Storm Vine

by zalla661


Coming to Terms with Complacency

Tempest felt ashamed of herself. As she shared her secret to her parents she could feel the judging eyes coming from them. She remembered back when she first lost her horn. Ponies she was friends with made fun of her for her destroyed horn and she sue to get angry. One day she lashed out at one of her friends and injured him. At the time she prided over his pain, but her parents disapproved of her behavior. She could still see the disappointed looks they gave her when she said she didn’t care he got hurt back then. No doubt they were disappointed in her now.  How could an adult be a blank flank? Imagine her surprise when her parents suddenly hugged her again. They were gentle and didn’t say a word to her, but Tempest could feel a dampness on her neck where her mother was dug into.

“Mom, are you crying?” Tempest asked.

The mare nodded in response but remained silent, all but the crying, of course. Even her father remained quite.

“You guys aren’t disappointed in me?”

“Of course we aren’t,” Her father said.

“We’re just glad to have you home. Your cutie mark will come in time,” Her mother replied.

“Wow, thanks Mom, Dad. I really wasn’t expecting that.”


“You worry too much, sweetie,” Chardonnay said ruffling Tempest's mane. “Even as a filly you always did. What if this, and what if that, you’re still such a worry wart.”

Tempest rolled her eyes and pushed her mother's hoof away.

“Mommmm.”

Chardonnay giggled trying to ruffle her daughters mane again. “Oh! Don’t be that way!”

As Tempest fended off her mother, Merlot pulled away and got the camera. Using his magic he took a photo of Chardonnay and Tempest. By now Tempest was ruffling her mother's name in retaliation of her own. Merlot smiled watching the two most important mares in his life bonding again. It made his heart flutter. Suddenly they stopped and turned to him. He gulped and levitated the camera onto the bar counter. The camera rested in place next to the three empty glasses and half full bottle, just in time for him to be double tackled by the two mares and his mane was assaulted.

The three ponies laughed together as they roughhoused for several minutes. Once more Tempest found herself enjoying life. She was finally reunited with her family and they were doing family things! She couldn’t have asked for more than that. Once they settled down Tempest poured them each another glass of wine. Chardonnay brought out some fruit and crackers for them to eat with their wine. Tempest put a small cut of cheese on a cracker and ate the morsel in one bite. She chewed it thoughtfully and added a sip of her wine to the mix. The combinations of flavors melted together, creating a bitter tangy taste she loved, much like when she discharged her horn and felt the satisfaction of shocking her opponents to submission. She was really going to miss doing that.

“Dad, I got to say your wine is the best,” she complimented him.

“Why, thank you,” Merlo replied, his smile turning to a frown as he glared out the window. “At least I know somepony does.”

With a grumble he sipped his wine. The bitter flavor a perfect way to describe the bitter look on his face. Tempest tilted her head at her mother who shook her head in response.

“Your father is just being silly, ponies love his wine. He’s just mad that the Moscato Moon family’s white wine is selling better than his red wine.” Chardonnay explained. “They’re nice ponies, but they’re  dominating the market right now. Truth is, they are actually holding back because they want all the families to profit. They even agreed not to host the upcoming Nightmare Night so your father and I could drive up sales.”

Merlot nodded in agreement raising his glass.

“Indeed they are. To our friends the, Moscato Moons! And bless their generous hearts!”

“Cheers!” Chardonnay cheered.

“Cheers. . .”

Tempest’s half-hearted cheer was as bitter and sour as the after taste in her mouth. Chardonnay and Merlot looked worriedly at her. Of course they knew what she was thinking. The good mood gone, the two ponies waited for Tempest to say something.

“Still upset about your friend?” Merlot asked.

“No. . .”

Merlot glanced at his wife. Chardonnay shrugged unsure of what to say. That response was definitely not the response of somepony who wasn’t upset for sure. For the sake of the conversation Merlot decided to play along with it.

“That’s good. I’m glad you got past that,” He said, gently patting Tempest’s back. “I can see you’ve changed for the better. Despite what you told us you did.”

“You’re not angry with me about invading the city? Taking hostages, and prisoners of my fellow ponies? Any of it?”

“Well, we’d be lying if we didn’t say we weren’t shocked and disappointed in you for it,” Chardonney replied cautiously.

