FA+
Shop
1187
Views
Views
5
Favorites
Favorites
Category
Story / My Little Pony / Brony
Species Human
Size 120 x 80
File Size 28.2 kB
Report this content
More from Pixelpallet6
Listed in Folders
On the friendship express, there was a special pony with a broken unicorn horn. The pony was known as Tempest Shadow, or her real name Fizzlepop Berrytwist. She looked down at the black cloak she wore that covered up most of her body, including her cutie mark. Not too much was known about her, and she would often keep to herself.
Tempest looked out the window as she saw the train approaching Ponyville. She hopes to meet up with Twilight Sparkle and her friends, who would help her settle down and get back to having a regular life. It was hard for Tempest to move on from her past.
The unicorn with a broken horn looked to the other passengers on the train, who quickly looked in the opposite direction. Tempest had a feeling that they had been staring at her. Her broken body part wasn't what most ponies saw in public. That along with the scar across her eye gave her a bit of an intimidating appearance.
Tempest was thinking of trying something to help show that she wasn’t any kind of monster, just a pony that had a troubled past. She didn’t say anything to anyone on the train until they reached the station, where they came to a stop. The door soon opened up and passengers began walking out onto the platform.
Tempest looked around to see if there was anybody she recognized anyone there. There wasn’t one familiar face that she knew or anyone that would likely trust her. The mare with a broken horn simply left the station, hoping to cause as little conflict as possible. Tempest looked around at the ponies wandering around town. They all looked pretty happy and enjoyed themselves.
The visiting mare smiled seeing the ponies enjoying themselves, she had been traveling around Equestria and helping other ponies which hopefully would make up for her past. Tempest had thought of what she would do after she was done with her travels. She had thought she could become a guard, but the thought of violence was starting to wear her down.
Tempest wasn’t too familiar with Ponyville, so she wandered around a little bit. She wasn’t completely lost as Twilight’s castle was hard to miss. She would be able to find her back there once she was done exploring, it was one of the first things she did once entering a new town or city. Besides, she was tempted to meet some of Twilight’s friends to see if they were willing to talk.
Along the way, she passed by a dancing school, which had its students just being let out. A couple of them stopped as they looked toward Tempest, who tried to turn the other way to hide her horn and scar. The parents took their kids away so they wouldn’t disturb her. One mare walked inside the dance school, which confused Tempest a little bit.
There was one filly left inside and she was still trying to practice her dance before stumbled a little bit. She saw her mother walking in and she spoke, “Are you okay?”
The filly sighed. “I can’t get this move right,” she groaned. She tried to do what she had learned that day but ended up falling on her back. She groaned in frustration as her mother helped her stand up. The filly sighed with disappointment before she noticed someone looking into the building.
Tempest quickly walked out the sight but the mother had gotten a glance at her. She walked outside and the mare with a broken horn, who was trying not to make eye contact. “Excuse me, miss,” the mother said, “I don’t remember seeing you…” She paused when she saw the broken horn. Her daughter simply stared at the broken appendage, which was making things a little uncomfortable.
“Um… I wasn’t… Interrupting anything?” Tempest asked.
“No, we were just about to leave. We haven’t seen you around here before. Who are you?”
“...Tempest Shadow. I’m… Visiting a friend of mine.” Tempest saw the filly was looking up at her horn and knew what she was going to ask. “Please don’t stare at my horn.”
“Um… Sorry,” the filly apologized.
“It’s okay. I’m used to ponies staring at my horn.”
“What happened to it?”
Tempest thought back and shuttered as she remembered the incident she had as a filly. “I don’t like talking about it. Let’s just say a made a few mistakes after I lost my horn. Even… With my friends.”
“That’s sad. Have you forgiven them?”
“...Most of them. I honestly feel like I should be blaming myself more than anything.”
“But you tried to apologize, right?”
“Of course I did. After I knew what I did was wrong. All I want to do now is move on from my past.”
The filly nodded curiously as her mother quickly came running up to her. “Twirl, I told you that you can’t wander off,” she said. The mother looked up at Tempest and pretended not to be surprised by her broken horn. “Um… I’m sorry if my daughter caused you any trouble.”
“She wasn’t any trouble. I’ll just be on my way now.” Tempest walked away from the mother and daughter and felt a little bit happier with herself.
In fact, Tempest was feeling happier now that she didn’t have much weight on her shoulders. She began to trot along through Ponyville as she looked around until she spotted Sugarcube Corner. She decided to stop by and see if she could fetch a snack.
Inside, Tempest saw Pinkie Pie at the register, and she was surprised to see the battled unicorn walking into the bakery. “Oh, hi!” the pink pony said, “I know you.”
“Yes, you don’t need to announce it to the whole world,” Tempest said. “What kind of treats do you have for my sweet tooth?”
“We could get you some cupcakes, cake, smoothies…”
“Smoothie!?” Tempest’s eyes lit up as she heard the mention of her favorite treat. She quickly gave her order to Pinkie and then went to a table to wait. As she sat down, however, Tempest thought her seat felt a little bit different.
She stood up again to see if something was left in her chair, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary with it. Tempest sat down again but something still felt wrong. Sitting up again to see what was wrong, she noticed that her tail was practically non-existent. Tempest couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
It didn’t look like someone just cut extremely short, it looked like it was never there. She just stood there looking where her tail used to be until Pinkie walked up to her. “Is something wrong?” the pink pony asked.
“Um, it’s just something that feels like it’s missing,” Tempest explained. She looked back to where her tail used to be, thinking that Pinkie would draw attention to it. Instead, Pinkie didn’t say anything and just placed down the smoothie the mare ordered.
“If it doesn’t improve just let me know.” Pinkie soon walked away, and Tempest noticed that Pinkie had also lost her tail, and was wearing some overalls. Before Tempest could question if she looked a little fatter, she saw that most other ponies had also lost their tails.
In place of their missing appendages, it looked like they all had pants and skirts. Tempest hadn’t usually seen ponies wear clothes other than on special occasions. Then again, Tempest herself was wearing a cloak and scarf, so maybe she wasn’t one to talk. She thought she should just drink her smoothie and calm down.
