From Lost to Loved

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8

Chapter 1

“What shall we do with her?”

Celestia’s question echoed throughout the throne room. They’d been in there for only a short while, and only now had one of them uttered what everypony else had been thinking.

“Well...” Luna cleared her throat and licked her lips, her ears flicking back. “I think she should be punished. You have no idea the stress that I have endured, for the number of ponies having nightmares caused by her army have become so many I can’t get to them all... Just the thought of leaving helpless ponies to their worst fears...” Her upper lip trembled as she fought back a snarl, only calming down when Celestia placed a hoof on her shoulder. “She led an army into our capital, turned us to stone, and enslaved our citizens. I have no doubt they would have conquered the rest of our lands as well if Twilight and her friends had not escaped her capture.”

Twilight squirmed in her seat, her gaze flicking back and forth between Cadence and Luna. She’d barely been able to sleep these last few nights, for dreadful and terrifying nightmares had incessantly plagued her dreams. She took a sip of tea, hoping to prolong her inevitable inclusion, for she feared that saying the wrong thing could turn them against her. Everyone in the room was aware of what had happened between Tempest and her at the party a few nights ago. In spite of all that Tempest had done, Twilight had offered friendship to their former invader, something that Tempest had accepted with tear-filled eyes. She hadn’t seen her since, and no amount of asking around revealed her whereabouts, only finding out that Tempest was still within the city.

Somewhere.

Twilight took another sip of tea, her heart pounding in her chest. The clatter of her teacup hitting the saucer jerked everyone out of their thoughts. “S-Sorry,” Twilight muttered, her cheeks turning a rosy pink as she stared at the center of the table.

Cadence let out a deep sigh. “Shiny told me he wants the death penalty for her... He couldn’t bear the thought of having to raise Flurry Heart without me...” A shiver ran down her back, making the tips of her wings tremble. “I’ve never seen him so angry before, not even when... Chrysalis invaded. I disagree with him, though, about the death penalty. Even though Tempest Shadow turned us to stone, she was doing it for a good reason. I... I can’t imagine living without my horn.”

“You’d invade another land with a military at your back just for a chance to get your horn back?” Luna scoffed. Cadence wilted on her cushion, her gaze slipping to the floor in shame. “I must say I agree with Shining Armor. What she did was unforgivable!” Luna struck the table with her right hoof, making everypony but Celestia jump in their seats. “Tempest Shadow presents the greatest threat to Equestria, and I...” Twilight cleared her throat, making her pause. “Yes, Twilight?” She sat back down, though her face still bore a look of anger.

Twilight’s eyes narrowed. “Presented,” she said. Her voice was low and calm, though it was filled with restraint.

“What... What do you mean?” Luna’s eyebrows furrowed. Her ears flicked up, her eyes locked with Twilight’s.

“She presented a threat to Equestria, but that threat has been dealt with,” Twilight said. “While you were still incapacitated, and right when my friends and I were about to fail when it mattered most, Tempest sacrificed herself for us. The Storm King had thrown one of those magical balls that were used to immobilize you at us. We were all huddled together; there was no time to move.” A tear formed in the corner of her eye.

“And yet you prevailed,” Celestia said. “Just like I knew you would.”

“No.” Twilight’s word rang throughout the room. Such a simple phrase, yet one so powerful. Several moments passed in silence before she once more found the courage to speak, her eyes pointedly avoiding her fellow princesses. “All was lost... I was powerless to do anything to save myself and my friends,” she whispered, her voice hollow and devoid of emotion. “But then Tempest sacrificed herself for us. All of us,” she said, looking at each of them in turn.

Only Luna looked away.

“So what do you think we should do with her, Twilight?” Celestia asked again, taking a sip from her teacup as her gaze settled upon her.

“I... I don’t know,” she replied, looking up into the eyes of her former mentor. “I think the death penalty is too much. I saw a glimmer of a good pony in her eyes after the Storm King, um... passed away. I don’t think she’s as evil as we’re making her out to be anymore, but...” Twilight’s shoulders slumped as her throat went dry. “I didn’t like being put in a cage against my will...”

Celestia nodded. “That I can understand. I am sure it was very traumatizing. For what it is worth, I am sorry you and your friends had to undergo such an ordeal.”

“Thank you,” Twilight muttered. “As for what I think we should do with her, I’m open to ideas.” She saw Luna open her mouth. “Besides the death penalty,” she hissed, making Luna roll her eyes with a huff.

Cadence ruffled her feathers. “I agree. We’ve never had to sentence anypony to death in the history of Equestria, and I don’t want to start now. I am certain that–”

Luna jumped up and slammed her front hooves on the table, making it tilt towards her. “Cadence, Tempest Shadow tried to take our home from us! She wanted to take our lives and put us on display as if we were nothing more than trophies! Why do you think she shouldn’t be punished?!”

“I-I do!” Cadence said, taken aback by Luna’s sudden outburst. “I just don’t think it needs to be that harsh! I want justice, not vengeance. Do you really wish to be known as the first princess to sentence another to death? Do you?!” she asked, glaring at her from the other side of the table. “Because I don’t!” She crossed her forelegs as she stared daggers at Luna.

Twilight trembled, her voice long lost. The death sentence... nopony deserves such a thing. Starlight didn’t, Discord didn’t, and Sunset didn’t... Celestia cleared her throat, attracting her attention.

“I think it would be best if we take a short reprieve and let cooler heads prevail. All of us have endured so much. We shall reconvene in an hour or so.” She drained the rest of her teacup, looking down upon it with a remorseful gaze before she looked at them. “I wish to speak with each of you in private.”

Twilight sealed herself in the only place in Canterlot that she felt secure: her old tower. She was sitting on the highest balcony with her forelegs placed on the railing, gazing down upon the city as she observed everypony resume their normal lives, though her vision had long since glazed over. Equestria looked as majestic as it ever did, but that did little to calm her. With her friends back home, she had nopony to confide with. A light breeze ruffled her feathers, sending a small shiver down the back of her neck. It had been well over an hour since she had left the meeting, and worry gnawed at her mind with each passing minute. Drying tears matted the fur on her cheeks as the mere thought of Tempest being sentenced to death kept coming to the forefront of her mind. She couldn’t help but feel she owed her something, for without her, she surely would have been turned to stone and likely put on display as an ornament in the Storm King’s throne room along with her fellow princesses.

But even more, she thought back to the moment when she was caged up and at Tempest’s mercy. She thought about the song she sang to her, that she should grow up and face the hard truth that she couldn’t trust anyone and that all that mattered was power. Her whole body writhed in disgust at this memory, for she believed with all her heart that true friendship wasn’t a fantasy. Tempest was truly evil in that moment; but now, the horseshoe was on the other hoof, and Twilight was the one among the mighty.

She would not abuse Tempest’s trust, and she would not abuse the power she now held over her.

“Ahem.” It wasn’t a question nor a statement, though she knew that her mentor had something to say. Wondering for just a moment how Celestia got past the magically-sealed doors, Twilight let out a deep, long sigh and turned around. She set her solemn gaze on her mentor, searching for anything that would give her insight to her thoughts.

“Come, Twilight,” Celestia said.

Twilight nodded.

Although her mind was full of questions, she held her tongue as they walked back into the castle. Celestia didn’t utter a single word as they made their way back towards the throne room, making the pit in her stomach grow wider. Twilight turned to push open the heavy doors, but Celestia’s wing blocked her path. She peeked up at Celestia, her mouth feeling as dry as the sand in the badlands as her old mentor nodded down the hallway. “Tempest?” Twilight whispered, her words so faint she barely heard herself utter them.

“Yes.” Celestia placed a wing on her back and guided her away from the throne room. “There is something of great importance I wish to speak to you about concerning Tempest Shadow, for there is a heavy burden I believe I must place on your shoulders,” she said.

Are we really going to sentence her to death? Twilight thought, her eyes wide in fear. Her ears flicked back as her head hung low, almost touching the floor. I... I can’t do this... she thought, shaking her head. She froze, unable to take another step. Celestia’s wing slipped up her neck, then crested her head.

“What is the matter, Twilight?” Celestia asked.

Twilight’s legs trembled, almost as if she’d just ran a marathon. All of her strength faded away, whisked away by her fears. It was like she was facing Tirek again, opposing the combined strength of all the four alicorns. The overpowering helplessness weighed down her knotted tongue and dried her throat. But in a fleeting moment, the shadow of hope in Tempest’s face crossed her mind’s eye, and then the deepest conviction of what she knew was fair thrust emboldened words from her lungs. “I-I won’t let... you h-hurt her...” she uttered, speaking between each deep, shuddering breath.

“Hm?”

Twilight’s head whipped up as fresh tears formed in the corners of her eyes yet again. “I will not be a part of this!” she screamed. Twilight blinked the tears from her eyes, then spread her forelegs wide and firmly planted them on the floor as she huffed. She hated opposing the pony she held most dear, but she was unable to control her emotions, especially after all that had happened. Her chest heaved up and down as she waited for her to speak, though she feared what she might hear.

Part of her did not want to hear what Celestia had to say.

Celestia’s eyebrows furrowed. “I... I have no intention of hurting her! In fact, you play a pivotal role in my plan.” She walked back to her, wrapped both of her wings over Twilight’s trembling back, then pulled her into a warm embrace. “There is no need to worry, Twilight. I give you my word as a princess, and your friend, that Tempest Shadow will not be harmed.”

Twilight relaxed, but only slightly. “Then why are we not going back into the throne room to meet with Cadence and Luna? It’s been over an hour!”

“I decided that we all do not need to meet again, little one,” Celestia said, sitting down in front of her. “We all decided that she deserves punishment, and I agree to an extent. After speaking with Tempest privately these past few days, I–”

“Wait, you know where she is?” Twilight gasped.

Celestia nodded once. “She has been in one of the many spare bedrooms in my tower. I thought it best that she be kept away from the general populace of Canterlot for her own personal safety.”

“I guess that makes sense. But why wouldn’t anypony tell me where she was? You have no idea how worried I was. We had spent a little bit of time chatting at the celebration, and then she vanished after I went to get us drinks!”

“I apologize for that. I wanted to have some one-on-one time with her,” Celestia replied. “As did Luna.”

Twilight winced. “I can only imagine how that went.”

“Luna was still... upset at what had happened, yes, but she was well within reason.” She cleared her throat as she folded her wings back to her side. “So back to the point at hoof. Would you like to see her?” Celestia took a deep breath, then let it out slowly.

“Of course I do!” Twilight said, letting Celestia resume walking. She trotted back up to her former mentor’s side, her mind full of questions.

Celestia glanced down at her as they rounded the corner, almost at their destination. She licked her lips, fluffed her wings, then stopped in front of Tempest’s room. “You may leave us, guards,” she quietly said. They each nodded once, then turned and trotted away.

Twilight’s heart steadied again in reverence. Though the door before them, with its golden knob and white, cedar frame, was so tangible, the moment itself seemed surreal, the object of all her agony so tauntingly close. “Is this where...”

“Yes.”

“So...” Twilight cocked her head to the side.

Celestia sighed, her head drooping as she stared deep into Twilight’s eyes. “I know this is a lot to ask of you, my dearest friend, but unless you are willing to take this enormous challenge upon your shoulders... I would have no other course than to lock Tempest away in the dungeons for the remainder of her life.”

“W-What do you mean, Princess?” Twilight asked, her tone full of uncertainty.

“I fear that you know what I am about to ask of you, and that you have already made up your mind, but...” Celestia let out a deep, long sigh. “I wish for you to reform Tempest Shadow.”

Chapter 2

Tempest gazed out the window, her chin laying flat on the windowsill as she listened to the calming hustle and bustle of the city below. She hadn’t moved from her spot in hours, and even though her rump was sore, she felt no desire to give it rest. In her mind, she deserved to be punished. She hadn’t allowed herself to eat for three days. She had not dared to allow her eyelids to close when the moon rose, for fear of the most chilling nightmares. She could not bear to look even the meekest earth pony in the eyes.

She was grateful she had been able to shower each morning, though she was even more grateful for the fact she hadn’t been thrown in the dungeons—at least, not yet. As each day passed, she worried that possibility might turn into a stark, unyielding reality. She had weighed several times during the deepest dark of the twilight hours the gravity of her transgressions. Against all reason, hope had driven her to imagine the most fantastic belief that she could be saved from the jaws of retribution. Still, deep within her heart, she knew the certainty of her impending punishment was as clear as the severity of her crimes.

Her thoughts drifted to Twilight. Tempest had such a wonderful time at the celebration with her, but after Twilight left her alone to get them some refreshments, four royal guards had swept her back into the castle. Celestia and Luna spent many hours interrogating her, and she wished that she had shown them remorse for her actions.

She didn’t get a wink of sleep that night.

Her ears flicked up as she heard the many locks on her door simultaneously unlock. She pushed herself up, turning to face the door as it swung open wide. She stood at attention as Princess Celestia walked into her tiny room. Twilight trotted in after her, a wide smile on her face. Tempest’s hopes rose as she returned her smile, but when she glanced up at Celestia, her hopes fell like a pegasus without feathers.

She prepared herself for the worst.

Celestia held her head high. “Tempest Shadow, due to your actions of high treason, levying war, and unlawful restraint, Princesses Luna, Cadence, Twilight, and I have agreed upon a suitable punishment for you.” Celestia let a warm, gentle smile slide on her face. “And I think you will find it more agreeable than the alternative.”

Tempest’s eyebrows furrowed. Why is she smiling like that? “I... I don’t understand, Princess.” Her eyes flicked back and forth between Twilight and Celestia.

Twilight took a couple of steps forward. “Let me explain... Instead of throwing you in the deepest dungeon we have here in Canterlot, Princess Celestia has offered me the opportunity to take you on as my student like she did with me. After all that has happened, there are still some... personal things I need to work out with you, but... if you’ll accept me as your teacher and friend, then I’d be up to the challenge.” She held out her right hoof. “Are you?”

