance, which would distract the ponies taking pictures. That allowed Sunny and Izzy to sneak into the palace via the side entrance and access the backstage area around the back (one of the places they weren't allowed into, as it harboured our dark secret).

As the cameras blared and became blinding (I'm glad I brought sunglasses to protect my eyes from the glare), I briefly spotted the duo using a side entrance. Good. They're in. I continued on my way into the building and saw huge amounts of preparations currently underway. Things were being pushed around, light controls were being brought in, and other display items were being placed to make the concert easier. Naturally this included light controls to hide cables and wires. I found my way to the access steps and made my way up to the makeup and harness room. Not for vanity's sake, you understand. It was needed so I didn't look odd under stage lighting.

After quite a bit of that, I was then sent over to the cable room for cable fitting in preparation for the big event. Here's hoping things went to plan in other bits of the palace.





We were in the cable room before the show when I decided to give it one last shot. Mom was there, ensuring her stage makeup was applied correctly. "Pipp told me you've been with the others a lot," she said.

"She told you that?" I asked.

"She tells me everything. I wish you would speak with me more." There was a pause, and then a sigh. "I won't be here forever, Zephyrina. We need to make the most of the time we have available, and one day you will need to understand your duties. This crown is a lot heavier than it looks."

That made me feel depressed. "There is something I wanted to talk about."

"See? That's a good start."

"The other races don't have magic. We all lack it. We have to do something or else me may well find oursel-"

"Zephyrina!"

I shifted back. I knew the tone well. The tone was code for 'shut up'.

"I don't know what ideas that Earth Pony or those Unicorns have been putting in your head, but you cannot trust a word they say. They could be spies, for all we know. Besides, you have a comfortable life here in Zephyr Heights. Why would you want to risk that?"

"Because it's a lie!" I said. "The populace should know the truth about what's going on."

Mom sighed again. "It keeps the people safe and happy. Sometimes living a happy lie is better than enduring a horrible truth."

I shook my head. "Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth, mom. Sooner or later that debt is repaid."

Mom snorted. "Don't concern yourself with things that will never happen, Zephyrina."

I rolled my eyes. "Don't concern yourself with things that will never happen. They should put that on our pound notes."

Just then, Pipp was wheeled in, already rigged up to the cable system. "Ah, there she is!" mom beamed. "Your sister understands the importance of maintaining the status quo."

Pipp launched off into her vocal exercises, as mom hit a button on the control panel next to her. "Showtime!"

Well, that was that. No turning back now. As the winding gear engaged, a distinct feeling of dread crossed my heart.
> Is this the Lie that I've Been Sold?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The three of us were slowly dropped down into the throne room, the rumbling of the motors of the winding gear imperceptible over the roar of the crowd. The lights moved onto us, and I adjusted my eyes to avoid being temporarily blinded by them.

Mom didn't seem too concerned, though. Nor did Pipp. Despite knowing where this might be going, she was positively lapping up all the attention she was getting. The lights and cameras all blared our way and the room sounded to the pounding noise of speakers and generic pop music. If I didn't think fast this would pretty quickly leave me with sensory overload.

Thankfully, mom's voice brought me back to reality. "Remember to smile!" she said, beaming at the crowd below. I have no clue how she manages to do it all so effectively. Partly a reason why the thought of becoming Queen fills me with such dread, apart from the other reasons you can probably think of.

We finally made contact with our thrones, and I took a sitting position as the cables were remotely detached. They retracted into the roof and we looked onwards as Pipp kicked off her routine. I knew the song- anypony who's seen the film would have known this fact- and I tried to blot it out as best I could and maintain a vaguely agreeable face without it looking forced. Mom would have noticed that and been all over me like a ton of bricks for that.

I looked about me for clues of the others, and then heard a promising sound. Two voices were speaking behind mom's throne, and as I watched I saw Sunny's head briefly pop up over the top of the throne. In her hoof was the fake crown Izzy had made. With a cursory glance anypony would be fooled by it. With a quick movement she pulled the real one off mom's head and placed the fake in its place. She smiled at me and nodded, so I did the same in return before turning my head forward.

I heard mom mumbling something about her scalp being a bit itchy, but I tried to act as normally as I could. I watched Pipp weaving and diving around. Then it occurred to me. When she'd spoken to me earlier she'd mentioned that back in the other world she hadn't had the best of lives, but here she was now, a princess in another kingdom (and a thoroughly pampered one at that), living a life most beings can only dream of.

And here I was, in the same sort of position, only the palace was more like a guilded cage. Hopefully this plan would work and I could sneak away before anypony could notice. Or invoke full name ultimatum. That would suck.

The crowd were enthralled, and the room was filled with brilliant camera flashes as the performance continued. I relaxed. This was going well. Almost too easy. I relaxed a bit. Clearly my new friends had this one in the bag.

A few moments later, I suddenly spotted something that was out of place. Cloudpuff wasn't at mom's side.

I soon saw where he was. He was running towards her with the crown in his mouth!

"Oh, crap," I said, under my breath. I charged forward to block mom's view of the dog and grabbed the crown with my hooves. "Give... it... to... me!"

Cloudpuff simply pulled harder. For a tiny dog he has a lot of strength, which surprised me. There was suddenly a bang, and I was suddenly launched backwards and landed on my haunches. I looked at the crown. Only the metalwork was in my hooves. The crystal had detached, and Cloudpuff was running off with it into the crowd.

I looked even closer at the metal, and noticed something. The metalwork was of a lower grade than mom's crown. It then dawned on me. Mom had been wearing a fake crown the entire time!

"Shit," I said to myself, and quickly deposited the metalwork under my wing before charging into the crowd after Cloudpuff. I switched on my radio to speak to the others. "Guys, we got a problem."

"Care to name which one?" Sunny replied.

"There's more than one?" I asked.

"I'm currently being chased by a sheriff and trying to dodge a crazed dog at the same time. What's the other problem?"

Brilliant. It seemed that Hitch has decided to crash the party. Talk about bad timing. "The crown you swapped for your fake? It's also a fake. Mom anticipated the theft and wore a reproduction tonight. We've swapped a fake for a fake!"

"Well, where's the real one?" Sunny asked, sounding a bit out of breath.

I suddenly saw Izzy and dashed over to her. Izzy was currently in front of Cloudpuff, trying to placate him. "Good doggy..."

I saw something shiny in Izzy's bag. "Izzy, what's that in your bag?"

Izzy turned to me as I positioned myself between Cloudpuff and her. "Oh, that's a crown I found in one of the dressing rooms."

Perfect. This might be the real thing. If Cloudpuff returned my fake to mom, we could take that one and get on our way to Bridlewood. "Izzy, I'm going to pass you at speed. Be ready to catch the object under my wing."

"Gotcha!" Izzy replied, and tilted her horn.

I sprinted past at speed, and at the right moment dropped the crown with my right wing and grabbed Izzy's one with my hooves. I glanced back and saw Izzy pass the fake to Cloudpuff, who seemed to be happy. I then hid at one side and stopped next to Sunny.

"Got the crown Izzy found!" I said, and picked it up. My face fell as I looked at it. "Oh no..."

Sunny looked at me, concerned. "What's the problem?"

I held it up to the light. "Sunny, it's another fake. I'm not sure how this happened, but there are two fakes in circulation on top of the fake we made earlier today!"

"Did somepony anticipate our theft?" Sunny asked.

"Sure looks that way." I had a good idea who it was, but I chose not to raise my concerns until later. "I'll go look for the real one."

Sunny glanced around. "Good idea. I'll try and- oh shit, here he comes! RUN!"

She suddenly sped off as Hitch chased her down, with Izzy soon running in the same direction. Both seemed to he heading for the cable control room, so I snuck round the back. There was an alternate escape route to the higher levels of the palace in case the cable units broke down. The elevator was in the up position, though, and using it would make too much noise and almost certainly blow my cover.

So the backup passage it was. I popped it open and began to crawl my way up, squeezing my way through the tight space until I reached the top, and emerged in one of the corridors.

The corridor was oddly empty. The complete lack of security was a bit surprising. Normally at least a few guards would be up here if only as a safety precaution. I made my way down the corridor, finding a trail of muddy hoofprints to follow. The trail led all the way to mom's stateroom, which again was unguarded (very odd). The doors were also open, so I pushed my way in and looked inside.

To my shock, I saw the intruder. Misty was sitting next to the safe and working her way through the combinations, clearly trying to break in. The door swung open, and I saw the crown inside. Misty was trying to steal the crown!

"The game's up, Misty!" I said. "Back away from the safe and put your hooves where I can see them."

Misty swung round and flopped on the ground. "Take what you want! Just don't hurt me!"

I trotted past her and took a look inside, before spotting something oddly shaped in Misty's bag. I opened the bag and took the object out.

Surprise, surprise, it was yet another crown. How many crowns were there in the palace this evening?

"So, you were planning on swapping this crown for the real one and then sneaking off before anypony noticed, huh?" I asked.

"Opaline made me do it!" Misty protested.

I blinked. Suddenly so much about Misty's behaviour made so much more sense. Purely out of interest, I took a look at the crown in the safe and spotted another pattern on it. I knew where I'd seen that pattern before. The museum had had a replica of the crown in it, that had been donated to the exhibit by Crystal Wonder, Jewellers Royal. Their trademark is a slight discolouration of the metal. And this crown and all the others had the same pattern.

