Tempest Shadow sat at the dining table of her former enemy, feeling very exhausted and very drained. So much had happened to her in such a short period of time, that she couldn't really come to terms with what her future was going to be. Still, she had to make the best of it, especially considering what alternatives there likely were.
"Tempest, is everything alright?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow. "Did you sleep all right?"
"Not really," Tempest sughed. "I just can't seem to really settle my mind down right now, Twilight. I was up all night…thinking."
"About what?" Twilight asked with concern.
"I don't know about what. But, something inside me is saying that I should make ponykind my business, their common welfare my business. Charity, Mercy, Forbearance and Benevolence all my business." Tempest acknowledged.
"Um, Tempest, if you don't mind my asking," Twilight reluctantly spoke up. "Before you had your accident, were you in any way planning to achieve any goals?"
"What do you mean? I had plenty of goals that I wanted to achieve, Twilight, you know that,” Tempest remarked, her eyes narrowing. “I wanted to be accepted into Celestia's school for gifted unicorns, I wanted to one day follow in the footsteps of a princess and become one! But, then that Ursa Minor took that all away from me. What else was I to do?!" The pain in Tempest's voice made Twilight realize that Tempest's spirit was more damaged than it already was. She began to understand that Tempest had attacked Canterlot not just out of spite, but out of pain…her personal pain.
"I know how that feels," Starlight remarked, glancing over at Tempest. "But, what I learned is that you can't run away from your troubles, Tempest. If you're that desperate, then you need to reach out to somepony. Talk about your feelings and they will listen."
"Nopony would want to listen to a unicorn with a broken horn," Tempest muttered in a pained voice. "All my friends, they would scoff at me, say that I was worthless with a broken horn. I wanted to get revenge on them, all of them! That's why I joined the Storm King's services, so I could take out my personal pain on Equestria! I just wanted the pain to end!"
A hushed silence fell on the dining hall and Twilight almost spat out her tea as a result. "Tempest, you know better than to do what you did!" Twilight cried out in shock. "I mean, surely there are some ponies that you’d be willing to talk to, rather than enslave them? And surely you’re aware of the psychological damages you inflicted on ponies as a result of what you did, right? You think taking out your anger on them will change that?"
"I’m aware," Tempest answered coldly yet remorsefully. "I’m aware of the psychological damages I’ve inflicted, Princess Twilight. Seeing all the ponies caged, shackled, enslaved, it made me feel good, invincible, satisfied that Equestria got what it deserved for turning their backs on me. I felt all of my stress being lifted off my shoulders, if only for a while," Mortified, Twilight sat back in her chair trying to absorb all that Tempest had aired out. "Yet now," Tempest sighed, restraining herself slightly. "I feel remorse for all that I did. Now I wish I had talked to somepony about my feelings. Maybe, if I’d known someone I could trust, maybe I could’ve avoided the dark path my revenge led me down."
"And you do have somepony to talk to," Starlight spoke up. "You've got a lot of ponies who love you to death, Tempest, and could never imagine living their lives without you in them. Or don’t you at least have any family that lives in Equestria?"
"My home was in Canterlot behind the stadium,” Tempest acknowledged but only barely. “My family expected so much out of me and my sister, and after I lost my horn, I couldn't live there anymore."
"Why?" Twilight asked. "They could have helped you…"
"No they couldn't have!" Tempest sharply remarked, glaring at Twilight! "They wouldn't have accepted a unicorn with a broken horn as a member of their family, Princess Twilight! What good would I have been if I’d stayed?! I would have been laughed at, ostracized and who knows what else would have been done?! Imagine for a second how you would feel if your parents expected such great things from you, and that was all taken away in one fell swoop!"
As Tempest spoke, Twilight began to think that there had to be a way to approach this situation in a careful manner. As far as she was concerned, Tempest was a troubled pony who hid her feelings under a cloud of evil, working for an evil king. And now that said evil king was no more, there had to be a way to clear up that dark cloud looming over Tempest. Get her to at least see the light again, and maybe come back to the side of good.
"Tempest," Twilight sighed, unsure of how best to approach the matter. "I think maybe, now would be the time for you to talk to somepony about your feelings. There’s a pony who lives here in Ponyville, who has helped me and my friends in the past. Her name is Sweetheart, and she's one of Equestria's top therapists. I'm sure she would be more than willing to listen to what you have to say about your feelings. We’ve made use of her on occasions before, I’m sure she could help you as well."
Just then, Spike came in carrying a platter of pancakes, along with Pinkie Pie and a small gray hedgehog that caught Tempest's attention. "Grubber?!" She gasped, shocked and surprised! "What are you…what did you…?"
"The chef's hat?" Grubber asked, pointing to the poofy white hat. "Let's just say, I found a better occupation. One that’s more satisfying to me than serving under the Storm King."
"He's quite the cook. I taught him everything I know." Pinkie Pie remarked, booping Grubber on the head.
"Grubber is now a personal chef to myself and the other princesses," Twilight explained. "He travels between here, the Crystal Empire, and Canterlot, cooking at various functions and events."
"Who knew that it would be better to give than receive?" Grubber chuckled. "Now eat up, ponies! It's here for a limited time!"
Tempest couldn't help but chuckle at Grubber's new outlook on life and began to realize that perhaps, if Grubber could be given a second chance, then maybe she could as well. Granted, Grubber hadn’t done much, he’d mostly been an accomplice (and pilot). But if a guy like him could be redeemed, there had to be hope for the Storm King’s second in command.
"I think Sweetheart would be a good start," Twilight suggested to Tempest, as she started eating her breakfast. "She won't turn anypony away because of anything physical done to anypony.”
Tempest said nothing, and went about eating her breakfast. As she ate her breakfast though, she began to think of something else that was eating at her. "Razzle Fizzle," She thought to herself. "I hope you can one day forgive me for what I’ve done to our family. And whatever’s become of the family in my absence, I’m sorry, I never intended to cause such conflict."
Meanwhile, Luna had left Canterlot and arrived in the center of the Crystal Empire, still clutching the picture of Tempest Shadow (aka Fizzlepop Berrytwist) in her aura.
"Aunt Luna," A melodic voice called and Luna soon saw Princess Cadence walking towards her. "Is everything alright?"
"Yes, Cadence, everything is fine," Luna replied, showing Cadence the picture. "But, there’s something I need to show you about the pony called Tempest Shadow, or I should say Fizzlepop Berrytwist. Celestia has reopened the case into her disappearance."
"I don't understand," Cadence wondered, looking at the picture. "Are you certain that she’s really that filly Aunt Celestia kept hoping to find one day?"
"Yes, I believe so,” Luna nodded. "And we’re going to need your help with this case. We need your love to try and mend any wounds that linger between Tempest Shadow and her sister."
"I need to get a clearer picture of what is going on, Aunt Luna,” Cadence replied. “Then, I’ll see what I can do to help with this situation. But I can’t magically compel two ponies to forgive each other. My magic can only work to settle disputes by reminding others of the love they share, if the connections aren’t strong enough my magic won’t have any effect. And after what happened when Twilight used, I don’t dare risk the ‘Want It, Need It’ spell."
And so it was that, three of the alicorn princesses that had been targets for the Storm King, were joining forces to help the pony who had helped hunt them down for him.