Equestria Girls Heroes of Canterlot City

Episode 12-Sinister Part 2

"So, let's just lay all the cards on the table," said Shining Armor. "We know you're an associate of the Storm King. Prosecution is willing to cut you a deal for the attempted extortion if you roll over on him. Come on, deals like this don't come along every day."

In the Canterlot Police Station, Shining Armor was currently in the interrogation room with Verko, who looked as though he no longer cared about anything after his defeat at the hands of the Rainbooms. His normally over the top confidence had evaporated, leaving a down and out man who still happened to look like a naked mole rat. He sat quietly in his chair, looking at the floor, not even moving his feet.

Shining Armor groaned. They were getting nowhere.

"Look Verko," he said, frustration clearly seeping into his voice, "why are you protecting your boss? You know there's no way he'd return the favor, right?"

"You don't understand," Verko finally answered.

Shining Armor relaxed, looking at the man in front of him with fresh eyes. Verko was shaking, rubbing his upper arms. It didn't take a psychologist to figure out that Verko was afraid.

"We can protect you—" he began.

"No you can't," Verko cut him off. "He always gets us. I don't know how, but he does. If I even told you where he buys his clothes, or how he takes his coffee...you have no idea what he'd do to me."

Shining Armor tried in vain to persuade Verko to talk, but the man wouldn't even respond with denial anymore. Giving in, he got out of his chair, making his way out of the building. After giving a quick report to his superiors, he went to the alley behind the building, where nobody would overhear him. Pulling out his cell phone, he dialed Twilight's number.

"Well, we can definitely nail Verko on extortion charges," he said, once his little sister had picked up the phone. "That 'anonymous tip' you gave me isn't a legal problem. The bad news is he's not willing to talk. Neither are any of the foot soldiers. That, or they're too stupid to realize what we're talking about. Whoever this Storm King guy is, he's apparently really good at installing fear in his subordinates."

"Should've known that would happen," said Sunset. "Capper was just as terrified, and he doesn't even work for the guy. Any luck with that physical description of the Storm King we gave you?"

"I gave it to our sketch artists, but we didn't get any hits in our database," said Shining Armor. "Looks like the Storm King doesn't have any prior convictions, or anything. We can put out an alert for his face, but there's no guarantee it'll work. Even then, we can't prove he's the Storm King, we can only say he's wanted for questioning in regards to the Verko incident."

"Dammit!" Rainbow cursed, and was quickly admonished by Rarity. "We stopped him from robbing the Cakes, but we still haven't made any progress. What are we supposed to do now?"

"There has to be something," Twilight protested, "Didn't you three say there was another person there? Someone with purplish-red skin, spiky hair, one arm, scar on her face?"

"Yeah, but she slipped away before we finished taking out the thugs," answered Applejack. "I'm guessing she realized she was no match for us."

Shining Armor thought for a moment. Something in that description stirred a memory in his head, something he hadn't thought about in a while. An idea jumped into his brain.

"I think I may know who you're talking about," he said. "I'm gonna go back and check the records. If I find anything, I'll send it to Twily." With that, he ended the call.

On the other end, Twilight sighed to herself. The seven girls were currently gathered inside the barn at Sweet Apple Acres, discussing how the day of crime-fighting had gone.

"Well, let's look on the bright side of things, everyone," Rarity said, trying to cheer up all the others. "We stopped a terrible extortion scheme, we've put away several dangerous criminals. Even if we haven't beaten the Storm King yet, we at least hampered him."

"Yeah, at least the Cakes are safe," said Pinkie, with slightly less of her usual bounciness in her voice. None of the others blamed her for a bit being shaken by the incident, considering she worked at Sugar Cube Corner, was close friends with the Cakes, and how much time they'd all spent at the place. If it had been forced to go under by the Storm King, it would've deeply affected all of them, but Pinkie most of all.

"I just hope we manage to keep everybody from getting hurt," said Fluttershy, hugging her arms close to her body. "We got lucky this time, because there were so few of them, but what if we have to go up against a whole crowd of those thugs?"

"Then we'll find a way to deal with it," said Rainbow, her voice filled with confidence. "We've got Equestrian magic on our side!" She proudly thumped her fist against her chest.

Sunset grimaced slightly. This was something she'd been afraid of ever since the whole discussion at school. Overconfidence would be more than likely to get them in trouble at best, and while Rainbow was the most prone to it, she wouldn't surprised if Applejack, Rarity, or even herself fell victim. They'd need to be more cautious going forward.

"We should get some sleep, anyway," she spoke up. "We did some good work today, and we'll need to continue the momentum tomorrow...after class."

Everybody groaned. Why couldn't this whole crusade have started in the summer?

Just as the girls began to get up and leave, Twilight's phone beeped. "It's an email from Shining Armor," she said, her fingers tapping away. Her brother had sent her a police file of a previous arrest, along with a mugshot. The picture was of a very familiar young woman, with one arm and a still healing scar over her eye.

"Yep, that's her," said Applejack. "'She had her name legally changed to Tempest Shadow?' Yeah, because that ain't gonna connect you to the guy who has storms as his whole motif."

"She was arrested for shoplifting, but got released, and then she kinda dropped off the radar. Probably because she works for the Storm King," said Twilight, scrolling through the file. "They do have an address, though."

"We should check that out tomorrow," Rainbow chimed in.

Twilight continued to scroll. "Wow! She actually graduated from Canterlot High, but dropped out of university about a year in. Her real name is...huh."


Tempest wished she had her other hand at the moment. With both hands, she could've more easily surfed the internet on her phone or something, giving her something to do while her boss was having his little temper tantrum. Grubber stood quietly in the corner, having interrupted once already Storm King by chewing too loudly.

"Two years, Tempest," Storm King growled, holding up two fingers, as the others dug into his palm. "Two years of work, and absolutely no trouble. Nothing from the cops. Two years I spend establishing my business in this city. Now, I finally get the chance to start building a foothold with the Canterlot High kids, and what happens? Goddamn superheroes!"

He punched his desk so hard the wood cracked. Tempest casually examined her fingernails as he continued to rave. She had nothing to fear, as Storm King was smart enough to realize that she'd made the intelligent call by leaving, instead of trying to fight and getting arrested. It was more tedious to sit through his rant than intimidating.

"What did I do to bring this on?!" Storm King shouted. "All I want is to run my criminal empire without interference! Is that too much to ask?!"

"Well, boss, some people might call that ev—" Grubber started to answer, only for the Storm King to grab his cane and clock the smaller man over the head with it. "OW!"

"Shut up!" ordered his boss, before sitting down in his chair and pressing both palms to his face. "I swear, we need to teach you what a rhetorical question is..."

Fortunately for all those present, that interruption seemed to snap Storm King out of his furious funk, as he stopped punching things. He took a few deep breaths, picked up his cane, and walked over to the window.

"Tempest, full damage report," he ordered.

"Well, we lost Verko, as well as those half-dozen guards he had with him," she replied, methodically. "Trying to start up that protection racket now, anywhere in the city, is a bad idea. The cops will be on their guard now. The good news is, Verko's scared enough of us that he won't dare open his mouth. None of the guards will, either."

