The Tempest tales

She was again in front of the entrance of the cave, the moon shone in the starry night, behind her there was the dense forest that hid the unknown.
She looked at her body: the wings were there, the horn too, the scars had disappeared.
That could only mean one thing ... "Not again!"
"Grrrrrrrr" she heard the familiar roar of the beast that haunted her nightmares.
Unintentionally, Fizzlepop's legs moved to carry her forward to the cave.
“No no no! I don't want to, I don't care about my friends, they will betray me! " she screamed aloud in hopes that her body would stop.

She was getting closer and closer to the cave, the entrance was getting bigger as if a giant monster was opening its jaws to devour her.
Fizzlepop tried in every way to escape the inevitable fate, "Please, I don't want to suffer, no more pain!"
"Grrrrr" the Ursa appeared in front of her and grabbed her with one paw, then grabbed her wings with the other.
Fizzlepop closed her eyes, she was preparing for the hallucinating pain that was about to come.

She waited a few seconds but nothing happened, she opened her eyes and saw that the setting had changed, this time she was in the public library.
In front of her there was a figure that made her shiver, it seemed to be a filly, but it had no face or mane, it looked like a mannequin.
The filly turned and disappeared behind the bookcase.
"Hey, where are you going?" she asked, but as soon as she took a step forward, from where the figure of the filly had disappeared, a dozen other mannequins appeared in the form of stallions and mares.
Fizzlepop stepped back and looked behind her, even from there a group of figures appeared.
She had been surrounded and the strange beings were approaching. "Stay back!" she tried to drive them away, but they didn't stop.
Fizzlepop tried to light the horn but as soon as she channeled the energy the top exploded and shattered.
"Ahhhhh" Fizzlepop screamed in pain as she slumped to the ground.
She heard the sound of the hoofs very close to her, raised her head and saw that they had surrounded her.
"Look what she has become"
"She's a monster"
"She does not deserve to be among us"
"She is a cripple"
"You are useless"
Fizzlepop began to hear the whispers, the voices did not seem to come directly from the mannequins that had surrounded her, but echoed in the air and every second the volume increased.
"Enough, I want to wake up!" thought Fizzlepop as she lay on the ground with her hooves on her head, the shadows of the ponies looming over her.
"GO AWAY!" Fizzlepop screamed at the strange figures, her horn began to emit strong electric shocks and sparks.
Magic exploded from her horn, flooding everything with white light, and then ... total darkness.

Fizzlepop stood up suddenly, felt a severe headache and fell back on the pillow.
She waited a few seconds until the pain passed, opened her eyes and saw that she was in her room.
"How is it possible? I was in the public library. ”She thought as she calmed down.
She looked at the clock, it showed noon.
"Maybe it was all a dream, a fruit of my subconscious."

She slowly got out of bed and went to the bathroom to drink some water, then looked in the mirror and saw that she already had contact lenses on her.
"I will have forgotten to take them off last night."
She combed her mane and then went down to the dining room.
Her parents were already waiting for her, they were sitting at the table and were already eating.
"Well wake up Fizzlepop, come and eat, there's your favorite dish: lasagna with eggplant and zucchini" said her mother.
Fizzlepop went to sit at the table and a waiter brought her plate.

The three sat eating in silence for a few minutes until her mother spoke.
"So, how did your visit to the public library?"
Fizzlepop stopped eating, "So it wasn't a dream."
"It went fine" she lied, she didn't want to talk about it.
As soon as she finished saying it, her father cleared his throat quite clearly.
"We need to talk, just the three of us, alone." he said aloud, he wasn't talking to Fizzlepop but rather to all the other ponies present.
Immediately the waiters, cooks and guards left the room.
“Fizzlepop, we know what happened, yesterday we found you in your room crying bitterly, your mother and I stayed with you until you fell asleep. Also shortly after the mayor came to visit us, he told us about your explosion of magic in the library ”he said sternly.
"I can explain ..." Fizzlepop was immediately interrupted by her father.
“Let me finish Fizzlepop! It is very serious, over twenty ponies were injured, including a filly, in addition half of the public library was destroyed. What do you have to say in your defense? " he finished saying as he looked hard at her daughter.
"Darling, you shouldn't be so strict" her mother tried to calm him down.
Brisk looked into her eyes and then gave a long sigh, his shoulders slumped and his eyes grew sadder.

