Walking slowly side-by-side down the gilded halls of Zephyr Castle, Pipp and Sunny were hatching a plan.
A masterful, devious, downright diabolical plan...for friendship.
"Are you...sure about this, Pipp? I'm not so sure that the different pony races are ready to be forced into meeting each other just yet..." Sunny said worriedly, dragging her hooves a bit as fear tugged at her heart. They had done much to reunite Equestria, that was true...but this was a big step, especially to be taken so soon.
Pipp wheeled around to face the other mare with an annoyed frown, rolling her eyes in the process. "Psh! Come on, Sunny! Where's all that bravado from when you exiled yourself from your home on a crazy quest to save the pony-world, huh?" Pipp shot back, tossing her mane out of her face. "Look, ponies get really scared of what they don't understand, and that's why everypony needs something like this. Seriously, now more than ever. If we don't take steps to hold up this house of cards we've built over Equestria, what's to stop all of it from crashing down around us if we don't act?!"
Sighing to herself, Sunny nodded in cautious acceptance. "I...yeah. You're right, Pipp. It's a fantastic idea. I guess I'm just too used to how stubbornly Maretime Bay resisted my dad's mentality my whole life..." Her expression grew far-off and wistful, though she quickly shook her head to clear her thoughts and refocus.
As Pipp held up her phone to show a concept of the banner design she'd come up with, Sunny nodded in approval, the two of them exchanging determined smirks.
"Let's do this. The Zephyr Heights Reunification Spectacular is gonna blow the horseshoes off these ponies!" The plucky little princess hollered. With a whoop of excitement and a quick 'high-hoof' between them, the two mares sped down the hallway and quickly ensconced themselves in Pipp's room—where plans for the meet-and-greet immediately began to take shape, with a gusto that Pipp usually only reserved for her livestreams.
"Sweets, dear, did you check for defects on that latest batch of horn protectors and wing guards? They mustn't poke or prod!" The altogether too familiar voice of Phyllis Cloverleaf called down from the balcony overlooking the factory floor, its flowery and lilting embellishments grating on her ears like sandpaper.
"Yes, Ms. Cloverleaf. I know, Ms. Cloverleaf. I've checked them twice already, Ms. Cloverleaf..." The pale pink mare answered tiredly, resting her bubblegum in her cheek as she answered her overenthusiastic boss, annoyance creeping into her tone. It wasn't that she minded the simplicity of the task that much, considering she was paid well for her time either way, but good grief was Phyllis's nervousness getting excessive!
"Ahaha, yes, of course...I do like to be sure, though! CanterLogic prides itself on quality, and that goes double for these experimental new products. We've got to adapt to the times, after all!" Phyllis replied, going back into her office as the balcony door swung shut behind her.
Rolling her eyes and continuing her gum-chewing, Sweets carefully repacked the crate of pony protective equipment, grabbing a "QA PASSED" stamp from the nearby work table and pressing it into the crate's label with a solid thump.
A loud bell echoed through the factory as the mechanical sigh of powering-down machinery heralded the end of her shift. She hummed in pleasant surprise to herself at her fortuitous timing—as going home meant she could indulge herself in her true passion.
The heady scent of candy, chocolate, and other sweets hit her like a wave as Sweets entered her humble Maretime Bay home. A giddy little laugh bubbled out of her unbidden as she discarded her tie and ID card onto her couch and made a beeline for her kitchen.
An unfinished box of assorted candies lay waiting for her on her countertop, although they weren't for her consumption -- her true passion did lay in making them, after all! The only reason she even had that stuffy, mundane job at CanterLogic was to pay the bills.
As Sweets's confection-making got into full swing, her ears perked at the sound of shuffling cloth outside her front door, followed shortly thereafter by the creak of her mail slot as her daily delivery thumped to the floor. Her hooves twisted at the dials of her stove, allowing her project to coast on a trickle of heat while she appraised her mail.
"Junk, junk, newspaper...ooh, a coupon...and...what's this?" Sweets muttered to herself.
The letter was fairly mundane at first glance—right up until she looked at the return address and noticed it was from the Royal Palace in Zephyr Heights, with the red wax seal on the back bearing what must've been Queen Haven's family crest. "What in the..." she muttered, eyebrows knitting as she reached over and twisted the stove's dials to off. Her candies could wait—royal correspondence to a pony as unremarkable as her certainly took precedence!
