//------------------------------// // Restless Resentment & Rage // Story: To Be Without Magic // by Amethyst_Crystal //------------------------------// * * * * * * Fizzlepop Berrytwist grimaced, glaring down at the desk. She didn’t expect this to be easy, but the pain in her gut and her heart was greater than she felt, in many a moon. Other students eyed the ex-commander warily. It was not just her reputation that proceeded her, but the mere menace of her imposing presence. Applejack ignored the sour mood, talking up apples and honesty, as was her forte. “Y’all know what the most important part about honesty is?” she asked, looking up under her hat with a smile, otherwise slouching at the desk. “It builds communication and community. It bridges trust and bonds. One could almost say it builds the very foundation of friendship!” Fizzlepop winced, frowning deeply, then suddenly stood up from her desk. “I have to go.” she grumbled under her breath, turning for the door. Other students sighed in relief, much to her dismay. “Now hold on there, missy!” Applejack intervened, moving towards the door. “I know it’s a bit rough for you gettin’ used to this here friendship business, but-” Fizzy snapped irritably, “I need to go, now!” she paused, clenching her eyes shut, then added a begrudging, “Please!” Applejack sighed heavily. “Alright, alright. No point in forcing you to stay if yer feelin’ too riled up to learn.” she opened the door and gestured. As Tempest reached the door, she muttered gently, “Just try workin’ at being at least honest with yourself, alright?” “You don’t know me,” the scarlet pony growled with a glare. “None of you do.” And with that she stomped down the hall at a brisk pace, ignoring the farmer’s concern. “Oh, hello, darling!” came a melodious voice in the hallway. “I wanted to thank you for your generosity earlier today in helping your fellow students moving all those crafting supplies,” Rarity gave her mane a toss, smiling sweetly, assorted cloth supplies levitating about her. “I know you are only here for a little while, but being willing to aid others in-” Fizzy glared at Rarity, a sneer on her muzzle. “They were too weak and slow,” she declared. “I did it because they could not. It had nothing to do with generosity.” How’s that for honesty, she thought to herself. Rarity put a hoof to her chest, sadness in her eyes. “I see. Well, we appreciate your help regardless, and I do hope your day becomes more… pleasant.” the stylist trotted off, perhaps a little nervously. Fizzlepop looked down at the floor, tired of making eye contact with so many friendly faces. Smiling faces that would transform into frowns after speaking with her… always. She just wanted to leave, now. She was tired of putting up with these pleasantries. “It’s all fake.” “What’s all fake?” came a voice in her ear, Pinkie Pie suddenly intruding with a big shining smile. Berrytwist leaped back, her broken horn crackling with energy, rarely taken off guard. “Aww, don’t be so tense, Fizzy! We’re all friends here!” “Don’t call me that right now,” she demanded, muscles still tense, as though ready to fight. “And I told you not to surprise me like that!” “What you need are more happy and fun surprises, not sad or dangerous surprises!” Pinkie contemplated. “I know! Why don’t we make sure you have the most surprising birthday ever!” Berrytwist shook her head. “It’s not a surprise now, is it? And… I don’t remember when I was born.” Pinkie gasped in shock, then suddenly beamed with a new bright idea. “I know! We’ll just check with your home tow-” “NO! LEAVE ME ALONE!” shouted the scarlet unicorn, galloping away, bursting through the front door, knocking over Fluttershy. “Ow!” cried the soft yellow pony, rubbing her nose and standing back up. “Goodness, are you alright, Fizzlepop?” she asked sincerely, more concerned for the skittish pony than her own temporary pain. “Yes, I’m fine!” she snapped… then sighed, begrudgingly offering a hoof. “Sorry for knocking you over, but I need to go now.” Fluttershy put her hoof to her mouth, still worried for her friend. “Oh my, have the other students been inconsiderate? I can have a word with them if you-” “No! I mean, yes! But it’s fine. I understand why. It doesn’t matter…” Fizzy looked away, no longer in a rush. Fluttershy gently draped a wing over the tall unicorn’s flank. “Everypony needs a little kindness in their lives.” The new friendship student laughed bitterly. “Well, good thing I’m not everypony then.” “Yeah! You’re an awesome bad-ass pony!” blurted Rainbow Dash, diving down from the sky, before spreading wings and coming to a complete stop mid-air just above them, showing off like usual. “What you need is to get all that tense energy into some extreme sports! I’ve been putting together an awesome new team game for the school!” Berrytwist rolled her eyes. “I don’t do teams. Never again. Besides, you saw what I did last time I was at the school gym…” The two pegasi teachers exchanged nervous looks. “Heheh,” chuckled Rainbow. “Yeah, well, we know you didn’t mean to zap your teammate like that… I mean, who would do that on purpose, right? So it’s no big deal.” Fizzlepop frowned, closing her eyes, turning to leave before they saw the single tear of