The train pulled into the Manehattan station with a slight jolt, waking Tempest in the process. She sleepily opened her eyes and yawned. She immediately noticed that the pain in her throat was nearly gone, allowing her to finally let out a sigh of relief after the previous couple of days.

"Thank Harmony." She murmured, smacking her lips as she turned her head.

A twinge of pain still shot down her neck, but much like her throat, the pain was far more manageable than before her nap.

"You're looking better already." John commented, getting up from his seat and stretching.

"I feel better. My throat doesn't feel like I'm gargling glass anymore." Tempest responded, before turning to look out the window.

A bustling view of the busy city and enough lights to make the stars jealous, greeted her. However, there were no ponies present on the train station platform. Tempest turned her head to look out the opposite window of the cart to find that the same was true on the other side of the station. Her eyes flicked back up to John as he slung his duffle bag once more.

"The nurse said that with the drugs and treatment they gave you, rest would heal you the fastest. You should be back to normal by the end of the week... minus the foreleg." John replied, sparing a glance to her still casted foreleg.

Tempest followed his eyes to her broken limb, before rolling her eyes, "You know, it's your fault that it's broken this bad." She muttered.

"I'm aware," John flatly answered, before looking out the window, "Get on your hooves. Our escort is here." He instructed.

Tempest looked out the window, finding a group of seven ponies approaching their side of the train. While they only wore a simple shirt or buckball cap, it was immediately obvious that they were Royal Guards. A dark grey unicorn stallion with a short blond mane led the group, wearing a flannel much like John's. Tempest let out a quiet sigh as she pushed herself off of her seat and grabbed her crutch.

John led the way to the front of the cart, where he opened the door and stepped out onto the platform. Tempest struggled to limp down the stairs, but managed to follow behind him easily enough despite her circumstances. As they both made their way to the middle of the platform, the squad of undercover guards approached.

"Some nice buckball weather we've got right now." The stallion at the front of the group offhandedly mentioned as he neared John and Tempest.

"I prefer Rugby." John answered, as if anypony present knew what 'Rugby' was.

Tempest raised an eyebrow at the exchange while the leader of the squad gave a satisfactory nod. His horn lit up in an emerald hue, forming a similar aura around his throat.

"Haystack, this is Apple seven, package acquired. Progressing to safehouse." He said, before his ear lit up green.

Tempest couldn't hear anything, but she assumed he received a response as he swiftly turned tail and walked away. The rest of the squad turned to follow, but waited. As John stepped forward, she followed suite, and the guards smoothly formed another defensive circle around both of them as they slowly made their way off the platform. As they progressed, the leader slowed down enough to allow the squad to catch up and envelop him too.

"Gotta say, I didn't expect you to be so tall." He mentioned, glancing up at John.

"Most don't." John responded.

"I'll bet. Name's K. John, right?" K asked.

"That's right." John answered.

"And this must be the infamous Tempest Shadow." K added, looking down to Tempest with a frown.

Tempest tried to look away, but she was surrounded by ponies that gave her similar looks of disgust or anger while they progressed out of the train station and onto the street. The hustle and bustle of such a busy city quickly filled the air; a sharp contrast to the relatively quiet nature of the train station. Carts rolled along the asphalt streets and ponies hooves clopped along on concrete as their chatty voices filled the air. As her hooves made contact with paved concrete, Tempest slowly looked back at K, finding that he was still waiting for an answer.

"Is there something you want?" She dryly asked.

"No, just trying to get a read on the worst traitor in Equestrian history. Gotta say, you're a lot less impressive than I expected." K commented.

"Likewise." Tempest coolly replied.

That earned her several glares from the ponies surrounding her. A few mutters of disapproval were made but Tempest couldn't quite make them out over the busy city. She spared a quick glance to each pony in the squad, finding two pegasi, three earth ponies, and one more unicorn in the group. She begrudgingly looked down to her broken foreleg and let out a quiet sigh.

