All My Failures

by gmoyes

Chapter 4

Tempest found herself walking down the hallway to the Canterlot throne room, accompanied by a few Stormguards, Grubber and a caged Princess Twilight on a pony-drawn cart. The capture of the last princess was more of an annoyance than anything else. She and her friends slipped through her hooves a few times, but they never put up much of a fight. And in the end, Princess Twilight, alone and distracted, was easy prey for Tempest. Once trapped, the poor Princess of Friendship tried to negotiate, tried to understand why Tempest was helping the Storm King. So Tempest had explained. She told her about the true nature of the world, not just beyond the borders of their all so magical land, but even the truths within it.

The princess was broken, innocence shattered, but Tempest was only scraping the surface of what was out there. What happens beyond Equestria’s borders, what happens while ponies do nothing but party among themselves. About what she had to endure, what scars she bore. She knew that the princess saw Klugetown, that was just one of many such depraved locations just outside of the reach of ponies. And judging by the state of Griffonia, even some pockets existed within Equestria’s sphere of influence.

The pair of Stormguards who were leading their procession opened the large double doors into the throne room of the royal sisters. There the sisters, as well as Princess Cadence, stood motionlessly, expressions frozen on their faces, hearts as cold as stone. Tempest wondered how many ponies got that exact reception when they came to get an audience with Princesses Celestia and Luna. Probably more often than most ponies thought.

As Princess Twilight’s cage passed the crystalized form of Princess Celestia, Tempest could see a look of horror on the younger princess’ face. From what she heard, Princess Celestia practically raised her as a filly. Tempest could guess that Princess Twilight was remembering her mentor’s last moments, the moments of her screaming and turning to stone. The moments where the little princess ran in fear to avoid the same fate. The moments of Princess Celestia’s failure and Tempest’s victory.

By now, the cart had pulled up to the empty spot on the glyph on the floor in order for the Stormguards unload the cage. Tempest wondered about why the throne room already had a slot and glyphs for the Storm King’s staff. It was as if the princesses designed their own demise, their own home made to take away their own power. She wasn’t quite sure about the history of the Staff of Sacanas, but it was quite literally the key to the princesses power. Power that could be used to restore her own.

After the Stormguards got Princess Twilight into position, they shuffled out of the room with the cart. Tempest caught a worried glance from one of the ponies pulling the cart, but she ignored it as Grubber closed the doors behind them with a cackle. All these ponies could use a dose of reality, that they aren’t safe and sound in their perfect kingdom. That there are others out there barely scraping together enough to survive.

Once it was just Tempest, Grubber and the princess there waiting for the Storm King to arrive, Princess Twilight made one last plea. “Tempest, don’t do this. Don’t give the Storm King--”

“Your magic?” Tempest cut in. “Did you think you could keep it all to yourself? Time to share.” She turned away dismissively. Everything was in place and there was nothing Princess Twilight could do to stop what was happening. Her own magic would be restored. “I’d love for everybody out there to see what I can really do.”

“Oooh fascinating!” Tempest heard a voice say from behind her. She turned to see the Storm King's massive form duck through the door from the balcony. His voice turned threatening as he continued, “What can you really do?”

Tempest froze, panicked that she said too much. She was surprised that the Storm King was already here. He had the habit of always arriving late, it was the reason why she had three ‘days’ to track down Princess Twilight. And that was probably the last thing he would like her to say.

Fortunately, Grubber was quick to respond with a bow. “You bidding if course, oh mighty one.” However, it seemed that his cowardly side came to the front and he sped out the throne room, ensuring that the door was closed behind him. Tempest rolled her eyes at the act. She knew what she said, and she knew the Storm King’s temper. She wasn’t going to flee, never again.

“Bidding’s good, I like bidding,” the Storm King replied as he approached, not even noticing Grubber’s escape. He paused, when he saw the imprisoned Princess Twilight. “Uh, what are you supposed to be?”

The little alicorn tried to stand tall and proud, but it didn’t accomplish a thing. “I’m the Princess of Friendship,” she said in a faltering voice.

The Storm King gave a bellow of laughter at the title, a sentiment that Tempest shared. “Oh, that’s nice,” he said, wiping a false tear from his eye. However, he instantly turned to Tempest with a snarl. “Why is this one still moving?”