This was yet another fake.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Fake crowns, plots upon plots on top of each other, farce galore. When did this turn into an 'Allo, 'Allo episode?"
> Lost in my Memories
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Suddenly, there was a massive amount of noise coming from down below. I looked to one of the monitors and switched it on to try and find out what was going on. One of the features of the information suite in here was that it I could access ZBS to find out what was happening on the ground.

And what I saw was shocking. The cameras which had been broadcasting Pipp's performance showed her upside down, and the room was swarming with soldiers. None of what they were saying could be made it out, but it seemed that something bad was going on. Clearly the world had discovered we couldn't fly.

I looked to Misty. "What happened in the past doesn't matter now. All that matters is we find that crown and get the buck out of here."

Misty nodded. I could see the terror in her eyes. I could only imagine what it would be like here as a unicorn in an openly xenophobic society. "OK. Let's get out of here."

I tore out of the room and charged down the corridor, hearing the alarms blaring as I went along. There was also a voice shouting over the loudspeaker.

"All units! The capture of the Princesses is our primary objective! Ensure they are brought to justice for their actions! Death to the enemies of the Pegasus Revolution!"

This was so much worse than the situation in the film. I had to try and get out of here. I could only hope Pipp and mom were OK.

Misty was doing her best to keep up, but she seemed to be struggling with the pathway. I slowed my pace slightly and suddenly crashed into something on the side of the path. It was a box. My hoof had pulled it open somehow, and something glimmering seemed to be inside it.

I stopped, and took a look inside. To my amazement, it was a crown. And the real one, this time! With the real crystal! The metalwork was devoid of the patterning of the jewellers, confirming this was the original. "Mission accomplished!" I said, before starting up my radio. "Crown secured. Proceeding to extraction point!"

"You'd better hurry!" Sunny radioed back. "The city's being locked down! There's tanks and soldiers everywhere I look!"

This was pretty bad. I charged along when suddenly I heard Misty scream. "Get off me!"

I turned to see two guards had cornered her, and one had placed her in a chokehold. One glanced to the other. "A unicorn, all alone," she smiled. "Fancy some fun?"

It was clear they planned to beat her. "Hey! Get away from her, you monsters!"

The guards turned to look. "It's the princess!" the other said. "Remember, the General didn't say she had to be conscious."

Guards began flooding in. I kicked them off and tried to fight them off, but I must have been tasered at some point as I collapsed, convulsing, as rifle butts were slammed into my body and face. Soon joined by kicking.

I saw Misty in the crowd on the other side. I slid the crown under the crowd. "Misty... run... save yourself..."

I saw Misty scamper away as the beating continued. Then a boot came down on my face, and everything went black.





The world was oddly blurry and poorly focused as my eyes began to process where I was. "Urghhhh..."

This was very similar to when I'd first woken up in Zephyr Heights after being turned into Zipp. I internally cursed the day that happened now. Now that I was in this mess. A revolution? Some sort of beating?

Something whirled above me as I slowly stirred. A ceiling fan. And the walls were nicely maintained as well. As my vision slowly returned I recognised where I was.

I was in the prison cells in the palace. Funny how life can be so ironic, huh?

"Where... what?"

"ON YOUR FEET!"

I heard a voice bellowing at me, and I turned to one side. As I was now more aware, I had a sense of my position. Something metal was chained around my left front hoof, and as I looked around I was in some sort of orange jumpsuit. A number was written on the front.

"I SAID ON YOUR FEET, MAGGOT!"

Suddenly, an electric shock caused me to convulse, and to make the pain stop I got up. "What is this? What do you want with me?"

There was a guard looking there, with a cruel smile on his face. "That always wakes them up," he smiled. "Greetings, prisoner 03272023. Hopefully you had a nice nap."

"My name is Zipp. Zipp Storm," I replied.

The guard bared his teeth. "Your name is whatever I decide it is," he said. "You have no name, just a number. It's what ponies like you deserve, especially that bitch over there."

I looked over and saw mom, also chained in place and clad in a similar jumpsuit to my own. She looked a mess as well, covered in dirt and bruises. Her mane was also a mess, and all of her regalia had been removed.

"What makes you think you can speak to her like that?" I asked.

The guard unholstered his weapon. "I have a gun and you don't. That's reason enough. Besides, this is more than you deserve after the millenia of lies you've hoisted on us."

Mom was oddly silent, not saying a word despite the insults being thrown about.

"But none of that matters now. The New Pegasus Empire will lead us into a new and glorious age, one governed by military power and might. General Gulfstream has liberated us from the likes of despots like you, and we can step forward into a better and brighter future- one where pegasi show their superiority over the other races- rather like those friends of yours. This regime takes especially unkindly to race traitors like you." With that rant over, the guard suddenly left. "Enjoy the time you have left."

Once the guard was gone, I turned to mom, who had walked as close to me as her chains let her. "Mom, I'm so, so sorry-"

Mom reached forward to try and touch my hoof (the chains weren't long enough to let us hug or anything like that. "Zephyrina, this isn't your fault. I failed to see what Gulfstream was up to. We're all paying for my negligence now."

"They wouldn't know we can't fly if hadn't done what I did. I should have listened to you."

There was a silence. "It would probably have been found out eventually. But I have another confession to make."

It seems a lot of things were being revealed today. I looked to her. "Yes?"

She took a deep breath. "I'm a fraud. I'm not really your mother. I'm just a person who ended up as her. I'm not from Equestria, or from this world- I'm from another reality entirely."

Wait, what? Mom was in the same position as me? This was a pretty big bombshell. "Hey, welcome to the club."

Mom blinked. "You're not from here either?"

"Nope. Northern England, weird feather, woke up in a hospital bed. You?"

"A jewel, oddly enough, in London." Mom paused. "I worry about Pipp. I noticed she's not in any of the cells, which can only mean she's out there in the wilds! However will she survive? She's lived here all the time and doesn't have wilderness skills! I hope she doesn't starve!"

"Update on that; Pipp's not from here either. She's yet another human turned pony."

"Talk about a small world," mom said calmly, before glancing to the window. "At least during the confession I told her to run and save herself."

"Hauled before state TV like in the film," I mused to myself. "Why did you confess?"

Mom looked back, suddenly agitated. "They threatened to kill you if I didn't!"

Suddenly, words mom had said weeks ago flashed back into my mind.

"But there's always a final line of defence."

"What?"

"Me.  What sort of mother would I be if I was unable to protect you two from  the world out there? There's nothing to fear, because I'll be here for  you. Always. That's a promise."

"Your promise," I whispered. "You did it to protect us!"

Mom nodded. "There's nothing more powerful than a mother's love. And even though I'm technically not your mother, and you're technically not my daughter, I still feel the familial bonds nontheless. I have for a while. Even for your father." She stopped, and wiped her eyes as best she could. "We're lost in the memories and feelings of these characters- where do our former selves stop and the characters we are begin?"

I tried to get closer again, or as close as I could without this blasted chain in the way. "There's always hope for a brighter tomorrow," I said. "And as long as there are ponies out there willing to fight for it our work won't be in vain."

Another voice spoke. "Sir, you may interrogate the prisoners."
> Locked in a Cell, Waging War from a Prison
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

We both looked up and across as the figure marched into view before us. It was Colonel Opwinden. Had he thrown his lot in with Gulfstream and his goons?

He looked to the soldiers. "You are relieved of duty," he said. "Proceed to the barracks and await further orders."

"Yes sir!" the guards said, saluting as they did so. They marched down the corridor, cheerfully whistling as they did so.

We both looked to the Colonel, who glanced down the corridor again to check nopony was there. "Good, they're gone. We have the place to ourselves."

Mom looked shocked. "How could you?" she asked.

The Colonel, to our surprise, then bowed. "Your Majesty, and Your Royal Highness," he said.

We were both a bit confused. "What's going on?" I asked.

Opwinden looked to me and smiled. "What is right and just. That fool has no idea what's coming."

Mom blinked. "Look, just cut the crap and tell us what's going on."

The Colonel nodded. "Yes, Your Majesty. I come here with important news. The struggle is not over, and the war is not lost."

"Sure doesn't look that way," I said, indicating to my chains. "I guess these guards really do enjoy their power."

"Sorry about that," Opwinden said. "I've arranged to have them reassigned to an ordnance depot on the outer fringes of our territory. But our situation, although it might look dire, is better than it might seem."

"Our situation?" Mom asked. "Whose side are you on?"

"The side of justice and democracy," Opwinden explained. "I'm a double agent."

"That's a relief," I said, groaning. The metal was really beginning to chafe on my skin despite the fur protecting it.

"The revolution is not a revolution at all," the Colonel continued. "It is a coup, nothing more and nothing less, an illegal power grab by a General who fancies himself King. Well, not to me. I swore an oath of loyalty to the Pegasus Empire and to the Royal Family when I signed up, and I will not be betraying that oath."

"But you're pretending to serve them," I asked. "How does that square with any of this at all?"

