The Storm Passes

by DiscoGuy

Ch. 2: Help

In the consuming blackness of the night, lit only by the moon’s faint glow, two pegasi, and the chariot they pulled, silently touched down on the grass outside Ponyville’s greatest landmark, the Castle of Friendship. Trotting along several feet of dirt as a runway, the contraption slowly eased to a halt, with a smoothness and stability that spoke to the skill of royal charioteers.

The two ponies’ attached to the grand, golden transport, looking back at their passengers, saw their lavender Princess step carefully down to the earth, and look back into the chariot’s interior, at the mare still lying on it’s velvet seat. Stepping inside the chariot once more, Twilight could be seen, by a mixture of magic and straining hooves, to lift her somewhat large companion onto her back.

Realizing, by the regular rise and fall of her chest, that the deeper shaded individual of their purple passengers had fallen asleep, the guards began working to remove their harnesses. One turned his attention again toward Twilight, and insisted,

“Your Majesty, please allow us to carry your companion inside for you.”

Twilight intended to wave off the guards with a simple swipe of a hoof, but found keeping her hooves planted on terra firma was suddenly quite necessary, to bear her companion’s considerable heft. Setting into a dutiful, if slow, forward march, she settled instead to speak.

“No, I’m fine. You’ve already taken us so far, especially in the middle of the night. I’m perfectly capable of getting her inside, myself.”

Having ample experience with being made unintentional witnesses to, moments, as the two mares had shared, the pegasi recognized their dismissal, and the Princess’ desire to be alone with her companion.

Continuing her slow, careful trudging toward the castle door, Twilight saw nothing of the pegasi leaving, but was assured of their departure by the brief stomping of hooves, and the sudden silence which indicated takeoff. Pushing nearer and nearer to her destination, the encumbered alicorn began to face her own ambient thoughts.

Should I wake her up, or should I just find her a bed and let her sleep? She’s so tired, I don’t know if I could wake her if I tried. But, I don’t know how she would feel waking up alone in a totally foreign environment.

Deciding that she would have to make her way to a bed before tackling anything else, she grasped the front door with a magical grip, letting herself and her company inside, before again shutting it, locking out the chilly night air. Only then realizing just how cold she was, Twilight found herself suddenly glad for the sleeping form on her back, who radiated a very pleasant warmth.

Instinctively, the trudging Princess thought to call for Spike, to lend a much needed claw. However, her thoughts again jumped in, stopping her voice from getting out.

How late is it? He and Starlight must be asleep, and I wouldn’t want to wake them. Especially Spike.

Though she hesitated with the term baby dragon, as it was unfairly demeaning to her young cohort, she couldn’t deny it’s biological accuracy. Just like a growing pony, Spike’s body required ample rest, something she couldn’t bring herself to begrudge him.

Taking advantage of her castle home’s utter silence, and pleasant temperature, Twilight settled onto the ground, careful to not stir her cargo, and turned total focus towards her magic. With heavy, but even, breaths, Twilight lifted the peaceful unicorn from her back, and held her aloft, just a foot over the ground, and near to the alicorn’s side. With unerring concentration on the stability of her spell, Twilight rose, and set off towards an enormous hallway of unused rooms, carrying her floating passenger in violet suspension.

Quietly ambling, she turned her head toward her sleeping friend, and in a manner that would be considered highly uncouth in most contexts, began closely analyzing Tempest’s fuschia flank. It had occurred to Twilight that, with the ample distraction of the trial occupying her, she hadn’t paid any mind to Tempest’s cutie mark, which had previously been obscured by frightful armor. Now able to freely analyze it, she found a mark composed of three small, quad-directional bursts, colored separately in hues of purple, blue, and green, tinted in a manner that reminded her strongly of an aurora. Recalling her friend’s given name, and the display she had generated in the sky above Songbird Serenade’s show, the various pieces of information coalesced into a unified image of fireworks. Wishing to confirm her well-founded suspicion, she resolved to inquire about the subject at a later date.

Only slightly disquieted by her home’s oppressive emptiness, Twilight reached the particular hall she had in mind. Stretching on seemingly longer than any room had a right to, the hallway was speckled with regular doors on either side. Each led to one of the countless guest bedrooms which, in the past, had prompted their purple proprietor to acquire Ponyville’s census data, and determine if she could house its entire population.

