Dear Princess Celestia,
I can't believe I actually wrote that... Well, Twilight is insisting I send you this letter about my first impressions of Ponyville for your 'friendship research' or whatever. I've never been one for letters, but recalling the events shouldn't be too hard since it's been memorable to say the least. Hopefully you're not expecting anything too fancy...
I had been in a rather foul mood, considering the weather. Running into a huge storm right on the way into Ponyville to meet Pops' old friend. I wasn't pleased about the engagement in the first place, but knowing that I wouldn't even get to do it in my normal body was the last straw. I tried to give the old bear the slip, but without wings there wasn't too much that I could do. He finally caught up with me at the outskirts of town and we ended up duking it out. Naturally I won, but Pops is a sneaky one and caught me off guard with somepony's mailbox. Anything Goes after all, I should have been ready for that. Oh well. I woke up in the Dojo with everypony freaking out at the sight of Pops' other form. Instead of doing anything himself, he left it up to me to try and explain things...
~~~~~
"I'm Wild Tempest... Sorry about this."
"Tempest." Stonehoof stepped forward solemnly before enveloping the timid mare in a massive hug. "You've come! It's good to see you, my boy!" he said with a hearty laugh, the little unicorn looking surprised and a bit relieved.
"Um Daddy...? She's a mare." Summer Shade spoke up, having finally collected her wits.
"Hm?" the stallion took a step back and took a good look at their dazed guest. "W-What?! This can't be!"
"I'm pretty sure it can." She said dryly, looking Tempest over from her father's side. "She's not even a pegasus." Tempest's eye twitched slightly at that comment.
"Well pardon me for not having wings." she muttered bitterly to herself.
"But Stormy Night assured me he had a son!" Stonehoof finally managed to sputter out, which only managed to incense his daughter further.
"Does this look like anyone's son to you!" she said pointing an accusing hoof toward Tempest before sitting back on her haunches "Some fiancé this turned out to be..." Shady snarked before fading into true disappointment, remaining oblivious to the daggers their drenched visitor was glaring at her.
"Cut it out you two, you're being rude." Scarlet spoke up with a frown toward her father and sister. Walking past them both, she stopped in front of Tempest and offered a smile. "Sorry about them, my name's Scarlet Dawn. You want to be friends?" the unicorn was shocked at first from the sudden offer, but her expression softened enough to return the smile.
"Sure..."
"Great!" Scarlet clapped her forehooves together excitedly. "Why don't you come out to the dojo! Rainbow Dash has been busy, so I haven't had a good spar in weeks."
"I would LOVE to." Tempest gladly grabbed any excuse to slip out of this awkward situation. She fell into step behind Scarlet, the rest of the ponies seeming to come out of their shock as the pair disappeared into the open air hallway.
"Er, this is nice an all, but y'all still have a bear in yer living room."
"Growf."
"Is... Is that a sign?"
"Ooh, hot water? I can get that for you Mr. Bear!"
~~~~~
"Scarlet- Er ah mean Dawn-sensei. Is everything okay?" Applebloom asked with a worried frown.
"Oh, yes I believe so. Well, I'm not too sure about the bear..." she admitted glancing to her guest, who gave a careless shrug.
"He's harmless. Considering how keen he was on coming here, I don't think you have anything to worry about."
"Okay..." Scarlet replied a bit puzzled but gave the unicorn the benefit of the doubt. Tempest passed a distasteful glance at the rain that continued to pound on either side of the path. For a brief moment she contemplated hopping the rails and making a break for the coast while Pops was otherwise occupied. Tempting, but instead of solving any of her problems, that would just delay them a few days. So instead, she turned her attention to her host and the student.
"So... Sensei?" Tempest raised an eyebrow, her interest in the coming spar growing the more she thought about it. The crimson mare's cheeks turned slightly darker at the scrutiny.
"To the junior students," she admitted with a little ego, placing a hoof atop the young filly's head. "Tempest, this is Applebloom, my star pupil."
"Ain't I yer only pupil?"
"Thus making you my star." she said with a cheeky wink, eliciting a giggle from the filly and a small smile from Tempest.
"Nice to meet ya Kid."
"Hiya!"
"In any case I think we can give an official end to the lessons today. Just change out of your gi and you're welcome to head back in with your sister. Tempest and I were just going to have a friendly spar." Scarlet's calm tone gained a notable hint of energy at the last fact, which seemed to be contagious.
