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Description

     Luckily, Tempest’s parents had only added an extra two days to her grounding for the afterschool storm incident. With her additional penance come and gone, Tempest intended to spend all Saturday with her friends. Since they all lived at the dorms, she figured that would be the first place to look.

     Darksun glanced back into his dorm, a calculating look on his face.

     “I really do have to finish that history report, but… Oh, what the hay. It’s nothing I can’t put off ‘til later.”

     Tempest wondered at the paradoxical emotions Darksun’s response triggered, but shut down that self-examination before it went too far in any uncomfortable directions.

     “Um, okay. Let’s go grab the others,” Tempest said hurriedly once her brain started working again.

     They found Sissi in her room, scribbling notes on a rough draft of her Equish paper. Happy to take a short break, she joined up.

     Val was harder to locate. When they checked her dorm, nopony answered the door.

     “Maybe she’s on the roof? She seems to like to hang out up there,” Sissi suggested.

     They decided to split up, with Darksun and Sissi checking other likely spots while Tempest checked the roof of the dormitory building. Sure enough, she found the half-changeling staring off into space. Not certain she should disturb her friend, Tempest almost turned to leave when a pivot of one of Val’s ears proved that her presence was already noticed.

     “Hey, Val.”

     “Hey.”

     “Whatcha doin’?”

     “Cloud watching, mostly.”

     “I could probably make some clouds, but I don’t think they’d turn out white and fluffy.”

     “Thought you said you wouldn’t use your weather magic anymore,” Val replied with a hint of a smile.

     “Sissi can be pretty convincing when she wants to be. Plus, that whole ‘Thyella hijacking my powers’ thing has me worried that if I don’t master my magic, she will.”

     Val’s expression turned thoughtful.

     “You said your magic runs off your emotions, right?”

     “Yeah?”

     “Maybe all that bottled up emotion you’re keeping inside could be interfering with your attempts at control.”

     Tempest sighed, her stormcloud darkening a shade.

     “I hate that you might be right. I don’t know if I can take that chance.”

     “You need to act out these repressed emotions if you want to get them off your chest.”

     “Seeing what happens when I act out my emotions is why I started repressing them in the first place.”

     “That’s incredibly unhealthy, and you know it.”

     “*sigh* I know. I really only know one place where it might be safe to exorcise my demons, but even then the idea kinda terrifies me.”

     “That why your cloud just started snowing?”

     “*sigh* Probably.”

   "So, what'd you come up here for, anyway?"

   "Well, I'm not grounded anymore and we had the day off, so I wanted to hang out with my friends."

   "I noticed you used a plural there."

   "The others are checking other places you might have been hiding."

   Val glanced down and spotted the ponies in question.

   "How good are you with those wings of yours?"

   "Pretty terrible. Why?"

"Can you do a controlled descent?"

"Usually. Again, why?"

"Good. Let's go."

Val suddenly spread her wings before just as suddenly hopping off the roof.

"Val, what the hay?!"

Grumbling furiously, Tempest adjusted her saddlebags to allow her wings free range before following her friend. She quickly spotted the half-changeling and clumsily altered course to follow. Val gracefully landed next to Sissi and Darksun before folding her diaphanous wings against her barrel. Tempest's landing was not nearly so perfect.

"Ow."

"*snerk* Sorry, heh, I thought you said you could do a controlled descent," Val said in a tone that vacillated between amusement and concern. "You okay?"

"The descent's easy. It's the landing that's hard. I think the only thing bruised is my pride, at least."

"Good to hear. Well, now that we're all here, what did you have in mind?"

Tempest froze up. Why are they asking me? I'm a terrible decision-maker! Thankfully, Sissi's stomach interrupted with an audible grumble. The pegasus blushed from the sudden attention.

"Hehe. Well, I told you I was overdue for a study break."

"Okay, first order of business is getting some lunch."

Once they'd gotten some food from the dorm cafeteria, the friends adjourned to a nice spot under a tree to eat their meals. When they sat down, Tempest removed a lunchbox from her saddlebags, as well as the stack of books that had been piled atop it. This went unremarked-upon in favor of consuming each's chosen sustenance. As soon as that was finished, Tempest opened her lunchbox to reveal a respectable number of cookies.

"Dig in, guys. Dad made these this morning, so they're still fresh."

In between bites, Sissi asked, "You know, I've been curious for a while: why does your lunchbox say TR?"

"Oh, those're my initials."

"There's no R in Tempest."

"That's just the shortened version of my name. My full name's a bit of a mouthful."

"What's your full name?"

"Okay, promise you guys won't laugh?" After getting a full round of nods, Tempest continued, "My full name is Tempestatem Regina."

Sissi, who actually paid attention in language class, said, "Wait, doesn't that mean *hrm hwm*?"

Val, who also paid attention in language class, shoved a hoof in the pegasus' mouth before she could finish her remark. Eager to change the subject, Val spotted the stack of books Tempest had taken out earlier.

  "So, what kinda books you got there?"

