//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6: Hook, Line, and Sinker 
// Story: Something Rotten 
// by Boltstrike58 
//------------------------------//

Twilight and Sunset groaned as they dragged themselves out of Canterlot High. The day hadn't been the most intense of their academic careers, but trying to focus on school work while in the middle of a crusade against the top crime lord of Canterlot wasn't easy. Not to mention, they hadn't been able to sleep well the night before, due to being so overly charged with adrenaline. Luckily for them it wasn't anywhere near midterms.  

Twilight scribbled down the last of her assignments in her planner, before joining Sunset and the rest of the girls over by the Wondercolt Statue. Looking around, she saw that everyone else seemed to have run into the same problems she and Sunset had. Rainbow in particular was sitting with her back against the statue, her eyes almost completely closed, leaning backwards.  

"So," Sunset started, awkwardly, "everybody up for another good day?"

"Totally," Rainbow mumbled, her eyelids dropping to their fully closed position. "We're gonna...kick...butt..."

Before anybody could shake Rainbow, Pinkie reached into her mane, pulled out an air horn, and proceeded to blow it right into Rainbow's ear. Rainbow screamed as her eyes flew open, leaping several feet into the air. Pinkie just smiled pleasantly.

"HA-DA-WHAT THE—PINKIE!" she screamed again, rounding on the party girl."WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"

"Sorry, Rainbow," Pinkie answered, shrugging, "but we do need to be aware for battling the forces of evil."

Rainbow panted angrily, apparently trying to come up with some sort of enraged response, but failed to do so. Eventually, she just slumped back to her spot besides the statue, looking annoyed.

"Okay," said Sunset, trying to pretend the last few minutes hadn't interrupted her train of thought, "so, Twilight and I have talked it over a bit, and we've agreed that our next move should be to visit this Tempest Shadow's house, and try to find some clues about their next move."

"Since we disrupted their protection racket," Twilight took over, "it's unlikely they'll try to extort Sugar Cube Corner—or any business, really—in the immediate future. At this point, we've thrown their entire operation out of whack, so we need to find out where they'll go from here."

"Fluttershy," said Sunset. "I know you hate the idea, but it worked so well last time. Would you be willing to ask another animal to spy for us?"

Fluttershy sighed sadly. "Alright. Yes, I hate putting animals in these dangerous situations, but if we ask and they agree to it, I guess that's okay."

"Excellent," Sunset replied. "Now, considering this mission might be a bit more risky, I think we should send at least two of our fighters. Some of us should stay behind, so we can tell Shining Armor if something goes wrong."

"Good thinking," Twilight agreed. "Applejack, Rainbow? Would you two go with me and Fluttershy?"

"Definitely," agreed Rainbow. "I wanna give this Tempest person a piece of my mind."

"We're not gonna fight her, Rainbow," Applejack retorted. "At least, not today. But I'm coming."

"Great," said Sunset. "The rest of us will try to dig up some additional information on Tempest, just in case this doesn't pan out. Twilight, you said she went to Canterlot High, right?"

"Yeah, but I don't know if that's going to help us at all," replied Twilight. "I guess you could talk to some of the teachers, maybe Celestia and Luna know something about her, but what could we learn from them?"

"There might be something there we can't risk missing," Sunset answered, matter-of-factly. "Good luck, girls."





Fortunately for the team, Tempest lived in one of the most low-key apartments in all of Canterlot City. The building was only about two stories, standing near the outskirts of town, with few other buildings surrounding it. To its credit, though, it was much less decrepit than Verko's building had been, with intact windows, a more fresh coat of paint, and a distinct lack of rats.

Having done a quick walk through the building, Twilight was able to figure out exactly which room was Tempest's, and pointed to the outside window. It was a first story window, but they couldn't see the inside, on the account of the curtains being shut tight. The group was now huddled behind a small hill overlooking the apartment, masks on just in case.

"So, no rats this time," Rainbow complained through her mask. "How the heck are we supposed to get a set of eyes inside?"

"I could ask one of the bugs," Fluttershy responded, indicating that small colony of ants she had crawling up and down her arm, "but it would take more time, and it would be a lot riskier."

"Not to mention she might not even be there," said Applejack. "We got lucky last time, with Verko and Storm King being right there, but what if this time—"

Twilight, getting an idea, reached out, her pendant glowing purple, as her telekinetic grip pushed open the curtains. From their position, they could see into the one bedroom apartment, along with the bathroom, and Tempest was clearly not there.