"Good," Storm King said, as he visibly relaxed. "At least we've still got our cover. What about these superhero types? Any idea who they are?"

"Not much to go on. Female, probably younger than me. There's at least three of them, but could easily be more."

"Great. Fan-friggin-tastic," Storm King grumbled. "So no leads whatsoever? We don't even know how they knew our plans?"

"No, sir," Tempest answered, apologetically. "Maybe we have a mole, maybe they just spied on us. We can't rule anything out."

That statement seemed to give the Storm King pause. He slowly turned on his heel, staring Tempest directly in the eye.

"A mole?" he asked, his voice tense. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you, Tempest? You haven't been going behind my back, have you?" He was keeping his voice calm, but there was clear anger beneath his words. Tempest stood her ground, however, not even flinching.

"Don't be ridiculous, sir," she replied. "How stupid would I have to be to set us up, then be the only one who gets away? It would be way too obvious that I was the mole. Besides, the police would've been on to you a long time ago. They still don't know who you are, or they'd have smashed down the door by now."

The Storm King opened his mouth for an angry retort, but froze before any words could come out, as his brain processed exactly what Tempest had said. He sat back down into his chair, his hands resting on the table. His eyes made direct contact with hers, staring deep into her.

"Good point," he finally admitted. "You're not lying, I can tell."

"For the record, I didn't do it either!" Grubber insisted from his place. "I never told the cops anything, or else we'd all be—"

"Shut up!" Storm King snapped, bonking Grubber on the head with his cane again. "We all know you aren't a mole, you're too stupid."

Tempest got to her feet. "Whatever the case, sir," she continued. "The fact remains that these superheroes seem to be gunning for our organization. If they managed to catch wind of our plans once, they could do it again."

"Not to mention they probably saw you at that bakery hell hole," Storm King responded. "If they found out where you lived...and decided to come after you..."

Storm King's speech came to a sudden halt, as an idea sparked into his mind. He turned to Tempest, a smile slowly creeping across his face.

"Um...sir? You okay?" Tempest asked, nervous for the first time.

"Tempest," Storm King began, "I think it's time we started to step up our game. Now, how would you feel about having your own team of guards? With better weapons, this time."

Twilight and Sunset groaned as they dragged themselves out of Canterlot High. The day hadn't been the most intense of their academic careers, but trying to focus on school work while in the middle of a crusade against the top crime lord of Canterlot wasn't easy. Not to mention, they hadn't been able to sleep well the night before, due to being so overly charged with adrenaline. Luckily for them it wasn't anywhere near midterms.

Twilight scribbled down the last of her assignments in her planner, before joining Sunset and the rest of the girls over by the Wondercolt Statue. Looking around, she saw that everyone else seemed to have run into the same problems she and Sunset had. Rainbow in particular was sitting with her back against the statue, her eyes almost completely closed, leaning backwards.

"So," Sunset started, awkwardly, "everybody up for another good day?"

"Totally," Rainbow mumbled, her eyelids dropping to their fully closed position. "We're gonna...kick...butt..."

Before anybody could shake Rainbow, Pinkie reached into her mane, pulled out an air horn, and proceeded to blow it right into Rainbow's ear. Rainbow screamed as her eyes flew open, leaping several feet into the air. Pinkie just smiled pleasantly.

"HA-DA-WHAT THE—PINKIE!" she screamed again, rounding on the party girl."WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"

"Sorry, Rainbow," Pinkie answered, shrugging, "but we do need to be aware for battling the forces of evil."

Rainbow panted angrily, apparently trying to come up with some sort of enraged response, but failed to do so. Eventually, she just slumped back to her spot besides the statue, looking annoyed.

"Okay," said Sunset, trying to pretend the last few minutes hadn't interrupted her train of thought, "so, Twilight and I have talked it over a bit, and we've agreed that our next move should be to visit this Tempest Shadow's house, and try to find some clues about their next move."

"Since we disrupted their protection racket," Twilight took over, "it's unlikely they'll try to extort Sugar Cube Corner—or any business, really—in the immediate future. At this point, we've thrown their entire operation out of whack, so we need to find out where they'll go from here."

"Fluttershy," said Sunset. "I know you hate the idea, but it worked so well last time. Would you be willing to ask another animal to spy for us?"

Fluttershy sighed sadly. "Alright. Yes, I hate putting animals in these dangerous situations, but if we ask and they agree to it, I guess that's okay."

"Excellent," Sunset replied. "Now, considering this mission might be a bit more risky, I think we should send at least two of our fighters. Some of us should stay behind, so we can tell Shining Armor if something goes wrong."

"Good thinking," Twilight agreed. "Applejack, Rainbow? Would you two go with me and Fluttershy?"

"Definitely," agreed Rainbow. "I wanna give this Tempest person a piece of my mind."

"We're not gonna fight her, Rainbow," Applejack retorted. "At least, not today. But I'm coming."

"Great," said Sunset. "The rest of us will try to dig up some additional information on Tempest, just in case this doesn't pan out. Twilight, you said she went to Canterlot High, right?"

"Yeah, but I don't know if that's going to help us at all," replied Twilight. "I guess you could talk to some of the teachers, maybe Celestia and Luna know something about her, but what could we learn from them?"

"There might be something there we can't risk missing," Sunset answered, matter-of-factly. "Good luck, girls."


Fortunately for the team, Tempest lived in one of the most low-key apartments in all of Canterlot City. The building was only about two stories, standing near the outskirts of town, with few other buildings surrounding it. To its credit, though, it was much less decrepit than Verko's building had been, with intact windows, a more fresh coat of paint, and a distinct lack of rats.

Having done a quick walk through the building, Twilight was able to figure out exactly which room was Tempest's, and pointed to the outside window. It was a first story window, but they couldn't see the inside, on the account of the curtains being shut tight. The group was now huddled behind a small hill overlooking the apartment, masks on just in case.

"So, no rats this time," Rainbow complained through her mask. "How the heck are we supposed to get a set of eyes inside?"

"I could ask one of the bugs," Fluttershy responded, indicating that small colony of ants she had crawling up and down her arm, "but it would take more time, and it would be a lot riskier."

"Not to mention she might not even be there," said Applejack. "We got lucky last time, with Verko and Storm King being right there, but what if this time—"

Twilight, getting an idea, reached out, her pendant glowing purple, as her telekinetic grip pushed open the curtains. From their position, they could see into the one bedroom apartment, along with the bathroom, and Tempest was clearly not there.

"...huh," said Applejack.

"Looks like we'll have to abort, and come back later," said Twilight. "There's no point being here if she's not—"

"Oh, screw that!" Rainbow interrupted. "We can't just do nothing! Twilight, can you telekinetically open the lock or something, right?"

Twilight whirled on her companion. "Rainbow, are you crazy?! What about that whole discussion we had about not breaking the law?! We can't just bust in there and take her stuff!"

"Now, now, Twilight," Applejack chimed in, placing a calming hand on her friend's shoulder. "I don't think Rainbow is suggesting we become thieves. I think maybe we can just sneak in there, and look around fer any clues about the Storm King. We won't take anything, just have a look."

