Flames of Grief

Twilight had returned from getting yet another collar from Zecora. Upon arriving with two of her pets following her, she decided to pay a visit to the three stallions in the dungeons. After she told Trixie and Sunset to go find Starlight and Tempest, she disembarked to her dungeons. Looking into the window of the cell on her left, she saw the large stallion that Tempest apprehended hanging by his hooves from the ceiling, battered, bruised, and burned all over along with a broken jaw. Burn marks covered him from when Tempest...roughly cauterized the wounds she made on his body. She walked right past him as he was still unconscious. Twilight entered the cell to her left to see the smaller stallion that she assumed was the one that gave up all the information he had. When the small stallion heard the creak open, he looked up to see the neutral expression of Princess Twilight Sparkle. His ears folded in fear at the sight of the Alicorn.

"You are the pony who told Tempest everything, yes?" Twilight questioned as she approached the smaller pony. He frantically nodded in response to the question.

"Good. What's your name?" She continued, neutral expression never changing.

"D-Dagger Sharp, Ma'am!" He hastily answered.

"Alright, Mr Sharp. I believe you have mentioned somepony named Onyx. Who is he and is he the third pony we detained?"

"O-Onyx is an associate of the mercenary group we are a part of as well as a subordinate of the guy who ordered us to kidnap somepony from you. He is not the pony that was teleported here earlier." Dagger Sharp answered honestly.

"As his name suggests, his mane and coat are pure black as are his eyes." Dagger informed the Alicorn.

"Good, good. Now I'm going to ask you one more question, Mr. Sharp. Did you join these mercenaries of your own free will?" Twilight asked her tone suggesting she already knew the answer.

"No ma'am. I was forced to join them otherwise they would've killed my dad and older brother. I-I found out later that they killed them anyway. I have no loyalty to this group and the only reason why I haven't fled from them is because I was too scared of the consequences." He told the princess.

"That explains why you so readily gave up information." Twilight contemplated, the small stallion nodding in agreement.

"M-May I ask how you knew this?" He inquired.

"You're very easy to read, at least to me, Mr Sharp." She teased, being the first show of emotion since she came into the dungeons.

"What is going to happen to me?" He asked, fully expecting the worst.

"You will remain here for a few days until I inform Tempest and the others of everything that you have told me, then we will let you go."

"R-Really?" Dagger Sharp asked with hope in his voice. The purple princess nodded.

"Make no mistake though, Mr Sharp. If you try anything at all, I wont hesitate to....punish you.. so to speak." Twilight said seriously. The brown stallion frantically nodded.

"As soon as I am out of here I will leave this town and you will never see hide nor tail of me again, Princess." Dagger Sharp hastily got out.

"Now as long as you don't do anything stupid, no harm shall come to you, good day Mr Sharp." Twilight said before leaving the cell. She then teleported to where Tempest Shadow was by tracking her power signature, which was incredibly easy since aside from her own it was the strongest one in the castle. She poofed into existence right beside her Royal Guard Captain and her mauve furred pet.

"Oh, Mistress. Welcome back home." Starlight said before nuzzling her owner happily. Twilight returned her affectionate pet's nuzzle before levitating Tempest over to her and draping her wing over her.

"W-Welcome home, Twilight. Starlight told me that she asked you to use getting me a uniform as an excuse to talk with me." Tempest told the purple princess.

"Sorry for that, I didn't like lying to you." Twilight apologize sincerely. Tempest nuzzled the taller mare to show that she didn't care and was perfectly fine with her decisions.

"Starlight would you mind finding your sisters and tell them I told the three of you to occupy yourselves until further notice. No cumming." Twilight ordered the mauve unicorn, who was happy as ever to obey her Mistress. She then rushed off to go find the two aforementioned unicorns. Twilight then motioned for Tempest to follow her, which the byzantium mare did. The two mares ended up in one the castles many living rooms. Twilight then sat down in a very comfortable couch and motioned for Tempest to sit next to her.

"Now, Tempest. I would appreciate it if you were to remain as still as possible, alright?" Twilight all but commanded.

"Y-Yes, Twilight." Tempest agreed, albeit a little confused. Twilight's horn then lit up as she prepared to cast a spell. She had been researching Harmony and Friendship magic and found out that each magic had insane healing properties. Being the element of magic as well as an Alicorn, she would be able to heal something like Tempest's broken horn if she concentrated.
Her horn glowed brighter and brighter as she put more and more magic into it before touching the tip of her horn to Tempest's broken one. She then poured as much Harmony magic as she could into the spell. She then pulled away slowly as the glow died out slowly. Tempest open her eyes and rubbed her forehead before her body froze.

