As Celestia entered the dark hallway and closed the door, Silent Storm abruptly stopped quivering and bolted, using Celestia's neck to push off, effectively stunning her. By the time she had recovered, Silent Storm was already down a side corridor, through a large vent he often used for quick escapes, and out a side door into the unguarded gardens. With all the diplomats waiting, she won't have time to track me down, he thought, but when he turned around, there she was, towering over him.
"What to do with you...", Celestia muttered, almost to herself . "Since you love running and hiding so much, you have to stay in this area of the gardens until sunset."
Her horn glowed and Silent Storm felt a tingly feeling in his hooves. Celestia turned and left the garden, and once she was out of sight Storm made a run for the exit, but when he reached it his hooves wouldn't move. He could move around in the gardens, but when he was within a couple of feet of the doors or the gates that lined the gardens he lost control of his hooves. He sat on the ground, thinking of things to do while trapped in this grassy expanse. While he was thinking, a bee flew onto the flowers in front of him, moving from flower to flower. Fascinated by the small creature, he watched the bee visit each flower, never stopping, never going back to a flower he'd missed. Several minutes passed, and the small creature was joined by others. Butterflies, dragonflies, and even a mantis appeared in the garden. After about an hour, he became bored and lay down on the soft grass for a nap.
When he awoke, there Celestia was again, staring down at him with her pink eyes. Silent Storm looked around him, noticed all was dark in the garden, and walked around Celestia without so much as an acknowledgment of her existence. He exited the gardens, and walked through the corridors of the castle toward his room. He looked over his shoulder, saw Celestia following behind him, and a little smirk came to his face as he thought, Let's see how well Celestia knows her own castle. He turned a corner and took off, sprinting down the halls and making turns into corridors with a speed gained with years of memorizing every nook and cranny in the place. He looked back and saw that Celestia was still there, albeit farther back than before. Silent Storm rounded a corner and quickly entered a familiar room filled with odd paintings and waited for Celestia to pass, then doubled back and made a turn down a corridor he'd passed before and slowed down, thinking he'd lost the Princess.
"That all you've got?" Celestia's voice rang in his ears.
Silent Storm turned around to again see Celestia's tall form right behind him. He finally gave up and faced her.
"W-what do you want from me?" Storm asked, fearing a more extreme punishment than garden confinement.
"Just your name," Celestia said, her trademark kindness back in her voice.
Silent Storm said nothing and just stared at her.
"Fine then, don't tell me. You really know your way around the castle, almost as well as I know it. I should really do this more often." Stretching her legs, Celestia gave Silent Storm a little wink, and then turned serious again, "How long have you been living here without my knowledge?"
"Four y-years"
"You managed to keep your entire existence hidden from me for four years?!"
Silent Storm nodded.
"Why did you not reveal yourself to me?"
"No o-offense, Celestia, but have you l-looked at me r-recently? I have dragon wings, and m-my mane looks like it's o-on fire. Last t-time I willingly revealed m-myself to another creature o-other than Luna, it almost a-attacked me."
"You have spoken with my sister?"
Silent Storm nodded again, "She is th-the one who brought me h-here four y-years ago."
Celestia reacted oddly to that statement, and appeared lost in her thoughts for a few moments.
"Come then, let us pay a visit to my sister." Celestia's voice dripped with a badly concealed emotion Silent Storm couldn't identify.
They plodded down the halls and Silent Storm had to fight his own body for control while his every instinct screamed at him to run and hide every time another pony was in sight. The ponies always bowed for Celestia, then gave Storm one of a variety of looks, some like he was a highly esteemed guest, and others like he was a convicted murderer. Celestia turned to him.
"Why don't you call Princess Luna and me by our formal titles?" she asked him.
"I don't believe you are my superiors." Silent Storm said, his voice surprisingly stutter-free, looking Celestia straight in the eye.
She stared back back at him, and the same badly-hidden emotion became apparent. They walked awhile longer in silence, the sound of their hooves clicking against stone the only sound to reach their ears. Silent Storm bumped into Celestia's legs when she abruptly stopped at a black door with a faded white crescent moon on it. She pushed open the door with her hoof and lit a lamp near the door with magic, filling the dark room with light. Luna lifted thick midnight-blue covers from her body and got out of the bed she'd been sleeping in. She rubbed her eyes with her hooves.
"To what do I owe this visit, sister?" Luna asked, and then noticed Silent Storm peeking out from behind Celestia's legs.
"Oh, I see you've found my little friend. I was wondering when you'd stumble upon him." she said with a bemused smile.
Celestia turned to Storm, "Would you mind leaving us alone for a moment?"
She opened the door with magic and shut it again after Storm walked through it. He heard the click of a bolt snapping into place. He pressed his ear to the keyhole and listened Celestia all but screaming at her sister.
"You brought a DRAGON BLOOD into the castle and didn't even bother to mention it to me?! If that... thing... inside of him wakes up, he could level the whole city!"
Silent Storm now realized what the emotion he hadn't been able to identify before was. It was fear.
"Relax, Cel, Stormy's still young, it shouldn't awaken for at least another two years." Luna said, her voice smooth and calm.
"You NAMED it?!" Celestia spat, a tone of disgust breaking into her voice.
Silent Storm's lip curled at her exclamation.
"Stormy's not an it, he's a pony, just like the rest of us but... different. Just because you have an unhealthy fear of all things dragon doesn't mean they're all monsters. And I didn't name him, that's what he said he was called."
"I am not afraid of dragons."
"I seem to recall you sending a team of ponies from that speck of a city called Ponyville just to deal with a sleeping dragon."
"I was testing their ability to deal with odd situations." Celestia muttered, her voice taking on a hurt tone.
"So what are they, a science experiment?
"No they're..." she trailed off, then regained her composure, "Never mind them, back to the subject at hand, what are we to do with this... Stormy... problem."
"What problem? Just let him live. I'm not sure he has one inside of him, he hasn't shown any signs of it."
"We should take care of it now, while it remains inactive."
"What are you going to do to him?"
"I think incarceration order two will do nicely, or maybe order five." a cold edge laced Celestia's voice and Storm heard her walking toward the door.
Silent Storm leapt backward away from the door and shot down the dark hallway, faintly hearing the door lock produce a click. He ran and ran and ran, the halls becoming a gray blur before his eyes. He didn't care who saw him. He didn't care who stared. He just ran and ran and ran, fear fueling his muscles so that that they didn't ache or tire. He ran past the guards of the garden, who shouted after him. He ran past carefully tended hedges and metal gates as he entered downtown Canterlot. He ran past shops and booths, houses and mansions. He ran past mares and stallions and fillies and colts, not stopping for anything as he swerved and jumped and dodged anything in his way. He ran out of Canterlot, sprinting down Mane Street, which ran through all of Equestria straight to the throne of Celestia. He veered off the road, afraid he would be too easily found. He ran and ran and ran, through vast plains, past trees and shrubs, and into a particularly dark forest. He ran and ran and ran, through the forest, not even giving the strange creatures or plants a glance as he ran. He saw a massive hollow log before him, and stopped for a moment, jerking his head to and fro, searching for the royal guards he was sure were closing in on him. None showed their faces, so Silent Storm collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air.