"Where…where am I? What is this place?" Tempest looked around at the space that she now found herself in. A moment ago, she was lightly sobbing at the sight of Twilight Sparkle in a medically induced coma, and now Tempest found herself in a blank and open mass. Then, she saw the pony who had given her a second chance, in a blue colored bubble and looking very troubled. "Twilight!" She called in a panicked voice, trying to make her way toward the Princess of Friendship. "Where…where are we?! What is this place?"
"It's my mind," Twilight quietly answered, looking right up at Tempest. "It's been…blank for quite some time. I think you need to understand that…"
"…That you were under pressure?” Tempest guessed. “That, I understand. But why didn't you tell me that you were feeling this way? Maybe together… we could’ve avoided this."
Twilight struggled to get her feelings across as she tried to respond. "Because I…I felt like you've suffered enough, Tempest. You were misled... and you were just a victim as much as we were."
Tempest felt her heart sink upon hearing what Twilight had said. "I don't care if I was misled by the Storm King, Twilight!" Tempest cried. "You can't put all the blame on the Storm King. I carried out his orders by turning your fellow princesses to stone, and hunting you and your friends just so I could satisfy his desires. You wanted me to perform acts of kindness throughout Equestria and I did just that! I'm not like the monster I was, Twilight!"
"I know you aren't, Tempest. It's just that…" Twilight sighed.
"And if you really wanted me to be put to death, then you should have said it!" Tempest coldly remarked!
This caused Twilight's eyes to widen in shock! In her mind, she couldn't bring herself to having Tempest killed. That wasn't her in any way, shape, or form. "No, I couldn't,” She protested with a shake of her head. “Even though you did what you did, I couldn't bring myself to see you hang. If there was somepony who should've been hanged, it was the Storm King. You don't deserve a noose, Tempest. You deserve guidance, like all the other ponies I’ve helped."
"And you were willing to give me a second chance, Twilight, I respect that,” Tempest commented. “But I needed to accept responsibility and you know that. The last thing I want to see, is another pony suffering because of me. Especially you."
"It's not just that, Tempest," Twilight cried, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. "I'm also mad at myself for how I yelled at my friends after I tried to steal the Seaponies' pearl of transformation."
An even deeper amount of guilt came rushing through Tempest, as she struggled to process what Twilight was telling her. For the first time, Tempest was hearing how her own actions and obsessions had greatly affected Twilight. "What?!" She gasped! “Twilight, why didn’t you tell me this before?!”
"You don't know what's it's like, Tempest!" Twilight countered, letting all of her emotions seep out. "To have the future of an entire kingdom thrusted onto your shoulders! I was backed into a corner. I… I had to do something to help those that I cared about and well…" Before Twilight could finish, she turned away in shame.
For the first time, Tempest began to see that Twilight was more than just a princess, she was a normal pony who had feelings.
Twilight didn't say anything for a while, as she was losing the battle to hold back her emotions. "I didn't want to tell you the whole truth, Tempest. But I guess I have no choice now. You want to know how I really feel? You took your rage out on other ponies and for what?! To get your horn back! The only reason I didn't tell you this, was because you would have been executed for it! Ponies would’ve blamed you for pushing me over the edge! But I don't believe in the death penalty!"
Now, Tempest was beginning to wonder just what needed to be done to fix all of this. "Twilight," She sighed. "I know what you’re probably thinking right now. That I relished in terrorizing ponies just because I lost my horn. I'm going to confess that I did at the time, but I'm not a monster anymore. Only monsters kill and destroy. But I am nothing like that. Being given a second chance by you was a godsend. Most other leaders would have put me to death. But you gave me a chance to repent, a chance to atone for my crimes."
Twilight looked back at Tempest and said nothing, she just let out a few sobs.
"That's why I'm going to do what you want me to do, Twilight!” Tempest boldly declared! “Right here and right now, I swear loyalty unto you! And I swear use my magic to serve you and your fellow princesses! You are all more than just holding powerful magic, you're ordinary ponies who have feelings like me. And I failed to realize that sooner."
This made Twilight turn towards Tempest with a small smile. "You really mean that?"
"I do mean that!” Tempest nodded. “I should have turned to somepony in Equestria instead of swearing loyalty to someone who was never even a king, but a monster. The least I can do is make up for it now!"
The more Tempest spoke, the more Twilight began to feel a sense of great relief. Overcome with happy emotion, she leapt out of the bubble she was in and embraced Tempest tightly.
"I take that you accept my apologies?" Tempest asked. But Twilight's hugging of Tempest was more than enough to make Tempest realize that she had been truly given a second chance.
Suddenly, the area that had surrounded them began to disappear! And a few moments later, Tempest opened her eyes and found herself in another hospital room with Princesses Celestia, Luna and Cadence for company. "Wha…what…?"
"You were been placed under a dream spell, Tempest," Luna explained. "Twilight is awake and is now beginning to regain control of her emotions…thanks to you."
"Princesses!” Tempest gapsed, remembering the deal she’d struck! “I…I swear to use my magic and strength to serve all four of you! It was wrong of me to do what I did! Please, I want to make it up to the four of you, and finally, truly, make the first steps toward redemption!"
"We have prepared you to suggest this from the moment you turned yourself in, Fizzlepop," Celestia softly replied to the unicorn. "As soon as Twilight is discharged and returned home to rest, you will be installed as her Captain of the Royal Guard."
Tempest felt herself overcome with happy emotion upon hearing this. All that she had recently been through, would soon lead up to the most emotional day of her life. Even more emotional than the day she had lost her horn in that accident.