It'd be easy if I could just walk normally or use my horn... She thought to herself.

Albeit tensely, the group made its way through the busy nighttime streets of Manehattan. Random ponies on the street passed by the group, many of whom recognized Tempest and gasped at the sight of the unicorn. She glowered at the passing ponies, but the escort quickly ushered her past any pedestrians before they could make too much of a scene. K navigated them through the bustling maze of a city as if he grew up at its heart, and within a matter of minutes, he nodded toward a quickly approaching hotel.

"That's the place. We'll be staying in the basement." He said, looking back to John.

"Got it." John replied.

They quickly arrived at a red light and waited at the edge of the sidewalk as carts passed through the intersection before them. The guards surrounding her, quickly looked away from Tempest to scan for other threats or compromises to their security. Several of them tensed as over a dozen ponies arrived behind them, all waiting for the same light. A family with two fillies and one colt stopped just beside the formation, earning a quick glance from the guard between them and Tempest.

The little colt turned and looked right between the guards and at Tempest just as she looked down at him. Tempest held his gaze for a few moments, a small frown forming on her face as the young pony tilted his head to the side in wonder at the sight of her. The silent staredown continued for almost thirty seconds, leaving Tempest with a distressed feeling of scrutiny in her chest.

"Wow... your scar looks awesome!" The little colt exclaimed, suddenly.

Tempest gave a start at the sudden outburst, along with the guards surrounding her and the little colt's parents.

"Firefly! What did we tell you about just blurting things out about other ponies on the street? That was very rude." The colt's father admonished, stepping closer to his son to drag him back to the family group.

"We're so sorry about that, miss. He's just a little..." The colts mother trailed off, before a realization hit her with regards to who exactly she was looking at, "O-Oh my Celestia..." She whispered.

The father corralled his son back with the family, but followed his wife's gaze to see the mulberry mare standing before them.

"T-Tempest..." He added, his wings flaring out defensively over his family.

The other ponies standing around the intersection crosswalk instantly turned their attention to the mohawked mare, many of them gasping in fear and surprise. Several ponies stepped back and some even ran away, screaming in fear.

"You must have her confused for somepony else." K spoke up, trying to calm the rapidly declining situation.

"What!? That's Tempest! The traitor who attacked Canterlot!" Another mare shouted, clear anger in her voice.

"Ma'am, you're mistaken." K placatingly replied.

"Is she wearing a collar!?" One mare shrieked, in disgust.

Tempest blushed hard and fought the urge to turn around and shout obscenities at the mare. She felt a pit in her stomach as some ponies laughed at her or cringed at the clothing item. Her tail instinctively tucked itself down, almost between her legs, but she willed it back up to a normal height, lest she show weakness to all the ponies surrounding her.

As the scene around her descended into shouting and fearful ranting, the light finally turned green, and an icon of a pony walking, appeared on the small post in front of them. Tempest looked back and forth at the unfolding scene around her, a feeling of panic welling in her gut as more and more ponies recognized her. She took a step back, only to bump into the guard behind her. He brutally shoved her forward, nearly knocking her to the ground in the process. She yelped in pain as she planted her weight on her crutch and broken foreleg. John helped her back up to her hooves, although she shoved his hands away with her good hoof once she was standing.

"Light's green. Let's go." John ordered, looking to K.

K nodded and trotted out into the crosswalk. The rest of the group hastily followed, nearly shoving Tempest along the entire time. They swiftly reached the other side of the road and made their way up the hotel stairs to the front lobby. Once there, K opened the door for everyone and ushered them all inside. Luckily, the crowd didn't follow behind, but insults and fearful shouting still reached his ears from across the street.

K let out a long sigh before turning around to face John, Tempest, and the rest of his squad. A tense silence hung in the air like a smog as the group caught their breaths. The front receptionist stared at them from behind, his eyes wide in shock at the sudden entrance of so many ponies.