(She could.)

(Barely.)

Pulling open the first door she reached, Twilight levitated Tempest in, and followed behind. As always, Twilight was impressed by the opulence of what was term a ‘guest’ bedroom. She looked toward the bed, which, considering it was intended for a single guest, was comically overlarge. Though the bed may have been slightly too small for a fully grown alicorn, Twilight couldn’t imagine any regular pony being dissatisfied with the accommodations.

With one last push of magical energy, she placed Tempest softly onto the bed, tucking her under the covers by hoof. As she stepped away from her companion, who she could finally see resting peacefully, Twilight felt the return of her nagging thoughts.

What now? Who knows when she’ll wake up? I don’t think it’d be right, leaving her to awaken lost and alone, no matter how nice the room is.

Thankfully, the solution took hold of her before she could worry any further. Overcome by both physical and emotional exhaustion after making no more than a few steps toward the door, Twilight found herself reposing upon the unusually comfortable floor of the bedroom. As her consciousness slipped from her grasp, Twilight held to one last thought.

Thank Celestia who-or-what ever designed this castle thought to put in carpeting SOMEWHERE………………………………

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Seemingly seconds after she felt the thought leave her mind, and blessed rest reach her, Twilight awoke, uncommonly refreshed, and almost believing she could convince herself to be a morning pony. Through the room’s previously black window, sunlight beamed in, informing its resident that day had begun.

Knowing her beloved mentor’s unfailing consistency with the sun’s rising and setting, Twilight postulated that the time was around 9AM (Ante Mare-idiem). Not quite a late start to the day, by most pony’s standards, but decidedly past her habit of waking soon after sunrise. Rising, the alicorn stretched out her forelegs, followed by her wings, and finally her hind legs, yield a satisfying *pop* from each.

As the first thoughts of her temporary roommate entered Twilight’s mind, her peaceful, silent world exploded into noise.

A piercing, dreadful scream rang out! The horrible sound originating only a few feet from her, Twilight’s eardrums pounded in agonizing protest. Acting on a sudden instinct to stick her wingtips in her ears, Twilight turned toward the cacophony, and saw Tempest, sitting bolt upright, covered in sweat, screaming as though she had seen her own death. Leaping to the her side, Twilight grabbed Tempest in a tight hold, and began stroking her friend’s coat, and quietly shushing in her ear. The screaming mellowed, and following a few moments of the embrace, came to a halt.

Taking several quick, ragged breaths, the unicorn calmed herself, and spoke.

“Oh dear, I’m so sorry Twilight! I-i-i-i just didn’t know where I was and scared an-an-and-”

Twilight interrupted, “Don’t worry, Tempest, it’s alright. You fell asleep in the chariot, and I didn’t want to wake you, so I brought you into a guest bedroom. You’re inside the Castle of Friendship, in Ponyville. I know it must’ve been quite a shock, especially with everything you’ve gone through, but everything is fine, you’re safe here.”

Twilight released the shaken mare from her hooves, and stepped off of the bed, giving her some room to breathe. As the air in the room slowly evened, and calm returned, Tempest looked once more to her savior.

“Thank you, Twilight. Thank you for everything. I wish I wasn’t still such a burden on you, even after you’ve already saved me twice..”

“Nonsense, you’re my friend, I’m just happy to help in whatever way I can. I would never think of a friend in need as a burden, and you shouldn’t think it of yourself either.” Twilight responded, trying to calm her friend’s fierce blush of shame.

Isolated in their own little world of their small, shared scene, neither mare heard the sound of approaching hoofbeats, nor did they notice a powerful teal aura creeping in from the doorframe. The room’s wooden door burst open with a *BANG*, and both leapt at the sound.

Looking into the room, having evidently just blasted the door open, was Starlight Glimmer. Immediately she dropped into a low stance, which indicated her intent to unleash a magical salvo at any threat she encountered.

…

…

“Twilight?” inquired Starlight, now standing neutrally, inclining her head in confusion.

The alicorn looked to her friend with an expression demonstrating the present awkwardness, her friend having apparently believed the castle to be under attack.

“The castle is under attack!” came the boyish cry of a young dragon, who ran stumbling into the room, several seconds late.

