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| “ | Time to show everypony what I can really do. | „ |
| ~ Tempest's most famous line. |
Tempest Shadow (real name: Fizzlepop Berrytwist) is the secondary antagonist of the 2017 animated film My Little Pony: The Movie. She is a unicorn with a broken horn and scar and also the former second-in-command of the Storm King. She helped the Storm King invade the entire land of Equestria in return for having her horn restored and have Twilight Sparkle and other Princess' captured to use their magic to make Storm King more powerful.
She was voiced by Emily Blunt, who also played Freya in The Huntsman: A Winter's Tale. In the Japanese version, she is voiced by Sanae Kobayashi.
History
Backstory
As a filly, Fizzlepop Berrytwist lived in an unknown village and often played with her two best friends. One day, they were playing in the woods until they lost their ball in an Ursa Minor den. Fizzlepop went in alone to retrieve it, but ran into the creature. She tried to defend herself with her magic, but the beast struck her with its claws, breaking her horn and scarring her face.
With her horn broken, Fizzlepop was unable to perform magic correctly anymore; instead it only came out as destructive bolts. Her friends decided that she was too dangerous to be around anymore, so they left her and found somepony else to play with. Feeling betrayed and abandoned by those she loved and trusted, Fizzlepop began to believe that friendship was a weakness and grew to hate it, as well as her own kind. She left her village soon after, determined to make it out on her own and never depend on anypony else ever again.
At some point, Fizzlepop encountered the Storm King and became his second-in-command, renaming herself Tempest Shadow. She then agreed to help him steal the magic of the Alicorn princesses under the promise that he would use it to restore her horn.
Role in the Film
Invasion
Tempest arriving in Canterlot
During Canterlot's first Friendship Festival, Tempest leads the Storm King's forces in an invasion of the city, demanding the magic of the four Alicorn princesses and turning Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadance into obsidian statues when they refuse. After Twilight Sparkle and her friends escape, Tempest assumes control of the city, and the Storm King tasks her with securing all four princesses in exchange for restoring her horn.
Chasing Twilight and her friends
Tempest tracks down Twilight to the desert city of Klugetown, where she roughs up some of the townsfolk for information. When Twilight and her friends escape her clutches again, she captures a new ally they've made named Capper. Under Capper's direction, Tempest initially heads toward Black Skull Island. But when she sees Rainbow Dash's sonic rainboom in the opposite direction, she realizes that Capper was lying. On board the pirate ship of Captain Celaeno, Tempest interrogates the crew about Twilight's whereabouts, unaware that she and the rest of the Mane Six are hiding below deck. After Twilight escapes her yet again, Tempest punishes Capper and Celaeno for their deception by destroying the airship on which they stand.
Capturing Twilight
Tempest threatening Twilight
Tempest eventually captures Twilight on the Basalt Beach after her selfish actions in Seaquestria cause her friends to abandon her. On Tempest's sky skiff, she reveals through song how an ursa minor attack left her hornless and scarred as a filly, cost her her friends, and left her with the outlook that friendship is meaningless. Despite Twilight's attempts to reason with a fellow pony, Tempest refuses to listen and turns her over to the Storm King in Canterlot.
Betrayed and redemption
Tempest after being betrayed
After the Storm King uses his Staff of Sacanas to steal the princesses' magic, Tempest reminds him of their deal for him to restore her horn. However, The Storm King reveals that he was simply using Tempest to become powerful and had no intention of fulfilling his end of the bargain. Following a brief confrontation between the two, Tempest nearly gets swept away in the Storm King's tornado, but Twilight saves her, leaving Tempest surprised that Twilight would still show her kindness. Before the Storm King could get ready finish the two female ponies off, Twilight's friends arrive and blasted him away, causing him to lose his staff and create an uncontrollable storm. Tempest watches from the fallen rubble as Twilight manages to achieve the staff before she and the Storm King are swept away. Tempest becomes shocked by this before Twilight arrives safe and unharmed.
Sacrifice and revival
After the Storm King is finally defeated and watching Twilight hugging her friends, Tempest comes to respect friendship again and begins to leave in shame of her actions. Before she can, she spots the Storm King, still alive, and Tempest becomes shocked when he tries a last-ditch attempt to turn Twilight to obsidian. Tempest, remembering that Twilight saved her earlier, runs towards him. The gang thought she was after Twilight again, but Tempest jumps in the way of the Storm King's attack, turning her and the King into black stone. While the Storm King falls and shatters to pieces, Twilight uses the Staff of Sacanas to land her to safety on the platform. The others were shocked by this, except Twilight, who knew Tempest had it in her and turns Tempest back to normal, and she helps in turning the other princesses back to normal and restoring Canterlot.
