//------------------------------//
// Chapter 24: "Starting to Open Up" 
// Story: The Redemption of Tempest Shadow 
// by twilightsparkle3562 
//------------------------------//

While Tempest had been starting her sentence of community service, down in the dungeons of Canterlot, the captured loyalists of the Storm King were beginning to crack under the pressure of the threats that Princess Luna was imposing on them. Some were willing to talk, others were looking for a way out of their situation, and very few were determined to remain silent.

"What have they started to say?" Luna asked an interrogator, as he came out of a small room near the dungeons.

"This one says that they are all willing to talk," The interrogator answered. "Or, most of them, I should say."

"Good. We need to know more about the Storm King and where he came from,” Luna nodded. “What about those who are still defiant?"

"We're doing everything we can to get them to speak." The interrogator replied.

"Then keep doing what you're doing," Luna ordered in an authoritative voice, while stomping her hoof on the ground. "I warned these creatures that they would face unspeakable consequences if they don't cooperate with us. I may not like it, but if they’re going to be stubborn, then they leave me no choice."

Just then, a loud roar was heard coming from the torture chamber, followed by a loud cry. "I'LL TALK! I'LL TALK! PLEASE! NO MORE!"

Satisfied, Luna walked over towards the torture chamber and looked at a storm creature being stretched out on a rack, with his arms and legs tied together. "That's enough!" She cried, raising a hoof to the interrogators. "He's ready to talk."

The tortured storm creature weakly looked at the princess of the night, expecting to be mocked for his actions. But, Luna sighed heavily as she looked up at him. "What do you want with us?" The creature asked. "And why do you want to treat us in such a manner? I'm not a creature of evil. I was just following orders."

"We want to understand more about who you are and where you came from, that is all,” Luna told the creature. “What is your name?"

"You…you torture me, and now you want me to know what my name is?" The creature defiantly retorted.

"Yes, I am sorry about this, but I did warn you that unless you talk, there would be unspeakable consequences. You are aware that the Storm King is dead, aren't you?” She commented. “His broken body was dumped into the ocean and is now swimming with the sea ponies."

"Is that what happened to him?" The storm creature gulped. Luna silently nodded in reply, much to the creature's dismay. "I should have known it was bound to happen," He sighed in sharp pain. "But, hear me out, mare, you must know that I was only following orders…"

"Don't say that excuse!" Luna barked, briefly using the royal Canterlot voice. "We know that you’re hiding something from us, all of you served willingly! And I want to know now why you took part in the attack on our kingdom!"

The storm creature looked at Luna in a shocked and disgusted expression, and this, to Luna, was a sign that he was letting his guard down.

"Do you think that I would want to harm anypony?!" He gasped. "The Storm Ling told me to do it, because that was what I was trained to do! He was trying to build a better life for us!"

"By trampling on the rights of others?" Luna asked, putting a hoof to the creature's chin. "Tell me, do you have any family?"

"I had a family," The creature confessed. "They were murdered not far from our home. My wife, my son, murdered!"

Upon hearing this, Luna lowered her guard and backed away. Almost immediately, she couldn't help but feel sympathy for the creature. "Who murdered your family?" She asked after a moment of reflection.

"I don't know. We never found the one responsible nor how they were murdered,” The creature confessed. “All I know is that they are dead." Tears began to form at the corners of the creatures eyes and Luna ordered that the creature be released from the rack, he had suffered enough.

The guards removed the bonds and the creature fell to the ground, letting out a sharp cry of pain as he hit the floor! "You have to believe me, mare," The storm creature panted, as he tried to get himself back up onto his feet. "His highness…was going to bring my family back to me. The Storm King…was going to help me…if I took part…in obtaining your magic. That’s what he promised me."

"And is that how you would want bring your family back?" Luna sighed. "By taking part in all of this? Tell me, would your wife and son be proud of the fact you would be taking part in these acts? Willing to wound and potentially kill others, just to be reunited with them?"

"No," The creature weakly answered, before he then pleaded. "If you…wish to kill me," He cried out, clutching Luna's front legs. "Then, do it now. I've got nothing left anymore. Go on! Kill me! KILL ME!"

However, Luna remained steadfast and unfazed by the creature's pleas for death. "Take him to the hospital," She ordered to the interrogators. "Have him examined thoroughly, and I want a four pony watch on him around the clock, understand?"

Without saying a word, the guards did as they were told and carried the tortured storm creature away.






A little while later, Luna ended her duties and joined Celestia for breakfast. As she had breakfast, Luna couldn't help but feel sympathy for the tortured creature. The thought of losing his entire family was heartbreaking to say the least. And wasn’t Luna herself guilty of going to extremes, under the promises made by the nightmare forces? Sure, she’d submitted of her own free will, and had no quarrels with the idea of eternal night. But she’d never wanted it to be permanent, or for her to depose her sister forever, in that regard she had been lied to.

"I can't help but imagine the pain he was going through," Celestia sighed, once Luna told her about what had transpired the past night. "But how could he believe that the Storm King would bring his family back to life? Even we can’t do that."

"Perhaps it’s the same way that Fizzlepop Berrytwist believed that the Storm King could restore her horn," Luna answered. "As far as I am concerned, sister, the Storm King never really cared about any of his subjects. But he told them whatever they wanted to hear, he knew what strings to pull."

"I think for once, we can agree on something like that," Celestia answered. "But, I think the problem is that most of these creatures want to continue showing loyalty to a king, that more than likely wasn't a king to begin with. I don't want to harm anypony, Luna, but the more these creatures continue to try and restrain themselves, the more we don't learn more about the Storm King or his true intentions."

"Then what are you suggesting we do, sister?" Luna asked.

"I think we need to journey to the tribe that the Storm King and his followers came from," Celestia suggested. "Something tells me that the only way that we are going to get to the bottom of this, is to see it for ourselves."