"Wow, really? Can I watch?" Applebloom looked up to the older mares with her best pleading gaze. She rarely got to see her teacher in action. Martial arts was a rather rare pass time in Equestria.
"I don't see why not, if Tempest doesn't mind of course."
"Not at all." The unicorn gained the slightest of smirks. The little filly cheered and bounced into step behind them, her own tiring workout apparently forgotten.
~~~~~
"So, first to fall or score three points." Scarlet Dawn announced as she stretched a bit, "Nothing too heavy, just a light spar. Sound fair?" Tempest, who stood casually across from her, nodded with a little smile, watching her with a careful eye. This spar would be a good way to judge her skill level, it would be the first time she'd went against another practitioner of Anything Goes aside from her father. It was an exciting prospect.
The earth pony tensed, watching her opponent carefully, but the unicorn remained loose. She merely watched Scarlet with a neutral expression, though she was actually very focused on her opponents movements.
"Very well then!" Scarlet said before darting forward for a swipe of her forelegs. Tempest nimbly hopped to the right, her expression unchanged. She could tell her speed had taken the earth pony off guard as Scarlet shifted her weight to easily react to a swift counter strike before attacking again. It was a good choice when dealing with an opponent with superior speed, but Tempest instead dodged again, moving her body slightly so the hoof strikes would miss. Scarlet cautiously began to press her attack, not wanting to over commit, but the unicorn continued to dodge with little effort, making no offensive move of her own. "Aren't you going to strike back?!" Scarlet pressed, striking faster and losing her cautious approach for faster strikes, but no matter how quickly she moved Tempest would easily evade, her continued silence grating on the instructor's nerves.
It was taking all of Tempest's willpower not to taunt the struggling earth pony, too many years on the road with her father leaving some hard to resist urges. Scarlet was good, no doubt, but not to the level Tempest was used to fighting. She debated holding back to make a more even match, but her silence was doing more damage than any of the unsaid insults she was biting back. Scarlet's strikes were getting more and more reckless, though she could feel the power behind them. Scarlet's skill level may have been lower, but physically she was clearly in top shape. Even as the dodges got easier, she found herself getting backed up against the wall. Seeing no other option, Tempest readied herself to end the match.
"Fine, this time for real!" Scarlet snarled, her forehooves stomping to the floor her body turning rapidly and lashing out with a powerful buck.
Unconcerned, Tempest jumped straight up and over the blow, seeming to hover a moment as both of the earth pony's hind legs broke holes in the wall. with the slightest tap against the wall for momentum, the unicorn twirled in the air before landing face to face with her opponent, lightly tapping Scarlet on the nose.
"Point." was all the red head said, unable to repress a slight smirk at the earth pony's shocked expression. There was a moment of silence before Scarlet lowered her head, all the frustration draining from her body as she started to chuckle. Pulling her legs from the wall, she looked back up to Tempest, slightly shamed.
"We should probably call it there, huh?"
"Probably."
"Wha? But that was just one point..." Applebloom spoke up in defense of her teacher. Scarlet turned her smile to her student, touched but still resigned.
"Tempest could have ended that bout a few minutes ago. I allowed myself to get frustrated at how she wasn't fighting back and I got sloppy. I'm sure I had my share of openings." she said with a light glance to the unicorn, who nodded but didn't want to interrupt the impromptu lesson. "You need to keep a calm head when you fight, especially when dealing with somepony of unknown skill... a lesson even I need to learn." she said with slightly redder cheeks. The student nodded a little, looking to Tempest with a curious expression.
"I still don't get why you didn't fight back Miss Tempest." the filly's eyes a mixture of confusion and awe.
"Er, well." The unicorn shuffled a bit uncomfortable. "I was curious how good Scarlet was, so I decided to just watch. That, and NOT doing anything seemed to work just fine." she explained awkwardly, unused to needing to explain her unconscious strategies.
"She just had to give me enough rope to hog tie myself, as your sister would say." Scarlet finished for her. "The fact I never could even lay a hoof on her means she's quite skilled in her own right." she grinned a little bit. "Hopefully next time though, you'll exchange a few blows, I'm curious how good you really are."
"Next time?"
"Well yeah, I mean just because this whole fiancé thing was mixed up doesn't mean you're heading right back out... does it?" Scarlet asked, face falling slightly at the idea. After all, this was the first time she'd run into anypony her own age that shared her love of martial arts.