"...huh," said Applejack.

"Looks like we'll have to abort, and come back later," said Twilight. "There's no point being here if she's not—"

"Oh, screw that!" Rainbow interrupted. "We can't just do nothing! Twilight, can you telekinetically open the lock or something, right?"

Twilight whirled on her companion. "Rainbow, are you crazy?! What about that whole discussion we had about not breaking the law?! We can't just bust in there and take her stuff!"

"Now, now, Twilight," Applejack chimed in, placing a calming hand on her friend's shoulder. "I don't think Rainbow is suggesting we become thieves. I think maybe we can just sneak in there, and look around fer any clues about the Storm King. We won't take anything, just have a look."

"I don't know," Twilight responded. "It's still unlawful entry. What if she comes back while we're in there? Or worse?"

"One of us can stand guard," insisted Applejack. "Or Fluttershy could ask the ants. Come on, Twi, this is a chance we might not get again. What if we miss an important clue?"

Twilight tried to protest a bit more, but found she couldn't come up with any additional arguments. "Okay, fine," she acquiesced. "But I'll say it again: We're not gonna take anything." She gritted her teeth in frustration. If they blew this whole quest by breaking the law, she wanted no part in it.

"Okay," Fluttershy agreed, holding up her palm, filled with ants, "Hey, little buddies? Could you do us a favor?"





Slipping back inside, making sure they went unseen, the four girls gathered outside Tempest's room. Fluttershy had managed to convince the ants, along with a handful of flies, to watch for any approaching people. With their sentries in place, Twilight mentally reached into the lock, pushing the pins with the force of her mind, until the door opened.

"I want it on record that I'm still against this," Twilight protested, her voice muffled by her mask, as she followed the others into Tempest's apartment.  

"We're not on reality TV, Twilight," Rainbow sardonically replied, a huge smirk gracing her face.

"Don't worry, Twi, we won't steal anything," Applejack insisted.

"If it makes you feel any better, I'm not crazy about this, either," said Fluttershy, putting a hand on Twilight's shoulder. Twilight smiled a bit at the action.

Tempest's apartment was about as remarkable on the inside as the outside. There was a small desk, a bed, a closet, and no much else. Even the bathroom was standard, with only soap and some bathing products. Rarity would've been appalled.

"Ah hate to say it, but this looks like a dead end," Applejack admitted. "There just ain't nothing here."

Rainbow groaned. "Seriously? Are we just gonna be forced to sit around and do nothing for the rest of this whole thing?"

"I wouldn't worry about that, if I were you."

Everyone heard the voice behind them, whirling around just fast enough to see Tempest standing in the doorway, taser in hand. Fluttershy, reacting faster than anybody would've expected, shoved Twilight out of the way, just in time for the electrodes of the taser to find their way into her chest. Fluttershy gasped and sputtered as volts of electricity shocked her body, sending her fading out of consciousness.

"FL—NO!" screamed Applejack, grabbing her fallen friend.

Tempest just laughed to herself. "So, let me guess, you're the Avengers. Or the Super Friends. Or whatever you want to call this stupid crap you've got going on."

"How'd you know we were coming?!" Rainbow demanded, her fists clenched so hard her skin turned white.

"Call it the science of deduction," responded Tempest, dropping her taser and pulling out another. "Now, I suggest you grow a couple of brain cells and give up, because you're outnumbered."

As she spoke, a large number of Storm Guards began to emerge from various hiding places, and come from down the hall. Two popped out of the closet, armed with automatic handguns. One rolled out from under the bed, aiming a shotgun directly at the girls. Several more were armed with melee weapons, ranging from knuckle-mounted stun guns to heavy wrenches. Obviously, they'd pulled out all the stops for this little ambush.

"Y-you wouldn't," Twilight tried to protest, but her voice was weak with fear. "This is a full building, somebody will call the police."

Tempest threw back her head and laughed. "You honestly think we didn't prepare for that?" she asked, "The Storm King owns this building. Everybody's out because they think it's supposed to be fumigated today!"

Rainbow clenched her teeth in fury. "Yeah? Well it doesn't matter how much firepower you've got! You can't beat us!"

Rainbow's pendant began to shine blue as her super speed kicked in. Her instincts wisely informed her to go for the guys with the guns first, and she followed accordingly, grabbing the shotgun first and ripping out of the Storm Guard's hand, tossing it out the window with a crash. The two handguns followed shortly, but unfortunately for Rainbow, Tempest managed to anticipate her movements. The one-armed girl whipped her cattle prod out, whipping around and jamming the tip against Rainbow's neck before she could take off again. Rainbow screamed as the pain cost her control, as she sped into the wall, knocking herself out.  