“No, the castle is not under attack, calm down.” Twilight reassured. “Spike, I’m sure you need no introduction to our new resident.” She gestured to Tempest, who slid her way out of bed and now stood on the opposite side of the room, bearing a heavy blush. “Now, Starlight, I know you haven’t met our friend here, since you and Trixie were off…” The mare paused, wondering. “...actually, I don’t know where you were, but this is Tempest Shadow, the pony I told you about. The one who saved Equestria from the Storm King.” She added, hoping to inspire some small measure of confidence.

“Oh! You’re Tempest, I was wondering when I would meet you. I’m Starlight Glimmer, Twilight’s previous friendship student, and fellow reformed villain, haha.” With an awkward, self-aware laugh, she offered her hoof to the fuschia mare.

Tempest looked at the unicorn with puzzlement for several moments before meeting her hoof, apparently only distantly familiar with the concept of a hoofshake. As she acquiesced to the gesture, Starlight shook, and stepped back to give the fellow unicorn space. While Tempest began to resettle, and her blush began to fade, Spike stepped forward and interjected,

“Whoa, hey, are we just all gonna forget that somepony was screaming their head off a second ago? I think it woke half of Ponyville!”

As Tempest’s already wine-hued face burned even redder, Twilight released an uncomfortable cough, and stepped in to respond to the dragon’s curiosity.

“Oh, was it really that loud?”

Spike, wearing an extremely unamused expression, answered by walking to the room’s window, and pointing at it. Several townsponies could be seen standing outside the castle, appearing deeply worried.

“Oh, yeah, right….” Twilight said, impulsively rubbing the back of her neck with her hoof. “Y’see, the thing is… I was here, and……and...… and I was going to check on Tempest. Yeah. But, when I came in, Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii… I saw a……. big spider! And then I screamed and woke all of you up, apparently.”

Spike looked back at her with a single raised eyebrow, making it quite clear he did not believe the poorly-told lie, but also that it was far too early for him to question it. With a shrug of tired acceptance, he opened the window, and announced to the ponies outside,

“FALSE ALARM. IT WAS A SPIDER. GO HOME.”

Demonstrating a broad mix of confusion, frustration, and weariness, the gathered ponies dispersed, most going about the start of their day, and some returning to their nearby homes to go back to sleep.

Having resolved the matter to an extent with which he was satisfied, the small dragon exited the room, intending to return to the abandoned southern-Equestrian diamond mine of his dream. Following his exit, Starlight again faced Tempest, and gave a small smile.

“So, it was just a spider then?” She asked, exhibiting a similar doubt.

In response, Tempest faced the floor, and Twilight forced a broad, unconvincing smile, accompanied by her answer,

“Yep. It was a spider. I sure am afraid of those things, sorry.”

No more convinced of the lie than before, but kenning Twilight’s prompt to not dig further, Starlight respectfully conceded the subject.

“Alright, if that’s what it was, then that’s what it was, no question about it. You may want to look into some pest control, Twi.” With a small giggle, she left the uncomfortable pair, and set off concerning matters of her own day.

…

Having sated the interest of the awakened ponies, the room’s indigo inhabitants stood in pregnant silence, neither wishing to break the just-restored peace with their voice. Running her hoof along the carpet in discomfort, Tempest gathered herself and spoke.

“Thank you, again, Twilight. I’m sorry you had to cover for me.”

Snapping to, the object of Tempest’s gratitude met her gaze, and responded.

“Not at all, Tempest! I was just worried for you.” She suspected her friend’s unpleasant awakening had a deeper cause than the alien environment, but, not wanting to step into difficult territory, measured her next statement with great care.

“Are you, alright? If you want you can talk to me, Tempest. About anything. Or not, I understand if you don’t feel like talking.”

Finally giving a small smile, the displaced unicorn straightened her posture, and crossed the room toward her friend.

“I appreciate it Twilight, but I’m okay, really. I’ve just been dealing with a lot of change. If it doesn’t sound too rude to ask, could we just try to forget this, and I could start my day normally?”

“Of course! Think nothing of it.” the mare responded, gesturing toward an elegant vanity in the corner of the room, and the brush sitting on it. “When you’re done, just take a right out the door, and follow the hall until you find the dining room. I’ll leave you to it.”

With a last, understanding smile, she departed, leaving Tempest alone in her new residence.

