//------------------------------// // A Piece of the Past // Story: Fizzlepop's Past // by milesprower06 //------------------------------// 'I can see a rainbow, in your tears as they fall on down I can see your soul grow, through the pain as they hit the ground.' Lieutenant Colonel Fizzlepop Berrytwist twirled around her staff, her body perfectly balanced against the angle she held it at on the carpet of the Castle of Friendship's east wing study, which she had claimed as her 'dance studio' over the past several months. A suggestion from Fluttershy shortly after Princess Twilight had left for Canterlot, interpretive dance and a cup of coffee had become her preferred way of starting or ending the day lately. 'Here comes the sun, smiling down, smiling down...' As one of Songbird Serenade's greatest hits came to an end, Fizzlepop slowly let out her last deep breath, turned to see the rays of the morning sun reach the record player, and magically reached over to remove the needle, and returned the record to its sleeve. She grabbed the cup of Grubber's delicious coffee, and turned to leave the room. It was time to start the day proper. She didn't like saying to herself that her commission as commanding officer of the Ponyville E.U.P. had gotten 'easier' over the last few months, but in a sense, that is precisely what had happened over the last winter and beginning of spring, as she began to share her command duties with Captains Thunderlane and Rivet, two of her very first recruits. For Thunderlane, the Ponyville EUP was the perfect way to stay in shape when he wasn't on tour with the Wonderbolts, and Rivet was essentially a full-time guard when it wasn't construction season. There wasn't much of a hustle and bustle in the foyer, but she could already hear the muffled commotion and conversation in the dining hall over in the west wing. But it was quite time for breakfast yet; today she was part of the second round of EUP being served. So when she came to the ground floor, she turned back to one of the doors in the corner, and headed down into the east wing basement, which had become the barracks and armory for her squad. Her hooves tapped on the cobblestone as she descended the stairs, and she overheard the morning physical training several rooms down. Her first stop, however, was the first room on the right, her personal armory. There, on the mannequin in the center of the room, rested her new set of armor. For her first two years of service, she had worn the same magenta-tinted plate armor that Rarity had made for her in the weeks before her swearing in ceremony. She had gotten it repaired multiple times when it got dings and dents throughout physical training and general use from everyday duty, and even needed to replace entire pieces like the helmet that were lost in battle. But it had served as her on-duty uniform for the first two years, the rank insignia being the only things that changed about it, until Rarity, Princess Twilight, and her squad worked behind her back to surprise her last month with what stood in front of her now. For her second anniversary of founding the Ponyville E.U.P., Rarity, Princess Twilight, and some of the best armorsmiths in Canterlot Castle collaborated to create a set of armor that the Element of Generosity immediately admitted put her previous work to shame. Fizzlepop's first set of armor used the Canterlot E.U.P. uniforms as a foundation, but this was something else entirely. The chestpiece was expertly welded sections of bronze, silver, and polished steel. The crest of the Kingdom of Friendship, Princess Twilight's seven-pointed star cutie mark, now adorned both front pauldrons. The hoof guards were the most identical to what she had before, but now matched the chest plate's color grouping. The helmet was by far the most ornate piece. It was a steel underlayer, with bronze plating going up the sides and back around her mane. The front of the helmet was gold curvatures that went above her eyes, and the center was a layer of polished silver that rested gently on her snout and traveled up to wrap around an aetherium-laced golden horn guard that shimmered spectacularly under the light. Every piece of armor was also expertly decorated with curves and waves of gold filigree. Needless to say, when they had surprised the Lieutenant Colonel with it during the anniversary ceremony, she had been moved to tears. Over the last month, she had spent most of her off-duty hours keeping it polished and looking brand new. Having gotten used to putting the pieces on, she was dressed for duty in a matter of minutes, and with staff in hoof, she continued down the hall to where the second half of the day shift was drilling and waiting for their turn to eat. She turned to the doorway, and saw that it was currently Berryshine sparring with the squads newest, and first