"It means I can pass insider information to the rest of the world, and expose what he's really doing," Opwinden said, focusing still on us, and periodically checking the corridors for any unwanted intruders coming towards our current position. "Make no mistake; Gulfstream is insane, and has been for a while. He's been building his army and his power base and waiting for a moment to strike. The incident at the Party at the Palace was just a convenient excuse to launch his coup and take over the government. Not only is he insane, he is racist to the point of paranoia, convinced that unicorns and earth ponies have been poisining our water supply to make stallions less fertile."

"Sounds pretty crazy to me," I said.

"I won't stand for this," Mom said. "He'll destroy us all if he isn't stopped."

"Luckily, most of the population agrees with you," Opwinden said.

"They do?" I asked, amazed at this news. In the film the citizenry had turned on their leadership pretty fast.

"Indeed," Opwinden smiled. "Of course, they aren't hugely happy about the whole 'unable to fly' thing. But the truth is that they don't trust the General's regime. They see him as a madman and a threat to their security. Already ponies are protesting the conscription he's introduced, and the populace is deeply worried about being sent to war to fight against the other races- public opinion of unicorns and earth ponies is pretty low, but the prospect of war is more unpopular, given we are all nuclear equipped."

He paused. "Low level resistance is in place, aiming to restore you to your rightful places, but low level resistance is not enough. This is where we come in." He showed us something on his FlyPad (these are popular devices for doing work and analysing documents on). "Already resistance movements have formed across the country, and we have been secretly arming them to fight back against our oppressors. We have allies everywhere, and eyes and ears reporting on Gulfstream's troops. We just need a bit more time to prepare for the counter revolution."

"Time is something we may not have," I said. "Given revolutions have a bad habit of killing monarchs and nobility."

"Zephyrina!" Mom snapped. She looked to Opwinden. "How much time are we talking, Colonel?"

"Twenty four hours at the most," Opwinden replied. "Gulfstream has already executed those he suspects of being opposed to his revolution, and he's also filled the jails and prisons with Royalist supporters. We plan to break them out as well, and this is what we need the time for. Breaking into large numbers of jails at once needs a lot of equipment. I can already confirm Thunder and Zoom are on our side as well."

"That's a relief," I said.

"Know you have my full support, even though I can't do very much at the moment," Mom said. "The best of luck."

"Colonel, I have a message from the General!" a voice called down the corridor. "He wants to speak to you immediately."

The Colonel nodded. "I'll be along shortly." He glanced to us. "Apologies in advance," he whispered, before switching to a louder voice. "STAY IN LINE MAGGOTS! This'll teach you to stand against us!"

It hurt being called that, but we both knew he was only doing it to deceive our enemies and buy us some more time. As we waited, he turned and walked away. "A special signal will let you know when we are ready."

As he vanished down the corridor, I considered my options. It seemed as though we could escape- though how they were planning on cutting through our chains I didn't know- and it may be best to stay put for now and wait.

Just then, our attention was drawn to a troop buildup at the other end.

"MAKE WAY FOR HIS EXCELLENCY, GENERAL GULFSTREAM, SAVIOUR OF PEGASUS KIND AND THE HAMMER OF THE FALSE QUEEN!" bellowed a voice.

A line of soldiers in heavy armour and gas masks marched into position, flanking the General, a king in all but name. His uniform, green in colour, was absolutely covered in medals, many of which was brightly coloured and shone. I recognised quite a few of them- I'd worn them during the dinner about a week ago. How quickly things change.

He adjusted his hat, flanked by his soldiers who were pointing bayonets at us. "Greetings, Prisoners 03272023 and 05082023. I have to say, those jumpsuits suit you far better than the metal and fabric you plundered from the populace."

"Look who's talking," I replied, pointing at him. "Those are my medals."

Gulfstream looked over. "Single shock, 90 volts."

A single electrical blast shot through me, and I collapsed on the ground writing in agony.

"That'll teach you to speak when you aren't spoken to," Gulfstream smiled.

I got back up. "Oh, really? If you're so tough, why are you surrounded by soldiers? We're chained down. We aren't a threat."

"You mean the Stormtroopers?" Gulfstream replied. "Brilliant, aren't they. Powerful, loyal, and brave. Selectric from the purest of pegasus genetic stock to enforce the superiority of our species. Not like some of the half breeds you find out there. We'll soon weed them out."

"What you are doing is monstrous," mom said. "History will judge you for this."

"Says the monarch who lied about being able to fly," Gulfstream snorted. "All I did was overthrow an unjust government. The populace won't stand for ponies like you, and with the ranks of our armies swelling we shall soon be able to finish the work that King Thundercloud started all those centuries ago."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"This state of cold war has made us complacent," Gulfstream said, a maniacal grin on his face. "What is the point of all this military equipment if you have no war to fight? Solders should be used for fighting, even if it means having to pull a few strings."

I didn't like what he was implying. I looked at mom, who had a look of intense worry on her face. It seemed she shared my opinion on this as well.

She spoke next. "You're insane. You'll condemn us all to death! They may be our enemies, but a world war helps nopony!"

The General laughs. "You foalish fool. War helps plenty of ponies. It weeds out the weak from the strong, the wheat from the chaff, the undesirable from the very best. Race war will allow us to exterminate the earth ponies and unicorns and establish a perfect pegasus utopia, the way it has always been! Faust is on our side, and will ensure our victory in this crusade!"

He looked closer, the mad glint in his eyes clear. "Never you two fear. I have a plan. The final solution to the unicorn and earth pony problem."
> Heaven, Will you Wait for Me?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mom's jaw fell open. "Y- you can't mean!"

"Yes," the General smiled, his psychotic face looking even worse than before. "First and second strike capability. Massive retaliation. Fire from Celestial bodies. Faust's wrath. Whatever you call it, the process is the same. Our enemies cannot resist us if they have been wiped off the map and we have obliterated their mechanism of striking back." He leaned closer. "You know full well what I mean. What is the point of our nuclear weapons if we don't use them?"

"They are there to deter our enemies from using them!" I said, suddenly. "If we have them, they know we can obliterate them as well. The entire point is that they don't get used because of the threat they might be used."

"But they know we wouldn't."

"They know we would that we wouldn't."

"What?"

Mom looked at me in surprise, so I simply made a face that suggested 'I'll tell you later'.

Mom then spoke to him. "If you are implying what I think you are, you're not having them."

Gulfstream laughed, a low, hollow laugh. "Oh, foolish mare. You have no idea how far my power extends. The fact that they are encoded to your hoofprints is simply a minor setback. I already have the first two, so all I need are the last ones. It's simple, you old fool. I want the launch codes."

Mom looked at him, determined. "No."

Gulfstream had the look of a person who had just been told no for the first time in his life. "You may want to reconsider your course of action."

"No, I don't think I do," she said bravely. "If I give them to you, we all die. Including you. We fire the weapons, they fire as well. We all die in the resulting exchange. It's very simple. Did they teach you nothing at military school?"

"If they don't know we fired then they don't retaliate, especially if we've knocked out their first and second strike capability."

"What if they have a weapon we don't know about?"

"What's the point of Mutually Assured Destruction if we don't know about it?"

"They may not have told us yet!"

I glanced over. "Mom has a point there."

Gulfstream slammed his hoof on the floor. "ENOUGH! Prisoners 03272023 and 05082023, you will listen to my words and you will obey my orders. As Supreme Ruler of the New Pegasus Empire, I have total authority, and nothing you do can stop me!"

I stepped back a bit. This guy was seriously unstable. I know mom can get a bit hot under the collar when me and Pipp are being annoying, but this was pure, unhinged rage. How did this guy pass screening?

"You leave me no choice. Guards, bring Prisoner 05082023 with me to the interrogation rooms. We shall get what we need there."

"I won't talk," mom replied, as they disconnected her chains and dragged her off.

Gulfstrem smiled darkly. "That's what they all say, prisoner... right before the screaming starts."





The prison clock on the facing wall revealed that only half an hour had passed, but it honestly felt like days had gone by in my mind. I was so on edge with all that was going on. I tried to shift over to the window but the world was kept so far away by these blasted chains, such that it was an effort to move about in there, that I couldn't really see much. What I could see, though, was shocking.

The screens outside had lost their adverts and consumer advertising displays, and were now playing more or less nonstop propaganda. Footage of military parades, displays of speeches from noted leaders, nonstop praise of the General, and perhaps worst of all constant, nonstop racist rhetoric about the other races.

I knew exactly what was going on. Gulfstream was getting the population pumped up for war. History has shown that when violent rhetoric is used against groups by authority figures, violence against them is more likely to happen. With conscription being unpopular as Opwinden suggested, it seemed he was using other means to get the population onside with his war plans.

I hung my head. This was all my fault. My attempts to make the world better quicker had only made things worse.

Now we were all going to perish in a nuclear exchange.#

And I only had myself to blame.

I remained in that position for who knows how else long, until suddenly the door reopened. I turned and saw the guards roughly shoving mom back in. "Back where you belong!" one of the guards laughed.

"When we return to power, I shall see to it that those perpetrating these abuses are brought to justice!" Mom replied.

"None of what we're doing is illegal under the New Laws," the guard replied. "The Old Laws have been abolished, as they were written by Counter-Revolutionaries and the Running Dogs of the other tribes. A new, better order is in place." They slammed the door after securing mom's chains again, and then walked off.

