//------------------------------// // Chapter 68: "Battle with Instant Justice, Part 2" // Story: The Redemption of Tempest Shadow // by twilightsparkle3562 //------------------------------// "Are you sure about this?" Starlight Glimmer asked as her and the rest of Twilight's friends were all smushed into the party cannon, sitting atop the Castle of Friendship, and aimed right for the smoke coming from the battle in the Everfree Forest. "Yes, let's do it!" Pinkie Pie cried, her voice filled with determination. "Twilight's out there and we are going to help her! LIGHT THE CANNON!" "If you say so." They all heard a guard pony say, as he carefully lit the fuse. Two seconds later, the cannon fired and sent all inside screaming into the battle. No sooner did they land, than did the dead body of a mercenary land right in front of them. "Gross!" Rarity cried, pushing the corpse away with her magic. "What do we do now?" "Fight! That's what!" Applejack yelled, who then realized that they were in the back of the shack. "With the good guys, though! Come on!" Racing around to the other side, they joined the group of warriors fighting off the mercenaries. Even though they were holding their own, the battle was already taking its toll on the valiant fighters. "Take this!" Rainbow Dash yelled, punching a mercenary in the face with her hoof. Her Wonderbolts uniform torn and tattered as another mercenary jumped on her back. Jumping to her friends' defense, Applejack pushed the mercenary away and dragged Rainbow Dash to safety. "You okay?" Applejack asked, helping Rainbow to her feet. "I'll live," Rainbow Dash groaned, a mercenary creeping behind them only to be shot with a spell by one of the soldier ponies. It was then that, Applejack noticed a disturbing site on Rainbow Dash's left side. "But, I think I'm bleeding." While Applejack raced to get Rainbow Dash out of the line of fire, Celestia and Luna continued to take on Cemetery Wind, now in the far left corner of the shack. The two royal sisters had taken heavy damage on their bodies, but they were determined to keep fighting till the end. "Yes," Cemetery Wind seethed, rising from his hiding spot after avoiding another blast of magic from them. "You've got each other to look after, something that I can't do." In a fit of rage, Cemetery Wind jumped at them and pushed Luna to the side hard against a tree. The raging unicorn attempted to push himself into Celestia in an effort to choke her. "This is what happens when you don't help us avenge our loved ones!" He growled, roughly throwing Celestia to the ground, her back and the back of her head bleeding through her armor. "Do you realize that…?" "…that…I failed…to protect your sister?" Celestia groaned, struggling to her feet, only to be met with a kick to the chin by Cemetery Wind. "We were all…caught off guard." "You could have fought back for your subjects!" Cemetery growled as Luna struggled to get back to her feet, while Celano and Mullet tried to come to Celestia's aid only to be blocked by several mercenaries. "My sister was murdered by these monsters, and what did you do?! You gave Tempest Shadow another chance when you should have executed her on the spot!" Cemetery Wind then reached into his holster and pulled out a knife, holding it over the back of Celestia's neck. This made Luna gasp in fear and charge towards him, determined to protect her elder sister! "When you see my sister," Cemetery Wind ominously whispered. "Tell her how you failed to avenge her!" "NOOO!" Luna screamed, leaping into the air and pushing Cemetery Wind out of the way! The Princess of the Night, attempted to punch and kick Cemetery Wind with all her might. Luna's rage had pushed them both to the edge of a cliff overlooking a nearby river. "You're strong," Cemetery Wind remarked. "But you weren’t strong enough to protect my sister, Luna!" With a loud cry, he threw Luna down onto the ground, badly injuring one of her wings. Still,, Luna was determined to keep fighting, and the two of them rolled towards the edge of the cliff, seemingly unaware of their surroundings. "You were just turned to stone and then returned to normal," Cemetery Wind hissed. "But, my sister was killed, and she will never come back to me! You disgrace her memory by pardoning the traitor who took her life!" Hearing enough, Luna used every ounce of her strength to roll Cemetery Wind onto his back. "Killing me," She groaned, looking down at Cemetery. "Won't bring your sister back, Cemetery Wind. We didn't want to have to do this, but you’ve left us with no other choice." At that moment, Starlight Glimmer teleported to the edge of the cliff and saw Luna was in trouble. "Luna, hold on!" She called, running to the princess’ aid. "I'm coming!" Seeing Starlight race towards him, Cemetery Wind attempted to fire several blasts of magic, but Starlight kept right on coming. In his haste, Cemetery was carelessly firing off spells without bothering to aim, and only one or two ever came close. Finally, however, a blast hit Starlight in the right front leg, knocking her to the ground. "Starlight!" Luna cried, her voice filled with shock and worry. "Don't…worry…about me. Don’t let him escape." Starlight gasped. Luna charged at Cemetery, striking him square in the face. The hit caused Cemetery Wind to be pushed back towards the cliff. Knowing that his end was near, he gave one last grim look at Luna. "I can still save your life, Cemetery Wind," Luna pleaded. "Surrender yourself and I promise you will be given a fair trial back in Canterlot. Please, don’t let this have to end with death." Rather than accept this offer, Cemetery Wind let out a loud cry and charged at Luna in an effort to try and kill her. A mistake. The second he moved, he felt a pair of sharp pains in his chest and fell backwards, tumbling off the cliff. Screaming loudly, he fell into the raging river! Shocked, Luna turned and saw both Twilight and the wounded Celestia looking at her. "We had no other choice," Celestia sighed unhappily. “If only he had surrendered.” Then slowly, she fell unconscious and collapsed from her injuries. Elsewhere, Instant Justice had heard the death cry of his second-in-command and was now more determined than ever to carry out his goal of killing Tempest Shadow and, in his mind, avenge Equestria for the attack on Canterlot.