The Pier de Noir. A lovely little restaurant that sat by a pony made canal that ran through the edge of town. Surrounded by several grape fields and located in a rather open area it was a lovely establishment and the finest restaurant in the whole town.
Tempest had fond memories of this place. Her parents had brought her here on several occasions. Each time was better than the last. This time she was finally old enough to sample the wines instead of grape juice. Not that she thought there was anything wrong with grape juice, it was delicious after all. Today she sat with Maud, Starlight, and Trixie near the water each with a glass of wine in front of them. Starlight was telling Tempest a tale of when Maud accidentally turns Trixie pink on accident with hair dye. Tempest had to put her wine down to not spill it while she tried hard not to laugh. Starlight was giggling like a silly filly, and Trixie was trying to hide as best she could under her hat while Maud patted her head.
Trixie then downed her glass of Moscato in one gulp and slammed the flute glass on the table, then proceeded to refill it.
“Oh, come on, Trix, it was funny! Lighten up!” Starlight said to her friend. “It wasn’t that bad.”
Trixie grumbled and pouted. “Ponies in Ponyville called me, Pixie. “
Trixie sipped her wine again. “Trixie hates that name. It makes her sound like a red light district entertainer.”
“I think it’s a nice name,” Maud replied.
That made Trixie smile and hug the grey mare. Maud gave her a pat on the back. Tempest all the while watched the odd exchange. Since they started walking here Starlight had told her about how they saved the world from the changelings and her and Trixie’s misadventure with King Thorax and his brother and several misadventures they had. The oddest story was one Starlight told was when she and Maud went to a strange land through a mirror in Princess Twilight’s castle to meet her friend Sunset Shimmer.
“Come on, Trix, it’s a cute nickname! I mean twilight called you it too! So that means she likes you ain't more,” Starlight said.
It was a very odd story.
Nonetheless, it made Tempest think, what do these three have in common that makes them such great friends?
“Trixie still hates it. But she supposes it’s nice that a good friend calls her it. So, Trixie Will have to deal with it.”
Trixie was a jackwagon, Maud seemed to be an anti-social at first glance, but that was clearly not the case. She didn’t talk much either which is what made it hard to gauge her. Tempest just assumed it was because she just didn’t like to talk much, to begin with. That left Starlight Glimmer. She seemed to be the most normal from the three.
“So, Starlight what’s your story?” Tempest asked the unicron. “I heard about you from the Princess. You’re her student, am I right?”
“Yes, I’m her student of friendship!” Starlight said cheerfully.
“I’m actually amazed. She told me a bit about you, but not much. What’s your story?” Tempest asked the unicorn sipping her wine.
“Well, it’s not something I like to talk about,” Starlight said fidgeting with her wine glass. “I’ve done many things I’m not proud of.”
“Join the club,” Trixie said with an irritable tone.
Tempest ignored Trixie and listened to Starlight. However, the unicorn didn’t seem like she wanted to talk right now. Tempest assumed this was because they didn’t know each other well enough. Just when she was about to drop the subject Starlight blurted out, “I enslaved an entire village.”
Tempest stared at her unsure if what she heard was true or not. She glanced at Maud and Trixie who both seemed to nod confirming this. Still, she didn’t believe it. Why would Princess Twilight take somepony who enslaved a village as her student? It didn’t make sense.
“Yeah, I know it doesn’t make sense, but Twilight is just that kind of pony,” Starlight said.
Tempest was taken aback by Starlights comment. “Wait, how did-”
“I could tell by the look on your face,” Starlight said smiling at Tempest. “I’ve seen it plenty of times before. I know it well.”
“You do?”
“Oh, yes. When I ruled my village I was going through a difficult time. I had lost my friend after he got his cutie mark. When he did he left to go to Canterlot and I hadn’t seen him for years. It wasn’t until Twilight and her friends came to my village did the ponies become free.”
“What did you do then?” Tempest asked.
Maud and Trixie sat silently listening to their friend's story. While Starlight did tell them what she did she never bothered to explain what she did after her village was liberated. Now was their chance to not only learn about Starlight but to gain an understanding of her as well.
So they listen to Starlight as she continued.
“When I was forced from the village I swore revenge on Twilight. That lead me down a dark path from which I almost didn’t return. After a while I followed Twilight around, learning about her and her friends. It wasn’t long after that I learned what I needed to get back at her,” Starlight said stopping to sample her wine.
It left a bitter taste in her mouth. Licking her lips she glanced at the red wine in her glass contemplating her past.
“It’s funny, isn’t it? How quickly our lives can change from one extreme to another?” She asked looking at Tempest, specifically at her horn.
“Yeah, I guess. . .” Tempest lowered her head rubbing the base of her horn. “Extremes huh?”
Starlight nearly dropped her glass donning a worried look. Afraid she’d offended Tempest she apologized quickly.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it.”
