Recap / My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (IDW) Issue 67 to 68

Tempest's Tale

Story by Jeremy Whitley, Art by Andy Price, Colored by Heather Breckel

Tempest, a former foe, is exploring Equestria to learn more about love and friendship. Her travels take her to the Crystal Empire where she will come face-to-face with the pony who set her down a path to villainy! Will she come to grips with her past or return to treacherous ways?

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These issues contain examples of:

• Actually Pretty Funny: Cadance laughs her head off when Tempest asks where the "Princess of Explosions" is, believing that would be a perfect title for her daughter Flurry Heart.
• Affectionate Nickname: Glitter Drops calls Tempest "Fizzy", while Tempest (mockingly at first) brings up her old nickname of "Dropsy".
• Ascended Extra: Glitter Drops appears in this arc, playing a prominent role.
• The Atoner: While travelling Equestria, Tempest helps those in need in order to make up for her past misdeeds.
• Badass Boast: Tempest makes one while unknowingly tracking the Ursa Minor.
  Tempest: As if I need help from [Glitter Drops]! I'm Commander Tempest Shadow! I've conquered kingdoms. I'll show her I'm not that weak little broken unicorn anymore. And I don't need her help!
• Berserk Button: Tempest becomes furious when Icy Shanks compares her broken horn to her manners.
• Broad Strokes: The comic expands on Tempest's backstory from the the 2017 movie which introduced her, and in the process slightly reinterprets a couple of details:
  • In movie, her backstory focuses exclusively on her being rejected by her friends after losing her horn, strongly implying (though not explicitly stating) that her obsession with getting it fixed was more about being normal for the sake of being normal than doing anything magic-related with her life. In this comic, it is established that she was set to go to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns with her friends before the Ursa Minor incident, suggesting that she was actually hit with a Career-Ending Injury.
  • The comic has Tempest's childhood friends lose contact with her after washing out of Celestia's school, as opposed to writing her off as broken. Justified in that the movie presented Tempest's backstory through the lens of her childhood memories, and as such it could reasonably be interpreted that she had misinterpreted certain details.
• Brutal Honesty: Tempest.
  • When Twilight asks if they can throw her a going-away party, she states that she can't imagine anything that would make her more uncomfortable.
  • She also has no problem telling Cadance to her face that she believes she represents everything that's wrong with Equestria.
• Call-Back:
  • The comic follows a comment by Twilight from the season 8 premiere, where she mentioned Tempest is out exploring Equestria.
  • While venting her anger over Glitter Drops saving her from the Ursa Minor, Tempest thinks that she needs to "open up her eyes".
  • When Tempest talks down about Cadance, Glitter Drops mentions how she protected the Crystal Empire from King Sombra for days on end.
  • When Glitter Drops mentions all of the threats Equestria has faced, images of Queen Chrysalis, Nightmare Rarity, Sombra, mirror Celestia and Luna, and Accord are shown.
  • Glitter Drops states that she wanted to work in the Everfree Forest, but the one time she had the chance, it was being overrun by black roots.
  • Glitter Drops and Spring Rain's backstory (leaving a friend behind for magic school, only to flunk out) is similar to that of Sunburst.
• The Cameo: A young Sunset Shimmer briefly appears in magic school during Glitter Drops' Flashback.
• Career-Ending Injury: The comic has Tempest set to go to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns with her friends before losing her horn (thus being rendered unable to cast spells normally).
• Continuity Snarl: The Season 8 premiere was implied to take place immediately after the events of the movie, with the Friendship Map expanding while the Mane Six were gone, and Twilight mentioning how she invited Tempest to Ponyville, but she declined. Here, it's shown that Tempest did stay in Ponyville for a short while. A possible explanation could be that the invitation in question was for Tempest to stay in Ponyville as a permanent resident after a short while, in which she declined.
• Do Not Call Me "Paul": Tempest is uncomfortable with the idea of going by her true name, and dislikes Glitter Drops calling her that (to the point where she finally screams out "My name is Tempest Shadow"). By the end of the story, she is more open to it, to the point where she insists on Glitter Drops calling her that.
• Easily Forgiven: Averted with King Aspen, who's aware of Tempest's traitorous acts and refuses to allow her to visit the Thicket. Played straight with Princess Cadance, to Tempest's shock. Tempest herself averts this with Glitter Drops, as it's clear that she is still sore about her and Spring Rain with what happened. She does forgive them when hearing Glitter's apology and re-examining the tragedy with the realization if she didn't go, one of the others would've, something that she found horrifying.
• Embarrassing Rescue: Tempest is outraged when Glitter Drops scares away the Ursa Minor before it can attack her, even yelling out "You do not get to save me now!"
