//------------------------------// // Filly Fumble // Story: Take No Prismers // by Tangerine Blast //------------------------------// Tempest was starting to suspect this was not a political meeting. It wasn’t because, so far, there had been no mention of political agendas. Tempest had been to enough of the Storm King’s meetings to know double talk and wordplay were often used. Demands were phrased as mere suggestions and threats as helpful advice. So no actual negotiations were ever directly addressed.  It also wasn’t because the ponies were acting goofy, per se. Ponies were always goofy. That was the stereotype and that’s what Tempest came to expect from the average pony citizen. The loud laughter, the messy eating, all was something Tempest expected from ponies, no matter what they were doing. It wasn’t even the fact that there were no bigger political figures here that tipped Tempest off. After all, sometimes you needed to make sure even your most trusted subordinates still remained under your thumb. No, what clued her in was just how at ease every creature was. You couldn’t fake ease. Tempest had seen many a creature try but there was always a tell. A stiffening of the spine, clenching of the jaw, a laugh coming across a little too forced. You couldn’t make yourself act as if you were behaving naturally and the more you tried to do so the worse it got. None of these ponies had those signs.  They were chatting animatedly with each other in a way that a few different conversations overlapped. Rarity was telling Fluttershy about some interesting outfit a customer had commissioned and the Pegasus was smiling back as if there was nothing in the world she’d rather be doing. Pinkie told a joke that made Spike and Starlight laugh loud and hard, panting for breath.  And Applejack and Rainbow Dash were watching Princess Twilight excitedly tell them about her day plan while everyone stuffed their faces with pancakes.  They were all relaxed in their posture, gesturing unreservedly and interrupting conversations with relish when something interesting occurred to them.  It was peaceful and full of life. And made Tempest feel completely out of place.  Why was she here? If this was honestly just a chance for friends to catch up with no alternative motivation then why on earth did they invite Tempest Shadow? She barely knew anypony in the room besides Rainbow Dash and Princess Twilight. Compared to the rest of the guest list she was imposing and intimidating, not something you wanted when you were trying to get your friends to relax. What was going on? “How about it, Tempest?” Tempest snapped out of her thoughts at being addressed. “My apologize, Princess, I wasn’t-” “It’s okay,” Princess Twilight interrupted, smiling kindly. She, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash were all looking at her now. Rainbow had a teasing smirk on her face at Tempest’s fumble that made the Unicorn blush lightly. “I wanted to know if you’d like to go with me to Rainbow Dash’s show next week. It’s in Fillydelphia and I figured you might want to get out of town once in a while.” “Plus you’ll be able to see a Wonderbolt show,” Rainbow gushed, “There’s literally nothing cooler!” “Yeah, cause she doesn’t get enough of you showing off,” Applejack added, sticking out her tongue playfully.  Dash snorted and waved a hoof dismissively. “Please. As if Tempest doesn’t kick my flank everyday. I gotta prove to her I’m actually as cool as I say.” “I’d love to.” Everyone paused and this side of the table went quiet. The other side didn’t seem to notice, however, and continued with their laughter and stories. Even Tempest herself was surprised by her answer. Fillydelphia was very far away and very crowded. If she thought her social standing was bad here then it would most likely be ten times worse in a packed stadium with probably more ponies than Tempest had ever seen at once. Going was a horrible idea. But when Rainbow’s face broke into a wide, wildly sincere grin she couldn’t bring herself to take it back. “You would? Awesome!” Rainbow exclaimed, her wings fluttering by her side, “You are seriously going to love what we do Tempest. It’ll blow you away.” “Yeah,” Tempest confirmed, swallowing down her nervousness, “can’t wait.” “I’m sure it’ll be great, Dash,” Twilight added, “You always work really hard for these shows.” “Sorry that none of the rest of us can come.” Applejack frowned and awkwardly scratched the back of her head. “You know, I got chores and a big order coming in…” Rainbow waved a hoof dismissively. “Eh, it’s fine. Things come up for everyone. You’ll catch the next one.” It was admirable, Tempest thought, that Rainbow dismissed the lack of commitment so easily. Her friends weren’t willing to see her in what sounded like a big moment for the Pegasus and yet she didn’t let it affect her.  