"You Do NOT Pass!"

Chapters

Prologue: A Clean Slate
She Who Strikes First, Wins
First Day's the Worst
The Mare in the Moon...stone
Round Two: The Grudge
Doing Some Digging
The Weight of History
Bring It On!
"The Most Stupid Plan I've Ever Heard!"
Graduation

Prologue: A Clean Slate

Tempest took a deep breath, trying to keep her infamous cool.

She hadn't expected "turning good" to be such a simultaneously easy and complicated task. Something deep inside of her had changed when Princess Twilight had saved her life. She had felt... broken when the Storm King had betrayed her. She knew that she had nothing more than the quality of her own service to serve as a testament that he would keep his word, no choice but to place what little trust she had in him and his quest for power. Had she known then that relying on him would prove to be such a mistake, she would have blown him to oblivion that day they met at the heart of a blizzard. But even by that point, she had lost so much of herself to her quest to restore her horn that it hardly mattered. Even the slimmest chance was worth digging in her hooves and fighting tooth and claw for. She would find what she had lost, or she would lose herself completely in her quest. Unfortunately, for a long time, it seemed that only the latter had occurred. Or so she had thought.

But when Princess Twilight had saved her, she felt something for the first time in ages. Something all her own, independent of the Storm King and completely separated from her quest. It was the first time her thoughts had strayed from becoming whole again since she'd left Equestria as a young filly. She had taken a gamble, seizing on that feeling and letting it guide her ever since.

She hadn't fought when the royal guard had taken her for questioning and trial. She had accepted her failure, and wanted to atone for her actions. She had been willing to go to prison for her crimes if other ponies said it was the "right" thing. She'd lost sight of right and wrong a long time ago, her judgement was flawed and her vision skewed.

She also had felt absolutely no need to fight when Princess Twilight and her friends had burst into the trial, all willing to vouch for her "character."

She may have been penitent, but she wasn't stupid, after all. Prisons were awful, she'd broken out of several.

With Twilight's appeal and the six guardians of Equestria all pleading on her behalf, to Tempest's complete shock, she had been granted amnesty for her crimes, completely absolved from her actions under the Storm King's orders. The verdict had resulted in an altogether unpleasant group hug, followed by an invitation from Twilight to join them in her castle in Ponyville. Judging from the slight edge of desperation in her voice, Tempest wondered just HOW empty the castle had to be. She had politely declined the offer, claiming that she needed time to adjust to the idea of being back in Equestria. The Princess of Friendship had been, quite thankfully, sympathetic to her hesitation and left her with an open offer... and a list of sightseeing destinations in Canterlot.

Tempest was hesitant about being given orders so soon after being betrayed by the last person whose orders she followed, but she decided to give Princess Twilight the benefit of the doubt. The seven libraries on her list were silently and discretely trimmed down to one. It was admittedly a pleasant place, but perhaps too quiet. A little background noise helped Tempest not to feel quite so alone with her thoughts. Inevitably, though, the thoughts had come to her, following her though mile-high stacks of booths, stalking her down garden labyrinths and hiding behind her reflection in shop windows. It was in every dirty look she received on the street, every guard that tensed when they saw her.

No ponies had died in the invasion. Thankfully, that wasn't the Storm King's style. He didn't kill if he could avoid it. There was always treasure to be moved or merchandise to be shipped, and the airships needed constant maintenance, as well. There was no use to killing when fresh recruits and new slaves were so much more useful. The city itself, however, had suffered immensely. Entire blocks had been systematically looted for any valuables, houses ripped apart in search of secret safes and hidden treasure. The population had not been diminished, but their city had been ravaged and their homes torn to pieces. It was all her fault. She had told herself that the king would have come to Equestria eventually, no matter what her actions in the past had been.

But she could have warned them. She could have come home and told the princesses of the creature that had conquered half the world before he'd heard of Equestria's near-boundless magic. Heard it from Tempest's own spiteful words. Thankfully, over the years, she had become good at avoiding thinking about the past, and pushed back those thoughts every time they caught her, forcing herself to the next location on Twilight's list.

Her greatest surprise had come when, after nightfall, she had spied on the changing of the guards at Canterlot Castle. The Day Guards had been dull and boring, she had never seen a wider collection of numskulls outside of the Storm King's army. When the Night Guards had come to replace them, though, her interest had been immediately piqued. For every Day Guard, there was a Night Guard to replace them. Rather than the bulky, musclebound stallions making up Celestia's guards, Luna's forces were smaller, sleeker, and better suited to the darkness, much like Luna, herself. Most had dark coats and bat wings, though she thought she could make out a few unicorns patrolling the streets, as well. Their yellow eyes glowed in the darkness and they were much more observant. Each guard acted independently, sometimes moving with a partner, but they were much more difficult to predict. They had little supervision, and she could tell from their predatory stance that they weren't just looking for trouble to stop, they were hunting for it. There was no silent vigil, only stalking shapes in the darkness, each waiting,daring for a pony with the gall to think darkness would hide them from justice.

She had honestly considered challenging one or two of them to test whether or not there was a difference in their fighting abilities, but she didn't feel like pressing her luck when it came to being thrown into a jail again.

She picked out a pair of guards and followed them through their shift. Unlike their daytime counterparts, they had spent a lot of their time joking and chatting when all was quiet and peaceful. It was obvious that they were good friends on top of being coworkers. Ordinarily, she would stomp out this kind of frivolous distraction in the ranks she commanded. However, friendship had served Equestria well enough in fending off the invasion, so se was willing to once again give it the benefit of the doubt.

She'd found a military-esque group that tended to keep out of the public eye, and would most likely meet Princess Twilight's mandatory quota of friendship. It seemed like a perfect place for her to begin her fresh start. The next day, she took a train to Ponyville to tell Twilight of her plans.

To her surprise, Twilight had been completely on board with the idea, enough so to make Tempest suspicious whether there was something about the Night Guard she didn't know. Without any certainty Twilight was hiding anything from her, however, she began the application process.

Over the course of the next week, she tried to leave Twilight's castle a total of three times, each time resulting in the residents of Ponyville scattering once they'd caught sight of her, and Princess Twilight having to tell the local police force of the town to stand down. All of Twilight's friends were frequently coming in and out of the castle, but none of them seemed to live there aside from Twilight's student, Starlight Glimmer. Starlight had been the only pony so far to catch the hint that Tempest wanted her space, and the most reasonable pony out of Twilight's entourage. If Tempest had planned on taking permanent residence in the castle, she wouldn't have been surprised if Starlight had been one of her first friends.

After a week of waiting, however, her application returned. To her surprise, it had been approved. Twilight's smug grin, however, informed her that it most definitely had not been an accident. She had been ordered to report to some place called the "New Lunar Republic" for her training.

She hadn't realized Equestria was outsourcing their military training, now.

Of course, that wasn't the case. Twilight had quickly explained that the New Lunar Republic was the organization that trained and supplied night guards to Canterlot, as well as being tasked with missions straight from Princess Luna, herself. Their focus, she said, was on subterfuge and neutralizing domestic threats. That explained why there had been so little resistance from the Night Guard the day the Storm King had attacked: they had not only all been asleep, but their whole organization was dedicated to dealing with... subtler threats than an oncoming army.

Twilight and her friends had offered to accompany Tempest to the Plains of Lore, where the base she'd been ordered to report to was housed, but she had politely turned them down. She'd grown well used to traveling alone and one last sojourn to collect her thoughts was just what she needed. The directions to the base had been simple enough to follow, and the trip was boring to the point of being mind-numbing, but it gave her enough time to come to three conclusions.

One: She was going to atone for her actions against Equestria.

Two: She was going to leave behind her past, and focus only on moving forward.

Three: She was going to prove that Twilight's faith in her was not in vain.

Now, she stood in the doorway of the underground facility, staring her future in the face. She wasn't frightened, nothing ever frightened her, but she would admit (only ever to herself) that she was feeling some trepidation. This was her second chance. This was it. If she messed this up, she would be finished, most likely never able to show her face in Equestria again.

Luckily, Tempest's ability to keep her cool was infamous.

She Who Strikes First, Wins

It was really surprising how cool the New Lunar Republic base had been after her long trek through the desert. She'd been told many times that one didn't have to go far underground to escape the heat of the desert, but she hadn't expected the change to be quite so sudden.

She told herself this to distract herself from how closed-in she was quickly beginning to feel. She'd spent so long on the Storm King's airships, she'd gotten used to being able to see into the distance as far as her eyesight could reach. So far, since she'd entered the facility, she had never been more than a few yards from a wall closing her in. Her heart was beginning to pick up its pace, her breath coming in slightly shorter intervals.

Tempest forced her breathing to slow, refusing any sign of her discomfort to show itself outwardly. She would not be intimidated by something as stupid as walls. "Claustrophobia," as well as any kind of phobia, was not in her vocabulary.

"So, you're Tempest Shadow?" The mare leading the way asked. They were walking down a long, slanted hallway, and in the low light, Tempest could see enough of the mare to make a few assumptions about her. She was an earth pony, and combination of a sturdy earth pony build and lean, toned muscles made it obvious that she was a skilled fighter. Every creature she'd ever seen TRY to look intimidating was tense like a coiled spring, constantly on the very tips of their hooves. Every creature that had ever given her any kind of challenge in a fight had not been tense, they had held themselves with quiet confidence, not nervous energy. That was exactly the message given by this pony's posture: she wasn't tense, but that only meant that she was ready.

"You made quite a ruckus in Canterlot, you know!" the pony sighed, shaking her head as they neared a large, circular door at the end of the hallway. It looked almost like a vault in some kind of bank, with the crest of the New Lunar Empire engraved across the front. "Left those pencil-pushers at dispatch hiding in their little office cubicles ever since!"

"I know my actions were-"

"HUP-UP-UP!" The other mare covered Tempest's mouth with her hoof. Upon Tempest raising her eyebrow in questioning, she simply smiled and shook her head. "Now, I'm not the one you're going to be talking to about your past! If you want a therapist, there's ponies here for that..." Her eyes rolled upwards for a moment, as if searching her mind for information. "...somewhere."

"I only want to know two things about you, got it, rookie?"

Tempest nodded, growing slightly irritated with the strange mare's hoof still over her mouth.

"First, I want to know why you're here. Twilight Sparkle pulled a lot of strings to get you in here, so you've gotta be something real special!" She finally took her hoof away from Tempest's mouth, allowing her to speak.

"I'm here... because I want to leave my past behind me. I want to make up for what I di-" She was rudely cut off by the stranger's hoof returning to cover her mouth.

"Wow. Seriously? That cliched?" She sighed and shrugged, turning away from Tempest and pressing a small button next to a speaker on the wall. "Hey! I'm back with the rookie! Thanks for not turning on the anti-invasion measures!"

The speaker crackled to life, a rough-sounding voice screeching back at her.

"It was ONE time and you barely got singed!"

"Yeah, yeah, you can whine all you like next time you set hoof in my dojo while I beat the stupid out of you! Now let us in, would you?"

"Sure, sure, whatever..." the voice replied. After a short pause, the speaker spoke up once more.

"Um, which button was it?"

The mare's eyes widened, and she very slowly and deliberately pressed down on the intercom button once again.

"That had better be a joke... or so help me, I will knock this door down and reacquaint you with it. Painfully." she whispered.

In spite of her earlier annoyance, Tempest was starting to like the mare's style.

There was a short pause, then the sound of massive deadbolt being pulled out of place by an unseen mechanism. As the door slowly swung open, the other mare turned back to Tempest, giving her a sly smile.

"Second, a yes or no question. Can you fight?"

Tempest finally smiled. That was an answer she could give with confidence.

"Oh, better than you would believe."

The mare's smile grew into a full grin, and she offered her hoof to Tempest.

"Name's Quick Strike. I'm the combat instructor around here, so you'll be seeing a lot of me!"

Tempest nodded, taking the mare's hoof and gripping it firmly. For a brief second, the two squeezed tightly, a small contest of strength. Tempest was impressed by her strength, and she seemed to think the same, giving her a firm nod.

"Just call me Tempest. It's easier to remember than my real name."

"Well, welcome to the New Lunar Republic, Tempest."

The rest of the New Lunar Republic didn't seem quite as open as Quick Strike while she was being given her tour. She still got her fair share of questioning and derisive stares, but they were easier to ignore in Canterlot. She could even see a occasional smile when ponies thought she wasn't looking, though she couldn't comprehend why any pony would be happy to see her. A couple of ponies had tried to congratulate Quick Strike on "bringing in" Tempest, only to find themselves bashed upside the head and reprimanded for "harassing the rookie."

Is that why some of these ponies are happy to see me? They think I'm being taken prisoner? The thought crossed her mind that she could have been betrayed again, that this would be her punishment, but Quick Strike seemed so candidly honest, it was hard for her to earnestly believe it.

She had to admit that she was impressed with the New Lunar Republic's facility. It was much more than a simple base for training guards. There were living quarters, a fully-stocked kitchen, a massive library, a fully-fledged command center for coordinating precision strikes, training areas with nearly every kind of exercise machine imaginable, and even a mail room. She had been surprised to see a few computers in the command center, as well as ponies working with small, ergonomic tools like ballpoint pens and electric light bulbs. If Equestria was one thing, it was dedicated to its studies of magic, almost completely eschewing such technologies completely in favor of magical means. Magic's potential was near-limitless in its applications, unlike computers, which had their limits clearly set from the day they were made. Even the Storm King had dismissed the idea of technical means of communication in favor of magical, claiming that he refused to accept anything with a limit.

"Yeah, they're a little trashy, but they're tools, just like anything else! They get the job done, and they save WAY more space than filing cabinets!" Quick Strike had joked when she caught Tempest staring at one. "Besides, without the radar to track dune worms through the sand, we'd lose a LOT more unicorns out in that desert!"

Dune worms. The massive, subterranean predators that populated the Plains of Lore. Tempest had seen a few dead ones in her travels, gigantic and bloated monsters with dozens of rows of teeth, striking from below to catch their prey: unicorns, more often than not. The greater their magical potential, the more tasty they seemed to be to the monsters. She had to admit, knowing that the devices were to ensure safe travels made her feel much more comfortable around them.

The tour finally ended with Quick Strike jumping up into a red-carpeted room, elevated only a couple steps above the nearby floor. Tempest could make out long tapestries lining the walls covered in scenes of great battlefields across epic landscapes, with strong-looking heroes leading armies to battle. The Storm King had often commissioned similar artwork of himself for ego-stroking propaganda on his ships, but these seemed to be the genuine articles. Tempest moved to walk inside for a closer look, only to find Quick Strike's hoof against her chest, holding her back. Looking up at the other mare, Tempest gave her a questioning look. So far, this had been the only open door she'd not been allowed through.

"If you're doing to come into my dojo, you're going to have to follow the rules!" Quick Strike smiled. "Rule number one: everyone bows to the master before they enter!"

Tempest blinked for a moment. Setting aside her pride wasn't hard for her, she'd had plenty of practice working for the Storm King. Rolling her eyes, she lowered her head, bowing to the yellow-coated earth pony. Quick Strike returned the motion before stepping to the side and letting Tempest enter the room.

Tempest's first few steps were hesitant. The carpet was odd to the touch, rough and short fibers obviously meant to give good traction to any hooves standing on it, but she could feel a thin layer of padding underneath to cushion any falls. It was simultaneously coarse and soft in different ways. The room was wide and open, with seemingly nothing inside but the tapestries and a row of colored belts crossing the spectrum from white to black, hanging on the far wall. Quick Strike trotted to the far side of the dojo, to the edge of a gold-colored embroidery in the carpet. She widened her stance and narrowed her eyes, staring Tempest down with greater scrutiny than any pony had given her since she'd arrive. Just as Tempest was about to ask what she was doing, Quick Strike answered the question for her.

"No holds barred. Use magic if you want to. If you're going to join the training for Canterlot's Night Guard, I'm going to need to know what I have to work with! So, I want you to attack me. Give me everything you've got!"

Tempest didn't feel a need to hesitate. It made sense, seeing as she'd introduced herself as the NLR's combat instructor. Of course she'd want to gauge her abilities, and a sparring match was the best way to do that. As she walked to the other side of the gold embroidery, Tempest's mind was already beginning to analyze her approach.

Ordinarily, quadrupeds have terrible sense of balance on fewer than three legs, so I'd try to sweep her front hooves out from under her, but this mare is obviously well-trained enough for that not to be a problem. Whenever she was dealing blows to the ponies who tried to say she'd "captured me," though, she left herself totally open. It looks like her style is total offense, so unexpected follow-ups could exploit her openings. If she really meant it when she said "no holds barred," then...

Tempest grinned as Quick Strike gave a ceremonial-looking bow, one that she quietly returned. Before she'd had the chance to look back up, though, magical energy was already gathered underneath her, flashing and crackling out of control. In a colorful explosion, Quick Strike was thrown up into the air. Tempest's powerful hind legs flung her forwards and up into the air, lashing out with one of her back hooves aimed directly for Quick Strike's temple. In that moment, Tempest's instinct took over, years and years of hard training on the streets outside Equestria bringing time to a snail's pace as she identified, analyzed, and responded in the moment. She was already in "the zone."

To her surprise, however, Quick Strike was faster, throwing up her front hooves to protect her face. There was a shock wave when the two mares collided, Tempest's powerful kick blocked completely. Behind her hooves, Tempest thought she saw her smiling. The force of Tempest's kick carried them both downwards, back to the floor. Tempest's entire weight had gone into the kick, but Quick Strike had been strong enough to hold it back. Tempest focused on the muscles in her leg, springing herself backwards and out of reach to regain her footing. As she did, Quick Strike rubbed the point of impact on her foreleg, giving Tempest an ecstatic grin.

"I think that just might be the strongest kick I've ever seen!"

Tempest had never liked the cliche of chatting in the middle of a fight. If one had time to talk, they had time to deal a finishing blow.

Without a word, she rushed forward, this time aiming a sweeping kick at Quick Strike's forelegs. Once again, her response was faster than Tempest, rearing up to avoid it. This, however, left her wide open for a follow-up. Halfway through the sweep, Tempest planted her front hooves onto the ground and pushed herself upwards, bringing both of her back hooves into Strike's stomach and changing the sweeping kick into a powerful buck.

Quick Strike was thrown into the air, soaring up and slamming against the wall with a painful-sounding grunt. Tempest humbly considered her legs to be her most attractive and powerful feature outside of her explosive magic. She had bucked her way through solid walls, created countless improvised projectiles by kicking them, and brought enemies several times her size into submission with only a few well-placed blows. Her bucking strength could easily break ribs and other bones, and for a split second, she wondered if she had gone too far with the poor instructor.

This was why it was completely unexpected when Quick Strike rolled upon hitting the ground, springing up and taking her turn to kick at Tempest in an almost identical movement to her opening attack. The move was so fluid, so without warning, that Tempest couldn't defend against it in time. She felt Quick Strike hit her like a ton of bricks, throwing her off of her hooves and to the side. The world tilted and jarred violently when Tempest hit the wall of the dojo, and she stumbled to the side as pinpricks of light swirled in her vision.

So.. that's what it's like to be on the receiving end of that move...

Before Tempest had even stopped seeing double, Quick Strike was already on top of her, in one moment punching hard into Tempest's chest and knocking the air from her lungs, and the next having grabbed her hoof and pulled it over her shoulder. Before Tempest was even aware of what was happening, Quick Strike had spun around, twisting her leg at an awkward angle and pulling her up and over the mare's shoulders. What little was left of her dignity disappeared as she was left lying on her back on the floor, gasping for air and unable to see straight. Quick Strike, having lived up to her name, flopped to the ground next to her, her chest heaving up and down as she drank in as much air as she could.

"Game... set... match..." she panted, reaching over to Tempest's hoof and giving her a weak hoofshake.

"What... just happened?" Tempest asked, the double images in her vision finally starting to align back into one. She still was relatively certain she could make out constellations from all the stars she was seeing, though.

"You might have a concussion, I may have fractured a few ribs... And I just found my new favorite sparring partner."

Tempest paused for a moment, the last ten seconds replaying in her head and breaking down into an analysis of what went wrong. In the end, it seemed as though she'd simply been outsped. Her hesitation after bucking into Quick Strike had left her open. Worrying about the pony's well-being had given her the perfect opportunity to steal the advantage, and once she had it, she'd simply been too fast to lose it, completely incapacitating Tempest in a matter of seconds.

Tempest felt something bubbling up deep in her chest, an unfamiliar giddiness as the endorphins rushing through her bloodstream caught up to her.