Gripping her letter opener in her teeth, she hurriedly slid it through the top edge of the envelope and began to read the curious missive.
Princess Pipp Petals of Zephyr Heights cordially invites you and all of your friends to...
The Zephyr Heights Reunification Spectacular!
This event has been organized in cooperation with Miss Sunny Starscout, the Maretime Bay resident who played a large part in bringing the three pony kinds closer together after so many moons of fear, distrust, and hatred. Though it may seem sudden, we encourage your enthusiastic and open-minded participation at this event! Rest assured, you aren't being singled out to attend, so please don't feel pressured to do so! These invitations have been distributed to residents of all three pony towns, so if you do decide to make the trip to our fair city (assuming you don't already live here, of course!) you'd best be prepared to meet many new faces from all different races!
There is no need to RSVP -- please come as you are, although bringing a gift that could be distributed among the attendees would be appreciated if possible! Be they flowers, arts and crafts supplies, or whatever else you might think of, don't hesitate to showcase your generosity, or your special talent, to the varied group of ponies who will be attending!
Zephyr Heights awaits you with open wings!
~ Regards,
Princess Pipp Petals & Sunny Starscout
"Hmm...well, I guess I do kinda owe Sunny for just going along with everypony else's closed-mindedness..." Glancing over to the pot still steaming on her stovetop, her eyes brightened. "And I've got just the thing to bring! I'm gonna knock their feathers off with these bad boys~!" she said with a cocksure smile, setting the letter down as she dove back into her craft with renewed motivation.
"I'm Dazzle Feather, this has been the ZBS morning news. Thank you." With a nod and a smile, the red light above the studio's cameras went dark, and Dazzle's shoulders sagged as she relaxed into her seat with a sigh. "Wonderful work again today, everypony. I'll see you all tomorrow."
With a flap of her wings and a surge of newfound pegasine magic, Dazzle swooped over the broadcast desk and off of the stage, giving a cordial wave to the camera-ponies as she passed by. A white-coated, blue-maned stallion placed a cup of coffee in her hoof before she could even open her mouth to ask, and he waited with a patient smile as she held the hot drink to her lips and sipped at it briefly.
The heavy, acidic tang of a rich dark roast assaulted her tastebuds, and a tremble rolled through her as it registered. Pulling it away from her mouth as she smacked her lips, she directly addressed the aide, "Ahh...as black as the night sky. Thank you, Swiftwing. Perfect, as always."
"It's what I'm here for, Ms. Feather! Have a great day." Swiftwing replied, before darting away in a hurry as he went to help the next pony who needed him—likely her coworker Skye, the host of the afternoon news.
Her trip home was uneventful as usual, flapping her way past gilded towers and over gilded roofs. Regaining the power of flight hadn't changed much about her daily routine, given that so much of it revolved around her job already...aside from reducing her commute time, of course.
As the front door of her quaint, unassuming apartment clicked shut behind her, Dazzle sighed to herself, expression sagging in a lopsided, thoughtful frown. As much as she enjoyed her job as a newscaster, slow news days like today made her question her profession. A pony could only report on public interest stories for so long before their enthusiasm would just get up and leave the room.
Her attention was drawn back to her front door as a rapid trio of knocks thudded against it. Quickly collecting her composure, Dazzle went back to her front door and pulled it open.
The gleaming golden armor of a Zephyrine Honor Guard twinkled brightly in the midday sun before her eyes, and immediately made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Had she said something wrong during a newscast? Or maybe she'd forgotten some important royal announcement?
With a winning smile that trembled ever-so-slightly, betraying her nervousness, Dazzle cautiously greeted the guard. "H-hello? How may I help you?"
Rather than respond verbally, the guard simply reached beneath their wing...and pulled out a shiny, gilded letter bearing the royal seal. Her heartbeat quickened, thudding in her ears as her mind raced at the possibilities. A personal missive...from royalty? "A message for you, Ms. Dazzle Feather. From Her Royal Highness, Princess Pipp Petals." The guard told her in a firm no-nonsense tone, nodding to her before taking off just as abruptly as he'd arrived.