shame. “I’m going now. I’m done with your games, and I’m done with this school’s games, and Princess of Friendship’s games as well. I am leaving.” her broken horn crackled again with electricity. “Don’t try to stop me.” Fluttershy and Rainbow watched her gallop away. “We should probably tell Twilight about this,” the blue one muttered. “Oh dear…” sighed the yellow one. * * * * * * Tempest Shadow charged out and away from the School of Friendship, determined not to return. She was fed up. She was tired. She was angry. She was… “Augh! Ow!” came the muffled squeal, as she collided head-first into a great and powerful magician. Stupid, Tempest scolded herself, to run so blindly, why was she not being on high alert? These ponies made her too soft. “Watch where you’re going, you- oh!” Trixie gazed up at Tempest with her bright purple eyes, a smirk on her face now. “Well well, the athletic mercenary unicorn vagabond with many chips on her shoulders.” Tempest paused, taking a step back, genuinely bewildered, raising a hoof. “What?” she was not expecting such sass, along with such blunt recognition. Trixie got up off the ground, turning to check on her precious wagon, to be sure it wasn’t jostled too badly from the collision. “It’s not like you are a mysterious stranger, Tempest Shadow,” she scoffed, the first pony to call her by her old name in awhile. “Besides, it’s not like Starlight knows how to keep juicy details away from her best friend, the great and gossipy Trixie!” Tempest stomped the ground, ready to run off again. “Whatever you think you know about me, it’s wrong! You are all wrong!” Trixie giggled wickedly, then hopped onto her caravan, pointing down at Tempest. “Don’t be coy, you’re a bad pony, just like moi!” she posed flamboyantly, cape waving in the breeze. “Why should you have to be more proper and polite? Trixie has never improved her attitude at all, and look how great she still is!” An annoyed sigh escaped Tempest’s lips, her mane swaying to and fro as she shook her head. “No, you don’t get it. I have far deeper problems than a mere attitude…” Trixie somersaulted off the roof, landing before Tempest again. “You know how Starlight did all that messed up stuff with ponies in the past?” she leaned closer, whispering, “Well, let’s just say Trixie hasn’t exactly been the nicest pony before either,” she gave a knowing wink. A shiver went down Tempest’s spine, and a crackle of lightning on her broken horn, her voice less strained, more dark and intent now. “Is that so?” she intoned with menace. “Do you not feel any remorse?” Trixie waved a hoof and rolled her eyes. “I mean sure, if I dwell on it I might feel bad sometimes,” she shrugged with whimsy. “But guilt-tripping myself about the past all the time is more Starlight’s style.” she poked Tempest squarely in the chest, gazing up fiercely at the larger unicorn. “You and me though, we don’t have to care about that sort of thing. All that matters is who we are and what we can do! I’m a great and powerful magician, and you’re a great and powerful fighter!” Tempest brushed the hoof aside. “Is that what you’re asking for, a fight?” Trixie laughed and sat back on her hind legs, waving both fore-hooves with emphasis. “Oh, no no, not at all. Trixie is just suggesting you revel in your own ability a bit more! Why should you have to feel bad for what you’ve done to Equestria? Why should I? You can still be great and powerful despite all that! You can be whatever you want to be!” Tempest paused, glaring… then she started laughing, a warm mirthful chuckle, evolving into a twisted cackle of pain. “If that’s true,” she snarled, eyes narrowing, “Why don’t I take out all my pain and suffering on you, right now?” she threatened, taking a step closer. Trixie’s eyes had been filled with happiness, perhaps even admiration for Tempest, since the moment she recognized her, regarding the broken horned unicorn as a kindred spirit, a rare dark horse in this land of colorful cuteness… but for the first time, they filled with real fear, and dismay. “Yes… I’m much more familiar with that expression,” muttered Tempest bitterly, moving closer still, horn crackling with fiercer energy. “Now, now, Trixie didn’t exactly say ‘become an outright villain again’, now did I?” Trixie babbled quickly, pressing up to the side of her wagon. “I’m just saying that you should learn to enjoy being -” “Being what? An arrogantly perfect pony like Twilight? A fool that wallows in guilt like Starlight? Or maybe a greedy, selfish coward like YOU!” the outcast lowered her horn, and closed her eyes, blasting broken magic. Trixie screamed… and then, uttered a frightened noise of confusion? Starlight stood between Tempest and her target, covered in a dense magical shield of turquoise energy. All of Tempest’s magic had evaporated before this great wizard, whose blue eyes shone with rage. “What do you think you’re doing to my friend?” Starlight demanded, all four hooves squarely on the warm grass, locked in a defensive stance before Tempest Shadow, Trixie shuddering behind her. There she is again, thought Tempest, the friendship councilor who tried her best to make me feel warm and welcome. The pony who was among the most wicked and cruel of her kind not many years