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Description
Tempest’s second day began slightly better than her first, largely due to her new choice of route. Classes blurred together, finally interrupted by the lunch bell. As she headed off to the cafeteria, a loud voice caught her attention.

“Gaah! Wait up!” A tall dark brown mare with an odd tail came bounding up behind her. She looked like she had something important to say, so Tempest waited for her to catch her breath. When she had, she opened her mouth before her eyes drifted off to Tempest’s storm cloud and ended up starting with, “Ooh, is that a cloud?” She reached out to touch it.

“No! Don’t touch it!” Tempest magically grabbed the other pony’s hoof before it got too close. In a gentler tone, she added, “It’s dangerous. Depending on the day, you could get a really bad shock. Did you have something important to talk to me about?”

The brown pony blinked for a moment before suddenly exclaiming, “Oh yeah! The principal told me to give this to you for being late.” She produced a sheet of paper and handed it off to Tempest.

“But I haven’t been late yet.”

“No, no. I had to get this to you because I was late. Since you transferred in after the semester started, Miss Fruit said you wouldn’t have gotten this.” After visibly checking her mental checklist, she concluded with a cheerful “Bye!” and trotted off.

The sheet of paper was in fact a survey, and Tempest decided to fill it out during lunch.

Where are you from? I live outside of town, near the woods.

If you could go anywhere at all, where would you go? Somewhere I can’t get anypony hurt.

What's your favorite book, school subject? Sourcery, Forestry.

Is there something about yourself you wish you could change? I wish I wasn’t cursed with weather magic I can’t control.

Do you want to make friends? If not, explain why. What right do I have to put others in danger just to salve my own loneliness?

For the second, fourth, and fifth questions, she ended up putting generic answers.

Tempest’s half-hearted attempts at finishing her meal were interrupted when a white-coated mare plopped down at her (previously otherwise empty) table.

“Phew! I thought we’d never find an open spot!” she exclaimed before starting to eat.

“Umm, Sisi? I don’t think she wants company,” her oddly changeling-like companion opined meekly.

“Eh? There’s somepony already here?” Sisi asked, glancing around with squinted eyes.

Tempest cleared her throat politely, “That would be me.”

“Oh, I’m sorry! We can find somewhere else if you want,” Sisi said hurriedly, making to get up.

“No, it’s fine. I was done here anyway,” Tempest replied, gathering up her things.

Spotting the survey, the darker mare noted before thinking, “Oh, is that the outcast survey?”

Stopping, Tempest glanced at the title: Survey for Socially Challenged Students. “Yep.”

Seeing Tempest’s expression, the odd mare quickly added, “Sorry! I recognize it because we had to fill it out, too.”

With a strong note of bitterness entering her voice, Tempest replied, “And what did you do to earn the ‘outcast’ label? Set fire to somepony’s house? Accidentally demolish a school? Almost destroy a town?”

Both of the other ponies were taken aback at the tone and content of Tempest’s words.

Sisi indignantly replied, “Now look here, we were only trying to be nice. There’s no need to be so confrontational.”

“Well maybe I’m just not a nice person,” Tempest responded, trying to bury the pain of seeing Sisi’s hurt expression. She turned to leave, anxious to avoid further damage.

“I don’t think that’s true,” the dark changeling-esque pony stated, stopping Tempest cold. “A real mean person wouldn’t hurt so much from making others hurt.”

“What makes you think I’m hurting?” Tempest asked in a low voice.

“I’m half changeling. I can tell exactly what you’re feeling.” When Tempest responded by standing silent and motionless, the newly bold half changeling continued more gently, “If you need to talk, I’ll be around. My name is Tearing Valentines, and I hope you have a good day.”

With that, the two ponies left, leaving Tempest desperately trying to contain her emotions. Even as she bottled it up as best she could, her storm cloud began to drizzle.

Tempest spent her afternoon classes replaying the exchange in the cafeteria over and over in her head, each time reinforcing the knowledge that she needed to swallow her pride and apologize. Her mind made up, Tempest ended up devoting considerable effort to locating the two after school. When she finally did spot them, she almost lost her nerve, but with a herculean effort, she approached the pair. As she struggled to find words, the drizzle that had mostly let up transformed into sleet.

“I… I just … I just wanted to say sorry. For how I acted earlier,” Tempest quietly managed to declare. “I took my frustrations out on you and pushed you away, just like I do to everypony. If it’s alright, I think I’d like that talk now.” As the duo listened patiently to Tempest’s outpouring, she realized with a start that she’d forgotten a critical detail.

“Oh! And my name’s Tempest,” she added, blushing slightly from embarrassment.

With Sisi and Tearing Valentines' welcoming smiles, the sleet from Tempest’s storm cloud dried up almost instantly, the cloud itself lightening to a medium gray.

“We’d be happy to talk.”

