The Tempest tales

The day went on without any other hitches, every now and then someone would glance at her but as soon as Fizzlepop noticed it, she strike them with her eyes turning on the horn.

"Driiiiinngg" the last hour bell rang, the students moved quickly to exit while Fizzlepop was last.
When she went out, as always, she found the carriage ready in front of the entrance to the courtyard, she got on board and the stallions began to tow.
When she got home she went to the dining room, her parents were waiting for her, they were sitting but they weren't eating, they seemed to be upset.
"Hi mom, dad." she greeted them both and went to sit down.
"Welcome back Fizzlepop, how did you go to school?" her mother asked.
"Well." she replied quickly

Brisk and Cherry looked at each other worriedly and then the king took a deep breath before speaking aloud.
"Let us." he only said and all the staff cleared the room, there were only the three alicorns sitting at the table.
"Fizzlepop, we have some troubling news, the principal called us this morning to tell us what happened, would you like to explain?"
Fizzlepop looked down. "So they already know, I didn't expect them to know so soon."
"I just defended myself, that's all." she explained.
Brisk bangs his clog on the table and stood up, he was really angry. "That's all?! You attacked a pony with magic! And on top of that, you continued until he passed out! Why the hell did you do that !? " he asked screaming.
"He provoked me, he insulted me, and I reacted as best I could, with ponies like him you can't think, the only way is to use the hard way!" Fizzlepop explained.
"It's not a good enough reason to hurt someone, in fact, you should never do what you did." Brisk replied.
"I do not care! He was the one who started it and I acted accordingly, and you know what I'm telling you? I enjoyed seeing that bastard suffer, I savored every moment of proving to everyone that I am not as helpless as they think. " Fizzlepop said as she got up to stand at the same height as her father.
“How can you say this? Your father and I didn't teach you that way! " her mother intervened.
"Perhaps it is precisely because you are unwilling to dictate that nobles behave this way, barely respect us, do things only for their own interests and have no loyalty." she answered her.
"This has nothing to do with it." resumed her father.
"Oh yes, this is why they had the courage to make fun of me, this is why I have been wearing these stupid contact lenses ever since I was born, and this is why I have to go to that useless school!" Fizzlepop continued talking as she felt her anger grow.
“Fizzlepop! You're freaking out, your loss is affecting you, you're not thinking clearly. " Brisk said.

"You're wrong, since I lost the horn I opened my eyes, I realized that it is useless to try to be kind or ignore them, you have to make it clear who is in charge or they will do nothing but put their clogs on your head as they have done with me since I was born. They are just fools rooted in their useless beliefs, they are convinced that they are above everything and everyone, they think they can treat others with inferiority just because they are not unicorns. " Fizzlepop paused to breathe. "If only you had bothered to put them in line today I shouldn't have electrocuted that worm."
"Thats enough! You're talking like a dictator or a tyrant. " her mother screamed.
Fizzlepop ignored her and continued to speak "When I am queen I will eradicate all that useless aristocracy, they are just parasites who live on the shoulders of the royal family, in them there is no loyalty but only opportunism, I'm sure that if they could they would turn their backs on us as they did with me! " she yelled as her horn began to sizzle.

Cherry and Brisk looked at each other, they had looks of concern and disappointment.
"Your mother and I have discussed with the others, following what happened in the public library and today's event we have decided that you are not yet ready to be crowned." Brisk said sadly.
Fizzlepop was shocked by the words, but the shock was replaced by insane rage.
"So that's it, just because I don't have a horn and wings ?!"
"That's not it… if you can't control your emotions then you can't control a nation either." Brisk added as he turned to the window.
Fizzlepop let out a scream of rage “You're stupid! Do you prefer to agree with those parasites rather than your daughter !? "
Brisk said nothing, but her mother was grieving at her daughter's words.
"I HATE YOU! I thought I could trust you…. but I was wrong ... as always ... "Fizzlepop felt betrayed, betrayed by the only two ponies she thought still loved her.
In anger she ran out of the room slamming the door and went to her room.

