Slumber of the Storm

Chapters

Chapter 1: Solstice
Chapter 2: Chasing Past
Chapter 3: Buried Dreams
Chapter 4: You'll Know
Chapter 5: Wintertide
Epilogue: One More

Chapter 1: Solstice

Don’t make the same mistake again.

Tempest leapt upon the rubble, forcing every last bit of energy into her hooves. She could see the ponies now. All six of them huddled together, aiming the Staff of Sarcanas at her. She wanted to shout. To scream at them to turn around. Yet she found her voice missing, and her mind blank. Her eyes focused in on the glowing green orb in the Storm King’s claw, watching as he reeled back his arm before tossing it towards the group.

“No!”

Tempest sprung from her position, leaping over the group that still saw her as an enemy. She allowed her body to move on its own, adjusting every twitch of her hoof or sway of her tail to intercept the obsidian orb. Before she knew it, the orb had collided with her body, exploding into a thick green mist and causing a sharp pain to shoot through her veins.

She gritted her teeth and refocused her gaze onto the Storm King. The creeping pain told her that the rock had already started to encase her body. With one last movement of her hoof, she sent as much of the mist as possible towards her betrayer, watching as black, jagged stone began to grow on his leg.

That was the last thing Tempest did before all movement was stolen from her. The vicious infection creeped around her form, eventually encasing her face. The final sight she shared was that of the Storm King. Frozen. Horrified. Falling down to the land below.

And then she saw nothing at all.

Her body was gone, but her mind was still alive. She had a vague sense of sinking. Of plummeting through the air and she knew what was coming. Her heart raced. Her mind wanted to scream. Yet, her body didn’t respond. Slowly, she knew, it was reaching closer.

The ground.

Her end.

At any other time, her mind would have been racing to find a way out. Thousands of options would be racing through her mind as she considered how best to approach the situation. But Tempest knew there was no hope. Not anymore. And the thought caused an overwhelming fear to consume her body.

Someone. Anyone. She begged in her mind, hoping for a reply. But not a single voice gave her the comfort she seeked. It didn’t surprise her. All the actions she took, all the deeds she had done. This was what she should receive. This is what you deserve.

Like the rest of her life, she was alone.

No one will come for you.

It was then that she felt the touch of the ground beneath her frozen hoof.

And she shattered.

Tempest jolted from her slumber with a loud gasp. She expected to be greeted with the heavy stench of Klugetown, or the dry, arid air of the desert. Instead, her nose was met with crisp, cold frost. For a second, it merely sent her heart racing even faster than it already was. But when she took a look around her castle room, she realized what had just happened.

Just a dream. Tempest shook her head, wiping the sweat that was pouring forth. J-just a dream. I’m safe.

Tempest shut her eyes, forcing herself to take slow breaths to calm her fraying nerves. Once she had gotten her hooves somewhat under control, she tossed her blanket to the side and left to the living area.

At this hour, Tempest expected the castle to be lit only by the winter moonlight leaking through the windows. But to her surprise, she spotted an almost blinding amount of light pouring through the slightly ajar kitchen door. The squeak of the hinges as Tempest pushed it open drew the attention of the only other pony in the room.

“Tempest?” Twilight frowned as she looked over her shoulder. Their gazes met for just a second, but it was clear to her just why she was awake. “Nightmares again?”

Twilight’s question was met with silence as Tempest trotted towards the fridge. She pulled the door open with a swift tug of her hoof and surveyed the contents inside.

“Tempest…”

Tempest swiped a bottle of soda from the top shelf. A soft hiss filled the room as she twisted the cap open with the edge of her hoof. After taking a sip, she swung around, noting that Twilight was still staring at her.

“Fizzlepo—”

A heavy sigh escaped Tempest’s muzzle. “Yes, nightmares.”

“What’s it about this time? The Ursa attack?”

Tempest shook her head.

“The abandonment?”

She drew a deep breath.

“...The sacrifice?”

Silence.

Twilight turned her attention back onto her book, flipping another page. “You know, I’ve been reading about nightmares. There’s a few methods here we could try out to see if it’d help.”

“I don’t believe this is a problem we can just… fix. Especially not with lemon and sugar.”

Twilight sighed, tilting her head up to meet Tempest’s eyes. “I’m just trying to help.”

“I know. I just… I… I know.”

Neither mare said a word, leaving only silence to hang between them. Twilight had her eyes glued to her book, the title of which Tempest couldn’t see. Though if it was anything like the other tomes Twilight had been reading, it was probably related to dreams and nightmares.

Why is she willing to help me so much? After what I… As the thought crossed her mind, she lowered her head and let out an audible grunt. Upon returning her gaze to Twilight, she spotted her staring back with a concerned gaze.

“So what’re you doing up so late? Reading?” Tempest attempted to change the subject with the first topic that came to her mind.

“Yeah…” Twilight shut the book with a soft thud, placing it softly upon the countertop. “Just… reading.” Twilight said, turning her attention to the nearby window as her ears fell.

Tempest lifted the bottle to her mouth once more, sipping the beverage without another word.

“So, Tempest, Hearth’s Warming is coming up. Any plans?”

Tempest tapped the bottle several times before setting it lightly onto the counter. “I… don’t know. Is it still the same since I’ve last experienced it?”

“Well, what was it like the last time you had a Hearth’s Warming party?”

“Food. Hot cider. Irritatingly loud happy music blasting in every shop I go into?”

“Hey! Those songs are well-composed pieces of melodies that stood the test of time!”

“For better or for worse,” Tempest joked, unable to suppress a smirk from appearing on her lips. It only grew when she turned up just in time to see Twilight give an annoyed huff. “To answer your question, no. I don’t have any plans. Honestly, I’m not even sure if anyone here wants to hang out with a unicorn that enslaved their entire race.”

“Tempest, that’s in the past.”

“Maybe so. But the past can still hurt the present.”

Twilight gave a defeated sigh. “Whatever the case, I do hope you’ll join us for our annual Hearth’s Warming Party. I’m sure our friends would love to have you around.”

“Thanks, Twilight. I’ll… I’ll think about it. There’s still a lot for me to take in right now. A lot for me to deal with.” Tempest felt a storm of thoughts racing through her mind as she spoke. ‘A lot’ felt like an understatement.

Twilight nodded, levitating her cup to her lips. However, upon returning her attention to Tempest, she quickly released her magic and picked the cup up using her hooves. This action did not go unnoticed to Tempest, who felt a mixture of guilt and rage swirl in her heart.

“Twilight, me being here doesn’t mean you have to cut off using magic, you know?”

“O-oh!” Twilight’s face immediately went bright red. Her eyes darted down to her cup and she began to stammer, “I… I mean, I was just… trying to, you know. Make you feel more at home!”

“Well, all it does is make me feel guilty. Just be yourself around me. Don’t stop yourself from casting magic just because…” Tempest moved her eyes up, spotting the cracked base at where her horn once was. She swung around, facing her back towards Twilight before taking a long, slow sip of her soda.

The next thing she felt was a hoof on her shoulder. When she turned, she saw Twilight staring back at her with a frown on her face.

“I’m sorry. I was just afraid of bringing up bad memories.”

“It’s okay.” Tempest allowed a beat to pass. “Happens every night anyway,” she whispered under her breath. When it dawned on her that she had just voiced her thoughts out loud, she quickly gulped the rest of the soda in and headed towards the door.

“Tempest!”

“Good night, Twilight. Don’t stay up too late, alright?”

The rest of the night passed by in a blink.

Tempest didn’t even know she had fallen asleep. There were no dreams. Though from the past few days, she didn’t necessarily see that as a bad thing. It felt as if only a second had passed, and the sun was already up in the sky, raining its light onto Ponyville.

The blanket was softly pushed aside with a wave of her hoof. She propped herself up onto a hoof, making sure to take a glance out her window as she crossed it. The snow-covered streets of Ponyville were filled with ponies of all ages. Most of them were trotting along merrily, humming tunes or speaking to their friends. If the winter attire they were donning did not give the season away, the white specks falling from the sky certainly did.

It’s been awhile since I’ve seen this sight. Tempest extended her hoof out the open window, catching a few flakes of snow.

All through her self-imposed exile, she rarely felt the urge to come back. However, one of those strongest moments was during that of Hearth’s Warming. She had sorely missed the joyful air, the pouring snow and, most importantly, the comfort of her own home.

But snow had held a different meaning for Tempest for decades. It brought with it not joy, warmth or happiness. But instead, cold, loneliness and chilling pain.

As the memories of her past threatened to intrude into her mind, she quickly leapt off the bed and exited her room, grabbing her coat on the way out. On the way to the dining room, she noted the array of colorful lights hanging in the hallways. Some were hung around the windows, placed an equal distance from each other in a perfectly repeating pattern of yellow, green, blue then red. While others, like those that trailed around the furniture, were more haphazardly placed. Though in its chaos, Tempest found a certain sort of charm that brought a smile to her face. It took her mind away from the nightmares and from her past. Something she treasured, no matter how brief the moment was.

As Tempest entered the main hall, the grand scale of the single decoration present struck her dumb. The tree that sat in the middle of the room stood no less than two stories tall, towering over the balcony of the castle study rooms. It stood bare of any decorations, but its sheer size and perfect green pines left Tempest a little speechless at its sight.

Tempest pushed open the door to the dining room. “Twilight? Is your tree always that big?”

“Tempest!” Twilight’s horn lit up and she vanished in a flash of purple light, only to reappear in front of Tempest’s face. “Okay, I’ve solved it!”

“Great!” Tempest forced a grin. After what felt like an eternity of silence, she proceeded to ask the most obvious question that was on her mind. “S-solved what?”

“I know how I can get the nightmares to stop!”

A loud sigh was Tempest’s response. She trotted past Twilight and headed towards her seat. “Twilight, I don’t want to keep repeating myself, but there is no ‘solving’ this nightmare problem. It’s something I’ll have deal with on my own.”

“No, but hear me out! I know somepony who can help! She’s one of my best friends and she has a lot of experience with this!”

“About… enslaving an entire nation which probably now hates you? And dealing with the personal worry that you’ll never truly be forgiven or allowed to forget your actions?” Tempest raised an eyebrow.

“Well yes. Wait, no. I mean… sort of?”

“Uh… huh. Well, I wouldn’t want to trouble anyone, but if you want to try, I suppose I have nothing to lose.” Tempest took a sip of her juice, then a bite of her pancake. “Plus, it might give me experience into this whole ‘making friends’ thing.”

“Great! I’ll tell her and see if she’s free to come down! You two are going to get along great! I just know it!”

Tempest couldn’t help but smile at Twilight’s unbounded enthusiasm. If there was one thing she had to give credit to the ponies for, it was their tenacity. Twilight’s in particular was something to be admired. It almost rivaled her own.

Almost.

“Well, while you do that, I’m going to take a walk through Ponyville. See if I can get some hot cocoa, or maybe some Windigo biscuits!” Tempest raised her voice to a joyful tone. The thought of biting into one of the delicious cookies and sipping thick chocolate made her heart soar and her mouth salivate.

“You’ll want to stop by Sugarcube Corner for those! But go quickly. During Hearth’s Warming, Pinkie’s treats are legendary throughout Equestria.”

Tempest gave a single nod before heading out the door and moving onto the streets of Ponyville.

Stay strong. Keep walking. Hold your head high. Tempest repeated the words to herself like a mantra.

She looked around at the ponies she passed. Watching as they avoided her at all cost. If she was lucky, all she would get is a dart of their eyes away from her direction in an attempt to avoid contact with her. Others would show visible signs of anger, disgust and rage. Wherever Tempest trotted, there was an empty circle forming around her. Almost like she was a diseased individual. The worst part of all was that Tempest knew these actions were warranted. After what she did, she didn’t expect to be treated any different. And if she were them?

She’d probably react the same way.

Slowly, the guilt and sadness built within her. It compounded with every passing second. Every whispered ‘look at her’ or ‘she helped the Storm King’ would only deepen the wound. They must’ve thought that Tempest couldn’t hear them.

Or maybe they wanted her to.

Tempest couldn’t help but drop her head with the weight of the air around her. The once joyful and light atmosphere seemed to disappear wherever she trotted, turning as dark as her coat. And yet, she continued her facade, trotting forward with her eyes locked forward onto the road ahead.

It took only a few more minutes on the streets before Tempest arrived at Sugarcube Corner. And, just as Twilight said, there was a huge line out the door. Ponies, griffons and more were queuing around the block.

Maybe I’ll just… come back when Pinkie’s less busy. Tempest turned to leave, when suddenly, a delicious aroma filled her nose. Taking a deep whiff, she smelled a buttery scent wafting through the air. Her mind was quickly filled with images of hot, crispy cookies coated in sugar and frosting. She could almost imagine that first bite, her teeth sinking into the crunchy texture, feeling the bits melt in her mouth. All downed by a sip of her favorite drink.

Tempest shook her head to snap herself out of the fantasy.

Well, I do have time. Tempest trotted past the line, feeling daggered stares being aimed at her. She tried to pay them no mind and resumed her trot, following the line of ponies until an empty spot was present, all the way at the back of Sugarcube Corner.

To her left was a window that she could see led into the kitchen. From it, the smell of freshly baked Hearth’s Warming goods only grew more intense with each passing second. A smell that brought back memories of her at the local bakery, waiting patiently outside with the ponies she once called friends. Back then, her stomach would growl at that very smell. Something that had not changed.

I didn’t know I missed Windigo cookies that much. Tempest took a few quick glances around, wondering if anyone caught the sound. When she looked forward, she saw a green filly staring up at her with wide, curious eyes.

Tempest forced a grin to her face and gave a soft wave of her hoof.

“What happened to your horn?”

“O-oh! Umm… an… accident.”

“What kind of accident?”

“Y-you don’t want to know,” Tempest spoke with a tinge of sadness.

“Does it hurt?”

Tempest stared up at the shattered stub on her head. She tried her best not to think of the Ursa Minor, or anything about her past. “Y-yeah. It still hurts.”

Before the filly had a chance to ask another question, the mare beside her grabbed the filly’s hoof, dragging her away from Tempest.

“Don’t talk to strangers, okay honey?”

Tempest raised her hoof on instinct. She wanted to tell the mare that there was nothing to be afraid of, that she had changed.

Yet, as the words went through her head, she could only imagine what the outcome would be. They would probably shout at her, or bring up the incident she caused a couple of months back. She had no solid way to argue against those. For they were truths, and there was nothing she could say that would temper their anger after that point.

Tempest lowered her hoof and stared down at the ground. She had never felt so helpless, nor unwanted.

Why do I keep on making the same mistakes? Her mouth fell into a frown, and tears threatened to reach the edge of her eyes. Before she could continue her train of thought, a loud shrill voice called out from beside her.

“Hello, everypony!” Pinkie Pie yelled from the kitchen window, giving energetic waves to the ponies in line. “Just wanted to let everypony know that the first batch of treats are going to be up in five minutes!”

The crowd erupted into a chorus of applause and excited murmurs. Even Tempest felt her troubled thoughts seep away upon seeing Pinkie’s bright grin. She had read about magic for her entire life. Yet, nothing could compare to the joy Pinkie is able to spread just by speaking a few words. She knew Pinkie was no unicorn, but to her, it was magic all the same.

“That’s what I like to hear!” Pinkie screamed out. “So just prepare, everypony! And—”

Suddenly, Pinkie’s gaze locked with Tempest. And the huge grin that grew on Pinkie’s muzzle immediately caused Tempest to fill with worry. She knew what was coming next and in a vain attempt to prevent it, Tempest waved her hooves rapidly in a ‘no’ motion.

“Fizzlepop!? You’re here!?”

Tempest slammed her hoof so hard into her face, she feared a concussion.

“Well what’re you doing there!? Come on up!”

Tempest lowered her hooves, just in time to see every pony in the vicinity staring at her. Some had looks of utter confusion, while others had stared at her with looks of complete irritation.

“P-Pinkie, thanks but, I’d really rather queue.”

“Pssh, silly pony. I mean that I need your help in the kitchen!”

“Oh. Umm, are you sure?”

“Duh! Come on through the front door, I’ll open it!” Pinkie shouted before slinking back into the bakery.

As Tempest made her way forward, she actively avoided making eye contact with anypony along the way. Though, even without looking at them, she could feel the stares being driven at her. Upon reaching the front, Pinkie allowed her in, shutting the door and locking it behind her.

“So what do you need help with?”

“I need your help… in taking a seat over there!” Pinkie pointed to an empty table.

“O-okay?” Tempest pulled up a seat. She glanced nervously around her surroundings, even taking a quick gaze to the ceiling. “You’re not… going to release batter on me again are you?”

“Psh no! That’s only for super special occasions!”

Tempest locked her eyes on Pinkie. Watching as she zipped herself around the kitchen in a blur, pulling trays out while mixing more ingredients at the same time. It almost seemed like there was more than one of her.

“Pinkie, did you just… call me in to sit down?”

“Mmhm! You need the best seat in the house!”

Tempest simply stared blankly towards the peppy pink pony. She attempted to piece together what Pinkie was talking about, but failed miserably. “For what?”

“For having all those icky bad, non-smiley feelings. And for being hungry all this time!”

The words slammed into Tempest like a carriage, stunning her for a second. “You… noticed?”

“Well duh!” Pinkie flung her whisk upwards, tossing a splat of batter into her own face. “And I also heard your tummy growl!”

A glow of red appeared on Tempest’s cheeks. “Was it that loud?”

“Not important! What’s important is you just relax until Sugarcube Corner opens!” Pinkie cheerfully sung, bouncing forward and wrapping her hooves around Tempest.

Tempest returned the gesture with a smile. Even though this had been one of the coldest days she had experienced, Pinkie’s hug warmed everything back up.

“Now sit still until we open the doors!”

It hardly took any time at all before Pinkie to swing open the doors and declare the store open. And even less time for the bakery to fill with excited customers.

Tempest sat in her corner next to the window, watching as creatures of all ages were entranced by the display of treats. A small griffon had his beak pressed against the glass shelf, eyes wide at the array of frosted donuts and sprinkle-covered cakes. Another foal attempted to pull himself up onto the countertop, no doubt hoping to see what Pinkie was baking. Tempest gave the sight in front of her a wistful smile.

All those wasted filly years.

As if on cue, Pinkie bounced forth with a silver tray on her head. “Delivery!”

“Delivery?”

“Delivery!” Pinkie repeated with a grin, slipping the tray onto Tempest’s table. On it was a plate of piping hot cookies cut out in the shape of Windigos. Countless blue sugar crystals had been sprinkled on its top, covered by translucent white icing. It gave the treats an almost ghostly sort of hue. Beside it, Pinkie sat a cup of piping hot cocoa with an alarmingly large number of marshmallows and whipped cream atop it.

“How did you kn—”

“I’m Pinkie Pie!” Pinkie responded before returning to the counter in a flash.

“Wait! That… doesn’t answer my question.” Tempest shook her head and stared at the plate of items in front of her. For years she had dreamed of the day she could have her favorite treat again. Even now, with a full plate of them in front of her, it still felt like she was fantasizing.

Let’s hope it’s as good as I remember it. Tempest picked up a biscuit, feeling the warmth spread through her hoof. When she took the long-awaited bite, a shocked smile immediately grew on her face. The faint smell of vanilla, the way it crumbled and melted, it was everything that Tempest remembered. Everything that she craved for. Instantly, a flood of memories entered her mind.

She remembered the times as a filly where she would be sitting with her friends, eating the cookies together. Laughing. Smiling.

However, the happy thoughts were suddenly shoved away with the sight of the Ursa Minor, raising its claw, seconds away from— Tempest swallowed and shoved away the memory.

She decided to return her view to that of Sugarcube Corner. In the seconds she was absorbed in her memory, the bakery had somehow gotten more crowded. Everypony was vying for a chance to order, crowding the counter with enthusiastic smiles and eager grins. Tempest knew that any other pony would have faltered at dealing with the crowd.

But not Pinkie.

Pinkie never looked happier, zipping around the kitchen at a dizzying pace. She knew what everypony wanted before they could even say a word, and bags of treats were lined up ready for collection. But even among the thick crowd, there was one pony that caught Tempest’s eye. Her coat was that of a bright amber, while a brilliant red and yellow weaved her mane and tail, making it look like it was formed of fire. But it was the way she smiled when entering that truly drew Tempest’s attention. Her small sideways smile reminded Tempest of a pony who had just entered a place she hadn’t seen in years.

“Thank you!” Pinkie pushed a box of treats towards an earth pony. She then scanned the crowd looking for the next customer. Suddenly, she let out an excited scream, drawing the attention of everypony in the room. “Sunset Shimmer!?”

Pinkie leapt over the counter, diving into the orange mare’s hooves.

“Heh, hi Pinkie!”

“What’re you doing here?”

“Just… paying a visit.”

Out of town huh? Tempest lifted another cookie to her mouth. A part of her was guilty for eavesdropping onto their conversation. Yet, Pinkie’s volume made it impossible not to.

“Couldn’t stay away from my cookies eh?” Pinkie prodded Sunset’s chest with her elbow with a playful smirk.

“You could say that,” Sunset laughed, following Pinkie to the counter.

With a few swift swipes of her hooves, Pinkie assembled a plate of various treats and placed it in front of Sunset. “Your favorites!”

“Wow, you still remember?”

“Of course! How could I forget?” Pinkie grabbed the few bits Sunset dropped onto the counter. “Enjoy!”

“Thanks!”

Sunset swung around and Tempest immediately threw her gaze to her table. She grasped her cup in her hooves, lifting it softly as she took small sips.

“Excuse me? Is anybo— anypony seated here?”

Tempest slowly raised her head, spotting Sunset staring at her. She gave a moment's pause, expecting Sunset to immediately catch notice of her and retract her statement. But when Sunset simply waited, Tempest stared back at her, perplexed.

“N-no. Nobo- I mean nopony is. But—”

Before Tempest could finish her sentence, Sunset took the seat across her. A few seconds of silence followed, where Tempest simply locked her gaze onto Sunset, who seemed more entranced with her food than anything else.

“W-why would you want to seat with me?”

“Hm?” Sunset cocked her head to the side. Suddenly, her eyes grew wide and she stood up. “Oh no, did you want to be alone? Do you want me to move?”

“No!” Tempest cleared her throat. “No. It’s not that. It's just… you don’t hate me?”

“Hate you?” Sunset’s eyebrows furrowed as she slipped a whipped cream-covered spoon into her mouth. “I just met you. Why would I hate you?”

Never would ‘speechless’ be a word Tempest thought she would use to describe herself. Yet, here she was, truly and utterly lost of words. Who was this pony? And why wasn’t she acting like the rest? Like she should’ve been?

Sunset turned her attention back to her tray. She pressed her hoof against a rose shaped cookie. However, when she lifted it, the cookie immediately fell back down onto the plate.

“Oh come on,” Sunset muttered. She tried it again, this time with two hooves. However, the result was still the same. The third time even resulted in the treat springing up and falling onto the table as Sunset sighed in frustration.

Tempest gave an irritated groan, rubbing her forehead and taking breaths to calm herself. “Look, just because I’m here doesn’t mean you have to avoid using your horn.”

“Huh? ...oh right! My horn!” As Sunset levitated the cookie with soft, red glow, an ecstatic smile was sprawled upon her face.

Tempest stared in perplexed awe towards Sunset. She had a million questions in her mind, but when she opened her mouth to ask them, not a single one came to her lips. So instead, she sat in silence, watching as Sunset demolished treat after treat with reckless abandon. She had met a lot of odd ponies, no, creatures in her travels. Yet something about this mare struck Tempest as even more unusual than all of them combined.

They continued sitting without a word between them for a couple of minutes. Though the only pony that seemed to mind was Tempest, as Sunset was much too entranced devouring her cookies to realize the air of awkwardness between them.

“S-so, Sunset Shimmer was it?”

“Huh? Mh! Mmhm!” Sunset nodded with her cheeks filled with Harmony Brownies.

“I never got to introduce myself, I’m Tempest Shadow.” Tempest stuck out her hoof formally. Sunset took a moment to swallow her food before grabbing Tempest’s hoof and giving it a firm shake. “B-but you probably already knew that.”

“Umm, not really,” Sunset gave a sheepish laugh. “Are you famous?”

Tempest took a moment to register Sunset's question. How can she not know who I am?

“W-well, not exactly. I mean, I don’t want to be famous. And...“ Tempest sighed. “Sorry, it’s better you didn’t know who I am.”

“Oh?” Sunset cocked her head to the side. “I don’t really believe in that. I believe everyone is worth meeting!”

There’s that trademark Equestrian enthusiasm.

Hoping to find another topic they could resume their conversation on, Tempest turned her attention to the plate of biscuits in front of Sunset.

“Windigo cookies? You have good taste.”

Sunset’s face lit up with excitement. “You like them too!? Everyone tells me that they’re too sweet but I think the frosting adds just the right amount of flavor!”

Tempest recoiled a little at the sudden barrage of words. She sounds exactly like Twilight when she reads a good book.

“I agree.” Tempest smiled softly. “It was nice to be able to eat them again.”

“Again? You didn’t have them every Hearth’s Warming?”

“No. I was… away. For most of my life.” Tempest watched the falling snow create small shadows on the table. “This was my first plate of Windigo cookie since I was a filly.”

Sunset ceased her eating, eyes focused onto Tempest. “Where did you go?”

“Outside Equestria. Far away. Extremely far away.”

Sunset exhaled a heavy breath, allowing her shoulders to droop down. “I know how that feels,” she said in a sympathetic tone.

“R-really?” Tempest asked, almost in disbelief.

“Yeah. I… sorta chose to run away. To a place further than you can probably imagine.” Sunset prodded softly at her cookie, mouth drawn into a frown. “That was one of the biggest mistakes in my life. In fact, I’ve… made a lot of mistakes in my life.”