"What happened Fizzlepop?" Brisk asked, this time with more calm and kindness.
"Yesterday I went to the library, I was trying to help a filly" Fizzlepop began to say "when she saw me she screamed and ran away, she said a monster wanted to kill her" she paused to take a deep breath, "shortly after the ponies surrounded me, they were whispering to each other, talking about me, my horn, and my scars. ”she said as her voice trailed off.
“I could hear them clearly, they said I was hideous, they talked about my appearance, my body and it hurt me, then someone started screaming and taking pictures, they recognized me. The ponies approached me and started bombarding me with questions, I didn't know what to do, I was in a panic. I just wanted to get out of there but I had no escape. ”she said as she began to sob.
“It hurt me, it reminded me of that night, they were on me, I couldn't understand anything anymore. Then I unconsciously activated the horn and from there I don't remember anything. " now Fizzlepop was crying, her mother had moved beside her to hug her.
"I didn't mean to hurt anyone, I swear to you dad, it wasn't my intention," she finished as she clung to Cherry.
"We know Fizzy, you wouldn't hurt a fly, I'm so sorry," her mother reassured her.

"However, that's not sufficient justification," her father said sternly.
"I know Dad, I didn't want to, the magic slipped out of my hooves," Fizzlepop replied as she emerged from her mother's embrace.
"Fizzlepop, you can't go on living in fear of what happened, it's been months since that night." Cherry whirled around and glared at him.
“Brisk! How can you say this ?! " she scolded him.
"Fizzlepop must understand that she is now an adult, she represents the royal family and soon she will become queen."
Fizzlepop stood up and yelled at them.
"Why do you treat me so?! You cannot understand the pain of losing the horn and wings, you cannot understand the anguish of dreaming every time that night, you cannot understand how the oppressive gaze of the other ponies makes you feel ... the feels of losing your purpose in life "
Fizzlepop ran away crying, left the dining room slamming the door.

"Fizzlepop, where do you think you're going ?!" he tried to call her, but she had already locked herself in her room.
Brisk sat back in his chair and took a deep breath, looked up and saw that his wife was looking at him with anger and disapproval.
“How could you yell at her like that !? You know what she went through, yet you took the liberty of telling her this, you disappoint me. " she told him in a serious voice.
Brisk thought for a few seconds. "What a fool I was, I told her that she could always count on her parents, yet I scolded her for something that was beyond my understanding. I'm a bad father. "
"You're right my love, I'm going to talk to her." he told.
“No, you haven't calmed down yet, first finish eating and then you will go and talk to her properly, if you have not solved it, tonight you will sleep on the sofa. Was I clear? " she replied, when she wanted she really knew how to impose herself on others, it was a side of her that he loved.

Half an hour had passed when Brisk got up from the table and the waiters had returned to clear the table.
He exited the room and then up the stairs to go to Fizzlepop's room, when he reached the door he knocked softly.
"Knock knock ..." Fizzlepop didn't answer, "Knock knock…." again no answer.
"Maybe she'll be asleep again, in fact she's been sleeping a lot lately."
Brisk lowered the handle and slid the door as slowly as possible.
He poked his head inside and looked in the direction of the bed, by that angle he couldn't see if anyone was sleeping there.
He opened the door enough for him to enter, walked over to the bed and saw that it was empty.
"Fizzlepop, are you here?" he said aloud, to answer him there was only the chirping of birds coming from outside.
"Where could she have gone?"

