Pony POV Series Origins: The Past Lives of Tempest Shadow
Author's Note
For long term fans of the pony pov series... a long held but also long forgotten question is given a possible answer here.
Forming Tempest
Pony POV Series: Forming Tempest
By Godzillawolf
Commissioned by Alexwarlorn
The Age of Myths
Oh, hello there! My name is Starflower, Ponyland's resident fireworks pony! No my cutie mark has nothing to do with astrology or moving the stars! I make my own stars for a brief moment in the sky with my big loud beauties!
Huh? My mane? Yes, it's rainbow colored. I'm a Rainbow Pony, just like Skydancer, Tickles, Confetti, and the others. What does that mean? It means we have special rainbow magic, that's what!...What does THAT mean? Well it means we can do things like move super fast and ride rainbows! Yes, Medley and other ponies can ride rainbows, but who do you think taught the others? And we can call a rainbow any time we want!
I love rainbows, but I especially love fireworks. One time I had this dream where I was sitting on a rainbow watching beautiful fireworks going off! When I woke up, I was so excited I made a magic wish that it would come true! Huh? You thought only Twilight could do that? No, some other ponies can do it too but it's really rare. But I looked and looked and looked all day and I couldn't find the rainbow where I'd see the fireworks anywhere! I finally went to the waterfall...and there it was! The lake below reflected the waterfall like a rainbow and each drop that fell was like a firework, sending out rainbow ripples through the water!
That waterfall actually means a lot to us Rainbow Ponies. It's magical and a lot of us have had a lot of cool experiences here. Parasol went into it to cool off and the drops made a rainbow! Then the raindrops and mist tied her mane into braids that looked like rainbows! The rainbow it makes made rainbows shoot out of Moonstone's mane! Trickles used the water from it to water Posey's garden and all kinds of tulips sprouted up, making her garden like a rainbow! And Confetti might have the best story of all! The rainbow the waterfall makes brought her doll to life!
It's a special place to us, and we've all got a story about it...And there's this one really big one...
One day the waterfall just disappeared! Sprinkles went to ask the rainbow what happened, but it faded then the cloud she lived in turned into this long claw and tried to snatch her up! We found out it was Wizard Wantall who stole the waterfall and the rainbow! We went to stop him and Medley made a storm cloud with her magic! Then Bow Tie made a rainbow colored ribbon that wrapped him up when he went to grab them! Medley kept raining on him till he gave us our rainbow and waterfall back!
Huh...it feels like I'm forgetting something but I can't remember it...Anyway, what we went through to get it back should tell you how much we like our magic waterfall!
Huh? Other stories I have?...I don't really have any, I've not been on the big adventures like the other Paradise Ponies have. If you want big adventures, Starshine is the one you want to talk to, she can use our rainbow powers to warp to strange worlds! But...there was the time Moondancer got mad at Cotton Candy for taking a bite of her flowers and blue grass without asking and put a sleeping spell on her to punish her, but that isn't much of a story, Moondancer just took the spell off on her own when I told her Cotton Candy's friends were looking for her (Moondancer isn't mean) then gave her a wind ride back to Dream Castle!
I did help fight that army of Tirek's monsters with fireworks, but I didn't really get involved in the big adventure or when Megan went and blew him to smithereens, though I DID see the light show! I think everypony for miles saw that!
I was there for the whole thing with Catrina, but I wasn't really involved much. I was there when Sundance was messing everything up, but I wasn't there when Catrina showed up. I didn't even go with the others to save Baby Moondancer. Why? Well one of our baby ponies had gotten kidnapped! You really think we'd leave the rest alone?! I was watching them with the others! And I was there for the costume ball afterward! I was dressed like a human from some workout videos Megan brought over that Truly likes. Why? I thought it was fun!
Huh? Baby Ponies? Oh, you want to know about little Baby Starflower?...Oh, you noticed, huh? She's not like the other Baby Ponies who look like their parents. That's because I didn't make her like the others did. I kinda made her the ...um...old fashion way...oh dear, yes I'm blushing. That kind of thing is private! Huh? Without colts around Paradise Estate did we-Eep! That's private too!...Huh? No, I'm not going to punch you, why would I?...Forget it? Okay. Who was her father? Why does she glow?...Um...would you believe she gets the glow from my being a Rainbow Pony?...Thought not.
Well, you see...her and Star Hopper's fathers...crashed in Ponyland and were stuck here for awhile. Oh he was out of this world...Eventually he had to come home when his ship was repaired, but I always hope to see him again. Starshine offered to rainbow warp us to try and find where he came from, but we don't know where it is so we're afraid she might get lost and not be able to get back. Wind Whistler said it was a wonder we were able to have kids with them given what they were...But pony genetics are kinda nuts given the five tribes look so different but we're all the same species! Gypsy said maybe we were created by the same god, and she knows that better than anyone...
