It had been quiet in Equestria recently… which surprised them, ever since Opaline took drastic measures to take over Warnerstock on the Mane 5 and Misty’s last adventure. However, she was able to be defeated by the power of the ponies’ cutie marks, and after bidding goodbye to their Warnerstock friends, who they now considered as one of their family, they left for Equestria, where everything seemed to be normal.

Ever since then, the group included Misty in everything they did, whether it be going to Mane Melody, getting smoothies, sleepovers, everything. Misty truly was sorry for her actions, and it showed-- she was becoming more and more confident and compassionate every day. But… she couldn’t help but wonder what Opaline was up to.

While the ponies didn’t tell Maretime Bay about their death-defying encounter with Opaline, or the danger that might be coming to Equestria in the future, it was better if they didn't know... at least for a little while. Hitch had told the public that the alicorn in the smoke a few weeks ago was just a prank, and he punished the colts who set it up... and even though that was a lie, ponies seemed to believe it. But it was driving Pipp crazy not to tell the Pippsqueaks about their encounter with Opaline… she wanted to protect them. Especially three little fillies who became near and dear to her heart-- Peach Fizz, Seashell and Glory.

Peach Fizz was a quiet little unicorn filly with endless enthusiasm, often sticking close to her best friends. During one of her one on one sessions with the Pippsqueaks, she learned that Peach Fizz was pretty much friendless in Bridlewood before magic returned-- she was so shy, she didn’t know how to make friends. But now that she had Glory and Seashell, she felt a little more confident than before.

Glory was an adventure-seeking little pegasus filly from Zephyr Heights, who made every day a new adventure for her best friends. Sometimes, Glory could get a little carried away, but she always meant well, and she had her best friends to help her through anything.

And finally, there was Seashell, a confident little earth pony from Maretime Bay, who never thought her best friends would be a pegasus and a unicorn. And said by Pipp herself, with their unique personalities, that’s what made their friendship so strong, and they embodied friendship between pony kinds so well.

Of course, Pipp did her usual livestreams and made sure the Pippsqueaks were included in everything else she did…

But how long could she keep up not letting the Pippsqueaks know about Equestria’s new rising threat?

XXXXXXXXXXX

“Come on, girls!” Seashell said to her friends. “We’re gonna be late to Mane Melody and spend the day with Pipp!”

“We’re trying, Seashell!” Peach Fizz panted tiredly as she raced behind the purple earth pony. “But you’re running so fast, Glory and I can’t keep up with you!”

The three fillies had recently won a contest that detailed that they would spend an entire day with Princess Pipp Petals doing whatever she did on a daily basis, and the three were beyond ecstatic. They finally reached Mane Melody, allowing them to finally stop and catch their breath. “Thank goodness,” Glory sighed. “My wings were getting tired.”

“Can I knock on the door? Can I? Can I?” Peach Fizz asked. “Sure, Peach Fizz. Go right ahead!” Seashell moved out of the way, and Peach Fizz knocked on the salon door with her hoof. And after a second or two, Pipp opened the door and smiled upon seeing it was them. “Hey, Pippsqueaks!” she greeted enthusiastically. “Come on in! We were just setting up snacks!”

The fillies let out an excited squeal before they trotted inside. The entire salon was decorated with ‘WELCOME PIPPSQUEAKS’ on a giant banner, balloons in all different shades of colors, streamers, cookies and a blender so Sunny can mix up their favorite smoothies. “Wow… Pipp, this is beautiful!” Glory exclaimed. “Thank you, Glory! But it was really Izzy and Misty who designed it,” Pipp told her. “Our real unicycling masters.”

“Heh heh… guilty as charged!” Izzy giggled while Misty waved to the three fillies. “So, what do you girls wanna do first?” Sunny asked. “Try out a smoothie? Play a game? Sing a song?”

“Actually, Sunny, I have a great idea,” Pipp gave her a wink. “Pippsqueaks, I think this moment of arrival calls for a…”

“Pony… dance… PARTY!!!” Peach Fizz, Glory and Seashell said all at once. “Ooh, that’s right!” Pipp clapped her hooves and moved over to a speaker. “So let’s get ready to jam, ponies!”