Brisk left the room and went to the guard at the end of the hall.
"Guard, have you seen the princess?"
"Yes your majesty, she went down to the first floor a short time ago." the guard answered quickly.
"Thanks for the information." the king turned one hundred and eighty degrees and went back downstairs.
"Certainly she went to the library."

When he arrived in front of the massive double doors of the library he knocked with a big knocker.
"Knock knock ..." no answer "Knock knock ..." he waited a few seconds.
"Probably she didn't hear me, the library is huge"
Brisk opened the door on the right and entered, he was at the beginning of the huge central corridor, on the sides there were two floors of bookcases, all filled with books, both new and old, sorted by type and name.
The king began to walk forward, looked around and was astonished as every time he went in there.
The library extended for over 500 meters in length and 300 in width, every 20 meters on both sides there were other smaller corridors that crossed perpendicular to the main one.
At the end there was a huge circular room that was called "Chamber of Wisdom". The walls were covered with bookcases, at the center there was a large round table made of marble and surrounding it were chairs made of precious wood, inlaid and stuffed with silk.
The room was illuminated by a dome with a skylight over 10 meters in diameter in the center that let in the sunlight.
Six crystal chandeliers descended from the ceiling and were switched on when there was little light.

The entire library had been built centuries ago when the school did not yet exist.
It was used to prepare and educate the nobles and princes for the role of command, they had to have profound knowledge in politics, diplomacy, geography, history, literature, economics and law.
In addition, it also allowed us to learn other things and satisfy the thirst for knowledge.
However, nowadays the only person to use it was Fizzlepop.

Reference image for the main corridor, imagine that every 20 meters there are openings on both sides, they are the entrance to the side corridors, at the end there is the "Chamber of Wisdom"
As always, the images are only a guide to allow you to imagine the scene in progress, try to adapt them to the story.

"Fizzlepop, are you here?" Brisk yelled.
His voice echoed throughout the library echoing.
"I'm here," he heard Fizzlepop's voice behind him.
"Ahhhh!" Brisk was startled by jumping forward.
"Damn Fizzy, you scared me." he told her as he turned to look at her.
Fizzlepop seemed to stare at him impassively, yet he noticed the slightly red eyes and moist cheeks that she had been crying until recently.

Brisk was about to start talking but his daughter immediately cut him off.
"Dad, I need a favor," she said flatly.
"Certainly my child, tell me too"
Fizzlepop turned and pointed to a book that stood about four meters high.
"I need that book, I would have taken it with magic but it weighs too much, I could have flown and grabbed it with my hooves but I don't even have wings," she explained as she looked down sadly.
Brisk seeing his disconsolate daughter felt chest pain "What a fool I was, she was right, I can't understand."
Brisk lit the horn and grabbed the book with magic, it was pretty light for him, but for Fizzlepop it have been like lifting the marble table in the middle of the room.
He levitated it towards his daughter.
"Put it on my back," Fizzlepop said simply.
Only now did Brisk notice that she had a stack of balanced books on the croup.
"If you want, I'll bring it to you." he proposed her.
"Okay, do as you like." his daughter answered flatly.

Fizzlepop went to the center of the room and unloaded the books on the table, Brisk levitated the large tome next to the others.
He stood for a few seconds watching her as she sat down and opened a book.
"Look Fizzlepop, I wanted to apologize for how I treated you earlier, I was a fool and you were right to yell at me, it's just that we're all anxious lately, your mom and I are really sorry and sorry for what happened." Fizzlepop looked at him.
“It's just that you are now 18 years old, soon there will be your coronation and I am afraid, I am afraid that the other nobles will judge you, I am afraid that you will judge yourself unsuitable. And deep down I fear that with everything you are going through it is not quite the right time for your ascent. " he finished saying.