Dazzle eyed the letter he'd placed in her hoof as if it were a bomb about to explode. Princess Pipp was certainly nice enough on the surface, but what if she'd inadvertently said something recently that besmirched her good name? Would this be some form of retribution for calling her mom a phony pony full of baloney and announcing the warrant for hers and her sister's arrest?
Shaking her head, she chastened herself for her hasty, overly-negative thinking. The Royal Family wasn't like that. As stuffy as Queen Haven could be at times, she still had her ponies' best interests at heart, and Princess Pipp never had been the vindictive type...at least, not that anypony knew of...
Swiftly retrieving her letter opener, she sliced open the top of the envelope and pulled out the thick, gilded stationery within, unfolding it as she began to read.
Greetings, Ms. Feather!
I have something I'd like you to announce to everypony during your next broadcast, if it's not too much trouble, of course? A friend of mine and I are planning a big meetup in celebration of the three pony races coming back together. We're calling it the Zephyr Heights Reunification Spectacular—it's going to take place in the main square of ZH, and there'll be space for everypony to set up shops selling their goods, a discussion forum, and a stage with live music, provided by yours truly.
We're planning to host it a week from tomorrow, from early afternoon to late evening. While my friend and I are busy putting everything together, we'd really appreciate it if you could make an announcement about it to help drum up interest with the ponies of ZH! Sunny thought I should just announce it myself on Ponygram, but I insisted on going with the more "direct" approach—especially because adult ponies listen to you a lot more than me, and they're the main crowd that we're hoping to draw here. Younger ponies are easy to change the opinions of—it's grown ponies like us that'll need more convincing, and that's where this meetup comes in.
~ Regards,
H.R.H. Princess Pipp Petals
P.S. — Pipp Pipp Hooray!
Well then. Of all the things she'd expected to receive in the mail that day, a royal missive with a request like that certainly hadn't been one of them. She'd do it for her, obviously—not just because of her royal status, but because bringing ponies together was simply the right thing to do. This was shaping up to be one of the most interesting weeks of her life...
The week had passed in a whirlwind of activity. Dazzle's advertising and Pipp's nationwide mail-bombing had worked wonders to generate interest in their event, and it had quickly become the most anticipated public gathering in more moons than anypony could remember.
The main square of ZH was already taking shape for the event—a forest of umbrella-shaded tables, borrowed from local restaurants, were dotted around the square in regular intervals, while the unmarked food carts that lined the sidewalks awaited vendors to staff them. The centerpiece of it all, the stage Pipp would be performing on, looked to be nearly ready, though technicians were still doing rigging work on the lights and sound system.
The stage for the biggest pony gathering in centuries was, quite literally, set.
The week had passed in a whirlwind of activity, but the day had finally arrived.
"Okay, Sweets. You can do this. You can do this!" The pink earth-mare shouted to herself in her bathroom mirror, furiously splashing water onto her face as she psyched herself up. "I don't know what pegasi or unicorns even like, but with the sun and moon as my witness, I will make Maretime Bay proud!"
Sweets hastily adjusted her mane and the green tie of her work "uniform" before trotting back into her kitchen to go over all of the confections she'd packed up for the meetup; spheres of bubblegum, rich chocolates, and fruity lollipops filled the box of goodies she'd spent much of the last week making (when she wasn't working, that is), and there was little else to do now but make the long journey to Zephyr Heights.
Hitching the small wheeled cart around her midsection, much like a certain rollerskating smoothie-peddler she knew, Sweets set off for the distant metropolis in a determined canter.
"Good morning, everypony, and welcome to the ZBS morning news! As always, I'm your host, Dazzle Feather." Clearing her throat for a moment as she moved some papers around on her desk, Dazzle broached the first important topic of the program. "Today's the day! Princess Pipp's grand gathering in the main square begins later this afternoon, and I believe I speak for everypony when I say, I hope to see everypony there bright-eyed and shiny-winged! This event is unprecedented in the city's history, but it's an important step towards reintegration with our fellow ponies."
Giving the camera a winning smile, she signed off, "Thank you for choosing ZBS for your morning news service, everypony. When we come back, we'll discuss the crown's recent efforts to regulate pegasus wing traffic after that disastrous mid-air collision earlier this month."
Shuffling papers on her desk to make herself look busy as the camera pulled back into a wide shot of the studio, she waited for her signal.