Her hoof went up the full completely restored length of her horn. She looked at a pillow on the couch and tested it. Gasping in shock when she was able to levitate it. Tears started to pour from her eyes as she turned her gaze to the pony who had done so much for her. She then tackled the beautiful Alicorn in a hug, sending them both off the couch.

"THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! I HAVE MY HORN AGAIN!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!" The once again complete unicorn cried into the lavender Alicorn's fur.

"You are quite welcome, Tempest." Twilight said happily as she lovingly caressed the byzantium unicorn's mane. Tempest nuzzled the bigger mare in her gratitude for the next few moments. After awhile of this, Tempest reluctantly pulled away from the Alicorn. The two mares sat up on their barrels on the floor, laying down on the ground.

"You saved my life twice. You called me friend when nopony else would. You let me be your Captain. And now, you gave me back my horn! *hic* If I didn't love you before, I definitely love you now!" Tempest cried, tears of joy falling from her eyes. Twilight was easily the greatest thing to ever happen to Tempest in her life and she acknowledges this fact. Tempest nuzzled the Alicorn goddess's neck lovingly.

"Please, Twilight. Please let me be your pet. I can't think of a better way to repay you for all of that you have done for me. I need this! Please, Twilight! Please let me-" Tempest started to beg, but Twilight held up a hoof causing Tempest to stop talking. She looked at the purple princess with bated breath. Twilight's horn lit up and a collar identical to the ones the three unicorns she had seen earlier wear appear next to her.

"Does this mean you'll let me be your pet?!?!" Tempest asked filled with hope. Twilight nodded before clasping the collar around Tempest's neck. Tempest stared at her new Mistress with a joyous smile on her muzzle as the collar glowed as it sealed itself around her permanently.

"Thank you, Mistress!" Tempest exclaimed happily. Twilight responded by bringing in the byzantium unicorn into a passionate kiss. Tempest moaned joyously into the kiss. Tempest continued to cry in happiness.

'Not only am I her Royal Guard Captain, but I am her pet now too!' Tempest thought to herself happily.

After a few moments of tender love, the two mares pulled apart and left to find Tempest's new sister pets. Tempest was happily nuzzling her new Mistress along the way. They reached the room where the three other unicorns were conversating happily. Spike and Ray went to visit Fluttershy on Ray's behest. When asked why, he said he wanted to compare the kindness of both Fluttershy's himself. The three unicorns ran up to their Mistress when they noticed her enter the room with Tempest. Trixie noticed the collar around Tempest's neck first. She then grew a suggestive grin and approached the byzantium mare provocatively before kissing her.

"Welcome, My new sister." Trixie said lovingly to the Unicorn before noticing her horn. She placed a kiss on Tempest's horn and jumped back in surprise when she realized what exactly she did.

"You have your horn back?!?!" Trixie gasped, causing the other two to look over to Tempest and gasp as well.

"Yes I do and it's all thanks to Mistress! It feels so good to be whole again." Tempest exclaimed happily. Trixie then nuzzled the byzantium unicorn lovingly.

"I bet it does." Trixie said with a knowing smile.

"If receiving love from somepony is something strange to you Tempest, you better get used to it because in this family we all love each other." Starlight said as she approached the newly completed unicorn.

"It normally would bother me, yes. But you three are now, as Trixie has said my sisters. I would be lying if I said I didn't feel something for the three of you now." Tempest said with a smile as she returned Trixie's nuzzle. "Besides, It certainly feels great to be loved again." She finished, flashing the four mares her best smile. All five mares engaged in a lovely group hug.

"Thank you, Mistress for allowing me into your family." Tempest said gratefully. Twilight wrapped her wings around all four of her pets, once again pleasantly surprised with how rapidly her body and by extension wings seemed to be maturing. If she had a mirror, she would see that she is now eight inches taller than Tempest Shadow, her use of so much Harmony magic got her body better acquainted with the magic and further accelerated her Alicorn maturity rate. Twilight sighed contentedly, feeling love for her and each other emanating off of her pets and she returned her love for them in equal amount. Trixie had been the first of a loving family that will always be there for each other no matter what, they will always have each other's backs. Twilight conveyed these sentiments to her pets and they all nuzzled closer to her.

