Walking With Tempest Shadow At Night
Walking With Tempest Shadow At Night
Tempest Shadow walked uneasily down the streets of Canterlot. She had been slightly on edge ever since Princess Luna summoned from the Crystal Empire. Whatever it was obviously wasn’t important enough for her to come to Tempest as she had to recruit her to be part of her Nightmare Knights, but it was still a personal invitation from a Princess of Equestria, so it had to be a matter of some importance. She just wished she knew what it was so she could be better prepared.
As lost as she was in her own thoughts, she happened to spy another pony who seemed more lost in his as he was crossing the street without noticing the taxi about to run him down.
“Look out!” she shouted as she dove towards the black pegasus.
The unsuspecting pony let out a quick squeak of surprise as she slammed him to him, wrapped her forelegs around him and rolled them both out of the way of the charging taxi. Once they came to stop, Tempest had wound up on top of him and the studded stallion stared at her for a few seconds before craning his head back to where he had just been in the road to see the taxi trotting off into the distance. He blinked as he put the pieces together.
“Oh. Wow,” he muttered then looked up at the mare on top of him. “Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it,” Tempest remarked as she climbed off him. “But you should watch where you’re going.”
“Yeah no kidding,” he chuckled as he dusted off his white vest before picking up his matching fedora and placing it back on his head. “So who do I have to thank for-” he asked but then stopped when he finally got a good look at her.
And she knew exactly what he was looking at.
She tried to keep her composure as the inevitable question came out of his mouth.
“Can I...ask you something?” he requested carefully.
“It’s about my horn, isn’t it?” she replied in a deadpan voice.
“What?! No!” he shot back in an almost convincingly shocked tone. “Why would I want to ask you about your horn? Is there something wrong with that broken horn?”
“You’re welcome,” she muttered before she started to walk away.
“Wait wait wait!” he shouted as he flew up to land in front of her. “Okay, that was really stupid and insensitive of me to do. And you probably get that question a lot.”
“You have no idea,” Tempest grumbled.
“I only ask cause I’m a writer and I’m just really curious about the story behind it,” he confessed.
“That doesn’t really help your case.”
“Fair enough,” he conceded. “But at the very least let me buy you a coffee or tea or hot chocolate or something for saving my stupid life.”
Tempest paused and brought an armored hoof up to her chin in thought. Although she would never admit it out loud since it seemed so childish, she had developed quite a taste for hot chocolate while being stationed in the harsh, snowy climate just outside the Crystal Empire. Plus it’s not like she was in that big a hurry to get to the palace anyway.
“Alright fine,” she agreed. “But you are definitely paying.”
“Totally fine,” the pegasus agreed and then outstretched his front, right hoof. “By the way, my name’s Blackbird.”
“Tempest Shadow,” she finally introduced herself as held out her hoof and shook his.
“Oooh. Nice name!” he complimented before he titled his head a bit. “Though why does it sound familiar?”
“Just one of those names I guess,” she remarked cagily then started to walk ahead of him. “Now where’s a good place to go for hot chocolate?”
“I know just the place!” he cheered as he took to the air and flew forward to lead her on.
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
A short time late the two wound up at Donut Joe’s where not only did they get two big cups of hot chocolate but some donuts as well. There was a tense silence as they enjoyed their snacks and Blackbird tried not to look at Tempest’s horn too much but he failed spectacularly at it. To the point where she finally let out a tired, frustrated sigh and remarked,
“Just ask already.”
He jumped a bit at her remark, knowing he had been caught. He blushed a bit and chuckled nervously before speaking.
“I’m sorry, I just...does it hurt?” he finally asked.
“Physically no. Mentally...well...” she drifted off as she looked intently at the glazed donut in her hoof.
“Right. So can you still do magic and stuff?” he continued.
“I can still shoot out energy beams, sometimes whether I want to or not and I have limited levitation skills. Though sometimes that can get a bit...unpredictable,” she told him, shakily lifting the donut to give him a demonstration.
“Well that’s not too bad. Better than I can do!” he joked with goofy grin.
