The hardest part growing up in the Gru household for Tempest was dealing with the girls. Despite Tempest's determination to interact with them like and think of them as sisters, they did not see her the same way. Their interactions with her made it plain to her that they saw her as either a pet, an awesome toy, or a baby to take care of. She'd settled on waiting until she was able to speak their language clearly before fixing their misconceptions in that regard. The first time she called one of them 'sis' or 'sister' would change their outlook, certainly. ...of course, that all assumed she survived growing up with them while not seen as a sibling.
Edith was Tempest's favorite girl to interact with one-on-one, if she was being honest. When she wasn't running around with the other two as a group, she would actively seek out mischief she could get into, often sneaking around like a ninja in the process. Tempest fit alongside that immediately, especially after her terrorizing of Kyle. Edith had immediately started taking her along whenever she could get away with it, whether to steal cookies, drop water balloons, or sneak some dangerous bit of equipment out of Nefario's lab. She was especially excited the first time Tempest walked up a wall alongside her...though Tempest had been shocked she'd managed it. She could feel the magic energy being channeled out the crystal, up through her horn, and then back down into her body and out her hooves to affix her to the wall as she walked, but she hadn't consciously shaped the energies. It had only taken her a moment to realize that the Minion Overthought had analyzed what she was trying to do and plugged the intent directly into the crystal, letting it shape it on its own to make it work. ...that would take some getting used to.
Stealing cookies proved easy and relatively harmless, at least once Margo had been reassured by Gru, Nefario, and the Minions that chocolate chips were not in any way harmful to Tempest. Dropping water balloons filled both girls with wicked glee, especially after Edith discovered that Tempest could easily chill the water to icy temperatures without letting any of the water freeze. The sight of the other girls Edith's age around the block - the ones who automatically shut Edith out as 'the weird one' - fleeing and shivering was most satisfying. Trying to swipe equipment from Nefario's lab for antics unnerved Tempest at first...until she realized her Overthought connection meant the Minions knew when Edith was coming and could ensure that nothing left out to be swiped would be especially dangerous. ...admittedly, when one wanted to prank rather than cause deliberate harm, there wasn't much better in the lab to use than the Fart Gun, and Edith loved it!
Tempest did her best to avoid one-on-one time with Agnes. Not that she had anything personal against the youngest girl, far from it. After all, it was Agnes' obsession with all things unicorn that led to Gru and Nefario giving Tempest back her horn, and she'd never forget that. However, Agnes was still quite young, and as such didn't have the best concept of consequences for her actions. Her abortive first attempt at feeding Tempest - or 'Fizzie', as she insisted on calling her - was the start of a trend. While Agnes had learned to control her volume, she had not learned to control her urges or her muscles. If Tempest was lucky, she'd get away from any one-on-one time with Agnes with an excessively pink makeover. If she was unlucky, Agnes would attempt to feed her or have a tea party with her, and she'd have to desperately struggle not to get a spoon lodged in her throat. She wasn't going to attempt to evade it by turning her head ever again, though. Having it lodged in her ear was almost as bad.
One-on-one time with Margo - though rare, as Margo considered it her responsibility to rein in the other two - was the most relaxing. Margo, possibly due to having acted as a stand-in mother for her two sisters for so long, tending towards quiet activities when left to her own devices. Whenever Edith and Agnes were suitably - and safely - distracted, Margo could be found laying back in some out of the way location where she could be easily seen but not easily reached reading a book from the library, whether public or house. She didn't object at all if Tempest clambered up to curl up against her, and happily laid an arm around her to both steady her and stroke her mane. The first time Tempest had looked inquisitively at the pages, Margo had happily begun reading to her, tracing a finger along the words without even seeming to think about it. It was obviously a habit from teaching Edith and Agnes to read, and allowed Tempest to readily assimilate this world's written language...s. Margo apparently didn't limit herself to English for her reading. Tempest wondered if Papa or Nefario realized just how intelligent Margo actually was. It was one thing to accept a child as precocious, quite another to realize an 11 year old was reading the Iliad and Odyssey in the original Greek for relaxation.
However, Tempest had the easiest time with the girls when they were all together. Margo immediately took on the role of peacekeeper/disciplinarian in making sure Edith and Agnes behaved, and did so without causing upset. Edith would rein in her mischievous antics for the group activity, and Margo and Edith would both keep an eye on Agnes' antics to ensure she didn't accidentally injure herself or others. A tea party for four or more was always enjoyable, especially if one or more of the Minions could participate as guests or butlers...and even more so when Papa joined in as well.
As much as she tried to keep herself objective on things, Tempest had to admit that nothing was quite so enjoyable as when she, her sisters, and her Papa were sitting around a little table in silly dresses drinking tea, eating cookies, and talking silly at each other while the Minions bustled around them to make sure everyone had everything they wanted. For the first time in as long as she could remember...she felt like part of a family. She was part of a family. Growing up all over again was worth it for this.
When the time came, she knew she wouldn't be able to give this up. So she just promised herself that she'd do a good job making a good impression when she got back to Equestria...and give Discord a proper 'thank you' for doing all this. She already knew exactly what she would do...and the Minions found the idea hilarious.