"Did you tell them anything?" I asked.

"Not a word," mom replied, coughing as she did so. "No matter how many times they hit me. They did seem oddly preoccupied with my hooves, though."

I had no clue why that could be. I shrugged my shoulders. "At least they can't follow their plan."

"What if he tries a conventional invasion?" mom asked, suddenly worried. "It'd be a massacre!"

"Given the amount of firepower we have, it'd end badly for the other races. We'd probably also suffer heavy casualties as well to be honest."

Mom waved her hoof as an indication for me to stop talking. "Listen. Conversation."

I focused my ears to overhear a conversation. "What's this about conscience rounds, eh?" said a guard.

"We're having them issued for tomorrow morning," said another. "Haven't you heard? The General wants the Royal Family shot on national television tomorrow morning. Should be an interesting job."

We looked at each other in a panic. "He wants us dead!" I said, my voice going uncharacteristically high in pitch.

"We're doomed!" mom said, and tried to hug me, but the chains kept us apart. "Curse these chains!"

I charged over to a wall and saw what I thought would be a weak point. I dug and clawed at it with my hooves as best as I could, but struggled to shift any of the the plaster. "Damnit! This is one case where hands would be so useful!"

"Zipp, we need to stay calm!" Mom called. "We need to think our way out of this."

I was too frantic to think straight. Wouldn't you be if you just heard somepony wanted to execute you? I swung round and bucked the wall as hard as I could. All I got for my trouble was pain in my back legs. I collapsed on the ground, then tried to drag myself back to my hooves as best as I could. We were trapped like rats in a cage. Never had I considered the possibility that I'd be a victim of state terror. And yet it seemed this was our fate.

I was collapsed on the floor, a blubbering mess. I was unable to form coherent sentences from the horror of this situation. But all of it was underpinned by a singular emotion.

I didn't want to die.

Suddenly, there were a series of bangs and explosions down the corridor, which caught my attention. Gunfire soon joined it, followed by a lot of shouting. I got up and tried to look down the corridor.

Suddenly more soldiers flooded into the corridor and overpowered more guards, before coming to a stop in front of our cell. The Colonel was leading them. "As promised, Your Majesty, I have returned," he said.

"That was quick," mom replied.

"When we heard of the plans to execute you we had to move the revolution up a bit," he said, as he punched the access keypad. The cells were opened, and at last we were free.

"Staff Sergeant Zoom! The Queen requires her regalia!"

Zoom stepped forward whilst Thunder and several others scanned the corridors for targets. Within a few minutes, mom was back in her familiar regalia, sans the crown.

"Where did you find it?" I asked.

"Gulfstream stole this stuff from its rightful owner," Zoom replied. "The least I could do is steal it back again."

I looked out of a window as my own chains were removed and I slipped the jumpsuit off. The screens outside had changed. The propaganda was gone, and replaced with a singular message.

HAVEN LIVES.

OK, so they'd somehow pulled a French Resistance and succesfully convinced much of the populace to rise up against Gulfstream. "Where do we need to go?" I asked.

Opwinden glanced to me. "This way, Your Royal Highness, and Your Majesty. We need to get both you as far away from here as possible." He moved his hoof forward. "Move forward, sons of the Revolution! Protect the Queen and Princess Zipp at all costs!"

Finally, somepony got my name right!
> I Saw the End of War
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As we were shephered through the corridors (and although I'm not one for fancy clothes I have to say it was nice to be out of that jumpsuit), it wasn't hard to see that something was going on.

The guards loyal to Gulfstream were struggling to contain the uprising. Weapons fire was running through the streets as our allies pushed forward to clear the way.

I noticed that a lot of them were saying the same thing. Haven lives.

So it seemed mom was the rallying point of the revolution! This was interesting. The populace still cared about us, even after what we did.

More assets pushed forwards as we cleared more corridors down below. "Where are we going?" I asked.

"We're heading for the helipad!" the Colonel replied. "We have a chopper ready to go and fly you two out of the city to a safe zone!"

Another guard, seemingly on the side of Gulfstream, was surprised to see us. "What? Trea-"

A hail of weapon fire stopped him in his tracks.

Opwinden shook his head. "The only traitor here is you." We then pushed onwards, hearing the sound of weapons fire echoing all around us. Was this what being in the middle of the Boston Uprising had been like?

As we pushed out of the palace, we got a view of the city below. The rebellion was larger in scale than I'd even imagined. Both regular soldiers and partisans were fighting together against Gulfstream's men, who were pushing against them. Several tanks rolled across a bridge, but each was suddenly and spectacularly blown up by missile fire.

A fighter jet, some sort of ground attack aircraft, flew overhead. "Good work, guys!" the Colonel radioed.

"You too, Colonel. Ensure Her Majesty gets to safety."

That we could do. We moved at speed across the courtyard, briefly overhearing Gulfstream berating his troops.

"WHAT DO I PAY YOU IDIOTS FOR? SHOOT THE REBELS AND THE QUEEN! THEY ARE SURPLUS TO OUR NEEDS!"

I glanced to mom. "Sounds like he just rang the dinner bell for his assets here."

"You have a remarkable knack for inspiring confidence sometimes, Zipp," mom replied, as we weaved around the outer courtyard.

We sprinted round the side of the palace, which was now sitting on its own in the middle of a fight. A fully blown tank battle was raging up and down the plaza, as units from the Household Cavalry were in combat against other armoured units. Unfortunately, it seemed Gulfstream had re-equipped units loyal to him with more advanced vehicles, as the Household Cavalry were struggling to hold ground.

Planes duelled in the sky as the revolution continued. I saw the screens in the distance, and marvelled still at the sight driving our allies forward to victory.

The message HAVEN LIVES was bring broadcast nonstop on the screens.

This resistance was well resourced if they gained control of ZBS and communications networks.

We pushed onwards to the destination, and soon found what we were looking for. A technician looked up. "Haven lives!" he called. "Sorry for the delay, but we haven't finished refuelling the chopper yet."

"Well can you hurry it up?" The Colonel said. "We're on a rather right schedule."

"I'll try sir, but-"

The crack of a rifle sounded, and the technician slumped against the control panel, a single bullet in the back of his head.

"AMBUSH!" Zoom shouted. "Somepony bring that sniper down!"

Ponies dived into cover, and the Colonel pushed mom out of view whilst I dived behind the fuel control point. With the technician dead and such a difficult defensive position to hold, it seemed like we stuck between a rock and a hard place.

I reached over to the controls and moved the fuelling levers. The display updated to show fuel was being added to the tanks, but it would still take a few minutes for refuelling to complete.

"This might take a few minutes!" I shouted.

"We don't have a few minutes!" Thunder shouted back, who was pinned down by sniper fire. There wasn't much I could do to help, being a high value target. And I was a pretty awful shot even when I had hands. How do you even operate a firearm with only hooves? Presumably magnet hands is somehow in affect around here.

I hid as best I could as battle continued to rage all around me. More allies had arrived to help hold off Gulfstream's troops, but there was only so long we could hold until we were overwhelmed.

My head stayed down as the bullets continued to fly. This helipad could do with being less exposed. I glanced up and saw a group of fighters on the move, duelling in the air.

I glanced back to the panel. Fifty Percent. Was there really no way to get this pump to go faster?

Orders were being shouted across the field as the defensive perimeter gradually shrank. Gradually the roar of machine gun fire and the cracks of rifles grew more and more silent as more enemy soldiers swarmed in.

Reinforcements (for us) arrived at the rear as infantry closed in. "Glad to see you guys!" I called.

"Sorry for the delay, Your Highness!" called their leader. "We couldn't risk flying our choppers in with the AAA smokescreen that Gulfstream is putting up!"

"Provide extra firepower!" I called.

Seventy Five Percent. I had no idea how much time had passed since I last checked. Every second was feeling like an hour, especially as I could be killed at any moment.

Suddenly, a loudspeaker started up in the distance. "LISTEN HERE, REBELS!" said the voice. "WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED! KNOW THAT BY RESCUING THE QUEEN YOU HAVE COMMITTED HIGH TREASON! HAND HER OVER, AND YOUR LIVES WILL NOT BE FORFEIT!"

There was a moment's silence. Then the last voice I expected to hear spoke.

"GO TO TARTARUS!"

Mom?

Suddenly, the fuelling display beeped. This baby was ready to go! "Fuelling complete!" I called.

With that, the perimeter was rebuilt, and the core of the Guard began getting us onboard the chopper. Zoom ran through the startup procedure whilst another soldier manned the chopper gun to slow them down. The defenders continued to fire their weapons on the defenders, and all I could do was watch as devastation continued to rip through the area.

Just then, the whine of aircraft engines emerged again, and several jets roared in before dropping their payload. I covered my face from the heat.

I recognised the smell almost immediately. That was napalm ordnance. We could add that to the long list of war crimes Gulfstream had committed when we dragged his ass in front of the courts.

It was only then we noticed Thunder was absent. "Where's Thunder?" I asked.

Just then a burst of gatling gun fire opened up from a grounded chopper. I briefly glimpsed Thunder at the controls, who was firing away at the enemy troops closing in.

"Thunder, what are you doing?" Zoom radioed.