Despite herself, Tempest let out a small chuckle at his ridiculous statement before sitting the donut back down on the plate.
“Sooooo...can I ask...?” Blackbird question very cautiously.
She sighed and closed her eyes and surprising in herself finally gave him the answer he was looking for.
“I was attacked by an Ursa Minor while trying to get a ball my friend accidently launched into a cave when we were fillies. That’s also where I got this scar,” she added, running a hoof down the scar over her right eye. She then opened both of them in surprise of herself. “I have no idea why I just told you that.”
“I seem to have one of those faces,” Blackbird told her. “Which is a lot better than when I was a colt and the other kids wanted to pound my face in.” He sighed at the still painful memory. “You know for a place that prides itself so much on friendship, there are still a lot of jerks in Equestria.”
“Oh I do know,” Tempest nodded. “That’s why I left not long after my accident.”
“So what made you come ba-” he stopped his question when something finally clicked in his mind.
It was another look Tempest had become all too familiar with. The look of realization of just who she was. He had finally put the pieces together and how she had to prepared for how he would handle that information. There was a very good chance he was just about to make a scene.
“Unicorn with a broken horn, scarred eye and black armor? Tempest Shadow? Yeah, you’re the unicorn that helped the Storm King invade Equestria!” he said in revelation but in a surprisingly quite tone.
“Yeah. That’s me,” she confirmed before taking a small sip of her hot chocolate. “If you’re going to scream about it can you at least do it outside? I really don’t want to have to deal with all that in here.”
He looked confused. “Why would I start screaming about that?”
“Because that’s how most ponies react when they find out about it,” she told him, arching an eyebrow at his underreaction.
“Yeah, but, you’re reformed now, right?”
“If you want to call it that.”
“Well at the very least you helped Princess Twilight defeat the Storm King, right?”
“Yes. Yes I did,” she said with a slight smile at the memory of that moment.
“Then that’s good enough for me,” he shrugged.
She blinked in genuine surprise.
“Really?!” she asked, tilting her head.
“Hey one of our princesses used to be a despot who tried to plunge the world into a thousand years of darkness! And there’s a chaos spirit roaming around out there too! Plus others I’m sure! Redeeming bad ponies and creatures is just what we do here,” he explained as he waved his forehooves around broadly.
Tempest sat there for a moment and processed that fact.
“Huh. I hadn’t actually realized that,” she confessed.
“That’s the power of friendship from what I’ve been told,” Blackbird remarked. “Is that what happened to you?”
Again she was silent as she thought back to the events that caused her to turn on the Storm King and side with Princess Twilight and her friends. She then let out an annoyed sighed as her shoulder slumped a bit.
“It is...” she breathed. “Don’t get me wrong I don’t regret the decision but calling it the ‘Magic of Friendship’ is just sooooo sickeningly pretentious! That’s why I stay out of in the cold near the Crystal Empire so much!”
“Wait you’re from the Crystal Empire?! What are you doing here then?” he asked in surprise.
“Funny enough I was called here by that princess who wanted to plunge the world into darkness. I was heading towards the palace when I jumped out to save you,” she told him.
“And thank you for that again,” he nodded, using a wing to tip his cup towards her.
“You’re welcome. But I probably should head out to the palace now,” she resigned herself as she stood up and stretched just a bit. “Thanks for the hot chocolate and the donuts.”
“Hey it’s the least I could do for the mare that saved my stupid flank from almost getting run over!” he joked. “If you’re going to be in town for awhile longer maybe we’ll run into each other again sometime.”
“Maybe. I guess we’ll just have to see what fate has in store for us. Goodbye Blackbird,” she said as she started to walk towards the door.
“Later Tempest Shadow!” he called after her and gave a wave with his right wing.
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
Later that evening, Blackbird found himself seeing off another armored mare, this time his marefriend Moonie as she put on her Lunar Guard armor.
“Do you really have to go?” he asked for probably the fourth time as she readjusted her helmet.
“Unfortunately,” she sighed as she continued to fiddle with her helmet. “Still getting used to fitting this helmet around my glasses. How’s this look?”