"Heh... heh... Ha ha ha! HAHAHA!" She couldn't help it, the laughter was out of control. She probably sounded like a maniac, laughing after being beaten like that, but Quick Strike quickly joined in, adding her own chuckles and giggles to Tempest's. The two of them laid like that for a few minutes, laughing away the tension in the air until they were both completely at ease again. Eventually, Quick Strike stiffly rose to her hooves, then offered Tempest an open hoof to help her up.

For a moment, Tempest hesitated, then shook her head, rolling to a laying position on top of her hooves and shakily rising back to a standing position. She may have been beaten, but she didn't need help just to stand up. The moment she was standing on her own, however, Quick Strike threw a hoof over her shoulders, leaning against her with a goofy-looking grin.

"You definitely weren't lying! You CAN fight!"

Tempest chuckled as they made their way back to the doorway of the dojo.

"You still soundly trounced me, though! I've never met another pony so fast, and I've NEVER been thrown around like that!"

"Pfft! Don't worry about that! 90 percent of the ponies around here that don't work in accounting or something like that have had their flanks kicked by me at one point or another! Consider it a rite of passage!" She tightened her grip around Tempest's neck, leaning in close to her ear to whisper to her.

"Besides, don't breathe a word to anypony about this, but I nearly passed out when you bucked me into the wall! Girl, what was that Storm King guy feeding you?"

This caused another round of laughter between the two that lasted almost until they'd reached the infirmary. To Tempest's amazement, Quick Strike's ribs were intact, although she had a few minor burns from the magical explosion. Personally, Strike had been in such control that Tempest was given a clean bill of health and a warning to watch herself for any bruising that might be hidden by her dark fur. Tempest hadn't even realized just how tense she'd been until that tension was washed out of her body by the post-fight exhaustion. She was so satisfied and relaxed, she almost didn't notice the dirty look one of the doctors was giving her from the other side of the room.

"Really? No broken bones? I knew earth ponies were tough, but you're something else!" Tempest grinned at Quick Strike as they limped their way out of the infirmary.

"Well, they say that when you break a bone, it heals stronger than it was before!" Her companion chucked to herself. "At this point, I could probably get hit by a train and worry more about the train!"

Tempest chuckled softly to herself, trying to imagine the other pony being struck by a train, only to stand up with a bored look on her face. The imagery was simply too absurd, but still somehow believable after seeing her move so easily following being bucked into the wall. As Quick Strike led her down a few more hallways and into the living quarters, she talked about Tempest's fighting style, from her posture to her final blow in the match. From even just a few short minutes of sparring, Tempest was amazed at how much Quick Strike had analyzed her. She had noticed the same turning point Tempest did: her hesitation to follow up the blow to her abdomen out of fear she'd been injured.

"I told you there were no holds barred! I wasn't worried about you hurting me, I wanted to see you at your best! Well, maybe next time?" she said, patting Tempest on the back before removing her hoof from her shoulders and trotting a few lengths ahead. "Come on, friend! Let me show you which room's going to be yours while you're here training!"

Tempest stopped in her tracks, her mind latching on to how Quick Strike had addressed her.

"...friend?"

Quick Strike turned to face her, giving her a joking blow to the shoulder.

"Well, DUH! I like you, and you're the first fighter in a while to knock me on my rump! I think we're going to get along just fine!"

Tempest hadn't even realized it until now, but she agreed with Quick Strike. Over the course of a single day, she'd already come to trust her, laugh with her, and even respect her. They were friends!

That... was on complete accident. I wasn't even trying to make a friend! How did I-

"Hey! Room 222, here we go!" Quick Strike pulled out a small keyring and unlocked the door before tossing it to Tempest, motioning for her to walk inside. Tempest shook off the shock of her unintentional friend-making and peeked in through the doorway.

The room was minuscule, barely much longer or wider than the two beds crammed inside. There was a single desk pressed into the far wall, and a cheap-looking chair pressed against that. Aside from that, the only notable feature was a self crammed with books running along the edges of the room, just below the ceiling, and a single light bulb to illuminate it. If she'd been feeling cramped before in the underground bunker, she didn't want to imagine what she'd feel once closed into the room.

"Why... are there two beds?"

"Because this isn't the penthouse suite!" A voice echoed from inside. "They've gotta save space if they want to avoid having to hire MORE digging crews!"

Tempest stepped into the room, searching for the source of the voice. There was a small, amethyst-colored dragon sitting on the bed closest to the door, leaning against the wall with her face buried in a book almost larger than her head. With a long sigh, she placed the book face-down on the bed to keep the pages pried open, hopped down from the mattress and offered Tempest a clawed handshake.

"Meet your roommate!" Quick Strike cheerfully slapped Tempest on the back before beginning to trot away, leaving her alone with the tiny dragon. "If you need me, you'll know where to find me!"

Tempest wasn't certain what kind of expression she was making as she absent-mindedly extended out her hoof for the dragon to shake. The formalities dealt with, she spread a pair of winged arms and jumped up onto the bed again.

"Name's Moonstone. Don't worry, I'm not exactly noisy, and, contrary to popular belief, my breath does NOT smell like sulfur!" She picked the book back up, only leaving the black spines on top of her head in sight. "Just don't make a racket, don't touch my stuff, and we'll be just fine."

Tempest nodded, quietly walking into the tiny living quarters and sitting herself down on her bed. Her unexpected joy from making her first friend quickly snuffed out by Moonstone's cold demeanor and their prison-like quarters. She was a loner by nature, traveling alone, living alone, and spending most of her time with only herself for company. She wasn't entirely certain she liked the idea of a roommate.

Not to say that she was worried, of course. She was Tempest Shadow! She wasn't going to be intimidated by-

"If you're bored, I recommend 'The Lunar Conquest.' It's easy reading: a collection of short stories, but thick as your foreleg. Should pass the time until lights out rather nicely."

Tempest sighed, rearing back onto her hind legs to get a better look at the books. It had already been a long day, and sitting back with a nice book might be just the way to end it. But she didn't take Moonstone's recommendation, instead picking out a copy of Sunny Xu's "The Artistry of Warfare." It was an old favorite of hers.

Curling up on her bed and trying to ignore the feeling of Moonstone's eyes boring into her, she set herself to reading. Her mind wasn't on the first chapter, though, she practically had it memorized. She was reflecting back on everything she had learned over the day about the New Lunar Republic. Quick Strike had shown her almost everything in the facility that didn't require some kind of security clearance, but hadn't talked much about what they stood for or why they did what they did. Many of the ponies here seemed more obsessed with Princess Luna than any form of patriotism, and that worried her. Without a clear mission statement, any military force was doomed to fall to infighting and conflict of interests.

Perhaps she would ask her new friend about that tomorrow.

First Day's the Worst

"Hey... Hey, Tempest..."

Tempest did NOT like being woken up.

"Tempest, it's time for you to get up!"

Tempest's eyes cracked open, revealing Moonstone standing above her on her pillow, shaking her shoulder.

"Ugh... no..." Tempest growled, turning back over onto her side and burying her face deeper into her pillow.

"Tempest, come ON! I'm trying to help you out, here! Breakfast ends in half an hour!"

"Not hungry..." she muttered.

"Okay, remember: you brought this on yourself!"

"Brought wha-"

In an overwhelming rush of cold air, Tempest's blanket was ripped off of her body, leaving her completely exposed.

Tempest rolled her eyes. If the little dragon expected that to work, she was in for a surprise. Standing at the helms of airships as they climbed higher into the atmosphere than most pegasi dared to fly had conditioned her quite nicely against the cold. Simply taking away her blanket was not going to be enough to get her out of bed.

"Wow... that usually works."

"I told you I'm not hungry." Tempest sighed. "Now, would you please give that back? I just want to sleep a little longer."

"No can do, Tempest! My job is to make sure YOU don't start forming any bad habits and keep you on schedule! And right now, I've given you as much leeway as I can!"

Tempest groaned and sat up in bed, staring down at the little dragon. She was holding what looked to be some kind of list in her claws, her arms folded across her chest as she impatiently tapped her foot against the floor.

"What... time is it, anyway?" Tempest's whole body felt more sluggish and tired out than usual, and she could barely keep her eyes open. It may have had something to do with the beating she suffered at Quick Strike's hooves the day before, but it felt like she'd only just closed her eyes a few moments ago.

"Eleven thirty! Seriously, if I don't get my breakfast, I'm going to get really cranky really fast!"

"Eleven thirty?" Tempest was very suddenly fully awake. There was no way it could possibly be nearly noon already, right? She never slept in that late!

"Yes! Now, do you want to be late for everything today, or just breakfast?" Moonstone tapped her foot impatiently on the floor.

"Fine, fine, I'm up!" Tempest rolled herself out of the bed, landing on her hooves with a sigh. She was definitely stiff and more than a bit sore, but it wasn't anything worth acknowledging to Moonstone. She didn't want her... ugh... roommate to see her show any weakness.

"Good! Your trainee uniform is on the desk!" Moonstone pointed towards the desk in the corner of the room. "It's not much, but consider it a sign of acceptance around here!"

Glancing over her shoulder, Tempest spotted a scrap of clothing on the desk that hadn't been there the day before. A short inspection revealed it to be a black t-shirt sporting a simplified version of the New Lunar Republic's crest across the chest.

"Is this... it?"

"Were you expecting a full set of Night Guard armor? Hurry up and get dressed, we're wasting time!"

Tempest rolled her eyes and pulled the t-shirt over her head, slipping her forelegs through the sleeves and craning her neck to pull her mane completely through.

"So, why do you care so much if I'm late? If you want breakfast so badly, go and get it, yourself!"

"Like I said, I've been assigned to be your assistant! I'm here to make sure you're punctual, aware of what's expected of you, and aware of what's going on around you!"

Tempest had liked Grubber. For all of his idiotic mistakes, she could always rely on the Storm King's bumbling assistant to not do anything that got in her way. Given a few sweets and a corner to sit in, he tended to be little more than a momentary distraction from what she had been trying to accomplish at any time.

It appeared that Moonstone was going to be the polar opposite.

"I don't need an assistant." Tempest muttered, brushing past the little wyvern on her way to the door. "I can handle myself just fine." She made a point of not looking down or back as she stepped out into the hallway, leaving Moonstone behind. She glanced left, then right, and realized an unfortunate truth:

She had absolutely no idea which way the cafeteria was.

Better to take a chance than to look like an idiot so soon after saying I didn't need her...

Tempest turned to the leftt, walking at a brisk pace down the hall.

"Wrong way, Tempest."

"I know! I was just looking for the bathroom!"

"Still the wrong way. Not to mention you're lying."

Tempest grimaced, gritted her teeth, then turned around, walking back past a smug-looking Moonstone.

"I'm just turned around... I'm not used to being underground!"

"I know! Which is why I lied to you!"

Tempest spun around, magical energy crackling off of her horn as she came snout-to-snout with an even more smug dragon staring her in the eyes.

"Now, you can let every pony in this facility with a grudge against you get you 'turned around' like that! Or, alternatively..." Moonstone held up her list once again. "You can just accept that you're stuck with me and have a guide on your side!"

Tempest refused to admit that help would be convenient. It wasn't wanted, and it certainly wasn't needed, but it was convenient, and there was no way she'd let Moonstone know it. There was a power dynamic, here, and Moonstone was trying to take control of it. If she let her have this first victory, Tempest knew that Moonstone would never give up that authority over her.

"Well, we can go to the cafeteria. Or, alternatively... you can go without your precious breakfast."

Moonstone was taken aback for a moment, then sighed and shook her head, walking back in Tempest's original direction and motioning for her to follow. Tempest smiled and followed her, pleased she hadn't lost her touch for taking control of a situation.

Tempest was NOT having a good day. By the time they had made it to the cafeteria, there had only been a single bowl of lukewarm oatmeal left, which was stone cold by the time she had reached the last few bites. Moonstone had apparently put in a unique order, which was still piping hot and waiting for her: a gem-encrusted muffin filled with rubies, sapphires, and other minerals. It was there that Tempest discovered that the New Lunar Republic was run on a nocturnal schedule. This meant that Moonstone had woken her at eleven-thirty PM.

The little dragon had nearly ceased to be at that point.

Utilizing every ounce of self-control in her body, Tempest had managed to restrict her reaction to letting off an array of magical sparks and bolts that set her table and several others on fire.

This had, of course, resulted in a mad rush to put out all of the fires before they got out of control and several dozen apologies from Moonstone on both of their behalf. By the time the mess had been sorted out, Moonstone had declared that they were now running late and had missed her training session with Quick Strike: the one thing she had been looking forward to as a saving grace from her bad "morning."

She had then been forced into what looked like a kind of oversized classroom for adults, where a dusty old mare informed her and several other ponies present that this would be where they would be educated regarding protocol and day-to-day expectations for members of the Night Guard. Tempest was relatively certain that she dozed off somewhere around the twenty minute mark, though it hardly mattered. Everything being taught was common sense to her, not to mention startlingly similar to the chain of command in the Storm King's army. She was still groggy from her accidental nap when she and her fellow "students" emerged from the room, and Moonstone had been waiting for her, impatiently tapping her foot. Tempest couldn't help noticing that none of the other new recruits had anyone waiting for them. Suddenly, Moonstone's purpose became apparent.

"You're here to spy on me, aren't you?"

"Huh?"

Tempest rolled her eyes. "The ponies around here obviously don't trust me, or even like me, so they've sent you to keep an eye on me to see if I'm going to betray them."

Moonstone raised an eyebrow, then shrugged her shoulders and she turned her attention back to the list in her claws.

"Well, duh. You led a hostile invasion against our nation's capital, nearly killed Princess Luna by crystallizing her in mid-air, then stole all of the princesses' magic! You're a dangerous pony, so of course they sent me to spy on you!"

Well, her candor is certainly refreshing.

"Now, let's go get some lunch, then you have a psychiatric evaluation at four."

Tempest stopped for a moment, then sighed and shook her head. Given everything Moonstone had just listed from her past, it made sense that other ponies would want to be certain she wasn't crazy. That didn't mean, however, that she had to like the idea of having somepony picking at her brain.

Finally, they were both standing outside of a single door, and Moonstone motioned for her to enter. Tempest sighed, taking one last glance at her.

"Want my advice?" Moonstone asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not really, but I'm guessing you're going to give it to me, regardless?"

"Nope." Moonstone shrugged and walked away, leaving Tempest standing alone. She glanced at the door, then the open hallway she'd been left in. It was entirely possible that she could just leave and skip this whole ordeal. Unfortunately, if what she'd learned at her half-remembered class earlier was true, getting reprimanded this early into her training would most likely end in her being written off as a lost cause.

Taking a deep breath and sighing, Tempest braced herself for scrutiny and overanalysis, then placed her hoof on the doorknob and entered the room.

The office was strangely empty, with only a single desk and a pony sitting behind it, as well as a second chair facing him. The only decoration on the walls was a wide-bladed bronze sword mounted just above his head, finely etched to the point that there was no conceivable way it could have ever seen combat without some kind of marring. The desk was nearly as empty as the walls, save for an open file he was browsing through, a small figurine of a pegasus in a green jacket and pith helmet sitting at the corner, and a single placard proclaiming his identity.

Scorching Quill

The pony, himself, was an average-looking unicorn with a dark red coat and messy orange-and-red mane, leaving him looking as though he'd recently climbed out of a ketchup bottle and fallen into a pile of autumn leaves. While he seemed disheveled at best, he was perfectly at ease, meaning that the chaotic look was apparently something he didn't feel the need to correct. A quick glance at the trash bin seated beside the desk revealed countless torn and crumpled pieces of paper alongside several empty cups of instant ramen noodles.

Decorative sword too pretty for combat? Obviously not focused on his own upkeep, either. This psychiatrist must be one of those "pencil pushers" Quick Strike was talking about...

When she entered the room, he finally looked up from the sheaf of papers he'd been reading. Taking them all in his hooves and tapping them against the table, he slid them neatly back into the folder they'd apparently come in. "Ah, Miss Berrytwist, I presume?"

Tempest shouldn't have been so surprised to hear him address her by her real name, but after so long, it was awkward to hear it at all. It felt more like a stranger's name, at this point.

"Please, take a seat. We have much to talk about." He motioned to the second chair, then leaned over, opening an unseen drawer and retrieving a pad of paper and quill.

Tempest sighed and did as she was asked. It sounded as if they were going to be there for a while, and with no stereotypical couch to lay on, she may as well settle for an open chair.

"Well, I suppose we should get this over with..." Tempest sighed, rolling her eyes. "I guess I should start off by saying that I'm not craz-"

"A dozen airships filled with reinforcements, not counting your own personal flagship, no less than twelve instances of the enchanted objects colloquially known as 'Gorgon Grenades' and an array of enchanted objects and armor that could leave even the most dedicated adventurer in awe..." He raised an eyebrow and tapped the tip of the quill against his notepad in thought. "I must admit, you certainly take the motto 'Be Prepared' to heart, don't you?"

"Well, I-" Tempest wasn't certain what to say in response, not that she had a chance to before being cut off again.

"Of course, it paid off, didn't it? I would say that you successfully captured our nation's capital and enslaved the entirety of its population in an afternoon! You captured three demi-goddesses at once, and managed to catch a fourth while overcoming numerous obstacles, traitors, and failures over the course of only three days!"

It was obvious that this pony was not a neutral party, nor was she being given a fair chance. Indignation began to bubble up in her chest, screaming for her to cut him off in return, but she swallowed it back down.

This is an evaluation... Could he be testing me to see if I snap at him?

"I haven't seen an invasion pulled off this tactfully by a foreign army since the Royal Wedding Attack..." He tapped the tip of the feather on his quill against his chin. "Although, between you and me, half of THAT attack was improvised by the queen..." His thoughts seemed to trail off for a moment before he snapped back to the moment.

"Anyway, Fizzlepop, I can see that you're definitely somepony who knows how to plan. You exploit weaknesses, you're cunning, plan ahead, you're obviously a natural-born leader, and a skilled tactician to boot. The drive and determination needed to accomplish all these things is immense. That inevitably leads to one of the most important questions that I'm going to be asking you today..." He leaned forward, quill gripped tightly in his hoof and ready to begin taking his notes.

"What could possibly have turned a pony that driven back on her own side?"

Tempest put aside his frightening knowledge of the details of her invasion for a moment, trying to think of the best answer. She'd had a lot of time for self-examination while she waited for her application to be accepted, and she'd made use of it to take a long look at herself and what mattered to her under her ideas of the world.

"Princess Twilight. When I was about to be swept away in the Storm King's tornado, she took the time to save my life, rather than grabbing the staff and ending the battle then and there. In spite of everything I'd done, she still tried to be my friend before all else. I've never met anyone like that."

Scorching sighed, leaning back in his chair and beginning to scribble at the notepad. He stopped only a moment later, though, re-dipping the quill into the inkwell. After repeating the process several times, he tossed the quill into the trash bin and retrieved a ballpoint pen with a sigh. The action confused Tempest, until she finally came to a realization that she should have recognized sooner.

"Why don't you use your magic?"

"Hm?"

"You're a unicorn, aren't you? Why don't you just write with your magic?"

Scorching sighed and shook his head.

"My magical penmanship is ten times worse. This is easier to read later." He took a moment to think, then muttered to himself as he began to scribble more notes. "Bossy and nosy... tends to critique superior officers."

"Hey! I'm not..." Tempest trailed off as he glanced up at her, as if daring her to interrupt him again.

"Now then... why don't you give me your real answer, rather than the one I want to hear?" He leaned forward, pen at the ready. "Why the sudden change of heart when you were so set in your ways before?"

Tempest's indignation was beginning to come back with a vengeance. Not only was this pony making baseless assumptions about her and was obviously not a neutral party, but now he was assuming she was lying when she told him about the moment that had changed her entire outlook on life?

"I told you, Princess Twilight saved my life after the Storm King betrayed me, and forgave me in spite of everything I've done!"

"I see... Aggressive, but honest." Scorching scribbled down more notes on his pad. "You were betrayed by the Storm King, then changed sides?"

"What? That's not what I said!"

"I believe you did."

"NO I DIDN'T!" Tempest slammed her hoof on the desk, losing control for a moment and causing a tremor that knocked over the small figurine. Both of them stared at the small figure for a moment, and Tempest knew that she had made a bad decision.

Scorching didn't look frightened, only calmly staring at the figure for a few seconds before carefully reaching over and setting it back on its hooves.

"I... think we're done for the day."

