> Take No Prismers
>  by Tangerine Blast
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Split-Second Sparring
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tempest Shadow flexed her legs, coiling them under her barrel and shifting just a fraction of an inch to be perfectly balanced. Releasing a calming breath, she launched herself into the air. The leap gained her an impressive height to the point she even cleared some of the surrounding trees.  

Mid-air, she twisted and punched, using gravity to aid in the power of her kick. She felt the satisfying ache of her muscles straining as they connected with nothing but air. Then, as she neared the ground she tucked her head into her chest and aimed her shoulder at the ground. 

Her speed was intense and she certainly would have broken something if she had landed straight down. Luckily, she had accounted for that factor and landed at an angle, using her momentum to tumble into a roll and spring to her hooves after bleeding off enough speed. She landed in a steady stance, ready to launch right back into movement at a moment’s notice. 

After a beat, she relaxed and settled into a more casual pose, running the routine through her head, checking for mistakes. 

Her ears twitched in surprise as clapping rang through the air. Turning her head, she saw one of the Princess’ friends, Rainbow something, sitting on a nearby fence, clopping her front hooves together.

Keeping her expression carefully neutral, Tempest tried to reason why the Pegasus would be there. Tempest was, technically, on someone else's property. However, she had made sure to get permission from the Apples to use the old fenced-in area that they had long ago abandoned for other projects. 

As Rainbow wasn’t a part of that family, Tempest was sure the mare didn’t have the authority to kick her out. 

“Those were some pretty sweet moves,” Rainbow said, idly rising into the air and drifting over to Tempest, “You got pretty high for not having wings.”

“Is there something that you want?” Tempest asked, making sure to keep her voice cool and controlled. Even if the Pegasus couldn’t tell her to leave, Tempest knew she wasn’t exactly on the best terms with many of Twilight’s friends. She didn’t want to risk upsetting her new status quo by ticking off somepony important.

“Yeah,” Rainbow replied, taking a look around the small, fenced-in area, “Does Applejack let you use this place whenever you want?”

Tempest frowned at the lack of an answer. “...yes, she has no need for it so she’s allowing me to repurpose it for my exercises. Why?”

Rainbow nodded as she examined the scorch marks and roughed up dirt. “Eh, she usually gets mad at me if I’m training too close to her property. You practice combat skills? All that jumping and kicking and stuff? You can do some real damage, huh?”

Now Tempest was getting annoyed. She couldn’t see any reason for the other pony to be hiding something so her only conclusion was that Rainbow was just being annoying on purpose. “Yes. Keeping up on my training has made me a powerful force with even without my horn. Now, why are you out here bothering me?”

Rainbow finally looked up at her. The usually laid back Pegasus had a steely determination in her eyes and she spoke with conviction. “I want you to teach me how to fight.”

Tempest blinked, honestly shocked. She didn’t think any of Twilight’s friends had an interest in combat, let alone enough trust in her to teach them.

“You know,” Rainbow continued, jabbing her hooves in the air as if a clarification was needed, “kicking butt like you do.”

“Why?” Tempest eventually asked, raising a brow, “You live in the middle of the safest country in the world. You’re right next door to one of the most powerful beings in existence and are best friends with a close runner up. Why would you need to learn how to fight?”

“Because of things like you,” The Pegasus replied with narrowed eyes. But she slapped her own forehead moments afterward. “Uhg, sorry that came out wrong. I meant that you showing up and stuff made me realize I need to.”

Tempest said nothing and raised a brow at the hovering Pegasus, prompting her to elaborate. 

Rainbow sighed and slowly lowered herself to the ground, ears pressed flat to her head. “When you attacked I was… useless. Sure, I managed to get Twilight out of danger but I couldn’t help anypony else. I couldn’t defend my home… I couldn’t defend my Princesses or my friends.” Her eyes watered and she took a shaky breath. “I ran away. It was the only thing I knew how to do.”

She looked up then, and Tempest was surprised to find the tears replaced with a fire she couldn’t remember ever seeing in another pony’s eyes. “I want you to teach me how to fight so when something like this happens again, I’ll be ready to defend those I love. So I can really live up to the Element of Loyalty.”

It was a pretty nice speech, Tempest mused to herself as she turned away. “No.”

The fire sputtered and died as Rainbow backed up a pace, obviously caught off guard. “Wha… no? Why not? I’ll even pay you if that’s your problem.”

Tempest snorted. “I don’t need your money. I’m just not going to waste my time training someone who’s going to give up after the first lesson.”

Rainbow bristled, her coat standing on end in an attempt to make herself look intimidating. The fact that she was bright blue and only came up to Tempest’s chest ruined the effect. “I won’t quit! What? You think I’m just asking this on a whim? I’d do anything to protect my friends from getting hurt!”

“That’s the other problem,” Tempest continued idly scooping up a rock in her hoof as she walked away, “Princess Twilight wouldn’t like it if I let one of her friends get hurt. I’m already on thin ice as it is to prove I can be a model citizen of Equestria. You aren’t skilled enough to stay safe during my training.”

“What are you talking about? I’m totally-” 

Rainbow was interrupted as Tempest tossed the rock in the air and kicked it back. The tiny projectile launched at the speed of cannon fire. She had held back, but only a bit. It wouldn’t kill anypony but the force of the impact would leave them downed for a good couple of hours. A cracked sternum at most. 

“-skilled enough to take on basic training.”

Tempest blinked, stunned by what she had just witnessed. 

Rainbow had moved out of the way of her surprise attack faster than the eye could track and had finished her sentence while doing so. She was hovering again and giving Tempest a peeved look, but otherwise none the worse for wear. 

“What the heck did you do that-”

She was cut off again as Tempest scooped and kicked more rocks with her back hooves, showering the Pegasus with projectiles. 

It was almost embarrassing how easily Dash dodged each and every one of them. She twisted and turned in the air with unmatched grace and speed, bobbing around the majority and tucking her limbs close to avoid the others. By the time Tempest was out of rocks, Rainbow wore a confident smirk, not even sweating from the ordeal. 

“I don’t know if anyone’s told you this yet,” Dash said after a moment of stillness from her attacker, “But I’m the fastest Pegasus in the world.” 

Tempest snorted and rushed Rainbow, getting within her personal space in a fraction of a second. She punched straight at Rainbow’s head but, like all the others, the Pegasus dodged the attack easily, sliding to the side and watching Tempest’s hoof with wide, surprised eyes. 

She hadn’t anticipated the attack at all and she still had time to duck.

But Tempest was prepared for the dodge this time. The remnants of her horn sparked to life. She could see the light reflected off Rainbow’s irises moments before the half-formed spell exploded. 

It wasn’t a powerful explosion; it didn’t even reach the edges of the fenced-in practice area. But it was enough to hit the speedy Pegasus, close as she had been, and that was all Tempest was going for. 

Rainbow was blown back from the force and slammed into the ground hard--mild burns scattered across her coat as she groaned into the dirt.

Tempest walked over to her, casually, and sneered down at her small groaning form. “You are fast, I’ll admit that. But you’ll never get anywhere if you can’t get up after one h-”

It was her turn to be interrupted. Rainbow whirled off the ground in an impressive vertical spin and kicked Tempest straight in the snout with her back leg, causing the Unicorn to stumble.  

Rainbow took her momentary edge to ram her attacker. 

While Tempest was expecting some form of counterattack, and could have stood her ground if the smaller pony had hit her in the chest or even neck, she was completely caught off guard by Rainbow tackling her legs, bringing Tempest down right on top of the Pegasus.

“Ah-ha! How… how was that,” Rainbow Dash panted from where she was pinned under the larger Unicorn, “I… I got you.”

Tempest glanced at the prone pony she was laying on top of. The Pegasus was sprawled on her back, wings spread out, and sweat slicking down her coat. Ruby eyes gazed into Tempest’s soul from just a breath away.

Tempest snorted in her face. “Good plan. But now you’re at my mercy.”

Rainbow shrugged as much as she could. “Yeah, but by the time you’d realize that Twi or someone would buck or blast ya off of me.”

Tempest gave an exaggerated show of looking around the empty clearing. “Where are they then? I certainly don’t see them.”

“Well, they’re not here now, obviously.” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “But if this had been a real fight they would’ve been.”

Tempest scoffed as she climbed off the Pegasus. “You can’t always rely on others to save you. Sometimes a battle comes down to only you and your wits.”

“Well, duh,” Rainbow snarked as she brushed herself off, seemingly no worse for wear even if her coat was a tad patchier now, “That’s why I want you to teach me what to do when that happens.” She fluttered her wings and gave Tempest an expected smirk. “So, change your mind?”

Tempest kept her expression carefully neutral as she stared at the Pegasus. She didn’t need to think it over, she had decided once she had been kicked in the face, but she couldn’t help the smirk creeping over her muzzle as Rainbow grew more and more fidgety with each unanswered moment that passed. 

“Fine,” Tempest eventually decided, much to Rainbow’s obvious delight as her wings fluttered with glee, “But don’t think it’s going to be easy. You’re training how to fight, not just survive. It will be like torture every day. You will do what I say when I say it. I will expect no complaints. I will push you to your breaking point and beyond.”

Rainbow blinked up at the towering Unicorn. She looked so small and fragile in Tempest’s shadow. “And then will you break the second, slightly smaller breaking point?”

Tempest almost cracked a smile. Almost. But her years of training kept her face impassive. “If you really want to do this, meet me here tomorrow at sunrise and not a moment later.”

She had heard rumors of the Pegasi’s laziness so Tempest prepared for a last moment back out. Rainbow pleasantly surprised her, however, standing up straight and giving Tempest a perfect salute. 

“Ma'am yes Ma'am! Do I need to bring anything?”

“Just your skill and your wits.” Tempest turned from her, signaling the conversation was over. But, before Dash could fly off, she looked back over her shoulder. “Oh, and Dash?” A challenging smirk spread across Tempest’s face. “Try to keep up.”

Rainbow surprised her one final time that day. She didn’t get offended by the thinly veiled insult. She only grinned back and narrowed her eyes. “Only if you can keep up with me.”
> Hummingbird Heartbeat
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You brought something.”

Rainbow Dash arrived the next day bright and early, the sun just barely peeking out over the horizon. The morning was beautiful and perfect and Tempest couldn’t help but wonder if that was the Weather Coordinator's first attempt to show off. If so, then Dash was failing. Tempest could already tell their lesson wasn’t going to be as smooth as the sunrise.

“Yeah,” Dash agreed, shrugging off her saddlebags, “You didn’t tell me how long this was gonna be so I figured I might need a snack.”

She reached into the bags and pulled out a muffin. Even from a distance, Tempest could tell the thing was dense with flavors and calories. Made to give an energy boost even more than entice the taste buds. 

“I told you not to bring anything,” she continued, eyeing the treat with distaste as Rainbow Dash dug into it. She had been living full time in Equestria for a few weeks now but she still couldn’t understand how frivolous the ponies here were with their constant luxuries. 

“Nuh-uh,” Rainbow protested, crumbs flying from her mouth, “You told me I didn’t need to bring anything. Not that I couldn’t.”

“You’re not always going to have snacks before a fight.”

Rainbow chuckled. “With Pinkie Pie around? I doubt that. I swear that pony keeps five cakes on her at all times.”

Tempest glared at the Pegasus. But Dash didn’t even flinch as she continued to cheekily eat her muffin. She clearly thought her argument unbeatable. “...fine. I’ll let this slide. But just be warned we won’t be stopping for snack breaks.”

“Fine by me,” Rainbow said, finishing her treat, “Just don’t blame me if I wallop you cause you’re fighting on an empty stomach.”

Tempest rolled her eyes. She was already regretting agreeing to this. “Are you ready to begin now?”

Rainbow wiped her mouth off and flew over the fenced-in area so she was standing right next to Tempest with a perfect salute. “Ready and raring! What’s my first assignment?”

“I’ll admit your speed is impressive,” Tempest began, causing Rainbow to fluff her wings proudly, “But your strength and endurance are still in need of improvement. So…” she gestured to a large rock that had not been there the day before. “I want you to break this.”

Rainbow sized up the boulder, which was twice as big as she was, as if she was inspecting a rather large cake. Thinking of where best to take the first bite. “Break it, huh? With my hooves?”

“Yes,” Tempest said, frowning at the little pony and her eased posture, “It may look impossible for one pony but-”

“No,” Dash interrupted, “I’ve seen this done before. Course that was an Earth Pony so she kinda had an advantage but…” She turned to Tempest and grinned so confidently it actually took the Unicorn aback. “Rainbow Dash is used to doing the impossible. Hasn’t stopped me in the past and definitely won’t stop me now.”

For some reason, Tempest found the determination infectious and couldn’t help but return the grin. “Let’s see it then. Show me the mythical Rainbow Dash’s best.”

So, shoulders squared in preparation, Rainbow Dash punched the rock.

And nothing happened.

She took her hoof away and shook it out. “Wow, who knew solid stone could be made of such tough stuff.”

“Giving up already?” Tempest taunted from the side. She struck her own hoof at the rock and a considerable chunk broke off, relishing briefly at the cocky Pegasus’s surprised look. “I told you to show me your best. Don’t tell me that’s all you have.”

Rainbow’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Oh, you wanna see my best? You’ll see my best! Stand back.”

Without really knowing why, Tempest humored Dash and backed up a few steps. 

Rainbow glanced at her from where she was crouching in preparation and raised a brow. “Uh, like a lot more back. Trust me--you do not want to be too close to this.”

Tempest rolled her eyes and retreated out of the fenced-in area. Once she had gotten far enough way that Rainbow stopped staring at her, she sat back and watched the Pegasus with mild interest, not sure what to expect. 

She certainly did not expect Rainbow to launch straight up into the air. 

Tempest’s head craned back as she tried to keep track of the light blue dot in the middle of the light blue sky. It was a futile endeavor, however, and, after Rainbow had stayed vanished for a good few seconds, Tempest had to conclude that her impressive camouflage was the intended trick the whole time.

