The Oncoming Storm

‘In hindsight I should’ve seen how much of smooth talker Henry can be, but when you’re young and impressionable it’s hard to see it.’

“Trinity what is going on here?” Code Cypher asked with his wife Book Binder standing next to him just staring in shock.

Trinity grew smaller as she coward afraid of what her parents would do to her, “I…..uh……”

Henry noticed her nervousness and decided he should break the ice. He carefully stood up despite the pain and tried to somewhat make himself look presentable. “Hello.” He started putting on his best politican voice. “You must be the owner of this fine home. I do apologize for arriving uninvited and getting my blood on your very expensive looking carpet. My name is Henry A. Safon the Second and this lovely women here is my wife Lauren Safon.” He said pointing to Lauren who quickly nodded before subtly glancing around the room. “You see we’re travelers from another world and when we got here the breaks of our van broke forcing us to jump out, injuring me in the process. We walked around the woods for a bit until your lovely daughter here found us and offered to help us like a good samaritan.”

“I see. Well it is such good think we have raised our daughter to always help those who are in need. Is that right dear?” Cypher said as he gestured Trinity to him and Book Binder.

Trinity was still scared of possible punishment but still walked over next to her father. “Yes father.”

“Yes,yes.” Cypher started as he glanced at his wife who nodded and walked out of the room.

“Come with me dear.” Book Binder whispered to Trinity. Trinity gulped and followed her mother out of the room.

Once they were out of the room Trinity started crying. “I’m…….sorry mo…...ther! I w…..as…...just…..trying….to...help!”

“Oh Trinity, dear. We are not mad at you. You were just doing what you thought was right.” Her mother told her to comfort her.

Trinity looked up at her mother with tears still in her eyes. “Really?”

“Yes.” Book Binder confirmed before turning towards the foyer. “Now come on we need to call for help.”

“Why do we need to call for help?” Trinity asked as she followed her mother who started walking towards the foyer.

Book Binder picked up the room’s telephone with her magic. “They’re injured and clearly need medical assistance.” Before Trinity could say something her mother took the hoofset off the receiver and preceded to make a call. “Yes hello operator? Can you connect me to home of one Colonel Shining Armor? Thank you.”

Trinity was really confused now. She knew Shining Armor from him coming over to meet her father about stuff he did for the military and he was definitely not a doctor. “Why do we need Colonel Armor; don’t we need a doctor?”

“Don’t worry about that dear. Colonel Armor will know exactly what to do.” Book Binder told her daugher before somepony picked up the phone on the other end. “Hello is this Colonel Shining Armor? Oh thank you, Colonel this is Book Binder I am so sorry for calling you this late in the night. Now I don’t know how to put this but we have a bit of a problem here and need your help to keep it quiet. Um I think it would be best for you to get here and see it with your own eyes first.”

Just as she was about to hang the phone up an extremely loud gunshot followed by a few more quieter ones and then the sound of a window breaking sounded from the dining room.

“CYHPER!!” Book Binder called out as she ran to the dining room leaving the phone off its receiver.

“Don’t worry I’m on my way!” Trinity heard from the phone as she ran with her mother back to the dining room.

When the two got to the room they saw Code Cypher with his back against the wall and Henry pointing a weathered handgun at him but Lauren was nowhere to be seen. There was a hole in the floor from where Henry shot a warning shot and a broken window behind him from which Lauren escaped the manor from.

Once Henry saw Trinity and Book Binder come back into the room he tried to calm everyone down. “Now listen I don’t want to harm anybody okay. I know you called for someone in the military. We are just simple travelers who have no interest in getting involved. Just let me go and I’ll go away and you’ll all be able to go back to your lives as if nothing happened.”

Code Cypher looked over to his family intent on protecting them. “You promise to cause us no harm?”

Henry nodded. “Of course. We just want to go home.”

Cypher looked over to his wife who nodded. “Very well. You are free to go.”

“Thank you.” Henry said as he bowed being sure to keep the gun aimed as he did.
Right as he was about to start heading for the door a bright flash came from the direction of the foyer and then hoof steps running towards the room could be hear. Before Henry had the time to react a white unicorn stallion wearing a hastily thrown on military officer's uniform ran into the room and used his magic to take the gun out of Henry’s hand and pointed it at him.

“You will not move if you know what is good for you.” The new arrival said as Henry raised his good hand in the air.

Code Cypher breathed a sigh of relief as he walked next to the other stallion. “Thank you Colonel Armor, I don’t know what would have happened if that went on any longer.”

