My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic: Storm of Friendship

by SuperPinkBrony12

Tempest in Pursuit

Capper's arrival couldn't have come at a better time for the rag tag group, for although they couldn't have known it they were being tailed. By now Tempest had managed to get a lead on their path down south, and had brought along Grubber and what few Storm Guards she could pry away from Canterlot. "Run all you like, prince. I always get my prey in the end." The unicorn thought to herself. She was filled with grim determination, she had no intention of disappointing the Storm King.

Soon the small army found itself on the outskirts of Klugetown. Grubber seemed to stricken by an odd sense of nostalgia. "Ah, Klugetown. Haven't been here since I was just a little hedgehog," He commented as his eyes scanned the desolate and drab looking buildings. "And now I remember why, this place is a dump."

"We're not here to make fashion statements," Tempest snapped at the hedgehog. "We're here to find and capture a runaway prince and his pesky friends. So you can either help me, or I can turn you into my personal pin-cushion. It's your choice."

Grubber gulped. "Geez, Tempest, why you always gotta be so mean? You gotta learn to smile more. I know it stinks not having a horn, but you can't go through life being all doom and gloom."

"What did I just get through telling you, Grubber?" Tempest hissed. "I have a job to do, and it would be nice if you could actually try to help me instead of constantly trying to act like my shoulder angel," Then she shook her head and muttered. "Why did I ever agree to bring him along? He's like the annoying little brother I never wanted."

Reluctantly, the hedgehog said nothing more on the subject and clammed up. His silence was the most beautiful sound Tempest had ever heard.

"You sure they came this way, boss?" One of the Storm Guards asked. "This is technically Storm King property, Verto's on his badness' pay roll after all."

As Tempest strolled through the market square, her brilliant opal eyes caught sight of a loose strand of brilliant gamboge hair with an amber lock. That hardly seemed like coincidence, and the unicorn didn't believe in coincidence anyway. "Well, they were definitely here at some point. And I have a hunch someone around here knows where they are now." She commented.

---

But although the army searched door to door all over the city, they failed to find even a trace of the ponies, or the dragon said to be accompanying them.

However, just as the group was reuniting in the town square, a fish like creature happened to come strolling past. He took one look at Tempest, and his eyes lit up like stars in the night sky. "Well well, a little pony all by herself. Today's my lucky day."

Tempest tried not to gag at the merchant's overwhelmingly strong odor and breath. When was the last time this guy took a shower?

"Hey pal, what do you think you're doing?!" Grubber demanded. "Don't you know who that is?!"

"Stay out of this you rotten little midget! Didn't anyone ever tell you not to stick your nose where it doesn't belong?!" The merchant snapped, shoving the hedgehog aside. "That rotten Capper, I should've known he was lying when he said ponies were infected! Nothing fell off!"

Tempest's ears perked up. "And just where does this Capper creature live?"

"I ain't telling you anything! Try to make me talk!" The merchant snapped. "You want answers?! You'd better be willing to pay for 'em!"

Tempest's eyes narrowed, locking onto the merchant. Grubber, from afar, could see what was about to happen. "You just made the worst mistake of your life, pal. When Commander Tempest looks at you like that, you'd best be begging for mercy."

Tempest effortlessly subdued the merchant with a few well placed kicks, then she grabbed him by the tail and slammed him down hard onto the ground, kicking up a thick cloud of dust. "Now then, let's try this again," She spoke in a firm but cold tone of voice. "Who is this Capper creature, and where can I find him? You can either tell me, or you can tell the Storm King. Your choice."

Author's Note:

Considering Grubber ended up undercutting any tension Tempest's actions might have had in the movie, I wanted to give a reason for him to be with Tempest here. Basically, he's going to try and be her conscience of sorts, trying to get her to not be as much of a bad guy.

And yes, the detail about Verto being on the Storm King's pay will be important later on.

Comments

[Comickook]

Hey there. Again, this is a really good chapter. The exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up are well done in all the right places. I particularly liked the bits of character development you are giving Grubber.

Anyway, I have a couple of possible ideas for close to the climax.

1. Shining Armor can surrender JUST before his friends finally find Queen Novo, basically trusting that Tempest will have enough honor to spare his friends if he comes along quietly and also trusting his friends to find some way to get the help they need.

and 2. At an appropriate point JUST before the climax, there can be the following exchange:

Tempest: Friends? Please. In this world, you can't trust anybody but yourself. I had friends once - friends I cared enough about to risk both my life and my horn for. What did those friends do after I broke my horn? They turned their backs on me. Friends? Who needs them.

Shining: Everybody needs friends. No matter how powerful or how smart somebody is, they're never complete without good friends. Heck, Grubber seems to do his best to be a good friend to YOU - trying to keep you from going too far, standing by you no matter how much you yell at him. In many ways, he reminds me of Spike.

Tempest: Oh really?

Shining: Yes. Before Twily legally adopted him, he was her first real friend, even if it took her a long time to properly show her appreciation. As a matter of fact, over the years, I met a few mares who basically provided a good glimpse of how Twily COULD have ended up if she took a darker path and didn't embrace friendship.

Tempest: Your student being one of them, I suppose?

Shining: Well, yes. Let me guess - you read her file.

Tempest: More like SKIMMED. But, yes. Anyway, it's not like you have much room to talk about friendship. It's because of your friends that you got captured.

Shining: Only because trust is a major part of friendship. I trusted you to spare them once you had me and I'm trusting that they are all right. So far, I'm AT LEAST HALF-right. And I hope to be proven COMPLETELY right eventually.

Of course, if you don't like the ideas, I DO completely understand your right to your own beliefs.

[SuperPinkBrony12]

9025182 I already have plans for an exchange between Shining and Tempest later on, but I might just incorporate some of your dialogue suggestions.

[Comickook]

9025460
Thanks very much for both the explanation and the consideration.

[jackfangs3]

You know when I first saw the title of this I was thinking this was some kind of Digimon crossover