Tempest awoke to the sound of banging on her bedroom door. She blearily opened her eyes and looked over to the door in question just as it was opened. John casually strolled in through the doorway, a large duffle bag resting on his back as he entered the smallish room. He quickly reached her bed and unslung his bag from his shoulders before gently placing it on the floor beside the bed.

Instead of the three-piece suit she'd previously seen him in, the human wore a pair of deep blue jeans, and a red flannel with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The top button wasn't fastened, allowing her to glimpse just a tiny amount of chest hair that peaked out from behind the shirt. His skin was noticeably more pale on his forearms and chest, as if he hadn't been out in the sun without his full suit on in years. Lastly, he carried a wooden crutch in his free hand. It was roughly the right size for her, although the thought of having to use it for the foreseeable future made Tempest wince.

"Feeling better yet?" He asked, setting the crutch against the nightstand.

Tempest looked down to her casted foreleg for a moment before looking back up to John and raising an eyebrow.

"Right, figured." John nodded.

Tempest observed him critically for a moment as he towered over her. His expression appeared calm and collected, but there was an undeniable tension that hung in the air over him. He quickly broke her from her observations by reaching into his pocket and pulling out a key. He leaned over the bed and grabbed her good foreleg, noticing how she tensed from the contact. His grip felt strong and firm, coiling around her comparatively thin leg like an anaconda, and holding her in place as he unlocked the hoofcuffs.

Beside them, the heart monitor steadily increased its cadence, prompting a curious look from the tall man as the mare below him looked away, her muzzle just a shade darker.

"I'm not going to hurt you, remember?" He reiterated, looking down at her through the few inches of space separating them.

"I... I know." Tempest replied, her voice still hoarse and strained.

He looked over her curiously for a few more seconds before leaning back over her to unlock the cuffs. The restraint clicked a few times as the latch was freed, allowing Tempest to finally move her foreleg away from the railing. As John pulled away, she followed him with her eyes until he stepped back from the bed completely.

"Well, let's get moving." John announced, grabbing his duffle bag from the floor and slinging it onto his back.

Tempest opened her mouth slightly and tilted her head to the side. She slowly looked down to her casted foreleg and then back up to John.

"I c-can't... walk." She managed to say.

"That's what the crutch is for." John flatly replied.

"You can't... be serious." Tempest replied, just as flatly.

John looked down to her broken foreleg, then down to the crutch, and rolled his tongue in his mouth. After a moment, he set the crutch down against her bed.

"I don't think they have a wheelchair, so you'd best make do." He said, leaving little room for debate.

The seconds ticked by as she stared back at him, a look of disbelief and hurt on her face, but after nearly a minute, she slowly pushed herself to the edge of her bed with her good leg. She finagled with the lock and folded down the railing, allowing her to swing her hindlegs over the side of the bed.

Another jolt of pain shot through her flank as she put weight on it, but it hardly hurt anywhere near the day prior. With a small grunt, she hopped out of bed and landed on her three good legs. She used her teeth to pull the various monitor leads from her barrel and foreleg, leading to the heart monitor flat lining. An obnoxious, harsh and continuous beep filled the air, making her ears snap back against her skull as she grabbed the crutch.

Within a few seconds, the sound of several hoofbeats reached their ears, and several nurses rushed into the room.

"Harmony's sake, why did you remove your heart monitor!?" One nurse exclaimed.

"We thought you went into cardiac arrest!" Another added.

"It's alright. I'll take care of it from here." John announced, instantly silencing any other complaints the nurses wished to voice.

With a few grumbles and curses, the nurses swiftly unplugged the heart monitor, silencing the continuous beeping, and wheeled the machine out of the room. Once they were all gone, John turned for the door, only to pause as he saw the contemplative and downright sad look on Tempest's face. He cleared his throat, gaining her attention, before nodding toward the door.

Tempest indignantly looked up at the man, "So I'm just... supposed to crutch... my way across... Equestria?" She croaked.

