Tempest slowly trotted to the door of her small home. It wasn’t much, but she felt safe there nonetheless. After her time with the Storm King, she felt safe anywhere, really. The ponies had long forgiven her for her past mistakes and she had grown quite fond of a select few. Those select few, along with other residents of Ponyville, were coming to Sugarcube Corner the day after tomorrow for a party that Pinkie Pie planed for Tempest’s fifth anniversary of being reformed.
Tempest was currently living in the Crystal Empire with one of her best friends, Glitter Drops. Glitter wasn’t home at the moment, though, due to an emergency coming up with her mother. That made Tempest a bit disappointed, but Glitter had come to every other party that Tempest had been to so she wouldn’t feel lonely, and so she understood that Glitter should be with her mother when she needed it.
She was there with you every other time, so why choose now to ditch you? Why even come in the first place? She never cared about you. She abandoned you, remember? In the time you needed her most, she left you. But she’s there with her mother. She’s there for her mother but wasn’t for you. She cares for her mother. But she never cared for you.
She loves me. Why else would she take me in? Why would she forgive me if she never cared?
Tempest often had a conflict between two sides of herself. One of them which still clung on to the old ways of living, trying to invoke fear into her mind and bring her back down to the way she had been before; and one that had moved on from it, choosing to live in peace and harmony, bringing light and love to her fellow peers, making friends and allowing herself to heal and forgive. She had chosen to portray herself as the latter one. She had learned from many past experiences with other ponies that she could make more friends by being kind and open than by burying her feelings under the guise of power and fear.
But it’s not the real you. The real you was strong. The real you had the strength to command, to strike fear in the hearts of onlookers, to lead with confidence and force others to bow at your hooves, cower in your glory! The real you would never subject herself to this degrading pony madness! The real you was powerful! THE REAL YOU WAS A MIGHTY WAR LEADER, AND LOOK AT YOU NOW! You’re just like them now, weak and insignificant. You’re nothing. But the storm still brews inside your soul, and all you must do is let it in. Let me in.
That was not the real me. That was a cover I was using to appear strong so I could survive. The real me is compassionate and loving, not that monster I became when driven by fear to hurt others.
Tempest unlocked the door and stepped inside. She removed her hat and scarf and went upstairs to pack for her trip to Ponyville tomorrow. The party was the day after, but Tempest wanted to spend some quality time with her friends before then, and the train to Ponyville that was closest to the time of the party was tomorrow anyway.
As her hooves touched each floorboard, the small voice in the back of her mind said one more thing about her, one little jab at her weakness or her friends… and she chose to bury the voice deeper so she could think clearly for a while. When the time came she would address each comment with an appropriate comeback, every explanation thought out carefully beforehoof so she could waste as little time as possible regaining space in her brain taken up by useless negativity.
Your friends abandoned you.
No one really loves you.
You’re a useless cripple.
You can never escape the judgment of your horn.
You are looked down upon by everypony.
You
Are
A
Freak.
Tempest lay in her bed, not able to sleep for excitement about seeing her Ponyville friends again. Thoughts about what they would do together raced through her mind then were promptly forgotten as a new one entered. Many of the ideas that graced her overactive mind were wild and dangerous, and would most likely not be reenacted again anywhere except in her imagination.
As she tried in vain to get some rest, Tempest heard a small voice in her head tell her off.
You do realize none of your “friends” would want to do these things, right? They are irrational and highly dubious, and most of them wouldn’t even be fun for any of them. You never think, do you? You used to be so much brighter than this. Those ponies have dumbed you down. You need to cut your ties with them as soon as possible before you become so stupid that you can’t tell your own hoof from the blade of a gryphon scimitar at your throat.
They were only ideas. I’m just excited. I’ll think of what to do when I’m actually there.
Tempest closed her eyes and attempted to sleep, but the voice in her head wouldn’t let her.
“Only ideas” have caused entire nations to collapse! These ponies are poisoning your mind! You must stop this nonsense before it’s too late. If you let them go, your life will be so much better. I can help you, too. But first, you must let me. You must let me guide you, tell you how to regain your power. You must let me in.
Can you let me sleep? Pester me tomorrow. I’m exhausted, and I need sleep, for Celestia’s sake!
After nearly twenty minutes, Tempest finally managed to fall asleep, the last thought on her mind being, Good riddance.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Tempest waited at the station, peering down the railroad tracks to see if the train had come yet. She was fifteen minutes early, but she felt she’d be better safe than sorry. As the Friendship Express rolled to a stop in front of the platform, Tempest lifted her densely packed saddlebags onto her back and took her rolling suitcase in her mouth.