international trooper, Gallus. The griffon had enlisted shortly after graduating from the School of Friendship, with the lofty aspirations of eventually joining the Castle contingent of the Canterlot E.U.P., where he would be working with Princess Twilight almost directly. Taking in a griffon recruit was a tricky affair, as she had to do a fair bit of traveling and research in order to get an idea of what to expect from a young adult griffon in terms of strength and agility, and nutritional requirements. After all that, she could comfortably say that Gallus was coming along nicely. Thunderlane, who was standing with his back to the rear wall and supervising the two sparring partners, was the first to see Fizzlepop enter the room. "Commanding officer on deck!" He bellowed, and the entire room snapped to attention, including Gallus and Berryshine, who immediately halted their session, and stood at attention. "As you were," Fizzlepop immediately replied, walking around the edge of the room to stand beside Captain Thunderlane as the sparring session restarted. The unicorn figured that the griffon's front talons would give him a considerable advantage when it came to spear combat, but when it came to facing an experienced trooper like Berryshine, who was among the Ponyville E.U.P.'s first recruits from two years ago, it was clear that the newbie had to work on his agility and technique, and to be fair, he had done exactly that. For the past few months, he had attended every single PT session, even those that hew wasn't assigned, and was even staying down here in the barracks, something that not a lot of off-duty guards did as they all had local residences. "Not bad, Private. You've been improving." She commented at the end of the session as the group was making their way out of the barracks to head upstairs to have breakfast. "Thank you, ma'am. I'm thrilled to be making marked progress after quite a few sore nights." Gallus replied. "Alright, after breakfast, you'll be out front catching some sun with Berryshine, and I'll see you this evening for PT, alright?" "Understood, ma'am." Gallus said, having gotten today's assignment last night already. After they returned to the foyer en route to the dining hall, Fizzlepop saw Glitter Drops and Spring Rain come down the stairs. They were her oldest friends, and Twilight had hired them to be the castle caretakers. As such, they were in charge of all events taking place in and on castle grounds. "Morning, Fizzlepop. Did you have a good night?" Glitter asked. "Well enough. What's on your itinerary for today?" Fizzlepop replied. "I'm gonna be around the dining hall and foyer all day, getting ready for the Mares Day festivities tomorrow." Fizzlepop nodded. Yes, it was that time in May. Flower shops would be quite busy, and fine dining all around town would probably have their reservation lists fill up quickly for tomorrow. "What about you?" Spring asked. "I'll be out on outskirts patrol today. I owe Fluttershy, Applejack, and Dami a visit." By the time they had all filed into the dining hall, the first half of the shift had gone on their way and were on duty. In about an hour, breakfast would be done, and Grubber could finish up cleaning the kitchen and head over to the School of Friendship for lunch service, while Thunderlane would take over dining hall duty for lunch over here in the castle; her second in command loved to cook, and the stallion and hedgehog frequently had friendly competitions over all manner of dishes. After a few minutes in line, Fizzlepop took a seat at one of the available tables with Thunderlane, Spring Rain, and Glitter Drops. "Are you doing anything for Mares Day tomorrow, Fizzlepop?" Glitter asked, taking her first bite of pancakes and strawberry syrup. "Other than mailing a package up to Twilight in Canterlot? Not really, no, no plans." "Fizzlepop, I've been meaning to ask... Have you ever been home? You know, to Foal's Peak?" Swallowing her current bite of breakfast, Fizzlepop shook her head. "No, I haven't. For all intents and purposes, Ponyville is my home now." "Well, I know that, it's just, well, it's nice to go back to your roots sometimes, where you came from." "What are you getting at, Glitter?" Fizzle asked, and both Thunderlane and Spring noticed the Lieutenant Colonel tense up a bit. "It's just that I don't think anyone there even knows you came back. Don't you think it'd be nice to let them know that you're okay?" Thunderlane tried to shake his head at Glitter as subtly as he could, signaling her to end this line of questioning and whatever she hoped to accomplish with it. He didn't know quite what was wrong, but he knew when his commanding officer was on edge. "I don't think it matters, Glitter. Maybe if they did a little more after the accident to keep me around, I'd care a little more." With that, and half