Tears seeped slightly out of Pipp’s eyes. This was NOT what she had planned for Nightmare Night. Why did she have to have a headache on tonight of all nights? She bobbed her head slightly at the throbbing, only for it to increase.

Headaches were always the worst. Insomnia, throbbing, and poor concentration made for a terrible combination. Reluctantly, she reached out for her phone and switched on night mode to reduce the strain on her eyes. Opening RightNow, she sent a quick message.

Sorry Pippsqueaks, I’m going to have to take a day off. Headache [sad face]

Setting the phone down, Pipp gently placed her head face-down in her pillow. She could hear notifications streaming in, so she took the opportunity to use the phone’s voice command system.

“Speak, turn my phone on silent.”

The phone instantly stopped making noise or vibrations. Pipp relaxed under the warm blankets.

Bang! The door slammed open.

“Pipp, why aren’t you up for breakfast?” Zipp asked, slight irritation in her voice. She had been big on the whole ‘family’ thing recently.

“I’m coming, alright?” Pipp grumbled. “It just takes a bit longer when my head is hitting me.”

Zipp blinked as her sister rolled over and curled up to go back to sleep.

“Why didn’t you tell me? I’ll bring your breakfast. Mom will understand.” Zipp gently closed the door and trotted off.

“Eh.” Pipp mumbled from her mass of comfortable blankets.

Having brought Pipp her breakfast (and making sure none of it would spoil before her sister woke up), Zipp trotted off excitedly.

She had spent the month knee-deep in Sunny’s research, but it was all worth it. This Nightmare Night, she would dress up as a Wonderbolt!

Zipp cantered all the way to Pipp’s favorite candy store. She felt a bit guilty about snapping at her sister without knowing what was going on. Hopefully, she could make up for it by making sure Pipp got some sweets even if she couldn’t go out. She found a nice basket and went to the counter.

“Will that be all?” The storekeeper asked.

“Not quite, could I please buy some candy bracelets? And novelty chocolate? And… uh… you see Pipp here often, what else does she get?” Zipp flushed a bit.

Normally it would be considered a bit ignorant to not know what your sister would like, but in her defense, they hadn’t spent too much time together until the reunification. It had ended a lot of fights they used to have.

“Of course!” The shopkeeper brightened and added several different candies to the basket. “Here you go!”

“Thank you!” Zipp paid and exited the store. She was just making her way home, a spring in her step, when a young colt ran up to her.

“Princess Zipp! Princess Zipp!” The colt huffed, winded from wherever he had come from. “I heard that Princess Pipp has a headache, and I have some rock candy for her! My dad makes it!”

He handed a pink package to Zipp. She smiled and tucked it into the basket she was carrying.

“Thank you, that’s really sweet of you…” She paused, waiting for him to supply his name.

“Candy Storm!” The colt said, jumping up and down in excitement.

“I’ll tell her that you sent them. Have a great Nightmare Night!” Zipp offered a hoof for him to bump.

He bumped her hoof, seeming to radiate extreme happiness with every moment. “You too! See ya!” The colt ran off, skipping happily every second step.

“Pipp has really sweet fans.” Zipp said quietly to herself. The guards constantly beside her when she went out, yet made invisible by their professional demeanor, smiled.

Zipp crept into Pipp’s room. Pipp was only just consuming her breakfast, looking rather bleary.

“Hi sis!” Zipp gently set the basket down. She lay down on the edge of the bed, watching her sister set aside the half-eaten meal. “How’re you doing?”

“Ugh.” Pipp struggled to get up, wincing as she lifted her head.

“Don’t sit up, I know it hurts. I can talk to you from here.” Zipp sent a concerned look in Pipp’s direction. “Would you like me to find you some Panadol?”

“Mhmm.” Came the response.

“Okay. In the meantime, why don’t you enjoy some candy? I brought you some, and this colt named Candy Storm gave me some rock candy to give to you.” Zipp offered the pink package to her sister.

Zipp placed the rest of the basket on the makeup table and found Pipp’s drink bottle. Normally a maid would do these sorts of things, but Pipp was in no condition to call out and Zipp still felt a bit guilty for snapping at her earlier.