Taking a sip, Tempest felt a wave of nostalgia as she remembered drinking smoothies just like this in her youth. She enjoyed thinking about how she and her friends enjoyed smoothies made by her parents and then… She then remembered that event. Tempest shivered as that was the moment that changed her entire life.
She paused and just stared at her half-drunken smoothie. She kept drinking as she suddenly saw her mane fall in front of her face. Tempest tried to push it to the side, only to see that the color looked like it was fading. The hot pink color was slowly turning into light brown, a similar shade to chocolate.
Tempest gasped as she saw tried to find a reflective surface before seeing a similar thing happening to other ponies. Lyra and Bon-Bon were just walking out of the building when their hair started turning orange and black respectively. Just like their tails disappearing, not a single pony took notice of their hair changing in color.
Tempest quickly finished her smoothes as she wanted to leave as soon as she could before quickly leaving a couple of bits on the table. She quickly left Sugarcube Corner and tried to find something reflective. She found a store window and could see her mane no longer was styled like a mohawk, now it just looked messy.
“Tempest, is that you?” asked a voice. The mare jumped only to see Rarity standing beside her, now missing a tail and having curly black hair. “What are you doing in Ponyville?”
“I’m… Trying to settle down and move on from my past,” the changing mare explained. “Have you seen anything… New going on around here?”
“Well, I have helped Capper settle in my home. We’re getting along very well. Would you like to come along? No offense but I think you’re in need of a haircut.”
Tempest looked at her reflection again and from what she heard about Rarity, she was the mare you went for when you needed help with style. She agreed to the offer and followed the fashionable mare back to her home. Along the way, Tempest saw that Rarity had gained a nice little purple skirt and it even looked like she was also wearing a white button shirt.
She just shrugged it off since she felt that Rarity would often wear clothing until they saw they were already at the boutique. They walked inside and some of the mannequins looked a little odd, with some of them being bipedal creatures. One creature that walked on two legs looked to be Capper Dapperpaws.
He had his old trench coat for a nice red button shirt under a sweater vest and black pants. “Rare, you’re back,” he proclaimed. The unicorn and Abyssinian both shared a hug which was shortly followed by a quick kiss. Capper looked a little surprised that Tempest had entered the building. “Oh… Hello.”
“Hi,” Tempest said awkwardly. She knew she and Capper didn’t have the best relationship given how they had first met. “Listen, if I’m not wanted here, I can just leave…”
“Oh, no, no, no, no,” Rarity proclaimed, “We’ve forgiven you for being with such a horrid tyrant. We’ve befriended a lot of creatures that are like that.” She paused as she saw Tempest trying to brush her mane out of her face. “Let’s try and fix that hair of yours.”
Rarity took her guest upstairs to the bathroom, where a couple of brushes and hair products were waiting. The mare grabbed a brush and started to brush Tempest’s mane, helping to clear up any knots stuck inside of it. As she brushed it, Tempest could see Rarity getting better support on two legs. She had seen ponies stand upright for brief moments, but Rarity looked to even start walking around only on two legs.
Without any use of magic, Tempest had her mane combed, cleaned, and even tied into a bun to help keep it together. Looking in the mirror, Tempest kind of enjoyed her new look, which made Rarity happy. “I’m glad you enjoy your look darling. You look lovely.”
“Um… Thank you.”
“Is something else on your mind?”
“I just… My past and everything…”
“You don’t have to keep living in the past. You’ve been given another chance to have a good life” Tempest looked at herself in the mirror again, almost not noticing that her broken horn was gone. She could see that Rarity’s horn had also vanished, but her words had helped keep her calm.
“Thank you for the talk.”
“You’re welcome, Tempest. If you just…”
“Fizzle.”
“...Fizzle?”
“It’s my name; Fizzlepop Berrytwist. Tempest Shadow was just a name I used while serving… You know who.”
“I understand Fizzle. Just remember, we’re always here if you need a friend.” Fizzlepop smiled as she and Rarity both shared a hug.
After this, Fizzlepop felt more confident in herself as she left the boutique with a little more pep in her step. She didn’t pay as much attention to the changes going on around her with all unicorns and pegasi losing their horns and wings. She could hear some trotting, making Fizzepop look back to see Rainbow Dash running up to her.
“Hey, Tempest, how are you?” Dash said.
“Don’t call me that anymore,” Fizzlepop requested. “Just… Fizzle works for now.”
“Oh… Sorry. So, Fizzy, how are you enjoying yourself in Ponyville?”
“Quite nice. Rarity just helped with my hair. How do I look?”
“Eh, you know I’m not much of a style pony. Still, a bun’s a good way to keep your hair out of your face.” Fizzlepop looked at Dash’s mane and saw she had tied it into a ponytail. However, it didn’t look like she had her rainbow colors, at least not as much.
Only her bangs and the tip of her ponytail looked to have rainbow dye to them. She shook her head as she noticed that Dash was starting to pick up the pace. Fizzlepop decided to try and overtake her. “Heh, you want to have a race?”
“If you can keep up.” Fizzlepop started to get up to a gallop as she looked back to see Dash trying to keep up with her. Eventually, Fizzlepop felt her right side going numb all of a sudden, making her stumble quite a bit. As she slowed down, Dash got ahead of her while walking on two legs.
Fizzlepop kept on stumbling before she started tumbling over onto her side. Dash didn’t notice and kept on running. Fizzlepop struggled to sit up now she could feel half of her limbs as she rubbed her right side. Looking down at her hoof, Faith could see it was starting to split apart and had five root-like points starting to grow and bend with her input.
Fizzlepop tried to do the same with her other hoof which was growing similar to extended points, but she couldn’t feel any of her muscles in it. She could see both of her hooves starting to change in color with these extending points. Her left hoof would be losing its purple color with lightly tanned skin taking its place.
Her other hoof meanwhile, looked like it was becoming more artificial. It was becoming made of metal, plastic, and rubber, replacing any kind of flesh and blood that Fizzlepop had in it. These parts went up to her elbow as the changing mare could see that he could finally move her arm again.