She turned to him to inspect her armor and he smirked a bit as her helmet was just slightly askew around her pointed framed glasses. He reached out with his front hooves and straightened it out for her.
“There we go. Now you’re perfect. Well more perfect,” he complimented with a wide smile.
“Aw thanks love,” she returned and gave him a quick kiss.
“Again, you’re sure you have to go?” he almost pleaded with her.
“Yes,” she half sighed/half laughed. “With the Lunar Festival being so close to the palace they decided to call in all the Lunar Guard just in case something happened. Hopefully it won’t but...you know how these things go.”
“Which is why I can’t help but be a little worried,” he confessed. “I mean I know you can get kick all sorts of flank but I hope you won’t blame me for still being a bit nervous.”
“Never. And it’s sweet,” the blue bat pony replied as she took a step closer to him. “And before you ask, yes I still want you to go to the festival. Have fun!”
“Just would be more fun with you there with me,” he pouted just before his muzzle pulled back into a mischievous grin. “Besides what if I happen to meet another pretty mare, or stallion, there?”
Moonie chuckled a bit as she wrapped her forehooves around his neck.
“Then I hope you’ll show them the same great time you would have shown me,” she advised him before giving him another kiss.
He smiled and returned the embrace.
“I love that you accept me for who I am,” he sighed before he gave her a kiss.
“I love you because of who you are,” she reminded him then gave one last, slightly longer kiss before she pulled back. “But I really have to go now!”
With that she turned and spread her bat like wings before launching into the air and heading for the door. But not before she gave him a for more words of advice.
“Don’t forget your saddlebags! And your spending limit!” she called before pulling open the front door and flying outside.
“Yes dear!” he called out after her.
Once he gathered up his saddles bags and a few bits for games, snacks and the like he flew out the door himself. It wasn’t too long of a flight from the house they had recently moved into together to the festival grounds which were set up near the courtyard of the palace. Which he realized too late meant that he could have flown there with Moonie.
“Well I’m an idiot,” he muttered to himself as he closed in on the festival.
The castle courtyard and surrounding grounds really did look quite impressive with all the rides, booths and stands set up all around it. Not to mention the massive amount of ponies trotting around everywhere. Which did make it a little difficult for him to land but thankfully he was able to find enough empty ground rather quickly. Although he wasn’t sure exactly how thankful he was as he was now almost shoulder to shoulder with some ponies. It did help that as he made his way through the crowded festival grounds he spotted many couples and groups of friends. It really hammered it home how he had to come here alone. He could try to see if some of his friends maybe made it too, but he wasn’t sure if he could even find anypony he knew in all the mess!
And just as he thought that he did spot something familiar in the crowd. A maroon colored mohawk belonging to a pony in black armor. He peered over a few heads to confirm his suspicion. Sure enough there was a dark purple unicorn with a broken horn.
“Tempest! Tempest Shadow!” he called out as he leapt up and glided over to her.
She had watched him come over to her with a surprised expression on her face.
“Blackbird?” she asked, sounding a little unsure if she was remembering his name correctly. “What are you doing here?”
“Well originally I was supposed to be here with my marefriend Moonie but since she’s part of Luna’s guards she got called in for security detail,” he explained. “How about you? What are you doing here?”
The taller mare sighed and rolled her eyes.
“It turns out the ‘important summons’ that brought me here all the way here from the Crystal Empire was Princess Luna telling me I should attend the festival to ‘make some new friends’,” she repeated with disgust dripping from her voice. “Apparently her sister used the same trick on Princess Twilight a couple of years ago and since that turned out so well she thought of trying it with me. Personally I think it’s rather underhooved for her to do that but what do I know?” she shrugged then titled her head a bit. “Honestly I don’t know if that makes me annoyed at her or makes me respect her more.”
Blackbird took a second to process all of that information.
“Wow. Okay. Not one for making friends then, I take it?” he pressed.
“It’s not that I don’t want to make friends, it’s that I don’t like being forced into it,” Tempest clarified.