"3...2...1..." Her producer counted down into her earpiece, the red light above the camera facing her winking out as his countdown finished.
Dazzle let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding, slouching slightly on her desk as her wings ruffled restlessly on her back. She rarely found her job stressful, considering she loved doing it, but some days were certainly tougher to deal with than others—and such days had become a lot more common since Reunification Day. It was wonderful not having to live in fear of other ponies, or keep up the illusion of fear at the very least, but her role as a newscaster held more importance and weight now than ever before. Reunification efforts now partly relied on ZBS's fair and balanced portrayals of national events, not merely the day-to-day flippancies of the Zephyr Heights royal palace and its occupants.
A bottle of water and an energy bar were each quickly placed onto her desk by an aide, which she gratefully accepted with a nod. With some time to think during the break, her thoughts drifted to the upcoming event. She'd gotten permission to attend from her boss—he'd practically begged her to do so before she even asked, really—so work wouldn't be an issue there, but it left her wondering...despite all her experience as a reporter and news anchor, where did she even begin on a list of questions to ask a non-pegasus? She obviously had to tip-hoof around racially-loaded questions like "What's it feel like to not be able to fly?", so things like that were right out...
No, they had to be questions that it'd be normal to ask any pony. That was the whole point of the event, after all...
Her eyes brightened with realization, and the soft rasp of graphite on paper filled the studio as a bevy of questions flowed into her mind. Moments like these were what she lived for as a reporter—when the floodgates of her curiosity could open, allowing her to broaden her horizons in ways she might never have expected otherwise.
By the time the studio returned from the commercial and the cameras went live once again, Dazzle's "questions" problem had already been sorted.
Sweat pooled on Sweets's brow. The endless rattling of her candy cart on the rough terrain behind her bugged her ears, and caused a hitch in her step whenever its inadequate wheels caught on a rock or a divot. While her candy cart wasn't particularly heavy, she wasn't exactly a paragon of endurance and strength like the earth-pony stereotypes often portrayed, and the rolling resistance she'd had to put up with for the whole route certainly hadn't helped. She spent most of her days working, much of her free time making candies, and the rest of the time either sleeping or eating, which hadn't exactly left much room for a rigorous exercise routine.
At last, though, the looming golden spires of the pegasus city stood before her, towering in the afternoon sky with a shimmering, near-blinding radiance.
Some weeks back, before the Reunification, the sight would've been intimidating—terrifying, even—yet all she felt now was wonder at the immense feat of engineering such a city represented. Maybe that appreciation came from her time working in a factory? She couldn't be sure. Foalhood stories of ponies being snatched up and carried up over the walls, never to be seen in Maretime Bay again, flashed into her mind, but she shook them away. Fearmongering belonged in the past—Sunny's actions had proved as much, even if it had taken a while for everypony else to get the memo.
The throng of ponies celebrating within its walls was audible even from outside, such was the scale of the event that Pipp and Sunny had put together, which left her glancing self-consciously back towards her candy cart...curse her short-sightedness, she hadn't made nearly enough!
Sighing to herself in defeat, Sweets continued on towards the city gates. Not much to be done about it now, and besides, she was a lone pony who'd only had a day to prepare—a lack of product was understandable; expected, even.
"So, Miss Sugar Moonlight, what would you say has impressed you the most about Zephyr Heights so far?" Dazzle asked, proferring her microphone towards the white-and-red earth mare as she awaited her response.
"Oh, your city just looks so beautiful! I love how sparkly everything is in the sunlight!" Sugar replied ecstatically, still looking around awestruck as she struggled to keep her attention on the interview.
Sensing the mood, Dazzle quietly thanked the mare for her time before breaking away to look for another pony to ~~interrogate~~ interview, the camerapony diligently following behind her as the two of them shuffled through the crowd.
A bright pink earth-pony mare pulling a cart immediately caught her attention—not as many ponies had brought goods to the event as anticipated, much to the organizers' disappointment as many vendor carts were left vacant, so it was all the more interesting to see somepony arrive who'd actually put the effort in.
Approaching the mare, Dazzle greeted her warmly, "Hello, welcome to Zephyr Heights! I'm Dazzle Feather, from the local news studio ZBS. Would you be interested in talking for a bit about why you came to Pipp's event?"