Fizzlepop sighed.
"I'm sorry too for yelling at you, I know I should forget what happened, but every time I look in the mirror I think about it, and every time people look at me like I'm a monster and a crippled makes me feel bad, makes me feel like maybe I should have died in that cave… that night I lost what made me feel special, what distinguished me, and even my only two friends. I feel as if life no longer makes sense, I spend my days studying and learning things, but nothing can fill the holes in my soul. " Fizzlepop said as a tear ran down her right eye.
"In addition, I remembered only a few months ago that the moment of ascension would soon come, I tried to learn everything possible about how to govern a country, in this way maybe I would have compensated for the fact that I am no longer an alicorn, but certainly the nobles will not allow a cripple like me to ascend the throne. " she added.

Brisk felt his heart break again at his daughter's words, he didn't know what to say.
He sat down and then spread his forelegs. "Hug?" he said with a wistful smile.
Fizzlepop grinned and lunged at her father. "I love you dad," she said as she rubbed her nose on his chest.
Brisk squeezed her tight. "I love you too Fizzy."
They held each other for a few seconds and then Fizzlepop took a step back. "Thanks Dad"
"Not at all my baby," he replied fondly.
Brisk got up and left the library to talk to her wife, it was better not to keep her waiting.

Fizzlepop was left alone in the Chamber of Wisdom.
"I'm glad I made things right with dad." she thought happily.
She read for a few hours until the sun went down

"Knock knock ..." Fizzlepop jerked her head up as she heard someone knock on the library door.
She got up from the chair and stretched quickly, then trotted through the long central corridor, when she opened the door she saw that there was an attendant.
"Yes, what is it?" Fizzlepop asked
"I came to inform you that dinner is ready." said the other mare.
"Oh, I didn't realize it was so late, tell my parents I'm coming soon."
"Certainly princess" replied the servant as she bowed and then disappeared down the corridor.

Fizzlepop closed the door again and went back to where she had been reading before, she put away the books apart from the bigger one and finally left the library to go to the dining room.
When she arrived her parents were seated but the plates hadn't arrived yet, she went to sit in her place.
"I see you've been in the library for a long time," her mother said.
"Yes, I was reading interesting things, I didn't realize the time was passing."
"You remind me a lot of your father," she said fondly as she recalled distant memories, "he spent all day in that library, from morning to night."
“Your mother is right, nothing was moving me from the books, apart a special mare,” Brisk said with a chuckle.

The happy conversation was interrupted by the arrival of the waiters and the cook who brought the dishes, for dinner there was asparagus soup and focaccia with tomatoes and parsley.
The three began to eat in silence until her mother started a new speech.
"So Fizzy, are you getting ready for tomorrow?"
Fizzlepop looked at her puzzled. "Prepared for what?"
"For the school." Cherry answered as if it were obvious.
Fizzlepop froze for a moment, she had completely forgotten about school, the summer had passed so quickly, she had not prepared herself to face her classmates, but above all Glitter Drops and Spring Rain.
What would she tell them? Should she have simply ignored what happened, resumed being friends as before?
No, that possibility has been lost in the moment they abandoned her, the moment they turned their backs on her and ran away without her.
Their friendship was worth nothing.
"Yes, I have already packed the backpack with the books." she answered her uncertainly to her mother.

They didn't show it but Cherry and Brisk were worried about what might happen, and certainly the incident in the public library had made them even more anxious.
The three finished eating and Fizzlepop decided she wanted to go to sleep early, but the king and queen would go to bed later to take care of the chores left unfinished during the day.

When Fizzlepop got to her room she headed for the bathroom to take a shower, then took off the contact lenses and brushed her teeth thoroughly.
However, when she got under the covers, after turning off the lights, she struggled to fall asleep.
She was afraid of what could happen at school, she was afraid of what her peers would tell her, certainly before they were contemptuous of her, who knows how they will react.

With these thoughts in her head Fizzlepop fell asleep in the hope that tomorrow holds a better future ... even if the expectations were quite low.