After The Storm

by Bluecatcinema

Shadow Time

Author's Note:

This chapter contains references and characters from the novel "The Stormy Road to Canterlot".

Tempest Shadow and Grubber were making their way through a small forest, just north-west of Canterlot.

"Are we there yet?" Grubber asked, carrying a bag full of treats from the Festival of Friendship on his back.

"No, Grubber." Tempest replied.

A week had passed since they had departed the capital, and they were intent on finding a place where they could settle down.

Tempest was bereft of the armor she'd worn while serving the Storm King, keeping only the fabric underneath, which covered the entirety of her torso. On the way out of Canterlot, she had been approached by the Royal Guard, who wished to study the armor to see if it shared any traits with the magic-deflecting shields the Storm Guard had carried. Tempest was quite glad to get rid of the armor, and had been generously reimbursed for it; Tempest planned to put the money to good use on her and Grubber's journey.

It still felt strange to once again be trotting on the ground with her bare hooves, not only due to the sensation, but because there was no longer a rhythmic metal tapping as she walked. Instead, there was another repeating sound.

"...Are we there yet?" Grubber asked a few moments later.

"No." Tempest said through gritted teeth.

Another few moments passed, during which there was only the sound of their hoof/footsteps and the natural noises of nature.

"...Are we there yet?" Grubber asked again.

"No, Grubber, we are not there yet!" Tempest yelled, exasperated. She may have reformed, but she was never a particularly patient pony. "We don't even know where there is yet!"

"...Sorry." Grubber said awkwardly. He pulled a confection out of the bag. "Cupcake?"

"No thanks." Tempest shook her head.

"Hey, you need to keep your blood sugar levels up." Grubber urged. "And this thing's gotta be about eighty percent sugar!"

"I'm fine." Tempest assured him. "Trust me, I've gone far longer without food in my time."

Grubber looked at the cupcake, tempted to eat it himself. But he managed to resist the temptation.

"I'll just... put it here, in case you change your mind." He placed the cupcake back in the bag.

For the next few minutes, they walked in silence.

"So... any idea where we're headed?" Grubber asked.

"Kind of. It's been years since I've been in Equestria." Tempest added. "But I've got a feeling there's a town or village up ahead."

"Good, because my feet are killing me." Grubber groaned. "Say, what are the chances of you carrying me the rest of the way?"

"Honestly? Not good." Tempest said with a wry smile.

"Aw, jeez..." Grubber pouted.

"I'm tired too." Tempest pointed out. "I've been walking for just as long as you have, remember?"

"Yeah, but your legs are longer." Grubber countered. "These stubby li'l legs of mine have to make like, four times as many steps just to cover as much ground as you do."

"Just try and hang in there." Tempest encouraged him. "The trees are starting to thin out. We should be getting out of this forest soon."

"I hope so." Grubber sighed.

Just as Tempest predicted, they soon reached the end of the forest, and saw a village up ahead.

"There, I told you." Tempest smirked.

"Oh, sweet civilization!" Grubber smiled. "And just in time. My treat bag was getting a little light... please say we can stop off at the nearest bakery before we go?"

"Sure, why not?" Tempest rolled her eyes.

"You're the best, Tempest!" Grubber said gratefully.

"If you try to hug me, you're getting zapped." Tempest deadpanned.

"Duly noted." Grubber retorted.

As they entered the village, the two took note of their surroundings.

"Nice." Grubber mused. "Not exactly Canterlot, but it's definitely better than Klugetown."

"Yeah..." Tempest mused. She was getting a distinct sense of deja vu, and not just because some of the village ponies were staring at her broken horn. Something about this particular village seemed almost familiar to her. She couldn't put her hoof on it... until they turned a corner, and Tempest saw a street sign reading "Canter Avenue". "Oh, no..."

At that moment, Tempest knew exactly where they were: Clydesvale, her home town.

'How could I have not recognized this place?' She asked herself.

As Tempest had said herself, she had been away from Equestria for a long time (not to mention she didn't travel much before the Ursa Minor incident). Even so, she couldn't believe she'd forgotten the location of the town of her birth.