Sweets glanced nervously at the camera, not really sure how to respond as she fumbled for an answer to the newsmare's question on live television. "U-umm...hello. I'm Sweets, I work in the quality assurance department at CanterLogic in Maretime Bay, but I also make candies in my spare time. I got the letter in the mail about a week ago, and it seemed interesting, so I thought I'd bring some of my chocolates for ponies to try," she answered hesitantly, mustering the courage to speak in the unanticipated and overwhelming situation she found herself in.
"Oh, I'll have to be sure to try those once you're set up at one of the carts. Enjoy your time here in ZH!" Dazzle replied, smiling towards her camera.
"Wonderful to see so many ponies from all walks of life enjoying themselves in our fair city. Thanks, Dazzle." Skye replied in her earpiece, prompting Dazzle to nod.
"You're welcome, Skye!" A glance towards a clock told her that the timeslot for her live feed of the square was almost up, and the studio would be moving on to other 'local interest' stories soon. "...Well, everything seems to be going swimmingly down here in the main square! I'm sure Princess Pipp and her friend Sunny will be pleased by this turnout, and I can't wait to see what the two of them have in store for the attendees next! Back to you in the studio, Skye!" Dazzle signed off, holding her smile as the blinking red light on the camera went out—and releasing her built-up tension in a heavy sigh as she hoofed him her microphone. "Hold onto this for me, would you, Shutter Snap? I'm not going to head back to the studio just yet." Flagging down the other mare, she called out, "hey...Sweets, was it? If you don't mind, I know a wonderful little coffee shop in another part of the city," the newsmare offered, "It's away from the hustle and bustle of downtown, and it'd be a quiet place for us to chat."
Not wanting to offend the other pony by turning her down, and sticking to the spirit of why she'd been invited here in the first place, Sweets hesitantly agreed. "U-umm, sure!"
"So, with all of the pegasi being able to fly again, has anything bad happened?" Sweets asked, wincing as she looked out the window and saw two distracted pegasi nearly collide head-on before noticing each other at the last moment and correcting course.
"Oh, certainly. Not too long ago, there was a rather nasty incident in the main square, where the festival is being held right now. It sent a few ponies to the hospital with fractured or broken bones, but thankfully nothing more serious than that. It happened early in the morning during the work commute, so I saw it happen on my way to the news studio, actually," the anchor-mare replied.
"W-wow, really? That must have been terrible to see! It's things like that that make me glad I don't have wings sometimes...it seems like there's a lot to worry about while flying," the candy-maker opined, finishing the thought by sipping from the steaming cup. "Mmh, pegasus coffee is fantastic!"
Sweets, true to her namesake, had opted for the 'sugar, hold the coffee' style of preparation—an indulgent addition of two creams and five sugars. As someone who preferred sweet things, the bitter and heady taste of coffee appealed little to her, but the richness and depth of its flavors did go together quite well with cream and sugar.
Dazzle, on the complete opposite end of the spectrum, ordered her coffee completely straight—no cream or sugar, just the sharp, acidic tang of pure coffee. The very thought of it nearly made Sweets gag, but everypony had their tastes, she supposed. Her own 'two creams and five sugars' special certainly wasn't for everypony, especially judging by the look the barista gave her as he took her order.
Dazzle nodded in agreement. "The beans go through a special treatment process, a secret passed down through Dark Roast's family since pre-Division times. After I first found this place many years ago, I made it a point to ask the gophers to get my coffee from here from then on, and I've yet to have a bad experience since. I've also become a close friend of Dark Roast, the owner, after years of patronage."
"You've been working at the studio a while, then?" Sweets asked. She'd never made much effort to talk to older ponies before, but Dazzle certainly brought a varied, experienced perspective to the conversation that she could find herself getting used to.
"Mmhmm. Twenty-four years. I started out as a freelance journalist before being hired at the Zephyr Broadcasting Service as a story writer, and I became one of their lead reporters and anchors, along with my coworker Skye, after the previous anchors retired," she replied.
