//------------------------------//
// Chapter 27 - Epilogue(s) 
// Story: Summary of Storm of Secrets 
// by Beware The Carpenter 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 27 - Calm before the Storm

Silent Armor and Cadance visit Shining Armor’s parents to invite them to the wedding. Shining Armor had never been close to his parents and Silent Armor surprises everyone with an outpouring of affection.

Shining Armor, Twilight and Rainbow Dash visit Applejack who is recovering in her farmhouse. At the library, Spike tells them Cadance came looking for Twilight and asked her to come to Canterlot as soon as she could. On their way through Canterlot, Dash notices that the pegasi are preparing for a large hailstorm and Shining Armor explains that Luna has been buying shares in weather companies and scheduling storms for the day but warm, clear nights, to encourage Canterlot’s nightlife. 

Celsestia has gone to the griffon kingdoms to smooth political tensions after a griffoness was supposedly murdered by a pony. 
When they open the door to Silent Armor and Cadnace’s chamber, Silent Armor is overjoyed to see Twilight. 

"Twily!" exclaimed the white unicorn, jumping off the couch and racing down the stairs to meet her, "Twily you're alright!"



Chapter 28 – Storm of Cadance

Silent Armor is ecstatic to see Twilight, and runs to give her a hug. Shining Armor runs to give Cadance a kiss; she screams, and Silent Armor comes to Cadance’s ‘protection.’ The increase in Shining Armor’s magic was far more than expected, and having recovered rapidly the last three weeks, easily throws Shining Armor across the room.

Rainbow Dash is disappointed that Storm doesn’t recognize her.

Both stallions claim to be Shining Armor. Cadance; remembering what Storm told her about Rangers who stay in the forest going insane, and Storm having lived there for five years, gently tries to suggest psychiatric help. Shining Armor and Silent Armor both demonstrate a full set of Shining Armor’s memories by answering specific questions from Twilight.

Shining Armor and Silent Armor have mirrored thoughts about each other, except Silent Armor considers killing ‘Storm’, believing it would be the kindest thing he could do for him at this stage.



Chapter 29 - Truculence

Twilight believes that Storm is trying to steal Shining Armor’s identity, as Shining Armor’s body, retrained to its new potential would have far more magical energy then Storm’s own body.  She tries to trick Storm into re-swapping bodies with Shining Armor.

After being backed into a corner by Shining Armor and Twilight, Silent Armor declares Shining Armor doesn’t deserve Cadance and tries to kill him. Twilight helps Shining Armor and the three of them fight briefly, before Cadance stops them. 


"What if..." Storm said slowly, "What if we both be Shining Armor. We can share Cadance."

"Are you crazy!" yelled Shining Armor, "One of us has to be Silent Storm!"

"WHY!?” Screamed Storm, his voice on the verge of breaking, “Why does Silent Storm need to exist!? He has no family, no friends, not one person who cares whether he lives or dies! Do you know why he’s spent the last five years, alone, on the front lines!? He's been trying to kill himself!!!

Storm has lived every day for the last five years on the front lines hoping he would die; but it doesn’t work! The terrormongers can't do anything to him, they can barely sense he exists, he has nothing to lose and so there is nothing that he fears; and the changelings can't feed off him because there is nothing that he loves! That is the curse of the forest; only when it has taken everything from you and you want to die will it refuse to take you too! All Storm wants to do is die! So let's let him be dead!”

Shining Armor seemed taken aback at Storms confession, Twilight continued her ardent glower, Cadance looked sorrowfully at Storm in sympathetic shock until she swallowed and orbited him until she looked him in the face, caressing his cheek in her hoof, "If you are Shining Armor...” she said slowly, “And if you haven't seen Storm in almost ten years... how do you know that?"

"I don't know!" Shouted Storm falling backwards onto his haunches as if begging Cadance to ignore the undeniable; "But I don't care! I'm Shining Armor! I'm Shining Armor." Storm pounded himself on the chest with each word, as if the added emphasis would somehow make it true, "I'm... Shining Armor. I'm going to marry Cadance and we're going to have a family. I'm Captain of the Royal Guard. Twilight's my younger sister. I have parents. I have friends. I have people who love me. I'm... Shining... Armor."

