Tempest Shadow

Tempest Shadow, real name Fizzlepop Berrytwist, is a female unicorn pony who appears as the secondary antagonist of My Little Pony The Movie and the central character in the chapter book The Stormy Road to Canterlot and the IDW comics' twenty-first story arc. She has a broken horn and a scar on her right eye, and she is the former second-in-command of the Storm King.

Development and design
Tempest Shadow is one of the few unicorns in the series to appear broken-horned, others including S06E23 Unnamed Unicorn Stallion #1 and sometimes King Sombra. She resembles Fizzypop in color scheme and real name. One of her pseudonyms in The Stormy Road to Canterlot is the same name as Cherry Pie. Her nickname in Tempest's Tale is the same as the name of G1 Fizzy.

Concept art for Tempest Shadow dated May 27, 2015 in the art book The Art of My Little Pony: The Movie shows her with several different designs—at one stage, she was "composed of parts of different animals" and "as she lost body parts, she has magically fused the parts of other creatures to herself". According to the film's art director Rebecca Dart, Tempest was originally not a villain but rather "a wild Pony who left Equestria and was living on her own in the wastelands." Additionally, she started out as a male pony named "Cosmos" who was going to be Princess Celestia's brother.

In interviews, Meghan McCarthy stated of Tempest Shadow, "We just arrived at this idea of a character who had come from Equestria, and had not had the positive experience that Twilight and her friends had. It felt like a good counterpart to our heroes was to have a villain who didn't just not get friendship, but had a reason that she didn’t understand it."

Depiction in My Little Pony The Movie
Tempest Shadow first appears in My Little Pony The Movie as the secondary antagonist and the Storm King's lieutenant. During Canterlot's first Friendship Festival, she 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.

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 their new ally, 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 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.

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.

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 gain power 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.

After Twilight and her friends recover the Staff of Sacanas from the Storm King, he launches a last-ditch attack, attempting to turn them to obsidian. Tempest, remembering that Twilight saved her earlier, 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 turn Tempest back to normal, and she helps in turning the other princesses back to normal and restoring Canterlot.

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, much to Pinkie Pie's excitement. During the film's closing credits, Tempest dances and has fun with her many new friends.

Depiction in the series
In School Daze - Part 1, set after the events of My Little Pony The Movie, Tempest Shadow is mentioned to have declined Twilight Sparkle's offer to stay in Ponyville in favor of traveling Equestria and spreading the word of the Storm King's defeat.

IDW comics
Tempest's origin is the basis for My Little Pony: The Movie Prequel Issue #4. Some time after leaving her home of Equestria, she discovers the Misfortune Malachite in the wreckage of a crashed airship and becomes a target of the Storm King and his forces. While in Klugetown, she hears voices of the Malachite's previous owners warning her to get rid of it.

During Tempest's travels with a caravan bound for Bleak Valley, the caravan is ambushed by the Storm King's soldiers, and Tempest is soon confronted by the Storm King himself. He offers her the position of his new second-in-command, and she agrees to help him conquer the world in exchange for restoring her broken horn.

In the series, Tempest is the focus of the Issue #67-68 story arc Tempest's Tale, in which she leaves Ponyville to help ponies across Equestria and reunites with her old friend Glitter Drops. She also appears in the series helping Princess Luna, Stygian, Capper, and Trixie pull off a heist in Princess Eris' casino.

Storybooks
Tempest Shadow is featured throughout the Level 2 Passport to Reading book My Little Pony The Movie: Friends and Foes, her role much the same as in the film. In the "replica journal" My Little Pony The Movie: Adventure Awaits, Tempest serves as one of the journal's narrators, recounting the film's events with the Mane Six and Spike.

Chapter books
The Stormy Road to Canterlot, the prequel book to the film, also explores Tempest's backstory. Before the events of the film, Fizzlepop Berrytwist, before she came to be known as "Tempest Shadow" and only referred to in narration as "the Unicorn", dreamed of enrolling at Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns with her best friends Spring Rain and Glitter Drops. One day, while playing with a ball, Fizzlepop and her friends lose it in a cave. While retrieving it, Fizzlepop encounters an ursa minor that scars her face and breaks her horn.

