Princess Preparatory

by Melody Song

Safe

Tempest was wearing the same clothes she'd had on earlier, when they dropped her off outside the Shadow Lands. A satchel was hanging from her shoulder and she had cuts on her body in certain places. What was the most surprising was not her appearance, but clutching onto her legs were two little kids. One, a girl, had pale skin and white-pink hair falling over blue eyes. The other, a boy, had tan skin, short purple hair with white tips, and the same blue eyes. They wore tattered clothes and had dirt all over their bodies.

"Tempest!" Pharynx reached and pulled Tempest against him. Tempest's leg buckled underneath her and she collapsed into him, arms around Pharynx's neck.

"Ph-Pharynx..." Tempest pressed against him.

"Commander Tempest!" the kids squealed. The use of her title, Pharynx noted, meant they were not related to her.

"Who are you?" Luna asked

"Laibah, that's my brother, Siamen." the girl pointed to the boy.

"Come here little one." Celestia picked the boy, Siamen, up and carried him inside. Luna beckoned Laibah in.

"What happened to Tempest?" Pharynx asked

"She ran away, but we don't know why. We were helping her escape and since there's nothing left for us in the Shadow Lands we convinced Tempest to take us with her." Laibah replied

"You two must be freezing, poor things." Thorax pulled the blanket off himself and kneeled down, draping it over Laibah's shoulders. Celestia set Siamen down and Laibah pulled him into the blanket too.

"Tempest..." Pharynx said, and Tempest looked up. She tried to stand on her own, but her leg buckled again and she fell once more. "Easy, I've got you." he said, holding her steady.

"What happened to you Tempest?" Celestia asked

"...King Storm..." Tempest replied, closing her eyes.

"Guys? What's going on-Tempest!" Ember had appeared, drawn to the commotion.

"She's breathing, but just barely." Pharynx reported.

"Come, let's lie her down. Ember, have the kids woken up?"

"I thought I heard Twilight and Cadence talking but I think they're just up late-that whole 'sister' thing."

"That shouldn't matter." Pharynx reached down and lifted up Tempest's legs, holding her bridal style against him.

"Oh, you're Pharynx!" Laibah suddenly exclaimed

"...Yes...how do you...?"

"Tempest said you were the Prince-Knight." Laibah explained "And you look like she said you did."

"This way Pharynx." Celestia said, beckoning.

Pharynx carried Tempest to a guest room and laid her down. When he pulled his hand away he looked at it and his eyes widened. His fingertips had blood on them.

"What...?" Thorax gasped, reached, and lifted Tempest's leg. "She's bleeding here."

"There's a cut on her arm, and on the side of her cheek. They were shooting arrows at her." Siamen put in.

"Luna, get the first aid kit." Celestia waved her off.

"Alright, the second she wakes up we need to get her to tell us what happened." Ember said, as Luna ran back in.

Luna began wrapping Tempest's wounds, while Pharynx removed the satchel and opened it.

"Why is there food in here?"

"Tempest was gonna sneak us food from the kitchens..." Laibah said

"How exactly do you know her?" Celestia asked

"We've known her since about three years ago. She was coming back from a scouting mission and found us crying over mama. She wasn't waking up. Tempest gave us some food and promised we'd be okay, that mama was in a better place. When we told her our dad left us behind she told us she'd give us food when she could. Every time she went for a scouting mission she'd give us food from the castle, and when she came back she'd give us new food she brought from wherever she went." Laibah explained

"But those missions always took her like four months." Siamen added "So we had to scavenge."

"Four...months..." Ember repeated. "What time of the year did she leave?"

"Starting in August, she'd come back in the late weeks of December. Then she'd leave again two weeks into January until the end of May."

"Those are the times of the school year." Thorax said

"Is Tempest...a spy...?" Ember asked

"She'd never!" Laibah let the blanket fall and climbed onto the bed, pushing her dirty white-pink hair out of the way and hugging Tempest around the neck. "Tempest is the best."

"She must have taken good care of you when she could." Luna said.

"Yeah." Laibah replied

"Auntie? What's going on?" Cadence walked in, seeing the scene before her.

"Cadence, Tempest has been injured, we'll get the full story from her when she wakes. These two children arrived with her. Take them to your room to rest, they are very cold and have clearly been living on the streets for a while."

"All our lives." Laibah replied helpfully.

"Oh, you poor things. Come here, my friend and I can help you bathe, if you like." Cadence said, holding out her hand.

"You're nice, I like you." Siamen said, hugging her. Cadence laughed and waited for Laibah to take her offered hand, then she led them out.

"I'll sit with Tempest." Pharynx said

"But what if she really is...a..." Thorax apparently couldn't bring himself to say it.

"She can't be. There's more to the story, I know it." Pharynx put a hand on Tempest's and looked down at her. "I'll stay here and text you when she wakes up."

"Alright." Celestia sighed "I had best go tell Shining and Spike, something tells me Cadence and Twilight will be too busy fussing over those two kids to bother waking them up and telling them."

"Can't say I'd blame them, they're adorable. And the fact they've had such a hard life just makes them even more so." Luna remarked "I see why Tempest tried to look after them."

Celestia, Luna, and Ember left the room, leaving Thorax and Pharynx beside the unconscious woman. Pharynx pulled a chair over from the writing desk in the room, sitting down.

"You don't need to stay Thor." Pharynx said. He heard Thorax drag a second chair over and sit beside him.

"I know." Thorax took Pharynx's hand and gave it a light squeeze. "But I'm your brother, and I know you're worried. So I'm staying with you until you're okay. Which will only happen when she wakes up."

Pharynx sighed, but glanced over and smiled at him softly, the moonlight from the window making his eyes shine. "What did I do to deserve such a great brother?"

Thorax smiled and leaned his head on Pharynx's shoulder. "Doesn't matter. I'm here, aren't I? That's all that matters bro."

"Yeah, I guess so."

Author's Note:

Just something short and with a sweet ending. Tempest will explain herself next chapter.

~Melody Song