"I don't know," Twilight responded. "It's still unlawful entry. What if she comes back while we're in there? Or worse?"

"One of us can stand guard," insisted Applejack. "Or Fluttershy could ask the ants. Come on, Twi, this is a chance we might not get again. What if we miss an important clue?"

Twilight tried to protest a bit more, but found she couldn't come up with any additional arguments. "Okay, fine," she acquiesced. "But I'll say it again: We're not gonna take anything." She gritted her teeth in frustration. If they blew this whole quest by breaking the law, she wanted no part in it.

"Okay," Fluttershy agreed, holding up her palm, filled with ants, "Hey, little buddies? Could you do us a favor?"


Slipping back inside, making sure they went unseen, the four girls gathered outside Tempest's room. Fluttershy had managed to convince the ants, along with a handful of flies, to watch for any approaching people. With their sentries in place, Twilight mentally reached into the lock, pushing the pins with the force of her mind, until the door opened.

"I want it on record that I'm still against this," Twilight protested, her voice muffled by her mask, as she followed the others into Tempest's apartment.

"We're not on reality TV, Twilight," Rainbow sardonically replied, a huge smirk gracing her face.

"Don't worry, Twi, we won't steal anything," Applejack insisted.

"If it makes you feel any better, I'm not crazy about this, either," said Fluttershy, putting a hand on Twilight's shoulder. Twilight smiled a bit at the action.

Tempest's apartment was about as remarkable on the inside as the outside. There was a small desk, a bed, a closet, and no much else. Even the bathroom was standard, with only soap and some bathing products. Rarity would've been appalled.

"Ah hate to say it, but this looks like a dead end," Applejack admitted. "There just ain't nothing here."

Rainbow groaned. "Seriously? Are we just gonna be forced to sit around and do nothing for the rest of this whole thing?"

"I wouldn't worry about that, if I were you."

Everyone heard the voice behind them, whirling around just fast enough to see Tempest standing in the doorway, taser in hand. Fluttershy, reacting faster than anybody would've expected, shoved Twilight out of the way, just in time for the electrodes of the taser to find their way into her chest. Fluttershy gasped and sputtered as volts of electricity shocked her body, sending her fading out of consciousness.

"FL—NO!" screamed Applejack, grabbing her fallen friend.

Tempest just laughed to herself. "So, let me guess, you're the Avengers. Or the Super Friends. Or whatever you want to call this stupid crap you've got going on."

"How'd you know we were coming?!" Rainbow demanded, her fists clenched so hard her skin turned white.

"Call it the science of deduction," responded Tempest, dropping her taser and pulling out another. "Now, I suggest you grow a couple of brain cells and give up, because you're outnumbered."

As she spoke, a large number of Storm Guards began to emerge from various hiding places, and come from down the hall. Two popped out of the closet, armed with automatic handguns. One rolled out from under the bed, aiming a shotgun directly at the girls. Several more were armed with melee weapons, ranging from knuckle-mounted stun guns to heavy wrenches. Obviously, they'd pulled out all the stops for this little ambush.

"Y-you wouldn't," Twilight tried to protest, but her voice was weak with fear. "This is a full building, somebody will call the police."

Tempest threw back her head and laughed. "You honestly think we didn't prepare for that?" she asked, "The Storm King owns this building. Everybody's out because they think it's supposed to be fumigated today!"

Rainbow clenched her teeth in fury. "Yeah? Well it doesn't matter how much firepower you've got! You can't beat us!"

Rainbow's pendant began to shine blue as her super speed kicked in. Her instincts wisely informed her to go for the guys with the guns first, and she followed accordingly, grabbing the shotgun first and ripping out of the Storm Guard's hand, tossing it out the window with a crash. The two handguns followed shortly, but unfortunately for Rainbow, Tempest managed to anticipate her movements. The one-armed girl whipped her cattle prod out, whipping around and jamming the tip against Rainbow's neck before she could take off again. Rainbow screamed as the pain cost her control, as she sped into the wall, knocking herself out.

"Oh, this is going fantastic," Twilight grumbled under her breath.

Tempest turned back to the remaining two girls. "So, are we gonna need to take you two idiots out? Or have you actually learned something?" She pressed the button on her cattle prod, sparking the tips. The Storm Guards stomped forwards as well, raising their melee weapons.

Applejack and Twilight stood firm, arms firmly at their sides. Applejack set Fluttershy off to the side, where she wouldn't get hurt.

"We ain't giving up. Not to you," Applejack responded. Twilight gave a nod as well.

Tempest sighed. "Pain in my ass," she grumbled. "Take 'em. Remember, we want them alive."

The Storm Guards charged, surprisingly agile in the limited space. One swung his wrench, aiming directly for Applejack's head, but found the weapon frozen in midair by Twilight's telekinesis, her pendant glowing purple. As he stood blinking in surprise at the sight, Applejack took the opportunity to yank the weapon out of his grip with one hand, and administer a well-deserved slap across his face with the other. An orange pulse emitted from her necklace. As a second Storm Guard tried to sneak up on her, Applejack lashed out with a side kick, hitting him square in the stomach and knocking him onto his rear.

Twilight, despite being not quite as combat ready as the others, nonetheless did well for herself. Tempest pulled out a second taser, firing it at her, but Twilight managed to freeze the electrodes in midair, and followed by ripping them out of the taser itself. She then mentally yanked another wrench out of a Storm Guard's hands and clocked him over the head with it.

"Why you little..." Tempest growled. She shoved one of the Storm Guards to the side, taking his stun gun. She lunged forward, throwing her electrified punch at Applejack.

Fortunately for the farm girl, Tempest had made the mistake of telegraphing her assault. Applejack ducked under the blow, before snapping her back up, slamming Tempest back into one of the Storm Guards. Twilight came in seconds later, telekinetically removing the stun gun from her grip.

As she disarmed another Storm Guard, Twilight noticed she was starting to feel confidant. Good, even. Maybe the two of them were enough to do this. Maybe they could win this fight. Maybe there would be nothing to worry about.

Then one of the Storm Guards chucked his wrench at her head. Twilight mentally caught it in midair, but wasn't prepared for another Storm Guard behind her to throw a punch at her back. The blow didn't hurt too much, but the force pushed Twilight face-first into the wrench floating in midair, her nose smushed between flesh and metal. Twilight actually screamed, before blood began to drip down into her open mouth, the foul, coppery taste filling it. Twilight fell forward onto her knees, barely managing to catch herself with one hand, the other remaining on her nose.

"TWI!" Applejack shouted, her fear making her forget the concealing of their names. She threw one of the Storm Guards into the corner, rushing to her friend's aid, only to receive a painful strike across her neck from Tempest. Applejack whirled on the woman, eyes filled with fury. "You dirty..."

Applejack threw another punch, but Tempest was ready for her this time. She swerved to the side, catching Applejack's wrist with one hand. Before the girl could wrench her arm free, Tempest kicked her in the neck, then swung her foot around, bringing it down hard on Applejack's head. Applejack stumbled, clutching her head in pain, before Tempest delivered a series of quick punches to her forehead, knocking her out.