"Get out of here! I'll hold them off!" Thunder replied. "I may be going to Tartarus, but I'll take as many of them with me as I can!"

Our chopper pulled out of the scene of chaos as the enemy closed in. Fire continued as we flew away, before a missile suddenly streaked through the air and hit the grounded chopper, which exploded.

"THUNDER!"

The chopper pulled away and flew into the skies. The Colonel looked at us, and then handed over some objects. "You'll need these from now on," he said. "Helmets and flack jackets. Given they may be hunting us, expect more combat."

"And you didn't think to give us these earlier?" I asked.

"There wasn't time," the Colonel admitted. "But we should be safe for now. Where were you needing to go?"

"Bridlewood," I replied. "That's where my friends are heading."

The Colonel blinked. "That's deep within unicorn territory. I'm not sure they'd take too kindly to a group of pegasi touching down there."

"We don't really have a choice on that front. That and my mom's your boss."

The Colonel nodded. "Zoom? Set course for Bridlewood!"

"In unicorn lands? Is tha-"

"Just do as you're ordered!"

As we thundered over a mountain range, there was a sudden flash, followed by an explosion. "Shit!"

"What's going on?" Opwinden demanded.

"We got hit! Some sort of SAM! I can't hold the chopper! We're going down!"

The chopper's tail rotor had presumably been badly damaged, as we were spinning erratically as we lost altitude. I tried to hold onto Mom as best I could, who seemed to be in a state of panic. "It's happening again," she repeated over and over again.

I buried my head in her chest. I'd escaped one deadly scenario only to be thrown into another, and this time it seemed death was certain.

"We're not gonna clear the mountains! BRACE FOR IMPACT!"

I braced as best I could as the machine slammed into the rock below us.

There were brief flashes of sparks, the tearing of metal... and then everything went black.
> Stand your Ground
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I slowly came to in wherever it was I had landed, and glanced about me in surprise. "Huh... where am I?" I was groggy and having difficulty focusing, rather like that time I was in the hospital when this whole mess had started.

I looked about me in surprise. Had I been dreaming this entire time and I was just waking up? If so, that had been an incredibly long and intricate dream I'd been having the last few times.

But something felt wrong, off, awkward about the circumstances. My room wasn't these sorts of colours, nor was it so small.

And furthermore, if I was in my room, why could I smell jet fuel?

I suddenly sat up and looked about realising where I was. Or rather, I moved my body up as best as I could, as I realised I was somehow strapped in. The small space around me was the badly crumpled remains of a helicopter, which appeared to have been downed somehow.

I then remembered what had happened. We'd been flying for Bridlewood when the chopper took a hit and crashed with us onboard. It seemed I was still stuck in the wreckage.

I looked about to see if anypony else was still onboard. Most of the other occupants were motionless, and I assumed the worst. I looked around, and saw mom slumped against me. No. Please no. She can't be dead!

I tried to reach down to release the straps, but something wasn't moving. The buckles seemed to be jammed on pretty tightly. I began to panic, bashing at them over and over again to try and get them to release, but it wasn't working.

I looked around, and suddenly I saw a spark from what appeared to be ruined wiring in the cockpit. That was bad news. The tank hadn't been empty when we crashed, and that meant fuel was still loaded onboard the chopper wreckage or potentially spilling all over the ground. And if it was spilling across the ground, and there was a spark, then that meant-

Suddenly, there was a bang from the cockpit, and more electricals began to pop. The cockpit was on fire! My eyes widened in fear. If those sparks got into contact with any of the leaking fuel, this chopper would go up in flames- and that would probably be it.

I went back to trying to rip the straps open, but I seemed to lack the strength to do it. Just then I heard stirring to one side.

"Tha... cold here... dark..."

It was mom! She was stirring! I nudged her pretty forcefully with my foreleg, and she looked over. "Zipp? Where are we?"

"We need to get out of here!" I said, quickly. "I can't get the straps free! Mom, help me, please!"

I didn't care in that moment she technically wasn't my real mom. She was the closest thing I had to a parent figure out here, and as such I pleaded for help from her.

Luckily, she got to work, soon clipping open the straps as if she'd done this before. She then undid her own, sliding out of the seat before we both slipped out of the chopper wreckage, popped our wings open to glide to the ground, and landed outside.

As I've previously noted, pegasi can glide short distances, so getting down there was easy.

We then discovered what had happened to the others. The Colonel appeared to be directing some sort of firefighting effort, and Zoom was using a fire extinguisher on the cabin electricals to try and stop the fire in the cockpit from spreading.

"We're safe now," I said, to announce our presence.

"Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness, you're both safe!" the Colonel said, with a look of sincere joy on his face. "Faust be praised, for she smiles upon us this day!"

Zoom had seemingly dealt with the electrical fire, and as such made her way back over. "How bad a hit did we take?" I asked.

"It's not looking good," Zoom replied. "We lost most of the troops onboard the chopper when it crashed. Myself, the Colonel, two others, and the Royal Family are all that's left."

I looked about me. We were stuck on some sort of mountain in the middle of nowhere, and I was unable to get my bearings. "We're not in a good spot right now," I said. "Where exactly are we?"

"According to my maps, we're stuck in the Peaks of Peril," the Colonel replied, consulting his display. "Quite a long way from our destination of Bridlewood."

"How long will this journey take?" mom asked.

"Several days by hoof over difficult terrain," the Colonel explained. "This area is incredibly dense in terms of terrain, and has many changes of elevation between here and there. What little of it has been comprehensively mapped has large amounts of terrain missing. And who knows if there are still Kirin out there. We'll have to keep our watch out there if we're going to make it through this alive."

Peaks of Peril? Of course! That's the place Applejack and Fluttershy visited in Season 8, not to mention where Autumn Blaze is from. It all made sense now! The geography of the world did seem to be lining up with what I remembered of Generation 4.

Before I could say anything, mom spoke up again. "What about the wreckage? Should we dispose of it?"

Opwinden looked surprised. "Your Majesty, I would strongly advise against that," he said. "We only have limited quantities of explosives and ammunition on us- which we might need if we have to do any unexpected tunnelling. I would personally advise we conserve resources for later as we continue out journey."

Mom nodded. "I understand. Seeing as we've not got anything else we need to do here, apparently, shall we be on our way?"

The Colonel nodded. "Yes, Your Majesty. FORM UP AND PREPARE TO MARCH!"

"I don't think we'll be marching over this terrain," said Zoom, glancing about her. "Far too steep and rocky."

The Colonel snorted. "Whatever are you talking about? We are pegasi, we thrive anywhere!"





So, we began our climb into the Peaks of Peril, with only our wits and limited supplies with us. As we gained altitude and saw the mountains all around us, my mind began to drift to my friends. Where were they now? What were they doing? How had they fared against the various myriad and horrible threats out here?

Zoom's words temporarily pulled me out of my thinking. "Heads on the swivel, everypony. The Kirin could be anywhere. There's no guarantee we purged them all from this region."

Well, that got dark quickly. The fact we hadn't seen many of the other races in G5 (a singular dragon, to be precise) had always led me to wonder whether the other races were extinct. But to learn they'd been systematically wiping the Kirin out and were so nonchalant about it...

We had an uphill battle to get over these attitudes, safe to say.

We reached a section of level ground, and we stopped for a moment to rest. Suddenly, one of the soldiers spoke up. "This is just fucked."

"What did you say?" I asked, looking at him.

"We lost a lot of good soldiers back there. Stallions and mares with families, not just in that crash but in Zephyr Heights too. And here we are running like cowards."

"That's enough, private," the Colonel said. "There's nothing we could have done to detect that SAM."

"Don't tell me to calm down!" the private continued. "We've got no idea what the fuck we're even doing here. Blundering across mountains with no idea where we're going."

"We're heading to Bridlewood," I calmly reminded him. "That's our best shot at fixing this mess."

"We're fixing this mess by going straight to where our enemies live?" He shook his head. "That's just crazy. We really are going downhill as a species."

I glared at him. "What makes you think you can speak to a princess that way?"

"Your title means jack shit out here!" the private said. "We're all just survivors of a series of colossal fuckups. And considering you've spent so much time hanging around with smallbrains and mind readers it's no wonder we're in such a mess. At least I'm doing my job. You just sit in your ivory tower waiting for things to unfuck themselves!"

I'd had enough. I punched him, and before I knew what was happening we were brawling in the dirt. I don't reall recall the specifics of the fight, but before I knew what had happened we'd both been pulled back and dumped on the ground.

The Colonel was admonishing the soldier with a target volume of drowning out jet engines, but that's not to say I had it easy either. Mom's face simply spoke of intense disappointment.

"Really?" she said. "Fighting in the dirt like an unruly schoolyard foal? Honestly, what were you thinking?"

I tried to form some words, but I was cut off before I could.

"You're the Crown princess, Zephryina. Act like it."

I hung my head. My pride would never admit it in pony but she was right.

Luckily, it seemed that Opwinden was also done, and we then continued on our way, the tension continuing to boil between all of us.
> A Shot in the Darkness
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I suddenly awoke, quite unexpected, from a rather rough sleep. Clearly I'd gotten very used to the soft beds in the palace- my spine was killing me. I looked about me in surprise, determined to figure out what was going on or where I was.