But anyway, Baby Starflower is...special. We call her a Sparkle Pony, but ponies called her father a Fairy Bright Pony. I know what his kind are really called, but I shouldn't say...
But Paradise Estate got too crowded and with what she is, she attracted too much attention so we left. It meant we weren't immortal anymore, but it meant she could grow up like a normal pony...
...~~Of course, not being around later or not being all that involved didn't mean that much in the end, did it? We were still there, so we were still considered Paradise Ponies. We were still heroes who were no longer needed by history...so we stopped being part of history. We stopped being anything...Unfair, isn't it? Hehe...you know, I'm glad Magic Star got into that fight with Destruction...At least I got to see something resembling fireworks again, even if I couldn't feel joy anymore to enjoy it...~~
After Disaster
Huh? Why do you look like you saw something scary?...Oh...I see...Am I mad with my friends that in that world I never was?...No, because if I was there to choose, I would've chosen to anyway, most of us Paradise Ponies that weren't there feel that way.
Elysium is great (sorry, I know you can't do more than visit souls in here like me for a little while with us peaking over the border), but creating Elysium on Earth would be worth sacrificing ourselves for...Though I admit, if I had the choice, I would've wished for Baby Starflower to not be erased. At least we're here together in Elysium now though. And one good thing is, Elysium covers the whole universe...Say hi to Star Trekker, my husband.
Heart Throb swooned over it when she got here. And yes, our wedding had plenty of fireworks.
The Age of Wonders
Huh? Oh hello there! I'm Sky Rocket! Though everypony calls me Sparkle Sky Rocket, you can probably guess why! No my cutie mark isn't a rocket ship, it's fireworks! I know I may look like an Earth Pony, but you can tell from my glowing personality that that that's not all I am!
No, I'm not a 'Glow N' Show' pony like Dazzleglow and her sisters, but I do know them! Ponies think we Sparkle Ponies are the same, but listening to them we're not. The stars gave them their glow and they don't have star dust like we do. We were born like this. They can control their glow, we just glow! When we get hurt, even our blood glows! It's pretty cool...okay, not the blood part because that means we got hurt, but the glowing part!...Though it does make having non-Sparrkle Ponies over a little hard...
How come we were born like this? We got it from our dads...Okay, can you keep a secret, please? Okay...Our dads fell from the sky. Mom says they were mapping the stars when meteors made them have to escape down here...they went back home when some of their friends showed up...I've never actually met my dad, I was really young when he left...I...I do miss him...But mom is kind of scared of ponies finding out, she's kind of paranoid. She's afraid if ponies knew where our dads came from, then they might do things to us to find out what our dads were. But that's silly, ponies aren't that mean...I wish she'd realize that, I hate having to lie all the time.
What do I mean be we? There's me and my sisters, Stardancer, Napper, and Sunspot, we live here on the Isle of Pony. It's a beautiful place, and we kinda blend right in cause the royal family's manes sparkle too!...Though that does mean sometimes ponies think we're part of the royal family...Oh, right, where the others come from. Sorry, I can get kinda side tracked!
Dad had two friends, and when they had to escape down here, both of them ended up in different places. Twinkler's dad landed with the Pegasi and Star Hopper's dad ended up with the unicorns and both of them found ponies they loved too, and that's how we ended up being born. Star Hopper says her family always glowed a little bit, and her dad said they already had 'Celestial Pony' in them somewhere. Hehe, I guess that means Star Hooper is more Celestial than Unicorn, huh? When the tribes all met up again, we finally met up again and realized we were all the same. We've been friends ever since...And yeah, their dads left too...they didn't want to, they...had to...I guess it's nice having friends who are like you in all kinds of ways, but sometimes, you wish you could just, fit in more...
Star Hopper's cutie mark is a pink and green flying saucer, yeah, a genuine UFO! She says, "It's not because I'm looking for UFOs, I already know they exist! I'm going to BUILD ONE some day so everypony can reach the stars, just you wait! And I'll find dad out there."
Anyway, as for how we got to know Dazzleglow and her sisters, Twinkler's mom went to find them when they made the news to see if they were related to her dad. They weren't, but they got to be good friends and so did we later...No! We're not part of Dazzleglow's cult! She doesn't even want a cult!...But Starglow did teach us how to sing to the stars and talk with them. We know a bit more about our dads thanks to it, though we probably shouldn't say much about what we found out...But there's other things that talking to the stars and being half Celestial let's us do!
Even though only Twinkler is a pegasus, we can all fly somehow! Though she's the best at it, me and my sisters just kinda float and Star Hopper rides stardust. The only other ponies who don't normally have wings are these four unicorns I read about on the back page of the newspaper when they were making the seven wish castles, and they have to use magic wings! I think the unicorn scientists that helped them do it brought back a cute dinosaur too, a Cutesaurus! The news was more interested in the Wish Spell though.