"Grubber, we have to go." Tempest ordered.

"Already?" Grubber frowned. "But you said we could check out the local bakery!"

"I know what I said." Tempest hissed. "But we have to get out of here, right no-"

"Fizzlepop? Fizzlepop Berrytwist?"

Tempest froze. Only a few ponies knew her by that name, and that voice didn't sound like it belonged to any of the ones she wanted to see at the moment. She turned around, and saw two Unicorn mares approaching, mares she instantly recognized, despite the fact that they were much taller than she remembered.

One mare had a light blue coat, a darker blue mane with noticeable bangs, maroon eyes, and a Cutie Mark of a sun peeking out over a rain cloud. Her name was Spring Rain.

The other mare had a green coat, a pale green, curly mane, purple eyes, and a Cutie Mark of two stars connected by a circle. Her name was Glitter Drops.

Once, they were Tempest's closest friends. But that was before the incident with the Ursa Minor. Before Tempest lost her horn. Before it all went bad...

Tempest wanted more than anything to turn around and leave before her former friends reached her. But she was paralyzed, as the memories of them, both good and bad, flooded her mind. Before she knew it, they were face to face.

"It is you." Spring Rain examined Tempest closely. "...Wow, you got tall..."

"You're really here." Glitter Drops gaped. "You're back."

"Not by choice." Tempest growled. Seeing them up close reminded her of all the pain she'd suffered. And the fact that they were so eager to just come up and talk to her made her feel even angrier.

"But still, you're here." Spring Rain pointed. "It was only a matter time, really..."

"What do you mean?" Tempest frowned.

"When we heard about what happened over in Canterlot - how there was an invasion led by a Unicorn with a broken horn - we knew it had to be you." Glitter Drops declared. "Not exactly how we'd have preferred to hear about you after all these years..."

"Let's just say I made some bad choices." Tempest said flatly.

"That's putting it mildly." Glitter Drops scoffed. "Where did you go? You just... left one day!"

"We were worried sick about you!" Spring Rain added.

"That's not the impression I got." Tempest said bitterly.

"What do you mean?" Spring Rain asked.

"Don't act like you don't know." Tempest scowled.

"Er... Tempest?" Grubber intervened. "Aren't you going to introduce me?"

"'Tempest'?" Glitter Drops frowned.

"Fine." Tempest sighed. "Grubber, these are Spring Rain and Glitter Drops, old... acquaintances of mine."

"Hi." Grubber waved.

"Well, hello there." Spring Rain looked down at him.

"Aw, look at him." Glitter Drops cooed. "He's kinda cute... y'know in an ugly kind of way..."

"Thanks... I think." Grubber smiled.

"Now, we really must be going." Tempest roughly nudged Grubber towards the way out of town.

"What? Why are you going?" Spring Rain frowned. "All these years of not seeing each other, and you're just going to up and leave again? We're your friends!"

Tempest stopped in her tracks, once again turning to face her childhood playmates.

"Are you?" She asked coldly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Glitter Drops demanded.

"If you were really my friends, you wouldn't have been so eager to go off to Celestia's school, and leave me behind!" Tempest yelled, unleashing a small part of the resentment she had held in over the years. "We all dreamt of going, but only you two got to live that dream, while I got left with nothing. You were going to leave me behind!"

"I knew it." Spring Rain turned to Glitter Drops. "See? I told you it was our fault she left!"

"Maybe not completely our fault." Glitter Drops retorted. "Fizzlepop, after the accident, we did everything we could to help you. But did you really expect us to give up our dreams, just like that?"

"Maybe I did." Tempest spat. "And maybe if you had, that attack in Canterlot might never have happened." Her eyes narrowed. "Since you were all set to leave me behind, I went off on my own, beyond Equestria. That's where I met the Storm King, and struck a deal for me to serve him. So when you think about it, it's actually your fault Equestria almost fell to the Storm King. All because you wouldn't stay with me."

"Excuse me? You're the one who left first!" Glitter Drops shot back. "Technically, you abandoned us!"

"What?!" Tempest snarled, her horn sparking with her anger.

