The Storm King was dead, forever gone. Tempest had sworn her loyalty to him. Loyalty which he had used for his own self gain. But what about her? Had she not vowed to follow the King just so her horn would be restored? Did she not execute each and every order of the King blindly, with no regret for other ponies’ lives?
Yes. Yes, she did. Tempest couldn’t lie to herself about all this. It was obvious that she had made a mistake, the wrong choice. Did she really have a choice, though? Ever since the... incident, her friends would run away from her, too scared of her to even dare play a game together. She was alone. No games anymore. No laughing, no joy, all that was left was loneliness. A loneliness which would go on to scar her more than Ursa ever could. A loneliness which would give birth to bitterness and hate, a deep hatred for friendship itself.
And now, although it was all over, she couldn’t help but feel like something was still missing. She felt incomplete, like there was something she still needed to do. It was a thought, a feeling that kept her occupied for most of the night during the friendship festival. It was a single thought that swirled around in Tempest’s head, but one she couldn’t quite catch, one she couldn’t quite understand.
And so, she sat idle. She thought, and thought, and thought even more. She thought as hard as she could, resting her head on a pillar, away from the loud crowds of cheerful ponies. She watched the stars up in the sky, watched them calmly sit there, just like her. It was then that she heard a voice coming from the stars.
“Tempest?” they asked. “Tempest, what are you doing here?”
She briefly rubbed her eyes and eyed the sky again, quickly spotting the pony who the voice really belonged to.
“Don’t you wanna join the others?” Twilight asked, softly landing on her hooves in front of Tempest.
She returned a light, casual shrug. “Oh, I would. I really would.”
Twilight’s ears flattened as she got closer to her new friend. “But...?”
Tempest sighed as she looked up to the sky again. “But it isn’t the same without... them.”
“Them?” Twilight asked back.
“Yeah. Them.” She turned her head slightly to face the purple alicorn. “Don’t you remember?”
“Remember? I-” Twilight interrupted herself as she realised what Tempest was referring to. “Wait... your friends?”
Tempest simply nodded slightly.
Twilight remained silent for a moment as the fireworks exploded up in the sky. She could see the reflection of the fireworks in Tempest’s eyes. “Do you wanna talk about it, Tempest?”
“Talk? What could a talk really change?” she replied, turning her head the other way. “I won’t ever be the same, anyway...” she mumbled to herself, barely audible for Twilight.
“Well, you don’t have to, Tempest,” the alicorn replied quietly, laying a hoof on Tempest’s shoulder.
“You might say that, Twilight... but nopony would ever accept me the way I am now.”
“Well, this pony would!” Twilight replied joyfully.
Tempest rolled her eyes. “You’re the princess of friendship, Twilight. It’s different.”
“My friendship is no different from yours or theirs, Tempest. I’m a pony like you, after all.”
“Yeah, right...” Tempest replied, letting out a deep sigh. “At least you’re not disfigured like me...”
“Disfigured? Come on now, Tempest, that’s not true.”
“Oh yeah?” she replied, light blue sparks escaping what was left of her horn. “Let’s face it, Twilight. I’ll never see my friends again. And if I do, they’ll just run away. Again.” Her voice became weaker and weaker as she went on.
Twilight watched as her friend began to quietly sob. She couldn’t help but sit down next to Tempest and pull her into a comforting hug. “You’ll see them again, Tempest. I promise you that.”
“But...”
“They won’t,” Twilight interrupted her, looking her into the eyes. “I can come with you and help you, if you’d like.”
The scarred mare remained silent for a while, letting out her tears as Twilight attempted to comfort her. It was then, as Tempest realised just how much Twilight cared, that she made her choice.
“Yeah,” she gave out between her sobbing. “Yeah, I’d like that.”
Twilight returned a warm smile to Tempest, although she didn’t notice it during her crying and sobbing. What followed was yet another moment of peace, where Tempest was free to let out all her pain and tears. Twilight felt an increasing amount of pity for the mare, struck by a horrible fate and left alone by her only friends. She would have to set this right for her. She deserved, she needed this.
