Twilight laid face down in bed, teetering on the edge of consciousness as she felt something gently shaking her. She let out an exhausted groan as she gently rolled over onto her back, wings spread out either side of her. She could tell somepony was looming over her. Right now it could be Chrysalis coming to murder her for all she cared; she did not intend to move.
Last night had been a wild one; she had been hosting drinks for the anniversary of the victory over the storm king and AppleJack had brought the hard cider. She could remember clearly the first few mugs but had no memory past the point where RainbowDash had flown headfirst into a pillar and crashed into a petrified Fluttershy. She had very loose memories of somepony carrying her to her room. Probably AppleJack; she was the responsible one.
She had no idea what time she had been deposited in bed but could tell by the way the sun peeked through the window it was past noon.
“Princess. Come on.”
“Leave me aloneeeeeee…” whined Twilight.
“You need to wake up, Princess. You’ve already missed four appointments.”
“So what…..” she grumbled, covering her face with her hooves.
“TWILIGHT!”
ZAP.
“AEIEIIIIII!”
The sudden jolt of electricity caused Twilight to leap up out of bed like a cat who had just touched a pickle. Her mane standing up on end she landed on all fours, legs spread far and wings spread out.
“Awake now, Princess?”
Twilight blinked a few times to clear the haze from her vision. Tempest Shadow, her personal guard of 6 months… stood there with a subtle smile dancing on the corners of her mouth. Twilight immediately felt her cheeks heat up. It wasn't every day that she found herself being woken up by a huge, beautiful horse.
Oh horsefeathers.
“Fizzlepop! Uhm! Hi! Why! Are you in my room? Exactly!?” Twilight asked in a frazzled daze. Twilight had asked Tempest not to come into her room unless in dire circumstances. She said it so she could work ‘without distraction’. Tempest hadn't really understood… not until last night, anyway.
“You weren't responding to my knocking, Princess. I had to assume you were being attacked, or kidnapped, or the worst fate of all…” she said, unable to hide her smirk. “Being just a tiny hungover. And please. I'm on duty.” She said the last part somewhat sternly.
“OH! Sorry, Tempest. And uhm…” she rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly and looked away. “Maybe just a tiny bit…”
“You drank a lot last night. Far more than I've ever seen you drink.” She said, moving over to her windows and pulling the curtains open. Twilight hissed and covered her eyes with her wings. It also helped to cover her embarrassed blush.
Tempest laughed to herself, and moved over to the chalkboard. Twilight’s ear twitched at the sound of her neatly organised schedule being written over.
Tempest had started crossing out things on the to do list, the chalk placed firmly in her mouth.
“What are you doing?” She said groggily.
“Well, I had to cancel your meeting with Celestia this morning. Don't worry; she was very understanding. Don't worry about cleaning, either. I got Spike to clean the map room. He had to clean around AppleJack and Rarity on the floor. They didn't make it to their room-”
“OK! OK… I don't need to hear the rest…” Groaned Twilight. “Were you there the entire time?”
Tempest nodded wearily. “All night, Princess. I had to make sure nopony tried to take advantage of you and your friends… inhibited states.”
Twilight held her head with a hoof. “Hoofness… did I… do anything embarrassing?”
Tempest snickered a little, glancing away. “A few things that were probably embarrassing for some, yes.”
Twilight tilted her head as her brain continued to pound. “What does that even mean?”
“Well, you were sobbing into me about how much you loved all your friends, you started ‘flossing’ on the table, which you loudly proclaimed you learnt from ‘tall PinkiePie’, and after you had kissed Fluttershy on the cheeks for about 5 minutes as she tried to get RainbowDash home…” Tempest wore a bemused expression, “you asked me to carry you to bed.”
Twilight's jaw dropped. And cheeks blistered.
“You… what!?”
Tempest’s smug grin widened.
“You practically begged me, Princess. And I won't ever say no to a direct order. You know me.”
“I…”
Twilight stared for a few moments before covering her face with her wings, hiding the embarrassment behind her royal feathers. She couldn't believe this. She had managed to keep her and Tempest’s relationship to a mostly professional one, apart from the odd event around Ponyville or late evening of games with the others. It was only then that the much taller pony would accept her proper name. She did spend most of her time off alone; She never told Twilight where she went and Twilight was too polite to pry. Tempest had only been made her personal guard upon Twilight’s request; one that Twilight had made in good faith but had ended up being a bit of an emotional nightmare as she tried to keep any feelings she may feel towards her protector locked deep down inside her.