I think the unicorn sisters' names all ended in Glow, funny huh? Oh! That reminds me! Napper is friends with the moon! One time she walked outside to talk to her and she was gone! Napper looked all over the place but couldn't find her until she saw a glowing cloud! My sister flew up and found the moon sleeping on the cloud and gave her a big hug!...She said that time she got to see the moon 'like she really looked' and that she reminded her of Dazzleglow...
Princess Luna
Napper? That little pony and her fellow hybrids learned to speak to the celestial bodies, and as we are the Concept of the Sun and Moon, those celestial bodies are us. Her sister Sunspot naturally became friends with my sister...but Napper loved me. She spoke to me. And one night while I slept, her ability to talk to the celestial bodies allowed her to see me when no other mortal could and she searched me out out of genuine concern for my well-being. I admit, when she hugged me, I starred at her for a few moments in shock...It was only centuries later I realized that Venus' mortal lover could comprehend her true form because he truly loved and comprehended love, but Napper, though she loved me as her dear friend rather than a lover, comprehended me when she saw me. She knew I was the Moon, her friend. At the time, I felt she was one of the only mortals who ever truly understood me...Yes, I did simply see her as an exception among a group I was at the time apathetic towards. And in a way, I was right. And unlike Tirek, while only now do I appreciate it, thanks to her sister Sunspot, she also knew that me and my sister were two sides of a coin and that is why she truly comprehended me but he could not.
And it was that night she earned her cutie mark, a sleeping crescent moon on a cloud, but ponies of that distant culture did not think nearly as much about cutie marks as Equestria does.
Upon her death in the realm of mortals, she came to me in the next and asked to become my Angel of the Night. She still helps with my duties in the Dream World. I am limited by the mortal world in some ways, so it is welcome aid. Though Equus is not in her 'sector'. Let us just say she finally found a way to see her father's home.
Oh! And Twinkler once gathered a whole bunch of stardust and used some magic to make balloons into fireworks for my birthday! That was so much fun! And Sunspot uses her magic to put the sunshine into our rooms and wake us up in the morning! She can't MAKE sunshine, but she can hold and manipulate it better than some pegasi can, you can guess why her cutie mark is a pink and yellow smiling sun!
...Huh?...Yeah, I can be a little scatterbrained sometimes...Sorry...
It's hard to see Twinkler's cutie mark with how it blends in with her body, small pink and yellow stars (she keeps trying to find what constellation might match it): but her special talent is actually gathering and manipulating star dust, it's so cool!
And Stardancer, I guess I haven't spoke about her much. My so easily forgotten sister. She never really interacted with other ponies much, not because she was shy or stuck-up... but she preferred dancing with the stars... literally... She told me once she wished she never had to come back down, or have the stars leave her on the ground... Her cutie mark is two different stars smiling and dancing. She says, "It's not dancing with stars that's my talent, it's how I can get even the most conflicting stars to dance with each other." Sometimes I think she'd leave all this world's troubles' behind if she could. "The sky is so huge Rocket, We could explore every second of our lives and not see all of it, I want to see more stars dance in harmony like the ones around Equus do... "
But you know something? While its fun being half Celestial...sometimes I just wish I was a normal pony. Why? Because...if I were normal, maybe I would have met my dad...maybe I wouldn't have to lie all the time about what I am...maybe I wouldn't have to keep it secret everything I know about my dad...Maybe ponies wouldn't think I'm so strange...
So sometimes I do wish I was normal...oh, that big wish spell is starting! Me, the other Sparkle Ponies, and our families are watching the castle from a good bit away right now on this hill we like to be on. I can actually hear the seaponies group singing from here, what was their name again, oh yeah, the Dazzlings, they're like super famous! The hero Patch who found Dream Valley wasn't here, nor was the big smart scientist who worked this all out Doctor Bright Eyes... but Professor Starlight Angel was here, we too far away even for the jumbo-tron they had set up, but we could still hear her over the raido, it was time for all our hopes and good dreams to come true!
I saw those unicorns with the magic wings... nopony was even looking at them. Everyone's eyes were glued onto the castle! ... they didn't look happy... The pale blue one with a pair of silver wings for her cutie mark was looking at her own wings kinda funny. Why? They looked fine. They didn't mention in the news paper her horn was all silvery and pretty too!
She was being hugged by one of her four sisters... the one whose cutie mark was silver swirls that went from her flanks over her back and legs! She had a coat white like diamonds. Her horn was all glowing orange too and her hooves were pretty silver... Did I mention her wings were pretty too? The way she almost glowed... it was like... Not glow like us... Why did it make me think of an egg getting ready to hatch?