"Hello?" I called, as I stood up. "Is anypony there?"

The dreamscape was full of clouds and stars burning in the distance, and I seemed to be walking on a cloud (although not lonely as one). A free cookie if you recognise the reference, by the way.

Suddenly, a mysterious shape, that looked like a pony, appeared beside me. I couldn't make out her appearance, but she seemed to be an ally from her body language. And I know it was a she from her voice. "Zipp," they said.

I knew that voice. It was the one that spoke when I was first turned into Zipp! "Who are you?" I asked.

"Who I am does not matter now," said the voice. "But what does matter is what I'm about to tell you. I know things are not ideal right now."

"That's the understatement of the decade," I sighed, rubbing my back as best I could. "A coup, us being trapped in the mountains, and now two potential dictators running around the place- sure sounds like a bad situation to me."

"I am aware of your frustrations, Zipp," the voice continued. "But you are here for a special purpose. You were sent here with a very important mission. For you see, the world is under threat from a foe so terrible no one pony can defeat it."

I perked my ears up immediately, even if these things sometimes seemed to have a life of their own. "Opaline?"

"No, not Opaline," said the voice. "It may seem hard to believe, but Opaline actually wants the same thing as you. She wishes to avert the destruction of the world, not destroy it herself."

"Well that sinks that theory," I said to myself.

"But this threat poses grave consequences to this world- one he despises by virtue of it just existing," the voice continued, showing me moments from my past. "I know you've had scrapes, but you and seven others have been chosen- chosen for a very special purpose."

So I wasn't just randomly turned into a pony for shits and giggles. That sentence still sounds absurd no matter what way you slice it. "So why me? Why some guy from a cold northern town?"

"Because of the contents of your heart," the voice said. "You are like her in so many ways."

"Ah. So you're my personal alicorn who'll also turn me into an alicorn! That's how this works, right?"

"Unfortunately, no. That version of the dreamscape ceased to be when Celestia retired."

I breathed a sigh of relief. I had quite enough appendages to manage right now. Speaking of which my wing was cramping badly.

"But keep your eye out for the other seven," the voice continued. "Only with their help can you stand a chance of defeating the One with the Stripes. But I am always with you. I will always be there for you. I may only be observing from a distance, but I will always be there to stand by your side. Best of luck, Zipp."

Just then, the dreamworld went white, and in an instant I woke up at the moutaintop campsite we'd occupied. Nobody else was awake. Just me.

I looked up at the night sky, and stars and the moon glowing up above. I sighed as I tried to settle back down to my sleep, but something continued to bother my mind. What had any of that dream meant?

I trotted over to the cliff edge and looked out into the open void of blackness before me, lit partly by distant fires and the gloom of the moon's light. I had to puzzle this out.

So, there was this spirit that brought me and seven others to this land? That would suggest seven other people who were turned into ponies! But who?

And then it made sense. First Pipp, then Sunny, Izzy, Misty, and then mom. All of them were former humans!

That adds up to six, though, if you include me in the tally. Who were the other two, then?

Hitch seemed like an obvious candidate as he serves a heroic role in the movie, but who then was the seventh pony who would be helping us?

Was it Opaline? It seemed as though she had the same goal as us, even if she probably ultimately was doing it for selfish reasons- you can't rule over a world that's been destroyed, after all.

I decided I needed to rest more. I went back over to the campsite and settled down for sleep, my eyelids drooping as I did nothing in particular.

I'd do most things to get a proper mattress out here.





The next morning arrived, and with it came sunlight. Sunlight cutting through the clouds of my doubt. I had often wondered if I had a purpose in life, and it seemed I had finally found that purpose. True, I wasn't expecting that purpose to be roaming around Equestria as a fictional character (and a flightless princess at that), but there wasn't a lot I could do about that. I was here for the long term.

And truth be told I was starting to get pretty comfortable in this body. It'd been shocking at first, but I realised then I was growing to enjoy this a bit. That explains why Pipp seemed to be having such a great time- if what she told me was true then this new life was a drastic improvement over her old one, even if it came with a tendancy to use connectives incorrectly.

Once we'd packed up, we were back on our way across Equestria, climbing through soaring peaks so high they scraped the very ceiling of the sky. I soaked it all up as closely as I could, and even took some snaps on my FlyPad. The soldier from yesterday had rigged up a charging box from an old generator as a way of apologising for his outburst yesterday. I appreciated the gesture- we all get a bit hot under the collar in stressful situations, and my behaviour wasn't exactly princess of the month material either.

As we continued on our way, we found another odd sight. Sitting before us was the crash site of another chopper!

"Are you sure we're going the right way, Zoom?" the Colonel asked.

"Positive, sir!" Zoom said. "This chopper has different tail markings to the one we were in."

The Colonel peered at the number painted on the rear boom, and his eyes widened. "I recognise that number," he said. "That helicopter has been missing for the best part of a decade. This is where it must have crashed!"

I stepped over to take a look, and studied it closely. It looked to have some sort of message inscriped next to it. I read it aloud. "HRH down. Have sought shelter. Will try to raise contact. Burial sight nearby."

HRH... Of course. This was the chopper carrying mom's husband! Or... my dad, I guess. This was getting too confusing for words as my pony and human lives got ever more blurred together.

I stepped round to one side and found a grave, with an improvised headstone made from metal from the crash site. It had a singular message- In memory of Private Speedwind. Greater love hath no pony, that a pony give his life for his friends.

We took a moment to pay our respects, and then moved on into the hills. Our equipment was heavy and starting to weigh us down- stuff chafing on your back legs is pretty awkward.

Suddenly, an alarm went off overhead, and it seemed as though somepony had set off a tripwire. We held position.

"Assume defensive formation!" the Colonel barked. "Move the Royal Family to the middle!"

The lines rearranged like clockwork, and I looked forward to see what else was going on. A group of pegasi, dressed in battered uniforms, moved around the corner and stopped.

"Weapons down, they're pegasi," said one of them. "Nice to see a friendly face out here."

The Colonel looked in surprise. "Captain Feldsturm? You're alive?"

"It's takes more than a few bumps to slow this old warhorse down, Lieutenant. Though what I want to know is how you got here?"

"Same way you did, sir."

Zoom glanced over. "Sir, you outrank him."

Opwinden glanced back. "I trained under him when I transferred to the Royal Guard. I was lower in rank than him when he went missing, so I'll break it to him gently. Besides, he has combat experience I do not."

Just then, another figure appeared. He was a grey stallion with a faded golden mane and a wild beard, as would befit a pony stuck out in the wastes for so long.

He looked at me in surprise. "Zephyrina? It's been so long."

In an instant I knew who he was.
> The Unbreakable Bond
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I looked at the figure before me, albeit still surrounded by somewhat ragged soldiers. Although he had aged a bit and now had a beard attached to his face, this was most certainly the same stallion in the photographs mom had been looking at when I'd accidentally walked in on her crying.

Which meant that one big question that the G5 community had was now answered.

This was my dad.

I had two living parents!

I decided to keep my mouth shut, though. Spilling the beans about who I really was could end badly, after all. I mean, I doubt he'd believe the story. I'm terribly sorry, but your daughter and wife standing before you technically aren't your daughter and wife but two humans who happen to inhabit duplicates of their bodies and got brought here for some unknown reason.

I mean, how ridiculous would that be? Anypony in their right mind would dismiss that theory right out of hoof. So, it was keeping the mouth shut it was.

Mom then noticed him, and her jaw dropped as she seemingly recognised him too. "Oh my hoofness..." she said. "It's him." Well, that nicely lines up with my suspicions about what was going on.

I stepped aside as one of the front soldiers continued to look closely. He hadn't been given an order to move, so stayed in position.

The Colonel glanced over to mom. "Your Majesty, should we let him closer?"

Mom glanced to the Colonel. "Perhaps we should avoid doing this on a rocky ledge where there isn't much clearance. After all, it would be a shame if this reunion were cut short by falling off a mountain."

"Capital idea," the stallion said. Actually, you know what, I think I'll just refer to him as dad from now on. It'll make the rest of this narrative a lot easier to follow. "In fact, I know of just the facility we can use for getting caught up on our respective pasts. I imagine we have a lot to catch up on."

He turned to his captain. "Captain Feldsturm, lead ourselves and the guests into The Nest."

"Yes Sir!" the Captain said, saluting as he did so. He ordered his unit to turn around, and they proceeded into some sort of tunnel.

We followed a few moments later, watching our surroundings carefully to avoid falling off the cliff and making sure we held in a solid formation on our way in. Once we were inside the cave and well past the entrance where falling off might be a possibility, we stopped under some lights, and dad then looked at mom with a happy smile.

"After all these years... I found you again." He looked unbelievably happy... but then again, wouldn't you if just reunited with the one you chose to spend your life with after ten years? "Merry... you're just as beautiful as the day I last saw you, all those years ago."

As they tearfully embraced, I noticed his words revealed something else. Dad had called mom 'Merry', not 'Haven'. This suggests that Haven is a surname, not a given name. Interesting, given that normally the regnal name is the given name and not the surname. Would that make me Queen Storm when I take the throne? Not that I particularly want to think about that day, of course.