"Er, well." Tempest faltered a bit at the sudden question, trying to ignore the sudden knot of guilt from her earlier musings of escape. "P-probably not. I mean, our Dads will likely want to catch up after all these years." she added, forcing a smile. Though when the curses were revealed, such sentiments were hard to judge... at least no mare in her right mind would be up for engagement considering the circumstances. A thought that was both comforting and somewhat painful.
"Speaking of which, where IS your father?"
"Uhhh..."
"Yeah," Applebloom chimed in. "You just showed up with that weird bear thing... that a pet or somethin'?"
"Funny story that..." The unicorn said with an awkward chuckle. Fortunately she was rescued from the conversation by the dojo door opening. Scarlet's eldest sister stood in the doorway, a calm smile on her features though her mane slightly out of place.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt, but could the three of you join us back in the living room? We're having another meeting..." she said giving Tempest an odd look before disappearing back outside. The unicorn mare didn't need a crystal ball to see where this was going. Hopefully they could at least wait until the storm was over before they got kicked out.
"Um, okay Sis..." Scarlet, still quite in the dark merely shrugged. "I was hoping to get a bath settled first, but oh well. Shall we?"
"Yeah." The mares began their walk back to the home proper with a confused filly at their heels. Tempest resisted a sigh and ignored the growing knot in her stomach. Best to get this over with anyway.
~~~~~
The scene would definitely have a been a curious one to the outside viewer. The large bear was nowhere to be seen, instead replaced with an older, stocky black pegasus stallion wearing a white bandanna and spectacles. He sat across from Stonehoof, sharing a stoic expression. Not a few feet away, Twilight was in the midst of an extensive note taking session, a bucket and kettle on either side of her. Misty seemed to be doing her best to keep a calm facade but she clearly seemed out of sorts. Her sister and Applejack seemed to be faring better, but that could be more due to disbelief then acceptance.
"You called?" Scarlet broke the silence as Applebloom trotted over to her sister. Tempest remained silent, knowing exactly where this was going.
"Ahh Scarlet, you came." Stonehoof said, expression lightening up. "Come sit, we have much to discuss."
"You too boy." the pegasus spoke up, his voice rough.
"Boy?"
"Yeah yeah," Tempest muttered, ignoring Scarlet's confusion by flopping down unceremoniously at the spot opposite her father, joined shortly by the confused Earth pony.
"Scarlet my dear, allow me to introduce you to my old friend Stormy Night."
"Oh um, pleased to meet you sir." Scarlet gave the pegasus a polite bow, recognizing the name from the postcard. "You're Tempest's father?"
"The pleasure is mine." he replied with a smile. "And yes that would be me, sorry for the confusion earlier."
"Um, no problem?" she replied awkwardly unsure what he was talking about. Stormy Night raised an eyebrow looking to Tempest.
"So you didn't tell her?"
"It's not something that exactly comes up in conversation." Tempest snarked to the clear annoyance of her father.
"What is this all ab-"
"Where'd the bear go?" Applebloom suddenly asked drawing the attention of everypony.
"Applebloom, what did I tell ya about interruptin'' family business."
"Sorry..."
"That is a good question though." Scarlet muttered, looking about the room. A drying puddle by the door the only reminder of the odd looking bear.
"Oh, why Mr. Night was the Bear." Misty Morning said with her forced smile twitching ever so slightly.
"Er... Sis, are you okay?"
"It's true!" Twilight spoke up suddenly, ignoring the chastising look from Applejack, excitement alight in her features. "It's the most amazing example of metamorphosis magic I've seen since Mandrake the Cunning's 'Art of Alteration'. A near perfect transformation apparently to the biological level... though I'd need to run more tests to be sure. This is unprecedented!" she said, practically bouncing at the idea.
"Could you try that again in Equestrian?"
"It's easier to just show you." Stormy Night said gravely. Twilight was already lifting the bucket, the water sloshing precariously. Before he could say another word, Twilight emptied the contents over the older pegasus and, in the blink of an eye, he was replaced with the huge panda that had came across their doorstep. "Growf." The bear passed an annoyed look toward the lavender unicorn pulling out a sign. [I wanted the Kettle!]
"Oh sorry, I just assumed. one moment."
"W-What?!"
"It's something else isn't it... it kinda loses its luster by the fifth time though." Shady commented idly. Twilight was already levitating the kettle over when the bear grasped it from the levitation field and poured a small amount of the steaming liquid over his head, returning almost instantly back to being a pegasus having to catch the kettle's handle in his mouth when paws were replaced by hooves.
