The Redemption of Tempest Shadow

by twilightsparkle3562

Chapter 54: "Instant Justice, Minister of Defense"

While all of Equestria waited for news on Twilight Sparkle's condition, in the offices of Canterlot Castle, a meeting was about to be held, called by the Minister of Defense for Equestria. The only ones in attendance were a group of ponies that were members of Equestria's toughest defense force. As they arrived, the Minister of Defense stepped into the room. He was a gray colored unicorn, with dark gray coloring and a jet black mane and tail. His body was clothed in a black suit, a white shirt, and a black necktie. The entire room silently waited until he stood at the table and the meeting could begin.

"This meeting will now come to order," A male pony at the left hand side of the head portion of the table spoke. "All are present, Instant Justice.

"Thank you all for coming on such short notice," Instant Justice began in a calm and quiet voice. "There has been quite a lot happening since the attack on our city by Tempest Shadow and the Storm King's forces. Now, it's our job to make sure that something like this never happens again, do you understand?"

The rest of the male ponies nodded in reply. "We are all affected in some way by the invasion," Instant Justice continued. "We've all had family, friends and confidants that were subjected to the horrors that these monsters inflicted on us. Now, the time has come to avenge what happened. Cemetery Wind, do you agree with me?" He turned back over to the pony on his left and gave him a sympathetic glare.

"I do agree with you, Mr. Minister,” Cemetery Wind replied. “I, for one, share the pain you are all feeling right now. I lost my only sister in the invasion and the recent decision to have Tempest Shadow's life spared has left me with a pit in my stomach. If the princesses aren't going to do anything about it, then by Celestia, we will!"

A sound of pure agreements from the rest of the ponies filled the room.

"And so we shall," Instant Justice declared, taking a stack of papers in his red aura. "The methods that the princesses have been using are not working. They, after all we’ve been through together, would much rather give the ringleader of this little farce a second chance. And even worse, to serve the Princess of Friendship, who is in the hospital dealing with a severely damaged psyche because of that monster, as Captain of the princess’ Royal Guard!" He then proceeded to go through the stack of papers and display them on the table for all to see. All of the pictures were pictures of other creatures of the Storm King's likeliness, some were old and some were young. "I, for one, disagree strongly with the princesses, even if they have good intentions. The time has come for us to rid Equestria of these monsters. These are the supposed ringleaders and masterminds of the attack on Canterlot. The ones that the princesses should be keeping in the dungeons, not those bumbling foot soldiers that carried out the orders."

"But, where do we begin?" A delegate pony asked as Instant Justice walked towards the window of the room, looking down on the still rebuilding city of Canterlot.

"We begin according to the intelligence that we have gathered," He answered, turning back to the assembly. "According to our sources, our top targets have reportedly scattered throughout Equestria, hiding in various towns and cities. We have every reason to believe that they are to be considered armed and extremely dangerous, and therefore must be completely disposed of."

A chorus of agreements rang out upon hearing this order. "I can assure you all that we are all angry, and so is the rest of Equestria," He continued. "I was appointed to defend this kingdom from enemies like the Storm King. And now the Princesses would much rather give such threats undeserved second chances, instead of bringing them to justice. But the time has come to play the game according to our rules, not theirs! We shall not eat nor shall we sleep until every single one of these monsters, including Tempest Shadow, is dead or in jail for life! Steward, go draw the great measure of grog! Executioners, get your weapons! Officers, your swords!"

A servant pony in the back of the room drew up a jug of grog and handed it to a delegate pony who then proceeded to drink and pass the jug down the table.

"Drink, my friends! Pass it around!” Instant Justice vowed. “Long hard swallows, colts! It's hot as the atmosphere of Tartarus!" The drafts continued until the jug was handed back to Instant Justice. "Well done," He chuckled, looking down into the jug with one eye. "Almost drained. Officers, your swords."

At that moment, Cemetery Wind and two other delegate ponies got up and drew their swords out of their scabbards. "Cross your swords." Doing as they were told, the three crossed their swords together.