"Twenty-four years..." Sweets said breathlessly, awestruck. That was nearly as long as she'd been alive! A few pegasus stereotypes—laziness, free-spiritedness, and a poor work ethic—were dashed against the rocks as she heard that, and it immediately shifted her perceptions. 'Then again, if pegasus society really were as lazy as Maretime Bay made it out to be, they wouldn't have created something as incredible as Zephyr Heights...' she thought to herself. Glancing towards her cartful of her namesake, a thought struck her. With how few chocolates she made, surely sharing them between herself and this interesting new friend of hers wouldn't hurt?
"Hey, Dazzle?"
"Hmm?" The newsmare hummed into her coffee cup, looking up at the scribbles in her notebook to make eye contact. "What's on your mind?" she asked with a thin, patient smile.
"I was wondering if you'd like to try the chocolates I'd brought to sell at the event. I didn't realize there'd be so many ponies here, and I...I don't know if they'd be good enough for that..." she trailed off self-consciously, interrupted as a pale pink hoof came to rest on her shoulder.
"I'd love to. There's no need to worry, Sweets. I'm sure they're wonderful."
"Awesome!" Setting her coffee cup down on the table, Sweets eagerly got up from her seat and opened the lid on her cart, pulling out a small tray of chocolates. "There are a few different flavors here..." Picking up one of the pieces, she offered it to Dazzle, who gratefully accepted. "Try this one first. It's made with sea salt, caramel, and a 70% cocoa blend."
Popping it into her mouth whole, Dazzle's eyes widened as she bit down, a rush of salty-sweetness assaulting her tastebuds that blended wonderfully with the taste of black coffee still on her tongue. "Wow, these are good!" she exclaimed, drawing the attention of some other cafe patrons as they glanced over, their innate curiosity over the cultural exchange getting the better of them. "I must say, I've never been one for chocolates, both for the flavor and the expense, but cacao plants don't exactly grow well up here in Zephyr Heights. They're expensive to maintain since they need climate control to grow this high up, so I've only had the opportunity to try it once while investigating a news story. Their flavor wasn't even very good...these, though? I don't know how you could ever doubt yourself about these, Sweets. They're wonderful."
"Re-really? You mean it?" Sweets said disbelievingly, eyebrows raised and eyes wide.
"Hey, d'you mind if I try one of those?" A pegasus stallion came up to them and asked.
"Me too! If Dazzle Feather says they're good, they must be amazing!" Another mare added.
The barista looked somewhat incensed as every patron in the cafe left the line to buy coffee and crowded around Sweets and Dazzle's table, eagerly sampling the sweet treats like a pack of wolves taking down an elk.
Sweets' head spun in the whirlwind of the sudden attention, minutes going by in a daze of commotion as the boxes she'd brought were swiftly emptied of their contents by ponies eager to try her goods.
"What the hay is going on out here?" Dark Roast asked loudly from behind the counter, having emerged from one of the staff doors upon hearing the commotion. One look at the two ponies at the center of all the activity only made him more confused. "Dazzle? Why aren't you at the festival? And...why, I'll be, is that an earth pony?"
Dazzle rose from her seat with a flap of her shimmering pink wings, causing some ponies to take a step back as the gust of air hit their faces, and landed in front of the counter to talk to the stallion face-to-face. "Hello, old friend. Apologies for pulling your customers away, but my new acquaintance here brought some of her creations for ponies to try. It got out of hoof pretty quickly."
"You can say that again! I haven't seen a group of ponies act like that since the last big sale at Zeph-Mart! Haha!" The business owner replied, laughing heartily. "What does this mare produce that's got ponies crowding around her like she's the last bit of water in an oasis?"
"Chocolates, if you can believe it." At the odd face he made in response, she chuckled. "I know what it sounds like. But trust me, these aren't like those sour, bland, 'experimental' chocolates that the Crown's scientists tried a few years ago. These have the magic touch of a pony with a cutie mark in making candies, and, well..." Gesturing to the crowd around Sweets, she gave a brief laugh. "Hah! I guess it shows!"
"Is that so..." He said to himself, rubbing his chin in thought. "You know, if your new friend would be interested in a distribution contract for her candies, I'd be more than willing to stock them on my snack shelves. If ponies are going this crazy over them, I'd be a blind fool not to ask."
"Heh. You never did like to waste time beating around the bush." Looking at the ear-to-ear grin on Sweets's face as the ponies around her raved about her talent, Dazzle smiled to herself. "Something tells me she'd love that idea."
