The Trottingham Train station seemed rather barren and bleak as not hardly a soul was present save for a couple employees sweeping and dusting trying their best to make the old delapedated building look presentable. Tempest, Twilight and company merely kept to themelves as they walked outside.

Outside Luna's night had overtaken the land and the thick clouds made things even darker. Thankfully old oil filled street lamps shined brightly giving some breaks in the darkness showing the subtle beauty of the cobblestone streets below.

"Well, it is rather....rustic." Lavender chuckled. "Even in comparison to Canterlot."

"Well Trottingham is one of the oldest cities in Equestria." Twilight remarked. "Infact I believe Starswirl actually helped the origional baron of the land plan the cities layout.

"That he did." Luna agreed. "I was just a little filly back then myself, but I remember him bragging to everypony he'd meet about how proud he was of the project. " Luna chuckled.

"That's nice and all" Tempest interjected. "But maybe we save the history lessons for afterwards" She scowled as she trotted down the steps in a huff.

"Tempest is right. We need to focus on finding an inn for the night and making a plan on how we'll locate Spring Rain." Twilight stated.

"And so we shall. Now come, I know just the place." Luna smiled.

Twilight looked around admitingly somewhat confused. She had expected Luna to take them to some old manor or maybe a cottage by Lake Ness, but instead they were at some dive called "The Rusty Horseshoe Bar + Inn. Around them were drunken Earth ponies arguing, Griffons and Dragons gambling and some unicorn mares Twilight could only guess were offering the stallions in the joint a very specific kind of company.

"This? This is where we're staying? A dive bar!?" Twilight asked Luna rather paniced.

"Yes, and do not be so quick to judge Twilight Sparkle." Luna replied in a serious tone. "This dive as you call it was a favorite of Starswirl's and I myself am well aquainted with the current owner." Luna smiled.

"Basically we stay here we get rooms for free" Lavander chimmed in.

Twilight just rolled her eyes and huffed. She still didn't agree, but its not like she could change Luna's mind, even if she tried.

"Well Tempest. Looks like we're roughing it tonight." She chuckled. Looking over only to find Tempest no longer by her side. "Tempest!? Tempest!?" She paniced looking around the dive.

"You ahh *burp* lookin fer that filly with the broken horn yea came in with? " Twilight heard a old raspy voice ask. Twilight turned around to see a rather gruff looking Diamond Dog.

"Yes, have you seen her?" Twilight asked, rather worried.

"Yea, *hic* saw her go up to the bar, guess *burp* she wanted a drink." The Dog chuckled.

"Well, ah, thank you" Twilight akwardly smiled as she rushed off to find Tempest and get away from the intoxicated mutt.

Tempest just starred into her mug of cider and sloshed it around watching her reflection shake in the liquid. "You know, getting a drink is more fun with friends." She heard a soft voice tell her. Tempest looked around to see Twilight. "Oh, hey." She sighed.

Twilight set in the seat beside her, a concerned look on her face. "Hey, what's wrong?" She asked putting her hoof on Tempest's.

"I guess, i'm just....nervous." Tempest sighed.

"Why?" Twilight asked, now even more concerned.

"I, I just have a feeling, deep in my gut, I, I feel like something really bad is going to happen tommorow when we confront Spring." Tempest sighed as she took a rather large swig of her cider.

"Don't worry. No matter what happens i'll be right there by your side." Twilight reassured her.

"Well then, here's to friends" Tempest chuckled holding up her mug. "To friends" Twilight replied in turn holding up her own glass and clanging it against Tempest's as the two set and drank together.

"How many glasses of cider did you two drink!?" Luna asked rather angrily as she levitated Twilight and Tempest up the stairs towards their rooms.

"Juss...juss a cup, cupple *hic*" Twilight replied. "Yea, juss, a f, few too take off the edge fa tamarrow" Tempest chimed in with a rather unlady like burp.

"And of course they mean a couple dozen no doubt." Lavender chuckled.

"I can't believe you two!" Luna scolded. "You're all concerned about staying on task and you get sloshed!" Luna angrily huffed as she opened the door to Twilight's and Tempests room, tossing them on their bed.

"I'll use a sobering spell on you in the morning if you need one, but for now you'll have to deal with the ramifications of your actions." The princess huffed as she slammed the door to head to her and Lavender's room.

"Thoose princesses *burp* are succc hyp, hypocrates." Tempest blurted.

"Hay, don't *hic* inuslt my sisters" Twilight drunkingly huffed.

"Thay, day aren't yer sisters" Tempest laughed.

"Yea huh!" Twilight argued. "My broffer married Cadence, who is Celestia's niece so *burp* that means by marriage all other princesses are my sisters." Twilight laughed.