The doorbell rang again, echoing around the room in a thunderous boom.  “Oh! Those must be our final guests,” Princess Twilight said, standing up from the table. Tempest instantly made to follow, her brow furrowing in confusion. “More guests?” “I’ll get it Twi,” Applejack spoke up, waving both the Princess and Tempest back into their seats, “Who knows what kinda state those three’ll be in after spending all night together.” She promptly left the room and Rarity sighed. “Thank you for letting them come today, Twilight. While I do trust Holiday and Lofty to take care of them for the night I do not trust them to be running around unsupervised right afterwards.” Twilight chuckled. “It’s fine. Ever since we started doing Twilight Time together I’ve actually really enjoyed their company, believe it or not.” Tempest was thoroughly confused. Who on earth was coming that required constant supervision? And that, it seems, Rarity had to ask explicit permission for them to attend. Voices started echoing down the hall, loud, high-pitched, and multiple, and not a second later three small fillies crashed through the doors and into the dining room, chatting excitedly amongst themselves and seeming to not even be aware of their surroundings. Tempest found herself completely caught off guard. She hadn’t spent any time around children or even seen a child up close since she herself was a filly. And even though she knew, logically, what children were, when the three fillies entered the room she still had the distinct thought I didn’t know ponies could be that small.  In the time she had spent staring it seemed that the children had caught sight of Tempest as well and were now staring right back. The white one in worry, the yellow in awe, and the orange Pegasus in a grave deal of suspicion.  After what was probably only a few moments of tense silence Rarity loudly cleared her throat and nodded to the fillies. “Good morning girls. Sweetie, I assume you behaved well for Holiday and Lofty's?” The unicorn child snapped out of her frozen state to give Rarity an annoyed pout. “Huh? Of course! Aunt Holly said we were ‘a pleasure to have’ and to ‘come back any time’.” Rarity idly adjusted her silverware, a smirk forming at the corner of her lips. “Please, they’re just saying that to be polite.” Sweetie groaned in annoyance and dramatically rolled her eyes. Applejack reentered the room, ruffling the Earth Pony foal’s mane and drawing attention to herself. “Now, Apple Bloom, I know you're all excited but there’s no reason to go tearing through Twilight’s halls like that, ya hear? Breakfast wouldn’t be gone if y’all just walked.” Apple Bloom ducked her head, but out of guilt or to get away from the light noogying wasn’t clear. “Sorry, sis.” “Who are you?” The final filly, the Pegasus, spoke up, still staring with suspicious eyes at Tempest.  “Oh my gosh, Squirt!” Rainbow Dash said, excitedly swooping over and gathering the foal into her front legs. ‘Squirt’ settled into the half-hug-half-carry situation with ease, her own front legs wrapped around Rainbow’s neck as the older Pegasus cradled her back ones, as if this position was the most natural in the world. “This is Tempest Shadow, the awesome kick-butt pony I’ve been telling you about.” By the way the kid’s expression did not change in the slightest, Tempest was under the impression she had known that from the beginning.  “Hello, Squirt,” Tempest greeted as politely as she could, “Pleasure to make your acquaintance.” “My name is Scootaloo,” she responded testily, eyes narrowing even more, “I’m Rainbow Dash’s little sister and I’ve heard you’ve been beating her up.” Tempest glanced between the two Pegasi. Rainbow Dash had never mentioned any sister. Oh, she certainly talked about all of her friends but neither Tempest nor Dash had ever breached the topic of family once. Rainbow groaned and jostled the filly lightly. “Come on Scoots, not this again. I told you Tempest is just helping me train. I asked her to do it. And sometimes I even get the upper hoof.” The attempt at humor did not seem to lift Scootaloo’s spirits at all and she simply buried her face into Rainbow’s mane. Rainbow, for her part, gave a confused glance down at the foal and then looked apologetically back at Tempest. The atmosphere in the room had turned awkward as the rest of the adults watched Tempest somehow thoroughly upset a child with only a few words.  