Zipp woke up, earlier than the others as usual.
she quickly stood up and glided down to the floor, careful not to wake anypony up. she usually woke up early in order to get some extra research in. but this day she decided to take a walk through the streets and watch the sunrise.
she quietly snuck out of the brighthouse and began walking to the town. maretime bay was shockingly beautiful during the sunrise. the way the sunlight reflected on the roofs made it look as if the buildings were made of gemstone, the water in the distance shimmering as the sun peeked into view.
as she walked through the streets, she noticed nopony was out at the time, except for one blue earth pony leaning over the railing stopping ponies from falling off the cliff onto the beach. the pony had a light blue coat with a long, wavy dark blue mane hiding their left eye. their mane was split down the middle, each half going down each side of their head. their cutie mark was a sun and moon pendant.
"hello?" Zipp questioned as she walked closer to the pony, startling them.
they spun around, almost tripping over their own hooves.
the blue pony instantly calmed down when they saw Zipp.
"uh, hi. your Zipp right?" the pony asked.
"yeah, yeah. I'm the eldest princess of zephyr heights" Zipp shrugged, walking over to stand next to them.
"oh, I actually didn't know that. I just overheard ponies calling you that while talking to you" the pony stuttered slightly as they talked, looking away from her with their bright green eye.
"oh" Zipp replied, embarrassed at assuming how the pony knew her name.
"so...what's your name?" Zipp asked after a moment of silence.
"I'm Diano. I work at mane melody" the blue pony spoke.
"I've seen that place but never actually went in. I think I heard rumors of the owners dating" Zipp said, leaning on the railing as well.
"yeah, they are. Jazz and Rocky began dating last week but the rumors started about a month ago" Diano lightly laughed as they spoke, their voice naturally joyful with a tint of shyness.
"must feel weird working with a couple" Zipp commented.
"yeah, gets pretty awkward at times but they make sure to save the romance for when they're at home" Diano sarcastically replied, a smirk clear on their face.
Zipp couldn't help but give a chuckle at their words, causing them to giggle in response.
"anyways, what do you do?" Diano asked, changing the topic.
"I mostly just study history and artifacts" Zipp responded, still lightly chuckling.
"have you ever heard of chrysalis stone?" Diano suddenly asked.
"no, what is it?" Zipp questioned.
"its this stone that blocks all but one type of magic. it's called chrysalis stone because its what the throne of the evil queen chrysalis was made of" Diano explained, sitting on the railing.
"I don't think you should be sitting on that" she commented.
"trust me, I'll be fine" Diano calmly replied, leaning away from the cliff.
"so do you know what type of magic chrysalis stone doesn't block?" Zipp asked.
"shape shifting magic" Diano bluntly responded.
"how do you know this?" Zipp asked.
"uh...I like your mane" Diano stuttered, changing the topic.
"dang it, I just realized I forgot to use my hair spray before leaving the brighthouse" Zipp explained, stroking her hoof against her mane.
"I think it looks better honestly, looks more natural and cool" Diano admitted.
"hey wait, I don't remember ever seeing you here until about a few weeks ago. are you from here?" Zipp asked.
Diano stuttered nonsense at the question, trying to come up with something.
"I gotta go!" Diano cried out, jumping off the railing.
Zipp quickly chased after them.
they turned a corner into an alleyway, which Zipp quickly copied.
she was surprised however when she saw the hornless and wingless pony had vanished without a trace in the plant filled alley.
"where did she go?" Zipp asked herself as she walked past a plant where a small ladybug was hiding.
she looked everywhere a pony could hide, only to find it empty.
"I guess I should be getting home" Zipp mumbled, looking through a window to see the time was seven in the morning.
she zoomed into the sky as the ladybug skittered into the middle of the stone path.
"where were you?" Pipp asked from the ramp leading to the bedroom as Zipp came inside.
"I went out for a walk and got distracted talking to somepony" Zipp shrugged.
"oh, is it a special somepony?" Pipp teased with a smile.
Zipp's cheeks turned bright red at the sentence.
"it is!" Pipp squealed, stomping her hoof before gesturing to Zipp.
"no! it's just some random pony who works at mane melody!" the white pegasus shrieked in reply.
"what's with the yelling?" Sunny sleepily asked, walking over to stand behind Pipp, her horn and wings visible.
"I think Zipp's got a crush" Pipp smirked, looking over at the orange alicorn.
the sentence instantly made Sunny fully awake, looking over at Zipp.
"I do not have a crush!" Zipp insisted.
"righhtttt" Pipp teased, stretching out the last part.
Zipp groaned in annoyance, walking into the kitchen for some morning coffee.
"I don't think she has a crush" Sunny stated, turning to Pipp.
"Zipp probably just talked to them because she saw them outside so early" Sunny said as she passed a customer their smoothie, continuing their current conversation.
"yeah, probably. guess I wasn't fully awake at the time" Pipp replied from where she was sitting on the floor of the smoothie cart.
they watched from a distance as Zipp walked over to Diano walking out of mane melody.
she said something to them before they hit her right in the face.
