The Chains of Command

by Kaipony

The Art of Friendship

The crispness of autumn had recently given way to the bite of winter. The fields, woods, and hills surrounding the School of Friendship lay blanketed by a thin coat of freshly fallen snow, and the delicate flakes drifting down from the laden clouds overhead were just beginning to let up for the day.

"All of you be safe and enjoy your break," Fizzlepop called to the rapidly dwindling forms of her students. She waved to them as the last one escaped from the gym at full gallop, eager to join their friends and family. "Don't fill up on too many sweets unless you want me to help you burn them all off when you return."

"Bye, Miss Fizzle!" the students cried back together, their conversations already turning to the copious amounts of holiday treats upon which they planned to indulge.

Fizzlepop adjusted her winter jacket's collar and stood just outside the gym, hooves stirring up the frost-crusted ground. She watched the last of the students canter out of earshot and sighed. Her vaporous breath hung in the still air like a fog, only dissipating when the unicorn turned from the wintery vista and moved back inside. She had crossed the center of the indoor court when Grubber came ambling out of the locker room. Fizzlepop halted and pawed at the floor, her tail flicking back and forth.

Grubber said nothing as he headed for the exit, crossing the gym floor near Fizzlepop. The unicorn tried to catch his gaze with her own, but the hedgehog kept his eyes forward. He had strolled past Fizzlepop when she took a deep breath and turned to face him.

"Grubber," she began. "Do… Do you have someplace to go for Hearth's Warming?" Grubber stopped, saying nothing in response. "I know it's still a little ways away," Fizzlepop continued, "but I just wanted to know if you were going to be staying here."

Grubber's shoulders slumped, and he muttered something under his breath. Then he straightened his posture and turned to Fizzlpeop. "I didn't really have anything planned," he said nonchalantly. "I thought I'd go check out the marketplace and the town square. You know. See what a pony winter is all about." He smacked his lips. "I hear they make great cakes for that Heart's Warning thing."

"Hearth’s Warming,” Fizzlepop corrected. “And that sounds nice.” She smiled awkwardly, but the smile quickly faded when Grubber's expression remained neutral.

"Did you want me to bring you something back?" he asked.

"No, thank you. I..." Fizzlepop shook her head and stomped a hoof. "I'm being a coward." She marched up to her assistant, who took a single step back, and laid a hoof on his shoulder. "I need to—no, I want to apologize for how I've been acting towards you, and not just during your recent lessons.

Grubber crossed his arms and looked at Fizzlepop with mild suspicion, but a hint of hope broke through his bearing. "Really?"

"Yes." Fizzlepop sat down so she could bring her head down to her assistant's height. "You deserve better, and I need to stop treating you like you're still my subordinate. If I'm going to help you, provided you even want my help at all, then I'm going to have to accept that our relationship has changed. I was used to ordering you around all the time, but it's been unfair to you to expect you to have the same goals that I do."

"Yeah. You've been kinda awful lately," Grubber said bluntly.

Fizzlepop visibly flinched but nodded in agreement. "I know. I let my temper get the better of me too often."

"Look, I get it. You're a soldier." Fizzlepop opened her mouth to disagree, but Grubber forestalled her with a raised paw. "You're always going to be a warrior, Boss. That's just how you are. Normal life is tough when you can't be, well, like you used to be. For what it's worth, I don't think you're a bad pony. You just have some stuff to work on, like all the rest of us."

"Thanks." The pair stood together in silence, both searching for something more to say.

"Heh. Remember back when I was always bugging you to let me be your number one evil sidekick?" Grubber finally offered.

"Like it was every single day for months a few years ago." Fizzlepop gratefully chuckled. "How many times was it that I told you to get lost?"

"At least twice a day. But you eventually said yes."

"I did, and your track record for actually accomplishing the tasks I gave you properly was abysmal. But you usually did manage to come through for me whenever dessert was on the line." Fizzlepop's eyes lit up, and she rubbed her chin. "Hmm. Maybe we could try a different approach after the holidays. What if, for every correct homework assignment, I bring you something that Pinkie Pie bakes for the professors."

"So your solution is to give me treats like a dog?" Grubber asked ruefully.

"Oh!" Fizzlepop gasped. She shook her head vehemently. "No, I didn't mean it like that at all."

"Ha!" Grubbe cackled. "I'm just messing with you. For treats baked by Pinkie, I'll do all the homework you want."

The pair shared an easy laugh together, and Fizzlepop felt her earlier reluctance melting away. "I want you to know that I push you so hard because I want you to succeed."