The sister with the red horn and beautiful shinny red mane like copper is sketching the castle and the crowd, like she's not even paying attention to much else around her. Her cutie mark is a pair of red wings. She had a backpack with her, looks like it's full of handypony tools and junk.
The biggest sister, I think she's the oldest, I didn't get how anypony couldn't be watching her! She was definitely the prettiest! She holding a picture of her, and I think the baby dinosaur hugging in her magic, one of her wings hugging her silver sister. Her horn is bright gold! So is her mane! Her coat is peachy, and her cutie mark is golden wings! Her eyes are the best blue I've ever seen! Why do her eyes look so tired?
Hey, is the diamond girl looking at me? Maybe I should go over and say hi to them.
Oh right the wish spell? All the tribes had gotten back together, the ponies who met the immortals of Dream Valley got the idea of using magic and technology to make it so everypony could have their dreams come true! Now it's time to cast the spell! There are plenty of other ponies around us! Everypony is ready for what's gonna turn the world into the best place ever!
Okay, what do I want to wish for? Well...I've always wanted to look more like Princess Royal Purple! Who's that? She's one of the Royals of the Isle of Pony! She's so pretty! I'd love to have her colors!...And I'd love to be a bit more serious, I can be a little scatterbrained sometimes...
Huh? Why aren't I glowing anymore? Star Hopper? Twinkler? Sisters? Mom? Where are you going? Why are you going up to the stars?...Why are you leaving me?
I see a blond filly ~~in a wheelchair~~ get up and start to dance around. I see a ~~pudgy~~ stallion ~~become~~ who was really buff... ~~he~~ she started doing cart wheels! I see a colt whose teddy bear is now moving and speaking on its own saying how they're best friends, he she hugs him! That's so cute!
I see the pale blue unicorn with magic wings... her wings turned into those of a pegasus they were so pretty, and her ~~horn~~ goes poof too... Her cutie mark ~~became~~ was stars covered in glitter!
Her ~~sister~~ friend's cutie mark changed, changing from ~~silver swirls over her black and around her hooves~~ to a pretty ruby ring. And her coat has sparkles like mine! Where did her wings and horn go? What wings and horn? What was I just talking about? Oh who cares!
The big sister with the golden coat... she's getting smaller! Tee-hee! Her ~~wings and horn~~ are gone, what was I saying? Her coat is all pink now! Her mane has white, pink and purple stripes through it!
Wow! And poof! She has a pony next to her who looks almost like her, except she's got an orange coat. They both have literal shinny crystal jewels for cutie marks! That's super cool! They look like twins kinda!
The last sister... her cutie mark changes into a paint brush... her mane becomes all rainbow like... and she's peach color after her ~~horns and wings~~ vanish... was that art studio there before? Of course it was! I wonder if she'll draw a picture of me!
I feel myself changing. My fur turns purple, and my mane a more red kinda purple. And here comes a rainbow, it's so pretty...so happy...I was sad a few minutes ago, but now I'm not any more! Everything feels so happy! I wave them goodbye! I hope you're happy wherever you're going! The stars are smiling and waving too! The wave of the rainbow turns all the stars in the sky happy and move on out of sight! It bet it's gonna make all the stars happy! Heh-heh!
My cutie mark... what was it a minute ago? It's a sundae with two yellow hearts and two straws... tee-hee... It's so sweet!
Huh...I can think a lot more clearly now. Is this what it feels like to not be scatterbrained?
Ugh...speaking of being scatterbrained, maybe I spoke too soon, everything feels scattered...what was my name again?...Something about fireworks...I like the sound they make, I know that! Fizzlepop!...Hehe, Fizzy Pop...That sounds like a good name.
I'm so silly, of course my name is Fizzy Pop, what else would it have been?
"Hi!" said the sky blue pegasus I saw before. "My name is Silver Glow!"
"Nice to meet you! My name is Fizzy Pop!"
"Wanna be friends?"
"SURE!"
A bajillion years later (but who's counting?)
The Age of Dreams
Okay, tightrope is all set! The secret is a tight rope and a very good knot! Now let's get to it! Careful...Huh, no wind today...that's weird, but I'm not complaining! One hoof in front of the other hoof...
I know I could have just wished for Twinkle Wish to make me perfect at tightrope at the Winter Wishes festival, but that felt, a bit like cheating. Uh! Not that there's anything wrong for other ponies to wish for that! Sorry!
The pegasuses, I mean pegasi were really surprised when I told them what tight rope walking was, I guess when you can fly everywhere, you need to walk on tightropes... It's funny weird, I can't dance in the clouds without butterflies like the pegasus can... but they never thought up tightrope walking... What am I talking about? Just thinking it's what makes us special. Yeah, little ponies CAN do lots of amazing stuff!