She pressed a button on the speaker, and one of the songs she created, “All You Need Is Your Beat” began to blast through the salon, prompting everypony (Zipp a bit reluctant) to get up and dance to their hearts’ content. Seashell, Peach Fizz and Glory’s giggles were among the happiest, and Pipp’s heart swelled up with happiness seeing her Pippsqueaks happy.

But the moment wouldn’t last for long.

For just a few moments after the song ended, during their giggling fit, Pipp, Izzy, Sunny, Zipp and Hitch’s cutie marks began to glow brightly. “Oh man,” Hitch scratched his head. “Looks like we need to head back to the Brighthouse-- the Unity Crystals are calling us.”

“Awwwww…” Peach Fizz’s ears pinned. “Does that mean we’re gonna have to cancel the party?”

“I’m sorry, girls,” Sunny said gently. “I wish we could take you with us, but-- oh my pony… look, guys!”

Everyone turned to see a bewildering sight-- the fillies’ cutie marks were glowing too! “That’s weird… what could it mean?” Misty asked. “I don’t know,” Zipp said. “Usually, it’s been just us. I guess the Unity Crystals want them to come along too.”

“The Unity Crystals? The ones that gave us magic? Why are they calling us exactly?” Seashell asked. This prompted the ponies to look at each other, then at Pipp, who sighed. “Okay, girls… I’ll explain everything on the way.”

XXXXXXXXX

“So the Unity Crystals have been calling you for missions in other worlds where friendship and unity really need you?” asked Seashell once Pipp explained everything… well… except for the Opaline part. “Yeah!” Glory said. “At least… that’s what I heard.”

“That’s the story all right,” Hitch said as he carried Sparky on his back up to the top floor of the Brighthouse. “We never know where they’re gonna send us either.”

“So… how long will we be gone for?” Peach Fizz asked worriedly. “Oh, not too long, I bet,” Izzy reassured. “The Unity Crystals slow down time in Equestria, so not too much time has passed when we usually leave. I’m sure they’ll have us back to Equestria soon.”

Soon they arrived at the top of the Brighthouse, and the fillies oohed and awwed at the sight of the Unity Crystals. “They’re so pretty!” Peach Fizz said with sparkling eyes. “And them being split apart is what caused us to lose magic in the first place,” Zipp said. “So we have to be careful.”

“Brace yourselves, everypony!” Sunny said. “I think the crystals are about to send us off!”

It was true, the Unity Crystals were now glowing with the same white light that filled the room, and teleported the group off to their next adventure… wherever it may be.

The wild ride through the portal was becoming slowly better for the Mane 5, Sparky and Misty, but the fillies screamed and shrieked in terror as they went through the tunnel of blinding light. Soon the ride ended, and everypony collapsed into a huge pile on some cold concrete. “You know…” Zipp groaned. “You would think the ride would get less bumpy and we would land more on our hooves.”

“Ugh…” Hitch put a hoof to his head as he stood up, and then, once he got a good look as to where they were, his eyes widened. “Guys… either we’re in a human-version of Zephyr Heights… or I don’t know what this place is.”

In the ponies’ eyes, it looked like a bustling human city, where the air was nice and warm, and the people seemed to go about their everyday lives without really paying much attention to them. Nevertheless, they moved to an alleyway nearby to avoid being seen. “What is this place?” Misty asked. “Hang on,” Pipp pulled out her phone. “I’ll do a search by image.”

She stuck her hoof out of the alley and took a picture of the street, putting it into the search engine of her phone and letting the website pop up. “According to this other-worldly website,” she said, “it looks like we’re in some town called… Dimmsdale. Oooh... hooftag mysterious and trendy!”

“Wow… it looks like Zephyr Heights, but on the ground!” Glory said, pointing to the tall buildings above them. “Look at all those buildings!”

“So… what do we do now, Sunny?” Seashell asked curiously. “Now, we… uh…” Sunny chuckled nervously-- what did they do next? They never really followed any sort of pattern with these adventures, so it was hard to tell. “Let’s see if there’s anyone who needs to solve a friendship problem around… or at least look for something magical,” the earth pony/alicorn said. “That ought to get us somewhere.”

XXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, back in Equestria, Opaline had watched the group exit the portal and saw they were now moving through Dimmsdale in a stealthy manner. “Here those pathetic ponies go again, going to another world to help with some sort of calamity,” she sighed. “Unfortunately, I am too weak from the previous battle to follow them. However… I might be able to have someone in this ‘Dimmsdale’ place be my underling for the time being.”

She then took out a locket that was similar to the one that she gave Misty not long ago, and tossed it into her viewing pool. “Hopefully, some stupid little idiot will find this,” Opaline muttered, “and they will help me destroy those ponies once and for all, so Equestria will be MINE!!!! AAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!”

XXXXXXXXXXX

The ponies had been wandering the alleyways of Dimmsdale for quite a while now, and they were beginning to get tired, hungry and confused. Why hadn’t they found any sort of friendship problem or why hadn’t they seen anything magic-related yet? Sunny wasn’t giving up hope, though-- she knew that the Unity Crystals had sent them there for a reason. They just had to keep looking.

They soon arrived on a quiet street with not much activity, where one house caught their attention. The exterior of the house was painted white, with a red-colored roof, a chimney running up the right side of the house, and a satellite dish and garage on the left. There was some nice plant life on the front of the house, too-- not really striking their fancy as exciting. “Come on, ponies,” Sunny said. “Let’s keep moving. I don’t think there’s anyting worth looking at here. Pippsqueaks, stay behind Pipp and Zipp.”

The three fillies nodded, but as the group walked down the sidewalk again, Seashell stopped her friends, causing them to become confused. “W-What are you doing, Seashell?” Peach Fizz asked. “We’re supposed to stay with Pipp and her friends.”

“Still… I can’t help but feel there’s something… off with this house. And if we find out what, maybe Pipp and the others will let us come with them on another mission someday!” Seashell said. “Come on! Let’s go see!”

“...I have a bad feeling about this…” Glory sighed, but nevertheless, she and Peach Fizz followed Seashell over the white picket fence and into the front yard of the house. It seemed pretty standard on the outside, but on the second level, there seemed to be some kind of laughter. “Listen… up there!” Peach Fizz said, pointing to the window on the second level. “Let’s go see who’s up there. Maybe they have a friendship problem we can help solve.”

Glory unfurled her wings and flew up to the window while Peach Fizz used her horn to levitate herself up there and Seashell used a springy flower to bounce her way onto the roof. That’s when the three peered inside the window and gasped at what they saw.

Inside the room (a bedroom more specifically) there was a young human boy, playing volleyball with two beings that had small wings, crowns floating above their heads and wands within their reach. The boy had tan skin, brown hair, bright blue eyes, a pink hat and shirt and dark blue pants, while the beings, which Seashell remembered seeing in a book once (called fairies) each had their own looks:

The male had green hair, green eyes, a white shirt with a black tie and black pants.The female had pink hair that had a curl at the end, pink eyes, a yellow shirt and black pants.

All three of them seemed to have a good time, unaware that the three little ponies were watching them. “Guys! Move over!” Peach Fizz jumped up to see the boy and the fairies. “I can’t see! I can’t-- WHOA!!”

Peach Fizz accidentally landed on Seashell and Glory, causing them to fall through the window without breaking it and landed on the floor in front of them. This seemed to catch the boy and his fairies offguard, and the pink one quickly used her magic wand to make the volleyball supplies disappear. “Whoa-- where did these little horses come from?” the boy wondered. “We’re not horses!” Glory shook her head. “We’re ponies.”

“Ponies, horses, who cares? They’re still four-legged,” the green haired fairy shrugged. The fillies soon became nervous-- what should they do now?

XXXXXXXXXX

“All right, guys-- I think I see an older house up ahead, and it looks like nopony’s home,” Hitch said as the others continued to walk down the sidewalk. “We can rest there until we can find our friendship/magic problem.”

“Yeah, let’s--” Misty managed to look back after a moment, and seeing no sign of the Pippsqueaks caused her to gasp. “Oh no! Pipp! The fillies! They’re gone!”