Accepting friendship once again
Tempest and Twilight become friends
Near the end of the film, during Songbird Serenade's performance, Twilight approaches Tempest, who still laments the loss of her horn. Twilight helps Tempest see that her magic is still special and powerful, horn or no horn, and encourages her to stay in Equestria. Having accepted Twilight's friendship, Tempest creates a fireworks display for the Friendship Festival and reveals her real name as Fizzlepop Berrytwist. During the film's closing credits, Tempest is seen dancing and playing with her new friends, including a reformed Grubber, now a much more happier pony.
Friendship is Magic
Season 8
She is only mentioned by Twilight that she is spreading word of the Storm King's defeat.
Season 9
Tempest Shadow will join with most of the other characters from the show in the final battle agaisnt Cozy Glow, Tirek and Queen Chrysalis.
Comics
Tempest's Tale
After the event's of My Little Pony: The Movie, Tempest is seen declining Twilight's offer to stay in Ponyville due to feeling that it's not where she belongs. After promising to return, she travels around Equestria to find where she fits in and helps anypony in need like repairing damage from the Storm King's attack. Feeling unsure of herself, two ponies suggest the she go to the Crystal Empire which seems to be in crises. After arriving at the Crystal Empire, Princess Cadance openly welcomes Tempest but she feels uneasy. After explaining about what types of love are, Cadance gives Tempest the task of investigating recent incidents on the outskirts of the Crystal Empire. The Next day, Tempest goes to the arctic patrol office where she meets one of her childhood friends, Glitter Drops. Glitter Drops is overjoyed and excited to see her again but Tempest is still bitter at her over the way they separated when they were little and wants to focus on the assignment. Despite Glitter Drops trying to make their moment together fun and trying to catch up on old times, Tempest continues to ignore her. Glitter Drops then explains that ponies on them outskirts are having issues with destroyed fences and stolen food. Tempest then realizes that Cadance's true motives for the mission was for her to make friends. Arriving at the residence of a pony named Icy Shanks and after a brief confrontation, he reveals that he is a victim of having his property damaged and food stolen. Frustrated by the ponies, Tempest goes off on her own to investigate the incident while remembering the day she and her friends lost the ball in the ursa minor cave which also had her lose her horn. Glitter Drops gatches up with her and Tempest confronts her about abandoning her when they were little. Their dispute is interrupted by a trail of fish and believing the culprit has left them there. Going off on her own once again and attempting to prove that she doesn't need Glitter Drops help, she comes face-to-face with an ursa minor which has her paralyzed with fear.
Tempest started to believe in all the hardships she faced after losing her horn were all for nothing until Glitter Drops saves her from the ursa minor by blinding it. Not wanting to accept Glitter Drops' kindness and concern, she explodes in anger at Glitter Drops and declares that she doesn't need anyone to save her. This causes Glitter Drops to tearfully apologize for what happened in their childhood and she reveals that since she was the one who lost the ball in the ursa minor's cave, it should've been her to have gotten the ball, and because Tempest lost her horn instead of her, she had been consumed with guilt ever since. This confession causes Tempest to be shocked and realizes that she was wrong about holding a grudge against her friend and the two make amends. As they search for the ursa minor, they catch up on old times and Tempest asks Glitter Drops why she and Spring Rain abandoned her and reached out to her after leaving magic school. Glitter Drops remembers the circumstances of their separation slightly differently and reveals to Tempest that she and Spring Rain did try and include her in their games after she got out of the hospital and didn't really mind if she couldn't do what they could do. She reveals that she and Spring Rain already felt guilty about what happened and didn't want to make her sadder. Before she can explain the rest of the story, they hear the ursa minor and Glitter Drops reveals that it is not growling but calling out to it's mother because it is lost and Tempest starts to feel sympathy for the creature. Tempest becomes impressed by Glitter Drops' illusion spell after she reunites it with it's real mother. As the two return down the mountain, Tempest asks Glitter Drops again why she and Spring Rain never kept in touch with her and Glitter Drops confesses that she and Spring Rain were the stars of their class at home but at Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns they couldn't keep up with the advanced lessons and dropped out of school. Tempest then realizes that she and Glitter Drops have more in common than she thought. Glitter Drops tells Tempest that if she ever feels angry and alone, she has a friend who loves her. Back at the palace, Tempest reports to Princess Cadance on the events of the previous night. Knowing full well that Cadance orchestrated everything so that Tempest could reunite and reconcile with Glitter Drops, Tempest thanks her.
