Shining said nothing as the cage was slowly winched up into the belly of the airship and brought aboard. The interior was illuminated by a red mist of some kind that gave the entire surrounding area an ominous glow to it.
Tempest soon entered the room, and she naturally couldn't resist taunting her prisoner. "Oh, what's the matter, prince? Got no 'friends' left to count on?"
Shining still said nothing.
Tempest seethed with fury and rapped a hoof against the cage bars. "Hey, I'm talking to you! Wake up!"
Shining nearly jumped in surprise! For a brief moment he forgot where he was, but then he remembered and his heart sank again.
Tempest went right back to taunting. "Isn't this ironic? The prince of friendship has been left behind and abandoned by his so called 'friends'. I guess friendship failed you."
The prince shook his head and in a low, hurt voice he replied. "Friendship didn't fail me, I failed friendship."
The broken horned unicorn barley resisted the urge to laugh. "Well there's a first time for everything, prince. But now do you see?" She asked him. "In the end the only one you can ever truly depend on is yourself. Oh sure, maybe every now and then others will come along and offer their assistance, but only because they want something out of it."
"How?" The alicorn questioned.
Tempest spun around. "How what? Speak up, prince, I can't hear you!"
"How can you be so cruel and cold hearted? How can you treat others like this?" Shining commented in a puzzled state of appearance. "And how can you just betray Equestria like this? You're a pony for Celestia's sake, just like me! Equestria is your homeland! Would you really be so cruel as to become a traitor to your home country?!"
Tempest spun around and glared right back at the prince, the bulge on her forehead sparking ominously as she narrowed her eyes and grit her teeth. "I'm NOTHING like you, prince!" She declared. "We may be ponies, but that's where our similarities end. Perhaps you still don't quite know who you're dealing with. Well, allow me to show you." And with that, she began to sing:
It's time that you learned a lesson.
It's time that you understand.
Don't ever count on anyone else.
In this or any other land.
I once hoped for friendship.
And to find a place among my kind.
But such was mere naive thinking...
When I learned that friendship was just a lie!
Open up your eyes!
See the world from where I stand!
Me among the mighty!
You caged at my command!
Open up your eyes!
Give up your sweet 'fantasy land'.
It's time to grow up, and get wise.
So come now little one...
Open up your eyes!
As Tempest sang Shining could only watch her shadow appeared to split in two and dance along the walls of the zeppelin, though whether that was actually happening or just his imagination he couldn't tell.
Tempest, meanwhile, looked the prince square in the eyes. "I know what you're thinking," She told him. "You're probably thinking 'What made you what you are, Tempest? Just how did you end up working for a guy like the Storm King? And how in the world did you get that scar?' Well, if you really want to know, I'll tell you." With that she pressed her horn stub up to his forehead. There came a blinding flash.
When it had faded, Shining couldn't believe the scene he was watching. A projection of a much younger Tempest with her horn fully intact could be seen, alongside two other unicorn fillies about the same age but with bright blue and yellow coats respectively. The trio were laughing, as they tossed a bright yellow ball back and forth between themselves with their horns.
All the while Tempest was coldly singing:
We all start out the same.
With simple, unwavering trust.
Always shielded from the many ways,
That life isn't fair, or just.
The scene changed as the ball escaped Tempest's magical grasp and bounced into a cave. All three fillies stopped outside the entrance and the other two motioned to Tempest to go inside and retrieve it.
Despite clear signs of worry, the filly did so, only to come face to face with a vicious Ursa Minor! Rather than run or try to teleport, Tempest stood her ground and lit up her horn. But with one swipe from the Ursa Minor's paw her horn was knocked clean off! All the while Shining could only watch, helpless to stop the events from unfolding!
As for Tempest, the adult version of her simply sang:
But then there comes a moment.
A simple truth that you must face.
And if you depend on others,
You'll never find your place!
The scene changed once again, this time to a young Tempest whose horn had been hastily bandaged back together. The scar still remained on her face where the Ursa Minor had struck her though. She sat lonely and longingly on the front step of her house, as her friends came by with the ball. Despite her injuries, Tempest tried to light up her horn and grab the ball. That was a mistake, without warning a huge ball of violet magic enveloped the filly! A moment later the ground shook, and when the smoke had cleared there stood Tempest, her horn reduced to a smoldering pile of ash leaving only a small stub.