"Oh, this is going fantastic," Twilight grumbled under her breath.

Tempest turned back to the remaining two girls. "So, are we gonna need to take you two idiots out? Or have you actually learned something?" She pressed the button on her cattle prod, sparking the tips. The Storm Guards stomped forwards as well, raising their melee weapons.

Applejack and Twilight stood firm, arms firmly at their sides. Applejack set Fluttershy off to the side, where she wouldn't get hurt.

"We ain't giving up. Not to you," Applejack responded. Twilight gave a nod as well.

Tempest sighed. "Pain in my ass," she grumbled. "Take 'em. Remember, we want them alive."

The Storm Guards charged, surprisingly agile in the limited space. One swung his wrench, aiming directly for Applejack's head, but found the weapon frozen in midair by Twilight's telekinesis, her pendant glowing purple. As he stood blinking in surprise at the sight, Applejack took the opportunity to yank the weapon out of his grip with one hand, and administer a well-deserved slap across his face with the other. An orange pulse emitted from her necklace. As a second Storm Guard tried to sneak up on her, Applejack lashed out with a side kick, hitting him square in the stomach and knocking him onto his rear.  

Twilight, despite being not quite as combat ready as the others, nonetheless did well for herself. Tempest pulled out a second taser, firing it at her, but Twilight managed to freeze the electrodes in midair, and followed by ripping them out of the taser itself. She then mentally yanked another wrench out of a Storm Guard's hands and clocked him over the head with it.

"Why you little..." Tempest growled. She shoved one of the Storm Guards to the side, taking his stun gun. She lunged forward, throwing her electrified punch at Applejack.  

Fortunately for the farm girl, Tempest had made the mistake of telegraphing her assault. Applejack ducked under the blow, before snapping her back up, slamming Tempest back into one of the Storm Guards. Twilight came in seconds later, telekinetically removing the stun gun from her grip.  

As she disarmed another Storm Guard, Twilight noticed she was starting to feel confidant. Good, even. Maybe the two of them were enough to do this. Maybe they could win this fight. Maybe there would be nothing to worry about.

Then one of the Storm Guards chucked his wrench at her head. Twilight mentally caught it in midair, but wasn't prepared for another Storm Guard behind her to throw a punch at her back. The blow didn't hurt too much, but the force pushed Twilight face-first into the wrench floating in midair, her nose smushed between flesh and metal. Twilight actually screamed, before blood began to drip down into her open mouth, the foul, coppery taste filling it. Twilight fell forward onto her knees, barely managing to catch herself with one hand, the other remaining on her nose.

"TWI!" Applejack shouted, her fear making her forget the concealing of their names. She threw one of the Storm Guards into the corner, rushing to her friend's aid, only to receive a painful strike across her neck from Tempest. Applejack whirled on the woman, eyes filled with fury. "You dirty..."

Applejack threw another punch, but Tempest was ready for her this time. She swerved to the side, catching Applejack's wrist with one hand. Before the girl could wrench her arm free, Tempest kicked her in the neck, then swung her foot around, bringing it down hard on Applejack's head. Applejack stumbled, clutching her head in pain, before Tempest delivered a series of quick punches to her forehead, knocking her out.

"No..." Twilight mumbled, still in too much pain to even levitate a brick. Her nose was still dripping, leaving patterns of blood all over her hands. Tempest stood over her, grinning triumphantly.

"Nighty-night," she laughed, before her fist cut off Twilight's vision.





"Looks like Twilight was right," said Sunset, as she poured over Tempest Shadow's student records, generously loaned from Principal Celestia. "There's just nothing in here that could get us closer to Tempest, or the Storm King."

"Sorry to agree with you on this one, darling," Rarity answered, "but you're right. She wasn't a troubled student in high school, so it's unlikely that she was associating with the Storm King by then."

"Too bad! Let's check on Twilight and the others, maybe they've got something interesting!" Pinkie chimed in, pulling out her phone. She dialed a number, holding the receiver up to her ear, only for her face to fall as she listened. "Uh...it's not supposed to go to voicemail, is it?"

"No..." Sunset answered warily. She and Rarity quickly called Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash in succession, but they all received the same response: voicemail. "I don't like this..."