She sat in one of the seats in the back of the car and looked out the window.
Do you even know what you are doing? You have no idea what to do once you get there. You are going completely unprepared. You have nothing to do, and your “friends” will be bored out of their minds! You should have thought about them, what they like, and came up with something. Better yet, you should have said you were busy and canceled so you wouldn’t have to endure those nincompoops’ shenanigans.
But they’re my friends and I want to be there. Even just hanging around and talking is enough. And they’re not ‘nincompoops’!
Tempest watched the hills and trees flash by the window and noticed the speed they flew by at decrease. She was surprised that the train was there already and picked up her bags to get off.
As she stepped out onto the platform, she was bombarded with masses of confetti and hugs. Tempest could barely see due to the streamers and glitter that had been blasted into her face, but anyone could guess with ease who it was. “Hey, Pinkie.”
“Hiya Fizzy! I missed you! So did Twily here, and Dashie, and AJ and Rarity and Fluttershy and the Crusaders and Derpy and Cheerilee and Lyra and Bon Bon and Carrot Top and Cloud Kicker and Dizzy Twister and everypony!”
Tempest didn’t recognise half of the names Pinkie had just said but assumed that they’d be at the party tomorrow. She smiled and trotted alongside Pinkie and her friends as they headed to Princess Twilight’s castle, though it was more of a gallop at the speed Pinkie was going at. Tempest was happy and relieved that Pinkie seemed to know what she was doing, since Tempest hadn’t planned anything to do.
Rainbow Dash was flying in circles above their heads and whistling. “Oh, Pinkie, you should tell Tempest about the other pony.” Tempest raised her eyebrow at Dash. “Who?”
Pinkie gasped and said, “Oh yeah! There’s a pony here visiting from Fillydelphia! We were wondering if you were okay with your party being a ‘welcome to Ponyville’ party for him as well as your fifth anniversary of being a good guy!”
And now they are trying to make a celebration meant for you to be some silly party for a stranger none of you know! You should tell these ponies that YOU are meant to be the main attraction of this celebration! Not this dumb Fillydelphian trash. You must assert your authority, tell them that you do not want this.
But I do. And I want this pony to feel welcome. We may even become friends.
“I think that’s a wonderful idea.”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Tempest awoke with her right hindhoof in somepony’s mouth and snuggling a thick gold tail. She sat up and looked around. She was on the floor of Princess Twilight’s bedroom. A string of saliva ran from her hoof to Dash’s mouth, and she was holding AJ’s tail. All the other ponies were cuddled up on the floor, except Fluttershy and Pinkie, who were at the foot of the bed and duct-taped to the ceiling. It was clear which was which, despite Pinkie being completely mummy-wrapped.
The only one awake was Applejack. “Mornin’, sugarcube,” she said. “Had a good sleep?”
“Oh, uh, yeah,” Tempest replied. In truth, she only had about as good of a sleep as the night before. Applejack sensed the lie and gave Tempest a look that said, ‘oh, really?’. “Okay, I was too excited about the party. I got almost no sleep whatsoever.” Even that was a half-lie, but Applejack didn’t take any mind of it.
While Tempest was excited about the party, that hadn’t been what kept her up all night. The voice had kept her up again, telling her about how nopony cared, how they only wanted to please her so they wouldn’t get hurt. Tempest knew these were lies. Her friends loved her and she could tell it was genuine.
Each of her friends woke up one at a time and soon went down to Sugarcube Corner for some breakfast. The little pastry shop on the corner was decorated with colourful streamers and balloons, which Tempest helped pick and put up. The group had yet to paint the welcome banner for the Fillydelphian pony, mostly since Tempest didn’t know their name yet. The banner had been Tempest’s idea and the group had already made the sketch for it. All they needed to do was make it.
Just yesterday, when Tempest asked what the pony’s name was, Pinkie gasped loudly and raced off, squealing, “Omigosh! I never asked! I need to go! Be back!” when Pinkie returned she told them he was too embarrassed about it but might say later at the party when it was louder and there was less chance of somepony overhearing.
As Tempest and her friends began painting the banner, Starlight Glimmer came in with a batch of muffins. Trixie followed and noticed the banner they were making. “Ooh, can I help? The Great and Powerful Trrrrixie knows a spell that might decorate it faster!” A chorus of “NO!” and “Trixie, don’t do it!” came up from everypony in the room, but Trixie took no heed of their pleas and in a split second the kitchen was a mess of paint and glitter. “... oops….”