"Um, w-welcome to the Manehattan Monocle. Can I help you ponies?" He asked, swallowing back his nerves.

"No need. We have an arrangement with the owner of the hotel. We'll be downstairs." K responded, walking up to the front desk.

The receptionists eyes lit up in recognition, "Oh! You're that party that was going to stay in the basement. I remember now. I'm terribly sorry, but we've been having a lot of rain recently, as you know, and the basement has been having some flooding issues. My manager said to move you all to the first floor, if that's alright with you. We're terribly sorry for the inconvenience." He explained.

"Flooding issues? Are you kidding me?" One of the guards huffed.

"I-I'm sorry, sir. There were some issues with minor flooding downstairs. We've provided you with the closest floor we could to the basement and five rooms with all the amenities comparable to our suites on the higher floors." The receptionist offered, swallowing back a nervous gulp at the clearly upset burly stallions before him.

"It's fine," K announced, casting a glare to the stallion behind him, "We'll take whatever rooms you can give us."

The receptionist noticeably relaxed, "R-right, of course, sir. Here, these are your keys." He replied, before pulling out five different keys from his desk and hoofing them over to K.

"Right, thank you." K responded, giving a curt nod.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVmhPvDegkI

Near the entrance of the hotel, Tempest stood beside John, her eyes glued to the floor as she thought over the events of the last several minutes. The guards around them eyed her warily, but maintained their distance as K finished up with the receptionist. The shouts and screams echoed in her ears again and again, but one memory in particular stood out above all the rest.

Wow... your scar looks awesome!

As K ushered the group forward to their respective rooms, Tempest moved in a daze. She limped through the hallways of the hotel, her mind wandering the whole while. Velvet carpet and mahogany wood lined the hallways, and masterful paintings filled the walls with life that she couldn't seem to even notice. K swiftly led her to a room and motioned for her to enter, before John followed in just behind.

Before she could even realize it, Tempest found herself sitting on one of the beds of the room while John unloaded his duffle bag onto the other bed in the room mid conversation with K. Their words fell deaf on her ears, and soon enough, K left the room, leaving her alone with John as he walked over to the window.

Tempest finally snapped out of her stupor as the door clicked shut behind K. She glanced over to the now closed mahogany door, and then over to John, finding him looking out between the curtains of the window. After a few moments, he closed the curtains fully and turned around to face her. At her wide-eyed stare, he raised an eyebrow.

"Something on your mind?" He asked, stepping toward her and sitting on his bed.

Tempest shook her head to clear her thoughts, "N-no, not really. Nothing important, anyway." She replied.

"You sure?" John pressed, resting his elbows on his knees.

"It's nothing. Just something somepony said out there, is all." Tempest admitted, looking down to the carpet.

"Well, your reputation precedes you." John shrugged.

Tempest scoffed, "It's not what those ponies said. It's what that little colt said... he was the only one that didn't seem afraid of me."

"The colt that liked your scar?" John asked, sitting back upright.

Tempest nodded, before slowly fixing John with a serious look, "Ever since I got this scar, I've always thought it was ugly. I always thought that it was a mark of failure... of weakness. Scars mean that you've taken a hit... means you weren't good enough to avoid the damage. That's what the Storm King would say, at least." She explained, with a sluggish roll of her eyes.

John raised an eyebrow, "I imagine it'd be pretty damn hard to never get hit in a fight, ever." He said.

"He reminded me pretty often that no creature had ever landed a hit on him... Whenever I was training with the soldiers, if I got hit, and he saw... he made sure that I knew I was weak." Tempest muttered.

John slowly opened his mouth to speak, only for Tempest to continue.

"I thought that attacking Canterlot would be my chance to prove that I was strong... strong enough to earn my horn back... then blast the bucker until his fur melted," She whispered, through grit teeth, before looking back up to John, "But then you were there, and now I'm here... even more broken and weak than ever before... more scarred, than ever before... figures."

John eyed her warily for a few moments, unsure if she had anything more to say. After nearly a minute, he spoke up.