"No..." Twilight mumbled, still in too much pain to even levitate a brick. Her nose was still dripping, leaving patterns of blood all over her hands. Tempest stood over her, grinning triumphantly.

"Nighty-night," she laughed, before her fist cut off Twilight's vision.


"Looks like Twilight was right," said Sunset, as she poured over Tempest Shadow's student records, generously loaned from Principal Celestia. "There's just nothing in here that could get us closer to Tempest, or the Storm King."

"Sorry to agree with you on this one, darling," Rarity answered, "but you're right. She wasn't a troubled student in high school, so it's unlikely that she was associating with the Storm King by then."

"Too bad! Let's check on Twilight and the others, maybe they've got something interesting!" Pinkie chimed in, pulling out her phone. She dialed a number, holding the receiver up to her ear, only for her face to fall as she listened. "Uh...it's not supposed to go to voicemail, is it?"

"No..." Sunset answered warily. She and Rarity quickly called Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash in succession, but they all received the same response: voicemail. "I don't like this..."

Consciousness was an evasive gift to Twilight Sparkle. Given that she was a person who'd never been punched in the face, much less clubbed in the face with a wrench, this was unsurprising. She drifted through a pained sleep, filled with thoughts of frustration over how badly they'd botched this quest, and fear over what was going to happen to them. Shining Armor was going to kill her, if they got out of this alive.

Finally, Twilight managed to claw her way back to an alert state, blinking away the fuzz in her vision. Her head was throbbing in pain, and her glasses were gone, limiting her vision. From what she could see, she was inside some old warehouse, where only a single window sat on the ceiling to provide natural light to the interior. She was sitting in a chair, and when she tried to stand up, she only ended up confirming that her wrists, ankles, and torso were chained to the chair, which was also nailed to the floor. In short, Twilight Sparkle was completely immobile.

"Wakey wakey," came a voice from behind her. Twilight felt two small, sharp points jab into her back, followed by a painful electrical shock to her entire body. She screamed, twitching in whatever small ways she could, the chains seeming to tighten even further from her struggling, even as the pain faded after a second. "Whoops. Didn't realize you were already awake."

Twilight felt a hand grab her by the ponytail, yanking her head backwards, and her glasses were placed onto her face once again. She blinked a few tears out of her eyes, as she was finally able to take in her surroundings. The warehouse was even more dilapidated than she'd initially thought, with holes in the walls and what looked like rat droppings lying around. Beside her were Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Fluttershy, all still unconscious, with their masks and pendants removed. Twilight gasped quietly as she realized her own were gone as well. The four jewels, along with their masks, were set on a small crate off to the side.

What was more worrying was Tempest Shadow, smirking in front of her. In her hand was a long cattle prod, still sparking from the zap it had inflicted on Twilight moments before. A small handful of Storm Guards stood around, armed with wrenches. A short and fat man sat in the corner, eating a box of donuts. And by the doorway was a familiar, lanky grey man, with a long cane, causing Twilight's heartbeat to skyrocket.

"Geez! I mean, what are you, thirteen?" laughed the Storm King, pointing at the four chained girls. "I mean, seriously, all this trouble, and you're just a bunch of kids?!" He threw back his head and cackled like a maniac. Twilight felt her breath leave her body in pure fear.

"In my opinion, it makes a lot of sense," said Tempest. "Only a bunch of kids would think of something so stupid, let alone try to pull it off."

"What...what is this?!" cried Twilight, trying in vain to get free of her bindings. "What are you gonna do to us?!" As embarrassing as it would be to admit, she was close to tears. This was the absolute worst-case scenario she could think of.

"Patience, kid, it saves your life," said Storm King. He turned to Tempest. "Wake up the rest of 'em."

"Yes, sir."

Tempest proceeded to walk up to each of the girls in turn, ramming her cattle prod into the backs of each of their necks. Rainbow, Applejack, and Fluttershy all screamed in the same agony Twilight had, as the painful shock brought them back to consciousness.

"Lemme outta this!" roared Rainbow, struggling fiercely. "I swear to God, I'll tear you a new one!"

"P-please don't hurt us..." Fluttershy peeped, her entire body shivering with fear. "W-w-we won't tell anybody. W-we can't even prove you did anything, just please don't hurt us..." Twilight felt a stab of pity for her friend.

"Hm. It's no fun when you start crying before we even..." the Storm King began, but stopped abruptly. He looked closer at Twilight, Applejack, and Fluttershy. "You...you three were outside Verko's apartment. You were spying on me." He held Fluttershy by the chin, as the girl trembled. "Where's your friend? The one that looks like walking cotton candy?"

"Not to mention the diamond girl," chimed in Tempest.

"Take your filthy mitts off her, mister," Applejack growled, her chains rattling. "I can snap these like they're nothing, and then—"

"Don't bother with the bluff," said Tempest, annoyed. "We already figured out your powers are tied to these stupid necklaces. They glowed whenever you used them." She picked up one of them, shaking it in her hand. "They don't work for us, though. Why is that?"

"We aren't telling you a thing!" Rainbow snapped. "And we don't need our powers! We're gonna—"

Tempest cut her off with another swipe of her cattle prod, jabbing it into her stomach. Rainbow screamed in pain, throwing her neck back.

"Stop it! Leave her alone!" screamed Twilight. "She didn't do anything!"

"See, that's a lie," retorted Storm King. "You cost me my protection racket, along with a shitload of money. Not to mention you put Verko and a handful of my guys in the slammer. You wanna know how that makes me feel?" He moved closer to Twilight, standing close to her to the point where their noses were almost touching. Then he backhanded her across the face. "ANGRY! PISSED OFF! IRRITATED!" Twilight grunted as she took the blow, but there seemed to be no real damage.

"What should we do with them, sir?" asked Tempest, as though this were a normal, casual conversation. "They had no ID on 'em, so they've got a least one functioning brain cell between them. Want me to make 'em talk?"

"I say we squeeze 'em until the city pays for us to let 'em go!" chimed in Grubber, his mouth filled with chocolate.

"Shut up, Grubber," said Storm King. He looked over the four girls. "Hm, what to do, what to do...I'll need to think on it. Tempest, stand on guard."

"Yes, sir," said Tempest, sparking her cattle prod, a malicious grin on her face.

"You can't hold us!" Applejack snarled, trying to snap the chains, with no success. "We have friends, and they'll—"

Tempest zapped her with the prod again. "Be quiet. If we're gonna spend time together, I'm not gonna listen to your insipid crap."

Twilight swallowed. She wasn't physically showing it, but she was as terrified as Fluttershy. If there was a good outcome to this situation, she didn't see it.


"You idiot!" roared Shining Armor, clutching Sunset by the collar of her jacket, shoving her back into a wall. "This is your fault! Your fault!"

Sunset grunted, her teeth clacking together due to the momentum, biting her tongue so hard it bled.

"No! Stop it!" shouted Pinkie, all bounciness gone from her voice, as she attempted to pry Shining Armor away from Sunset.

