Open Up Your Eyes

It was unavoidable and yet somewhat hypocritical for Tempest to blink twice when she saw the afflicted pegasi. Still, a second blink was all her appearance garnered. 

“Oh, good.” Tempest noticed the strange method of speaking immediately, the fearful twitches in her movement like the ones she’d seen on the faces of those she had conquered. What was it that inspired such fear? Oh right, her horn. Same as this poor thing probably inspired with her teeth. An endless cycle of fear. 

“Can you tell me why you were looking at me? Believe me, I won’t mind. Nothing you do can scare me” Tempest said, sitting down in a relaxed and non-aggressive position.

Nothing you can do can scare me.

Grin bit back the urge to prove her wrong. To take up that challenge. She specialised in scaring ponies. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow. But eventually, she’d get you. But no, definitely not a good idea.

“Well, you’re not wrong there. That’s a lot more sense than a lot of ponies had. Still, now that I know it’s you, I won’t blast you.” Tempest winced a little at her wording. This friendship learning thing was pretty tough. 

At first there was a flash of something like a scowl. Only for a moment though, as her face lowered. 

She watched him pass with an icy gaze, pulling her armor back up and nodding her head. So then, they understood each other. The zealous stallion who believed so utterly in the word that Equestria espoused had compromised and not simply struck her form down. Tempest couldn’t help but feel vindicated that he at least had the right idea going. Still a bootlicker who didn’t have much original thought, but then again, she wasn’t one to judge in that regard. So it was best to not say that.

Tempest was about to open her mouth and say she wished him well, that she hoped he would find his heroism in such an act as sparing her. She’d have given him a curt and respectful nod, a dignified farewell. And then he tripped and Tempest burst into chuckles.

“Hehe. Tip for the future, Mr. Blade…” Tempest strode up to his fallen form and offered a hoof to help him up. “If you’re really going to take me out if I go rogue, please don’t trip like that when the time comes.” She smirked and gave a little brush to his helmet before stepping back. The cocky look was belied by the slight quivering of her ears and hoof as she did so.

Sunlight Blade, honoured guardian and Royal Guard of Princess Celestia, the Immovable Sun… whined quietly on the floor as Tempest all but pulled him up and set him on his hooves again. Miserably, all traces of his previous bravado gone, he tried to dust off his now scuffed armour.

“Awww…” He complained, “Now the sarge’s going to tan my hide…”

Tempest turned away then, looking back with a smirk.

When your girlfriend is a former raging she-demon and someone provokes her.

It was unavoidable and yet somewhat hypocritical for Tempest to blink twice when she saw the afflicted pegasi. Still, a second blink was all her appearance garnered. 

“Not the talkative type, huh?” Tempest pulled back a little and cocked her head as she examined the pegasus. Was she some sort of mentally ill vagabond? ‘Or maybe just too experienced,’ a voice spoke in her mind. “Do you want anything?” Tempest said, keeping a good distance to see if that yielded any better results.

“Or do you just want me out of the way?” Tempest laughed a little bit, trying to lighten the atmosphere. She didn’t want to treat the other mare like an animal, but it was hard to keep up an ordinary conversation with a pony who both physically and mentally was clearly not. Yet, she knew that was the best thing she could do at this moment in time; treat her respectfully and hope it affected her a little at least.

“I can talk,” Grin managed a few words cautiously, keeping her mouth *shut* as much as possible to hide her teeth, her luminous eyes suspicious now. Fear was still a huge part of her behaviour, but this mare seemed… different. Grin wasn’t sure how, but the fight-or-flight response, something she usually thought of as a different version of herself, wasn’t warning her away. At least, not yet.

At first there was a flash of something like a scowl. Only for a moment though, as her face lowered. 

The sight of the flaming magic made the powerful unicorn blink. Not in fear, not exactly, more akin to disgust. As the magic faded, Tempest sighed and nodded, her body growing more slack. 

“I know you will.”

She turned her head away, not letting him see her face for a moment. She might be scowling or smiling for all that she showed, lost in thought before she returned her teal gaze to him. She shifted on her hooves, seeming to shift between an aggressive stance and one that was lower than that every few seconds. 