Damn it, Tempest. Great “new start” you’re making for yourself. The unicorn thought, submitting to a powerful tide of self-deprecation. Sighing heavily at the floor, Tempest stepped towards the vanity, and pulled the matching bench out from underneath. Still staring at her hooves, and dreading the thought of looking up, she stood in place, her mind occupied by contemplation. She hated to admit it to herself, but she hadn’t looked in a mirror for some time, and was frightened by the thought of seeing herself again. Military life had afforded her the convenience of rarely being expected to take great care of her appearance, and she limited her self-grooming to regular, frigid showers.

Though she was sure she knew the pony that would look back, Tempest simply couldn’t lift her head and face the mirror. Feeling an unpleasant rumbling in her stomach, a voracious hunger began infringing into her thoughts. She reached for the brush she had seen, still looking at the floor, grabbed it, and ran it several times through her mane.

Satisfied with her efforts, she replaced the brush, and turned to the door. Now able to raise her head without witnessing the unpleasant sight that lurked in the mirror, she set into a slow trot, and allowed herself out of the room.

Seeing, for the first time, the towering crystal interior of the castle, she found herself frozen in awe. The majesty of the hall compared only to her foalhood imagining of the home of a princess. Pondering the sight in front of her, she realized, in a way she hadn’t during her trial, that her friend was a genuine Princess, a pony of the very highest standing. Briefly stricken by that fact, she regained herself, and began moving down the hallway, content to worry about satisfying her hunger before she considered anything else.

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Leaving her friend to straighten herself out, Twilight walked with intent toward the dining room. As she clip-clopped along the colorful stone floor, considering the comical length of the hallway, she uttered a quiet, colloquial gratitude to her mentor, for her own remembering to give Tempest directions. As soon as the thought left her mind, a related one entered in kind. Her new co-habitant would no doubt be daunted by her home’s size, even Twilight herself had yet to see every room in the dominating structure. More important than the paperwork which she had planned to get a headstart on (for her present work was most often composed of things that did not yet need her attention), was to help Tempest adjust to a new life.

After all, I am supposed to be serving as Tempest’s warden, kind of. So technically that’s also one of my Princessly duties. She reasoned to herself. Resolve firmed, she settled upon a plan for the day.

Returning to reality from her mental self-debate, Twilight realized she had reached the castle’s enormous dining room, easily identified by the gigantic table which commanded the room. Just as the thought occurred to her that she ought prepare food for her rattled housemate, from the adjacent kitchen on the other end of the room entered Starlight, bearing a teal-shrouded tower of pancakes, and notably, four plates, each matched with a fork.

Carefully walking toward the table, and paying great mind to the balance of the breakfast monolith, the unicorn set each plate down at seats around the head of the table, opposite to Twilight, who looked on from the table’s rear. As Starlight began dividing her pancake pillar among the four places she had set, Twilight walked around the table, approaching and catching the attention of the amateur chef.

“I wasn’t sure if Spike was going to join us for breakfast, so I decided to play it safe and set the table for four.”

“You sure are quick with a frying pan.” Twilight responded, half stating, half asking.

“Well, actually, most of these were already done when I heard your encounter with that spider. I was just finishing them up now. Though, with the introductions and all, one of the pancakes didn’t exactly survive. I apologize if the kitchen smells kind of, ashy.”

Equestria had survived another close encounter with the consequences of their non-existent fire code.

“Eh, that kitchen’s been through worse.” Twilight conceded, taking her typical seat at the head of the table. “Thanks for the food. I don’t think Tempest and I have eaten since before the trial.” she stated, suddenly aware of her own hunger. Nodding in acknowledgement of her friend’s gratitude, Starlight eased into an adjacent seat, and the two mares reached for their forks, eager to begin.

Twilight, poised to impale fluffy mass with her breakfasting brandistock, found herself interrupted by the entrance of the two’s equine associate. Lifting her head from a downcast gaze, Tempest examined the expanse of the room before her, obviously fazed by its enormity.

Seeking to mitigate her friend’s withdrawal at the immense emptiness confronting her, Twilight pulled out the chair opposite Starlight, inviting her to sit next to the starving Princess.

“Good morning, Tempest!” Starlight offered, putting their earlier encounter behind her.

“Good morning, Starlight Glimmer.” she responded, approaching and sitting down at the removed seat.

