The Redemption of Tempest Shadow

by twilightsparkle3562

Chapter 57: "Murder in the Dungeons"

Grubber's interrogation with Instant Justice had left the hedgehog feeling more than a little scared. He tried hard to remain focused on his cooking, but if what Instant Justice was planning to do to Tempest and potentially him was true, then drastic measures needed to be taken. "Hannibal?" He asked, sighing heavily and causing the small brained storm creature to stop what he was doing. "I know you’re probably not as smart as others, but... have you ever felt fear?"

"What you talk about?" Hannibal questioned with the most puzzled look on his face.

"I'm talking about what that Minister of Justice wants to do to us," Grubber explained, turning to face Hannibal. "He's wants blood and he wants revenge against us. Nothing will satisfy him more than to see that we are wiped from existence. It makes you wonder whether swearing loyalty to the Storm King was ever a good idea."

"He promised…" Hannibal began.

"He didn't promise us anything, Hannibal!" Grubber defiantly retorted. "He wanted us to believe his lies and that was it! Because of that short-sighted act, we're being hunted like monsters, because we acted like monsters! But this… this is worse, now our very existence is at stake! The princesses need to know what is happening and they need to know now! Instant Justice can’t be allowed to get away with this!"

Just then, a castle servant walked into the kitchen.

"Excuse me, pal," Grubber asked, catching the servant's attention. "When will the princesses be back?"

"Princess Twilight is being discharged from the hospital today, so they should be back some time this evening,” The servant answered, much to Grubber's satisfaction. "And you should consider yourself lucky, because Fizzlepop Berrytwist has been ordered to help you in the kitchen as part of her community service. At least until she is officially appointed as Twilight’s Captain of the Royal Guard."

"Thanks, pal," Grubber replied, sending the servant away. Once he was gone, the hedgehog sighed heavily again and returned to his cooking. "I'm wondering if even Tempest knows what's going on, Hannibal. I doubt she does, but she will eventually."

---

For the rest of the day, everything was as it should have been. And that afternoon, the sounds of ponies coming down the hall caught Grubber's attention. He thought it was the princesses returning, but it wasn't. Instead, he saw two unicorn ponies in servant garb heading down towards the dungeons. "What in…?" He muttered, turning back to Grubber. "Is that the gruel that was made a few days ago for the prisoners, Hannibal?"

"Made by somepony else," Hannibal answered. "We weren't here for gruel."

Grubber was suspicious and decided to go and investigate. Ordering Hannibal to stay in the kitchen, the hedgehog snuck his way down to the dungeons. "Something's not right here," Grubber thought to himself, as he watched the captured Storm Creatures being served the gruel. "Those two ponies, I've never seen them before or since. Better stay here and see what happens. The princess will have to know about this too, I doubt they would let newcomers serve on prison detail."

For several minutes, Grubber remained at his post, watching carefully at what was happening. Soon, the servant ponies were gone and the caged Storm Creatures were alone in their cells.

"Hmm, maybe I was imagining things," Grubber muttered and was just about to leave when he heard sounds of gasping coming from the Storm Creatures! "What in…?!"

Panicked, Grubber ran towards the cells and to his horror, he saw the Storm Creatures crying out and gasping for air! "DOCTOR!" The hedgehog shouted, running out of the cells! "SOMEPONY GET A DOCTOR! QUICK!"

Running as fast as his little legs could carry thim, Grubber kept shouting for a doctor to come help the Storm Creatures!

At that moment, the princesses stepped into the castle with Twilight and her friends in tow, along with Tempest Shadow, her friends, and Razzle Fizzle.

"Certainly feels good to have you back to normal, Sugarcube." Applejack commented, placing a hoof around Twilight's neck.

"Thanks," Twilight sighed. "I'm just grateful you were all there for me," Twilight then looked towards Tempest Shadow, who for the first time since her reformation, smiled back at the Princess of Friendship. "And thanks for being there and listening to me, Tempest," Twilight added. "I’m sure you will serve me well as my Captain of the Royal Guard."

Tempest still felt a sense of uneasiness at this statement. However, she realized that being Twilight's royal guard was a sentence she would rather take over the alternative of jail, or even execution. Sure, she was still being treated like a prisoner, but at least the restrains had been lifted to an extent.

---

Suddenly, Celestia heard the sounds of screaming coming from down the hall! "Stop!" She called out, using one of her wings to halt everypony. "Listen."

The screaming was coming towards them at an alarming rate! Then suddenly, they all saw Grubber, looking panicked and fit for a fright! Upon seeing the princesses, Grubber ran straight up to them!

"Grubber, what is it?!" Celestia questioned. “Is something the matter?”

