When the moon was raised, Luna set about her night duties, but it wasn't to help ponies in their dreams. She made her way down to the dungeons and approached the cells holding the Storm King's yeti soldiers. "Greetings, prisoners," She bellowed in a commanding voice, catching the attention of the captives. "Do you understand why you are in these cells?"
The creatures said nothing, except for several small growls.
"You are here because you carried out crimes in the name of your leader, the Storm King," Luna informed them, walking past the cells. "Although, reliable intelligence has confirmed that your leader is not even a king at all. You are all warriors from several tribes in the Crystal Mountains, and I’m going to find out just exactly how and why you barbarians would carry out such atrocities. Now, who wants to speak?"
Luna waited and got no response from any of the captives. She tried to maintain her composure, but the arrogance of the prisoners made her impossible to keep that composure. "I warn you that if you don't speak, there will be consequences!" She warned. "Consequences so unspeakable that I can't even say them. So speak!"
For a moment, it seemed Luna was going to be left with no choice but to carry out the unspeakable consequences. Then, a storm creature stepped forward. "Yes, mean pony," The creature responded in a grunt like tone of voice. "Storm King was hungry to become popular, so he left village and brought us with him, because us storm creatures sympathized with him."
"What is your name, creature?" Luna asked.
"Hannibal, mean pony. Hannibal is my name." The creature said in reply.
"A strange name for a creature so simple minded," Luna remarked, using her magic to open the cell. "I will speak to you in private first. The rest of you will stay here, and once you’re ready to talk, you will be taken out to speak."
Luna and her two flanked night guards led Hannibal away from his comrades, to a small room down the hall from the dungeons. Once inside, Hannibal was seated at a small table while Luna sat across from him. The storm creature was terrified and feared of the consequences he would suffer if he refused to cooperate with Luna.
"Now, Hannibal," Luna began, levitating a quill in her aura against a piece of parchment. "You say that you were sympathetic to the Storm King in his quest for ultimate power. If you were so dumbfounded, then why did you follow him?"
"Because he promised better life,” Hannibal explained. “Didn't like our leader, leader was bad. So Storm King promised that he be better leader if we followed him."
"When the Storm King promised you a better life, did it involve him saying that harming others was a way to relieve aggression?" Luna asked. “Tell me honestly.”
"All I heard him say was promising better life, nothing else," Hannibal answered. "He promised me that I get to tend them rabbits after pet mouse died."
Luna began to wonder if Hannibal was even the right storm creature to talk to her. The way that he was talking began to make her wonder how he even became a warrior in the first place.
"Hannibal home life was messy, family tried to break away from leader because they wanted more, but family was banished except for me." Hannibal went on.
"Why didn't you accompany them?" Luna demanded, suspecting that maybe this detail could lead to some answers.
"Because they said I was pathetic, mean pony," Hannibal cried. "I want to be accepted for who I am, and joining Storm King was only way."
Luna wrote down what was said, and then looked down in thought, before looking back towards Hannibal. "If you want to be accepted, Hannibal," She sighed. "Then what you did was wrong. By joining forces with the Storm King, you sided with someone willing to take out his aggression on those who’d done him no wrong. But, like my sister, I believe in second chances, since I was in your situation before. You were very honest and I am sorry for you."
"What will mean pony do?" Hannibal asked, feeling a little scared.
"Mean pony will give you a second chance," Luna replied.. "And for the record, my name is Princess Luna. Your former comrade, Grubber, is now our personal chef. And I must admit he will more than likely need an assistant cook. And that will be the perfect first step for you."
"Hannibal loves mean pony very much!" Hannibal cheered, walking around and hugging Luna tightly! Thanking her over and over again for giving him this opportunity.
When Luna returned to the dungeons, she found that the rest of the prisoners were still not talking. "Your comrade Hannibal has spoken to me and has been given a second chance," She said to them. "If you wish to follow him, then you will speak. Now, who wants to talk?"
But still, the captives were silent, determined not to break under the pressure. Luna was not going to stand for this any longer, she couldn’t neglect her other royal duties to try and get some information from prisoners who refused to talk. Reluctantly, she realized that the consequences she’d talked about earlier, needed to be used. "Very well then," She somberly spoke, motioning to the guards. "We have ways of making you talk!” To her night guards then she commanded. “Take the prisoners to the interrogation chamber, and force them to talk!"
As Luna walked away, she heard the sounds of growling and roaring coming from the dungeons. "This is what happens when you defy us," Luna whispered to herself as she left the dungeons. "I try to be nice to you, and you still show me defiance, instead showing loyalty to a conqueror who is now destroyed. I only hope that you will submit and testify, before the worst of the extreme consequences must be utilized."
Elsewhere, Sweetheart was now sitting in Twilight's study, wondering just what exactly Tempest Shadow was thinking in terms of forcefully reuniting with her sister, Razzle Fizzle. "I can't understand it, Princess Twilight," She sighed. "Doesn't Tempest realize what’s going to happen if she meets her sister now?"
"All I know is that we need time, Sweetheart," Twilight remarked. "When the time is right, we will bring them together. But, I think that Tempest needs to atone to all Equestria. That's why I believe that her becoming my captain of the royal guard is necessary. She has the determination, the spirit, and the ability to be a good role model. Just because she has a broken horn, doesn't make her any less different than anypony else."
"Then when do you think she should begin training?" Sweetheart asked with concern.
"As soon as possible," Twilight said firmly. "I don't know how long the training will last, but she can take her frustrations out on the training. Let her understand that there are better ways to express your anger than what she did." And with that, Tempest Shadow's training to become Twilight's captain of the royal guard would soon begin. As well as the start of a second chance for a member of Storm King's loyal warriors…