1 - Clear Those Misty Eyes
Zipp landed with a flap. "Wow, I didn't think that would ever end."
Pipp shook her head. "Don't look like that, Sis. I got some really nice pictures." She leaned over, phone dangling from her hoof as she showed off the many pictures of the wedding they just got out of. "Still, Alphabittle is Dad now? That'll take some getting used to."
Zipp nodded. "Yeah, but... He makes Mom happy. And he really wants to be our Dad." Her smile softened. "I guess it's all good." She looked over at the other pony looking a bit awkward. "Chewing up your insides too?"
"What?" Misty looked up at her new sisters. "Um, a little, I guess?" She rubbed one leg with the other, laughing nervously. "I guess it could have, um. Wow. You two are sisters now, right?"
Pipp leaned in with a sly smile. "We were already sisters." She pointed to Zipp and herself. "But now we're yours too."
Misty's face twisted in a bit of confusion, before she shook her head. "Oh. Um. Well. Thanks, I think." She sighed. "Sorry. It's just. Um. Wow, this is a lot to take in."
Zipp threw an arm over Misty. "Tell me about it. Look, we all got new things to get used to. I say we get away from all this royal hullabaloo and just chill, as sisters. C'mon, it'll be fun!"
Misty smiled a little, before looking over at Pipp. "...I guess that would be nice. I mean, if you want to, Princ--I mean, Pipp."
Pipp's eyes twinkled with mischief. "Ooo, that sounds like all kinds of fun. Where do you have in mind, Zipp?"
***
Misty looked around. "A... forest? Are you sure this is safe?"
Zipp looked around, before smiling. "Well, it looks like nopony is around. I figured it'd be a great place to relax." She tapped at the tent they already had set up. "Just us, a warm fire, some stories. It'll be great! We'll be back in the morning before breakfast."
Misty sighed, before shaking her head. "I don't know. I've never, you know. Gone out without, um, a chaperone."
Pipp blew a raspberry. "First, that's a lie. I know you went quite a few places all on your own." She pressed in close to Misty's side. "Second, you have a chaperone, two of them!" She ended with a sung note. "So you're in good hooves."
Misty looked between the two of them. "I don't know..." She finally relented. "All right. Fine. One night."
Zipp and Pipp grinned to each other. "You'll see."
They got out some junk food, including some marshmallows to roast over that flickering flame. The mood began to relax as they all shared some stories between each other. Stories of Zephyr Heights, the Maretime Bay beach, and of Bridlewood.
Pipp was the first to ask. "What was it like?" She wobbled a hoof in the air. "Being Alphabittle's daughter, I mean. We're all that now, I guess." She rolled her eyes at the idea.
Misty fidgeted her hooves together. "We barely got a chance to try it. I forgot my early years, um. So I can't really say." She nibbled into a marshmallow. "Um. I know he was kind to me, though. And did his best to help me." She leaned back on her pillows. "He's a nice pony. I know your mom's nice too. My mom, right. Our mom?" She laughed nervously, which rose in pitch as the fire went out abruptly.
Zipp looked over at the fire. "Huh. That's weird." She huffed, before jumping up. "Lemme try starting it again." She spread her wings and zipped towards their tent, just to crash into something. "Ow! Who put this, uh." She felt about in the dark. "Tree? Who put this tree here?!"
Pipp turned on her phone's flashlight to illuminate the situation. She could see the forest they had started in was nothing like the forest they had ended in. "What the hay?"
Misty made her horn glow to help fight back the darkness. "This just got really creepy." She backed towards her new sisters. "What happened?"
Zipp walked back over to them, looking about in a growing sense of worry. "I don't know." She took another deep breath, before she looked around herself and her fellow mares. "But we're going to take care of it."
A low growl made them all jump as short figures emerged from the bushes all around them. They came in different dull colors and held short sharp daggers in their hands.
Zipp pushed Misty behind her as Pipp did likewise. "All right, who are you?"
The strange creature spoke equally strange words, waving its dagger at them with a sneer. Zipp narrowed her eyes in response. "Well, that was helpful." She pounced, grabbing one of the little monsters by the head and rubbing her knee into its face. She tossed the monster away and grabbed another, throwing them into a tree.
It was going well until a blinding new pain lanced through her. One of them had stabbed her, and she fell back, stunned. "Pipp!"
Pipp pulled Misty away from the battle, but they didn't have long to get away. More of the monsters showed up with nets and threw them over the two mares.
Light bathed the area in a bright flash of flames and screams. Fire erupted in an angry ball just barely missing the ponies as the creatures wailed in agony. Zipp felt herself get picked up, and she tried to fight back.
"Calm down, child. I have you. Those foul goblins won't hurt you anymore." The unicorn mare carried her away, and Zipp passed out.
Misty shivered in Pipp's grip, the two clutching to one another as the sounds of violence grew more intense, then quieter, which did little to soothe either of them. Emerging from that shadow came the leather clad legs and clean hooves of an alicorn. "It would seem your hunch was correct," she called back to somepony else. "This is a night that needed us."
The female unicorn trotted into view, Zipp on her back. "Are they hurt? This one is. I need to see to her wounds immediately."
Pipp's eyes widened as she hopped to her hooves. "Zipp! Is she okay?! Who are you?"
The unicorn sat down slowly, horn glowing as she settled Zipp beside her. "Calm yourself. I am Star Dancer, a spellcaster of some talent."
"And a Champion of Everglow." The alicorn moved to cut off Pipp from approaching Star Dancer. "Let her work. She knows what she's doing. I'm Shining Belle, a bard. Not a champion, but glad to lend a hoof where it's needed."