"Wait! I didn't mean to-"

"Come back at the same time tomorrow."

"But I-"

"Tomorrow, Fizzlepop!"

Tempest knew she'd already blown her opportunity, if she'd ever had one to begin with. She could stay and argue with him and continue to worsen the bad impression she'd made, or she could leave with what small shred of dignity she had left intact and attempt again the next day.

Normally, she would have taken the first option and stood her ground, however she could feel the toll of her lack of sleep mounting ever higher, and without the rush of adrenaline from her outburst, she could tell that she would barely be able to keep her eyes open.

Today was the day to retreat and regroup. Or, rather, the NIGHT to retreat and regroup.

With frustration still churning in her stomach, Tempest walked away, back into the empty hallway.

Or, rather, the nearly-empty hallway.

"Want any advice NOW?" Moonstone asked, polishing her claws on her chest.

"Oh, shut up and lead us back to our room..."

"Wow, I thought it would go poorly, but I didn't think it would be THAT bad!" Moonstone sighed and shook her head as she paced along the bookshelf. She had flown up and was carefully treading between the books and the edge, listening to Tempest as she recounted her conversation with Scorching Quill.

"Wow. The one sent to spy on me didn't expect my interview to go well. How surprising." Tempest mumbled, her foreleg covering her eyes as she attempted to fall asleep at five in the morning, only a short hour before the time she was accustomed to waking up.

"Oh, I was talking about Scorching! I mean, he wasn't thrilled when Twilight asked him to evaluate you, but I didn't think he'd come down THAT hard on you!" Moonstone jumped down and glided the short distance to her bed, bouncing off the mattress and landing on her pillow.

Tempest pulled her hoof away from her face, sitting up and staring at Moonstone.

"Wait... Princess Twilight requested for THAT guy to evaluate me?"

"Well, yeah! They go way back, to before she was a princess!" Moonstone picked up her book, blocking her face from view, but Tempest could almost feel the wyvern's smug grin on the other side. "They had a bit of a falling out later on, but if she went out of her way to ask him to come back and do this, then you've got to be pretty special!"

Tempest fell back onto her bed, groaning and pulling her pillow over her eyes.

"You seem to know an awful lot about him... Have you 'assisted' him, too?"

"You could say that, yeah."

"Was he the one who asked you to spy on me?"

"Well, telling you who assigned me to help you is above your clearance level... but if it wasn't, I would definitely tell you that you're on the right track!"

Tempest groaned and rolled to the side, feeling like a mouse in a trap. She'd lost control of her temper and most likely ruined things for herself, the pony evaluating her seemed to be taking out a grudge against Princess Twilight on her, and to top it all off, the one person who was supposed to help her was working for the one trying to hinder her.

After all she'd been through, after working for the Storm King, after capturing Canterlot and the Princesses, being saved by Twilight and making her first friends, she was right back to where she'd started before she'd even joined the Storm King:

Fizzlepop Berrytwist against the world.

"One more question..."

"Mhmm?"

"Can you turn off the light? I'm trying to sleep!"

"Sure! I can see in the dark, anyway."

She heard the definite click of a light switch, and uncovered her eyes to be met with blissful darkness. Finally, Tempest drifted off to sleep, her mind still racing with how she could fight back against Scorching's prejudice against her.

Author's Note

Sorry for the delay, everyone!

The Mare in the Moon...stone

"Tempest! Hey, Tempest!"

Tempest's second day started almost identically to the first, except that this time, she was even more tired, and recollection of the previous day had also left her feeling somewhat depressed.

"If it's eleven PM again, I'm going to kill you..."

And frustrated.

"You're going to have to catch me, fir- Woah!"

In a single, split-second motion, Tempest snatched Moonstone and pulled her into a spine-crushing headlock.

"O-okay... you're faster than Quill..." Moonstone choked out the words.

Tempest sighed. Waking up was unavoidable, and she'd prefer something better than lukewarm oatmeal to start off her day. She grudgingly released Moonstone from the crook of her foreleg, letting the dragon take a deep swallow of air as she rose up into a sitting position.

"So, I'm guessing you have another schedule I'm supposed to follow?" She yawned, rubbing at her eyes.

"That I do! Now, I know you seemed pretty upset about missing your training session with Quick Strike yesterday, so... I managed to convince the higher-ups to double its length today!"

Tempest blinked, looking down at the little wyvern in surprise. She hadn't expected anyone in this place to make any kind of special concessions for her, so this had come completely out of left field.

"On the condition that you do it earlier, before breakfast!"

And there was the cruelty to counterbalance the kindness.

"So... exactly what time is it?"

"Oh, don't worry, I got you up in time! If we hurry, we might even beat Quick Strike to the dojo! Being punctual is always important in these military bases-"

"What time is it?" Tempest asked, this time demanding an answer as she rolled herself out of bed. Turning her back to Moonstone, she opened up one of the doors in the desk, where she'd neatly folded and put away her "uniform."

"Umm... well, I MAY have taken it upon myself to wake you up at... nine-thirty?"

Tempest managed to remain calm as she finished donning her New Lunar Republic shirt, if only to save it from any errant sparks from her horn.

"Moonstone?"

"...Yes?"

"Run."

"Really should have seen that one coming..." Moonstone muttered. Tempest heard the skittering of small claws across the floor, the creaking of door hinges, and finally the slam of the door to their room.

While she may have wanted to give Moonstone a good zap of magical electricity for waking her up this early, Tempest had to admit that she WAS only trying to help, and that was more consideration than any pony other than Quick Strike had given her. In fact, considering they hadn't seen each other the previous day, it was entirely possible this could be considered more consideration than Quick Strike.

Tempest took a deep breath to steady herself before leaving the room. She'd made as many mental notes as she could about the layout of the facility the day before, but it still took nearly half an hour of walking before she managed to find the dojo.

As she approached, however, she could make out the sound of two familiar voices coming from beyond the entrance. Positioning herself just behind the doorframe, she listened closely.

"Listen- OOF! Quick Strike, I was talki- GUH!"

"You used to be able to keep up a conversation and fight at the same time! Come on, you're not allowed to come onto this base with rusty skills and expect to leave with them!"

"Fine! How about this- WOAH!"

Scorching Quill came unceremoniously flying out of the entrance to the dojo, obviously flung with great force. Tempest's eyes widened as she realized that she had been hearing the sounds of Scorching and Quick Strike having their own sparring match. To her uttermost surprise, the supposed psycologist twisted himself in the air, managing to land on his hooves and come skittering to a stop on the tile floor. He started to run back towards the dojo, only to catch a glimpse of Tempest before she could find a new hiding spot. He drew up short, and for a moment, Tempest caught a glimpse of the truth in his expression:

Anger. Disgust. Hatred. Every hash stare or hateful glance she'd felt on her back in Canterlot was right there. Quill despised her, and in that moment, she could see that there was nothing that could change his mind.

"Look, I get what you're saying, Penny, but you really can't just judge her based on-" Quick Strike's sentence was cut off as she stepped out of the dojo, following his gaze over to Tempest. "Oh, hey! Speak of the devil, and here she is! Sorry, Tempest, I'll wrap this up and be right with you!"

"Forget it, Quick Strike. You made your point..." Quill rolled his shoulders, then turned to walk away. "I suppose I'll see you in a few hours, Fizzlepop..."

"Hey! We're done when I SAY we're... done..." Quick Strike's eyes narrowed as Quill disappeared around the corner. "Oh, I am SO going to give it to him later!" She sighed and craned her neck from side to side. "I didn't even work up a good sweat..."

"It seems I interrupted something." Tempest and Quick Strike gave one another a ceremonial bow before she made her way back up onto the floor of the dojo. "I suppose that you heard about what happened yesterday?"

"Yesterday? I didn't even SEE you yesterday! Moonstone said something about you oversleeping." Quick Strike chuckled to herself. "Don't worry, two or three days and your body will adjust! All rookies go through the transition to being nocturnal!"

"As much as I appreciate the assurance, I meant my horrible evaluation with Scorching. I didn't think you'd pick a fight with him over it, though!"

"Oh, I'll pick a fight with a pony over just about anything, but this was just him trying to blow off some steam!"

Tempest drew up short. "Wait, that pencil-pusher came to you LOOKING to fight?"

"PFFT!" Quick Strike snorted, clapping her hoof over her mouth to hold back her laughter, only to fail and burst into guffaws of laughter. "HA HA HA HA HA! You- You lumped in QUILL with the accountants? HAAA HA HA HA!"

Tempest had to admit that she was taken aback a bit at Quick Strike's reaction.

"Judging by your reaction, I'm guessing he's not just a psychiatrist?" She sighed, rubbing at her temple. "You know, laughing at me when I was coming here to unwind isn't really helping."

Quick Strike's laughter finally died away as she wiped a tear from her eye. "S-sorry, Tempest... I just couldn't help but picture him with a pair of nerd glasses, sitting behind a desk and tallying up the latest tax breaks!" She sighed and shook her head, reaching up to wipe away another joyous tear. "I haven't laughed that hard in too long..."

"So, if he's not just here to call me crazy and make me look bad, then what is his role at the New Lunar Republic?" Tempest frowned. So far, it was looking as if Quick Strike was the only person she'd met who was just what she claimed to be and nothing more.

"A field agent, and a darned good one! Probably one of the best! He may just be a reservist for the NLR, now, but there was a time when he answered directly to Princess Luna, herself! He goes on wild adventures, barely makes it out alive, then writes them as books for a few quick bits! One of my best students, too!" She gave Tempest a quick wink. "Although first impressions say you could definitely surpass him!"

Tempest could hardly believe her ears.

"You're joking, right? You're pulling some kind of prank on me."

Quick Strike raised an eyebrow, obviously curious about her response.

"He keeps an ornamental sword on his wall to look intimidating-"

"Real, actually! Enchanted to Tartarus and back, but real!"

"He takes everything I say out of context and twists it to make me sound like an awful pony-"

"Yeah, that sounds about right for an author."

"And he acts like he made up his mind about me before we even met!"

"He's kinda stupid that way." Quick Strike smiled and tapped her hoof against her chest, motioning for Tempest to attack her. "You said you came here to unwind, right? Come on, let it all out."

It was an offer Tempest was happy to take her up on. She sprinted forward, unleashing a flurry of punches and kicks at Quick Strike.

Jab, jab, hook.

"He's pretentious..."

Hook, jab, hook.

"Egotistical..."

Jab, jab, jab, turn and buck.

"Closed-minded..."

Left kick, right, left, left, right.

"Manipulative and PEDANTIC!"

Tempest bucked both hooves with all of her might, imagining plowing them into the chest of the smug red unicorn. So far, Quick Strike had managed to block most of her attacks, but Tempest had still landed several blows to her torso. When she bucked, Quick Strike had reared up onto her hind legs and blocked with both of her forelegs together. The impact had carried her up into the air, but and expertly performed backflip had resulted in her landing back on her hooves.

Tempest was panting with exertion, beads of sweat beginning to run down from her forehead. In a moment of clarity, she realized that the entirety of the carpet around her was riddled with scorch marks and burned-though holes. She'd been letting off magical power without even realizing it.

Quick Strike let out a low whistle as she walked her way back over to Tempest, staring at the carpet. Tempest felt a small twinge of fear in her chest. Quick Strike was her only friend, and now she'd ruined the dojo she loved so much.

"I'm sorry, I-"

"Eh, this carpet's been here just as long as the facility! I've been dying to get it replaced, but requisitions wouldn't give me a new one as long as the old one was intact!" Quick Strike flashed her a grin and clapped her on the back. "Don't worry about it, no harm, no foul!" Her goofy-looking grin turned more sincere as she reached up and gave Tempest's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Anything else you need to get off your chest?"

"I just..." Tempest felt like she had to think through each word carefully for the truth to come out correctly, and she was grateful for Quick Strike's patience with her. "I thought I could just deal with ponies hating me for what I did... That it couldn't hurt me so long as I didn't care what others thought of me. But now, it looks like I'm not going to be able to get a fresh start because of what another pony thinks of me! When he saw me waiting outside, I could tell: he LOATHES me, and there's nothing I can do to change that... and I HATE how helpless that makes me feel! I don't expect life to be fair, but it's dangling my second chance in front of me like a carrot on a stick and it's- it's..." Tempest could feel a lump beginning to form in her throat and her eyes beginning to burn. All of the stress of the past days was crashing down on her as she realized just how badly she was at the mercy of a total stranger.

"It's not fair." Quick Strike finished her sentence. She paused for a moment, unsure of what to say until her eyes wandered to the entrance to the dojo.

"Well, Quill IS stubborn as a mule, I can tell you that. But I can think of at least TWO friends you've made here, already! And we're both going to help you see this through to the end, no matter what!"

"Two?" Tempest followed her gaze to the door of the dojo. There was Moonstone, carefully holding a plate of flapjacks in her hands and a half-eaten bagel topped with crushed rubies in her mouth. With a quick twist of her neck upwards, she tossed the bagel into the air and consumed the entire thing in one bite before entering the room.

"Figured you shouldn't nearly miss breakfast two days in a row!" She quipped, setting the plate on a bench at the edge of the room. "You've got a long night ahead of you!"

Quick Strike gave Tempest a reassuring pat on the back.

"Two."

Tempest had to admit, starting off the night by sparring with Quick Strike had left her body tired, but her mind much more invigorated by the endorphin rush. Combined with the hearty breakfast Moonstone had brought for her, staying awake in the day's classes was a breeze. It was almost comical watching other students nodding off in their seats. She was grateful to be awake, however, because this was the day their curriculum started in earnest.

Over the course of two hours, Tempest learned that the New Lunar Republic had existed in one form or another for more than a thousand years. Nightmare Moon had gained many followers and even worshipers during and after her attempted coup. These followers and admirers all banded together to form a group known as the Children of the Mourning Star. After years of studying and attempting to dismantle the spell keeping Nightmare banished from Equestria, they had focused their efforts upon forcefully removing Princess Celestia, becoming the terrorist organization known as Blood Moon. Tempest had broken her concentration for a short moment to crack open the textbook inside of the desk to the section about Blood Moon. This was a part of Equestria's history she had never learned about as a filly, a dark side to Celestia's supposedly perfect reign. The textbook was woefully inadequate, but what information it had seemed to indicate that Blood Moon shared that trait. A few underwhelming shows of force, a few poorly executed scare tactics, and a hoofful of attempted assassinations that she knew even SHE could do better alone.

By the time she had focused back on what the teacher was saying, they had reached a point three hundred years later. Blood Moon's cult had escalated from petty terrorism to full-on infiltration, with agents making their way up to the highest levels of government. It was at this point that they had seemed to learn subtlety and finesse, calling for governmental reform. Rather than threatening violence, they had even formed their own political party: the first Lunar Republic. It was at this point that they had nearly succeeded in removing Celestia from power and making her a pure figurehead, claiming that her monarchy was allowing her to make changes to laws and rewrite history over decades in order to suit her own purposes.

The idea that their beloved ruler could be manipulating her "dear" subjects over the course of centuries to place herself in a position of absolute power had turned out to be a much more effective scare tactic than any previous campaign on the part of the Lunar Republic. This led to a temporary removal of Celestia from the throne as a flock of lawyers all carefully examined the entirety of her decrees and laws from the past three hundred years in order to spot any malicious trends.

Of course, they had found nothing more than a few clauses showing leniency towards bakers and confectioners in the Royal Court, which had hardly been cause for alarm. Not to mention that the team of unicorns raising the sun and the moon were all growing extremely tired.

The damage had been done, however. While Celestia remained the ruler of Equestria and had the final say on most matters, much of her individual governing power was removed and divided among Equestria's new courts and old nobles, creating the constitutional monarchy that ruled Equestria to the present day.

When several key members of the Lunar Republic party were discovered participating in a secret ritual to weaken Nightmare Moon's prison, however, the political party was disbanded and their records seized in a mass culling of their group from Equestrian Parliament. However, in a show of graciousness and (theorized) guilt for her sister's imprisonment, Celestia had made an offer to the organization: to join the Equestrian government as a shadow organization, dedicated to fighting the many dangers that sought out Luna's night as refuge. Their experience in espionage and infiltration made them invaluable allies in finding domestic threats and foreign spies, as well.

It was at this point that the Lunar Republic had fractured into two pieces: the Old and the New. The Old Lunar Republic had turned away Celestia's offer, cursing her name and retreating into places unknown along and outside Equestria's borders. The New Lunar Republic, however, had finally recognized that Equestria needed not only themselves, but balance between the forces of day and night, and had formed their first base of operations inside of the mountain upon which Canterlot was built, watching and guarding from the darkness below.

And so the New Lunar Republic had been established, keeping Equestria safe from subterfuge and the domestic threats of their former brothers and sisters of the Old Lunar Republic.

As stories go, I suppose it isn't bad...

Tempest was one of the last ponies to leave the classroom, still glossing over the sections about Blood Moon and the Children of the Mourning Star. The fact that Equestria had played host to terrorist and splinter groups in the past offered a darker side to the supposedly perfect land of Equestria, and it reminded her that she wasn't completely wrong when she claimed the world could be a cruel place.

"Hey!"

Tempest looked up from the book to see a pair of ponies standing in front of her desk, both scowling at her. One was a rust-colored earth pony stallion, and the other was a sky-blue unicorn mare. They both looked angry with her, and their body language indicated they were ready for a fight.

"Can I help you?" Tempest asked, quietly slipping the textbook back inside the desk. She knew she could take both of them easily, but it would look better for her if they started it.

"You've got some nerve, showing up here after what you did!" The stallion hissed, placing his hoof on he desk and leaning forward until his muzzle was inches from hers. Tempest didn't blink.

"My sister was in Canterlot when you attacked!" The mare growled. "You put her in chains! And now you think you can show up here and be one of us?

Tempest sighed. She'd anticipated some misconceptions about herself, but this was just stupid.

"The ponies in Canterlot were enslaved at my request so that the Storm King wouldn't consider them a liability. The last item he considered a liability was crushed in his bare hands. What I did in leading him here was terrible, and I'm trying to make it right, but if I hadn't been there, it could have been much worse." She rose up and stepped away from her desk, only to be cut off by the stallion standing in her way.

"But I don't want to be 'one of you.' I just want to try to find a place here in Equestria. If you don't like me being here, you don't have to."

"You see, that's the problem..." The stallion whispered, glancing around the room. Tempest's eyes snapped from side to side. A quick glance revealed that they were the only ponies in the room, meaning that whatever was about to happen wouldn't go beyond the three of them. And it was at that moment that Tempest realized the problem with the situation and the trouble she was in.

"We don't have to like you being here, but we here at the NLR are ponies of action."

They were the only ponies here, the only ponies who would know the truth of what went down. She had a bad reputation and was alone here. If these ponies started a fight, any investigation would come down to testimonials and word of mouth. There was no possible way that her word would be taken over theirs, and they could claim that she started the fight. She was far out of their league in terms of fighting prowess, so their injuries would only add to their story. If she counted on her own durability to carry her through, they could claim that she had still attacked her and won through their superior numbers. At that point, she would be both slandered and humiliated.

She had been outmaneuvered in hostile territory and placed into a no-win scenario.

But she'd stand at the gates of Tartarus before she went down without a fight.

The stallion reared back his hoof, obviously aiming to punch her in the face. Her positioning was awkward behind the desk, but she could already see herself slipping beneath the attack, out from behind the desk, and into a counter.

To her surprise, however, the punch never came. Instead, a lilac-colored blur jumped up from behind him, attaching itself to his arm.

"OW! WHAT THE-" the stallion shook his foreleg, shaking off Moonstone and landing her in a heap beside Tempest.

"What was THAT for, you liddle- why canth ah feel mah thoung?" In a matter of seconds, the pony collapsed to the floor, the only signs of life being his shallow breathing and the occasional involuntary twitch.

"Clay! Wha- what did you do to him?" The mare asked, stepping back in fear as Moonstone rose to her feet and dusted herself off.

"Just a little wyvern venom!" Moonstone cheerfully replied. "Just guessing at his weight and now long I was biting him, he should be paralyzed for about... three hours!"

"Y-you can't do that! That's not fair!"

"Oh?" Moonstone may not have been very large compared to the ponies, but she held herself with a confidence that felt almost threatening. "What are you going to do about it, rookie?"

"We're going to report this! You can't just-"

"Oh! Yes! I suppose you'll need to go over the incident with a superior officer!" Moonstone turned to Tempest, giving her a smug grin. "Would you excuse me for a moment?"

All things considered, Tempest wanted to see where she was going with this.