"Glitter!" Spring Rain yelled.

"...Sorry." Glitter Drops wilted under their combined anger. "I-I shouldn't have-"

"No, you shouldn't." Tempest growled. "In fact, there are a lot of things you both shouldn't have done back then. Or maybe things you should've done, if you catch my drift."

"Fizzlepop, we're sorry if we ever made you feel like we were going to abandon you." Spring Rain apologized. "After the accident, we did our best to try and help you. But it looks like our best just wasn't good enough."

"No, it wasn't." Tempest said coldly.

"Fizzlepop, I-" Glitter Drops started.

"Stop calling me that." Tempest said through gritted teeth.

"But that's your name." Spring Rain pointed out.

"It was." Tempest frowned. "But I haven't felt like Fizzlepop Berrytwist in a long time. That's why I go by Tempest Shadow now."

"Seriously?" Glitter Drops snorted. "Kinda over the top, don't you think?"

"Not. Helping." Spring Rain growled.

"Some things never change." Tempest sneered. "Neither of you were ever much help. Maybe if you'd actually helped me get our ball back on that awful day, none of this would've happened."

"Or maybe that Ursa Minor would have gotten us all - and done far worse than just chop our horns." Glitter Drops pointed out.

"At least then, we'd all have been in the same boat." Tempest said bitterly.

"Fizzlepop..." Spring Rain declared.

"It's Temp-" Tempest began.

"Not to us, it's not." Spring Rain cut her off. "To us, you'll always be Fizzlepop Berrytwist. Nothing will ever change that. Not your leaving. Not what you did over in Canterlot. Nothing."

Tempest's frown faded slightly, as she acknowledged the sincerity in Spring Rain's words.

"Why don't we just leave the past in the past, and start over?" Glitter Drops suggested.

"If only it were that easy..." Tempest said skeptically.

"No matter what you thought of us, we did miss you after you left." Spring Rain declared. "But not as much as- Oh!" She suddenly gasped. "Your parents!"

"...My parents?" Tempest froze again.

"Wait until they hear you're back!" Spring Rain smiled.

"They're not going to hear it, because nopony is telling them." Tempest growled.

"Wait, what?" Glitter Drops frowned. "They need to know. They were broken-hearted when you left. They're going to be so happy to see you again!"

"Oh, I'm sure they will." Tempest said sarcastically. "They'll be so happy to see their traitor of a daughter. The mare who betrayed her homeland for her own selfish reasons. They'll be ecstatic." She started pushing Grubber toward the edge of town again. "Come on, Grubber. We're leaving."

"Fizzlepop, wait!" Spring Rain yelled.

"Shouldn't you-?" Glitter Drops started.

"Don't try to stop me." Tempest retorted.

"But... don't you wanna see your folks again?" Grubber asked.

"No." Tempest said bluntly.

"But... but you've gotta!" Grubber urged. "You can't just-"

"I can, and I will." Tempest countered.

"...No, you won't." Grubber suddenly planted himself firmly on the ground.

"And what do you think you're doing?" Tempest growled.

"Staying right here." Grubber declared. "I'm not leaving until you talk to your parents. If you wanna leave, then you'll have to go by yourself."

'Seriously? He picks now of all times to grow a spine?' Tempest thought.

The old Tempest would have left Grubber behind. But the new Tempest couldn't do that. She'd meant what she said in Canterlot about not wanting to go it alone anymore.

"Okay, fine." She groaned. "If it gets you off that lazy rear, I'll go and... see my parents."

"Great!" Grubber stood up. "You'll thank me later, trust me."

"I'm gonna do something to you later..." Tempest scowled.

"We're coming too!" Glitter Drops declared.

"No thanks." Tempest said bluntly.

"Clearly, you need all the emotional support you can get." Spring Rain stated. "Besides, we're not going to let you go it alone again."

"Whatever." Tempest growled. "As long as you don't waste my time arguing about it..."

Flanked by Grubber and her former friends, Tempest made her way to her old house. With every step, she felt as if her hooves weighed ten times as much as usual. Spring Rain and Glitter Drops were one thing, but her parents were another matter entirely. Tempest had left them behind like everypony else, and gone on to do awful things. She didn't want to think about what they would think of her.