My cutie mark? Oh I help out at Cotten Candy's cafe sometimes, I can make some great milkshakes, I can can a sundae that two ponies will enjoy together no matter what! I guess I'm a lot like Triple Treat that way! What if one of them likes strawberries and one of them is allergic to strawberries? 'Al-lerge-ick'? What's that? Is that when you get sick on a cliff or something? Why try to do this when I can do something else without trying hard? I think because I have to try hard is why I try it!
Huh...wonder where that silly bird is that always wants to play and lands on my head. That butterfly too...Guess maybe they decided to let me practice in peace today. Just a few more hoofsteps...Huh, Silver Glow isn't here either, she normally flies by about now and makes me chocolate cake to get me to come see her...Kinda weird...
Huh?! Who are you?! Ahhh!...I'm okay, I caught myself! Can you please give me a couple seconds? Really? Thanks! Alright...a couple more hoofsteps and...done! I did it! I finally made it to the end in one go! Huh? Yes, it feels good! Even if my muscles are a little sore...Huh? Why should I be proud? I did it without anypony's help? I guess that's true...I shouldn't have needed to try in the first place? What do you mean? Uh...what are you guys talking about? You're yelling a lot...
Huh?...Yeah, I guess it's nice no body bothered me and let me do what I wanted for a change, but I wish they were here to see me finally do it...It's kinda...empty without somepony to share it with....I'd like some chocolate cake to celebrate with too...
Huh? 'Believe' I have chocolate cake? Um...Okay...Huh?! Where'd this come from?!
“You believed it exists, so it exists,” said this...thing like Spike. I don't mean he looked like Spike! I mean he was a not-a-girl like Spike! He looked...I don't know, like a bunch of stuff and...like nothing...It was like my head didn't want to remember him...or couldn't remember him? One of his arms looked like a doggy's but the rest...Ow! My brain hurts trying to remember anything!
The other one was a big pony with a horn and wings! And he was so pretty! He made Unicornia and Butterfly Island look...What's the word for not-pretty? Ugly? He was the prettiest thing I'd ever seen! He had yellow fur and a red mane and his Cutie Mark was...I don't know, I'd never seen it before. It looked kinda like a star inside a circle... I wanna be just as beautiful as he is.
“Ugh, must you speak with it?” asked the pony. I've never seen an expression like his before...
“Her, not it,” said the thing-my-brain-didn't-want-to-remember.
“What is the point? Its species only has one gender and no need for it anyway, even the one that conceived my sister's incarnation. An improvement over that disgusting breeding process that was introduced before.”
Breading? Like what you do to make some foods?
“...Well, it was their will, so can't complain about that, but you mean it like she's a thing, not a person.”
“Um, hello?” I asked. The pony one looked like he wasn't paying attention but the one-I-couldn't-remember looked at me. “What are your names? Mine's Fizzy Pop!”
The one-I-couldn't-remember chuckled. “My name's D__t. This walking ego-trip is-”
The pretty pony one looked...what's the word? Like when I get frustrated ponies are keeping me from practicing the tightrope but...bigger? Mad? “If it must know my name, let me tell it. Knowing you and your kind you'd find some way to mess it up!” he replied, then cleared his throat. “My name is Morning Star Lucifer Belial, the 15th. Concept of Beauty and Perfection. My form is beauty. My form is perfection. Revere me. Praise me. This noble and beautiful...immortal and most perfect god,” he recited in a way that made me think of Rainbow Dash sometimes but a lot...I don't know, but he sounded so convincing...
“Oh...well, you're the prettiest thing I've ever seen!” I said. What? It was true. And I kinda...wanted to. Just something about him... Just looking at him felt great.
“Hmph...maybe you creatures are worth something after all...” I admit, hearing him talk to me made feel funny inside, an odd feeling I didn't know, not a bad one though, I think. I felt hot inside, I wanted to just tell him over and over how pretty he was... and I'd be fine doing that as long as he wanted.
D__t pushed him away. “Now who's wasting time?” he asked. “Don't pay any attention to this entitled brat of a god, Fizzy Pop. He doesn't give a darn about anything but himself...An unfortunately common occurrence I find...”
“Why shouldn't I care about myself? I'm the best thing in this dying world,” said Morning Star. “And I have no idea why they decided to send you with me! If it weren't for you everything would have gone so much smoother and more efficiently! Instead you always get in the way! Like with Toola Roola, Silver Glow, Crystal Lace, and Glitterbelle!”
“Silver Glow?” I asked, eyes wide. What happened to Silver Glow? And what about Glitterbelle? I know she was Silver Glow's friend but I didn't know her that well...I know Toola Roola kinda, and Crystal Lace has a twin sister named Gem Blossom...that's all I know.