"The Storm King... can you tell me what he looks like, again?" John asked.

Tempest snorted, "Did you not get that info from my interrogation? I already explained it to the princesses."

"I know, but I want to hear it again, directly from you." John rebutted.

Tempest frowned as she held John's gaze. After it became clear that he wasn't taking 'no' for an answer, she rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Fine. He's a yeti, just like the rest of the storm soldiers. He's noticeably taller, and not quite as burly. Really the only notable difference between him and the storm soldiers is that he doesn't wear a mask like they all do... and the horns, I suppose." Tempest recollected.

"What color are his eyes?" John asked, leaning forward.

"Um, blue. Very icy blue. Why?" Tempest questioned, tilting her head to the side.

John leaned back, letting out a quiet sigh through his nostrils as he sat upright, "No reason. Just need to make sure I can identify him."

Tempest slowly nodded, "I suppose if any creature is capable of hurting him, it'd be you... I've never quite seen anything like you." She added, tilting her head to the side, curiously.

John laid down on his bed, his head resting on his pillow, "Aside from me, you're not likely to, either." He replied.

"And why's that?" Tempest pressed.

"I'm the only one here." John answered, simply.

Tempest's eyes widened, "What? How is that even possible?"

"It's a long story." John answered, stifling a yawn.

"I've got time." Tempest pressed.

John rolled his tongue in his mouth for a few moments, before letting out a quiet sigh, "Get some sleep, Tempest. We're on the first train out in the morning. Guards will be checking in on us throughout the night, so don't get any ideas." He ordered, before reaching over and turning out the lamp beside his bed.

The room noticeably dimmed, but Tempest's light still kept her side of the room illuminated as she stared at John from her bed. His closed his eyes in an attempt to go to sleep, but after a few minutes, he opened them again to find Tempest still staring at him.

"What?" He asked, a small amount of irritation present in his voice.

Tempest shrugged, "I'm just trying to figure out what you are, exactly." She replied, honestly.

"Well, do it in the morning, will 'ya? Turn that light off." John ordered.

Tempest flinched at his tone, and quickly turned out her light. The room immediately plunged into darkness, the only illumination coming from a small slit between the curtains of the window. Despite the decreased visibility, Tempest eyed John's dark form warily from her bed. She looked down at the cast enveloping her foreleg, and nervously swallowed. Eventually, she managed to lay down into something of a comfortable position.

She soon heard soft breathing from the bed opposite her, indicating that John was sleeping. She rolled over away from him and faced the blank wall beside her bed. With a resigned sigh to herself, she closed her eyes and tried to get some sleep. It took nearly an hour, but eventually she was able to nod off and fall asleep.

.

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Tempest's eyelids fluttered open in the wee hours of the night. She groggily looked over to the window to see the night lights of Manehattan still vibrantly illuminating the world outside. She looked over to the clock on the wall, her eyes squinting from dryness due to the lack of proper sleep.

Three A.M? She wondered to herself.

Tempest looked over to John's bed, finding him resting peacefully with one arm under the sheets, and the other on his chest. His chest moved slowly with each soft breath as he exhaled. A strange feeling welled in her heart as she observed the man, now completely at peace. Without the threat of another broken foreleg, or some kind of weapon tearing through her flank again, she found herself struggling with the realization that the human looked somewhat... attractive.

She hastily shook away those thoughts and pushed herself to her hooves in her bed. The bedsheets clung to her coat for a few moments, before sliding off onto the mattress. She noticed that her flank barely hurt at all anymore, and her foreleg, while still quite sore, wasn't quite as stiff and clublike as before. She could actually roll her wither and put some weight on the appendage without instant, searing, agony. There was still quite a bit of pain and soreness in the limb, not to mention the limited motion due to the cast, but her injuries were healing even faster than she expected.