The crackle of a loudspeaker outside broke through the busy atmosphere, causing ponies to hush up as they listened attentively for an announcement. "Hello, everypony!" Pipp Petals' voice echoed throughout the city, "I hope you're all having a wonderful time getting to know one another after so many years of being apart. To cap off tonight's festivities, I'm going to be performing on the main stage in about fifteen minutes! Hope to see you all there...Oh! Pipp pipp, hooray!"
"Pipp pipp, hooray!" The pegasi in the crowd replied back, causing the unicorns and earth ponies in the crowd to give them bemused glances.
The crowd around Sweets finally began to break apart at that announcement, the flurry of questions they'd been asking her quickly dying down as they exited the cafe and headed back toward the square.
Dazzle and Dark walked over to Sweets as the last pony left, and the earth mare gave Dark a sheepish, apologetic grin. "Sorry for, uh, taking away a whole bunch of your customers..."
Laughing to himself, Dark clearly wasn't angered in the slightest. "Young mare, if I had a bit for every time I'd seen a pony go crazy for chocolate in Zephyr Heights, I'd have just made my first one. Besides, your friend Dazzle and I did some talking...what would you say to a mutually beneficial partnership? I sell your chocolates, and you utilize my coffee in your creations. What d'you say?"
The suddenness of the offer floored Sweets, but she gratefully accepted. Turning to face Dazzle, she glomped the older mare in an eager, appreciative hug. When she'd been packing up her things for today's trip, she'd never in a million moons expected it to turn out this well by the end!
"Let's head over to the festival! Wouldn't want to miss the big finish, would we?" Dark Roast prompted as he ushered them out, holding the door for the two mares as he locked up his cafe behind them.
We got the light
We're coming in stronger
We're in it together
If you want it it's all inside your mind
High above Pipp's concert, the bass still managed to rumble in Sunny's chest like a shockwave, the energy of her princess friend's most popular song filling her with infectiously joyful energy despite her current self-reflective moodiness. Her shimmering, ethereal yellow wings flapped at her sides, keeping her aloft with instinctual ease despite her whole life as an earth pony, and her horn radiated a soft yellow light onto her thoughtful face.
"Well, dad...I did it. It didn't feel real before, but putting all of this together with Pipp...seeing everypony come together in harmony after so many years apart...it's real now. I won. We won." Her faint smile waned as she sighed, feeling oddly defeated despite her apparent victory. "So why does it feel like I've still got so much work left to do?"
"Because you do." Zipp replied from behind her, causing her to whip around, startled. "Getting Equestria back together isn't going to be as easy as singing some songs and holding hooves around a campfire. You're going to have to be the one to lead them, Sunny. Are you prepared to make that commitment? For yourself, for your father...for everypony?"
"I..." Trailing off, Sunny wasn't sure how to respond to such a monumental question. She wasn't sure anypony could have, in her position.
"I don't expect you to be able to answer that, Sunny. Not now, not for a while...but I felt you should give it some thought. My mom lost a lot of her credibility after our adventure exposed her lies, and I get the feeling I'm going to be taking over for her a lot sooner than I expected...so I've been thinking about this kind of stuff a lot, too. What it means to be a leader...what it means to be an Equestrian. You get me?"
Looking down at the cheering crowd, and around her at the shimmering vastness of the mountain city, Sunny's expression softened. "...Yeah, Zipp. I think I do."
"And uh, by the way...if you were wanting to make a grand, inspirational speech, it looks like Pipp's just finished her first song." Zipp observed, as the deep rumble of backing music died down and the roar of the hoof-stomping crowd filled their ears in its wake.
Flashing her a smile, Sunny saluted playfully. "Sure thing, Queen Storm," she jibed, before folding in her wings and diving down towards the crowd.
"Wh-wha—hey!" Zipp called out after her, annoyed, though it was drowned out by the rush of wind in her ears.
With a mighty flap, Sunny spread her wings once more, halting her descent as a dusting of sparkling yellow magic rained down on the crowd from her wings. The commotion drew everypony's attention upwards, and a wave of awed gasps and excited conversations rolled through the crowd as all eyes focused upon her. It wasn't every day that one saw an alicorn, after all—even if she wasn't truly a mythical demigoddess of ancient legend, she looked the part well enough. Her horn shimmered brighter above her as some deeply-ingrained part of her saw fit to magically amplify her speech, giving it a firm and imposing regal timbre.
