Silent Storm tentatively opened one eye as they approached the castle. Nopony was in the courtyards, nor in the palace gardens, except a few guards. As they alighted on a balcony, Storm stepped off of Luna's back and looked around at the monstrosity of stone he stood upon and was surrounded by. Out of pure habit he searched the balcony for places he could hide. There were a couple of potted plants roughly his size, but other than that he saw no cover. Luna led him through a door, down a corridor, around several turns he couldn't remember if he tried, and into a room that was empty except for a bed and a large window.
"You can stay here until arrangements are made," Luna said glancing away from Storm for a second.
Storm saw his chance and silently slipped through the doorway while she looked away, using the moment of distraction to disappear. He contentedly plodded down the halls of the castle, searching for something interesting to see. He wandered past room after room filled with everything from agricultural equipment to architectural models. After passing a room filled with the most odd-looking paintings he'd ever seen, his stomach growled, and he remembered he hadn't eaten anything in awhile, so he decided to look for a food-filled room. He sauntered on looking for a snack to satiate his hunger, and after several minutes a delicious aroma tingled his nose. He followed the smell, and eventually found its source: a great big room which produced a great clattering noise that became louder the closer he got to it. He peeked around the corner of the room's door and was taken aback by what he saw. The room was filled with both unicorns and earth ponies, but no pegasai, bustling about, shouting to each other about things Storm couldn't understand. Near the doorway, there was a shiny flat rectangular thing upon which sat medium-sized mounds of golden-brown puffy stuff that emanated heat. He wasn't completely sure what they were, but they smelled delicious, but he was unsure of how to get at them without anypony seeing him. He thought back to how he took berries and things from the animals in the forest without being seen. Rule one: distraction, he thought. He peeked around the doorway again, and saw a large cylindrical thing that steamed from the top. Nopony seemed to be paying attention to it. He also saw that one of the little torches that lit the castle halls and rooms hung directly above it and was loose in its holder. A plan formed in his mind. He found a pebble in one of the corridors he'd walked through, then went back to the tasty-smelling place. He threw the pebble as hard as he could at the loose torch and the small stone struck it right in the holder. The torch swayed and then fell into the cylinder, making a great hiss, as well as sending up a large cloud of steam. As all heads turned, Silent Storm snatched a couple of the golden lumps and left the room. Rule two: evasion, he thought, and retreated to the room with the odd paintings where he munched happily on his snack.
After his snack was finished, Storm resolved to find a map, as that would make exploring this gargantuan place much easier. On his quest for a snack he had seen a massive room filled with paper and books. He went back to that room, and was surprised to see other ponies huddled in various corners with either a candle or a glowing horn to light their books. He froze for a moment, wondering if any of them had seen him, but they didn't react, so he slipped past them toward the shelves as quickly and quietly as he could. He searched the seemingly endless rows of books for anything that looked like a map, and eventually chanced upon a door with a sign that read "Maps" This'll be easy, thought Storm. He pushed open the door, expecting a closet sized room. His jaw dropped as the door opened into a room almost the size of the one he'd come out of. Well, I'd better get started then, he thought. He walked down row after row, searching for the right map. Ponyville? no. Phillydelphia? no. Cloudsdale? no. Castles? no... wait, CASTLES! Silent Storm backed up to the sign that read "Castles". It was still a large section, but at least it cut down his search. He plopped down and scanned each scroll one at a time. Neuschwanstein Castle, Edinburgh Castle, Urubaen Castle, Alnwick Castle, Tintagel Castle, Canterlot Castle! He dropped the rest of the scrolls and examined the last one. The noisy food place he'd been at before was apparently called "Bakery One." He became enthralled by the map, staring down at the diagrams and labels, trying to memorize the castle's layout. After several minutes, he realized this venture was hopeless, so he tucked the map under his wing and walked out of the...Library, as the map had called it.