"It's either that or I can drag you the whole way, 'cause I'm not carrying you." John shrugged.

Tempest frowned, her eyes falling back down to the crutch. After a few more moments of silent contemplation, she begrudgingly hooked it under her barrel and leaned her weight onto the wooden staff, taking weight off of her casted foreleg in the process. Once she was settled, she looked up to John to see him giving her an appraising once over.

"What?" Tempest questioned.

"You have more scars than I expected." John thought aloud, his gaze lingering on her haunches.

Tempest immediately went rigid as she realized she wasn't wearing her black bodysuit anymore, or her armor. A sickening feeling of exposure quickly filled her heart, and she wilted slightly under his scrutinizing gaze. He could easily see the three gashes along her barrel, along with the missing patch of fur on her croup, just a few inches above her dock. The longer his eyes lingered on her body, the more tense and embarrassed the mulberry mare felt. After only a few seconds, she reached her limit.

"Take... a picture... it'll last... longer." She growled, her ears pressing against her skull in irritation.

John gave a small start, as if he wasn't quite paying attention to her words, but as she limped toward the door, he shook himself from his stupor.

"Sorry. Just... lost in thought for a moment. Let's go." He said, following her admittedly sluggish lead.

With Tempest at the head, the duo glacially made their way out of the hospital and down to the street outside. As soon as Tempest stepped into daylight, she was surrounded by no less than a dozen royal guards, and just as many spear tips at her throat. She nervously gulped, despite the pain, and looked back over to John as he exited the hospital behind her.

"I have her under control. Is this necessary?" He questioned, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

All four royal alicorns swiftly, yet gracefully landed in front of the duo and guards. As she folded her wings to her side, Luna stepped forward.

"Verily. Certain contingencies must be in place when dealing with such dangerous criminals." Luna announced, looking down to Tempest with disgust.

Tempest matched the glare and stood her ground as the guards around her retracted their weapons and stepped back. The four alicorns quickly filled in the gap, and formed a half circle around her.

"She's barely able to even walk." John sighed, watching the princesses close in on Tempest.

"One can never be too sure." Luna responded.

Celestia cleared her throat, "Regardless, we are not here to intimidate anypony. We're here for Twilight to give you your insurance policy." She explained.

Tempest looked over to John, her neck twinging in pain and forcing her to turn her entire body.

"In...surance policy?" Tempest asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Just something to make sure you don't run." Cadence offered, directing Tempest's gaze back over to her, albeit sluggishly.

Tempest looked at the Love Princess as if she'd just said that up was down. She slowly looked back down to her broken foreleg, and then slowly back up to the pink alicorn. She tried to shake her head, but the motion was quite painful, so she could only move her head a few millimeters in either direction.

"Though it would make things a lot easier for all of us, that won't be broken forever." Cadence tersely replied, a frown forming on her face from Tempest's response.

"In fact, it should be steady enough to walk on in just a few more days." Twilight chimed in, taking her chance to step in-between her sister in-law and the most dangerous pony she'd ever met.

Tempest fixed her with a look of skepticism, until she felt something wrap around her neck. She gasped as she tried to duck away from whatever was coiling around her airway, but even that movement felt like pulling a muscle.

"Relax, don't worry. This isn't going to hurt. This is our insurance policy." Twilight offered.

Tempest attempted to look down at the leathery object now securely fastened around her neck, but could not see it. She looked up to Twilight and then the rest of the princesses, finding a golden aura around Celestia's horn.

"There we go. Twilight, you can enchant the collar." Celestia announced, looking down to Twilight.

"COLLAR!?" Tempest exclaimed, her throat burning in protest and quickly sending her into a coughing fit.

"It was the easiest thing we could come up with. Don't be such a foal." Luna rolled her eyes.

"Is this... some sort of... sick joke?" Tempest managed, through her coughing.