The police officer wasn't listening, as he actually reeled back to punch Sunset, only for a diamond barrier to appear between them. It flew into his chest, pushing him back and forcing him to release his grip on Sunset.

"Alright! Okay!" said Rarity, her pendant glowing. "Shining Armor, cease this at once! Yes, Twilight is in trouble, but brutally assaulting Sunset won't make it any better! Now calm down!"

"Calm down?! My sister's been kidnapped by a nut job crime lord, and you tell me to calm down?!" he shouted. He thrust his finger at Sunset. "This is your fault! This whole scheme was your idea!"

"I'm sorry!" Sunset shouted, cutting him off. "I'm sorry we didn't plan more carefully, I'm sorry I wasn't there to try and help her! Now can we start looking for Twilight and the others?!"

She looked back up at Shining Armor, her eyes watering from the pain. Her gamble seemed to be working, reminding him that Rainbow, Applejack, and Fluttershy were also missing. He took a couple of deep breaths, lowering his arm as he did so, visibly relaxing. He remembered his priorities, the largest of which was finding a way to rescue Twilight and the others.

Not that Sunset wasn't experiencing a strong stab of guilt and anxiety to her own heart. True, her powers weren't very useful in a fight, but she still wished she'd been there. Heck, if all seven of them were there, they could've whipped up some kind of magic rainbow laser to stop Tempest, or something. But that was thought for later. Now was a time for action.

"Okay," she breathed, standing up, "is Tempest known to frequent any other locations? Maybe somewhere she meets the Storm King, or something like that? I don't know, any place she might've taken them."

Shining Armor shook his head. "It's not like we track her movements, or anything. She's nowhere near high-profile enough."

"Dammit!" Sunset cursed. "Well what about the Storm King's real name? Anymore known criminal hangouts in this city?! Anything?!"

"I don't know!" shouted Shining Armor. "I don't know anything about her! I don't know who the Storm King is! I don't know—"

"Um, excuse me?" came a quiet voice from the door. Shining, Rarity, Sunset, and Pinkie all turned to the door, finding one of Shining's colleagues, Iron Shield, standing there, looking embarrassed at the situation he'd walked into. He was holding a small stack of papers in one hand.

"Sorry, Iron," said Shining, rubbing his face with one hand. "What is it?"

"So, uh, I was looking at that sketch we got that we think might be the Storm King," said Iron, "and it seemed kinda familiar. So I went back through our records and found this." He produced an image of an old mugshot, depicting a man who was, without a doubt, the man in the sketch. "If this guy is the Storm King, his real name is Dew Drop. He got busted a few years back for a robbery, then he just disappeared once he got out of the joint. People just sort of forgot about him, he was low time."

Shining Armor snatched the papers out of Iron Shield's hands, making him jump with fright. Shining's eyes scanned the wealth of information listed on 'Dew Drop,' going over his records for anything that might give them a lead. The girls peeked over his shoulder.

"Look at this!" exclaimed Sunset, pointing. "It says he was busted at a warehouse of Canterlot bay that's been deserted for decades. He was using it as his hideout. You don't think...maybe he'd go back there?"

"Only one way to find out," said Shining. He grabbed his phone.


The past hour had been pure agony. Tempest and the Storm Guards never took their eyes off of Twilight and the others even for one second, giving them no opportunities to even try and escape. Even if Sunset and the others were out there looking for them, the situation felt hopeless.

Even worse was Tempest and her awful cattle prod. Every time one of the girls would talk, Tempest would ram it into some spot on their bodies. Twilight and Fluttershy had only gotten a couple of zaps to the body, but Rainbow and Applejack wouldn't stop mouthing off, and had gotten far worse treatment. They now had matching burn marks on their faces, and Twilight was certain they would be left with scars.

"Keep poking us all day, lady!" Applejack spat, one of her eyes nearly shut from the pain. "Won't do you any good! We can take—"

Tempest cut her off with another sharp jab into her hip, eliciting a scream of agony from the farm girl. "It's funny. Everybody says that, yet they never stop screaming whenever I start," Tempest mused. "It's so pathetic it's almost sad."

"Shut up!" shouted Rainbow. "You won't break us! You won't—" She started to scream as well, as Tempest zapped her thigh.

"That's enough! Stop it! Leave them alone!" screamed Twilight. She immediately regretted it, knowing it would be her turn for a zap next. Then an idea popped into her brain. "Fizzlepop, stop!"

It was like somebody had shot through a glass window. Tempest froze where she stood, almost dropping her cattle prod. Rainbow, Applejack, and Fluttershy looked on in shock, as the one-armed woman sat perfectly still, her eyes staring at Twilight, without truly seeing her.

"What..." Tempest finally said, "...what did you just call me?"

"Fizzlepop Berrytwist," Twilight continued, talking as fast as she could to avoid making Tempest angrier. "That's your real name, right?"

Unfortunately for Twilight, it didn't go exactly according to her plan. Tempest dropped her cattle prod, but her one hand swiftly found its way around the neck of Twilight's shirt, grasping and pulling as hard as she possibly could.

"Where did you hear that name?!" Tempest screamed in her face, drops of saliva flying out of her mouth onto Twilight's face. The violet girl trembled in panic, her voice caught in her throat. It was only after Tempest screamed at her a second time that she found the strength to speak.

"W-w-we were researching you!" Twilight cried, tears of sheer fear dripping down her face. "A-a-and I saw that you graduated from Canterlot High, and I saw your name, and—"

"Shut up!" Tempest screamed, backhanding Twilight across the face. Twilight cried out in pain, but luckily for her, the act seemed to release Tempest's pent up fury. The woman stepped away from her, looking down at the floor. "Nobody's called me that in so long. I thought maybe I'd forgotten it by now. Thanks for the reminder."

Twilight blinked away more tears of pain as she looked at Tempest. For the first time since they'd met, Tempest didn't look like the fearsome criminal that she'd been so far. She looked...sad. She looked lost in thought, focusing on memories long gone, even as she'd rather forget them. Twilight tentatively decided to try reaching her.

"Tempest," she said softly, "why are you doing this? Why throw your life away to work for a monster like the Storm King?"

"You wouldn't understand," Tempest responded. She didn't even turn around.

"Tempest, please," Twilight pleaded, unwilling to give up. "I-I read about you. You actually got a scholarship to Canterlot University after graduating, but then you just dropped out. What happened to you? Why are you doing this?"

Tempest rounded on her, and for a moment, Twilight panicked. But those feelings quickly faded as she saw the look in Tempest's eyes. It wasn't anger, but something more akin to pity.

"You really want to know?" Tempest asked. Twilight nodded.

Tempest picked up her cattle prod, but made no move to turn in on. Instead, she just twirled the device in her remaining hand, as though trying to keep herself occupied for reasons she couldn't comprehend.

"Let me be the one to explain it to you," Tempest finally said. "Let me be the one to tell you the big secret. When you grow up, when you go out into the real world, the one timeless, inescapable fact is...people suck. You know that cliche 'Always expect the worst, you'll never be disappointed?' There's value to that. Inevitably, at some point, the people you've spent your life trusting and loving will let you down. No exceptions.

