The Redemption of Tempest Shadow

by twilightsparkle3562

Chapter 58: "Hunting for a Traitor"

The news that her minister of justice had went against her back sent Celestia into a rage. To her and the rest of the princesses, this was the last thing they all wanted to go through. Just when it seemed like the healing process begin, here was somepony actively trying to poison the pace in the pursuit of revenge.

"Sister, you need to calm down!" Luna pleaded, trying to end Celestia's rage. "This isn't worth it!"

"How could he do this to us?!" Celestia seethed, her voice filled with anger and reaching the levels of the Royal Canterlot Voice. "How could he do this to us, Luna?! Tell me!"

"He clearly wants me," Tempest concluded, as she watched Celestia and Luna go further and further down the hall. "He wants me dead and will not rest until myself and all who take part are exterminated like rats."

"Um, don't forget me, Tempest," Grubber added. “I also had a part in the attack on Canterlot. Instant Justice even threatened to kill me when I refused to turn you over to him."

"But, you don't deserve to die, none of you do," Twilight remarked, her own voice filled with disgust. "Even with all you did to Canterlot, Tempest, death isn’t the answer. We just need to figure out why Instant Justice is doing this, and how we can stop him before anyone else has to suffer."

It was then that Cadence walked into Instant Justice's office and discovered the picture of his wife and son on his desk. "Look at this!" She called, beckoning the rest of the princesses, Tempest and Grubber to the desk. "These ponies, aren't they his wife and son?"

"It seems that way," Twilight commented. "Weren't they some of the ponies who did not survive the attack?"

"We'd better show to Celestia and Luna this immediately. This might provide a window into Instant’s thoughts." Cadence declared.

---

In her quarters, Celestia took a careful look at the picture and allowed her anger to drop somewhat. She couldn't stay mad for very long, not when she at last understood Instant Justice’s motive. "I can understand the pain he is going through," She sighed, exhausted from being in a rage. "But, carrying out unlawful executions behind my back is not a justifiable option, this is an act of revenge plain and simple. And an act of treason to boot."

"Somepony should tell him that," Tempest commented. "I, too, can relate to what he is going through. As can my sister."

A hushed silence fell over the room for a brief period of time until Luna broke it. "Still, we need to put a stop to Instant Justice's rage as soon as possible." She declared.

"But, he won't be easy to take down, Princess Luna," Grubber declared. "He won't rest until we are extinct. He wants blood, not justice."

"Of course he wants blood, Grubber," Twilight declared, who then got an idea. "And he wants you, Tempest. Tell me, when you attacked Canterlot, did you have death on your mind?"

"W-Well, somewhat... y-yes," Tempest stammered. "But, I was only ordered to kill when I had defiance from my prisoners. Those orders came from the Storm King himself, I never wanted anyone to die."

Twilight considered what Tempest had said and briefly paced back and forth, contemplating everything and trying to come up with a way to stop the bloodshed. "Then, we have to think like Instant Justice," Twilight concluded, facing her equals and her future captain of the royal guard. "But, the difference is we don't kill Instant Justice where he is, we bring him back to Canterlot and deal with him like a traitor," Then, Twilight turned her attention towards Tempest. "Tempest, the time has come for you to show your passion for serving me as my captain of the Royal Guard."

Tempest took an enormous gulp, knowing that this was it, the moment that she would ultimately dedicate herself to the defense of Equestria, by hunting for a traitor.

---

A little while later, all returned to Twilight's castle (except for Grubber) and turned to the friendship map to locate Instant Justice and his band of mercenaries. "The map should be able detect where Instant Justice is by the location of his cutie mark," Twilight explained. "And he appears to be targeting the areas me and my friends were at."

The four alicorns and broken horned unicorn watched as Instant Justice's cutie mark, a pounding gavel, moved to different points on the map. Finally, it ended up right at Klugetown, the town where Capper had almost sold Twilight and her friends as slaves. "What's he doing in Klugetown?" Twilight wondered, before turning back to Tempest. "Tempest, did you leave any Storm Creatures behind in Klugetown by chance?"

"I…I'm not sure, but I don’t think so,” Tempest declared. “As far as I was concerned, they were all with me and Grubber when we left to chase you down. But some of them the might have either retreated or never even left that area. They probably don't even know that the Storm King was even killed."

"And that means they'll be sitting ducks!" Celestia cried. "We'd better get to Klugetown right away and stop him! Luna, have some of your guards ready!"

Nodding, Luna left to return to the castle to gather some of her night guards, while all Tempest could do was stare at the map in disbelief.

---

Meanwhile, over in Klugetown, Instant Justice and Cemetery Wind led the mercenaries into the city, tearing apart shop stands and interrogation the citizens about the Storm Creatures' whereabouts.