"I don think thats how that works" Tempest interjected. "Is too" Twilight huffed.

"Well then maybe I should marry a princess so *hic* i'll be their sister too" Tempest chuckled.

"You, you bettte naught. If, if you try, if you marry any, any pony other then m, then me i, i'll send em to the moon!" Twilight objected.

"Well, good thing you're a princess too then." Tempest replied.

Twilight just paused for a minute. "Oh....yea." she realized "that's good." She chuckled as she felt a sudden wave of tirdness wash over her as she slowly fell asleep as she embraced Tempest.

"Mmm, hmmm" Tempest replied as she two fell victim to her own exhaustion & intoxication.

"My head is killing me!" Twilight whinned as she sipped her morning tea.

"Ugg" Tempest agreed in kind.

"Good, maybe next time you'll be both less judgemental and more responsible." Luna sneered at the two.

"Uhuhhuh. Sobering spell, now. Please" Tempest whinned.

Luna just smiled deviously "Only after Lavender has returned with her intel and we know where we need to go."

"You're so mean." Twilight pouted.

"Tough love is often the best kind to teach one a lesson" Luna stated.

Thankfully however as soon as Luna finished Lavender barged in. "I found it. Spring's shop. I know where to go!" She smiled triumphantly.

"Ok, now you may have relief." Luna smiled.

The group slowly trotted down the cobblestone streets of Trottingham. The sky cloudy as a light sprinkle of rain fell from the heavens to the ground below as the citizens of the town slowly went about their business. A young colt selling papers on a street corner, an old earth stallion selling some less then fresh looking fruit and a pegasus mare doing her best to set-up her tent so she could start selling her wears for the day, whatever they may be .

Tempest just looked around the old city as the nervous feeling inside her grew. Luna may have healed her and Twilight's hangover, but the feeling of dread from the night before still hung over her.

"Are you ok?" Twilight asked in her now all to familiar concerned tone.

"Honestly, I am not sure." Tempest sighed. "Being here, it's just. I know Trottingham is much larger then my fillyhood home, but the Cobblestone streets, the rustic design, it reminds me so much of Pranceton, it is....unnerving" Tempest stuttered.

"It's ok. Remember, we're all here for you. I'm here for you." Twilight softly smiled as she put her wing around Tempest's torso.

"And I am very greatful for that." Tempest softly smiled as she looked back at her princess.

"So, what can you tell us of this Spring Rain we will soon meet?" Luna asked from behind.

"Well..." Tempest sighed as she searched for memories through her still healing mind. "He, he was a very....serious young colt. He had a short temper, and would often get mad at Glitter and I for not playing games right, whatever that means." She chuckled. "I would often get into arguments with him over such, though that isn't anything odd is it?" She asked.

"Of course not." Twilight chuckled. "I used to argue with Spike & Shining Armor all the time when I was a filly."

"This childhood reminiscing is cute and all." Lavender interrupted. "But we're here."

Tempest and Twilight just looked-up and saw the little shop with a sign in the center that read. "Spring's Clockwork Emporium." The two just looked at each other and gulped. "Well, I guess its now or never." Tempest rasped as she slowly trotted towards the enterance.

Spring Rain set behind the display as he fiddled with a pocket watch he had promised to fix for a customer as hundreds of other clocks & watches ticked and tocked around him. "Any minute now." He sighed as she set the watch down and looked at his reflection in the glass of the display case. His dark blue mane well brushed and his light blue fur accented well by his white button-up suite and brown sleveless jacket atop it making him look rather dashing.

"Well old being, if you're going to go out, might as well go out in style." He chuckled as he stroked his mane. All of a sudden the door opened and the bell chimed. "Ahh, right on time he thought."

The unicorn stallion just watched as the group entered his shop and stared at him coldly, then quickly becoming rather confused by his lack of reaction.

"Hello Berry, long time no see." He replied in a non-chelaunt tone.

"Hello Spring." She scowled.

"I was wondering how long it would take for you to find me Fizzy. I've been waiting you know." Spring Rain chuckled as he went back to fiddling with the pocket watch.

"Is that so." Tempest sneered doing her best to keep her cool at the obvious lack at her old friends surprise to see her alive and well.

"Yes quite. You see i've had this nagging feeling for months now. At first I thought my horn was on the fritz, but then I realized it was more of one of those silly sixth sense things about something ominious on the horizon, so I eventually came to the conclusion that you had returned. Though I admit I didn't expect you to bring princesses along with you." He mocked.

"So then you know why i'm here." Tempest huffed, her anxiety and anger rising.

"I imagine so." He replied. "No doubt you already tracked down Glitter and Lemon and got their stories, so now you just need mine." He sighed.

"More or less" Tempest huffed.