She could have said that it wasn’t necessary to turn her to stone, that she was already powerless. That she wanted Princess Twilight to see that her weakness had caused her own people to suffer, to feel the guilt, the pity. For her to live with the pain, and not have it nullified by being frozen in crystal. But Tempest knew she had to be professional, to keep things simple for the Storm King and not make excuses. “She and her friends put up a bit of a fight, but she’s alone now.” She turned to the princess with a smirk on her face, proud of her accomplishment. “She won’t be a problem.”

The Storm King brushed past her, quite literally as he ran his paws through her mane. Tempest had to stomach the insult, the degradation, she was almost there. “Yeah, so, speaking of problems,” he started, but then time froze. A grey mist shrouded the Storm King for a moment, then seemed to flow into his mouth. Then time resumed, the Storm King continuing as if nothing had happened. “A matter concerning your employment has come up.”

Tempest frowned in confusion, her stomach clenching. “What do you mean?”

“It means that as of right now, you’re outta the job,” he replied, not even looking at her, instead looking between his staff and the slot in the floor as if trying to figure out which end of the staff to stick into the hole. “You will receive a gracious severance package and a lifetime employee discount anywhere Storm Bucks are legal tender. Feel free to use me as a reference in your next job interview, I’m certain that will make a good impression.”

Tempest stared in shock at her former boss. “What? I-I did everything you told me to, I’ve proven my worth!”

He laughed as he turned to her. “Exactly! Because you’ve done everything I needed you to do, well, now you aren’t worth anything to me. I suggest you take this offer now, because this is the best one you’re gonna get.”

“But what about my horn?” Tempest cried, seeing her victory being snached away from her hooves. Everything she’s done, wasted. “We had an agreement!”

The Storm King gave a twisted smile, his tone mocking. “Get with the program, I used you. You ponies are so gullible. Now run along, there are more important matters for me to attend to. Like taking all the magic from these ‘cute pony princesses’.” He gagged over the last few words as he rammed the buttend of his staff into the slot in the floor.

Tempest stood there stunned, the Storm King’s words echoing in her ears as the staff started drawing in energy. Beams of magic shot out from the horns of the princesses, but it seemed that magical light was seeping through the walls of the castle as well. Was the staff drawing more power from elsewhere? Maybe it was magic from items that the princesses personally enchanted?

The Storm King laughed, seemingly to no one in particular while his attention was on the head of the staff. “Check out the light show!”

Tempest’s eyes flicked between the Storm King and his staff, fury building within her. He dared to betray her? Steal away her victory, threw her aside after she did all his dirty work? She put up with his threats, all his mocking, all for nothing?

No.

No more weakness.

No more begging.

No more failure.

Her body was in motion, a dash that turned into a leap. A hoof lashed out at the Storm King with the full force of her body behind it. The unexpected attack sent him reeling across the room. Tempest landed, putting herself between the staff and the Storm King as he recovered his balance. Poor Princess Luna ended up being his brace while Princess Twilight stood with a shocked look on her face.

“What’s the meaning of this?” the Storm King snarled, before flexing his hand as if just realizing that the staff was no longer in his hand. His look of anger quickly became mixed with panic. “You dare betray me?!”

“You betrayed me first,” Tempest said coldly. “I was the one who lead an army into Canterlot. I was the one who captured the princesses. And as I’m not longer beholden to you, the prize is rightfully mine.”

“It’s my army, my staff!” He snarled back. “You’re nothing without me!”

The words did cut into her, but she couldn’t let her resolve waver. She lowered her stance, ready to defend herself. “This is the day I’ve been waiting for my whole life. I’m not going to let some ignorant despot take it away from me!”

The Storm King roared. “That power is mine!” His stance turned primal as he launched himself towards her.

Tempest anticipated him to leap at her, but her battle-trained eye saw that with the power behind his launch, he was trying to jump over her to reach for the staff. She adjusted accordingly, leaping up as he soared over her to plant her hooves into his stomach. She pushed off with all her strength, which caused the Storm King to overshoot his target and slam into Princess Twilight’s cage with a resounding clang. The princess herself cowered as far away as she could get from the Storm King. Pathetic, if it was Tempest herself in a cage, she’d be attacking the Storm King in any hopes of getting herself out.