“Come on,” Twilight said quietly as Tempest stopped crying, her face still wet from all the tears. “You should get some rest. I’ll be with you tomorrow morning.”
“And what about you? Shouldn’t you get some sleep, as well?” Tempest asked her friend.
“Technically, yes, but... I kinda have a gigantic party to direct here, hehe.” Tempest looked up to the sky once again as fireworks rose and exploded in hundreds of different colours, accompanied by the voice of Songbird Serenade.
“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right,” she acknowledged, turning back towards Twilight. “Thanks anyway, Twilight. I’ll never forget this.”
“Anything for a friend.”
“Come on, Twilight, we’re almost there!” Tempest shouted over to her friend who was falling quite a bit behind on their march.
“If I would have gotten a bit every time you said that,” Twilight said back to her, “I would be rich by now.”
“I’m serious this time! Look!” she said, pointing her hoof towards a small village that laid in front of them.
“Wow. That’s the village you grew up in?” Twilight asked her. “It looks... beautiful.”
Tempest felt home already, the sight of her old village alone almost bringing her to tears. “Yeah,” she replied, turning her head towards Twilight with a warm smile. “Just as I remembered.”
The two mares entered the town shortly after, both of them briefly looking around to take in the quiet, relaxing atmosphere of the village. It didn’t take long for them to meet the first inhabitants, either.
“Excuse me,” Twilight said, approaching an old, white-coated mare. “Me and my friend are looking for somepony.”
“Your friend?” the mare replied with a questioning look. Twilight turned around to see that Tempest had seemingly vanished.
“What? No! She was- ugh.” Twilight attempted to contain her anger. “Sorry, move along,” she said to the old mare, turning around with a loud grumble.
“Tempest! Tempest, where are you?”” Twilight began to scream through the town.
“Shhhh!” A voice said from a nearby bush, “You’ll only attract more attention!”
Twilight briefly rolled her eyes. “Tempest, it’s gonna be fine. Nopony here is gonna hate you.”
“You don’t know that! Last time I had to run away because my only friends were too scared to even look at me!” the voice to Tempest replied from within the bush.
“It’ll be fine, you hear me? I’m here, after all. I’ll help you.”
Tempest remained silent.
“Please, trust me. Take my hoof and I’ll help you do this. Together.” Once again, Tempest remained silent for a few moments, staring at Twilight as she extended her hoof towards her.
“Right,” she said to herself before taking a deep breath and grabbing Twilight’s hoof, which gently pulled her out of the bush. “Sorry, Twilight. I... didn’t mean to embarrass you or anything.”
“You didn’t, and never could. I’m here because I’m helping a friend, and that’s what I’ll do!” Once again, smiles formed on both of their faces.
“So, ready to show me where your friends live?” Twilight asked.
“Well, I only know where they used to live during our childhood. Could very well be that they moved now...” Tempest replied quietly.
“Don’t worry, we’ll figure it out. For now we don’t really have a clue other than that, except if you want to ask somepony for-”
“No!” Tempest interrupted loudly. “No, I... wouldn’t want to disturb anypony. Let’s just go and see if they still live where they used to. Come on, I’ll lead the way.”
“Right, this should be it,” Tempest said to Twilight.
The two mares advanced on an old house. Like most buildings in the village, it had a somewhat unusual form, with its roof, especially, having dents and curves. Both ponies stopped to take a closer look at the building. Memories, both good and bad, were flooding into Tempest’s mind.
“I remember this place,” she said. “I remember it too well...”
Twilight knew that it would be hard for her friend to go on now. “Are you ok?”
“Yeah.” Tempest nodded, sobbing only once. “Yeah, I’m alright.”
Tempest slowly walked towards the door of the weirdly shaped house, the same kind of house that she grew up in. The steps in front of the entrance almost felt like a mountain to her, her memories dragging her down, by the seems.