Merlot nodded and wrapped his arm around Tempest. He then pulled her close to his chest and pressed her head against his chest. Hearing the soft beating of his heart made Tempest feel relaxed. Safe in his arms. Her mother watching over them like a sentry hawk.

“We’re just glad to have you home, kiddo.” He said.

Tempest smiled. She Leaned over reaching around her father’s neck with an arm and pulled him close. She pressed his cheek against hers. She felt her cheeks burn from the intimate contact as she nuzzled him feeling embarrassed, but she endured. After a brief heartfelt moment Merlot separated from her and got off his seat and ruffled Tempest’s mane. She swatted a her father, her horn sparking. Her mother gently swat her upside the head warning her not to discharge all over her father.

“Okay, I say we do something to get these sad thoughts from our heads,” He suggested.

Tempest’s eye and ears perked up hearing that. Anything to not talk about her past was welcomed to her.

“Yes, let’s go help Auntie in the West Fields,” the younger mare agreed happy to get the focus off herself. “We got an early start cleaning out with Berry Punch's help.”

“Aw, it’ so nice of her to help! She’s such a good filly!” Chardonnay gushed.

Merlot laughed, Tempst rolled her eyes. As Tempest walked away from the bar, Chardonnay and Merlot joined her leaving the house together. Tempest was sandwiched between her parents all the while their tails all entwined together. The three ponies could not be happier as they walked through the grape fields. Off in the distance there was a series of explosions deep in the center of town. Tempest turned her head her horn charged and ready, but she managed to fight her instinct to charge to the source of the sounds.

She then noticed that the explosions were fireworks. With her keen sight she focused on the area where the fireworks were coming from and notice the were tiny little rockets flying in the air before exploding it an array of various colored sparkles. Some were loud, others quite, but they were impressive nonetheless.

“Looks like there’s something going on over there,” Merlot said.

Chardonnay glanced over to see the fireworks too. She then got a look that said she remembered something important she forgot. She nudged her husband and whispered something in his ear while Tempest was distracted. Merlot chuckled as his wife whispered in his ear with a cheeky grin.

“That’s not a bad idea. Maybe it’ll help get her mind off things.” He said to his wife.

“Glad you agree, dear,” Chardonnay said, kissing his cheeks. “Fizzzlepop?”

Tempest’s head snapped towards her mother with an angry scowl. It barely fazed her.

“Sweetie, there’s a traveling thespian performance. Later on, why don’t we all go see it? I bet little Pinch would love it,” Chardonnay said.

“I think she would,” Tempest agreed rolling her eyes. “Guess my training could wait another day for this, show.”

After agreeing to this Tempest spent the rest of the walk in silent contemplation. As they arrived at the westfield again, Berry  Punch and her daughter were busy gathering grapes with straw baskets on their backs.

There were several filled baskets at the ends of each long row of the vined plant rows. Each row had several empty baskets yet to be filled with the year bounty. Even though the fields were massive, the two ponies managed to gather much of the west field alone. Seeing this brightened everyone's mood. It would make a great harvest.

Merlot thanked his sister in law and niece for their hard work. Pinch was delighted from the compliment and cheered by galloping around her uncle and aunt. Everypony laughed at the overjoyed filly, except Tempest who just watched while gathering grapes alone. After taking a minute to chat Chardonnay and Merlot joined in the gathering with Berry Punch, Pinch, and Tempest.

The ponies broke apart each working a set of rows in the westfield before moving onto the next row in their set. Each pony was given a set of rows to work on and only them to spread the work of.  Should they finish, like Tempest did, they would move onto the next set of rows designated to them, and if they finished them all they’d help whoever was farthest behind and so forth. While they worked Tempest overheard Berry Pinch talking to Chardonnay about the traveling performers. Apparently they were very popular and were famous in central Equestria. Tempest tried to stop herself from sighing over and over again hearing the filly’s excitement to see the performers. Apparently they had an earth pony in the group.

Tempest couldn’t help but think that things never really do change in equestria. Even in her hometown where parties and festivities weren’t as common, there were still parties and shows. It bothered her greatly that ponies spent so much time wasting it on frivolities, and not preparing for the next big threat. Dragons and griffons had more sense than that! Sure there was a time and place to rest and relax, and yes, have fun.