“My arm…” Fizzlepop muttered. “Did the battery die or… Something?” Fizzlepop didn’t understand why she thought of a battery but she felt like she had gotten that down to muscle memory.
“Faith, are you okay?” asked Dash. Fizzlepop looked up and saw Dash offering a hand to help her up. Fizzlepop rubbed her head before she held Dash’s hand as she managed to stand up again. She looked at her prosthetic hand, flexing her fingers to make sure it was still working.
“I think I’m fine,” Fizzlepop replied. “I think the battery needs replacing.” She stood bipedally as she tried shaking her right leg awake. “Same would apply to my leg.”
“Need a lift?”
“No, I just limp somewhere.”
“...Are you sure? I…”
“I’m fine!” Dash jumped a little bit from her little outburst. She watched her trying to walk despite, her leg not functioning. Roxy followed her along despite the struggle Faith was going through. After a couple of minutes of limping along, the women both heard a truck horn and then saw a pick-up truck.
They could see AJ in the driver’s seat, waving to them. “Need a lift?” she asked.
Faith looked at her leg which was still out of power. She sighed as she was helped into the truck by Roxanne. “My leg doesn’t want to work today,” Faith sighed.
“I’ve got my toolbox in the truck bed,” AJ noted, “Want me to take a look?” Faith just nodded as she made herself comfortable in the truck seat. As she waited to have her battery worked on, Faith didn’t notice her out-of-place muzzle shrinking into her face. Her nostrils developed into a proper nose while some of her teeth sharpened to help her chew meat.
Suddenly, her prosthetic leg kicked back into life, nearly hitting AJ. “Well, I don’t know what I did but something had to have fixed it,” the farm girl shrugged.
“Thanks for helping,” Faith said. They started putting her leg back together Roxy and AJ could see that Faith was thinking about something.
“You need to talk about something?” Roxy asked.
“Well… It’s mostly about tonight and… Tiana.”
“What about her?” AJ asked.
Faith looked like she was beginning to blush as she rubbed the back of her head. “Do either of you know anything about… Relationships?” By the way she said this, the girls both understood what she was talking about.
“Faith, I’m not sure we’re the best choice to ask someone for dating advice,” Roxy admitted.
“Dating? No… I mean… I think…” Try as she might, Faith couldn’t think of way of talking about Tiana without mentioning she did have feelings for her. “Okay, so I do need someone to talk to, who do I call?”
“Maybe you try asking Fiona,” AJ suggested, finishing up with the leg. “She’s got Dominic as a boyfriend and they have a healthy relationship.”
“Wait, that Dominic?!”
“The one with an ego that can swallow the sun, yes,” Roxy responded. “Don’t quite know what Fiona sees in him, but you can ask her if you want.”
Faith stood up and applied pressure on her robotic leg, feeling it was fine. “Shouldn’t be too far for me to walk. I’ll call you if I need a lift.” Faith soon walked off, leaving AJ and Roxy on their own. As Faith made her way to where Fiona lived, she suddenly started to remember bits of her past.
In her youth, Faith was just like any ordinary girl, who had friends who shared her love for ballet. One day, it would all change when three friends were playing ball together. Faith failed to catch the ball when it was her responsibility to get it back, at least that’s what her friends said. She eventually followed the ball into a cave, which was inhabited by a bear.
Despite her best efforts to make a run for it, Faith was fatally injured by the bear attacking her. While she managed to survive, she would have to have her arm and leg amputated. Not to mention the scars she now had on her body. Now only having a prosthetic leg and only one arm, Faith couldn’t do many activities she loved anyone.
These included most of the activities with her friends, especially ballet. With her disability, Faith felt her friends spending less time with her. Feeling more like a burden to everyone around her, Faith ran away from home and started to live her life alone.
This life would eventually get her as a bounty hunter, working for an infamous man she did not want to talk about again. Years of this occupation eventually led Faith to Tiana Smith. After the man who shouldn’t be named was defeated, Faith thought she’d be living behind bars, if she was lucky but things would turn out differently for her.
Tiana Smith had taken pity on her and helped knock Faith’s punishment down to house arrest. Tiana was wanting to help her with her prosthetics, as the ones Faith had back in the day were fairly cheap. But after Ms. Smith got to work, Faith was given a new set of limbs that she would wear to this day.
These limbs were almost just as flexible as a real arm and leg. The leg had more of a simple design but her arm held up its shape really well. Faith had been able to walk and pick up stuff better than she could since her incident. It was honestly some of the best moments of her life, but these moments led Faith to have mixed feelings about the woman who helped give her a second chance.
She was in such deep thought, that she almost forgot to look where she was going and accidentally bumped into a woman in a yellow sweater. “Oh, it’s you,” gasped the woman, “You’re…”
“Faith. I don’t go by that other name anymore.”
Fiona just simply nodded before she saw Dominic walking towards them with two mugs of tea, one he handed to the woman. “Oh, thank you, Dom.”
“Anything for you, Fiona,” the famous actor said. He then looked at Faith, who was simply shocked to see him standing right in front of her. “So, are you here for an autograph?”
“Um… No,” Faith admitted, “I… Never thought that I’d see an actor like you in a simple town like Pennywood.”
“Oh, I’ve got plenty of surprises,” Dominic stated, “And a little sweetheart.” He wrapped his arm around Fiona, who leaned into his hug.
“Is there a reason why you’re here?” Fiona asked, “I thought you would be trying to get ready for your show.”
“Oh, that,” Faith commented, “The show isn’t until tonight and Tiana wanted me to make sure my arm and leg were working before the performance.”
“How have you been doing so far?”
“Well, aside from my leg giving out on me for a moment, it’s been working okay. I’ve even managed to meet a couple of your friends.” She explained how their interactions went, completely oblivious to the fact any of them were ponies.
“Oh, I’m glad you’re getting used to Pennywood. How are you and Tiana living together?” Faith suddenly blushed when she heard the question.
Dominic snickered at this. “So, that’s how you feel about her,” he joked.
“Dom,” Fiona said sternly. This made him stay quiet as Fiona placed her hand on Faith’s shoulder. “Tia is a great friend, and if you feel like that towards her…”
“Do you know how we first met?” Faith questioned. “I was lucky to just get house arrest.”
