Soapberry did have to admit, it felt nice to feel dirt and grass under her hooves for the first time in days, as she departed Ponyville General into the late evening. Lights were on in most windows on the walk back to the castle, and the brightest light in the night sky was Canterlot on the mountain above.
As she rounded the corner onto the main road, she noticed something about the lamp post on the corner. Taking a closer look, she saw bright blue and pink ribbons tied halfway up the pole, the ends of both colors flapping lazily in the breeze. She looked behind her at the last post she passed, and noticed the same thing. In fact, every light post she could see in the vicinity had those two colored ribbons tied around them.
It didn't take too long for the bit to drop; those were the colors of the exploding fireworks that made up Fizzlepop's cutie mark. Soapberry could not hold back the tears as she continued on to the castle, seeing that the whole town had put up these ribbons on light posts, fence posts, and direction signs. She got several friendly nods and even a few hugs on her walk north through town; word had gotten around of who she was, and what she had been doing here.
This truly was one of the friendliest places in all of Equestria.
The unicorn watched with a lump in her throat as she watched the filly stuff her saddlebags with all 52 bits she had in her ceramic bank, fruit grain bars, apples, and a couple canteens of water.
"They'll come looking for you, you know that, right?" She asked the filly as she tightened the straps on her bags, before going to her closet and pulling out a brown hooded rain cloak, as distant thunder rumbled outside. She threw the cloak on, and put the hood up and looked in the mirror. She was seemingly satisfied that she couldn't see the tip of her horn. She hopped up on her desk chair, and looked out the window, seeing her mother working in her berry fields, and also saw the approaching thunder clouds.
The unicorn saw the look of determination in the filly's window reflection. If she wanted to do this, it had to be now.
The filly turned to the door, stepped out into the hall, left the bedroom light on, and closed the door. She trotted to the front door, opened it quietly, and stepped outside, closing the front door as silently as she could.
The unicorn knew no matter how much noise she made, it would do absolutely no good.
"Just how far do you think you're going to get?" She asked the filly, who continued out to the main road, standing there, looking at the hills on the horizon. The unicorn stood quietly behind her, as the filly turned her head to look. At first the unicorn thought it was up at her, but then realized she was gazing up at the approaching storm clouds.
The look of determination never left her face.
The filly took a deep breath, and then took a step. Then another, soon breaking into a trot.
The unicorn's breath left her when she realized that she couldn't take a single step. Her hooves remained firmly planted on the ground as she watched the cloaked, hooded filly go down the path as the rain began to fall. She couldn't move, she couldn't speak, and for a few moments, she couldn't breathe. The rain quickly picked up in intensity, and as it steadily increased to a downpour, the unicorn could do nothing but watch as the filly climbed the distant hill, and vanish over the crest.
Waves of thunder rumbled overhead as the roads quickly turned to mud.
The unicorn took one single, shuddering breath, and as she let it out, tears made their way out as well as she lowered her head and cried. Her heart pounded against her chest as she hoped for the filly's safety out there. When she opened her eyes, she saw that a puddle of rainwater had formed at her hooves, and she softly gasped at what she saw.
A dark orchid, fully grown unicorn mare stared back up at her.
Her reflection.
She felt something squeeze on her heart as the realization overcame her. She was the little filly. She was Fizzlepop Berrytwist.
Her eyes followed the faded scar up to a completely intact horn on her forehead, which caused her gaze to rise from the puddle and back up to the hill in the distance, as the town of Foal's Peak and the surrounding area began to fade away, and at last, the rainfall ceased, and Fizzlepop found herself standing in an endless sea of white.
Not knowing what would come next, she first sat down, then slowly laid down on her back, staring up at the endless white abyss as her tears began to dry.
For the first time in what felt like weeks, she felt the corners of her mouth curl up as she smiled.