Fizzlepop and her friends drift apart, and after a few moons, her friends get into the School for Gifted Unicorns, causing her to feel abandoned. She leaves Equestria and faces much hardship and loneliness. When Fizzlepop comes into possession of the Misfortune Malachite, she encounters the Storm King and his minions. Embittered by her hardships, Fizzlepop now goes by the name "Tempest Shadow", and she agrees to do the Storm King's bidding if he can restore her horn. After her mission to steal Queen Novo's magic pearl ends in failure, Tempest offers the Storm King the magic of the princesses of Equestria as an alternative.

In Beyond Equestria: Fluttershy Balances the Scales, Tempest makes a minor appearance after taking up residence in Canterlot. When Princess Skystar invites the ponies to visit Seaquestria, Tempest declines due to her role in the invasion of Mount Aris.

Illustrated picture books
Tempest appears in The Great Princess Caper, which depicts events before and during the film. After joining the Storm King's army, she quickly gains the admiration of the other Storm Guards, including Grubber. However, she finds Grubber a constant annoyance due to his incessant requests to make him her evil sidekick. She eventually becomes fed up and agrees to Grubber's wish if he helps her capture the princesses of Equestria, telling him to leave her alone forever if he fails.

Tempest becomes increasingly angry with Grubber's blundering during their pursuit of Twilight Sparkle after he accidentally lets the princess and her friends escape Canterlot. By the time they finally capture Twilight at Mount Aris, Tempest ignores him completely. Following the Storm King's defeat, Tempest is inspired by the friendship between the Mane Six to make amends with Grubber, giving him a "sidekick" cupcake and accepting him as her friend. The two leave Canterlot to spread the word of friendship beyond Equestria together.

My Little Pony (mobile game)
Tempest Shadow is a character in Gameloft's mobile game. The game's description of her prior to update 4.1 states, "Brooding in bearing and striking in form, this unicorn heralds an oncoming storm." The game's limited-time story centered around Tempest is adapted from her backstory in The Stormy Road to Canterlot.

As of update 4.1, her name is changed to Fizzlepop Berrytwist, and her in-game description states, "The Unicorn Formerly Known as Tempest Shadow has started using her real name again after defecting from the Storm King's army. Turns out her horn is REALLY good for making fireworks!"

In Glitter Drops' in-game description prior to an update, Tempest is erroneously referred to as male.

Hasbro.com description
''Tempest is a unicorn from Equestria who has lost her way (and her magic). Angry and feeling betrayed by her friends, Tempest allies with Storm King and is tasked with tracking down and capturing the Mane 6. If she succeeds she will regain her magic. What she soon may learn is that the magic of friendship is the most powerful magic of all.''

My Little Pony Friendship Club description
''Tempest is a unicorn from Equestria who has lost her way (and her magic) and joined the wrong side of the fight, acting as a henchman for the Storm King. Jaded, angry and feeling betrayed by her friends in Equestria, Tempest has become the Storm King's second-in-command and chief bounty hunter, tasked with tracking down and capturing the Mane 6. She has agreed to this mission in exchange for the return of her magic.''

The Art of My Little Pony The Movie description
''TEMPEST is a unicorn from Equestria who has lost her way (and her magic) and joined the wrong side of the fight, acting as a henchpony for the Storm King. Jaded, angry and feeling betrayed by her friends in Equestria, Tempest has become the Storm King's second-in-command and chief bounty hunter, tasked with tracking down and capturing the Mane Six. She has agreed to the mission in exchange for reinstating her magic. With one of the strongest story arcs in the movie, Tempest learns the true power of the magic of friendship.''

Merchandise
A mini-figure of Tempest Shadow is included in the Target-exclusive "Magic of Everypony Roundup" mini-figure set with nine other figures of the Mane Six and the princesses. A brushable figure of Tempest in the Toys "R" Us-exclusive "Festival Foes" set with Twilight Sparkle and Spike and in the Kohl's-exclusive "Cutie Mark Collection" set with the Mane Six.

