Author's Note

Sorry this chapter took so long to add; school doesn't help in this regard. Although I'll probably be able to update more frequently after summer starts, just know that you should expect long waits in-between chapters.

Your patience is appreciated, and I hope you guys enjoy!

Chapter 1

A Month and a half later, one day after the events of the movie...

Ponyville, Equestria

*knock, knock*

Tempest Shadow- former commander of the Storm King's fleet- was roused from her slumber by the noise. Her days serving the Storm King made her a light sleeper- such was necessary for when you were out on active duty, and the military of a defending empire could try to launch an ambush on the King's army while they slept. Of course, now she no longer lead such a life.

Princess Twilight had offered Tempest a guest room in the castle, at least until she could get back on her hooves. An offer that Tempest was gracious for- she wasn't going to lie, the Friendship Festival was more exhausting than some of the battles that she had participated in in the past. She had discarded her armor the previous night at the party- she no longer needed it, after all.

There was more knocking on the door, and she finally shifted out of bed to answer whoever it was. She trotted over to the door, and opened it to see none other than Grubber on the other side. He too had been offered a room at the Castle of Friendship, at least for the time being; even after the disbanding of the Storm King's army, with the Storm Beasts going their own separate ways, the hedgehog was loyally sticking by Tempest's side. She wouldn't mind saying that she was actually quite glad that he did; thinking back, he was the closest thing she had to a friend under the Storm King's command, and she wouldn't be ashamed to call him one for that reason.

"Um, Tempest?"

Grubber's speaking snapped the scarred unicorn out of her reverie. She looked down at him.

"Yes?"

"We're having cinnamon-roll pancakes for breakfast. You gotta come and try them out!"

And with that, Grubber sprinted off towards the kitchen, in order to have some of these pancakes. Tempest followed, curious to try something to eat that wasn't nuts, hardtack, or dried fruit(all things that were eaten on active military duty in the military, due to being both inexpensive and nutritious).

She entered the kitchen, and was greeted by the smell of cinnamon, brown sugar, and pecans. Turning the corner, she saw only Twilight at the table, who herself was looking over a variety of papers as she was waiting for her food.

'All of her friends must be asleep.' she thought. 'Whatever she's currently doing must be really important, for her to be up this early.'

The former soldier took a seat at said table, and it was only then that the Princess noticed her arrival.

"Ah, good morning, Tempest."

Tempest herself was going to reply, only to be interrupted by Grubber groaning.

"When is everyone going to wake uuuuup? Just waiting to have these pancakes is killing me!"

"Spike's still cooking, for one, and we'll eat once everyone is awake." Twilight spoke in a deadpan tone, not breaking her vision from the papers she had now returned to levitating in front of her face.

"If we wait until everyone is up, the food will be freezing by then! Here, I'll just go grab them and bring them to the table! That way we can eat when the pancakes come on our own time!"

This succeeded in snapping the alicorn out of her concentration, tearing herself away from the papers. "Grubber, wai--"

Before she could finish, the hedgehog was gone in a blur of black, gray and blue, and was back a second later with every other member of the Mane Six, setting them down at their own chairs, all miraculously still asleep given their swift relocation. Grubber himself bolted back to his own seat, fork and knife clutched in his grasp and napkin tucked in his shirt.

Both were bewildered by what they have just witnessed. "Grubber," Tempest inquired, "may I ask- how in the actual Tartarus did you do that?"

"Anyone can do anything with motivation." He simply said. "Mine being food."

"Alright, who's hungry?"

They all turned to see Spike carrying a tower of pancakes, drizzled in cinnamon creme, brown sugar, and pecans, as the scent wavering from the kitchen foreshadowed. The dragon set them down at the table, although his face contorted into one of confusion at seeing most of it's inhabitants still asleep.

The arrival of the pancakes, however, changed that. The scent of the pancakes began to rouse the other members of the Mane Six from their slumber, Rarity being the first.

"Wh-hu-whas..." The white unicorn semi-consciously mumbled, wiping cucumbers and face mask creme from her face.

Everypony else woke up, and they were just as confused as Spike was that they were already at the table- kudos to Applejack for voicing this fact.

"How... did we even get here?"

"That would be Grubber. Don't ask me how, because we don't know either." Twilight stated, earning a confident smirk from Tempest's number two.

"Well, we're all here now," Grubber said, hungrily, "so let's eat!"

And eat they did. The table's residents all enjoyed the pancakes, especially Grubber(who ate anything either sweet or sugary) and Tempest(again, who was always up for eating anything that wasn't the dry military food that they ate under the Storm King's command).