This was not a situation Tempest was prepared for. What did she know about consoling ponies when they were feeling down? She hardly even knew her. What would Twilight do? Slowly, she lifted her hoof and gave Sunset’s shoulder a soft pat.

“But you know what? Life’s pretty good now!”

“It… it is?” Tempest drew her hoof back.

“Yup! I’ve got a tight knit group of friends, a stable job and I feel pretty happy about who I managed to become!” As Sunset listed the items, she tapped one hoof against another. Almost as if she was using it to count.

“Well, I’m still trying to get past the ‘making lots of mistakes’ part.”

The next thing Tempest knew, half of a Windigo cookie had been placed on her empty plate. When she looked up, she saw Sunset holding the other half with her magic. Before Tempest could form her thoughts into words, Sunset spoke, “It’s Hearth’s Warming. There’s no better time to change who you are, or to make up for those mistakes!” Sunset grinned, holding her cookie up in midair. “Come on, don’t you remember doing cookie cheers with your friends during Hearth’s Warming?”

Friends...

Tempest took a second to process what Sunset had just said. Lost for words, she silently lifted the cookie with her hoof and touched it lightly against Sunset’s. Both of them then tossed the biscuit swiftly into their mouths, chewing and swallowing in seconds.

“Pinkie makes the best cookies,” Sunset complemented, giving a wave to the pink pony at the counter.

“She really does.”

“Actually, I should get back to Twilight now. She’s probably waiting sick.” Tempest stood from her seat and prepared to leave, when Sunset’s hoof suddenly stopped her.

“Twilight? Like… Princess-Twilight-Sparkle Twilight?”

“Y-yeah? Why?”

“Like, obsessed with planning, overachieving and freaking out over the smallest things Twilight?” Sunset said with an expression of both joy and disbelief.

“Yes. That Twilight.” Tempest cautiously stepped to the side. “Why so specific?”

Sunset slammed her hoof against her face, mumbling something under her breath.

“What?”

“Are you that pony that Twilight said needed help with your… you know?”

Tempest’s eyes widened in realization. “You’re that friend Twilight said could help me?”

Still rubbing the base of her horn, Sunset gave several slow nods. “Twilight told me to go to Sugarcube Corner to find the ‘mare with the red mane’.”

“You’re telling me that Twilight, Princess Twilight, failed to mention the scarred eye? Or more importantly, the broken horn?”

Sunset could only nod her head in disappointment.

Oh Twilight.

“Come on, let’s have a chat with the princess.” Tempest gave one last goodbye wave to Pinkie.

“Bye, Sunset! Bye, Fizzlepop!”

Sunset froze in her tracks. “Wait, Fizzlepop?”

“Long story, I’ll explain when we get more time.”

“Twilight?”

“Tempest!” In a flash, Twilight vanished from her seat, appearing across the library in front of Tempest. “You’re back! And just in time! Any moment now that friend I talked about will be here!”

“Oh?” Tempest shot a smirk to the door. “I would love it if her coat was orange.”

“Well, you’re in luck! Because she is!” A clap echoed through the library as Twilight knocked her hooves together.

“It’d also be fascinating if she had a sun shaped cutie mark, had a curly mane and tail and was named Sunset Shimmer.”

Twilight’s excited grin quickly melted into a look of confusion, then into wide-eyed realization. “You’ve met her!?”

“Yes, I’ve met Tempest.” Sunset trotted in.

“Thanks for telling her my best defining feature was my red mane,” Tempest said with an unimpressed frown. “Not my broken horn. Or the scar over my right eye.”

“Eh heh, I was just… just looking out for you! Yeah! That’s it! Ha- hahaha!”

Sunset trotted up to Twilight, placing a hoof on her shoulder. “Twi, you’re still a terrible liar.”

The laughter could not be contained any longer. Tempest burst out into small giggles, much to Twilight’s chagrin.

“Ugh okay fine! So I slipped up! The more important question is if you two managed to become friends.”

“Well, we did docookie cheers,” Sunset spoke with a grin.

“So…”

“That’s a yes, Twilight.” Tempest moved past several long, wooden tables until she was at the end of the library. She sat herself down on an open chair.

“That’s amazing! I knew you two would get along!”

“Of course you did.” Sunset took several small steps forward until she was in front of both Twilight and Tempest. “But you brought me here to help with the nightmares. So, what can I do?”

“Oh! Heh, well, it’s actually just Tempest,” Twilight gestured to the pony in question, who averted her eyes.

“O-oh. Really? I…” Sunset gave several taps on her chin and a sideways glance towards Twilight. “W-well, alright then. What’s up Tempest?”

“I’ve been getting some very… unpleasant nightmares recently.”

“Uh huh?”

Tempest bit her bottom lip. The words were right there. She knew what to say, what to tell Sunset. Yet, a thought continued to repeat endlessly in her head, stifling her voice.

Don’t make the same mistake.

“I… I… Sunset, may I be brutally honest with you?”

“Sure! You wouldn’t be the first one.”

“We just met. And it’s hard for me to talk about my nightmares to someone I just got to know.” Tempest kept her eyes locked onto Sunset, watching for the slightest hint that she was offended.

“Ah, I gotcha.” Sunset smiled. “I’d honestly feel the same way.”

“Maybe it’d be easier if you told Tempest about your past?” Twilight suggested.

“What, the whole ‘enslaving an entire school and turning them into mindless zombies slaves’ thing?” A chuckle echoed through the room. Though none followed hers.

“Wait, you’re… joking right?”

“Psh, I wish. Turned into a demon, brainwashed my school, got corrupted by magic, the whole shebang.” Sunset’s casual tone made it hard for Tempest to take her seriously.

“Really? Cause I…” Tempest stuttered. “Well… w-well, I—”

The next thing Tempest knew, Twilight had wrapped a hoof around her body. “Tempest, I know it’s hard for you to trust ponies you just met. But you trust me right?”

Tempest hesitantly gave a nod.

“Then trust me when I say that Sunset is one of my best friends, and she’ll help you. But you need to tell her what happened.”

With a deep breath, Tempest steadied her nerves. Trust Twilight. This is the only way you’re going to get better.

“Two months back, I… I helped a power hungry satyr take over Equestria and enslave its citizens,” Tempest spoke with a crestfallen expression on her face.

Sunset’s jaw fell so far down, it looked as if it was going to dislocate. “Twilight, you never told me any of this.”

“At my request.” Tempest popped up off the chair to explain before Twilight could. “I’m still ashamed of my actions. I didn’t want it to get out to anyone that didn’t need to know. Twilight was kind enough to oblige me. So if you want to get angry at someone, get angry at me, not her.”

“I’m not angry at anyone, Tempest.” Sunset moved to the duo. “If anything, I’m sorta relieved that you told me. Your situation sounds a lot like mine. Except, you know, the whole taking over Equestria thing.”

“So how do you plan to help me?”

“Actually,” Twilight interjected. “I was hoping you could use your special abilities, Sunset.”

Special… abilities?

An uncomfortable frown appeared on Sunset’s face. “Twi, I’m not sure that’s a good idea. I’ve only used it to see memories, not dreams. We don’t know what it’s going to be like.”

See memories?

“I know but… but this is serious, right Tempest?”

Tempest gave blank stares to the other two mares. “I’m sorry but I have completely lost the topic at hoof. What are the two of you talking about?”

“The more I hear about this situation,” spoke Sunset, clearly having not caught Tempest’s question, “the more I think Luna would be the right pony for this. Have you tried talking to her?”

“I imprisoned the four princesses to drain their magic against their will. I… I can’t, well, I don’t want to face any of them right now.” She lowered her head in shame.

“Okay. Well, I was definitely not expecting that answer,” Sunset admitted.

“I think you see now why I called you, Sunset.”

“Without my amulet here, I’m not sure how much I can help. I’ll probably still be able to view some memories. That is, if you’ll allow me, Tempest.”

“By ‘view memories’ you mean…” Tempest trailed her words off, hoping Sunset would finish the sentence.

“Oh right. It’s a... long story.” Sunset giggled sheepishly. “To cut it short, I have magic that allows me to dive into other ponies memories. But I’ve never tried using it to see someone else’s dreams before.”

“And you think you can help me with that magic?” asked Tempest apprehensively.

“I don’t see how I can make it worse. If you’re willing to give it a try, so am I!”

“I… I don’t know.” Tempest retreated back into her thoughts. All this time she had hid these nightmares away from everyone, even her closest friends. Was she really going to let a pony she just met view her deepest fears?

“Tempest, let her do this. She can help.”

Twilight’s coaxing brought a small sense of comfort to her. What was so special about this mare that made Twilight trust her so much? What made her speak with such confidence that this one unicorn could fix all her problems? Tempest didn’t want to admit it, but curiosity was getting the better of her.

Can’t get any worse.

Tempest bowed her head as she resigned herself to what was coming. “A-alright. Fine. If Twilight trusts you that much, then I suppose there’s no harm in trying.”

Twilight leapt into the air and tapped her hooves together. “Yes!”

“Odd how you’re more excited for this than either of us, eh Twilight?” Sunset nudged her.

Twilight’s cheeks glowed a faint red and she swiftly reeled back her enthusiastic behavior. “W-well, you two should settle on a time to do this.”

“How about tonight?” Sunset suggested. “The closer it is to night, the easier it’ll be for me to access the dreams. ...I think.” Sunset’s horn lit up and a book floated into her view. She flipped it open, tracing her hoof on a ink-scribbled page. “Plus, it’ll give me time to research and see if I can find anything that’ll help this spell.”

“Tonight sounds reasonable.”

“Great!” said Twilight. “Oh, I’m sure Sunset’ll be able to help you a lot, Tempest! She has a certain kind of magic in her!”

“Yeah,” Sunset chuckled nervously. “N-no pressure, right?”

Tempest shot a soft smile to her.

“No pressure.”

“So, what do you need me to do?” Tempest asked as she sat on the bed.

Across her, Sunset was pushing the windows open, allowing the cool night air to fill the room. She spent a second grinning up at the stars before taking a seat across Tempest.

“Just sit down and relax. The more tense you are, the harder it’ll be for me to access your thoughts.”

Tempest’s heart was beating quicker with each passing second. And she’d be lying if she said she didn’t want to back out now. Yet, the fear of dealing with another round of nightmares as potent as the one she experienced last night outweighed the uncertainty.

“Ready?”

“No?”

Sunset chuckled. Tempest didn’t.

“Give me your hooves,” Sunset instructed. Tempest extended her trembling hooves, watching as Sunset took them gingerly in hers. “Now, this might feel a little weird. But let’s hope that this works.”

Sunset’s horn lit up a soft red, bathing the room in its glow. The aura soon flowed down to her hooves, and the moment it touched Tempest’s, she felt herself get significantly more lethargic. It didn’t take long before her vision went black and her mind went silent for just a moment.

Tempest awoke to the smell of burning rubble and thick smoke. She shot her eyes open, finding herself standing at the balcony of Canterlot Castle. She stood, frozen for a moment, her mind blank as to what was happening. But soon, the memories of this moment snapped back into her mind.

She darted her head towards where the ponies were supposed to be and, sure enough, the Storm King was behind them, obsidian orb in claw.

“No!”

She knew this moment.

Tempest leapt from the rubble, soaring above the group of ponies before landing right in front of the orb. It impacted squarely into her chest, causing a searing pain to coarse through her veins. She could feel the stone encasing her swiftly. Using the last of her energy, she sent the mist towards the Storm King, watching as he too began being engulfed in rock.

There was an unsettling feeling in her heart as the bitter green mist filled her nostrils. It all felt familiar. Like she had been here before. Though she didn’t have long to consider it, for soon the stone had completely gripped her body, cutting off any freedom she had.

But something was different this time.

Because as she fell over the balcony, her vision was no longer blocked by stone. She could see everything around her. She could see the ground approaching swiftly towards her. The smoking ruins of Canterlot and Equestria, all a result of her actions. It drilled into her just how much she had left to make up for. How much she had to atone.

But she knew she would not get the chance.

She felt the wind rushing past her rock encased body. She attempted to scream, but no words came. She was helpless. Forced to watch her final moments approach. Forced to understand that for her, there was no way out. This was how she would be remembered in the annals of history: a villian. A pony whose actions nearly doomed Equestria.

A pony to be feared.

Someone. Tempest begged. Anyone.

Please… help me.

Those were her last thoughts before the ground touched her hoof and—

Tempest shot up from her bed screaming, eyes wide with fear and cold sweat pouring from her forehead. Across her, in the darkness of her room and illuminated only by the moonlight peeking through the window, sat Sunset, whose hooves were over her eyes. She was panting harder than Tempest and when she finally took her hooves away, Tempest saw an expression filled with fear. It was the same look Tempest gave her ceiling every night for the past two months.

“I… I’ve never felt that much pain before,” Sunset barely managed to eek out in a trembling tone.

“Yeah, well, the obsidian orb isn’t a pleasant experience.”

Sunset darted her gaze to a corner of the room, a deep frown on her face. “I’m not talking about the stone, Tempest,” she spoke through deep, ragged breaths. “That feeling while you were falling.” She shut her eyes and pressed a hoof against her chest.

Tempest’s eyes opened wide.

She couldn’t have felt it.

“You aren’t scared of dying, are you? You’re scared of all the things you did before that point. You’re scared that you’ll never get to atone for all the mistakes you’ve made. All those wasted years.”

Tempest didn’t reply. Instead, she turned towards the window, gazing out at the snow-swept town below.

“You feel like this is something you deserve.”

Tempest folded her hooves on the windowsill and rested her head squarely upon them. “How did you figure all that out?”

“...Remember that demon thing I joked about?” Sunset’s tone had calmed slightly. Her panting reduced to deep, shaking breaths. “It wasn’t that funny the first few months after that incident.”

“So you know how it feels?”

Sunset fell silent. Tempest turned just in time to catch Sunset with her head bowed low and her eyes closed shut.

“I… I need some time to recover. I’m sorry I couldn’t help much this time, Tempest. I’ll try again soon.”

Sunset didn’t wait for an answer before galloping out the door. Tempest raised her hoof in an attempt to stop her, but when she disappeared from view, Tempest planted her face squarely into her pillow and let out a pained groan.

Nice going, Tempest. You hurt the one pony that was supposed to help you.

She drew a breath in an attempt to hold back her tears.

You haven’t changed in the slightest. You’re beyond help.

Tempest sat up and turned to stare at the photo on the wall. Even though it hung in the darkness, she could already imagine the photo in it as clear as crystal. It was a photo of Twilight and her at the Friendship Festival. In it, they were smiling wide towards the camera as a series of colorful explosions was present at the back. It was a moment that brought Tempest a little bit of joy every time she recalled it. And a lot of longing for a moment just like that to occur again.

She pulled her hindhooves to her chest and rested her head against it, just in time for the first tear to be caught by her coat. And as she drifted off to sleep, one thought accompanied her all the way to her next nightmare.

You deserve to suffer.

Chapter 2: Chasing Past

“Why!?”

Tempest shot out of the bed, head drenched in cold sweat. What in Equestria? She froze and waited for a sound. Any sound. Any signs that something was wrong. But after a few tense seconds, she didn’t even hear a peep.

Maybe the nightmares are just driving me crazy.

“Argh!” Twilight’s terrified screams echoed through the halls.

In one swift motion, Tempest lept out of her covers and raced towards Twilight’s room. Her horn was alive with magical energy, blue swirls sparking at the broken end. “Twilight, I’m coming! Hold on!” Tempest screamed. Once she had reached, she bucked the door open, sending it careening against the wall. She channeled all the magical power she could muster, ready to fire it at any unsuspecting intruder. In the darkness, she spotted two pairs of eyes staring back at her. Tempest reeled her head back and—

“Wait wait wait! Tempest, calm down!”

Upon hearing Sunset’s voice, Tempest opened her eyes only to see Sunset’s frightened visage under the dim glow of her horn. Tempest diffused her dormant magic into the air, creating a cloud of swirling cyan light. “What happened!? I heard Twilight scream, where is she!?”

“S-she’s right here,” Sunset moved to the side, granting Tempest sight of the alicorn, whose face was buried in her pillow. Her body was jumping ever so slightly every few seconds, and muffled sounds came from her obscured face.

“I-is she crying? Or… laughing?”

“L-laughing!” Sunset swiftly replied with a grin. “All that happened was I told Twilight a really funny joke! Right, Twi?” She nudged Twilight, who gave a weak nod in return. “See?”

“B-but she was shouting ‘why’!”

“It was a… bad pun she was trying to get me to stop telling.”

Tempest furrowed her eyebrows in doubt. She wanted to raise an objection or accusation, but she had no reason to do so. She continued darting her gaze between Sunset and Twilight for a few seconds before speaking once more. “A-alright. You two just… had me worried, that’s all.”

“Sorry, Tempest. Won’t happen again. Promise.”

Tempest nodded. “Good night, Sunset.”

“Night.”

“You too, Twilight.”

There was no reply.

“T-Twilight?”

“Night!” Twilight shouted with her face still planted firmly into the pillow.

Tempest arched her back high. She wanted to prod deeper and talk to Twilight, yet, a part of her knew that she was not welcomed at this moment. You’re still new to this whole friendship thing, better not intrude on their alone time.

As she strolled down the moonlit corridors back to her room, Tempest looked out the windows and into the night sky above. She allowed her mind to wander, wondering if her thoughts would land on the nightmares she had been experiencing, or perhaps on the worries of tomorrow. But none of those entered her thoughts. Instead, her mind had only four words which repeated endlessly.

Twilight, please be okay.

Even as she sauntered to her room and laid beneath her warm wool blanket, the thought lingered. It sent chills down her spine and twisted her stomach. Her instincts told her that something was wrong, but she couldn’t even fathom what it might’ve been. So she begged to whoever was listening in her mind even as she drifted to sleep.

Please. Be. Okay.

Tempest lurched out of her bed in a daze. She shuffled down the spiral steps towards the kitchen, hoof pressed against her head in an attempt to calm her splitting headache. As she approached the door, a delicious smell wafted to her nose. One that conjured images of crispy pancakes and light, fluffy waffles drenched in maple syrup.

With a light push, the door swung open, increasing the intensity of the aroma tenfold. She spotted Twilight at the stove, squinting at a cookbook as several pancakes sizzled away on the flames. Sunset, meanwhile, was seated beside the window overlooking Ponyville. Though her eyes were not focused onto the snowy town below. Instead, they were locked onto the book that was laying in front of her, occasionally forking in a slice of pancake. Both of them seemed oblivious to Tempest’s entrance, much to her irritation.

“Morning you two.” Tempest greeted.

“O-oh! Umm, morning,” said Twilight, who didn’t even turn to face the pony she was speaking to.

Sunset, meanwhile, remained silent. Tempest took several steps towards her. “Sunset?”

“Huh!?” Sunset jolted, turning to face Tempest. “O-oh, morning Tempest. When did you trot in?”

“Just a few moments ago. Are you okay?”

“Yeah!” Sunset yelled with an odd amount of enthusiasm. However, the smile that accompanied the yell quickly melted into a deep, troubled frown. “Y-yeah…”

“Okay, what’s wrong? Is this about what happened last night?”

“Shh!” Sunset lifted a hoof to her mouth and gave a quick glance to Twilight. “I-I mean, no! Of course not.”

Right. Tempest growled. This situation did little to alleviate her pounding head and she knew pursuing this subject would be unwise. Sunset seemed adamant about avoiding the topic while Twilight was here. So she decided to wait till she could ask the source of her worries.

With a huff, she took a seat across Sunset, glancing out at the bustling streets of Ponyville. From here, she could spot Sugercube Corner and the queue that was leading out of it. She had considered going there for some more Windigo cookies, hoping that the sugary treat could help take her mind off her worries. But the idea of dealing with more fiery gazes from the townsfolk on the way there made her quickly discard that option.

She turned back to Sunset, who had returned her attention to the book. Tempest strained her head, spotting several pictures of rocks on the two pages.

“Rocks?” Tempest asked.

“Yup. Geodes, minerals and more,” Sunset said in an unfocused tone. She flipped the page and forked another piece of pancake into her mouth.

“What’re you doing researching rocks?”

“I’m hoping Equestria’s books has something on the rock I have back at home. It’s a… special geode. One that gave me the magic to do the whole ‘memory reading’ thing,” Sunset’s explanation took awhile for Tempest to process. And even when she did, she wasn’t sure she understood all the points Sunset had raised.

“R-right. Of course.” Tempest considered asking for clarification. But her head was pounding enough as it was. “So did you find anything?”

“A few things. Apparently unicorn magic can impact certain kinds of rocks.” Sunset finally turned her head up to look Tempest in her eyes. “Depending on the spell and the rock in question, it could have different effects,” she explained, her eyes lighting up with every passing second. A bright, hopeful smile had also began to appear on her face. The same expression Twilight wore when she would discuss a particularly interesting, though more often than not, dangerous, theory regarding a spell. “So in theory, with the right magic and my amulet, I could do some pretty interesting things.”

“I’m afraid you’re losing me.”

Sunset giggled, turning the book to face Tempest. She flipped a few pages back, pointing towards a brilliant blue crystal. Even though it was only a picture, it seemed to shine under the glow of the morning sun. “For example, this is a Starshard Crystal. It can store dormant magic from a unicorn and pass it temporarily onto another pony.”

“And this is supposed to help you?”

“Well.” Sunset retrieved her book, shutting it close. “Not that one exactly. I’m still researching on other methods I could use to help me. But that’s just an example of how rocks and magic can work together!”

“Sounds interesting!” Tempest said, smiling wide. “If you find out more, let me know.”

“Will do!” Sunset nodded.

“And… ta da!” sung Twilight as she placed a plate filled with pancakes on the table. Tempest leaned forward to take a whiff of the scrumptious aroma. For a moment, it drove away any pain Tempest had in her head, giving her the clarity of thought to reach one single conclusion:

She was starving.

“These look delicious, Twilight.”

Twilight responded only with a nod and a smile. Tempest forked several onto her plate at a time, drenching them in thick maple syrup. As she began slicing large pieces off and placing them into her mouth, she spotted Twilight’s empty plate and vacant stare. Wherever her mind was, it was certainly not in the room. And from her frozen gaze, Tempest wouldn’t have been surprised if it wasn’t in Equestria.

“Bit for your thoughts, Twilight?”

“H-huh?”

“Is everything alright?”

“Oh, yeah. I’m fine!” Twilight forced a smile. Sunset shook her head upon seeing the plastic expression.

“Are you sure? Last night-” As soon as Tempest spoke those two words, Twilight’s eyes grew wide with worry. Then with fire. She slammed her hooves on the table, causing the plates to clank as they jumped and landed.

“Why won’t you just leave me alone!? I said I’m fine, Tempest!” Twilight shouted with a sparking horn. In the next moment, she disappeared in a bright purple flash. Leaving Tempest dumbfounded. She turned to Sunset, hoping for an answer.

“I… that’s…” Sunset gave a tired groan.

“What did I do Sunset? I don’t know what I did wrong.”

“Nothing. You did nothing wrong,” Sunset muttered.

“Then why would Twilight scream at me?” Tempest spoke with a trembling voice.

“It’s…” Once more, Sunset seemed unable to find her words. She paused for a second, covering her eyes with her hooves and letting out a long sigh. “I’ll talk to Twilight.”

As Sunset stood and trotted out the door, Tempest sat in silence. She fixed her gaze on her pancakes where two large pieces had been taken off. She attempted to find the appetite she had just a moment ago, but simply pushed the plates away a moment later.

Why does everything you say or do end up hurting someone else? Tempest could only imagine how Twilight was feeling. She thought back to the look Twilight shot her. The daggered stare was unlike any she had seen before. This was the pony that gave her a second chance. The mare that granted her a place in the castle when she knew she should’ve been living on the streets, or maybe even rotting in a jail cell.

And she had sent that same pony teleporting off in a rage. All while she sat here, moping and feeling sorry for herself.

I can’t just sit around here. I made a mistake, I need to own up to it. Tempest pushed herself onto her hooves and galloped out the door. She raced down the corridors, past several doors and up the steps. She’s probably in her room. ...Hopefully.

In just a minute, she was on the same floor at Twilight’s chambers. The door was in sight. However, as she approached it, she heard Sunset’s voice from within.

“Twi, you know I don’t do that,” Sunset spoke in a deathly serious tone.

“I know!” Twilight shouted. “I know. I’m sorry, I’m just…”

“Stressed. I understand.”

“I just don’t know what to do anymore,” Twilight said.

Tempest waited outside the doors. She waited for Sunset or Twilight to continue the conversation, but the few seconds that followed was in silence. Slowly, she made her way forward, giving several knocks on the door with her hoof as she entered.

“Hey,” Tempest’s voice drew Sunset and Twilight’s attention towards her. Twilight was seated on her bed and quickly turned away the moment her gaze landed on Tempest.

“Hi, Tempest.”

“Twilight, I’m sorry if I made you angry with what I said. I didn’t mean to.”

Twilight sighed. She tossed her sheets aside and trotted towards Tempest. “I know. I really shouldn’t have acted the way I did. I’m sorry too.”

As Tempest hugged Twilight, she felt her shoulders fall in relief. She held the gesture for a little while longer than she would normally have. For what reason exactly, she couldn’t say. All she knew is that it felt nice, and it assured her that whatever wrong she did at least didn’t harm their friendship permanently.

“Nice of both of you to make up. Saves me a ton of trouble!” Sunset joked, drawing smiles from both Twilight and Tempest. “Now, I’ll be off back to my world to get that amulet I talked about.”

“The one that’ll help with the memory reading?”

“Yup. I’ll also be doing research on any spells I could use to reduce the chance it could, well, misfire. Considering I’ve never used it in Equestria before.”

“But you’ll return, right?” Tempest asked.

“Yeah! Latest will probably be tonight. And maybe we can help you with your nightmares again, Tempest.”

“Maybe. Or maybe…” Tempest trailed off. She remained quiet for a second before shaking her head. “Nevermind. I’ll see you tonight then.”