Down time and fun were not foreign concepts to Tempest. She often took time to relax after a long day's training. Although, she hadn’t trained in some time since she left for home. This did bother her some, but she could easily pick up her training after today. Her family took priority. That being said, she wished ponies in Equestria would take threats more seriously. If she had her way, she would break down every militarized organization and rework them from the ground up. She went down a mental list of every encounter she had.

Wonderbolts? Completely useless. Word got to her ear that it wasn’t the first time either. The Royal Guard? They weren’t much of a challenge; however, Tempest didn’t deny it took longer to take them down than the Wonderbolts did. Then again, there were a lot more of them than there were Wonderbolts. The Princesses? She let that one speak for itself. The Element Bearers? Defeated and forced to flee.

Truth be told, the majority of everything that happened that day was done by her personal guards. Not those simple minded buffoons in the Storm King's Army, but the ones she personally hoof picked, and trained herself. There were only ten of them, and she knew each of their names. Their strengths, and weaknesses. They were the best in the Storm King’s Army and it was all thanks to her. She was the best there was, even with her broken horn. Her personal guard were just as capable as her. So, why did Equestria fare so badly for a nation so developed, so powerful, and bountiful lose to her and her handful of guards, she wondered? The answer was so painfully obvious to her that it hurt her head just to think about.


Ponies in Equestria were happy and complacent. While the world struggled around them they rested in a cradle of power relatively untouched by evil. They relied on the power of artifacts they barely understood, on ponies they barely heard of, and from what Tempest learned from Princess Twilight, they relied on what appeared to be dumb luck and intuition.

All that power. Wasted. Used without any training, understanding. There was a severe lack of discipline and structure. It angered Tempest to think that the most powerful ponies in all the land were so lax and nonchalant about their enemies until they showed up. Everything about this situation was mind boggling to Tempest. She literally could not grasp the thought process.

If you knew there was a threat, you eliminated it. If you can’t, you train or learn how to do eliminate it. If you can’t do that then you do what you can to get rid of it. It was that easy for her to understand. So, why couldn’t ponies grasp this concept? Was she the only sane one in the land? Were the rules really that short sighted or arrogant? Surely not. Even from the brief time she spent with the Princesses they didn’t seem incompetent, or arrogant. Mostly. Tempest had spent years training herself to fight and to prepare for any possibility that could emerge in battle. She could not explain or reason why it was so.

Her anger swelled inside her. Again her old habits kicked in. She could only think of how stupid this all was. Even in their defeat, the Princesses made no attempts to change their ways, or up their nation's security it seemed. They just partied on like nothing happened! It infuriated her so much that she began to involuntarily discharge her hron. The lighting blue magic rained around her immediate vicinity. Through the bushes Berry Punch could see her niece as she continued gathering grapes. Eventually Tempest managed to calm herself and for the rest of the afternoon as she worked without incident. As the noon turn to evening and the sun began to set the five ponies gathered what they collected and returned home together. Tempest and her father each pull a simple wooden wagon filled with stack baskets of grapes. It was a good harvest. Tempest could feel a small sense of pride seeing the harvest they gathered. Of course, she also loved just being back home, and for the first time in a long time Tempest Shadow truly felt her life was whole again.

She and her father took the harvested grapes to a separate area in the west field to a large barn. There they stored the grapes in a large wooden pit filling it up to the brim with the tiny blue colored grapes. Once their baskets were empty and safely stored away Tempest and her father placed the wagons outside the barn and secured their wheels with wooden stubs so they wouldn’t roll away. As Merlot finished his wagon, he watched Tempest secure hers.

He couldn’t help but smile at how efficient she worked and her no nonsense behavior. For him, it was a stark contrast to the filly he once knew. Tempest herself kept her gaze away from the stallion while she worked. Only after she finished did she finally look him in the eyes. He had a playful smile on his mug which had a sense of mischievousness to it.

Tempest narrowed her eyes at him, ready for whatever game he had coming. Then suddenly he lunged forward tackling her to the ground. He and Tempest laughed as he tickled her in the soft unprotected portions of her suit. She cried out uncontrollably as she struggled to get an angle to get back at him.