But if she was drunk enough to ask for uppies?
Oh dear.
“... Was there anything else?”
Twilight expected an immediate no. But… there was no such response. She peeked out through her feathers and momentarily saw hesitation on Tempest's face.
“No. That was about it, Princess” she said formally. “Unless you want me to fully recount what Rarity and AppleJack were up to-”
“NOT! Necessary…” she interjected, shaking any and all thought out of her groggy mind. “Just… ugh, what's up next on the to do list…” she asked.
“Well… next up is your dinner with the delegate from Saddle Arabia-”
“WHAT!? But that's at 4pm in the crystal empire; what time is it?” Twilight suddenly yelled.
Tempest was taken aback, raising an eyebrow in confusion as she double checked the clock.
“1:45pm-”
“Tempest, there is an event before that!” Whined Twilight, and pointed with a wing.
Tempest looked at the board. There was one, but she had already crossed it out.
“FlurryHeart’s… what even is that word-” Her eyes narrowed.
“Cutie…sennn…yara?”
“It's her 4th birthday…” mumbled Twilight, slamming her head into a pillow.
“It's all the way in Canterlot… I promised her I'd be there… How am I meant to get to Canterlot in 15 minutes? Some auntie I am…”
Twilight's ear twitched as she heard a huge sigh coming from Tempest. She rotated her head 90° to see Tempest shuffling her hoof anxiously.
“... There is one way to get to Canterlot in 5 minutes or less…”
Twilight sat up, confused. She didn't understand why the unicorn was suddenly so nervous.
“How?”
“... Promise not to tell anypony else?”
Twilight nodded.
“... We can use The Tempest Jet™️”
“THE WHAT!?”
Twilight had pestered Tempest all the way down to the caves beneath Ponyville about what exactly she meant by ‘The Tempest Jet™️’.
Tempest would only respond with ‘My Plane.”
Through the caves they went. Eventually, Twilight realised where she was being led.
“Isn't this…” she wondered out loud before having her theory confirmed by the voice of another mare.
“Hello Fizzlepop Berrytwist. Are you here for a…” Maud Pie, who was standing in the cave before them, paused upon seeing Twilight. She blinked blankly (as she tended to do), looking between them.
“Hi, Maud. Don't worry, she already knows about The Tempest Jet™️” said Tempest reassuringly.
“Oh, good. I'm not a very good liar.” She said.
“Was that a lie?” asked Tempest, smirking.
“Yes.”
Twilight’s mouth was filled with a thousand words and they all came out as a resounding ‘Wahchaowoah??? You KNOW Maud!? She knows- why's she calling you Fizzlepop!?”
“It's her name.” Replied Maud as she turned around to guide them to her home
“Yes, B-But, she only likes to be called that when off duty!”
“She's always off duty with me.” Said Maud, the tiniest form of a playful smirk crossing her lips. Tempest flushed and looked away.
“TEMPEST!?” cried Twilight in confusion… and with a twinge of jealousy.
“I don't have to share all the details of my personal life with you, Princess.” said Tempest formally.
“Don't worry, Twilight. We only kissed once in a moment of jet engine mechanics based euphoria. It was exceptional. You should try it some time.”
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN!?” whimpered Twilight, the flush on her face furious as she avoided all possible eye contact with her guardian.
Tempest laughed out loud.
“Ignore her, Twilight. She's winding you up. We did… Kiss once when we had finally got the engines working. It was just a… gleeful moment, that's all.” Admitted the unicorn, chuckling to herself.
“It was very passionate-” Maud added in.
“Ok Maud, that's enough.”
Twilight blinked at the pair. What was happening?
“Tempest, is this what you've-”
Twilight's jaw dropped as they entered Maud’s home.
In the middle of the crystal cave was a strange looking object underneath a tarp. Maud pie walked over to it and unceremoniously ripped off the covering to reveal…
“This is The Tempest Jet™️”
Parked neatly in the crystal caves was indeed a jet plane. It was painted in the colours of the storm king, only with Tempest’s firework Cutie Mark on the side instead of the Storm King’s emblem. It currently had its wings folded neatly up, revealing the two racks of missile pods shelved on its underside.