"Certainly."

Moonstone gave a cordial bow, flew over their heads to the other side of the room, and out the door. After less than a second, however, she walked back in. Feigning shock, the glanced over the scene, ran over to them, and stared down the unicorn.

"You there, rookie! I want you to tell me what happened!"

"You're not a-"

Moonstone reached between her scales and retrieved a small identification badge, which she promptly shoved into the unicorn's face.

"Read 'em and weep, newbie."

All of the color drained from the pony's face as Moonstone placed the badge back where she'd taken it from.

"Now, I am giving you a direct order to take your friend here back to his room, tuck him into bed, and read him bedtime stories until lights out! If I even hear somepony WHISPER that you were anywhere else, you're going to be making our hay cakes and quartz quiche by TOMORROW MORNING! And if I catch word that either of you..." she took a moment to lean down and look the paralyzed pony in the eye, "Try to start any more trouble, you're going to be on the first bus back to Equestria, riding in the LUGGAGE RACKS!"

She glanced back up at the terrified unicorn expectantly.

"Well? YOU HAVE ORDERS, ROOKIE!"

"MA'AM, YES MA'AM!" The unicorn gave a quick salute before wrapping up her friend in her magic and rushing out of the room.

There was a brief moment of silence as Tempest and Moonstone were left alone again. Finally, Moonstone sighed and slumped over, wiping a bead of sweat from her brow.

"I REALLY hate having to do the whole 'drill sargeant' act, but some rookies need to be taught a few lessons before they can move forward..." Straightening her back with a series of loud pops, she retrieved her usual scroll and checked over their schedule.

"Well, ready to take a second swing at passing Quill's examination?"

"You know, you could really move up in any kind of military with your attitude... Exactly what IS your rank?" Tempest asked. The pallor that had overcome the unicorn had been nothing short of ghostly. Suddenly, her unassuming spy of a roommate was looking much more intiguing.

"Don't worry about it, I shouldn't ever have to pull rank on a friend like you. You've actually got a good head on your shoulders." Moonstone waved away the question as she walked towards the exit.

Tempest sighed, rolling her eyes at the obvious misdirection. Part of her pride was definitely hurt at Moonstone jumping in to "save" her from a bad situation, but she had to admit that she hadn't had a way out on her own.

I guess I can let her unwanted help slide this time... she thought as she trotted to catch up with Moonstone.

"So... I have a question."

"I told you not to worry about it."

"No, no, purely hypothetical."

"Shoot."

"If I had accepted your offer of advice about Quill yesterday, what would you have told me? Hypothetically speaking."

Moonstone glanced up at her, and the two shared a mutual smirk.

"Well, hypothetically speaking...

Author's Note

Sorry these chapters have been taking so long, everyone! I'm currently working on an original work for National Novel Writing Month, so Fimfiction is taking a back seat as my place to unwind, for the moment! I will keep working on it as I need breaks from my other piece, though!

Round Two: The Grudge

Tempest strolled into Quill's office with confidence, letting the door swing back behind her with a gentle tap of her hoof.

"Hello again, Scorching."

"Miss Fizzlepop."

She didn't wait for an invitation to sit, taking her place in the seat across from him and leaning forward, attentive and alert. Quill's eyes rolled up to glance at her without moving his head as he began to already scribble down notes about her, undoubtedly foul and inaccurate.

He likes to test people... Moonstone's words echoed in her mind. If he writes something down, it's to psyche you out. If he says anything, he's talking AT you, not to you. He wants to goad you into a reaction, that's what's really revealing about you.

"You seem awfully awake compared to our session yesterday."

"Well, I had a hearty breakfast. A good start to your night is crucial when adjusting to a new schedule." Tempest flashed him a completely insincere smile. Acting this chipper and happy while staring at him was killing her inside, but it was what was necessary to pass the examination.

"Good, because we won't be ending our session today after a single question..." Quill leaned back in his chair, opening the same manila folder he'd been reading yesterday when she'd walked in.

"Ask away! Consider me an open book!" Tempest had to grit her teeth after that last comment.

He's got a real ego, being a well-known author and all. The more literary terms you can toss in, the better.

Quill leaned back in his chair, looking her over with an unfriendly eye.

"So, tell me, why do you wish to be a part of the New Lunar Republic? It's not often that an assassin turns their intention a full one hundred and eighty degrees."

Finally, a question she could answer easily. Ignoring the fact that he had called her an assassin, she cleared her throat.

"It seems like the place I'm most likely to fit it in Equestria. I spent a few days in Canterlot after the Friendship Festival and observed the Night Guard at work. They were efficient, effective, and tight-knit. I saw an opportunity to use my skills and follow Princess Twilight's advice to make friends at the same time."

"I see. So you joined to make friends and kick flank?"

"Well, that's one way of putting it."

"No other reasons whatsoever?" Quill raised a suspicious eyebrow.

"No." Tempest narrowed her eyes slightly, staring right back into his. It was an unspoken dare to challenge her. "Believe it or not, that is the truth."

Quill held her gaze for a moment, then looked back down at his notes.

"Now, let's talk about your violent tendencies..."

It was a loaded statement. Either she admitted to having violent tendencies, or she appeared to be in a state of denial.

"Would you say that they stem from your problems with anger management, or force of habit?"

Another loaded question to reinforce the first. Luckily, he'd allowed her a way out with the follow-up. If presented with two bad options, the best course of option was to create the metaphorical third door. It was both a power move and allowed her to take back control of the conversation.

"Neither. I don't have anger management problems, actually. My outburst yesterday was the culmination of several outside factors. I do apologize for that, by the way. It was entirely out of form and out of character." Tempest knew that her job here was damage control. He was trying to paint her in a bad light, and all she could do was try to make certain that her true self shone through.

"While that's a nice thing to hear, I have several pieces of evidence that state otherwise..." Quill opened the folder once again, sorting through several pages. "You displayed such tendencies in Kludgetown, as testified by several witnesses of your assault of several bystanders and civilians, Captain Celaeno and her crew's testimonies of your single-hoofedly destroying their airship mid-flight, the testimony of Capper the Abyssinian regarding your taking him prisoner and threatening him for information, and the records of several dozen eyewitnesses of your mistreatment of your subordinates during your invasion of Canterlot!" Quill raised an eyebrow and glanced back up from the folder. "Princess Twilight was quite thorough in her record gathering for your file."

Tempest was admittedly flabbergasted. Everything he'd mentioned was admittedly true, but the fact that Princess Twilight, someone she thought cared about her, had assembled all of this evidence against her, left her speechless.

"Princess... Twilight?"

"Yes, she assembled a comprehensive file of everything she could find about you, coupled with a letter of recommendation." He shook his head, quietly shutting the folder. "Given everything she found out about you, I am surprised at the fact that she still gave you a recommendation. And a glowing one, at that."

Tempest felt her feelings of betrayal subside somewhat. From her short time staying with Princess Twilight, she knew that she was, at her core, a nerd. It made sense that she would make sure whatever research was done was done right. She had still given her recommendation despite everything she knew Tempest had done. This wasn't betrayal, it was just honest protocol.

"I have to wonder if her judgement is suffering being cooped up in that castle of hers..." Quill muttered.

All of Tempest's thoughts ground to a halt.

"What?"

"Hm? Oh, nothing, just thinking about Twilight. She's doesn't get out too much since she became a princess." Quill shrugged. "I guess her mind is just just suffering now that Celestia doesn't tell her what to think, any more."

Tempest wasn't certain which came first: the seething anger in her chest or the flickering light from her horn.

"Take. That. Back." Tempest kept her words slow and measured. She couldn't afford to explode now, but what Quill was saying was not acceptable. Her former fears of betrayal were completely forgotten, and now she was focused on only one thing: protecting her friend.

Quill was taken aback for a moment, his eyes nervously flickering between meeting her gaze and staring at the magic gathering in the remains of her horn.

"Are you threatening me, Miss Fizzlepop?"

"No..." Tempest knew she had the advantage, now. Quill was intimidated by her, now. It was time for her to make a power move. "I'm ordering you. Take back what you said about Princess Twilight."

Quill took another glace at her horn, then back to meeting her eyes. His expression tightened, seemingly bracing himself.

"Or else what?"

Tempest considered her options.

"I have no desire to join an organization that would speak so poorly about my friend. Do not assume that I will not sabotage my chances here in order to defend her, Scorching Quill."

She and Quill were locked into a tense staring contest, each waiting to see who would flinch, first. Tempest knew that she was putting everything on the line by standing up to Quill like this.

Well, Twilight is the only reason I have this chance, to begin with. I suppose there's always the Day Guard-

"Your loyalty to Twilight... is admirable." Quill interrupted her thoughts, shaking his head and sitting back in his chair. "Probably the first admirable trait I've seen you display, Fizzlepop... Very well."

"Fine, I take it back. Twilight isn't losing her touch at seeing the good in ponies."

Tempest's anger began to recede, as did the explosive magic in her horn.

"I suppose, if you can feel that strongly about Twilight, there may be hope for you, after all..." Quill glanced back down at the file for a moment and slipped it into his desk.

Tempest could hardly believe her ears.

"You mean... I pass?"

"Pfft! Of course not! You just threatened a superior officer!" Quill chuckled and shook his head. "You haven't passed my examination at all!"

"Oh." Tempest felt her spirits drop again.

"However... You have proven that, against my better judgement, what I had planned on being our last meeting is not going to be such."

"Our... last meeting?"

"Oh, I was more than ready to declare you mentally unfit for duty!" Quill chuckled to himself as he strode past her and to the office door. With a quiet click, the door swung open, an obvious indicator that their session was finished. "But I suppose, given time, you might pass my evaluation."

"A-HEM!" A voice conspicuously cleared their throat from outside.

Waiting outside was Moonstone, arms folded over her chest. She raised an eyebrow, then held a clawed hand out.

"So, what you're saying is... that you're keeping her around?" Moonstone grinned smugly.

Quill blinked, then rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Now?"

"Now, Quill..." Moonstone chuckled.

Quill walked back to his desk, pulled open a drawer and retrieved a small bag. He carried it back across the room in his mouth before spitting it into her hand. Moonstone pulled open the drawstring, checking the contents before nodding approvingly.

Did they... HAVE A BET?

"There, fifty bits..." Quill mumbled.

"Aaaand?" Moonstone's grin widened. "You still have to say my favorite words!"

Quill rolled his eyes so hard, his discomfort was almost a physical presence in the air.

"Now?"

"Now!"

After one more childish sigh, Quill finally spoke up.

"You were right. I was wrong. Happy?"

"Ecstatic!" Moonstone chirped as she nodded for Tempest to join her in the hallway. "Come on, Tempest! Dinner's on Quill!"

At this point, Tempest wasn't sure what she was feeling more: confusion, anger, or joy. Quill still wouldn't pass her, Moonstone had been wagering on her impressing him, and the two of them had made a secret wager on her success or failure on what she hadn't known was her last chance to make a good impression.

So, Tempest did what she had been doing for the past two days.

She followed Moonstone back out into the hallway.

As she was leaving, however, she knew that she had to do one more thing that would improve her chances. As she passed him, she gave Quill a grateful nod.

"Thank you, sir..."

Quill simply rolled his eyes, taking a grip on the doorknob with his hoof.

"Don't thank me, Fizzlepop. Thank me when you pass. Until then, your fate is still... up in the air..." With that, he swiftly shut the door again.

There was an awkward moment of silence as Tempest slowly came to the realization that he had just repeated the same threat she had made to Capper before taking him prisoner, obviously gleaned from his testimony in her file.

"That smug son of a-"

"Hate Twilight?" Moonstone paused to think for a moment as she took a bite out of the large piece of topaz-encrusted carrot cake that was serving as her dessert. "I think 'hate' is a strong word for it..."

"He said, and I quote, 'I guess her mind is just just suffering now that Celestia doesn't tell her what to think, any more!'" Tempest growled as she tore another chunk out of her hay burger. "He talks as if she were some senile hermit!"

"Heh, that's rich, coming from the pony who ran away to live with the hippogriffs..." Moonstone muttered.

"What?"

Moonstone waved away Tempest's outrage as she polished off the last of her cake.

"It's a long story involving Twilight, my extended family, and a weather-controlling gauntlet. I'll tell you about it some other time."

"How can you stand working with such a hypocrite?" Tempest muttered, taking another bite of her burger. Moonstone had used the bits from her wager to buy each of them better food than the typical cafeteria menu, and Tempest had taken the time to tell her all about what had happened in the second interview. Tempest had gone for quantity over quality, simply helping herself to extra portions, while Moonstone had taken the more lavish items and requested gemstone additions. She'd been savoring bite after bite, chiming in with only a short comment here or there about Quill's behavior, while Tempest had taken out much of her anger on the food itself, unconsciously scarfing it down between descriptions of the manipulative questions presented to her.

"He's not so bad once you get to know him. He just has a pretty deep-seated grudge against Twilight, is all." Moonstone shrugged, washing down the cake with a sip of apple cider. "In fact, I'd say you two have more in common than you think!"

Tempest snorted, nearly choking on her water.

"You- you've got to be jo-"

"Despite popular opinion, I do NOT spend as much time telling jokes as you seem to think!" Moonstone pointed her fork accusingly at Tempest. For just a moment, Tempest caught a glimmer of the same authority she'd used to scare the two rookies earlier that night. "You should probably stop responding to everything with that."

Tempest nodded, sighing as the moment of clarity showed her just how tense her venting to Moonstone had made her.

"What could we possibly have in common?"

"Long stories..."

Tempest sighed, dropping her posture and leaning against the tabletop.

"Is everything about Quill a long story?"

Moonstone pondered the question for a few moments. Just as it looked like she was about to give an exception, she backpedaled, returning to a thoughtful pose. She opened her mouth again to speak, only to cut herself off before the first word. Finally giving up, she simply nodded.

"Yup."

Tempest groaned, leaning down and placing her forehead against the cool surface of the table. She was hoping that it would counteract her rapidly forming headache.

"He's got this huge file about my whole life that Princess Twilight put together, and I have nothing!"

"Well... You don't have to have nothing forever..." Moonstone whispered suggestively as she took another sip from her cider. "Everypony in the NLR has a file, you know."

Tempest snapped to attention, her eyes locked on the little dragon and only one word on her lips.

"Where?"

Author's Note

Well, I'm back! NaNoWriMo was a bit of a flop for personal reasons, but I'm back to fimfiction!

Sorry for the short update, longer chapters will be back soon!

Doing Some Digging

"What do you mean, 'above my clearance?'"

The clerk gave Tempest an exasperated glare.

"Look, lady, even if you DID have the proper security clearance to access personnel files, which you don't, I wouldn't want to give it to you, anyway!" He leaned forward and over his desk, pushing her ID back towards her. "Half the ponies around here are convinced you're a whack job, and the other half think you're going to stab us all in the back! As it stands, your clearance is Waning Gibbous level, just like every other new recruit! Without a requisitions form signed by at least three superior officers, you're not getting anywhere close to those files until you're at LEAST Half Moon! And even then, only under extreme circumstances!" He leaned back in his chair, picking back up the book he had been reading when she arrived.

"And knowing the pony whose file you're asking for, you're better off coming back once you've reached Waxing Gibbous."

Orientation had taught her that the ranks of the New Lunar Republic were based off the phases of the moon, with ranks growing higher as the drew closer to the elusive "Full Moon." Even reaching Waxing Gibbous was considered a lifetime achievement, and could take years.

The thought crossed Tempest's mind that the book in his hooves was extremely flammable, but if he was telling the truth about the amount of suspicion on her right now, making trouble was the last thing she ought to do.

On the other hoof...

A spark of magic leaped from her horn to the spine of the book, lighting a bright orange flame on the spine.

"SON OF A-" The pony sputtered, dropping the book to the floor and quickly stamping out the flames. By the time he turned his attention back to Tempest, she was already halfway out the door.

"HEY! Don't think that's not getting reported, you-"

Tempest turned back, giving him a death glare she had proudly perfected over hears of practice.

"You... you..." The clerk trailed off, shrinking back from her and swallowing loudly. Tempest's foul frown turned upwards into a smirk.

"Sorry, I've been told a lot lately that I have... violent tendencies." She chuckled softly to herself before stepping out.

"Three superior officers?" Moonstone sighed, leaning back against the pillows of her bed and setting down her book. "I'd be happy to help you out, and I'm pretty sure Quick Strike would, too..."

"But that leaves us with one more signature for a requisitions form..." Tempest sighed in turn, laying back in her bed and staring up at the ceiling. "I'm surprised you're not mad at me for lighting the guy's book on fire, though..."

"You'll get enough crap about that from Scorching." Moonstone shrugged, tapping her chin in thought. "And if there's one thing that I've learned from working alongside HIM, it's that it's redundant to tell somepony something they already know. You know it was a bad move, now work on your decision-making."

"Sorry, intimidation is an old habit. The Storm King always just told me to do whatever was needed to get results." Tempest blinked in realization. "Huh... maybe I DO have some issues with anger management..."

"Well, it's like the old saying goes, 'Knowing is half the battle!' Now you can start to change!" Moonstone hopped down from her bed and began to pace back and forth across the room.

"You make it sound so simple..." Tempest sighed, laying her foreleg over her eyes. It wasn't until she'd laid eyes on her bed that she'd realized how exhausted she was, and she had hardly moved the entire time she'd related the events back to her roommate.

"Simple? Yes. Easy? Not at all." Moonstone chuckled as she passed through Tempest's side of the room.

"Well, I guess two friends isn't going to be enough to cut it..." Tempest muttered. "And I suppose asking you to go and get it FOR me would be out of the picture?"

"I WROTE that file! If I were to ask to read it right after you were turned down, it would definitely raise suspicion."

"Wait, what?" Tempest bolted up into a sitting position. "If you already know it, why can't YOU just give me some dirt on him?"

"Unfortunately, I'm not allowed." Moonstone rolled her eyes as she turned on her heel and back for another lap around the tiny room. "Quill specifically said that I'm not allowed to do much more than advise and observe." She made a sour face, sticking out her tongue in what Tempest assumed was the direction of his office.

"You could advise me on what little facts of his past I could bring up to pressure him..." Tempest grinned until Moonstone gave her an annoyed glare.

"No."

"Eh, bending the rules was worth a shot." She flopped back onto her bed. "Maybe we just need to sleep on it?"

"Bending the rules..." Moonstone sighed. "Not so easy in a military environment."

"Eh, not as military as the Storm King." Tempest sighed. "I mean, lower-ranking recruits only got an hour a day for meals, six hours for sleep, ugly, uncomfortable uniforms... I only lived the high life because I had important intel about Equestrian magic." Her thoughts wandered back to the misery she always saw in the Storm King's ranks. At the time, she'd always brushed it off as the weak getting what they deserved: to be mistreated until they made themselves strong. Now, she felt a smudge of guilt for reaping the benefits of such a system at their expense.

"There weren't comfortable beds, certainly no heat on those airships outside of the decks near the engines, no nice food or friendly faces! And EVERYTHING was focused on collecting as much magic as possible, at any cost! At least the New Lunar Republic is a bit more noble and open-minded in their goals..." She chuckled to herself, her mind running back through Quick Strike's tour of the facility.

"You ponies have competent training facilities, good food, and you take every advantage you can! Magic, natural talents, even those computers and radar in the Command Center!" As she chuckled to herself, the trip down Memory Lane was beginning to finally lull her to sleep. "I remember this one time, I watched the airship with all our dumbest recruits crash right into a mountaintop because they couldn't see-"

"THE COMPUTERS!" Moonstone shouted, surprising Tempest back into full consciousness.

"Wha-" Once again, Tempest found herself cut off as Moonstone jumped up onto her bed and gave her a strong punch on her shoulder.

"Tempest, you genius! That's it! We can use the computers! A machine doesn't care if you nearly destroyed Equestria, and it can't check if your face matches your credentials!" She waved her hand back and forth in front of her eyes to illustrate the point.

Tempest blinked, trying to follow Moonstone's train of thought.

"But... how does that solve the problem of my security clearance?"

"Oh, it doesn't..." Moonstone snickered, reaching down into her pocket and retrieving her ID. Slowly and deliberately, she held it out over the edge of the bed, then dropped it, letting it flutter to the floor.

"But if I just so happened to lose my ID for a few minutes..."

Tempest looked down at the ID card, then at Moonstone.

"What happened to only observe and advise?"

"Hey! I can't watch you AND all of my personal effects!" she shrugged nonchalantly and fluttered over to her own bed, hitting the light switch to the room and tucking herself in.