"It really is the best option we could think of. It's the most simple, so therefore, the least likely to fail. All I'm doing is putting an enchantment on it so John will know if you go beyond a certain distance from him-" Twilight explained, only to pause as Tempest cut her off.

"I don't care... about the enchantment. It's the... bucking collar... dogs wear collars, not ponies." Tempest indignantly asserted as blood rushed to her cheeks.

"It'll only be for a little while. As soon as the mission is done, we'll take it off." John spoke up.

"Have you ever heard... of cruel... and unusual punishment?" Tempest spat, looking up to Celestia and Luna and completely ignoring John's placating tone.

"Considering that you're supposed to be dead right now, I don't think that really applies here," Luna responded, before leaning in until she was just a few inches away from Tempest's face, "Unless of course, you wish to return to the gallows and carry out your sentence, that is." She growled.

Tempest firmly stood her ground, although the tiniest bead of sweat slowly coalesced on her brow. For a few moments, the plum unicorn and the midnight alicorn were locked in a silent staredown, both boring looks of pure hatred into each other's eyes, until a white wing pulled Luna away.

"That's enough. Luna, stand down," Celestia ordered, before turning to Tempest, "And you, don't forget that your freedom and continued existence on this world depends entirely on whether or not you successfully help John complete his mission. Disrespect the crown of Equestria again, and you can return a bonified hero for all I care, you'll still spend the rest of your natural life in a dungeon. Do I make myself clear?" She explained, a fierce frown on her face as she stared the mulberry mare down.

Tempest gulped, but held her gaze, "Yes, Princess." She relented.

"Good. Now, Twilight, please enchant the collar and we can be done with this." Celestia instructed.

"R-right, of course." Twilight stammered, as she hurriedly dashed over to Tempest.

Tempest eyed the slightly pudgy alicorn princess as she approached. Her horn lit up in a deep purple hue, and a tingling sensation enveloped Tempest's entire neck. Purple light emanated from the collar for a few moments, before Twilight finished the spell and extinguished her horn. She stepped back with a smile on her face, before turning to John and walking over toward him. She nodded toward a royal guard standing beside the human, and said guard quickly turned to him before pulling out a small box.

"This watch is enchanted with the other half of the spell. If she manages to get outside of a hundred hooves from your position, you'll be alerted. Also, if she somehow manages to get the collar off, you'll know. The enchantment will soak into her coat a little, so even if she does get the collar off, you'll still be able to track her for a short time before it dissipates." Twilight explained, as John opened the box and donned the watch.

"Thank you." John replied, giving a polite nod to the young princess.

Twilight returned a smile before turning around and regrouping with the rest of the princesses. Tempest maintained a neutral expression as John walked up to her side and adjusted his duffle bag.

"The train leaves in ten minutes. We'll escort you there, and there will be a guard detachment waiting for you in Manehattan. Your train will depart from there tomorrow at six o-clock sharp." Celestia explained, turning to lead the group to the train in question.

"Understood. I'll try not to get into too much trouble before then." John smirked.

Celestia rolled her eyes with a small smirk as the group and entourage of guards made way for the train station. Tempest struggled to even keep an appreciable pace, forcing the princesses and guards to maintain the same pace, so as not to lose her. It immediately became apparent that they wouldn't be reaching the train station in the allotted ten minutes at the mulberry mare's pace.

https://youtu.be/a8E-cLMiBWM

"Harmony's sake, can you hurry her up?" Luna called over her wither.

John looked down to Tempest, finding her grunting in pain and fighting for breath as she struggled to hobble along beside him. With a sigh, he turned back to Luna and shook his head.

"Not likely." He replied.

"Can't we just teleport down there?" Luna groaned.

"Unless you want to risk killing John in the process, no." Celestia responded, eyeing her sister.

"He can just meet us down there." Luna countered.

"Luna, no. If you're so adamant, then you can teleport yourself down there and hold the train for us. You know why we're doing this." Celestia rebutted.