of her breakfast still remaining on her plate, she got up from her seat and abruptly left the dining hall without another word, leaving Thunderlane and Spring Rain with a stunned silent Glitter Drops, as she wondered what in Equestria she had said wrong. Gallus made his way down into the basement after his shift was up, and was ready to do a few rounds of PT to really work up an appetite before dinner. He turned into the sparring room, and saw L.C. Fizzlepop, eyes closed, in the middle of three-legged push-ups, with three glowing orbs slowly rotating around her head. He had seen this kind of magical meditation before, unicorns usually did this to keep their spellcasting sharp. He knew that the E.U.P. commander's talent was pryotechnic displays, which would explain why the orbs looked like mini-fireworks that weren't quite ready to explode. Well, two out of three. One of them was wavering and sparking. "Commanding officer on deck!" He stated loudly, snapping to attention. Fizzlepop's eyes shot open, sending the spells rocketing to the outer edges of the room, with one of them heading straight for Gallus, whose desire to keep his feathers from getting singed overrode his desire to stay at attention, and he hit the floor as the sparking orb flew overhead and bounced down the hall before fizzling out, along with the other two, which had landed over by the spears and shield talismans. When he looked around and saw that it was all clear, he scrambled to his feet. "Private Gallus," Fizzlepop began, getting to her hooves and approaching him, mild annoyance apparent in her voice. "You announce an officer on deck when I, or any other superior, enters the room. If you enter a room with a superior already there, you go about your business, stay out of their way, or stand at parade rest until they acknowledge you. This is especially important when they may be concentrating and don't hear you enter. Understood?" "Understood, ma'am. Apologies, ma'am." Gallus immediately replied. "As you were, Private." Fizzlepop said, going back towards the center of the room, and resumed her push-up position, with the griffon assuming a more traditional stance next to her, and began his workout routine. "Ma'am, if I may, you seem a little... Agitated, this evening." Gallus offered, as he continued his push-ups. A small part of Fizzlepop wanted to cut the griffon down to size and tell him to focus more on his physical training, but that would have been contradictory to one of her expectations of her troops, which she had required Gallus to memorize during his first week as a recruit: 'I welcome my troops to speak their mind, and come to me with any concerns about their well being, or the well being of their fellow EUP.' She figured she counted among that, recalling how Thunderlane and Rivet had pulled her aside when she was experiencing the first bout of separation anxiety in her life. "Yes, a bit. I've got something on my mind, Private." Fizzlepop replied. "I'm all ears, if you want to get things off your chest, ma'am." Gallus said, continuing his routine. After a few seconds of consideration, she figured she'd humor the griffon. "Preparations for Mare's Day are underway at the castle, and caretaker Glitter Drops has suggested that I return home for the holiday. I haven't gone back to my hometown in over twenty years. I left at a very young age, and yet I didn't have any separation anxiety in my life until Princess Twilight departed for Canterlot nine months ago. If I've made so much progress since Twilight showed me the magic of friendship... Then why don't I want to go home?" "I can relate, ma'am. Even after I started taking Princess Twilight's classes at the school, I still didn't want to go home for the holidays. Griffon heritage isn't exactly something to be proud of. As Hearth's Warming break came up, the knot in my stomach just got worse and worse. I didn't have any anxiety over leaving Griffonstone when I first came to Equestria, but I had plenty when I was faced with leaving my new friends for two weeks." Fizzlepop knew the 'stone in the gut' all too well. A psychological weight inside that only got worse if you didn't deal with it. "So you never went home?" "Well, I popped in every now and then when it came to permission slips and related things but... No. I don't mean to be so presumptuous, I'm sure your situation as an Equestrian is different, and better, than that of a griffon, ma'am." Gallus said, returning his focus to his workout. "I'm sure 'better' is a matter of perspective, Private." She decided to leave the conversation at that. During the enlistment process, she and Gallus had touched on his life before coming to the School of Friendship, but never really went into any real depth. She was well aware that he wasn't particularly proud of his griffon heritage, and that he believed that the best