"Jewel! Morphis! Look out!"

"PIPP!!! NO!!"

"I was never your friend."

"The only mistake I see…is you."

"Please don't leave me!"

"I…won't…I'll…I'll always be…right…here…"

Pipp sat up with a gasp, her eyes snapping wide open. She looked around the dark cabin, the only sound that filled the air being the running Marestream, Izzy's snoring, and the howling, snowy wind outside.

Without making the conscious decision to do so, Pipp felt the bed beside her, only feeling empty sheets. Pipp sighed heavily. Same old nighttime routine.

Pipp slowly got out of bed, her hoof automatically reaching up to touch the wedding ring that was on her necklace chain around her neck. She smiled as she remembered her wedding day, but that smile faded as she remembered what was to come.

Letting out another sigh, Pipp slowly crept down the cabin, making sure not to wake any of her friends, and slowly opened the door to the cockpit, being as silent as she could, and tiptoed in, softly closing it behind her.

Piloting the ship tonight, as he did every night, was Hitch Trailblazer. She paused, just staring at him. It was times like these when Pipp wished she had Misty's ability to feel emotions. Ever since Pipp came back to life from Hitch's tears, Hitch had built a wall blocking out Pipp. A wall that wasn't there a year and a half ago. The others gave her a basic rundown about what happened while she was gone, leaving out anything that had to do with Hitch, probably at his request.

It hurt Pipp. All she wanted to do was help, like a wife should, but he had to first let her in. And he wasn't. She thought that maybe once they married, he'd let his guard down, but alas, it was not to be. In fact, it felt like he had only reinforced his walls. She just wanted to know why, but she was afraid that bringing it up would cause him to distance himself further.

So, it was times like these that she'd just watch him. It was the only time, when he thought he was completely alone, that he'd actually show his emotions. Instead of looking into his eyes and seeing a facade, she'd look up at him and see fear, sorrow, anger, hurt, and other such emotions. Perhaps she didn't completely know the root of all those feelings, but she did know that he was feeling them, and she had to do the best she could to help him with that limited amount of knowledge.

However, just as she was getting a read on his emotions, he seemed to sense her, glancing over his shoulder and jumping a bit, but once he registered that it was her, a warm smile split his features, one that didn't completely reach his eyes.

"Oh, hey sleepyhead. Did I wake you?" Hitch asked.

She looked into his eyes and found his emotions were more genuine this time, not just a mask he wore to block his emotions. He must be having a better night. But one emotion that was always there, one that was always so genuine, no matter whether he was having a good day, or a bad one, was love. Pure, unconditional love. The kind of love that warmed her heart. The kind of love that'd make her love swell in response. The kind of love that made her remember why she married him.

She sighed, barely smiling at him. She didn't care that there was a wall up. After everything they'd been through over the past year, it didn't surprise her. He was hurt so much that he wanted to protect himself. All that mattered was that he loved her as much as she loved him. She was willing to be as patient as she needed to be for when he finally felt safe enough to let his walls crumble before her.

"No. You didn't wake me."

"Izzy?"

Her mind flashed back to a memory deep in her mind. A memory where those very same words were said. Up on the roof of the Brighthouse three years ago. Or was it four? Pipp's lost track of so much time these last couple of months, that it was hard to remember.

She was kept up by thinking of Hitch. It was before they became a couple. Pipp couldn't sleep, so she flew up to the Crystal Brighthouse balcony, where Zipp was doing some research with a mug of coffee. She was studying the Unity Crystals and the hologram message they received from Twilight. She was trying to figure out who the mysterious pony Twilight was talking about. One who they knew was now Opaline.

When she had come to the balcony and saw her sister, they had said these same words to each other. Pipp smiled and chuckled in response to Hitch's question, her face blushing.

"What?" Hitch asked, a confused smile on his face as he glanced a Pipp and then back to the sky in front of him.

Pipp shook her head. "It's nothing. I just…a couple of nights before we became official, I couldn't sleep and I had gone to the Brighthouse balcony to get some air and when I saw Zipp, we had said those exact words to each other."

"Well, that was a specific memory. Anything important about it?"

"I was chuckling because it was ironic. It was during that conversation I admitted my feelings for you and Zipp helped me come to terms with them."

"That is a little ironic," Hitch agreed with a small chuckle.

And then…silence. Pipp sighed. This is what it felt like most of their conversations were like these days. So distant. So awkward. Like there was an elephant in the room, but only one of them knew what that elephant was.

But, undeterred, Pipp tried again. "So…find anything?"

Pipp knew it was a stupid question. Had he even found a hint of something, he would've woken them all up. But she was desperate at this point to connect with him by any means necessary.

