"Great going, Glitter. Now what do we do?" Spring Rain asked as the yellow rubber ball bounced into the blackness of the cave, disappearing from view not even twenty feet in. It appeared as if a haphazard attempt had been made to board up the entrance, along with several warning signs on both sides.
"I'm not going in there." Glitter said as the trio of friends fearfully eyed the mouth of the pitch black cave.
"Why not, are you a scaredy-pony? You couldn't keep hold of it!" Spring Rain shot back to the young colt.
"I could have if you didn't pass it to me so hard!" Glitter argued back, as the third, a dark orchid unicorn stared into the cave, trying to make out where the ball had stopped.
"Oh come on, what's the matter with you two?" Fizzlepop asked, approaching the mouth of the cave, weaving her way in between the numerous stalagmites that stood at the front, giving the entrance the appearance of a massive, toothed maw.
"I'll be right out. It couldn't have gone far..."
"Wh... What?" Fizzlepop asked Twilight, her pupils contracted slightly, wondering if she had heard the Princess correctly.
"Yeah, a mare and a stallion. They said they saw the article in the Canterlot Times and asked if they could talk to you." Twilight answered.
Starlight was the first, and so far only pony to notice how the Captain's body had visibly tensed.
"Will this take very long? Because too much longer, and we will go from fashionably late to just plain late." Rainbow interjected.
"Well, that's awfully rude, Rainbow." Twilight chastised.
"How far have they come? Can't you put them up for the night?" The pegasus asked.
"Sheesh, whatever happened to 'the party starts when we get there'?" Starlight asked Rainbow mockingly.
"It's okay... This won't take long. Lead the way, Princess." Fizzlepop said succinctly, bringing an end to the debate. With that, the four of them walked the rest of the way to the foyer, down the stairs, then over towards the library.
Starlight gave Fizzlepop a concerned glance as they closed in on the double doors to the castle library. Had nopony else really noticed? How her gait had changed, the tone of her voice when she said this wouldn't take long?
Twilight's magic swung the doors to the library open, and there in front of the center table, stood two unicorns, a stallion with a sky blue coat, and a mare with a mint-colored coat.
Fizzlepop froze in her steps before she was even through the doorway.
"F-Fizzlepop? It's... It's been a long time." The stallion, Spring Rain, greeted, the two of them taking a couple steps towards the Captain.
"Yes, it has," Fizzlepop began, stepping into the library, her voice just above a whisper, but the large room amplified her voice enough to be heard clearly. "Fourteen years, five months, and ten days."
"W-Wow," Glitter Drops began, astounded. "You actually rememb-"
"Remember exactly how long it's been since you walked out of my life, leaving me utterly alone? Yes."
The Captain's voice was now quite accusative, and as the ears of their visitors flattened against their heads, Twilight and Rainbow Dash now finally joined Starlight in thinking that something was wrong.
"Know what else I remember? How long it took you to replace that damned ball... And replace me. Do the two of you remember? Two days. Two. Days." Fizzlepop snarled. "Meanwhile I still have nightmares about what happened in that cave."
"Captain Fizz-"
"I also remember how long it took me to make another friend." Fizzlepop continued, pointing the front hoof that wasn't holding her staff back at Twilight. "Two months ago. That's how long it was until someone showed me mercy and kindness without expecting anything in return. I clung desperately to that monster's empty promise for months, and it's only because of her that I'm not spending the rest of my life behind bars, and now the two of you think you can just waltz in here like nothing ever happened-"
"Captain!"
Princess Twilight's snapping voice brought Fizzlepop's tirade to a halt, and she noticed how she had nearly halved the distance between herself and her childhood friends, and how they were now nearly cowering in front of the table. She took a deep, shaky breath.
"I don't know what you hoped to accomplish by coming here, and I don't care."
With that, she turned and galloped out of the library, tossing the bag of bits that served as the squad's petty cash to Rainbow, before turning towards her room, leaving the castle's now teary-eyed guests alone with Twilight, Starlight, and Rainbow Dash, all of them equally stunned over what just transpired.