Misty shivered, leaning on Pipp as she watched Zipp be healed by magic. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. This is all my fault, if I never-"
Pipp pushed against Misty. "This wasn't even your idea, Sis. Don't go blaming yourself. Do go asking how that pony is doing what she's doing. I thought you were the master of unicorn magic! What spell is that?!"
Star Dancer directed her horn and spoke strange words, causing the worst wounds on Zipp to slowly seal. "Are you from Equestria?" She sat, regarding the two conscious mares. "The stories say this is how it usually goes. You are from another world at least, yes?"
Pipp nodded as Zipp stirred awake. "We're from Maretime Bay, originally." Zipp pushed herself up to a sitting position. "Princess Zipp Storm. This is Princess Pipp Petals." She motioned to herself, then her sister. "And that's Misty BrightDawn, techncially also a princess now."
"Wow." That was still settling in Misty's mind. "Um, I'm just a unicorn, but we are from Equestria. Where are we, uh, now?"
Shining Belle sat down across the fire from them. "This is the world of Everglow. I wish I could say our world was a gentle one, but you've already seen that would be a lie." She smiled. "I am glad to see you three survived the ordeal."
Misty sighed and pressed against Pipp. "Can you help us get back?"
Star Dancer shook her head at that. "That requires far more magic than we have at hoof. Let's get you to a town to start, then we can decide what we do next." She placed a hoof at her chest. "For now, you are under my protection."
"And mine!" Shining Belle stuck out her tongue. "I swear, not a champion and they try to ignore you." She leaned over, nuzzling one of Misty's ears. "Don't be scared, we'll keep you safe."
Star Dancer huffed at Belle. "I was not ignoring you. And I would ask you to give them space." She sighed as she looked down at Misty's blush and Pipp's glare. "You're bothering them."
"I am not." Shining did back up though. "They should know we're nice things, unlike those goblins. Brutish things. Now, if you're feeling better, up on your hooves."
Zipp shook herself off. "Yeah, I'm fine now. Thanks, Star Dancer." She offered her hoof for a shake.
Pipp was the next to get to her hooves. She gave Misty an encouraging nuzzle before climbing out of the net. "That could have gone way worse." She brought up her phone to take a quick picture of Star, then Shining. That was when she noticed something. "Offline? No signal? Seriously?! How far are we?"
Star Dancer shook her head with a laugh. "I don't understand any of that. I hope you can keep your spirits up, though. This place can be harsh."
Misty pushed her way free of the net. "I don't think we're anywhere near Equestria anymore." She dug out her own phone, confirming it was also offline. "I say we go with the nice ponies. Besides, that one's like Sunny." She pointed at Shining Belle. "See? Winged unicorn. She's probably nice, like Sunny."
Belle giggled as Star Dancer smiled. "Well said. Come, I'm sure you're all hungry." Star Dancer led the group along, leaving the woods behind them.
They entered a field where three horses waited. Star Dancer climbed on one with ease. "Come along, now."
Pipp circled around a horse curiously. "What... is that? Is that a different kind of pony?" The horse sniffed at her, then chuffed right in her face. Pipp laughed as she backed a step. "Is that a good sign?"
Belle laughed as she mounted her own horse. "It's a good sign! They like you. C'mon."
Zipp climbed onto her horse, sliding up onto its back carefully. She reached a wing down and helped Misty to join her, one in front of the other. "Okay, what do we do now?"
Star Dancer sighed. "Try not to fall off."
The three horses took off across the fields. Misty held tightly onto Zipp while Pipp whooped and cheered. The wind raced through their manes as the landscape blurred by. The horses were well trained, and didn't knock any of their riders off in the gloom. Up ahead, they could see lights coming closer as they approached a small town.
As the horses slowed down outside the stables, Belle hopped off and moved quickly to lend a hoof and glowing horn to help the new ponies get down to their own hooves. "Here we are, little sisters! You are going to love this place. Best food for miles!"
Star Dancer rolled her eyes. "It's the only food for miles, so they win by default, I suppose." She smiled a moment later. "It is pretty good though. Let's get inside out of the chill. You must all be tired from all of this."
Pipp nodded. "This is crazy. I mean. This day has been weird. Weird wedding, new sister, new world." She grinned over at Misty, who smiled back weakly. "I do want to see what's up though." Even without a signal, she took many pictures she hoped to upload later. "The Pippsqueaks are gonna lose their little heads when they check out these pics!"
Star Dancer shook her head at Belle, then turned to Pipp. "If you wish, I can look at that device for you. Perhaps I can restore some function to it, or divine its use to you."
Pipp drew her phone back. "I know how it works. It just, well, doesn't entirely right now. It won't until we get way closer to home than we are right now."
Misty ducked her head down, then followed them all into the inn. The place was lively enough, with many creatures that were both ponies and a few that were not. She felt so lost and confused, and clung to Zipp as they went to a table where the Equestrians shared a bench of a seat.
Belle took a stool for herself. "They don't often have seats big enough for me. Such is life."
Star Dancer took another. "Order what you like." She paused a moment. "Wait, you have no idea what to order, do you?"
Pipp laughed nervously. "You just realized this now?"
The food that came out to them was good enough to the three ponies from another world, even if none of them were quite sure of the details of what it was. It was tasty, warm, and went down easily. At that moment, that was good enough for them.
As they ate, Star Dancer looked to Shining Belle. "The tales say getting them back is both easy and difficult. We must accompany them until it happens. Trying to force it may work, or may not. It's a very expensive gamble." She tapped a hoof on the counter. "Or wait until one Twilight Sparkle rescues them."
Author's Note
New story, woo! Thank you for starting this trip with me. What lies in wait for our confused sisters?
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