“Okay fair point that would be annoying. But you’re here with some pony you already know, sorta, and if we hang out during the festival you could tell Luna you did what she requested. You know, technically.”
She gave him a wry smirk.
“I like the way you think,” she mused as she gave his shoulder a light punch.
He smiled back and gave a soft chuckle while trying not to let on what even that light punch from her hurt quite a bit. He let out a small breath of relief when she turned away to start walking through crowd.
“Ow,” he whispered as he rubbed his sore shoulder then trotted over to her.
“So what is all this anyway?” she asked as she looked around at all the booths and rides.
“The Lunar Festival,” he said, waving a foreleg around dramatically. “It was started a couple years ago to celebrate Princess Luna’s return from the moon and the freedom from the corrupting influence of Nightmare Moon.” He then looked around to see if anypony was paying attention then leaned in closer to her. “At least that’s the official explanation. Unofficially it’s because Princess Luna wanted something to celebrate her aside from Nightmare Night.”
“Huh,” Tempest muttered. “Not exactly what I’d expect from a Princess of Equestria.” She then smirked a bit. “I think that makes me like her more.”
Blackbird chuckled at her comment. “You know you should stop by here during Nightmare Night. I think you’d really enjoy it.”
“Oh it definitely sounds like my kind of holiday. More so than all...this,” she motioned to one of the game booths off to their left.
He instinctually followed the movement of her hoof and when he looked towards the booth she happened to point to, one of the prizes caught his eye.
“Heh. Speaking of Princess Luna,” he mused as he walked over to the booth.
Tempest paused a bit. There was a part of her that thought about going on her way and just disappearing into the crowd. But the part of her that actually was trying to make friends made her walk over to the booth with him instead. When she did she saw what had caught his eye; a sizable plushie of Princess Luna hung up among the other prizes one could win.
“You there my good stallion!” called out the slightly overweight unicorn from behind the booth’s counter. “Would you care to try your luck at my little game and perhaps win your fine filly friend there an adorable plush toy?!”
Both Blackbird and Tempest stared at him like he was crazy.
“Uh, we’re not together like that,” Blackbird clarified. “We’re just, you know, here...together.”
“And I don’t need any pony to win me anything,” Tempest insisted, a slight crackle of energy sparking from her horn.
“Right,” the games pony said with a nervous cough. “But you can still try your luck! Three bits will get you three balls!” He levitated three white balls next to his head for emphasis. “All you gotta do is knock down that stack of bottles there and you win a prize!”
He gave a theatric flourish as he pointed to the stack of empty milk bottles at the other end of the booth. Blackbird studied the set up for a few seconds before he shrugged then used his right wing to fish out three bits from his saddlebag.
“Ah what the heck?!” he remarked as he placed the bits on the counter. “Give me some balls!”
“You know this is probably rigged, don’t you?” Tempest cautioned him.
“Madam I am offended!” the unicorn decried in an exaggerated hurt tone even as he laid the balls on the counter. “Why don’t you let your friend try and see how honest my game is?!”
“It’s his money. I can’t stop him from wasting it,” she muttered with a shake of her head.
Blackbird ignored her comment and scooped the first ball up in his hoof then carefully lined up his shot before he let it fly. They watched as it flew right past the stack without even grazing one of the bottles.
“Okay well that was my fault,” he remarked.
“Not a sports pony then I take it?” Tempest asked with a chuckle.
“Yeah, yeah,” he grumbled as he picked up the next ball.
This time he made sure to lineup his shot perfectly before launching the ball at the stack of bottles again. This time he did manage to at least hit the top bottle but it barely moved as the ball bounced off it.
“Ooooh! So close!” the games pony commented.
“Close?! I hit the thing! Dead center!” Blackbird protested, his wings popping up in anger. He then turned to Tempest. “You saw me hit, right?!”
“I don’t know and I have no opinion,” she replied in a deadpan tone though the corner of her mouth was curled up just slightly.