“Mmhm! Maybe you could help out with the Hearth’s Warming preparation one of these days.”

“I’ll try my best!” Sunset winked before heading out the door.

“Speaking of that, we should probably get started. Aren’t you expecting your friends in just a few hours?”

“Nope! Rainbow and the others are due to arrive…” Twilight swung around to catch a glimpse of the clock. And when she did, her eyes grew wide and she raced out the door. “Oh no oh no oh no! We’re off plan!”

“Twilight, wait!” Tempest yelled out as she trailed behind.

By the time Tempest had caught up, Twilight was already in the main hall. Seemingly endless lengths of ribbons were shooting out of the few cardboard boxes on the floor, attaching themselves to the walls and balconies.

“Twilight, you need to relax.”

“We’re already behind schedule!” Twilight’s horn lit even brighter, sending streams of red and green ribbons throughout the castle.

Tempest rolled her eyes. Same ol’ Twilight.

“Oh! Right, before I forget.” Twilight galloped to one of the boxes and whipped out a small brown bag from within. “Pinkie asked me to give you these if you didn’t have time to drop by the bakery.”

“Oh?” Tempest grabbed the bag, unfolded the top and peering inside. She giggled softly, reaching in and retrieving a small blue cookie. “Windigo cookies!”

“Those are the cookies Sunset keeps raving about!” Twilight exclaimed. “She loves them!”

“She has good taste.” Tempest opened her mouth to bite down on it when she saw Twilight’s smiling face just a small distance from her. She gave a soft roll of her eyes and extended her hoof. “Would you like one Twilight?”

“Well, with the sugar content I really shouldn’t. ...But yes!”

“Oh, are you sure? I thought you were behind schedule. And oh so busy,” Tempest teased.

“Yes. But busy ponies need energy too!”

Tempest couldn’t help but smile as Twilight swiped the cookie from her hoof, bringing it softly to her face. Both of them found a seat under the tree, staring out the nearby window to the streets in the distance.

“You know, these are statically bad for you?”

“What do the they say about how delicious they are?”

“They say it’s due to the sugar.”

Tempest smirked. “I can live with that.”

The next few minutes passed by in silence. Tempest didn’t say a word, hearing only Twilight’s soft chews of her treat. In the stillness, Tempest felt strangely at peace. For the first time in two months, Tempest didn’t have any intrusive thoughts. No bad memories. No guilty visions of her past actions.

The only thing Tempest felt was the warmth of the moment. One that she had experienced only once before. It burned like a fireplace on a cold winter day. It made Tempest feel confident. It made her feel safe.

And even though she knew it would not last, the moment gave Tempest some much needed respite from her racing mind. Was it the cookies? The decorations? The weather? Tempest didn’t know.

And she didn’t care.

She turned to Twilight and watched as she happily munched away at her frosted biscuit. Her pure, wide smile made Tempest’s heart flutter ever so slightly. She thought back to everything Twilight had done for her. Despite all the disastrous decisions in life, Twilight still stood by her. She had saved her life, not once, nor twice, but countless times. By all accounts, she should be on the street, starving and shivering. Yet instead, she had a roof over her head, food and good company.

No.

Great company. Tempest couldn’t help but grin at the joy she felt in this moment. And just as Tempest was about to take another bite of her cookie, she felt Twilight’s hoof stop hers. “W-wait, I…” she blushed, turning back. “Nevermind.”

“What? Twilight, is something wrong?”

“N-no. I was just about to ask about that cookie cheer thing Sunset said you did. What’s that about?”

“Oh. It’s something little fillies do in Equestria. They take the biscuit they’re eating and…” Tempest lowered her half-eaten cookie, knocking it lightly against Twilight’s treat. “Cheers it with a friend.”

Soft chuckles echoed through the main hall. “I really did miss a lot of things when I was a filly.”

“You and I both,” Tempest added on instinct. However, as soon as the words left her mouth, she felt the air around them grow heavy. Her mind wandered away from the present and back into the past. Back to her friends. Back to the Friendship Festival. And back to the fateful incident that one day.

When she spotted Twilight knocking her cookie lightly against her own, she felt her focus return to the current moment. She turned to look at Twilight, who had already tossed the cookie in her grinning maw.

“Come on. The girls should be here soon. Let’s at least try to get this castle ready for the celebration in two days.”

Tempest nodded, chomping down on the rest of hers before moving off.

“Ready, Fluttershy?”

“Umm… no?”

“Go!” Rainbow zipped upwards, circling the tree in an instant. Fluttershy attempted to keep up from the other side, but quickly found herself encircled by the string of bulbs.

“R-Rainbow Dash-”

“And… done!” Rainbow stood at the top, hoof pressed against her chest. “No no, you don’t have to thank me. Unless it's in cider. Right Fluttershy?”

When Rainbow received no reply, she glanced down, spotting Fluttershy pinned to the trunk.

“U-uh huh. Right,” Fluttershy meekly answered.

“Need some help?” Tempest asked with a smile. A nod was all she needed to start untangling the pegasus.

“Everything’s going great girls! Keep it up and we’ll have this castle decorated directly as I planned!”

“Of course there’s a plan,” Applejack chuckled.

“Well how else are we going to keep to schedule!?”

Rainbow zipped down to lend a hoof to Tempest. “How do you live in the same castle with her? She probably plans your days for you.”

“Well, only a specific few days. I get every other day to myself.” Tempest pulled the last knot and Fluttershy dropped to the floor.

A scowl appeared on Rainbow’s mouth. One made up of both confusion and disgust. “I… I was joking.”

Tempest stared back at Rainbow with wide eyes, only managing to mutter out a soft “...oh.”

Oh, if only Spike wasn’t away in Canterlot, he could just deal with this mess in an instant!” Rarity spoke from outside. “Rainbow, may I have a hoof with this snow?” she called out from the main door. “This pile around my beautiful snowmare is just much too thick!”

“Sure thing Rares!” With a single flap of her wings, Rainbow blasted straight through the large doors, disappearing from view.

Reached into a nearby bag, Tempest pulled out several colored glass spheres. One by one, she hung them on the tree, making sure to space them as evenly as she could. Let’s not give any reason for Twilight to twitch. The thought of Twilight measuring the space between every single bulb made her giggle. It’s totally something she’d do.

“What’s so funny?”

Tempest shot up in the air so high she wondered if she grew wings. “O-oh! N-nothing, Twilight.”

“I don’t know Tempest. You’re not a mare who would laugh at ‘nothing’.” Twilight levitated one of the waiting orbs onto the tree.

“You’ve only known me for two months Twilight. How exactly do you know what I laugh at?”

Before Tempest had a chance to answer, she heard a loud scream echo from behind her. She whipped around, horn sparking blue and eyes locked onto the source. Pinkie was seated on the floor, face covered entirely in white powder. Above hovered Rainbow, who was clutching her stomach as she bellowed out in laughter.

“Hehe, good one Dashie!” Pinkie sprung up. And with one swipe of her tongue, she wiped the snow clean off her face.

Tempest allowed her magic to dissipate once she had confirmed no danger was present. “Rainbow does this often?” She turned to Twilight.

“Every Hearth’s Warming Eve…” said Twilight through tightly clenched teeth.

“Hey Twi! Catch!”

The words caught Tempest’s attention. She turned up just in time to see the snowball being flung from Rainbow’s hoof.

And suddenly, Tempest felt a deep fear grip her heart.

She blinked, and the main hall had warped into the Canterlot Castle’s balcony. She could hear the crack of the balcony as the Storm King attempted to scale it. And see the obsidian orb in his claw, moments before it was flung towards Twilight and her friends.

Fear robbed her of any sense she had. Tempest allowed her instincts to take over, and she galloped for her life. Or more accurately their lives.

“No!”

Tempest jumped from one pile of rubble to the next. There they were. Like they had always been. Aiming the staff at her, faces twisted in anger. But as Tempest landed on the last piece of rubble, she knew something was different. The one second she had spent staring at her surroundings had meant that it was going to be different.

The same mistake.

Tempest leapt as hard as she could. She soared through the air just as the obsidian orb flew towards them. Time slowed to a crawl as she landed right in front of Twilight, heart racing with adrenaline and fear. The next thing she felt was the impact of the orb to her chest. But this time, a feeling spread throughout her body she wasn’t expecting.

Cold.

And then pain. Tempest shut her eyes and forced her teeth together. Her focus was that on protecting her friends. Protecting Twilight. She endured the creeping rock’s rapid growth. And swiftly, she felt her hooves stolen from her. Her muscles seized and her breath grew short.

No. No no no… She wanted to take it all back. She didn’t want to feel trapped. Not again.

But it was too late. The stone had fully encased her, sealing her consciousness in a body that would not respond. Imprisoning her with a voice she could not use. Fear she could not temper.

And then she felt it. The wind rushing through her solid body.

I… I was on the balcony! I was safe! She screamed in her mind and attempted to voice her fear, but not a single sound came from her frozen muzzle. In a moment now, she was going to crash. Shattered into pieces, her actions sure to paint her as a villain in history.

She braced herself for the impact.

Her end.

No… no! Please somepony save me.

She felt the ground hit her frozen hoof.

Please

And she felt herself shatt—

“Tempest!” A desperate cry reached her ears. Tempest drew a deep breath to fill her deprived lungs. She shot panicked glances to her surroundings. A… tree? C-crystal walls? Tempest took several swift steps back, eyes wide with fear.

“Where…”

“Tempest. Tempest, look at me.” Twilight galloped up, placing both of her hooves on either side of Tempest’s face. “You’re in Ponyville. You’re safe.”

“T-the obsidian orb! He... threw it! I saw him throw it!” Tempest cried, a tear streaming from her eye.

“It wasn’t real, Tempest. You’re safe. With us.” Twilight gestured to the five confused ponies standing a small distance away.

Slowly, the memories of what had happened reached Tempest’s mind. She glanced down, seeing several bits of white snow on her chest. Raising a trembling hoof, she dusted it off and stared up to her friends, who were each staring at her like some sort of animal. Like she was a freak in a circus. Their terrified expressions were the same ones Tempest saw on everypony’s face when she first conquered them.

You knew it all along. That what they say is true. Tempest felt more tears push their way through her eyes. You can’t change.

She could take it no longer. Tempest broke through Twilight’s grip and ran forward, up the steps and into a nearby hallway. She didn’t know where she was going, but she didn’t care. Anywhere! Tempest begged in her mind.

Please… anywhere but here.

Tempest couldn’t remembered how, but she had found her way back to her room. Her mind was in utter chaos. Scenes of the past and present played constantly, competing for time in her mind’s eye. Even though they were all different, they shared one similarity.

None of them were pleasant.

Each one tightened the cord that had wound its way around her heart, Threatening to pull it tighter and tighter till it could beat no longer. Occasionally, she would think back to the snowball Rainbow threw, but it would immediately lead to the obsidian orb. Then the pain. The fear.

The faces of her friends.

Tempest pressed her hooves harshly against her head, attempting to push out the thoughts. Her sobs echoed off the crystal walls and back into her ears, while the tears she cried matted her coat and the mattress beneath her.

“Tempest!” Twilight called out from outside of Tempest’s door. “Please, let me in!”

Tempest didn’t reply. She buried her head in her hooves and gave a growl through her gritted teeth. “Why? Why can’t I change? Why can’t I get better?”

“Tempest!”

“I just want it all to go away. I made mistakes. I deserve this, I know. I just… please…”

Tempest heard the faint click of her lock and the squeak of her knob. Galloping hoofsteps were followed by a hoof around her body.

“I’m here. Tempest, I’m here. Breathe. Slowly,” Twilight spoke in a slow, calming tone.

“Why, Twilight? I know I have demons. But I thought they would stay in my dreams.”

Twilight pulled Tempest closer to her

“But now…” Tempest tightened the grip on her head. “Now I can see them while I’m awake. I just want to be normal. I just want all of this to go away. I don’t want to cause misery! I’m not that pony anymore!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. “I just… don’t want to be hated or feared.”

“No one hates or fears you.” Twilight floated a box of tissues over.

“Everyone does. Did you see how your friends reacted to me?” Tempest stammered, the memory stinging her like a hot iron. “The ponies in Ponyville all look at me with disgust. And why shouldn’t they? After what I did... I deserve all of this. Nobody should give me a second chance.”

“That’s not true!” Twilight held up Tempest’s face with a hoof. “You’re trying your best-”

“But it’s not enough, Twilight. It will never be enough. Nothing will ever make up for all the things I’ve done.”

“...It’s enough for us.”

Tempest wanted to argue. She wanted to scream a million phrases. She wanted to prove to Twilight that it was an impossible task trying to get everyone to accept her. All this pain was something she deserved. And Twilight should be nowhere close to her.

She’ll run away from you too. All this trouble you’re causing, you aren’t worth it.

Yet, as much as she would’ve liked to speak, she found no break in between her sobs. Whatever words she attempted to say came out a garbled mess.

The two mares sat together for some time. How long exactly Tempest didn’t care. Perhaps it was ten minutes, or two hours. Perhaps it was ten days. To Tempest, all that mattered was the company beside her. She still recalled the months after she had ran away from Equestria. How the beating sun of Klugetown drove her desperate for even a few drops of water. Or the biting frost of the Snowcaps left her trembling in a carriage. Even though she eventually adapted to the brutal environments, the first few months were spent alone.

And in tears.

There wasn’t a pony to comfort her. To tell her that everything would work out. She had to tell herself that every single day, so that she could push along just a bit further. She reminded herself of the incident with her former friends, to ignite that fire that kept her moving. Rage had fueled her for years. Yet now, here she sat, surrounded by her friends but still in tears. She wasn’t alone.

But she was worried she would be.

In time, her spastic cries reduced to stray sobs, allowing her to regain her composure. At least enough for her to gather what shattered thoughts she could.

“Feeling better?”

“E-enough. Thank you, Twilight.” Tempest lifted several tissues, wiping away a few stray tears. “You didn’t have to stay with me you know?”

Twilight chuckled, releasing her grip on Tempest and shuffling to the other side of the bed. “I did.”

Suddenly, a knock on the door drew both ponies' attention. When Tempest turned, she spotted Rainbow hovering lightly at the doorway.

“H-hey, how’s it going girls?” Rainbow spoke with a forced grin. When neither mare replied, she dropped her head with a sigh. “Okay look, I’m sorry. For throwing that snowball.”

Tempest gave a faint smile to Rainbow. “No need to be sorry. You… couldn’t have known.”

“But now I do! So no more awesome snowball fights!”

“Rainbow,” Twilight interrupted. “Could you tell the girls I’ll be down in a bit?”

“We’ll be there,” interjected Tempest, drawing an odd stare from Rainbow and a deadly serious one from Twilight.

“You sure? I mean, we could just handle the decoration. With me there we could get it done in seven seconds flat!”

“I’m sure Rainbow. But…” Tempest turned to Twilight, who was wearing a deep frown upon her face. “It’ll be a good distraction for me.”

“Alright then. Take your time!” said Rainbow before she sped off.

“Tempest. Don’t go,” Twilight spoke with a heavy weight on her words.

“I’m okay, Twilight. I’ve been through worse,” Tempest pushed herself to her hooves. However, she immediately stumbled upon touching the floor.

Twilight didn’t say a word as she held Tempest up.

“Just… need some energy.”

“What you need is rest,” Twilight said sternly. “And time away from what happened. You’re tired and you’re dealing with enough as it is. I really think you should—”

“I said I’m fine,” Tempest muttered with restrained anger.

Twilight scowled and headed for the door, swishing her tail dismissively. At the doorway, she gazed outwards and spoke. “You know, you don’t have to prove anything to us. We know you’ve changed.”

“I know.”

Twilight paused for a second before trotting out. Tempest shut her eyes, drawing a breath before stepping out as well.

It's not all of you who I have to prove to.

“Whew!” Twilight slammed the main door closed. The bright afternoon sun had been replaced with darkness. Though the brightly lit halls of the Crystal Castle ensured not a trace of it would enter her home. She breathed a sigh of relief, turning around to face the only other pony in the room.

“Tired?”

“Yes. But, the important thing is that some of the decorations are up!”

Some!? Tempest glanced around the main hall. Strings of multicolored bells had been twisted upon the railings, while thistles and flowers hung from the walls. Around each crystal pillar spun a spiral of beautiful red and purple ribbons. To Tempest, it resembled pieces of candy cane. And seeing how Pinkie was in charge of that portion of the decoration, she could only assume she wasn’t too far off. The fireplace, along with the top of each door, had been decorated with a beautifully woven red silk ribbon.

And the tree.

Oh Celestia the tree.

Tempest took a step towards the tree just to get a look at its grandeur. Glittering gold fabric had been wrapped softly around the tree, twisting upwards to the currently bare peak. Powder white snow (enchanted with a non-melting spell) laid at the base and on the tip of each of its thin leaves.

“There’s more?”

“Of course! We don’t have the cauldron. Or the decor for the tree itself. Or even the star!” Twilight clapped her hooves together excitedly. “That’s my favorite part. We always get a different pony from Ponyville to put it at the top! It’s such a big event. I dare even say it’s a tradition that I happened to invent!”

“Sounds like fun,” Tempest spoke. “I’m going to head back to my room first. Maybe take a warm shower and just… relax for the rest of the night.”

“Sounds great!”

Tempest started her trot, when Twilight spoke up once more. “Hey, Tempest?”

“Yeah?”

“...How do you deal with your nightmares?”

Tempest’s ears perked up. She spun back around with her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“I just… you know what? Forget I asked. It’s not important.” Twilight trotted forth, levitating several groups of mistletoe up to the ceiling.

“Well, I suppose the answer is that... I don’t.”

The soft ringing of channeling magic ceased.

“So what? You just… live with it?” Twilight stuttered.

Tempest wanted to answer immediately. But soon found that every answer she wanted to give felt wrong. What was she supposed to say? Yes? True, it was the truth. But Tempest had a feeling it was not the answer Twilight wanted to hear. There didn’t seem to be an answer.

So she simply didn’t reply.

“That’s what I did for the longest time.”

Both Twilight and Tempest turned to the source of the voice, spotting Sunset standing at the stairway just behind the tree.

“I attempted to tackle the nightmares alone. Of course, it didn’t work.” As she approached, Tempest could see something hanging around her neck. It looked like a pendant in the shape of her cutie mark. Though from the way it glimmered under the bright lights of the castle, Tempest could see it was no ordinary gem.

“So how’d you get over them exactly?” Tempest asked.

“Why don’t you ask Twilight? She taught me the lesson I needed.”

As Twilight floated the final mistletoe up to the ceiling just above the tree, she gave a small huff. One that was audible enough for Sunset to hear.

“Twilight, you need help.”

“Help? What does she mean, Twilight?” Tempest questioned in an increasingly concerned voice.

“Ugh,” Twilight growled. “Fine!” She spun around, facing the two mares. “I’ve been having nightmares too alright?” Tempest recoiled at her sudden increase in volume. “But I’m fine!”

“No you’re not. You need help.”

Twilight shot a sharp stare towards Sunset’s direction. But Sunset seemed unaffected and kept her eyes locked squarely onto Twilight.

She needs help? Is it… is it really that bad? Tempest had wanted to think of a reply, but one had already found its way to her mouth before she could consider other things to say.

“I can help.”

The castle fell silent for a few long seconds. Sunset had a small smile drawn across her face, while Twilight had a deep frown.

“No, you don’t need to. I can handle this myself.”

“You know, Twilight. You keep telling other ponies to accept the help of others. This is where I can prove I can help you.”

“I asked Sunset to come so she could help you, Tempest. Not so I could be the focus. Whatever I’m experiencing isn’t as important as you,” Twilight stomped her hoof, no doubt hoping to shut off the conversation with her last word.

“Twilight, this isn’t up for argument. I’m helping,” Tempest replied. Her words drew another daggered stare from Twilight. However, when she stood her ground with a determined and unwavering face, Twilight’s expression of anger and fierce resolve melted into a broken frown. Her shoulders dropped and her head hung low as she took a step back.

“Tempest. Please. Don’t help me.”

“Sunset, how do I...?”

“I’ve spent the entirety of today researching on magical techniques.” Sunset descended the steps. “I found a spell that will allow other ponies, not just me, to view someone’s memories. All it takes is for us to be gathered together, preferably on a bed as we’ll be viewing dreams, and this geode right here.” She lifted up her necklace for Tempest to see.

“Then let’s go,” Tempest demanded.

Twilight’s mouth had started to tremble. Her eyes were shining softly under the castle lights. “Tempest, are you sure you want to do this? You might not like what you see.”

“I don’t care. I’m going to help you solve this.” Tempest raised her head in determination. “No matter the cost.”

Tempest had found a seat on Twilight’s bed; right across from her and beside Sunset.

“Alright, both of you ready?” Sunset asked. Tempest was the first to give a nod, with Twilight following shortly after. “Great. Alright, take my hooves.”

With confidence, Tempest grabbed Sunset’s waiting hoof, watching as Twilight shakily placed hers. The instant she did, a bright red aura surrounded Sunset’s horn. The sparkling necklace hovered softly between the three, somehow glittering even in the darkness.

“Twilight, anything you want to add before we go in?”

“You can still say you don’t want to do this, Tempest. You really, don’t have to.”

“After all you’ve done for me, Twilight. I’m afraid I do.”

Twilight didn’t speak another word.

“Alright!” Sunset exclaimed. “Let’s go in!”

Sunset shot a small concentrated beam towards the necklace. And the moment it touched the geode, it fractured into three glowing beams. Each one struck the chest of one of the mares. The moment one had hit Tempest, she felt her consciousness fade. Her vision grew darker with every passing second and soon, her thoughts felt like they a thousand miles away. Before her sight faded to a harsh black, she heard Twilight’s voice call out from the distance.

“I’m sorry, Tempest.”

“T-Twilight?” Tempest muttered out.

She opened her eyes and was quickly blinded by a bright light. Through her blurred vision, she could barely make out shapes. Grey blobs hovered in her sights as she turned, eventually spotting one large black shape with something moving in the middle.

“Don’t do this!”

The panicked tone which those three words were spoken with immediately sent a piercing fear through Tempest’s heart.

She knew where she was now.

When her vision returned, she could see her assumption was right. She was back in the Canterlot Castle’s throne room. Dark, clouded light shone through the stained glass windows, casting what would normally be a beautiful array of colors on the ground. But instead, the glow gave the room a sense of foreboding. Residual magic crackled in the air, no doubt thanks to the three petrified Princesses.

Though it wasn’t the sight of them, nor the smell of burning rubble, that filled Tempest’s heart with fear. No. It was the sight of the thick black bars all around her and the feeling of cold steel underneath her hooves that truly froze her heart solid.

N-no. Tempest attempted to take a step back, but found that she was trapped. She couldn’t move, nor could she turn her head. In fact, she couldn’t control any part of her body. Only when her vision turned upwards, did she see why.

“Don’t give the Storm King—”

“Your magic? Did you think you’d keep it all to yourself? Time to share.”

Tempest, at least a copy of her, strolled past her vision.

I’m looking through the eyes of…

“I’d love for everybody out there to know what I can really do.”

“Ooo, fascinating! What can you really do?” The Storm King growled from the balcony door.

Tempest felt a wave of despair flow over her. But she wasn’t feeling it. It was the pony she was in. The pony that she trapped and forcefully subjected to this horrifying moment.

She was Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight swung around just in time to watch him stroll through the doorway. Even though Tempest couldn’t control her movements, she could still feel both her own emotions as well as those of Twilight’s. And in this moment, she felt no difference in either’s heart. Both were filled with the same crippling fear. Fear so intense that it froze her on the spot.

“Y-your bidding, of course!” Grubber shouted moments before showing himself out.

The earth shook with every step the Storm King took. “Bidding’s good. I like bidding.”

As the scene continued to play out in front of her eyes, Tempest heard her mind scream at her. Do something. Do anything! She knew what was coming next and attempted to move her hooves, but found no control given to her. It was like she was petrified by the obsidian orb once more.

“Speaking of problems, this place. It seems a little too, oh I don’t know, cute!” The Storm King’s voice resonated through the throne room, shaking the very floor that they stood on. “I don’t like cute. I never did like cute! Doesn’t really go with my whole big bad magical guy thing!”

Free Twilight! She spotted herself outside the cage, regarding the Storm King with a roll of her eyes. What were you thinking, Tempest? You should’ve known. You should’ve seen this coming...

“Deliver the punchline, Tempest,” the Storm King bellowed out in anger.

Do anything!

“Because this…”

Don’t let him do this!

“Has got to be a joke!” He raised the staff high above his head.

Stop him!

And in the next moment, had slammed it firmly into the recess in the ground. The moment light began to grow from the middle, Tempest began to struggle with all her mental might. She could feel Twilight’s petrifying fear slowly overtake her own. The despair, sadness and pain was unlike any she had felt before. Images of Twilight’s friends flashed through her mind’s eyes, blinding her to the events of the present. And slowly, the hopelessness began to seep into her as well.

Even if she could somehow gain control of Twilight’s body. What would she do?

She had built the cage so that it was impossible to escape. Nopony could unlock it from the outside, neither could any magic pierce through it. She ordered the cage to be built to a near indestructible form for this exact purpose. And feeling Twilight, the one pony who had almost managed to escape her grasp, be overcome with such resignation, she knew that it was all over.

Tempest could only watch in horror as the light crept up to the cage. Once it reached its metal base, she felt Twilight’s hooves get bound forcefully to the cage floor. All the magic in her body was forced into her horn. It collected and built, coalescing into a point that was nothing short of pure power. Magic the likes of which Tempest hadn’t felt in a long time.

It was clear to her now just how hard Twilight was attempting to hold her powers back, but the staff’s powers soon overwhelmed her. The moment she released her grip on her magic, searing pain shot through Tempest’s body. Tempest attempted to scream out loud, but found herself unable to mutter a single word.