That certainty of imprisonment that had seemed so apparent moments ago faded away, but relief was hardly its replacement. While still technically a criminal, Princess Twilight had offered her hoof in friendship. With the knot in her throat tightening with each second, she fought to press on in the confusion. Her eyes slipped down to Twilight’s hoof. “I... I don’t know what to say,” she choked out, doing her best to blink away the tears forming in the corners of her eyes. She fired a quick glance at Celestia, praying that all of this wasn’t some sort of cruel trick.

“So what say you, Tempest?” Celestia’s smile widened as she nodded towards Twilight’s hoof.

“I... Yes, I humbly accept,” she said, tentatively placing her right hoof on top of Twilight’s.

“Excellent! Get your stuff; I’m gonna take you to your new home,” Twilight said, gripping Tempest’s hoof tightly.

“Um... I don’t really have anything.” Tempest rubbed her foreleg with a hoof, casting her gaze upon her old set of armor. “And I don’t need... his armor anymore.” She kicked it with her left hind leg, denting the armor she once cherished and wore with pride. “It’s worthless to me now.”

“If you would like for me to dispose of it, I would be happy to do so,” Celestia said.

Tempest nodded.

Twilight cleared her throat. “Very well. I still need to pack all the stuff I brought. If we’re lucky, we can take the evening train back to Ponyville!”

Ponyville? Oh no... Tempest winced, praying that Twilight wouldn’t notice.

“It was awfully nice of Celestia to let us use her personal train car,” Tempest said. They’d left the train station an hour ago, and it was the first thing she had said since they’d stepped inside. She was laying down on what she considered to be the softest couch in all of Equestria. Her head rested upon a thick, soft pillow that she clenched between her forelegs.

Twilight placed a bookmark where she’d stopped reading, then set her book aside. “Yeah... I know what you mean. She was afraid that your presence could have caused an incident with the other passengers, but…” Twilight took a moment of pause. “Well, some ponies take longer to forgive than others. Some may hold grudges against you for the rest of their lives, and there’s nothing you can do to change that.”

Tempest sighed. Her actions earlier that week sprang to the forefront of her mind, sending a shiver down her back. With the great terror of imprisonment no longer hanging overhead, sleep tugged at her eyes, but she felt that there was an elephant in the room that had to be dealt with first. She licked her lips as she let her eyes momentarily slide shut, then said, “We need to talk.”

Twilight’s ears flicked up as her breath caught in her throat. “Yes, I believe we do. What’s on your mind?”

‘Well... none of this feels... right. I invaded Equestria! My armies destroyed anything they came across and they enslaved everypony.”

“You betrayed the Storm King when it mattered most, though. You saved me and my friends from being turned to stone for eternity.”

“Yes, at the very end. But before that, I chased you and your friends out of Canterlot and all throughout Equestria. I forced you and your friends to jump out of a perfectly good airship. I threw you in a cage and ripped away your magic, all for a very selfish reason that ended up being fruitless in the end.” She pushed herself from the couch and started pacing. “I just don’t understand why you princesses think I should be let off like this!” She huffed. “I deserve to be in prison, or even turned to stone!”

“Well... you’re not being let off.” Twilight sat up. “All of us thought we could give you a second chance. I’ve, for lack of a better word, reformed a couple of ponies that were nothing but trouble. You might meet one of them tonight when we get to your new home.”

“Okay... two questions. One, my new home?”

Twilight nodded. “You’ll be living in my castle with me. We might have to rearrange some stuff to get your new room set up, but we can make it work!”

“But why? Why do I get to live in a castle after what I did?”

Twilight sighed, then slipped off her couch. “Because I want to keep a close eye on you. It’d be easier to teach you what you need to know if you and I lived in the same place.”

Tempest paused. “I can understand that, but...” She shook her head. “Anyways, who is this pony I might meet tonight? You... reformed her? How?”

Twilight sat down in front of her. “Her name’s Starlight. It’s a long story, but... she used to run a town in the middle of nowhere where she controlled everypony’s lives by taking possession of their cutie marks. To be honest, I don’t know which is worse... having your magic or your cutie mark taken away.”

“She took your cutie mark? How is that even possible?”

Twilight gulped. “...With very advanced magic. She is quite the talented spellcaster, after all. You too are more similar than you might think.” Twilight gazed out the window. “But my friends and I prevailed, and drove her out of town. Things seemed okay for the most part until she returned looking for revenge.”

“I... I think I remember reading something about this a while ago in the paper,” Tempest said. “There weren’t many details, though.”

“Yeah... She affected the timeline so that I never would have made such close friendships with my friends. Such a thing would have drastically affected the fate of Equestria, and as a princess, I couldn’t stand by and let that happen. To make a long story short, I offered Starlight my hoof in friendship and took her on as my student, much like I have done with you,” she said, followed by a short yawn. “And now she’s a good friend. Do you have any other pressing questions?”

“I... I have a lot, yes,” Tempest said. “But those can wait. I’m sure you had a long day.”

“Yes. Yes, I did.” Twilight lit her horn and pulled a pair of blankets out from the overhead cabinets, levitating the first to Tempest and the second to herself. She hopped back up on the couch, curled up, and swished her tail around her side as she tucked the blanket in around her. “And I definitely wouldn’t mind a quick nap!” she said with a giggle.

Snatching the quilt from Twilight’s magical aura, Tempest hefted it on her hoof, then unfolded it as she returned to her own couch. A soothing warmth seeped into her fur as she draped it over herself, pushing her ever closer to sleep’s grasp. “Same here. There are a couple more things, though.”

“Of course. What’s on your mind?”

“Please tell me you love coffee as much as I do.”

“I love coffee! Why do you ask?” Twilight’s eyes flicked up to meet Tempest’s as she grinned. “I can’t live without it.”

“Because I’m gonna need at least a gallon of it to keep me awake tomorrow. I... haven’t slept at all since the celebration.”

“Heh, you don’t need to worry. Spike and I have a huge stash of the best coffee Equestria has to offer; we have at least a three month supply!”

“Wow, really? That sounds lovely...” Tempest rolled onto her side and closed her eyes. “How much longer is it gonna take before we get to Ponyville?”

“About a couple more hours,” Twilight replied with a yawn.

“Very well.” Tempest licked her lips and let sleep take hold of her. The next two hours passed in near silence with her drifting in and out of a restless slumber. The train finally rolled to a stop and blew its whistle, startling her awake. Tempest stood up and stretched, letting loose a yawn as she arched her back, pointedly avoiding looking out the window. She rubbed her eyes with a hoof as she feared Twilight’s reaction to the damage wrought upon her hometown, then walked over to where Twilight lay. “Hey, Twilight?” She placed a hoof on her shoulder and shook her. “I think we’re h-here,” she said, her heart pounding in her chest.

Twilight cracked her eyes open, the blanket falling down from her neck to rest on her back. “Wahuh? Home?” she croaked out. Pushing herself up, Twilight peered out the window and gasped.

Ponyville was in absolute ruin.

The roofs of entire houses were missing. Piles of burnt wood lay in the streets. Windows were shattered.

Twilight couldn’t breathe. My home! She bolted from the train car, her eyes wide as she galloped through town. She screeched to a halt as her eyes fell upon Rarity’s boutique. It was shuttered up, a pale imitation of what it once was. A poster bearing the Storm King’s face with the word ‘OBEY’ was plastered above the door. Her upper lip curled as she lit her horn, using her magic to tear it down. Even though it was the middle of the night, she trotted up to Rarity's door and knocked three times.

Nopony came to answer her call.

A whimper forced its way past her lips as the sickly smell of burnt wood filled her nostrils. She couldn’t move. Her eyes clamped shut, unable to take as much as a tiny peek, lest she lose what little remained of her strength.

“T-Twilight?” came Tempest’s voice, meek and soft.

Twilight’s head snapped up, tears brimming in her eyes. “Not now, Tempest,” she said, her voice low and rough. She turned away from the boutique and trudged away, her head hung low. Twilight’s entire body trembled, but she forced herself onward. Looking up into the night sky, a single comet raced through the heavens, a sight that did little to calm her racing heart. She looked down, her gaze finally settling down upon her home. It was mostly intact, though there were several deep scratches along the bottom floor; the beasts had most likely used her home to sharpen their claws. All but a few of her windows were gone.

She stood at the base of the steps leading inside. One of the doors was missing entirely, the second clinging to its hinges. Twilight lifted a hoof and placed it on the first step. “I... I...” she whispered, her mind unable to take it all in. She collapsed upon the steps, her chin slamming against the cold stone. Stars burst into her vision.

“Twilight!” Tempest rushed to her side. She wrapped a hoof around Twilight’s left foreleg, but it was shoved away with a burst of magic before she could get a firm grasp.

“Don’t touch me,” Twilight said. “I can do this.” She pushed herself up and walked inside. Sleeping bags, tents, and blankets littered her grand entryway. Ponies lay scattered across the room, most of them fast asleep. “I... What’s going on here?” she asked nopony in particular.

Mrs. Cake stood up and walked up to her. “Twilight! We were wondering when you were coming back. I hope you don’t mind us using your castle, but... it’s basically one of the only buildings here that has four walls and a roof. Most of us have families, and—” A single look from Twilight made her pause.

“I understand the gravity of the situation, Mrs. Cake.” Twilight laid a hoof on her shoulder. “You and everypony else can take as much time as you need.”

“Bless your heart, princess,” Mrs. Cake said.

“I’ve had a long day, and I need to get some rest, but please help yourself to my food if you need it,” Twilight said, fluffing her wings. Mrs. Cake nodded once, then walked as quietly as she could back to her family. Unable to talk to anypony else, Twilight flew upstairs, the darkness hiding most of the damage. Soft voices came from further down the hallway, and when she rounded the corner, her eyes fell upon none other than Starlight and Rainbow.

“Twilight! You’re home!” Starlight said, her eyes lighting up with glee. She ran up to her and pulled her into a tight hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” she said as she sat down, letting a smile slip on her face. “Your friends told me everything. I tried to keep those... things from getting inside, but... there was only so much I could do before I was captured.” Her smile faltered, then a smirk grew on her face. “You should have seen me, though. I put up one heck of a fight!”

A dry laugh forced itself from Twilight’s lips. “I’m sure you did, but... are you okay? They didn’t hurt you, did they?” Her eyes danced across Starlight’s body, searching for bruises or cuts.

Starlight shivered. “Well... they put me in chains, muzzled me, and placed one of those magic blocking rings on my horn. Aside from being pushed around for a couple of days, they didn’t hurt me that much, but... what about you? Are you okay?”

Twilight closed her eyes. “No.”

Starlight nuzzled her cheek, then pulled her into another hug. “If you need somepony to talk to, I hope you know that you can always come to me,” she whispered. “Always. No matter what.”

Twilight wrapped a single leg around her friend’s back and buried her muzzle into Starlight’s neck. “Th-Thank you,” she managed to say. “I might be needing you sooner than you think.” She glanced up, spotting Rainbow still sitting further down the hall. She let go of Starlight and took a few steps towards her. “Rainbow?” she asked, making her look up. “What’s wrong?”

Rainbow groaned. “I... I’m h-homeless.”

No... That’s not possible! How could they have even reached her... oh, right. The airships... Rainbow’s words shattered Twilight’s heart into a thousand little pieces. “What do you mean?” she asked, wondering if Rainbow had truly spoken such horrid words.

“I’m homeless, and Applejack, Pinkie, and Rarity are homeless. Dunno why, but the only place they didn’t touch in all of Ponyville was Fluttershy’s home. She took in a lot of ponies... the rest came here.”

“I... I don’t know what to say.”

“Me neither.” Rainbow walked up to her, then sat down next to Starlight. “So what happened with Tempest? I didn’t see her anywhere after the party.”

Twilight glanced over her shoulder.

Rainbow groaned, grinding a hoof into the floor. “Don’t tell me she’s here.”

Twilight sighed, then nodded. “She is... somewhere. It’s a long story.”

“Whatever. I’m going to bed,” Rainbow muttered. She flew to her room and slammed the door shut.

“So... where is Tempest?” Starlight asked, cocking her head to the side. “I’m guessing she came back with you? She run away or something?”

“I’m not sure.” Twilight groaned. “Let’s go find her. I can’t imagine she’s having an easy time.”

Tempest lifted a hoof to walk inside Twilight’s castle, but placed it back down just like she’d done for what felt like the twentieth time. She had heard voices come from inside, one that she didn’t recognize, talk about how most of Ponyville’s population was taking shelter in Twilight’s home. After seeing what her actions had caused, she couldn’t find it within her to look upon those she had displaced. In stark contrast to her usual confident attitude, she couldn’t take a single step forward.

But she knew in her heart she had to.

With her heart sinking into her stomach, Tempest climbed up the steps, taking care to avoid the many wooden shards. Pausing in the doorway, Tempest gazed inside. She couldn’t bear to look at anypony as she walked through them all, weaving in and out of the hodge-podge of tents, blankets, and sleeping bags.

Moments before she reached the staircase, she heard somepony whimper. Her ears perked up as she lifted her head once more, her eyes locking with a light green filly’s a few feet away. Their eyes shone brightly in the pale candlelight, full of life and hope as they looked her up and down.

But then something changed.

They grasped their teddy bear tighter, fear leaping to their face as they looked at the remnants of her horn. Their eyes widened in recognition. Tempest’s shoulders slumped. “H-Hey there, little one,” she said with a smile, hoping to give relief to somepony so precious, only to hear her whimper again and squirm away from her. Tempest closed her eyes, forcing herself to keep her composure. She wrenched herself away from the filly, even though her mind, body, and soul yearned to give her a modicum of comfort in such trying times.

Hearing Twilight softly call out her name, she glanced up, spotting her at the top of the stairs. She nodded once, then lowered her head in shame. She made herself walk up the stairs, each step more difficult than the last. “Twilight...” she murmured as she reached the second floor. “I—”

“I know.” Opening her wings, Twilight flew past Starlight, heading straight for her bedroom. Landing in front of her door, she folded her wings, and before she could even so much as lift a hoof or light her horn to open her bedroom door, she heard somepony gallop up behind her.