"The night and day shifts change places in ten minutes, that's your best chance to get back into the archives."

Tempest rolled out of her bed and picked up Moonstone's ID, barely able to see it in the dark. She trotted her way over to the door, pausing beside Moonstone's bed.

"Thank you... friend."

Moonstone screwed her eyes shut harder, but smiled.

"If I don't see you leave, I have plausible deniability. Get out of here before you waste the whole day and don't get any sleep."

Tempest nodded and cracked open the door to their room, peeking outside for any signs of someone watching.

"Oh, and the password is 'tell the truth.' All capitals, no spaces."

Tempest quietly slipped through the halls of the facility, keeping Moonstone's ID hidden in her mane. Moonstone hadn't been lying, evidence that the facility was starting a new shift for the day was everywhere. Tired-looking ponies were on their way to the showers, some still with bed-head, some practically stripping off their uniforms from a hard night's work.

She was in such a hurry, she nearly ran headfirst into another pony.

"Oh, sorry, I-" She drew up short as she found herself staring at the same unicorn who had tried to attack her earlier that night, the one Moonstone had threatened.

The mare looked horrified to see Tempest, quickly sprinting past her and down the hall.

"It's after lights out, I did what she told me to, I swear!" She shouted as she disappeared around the corner.

After the surprise of the encounter had worn off, Tempest remembered her earlier questioning about exactly what kind of rank Moonstone could have to inspire such fear in a new recruit. Reaching up into her mane, Tempest retrieved the ID. There was a precise scorch mark over her age, as well as a collection of scratches, singes, bends and dents that made it look as though the small card had been through Tartarus and back. It was, however, still legible.

Name: Moonstone Chalcedony Alis Adelinda
Rank: Royal Agent
Sex: F
Age:
ID Number: 9E8EDE

A... royal agent? Does that mean that she works with the Princesses? If so... why on earth is she stuck as an assistant to some stuck-up field agent author?

She quickly returned the ID to its hidden place in her mane and began trotting along again, a whole new slew of questions spinning around in her brain.

When she finally reached the archive, she passed by the same pony she'd nearly lit on fire going out. Seeing that he was about to say something, Tempest gave him another of her searing glares as a deterrent. It worked, the pony shrinking back and quietly shuffling along.

"Hello! You're up late!"

Quickly changing her expression back to a pleasant one, Tempest turned to the new pony sitting behind the desk, an orange-coated unicorn with shoulder-length red hair and thick-rimmed glasses.

She looks like she could rival Princess Twilight's nerdiness...

"I... was just having trouble sleeping. Thought I might come print off some of the more boring field reports to bore me to sleep." Tempest had thought of the lie easily on her way there, and it rolled off her tongue naturally.

"Oh! Well, I have a few recommendations if you need-"

"That's alright, I'll just be a few minutes." Tempest strolled past her and into the tall rows of shelves, lined from top to bottom with books. She had to admit, it felt rather nice to be surrounded by books again. Princess Twilight's castle had been filled with them, and they brought back memories of the safety and friendship she'd had there.

Finally, she caught sight of the computer terminal and the printer hidden away shamefully in the back of the room. Stepping up to it, she tapped a couple of times on the space bar, trying to wake it up.

The machine whirred to life and the screen lit up with a soft click. The design of the interface looked simple enough, just an empty box with a magnifying glass next to it, and a smaller, second box with an arrow with the word "keywords" inside.

Tempest hadn't used many computers in her life, but this seemed simple enough.

Scorching Quill

After a brief pause, the computer screen changed to a list of results, each arranged alphabetically.

Considering the standing Moonstone and Quick Strike had implied he had, Tempest had expected pages upon pages of results to pour through. Field reports, incidents he'd been present at, all the different kinds of paperwork associated with high-ranking members of any military force.

Instead, there were only nine. Not even enough to reach the bottom of the page. Sitting at the top was a personnel file, but not one with Scorching's name.

Pennington Inkwell - Personnel File

... ... ... aliases: Scorching Quill, Howard Phillips, Cha'li Qued....

Tempest's eyebrows raised in surprise.

Scorching Quill is just an alias?

She quickly clicked on the file, only to find herself facing a login screen.

This file requires Waxing Gibbous clearance.
Please enter credentials.

After a quick glance to make sure no one was nearby, Tempest retrieved Moonstone's ID and copied the information from the bottom.

ID #: 9E8EDE
Password: TELLTHETRUTH

Login Accepted.

Tempest resisted the urge to start reading the full article then and there, clicking the tiny printer icon in the corner and sending the printer into a frenzy of clicking and whirring.

After a few nerve-racking minutes, the printer spat out the last page.

Tempest quickly backed out of the computer's search program, making certain that Moonstone's credentials were logged out before returning it to the blank search page she'd started with. She picked up the substantial pile of printed pages in her mouth and quickly hurried out of the archives, giving the librarian a grateful nod before hurrying back to her room as fast as her hooves could carry her.

When she got back, she slipped Moonstone's ID under her pillow and threw herself onto her bed, trying to repress gleeful giggles. Finally, she had every dirty little secret of Pennington Inkwell's that could help her fight back against his constant disapproval.

She lit up the stump of her horn as brightly as she dared without sending off sparks and began to read, far too excited to sleep now.

As she read deeper and deeper into his history, however, her glee turned into shock, then anger.

"That... complete... hypocrite!"

"So... when were you planning on telling me?" Tempest asked, sitting back after her morning workout with Quick Strike.

"Telling you what?"

"That Scorching Quill isn't his real name."

Quick Strike was surprised for a moment, then chuckled to herself.

"Guess you've been doing a little digging, huh? Who'd you have to beat up to get that info?"

"I heard you call him 'Penny' that day I came in early, remember?" Tempest still didn't want to get Moonstone into trouble, and had thought all morning of ways to get around the topic of the source of her information.

"Ah! Well, as much as I'd like to see the fireworks, you really shouldn't call him that." Quick Strike chuckled again, rising to her hooves and beginning her stretches to cool down from their sparring. "I just do it 'cause it pisses him off."

"Why? Does he not like his real name?"

"Just that particular shortening of it!"

"Why?"

"Heck if I know, I just know it makes him mad! But only his close friends can get away with calling him that! If you try to use it, there's about a 50/50 chance he's going to either double down on not approving you... or you'll both be working things out in here!" She motioned to the dojo around them for emphasis.

"Pfft! I think I'd rather have it that way." Tempest made a few quick jabs at the air.

Quick Strike watched, examining her form.

"You know... that's definitely a matchup I'd love to see..." she muttered, stroking her chin in thought. "Not to mention that it's been a while since we had a good exhibition match around here..."

"If you can arrange it, I'm on board!" Tempest sighed, rubbing at her neck as she headed towards the door to the dojo.

"As for me, I've got class, then a very special appointment..."

The Weight of History

"So, Miss Fizzlepop..." Scorching muttered her name in his usual, derisive manner. "I was thinking that today, we should talk about the trauma of your childhood."

"Hoping to get to the root of my 'violent tendencies,' Scorching?" Tempest asked, making little effort to hide her smug grin.

"Well, that, and I'd like to try getting to know you a bit better. Twilight was quite thorough in the information she gave me, but I'd like to hear it straight from you."

Tempest folded her forelegs over her chest and sat back in her chair. She felt little need to hide her confidence, the information she had found had rendered her perfectly capable of shutting down any argument from him.

"And when do I get to learn more about you, Mister Quill?"

"If I get my way, possibly never..." He muttered as he reached down for Tempest's file. "I'm here for your evaluation. Once I deem you well enough to move on, we'll never have to see each other again."

"Well, I certainly can't wait for that."

"So... why don't you start with some of the earliest events that you feel shaped your life?"

Tempest considered her options. Quill already had more or less her life story, but was asking her to open up to him with no emotional connection.

There were better emotional manipulators in Kludgetown. He definitely doesn't do this for a profession. If he really wanted me to open up to him, he'd work to establish a connection between us, first.

"Well, as a filly, some of my so-called 'friends' and I were playing one day, our ball rolled into a cave we'd all been warned to keep away from." Tempest knew that he already knew all of this, so she kept the summary simple. "I was the one who had thrown it too far, so I had to go and get it. None of us took the danger seriously, so we didn't think to go find a grown-up." She sighed, trying not to get too caught up in the memory. "When I went in there, I found our ball... and an Ursa Minor."

She glanced over at Quill, who was watching her intently.

"And... I suppose you can guess the rest."

"You couldn't escape?"

"I was... stupid. I tried to stand my ground." Tempest's eyes drifted downwards as, despite her best efforts, the emotions associated the memory began to rise. Regret, shame, and even anger all simmered in her chest, eating away at her. "I lost my horn and nearly my eye... and, soon after that, my friends." She took a deep breath, forcing her feelings down again. "They were all afraid of me, afraid of the reminder my scars gave them that life isn't a fairy tale."

Quill was quiet for a moment, then leaned back in his chair.

"I have one question."

"Yes?"

"Ursas tend to make their homes far away from ponies, and vice versa. Just how far from home were you and your friends?"

Tempest blinked, surprised at the question. She hadn't told that story to very many people, and they had all been too busy trying to console her for her loss to actually stop and question her about it.

"I... don't remember. A mile? Maybe two?"

"That's a long way to go, just playing ball. Most foals I knew could play ball in their backyard."

"It didn't feel like it was that far!" Tempest snapped back at him. "We just tended to lose track of time while we were playing! All kids do when they're having fun!"

Surprisingly, Quill smiled at her outburst.

"You'd forgotten about that, hadn't you?"

"About what?"

"That you had fun with them. Your 'so-called' friends."

Tempest drew up short for words. She'd tried so hard not to think about those ponies outside of remembering them as an example of why you couldn't rely on anyone. For years, she had wanted nothing more than to just forget them, to forget their faces and their names.

"They ran, Quill."

"Excuse me?"

"When I was hurt, when I was scarred and maimed and afraid, they ran away." She growled quietly. "I'm not certain how far from home I was because the trip back was a blur of pain, blood, and the knowledge that I was completely and utterly alone. My life was in my own hooves, and the ponies I had called my friends had abandoned me." Her gaze rose back up to Quill, giving him a hateful sneer.

"So if you're trying to bring back any fond memories, you're not doing a very good job."

Quill nodded, quietly shuffling the papers on his desk and clearing his throat.

"Of course, that is, if you're even Quill, at all?"

Quill froze for a moment, his entire body stiffening.

"And not a changeling?" Tempest leaned forward, turning a discerning eye onto her examiner.

Quill met her gaze for a moment, clearing his throat nervously.

"Fizzlepop, I can assure you that there are no changelings in the New Lunar-"

"Oh, that could absolutely be true, of course! But that doesn't mean that there isn't anypony here who might be working for them!" A wicked grin grew over her face as the color drain from Quill's face.

"Tell me if you've heard this one before, would you?" Tempest rose out of her chair, walking around Quill and his desk in a confident strut.

"A young foal, seeking something, perhaps a ball... or perhaps a subject for a school project... finds themselves entering the lair of an Ursa Minor. Once inside, they experience something that changes their entire life. For the sake of not repeating ourselves, let's give the example of, I don't know, finding an enchanted sword? Upon leaving, they set out and travel the world, learning everything they can from every master they can find, until they've become highly skilled in combat and able to slip out of nearly any situation they can get themselves into..."

Passing behind Quill, she leaned down and whispered into his ear.

"Until, of course, they get themselves into a situation they can't wiggle their way out of. Until they find themselves pursued by a military force they can't beat and can't escape."

"So, if they can't beat them... they join them. Leading that military force aaaaaaalllllll of the way back to Canterlot, showing them precisely how to evade the royal guard and all of Equestria's defenses."

Tempest finally made her way back to the front of the desk, this time sitting casually back in her chair and feeling completely in control of the situation.

"Of course, they were thwarted by some unforeseen circumstance, Canterlot has never truly fallen, before. Discord, The Storm King, Queen Chrysalis, they've all tried and failed." She sighed and smiled. "Usually because somepony involved made the mistake of letting Twilight Sparkle get inside their heads."

"Oh! And then they were given amnesty by a princess whom, in a moment of good conscience, they saved from certain demise."

Tempest kept smiling as Quill's expression turned into a scowl.

"Pardoned by Princess Twilight, pardoned by Princess Luna, there's really not that much difference which one it was, is there? So, I think I figured out why you've been so harsh with me, Quill."

"It's because you don't want to admit that the only difference between you and I, Penny, is that the Ursa was asleep when you came calling." With that, Tempest leaned back in her chair, content with having spoken her mind.

"Did I miss anything?"

Quill looked angry, but Tempest was relatively certain that he was pouting at this point. She'd discovered the reason he hated her so much: aside from only a few key moments, their lives had been nearly identical. When they looked at one another, they were staring into the possibility of what they could have been.

Finally, Quill sighed, sitting back in his chair with a defeated look on his face.

"I suppose it finally makes sense why Princess Twilight sent me to you, of all ponies. You needed someone to remind you that you're not so above the rest of us just because you used to work for Princess Luna."

"Get out, Tempest."

"Gladly." Tempest hopped out of her chair, walking briskly to the door. Just as she was about to walk out, she paused.

"So, Pennington... Do the two of us pass, yet?"

Quill didn't dignify her with a reply, a blue aura of magic wrapping around the door and slamming it shut behind her.

Surprisingly, Moonstone wasn't waiting for her after the appointment with Quill. More surprisingly, she didn't join her for dinner, either. It wasn't until Tempest was only a few steps outside their room that she finally heard Moonstone's familiar voice.

"Well, what else was I supposed to do?"

"Well, certainly just about anything else!" Quick Strike's voice replied, obviously frustrated. "I mean, I like to push his buttons, but there's a difference between making him mad and making him MAD!"

"It's not my fault if she overplayed her hand!"

"Oh, 'overplayed' is underselling it! I haven't seen him like this since-" Quick Strike quickly cut herself off as Tempest entered the room.

"Well, speak of the devil..." Quick Strike sighed, rubbing at her forehead.

Moonstone didn't seem much happier to see her, but motioned for her to come and join them in standing at the center of the room. "Well, good to see you're back in one piece."

"In one piece?"

"You've really gone and done it, Tempest..." Quick Strike muttered. "What were you thinking, talking to a superior officer like that?"

"Quill's saying that you stole classified information, and that you're incapable of acting without lashing out at your superiors." Moonstone shook her head. "He's saying that you're never going to be NLR material."

Tempest had thought about her actions a lot over dinner. She would be lying to herself if she said that she thought this reaction was unexpected.

"Pennington Inkwell has a conflict of interests! If he wants to try to get me kicked out, I can prove that he was unfit to evaluate me, to begin with!"

Quick Strike shook her head.

"Tempest, he was ordered to evaluate you by a princess, and the order was co-signed by Princess Luna! Authority in the NLR doesn't go much higher than that."

Tempest felt her confidence beginning to waver.

"If he says you need to go, then you're going."

"B-but-" It was starting to become apparent to Tempest that she had underestimated the authority she was dealing with. Princess Twilight could be talked to, reasoned with and told why her decision was so misinformed. Trying to argue with TWO princesses at once, however, was a surefire route to failure.

"BUT! We managed to talk him down!" Quick Strike gave her a smile.

"Talk him down to a wager, that is..." Moonstone muttered, obviously less happy with the situation than Quick Strike.

"A wager?"

Quick Strike reared back onto her hind legs and pounded her front hooves together. "A title match! The winner gets the title of being my best student!"

"And if you lose, you leave the NLR and go back to Princess Twilight with your tail between your legs..." Moonstone mumbled.

"And... what, exactly, does Quill have to lose, here?" Tempest asked. It seemed an awful lot like, once again, the odds were being tilted out of her favor.

"His old title, for one thing!"

"Not to mention a fair bit of pride..." Moonstone muttered. "He's so caught up in his old grudge against Princess Twilight and his hard feelings about what happened with the changelings, he refuses to see how his actions are affecting others!"

Tempest carefully considered her options. Since she'd arrived, she'd been berated, treated with hatred and suspicion, and told at nearly every turn that she didn't belong. She had come to the New Lunar Republic for a fresh start, but it appeared that, just like the stump of her horn, there was no escaping the marks of her past.

"Girls, as much as I appreciate everything you've done for me, I think I'm just going to take what I have coming and leave."

The two girls' reactions were drastically different. Moonstone simply rolled her eyes and folded her arms, giving Tempest a disappointed stare while Quick Strike's jaw nearly hit the floor.

"WHAT? You- you're just giving up?"

"Why not? It's obvious that there isn't anyone here who wants me to be here other than you two, and you're hardly a majority!" Tempest sighed, sitting back on her haunches. "Look, you don't survive outside of Equestria as long as I have without knowing how to cut your losses and move on. If I thought that I had any chance here, trust me, I'd jump at the opportunity for a fresh start! But that's not going to happen as long as ponies like Pennington Inkwell keep bringing up my past so they can hate me for it! No matter where I go, ponies aren't just going to forget what I did, and as long as they remember, they're not going to let me move on." She sighed, pushing her way past the two of them and to the other side of the room. She didn't have much to pack, but sooner would be better than later to get started.

"I guess my destiny lies outside of Equestria."

She paused for a moment, expecting them to try to give a rebuttal.

What she didn't expect, however, was the weight of Moonstone jumping up onto her back, nor the feeling of her clawed hand striking at the base of her skull, smashing her forehead painfully into the front of the dresser. Moonstone's shrill voice was the only sensation to make it through the cloud of stars and pain, the little dragon shouting almost directly into her ear.

"IT'S BEEN TWO WEEKS, YOU IDIOT!"

Turning around to face her unexpected attacker, Tempest saw the little dragon rubbing at her own temples as if she were suffering an equally painful headache.

"I mean, by FAUST you are overdramatic! You think a royal pardon is going to just suddenly make everypony forgive and forget overnight? You really HAVE been gone for a long time if you that THAT'S realistic, but I don't think you were even living on the same PLANET! Two weeks, and you're all ready to give up on everything Princess Twilight's done for you?" She hopped back down to the ground, beginning to pace around the room.

"Look, Fizzlepop... It's been two weeks since Princess Twilight and her friends saved Equestria! Two weeks since the greatest act of war since Tirek's rampage! TWO WEEKS since the biggest, most successful invasion since the changelings! I mean, when Penn was forced to lead THEM to Canterlot, he went into self-exile, where brooded an moped for THREE MONTHS before he even felt good enough about himself to answer a letter from anyone other than his stupid girlfriend!"

She spun back around, pointing an accusatory claw at her.

"AND SOMEHOW YOU'RE EVEN MORE EDGY and DRAMATIC THAN HIM!"

The stars were finally beginning to fade from Tempest's vision, and as they did, the fog that had settled around her mind seemed to fade, as well.

Of course she was under suspicion, of course ponies didn't like her. She was strong, confident, and threatening, she didn't take disrespect from anybody, and she turned a suspicious eye to anyone offering an easy path. She'd spent her entire life fighting and scrounging and clawing for everything she had, and she had earned it all.

Until now. Princess Twilight teaching her about friendship had shattered much of her worldview and her confidence. Twilight had been the one to assure that she had been accepted into the Night Guard training, and even specifically placed her into her own special treatment with choosing Pennington to give her the psychological evaluation. Quick Strike and Moonstone had given her their friendship without her even having to ask.

In just two short weeks, Tempest had forgotten who she was, what life had made her. She'd expected forgiveness to just be handed to her the same way amnesty had. She had come to expect that she was entitled to a fresh start just because she was 'trying.'

"Look, Fizzlepop... I get it. You're not being treated fairly. But you are Commander BUCKING TEMPEST! Start acting like it!"

"Moonstone!" Quick Strike was caught somewhere between jaw-dropping shock and a massive grin. "Watch your language!"

"Shut up, Quick Strike! I'll swear if I want to! I was told to do what I needed to, and this is what she needs: a reality check!" Moonstone took a deep breath, steadying herself and sighing to release the tension.

"If you decide you don't want to be here because you don't want to be in a military environment any more, fine. If you change your mind and think a night shift is as miserable as I do, fine! If you hate the cafeteria food with a vengeance and want to go become a soda float maker in Ponyville, I'm not going to judge you for that! But it's far beyond time that you stopped letting somebody else's actions dictate how you feel and what you do, and I'm not letting you quit because somebody hurt your widdle feewings, or because things got hard! So get up, beat the TAR out of that hardheaded idiot, and get back on your own four hooves!"