"I NEED A DOCTOR!" Grubber screamed while panting heavily! "PRISONERS, IN THE DUNGEONS! THEY HAVE BEEN POISONED!"

Alarmed by the situation, the princesses immediately followed Grubber down to the dungeons! But when they arrived, they saw a horrifying sight and heard nothing but dead silence.

"What happened here?!" Luna gasped in horror, walking down the rows of the cells containing the dead storm creatures. Up until now they’d been held for their crimes. But now... "Sister... they're all dead." Luna glumly declared.

"Grubber, how could this have happened?" Celestia asked, turning around to question him. "Was the gruel freshly made?! Why would you do this?!"

"I wasn't there when the gruel was made," Grubber answered, trying to convince the princesses. "Honestly, I wasn't! I saw two guards come down here earlier to serve it, and then these guys started gasping for air!” At that moment, an awful realization struck the hedgehog! “It's that Minister of Justice pony! He is to blame! I know, it has to be!"

"Grubber, are you sure that Instant Justice is responsible for this?" Cadence questioned. "He was appointed to arrest and bring those responsible back to Canterlot for trial, not to poison them."

"He doesn't intend on putting them on trial," Grubber retorted. "He's sent a group of mercenary ponies to hunt down and kill us all, one by one! He even threatened me if I refused to give up Tempest Shadow to him!"

All four alicorn princesses were dumbstruck to hear this!

"Mercenaries?! Grubber, what's going on? Why would Instant Justice use such means?!" Celestia demanded in a panicked voice. “Why would my own Minister of Justice seek to defy me?!”

"Hay if I know! All I know is, he had me interrogated and even threatened to kill me!" Grubber answered. "He had a knife to my throat and he said that he wouldn’t stop until he had corrected your ‘folly’! Prattled on about how you’re too soft on the criminals, and how he’d use me as an example! If not for the arrival of his mercenaries, I’d probably not have escaped to tell the tale! Please, you must believe me! Why would I make up something about a pony I never even knew until today?"

---

Shocked and appalled at this information, the princesses left the dungeon and Celestia (with Luna following close behind) angrily stormed towards Instant Justice's office. The doors were locked, but that didn't seem to bother the princesses as Celestia pounded on the door fiercely! “INSTANT JUSTICE!" She screamed in her royal Canterlot voice. "OPEN THE DOOR! WE NEED TO TALK! YOU’VE GOT A LOT OF EXPLAINING TO DO!" Celestia kept pounding on the door several more times before she used her magic to force the doors open!

However, the princesses were greeted by the office being empty.

"He's gone," Luna whispered, in case the office was somehow bugged. "Sister, what are we going to do now? Instant Justice’s disappearance so soon after the poisoning can’t be a coincidence, can it?"

"What we’re going to do, is find Instant Justice,” Celestia explained quite firmly. “And charge him and his associates with treason, that's what we are going to do! I don’t want to believe he would do this, but he must know about these actions!!" And in a fit of rage and anger, Celestia stormed away from Instant Justice's office leaving Luna to stand in disbelief at what had just transpired.

Comments

[HunterBrony101]

Find the Minister and bring him here!

[XFangHeartX]

Instant Justice is the REAL criminal, here.

[HolyCross9]

It's time that the minister of Justice BURNED for his crimes of treason against Royalty!

[Jade Dawn]

Well...that happened.

[neosuduno]

One thing that bugs me, is how many ponies died during the Storm King's invasion. Funny think is that I have heard of no deaths in the aftermath.

[SuperPinkBrony12]

8800235 Well, there was one homeless pony who died in the aftermath. And considering the magic the Storm King stole restored the entire city of Canterlot in the blink of an eye and the festival went on as planned, I doubt there was much of a recovery period during which the injured might struggle with their wounds.

[Jam5022]

"He didn't promise us anything, Hannibal!" Grubber defiantly retorted. "He wanted us to believe his lies and that was it! Because of that short-sighted act, we're being hunted like monsters, because we acted like monsters! But this… this is worse, now our very existence is at stake! The princesses need to know what is happening and they need to know now! Instant Justice can’t be allowed to get away with this!"

Replace “what is” with “what’s”

Grubber was suspicious and decided to go and investigate. Ordering Hannibal to stay in the kitchen, the hedgehog snuck his way down to the dungeons. " Something's not right here, " Grubber thought to himself, as he watched the captured Storm Creatures being served the gruel. " Those two ponies, I've never seen them before or since. Better stay here and see what happens. The princess will have to know about this too, I doubt they would let newcomers serve on prison detail. "

Replace “princess” with “princesses”