"No way..."
"I know, the simple difference in water temperature alters between the two forms, though its hard to say where the threshold is on whether the water is 'cold' or 'warm'. What if it was right on the li-"
"That's enough for now Miss Sparkle, we don't want to get too off track."
"Oh yes, of course. Sorry." She said blushing slightly. The older pegasus pushed the half filled kettle towards Tempest.
"I think it's about time."
"You don't need to tell me twice." Tempest said with a huff, pulling the kettle into reach.
"W-Wait, does that mean?" Scarlet seemed to be putting two and two together as she came down from the initial shock.
"Yeah... sorry about this." with that she picked up the kettle and angled her neck to pour the steaming liquid onto her back. All at once the unicorn was replaced with a larger pegasus stallion, his coat a darker shade of blue with a stark black mane tied in the same pigtail.
"Oh my..."
"He really IS a pegasus..."
"A change in both gender and species while till staying a pony, this could make all the potential tests lined up in a much easier for-"
"Hold on there sugarcube, no need to get ahead of things."
"Yes, right... sorry."
"I... am so confused right now." The little filly muttered, looking between the two pegasi, her young mind unable to process the impossible sights happening before her.
"You're... a stallion." Scarlet finally managed to say aloud, somewhere between curiosity and confusion. "Is this the... real you?"
"Yes." Tempest said firmly, "and if Pop hadn't taken us to that damned spring, I'd be that way ALL the time!" he said passing an annoyed glare across the table. His father huffed in annoyance at the accusation, glaring right back.
"You're weak, Boy! I thought you were willing to sacrifice anything for your training!"
"My life is one thing, my gender is something else entirely!" he growled back, wings flaring threateningly as he barely restrained himself from leaping over the table to attack his father. Applejack stomped her hoof to the ground with a loud thump that caused everypony in the room to jump.
"Now you two squabblin' isn't going to clear any of this up any faster, so cool yer heads." The farmer said firmly glaring at both stallions who backed down reluctantly.
"You're right, Miss Applejack." Stormy Night said solemnly, "We mustn't lose focus of what's important here." He cleared his throat, and cast a serious gaze to the Stonehoof clan and guests. "It all began with the last leg of our training trip, through the wilds of Ib'xian. We had been traveling to all of the greatest training spots across Neighpon, and on reaching landfall in Shanghay I had been given a tip about a secret training ground hidden away in the mountains." Tempest snorted but didn't interrupt, allowing his father to continue. "Naturally, I hired a guide and we set out right away, it was a long, arduous journey, far from the civilized coast and into the forgotten wilds of the interior. But that's when we saw it... the Springs of Jusenkyo." he paused for dramatic effect, though Tempest stepped in, stealing the momentum to move the tale forward again.
"It didn't look like much to be honest, just a valley of pools with bamboo poles sticking out of them. The idea was to fight while balancing atop the poles without falling in the water. Simple really." the young stallion's voice held a heavy note of bitter irony, but he continued on nonetheless.
"So naturally, we decided to up the ante and set to tying our wings down."
"But wouldn't that be dangerous?" Applebloom chimed in. "If you fell then you wouldn't be able to fly away."
"Exactly," Stormy took over, "For those that truly dedicate themselves to the Art, such risks are hardly given a second thought. Besides, our guide had advised against flying in the area, something about avoiding the attention of one of the indigenous tribes,"
"And that worked out SO well." Tempest muttered to himself.
"Anyway, with that out of the way we made to test our skills against the supposed dangers of Jusenkyo-"
"But why would you?" Twilight interrupted this time, causing Stormy to lower his head in annoyance. "I mean you're both pegasi, don't you use an aerial style? Why commit yourself to a training ground designed for ground styles?" the unicorn looked to the martial artists curiously. She'd been reading up on the various histories and backgrounds of the common martial arts, informative but not always descriptive. Stonehoof took the opportunity to answer on his friend's behalf.
"While that is true for more common forms, Anything Goes is a style designed to work for any being, winged or no. The key is being able to fight at your best no matter what situation, injuries, or competition rules may crop up. Anything Goes Martial Artists pride themselves on adaptability and preparedness, to be ready for anything."
"Indeed Stonehoof, well said." The older pegasus took the reigns once more and continued the story before any more interruptions could chime in. "So with the preparations done we took our places on opposite poles and began our training. We did a few exchanges, testing the steadiness of the bamboo supports."