“Twilight... I’m not sure you want to go in there,” Starlight said, her tone full of unease. “They... didn’t go easy in there. Maybe you should let me spruce things up a bit before—”

“No.” Twilight shook her head. Lighting her horn, she gently pushed her door open, then gasped. Her mattress was torn to shreds, her favorite blankets and pillows missing entirely. Someone had ripped out all of her drawers, then stomped on them until they were nothing more than smithereens. Her cherished dresses, especially the one that she’d worn to her first Grand Galloping Gala, lay in the middle of the room, ripped apart and stained. Her windows were missing. She set her gaze on her dresser, praying that the monsters had at least left the one thing she depended upon each and every morning.

Twilight’s heart stopped beating.

Her friendship mirror was shattered, and her favorite pictures of her friends lay ripped on top of the dresser.

She numbly walked up to it, staring at her broken reflection as tears obscured her vision. The sadism accompanying the attack on her castle was clear; they had gone to special lengths to destroy the things most precious to her. “W-Why? It meant nothing to them,” she choked out, gingerly touching it with the tip of a hoof. A single shard of glass fell from the mirror, clattering to the top of her dresser. Hearing somepony’s hoofsteps behind her, she focused her gaze on the mirror again, locking eyes with the one who caused her so much strife. Tempest... she thought, visibly shaking as she watched her stop just outside her bedroom.

Many moments passed in silence as one waited for the other to speak up, their eyes never wavering or blinking from the other’s.

“I know you probably don’t want to see me right now, but... I must say something.” Tempest bowed low, her muzzle brushing against the carpet. “I swear to you, and to all the ponies that my actions have affected, that I will do everything in my power to make things right, even if...” She took a deep breath as she lifted her head. “Even if it takes the rest of my life.”

I... I can’t. As tears dripped down her cheeks, Twilight looked away and lit her horn, pushing her door shut.

Tempest bit back a whimper, then closed her eyes.

“It was you?” Starlight breathlessly asked. “You were the one who did all of... this?”

A single tear slid down Tempest’s cheek. She nodded once, then looked at her.

Starlight’s eyes narrowed, then she relaxed. “Come on, you,” she said. “Let’s get you a place to sleep, and then we can start fixing things tomorrow. You’re not the only villain that Twilight took in, you know.”

Tempest blinked a few times. “H-Huh? Wait, are you Starlight? Twilight told me a little about you.”

“All horrible things, right?” Starlight giggled. She rubbed the back of her neck. “Anyways... just give Twilight some space and she’ll come around. You’re very lucky to have her on your side.”

“Sure doesn’t feel like it now.”

“Yeah... It’ll get better, I promise.” She wrapped a hoof around Tempest’s neck and gently tugged her down the hallway. “There’s a spare bed in my room you can use. Spike’s fast asleep in the room next to ours. He just fell asleep a little while ago, so try to be quiet, okay?”

“Okay,” Tempest whispered. She walked down the hall after her, only stopping when Starlight opened a door on her left. She followed her inside, shut the door as softly as she could, then turned around in the dark room. Starlight had already flopped down upon one of the beds. Tempest cast a longing gaze over the other bed, then trudged towards it, wondering if she even deserved such a luxury. “You already know my name, don’t you?”

Starlight nodded.

Tempest sat down on the edge of the bed. “Well, it’s nice to meet you; you seem like the only friendly face here. I just hope I can make things right, because all of this?” She gestured around with a hoof. “It’s very overwhelming. After all that’s happened, I don’t think I’ll be able to make any friends here. It feels like Twilight is being overly optimistic.”

“All it takes is one, Tempest. All it takes is one.” Starlight rolled over onto her side. She shot her a warm smile, then said, “And you can count me as one of your friends, but only on one condition!”

Tempest fought back a groan. “What might that be?”

“I’ll only be your friend if you don’t snore like a freight train out of control!”

Tempest laughed. “Oh, yeah, about that...” She bit her bottom lip and glanced away, her tail swishing about on the sheets as she scratched the back of her neck. Starlight’s eyes widened, making her giggle and drop the facade. “You don’t need to worry. I don’t snore at all.”

“Phew! You had me going there for a few seconds!” Starlight said, using her magic to pull the sheets up to her shoulders. “I think you and I are going to get along...” A yawn made her pause. “Just fine...” Minutes later, Starlight was snoring like a freight train falling down Canterlot Mountain.

Chapter 3

Tempest couldn't listen to Starlight snore anymore.

Better get a head start... she thought, trying her best to tune out her new roommate’s snoring. As she carefully pushed the sheets off of herself, Tempest gazed out the window as the moon’s gentle light peeked through the clouds. Conditions are perfect... She made her bed in record time, just like how she did when she was in the Storm King’s military. Even though she had forsaken him and her old life, some habits still remained, for better or for worse.

After shooting a furtive glance at Starlight to make sure she was still asleep, Tempest crept out of the room and made her way down the hallway. She took care to tread as lightly as she could to not rouse anypony from their slumber. Standing at the top of the stairs leading down to the entryway, she paused, glancing back over her shoulder as she thought of Twilight.

I’m sorry.

A particularly loud snore from Starlight back down the hall made her ears flick up, her heart skipping a beat. She snorted as a wry smile graced her lips, then snuck down the stairs. Tempest crept her way in and out of everypony. At least nopony down here is snoring...

A light whimper broke Tempest from her thoughts. She stopped in her tracks and looked down. The same filly from earlier twitched and writhed in her sleep, a teddy bear just out of her reach. Their face scrunched up as she whimpered again. Tempest leaned down and nudged the teddy bear back into the filly’s grasp with her muzzle. Warmth blossomed in her chest as she watched the filly latch onto and curl up around it. Tempest smiled, happy that she was able to ease the filly’s pain in the slightest of ways, then snuck out of the castle.

“Where to go, where to go...” she muttered, her head on a constant swivel. Her stomach grumbled, for it had been well over a day since she’d last eaten anything. Tempest trotted through the center of town, eventually finding herself on the outskirts. Lots of debris lay in her path, all thrown into one big pile. This’ll be a good start... she thought, smirking as her horn sparked to life.

With the sun streaming in through the windows, Starlight stirred awake, one of her two pillows held against her chest. “No, don’t go... we can snuggle for at least another few minutes...” she muttered, still partly inside of a dream. Rolling over onto her other side, she nuzzled the top of her pillow, imagining the pony she was snuggling with was nuzzling her back. The sounds of birds chirping outside yanked her out of the world of dreams, making eyes open. A blissful warmth pressing against her tummy made her look down with a grin. “Heh, again?” she whispered. After squeezing it one more time, she let go of it and stretched, unleashing a long yawn. “Hey, Tempest? You up yet?” When no response came, she glanced over at the other bed.

It was empty.

Starlight’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion, “Wha...?” she uttered. Starlight rubbed her bleary eyes, then looked again.

Still empty.

“Uh... Tempest?” she called out as she looked around the room. Their bedroom door was ajar, and the sheets on Tempest’s bed were neatly made. With her heart starting to race, Starlight jumped out of bed and laid a single hoof on Tempest’s sheets and found them to be cold. Okay... so she’s been gone for more than a couple of hours. I gotta go tell Twilight! She darted towards the door, using her magic to pull it open the rest of the way. Starlight galloped down the hallway and screeched to a halt in front of Twilight’s bedroom door. “Twilight? Are you up yet?” she asked, rapping on it with a hoof until Twilight answered.

“Kinda...” finally came Twilight’s voice.

“Good.” Starlight pushed open her bedroom door and shut it behind her. “So listen, I know this probably isn’t the first thing you wanna hear right now, but Tempest is missing.”

Twilight blinked a few times. “Missing?”

“Yeah! Her bed was made and our door was open.”

“Fantastic... Just what I needed in the morning.” Twilight flung the sheets off of her and pushed herself out of bed. “Come on, she can’t have gotten that far on hoof.”

“Wait a minute... You think she ran away?” Starlight cocked her head to the side.

Twilight paused. “...I don’t know.”

“But I heard her tell you that she would spend the rest of her life trying to make things right last night. Running away just doesn’t make sense,” Starlight said.

“I know, but... there’s a small part of me that thinks she might have changed her mind, or that she just said what she thought I wanted to hear.” She trotted up to her dresser, searching for her brush. “Oh... right. Gone.”

Starlight squirmed in place for a few seconds, then made herself calm down. Something moved outside in her peripheral vision caught her attention, making her head snap to the left as she looked out the window.

A huge plume of smoke was rising from the far side of town.

Starlight’s eyes burst open wide. Fire! “Twilight, look!” she said, pointing out the window with a hoof.

Twilight trotted up to the window and gasped. “Okay... now I’m kinda thinking you’re right about her running away now,” she said in disbelief.

But it sounded like she wanted to be friends with me last night! Serves me right, I guess... thinking I could make a friend that easy. Starlight’s shoulders slumped as worry began to gnaw at her heart.

“Come on, we have to go see what’s going on before we jump to any conclusions.” Twilight ran outside onto her balcony, spread her wings wide, and threw herself into the sky, flying towards the smoke.

Lighting her horn, Starlight teleported herself outside and galloped after Twilight. “See anything from up there?” she yelled out.

“No, the smoke is too thick!” Twilight yelled back.

Starlight trotted up behind a building close to the fire and stopped. She peered around the corner, barely making out the shape of a pony walking towards the fire, a bunch of wood held in one hoof. “Hey, wait a minute... I think I see her!” she said, hearing Twilight land behind her. Maybe she didn’t run away! she thought.

“But why is she burning stuff?” Twilight asked, looking over her shoulder.

“Only one way to find out!” Starlight giggled and trotted towards the fire. “Hey, that you, Tempest?”

Tempest dropped her load of debris next to the raging inferno and looked over her shoulder. “Starlight?” she called back.

Starlight chuckled as she glanced over her shoulder. “See? Nothing to worry about, Twilight!” she said. Warmth filled her chest at the sight; her hope in her new friend had not been in vain. She trotted down the road and around the side of the bonfire and sat down a few feet away from Tempest. “So, uh... whatcha doin’?” she pointedly asked, cocking her head to the side as Twilight sat down beside her.

“Burning debris. What’s it look like? I saved what could be reused over there.” Tempest pointed behind them towards the rather impressive and neatly sorted piles of wood that lay next to the building that they had just come from. “We’re going to need more nails, by the way.” She sat down and wiped the sweat from her brow as she turned to face them. Looking at Twilight, she said, “I gave you my word that I would do my best to right the wrongs I committed. I didn’t sleep that well last night, so I figured that I should get up and not waste any more time.” She noticed Starlight’s rump wiggling to and fro, acting like she had something to say. “Uh... something wrong?”

“Hehe, we kinda thought you ran away when I saw that your bed was empty this morning.” Starlight rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof as she avoided Tempest’s gaze. “You didn’t leave a note, your bed was made, our bedroom door was open, and... well, yeah.”

“I see.” Tempest threw more debris onto the fire.

“So...” Twilight yawned. “Would you like some breakfast? Maybe a few pots of coffee?”

“That’d be lovely,” Tempest said with a curt nod. “But I have to finish this first. You want to start making breakfast and let me catch up in a little bit?”

“Yeah, sure.” Twilight turned around, took a few steps, then paused. “You coming, Starlight?”

“Nah, I think I’m gonna stick around for a bit if that’s okay.”

“What, you don’t want the first cup of coffee like usual?” Twilight smirked. “Suit yourself!” she said, letting a smile grace her lips as she trotted back towards the castle.

As Tempest threw more wood into the flames, Starlight scooted closer to her and rubbed her two front hooves together, relishing the warmth from the flames. “So... everything good?” she asked, glancing up at her with a cautious, hesitant grin.

“Barely.”

“What makes you say that? Twilight took you under her wing, gave you a place to sleep, and kept you from rotting in prison.” Starlight chuckled. “I think that’s a little bit better than just barely.”

“I suppose, but...” Tempest groaned. “I don’t know. I just figured that this would be a good start. I didn’t mean to scare you both like that.”

“Oh, that’s fine,” Starlight said with a dismissive wave of her hoof. “The blame partly rests on my shoulders, too. I was still half-asleep when I thought you ran off,” she said with short chuckle. “If you don’t mind my asking... why’d you get up in the middle of the night? That’s not that, uh... normal.”

“Getting up before everypony was something I did back in the military. Being a commander has its perks, but getting up early is definitely not one of them.” Tempest groaned as she wrestled with a bigger pile of debris, throwing all of her energy into picking it up with her hooves. “U-Ugh!” she grunted, finally throwing it into the fire. Her legs trembled from the effort, and while sleep tugged at her eyes, she shook her head and moved back to grab another hoofful.

“Yeah, I bet!” Starlight giggled, covering her growing smile with a hoof. “Anyways, every mare needs their beauty sleep, though, and that includes you! We can’t have you wearing yourself out every single day.”

“I swore to Twilight that I—”

“That you wouldn’t rest until you fixed everything, blah blah blah,” Starlight said, rocking her her head from side to side. When she saw Tempest’s eyes narrow, she dropped her smile and poked her with a hoof. “But you can’t help anypony if you don’t take care of yourself first.”

Tempest stared at her for a couple of seconds, then sighed and relaxed, her ears flicking back. “I guess you’re right... Heh, I sure could go for some coffee and a quick nap,” she said, smiling as she sat down.

“A nap?”

“Yeah. I didn’t get a wink of sleep because of you last night!” Tempest said with a chuckle.

“Wait, why not?”

“Because you snored so obnoxiously I thought you were faking it.”

“What? No I wasn’t!” Starlight said, shocked.

“You weren’t faking it or you weren’t snoring?” Tempest laughed.

Starlight rolled her eyes and grinned. “The part about me snoring! I don’t snore!”

