//------------------------------// // 13 - Chasing Rainbow Dash // Story: Storm Of Secrets // by Beware The Carpenter //------------------------------// The good news was that Rainbow Dash either didn't know where she was going, or she kept changing her mind meaning she kept back tracking and costing her a good deal of her speed. The better news was that, so far, Dash hadn't been going too far off the ground. The bad news, was that Twilight was unseemingly unfit, and even boosting her speed with teleports wasn't enough to keep Dash from falling farther and farther away. By the time she'd followed Dash's chaotic trail to the edge of Sweet Apple Acres, she was breathing hard, didn't watch where she was going, and came very close to colliding with Applejack. She managed to swerve at the last instant, slipped in some mud and landed sprawled out on her belly, looking up at a bemused Applejack. “...Yes?” asked Applejack after staring at her guest for a few seconds, “Can I help you?” Twilight scrambled to her hooves, “Rainbow Dash is back, I don't know why but she needs help; but we need to catch her first.” Applejack raised an eyebrow, “Please, just trust me.” Applejack dropped her apples on the ground and grabbing a coil of rope from a nearby tree branch, Applejack galloped after Twilight. …............................................................................................................................................ Cadance's horn lit the way as she carried Storm through the opening. Inside, the hill was hollow, but the walls and roof were laced with thick support beams; so to anything climbing over the hill it would seem just as solid as any ordinary mound of dirt. There were several large holes in the roof; and Storm knew that above each of them was one of the dead trees that crowned the top of the hill, which he had carefully hollowed when he built this place. One large hole in the top of the domed roof drew hot air out of the burrow, several smaller holes around the sides brought cool air in; like an ants nest. The far wall was covered floor to ceiling with densely packed shelves containing an abundance but small variety of foods, and other supplies in an organized fashion. Nine lamp stands (fueled with peanut oil so they wouldn't give off any smoke) stood at even intervals throughout the large single room that made up the dwelling. There were three clocks, in case one of them began losing time, and two holes in opposite sides of the wall, below a hole that led to a fast moving underground river that flowed deeper into the forest, and along the opposite wall was another hole that led downstream of the same river for refuse. Next to the door stood a magnetic rack for Storm's armor and weapons, which was currently empty except for a spare sword and a couple of knives. A simple bench was all that resembled a kitchen, dining room or lounge room, and in one corner was a comfortable looking bed of hay. Storm was glad when, after taking in the room, Cadance's first act was helping him toward the bed; and, as designed, the door swung shut automatically behind them. But his relief vanished when he heard Cadance speak again: “Rest, my love. I don't know where we are, but there must be somepony around here who can help us. I'm going to have a look outside, but I'll be back soon.” How could she be so stupid!? Storm had lived in the darkest parts of the forest long enough to know what would happen if she went out there. She'd make noise, she'd leave tracks, they would find her; they would suck her dry of everything useful to them, kill her, and then backtrack her to the burrow and doing the same to him. If she opened that door, they would both die! “Don't!” he tried to emphasis as much as he could but ended up in a coughing fit that made his lungs ache. “What?” Cadance put her ear next to his mouth so he wouldn't have to talk loudly, but Storm's voice was already beyond gone, he couldn't afford to waste another word. If he didn't convince her not to leave with the few words he had left, it would be death for both of them. He tried to think, searching for the perfect words to make her understand why she mustn’t leave the shelter, but he was exhausted and his thoughts came slow. One idea alone presented itself, and he took it. “Don't leave me.” he begged, trying to sound pitiful. Cadance smiled and then lay down next to him, half on the hay and half on the dirt. Spreading one of her wings over him like a blanket, she said in the sweetest voice Storm had ever heard, “I'm here.” Storm knew that they were safe, at least for the moment, and let his exhausted muscles relax. Within minutes he was sleeping soundly while Cadance kept watch, keeping him warm in her silent embrace. …................................................................................................................................................ What had happened? What had she missed? What could she have done to prevent it?She thought she'd learned, she thought she was different from when she first joined the Wonderbolts but no, her ability to fall for a reasonable guy hadn't gotten any better. Rainbow Dash didn't care where she was going. She had forgotten about the message she was meant to get, and wouldn't have cared about it if she did. She knew what she had seen: Silent Storm and Twilight Sparkle locked in an embrace not two feet from a chaotically ruffled bed in a room that reeked with sweat. And now they were chasing her. Dash ignored them and swerved madly through Applejack's trees; but as she came to the crest of a hill, there was the flash of a teleport behind her, and she felt her body being grabbed by a hatefully familiar telekinesis. “LET ME GO STORM! I AM NOT GOING TO TALK TO YOU!” Rather than spinning her around to face him, Storm tried moving around so he could face her, but let himself get too close. Dash let forth with a quick kick that caught him between the eyes. Storm faltered for a second, and Dash was released from his grip, but was caught an instant later by Applejack's lasso. Dash struggled fiercely, but Applejack held firm, looping her a second time, and tying the other end of the rope around a tree. Storm used his magic to pull her to the ground and stood over her, ignoring the thin trickle of blood leaking down his nose. “Rainbow Dash, settle down!” He took another step towards her but right then Applejack blocked him, “Look Mister; I don't know who you are, or what's going