Twilight stood frozen for a few moments. Tempest smiled nervously and glanced at the floor. Maud just stared at Twilight.
Eventually, the Princess turned to her guard.
“HOW DO YOU HAVE A JET PLANE, TEMPEST!?”
Tempest looked a little pained as she opened her mouth to speak but Maud had already cut in.
“It’s called The Tempest Jet™️. And we built it.” she said shortly.
Twilight's head whipped around to her earth pony friend.
“HOW!?”
“By putting the parts together from the schematics.”
“Where did you get the parts!?”
“Shop.”
“What!? What shop!?”
“One in Klugetown.”
“WHEN WERE- you know what, doesn't matter. How did you even know how to read the schematics!?”
“I learned.”
“I-”
Twilight was a little bit stumped on that last one, so she turned to Tempest who looked… ashamed?
“Why didn't you tell me about any of this?” Asked Twilight with confusion.
Tempest shuffled a little, and looked away.
“I'm just your guard, Twilight.” she said shortly.
“Fizzlepop.” Maud said with surprising force.
“No, Maud. Come on, Princess. We can use it to get to your niece's party on time.” she said, walking up to up to The Tempest Jet™️.
Twilight looked between them. She felt like everypony was speaking telepathically and she was the only one out of the loop.
“Twilight.”
Maud was suddenly next to her.
“Ask her about the engines.”
“What?” Twilight whispered. “I'm sorry… I'm so confused. She suddenly goes all awkward and broody after teasing me relentlessly this morning? And then you two just built this? In a cave!? Is this even equestrian technology!? Sure they’ve got cars and planes in Sunset’s dimension but here we've barely even mastered hot air balloon-”
Maud put a hoof to her lips to silence her.
“Ask her about the engines, Twilight.” She said, unblinking. “For me. And for her.”
Maud pie proceeded to walk to her bed and lie down on it like a board, facing away from Twilight.
Twilight looked at Maud in disbelief, then over at Tempest. The pony seemed to be inspecting one of the rivets on the underside of the wing.
She couldn't remember a single time that Maud had led her astray.
Twilight approached, looking up at the plane in front of her.
“Can you tell me about the engines?” she asked Tempest sheepishly.
“... Why?” She asked, not looking away from the rivet she was now carefully bashing with her hoof to realign it.
Twilight's eyes darted over at Maud. She remained on her bed.
Shoot.
“I… don't know how they work.” She said innocently. “And if we're going to fly in it, I'd like to know!”
Tempest looked over, studying her face.
“... Fine.” She moved over to the front of the engine, and pointed at the fan.
“The air goes in here. The fan compresses the air and is mixed in with a spray of fuel. A spark ignites it. It's the expanding gas that is shot out the end and propels it forward.” She said, motioning to the end of the engine. Twilight looked in fascination.
“That's amazing! And how do you steer it in the air?” she asked curiously.
Tempest's eyes narrowed a smidgen but she continued to indulge her.
“Well, when the wings are down, they have these flaps on the end. These angle the uplift of the plane, much like your wings. Then, this rudder at the back can be used for precise movements in the air.” She said, leaping up to the top of the plane to point to the rudder. A smile was now firmly on her face as she explained. Twilight nodded along as she spoke, pausing as she realised what Maud had made her do.
That clever pony.
Twilight flapped up after her, looking over the plane.
“This is all so cool! Do you have a favorite bit?”
“I do.” Tempest replied, leaping down with a grin and pointing at the missile pods.
“These girls are lethal. They track onto the UV signature of its target and track it like a homing spell! It uses a solid fuel rocket as propellant which can cause extra damage if it hits the target sooner than expected! A single one of these rockers could annihilate an airship in one hit!”
Twilight was a little disturbed by the power held within them but was fascinated by the technology behind it.
“They’re incredible! Such an amazing fusion of power and elegance! I can't even imagine how fast they go! You think… Maybe if we combined them with some spell work they could use a similar magic to the petrification of a cockatrice to capture creatures without harming them? Think of how useful it could be for capturing dangerous wildlife and releasing them someplace safer!” She said, before shrinking back upon seeing Tempest’s shocked expression.
“Oh, uhm… sorry…” she said timidly. “I didn't mean to hijack you showing me… a thing ..”
“You’re… actually interested?” Tempest asked slowly.
“It’s a jet propelled flying machine that you built yourself! You clearly love what you've built and have a passion! Why wouldn't I be interested?”