She got up and headed away from the training ground, trying to shake the sudden sour mood that assaulted her. Really, what had she expected? The little Pegasus obviously couldn’t handle what Tempest had in store but was too proud to admit it. Disappearing at the start of the first practice must have softened the blow to her ego somehow. 

Tempest started reworking her schedule in her head, now that she didn’t have to waste time being a teacher, but stopped when a high pitched whistling irritated her ears. Turning, she glanced back over to the rock she had walked away from. The whistling was getting louder by the second and she rotated her ears to try and pinpoint where it was coming from.

She only found its source, however, when she spotted the rainbow trail hurtling down towards the boulder like a brightly colored bullet of stupidity and destruction. 

Tempest had only a moment to scramble in the other direction before the blur of a pony smashed into the earth. The boulder shattered into a million pieces and, kicking up dust and dirt that mingled in the sunlight and residual magic, created a rainbow-colored mushroom cloud. 

Tempest was relatively unscathed from the event. She had only been knocked off her hooves and sent rolling instead of skewered on hundreds of deadly little pieces of shrapnel. 

Once the dust had cleared enough for breathing, Tempest stood. Her hoof trembled briefly as she brushed herself off. If she had been closer… With a snort she brought herself under control and stomped back towards the training area where a good sized crater had replaced the once proud boulder.

Rainbow Dash was doing loops in the air, whooping and hollering for her own glory, barely a speck of dust on her. 

Tempest had no idea how she wasn’t a lump of broken bones at the bottom of the crater but at that moment didn’t care. She glared at the celebrating Pegasus and launched a firecracker of pure magic right at her head. 

Rainbow dodged, of course, but the attack did grab her attention. “Hey! What was that for?”

Tempest ignored her and gestured to the crater and mangled fence. “What was this stunt that you just pulled?”

Rainbow paused and glanced down at the blast zone. Then she grinned proudly and struck a pose. “Pretty wicked, huh? You said you wanted me to bring my best. So I brought it!”

Tempest took a deep, calming breath. “Rainbow Dash, why did you want me to teach you how to fight?”

“This again?” Rainbow asked with an eye roll, “I told you! When the Storm King attacked I-”

“-wanted to protect your friends but found you couldn’t, yes,” Tempest interrupted, coldly. “Then why, if you wanted to fight us off so badly, did you not just do this?” She gestured to the gaping hole and the shattered pieces of rock. “Why did you not simply blow my army up if you had this kind of ability the whole time?” 

Rainbow jerked back as if Tempest had just slapped her. “Wha- I couldn’t have done that! We were in the middle of the city. I would have hit all of those party goers and even if that wasn’t an issue…” She glanced at the smoldering wreck around her uneasily. “...I would have… that attack could have really hurt somepony.”

“So you want me to teach you how to mentally handle killing?”

Rainbow choked on her own spit and almost tumbled out of the sky. “What? No! No, of course not! I don’t want to kill anyone!”

“Then don’t pull crap like this,” Tempest growled, jabbing a hoof at the crater, “Being able to perform a large scale attack means nothing if you’re never going to use it. Breaking the boulder was supposed to be an exercise in building muscles and fighting techniques. Blowing it up only wastes both our times if you’re not willing to use the same move on your enemies.”

Rainbow slowly sank from the air until she was back on the ground, ears folded against her head. “Oh... sorry… I guess… I guess I didn’t think about it that way.” She blushed and looked away, her nose scrunched in shame. “You said to bring my all so I just wanted to show you the full package you were working with.”

Tempest rolled her eyes. “I’ve already seen your Sonic Rainboom. You used it to helpfully show me where to find Twilight and the rest of your friends. And even if you hadn’t, I’ve known about it since before we met.”

Rainbow flinched. “Uhg, I’m really not having a good track record with… wait… seriously? You had heard of me before coming to Equestria? I’m world known?”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Tempest said, walking a bit away from Rainbow and the crater, “I did research on Equestrian defense before we attacked. A pony that could cause an explosion by simply flying fast enough managed to catch my attention.” 

Rainbow was grinning like an idiot now. “Never even met and I managed to catch an empire general’s attention. Wow, I am good.”

“Are we going to continue your training or are you going to stroke your own ego a little more?”

Unfortunately, the dopey smile didn’t leave Dash’s face even as she flew over to hover next to Tempest. “We can do both, can’t we?”

Tempest glared at her coldly. “Do not make me regret helping you.”

“Okay, okay.” Rainbow waved her hooves in surrender. “I’ll be serious now. What are we gonna do since your first idea… uh…” She cringed guilty, “… didn’t work out?”

“Since you obviously have no restraint when it comes to large scale attacks,” Tempest said, centering herself into a strong stance, “We’ll just have to work on your small scale movements. Hit me.”

Rainbow paused and blinked dumbly at Tempest. “Wha? Hit you? Did I mess up that much you wanna pummel me again?”

“No,” Tempest corrected, “I don’t want to spar. I simply want you to punch me in the chest. I wish to assess your posture and strength without having to worry about speed or strategy. That’s what the rock was supposed to accomplish.”

Rainbow glanced at the crater a few feet away. “Ah. That makes sense. Are you sure I won’t hurt you?”

Tempest gave her an incredulous look. “I’m twice your size. If you manage to hurt me with just your front hoof jab then I have nothing else to teach you.”

Rainbow playfully slugged her in the shoulder. “Aw, give yourself more credit than that.”

Tempest’s expression did not change.

“Eh. Heh, sorry. No jokes. Punching time. I get it.” Rainbow dropped to her hooves and reared up on her back legs. “I’m guessing you don’t want me to be hovering during this.”

“Correct,” Tempest said with a nod, bracing herself, “You’d be able to build momentum through your wings if you were flying. I simply want to see the power of your front hooves.”

“Gotcha. Full front hoof power coming right at ya.” Rainbow drew back and, with little warning, punched Tempest right in the middle of her chest. When Tempest didn’t flinch she threw another one. And another one. Until she was sending a flurry of blows in rapid succession. “So, uh, not to doubt your teaching skills but what is this exercise supposed to help with? It’s not like I’m going to be doing this move in any real fight.” 

Tempest grunted and shifted her stance so Rainbow was hitting her more near her center. “Of course not. But you have to start with the basics before you can move on to more complicated things. Don’t they teach you that in that little air show team you’re on?”

Rainbow raised a brow but didn’t look up from her punches. “Well duh, but the fact that I’m a Wonderbolt means I already have the basics down. I’m strong enough that I don’t need some basic strength training.” 

Tempest snorted and lifted a leg in the middle of one of Dash’s swings, catching the smaller pony’s hoof within her own and holding it still. “You’re a Pegasus which means your core is the strongest part of your body.”

“Hey, let go!” Rainbow tried to pull her hoof out of Tempest’s grip but the Unicorn only yanked her closer, almost making Dash trip into her.

“Which means your upper and lower body are going to be weaker than most of your opponents. You’re good at dodging, but once you get caught, what then?” Tempest pulled Rainbow close, pressing her foreleg around her back and pinning her wings. 

The fur on Tempest’s chest itched as her and Rainbow’s rubbed against each other. The Pegasus squirmed, trying to twist herself away from Tempest, but wasn’t putting enough force behind it. Tempest could feel Dash’s wings twitching under her hoof and Rainbow’s breath, labored from the exercises, tickling her neck. However, Rainbow did not move her free hooves to attack the vulnerable areas she was so close to. Her limbs remained almost frozen in Tempest’s grip while her tail curled uneasily around her captor’s legs and her hummingbird heart pounded against Tempest’s ribs in panic.

She was scared, Tempest was sure, and unsure how to react. 

“What happens when your wings aren’t available and your friends aren’t around?” Tempest pressed the imobile Pegasus, “How will you save yourself if not every single inch of your body is honed to its full potential?” 

Before Rainbow could open her mouth to even potentially answer Tempest twisted her hoof and swept Dash’s legs out from under her, throwing her onto her back faster than Rainbow could react.

Rainbow groaned from the wind being knocked out of her as Tempest leered above her. “Your stance was unbalanced and you weren’t putting your shoulder into your punches. Try it again, and do it right so I know you’re capable of handling your own body.”

Rainbow huffed and staggered to her hooves but that self confident smirk still hadn’t left her face. “Alright fine. Let’s do this thing for real.”

Tempest couldn’t help but match it as they began again.
> So Sweet
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

For the next few days this became Tempest’s new normal. Rainbow would meet her in the Apple Orchard before the sun graced the horizon and Tempest would have a new set of exercises and tasks for Rainbow to accomplish. They would work, talk, and spar for a few grueling hours until Tempest called it a day. Then the two would head their separate ways, pleasantly exhausted and prepared for the next day to do it all again.

It wasn’t until the end of the fifth morning that something changed in their routine.

“Oh man, that was some workout,” Rainbow said with a stretch and a crack of her neck, “who knew a jaw could ache so much even without getting socked, huh?”

Tempest held back a snort of laughter as she too stretched the kinks from her body. Just because she was the teacher didn’t mean she could slip up on her own training. And Rainbow always insisted Tempest match her step by step in every exercise. “I did mouth and neck exercises a lot when I first left Equestria. You’d be surprised how much you need to bite or manipulate a weapon with your mouth.”

Rainbow didn’t stifle her own chuckle. “I believe it. Some of those guys out past Equestria looked super tough. Don’t think even my wicked fast hooves could take them down.”

Tempest nodded in agreement and, when no immediate followup came, assumed that was the end of their discussion for the day. She turned back towards Ponyville to head home when Rainbow landed in front of her, succeeding in catching her attention.

“Hey, we both worked really hard today… and all week. We deserve a reward.” Rainbow said, causing Tempest to raise her brow in interest, “What do you think about a quick trip to Sugarcube Corner for a bite to eat?”

Once Rainbow got to the last word Tempest’s expression dropped and she didn’t hesitate to shoulder past Rainbow to continue on her way. “No.”

“Aw, come on,” Dash whined, trotting after Tempest. She didn’t sound particularly surprised by the response. But disappointment dripped off of her voice and the sound almost made Tempest turn around. “Why not? I’m starved, aren’t you?”

I have other things I need to attend to,” Tempest responded curtly, not slowing down even as the Pegasus rose up to be at eye level as she followed.

Rainbow snorted. “No you don’t. All you do after our training is go back to Twilight’s Castle, brood, and not come out for the rest of the day.”

Tempest glanced at her out of the corner of her eye. While she kept a steady gait towards town she didn’t bother to speed up, knowing Dash would be able to keep pace with her no matter how fast she ran. “How do you know what I do every day?”

Rainbow froze. Only the steady beating of her wings keeping her suspended and the bright blush crawling up her face giving any indication she still lived. 

Tempest smirked, confused but amused by the reaction, as she left Dash behind her.

“Wha-buh-hey!” Rainbow called after a few seconds, racing to catch back up, “Don’t change the subject! Why don’t you wanna hang out with me?”

That caused Tempest to hesitate. She paused in her march and turned her full attention to the pony following her. “‘Hang out?’”

“Yeah.” Rainbow crossed her hooves and rolled her eyes. “You know, chillax, knock about, pal around, hobnob? Get to know each other more?”

“I don’t think half of those things mean what you think they do.”

“We’ve been spending every day together for, like, the past week,” Rainbow continued, throwing her hooves up in frustration, “I thought it’d be cool if we just hung too.”

Oh. Now everything had become clear. One of the Princess of Friendship’s friends wanted to get to know her better. Likely that was where the invitation was stemming from… “Alright.”

“Wha- Really?” Rainbow’s face lit up with disbelief and delight, “Just like that?”

Tempest shrugged, trying to appear more casual. “If you wanted to get to know me better you could have just said so. I’m trying to be a good Equestrian citizen and that means being on good terms with others.”

“Sweet!” Dash cheered, doing a gleeful loop in the air, “Maybe after we go to Sugarcube Corner I can show you around the whole town. Ponyville isn’t even, like, a quarter as boring as it first looks.”

Tempest nodded silently to Rainbow’s ramblings as she followed the native through the Ponyville streets. Even though it hadn’t officially begun, Tempest found she was enjoying the ‘hang out’ already. The stroll was letting her tired muscles breathe a bit and the passion that Rainbow put into her every word was actually quite riveting. Faster than Tempest would have liked, Rainbow stopped talking and gestured to the large pink building they were heading towards.

“Well, here it is! Best place to get pastries in all of Equestria.”

She darted in not a second later and Tempest had no choice but to follow.

The second she walked through those doors, the scent of pastries and other baked goods assaulted Tempest’s nose and her stomach instantly started to grumble. The candy covered decorations, the fresh pies cooling on the counter, even the gentle din of ponies chatting over milkshakes forcefully reminded her that she hadn’t eaten for a good few hours and had spent those said hours running around and training intensely.

She politely told her stomach to shut up and followed Rainbow to the counter, where she was busy being hugged to death by her friend.

“Dashie! I’m so glad to see you! How have you been? How was training?”

“When was the last time you’ve seen each other?” Tempest asked Rainbow as she untangled herself from the excited Earth Pony. With a reaction like that Tempest thought the only appropriate response would be ‘years’.

Dash chuckled and gave Pinkie an affectionate pat on the head. “Yesterday. Same time. I’ve been coming here after every training session.”

Pinkie seemed to just notice the large Unicorn behind Rainbow and gasped so hard some of the cupcakes next to her wobbled. “Fizzlepop! You came too?!?”

Tempest’s ears flicked back just a bit at the name and she couldn’t stop the slight scowl crossing her face. “Refer to me as Tempest. And, yes, Rainbow invited me to come so here I am.”

“Aww,” Pinkie whined, her posture drooping just a bit, “But Fizzlepop is such a super duper name. Why can’t I call you that?”

“Jeez, Pinkamena, I dunno,” Rainbow spoke up, gently elbowing her friend’s side, “It sure is weird that someone wouldn’t want to be called their real name.”

Pinkie blushed deeply and let out a little chuckle. “Ooooh. Oh, right. Uh, anyway! What can I get you, Tempest? I know Dashie’ll just get her usually usual chocolate surprise cupcake.”

