//------------------------------//
// Chapter 06 
// Story: The Armada Trilogy II: Beautiful Eyes 
// by TheMysteryMuffin 
//------------------------------//

At first, it was too blurry to see around her and what was in her view. It was as bright as looking directly into the sun, except this light was white and not yellow. Tempest twitched at the bright light, making her wake up slowly. It was shining directly into her eyes and started to try and move her tired body, but found it to be a challenge at first. She tried to move her left front hoof and succeeded. Tempest began to find it easier as she did it over and over again. Eventually, Tempest could move her whole left front leg and started to lift herself out of what she thought would be the bed that she was originally sleeping in the youth hostel. But after a quick look, Tempest suddenly found out that she wasn't. 

The bed had a pink duvet and white bed sheet, except it was clean and pure, unlike the dirty sheets that Tempest was sleeping on when she was sleeping with all her other friends. It had a threaded flower pattern decorated into the duvet, along with ivory. The pattern was a dark purple, that stood out from the pink background, and covered the length of the of the duvet. It had always been Tempest's favourite duvet, as it was the most comfortable and simply appealed to her the most. There were also her pillow and cuddly toy that she always loved as a filly; a red fox plushie, with black button eyes and a threaded red smile. Tempest picked up the toy and smiled, before clutching it close to her chest. After hugging the toy, Tempest placed the fox back onto her bed and trotted towards the bedroom door.

This place is familiar, Tempest thought, I swear I recognise it from somewhere.

Tempest knew that standing around doing nothing wasn't going to answer any questions, so she started looking around the rest of the room. She noticed that the walls were a mixture of blue and pink, all mixed up together. The patterns were in the shape of flowers and around the patterns were pink dots, representing raspberries, which were all randomly placed across the walls. On one wall, were lots of different photographs of Tempest as a filly and her parents, all placed in frames. Many of the photos showed Tempest blowing out candles on top of a cake; from when she turned a year old to her seventh birthday.

Tempest suddenly shuddered in thought and quickly made her way out of her room and towards the door. She tried to turn the doorknob with her hoof, only then realising that it hadn't been designed to be turned with her hoof yet. Tempest remembered that after coming out of hospital, her parents adapted the house that they all lived in to help Tempest open doors, hold things and do normal activities with her hooves instead of her horn, which was of course broken. Finding the door frustrating, Tempest growled and started to try and push the door instead. Suddenly, though, after trying to push the door open with her force, Tempest noticed that the doorknob had turned by itself and allowed the door to open. Dumbstruck by this event, Tempest quickly walked through the passage and continued exploring the place.

The door led to a single corridor. The staircase that led to the ground floor was stationary to the left and the rest of the rooms were to the right. Tempest was standing in the corridor, wondering which way to go. She struggled to remember which room was where and wherever she should go downstairs or not, but Tempest tried to hear any sign of life in the house and discovered that it was coming from downstairs. The noise that was downstairs sounded like singing; but not just any singing, it was coming from a mare who Tempest could for some reason remember, but couldn't quite put a hoof on who this mare actually was. She decided to find out.

Tempest began the descent to the ground floor, but then stopped at the top of the flight of stairs to discover that they were much bigger than she expected them to be. When she placed a hoof on the first step, Tempest felt her body weight leaning over the step and struggled to stay on all four legs. Wow, this place must be huge in comparison to her! Tempest found out that she needed to jump to each of the steps instead of walking on them. One by one, Tempest leaped onto each of the steps and made her way downstairs to the ground floor.

Once downstairs, Tempest looked around to find something that would give her a sign of where she was and what time period it was. She suddenly tripped on a loose wooden plank on the floor and landed face first. Tempest got up, groaning at the force of the impact, and then found a mirror. After having a glance to see that nopony was watching her, Tempest walked up to the mirror and let her jaw swing open like a trapdoor to an attic.

She was very small. Tempest was the size of a filly. Her mane was long, covering her eyes and pouring over her shoulders, like she used to have it before she became older. Her face was pure and undamaged, with no sign of filth on it whatsoever. There were no scars, not even the one that crossed over her eye and lip. In fact, Tempest could perfectly see through her right eye without any form of damage. But the biggest thing that grasped Tempest's attention like a rattlesnake capturing its prey was that she had her horn. Short and stubby, but there. Tempest rubbed her eyes with her hooves to try and rid herself of fantasising, but it was actually there. A smile suddenly appeared on her face.

"My... my horn! I have my horn! I have my horn!"

As soon as the words came out of her mouth, Tempest quickly put her hooves in her jaw. It suddenly came to her that her voice was high pitched and squeaky, something every familiar to Twilight Sparkle's friend, Pinkie Pie. It didn't sound anything like her mature and controlled voice that she had when she was an adult. Tempest had, by this point, discovered that she wasn't the twenty-four year old ex-Armada solider that she previously was. Tempest still had her hooves in her mouth while she was looking at her reflection. She then removed her hooves from her mouth, wiped them on her fur and placed her right hoof on the mirror. Afterwards, Tempest put her hoof on her head and felt the full length of her horn. It was a feeling that she thought that she would never feel again. It was certainly real.