“WHAT?!” Pipp looked around frantically. “Where could they have gone?” Sunny wondered. “They were right behind us!”

“I don’t know, but don’t worry-- we’ll find them before they get off too far in a human world where they could be hunted down,” Zipp said. “We’ll backtrack and see if they accidentally got separated from us a little down the road. Knowing those three, they’ll probably stay right where we last saw them.”

XXXXXXXXX

Glory, Seashell and Peach Fizz sat on the human boy’s bed, looking a little scared as the fairies brushed off the dirt and dust that was on them from their little collision. “There you go, sweeties,” the girl fairy said. “Do you feel better?”

“A little… thanks,” Peach Fizz gave a shy smile. “Sorry we crashed into your window. We thought we saw some magical activity in here, and we wanted to see if it was the thing we were called to help with… well, with Pipp and her friends.”

“It’s okay-- we’re kinda used to the whole magical creatures coming out of nowhere thing,” the boy said with a smile. “I’m Timmy Turner, and these are my fairy godparents, Cosmo and Wanda.”

“Hello, little horsies! I mean, ponies! I-I mean…” Cosmo stammered, but the fillies giggled midst the stammers. “Don’t worry about it,” Seashell said. “I’m Seashell, and these are my best friends, Peach Fizz and Glory.”

“Hi,” Glory waved. “Nice to meet you three,” Timmy said. “So… where did you guys come from? And who’s Pipp?”

This caused the three fillies to gasp deeply in shock. “You don’t know Princess Pipp Petals? The greatest popstar/diva/princess in Equestrian history?!” Peach Fizz practically screeched. “Peach Fizz… we talked about this,” Glory told her friend. “When it comes to Pipp, just play it cool.”

“PIPPSQUEAKS!!!!!!” came a shrill voice, and Glory looked out the window to see Pipp and her friends searching for them. “Well… except for when Pipp gets mad,” Seashell said, joining Glory at the window. “Pipp! We’re over here!”

At the sound of Seashell’s voice, the ponies raced to the house, careful not to be seen, before they used Sunny and Hitch’s plant growing powers to get to the window and climbed inside the room. “Pippsqueaks! There you are!” Pipp sighed in relief. “Where have you three been?! You should have told us where you were going before sneaking off like that!”

“And you were supposed to stay with me and Pipp so something like this wouldn’t happen,” Zipp said sternly, making the fillies frown in shame. “Hey… it’s okay,” Timmy said, coming to the fillies’ defense. “It wasn’t there fault. They were just curious to see what we were doing.”

“Timmy, maybe we shouldn’t meddle in these nice ponies’ affairs,” Wanda told her godson. “I’m sure they’re here for an important mission like Peach Fizz said, and I don’t think we should get in the way.”

“Well… we are here on a mission, but we can take a little break,” Sunny said after a moment. “Thanks for looking out for them… Timmy, was it? I’m Sunny Starscout, and this is Izzy Moonbow, Hitch Trailblazer, Pipp Petals, Zipp Storm, Sparky Sparkeroni and Misty Brightdawn.”

“Pleased to meet you all, Sunny. And no problem-- they practically crashed through our window, but we were happy to look out for them,” Timmy shook Sunny’s hoof. “Whoa… what are these things?” Misty tapped Cosmo’s rear with her hoof out of curiosity. “Hey! These things have names, you know!” Cosmo huffed. “I’m Cosmo, and this is Wanda, and you guys REALLY shouldn’t be here right about now!”

“Huh? Why’s that?” Zipp asked suspiciously. But before any of them could respond, there came a sudden boom behind them, sending them flying. When they turned and looked again, there was a tall muscular man holding a giant magic wand standing behind them. “Because,” he said in a very gravely voice, “Timmy Turner knows that he can’t let other people see his fairies!”

“I-It isn’t Timmy’s fault-- it was an accident! Our accident,” Glory tried to defend nervously. “Besides, we’re not PEOPLE exacrly,” Seashell said. “We’re ponies. Pegasi, earth ponies and unicorns from Equestria.” The second that Seashell said the word ‘Equestria’, the muscled man’s expression immediately changed. “Equestria, you say?” he asked. “That changes everything-- of course they can see your fairies, Turner!”