“Nothing for me,” Tempest replied curtly, making sure her tone left no room for argument, “I’m not very hungry.”

Rainbow, of course, didn’t pick up on the warning in Tempest’s voice and barked out a laugh. “You don’t gotta be hungry to want some SugarCube Corner food, trust me. She’ll take the same as me, Pinks.”

Before Tempest could protest Pinkie had already zipped away into the back of the shop and Rainbow was trotting away towards a side booth. It seemed her fate was sealed.

Tempest followed Dash to a table and sat down across from her without a word. There was silence between the two for a few seconds as Dash settled into her seat. However, ‘settled’ might not be the best word. In the short time Tempest had known her it seemed as if the Pegasus never sat still. Even now she was fidgeting and twitching and glancing around, eyeing the pastries around her like a foal eager for sweets.

“You know you don’t gotta look so nervous,” Rainbow spoke up, cocking her head at Tempest, “We’re just in public, not a military march.”

It took Tempest a few moments to understand what she was talking about. In all accounts Rainbow’s twitching seemed more nervous than the silent stillness Tempest was sitting in.

But then she realized that was exactly the point. Rainbow was completely comfortable here. Comfortable enough to be slouching on her bench with her tail hanging out next to the table, uncaring of the image she was presenting to others. Tempest was sitting straight and stiff. Her posture perfect and her tail wrapped neatly around her hind legs, pulled up onto the bench, like a small shield.

Tempest let herself relax. She softened her shoulder blades and let her legs and tail dangle off of the bench in a softer position, one harder to quickly rise from.

“Sorry,” she said, finding she meant it. Rainbow had invited her into a place obviously dear to her, it was rude to be so on guard and intimidating. She leaned her head back against the headrest just to drive in the point she was trying to get comfortable. “It’s habit. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

Rainbow chuckled and shook her head. “Offend me? Dude, I’m not gonna get offended if you’re nervous. Ponyville’s practically a forign country to you and I’m pretty sure you haven’t made any other friends besides me. I just don’t want you to feel you have to keep up the strong military persona.” 

Tempest hummed and turned away, her eyes scanning the few other ponies in the restaurant. “It isn’t necessarily an act. I don’t expect an attack to jump out at me in this quaint little town, no, but I’m used to always being on guard and ready for anything.”

“And looking intimidating for your subordinates.” Dash nodded knowingly. “I getcha. Spitfire, my captain, does the exact same thing. It’s a chore to get her to stop yelling at everything she sees when she’s ‘in the zone.’”

Tempest snorted, amused at the idea of a small Pegasus shouting like a drill sergeant. “If you’re similar to her in any way then I don’t believe you at all.”

“Aw, hey what’s that supposed to mean?” Rainbow asked in mock offense, “I can be loud and authoritative if I want.” She stuck out her tongue at Tempest. “You’re just lucky. You’ve only seen me at my nicest.”

“Hmm, I’m sure. Almost blowing me up was very nice.”

Rainbow pouted in a way that made her look like a kitten caught messing up a jump. “I apologized for that! Jeez, a girl can’t do one cool thing these days, huh?”

Tempest chuckled at the display and shook her head. “Despite that little set back, I have to say you’re actually doing better with the exercises than I expected.”

“Well, I have a great teacher,” Dash said with a wink. 

Tempest raised a brow, a genuine smile somehow finding its way onto her face.

“Here you go, guys!” Pinkie Pie popped up from seemingly underneath the table, making Tempest snap her head in her direction. “Two chocolate surprises fresh out of the oven. And I got some cider for drinks.”

Rainbow instantly sat up. “Cider? From your own stash, right? What’s the occasion?” 

Pinkie giggled and placed their order on the table. “Fizz-uh… Tempest’s first time at Sugarcube Corner, of course!” She turned to Tempest with an exaggerated pout. “You’ve been in Ponyville for weeks but you’ve never tried out the best bakery this side of Cloudsdale.”

Tempest didn’t know much about Equestrian geography but she was pretty sure… “Doesn’t Cloudsdale move?”

Pinkie winked at her. “Exactly. So why haven’t you stopped by? I was starting to think I’d done something wrong.”

Tempest frowned and turned away to glare at her cupcake, pushing it away from herself. “I don’t enjoy dining in public.”

This, apparently, wasn’t the answer Pinkie was looking for. She glanced nervously at Rainbow who shrugged at her from across the table.  

“Eh, don’t worry about her, Pinks. She’s probably just used to gross military food. I’m sure she’ll love coming here once she tries your stuff.”

That seemed to perk the Earth Pony up. “Okie dokie! I’ll leave you two to enjoy. I got more hungry customers to feed.”

Tempest watched her bounce away. Tempest was pretty sure Pinkie Pie was the poster child for Equestrian relations for she was the exact stereotype every creature thought of when the word ‘pony’ came to mind. Happy, soft, small, loud, almost naive enough to be considered cute but mostly just pitiful. Like a newborn duckling separated from its mother. 

She didn’t really know why Rainbow and Pinkie were such good friends. While the Pegasus did share some stereotypical traits of an Equestrian, Tempest found her so different from any other pony she had ever met. 

Sure, Rainbow was happy, sometimes annoyingly so, but the joy seemed to come from trust in her own skills and passion more than blissful ignorance. That’s why she had come to Tempest for help. Rainbow actively sought out ways to improve and protect herself, even if there wasn’t any obvious need to. 

Unlike other ponies, Rainbow was strong and smart and paid enough attention to see her own weaknesses in those areas.

“Oh heck yeah this looks great!” 

Tempest was snapped out of her thoughts by Rainbow almost drooling over her cupcake. 

The Pegasus hadn’t started to eat yet and glanced up at Tempest with unmatchable enthusiasm. “Listen, you haven’t tried food ‘till you’ve had one of these bad boys.”

Tempest nodded noncommittally and gave Rainbow an awkward smile.

That seemed to be all the permission she needed before scooping the cupcake up in one fluid movement of the hoof and taking a large bite out of it.

Tempest ears tilted back as Rainbow messily smeared chocolate frosting on her face. The pony didn’t seem to care at all that she was matting her fur with the cupcake or spilling crumbs all over the table. She simply ate with gusto as if she had been starving for hours.

Tempest’s stomach complained again, reminding her that the sentiment wasn’t entirely unshared after the day they just had. 

“And the cider!” Dash cried excitedly after she had finally come up for air, “I am not kidding when I say this stuff is the best in the world.” She slipped her hoof through the handle of the mug and, unlike the cupcake, gulped down the drink with slow delight, relishing every sip.

Tempest watched her carefully, taking in every detail as Dash maneuvered her cup with one hoof. The mugs here in Equestria were different from those Tempest had usually seen. While cups she was used to were small and smooth so a claw or hand could easily wrap around it, this one was large and obviously intended for hooves. There was a handle on the side just big enough for a pony to squeeze their hoof through but small enough that the mug would sit snug and not slide off.

Tempest had honestly never seen something so simply convenient. Maybe she had encountered one as a filly but the town she had grown up in was almost exclusively Unicorns and she doubted her family would go out of their way to gain hooves-only utensils. It was… nice, to see another pony eat and drink with no fear of spilling or making a fool of themselves.

Dash was still drinking and no one else in the cafe was paying the two any attention. Steeling herself, Tempest slipped her hoof through the handle of her own mug and brought the drink to her face.

She heard Rainbow snort and cough a bit on her drink. “You okay there, Tempest?”

Tempest quickly brought her hoof down after just a single sip, not even tasting the cider in her rush, and locked eyes with the pony across from her. “What?”

Rainbow stifled a giggle as she whipped cider off her muzzle. “Nothing, nothing, you just kinda look like a robot. The cider’s not gonna bite ya.” 

Tempested debated getting annoyed with the tease but she couldn’t stop the easy smile from coming to her face. “What if your friend poisoned it, hmm? Can never be too careful.”

“Oh heck I hope not,” Rainbow eyed her drink critically as Tempest’s brow furrowed and she suspiciously glanced towards the kitchen. 

“...that was supposed to be a joke, Rainbow.”

“Huh?” Dash glanced back up and, noticing Tempest’s now tense shoulders and hard gaze, understanding dawned in her eyes, “Ah shoot, you meant actually poisoned? Relax, that’ll never happen. Pinkie just has a habit of spiking my drink when I’m not paying attention.”

This did not, in fact, help Tempest to relax. “She drugs you without your permission?” That seemed so… malicious for these ponies. Or maybe it was just overly stupid.

“What?” Dash squawked, “Dude, no. We prank each other all the time, it’s no big deal. And it’s not like I’m drinking enough to get drunk.”

“Hmm,” Tempest muttered, she wasn’t convinced at the harmlessness of these so called ‘pranks’ but she allowed herself to slip back into a relaxed state, “Alcohol can slow down your physical training.”

Rainbow snorted good naturally and, deeming her drink safe, took another sip. “You’re telling me. You won’t believe all I had to give up once I got serious about joining the Wonderbolts.”

Tempest nodded slowly. She found herself wanting to pry. Wanting to learn more about who Rainbow Dash was and what got her there. Instead, she turned her attention back to the mug still snug on her hoof and the frothy liquid within. “Should I be weary of mine being contaminated?”

Rainbow waved a hoof dismissively. “Nah, Pinkie doesn’t know you well enough to prank you. She makes sure to never do anything that might actually upset anyone.” She sighed, almost wistfully, and leaned back in her seat. “Not me though. I have no clue where those lines are.”

“Yes, I think I can relate to that.” Tempest took a swig from her drink, enjoying that the mug didn’t feel like it would tumble from her hooves at any moment. As soon as she took a sip, however, her eyes widened in shock and she tilted the mug back as far as it would go without spilling cider all down her face.

Rainbow Dash started cackling across the table from her but Tempest couldn’t find it in herself to care. The drink was the best thing she had tasted in… years, if not decades. She knew Earth Pony food was some of the greatest in the word but this… this was something else.

“Guessing this is the first time having Apple Family Cider, huh?” A new voice asked from behind Tempest.

Tempest turned around, licking the last drops off her muzzle, to see another one of Princess Twilight’s friends… Applesomething standing next to her.

“Oh, hey AJ,” Rainbow greeted. AJ… Applejuice? Applejam? Applejackass? “I was just showing Tempest how great your stuff is.”

So this… ‘AJ’ was the pony that made the cider. She certainly looked like a farm mare. Her stetson hat was the most obvious but there was also her muscular physique, the way she smelled of fruit and dirt, and the small layer of sweat stuck to her coat, as if she had been working hard just before arriving.

 Tempest nodded politely at her. “The cider is delicious.”

“Heck yeah it is!” Rainbow puffed out her chest proudly, as if she was the one who had made it. “Applejack’s cider is the best in the whole world.”

Well, at least Tempest was close.

Applejack chuckled, but Tempest got the impression it wasn’t entirely as bashful as the farm mare wanted her to believe. “Aw, shucks, I’m flattered Rainbow, but I’m sure Tempest here has tasted somethin’ better in all her travels.”

Tempest shook her head. “Honestly, I have to give Equestria credit for having the best food. Earth Ponies are incredible cooks.”

“And she’s saying that before she’s even tried Pinkie’s stuff,” Rainbow added, leaning over the table towards Applejack as if saying something private. Though she made no attempt to lower her voice. “So you know the competition isn’t that tough.”

Applejack smirk. “Well, ah don’t know about that. Ah think Apple Family Cider could beat her cakes any day.”

“No way!” Pinkie shrieked, causing Tempest’s ears to fold back. Tempest hadn’t seen her return from the back of the store but now she was hopping up and down right next to Rainbow Dash. “Cider’s good but it’s got no substance. You can’t get a good fully belly on just a drink!”

“It ain’t healthy ta just eat cupcakes and sugar all day neither,” Applejack fired back, causing Pinkie to gasp in shock as if she had just said something completely blasphemous.

“How dare you, Applejack, if you can’t live off of sugar then you just aren’t trying hard enough.”

Tempest rolled her eyes and turned away from the conversation and back to her cupcake. The argument was obviously just for the entertainment of the two and had no actual point. How to eat the little pastry Dash had praised so highly, without getting it all over Tempest’s fur, was another matter entirely.

If it was anything like the cider she wasn’t going to let something like embarrassment keep her from it.

“Gotta agree with Pinkie on this one, AJ,” Rainbow interjected the debate, “As much as I love your cider, at least with cupcakes you got some carbs to back you up.”

As Pinkie cheered in victory, Applejack narrowed her eyes at Rainbow but a playful smirk danced on her lips. “Ah see. That must be why you’re at the back of the line every year. Maybe you’d like ta donate your cup ta somepony more appreciative next summer.”

Tempest bent down, a bit awkwardly with how tall she was compared to these tables, and took an incredibly small bite off the tip of the spiraling frosting. It was incredibly sweet and rich, overwhelming her mouth with flavors of chocolate and strawberry and the grainy texture of pure sugar.

It was good, she wasn’t going to deny that. The flavors all blended well together and had enough contrast to even out the intensity of each sensation. Still, it was a little too much for her. Too much sweetness, too much bitterness, too much tart, too much everything. She almost missed when she could down a few prepared military lunches and be filled enough for the rest of the day.

Dash squawked and tried to verbally back peddle. “That’s not what I mean! It’s still the best cider in the world! It’s just not as filling, but that means I can have even more.” When Applejack didn’t let up her squint, Rainbow pivoted in her seat to smile awkwardly at Tempest. “Uh, Tempest, what do you think? Back me up here.” 

“Either way, you aren’t getting enough protein. Going to a full vegetarian lifestyle is difficult no matter what your main dish is.”  

Tempest instantly regretted saying that. She had only been half listening to the conversation between the three friends and had really only meant to answer Rainbow’s question. But now all three of them were staring at her with the Earth Ponies looking confused and slightly concerned. Tempest knew most of Equestria didn’t even entertain the idea of a non-vegetarian diet and would certainly see her as a strage monster even more than they already did just for bringing it up. 