"Nope. Nothing but wind and snow and some trees. Didn't know there could be so much snow in one place."

Pipp sighed, looking out the front windshield at the curtain of snow. It was weird. Back in Equestria, it was summer. But here, the snow seemed to go on forever. They weren't even that far outside of Equestria. Or were they, and they just didn't know it? Were they not flying in circles like they thought and were really just going on farther and farther away from home, getting themselves lost?

Pipp shook her head. No. Zipp and Hitch weren't directionally challenged. They knew where they were going. Plus, the Marestream had a built-in compass in its rearview mirror. They had it all under control. She just had to focus on Hitch until they found the place.

"I know," Pipp replied, shivering at just the thought of having to go out there in the freezing cold. "Not a fan of the snow. So not looking forward to going in a kingdom full of snow."

Hitch chuckled a bit at that. "Oh, Pipp."

"What? It's the truth! You're telling me that you're looking forward to living in an igloo?"

"We never really got much snow back in Maretime Bay, you know, living on the beach and all. And the last time it snowed, it turned into a blizzard because every unicorn in Bridlewood was casting a snow spell without even knowing it. So, I don't really have an accurate comparison."

Pipp rolled her eyes. "Zipp always loved the snow. Especially when she got to go sledding. I never understood it myself. I mean, sure it makes a pretty good backdrop for some ponygram pics, but it is so not worth it. It's cold and wet, and when it melts it gets everywhere like sand, but it just makes you so much colder. At least the beach balances itself out. Sure, it's hot, but you can cool yourself down in the water. There's no warm spot in the snow."

"Well, maybe besides where Cloudpuff just had a relaxing moment," Hitch joked with a smile.

Pipp playfully punched him in the arm and chuckled a bit. "Eww! Gross! Hitch!"

Hitch chuckled and put a hoof around Pipp, pulling her close. Pipp smiled, softly closing her eyes and leaning into his chest. She could fall asleep just like this. It was moments like these that Pipp was grateful for. It reminded her that their relationship wasn't too far gone. It was just going through a rough patch. Like every relationship did.

Pipp smiled softly as she closed her eyes, and fell into a dreamless sleep.

Pipp woke up when the Marestream shook and rattled. Hitch took his foreleg from around Pipp so he could focus both his hooves on the steering wheel. Pipp sat up, watching him. It surprised her how much force it looked like it took just to keep the Marestream steady, though he was doing a good job because the Marestream hardly shook anymore.

"What's going on?" Pipp asked, concern filling her voice.

"I'm not sure. Probably just some turbulence though," Hitch answered through gritted teeth, fighting with the steering wheel, which wanted to go in a whole different direction.

Pipp had looked out the window just in time to see a yellow glow around the whole Marestream just before it disappeared and the both of them lifted from the floor as the Marestream fell from the sky like a popped balloon.

Pipp screamed, using her wings to make her way over to Hitch, who wrapped his hooves around her as soon as she was within reach. Just as suddenly as it disappeared, the golden yellow glow wrapped around the ship, and the Marestream stopped falling.

Hitch and Pipp fell to the floor. Hitch checked the controls to see they were still descending but at a much slower pace. That was when Zipp, followed by everypony else, hurried into the cockpit.

"What in the hay is going on out here?!" Zipp asked, her messy hair a signal she just got out of bed.

"We were falling!" Pipp yelled, fear taking over her voice.

"According to controls, we still are," Hitch added.

Pipp's heart stopped as Zipp hurried over to the control panels. It was true. They were slowly losing altitude. They weren't even moving forward, despite the engines trying to propel them. They were just slowly descending straight down, the howling wind moving them side to side a bit.

"What in the hay?" Zipp muttered to herself, thoroughly confused.

"What is it, Zipp? What's wrong?" Sunny asked, hurrying up to Zipp's side.

"That's just it. There's nothing wrong. Everything's fine. The thrusters. The engine. Everything."

They had rebuilt the Marestream before they left for their journey so that it ran like a normal ship rather than on magic. They didn't want to bring the hope lantern this far into unknown territory, plus, after what happened the first time they took the Marestream to the dragon lands, they didn't want to risk the hope lantern going out and being stranded in the middle of this winter blizzard land.

As she said that, the yellow glow around the ship, which only Pipp seemed to notice, disappeared and the ship fell again. The eight ponies screamed as they lifted into the air. Zipp used her wings to fly over to the steering wheel, hit the gas, and pulled up. Everypony fell to the floor as Zipp sharply pulled up, glaring determinedly out the front windshield.