As her ravenous companions lustily eyed their breakfast, the teal-tinged member of the purple party corrected,

“Just Starlight is fine. Actually, certain friends of mine have taken to calling me Glim-Glam, so you can honestly just call me whatever.” With only a modicum of frustration at her own comical nickname, Starlight returned her attention to her food. Sensing something wrong with pile in front of her, she probed the pancakes with an inquisitive hoof.

“I’m sorry, the pancakes are all cold. I guess I shouldn’t have left them on the counter for so long. If you want, I could go heat up some syrup for them.” Starlight proposed, hoping her friends might be appeased by some slight warming of the food.

Hearing no answer, Starlight looked up from her plate, and witnessed the spectacle of two mares, having apparently endured far too many hours of fasting, taking monstrous bites of the food before them.

Seeing her friends totally unfazed by the temperature, the momentarily stunned unicorn gave a small chuckle, and began contentedly eating her food.

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Thundering along the malleable surface of the pseudo-yard of her cloud-based domicile, Rainbow Dash launched herself off with a powerful leap. Now soaring over empty air, she drew her wings forward, and dragged them back with great force, rapidly accelerating to a ferocious flight-speed. Her intense velocity drawing her away from her home, she left behind a passive-looking grey pegasus, blonde mane disheveled by her compatriots stalwart gale.

Her attention focused on tuning out the roaring whine of high speed air, little space remained vacant in the mare’s mind for passing rumination. What limited room existed for such things, was invariably dominated by a single thought.

They’d better leave some of the flank-kicking for me!

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Bellies full, and insatiability satiated, the three mares sat back in their chairs. With stomachs visibly protruding, they released loud groans of satisfaction.

“Thank you for the food, Starlight. I greatly appreciate the gesture.” Tempest said, “I haven’t felt this welcome in I-don’t-know how long.”

Suddenly struck by a thought, Starlight leaned in, leading with a question.

“Actually, how old are you, Tempest? You don’t look too much older than Twilight and me.”

Mustering the will to mount a small protest, Twilight interjected.

“‘...and I.’”

In response to the correction, Starlight foalishly fired back by blowing a raspberry, which elicited a small giggle from their captive audience, who then sat up, resting her hooves on the table.

“Honestly… I don’t really know.” she answered, her gaiety slowly swallowed by a dour look. “I was so little when I left, I can’t say what year it was. And I kind of lost track of time, I don’t know how long I was… out.”

Tempest was unable to hide her melancholy, and all present were silenced by the palpable difficulty of the conversation.

Wishing to smooth over the jagged terrain upon which she had trod, Starlight spoke up,

“I’m so sorry, Tempest... I didn’t mean to-”

She was cut off by the sound of shattering glass, followed by the *thump* of a body hitting the floor, and an echoing gallop.

The three shot up from their seats, looking toward the hallway from which the commotion came.

“...TWILIIIIIIIIGHT……………..TWIIIIIIIIIILIIIIIIIIIIGHT………………………………………….”

…

…

“TWILIIIIIIIGHT!”

Rainbow Dash sprinted into the room, skidding to a violent halt upon seeing the mares at the table.

“Where is it!?” she demanded. As the pegasus began heavily panting to catch her breath, Twilight launched into a spiel of her own questions.

“What in Celestia’s name are you talking about? Why did you break into the castle? Why didn’t you just use the door? What are you even doing here?”

Gathering her breath, Rainbow retorted, “The SPIDER!” as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

With the room’s three horniest occupants held in puzzled silence, Rainbow’s heaving dominated the soundscape. As her breathing calmed and evened, the cyan intruder straightened up, falling victim to the contagious confusion.

“Derpy said she heard the castle was under attack by a giant spider!”

Like the glass Rainbow had apparently made into an entrance, the tension in the room shattered, and with the exception of the nonplussed pegasus, everypony began unleashing great guffaws of mirth.

“Wh-wh-where did she get that idea!?” Twilight choked out through raucous laughter.

“Somepony must’ve heard Spike shouting about an attack, and figured that was what the spider was about!” Starlight answered, in between waves of snorts and giggles.

Most surprising of all their reactions was Tempest, who had been floored by shrieking laughter, and now rolled back-and-forth along the ground gleefully. If she had a response give to the joke’s unamused subject, it was long past drowned in a maelstrom of merriment.