“Yes, you do. You were snoring so loudly you probably kept Spike awake in the next room! I bet the entire castle didn’t get a wink of sleep because of you!” Tempest said with mirth as she threw more debris into the fire.

Starlight recoiled in shock. “Nuh-uh!”

“Yeah-huh! How would you know if you’re snoring if you’re fast asleep, hm?”

Starlight’s muzzle scrunched up as she crossed her forelegs over her chest. “Fine, you got me there,” she said, her tail swishing about. Eyeing the fire and the rest of the debris Tempest had to get through, she licked her dry lips as an idea popped into her mind, one that would hopefully make their friendship grow. “Ya know, there’s a lot of debris to burn. I can help with that!” She lit her horn and focused her magic on the rest of the debris; the pile was large enough to make up at least three entire buildings.

“No!” Tempest barked, leveling her piercing gaze on Starlight. “I must do this by myself.”

Starlight’s magic faded away. “B-But it’ll take you hours to burn all of this stuff! If we factor in a few breaks for breakfast, lunch, and for snack time, you’d be throwing wood into this fire well after the sun sets!”

“If that’s how long it takes...” Tempest threw more wood into the fire and coughed, cursing the stifling smoke.

“But it doesn’t have to take that long,” Starlight said, pointing at her horn. “I can get it done in a few seconds! Besides, what are friends for, if not to help their friends when they need it most?” Starlight smiled up at Tempest, knowing she had her cornered.

“Because this is my punishment. I deserve this.”

Starlight huffed. “Well... I can’t speak to your needing to be punished, but I do know one thing. Before my mother passed away, she told me something that I think about every day, something I think you need to hear.”

“Oh? What might that be?” Tempest asked.

“It’s that you should work smarter, not harder.”

Tempest paused. “Your mother sounds like a smart mare.”

“Yeah, she had her moments,” Starlight said with a shrug. “So with that being said, would you like my help or not?”

“...Fine.”

“Good!” Starlight chirped. She lit her horn again, then used her magic to throw the rest of the debris into the fire. “Wanna go back to the castle and get some breakfast?” She heard Tempest’s stomach grumble over the roaring inferno in front of them, making her giggle. “I’ll take that as a yes!” She wrapped a hoof around Tempest’s left foreleg and tugged her in the direction of the castle. “If we’re lucky, Spike might be cooking his famous blueberry and chocolate chip pancakes!”

Twilight took her seat in the map room, waiting until the rest of her friends took their own seats. A long, blank scroll and a quill floated in front of her, held up by her magic. Tempest sat to her left, a steaming cup of coffee held in between her front hooves. Starlight sat on her right, in between her chair and Spike’s. “So... since you all have been here for a couple of days, how bad is it out there?” Twilight asked her friends, nursing her own cup of coffee. “I saw a little bit last night. It was... unbearable.”

“Yeah, it is.” Applejack straightened up in her seat. “The barn was destroyed, and the family home needs a lot of work for us to live in it again.”

“Okay... What about the fields? Are they intact?” Twilight asked. “We need food to keep everypony fed. Would you be willing to donate enough apples to feed the town for at least a few days? Maybe a week if necessary?”

“Like ya even need to ask,” Applejack smiled as she straightened her hat. “You want me to go now and round up some ponies to help out?”

“After the meeting is over, yeah, that would be perfect. Celestia and I can repay you for the apples, plus interest, after everything has settled down, so you don’t need to worry about that.” The sound of Twilight’s quill scratching against the parchment filled the room for a few moments. “Anyways, we need to develop a strategy that puts Ponyville back on track to full recovery as fast as possible. I hate seeing my home like this.” She turned to the next pony in line, Rarity, and asked, “What is it that you need to make your home livable again?”

“Oh, my place definitely shouldn’t be among the first buildings to get fixed,” Rarity said with a dismissive wave of her hoof. “I am perfectly content helping Applejack feed the town. Besides, everything goes faster with magic!” She lit her horn to emphasize her point.

“Very well.” Twilight looked to the right again, her eyes settling upon Pinkie Pie, but before she could utter a single word, Applejack spoke up.

“Ya know you’re gonna get your pretty little hoofsies dirty out in mah fields, Rarity,” Applejack said with a chuckle. “Ya sure you don’t wanna help out somewhere else?”

“If circumstances were different, most likely, yes, but we can’t all live in a perfect fantasy world where one gets to keep her hooves mud-free.” Rarity held out a hoof, inspected it, then sighed. “Celestia knows I’m going to need at least three full days in the spa afterwards.”

“I think we could all use a trip to the spa!” Pinkie exclaimed, bouncing up and down in her seat. “And I’m paying, but only after we get Ponyville looking the bestest again!”

Rainbow Dash cleared her throat. “Hey, so... what if we all focused on one thing at a time instead of each doing our own things? Each task would be finished sooner, letting us move onto the next thing faster!”

“Hm... that’s not a bad idea, Rainbow.” Twilight rubbed her chin as she thought. “Okay, so aside from gathering apples, what else needs to be done?”

“There’s still a lot of debris and trash all around town,” Fluttershy said. “We should clean that up next.”

“Yeah!” Pinkie stopped bouncing for a few seconds. “And we need supplies to rebuild our homes!”

“I could petition Celestia for emergency provisions, but it could take up to a week or more before she could send us anything. I’m sure other cities look just as bad, maybe even worse than Ponyville.” Twilight scribbled down their ideas, then looked up. “Any other ideas?”

“What if we get a lot of ponies to go chop wood from the White Tail Woods?” Spike asked. “Pretty sure we need wood to rebuild Ponyville, and what better place to get it from than there? It’s close by, and we wouldn’t have to wait for new shipments of wood to get here.”

“Now that’s an excellent idea, Spike!” Twilight said with a grin, scribbling down his idea. “Thankfully, Ponyville has several ponies experienced in construction, so we should find them next. I’m sure that they could find others to help them chop down some trees.” Twilight took a sip of coffee, then swirled the last little bit remaining around in the bottom of her mug.

Without warning, Spike burped up a letter that held Princess Celestia’s royal seal.

Before he could grab it, Twilight snatched it out of the air with her magic and read it. Dearest Twilight, my guards notified me that there was a fire coming from Ponyville early this morning. Is everything under control? “Spike, please send a letter to Princess Celestia letting her know that everything is okay here, please!” she said. “It is imperative that it be sent as soon as possible.”

“You got it!” Spike said before scurrying away.

Twilight placed the scroll on the map table and watched as it curled back up. She rubbed her temples with a hoof, slightly upset that Tempest’s actions had caused Celestia to grow concerned. She vehemently wished to prove to her that she made the right choice in choosing to give her a second chance, and she didn’t want to give her any reason to second-guess her decision. She let loose a soft sigh, then cleared her throat. “Starlight? Any ideas?”

“Nope! Just tell me where to go and I'll help out as best I can!” Starlight said, placing her empty mug on the floor. She stood up and stretched, then held up her empty mug as a sheepish smile slid onto her face. “But can we get more coffee first?”

“Definitely.” Twilight slid from her seat. “But after that, can you all go ahead and start making preparations at the farm? I need to speak with Tempest first, then we’ll meet you guys out at Sweet Apple Acres, okay? I’ll let everypony downstairs know that they should stick around for breakfast when I leave.”

As everypony collected their things, Starlight walked behind Twilight’s chair and nudged Tempest’s shoulder. “Hey, buck up, alright? You got nothing to worry about!” she said in a hushed tone, hoping that Tempest would return her reassuring smile. Tempest didn’t even meet her gaze, staying stock still. Hm... I’ll be sure to save you a cup of coffee,” she whispered.

“Thanks. The two cups I’ve had so far is nowhere near enough what I need,” Tempest said with a forced smile.

“Alright, then. Want me to save you two cups of coffee?” Starlight asked with a giggle.

An actual, earnest smile overtook the fake one. “Heh, yeah. Maybe this day isn’t going to turn out that bad.”

“There you go!” Starlight wrapped her forelegs around Tempest’s neck. “I gotta go make sure that they don’t drink all the coffee, so I’ll see you later, okay? Maybe we can hang out during snack time?”

“I look forward to it.”

“Awesome! Well, I guess I’ll see you later!” Starlight said as she trotted out of the room.

Twilight softly coughed to get Tempest’s attention. She nodded towards the door leading back out into the hallway. “Come, walk with me,” she said. Tempest nodded, following her in silence until they stood before her bedroom door. She pushed it open and stared at her mirror for several seconds, sighed, then headed towards the balcony.

“Twilight?”Broken shards of glass still lay all over the place, making Tempest take care with each step. She slowly walked up to Twilight’s dresser and sat down, gazing into her own eyes through the broken mirror. “What does this mean to you?” she asked softly.

“My mirror?” Twilight asked, glancing over her shoulder. “It is—well, it was very special to me. In a way, it still is.”

“But why? It’s just a mirror.”

“That’s true, but it was something that I held very close to my heart. You see...” Twilight sat down beside Tempest and met her gaze in the mirror. “I had pictures of all of my closest friends tucked in around the edges, so that when I got up to brush my mane in the morning, I would look into the mirror and be surrounded by all of my friends.”

Tempest winced as she bit back a groan. “I know you hold me responsible for it. If I could fix—”

“I know. What’s done is done, and we can only move forward at this point.” Twilight laid a wing around Tempest’s back and stood up, leading her out towards her balcony. They walked outside. Twilight folded her wing back to her side as she sighed, a small breeze blowing through her mane as they reached the end. “I think you know what I’m going to say next.”

Tempest nodded. “The fire?”

“Yes, the fire. While I know you had the right intentions, what you did was reckless. You had nopony to help you if something went wrong, and you could have burned the rest of Ponyville to the ground. If that had happened, making friends around here would have been nearly impossible to do.”

Tempest’s ears flicked back, but they perked up a second later. “I knew what I was doing though. I had everything under control.”

Twilight grit her teeth. “After all that has happened, the last thing my citizens need to see is a massive plume of smoke coming from the other side of town. They’ve been through too much...” Twilight set her gaze on the road leading to Applejack’s farm, where she was just able to make out her group of friends trotting away from town. “When Starlight woke me up this morning and said you were gone, I jumped to the worst conclusion and thought you ran away. The big fire didn’t soothe my worries, either.”

“I’m sorry for that. I just did what I thought was right. I... I wanted to show you and everypony else that I was committed to helping out around here, and burning debris just seemed like a good way to start. It has to go somewhere, right?”

“Yes, it does, but in a way that doesn’t incite terror.” Twilight draped her front legs over the railing, her head hung low.

Tempest sighed, then sat down beside Twilight, her tail swishing back and forth. “So... get any sleep last night?”

“No.”

“Heh, me neither.”

“Wait, why?” Twilight asked, lifting her head up to look at Tempest. “Didn’t Starlight give you a bed?”

“She did, but she snores a lot. I didn’t get a wink of sleep last night, and, well... the coffee is the only thing that’s kept me awake today.”

“What, the big bonfire didn’t wake you up at all?” Twilight asked with a chuckle. “The flames were at least ten feet high.”

“Okay, I might have fibbed a little bit,” Tempest said, hiding her grin with a hoof. “So why didn’t you get any sleep last night? Was it because of Starlight’s incessant snoring? I wouldn’t be surprised if she kept up the entire castle.”

“Well...” Twilight’s ears flicked back as her smile faltered. “I had some nightmares about...” She glanced away.

A distinct feeling of dread overtook Tempest’s heart. Many seconds passed in silence as she waited for Twilight to finish her sentence, but she had no such luck. “Me,” she said softly. Twilight nodded. What can I do? Tempest thought, feeling increasingly uncomfortable as the silence dragged on. She closed her eyes as she remembered the comfort she had felt when Starlight had hugged her just minutes ago. With no better ideas springing forth, Tempest shot a furtive glance at Twilight, huffed, then awkwardly wrapped her forelegs around Twilight’s neck.

Twilight stiffened and locked her forelegs around the railing.

Gods above, I’m making a fool of myself, aren’t I? Tempest thought as Twilight didn’t move an inch. She sat back, waiting for Twilight to say something that would soothe her worries.

“Um...” Twilight glanced at her with a single lifted eyebrow. “What was that for?”

“I, uh... I was just trying to make you feel better.” Tempest ground a hoof into the balcony and flicked her head, feeling little pin pricks all over the back of her neck. “I just did the first thing that popped into my head,” she said, sighing as her ears flicked back. Aren’t hugs supposed to make you feel better? That one just felt weird.

“Well, while a hug was entirely unexpected, I appreciate the gesture. Too bad a simple hug won’t keep me from having more nightmares, though.” Twilight fluffed her wings and yawned. “So you said that you didn’t sleep well last night because of Starlight?”

“Yeah. You wouldn’t happen to have any empty rooms, would you?” Tempest rubbed the back of her neck. “I don’t think I’d be able to sleep at all if Starlight and I shared a room,” she said, followed by a short laugh.

“Same. I had to use a sleeping spell the first few nights after she moved into the castle. With these nightmares making me wake up every couple of hours, I just might use that spell again tonight.” Twilight nudged Tempest’s shoulder with her own, then stood up. “Come on, I think the bedroom beside mine is open, and then we can meet the others at the farm.”

Chapter 4

“So this is all mine now?” Tempest asked breathlessly as she looked around her new room. While shattered glass from the windows still covered the floor, Tempest knew all of that could be fixed with relative ease. Thick purple curtains lay on either side of the two windows; thankfully they looked like they were untouched by her former army. The stained glass door leading out onto her small balcony had a long, single crack that marred its beauty.

Much to her disbelief, instead of getting tattered hand-me-downs like she had expected, Twilight had bestowed upon her a beautiful set of white silk sheets plus four of the fluffiest pillows that she’d ever seen. Her bed was large enough to comfortably fit at least three ponies side by side, and to top it all of, there was a thick fleece blanket folded neatly at the base of her new bed.

“Yes, it is!” Twilight said with an earnest grin.

