Chapter Text
Pipp Petals wrestled with the last of her clothes, trying to force them into an already overstuffed suitcase.
“Come on,” she grunted, shoving down with both forehooves. “Just—fit!”
The suitcase refused to cooperate.
Pipp sat back on her haunches, took a breath, and tried again.
A shirt sprang out.
“Ugh!”
Another piece of clothing followed.
“Oh!” Her eyes immediately brightened. “Cuuuute!”
She snatched it up and held it against herself, turning toward the mirror.
Her phone camera clicked.
Another picture.
Then another.
A knock sounded at the bedroom door.
“Hurry up, Pipp,” Zipp called from the other side. “Mom wants to say a ‘little’ goodbye.”
Pipp froze.
“A little goodbye?”
She glanced at the mountain of clothes surrounding her.
“Right.”
She shoved several items into the suitcase at once.
The suitcase snapped shut.
For approximately half a second.
Then it bulged ominously.
“Everything okay in there?” Zipp asked.
“Yup!” Pipp called, far too brightly. “Totally… fine!”
She threw herself onto the suitcase.
The latches gave way.
Pipp vanished beneath an avalanche of clothes.
“Ugh!”
A moment later, she emerged, panting, with her mane sticking out in every direction.
“Hi-yah!”
The door swung open.
Pipp stumbled forward, and the suitcase landed behind her with a heavy thud.
“Whew.”
She straightened herself and smiled at her sister.
“Hey, Zipp. Just finishing up my packing.”
Zipp stared at the room.
Clothes covered practically every available surface.
“I can see that.”
Pipp stretched, trying to look innocent.
Then came another click.
Zipp’s eyes narrowed.
Pipp slowly lowered her phone.
“Don’t.”
“I wasn’t—”
“You were.”
Cloudpuff suddenly barked from somewhere beneath the pile.
Pipp’s face lit up.
“Awwww, Zipp!”
She lunged for the puppy, scooping her up.
Click.
Zipp’s ears flattened.
“Seriously?”
Cloudpuff barked again.
“Okay,” Zipp said, taking a long breath. “Let’s go. Grab your bag.”
Pipp cleared her throat.
“About that…”
Zipp’s eyes widened.
Cloudpuff barked.
“Oh, no.”
The bedroom doors opened.
And the noise from outside immediately swallowed them.
Cheers thundered through the palace.
Pipp and Zipp stepped onto the balcony overlooking Zephyr Heights.
A massive crowd had gathered below.
Banners rippled between the buildings. Enormous balloons depicting the two princesses bobbed above the streets, their strings straining in the wind. The whole city seemed determined to turn a simple move into a national event.
Skye Silver’s voice carried over the crowd.
“And here come the royal balloons!”
The crowd erupted.
One of the enormous balloons swung dangerously close to a building.
A pair of pegasi scrambled to pull it back into position.
Dazzle Feather winced.
“Another close call, Skye.”
Skye sucked air through her teeth.
“There’ve been a lot of those lately, Dazzle.”
“It’s true.” Dazzle smiled professionally. “But you know what they say—progress over perfection.”
Then she brightened.
“Ah! Here comes the royal family now!”
The crowd roared.
Pipp waved enthusiastically.
Zipp, meanwhile, took one look at the enormous balloons bearing her likeness and groaned.
“For the record, Mother, this is not a ‘little’ goodbye.”
Queen Haven smiled serenely.
“Smile, Zephyrina. This is all for you.”
Pipp blew kisses toward the crowd.
“Aww!”
Foals cheered from below. Cameras clicked.
Zipp ducked instinctively as another flash went off.
“Pipp!”
“What?”
“No pictures!”
Pipp lowered her phone.
“Come on, Zipp. Just one? Don’t you want to remember today?”
Zipp glanced toward the crowd.
A little foal wearing a Zipp mask was jumping up and down.
“I love you, Zipp!”
Zipp gave the foal a strained smile.
Then she looked back at Pipp.
“And which part exactly would I want to remember?”
Pipp gestured grandly toward their surroundings.
“Oh, I don’t know. How about the loving send-off from our mother?”
She put on an exaggeratedly formal voice.
“The Queen?”
Queen Haven’s smile disappeared.
“Enough.”
Her voice carried the quiet authority of a mother who had spent far too many years trying to make her eldest daughter stand still.
“Zephyrina, you are the future queen. Now sit up straight and wave.”
Zipp reluctantly straightened.
She waved.
Pipp sighed.
For all her teasing, she knew exactly what this was about.
Their mother had spent years worrying about what would happen to Zephyr Heights after the truth about the royal family’s flight had finally come out. Now that the lie was over, Haven seemed determined to give her daughters something uncomplicated to remember.
A farewell.
A celebration.
A promise that the future could still be something to look forward to.
Far away, in the Crystal Brighthouse, Sunny Starscout watched the broadcast.