Only then realizing that she had been made the victim of a very absurd game of Telephone, Rainbow Dash covered her blush with a heavy grumble, and began trotting back in the direction she came.

“NO…..w-w-wait…….r-r-r-r-Rainbow. D-d-d-d-d-don’t go!” Twilight sputtered out, slowly mastering herself, and wiping the joyous tears from her eyes. “No, seriously, wait up Rainbow.” She managed, drawing the mare’s attention. “I need to ask you for a favor.”

Immediately winding up to deliver an excuse, she began stepping away from her lavender friend. Before she could spawn an important task she needed to attend to, Twilight again commanded attention.

“I know you don’t have Wonderbolt practice today, you spent all of yesterday talking about how you couldn’t wait to spend today napping. Consider it repayment for you destroying that window, whichever one it was. As if this place isn’t drafty enough already.”

“Fine, Twi. You’ve got my attention, what do you need?” Rainbow submitted, knowing that arguing with her alicorn friend never got her anywhere.

“Would you please go see the girls, and tell them to come by if they’re free this evening? I want everypony to meet Tempest, properly. And that includes you.”

“Fine, I guess I can squeeze that into my sleep schedule. I’ll talk to the girls.” Rainbow yielded, again starting in the direction from which she had entered.

“And please use the door, this time.” Twilight added, gesturing in the general direction of the foyer.

“Ugh, fiiiiiiine.” she responded, cantering toward the main entrance, eager to escape the grasp of her taskmaster.

With the departure of their latest guest, those remaining straightened themselves out, wiping away tears and dusting off their coats.

“Twilight, shouldn’t it be really easy to repair the glass Rainbow breaks, y’know, magically?” Starlight asked, wondering if her mentor somehow lacked proficiency in such a basic type of repairing magic.

“I thought so myself, Starlight, but for some reason, when Rainbow crashes through a window, the sum of the shattered pieces of glass produced by the collision are significantly smaller than the hole she makes in the window. I’ve actually been studying the phenomenon recently. I’d never tell her this, but her destructive escapades make for an excellent research subject.” Twilight answered, revealing her vested interest in the subject.

“I never thought about that.” Starlight realized aloud. “And, shouldn’t she be, like, really badly injured every time she does that?”

“RIGHT!?” Twilight exclaimed, thrilled another pony had finally noticed such bizarre occurrences.

Then, as always, the ponies stood mystified by the consequences of living in a cartoon.

“But that can wait for later, Celestia knows how long it’ll take to figure out which window she broke. For now, I’ve got other stuff to think about.” Twilight concluded, leaving existential ponderance for another time.

“If you girls don’t mind, Trixie and I have plans, so I’m heading out. I’ll definitely come by this evening though!” Starlight announced.

“Great! Have a good time, and bring Trixie by too, if she wants!” Twilight affirmed.

With an appreciative nod, the unicorn departed, leaving only Tempest and her faux-jailer in the room.

“Should your dragon be awake? It must be around 11.” the fuschia unicorn posited.

“You mean Spike? No need to worry about him, he always sleeps late. Though I commend your time-telling ability, by my measure it’s about 11:15.” Twilight accompanied this thought by briefly conjuring a small, ethereal pocket-watch, which she read and swiftly dismissed. “Drat, 11:20.”

“Anyway, I figure we should spend the day getting you accustomed to the castle. I know the place is pretty intimidating.” Twilight suggested.

“I would be immensely grateful if you would go to the effort to help me so.” Tempest responded, expressing some surprise at the offer.

“Of course, Tempest! It’s really no trouble.” Worrying at the tone of her friend’s response, Twilight continued, “You do know that you aren’t really my prisoner? The things I said during the trial were just a formality. Though I can’t go sending you off on your own, that’s mostly because this is your new home, not because it’s your prison. I would never throw you in a cell, Tempest. I don’t even think this castle has any.”

“Thank you, Twilight. I’m just adjusting to all of this kindness, I guess.”

“Well you’d better get used to it, because there’s more kindness, and tons of friends, coming your way!” Twilight cheerily offered, hoping to brighten her friend’s outlook. “Now come with me, and I’ll show you the kitchen."

Gathering the dishes leftover from their pancake breakfast in a telekinetic grasp, the supportive alicorn led her quarry into the castle’s uncharacteristically modern kitchen.