One First. Two this is gold
This chapter has WAY too much adorable in it.
Can't wait for more.
YAY UPDATE! Also - BOOOOO, CLIFF HANGER!
Seriously, ending the chapter on that was cruel. Now I'm going to be stuck waiting who knows (you... maybe) how many chapters to find out what she's planning.
Hey! Welcome back, Tats! I hope you managed to get a good bit of R&R in. While it's awesome to see updates again, I'd rather it happen without stressing you out.
I just had a thought... this seems to start between movie 1 and movie 2...
So... how will El Macho's "manliness" fair against the adorable fury of baby Tempest.
My bet is less than 5 minutes...
And then there is the issue of him mutating the minions..
Woo! I love that thing. I wonder if it will be involved in her thank-you plan for dear Discord?
Y'know, mutating the minions would be interesting, since she's tied in to them. I wonder if she'd get some sort of superpowered nightmare-variant once that happens? That would be a good way to beat the guy, honestly -- if she maintains her reason to some extent, and aims herself at him, it could be an awesome and rather sudden end to El Macho's reign of terror.
Glad to see this return. And she's learning to read their languages. This can't end well. :D Muahahaha...
(The only thing I could see being funnier than this is if the CMC meets those children (but it would probably not be so amusing long-term, so that's why this story is great), but I am sure that it will happen at some point...)
HEEEEEEEEEEEE'S BAAAAACK!
Yay! My favorite dealer... ehm. I mean, 'author' is back! (Seriously, I've had the shakes so bad. You know I need my story crack!) In all seriousness, welcome back! I hope you got a good chance to relax. We've missed you.
I have no idea on how Equestria would handle this. On one hand, they still have Chrysalis and unknown number of her follower green bugs, now Tempest would march to the Harmony land with her band of enthusiastic yellow bipedal walking capsules.
Well, Discord should be nervous, and I need a new popcorn machine. Mine's worn out.
Pull the lever, Bob.
“BANANA!!!”
(Discord is sucked into a rising canon, pointed toward the night sky.)
He’s going to wish there were bananas-
(A larger canon sucks Discord’s canon, some minions, and Tempest.)
Celestia is laughing, “That’s mah line sista! And speaking of sisters... TO THE MOOOOOOOOOONA BEEEEEEEYEEEEETCH!”
It's when Margo starts reading Sun Tzu that you start worrying where her hobbies are leading her
It's alive!
Wow, I knew she was smart but we got the makings of a super genius here. Would love to see Gru or Nefario try to take her under their wing.
If the minions find it hilarious it either involves slapstick, or the fart gun XD
I wonder what their future mother would think of her eldest daughters reading habits. We are hopefully due for her appearance. Otherwise love seeing this story back and look forward to the cooler weather that should be here soon.
Jesus.
my feelings on this:
Tempest? You're gonna need a bigger fart gun. Yes, I think Discord would appreciate that.
That's probably the best way to tea off the return of a story of being young again ain't it?
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Or both
Mama Margo is cute Mama, she should call her mother accidently or not maybe.
Nice chapter, I hope no matter where she goes, it's going to be with her family.
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The Miracle Man is back?! Huzzah! Finally I can get me some death sticks... er... sweet fics!
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You don't want to sell me death sticks. *casually waves hand*
Welcome back! Also, I'm glad Tempest is growing to love her new family.
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I don't want to sell you deathsticks
UPDATE! Thank you and loved the chapter. The bit with the water balloons was righteous payback. Even if her personality leaned a bit towards Wednesday Addams, Edith is NOT that weird a kid!
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You want to go home, and read more pony fanfics. *waves hand again*
Wait. If Margo's so incredible with language, doesn't that mean she either has or will learn the Minion language? Huh, that could prove useful.
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I want to go home, and read more pony fanfics.
Wait a second I am already doing that
Welcome back Tatsurou
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fart gun, why not fart cannon?
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Ask Pinkie for some help then, she might find it hilarious as well
with them, like THEM,
This whole thing about Tempest controlling the minions - and the inevitable death machine we all know you'll inevitably make of them - makes me think of the other PWNY stories where the ponies have armies. Pretty much all of those are accustomed to being alpha dogs and always getting their way. Even when presented with the possibility of an overwhelming threat they'll need to unite to defeat, I foresee an awful lot of tension among the various commanders, especially once they realize they'll need a clear chain of command to properly coordinate their efforts.
Twilight, as the commander of a galactic fleet, would seem to be the most logical choice. Then again, with that kind of overwhelming force, I imagine you'll want to take steps to nerf her and the others. Discord, as king of the gods, might throw his hat in, but I can also see how he'd be sensible enough to realize that his forces aren't exactly the best at cooperating. I don't see Chrysalis bowing down to any higher authority, although I suspect Vinyl will be more chillax about the whole ordeal so long as she gets to have her fun.
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'Cause that might lead to making Tempest the fart cannon. Remember Mr. Toots from Red Faction: Armageddon?
Nice to see her having fun.