ago. The unicorn who spent every moment regretting her past, yet every moment equally spent crafting a more peaceful and happy and considerate future, for all creatures, and herself. There was no pony Tempest envied and hated more. “I will do whatever I please, BECAUSE I HAVE NO FRIENDS!” Tempest screamed back, hate and rage pouring out throught her broken horn and cracked magic, aiming all her frustration and resentment at the duo. A blast of electric energy, and the wagon flipped over onto its side, in flames. The other two ex-villains were gone. “Where are you?” snarled Tempest Shadow, looking around, all her instincts ready to take down Starlight Glimmer, her new opponent. Just like everything else she had to destroy, they were still in her way. “Cowards, I knew it.” The wagon disappeared a moment later, likely at Trixie’s behest and wishes for its continued existence. Starlight appeared again, hovering in midair… and then, by her will, they vanished, neither of them were on the outskirts of Ponyville anymore. * * * * * * The sorceress and the mercenary now stood in the bleak southern deserts, barren cracked earth and dry open skies. Even here little life grew. Tempest grew eager, certain of her rival’s intentions now, allowing a twisted smile on her face. “Twilight sent me to check on you, but I didn’t expect to find you indulging in cruelty!I don’t care how much you hate me,” Starlight muttered, a crack in her voice, as tears fell down her cheeks. “But you do not try to hurt my friends!” Tempest laughed again, full of contempt. “What’s wrong, are you sad I’m not your friend after all?” she lowered her head, grimacing. “You tried, and you failed. Nopony can help me. I don’t deserve or want any help, but I’m glad you took me away from all those stupid ponies,” she spat. “I couldn’t stand them anymore. Now leave me to my banishment.” Starlight hovered in midair, her hooves shaking, her teeth gritted. “No... it’s not that simple… you tried to…” she caught her breath, “you really tried to hurt Trixie, really bad… I saw it… I can’t just…” glowing turquoise magic energy surrounded her, a swirling cloud of radiance. Tempest Shadow’s pupils shrunk, and then she was in the air, leaping with all her strength, hooves heading straight for Starlight, too shocked at such finesse to react before it was too late, a hoof slamming across her muzzle, knocking her head back, tumbling over onto the ground, slamming against the dirt and rocks. “Can’t just what?” demanded Tempest with another hateful smile. The counselor of friendship coughed, wheezing, struggling to rise, then collapsing. “Get up,” demanded the ruthless outcast. “I know even a physical weakling like yourself isn’t that fragile. Or are you scared, because Twilight won’t come to save you from me this time?” Terror gripped Starlight’s chest for a moment… then pain, then sorrow. Every single moment, every act of cruelty these past five minutes that stretched for eternity. All her efforts at nurturing and comforting, all her attempts at genuine friendship. She truly wanted Fizzlepop Berrytwist to feel whole, but now...something snapped deep inside Starlight. A broken feeling she hadn’t experienced in many moons. “I’m sick of all your self-righteous, violent hatred...” Starlight hissed, as she rose up, levitating above the ground, aloft with her hind feet pointing down, eyes glowing radiant turquoise, air swirling around her body, her raw energy coaxing a dust-storm to spiral around her. “I’m done being pushed around by a fool too afraid to embrace friendship!” Starlight lifted her fore-hooves to the heavens, eyes closing, summoning with her power. “Don’t play games with me! I know you’re still haunted!” Tempest shouted, pointing an accusing hoof. “I see it in your eyes! Your fears, your failures!” Tempest accused with bitter rage, hunching down, muscles tensed, readying her next attack. Then the heavens opened up, revealing glowing magical stars, falling to the burning desert bellow at impossible speeds, kicking up massive chunks of rock and thousands of particles of blistering sand. Tempest dived to and fro, rushing and galloping as she hadn’t in too long, as fragments of the sky shattered in blinding raw power. Starlight hovered in midair, her whole body glowing in an aura of turquoise, as wings formed through her magic alone, spreading wide, channeling more power from her raw emotions, the sorceress unwilling to forgive these transgressions. “After all we’ve done for you,” she condemned, “this is how you honor your friends?” “Enough! What makes you any better than me?” roared Tempest above the maddening sound of magical destruction, diving into a new chasm, narrowly avoiding the still scolding surface of the meteorite, crouching into a defensive stance, ready to dodge again, or strike. She had bested many magic-users on her journeys. Now she had the chance to take down another, an especially dangerous one. Finally, she could feel the thrill of the hunt again. “POWER!” answered Glimmer with an angry echo, as her incorporeal wings curled up, and her horn grew bright, and she clenched her hooves together and mustered all her might. A blinding wave of pure turquoise light surged from that glowing horn across the desert