“I... I don’t know what to say,” Tempest said. “I feel like saying thank you just isn’t enough.”

“Well, you are most welcome!” Twilight said. She pointed a single feather at the bed. “Go on, try it out! I’m sure you’ll love it!”

“The bed?” Tempest prodded it with a hoof, then flopped stomach-first on top of the mattress with a giggle. “Oh... my... gosh...” she said as she sunk down into the sheets. “What is this? It’s so soft...” She laid her head between her forelegs, the softness of the silk caressing her muzzle. She held herself back from humming in content.

“A cloud bed,” Twilight said, her grin widening. “They’re the most expensive beds around. You will never find something softer and more comfortable than that. I’ve outfitted nearly every bed in the castle with them. Starlight prefers firm beds, so I made sure to have a few traditional mattresses laying around, too.”

“How can you afford so many of these beds?” she asked, rolling over onto her side.

“Perks of being a princess,” Twilight said with a giggle as she stood up. “So you coming? We have a lot of work to do!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming.” Tempest pushed herself off the bed, shooting a wistful glance at it. Soon... she thought. Her body wanted nothing more than to slip under the sheets and take the rest of the day off, but her mind advised otherwise. “Say, is there some spell you could use to fix the windows? Feeding everypony should definitely be top priority, but, um... maybe we could clean the castle up afterwards?”

“That might be a good idea. And yeah, I do know a spell that can fix the windows. It takes a lot of energy to do it, but it should work so long as all the pieces are here.” She lit her horn and focused her magic on the broken glass.

Tempest watched in amazement as all of the glass shards rose up into the air, each piece flying towards the windows. Seconds later, each piece fell into place. As Twilight’s magic faded away, Tempest trotted up to both windows and inspected them. “They’re flawless...” she muttered. “Almost like they weren’t broken in the first place.”

“Heh, thanks. I’ll repair the rest of the windows here when we get back. If I’m not exhausted, that is.” Twilight wiped her brow with a hoof. “So now that we’ve got you settled in here, our friends need us down at the farm!”

Our friends? Tempest’s heart warmed at the thought. I like the sound of that. Guilt forced its way into the front of her mind, making her ears droop. She saw Twilight turn towards the door, so with a nervous flick of her mane, Tempest trotted past her and locked them in. “Before we go... I need to talk to you. In private.”

Twilight cocked her head to the side, then her eyes widened for just a brief moment.“Very well.” She sat down and flicked her tail around her side, then fluffed her wings.

“I must ask... Why? Why am I getting all of this nice stuff? Why are you being so nice to me? I was absolutely horrible to you.”

Twilight pursed her lips, then relaxed. “Well... yes, you were pretty mean. However, I believe in second cha—”

“Stop saying that; you’ll give me a headache.” Tempest huffed, then started pacing around the room. “I still can’t wrap my mind around all of this. I invaded Equestria. I enslaved everyone and led them around in chains. I humiliated the alicorn princesses and welcomed the Storm King into the Royal Palace. In the land of the late Storm King, we would have treated those who committed crimes such as these as war criminals, worthy of neither my forgiveness or trust; never my friendship! And yet you welcome me into your town and among your citizens, for whose troubles I am responsible. You give me a bed in your own home with the finest of sheets, and you dare to give me a place amongst your circle of friends? After I had chased and hunted you to the ends of Equestria with your home and your capital in ruins, how can you even begin to think of calling me a friend?!” she demanded, her entire body trembling with anger.

“I—”

“I took what was most precious to you in a stupid, brainless attempt to get my horn back! Because of me, my army ruined your home and destroyed your most cherished possessions!” Tempest stormed up to Twilight and planted her hooves into the carpet. “And I get forgiveness and friendship?! Where’s the sense in that?” Tempest screamed, staring Twilight dead in the eyes. Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but she closed it a few moments later as she glanced away, unable to hold her piercing gaze.

Tempest rolled her eyes as she stormed off. “I’m a worthless, no-good, criminal!” she grunted, sitting down in the middle of the room. “I don’t deserve any of this; I’ve hurt way too many to make amends. I’m an outcast. Always have been... always will.”

“Not anymore! All of that’s in the past!” Twilight said, shaking her head as she moved to sit down in front of her. Gently lifting Tempest’s head with a few feathers, Twilight shot her a warm smile. “If it helps, I want you to know I have forgiven you,” she said, folding her wing back to her side.

“W-What? You do? Why?” Tempest wiped the tears from her eyes with a hoof as she blinked.

“Because that’s who I am.” Twilight stepped forward and pulled her into a tight hug. She wrapped her wings around Tempest’s back, then nuzzled her cheek a few times for good measure. “Stop tormenting yourself, Tempest, just... stop. I believe in you, so you should believe in yourself.”

Tempest’s eyes slid shut as she awkwardly wrapped her forelegs around Twilight, her heart bursting into warmth as she nuzzled her back. “So this is how you’re supposed to hug somepony?” she asked with a short chuckle, hoping to break the tense silence.

“Mhm.”

“I could probably learn a thing or two, right?”

“Oh yeah.”

Tempest woke up with a start, her warm sheets drenched with sweat. She threw them off of her as she pushed herself out of bed. Tempest trotted around the room, shaking her head to and fro as she fought to release herself from the terrifying grasp of her nightmare. Slowly fading thoughts of the Storm King trying to end her life slipped away, leaving her with nothing more than a sense of dread. “Why, why, why!” she groaned as she ground her right hoof into the carpet. After such a long day of working, she’d thought that she would have been able to get a good night’s rest, but she was not so lucky.

She heard an off-pitch groan that made her ears perk up. Tempest cocked her ears in every direction until she heard the sound again. “Where’s it coming from?” she muttered, walking up to one of her windows. She pressed her left ear against it and waited several moments. “Not coming from outside... Wait, could it be coming from Twilight’s room?” Tempest trotted up to their shared wall and pressed her other ear up against it, hearing soft moans and groans coming from the other side. Is she having another nightmare? she thought, her ears flicking back. She tapped on the wall a few times, hoping that it’d wake her up. When she heard a louder groan, her shoulders slumped down in defeat. “Hm...”

Pushing open her bedroom door, Tempest trotted up to Twilight’s door, then rapped on it a few times. “Twilight?” she softly called out. She placed her hoof on the doorknob and was surprised to discover that it was unlocked. Hearing another groan, she pushed the door open and shut it as quietly as she could behind her, using the moonlight streaming in through the windows to guide her towards the bed. Twilight’s sheets had slipped from her trembling form, laying at a crumpled heap at the end of her bed. She twitched in her sleep, muttering things that Tempest couldn’t make out.

“Twilight?” Tempest asked again, shaking her with a hoof. “Twilight, wake up,” she said a little louder. She waited a few seconds, but Twilight still remained asleep. “Oh, right... she said she was going to use a sleeping spell...” she muttered. “Fantastic!”

She started pacing around the room. Minutes passed as she threw away idea after idea, each no better than the last. Tempest sat down next to Twilight’s bed and stared at her, hating the fact that she was unable to help the one who treated her with the utmost kindness and respect. Suddenly, a memory that she hadn’t thought of for years popped into her mind.

”Mommy?” Tempest asked, pushing open her parents’ bedroom door with her muzzle. Her ears flicked back as fresh tears sprang to her eyes. She squeezed her stuffed bunny rabbit tighter as she took a few hesitant steps towards their bed. The sheets on the bed moved, then she spotted her mother’s horn light up. Tempest rose up into the air, a smile of relief gracing her lips as she floated towards her parents.

“What’s wrong, little one? Another nightmare?” her mother softly asked as she rubbed her eyes with a hoof.

Tempest nodded, her grasp on her stuffed animal tightening. Mr. Fluffikins was always there for her when she needed him most, but the comfort he gave her was nowhere near what she needed right now.

“What was it about this time?” She let the magic fade away from her horn as she placed her daughter beside her.

“I... In my nightmare, you said you couldn’t love me anymore because of my broken horn. You wanted me to leave and n-never come back,” Tempest squeaked out, looking up into her mother’s loving gaze, praying that the words she had spoken were not true.

“Oh, heavens no! Nothing in all of Equestria could ever stop me from loving you, sweetie! Horn or no, your father and I will always love you.” She planted a kiss at the base of her horn and pulled her up against her side with a hoof. “And don’t forget, snuggling with someone will always keep the nightmares away!” she said, nuzzling her daughter’s cheek.

Tempest wiped the tears from her eyes as she curled up against her mother’s side, laying her head on her foreleg. She closed her eyes as she felt her mother pull the blankets back up, then felt a tender hoof rub her back, making a content smile grow upon her face. “Sweet dreams, Mommy...” she whispered as she felt sleep tug at her eyes.

“Sweet dreams, little one.”

Tempest flicked her gaze back up to rest on Twilight. “Could it work?” She stood up and placed a tentative hoof on the edge of the bed, pausing when Twilight twitched again and moaned something that sounded like her name. Feelings of guilt once again rose to the front of her mind. I told her that I would do anything to make things right... Gods above, this is going to be awkward... She pushed herself up onto the bed and lay down next to Twilight, her tail nervously swishing about on the sheets.

Knowing that she hadn’t snuggled anypony in well over a decade, she rolled onto her side and tugged the sheets up over them. Fluffing up a pillow with her other hoof, Tempest scooted forward until her belly touched Twilight’s wings. She was never the type of pony to do things halfway, so after a deep breath, she wrapped her left foreleg under Twilight’s forelegs and pulled her into her grasp.

A minute passed as Tempest felt her chest floof grow warm from Twilight’s body heat. It was a rather pleasant sensation, one that Tempest felt that she could grow accustomed to. Her friend’s twitches, moans, and groans gradually stilled. Tempest felt Twilight gently wrap a hoof around her foreleg, and as the minutes passed in a peaceful silence, it appeared Twilight had slipped into the sweetest and most deepest of slumbers. A smile grew on Tempest’s face as she nuzzled Twilight between her ears. “Sweet dreams, Twilight...” she whispered, tucking her head in around Twilight’s. Gotta make sure I wake up and get out of here before Twilight wakes up...

Chapter 5

Twilight stirred awake with a gentle smile on her lips. Everything was wondrously warm. Gone was the sense of dread, the lingering terror of an old nightmare, replaced by an overwhelming feeling of pure content. She lifted her head from her pillow and tried to roll over onto her belly, ready to start what would no doubt be another long day, but something soft kept her in place. With her eyebrows furrowing in confusion, Twilight looked down with bleary eyes and noticed a foreleg with a familiar coat color wrapped around her belly. Wondering what was going on, she blinked a few times as she slowly looked over her shoulder, trying her hardest to not make any sudden movements.

Much to her disbelief, Tempest was snuggling with her.

I don’t remember inviting her into my room last night... Was I so tired that I asked Tempest to snuggle with me and totally forgot about it? Twilight thought, laying her head back down on the pillow. She felt Tempest tug her a little closer, draping one of her hind legs over her flank, then she realized that Tempest was holding onto her just like a special somepony would. While such an embrace made butterflies flit about in her stomach, Twilight wilted like a flower, knowing that she had nopony to call her own.

A mare sure could fantasize, though.

With a sigh of remorse, Twilight lit her horn and used her magic to lift Tempest’s legs up and away. She relished the last few seconds of bliss, then pushed herself out of Tempest’s comforting grasp, staying under the sheets. She pushed a pillow into the spot she’d just been sleeping in and used her magic to guide Tempest’s legs back into place. Tempest’s lips twitched as she grinned in her sleep, her foreleg wrapping around the pillow and pulling it deeper into her embrace. She curled up around it, nuzzling the top of it just like a loving mother would do with her foal.

Twilight almost wished she was the pillow.

Almost.

Why was she snuggling with me? How’d she even get in my room? Twilight thought, wondering if Tempest’s snuggly presence was the reason she slept so well. The comforting warmth that had given her such a relaxing rest slowly slipped away, leaving a chill in the tips of her feathers. She bit her bottom lip as her rump wiggled under the sheets, half of her wanting to snuggle back in and act like nothing was amiss, but the rational part of her shoved that idea away. Twilight took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “Tempest?” she asked, shaking her with a hoof. “Tempest, wake up.”

Tempest groaned as she licked her dry lips. “No... just a few more minutes, Twilight,” she whispered. Her eyes shot open wide. She glanced up into Twilight’s eyes as she rolled over onto her belly. “Uh...”

“Y-Yeah...” Twilight rubbed the back of her neck, the sheets falling down to rest upon the small of her back.

“So, um...”

Twilight cocked her head to the side, waiting for her to finish her sentence. It took all of her strength to hold Tempest’s gaze. With her tail swishing about on the sheets, she glanced away as she cleared her throat, then looked back at Tempest. “Why, uh... why were you snuggling with me?” she tentatively asked, placing her right hoof on top of her left one.

Tempest’s ears flicked back. “Um... It’s a long s-story,” she said.

“Well, we have all morning, and I’m a patient mare,” Twilight said, doing her best to hold a neutral tone.

“So it would seem.” Tempest took a deep, shuddering breath. She hoped that it would calm her nerves, but it had little effect. Why didn’t I wake up early like I always do? Could it have been because of her? Did her sleeping spell affect me? So many questions kept popping up inside her mind, keeping her from focusing on the matter at hoof. Tempest groaned, hiding her muzzle underneath her hooves. “Ugh... I’m so embarrassed,” she said, her heart pounding in her chest. She felt Twilight nudge her leg with a hoof, prompting her to go on. “Do we have to talk about it?” Tempest asked, peeking up at her from between her hooves. She doubted Twilight would understand.

Twilight nodded.

Tempest pushed herself up with a groan. “Fine. You were moaning and groaning so loud last night that you woke me up. I came in here and tried to wake you up, but...” She clutched the pillow she’d just been snuggling with to her breast, then laid her head on top of it. “You know...”

“I had used a sleeping spell on myself.”

“Yeah, and... you wouldn’t wake up. I heard you say my name, and from the way you were thrashing about, I thought you were having a nightmare about me.” Tempest rubbed her foreleg with a hoof. “Were you?”