“You would have just ripped out everything and made them clones of who they were before all this whole thing! They CHOSE to be what they are now!” D__t yelled back. “Crystal Lace CHOSE to have a sister, just like Minty chose to have a best friend.”
“So? They were already perfect! Copper Glow, Silver Glow, Golden Glow, and Diamond Glow were masterpieces and this ruined everything!” Morning Star yelled. What was happening?! “This whole thing ruined it! Perfect ponies I helped mortals create with wings of magic, and they'd rather wish their lives away in this fantasy world!”
“Yeah, they were perfect, but not because of anything you did! All you did was 'bless' them with some magic wings to make them Psudoalicorns. Did you even TRY to guide them after they were born? They did everything else! That perfection was their own blood sweet and tears! Not anything you gave them!” D__t replied.
“...Are you implying that my work was flawed?”
“Clearly somepony was flawed here, considering the universe is dying...”
“Excuse me...” I asked. I felt so ignored.
“Oh, sorry, Fizzy,” D__t said, looking at me.
“I'm not done speaking with you!” Morning Star snapped.
“Well it's not always about you. It should never be about us! It's about the mortals! But you and the others are all the same!” said D__t. He looked back at me. “So what are you asking about?”
“Where's Silver Glow?!” I asked. Silver Glow's my best friend! Of course I'm...what's the word? Worried!
D__t frowned. “...She's on ahead. So is Glitterbelle. Would you like to be with them?”
I nodded. Wherever they are, I wanted to be too.
“Absolutely not!” Morning Star replied. “We've overstocked that area and time with reincarnations! That's one part my...annoying sister Free Will was right about! Of course that wouldn't be the case if you hadn't meddled with my intentions for them! See what you've done?!”
“Oh calm down. Silver Glow still will be born with a silver spoon in her mouth and Glitterbelle with a diamond tiara on her head, and Crystal Lace a gold one right next to her,” D__t replied.
“And Toola Roola got thrown out with the garbage and her light will be recycled into a mangy farmer!”
“Oh stop your whining! You talk about her like she's a toy that got thrown out!”
Morning Star shoved him and got in his face...T-This is making me scared. P-Ponies don't act like this! “No! You stop your meddling in my affairs!”
“Mortals aren't toys you can just pick up and put down wherever you feel like it!” D__t yelled back, shoving Morning Star back. “They should be allowed to live like they want to! They should always follow their dreams without us interfering! Like her! She's wanted to master that tight rope of hers the entire time and did! It's wonderful!”
That...kinda sounds nice...Us ponies living life and following our dreams? What's wrong with that?
“That is the problem!” Morning Star yelled back, shoving him again. “Why make them struggle and try for perfection when they can just be born with it! They shouldn't have to wait for what they want! They should already be perfect and want nothing!”
Being born perfect...that did sound kinda nice...
“One problem, you self-righteous prick: why do YOU get to decide what perfect is?!”
Morning Star narrowed his eyes. Morning Star, "Are you saying I can't decide what I am?"
D___t rolled his eyes. "Why not? You're deciding what they are for them. If there's one thing I give Your Dad, and I don't give any of them much, it's that at least he let's them have whatever paradise they want inside him.”
I think he had a point...Rainbow Dash's idea of perfect wasn't my idea of perfect...
“Open up your eyes! Look at where we are and see it from where I stand!” said Morning Star.
I did...and...What happened? Why does everything look...like things aren't there anymore? Where is everypony?! I'm...what do you call it?! Scared?! I'm scared! Like we all were when we heard Minty was all alone in a balloon on... Christmas Eve? Wasn't it the Winter Wishes Festival? I was so confused!
“Look around you! THIS is what happens when ponies have different ideas of perfection! THIS is what happens when you give those little unfinished sketches Mother insists on throwing out into MY painting the choice of what the universe is like!” Morning Star yelled. They kept shoving each other back and forth. “It's time that you learned a lesson, First Born of the Draconequi! Don't ever count on anybody else! In this or any other realm of reality! Because if you do, they will find some way to mess it up! The only one you can ever count on to get something done perfectly is yourself!”
“I-Is that how our world...g-got like this?” I asked. I...I have salty stuff in my eyes.
“...Well, D__t, can you say I was wrong?” Morning Star asked. “That mortals WEREN'T the cause of this? That all their conflicting desires and wishes didn't bring about this horrific, cancerous mess?!”
D__t...gave me a sad look...
So...it was true, wasn't it? We...we did this? Maybe...maybe just doing things on your own made things get done better then.
“...Fizzy...it wasn't your fault...” D__t replied. “We tried to meddle and 'fix' this place so many times, we probably screwed it up somehow.”