"Fair enough." He chuckled deviously. Then i'll gladly give it to you."

Twilight and the others were in awe at the audacity of this pony, completly ignoring princesses of Equestria to focuses solely on taunting and mocking Tempest.

Spring Rain's horn began to glow as the room became dim and a projection eminated off the reflections of the various clockfaces.

"Once upon a time there was a young colt, and all things considered he was happy." Spring sighed. "He was friends with the mayor's daughter and the baron's daughter and, whatever the heck Glitter's parents were." He laughed. "But his happiness didn't last, his mother left his father for some fancy pegasus and his home made him sad." Spring sighed once more. "After that the colt's father, the only guardspony in town grew distant as well and the colt's heart began to grow cold. He noticed how his friends were happy, how one in particular had such a perfect life with loving parents and ever growing magic powers." Spring scowled as an image of Fizzlepop and her parents appeared. " Then one day the Baron's daughter told the colt how she too was jealous of the filly and suggested we find a way to scare her. The young colt agreed and concoted a plan. Though, he didn't just want her scared, he wanted her gone!" Spring screeched.

"What!?" Tempest gasped.

"That's right, I knew the Ursa was there. I knew it would be awake. The others just wanted you scared. But I wanted you dead!" Spring laughed.

"Why, you!" Twilight growled, enraged ready to strike the pony. "No wait. Let him finish." Tempest interjected as she put her hoof infront of Twilight, her face serious, a mixture of rage and sorrow.

Spring just chuckled. "And though you survived the attack, you did lose your horn, so in the end the colt was satisfied with that. And even happier when you ran away. Though the rest of the town wasn't." He huffed angrily. "For years your parents and the townsponies looked for you endlessly until Lemon sadly grew a concious and told me we should go to your parents and offer to help look as well, even come clean if nessecary." He scowled as an image of Tempest's childhood home appeared. "So we did."

"I don't like where this is going." Lavander whispered to Luna.

Spring cleared his throat. "Of course while there Glitter & Lemon came clean about the incident and your father was quite enraged by it, your mother in tears. Your father and I got into a fight as Glitter and Lemon ran like cowards. The next thing I knew he was throwinng anything his magic could grab at me, so I did the same. I threw a log from the fireplace right at his horn and there was an explosion. I made it out by the skin of my flank, but i'm afraid your parents weren't so lucky and burned down with the manor.'' Spring mockingly sobbed. "But of course with no witnesses coming forward it was merely believed that two grieving parents had fallen to sorrow and decided to burn it all to ash." He finished.

Tempest just stood there and shook as tears rolled down her eyes to her cheeks and the floor below. The story had been too much, the projections too vivid, she couldn't take it, she was disgusted by Spring's words but she was to engulfed to sorrow to react in anger.

"You monster! You psychopath!!" Twilight shouted as her wings unfirled and her horn began to glow with an intense force.

"You think just because she was happy she deserved to be punished!?" Twilight sceamed as she shot a burst of energy at the display shatering it.

"You think just because her parents loved each other, loved her and yours didn't you had the right to take that away!?" Twilight screeched blowing up more of the clocks with magical bursts. "I should end you Spring Rain, I should end you right here and now!" Twilight sobbed.

"That is quite enough Ms. Sparkle Luna interrupted as she slowly walked past the young princess and towards the stallion.

"Spring Rain, for the crimes of Conspiracy, Attempted Murder, Arson, and two counts of Ponyslaughter you are to be placed under arrest by the authority of myself and the royal guard. You will be transported to the Canterlot dungeons where you shall stay until your trial where my sister and I shall pass sentence on you for your crimes." Luna stated as Lavender approached the stallion and slapped his hoofs in chains.

Twilight calmed down as she saw the sight and looked back at Tempest who was still shaking and sobbing, her hooves over her eyes. Twilight ran over to the mare and embraced her hoof and wing and did her best to consoul her. "Sshh, shh, it's ok, its ok. He won't hurt you ever again, I promise." Twilight sobbed in kind. "It's over now, it's over, the princesses will put him in Tartarus for his crimes, he will never hurt you or any pony ever again, its over." Twilight tried to reassure here.

"N, no its not." Tempest exclaimed between sobs. "I, I still need t, to go home. I, i still need to go home, t, to apologize and s, say goodbye to my parents, p, properly. W, we need to go back to Pranceton." Tempest exclaimed as she continued to sob into Twilight's fur. The rain outside falling ever faster.

Author's Note

Well that was super intense. Spring you sociopath may you rot in Tartarus!

It's ok Tempest, Twilight will always be there to comfort you.

Anywho only 2 chapters left. Next Time: Tempest returns home as we wrap-up the reconciliation arc and head to our feels filled finale!