“Sorry for being late. I had to call for some backup to arrive shortly.” Shining Armor told him as he looked Henry up and down. “So what do you think? Boached Changeling spy, Griffin science experiment or Ottomare sorcery gone awry.”

“I have no idea. He was trying to tell me some story about being from another world. There was another one but she ran away after he pulled his pistol.” Cypher told the Colonel.

“Another world?” Shining Armor scoffed before addressing Henry. “Where are you from and who sent you?”

Henry looked at his gun that was levitating and pointed directly at his head. “What he said. My wife and I are interdimensional travelers and while we were coming into this world we crashed our van and wound up here.”

Shining Armor not satisfied with that answer levitated the gun closer to Henry’s head. “Do you really think I am going to fall for that?”

“Well it’s the truth.” Henry told him.

“You must really think I’m dense if you think I’m going to fall for that. You were traveling and just so happened to be found by the family of Equestria’s top spy? I don’t believe that for a second.”

Henry sighed knowing he was going to get nowhere in this conversation. “Well I’m sorry if the facts don’t fit your reality.” Right as he said that he reached behind himself and pulled out a compact nickel plated handgun. Before he could he a shot off though Book Binder quickly reacted and took that gun out of his hand with her magic, and Shining Armor took the first one and shot him in the right knee with it. “Jesus fuck! Why did it have to be in the bad one?” Henry moaned in great pain.

Shining Armor was now very mad at the possible attempt at his life. “Okay now I am definitely sure you are a spy for a foreign country. Once my troops arrive we are going to have a nice long conversation.” Just as he said that the sound of a wagon and troops getting out of it could be heard outside the manor. “Well speak of the devil. Agent Cypher may we commend your cellar for initial interrogation?”

Cypher saluted Shining Armor. “Yes Colonel Armor the cellar is yours to do with as you wish.”

Book Binder put the gun down on the floor and turned to her frozen daughter. “Come on dear. Let us go up stairs and let your father take care of this.”

Trinity could do nothing but nod as she started to follow her mother.

Trinity couldn’t sleep that night and it wasn’t because of the constant hoofsteps of the soldiers that were in her home. Instead it was the immense amount of guilt she had at being too scared to stand up to her parents.She had no doubt in her mind that Henry and Lauren were telling the truth but she was doubting her parents. They talked about her behind her back, called her invalid, and lied to her about helping the two strangers. Meanwhile Henry and Lauren have been nothing but nice to her.

She was smart enough, and has read through enough of her father’s spy books to know that there was no possible way a spy would be so stupid to come up with an attempt like this. But no, she was too scared of punishment to do the right thing.

She sat in her bed for hours until she saw the sun rise. As she watched it rise reminders of old stories about the hero always doing what was right flooded her head. As she remembered these stories she then knew what she had to do.

Trinity managed to sneak past a bunch of the soldiers walking around her manor and made it out to the courtyard where there was a window into the cellar room that was serving as Henry’s temporary interrogation room. Before she could get to the window though she heard the front door open and looked over to she her father and Shining Armor walk out. She hid from the two and was able to hear their conversation.

“Are you sure about leaving your family with that creature? I can tell the princesses myself.” Shining Armor said giving Cypher a look of concern.

Cypher put a hoof around the Colonel’s shoulder. “Colonel if these were anypony else’s soldiers I would say no but I know for a fact you have trained them right. Besides I think it would be best if I was to report my findings directly to the princesses lest those foreign spies intercept them.”

“I suppose you have a point.” Shining Armor said as he looked over to the saluting carriage pony. “We’re going to Canterlot, no breaks.”

“Yes sir!” The soldier said as he strapped himself onto the carriage and the other two got into the carriage.

Trinity waited until the carriage left her sight realizing how perfect it was that her father and the Colonel left. Once she was sure the coast was clear she quickly ran up to the window and whispered. “Psk. Mr. Henry it is me Trinity.”

Inside the room Henry was being held in was pretty empty excluding the table and chairs in the center with Henry handcuffed one of the chairs. He smiled when he heard her and carefully worked his way out of the handcuffs and limped toward the window Trinity called to him from. “Ah Miss. Trinity. While it’s very nice to see you here. I have to ask why you came?”

Trinity took a deep breath. “I came here to get you out so you can get to your home.”

Henry smiled at this. “Now Trinity you don’t have to put yourself in harm’s way. I’m more than capable of getting myself out of this.”

“No.” Trinity started surprising Henry with the assertiveness she was showing. “It is my fault you are in the predicament and I is going to be me who gets you out of it.”