• Everybody Has Standards: Despite being bitter and resentful over what happened to her, Tempest admits that she never once imagined either of her friends being in her place on that fateful day.
  • This leads to her Heel Realization. As seen in Once More, with Clarity, once she realizes that the alternate choice would've sending her friends, she found that idea horrifying... which is why she chose to go in the first place.
• Friend to All Living Things: Glitter Drops. Her Arctic Patrol office is filled with animals that she regularly feeds, with Tempest noting that it looks more like an animal sanctuary.
• History Repeats: At the end of the first issue of the arc, Tempest runs off ahead of Glitter in following the tracks only to run right into an Ursa Minor. This time however Glitter arrives to save her before she's mauled and chases off the bear.
• Innocently Insensitive: A variation. It turns out that Glitter and Spring never actually abandoned Tempest; they did include her in various activities, but they worried they were making the problem worse with Tempest upset with her out-of-control magic and they didn't want to make things worse. Ironically, they did make things worse by no longer including her (though given how Tempest was upset, it seemed that either choice would've resulted in her being miserable).
• It's All My Fault: Glitter Drops reveals that she blamed herself for what happened to Tempest; she was the one who lost the ball, and felt like she should have been the one to retrieve it.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Tempest loses her temper with both Icy Shanks and Glitter Drops, but you can't really blame her. Icy Shanks insults her for no reason just for trying to question him about odd going-ons and Glitter from her view doesn't even seem to remember Tempest losing her horn or abandoning her. However, it's later revealed that Tempest was viewing the events in a skewed recollection and undergoes a Jerkass Realization when she undergoes her memory with clarity.
• Jerkass Realization: Tempest undergoes one when she not only sees Glitter's own guilt over everything that has happened, but also when Tempest realizes that despite being angry and bitter over her choice of getting the ball, she never considered actually making her friends go in her stead. When she finally considers what would've happened, she found the idea so horrifying that she would've chosen to go anyway... prompting her to realize she was being a jerk about the whole thing.
• Lampshade Hanging: Tempest points out that Equestria nearly gets conquered a lot, while Glitter Drops states that there's "always some big drama" happening in Ponyville.
• Late-Arrival Spoiler: As the comic takes place after the movie, this is a given. It starts off not only revealing Tempest's Heel–Face Turn, but also that "Tempest Shadow" isn't her real name.
• Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: Glitter Drops and Spring Rain. While they and Tempest were top of their class in their home village, both Glitter Drops and Spring Rain were unable to keep up with the classes at Celestia's school, eventually dropping out.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Tempest realizes she and the Ursa Minor are this, as the Ursa is just a lost child attacking others out of hurt, like she once did.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Glitter Drops raises both hooves to her mouth when Icy Shanks brings up Tempest's broken horn.
  • Tempest is absolutely horrified when she finds out the creature she's tracking is an Ursa Minor.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: At the end of the story, Cadance brings up Tempest's earlier statement that there should be a "Princess of military air supremacy". Tempest irritably acknowledges that Cadance will never let that go.
• Once More, with Clarity: After Glitter Drops tearfully admits that she should have been the one to get the ball Tempest went after that ultimately caused her broken horn, Tempest realizes she had viewed the most traumatic moment of her life in entirely the wrong way.
  Tempest: I always looked at the cave as something terrible that did happen to me. But if I had the option of turning the tables... of sending one of my friends in there... of Glitter Drops losing her horn instead of me... I would always choose to be the one who went in there.
• Poor Communication Kills: Ultimately what causes Tempest and Glitter to remember the events of their childhoods differently. Spring Rain and Glitter Drops did try to include Tempest after losing her horn, but her unstable magic caused things to end badly and for Tempest to be even more miserable than before. Spring and Glitter backed off not wanting her to be sadder, but Tempest mistook this as them excluding her. The problem was exacerbated when Spring and Glitter left for Celestia's school without saying goodbye and due to how difficult and demanding the schoolwork was, they failed to write home to Tempest, causing her to feel truly abandoned.
• The Power of Love: Cadance talks of this to a skeptical Tempest (though she does admit there are things love can't accomplish).
  Princess Cadance: Love is not restricted to romantic love between two ponies. It takes a number of forms: love of family, love of friends, love of country, love of self. It's not that my love is better, but that I have an extraordinary capacity for love that can be channeled into my magic. It makes me stronger, but beyond that, it makes those I love stronger.