Do you see what she just did? This is a mess that you will have to clean up, and before ponies start coming, too! You should have stopped her! You could have! Now, look at the mess that you have! Do you not think this could have been prevented? You could have covered her horn or deflected it with Rarity’s hoof mirror or tipped her head back, but you did nothing! You could have done something… I could have done something. It isn’t too late to let me in. I can still help you get on the right path. I can still fix these silly “friendships” you have, make ponies see that you are powerful and deserve respect. I can still make you important again. I can still make you known.
I don’t need to be known. I have my friends and that’s all that matters.
Tempest sighed. “You know what, if Trixie wants to help, she should do it normally. C’mon, grab a brush. I think this is still salvageable. Starlight, Rarity, Princess-” Twilight interrupted her. “Just Twilight will do, Tempest. I’ve been telling you how long now?” Tempest chuckled lightly. “Right. Sorry. You all should use your magic to help clean the kitchen.” Trixie pouted. “I was only trying to help…” Tempest placed a hoof on her shoulder. “And I’m sure we’re all glad for the thought… but maybe no magic next time, at least until you master it. Right now, the best way to help is by grabbing a brush and painting. Any colour, I have an idea for it and it’ll be super bright and pretty!”
Trixie willingly complied, and before long the kitchen was nearly clean, and the banner was finished. They hung it up in the doorway and finished up the kitchen just as ponies began entering to start the party.
A few minutes and the party was in full swing. Ponies were prancing to the cheerful music in the tiny shop and chatting happily with one another. Tempest was standing by the counter cramming muffins into her face when she saw a pony she never noticed around town before. He was a white Pegasus with gold spots around his hooves, nose, and flank. His mane was black and stuck up in the back. His eyes were a yellow-green colour that clashed horribly with his coat, and they looked strangely dilated. That paired with the scar on his lip that drew his face into a sort of grimace made him look angry.
Tempest walked over to him and tried to strike up a conversation. “Hi, my name’s Tempest. I’ve never seen you around before. You’re the pony visiting from Fillydelphia, right? What’s your name?” His eyes dilated further, and he stuttered. He turned his face away and blushed. “I- w-well, uh... It’s kind of- y’know, I- umm…”
Tempest remembered what Pinkie said and wanted to help him feel less awkward. She leaned in a little. “Actually, I kinda do know. I prefer Tempest, but my real name’s…” she leaned in a little further and lowered her voice. “Fizzlepop Berrytwist.”
He tried to hold back a laugh but didn’t do so well. “Fizzlepop Berrytwist? I- snrrk- I don’t think you look like a ‘Fizzlepop Berrytwist’, not with that kind of face… or uh… horn. I see why you prefer Tempest, it matches your style better.”
Tempest didn’t mind the comment about her horn. She was used to it, and he didn’t seem to mean it as an insult. “So, what’s your name?” he was a little less self-conscious about it this time, but still was a little skittish. “It’s kind of a dumb name…and, uh… g-gross… but… uh… Spoon Spitwash.”
Tempest snickered, and unlike ‘Spoon’, didn’t bother hiding it. “What, did your parents hate you? What kind of a name is that?!” He grinned sheepishly and his head shrunk into his neck a little. “Maybe? They left me at an orphanage, so I don’t think it unlikely.”
“Wow. Kids there must’a teased you a lot too, huh? I can’t imagine having such an awful name…” Pinkie stuck her head between them. “Hiya there! You two having a good time? Ooh wait, you haven’t tried bobbing for cupcakes yet! C’mon! This is gonna be fun!” Pinkie Pie grabbed both of them, and before she knew what she was doing, Tempest had a soggy cupcake in her mouth. If they had been bobbing for cupcakes in water, she would have definitely spat it out, but the cupcake was soaked in chocolate milk, so she ate it instead. After catching all the cupcakes, she saw her friends with Spoon, laughing about something, most likely his name again. He seemed so relatable to her. Tempest felt that they might be able to make good friends with one another.
How can you be so clueless? He has a name he doesn’t like, a scar like yours, he’s a lot like you in personality and expression.
Your “friends” are replacing you.
They don’t need you anymore. They have someone else to use, so they distracted you with this game. See, and now they are leaving. They are supposed to be there for you through everything. You are all alone, so where are they?
Tempest paused. Then came to a complete mental stop.
Why are they leaving? What are they doing…?
Are they really-
Are they really replacing me?
They never loved you.
This was what they were planning all along.
You are worthless in their eyes.
They are done with you. They’re moving on. Abandoning you.
Just like Glitter Drops.
Like everyone.
Nopony
Ever
Loved
You.