A few hours later, we find Twilight and her pets entering Rarity's boutique. They heard a cry of 'I'll be with you in a minute, Darling!' from upstairs after the bell chimed when they entered. Tempest nuzzled her Mistress lovingly before looking around the store. Trixie, Starlight, and Sunset decided to look around as well. Rarity then came trotting down from the stairs.

"Sorry for the wait, how can I-Oh Twilight!" Rarity exclaimed when she saw the lavender princess. She then noticed the other four mares in her shop were all wearing collars that bore Twilight's Cutie Mark. She raised an eyebrow and looked back to Twilight to ask her what gives before realizing just how much taller the mare was since she saw her last week.

"You are really maturing fast as an Alicorn, Twilight darling. It definitely shows." The white unicorn commented.

"Anyways, what brings you and your...friends to my shop today?"

Rarity asked cheerfully, completely forgetting/ignoring her jealousy of the four mares. Twilight motioned for Tempest to come over to her, which the byzantium unicorn quickly did.

"After certain...events, earlier at the castle, I have decided there is a need for me to form a Royal Guard and Tempest here is the Captain of that Royal Guard. So I was wondering if you could make something for her official uniform/armor." Twilight requested.

"Oh, Is that so? Well congratulations, Tempest! I can tell you are very happy with these turn of events." Rarity told the taller unicorn. Tempest nodded in thanks.

"It would be a honor to make a uniform for you, Tempest. While I haven't really ever made anything other than fancy dresses and such, I will definitely try my best to make something befitting of such a title." Rarity said, filled with determination.

"Thank you, Rarity." Tempest thanked the alabaster mare.

"Well we should get started right away, no?" Rarity exclaimed.

Meanwhile, we find Vinyl and Octavia rushing towards Twilight's castle. They seemed to be in quite the amount of trouble as they were galloping as fast as they could. When they reached the castle's front gate, they didn't bother being polite and waiting for Twilight or her secretary to let them in, Vinyl teleported the two of them inside. When they were safe, Octavia latched onto Vinyl and began to weep.

"V-Vinyl, O-Our home." Octavia cried into her partner's fur. Vinyl wrapped her hooves around the her marefriend and soothingly caressed her.

"Shhh, it's okay, Tavi. We still have each other." She whispered into the sobbing, quivering grey mare in her hooves.

"B-But all of our stuff! My Cello, your turntables, E-Even out engagement rings are gone! They all burned down along with the home we saved bits for years to get." Octavia cried, sobbing louder than before, Vinyl was on the brink of tears herself. Everything they saved for, everything they earned was now gone forever, dust in the wind.

What had happened just thirty minutes prior:

The two fiancée were out having a nice, pleasant day together. They were doing things any normal pair of betrothed individuals would do to have fun. When they had returned to their home, it was on fire, most of it already swallowed by the flames. They didn't have much time to weep then, however, because two concealed ponies came out of the burning house, no doubt with flame resistant spells cast on them. When they spotted Vinyl and Octavia, they charged at them. Vinyl grabbed Octavia and ran as fast as she could, dragging her fiancée with her before she too snapped into action. The two of them then ran so fast, they would give Rainbow Dash a run for her money. They were headed for the one place that they could feel safe; Twilight's Castle.

"Our stuff doesn't mater. We have each other and I'm glad that I have still have you." Vinyl told her fiancée.

"You're right, love. I'm glad we still have each other." Octavia said, pressing herself further into Vinyl's fur.

Just then, they heard a voice call out.

"Hello? Who's there?" The two mares were immediately on guard when they heard the unfamiliar voice. An orange unicorn walked in from the hall way. She had Twilight's Cutie Mark as an emblem on her secretary uniform. They calmed down as they realized that this mare was most likely Sunbeam Crush, Princess Twilight's Secretary.

"Miss Crush, we are so sorry for intruding in the castle but we must see Twilight! It's very urgent!" Vinyl said frantically.

"I'm sorry, but Princess Twilight isn't home right now, I can take you to her if you'd like." Sunbeam offered.

"No! Can we please just stay here? It feels so much safer than outside." Octavia butted in.

"I suppose so. Twilight shouldn't take much longer, she left about two hours ago." Sunbeam informed the two ponies.

"May I ask what has happened?"

"We would like to wait for Twilight if you don't mind. We only want to tell this story once." Vinyl said sadly. Sunbeam nodded in understanding before directing the two of them to the map room where they should wait for Twilight to return.

"I hope Twilight will help us, Vi."