"Oh, sure, they'll say 'You can always count on me,' and other crap like that. And sometimes, maybe you can. They'll help you when you trip up, when you need a quick buck, things like that. But as soon as it gets difficult for them to help you, as soon as you don't get better immediately, as soon as they actually need to put in effort, what happens? They abandon you. Every time." Tempest pointed to the stump where her other arm should've been. "It happened to me, and once you get out of here, it'll happen to you, kid. Take it from me."

Twilight was shocked. This woman was actually being honest with her. She was admitting her problem. And it broke her heart.

"I don't believe you," Twilight finally replied. "Real friends don't abandon real friends. My friends taught me that. That...that can't be the truth." She looked Tempest in the eye. "If you got in trouble, why didn't you ask for help from other people? Principal Celestia—"

"Pf. Yeah right," Tempest snorted. "You honestly think she'd help some random student who'd graduated and wasn't even really close to her? God you're delusional. I don't envy the cold slap of reality that's coming your way, kid." Tempest shook her head resentfully. "When you get out of this, take a word of advice from me: Don't count on anyone. It only comes back to bite you in the end. Storm King found me when I was at my lowest, gave me food and shelter, and I do stuff for him because I hate being in debt. Simple as that."

"But..." Twilight protested weakly. It felt useless. Tempest refused to be reached, as though she'd been miserable for so long that it had become comfortable, and the idea of opening up, of working to change her life, felt like a pipe dream, and it would only lead to an even worse fate. "I'm sorry. I don't know what happened to you to give you this much pain. But I was alone before, and my friends saved me. You don't have to be like this."

Tempest didn't answer.

Whatever conversation would've followed is anyone's guess, as the door swung open once more, allowing the Storm King to stroll back in. His cane clicked on the hard floor with every step, and he still looked like he was in a particularly bad mood.

"Well, Tempest," he announced, "looks like we're gonna have to get rid of them."

Tempest froze where she stood again. She nearly dropped her prod. "Um...what, sir?" she asked.

"We're whacking these kids," said the Storm King. "Too much risk of them blabbing to the cops about us, and our faces, and whatnot. Even intimidation doesn't always work. So, just stab 'em, or something, dice 'em up, and toss 'em out at the beach."

Tempest didn't answer. She couldn't.

Tempest didn't move. She didn't speak, and from Twilight's point of view, she didn't even look like she was breathing. It was as though what Storm King had said (which Twilight was desperately trying to keep her mind off of, considering it was their death sentences) had completely shut down Tempest's entire body. Twilight swallowed, unsure of how any outcome of this could be beneficial.

"...what?" Tempest breathed after what felt like an hour. Storm King had stepped away from her, and he returned with a large, sharpened hacksaw.

"Didn't you hear me, Tempest?" asked Storm King. "Kill 'em and dice 'em up. Do your job." He tossed the hacksaw to her feet. Off to her side, Twilight heard Fluttershy squeak with fear.

Tempest actually gasped in shock at the instrument now lying beneath her. She quivered where she stood, her breath accelerating, and she stepped away from the saw. This didn't go unnoticed by the Storm King, who stared at her with a perplexed look. He glared at her, wordlessly demanding an explanation.

"Um, sir..." Tempest began, all of the previous confidence in her voice now gone. "M-maybe we shouldn't kill them. I mean, their bodies will surface eventually, the cops will start asking questions, and they could be traced back to us—"

"Tempest, nobody's even gonna be able to identify them from chunks of flesh. At least, not for a while," Storm King countered, sounding mildly annoyed. "Now shut up and follow my orders."

"B-but it's not necessary!" insisted Tempest, her voice shaking. "L-like they said, they have no proof of who we are or a-anything. I-it'll be our word against theirs—"

She barely managed to finish that sentence, before the Storm King walked up and slapped her across the face, hard. Tempest stumbled backwards, falling to her knees.

"It seems you've forgotten just how things work around her, Tempest," he snarled. "Let me remind you: You don't have opinions that I don't give to you. If this is some sort of morality bullshit, I don't care. Do what I say, now." He forced the hacksaw into her hand.

Twilight and the others had watched this scene with bated breath. Grubber had stopped eating long enough to watch as well, his jaw dropped open in sheer surprise. Tempest got to her feet once more, looking down at the saw gripped in her hand. Storm King stared her down, his piercing blue eyes boring into her. Twilight felt her stomach drop, quietly praying for something she wasn't sure was possible.

"...no," Tempest finally said, looking down at the floor.

Twilight's spirit began to soar. Perhaps hope wasn't lost. A quick glance at the others told her they felt the same. Storm King actually flinched, as though she'd struck him.

"What. Did. You. Just. Say. To. Me?" he demanded, gripping his cane with one hand.

"I said no," Tempest repeated, throwing the hacksaw to the side. "I've done plenty of crap for you, but I won't chop up high schoolers. I'm done."

Storm King stared back at her, his hand actually turning white from how hard he held on to his cane. Tempest met his cold gaze with her own. The Storm Guards all stared in surprise, as did Grubber. Nobody moved for about ten seconds. Then the Storm King threw back his head and laughed. It was a terrible, fear-inducing sound, like the laughter of a maniac.

"Oh, this is just rich!" he cackled, taking his cane with both hands. "Look, boys! Somebody decided to grow a conscience! And what a time to do so!" His back shook as he continued his chortling, interrupted only by a soft clicking sound from his cane, so quiet it was easy to miss about the noise.

Fortunately, Tempest was rather observant, and she noticed the Storm King slip the cover off the bottom of his cane. She dived to the side, just in time to avoid being jabbed by his cane, now revealed as a larger electric cattle prod in disguise. She rolled away from Storm King, grabbing her own cattle prod as she did so.

"I gotta say, Tempest," Storm King said with a smug grin, as he advanced on her. "I didn't think you of all people would be the one to stab me in the back. To be honest, it's pretty disappointing. You were some of the best help I've ever had. Still, I really should thank you for giving me this opportunity to blow off some steam." He turned to the Storm Guards and Grubber. "Stay out of this. I'll deal with her myself."

"Big mistake!" Tempest snarled as she lunged at her former boss, her prod primed for a stab. "I'm gonna give you exactly what you deserve!"

What followed was a truly epic clash, one Twilight wouldn't have been able to truly put into words if she'd tried. Tempest and Storm King swept and stabbed with their respective cattle prods, each aiming for their opponent's exposed flesh.

Tempest thrust towards the Storm King's neck, her prod grazing the side as the King responded with a stab of his own. Tempest swerved to the side, allowing the empty space where her right arm would've been to throw him off as he swiped through it. As her opponent was momentarily confused, Tempest took the opportunity to ram her prod into his thigh. Storm King shrieked with agony from the electricity searing his flesh as he stumbled backwards, dropping his prod. Tempest knocked it into the corner with one kick.

As Tempest primed herself to hit Storm King again with her prod, she was caught off guard as Storm King suddenly charged forward, aiming to hit her with his shoulder. Tempest was forced to raise her only arm to protect herself, but this turned out to be Storm King's goal, as he seized her cattle prod with both hands. Despite her remarkable strength, Tempest's single limb was no match for two, and the prod was ripped out of her hands and tossed aside.