“Oh don’t you know how Fiona and I first dated?” Dominic stated, “I was more blunt that butterknife grinded down on a brick. Despite that, we’re still a pair.” He planted a kiss on Fiona’s check, making the woman blush.
“No relationship is perfect,” Fiona proclaimed, “But I feel if you and Tiana are close with each other, you would be great together.”
Faith rubbed her arm with her prosthetic. “Maybe I’ll be able to talk with her before my performance,” she said, “If I see her before tonight. Maybe I should go to the stage and practice while I still have the chance.”
“That sounds like a good idea. Hope you have a good show.” Faith just simply gave a thumbs up and quickly ran off to where her show was meant to take place.
She could feel her prosthetics were working just great. Faith hoped her leg would be able to hold up during her show. As she got closer to the stage, her cloak would be the last thing to change. Its color slowly changed from black to a vibrant purple, matching the color Faith’s old coat.
The top of the cloak opened to help reveal her shoulders with some straps appearing to help keep it up. The fabric hugged Faith’s torso as the outfit flared out around her hips to give her a very lovely tutu. Add on the matching slippers and some stocking to help complete the new wardrobe.
Faith suddenly felt a flash like she just got out of the shower, helping to get rid of any sweat that could’ve made her stink. It felt like Rebecca gave her hair another clean to help her look her best, as well some makeup applied to her face. Faith wasn’t someone who would go out of her way to have makeup on everyday, but for special events, she would wear some.
Soon, Faith found herself backstage as a beautiful ballerina. She took a few deep breaths as she tried doing some stretches as well as a few dance moves before her big performance. It was quite a stressful time. There were moments she paced around worried about her being booed off stage the second she walked onto it. It almost felt like she didn’t want to go at all.
“Faith, are you okay?” asked a voice. Faith jumped and gasped once she saw Tiana Smith walking up to her, looking concerned. Not only that, but she looked like she wore a fancy dress that Rebecca had designed for her.
“Tia…? What are you doing back here?” Faith asked.
“I was wanting to check on you before the show began,” Tiana explained, “Are your prosthetics working?”
“I haven’t had any issue since I’ve ran with Roxanne earlier this afternoon. I think I’m working great.”
“That’s good.” Tiana suddenly grabbed Faith’s hand, both of them blushing in the process. “Is there anything else we need to check?”
“Um… How do I look? Do you think anyone will even like the performance if I’m in it.”
“You look gorgeous. They’re going to love you. Rebecca outdid herself designing your outfit and makeup.”
“She did. I find it surprising that Casper gave some good input. I can’t believe that he and Becky are a couple.”
“Yeah, it kind of feels like all my friends have their special someone. Even Spence asked me what he should say to Stephanie.”
“Is that Becky’s sister?”
“Yep, that’s her.”
“Do you ever think that… Your special someone is closer than you think?” Both women were a bit speechless after this was said. Faith was worried she shouldn’t have said that and Tiana didn’t believe what she heard.
“You… Do you think I’m pretty?”
“Yes.” Faith suddenly felt flustered after saying this. “I mean, pretty smart. You… You’ve got great hospitality.” Faith looked like she was as red as a tomato as she didn’t know what to say with too many emotions flowing through her mind.
Tiana had a similar feeling, but she knew Faith wasn’t too connected with her emotions as herself or her friends. Knowing the show was beginning soon, Tiana just simply placed a kiss on the ballerina’s cheek. “I better go find my seat,” she said, “Break a leg.” Tiana quickly walked away back to the seating area.
Faith touched her cheek as she felt a little calmer now. “Hey, we’re on,” called one of the other dancers. Snapping back to reality, Faith followed the other dancers on stage to begin her performance. She took a deep breath before she got into her position.
Tiana managed to find her seat with her friends just as the light began to dim. The currents were lifted to show the show’s backdrop. A couple of ballerinas dance onto the stage. Tiana looked around to look for one dancer in particular, but she couldn’t see her.
A little later into the show, they saw Faith leaping onto the stage. She was quickly dancing along with the rest of the performers. Her friends on their dates looked like they were enjoying the performance, knowing that one of the dancers was using prosthetics designed by Tiana herself.
The show looked to be a big hit, with many moments reflecting Faith’s life journey. From her childhood incident, her troubled history she didn’t like speaking of, to her new chance after she met Tiana. The moment she stopped on the center of the stage, the crowd roared with cheers and applause.
Faith looked and listened to all of the people cheering for her. It was enough to bring a tear to her eye. “They love me,” she muttered, “Tiana’s right, they really love me.”
After the show was over, Faith was wiping off her makeup just as she heard some footsteps approaching her. “Faith, we’ve got someone you’d like to talk to,” Tiana called.
Turning around, the ballerina could see two women walking up to her alongside Tiana. They looked like people she had known in her young years. “Gemma? Serena?” she questioned. The three women quickly cheered after seeing each other again after so many years.
“How are you doing?” Gemma asked.
“You were amazing with those moves,” Serena added.
“I feel… Great, honestly,” Faith admitted, “Even better seeing you two again.”
“Yeah, we haven’t seen you in years,” Gemma said. Faith smiled before she noticed that Serena had a ring on her finger.
“Hold on a second, Serena, are you married?” Faith questioned.
“Well, I am engaged,” Serena admitted, “We’re still planning out the date of the wedding. When I heard you were having a performance, I was hoping that you would want to join in.”
“Oh, well… It would help us catch up on old times.”
“Oh knows,” Gemma said, “You and I could get your soulmates. Then again, we feel like you’ve already got one in the works.” They glanced over to Tiana, who was standing nearby.
“Um, well, that’s a possibility,” she said as she started to walk closer. “I did help get her back onto her feet, quite literally if you… AH!” Suddenly, she fell down much to the concern of Faith.
“Are you okay?” the prosthetic ballerina cried.
“I’m fine.” She pulled up her dress to find the reason she tripped, a broken high heel. “Ugh, this is why I prefer flats.” She was taken by surprise when Faith bent down and helped carry her like a bride at a wedding. “Oh, Faith.”