Silence fell over the room, aside from Moonstone's heavy panting from all of her shouting. Tempest thought carefully about everything that had happened, and how she'd been so ready to give up only moments ago. Now, moments later, she was absolutely disgusted with the thought of giving in.

She took a deep breath, feeling new fighting spirit and vitality washing into her. She exhaled, forcing all of the weakness and sadness and entitlement from her body.

Maybe... I can embrace Twilight's lessons without changing myself completely into someone else...

"All right..." Tempest opened her eyes, staring straight into Moonstone's. "When and where do I get to finally punch him in his smug face?"

"Tomorrow night, at the time you'd normally be meeting with him for evaluation." Quick Strike gave a wry grin. "The NLR has a little area for exhibition matches. I designed it, myself, just for when morale is low or somepony needs to resolve a little... interpersonal conflict. I've been trying to get an MMA league set up for years, now, but it keeps getting shot down by the higher-ups!"

Moonstone grinned, folding her arms over her chest. "He's not going to be an easy opponent, though. You're going to need insider info. What kind of magic he uses, what kind of fighting styles he prefers, what weapons he's most proficient with... Luckily, you've been assigned the world's best expert on the subject of Pennington Inkwell!"

Tempest looked back and forth between her friends, feeling a genuine smile tugging at the corners of her lips. She was about to break one of her personal rules, but it was most likely for the best.

"Will you...help... me?" It was harder to say than she had anticipated, forcing the word through her lips felt like admitting her own failings, like she wasn't enough for the task before her in and of herself.

But Quick Strike and Moonstone had been helping her from the moment she had arrived, and more than ever just now, when she had been ready to admit defeat. She DID have failings. She hadn't been up to the tasks before her. If anyone deserved to hear her near-begging, it was the two of them.

Moonstone and Quick Strike glanced at one another, then back at Tempest, each nodding in affirmation. To her surprise, the knowledge that she wasn't alone in her fight caused relief to wash over her in a wave. Gratitude began to well up inside, but she quickly swallowed it back down. Admitting she wanted help was bad enough, getting all wishy-washy wouldn't help anything.

"Well... I guess we're going to need an early start, tomorrow!" Quick Strike grinned. "I'll go get everything set up for an exhibition match now so we can train in the morning!"

"And we're going to have to get to sleep! But before that..." Moonstone grinned, stepping forward and offering Tempest a clawed handshake.

"Welcome back, Commander Tempest."

Tempest smiled, accepting the hoofshake.

"I'm with the Night Guard, now. It's just Rookie Tempest."

"Well, then, rookie... Get some rest, then kick some flank. And that's an order!" Moonstone grinned.

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am!" Tempest chuckled.

Tomorrow was going to be a good night.

Bring It On!

"Okay, Tempest, remember what we told you..." Moonstone whispered, rubbing her shoulders.

"I need to get in close, and fast. He's dangerous at a distance."

"And?"

Tempest smiled. Not only was this the first time she'd ever had a pre-fight massage, but Moonstone and Quick Strike's coaching had bolstered her already-strong confidence. "Since we're both unicorns, magic will be allowed, so I should use it to my advantage. If I find myself forced back, I need to use my explosions as cover to get back in his face."

"Exactly!" Moonstone hopped down from her back, walking in front of her to look her in the eye. "You know, after a few years of having to work WITH him, it's kind of cathartic to be working against him like this."

"If you don't mind me asking, why DO you work with him? You seem like someone with a good head on her shoulders, you could probably go far in any profession you wanted, not just an assistant to some stubborn unicorn!"

Moonstone chuckled. "Believe it or not, it's because I like him. My family has been a part of Equestrian outreach for millennia, and the Princesses asked me to keep an eye on him. He's done a lot of good since what happened with the changelings, but he always needs somebody to keep him on track."

"Are you seriously trying to sell me on the 'He's nice once you get to know him' argument?"

"Well, when you put it that way, you make it sound like I'M the dumb one." Moonstone rolled her eyes. "I guess only time will tell, but that's why I stick with him. He's my friend, for good and for ill."

"Fillies and gentlecolts! Today, it is my genuine pleasure to announce a top-notch brawl! A true clash of the titans!" Quick Strike's voice made her way through the open doors and back to the two of them, clearly excited to be announcing the fight.

"She really gets a kick out of this, doesn't she?" Tempest whispered.

"Today, our competitors consist of my two greatest students, two world-travelers who have seen the best and the worst that Equestria has to offer, and overcome it all!"

"If there's one thing Quick Strike enjoys more than beating ponies up, it's watching other ponies beat each other up!" Moonstone snickered, stepping aside and clearing Tempest's path.

"In the first corner, we have the pony who we all thought we'd never see again, raised from his retirement like our very own mummy from a tomb! Back from the frosty peaks of Mount Aris, risen straight from the darkest crypts.... SCORCHIIIING QUIIIILLL!"

Tempest cringed at the sound of the crowd roaring and cheering in favor of her opponent. This was his turf, he had the home field advantage. As usual, it was Fizzlepop Berrytwist against the world...

"Oof. Exhibition matches don't usually draw a very big crowd. I guess Quick Strike really hyped this one up..." Moonstone muttered. "How are you under pressure?"

"And in the second corner, the mare who brings the rolling thunder! The unicorn who single-hoofedly rose to the top with only the sweat on her brow and the strength of her hooves!"

Correction: Fizzlepop, Moonstone, and Quick Strike against the world...

"Well, here goes. Get out there!"

Tempest nodded, forcing herself to start walking forward.

"Put your hooves together for... TEMPEST SHADOW!"

As she stepped into the arena, Tempest was greeted with a chorus of booing and jeering.

"BOO!"

"GET OUT OF HERE!"

"WHY DON'T YOU GO BACK TO THE STORM KING, HUH?"

The "Arena" was a glorified gymnasium, with hard rubber mats laid across the floor, a high ceiling and hanging lights, and obvious hiding places for other sporting equipment. Quill and Quick Strike were each waiting at the center, Quick Strike giving her an encouraging smile while Quill was waiting with a terse frown.

"YOU THINK WE'VE FORGOTTEN WHAT YOU DID?"

"YOU'LL NEVER BE A TRUE REPUBLICAN!"

She did her best to ignore the insults and hatred, keeping her gaze locked onto the only other person who mattered: her opponent. The closer she got, the more Quill's poker face crumbled, starting with a twitch in his eye and morphing into an angry sneer. What felt like an eternity later, she finally joined Quill and Quick Strike at the center of the room.

"WHAT A FREAK!"

"YEAH, LOOK AT HER HORN!"

When Quill moved, Tempest almost didn't see it. He snatched Quick Strike's microphone from her hooves and spun around to face the crowd.

"ENOUGH!"

The angry scream was magnified through the speakers scattered across the room to near-deafening levels, causing everyone in the stands to quickly comply with his demand. Quick Strike and Tempest exchanged surprised glances, but Quick Strike didn't move to take it back, yet. Moments later, Tempest could have heard a pin drop in the room.

"Need I remind you all of basic training?" Quill continued, more softly now that he had the room's attention. "The Children of the Mourning Star? BLOOD MOON? The Lunar Republic has always been a rabble of reprobates and terrorists, we're just allowed to be pickier about who we accept, now! For the love of the moon, need I remind anyone that NIGHTMARE MOON came JUST as close to taking over Equestria as anyone else?"

Tempest had to admit, she had never seen awkward silences blown up to such a massive scale that they could include an entire audience, but she was entirely confused.

Is he... defending me?

"None of you are allowed to judge Tempest!" He turned back to them, smugly grinning at her. "By Princess Twilight and Princess Luna's decree, only I'M allowed to judge Tempest!" With those final words, the crowd began cheering again, once more excited for the confrontation between the two of them. Having spoken his mind, he handed back the microphone to Quick Strike.

Never mind.

"Well... uh... Tempest? Anything to say in reply?" Quick Strike offered her the microphone.

Tempest thought for a moment, then pulled Quick Strike's hoof closer so she could speak into the microphone.

"I don't want your pity, Quill, and I don't need anypony's approval. I'm here because I want to start fresh as a simple Night Guard. If you think you can stand between me and my goals, then I'll give you the same advice I've given everyone else who thought they could stop me..."

She paused to look over the crowd, indicating that the message was intended for all of them, as well.

"Bring it on."

To her surprise, this time, the crowd didn't retort with booing and hissing. This time, the reaction was a mix of pleasant and shocked surprise.

"OOOH! Scorching just got BURNED!"

"Show her who's boss, Quill!"

"Is it wrong I'm kinda rooting for her, now?"

Quick Strike grinned, covering the mic with her hoof for a moment.

"You go, girl."

"Don't misunderstand, I'm not going to take it easy on you, and I certainly don't like you..." Quill muttered, rolling his eyes. "But I'm sure you understand why that kind of behavior needs to be dealt with."

For a moment, Tempest thought back to her time as the Storm King's second-in-command. "I'm no stranger to keeping the lower ranks in line. It's good to see that management around here knows SOMETHING about doing their jobs."

"Okay, everypony! I know we've got a new wave of rookies coming in, so I'm going to refresh everyone on the rules!" Quick Strike smiled, stepping between them and walking to the edge of the room.

"I wanna see a clean fight! You're both unicorns, so magic WILL be allowed! I've evaluated both of your abilities, and I feel confident saying that I can declare this a no-holds-barred match without the two of you killing each other! We're all professionals here, so I'll be giving you only three rules!"

"One, no killing and no maiming!"

That was simple enough. Her specialty had been information gathering, non-lethal takedowns were something she was well-versed in.

"Two, this place has been built to last, but TRY not to break the gymnasium!"

That would be more difficult, considering the explosive nature of her magic, but it was doable.

"Three, remember the stakes! If Tempest wins, Quill loses the title of 'Quick Strike's Best Student!' If Quill wins, Tempest will be banned from joining the Night Guard! The match ends when one side either surrenders or is unable to continue fighting!"

Those really aren't fair wagers, but whatever...

"Ready?"

Tempest lowered herself into a ready position, bracing herself.

"Set?

She had to strike hard and fast in an all-out attack. She was confident she could break through his defenses and end this in a matter of seconds.

"G-"

Tempest sprung forward, striking with everything she had... at empty air.

Quill, meanwhile, had taken to the air. While she had lowered herself to the ground, he had leaped upward and over her. A heavy set of hooves came crashing down into the small of her back. The sudden weight, combined with her being off-balance from her failed attack, knocked her hooves out from under her and slammed her into the ground. She could feel her ribs straining under the pressure as the air rushed out from her lungs.

"Oh, and Quill gets the first blow, dodging over Tempest's attack!" Quick Strike called out, narrating the fight into the microphone.

Placing all of his weight on her, however, came with its disadvantages.

Tempest tucked in two of her legs, planted the other two on the ground, and rolled her body out from underneath Quill, hoping to trip him up.

Quill, however, simply hopped off of her, easily keeping his balance and landing deftly on the ground. Keeping his back to her, he wound up one of his back hooves for a buck to her face. Using such a clearly telegraphed move, however, gave Tempest ample time to prepare.

When he kicked, Tempest continued rolling, then seized his leg. Using his weight for leverage, she pulled herself underneath him, where she could slam all four of her hooves into his stomach at once.

"OH! But Tempest comes back with a slick maneuver from the ground!"

Quill was thrown across the room, and judging by the obvious struggle he was making to get up, he was equally winded.

There was a moment of silent peace as the two of them each shakily got up onto their hooves.

I made an opening blunder. I underestimated how fast he could be, and I made it obvious what my first move would be in exchange for a powerful blow I wasted. Now he's at a distance, just like Moonstone said NOT to allow!

Tempest forced herself to stand up straight, despite the ache in her chest. Wasting no time, she sprinted towards him, trying to close the gap.

Quill, however, had already lowered his horn at her. Rather than blasting her or levitating her, though, he seemed to be creating a smokescreen, shrouding himself in a glowing white mist. Tempest summoned up a blast of her own magic and launched it into the mist, hoping to blow away the cloud and reveal her enemy.

CLANG!

Just as her magic was about to reach him, a portion of the mist pulled in on itself, bunching together into a solid object that blocked her attack. Tempest's eyes widened in shock as Quill strode out of the magical cloud, a shimmering blue copy of his sword hovering just over his shoulder. The rest of the mist followed after him, as if drawn by some kind of magnetic attraction.

It's his own magical power made into a physical form... I haven't seen that spell since...

"Hey! They never told me you studied magic in Africa!" Tempest called, beginning to strafe to the side. Her opponent was armed, now, this was going to require a change in strategy. "I haven't seen THAT spell since I challenged a shaman three years ago!"

Quill raised an eyebrow, obviously impressed she had recognized the source of his technique. "I was lucky enough to befriend one who left her country to see the world. She taught me a lot of tricks..."

As the two of them quietly circled one another, Tempest's eyes flicked between the single sword and the massive cloud of mist.

"She obviously didn't teach you good form. All that energy for just ONE little sword?"

Quill chuckled, giving the sword a couple of experimental swings.

"I'm afraid I've lost a lot of my finesse for the finer points of magic. I operate with a hammer, not a scalpel... But it gets the job done."

"I suppose that's another thing we have in common?" Tempest was drawing closer and closer to her goal. As the two of them circled one another, Quill was outpacing his own smokescreen.

"Fizzlepop, my dear, you have NO idea..." Quill muttered. With those words, he finally came to a stop, turning to face her head-on in a ready position.

That was the signal Tempest had been waiting for. They both had been bantering for a chance to each catch their breath, but Tempest had taken the time to also get as close to the smokescreen as possible. When she spotted Quill adjusting his posture, she bolted for the cloud of mist, throwing herself headfirst into it.

Tempest had studied many, many sources of magical knowledge on her quest to restore her horn, and she had learned a lot about the nature of magic. Magic was intuitive, above all else. It was a force that responded to feelings first and study second. Obviously both were needed for high-level spells, but the most important aspect was one's heart, channeled through some medium, whether a horn, a wand, or some dusty old artifact.

Thankfully, Quill hadn't just made a smokescreen. He'd made a smokescreen out of his own magical energy. The job of channeling had already been done.

When she collided with the cloud, time slowed to a crawl for Tempest. Everything, even her own movement ground to a halt. Her vision blurred and her skin tingled with electric current. As she inhaled, she could feel power surging through and into her body, and the stump of her horn was pounding against her skull, pulsing in the presence of all the raw energy around her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Quill's sword coming through the mist in slow-motion. She didn't have time to dilly-dally. She focused on the task before her, screwing her eyes shut.

The most important part of the spell was to visualize the result she wanted as clearly as she possibly could...

Moonstone was right at the edge of her seat, nervously chewing on her claws. The fight hadn't been going on for long, but every blow that they'd exchanged had looked powerful and painful. Now Pennington had brought out the big guns by using his magical constructs.

The blade of the sword is obviously dull, but it means that he can hit her from a distance. If she can't get back in close, she doesn't stand a chance!

Moonstone could only watch as Tempest threw herself into the cloud of magical energy and disappeared from sight.

"What are you doing, Tempest?" she muttered. There was no way that she could hide in such a small cloud for more than a few seconds.

Pennington didn't seem put off by her actions, simply smiling and nodding towards the magical mist. The sword followed his movement, shooting forward to strike at her.

Moonstone couldn't restrain herself, jumping up in her seat and shouting at the top of her lungs. "LOOK OUT!"

In the same moment, there was an ear-splitting crack like a thunderclap, and a blinding flash of Tempest's lightning magic, forcing everyone in the room to flinch away and cover their eyes, including Moonstone.

When the light had faded, Moonstone lowered her wing and nervously glanced out to see what the result had been.

The entire cloud of magic was gone, leaving only the two ponies. Moonstone's jaw dropped at the sight of the results of Tempest's spell.

There she stood, wearing a set of magical armor. It was a perfect recreation of the armor she'd worn while working under the Storm King, with the cruel tyrant's emblem replaced by a glowing NLR Insignia. In addition, she'd added plates to her legs and neck, leaving her head protected only by the threat of her still-crackling horn. The armor itself was the same translucent blue material as Penn's sword, but filled with cracking currents of Tempest's own magic, showing her dominance over the spell. She glanced down at herself, ensuring that everything was as she wanted it, then stood tall at the center of the arena, a confident smirk on her face.

Moonstone tore her gaze away for only a moment to glance at the rest of the ponies in the audience. She was relatively certain there wasn't a mouth in the room that wasn't hanging open in shock.

Slowly, deliberately, Tempest raised her hoof, pointed at Pennington, then gestured for him to come closer. It was a clear message:

Bring it on.

"You absolute madmare..." Moonstone whispered, her grin growing wide enough to physically hurt her mouth. "Get him."

As Tempest took off at a sprint towards her opponent, Quick Strike had finally collected herself enough to resume commentating.

"I-I don't believe what I'm seeing here, fillies and gentlecolts! Tempest has HIJACKED Quill's construct spell and formed a set of armor!"

Pennington finally snapped out of his shock after Tempest had closed almost half of the distance between them. His own horn glowed, pulling his sword back and placing it in front of him with the flat of the blade facing her. It was his standard defensive position, and Moonstone knew that it was just his unconscious default.

He's flustered, his reactions are going to suffer...

As Tempest drew in close, he tried to use the blade to push her away again. Tempest deftly used one of her armored hooves to deflect it while sliding underneath the blow and Penn's defenses. Before he could react, she sprung up to her full height, knocking him up and off of his front hooves, exposing his belly. Even Moonstone flinched as she watched Tempest plant her hoof directly under his ribcage, knocking the air straight out of his lungs and flinging the full-grown stallion back against the wall. While gravity pulled him back down onto four hooves, Tempest continued to press her advantage, making a blow to one of his front legs and forcing him down onto one knee. Reeling back, she had the perfect angle to strike at his temple with everything she had.

If Penn doesn't get back up from this, she's going to win!

Just as Tempest swung at him, however, Pennington dropped down, attempting to roll under her punch.

Snap!

The sound was almost nothing compared to the thunderclap, but just enough for Moonstone to tell that something had gone very, very wrong.

Penn did make it out of Tempest's attack, but his movements were stilted and stiff, and he had one hoof up against his head.

Oh no... tell me she didn't...

Being a wyvern came with a few distinct advantages, including better eyesight than the typical dragon. Down below, she could see a small, blue object rolling on the floor.

Tempest was frozen, staring in horror at the object. The armor was quickly dissolving away, her concentration absolutely destroyed.

Penn took his chance, reeling back both of this back legs and bucking at the side of Tempest's head.

Moonstone's spirits were crushed as she watched Tempest drop like a sack of bricks. Pennington didn't take any time to celebrate his victory, turning his back to the crowd and walking away. Moonstone saw him picking up the item, disguising the motion as a weak stumble. Judging from the fact that nopony was shouting about what had happened, Moonstone was relatively certain she and Quick Strike were the only ones who could have seen it from such a distance.

"And... I believe we have our winner, everypony!" Quick Strike called out as a pair of nurses rushed out onto the field. One of them attempted to help Pennington, who simply brushed her off and disappeared through the door to the gymnasium, while the other began checking Tempest's injuries. "Tempest Shadow is unable to continue!"

Moonstone's eyes narrowed and she took to the air, quickly flying after Pennington and leaving behind the rest of the crowd. It took only moments for her to catch up with the wounded stallion, who had limped his way to the locker room and laid down on one of the benches, his chest heaving up and down. Moonstone landed beside him, giving up a quick once-over with her eyes. He was definitely in need of a trip to the infirmary.

"You want me to call Close and Constant?"

Pennington shook his head. Close Care and Constant Care were the two best doctors in the NLR, and two of the only ponies who knew enough about him to treat him properly. Unfortunately, they both worked aboard the NLR's flagship vessel, where they were constantly on call for the most dangerous missions.

"I haven't seen you this badly thrashed since the last time you fought Full Sails..." she muttered, poking at his side. The choking repression of his scream confirmed her suspicion. "Yup, definitely broke SOMETHING. Probably a rib or two."

"I'll be... fine..." he huffed.

Moonstone folded her arms over her chest, giving him a suspicious glare. "And what about your horn?"

Pennington nodded down. Sitting on the floor beside him was the broken remains of his horn, neatly set aside. Moonstone picked it up and began examining it closely. After a moment, she wiped a bead of sweat from her brow.

"Thank goodness. Looks like the adhesive just gave out. Turvian would probably curse us BOTH if he found out you broke ANOTHER prosthesis!"

Pennington chuckled weakly.