“Tell me about it,” Rainbow spoke up with a groan just as Tempest was contemplating fleeing the country. Again. “I miss the days of just being able to dive into any random river and catch a fish. Now I gotta have a licence? And use a pole? Lame.”

Applejack rolled her eyes while Pinkie giggled, the tension leaving the room almost immediately. “Sugarcube, that’s always been the legal way ta do it. You were just a delinquent.”

“You eat fish?” Tempest asked, genuinely shocked. She obviously knew ponies could digest fish and a low amount of other meat, after all she had practically lived on the stuff when she was out in the wild. Even still, the idea of an Equestrian just doing it casually never even occurred to her. 

Rainbow shrugged. “Sure. Like you said, it’s a good source of protein and sometimes you need energy right then and there.”

“A few ponies in town eat fish, actually!” Pinkie pipped up, “I know at least Fluttershy and Rarity do.”

“Fluttershy don’t eat it, Pinkie,” Applejack corrected, “she just feeds it to her critters that do. But she would be a good pony to go to if you wanna buy any.”

Tempest gently shook her head in disbelief. “Well, it seems I know even less about Equestria than  I thought I did.”

“Then let’s show you it!” Dash said, excitedly rising from the booth with a flap of her wings, “You’ve barely left Twilight’s castle. You said you’d let me show you around Ponyville, right?”

Tempest hesitated. She wasn’t… opposed to the idea of looking around the small town a bit more and she found Rainbow Dash’s company agreeable enough that she wasn’t in any rush to leave it. But if the other two were coming as well…

“Awww,” Pinkie whined, snapping Tempest out of her thoughts, “I wanted to give the official Ponyville tour, Dashie. But I don’t get off work until the end of the day.”

“You still have her Welcome to Ponyville party,” Rainbow reassured her friend, “And you’ve been super busy helping Twilight with the festival clean up. We don’t want to make Tempest wait even longer.”

That seemed to placate the pink pony. “You’re right! I have to focus on making the party the best one Ponyville’s ever seen!”

“Y’all have fun with that,” Applejack said with a tilt of her hat, “Ah just came here for some breakfast before ah get back to my chores. Zap apple season’s almost here and we got a lot to do to prepare if’n they come.”

“Sweet!” Rainbow said with a grin, “I'll be first in line to get some of that jam. Hunt me down if you need any help with anything.”

Applejack chuckled. “Ah sure will, you can count on that. Have a good time you two.”

And with a few quick goodbyes the two Earth Ponies trotted off, leaving Tempest and Rainbow alone again. 

Dash grinned at her with excitement better suited to a foal going to an amusement park. “You ready? Finish up your cupcake and let’s get this show on the road.”

Tempest chuckled and took another tiny bite of her pastry. “You’re acting like I’ve already agreed to this.”

It was almost adorable how quickly Rainbow’s face fell. “What? Do you not want to? Come on, I promise to only show you the most awesome places!”

Tempest shook her head with a smirk as she rose from the table. “Stop trying to beg, you’re embarrassing yourself. I’ll come. You never know when a simple walk could turn into a training opportunity.”

Rainbow’s eyes narrowed at the challenge. “Ooooh, you’re gonna try to get a surprise attack on the ol’ Dash? Well, be prepared to be disappointed when I kick your butt yet again.” 

“I seem to remember a lot more butt kicking coming from me in our sessions,” Tempest replied, heading toward the door.

“Wait, aren’t you going to finish your cupcake?”

Tempest tilted her head as Dash lifted up the cupcake like she was presenting a first place award. “No. You can have it.”

Rainbow’s face screwed up in confusion. “But you just ate a little bit of frosting? You didn’t even try the cake itself yet!”

Tempest shrugged, hoping Rainbow Dash wouldn’t push it further. “Like I said, I’m not very hungry.”

“But you gotta at least try it,” the Pegasus insisted, flying over to Tempest’s side and shoving the cupcake an inch away from her muzzle. “Come on, just have a bite.”

Tempest was acutely aware that they were now making a scene. Most eyes in the store were turned towards them, fascinated to see the odd interaction play out. 

Tempest was not used to creatures openly gawking at her and found she did not enjoy it. 

Staring back defiantly at the ponies around her, Tempest leaned forward and let Rainbow Dash feed her a large bite of cake and frosting.

The taste was heavenly. The soft, spongy, cake perfectly balanced the gritty frosting. It was like biting into a cloud. A cloud that melted in her mouth in a swirl of complementary flavors. She couldn’t point out a specific one but they all tasted divine.

She didn’t even realize she had closed her eyes to savor the experience until she heard Rainbow snickering in her ear. “See, told you you’d like it.”

Opening her eyes, Tempest swallowed quickly and looked away so she and Dash couldn’t make eye contact. Schooling her features into a more steady expression then pure bliss she turned back with a shrug. “It’s… alright. You can have the rest.”

Rainbow blinked dumbly for a moment and Tempest was worried the Pegasus would refuse to believe her. Her fears were banished, however, when the Pegasus shrugged nonchalantly and popped the treat into her mouth. “Shuit yurshelf. Let’s get this show on the road. I have some personal training spots I know you’re going to love.”

Tempest couldn’t stop the smile from crawling back onto her face as she followed her friend out to Ponyville proper.
> Public Performance
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The walk was entirely more simple than Tempest had been imagining. Rainbow led her pretty much in a straight line down the Ponyville main street, pointing out random things she found interesting enough to talk about. Sometimes it was historical sights that any tourist would be intrigued by and other times it was just a particularly dented tree the fast flyer had crashed into on more than one occasion. Everything had a personal significance, however, and Tempest was continually surprised at what Rainbow deemed important.

For instance, right now they had stopped at the town hall, certainly a place of history and political change.

“Then Cheese Sandwich grabbed me and we did the ‘boneless flop’, named after his weird rubber chicken pet thing.”

And Rainbow was telling her about a comedy fight two ponies had over her.

“And then Pinkie! Oh, Pinkie…” Rainbow continued moving and swooping all around in a crude reenactment of the event, her face positively glowing whenever she mentioned one of her friends, “She got this trampoline out of, like, nowhere and bounced up to where me and Cheese were to show us her dance with her pet alligator. Those two were just getting more and more insane bouncing off each other!”

“So, Pinkie and this Cheese stallion,” Tempest said when Rainbow paused to catch her breath, “They set up all these elaborate party activities to try and impress you?”

“Yep!” Dash said, puffing out her chest, “I was the judge of their goof off so I was going to pick the winner. Of course, that was before Pinkie forfeited…”

Tempest raised a brow. “Why did she do that? It sounds like both of them were completely infatuated with you.”

Rainbow froze in mid-air and blinked dumbly at Tempest. 

Then she laughed loudly and did a flip. Tempest honestly wasn’t sure if it was a subconscious action out of mirth or if she was showing off some more. 

“Infat… you think they were fighting for my attention? Like, romantically?”

“Yes?” Tempest replied, slightly irritated at being laughed at. There was some joke here she just wasn’t getting and it made her feel like a little foal again. “Isn’t that what was happening? You said they were trying to impress you.”

“Yeah cause I was the one having the party,” Rainbow explained. When Tempest still looked absolutely baffled she continued, sinking down until she was eye level with the Unicorn, “They’re party ponies. They just wanted to prove who could be the funniest in general. The fact that it was me, particularly, judging was barely a part of it. They were way more focused on one-upping each other. Pinkie quit cause she felt she was hurting my happiness getting so obsessed with him.” She paused and gazed off thoughtfully. “Hey, now that I think about it those two were way more into each other than even the party stuff.”

Tempest shook her head. “They threw a town-wide fight because they wanted to impress each other? That seems counterproductive.” She paused for a moment as a dawning horror slowly descended on her. “Pinkie Pie said she wanted to throw a party for me…”

Rainbow Dash interrupted her with a laugh before she could even finish her thought. “Don’t start jumping to conclusions miss tall, dark, and handsome. Pinkie throws a party for every new pony in town. I’m just surprised you’ve managed to dodge it for this long.”

“Hmm,” Tempest hummed non-committedly, thinking over all Rainbow had told her, “Would you inform her I’d prefer not to have one in that case? I don’t know if you could tell but I’m trying to keep a relatively low profile.” She waved a hoof vaguely at her own head. “Don’t really want to remind everypony about the crazed Unicorn that forced them into slavery for a few days.”

Rainbow sucked air through her teeth and rubbed the back of her head. “That… is a good point, but I think showing ponies how cool and chill you are will make them feel better than the idea of a scary mare holed up in Twilight’s crib, planning her next move or something.”

Tempest considered this angle. She, of course, would rather have a potential enemy out and about where she could keep an eye on them. But she was not some average civilian. “Won’t they feel safer knowing the Princess is keeping watch over me?”

Rainbow waved her hoof back and forth in the air. “Eh, who’s to say? The ponies here get spooked by the weirdest things and tough out others. But it doesn’t really matter since you aren’t getting out of the party.”

Tempest’s brow raised as she shook her head. “I don’t want a party. Even if it would help my image. I’m not really a ‘party pony’.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Rainbow said, patting Tempest’s shoulder in a gesture that attempted to be comforting, “It’s Pinkie. You’re getting a party.”

Tempest rolled her eyes. “Joy.” She did not look forward to spending an evening with all eyes on her. But, even so, she didn’t think arguing the point would improve her standings with anypony in town.

“Aw, lighten up,” Rainbow said playfully, “They’re actually really fun when you get into it. And in the meantime I can show you the cubby holes Fluttershy always slips into when she gets too nervous.”

Tempest narrowed her eyes and gave the hovering Pegasus a good-natured shove and continued to walk away from the town hall. “I will not get nervous. I’ve been to plenty of social gatherings in my time.”

“Councils for the terms of surrender don’t count.”

Tempest ignored her. “I just don’t find the idea of a wild party appealing and would rather not have one forced on me.”

“Why not?” Rainbow asked, flipping upside down in midair while still keeping pace with Tempest, “Didn’t you say you want to stay on Princess Twilight’s good side? Going to Pinkie’s party would definitely help with your whole ‘creepy loner’ vibe you’ve got going on.”

Tempest shot a glare at the cheeky Pegasus, but they both knew who had won. “While that’s true, I am already friends with her.” She paused as painful memories of friends made and lost long ago entered her mind. “...I have two friends now. I don’t feel the need for anymore.”

Rainbow’s eyes and smile grew so wide that Tempest was sure her entire face would slip off her head. The Pegasus giggled and did a little twirl in the air before landing on Tempest’s back belly first so her chin was pressed against the taller Unicorn’s neck. “So we’re officially friends now, huh?” Rainbow let out a long sigh that tickled Tempest’s neck. “Awesome.”

Tempest craned her head to try and look at the pony on her back. She could have easily shaken her passenger off but found she didn’t actually mind being Rainbow’s ride for a few moments. Like most Pegasi, Rainbow was lightweight and very easy to carry, but the heat that she gave to Tempest’s exposed coat, as well as the gentle rise and fall of her chest, was… relaxing. As if a soft, downy blanket had been placed over her withers. “Where did that reaction come from? You’re one of the ‘Elements of Harmony’ or whatever Princess Twilight calls her little group. Don’t you have many friends?”

“Oh sure,” Dash agreed, turning over so their backs were pressed together and she was using Tempest’s skull as a headrest, “I’ve got tons of friends. But none of them are you.”

Tempest didn’t know how to react to that as heat clawed at her cheeks. She just kept walking, making sure not to dislodge her passenger. “What do you mean? How am I any different?”

“Well, I got the feeling you didn’t really want any friends,” Rainbow replied and Tempest swore she could hear the frown in her voice, “Even though you’re totally cool now and you don’t want to hurt anypony anymore…” She shrugged, brushing the fur on Tempest’s back with her own. “I got the sense you didn’t feel like you deserved friends. But… maybe I’m totally off, I’m not great with this introspective stuff.”

“I simply…” Tempest began before stopping herself. Was Rainbow Dash right? It was true that she hadn’t really been trying to get to know any of the ponies around her. But it wasn’t like she was trying to punish herself or anything, was it? She just didn’t want to scare them but, because she didn’t know how to interact with others as an equal, instead of an oppressor, that was almost guaranteed to happen. “...I simply don’t have anything in common with most ponies,” she said at last. “To be friends you need some sort of mutual connection, don’t you?”

Rainbow snorted and flipped off of her perch and into the air, causing a cold breeze that made Tempest shiver. “You don’t know that. Sure, you haven’t been to Equestria in a while and spent that time being a flank-kicking badass conquering other lands...”

Tempest was unsure if that was supposed to be a compliment or an insult. 

“But we have something in common,” Rainbow continued, “And you would have never had found that out if I hadn’t forced you to talk to me.”

Tempest would have argued the point further but there was a nagging irritation in the back of her head that Rainbow should just land and talk to her close up. Not always hovering, just out of reach. Of course, Tempest didn’t say any of those things. She simply shook her head with a grunt. “I get it. I shouldn’t judge a book by its cover and such, yes?”

Rainbow grinned at her and it was equal parts friendly and teasing. “Isn’t that why you were so nervous in The Corner? Didn’t want people judging how you ate without magic?”

Tempest jerked to a halt and stumbled over her hooves as a result. She hadn’t thought Rainbow even noticed her discomfort, let alone perceive the reasoning behind it. Heat rose to her cheeks as she remembered not even a half-hour ago. How the Pegasus had seemed twitchy and distracted but was apparently paying very close attention. 

She schooled her features quickly and gave her friend a blank stare. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Any discomfort I felt in the bakery had to do with ponies staring at their recent attacker. Embarrassment over how I choose to eat is a juvenile worry.”

“Awesome argument. Did you plan that script out in advance, egghead?” Rainbow stuck out her tongue and winked. Tempest could not remove the heat from her face no matter how hard she tried and she silently thanked genetics for giving her a dark coat to hide it. “Don’t worry. I get the whole pride thing. I get it a ton. Just know I’m here if you ever decide to open up.”