“I figured you might need help.” Both women blushed as Faith began carrying Tiana back to her car to help her home. Gemma and Serena giggled as they watched the two of them walking away, both Faith and Tiana feeling very close to one another now.
MLP (C) Hasbro
Tempest looked out the window as she saw the train approaching Ponyville. She hopes to meet up with Twilight Sparkle and her friends, who would help her settle down and get back to having a regular life. It was hard for Tempest to move on from her past.
The unicorn with a broken horn looked to the other passengers on the train, who quickly looked in the opposite direction. Tempest had a feeling that they had been staring at her. Her broken body part wasn't what most ponies saw in public. That along with the scar across her eye gave her a bit of an intimidating appearance.
Tempest was thinking of trying something to help show that she wasn’t any kind of monster, just a pony that had a troubled past. She didn’t say anything to anyone on the train until they reached the station, where they came to a stop. The door soon opened up and passengers began walking out onto the platform.
Tempest looked around to see if there was anybody she recognized anyone there. There wasn’t one familiar face that she knew or anyone that would likely trust her. The mare with a broken horn simply left the station, hoping to cause as little conflict as possible. Tempest looked around at the ponies wandering around town. They all looked pretty happy and enjoyed themselves.
The visiting mare smiled seeing the ponies enjoying themselves, she had been traveling around Equestria and helping other ponies which hopefully would make up for her past. Tempest had thought of what she would do after she was done with her travels. She had thought she could become a guard, but the thought of violence was starting to wear her down.
Tempest wasn’t too familiar with Ponyville, so she wandered around a little bit. She wasn’t completely lost as Twilight’s castle was hard to miss. She would be able to find her back there once she was done exploring, it was one of the first things she did once entering a new town or city. Besides, she was tempted to meet some of Twilight’s friends to see if they were willing to talk.
Along the way, she passed by a dancing school, which had its students just being let out. A couple of them stopped as they looked toward Tempest, who tried to turn the other way to hide her horn and scar. The parents took their kids away so they wouldn’t disturb her. One mare walked inside the dance school, which confused Tempest a little bit.
There was one filly left inside and she was still trying to practice her dance before stumbled a little bit. She saw her mother walking in and she spoke, “Are you okay?”
The filly sighed. “I can’t get this move right,” she groaned. She tried to do what she had learned that day but ended up falling on her back. She groaned in frustration as her mother helped her stand up. The filly sighed with disappointment before she noticed someone looking into the building.
Tempest quickly walked out the sight but the mother had gotten a glance at her. She walked outside and the mare with a broken horn, who was trying not to make eye contact. “Excuse me, miss,” the mother said, “I don’t remember seeing you…” She paused when she saw the broken horn. Her daughter simply stared at the broken appendage, which was making things a little uncomfortable.
“Um… I wasn’t… Interrupting anything?” Tempest asked.
“No, we were just about to leave. We haven’t seen you around here before. Who are you?”
“...Tempest Shadow. I’m… Visiting a friend of mine.” Tempest saw the filly was looking up at her horn and knew what she was going to ask. “Please don’t stare at my horn.”
“Um… Sorry,” the filly apologized.
“It’s okay. I’m used to ponies staring at my horn.”
“What happened to it?”
Tempest thought back and shuttered as she remembered the incident she had as a filly. “I don’t like talking about it. Let’s just say a made a few mistakes after I lost my horn. Even… With my friends.”
“That’s sad. Have you forgiven them?”
“...Most of them. I honestly feel like I should be blaming myself more than anything.”
“But you tried to apologize, right?”
“Of course I did. After I knew what I did was wrong. All I want to do now is move on from my past.”
The filly nodded curiously as her mother quickly came running up to her. “Twirl, I told you that you can’t wander off,” she said. The mother looked up at Tempest and pretended not to be surprised by her broken horn. “Um… I’m sorry if my daughter caused you any trouble.”
“She wasn’t any trouble. I’ll just be on my way now.” Tempest walked away from the mother and daughter and felt a little bit happier with herself.
In fact, Tempest was feeling happier now that she didn’t have much weight on her shoulders. She began to trot along through Ponyville as she looked around until she spotted Sugarcube Corner. She decided to stop by and see if she could fetch a snack.
Inside, Tempest saw Pinkie Pie at the register, and she was surprised to see the battled unicorn walking into the bakery. “Oh, hi!” the pink pony said, “I know you.”
“Yes, you don’t need to announce it to the whole world,” Tempest said. “What kind of treats do you have for my sweet tooth?”
“We could get you some cupcakes, cake, smoothies…”
“Smoothie!?” Tempest’s eyes lit up as she heard the mention of her favorite treat. She quickly gave her order to Pinkie and then went to a table to wait. As she sat down, however, Tempest thought her seat felt a little bit different.
She stood up again to see if something was left in her chair, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary with it. Tempest sat down again but something still felt wrong. Sitting up again to see what was wrong, she noticed that her tail was practically non-existent. Tempest couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
It didn’t look like someone just cut extremely short, it looked like it was never there. She just stood there looking where her tail used to be until Pinkie walked up to her. “Is something wrong?” the pink pony asked.
“Um, it’s just something that feels like it’s missing,” Tempest explained. She looked back to where her tail used to be, thinking that Pinkie would draw attention to it. Instead, Pinkie didn’t say anything and just placed down the smoothie the mare ordered.
“If it doesn’t improve just let me know.” Pinkie soon walked away, and Tempest noticed that Pinkie had also lost her tail, and was wearing some overalls. Before Tempest could question if she looked a little fatter, she saw that most other ponies had also lost their tails.
In place of their missing appendages, it looked like they all had pants and skirts. Tempest hadn’t usually seen ponies wear clothes other than on special occasions. Then again, Tempest herself was wearing a cloak and scarf, so maybe she wasn’t one to talk. She thought she should just drink her smoothie and calm down.
Taking a sip, Tempest felt a wave of nostalgia as she remembered drinking smoothies just like this in her youth. She enjoyed thinking about how she and her friends enjoyed smoothies made by her parents and then… She then remembered that event. Tempest shivered as that was the moment that changed her entire life.