Tempest stealthily skulked down from her bed to the floor, ensuring to put as little weight on her foreleg as possible. With some minor fenagling, she managed to get to the carpet. The velvet did an incredibly effective job of muffling the sound of her hooves, essentially silencing them completely. Even so, she kept her eyes on John's sleeping form, lest he awake and question her motives or behavior.

However, just as she turned away to head for the door, a shadowy, bipedal figure blocked her path. She inhaled sharply, but held her ground as the dark from towered over her from across the room. As the seconds ticked by, she felt her heart beat faster in her chest, her fur stand on edge, and her adrenaline spike.

"So it's true, you did survive." The figure hissed, its voice just a whisper in the quiet night.

Tempest looked over her wither to John, finding that he was still softly breathing and none the wiser about the large creature blocking the doorway across the room. Once she was sure he wasn't waking up, she turned back to the figure and let out a silent sigh.

"What do you want, Merkle?" She asked, her voice as quiet as a mouse.

Merkle held a claw to his chest, "Can't an old acquaintance come check up on you?" He questioned, feigning innocence.

Tempest rolled her eyes, "You'd sooner stab me in the back than make sure I was okay. What? Did you come to gloat? Rub my face in my failure?" She spat, keeping her voice low.

"Oh, you wound me, Tempest," Merkle dramatically sighed, "-and here I thought we were so close back in the Badlands."

"Get to the point before you wake him up." Tempest ordered, raising her voice just a few decibels.

Merkle rolled his green serpentine eyes, "Very well, if you insist," He replied, before reaching into the rags he wore. He pulled out a long, crooked knife, "-the Storm King would pay handsomely for your return... and I am a bit of a freelance these days."

Merkle stepped forward, his knife pointing straight at Tempest's throat as she backed up a step.

"Y-you do know that if you wake him up, he'll kill you." Tempest hastily informed him, while glancing behind at John.

"I think I'll take my chances. Now keep quiet. I don't want to have to kill the rest of the guards, but I absolutely will if any more get in my way." Merkle replied, taking another step toward the slowly retreating unicorn.

Tempest's eyes widened as she looked down at the blade, now glistening in the light spilling through the slit in the windows. The edge of the knife looked as if it'd been dipped in blood, and a single drop of crimson fluid fell into the carpet below. Tempest gulped nervously as she took yet another step back.

"Y-you really killed them?" She stammered.

Merkle paused, a grin forming on his scaly face. He let out a snicker, and then a quiet chuckle as Tempest backed up into John's bed, "Oh, Tempest, that's just too rich. You always were way too soft. No wonder you got your flank kicked by a bunch of ponies and this... hairless monkey thing." He shook his head.

Tempest felt anger well up in her heart. She grit her teeth as she tried, and failed, to conjure any kind of magical energy to lash out with. With a sickening feeling in her gut, she remembered the ring snugly fit around her broken horn, and her spirits fell.

"Heh, Storm King might even give me your old job if I bring back his little pet failure." Merkle snickered, closing the last of the distance between him and Tempest.

He brought the knife up to her throat as he leaned in close, the tip of the blade coming to a rest just underneath her collar. Tempest felt her blood run cold at the feeling of somepony else's blood sinking into her coat. The icy steel pressed into her neck, her jugular just a few precious centimeters from the jagged metal. Her lip trembled as Merkle's forked tongue flicked out against her throat.

"You always did look like cotton candy... maybe the meal would be better than the payday." He grinned, rows of razor sharp teeth glistening with saliva as he leaned in closer.

"Why don't you eat this instead." John spoke up, startling both Merkle and Tempest.

Merkle only managed to look up to John, before a flash of light illuminated the room, followed instantly by an explosive *crack*, making Tempest's ears ring as she jumped from the shock. Less than a second later, Merkle fell to the floor, blood leaking from the fresh hole in his head.

Author's Note

Looks like old friends aren't quite as friendly as expected.

Hope you guys liked that one. We're finally on the road now and there is much still yet to come. I hope you are as excited for the next few chapters as I am :D