years of his life had been right here in Ponyville. On that, they could absolutely relate. With that, she completed her current rep and got to her hooves. "As you were, Private. Keep up the good work." She said to him before heading down the hall to remove her armor. First the hoof guards, then the chest plate, then lastly the helmet. She turned it around and looked at herself in the center piece's silver reflection before carefully returning it to the mannequin, before turning and heading upstairs to the dining hall. She saw the setting sun shine through the western windows of the foyer, and could smell the inviting aroma of Grubber's broccoli cheddar soup; he had started looking up all manner of recipes for it once she had told him how much she had enjoyed it during her trip abroad to Mount Aris. She stepped into the dining hall, and sure enough, there was a serving pot full of steaming soup. She went through the serving line, got herself a bowl, then found where Glitter had taken her seat, and noticed that she had been averting her gaze as she approached the table, and sat down next to her. "I'm sorry I snapped at you this morning, Glitter." She told her friend, smiling softly at her. "I'm sorry if I said anything wrong." Glitter replied. "From your viewpoint, you probably couldn't have known. I guess even after all this time, I still really don't like bringing up my fillyhood. I mean... Glitter, Celestia was ready to charge me with high treason and throw me behind bars for the rest of my life. When Twilight stopped that and brought me down here... It felt like a second chance, a fresh start, apart from absolutely everything that had happened before. I'm sure you remember how I blew up at you when you first showed up here. I'm just afraid I'd be inviting more of that if I go digging up the past. All you get is dirty." Glitter wanted to be careful with what to say next, because she didn't want to cost her friend another half a meal. "But, if it bothers you as much as it did this morning... Is it really buried? I know I wasn't as good of a friend as I really should have been back then, but if you can patch things up with me and Spring... Shouldn't you try with whatever or whoever is back home? I'm not telling you what to do, Fizzy, but something tells me you should think about it at least. I don't think I'd be a good friend if I didn't tell you that." "Thanks, Glitter. I'll think about it." Once dinner was finished and the night shift had taken their posts, the prospect of returning to Foal's Peak still lingered in Fizzlepop's mind as she retired to her room for the night, and it made her recall one of the conversations she had with Starlight when another piece of the past found its way back into her present life, when Spring Rain and Glitter Drops had come to the castle unannounced, after seeing a newspaper clipping about the Ponyville E.U.P. being formed. 'If you stay here and let yourself stay angry, like I did, without hearing what they have to say, it'll eat away at you in ways you can't imagine.' Had anyone at Foal's Peak seen the same newspaper article? She didn't even know if anyone there even knew she was still alive, or had returned to Equestria. Did they know? Did they care? Glitter and Spring had so far been the only ponies from her childhood to come knocking. So why was it still on her mind? She looked at herself in the mirror and decided to sleep on it. She climbed into bed, reached down and opened the bottom drawer of her nightstand, and pulled out the small Princess Twilight plush that Grubber had given her after the coronation. With everything else she had learned during that month of upheaval, this brought her more peaceful nights than any other of her coping mechanisms. With a deep breath, she shut off the light, and sunk into her pillow, listening to the crickets outside her open window on this cool May night. All Aboard didn't usually see a whole lot of activity on the Ponyville train platform this early in the morning. The longtime rail conductor sold usually only one or two tickets eastbound before the 6 AM train left, and then the much busier 7 AM train to Canterlot arrived. That's when his coffee would have to kick in; dozens of tickets would be sold within minutes, and he'd have to be wide awake to get everypony on their way in a timely manner. But when he saw a tall dark orchid unicorn in full E.U.P. dress uniform come through the fog and step up to the ticket window, he knew it wouldn't be polite to appear half-asleep. "Good morning to you, Lieutenant Colonel. Out on an early bird patrol?" He asked the well-known royal guard, straightening his hat. At the same time, he wondered from the mare's expression if she wasn't half asleep herself, only managing a meek smile in response. "Not today, I'm afraid. I'm traveling. One ticket to Foal's Peak, please."