"Ponies of Equestria, thank you for giving each other a chance and coming to today's event! I hope that you've all forged new friendships tonight, and that today's message of hope, prosperity, and unity spreads across all of Equestria through each of you. With the return of our magic—the magic of friendship, of unity, and of hope—I truly believe that Equestria can return to its glory days of countless moons past. But, ponies...it will not be an easy road to recovery. Equestria lay fractured and broken around us, reduced to two small towns and a city, with the rest of it lost to the ravages of time and the separation of distrust."
"But we are ponies! Even when we've lost so much, when our nation still has so much healing to do, we can never lose hope! We must choose to do this, and other things, not because they are easy but because they are hard! I firmly believe that if we all come together, we can and will rebuild Equestria! This challenge is one that we have to accept, that we can't toss aside, and that we must intend to win!"
The roar of the crowd was staggering, easily eclipsing the cheers that Pipp's performance had received, and it filled her with a vibrant and intense devotion.
"For if we should fail, now that magic has returned...it is not only our magic that has come back to us, ponies. Lying in wait for our downfall, circling like vultures, are the beings known as windigos." A series of shocked gasps rumbled through the crowd. "Yes, I know, it seems hard to believe! But I assure you, they are very real. Twilight Sparkle, and the rest of the Guardians of Harmony...they, too, had to fight them, just as their ancestors did at the beginnings of Equestria's founding. But you know what, ponies? They beat them. Even when all seemed lost, and when defeat seemed certain, they and the rest of Equestria banded together to drive them back to the cold, frozen North they crept out of. Ponies chose friendship. They chose love."
"If our devotion to reunifying Equestria should falter, I only ask this of you...remember the story of the windigos, for it is more than just a story, and remember what it is that we're fighting for. A future, not just for ourselves, but for our foals, and for their foals, and for our foals' foals."
The roar of the crowd had evolved into a chant, now, as Sunny found herself out of breath, forced to take deep breaths as her wingbeats briefly faltered in exhaustion. "Princess Sunny! Princess Sunny! Princess Sunny!" They chanted ceaselessly.
From the stage, Pipp watched it all unfold with an ecstatic grin. Her eyes scanned the crowd quickly, and soon picked out a familiar face—the ZBS morning news anchor Dazzle Feather, alongside two ponies she didn't recognize—a pink earth mare, and a dark-green pegasus stallion. The earth pony certainly seemed to be enjoying the festivities, so she supposed Dazzle probably had something to do with that. Hers and Sunny's plan really did work out after all...
"Thank you, everypony! Thank you for believing in me, and in the future of Equestria." Sunny called out, as the crowd's chanting quieted down to hear her continue her speech. "Please continue to enjoy tonight's festivities, and don't be a stranger to your fellow ponies! Maretime Bay, Bridlewood, and Zephyr Heights are open to all of you, so feel free to visit as much as you'd like!" Her chest tightened as she prepared her final statement to the crowd, nearly causing her to choke up as she stumbled on its opening. "S...say it with me, everypony! Hoof to heart, we'll do our part!"
"HOOF TO HEART, WE'LL DO OUR PART!"
As the cheering crowd mirrored her mantra with deafeningly whole-hearted enthusiasm, she felt a tear run down her cheek. Looking up at the sky, she let out a hushed gasp as a lone shooting star streaked across the dusky expanse.
"I did my part, Daddy," she said quietly to herself, though it was lost in the roar of the celebratory throng of ponies beneath her.
Vindication, at last.
Author's Note
Hope you enjoyed my entry! There was a while where I wasn't sure whether this would even be completed, but count on my propensity for waiting until the last minute and rushing things out the door, I suppose. I'm great at hitting deadlines...but only once the feeling of crunch actually hits me. 
Thanks to spikls for proofing/editing to help get this polished. Another pair of eyes is invaluable, always.
About the prompt:
The main premise was easy enough and ideas came to me quickly - but thinking of ways to put alicorns and, of all things, windigos in there, even if only by mention, took some doing. Thankfully, Sunny gave me a way to deliver on both fronts.
