Chapter 1

Fizzlepop Berrytwist stood on her hind legs and leaned against the frigid balcony railing, gazing at the city she once sought to conquer. The metropolis of Canterlot was adorned with specks of brilliant lights, blaring in the dark, more often than not with festive colorings; she could see it all from her perch. The mountain that the city rested upon gave a clear view of the fertile land for miles around. Rivers pooled at the base of that towering earth and stretched through the soil like veins, passing the many hamlets that utilized the life giving waters. If she squinted her eyes, Fizzlepop could even see Ponyville and its crystal castle glittering in the dark like a lighthouse in an abyss.

An icy wind licked at Fizzlepop’s mane, blowing some hair into her face, but she hardly noticed. Conversations and the hum drum of the parties’ guests from inside the castle droned together into a buzzing white noise. Her eyes blurred with hot tears, cascading down her face and pattered against the railing, disintegrating the fine powdery snow.

“Beautiful, is it not?”

Fizzlepop whirled around toward the voice, almost slipping in the process. Behind her, Princess Luna stood in all her regality. Two night guards stood at attention, one on each side of their ruler, stony faced stoicism etched into their expressions. With a foreleg, Fizzlepop hastily wiped at her muzzle to hide her shame.

“My apologies,” Luna said, “It was not my intention to startle you, Tempest Shadow. Is now perhaps a bad time?”

Fizzlepop hastily bowed and cleared her throat. “Not at all, princess. I was… merely admiring the view like you said.” She then plastered on a smile as best she could muster.

Luna eyed the mare before waving her hoof. “Guards, leave us. I would like to have a more private conversation with Ms. Shadow.”

“As you command, princess,” one of the guards replied and bowed. The armored pair trotted to the balcony entryway and set their spears together, barring the area to any party goers.

“Princess, is there something that you need?” Fizzlepop asked tentatively.

“Not particularly, no,” Luna said. “Have you been enjoying the party?”

“Uh, y-yes! It’s been a pleasure. The grandeur of Canterlot never ceases to amaze. An illustrious—,”

“Spare me the pleasantries, please. I get enough of that every night in my court.”

“I beg your pardon?”

In what felt like a mere blink of Fizzlepop’s eyes, Luna closed the distance between them, standing beside her at the railing. “I expected more spirit and tenacity from the mare that almost claimed my life.”

“I’m--.”

“Yes, yes, you’re sorry,” Luna sighed while resting her forelegs onto the marble barrier. She let Fizzlepop stew in the statement as she contemplated the land before her.

“I’m... confused, princess. I’d thought you would’ve been a little angrier than that to be honest.”

Luna ignored the inquiry. Her mane flowed in that ethereal breeze that the sisters were known for, the stars themselves intertwined with her hair. Up close like she was, Fizzlepop was in awe of the mare’s beauty. It was as though she was looking at the majesty of the night sky, ageless eternity, and perfection in flesh and blood.

“Why are you here, Tempest Shadow?” Luna asked.

Broken from her stupor, Fizzlepop replied, “You can call me Fizzlepop Berrytwist, princess.”

“Alright, why are you here than Ms. Berrytwist?”

“Well, princess Twilight Sparkle invited me to take part in the festivities. Was I… wrong to come here?”

“That much I know of already. What I meant was, why are you outside in the cold, here? Alone?”

“I just needed a breather is all,” Fizzlepop lied. “Crowds aren’t really my thing you see.”

Luna snorted. “One could see it that way. Certainly, I think Twilight had other intentions for having you attend mine and my sister’s Hearth’s Warming Eve party.”

“Yeah,” Fizzlepop’s said, her shoulders sagging. “Yeah, she’s not very subtle is she?”

“The Princess of Friendship is many things but subtlety eludes her still. It’s usually expected of guests to mingle with each other instead of sequestering themselves away.”

“I’m not exactly the most popular pony here. Infamous more like.”

“Yes, your reputation does precede you.”

“Twilight makes it sound so easy. That others will forgive me for what I’ve done. But how could they? How can I even begin to ask for forgiveness? I can hardly gather the courage look them in the eye.”

“Ah, so that’s it? Forgiveness is a long and cumulative process, Berrytwist. It is earned over time. The ponies of today will remember the evil that was wrought forth from the deeds of yesterday. Possibly for generations.”