Once again, Tempest was filled with an overwhelming urge to poke into her companion’s past. The references and switch from fun-loving to overly mature were captivating in their oddity. But she held herself back. Rainbow’s life was her own and Tempest knew she would hate if someone was to go around digging in her own past. 

Instead, Tempest flicked her tail and subtly shifted her weight. There was a tension in her shoulders, and watching her student hover overhead gave her an idea. 

The two were still in town square but barely anypony was around at that moment. It was the middle of the workday so most ponies were inside or simply passing through. That meant the two had plenty of space to work with. 

“You really love this town, don’t you?” Tempest asked, pacing around Rainbow in precise measured steps. Most of the road had a layer of relatively loose dirt. She just had to find…

Rainbow blinked, undoubtedly thrown by the sudden shift in topic. “Well, duh. It’s my home and where I met all my best friends. It’s the awesomest village in Equestria.”

Tempest’s hooves struck a hard patch of dirt, packed down by years of trotting. She stopped there and, making sure to keep her facial features as neutral as possible said, “Then you better try not to break anything.”

She lunged before the last word had even left her mouth. By the Pegasus’ yelp, Tempest assumed she had successfully managed to catch Rainbow off guard. But, even completely unprepared, the Pegasus was still lightning-fast and with one flap of her wings pushed herself out of harm’s way.

Fast, yes, but predictable. Tempest countered her movement before it had even begun by shifting her stance mid lunge, coming at Dash from an angle rather than head-on.

Tempest’s hoof clipped Rainbow’s wingtip, not a direct enough hit to cause any damage, but with enough force behind it to send her spinning through the air and crashing into the ground.

“Funny,” Tempest said cooly but not without a hint of a smile. She took a few steps back in case of a counter strike. “I thought you said I couldn’t ‘get the jump’ on you.”

Rainbow spat out some dirt and turned fiery eyes onto Tempest. “I let you get that shot in.”

Tempest rolled her eyes. “Sure you-”

“AHHH!” The battle cry cut her off as Rainbow Dash barreled towards her like a living battering ram.

The shout had given Tempest enough warning to jump into the air just before Rainbow would have slammed into her. The leap was high enough to clear the charging Pegasus but low enough to flatten her on the way back down.

Tempest snorted as she shifted her weight to keep Rainbow pinned without pinching anything sensitive. “Announcing your attack never turns out well.” She looked down but, instead of Rainbow’s face, she was met only with her toned rump and softly flicking prismatic tail. Of course, because of how Rainbow had rushed her they had ended facing opposite directions. 

“But it gave me a great view of your cutie mark,” Rainbow wheezed, humor still in her voice even as she struggled to get her breath back. 

Tempest almost choked as she whipped her head around only to frown in annoyance. While the way they were positioned had given her a view of Rainbow’s colorful tail the Pegasus’ face was pressed firmly into the dirt by Tempest's back hoof. From that angle there wasn’t any way she could even glimpse her firework of a cutie mark, much less be anywhere close to it. “Very funny.”

Somehow, Rainbow still managed to grin cheekily at her. “Made you look.”

Tempest’s couldn’t help the startled grunt from escaping her as Rainbow twisted sharply and used her back legs and wings to sweep Tempest’s forehooves. 

She fell to the side, knocking her jaw on the road as Rainbow slipped out from underneath her. Tempest rolled, anticipating another strike, and sprang back to her hooves. However, no such counterattack came. Rainbow was hovering a few dozen hoof lengths out of Tempest’s reach, gazing around with a proud, relaxed smile.

“Good distraction,” Tempest complimented, ignoring the stinging in her jaw, “you caught me off guard enough that I wasn’t paying attention to keeping you pinned. But next time try to immobilize your opponent while they're down instead of wasting your advantage.”

“Just wanted to give my teach a little leg up in our spar,” Rainbow said loudly and, while they were keeping eye contact, Tempest got the impression she wasn’t talking to her at all. “Why don’t we put on a classic show? No wings or horns.” She dropped to the ground on the other side of the square and winked. “Gotta keep things fair. Right Tempest?”

At this point, despite the words, Tempest was sure Rainbow wasn’t really addressing her. Keeping her opponent in her peripheral, Tempest glanced around the little arena they had created only to see ponies clustered in a loose circle around the two, as if an invisible force held them back. Most had confused looks upon their faces, some worried, and even a few looking nothing less than frightened by what they were witnessing. 

But, as Rainbow kept her friendly and relaxed smile on her face and talked casually to Tempest the crowd’s trepidation eased away to be replaced by interested grins and excited chattering. Some ponies even settled down on their haunches, as if they were about to watch some kind of performance.

Tempest’s ears flicked back as a small wave of guilt hit her. While she had indeed checked that they wouldn’t damage anything with their spar she had failed to consider what it would look like to the average civilian to see one of their heroes fighting with a known villain in a public square. Violence in the streets wasn’t as common here as somewhere like Klugetown, and ponies didn’t know when to turn a blind eye and mind their own business. 

If Rainbow Dash hadn’t noticed the crowd when she did they could have quickly had a mob on their hooves.

Tempest tried to smile politely at the watching ponies but those she turned her gaze to only grew more nervous. Dropping that useless endeavor, Tempest turned back to face Rainbow Dash, who was still crouched in preparation for her next move.

Rainbow waggled her eyebrows. It was an invitation and a taunt at the same time. Daring Tempest to put on a compelling show for the onlookers. 

Tempest huffed. She had never been one for theatrics. But if this was how she could save face with the citizens of this town then she could bear a little public humiliation. 

She crouched down, matching Rainbow’s stance. She was aware that the Pegasus was waiting for her signal to begin again, her permission as the teacher. Tempest eyed her pupil, sizing her up, while making sure to keep the growing crowd in her peripheral. If nothing else, this was sure to be an interesting challenge. 

“It ends when one of us forfeits,” Tempest said, waiting until Rainbow nodded her understanding before finishing, “We start now.”

They rushed each other in sync. Rainbow’s wings were spread open but, true to her word, she did not lift up off the ground. She was slower without being able to fly. Not by much but enough that Tempest was able to read her movements and roll under the first punch thrown.

Tempest jabbed upward with her back leg right into Dash’s stomach. The kick sent the lighter pony flying a few body lengths straight up into the air. 

As predicted, Rainbow couldn’t stop her instincts as her wings spread out to slow her fall. Tempest ignored the appreciative gasps of wonder from the crowd as she used Rainbow’s time stalled to jump and launch herself off the Pegasus’ back, sending herself even higher while at the same time driving Dash into the ground.

In the few seconds of free fall she had, Tempest looked down to assess the situation.

Their audience had grown large enough by this point that not everypony seemed to have a proper view of the action. Some children were even standing on parent’s backs in an effort to see better. A few ponies, however, near the back, were trotting away quickly with looks of disgust, obviously not a fan of the little show they were performing. 

Tempest couldn’t blame them, she had been their enemy only a few weeks ago and seeing her beat a local hero into the ground probably did nothing to calm their nerves. Even those eagerly watching would probably be put off if she won easily, despite Rainbow’s assurance earlier that Tempest was acting as a teacher.

“Wooo! Go Rainbow Dash! Yeah!” Those still watching, however, gasped and cheered at the duet Tempest and Rainbow making. 

Speaking of Dash the Pegasus was… gone. As gravity started to reclaim its hold on Tempest she could not make out any multicolored spot that stuck out from the candy-colored crowd below. Rainbow wasn’t stupid enough to hide among the civilians so where had she disappeared-

“Oomph,” Tempest couldn’t stop the grunt escaping her as a sudden jolt yanked forcefully on her tail. Being in freefall, she had no control over her momentum and could only watch helplessly as Rainbow pivoted in midair, Tempest’s tail clenched firmly in her mouth, and slammed the Unicorn back down to the unyielding ground. 

Tempest paused a moment after landing, working to regain her lost breath and watching as Rainbow dropped heavily a few hoof lengths away, skidding on the dirt in an attempt to regain her footing. She was playing fair and obviously hadn’t used her wings in the jump to reach Tempest but as such throwing her opponent down had sent Dash flying back just as far. The move gave Rainbow a slight edge but it wouldn’t have been enough to turn the tide of the battle had Tempest simply rolled with the impact and regained her footing.

“Heaaaah!” But she hadn’t and now Rainbow had the opportunity to rush her again with a mighty battle cry. Tempest scrambled to her hooves just as the Pegasus reached her, still moving at full speed. What Rainbow’s plan had been would never be realized as Tempest didn’t give her a chance to act it out. Instead, she pivoted to the side just as Rainbow rushed past and grabbed one of her student’s front legs. “Araaa-Eep!”

The plan was to use Dash’s momentum and flip her over Tempest’s head so she’d fly off in the other direction. However, just when Tempest had raised the smaller pony into the air, Rainbow jammed her free foreleg against Tempest’s scalp, finding purchase in where her horn met her forehead. With the new leverage, Rainbow adjusted her direction just enough that, instead of going over Tempest’s shoulder, she slammed her full weight and speed into the small of the Unicorn’s back.

“Oof.” A rush of air left Tempest’s lungs as she was forcefully shoved to the ground yet again. This time, however, Rainbow stayed on top, pinning Tempest in place. Tempest could have pushed her off but Dash had managed to twist Tempest’s previous hold into a dominating leg lock. It left Tempest’s hoof pinned behind her back at an odd angle and without a lot of leverage to work with. 

Unlike when Rainbow had rested on her back, having the Pegasus’ knee dig into Tempest’s ribs wasn’t particularly comfortable. Hmm. 

“Ha...ha!” Rainbow laughed in victory even as she panted. She wasn’t shaking, which was good, but Tempest could feel the Pegasus’ sweat dripping off in streams. “How… how do you like that?”

“I… don’t…” Tempest grunted and made a show of squirming a bit before slumping limp in defeat. “Alright fine… You win this one.”

Rainbow’s face lit up in pure joy, as if Tempest had just given her all the riches in the world “Aw heck yeah!” She cried, launching off of Tempest’s back and into the air with a loud victory crow. “Ha ha! That, fillies and gentlecolts, is how you do it!”

The sound of hooves stomping in applause shook the ground as Tempest slowly regained her footing. Everypony was focused on the victor with cheers, congratulations, and ‘you rock, Rainbow Dash’ being thrown her way.

“Thank you, thank you!” Rainbow said, giving a few over-exaggerated bows as she basked in the positive feedback, “Me and Tempest both hoped you liked that show. Just a little demonstration on how to kick flank and take names!”

There were more cheers and Tempest had to actively keep herself from snorting at the dramatization of a fairly regular sparring session.

The crowd was starting to disperse by now. A few eager fans stayed around a little longer to congratulate Rainbow Dash again but even they left after a minute or two with a friendly wave.

No one bothered to talk to Tempest Shadow.

Shrugging off that thought, Tempest made her way over to where Dash was waving goodbye to the last of her adoring fans. 

“You did well today,” Tempest complimented, successfully gaining Rainbow’s attention. She looked a little bruised and disheveled but thankfully none the worse for wear after getting tossed around a bit.

“Pffffffff,” Rainbow scoffed. Or she was impersonating a leaking balloon. Tempest almost couldn’t tell. “Come on, get real. You let me win.” At the last sentence she flicked her tail up to brush against Tempest’s nose. Quite a feat with how much taller the Unicorn was.

“Perhaps,” Tempest conceded. She was fine lying to all those ponies who had been watching. But she found a sour taste in her mouth at the thought of lying directly to Rainbow’s face. “But that does not mean you didn’t do well. I was impressed by how you handled the crowd.”

“Huh?” Rainbow asked, tilted her head to the side, “What do you mean by that? I wasn’t doing anything special.”

That was… strange. Tempest was about to clarify when she was interrupted by-

Clap. Clap. Clap.

The two paused in their conversation to turn and look at where the slow and steady applause was coming from.

Princess Twilight Sparkle was watching them off to the side, clapping her hooves together in an exaggerated fashion as she smirked knowingly at Rainbow Dash. “Great show you put on, Dash. Really impressive.”

Tempest bowed her head in greeting. “Princess.”

Princess Twilight waved the greeting off with a friendly smile as she trotted over to the two. “Please, Tempest, I told you there’s no need for the formalities. Just Twilight is fine.” She glanced over to her friend and her smile dropped into a slightly more scolding tone. “As for you and that stunt that just happened…”

Rainbow chuckled awkwardly and rubbed the back of her head. “Uh… heh… I’m in trouble aren’t I?”

Twilight rolled her eyes and the smile was back, though not without a bit of exasperation covering it. “No, not really. The show was impressive and no one seems to have gotten hurt. I’d just wish you’d tell me you’re doing these things before I get a dozen ponies dragging me out of my house to watch two of my friends beat each other up.”

Rainbow grinned guiltily. “Oops.”

“We apologize Your… Twilight,” Tempest spoke up, correcting herself away from another honorific. She wasn’t enjoying how Rainbow was getting all the heat from their public mishap. Tempest was the one who initiated the fight. She should be the one taking the blame. “I simply wanted to show Rainbow another fighting tactic. We didn’t mean to draw in a crowd.”

Twilight gave her a bemused look. “You started a hoof fight in the middle of town square and didn’t think ponies would take notice?”

“It was kind of a spur of the moment thing,” Dash explained, taking back control of the conversation, “I was showing Tempest around town and we wanted to get another sparring session in. One thing led to another and… you know?”

Tempest didn’t think Twilight did know. She nodded along to the explanation half-heartedly, before her eyes perked up in surprise. The Princess turned to Tempest with a delighted grin creeping onto her features. “You two were exploring the town? That’s great! I’m glad you’re getting out and about Tempest.”

Tempest nodded in acknowledgment but internally winced. The Princess had been inviting her to events and meetings for the past few weeks, encouraging her to get out and meet more ponies. Every time Tempest had politely declined. She got the impression Twilight Sparkle was inexperienced with the whole ‘royalty’ position she was performing. Tempest knew having a foreign general at any kind of strategy or diplomatic or whatever those brunches actually were would only cause unneeded tension and undermine Twilight’s authority as a leader.