“No!” Twilight screamed in agony, forced to watch her magic being drained. Forced to feel every last drop of her energy get sucked away against her will. The cocktail of fear, sadness and despair in Twilight’s heart grew with every passing second, and soon, it became far too much for Tempest to bear.

Get me out! She screamed in her mind, hoping that Sunset could hear. Get me out, Sunset! Please! But she received only silence in return. Get me out, get me out, get me out… Tempest repeated like a mantra. Just when she could take no more and seconds away from snapping, she felt the vision end. But not before one of Twilight’s thoughts echoed in her mind.

Tempest was right. My friends aren’t coming for me. And it’s all my fault.

Tempest shot up from her bed in cold sweat, blue light crackling from her horn. Her eyes were wide and her body was shaking violently. What’s more, she could still feel the fiery heat of draining magic burning through her veins.

“That’s… that was... ” Sunset stammered out, but was unable to finish her sentence. Tempest stared at Sunset’s dropped jaw and speechless expression. She, too, seemed lost in the memory. When Sunset finally turned to Tempest, she muttered out a terrified response. “I-I’m sorry. I couldn’t pull you out easily. I tried, but the moment was so intense I just…”

“M-my fault.” Tempest muttered under her breath.

“Tempest, take deep breaths,” Sunset reached her hoof out cautiously, eyes locked onto her rapidly sparking magic.

“A-all this while, Twilight’s been having nightmares…” Tempest gulped at the realization. “B-because of what I did.” In an instant, the magic from her horn vanished. The rage and confusion quickly being replaced with an overwhelming sadness. It muted all the magic in Tempest, and bit by bit, she felt her composure falling away.

Twilight was the next to rise out of bed. Though she did so with a trembling form and tears streaming from her eyes. “T-Tempest. That wasn’t…” she said, but quickly cut herself off. As if she was about to say a series of forbidden words.

“Twilight,” Tempest muttered through a tearful gaze. “I’m so sorry.”

With that, Tempest raced out of the room. She heard both Sunset and Twilight call out to her, but she didn’t pause. As she galloped back to her room, the memory of Twilight’s nightmare repeated endlessly in her mind.

I should’ve known. No one will forgive me for what I did, no matter how much they say otherwise.

Tempest attempted to stifle her sobs, though she could not hold back the pouring tears. With a slam of her hoof, she punched the door open and slammed it behind her. For a moment, she had silence. And in it, she hoped to find calm to her chaotic mind.

But the memory refused to stop. The paralyzing fear that Twilight experienced as she was captive. The searing pain and shattering despair that consumed her when her magic was being drained. It was all due to her.

“I just want to stop causing pain,” Tempest tearfully muttered as she collapsed to the floor.

But I can’t.

Two knocks came from the door.

“P-please, Twilight. I just… want to be alone right now.”

“This isn’t Twilight.”

Tempest sat dead still. A part of her wanted to open the door. To have someone beside her in this trying moment. She never thought there’d come a day where she craved company, yet here she was. However, as she reached to crack the knob, a thought resonated softly within her mind.

For so long, you’ve made it alone. The moment you attempted to have friends, you cause nothing but misery.

Tempest’s hoof froze in mid-air.

Just like what happened earlier today. Your nightmares are there to tell you that they will never forgive you. They will never forget.

Trotting back to her bed, Tempest pulled the sheets to her neck.

Maybe it’s better off you have no friends. Not for your sake… but for theirs. The thought stung her heart like poisoned thorns. It infected her, but yet, she could not deny the truth in its pain. How was she ever to face Twilight again? The one pony who had told her that she was not to be feared, had been haunted by her very actions. She didn’t know what magic Twilight thought Sunset had, but Tempest knew at this moment, no magic could help.

As Tempest closed her eyes, she knew what the night would be like. If by some miracle, she managed to even fall asleep, she knew what awaited her in her mind. But compared to the memory of Twilight’s nightmare, she’d much rather take her own.

Perhaps she could find some peace in her pain. In a realm where she could not remember such events. In a place where her past actions could be punished through a repeating, paralyzing nightmare. As she drifted off to sleep, one thought accompanied her through the vision of Canterlot Castle.

You were better off alone.

Chapter 3: Buried Dreams

Breakfast was never this quiet.

Usually, there would be some conversation going on. Either with Spike, Starlight or Twilight. She’d watch them banter across the room, throwing jokes at one another without pause. But with Spike back in Canterlot and Starlight having returned to her village for the holidays, the room now seemed eerily silent.

Tempest glanced up at the two mares at the table with her. Both were focused on their own meal, eyes glued squarely onto their plates. Tempest attempted to think of something to say. But every time she tried, images of Twilight’s nightmares would invade her thoughts.

Keep your distance, Tempest. It’s better for Twilight that way.

The status quo was kept only for a few more seconds until Sunset cleared her throat, shattering the air around them. “So, I know more decorating is on the itinerary today. Right, Twilight?”

“...Yes.”

Sunset waited for several seconds. However, when neither Tempest nor Twilight continued the topic of conversation, she sighed. “Tempest, any idea what part of the decorating you would like to do today?”

“No,” Tempest answered.

Sunset’s mouth twisted sideways for just a moment. Her eyebrows were furrowed and she was clearly wracking her mind for… something. Tempest couldn’t say what. “What about getting the outside of the castle to look a little more festive. We could hang the lights!” Sunset exclaimed with a wide smile and outstretched hooves. She darted her gaze between Tempest and Twilight, but found no response from either. “O-or we could start brewing the delicious batch of cider for the party! I mean, it is in two days, and the cider takes a little over a day to make! What do you say?”

Tempest took a moment to compose her reply, but when she opened her mouth to answer, Twilight spoke. “Actually, maybe Tempest would like to take the day off?” she said, staring straight at Sunset.

The words twisted Tempest’s heart and sent her stomach into a pit. She allowed her fork to fall onto the plate, sending a soft ‘clank’ echoing through the room. “T-Twilight’s right,” Tempest stammered out with a lump in her throat. “I… I should spend the day away from here.”

And the rest of your days too. Her mind added without her consent.

“Tempest, wait,” Sunset called out. But Tempest didn’t pause. She pushed herself off the chair and headed out the door. All the while attempting to force the pain deeper within her. Away from where she could tackle it.

At least, while she was awake.

Nothing had changed since the last time Tempest had walked the streets of Ponyville. The festive decorations, smell of baked goods and judging stares were exactly the same. And so was the pained feeling in Tempest’s heart. Only this time, it wasn’t due to the gazes of everypony around her. She couldn’t have cared less about them.

Maybe Tempest would like to take the day off. The words rang endlessly in her mind. Even Twilight doesn’t want you around anymore. Can you blame her?

Tempest was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn’t even notice the ponies she was crossing by on the street.

“Tempest?” Rainbow’s voice drew her out of her dreamlike state. She turned her head up, spotting the pegasus fluttering softly above.

“O-oh, hi, Rainbow!” said Tempest as she raised her posture and head back to its usual height.

“What’re you doing here?” Rainbow asked, landing softly on the snow-covered path. “Aren’t you going to help us decorate?”

“I’m… I’m afraid I’m a little worn from last night. I need some time to recover.”

“Oh. Well, alright then.” Rainbow looked down and began tapping the ground softly with her hoof. Even though Tempest could not see Rainbow’s expression, there was clearly something bothering her.

“You okay, Rainbow?”

“Not really.” Rainbow’s answer made Tempest cock her head inquisitively. She waited as Rainbow drew a breath and met her gaze. “I still feel really bad about what I did yesterday.”

Right, of course. Tempest thought with a tinge of both relief and guilt in her heart. “Rainbow, that wasn’t your fault.”

“I mean it sorta was,” said Rainbow with a grimace. “And now you say that you had a bad night. I’m guessing it was probably from what I did.”

“No, it wasn’t!” Tempest shouted, drawing the attention of the few ponies around her. She lowered her head and coughed softly into her hoof, before continuing in a quieter and more formal tone. “It was… other things. I don’t want to talk about them right now, but I assure you, none of what happened last night was your doing.”

Rainbow gave Tempest a small, soft smile. It was an odd expression for Tempest to see, especially since it was coming from one of the loudest ponies she knew. Tempest didn’t know how to reply, so she smiled back instead, hoping her expression could convey what her words couldn’t.

“Well, if you’re up for it, we’d all love to have more hooves to decorate the castle!”

All except one. Her mind added once more without her approval.

“Thanks, Rainbow Dash. I’ll consider it.”

With a flap of her wings, Rainbow sent small dusts of snow flying all around her as she hovered in the air. “Well, better get back. I need to practice my routine!”

“Routine?”

“Yeah! I’m planning a special solo airshow for the party!” Suddenly, Rainbow’s eyes lit up like a filly’s. With a big grin plastered on her face, she flew closer towards Tempest. “You could totally help me plan out an awesome performance!”

Tempest took a step back at Rainbow’s sudden advancement. It took a second for her to process the offer Rainbow had just handed her. And when she did, she stared back at Rainbow with an unsure frown. “I wouldn’t know the first thing about planning out an air performance.”

“Psh, you’d be a natural! You live with Twilight after all! And I saw all those fireworks you did.”

“R-right,” Tempest stuttered. “Well, I suppose I could try, but no promises that I’ll be of any help.”

“You’ll be plenty of help!” Rainbow assured with a grin. “Come on!”

Remnants of morning dew on the countless leaves sparkled under the morning sun. Tempest was standing close to Rainbow’s cloud mansion, eyes locked up above as a blue speck zipped between the clouds.

Suddenly, a loud crack echoed through the skies over Ponyville. Tempest held a hoof in front of her eyes and dug the ones on the ground even deeper. Just as she predicted, a large shockwave soared past her, bringing with it a gust of tremendous force. It nearly sent her into the air, but her strength allowed her to stay grounded.

Once it had passed, Tempest shook her head in an attempt to get the ringing out of her ears. She ran a hoof through her mane and pulled her posture back up. Just in time to see Rainbow land beside her with a proud smirk plastered on her face.

“Better?”

“Better,” Tempest replied with a nod. “If you use that as your midway point, you’d definitely keep the crowd excited for what could come next.”

“Aw yeah!” Rainbow shouted, pumping her hoof forward. “This is going to be one awesome airshow!”

A smile grew on Tempest’s face upon seeing Rainbow’s enthusiasm. She turned her attention to the wide empty fields around them. And more importantly, to the large crystal castle that was in the distance. Her mind returned to the incident with Twilight. She had managed to distract herself by organizing the show with Rainbow, but in the moments of rest and silence, had found her mind automatically wandering back to what had happened this morning.

I need to talk to her. Was the first thought that usually crossed her mind. However, the memory of Twilight’s nightmare and the sting that came with them immediately ceased any action she wanted to take.

“You’re really good at this. The Wonderbolts could use somepony like you!”

Tempest pulled herself back into reality. “Thanks. I had a lot of experience with organizing the Sto—” She forced her mouth closed, trapping the next words in her throat, where they belonged. Her eyes, along with her head, fell low. “Nevermind. Forget what I said.”

Rainbow didn’t dare reply. Instead, she gave Tempest a pat on her shoulder and a confident nod. To which Tempest responded with a smile.

“Rainbow Dash!” An angered voice boomed through the hills.

“Uh oh,” said Rainbow with a worried frown. She turned to the source, spotting Twilight trotting up the hill with eyes blazing with fury.

“I thought I told you that there should be no sonic booms during these few days! Ponies are trying to put up their decorations! Their very fragile decorations!” Twilight ranted, eyes darting up, down and in every other direction. That is, except towards Tempest’s. Beside her trotted Sunset, who seemed lost in her own thoughts. Her movements were almost like that of a machine, and her eyes were focused more on the grass that crunched beneath her hoof than anything in front of her.

“Right, sorry, Twilight. I was just practising my routine.”

“I know! But your routine isn’t as important as—” Twilight paused. For the first time since she had arrived at the plains did she look forward. And upon spotting Tempest, Twilight’s eyes grew wide. She went deathly silent, freezing in place for several seconds.

Tempest quickly darted her gaze away in response. The air around them had grew heavy, much like at breakfast. A memory and feeling that Tempest was eager to get rid of.

“Twilight? Why’d you stop scolding me?” Rainbow asked with a raised eyebrow. “You’d usually get in at least three long winded speeches before stopping.”

No one answered.

And it was the silence that finally drew Sunset’s attention back upwards. Upon laying eyes on Tempest, Sunset’s ears perked up and a grin appeared on her face.

“Tempest!” Sunset called out with glee.

“Hey, Sunset. ...And hi Twilight.”

“Hi,” Twilight replied in a hush.

“Rainbow, would you mind giving us a minute or two?” Sunset asked.

“Hey, anything to lessen Twilight’s lectures!” Rainbow joked. The grin that followed made it clear that she was expecting some sort of irritated expression from Twilight. However, when Twilight maintained her silence and frown, Rainbow’s smile quickly faded away. “R-right. I’ll be… not here,” she muttered before zipping away, disappearing in a blink of an eye.

Once Rainbow had gone, Sunset trotted up to Tempest, who regarded her with an odd stare.

“You’re… oddly happy to see me.”

“Yeah! Because I was hoping to find you so we could talk!” Sunset turned to Twilight and gestured her forward. With slow, reluctant steps, Twilight began to trot forth.

“About?”

“What happened at breakfast.” Sunset paused. “And about what happened last night.”

Tempest shook her head. “There’s nothing to discuss. Twilight’s right, I should be taking a break.” Her words drew Twilight’s head up towards her. She was trembling softly with wide, shocked eyes. “My presence in the castle has done nothing but brought Twilight nightmares.”

“That’s not true!” Sunset quickly rebutted. “Right, Twilight?”

But only silence followed.

Sunset’s hopeful smile fell into a frown. “Twilight! Tell her!”

The longer the silence dragged, the more cracks Tempest could feel appearing in her heart. She felt her composure weaken, threatening to shatter with every passing second. “It’s okay,” Tempest quickly said. “Twilight doesn’t need to say anything.” She turned to face Ponyville, away from the Crystal Castle. “I’ll… try not to bother your Hearth’s Warming celebrations.”

Tempest began trotted away, feeling a tear trail down her cheek. You should’ve known better. You were always better off alone.

“It wasn’t your fault.”

Twilight’s words pierced the wind, stopping Tempest in her tracks.

“I should’ve never said the words I did earlier this morning. The nightmare you saw, that wasn’t your fault.”

Tempest took a deep breath. “How can it not be? It was my actions that led to that moment. That pain—”

“It was because I was scared!” Twilight shouted.

“...Of me. Right?” Tempest asked. Though, truthfully, she didn’t want an answer.

“No!” Twilight replied near instantaneously.

After lifting a hoof to wipe her tear, Tempest swung back around and fixed her eyes upon Twilight. “Then what were you afraid of?”

The question caused Twilight to recoil, as if she had been struck physically by something. She bit her lip and lowered her head before muttering out her reply, “I… I can’t say. Look, you have to trust me, Tempest. This isn’t your fault. This is mine.”

She’s lying. You are the cause.

“I’m sorry, Twilight. For all I’ve done.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for!” Twilight screamed, shocking both Sunset and Tempest at her volume. Tears had started to fill her eyes as she continued, “you’ve been through Tatarus and back, Tempest. Your life, your fillyhood has been filled with nothing but pain. And yet somehow you keep moving forward! You’re one of the bravest ponies I know and I—” She paused, shutting her eyes to gather her thoughts. “And I just need you to trust me when I say that you are not the cause of that nightmare. I can’t let you believe that and add to whatever problems you’re already trying to deal with.”

Sunset stared wide-eyed at Tempest. Much like her, Sunset was in a state of utter shock at Twilight’s outburst. Tempest moved up to the sobbing mare and placed a hoof gently around her neck, pulling her into a soft hug. Twilight instantly rested her head upon Tempest’s form and began sobbing into her coat, matting her fur with her tears.

“I shouldn’t have said those things,” Twilight mumbled.

“It’s okay. To be honest I was thinking the same thing then too.”

“Don’t.”

Tempest turned to Sunset, who breathed a sigh of relief.

“So you’ll come back to the castle?” Twilight asked. “We could really use a hoof for the decorations.”

“If you want me back.”

“I do. I really do.”

Mare, the castle looks great. Tempest thought to herself as she ran the towel through her soaked mane. Night had fallen over Ponyville, and with it, the end of another decorating day. In the few hours they had, all of them had managed to decorate the castle from tip to floor. Where once only sat a few bells and ribbons, now strung long strings of colourful thread. They twirled and twisted around every single crystal pillar, past the handrails and up into the ceiling above, where several large, shining Hearth’s Warming orbs swayed in the breeze.

“Pretty cool, huh?” Sunset asked as she placed her hooves on the balcony. She too was gazing out at the view with a wistful smile on her face.

“How’s the cider?”

“Chilling in the basement. It’s gonna be so delicious,” Sunset chuckled.

“I can’t wait to have some.”

“If Rainbow doesn’t finish it all first.”

Tempest nodded. “I’ve heard tales of her cider obsession.”

“I promise you they are not myths,” said Sunset with a playful smile. Tempest couldn’t help but laugh softly at her words, her mind already imagining Rainbow Dash chugging barrels of the drink.

After a few seconds of awed stares at the decor, Sunset finally spoke up once more. “You know, Twilight wants to help you with your nightmares.”

Tempest pulled the towel aside and tossed it over her back. Her smile had all but disappeared, leaving only a troubled frown in its place. “Twilight has enough to deal with. I’m the last pony she should be worrying about.”

A sigh escaped Sunset’s muzzle. One that dragged farther than was natural. One that was filled with such exhaustion and confusion, it drew Tempest’s attention towards her. “You should… you should really allow her to help.”

“Even if I wanted it, how would I allow that to happen?”

“You could start by letting her see your nightmares. I mean, you saw Twilight’s. But she hasn’t seen yours.”

“Absolutely not. Not after what I saw Twilight is going through.”

Sunset lowered her head, pressing it firmly into the hoof that was on the railing. “Why did you say yes, Sunset?” she muttered under her breath before darting her head up once more. “Tempest, you want to help Twilight, don’t you?”

“Of course,” Tempest answered without pause.

“Then let her help you.” Sunset saw Tempest prepping a rebuttal, so she quickly continued before Tempest could eek out a word. “I know it sounds crazy. But trust me when I say the only way to help each other right now is to let her help you.”

“Why can’t I help her instead? I’ve seen her nightmare after all.”

“Right, umm…” Sunset stuttered. “That’s because. Well…” she paused, tapping her hoof to her chin. “Look, if you let Twilight help, then she’ll let you help her.”

Tempest raised an eyebrow and a cautious frown appeared on her lip. “Why are you so adamant about our troubles?”

This time, Sunset didn’t wait for an answer. “Because I can’t stand seeing two of my friends suffer. Twilight brought me in to help solve this, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

The conviction in Sunset’s tone, along with her fierce look of determination impressed Tempest. She had only seen that look twice before. Once in Twilight, when she was chasing the Staff of Sacanas that was embedded into the stained glass window. And the other in herself, at many points during her Storm King’s servitude.

“...Fine. If it’ll help Twilight, I’ll… let her assist in my nightmares. But you must promise me that it’ll help her, not harm her.”

Sunset shut her eyes tight and gritted her teeth. She groaned softly, rubbing her forehead. “...D-deal…” she hesitantly muttered.

“Very well. I’ll head up to my room. If Twilight really does want to help, you can bring her there.”

“Right! We’ll be there!” Sunset assured. As Tempest began her trot up the steps, she heard Sunset spin around and gave an audible, heavy sigh. “Why did you say yes again?”

“Okay. Everypony ready?” Sunset asked as she took both Tempest’s and Twilight’s hoof.

“Ready!” Twilight shouted.

“A-as ready as I’ll ever be.” Tempest stared straight into Twilight’s eyes.

I just hope you are.

“Alright, let’s go.”

With those words, Sunset floated the pendent between them and fired a beam into it, splitting it into three. Once a beam had struck Tempest, she felt her consciousness fade into darkness.

“Where…?” Tempest opened her eyes to the shattered balcony of Canterlot Castle. The six ponies, her friends, were in an embrace. But instead of joy, her heart was only filled with terror.

Before she had time to ponder, she peered over and saw the Storm King looming over the balcony, a twisted smirk drawn onto his face and a familiar green orb in his claw.

“No!” Tempest shouted.

She leapt onto rubble upon rubble, springing off each one in an attempt to get closer. The six ponies that were huddled together aimed the staff straight in her direction.

Turn around! Her mind called out, but her muzzle could not. The words would not make it out it time.

Tempest took one final leap just as the Storm King released the orb. She locked eyes onto it mid flight, knowing that there was no going back now. She felt it hit her squarely in the chest, exploding into a tight green mist.

Have to get it away from them.

The thought sent Tempest leaping forward with a swish of her tail, pouring the mist towards the Storm King. And then she felt it. The one feeling she dreaded so much.

Pain.

She could feel the rock creeping up her hooves and onto her back. The armor provided no protection at all and in a matter of seconds, the movement of her hooves were stolen away. A couple more, and the rest of her body was encased. Her vision remained, forcing her to stare helplessly as she fell over the edge.

No. No no no, please. Anyone.

The air soared past her and the ground was approaching rapidly. Her heart raced in fear, though she couldn’t act on it. She wanted to scream, but she couldn’t draw a single breath. Her mind was alive.

But her body was not.

Someone. Anyone. I’m so sorry for all I did.

Those were the last thoughts she managed to eek out before feeling the ground hit her hoof.

And she shattered.

Twilight awoke with a loud gasp, as if she had not drawn breath for minutes. Her eyes grew wider than Tempest had ever seen them as she pressed her hoof firmly against her chest.

“T-that… that was not how it went!” Twilight shouted, wiping cold sweat off her forehead. “Tempest, we saved you!”

“I know. But what if—”

“There is no ‘what if’! We saved you. And we’d do it again!” Twilight screamed back. For every ounce of horror in her eyes, it was accompanied by an equal amount of anger.

Tempest turned her head away. “Twilight, it’s not about that. It’s about...” She turned to Sunset, who gestured a ‘continue’ with her head. “Maybe I should’ve fell. It’s the punishment I deserve for what I did.”

“That’s not true,” spoke Twilight in a deadly serious voice. “You don’t deserve to… to have that happen to you! Nopony deserves it!”

“In case you forgot Twilight, I put the three princesses of Equestria through that. And almost you as well. I helped enslave Equestria. That’s not something I’m sure I’ll ever be able to make up.”

“And putting yourself through all this would make it better!?” Twilight raised her tone even higher. But when she saw Tempest lower her head, she took a breath and lowered her volume. “Tempest, I’ve seen a friend of mine go through this same thing. She hated her past so much she punished herself for years in her dreams. She tortured herself because she felt that she deserved the pain.” She moved forward, lifting Tempest’s head by her chin to meet her opal eyes. “I’m begging you. Don’tlet the same thing happen to you.”

“But… what I did…”

“Is in the past. What matters is what you do from here on out.”

Tempest smiled for a second, but it quickly fell into a frown. “What makes you so sure the ponies of Equestria will forgive me?”

“They will, in time.”

“And how are you sure?”

“Because I’ve seen what you’re capable of, Tempest. All the good you can do. But they won’t start until you forgive yourself,” said Twilight as she nudged Tempest tenderly.

“Even if I wanted to, I don’t think I can do this alone.”

“Who said you are?” Sunset interjected. She leaned back against the wall underneath the window, a wide smile on her face. “You’re surrounded by some of the most amazing friends anyone could ask for. Pony or not.” She winked. “Trust me. I know.”

Tempest stared dumbfounded at the two ponies. Throughout her life, she had been used, abused and abandoned. Like a toy that had outlived its usefulness, she was always thrown aside when she was no longer needed. Yet somehow, these two ponies were saying that they would stick by her. But that wasn’t the part that struck Tempest dumb.

It was the fact that she believed them.

“Sunset’s right. No matter what happens, I’ll be here for you. We’ll work through this together. Somehow.” Twilight placed a hoof upon Tempest’s chest. “And you need to start by not punishing yourself every single night for the things you did. Please…”

The moment Twilight turned her head up with a sorrowful look, Tempest felt something in her break. Tears filled her eyes and she leapt into Twilight’s hooves, hugging her tight. All the pent up emotion Tempest had hid had instantly given way, allowing her to release all in the tears that trailed down her eyes. The words Twilight had said had been exactly what she had wanted to hear. In fact, it was exactly what she needed to hear.

You can’t trust them! Remember what the others did! Her mind screamed, but she shut it out in an instant.

The two embraced in silence for several minutes. At least, as silent as it could be with Tempest’s soft sobs echoing in the room. There were a million words Tempest had wanted to say, but to put them into a coherent sentence was an impossibility for her at this time.

She glanced up, spotting Sunset watching with a smile on her face. Upon catching sight of her, Sunset simply gave her a nod. Tempest nodded back and broke the hug with a smile.

“Feeling better?”

Tempest giggled at that question. For once, she could answer honestly.

And it was an answer she was happy to give.

“Yes.” Tempest took a breath and dropped her head. “But, Twilight, I don’t think this’ll be something I can just get over quickly.”

“Nopony’s asking you to rush it. I know these things take time, so no matter how long it takes, I’ll be here for you.”

Tempest shot Twilight a soft smile. “And me for you.”

“Alright. So, let’s get back into that nightmare shall we?”

“W-what!?” Both Sunset and Tempest exclaimed.

“What? You don’t think I’m going to just let it go and leave you alone did you? I just said that I’ll be here for you. So let’s go in there and get your nightmares under control.”

“And how do you plan to do that?” Sunset asked.

“I’m not. Tempest is.” Twilight smiled.

“I…” Tempest stuttered. “I don’t know if I can.”

“Just remember that we’re there with you. You aren’t alone in there, you never are,” said Twilight. “It’s still—

“—worth a try,” Sunset finished Twilight’s sentence, giving her a coy smirk in return. “Up for it, Tempest?”