This was going just perfect. “So Dashie,” Pinkie began, drawing Rainbow Dash’s attention away from Tempest’s blunder and sufficiently breaking the tension in the room, “Tanks birthday is coming up and I need to get the party planning prepared. Pronto.” The other mares broke back into their own conversations and Tempest let herself breathe a little easier. Children were so difficult to deal with. Easy to scare and with the whole of the community backing them up. Tempest did not remember having that as a filly. “Don’t worry about Scootaloo,” Apple Bloom whispered, jerking Tempest from her thoughts. The Earth Pony leaned as close as her tiny frame would allow. “She ain’t always this rude.” “Yeah,” Sweetie Belle added from her other side, “she’s just jealous.” Tempest had no idea how she had ended up in between the two foals. The seats had shuffled around a bit and now Rainbow was across the table, Scootaloo practically attached to her side, and Tempest was in the middle of Applejack, Rarity, and their little sisters. “Apparently you’re all Rainbow Dash has been talkin’ about lately,” Apple Bloom continued and Tempest wondered if it was ruder to slouch down so she was closer to the filly or continue to sit tall and let their conversation be so easy to eavesdrop, “whenever Scootaloo gets back from trainin’ with her she’s always whining about how distracted Dash is.” Sweetie Belle giggled. “Yeah, she says Rainbow’s always like ‘oh Tempest is so cool. Tempest is so strong. Tempest is so ho-“ “Sweetie Belle!” Rarity very suddenly said, picking up her sister’s fork full of pancakes and shoving it into the filly’s mouth. “Goodness darling, you’re going to let your food go cold if you don’t eat it faster.” The two sisters silently glared at each other and Tempest was hit with relief that she didn’t have any siblings. Military life and horrible bosses she could deal with, but she didn’t know if she could have handled… whatever this was.  But besides that, something Apple Bloom had mentioned had caught her attention. “Training? Is Rainbow Dash teaching Scootaloo how to fight, also?” It would make sense. If Rainbow really was concerned with her friends’ safety then starting her sister on the right track early would ensure the child would be able to handle herself in a disaster. In fact, it would make sense if all of Rainbow’s friends… “Nah,” Apple Bloom spoke in answer, shoveling her own pancakes into her mouth, “Nothin’ like that. Scootaloo’s been gettin’ flight lessons from Rainbow Dash for a while now.”  Tempest nodded in understanding but her brow creased. The town which she had grown up in had been almost exclusively Unicorns and she certainly hadn’t had much experience with Pegasi after she had left. But Unicorn foals had at the least the basics of magic down by the time they were these children’s age. Perhaps Rainbow was teaching her sister more advanced moves? That would make sense.  But looking at Scootaloo… there was something about her wings that seemed… different than other foals’. Scootaloo caught her eye. Or, it was more that the two had caught each other’s eye as while Tempest had been staring at the filly’s back, she in turn had been staring straight at Tempest’s forehead for who knows how long.  Their eyes locked on each other and they both looked away quickly, as if they had committed some sort of taboo and Tempest found herself growing embarrassed without understanding why.   “Oh hay, you two are probably pretty similar, huh?” Apple Bloom continued, having witnessed whatever had just happened with Tempest and her friend. Before Tempest could ask her to clarify, Applejack grabbed her little sister’s attention. “Apple Bloom, why don’t you tell me what you three got up to at Holiday and Lofty’s place. Anything I need to worry about replacin’?” Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. “Ya break one vase once and suddenly it’s all anypony wants ta talk about.” Despite herself, Tempest found her gaze wandering to the Pegasus filly again. She was practically glued to Rainbow’s side, chatting her up with pure adoration in her eyes. Tempest had not seen that kind of expression in a while. The trust, the eagerness, the love… and yet she also saw an expression just like that almost every day she had been outside of Equestria. The desperation, the need, the clinging worry that if she let go everything would fall apart. That was something Tempest was all too familiar with. And then Scootaloo’s eyes flicked back over to Tempest and the little filly’s face darkened once more. She could not hope to come close to being intimidating but she certainly was trying her best, even her small wings flared out as if to make herself look bigger and stronger. This time, however, Rainbow also glanced at Tempest. She seemed to have been rolling her eyes at something Pinkie had said and they had landed on Tempest. Dash raised her eyebrows in a way that made her natural smile suddenly seem directed at Tempest, only for Tempest. Caught a bit off guard, Tempest tried to smile back. To communicate… something. Perhaps that Tempest was enjoying herself? Was that what she was supposed to be doing? Obviously, something about the attempt wasn’t quite right and Rainbow’s face fell slightly. She glanced about and, when her eyes landed on the still glowering Scootaloo, rolled her eyes in a distinctly not playful way.  "Hey, Tempest," the blue Pegasus spoke up like she didn't already have Tempest's complete attention, "you know this castle really well now right? Can you show Scoots here to the bathroom?" Scootaloo's head snapped in Rainbow's direction. "Wha- I don't have to go!" Rainbow gave her a friendly nudge. "Come on squirt, you can't put one past me, it's not lame to ask for directions." Scootaloo's mouth worked soundlessly for a moment. It was obvious she wanted to protest but was unsure how to argue. Eventually she set her jaw in a determined pout and hopped off the chair, marching out the door without even waiting. Tempest gave Rainbow a confused look but she just winked and then resumed her conversation, seemingly closing the matter.  Without really much choice, Tempest rose from her own seat and followed the filly out of the room.  She had not waited outside, either, and Tempest just barely made it out in time to see the little purple tail disappear around a corner. Thankfully, Tempest’s legs were much, much longer than Scootaloo’s and it took her no effort at all to catch up with the filly. Scootaloo glanced at Tempest but then immediately quickened her step to stay ahead.  Tempest let her march in silence for a moment before speaking up. “Are you aware this is the wrong way?” Scootaloo came to an abrupt halt and, to give the filly her obviously desired space, Tempest did too. Stomping her hoof, Scootaloo said, “I don’t need your help, okay? Hey, I don’t even need to go to the little fillies’ room!” “Yes, it did seem that Rainbow Dash just wanted us to be alone for some reason.” Scootaloo whirled around, craning her head to glare up at Tempest. “I know what you’re doing. You’re trying to take her away from me!” Tempest cocked an eyebrow. “I beg your pardon?” “Yeah,” Scootaloo pressed, puffing up her chest and stalking closer even though it forced her to strain her neck even more, “I’m onto you. You’re trying to distract Rainbow Dash, the most important pony in all of Equestria so you can do your evil evilly things again! Your using her for your diabolical plot and she’s totally blind to it but I’m not. I won’t let you hurt her.”  Despite herself, Tempest took a step back from the fuming filly and her ears flattened to her skull. “That isn’t… that is the opposite of what I’m doing. I promise, I’m trying to help Rainbow Dash. Teach her how to defend herself from potential threats.” “Threats like you,” the filly snapped back. “Yes.” “Well, it’s not gonna- wait what?” Scootaloo scrambled back a few steps, eyes fully searching Tempest’s face. “Are you admitting I’m right?” “No I…” Tempest grimaced and then, awkwardly, lowered herself onto her knees so that she and Scootaloo were at a slightly more level angle. “I do not blame you for being worried, Scootaloo. Rainbow Dash is your sister and I… I hurt her in the past. I hurt you, and everyone you care about. I do not blame you if you hate me. I, in fact, expected more ponies to hate me.” Scootaloo was staring at her with wide eyes. Frozen to the spot.  