//------------------------------//
// Chapter 36: "Past the End of Her Nose" 
// Story: The Redemption of Tempest Shadow 
// by twilightsparkle3562 
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"Why should I accept your forgiveness when you couldn't even accept my forgiveness?!" Tempest snarled as she cornered her sister. "I'm sorry for what I did, Razzle, but what's done is done."

"I know that, Fizzlepop," Razzle Fizzle cried. "Please. I was wrong to strike you in the manner that I did, but you don't know what it was like…"

"Save it!" Tempest snapped rather angrily. "Save me your pleas for mercy! If you aren't going to accept my pleas for mercy, then I won't accept yours. You are just like me, Razzle Fizzle, unable to change the past for our actions."

"What actions?! Well, my actions were nothing like the actions you caused on Equestria!” Razzle complained. “All I did was strike you because you needed to see the truth! But, I was wrong to do so!"

"Tempest, please…" Twilight tried to say, but was met with a cold glare from Tempest, which instantly silenced her.

"You don't know what it was like, Razzle," Tempest whispered, almost in a hissing voice. "Put yourself in my horse shoes and see what it was like to be turned away from those closest to you. If everypony had not abandoned me at a moment of desperation, then I wouldn't have done what I did. Now, get out!"

Razzle couldn't believe what she was hearing and tried to protest this decision. "GET OUT!" Tempest screamed at her sister, her broken horn glaring. "GET OUT!"

Shocked and hurt, Razzle ran out of the room as Tempest slammed the door to the room in anger!

"Tempest, she was just trying to apologize for what she did to you!" Twilight cried, feeling her own anger beginning to boil up inside of her. "Couldn't you just listen to her before you caused any more damage to yourself?"

"She’s just like all the others who abandoned me, Twilight," Tempest replied, sharply turning around towards her and Cadence. "You're the Princess of Friendship and your friends were quick to mend whatever drove you apart from them!"

"That is beside the point, Tempest!" Twilight retorted. "By acting the way you are now, you’re only making your damages worse than they already were! You're directing all your anger at the wrong pony!"

"Then, who should I really blame, your royal highness?!" Tempest hissed.

Twilight grew angry to the point of almost striking Tempest upon hearing those words. She had heard Tempest mock her title before, but this was different. Still, she continued to try and hold in her fury. "Talk to the ponies who abandoned you, Tempest." She suggested.

"It's too late for talking, Princess,” Tempest coldly replied. “They’ve probably forgotten all about me."

"No, they probably haven't," Cadence cried, walking over to Twilight's side. "Twilight is right. You’re directing all of your anger at the wrong pony. All Razzle wants is to help you in your problems and you are…"

"THAT'S ENOUGH! THAT'S ENOUGH, BOTH OF YOU!" The sounds of Tempest's shouts caused an eerie silence to fall amongst the room and both Twilight and Cadence felt that they needed to leave the room before things got any worse. Without saying another word, they did just that, leaving Tempest alone to calm down. And soon, they saw Razzle Fizzle down in the foyer, looking at her reflection down on the floor.






"I don't understand it," Razzle said to herself in the reflection. "Why won't she accept my apology? All I wanted was to move past what I had done and she refuses to accept it."

"Razzle?" Twilight called out, causing Tempest's sister to turn towards the two Princesses. "We're sorry if we startled you."

"No, no I needed to have some distraction," Razzle sighed. "I just don't understand why Fizzlepop would just act the way she did. I mean, yes I struck her, but I was angry at what she did."

"And she was angry at the wrong pony," Twilight replied, as they walked towards the Crystal Empire's library. "You aren't the cause of her anger, Razzle."

“But, there is no excuse for what she did to our family,” Tempest protested. “I'm angry because she ran away when we tried to help her. All I want is for her to see sense and realize that we aren't the cause of what happened to her horn."

"Exactly,” Twilight nodded. “However, sometimes a pony we love through no fault of her horn, can't see past the end of her nose."

"Past the end of her nose? What do you mean?" Razzle asked.

Twilight struggled to find any words to answer Razzle's question. However, she realized that she needed names.

"That she needs to confront the ponies who abandoned her at her time of need,” Twilight explained. “Do you know the name of the ponies of whom she used to be friends with? The ones she played with when she ventured into that Ursa Minor cave?"

"Well, I...I'm not sure," Razzle stammered, struggling to recall even their faces. "It's been such a long time since I have heard of them, Princess Twilight. I don't know if they even still live in Canterlot to be honest with you, or if they even remember Tempest."

"But we must find them!” Twilight urged! “Tempest needs to confront them once and for all if there is any progress that is to be made. Cadence, do you know of any ponies from Canterlot who are currently living here?"

Cadence shook her head. "I'm not sure, Twilight. But, if you want, I can ask the census pony to look up any information about any ponies who might have had moved here from Canterlot recently. I must warn you though that you probably won’t get any immediate responses."

"But, try if you can, Cadence,” Twilight pleaded. “The sooner we get answers, the sooner we can put this problem to an end once and for all."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Razzle Fizzle offered.

"Just continue being here for Tempest, even though she doesn't want you to be here,” Twilight suggested to Razzle. “You need to be a part of this as much as anypony, Razzle. I mean, you are her sister. But maybe it’s best if you don’t talk to her right away, give her some time to sort out her feelings."

Razzle nodded in reply. And with that, the hunt for Tempest's friends who had abandoned her in her moment of need was officially underway.






Back in her room, Tempest was beginning to calm down and at the same time, finally starting to regret scolding Razzle Fizzle just a little. "What have I done?" She asked herself, looking at the Friendship Festival Crown, expecting it to come to life. "What have I done?! Why don't you come to life and give me a tongue lashing?!"

But, the crown didn’t answer. It stayed silent and still. All Tempest needed was to be given an epiphany,, a revelation that she needed to face the truth that laid in front of her.

Just then, Tempest heard the sounds of hoofbeats coming towards the guest room and she saw the door fling open. "Who's there?!" She cried, jumping back against the wall.  Then she watched as a pair of figures much like her parents formed in front of her once again with disapproving looks on their faces.