With tears in her eyes the little filly immediately turned around and ran off, not once did she look back. Soon she had left her village behind and was out in the open world. It seemed like she had no destination in mind, all that mattered to her was being as far away from her home as possible.
The adult Tempest only sang as the vision ended:
Then as you take that first step,
Down a path that's all your own.
You see it all so clearly.
That the best way to survive is all alone.
Both were brought back to reality as Tempest continued to sing:
Open up your eyes!
See the world from where I stand!
Me among the mighty!
And you caged at my command!
Yes, open up your eyes!
And behold, the faded light!
Shining barely had time to react before his cage was lifted up through an opening, and his eyes beheld a sight that made his heart sink. Not only was Canterlot firmly in the grip of enemy forces, but Ponyville looked like a smoldering ruin as thick clouds of smoke hung overhead.
He was brought back down a moment later as Tempest sang:
It's time to grow up,
And get wise.
So come now, little one.
Open up your eyes!
Open up your eyes!
"So do you see now, prince?" Tempest coldly inquired. "Friends will inevitably abandon you in the end. When I lost my horn my friends didn't care, they just wanted to play ball again."
"But what about your parents? Surely they cared about you." Shining protested.
Tempest only shook her head. "My parents didn't care either, they had no clue what to do with me and regarded me as a freak! It's a cold, cruel world that took my horn away!"
"But don't you see," The prince desperately pleaded to Tempest. "Being cruel yourself won't change that. Please, you're making a mistake. It's not too late to redeem yourself though, let me go and maybe there's still a way for us to defeat the Storm King and restore everything to the way it should be. If you ask nicely, maybe I could even convince Princess Celestia to restore your horn in exchange for a lesser sentence. It beats hanging from the rafters while you're branded a traitor, doesn't it?"
But Tempest merely said in reply. "You won't change my mind, prince. I already committed myself to the Storm King's cause and I have no intention of disobeying him. He was the only one who saw something in me after I lost my horn, so like it or not I have to serve him."
"And you don't think for one second that the Storm King is using you?" Shining questioned. "All this talk about not trusting anyone else, and you're pledging yourself to a higher power."
"The Storm King is but a means to an end," The broken horned unicorn declared. "Even if I wanted to, there's no way the two of us could even hope to stop him. I take no pleasure in turning Equestria over to him, but I see no other options. I'm simply making the most of what life has given me."
"Come on, Shining, there's gotta be a way to get through to her!" The alicorn thought to himself, determined to escape his prison. Then, suddenly, an idea came to him. "What about Grubber?"
Tempest spun around. "What about him?"
"You keep him around wherever you go, surely that has to count for something," Shining insisted. "The two of you must be close."
Tempest merely snarled. "Grubber is a nuisance, I only keep him around because of the Storm King's orders."
"He doesn't see it like that. It seems to me like Grubber considers you a friend." Shining declared.
"Friends? Pah, as if!" Tempest coldly retorted. "We're not even of the same species, how could we ever be friends?! Your mind tricks won't work on me, prince! I don't have time for friendship!"
"That's what I thought too, but I was wrong!" Shining firmly protested to Tempest. "And so was my sister! Friendship isn't something you can just turn your back on, it's not something you can just live without!" Then he added. "And it doesn't matter if you and Grubber are from different species, friendship between different creatures is possible," He drew on his own experiences. "Years before Twilight made him her adopted son, Spike was in many ways her friend. The first friend she ever had, and the same holds true for me. I saw how happy Spike made her, and without even realizing it that little dragon found his way into our hearts. Now I can't imagine a life without him. The same could be true for you and Grubber if you just give it a chance. He doesn't seem to want to give up on yourself, he seems to think there's still good inside you."
But Tempest would hear no more, she just growled at the top of her lungs! "Shut up! I won't fall for your lies about friendship! Not everyone is as lucky in life as you are, prince!" And with that she turned and trotted out of the room, leaving Shining alone with his thoughts.