Royalty Before Family

by Willow NightSong24

Nothing But An Empty Shell

Hitch was surprised by the sight that greeted the three ponies at the town square. Izzy debriefed them on the whole situation but it was worse than he imagined. There was a huge crowd, at least half the Maretime Bay populace. Hitch and his friends had to fight their way through just to get to the center. By the time he got there, he was surprised to see three ponies fighting, despite Izzy warning him ahead of time. He was even more surprised to see that they weren't just anypony. They were the Filly Four! It looked as though it was a two-on-one fight.

For a moment, he just stood there in shock, not sure how to react. He hasn't seen a hoof-to-hoof fight like this in a long time. Sure, there were always minor fights when a pony or two drank a little too much after work, but nothing like this. For one, they were all sober. He could tell by their movements and the stability of their voices when they threw insults at each other. For another, these mares were supposed to be friends, but at the moment, they looked anything but.

He finally sprang into action when he saw Zipp start to rush in. He quickly held out a hoof, shaking his head sternly at her confused look. Situations such as these had to be handled delicately, with a certain procedure, to avoid lawsuits. While it was highly unlikely that somepony in Maretime Bay would file one, it wasn't impossible, or even unheard of. It was bad enough that Izzy tried to physically break up this fight in his name. This means he'd have to report the bruise and the scratch, aka a whole lot of paperwork.

He quickly galloped up to the three fighting mares, all of which were trying to grab each other's manes to tear them out. Suddenly, Sugar Moonlight threw a hoof and it landed on Lily's nose. She stumbled back in shock, putting a hoof under her muzzle. Blood was already starting to run from it. From Hitch's angle, it looked like it was broken. Lily's shock was quickly replaced by rage as she charged at Sugar Moonlight with a scream.

Hitch realized that the first three steps of protocol were moot as soon as Sugar Moonlight threw that punch and Lilly retaliated. He sprang into action, his natural sheriff persona shining through.

He growled, looking over his shoulder as he ran towards the fighting mares. "Zipp! I need back—WHOA!" He was interrupted when his hoof landed on an empty smoothie cup and he fell on his face.

Zipp was by him in an instant, helping him back up to his hooves. That was when he noticed the litter all over the ground. Empty smoothie cups, pieces of discarded newspapers, empty plastic cups, and...an empty cardboard box? Hitch shook his head in disgust. What was up with these ponies? Seriously?

"Zipp! I need help restraining the mares!" He yelled over the jeering or cheering crowd, depending on which pony's side they were on. Zipp nodded once in agreement, her face one of determination. "Izzy! I need you to pick up all this litter! When you're done, help Zipp and me!"

"Aye-aye, Sheriff!" Izzy responded, saluting him before picking up the litter with her magic.

He then turned to the crowd. "AND IF I SEE ANY OF YOU BY THE TIME I RESTRAIN THESE MARES, I'M ARRESTING YOU FOR VANDALISM AND ASSAULT!!!!" He yelled to the crowd, which was instantly silenced.

He turned to the fighting mares who were still surprisingly at it—what in the hay could they be fighting about?—and rushed into the fray, with Zipp by his side.

---

Back at the Crystal Brighthouse, Misty and Pipp sat at the counter at the edge of the kitchen on stools, Sunny running every which way making a special meal for all of them. It was almost dinner time and both mares wanted to help, but Misty learned from experience that even if you could get Sunny to accept your help, she'd still do everything with you just standing there, without her even realizing it. Besides, Misty was starting to get worried about what happened when Izzy and Zipp talked to Hitch. Shouldn't they be back by now? What was taking them so long? Could they not find Hitch? Was Hitch not listening?

Misty could tell Sunny was getting a little worried as well. Her face was slowly getting more concerned as the minutes ticked by, and though she was trying to hide it, she wasn't doing a very good job. Not that Misty blamed her.

Perhaps they'd be less concerned if they went into town today, but after resolving the fight between Windy and Posey, which took a whole thirty minutes, Pipp didn't feel like leaving the Brighthouse today, so both Sunny and Misty decided to stay with her to make sure she was okay. They tried to cheer her up through some of her favorite various activities—karaoke, makeovers, styling each others' manes—and while they got her to smile about halfway through karaoke, and even fall to the floor laughing, she still seemed a bit down. Like, she wouldn't be completely herself until she made up with Hitch the next day.

The kitchen was completely silent until one of them broke it.

"Hey, Misty? Do you know where Zipp and Izzy are? They're usually back by now." Pipp asked as though echoing the other two mares' thoughts.