Twilight’s shoulders slumped down. “Y-Yes, I was.”

“Was it as bad as the others?” Tempest asked. Twilight’s silence spoke volumes, then she finally opened her mouth to speak.

“Worse.” Twilight cleared her throat. “But we’re getting away from the topic at hoof. Why were you snuggling with me? I’m not angry, I just want to know why.”

“Well... when I couldn’t wake you up, I remembered my mother telling me that you won’t have nightmares when you snuggle with someone, and I couldn’t think of any other solution at the time. I am the source of your nightmares. I don’t want you to suffer any more than you already have, especially after how you’ve done so much for me. When you stopped moaning after I started snuggling with you, I knew I made the right choice.” Tempest chuckled nervously. “To be blunt, I... I hadn’t slept that well in years,” she said, a light blush tinting her cheeks a rosy pink.

“Be that as it may, you—” The sounds of somepony galloping down the hallway made her pause. She glanced up, her gaze settling on the bedroom door a split-second before it slammed open wide against the wall, making her jump.

“Twilight! Tempest is gone ag—” Starlight’s eyes went wide as they fell upon Twilight and Tempest laying much too close together. Both of them were blushing, and they looked as if they had just been caught with their hooves in the cookie jar. “Uh... do I need to give you two some privacy?” she asked as she blinked a few times.

“N-No!” Twilight stammered out as she recoiled. “It’s not what it looks like! We were just, uh... talking! Yeah, we were just talking!” She looked at Tempest and nudged her leg with a hoof. “Right, Tempest?”

“Yeah... right,” Tempest unconvincingly said, staring at the sheets between her hooves. “Just talking.”

“This early in the morning?” Starlight asked as she shot Twilight an inquisitive look. Tempest wouldn’t meet her gaze.

“Of course! Why wouldn’t it be?” Twilight asked, a wide, nervous grin on her face. “There’s nothing wrong! Nope!”

“O...kay...” Starlight’s right eyebrow shot up skeptically. “Anyways, I think I’m gonna go get the coffee started and leave you two lovebirds alone, so... yeah!” She backed up until she was out in the hallway, then used her magic to shut the door.

As it clicked shut, Tempest groaned as she closed her eyes, letting the pillow held in her hooves take the full weight of her head. “Twilight?” she softly asked.

Twilight took several seconds before she responded. “What?”

“Why is it whenever I try to do something nice, I always seem to mess it up?” she asked. “First the bonfire, now this? Starlight probably thinks you and I were... you know...”

Twilight’s blush tripled in intensity. “I-I...”

“Don’t worry, I’ll go talk to her and set things straight,” Tempest said as she pushed herself up. Feeling Twilight’s soft sheets slip down her back, she hopped off the bed and trudged across the room, her head hung low.

“Wait.”

Tempest’s ears perked up. “Yeah?” she hopefully asked, turning back to face her.

“I, um... Don’t feel too bad, alright? I know you’re just trying to do your best, and that’s all anypony can ask for,” Twilight said, shooting her a warm smile as she fluffed her wings. “I know you probably think that you don’t fit in around here, but that’ll change in time, I promise. Just keep doing your best.”

“Thanks, Twilight,” Tempest said, nodding at her as she opened the door. “Sorry for the surprise snuggles, I—”

“Don’t be.”

Tempest’s eyebrows furrowed. Did she like snuggling with me? She said she wasn’t angry at me, so... huh. That’s interesting. “Very well. You coming?” she asked, standing in the doorway. She smiled for the first time that morning, relieved that Twilight wasn’t upset at her.

“I’ll catch up with you guys in a few minutes,” Twilight said, pushing the sheets off of her with a wing. “There’s someone I have to talk to first.”

“Okay. I know we’re running low on coffee creamer, so I’ll do what I can to make sure Starlight leaves enough for you. Dunno how she can drink coffee when half of it is creamer,” she said with a snicker. With a flick of her mane, she trotted down the hall and made her way down into the kitchen. Starlight was busy filling the coffee maker with water on the other side of the room, blissfully unaware of her presence. Tempest cleared her throat as she trotted towards the table.

Starlight’s head whipped around with a wide, sly grin plastered on her face. “So...” she said, drawing out the word. “How ya doin’?” she asked, propping her head up on the counter with her forelegs.

“Fine.” Tempest walked past her and sat down at the kitchen table. “We weren’t doing what you think we were doing, by the way.”

“What, you guys weren’t blowing off some steam after a long, hard day? Do tell!” Starlight said with a giggle.

“I will, but only if you get the coffee going.” Tempest stretched, letting loose a long yawn. “Celestia knows I need a lot of coffee to wake me up in the morning.”

“It’s already brewing. Should be ready in a few minutes, so... spill the beans! What were you and Twilight doing?” she asked, sitting down next to Tempest. “What were you doing in her bed?”

Tempest gave her a stern look. “What I am about to tell you must not leave this room,” she said, keeping her voice hushed.

Starlight scooted closer, her eyes wide in excitement.

Tempest fell silent for a moment. She held her breath and listened for the faintest sound that would betray the presence of anypony within earshot. When the coast sounded clearest, Tempest leaned in and waited until Starlight did as well. “Twilight and I were...” She dropped her voice even lower, lifting her lips up to Starlight’s ear. “Well... I was snuggling with her.”

“Aha! I knew you guys were doing something! You two looked so scared when I opened Twilight’s door!”

“You did kinda make it slam against the wall, you know,” Tempest said. “That would have scared anypony.’

“Yeah, whatever. That doesn’t matter, though!” Starlight said with a dismissive wave of her hoof. “Why were you snuggling with her?”

“It’s a long story, but to keep it short, she had used a sleeping spell on herself, and she was having a nightmare about me. How long is she going to have to suffer them?” she asked, looking up into Starlight’s eyes as if she had the answers to all of her problems. “I want to make things right, but if she keeps having these horrible nightmares about what I did to her, I—” Starlight pressed a hoof against her lips.

Starlight glanced over both of her shoulders. “If you don’t mind me asking, what did you do to her?” she asked, keeping her voice soft. “Twilight won’t tell me anything about what happened between the two of you.”

Tempest sat up straight and narrowed her eyes. “That’s not my business to say,” she answered firmly. “If Twilight wants to bury those memories in her mind forever, I will not reveal them.”

Starlight’s ears flopped down. “Fine. So Twilight is having nightmares about you?”

Tempest groaned. “Yeah, every night. I can’t stand to see them go on. My mother told me that you can’t get nightmares when you snuggle with someone, and she was right. When I snuggled with Twilight, she stopped groaning and twitching, which makes me think that snuggling does, in fact, keep nightmares at bay... somehow.”

“Heh, I might have to try that out with somepony,” Starlight said. The coffee maker quieted down. “So you want some coffee?” she asked as she stood up.

“Please,” Tempest said with a grateful smile.

Once Starlight had filled up a couple of mugs, she returned to the table and slid one of them into Tempest’s waiting hooves. “So, about your little issue... Naturally, snuggling with Twilight every night isn’t feasible as you two aren’t in a committed relationship, so with that being said, I think I know how you can get Twilight to stop having nightmares about you.”

“R-Really? You do?” Tempest asked in disbelief, setting her mug back down on the table.

“Yep! In order for her to stop having nightmares about you, you have to replace the bad memories she has of you with good memories,” Starlight said. She took a sip from her mug and sighed in content. “Ah... that hits the spot.”

“How can I possibly do that?” Tempest asked. “I did such horrid things to her, things I don’t think she can overcome.”

“Oh, she’s a lot stronger than she looks. She once took in the magic of the other princesses and fought an evil monster that took all of the magic from every single pony in Equestria. I heard that their fight was so brutal that it destroyed entire mountains! You can probably go out in the countryside and still see the remnants of their fight, thought it did happen quite some time ago, so I dunno how much of the evidence will be left.”

“Entire mountains?” Tempest asked, her mouth hanging open.

“Okay, so I might have been exaggerating a little bit,” Starlight said with a giggle, covering her grin with a hoof. “It was more like a mountaintop or two.”

“Oh... Still though, that sounds pretty crazy, even for Twilight.”

“Yeah, but she came out on top like she always does.” She drained the rest of her coffee then sat back, pushing her mug away from her. “Anyways, we’re getting off topic.”

Tempest nodded once. “You think snuggling with her would be a good memory?” she asked. “If I kept doing it?”

“Um... good question; I don’t know.” Starlight rubbed her chin with a hoof. “Did she seem angry at you for sneaking into her room to snuggle with her?” she asked with a chuckle.

“I don’t think so, but the way you put it makes it sound like I was being creepy; my intentions were anything but that,” she said with a huff. “You don’t think I’m creepy, do you?”

“Nah, I was just teasing you,” Starlight said. “I don’t think we can count you snuggling with her last night as a good memory, so... hm... I’m gonna need more coffee for this!” She lit her horn and used her magic to refill their mugs, then she poured more creamer in them as well.

“There enough creamer left for Twilight?” Tempest asked.

“Mhm.” Letting her magic fade away, Starlight took a few big gulps from her mug. “So you have any ideas?” she asked, staring at her reflection in the coffee mug.

“No, I—”

“Good, because I do!” Starlight said, her eyes lighting up with excitement. “I know exactly how you can start!”

Twilight knocked on Spike’s door, holding an ink well, a quill, and a few pieces of parchment in her magical grasp. “Spike, you up yet?” she asked, knocking on the door again. “It’s important.”

“Yeah, I’m up,” came Spike’s voice from the other side of the door. “Gimme a few seconds.”

True to his word, the door opened up after a few moments. “What is it, Twilight?” Spike asked, rubbing his eyes with a claw. “You said it was important or something?”

“Yes, it is.” Twilight trotted inside, went to his desk, and sat down. She placed her supplies down on the tabletop, then dipped the tip of her quill in the ink and began to write. Dear Celestia, could you ask Luna if she watched over my dreams last night? I had a nightmare again, but it didn’t last as long as they usually have been for the last several nights. It’s important that you reply at your earliest convenience. Looking over her quick message one last time, she rolled it up and tied a bit of string around it. “Can you send this to Celestia for me?” she asked, levitating the scroll into Spike’s claws.

“Yeah, sure.” Spike held it up and blew fire all around it, spiriting the scroll off in the direction of Canterlot. “Is everything okay?” he asked, peering up at her with an inquisitive gaze.

“Yeah, of course, all things considered,” Twilight said, looking anywhere but at him.

“Twilight.” Spike tapped his foot on the ground. “Twilight,” he said, raising his voice.

“What?” Twilight asked, looking down at him as her ears flopped down.

“I can tell when something’s upset you,” Spike said, crossing his arms. “Come on, what’s—” He was interrupted by that familiar sensation of a scroll coming his way, so with a small burp, the letter appeared.

“Hold that thought!” Twilight said as she leapt from her seat, catching the scroll with her magic. She ripped it open, nearly tearing it in half. Dearest Twilight, my sister informed me that she was unable to get to your dreams last night. There were simply too many for her to handle, and as a result, she is not in the best of moods this morning. Lastly, she wants to know if she should make you a priority in the dream realm, like she has done with myself and Princess Cadence. she read, her eyes darting across the scroll.

“So... everything good?” Spike asked, poking her leg with a single claw.

Twilight’s eyebrows furrowed as she let the scroll roll back up. “Yeah, I think so. I just need you to send one last letter for me real quick...” Moving back to the desk, she lit her horn and scribbled out, While I appreciate the kind gesture, everypony else should take priority over me. Please convey my deepest thanks to Luna. I may have another solution, though I still need to work out some kinks. Lighting her horn, she rolled it up and tossed it to Spike, who promptly spirited it away. She nuzzled his cheek, gathered her supplies, then teleported all of it back to her room. “Want to get some breakfast?” she asked, turning back towards the door. “Starlight’s already making some coffee!”

“Uh... mind if I sleep in for a little while longer?” Spike asked with a sheepish grin, clasping his claws together. “I can make more coffee later.”

Twilight giggled. “Of course, but set your alarm, okay? I don’t want you sleeping into the afternoon while everypony else is working their tails off.”

“You got it!” Spike said. He scampered over to his bed, climbed up into it, and curled up under the sheets.

Twilight chuckled to herself as she walked back out into the hallway, her smile slowly fading away as she got lost in her own thoughts. So if Luna didn’t make my nightmare go away, what did? I’ll have to talk to Tempest about this, and soon.

Chapter 6

Tempest sat on her balcony, a quill held between her lips as she gazed out over Ponyville. She tugged her fleece blanket tighter around herself, hoping that it would banish the morning cold from her fur. She pulled her hind legs in closer, then tucked the blanket under her hooves, leaving her list sitting in front of her. She frowned over her minimal progress, frustrated that she, once an eminent military commander, could not complete a task as important as this.

She spit the quill from her lips. Glancing down at her rather short list for what felt like the hundredth time, she read it again, then laid her head on the railing as she closed her eyes. Okay, first things first. We need to get communications back up, which means the railroads need to be repaired across all of Equestria. The line between Canterlot and here was fine, but we need the rest of the lines connecting us to other cities and towns to be fixed; Canterlot alone cannot provide us with the lumber we need. Spike can send letters to Celestia; at least we have that. Next would be to get building supplies, like wood, nails, tools, and whatever else we need. I doubt that we would be able to cut down enough usable wood to rebuild Ponyville from the nearby woods, so getting the train tracks to other places repaired would help a ton. What else should be done?

The sound of a door opening made Tempest’s eyes snap open. She glanced to the right and saw Twilight walk out onto her own balcony, a yawn forcing itself past her lips.

Tempest cleared her throat. “Morning,” she said, a light smile gracing her lips. “You happen to get any sleep last night?”

Twilight sighed. “Not really. Still had some nightmares.” She flitted over to Tempest’s balcony and sat beside her, a shiver running down her back. “What about you?”