A smile slowly grew over Tempest’s face, and tears started to well up.
“I'm… ahem, sorry… Twilight I…” she looked away with embarrassment. “I just didn't expect you to be interested in it like I was. I've always loved aeroplanes ever since I saw a prototype the storm king made a few years ago. Guess I showed a little too much interest… he just laughed at me asking so many questions like a little foal.”
Twilight’s eyes widened. “Tempest… that's horrible… I promise you…”
Twilight suddenly hugged Tempest. It was strange hugging an armored pony, but her wings wrapping around Tempest’s front legs made up for the cold feeling of Twilight's chest against her breastplate. Tempest was a bit taken aback, but slowly returned the gesture.
“I promise that you'll never have to feel like that when I'm around, ok? Never be afraid to love what you love…”
She looked up at Tempest. Tempest smiled back warmly… the light tinge of a blush on her face
“That's rich coming from you, Princess.” she said, slightly teasingly.
Twilight’s eyes bulged a little as she just tilted her head down.
“I d-don't know what you’re talking about!”
“... I think you do, though…”
“N-Nope!”
“You must have forgotten the last thing you said to me last night before I tucked you in .” Said Tempest smugly, and gave the top of Twilight’s head a little nuzzle. Twilight shuddered with furious embarrassment.
“You tucked me in!?”
“Sure did. And when I had finished you made a slight remark about wanting to make out with me because you like mares in uniform. At least, that's how you phrased it.”
Twilight's eye twitched, and she looked up at Tempest. Tempest was just smiling down at her.
The two maintained eye contact for a few seconds until Tempest raised a single eyebrow.
Twilight melted like a puddle.
“....did we?”
Tempest chuckled, shaking her head.
“No, Twilight. I assumed it was the Alcohol talking. Why would you be into somepony as boring as me?” she replied. Twilight’s ears flattened back against her head. “... But thanks to today? I think I've learned that you like ponies with special interests.”
Twilight smiled nervously.
“Now come on, Princess. I need to show you my favourite part of the design.”
Tempest moved around to the front and looked up at The Tempest Jet™️.
“Notice anything?”
Twilight looked at the big metal bird.
“I don't… think so? Well, I mean… oh…” she realised what Tempest was referring to.
“There's only one seat?” She asked.
“That's right.”
“... But then how are we both going to fit inside?”
Tempest looked her directly in the eyes.
“I guess you'll just have to sit in my lap, Princess”
Twilight’s face quickly shone a beetroot red. She looked up at the cockpit and then back at Tempest.
“That is completely fine and ok with me.”
“WOOOOOAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!”
The Tempest Jet™️ shot through clouds towards Canterlot. Twilight was sitting politely in Tempest’s lap, the G force pushing her back against the much larger pony. Tempest was grinning.
“Hold on…” she said, and twisted the controls to the left. The Tempest Jet™️ quickly started to roll, causing both occupants of The Tempest Jet™️ to be flung to the left side of the cockpit. Twilight continued screaming but it was one of joy.
As Tempest brought the craft into a stable flight pattern again, she looked down at her passenger. Twilight, in turn, had looked up at her pilot.
The pair smiled at each other.
“Uhm… Tempest…” Twilight Began.
“I’m off duty, Princess.”
“... F-Fizzlepop… I… what if I told you that, uhm, what I said last night wasn’t just… the alcohol talking?”
The maroon unicorn laughed.
“I’d say that you’re really bad at keeping a secret.”
Twilight lay back into her. She tilted her head up once more. Tempest raised an eyebrow, and nodded her head.
The pair began to kiss from this awkward angle, in perfect tranquil joy.
There was a small beeping on the console. Tempest broke the kiss to look up.
“SHIT!”
She pulled up quickly, the jet narrowly missing crashing right into canterlot’s highest spire.
“That was close! Wouldn't want to be the second The Tempest Jet™️ to hit canterlot tower.”
Twilight blinked, thinking back of the huge explosion that had rocked the capital just a month prior. Nopony was killed but everypony was confused.
“THAT WAS YOU?” Twilight asked.
“Well, It was Maud.”
“MAUD FLEW A PLANE INTO CANTERLOT TOWER!? H-How in Equestria did she survive?”
Tempest shrugged.
“She didn’t die.”
Author's Note
COOL PLANE, TEMPEST!
