I couldn't believe what I was staring at.

The wicked scar that zipped through my side looked more at place on a piece of meat than on my body. I took a step forward, tilted my head, even prodded at the stitches with a hoof.

No matter what I did however, it didn't make the illusion fade away. The grotesque scar remained in me, taunting me.

It took every ounce of will to fight the tears in my eyes.

I crumpled on the bed, buried my head in the sheets. One of the nurses must've heard me, as a voice asked, "Oh, are you okay?" from behind the closed curtain.

I didn't respond to her. My hooves were balled into tight fists, gripping the bed as if I was strangling it. If the bed was the monster who did this to me, I would've in a heartbeat.

Who do they think they are, doing this to me. Is this some kind of sick revenge? Was one disfigurement not enough? Did they have to pour salt on the wound?

The curtain pulled back, a rather surprised-looking unicorn on the other side. I whirled around, screamed in the loudest voice I could manage.

"GIVE ME TWO MORE MINUTES!"

The unicorn froze, her face a mix of confusion and deep, deep regret. If I wasn't so distraught, the sight could've been hilarious. She yanked the curtain back over, concealed me as fast as I was revealed.

"Sorry!" she called. "Sorry, I'm sorry. Sorry..."

Breathe, Tempest. I forced myself to breathe. Pain flooded my right side, but I trudged through it. I forced myself to breathe again, let the pain wrap around like a barbed-wire blanket.

It hurt. But it was familiar. Comforting even.

It was then when I realized the hospital was dead silent. A bit could drop and it would be as loud as a tolling church bell.

I sat up from the bed, put my head up high and proud. My cheeks burned from embarrassment, so I tossed the black coat on, flipped the collar to conceal my blushing face.

I sucked in another breath, readied myself for the plunge.

When I stepped through the curtain, all eyes were on me. Judging eyes. Pitiful eyes. Fearful eyes. Some of them flicked to my horn, and I could do nothing but grit my teeth and take it.

They're all lesser than you, a voice told me. Inferior. Weak.

You are strong.

And just like that, the stares became easier to bear.

It wasn't long before the royal guardsponies barged back in the room. By their side was a terrified sky-blue unicorn, with a block of ice as her cutie mark.

The nurse from before, I thought to myself.

The guardsponies approached me, gave me a glare akin to a parent to their filly. I looked away.

"Tempest Shadow," he said. "We will now see the princess."

"Good," I snapped back. "I was tired of this place anyways."

There were two major hospitals in Canterlot: one to the west, and one to the east. I was sent to the western one.

Technically we were closer to the castle than the eastern hospital. There was a northeast road that lead right to its very gates.

However, the guards had different plans. Instead, we went east to the city center, then snaked our way up main street. We were actually taking longer than if I was admitted to the eastern one. The city center was located a block away for the eastern, compared to several for the western.

I soon discovered the reason however.

Littered throughout the streets is debris of all kinds. Shattered columns laid next to decimated shop fronts and piles of broken wood. Glass lined the sides of buildings, and hay covered the streets like confetti.

Some of the hay was dry with blood.

I pulled myself from the sight. Something told me I should have felt happy. I should have felt accomplished to have done so much damage. This is what the ponies deserve, I told myself. They brought this upon themselves.

But all it did was deepen the void in my stomach.

The castle didn't look much better. More shattered pillars, more debris scattered about. My head tilted upward, stared at the balcony where I fought the Storm King.

For a moment, I could see myself still dangling there.

The guardsponies took me through the front gate, walked me down the massive corridors. The inside was surprisingly pristine, like the eye of a storm. Some of the vases were broken, and the furniture was tossed about, likely looted by the Storm Guard from earlier.

But besides that, it was untouched. Almost beautiful, I thought to myself.

They brought me before a set of doors. I hadn't had a chance to see this room, as the castle was massively big and I was tasked to find the Princess of Friendship. I didn't have time for sightseeing.

The thick maple entrance had half a stylized sun carved in the left door, and half a crescent moon in the right. Together, they formed one perfect circle, matching one another exactly.