"My voice, though; it's so funny and weird. I must be really young to have my voice that squeaky. This has to be a memory for sure. I wonder if my parents are here. I'll go look for them."

Tempest left the mirror behind and started to look around the home that she remembered from when she was a filly. Pretty much everything was still there; the kitchen, the living room and the remainder of downstairs. Tempest heard the beautiful singing again from the mare and decided to follow it, for she wondered who that mare could be. Even though she could remember some things from her past, the majority of her memories had faded away in time like sand being blown away by the wind. However, after a quick look through the different rooms of her cottage, Tempest eventually discovered the mare in the kitchen singing away while washing up cutlery and plates in a sink. Tempest remembered that her parents had never been able to afford a washing machine in her time while living with them, so could easily remember watching her parents do the washing up after dinner at night.

It was certainly her mother; there was no denying it.

Hiding behind the doorframe, Tempest watched her mother wash up and sing to herself. Tempest recognised the tunes that her mother sang; they were some of the songs that they used to sing together before bed. Many were nursery rhymes or pieces of music that they used to listen when attending a concert in their village hall or at a festival. Especially during the summer months, Tempest and her parents went to all sorts of events in and out of her birthplace. She remembered the days when she went with her two friends, Avon and Star Myth, to one of the festivals and having balloon animals made for them, something similar to what her new friend, Pinkie Pie, usually made at parties. It was one of the happiest moments of her life. She must've been even younger back then.

Tempest's presence caught the attention of her mother and she turned around to see Tempest standing in the doorway. She smiled soon afterwards.

"Fizzlepop, honey! Are you okay, baby? Did you need anything?"

Tempest, at first, didn't really know what to say back. It felt so weird being in the presence of her mother after not seeing her for the past fourteen years, but after a while, it felt such a relief to Tempest. She was home and safe with her mother around. Eventually, Tempest wobbled over, still forgetting that she had tiny filly legs, instead of her adult size legs.

"Can... can I have a hug, mummy?"

The words came out of her mouth too quickly before her brain could think of a sensible sentence to say to the pony who appeared to be her mother. Thankfully, it wasn't too embarrassing for Tempest. She was so happy to see her mother again after all these years. Tempest had missed everything that she left behind; especially her small, but wonderful family. Her mother leaned down and picked Tempest up, holding her in her arms and nuzzling her softly. It felt so wonderful to feel her mother's fur, rubbing against her own. She never wanted to let go, for she feared that she wouldn't see her again.

"Is that better, sweetie?"

Tempest nodded her head in her mother's grip. "Yeah, thanks."

Mrs Berrytwist was still curious about her daughter's behaviour.

"Are you quite sure that you're okay, darling?"

Tempest nodded her head, again, quickly that time.

Mrs Berrytwist carried her daughter in her left hoof, whilst hopping on her right out of the kitchen and into the living room that Tempest remembered very well from her childhood. The cream-coloured curtains, the red furniture, the pot of flowers sitting on the table, the chestnut guitar that her father always played whenever he was sad or depressed. Tempest remembered the day when she was diagnosed with autism and her mother was so upset, that she cried for the remainder of the day. The only thing that would cease her crying was the sound of the guitar played by Tempest's father. 

Tempest didn't really mind that she was autistic, because she knew that she was stronger in other areas, rather than the academic side of things. Since starting Junior school, Tempest really struggled to concentrate and learn alongside the other students in class, and her teachers weren't that helpful for her learning. She found subjects, like Maths, almost impossible in her case. Still, being autistic allowed Tempest to discover new things, especially her love for reading fiction and attending singing classes later on. It wasn't until the day that she lost her horn, that Tempest dropped these interests and fell into a long period of despair and loneliness. It was only her mother that kept her company; her father focused after the incident on his work, leaving it behind like it was nothing more than a mere memory.

Her mother placed Tempest into an armchair and sat with her, wrapping themselves in a rainbow-designed blanket, covered with different beautiful colours all arranged in lovely squares. Mrs Berrytwist tucked the blanket underneath the pair of them and allowed Tempest rest her head on her red chest. Mrs Berrytwist smiled and leaned her head down, so she could whisper into Tempest's ears.

"Remember, Fizzlepop, you'll always be my daughter, no matter what happens to you. Nopony can change that. Ever."

Tempest smiled happily in her mother's cuddle and felt herself go sleepy for a second. It was almost too perfect.

Except, it wasn't.

All of a sudden, Tempest felt what seemed to be a claw, furry and monster-like. Tempest knew who it belonged to. She had felt it when the creature stroked the top of her mane when he had captured Princess Twilight when the Armada took over Canterlot and her leader had complemented on the building where the remainder of the princesses had been captured. Before she could do anything, the claw grabbed the back of her head and yanked it back hard, making a loud "cracking" sound as it did so. Tempest didn't have enough time to scream, for by then, everything went dark.