"Until I got a solid blow on the old man and knocked him into the Water." Tempest added with a little smirk as his father grunted in annoyance. "A moment later, a panda jumped out and balanced on the pole across from me. I froze in shock for a moment before he got me good, knocking me into another spring."
"Where you came out as a Unicorn mare." Scarlet spoke up softly.
"Er, yeah. As you all had seen..." Tempest muttered looking down.
"The guide took the time to explain our curse-"
"Magical Condition." Twilight interrupted causing everypony to look her way.
"What?" Stormy Night raised an eyebrow at the unicorn, unsure where she was going with this.
"There's no such thing as curses, you two just have a case of 'Involuntary Transformation'. A magical condition my friends and I were subjected to once."
"I don't know about you lady, but when I'm forced into another body by cold water I think that's a pretty strong curse." Tempest muttered, cross at the unicorn for marginalizing the issues he had been dealing with. But Twilight stood firm.
"There was no spell cast on you, you got this condition from a spring. A natural magical phenomenon no different from Poison Joke. Thus, it's not a curse." she spoke with certainty meeting Tempest's annoyed gaze. Applejack place a hoof over her face and shook her head.
"Um, terminology aside it's really not so bad." Stonehoof said cheerfully, taking a seat by Tempest and putting a foreleg over the confused stallion's shoulder.
"What?"
"You have already met my three daughters, Misty Morning, Summer Shade and Scarlet Dawn." he said motioning over to the girls. "Pick one of them and she will be your bride."
"What?!" the Stonehoof daughters cried alongside Tempest.
"You're still going to bring that up right after these 'revelations'" Shady asked, narrowing her eyes.
"It really is a bit sudden Father," Misty added uncomfortably. "We hardly know each other."
"Well that is easily fixed in time, right?" Stonehoof continued, seemingly oblivious to the awkwardness of the whole situation. Scarlet hadn't said a word, just looking between her father and Tempest with an unreadable expression. The rejection was understandable, but it still stung the stallion's ego. He shook Stonehoof's foreleg off and took a few steps away.
"The last thing I need right now in an engagement. All I want to do is go back to Jusenkyo and get this CURSE cured." he said firmly, eyeing Twilight as he stressed the word, much to her visible annoyance. "Come on Pops."
"I could help you know." Twilight spoke up calmly, not rising to the frustrated stallion's bait.
"What are you blabbering about?"
"Your condition, I could cure it." Her confident tone floored both father and son, though she did clarify after a pause. "IF I could properly study it. Once I can get an understanding of the magic behind it, it should be a simple enough prospect to reverse the changes. With your assistance of course." she finished with a meaningful look to Wild Tempest, who lost his bluster in exchange for tentative hope.
"It's not nice to play the desperate, Miss Sparkle." Stormy Night said cautiously.
"Mr. Night, yer not gonna find a unicorn who knows more about magic then Twilight." Applejack stepped to her friend's defense, "She's the personal student to Princess celestia." Twilight was never one to brag, but Applejack knew dropping the princesses name would have the desired effect. Both stallions' eyes widened suddenly, taking the unicorn's claim with dead seriousness.
"That is true." Twilight agreed reluctantly, "My position gives me access to a lot of information that others might not have. Having gone through something similar, if not far more temporary, I'm confident that I should be able to figure out how to stop your involuntary changes if given enough time."
"And that would give you all plenty of time to get to know each other better!" Stonehoof stepped in, taking advantage of this swing in favor. "No need to rush things after all." he said with a chuckle, ignoring how he'd pushed at the beginning of this discussion.
"Sounds like a fair agreement," Stormy Night immediately jumped to join his friend, this having turned out better then the aged pegasus could have dreamed.
"But what do YOU get out of all this." Summer Shade spoke up, suspicion clear in her tone. Twilight blinked at the accusation.
"Well, Knowledge is always a reward in of itself." she admitted, "But I'd hate to just sit aside when somepony is in trouble. It's not a bad way to make new friends either." she added with a hopeful smile.
~
Friend... I never had a lot of friends. Oh there was D back in flight camp, and that unicorn Chance during basic schooling. Otherwise, it was just me and Pops traveling the roads. When Twilight said that, I didn't think much of it. It was just a way to get cured, a place to stay for a bit then it would be back to the road again.
I wasn't even close.