Tempest approached the object on the floor. It had a hilt, similar to a crossbow, but instead of the bow part, it had two, steel tubes affixed to it. It had a small, harpoon-like object attached to the bottom, and whatever it was, it was some kind of weapon.

"What in Tartarus is this?", she thought to herself, as she approched the object. She grabbed it, and noticed how heavy it was. "Is this some sort of weird weapon i've never heard of?"

Then she looked to her side, and there was something quite unusual there. It was a suit of armor propped up on an unicorn's skeleton. It looked similar to the ones worn by her and the other guards in Canterlot, though it had greenish tint instead of being fully golden, the helmet was a bit different, and it looked quite old. There was some sort of plaque at the armor's hooves. It said:

"Arma Flagelli"

It seemed to be written in an old tongue. She didn't know what it meant, and for all she knew, the armor could have been just decorative, but it was still some form of protection.

"Oh, thank the heavens... Something that i actually know...", she said. She slowly placed the strange weapon on the ground, and picked up the helmet. She cleaned off some dust on it's surface, and slowly put it on. Once she did, she blinked, and she was suddenly in a dark void.

"... What the fuck?", she thought, not seeing anything. That was, until she saw something floating in place, a short distance from her. It looked like a small orb, with a symbol similar to a Cutie Mark. It looked like a few autumn leaves in the wind.

"Uh... Hello-"

"WHA?! WHO?! WHO'S THERE?!", the orb said, as it floated around, startled. "Wait... You... Are you a living pony?!", it said.

"Uh... Yeah... Who are you?", Tempest said, confused by the strange talking orb.

"OH, THANK CELESTIA! My prayers have been answered!", the orb said. "I won't have to rot away in here anymore!"

"*Ahem*, Can you please answer my question, little weird orb?"

"Oh, of course i can!", the orb said cheerfully. "My name is Gusty. And i was a pony, just like you! Except, now i'm... Uh... Dead."

"Wait a minute... Gusty? Where have i heard that name before...?", Tempest thought out loud.

"Well, if it helps, i was the Captain of the Canterlot Guard when i wasn't stuck in-"

"Wait, you're that Gusty?", she asked. "The one that got crushed under a pile of rocks during an expedition to Tartarus, and the one who has a prison in there named after him?"

"Well... I can see why they would think i got crushed, but that's not entirely accurate...", the orb said. "Though, being crushed under a pile of rubble sounds like a better fate than spending what felt like an eternity commiting violence just to survive..."

"Really now?", Tempest said, now a bit intrigued. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you see, after the cave-in, got stuck on the other side, and after walking around, i found an exit that led directly to a place that would make the inside of a volcano look like a winter wonderland!", Gusty explained. "There was a bunch of weird creatures in there, and all of them tried to kill me! I was saved by a few pig-looking fellows, and they taught me how to fight those things. They enchanted my armor, and turned my crossbow into a weapon of an even bigger magnitude, which i called "the Shotgun"! I hope those fellas are still fine..."

"And how did you die? You clearly knew how to fight these abominations, so how did you end up like... Well... This?"

"Oh, that part is pretty nasty...", Gusty said. "I had finally found the leader of those things, some big blue goat monster. I tried to shoot him, but a burst of fire near me made me miss... Long and, frankly horrible story short, he found me, killed me, and put a curse on my soul. Now i'm unable to pass on, until someone picks up my armor, and weapon. That's why i'm so happy you're here... Uh..."

"Tempest.", she said.

"Tempest... Nice name. Anyway, that's why i'm happy to see you! You can finally lift this damn curse, and finally let me rest!", he said. "So can you please, please pick up my stuff, and show those freaks who's boss?"

"Uh... Ok...?", Tempest said. "I could buck some ass right now, but i need to save my platoon firs-"

"P-platoon?! Are... Are you also from the Canterlot Guard?!", Gusty said, in shock.

"Well, actually, i'm part of the Royal Guard... But yes, i am.", Tempest explained.

"Well, no time to waste then!", he exclaimed. "Pick up my stuff, and go save your platoon, pronto!"

"Alright, alright, i'll do it... Geez...", Tempest said. She blinked again, and this time, she was back in the room. She noticed that now, the helmet perfectly fit her. Wasting no time, she carefully removed the armor from the skeleton of Gusty, and put it on. The armor fit her perfectly as well.