He muttered under this breath as he picked up the last ball. This time he made absolutely sure he lined up his shot perfectly before he launched the ball from his hoof with as much strength as he could muster. This time his aim was true and he hit the stack dead center in the middle...
...only to have the ball bounce of it with a pathetic “clink” sound.
“Oh you almost had it that time!” the unicorn proprietor remarked again.
“ALMOST?!” Blackbird exploded, hovering slightly in the air in his anger. “I hit that thing dead center! This thing IS rigged!”
“Hey now friend that is a serious allegation! Maybe you’re just not as good as you think you are!” the other pony shouted incredulously then looked towards Tempest. “Perhaps the lady would like to try her hoof at it.”
“Oh I’ll try,” Tempest smirked as she pulled a bit from her armor. “But I won’t be using my hooves. And I only need one ball.”
“Now THAT’S the spirit!” the unicorn said as he levitated the ball towards her. “Let it fly sweetie!”
Tempest’s horn stub crackled with energy as she concentrated on levitating the ball. Tendrils of energy continued to whip around her forehead and the ball as she narrowed her eyes in determination. When she went to launch the ball a sudden surge of magical energy spiked through it and rocketed it forward like a cannonball. It hit the stack of bottles with enough for force that they practically exploded apart and still had enough force to tear through the tent at the back of the booth. Both Blackbird and the games pony starred in stunned silence at Tempest who merely smiled in triumph before motioning to the Luna plushie with her head.
“H-here! Just take it! Take it and go!” the unicorn said as he practically shoved the toy at her.
“Why thank you,” Tempest said smugly before she tossed the plushie onto her back and turned to leave, Blackbird close behind her.
“That was amazing!” he exclaimed. “Did you know your magic was gonna do that?”
“Maybe,” she smirked.
“Soooo...about that plushie...” he started cautiously.
“What about it? I won it fair and square so I’m keeping it.”
He sighed and lowered his head.
“Fair enough,” he muttered dejectedly.
They made their way through the crowd a bit before they found themselves near another booth. This time it wasn’t a game one but rather one set up for selling items. In this case roses being shilled by a red haired, white earth pony with appropriately enough a rose for her Cutie Mark.
“Roses! Get your roses here! Straight from Ponyville! Perfect roses to share with your Special Somepony tonight!” she called out to anypony who would listen.
She the pointed a hoof at Blackbird.
“You sir!” she shouted just before she trotted over to him. “Would you like to buy a rose for your marefriend here?”
Again the pair were taken aback by the assumption.
“We are not together!” Tempest insisted rather coldly.
The other mare shrank back a bit.
“Okay...but you could still buy one for later. Never know what might happen,” she tried again.
“Nope. We’re good!” Blackbird said quickly as he walked away.
Tempest spared the earth pony one more annoyed glance before she caught up with Blackbird.
“Okay why does that keep happening?” she grumbled.
“Eh it’s just what some ponies do,” Blackbird waved off nonchalantly. “They see a mare and stallion walking together, especially in a setting like this, and they think they’re a couple.” He chuckled softly. “Heck it doesn’t even have to be a mare or stallion it could be two mares and two stallions and they could just be standing next to each other.”
“That sounds absurd,” Tempest dismissed.
He shrugged. “It can be. But it’s mostly done in harmless fun.”
“I still think it sounds absurd.”
“What? Offended ponies think we’re a couple?” Blackbird asked teasingly.
“Didn’t you say you already have a marefriend?” Tempest asked back with an arched eyebrow over her scarred eye.
“I do but we’re both polyamorous so she’s cool if happen to meet somepony else while here,” he explained.
She stared at him for a moment as she processed that information.
“I-”
She was interrupted by a loud dinging sound filling the air. When they looked towards the source they found it was a strength tester that had been set up nearby. They watched as serval ponies kicked a large red button that sent a metal cylinder up the rail to ring the giant bell on top. Should they be strong enough that is. Obviously somepony had been given they just heard it ring, but as they walked up to it, the other participants varied from “Almost There” to “Not Even Close”.
“Oh this should be fun,” Tempest grinned and then tossed the giant Luna plushie to Blackbird. “Here hold this.”
