the sound of objects clattering and somepony scrolling through a phone filled the room.
"hey Zipp, mocha_beans12 just commented on one of my posts. didn't you used to have a crush on somepony named Mocha?" Pipp asked, looking over at Zipp.
"I did not!" Zipp insisted, her cheeks turning a strawberry red.
"what's this about Zipp having a crush on somepony?" Sunny asked, walking into the room. her horn and wings weren't visible for longer than an hour for the first time in almost a week.
"oh, when me and Zipp were younger she had a crush on a guy named Mocha" Pipp explained, resisting the urge to burst into laughter.
"oh my Celestia! how did that happen?" Sunny asked, sitting on Pipp's bed.
"okay, so. it went like this" Pipp said, flipping over onto her stomach.
"la la la la la la la la!" Zipp repeated while covering her ears.
"oh shut up, your acting childish" the pink pegasus scowled.
"I am not staying to hear about your made up nonsense!" Zipp said while standing up and flying out of the room, her cheeks a light pink from embarrassment.
"okay so, when she was sixteen and I was thirteen she got a crush on some guy named Mocha. I'm pretty sure he owns a coffee shop now" Pipp explained, putting her phone down to continue.
"Zephrina! get back here!" a pink pegasus with a teal and purple mane yelled as a teenage Zipp ran down the steps to the castle. her mane was in a rough ponytail while a loose bracelet was around her front leg.
"never!" Zipp cackled.
she looked back as she turned a corner, running straight into somepony.
Zipp fell down onto her flank, looking up at the pony she had run into. it was a darkish-brown colored stallion no more than a year older than her. sprinkles of light brown were spread through his messy pale white mane, gingerbread brown feathers on his wings.
"s-sorry" Zipp stuttered, her wings fluttering as her face turned a strawberry red.
"its fine" the stallion shrugged, seemingly not recognizing her.
he reached out his hoof to help her up, which she didn't take.
she stood up, glancing behind to see a pair of guards coming into view.
"bye!" she shrieked, running past him and leaving him there confused.
she ran out the other side of the alleyway and turned a corner, only to stop in front of more guards.
"dang it" Zipp whispered.
"how did you find out about that?" Sunny interupted.
"oh, she rambled on about it to me after she got dragged back home by the guards" Pipp chuckled with a smile.
"Pipp!" teenage Zipp yelled, opening Pipp's bedroom door.
"what?" teenage Pipp replied with a scowl. her mane was in neck length curls, pushed back by a sparkly pink headband.
"I met a guy today and I think I might have a crush on him!" Zipp said, slamming the door behind her.
"ooo! what's his name?" Pipp asked, ready to search up his name on the internet.
"uhhhh" Zipp responded, stretching out the word.
"you didn't get his name did you?" Pipp said, her scowl returning.
"no...but trust me, he's really cute! I ran into him earlier and its like my heart was bouncing up and down. when I apologized he said it was okay like he's a badass" Zipp rambled.
"what does he look like?" the pink pegasus asked, stopping her sister from rambling for the next three hours.
"he's got a brown coat with a white mane" the white pegasus responded.
"well then, he'll be easy to find. considering its estimated that there's few brown coated ponies in zephyr heights" Pipp shrugged, turning her attention to her phone.
"now get out of my room, I'm texting friends" Pipp scowled.
Zipp instantly returned to her normal mood, rolling her eyes and leaving.
"what are you talking about?" Izzy asked, walking into the room.
"Pipp's was just telling me about when Zipp had a crush and broke her leg" Sunny replied as Izzy walked over.
"well then, go ahead" Izzy smirked, sitting in the spinny chair at Pipp's desk.
"okay so, Zipp didn't actually manage to sneak away again and potentially see him until about a week later because she was like, super grounded. but when she did sneak out she challenged him to a parkour competition. and apparently he's got skill!" Pipp continued.
"I hate this" teenage Zipp mumbled in her seat.
"oh be patient, it'll be over in an hour" Pipp replied, nudging her in the front leg.
"yeah, I'm not doing that" Zipp replied before jumping out of her seat at the table.
"Zephrina, where do you think you're doing?" younger queen Haven asked.
"leaving" Zipp responded, opening the window.
she then leaned over the windowsill before jumping out.
"Zipp what the hell!?" Pipp screamed, practically leaping onto her hooves.
"she jumped out the window!?" Sunny exclaimed.
"wait, who jumped out the window?" Misty asked, walking into the room holding a book.
"apparently Zipp jumped out a window when she was a teenager" Izzy explained, lightly gesturing to Pipp.
"where is Zipp?" Pipp questioned.
"she's out racing somepony named Diano" Misty shrugged, walking over to her bed and placing the book on one of the few shelves next to it.
"isn't that the pony who hit her in the face from reflex?" Sunny asked.
Pipp quietly chuckled.
"should I continue the story?" she asked.
"go ahead" Misty shrugged, leaning against Pipp's desk.
"okay so. she didn't die or get hurt from jumping out the window but it was still really stupid and risky" Pipp continued.
"clearly" Izzy remarked.
Pipp rolled her eyes before continuing.
teenage Zipp glided through the air, eventually landing on the roof of a building.
"hey its you again! hi!" the darkish-brown pegasus smiled as he noticed her on the roof.
Zipp cleared her voice as her cheeks turned a soft red.