"And that's cool, but I'm not a kid. I appreciate what you're trying to do, and if you're going to treat me like your friend, then I'll try harder. Just take it easy with the angry voice and stuff. Okay?"

Fizzlepop nodded. "I can do that. I'll work harder to be more reasonable, and in return, I'd like you to work harder on your schoolwork. Sweet treat or not." She held out her hoof to Grubber, and he shook it eagerly.

"You got yourself a deal, Boss."

"Call me Fizzy if you want. I'm not really the ‘Boss’ anymore. Maybe we can start over after the holiday season."

"Works for me." Grubber jerked his thumb towards the exit. "I'm going to go and find a few barrels of hot chocolate. I'll see you around, Fizzy." He made for the door, and as he opened it, Fizzlepop called out.

"One last thing, Grubber." He stopped and turned. "I want you to remember..." She hesitated, searching for the right words, and then chuckled to herself. "Remember to take a jacket with you. It's cold outside."

Grubber tossed her a quick salute before the door slowly shut behind him, leaving Fizzlepop by herself in the gym once more. She sighed and meandered back to her office. Leaving her office door open, Fizzlepop picked up her coffee pot and grabbed the brown and gold tin of Yubuck coffee. She paused and stared at the container for several heartbeats. With a shake of her head, she put the pot back down and put the tin away.

"Not if I want to get some sleep tonight," she said to herself. "It’s going to be quiet for a while. Might as well get some extra work done." Pulling a few folders from a file drawer, Fizzlepop pulled out her desk chair. In the seat was a small flat package wrapped in red paper. She set the folders aside and turned the box over on her hoof. "What's this?"

She ripped off one end of the wrapping paper with a deft flick and pulled out a framed picture. Fizzlepop felt something warm spark in her chest, and she covered her mouth with a hoof, sniffing back a tiny laugh. In her hoof, she held a picture of all of her students posing as a group. They were dirty, sweating, and visibly exhausted, but every one of them was grinning from ear to ear next to the finish line of the obstacle course. And standing behind them all, looking as pleased as a victorious commander, was Fizzlepop. She turned the picture over and found the back crowded with signatures and short words of thanks and warm holiday wishes.

"Those little brats," she whispered, smiling.

"More trouble, Fizzy?"

Fizzlepop turned and found Starlight in the doorway. "No, no trouble at all." She set the picture down on her desk and rubbed her nose.

Starlight moved to the desk and looked down at the picture. "You should try it more often." Fizzlepop looked at her questioningly, getting a grin in return. “Opening up. It’s a good look for you.”

Huffing out a laugh, Fizzlepop said, "No, thanks. I think Equestria has enough of that already,” as she fought to choke down her embarrassment. She cleared her throat. “Not that I don't enjoy having you visit my office instead of the usual other way around, but what are you still doing here? The students have all left for their holiday break."

"I was going to ask you the same question." Both mares sat, and Starlight idly twirled the tip of her mane. "A few students are sticking around through the break, and I'll be staying to watch out for them. What's your excuse?"

"I'm..." Fizzlepop glanced around her office and made a show of straightening the folders she had retrieved from the file cabinet. "I'm getting a headstart on some new ideas and topics for next year."

Starlight leaned in and rested her front hooves on the desk. "Are you ever going to go home for the holidays? I heard your trip around Equestria and to the Crystal Empire went well. And your little rendezvous with Glitter Drops didn’t go terribly either. I have to believe that your home would be just as understanding. You might be pleasantly surprised." She smiled wistfully. "I know I was when I returned to visit my old town."

"One day maybe," Fizzlepop relented. "I don't know. I want to, but not yet."

Starlight nodded. "If you think you might be up to it, I'm going to be throwing a little party with a few friends back in the castle on Hearth's Warming Eve. Think you could make room in your schedule to join us?"

Fizzlepop did not answer immediately, and she chewed on her lip with indecision. Starlight abruptly lunged across the desk, catching her friend by surprise, and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Come on!" Starlight pleaded. She held Fizzlepop tighter as the startled mare tensed. "Please?" Starlight pulled back, giggling when Fizzlepop leaned away despite the small smile on her face. "I'll even give you first whack at the windigo piñata."

"Are piñatas a thing on Hearth's Warming Eve?" Fizzlepop asked, recovering from the sudden friendship assault.

"I don't see why not." Starlight lowered her voice to a conspiratorial volume. "Plus, you can pretend it's Pinecone's parents. You know, for just a second or two. I won't tell anyone."

Fizzlepop hemmed and hawed while Starlight watched with growing anticipation and mild exasperation until Fizzlepop slowly nodded. "I think I could get behind that. You have yourself a deal." Starlight clapped, but Fizzlepop held up a hoof. "But only on three conditions."