on. I just tied my best fried to a tree because Twilight asked me, but this is as close as you're coming to Dashie without my say so.” Storm backed off, “Now what in tarnation is going on?” “We will wait for Twilight.” Storm said evenly. Applejack slowly nodded, Dash cast some dirty glances at both of them, and Twilight, who took her sweet time in coming, eventually staggered up to the top of the hill and collapsed panting on the ground. “Alright now.” grimaced Applejack uneasily, giving Twilight a drink from her canteen and fanning her with her hat, “My name's Applejack in case ya don't know; what's yours?” “Storm!” shouted Rainbow Dash. “Shining Armor.” the stallion answered. Applejack frowned, “You ain't Twilight's brother; she showed me a picture of him one time when his fancy wedding got canceled.” “Postponed.” Storm interrupted. “Well you don't look anything like Shining Armor.” “See, I told you he was lying!” cut in Dash, “He wouldn't tell me anything except that his name was Silent Storm; and now he's got Twilight thinking he's her brother!” “It's... OK.” panted Twilight, standing up slowly, “This is Shining Armor, he recently went through a body swap with...” she glanced at Dash, “Storm.” “Body swappen?” asked Applejack, raising an eyebrow at Twilight, “I thought you said people couldn't do that sort of thing?” “It's possible.” admitted Twilight, “It's just difficult... and illegal... but Shining Armor got special permission from Celestia.” “What for?” “Classified.” the stallion ordered. Applejack looked between the unicorns, “Are you two being serious?” “Yes.” They both answered in unison. “Wait a second.” grumbled Rainbow Dash, “I you really did a body swap with Silent Storm, when was that?” “Last night, about ten o'clock.” “But he was with me then!” Dash blurted before she could stop herself. “That was when he was supposed to be there.” The stallion smiled suspiciously, “He was late.” Dash felt like her face was burning... and possibly falling off, “Might I ask what you two were doing?” “... Talking.” Shining Armor looked legitimately surprised, and also disbelieving; “Really? About what?” “...Nothing.” Both her friends blushed, AJ with a judging chuckle and Twilight with embarrassed glances too and from the grass, which she suddenly seemed to find very interesting. Shining Armor didn't blush, and he didn't laugh; he looked like he almost believed her. “Did he tell you where he lives?” “No.” “Did he tell you what he does?” “No! I hardly know him; who is he even, how do you know him and why the hay would he do a body swap with someone like you!?” Shining Armor glanced at Applejack and Twilight; “I'll tell you later.” “What, so you think you and I are going to be spending time together.” “As a matter a fact, yes.” said Shining Armor firmly, “At least four days probably, because I'm drafting you.” Dash looked to her friends, who were as confused as she was; but Shining Armor actually seemed serious, “...What!?” “The Wonderbolt's are paramilitary, arn't they?” … Yea... technically. The Wonderbolts began as a group of elite pegasi guards who practiced stunt-flying in their spare time. Spitfire joined after they started taking on non-guard members; and when she became Captain they got popular enough to turn professional, and the members who had been guards were all... allowed to retire from the military, so they could focus on stunt flying; but that was years ago! No one who'd ever been a guard was still there, and the only ones with any combat training were Spitfire and Rainbow Dash. They'd been trained to... salute, and that's about it. Technically though, they were all Royal Guards who were on permanent leave; but Shining Armor must really not pay much attention to sport if he thought those pegasi flying around in ceremonial armor, repeating a military mantra and saluting people were actually Royal Guards. All that stuff was just for playing the crowds... and tax purposes. Technically; they could be drafted into armed service by a high ranking officer of the Royal Guard in a state of emergency, but Spitfire had promised everyone that that was never going to happen! “Yup.” Dash swallowed hesitantly, “We totally are.” “How far away is you team?” “About an hour.” “Good, I want you to go get them and be at Twilight's library in two hours for a briefing. There's been an accident; and I need help conducting an emergency search and rescue for two ponies are lost in The Everfree Forest.” His horn flickered a moment and the rope holding Rainbow Dash snapped at her waist; but she didn't move; “Come on; you expect me and my team to go running after you when you won't even tell me what happened or who we're looking for?” “One of them is the pony whose body I'm using now, Silent Storm.” “Well, he can't have been missing for long; and even if he is lost, Storm can take care of himself!” “If he had his own body with him he could manage just fine, but he doesn’t. His body is here, wasting time talking to you instead of looking for him. The body he's using right now, my body, is almost useless at the moment. The Wonderbolts are the best fliers available, we need their help to cover a lot of ground quickly if we're going to find Storm and Cadance before something happens to them.” “Cadance?” Shining Armor's jaw tightened, “The other pony is my fiancé, Princess Cadance. She came to visit Storm, thinking he was me, and when they were checked on an hour later they were both gone. Storm's portgem was also missing. Cadance's portgem was still in the room next to Storm's bed. We don't know exactly where Storm's portgem leads to, but we know it is deep inside the Everfree Forest.” “Whoa, hold on there!” cried Applejack, “Portgems are rare and mighty expensive; why would this Storm character have one that led out to the middle of nowhere?” “He had business out there after we swapped our bodies back,” Shining Armor snapped. It was easy to tell that Shining Armor was getting edgy. Dash suspected that he hadn’t intended to give away Cadance’s identity and was almost certain he had said more then he meant to about Storm’s portgem leading into the forest. “Who is Storm.” Shining Armor grit his teeth, “You don't need to know.” “Yes I do!” Insisted Rainbow Dash, “If you want my help, you will have to tell me that. Who is Silent Storm?” “Twilight,” he said helplessly, “Please forgive me for what I'm about to do; I wish there were another way to save Cadance and Storm, but there isn't.” “Who is he!?”