“Look! There they are! Hi, Zipp! Hi, Pipp!”
Hitch Trailblazer leaned closer to the screen.
“Are those pegasi crying?”
Izzy Moonbow sighed dreamily.
“I know exactly how Pipp and Zipp feel right now.”
She blew several kisses toward the television.
A kazoo played somewhere behind her.
Sunny blinked.
“Uh, Izzy?”
Izzy looked over.
“Yes?”
“That was yesterday.”
Izzy considered this.
“Was it?”
She immediately pointed at the screen.
“Ooh! Look! The queen!”
On the broadcast, Queen Haven had stepped toward the front of the platform.
“It seems like only yesterday my daughters were adorable little fillies.”
Her voice softened.
“But look at them now.”
Pipp continued blowing kisses toward the crowd.
Haven’s eyes became misty.
“All grown up…”
She paused.
“…and leaving me.”
She quickly cleared her throat.
“And to celebrate their new adventure together, I now present…”
The crowd cheered.
Camera flashes erupted.
Pipp smiled.
Zipp braced herself.
Behind the royal family, workers began unveiling the centerpiece of the celebration: enormous statues of Zipp and Pipp surrounded by decorative banners.
The crowd gasped appreciatively.
Then one of the supporting ropes snapped.
The statue lurched.
“Whoa!”
Several pegasi scrambled to catch it.
Another rope slipped.
A balloon broke free.
“Look out!”
The enormous decoration swung through the square.
Pegasi scattered.
One crashed into another.
Another collided with a balloon.
The balloon bounced violently into a third pegasus.
Within seconds, the carefully choreographed ceremony had dissolved into chaos.
Pipp’s smile vanished.
“Yikes!”
A pegasus mare screamed as she stumbled out of the way.
Thunder Flap was caught in the mess and sent tumbling through the air.
“Whoa—!”
He collided with one of the giant royal balloons and clung desperately to its surface.
The crowd gasped.
Thunder looked down.
His eyes widened.
“Uh-oh.”
The balloon began to squeak.
Queen Haven stared upward.
Pipp and Zipp stared upward.
All three gasped.
The balloon began losing air.
“Hssssssss…”
Thunder’s eyes widened further.
“What’s happening?”
The balloon deflated beneath him.
Thunder screamed.
The balloon suddenly collapsed with a tremendous pop, sending him tumbling harmlessly onto a nearby pile of ceremonial cushions.
For one long second, the entire square was silent.
Thunder groaned.
“…I’m okay.”
Queen Haven closed her eyes.
She let out a long, exhausted sigh.
“As I was saying…”
Another hiss came from above.
Thunder looked up nervously.
Queen Haven glanced toward the ruined balloon.
Then toward the crowd.
Then back at her daughters.
A tiny smile appeared.
“May I now present…”
She paused.
“…Sisters Take—”
Another balloon deflated behind her with an explosive whoosh.
The blast sent her mane fluttering wildly.
Haven blinked.
“…Flight.”
Silence.
Then Pipp burst out laughing.
Zipp tried to hold it in.
She failed.
Haven looked at both daughters.
For a moment, she attempted to maintain her royal dignity.
Then she laughed too.
The crowd followed.
Soon the entire square was filled with laughter and applause.
Pipp raised her phone.
Click.
Zipp groaned.
“Oh, come on!”
Pipp grinned.
“That one’s definitely going in the album.”
Later, as they finally departed Zephyr Heights, Pipp glanced back at the city.
The excitement had faded. The palace was already growing smaller behind them.
For perhaps the first time, the thought of leaving made her hesitate.
“Zipp?”
“Yeah?”
“Aren’t you gonna miss Zephyr Heights?”
She looked back.
Even after everything that had happened—the revelation about their family’s flight, the public reckoning, the uncertainty about what came next—Zephyr Heights was still home.
Zipp was quiet for a moment.
“I don’t know.”
Then she smiled.
“But I know I’m ready for a new adventure.”
She bumped her shoulder gently against Pipp’s.
“You know. Together.”
Pipp smiled back.
“Yeah. Me, too.”
She leaned closer.
“All we really need is each other.”
Their cutie marks shimmered softly.
From behind them came an exhausted voice.
“All you need is each other?”
Thunder Flap struggled along beneath an absurd mountain of luggage.
“Then what’s in the bags?!”
Pipp and Zipp looked at each other.
Neither answered.
Thunder adjusted the pile.
It shifted.
Something inside one of the bags barked.
Thunder froze.
“…What?”
The suitcase zipper slowly opened.
Cloudpuff poked his head out.
“Woof!”
Pipp’s eyes widened.
“Cloudpuff?!”
Zipp stared.
“How did you even get in there?”
Cloudpuff barked happily.
Pipp laughed.
Zipp sighed.
And, despite herself, smiled.
The journey to their new home had barely begun.