"Three?" Starlight canted her head and rubbed her chin. "Consider me intrigued. Go on."

"I want to invite Grubber," Fizzlepop said immediately. "He doesn't have anywhere to spend the holiday."

Starlight nodded, a warm, knowing smile spreading across her face. "Of course. Next?"

“Second.” Reaching under her desk, Fizzlepop pulled out a small box wrapped in green paper with a red ribbon and bow. "That you accept this as a thank-you for all your help."

"Fizzlepop!" Starlight gasped. She immediately grasped the gift in her magic. "You didn't have to." She shook the box vigorously and listened to the shuffling within. Starlight raised an eyebrow. "It isn't socks, is it?"

"Maybe," she snickered. "Don't open it till Hearth's Warming. And if you don't like it, blame Trixie. As your 'Greatest and Most Powerful Best Friend Forever,' it was her suggestion."

Starlight shook the package again, more furiously than before, and shrugged. "Alright, then. Keep your secrets." She paused to shake her present one more time, casting an inquisitorial eye at Fizzlepop. The other mare stood silently, wearing a knowing smirk on her face.

"What's the last condition?" Starlight asked.

Fizzlepop, still smirking, sent a pulse of magic through the jagged core of her horn. It ignited with a flickering flourish of multicolored sparks. "Do Hearth's Warming parties traditionally include fireworks?"

"You know what?" Starlight chuckled. With her gift secured in her telekinesis's cyan aura, she stood and threw a hoof over Fizzlepop's shoulders, embracing her friend again. Starlight grinned broadly. "I've always thought they should. Come one, let's go get some hot cocoa before your assistant empties every barrel in Ponyville."

Matching her friend’s smile, Fizzlepop let herself be guided out of the office. "I'd like that, Starlight."

Comments

[Yoshifan30]

Starlight leaned in and rested her front hooves on the desk. "Are you ever going to go home for the holidays? I heard your trip around Equestria and to the Crystal Empire went well. And your little rendezvous with Glitter Drops didn’t go terribly either. I have to believe that your home would be just as understanding. You might be pleasantly surprised." She smiled wistfully. "I know I was when I returned to visit my old town."

Very nice touch using the comic which was a good one

[Yoshifan30]

Well it looks like hearts warming eve is here once again and every students and teachers are on there way home for the holiday but it looks like fizzlepop need to talk to Grubber and making amends with each other she apologized for her outbursts and treating him badly but it looks like he accepted her apology which it was nice to see after their conversation she had a gift from the students which is also nice then Starlight showed up and asking her if she wants to join with the other is for a hearths warming eve which it looks like she accepted if she can invite Grubber well this was a very nice story has she been doing these days even though it has their ups and downs not everybody's perfect but this was a pretty good story keep up the good work

[Melody Song]

Awwwww! That was so sweet and heartwarming! A perfect ending for this story!

[Dan]

10847911

Hopefully not the 'ending' ending.

[Melody Song]

10848434
True, true

[Xanderfox]

10848434
Good stories are like visiting a friend, eventually they come to an end, but there's always a chance for another.

[Kaipony]

10847890
10847911
Thank you very much for the kind words. It’s been a real sanity-saver to write for fun, and it’s always the highlight of my day/week/whenever if someone else gets a little enjoyment from them too.

10848434
There’s always room for a little more.

10848932
That’s really good. I like that. There’s a theme for a nice slice-of-life right there.

[Melody Song]

10849586
No problem! Your stories are great!

[He Who Is Between All]

Starlight shook the package again, more furiously than before, and shrugged. "Alright, then. Keep your secrets."

I understood that reference

[Scyphi]

10894811

Romance languages (French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, etc.) are all based on Latin.
Which if you remember, was spoken by the Romans.

...he says to someone who has studied a bit of Latin himself...

More seriously though, I've done some reading up on the rules surrounding usage of ever and never, so to double-check myself, and I suppose since the sentence is using "could" instead of "could not," the "never" technically is the more correct...but it still sounds wrong to me, with "ever" sounding the more natural option.

That's one of the more...annoying...quirks of English, I suppose. There are absolutely cases where you could have a sentence be completely correct from a grammatical standpoint, and yet still sound wrong to the ears/eyes of the speaker/writer. It probably stems from its mixed breeding, how it borrows words and structures from so many other languages, sticks them all together, and just sort of tries to ignore that they aren't actually always that compatible with it's overall grammatical system as it'd like to make them out to be at times. As such, I've often found in my own studies/writing of the language, that for every rule of grammar in English...there's usually at least one exception, regardless of how rare or unlikely it might be to encounter it in normal, everyday, usage.