“Oh that's rich! This place would've collapsed long ago if we'd left it alone!” Morning Star replied with a smirk that...made me feel scared looking at it.
“Shut up already! Knowing you, you probably messed with this yourself so the mortals wouldn't make something more perfect than you could!”
"Oh yes, I'm your whipping colt! I should have been allowed more influence with this! But you had 'faith in them'! Well, look where your faith in mortals got you!"
They start...what's the word? Arguing? Again and...I don't know what to think...my head is spinning...Who's fault is it again?
“~~...Fizzy Pop?...~~”
I blinked, turning to find a pony floating and looking at me...or...an outline of a pony...A shadow? She had a mane like Rainbow Dash, but her fur was a different blue and she had stars for her Cutie Mark....though everything was all faded and...I don't know. “Huh? Who are you?”
“~~I was Starflower...~~” she said, taking a look. I think she was checking if the two were still arguing. “~~...I was drawn to you...~~”
“Huh? Why?”
“~~Your light...it feels familiar...like somepony I used to love...like my daughter...~~”
“You have a daughter? Like Star Catcher says her momma had her?”
“~~I had one...we don't exist anymore...but...not only that...you like fireworks, don't you?~~”
I nodded. “Yeah! They're my favorite thing! I love watching them explode over the water!”
“~~...I loved them too...But...I can't watch them anymore...not ever again...~~”
I frowned. “Why?”
“~~Where I am now, in Nowhere, there aren't any fireworks. Fireworks are a thing, and there we don't have any.~~”
Morning Star said I shouldn't count on anypony else...but...that doesn't mean they can't count on me, right?
“Anything I can do to help?” I asked.
“~~...If I join with you, and we become one, then I'll BE again, and then we can go together to where there are fireworks...where we exist...~~”
I didn't know what she meant...but I know I'd like to see fireworks. I WANT to see fireworks! “Sure...”
“~~Alright...~~”
Starflower and I hugged and...whoa...I feel weird...I remember...somepony with a crown...I think part of me always wanted to be a pony wearing a crown...But Wysteria made me a princess...Would being a Princess in this new place be easy? Well D__t said to chase my dreams! So I think I want to be a Princess there too!
My fur didn't change much, but my head felt funny...I...I have a horn now! I'm a unicorn!
Morning Star saw me and gasped. “You idiot! Look what you've done! You let it be contaminated!”
“...Fizzy, did you want to merge with that shadow?” asked D__t.
I nodded, I felt weird...like my head was two heads smashed into one head. “Yes, I did...I...I think the name Fizzlepop sounds better now though...”
“...Then I'm fine with it.”
“Well I'm not! I'm through allowing you to mess with my perfect plans!” said Morning Star, his horn lighting up.
D__t growled, floating up and glowing and drawing a...stick? It looked like it had black a black butterfly on it near where he was holding it. “And I'm done allowing you to play Mister Puppetmaster around here...”
Before anything could happen, another Mix-And-Match Thing like D__t, but one I could actually remember, showed up and went in front of him and a pink pony with horns and wings went in front of Morning Star...why did both of them look sad? They were both girls though.
“Big brother! Stop!” the thing like D__t said. She looked like she was trying not to...what's the word? Cry? “Please...”
“Morning Star...please, not here...you're letting him delay you from your work, this isn't like you...” the girl pony with wings and a horn said.
The two not-girls looked at the girls, then to each other, then turned and disappeared.
“...Pandora, I'm sorry, but we're the only ones those two would listen to...” the pink winged unicorn thing said.
“I know, Cadence...but...but...”
“...You wanted to try and talk him down a different path...I know...I wanted to do the same thing...but we both know we can't...”
“I...I know...Huh?” Pandora looked down at me. “...You're hugging me?”
“Yes...you looked like you needed one...”
I'm...still confused... I don't know who to listen to or what to think...but it felt right...
“...Thanks...”
“You're welcome...”
Cadence looked to me and I hugged her too. “...Thank you, little one...” she said...then started humming...I'm feeling sleeping all of a sudden...I feel her put her horn to my head and sleep...
The Day of The Disaster
~~My name is Sparkle Skyrocket... and the castle that was supposed to make all our dreams come true exploded... It happened so suddenly... Everything was ready to happen and then... boom... I look up into the eyes of the diamond colored unicorn ... her wings had cracks all through them... they must have hurt so bad. Her mane and tail are all faded and dull... she is standing over me... things knocked down or over by a shockwave...some ponies are holding their heads or have weird things happening to them, but not around me or my sisters... Her wings... she used them to save us. Her sisters did the same thing for other ponies around us where they could.~~
~~"It's... it's okay... you're safe," she gasped. Things fell apart quickly after that, but there was a place they knew that was still safe... a place called Friendship Gardens.~~
The Disaster After Rewrite
When Starlight warned everypony about what was happening, we ran with our families... then we saw the winged unicorns diving in and helping everypony they could get away...