In the Friendship is Magic Collection, Tempest is packaged together with Grubber in one of the Small Story Packs. In the Guardians of Harmony toy line, a Tempest figure is packaged together with the "Tempest Shadow Sky Skiff". A Fan Series sculpture features her battling Twilight Sparkle. Build-a-Bear Workshop also offers a 15-inch plush doll of Tempest Shadow with removable armor.

The costume design and manufacturing company Disguise has released two costume for little girls modeled after Tempest Shadow: a "Classic" dress with headband and a "Deluxe" tunic with shoulder pieces, pants, mask, and glovettes.

Personality
Tempest Shadow is portrayed in the film and subsequent material as cold, merciless, and spiteful as a result of losing her horn. She cares little for the idea of friendship, feeling it had "betrayed" her long ago, and that it is a childish concept which doesn't work in the world she knows.

She is obsessed with having her horn restored and isn't hesitant to use, threaten, or punish others to accomplish this. She bosses around underlings like Grubber, uses brute force on the citizens of Klugetown, takes Capper as her prisoner, and destroys Captain Celaeno's airship for insubordination.

Toward the end of the film, however, being betrayed by the Storm King and saved by Twilight Sparkle causes Tempest to have such a drastic change of heart that she sacrifices herself to defeat the Storm King once and for all. Though she still laments her broken horn, Tempest accepts Twilight's friendship and joins her new friends in celebrating. In other follow-up material such as The Great Princess Caper, she is also kinder toward Grubber.

In Tempest's Tale, she is shown to feel out of place in Ponyville (due to how "sunny" it is there), and helps others during her travels in order to atone for her past misdeeds. She is quite blunt and cynical, openly telling Princess Cadance to her face that she believes she represents everything that is wrong with Equestria. She also shows resentment and bitterness toward Glitter Drops for the events of their youth, becoming outraged when Glitter Drops saves her from an Ursa Minor. After Glitter Drops admits how guilty she feels about what happened, and shows her skills while tracking the Ursa Major, Tempest realizes she misjudged her old friend, and reconciles with her, even allowing her to call Tempest by her childhood nickname, "Fizzy".

Quotes
"Oh, I'm so glad you asked. How about we start with your complete and total surrender?"

- My Little Pony The Movie

"Here's the deal, ladies. I need your magic. Give it up nicely, please, or we make it difficult for everyone!"

- My Little Pony The Movie

"All this power wasted on parties when there are far greater uses."

- My Little Pony The Movie

"That princess is not gonna keep me from getting my horn back!"

- My Little Pony The Movie

"Silly little ponies."

- My Little Pony The Movie

"You do realize that if you were to shelter fugitives, the Storm King would be quite... explosive."

- To Captain Celaeno, My Little Pony The Movie

"Now... I'm gonna count to three. And if you don't tell me where they are, your ship is going down."

- My Little Pony The Movie

"I'm nothing like you! I'm more than you'll ever be!"

- To Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony The Movie

"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."

- My Little Pony The Movie

"That's one thing that never changes around here. The party."

- My Little Pony The Movie

"I lost what I defined myself to be... Then I lost those who stood by me... And now, I'm simply... lost. I feel as though there is almost nothing left of me. Out here, I'll either lose myself completely... or find something new to be."

- My Little Pony: The Movie Prequel Issue #4

"I think "bad luck" is superstition. I don't blame curses. Everything bad that's happened to me... has been someone's fault. Sometimes mine."

- My Little Pony: The Movie Prequel Issue #4

"When my horn broke, I couldn't do the things I used to do. But working for the Storm King, I found things I was still pretty good at. Unfortunately, those things mostly involve subduing locals and stealing magic."

- page 5

"Listen, take it from somebody who used to be a villain, monologuing just wastes everyone's time."

- To Princess Eris, page 9