And then she stood there, in front of the door itself. It was a simple wooden door, like all the others in town. And yet this one felt so special to her, it felt unique.
Tempest lifted her hoof and slowly itched it towards the door, not daring to knock. She turned her head and glanced over towards Twilight one last time. There was no going back now, no running away. She had to do this.
Knock
Knock
Knock
Tempest stepped back from the door, breathing loudly. Her ears were trying to locate noise from within the house, but to no avail. There was nothing but silence.
“Guess they’re not here anymore, after all...” Tempest mumbled as she turned away from the door.
Yet, just at that moment, Tempest froze as she heard a sound. A sound so quiet that most ponies wouldn’t have even heard it. There was somepony in there. She turned around at once, her faith restored as she lifted her hoof a second time.
Knock
Knock
Knock
Again she stood there, silently listening for whoever might be inside the house. But there was nothing now. The sound from before was gone.
“Tempest, I don’t think that-”
Knock
Knock
Knock
She was so close, so close to her goal, to her friends. She couldn’t quit, couldn’t go back now. She was sure it was the right spot, she was certain of it.
Suddenly, Tempest’s ears flinched. Steps. There were steps. Somepony was in there, somepony was heading towards the door. And...
And suddenly the door opened.
Tempest was paralysed at what she saw at that moment. It really was him. Her old friend Bluecoat.
Twilight watched from a distance as both Tempest and the strange stallion simply looked at each other, inspecting each other. Tempest looked up and down his body; his mane, his fur, his tail, his eyes - all was like it used to be.
“Tempest?” the stallion asked quietly, equally as stunned as Tempest. “Tempest Shadow...?”
Tempest nodded in response. “I’m sorry, Bluecoat. I’m sorry I ran away and left you two.” Already, Tempest began to tear up and sob.
“No. No, don’t be sorry. It was our fault, Tempest! We shouldn’t have made fun of you, we...” Bluecoat interrupted himself, taking a deep breath. “We should have been there for you.”
“Well,” Tempest said, extending her hooves, “will you be here for me now?”
Without another word being spoken, Bluecoat threw himself into Tempest’s embrace. Tempest hadn’t been the only one who had missed her childhood friends.
“Sorry for ever running away, Tempest. Me and Emerald, we... we were just...”
“It’s in the past now, Bluecoat,” Tempest reassured him. “It’s in the past...”
“Well, what are we waiting for? You surely want to meet Emerald, too, don’t you?” Bluecoat asked, breaking the hug.
“Is she here?”
Bluecoat laughed. “Like there’s anywhere else she’d like to be.”
“Just like old times, hm?” Tempest said with a wide, genuine, warm smile.
“Just like old times,” Bluecoat returned. “Come on now, I’ll lead you to her!”
“Oh, um... wait a moment, actually.” Tempest turned her head around towards Twilight. “I still have something to do. Go ahead, I’ll be with you two in a second. Don’t tell Emerald about me though, I wanna keep it a surprise.”
Bluecoat glanced over to Twilight for a moment before giggling. “Sure thing. We’ll be upstairs.”
Tempest turned around and walked back away from the house, approaching Twilight.
“Tempest, what-”
The Alicorn was interrupted by Tempest’s sudden, tight embrace.
“Thank you, Twilight. Thank you. Thank you so much. I can’t put into words how thankful I am.”
“Don’t thank me, Tempest. You managed to do this, not me.”
“I never would have had the courage without you. Thank you, Twilight. For everything,” Tempest said again.
“I was just doing what any friend would have done, it’s nothing special,” Twilight humbly replied.
“Well, it is to me. So really, again, thank you. You helped me find the right way once, away from the Storm King, and now you have helped me find home. Thank you.”
With a last, tight hug, Tempest broke the hug and turned around. She had a whole new life to live, and things to catch up on. At long last she was back where she started, in her village with her friends.
She was home, at last.
