//------------------------------// // Chapter 33: "Burial Fit For a Monster" // Story: The Redemption of Tempest Shadow // by twilightsparkle3562 //------------------------------// The journey from Canterlot to Mount Aris felt like an eternity, but Celestia and Luna remained set on the task at hand: to bury the Storm King's shattered remains in a place where no memorial could be erected for him. The monster that terrorized Equestria and several other lands was no king, he was just a monster. "This is it," Celestia said to the guards, as they approached their destination. "The edge of the sea, where the Storm King will spend the rest of his days." "But isn't this where Queen Novo and the Sea Ponies live?" Luna asked with concern. "I don't think that they will…" "They will want to see him buried as much as anypony else, Luna," Celestia interrupted, looking back at her sister with determined eyes. "The Storm King doesn't and never will deserve a proper burial, not after all the crimes he committed during his reign of terror. I’m sure the Sea Ponies will understand." Luna watched as Celestia motioned for the casket to be brought to the edge of a cliff where the sea lay down below. As the casket was laid down on a wooden plank, Celestia looked down at the open casket one last time, and gave a look of disapproval at the shattered remains. She looked closer at the Storm King's eyes, still locked on a look of terror. "By the powers vested in me as principal ruler of Equestria," She announced. "I hereby deem the Storm King as a vile creature and monster that does not have the honor of being given a proper burial. I hereby commit his remains to the sea…and a fate well deserved." The sounds of drum rolls from the drum majors pierced the strange and monumental quietude of Mount Aris, and the sounds didn't go unnoticed. As the drums sounded, Celestia and Luna looked down to see Queen Novo and several of the citizens of Hippogriffia standing on the beach, looking up at the dishonorable ceremony. "Soldiers," Celestia instructed. "Do your duty." For several minutes as the drums sounded, the guard ponies rocked the casket back and forth while the Royal Sisters watched. Finally, after a few moments, Celestia raised a wing up and brought it back down sharply, signaling for the remains to be dumped into the sea. Jerking the casket down, the guards dumped the Storm King's shattered body out of the casket and into the sea below. The remains didn't float, they simply sank into the sea below. "Company…dismissed!" Luna cried out in a reluctant voice, as the two sisters took to the air and flew down to the beach where Queen Novo and the other Hippogriffs were standing. "He is buried," Celestia sighed to Novo, as the two rulers embraced one another. "At long last, our kingdoms will rest easy tonight." "Yes...yes we will, Celestia, honey,” Novo sighed with relief. “Myself and my subjects will sleep well tonight. That vial Storm King didn't deserve a proper burial after all he did. But what about the rest of his goons?" Celestia didn't answer, merely shaking her head in a sideways motion. "I'll take it that you aren't sure what you will do with them." Novo guessed.. But Celestia sighed, and told Novo. "I don't want to have anypony executed. But, I might have no other choice. They aren't like Tempest Shadow or Grubber, who are being offered the chance to atone for their actions. The Storm King was too evil to even consider being reformed." The two rulers then looked back towards Luna, whose body language showed that perhaps she didn't want to go through what they had just did. "Luna, we had no other choice." Celestia commented, beckoning her sister to come forward. "I know that," Luna replied as she walked forward. "It's just that…I wish that there was another way. I don't like to kill anypony, sister. But, you're right, this had to have been an exception to the rule. I'm not angry or anything, I'm just…dumbstruck." "None of us want to kill," Celestia remarked, looking back towards the sea. "But the Storm King was already dead. We were just disposing of the remains. Wherever his spirit is, is where he will be receiving his eternal punishments for his crimes." As Celestia spoke, a cold wind blew towards them. "It seems the weather agrees with you, Celestia," Novo remarked, and then asked. "So, what are you going to do now?" Celestia walked towards the edge of the beach and looked towards the sea, sighing heavily, not knowing how to deal with the rest of the Storm King's most loyal followers. Later that day, Celestia and Luna returned to Canterlot and after Luna lowered the moon, they sat at the dinner table, not feeling like talking to each other. "You know, you should both be happy," Grubber remarked, as he and Hannibal served them their dinners. "The Storm King is buried now, and I will say that I wish Hannibal and I could have been there." "We're sorry, Grubber," Celestia sighed, as she picked at her food. "It's just that…neither of us enjoy these kinds of things. But, we had to make an exception with this." "Along with so many other exceptions," Luna added. "We don't pride ourselves in dishonoring anypony, but we had no other choice with the Storm King. Personally, I would have rather seen him locked up in Tartarus." "The punishment must fit the crime, Luna. You know that,” Celestia bitterly commented. “The problem with us is that we are too lenient on those who deserve to be punished harshly." "Then why didn't you punish me harshly, sister?" Luna cried, a hint of shock registered clearly in her voice. "I mean…I tried to bring about eternal night…" "Because you didn't do anything physical to anypony," Celestia interrupted, determined to shut down the conversation before it could go any further. "And because you are my sister, Luna. I could never bring myself to doing such a thing. All Discord wanted to do was cause chaos, Tirek wanted to steal magic, among other things. Don't you see? The only other monster that was destroyed for his physical actions was Sombra and that wasn't by our own hooves. It was Cadence who destroyed Sombra for his actions." "Then are you saying that Twilight was the one who destroyed the Storm King?" Luna asked. "No, because she didn't," Celestia sighed. "It was Tempest Shadow who destroyed him, in an effort to save her and her friends. Twilight didn't fully destroy him, but played a big part in destroying him." "How so?" Luna asked, her curiosity aroused. "By helping Tempest see the error of her ways," Celestia sighed again. "Hopefully, Tempest can at least move on, now that the Storm King is buried at sea." "I hope you are right, sister," Luna remarked, looking over towards a large window in the dining hall. "I hope you are right." For she knew that soon, the message of Storm King's burial would reach the Crystal Empire, and Tempest Shadow.