"...We have to help too..." said Sunspot.
"But...girls...what if..." mom said, worried.
"If we don't help, ponies would be RIGHT to fear us! And not just for being different!" Star Hopper said. I nodded...
And we helped, using star dust, flying, whatever we could...and when the castle went boom, we were far enough away we all were safe. Ponies might have looked at us in shock at what we did, if we hadn't just saved their lives.
"Thank you," the Silver one told me with a smile.
"...You inspired us to do it," I said back. And she did. We would've just run if they hadn't help ponies first and made us realize so should we. There was a place that we'd eventually meet up, somewhere still safe after things fell apart, Friendship Gardens.
Roughly 2973 Years Later Maybe Give or Take a Decade Or Two
Age of Friendship
Come back ball! Oh, hello! I'm Fizzlepop Berrytwist! Nice to meet you! Me and my best friends Spring Rain and Glitter Drops are playing ball and it's trying to get away! Silver Glow? Whose that? Never heard of 'em. Are they nice? Why are you sad?
Uh oh...the ball went into a cave...Our parents always tell us not to go in there, it's dangerous...but...well, somepony has to get our ball back! And what could happen if I just go in and grab our ball?
Okay...one hoofstep after another...Wow...a wind's coming from the inside of the cave, maybe it isn't as scary as I thought!...Pew! Kinda stinks though...
Ah! There's our ball!...And some more balls...those aren't balls... Are those bones? Naw.
That's a big teddy bear...M-Maybe it's friendly?
Years Later, Among The Mighty
"Okay lady," said a creature who didn't have a name in the 'Equestrian Codex of the Species' yet. "We've got yer crates of basilisks, gorgons, and cockatrices, safely secured, alive, and ready for transport... what do you need all these creepy creatures for anyway? Starting a black market for living statues?"
The unicorn in black armor shorted. "No, not that it's not any of your business as long as you're being paid."
"Right right, just get those things out of here, I have some buddies who are now decorating the store front thanks to these things!"
"Not my problem."
-
"How long before production can begin?" the unicorn in black armor asked, wearing a biohazard suit, much like the Zebra stallion at the lab table. One stripe cover one eye like a the end of a triangle.
"Patience Please,
These things do not come with ease."
"How long?" The unicorn said darkly.
"My own answer gives me fears,
Prototype to do what you wish will take at least five more years!"
"Work faster," it wasn't a threat or a command, it was a statement of how things would be with her words.
"Please have heart,
Haste makes works of art."
He gestured to the statues of zebra alchemists at the end of the room.
"I mean no disgrace, but zebra like me are hard to replace."
Tempest snorted.
"How about to ease our fears,
You acquire some phoenix tears?"
"Ponies don't care when monsters who turn them to stone vanish, but creatures who are the pet of one of the Princesses get more attention. You don't want to be hurt? Rely on yourself."
After The Fall of A King
And it was the creatures who relied on each other who proved in the end stronger than me and my king. And the 'weak' overcame the 'mighty.'
So...in the end here I am...making fireworks for the ponies I'd helped enslave under the heels of my king... I wonder if these ponies would have been so eager to forgive if the Storm King hadn't gone back on his word to heal my horn and I'd had no reason betray him...or knew I'd betray the trust of many to get where I was, and couldn't blame the Storm King for not trusting I'd not betray him like Strife had. Or if they'd be so generous if I wasn't the only one with the authority to order the Storm King's many armies abroad to stand down.
Had I felt shamed for betraying both Queen Novo and King Leo's trusts to achieve my king's ends? Yes. I know what it is to have your trust in 'friends' broken.
Did I feel a dark comfort when I broken this city's back? This symbol of everything I could have been but never was because of 'friends' who ran for their own lives rather than save me? ... Yes.
Luna...told me something...had I come asking for help and proven myself a good and worthy pony, she may have been willing to give me a new horn as she'd given a pegasus new wings...but now, she couldn't trust me with it...Ironic, in desperation I'd sold out the people who could have helped me for one who could care less.
But seeing these fireworks explode over the water near the castle...feels right...like something a part of me has been missing for a long time...
“Miss Shadow?”
I blinked, looking down at a little gray filly with glasses... “...You're not afraid of me?”
“...I am...but...” The way she looked at me...why do I feel like I've met her somewhere before. Also, her father was looking like he'd break me in half if I dared touch her...can't say I blame him. “...If no pony had tried to befriend me, I might have been like you awhile ago...a little monster helping a big monster...instead of helping a friend...”
“...What's your name?”
“Silver Spoon...”
“...Hello, Silver Spoon...And it's not Tempest anymore...my name is Fizzlepop.”
Fin