“Mmmm.” Zipp turned to see Pipp eating one of the pieces of rock candy. She smiled at her sister and hurried out the door to fetch Panadol and water.

On returning, Zipp found Pipp fast asleep. She gently shook her sister, to no effect. Concluding that Pipp probably needed her sleep, Zipp set the small pill cup and the drink bottle on the bedside table. On her way out of Pipp’s room, Zipp picked up a piece of rock candy and put it in her mouth to melt. Pipp wasn’t the only pony who liked that stuff!

As Zipp wandered through the mostly ceremonial palace living room, she felt really drowsy. And the candy in her mouth tasted really strange. Was there some sort of drug in the candy? She’d have to find out later… right now it was time… to… sleep…

Zoom Zephyrwing and Thunder were partners in the royal guard, best friends, and newly off-duty. But as they were walking out of the palace, Zoom noticed a very peculiar sight.

“Thunder, have you ever noticed any of the royal family sleeping outside of their rooms?”

“Uh, no…” Thunder turned his head to see what his friend was looking at and stopped. “Yes? Not before now, though. It’s unusual.”

“Come on then!” Zoom walked up to Zipp and held a hoof in front of her nose. “She’s breathing.”

“And drooling. Does she have something in her mouth?” Thunder stood where he was, reluctant to be seen as being too close to the princess.

Rolling her eyes, Zoom gently opened Zipp’s mouth and used a hoofkerchief to remove the half-melted object. “It’s a candy…”

“And it smells like drugs. From all the way over here.” Thunder said flatly.

“How would you know that?” Zoom glanced between her hoofkerchief and Thunder.

“Teenage stupidity. We should probably get her to the medical bay, just to be safe.” Thunder stepped closer, knowing what Zoom would say otherwise.

Zoom picked up Zipp and put her on Thunder with as much dignity as possible. “Onwards!” She declared, playfully flicking Thunder with her tail.

Thunder carefully followed Zoom through the palace’s airy halls. As they approached the medical bay, a stressed medic noticed them.

“What next?! All these injuries from crashes, and- is that Princess Zipp?” The medic yanked open one of the doors and held it open as the two guards went in.

Two other medics on duty looked up from their brunch with wide eyes.

“What happened?” They asked.

Zoom was sitting next to Zipp as Thunder found them something to eat. Guards weren’t obligated to wait around, but nearly all the guards were unconditionally dedicated to Zipp, knowing that she had hated living a lie.

“I can’t identify it as that’s not my area of expertise, but I can make an educated guess and say that this candy contained some form of sleeping drug.” A medic told Zoom.

“Huh. What a discovery.” Zoom said sarcastically, purposely looking away from the medic to indicate that she didn’t mean it. She looked down at Zipp in concern, only to notice that Zipp seemed to be stirring.

“Where… where am I?” Zipp groggily blinked. Her eyes suddenly went wide as she noticed where she was.

“You’re in the medical bay. That candy you ate was probably laced with some sort of sleeping drug. How do you feel?” Zoom looked at the princess.

“PIPP!” Zipp was half up already, all remaining sleepiness instantly gone. “The colt gave them to me to give to her! She swallowed one!”

Thunder looked in the door with wide eyes, having just come in. “What’s going on?”

“Emergency! We need to check on Pipp!” Zoom, true to her name, zoomed out the door and down the halls. Forget off duty! What was the meaning of candies laced with drugs?

Thunder disappeared after her, and Zipp struggled against the medic who held her back. “Let me go! I need to see Pipp!”

“I’m sure you need to, but you can’t.” The medic calmly guided her back down on the stretcher. “We don’t know if the drug affected your coordination or not, so it’s not safe for you to be out and about.”

“Ugh.” Zipp sighed, sinking down.

Muffled yells were starting to echo through the palace, and Zipp didn’t like it one bit. What had happened to Pipp?

Author's Note

Two chapters this time! Look out for the next one tomorrow. This story ballooned out a lot bigger than I thought it would be.

All the stories in this series