     "Huh? Let's see, there's On Unity by Beth Apple, The Everfree Forest and How Every Bloody Thing Turns Up There by Glint Eastwither, Diary of a Changeling by Queen Ebony, Sins of the Past: A Memoir by Nightmare Moon, Silver Linings by Ambassador Silver Watch, Celestia's Vacation: How Ponyville Got Its First Embassy by Ambassador Lyra Heartstrings, Solaria: The True Story of Hearth's Warming..."

     "What's this one on the bottom? Bellerophon's Herd?"

     "I have no idea how that one got there!" Tempest exclaimed, shoving the book in question deep into her saddlebags whilst blushing furiously.

"Uh huh. Where'd you find these books, anyway? I'm pretty sure I would've heard of at least some of those before."

"Well, you know how most libraries have a 'fiction' and a 'non-fiction' section? PHS also has an 'other' section. That's where I found these."

Darksun spoke up, "Why'd you bring so many books?"

"Habit, mostly. I always bring something to read wherever I go. Gives me something to do if I get bored."

"Well, I don't think you'll be needing those today. You've got us, remember?"

Tempest wore a quirked grin, but the feeling behind it was genuine.

"Yeah. I'm here with my awesome friends. I don't need any distractions."

     Tempest waved goodbye to her friends and trotted off towards home. Her good humor quickly evaporated, however, when she ran into somepony unexpected.

     "You certainly seem surprised. I do hope you haven't forgotten me already," the phantom spoke, wearing an unfriendly smile.

     "Thyella? What happened to you? I can barely see you." Tempest was shocked at how much more transparent the ghostly alicorn now appeared.

     "What happened? What happened?! You happened, you little traitor! You almost ripped me free of my own Regalia!" the former monarch snarled.

   Tempest's ears went back at the unanticipated level of venom in Thyella's voice.

     "I've tried to mold you into something special, but this is unforgivable! You will return my property at once, and then you will never interfere with me again!"

     Tempest's startled expression turned indignant. "Now look here. I never asked to be a walking freak, or to be haunted by you for more than half my life! You want these stupid things? You can have them the instant you get them off my legs!"

     "You've already made that impossible, you foolish filly," Thyella replied with a sneer. "Very well. If you can't remove them yourself, perhaps a more worthy heir can retrieve them from your corpse. Patience may not be my strong suit, but I can afford to wait. I hope the rest of your miserable life is as hideously awful as possible."

With that, Thyella vanished, leaving Tempest shocked and worried. She started walking again, heading for home.

Description

     Luckily, Tempest’s parents had only added an extra two days to her grounding for the afterschool storm incident. With her additional penance come and gone, Tempest intended to spend all Saturday with her friends. Since they all lived at the dorms, she figured that would be the first place to look.

     Darksun glanced back into his dorm, a calculating look on his face.

     “I really do have to finish that history report, but… Oh, what the hay. It’s nothing I can’t put off ‘til later.”

     Tempest wondered at the paradoxical emotions Darksun’s response triggered, but shut down that self-examination before it went too far in any uncomfortable directions.

     “Um, okay. Let’s go grab the others,” Tempest said hurriedly once her brain started working again.

     They found Sissi in her room, scribbling notes on a rough draft of her Equish paper. Happy to take a short break, she joined up.

     Val was harder to locate. When they checked her dorm, nopony answered the door.

     “Maybe she’s on the roof? She seems to like to hang out up there,” Sissi suggested.

     They decided to split up, with Darksun and Sissi checking other likely spots while Tempest checked the roof of the dormitory building. Sure enough, she found the half-changeling staring off into space. Not certain she should disturb her friend, Tempest almost turned to leave when a pivot of one of Val’s ears proved that her presence was already noticed.

     “Hey, Val.”

     “Hey.”

     “Whatcha doin’?”

     “Cloud watching, mostly.”

     “I could probably make some clouds, but I don’t think they’d turn out white and fluffy.”

     “Thought you said you wouldn’t use your weather magic anymore,” Val replied with a hint of a smile.

     “Sissi can be pretty convincing when she wants to be. Plus, that whole ‘Thyella hijacking my powers’ thing has me worried that if I don’t master my magic, she will.”

     Val’s expression turned thoughtful.

     “You said your magic runs off your emotions, right?”

     “Yeah?”

     “Maybe all that bottled up emotion you’re keeping inside could be interfering with your attempts at control.”

     Tempest sighed, her stormcloud darkening a shade.

     “I hate that you might be right. I don’t know if I can take that chance.”

     “You need to act out these repressed emotions if you want to get them off your chest.”

     “Seeing what happens when I act out my emotions is why I started repressing them in the first place.”

     “That’s incredibly unhealthy, and you know it.”

     “*sigh* I know. I really only know one place where it might be safe to exorcise my demons, but even then the idea kinda terrifies me.”

     “That why your cloud just started snowing?”

     “*sigh* Probably.”

   "So, what'd you come up here for, anyway?"