Henry continued to smile as he sighed. “Very well if you must help then I need you to get me a large coat like the one you were wearing when we met and a stip of cloth to serve as a face wrap.”

Trinity nodded and quickly headed to get the items.

Thankfully for Trinity she was quickly able to get the items from her bedroom where she left her father’s greatcoat from last night and was able to tear a strip out of her white bed sheets. With the items at hoof she quickly sneaked her way into the cellar and was hiding around the corner from the door to Henry’s room that was being guarded by two soldiers armed with rifles. She had to find a way to get rid of them if she ever hoped to get Henry out of there. Looking around she saw the breaker box for the manor’s electricity. Thinking quickly she went to it and took a couple of fuses out of it cutting the power and most importantly the lights.

“Oh for the love of Celestia.” She heard one of the soldiers say.

The other sighed. “Must’ve been one of those drunkard donkeys crashing into a pole.”

“Likely. Come on help me find a lantern or something.”

“And leave the post?”
“You really think that thing is going anywhere with a hole in the knee?”

“Fair point.”

Trinity hid as the two left their post and went upstairs in search of a lantern. Once they were gone she went up to the door and quietly knocked and whispered. “Mr. Henry I got the items you wanted.”

After a brief second she heard some footsteps and then Henry picking the lock on the door. Once the lock was picked Henry opened the door and looked at Trinity smiling. “Very nice cutting the power. It’ll make our escape easier.”

The two were carefully able to sneak off the manor grounds with it being made easier by the power being cut. Eventually the two made it onto the road heading towards Canterlot with Henry dressed in Trinity’s father’s great coat and the cloth wrapped around his head as a means to conceal his face.

“Mr. Henry are you sure you don’t want to head towards where I found you?” Trinity asked confused at why he would want to go the the city.

“Don’t worry Trinity. It’s part of our plan. Lauren is going to meet us there and then we’ll be on our way.”

Trinity nodded but was not too sure about it.

They continued to walk down the road and eventually the sound of a wagon came to their attention. They turned around and saw a rickety wagon full of earth pony musicians heading towards them. The wagon got closer and the big green earth pony dressed in a grey ratty suit and a straw hat stopped in front of Henry and Trinity.

“Y’all heading for the city?” He asked in an accent that implied that he had little to no education growing up.

“Play along.” Henry whispered to Trinity. Thinking fast he came up with something to tell them. “Why yes we are. You see I can’t work much on account of my war injury.” He said gesturing the empty right sleeve of the coat caused by his broken arm. “Thanks to that I have to get work by baring out my soul in the form of song and what better place to do that then the city?”

“Oh boy!” the Earth Pony said tipping his hat to the ‘veteran’. “Well ain’t you in luck there. Us the ‘Appolusa ramblers’ are heading out to a fancy shindig in the city. Why don’t y’all hop in the wagon and we’ll take you there.”
“That’d be appreciated.” Henry said walking to the wagon.

The other musicians moved over and let Henry and Trinity on. Once they were on the wagon the big earth pony started walking towards the city.

One of the musicians dressed in an old oversized black suit looked Henry up and down.“So I take it you got burned up by one of them Griffins.”

“Huh?” Henry replied glad the bandages prevented his face from being read.

“Them old bandages around you. I ‘member my older brother tell’in me about some Diamond Dogs serving with ‘em down in La’ Fron or La’ Fam… Oh shot I can’t ‘member.”

Another musician dressed in a ragged tailcoat hit him over the head “It’s La Frontière you ignorant sharecropper. And why in Celestia’s name are you asking anyways? By Luna they should call you LeadHead instead of Leadbelly sometimes.”

“Oh y’all shut up now! I’d ‘member eventually.” Leadbelly snapped back.

Henry chuckled glad the other interrupted because it gave him time to think of a lie. “It’s quite alright to ask. Yeah I got burned pretty well by a Griffin in the battle. Lost an arm in the process. But enough about that. What’s this event you’re all heading to?”

Leadbelly smiled. “Well you see. We were doing our thing out in a saloon when this uppity earth pony dressed all fancy like came up to us and told us that we were exactly what Fancy Pants was looking for to perform at his annual garden gala at the castle.”

“Sounds fancy.” Henry said.

“Y’all bet it is.”

The wagon eventually reached the city gates and then into the city proper. Henry looked around the city and observed how much it looked like Washington D.C. or London in the early 1900s. The roads were brick laid, streetlights were old oil lanterns that were converted to electricity, there were no automobiles instead everything was pulled by ponies, and there was a visible fog likely caused by near by factory pollution.