"Are you certain?" Cemetery Wind asked a scared cat creature in an intimidating voice. "We know that there are Storm Creatures hiding here."

"Look, pal," The cat creature pleaded. "I don't know what you're talking about. If you are referring to those monkeys that came through here a few days ago, they're long gone."

"Well you know what I think?” Cemetery hissed. “I think…you're hiding them, cat. Mercenaries, go find them! Leave no stone unturned."

Acting on his orders, the mercenaries went into the cat creature's home and began ripping it apart.

"I swear on my life, I am not hiding any of those monkeys." The cat creature pleaded.

But, Cemetery Wind didn't believe him and neither did Instant Justice. Ge was doing the same thing with Capper, another cat creature the ponies befriended.

"Storm Creatures, buddy?" Capper chuckled nervously as Instant Justice, held his knife at his throat. "Look, all I do is…"

"Sell creatures into slavery? That is a crime unto itself, my feline friend." Instant Justice hissed.

"I was in debt to the Storm King and Vero!" Capper cried as Instant Justice pushed him back against a wall! "Honest! What else was I going to do?! A cat’s gotta eat, am I right?!"

"You would do just about anything, wouldn't you?!" Instant Justice coldly snapped.

Just then, the door of Capper's basement opened and several mercenaries came out, pulling out a panicked Storm Creature by his arms and legs. Capper couldn't help but feel sorry for the captured creature.

"All I am doing is carrying out justice, cat. Justice for the citizens of Equestria." Instant Justice declared.

"If this is how you deal with criminals, then…" But before Capper could finish his sentence, Instant Justice placed his knife back at Capper's throat.

"If I were you," Instant cautioned. "I would pretend like we weren't here, or else we'll come back and we'll do to you what we are going to do to this monster." No sooner did Instant Justice say that, than a series of loud roars came from the Storm Creature, indicating that the mercenaries had once again carried out their unlawful execution. Several more loud, painful roars from other captured Storm Creatures were heard.

"You…you won't get away with this!" Capper stammered quite nervously.

"But I already have." Instant Justice whispered, as he left Capper's home along with the rest of the mercenaries, and Cemetery Wind.

---

Shortly after they departed, Tempest and the Alicorn Princesses arrived on the scene, once again greeted by the site of dead and unburied Storm Creatures brutally drained of their lives.

"We're too late," Twilight sighed, sadly looking down at a dead Storm Creature. "Instant Justice is already on the move."

"Find some citizens and ask them what happened here," Celestia ordered. "Twilight, you, Fizzlepop and I will go together."

Just then, they saw a traumatized Capper racing towards them and soon, they would find out the whole truth about what happened in Klugetown!

Comments

[HolyCross9]

This is indeed terrible. I really hope Tempest and the Princesses can stop Instant Justice in his tracks before he completes his crusade for blood.

[XFangHeartX]

Poor Capper...

[SuperPinkBrony12]

They should probably send a warning to Queen Novo and any other nations allied to Equestria, both in case they're harboring storm creatures living in exile, and in case they might be able to assist in tracking Instant Justice and/or capturing him.

[Veylon]

8823806
They are especially going to want to do that because otherwise the story going out is that Celestia sent an army of mercenaries led by her own hand-picked minister to invade and ransack a bunch of cities for her with the goal of slaughtering her enemies. There's probably already people who want vengeance on her for this.

[Jam5022]

The news that her minister of justice had went against her back sent Celestia into a rage. To her and the rest of the princesses, this was the last thing they all wanted to go through. Just when it seemed like the healing process begin, here was somepony actively trying to poison the pace in the pursuit of revenge.

Replace “against” with “behind”, add “could” between “healing” and “process”, and did you mean “peace” instead of “pace”?

"He clearly wants me," Tempest concluded, as she watched Celestia and Luna go further and further down the hall. "He wants me dead and will not rest until myself and all who take part are exterminated like rats."

Replace “take” with “took”

"But, he won't be easy to take down, Princess Luna," Grubber declared. "He won't rest until we are extinct. He wants blood, not justice."

Replace “we are” with “we’re”

Tempest took an enormous gulp, knowing that this was it, the moment that she would ultimately dedicate herself to the defense of Equestria, by hunting for a traitor.

Replace “for” with “down”

But, Cemetery Wind didn't believe him and neither did Instant Justice. Ge was doing the same thing with Capper, another cat creature the ponies befriended.

Replace “Ge” with “He”

"If I were you," Instant cautioned. "I would pretend like we weren't here, or else we'll come back and we'll do to you what we are going to do to this monster." No sooner did Instant Justice say that, than a series of loud roars came from the Storm Creature, indicating that the mercenaries had once again carried out their unlawful execution. Several more loud, painful roars from other captured Storm Creatures were heard.

Replace “we are” with “we’re”