Since the child did not interject, Tempest kept talking, “But I need you to understand that Rainbow Dash approached me about training. She wants to get stronger, wants to be better prepared for future attacks. And she came to me, a former enemy, exactly because I hurt her in the past.” A ghost of a smile forced itself onto Tempest’s lips. “It’s quite brilliant of her, actually. How better to defend yourself against enemies than by learning everything about one.” “Yeah,” Scootaloo said, her gaze dipping to the ground, “Rainbow Dash is really smart. She’s the best.” “She is.” Scootaloo sniffed and messily wiped her nose on her fetlock. "I don't... I don't actually think you're going to hurt Rainbow Dash. She's super tough and smart and… and the best. She wouldn't let you do anything bad." Tempest nodded, relaxing slightly at the confession. "But even though you trust her you're still worried about your sister. That is completely normal." "She's not." With a heavy sigh, Scootaloo sat down and looked back up at Tempest. "Rainbow Dash, she's not actually my sister." Tempest blinked. "But she... called you that, when you first arrived." "We are sisters, by heart," Scootaloo stressed, "but not by blood. Or like, legally, or anything." "Okay," was all Tempest could think to say. She didn’t understand, at all, what Scootaloo meant. It seemed to her you either were related or you weren't. But she didn't want to start nitpicking a distressed filly's word choice.  "You can't like... use telekinesis or anything, right? Cause of your horn?" The sudden shift of topic threw Tempest and she reared her head back so she was looking down on the filly while still kneeling. "I don't see how that fact pertains to this conversation." "No, no, no, no," Scootaloo said quickly, waving her hooves in front of her face as if to bat her previous words out of the air, "Sorry, that came out wrong! I didn't mean it in a mean way I just... well I can't fly." Tempest relaxed slightly and felt immensely silly for getting worked up over a child's question. Next thing you knew and she would be jumping at bunny rabbits. "I know. Your friends told me." Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "Uhg, those traitors. Did they also mention Rainbow Dash is teaching me to fly?" At Tempest's nod she continued. "Yeah, it's been awesome. I think I've really been making some progress with her. But we've been spending less and less time together because she's been spending so much time with you." The little filly sighed again and curled in on herself. "I'm just worried she's replacing me, ya know? Taking pity on another broken pony.” The filly seemed to realize what she said a second too late and snapped her head up so fast Tempest was scared she would hurt her neck. “Oh gosh, I’m sorry! I-“ “Scootaloo,” Tempest placed a hoof on her shoulder, silencing the panicked rambles, “Rainbow Dash is not training with me because she pities me. She is training with me because she loves you.” “I-uh- what?” Scootaloo blinked rapidly and Tempest was sure if her hoof wasn’t on her shoulder Scootaloo would have fallen over.  “She trains because she wants to protect her fellow ponies, her country, her town, against any threats. Most importantly she seeks to protect her friends. She is devoted to you, all of you, and that is why she has been sacrificing her time to be with me. Only I can teach her what she needs to know. She cares for you a great deal.” Tempest touched the little pony’s cheek, making sure they were looking into each other’s eyes. “Her love for you is why she trains with me and I’m willing to bet it’s also why she trains with you, too.” A wobbly smile made its way onto Scootaloo’s face though the poor kid still looked like she was fighting off tears. “You… you really think so?” Tempest nodded solemnly. “I do. She cares about your happiness and I’m sure that’s why she sent us out here together when she noticed your distress.” “I wasn’t being that obvious,” Scootaloo mumbled at her hooves. Tempest let herself smile at the stubborn foal and rose herself back up to full height. “Now, should we be heading back?” “Uh…” Scootaloo shifted on her hooves and blushed, “I actually do have to go to the bathroom now.”