The Redemption of Tempest Shadow

by twilightsparkle3562

Chapter 34: "Getting the News"

Tempest Shadow found herself on day two of her training, clad in armor and holding a spear pointed right at Shining Armor. To him, this was just another part of the training, but Tempest was thinking otherwise.

"Tempest, if you're going to be a royal guard captain," Shining Armor instructed. "Then you must learn how to joust your enemies. And concentrate, the enemy will exploit any weakness or hesitation."

"If you say so," Tempest nervously replied. "But, I'm worried that…."

"Don't worry. Just focus on the enemy in front of you. In this case, me. Now come at me!" Shining Armor instructed once again, as he too was clad in jousting attire.

Lowering her visor, Tempest charged towards Shining, who in turn charged toward Tempest! In a fit of fear, Tempest pulled away from Shining Armor, allowing him to hit her and knock Tempest to the ground. Disgusted, Shining Armor sighed as he walked over to her.
"Tempest, jousting is all about focus and you weren't focused," He remarked, taking off his helmet. "Why weren't you focused?"

"I don't know," Tempest sighed, taking off her helmet. "It's just… when I was aiming at you, I must have panicked or something."

"Well, you can't panic in the face of danger. If you do, then your enemy will take advantage of your misfortune and seize the chance to defeat you," Shining commented. “As a royal guard, you cannot hesitate in combat even for a second, or you may not live to regret it.”

Just then, the cry of a messenger was heard heading towards the stadium, holding what appeared to be a piece of parchment. "Your highness," The stallion spoke, hoofing the message to Shining Armor. "I have urgent news that I need to share with you."

"What kind of news?" Shining Armor has been asked.

"About the Storm King. He has been buried." The messenger informed. Tempest's eyes widened upon hearing this!

Unraveling the paper, Shining Armor read the message aloud: "The monster responsible for ordering the attack on Canterlot and other kingdoms, has been buried in the sea near Mount Aris. Signed, Princesses Celestia and Luna.”

Have Cadence and Twilight been told about this?" Shining asked the messenger.

"No, Prince Armor." The messenger shook his head.

"Then, let them know at once. They must know!" Shining commanded. “Go now, inform them at once! That’s an order!”

But, Tempest couldn't process things quickly enough. The creature that took her for granted was now buried at sea (hopefully forever) and she should have felt glad, but she didn't. Taking off her helmet, she went over to a bench and sat down.

"Tempest, why are you worried?” Shining asked with concern. “You should be happy that the Storm King is dead and buried."

"I am, Prince Armor," Tempest replied, looking back at him. "But, it's just so much to process. I mean, I worked for him and he gave me a chance to get my horn back. Why wasn't I offered the chance to bury him myself?"

"Because doing so would have made your road to redemption much harder than it already is I guess," Shining Armor sighed, sitting down next to Tempest. "Besides, we have formalities for dealing with dead war criminals. And furthermore, you did kill him by bouncing his attack on Twilight right back at him."

"Me turning to stone didn't kill him, the fall did,” Tempest said with a shake of her head. “Your sister made me see the error of my ways and I wanted to return the favor by saving her, just as she saved me. But, I still have the guilt inside of me."

"And you have to challenge that guilt, Tempest,” Shining said firmly, clenching one of his hooves into a fist. “Believe me, I’ve been in situations where I’ve had to challenge my own guilt. Are you familiar with Queen Chrysalis of the Changelings?"

"I…I can't say that I have." Tempest answered.

"Well, Chrysalis kidnapped Cadence and took her place just before our wedding,” Shining explained, before he reluctantly added. “When Twilight tried to expose her, I stripped her of her title as Best Mare and banned her from attending the wedding. It was the worst mistake I had ever made as a brother, and as a stallion in general."

"How could you do that?! I mean, you're her brother!" Tempst exclaimed!

"Well, I did, and like it or not I can't change the past,” Shining somberly answered. “The most important thing I had to do, was learn from the experience and move on. That's what you need to do now: Learn from your experiences and move on."

Tempest took in what Shining Armor had said and donned her helmet once again. She knew that he was right, she couldn't change the past. She had to move on from her time as the Storm King's attack pony, but she knew that it was easier said than done.

---

Meanwhile, Twilight and Cadence were reviewing the news surrounding the Storm King's burial at sea in the Crystal Empire's library.

"Well, that's the end of him," Twilight sighed. "A creature that got what he deserved, thanks to Tempest coming to her senses. I wonder how she's going to react to the news?"

"Probably going to be shocking at first," Cadence cautioned. "I mean, how would you feel if someone you worked under was killed?"

"Well, even if she feels shocked, it was the only way, Cadence,” Twilight said firmly. “The Storm King was a dangerous enemy that needed to be defeated one way or another. Furthermore, he was a false friend to her, just like Tirek to Discord and…" But, Twilight couldn't finish her sentence because it was beginning to bring up memories of the wedding rehearsal.

"It's nothing I need to know," Cadence interrupted, placing a hoof to Twilight's mouth. "What matters is, the Storm King is paying for his actions on not just us, but Tempest as well."

"But, she’s the one who ultimately killed him. We should at least honor Tempest for her bravery and attempted sacrifice for Equestria,” Twilight suggested. “But, I think that the timing isn't right. Not yet."

"I agree with you, Twilight,” Cadence nodded. “Once she completes her training under Shining Armor she will be."

"And then she’ll redeem herself in the eyes of Equestria, Cadence." Twilight finished. The two sisters in law agreed on the matter.

---

And then, at that moment, at the Crystal Empire train station, Razzle Fizzle got off the train and onto the platform. "I'm looking for the Crystal Empire's main castle." She asked a random crystal pony.

"It's right over there," The pony replied, pointing towards the obviously large castle. "You can't miss it."

"Thank you." Razzle nodded. Having obtained her directions, Razzle made her way towards the castle, hoping to make amends with Tempest Shadow. "Fizzlepop, I hope you can accept my apology over my actions towards you." She thought to herself.

Comments

[XFangHeartX]

Here it comes.

[MixMassBasher]

There seems to be some errors here and there with spacing and whatnot. Perhaps you should take a break?

Lowering her visor, Tempest charged towards Shining, who in turn charged toward Tempest! In a fit of fear, Tempest pulled away from Shining Armor, allowing him to hit her and knock Tempest to the ground. Disgusted, Shining Armor sighed as he walked over to her.
"Tempest, jousting is all about focus and you weren't focused," He remarked, taking off his helmet. "Why weren't you focused?"

This lacks a spacing between the two paragraphs

[BrawnyBold]

"It's nothing I need to know," Cadence interrupted, placing a hoof to Twilight's mouth. "What matters is, the Storm King is paying for his actions on not just us, but Tempest as well."

Does Cadence know what happened at the wedding rehersal? If not, then Shining, Celestia, and Twilight’s friends got some explaining to do!