Or she wanted Tempest there for the intimidation factor and in that case Tempest would rather avoid looking like hired muscle if she could help it.

“Heck yeah!” Rainbow replied, saving Tempest with her exploding enthusiasm. “She needed to see where all my most daring stunts took place first hoof.”

Tempest found herself mirroring the Princess’s facial expression as both purple ponies rolled their eyes with barely hidden smiles.  

“Alright, alright,” Twilight conceded, “It sounds like you two were having a good time. Just try to tell me before you show off in public again, okay?”

Tempest glanced at Rainbow out of the corner of her eye. From the Pegasus’ playful grin she was unsubtly shooting Tempest, she didn’t think they’d be keeping that promise any time soon.
> Morning Meetings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A knock rang across Tempest’s room at exactly eight o’ five the next morning. 

Tempest looked up in mild surprise from where she had been reading. It was her and Rainbow’s rest day from training. When exercising it was important to take at least one day a week to let your muscles breathe and all the work to settle in. 

Tempest had still gotten up at the crack of dawn. That wasn’t the kind of habit you’d risk breaking. And, like every rest day, she had set to work reading from one of Princess Twilight’s many books scattered all throughout the castle. Tempest had missed more than a decade’s worth of schooling when she had fled Equestria and was using every opportunity to catch up just a little bit more. 

But while normally she would be content to read and rest, from the moment she had gotten up this morning she had felt… bored. Like there was an itch in the back of her skull she just couldn’t scratch with the quiet of a book. She longed to be out there. Moving and working in a way so calming and familiar to her. Practicing under the perfect weather Rainbow Dash had made.

So when the knock sounded on her door it wasn’t the annoying intrusion it would have been any other day. Tempest almost felt relieved as she closed the dry history book in her lap and went to open the door.

Princess Twilight Sparkle was waiting on the other side, as expected. What wasn’t expected was the splatter of batter and whip cream dotting the Princess’s coat.

“Hi, Tempest,” The Princess greeted as if she didn’t look like she had barely survived a food fight, “I’m going to have a little breakfast party with my friends in a couple of minutes and I wondered if you’d like to join us.”

“You…” Tempest asked, slowly letting her gaze wander over the Princess’ ruffled appearance, “...cooked?”

Twilight pouted as if Tempest had just said something offensive. “I’ve gotten better at it! I barely burn anything anymore. Besides… Spike helped… a lot.”

That wasn’t at all what Tempest had meant to imply but didn’t bother correcting Her Highness. “No thank you,” she said instead. While sitting in on a dignitary meeting might alleviate the boredom clawing at her mind, she didn’t particularly feel like standing silently as nobles chatted for hours on end. She had attended enough of them working for the Storm King. “I ate earlier.”

“Are you sure?” Twilight pressed, tilting her head to the side as if Tempest’s refusal had somehow surprised her for the twentieth time. “It’s just going to be a casual breakfast right here in the castle.”

“I’m sure Pr- Twilight.” Tempest began to close to the door, hoping that the Princess would get the hint before they dived too deep into a discussion. “I have other things to attend to today.”

“Well, alright then.” Twilight caved quicker than usual. Her ears drooped and she let out a long sigh but she made no move to walk away. “I won’t force you into anything. But Rainbow Dash was really looking forward to you joining us and now I’ll have to watch her pout all morning. Guess it can’t be helped.”

Tempest paused, the door only inches from closing. “...Rainbow Dash will be attending?”

Twilight perked back up immediately, as if she was never upset in the first place. “Of course! She’s one of my best friends, after all.”

The Princess continued to grin at Tempest like she had caught her in an inescapable trap. Tempest let out an almost undetectable sigh and pushed the door back open to Twilight’s obvious delight. “Fine then. I shall attend with you.” After all, it was doubtful there was any event, no matter how dull, that the lively Pegasus couldn’t make entertaining. 

“Perfect!” Princess Twilight replied, prancing a little as she headed back down the hallway, “You can help Starlight set the table.”

Tempest followed her to the nearest dining room in the grand castle, immensely relieved that they did head towards a dining room. She had walked in too many times to the Princess or one of her assistants eating away in their throne room, using the large map as a table for snacks or even full meals. The disregard of formality and disrespect to the symbolism of a strategy room like that set Tempest’s fur on edge. It reminded her too much of how the Storm King would manage his meetings, lulling creatures into a false sense of security.

Obviously, that wasn’t Twilight’s intention but it irked Tempest that she wasn’t trying to avoid that behavior either.

They entered the dining room to find Twilight’s pony assistant, Starlight… something, placing plates and silverware around the table in neat order.

She looked up as the two entered the room and blinked in surprise when she saw Tempest with her Princess. “Oh! You actually got her to come?”

Twilight didn’t even slow down as she brushed past her assistant and towards the adjacent kitchen. “Yep! She just needed a bit of time and encouragement, just like you. You two finish setting the table and I’ll go check on Spike.”

The smaller Unicorn rolled her eyes as the batter-covered princess disappeared back into what was probably a war zone if the amount of syrup on the swinging door was any indication. Starlight turned to Tempest with an exasperated smirk, as if they were sharing some private joke. “She definitely causes more problems than she solves when it comes to cooking.”

Tempest simply raised a brow. “I suppose so. Participating in gossip of superiors had never been a pastime of mine.”

Starlight’s smile slipped off her face and she coughed awkwardly into her hoof. “Uh, right. Sorry about that. The silverware is in those cupboards behind you if you want to start laying them out.”

Internally, Tempest grimaced. Starlight was just casually floating the plates and cups over, handling multiple at once and only moving her head to track her progress. But Tempest didn’t think to complain or show discomfort in any way. It was demeaning to have to go over and scoop all the silverware in her mouth, but Princess Twilight Sparkle had asked her to help and so help she would.

“So...” Starlight started awkwardly after a few moments of silent work, “how have you liked your stay in Ponyville so far?”

Tempest gave her a flat look around the dozen forks and spoons cluttering her mouth.

Noticing her faux pas, Starlight glanced away and continued on in a ramble like she hadn’t just asked a question. “I know it was really hard for me, at first. It’s weird to get used to not being in charge anymore and having to live in someone else’s house. Feels like you're back in your parent’s basement.”

Tempest placed the cutlery on the table with a clatter and started to arrange them across nine different seats. “I suppose it is a change of scenery. What was it you did again before apprenticing with the Princess?”

“Ah, that’s… that’s quite a story.” Starlight chuckled as she rearranged a napkin she had just finished straightening. “I manipulated ponies into electing me their leader and giving up their cutie marks while we… okay, yes, it was basically a cult. No point beating around it, I guess.”

Tempest frowned slightly and paced the table, checking to see if everything was correct. “And what made you abandon that path? Sounds like you had an entire community of ponies adoring you.”

Starlight shot Tempest a completely baffled look. “I gave it up for the same reason you did. Twilight showed me a better way. I mean, didn’t you have an entire army at your beck and call?”

“That was completely different.” Tempest glared down at the cutlery as she brought herself back to that time. “I thought no one would ever listen to me or accept me unless I forced and intimidated them. The idea that creatures could… care for one another… was completely foreign to me. It sounds like you actually convinced ponies to love you.”

A chuckle made Tempest look up icily to find Starlight smirking at her in an annoyingly condescending way. “You know I don’t think it’s any different at all.” The smaller pony explained. “They didn’t love me, they loved the lies I told them. They loved what I made them love. I manipulated them, coerced them, and used them. The only difference between you and me is that you attacked creatures physically and I attacked them mentally.”

Tempest stared at her as the rest of the table sets filed into place perfectly. 

Starlight gave a small smile. “Just… something to think about, I guess.”

A knock rang through the castle, bouncing off the crystal halls and reverberating in an almost deafening ring. 

Princess Twilight’s head peeked back out of the kitchen, now with a chef’s hat balanced atop it and somehow even messier than before. “Oh good, you two are done. Tempest, can I have you grab the door? I need Starlight’s help with the enchanted egg beater.”

Starlight laughed a tad frantically and trotted into the kitchen as if her tail was on fire but she was trying desperately to hide it. “I… I didn’t tamper with that enchantment… recently.”

Tempest watched her go for a moment before another knock rattled the hallways. She turned and headed towards the front door, mulling for a moment in her own thoughts. 

Despite being Princess Twilight’s apprentice she didn’t think Starlight knew much about Tempest’s situation at all. Essentially exiled, deformed, forced to live in a survival first situation, Tempest had been isolated from any casual pony interaction for much of her life. It was nothing like taking a group of your closest friends and running away to a secluded part of Equestria, no matter how badly you lied to each other.

Tempest was a walking weapon and that was made even more clear by her task to answer the door. Obviously Twilight wanted her to be the first thing her guests saw to put herself at an advantage and throw all the others off of their game. It was an effective strategy that the Storm King had even used a few times with his army of large, gruff, soldiers. Tempest respected it but that didn’t mean she enjoyed being used for political games. Coming to Equestria was supposed to be a chance to get away from all that.

The only thing keeping her spirits up was the possibility that the first visitor might be Rainbow Dash and, knowing her, Tempest would be saved from any more awkward meetings by Dash’s energetic personality. 

Unfortunately, opening the door did not reveal the familiar Pegasus but instead a well-groomed Unicorn that Tempest vaguely recalled as being one of Princess Twilights’ friends. 

“Oh!” The Unicorn said, starting back a little at the sight of Tempest at the door. “Why, Miss Shadow, I didn’t expect to see you here.”

Tempest didn’t react more than to raise an eyebrow. “I live here now.”

The Unicorn -- Tempest was trying to recall her name but it kept slipping just away -- giggled in a tinkling little way that was both parts actually amused and a way to dispel nerves. “Well, yes, I was aware of that. But you’ve never made an appearance at our little get-togethers before.”

“I’ve been busy.” Tempest turned so she was holding open the door while also leaving room for the smaller Unicorn to move past her. “Please, come in. The Princess is waiting for you…?”

Thankfully she seemed to recognize the unasked question and inclined her head politely. “Rarity. It’s a pleasure to formally meet you.” 

Tempest hummed in acknowledgment and, checking that no pony else was walking up the front steps, closed the door and led Rarity back to the dining room. 

Led might not have been the right term. Rarity seemed to know exactly where she was going and headed straight there with a spring in her trot. “So, Tempest, what do we owe the pleasure of your company this morning?”

Ah, small talk. Tempest’s greatest foe. “I felt like attending the meeting. Nothing more.”

Rarity’s brow furrowed, just slightly enough that she probably thought Tempest wouldn’t notice. But the shorter Unicorn continued with her questioning as if nothing was amiss. “Well, I don’t blame you. Spike’s cooking is hard to pass up, no matter what the circumstances.” She turned her head to smile warmly at Tempest. “And I do hope the circumstances aren't too undesirable.” 

There was humor in Rarity’s voice but also a hint of… hurt? Worry? Did she think Tempest was upset at her? What had Tempest done to imply that?

Making ponies like you was extremely complicated.

Thankfully, Tempest was freed from having to save face by another knock ringing through the crystal castle. 

Rarity’s ears flattened on her head. “Goodness. Twilight really needs to work on those acoustics, doesn’t she?”

Tempest bowed her head instead of replying. “If you’ll excuse me I need to get that.”

Rarity’s smile was sad. “Ah, of course. I know the way.”

Tempest left with the intent to put the other Unicorn out of her mind. Even if Tempest had done something to upset her it hardly mattered. Rarity, and all these guests, were here for Princess Twilight Sparkle. What Tempest Shadow did hardly mattered.

Thankfully, the evening got immensely better once Tempest opened the grand front doors once again. 

“Tempest!” Rainbow Dash said, face lighting up with joy once the doors swung open. In an act that caught Tempest completely off guard, the Pegasus darted forward and wrapped her forelegs around Tempest’s neck in a tight hug.

Before the Unicorn could even register what was happening, Rainbow had already removed herself and flew back to hover in her original position. “Are you gonna eat breakfast with us today? Cause that’d be so sweet!”

“Y-yes,” Tempest answered, clearing her throat. She probably shouldn’t have let that happen. As Rainbow’s personal trainer letting the student get a jump on her in any way was just embarrassing. “The Princess insisted.”

“Twilight didn’t invite too many more ponies, did she?”

Tempest glanced down to where a second Pegasus she hadn’t noticed before was standing, a basket balanced between her wings. The yellow pony ducked her head when Tempest looked at her and awkwardly scraped a hoof on the floor. “Not that it isn’t nice that you’re coming, of course. I just bought some eggs to share and I hope I grabbed enough…”

“It’ll be fine, Fluttershy,” Rainbow answered waving an unconcerned hoof, “Even if we do run out I can always just zip back to your place and get more.”

“I’m not aware of who The Princess invited,” Tempest also supplied. Probably unhelpfully, but she still felt the need to answer the question that had been asked of her.

Fluttershy glanced between the two a few times before nodding in acknowledgment. “Okay… I’ll just go help set up.” She slipped between Tempest and the door and vanished down the hall before Tempest could even think of stopping her.

“Aw, don’t mind Shy,” Rainbow said when her friend was out of earshot, “She’s kinda jumpy around new ponies. Way better than she was a few years ago but…” Dash trailed off with a noncommittal shrug. 

“But I did attempt to enslave your entire country,” Tempest pointed out for her.

Rainbow’s lips twitched into a hint of a grin as she shook her head. “Trust me. That’s not as big of a problem as you’d think.” She then landed from her hover and trotted into the castle. “Come on, if we’re fast maybe we can beat Pinkie to some of the whipped cream.”

Tempest followed after before Dash could disappear into the depths of the castle. 

It suddenly felt… weird to Tempest that Rainbow Dash was here. Tempest was used to moving every other day to a new province and new mission. This castle, living with Twilight and her assistants, was the most permanent home she had had since she was a filly. And having Rainbow here now almost felt like a breach of protocol.

“Do you come here every meeting?” Tempest asked as the two walked towards the dining room. Rainbow seemed to know her way around incredibly well, not even glancing at the high ceilings or intricate designs.