Twilight demands that he reverse body swaps; Silent Storm begs her to ‘forgive him’ but she says that if he doesn’t swap back with Shining Armor she never will. Silent Armor breaks and agrees to the body swap, and then immediately teleports away.



Chapter 30 – Silence dies

Storm appears on the roof of the tower, devastated that he will never be with Cadance, but then even more so when he realizes that he never loved Cadance and only felt Shining Armor’s love for her. He leans over the edge of the tower, and prepares to commit suicide, Rainbow Dash finds him and he recognizes her from the fight at the theater and Wonderbolt show.

After hearing him say that he didn’t love Cadance, Rainbow Dash asks to run away with him, Storm refuses saying she would only get hurt, like Silver. When Dash doesn’t leave, Storm walks into the hailstorm she follows him. Storm lies down, thinking she’ll only be able to take the storm for a few minutes, but she lies down next to him and stays with him. After the hail ends, Storm tells Dash that he killed Silver Thorn, believing she was a changeling, describing the scene from Shining Armor’s nightmares. Rainbow Dash still wants him, but after repeated rejection, she leaves.

Storm overhears Cadance arguing with Shining Armor. She had been out looking for Storm, but Shining Armor had called her back after he’d found Storm and Dash on the roof, and decided to give them space. Cadance berates Shining Armor for repeatedly shutting her out of his life in order to ‘protect her.’ She cancels the wedding indefinitely. Storm goes after Rainbow Dash.



Chapter 31 – Wrap ups

Rainbow Dash is moving out of her rooms at the Wonderbolt stables. Spitfire, who is resuming leadership of the Wonderbolts, sees her off. Spitfire mentions she is considering hiring the Flim Flam Brothers to help team management.

Rainbow Dash visits Rarity whose sanity is waning and has begun collecting cats. Rarity resist’s Dash’s attempts to talk some sense into her, and Dash leaves; a micro-epilogue describes Rarity losing her business, and being incarcerated in a mental asylum.

Rainbow Dash visits Scootaloo, and promises to see her again soon, but prompted by Scootaloo’s derivative remarks about Derpy which echo Dash’s previous sentiments, she decides to visit Derpy one last time. 



Chapter 32 – Derpy Hooves

Derpy apologizes for losing Dash’s mail which turns out to have been inconsequential; and Dash apologizes for her previous shunning of Derpy. Dash asks some questions and realizes that although she’s clumsy, Derpy is still the fastest pegasus in Equestria, even though she doesn’t realize it. 



Epilogue: 

Celestia returned from Gryffindor a few weeks after the day of the thunderstorm: the murderer of the griffoness found, and the conspiracy behind it uncovered, not by Celestia’s Royal Guards, nor by the griffons led by the murdered griffoness’ vengeful husband, but by a small band of heroic vagrants, who wished to remain anonymous.

Shining Armor was called to account for his defying of direct orders and reckless endangerment of civilian lives. Yet considering his service past and discrepant state of mind when he made his decisions, Celestia was lenient, placing him under suspension for six months, during which he was required to report to an officer of the crown on a daily basis. Princess Cadance was more than happy to be chosen for the position.

Shining Armor and Cadance realized that there was a rift between them that needed to be sealed or else their relationship was already lost. It was not easy, and for a time, both of them were afraid that their love had died and was buried under the thick winter snows; but neither of them gave up and as spring brought new life and growth to the vegetation, so too did their rekindled affection. The following summer they began preparing for a third wedding, and this time, nothing got in their way.

And that wasn’t the only wedding that Twilight attended that summer


Second epilogue, placed at the end of Lost Chapters (Deleted Scenes):

Twilight waits at the farmhouse with Applejack, (now recovered from her injuries,) and her family. Shining Armor did some research, confirming Applejack’s father was a Ranger, and has promised to send someone who knew him to take the Apple family to their parent’s graves. The guide turns out to be Storm, accompanied by Rainbow Dash who appears wounded though she refuses to discuss it. 

After arriving at a hidden graveyard, Storm goes for a walk to visit some other graves, Rainbow Dash goes with him, and Applejack asks Twilight why there’s a thirty foot statue of Derpy in the middle of the graveyard.