That said, I'd like to say this is one of those times...but to be totally honest, more likely it's just a me thing, who probably just wouldn't have written the sentence phrased like that in the first place anyway, and that, I suppose, is more just personal taste than anything. In any case, I suppose it's up to the author to address, if they ever do. If they choose to just leave it as it is anyway, then more power to them.

[Evil Paladin]

10895074

...he says to someone who has studied a bit of Latin himself...

Out of everyone on this site!

Yeah, English is basically the Frankenstien's monster of languages.
Much to the frustration of practically everyone.

(The reason why moose doesn't pluralize like goose, is because it's from a Native American language, and not from the language where goose came from. So moose doesn't follow that rule. The plural of moose is just moose.)

The "grammatically correct but awkward" and "natural sounding but grammatically incorrect" can get frustrating when it comes to writing emails to your boss, important people, and customers at work.
I probably agonize about punctuation and wording more than my coworkers do, because of having to pay so much attention to that in grad school, since everything needs to be perfect grammar, lest you lose points on your assignment.
I don't work in an academic setting, but college kinda makes you think that if your grammar isn't in top form, then you'll be turned down for promotion, lower annual review score, and maybe fired.
At least I have something in my pocket to contribute if the team gets together to create a new standardized form email, or form.

EDIT: Added quote and comment

[Evil Paladin]

Liked it, but kinda disappointed that we didn't see a conflict between Tempest and Silverstream's parents.
Out of the various races on campus, it would be the hippogriffs that would have the biggest bone to pick with Tempest, regarding her past.
Would have been interesting to see the parents of the Young 6 talking to and reacting to Tempest.

Might be better for Tempest and Grubber, if Tempest just enrolls Grubber to the school.
Then again, we don't know what the grade equivalent of the school is, so Grubber would probably sink pretty hard when it comes to doing high school math when he's at like 1st grade level math.

Glad that you had additional miscellaneous teachers also teaching at the school, rather than it just be the Mane 6 teaching everything.

[Scyphi]

10895699
I got my bachelor's in English, so I know what you mean. For example, I find myself often using bigger and more complicated words in the text messages I type on my phone much more than any sane phone user would use for some of the same reasons.

But I'm also the sort of person that tries not to be too much of a stickler about grammar and spelling, at least in settings such as this, so long as the intended statement is still clear to the reader. Nobody likes a grammar nazi, after all. The only reason I brought up the "ever/never" deal here was because I was already quoting the line anyway and it was sticking out to me, so I figured I might as well mention it while I was at it.

[Evil Paladin]

10895768

I got my bachelor's in English, so I know what you mean.

OOOFFFF!! You definitely know what I'm talking about!

For the stories themselves, a friendly grammar Nazi would be welcome at times.
Comments section little be less so (unless the comment is especially bad).
There's some non-shit post fics on this site that need the whole grammar SS.
Spelling mistakes are often what stick out for me in comments. I've replied to comments in YouTube and DeviantArt to correct spelling.
Spelling probably sticks out to me since I was good at it growing up from grade school on wards. None of my schools did Spelling Bee, so I never got to flex it in that way.

[Heavyhauler75622]

11078234
"He in there?" Fizzy asked firmly. The foal nodded, still frightened.

With a smooth, practiced motion repeated hundreds of times, Fizzlepop drew the Colt Government .45 she wore alongside her barrel, brought it up as her eye picked up the sights, and pressed the trigger...

The noise was thunderous in the little dorm room, as Fizzy fired several shots through the door. The foal had clapped hooves over her ears at the sound, as well as Starlight, wincing.

A wisp of smoke trailed upward from the muzzle of the .45, before Fizzy slid it back into its holster and snapped the cover flap back down.

She pivoted neatly as she tuned to the pair. "If he's still in there...he ain't happy," Fizzy declared with finality, the foal with a huge smile...and Starlight in abject shock, staring back.

"Ms. Glimmer!! Commander Berrytwist just terminated that bad stallion with extreme prejudice!!!" the foal happily declared, beaming like a searchlight. Fizzy adjusted the holster and belt for a moment, face passive, but projecting satisfaction in her eyes. She had been wanting a moment to blow off some steam.

And this certainly fit the bill.

[Viatorem]

Of all 3 stories in this “saga”, this one definitely feels like the most developed. Best way I could describe it is that the previous parts of this fic feel more like prologues.

Whatever the case, this was definitely a nice little read. I’m glad I finally got around to reading it after putting it in my “read it later” list back in… 2021