Soon afterwards, the Mane Six themselves went off to their jobs and professions, such as Pinkie's career at the bakery, or Rarity's as a fashionista. Since Tempest and Grubber had no jobs to speak of, they ultimately agreed to simply tour Ponyville and see what there was to see. As they walked through the streets, they mostly received looks of either fear or hatred, both understandable. Tempest tried to pay them no heed, but she couldn't help but hear the whispers:

"Here comes the traitor. We should probably leave, everyone."

"The Princesses were fools to pardon that renegade."

"Isn't that the scarred creep that attacked Canterlot?"

"We better keep an eye on her, in case she tries anything."

Grubber noticed the withdrawn look on his friend's face. Wondering why that was, he looked and listened out for why she was so sullen- and got his answer soon enough.

"I hope that wretch leaves soon. She attacked our home- her home- and expects to walk free in our town. Audacity at it's strongest."

"Twilight is an imbecile to accept that cur."

Grubber placed a comforting claw on her shoulder, to which Tempest reacted, looking down at the hedgehog.

"Don't listen to those guys- remember, you also saved the city. If they can't acknowledge that, then screw 'em."

The unicorn smiled gratefully at his friend's reassurance, her confidence bolstered again. They continued looking around town, stopping at a variety of locations around town, including Sugarcube Corner(Grubber was hungry), Sweet Apple Acres(Grubber was still hungry), and Cafe Hay(Grubber's appetite was that of a black hole- completely bottomless).

Speaking of which, as they sat down at their seats at the cafe, Tempest noticed that someone else was sitting at that same table. Most of this stranger was shrouded by an opened newspaper, but what she could distinguish was that a pair of brown paws were clutching it. She returned to waiting for her meal.

Wait- brown paws?

"Capper?"

She wasn't disappointed- when the individual lowered the paper, it revealed itself to be the feline con artist, still decked in the attire Rarity had gifted him during the Festival of Friendship just a night prior.

"Ah, Tempest." He greeted warmly, his signature inviting grin on his face. "What a pleasant surprise."

"The same. How have you been?"

"Ah, I'm just hanging around town, just figuring out what I'm going to do with my life now that the Storm King's gone."

It was then that a waiter came over- a brown-coated unicorn with a black mane and a silver platter Cutie Mark. "How may I help you three?"

"Just a hay sandwich, please."

"And a warm glass of milk for me, if you don't mind."

Although perturbed by Capper's offer, the waiter brought his attention to Grubber.

"And you?"

"I would like a triple chocolate milkshake, a large root beer float, a triple-Decker daffodil sandwich with hay fries, and a medium salad with extra dressing."

Tempest had to stifle a laugh at the waiter's dumbstruck face. Said waiter quickly recollected his posture and gave a nod. "Of course, sir."

The waiter went over to the chefs, reading off his orders.

"A hay sandwich, a warmed glass of milk, and..."

He leaned into the chef's ear.

"One Pubescent Teen Special."

Meanwhile, back at the table, Tempest returned to talking to Capper. "A glass of milk?" She asked, just as confused as the waiter was.

"I'm a cat. So sue me."

It was then the three heard a yell of pain, over by the rustic cottages that made up the town. They turned to the source of the noise, which happened to be in one of the alleyways.

"We better go check that out." Tempest voiced, concerned.

They all got up, only for the two to turn to Grubber.

"You better stay here, Grubs-man." Capper insisted. "Whatever's going on over there, I don't think you'd last long against it."

Grubber huffed in disappointment, pouting, but stayed at the table as he was requested. And with that, the feline and broken-horned unicorn followed the sounds of agony towards their source.

When they finally found it, they were horrified.

A gang of twelve armed ruffians were hounding on a Storm Creature, beating it with clubs and their own hooves, as well as firing crossbow bolts into it's body. The abused being was in bad shape, tears of either pain or fear streaming from it's eyes as it maintained a defense curl, hoping to lessen the impact of the weaponry. A black-coated earth pony stallion with a red mane, a baseball Cutie Mark and a baseball bat with nails hammered into it- supposedly the crooks' leader- harshly turned the Storm Creature onto it's back and struck it in the face with his weapon, cracking it's mask-face. As it tried to crawl away from it's assaulters, one of the thugs kicked it's arms, knocking him prone once again.

"You have nerve to come here after what you nearly did to Equestria, creature." The leader spat as he approached the Storm Creature, ready for another strike.

But neither Capper nor Tempest were having any of it. Firing an arc of energy from her horn, it struck the Earth Pony's weapon, both destroying it and getting his attention.