As she finished putting on the armor, she heard Gusty's voice again.

"Thank you, Tempest..."

She looked to see the orb of Gusty's soul leaving his skeleton through his eye socket, and then disappearing in a flash of light. She then turned around, and picked up the weapon, the so called shotgun.

At that moment, the door to the room opened, and two demons entered the room, both shadow ponies. They looked at Tempest in shock, and looked at eachother in fear.

"Alright you fiends, this is for my fellow soldiers!", she said, pulling the trigger of the weapon, and it fired a magical projectile directly at the head of one of the shadow ponies, who desintegrated after the shot hit. The other one was immobilized by fear, and was just looking at Tempest. She then found a button at the back of the shotgun's barrels, and after pressing it, a harpoon at the tip of the weapon shot out, and impaled the shadow pony. When she let go of the button, the harpoon was dragged back into place, bringing the demon with it. The shadow pony looked in horror, as Tempest fired a blast directly at it, desintegrating it immediatly.

She exited the room, and there were more demons coming after her, attracted by all the commotion. She blasted her way through them, reducing them to dust with her new weapon. It was then, that a large, bulky, minotaur-like demon appeared, roaring at her. It charged at her with it's horns, but she jumped over it, and blasted it in it's back, causing it to fall. After that, she hopped on it's back, and shot it in it's head, desintegrating it.

"Does this thing not run out of ammo?", she thought, retracing her steps through the castle's bowels.

After a while of walking, and sneaking around, occasionally shooting demons, Tempest arrived at the Torture Chambers, the very place she had escaped from. She had to save her fellow soldiers from captivity, she couldn't let them be tortured any longer. As she approached the chamber where they were, she heard a distorted voice speaking.

"No... No...! Torture... Them... More..."

She took a peek from behind the entrance, only to see as two Earth Pony shadows tortured one of the captured guards, peeling the skin on the sides of their body. But what caught her attention afterward, was what appeared to be a massive, towering beast.

It's muscles were so swollen it looked like they were going to burst out of it's greyish skin. It had barely any fur, like an animal with mange, though some patches of white fur still remained. It had a long tail, and hooves, though one of them appeared to have been coated in a black substance. It's arms, similarly to the rest of the body, had barely had any fur, but the strange part was that it's right arm seemingly had no hand, and was coated in the same black substance.

Suddenly it stomped one of it's hooves on the ground, and growled furiously, as the poor guard they were torturing screamed in agony.

"No... NO...! You... Doing... It... Wrong...!", the massive creature said. "Make... Him... Suffer... More...!"

One of the two demons growled at the beast, as if trying to explain something, but the creature just got angrier.

"You... USELESS...!", the creature said, grabbing the smaller demon with it's left arm, and then there was a sound similar to a magical blast. The creature then threw the lower half of the demon away, before it vanished.

Tempest didn't know what this thing was, but it certainly seemed dangerous. She slowly entered the chamber, making sure to not make much noise, but then, the gate to the chamber slammed down behind her, locking her in.

"WHO... THERE...?", the creature said, before turning to face Tempest. As soon as he did, they both recognized eachother.

"Oh... Oh , it's you..."

The creature's head was finally visible. It was the only part of the body that remained mostly unchanged. It, or rather, he, had a monkey like face, with two large horns, and a small crown between them. His eyes glowed bright red, and so did it's mouth, which had two tusk like fangs at the bottom, and it was open, allowing a black smoke to emerge from it's sides. His right arm was also visible, and now it was clear what it became. It looked like some sort of cannon.

"You... Me... Remember... You... TRAI... TOR...!"

Corrupted Tyrant
THE STORM KING

"And just when i thought i moved on from my past...", Tempest thought. "Whatever, let's get this over with!", she exclaimed, as she pumped the Shotgun.

Author's Note

The only two-parter that survived the "great rewriting" of this Fic.

Demon Profiles:

Hell Duke
Threat Level: Medium
Class: Corrupted Spirit
Believed to be the corrupted spirits of Minotaurs, they patrol the Underworld, using their horns to gore the lost souls which end up there. While their body is extremely swolen, their arms and legs aren't as bulky.