Wounds
It is a bright and beautiful sunny day outside of Zephyr Heights. Both Pipp Petals and Zipp Storm, daughters to Queen Haven and heirs to the throne were enjoying themselves out on a walk in the Breezeway Forest near the capital. They have decided to go on this walk after wanting to spend a bit of time with each other and get away from the more stressful parts of their jobs.
“It’s quite nice that we both can take a break together and not worry about the stresses our lives, right Pipp?” says Zipp.
“Yeah. It’s honestly enjoyable to walk along with nature and not worry with what is around you. This forest was the perfect idea for a nice stroll together Zipp” says Pipp as she agrees with her older sister that privately going on a hike together is very relaxing.
As the two sister trudged through the forest Zipp gets a mischievous idea and a playful smirk dons her face, something which Pipp is quick to notice.
“Zipp? Why are you smirking like that?”
Pipp is caught off guard when Zipp taps her shoulder while yelling “Tag! You’re it!”
Pipp is momentarily stunned before gaining her own playful smile and chasing after Zipp.
“Oh you’re getting away from me sis!”
The two chase each other through the forest, laughing while playing with such vigorous spirit in their hearts. Pipp eventually manages to tag Zipp before running forward, with her big sister right on her tail. Unfortunately Zipp was so concentrated on eyeing Pipp’s backside that she wasn’t aware of her surroundings and trips over a tree root.
“Woah!” cried out Zipp as she stumbles forward and bowls into Pipp. The two tumble across the ground for 5 yards before coming to a stop.
“Oof! My bad Pipp. I didn’t see that tree root in front of me.” says an apologetic Zipp.
Pipp gets out from underneath Zipp before gasping horror.
“No no no!” yells Pipp and she scrambles to the broken remains of her phone. Zipp looks at it as well and feels guilty.
“Oh dear I am so sorry Pipp. I didn’t mean to-“ Zipp however is cut off by her sister, who is practically furious.
“Are you kidding me?! Out of all the times you have to go and be clutz you have to do it now and ruin my phone!”
“Pipp. It was an accident. I didn’t mean to shatter your phone. We can go get a new one if you like.”
Pipp however was not calming down.
“Zipp! This phone was the very first one I received on my tenth birthday from mom! I had so memories with it and you just had to be a dolt and destroy it all!”
“But Pipp, I-“ Pipp cuts her off again.
“No buts! Admit you were in the wrong for breaking my stuff!”
“Sis, you know I would never purposefully destroy your belongings, and how is this exactly my fault? Aren’t you the one who is always openly flaunting that device?”
“Pah! How ignorant of you! I’m surprised that with that clumsiness of yours you haven’t torn down half of Zephyr Heights by now! What say you to that oh great ‘I’m-a-professional-detective?’”
Okay, that is just going too far. Zipp gets increasingly frustrated with her younger sister.
“Are you serious?! You are calling ME selfish?!?”
“Yes I am!” yells Pipp.
“Pipp, I do not appreciate that attitude you are giving me. Stop whining and admit that it wasn’t entirely my fault.”
Pipp however was not calming down.
“Just shut it you arrogant mule!”
“Pipp! That is no way to talk to your big sister!” said Zipp as she gets just as angry.
“Oh please! How is it that somepony like you cannot own up to their mistakes when they can’t acknowledge their own failures?! You might as well just quit while you’re ahead.”
Zipp is both taken aback and horrified by Pipp’s statement. How could she? The next thing Zipp knows is that she is consumed by fury.
“You take that back now” said Zipp in a very menacing tone.
“Make me.” says Pipp with an equally critical voice.
“You think everything is just a playground to you Pipp? Out in the real world you wouldn’t survive without any proper guidance. All you ever do is sit back and talk to your online viewers without a care in the world and never fully understand just how dangerous it can be out there. If you stop and take a moment to think for one second you would actually show some respect.” ranted Zipp.
“Oh like you deserve any respect. Maybe if you’d just quit being such an introverted jerk then you’d actually be able to-“
Pipp however is cut off when Zipp, in both a lapse of judgment and seeing red in her vision, does the unthinkable: she slaps her sister across the cheek. Pipp cries out in both surprise and pain as she is knocked down to the ground.
Zipp snaps out of her angry state and looks on in horror at what she had done. ‘D-did I just…’ thought Zipp in shock before approaching her fallen sister.
“P-Pipp..?”
Pipp looks up at Zipp, her cheek bruised from the slap and tears rolling down her face. Her eyes held a look of complete betrayal and heartbreak.
Pipp’s voice quivers as she speaks, “H-h-h-how c-could you..?”