Misty's eyes widened briefly before she answered, "N–no! I–I don't. I mean, I know where they went b–but I don't know why they're not back yet. It is really weird, isn't it? I–I mean, I didn't notice until you said something. Th–they should've b–been back by now, right?" Misty said, trying her best to answer without lying, while at the same time not sounding suspicious. She nailed the first part but completely failed the second.

"Right..." Pipp trailed off, letting Misty know that she knew something was up. "So...where did you say they went again?" Pipp asked, narrowing her eyes at Misty.

"Uhh..." Misty racked her brain for an excuse but came up short. She was never good at lying.

"The supermarket," Sunny answered for Misty, saving her. "We were running low on groceries. Right, Misty?"

"Umm...yeah. Right." Misty answered, wondering what excuse they'll use when Izzy and Zipp don't come back with groceries.

As though on cue, the door to the Brighthouse opened, and in walked a disheveled-looking Zipp and Izzy, dragging their hooves. Upon seeing them, Misty and Pipp widened their eyes. Sunny had her back turned as she was cutting up some vegetables, but at hearing the door open, she turned to greet the two mares, her eyes widening upon seeing them. Both their manes' looked a mess and they looked exhausted. Izzy had a shallow cut on her cheek, it barely broke the skin, and below it was a bruise. Zipp was also sporting a bruise on her side.

"Oh my hoofness! Zipp! Izzy! What happened to you?" Sunny asked, rushing to their sides.

"Yeah, you looked like you got in a fight, and lost. That must've been some grocery run." Pipp observed, narrowing her eyes at the two mares. Pipp had a little of her sister in her when it came to mysteries.

Zipp looked momentarily confused, but seeing Misty's warning look, instantly remembered. With all the ensuing chaos, Zipp had completely forgotten about the fight this morning. "Uh...yeah, well, we were going to the supermarket..." Zipp started before Sunny interrupted.

"Did you not make it?" Sunny asked in a panicked tone. At Pipp's confused look, Sunny nervously chuckled. "I needed some...umm...fruit. For tonight's dessert. Pineapple upside-down cake. We're all out."

"Can't you just grow some with your earth pony flora magic?" Pipp asked, clearly not believing Sunny. Sunny's nervous smile only grew.

"We made it there, but there was word of a fight. We had most of the groceries, but we heard word of it while we were in line for the checkout. We dropped everything and ran there."

Sunny and Misty both breathed a sigh of relief, interpreting that as Zipp and Izzy were able to talk to Hitch, but were interrupted near the end. Well, as long as he heard the majority of it.

Then, something Zipp said seemed to sink in and Sunny widened her eyes. "Wait, a fight? Who was in a fight?"

"And did you just now stop it?" Pipp asked, wondering if they stopped the fight this morning, why are they back so late?

"Yeah. Between the Filly Four. It got pretty physical and there were some injuries." Zipp glanced at Izzy's cheek. "Clearly. Hitch needed backup. We stopped the fight and arrested the mares hours ago, but Hitch had to process them in, report their injuries, as well as ours, and had us tell him our version of what happened for the report. It took a while because he had to arrest more than the Filly Four. The weird thing was that there was a crowd and they were getting really riled up. Hitch told them to either leave or he'd arrest them and a couple chose to stay, believing it to be an empty threat."

"He couldn't really arrest them, could he? At least without an actual crime?" Misty asked.

"He charged them with vandalism and assault. Apparently, the crowd was throwing trash at the Filly Four while they were fighting? I know, it was weird."

"I just don't understand why they were fighting though. They're all friends." Izzy spoke for the first time, looking more than a little disheveled. She actually started to look really sad.

"Friends fight all the time, Iz. It's no big deal." Pipp comforted.

"Yeah, but, this wasn't just a normal fight. Sugar Moonlight actually broke Lilly's nose. It was bad."

"Do you think it could've been related to what happened this morning?" Misty asked.

"This morning? What do you mean? Wait, are you talking about Pipp and Hitch's fight?" Zipp asked, making Pipp flinch just at the mention of it. Misty put a comforting hoof on Pipp's shoulder.

"No," Sunny explained, speaking to Zipp. "Something different. Down the road from the Brighthouse, we heard Windy and Posey arguing and it got really heated. It was just a misunderstanding, but if Misty and I hadn't intervened when we did, it might've actually come to blows." Sunny turned to Misty to answer her question. "And, I don't see how. Posey and Windy barely know the Filly Four and they weren't even in town when it happened. They were here." Sunny turned back to Zipp. "Do you know why the Filly Four were fighting?"

