• Published 6th Oct 2017
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The Redemption of Tempest Shadow - twilightsparkle3562



Tempest Shadow attempts to redeem herself for her actions against Equestria.

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Chapter 26: "Not a King, But a Monster"

Upon returning from the Storm King's former homeland, none of the princesses could sleep that night. The sight of seeing decomposing, dead bodies had given all three of them a very sickening feeling of what could have been for Equestria, had the Storm King not been stopped. The next morning at their usual breakfast, neither Celestia or Luna were their usual, respective selves. All they could do was just sit there and contemplate.

"I wish I could eat you," Celestia said, as she looked down at a fruit faced pancake. "But, I can't. I don't have an appetite right now."

"I wish I could sleep," Luna remarked, looking up towards the ceiling in exhaustion. "But, I can't. I don't have the energy. How could somepony be so cruel and so evil as to do what he did? It makes you wonder why the Storm King's forces did what they did."

"And it makes you wonder what the Storm King was going to have Fizzlepop do when he finally obtained our magic,” Celestia added. “It was only because of the magic of friendship that he was thwarted in his plans.”

The idea of a broken horned pony killing her fellow ponies gave the royal sisters a very unsettling feeling.

"If you wish, Celestia,” Luna spoke up, offering some way to get to more of the truth. "I can have the interrogations go up a level in light of what we discovered."

"That won't be necessary, sister," Celestia replied, as she tried to eat her breakfast. "I don't think we should cause any more pain unless it is absolutely necessary. Is there any among the caged that would be willing to talk?"

"Not really. In fact, I don't even want to hurt them anymore,” Luna confessed. “To be honest, sister, hearing the screams of the prisoners gives me a very sickening feeling inside. A feeling that tells me that doing what we are doing has to stop."

"But we need to do it, Luna," Celestia reluctantly sighed. "We need to find out the truth. Our subjects want answers and closure to perhaps the worst attack on Equestria in its entire history."

Just then, Grubber and Hannibal came into the dining hall and noticed the worried looks on the royal sister's faces.

"Excuse me, princesses," Grubber said in a polite voice as he looked at the two sisters. "You look kind of…how shall I put this? Disturbed about something."

"Grubber," Celestia asked, looking at her chef. "Were you aware of what the Storm King was planning to do once he conquered Canterlot?"

Almost immediately, Grubber realized that he was going to be put on the spot by the princesses. He knew that Hannibal was going to be dimwitted to answer any of the questions, so he shooed him back to the kitchen. Once Hannibal was back in the kitchen, Grubber turned to face his new bosses. "Very much," He answered in a serious voice while taking off his chef's hat. "In fact, I can't even begin to imagine the horrors of the creatures being put through horrendous…" But, Grubber couldn't finish his sentence.

"We're sorry that we have to tell you this, Grubber," Celestia glumly commented, getting up from the table and walking towards Grubber. "But, we went to the Storm King's former homeland in the Crystal Mountains, and we saw dead bodies in a mass grave."

"So, you know what he was planning to do?” Grubber asked, sounding surprisingly unsurprised by the discovery, even though it made his fur crawl. “I wish I could tell you that it was the only time I saw him create a mass grave, but it's not."

"He did this before?!" Luna gasped!

"At every land we conquered," Grubber confessed. "We only killed those who defied us, and it wasn't until we came here that I began to have second thoughts about my role with the Storm King. I wanted to confront the Storm King myself after we captured Princess Twilight and tell him how I felt, but…well, you saw what happened afterwards."

"Then why didn't you stand up for yourself then, Grubber?" Celestia asked, placing a hoof under Grubber's chin.

"Because I didn't want to lose the new life that had been given to me, that's why," Grubber confessed quite nervously. "He promised me that I could be given respect if I helped him carry out his conquests. And like a fool, I believed what he said, even when a part of me felt disgusted at his cruelty. Those bodies you found, they were merely just target practice. In fact, all the lands he conquered, they were all target practice for Equestria. He may look like a cool guy on the outside, but on the inside, the Storm King was and always will be a monster." Nervous at what he had spoken, Grubber bowed to the Royal Sisters and then hastily raced back into the kitchen.

"Do you think that Fizzlepop was ever aware of this?" Luna asked.

"I'm not sure, sister,” Celestia answered. "But, we need to ask her anyway, as much as we may not want to. We have to know what she was aware of and when. It might indicate just how far she has to go to come back to the light."


A little while later, Tempest Shadow returned to Canterlot to begin another day of her sentence. But just before she was to begin it, she was instead led to the throne room. "What's going on?" She asked one of the guard ponies escorting her. "Why are you leading me here?"

"Their highnesses have a few questions to ask of you." The guards pony replied, but said nothing more.

"What kind of questions?!" Tempest demanded. “I’ve already told them everything they could want to know, haven’t I?!”

But the guard didn't answer and instead opened the large doors, leading Tempest towards the two alicorn princesses, who stood there looking ominous and all powerful. Not unlike judges about to dish out a penalty for a crime.

"Your highnesses," Tempest hastily greeted, bowing to them. "What do you wish to ask of me?"

"Something that cannot leave the confines of this room,” Luna vaguely explained, and to that end she ordered to the guard ponies. “Guard the doors and do not let anypony in!" the guards compiled without. Once they did as they were told, the princesses were left alone with the former lieutenant to the Storm King.

"What's going on?" Tempest asked. “What more do you wish to know of me?”

"We paid a visit to Storm King's former home and his former base of operations,” Celestia informed Tempest. “And, we discovered some things that involved more than just conquering Equestria."

A disturbed look fell on Tempest's face, knowing she was learning this for the first time.

"I’m sure that you are aware of why we brought you here," Celestia added, sitting on her throne next to Luna's. "We have done some investigating into the actions of the Storm King and what we found was disturbing. Were you aware of what he was planning to do once he conquered Canterlot?"

The sounds of Celestia's voice made Tempest felt her spine tingle. "N…n…no," She stammered, backing away nervously. "All he promised me was the restoration of my horn and a better life, nothing more."

"A life that involves doing things his way," Luna spoke up, beckoning a guardspony to come forward with the Storm King's self-written book. "We found this book that harbored very disturbing secrets, and revealed the Storm King's true nature. This is confirmation that whatever he had planned for you, was not related to your own true goals." Tempest gulped nervously as the book written by her former boss was shown to her for the very first time.

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