Tempest darted her eyes between the two mares, giving blank blinks to both. “Do you two do this a lot?”

“All the time!” Sunset and Twilight answered simultaneously. “Come on, the night’s growing late. Let’s see if you can make a difference, Tempest.”

The orb had landed squarely onto Tempest’s chest.

Tempest braced herself for the creeping agony as she leapt forward to push the smoke away from her friends. Seconds later, she was encased in stone. Forced to watch as the ground approached.

Someone. Anyone. Please… she begged in her mind. She knew nobody would save her. Why would they?

Yet, to Tempest’s bewilderment, she heard a voice call from within her mind.

Tempest, this isn’t how it goes.

For a moment, she thought she was going mad. The ground was rapidly approaching, though time itself seemed to slow.

You know it yourself!

The voice was familiar, but in the chaos that was happening around her, Tempest couldn’t place it.

Tempest.

It was so familiar.

Please… you don’t deserve this.

I… don’t deserve this? Something about the four words felt like a distant memory. Yet, the longer she receited it, the clearer it became. I don’t deserve this… The ground was swiftly approaching. Any moment now, it would touch her hoof. And any moment now, she’d shatter. Yet, even when presented with this sight, Tempest found comfort in the four words running through her head.

You don’t deserve this.

Just as the ground was inches away from her frozen hoof, she saw it stop beneath her eyes. Suddenly, she felt herself rise. Unable to move nor project her voice, Tempest could only watch as she was lifted up into the sky before being placed back onto solid ground. To the balcony.

To safety.

In the next moment, she felt something strike her chest. A beam of warmth. A ray comprised of several colors. And soon, she felt the rock falling off her body. It shattered in an instant, allowing Tempest to draw a deep breath and panic for a just a moment.

She swung around, spotting Twilight standing alone with the staff in hoof.

“That’s how it went,” Twilight smirked.

Tempest rushed forward, grabbing Twilight into a tight hug with tear-filled eyes. Twilight returned the embrace with her eyes closed tight. All just before her vision went black.

Tempest opened her eyes, but laid still in shock for several seconds. For the first time in two months, she had woken up without a petrifying fear within her. For the first time since she could remember, she woke up with a feeling of joy.

“That went well,” spoke Sunset as she rose up.

“Tempest?” Twilight loomed over her friend, pulling her up by her hoof. “How do you feel?”

“I… I feel…” Tempest searched for the right word in her mind, but somehow couldn’t find the right one. “Weird.”

“The good kind of weird?” Twilight shifted nervously in her seat.

Tempest gave her a reassuring smile. “Good kind.”

The reply Twilight gave was a high-pitched squeal. Though when the sound reached her ears, it quickly sent a red hot blush to her cheeks. “I-I mean… good!”

“Better than good.”

“Great?” Twilight suggested, causing both mares to break into laughter.

“I don’t mean to be a buzzkill, but I don’t think this’ll solve your nightmares forever, Tempest,” Sunset said.

“I know.” Tempest lifted her blanket, wrapping herself softly within it. “But it’s a start. And that’s all I need.”

“You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that.” Twilight grinned.

“I hope the next thing I’m about to say brings you the same joy. Because now it’s my turn to help you,” Tempest spoke with her head held high.

“Tempest, you don’t have to—”

“You’re wrong. After all you’ve done for me, I need to.”

“I-I’m flattered. But umm...” Twilight shot a glance to the clock on the wall. “It’s late! We should do this another time!”

An impatient groan came from Sunset. One that Tempest barely managed to catch as Sunset turned away.

“I… I guess so,” Tempest replied, unsure. “But promise me that you’ll let me help.”

Twilight gulped. “I… I mean, i-if you want? But again, you don’t have to! I can handle this on my own!”

Giving a quick glance at Sunset, she barely managed to catch her roll her eyes. She met Twilight’s gaze and nodded once. “I do.”

“R-right. O-of course you do,” Twilight muttered, almost as if it was in disappointment.

What’s wrong with you, Twilight?

“Well, anyway, I’m going to prep for bed!”

Before either mare had a chance to fence a reply, Twilight teleported in a purple flash. Sunset turned to Tempest with a hard grimace on her face.

“I know how bad Twilight’s nightmares are,” Tempest placed a hoof upon Sunset’s shoulder. “But I can handle it.”

“I’m not worried about that.” Sunset released a heavy sigh.

“Then what’re you worried about?”

“I…” Sunset began, but swiftly shut her muzzle. “You know, I have to ask, when was the last time you’ve had a happy memory?”

Even though Tempest had noticed the sudden subject change, she decided not to pursue the matter. For the question Sunset posed had her intrigued. She attempted to remember the last time she had a dream that made her smile. But it failed. Miserably so.

“I… don’t know.”

Sunset shook her head. “Tempest, you can’t just have nightmares and bad memories. There has to be a memory that brings you happiness right? Maybe relaxing with an old friend. Or viewing something beautiful!”

Tempest spent the next few seconds wracking her brain, but once more, came up blank. She returned a silent and slightly guilty look towards Sunset.

“That’s it. Tempest, give me your hooves.”

“What? Why?”

“We’re going to view a happy memory of yours.”

“I… don’t think I have one.”

“Everyone has one,” Sunset said with faultless confidence. She extended her hooves towards Tempest. “Everyone.”

Though she hesitated at first, Tempest soon placed her hooves with Sunset’s. And with a glow of her horn, she levitated the geode into the air. When it was at the right height, she zapped it with a red beam, causing it to split into two separate rays that struck both mares straight in their chests.

“But… my horn.” Tempest’s mouth dropped into a pained frown. She spun around to face Twilight.

“You know, your horn is pretty powerful,” Twilight spoke with a smile. “Just like the pony it belongs to.”

With a smirk, Tempest continued, “I did tell you that I wanted to show everypony in Equestria what I could do, right?” She strutted slowly to the back of the crowd.

Show them what you can do. Tempest took a deep breath and focused all her magic into her horn. For so long, she commanded her magic forth using hate and anger, for they allowed her to channel the spells she needed. But tonight, she wanted to channel another emotion. One she had not felt since before her horn was broken. Show them who you can be.

To her surprise, the magic flowed like a river. Her horn didn’t crackle with uncontrollable blue bolts. Instead, it sparked with immense life. And even though her horn was shattered, in this moment Tempest felt like she had all the control in the world.

Show them you won’t make the same mistakes again.

She shot her head upwards, sending a thin, cyan line fizzling up to the sky. It flew higher and higher before disappearing.

3…

Twilight joined Tempest’s side, eyes locked onto the sky.

2…

The other ponies around them had also began focusing on the clouds above.

1…

And just on cue, a large explosion filled the sky, sending a bright blue light over the crowd. The bolt soared through the sky, causing another burst of light. And another. And another.

You… did it. Nopony knew how much this sight meant to her. For the first time since her horn was taken from her, she had casted a spell that wasn’t meant to harm. A spell that was meant to bring a smile to everyone’s face. A spell meant for someone else.

When Tempest turned to stare at Twilight, she already found her staring back. The moment she met Twilight’s eyes, Tempest felt something odd in her heart. This was a pony she had put through Tatarus and back. And in her violet eyes, Tempest couldn’t see a trace of doubt. Nor an ounce of fear. She knew that this very pony was the reason she was alive. And not just physically.

I don’t deserve what you gave me. But I’m going to earn every last bit of it.

Suddenly, Twilight shot her a grin. Combined with the soft glow of the rainbow lights popping above, Tempest felt a flood of emotions threaten to overwhelm her. She swiftly turned her gaze away, but couldn’t stop her mouth from growing into a heartfelt smile.

On the edge of her vision, she saw that Twilight was still staring at her. She turned back, just in time to spot Twilight nudging forward. As if to tell Tempest… something. With the various confusing feelings swirling within her heart and a jumble of thoughts in her mind, she couldn’t discern exactly what it was.

But a part of her told her she didn’t need to. She turned to face Twilight fully, allowing the emotions to take control of her body. She straightened her back, rose her head upwards and gave Twilight a bright beam.

For a couple of seconds, the two mares shared the moment as they stared into each other’s eyes. The noise, the ponies and even the world appeared to melt away, leaving the two of them alone.

However, reality quickly struck them back down to Equestria at the detonation of another explosion. Both Tempest and Twilight broke their gaze and turned back upwards, watching as the lights continued to fill the sky.

To Tempest’s surprise, Sunset tore her hoof away and pressed it against her chest, ending the vision. The night, and the heavy air that accompanied it, came crashing back down on her shoulders. She turned to Sunset, who was sitting perfectly still with her mane hiding most of her face.

“Sunset?”

“Y-you’re…” Sunset shook her head and got to her hooves. “D-did that help?”

“...Yes. I had forgotten what that moment felt like.” Tempest smiled. The majority of her mind was occupied on those ten seconds she shared with Twilight under the fireworks.

“Good. I’m… glad I could help,” Sunset stammered, still hiding her face under the curl of her mane. She turned to trot out, but was stopped by Tempest’s words.

“Maybe Twilight could use a moment like this too. I-it’ll help her.”

“Twilight’s tired,” Sunset muttered under her breath. As she crossed Tempest’s wall, she turned to the photo that hung upon it. It was of Tempest and Twilight, smiling happily towards the camera during the Friendship Festival, their hooves wrapped around each other’s shoulders. Sunset lifted it up and held it in front of her eyes for several seconds.

“She needs it Sunset.”

Sunset paused. “I’ll help her tomorrow.” She sat the photo frame on a nearby desk before exiting the room.

Tempest found herself alone in the dead of night. She rested her head on the windowsill and gazed upwards to the night sky. She imagined filling it with lights for everypony to see and enjoy. So that she could take away their worries, even if only for a short while.

And under the lights, Twilight would gaze upwards, admiring the beauty of her magic. Perhaps she’d be beside her, making sure it was everything she dreamed. So that Twilight could smile again, if even for just a moment more. Perhaps her magic would even be able to take away all the worries or nightmares Twilight was having. After all, she’d owe her that much.

The longer the ideas and the memory sat, the more intense the feeling in Tempest’s heart. She attempted to place it. Was it joy? No, it was… stronger. Deeper. It was something she hadn’t felt before, and could not describe with words. At least, none of the words she knew. All she understood was that Twilight was the source. Imaging the memory, of the world melting away, leaving just her and Twilight together under the fireworks. It allowed this feeling to surface. She pondered upon it for a few more moments, but soon felt the exhaustion of the day creep up on her, forcing her eyes closed.

As she drifted off to sleep, she wore a soft smile on her face. She had had happy memories before. But in the chaos of the world, had forgotten them. Now here they sat, like a shining light amidst a mist of darkness. And as sleep had started to overtake her, she hoped the memory and the emotion could stop the nightmares, or perhaps keep them at bay, even if it was just for tonight.

That’d be nice.

Chapter 4: You'll Know

“Enjoy, Fizzle!”

“Thanks, Pinkie.” Tempest smiled.

She turned down to the plate of warm cookies that sat in front of her and sighed. As she picked one up, she gazed out the window to the bustling streets of Ponyville. Decorations were up everywhere now. Thistles hung from everypony’s door, while the side of the walls were wrapped in twisting wires of colorful lights.

In the distance, she could see the Crystal Castle towering over Ponyville. She wondered if Twilight and Sunset were still asleep.

Maybe I should’ve checked. Tempest thought back to when she awoke in the morning. The nightmares felt less intense than usual, though they were still very much there. She had managed to save herself from shattering, but the fear didn’t feel any less intense. When she awoke with her head on the windowsill, she made her way to Twilight’s room. Her hoof hovered over the door for what felt like forever, but in the end, she chose to leave her be.

She’s been through enough as is.

Yet, there was one thought that was more invasive than the rest. One memory that plagued her ever since Sunset had shown it to her last night. Tempest bit down on the cookie, her mind still filled with images of the Friendship Festival. The parties and ponies she met. But more importantly, of that moment with Twilight, when the sky was alight with rainbow explosions. Every time she went back to that moment, a feeling appeared in her heart. An emotion she couldn’t place. Though she did know it was positive! It was like joy.

But oh so different.

Tempest lifted the cup of hot cocoa to her lips and sipped it softly.

“Tempest!”

Tempest shot her head up, spotting Rainbow Dash rushing towards her. “Oh, good morning, Rainbow Dash. I-is everything alright?”

“Oh yeah, everything’s great!” Rainbow grinned. “Except…”

“What is it?”

“Okay so you know how the whole Hearth’s Warming Eve festival is tomorrow at the Crystal Castle?”

“Yeah?” Tempest stared curiously at her friend.

“Okay so I was planning this whole amazing air show thing for everypony to see! It would feature cloud sculpting, and a whole bunch of other air tricks. Ending with me doing my signature Sonic Rainboom!” Rainbow pointed to herself with a proud smirk.

“Yes. I helped plan that, in case you forgot.”

“O-oh, right,” Rainbow laughed sheepishly. “Well, you know those fireworks you did back at the Friendship Festival? I was hoping you could do that just as I do the Sonic Rainboom! It’ll look so. Awesome,” she said with glittering eyes.

Tempest’s eyes grew wide. She almost leapt on the opportunity. To be able to do such an act of awe-inspiring magic, and to see the faces of all the ponies around her, it would make her happy beyond reason. But when she opened her mouth to answer, she remembered something that trapped the words at her throat.

She needed joy to cast that spell.

And not just any joy. She needed the same one she had felt on that night. One that she currently couldn’t place. Not to mention the fact that Twilight was still suffering from her nightmares. Combined with the fact that she hadn’t had a chance to help Twilight like Twilight had helped her, and Tempest soon realized just how much was still left in the air.

“R-Rainbow, I’m sorry but I don’t think I can.”

“What? Why not?” Rainbow asked, leaning close with concern.

“I’ve just been… trying to solve some things out.”

“You… want to talk about it?” Rainbow sat down on the seat across her. Her confident smile having been replaced with a worried frown. “Wait, is it those ponies looking at you funny? Cause if so—”

“It’s not that Rainbow. Well, that’s just a small part of it.”

“So what is it?”

Tempest had wanted to tell Rainbow everything that had happened the last two days. Her fears, the nightmares and the pain she’s caused to everyone around her. But it was that very last thought that stopped her.

Hearth’s Warming is supposed to be a time for joy. And here I am weighing all my friends down.

“I-I’m sorry, Rainbow. I just don’t want to talk about it right now.”

Rainbow nodded. “Say no more. I completely understand. Well, whenever you’re ready, you can talk to Pinkie, me or anypony else! Got it?”

“Of course. Thank you, Rainbow.”

Rainbow turned and was about to take a step forward, when Tempest’s voice caught her. “Rainbow, can I ask you something before you go?”

“What’s up?” Rainbow spun back around.

“Do you trust that I’ve changed?”

“Is… that a trick question? Because of course I do!” Rainbow answered almost instantly. “You saved us from the Storm King. If it wasn’t for you, Equestria would be doomed!”

Tempest shot Rainbow a wide, beaming smile. “Y-yeah. I suppose so. Thank you.”

“No prob!” With that, Rainbow soared out the doors.

Once she had disappeared, Tempest returned to her meal in silence, her thoughts occupied once more by the memories of the past. She attempted to distract herself with occasional stares outside, but found herself automatically returning to her daydreams. With all that was happening, she had forgotten about the hatred the citizens of Equestria still harbored for her. And tomorrow, she would be forced to be in the same room as them.

There’s so many things! Tempest sighed at the thought. But no matter how many things she attempted to run through her mind, her thoughts would revert back to one vision.

“Do the fireworks again…” Tempest muttered under her breath in a monotone voice.

“Do what again?”

Hearing Sunset’s voice immediately caused Tempest to jolt in shock. She turned back, spotting Sunset seated across her with a smile.

“When did you come in?”

“About two minutes ago,” Sunset said nonchalantly.

“And you didn’t think to tell me?”

“You look like you were thinking through some stuff!” Sunset reached over to Tempest’s plate and snatched a cookie. “And I didn’t want to interrupt you!”

Tempest rolled her eyes with a smirk. “Are you always so good at reading other ponies?”

“Maybe.” Sunset winked. Her playful expression soon melted into one that held more weight. “Hey, Tempest, I wanted to apologize.”

“What for?”

“For cutting that happy vision off and leaving so suddenly.” With a swift twist of her hoof, Sunset snapped the cookie into two and offered one half to Tempest. “I was just… overwhelmed with a few things.”

A sigh escaped Tempest’s muzzle as she grabbed the Windigo treat. “Sounds like that’s happening to all of us recently.”

“How was your sleep? Did what Twilight do help?” Sunset asked through her chews.

“Yeah, it helped.”

“So no more nightmares!?” Sunset gasped.

“L-less intense nightmares. I think. I don’t really want to remember.” Tempest's words evaporated all traces of excitement on Sunset’s face. “And Twilight?”

“R-right, Twilight.” Sunset paused. “Tempest, Twilight had a… bad night.”

Tempest dropped her treat and her eyes ignited with fire. “Tell me she’s okay.”

“She’s okay,” Sunset said, though her tone made it sound like even she didn’t believe her words. “But with the stress of the celebration coming up and her nightmares, it’s taking a toll on her. I’m… sorta scared for her. Would you mind keeping an eye on her today as we do the final touch-ups?”

“I was going to do that even if you didn’t ask me to.”

“Right.” Sunset gave several small laughs.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing.”

The two mares shot each other a knowing look and it was clear to them what the next topic of conversation was.

“So, when can you send me back into Twilight’s nightmares? I need to help her.”

“...Tonight.” Sunset tapped her cookie nervously.

“Is Twilight okay with that?”

“...I don’t know. But we’re going to need to try to convince her. She needs help.”

Tempest spotted Sunset’s faraway gaze and troubled eyes. She lifted her cookie, knocking it softly against Sunset’s own treat. The act did exactly what Tempest hoped it would do, and drew Sunset’s attention back to Equestria.

“Then let’s help her after the decorating portion of the day.” With that, Tempest tossed the treat back into her mouth and leapt off her chair. Sunset allowed the action to catch up with her for a moment, before mimicking Tempest’s action and headed towards the door.

“Hey, Tempest?”

“Hm?”

Sunset held the door for Tempest, smiling and speaking as Tempest trotted past. “...Thanks for being there for her.”

“Now this is what I call a castle fit for Hearth’s Warming!” Rainbow bellowed out as she slapped one last mistletoe above the main hall’s entrance.

“Oh most definitely. What say you, Twilight? Does it meet your standards?” When Rarity received no reply, she turned to face her.

“Huh? O-oh, yeah! Just… hold on…” Twilight muttered as she flipped through the papers on her clipboard.

“Twilight, dear, what’s been up with you? The past few hours you’ve seem distracted.” Rarity trotted over to a candlestick, pushing the slightly slanted candle back in place. “Even putting a candle off center? That’s unlike you!”

“Sorry, Rarity.” Twilight dropped her board with a heavy sigh. “It’s just with so much to do and the things going on, I’ve been a little… stressed.”

“Oh dear, would you like to talk about it?”

Twilight shook her head. “Not particularly.”

“O-oh.” Rarity cleared her throat. “Well, regardless, tomorrow is Hearth’s Warming Eve. I do hope you’d be able to enjoy the festivities.”

“And the parties!” Pinkie hollered from across the room.

An audible gulp resonated through the main hall. “R-right,” Twilight stuttered. “T-tomorrow’s the party.” Her face grew as white as a ghost and she looked as if she had wanted to scream. “C-can’t let down the citizens of Equestria!”

“That’s the spirit!” Applejack swung her hoof forward as she spoke.

From a small distance away, Tempest gazed at Twilight. She locked her eyes onto Twilight’s face. Watching for every twist of her lip, every dart of her eyes. For the past few hours, Tempest’s mind was on her conversation with Sunset. It didn’t take any mind reading powers for Tempest to tell that something was off with the princess. Something beyond the sudden fear regarding the scheduling problems. Her closest theory was the nightmares, but she had no way to prove it. Especially with Sunset being as cryptic as she was.

She trotted closer, hoping to catch any clue she could as to Twilight’s insistence of hiding her nightmare. Yet, as she stood studying Twilight, a voice startled her from her left.

“You okay?”

Tempest turned, spotting Rainbow hovering just beside her. “Me? I’m… better. But Twilight…”

“Yeah, Rarity was right. She seemed so out of it today!”

“Yes, she is.”

“Do you know what’s going with her?” Rainbow landed on the ground and tapped her chin.

“No. She’s probably just… tired.” Tempest had wanted to go into more detail regarding Twilight, but she knew that that decision was not hers to make.

Neither pony spoke another word for a few seconds, until Rainbow piped up, “Tempest? Look, about that fireworks thing—”

“Sorry, Rainbow. Like I said, I’m still not sure I can do it.”

“I know.” Rainbow sighed. “But I just wanted to let you know that there’s no pressure in it alright? If you can’t do it, the show’s still gonna be so. Freaking. Awesome!”

Tempest had barely caught Rainbow’s words. She saw Twilight lean against her friends as they surrounded her, laughter filling the air. Yet, Twilight never met any of them eye-to-eye. For a moment, she thought she saw Twilight give a quick glance towards her. But the movement was so swift, Tempest wondered if she was just seeing things.

“Hey, Rainbow!” Sunset called out.

“Sunset, hey! Done with the fireplace?”

Sunset gestured to the ornate brick fireplace. Ribbons of green and red thread wove around the mantle and down its side. In the middle sat a bubbling cauldron of cider, the smell of which quickly drew the attention of Rainbow, even though they stood across the room.

“That. Looks. Amazing!” Rainbow did a somersault in the air, landing back on her hooves.

“What’s next?” Pinkie chirped as she bounced up towards Twilight.

“I think…” Twilight flipped a page over the clipboard. “Wait, no. Maybe it’s time to… no wait a minute,” she muttered to herself. Her movements had started to become more frantic and more nervous. “Where’s the page? I planned for this!”

“Tempest…” Sunset started, but her voice trailed off. Though Tempest didn’t need any clarification for her name being called.

“I’ll… be right back! Just keep on decorating!” Twilight anxiously shouted before galloping up the steps.

“I’m guessing what you meant when you said that Twilight was having a bad day was…”

“That. Exactly that,” Sunset answered as the two of them followed Twilight’s path to the upper levels.

“Got to prep the tree topping ceremony… and then…” Twilight’s words trailed off into an incoherent mumble.

“Twilight?” Tempest called out, but Twilight didn’t seem to acknowledge her presence. She trotted closer, until she could make out the clearly disheveled mane, spastic movements and wide, stressed eyes. The room echoed the clip-clop of her hooves as she paced in front of her desk, which had been loaded by papers and several cups of, what Tempest could only assume to be, coffee. “Twilight—”

“Ah!” Twilight screamed and darted her eyes towards Tempest. Her horn was alight with sparking magic, though it quickly dispersed once her eyes landed on Tempest and Sunset. “O-oh, hi, Tempest!”

“Twilight, what happened? It looked as if you didn’t sleep last night!”

“Yes, I did!” Twilight shouted as she waved the piece the paper in her hoof wildly around.

“Did you get more than three hours of sleep last night?” asked Sunset with a worried tone.

“That’s… not important right now! What is important is the amount of work we could be doing! We need to get everything ready for tomorrow and my organization slips are all out of order!” screamed Twilight, who picked up several more scattered pieces of paper on her desk. In a shaking voice, she began to read off each one. “We need to make sure each bell is aligned just right, and the tree needs to be wrapped with exactly two point four meters of ribbons! And they need to be color coded to represent the earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns! And we need to accommodate possible visitors from outside Equestria. And—”

“Stop.” Tempest spoke in such a commanding tone, that it not only shocked Twilight into silence, but Sunset too. “Twilight, we’ll do them, but you need to give yourself some time to rest.”

“We can’t just do them! We need to make sure they’re perfect!” Twilight picked up a few more pieces, but soon, allowed them all to fall on the ground. “I need to make sure I’m busy…”

“Because of the nightmares,” Sunset muttered.

Twilight didn’t acknowledge Sunset’s words, even though it was clear they could be heard. However, she didn’t deny them either. Instead, she gathered her papers and turned to the door. But as she attempted to trot forward, Tempest intercepted her path.

“Twilight, these nightmares are going too far. You need to let me help you.”

“I said I’m fine!” Twilight shouted in anger. “Would you stop trying to find out what’s going on and just let me be!?” However, the moment the words left her mouth, Twilight’s eyes softened with regret. “I… I didn’t mean to shout. I’m sorry. I just… there’s so much going on I can’t deal with this right now.”

“It’s because you’re not getting enough sleep.” Tempest placed her hoof underneath Twilight’s chin and pushed her head up ever so slightly. She stared into Twilight’s shining purple eyes with a frown. “Just let us help you. Please. I can help make these visions go away.”

“...What makes you so sure?”

“What made you so sure when helping me?”

Twilight shut her eyes and shook her head.

“Come on, Twi,” Sunset urged. “Let Tempest see it.”

“...You’re going to hate me,” Twilight spoke, a tear trailing down her face.

“That’s not going to happen.”

Twilight took a step back, breaking away from Tempest’s soft grip. She placed her papers gently back onto the table and wiped the tears away. “So what, you want to do it now?”

“No, not while the others are here,” Sunset said. “Let’s just finish up what we need to and we’ll do it the moment they’re gone. At night.”

“...I’m not sure I can last till then,” Twilight admitted in an exhausted tone.

Taking a step towards her desk, Tempest gathered the remaining papers as neatly as she could in a small stack. She then picked them up and shot Twilight a comforting smile. “You’re not the only one good at organizing. Right, Sunset?”

“But—” Twilight attempted to interrupt. But Sunset gave her no chance.

“Right.” Sunset plucked a few pieces of paper from Tempest’s grip and made her way to the door. “Let us handle the planning and decorations.”