“I can make the world better in my own way. You can sit back and just watch me from behind, and I hope that one day you’ll see that I can do great things. More than that, I hope you finally open up your eyes and see what a real hero is.” Suddenly, the mare gave a bitter chuckle and raised a hoof to the neckline of her armor to pull it down. “In fact, let’s see if you know. You know I’m not a good pony, that I might do something else bad in the future. So go ahead, hero, finish me off here. That’s what the uncompromising hero would do, live up to the ideal of the greater good without flaw. Or just cover up their flaws, like you Equestrians love so much.” Holding her neck exposed, Tempest strode forward to place it in front of the guard’s horn. Her gaze burned with terrific intensity, but not hateful. Instead, her muzzle quivered a bit with barely disguised curiosity and anticipation.

He looked at her. Before, it was rage. It was understandable for a zealot, and whether he wanted to admit it or not, Sunlight did fit the bill of Zealot. But this… as she exposed a weak point, not just offering, practically begging for him to strike her down, to be that hero, all he could feel… was revulsion.

Sunlight was not a violent pony by nature. Certainly, he could be violent if he had to be. And had been on several occasions. But this? His face twisted as he fought to contain himself, finally settling on a cold, impassive face. The face of a guard on duty. A face he’d had years of practice setting over his face.

“I’m no hero,” He told her in an icy voice. He could keep the emotion out of his face, but his disgust that he ‘test’ had evoked in him couldn’t be taken from his voice. Not this time, “Never claimed to be. Anypony could do something horrifying in the future. But…”

Tail thrashing behind him as another sign of his emotional state, (At least the floor behind him wouldn’t have to be swept today) he finally brushed past the source of his anger, ignoring the weak spot she’d opened on her neck, but pausing momentarily beside her, “No matter how much you try, I won’t stoop to your levels. Killing for the sake of killing, no matter how you try to justify it, is never heroic.”

And, with that, he made to walk away. Except…

Tempest was about to open her mouth and say she wished him well, that she hoped he would find his heroism in such an act as sparing her. She’d have given him a curt and respectful nod, a dignified farewell. And then he tripped and Tempest burst into chuckles.

“Hm. It is a bit more peaceful. Shame Flurry wasn’t going on another trip out of her comfort zone” Fizzle murmured. Of course, the diplomatic endeavors were important, but she had to prioritize her student’s development too. “They seem a little too similar if you ask me. The kirin only just got finished with that little…social experiment of theirs. They both need to be whipped into shape. Don’t worry, I won’t bite their heads off.” Fizzle chuckled and bumped Cadance’s side as she passed near her.

If Tempest was not a pony who minced words, then Autumn was a pony who took a paper shredder to every single syllable. Her ears twitched like a metronome to the kirin’s endless jabbering, and she laughed politely but with strain. 

“Big deal indeed” Tempest finally replied, nodding her head in short, quick bobs. This situation was entirely different from the bully Flutterponies, whom needed to be dealt with sharply, or common ponies whom she had grown closer to. These were isolated royals who were nothing but kind, the exact kind she had a bad history with. It was unnerving, to say the least. Yet, when she looked at her student, girlish phrases and all, Tempest was able to breathe and remember that she had changed for the better. She didn’t have to fear saying something to the ambassador.

“If you’re staring at the Moon so often, you probably noticed that event a few years back. When the Mare on the Moon vanished? What’d you think of that?” Tempest asked casually, a bit awkward at first but regaining her coolly proud swagger quickly enough.

“Oh, I remember that! I remember the kirin calendar predicting it too! Rain Shine did some magic math and knew the time when the Mare on the Moon would return! She sent a message to Celestia and everything. It was pretty cool. We were all so proud of her. I mean it was scary when it happened. You’re always like—ah! When something goes right that you predicted would happen you’re not ‘happy’ happy about it. You know what I mean? But you’re like, ‘Wow, I can predict the future!’ Anyways,” she laughed. “That was pretty cool how you conducted that lightning back there. I’ve never seen anycreature do that before. It was like a living lightning rod! Those pegasi were like ‘Ahh!’”

Snow couldn’t help but chuckle at how much Autumn was talking Tempest’s ear off. But it was at least pleasant chatter.

The group reached the theater and Flurry stopped at the door, which she opened with her magic. She gestured inside with a long wing and offered everyone else to go in first politely. Rain gave a grateful bow and entered, followed by her company of quiet kirin and the chatty, bouncy Autumn.