"As much as I understand the why, it won't mean much if we miss the train." Luna deadpanned.

As I said, you can teleport down there and hold the train, or I can send one of the guards to do it." Celestia responded.

Luna rolled her eyes before her horn ignited in a brilliant sapphire hue. With a flash of light, and a resounding *pop* she disappeared from view, leaving only three alicorns to escort the entourage. Celestia chuckled quietly to herself at her sister's impatience, before Twilight trotted up to her side, filling the gap.

"Um, is Luna alright?" Twilight asked, looking up to Celestia curiously.

"She's fine, Twilight. I'm sure she's still just a little peeved that Tempest was able to best her, so she's taking out some pent up frustration." Celestia replied.

"How are you not peeved?" Cadence questioned, leaning in from Celestia's other side.

"I am, but I know that we'll soon be rid of her, and I trust John to handle her once they're out of Equestria." Celestia calmly answered.

Cadence and Twilight shared a look, before both looking back to Tempest. From the look on her face, it was obvious the unicorn heard every word, but elected to keep her mouth shut and trudge along at the snail's pace she was already barely managing.

The group quickly lapsed into uncomfortable silence, and as they progressed down the street, they soon reached a more residential area. Dozens of ponies out and about on their daily routines stopped and stared at the group walking down the street with Tempest in the center of a circle of guards. Almost immediately, hushed whispers filled the growing crowd, and they followed the formation at a respectable distance.

Tempest's eyes flicked back and forth through the ponies following her. A frown here, bared teeth there, and some outright shouting at the back of the crowd, made her nervously gulp. Tempest found herself unconsciously scooting closer and closer to her human escort, until her wither bumped into his thigh. He looked down at her as she looked up to him, a nervous blush forming on her face before she hurriedly looked away.

"It'll be alright." John said, just loud enough for her to hear.

Tempest's ears flicked back at his words, and as she struggled to keep pace with him, she looked up into his eyes once more.

"W-why are you... being so... nice to me?" She questioned, a hint of desperation in her voice.

John rolled his tongue in his mouth as he slowly looked down to the ground. After a few moments of deliberation, he looked up to Tempest once more. However, as he opened his mouth to answer, a chorus of shouts rang out from the ponies surrounding their group.

"Traitor!" They shouted.

"She should be dead!" One mare cried.

"I almost lost my little filly because of you!" A stallion shouted, angrily pointing at Tempest.

"She's done so much damage already!" Another added.

"Is that a leather collar?"

More and more ponies shouted and screamed their disgust at the mulberry unicorn, making her ears press against her skull and her cheeks flush as she hobbled along. John looked out over the crowd, finding dozens and dozens of angry Canterlot citizens all voicing their displeasure at the mere sight of the broken mare.

They continued down the street without stopping, yet the crowd and their voices followed like a shadow, all aiming their hatred toward the mare in the center of it all. The guards shouted a few commands in an attempt to restore some semblance of order to the crowd, but their voices were lost in a sea of angry shouts and screams. For almost twenty minutes, the group continued through the streets of Canterlot, drawing more and more angry citizens to join in their shared hatred of the traitor, Tempest.

"Auntie, this is starting to get a bit out of hoof!" Cadence shouted, her muzzle just a few inches from Celestia's ear due to the sheer loudness of the crowd.

"We should have just teleported her!" Twilight added, looking back and forth over the raging crowd.

"She needs to hear this." Celestia responded, calmly.

Twilight and Cadence almost stopped in place. They both slowly looked back behind them toward the plum unicorn to find that the crowd's words and anger were having an effect. Her ears pinned back as far as they could against her skull, and she held her muzzle low, her eyes darting up to the crowd over and over as she tried to keep her cool under the verbal onslaught. She winced as a crying filly hugged her mother just from the sight of her, before looking down to the ground again.