When she arrived she closed the door giving him a kick with her hind paw, inside her she felt a crazy and uncontrollable anger, her horn continued to emit sparks and her heart was beating fast.
She couldn't help herself so she did the only thing that came to her mind, let off the anger by destroying things, kicked movable, tore the paintings with magic, blew the alarm clock with lightning, kept going until there was nothing left to destroy.
When she was done all her anger had subsided, and had been replaced by the pain of her soul, she sat down and began to sob and then cry as she pondered what had happened.
She had been betrayed, once again, not by her friends or companions, but by her parents, the two ponies she loved above all else, the two ponies she thought still loved her but turned their backs on her instead, denying her what was rightfully hers.

Twenty minutes passed and the crying stopped, she Fizzlepop felt tired and depressed, she went to the bathroom to drink some water but when she raised her head, after drinking, she stared at herself in the mirror.
In front of her there was a scarred alicorn, a broken horn, a body covered with scars, a back without wings and a suffering soul; she stood for a few minutes looking in her mirror until she thought she saw the shape of a ursa behind her.
Fizzlepop knew it was just an illusion coming to tease her.
"Ahhahaha .." she laughed bitterly "Not enough for you yet? What else do you want to take away from me? You have already taken my body, you have taken my family, my friends, my title ... I HAVE NOTHING MORE TO GIVE YOU! " she finished saying as she punched the mirror which shattered reflecting a broken and jagged figure .... just like her heart.

Fizzlepop felt drained and tired, she gathered up the blankets and pillows she had thrown away and she lay down in bed to sleep.

"You are not a princess ...."
"You are not ready to be queen ..."
"You are useless…."
"You are undeserving ...."

Fizzlepop woke up, she hadn't had the usual ursa nightmare, but she had dreamed of the events of the day, only now she actually realized what had happened, before she was blinded by anger and pain, but now she was thinking clearly.
"So that's it, everyone rejected me, even my father and mother."
Thinking about it, she still felt a bit of anger and betrayal.
"What am I still doing here?" Fizzlepop had asked herself this question, in fact she didn't make any sense to stay there, she no longer had anyone who loved her, she wouldn't become queen, she had no future here.
"All just for some stupid wings and a horn!"
Fizzlepop got out of bed and looked at the bedside table to check the time, but the clock had been destroyed.
She looked out the window, it was night and the earth was illuminated by the moon and stars.
She had always been fascinated by the night, she loved how everything seemed to change, the world took its time to stop, everything seemed calm and still. For many the night was gloomy and scary, the shadows mingled with each other forming strange figures, but for Fizzlepop it was all clearer.
She remembered the speech she had with her father a long time ago, with the passage of time she had forgotten her dream, she wanted to visit the world, know various cultures and meet the alicorn that move the sun and the moon.
"I don't have to be a queen to do what I want."

Fizzlepop pondered what she had just said, was she really thinking of leaving? Abandon everything she have always known to go on a journey to discover the unknown?
This idea appealed to her a lot, she would have lived her adventure, away from the nobles, away from her companions, and from everything that made her feel bad.
But she couldn't go out like this, she should have planned her trip well so she made a mental list of things to do.

First she had to think about money, in other countries the currency of Iponia was worth nothing, so something that had value all over the world was needed.
The jewels could have been fine, but it would have been difficult to transport them, same thing for the gold bars.
"Grougggrrrrr"
Her stomach interrupted her thoughts, in fact she hadn't had lunch or dinner today.
In Fizzlepop a light bulb went on on her head, she could use the gems, especially the high value ones, in this way she could carry some and then make a change and get the money, it was a brilliant idea.
"Grougggrrrr" her stomach insisted.
"I know, now I'm eating something."
Before leaving the room she took her empty backpack and put it on her back.

Fizzlepop moved silently and went to the kitchen to rummage in the fridge, found plenty of fruit and vegetables, decided to eat a couple of apples and carrots, and to drink she had poured herself a glass of pineapple juice, she also put some fruit in her backpack.
She had sat at the table to eat, the dining room was illuminated by the moon rays that filtered through the window, she really loved the night.
"Now I have to think about where to go."
She finished eating the last apple and went to throw the remains in the dustbin.
"Destination: library."