It was unavoidable and yet somewhat hypocritical for Tempest to blink twice when she saw the afflicted pegasi. Still, a second blink was all her appearance garnered. 

Oh Ghosts and Ghouls!

Each step Tempest took towards Grin saw the mutant mare take a half step back, bunched up like a cat ready to bolt at any second, and a half-hearted warning growl rolled out of her throat. This was a unicorn, she had to be on her guard. A broken horn wasn’t much of a comfort, seeing as she also had a scar on her face, and was wearing armour. 

At first there was a flash of something like a scowl. Only for a moment though, as her face lowered. 

“Spare me the speeches. I’ve heard them all, and from better speakers than you. I’m sure you can justify why the princesses get to live in the lap of luxury while others suffer, why they completely disconnect from common ponies as if they’re just a figurehead, and why only two of them are real heroes. You could justify it, but that’d be the true hypocrisy; to dare espouse heroism and harmony while doing nothing like that.” Tempest rolled her eyes, giving a contemptuous huff as she struggled to keep herself from merely calling down a bolt of lightning on him. She succeeded in that endeavor at least, and she was able to crack a small and apologetic smile very slowly. “This is why I feel like leaving Equestria is for the best. I’m not like you ponies. I tried to be, and I’m trying again, but I know what failure of your world is like. Twilight knows too. You should ask her about when she and her friends broke apart at Mt. Aris. Maybe then you’d use the world hypocrisy properly.” In another life, where sacrificing her horn to the bear had made Tempest an alicorn, she might have agreed with him. But in one where she had seen a pony who failed and was hypocritical still rise after her own failure…the idea of supporting such childish idols of perfection as Celestia seemed absurd.

“Whoever you think you are,” Sunlight replied stiffly, “To decide you know the reasons…”

He cut himself off sharply, trying hard to not speak in anger. It was difficult to hear such talk for him. Most times, Sunlight did his best to keep an open mind, and to understand some ponies believe different things. But this mare… Just seeing her made his blood boil. This was the mare that had enthralled his patron goddess in stone. The mare who had turned her back on her own people. And now, despite never being punished for her treachery, she had the gall to speak this way!?

“I think you’re right,” He said darkly, looking her in the eye with a fury that he had never felt before. A blazing hatred he had difficulty keeping under wraps, “You should leave. You should get out and away from Equestria. Away from this castle and away from me,” his magic consumed his eyes, misting away at the edges in his rage, and the temperature around him began to rise, “Perhaps when next I see you, I’ll have calmed down. I’ll have forgotten your words. But know this. I’ll never forget your attempt at regicide. And may Twilight forgive me for this, but I cannot ever see myself forgiving you.”

“I know you will.”

She turned her head away, not letting him see her face for a moment. She might be scowling or smiling for all that she showed, lost in thought before she returned her teal gaze to him. She shifted on her hooves, seeming to shift between an aggressive stance and one that was lower than that every few seconds. 

“Hm. It is a bit more peaceful. Shame Flurry wasn’t going on another trip out of her comfort zone” Fizzle murmured. Of course, the diplomatic endeavors were important, but she had to prioritize her student’s development too. “They seem a little too similar if you ask me. The kirin only just got finished with that little…social experiment of theirs. They both need to be whipped into shape. Don’t worry, I won’t bite their heads off.” Fizzle chuckled and bumped Cadance’s side as she passed near her.

Fizzle sucked in a breath when she saw the kirin show up. She was so reminded of the cordiality of the hippogriffs. Her ear tips twitched before stiffening back up as she kept herself at a distance from the action. The princess up front with her vampire just a bit behind, and then her at the back. That was the way it should be. A little bit of bitterness entered Fizzle, but she brushed it off. This was a day for peace.

And apparently those pegasi hadn’t got the message. A flare of protective instinct, spurred on by her anxiety about the meeting saw Fizzle leap forward immediately. Rearing onto her hind legs, Fizzle thrust her horn upwards and let herself become a lightning rod. Sparks and left over bits of static crackled all over her form, the strong mare not even having flinched at the impact. She didn’t say a word to the teens, just gave them a glare that probably shaved ten years off their life.

“Stay close to the group. Some ponies love their frivolity” she murmured to the kirin, her gaze briefly flickering to Snow and Flurry for them to salvage the moment.