She barely registered his surprised “Oomph” as she walked up to the strength tester. The small crowd stared anxiously as they watched her size up the machine for a moment. She flashed another quick grin before she spun on her forehooves and kicked the button with her back legs. The weight shot up to the bell so fast that not only did it produce the loudest ring of the night, there was a second there where everypony was sure it was going to snap off. Miraculously it didn’t but it continued to ring for a full minute. Tempest tilted her head back a bit and smiled smugly as she walked over to Blackbird and took back her Luna plushie.
“Want to give it a try?” she asked, nodding her head towards the tester.
“Yeah, sure, let me humiliate myself after that display,” he muttered even as he walked up to the tester.
He took a few deep breaths to steady himself before he too spun around and smashed the button with his hind legs. He turned around just in time to watch the weight reach the “Good Try” label before falling back down to the bottom.
“Huh,” he remarked as he titled his hat back a bit. “That’s not as bad as I thought it was going to be actually.”
“Still not as good as mine though,” Tempest pointed out smugly as they moved to another part of the festival grounds.
“Obviously there was no way I was going to match that! I doubt few ponies here could.”
“This is true.”
The smile stayed on her muzzle as they walked. In fact, she was just oozing a confident air that just seemed right for her. Even if he had just known for a few hours at this point. He smiled himself as he shook his head a bit at her.
“You are one interesting pony Tempest Shadow,” he noted.
“Why thank you. You’re not too bad yourself Blackbird,” she returned and playfully bumped his shoulder with hers, nearly knocking him over.
“Ah yes! That’s why I’m looking for! That needs to be captured for posterity!” another voice called out.
Before either of them knew what happened, they had been enveloped by a unicorn’s magic field then yanked over to a booth off to their right. This one had a red love seat in the center of it with the halls panted to match and decorated with hearts of various sizes. A sign with the phrase “True Love” emblazoned on it hung just above the seat. The pair sat in stunned silence as they were positioned by a light red unicorn stallion in a black beret so that their forelegs were wrapped over each other’s shoulders while their other forehooves were placed together on their laps.
“Ah! Perfect!” he cheered happily then darted behind a camera on a tripod. “Say ‘Love’!”
Instead of his prompt they just mumbled something incoherent before the flash of the camera went off and temporarily blinded them. When their vision returned, they found the photographer beaming as he held up the photo of them.
“There we go! True love, yes?” he mused, ignoring their completely confused expressions.
“NO!” Tempest snapped as she leapt over to him and shoved her muzzled against his, her horn crackling dangerously with energy.
“Tempest stop!” Blackbird pleaded as he ran up to her and tried to pull her away. “I don’t think Princess Luna would appreciate you ripping some pony’s head off.”
She breathed heavily a few times as she continued to glare daggers as the frightened unicorn’s face before she closed her eyes, let out a slower, calmer breath and finally turned away from him.
“Fine,” she scoffed and started to walk off.
“Do-do you want it?” the unicorn asked as he help up the picture with his magic.
“Dude, seriously?” Blackbird remarked even as he took the picture with his wing and tucked it into his saddlebag while he walked over to Tempest. “Sooooo...what was that about?”
“I just don’t like ponies making assumptions about me!” she growled. “And that’s all they’ve been doing since they’ve seen us together.”
“Okay, I get that it’s annoying but there’s no reason to go completely psycho on some poor guy!” he remarked as his wings spiked upwards. They then folded back in as his demeanor shrunk a bit. “I mean, is it really that bad if some ponies think we’re a couple?”
She looked over at him with a surprised look on her face at his question and his mood change. Her eyes did soften a bit even as she rolled them and shook her head.
“Look I’m sure you’re a nice guy and all but we’ve only known each other for a few hours. Let’s not make this thing more than it is, alright?” she asked.
“I mean I’m not but I’m also not losing my mind if other ponies think that. You gotta learn to relax! I know you were ordered to come here, but do you think you could dial it down a bit so we could just have fun?”
She sighed and massaged her temple with a hoof.