Zipp shook her head. "No. Hitch said he'd question them tomorrow once they've all had a chance to cool down. Though, from the looks of it, Lily and Rosedust were ganging up on Sugar Moonlight."

"Posey and Windy were fighting? I thought they were best friends. Why?" Izzy asked, almost desperately.

"Izzy, it's fine. It was just a misunderstanding, that's all. Windy thought Posey said something mean to her the other day, and today, Posey was acting as if nothing happened. Windy got upset and they started fighting. Turns out, Posey didn't say anything mean at all and Windey misunderstood. Everything's fine now."

Izzy nodded, though she still looked pretty worried and concerned like she didn't really believe Sunny. Though, she had no reason not to.

---

Pipp stared at the ceiling in the dark, lying in her bed. Pipp could hear Izzy's snores and the soft breathing of Sunny, Zipp, and Misty, telling her she was the only one awake. She just couldn't sleep. She hated leaving things the way they were between her and Hitch. She didn't want them to go to bed fighting. But, Hitch was at the sheriff's station with Sparky. What was she going to do? Roam the streets of Maretime Bay in the dark all the way to the sheriff's station, wake up Hitch, and talk to him while he's bleary-eyed and tired? She didn't want to admit it, but all the fights that happened today and their intensity had her a little worried. But at the same time, she loved Hitch, and she felt incredibly guilty. Hitch would do anything for her. Wasn't it time she returned the gesture?

Her decision made, Pipp sat up and got out of bed, glancing around to make sure her friends and sister were really asleep. She softly crept through the room, flew once she was at the ramp since it creaked a bit, and quietly left the Brighthouse, making sure to not make a sound. Once she was outside, she landed and galloped to town, running as fast as she could. She had to apologize to Hitch before it was too late.

"Pipp!"

Pipp skidded to a stop. She was halfway to the sheriff's station, but she heard somepony call her name from her right. It almost sounded like her sister. But that was impossible. She saw Zipp in bed, sleeping. Right?

She glanced around cautiously, her guard up. She didn't say a word, in case she was mistaken and it was somepony who wanted to hurt her. Maybe they were trying to lure her into a trap.

"Pipp! Over here!" She heard the voice call again.

She looked diagonally to her right and gasped. Zipp was slowly walking towards her out of the shadows. She smiled in relief upon seeing her. "Oh, Zipp. Thank hoofness it's just you. You scared me."

"Of course it's me. Who else could it be?" Zipp asked.

"I don't know. You're right. I guess the recent fights got me on edge."

Zipp seemed to nod in understanding. "Same here. I can't stop thinking about what Misty said. What if the fights were related? I couldn't sleep, so I came here to investigate. I actually found something when I heard you coming. Follow me, it's over here." And with that, Zipp ran off in the direction of an alleyway.

Pipp hesitated, having the smallest moment of doubt, wondering if she should really follow. She shook her head. What was her problem? Of course she should. This was her sister. What was going to happen?

Pipp ran after Zipp, entering the alleyway. She saw her standing at the end of it, crouching down as though trying to get a better look at something. When she heard her, Zipp stood up and turned around, beckoning her sister to come closer. Pipp complied, slowly and a little hesitantly. She did not like being in this alleyway.

Suddenly, she saw the shadow of a pony behind her from the full moon above. She quickly turned around and saw Posey, standing at the entrance. Her guard was instantly up. She took a step back towards Zipp, feeling safer the closer she was to her older sister.

"Oh, Posey, what are you doing out here? Is this about the fight you had with Windy earlier?" Pipp asked. She knew something was wrong, but she didn't know what. She had to stall Posey long enough so she and Zipp could find out.

She glanced at her sister, only to notice something was wrong. Finally, she realized what it was. Zipp didn't have her spy gear. Whenever she did an investigation, Zipp always wore the spy gear Izzy made her. Pipp put her back to the wall so she could keep an eye on both Zipp and Posey. She didn't know what was happening, but she could spot an ambush a mile away.

"Alright you two, what's happening? You're really starting to freak me out," Pipp said, her voice trembling.

The last thing she saw was small grins appear on Posey and Zipp's faces before she felt something land on her back and the world went black.

---

Hitched hurried to the Crystal Brighthouse, a bouquet of two dozen flowers–candytuffs, mock orange flowers, orange lilies, yellow carnations, and white poppies–in his mouth. He had texted Pipp earlier, to see if she wanted to meet somewhere, but when she didn't respond, he knew she was still pissed at him. He wanted to apologize for being such a jerk and make everything alright before it was too late.