"Remember last time? We were stuck talking backwards for a week! You had to lock yourself in your house and send letters to everyone saying you caught the pony pox!"

Pennington chuckled a little harder, only to stop abruptly and hiss in pain.

"Yeah, suck it up, you've got it all coming. Taking advantage of her shock was a dirty trick."

Pennington shrugged, making a weak attempt to sit up.

"I haven't played fair since I had to put down your uncle, Moon Moon. You know what they say about love and war..."

Moonstone raised a single eyebrow.

"Oh, really? Maybe I should write a letter to Princess Cadence for you about that?"

She couldn't resist smirking as Penn's eyes nearly bulged out of his head.

"I do NOT need another 30-page dissertation on why I need to forgive Twilight!"

Moonstone grimaced as the memory of their last conversation with Cadence resurfaced. She'd been far from happy to hear about Pennington's fight with her sister-in-law. Moonstone had been belching up pages for almost ten minutes straight.

"Anyway, what are you going to do, now? You won." Moonstone sighed, taking a seat beside him. "Send her away forever?"

Pennington paused, contemplating the question. After a few seconds, he gave a tired sigh before rolling off of the bench and onto his hooves. He turned and looked Moonstone in the eye, halfheartedly glaring at her.

"You knew that a fight would blow off enough steam for me to cool down, didn't you?"

"She's almost there! She's SO close to passing, Penn! She explicitly asked Quick Strike and I for help prepping for this fight!"

Pennington shook his head and limped towards the door.

"Fine. But I am NOT recommending her for the Night Guard. She's not cut out for it with that temper!"

Moonstone nodded. Secretly, she suspected that he was coming to the same conclusion she had.

"Wait, You're headed to the infirmary, right?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever..." He muttered, waving her concerns aside. "Soon as I get my horn glued back on."

"Penn, you'd better not be lying to me!" Moonstone placed her hands on her hips, giving him an angry glare of her own.

"Penn? PENN?"

"The Most Stupid Plan I've Ever Heard!"

When Tempest woke up, she was laying in a soft bed with a pounding pain in her skull.

"Ugh... what happened?" she mumbled, trying to crack open her eyes.

"You took a buck to the head from a guy who's half earth pony on his mother's side."

Tempest tried to turn her head to the voice, only to find a stiff brace holding her neck in place.

"Take it easy. It doesn't look like there's going to be any lasting damage, but you're lucky not to have any fractured vertebrae or a concussion." A unicorn with a white mane and purple fur moved into her sight, giving her a warm smile. "What was left of that armor of yours absorbed the majority of the damage, but you're going to need to wear that brace on your neck for at least twenty-four hours!"

Tempest's memory began to finally resurface, and she felt a wave of shock wash over her yet again.

"Oh, Faust... I... I broke his horn..." she whispered, forcing herself to hear the words to believe them. "I didn't mean to, it was an accident! But... How could I DO that to-"

"At ease, Tempest!" Moonstone's voice called out from the direction of the doorway. With the sound of fluttering wings, the little dragon landed beside her on the bed, looming over her with a worried look. "Geez, that is going to be one HECK of a black eye. But if anypony asks, you can just tell them that they should see the other guy!"

Tempest looked away from Moonstone as best she could, rolling her eyes.

"How can you joke about this? What I did... it's not something a unicorn can just bounce back from! It's permanent! I disabled him for the rest of his life, in a way I could NEVER make up for!"

"Eh, you disabled him for an hour or so. He's just got to glue it back on."

"STOP MOCKING IT!" Tempest shouted, trying to sit up to deliver a glare at Moonstone, only to find the unicorn's hoof on her shoulder, gently pushing her back down. "This is TERRIBLE!"

"Fizzlepop, dear, there's no need to get so excited!" The nurse gave Moonstone an angry side glance. "What Moonstone is trying to say is that YOU didn't break his horn, it was a fake one."

All of Tempest's thoughts came to a screeching halt.

"Yeah, he lost it YEARS ago! He's just been making do with magical prosthetics, instead! He basically keeps a wand glued to his head at all times." Moonstone chuckled to herself.

"But that wasn't-"

"In his file? Yeah." Moonstone sighed and dropped down out of sight, though Tempest could feel her weight against her side, implying that the dragon had laid down and propped herself up against her body. "He's got a lot of prying eyes on him and his life, and having a record of that kind of weakness would be a bad idea if his enemies ever managed to get into the NLR files. We left it out on purpose, not to mention a lot of other stuff."

Tempest thought quietly for a moment, trying to process the information.

"I suppose... hiding a weakness like that makes sense, strategically..." She blinked, trying to think back to the fight. "And it explains why he didn't flinch too badly when I broke it off."

Moonstone chuckled from her place out of sight. "Oh, no! He's probably going to have a migraine the side of Mount Aris for the rest of the week!"

The nurse rolled her eyes. "My sister has already gotten a request from him for painkillers, or at least enough asprin to supply a small country."

Moonstone chuckled again, more loudly this time. "She's not going to give it to him, right?"

"Of course not! When have you known Close Care to give ANYPONY painkillers outside of surgery?" She chuckled. "Knowing her, she's just going to give him a wooden mallet and tell him to work things out!"

Tempest instinctively clamped her mouth shut, trying to avoid breaking into laughter. She'd spent so long building up an image of being the implacable stoic, the pony no one should cross, that laughing in public felt wrong.

This in no way, however, deterred Moonstone from cackling evilly. "Oh! And I bet he'd try hitting her with it, and somehow wind up knocking himself out!"

"If he didn't, she would!" The doctor giggled, turning to check the instruments beside Tempest's bedside.

Finally free of worry, Tempest's mind drifted back to the task at hoof, and the unfortunate fact her circumstances implied.

"I... I lost the fight, didn't I?"

Both of them stopped laughing.

"Look, Fizzlepop, you don't need to worry about that right now. Right now, I want you to focus on trying to give me your best answers in these next few tests, alright? I want to be certain you're going to be okay before I release you."

Tempest tried to nod, only to find her head still held in place by the brace. She clenched her teeth for a moment, then forced out her next word without any tremble in her voice.

"Okay."

"Alright! Moonstone, dear, you're going to have to move. Fizzlepop, I'm going to help you sit up, and then I'm going to show you a chart. I want you to cover one eye and-" She stopped for a moment, obviously distracted by the sound of hooves entering the room. The sound was stilted and uneven, as if the pony making it was stiff and limping.

"Hey! I don't need you coming in here and-"

"Take it easy, Constant, I just wanted to come in and see how she's doing."

The voice affirmed her suspicions.

"Come to gloat, Quill?" She muttered, moving her eyes to look in any direction but his voice.

"No, just worried. I forgot to hold back at the end, there, and that neck brace isn't making me feel any better."

"She's expected to make a full recovery, that's just for her own safety while we make certain there aren't any microfractures."

Tempest braced one of her hooves against the bed, slowly pushing herself up into a sitting position so she could look at Quill.

He was certainly worse for wear, with bandages all across the center of his body, covering his barrel and stomach. His head had been wrapped in an equally undignified manner, covering his forehead and the base of his horn. His front left leg was wearing a brace over his knee, forcing him to keep it held straight. A quick glance down at her own body affirmed that she had gotten off lightly, with only her neck brace and her apparent black eye.

"Well, you're getting what you wanted. I'm guessing I'm supposed to pack my stuff as soon as I'm released?" She sighed, glancing over at Moonstone to avoid making eye contact with him. Moonstone looked at her for a moment, then shot Quill a judgmental glare.

Tempest leaned forward, the knowledge that Moonstone was on her side giving her the courage to finally lock eyes with him. "Well, if this is the last time I have to see you, then I guess I just have a couple things to say. I don't know what you wanted or expected from me. I don't know if there was any chance for me to pass your stupid test, to begin with! From the moment I walked into this place, you've done nothing but look down on me, when all I've wanted is to get a fresh start!"

"I just want to leave the past in the past, but you refuse to let me forget what I did, no matter how hard I try! Moonstone tried to help me! Quick Strike did, too! If Princess Twilight thought that you were going to do the same, then I guess that she has more faith in you than you have in her!" Tempest's blood was beginning to boil, the pounding in her head growing more intense as she got more excited.

"So, Quill or Penn or whatever your name is, I just have one question for you before I leave! What should I have done to get your approval? What possible act within my power could have helped me pass your prejudiced, unfair, BIASED examination?"

Quill didn't shrink back from her shouting. To his credit, he didn't even flinch at the sparks coming off of her horn. He simply smiled wryly, shaking his head for a moment.

"Twilight told me you had assumed the rest of the world was against you. That you refused to rely on anyone else, nor make any friends... So, I only had one quota for whether or not you would pass, Tempest." He looked her dead in the eyes, simply smiling. "The NLR is a network. Everypony's work is tied into everypony else's well-being. Field agents gather valuable data and are at the front lines of oncoming threats. The Night Guard relies on their reports to decide where and when to send their members. Agents buried deep in our enemies' ranks need to collaborate with the main body in order to give life-saving information. If an engineer disappears or fails, nearly every department is affected because we have little to no transportation. Even the accountants Quick Strike loves to mock make certain that our other branches are never without equipment or spells to help them out of a tight situation."

"You needed to understand that. You needed to start understanding that you need to be willing to rely on others if you wanted to integrate yourself into that network." He gave her a smile, this time an honestly happy one.

Moonstone sighed, rolling her eyes.

"For the record, I thought this was a stupid idea."

Pennington gave Tempest a friendly wink. "Those are MY specialty. Anyway, I thought that if you were willing to ask someone you absolutely HATED for help, then you would be ready to work with just about anypony! Because there are going to be a lot of ponies around here who WON'T be able to stand you, who WILL refuse to let the past stay in the past. And you're going to have to work with them, answer to them!"

Tempest was putting the pieces together in her mind, and if she was right, this answer was NOT going to make her happy.

"So, to pass... all you had to do was hate me... and then ask me to pass you."

Tempest's eye twitched and the crackling in her horn grew louder and brighter.

"That... is the MOST STUPID IDEA I'VE EVER HEARD!"

Penn chuckled nervously as she rose up out of the bed, landing unsteadily on her hooves. Step by shaky step, she began to advance on him. Her head was beginning to spin, but she kept her steely gaze locked on her target.

"I mean, seriously? There was NO way for me to know that was what I was supposed to do! And how could we have even REACHED that point? You escalated things beyond casual small-talk almost instantly! I HATED you long before I was even willing to ask Moonstone for help, let alone YOUR sorry flank! We were more likely to KILL each other before we had a civil conversation!"

Penn was obviously getting nervous, limping backwards and away from her.

"And just HOW LONG were you planning on making me hate you? Are you only coming clean NOW because I'm about to LEAVE? Has all of this just been some kind of stupid, manipulative ACT? What if I'd just given up and gone home? What if I had written to Princess Twilight and TOLD her how horrible you were being? Then she'd be HERE, ruining your entire clever plan!"

"W-well, I mean, it worked, didn't it? You're smart, you figured it out in the end!" he stuttered, now close enough for the burning sparks of her enraged magic to singe his fur.

"After we both put each other in the HOSPITAL!"

"Uh, Tempest?" Moonstone called, now some distance away from the pair.

"WHAT?"

"He's trying to say you just passed!"

Tempest drew up short, the information processing itself slowly through her mind.

"But- I thought that if I lost the fight, I'd be banned from the New Lunar Republic?"

"You're banned from joining the Night Guard." Moonstone hopped down from the cot, running over and fishing an item out from under Penn's bandages. It was a hidden envelope, sealed with a wax imprint of the NLR emblem. Reaching up, she handed it to Tempest.

She raised an eyebrow, giving Penn another angry glare. He simply nodded, affirming that she was supposed to open it. She tore through the paper, fishing out the folded parchment inside.

Dear Princess Luna and Winged Egghead,

After extensive time studying and conversing with Fizzlepop Berrytwist, I have come to a definitive conclusion: She is unfit for the Night Guard. She has displayed issues with following orders, broken several NLR rules and policies, and most importantly, lost a bet to me saying she can't join them. She has a poorly-controlled temper and a tendency to resolve problems via violence.

However, she has also displayed great desire to improve both herself and her reputation. She has also shown great initiative and a frightening aptitude for combat. Her information-gathering skills exceeded even my own expectations, and yes, Sparky, she's even making friends. She has also displayed a fierce sense of loyalty, even for a pony she spent the majority of her time hunting.

So, it is my professional opinion as a Senior Officer of the New Lunar Republic that she has immense potential and talent for another position.

And so, accordingly, I officially recommend that Fizzlepop Berrytwist, a.k.a. Tempest Shadow, be placed into Field Agent training at the soonest opportunity. I also give my official endorsement for her progress through basic training to be accelerated due to her prior experience in a military position.

Also, while we're speaking officially, you owe me yet another favor, Twilight.

Sincerely,

Pennington Inkwell

Senior Field Agent

Tempest couldn't say that she didn't understand, everything was laid out clearly enough in the letter, but she still felt confused.

"So... what could have possibly turned a pony that driven back on his own side?"

For the first time since she's gotten up out of her bed, Penn smiled again.

"When I helped sneak the Changeling Queen into Canterlot, I was forgiven almost instantly. One day was all that it took, and everyone was willing to make her the scapegoat and say that I was another brainwashed victim... And that wasn't right. I deserved more. I deserved worse. I should have had to WORK to be accepted again. So I spent months punishing myself, instead. I went into exile."

"If you didn't WORK for this, you'd spend the rest of your life feeling as if you cheated the system by befriending a princess. And I didn't want to wish that on somepony else..." He silently reached up and took a hold of his horn. With a sound like snapping chalk and a few sparks of blue magic, he pried off the majority of it, leaving her staring at the fractured remains.

"...especially not somepony who I KNOW would probably react the same way I did."

Tempest wasn't certain what she was feeling, at this point. She was getting approval from the pony she absolutely LOATHED, a recommendation to an enviable position in the NLR ranks when she had simply wanted to be another unremarkable guardspony, and apparently the living hell she'd been going through had all been a part of some ridiculous plan that was supposed to benefit her?

Somewhere, deep down, she felt a some small part of her affirming his words, though.

She HAD thought that she'd gotten off easy, and Twilight was the one to thank for it. She'd been waived of blame for what had happened, and she'd tried to simply disappear into the Night Guard to escape that blame. Thinking now about her choices, she was willing to admit that she didn't want to be seen out of shame, didn't want to stand out because she was worried that somepony would use her past to turn it into an accusation.

It was possible he was right, despite all of his stupid reasoning and inane methodology that led to it.

"What do you say, rookie?" Moonstone asked, smirking and folding her arms over her chest. "Care to join the swashbuckling life of a Field Agent?"

Tempest looked back down at the letter, then at Moonstone, and finally at Pennington. Quietly, she folded the letter back up, carefully placed it as best she could into the torn-up envelope, and returned it to Moonstone.

"I'll... think about it." Reaching out, she took hold of another one of the cots. "For now... ugh... I think I'm too dizzy to make any good decisions..."

"And that's where I come in!" Constant Care chirped merrily. In a matter of seconds, Tempest had been wrapped up in a magical aura and levitated back into the cot.

"Well, the Care sisters are the best hooves in the NLR. Knowing them, you'll be up and about in no time!" Penn chuckled, limping his way towards the door. "Moonstone knows where I am at all times, so just come see me when you've made your choice!"

Tempest nodded, her brain still trying to wrap itself around the question of whether she should be thanking or hating the smug stallion.

"'Best hooves in the NLR?' If I recall correctly, just a few hours ago, you were calling us 'bandage fetishist worryworts?'" Constant asked, raising an eyebrow. "And you said that my X-Ray machine was 'absolutely uninformed?'"

"Sorry, can't hear you over the sound of all those monitors and... whirring... thingies!" Penn called back as he vanished through the door.

"They're centrifuges!"

Tempest chuckled, somewhat reassured knowing that his attitude was just as grating on other ponies. She almost didn't notice when Constant slipped an innocuous pill between her lips, levitating a glass of water in front of her.

"Drink up, it's one of my sister's sleeping pills. By the time you wake up, you should be a few standard questions away from getting out of that neck brace and out of the infirmary."

Tempest thought about fighting for a moment, but Moonstone's watchful eye indicated that the two of them were well-used to dealing with a certain troublesome patient.

Some sleep sounds nice, anyway... was the last thought to run through her head as she reached out and downed the entire glass at once.

Graduation

Tempest took a deep breath, trying to steady herself. She'd finally been released back to her room under doctor's orders to get a good day's bed rest and take the next night off from her training and schooling.

It'll give you some time to think about what you want to do with that letter of recommendation! Constant Care had giggled, as if they were simply talking about a letter she'd gotten from some grade-school colt, rather than her foreseeable future.

Now she was laying in her bed, the letter sitting on her dresser. She'd read it at least a dozen times, now.

"Quill" or "Pennington" or whatever his name really was had put her in a difficult position. He hadn't approved her to accomplish the goal that she had set out to do, which was the join the Night Guard. In fact, she was now banned from joining because she had lost her focus for a few short seconds fighting him.

However, at the same time, he had ALSO recommended her for what she had discovered was a coveted position. The first pony she'd visited after getting out of the infirmary was Quick Strike, who seemed much more concerned with how undeserved and cheap Pennington's victory was. After calming her down and assuring her that she wasn't leaving the New Lunar Republic just yet, she'd asked Quick Strike what a Field Agent's role actually was.

Well, there's two types of field agents: boring and deadly! I got a buddy named Sure Shot, now HE'S a boring agent. By day, he's a pilot on the NLR's flagship, and by night, he keeps his hoof on the pulse of Equestrias grossest and most dangerous rumor mills. A lot of field agents just go, collect whatever info they can find about threats to Equestria or leads to new assets, and report back to collect their checks.

And... that's boring?

Compared to the deadly ones, yeah! Imagine this: some boring field agent finds an ancient, supposedly "cursed" treasure map, but is too chicken to go after the goods! Well, ancient treasures tend to pretty dangerous in the wrong hooves, right? So a REAL field agent comes in, picks up the tip, and BOOM! On your way to cursed treasure in ancient crypts!
You go in, prove you're smarter than the trap-builders, then come back to glory and a NICE commission!

Sounds nice, but what's the downside?

"Weeeeeeeeeeelllllllllllll, the survival rate isn't GREAT... and more often than not, you DO wind up being on the front lines when Equestria comes in contact with an opposing force... AND when things are peaceful and there's no leads, you're PROBABLY going to need to get a day job...

Tempest sighed, staring blankly at the wall. Quick Strike certainly made the job sound glamorous, but it seemed more like "Field Agent" was the New Lunar Republic's way of saying "Scout Of Whom Too Much Is Expected."

On the other hoof, however, it DID seem like a good fit for her skills. She knew how to handle collecting information from dubious and unscrupulous sources, and before she'd joined the Storm King, she excelled in navigating even the most dangerous cities and perilous terrain.

All in all, Quick Strike's information had been educational, but not very helpful. She was still unsure of herself and her choices. She could either take the position, or make a request for some lower-ranking place. She doubted "I lost a bet" would be little more than a trivial matter in official application if she REALLY wanted to join the Night Guard, and Twilight could probably power through an application for her...

"Heya! Good to see you out of that neck brace!" Moonstone's voice chimed as she waltzed into the room, shutting the dorm door behind her.

"Hmm..." Tempest hummed a quiet acknowledgement, not tearing her eyes away from the wall.

"You... okay?"

"Mm-hmm."

Tempest felt a weight land beside her, and spotted Moonstone peering down at her from the corner of her eye.

"You don't sound like it."

Tempest shrugged, finding it hard to muster the energy to move.

The toasty warmth of Moonstone's body leaned up against her back as she took a seat on the bed, the heat helping her relax. "So... what's up? Lay it all out for me."

"I'm just... disappointed." Tempest sighed. "I didn't get what I came here for, and now I'm being pushed towards something else. I don't know much about being a Field Agent at all, and I just..." She took a moment, breathing deeply and collecting her thoughts again. "I didn't WANT attention when I came here. I tried to join the Night Guard because I wanted to get OUT of the spotlight, not into it! And now I'm being told I should be a glamorous, swashbuckling Field Agent? I'm not going to just let other ponies push me around like this! But..."

"But you're not sure what else to do?" Moonstone finished her thought.

Tempest simply nodded in affirmation. "So, here I am. Staring at a wall. Thinking."

There was a beat of silence between the two of them.

"Well, I can't say I'm mad at you for a little moping." Moonstone sighed. "It's been a pretty crazy couple of days. But do you mind if I say something?"