“But—”

“You trust us, don’t you?” Tempest asked.

“Yes, but—”

“Good. Let’s go, Tempest.” Sunset and Tempest trotted out the door, giving each other a wink as they entered the hallway. “We got work to do.”

In the next few hours, both the exterior and the interior had been covered in countless decorations. Any and every Hearth’s Warming symbol, be it bells, thistles, ribbons or flowers, had been placed all around. To say that the place looked exquisite would have been an understatement. And to say that Tempest felt a little proud would have been a great disservice to the effort she saw everypony put in to make it happen.

Her friends had headed home to prepare for the big day tomorrow. And Tempest, Sunset and Twilight were doing so as well. The three of them were gathered in Twilight’s chambers, seated on her bed. Soft moonlight peaked through the windows, bathing the room in a calming glow.

“Tempest, again, you don’t have to do this. In any sense.”

“And again, I’m telling you I want to do this. I must do this for you.”

Twilight gulped. “You’ve already seen my nightmares once.”

“And I want to see it again to see if I can help.”

Sunset placed her hooves on either pony’s lap. “Come on, let’s get started,” she urged, giving a knowing glance towards Tempest.

Tempest nodded and placed her hoof upon Sunset’s, with Twilight following suit. As swiftly as she could, Sunset levitated her amulet, shot a beam into its center and watched as three fractured rays pierced into each mare’s chest, putting them fast asleep.

Tempest expected to wake up to the Canterlot Castle hall. To see through Twilight’s eyes the magic-resistant cage door. Yet, to her confusion, she opened her eyes to see the last pony she expected:

Herself

There she was, standing with her back turned towards Twilight. The sky was filled with twinkling stars, ones that shone brightly through whatever was going on. Tempest could even hear laughter coming from a small distance away. But not just any laughter. The sound of happiness caused something to nag within her.

I know where this is. Her inner voiced attempted to shout, but she still could not place the venue.

“I guess that’s one thing that never changes around here. The parties,” the Tempest in the vision spoke in a crestfallen tone. At first, the words didn’t register as anything special to Tempest. But as the seconds ticked by, something clicked within her mind and she gasped in horror.

N-no. This is… this is supposed to be Twilight’s nightmare. Why would…?

“Well, I do hope you’ll stay. More friends are always welcome.”

“But… my horn.” Tempest spun around, meeting Twilight’s eyes with a pained look.

Upon hearing those words, there was now no longer a doubt in her mind as to the moment they were at.

The Friendship Festival is Twilight’s… nightmare?

The implications of that thought made Tempest sick. She wanted to back out immediately, but gathered enough of her strength to stay.

“You know, your horn is pretty powerful,” Twilight spoke, a feeling of joy rising in her heart. “Just like the pony it belongs to.”

“Well, I did tell you that I wanted to show everypony in Equestria what I could to do, right?”

I wonder what she has to show me. Twilight thought as she watched Tempest strut to the middle of the crowd. She lowered her head, pausing for just a moment before shooting a sharp blue trail into the sky. Suddenly, the sky found itself alight in explosions of wondrous colors and beautiful effects. The sight stole Twilight’s breath away, and she watched the spectacle with a wide, open mouth. N-no way.

Somehow, Twilight found the energy to trot towards Tempest, taking a seat just a few inches from her. The magic Tempest had shown was amazing. Yet, there was something else that was equally bright. One that brought a smile to her face.

She turned to Tempest, spotting her wide smile as she watched her own magic work the air. As she watched the ponies around her gaze up in awe. Twilight’s mouth softened into a warm smile.

I knew you had it in you, Tempest.

When Tempest turned and met her eyes, Twilight had wanted to turn away. But she didn’t. Instead, she shot Tempest a grin, hoping that she could see just how proud she was. And that’s when she felt it.

That deep, warm feeling she had felt only one other time in her life. The feeling of pure distilled happiness as she watched the rainbow of explosions give her face a soft glow. The innocent look in Tempest’s eyes, hiding a pony whose want to change was stronger than any creature Twilight had ever met.

Tempest darted her attention away, but not before Twilight spotted a faint red blush on her cheeks. A second later, Tempest turned attention back to Twilight, and Twilight had wanted to open her mouth to tell Tempest so many things.

She wanted Tempest to know that she would be there for her. She wanted her to understand just how grateful she was. And she wanted Tempest to know… she wanted her to know…

What’re you thinking, Twilight? After all she’s been through, you can’t tell her that. These thoughts sent a feeling of dread through Twilight’s heart. She doesn’t feel that way about you. Why would she? You just met her. And how can you be so sure about your feelings anyway? She attempted to reason that this wasn’t the case. But found little evidence to suggest otherwise. She needs time to carve her own life. You can’t tell her this. You can never tell her this.

With these thoughts circulating in her mind, Twilight forced a smile and gestured her head forward. She hoped that Tempest would get the gesture, to simply continue on in her life. But as much as Twilight hoped that Tempest could not see her true feelings, a part of her wished that she could.

Because maybe, just maybe, Tempest felt the same way.

But it’s better if she doesn’t. She’s been through enough already.

Twilight turned back up to the fireworks and forced a smile to her face. Was Tempest still staring at her? She didn’t dare check. Instead, she continued gazing at the colorful explosions painting the sky.

She doesn’t need me.

“What…” Tempest muttered on instinct as her eyes fluttered open. She blinked several times to clear her blurred vision, eventually catching sight of Twilight hugging herself softly.

“I guess now you know.”

“Know…?” Tempest’s voice trailed off. She knew she should’ve been asking more questions. But she didn’t know what to make of what she had just seen, much less what to ask.

“I’m… I’m really sorry, Tempest.” Twilight’s face pulled into a grimace as she spoke, as if she was feeling a sort of invisible pain.

“I… I don’t…”

“It’s okay. You don’t have to feel the same way. Look, we have to wake up early to setup the party tomorrow. Maybe it’s best we get some sleep.”

“Twilight—”

“Maybe.” Twilight spoke through gritted teeth. “It’s best we get some sleep.”

Sunset was rubbing her head softly. She patted Tempest on her back and gestured for her to follow. “Twilight’s right. Come on. Let’s get back.”

Still overwhelmed by what had happened, Tempest did as she was told. Her mind felt as if it had short-circuited, unable to process anymore information. As she left, she heard Twilight lock the door behind her.

Why was Twilight’s nightmare different? What… what’s going on?

Before she could ponder anymore questions, Sunset opened the door to Tempest’s room and gestured for her to take a seat. Sunset, meanwhile, leaned against the nearby table, sighing and shaking her head. “I guess you know Twilight’s deepest fear now.”

“...Me? I’m the fear?”

“Not exactly.” Sunset trotted to the foot of the bed. “Do you… honestly not know? Or do you… not want to know?”

“Know what?” asked Tempest in frustration. “I thought I knew what was going on. What my nightmares were about. What Twilight’s nightmares were about. But every single day that passes I feel like I know less.”

“Yeah, well, that’s emotions for you.” Raising her head, Sunset took a deep breath. Her eyes closed shut and her body held still. Tempest knew she was pondering a thought and she was just about to push, when Sunset spoke up once more. “Both you and Twilight have allowed me to see your memories. I think it’s time, I show you some of mine.”

Sunset strolled towards the bed and lightly took Tempest’s hoof in hers. With a glow of her horn and a zap of the amulet, both of them fell into a slumber…

Tempest couldn’t see anything but black at first. But soon, the image filled her eyes. Or more accurately, Sunset’s eyes. Almost like a film projector that had been readjusted back on a screen. And in front of her, she spotted Twilight, pushing herself up from the bed with wide, hurt eyes.

“W-why?” Twilight muttered through her tears.

“Twilight, that nightmare” Sunset’s eyes furrowed almost in anger, but mostly in confusion.

“Wasn’t for you to see!” Twilight shouted back.

“Twilight,” spoke Sunset with a trembling voice. “You… like her?”

Twilight didn’t reply. The words only caused her to cry harder and she dove into the pillow for comfort. Even though Tempest couldn’t see the tears and the pain, she could hear it clear as day.

Reaching forth, Sunset began to stroke Twilight’s back ever so slowly. Neither mare spoke a word for a time, leaving only Twilight’s sobs to fill the dead air between them. Tempest swore that she saw traces of tears appearing at the edge of Sunset’s eyes. However, she lifted her hoof and wiped them away seconds before Twilight turned her head up.

“Don’t tell her,” muffled Twilight.

“I… I won’t. But you…” An audible gulp stopped the words cold. “...you should,” Sunset spoke in a tone of regret and pain.

“I can’t! Tempest is going through too much right now!” She raised her head and her pained voice filled the room. “Her nightmares have been taking over her life! She’s been dealing with her own problems, dealing with the ponies of Ponyville, her past and so much more! I just… I can’t add on to that!”

Twilight’s words caused Tempest to seize up. She attempted to turn away from the vision, but much like seeing Twilight’s nightmares, she found no control given to her. The emotions inside her raged and stormed the likes of which she had never felt before. Even though things were starting to become clear, her emotions were getting pulled deeper into chaos.

“What do I do, Sunset?” Twilight asked.

“I… I don’t know.”

“Why did this have to happen to me? Why!?” Twilight screamed, causing Sunset to quickly shoot up and gesture for her to lower her volume. “Argh!” she released a loud shriek into the sky, diving face first into the pillow.

“Shh!” Sunset desperately shushed, but suddenly, a boom echoed through the hallway. She darted her gaze hurriedly between Twilight and the bedroom door while wiping away as many of her tears as possible.

Before she could make a move, the doors slammed open with a frightful force. And blue lightning crackled through the air, swiftly moving towards Sunset.

Tempest had recognized the magic instantly, and the realization froze her hooves in place.

It was her.

The next moment, she could see herself looming over Sunset, face twisted into a fierce grimace. Sunset stared back in frightened shock before raising both of her hooves.

“Wait wait wait! Tempest, calm down!”

Before Tempest had a chance to adjust to what she had seen, the scene changed. This time, it showed Twilight and Sunset sitting at the kitchen, a plate of three Windigo cookies in front of them. From the corner of Sunset’s vision, Tempest could see the window and the moon hanging high above.

“She didn’t come out?” Twilight asked as she wiped her stray tears with a tissue. Sunset shook her head, causing Twilight to sigh and crumple up her tissue, throwing it onto a pile of them nearby.

“I don’t blame her. After what she saw, she—”

“Thinks it’s her fault.” Twilight lifted her hooves up to her eyes and began sobbing once more. “This is a mess, Sunset. Everything’s a mess.”

Sunset threw herself back in the chair and turned towards the door. As she lifted her cup of cocoa to her mouth, her mind flew through ideas quicker than a pegasus’ wing. So quickly, in fact, that Tempest could barely keep up.

“Maybe… it’s time to tell her.”

“No!” Twilight screamed. “This is an even worse time than before! She’s beyond hurt and it’s my fault!”

“Twilight, you need to—”

“No,” Twilight spoke with fierce command. “It’s not right. Why did that moment come out? I haven’t thought about it since it happened!”

“What was on your mind when I was casting my magic?”

Twilight didn’t answer.

“Twilight?” Sunset leaned forward, placing her cup gently back down on the table. “What was going through your head?”

“...I was wishing that Tempest didn’t see my nightmares. My… real nightmare.”

Upon hearing Twilight’s answer, Sunset groaned. “That explains it.”

“What? What happened?”

“All nightmares come from a fear of… something. It could be stress, a memory or something else entirely. Much like how Tempest’s visions are from her fears of the past, your fear of Tempest finding out the truth created the nightmare we saw tonight,” as Sunset explained, she saw Twilight lower her head to the table.

Created… a nightmare? Tempest muttered in her thoughts.

“I just wanted to not hurt her. To keep our friendship intact.”

Lifting her hoof, Sunset picked up a cookie and placed it on Twilight’s plate. “Twilight, you brought me in to solve both of your problems. But neither of you are willing to let yourself be helped first. One of you needs to relent.”

With sluggish movements, Twilight lifted the cookie, breaking apart a small piece of it in her hooves. “You need to help Tempest first.”

“Twilight, I don’t think you get it,” said Sunset as she bit down on her cookie. “There is no ‘you’ or ‘I’. ‘We’ need to help each other. ‘We’ need to help Tempest. She’s not going to do this without you, and you’re not going to get over this without her.”

Twilight didn’t reply. Not immediately. She chewed softly on her cookie, eyes staring straight out the window and onto the snowing vista below. “She comes first.”

Twilight… Tempest felt herself on the verge of tears.

A deep frustration grew within Sunset. She gave a guttural groan but soon realized that this argument would be endless. She had seen that stubborn look in Twilight’s eyes before, though this time, it was accompanied by crushing sadness. “Fine. But when we help her, you better allow her to do the same.”

Twilight snapped off another piece of her treat and ate it in silence. It’s as close to consent as I’m going to get, thought Sunset.

“Do you think Tempest should take a break tomorrow?” Twilight asked, catching Sunset off guard.

“What?”

“A break. Tempest might be better off without me for a day. All I’m doing is complicating things for her.”

“Twilight, no,” Sunset stated with fierce conviction. “Don’t think such thoughts. Tempest is not better off alone.”

Once more, Sunset received no answer. I’m going nowhere. Feeling exhaustion creeping up on her, she placed her remaining cookie on the table and stood up. With a swig of her mug, she downed the rest of the hot chocolate and began to trot away.

“Good night, Twilight. Don’t stay up too late, alright?”

She heard Twilight’s chair squeak. And when she turned back, she saw Twilight staring at her with furrowed brows and an odd frown. Though what made it odd, Sunset couldn’t say for certain. She decided to use the opportunity to state something she felt needed to be said.

“You need to watch over Tempest.”

“I was going to do that even if you didn’t tell me to,” Twilight answered without a moment’s pause. For the first time since the night had fallen, Sunset felt a smile cross her face. Though it was a small one, it was still a faint star in an otherwise empty sky. She was prepared to turn and continue her trot back to her room, when Twilight spoke up again.

“Sunset, promise me you won’t tell her. Not until we get all this sorted out.”

“I…” Sunset hesitated. A part of her screamed not to make this promise. Yet the other part screamed equally loud for her to say yes, as it wasn’t her place to make this decision.

“Sunset, please,” Twilight begged, eyes wide with fear.

“F-fine. I promise.” Sunset spun around and trotted towards the door. But at the doorway, she turned back around, catching a sight that both warmed and chilled Tempest’s heart simultaneously.

At the table, Twilight lifted her treat and stared at the one remaining cookie on the plate. With a light swing of her hoof, Twilight knocked her small remaining piece against the large one of the plate, giving a sigh as she did so...

Tempest’s eyes shot open, granting her a view of her room once more. She pushed herself upright and was greeted with a soft smile from Sunset.

“Do you get it now?”

“I…” Tempest stuttered out, she placed her hooves on the wall to keep herself from collapsing on a bed. Countless thoughts and numerous emotions were running through her at this point, sending her into an utter mess. Even simple sentences felt impossible to form. She had wanted to cry, yet scream. She was happy, yet devastated. She didn’t know what she was feeling, and she turned to Sunset with pleading eyes, hoping her friend could solve it all.

“Twilight likes you. A lot. But all this time she refused to tell you, because she just wanted you to be happy.”

“I…”

“And you like her too.”

“I… don’t know,” Tempest admitted, lowering her head to consider Sunset’s words.

“That wasn’t a question, Tempest. I still remember yesterday, when I took a look at the happy memory of yours. Where you were underneath the fireworks with Twilight. The feelings you felt that night, that was unmistakable. You felt a very strong affection for her.”

Tempest gazed at her hooves, unsure of where to even place the words she wanted to say. What did she want to say?

“That… weird feeling I felt that night. That’s love?”

“I wouldn’t call it love just yet, but it might be the beginning of one.” Sunset sat beside Tempest, placing a hoof around her. “Don’t feel so bad about not knowing it. After what happened in your fillyhood, you probably never got a chance to explore these emotions. Nor understand what they are.”

Tempest buried her head in her hooves in an attempt to shut herself from the world. Nothing made sense to her at this point. All this time, she thought she understood the world and the ponies in it. But now it was clear that she didn’t even understand herself.

“W-what do I do?”

“I’m going to be honest, I have no idea. I never went past this stage before,” spoke Sunset plainly. “Though I wish I did.”

Tempest didn’t reply, instead she attempted to sort out as much of her thoughts as she could. Though to no avail.

“But…” That single word drew Tempest’s attention back towards Sunset. “Pinkie said to always follow your heart, as it somehow knows what to do in situations like these.”

That definitely sounds like Pinkie, alright.

“Do you believe her?”

Sunset giggled softly. “It hasn’t let me down since I’ve arrived. So… yeah. I guess I do.”

The tick of the clock kept the two mares company in the night. Tempest had phased out completely from the present time. Instead retreating into her mind to make sense of what was going on around her. Was it true that she liked Twilight? How could she be sure? Never in her life had she acted on an action without knowing full well the consequences of her actions. All except the time when she pledged servitude to the Storm King. And that event eventually became her worst regret.

She could not afford to jump blindly once more. Not again.

“I know it’s a lot to work through, but don’t keep yourself up okay? Tomorrow is the Hearth’s Warming party after all!” Sunset opened her hooves for a hug. One which Tempest gladly obliged. After a few seconds, Sunset broke the embrace with a smile. “I won’t force you to tell her. You tackle this at your own pace, and your own way.”

“I’m not sure I know what the right decision is,” Tempest admitted in shame, turning away.

The next thing she knew, something was prodding at her hoof. Looking down, she spotted the photo of Twilight and her at the Friendship Festival with a red glow surrounding the frame. It was the same picture that was hanging on her wall a couple of days ago. The same picture Sunset had taken just last night. Tempest turned up, spotting Sunset standing at the door with a smirk and her horn aglow.

“You’ll know.”

Tempest grabbed the frame, staring wistfully at the bright, fearless smiles both she and Twilight were wearing. Slowly, the memory of that moment with Twilight returned fresh into her mind, painting a wide smile onto her face. She could hear the sound of the mass of ponies dancing and cheering. She could smell the baked goods and countless treats. But most importantly, she swore she could see Twilight’s soft, knowing smile for a moment. One that took on a whole different meaning with the things she knew now.

She turned up to Sunset with a wide smile.

“Thank you, Sunset.”

Sunset nodded and returned the bright expression. “Good night, Tempest.”

“Good night.” Tempest greeted, watching as Sunset left the room. She turned back down to the photo in her hooves, feeling two words run through her mind continuously. Ones that cleared up her thoughts one tiny bit at a time. Though it was slow, Tempest could finally hear herself think again. Somehow, the events of the night had filled her once heavy heart with an almost soaring lightness. If Twilight and Sunset had wanted to help her, they had done it. And now it was her turn. She wasn’t sure what the course of action would be, but the doubt was cleared by the same two words running through her mind. Even as she fell asleep, they did not relent.

I’ll know.

Author's Note

Hope you guys enjoy this early chapter! And have a wonderful Christmas eve! (Next chapter is still coming out tomorrow. And the time has been pushed forward to 11pm SGT [7am PDT])

Chapter 5: Wintertide

Tempest stared up at the clock and gulped.

Ten minutes to the party…

“Nervous?” Sunset asked

“In a way. Though I’m more nervous about this outfit.” Tempest twisted the bowtie at the top of her suit. It had been custom made by Rarity herself a month ago in case she needed it for a ‘special event’. That moment never presented itself. At least, not until now.

“You look great, Tempest,” assured Sunset as she pressed a crease down.

Tempest raised her head and stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes fell on the way the suit flowed with every curve. She couldn’t deny that she was much more muscular than most other mares her age. The only outfit that was made her for was the bodysuit she wore under the Storm King’s service, and even then, it was more for practicality rather than looks. But this suit did both. She not only felt comfortable in it, she felt confident.

Tempest smiled before speaking, “yes, I suppose I do.” She turned to Sunset, noticing that she was wearing no outfit at all. “Aren’t you going to put on something nice?”

“Eh, I haven’t really had pony clothes for a long time now. Plus, it’s a Hearth’s Warming celebration!”

“Then am I overdressed?” Tempest stared down at her clothes. “I thought I’d make a good impression on the ponies coming in from Ponyville. But maybe—”

Sunset placed her hooves on Tempest’s collar, giving it a slight adjustment and silencing her words. “You’re perfect.”

A knock echoed through Tempest’s room.

“Come in!”

The door creaked open and Twilight stepped in, dressed in a simple, yet beautiful, purple dress. White lace trims adorned the bell and hem, giving it a subtle ornate look. Yet it was the striking blue fabric that truly drew Tempest’s attention to her. The afternoon sun, which was leaking through the window, gave the dress an almost otherworldly glow. One that caused Tempest’s jaw to drop at the sight.

“Okay, now I’m feeling a bit left out,” joked Sunset.

“You look great, Princess Twilight.”

Twilight blushed and rolled her eyes. “You agreed never to call me with the Princess title.”

“Yes, I suppose I did. But that’s nowhere near as fun seeing you roll your eyes.”

Trotting up to Tempest, Twilight’s mischievous smirk softened into a slight frown. Tempest didn’t need Sunset’s powers to know that something was up.

“Twilight. Is something wrong?”

“...You know how you said you didn’t get me anything for Hearth’s Warming? Well, I just thought of something you could do for me.”

“Uh oh,” Sunset muttered, drawing a stare of daggers from Twilight.

“And what might that be?” Tempest asked with a mix of curiosity and worry in her tone.

“I… want you to stand beside me when I’m greeting ponies at the door.”

The words struck Tempest dumb. She imagined the scenario of ponies entering the castle for Hearth’s Warming Eve and seeing her, the pony that almost enslaved all of Equestria. The mood would be ruined the moment they spotted her. All the hard work she and her friends had put in the past five days would be wasted. She knew that this couldn’t come to pass.

“Twilight, you don’t want me anywhere near visible in that party, much less at the door. I’ll just ruin the joyful atmosphere that’s supposed to be there,” Tempest spoke with a lowered head.

“Nonsense.” Twilight placed her hoof underneath Tempest’s chin, lifting her head back up. “You can’t keep hiding from the others, you know? It’s time you showed the ponies of Ponyville just how much you’ve changed.”

“And what if I haven’t changed enough?”

“You have,” Sunset answered with crossed hooves. “Trust me, as a pony that’s been in your shoes before, you have.”

Easy for you to s—

“Yes, it’s ‘easy for me to say’, but that’s the truth.”

Tempest stared at Sunset in shock. She darted her gaze down onto Sunset’s necklace, checking for an orange glow.

“My friends spent a long time telling me the same thing. And it took too long before I believed them. You’ve changed, Tempest. You’ve changed for the better.”

The next few seconds, Tempest remained silent. She considered Sunset’s words and Twilight’s request. A voice in her mind attempted to persuade her otherwise.

You haven’t changed. But when Tempest opened her eyes and spotted Sunset and Twilight staring back at her with wide smiles, she paid the voice no heed. Just behind Sunset, she spotted the photo frame. Even though it was a blurred mess at this distance, her mind recalled the picture that sat within. And it sparked something inside Tempest. The same fire that had been lit last night when Sunset showed her the memories.

Tempest turned back to Twilight with her head held high. “Very well, Twilight. I shall… join you at the door tonight.”

Twilight’s face lit up like the tree that sat in the main hall. She leapt upwards, giving Tempest a huge hug, much to her surprise.

“Wha—”

“Thank you for giving this a chance, Tempest.”

Tempest wrapped her hooves back around Twilight. “Thank you for giving me a chance.” Yet, as the words left her mouth, there was still one very important topic they needed to address. An elephant in the room that none of the three wanted to bring up. Tempest broke the hug and took a step back.

“Twilight, about what happened last night—”

But Twilight instantly shot her hoof up. “It’s… something for another time. Could we just focus on the party for tonight? Then we’ll talk about it when we have some privacy and some more time.”

In the corner of the room, out of Twilight’s line of sight, Sunset lowered her head. Her eyes displayed a faraway look, while her hoof constantly tapped her chin.

Sunset’s thinking about something. Tempest attempted to read past Sunset’s expression, but found it hidden behind an impassable wall. Of course the mare with the mind reading powers knows how to hide her thoughts.

“Tempest?” Twilight’s voice drew Tempest’s attention back to her.

“Of course. Let’s focus on the party first and we’ll deal with this another time.”

“So,” said Sunset as she strolled towards the duo. On her face, she was wearing a small, knowing smile. One that sent a worrying chill down Tempest’s spine.

What’re you up to, Sunset?

“Two minutes before the party.” Sunset darted her head between Twilight and Tempest. “That gives us a chance to do one very important thing.”

“What might that be?” asked Tempest.

Sunset teleported away for just a moment, soon returning with three windigo cookies held in her magic. Both Twilight’s and Tempest’s face lit up bright as they each grabbed one.

“Now, let’s make this party a success!” Sunset cracked a cookie, lifting it towards them.

“Ooo this is so exciting!” Twilight sang, snapping off a part of hers as well and placing it with Sunset’s.

Tempest stared at her cookie, then to Twilight and Sunset. Her mind went back to just five days ago. Back to the state she was in, where sleep was something she dreaded and every effort she made to push forward felt like using her hooves to topple a brick wall. And now, here they were, about to host the party that is sure to be one of the best in Equestria. Sure, her nightmares hadn’t disappeared, and some worries still remained. But she’d be remiss if she said Sunset hadn’t helped her in a tremendous way.

No matter what happens, you owe everything to the two mares in front of you.

She turned her head towards Twilight, meeting her large grin with a small smile of her own. Even seeing Twilight brought back the memories of the Friendship Festival. And with it, the joyous feeling that Sunset had helped her to place.

“I wouldn’t call it love just yet, but it might be the beginning of one.” The words rang in Tempest’s head. If she were being honest with herself, she never bought the whole ‘friendship’ ordeal ever since the incident in her youth. But now, standing in front of her, were two ponies who had done everything they could to help her. Even putting themselves in harm's way in an attempt to make her happy.

