//------------------------------// // Get // Story: To Overcome the Past // by WannaBeLaika //------------------------------// Tempest slowly trotted to the door of her small home. It wasn’t much, but she felt safe there nonetheless. After her time with the Storm King, she felt safe anywhere, really. The ponies had long forgiven her for her past mistakes and she had grown quite fond of a select few. Those select few, along with other residents of Ponyville, were coming to Sugarcube Corner the day after tomorrow for a party that Pinkie Pie planed for Tempest’s fifth anniversary of being reformed.  Tempest was currently living in the Crystal Empire with one of her best friends, Glitter Drops. Glitter wasn’t home at the moment, though, due to an emergency coming up with her mother. That made Tempest a bit disappointed, but Glitter had come to every other party that Tempest had been to so she wouldn’t feel lonely, and so she understood that Glitter should be with her mother when she needed it.  She was there with you every other time, so why choose now to ditch you? Why even come in the first place? She never cared about you. She abandoned you, remember? In the time you needed her most, she left you. But she’s there with her mother. She’s there for her mother but wasn’t for you. She cares for her mother. But she never cared for you.  She loves me. Why else would she take me in? Why would she forgive me if she never cared?  Tempest often had a conflict between two sides of herself. One of them which still clung on to the old ways of living, trying to invoke fear into her mind and bring her back down to the way she had been before; and one that had moved on from it, choosing to live in peace and harmony, bringing light and love to her fellow peers, making friends and allowing herself to heal and forgive. She had chosen to portray herself as the latter one. She had learned from many past experiences with other ponies that she could make more friends by being kind and open than by burying her feelings under the guise of power and fear.  But it’s not the real you. The real you was strong. The real you had the strength to command, to strike fear in the hearts of onlookers, to lead with confidence and force others to bow at your hooves, cower in your glory! The real you would never subject herself to this degrading pony madness! The real you was powerful! THE REAL YOU WAS A MIGHTY WAR LEADER, AND LOOK AT YOU NOW! You’re just like them now, weak and insignificant. You’re nothing. But the storm still brews inside your soul, and all you must do is let it in. Let me in.  That was not the real me. That was a cover I was using to appear strong so I could survive. The real me is compassionate and loving, not that monster I became when driven by fear to hurt others.  Tempest unlocked the door and stepped inside. She removed her hat and scarf and went upstairs to pack for her trip to Ponyville tomorrow. The party was the day after, but Tempest wanted to spend some quality time with her friends before then, and the train to Ponyville that was closest to the time of the party was tomorrow anyway.  As her hooves touched each floorboard, the small voice in the back of her mind said one more thing about her, one little jab at her weakness or her friends… and she chose to bury the voice deeper so she could think clearly for a while. When the time came she would address each comment with an appropriate comeback, every explanation thought out carefully beforehoof so she could waste as little time as possible regaining space in her brain taken up by useless negativity.  Your friends abandoned you.  No one really loves you.  You’re a useless cripple.  You can never escape the judgment of your horn.  You are looked down upon by everypony.  You  Are  A  Freak.