   "Well, I'm not grounded anymore and we had the day off, so I wanted to hang out with my friends."

   "I noticed you used a plural there."

   "The others are checking other places you might have been hiding."

   Val glanced down and spotted the ponies in question.

   "How good are you with those wings of yours?"

   "Pretty terrible. Why?"

"Can you do a controlled descent?"

"Usually. Again, why?"

"Good. Let's go."

Val suddenly spread her wings before just as suddenly hopping off the roof.

"Val, what the hay?!"

Grumbling furiously, Tempest adjusted her saddlebags to allow her wings free range before following her friend. She quickly spotted the half-changeling and clumsily altered course to follow. Val gracefully landed next to Sissi and Darksun before folding her diaphanous wings against her barrel. Tempest's landing was not nearly so perfect.

"Ow."

"*snerk* Sorry, heh, I thought you said you could do a controlled descent," Val said in a tone that vacillated between amusement and concern. "You okay?"

"The descent's easy. It's the landing that's hard. I think the only thing bruised is my pride, at least."

"Good to hear. Well, now that we're all here, what did you have in mind?"

Tempest froze up. Why are they asking me? I'm a terrible decision-maker! Thankfully, Sissi's stomach interrupted with an audible grumble. The pegasus blushed from the sudden attention.

"Hehe. Well, I told you I was overdue for a study break."

"Okay, first order of business is getting some lunch."

Once they'd gotten some food from the dorm cafeteria, the friends adjourned to a nice spot under a tree to eat their meals. When they sat down, Tempest removed a lunchbox from her saddlebags, as well as the stack of books that had been piled atop it. This went unremarked-upon in favor of consuming each's chosen sustenance. As soon as that was finished, Tempest opened her lunchbox to reveal a respectable number of cookies.

"Dig in, guys. Dad made these this morning, so they're still fresh."

In between bites, Sissi asked, "You know, I've been curious for a while: why does your lunchbox say TR?"

"Oh, those're my initials."

"There's no R in Tempest."

"That's just the shortened version of my name. My full name's a bit of a mouthful."

"What's your full name?"

"Okay, promise you guys won't laugh?" After getting a full round of nods, Tempest continued, "My full name is Tempestatem Regina."

Sissi, who actually paid attention in language class, said, "Wait, doesn't that mean *hrm hwm*?"

Val, who also paid attention in language class, shoved a hoof in the pegasus' mouth before she could finish her remark. Eager to change the subject, Val spotted the stack of books Tempest had taken out earlier.

  "So, what kinda books you got there?"

     "Huh? Let's see, there's On Unity by Beth Apple, The Everfree Forest and How Every Bloody Thing Turns Up There by Glint Eastwither, Diary of a Changeling by Queen Ebony, Sins of the Past: A Memoir by Nightmare Moon, Silver Linings by Ambassador Silver Watch, Celestia's Vacation: How Ponyville Got Its First Embassy by Ambassador Lyra Heartstrings, Solaria: The True Story of Hearth's Warming..."

     "What's this one on the bottom? Bellerophon's Herd?"

     "I have no idea how that one got there!" Tempest exclaimed, shoving the book in question deep into her saddlebags whilst blushing furiously.

"Uh huh. Where'd you find these books, anyway? I'm pretty sure I would've heard of at least some of those before."

"Well, you know how most libraries have a 'fiction' and a 'non-fiction' section? PHS also has an 'other' section. That's where I found these."

Darksun spoke up, "Why'd you bring so many books?"

"Habit, mostly. I always bring something to read wherever I go. Gives me something to do if I get bored."

"Well, I don't think you'll be needing those today. You've got us, remember?"

Tempest wore a quirked grin, but the feeling behind it was genuine.

"Yeah. I'm here with my awesome friends. I don't need any distractions."

     Tempest waved goodbye to her friends and trotted off towards home. Her good humor quickly evaporated, however, when she ran into somepony unexpected.

     "You certainly seem surprised. I do hope you haven't forgotten me already," the phantom spoke, wearing an unfriendly smile.

     "Thyella? What happened to you? I can barely see you." Tempest was shocked at how much more transparent the ghostly alicorn now appeared.

     "What happened? What happened?! You happened, you little traitor! You almost ripped me free of my own Regalia!" the former monarch snarled.

   Tempest's ears went back at the unanticipated level of venom in Thyella's voice.

     "I've tried to mold you into something special, but this is unforgivable! You will return my property at once, and then you will never interfere with me again!"

     Tempest's startled expression turned indignant. "Now look here. I never asked to be a walking freak, or to be haunted by you for more than half my life! You want these stupid things? You can have them the instant you get them off my legs!"

     "You've already made that impossible, you foolish filly," Thyella replied with a sneer. "Very well. If you can't remove them yourself, perhaps a more worthy heir can retrieve them from your corpse. Patience may not be my strong suit, but I can afford to wait. I hope the rest of your miserable life is as hideously awful as possible."

With that, Thyella vanished, leaving Tempest shocked and worried. She started walking again, heading for home.