She paused and just stared at her half-drunken smoothie. She kept drinking as she suddenly saw her mane fall in front of her face. Tempest tried to push it to the side, only to see that the color looked like it was fading. The hot pink color was slowly turning into light brown, a similar shade to chocolate.
Tempest gasped as she saw tried to find a reflective surface before seeing a similar thing happening to other ponies. Lyra and Bon-Bon were just walking out of the building when their hair started turning orange and black respectively. Just like their tails disappearing, not a single pony took notice of their hair changing in color.
Tempest quickly finished her smoothes as she wanted to leave as soon as she could before quickly leaving a couple of bits on the table. She quickly left Sugarcube Corner and tried to find something reflective. She found a store window and could see her mane no longer was styled like a mohawk, now it just looked messy.
“Tempest, is that you?” asked a voice. The mare jumped only to see Rarity standing beside her, now missing a tail and having curly black hair. “What are you doing in Ponyville?”
“I’m… Trying to settle down and move on from my past,” the changing mare explained. “Have you seen anything… New going on around here?”
“Well, I have helped Capper settle in my home. We’re getting along very well. Would you like to come along? No offense but I think you’re in need of a haircut.”
Tempest looked at her reflection again and from what she heard about Rarity, she was the mare you went for when you needed help with style. She agreed to the offer and followed the fashionable mare back to her home. Along the way, Tempest saw that Rarity had gained a nice little purple skirt and it even looked like she was also wearing a white button shirt.
She just shrugged it off since she felt that Rarity would often wear clothing until they saw they were already at the boutique. They walked inside and some of the mannequins looked a little odd, with some of them being bipedal creatures. One creature that walked on two legs looked to be Capper Dapperpaws.
He had his old trench coat for a nice red button shirt under a sweater vest and black pants. “Rare, you’re back,” he proclaimed. The unicorn and Abyssinian both shared a hug which was shortly followed by a quick kiss. Capper looked a little surprised that Tempest had entered the building. “Oh… Hello.”
“Hi,” Tempest said awkwardly. She knew she and Capper didn’t have the best relationship given how they had first met. “Listen, if I’m not wanted here, I can just leave…”
“Oh, no, no, no, no,” Rarity proclaimed, “We’ve forgiven you for being with such a horrid tyrant. We’ve befriended a lot of creatures that are like that.” She paused as she saw Tempest trying to brush her mane out of her face. “Let’s try and fix that hair of yours.”
Rarity took her guest upstairs to the bathroom, where a couple of brushes and hair products were waiting. The mare grabbed a brush and started to brush Tempest’s mane, helping to clear up any knots stuck inside of it. As she brushed it, Tempest could see Rarity getting better support on two legs. She had seen ponies stand upright for brief moments, but Rarity looked to even start walking around only on two legs.
Without any use of magic, Tempest had her mane combed, cleaned, and even tied into a bun to help keep it together. Looking in the mirror, Tempest kind of enjoyed her new look, which made Rarity happy. “I’m glad you enjoy your look darling. You look lovely.”
“Um… Thank you.”
“Is something else on your mind?”
“I just… My past and everything…”
“You don’t have to keep living in the past. You’ve been given another chance to have a good life” Tempest looked at herself in the mirror again, almost not noticing that her broken horn was gone. She could see that Rarity’s horn had also vanished, but her words had helped keep her calm.
“Thank you for the talk.”
“You’re welcome, Tempest. If you just…”
“Fizzle.”
“...Fizzle?”
“It’s my name; Fizzlepop Berrytwist. Tempest Shadow was just a name I used while serving… You know who.”
“I understand Fizzle. Just remember, we’re always here if you need a friend.” Fizzlepop smiled as she and Rarity both shared a hug.
After this, Fizzlepop felt more confident in herself as she left the boutique with a little more pep in her step. She didn’t pay as much attention to the changes going on around her with all unicorns and pegasi losing their horns and wings. She could hear some trotting, making Fizzepop look back to see Rainbow Dash running up to her.
“Hey, Tempest, how are you?” Dash said.
“Don’t call me that anymore,” Fizzlepop requested. “Just… Fizzle works for now.”
“Oh… Sorry. So, Fizzy, how are you enjoying yourself in Ponyville?”
“Quite nice. Rarity just helped with my hair. How do I look?”
“Eh, you know I’m not much of a style pony. Still, a bun’s a good way to keep your hair out of your face.” Fizzlepop looked at Dash’s mane and saw she had tied it into a ponytail. However, it didn’t look like she had her rainbow colors, at least not as much.
Only her bangs and the tip of her ponytail looked to have rainbow dye to them. She shook her head as she noticed that Dash was starting to pick up the pace. Fizzlepop decided to try and overtake her. “Heh, you want to have a race?”
“If you can keep up.” Fizzlepop started to get up to a gallop as she looked back to see Dash trying to keep up with her. Eventually, Fizzlepop felt her right side going numb all of a sudden, making her stumble quite a bit. As she slowed down, Dash got ahead of her while walking on two legs.
Fizzlepop kept on stumbling before she started tumbling over onto her side. Dash didn’t notice and kept on running. Fizzlepop struggled to sit up now she could feel half of her limbs as she rubbed her right side. Looking down at her hoof, Faith could see it was starting to split apart and had five root-like points starting to grow and bend with her input.
Fizzlepop tried to do the same with her other hoof which was growing similar to extended points, but she couldn’t feel any of her muscles in it. She could see both of her hooves starting to change in color with these extending points. Her left hoof would be losing its purple color with lightly tanned skin taking its place.
Her other hoof meanwhile, looked like it was becoming more artificial. It was becoming made of metal, plastic, and rubber, replacing any kind of flesh and blood that Fizzlepop had in it. These parts went up to her elbow as the changing mare could see that he could finally move her arm again.
“My arm…” Fizzlepop muttered. “Did the battery die or… Something?” Fizzlepop didn’t understand why she thought of a battery but she felt like she had gotten that down to muscle memory.
“Faith, are you okay?” asked Dash. Fizzlepop looked up and saw Dash offering a hand to help her up. Fizzlepop rubbed her head before she held Dash’s hand as she managed to stand up again. She looked at her prosthetic hand, flexing her fingers to make sure it was still working.