In what seemed like no time at all, Tempest was outside her childhood cottage, a nondescript building of wood and stone, with a straw roof. He stood in front of the door, raising her hoof... which hovered inches in front of it, as Tempest hesitated. She then felt a soft touch on her other hoof. She looked down to see Grubber, giving her a supportive smile.

'Okay, here goes...' Tempest took a deep breath, then knocked on the door.

"Coming!" A female voice sang.

The door opened, revealing an older Unicorn mare with icy blue eyes, an orange coat, and a Cutie Mark of an orange slice. Her mane was the same color as Tempest's, but worn in a loose, shoulder-length style.

"Hello, can I-" The mare started. She froze as looked at Tempest, taking in both her broken horn and her general appearance.

"Hello... Mom." Tempest said quietly.

"Fizzlepop?" The mare held a hoof to her mouth. "Is it really you?"

"Yes." Tempest nodded.

"My baby!" Tempest's mother wept as she embraced her. "You're finally home!"

"What's going on out here?" A middle-aged stallion with a green mane, teal eyes, the same purple coat as Tempest, and a Cutie Mark of three plums joined them. "Tangerine Twist, are you crying?"

"Plum Pop, look who it is!" Tangerine Twist smiled. "It's Fizzlepop!"

"It... It is?" Plum Pop gaped at Tempest, who smiled awkwardly. "Our little filly... You've come back to us!"

Plum Pop joined his wife in hugging her. Spring Rain and Glitter Drops silently cooed over the touching reunion, while Grubber wiped a year from his eye.

"It's so good to see you, sweetheart." Plum Pop sniffed. "We always dreamed of this..."

"I sure hope this isn't a dream." Tangerine Twist declared. She then noticed Spring Rain and Glitter Drops. "Hello, girls!"

"Hi, Tangerine." Spring Rain waved.

"Hello, Mr Pop!" Glitter Drops added.

"Well, this is quite a gathering." Plum Pop noted. "Why don't we all go inside and catch up?"

"It's better than just standing here, I guess." Tempest shrugged.

Tempest, her parents, Spring Rain, Glitter Drops and Grubber all made their way into the living room. For Tempest, it was like a walk down memory lane; the inside of the house looked more of less exactly as she remembered. Some things were more weathered, and the curtains had been replaced, but everything else looked the same, right down to the tacky floor rug Plum Pop had bought one summer.

"We've been hoping for this day for so long." Tangerine Twist sniffed as she embraced her daughter once more. "The day you finally came home."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves." Tempest declared. "Believe it or not, I didn't plan on coming back here today. Or seeing you again. That was due to... Extenuating circumstances." She threw a glare at Grubber.

"That sounds like a cue to me." Grubber stepped forward. "Sir, ma'am, my name's Grubber, and I'm your daughter's current best friend. Nice to meet you."

"And you too, little guy." Plum Pop answered awkwardly, having just noticed Grubber's presence. Like most of Equestria's inhabitants, he and his wife had never seen one of Grubber's species before.

"It's good to know our daughter had somepony with her." Tangerine Twist declared. "All those years, I couldn't bare the idea of you being all by yourself, Fizzy." She held her daughter's face.

"I... did okay." Tempest replied. "I survived, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did." Tangerine Twist smiled. "We spent so many sleepless nights, afraid that you suffered some terrible fate out there."

"Though it seems you might have suffered a quite different fate." Plum Pop frowned.

"I'm guessing you heard about what happened in Canterlot?" Tempest cringed.

"Yes." Plum Pop said sternly. "We could barely believe it at first. We tried to convince ourselves that it must have been some other Unicorn mare with a broken horn. Because we didn't want to admit our daughter could do something like that."

"Well, I did." Tempest admitted. "I chose to help the Storm King because he promised to restore my horn. But it was all a lie. Once I got him what he wanted, he betrayed me."

"Oh, Fizzy..." Tangerine Twist frowned.