• Rage Breaking Point: Tempest was already angry at Glitter Drops over the childhood incident, and is barely keeping it together. But after freaking out over being ambushed by an Ursa Minor in the woods and Glitter Drops drives it away, Tempest snaps, unleashing her rage so thoroughly that Glitter Drops is driven to tears.
  Glitter Drops: Fizzy, what's wrong?
  Tempest Shadow: MY NAME IS TEMPEST SHADOW! I am not the tiny pony that wandered into a cave and had everything taken from her!
  Glitter Drops: I'm sorry, Tempest! I just—
  Tempest Shadow: I was the commander of the Storm King's army! I struck fear into the hearts of creatures from every land. Ponies quake at the mention of my name!
  Glitter Drops: I'm sorry! I wanted to save you!
  Tempest Shadow: I survived having my horn broken! I made myself stronger! I defeated armies and princesses!
  Glitter Drops: I'm sorry! I'm— (She backs up and trips over a tree root.) Oof!
  Tempest Shadow: You do not get to save me now!
• "Rashomon"-Style: Tempest and Glitter Drops manage to reconcile, and Tempest learns that Spring Rain and Glitter Drops didn’t really abandon her. They tried including Tempest, but saw how her lack of control with magic upset her, and didn’t want to make things worse. They also never maintained contact with Tempest after going to Celestia’s School because they eventually dropped out.
• Reformed, but Not Tamed: Tempest. While she truly has turned over a new leaf, she also has no intention of staying in Ponyville, due to how "sunny" things are there. She also shows bitterness toward Glitter Drops for what happened in the past, to the point where she is pleased about hurting Glitter Drops' feelings (at least until Glitter apologizes and Tempest undergoes her Jerkass Realization), and believes Icy Shanks wouldn't be so troublesome if he were turned to stone.
• Self-Serving Memory: Tempest's memory in the movie is shown to be this: her friends hadn't abandoned her like she had thought, but had tried and failed to help her and backed off as to not make her more upset over losing her horn. Tempest was so fixated on her own suffering that she never made this connection.
• Series Continuity Error: Tempest's armor still has the Storm King's symbol on it, despite it being removed at the end of the film. Early inks shared by Andy Price showed Tempest's armor without the symbol.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: Tempest considers herself as such at the beginning of the second half of the story, after all these years she wounds up no different from what she was as a filly when facing the Ursa Minor in the present. Thankfully, Glitter Drops saves her before it can take anything from her or Tempest.
• Shout-Out:
  • Early on, Tempest visits the city of Chicoltgo, with a reference to The Blues Brothers behind her.
  • During Glitter Drops' Flashback of Celestia's school, the chalkboard has a complicated equation, which ends with "42".
• Stealth Mentor:
  • Tempest suspects Twilight of being this, recalling one time she asked Tempest to return some apple buckets to Sweet Apple Acres. When Tempest got there, she found a "Friendship Fair" was taking place, with Pinkie Pie inviting her to take part in the games. Tempest refers to this as one of many such "friendship traps" Twilight got her caught in.
  • Cadance ends up being this; she had somehow learned of Tempest's connection to Glitter Drops and sent Tempest to her so they could reconcile.
• Survivor Guilt: Glitter Drops is revealed to have this in issue 68. It was her fault the ball had rolled into the cave, and Tempest had always been the brave one. She feels tremendous guilt over what happened to Tempest and feels it should've been her who went in the cave and lost her horn. This ends up being what causes Tempest to reflect and finally reconcile with her.
• Trauma Button: Tempest freezes up in terror when confronted by an Ursa Minor, the same kind of creature that took her horn from her.
• Wham Shot: Issue 67 ends with a single page of the reveal of the creature Tempest and Glitter Drops had been looking for: an enraged Ursa Minor looming over Tempest.
• Wham Line: After being saved from the Ursa Minor by Glitter Drops, Tempest becomes enraged and vents at her about what had happened to her. What Glitter Drops says in response is what finally causes Tempest to stop and reflect:
  Glitter Drops: I'm sorry, Fizzy! I threw the ball! I should have gone in!
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Grubber isn't seen or even mentioned. This raises the question of what happened to him since The Great Princess Caper ended with him deciding to go off with Tempest to explore Equestria together. It's possible that he went back to his original home with the Storm Guards, but it's unconfirmed.
  • Though Tempest at least asks about him, Glitter Drops never mentions what became of Spring Rain nor does he ever appear outside of flashbacks. The fact that the Nightmare Knights series show the former two ponies living together and Tempest referring to Glitter as her only friend virtually confirms that no attempt was made to reestablish her bond with Spring Rain.

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