Storm King reached into his coat, grabbing a taser and aiming it directly at Tempest. However, he was forced to take a step back before firing, so as to have a clearer shot. This gave Tempest the half-second she needed to dive forward into a somersault, the electrodes flying harmlessly above her. She rolled over to Storm King, landing cleanly on her feet, and kicked upward with one foot, knocking the taser out of his grip.

"Should've known you'd play dirty," she snarled, clocking Storm King on the jaw with a roundhouse punch. "You always did have to rely on us to do the dirty work!"

Storm King responded with a blow to her stomach. He then raised both arms upwards, planning to hit Tempest with an overhead smash, only for Tempest's arm to rise up and block him.

"You're right," he grunted as the two of them grappled. "I should play more fairly, considering I'm fighting a cripple." A sadistic grin spread across his face as he taunted her.

Unfortunately for Tempest, she allowed that single word to get too far under her skin. She roared with fury, lunging forward with a powerful punch, landing it right on Storm King's nose. He managed to endure the blow, however, and caught Tempest by the wrist. Using her momentum against her, he dragged her downward, slamming her face-first into the floor, keeping his grip on her arm. He placed a foot right between her shoulder blades.

"Don't worry, Tempest," he spat, "this'll only hurt a lot." He began yanking on her arm, while stepping down hard on her back at the same time.

Tempest screamed out from the twofold assault on her body. She hated to admit it, but she wasn't doing so well in this fight. Normally, having only one arm wouldn't have held her back at all, but most opponents would underestimate her for it, and Storm King had seen her fight before. He knew how to exploit her fighting style. There was only one option she could think of right now.

Pulling one leg forward, Tempest kicked back towards the Storm King, aiming for his crotch. She only managed to bump his thigh, but it was enough to make him stumble away, getting him off her back. She wrenched her arm towards the open side of his grip, releasing her wrist, and sprang to her feet. But instead of attacking Storm King again, she raced over to the box, where the girls' pendants still sat. Twilight and the others stared in astonishment, figuring out exactly what she was going for.

Tempest reached for the pendants, swiping her arm across the surface of the crate. She only managed to snag a single one, but that didn't seem to deter her at all. She dived over to the girls, avoiding another punch from the Storm King, and dropped the pendant around Twilight's neck.

"Hurry!" she screamed. "Free yourselves, before—ACK!" Storm King had wrapped his arm around her neck, pulling her backwards.

"Don't even think about it, kid," he spat, as he continued to grapple with Tempest. "Or else I'll—"

But he was too late. Twilight's telekinesis had already enveloped the padlocks holding her chains together, twisting the internal mechanisms. With several metallic pops, the locks opened, and Twilight lifted all of the chains off her body, clattering to the floor. Twilight spared a second to be grateful that didn't have to direct her telekinesis with her hands.

"Oh no you don't!" roared Storm King, reaching into his jacket and pulling out a pocket knife. He lunged towards Twilight. "You're not gonna—"

Twilight, in a moment of panic, seized the man in her telekinetic grip, levitating him a few feet off the ground. With a thought, she hurled him across the room, sending him crashing into a handful of Storm Guards. Twilight then turned her attention to the other girls, unlocking their chains as well.

The Storm King climbed angrily out of the pile of his henchmen. "A thousand bucks for every teenybopper corpse you guys bring me!" he spat, fury fully evident in his voice.

The guards, along with Grubber, eagerly marched towards the girls, weapons raised, but by the time they did, Twilight had managed to free the others. Rainbow, using her natural athleticism, leaped over to the crate where the remaining pendants sat. She tossed Applejack and Fluttershy theirs, before quickly donning her own.

"Time to rock!" yelled Applejack, as she charged towards the Storm Guards. One attempted to club her with a crowbar, only to find the farm girl catching and bending the weapon with one hand. She shoved the offending guard backwards, before smacking another away with a powerful backhand.

Grubber, armed with a knife, took the opportunity to approach the defenseless Fluttershy, but a sudden blur (Rainbow) crashed into him, knocking him onto his rear and into unconsciousness. She zipped around the small warehouse, running up to Storm Guards and shoving them into each other, knocking them down like bowling pins. Fluttershy, having no taste for this sort of thing, wisely ran to the corner and hid behind another crate.

With Applejack and Rainbow taking care of the Guards, Twilight turned to the Storm King. Her pendant began to glow, but before she could affect him in any way, a loud voice cried out. "No!"

Tempest rushed out of the side, clocking her former boss on the chin with a heavy punch, knocking the knife out of his hand. "He's mine!" she shouted, following up the punch with another. Her pride was overruling her common sense as she charged at Storm King.

"Tempest, you don't have to do it alone!" yelled Twilight, as the two criminals continued to wrestle.

For all that it was doing, she might as well have shouted at the wall. Tempest and Storm King struck each other again and again, punching, kicking, and clawing with their fingernails as they fought, each acting as if their opponent was the only thing in the entire universe. Tempest was making up for her missing arm with sheer ferocity, targeting Storm King's eyes, neck, crotch, and other vulnerable areas. To his credit, however, the Storm King was resisting her.

Twilight grunted in frustration as she tossed another Storm Guard off to the side. She wasn't sure what to do here. Her brain kept telling her to interfere, but part of her was convinced she owed it to Tempest to let her deal with the Storm King. After all, the one-armed woman had just thrown away her equivalent of a career in order to save her hide, it seemed like the least she could do. Though, that didn't stop her brain from telling her how stupid it was.

Fortunately, she didn't have to stand there for long, as Storm King managed to immobilize Tempest's single arm with both of his own. He wrenched her downward, throwing her off her feet, and began punching her in the back of the head. Twilight wisely decided that this was the time to jump in, telekinetically freezing Storm King where he stood. Tempest wiggled out of his grip, as he struggled to escape the purple light.

"I...won't...let..." he growled, fighting just to open his mouth.

"Put a sock in it!" Tempest spat, as she reeled back and punched him in the face as hard as she possibly could. Storm King slid off his feet, falling backwards and landing on his rear, out cold.

With the battle over, Tempest turned her gaze to Twilight, meeting the purple girl's gaze with her now. As the adrenaline died down, Tempest looked as though she couldn't actually believe what she'd done. Her shoulders dropped, and she looked down at her one remaining hand. Even without Sunset's mind reading powers, Twilight could guess the one question on Tempest's mind.

Why did I do that?

Twilight turned to the other three, Fluttershy having come out of her hiding place. Rainbow and Applejack had handily disposed of the remaining Storm Guards, leaving them unconscious around the warehouse. They joined Twilight, standing with Tempest, unsure of exactly how to proceed. They had a warehouse full of unconscious criminals, and obviously, they needed to get a story straight before calling the cops.

Those hopes were dashed as a sound started to blare outside the building.

"Are those sirens?" asked Twilight, looking up.

"Oh, crap!" shouted Rainbow. Her super speed kicked in, zipping over to the crate that still held their masks, seizing them and stuffing them into her pockets.