“Huh? Meetings?” Rainbow asked, glancing over her shoulder at Tempest, “Oh, you mean like the breakfasts and hangouts? Nah, they aren’t all at Twilight’s place. Sometimes we go to Rarity’s or Pinkie’s or just, like, a park. Depends on who wants to host and stuff.”

“Never yours?” Tempest wondered.

Rainbow snorted. “Heck no. Not only is my house in the clouds and I don’t wanna be on guard in case someone accidentally walks off the side but I can’t cook to save my life. Bringing sandwiches to a few of them is about all I can manage.”

“Ah,” Tempest said, and managed to keep the hint of disappointment out of her voice. “And you attend every one?”

“Eeeeh,” Rainbow said, “Yeah, I come to the ones I can and I love seeing the girls. But sometimes a Wonderbolt’s got things to do, you know?”

“As in…?” It was a personal question to push but Tempest felt it was appropriate in this situation. 

Dash waved a hoof. “You know, flight practices, tours, team building trainings. Uh actually…” she trailed off and slowed so she was trotting side by side with Tempest instead of a few steps in front of her. “Do you know? What was army life like for you? Cause the Wonderbolts are technically military but we concentrate more on the show stuff.”

Tempest shook her head with a small smile. She could easily believe that the Wonderbolts didn’t concentrate on the fighting aspect of their work from how easily she had defeated them during her raid. But insulting Rainbow’s occupation probably wouldn’t be a good idea. “‘Team building’ definitely not. But I did have to train and travel so I understand that.”

Rainbow nodded, satisfied. “So you get it. It takes up a lot of time and-Oh dang it, Pinkie!”

They had arrived back at the dining room at that exact moment and the sight that greeted them utterly baffled Tempest. 

Most of the table was as Tempest left it besides two noticeable differences. Rarity was sitting in one of the chairs, sipping at a cup of coffee. And across from her was a tower of pancakes, whipped cream, and fruit, teetering in the wind in front of Pinkie Pie, who was only adding more toppings to her stack.

“Pinkie!” Rainbow yelled again, darting into the room to confront her friend face to face. “Geez, can you not save a drop for the rest of us?”

Pinkie looked up from her pastry tower and blew a raspberry at Dash. “If you wanted some you shouldn’t have been one of the last ponies here Miss Fastest Pegasus Alive.” She squirted some directly into her mouth. “You snooze, you lose.”

“I don’t lose,” Rainbow said with a playful scowl and proceeded to leap over the table to tackle the Earth Pony.

Pinkie squeaked in surprise and scurried out of the way, whipped cream bottle clutched in her muzzle. “No, it’s mine! Mine!”

“Give it!”

Tempest stared blankly as Rainbow proceeded to chase her friend around, and occasionally upon, the table. 

They seemed to be… having fun. That was the only explanation, strange as it was, to what was happening. Because Tempest knew that while Pinkie Pie was twisting around to keep the canister just out of Rainbow’s reach, Dash was skilled enough to immobilize her if she really wanted to. 

So it had to just be some weird kind of game. And, if the laughter and angry grunts were anything to go by, one created mostly for Pinkie Pie’s entertainment.

“Don’t pay them any mind, darling,” Rarity spoke up from where she was sitting, “Those two like to rough house a bit but it’s all in good fun for them.”

“When did Pinkie arrive?” Tempest asked, ignoring the odd display for the moment in favor of a slightly more pressing matter, “She didn’t come through the front door.”

Rarity furrowed her brow. “Hmm? I’m not sure. I thought she was here before I arrived. Starlight!” She waved down the pink Unicorn, who was currently talking to Fluttershy, and the two wandered over to the table. “Starlight, when did Pinkie arrive?”

“Huh?” Starlight said, “I don’t know. She came out of the kitchen with all the pancakes a few seconds ago. I thought she just snuck in when I wasn’t looking. Fluttershy do you…” She trailed off as Fluttershy fixed both of them with a tired look and shook her head with such gravity the Unicorns decided to drop the subject right then and there.

Rarity grimaced and stood up as Rainbow and Pinkie rolled dangerously close to the giant stack of pancakes. “You know, I better go do some damage control…”

She trotted off. Leaving the other three in awkward silence.

“Is Applejack the only one we’re waiting for?” Fluttershy spoke up after a moment.

“Seems like it,” Starlight said, before trotting over towards the kitchen, “I’ll go check on how Twilight and Spike are doing. They should be finished up in a couple of minutes.”

Fluttershy made a little whine that sounded like a protest as she walked away but quickly clammed up once it was just her and Tempest completely alone.

“So,” Tempest started after a few moments of awkward silence between the two. Though ‘silence’ was a strong word as there was still plenty of noise in the room. Pinkie and Rainbow were making a sound that could only be called ‘shriek laughing’. “How did all of you… meet?”

Fluttershy looked up at the question. Her big doe-like eyes blinking in confusion. Tempest desperately wished she could join Rainbow in fighting the Earth Pony for even that seemed to be a better alternative than this creeping conversation. 

“Um…” Fluttershy eventually answered, “Well, most of us really met the first time Twilight came to town but Rainbow and I have been friends since foalhood.”

“Really?” Tempest knew that such a thing shouldn’t surprise her, but it still did. Rainbow and all these other ponies were so different. Rainbow was so different from any other pony Tempest had ever met.

“Mmmhm,” Fluttershy said with a nod, “We went to the same flight school. I didn’t have many friends but Rainbow was one of the most popular foals in her class.”

Now that, at least, made sense.

“She’s very likable isn’t she?” Tempest mused to herself. 

“Yes,” Fluttershy agreed anyway, “even when she’s not being… particularly friendly, she's always admirable.”

Tempest frowned and turned her full attention to the quiet pony. “What do you mean by that?”

“Howdy folks!” Came a call from the dining room entrance, “Sorry I’m late, Apple Bloom was havin’ trouble gettin’ ready for school.”

Tempest snapped around to where Applejack had just come in, taking in the commotion of the room with just a bit of amused shock. 

She had just… walked in. The second pony to get past Tempest today. That made her a sub-par bodyguard at best. 

Putting on a scowl to mask her embarrassment, Tempest walked over to Applejack and towered above the Earth Pony.

“You didn’t knock,” Tempest stated once she was close enough. 

“Huh?” Applejack asked, glancing up at her, “Oh, nah, Twi doesn’t mind if I just walk on in.” She apparently thought that was the end of the conversation as she strode forward without another word.

Tempest frowned at the back of her head, torn. If the Princess thought it was okay then of course it was okay. But if she did then why did she assign Tempest to guard the door?

As Tempest contemplated, Applejack walked over to the table and snatched the whip cream bottle out of Pinkie’s grasp as she bounced past. “Now settle down you two. You’re gonna start breakin’ things at this rate.”

“Nuh-uh, nuh-uh,” Pinkie Pie shook her head rapidly and didn’t seem at all perturbed by the loss of the thing she had been fighting over for the past five minutes. “Look, see? It’s fine. Rainbow Dash is a professional fighter now, she won’t let anything get knocked over.”

The table was indeed free from spilled food but from the way Rarity’s horn was subtly glowing Tempest could guess it didn’t have much to do with the roughhousers’ mindfulness.

Applejack rolled her eyes and tousled Pinkie’s hair good-naturedly. “I’m not sure tusslin’ around in the dirt every morning really makes someone a professional fighter.”

“Yeah, Pinks,” Rainbow piped up, still laying on the table from where she had been trying to cut Pinkie off, “Tempest is the professional. I’m still in training.”

Tempest wasn’t exactly sure what being a professional fighter meant but she decided to take it as a compliment.

“Looking at it a certain way…” Rarity said, finishing straightening all the table settings that had been bounced around, “you could claim all of us are ‘professional fighters’. Considering we sometimes get paid for going out on those missions.”

“Oh, that’s true!” Pinkie exclaimed, bouncing a little in place, “We’ve fought those vines and changelings and Tirek, but that was mostly Twilight, and those storm guards. Oops,” she shot an apologetic look Tempest's way, “no offense.”

“None taken?” Tempest replied. She honestly hadn’t even known the other ponies had fought the storm guards. Though from what she knew of the lot she doubted they could even be classified as amateur fighters, no matter how many situations they’ve been thrown into.

Rainbow was obviously pulling most of the weight on her team.

“Speakin’ of Tempest,” Applejack asked, cocking her head to the side curiously, “I didn’t think you’d ever come to any of our shindigs. What made you change your mind?”

Almost completely against her will, Tempest found her eyes moving in Rainbow Dash’s direction. She had gotten off the table at this point and was staring with the same wide-eyed curiosity as the rest of her friends. Her scarlet eyes seemed to shine in the reflective lights of the castle.

Tempest was at a loss for words. Time seemed to slow to a crawl and her entire body seized up as she stared into Rainbow Dash’s eyes.

“I…”

“Alright ponies,” Spike poked his head out of the kitchen, saving Tempest from having to form her thoughts into a suitable reply. “Breakfast is, officially, served.”
> Filly Fumble
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tempest was starting to suspect this was not a political meeting.

It wasn’t because, so far, there had been no mention of political agendas. Tempest had been to enough of the Storm King’s meetings to know double talk and wordplay were often used. Demands were phrased as mere suggestions and threats as helpful advice. So no actual negotiations were ever directly addressed. 

It also wasn’t because the ponies were acting goofy, per se. Ponies were always goofy. That was the stereotype and that’s what Tempest came to expect from the average pony citizen. The loud laughter, the messy eating, all was something Tempest expected from ponies, no matter what they were doing.

It wasn’t even the fact that there were no bigger political figures here that tipped Tempest off. After all, sometimes you needed to make sure even your most trusted subordinates still remained under your thumb.

No, what clued her in was just how at ease every creature was.

You couldn’t fake ease. Tempest had seen many a creature try but there was always a tell. A stiffening of the spine, clenching of the jaw, a laugh coming across a little too forced. You couldn’t make yourself act as if you were behaving naturally and the more you tried to do so the worse it got.

None of these ponies had those signs. 

They were chatting animatedly with each other in a way that a few different conversations overlapped. Rarity was telling Fluttershy about some interesting outfit a customer had commissioned and the Pegasus was smiling back as if there was nothing in the world she’d rather be doing. Pinkie told a joke that made Spike and Starlight laugh loud and hard, panting for breath. 

And Applejack and Rainbow Dash were watching Princess Twilight excitedly tell them about her day plan while everyone stuffed their faces with pancakes. 

They were all relaxed in their posture, gesturing unreservedly and interrupting conversations with relish when something interesting occurred to them. 

It was peaceful and full of life. And made Tempest feel completely out of place. 

Why was she here? If this was honestly just a chance for friends to catch up with no alternative motivation then why on earth did they invite Tempest Shadow? She barely knew anypony in the room besides Rainbow Dash and Princess Twilight. Compared to the rest of the guest list she was imposing and intimidating, not something you wanted when you were trying to get your friends to relax.

What was going on?

“How about it, Tempest?”

Tempest snapped out of her thoughts at being addressed. “My apologize, Princess, I wasn’t-”

“It’s okay,” Princess Twilight interrupted, smiling kindly. She, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash were all looking at her now. Rainbow had a teasing smirk on her face at Tempest’s fumble that made the Unicorn blush lightly. “I wanted to know if you’d like to go with me to Rainbow Dash’s show next week. It’s in Fillydelphia and I figured you might want to get out of town once in a while.”

“Plus you’ll be able to see a Wonderbolt show,” Rainbow gushed, “There’s literally nothing cooler!”

“Yeah, cause she doesn’t get enough of you showing off,” Applejack added, sticking out her tongue playfully. 

Dash snorted and waved a hoof dismissively. “Please. As if Tempest doesn’t kick my flank everyday. I gotta prove to her I’m actually as cool as I say.”

“I’d love to.”

Everyone paused and this side of the table went quiet. The other side didn’t seem to notice, however, and continued with their laughter and stories.

Even Tempest herself was surprised by her answer. Fillydelphia was very far away and very crowded. If she thought her social standing was bad here then it would most likely be ten times worse in a packed stadium with probably more ponies than Tempest had ever seen at once. Going was a horrible idea.

But when Rainbow’s face broke into a wide, wildly sincere grin she couldn’t bring herself to take it back.

“You would? Awesome!” Rainbow exclaimed, her wings fluttering by her side, “You are seriously going to love what we do Tempest. It’ll blow you away.”

“Yeah,” Tempest confirmed, swallowing down her nervousness, “can’t wait.”

“I’m sure it’ll be great, Dash,” Twilight added, “You always work really hard for these shows.”

“Sorry that none of the rest of us can come.” Applejack frowned and awkwardly scratched the back of her head. “You know, I got chores and a big order coming in…”

Rainbow waved a hoof dismissively. “Eh, it’s fine. Things come up for everyone. You’ll catch the next one.”

It was admirable, Tempest thought, that Rainbow dismissed the lack of commitment so easily. Her friends weren’t willing to see her in what sounded like a big moment for the Pegasus and yet she didn’t let it affect her. 

The doorbell rang again, echoing around the room in a thunderous boom. 

“Oh! Those must be our final guests,” Princess Twilight said, standing up from the table.

Tempest instantly made to follow, her brow furrowing in confusion. “More guests?”

“I’ll get it Twi,” Applejack spoke up, waving both the Princess and Tempest back into their seats, “Who knows what kinda state those three’ll be in after spending all night together.”

She promptly left the room and Rarity sighed. “Thank you for letting them come today, Twilight. While I do trust Holiday and Lofty to take care of them for the night I do not trust them to be running around unsupervised right afterwards.”

Twilight chuckled. “It’s fine. Ever since we started doing Twilight Time together I’ve actually really enjoyed their company, believe it or not.”

Tempest was thoroughly confused. Who on earth was coming that required constant supervision? And that, it seems, Rarity had to ask explicit permission for them to attend.

Voices started echoing down the hall, loud, high-pitched, and multiple, and not a second later three small fillies crashed through the doors and into the dining room, chatting excitedly amongst themselves and seeming to not even be aware of their surroundings.