“I think I’m fine,” Fizzlepop replied. “I think the battery needs replacing.” She stood bipedally as she tried shaking her right leg awake. “Same would apply to my leg.”
“Need a lift?”
“No, I just limp somewhere.”
“...Are you sure? I…”
“I’m fine!” Dash jumped a little bit from her little outburst. She watched her trying to walk despite, her leg not functioning. Roxy followed her along despite the struggle Faith was going through. After a couple of minutes of limping along, the women both heard a truck horn and then saw a pick-up truck.
They could see AJ in the driver’s seat, waving to them. “Need a lift?” she asked.
Faith looked at her leg which was still out of power. She sighed as she was helped into the truck by Roxanne. “My leg doesn’t want to work today,” Faith sighed.
“I’ve got my toolbox in the truck bed,” AJ noted, “Want me to take a look?” Faith just nodded as she made herself comfortable in the truck seat. As she waited to have her battery worked on, Faith didn’t notice her out-of-place muzzle shrinking into her face. Her nostrils developed into a proper nose while some of her teeth sharpened to help her chew meat.
Suddenly, her prosthetic leg kicked back into life, nearly hitting AJ. “Well, I don’t know what I did but something had to have fixed it,” the farm girl shrugged.
“Thanks for helping,” Faith said. They started putting her leg back together Roxy and AJ could see that Faith was thinking about something.
“You need to talk about something?” Roxy asked.
“Well… It’s mostly about tonight and… Tiana.”
“What about her?” AJ asked.
Faith looked like she was beginning to blush as she rubbed the back of her head. “Do either of you know anything about… Relationships?” By the way she said this, the girls both understood what she was talking about.
“Faith, I’m not sure we’re the best choice to ask someone for dating advice,” Roxy admitted.
“Dating? No… I mean… I think…” Try as she might, Faith couldn’t think of way of talking about Tiana without mentioning she did have feelings for her. “Okay, so I do need someone to talk to, who do I call?”
“Maybe you try asking Fiona,” AJ suggested, finishing up with the leg. “She’s got Dominic as a boyfriend and they have a healthy relationship.”
“Wait, that Dominic?!”
“The one with an ego that can swallow the sun, yes,” Roxy responded. “Don’t quite know what Fiona sees in him, but you can ask her if you want.”
Faith stood up and applied pressure on her robotic leg, feeling it was fine. “Shouldn’t be too far for me to walk. I’ll call you if I need a lift.” Faith soon walked off, leaving AJ and Roxy on their own. As Faith made her way to where Fiona lived, she suddenly started to remember bits of her past.
In her youth, Faith was just like any ordinary girl, who had friends who shared her love for ballet. One day, it would all change when three friends were playing ball together. Faith failed to catch the ball when it was her responsibility to get it back, at least that’s what her friends said. She eventually followed the ball into a cave, which was inhabited by a bear.
Despite her best efforts to make a run for it, Faith was fatally injured by the bear attacking her. While she managed to survive, she would have to have her arm and leg amputated. Not to mention the scars she now had on her body. Now only having a prosthetic leg and only one arm, Faith couldn’t do many activities she loved anyone.
These included most of the activities with her friends, especially ballet. With her disability, Faith felt her friends spending less time with her. Feeling more like a burden to everyone around her, Faith ran away from home and started to live her life alone.
This life would eventually get her as a bounty hunter, working for an infamous man she did not want to talk about again. Years of this occupation eventually led Faith to Tiana Smith. After the man who shouldn’t be named was defeated, Faith thought she’d be living behind bars, if she was lucky but things would turn out differently for her.
Tiana Smith had taken pity on her and helped knock Faith’s punishment down to house arrest. Tiana was wanting to help her with her prosthetics, as the ones Faith had back in the day were fairly cheap. But after Ms. Smith got to work, Faith was given a new set of limbs that she would wear to this day.
These limbs were almost just as flexible as a real arm and leg. The leg had more of a simple design but her arm held up its shape really well. Faith had been able to walk and pick up stuff better than she could since her incident. It was honestly some of the best moments of her life, but these moments led Faith to have mixed feelings about the woman who helped give her a second chance.
She was in such deep thought, that she almost forgot to look where she was going and accidentally bumped into a woman in a yellow sweater. “Oh, it’s you,” gasped the woman, “You’re…”
“Faith. I don’t go by that other name anymore.”
Fiona just simply nodded before she saw Dominic walking towards them with two mugs of tea, one he handed to the woman. “Oh, thank you, Dom.”
“Anything for you, Fiona,” the famous actor said. He then looked at Faith, who was simply shocked to see him standing right in front of her. “So, are you here for an autograph?”
“Um… No,” Faith admitted, “I… Never thought that I’d see an actor like you in a simple town like Pennywood.”
“Oh, I’ve got plenty of surprises,” Dominic stated, “And a little sweetheart.” He wrapped his arm around Fiona, who leaned into his hug.
“Is there a reason why you’re here?” Fiona asked, “I thought you would be trying to get ready for your show.”
“Oh, that,” Faith commented, “The show isn’t until tonight and Tiana wanted me to make sure my arm and leg were working before the performance.”
“How have you been doing so far?”
“Well, aside from my leg giving out on me for a moment, it’s been working okay. I’ve even managed to meet a couple of your friends.” She explained how their interactions went, completely oblivious to the fact any of them were ponies.
“Oh, I’m glad you’re getting used to Pennywood. How are you and Tiana living together?” Faith suddenly blushed when she heard the question.
Dominic snickered at this. “So, that’s how you feel about her,” he joked.
“Dom,” Fiona said sternly. This made him stay quiet as Fiona placed her hand on Faith’s shoulder. “Tia is a great friend, and if you feel like that towards her…”
“Do you know how we first met?” Faith questioned. “I was lucky to just get house arrest.”
“Oh don’t you know how Fiona and I first dated?” Dominic stated, “I was more blunt that butterknife grinded down on a brick. Despite that, we’re still a pair.” He planted a kiss on Fiona’s check, making the woman blush.
“No relationship is perfect,” Fiona proclaimed, “But I feel if you and Tiana are close with each other, you would be great together.”