Fizzlepop moved silently through the dark corridors, she could move smoothly even in total darkness thanks to her draconic eyes. "They will be very useful for my journey."
When she arrived at the library she went to rummage through the books, a few years ago she had found an atlas, it took her a little while to retrieve it thanks to her excellent memory.
She began to leaf through it, most of the maps concerned Iponia and its surroundings, she kept turning the pages until she found what she was interested in: a map of the lands overseas.
She had been fascinated by how vast the world was even if she did not know very well what was outside of Iponia, she had heard about it and had read about the books, but the information was always ambiguous and unclear, sometimes inconsistent or fruit of legends.
Fizzlepop took the page and tore it up, the moment she felt the paper break she felt a strong sense of guilt, it made her feel bad that she was ruining a book, but now nothing mattered as it once did.
She rolled up the page and put it in her backpack.
"Next stop: vault."

map torn from the book

It took a little while to get to the vault as it was on the same floor as the library.
When she entered the anteroom she was in front of the huge circular door made of enchanted steel to be resistant to almost everything, next to it there was a kind of panel on which the plinth could be placed, its purpose was to read the magic signature.
Fizzlepop slammed the plinth on the panel that lit up upon contact, after a few seconds it went out and the armored door made metallic sounds of moving gears, the door slowly opened revealing the interior.
The walls were covered with the same steel as the door, in one corner there were piles of gold bars put in order, on the other side thousands of bills and coins, she turned hiergaze and found what she wanted: there were crates full of gems, they were small and would certainly shine when exposed to light.
Fizzlepop took a small jute bag, filled it with gems and then closed it with a rubber band making a double knot, finally she put it in the backpack along with the map and food.
She stopped for a moment to stare at the gems, all of a sudden they seemed tasty to her, she remembered that as a child they share her food with gem dust.
Se approached and took one with magic, it was small and red, without thinking she put it in her mouth and began to chew it, initially she was afraid of breaking her teeth but she realized that it was like eating a candy, even if slightly harder than normal, the taste was remotely reminiscent of a cherry but slightly salty.
When she swallowed she came to the conclusion that she really liked the buds, she took another one which, however, was yellow, the consistency was the same but the flavor was of banana, this was definitely excellent.
Fizzlepop took another jute bag and filled it like the other, then put it in the backpack in the opposite pocket to balance the weight.

She was about to leave the vault but she noticed a showcase near the gold bars, inside there were three brooches, each had a gem set and they were finely detailed, in the one on the right her name was engraved at the bottom and the gem was of the same color as her fur, a dark red tending to purple.
These brooches were the royal seals, they were used to immediately recognize a member of the royal family and when worn they granted several privileges as official representatives of the nation.
Fizzlepop took hers and put it in the pocket where she had just put the gems.

She came out of the vault and closed the door, she had almost everything, so she decided to go back to her room to get the last few things.

When she entered the room she saw that everything had remained the same as that afternoon, the furniture was destroyed, the curtains and paintings torn, the only thing that seemed to be in place was the bed.
She went to the bathroom and took her toothbrush and toothpaste, she was not willing to give up oral hygiene.
She looked at the sink, the broken mirror reflected the jagged image of her, at the bottom was the box for contact lenses; she took it and put it together with everything else.
She came out of the bathroom and took other useful items: a compass, a flashlight, matches, and a small first aid kit.
Fizzlepop was about to leave the room but stopped, went back and rummaged in the closet until she found the cloak she had discarded two days ago, it was black and had a hood that covered her whole head leaving only her mouth and nose, it was long enough to hide it up to the legs.
Feeling that she had everything she needed, she left her room and went down the stairs to reach the hall, she opened the front door revealing the outside world.
The moon was still high in the sky, in the middle of the square there was the fountain that sprayed water, it was the only source of noise in the silent night.

Fizzlepop took a deep breath, did one last mental revision, finally she took the first step out of her house, the first step on a long adventure.