Tempest shook her head as she rubbed her foreleg with a hoof. “I heard you groaning in your sleep again last night, but... I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to wake you up, leave you alone, or... snuggle you again. You, uh... sorta kinda kept me up most of the night.” She pulled the blanket out from under her hind legs and held it open for her. Twilight shot her a grateful smile and scooted closer to her, using her magic to wrap the blanket around herself.

“Sorry about that. I just don’t know what to do. I told Princess Luna to not make me a priority in her dream realm, but after last night... I might just have to ask her for help. I just don’t see any other option.” Twilight let loose another yawn. “There are so many other ponies out there suffering from nightmares, though. As a princess, I have to put the needs of others before myself. I can’t help but feel like I’m stuck.”

“Well...” Tempest paused as Twilight scooted up against her side, allowing them to pull the blanket closed in front of them. Her friend’s warmth seeped into her fur, warming her a lot faster than the blanket could ever accomplish. “Starlight told me the other day that you can’t help others if you don’t take care of yourself.” Tempest shifted in place, her tail swishing about behind her. “Also, I remember you saying yesterday that I shouldn’t feel sorry for snuggling with you, which leads me to believe that you liked snuggling with me. If you want, we can try snuggling again tonight and see if that helps. I just want what’s best for you, really.” Twilight glanced up at her with an inquisitive gaze, making her mouth go dry. “Just to keep us from having nightmares,” Tempest added quickly.

“Sure, I suppose we can give it a shot. I admit it was pretty nice, and I could definitely go for a night without nightmares,” Twilight said as she fluffed her wings. She glanced down and cocked her head to the side ever so slightly. “What’s this?” she asked, using her magic to pick up the piece of parchment between Tempest’s hooves.

“Oh, just a little bit of planning. I wanted to get a head start on figuring out what really needs to get fixed first. I feel like our little meeting yesterday mostly covered short-term solutions and not long-term solutions. Feeding everypony is good and all, but afterwards, we need to round up as many willing ponies to help contribute to Ponyville’s restoration, not just those trained in construction.”

“That’s a good point; we can do that after we feed everypony in a bit. Speaking of which, we should go wake up the rest of our friends if we want to get those apples.” Twilight stood up and walked back towards the door leading to Tempest’s bedroom. “Shall we?” she asked.

“Sure, and I’m glad you came outside when you did.”

“Why’s that?”

Tempest let a sheepish grin slide onto her face as she avoided Twilight’s gaze. “Well, uh... I kinda locked myself out.”

Tempest tightened the apple cart’s strap around her barrel, making sure that it was nice and snug. She took a few steps forward and shot Applejack a confident grin. “Hey, you can hook up another load of apples to the back of my cart if you can. I can easily bring back two!”

“Ya sure about that?” Applejack asked, cocking her head to the side. “They sure are mighty heavy!”

Tempest nodded. “They are, but we wouldn’t have to make a second trip if anypony wanted seconds or thirds. Besides, we need some carts back in town to move supplies around.”

“Heh, that’s a good point. If you’re sure that you can do it, then I’m sure everypony would be mighty thankful.” Applejack secured a second cart to the rear of Tempest’s, then wiped her brow with a hoof. “We all ready to go, gals?” she asked, looking at the rest of her friends in turn.

“We sure are!” Starlight said, pulling her cart up next to Tempest’s.

“Alrighty then!” Applejack secured her own harness around her barrel, then trotted down the path back towards town.

Tempest waited for everypony else to pass her before she started pulling. The harness dug into her fur, making her wince at the strain. The wheels turned a little as she strained to get the carts rolling, and without warning, they lurched forward. She shot a quick glance at Starlight and noticed her horn was lit, an earnest grin plastered across her friend’s face.

“Sorry. Just wanted to help you get started,” Starlight said, her horn dimming. “I’m sure that your load is pretty heavy.”

“Yeah, it is.” Tempest settled into a trot, albeit one slower than everypony else. Starlight kept pace beside her as the rest of their friends pulled ahead. “So, about your idea...”

“Yeah?”

“If the Storm King’s army destroyed Twilight’s mirror, there’s a pretty high chance that there aren’t any other mirrors in town for me to use. I’d like to replace Twilight’s mirror sooner rather than later.”

“Well, somepony around town has a mirrors and windows store. Maybe we could try looking there first!” Starlight said, a gleeful pep in her step. “They might, and I mean that with a lot of skepticism, just have one mirror we could buy.”

“There is?” Tempest asked, shooting a quick glance at Starlight. “You know their name?”

“Nah, but I would recognize him if I saw him again. I’ll let you know if I spot him when we give out apples soon. Celestia knows I could use a new mirror, too...”

Tempest couldn’t help but notice Starlight’s tone change in her last sentence. “Wait, did you have a mirror of your own? One with pictures just like Twilight’s?”

“...Yeah.”

“Oh. I’m sorry about that.”

The rest of their journey lapsed into silence as they made their way back into Ponyville. With the sun rising up into the sky at their backs, they parked their carts on the side of the path leading up to Twilight’s castle.

Tempest breathed a sigh of relief as she unclasped the cart’s harness from her barrel, thankful to be free from its grasp. Starlight parked her cart right next to hers and plopped down beside her. “You think everypony would be up by now?” Tempest asked.

“Probably, but we still need time to make some coffee for those who want it,” Starlight said, beckoning her towards the castle. “Come on, I know the both of us could use a good strong cup or two!” She turned and trotted up the steps and waited for Tempest to catch up.

“Heh, you can say that again!” Tempest said with mirth as she trotted into the castle with her. Twilight and the rest of her friends had already made their way inside. Once they neared the kitchens, a horrible realization struck Tempest. “Starlight, wait,” she said, stopping in place. “Isn’t the coffee creamer all gone?” she asked, wincing ever so slightly.

Starlight huffed. “Ugh! You’re right! Twilight used the last of it yesterday.” Starlight’s shoulders slumped. “What are we gonna do now? I hate drinking coffee without any creamer.”

“Yeah, me too, but what about sugar? We could probably add enough of it to make drinking coffee bearable!” Tempest said, nudging Starlight’s side with her shoulder. She shot her a warm smile and said, “Besides, coffee with sugar is better than drinking it straight, right?”

“I suppose...” Starlight groaned. “Looks like we’re off to a great start this morning...”

“It’ll be fine. We can probably find some more coffee creamer in town. Where do you guys usually buy it from?”

“From the market, but Celestia knows that that isn’t opening any time soon,” Starlight said, pushing open the door to the kitchen.

“Uh... how would Celestia know such a little detail like that?” Tempest asked with a chuckle. “It’s not like she’s able to know everything that’s going on in all of Equestria.” She followed Starlight into the kitchen and paused again, her ears flicking back to lay flat on her head as her eyes went wide. “Wait... can she?”

“What?” Starlight glanced back at her with furrowed eyebrows. “Of course she can’t.”

“Oh. Right,” she said with a sheepish grin. If she was able to watch over all of Equestria at the same time, she would have most definitely sensed the Storm King’s invasion coming from miles and miles away. Gotta think before I say something stupid... “Sorry. I just haven’t had any coffee yet.”

“Heh, I understand. I say dumb things sometimes too when I haven’t had coffee,” Starlight shot back with a grin. “Anyways, we’ll just have to make do with what we have for now.”

“Yeah.” She sat down next to Starlight and set her gaze on Twilight. “Hey, what’s the hold up?” she asked, her gaze switching to the upside-down bag of coffee in Twilight’s grasp.

“We ran out of coffee up here,” Twilight said. “Can you and Starlight run down to the basement and bring up a few bags? There should be some on top of the shipping crates.”

“Yep!” Starlight nudged Tempest’s leg with a hoof as she stood up. “Come on, let’s get a move on.”

“Alright,” Tempest said. “So where is this basement?”

“Just down the hall.” Starlight turned and trotted further down the hallway, then stopped in front of a thick wood door. “Pretty sure it’s through here!” she said, lighting her horn. “I still get turned around in here from time to time.” She yanked it open and peered inside. “Well, there are some steps going down, so this has gotta be it.”

Tempest shrugged. “I suppose so. You would know better than I, after all.”

Starlight kept her horn lit as they made their way down the winding staircase. When they finally reached the bottom, she pushed more magic into her horn and cast a ball of light to sit in the middle of the room. “Ugh! What’s that smell?”

Tempest bit her tongue as she groaned. “So they hit the basement, too? Those beasts sure were thorough; more than I gave them credit for,” she said, taking a few steps into the room. “Where’s the coffee? There might be a chance that they didn’t do anything to it, but...”

“But what?” Starlight asked with a whine as she walked past her.

“They were trained to destroy anything that could be of use to the inhabitants of Equestria. The Storm King gave them orders to destroy railroads, bridges, and any other infrastructure deemed important enough to cripple the country. While coffee wasn’t on the official list... food was. Maybe they left the coffee alone.”

“One can only hope.” Starlight walked further into the room and disappeared behind some large crates. “Or maybe they just wanted to destroy a princess’s supply of coffee.”

“What do you mean?” Tempest asked as she walked up beside Starlight. Crates of coffee lay smashed on the floor, the horrid smell growing much stronger. Her nose wrinkled up as she noticed several large piles of excrement mixed in with the coffee beans. “Oh. Uh... Twilight’s not gonna like this.”

“I don’t like this!” Starlight kicked some of the broken wood further into the mess. “So what are we gonna do now?”

Tempest bit back a yawn. “Well... good question. I have no idea.”

“I’m not going to be the one to tell Twilight about this.”

“Yeah... I figured as much.”

Chapter 7

“Uh... Twilight?” Tempest bit her bottom lip so hard that she thought it was going to puncture her skin, but that was the last thing on her mind. “I have some bad news,” she said as she walked back into the kitchen. Starlight followed her in and sat down beside her, the scent of feces and urine mixed with coffee still stuck in her nose.

Twilight sighed. “More bad news?” Her shoulders slumped as her gaze settled on Tempest. “What is it?” she asked.

Tempest cocked her head to the side. “Wait, what do you mean more bad news?” she asked. “You go first.”

“Huh? You already know what happened; the coffee creamer, remember? It’s all gone.”

“Oh, right...” Wishing that she had something to wet her incredibly dry mouth, Tempest sat down and flicked her tail. “So about our bad news... My former army destroyed your supply of coffee,” she said, the pit in her stomach deepening. “There’s nothing left.”

“N-No coffee?” Rainbow asked, her eyes going wide. “Please tell me you’re joking.”

Tempest shook her head. “I wish I wasn’t, but... they let loose down there, if you know what I mean.”

“Ew, gross.” Rainbow gagged, then flapped her wings once. “Might as well start giving out the apples to everypony, I guess.” She shouldered past Tempest without uttering an apology before turning the corner, then trotted away from them.

Tempest rubbed the shoulder where Rainbow had pushed her, then turned around and stood up to catch up to Rainbow, but she felt Starlight nudge her side.

“Give her some space, okay? When she’s not in the best of moods, she tends to stay like that for a while.” Starlight stood up and let the rest of their friends follow Rainbow into the hallway, except for Twilight.

“Listen...” Twilight sat down in front of Starlight and Tempest and waited until they looked up at her. “I know you two personally didn’t cause the mess down there, but I was going to spend today cleaning up my home, and... that includes the basement.” Her eyes flicked between the two of them. “Could you two please clean up the basement for me? I’d rather not see what it looks like down there.”

Tempest nodded. “Sure. Got any brooms?” she asked, looking around the kitchen. “Once we pass out the apples, I can use one of the empty wagons to help carry stuff up here.”

Starlight chuckled, gesturing towards her horn. “Or maybe I could use my magic instead of you doing a ton of manual labor.”

“You got me there,” Tempest said, nudging her back with a hoof. Looking back at Twilight, she said, “So... if you’re going to start cleaning, can Starlight and I help pass out the apples first?”

“Sure. I was going to get my bedroom cleaned for, um... later,” she squeaked, her cheeks turning a soft pink as her gaze locked on the floor between them.

“Awesome,” Tempest said, shooting her a warm smile. Twilight met her gaze, nodded, then trotted out into the hallway.

“Uh... What was that all about?” Starlight asked, cocking her head to the side.

Tempest laughed. “Remember how yesterday we were talking about trying to replace Twilight’s bad memories with good ones?” Starlight nodded slowly. “Well... last night, I heard Twilight having another nightmare, no doubt about me. Unlike the night before, I didn’t get up to, uh... help her. She found me on my little balcony this morning, and she told me that she can’t really keep having nightmares, and she’s had them every night since the Storm King was killed. I might have just, um...” She rubbed the back of her neck, feeling Starlight’s gaze pierce every essence of her being. “I asked if she wanted to try snuggling with me tonight.”

Starlight smirked.

Tempest wilted a bit. “It’s not what you think, and I know what you’re thinking about; that morning where you walked in on us means nothing.”

“Yeah, sure...” Starlight said, drawing out her words as she nodded slowly.

Tempest sighed.

It took nearly an hour to distribute the apples, but Tempest knew that she had to be there if she wanted to have any hope of repairing her image in the eyes of the townsponies. With three whole carts left in reserve for meals and snacks throughout the day, and maybe some for tomorrow if they were lucky, she was glad that they weren’t in fear of going hungry. Twilight and the rest of her friends were sitting off to the side, chatting amongst themselves as a few more ponies walked out of the castle.

Tempest’s breath caught in her throat as she recognized the filly from her first night at the castle. She clutched her teddy bear against her side as she walked down the steps, taking care so that she wouldn’t slip and fall. A tan unicorn walked beside her, a warm smile on his face as he guided her down the steps. The filly paused on the last step as she looked up at her and Starlight. The tan unicorn glanced over toward Starlight, then looked over at her.

Tempest threw on a nervous smile as she sat down. She waved at them to come over, then grabbed a couple of the juiciest-looking apples from the top of the cart beside her as she stepped out in front of the small table. She lay down in front of it, then held up an apple for the filly.