And I would do the same for them.

With a wide, yet still refined, smile, Tempest broke a part of her cookie and knocked it against her friends’ own treats.

“To us,” Tempest spoke.

And the other two repeated in kind.

“To us!”

You can do this.

“You can do this,” Twilight smiled and stood beside the main doors.

Tempest took several steps forward, joining Twilight’s side.

It’s just greeting ponies! Who… probably hate you. And who have a good reason to. Tempest shook her head, drawing a breath to steady her fraying nerves. Suddenly, she saw the doors of the castle crack open. In an instant, she straightened her back, held her head high and watched as the first two ponies trotted into the castle.

“Twilight!” A pony with a bright orange mane and yellow coat leapt forward, gripping Twilight in a large hug.

“Golden Harvest!” Twilight returned the gesture. “How have you been?”

“Great! Taking it easy before spring picks back up again!”

“Of course!” Twilight smiled. “Well, enjoy the party! Help yourself to the food and drinks!’

“I will!” Golden trotted forward and met Tempest’s gaze. Almost instantly, Tempest felt the air around them grow thick with awkwardness as Golden’s smile disappeared into a slightly terrified frown. “O-oh, h-hi.”

“Hello… Golden, was it?” Tempest asked with a small smile. Golden gave a slow and silent nod. “I’m Tempest Shadow.”

“Y-yes, I know who you are.”

Tempest attempted to maintain her perfect posture. She had always believed this gesture meant respect, but when she heard Golden’s reply, she allowed her shoulders to drop and her head to fall with a sigh.

“Look, I’m sorry for what I did. But please try your best to enjoy the party. Twilight and her friends have worked very hard on it.”

“O-oh… umm, thanks. I will!” Golden forced a smile up to her face before trotting away.

Good going Tempest. First one in and you’ve already managed to make this party feel awkward.

However, Tempest didn’t have time to ponder her thoughts, as a stream of ponies were already rushing into the castle. For the next hour or so, Tempest greeted everypony with Twilight. In the worst cases, some ponies would give her a sideways glance before disappearing to gossip. Others meanwhile didn’t even acknowledge her existence, merely trotting by a split second after spotting her.

Yet, to Tempest’s surprise, many others were willing to make an attempt to smile at her. Some were obviously still afraid or angry, but they made an effort to try. And that gesture was enough for Tempest to smile back.

And even though she started with a formal tone and perfect posture, she eventually felt more at ease and allowed herself to relax, dropping her shoulders and speaking in a more casual tone. She attempted to strike up a conversation with the ponies that passed her. And though the majority of them didn’t work, the ones that did really gave her the confidence to continue. She had learnt of Burnt Oak’s firewood business, about how he was the one that provided the logs that were burning in the fireplace at this moment. And of the pony couple Mortar & Pestle, who helped craft beautiful pottery that was being used to serve the food and drinks at the party.

Many ponies, while initially afraid, warmed up to her. They had given her a chance to show that she had changed. They might’ve been the minority, but they were enough.

They were more than enough.

“You’re doing great, Tempest!” Twilight nudged with a wink.

Tempest could only smile back before another guest occupied Twilight’s attention. When Tempest looked up to see who it was, her jaw dropped in mild surprise. A stallion and a mare were greeting Twilight, but what had truly caught Tempest’s eye was the filly staring up at her. The green coat and twirling blue mane was unmistakable.

“I remember you!” The filly bellowed out, pointing towards Tempest. Her parents turned to Tempest, giving the same fearful and judging gaze they had cast back at Sugercube Corner a few days ago.

“This is Tempest Shadow!” introduced Twilight with a grin.

“Y-yes, we’re… well aware,” the mother spoke through gritted teeth.

“Have all of you been to this party before?”

“No, we just moved in a month ago,” the father replied. “It seemed that everypony in Ponyville was coming here, so we thought we’d drop by.”

“Oh well we-” Twilight spoke, but was swiftly interrupted by a loud voice from in front of her.

“Does your horn still hurt?” the filly asked Tempest in an innocent tone.

Tempest darted her eyes up, feeling the small stub on her head. “Actually, it hurts less now,” she stared at the filly with a smile. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head.

You know how this will end.

“Would all of you be interested in a tour around this castle?”

“No!” A stallion, no doubt the father, called out. “It’s fine! We can do this on our own!”

“O-oh,” said Tempest dejectedly. “A-alright.”

Told you.

Twilight’s eyebrows furrowed in irritation and she stepped forward with a bright smile. “Actually, you should take Tempest’s offer. She’s a great host! And she can get some freshly baked cookies for all of you!”

“I think—” The mother attempted to start, but the filly’s high pitched squeal interrupted her.

“Oh! Can we? Please mom? Can we!?” She bounced up and down on the spot with such energy, Tempest was wondering if giving her more sugar would be such a good idea.

The parents casted a cautious gaze at each other before turning back to their daughter.

“O-okay, Jade, dear. But stay close alright?”

Tempest immediately perked up, fixing her posture with a grin. Turning her head, she gave a discreet nod to Twilight, who winked in return.

“Alright, right this way,” Tempest led the group deeper into the main hall, which was abuzz with life. Ponies, griffons and other creatures were mingling all around. Some were chatting with food in their hooves, while others were slotting presents underneath the tree.

“Whoa!” The filly shouted in surprise. Her parents, too, had their mouths agape as they gazed at the beautiful decor that decorated the interior of the castle. Seeing their expression made the past few days of hard work entirely worth it. “That’s a big tree!”

Tempest snickered. “Yes it is. It took a lot of work to decorate it.”

“Which part did you do?”

“I wrapped the ribbons around the trunk and hung the bells.” Tempest’s answer drew stares from the parents. Though it wasn’t formed from anger, fear or spite. Instead, it was made of mild respect. Though it didn’t last. “But I have something even better to show all of you.”

“Better than the tree?”

“Much better,” Tempest grinned and strolled towards the fireplace.

A large fire was bellowing from within, providing immense warmth for anyone that was near it. Applejack was tending to the cauldron that hung in the middle, pouring cup after cup of the bubbling contents with a warm smile.

“Hi Applejack!” Tempest greeted.

“Oh howdy ya’ll! Came here for some warm cider to thaw those chilly hooves?”

“You’re preparing cider… here?” The father asked in near disbelief.

“Every year! We take three days to make sure the cider’s just right, then we let it brew right on this here fireplace. This way everypony can smell it and have a hot drink!” Applejack happily proclaimed. She grabbed her ladle and sunk it into the contents, pouring out four mugs of sweet smelling drink. “Here ya’ll are! Feel free to come back for more! I got enough for the whole night!”

“You sure about that?” Rainbow zipped down from above, grabbing a fifth cup that Applejack had already prepared in advance.

“Yes, Rainbow. Ah got so much even you won’t be able to drink it all!”

“Is that a challenge?”

“More of a warning.” AJ squinted her eyes and gave the pegasus a death glare.

Rainbow gulped and nodded, floating away with a sheepish grin.

Tempest swiped the cups with her hoof, passing one to each of the ponies she was leading. “Here! Careful, it’s hot!”

Tempest watched as the parents took a sip. And immediately, their eyes grew wide with joy. They licked their lips and continued sipping bit by bit, whispering phrases of ‘it’s so good!’, and other similar words, between themselves.

Meanwhile, Jade was lapping softly at the top of the cup, occasionally giving it a soft blow with her mouth in an attempt to cool the piping hot drink. Tempest couldn’t help but giggle softly before taking a sip of her own.

Alright, doing great so far. Just have to make sure to keep this up! And don’t make the sam—

“Ah!” Tempest shouted as a rain of yellow feathers fell from above her. She quickly waved them away and was greeted with a wide, almost unwavering grin from a beak.

“Fizzlepop!”

“Skystar? What’re you doing here?” Tempest asked in shock.

“Pinkie told me that there was a party going on in Ponyville! And of course my mother and all the other hippogryphs were all ‘oh it’s too far, you’re not allowed to travel that far just for some party’! But I did anyway!” Skystar leaned in close to Tempest’s ear and whispered her next words, “just between you and me, I’m so grounded.”

“R-right,” Tempest turned back to Jade and her parents, who were regarding Skystar with wide open mouths. “Ahem. Princess Skystar meet Jade and her parents. Everypony, meet Princess Skysta—”

“Well hi! It’s so nice to meet all of you!” Skystar dashed up, shaking each of the pony’s hooves. “Oh my goodness you’re so cute!” She leaned down, giving Jade a small pinch of her cheek. “And someone as cute as you deserves a treat! Be right back!” Before any of the ponies, including Tempest, could raise an objection, or even process what had happened, Skystar took off into the kitchen and disappeared from view.

“She does that a lot.”

“You seem to have made a few friends,” the stallion regarded with a tone of both disbelief and caution.

“Yes, I have. Though it’s really because they were kind enough to give me another chance.”

“Everyone!” Skystar sang, drawing all nearby attention to her. Behind her bounced Pinkie, zipping to everyone she met and passing them treats fresh from the tray.

“Cookies, donuts, crackers! Come get them all!” Pinkie proudly declared. “Actually, don’t bother trotting to us! We’ll come to you!”

When Skystar and Pinkie reached Tempest and the trio, they immediately handed to each one a cookie. Though not just any cookie.

“What animal is this?” Jade lifted the cookie closer to her eyes, attempting to inspect it’s every tiny detail.

“That’s a Windigo, Jade,” Tempest explained.

“So these are what they look like? They look so cute!” Jade’s comment drew wide smiles from her parents, who stared at her with sparkling eyes.

Suddenly, an idea popped into Tempest’s mind. She crouched down to meet Jade close before speaking. “Want to know a little something special you can do with the cookies?”

An excited nod was her reply.

“Alright. So, just snap a part of your cookie off.” Tempest demonstrated by snapping the tail off her treat. Jade followed her actions, snapping off one hoof of the Windigo. “And you hold it up, just like this!” She raised it high and Jade mimicked the action. “And then you… knock it softly with your friend’s cookie!” Tempest touched Jade’s part before tossing it into her mouth.

“What does that do?”

“It’s called ‘Cookie Cheers’. You do it with your friend as a symbol of your friendship.” A part of Tempest wanted to cringe at those words. Once, she was a feared and respected commander of an army. Now here she was, talking about cheering treats with a foal. But she soon tossed aside the embarrassment. She knew she had nothing to be ashamed about. It was an innocent act. One she wished she could’ve done ten, twenty, thirty more times when she was a filly.

And she wasn’t going to let that experience be missed by anypony else.

“So does that mean we’re friends?”

“Umm…” Tempest looked up to her parents, who stared at her with unsure eyes. However, they soon gave a nod, causing Tempest to smile wide. She turned her attention back to Jade, who was waiting patiently for a reply. “Yes. Yes we are.”

“Good!” Jade exclaimed, tossing her part of the cookie into her mouth and chewing happily.

Tempest stood back up. And in the distance, she spotted Sunset leaning against the railing, casting a soft smile down on her. Tempest nodded back in return before turning her attention back to the three ponies.

“Let’s continue. There’s a lot more for us to go through.”

“And that’s really it!” Tempest declared proudly.

She had led the group all around the castle, showed them all the sights the public was allowed to see and treated them to delicious homemade food and drinks. Jade was chewing happily on a piece of candy Pinkie Pie had given her, all the while staring up at Tempest with wide eyes.

“Thank you for the tour, Tempest. It was amazing,” the mother spoke with a grin.

“You’re welcome. It was my pleasure.”

“You’re really putting in an effort to change huh?”

“Still trying,” Tempest admitted.

“Well, keep it up,” the stallion nodded. “Come on Jade, let’s go enjoy the night. Say goodbye to Tempest!”

“Can I ask you one more question, Tempest?” Jade inquired with wide, shining eyes. Tempest nodded in reply. “Why does Pinkie and Skystar call you Fizzlepop?”

Tempest attempted to stifle her giggles. “That’s my real name, Jade.”

“Then why don’t you use it?”

Tempest thought for a moment, tapping her chin with her hoof. “I don’t know. I guess I’m just more comfortable with Tempest. It’s the name I’ve been called by for years.”

“Well you should use Fizzlepop more. It’s a nice name.”

Feeling a little dumbfounded at Jade's comments, Tempest took a moment to compose herself. “Umm… t-thank you. I’ll try to use it more.”

Jade nodded happily before being ushered away by her parents. Tempest waved a final goodbye to the trio before swinging around, immediately spotting Sunset staring at her with a faint smile.

“Had fun?”

“More than just fun. I… It’s hard to put it into words.”

“Well that’s one thing you managed to do better than me,” Sunset spoke with a wistful smile. “Give a tour to three people without it blowing up in your face.”

“That’s… oddly specific,” a raised eyebrow accompanied Tempest’s words.

“Long story. I’ll tell you another day when we’re not so busy.”

Tempest laughed and rolled her eyes. “I’ll just add it to the list.”

“Well, since I’m already adding. Could I add one more?”

“Can I say no?”

“Nope,” said Sunset with a playful smirk. “Get me a soda from the upstairs kitchen would you? I’d go up myself, but Rainbow wants somepony to help set up for the giant performance tonight.”

“I will. But you owe me one.”

“Fair enough.”

Tempest broke off from the festivities, climbing up a private stairwell and up to the kitchen where all the bedrooms were. She cracked open the door and, to her surprise, she spotted Twilight sitting at the dining table.

“Twilight?”

“O-oh! H-hey, Tempest!” Twilight stuttered, causing Tempest to give her an odd stare.

“What’re you doing here?”

“Just… recharging. From all the social interaction I’m doing.”

“Ah.” Tempest popped the fridge open, grabbing one of the cans of soda from within. “Party’s going well.”

“It’s going great. And you managed to lead a family! I’m so proud of you!”

“Thanks. That took a lot out of me too.”

“I can imagine.” Twilight shifted in her seat, casting her gaze down to the table. A tense moment of silence hung between the two. An air that Tempest didn’t want to remain.

“Well, I better get this to Sunset.” Tempest held up the soda and turned to leave, when Twilight’s voice stopped her in her tracks.

“Tempest, wait.”

“Hm?” Tempest turned back around, spotting Twilight staring straight at her.

“It’s about… it’s about last night.”

Suddenly, that awkward air grew twice as thick, and twice as heavy. Already, she could feel her heart began to race. Her hooves started to shake, threatening to buckle underneath her. Her mind raced, trying to predict where this was going to go. But the still of the night waited, as if the universe was expecting an answer from her.

“Y-yeah?”

Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came. After a few tense moments, she allowed her head to drop with a groan. “N-nothing. Just forget whatever I said.”

Tempest should’ve felt relieved. But instead, it only made the unsettling feeling within her worse. She knew what Twilight was going to say. She knew every word. She knew.

...Right?

Of course she knew. Sunset had showed her the vision, a memory she recalled in every vivid detail. Twilight had feelings for her. And she returned them in kind!

...Right?

She did. Of course she did. But did Twilight know? Did Twilight know that she knew everything? Did Sunset tell her? Tempest wanted an answer to all of these questions, yet she didn’t know if she could handle it.

More importantly, what would be her answer?

“Twilight—”

“It’s nothing, really,” Twilight forced a smile so fake, that Tempest was sure Twilight wasn’t even fooling herself. “Go on, Sunset’s waiting.”

“I…” She gazed at the soda and shook her head.

Pursue it. She feels the same way. I… You...

She opened her mouth to speak, but upon meeting Twilight’s regretful eyes, the thought immediately changed.

She doesn’t want to talk about it. Don’t do it now.

Tempest shut out the thought and turned around, shutting her eyes softly. “Yeah. Right.” As quickly as she could, Tempest galloped out the door. This was no time to pursue that topic. The party was going on, and she and Twilight had an image to maintain. If their wants were not aligned, then both of them would spend the rest of the party in a state that would only drag down the event.

She attempted to push the thoughts away. Push them out of her mind, just like they were before Twilight had said anything. Focus on the party. Not on that. No time for that.

Tempest eventually found herself back in the bustling celebration. She weaved through the crowds of creatures, spotting wide smiles on all of their faces. All except hers. She soon found Sunset outside the main gates, staring up as Rainbow flew spirals in the sky.

“Here’s your soda.” Tempest handed the can to Sunset, who grabbed it with an usually wide grin.

“So? How’d it go?”

“How’d what go?” Tempest asked, cocking her head to the left at the question.

Upon spotting Tempest’s confused face, Sunset’s grin instantly vanished, and her expression fell into one of despair. She closed her eyes and sighed, turning away as if to hide her pain. “Nothing.”

Tempest was about to head into the castle, when a loud call came from above.

“Tempest!”

Tempest raised her head up, spotting Rainbow diving down to meet her. In a flash, she had landed on the ground with a loud slam, sending snow flying all around her.

“So, I know what the answer probably is. But the fireworks?” Rainbow urged with a hopeful smile.

Tempest searched her heart in an attempt to find the same joy she felt. But instead, found only worry and anxious energy. There’s no way.

She shook her head softly. “Sorry Rainbow. That’s still a no.”

“Aw mare!” Rainbow gave a disappointed sigh but she quickly pulled her posture back up and struck a confident pose. “Maybe next year then! No worries!” She soared back upwards, leaving a trail of colors in her wake.

Tempest sighed. Sorry Rainbow. I wish I could.

“Hope you’ll at least watch the celebration Rainbow’s been practising for.”

“Of course. Wouldn’t miss it. After all, I did help plan it.” Tempest allowed a small smile to rise to her lips. Sunset returned one in kind. “I’ll probably catch it out here. So, see you later?”

“See you later,” Sunset answered.

Tempest cracked the door open, entering the castle and letting it close shut behind her.

The party continued in a blur. Tempest was wearing a smile, but unbeknownst to the others, a frown sat beneath. Maybe the others knew, and simply chose not to pursue it. It didn’t matter. Tempest’s mind was entirely on one pony. One mare who didn’t seem to be present in the party.

Then again, Tempest made no effort to find her.

Now she sat on the bench just outside the castle, staring up at the glittering night sky. Small flakes of snow began to fall from above, causing the temperature to drop even lower than it already was. Everypony else had scattered back into the castle for warmth. But the cold was something Tempest had dealt with for years while she was on her own.

And here she was, alone once more.

Some things never change. Tempest sighed. She eyed Rainbow, watching as the pegasus stretched her body in preparation for the celebration she had hyped up for so long.

Tempest tightened the scarf around her neck, shutting her eyes lightly. Almost immediately, the memories of the past week came flooding back to her. Her nightmares. Sunset having breakfast with her.

The memory of the Friendship Festival.

All of it burned with varying emotions. Fear, sadness, relief. Everything seemed so different, but one common thread connected them all.

Twilight.

What was she to say? What did she even feel about her? She had no answer to those questions. Why? Why did Twilight have to attempt to call out to her in the kitchen? She would’ve been fine living in ignorance. But she had to be pulled back in, to confront the truth.

That thought sent Tempest’s hooves shaking.

“H-hey, Tempest.”

Tempest shot her eyes open and darted her head to her left, spotting Twilight standing just beside her. Any words she had wanted to say disappeared at that moment, fading away from her mind.

“Hey,” Tempest muttered.

“Mind if I sit?”

“N-no. No, of course not,” Tempest shifted to her right, allowing Twilight to take a seat.

Silence surrounded the two mares for a period of time. There wasn’t a squeak in the cold winter night, leaving the air around them thick with tension.

“Beautiful night, huh?”

“Mmhm.”

Tempest had wanted to continue the topic of conversation, but found her mind redirecting back to the subject she was sure neither of them wanted to discuss.

“Tempest.” Twilight turned, meeting Tempest’s eyes. “About what happened in the kitchen—”

“Don’t worry about it!” Tempest attempted to wave the question away.

“No. No, I want to— I need to talk to you about it. We need to talk about it. I know I said that we should forget it until after the party but… but I can’t.”

Tempest’s heart dropped at those words. Fear took hold of her throat and her limbs, freezing her in place. She could barely think. Barely move. Barely breathe. She knew what the next question would be. But she didn’t have an answer.

“Tempest, do you like me?”

No amount of preparation could’ve braced Tempest for the impact. Hearing Twilight speak the exact words she was so afraid of struck a deep nervous fear into her heart, silencing her completely.

This was the moment she knew had to come sooner or later. Yet she still had no answer.

The seconds ticked by as Tempest attempted to find her voice. Find the control back in her hooves. The feelings in her heart threatened to overwhelm her, and her thoughts were a mess of words and memories she could not separate.

“I…” Tempest muttered. “I…”

She felt a tear trail down her cheek, but found no strength to lift her hoof to wipe it away.

“I do.” Another tear fell. “I’m sorry, Twilight. But I do.”

Twilight laughed, sniffling softly. She raised Tempest’s head with one hoof while using the other to wipe away her tears. “Why’re you sorry?”

Tempest opened her eyes, spotting tears streaming down Twilight’s face. “Because… all your nightmares were due to your feelings for me, and I was too blind not to see it.”

“Blind? Tempest, you weren’t blind. I… I stupidly decided to hide it from you when I shouldn’t have.”

“That’s not all.” Her voice had taken on a life of its own. Tempest was no longer in control of the words she was saying, but made no effort to stop them. She allowed her emotions to guide her words, weaving her thoughts into sentences. “Twilight, you’re a princess of Equestria and I’m… I’m a pony that can barely deal with her own demons. You’re a pony everyone else looks up to. Me? I’m just a screw up. Everything bad that’s happened to you is someway tied back to me.”

“And that is in no way your fault. These feelings came about because I look up to you too. Your past actions don't matter.”

“Yes they do, Twilight. All the things I’ve done… you have an image as the Princess of Friendship to maintain. Being with me will just ruin all that, and you know it,” Tempest pulled her head away from Twilight’s grasp.

“No,” Twilight stated without pause. “No I don’t. You’ve done nothing but try to better yourself ever since you’ve realized the mistakes you’ve made. Your life has been nothing but one miserable event after the other, and yet you still push yourself further. Harder. You never give up.”

Tempest stared at Twilight in silent awe.

“If anypony even dares to say that you’re anything less than that, then they don’t deserve to be in my life.”

With trembling lips and a stuttering voice, Tempest barely managed to eek out her words. “I— I’m not that important.”

“You’re right. You’re more than that.”

“Why, Twilight? Why do you insist on giving me everything I don’t deserve?”

“Because you won’t give it to yourself.” Twilight hung her head. “I hope you’ll let me be part of your life. Just like how I want you to be in mine. We can help each other grow and be better than we ever were.”

With her next breath, Tempest allowed all the emotions to flow. She leapt into Twilight’s embrace, tears streaming from her face. Twilight, though initially stunned, returned the gesture after a second. Soft sobs echoed through the night. No words were said.

No words were needed.

Tempest tightened her grip. Years of pain, anger and rage had been replaced with tender kindness, shown to her by the very pony that was her enemy only a couple of months ago. Attempting to recall the events that led up to the moment was like attempting to fix a jigsaw of a million pieces. So Tempest didn’t try. Instead, she allowed all of her pent up regret to flow in this one moment. The feeling that filled her heart was similar to that of the Friendship Festival, but amplified by a thousand. Nothing could describe the joy she was feeling.

It wasn’t needed.

They embraced for a period of time. The length did not matter to them. They only parted when Rainbow shouted to the crowd to prepare themselves, before blasting off into the sky.

With hooves around each other’s forms, Twilight and Tempest watched Rainbow soar through the clouds, forming first a snowpony, then a thistle. Every spectacular trick awed the crowd inside the castle. And every stunt Rainbow pulled sent her higher and higher into the sky. Until, at last, she prepared to dive downwards.

And that’s when an idea entered her mind.

Tempest, through her tears and unwavering grin, channeled all the bursting joy in her heart into her horn. Blue bolts crackled and swirled around the broken tip, leaping from one point to the other. The magic Tempest was gathering was unlike anything she had ever felt before. It was more powerful than anything she had ever wielded. A collection of pure, almost uncontrollable, energy.

When Tempest heard the first boom echo through the sky, she knew it was time. She thought of the pattern she wanted to cast. The colors that would hopefully bring joy to all of Ponyville and beyond.

“3!” A chorus of voices echoed from inside the castle.

“2!”

Tempest took a breath to focus.

“1!”

Once the mental image had been decided, Tempest unleashed a crackling bolt into the air.

“Happy Hearth’s Warming!”

Rainbow cracked the sky with a Sonic Rainboom.

And Tempest blew the clouds away with one of her own.

The sky was alight with a myriad of colors. Explosions peppered the heavens above in a magnificent display of choreography. Combined with the Rainboom, the resulting view looked straight out of a fantasy book. A beacon to the rest of Equestria that she had changed. And that Hearth’s Warming was truly here.

The castle erupted into an applause that could be heard even through the shut doors and windows. It was the reaction Tempest had dreamt of. Even Rainbow’s scream of ‘aw yeah!’ resonated through the town.

However, the most powerful reaction was one Tempest could’ve never predicted. She felt Twilight’s head rest on her shoulder. And when she turned to look, Twilight was staring up to her with a soft smile. In that moment, she allowed her instincts to take hold. Her eyes closed and her head moved closer. She couldn’t see what Twilight’s reaction was, but she didn’t need to. Everything she was doing just felt right.

And soon, her lips met someone else’s. She paused. But Twilight didn’t. Twilight pushed forth, causing Tempest to do the same. For every second they continued, Tempest felt her shoulders grow lighter. Rising. As if her worries had vanished in an instant.

When they broke their kiss, both mares stared at each other with half-lidded eyes and a red hot blush on their face. Tempest was the first to smile. She turned towards the castle windows, watching as the ponies within continued to partake in the festivities. Did they notice?

Why should I care?

Yet, through the thick crowd and bustling events, Tempest spotted Sunset ascending the main stairway, just behind the untopped tree, with her saddlebags.

Sunset?