floor, accompanied by a terrifying high-pitched whine of absolute energy, blasting the earth apart, aiming right towards her target, Tempest Shadow. The martial artist dove to the side again, narrowly missing the scalding blasts. Not bad, she thought, but not enough. She ran in a long circle, intending to throw off her target, and close the distance all the same. For the first time in weeks, Tempest felt like herself again... “Maybe you have a point, Tempest,” Starlight laughed unhappily, tears still spilling down her face, eyes now glowing with the raw turquoise magic she held since birth. “Maybe I should use my power to do whatever I want,” and then chunks of earth rose up from beneath Tempest, throwing her up into the sky, hooves firmly planted on the stone, threatening to fall to her doom. “Maybe I should finish you ONCE AND FOR ALL!” Tempest’s eyes widened, taken off-guard for the second time that day. She curled up, leaping off the flying gravel and into the sky, as her horn crackled electricity, the sound of exploding thunder echoing in her ears, shattering the rocks all around… and her entire body faded into thin air,hidden by the magi-tech of old jumpsuit, predating her predatory role as Commander Tempest of the Storm Legion. “Coward!” screamed Starlight, filled with rage, glowing with hate, her old persona flaring up along with the swirling, blinding dust storm, energy-wings flapping as she flew to and fro, seeking her quarry in the dust. “Come out and fight if you can, or do you need magic just to run and hide?!” Tempest Shadow faded in from nothingness, diving down towards her target, jagged horn flickering. Broken, crazed lightning arched towards Starlight’s flowing mane and face, a glowing turquoise shield narrowly deflecting the ambush attack, but the impact caused the wizard to fall to the ground with a dull thud. “I will use any tactic, and rely on none,” the vindictive vagabond snapped at the sorceress. Starlight quickly rose up again with a contemptuous sneer, as another flow of magic burst forth, eager to defeat her foe... only to be dodged yet again by the nimble fighter, Tempest slamming her metallic horse-shoe against the sphere of glowing power, shattering it. “You are a predictable unicorn, relying soley on your magic,” Tempest judged scornfully. “No, it’s not possible,” the wizard wailed hysterically, as another horse-shoe went to strike her throat... but not before she remade her sphere, knocking Tempest back to the ground, landing on her feet without missing a beat. A gust of wind blew Tempest’s mane back, crackling energy building up above Starlight’s horn, a dark glow of forbidden magic, steam rising from her pupils. “I will not fall to a broken-horned beast like you!” Horrifying screams of otherworldly entities encircled Tempest, visions of the past clouding her mind. Claws of ancient darkness swiped through the air, howling monsters of shadow assaulting her body and mind. She shook her head and ignored the magic, even as it tore at her flesh, cutting at her muscles. The mercenary pony now felt the first twinges of regret. “This must end,” she muttered, smashing her hoof square into Starlight’s face. This time, the sorceress did not rise again, her clouded eyes fading back to normal, before closing, collapsing in a soft heap of lavender fur. Tempest stood over her adversary, panting for breath. All her eagerness and thrill, it was gone. “What have I done to her?” she asked herself, and she did not mean the physical blows, but rather, just how far Starlight went in her hate, her rage. “I… this isn’t what I wanted…” Tired, she sat down beside Starlight, checking her pulse, who shifted and breathed softly. But relief at this life was absent from the mercenary, tears pouring down Tempest Shadow’s cheeks now, as wet as Starlight’s were. “I’ve proven nothing. I’ve resolved nothing,” she realized, hunching up her shoulders, ignoring the blood on her chest and flanks. It was all her own, but she couldn’t care less. Her blood meant nothing anymore. It meant nothing for many years now. Twilight Sparkle materialized out of thin air, her raspberry glow of magic bringing forth Trixie as well. She had tracked down the princess of friendship, imploring her aid. Both gasped in horror, Twilight having to restrain an enraged Trixie from rushing at the wounded Tempest. “You worthless, stupid, evil brat! What have you done?!” Trixie screamed, shivering with contempt. Twilight said nothing, but her cold glare conveyed as much accusation and resentment, even as she calculated the next course of action. Tempest looked up with dismay. Friends no more... only adversaries. But, she had no more will to fight, either. “She’s alive. I’m alive. But I...” she coughed up blood then, shuddering. “I’ve destroyed us both,” she sobbed, heart gripped with sorrow, before her green eyes rolled back, collapsing in a dusty heap alongside Starlight. Two battered and ruined ponies, face to face and unconscious, one fully formed horn and another broken, their snouts almost touching, lavender and scarlet cheeks streaked with tears, to face their shared darkness and pain when they awaken, their emotional and physical exhaustion granting deep, restful slumbering peace. * * * * * *