We made our way deeper into the facility, looking about at all the lights strung up inside the facility. It seemed oddly organised, and there were deep cuts made into the walls with support structures.

"So, what's this meant to be?" I asked.

Dad looked back. "Based on what I could find out, this is an old aircraft base. It was built to enable the rapid launch of fighter aircraft without anypony noticing or being able to track the pilots. The equipment would suggest it was built during the War of the Seven Mountains, and much of the technology suggests pegasus build. The only build you'd want, of course- you'd never see the unicorns building anything of this quality."

Mom shared a look of discomfort with me. It seems that we had a bit of work to do to bring dad up to the status quo. I mean, after all, he did share the views of the world we'd arrived in, which was hardly surprising given the time period, but in order to complete our mission we'd have to ensure he was onboard.

Anyway, we were now much deeper into the former hanger, and a launch facility was in front of us. Several jets sat in old parking bays, clearly not having flown in decades. Computer screens were off, and a large amount of old equipment was simply left in place by the previous occupants. It was pretty much abandoned.

"How'd you make this place livable?" I asked.

"Sargeant Stormfly was able to get a generator up and running using parts from the crashed helicopter's engine, and they had a lot of long life food in the base that we could use. Astonishingly much of it was still in life. But that's not all. If we ran out, we could always just hunt the local wildlife and eat that. Water wasn't a problem as there was a water purification plant that was still working."

He hung his head. "Mind you, getting here wasn't easy. When we crashed the site was swarmed with kirin, whom we had to fight off. We lost one soldier that day- his grave is outside the crash site. But enough about us. How are you two here?"

We exchanged looks, before mom spoke. "Golden, there's been a coup in Zephyr Heights. Rogue portions of the military overthrew the government, and their leader is planning on bringing about the end of the world. I've been able to find allies to help up, so we were heading there when we got shot down."

"History truly does work in cycles," Golden mused.

Mom looked at him, intently. "I'm not asking you this next question as a ruler, but as your wife. Please... will you help us?"

Golden nodded. "Restoring order to our homeland and removing those who hurt you? Say no more. We're in."





The conversation went on well into the night and included many things that I'd been wondering about but hadn't really discussed. But I'll save that for later, as I doubt you want to her minutiae about how the Colonel used to serve under the Captain. What I learned about mom and dad was surprising though. Turns out dad was a commoner whom mom met at university. Caused quite the scuffle in the Royal Family as they were expecting her to marry a noblestallion!

Guess things aren't too different to the old world, huh?

That night, it was restless sleeping for me once more, as so much had changed yet again in the world around me. A totally different family dynamic had emerged, and with a figure I both knew and barely recognised. Thanks to the unusual circumstances of my arrival here I hadn't really gotten caught up on everything. But I reckon it was harder on mom. After all, she had to be able to run this place and hit the ground running, so to speak.

I shrugged my shoulders and decided to go and get some air outside. Recirculated air is well and good, but it can be very stuffy, after all. And stuffy air gets, well, stuffy, after a while, so I fancied a change.

I got up and headed outdoors, dropping past the soldier standing guard and made my way towards the outdoor sky, which was brilliantly lit with stars- something you don't really get to see in Zephyr Heights thanks to all the light pollution. I stepped out of the outer hanger area when suddenly I heard voices.

I stepped round another corner and stopped. Mom and dad were sharing a moment under the moonlight, snogging. I mean, full on mouth stuff.

Well, that's an interesting mental image. They broke from the kiss, and then started to talk romantically.

I backed up, deciding they deserved their time alone. After all, they hadn't seen each other for a decade, so it made sense they'd want to have some time together.

I trotted back to the other entrance, reflecting on what this meant. Obviously, mom looked very happy, but what did this mean for us?

If that means what I think it does, the personalities are merged very closely- otherwise how would mom be having these emotional reactions with a pony she hadn't known before ending up in this world?

How much of me was left? How much of this was Zipp now? Could I truly be considered the individual I once was, all that time ago?

Right, enough navel gazing. Time for bed. I headed back further and slipped into a sleeping bag, closing my eyes as best I could.

After all, if they'd found happiness in each other, there was hope for me, right?
> Over the Mountains we Go!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning we packed up all our equipment and prepared to set off on our journey towards Bridlewood. As I was loading my supplies into a travel sack and pulling it onto my back, I overheard a brief discussion from Feldsturm and Opwinden.

"Sir, you should lead," Opwinden said. "You've been out here for much longer than me, and after all you were my commanding officer when you vanished."

Feldsturm laughed. "I'm but a Captain, sir. I'm the one who should be calling you sir. And from what I can see you're are nothing but the finest of soldiers. Lead the way, Colonel. I shall be happy to give expertise as needed."

As the other soldiers made ready to move, mom and dad still put their supplies together and loaded them onto their backs. "This isn't exactly what you'd call light," mom commented.

"No," dad admitted. "It is quite heavy. But such is the life of living in the mountains. It's a good thing we were able to get the running water working- without it we'd probably smell so awful Kirin would smell us long before we appeared." He paused. "But point the way and I shall gladly guide you there."

Mom nodded. "In which case, we need to head towards the other lands."

Golden nodded in return. "Very well."

As we left the encampment, extinguishing any traces of our time here, the mountains and clouds once again loomed ahead of us like mighty sentinels of time. No matter how many times I saw them I couldn't help but be overwhelmed by an incredible sense of wonder at these towering sentinels that had stood here for centuries, probably millenia. How much had passed by them in the years they had stood strong and tall?

It also reminded me of how small I was. I may have been crown princess, but I was ultimately insignificant compared to these towering peaks. In the long annals of history I didn't matter all that much. If the entire history of the world were to be reduced to one book, ponykind would appear in the final sentence of that book, and of the words in those sentences I would barely occupy one of the last letters.

Wow. That really is rather a lot to think about, I guess.

I continued along, noticing mom and dad talking happily, clearly catching up on what had happened in the intervening years. Given mom had been here for a few weeks at best I have no clue how she was disclosing things from before that point. Hey, at least she didn't end up here before me and Pipp were born. Swapping bodies is bad enough, but having to give birth twice in an alien body far from home? Sounds like nightmare fuel.

Speaking of alien, I had no clue how we were going to break the news to dad that we weren't quite whom he'd once known. Even if we were to break the news at all, to be honest. I sighed, and looked at the clouds below us, noticing we were beginning to lose height. Perhaps our journey was almost over.

After some more walking, we were at the bottom of the mountains, and looking out over a field.

"That was a solid walk," mom said. "Helps to get the breakfast out. I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but the ration pack was rather stodgy." She quickly glanced down and up again. "I do rather like keeping my figure as it is."

"If I may, Your Majesty," Opwinden said, "you have an exercise regime that would knock a soldier half your age flat."

"Well one thing hasn't changed!" dad smiled. "But your point about the food stands. It's partly why we call them MRE- meals rarely edible."

"I shall have to launch an investigation into this once we have returned to power," mom commented. "But we have a mission to complete."

"We have a road sign, sir!" said a soldier. "The border with unicorn territory is this way!"

"Good," mom said. "The that is where we shall go."

Dad looked in shock. "Travel direct into unicorn territory? You can't be serious."

I spoke up. "Dad, this is serious. I've made allies with the other tribes, and they're fighting to help us rebuild the world. If we're gonna stop Gulfstream and restore the world to peace we need all the help we can get- our little band isn't strong enough to pull this off on our own. We need their help, and besides, they're my friends."

"I can vouch for them," mom said. "Their help will be invaluable, and I imagine my presence there will give them some much needed negotiation clout."

Dad nodded. "Alright then. I'll guide you to Bridlewood, but we'll have to be sneaky if we're going to avoid the sentries. The border is fortified."

"Which border isn't around here?" I said, with a wry smile. "Cold war, huh?"

We then set off again into the plains, with the flatter terrain meaning we could build up some speed as we made our way towards the unicorn lands. The sun shone and the clouds were out of the sky, allowing us to get up some speed as we walked along towards our destination with determination in our hearts and strength in our limbs.

At last, we reached the border, and stopped. A gate was down to prohibit access. Large concrete towers loomed over the landscape below, and we suspected they had armed guards inside, trained to intercept intruders. Before them was a layer of barbed wire, and some tank traps nearby.

"Not much chance of us getting in there with that lot trained on us," Feldsturm said. "We'll have to find a gap in the line somewhere and move that way. It's not all concrete towers- there are gaps in it. Somepony must have opened the fence somewhere. Let's go."

So we did, slipping away as far as we could and then moving towards another section of the wall.

Just as we arrived then Opwinden called a halt. "Listen," he said. "Engines."

Sure enough, the rumbling of engines could be heard in the distance, followed by large dust plumes behind something or other. Looming out of the darkness was a formation of six metal boxes. As they got closer, the treads became visible, as did other features such as turrets, barrels, and other features.

They were tanks. But were they loyal to us or supporting Gulfstream?

"If they're hostile, we have no way of engaging," I said quietly. "Unless anypony brought a panzerfaust."

Luckily, the tanks weren't firing on us. They rattled to a stop near our position, and the commander of one tank opened the top hatch and opened it. "As I live and breathe," she said. "Boys, it's the Royal Family!"

