//------------------------------// // Mares Day, Part 1 // Story: Fizzlepop's Past // by milesprower06 //------------------------------// "Next stop, Foal's Peak in twenty minutes! Foal's Peak, twenty minutes! Next stops include Baltimare in two hours, and Fillydelphia in five hours." The conductor's voice was just loud enough to momentarily grab the attention of the passenger car he walked down. His imminent arrival announcement complete, he stepped through the double doors into the next car to continue his rounds, allowing Fizzlepop to continue staring silently out the window at the fast approaching Foal Mountain range. The Equestrian National Rail Network was one of the fastest expanding industries in the nation for the past century. It allowed for population booms in places like Ponyville and Sire's Hollow, and had slowly made traveling across the continent an affair that took maybe two days, instead of weeks. High speed operations out of Canterlot and the Crystal Empire were even allowing travel to nations across the Sparkling Sea, Equestria's east coast. So it made the Lieutenant Colonel wonder what it had done to Foal's Peak in twenty-one years. When she took off that day, the train platform hadn't been built yet; rail service had been nonstop from Detrot to Baltimare back then. She had run away on hoof, following the tracks east before getting a carriage ride to Baltimare, then headed south, where she had gotten a ticket on an airship that was headed east out of Horseshoe Bay. She still didn't like dwelling on those years. So much of her young life wasted. 'Spring... Glitter... Even Grubber asked me why I hadn't gone home yet...' Fizzlepop thought to herself. She looked down at the black dress coat she wore. She knew boarding the train or setting foot in town with full armor wouldn't be appropriate unless she was there in some kind of official capacity, which this was not. She had arranged with Rarity to expand the E.U.P.'s uniform options after the Mount Aris expidition, for when on-duty armor wasn't called for, and the dress coat and sash was what she had immediately come up with, and had the entire squad fitted for. It was very much a formal piece of attire, coming up to her neck with a semi-stiff collar. It was paired with a magenta satin sash, where decorations and awards were displayed. It was worn over her right shoulder, and came down her barrel to the opposing leg, before going up and back to be fastened at the other end just behind the shoulder. She wore her promotion medals, the ribbons for two years of service, the Pink Heart of Courage, and around her neck, she had decided to remove her Hippogriffian Wings of Valor medal from the display case in her bedroom and bring it along. The passenger car she occupied wasn't even a quarter full. She surmised that if ponies were traveling east, they weren't doing it quite this early. The train would no doubt fill up much more with ponies going from Baltimare to Fillydephia and vice versa. For now, she was content with how quiet the final approach was, as the morning sun had finally started to dissipate the lingering fog in the dips between hills. She saw the passing scenery out her window begin to slow, and heard the train brakes apply. Seeing the platform come into view from the window opposite, she got to her hooves, and made her way to the door, noticing that she was the only one getting off here. The brakes gave a hiss as the train inched to a stop, and the doors opened to the platform. She stepped out onto the wooden planks, and took her first look around. Nopony else got off, and no one got on. The train platform was little more than a ticket booth, two benches, and the elevated walkway. The booth attendant looked positively bored as he flipped through a book, not even looking up or noticing that anypony had gotten off. Not even ten seconds later, the conductor saw that Fizzlepop was the only departure, and there were none getting on, so signaled for the doors to close, and the Friendship Express continued towards Baltimare, leaving the orchid unicorn to step off the platform onto the dirt path with a quiet sigh, as she headed up the gradual hill. This still didn't feel like a good idea. Foal's Peak was built on a cluster of grassy hills, surrounded by forest on all sides. On the south side, the hills got steeper and more rocky as they became the north side of the Foal Mountains, the tallest mountain range in Equestria's eastern regions. If one were to continue over the range and continue south, the landmarks included Ponehenge, Winsome Falls, and little else until you got to the Delamare River. As she walked, she glanced back west, barely able to make out the small portion of Canterlot that was viewable from this angle. She came to the crest of the first hill, and saw the village of Foal's Peak, with the backdrop of the mountains behind it. She counted just over two dozen buildings, maybe a third the size of Ponyville. She saw that there had been selective cutting happening in the forests on both sides of the path. She didn't remember much about her hometown, except that it had gotten its start as a mining town, and when that dried up, the populace had mainly turned to farming and logging. There were certainly no shortage of trees, especially if they stuck with selective cutting. But all in all, it looked like the train platform granting much faster access to the rest of Equestria had done very little to expand the town. It looked exactly the same as she remembered twenty years ago. Taking a deep breath, she started to descend the hill into the village at a steady trot. From the sun's position, it had to be about nine in the morning. She was almost all the way into town before she passed another pony, and then she just received a curt nod. She remembered everything being a lot bigger. A morning breeze made its way through the buildings on the main road, and the temperature was overall pleasant. Birds sang in the trees, but the loudest thing were the voices of the past playing in her head. She had passed five other ponies at this point, none stopped to greet her or gave any indication they recognized her. She stopped near the center of town, in front of one of the largest buildings, a two story dwelling with an archway that passed over the street. A trio of young unicorns faded into view, passing a yellow ball between them as they ran down the road towards the forest, before fading back to nothing. She felt a light shudder before shrugging it off, and she continued down the road south. The Lieutenant Colonel hadn't breathed a word to anyone so far, most seemed indifferent as they went about their business, or were too young to know who she was. She didn't want to say she had found her way to her old neighborhood, because this whole place was the size of barely one neighborhood in Ponyville, but sure enough, after a five minute walk, she was on the other side of town, one of the less forested areas before rising to the mountains, and found herself standing in front of her old home. It was a single story home, nearly identical to the others down the road. Did she still live here? Or did she move away too when no trace of her was found? 