Setting the plates and forks into the sink, Twilight extended an invitation to freely look around the kitchen, while she proceeded to carefully hoof-wash and store the wares.

After studying the contents of several cabinets and drawers, as well as seeing the various appliances with which the room was furnished, Tempest turned to her dish-washing companion.

“Twilight, I don’t mean to alarm you, but is something on fire?” Tempest asked, expressing concern.

Drying and returning the last dish to its cabinet, Twilight returned her attention to her surroundings, took a large sniff, and immediately coughed the inhaled air back out.

“No, I forgot, Starlight warned me that one of her pancakes burned really badly while we were talking in the bedroom.” She forced out, internal smacking herself for dragging her new friend into likely the foulest smelling room imaginable. “Let’s just leave the cooking classes for another time, Twilight jokingly resolved, before quickly leaving the room, Tempest following immediately after.

Gaining a safe distance from the offending area, Twilight came to a decision.

“Cleaning the smell out of there is going to take a while. I’ll just take care of it tonight, I’d hate to interrupt our day. For now, covering it up will have to do.” Twilight said, gathering a violet glow at her horn, and dispersing it, resulting in a bright flash within the unpleasant room. In from the kitchen wafted a powerful scent of oranges, not unpleasant, but struggling to fully cover the smell of burned food.

Moving on from their kitchen mishap, Twilight pointed a hoof toward the door through which Rainbow Dash and Starlight had exited.

“That door leads to the foyer, where the front door is, you can’t miss it. For now, let’s head to the map room.”

Twilight set off with confidence toward yet another door, Tempest making note of the way to the front door as she followed.

“Usually, when we aren’t eating, this is where we end up hanging out.” Twilight explained, as the pair traveled down a short hallway, and reached the door at its end. Pushing the door open, Twilight motioned her companion in, before entering herself.

Tempest stood, enraptured by the beauty of the chamber, with its crystal thrones, each decorated with the cutie mark of one of her new friends. As she stepped closer, she caught sight of the large table in the room’s center, upon which was superimposed an impressive recreation of Equestria.

“It’s beautiful.”

“That’s the Cutie Map, also known as the Friendship Map, and sometimes just The Map. It calls us to places around Equestria, when we’re needed to solve a friendship problem. And, tangentially, does it look slightly off center to you? Because ever since me and the girls went to Manehatten for a retreat, I swear the things been closer to me. Just a little.” Twilight asked, carefully scrutinizing the table’s placement, but unable to come to a satisfactory conclusion.

“Anyway, we might as well move on, no doubt you’ll be spending plenty of time in here in the immediate future.” Twilight said, walking out of the room with her friend in tow.

“Let me show you the main staircase, it’s in the foyer I told you about. Right now, we’re on the first floor, where most of the interesting stuff is. Starlight sleeps here, in a hall near yours. If you like, you can have a room closer to her. Or on a higher floor, if you want. Spike and I sleep in a room at the top of this place, which is a real shame, because the library is on the second floor.” Twilight giddily elaborated.

Tempest quietly sighed to herself, keeping pace with her lavender leader.

The duo, traveling through the kitchen, encountered their earlier inquisitor, in the form of a now-much-more-awake dragon.

“Good morning Spike! Sorry, Starlight made pancakes earlier, but we didn’t want to wake you, and we kind of ate them all.” Twilight sheepishly acknowledged.

“No problem, I wanted to sleep more than I wanted to eat. I’ll just grab something quick. What’re you two getting up to?” He asked, realizing the two had came from a different part of the castle.

“I’m just showing Tempest around, since she lives here now and all. We’ll probably be here for most of today, and the girls might be coming by this evening.” Twilight explained.

“Then, would it be okay if I head out after breakfast today, since you two will be here all day?” the adolescent implored, clearly desiring to do anything but chores with his day.

“Sure. Even my assistant should get days off, after all.” Twilight decided, again moving toward the foyer.

The two mares leaving the room, Spike set his eyes on the kitchen, and began walking.

Just as the ponies escaped earshot, a frustrated cry rang out from the kitchen.

“HOW DO YOU EVEN BURN ORANGES!?”

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Twilight and Tempest emerged on the second floor, one of the duo obviously more excited by the prospect of a library than the other.