Faith rubbed her arm with her prosthetic. “Maybe I’ll be able to talk with her before my performance,” she said, “If I see her before tonight. Maybe I should go to the stage and practice while I still have the chance.”
“That sounds like a good idea. Hope you have a good show.” Faith just simply gave a thumbs up and quickly ran off to where her show was meant to take place.
She could feel her prosthetics were working just great. Faith hoped her leg would be able to hold up during her show. As she got closer to the stage, her cloak would be the last thing to change. Its color slowly changed from black to a vibrant purple, matching the color Faith’s old coat.
The top of the cloak opened to help reveal her shoulders with some straps appearing to help keep it up. The fabric hugged Faith’s torso as the outfit flared out around her hips to give her a very lovely tutu. Add on the matching slippers and some stocking to help complete the new wardrobe.
Faith suddenly felt a flash like she just got out of the shower, helping to get rid of any sweat that could’ve made her stink. It felt like Rebecca gave her hair another clean to help her look her best, as well some makeup applied to her face. Faith wasn’t someone who would go out of her way to have makeup on everyday, but for special events, she would wear some.
Soon, Faith found herself backstage as a beautiful ballerina. She took a few deep breaths as she tried doing some stretches as well as a few dance moves before her big performance. It was quite a stressful time. There were moments she paced around worried about her being booed off stage the second she walked onto it. It almost felt like she didn’t want to go at all.
“Faith, are you okay?” asked a voice. Faith jumped and gasped once she saw Tiana Smith walking up to her, looking concerned. Not only that, but she looked like she wore a fancy dress that Rebecca had designed for her.
“Tia…? What are you doing back here?” Faith asked.
“I was wanting to check on you before the show began,” Tiana explained, “Are your prosthetics working?”
“I haven’t had any issue since I’ve ran with Roxanne earlier this afternoon. I think I’m working great.”
“That’s good.” Tiana suddenly grabbed Faith’s hand, both of them blushing in the process. “Is there anything else we need to check?”
“Um… How do I look? Do you think anyone will even like the performance if I’m in it.”
“You look gorgeous. They’re going to love you. Rebecca outdid herself designing your outfit and makeup.”
“She did. I find it surprising that Casper gave some good input. I can’t believe that he and Becky are a couple.”
“Yeah, it kind of feels like all my friends have their special someone. Even Spence asked me what he should say to Stephanie.”
“Is that Becky’s sister?”
“Yep, that’s her.”
“Do you ever think that… Your special someone is closer than you think?” Both women were a bit speechless after this was said. Faith was worried she shouldn’t have said that and Tiana didn’t believe what she heard.
“You… Do you think I’m pretty?”
“Yes.” Faith suddenly felt flustered after saying this. “I mean, pretty smart. You… You’ve got great hospitality.” Faith looked like she was as red as a tomato as she didn’t know what to say with too many emotions flowing through her mind.
Tiana had a similar feeling, but she knew Faith wasn’t too connected with her emotions as herself or her friends. Knowing the show was beginning soon, Tiana just simply placed a kiss on the ballerina’s cheek. “I better go find my seat,” she said, “Break a leg.” Tiana quickly walked away back to the seating area.
Faith touched her cheek as she felt a little calmer now. “Hey, we’re on,” called one of the other dancers. Snapping back to reality, Faith followed the other dancers on stage to begin her performance. She took a deep breath before she got into her position.
Tiana managed to find her seat with her friends just as the light began to dim. The currents were lifted to show the show’s backdrop. A couple of ballerinas dance onto the stage. Tiana looked around to look for one dancer in particular, but she couldn’t see her.
A little later into the show, they saw Faith leaping onto the stage. She was quickly dancing along with the rest of the performers. Her friends on their dates looked like they were enjoying the performance, knowing that one of the dancers was using prosthetics designed by Tiana herself.
The show looked to be a big hit, with many moments reflecting Faith’s life journey. From her childhood incident, her troubled history she didn’t like speaking of, to her new chance after she met Tiana. The moment she stopped on the center of the stage, the crowd roared with cheers and applause.
Faith looked and listened to all of the people cheering for her. It was enough to bring a tear to her eye. “They love me,” she muttered, “Tiana’s right, they really love me.”
______________________________________________________After the show was over, Faith was wiping off her makeup just as she heard some footsteps approaching her. “Faith, we’ve got someone you’d like to talk to,” Tiana called.
Turning around, the ballerina could see two women walking up to her alongside Tiana. They looked like people she had known in her young years. “Gemma? Serena?” she questioned. The three women quickly cheered after seeing each other again after so many years.
“How are you doing?” Gemma asked.
“You were amazing with those moves,” Serena added.
“I feel… Great, honestly,” Faith admitted, “Even better seeing you two again.”
“Yeah, we haven’t seen you in years,” Gemma said. Faith smiled before she noticed that Serena had a ring on her finger.
“Hold on a second, Serena, are you married?” Faith questioned.
“Well, I am engaged,” Serena admitted, “We’re still planning out the date of the wedding. When I heard you were having a performance, I was hoping that you would want to join in.”
“Oh, well… It would help us catch up on old times.”
“Oh knows,” Gemma said, “You and I could get your soulmates. Then again, we feel like you’ve already got one in the works.” They glanced over to Tiana, who was standing nearby.
“Um, well, that’s a possibility,” she said as she started to walk closer. “I did help get her back onto her feet, quite literally if you… AH!” Suddenly, she fell down much to the concern of Faith.
“Are you okay?” the prosthetic ballerina cried.
“I’m fine.” She pulled up her dress to find the reason she tripped, a broken high heel. “Ugh, this is why I prefer flats.” She was taken by surprise when Faith bent down and helped carry her like a bride at a wedding. “Oh, Faith.”
“I figured you might need help.” Both women blushed as Faith began carrying Tiana back to her car to help her home. Gemma and Serena giggled as they watched the two of them walking away, both Faith and Tiana feeling very close to one another now.
______________________________________MLP (C) Hasbro
Category Story / My Little Pony / Brony
Species Human
Size 120 x 80px
File Size 28.2 kB
Comments