When he got to the Brighthouse, he burst through the doors without even knocking, knowing they were always unlocked. When he got in, he was about to run up the ramp to the mares' shared bedroom when he skidded to a stop. He saw Zipp, Izzy, Sunny, and Misty all standing at the entrance of the kitchen with confused expressions.

Momentarily overcome with curiosity, he walked up to the entrance to see what all the buzz was about. He pushed through the bewildered mares, his eyes widening when he saw Pipp sitting on the countertop, snapping selfie after selfie after selfie. She'd then type something on her phone and then she giggled. She didn't even seem to notice him.

"Pipp?" He asked, his voice muffled by the flowers in his mouth. He quickly took them out and held them in his hoof.

She looked up at him and an irritated expression consumed her features. "Oh right. You," she said as though she forgot about him, before going back to typing on her phone.

"Look, Pipp. I know you're still upset with me, but—"

"I'm not," Pipp interrupted, not looking up from her phone.

"Y–you're not? Didn't you get my texts?" Hitch asked in shock.

Pipp nodded. "Yep."

"Then why didn't you answer?" Hitch asked, feeling like he was now playing twenty questions.

"Didn't feel like it. I had better things to do," Pipp answered with a shrug.

Hitch stood there in shock, his mouth hanging open. This mare before him may have Pipp's body, but she was not acting like the Pipp he fell in love with. The Pipp he saw in that throne room three years ago, singing that song was passionate and caring. She loved the ponies around her. And she was not this insensitive or unfeeling.

He stared at her for a bit, before shaking his head, what she was saying and the possible explanation for it going over him. He simply interpreted it as her still being upset with him, despite what she said.

"R–right, well, about last night..." He took a deep breath and held out the flowers. "I've had some time to think and—"

"Me too," Pipp said, snapping another string of selfies.

"Y–you did?" He asked, not sure what else to say.

"Hmhmm and you were right."

"I–I was?" Hitch asked again, feeling as though he was playing twenty questions...again.

Pipp groaned. "Are you going to repeat everything I say? Yes, you were right. We are too different–"

"I said that?"

Pipp rolled her eyes. "In so many words. The point is, you were right. We are way too different and so not compatible with each other."

Hitch felt his heart crack. "W–what are you saying?"

Finally, Pipp looked up from her phone, glaring at Hitch. "Do I need to spell it out for you? It. Is. Over. You and me? We're no longer a thing. Consider this the end of our relationship."

Hitch's heart shattered, and he swore everypony in the room could hear it. It sounded just like glass breaking. The four mares in the entryway looked at Pipp in shock. It wasn't just the fact that Pipp broke up with Hitch that shocked them to the core, which was utterly shocking in itself but it was the cold and calloused way she said it that shook them. Almost as if she almost enjoyed shattering Hitch's heart into a million pieces.

Hitch just stared at Pipp in shock, wide-eyed. Sunny, Misty, and Izzy all stared at Zipp, as though she might know the answer. Feeling their stares, she looked back at them, shrugging and shaking her head, obviously just as confused.

Honestly, Pipp had been acting odd all morning, but this just completely came out of left field. For all of them. Yesterday, Pipp seemed so sad after fighting with Hitch, and after Misty and Sunny talked to her, she seemed desperate to make things right. Now, she was just breaking up with him like she was talking about the weather. It made no damn sense. To any of them.

Hitch was completely dumbfounded, not to mention heartbroken. "Y–you're...what you...how...WHY?!" Hitch finally yelled when what Pipp said finally sunk in, making everypony who was watching flinch, except for Pipp. She was so remorseless, it didn't make sense to anypony.

Her eyes widened a bit as though realizing something before looking a bit crestfallen. "Oh, trust me, Hitchiepoo, this is hard for me too." Hitchiepoo?! Pipp has never called him Hitchiepoo. At Hitch's shocked silence, she rolled her eyes, her crestfallen face...well falling. "Oh, come on. Don't tell me you didn't see this coming." At his remained silence, she chuckled bitterly, before clearing her throat and looking sad again. "Look, Hitch. It was never going to work between us. Alright? I'm a princess. I can't be fooling around with lowly earth pony sheriffs. I mean, it's bad enough Zipp is playing detective over here and doing all the hard work of investigations instead of making somepony else do it for her."

Zipp's mouth dropped to the floor in complete shock. "W-what d-did you just say?!" Zipp said in shock at the same time Hitch said, "Lowly?!"

