4 - Overreacting

Silent Storm rested on a bed of fresh hay where Shining Armor had lain the night before, too tired to move; wondering about the long trial that awaited him. Holding dark thoughts at bay was something he had vast experience in, but he usually did this by focusing on the task at hand and ignoring any emotion that tried to get in the way. Here though, there was no task, except to wait and get better.

Every inch of his body ached with constant, tearing pain, like a migraine that emanated from every corner of his body, giving him a similar sensation as to when he had been mauled by an ursa minor, only worse. To keep his mind off the pain; his thoughts turned again to the rainbow-maned wonder that he had danced with the night before. Of all the hundreds of ponies in the theater, she alone had had the courage to help him. But... even that was a bit strange when he came to think of it. She had dived in to help him save… Derpy as if she knew what was going on. For a while he had thought she was portraying a better cover then he was; but then why hadn't she said anything when he asked her? A searing cramp bit down on one of Storm’s legs, he painfully stretched and shifted his weight. Come to think of it, all she would have known was that Trixie had done a lousy show, had made fun of a random pony’s eyes, and maybe if her vantage point was right, had seen Trixie try to push Derpy down the hole. That didn't sound like it even deserved a battle, unless... was there something she knew about the situation that he didn't?

Storm managed the strength to smile as he thought of the way they had danced the night before; her light steps, her radiant smile. Stop! What was he thinking? Nothing had happened between them—she had helped him for a few seconds at the tail end of a battle, he had watched her perform once, and they had danced two or three times. In all, they weren’t together for more than two hours, it’s not like he had any feelings for her just for that; and even if he did what difference would it make? Here in Canterlot she had a full life; she was the star performer in Canterlot, with a team of supporters, and if the size of the empty stadium was any indication, she must have thousands of fans and wealth beyond reckoning. Most importantly, she was safe; if she were with him she would be in danger, every hour of every day. Storm knew the path he had chosen and there was no way she would ever walk it with him. Even to suggest it would be unfair to her, an insult.

If she had been unhappy with her life as it was, Storm might have told her who he was. Not all at one time, and certainly not with other ponies around, but slowly, bit by bit, he would have told her the truth… at least most of it. But she was happy with her life and Storm would never forgive himself if he messed it up. He had lived for so long alone, he should just finish what was left of his life alone and be done with it; it was safer that way, for everypony. It's not like he deserved anything more, or had the right to ask for anything better; not after the things he had done.

Storm wearily looked up at his saddlebag; it was empty except for the letter from Princess Celestia urgently bidding him to Canterlot, and his portgem. Portgems were useful little things—a recent invention from Celestia's school for gifted unicorns. After a blank portgem was made, it could be inscribed by a unicorn. Wherever it was inscribed, the portgem would become an anchor for one, infinite range, teleport, back to that location. The cost of making one was rarely justified with only being able to use them once; and were mostly kept by soldiers who might need to evac a hot area, someone going on a long journey and wanted to save themselves the return trip, or someone who was wealthy enough to keep one so they could get home in case of an emergency. Storm would finish his mission, collect his armor, and then use his portgem immediately, without saying goodbye—one spell and Canterlot, and its inhabitants, would be only a distant memory.

Storm didn't think he had any feelings for Rainbow Dash, and if he did he shouldn't; and if he had made her have any feelings him that had been a mistake too. One more mistake which he would have to bear. She would forget about him in time; she should never have known he existed to begin with. Still, dancing with her hadn't been a total mistake, he had helped her with the Guards asking about the fire; at least he been able to do that for her as a going away present.

To be honest, Storm actually had no idea if he had the authority to excuse the destruction of a major theater, or if he had the authority to banish Trixie and her lackeys. But he had had enough command experience to portray the veneer of an irritated officer. After showing them the letter from the Princess herself ordering him to come to Canterlot immediately for an unspecified mission, he gave the guards a few minutes for their imaginations to fill in the blanks and then simply encouraged any assumptions that naturally followed. Early that morning, an officer from the royal guard had stuck his head through the door, and reported that a band of blue and white ponies had been arrested the night before, and that somepony named Silent Storm had tried to invoke his authority to banish them. A quick nod was all it had taken to tell the officer that Silent Storm could indeed speak on behalf of Shining Armor. The officer excused himself and hurried back down the stairs, presumably to see about some magic resistant chains. Storm stretched out and smiled, it was good to be the captain.