"What the-" His face contorted into one of rage. "It's you. Tempest Shadow."

Once again adopting her soldier mentality, Tempest slowly walked toward the group, Capper following behind her. "I'm going to keep it short and sweet- I may no longer be an enforcer for any warlord, but my combat prowess hasn't faded overnight because of this. Let this Storm Creature go without a fight, and I can guarantee the beds you will sleep in tonight will be your own, not the hospitals- and I can also guarantee that your sleep won't be permanent, either."

The thug leader laughed. "Such tough words for a broken shell of a unicorn. I want to see how tough you are without your army covering your back."

"So be it." Tempest said, adopting a cocky yet grim smile. She turned her head to Capper. "You have any weapons you could use?"

Capper retracted a set of sharp nails from his fingertips, answering her question.

They both rushed toward the gang of ponies, who themselves, including the leader, did the same. Tempest, mid-charge, let loose with a devastating bolt of electricity towards one of the thugs, a cobalt Pegasus mare. Not only did the shockblast completely char the ruffian, but it chained to a gruff-looking, aqua Unicorn stallion, who still suffered a bad burn but still stood his ground, staying alive even as lightning crackled along his flesh.

Meanwhile, Capper had completely thrown himself into the tide(having no other option). A blue Earth Pony mare swung a right hook at the feline, whom, in spite of his feline agility, was still hit hard in the ribs by the punch. He retaliated by raking his claws across her face, but only grazed the thug. Another Earth Pony, this time being a maroon male, pulled out a hoof crossbow and fired a bolt at Capper, who, this time, was successful in dodging the projectile, and ran over to deliver a claw attack to the offender. In stark contrast to his previous attack, this one cut deep; he was successful in tearing his feline talons through the foe's esophagus, effectively slicing the criminal's throat open.

Tempest was now resorting to hoof-to-hoof combat now that the thugs had closed in on her. She savagely kicked the burnt aqua unicorn in the chest, feeling his ribs collapse upon contact with her blow. As her comrade fell, the blue Earth Pony mare gripped Tempest into a headlock- only for the ex-commander to position her horn right at her chest and unleashed a blast of energy through her, an arc of lightning ripping through the Earth Pony's heart. As Tempest shoved aside her foe's scorched corpse, an orange Pegasus stallion ran up and delivered a strong buck to her side, while a cobalt Unicorn mare charged up and chopped her skull with her hoof; both blows were surprisingly effective against the war-hardened veteran, and the broken-horned unicorn found herself stunned.

Thankfully, her feline friend was there to cover her in her vulnerable state in a flash. In a blur of feline speed, Capper ran over to them, putting himself between the thugs and Tempest. The unicorn fired a beam of magic at him, which he dodged with a twirl, resulting in only the slight burning of his fur. As he twirled, he used the momentum to swing his claws into the cobalt pony's face; this proved to be effective, as his claws tore into bone, shredding into her face and exposing the white, hard material within. It had only been that he had missed any vital areas- he had only clawed into her chin and cheek- that kept her alive.

The orange Pegasus charged from behind his back and swung a club into the cat's back, who, with a back-flip, completely dodged the weapon and lashed out with his claws, tearing them down his face, leaving talon marks that raked past his eyes, through his muzzle, and breaking off right at his chin. The orange stallion's screams of pain were silenced by Tempest, who had recovered, punching his face in.

Giving the Abyssinian a grateful nod, she returned his selflessness by firing a blast of electricity at three of the thugs- the cobalt unicorn Capper had wounded, the leader, and a purple Earth Pony mare, all who had been hoping to pounce on him. She successfully disintegrated the unicorn, before making a running leap and kicking the leader out of the air with a blow to the lower jaw. She smiled in satisfaction when he heard said jaw crack.

However, this still left Capper open to attack from the Earth Pony, who lashed out with a ferocious buck to his right leg. Thankfully, Capper side-stepped the blow just in time and dug his claws into her flesh, merely striking her right foreleg. The purple thug recoiled in pain, backing off.

Meanwhile, Tempest was facing off against the five other thugs, including the boss. She sent a volley of eldritch bolts at them; three of them were moderately scorched, including the leader, while the other two were completely incinerated, charred beyond all hope.

Capper was still engaged in combat with the purple flunky, who lashed out with a right hook. Unlike the last punch he had suffered, he successfully dodged this one, before riposting with a claw swipe of his own, which tore across her muzzle, leaving it a shredded, bloody mess. Spitting out some of her own blood, she ended her focus on Capper and whipped around, running towards Tempest and lashing out with a buck to her flanks.