At least they didn't skimp on the art budget, I thought to myself.

A guard stepped up to the doors, knocked his hoof against it two times. A voice called from within, a voice I instantly recognized.

"Come in!"

The doors opened. Standing in the room, wings spread, was the Princess of Friendship. Her back was turned, focused on a set of books and scrolls spread on a dark mahogany desk. Her horn was alight, shining with violet magic as she organized the notes by urgency, then alphabetically.

She then turned to me, and my heart stopped.

I had seen the Princess many times before, so this shouldn't have been any different. But as the afternoon sun shined through her silky lavender mane, her deep velvet eyes catching just the hint of a sparkle...

It was like seeing her for the first time.

The heat rushed back in my cheeks. I turned my head down, pretended to prune my mane.

It seemed to have worked, as neither Twilight nor the Royal Guard brought up the horrible blush in my cheeks. Instead, the guard from before cleared his throat and addressed Twilight.

"Princess Twilight," he said in a deep, demanding voice. "The prisoner you requested to see."

"Leave her here. I can take care of her."

I continued to prune my mane. I didn't trust my cheeks to not flush at the sight of her again. Not yet, at least.

"Yes Princess," he said. "We'll be right outside."

"Thank you, guards."

Hoofsteps receded behind me. Doors closed. I don't know what happened next, as suddenly there was silence, and all I could see were the marble tiles beneath my hooves.

She must've been staring at me, as seconds were ticking by and nothing was happening. Absolutely nothing.

My heart pounded. Sweat began to bead. I cleared my throat, glanced toward the door, but she was dead silent.

What was she doing?!

Hoofsteps. Approaching, not receding this time.

Clop clop.

Clop clop.

I swallowed. My throat was dry.

Clop clop.

Clop clop.

Run, a voice called. Now's your chance. But my legs were frozen solid.

Clop clop.

I spun my head around, stared at the ground to gather my courage. Maybe if I stared her dead in the eye, she would be intimidated and back off.

Clop clop.

It was too late. I could see her shadow, feel my fur stand up as she came right next to me.

Clop.

Everything froze. My legs were stiff as a brick, my lungs firmly sealed against it's inner walls. I couldn't move, couldn't see, couldn't think.

Clop.

I stood absolutely still as the Princess of Friendship stood next to me.

I don't know why I was so distressed standing next to her. I paid little mind to her title, or the royal station she supposedly held. Before my capture, I paid little mind to any title or station, minus the Storm King I served. And even so, he was the only one I bowed my head for because I wanted something out of him.

Something he didn't deliver of course.

So what froze me?

I looked down to my left hoof, remembered the warmth that touched it. That must've been the answer, I thought to myself. It wasn't respect; it was debt. Servitude. I owed the Princess my life. Every breath I took, every move I made, was thanks to her.

She grabbed on tight, and never let go.

Was this her plan all along? I asked myself. Was this her cruel genius at work? Wait for the Storm King to betray me, then save my life so I owed her?

Fury flooded my veins. I was stripped of power. She latched a collar around my ideals just like she had my hooves. She wanted to put me in the wrong, to become the traitor the Storm King and many others were to me in my life.

She wouldn't get her wish. I'd faster be dead than the filthy hypocrites who betrayed me.

While I processed all of this, the Princess continued to wait, like an owner waiting for her dog to roll over.

My breath quickened as her warmth touched my fur.

My heart hammered as her breath touched my skin. All the effects of her sinister, malicious trap no doubt. An assault on my dignity far greater than any magic she could cast on me.

Or was this magic?

It wasn't until later that I realized her breath was a long and hearty sigh.

I finally had the courage to look up. Her eyes were turned, averted away from me. She stood close, claustrophobically so, but far enough to make those two hoofsteps feel like two miles. You could see the sadness in her eyes, how they threatened to burst like the floodgates of Hoofer Dam.

I recognized the look from when I captured, no. Stole her away from her friends.

I recognized it from my own eyes.

The sight was too much to bear. I closed my eyes, mustered the little breath I had in my tight, tense lungs. I swallowed my spit, wet my lips with my tongue to speak.