Description
Tempest’s second day began slightly better than her first, largely due to her new choice of route. Classes blurred together, finally interrupted by the lunch bell. As she headed off to the cafeteria, a loud voice caught her attention.

“Gaah! Wait up!” A tall dark brown mare with an odd tail came bounding up behind her. She looked like she had something important to say, so Tempest waited for her to catch her breath. When she had, she opened her mouth before her eyes drifted off to Tempest’s storm cloud and ended up starting with, “Ooh, is that a cloud?” She reached out to touch it.

“No! Don’t touch it!” Tempest magically grabbed the other pony’s hoof before it got too close. In a gentler tone, she added, “It’s dangerous. Depending on the day, you could get a really bad shock. Did you have something important to talk to me about?”

The brown pony blinked for a moment before suddenly exclaiming, “Oh yeah! The principal told me to give this to you for being late.” She produced a sheet of paper and handed it off to Tempest.

“But I haven’t been late yet.”

“No, no. I had to get this to you because I was late. Since you transferred in after the semester started, Miss Fruit said you wouldn’t have gotten this.” After visibly checking her mental checklist, she concluded with a cheerful “Bye!” and trotted off.

The sheet of paper was in fact a survey, and Tempest decided to fill it out during lunch.

Where are you from? I live outside of town, near the woods.

If you could go anywhere at all, where would you go? Somewhere I can’t get anypony hurt.

What's your favorite book, school subject? Sourcery, Forestry.

Is there something about yourself you wish you could change? I wish I wasn’t cursed with weather magic I can’t control.

Do you want to make friends? If not, explain why. What right do I have to put others in danger just to salve my own loneliness?

For the second, fourth, and fifth questions, she ended up putting generic answers.

Tempest’s half-hearted attempts at finishing her meal were interrupted when a white-coated mare plopped down at her (previously otherwise empty) table.

“Phew! I thought we’d never find an open spot!” she exclaimed before starting to eat.

“Umm, Sisi? I don’t think she wants company,” her oddly changeling-like companion opined meekly.

“Eh? There’s somepony already here?” Sisi asked, glancing around with squinted eyes.

Tempest cleared her throat politely, “That would be me.”

“Oh, I’m sorry! We can find somewhere else if you want,” Sisi said hurriedly, making to get up.

“No, it’s fine. I was done here anyway,” Tempest replied, gathering up her things.

Spotting the survey, the darker mare noted before thinking, “Oh, is that the outcast survey?”

Stopping, Tempest glanced at the title: Survey for Socially Challenged Students. “Yep.”

Seeing Tempest’s expression, the odd mare quickly added, “Sorry! I recognize it because we had to fill it out, too.”

With a strong note of bitterness entering her voice, Tempest replied, “And what did you do to earn the ‘outcast’ label? Set fire to somepony’s house? Accidentally demolish a school? Almost destroy a town?”

Both of the other ponies were taken aback at the tone and content of Tempest’s words.

Sisi indignantly replied, “Now look here, we were only trying to be nice. There’s no need to be so confrontational.”

“Well maybe I’m just not a nice person,” Tempest responded, trying to bury the pain of seeing Sisi’s hurt expression. She turned to leave, anxious to avoid further damage.

“I don’t think that’s true,” the dark changeling-esque pony stated, stopping Tempest cold. “A real mean person wouldn’t hurt so much from making others hurt.”

“What makes you think I’m hurting?” Tempest asked in a low voice.

“I’m half changeling. I can tell exactly what you’re feeling.” When Tempest responded by standing silent and motionless, the newly bold half changeling continued more gently, “If you need to talk, I’ll be around. My name is Tearing Valentines, and I hope you have a good day.”

With that, the two ponies left, leaving Tempest desperately trying to contain her emotions. Even as she bottled it up as best she could, her storm cloud began to drizzle.

Tempest spent her afternoon classes replaying the exchange in the cafeteria over and over in her head, each time reinforcing the knowledge that she needed to swallow her pride and apologize. Her mind made up, Tempest ended up devoting considerable effort to locating the two after school. When she finally did spot them, she almost lost her nerve, but with a herculean effort, she approached the pair. As she struggled to find words, the drizzle that had mostly let up transformed into sleet.

“I… I just … I just wanted to say sorry. For how I acted earlier,” Tempest quietly managed to declare. “I took my frustrations out on you and pushed you away, just like I do to everypony. If it’s alright, I think I’d like that talk now.” As the duo listened patiently to Tempest’s outpouring, she realized with a start that she’d forgotten a critical detail.

“Oh! And my name’s Tempest,” she added, blushing slightly from embarrassment.

With Sisi and Tearing Valentines' welcoming smiles, the sleet from Tempest’s storm cloud dried up almost instantly, the cloud itself lightening to a medium gray.

“We’d be happy to talk.”