//------------------------------// // Tenacity // Story: Fizzlepop's Past // by milesprower06 //------------------------------// With the heat-absorbing pot holders between her teeth, the filly leaned into the open oven, and pulled out a tray of steaming muffins, as the unicorn watched her. Her mother stood at an adjacent counter as she prepared dinner, a leafy green salad. The filly struggled to get up on the stepstool while her vision was blocked by the tray. Her mom had offered to help a few minutes ago, but she had adamantly refused any assistance. Eventually, she found her footing, stepped up on the stool and slid the hot tray onto the counter. The unicorn had a feeling she wasn't really interested in baking, but that she was desperate to find things to do without magic, to continue distracting herself from what had happened to her, from what was immediately apparent every single time she looked in the mirror without her hat on. "Listen, sweetheart, I know it hurts. But I know eventually you'll find your calling. You're still young, and even though you can't see it, you've got so much time and life ahead of you." The unicorn was glad her mother was saying what she wanted to, but she had grown quiet the last few days, due to being completely unable to be seen or heard by anyone around. As alarming as that sounded at first, she wasn't really concerning herself with it, as her attention was still completely taken by this little filly's ordeal. Soapberry was taken out of her thoughts by a knock on the doorway to Fizzlepop's room. A white unicorn with a curled purple mane entered. "Sorry to disturb you, Miss Soapberry, was it? Rarity," The unicorn introduced herself, offering a short bow. "I'm proud to say I've had a hoof in every piece of armor our dear Fizzlepop has put on, and I also made that staff with Starlight's help." "Pleased to meet you, Miss Rarity. What can I do for you?" Soapberry asked, shifting in her seat. She had spent the vast majority of the last four days in here. "I thought I'd come and see how she's doing. Word has quickly spread, and the entire town is hoping for her recovery. I'm actually wondering if I could take her staff to make some modifications." "What sort of modifications?" "Well, I've learned that it's seldom enough to hope for the best, darling. You also have to prepare for the best as well. So how is she doing?" Rarity asked. "The doctors are starting to think things are looking up. Necrosis hasn't set in, and while she hasn't come out of whatever trance she's in, the venom in her blood is starting to decrease. But she's not quite out of the woods yet." Soapberry answered, swallowing a lump in her throat. The filly and her mother were about to start into their lush salads when there was a knock at the door. "Fizzlepop?" Came the muffled call of Glitter Drops from the other side of the door. The filly rolled her eyes briefly, and her mother motioned for her to go see her friend. The filly grumbled as she hoped down from her stool. She hadn't spoken to Glitter Drops or Spring Rain since Comet had gotten them a new ball, and they had begun practicing again... With another unicorn colt in town. The last time she had tried to pick up the ball, she sent sparks flying from her horn and her two friends running for cover behind trees. The unicorn followed the filly out of the kitchen into the foyer. She opened the door to reveal not just Glitter Drops, but Spring Rain as well. Both had what appeared to be solidly packed saddlebags strapped on. "H-Hey Fizzlepop. I know it's been a few weeks, but, well, we just wanted to come say goodbye before we catch the last train out. We're headed up to Canterlot to Celestia's School." The filly swallowed. Summer had finally come to an end. "So you're really going? Without me?" The filly asked. "We know how hard you've been working, and we really hope it'll pay off. But we really don't think we should pass this opportunity up. When your horn grows back, I'm sure they'll let you reapply." Spring explained. The filly took a deep, quiet breath. "Well, bye I guess. Good luck up there." With the way the filly had bristled, the unicorn was fully expecting her to slam the door as they turned to leave, but she didn't. She took hold of it and slowly pushed it closed, before turning and galloping down the hall, the unicorn forever close in tow. "Fizzlepop? What about your dinner?" Her mom asked when she heard her go down the hall. "I'm not hungry!" She yelled before slamming her bedroom door closed. Fizzlepop's heart monitor had become hypnotic. Something Soapberry believed would repeat in her mind for hours even when the time came to unhook it. 'Soapberry?" Came a concerned voice from the doorway. She looked over and saw Princess Twilight, and glanced over to the window, seeing that the sun had set. "Good evening, Princess. What can I do for you?" Soapberry asked. "I hope that question is genuine. You can go back to the castle and get some rest. A good night's sleep, in a real bed. I can tell how sore you are, you've been in that chair for nearly five days straight." Soapberry glanced over at her daughter. "It feels wrong to leave her like this." The elder mare replied. "You're not leaving her. You're giving the watch to me. I took a good nap this afternoon in preparation for tonight., and a good book I've been meaning to re-read. Soapberry, I'm afraid that the two of you might be worrying about this a little too much. We all have moments of uncertainty when we doubt ourselves, both our present actions and past actions. I'm sure you tried your absolute best to be there for her before she ran away all that time ago, but that doesn't mean you have to try and make up for the past twenty years in that chair. Please, Soapberry. Glitter has prepped one of the guest rooms for you." Soapberry gave a soft sigh, and got up from the chair, as it creaked under her weight. "Alright, Princess. You win." She resigned. "Thank you, Soapberry, I'll let you know the moment if anything changes..." The earth mare came in for a hug, and Princess Twilight felt her shudder. "Thank you, Princess, for absolutely everything, everything you've done for her. After all that time abroad, I'm so glad she came back to have somepony like you in her life." The quiet rustles of the forest night were interrupted again with sounds of small rockets flying off and exploding, sparks and lights of all kinds of colors snaking through the trees. The unicorn dove out of the way of yet another errant projectile. Invisible or not, ghost or not, she wasn't absolutely confident that one of them wasn't going to hit her if she stood still, and she wasn't willing to find out. This had become nearly a nightly occurrence out here in the forest, where the filly had come to the conclusion that if a muscle were to have any chance of growing back, it had to be used and practiced with as much as reasonably possible. That's how muscles were trained and got stronger. But the unicorn had never seen the filly concentrate this hard since sending her two friends running for cover nearly a month ago, and right now she was afraid that the distressed kid was going to burn the forest down. She dove out of the way of another rocket spell, which collided with a tree and exploded ten feet behind her. "Ugh... It's no use, kid. It's not going to work!!!" The unicorn screamed frustratingly. She wasn't sure if she was finally heard, or if the filly was finally exhausted, but the spells stopped, as the dark orchid filly collapsed into the grass, smoldering branches, tree trunks, and weeds all around her. She took one look around, and slammed her hoof into the forest floor before breaking down into tears, weeping quietly in the night. The unicorn's heart ached as she got up, walked over to her, and sat silently beside her. "It's gonna be alright, kid. It's gonna be alright." She wasn't sure if she believed herself.