"Now, let me touch the axis," Instant Justice declared, touching the axes with his front left hoof. "Do you feel it? That same lightning which struck me, I now strike to this iron! Does it burn, my friends? Does it burn?" Instant Justice then turned towards the executioners, three ponies whose faces were covered with black masks and were armed to the teeth with weapons of death. "Executioners," He spoke, beckoning them to come forward. "Break your weapons. Turn up the sockets," Breaking their harpoons, Instant Justice took the remains of the jug and poured grog into the harpoons. "Now, drink ye, executioners," He ordered. "Drink and swear. Celestia haunt us all if we do not hunt Tempest Shadow, and the monsters responsible for the attack of Canterlot, to their deaths or to life in prison, whichever suits the case."

The executioners drank the remaining drops of grog and let out a loud cry of death.

---

From outside the room, Grubber and Hannibal were hearing all that was going on.

"Grubber," Hannibal whispered, feeling very worried. "What happening?"

Grubber's stomach sank upon hearing the cries of death going on from down the hall. For the first time, he felt his life and his very existence were being threatened. "We've been marked for death," The hedgehog replied in a mortified voice, his body frozen with fear. "We've been marked for death, Hannibal."

"Won't princesses help us?" Hannibal asked.

"I hope so, Hannibal," Grubber shivered. "I certainly hope so. This is the Minister of Defense for Equestria we’re talking about here. And from what’s being said, they aren't going to rest until all of our blood flows like a river."

At that moment, the sounds of thundering hoofbeats were heard and peeking out from a peephole in the kitchen door, Grubber watched in disbelief as Cemetery Wind and the mercenary ponies marched down the hall, dressed to kill and armed to the teeth, ready to exact retaliation on those who’d carried out the atrocities on Canterlot.

Comments

[Johnny B Mediocre]

did the Minister lace their drink with some sort of pompous drug or are they genuinely just being bloodthirsty plot-required/relevant dicks

[TheMysteryMuffin]

Beautiful. I love Tempest Shadow because I'm single.

[XFangHeartX]

...Are you serious? Just when they're making progress.

Some ponies just can't let things go.

[HunterBrony101]

Instant Justice should be removed from that position of power.

[Veylon]

8774442
More like his head ought to be removed from his shoulders, he and everyone else at this meeting. This is treason.

[HunterBrony101]

8775579
Someone could eavesdrop and inform Celestia and Luna

[xDHannibalxD]

And as soon as Celestia finds out she will go Ex Machina on their stupid plots. Or Tempest beats the ever loving crap out of them. That would be kinda fitting.

[Veylon]

8776729
Capper and Hannibal should already be booking it. They've heard more than enough. What matters now is getting word to someone who can do something about it as quickly as possible.

[twilightsparkle3562]

8777581 Don't you mean Grubber?

[HunterBrony101]

8777655
Yes.

[Veylon]

8777655
I guess I mixed the two up. Oops!

[HolyCross9]

8777239
You said it.

[Texus]

8779211
well it's your personal opinion I guess.

[TheMysteryMuffin]

The Shawshank Redemption vibes coming here.

[HolyCross9]

8756843
You can say that again!

[Jade Dawn]

8774325
That's practically this story's theme: Just when you think everything is going to get better, it all comes crashing down.

By the way, did anyone else, just from looking at the first two words, think the chapter title was going to be "Instant Justice, just add water"? :)

[Jam5022]

The rest of the male ponies nodded in reply. "We are all affected in some way by the invasion," Instant Justice continued. "We've all had family, friends and confidants that were subjected to the horrors that these monsters inflicted on us. Now, the time has come to avenge what happened. Cemetery Wind, do you agree with me?" He turned back over to the pony on his left and gave him a sympathetic glare.

Replace “we are” with “we were”

"And so we shall," Instant Justice declared, taking a stack of papers in his red aura. "The methods that the princesses have been using are not working. They, after all we’ve been through together, would much rather give the ringleader of this little farce a second chance. And even worse, to serve the Princess of Friendship, who is in the hospital dealing with a severely damaged psyche because of that monster, as Captain of the princess’ Royal Guard!" He then proceeded to go through the stack of papers and display them on the table for all to see. All of the pictures were pictures of other creatures of the Storm King's likeliness, some were old and some were young. "I, for one, disagree strongly with the princesses, even if they have good intentions. The time has come for us to rid Equestria of these monsters. These are the supposed ringleaders and masterminds of the attack on Canterlot. The ones that the princesses should be keeping in the dungeons, not those bumbling foot soldiers that carried out the orders."

Replace the first “pictures” with “papers”