"Truth is, I wouldn't even be here if Princess Twilight hadn't saved me." Tempest declared. "And I saved her and her friends in return."

"We heard about that, too." Plum Pop nodded.

"You probably don't think that's anywhere near enough to make up for what I did." Tempest sighed. "Neither do I. But Princess Twilight, her friends, and even the other Princesses all forgave me so easily. I was expecting them to do something along the lines of throwing me in the Canterlot dungeons instead."

"Well, it's a good thing they didn't." Tangerine Twist smiled. "Or you wouldn't be here right now."

"I'm sorry." Tempest apologized. "I was so desperate to be whole again, I just lost sight of everything else."

"If only we could have found a way to fix your horn, this could have all been avoided." Plum Pop sighed. "But no matter which doctor we went to, none of them could do a thing to help you."

"There was a lot of that going around, apparently." Glitter Drops deadpanned.

"Yes, there was." Tempest growled, not liking Glitter Drops' tone. "At least my parents tried to find a way to fix the problem. You and Spring Rain did nothing but feed me a lot of nonsense about how my broken horn 'wasn't that big a problem', and promised to stick by me... a promise neither of you could keep, by the way."

"We were kids, Fizzlepop." Spring Rain pointed out. "We tried our hardest to help you, but we weren't perfect."

"On that, we agree." Tempest glared. "You called yourselves my friends, but you let me down. And because of that, I ended up wandering the lands outside Equestria for years. I ended up working for the Storm King, attacking my own kind, all of because of you-"

"That's enough, young lady!" Plum Pop said angrily.

Tempest stopped mid-sentence. She had never seen her father so angry before.

"I'll admit, we all could have handled things a little better." Plum Pop confessed. "But Spring Rain and Glitter Drops don't deserve to take the blame for what happened. You do."

"Plum!" Tangerine Twist gasped.

"But... I..." Tempest spluttered.

"You chose to leave Clydesvale." Plum Pop pointed out. "Chose to leave Equestria. Chose to serve the Storm King. Chose to attack Canterlot in his name. You made all of those decisions yourself. And you need to take responsibility for them, like an adult, and not blame your oldest friends for something that was beyond their control. Am I making myself clear?"

"I... I...!" Tempest stuttered, her bottom lip quivering. Suddenly, she dropped to the floor, weeping into the tacky rug.

Spring Rain looked on in shock. Even Glitter Drops, who had earlier voiced a similar opinion, was horrified by what had just happened.

"Tempest!" Grubber yelped, rushing forward to comfort her.

"Fizzy!" Tangerine Twist embraced her daughter. "Plum, how could you?"

"I'm sorry, Tangerine, but I had to do it." Plum Pop bowed his head.

"Do what? Break your daughter's heart?!" Tangerine Twist yelled.

"Mom, stop." Tempest raised her head, tears still running her cheeks. "Dad's... dad's right. I did make those choices myself. Nopony else made them for me. Glitter Drops tried to help me see that before, but I wouldn't listen."

"Well, I didn't think the solution was a harsher tone of voice." Glitter Drops frowned.

"I'm sorry I had to be so harsh with you, darling." Plum Pop declared, as he embraced his daughter. "But I needed to help you see sense... some good old-fashioned fatherly scolding seemed like the best option."

"It was." Tempest wiped her eyes.

"Now, I think you owe a certain pair of someponies an apology." Plum Pop pointed in Spring and Rain and Glitter Drops' direction."

"Okay..." Tempest said reluctantly. "Spring Rain, Glitter Drops, I'm sorry for blaming you for, well, everything."

"We're sorry, too." Spring Rain placed her hoof on Tempest's shoulder.

"Just don't do it again, okay?" Glitter Drops joked, as she place her hoof on Tempest's other shoulder.

"Oh, this is such a beautiful moment!" Tangerine Twist joined the embrace.

"Mind if I join in?" Grubber hugged Tempest's leg.

"Sure, why not?" Tempest rolled her eyes.

Moments later, the hug ended, and group separated.

"We've kept your room just the way it was when you left." Tangerine Twist declared. "I imagine you'll want to get rid of the toys, but it should be just fine."

