//------------------------------//
// Chapter 69: "Battle with Instant Justice, Part 3" 
// Story: The Redemption of Tempest Shadow 
// by twilightsparkle3562 
//------------------------------//

While the battle was going on by the shack, Tempest Shadow felt herself being chased through the Everfree Forest by Instant Justice. Her heart was racing, her adrenaline was pumping. She was not one to back away from a fight, but this was different. Twilight had managed to buy her some time, but that was it, borrowed time.

"Tempest Shadow!" Instant Justice's voice bellowed, as Tempest took cover behind a tree! "You can't run and you certainly can't hide from me! I will find you, and when I do, I will kill you!"

"What am I going to do?!" Tempest thought to herself. "Here I am, a target for death and cowering from behind a tree like a scared little filly. No, no, no, I can't be acting like this! He needs to pay for what he did to Twilight just now!"

Suddenly, Tempest saw a blast of green magic graze the tree and realized that Instant Justice was nearby. Turning around, she saw him, limping from being injured in the leg, but slowly coming towards the tree just the same. Reaching for a medium sized rock, Tempest picked up the rock and threw it at Instant Justice, almost hitting him in the face.

"You think a rock is going to stop me from avenging my family?" Instant remarked as Tempest emerged from the tree, the remnants of her horn firing several blasts at Instant Justice. "I don't think so!" Once again, he struck Tempest in the face and knocked her to the ground.

"Killing me won't bring your family back!" Tempest groaned, struggling to her feet. "And neither is killing all the creatures that helped me take over Canterlot. So, why don't you just surrender and end this madness?"

"Says the pony," Instant Justice grunted, still badly limping from his injuries. "Who never cared about anypony's lives other than her own." With those words, he struck Tempest again, kicking her in the chest. Tempest felt a rib break as a result, and she winced in pain.

"Aw, did I just break a rib?" Instant Justice sarcastically asked. "Well, there’s going to be a lot more pain from where that came from. Your horn won’t be the only thing that’s broken when I get through with you!" He then proceeded to kick her again and again, trying to break whatever bones he could find. "Do you feel that pain, Tempest Shadow? The pain circulating through your pathetic body is my pain, along with the pain your victims felt when you stripped their freedoms away."

"You think…" Tempest groaned, struggling to get back to her feet, only to keep being knocked down to the ground. "That this will help you? Violence doesn't solve anything, Instant Justice, it took your superiors and their friends to help me realize that."

"And they showed no backbone towards a disgusting criminal like you," Instant Justice cried, picking Tempest up with his magic and throwing her against another tree. "I've said it before and I will say it again: you don't deserve friendship! You don't deserve forgiveness! You deserve death, a noose! You deserve to be with that monster known as the Storm King, rotting in Tartarus!"

"And I think you need to understand," Tempest moaned, finally managing to get back on her feet. "That everypony deserves a second chance, even me, whether you like it or not. All you did was make yourself look foolish, Instant Justice. In your obsession for revenge…you disgraced your family!"

"That's a lie!" Instant Justice snapped, firing a blast at Tempest and hitting her in the neck. "I never disgraced my family, I loved them. And thanks to you, I will never see them again! All they wanted was to attend the Friendship Festival, to be part of the greatest event in the history of Equestria. And you took away the happiness that I had with them!"

"Yes I did, Instant Justice, but I regret it now,” Tempest weakly commented. “I'm paying for my crimes and trying to start over again. Why can't you just see that?"

Instant Justice merely reached into his holster to pull out a second knife, determined to silence Tempest once and for all.

Judging his movements, Tempest leapt towards Instant Justice and pushed him to the ground. "End this madness, now!" Tempest pleaded, trying to pin Instant Justice down with all her might. "Don't you see what you have done to yourself and everypony around you? In your determination to kill me, you've hurt others, both pony and creature. You've not become a savior, you've become a monster, Instant Justice, just like me."

At that moment, the sounds of rustling came towards them and several soldier ponies and Wonderbolts came into the clearing, their weapons drawn down on Instant Justice. Still seething with fury, Instant Justice kept his eyes locked on Tempest as he was helped to his feet and tied with a rope around his neck. "Why are you arresting me?!" He hissed. "If there is anypony you should be arresting, it's her!" However, he was met with a slap from a Wonderbolt who snarled at him. "This isn't over, Tempest!" Instant Justice cried as he was being led away. "I'll be living to see you hanging from the highest gallows in Canterlot!"

Tempest sighed as she felt herself collapse onto the ground. Her body was weakened and bruised by the abuse and wounds she had inflicted in this fight. Placed on a stretcher, she was carried out of the forest, just as Capper and Grubber reached the edge.

"TEMPEST!" Grubber cried, tears forming in his eyes upon seeing his friend on a stretcher. He tried to move, but Capper was quick to restrain him.

"She's hurt, little dude." Capper sighed, as the wounded were carried out of the forest while the Mercenaries who survived the battle were hauled out of the forest in chains.

"But, I need to be there for her!" Grubber protested.

"I know, but we need to let these ponies do their job, little dude." Capper insisted.

With those words, the battle in the Everfree Forest was over and the healing process of the aftermath was about to begin.