Tempest no longer looked quite so threatening. She looked sad and broken, and the words of now over a hundred ponies following her so closely, only made her look worse. It took quite some more time, but eventually, she finally saw the train station just down the road. The group made its way there as quickly as possible given the circumstances, before Celestia turned back to the guards.

"Guards, please secure the entrance. I think the point has been made." She said, her tone just barely loud enough to be heard over the raging ponies behind them.

Without a word, all of the royal guards broke off their circle formation around Tempest and John, and took up positions blocking the entrance. There weren't nearly enough of them to cover the entirety of the train station, but the ponies following them stopped without pushing past the guards. They yelled and screamed from behind them, but no pony attempted to rush toward the mulberry mare as she was escorted to the waiting train.

As Celestia led them to the doorway of the first train car, Luna stepped out and fixed the group with an even look.

"Well it certainly took you all long enough." Luna announced.

"I admit, it took longer than I planned, but then again," Celestia replied, before turning to look at Tempest, "I didn't expect her to be quite as handicapped as she is."

Tempest spared Celestia a glare for just a moment, before looking down and away from the sun princess. Her ears repeatedly flicked back and forth as she heard the slightly distant voices still cursing her from just outside the train station. She took a shaky, and admittedly painful breath, before slowly crutching forward.

"Are we... done here?" She asked, slowly making her way to the train.

"Just about," Twilight answered, before turning to John, "Is there anything else you need for your mission?" She asked.

"I think just about everything has been taken care of thanks to you four. I'll have the guard send a letter once we reach Manehattan." John replied.

Luna continued to eye Tempest as she reached the door of the train car, "Just make sure you keep an eye on her. She's dangerous, even if you refuse to acknowledge that."

John nodded, "She won't leave my sight."

Celestia watched Tempest slowly board the train, before turning to look at John, "I will await your letter. With any luck, you'll be back in just a couple of weeks."

John nodded, before heading for the doorway, "If anything changes here while I'm gone, you know how to reach me." He said, giving Twilight a wink.

Twilight nodded, "We'll keep you in the loop if anything happens here." She said as John stepped onto the train.

John gave a single wave to the four alicorn princesses before the door closed behind him and the train engine sputtered to life. After a few seconds, the train gave a small jolt and slowly increased its speed. The soft chugging of the engine drowned out the angry crowd as the train left the station, and Canterlot altogether.

As the train chugged along, Tempest looked out the window with a look of melancholy in her eyes. Beautiful mountainous scenery and spiky pine trees passed by the window like a majestic painting, yet she could hardly bring herself to even notice the lush landscape outside. She almost didn't notice as John sat down in the seat opposite her, his duffle bag coming to a rest just beside him.

After a few moments of silence, Tempest noticed a peculiar feeling, as if someone were staring at her. With only one possible culprit in mind, she let out a quiet sigh and turned to look at the human sitting across from her.

"What?" She asked, more resentment in her tone than she intended.

John slowly leaned back in his seat, his eyes never leaving hers, "You look down." He said.

Tempest scoffed, "And why wouldn't... I be?"

John shook his head, "Well you're at least getting something out of this at the end of it all." He offered.

Tempest slowly turned her head to look out the window again, "Just forget it." She replied, her voice just a whisper.

John gave a single nod, before turning to look out the window as well. The jagged mountain peaks of the Foal Mountains greeted his eyes as the train continued its journey to Manehattan. After some time, they shrunk and vanished, only to be replaced by rolling hills and gentle magnolia forests. Hours slowly passed, and as the sun made its gradual descent down the horizon line, the train continued along to its destination.

Eventually, Tempest nodded off, her head resting against the window of the train as it gently chugged along. John eyed her from his seat, one arm propping his head up as he rested against the glass as well. His brow furrowed as he recalled the day's events. He didn't sleep the entire ride.

Author's Note

Shame. Shame. Shame.

lol hope you guys like that one. We're finally on the road and boy do we have some serious stuff to get up to in the next few chapters. I do hope you like what I have planned.