'Only one way to find out, genius. Knock.' She told herself. Slowly going up the front walk, she took a slow, deep breath, raised her right hoof, and tapped four times. She felt her heart pound against her chest as she wondered if time slowed as five seconds passed, then ten. Just before the fifteen second mark, she heard the knob turn, and the door slowly creaked open. Fizzlepop swallowed, as the door continued to open to reveal a mare she had not seen in over two decades. "Hello, how can I help..." Those were the only words to escape the mouth of the aging dark violet earth mare's mouth, before her eyes met the unicorn's, and her breath left her. She stood there silently, wondering if she was looking at a ghost. "F-Fizzlepop...?" She asked, voice nearly cracking, just above a whisper. The unicorn shifted on her hooves uneasily, unable to continue meeting Soapberry's gaze. "Yeah... Hi mom." Fizzlepop replied, almost as quietly. Soapberry fought through her stupor, and took three steps to the side, opening the door further. "C-Come in, come in." She invited. Fizzlepop managed the lightest of smiles, and stepped forward through the doorway, the floorboards creaking as she stepped onto them. She walked far enough into the entryway so her mom could close the door. She again felt like a giant as her mind was assaulted with images of the past. "Y-You look absolutely amazing, Fizzy. Can I get you anything?" Soapberry asked. Fizzlepop resisted the urge to shudder at her fillyhood pet name. "No, thank you. Can... Can I have a look around?" She asked. "Absolutely." Soapberry replied, taking in the medals on her daughter's chest. Fizzlepop turned away from the stunned mare, and stepped into the kitchen, her hooves clacking on the tile floor. She remembered baking in here after her accident. Stepping past a small table with a cup of coffee and a book, she came to the second doorway, looking across the hall to the den. An unlit fireplace was set into the far wall. Instead of going across the hall into the den, she turned to the right and went down the hall. There was a weight about this place, and it was slowly bearing down on her. She didn't like it. The hallway was dimly lit, and she came to the first door on the left. Her horn lit up, and the doorknob glowed and slowly turned. "Now, Fizzy, it's not going to be how you remember it..." Soapberry tried to say, trailing off as the door was pushed open, and the unicorn stared silently, before slowly stepping into her old bedroom. Or, what used to be her old bedroom. It didn't take her long to take in every corner. Half of the room was storage, full of unmarked cardboard boxes, and the other half of the room was stocked with folded, empty boxes, with a variety berry patterns on them. 'Foal's Peak Farms', her mom's berry business, was printed on each of them. Not one of her fillyhood possessions remained, or if they did, they were buried in these sealed boxes. Something squeezed at her chest, and she felt a heat building up as she barely heard her mom's hoofsteps on the shag carpeting. "You've been alive all this time. Why have you only come back now?" Soapberry asked. Fizzlepop fought with every inch of her being to not let the hot tears threatening her eyelids spill over. "More like why did I come back at all?" The unicorn replied without turning, a wave of anger bristling over her. She slowly turned around to face her mother in the doorway, seeing that the old mare's eyes had widened at her reply. "You didn't even try and stop me when I left. Because you didn't want me to come back!" Fizzlepop accused, swallowing the lump in her throat. "Fizzlepop!" Soapberry replied, absolutely shocked. "Well it's the truth! And sometimes no matter how much you think it'll hurt, the truth is exactly what you should give ponies you care about, before the consequences lead to even more hurt and heartache!" The unicorn nearly yelled, still refusing to let the flood spill over. Soapberry bit her trembling bottom lip in response to the accusations being thrown at her. Still half-feeling like she was staring at a ghost. She slowly placed a hoof on her chest, took a shaky, deep breath, and let it out, never taking her eyes off of her daughter. She lacked the unicorn's fortitude, and thus tears began to flow down her cheeks. "Twenty years is a very long time, Fizzlepop," She began, her voice soft, hurt, but clear. "Maybe you don't remember, or maybe you've convinced yourself that it happened differently. You vanished without a trace. No hoof tracks out of town. The only thing missing from your room was your ceramic bit bank. This town basically shut down looking for you. We had half the population combing the forest for you. The only place we didn't dare check was that cave. For a few weeks, I was sure that you had gotten desperate enough to go back in after what had been taken from you. Spring and Glitter came back a few months later and were actually foolish enough to take a look, and the only thing they came out with was the tip of your horn, saying that was the only thing in there. It only took us a couple days to find where you'd been practicing for months after the accident. The hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of scorch marks on the trees and boulders were enough to convince me of how determined you were to fix yourself, and that if I did try and keep you here, you'd only resent me for it. But I can clearly tell that for whatever reason, you already do. And yes, I eventually had to move on. I'm sorry for not torturing myself by keeping your room the exact way you left it two decades ago. I kept telling myself that maybe, just maybe, you were better off out there. And weren't you? Unless I'm hallucinating, you've miraculously gotten your horn back, and whatever else you've been doing out there, you've clearly been decorated for it." Soapberry said, continuing to cry softly, motioning a hoof to the unicorn's medal-filled chest. Fizzlepop took three slow, menacing steps towards the aging mare, accentuating their slight height difference, getting the slightest twinge of satisfaction out of the intimidated expression she gave in response. She slowly raised a hoof to point at her horn. "This is barely two years old," Fizzlepop told her, before lowering her hoof back to the ground before lightly nodding at her sash. "And these aren't even three years old yet. Don't you dare to assume that you know anything about what I've been through, because you don't know a tenth of it!" Knowing that she wasn't going to be able to hold it back any longer, Fizzlepop stepped around her mom, and trotted out of the room, down the hall to the front door, ignoring her mother's calls, before exiting the home, slamming the door, and breaking into a full gallop as she continued towards the forest at the base of the mountain.