“I know a library might not sound exciting, but you’re really in for a treat! This library is, in my well-researched opinion, the largest library south of Canterlot!” Twilight exclaimed, filled with both pride at the excellence maintenance of the castle’s crown jewel, and excitement at the prospect of her friend having access to every book she could ever need.

Twilight pushed open the library’s door, and delightedly led her companion in. Though the castle had doubtlessly proved its enormity before, Tempest could not help but let her jaw fall at the sight of the interior. More books than she had ever seen in her life, more books than she knew existed, lined the towering shelves.

“Isn’t it great? I don’t know if you read much before, but it’s a great hobby, you should ask Rainbow Dash about it! Plus, you can learn all about Equestria. My collection of books on historical and contemporary Equestria is exceedingly robust.” Twilight explained, gladdened by the thought of sharing so much knowledge with a friend.

“This is incredible, it really is. I don’t want to sound ungrateful, I’d love to learn more about Equestria, but maybe reading isn’t the best way to go about it. I can only read very...” she took a generous pause, lending heavy consideration to the words she was about to say. “......easy books.”

“Not much of a reader, then? That’s fine, not everything is quite as complicated as the stuff I like to read. I’m sure I’ve got plenty of history book written in perfectly plain speech.” Twilight affirmed.

“It’s fine, I haven’t really read anything, this stuff is probably all beyond me.” Tempest weakly stated.

“That’s okay, I used to run Ponyville’s public library, I have plenty of books for younger ponies!”

“No, really, reading is probably a little much for me right now.” Tempest offered, frailly.

“Don’t worry, lots of ponies aren’t the strongest readers, I even have books for young fillies, if you want!”

“I don’t think I was clear before. What I mean is……” Tempest visibly struggled with her words, as though attempting to speak them was deeply painful. Swallowing heavily, she finished, “I don’t know how to read. Or write.”

Tempest turn her head to the floor, showing a deep shame at the confession, only doubled by her friend’s previous enthusiasm to find books for her. The astonishing humiliation she felt at her own perceived failing, being both colossal and pronounced, shook Twilight.

“I’m so sorry Tempest! I didn’t realize…. I mean, I didn’t mean to offend you… I should’ve realized this was a difficult-”

Tempest interjected, saving her friend from a death-spiral of worried babbling.

“No, don’t apologize, it’s not your fault. I barely even knew the alphabet when I ran away. When I was wandering, and while I was with the Storm King, books were a scarce commodity, much less books in Equestrian. I’ve used more books to start fires than I’ve read.”

Witnessing her friend’s sad confession, and seeing the resigned expression on her face, it was all Twilight could do to not cry.

The two sat, both paralyzed by sorrow, for some time. Hating the sight of Tempest feeling morose more than she had almost anything else, Twilight grabbed her friend in a tight hug, and held her, silently.

As the two drew apart, Twilight’s face could be seen stained with tears, though she refused to yield to her instinct to sob.

“Tempest, let me teach you. Please, I’d be more than happy to.” she struggled out.

Feeling a smile of the most sincere gratitude she had ever felt break out across her face, Tempest herself began to feel tears well forth. “Thank you, Twilight.” Was all she managed, before descending into sobs.

Seeing her friend break down shattered the last of Twilight’s defenses, and the two began openly weeping. As though by instinct, they again embraced, pulled together by the bond of a sincere friendship.

The two, sitting together, heaved and bawled without end, burning with both anguish at hardships, and the rapture of being helped, and helping someone in need.

They remained for some time, holding each other, unquestioningly. One feeling the pain and misery of the other’s past. One feeling, for the very first time, the warmth of a pony who truly cared.

Comments

[Ri2]

Wouldn’t a military commander need to know how to read and write? Well, unless Grubber handled it

[Vaguely Demented]

It would have made more sense to say a snake was involved. If for no other reason than Twilight has fought spiders bigger than her.

[Mr Swanky Hat]

Military life had afforded her the convenience of rarely being expected to take great care of her appearance, and she limited her self-grooming to regular, frigid showers.

A crap military if they don't take pride in their uniform

[TheYear2525]

With the room’s three horniest occupants held in puzzled silence,

Ok, I at least think that you meant the occupants with the biggest horns there. Because, you know, horny means something...erm...that wouldn't fit very well into the context here. I think...

[TheYear2525]

8575709
I like how your name goes with your looks. It delights me over and over again, when I encounter your comments below the various stories .