Yelping out of both surprise and pain, Tempest was knocked onto her back, where her attacker brought her face to the Unicorn's.

'Fatal mistake.' She thought, her horn sparking.

Unleashing a current of energy, she blasted the thug directly in the face, the latter falling backwards and collapsing. The warrior somersaulted back onto her hooves, not caring to see the fate of her victim.

"As you can see, your numbers are clearly obliterated, and you three are in no good shape yourselves." she announced, as Capper came up next to her. "So, I will give you one last chance to leave, both this Storm Guard alone and in general."

"Never!" the three surviving thugs bellowed, all in sync.

"Very well. The choice is yours to die with."

She began to charge her horn, and Capper once again unsheathed his claws, ready to-

"That's enough, Tempest Shadow and- Capper, is it?"

Hearing themselves be addressed, they both turned to see Mayor Mare, three Royal Guards accompanying her.

Tempest tried to explain the reason for the bloodbath she and Capper had caused. "Mayor, we--"

"You can talk when we're at the Royal Guard Department... we had best get this mess cleaned up that you caused."

They both looked around to see blood spattered across the alley walls, and the charred and torn corpses of the other thugs. Although this was no new sight to Tempest, being a former soldier, Capper sported a look that combined both nausea and horror; his mouth was agape, and he looked at his bloodstained paws.

"Guards, apprehend all six of these individuals. They certainly have a lot of explaining to do."

As the guards moved to do so, the scarred unicorn immediately withdrew into apprehension.

'Perfect. IMMEDIATELY after I get a royal pardon, I end up in trouble with the law. I can't wait for Princess Twilight and her friends to hear THIS... '

......

Capper honestly couldn't believe himself at the moment.

One moment, he had been a con artist who had only been out for money to pay off his debt to Verko.

The next, he had been the trusted friend of Rarity and her own compadres, eager to discard his old life.

And immediately after that moment, he was waiting in the hallway, to be potentially thrown into prison for a crime.

Only this crime hadn't been ripping someone off; it had been ripping someone up.

And that was the part he found hard to believe; that he had just ended the lives of multiple individuals, not too long ago.

The blood on his claws, sticky and slick on his skin; the coppery smell in the air from the blood spilled in the alleyway; the mangled and torn flesh on the thugs, handiwork of his own talons.

He had never killed before, even during his life of crime, and having done so horrified him, plaguing his thoughts even now. Once he had realized what he had done, he had become sicker than he had ever been in his entire life. It took all of his willpower not to throw up, and he still ended up doing so, eventually, though he had thankfully been in the Guard Department and had been close to a toilet when he had needed to.

He had been in a semi-catatonic state for most of his wait until the door opened to see Tempest leave, Grubber accompanying her.

"W-what did she say?" Capper asked, voice wavering.

"She's letting us go. She deemed our actions justified; the Storm Guard is getting treatment, and the surviving thugs are under arrest." She cast a glare down at Grubber.

"Hey," the hedgehog retorted, "You can't blame me for hearing that scuffle and telling the Mayor about it. Anyone with a sane mind would have wanted you two to be safe, and frankly, I'm surprised no one else heard that chaos anyway."

"Is this... becoming public?" Capper quivered, not fancying on being looked at with caution or even fear, especially from Rarity.

"Of course, you fool. At least, the actual occurrence is. I don't know whether or not they'll mention us, but nonetheless..." Tempest snarked, briefly losing control of herself. She stopped, then took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, Capper, it's just-"

"I know, I know. Afraid that Twilight will see you as worse. Me too, though with a different pony."

"I have to ask, though, why are you as shaken as you are about the fight? You used Princess Twilight's dragon as a flamethrower on an entire squadron of Storm Guards, for Faust's sake."

"We were running on both adrenaline and a goal, nobody actually died- amazingly- and there wasn't any blood spilled." The Abyssinian entered a fit of shivering, the very thought giving him chills. "And it doesn't help that I was never a soldier like you."

Silence, for a brief moment.

"Well," Tempest stated, "We better get going. Go see if your cape and hat are out of the wash."

Oh, yeah. His hat and cape had gotten bloodied during the fight, as well as they themselves; all parties had washed off thoroughly to get said blood and it's smell off.

The same hat and coat Rarity had gifted him, just yesterday.

'Oh, fudge me.' His thoughts were going to kill him long before Rarity would.

......

Tempest, Grubber and Capper all began to walk back to the Castle of Friendship, all in a more dour mood than before. As they entered, they were enthusiastically greeted by Twilight, who flew over to them in a blitz.

"Tempest! Capper! Grubber! I was just about to head out for you- we have very good news!"