Then Pipp noticed the yellow glow as it surrounded the Marestream and they stopped moving. When Zipp looked at the control panels, she found that the progress she made going up was now being undone as they slowly descended.

"What the hay is going on?!"

"I think it has something to do with that yellow glow!" Pipp yelled as the yellow glow began to waver and the Marestream shook and rattled, making everypony unstable on their hooves and causing them to crash into each other.

Zipp gasped. "It's bringing us down! Whatever is controlling it is grounding us!" Zipp yelled to be heard over the rattling and screaming.

"But why?!" Misty asked, wondering why something would want to hurt them as she stumbled into Izzy.

"I don't know!" Zipp turned to Sunny. "Can you combat it with your own magic?"

"I can try."

Sunny closed her eyes and focused her magic. She was still learning how to use it, but lessons with Misty, who had brought her spell book along, were helping. Her horn lit up in a pinkish-purple aura that matched Sunny's hair as she tried to feel out the magical aura with her own magic, and though it was wavering, it was strong and whoever was using it was highly experienced. Much more than Sunny was. A pinkish-purple aura began to wrap itself around the Marestream like a big floating bubble that quickly popped.

Sunny opened her eyes to her expectant friends, only for their faces to fall when she shook her head.

Suddenly, the yellow glow went out and the Marestream tumbled out of the sky. Zipp and Hitch both made an effort to make their way to the steering wheel, but they fell over each other and other ponies as the Marestream fell through trees and branches, making the ponies fall into each other. The Marestream fell the last fifty feet before finally hitting the ground with a loud thud.

The eight ponies groaned as they all got to their hooves. They looked around, asking each other if they were okay. Hitch helped Pipp up and held her close, squeezing her tightly. Pipp didn't complain, burying her face into his chest, tears streaming down her face. She just wanted to be done with the death scares. She was so sick and tired of them.

"Now that's what I call a crash landing," Izzy said in a wobbly voice as Sunny helped her up.

As Misty stood up, she looked out the window and saw something in the distance. There was a shadowed figure in the distance, though she couldn't make out the details. It looked like a pony, but even though it was only thirty feet away, Misty couldn't tell much because of all the wind and the snow. She couldn't even tell if she really saw it. But then it moved, taking a step forward and she knew she had to tell her friends.

"Umm…guys. You might want to see this."

The seven remaining ponies crowded around Misty to look out of the window. They all saw the mysterious shadowed figure, just standing in the wind and snow, staring at them. Sweat formed on their brows as they watched the mysterious figure, not quite sure what to do.

"Maybe it's the mysterious crystal queen?" Izzy asked.

"Don't be ridiculous, Iz. I mean, what kind of Queen would greet their guests in the shadows all spookily and just creepily stare them down like a crazy pony?" Pipp asked, not taking her eyes off the mysterious figure.

"Opaline would."

The ponies' hearts stopped when Misty said the one name. Their experiences with Opaline were almost as traumatizing as the changeling nightmare. They weren't stupid. They knew that figure wasn't Opaline. Opaline was defeated. But, what if it were somepony like her?

They all stared at the strange figure. Somepony equally as powerful and equally as evil.

She stared down at her two headpieces, not sure what to wear. She looked between the helmet and the crown. She didn't know what type of ponies she'd be meeting. Were they warriors? Or were they elitists? Did she even care? Did it even matter? It wasn't like her wardrobe was going to change the outcome of what was to happen.

She rolled her eyes. Her Aunt would kill her if she knew she was thinking that.

She closed her eyes softly against the barrage of memories thinking of that one pony caused, the ponies she loved the most flashing in her mind, all faceless, all blurry, but there nonetheless. She squeezed her eyes shut as she pushed them out of her mind. She would not think of them now. What happened in the past was going to stay there. There was nothing she could do about it now. She couldn't go back in time and fix things, mostly because she didn't have the spell. Also because fixing things would make everything worse. They had taken the best course of action and that was all there was to it.

A knock on the door startled her out of her thoughts. "Come in!" She called.

The door opened to reveal a greenish-blue earth pony with a black mane, a black and white suit and dark blue eyes. He looked up at her. "We spotted something in the air, Your Highness. We believe they got to them first."

She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. Well, she didn't want to seem menacing in front of strangers after what they were going to see her do. She sighed, grabbing a headpiece with her magic and running past the butler and out of the room. The crown it was then.

Author's Note

The fourth story of the Pitch series is finally here. I know this chapter is kind of short, but this is more of a prologue chapter. Plus ending it there felt right. Trust me though, this story will be just as long as the other three. I'm so excited for this. I got me some big ideas

Shout out to Sword_Ironwing for giving me the idea!