…........................................................................................................................................................

Shining Armor followed Twilight through the streets of Ponyville; as happy as he was to be spending time with her again, it was a bit unsettled at how much she seemed to have changed over the last few years. When he first arrived she was like the same old Twilight, predictable her responses down to the last detail, but when he told her he’d participated in a body swap, she didn’t instantly start bombarding him with questions about the schematics of the spell. Maybe she was actually starting to learn that classified meant classified… or maybe she had just gotten more subtle and she was going to try to lull him into a false sense of security while she concocted some situation where he would need to teach her the spell. Either way he was glad their first meeting hadn’t revolved around her pleading with him with her little puppy dog eyes to ‘give her her birthday present early’, ‘share his great wisdom’ or ‘stop shutting her out of his life’.

Twilight had changed, there was no doubt about that, and it probably had to do with these ‘friends’ she was so eager to show him. When she left Canterlot he had been worried that she might have trouble meeting new ponies. He knew that aside from Cadance, he had been her only real friend until she left for Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, and even there Shining Armor wasn't sure she’d established relationships except for those ponies who wanted her help with late projects, or with last minute studying for exams. Either way Shining Armor was glad to see what kind of friends Twilight had made in Ponyville.

Their first stop was along a row of houses between Ponyville and the Everfree Forest. Shining Armor followed Twilight along a country lane past an unusual number and variety of animals until eventually Twilight stopped at the base of a large tree and craned her neck up, “Fluttershy, I'd like you to meet my brother.”

There was no response, so Twilight tried again, “Fluttershy.”

Shining Armor was suddenly feeling very worried. He knew his sister had trouble making friends, but she hadn’t been the sort to form relationships with inanimate objects, “Fluttershy is a tree?” he asked slowly, dreading the answer.

“Shh,” whispered Twilight twitching her ears, “Listen carefully, can you hear her?”

“Twilight... are you alright?”

Maybe her moving to Ponyville hadn't been a good idea after all. Shining Armor was about to suggest they go back to the library when he thought he heard a small voice. “H-hello.”

“Com'on down Fluttershy, there's somepony I want you to meet” Twilight was still looking up the tree.

Relief flooded over Shining Armor as he saw a real cream colored pegasus pony with a pink mane, flutter down from somewhere in the upper branches and hide behind Twilight.

“Fluttershy, this is Shining Armor, Shining Armor this is Fluttershy” said Twilight proudly.

“Pleased to meet you” said Shining Armor extending a hoof in greeting.

The pale yellow pegasus cautiously crept forward to accept his hoof shake, but just as she got close a squirrel sneezed behind Shining Armor, making her jump and retreat behind Twilight again. “It's OK Fluttershy, this is my brother from Canterlot, he just looks different because he had a body swap with somepony else.”

The cream pegasus looked over Twilight's back and gave a weak smile, “Hello.” she whispered.

“She's just a little shy.” said Twilight. Just then the squirrel gave another sneeze and Fluttershy bolted into a nearby cottage. “She really can be quite brave when you get to know her.” insisted Twilight sounding embarrassed.

Shining Armor didn't know how to respond. He was thinking of asking if they should return later when suddenly Fluttershy came running back, this time holding a box of the smallest tissues he had ever seen. Momentarily ignoring both Twilight and Shining Armor, Fluttershy ran over to the squirrel who had sneezed and offered it the box “There you go Appleseed,” she said softly, “Remember, you should cover your mouth when you sneeze, otherwise all your little squirrel friends might get your cold, and then I would have to put you all in bed for a week.” Much to Shining Armor's suprise, the squirrel snatched a tissue from the box and blew its nose like it knew what tissues were for. Then it dropped the tissue and hugged Fluttershy around one of her legs. “You’re welcome Appleseed,” she laughed.

“Fluttershy, do you want to show my brother some of your animals?” asked Twilight with a slight tinge of impatience.

“Oh, of course Twilight, if he wants to I mean.”

“Sounds great,” said Shining Armor, still rather confused and amazed after the sight of a squirrel knowing how to use a tissue, “I don't see a lot of animals in Canterlot.”