Fizzlepop Berrytwist barked a sardonic chuckle. “Believe me, I’ve noticed. In all the lands I’ve since visited to spread word of the Storm King’s defeat, Twilight and her friends were the only ones willing to give me a chance. I don’t blame them. Who would want to be friends with a monster?”

Luna hummed in affirmation. “We all have done things that we deeply regret.”

“I suppose you would know more about that than anypony else.”

“…Indeed.”

It took a moment for Fizzlepop’s mind to catch up with her mouth, but when it did she cursed herself. “Ponyfeathers! I didn’t mean it in, like, a bad way.”

“Fret not for I am what I am,” Luna said with what appeared to be the first hint of a smile. She then stretched out her right wing into the air. “Come, take a place by my side and shelter yourself from the cold for a spell.” Fizzlepop stood dumbfounded by the mare’s request before nodding. She huddled awkwardly next to the goddess and a wing as soft as satin draped itself over her shivering form. Instantaneously, Fizzlepop could feel a sense of warmth tingle inside her being.

“Thank you,” Fizzlepop almost whispered.

Luna ruffled her wing. “Think nothing of it. ‘Tis the season after all.”

“Heh, I haven’t really celebrated Hearths Warming in years. This is my first legitimate participation in, well, since I left my village.”

“Any plans then to join your family in the festivities?”

“I don’t know,” Fizzlepop said. “I’ve been gone so long. I don’t know if I could take it if I saw their faces twist in disgust just like the others. But every year, during these times, I thought of them and the life I left behind wondering if I had somehow made a mistake and lost my way. What a fool I was.”

“A parent could never hate their child, Fizzlepop.”

“My friends hadn’t abandoned me like I thought either. We were just foals so what sense did we have? My magic was unstable without a horn to focus it and they were just scared of what I couldn’t control.”

“You were all young. You can’t blame—.”

“How do you do it?”

“Do what?”

Fizzlepop stomped a hoof to the ground. “How were you able to move on? How do you act like everything is alright within yourself when it was all wrong for so long. How do you come back from something like that?”

Luna seemed to ponder for a bit before replying, “I take it day by day, just like anypony else.”

“Day by day?” Fizzlepop spat. “That’s it? You’ve already outlived everypony who can even remember the days of Nightmare Moon.”

“Yes, I have,” Luna replied in an even tone. “I’ve also outlived all the comrades that I once fought alongside with, and friends that I-- don’t give me that look.”

Fizzlepop cleared her face while coughing into a hoof. “I- uh… sorry. It’s hard to imagine Nightmare Moon with any friends.”

“Yes, even I had friends back then,” Luna said. “I even had a lover whom I held very dear to my heart. But, they’re all gone now. And here I am.”

“…And here you are. But that wasn’t your fault. That was all Nightmare Moon, wasn’t it?”

Luna slowly exhaled through her nose, steam rising away from her nostrils. “It would be convenient enough to lay the blame entirely on her, but life is more complicated than that.”

“Life didn’t turn out the way either of us expected huh?” Fizzlepop frowned.

“Hearth’s Warming has a way of reopening old wounds. I can usually put these thoughts behind me, but when the holidays come, a melancholy takes possession of me and I ruminate over the past. What if I had won? What if this was my empire alone to rule. What if I had borne fruit with my lover and our lineage expanded to modern times? These are the thoughts I have whenever I see my sister. I bear no grudge towards her in ending my madness, but it takes time-- no matter how much of it-- to heal a wound such as these. What has happened in the past is done, you cannot change it and must make peace with it. You can either be consumed by a poison that slowly burrows its’ way into your heart, or triumph. So grieve. Grieve, Fizzlepop Berrytwist, and take the first step to forgiveness. Redemption is always there if you should only seek it.”

Fizzlepop didn’t trust her voice and nodded her head. Tears stung her eyes while she tried and failed to choke back a sob.

“Fizzlepop,” Luna said, “I forgive you. Can you now begin to learn to forgive yourself?”

Fizzlepop shuddered, her lips trembling as she asked in a hoarse voice, “Would you be my friend, princess?”

“Yes, I would be honored to be your friend.” At that, the floodgates opened and Fizzlepop Berrytwist buried her face into Luna’s barrel, and wept.

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