The pegasi in the clouds had looked down and realized what they were dealing with when they saw a unicorn conduct the electricity without flinching. It didn’t help to see a majestic alicorn, an angry dhampir and a tall unidentifiable creature. Perhaps their game should be taken elsewhere… They flew off and Flurry gulped, grateful for Tempest’s presence.

She collected herself as if the event had not frazzled her and told Rain Shine.

“Then we will be off to the theater. I expect you have your singers?”

“All accounted for,” Rain Shine told her cheerily. 

“Good!” Flurry caught herself and tried to become calm and regal again, less girlish. “I mean, fantastic. Let us be off then. Hm…”

Flurry tilted her head to the side to count the number of kirin who had come with their leader. Not too many. A walk through Canterlot should not be a problem with she, Snow and Tempest accompanying them. 

“Stay near,” Flurry said softly. 

Rain Shine nodded and gestured to her company with a special sign of the hoof. That called them all into a tight pack behind her like sheep and then they were off, Rain taking a place nearby Flurry as she walked so the Princess could speak to her as they toured through the city. This put the little ambassador, Autumn Blaze near Tempest.

“This is so exciting. Historically our people haven’t been in the city for ages, you know. Sometimes I think about that. I lie awake at night looking at the moon and realizing somewhere out there somepony who knows about the kirin in Canterlot is staring at the same moon and thinking something similar. ‘Where did they go? Will they reappear?’ That makes today such a big deal, doesn’t it?”

“Big deal indeed” Tempest finally replied, nodding her head in short, quick bobs. This situation was entirely different from the bully Flutterponies, whom needed to be dealt with sharply, or common ponies whom she had grown closer to. These were isolated royals who were nothing but kind, the exact kind she had a bad history with. It was unnerving, to say the least. Yet, when she looked at her student, girlish phrases and all, Tempest was able to breathe and remember that she had changed for the better. She didn’t have to fear saying something to the ambassador.

At first there was a flash of something like a scowl. Only for a moment though, as her face lowered. 

Tempest bit back a snappy comment about the frankly disturbing cult surrounding the elder princesses. This wasn’t the Storm King’s army anymore; she had to be civil. At least with strangers.

“Calm down, little pony. I doubt they ever will fall permanently. Twilight will always be there to pick them back up, loving pupil that she is. You can’t take credit for that though, sorry to say.” A bit more blunt and crass than she intended, but hearing of any kind of diminishment to the accomplishments of a true hero such as that struck a nerve. 

“Celestia and Luna, I don’t doubt their bureaucratic skills. Great for writing bills and for keeping up a good economy. But they aren’t leading anyone anymore. It’s a different world, and Twilight’s the star who shines the way. You could maybe give her a little more credit, a bit more focus.” Tempest paused, giving a shiver and then shaking her head. “On second thought, don’t. Keep that with the older two. Make sure it stays with them.”

Shame turned to anger at her words, and he found himself having to bite back comments of his own, memories of his father’s lessons keeping him in check.

To speak without thought in rage is a Guard’s greatest shame.

“I would never,” he managed to reply back in a relatively neutral voice, with a bare hint of the growl he felt was more than necessary, “That you would assume I would, for even a moment, detract from Goddess Twilight’s accomplishments, even before her ascension! She is, was and will ever be, a hero. Prayers for heroism will be met with her name, as grace is for Celestia, and beauty for Luna, love for Mi Amore Cadenza.”

Sunny was now, more than ever, aware of the armour he wore. Who he represented right now. He couldn’t show weakness. He couldn’t be that guy, no matter how much he wanted to lecture her, or rant at her. He was a proud Royal Guard of Her Majesty Princess Celestia, his patron Goddess. He refused to do her shame.

At first there was a flash of something like a scowl. Only for a moment though, as her face lowered. 

“I don’t know what that word you said means,” He admitted honestly, “I’m not the most well read stallion. But my Goddesses will not fall. I will take that burden on my shoulders if I must, on my own if I have to. But I will not allow such harm to come to them. Be it from foreign or domestic sources.”

“Calm down, little pony. I doubt they ever will fall permanently. Twilight will always be there to pick them back up, loving pupil that she is. You can’t take credit for that though, sorry to say.” A bit more blunt and crass than she intended, but hearing of any kind of diminishment to the accomplishments of a true hero such as that struck a nerve.