Once they made it through the slums of the city they reached the upper class neighborhoods and were able to get a good view of the castle. It was a grand structure towering over everything and even showed signs of having additions added throughout the ages with several parts showing different architecture styles but still fitting into the main theme.

“Would y’all look at that.” Leadbelly said in awe of the castle. “And we’re all performing there.”

They reached the service entrance of the castle were a grey earth pony dressed in very fine formal wear was waiting.

“Ah it’s nice to see you were able to make it. I trust you had no trouble getting here.” The earth pony said.

“Yeah we had no problems. Picked up a couple drifters but that’s all.” Leadbelly said getting out of the wagon.

The earth pony looked at Henry and Trinity. “I see. I’m afraid that they can’t come in.”

“Now hold up now! Why not? The old diamond dog here can sing and we can give the little filly a tambourine or something.” Leadbelly exploded.

The earth pony wasn’t intimidated though. “You listen here. The contract was for the four of you only. Now I know that out in those dirty saloons you like there’s no rules but here we have a sense of decorum.”

Leadbelly flaid his forehooves up in the air. “Oh ‘decorum’ now. You listen here you uppity sellout. Drifters are the heart and soul of our music.Traveling down the olde country roads, meeting interesting folk, and seeing the world.”

“I can go if it’s that much of a problem.” Henry interjected to try and defuse the argument.

“Quite!” Both earth ponies yelled at him.

Trinity just stood back and watched the two bicker as she wondered how she got caught up in this. After a bit she looked over to the entrance and saw a familiar face come up.

It was none other than Fancy Pants the Speaker of the Equestrian House of Representatives. As per usual he was dressed in the finest clothing that when perfectly with his white fur and purple mane. “Now what’s all this then Chamberlin?”

Chamberlin quickly snapped to attention. “I do apologize sir. I was just having a disagreement about the terms of our contract with our entertainment.”

Leadbelly straightened his mane and suit. “Yeah we want to bring the heart and soul of our music to you so we picked up a couple of drifters.”

“‘Picked up a couple drifters’?” Fancy Pants repeated before looking over Henry and Trinity. “Trinity!” He exclaimed as he recognized her. “Whatever are you doing here? Where are your parents?”

Trinity got scared that she got caught. “Well um……”

“She was trying to help me.” Henry interrupted. “I was injured and she was trying to get me to the city when these kind fellows picked us up.”

“Y..yes! That was what I was doing.” Trinity said playing along.

“Oh I see.” Fancy Pants said looking at Henry. “Do you need some help?”

“No I should be good now. I was just tired from traveling.” Henry said trying to divert the conversation.

“Well if you’re alright then I should call Trinity’s parents they must be absolutely scared that their little filly is out somewhere hurt.” Fancy Pants said before heading into the castle to look for a telephone.

Trinity’s eyes grew big as she knew that her rescue attempt would be over if he called her parents. “Wait Mr. Fancy Pants. You don’t need to call my parents. I’m doing fine right here.”

“Now why are you so concerned about me calling your parents?” Fancy Pants asked confused at what was going on.

Henry knew there wasn’t a whole lot he could do now. He didn’t want to do this but he had no choice. He reached his good arm to the cloth wrapped around his head and took it off, revealing his face to everyone much to their shock.

Henry looked at all the shocked ponies. “Now I’m sorry I lied to you all here but I’m just trying to get home. Trinity here helped me and my wife when I had a broken arm but her parents are convinced I’m a spy.”

“And why should I believe that.” Fancy Pants asked skeptical once he got past the shock of this unusual creature standing in front of him.

Trinity ran up to Fancy Pants and pleaded. “Listen to him Mr. Fancy Pants. He doesn’t want to spy he just wants to go home.”

“What kind of spy blows his own cover? Think about it and try not to be so paranoid and close minded.”

“Close minded, and paranoid?” Fancy Pants scoffed. “As the Speaker of the House I’ve been a champion for equality across the board and a warrior against the paranoia of the Equestrian Military my good sir!”

Henry smiled knowing he struck a chord. “So you’ll help me by calling off those paranoid officers?”

“Of course I will!” Fancy Pants said fired up. “I’ll show them that they can’t bully around those under them just because they're afraid of monsters under their bed. Now come with me! I have a few words for Code Cypher.”

“Thank you my friend you’ll quickly find that I have no interest in harming your people.” Henry said smiling amazed that that actually worked.