“You’re right,” she agreed. “I’ll try to be more calm and have fun. Though my idea of fun might be different than yours.”
“Well, let’s find out shall we?” he asked, extending a wing towards her.
“I am not taking your wing,” she said flatly.
“Okay then.”
And so they went around the festival grounds in a more relaxed way. Taking in all the sights, sounds and rather bizarre foods offered up. And of course the many games scattered throughout. Most of which Tempest won. While humiliating for Blackbird, it did put her in a good mood so he wasn’t too upset about it. Though he would still like to win a few more before the night was through.
That desire was muted when he realized they had made their way next to the ferris wheel and he remembered what he had originally looked forward to doing tonight. He let out a small, regretful sigh at the recollection. One that was loud enough for Tempest to pick up on.
“What’s wrong?” she asked in genuine concern.
“Eh it’s nothing,” he waved up.
“No you said you wanted to be friends and friends talk to each other when there’s something wrong,” she said, grimacing slightly in how much she sounded like Princess Twilight at the moment.
“Well gee look who’s feeling the magic of friendship all of sudden,” he joked. “But it’s mostly just that one of the main things I wanted to do tonight was spend some time with Moonie on the ferris wheel over there.”
Tempest looked up at the giant metal wheel.
“But you’re a pegasus,” she noted. “Is Moonie an earth pony or a unicorn? Can she not fly with you?’
“Oh no, she’s a bat pony and we frequently go on flies together. But there’s just something different about being the ferris wheel. Something just...kinda magical about it.”
Again the purple unicorn looked up at the ride then back to the pegasus next to her. Then towards the ride. Then turns him. Then the ride. Then him. Then the ride again.
“I don’t believe you!” she declared as she turned towards him a final time.
“You want to give it a whirl and find out for yourself? I’ll even buy your ticket,” he offered. “Just don’t blame me if we have a moment up there.”
“Yeah. Like that will happen,” she scoffed then walked towards the ferris wheel.
True to his word Blackbird paid for a ticket for both of them to ride. When they climbed into the small metal basket, Tempest put the Luna plush in between them to stave off having a “moment”. She placed her hooves on the safety bar in front of them and leaned back slightly as the giant wheel back to move. She watched as the festival grounds in front of them grew smaller and further away to reveal the top of the castle and parts of Canterlot beyond. Lights flickered in the distance in the clear night sky and the pale light of the full moon illuminated what they didn’t. From here everything looked peaceful and calm. And slightly familiar.
“You know there is one thing I miss about working for the Storm King,” she spoke in a soft, wistful tone. “My air ship. I loved being able to stand out on the deck and just stare out at the never ending sky. Everything seemed so...clear and peaceful then. Despite the fact that I was usually on the way to conquer some land.”
“Well I don’t know about that last part but I definitely understand the first,” Blackbird mused in a soft tone of his own. “No offense to unicorns or earth ponies but I love being a pegasus. I can’t imagine not being able to sore through the sky. There’s just something so freeing about it. Especially when I hit a bad bout of writer’s block. Being able to get above the clouds really helps clear out the ones from my head, you know?”
“Yeah,” Tempest nodded with a smile.
Which quickly faded as she hung her head and shoulders slumped.
“We just had a moment, didn’t we?” she mumbled.
“I told you!” Blackbird exclaimed triumphantly.
“You know I could throw you from here despite this safety bar, right?” she warned him.
“And I could just fly way cause, you know, pegasus,” he retorted, rising his wings as best he could in the seat.
Tempest just let out an annoyed groan and shook her head despite having a small smile still on her muzzle. They rode in a surprisingly comfortable silence for the rest of the ride. Once the basket was back on the ground they got out of it and started on their way but Blackbird quickly flew back and picked up the Luna plush.
“Here you forgot this,” he said as he hovered in front of Tempest and offered her the plush with this forehooves.
“You know what? You can keep it,” told him.
“Really?!” he asked, unable to contain his excitement.