“Huh?” Timmy blinked in confusion. “Of course! How could I forget?” Wanda asked herself. “Fairy World and Equestria’s ruler Twilght Sparkle formed an alliance several 1000 years ago, so it seems only natural that we can let them see us along with you.”

“Twilight Sparkle? Well… there’s something you should know about the princess,” Zipp said. “She, uh… she and the Guardians of Harmony passed on a little over 1000 moons ago.”

“Ohhhhhhh… so they passed a test and left?” Cosmo blinked innocently, causing Wanda to knock him into the wall. “...anyway… we’d love to help keep the alliance alive,” Sunny said before turning toward the man with the wand. “I mean… if you’re willing to, um…?”

“I am Jorgen von Strangle. And if you all are really continuing the work of Twilight Sparkle and the Guardians of Harmony,” Jorgen said, “then I would be happy for you to continue the alliance in their place. JUST DON'T MESS IT UP!!!”

And with that, Jorgen poofed away in a giant explosion. “Whoa… that was a tad intense,” Hitch said, clearing away some of the dust from the explosion. “Oooh, nice unicycling, Timmy!” Izzy lifted up a video game console. “It’s like you filled this little phone in little tiny square that make a picture!”

“Uh, that’s my new video game-- please keep your hooves off,” Timmy yanked it away from her. “Ohh, Timmy!” called a voice. “Sport, it’s your dad!” Wanda cried. “We have to get the ponies out of here before he sees them!”

“You’re right!” Timmy said. “I wish they were invisible!”

Cosmo and Wanda raised their wands, and in an instant, the ponies disappeared from sight. Then, Cosmo and Wanda turned into goldfish just as Timmy’s father came into the room. “Hey, son! Look who’s going to look after you while your mother and I go to the movies!”

Out of the doorframe emerged a red haired girl, probably about 16 years old with pink eyes that were as infuriating as a blazing fire, holding an axe behind her back. “Vicky?! Dad, no!” Timmy begged, clamping onto his father's leg. “Don’t leave me with her! She’s evil!”

“That’s ridiculous, Timmy. Vicky isn’t evil-- she’s evilously good at being your babysitter!” Mr. Turner shrugged it off. “Bye, precious gift from above! We’ll be back by 2… a.m!”

And with that, Timmy’s father left him alone with the babysitter, who stared down at him with a menacing look. “Tell ya what, twerp?” she sneered. “I got an idea for a new game-- called ‘Lock the Twerp in His Room While the Babysitter Watches TV and Drinks All the Soda and Blames It on You’! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!”

With that, she slammed the door shut and locked it, allowing the ponies to break themselves out of the invisibility magic. “Who… was… that?!” Misty asked with wide eyes-- that human reminded her so much of Opaline. “That… was Vicky, the babysitter that provided me my godparents,” Timmy explained as Cosmo and Wanda reverted back to their fairy selves. “I guess I’m getting punished for nothing.”

“Hey, don’t say that. She only does that if you don’t do something about it,” Sunny said. “Why don’t you use your fairies’ magic to make her go to sleep or something? So she doesn’t drink all the soda and blame it on you?” Timmy thought about it, and a smile quickly graced his face. “Hey… that’s not a bad idea!” he said. “Cosmo? Wanda? Make it so!”

Cosmo and Wanda raised their wands and poofed Vicky into a deep slumber-- just enough to make her sleep until Timmy’s parents got back. “Not bad, Timmy,” Misty said with an impressed giggle. “I think staying with you while we find our mission is gonna be a lot of fun.”

“So, what kind of mission are you here on anyway?” Wanda asked. “It’s sort of complicated, but we kinda need to find some sort of problem to solve,” Zipp explained. “And keep these little fillies out of trouble.”

To this, the Pippsqueaks giggled sheepishly. “Well, you can hang out here until you can find your problem,” Timmy offered. “So… can you us more about this Equestria place?”

Sunny smiled-- this Timmy fellow was sure to help them navigate this world… he seemed to trust them so much already. “We’d love to tell you about it. But then again... we better start from the beginning.”