Personality
In the film, Tempest Shadow is described as cold, arrogant, ruthless, merciless and spiteful, especially to other ponies. This was a result of her friends abandoning her as a filly when her horn broke, leading her to grow resentful and untrusting of her own kind. Since then, she was obsessed with having it restored and wouldn't hesitate to hurt others to accomplish this. Unfortunately, this obsession led to her being manipulated by the Storm King, who ultimately betrayed Tempest once she was no longer useful.
After Princess Twilight saved her from being swept into a tornado, she had a change of heart, one that led her to sacrifice herself in order to save Twilight and her friends from getting turned into stone by the Storm King. After being restored, she becomes a kinder pony. Even though she's still sad about her horn being broken, she accepts Twilight's friendship and dedicates her life to helping others instead of hurting them.
In the comics, Tempest felt out of place in Ponyville and travelled all over Equestria to help others for her past misdeeds. She was quite blunt and cynical to Princess Cadance, believing that she represents everything that is wrong in Equestria. She also showed resentment and bitterness to Glitter Drops for what happened in their childhood. She became outraged with Glitter Drops saving her from an ursa minor before Glitter Drops tearfully confessed how guilty she was since the incident. Tempest realized that she was wrong to misjudge her friend and reconciles with her.
Quotes
| “ | Oh, I'm so glad you asked. How about we start with your complete and total surrender? | „ |
| ~ Tempest's first lines. |
| “ | Here's the deal, ladies. I need your magic. Give it up nicely, please, or we make it difficult for everyone! | „ |
| ~ Tempest making the princesses surrender before the attack. |
| “ | All this power... wasted on parties! When there are far greater uses. | „ |
| ~ Tempest thinking the magic is being wasted on the Friendship Festival. |
| “ | That princess is not gonna keep me from getting my horn back! | „ |
| ~ Tempest ordering to capture Twilight. |
| “ | Silly little ponies. | „ |
| ~ Tempest looking for Twilight and her friends. |
| “ | You do realize that if you were to shelter fugitives, the Storm King would be quite... explosive. | „ |
| ~ Tempest threading to destroy Captain Celaeno's ship. |
| “ | Now... I'm gonna count to three. And if you don't tell me where they are, your ship is going down. | „ |
| ~ Tempest getting to destroy the ship. |
| “ | I'm nothing like you! I'm more than you'll ever be! | „ |
| ~ Tempest refusing that she's just Twilight Sparkle. |
| “ | I saw the truth. My "friends" abandoned me when times got tough. Looks like I'm not the only one. Face it, princess. Friendship has failed you, too. (Twilight Sparkle: Friendship didn't fail me. I failed friendship) | „ |
| ~ Tempest and Twilight's opinion on friendship. |
| “ | (Twilight Sparkle: Hold on!) Why are you saving me? (Twilight Sparkle: Because this is what friends do.) | „ |
| ~ Tempest surprise by Twilight's kind-hearted rescue causing her redemption. |
| “ | That's the one thing that never changes around here. The party. | „ |
| ~ Tempest finally understands friendship. |
Reception
Tempest Shadow recieved positive reception from critics and the Brony fandom. However, some people considered her ’unoriginal’ due to predecessors like Princess Luna, Starlight Glimmer, and Sunset Shimmer as the "misguided villainous mare" (who are often critcized because of how common misguided antagonists are in the series). Like King Sombra, some also mocked the character as another "edgy oc with a tragic past", a common type of fan original character, colored with shades of red.
Despite this, Tempest Shadow was praised by many for her villainous moments, her design, her redemption, her song, and Emily Blunt's performance. She became a fan-favorite to the fandom, and the most popular character in the film.
Appearances
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Season 8
- School Daze - Part 1 (mentioned)
Films
Comics
Friendship is Magic
Nightmare Knights
- Nightmare Knights Issue 2
- Nightmare Knights Issue 3
- Nightmare Knights Issue 4
- Nightmare Knights Issue 5
Trivia
- On the movie book, Tempest was originally going to be named Cosmos and Celestia's long lost brother.
- According to the trading cards, Tempest was referred to as an earth pony. It also said that she lived beyond Equestria.
- Despite being the secondary antagonist and not as evil or beyond redemption, Tempest had more screentime than the film's main antagonist, the Storm King. In addition, she served as the Heavy because she drove the plot of the film, and was more of Twilight's arch-nemesis.
- Tempest Shadow is similar to Sunset Shimmer and Starlight Glimmer; they are all powerful unicorns who started out as enemies to Twilight Sparkle, but were ultimately redeemed by her in the end.