Back in the corridors, Silent Storm looked at the lower floors of the map and saw the word "Armory and Smith" over a particularly large room. He thought it seemed interesting, so with the help of the map, he found the nearest stair-case and walked down toward it. He found the room after getting lost a couple of times in the basements of the castle. Nopony seemed to be around, so he just walked right in. Storm had never seen so much metal in all his life. He saw what appeared to be metal ponies of all size and shapes, but without faces. As he walked farther he saw all sorts of weapons; he saw clubs and maces, swords and shields, and bows and arrows, but what really captivated him were the knives. Big, small, curved, straight, short, long, thick and thin, they were all there. He was looking upon their shining blades, when he heard a crash of falling armor from behind him.
"What do you think you're doing here, sonny?!" an angry voice shouted from behind him.
Not even looking back, Silent Storm sprinted away, the voice still shouting after him, but not pursuing him. His heart thumping, he galloped back to the room Luna had shown to him. He opened the door, and Luna was there, waiting for him, the same stern look he'd seen on her face when they'd met.
"Do not run off again," she said, her voice as stern as her look, "You have much to learn if you are to stay here, and one thing you should know is not to run off while someone is talking to you."
Silent Storm didn't pay much attention as Luna launched into a lengthy lecture about astronomy and the planets and stars that he saw every night in the sky, but after awhile with nothing to do anyway, he listened, absorbing every word. Once about two hours had passed, Luna stopped and looked at Silent Storm, content that she had sufficiently taught him on the subject. Hopefully I can get him caught up enough to go to a school here in Canterlot, she thought to herself.
Once Luna stopped, Silent Storm yawned and curled up on his bed to sleep. He felt Luna give him a little pat with her hoof, and heard her walk out the door. He closed his eyes and began to drift into sleep, and a small grin appeared on his face, as he thought, what will I do tomorrow?
Over the next few years, Silent Storm explored the castle so much, he knew it better than Luna herself, and yet he made sure that nopony knew that he existed. Luna did manage to catch him up to school-level, but then immediately surpassed his grade-level and went on to advanced learning, covering complicated maths and science. It was not until he was eleven years old that he started to go out during the day. Instead of sleeping entirely during the day, he slept from ten in the morning to three in the afternoon so that he could be awake and aware during both parts of the day. It was harder to remain unseen during the day, but Silent Storm managed fairly well. He found that blending in with a crowd could be just as effective as hiding around a corner, it was all in how you carried yourself. Keep your chin high, and your stature tall, and ponies are going to look at you. Keep a relaxed posture and a slight slouch, but not too much of one, and most ponies will let their eyes pass right over you. Surprised that a pony with dragon wings and a head of blue fire could keep such a low profile, Silent Storm got into the habit of sneaking in to places. He was very good at it, and hadn't gotten caught yet, but all streaks must come to an end eventually.
It had been a good day so far, and Luna decided to forgo the teaching session that day, as she had some important business to attend to. Silent Storm had heard a buzz of talk about a political trade meeting happening that day in the main meeting room of the castle. He wanted to see why so many people were talking about it, so he sneaked into the room before the meeting started, and climbed up into a shadowed area in the rafters he'd often hid in before to observe other happenings in that particular room. Confident he was well-hidden, he waited for the meeting to start. Only a couple of minutes passed until a small procession of about a dozen uninteresting-looking ponies followed by Princess Celestia, who was still in the dark about his existence there at the castle, entered the room. They all sat down and started talking about inconsequential things like wheat taxes in certain provinces. His eyes glazing over, he reached a hoof forward to scratch his nose, and lost his balance. He fell with a resounding thud onto the center of the table, and all the ponies that had been talking froze and stared at the odd dragon-pony that had suddenly appeared before them. He hid his face in his hooves, trembling as Princess Celestia silently lifted him from the table onto her back. She told the diplomats to continue talking amongst themselves, said she'd be back in a few minutes after she'd "taken care of... this", and walked out the door with Silent Storm on her back.