They glanced up at the stallion as if they were silently asking for permission, then she licked her lips as she eyed the apples in Tempest’s hooves. Tempest heard him say, “It’s okay, sweetie.” The filly shot another cautious glance at her, then walked over to her. “Good morning, cutie,” Tempest said softly, then lifted the apple a little higher. “I saved the best ones for you!”

The filly relaxed ever so slightly, her forehoof sliding a couple inches down her side before walking up to her. “Th-Thank you,” she stuttered as she moved her teddy bear onto her back. Without hesitation, she grabbed one of the apples from Tempest’s hoof and gobbled it down without a second thought.

The father walked up to them with a set jaw and tense muscles. “Run along, sweetie. Go find your friends to play with, okay?” he cooed into her ear. As his daughter ran off, he set his gaze upon Tempest.

Tempest pushed herself up off the ground and let a sheepish smile slide onto her face. “H-Hey there,” she said, holding up the other apple for him. His horn ignited and slapped the apple from her hoof.

“I know who you are,” he growled, just shy of her daughter’s hearing. “And I know what you’ve done. Your actions drove my filly and I from our home.”

Tempest watched him carefully, noticing the telltale signs of a stallion who wanted a fight. She moved her hind legs together, preparing to spring away. As much as his words betrayed his emotions, they cut her just as deeply as she knew in her heart that he was right. Tempest’s mouth went dry.

“Y-Yeah, and I’m really sorry about that. I had no idea how those brutes were going to treat your town.” His eyes shifted to her right. She straightened up as every muscle in her body tensed, yet she still spoke as submissively as a filly trapped in a corner. “I’m just trying to make things right.”

The unicorn huffed, his eyes narrowing for what felt like a lifetime, as if he was debating something. “Sure is gonna take a while,” he said, sitting down as he relaxed a little bit. “I saw what you did for my filly the other night. Had I not seen you push her teddy bear back into her grasp, we would be having a very different conversation right now, and lemme tell ya, there wouldn’t be much of a conversation.”

For a split second, the urge to grit her teeth crossed her mind. The back of her head tickled, and the almost irresistible impulse to utter a retort clawed at her tongue. Yes, and if you had seen how I handled your princesses, we both would know how that would end.

Tempest bit her tongue in surprise, then banished the thought deep down within. She sighed and lowered her head. “You’d be well within your rights to inflict harm upon me; I’d do the same if I was in your place. Like I said, I’m really sorry about what happened. Is there anything I can do for you and your daughter?” she asked, a bit of hopefulness clinging to her words.

He rubbed his chin with a hoof. “My shop is still pretty wrecked. I was gonna go and see what I can do to fix it so that we could sleep in our own beds again, but I sure could use some help.”

Tempest’s ears perked up. “Yeah? I would be more than happy to assist you with repairs, but I have to help Twilight clean up part of the castle first, so... I can probably swing by your place in a few hours to help you. Sound good?”

The stallion grinned. “Sure does! My place is just a few blocks down the main road. Take a right once you reach Sugarcube Corner, then go another two blocks. My place is on the left.”

“Got it,” Tempest said. “What kind of business do you run?”

“It’s nothing special, really. I just sell mirrors.”

Chapter 8

Tempest trudged up the steps to Twilight’s castle, every muscle in her body sore from working all day. Sawdust and dried sweat mingled on her coat, and she had endured no small amount of scratches, though she wore them with a well-hidden pride as a sign of a hard day’s work. She and the shop owner had made great strides in repairing the roof of his shop, but a great deal of the work was yet to be accomplished. Each step made her muscles scream at her to stop and rest; if she could teleport, she would have done so back at the shop. The shop owner had even offered her a blanket and a pillow if she had wanted to spend the night there, but the promise of snuggles and a soft bed had made her decline.

She pushed open the castle’s front doors as quietly as she could, though their hinges still squeaked louder than she had hoped. Tempest winced as she paused, then slipped inside, the sides of the doors scraping against her fur. Some sawdust fell to the floor as she wiggled her way in. She glanced back over her shoulder and thought of the shop owner who had chosen to stay in his home with his filly, then shut the doors as carefully as she could.

Tempest crept through the spacious foyer, taking great care to not disturb any of the sleeping ponies. A wry smile grew on her lips as she heard some stallion let loose a tremendous snore; she wondered how anypony could sleep with him in the room. Hoping that Twilight was still up, she stopped at the base of the stairs leading to their bedrooms and looked up, her shoulders slumping. If only I could use my magic to get up these blasted stairs... she thought as she groaned. She steeled her will and thought of the relief that would await her at the top, so with that thought lodged in her mind, she slowly walked upstairs, each step harder than the last.

When she finally reached the top step, she wanted nothing more than to collapse and call it a night, but she saw a bit of light seep out from underneath Twilight’s door just a little ways away. After a deep breath, she walked forward, the muscles in her forelegs feeling tight, like they were being stretched to their limits. Twilight’s door came ever closer, then she finally stopped in front of it. She sat down, wanting to rest for a few moments, then lifted her hoof to open the door. Right as she was about to open it, though, she took pause as she remembered Starlight barging in a couple of days ago, so instead, she knocked.

“Come in,” came Twilight’s voice.

Tempest breathed a sigh of relief, glad that Twilight was still awake. She opened the door and shut it behind her, then sat down again. “How was your day?” she asked with a soft smile.

Twilight pushed aside her book and slipped off the bed. “Less tiring than yours, by the looks of it,” she quipped, returning Tempest’s smile. “It seems you worked your tail off, going by all the sawdust on you.”

“You have no idea,” Tempest said with a laugh. “I haven’t been this tired in years!”

“I’m sure,” Twilight said with a nod. She levitated a couple of large cushions over, then set them down between them. “Would you like something to drink?” she asked as they settled down.

Tempest laid her head between her forelegs and sighed. “Please.”

Twilight levitated over a couple of glasses over for them followed by a pitcher of water, then filled them up. “Here you go,” she said as she fluffed her wings. “Did you have dinner?”

Tempest nodded. “Yeah, I brought some of the leftover apples to that pony’s shop and ate them when I got hungry. I’m fine.”

“Okay. If you change your mind, I have some apples over there near the window. Too bad we don’t have much else at the moment,” Twilight said, pointing at a large bowl with a wing. She shifted closer to Tempest, then recoiled slightly as she covered her muzzle with a hoof. “Whew...” she muttered under her breath.

“Is something the matter?” Tempest asked, lifting an eyebrow.

Twilight glanced off to the side for a few moments. “Let’s just say that I think it would be in our best interests if you take a shower before we, um... snuggle,” she squeaked, hiding behind a sheepish smile. “You, uh... you don’t smell nice.”

“Is it really bad?” Tempest lifted her head and saw Twilight’s nose wrinkle.

“Um... yeah,” she said with a giggle. “I had to take a bath when I was done today, and it looks like you worked twice as hard as I did.”

“Then why did you let me lay down on this cushion?” Tempest asked, taking a few big gulps of water. “I don’t even want to think about how much one of these cost.”

“Because you were tired, of course!” Twilight said. “Besides, they’re easier to clean that you think. Speaking of cleaning, you wanna go take a shower?” she asked with a yawn.

“To be blunt, I do not think I have the energy to get up and go to my room. If I go in there, I’m going to collapse on the bed and not budge until noon tomorrow.” Tempest stretched her forelegs, then relaxed. She pushed aside her glass. “Any chance I can use yours?”

“Sure, go right ahead! Be fast, though; I was about to go to bed in a few minutes.”

“Alright, thanks,” Tempest said as she pushed herself up. Ignoring her muscles screaming at her to lay down and forget about taking a shower, she trudged into the bathroom, stepped into the shower stall then turned on the water, as hot as it could go. Tempest breathed a sigh of relief as she felt all the sawdust and dried sweat wash away, then she opened her eyes as she looked around for some shampoo. “So... who cleaned up the basement?” she called out.

“Starlight and I. When you said that they let loose down there, I... I wasn’t expecting it to be that bad,” Twilight said. “That awful scent mixed with ruined coffee? Ugh; I can’t get it out of my nose! And if you define cleaned up as teleporting it all to the town dump, then yes, we did get it all cleaned up!” Twilight said with a short laugh.

Tempest sat down, squirted some shampoo onto her front hooves, then lathered herself up. “I would have done that myself, but... you know.”

“Don’t worry about it; you would have had to use a broom and carry all of it to the dump. I don’t think I’d want to snuggle with you if you smelled like, uh... excrement.”

Tempest laughed. “Yeah, I don’t think that’d be a good idea.” Tempest rinsed the shampoo from her fur, then turned off the shower. She lifted her left hoof up to her nose and sniffed. “Cherry-scented shampoo?” she asked as she took a good look at the bottle. “Really?”

“That’s actually Starlight’s; she’s letting me borrow her extra bottle until we can get some fresh supplies. Beggars can’t be choosers, after all, and at least we have shampoo. I’m sure most of Ponyville isn’t as lucky as we are,” Twilight said. “Anyways, hurry up and finish up in there; I’m going to get the bed ready.”

Tempest looked back into the bedroom and saw most of the light fade. “Sounds good. I’ll be out in a minute,” she said as she grabbed a nearby towel. Tempest hefted it in her hoof and noticed that it was damp. With a roll of her eyes, she tossed it aside and grabbed the one next to it and dried herself off. Feeling reasonably dry, she threw the used towel on top of the other one and trudged back into Twilight’s room, ready for the thing she’d been looking forward to the most all day. “So, uh... how do you want to go about this?” she asked.

“Well... when we snuggled last time, you were the big spoon, and, uh...” Twilight climbed into her bed and patted the spot next to her with a hoof. “I think that worked p-pretty well, and, um... hehe.” She threw on an awkward smile and blushed a little bit. “You can be the little spoon tonight if you want. If we make this a regular thing, we can keep switching places every other night, or we can—”

“We can figure things out as we go,” Tempest said as she climbed into bed beside her. She lay down on her side and let her head come to rest on a pillow, then finally relaxed, feeling her muscles thank her for the relief they felt. She fought hard to keep her eyes open, for the urge to let her eyelids slide shut and sleep for the next twelve hours was a fight she was sure to lose.

“Sure, we can do that, or we can switch positions in the middle of the night, or—”

Tempest pressed a hoof against Twilight’s lips. “Just snuggle me, Twilight,” she said with a light giggle.

“Heh, not gonna say no to that.” Twilight twirled a hoof in midair. “Can you roll over? It’d be a lot easier if your back was facing me,” she said with a comforting smile.

“If you say so,” Tempest said, pushing herself over onto her other side. She collapsed into place with a soft oomph as Twilight leaned over her. Is she gonna lay on my head? she wondered, her muzzle scrunching up in confusion. Oh... she thought as she saw Twilight blow out the last remaining lit candle on her nightstand, plunging the room into utter darkness. The smell of smoke grazed against her nostrils, making her muzzle wrinkle again. She took a deep breath, then blew the smoke away. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Twilight’s horn lit up the room with a faint purple glow as she pulled the sheets up to their shoulders, then the light faded. Tempest couldn’t help but smile as she felt Twilight slide closer to her. Her cheeks burned crimson as her ears flicked back.

“Tell you what... On the off chance that I have a nightmare, it’d be okay for you to wake me up,” Twilight said.

“Yeah, same goes for me,” Tempest said, feeling Twilight drape a foreleg over her. She folded her forelegs up to her chest, allowing Twilight’s leg to gently hold them. Her warmth seeped into her back as she settled in, then she felt Twilight’s hind leg settle over her cutie mark. She curled up a little bit in an effort to get into a more comfortable position, only to have Twilight follow suit; her lower belly pressed firmly against her back. Then, as if that wasn’t good enough, Twilight draped a wing over her and tugged her close. “Geez, you really know how to snuggle,” she said, her eyes going wide a moment later. She bit her tongue to keep herself from saying anything else embarrassing as she thought, Come on... think before you speak.

“I’ve had some practice over the years,” Twilight said, laying her head above Tempest’s on the pillow. She nuzzled her between the ears, then settled down.

“Oh? The famous Princess Twilight has a secret special someone that everypony else doesn’t know about?” Tempest asked with a snicker.

“What? No, it’s not like that at all. I don’t have a special somepony; I never did. I just practiced snuggling with a big pillow a ton.”

“Really?”

“Mhm. It’s the big pillow behind the one we’re using.”

“No, not that. You’ve never dated anyone?” Tempest asked softly. “Why not?”

Several seconds of silence drifted between them. “I never had time,” came Twilight’s soft voice. “And now that I’m a princess, there’s a lot of ponies out there who want to be with me, but... they just want me because I’m a princess, not because they actually like me as a pony.”

“Yeah... I can see how that’d be tough.” She felt Twilight swallow, then nod against the back of her head.

“What about you?”

Tempest’s breath caught in her throat. “...No,” she finally managed to say. “I haven’t, er... had the most normal of lives, as you might already know. In my old line of work, you really don’t have time for love or affection, especially in the ranks of the Storm King.”

“Could one say that you were in a similar situation?”

“What do you mean?”

Twilight shifted a little bit, then flicked her tail around Tempest’s hind legs. “Well... you couldn’t date someone because you outranked them all, right? It wouldn’t have been proper.”

“Oh, that. It wasn’t about me being unable to date someone because of my rank. There wasn’t anypony to date; I was the only pony in his army. And like you said, I just didn’t have time. The thought to search for somepony to love never crossed my mind.”

“So we’re like two peas in a pod,” Twilight said with a short giggle.

“Yeah, you could say that,” Tempest said, followed by a long, drawn-out yawn which was followed by one from Twilight. “So...” Another yawn forced itself past her lips. “Am I the only one thinking that we’re not going to have nightmares tonight?”

“Heh, nope!” Twilight nuzzled her between the ears again. “Thanks for snuggling with me the other night; if I sleep half as good as that night, I’ll be a happy mare tomorrow morning.”

“Uh...” Tempest laughed nervously. “You forget that we don’t have any more coffee?”

“...Ponyfeathers.”