“Pipp, no! I didn’t mean to-“ Zipp is cut off when Pipp shoves her away.
“GET AWAY FROM ME!! LEAVE ME ALONE!” screams Pipp.
Zipp, absolutely horrified and ashamed of her actions turns around and bolts deep into the forest. Tears fall from her eyes as gallops with looking where she is going. She stops in a clearing before curling up into ball on the ground and sobs her heart out in anguish.
How could she do that to her own little sister? She never meant to slap her across the face, yet she in her rage made the biggest mistake she has ever committed. She was supposed to protect Pipp and look after her, but instead she hurt her in the most shameful way possible, and she has no one but herself to blame.
‘I am sorry Pipp. I did not mean to hurt you. It’s my fault, it’s all my fault.’ thought Zipp as she sobbed on the ground for several minutes.
Snap!
Zipp’s head shoots up as hears what sounded like a twig snapping. She looks around the surrounding area to identify where the noise came from, all the while a sense of dread filled her chest. This part of the forest is very dense and very little light shines through the canopy onto the forest floor. Something does not feel right.
Just when Zipp thinks it was her imagination playing tricks on her her blood runs cold when she hears the low growl of a predator. She swivels her head to the left and is horrified to see a jaguar ambush her from the dense foliage. Zipp screams in terror as she scampers away in panic to get away from the hungry beast, it giving chase to her to not let its prey escape.
Zipp desperately searches for a place to hide from the pursuing jaguar and lose it. She looks all over the forest for a hiding spot, but her concentration is shattered when the jaguar catches up to her and gouges a deep wound into her flank with its sharp claws. Zipp screams out in agony while tumbling onto the ground, just out of the other side of the forest and near the edge of a steep incline.
Zipp shakily stands up and looks at her blood-covered flank. There are three claw marks running from the top of her hindquarters, down her cutie mark and ending at the base of her knee. Her thoughts didn’t last long when she hears the growling jaguar emerge from the canopy and slowly approaching her, ready to make its kill.
“No. No. Please. Don’t hurt me.” pleaded Zipp as the jaguar pounces. Zipp hind hoof slips on the edge of the cliff and she falls down it, narrowly dodging the claws of the big cat near her face.
She tumbles down the steep incline, the sharp rocks exacerbating her wound even further. Zipp then falls down a deep crevice, hitting the wall on the way down before slamming onto the ground. She lets out a bloodcurdling screech as she is impaled through her wing and abdomen from the back by a sharp stalagmite. The pain was absolutely horrible. Zipp almost felt like passing out due to both the pain and the blood loss she is experiencing but the adrenaline flowing through her veins is what is keeping her awake at the moment. She hears the jaguar up on the surface roaring in frustration that its meal managed to get away before walking off to find another target.
Zipp, albeit very painfully manages to sit up. The stalagmite she fell on broke at the base upon impacting it, which makes it slightly easier to move around. She considers wanting to pull the rock formation out but decides against it, having learned from medical classes that pulling impaled objects out of the injured body only exaggerates the bleeding. Looking around the area she can see no way out of this cave. Flying out of the cavern is thrown out the window given her wing is punctured. She tries finding anything around her that can help her escape through the crevice she fell through, but nothing around her can remotely help with her situation.
Zipp sits up against a wall and quietly sobs to herself. She’s going to die down here alone. There was nopony in the surrounding vicinity to hear her cries for help and Pipp is probably already back at Zephyr Heights. What will mom say if she notices she hasn’t returned yet, not knowing her daughter is trapped in a cave and bleeding to death. Her friends Sunny, Izzy and Hitch, they will all be devastated.
Zipp coughs up a few mouthfuls of blood and her vision starts to become hazy. Her time is nearing its end. Her mind flashes back to the memories she made over the nineteen years of living on this world. From the day she was born and held in her mothers hooves, to cradling newborn Pipp in hers when she was three. She remembers the day she discovered the hidden flight station underneath Zephyr Heights and wanting to study more of Equestria’s ancient past while also yearning to learn to fly again. And she can’t forget the day she met Sunny, Izzy and Hitch and joining them along their adventure to restore magic to Equestria again, and how it subsequently fulfilled her dream of flying again afterwards.
As her heartbeat slows down and breathing becomes shallow Zipp’s eyes begin to droop. In her final thoughts Zipp’s mind drifts back to the horrible slap she enacted on her sister and feeling nothing but guilt for what she done.
‘Pipp… I am so sorry… for everything…’ thought Zipp as she lapses into unconsciousness. A tears falls from her eye onto the ground as she awaits Death’s Doors.