Tempest found herself completely caught off guard. She hadn’t spent any time around children or even seen a child up close since she herself was a filly. And even though she knew, logically, what children were, when the three fillies entered the room she still had the distinct thought I didn’t know ponies could be that small. 

In the time she had spent staring it seemed that the children had caught sight of Tempest as well and were now staring right back. The white one in worry, the yellow in awe, and the orange Pegasus in a grave deal of suspicion. 

After what was probably only a few moments of tense silence Rarity loudly cleared her throat and nodded to the fillies. “Good morning girls. Sweetie, I assume you behaved well for Holiday and Lofty's?”

The unicorn child snapped out of her frozen state to give Rarity an annoyed pout. “Huh? Of course! Aunt Holly said we were ‘a pleasure to have’ and to ‘come back any time’.”

Rarity idly adjusted her silverware, a smirk forming at the corner of her lips. “Please, they’re just saying that to be polite.”

Sweetie groaned in annoyance and dramatically rolled her eyes.

Applejack reentered the room, ruffling the Earth Pony foal’s mane and drawing attention to herself. “Now, Apple Bloom, I know you're all excited but there’s no reason to go tearing through Twilight’s halls like that, ya hear? Breakfast wouldn’t be gone if y’all just walked.”

Apple Bloom ducked her head, but out of guilt or to get away from the light noogying wasn’t clear. “Sorry, sis.”

“Who are you?” The final filly, the Pegasus, spoke up, still staring with suspicious eyes at Tempest. 

“Oh my gosh, Squirt!” Rainbow Dash said, excitedly swooping over and gathering the foal into her front legs. ‘Squirt’ settled into the half-hug-half-carry situation with ease, her own front legs wrapped around Rainbow’s neck as the older Pegasus cradled her back ones, as if this position was the most natural in the world. “This is Tempest Shadow, the awesome kick-butt pony I’ve been telling you about.”

By the way the kid’s expression did not change in the slightest, Tempest was under the impression she had known that from the beginning. 

“Hello, Squirt,” Tempest greeted as politely as she could, “Pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“My name is Scootaloo,” she responded testily, eyes narrowing even more, “I’m Rainbow Dash’s little sister and I’ve heard you’ve been beating her up.”

Tempest glanced between the two Pegasi. Rainbow Dash had never mentioned any sister. Oh, she certainly talked about all of her friends but neither Tempest nor Dash had ever breached the topic of family once.

Rainbow groaned and jostled the filly lightly. “Come on Scoots, not this again. I told you Tempest is just helping me train. I asked her to do it. And sometimes I even get the upper hoof.”

The attempt at humor did not seem to lift Scootaloo’s spirits at all and she simply buried her face into Rainbow’s mane.

Rainbow, for her part, gave a confused glance down at the foal and then looked apologetically back at Tempest. The atmosphere in the room had turned awkward as the rest of the adults watched Tempest somehow thoroughly upset a child with only a few words. 

This was going just perfect.

“So Dashie,” Pinkie began, drawing Rainbow Dash’s attention away from Tempest’s blunder and sufficiently breaking the tension in the room, “Tanks birthday is coming up and I need to get the party planning prepared. Pronto.”

The other mares broke back into their own conversations and Tempest let herself breathe a little easier. Children were so difficult to deal with. Easy to scare and with the whole of the community backing them up.

Tempest did not remember having that as a filly.

“Don’t worry about Scootaloo,” Apple Bloom whispered, jerking Tempest from her thoughts. The Earth Pony leaned as close as her tiny frame would allow. “She ain’t always this rude.”

“Yeah,” Sweetie Belle added from her other side, “she’s just jealous.”

Tempest had no idea how she had ended up in between the two foals. The seats had shuffled around a bit and now Rainbow was across the table, Scootaloo practically attached to her side, and Tempest was in the middle of Applejack, Rarity, and their little sisters.

“Apparently you’re all Rainbow Dash has been talkin’ about lately,” Apple Bloom continued and Tempest wondered if it was ruder to slouch down so she was closer to the filly or continue to sit tall and let their conversation be so easy to eavesdrop, “whenever Scootaloo gets back from trainin’ with her she’s always whining about how distracted Dash is.”

Sweetie Belle giggled. “Yeah, she says Rainbow’s always like ‘oh Tempest is so cool. Tempest is so strong. Tempest is so ho-“

“Sweetie Belle!” Rarity very suddenly said, picking up her sister’s fork full of pancakes and shoving it into the filly’s mouth. “Goodness darling, you’re going to let your food go cold if you don’t eat it faster.”

The two sisters silently glared at each other and Tempest was hit with relief that she didn’t have any siblings. Military life and horrible bosses she could deal with, but she didn’t know if she could have handled… whatever this was. 

But besides that, something Apple Bloom had mentioned had caught her attention. “Training? Is Rainbow Dash teaching Scootaloo how to fight, also?”

It would make sense. If Rainbow really was concerned with her friends’ safety then starting her sister on the right track early would ensure the child would be able to handle herself in a disaster. In fact, it would make sense if all of Rainbow’s friends…

“Nah,” Apple Bloom spoke in answer, shoveling her own pancakes into her mouth, “Nothin’ like that. Scootaloo’s been gettin’ flight lessons from Rainbow Dash for a while now.” 

Tempest nodded in understanding but her brow creased. The town which she had grown up in had been almost exclusively Unicorns and she certainly hadn’t had much experience with Pegasi after she had left. But Unicorn foals had at the least the basics of magic down by the time they were these children’s age. Perhaps Rainbow was teaching her sister more advanced moves? That would make sense. 

But looking at Scootaloo… there was something about her wings that seemed… different than other foals’.

Scootaloo caught her eye. Or, it was more that the two had caught each other’s eye as while Tempest had been staring at the filly’s back, she in turn had been staring straight at Tempest’s forehead for who knows how long. 

Their eyes locked on each other and they both looked away quickly, as if they had committed some sort of taboo and Tempest found herself growing embarrassed without understanding why.
 
“Oh hay, you two are probably pretty similar, huh?” Apple Bloom continued, having witnessed whatever had just happened with Tempest and her friend.

Before Tempest could ask her to clarify, Applejack grabbed her little sister’s attention. “Apple Bloom, why don’t you tell me what you three got up to at Holiday and Lofty’s place. Anything I need to worry about replacin’?”

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. “Ya break one vase once and suddenly it’s all anypony wants ta talk about.”

Despite herself, Tempest found her gaze wandering to the Pegasus filly again. She was practically glued to Rainbow’s side, chatting her up with pure adoration in her eyes. Tempest had not seen that kind of expression in a while. The trust, the eagerness, the love… and yet she also saw an expression just like that almost every day she had been outside of Equestria. The desperation, the need, the clinging worry that if she let go everything would fall apart. That was something Tempest was all too familiar with.

And then Scootaloo’s eyes flicked back over to Tempest and the little filly’s face darkened once more. She could not hope to come close to being intimidating but she certainly was trying her best, even her small wings flared out as if to make herself look bigger and stronger.

This time, however, Rainbow also glanced at Tempest. She seemed to have been rolling her eyes at something Pinkie had said and they had landed on Tempest. Dash raised her eyebrows in a way that made her natural smile suddenly seem directed at Tempest, only for Tempest.

Caught a bit off guard, Tempest tried to smile back. To communicate… something. Perhaps that Tempest was enjoying herself? Was that what she was supposed to be doing?

Obviously, something about the attempt wasn’t quite right and Rainbow’s face fell slightly. She glanced about and, when her eyes landed on the still glowering Scootaloo, rolled her eyes in a distinctly not playful way. 

"Hey, Tempest," the blue Pegasus spoke up like she didn't already have Tempest's complete attention, "you know this castle really well now right? Can you show Scoots here to the bathroom?"

Scootaloo's head snapped in Rainbow's direction. "Wha- I don't have to go!"

Rainbow gave her a friendly nudge. "Come on squirt, you can't put one past me, it's not lame to ask for directions."

Scootaloo's mouth worked soundlessly for a moment. It was obvious she wanted to protest but was unsure how to argue. Eventually she set her jaw in a determined pout and hopped off the chair, marching out the door without even waiting. Tempest gave Rainbow a confused look but she just winked and then resumed her conversation, seemingly closing the matter. 

Without really much choice, Tempest rose from her own seat and followed the filly out of the room. 

She had not waited outside, either, and Tempest just barely made it out in time to see the little purple tail disappear around a corner. Thankfully, Tempest’s legs were much, much longer than Scootaloo’s and it took her no effort at all to catch up with the filly.

Scootaloo glanced at Tempest but then immediately quickened her step to stay ahead. 

Tempest let her march in silence for a moment before speaking up. “Are you aware this is the wrong way?”

Scootaloo came to an abrupt halt and, to give the filly her obviously desired space, Tempest did too. Stomping her hoof, Scootaloo said, “I don’t need your help, okay? Hey, I don’t even need to go to the little fillies’ room!”

“Yes, it did seem that Rainbow Dash just wanted us to be alone for some reason.”

Scootaloo whirled around, craning her head to glare up at Tempest. “I know what you’re doing. You’re trying to take her away from me!”

Tempest cocked an eyebrow. “I beg your pardon?”

“Yeah,” Scootaloo pressed, puffing up her chest and stalking closer even though it forced her to strain her neck even more, “I’m onto you. You’re trying to distract Rainbow Dash, the most important pony in all of Equestria so you can do your evil evilly things again! Your using her for your diabolical plot and she’s totally blind to it but I’m not. I won’t let you hurt her.” 

Despite herself, Tempest took a step back from the fuming filly and her ears flattened to her skull. “That isn’t… that is the opposite of what I’m doing. I promise, I’m trying to help Rainbow Dash. Teach her how to defend herself from potential threats.”

“Threats like you,” the filly snapped back.

“Yes.”

“Well, it’s not gonna- wait what?” Scootaloo scrambled back a few steps, eyes fully searching Tempest’s face. “Are you admitting I’m right?”

“No I…” Tempest grimaced and then, awkwardly, lowered herself onto her knees so that she and Scootaloo were at a slightly more level angle. “I do not blame you for being worried, Scootaloo. Rainbow Dash is your sister and I… I hurt her in the past. I hurt you, and everyone you care about. I do not blame you if you hate me. I, in fact, expected more ponies to hate me.”

Scootaloo was staring at her with wide eyes. Frozen to the spot. 

Since the child did not interject, Tempest kept talking, “But I need you to understand that Rainbow Dash approached me about training. She wants to get stronger, wants to be better prepared for future attacks. And she came to me, a former enemy, exactly because I hurt her in the past.” A ghost of a smile forced itself onto Tempest’s lips. “It’s quite brilliant of her, actually. How better to defend yourself against enemies than by learning everything about one.”

“Yeah,” Scootaloo said, her gaze dipping to the ground, “Rainbow Dash is really smart. She’s the best.”

“She is.”

Scootaloo sniffed and messily wiped her nose on her fetlock. "I don't... I don't actually think you're going to hurt Rainbow Dash. She's super tough and smart and… and the best. She wouldn't let you do anything bad."

Tempest nodded, relaxing slightly at the confession. "But even though you trust her you're still worried about your sister. That is completely normal."

"She's not." With a heavy sigh, Scootaloo sat down and looked back up at Tempest. "Rainbow Dash, she's not actually my sister."

Tempest blinked. "But she... called you that, when you first arrived."

"We are sisters, by heart," Scootaloo stressed, "but not by blood. Or like, legally, or anything."

"Okay," was all Tempest could think to say. She didn’t understand, at all, what Scootaloo meant. It seemed to her you either were related or you weren't. But she didn't want to start nitpicking a distressed filly's word choice. 

"You can't like... use telekinesis or anything, right? Cause of your horn?"

The sudden shift of topic threw Tempest and she reared her head back so she was looking down on the filly while still kneeling. "I don't see how that fact pertains to this conversation."

"No, no, no, no," Scootaloo said quickly, waving her hooves in front of her face as if to bat her previous words out of the air, "Sorry, that came out wrong! I didn't mean it in a mean way I just... well I can't fly."

Tempest relaxed slightly and felt immensely silly for getting worked up over a child's question. Next thing you knew and she would be jumping at bunny rabbits. "I know. Your friends told me."

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "Uhg, those traitors. Did they also mention Rainbow Dash is teaching me to fly?" At Tempest's nod she continued. "Yeah, it's been awesome. I think I've really been making some progress with her. But we've been spending less and less time together because she's been spending so much time with you." The little filly sighed again and curled in on herself. "I'm just worried she's replacing me, ya know? Taking pity on another broken pony.”

The filly seemed to realize what she said a second too late and snapped her head up so fast Tempest was scared she would hurt her neck. “Oh gosh, I’m sorry! I-“

“Scootaloo,” Tempest placed a hoof on her shoulder, silencing the panicked rambles, “Rainbow Dash is not training with me because she pities me. She is training with me because she loves you.”

“I-uh- what?” Scootaloo blinked rapidly and Tempest was sure if her hoof wasn’t on her shoulder Scootaloo would have fallen over. 

“She trains because she wants to protect her fellow ponies, her country, her town, against any threats. Most importantly she seeks to protect her friends. She is devoted to you, all of you, and that is why she has been sacrificing her time to be with me. Only I can teach her what she needs to know. She cares for you a great deal.” Tempest touched the little pony’s cheek, making sure they were looking into each other’s eyes. “Her love for you is why she trains with me and I’m willing to bet it’s also why she trains with you, too.”

A wobbly smile made its way onto Scootaloo’s face though the poor kid still looked like she was fighting off tears. “You… you really think so?”

Tempest nodded solemnly. “I do. She cares about your happiness and I’m sure that’s why she sent us out here together when she noticed your distress.”

“I wasn’t being that obvious,” Scootaloo mumbled at her hooves.

Tempest let herself smile at the stubborn foal and rose herself back up to full height. “Now, should we be heading back?”

“Uh…” Scootaloo shifted on her hooves and blushed, “I actually do have to go to the bathroom now.”