"I'm sure she will. She needs more staff here, right? Maybe we can be her maids?" Vinyl said. She sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than Octavia. Octavia began to hic and sob again.

"I just don't understand! W-Why would somepony do this to us?! What have we ever done besides be good ponies?!?!" She screamed in angry sadness. Vinyl wrapped her hooves around her fiancée in a soothing hug. Octavia once again clung to Vinyl and bawled her eyes out.

"I swear, we will get through this, Tavi." Vinyl promised Octavia.

"I swear on my life, whoever made my Tavi cry will fucking burn." The DJ pony thought to herself, her desire for vengeance filling her with determination.

Twilight and her pets returned to their home after another twenty minutes had passed, Tempest's uniform came out quite lovely. It was more like her tactical suit from before that actual armor and she preferred it his way. It was white with blue streaks along the sides and pockets for various items. The best part about the whole thing though, was the fact that it had Twilight's Cutie Mark directly over her flanks. Tempest was really excited about that part. Twilight caught Tempest staring at them more than once.

"I take it that you are enjoying your uniform, Tempest?" Twilight asked

"Very much so, Mistress." Tempest responded happily.

The five mares walked inside the castle when Sunbeam Crush came running towards them.

"Princess Twilight! You have two ponies who want to talk to you and they claim it's very urgent." She said when she reached her boss and princess.

"Ugh I don't have time for snobby nobles today! Send them out please." Twilight said as she facehoofed.

"That's just it, Princess. They aren't noble ponies, they're those two musically talented ponies whose wedding you're hosting, Vinyl and Octavia." The orange secretary informed them.

"Oh no! Where are they and what do they need?!" Twilight asked her secretary.

"I asked for them to wait for your arrival in the Map Room. As for why they came here, they told me that they only wanted to recount their story once." Sunbeam told Twilight and her pets.

"Oh no, I hope nothing terrible happened!" Trixie exclaimed.

"If somepony hurt friends of Mistress', they will pay dearly." Tempest said.

"Come on, girls!" Twilight ordered as she galloped away to the Map Room, her pets and Sunbeam following her closely.

When they reached the Map Room, they entered it to find Vinyl holding Octavia close, she was rocking her back and forth while whispering soothing words into her ear and running her hooves along her back in an effort to calm the grey mare. Vinyl noticed the six mares enter the room.

"Tavi, they're here." She whispered to Octavia. The grey earth pony nodded as she attempted to pull herself together. The two mates pulled apart from their embrace to address the Castle's owner.

"Hello, Twilight." Vinyl greeted with a wave.

"Vinyl, Octavia. Sunbeam said you two wanted to see me and claimed the it was extremely urgent.

"Let's get straight to the point." Vinyl said before taking a deep breath.

"We were out having a great day, but that changed when we returned home. Our house was on fire and by the time we got there, most of it was already ash. Two ponies in some sort of strange uniforms came out of our burning home and when they spotted it us, they charged for us. We ran here as fast as we could as we wanted to feel safe." Vinyl recounted.

"All of our belongings that we held dear. Vinyl's turntables. My cello. E-Even our engagement rings are nothing but ash now!!!" Octavia screamed as more tears burst through her eyes. Vinyl, having been able to contain her emotions until now, started to cry as well.

The six mares Vinyl had told their story to had varying reactions. Trixie covered her muzzle with her hoof in shock. Sunbeam was crying. Sunset was trying to calm her down while she had a pissed look on her face. Starlight looked angry. Twilight had rage etched into her features and her wings fluttered angrily. Tempest had a cold and calculating look on her muzzle. The byzantium unicorn approached the two fiancée.

"Did they have masks that were pure black?" Tempest questioned. The two mares nodded.

"Mistress, it seems that they were attacked by the same group that tried to kidnap Spike." Tempest said. Twilight held no reaction other than getting even more furious. She collected herself before speaking.

"This entire group will pay for this." She said coldly.

"Uh, T-Twilight?" Vinyl asked timidly. Twilight looked to the alabaster unicorn.

"May we please live here? We'll pull are weight around by being castle staff! Please let us stay." Vinyl begged.

"You two are very welcome here." Twilight smiled at the two mares.

"Thank you so much! We promise to be the best servants you've ever had!" Octavia exclaimed, Vinyl nodded with her.

"I look forward to your services." Twilight chuckled.

Author's Notes:

Finally! Here's the new chapter. I still haven't heard back from my editor so this chapter is once again the raw version! Please let me know if you liked it!