“Don't see a lot of animals?” exclaimed Fluttershy compassionately, “You poor, poor pony! Oh, I have so much to show you. Let me get the bird choir for you; we’ve recently had a marvelous new addition—a Scarlet Tanager named Taliesin who has the most beautiful voice you ever heard. Come this way.”

…........................................................................................................................................................

Storm was drifting in and out of a light sleep when he heard the soft click of hooves coming up the stairs. Orders were not to disturb him unless absolutely urgent; so he hoped there wasn't some real situation they wanted him to rule on, as he knew almost nothing about Canterlot. The steps stopped in front of the door, as if whoever was on the other side couldn't decide whether to come in or not, then slowly the door creaked open. Storm opened one eye, expecting to see Shining Armor's squire but was surprised to see a pink unicorn mare standing over him. Or was she a pegasus? Or was she both? Whoever she was, she was staring at him with a look that was slowly shifting from long awaited joy, to abject horror, to deep nurturing compassion as she took in the wasted sight of him. Her lip quavered as if she was about to cry, but instead she lay down on the stone facing him and gently nuzzled his destroyed face. “I came to see you.”

Storm didn't know who she was, but he already had a caretaker from the Royal Guard, and the last thing he needed was somepony with strong emotional attachments to Shining Armor who didn't know what was going on, “Leave.” It hurt to talk, Celestia had warned him against trying to speak, and apparently Shining Armor had lost his speech some months before his spell finally broke.

The pink pony looked hurt but didn't go away. Instead she kept talking in her sad, gentle voice. “Please don't be angry; I know you didn't want me to see you like this, but let me help you. We both suffer when we're apart. I don't care how you look, I love you. It would hurt more for me to leave you like this, and you'll feel better with me to look after you. Let me stay, please.”

She wasn't leaving without more of a fight then Storm wanted to give. If he had been healthier and more alert, he would have perceived the relationship between this strange pony and Shining Armor and realized his next question was a bad idea, but he didn't have the thought or voice to ask more than what he needed to know, “Who... are you?”

If the visitor had held herself with an air of grace before it vanished now as she drew back in shock and stared at him, her eyes filling with tears. She looked at him in sorrow and disbelief, until she finally croaked out, “It's me, Cadance. Shining Armor please say you remember me! You have to! I'm your fiancé! Please say you remember who I am!”

Cadance? That name sounded vaguely familiar… Storm didn't know Shining Armor had been engaged, but right now it posed a problem. One pony acting stressed out could easily spread, and the whole reason he had taken over Shining Armor's body was so that wouldn't happen. He needed to get rid of this Cadance, but to do that he should tell her what was really going on, and he didn't have the voice to do that right now, he hardly had any voice at all. “Shining Armor” Storm rasped and then shook his head in denial of the identity.

Cadance stared at him in horror and then jumped to her hooves, fear and pain stabbing her face like her reason for living had just been struck down. “NO!” she sobbed “This can't be happening! You don’t even remember who you are! Celestia said your body would become weak but your mind would be safe. She promised!” Cadance looked helplessly around the room and then back to the shadow of a fiancé who seemed to be dying at her hooves. “I need to get you out of here.” Her horn glowed and a small white portgem of her own floated out from her saddlebag. “I'm taking you to our house in Fillydelphia, you'll get better there, I promise.”

What was she doing? Storm had to stay here and get better; if he disappeared Celestia could turn the whole city upside down looking for him. If this Cadance would only listen for a moment instead of getting emotional and then doing the first thing that popped into her head, she'd see! Storm focused all the energy he could muster and managed to knock the stone from Cadance's shaky grasp. She spun around to look for it, and as she did so her hoof knocked over Storm's saddlebag, spilling its contents across the floor, including Storm's own portgem. Cadance spied it as it fluttered over the floor and grabbed it with her telekinesis.

“Don't worry my love; I'll get us out of here.”

No; not with that stone! She couldn't think it was hers, but she did. Storm opened his mouth to try to scream in protest but it was too late. Cadance's horn glowed and Storm felt like Shining Armor's body was becoming rapidly lighter. FOOL!!!!

Chapter five >>> Second Glances