"yeah, they definitely don't like each other" Pipp loudly mumbled as Zipp and Diano began squabbling.
a knock came at CC's door.
she opened it, only to see a cloaked griffon at her door.
he then bonked her in the face with a bat.
she froze, her cheek bruised.
pink clouds flooded the sky above the castle, thundering with the sound of corn popping.
Pipp looked out the window of the brighthouse, only to see pink clouds in the distance.
"what the..." she muttered, trailing off as a lightning bolt of licorice struck down.
the griffon dropped the bat to the floor as a lightning bolt of licorice struck the ground behind him.
his eyes flooded with horror as the thunder became louder and louder.
the griffon ran for his life, ripping off his cloak to reveal he was Iris before taking off into the sky.
CC took a deep breath, the clouds clearing.
"stupid mortal" she muttered under her breath, shutting the door.
"how long have you been in alicorn mode now?" Misty asked as Sunny came inside after closing the smoothie cart.
"well, my horn and wings appeared when I got spooked awake by Pipp theorizing about Zipp having a crush on somepony. then it disappeared about two hours later. only for me to sneeze and trigger it again five minutes later, then it stayed for four hours and if the pattern keeps up, I'm stuck like this for six more hours" Sunny explained, her wings fluttering.
"sounds really annoying" Misty said before returning to her book.
"wait did you say Pipp was theorizing about Zipp having a crush on somepony?" Misty questioned.
"yeah, Zipp went out for a walk this morning and had a conversation with Diano from mane melody. then Pipp theorized she had a crush on them. but then a few hours later we saw them hit her in the face and begin arguing with her" Sunny explained, gesturing behind her a few times.
"why did they do that?" Misty asked.
"reflex" Sunny replied before heading to the kitchen.
"ah, okay" Misty muttered before flipping the page in her book.
"la, la, la la la" Izzy squeaked as she trotted through the forest. her long mane flowed down her shoulder, tied in a ponytail with a small mane accessory.
"ooo! what's this?" Izzy asked herself, seeing some hot springs a short distance away.
CC then appeared, holding a bucket of bright teal water.
"don't! I haven't refilled it with the cure yet!" CC said, stopping Izzy from dipping her hoof in.
"why does it need a cure?" Izzy questioned.
"because you'll turn evil" CC replied, scowling.
"that's ridiculous!" Izzy chuckled, smiling.
"just wait a second okay?" CC said, glaring.
"fine" Izzy responded, rolling her eyes.
the hybrid then dumped the contents of the bucket into the hot springs, still floating mid-air.
"alright, your good to go" CC said, still frustrated that Izzy didn't believe her.
she then stepped into the water, the trim of her mane brushing against the surface.
"not very deep, huh?" Izzy commented, looking at her reflection in the water.
"whatever" CC rolled her eyes before vanishing, leaving the bucket in the air.
the bucket then fell into the springs, splashing water on Izzy.
"hey guys, I'm back!" Izzy said as she walked inside.
"why are you wet?" Misty asked from where she was sitting, still reading her book.
"I found some hot springs in the forest" Izzy shrugged.
"cool" Misty replied before returning to her studying of magic.
"how long have you been like that?" Izzy questioned when she saw Sunny sitting at the kitchen table.
"pretty much all day" the orange alicorn groaned, turning around on the stool to face the purple unicorn.
"oof" Izzy muttered before heading to the bathroom to dry off.
Sunny woke up in the middle of the night, finding it difficult to sleep with wings.
she glanced around the room, seeing the two unicorns and two pegasi fast asleep in their beds.
the sound of a voice whispering reached her ears.
she looked over at the egg chair Izzy called her bed, realizing she was whispering under her breath in her sleep.
"sleep talking" Sunny shrugged before getting out of bed to go to the kitchen.
she left the room, leaving the only sound to be the whispering of the purple unicorn.
"all the crafting I can..." Izzy mumbled under her breath, turning onto her side.
Sunny yawned as she entered the kitchen.
she quietly hummed a tune as she grabbed a glass and filled it halfway with water.
her horn and wings vanished as she gulped down the water.
"finally" she whispered upon glancing at her back as she turned to go back to bed.
Zipp awoke the next day, sitting up in bed.
she looked around the room, quickly processing her surroundings.
"what the?" she muttered when she looked over at Izzy's bed. she was no where to be seen while her blanket was lying on the floor, as if she had thrown it off of her and then left the room.
the white pegasus glided down to the floor.
she looked around the egg chair, looking for possible clues for where she could have gone.
when Zipp found no clues except an absence of a few items, she decided to head downstairs.
careful not to wake anypony up, she headed to the ramp and began walking down.
the sound of her hooves repeatedly stepping on the floor was the only sound for a few moments.
she stopped when she saw a figure out of the corner of her eye.
a look of horror fell upon her face when she saw who it was.
"Izzy?" she said, her voice almost a whisper.
Izzy turned her head to look at her, her eyes bright red. her blue wavy tail was tangled up. her cutie mark had slightly dimmed in color and her mane tied in a messy braid. a strap of fastener fabric was around her back leg, a glue stick stuck on it.
credits
writing: hanhanlovesbananas
inspiration: my little pony make your mark, my little pony a new generation, my little pony friendship is magic