"Mom, I... I'm not staying." Tempest admitted.

"What?" Tangerine Twist frowned. "Why?"

"Grubber and I need to find our own way." Tempest declared. "Our own place to belong. It's been good to see you both again - better than I thought - but like dad said, I'm a grown mare. I shouldn't be living with my parents."

"Well, that doesn't mean you have to up and leave entirely." Plum Pop told her. "There's a cottage for rent, just outside town. Maybe you and your little friend could stay there? We'd be happy to spot you some rent money-"

"We have money, dad." Tempest interrupted. "But that's not the problem. This whole village still holds a lot of bad memories."

"Please, don't leave us again." Tangerine Twist pleaded. "I can't stand the thought of losing you twice, Fizzy."

"Mom..." Tempest faltered, affected by the pained look on her mother's face.

"It would be a better end to the day if we could sleep in a cottage, instead of walking until night falls, and sleeping rough, like every other night this week." Grubber pointed out.

"It's your call, sweetheart." Plum Pop assured her.

"Oh... okay." Tempest groaned. "We'll stay in that cottage. For now."

"Sweet." Grubber grinned. "Hope the place has a fridge. My snacks are starting to get stale."

"Wonderful." Plum Pop smiled. "If you like, I can take the first payment over to the realtors, so you can get settled in right away."

"I guess that would help." Tempest admitted, passing some Bits over him. "Thanks, dad."

"What are fathers for?" Plum Pop smiled. "This one's definitely going to make up for lost time..."

Plum Pop gave his daughter a hug, then headed out to the realtors' office.

"You'll always be welcome here, Fizzy." Tangerine Twist hugged her daughter one last time. "Always."

"Thanks, mom." Tempest returned the hug.

"Come back soon?" Tangerine twist asked.

"I'll try." Tempest pledged. "Goodbye for now, though."

"Goodbye." Tangerine Twist whispered.

"Come on, Grubber." Tempest urged. "Let's go check out this cottage."

"Right behind ya." Grubber nodded.

As Tempest and Grubber departed her former home, they found themselves followed by Spring Rain and Glitter Drops.

"Wait!" Spring Rain called. "Fizzlepop, you have every right to resent us for not being able to help you all those years. But at least give us the chance to make things right with you."

"We could start over again." Glitter Drops offered. "A clean state. Leave the past in the past. What do you say?"

"I, well..." Tempest frowned, unsure. Even after the cathartic events of the day, there was still a part of her that resisted the idea of reconciliation. "I just... need some time. This has been a long day, and I have to process everything."

"That's fair." Spring Rain nodded.

"You can take all the time you need." Glitter Drops smiled. "Just come to us when you're ready."

"...Thank you." Tempest said weakly. "Grubber, let's go."

"For real this time, I hope..." Grubber joked.

After stopping by the bakery and refilling Grubber's snack bag, the two of them made their way to the cottage, which was indeed just outside of town. It was no less modest-looking than the other buildings in the village, save for its garden being slightly overgrown.

"So... this is our new home?" Grubber asked.

"I suppose it is." Tempest nodded. 'After all this time, I ended up right back where I started... I don't know if that's poetic, or just ironic...'

Comments

[annonymus]

I’m happy that the main villain was killed.

YAAAAHHH!!! WHOOOOO! PAYBACK TIME, FORCES OF EVIL!!!

[Mirror Star]

Hope things work out for Tempest

[Speculore]

Honestly, Tempest's backstory was a low point in the movie for me. It seemed way too rushed and they glossed over a few details that would have helped to expand upon it better. For example, why not have her come out of a hospital or something in the flashback instead of just seeing her walk down the street looking mopey. This chapter was really good, but it would have been better had you included that detail that I just mentioned.

[SilverDiamond]

This NOT how you welcome a runaway family member. Bullshit. First point was how that coward of a queen saw NOTHING wrong with sitting pretty and not helping overthrow a dummy storm, she PUNISHED someone who HELPED... And now this. "Yeah, you're back, but hey, was your own damned fault". BULLSHIT. Disliked the story.