Tempest made no objections.

"I think Penn's right. I think you would really like being a Field Agent. You don't have to be in the spotlight for it, you can be as grandiose or as subtle as you like. You could become a ghost, if you wanted to. Field agents run their own missions pretty much from start to finish, and each one does things differently." Moonstone thought quietly for a moment.

"I'll make you an offer, Tempest."

Tempest's ears perked up, surprisingly eager to hear Moonstone's advice.

"Come on a field mission with us. Give it a test run!" She turned and gave Tempest a tired-looking smile. "If Penn doesn't like it, I can pull rank on him and force him to go along with it!"

Tempest pondered the offer for a moment. "I don't know if I could spend too much time around him without trying to bash his skull in."

"Well, that just means that you're not going to be intimidated into doing things any way but your own!" Moonstone gave her shoulder a good-natured punch. "Come on, just one TINY adventure? I don't know if I'm ready to quit hanging around you, quite yet!"

The statement caught Tempest off-guard. In all of this time, she had been so worried about staying on top of one disaster after the next, it had never occurred to her that all of this had to come to an end once basic training was over. Eventually, she, Quick Strike, and Moonstone would all have to part ways. Just thinking about it struck a wound surprisingly deep, she hadn't realized just how attached to her new friends she'd become. Thinking about being without their help again felt...

Intimidating.

I've become reliant on them... I didn't want to be reliant on ANYONE!

"Or, alternatively, I'm certain anyone with your experience AND your ability to make Penn angry would be welcome on the NLR's dune-worm-hunting flagship, the Cliffjumper." Moonstone shrugged, her tone dismissive of the option. "Where you'll probably wind up spending most of your time in a room even smaller than this one, except when there's the occasional burst of action for about half an hour. It's a ground-based transport, but it's at least as big as the airships you're used to, you'd be right at home! Far away from challenge, never left to fend for yourself or solve a problem alone... Right in your comfort zone, free to coast along on your prior skills..." Moonstone looked up at her, barely containing her obvious disdain for the second option.

Tempest raised one eyebrow.

"Gee, you make it sound so appealing..." she muttered sarcastically. "I sense bias."

Still, that makes it a choice of two kinds of reliance, reliance on my friend or reliance on my comfort zone...

I guess that there's only one of those I'd like to break.

With the recommendation for her progress through basic training to be accelerated, Tempest's schedule changed, and much for the better.

First of all, she was no longer required to attend her classes, instead receiving private teaching from Moonstone. With only two hours a day to focus only on the differences between the New Lunar Republic's and the Storm King's protocols, she had been thoroughly educated in a week, and passed her final examination with flying colors. This left the rest of her days free for training alongside Quick Strike and relaxing with a good book.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was the fact that, when she wasn't studying or keeping her muzzle buried in a book, she could tell that the attitudes of the ponies around her had changed. She wasn't getting half the number of dirty looks she had before. Instead, ponies would occasionally approach her with smiles on their faces, stopping to congratulate her on her skill in the match against Quill. Even though she'd lost, she had apparently made such a good show of it, many ponies had taken her side. Suddenly, Tempest Shadow was the newest, most divisive topic in the New Lunar Republic.

In response, Tempest began reading in her room. She wanted nothing to do with ponies whom she had to win over with a show of power. Admiration of power made for flimsy alliances.

Moonstone's reading recommendations weren't awful, though many of them had either "Pennington Inkwell" or "Scorching Quill" listed as the author. She didn't like the "Daring Do" character he wrote so much about, though Moonstone assured her that there was more truth to those stories than fiction.

Finally, the time came for her graduation. Tempest had tried her best to deny her dread about the day, but when she walked into her room to see Moonstone polishing a fresh set of Night Guard armor, she couldn't deny that the time had come. The armor felt heavy on her, poorly fitted and cumbersome, it was a ceremonial piece for her graduation to be returned later.

Still, she couldn't help feeling a bit proud to be wearing it, holding her head high as she made her way through the halls of the New Lunar Republic, down the now-familiar path to Quick Strike's dojo. Just as she was about to enter, she overheard Quick Strike already having another conversation. Seeing an opportunity to surprise her friend, Tempest took up a guard's position outside of the door, waiting for Quick Strike to come out and see her in her armor.

"I gotta admit, I almost didn't believe it when they told me!" Quick Strike chirped, sounding somewhat in awe. "So, they any good in a fight?"

"Well, I CAN fly!" a familiar voice replied. "It gives me a bit of an advantage when I want one!"

Tempest's breath caught in her throat, and she silently leaned into the doorway, peeking through to try and confirm her suspicions.

"You're taller, too! That means you've got more reach!" Quick Strike nodded in affirmation, dropping the wing she had been examining in favor of stretching out one of her guest's legs and measuring it against her own. "Won't be long until you're as tall as Luna! Heck, I'll bet you're gonna get even taller than Celestia, herself!"

"...Twilight?" Tempest almost whispered the name.

Twilight Sparkle turned on a dime at the sound of Tempest's voice. The two of them stared at one another for a tense moment before Twilight's face broke out into the biggest grin she had ever seen.

"Fizzlepop!" With a gleeful cry, Twilight dashed forward, wrapping her hooves around her in a spine-crushing hug. Tempest chuckled and returned the gesture, wrapping one of her own hooves around her and pulling her close. It was... warm. And soft. It felt better than she had expected.

"Hey! Rule number three! If you're gonna get all mushy, take it outside!" Quick Strike chided, giving a playful wink. "I just got this new carpet installed! I want the first stains to be blood, not happy friendship tears or something!"

"Well, I believe THAT could be arranged." Tempest replied, winking back. "I WAS coming here for one last sparring match before graduation, after all!"

"You look... fantastic!" Twilight pulled herself away to look Tempest up and down. "That armor really suits you!"

"This old thing?" Tempest smirked, pretending the praise hadn't left her blushing. "I don't know, I was thinking about trading it for something a little more... flashy." She set off a shower of sparks from her horn that fell across her helmet and breastplate, making the polished surfaces shimmer.

Twilight raised an eyebrow, smirking to herself before turning to Quick Strike.

"Are you SURE that's the same Tempest who came here two weeks ago? She's telling jokes!"

"Well, only one way to find out!" Quick Strike chuckled before jumping forward and throwing a punch at Tempest's head. It was so clearly telegraphed, she easily dodged underneath it and planted her hoof in Quick Strike's abdomen, forcing the air from her lungs and through her gritted teeth. The two of them made eye contact for a brief moment, and Tempest could see the satisfaction in her eyes.

"... yep... those reflexes... not a changeling..." Quick Strike barely eked out the words before stepping back and taking a deep breath, rubbing at the point of impact with her hoof.

Twilight rolled her eyes, obviously familiar with Quick Strike's "teaching methods."

"It looks like you've really grown here. Thrived, even!" Twilight smiled, beaming with pride. "You've even got a pretty good friend, by the looks of it!"

"Two, actually..." Tempest felt her blush returning as Twilight beamed at her, her eyes full of pride. "But Moonstone's busy finalizing some paperwork for my graduation and my first assignment."

"Done, actually!" Moonstone's voice rang out across the room as the dragonet walked in, sending the last of said paperwork away in a flash of flame. "It's been a long time, Twilight!"

"Moonstone!" Twilight trotted over, only to hesitate for a moment. Moonstone, however, seemed to feel no trepidation, jumping up and wrapping her arms around Twilight's neck. Twilight breathed a sigh of relief, wrapping one hoof around Moonstone in a quick embrace before the two of them separated again.

"How long has it been, Sparky? Three years? Last time I saw you, you were still a unicorn!"

Twilight chuckled, tousling the spines on Moonstone's head.

"Four and a half! And I thought I told you not to call me that!"

Moonstone shrugged, halfheartedly pushing away Twilight's hoof.

"And I'm not supposed to call Pennington 'Penny,' either! But that doesn't stop me!"

"It looks like you two have a bit more history than you let on, Moonstone..." Tempest smiled wryly as she walked up beside the princess. "Is this another one of those 'long stories' you never have time to tell me?" Moonstone simply shrugged, deflecting away the question in her usual manner.

"Actually, I was there the day Moonstone and Pennington were assigned to work together!" Twilight chimed in, picking up for Moonstone's silence. "She and I have been through our own share of adventures together!"

"And our fair share of beatings!" Moonstone chuckled. "Remember the time we faced off against Carnival Cat? We nearly wound up a pair of sideshow attractions!"

"Or what about when we all wound up crashing into each other in a mad dash to make it through the Macintosh Hills in that giant blizzard?" Twilight returned Moonstone's smile. "That OLR agent really had you all on the ropes until I got there!"

"Hey! If I remember correctly, we were there trying to rescue YOU, little miss hostage!" Moonstone retorted, punching Twilight in the shoulder.

Tempest smiled. It was nice to see Twilight getting to meet her friends and getting along so well, even if they'd met before. Even if I feel a little out of the loop... I NEED to make Moonstone sit down and tell me all these long stories!

"Speaking of Penn, where is he? You two are never far apart!" Twilight looked over Moonstone's shoulder and into the hallways beyond.

Moonstone's expression dropped, and Tempest's brow furrowed.

"You... WANT to see him?" Tempest asked.

"Twilight, you KNOW he still isn't your biggest fan, right?" Moonstone muttered. "If he knows you're here, he's probably made sure he's on the opposite side of the complex."

Twilight's smile faded a bit, growing strained.

"Four years and he's still that angry, huh?"

"If I may... what happened?" Tempest didn't whisper, despite the sudden tension in the air. "The way he treated me, just knowing that I was here on your recommendation... It was pretty awful."

"WHAT?" Twilight's expression was one of abject horror.

Well, that DEFINITELY counts out her being aware of Pennington's actions.

"But- but I thought that the two of you would get along! You have so much in common!" Twilight almost looked as if she were panicking.

"Penn was also running a zero-approval gambit trying to get Tempest to act a bit humbler and learn to work with others, regardless of whether she liked them or not." Moonstone muttered. "Seriously, though, Twilight! All those books you've read, and you didn't realize putting two ponies who were the same kind of insufferable together was a bad idea?"

"Excuse me?"

"Own up to it, Tempest, it's not necessarily a bad thing." Moonstone replied, not even taking her eyes off of Twilight. "Anyway, the idea was that he'd make an enemy out of Tempest while I stayed on good terms with her and tried my best to befriend her."

"What, like a 'good cop, bad cop' scenario?" Twilight sighed, shaking her head. "That doesn't sound like him."

"It sounds just like him!" Moonstone began to raise her voice, only to catch herself. Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself again. "If you don't recognize that, then I guess it really has been a long time, hasn't it?" To Tempest's surprise, Twilight looked down, as if ashamed.

"I'm just happy that I wound up making a real friend after everything that's happened!" Moonstone tried to smile and lighten the mood, but it didn't work well. "Unfortunately, Penn came across a bit more... genuine than he probably should have, too. I made a real friend, and he may very well have made a real enemy..."

"Oh, come on!" Tempest interjected, grabbing all of the attention in the room. "How petty do you think I am?"

"His method was ridiculous, but there was some grounding in logic." She reached up, removing her helmet. "He wasn't working off of what made sense, he used his own broken mindframe as a base for how he acted around me, right?" She glanced at Moonstone, who nodded. "Deep down, he DID think you were right about us being alike, so he acted the way he thought would have been best for HIM when he was in a similar place! Even if it wasn't the most effective way he could have treated me, it still made me stop and examine myself. It made me realize that making friends didn't mean my life would be all daises and sunshine, that I would still have to fight for myself and what I want!"

"It was the most stupid plan I've ever heard... just short of asking the Queen of the Hippos for help." She gave Twilight a smile. "But it was how he thought he could help. Making up plans on the fly like that is what field agents do, right?"

"Too true, rookie!"

Everyone in the room was caught off-guard as Pennington entered. The tense look on his face was somewhat undermined by the fact that he was still walking with a limp, a fact Tempest couldn't help taking some satisfaction in.

"A bad plan is better than no plan at all. Working in the field, you're going to find yourself settling for the former more often than you'd like!" He took a moment to look over the gathered group, and Tempest noticed that he made a concerted effort not to let his eyes linger on Twilight, only staring at her wings for the briefest of seconds.

"Penny, you're hurt! What happened-"

"It looks as if everyone we need is here," Pennington ignored Twilight, cutting her off mid-sentence and turning to Tempest. "Three superior officers and a princess. Shall we make this official, Fizzlepop?"

Tempest raised an eyebrow. "Official?"

"Your graduation!" Moonstone interjected, flapping her way up onto Pennington's back to address her at eye level. "Technically, the promotion really only needs three superior officers! With Twilight present as a witness, we could make you a field agent-in-training right now!"

"Heh, sounds pretty good to me!" Quick Strike chuckled, wrapping her hoof around Tempest's shoulders and giving her a rough hug. "Whaddya say?"

Tempest thought for a moment. She didn't want to admit that her time here was over, but she couldn't think of any good excuse to stop them. "I suppose there's no reason to delay any more, is there?"

Pennington nodded to the side, and Quick Strike walked over and stood alongside him. Moonstone clambered down off of his back, making the trio complete. Standing before Tempest was everyone she had come to know at the New Lunar Republic, two friends and one... less-than-friend.

"Fizzlepop Berrytwist!" Pennington stood taller with the posture of a soldier, keeping his chin held high with dignity. "You have overcome great obstacles to arrive here!"

"You once stood as Equestria's enemy, but now stand as its ally!" Moonstone continued, her words taking on an official-sounding tone. "You have displayed great loyalty and exemplified the virtue of grace under fire!"

"You now belong to a greater good, and you answer to a higher call!" Even Quick Strike seemed to have caught the fervor that was making everyone so tense. "You are part of the best and greatest, and there is NO room for failure!" She stepped forward, prodding her hoof into Tempest's chest. "You will leave behind all weakness! You are no longer a mortal! You are now an indestructible soldier of the night!"

Tempest nodded, recognizing the sound of a rehearsed speech. This was obviously some kind of official swearing in.

"Fizzlepop Berrytwist, do you swear to protect Equestria from all threats, foreign and domestic? To serve faithfully the Princesses of Equestria, and to seek out all those who would conspire against them, no matter how deep or dark their hiding place?" Pennington stepped forward, bringing his face close to hers. Although Tempest was taller and in better physical condition, she could feel an intimidating energy radiating off of him. She couldn't be certain whether it was his position as her superior officer, the weight of his words, or something else that gave him that feeling of authority, but she didn't shrink away from it, keeping her eyes locked straight ahead. She lifted her helmet up and placed it on her head before snapping to a salute.

"Sir, yes, sir!"

"Do you swear to serve Equestria? To uphold its laws and to, at all times, serve as a paragon of its virtues? To keep always in your heart the elements of kindness, honesty, loyalty, generosity and laughter, even in the smallest portion, and to never be without them?" Moonstone continued, stepping forward and pressing a claw against Tempest's breastplate.

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am!"

Quick Strike looked uncharacteristically solemn as she took her turn to step forward. "Fizzlepop Berrytwist, do you swear to serve the New Lunar Republic and protect it? To, with every faculty of your being, uphold and serve the values for which this organization stands: to fight for the right, even in the darkest places where no eye may reach, to fight back the nightmares of Equestria with no mercy so that its inhabitants may sleep soundly and safely under Luna's watchful moon, and to protect the princesses at all costs, to your release from your charge or your dying breath?"

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am!"

"Then, by the power invested in me as General..." Quick Strike turned and looked at Moonstone.

"And the power vested in me as a Royal Agent..." Moonstone looked up at Pennington.

"And the power vested in me as a Senior Field Agent," Pennington finished the trio, "and as witnessed by the Princess of Friendship, we now declare you a fully-fledged member of the New Lunar Republic, and promote you to the position of Field Agent In-Training!" With a smile, he led out his hoof to Tempest. "Congratulations, rookie."

The tension in the air finally eased as everyone present finally relaxed again. Tempest reached out, giving his hoof a firm shake. Moonstone and Quick Strike were far less formal, both leaping at her in a fit of laughter and tackling her to the ground.

"You did it!" Moonstone cried, grinding her knuckles into Tempest's skull with one hand and nearly choking her with her other arm wrapped around her neck in a hug.

"You better make sure to come back here and keep your skills fresh!" Quick Strike chuckled, wrapping one hoof around Tempest's shoulders and poking the other into her ribs just under her breastplate. "I expect at least once every other mission!"

"Heh, alright, alright! Let me up!" Tempest chuckled, clambering back up onto her hooves. At first, she had thought that Twilight had managed to keep her composure, but upon closer inspection, Tempest could see that she was been reduced to tears, all streaming down her face so quickly that they were beginning to form a puddle around her hooves.

"Are you... oka-"

"I"M SO PROUD OF YOU!" Twilight dashed forward, throwing her hooves around Tempest in the messiest hug, yet. "You've come so far in such a short amount of time, I almost can't believe it!" Twilight caught herself after a moment. "N-not to say that I didn't believe in you, you're just advancing so much faster than I could have expected! Not that I don't think you CAN advance this fast! I just- um... You know what? I'm not going to ruin the moment."

Tempest chuckled to herself, and was about to speak up, only to be cut off by the sound of a loud belching behind her. Turning around revealed Moonstone sheepishly watching a cloud of fire materialize into a scroll of paper.

Well, so much for ruining the moment...

"A letter?" Twilight tilted her head. "From who?"

Moonstone shrugged, breaking a wax seal and unrolling it. As she set herself to reading, Pennington stepped forward, still making a very obvious effort not to make eye contact with Twilight.

"So, ready for your first assignment, Fizzlepop?" He seemed to be making his best effort to smile, but she could tell that he wasn't as happy as he was trying to look. "Moonstone tells me you've been assigned to come with the two of us?"

"Well, it was train with you, or find some other boring field agent to learn from!" Tempest returned the smile, but couldn't help but notice that there was still a lingering tension from all the time they had spent hating each other. "I'm told you're a bit more exciting to be around than, say, a tired ship captain or a washed-up archaeologist?"

Pennington chuckled, this time genuinely.

"Well, I was told that we recently uncovered a new lead into recovering the Terram Lenticularis. Does that sound exciting enough for you?"

Tempest's jaw dropped.

"THE Terram Lenticularis? As in, the artifact used by Commander Hurricane to create the first cloud cities? I thought it was destroyed a thousand years ago!"

"Good, you're familiar with the legend!" Pennington replied, turning his back. "Rule number one of field work: quantify any dangerous item's destruction yourself, especially when it could sent all of Cloudsdale plummeting in an afternoon. Pack your things, we're leaving in the morni-" He was cut off as Twilight reached out to him, placing a hoof on his shoulder.

"Pennington... It's been four years. Don't you at least have one day for us to catch up?"

Pennington froze in place at her touch, as if paralyzed. Slowly, painfully, he turned and made eye contact with her for the first time. The way they looked at one another, Twilight pleading with her eyes and Pennington staring at her with a mix of suspicion and...

Is that... fear?

"Well, if those are your orders, your highne-"

"Penn!" Moonstone interrupted them, flying onto Pennington's back and shoving the letter in his face. "We need to get back to Mount Aris, PRONTO!"

Pennington reached up and took the letter in his hoof, scanning it in a matter of seconds. His eyes widened and Tempest could see much of the color drain from his face.

"What? What happened?" Twilight asked, reaching out for the letter. Before she could even touch it, Pennington dashed in the opposite direction as quickly as his injured leg would allow, allowing the scroll to drop to the ground. Twisting around, Moonstone waved back at them.

"COME ON, TEMPEST! HURRY!"

Tempest looked back at Quick Strike and Twilight, as if asking for permission. Quick Strike simply nodded before motioning with her hoof for her to leave. "Well, get going! They're your ride, Tempest!"

Twilight, meanwhile, had picked up the scroll and was speed-reading it to the best of her abilities. Her expression grew solemn as she handed the letter to Tempest.

"You should go, this seems serious."

Tempest nodded, tucking the letter into a crook in her armor to read later.

"And Tempest!" Twilight grabbed her shoulder, stopping her for one more moment. "Try to learn as much as you can from him! He's reckless, but he has more experience than just about any pony in Equestria!"

"And if he gives you a hard time, you have my full permission as HIS superior officer to kick his flank!" Quick Strike grinned, nodding towards the door. "Now get out of here, you have adventures to go on!"

Tempest nodded, setting off at a full sprint to try and catch up with her new teacher. As she left, she could hear Twilight calling out to her one last time.

"AND HAPPY ADVENTURING, TEMPEST!"