“N-nno fair daddy!!” She gasped between laughs.

“All fair kiddo. You gotta be ready for anything!” He chuckled, his unrelenting tickle attack making Tempest's horn spark.

“I-I'll get you back!” Tempest declared twirling around on her father. She managed to get her hooves to reach behind herself and struck the stallions sensitive ribcage in a fierce counter attack that made him break into laughter.

“Now you will suffer my wrath, Father!” She declared hopping on top of him.

Unfortunately the fun didn’t last long. As the two laughed and rolled in the dirt trying

A powerful magical discharge erupted from Tempest's horn and blew apart one of the wagons startling both ponies. The two immediately ceased their roughhousing and jumped like startled cats. Debris fell from the sky as they stared wide eyed in shock at the destruction they caused. After the debris settled and burnt wooden shards fluttered down on them they managed to take a glance at each other. Then they laughed.

“Oh, you Mother’s gonna be mad now!” Merlot said gasping for breath.

“Heh, heh, yeah. I hope you realize I’m blaming you for this,” Tempest said pushing her father playfully in the side.

“Hey, don’t be a snitch, kiddo!” Merlot pushed her back and ran off towards home.

“Hey! No fair!” She yelled running after him.

Setting the Tone: Osono’s Request

Tempest gave chase giggling like a filly after her father. She felt like a filly again. Remembering fondly all the times she spent with Merlot, Tempest weaved through the vines as she chased her father back to the house. She tried many times to catch her father but for an aged old stallion with no combat experience, he proved to be elusive. She could not catch him no matter what she tried. She tried to feint him, double back, even jump him from the sides, but he always seemed to know where she was coming from. Tempest blamed her childlike giggling for giving her away, and simply enjoyed the chase. Her father also felt invigorated. He felt younger and more energized than he had in a long time. As he dodged Tempest, he lured her over to a large hill that overlooked the entire west field and most of the town.

Once there he allowed her to leap onto him. She tackled him from behind and rolled with him over the peak of the hill and down the side. They managed to stop just a few feet down the slope right as the sun was hitting the horizon giving a beautiful evening view of the town. Tempest was panting both from her lose of breath in the chase and the literal breath taking view.

“Wow.” Was all she could say.

Her eyes scanned the horizon. Every detail in her town was comlimaneted by the reds from the setting sun and the shadows it cast. She could see ponies gathering in the town square around what looked like two large enclosed wagons near the central fountain. She could see the rows and fields of grape vines all around and all the tiny houses all mashed together in this perfect moment in time.

“You know kiddo, they call this the Twilight Hour. Do you know why?” Merlot asked Tempest.

“No.”

Well, it’s said that long ago when Princess Celestia had to banish her sister, Princess Luna, she went through a phase of sorrow and seclusion,” Merlot explained scooting closer to Tempest, pressing himself against her side. “It is no secret she loved her sister dearly and was distraught by her banishment. One day when she was lowering the sun Celestia was thinking of a way to help ponies see that the night should be enjoyed as much as the day. So she set the sun and moon just over the horizon to create this beautiful sky we come to know was the Twilight Hour. It is a tribute she did for her sister and does to this very day.”

“Wow, I never knew that,” Tempst said looking at the setting sun again. “Love and family truly are wonderful things aren’t they?”

Merlot nuzzled her cheek and gave her a gentle kiss. Tempest wrapped her arms around his neck and nuzzled him back and together they watched for the next hour as the sun set and the moon rise. There was a barrage of feelings in Tempest as she laid there with her father watching the transition from day to night playout. She felt oddly nostalgic. Oddly being the case for she never watched the sunset before with her father or mother either. In fact she never truly appreciated what life had to offer. As Commander of the Storm King's Army, she definitely didn’t care about such things. Now, with her head cooled and her mind clearer than it ever was, it was easier to take it all in and it was a wonderful feeling. She was truly enjoying every moment of being alive. That more than anything gave her hope. Hope that she would make the transition to a normal life in time.

After all, if her Aunt and family could pull through after she abandoned them, she was confident she could make the transition too. She would do it not only for them, but for herself as well. For now she would ‘live in the moment’ as the saying goes. Enjoying the warm embrace of her father in this perfect moment, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.