“Don’t worry. I’m over it now,” Tempest replied kindly. “So this village you came from, did they ever forgive you?”
“Yeah, they did. It took some time, but they eventually opened up to me again. They even invited me to their Summer Sun Celebration. But that was cut short by a changeling invasion.”
“Ah, I remember Princess Twilight mentioning that. You and Trixie helped stop that didn’t you?” Tempest asked.
Starlight nodded smiling and hugging Trixie. Trixie smiled and nuzzle Starlight back.
“Yeah, Trixie here put her life on the line in hopes that she could save me and in turn help save Equestria. Without her, Thorax, and even Discord, I would never have been able to pull that rescue off and save the changelings.”
Tempest recognized the name discord. From what she knew he was a fairytale but was it possible he was real? Starlight seemed to catch the confused and skeptical look on her face and tried to reassure her that Discord was in fact very real. A funny guy even, to which Trixie rolled her eyes and gulped down the glass of wine. Maud nodded slowly saying, “His standup could use a little work, but he’s a nice guy.”
“Wow, you sure made something of yourself,” Tempest said. “I’m glad my family is so forgiving.”
Starlight nodded and leaned into tempest's side. “Family and friends can be very understanding. However, sometimes conflict is inevitable. It’s up to you to make amends with them or try to make a positive change should anything happen.” Starlight sagely suggested.
Tempest played with her glass of wine, spinning it on the table with her hooves she stared deep into the red liquid thinking about what Starlight and Twilight told her. Two different ponies telling her the same thing. Perhaps there was something to this whole forgive and forget thing. Maybe it was about time she let go of what Trixie did and move on. Give her another chance.
“Does that mean-”
“No Trixie.” Starlight said cutting her off. “You can’t use that story anymore.”
“What? Why not Starlight?” Trixie whined.
And the mood was gone instantly.
“Because it’s called, being insensitive,” Starlight snapped at her friend.
Maud leaned over and patted Tempest on her back and said, “Imagine if we used Starlight’s village and fall as the basis for a story that we would tell for entertainment. How do you think she’d feel?”
Trixie pouted and looked away from her friends. “She’d hate it.”
Maud nodded. “Yes. How do you think Tempest feels about you using what happened to her for a story you use to entertain others?” Maud asked Trixie.
Trixie huffed lowering her gaze away from Maud. By the Maud lifted Trixie’s chin with her hoof to look her in the eyes. Maud's gaze didn’t harden one bit. She remained with her blank face looking down at Trixie. Trixie couldn’t bear the stare and let out a low whine. Tempest giggled at Trixie's expense earning an angry glare from the mare.
“Fine, Trixie won’t do it anymore.” Trixie pouted.
“And? Don’t you have something you want to say to Tempest?” Maud hinted to her.
Trixie, however, was being difficult. And to Tempest, it was nearly unbearable. However between Alright and Maud's gazes eventually Trixie gave in. Swallowing her pride she scooted closer to Tempest with a frown on her face. Tempest even scowled back at her not wanting the mare to move closer as if her obnoxious personality would rub off on her.
Eventually, the two mares were side by side, neither willing to look the other in the eye. For a few minutes, nopony said a word through this strange silence. Eventually, the two mares did make eye contact, however brief, before looking away. A few more sips of their wine glasses and the two mares finally made eye contact.
“Tempest, Trixie’s sorry for using your life tragedy as a basis for her story.”
“Uh, it’s fine I guess. Just so long as you don’t do it again I’ll be fine with it,” Tempest said pouring another glass of wine, and taking a bite of her sandwich.
This came as a surprise to everypony. They didn’t expect Tempest to take this apology so easily. Starlight specifically was sure it would have taken more than one try knowing how abrasive Trixie could be. She smiled at the two for making up.
The tempest broke the mood saying, “There’s one catch.”
Trixie eye the other mare wearily. “What’s that?”
“You have to stay and work at my family's vineyard with me. Especially you,” Tempest said pointing at Trixie.
“What? Why?! Trixie apologized why does she need to work for you to accept the apology?!”
Starlight chuckled nudging Trixie.
“Come on now Trixie, a little work won’t kill you,” Starlight said patting her friends back.
“Yeah, little moon, besides if we do we might learn something new,’ Maud added. “Besides I’d like to learn more about Tempest and her family.”
“So would I. If you’ll have us over course?” Starlight asked.
Tempest shrugged sipping her wine. “It’s fine I guess.”
Starlight smiled taking her own wine in her hoof and raised it above the table.
“Then a toast, to future friendships!” She cheered.
“To future friendships,” Maud added monotonously.
Tempest raised hers, leaving only Trixie out of it. A swift kick from under the table made her grumble and raise her glass and mumble, “To future friendships.”
And the four mares tapped their glasses together sealing the bond they had made. Under this oath, a new friendship was truly born and now it would only flourish. It made each of them happy to know that something was coming out of this whole thing, and only for the better.