"I'm just saying, since Zipp obviously doesn't care about her subjects, I have to. Which means I need a good public image. It was fun while it lasted, but now I need to start thinking about my subjects. Which means finding somepony with a higher stature. But, don't worry. I'm sure you'll find somepony just as amazing on your level. Try Sunny. You'd make a beautiful couple. Or even Misty. I mean, she is a unicorn, but you guys are on similar authority levels with her being the daughter of the practically leader of Briddlewood and you being a sheriff."

Both Misty and Sunny looked at each other with wide eyes. "What?!" They both said, both of them suddenly blushing at the thought of dating their best friend's coltfriend. Or, ex-coltfriend now.

"Now, I have some very important...duties to do. If you'll excuse me..." Pipp trailed off as she flew out of the kitchen.

On her way out, she accidentally bumped into Misty, making the blue unicorn gasp with wide eyes, stopping her breath and her heart. Misty just stared at the floor, her eyes wide, trying to remember how to breathe.

There was a moment of silence before Zipp said, "You all saw that, right? I wasn't the only one?"

Sunny glared at Zipp. "Can't you try to be a little more sensitive than your sister was?"

"What?" Sunny tilted her head towards Hitch and Zipp's eyes momentarily widened. "Oh. Oops."

Sunny slowly walked up to Hitch, as though approaching a wounded animal. He was still standing where he was, looking at the countertop where Pipp had sat, dumbfounded. His mind was blank, sure that this whole thing was a dream. Small tears gathered at the corners of his eyes.

"Hitch...are you okay?"

"She...she broke up...with me...." Hitch said, his mouth dry, his eyes wide. Finally, he seemed to process what she said. "That's...that's not my Pipp. My Pipp would never be so heartless. That...thing may have Pipp's skin, but she's not Pipp." Hitch looked at Sunny with pleading eyes.

Sunny sighed helplessly, not knowing where to even begin. She knew something wasn't right. Something was horribly wrong with Pipp. And she'd find out what it was. But it wasn't like she could tell that to Hitch. If she did, he'd only freak out. Sunny thought back to Operation: Glitterbomb. She knew the second time Sparky went missing, he was able to keep his worry in check, but that was also because they just thought Sparky was playing hide and seek again. And by the time Misty told them somepony had dragon‐napped him, she told them she knew where he was. Sunny could only imagine what would happen if Hitch had actually thought he went missing again and didn't know where he was. Or if he found out something was horribly wrong with Pipp and didn't know what.

But at the same time, it was the lack of communication that made finding Sparky the first time so impossible. Because they were so uncoordinated, because they didn't communicate with each other, the only thing they accomplished was getting in each other's way. If anything, they're mostly the reason for Operation: Glitterbomb. It was because Hitch saw how their "investigations" were only bringing them backward and not forward that he felt he needed to take things into his own hooves. If there was something wrong with Pipp–which there clearly was–then the only way they were going to find out what it was and how to help was by being open and honest with each other, that way, they could coordinate and do this right.

"Let's not get drastic here. She's still Pipp, but there's obviously something wrong." Sunny said, hoping that'd be enough to spring Hitch into sheriff action and not intense disguised superhero action.

Zipp shook her head. "No." She shook her head harder, her eyes still reflecting disbelief. "No, that's not my sister. My sister would never be so heartless and mean and self–centered."

"But, who else could it be? That was obviously Pipp. I mean, she looked like Pipp, she sounded like Pipp..." Izzy trailed off. Those were the only two things that were Pipp. Everything else was wrong.

"But, my sister would never act like that!" Zipp argued.

"Izzy's right, Zipp. Who else could it be? I love Pipp, but...who could have her skin and voice so seamlessly, and yet not be her to the point where she's a completely different pony? It doesn't make any—"

Sunny was interrupted when Izzy said, turning to look at Misty, "What was that, Misty?"

Misty was still looking at the floor, wide-eyed, her whole body still trembling. "Hitch and Zipp are right." Misty looked up with wide fear-filled eyes. Ones that nopony could argue with, even if they wanted to. "That's not our Pipp."

"H–how are you so sure Misty?" Sunny asked, knowing what the finality meant in Misty's voice.

"Because our Pipp is so passionate and vibrant. When she feels emotions, she feels them strongly. So strongly, I'm surprised they don't consume her. But, this Pipp, she felt nothing. No happiness. No love. No anger. No hatred. Nothing. The Pipp that just broke up with Hitch? She was nothing but an empty shell."

Author's Note:

Mwahahaha *Misty evil laugh*

https://m.

And this is only the beginning...

FYI: I dropped some foreshadowing in the flowers of the bouquet Hitch tries to give Pipp. See if you can figure it out and drop your guesses in the comments. I'll like them if they're correct!!!

Keep an eye out for the next chapter!

Hakuna Matata