"But what do we do about Tempest?!" exclaimed Applejack. "We can't let her—"

"No," Tempest said, with an air of finality that instantly silenced the others. "I know what I have to do. You better get your story straight with the others."

She turned towards the door, where the police had broken down the door, rushing in, fully armed, led by Shining Armor. "Twily!" he shouted, rushing over to his sister and throwing his arms around her.

Twilight, however, had eyes only for Tempest, who was sitting on her knees, her one arm in the air. They approached her slowly, pulling out a long pair of handcuffs, hooking one onto her wrist, and the other end onto her ankle.

Twilight Sparkle flinched as her burns, secured under various bandages, twisted and contorted as she walked down the halls of the Canterlot Jail. After being rescued from the Storm King's warehouse, her and the others had been immediately rushed to the hospital, partially thanks to the insistence of Shining Armor, who'd been terrified for the safety of his little sister. Other than the burns from Tempest's cattle prod, they'd been practically unharmed, though those burns would leave their marks. Rainbow had taken that revelation particularly well, overjoyed at the new battle scars she'd have to display.

Once they'd reunited with Sunset Shimmer's group, Shining Armor had returned, officially to take their statement, but also to slip them the details of Tempest Shadow's confession, in order to get their story straight. According to police records, Storm King had suspected that the girls outside of Verko's apartment might have something to do with the super heroes who'd thwarted his protection racket, so he'd sent Tempest to find them. She'd found Twilight spending time with Applejack, Rainbow, and Fluttershy, and kidnapped the four of them, interrogating them for information they didn't have. Storm King had ordered them killed in frustration, an order Tempest had refused to carry out, leading to her taking out her former boss in a fight, as well as his guards. Shining Armor had coincidentally learned the Storm King's true name at the same time, and the warehouse raid was just in time to see the aftermath of the infighting. Tempest, overcome by remorse, had turned herself in, promising a complete testimony on everything she knew about the Storm King's criminal organization. Basically, the Storm King was finished.

Twilight swallowed nervously as she walked up to the booth, the glass barrier separating her from the familiar young woman, wearing an orange jumpsuit. She took the phone, pressing it to her ear.

"How are you holding up?" she asked, nervous about this conversation.

"Oh, y'know," Tempest shrugged, "rolling over onto my boss. Having the prosecutors look for some kind of loophole in the deal I'm offering them. Could be worse, all things considered."

Twilight sighed sadly. "Please, tell me they're at least giving you some kind of benefit for this."

"Kinda funny, considering I'm responsible for those burns on your skin, huh?" Tempest joked. "They haven't finished adding up my charges yet, but even with my deal, they say I'm looking at around ten years." She gave bittersweet smile. "Now why don't you ask the question you really came here for?"

Twilight took a breath. "Why did you help us? You gave me that whole speech about not trusting anybody, but you refused to kill us. I just don't understand."

Tempest was quiet for a few seconds. "God as my witness, kid, I have no idea. I'd never had to kill before, and I thought about it, and...I just couldn't do it."

Twilight though for a moment. "Maybe you weren't trying to convince me," she finally said. "Maybe you were talking to yourself. Maybe you believed that even you didn't have the capacity to be good like that. But you were wrong."

"Doesn't really matter now, does it?" Tempest answered. "It's over, isn't it? I'm giving up the Storm King, then I'm going to be locked up for a while. All there is to it."

"That's not true," Twilight declared, looking directly into Tempest's teal eyes. She placed her hand up against the glass. "I don't know what happened to you, but you're not the monster you think you are. You risked yourself for us. I promise, I won't abandon you, and when you get out, I'll be waiting to help you get back on your feet. All of my friends will."

"You don't have to do that," said Tempest. "You don't owe me anything, kid. Especially since I tortured you with a cattle prod, and everything."

"Well...okay, that's true," said Twilight. "But just because you've done bad things doesn't make you irredeemable. Believe it or not, I know a thing or two about that." She flinched quietly, memories of Midnight Sparkle surfacing once again.

Tempest gave what was actually a genuine smile. "Well, it'd be nice to have something to look forward to once I get out, I guess," she admitted, "You'll visit me more?"

"Of course," Twilight assured her.

"You know, I never did actually get your name."

"Twilight," said the girl. "Twilight Sparkle."


Sunset Shimmer and the rest of their friend group sat quietly outside of Canterlot High, as Rainbow, Applejack, and Fluttershy all nursed the wounds they'd sustained during their kidnapping. Rainbow and Applejack were in the process of comparing scars, trying to decide who looked more badass with them. Sunset sighed as she remembered the hospital visit immediately following their rescue. Granny Smith and Big Mac had given the farm girl an earful, while Rainbow and Fluttershy's families had been more concerned with fussing over their daughters. Twilight's family just seemed happy to know that she was okay, though Sunset would have to be an idiot to miss the glares Shining Armor sent her way. Not that she needed them, the guilt was already piling up. At least he hadn't pulled her aside and screamed at her.

The clopping of nearby footsteps alerts Sunset to Twilight's approach. She looked up, seeing the girl with a warm smile spread across her face. That let Sunset relax, at least a little.

"How is she?" she asked.

"Tempest is hanging in there," Twilight replied. "She says they'll probably cut her some sort of deal for rolling over onto Storm King. It's not amnesty or anything, but I think it's the best we can hope for."

"Oh thank goodness," said Fluttershy, and Twilight was once again struck by the timid girl's capacity for kindness, considering how Tempest had treated her.

Sunset breathed a content breath. At least this fiasco had a happy ending, even if it hadn't come entirely from their efforts.

"So," she began, awkwardly, "I'm sorry, everybody."

Twilight immediately looked concerned. "Sunset, it wasn't your fault. There's no way you could've predicted they were on to us that quickly."

"Yeah! And now we have these beauties on us!" said Rainbow, thumping her scars proudly. "Look at me, I'm—"

She was silenced by a glare from Applejack.

"Rainbow," said the farmer, "as much as I enjoy competing with you over these here scars, this is serious."

"Don't worry about those, darling," Rarity chimed in. "They look fine. And if you'd like to cover them up, I have so many makeup tips to share!"

"Ew! No!" Rainbow responded.

"My point is," Sunset continued, "I was the one who prompted us to do this. But I wasn't thinking of the consequences, of what could happen to you guys. I should've been more careful, or maybe you wouldn't have been kidnapped." She looked at Twilight with renewed determination in both eyes. "Don't get me wrong, I don't regret us starting this little crusade. We took down the Storm King, after all. But nobody should've gotten hurt like that. I'm sorry."

Twilight cringed as she remembered the electric shock pulsing through her skin. She remembered the sheer terror as she woke up chained in that warehouse, wondering if she was about to die. She gingerly touched the scar that sat on her neck.

"I'm not mad, Sunset," Twilight answered, finally. "If we'd gone with my position from the beginning, we never would've stopped Storm King, and who knows how many people would've gotten hurt. Tempest might've never turned on Storm King. I'm glad we did it." A small smile found its way to her face. "Can we please be a bit more careful next time, though?"

Sunset returned the smile. "Lord, I hope so."