She saluted. "My greetings, Your Majesty and Your Royal Highnesses. What brings you here so far from Zephyr Heights."

"It's a story rather too long to get into here, but we're fleeing the General," I said quickly.

"Well, this unit is still loyal to the Crown," the commander replied.

"But why are you here?" Dad asked, looking surprised.

"We were performing a scouting mission," the commander answered. "Just in case the unicorns are planning anything."

"We need transport to Bridlewood," mom said quickly. "Can you get us there?"

"It won't be an easy journey ma'am," said the commander, "but I can get you there. Those flak jackets and helmets will help you though."

Huh. I'd forgotten I was wearing one for a moment.

We hopped on the side plates of the tanks, which sat over the tracks, and with a single order the formation of machines got underway, driving along the border wall at speed. I have to say these were pretty speedy for lumbering weapons of war.

We arrived at a gap in the wall, which seemed to have been abandoned. Maybe this was why the unicorns in Bridlewood seemed to have so little- the cost of upkeep on this wall must have been enormous.

"Moving forward. Hold on." The tank we were on rattled through the wall, with the others following behind it. Once we were through, they formed up in single file and moved off towards our destination.

"Welcome to unicorn territory, boys," one of the tank commanders radioed. "Hope you got your tennis balls ready."

As we rolled through unicorn territory, I couldn't help but notice how similar it looked to the terrain on the other side of the border. The same rolling hills surrounded all of us, and the soil looked the same. I guess a border is a somewhat academic exercise, though at least they weren't just straight lines drawn onto a map.

A forest rolled out of the distance, our vehicles moving to adjust. "Deploy wheel plates. Move slowly. Don't let the unicorns try anything clever."

As the vehicles rolled under the tree canopy, I felt a sense of dread in the pit of my stomach. This would either go well, or horribly.
> Reunion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The peaceful sound of the forest was interrupted by the rumbling of vehicle engines as they drove along a path, with us sitting on the sides of the vehicles.

"Watch clearances!" said a voice over the radio. "We're coming up on some low hanging branches."

"Copy, adjust heading to avoid."

The heavy vehicles shifted over to the side and began to turn away from whatever they were trying to avoid. The machines were pretty nimble for something of their size, and made easy work of navigating the terrain, their heavy treads easily moving over the rough ground.

"Not the stealthiest of approaches, this," I said.

"It does the job, Your Highness," the Colonel said. "Over long distances it beats walking. I did this many times during the Valdon Campaign."

Presumably that was another war from back in the history of the world. Presumably a recent one given Opwinden's age.

We continued on our way through the region before we came to a stop in a clearing, the vehicles stopping and forming up. The trees continued on in front of us in an uninviting way, the land and sky continuing to roll away from us. When the latter was visible to us, that is, as the tree canopy is pretty thick in Bridlewood.

"Why have we stopped?" mom asked, looking concerned. We had every reason to be- the area was probably pretty hostile to our presence.

There were a few moments of silence before we made our way out of the area, but then the commander spoke. "My sincerest apologies, Your Majesty. Our vehicles are unable to proceed further- the roadway up ahead is too narrow for our tracks. You'll have to continue on hoof, I'm afraid."

I shrugged. "Well, a bit of walking's not too bad, huh?"

Dad sighed. "Not what was being alluded to Zephyrina."

Mom glanced over. "She prefers Zipp, actually."

Dad nodded. "That's going to take some getting used to. Still, we might as well dismount and get on our way. It beats sitting here and waiting for the plants to change colour. Let's go."

We all slipped off the sides of the tanks and began to make our way down the path into Bridlewood, the tanks providing observation support as far as we could see and walk.

Sure enough, the terrain began to look familiar. I began to spot familiar landmarks any fans of the film would recognise. There were some empty swings where the inexplicable British colt was lying when Hitch said a magic word by mistake. That was Izzy's house we just passed. And a short distance up ahead was the Crystal Tearoom, but what was odd was there were many shouts of bing bong bouncing off the trees and walls.

Huh. Seems we missed the PrancePranceRevolution session. Oh well. That probably meant my friends were close, and we would soon be reunited!

I followed the voices. "This way!" I called, and we took a turn and sped towards some bushes. They parted with ease, and I saw them for the first time in such a long time.

My friends.

Pipp was the first to react! "Zipp!" she cried, and dashed over to me. "I'm so, so glad you're OK!"

"Hey Pipp," I said, hugging her as best I could. "It's been a wild ride."

"I'm not surprised," Pipp replied. "You smell pretty bad."

"Well, trekking across mountains and walking through forests rather does that to ya," I said, then sighed. "I could do with a shower."

"Walking across mountains?" Hitch said. "I don't remember that from the movie."

"It's a long story," I replied, as Pipp and I broke from the hug. "But I'm here now, with you guys, and we can move forward. Have you got the crystals?"

The speech was interrupted by soldiers bursting through the bushes and stopping. "Hold fire!" the Colonel said. "Zipp, are these your friends?"

"Yes, they are," I replied. "I'd appreciate it if no harm comes to them- I mean, one of them is your other boss."

Just then, the bushes shifted about, and mom rolled out of the bush tail first before landing on the floor. "Ouch! I think that dislodged the tailbrace. Must ask Pipp to check it."

She rolled and saw us, before dashing over. "Thank Faust you're safe, Pipp!" she said, pulling both of us into a hug. "You made it across the country to here on your own!"

"Well, I had a little help from my friends," Pipp answered, with a wry smile. I nodded. Hopefully there had been no getting high with a little help from her friends.

Mom smiled. "I'm just so glad to have my little fillies back. And there's an extra surprise for you too."

As we broke from the physical contact, mom indicated to dad. "Pipp, this is going to be quite hard to believe... but this stallion is your father."

Dad looked over. "Hello, Pipp. It's been a while. Ten years to be precise."

Pipp dashed over, a lot less hesitant than I had been in the same circumstances, and hugged him. "I've missed you so much!" she bawled.

"Me too," dad sighed, holding her close. "You certainly have grown, though."

"It's called puberty, dad," I said, sarcastically.

"I know what puberty is," he said, in response. "But how have things been since I was last here, eh?"

Mom and I quickly exchanged glances of concern. Neither of us had any clue how dad would react to the news his wife and two daughters had been replaced by people from another dimension entirely.

Luckily, Pipp didn't have a chance to say anything before trouble happened. There was the rumbling of engines, and suddenly a pair of tanks emerged from the treeline, followed by two groups of soldiers. Leading them was Alphabittle, who saw the scene in front of him and scowled.

"I knew it," he said. "This was your plan the entire time. Why am I not surprised the pegasi are behind this?"

I turned and looked. "It's not what you think-"

"Hold your tongue."

Zoom looked up. "That's the Crown Princess you're talking to!"

"And that has any bearing on the situation how, precisely?" Alphabittle said. "You'll fill me with bullet holes if I don't say the magic word? I must say Merry, things have gone downhill if you're overseeing theft and foalnapping."

It simply turned out mom had been waiting to kick into high gear and sharpen her tongue. The resulting back and forth between her and Alphabittle was much more vicious than in the movie, but she certainly has a quick sense of debate and superb sense of timing.

Partway through the argument, Pipp's phone suddenly got an emergency message over the Emergency Broadcast System. Who knew those could be picked up in the literal middle of nowhere, huh?

Pipp looked at it in surprise. "Huh? That's weird. I thought I couldn't get a signal out here." She opened the message, and her face lit up in utter surprise. "What? It's some sort of broadcast?"

And sure enough it was, from Gulfstream. The full thing was quite the ramble so I'll tell you the important bits. Basically he complained about the Queen and then showed footage of a burning city that was being bombed.

"This was the city of Staltenberg. It's leadership and mayor stood against us, and against order. So we turned them into an example of what happens to those who stand against us."

Gulfstream leaned into the camera. "Make no mistake. We know where the rebels are. We will find you and we will kill you. None shall stand in the way of our glorious future."

OK, this is bad. Really, really bad. That would explain why Bridlewood wasn't attacked- he was busy killing his own citizens! He was even further up the crazy dictator track than I'd thought possible.

Mom summarised the sentiment well. "He's insane."

"Pretty much the usual," a unicorn said unhelpfully.

I couldn't quite recall if he had the launch codes, but his willingness to drop weapons on his own people suggested a complete lack of restraint. What if he was sending a reprisal mission our way right now?

Luckily, mom took up the conversation. "I know our two species don't exactly have the best of relations. But we have to stop General Gulfstream before he gets his hooves on the launch codes!"

Wait a second. I then remembered something the General had said earlier.

"The fact that they are encoded to your hoofprints is simply a minor setback. I already have the first two, so all I need are the last ones. It's simple, you old fool. I want the launch codes."

Launch codes tied to her hooves. The interrogators were interested in her hooves.

They already had the launch codes!

Before I could say anything, Alphabittle interrupted. "And why should we help, given what you've done?"

Mom looked sternly at him. "Because the alternative is nuclear armageddon. If we don't stop him, we all die. What say you?"

Alphabittle grumbled. "Fine. We'll help. I never thought I'd work alongside a pegasus, but if it's that or death I know which I'll pick."

With that, our course was now clear. It was back to Zephyr Heights, as we had ourselves an insane general to overthrow.