“Yeah you’ve earned it. And carrying it back to the Crystal Empire would be a pain,” she confessed before she used her magic to levitate something out of the saddlebags she had purchased during the evening. “Besides I already have the best piece of Luna merchandise.”
She unfurled a dark blue T-shirt with a head shot of Princess Luna winking with her tongue sticking out over words in black text that read, “Blame It On My Sister”. Blackbird chuckled at the novelty shirt.
“So you going to wear that over your armor or what?” he quipped.
“It does come off every now and then,” Tempest replied as she put the shirt back in her saddlebag.
“Wouldn’t mind seeing that,” Blackbird remarked. His eyes widened when he realized he said that out loud. “Wait! I didn’t mean that!”
“Really? Well that a shame. I was just starting to like you too,” she said with a playful smirk then turned around, her tail whipping out and smacking his cheek lightly.
“How do I get in contact with you?!” he suddenly blurted out.
Tempest stopped and looked over her shoulder at him.
“What?” she asked with an arched eyebrow.
“Just to, you know, keep in touch. After you leave. You said you live in the Crystal Empire, right? Where exactly would I send a letter or something?”
She tapped her chin again. In truth she had never really thought to ask for the address of the station she and Glitter Drops worked and lived in. Anypony she knew in the Crystal Empire already knew how to reach her there. Course other than Dropsy the only pony she really knew there was...
A mischievous grin slowly spread across her face.
“Just send it care of Princess Cadance. I’m sure she would love to help me stay in touch with a friend I made,” she explained, adding a small chuckle afterwards.
Blackbird cocked his head her remark and almost sinister chuckle.
“Is there...something I should know about there oooorrrr...?”
“Nothing you have to worry yourself about too much,” she waved off.
“Oooookaaaay...well in any case,” he landed just long enough to pull out the picture of them with his wing and give it to her. “Here you can keep this. As a way to remember our...unusual evening. Least until I start writing. And I will. Both letters and literally. Got some books I have to get back to.”
“So you actually are a writer,” she remarked. “Somehow I thought that was just a line.”
“Nope! Fully published and everything! Ever hear of the Grey Griffon Adventures series?” he beamed proudly.
“No.”
And his pride quickly disappeared.
“Of course not,” he sighed. “Well how about I send you the first book once you’re back in the Crystal Empire? And then we can go from there.”
“Sure,” she smiled. “It’ll be nice to have something else to read aside from Dropsy’s gossip magazines.”
“Cool! It’s a deal then!” he cheered then floated into the air with the plushie. “Well this has been a fun and interesting night. It was a pleasure to meet you Tempest Shadow and I’ll definitely be sure to keep in touch.”
“I’ll admit I had a pretty good time myself. And I look forward to hearing from you. And reading your book. Night Blackbird,” she bid him farewell.
She watched him fly off then looked down at the picture in her hoof. She had to admit the their shocked and confused expressions were pretty amusing against the overly romantic background.
“We actually don’t look half bad together,” she mused to herself just before her expression fell flat. “But there’s no way I’m letting Dropsy see this picture. She’ll never let me hear the end of it.”
The End
Author's Note
Author’s Note: I apologize for nothing! Other than how long it’s taken me to actually write a full length story again. I blame work and working on my videos for taking time away from my writing. Hopefully I can find a way to balance the two out now. And of course the first thing I do is a fic featuring my OC with a canon character. Again I don’t apologize for that cause I had fun with it!
More importantly though, I made some references to comics with how Tempest is in the Crystal Empire, her friend Glitter Drops and helping out Princess Luna as part of her Nightmare Knights. If you want to know more I highly recommend that you check out the “Return of Tempest Shadow” issues of the main MLP comic and the Nightmare Knights mini-series to find out more information about all that. They’re really, really good.
Also I don’t know if the Lunar Festival is already a thing but it definitely felt like something Luna would do so I ran with it. If it is, oh well that happens. If not then it pleases me to be the first to come up with. If I did. Alright this is going on too much, I’m out! Thank you for reading!
Oh and if anyone’s wondering the title is a play on Pat Benatar’s “Running With The Shadow of The Night” song. Which is awesome!