Tempest got to her feet, giving a quick smile to Twilight.

“I’ll be right back. I think Pinkie's calling me for something.”

“Can’t it wait?”

Tempest leaned in and pecked Twilight lightly on the cheek. “It’ll just be a second.”

With an approving nod from Twilight, Tempest raced in, hoping to retrace Sunset’s steps.

Come on, Tempest. Where did she gallop off to?

Tempest had ascended to the top floor of the castle, a place she had seldom been. All the doors led to storage rooms, providing no use to her. Yet, she had followed Sunset’s traces up here. She didn’t know what Sunset was planning, though the sight of her saddlebags a few moments ago gave Tempest a rough idea.

She glanced anxiously around, watching for any movement. Anything that could give her a hint as to where Sunset had ran off to. Suddenly, she caught a glimpse of a door at the end of the hallway closing. It was just a second of movement, but it was enough.

Tempest raced towards it, lightly pushing it open and allowing the light of the hallway to spill into the room. At the end, she could see Sunset about to step into what appeared to be a mirror.

That must be the portal Twilight keeps talking about.

“Going somewhere?”

Sunset froze with her hoof inches away from the shining glass.Tempest took a step in, hearing a disappointed sigh echo through the room at the same time.

“Thought you were busy with Twilight,” Sunset spoke in a melancholy tone.

Tempest took another step forward, pushing the door close until only a small sliver of light could enter. Her heart increased its pace as she prepared to ask the one question she had on her mind. The one question she already knew the answer to.

But she needed to hear Sunset say it.

“You like her too, don’t you?”

For a few tense seconds, Sunset didn’t answer. She stood, unmoving. But Tempest waited. She knew the silence was needed. The few seconds were important for Sunset to form her thoughts.

“What gave it away?” Sunset stuttered out. Even though Tempest couldn’t see Sunset’s face, she could hear the tears streaming down it.

“I had a hunch when you told me you ‘never made it that far’ last night. Which was all but confirmed when you tried to leave after seeing Twilight and I kiss. At least, that’s what I presume.”

“Wow, I’m impressed.” Sunset finally spun around, showing her wide smile through the few tears trailing past her cheeks. “You don’t even need the Element of Empathy to read my mind.”

Tempest trotted up close and attempted to lift her hoof to wipe away a tear. However, Sunset quickly shot her hoof up and stopped the gesture.

“You really should be spending tonight with Twilight,” Sunset laughed. But it was not one of joy. A few more tears flowed from her eyes, contrasting the warm, bright smile she wore.

“How long have you had feelings for her?”

“Longer than I’d like to admit. Ask her about the Battle of the Bands sometime.” Another broken laugh filled the room. The sight of Sunset, the one pony that seemed unbreakable, so torn up twisted Tempest’s heart.

“Everything you did since you arrived, it was all for us?” Tempest asked, though she was deathly afraid of the answer.

“No, not everything. And I didn’t do it the moment I arrived.”

“Then when did you—” Tempest froze. The memory was so clear now. The moment when it all snapped into place. The answer was right there in front of her all along. “W-when you saw my memory of sitting under the fireworks with Twilight. That night...” She recalled that one act Sunset did, of looking at the picture before leaving the room. She hadn’t considered why Sunset did such a thing.

She did now.

Sunset snickered, lowering her head. “You’re smarter than you look. Yeah, I took the night deliberating what to do. The next day, while you were out for breakfast, I helped Twilight see her happiest memory, just like you wanted me to.”

“And?”

“It was of you.” Sunset shut her eyes softly, but her smile didn’t waver. “All of them were of you. And at that point, I knew what I needed to do. So I attempted to help in any way I could.”

Those words sparked a realization in Tempest. She shot her eyes open and her mouth dropped in a mixture of shock and disbelief. “Rainbow asking me to do the fireworks out of nowhere.”

Sunset laughed, but didn’t deny the theory.

“And you wanting the soda from the kitchen. Twilight was already there.” Tempest pondered on so many other small clues that had appeared throughout the past five days. Clues she never caught on to. “Twilight coming out of the castle while I was outside. That was… all you?”

A nonchalant shrug was Sunset's answer. Tempest felt the tears welling up within her, barely managing to whisper out a ‘why?’ before losing her ability to speak.

“Because I never stood a chance. It wouldn’t be good for her, nor me, if we ended up together.” Sunset gestured to the crystal walls and countless objects around her. “Twilight’s the Princess of Friendship in Equestria. And I’m…” She pointed to the mirror. “A high school student in another dimension. There was no way for this to work, but I crazily held onto the hope that it would.”

Tempest was dumbfounded. Words were all but lost on her at this point. She could only stare at Sunset and focus all her energy on suppressing the building emotions.

“I should actually be thanking you, Tempest. I think now I’ll finally be able to get over my feelings for her.”

“I’m not sure that’s something I should be thanked for.”

Sunset lit up her horn, surrounding the room in a mild red energy. A few tissues floated out of Sunset’s bag and she dabbed it lightly on her own face.

Tempest grabbed one of the floating ones and used it to wipe away Sunset’s tears.

“Are you ever going to tell her?”

“Tell the obsessive, emotionally fragile unicorn about feelings from her best friend? After she just got with somepony else?” Sunset chuckled. Though this time, there was joy to be found. “Twilight has enough trouble dealing with her own emotions. And that of the citizens of Equestria. She doesn’t need mine clouding up her world.”

Tempest gritted her teeth. She had wanted to argue against Sunset’s point, but knew that she was just as stubborn as Twilight. No amount of words or time would convince Sunset otherwise.

“I just wish there was an easy way out for all three of us.”

“There is.”

Tempest’s ears perked up in shock and her eyebrows furrowed together in confusion.

“Make her happy. And we all win.”

Of course. Tempest scolded herself mildly for thinking that Sunset would give anything other than that answer.

“That’s a lot of pressure,” Tempest joked.

“Trust me, it’s a lot easier than it sounds. Get her a few magical tomes every now and again and she’ll be the happiest mare in Equestria.”

“Hmm, I do have my connections outside of Equestria…”

“Oh? On second thought, just send them to me. You can get Twilight cooking books instead.” Sunset cringed. “She could use the help.”

A wide smirk crossed Tempest’s lips. She scrunched up the tissue in her hoof, tossing it into a nearby bin. “Was that an insult directed to the Princess of Friendship? Better not let her hear you.”

“Or what? Is she going to burn my books? Make me do math? Turn me into a giant demon that’ll enslave all of Equestria?” As Sunset spoke, her smile grew wider with each question.

“She might encase you in stone. Or break your horn.”

Silence filled the air. Sunset took a moment to process what Tempest had said. All the while Tempest held her playful grin.

“Well, if I end up like you Tempest, that wouldn’t be so bad at all. I’d honestly be pretty happy.” Sunset winked. And Tempest winked back.

Sunset opened her hooves wide. Tempest, needing no signal, gave Sunset a large, tight hug. In those moments, Tempest felt eternally grateful to the mare that was in her hooves. Everything that had happened in the past few days was more than she could’ve ever dreamed of. And it was all thanks to her. A pony she didn’t even know existed till less than a week ago.

Twilight was right. Tempest tightened her hug. She does have a special kind of magic in her.

“You take care of her for me. And if you need anything, ask Twilight how you can find me. Even if it’s for a chat.”

Tempest broke the embrace, taking a few steps back. “You know, Twilight’s going to ask where you are.”

“Already taken care of. I told her I was going back during the party to set up for Christmas— umm, Hearth’s Warming for my world.”

“You really do think of everything, don’t you?”

“You caught me here, so, sadly not.”

Both mares shared a laugh.

“Keep her happy.”

“I promise. And you’ll visit?”

“I might need some time before I come back, but I’ll visit. I promise,” said Sunset as she stepped closer to the mirror.

“Cookie cheers promise?” Tempest held her hoof forward. Without hesitation, Sunset did the same, clicking her tongue as she knocked her hoof with Tempest’s.

“You know it.”

Knowing that there was no way for her to delay Sunset’s departure any longer, Tempest drew a breath and wore her biggest, and brightest, smile as she spoke, “goodbye, Sunset Shimmer.”

“I prefer ‘see you soon, Tempest.’” Sunset gave one final tip of her head before hopping through the mirror, disappearing in a small flash of light and an audible crackle of magic.

Alone once more, Tempest turned back to leave. She exited the room, but before she closed the door behind her, she gave the mirror a warm smile.

See you soon, Sunset.

Tempest found her way back into the party. The festivities continued as if nothing had even happened. The air was rife with the many laughs and yells of the ponies that filled the hall. Though Tempest could see the majority of the noise was emanating from Rainbow Dash, who had taken a spot in the middle of the room. She wore a proud smirk on her face as she hovered in mid air, pointing down to the rest of the little fillies and colts that had gathered around her.

“So that’s what a Wonderbolt can do!” A filly bellowed out in awe.

“That was amazing Rainbow Dash! Can you do it again?” Another asked with wide opened eyes.

“Sorry! That was a one time routine for Hearth’s Warming only!” A chorus of ‘awws’ followed Rainbow’s words, but her smirk didn’t fade. “But I’m open for as many autographs as any of you want! That includes you too, Twilight.” She shot her a wink to the pony in question, who responded with a roll of her eyes.

Tempest leaned on the balcony, smiling down at the scene in front of her. For the first time in two months, she could find nothing to feel sad about. Sure, she could nitpick and think about her nightmares. Yet, they didn’t seem to matter in the joy that was in the air.

This must be what Hearth’s Warming is all about. She gazed at Fluttershy sipping cider with Rarity, laughing as Applejack recounted previous parties. At the second floor balcony, Tempest spotted Skystar and Pinkie, staring up into the sky. Occasionally, Pinkie would stretch her hoof and point out a shape, which Skystar would excitedly attempt to see. There were so many other small events happening in front of her. But they all told Tempest one thing.

No one was alone.

Even if someone was talking about hardships in the corner, they had company right beside them. The warmth in the room was only challenged by the fire in the hearth, though Tempest would argue the former was just a bit brighter.

I do wish Sunset was here to see this. Tempest released a soft sigh at the thought as she rested her head softly upon the railing. For the first time, she could gather her thoughts. The memories of the days gone by and the bittersweet feeling in her heart.

All of it brought a smile to her face.

“There you are!”

Tempest snapped out of her trance, spotting Twilight flying straight towards her. “O-oh. Hi there, Twilight.”

“Pinkie needed your help?”

“What?” For a second, Tempest stared at Twilight in utter confusion. However, she soon realized what Twilight was referring to and gave a guilty cough. “O-oh right. Twilight, I didn’t go to see Pinkie.”

“You went to follow Sunset,” Twilight giggled.

“Y-you knew?”

“It wasn’t that hard to figure out.”

“I’m sorry for lying, Twilight.”

“Hey, I understand. You didn’t want to worry me until you found out what was going on.”

Tempest chuckled. “It’s like you have mind reading powers too.”

“You wouldn’t want me to have that, trust me.”

“Well, if you know I went to see Sunset. Then you know…”

Twilight nodded. “I know. She left. But that doesn’t mean we can’t still have a great party!”

“Right!”

“Come on.” Twilight started to trot down the steps to the middle of the room. “I have something to say to everypony.”

Once both of them were right in front of the tree, Twilight cleared her throat, drawing the immediate attention of everyone in the room and silencing their murmurs.

“Citizens of Ponyville and beyond!” Twilight bellowed out in the loudest voice she could. “Thank you all for coming to this wonderful celebration at my castle!” Her words were met with a thundering round of applause. “Of course, all of this wouldn’t have been possible without my friends!”

One by one, Twilight began listing all the names of her friends. Each pony giving a soft wave as their names were called. Once she had recited the names of the Elements, she allowed a pause for more applause. “And another mare who helped, but had to leave early, Sunset Shimmer!” Another round of stomping hooves followed. “But lucky for us, there’s one mare I’d like to invite to the front—”

Twilight, you better not be doing what I’m think you’re doing.

“—One mare who helped this party in more ways than one—”

Twilight, don’t you dare.

“Tempest Shadow!”

Most of the crowd applauded. Most. Several ponies stood, scowling at her. Tempest gulped, leaning close to Twilight.

“Twilight, what are you doing?”

“Helping you get accepted.”

Before Tempest could stop her, Twilight shouted once more. “And I’d like to invite her to give a speech!”

What!?

In an instant, all eyes in the room turned to her. All of them were silent. Some stared at her with hopeful eyes, while others with judging stares.

The first thing Tempest did was clear her throat. Not because there was something stuck in it. But because she had no idea what to say, and hoped to buy as much time as she could. Yet, her mind was a complete blank slate.

Well, there’s no better time than to test Sunset’s ‘trust your heart’ theory.

“H-hello little ponies.” She gulped, darting her eyes nervously around her. She attempted to keep her back straight, her posture rigid, her head tilted upwards in a formal stance. However, she soon gave a sigh and allowed that tough facade to fall away. Inside, something stirred. And the next words she spoke weren’t formal. Nor were they spoke with a serious air. Instead, Tempest allowed herself to speak, not as a commander, but as a pony.

“Okay, I suppose I better address the elephant in the room. I made a terrible mistake in the past. One which some, even most, of you have not forgiven me for.” She scanned the crowd, spotting a few angry scowls among the rest of the expressions. “And rightfully so. The actions I took and the choices I made were despicable. And for that, I do not have your forgiveness.” Tempest hung her head low for a second, but soon, she rose back up, a determined look on her face.

“But I will earn it. No matter how much time or work it requires,” Tempest stated with unyielding confidence. She hadn’t felt this passionate since her time with the Storm King. And she never thought she would ever again. Yet here she was, softening the angered glares of those around her. “I know it’s easy for me to say, but the only thing I ask from you all is to give me a chance to prove I’m different. And that I can be better.” She turned to Twilight, who had the most shocked expression of all. Her shining eyes and quivering mouth told Tempest that she was about to cry.

“I know I can be.”

The crowd remained silent. No one dared to make a sound for fear of shattering the tense atmosphere. No one, that is, except for Pinkie and Skystar, who both began to cheer. Their wails from the second floor started a cascade of yells and positive claps from most ponies around Tempest, who looked on with a bright smile.

The clapping continued for several seconds before dissipating slowly.

“Long time residents of Ponyville will know that there’s a tree-topping tradition we perform every year,” Twilight said to the crowd. “Where I nominate somepony to put the star on top of the tree to mark the true start of Hearth’s Warming. And this year,” she turned to Tempest, smiling wide. “I can think of nopony better than Tempest Shadow.”

“Her name’s Fizzlepop!” Jade shouted from the crowd, earning a loud hush from both of her parents. Tempest couldn’t help but chuckle at the outburst. And neither could Twilight.

“Right, well, Fizzlepop Berrytwist. Would you?” Twilight held out a shining gold star, one that radiated a brilliant, magical glow from its form.

“I’d be honored, Princess.” Tempest grabbed the ornament and trotted up the steps, towards the tree. When she had arrived, she took a second to glance down at everypony staring back at her. In the sea of faces, she spotted mostly smiles and eager stares. Of course, there were some who were staring at her with sour expressions, but for once, they were the rarities.

Lifting the large ornament, she planted it squarely atop the tree. And the moment she did, the star glowed to life, casting its radiant yellow light onto the main hall. The crowd echoed ‘oohs’ and ‘ahs’, followed by a chorus of applause. The sight brought a smile to Tempest’s lips. She knew that she was probably the only pony to be savoring this moment as long as she did. But she didn’t quite care. Because hearing the cheers of the crowd she was so afraid of mere hours ago made her heart feel lighter than ever before. And a powerful drive had began to whirl within her, sending energy through her veins.

Eventually, she descended the steps, retaking her position beside Twilight. “Well, the night is still young everypony! Eat, drink and enjoy the rest of the party!” Twilight shouted, prompting the crowd to give one last round of applause before dissipating.

“Thank you, Twilight.” Tempest wished she had something better to say. Something that better conveyed everything she was feeling tonight. But if there were words to describe the happiness in her heart, she didn’t know it. “Thank you for everything.”

Twilight said nothing. She trotted closer, pressing herself against Tempest’s chest. Tempest, though initially shocked, slowly wrapped her hooves around her.

“Twilight, you might not want to hold on like this for too long. The others might get suspicious,” she whispered softly.

Twilight pulled her head back and stared straight into Tempest’s eyes. “Let them be. This is your moment, Tempest. You should revel in it.”

Tempest turned, trotting to the tree and staring at the presents that laid underneath its enormous form. When Twilight came up beside her, Tempest swiftly stole a kiss, much to Twilight’s surprise. Tempest glanced around, thankfully spotting no one that could’ve seen that split-second moment.

When she turned back, she spotted a Windigo cookie floating softly in the air, surrounded by a glittering purple aura. Twilight, as well, was already holding a treat of her own. Tempest didn’t need instructions as to what to do next. She plucked the cookie from the air with her hoof, snapped a part of the Windigo’s leg off and knocked it lightly against Twilight’s, who had already done the same. However, this time, she didn’t immediately chomp down on her piece. And neither did Twilight. Instead, they shared a deep, knowing look. And Tempest swore that, underneath the light of the bright star and crackling fireplace, Twilight’s violet eyes looked more lively than she had ever seen them before.

“Happy Hearth’s Warming Eve, Twilight,” Tempest said with blushing cheeks and a loving stare.

Twilight wiped a tear that had just appeared from her own eye and began to giggle ever so softly. Yet, despite its soft volume, Tempest had never heard a laugh mean as much as those few chuckles. With a grin, Twilight gestured upwards, where the mistletoe she had hung three days ago sat. Just above the tree.

Before Tempest could react, Twilight leaned forward and stole a swift peck on her cheek, causing Tempest’s cheeks to blush neon red.

“Happy Hearth’s Warming Eve, Tempest.”

Epilogue: One More

“Ugh,” Tempest groaned, pulling the sheets over her head to shield herself from the morning sun.

“Tempest, wake up!” Twilight’s voice called to her.

“Just five more minutes okay?” Tempest muttered out in a slurred tone.

The next thing Tempest knew, her blanket had been pulled away from her, forcing her to finally open her eyes and stare at the grinning alicorn above her.

“...If this is going to become a common occurance, our relationship is going to get very strained.”

“Hehe, well, maybe this’ll cheer you up!” Twilight’s horn lit up a soft pink as she levitated over a small red box. A green ribbon had been tied around it, forming a bow at the top.

Tempest stared wide-eyed and speechless as the present found its way into her hooves.

“T-Twilight, what is this?”

“A present for Hearth’s Warming!” Twilight cheerfully exclaimed as she sat next to her.

“But I didn’t get you anything.”

“That doesn’t mean we can’t get you something. Plus, you did agree to stand by my side last night as I was greeting the guests.”

“Wait, we?”

“Sunset and I.”

The words shocked Tempest silent. Sunset? Her eyes were glued onto the shining wrapper around it. She barely remembered the last time she received a present for Hearth’s Warming. Perhaps it was because she was too young, or that the gifts were from the friends who had abandoned her, thus tainting the once happy memory.

“What’re you waiting for? Open it!”

Tempest nodded and slowly undid the ribbon. She made sure to be careful as to not damage the beautiful wrapping. It was as if she was handling a fragile Equestria artifact, one which would break at the slightest touch. Eventually, she managed to undo the ribbon along with the top of the wrapper. Enough for her to pop off the lid with a little bit of effort.

Inside, Tempest spotted two things. The first one she took out was a pack of Windigo cookies. Or more accurately, Twilight and Tempest cookies. For instead of the Windigo shapes that they once came in, these ones had been carved to resemble her and Twilight, complete with the appropriate colored icing for their coats and manes.

“Does Pinkie know? About… you know… us?” Tempest asked as she pulled away the top seal, picking up a Twilight cookie and passing it to the mare beside her.

“Well, she already asked me about it before I told her.” Twilight picked the cookie from Tempest’s hoof, breaking off a small part of it.

Tempest knew she should’ve felt shocked. But she couldn’t be less surprised.

“Did she say how?”

Twilight laughed. “‘Pinkie’ and ‘how’ don’t really mix.”

“Right. Thought I’d give it an ask anyway.” Tempest picked a cookie shaped like her out of the bag. She was about to break a part of it off when she noticed one small detail that, to her surprise, Pinkie had gotten wrong. “I think Pinkie forgot to break off my horn,” Tempest said with a giggle.

Twilight gave an innocent smile but did not say a word, causing Tempest to raise a suspicious eyebrow.However, she thought nothing of it. So she snapped a piece of hers off and held it up in the air. Twilight wasted no time, knocking her own broken piece against Tempest’s before tossing it into her mouth.

Tempest did the same, placing the bag of cookies on the bedside table before staring into the box and retrieving the last item. As she lifted it up under the morning sun, Tempest’s jaw dropped in awe.

In her hooves was a beautifully ornate box covered in smooth red felt. Swirls of gold inlay at its top and sides glittered under the morning light. The pattern reminded Tempest of growing vines or perhaps that of flowing magic. She ran her hoof around its form and let out a short sigh of amazement.

“Twilight, this is… what is this?”

“Well if you open it, you’ll find out!” Twilight teased in an excited tone.

I’m not sure I’m ready. Tempest drew a breath to steady herself. Slowly, she lifted the case and the contents only filled her with a combination of confusion and curiosity.

Inside, nestled gently in a soft cloth, sat a glowing blue crystal. The swirling wisps of blue trails told her that It had clearly been charged with some sort of magical energy, but what it was Tempest didn’t know. She had never seen anything like this even past the borders of Equestria. She turned up to Twilight with a grateful, if confused, look.

Twilight giggled. “Don’t know what that is?”

“A… crystal?”

“Well, yes. More accurately, it’s what’s known as a Starshard Crystal,” Twilight explained as she lifted it from the case.

“Sunset mentioned something about that.”

“Mmhm. What makes it special is that it can store magical energy from a source and transfer it to somepony else!” Twilight explained.

As she held up the crystal in the sunlight, a soft blue glow filled the room. Tempest sat perfectly still, a nervous energy filling her body.

“This specific Starshard has been charged by a friend of Sunset’s. And all you need to do to use it is…” Twilight leaned into Tempest, tapping the crystal lightly against the base of her horn. Suddenly, Tempest felt something coursing through her head. Something familiar.

Something magical.

“Here.” Twilight lifted her half-eaten cookie. “Try it.”

At first, Tempest wanted to ask what Twilight meant. But something called out to her. It told her she knew exactly what Twilight wanted her to do. Shutting her eyes, she focused all her energy into her horn. Initially, nothing happened. But after several seconds, the treat floated up in the air in a bright blue aura.

I… The sight in front of her shattered her focus. The cookie fell back down as Tempest recoiled harshly.

Twilight screamed in joy, clapping her hooves together. “It works! It works!”

Emotions were swelling up within Tempest’s heart. Happiness, shock, disbelief. It was all there. Accompanying them were memories. Visions of when she was a filly. When she used to lift up objects in her home. It was a simple act that brought her joy. One she had lost when the incident happened.

And now, it was given back to her.

The feelings soon proved overwhelming. Tempest covered her eyes with her hooves, attempting to hide her fresh tears. She did not hear Twilight move, but soon felt her wing over her form as it pulled her closer to Twilight’s body.

“I’m so glad it worked,” Twilight whispered softly, planting a kiss onto Tempest’s cheek. Tempest didn’t reply. She couldn’t. No amount of words could express the gratitude she felt for Twilight. And no actions could either. “The magic surge is temporary. And the crystal needs to be repeatedly charged with magic. I know this isn’t exactly getting your horn back but—”

Tempest lifted her head and planted her muzzle squarely on Twilight’s.

“Don’t say another word,” Tempest barely managed to stammer out. “This is more than I could imagine. More than I deserve.”

Twilight cradled Tempest softly in her hooves. “I don’t believe that one bit. You’ve changed a lot and made an effort to push through your pain to make yourself a better pony. And I know. I know that you won’t make the same mistakes.”

Tempest shut her eyes tight and allowed the silence to speak for her. She thought she knew the spirit of Hearth’s Warming, but only after this week did she see how much she didn’t know. And though she didn’t know what the future held for her, she was certain of two things. The first was that no matter what might come for her, she could tackle it head on. Which led to the second thing. That no matter what, she no longer had to face it alone.

Opening her eyes, she spotted Twilight hugging her tight, both wings wrapped around her. Her eyes were closed, but the soft breathing and slightly red cheeks told Tempest everything. Even though snow was raining from above, Tempest could not have felt warmer. She knew this was a moment that she’ll cherish for the rest of her life. And though doubt attempted to seep into her thoughts, she quickly chased them away with one thought before resting in Twilight’s embrace. Content that there was no better end to the week or year.

Lifting the glowing rock with her newfound magic, she slipped the cloth portion around her neck and allowed the stone to dangle freely at her chest. She nestled it softly within her hooves, terrified that it’d shatter under the slightest touch. Under the morning sun, it glittered like a jewel, sending soft rays of blue all around her room. Onto the wall, floor and even over the photo frame on the desk.

The photo… Tempest squinted, spotting the two frames on the desk. On the left was the photo she was familiar with, and already images of the Friendship Festival entered her mind. But the picture on the right was new. It showed Tempest and Twilight in front of the Hearth’s Warming Eve tree just last night, sharing a tender kiss after all the guests had left.

And as the memory of that night once more filled her head, she turned to the crystal. Then to Twilight, who was still resting her head peacefully upon her shoulder. Shutting her eyes, she allowed her head to droop and her breaths to slow. Slowly, her mind drifted away back into her dreams. But this time, it was accompanied by one thought. One that gave her confidence for whatever the future might hold.

Because she knew.

I won’t make the same mistake again.

Author's Note

Well, that concludes the story! Thank you all for taking the time to read it and supporting my work in the process. And have a wonderful holiday ahead of you.

See you soon!

Edit 1: After writing this fic, this song takes on a whole new meaning to me. Wonder if it does for all of you too.

-Deathscar