Tempest took the moment to pull the staff out of the floor, interrupting the last trickle of magic from entering it. Holding it in her hooves, she leveled it at where the Storm King sprawled on the floor. She wasn’t quite sure about the abilities the staff had, but she was well-versed enough in uncontrolled magical blasts to tell that it was all that was needed here. “All I wanted was what was rightfully mine.” She channeled her will through the staff to shoot a beam of multi-hued light at the Storm King. The blast sent him flying across the room to land close to the sisters’ thrones.

The Storm King struggled to push himself to his feet, his face twisted in rage. “You are weak! You don’t even have your own precious little magic. You don’t deserve anything!”

Tempest channelled another burst of magic through the staff, but instead of blasting the Storm King across the room, his body spasmed as energy coursed through it. “Really, then what does that make you?” Tempest wondered aloud, ignoring the howls of pain from the Storm King. “Just trinkets and show. A spoiled child playing with toys. Everything is just a game for you, the world your twisted playground.” She cut off the stream of magic and leaned the staff back against her shoulder. “These ponies aren’t the only ones who need to learn a lesson about the real world.”

“Tempest, stop.”

She glanced toward the weak voice of Princess Twilight, the drained alicorn sitting in her cage, looking visibly faded. “Don’t kill him,” she pleaded, her eyes huge and tearful.

Tempest laughed as she turned back to the twitching and moaning Storm King. “If you really think he deserves mercy, then you really don’t understand all of what he’s done. He’s invaded other kingdoms, killed and enslaved countless creatures. All because he finds it fun. His death will be a celebration.”

“Not like this…” the princess whimpered.

Tempest rolled her eyes. The princess’s blathering was getting annoying. “Try to stop me then,” she said.

Princess Twilight just hung her head, powerless in all meanings of the word. Satisfied that she wouldn’t be an issue, Tempest trotted up to the Storm King’s fallen form and leered over it. “Then again, death could be considered a mercy for you.”

The Storm King gave a wet cough, blood splattering down his chin. He held a defiant glare, but it changed into fear as he couldn’t get his limbs to cooperate. “You… you can’t…” he struggled to rasp.

“I already have,” she stated plainly and jabbed the head of the staff into the Storm King’s side, channeling every last ounce of its magic directly into his body.

She didn’t stop until she could smell something that resembled a griffon’s lunch.

It was dead silent besides her own heavy breathing and the strangled sobs of a broken princess. She fell back on her haunches and took a few moments for what she just did to sink in. She had just killed someone. A cruel tyrant, yes. One that deserved no mercy. But her stomach still clenched as she looked at the Storm King’s charred body. “I…” she started, still stunned.

She raised the staff, turning it as she examined it. She realized that the Storm King was irrelevant now. She held the power of the four Princesses of Equestria in her hooves. Her life, her pain, had all lead up to this moment. She looked at the princesses. Sun, Moon, 'Love', Magic. Could she really control these forces? It would take some testing to figure that out. Testing that would probably wait until later. She got back on her hooves and turned to leave.

"Wh-where are you going?"

Tempest spared the powerless princess a glance. “The Storm King’s soldiers are loyal to him, they'll be after my head as soon as they find him here." She twirled the staff in her hooves as she smirked. “Otherwise, I'm free to go wherever I want now."

"But you can't just leave us here! Equestria needs the princesses!"

Tempest barked out a laugh. "The world is much more that Equestria, I thought you would have learned that by now. It would be interesting to see what you little ponies do without big mama Celestia holding you on her wings.” She sneered and felt the urge to spit in said princess’ face. She resisted though, there were some lines that she wouldn’t dare cross. “I’ve fought all my life to become something more than a broken unicorn. And now I am. If you dare try to take that away from me, well…” She gestured to the Storm King’s corpse. “I’m sure I can be a bit more creative than this once I figure this staff out.”

“W-we’ll stop you. For the sake of Equestria.”

“Oh? Who is this ‘we’ you speak off? You’re all alone, Princess. Get used to it.”

The gasp and the broken stare look on Princess Twilight’s were the last clear thing Tempest experienced as she turned and galloped through the castle and out of Canterlot, the sacked city all a blur. And then…

Tempest blinked and found herself under the unblinking gaze of Oracle.

“Interesting…” the older mare stated.

Author's Note:

Hey, sorry for the wait. I've been distracted for a while and only just recently got up the motivation to finish this chapter. No promises on when the next chapter will be out, but I'll promise to continue working on this.

Comments

[headdie]

Be interesting to see how Tempest digests this memory