"hi. can I ask you some questions?" Zipp asked, gliding down.
"sure" he shrugged, slightly confused.
"what's your name?" she asked, walking to stand in front of him.
"I'm Mocha, what's yours?" he replied.
"I'm Zipp. can you do parkour?" Zipp continued.
"oh, I think that's the eldest princess's name. and yeah, I can. I'd say I'm pretty good" Mocha smiled.
"wanna race?" she questioned.
"depends. where to?" he responded, equipping a skeptical tone.
"how about the cafe on the other side of zephyr heights?" Zipp asked.
"sounds good to me" Mocha shrugged in reply.
"how do you know about this?" Misty interrupted, holding her phone.
"I'm getting there" Pipp replied, gesturing with her hoof.
"now, as I was saying" Pipp continued.
teenage Zipp jumped onto a trash can and then onto a low balcony, running on the railing before jumping down to land next to Mocha.
"I thought you were good at parkour?" Zipp sarcastically asked the brown pegasus.
Mocha smirked before running into an alleyway.
Zipp quickly followed, only to see him hopping up the walls to the roofs.
she then tried doing the same, easily following the path of climbing he had took.
"how did you follow me!?" he shrieked when she caught up to him on the roofs.
"I've been doing parkour since I was seven. how long have you been doing this?" she grinned.
"three" he replied, jumping to another roof.
she quickly followed, her hoof nearly slipping.
they then glided down to the streets, only to be stopped by a royal guard.
"what are you doing here?" he asked, holding out his blade to stop her.
she quickly jumped over it while Mocha's wing scratched against it.
he winced as they continued running.
"you okay?" Zipp asked.
"I'm fine" Mocha replied.
"get back here!" the guard yelled, running after them.
they both increased their speed, not wanting to be caught.
"ah!" Zipp shrieked, tripping over a rock in the middle of the road.
"got you" the guard said, stepping on her tail.
"I think I sprained my ankle" Zipp grumbled.
"well that was anti-climatic" Sunny commented.
"agreed" Hitch said from the entrance to the room.
"eek!" Izzy shrieked while Sunny's horn and wings appeared.
"yeah, her ankle was sprained. the way I found out about Mocha was because mom forced her to explain why she was running through the city with some random guy" Pipp explained.
"she snuck out many more times after her ankle healed to spend time with Mocha. they were even dating for like, two months" Pipp continued.
"do you know why they broke up?" Misty asked.
"well..." Pipp responded.
"hey Mocha!" teenage Zipp said. she wasn't wearing her bracelet and had cut her mane short.
"oh hey Zipp, ready to race?" he asked.
"well, I actually wanted to go to the library to see if there's any history books on magic, unicorns, earth ponies and maybe even stuff like kirins and griffons!" Zipp happily replied.
"Zipp, don't you know that stuffs just a myth? its not real" Mocha said, rolling his eyes.
"how do you know? you don't have any proof" Zipp responded, a scowl appearing on her face.
"neither do you" he grumbled.
she rolled her eyes in frustration.
"so they broke up because their interests diverged?" Sunny asked.
"pretty much. but also because they were hanging out less with Zipp not going out as often as before due to there being a library in the castle" Pipp explained.
"are you still talking about my ex?" Zipp asked, walking into the room.
"do you know what he's doing now?" Izzy answered with her own question.
"yeah, he runs a coffee shop in zephyr heights. I attended the grand opening" Zipp casually replied.
"hey, what was Pipp like when she was a teenager?" Sunny questioned.
"really anxious and annoying" Zipp responded.
"hey! I was trying to become famous!" Pipp cried out.
"your already famous as the youngest princess of zephyr heights" Zipp replied with annoyance.
"Zipp! you say that like its a bad thing!" Pipp said, sitting up on her bed.
"well maybe it is!" the white pegasus shrieked, spreading her wings wide.
"Zipp" Hitch said in a calm voice.
Zipp groaned before leaving the room and heading to the kitchen.
"grumpy pants" Pipp mumbled, rolling her eyes.
"did anypony else notice there was glitter on her face?" Sunny asked, gesturing to the entrance to the room.
a slightly younger Zipp opened her bedroom window, looking behind her to make sure she was alone.
she then jumped out the window, gliding down.
she turned to land near the edge of a nearby cliff.
her hooves touched the ground right next to a house.
Zipp jumped down the path twice before she began walking.
she jumped on some rocks a few times, slowly gaining speed.
while running and jumping, she saw two figures in the distance. one of which seemed to have a horn.
she followed them through the chasm, making sure not to let them see her.
"did you hear that?" the first figure asked.
the second figure, the one with the horn, shrugged.
the two figures then began heading up the path leading to the city.
Zipp then jumped up onto the path, only to find Sunny and Izzy there.
"an earth pony, and a unicorn?" she asked herself in surprise.
"well this day just got a whole lot more interesting" she chuckled to herself.
she then heard the sound of ponies rounding the corner.
"don't tell anypony you saw me" Zipp said in a panic.
"we can't! we don't even know your name!" Izzy said in reply.
she thankfully wasn't seen by the pair of guards coming down the path as she jumped up the path a few more times.
Zipp ran towards the castle, careful not to let any guards spot her.
she then parkoured up the wall onto one of the lower roofs.
credits
writing: hanhanlovesbananas
inspiration: my little pony make your mark, my little pony a new generation, my little pony friendship is magic