I then spoke to her.

"Princess?"

She turned, looked at me as if awoken from a dream.

I spoke to her again. "You wanted to speak to me?"

The Princess stood up, brushed a hoof along the brim of her mane. "Yes. Yes, I did. Ahem," she said, trying to hide the sorrow in her eyes. I watched it recede, peel away until there was nothing but a mare of royalty again.

Strong. Authoritative. Wise.

Fake.

"How are you? How is your injury?" she asked.

Small talk. Politeness. Nothing but foreplay to the real topic, I thought to myself.

"It's fine," I muttered under my breath. "Tolerable. Nothing compared to the shackles on my hooves."

"Ah, well," she said, tipping her head to the side. "You know these things. You being a 'Mass Destroyer of Equestria' and all," she chuckled sheepishly. "Personally, if I was in-charge, I wouldn't mind you walking around uncuffed."

Kindness. Good will. Trying to drop my guard and trust her.

"What do you want?" I asked.

She stopped, a frown across her face. There was pain in her eyes from my bitterness. Good, I thought to myself. Serves her right for trying to deceive me.

"I wanted to ask you about the fight," she said. "On the balcony."

Wind. Howling. Pain. I'm airborne again.

"What about it?" I gritted my teeth, forced myself to the ground.

"I wanted to ask why you saved me and my friends."

My eyes widened.

I was back on the balcony again, pain searing through my right hip. The storm was receding, breaking through to sunny skies. The Princess was with her friends, huddled together in a... a hug. They were smiling, laughing together. Enjoying together.

Jealousy panged in my chest. I turned away, began plotting my escape.

That was when the Storm King climbed back onto the balcony.

Something flashed in his hand. A green apple? No. An obsidian orb. Glowing with petrifying magic.

He took aim at Twilight and her friends.

I couldn't let him do that.

"Look out!" I cried, but they were reacting too slow. My hooves charged forward toward the Storm King, powered a beam to pierce straight through his heart.

But my magic sparked.

It sparked, then fizzled, then sparked again. I realized it wasn't going to fire in time, that I failed, that I was too weak.

I refused to be weak.

My hooves took me past the ponies, straight into the Storm King. The orb was airborne by the time I reached him. It shattered against my chest.

Cold. Endless, unrelenting, painful cold.

I felt the gas bite into my fur, swirled and ballooned around until it began to solidify. My lungs took one last gasp of air, then exhaled sharply to keep the gas out of my lungs.

I needed my strength.

I needed it for one last push.

My body shoved as hard as it could, drove the Storm King and I over the edge. I flailed as I was airborne, but the searing cold snaked down my chest, across my belly, and into my legs. All feeling became none, every inch became numb.

Immobilized.

Frozen.

I was falling.

The next thing I could recall, I was waking in a bed, in a hospital with the same color pallet as a polar bear in a snow storm.

That must have been what the Princess was talking about, I thought as I returned from the memory. She's asking why I saved her and her friends. Why I sacrificed myself for them.

Looking back on it now, I wasn't sure myself.

Maybe it was hate? The hate of him backstabbing me, the hate of being turned into a tool for the second time in my life.

Maybe it was foolishness. I wasn't thinking at the time. I was emotional. Irrational. Stupid.

Maybe it was debt. I wanted to repay what I owed to her. I wanted to wipe the slate clean.

The answer I said were none of the above.

Author's Note

Big thanks to WordSPark37 and my new secondary pre-reader, MrDerpface, for looking through this in-advance for you guys! They're helping me insure this story is as awesome as possible for you all to enjoy.

Feel free to leave a thanks on their user pages! I'd really appreciate it!

Thanks for commenting and liking everyone!

It appears that many of you would like for me to continue this story. I'll certainly do my best to live up to your expectations!

Chapter 3 is already in the works. I imagine I'll have a rough draft ready within a few days, then hand it over to my pre-readers for review. Deadlines stress me out, so I unfortunately don't have an exact date. I'd like to release it by next week though.

Thanks for the support again!