The morning after the incident with the tape…
Rainbow Dash, dressed in a purple robe, was in her kitchen, pouring herself a cup of coffee and yawning.
“I can’t blame Cloud for that horrible sleep I had last night, at least…” she said to herself, languid from a stressful night. “I felt so bad about what I did to him and how I got Fluttershy so upset that I just let the Changelings beat me up in my dream...and play jazz flute!”
Rainbow Dash then went to the living room to sulk and slump on her couch.
“I wonder how Princess Luna felt when she saw that…” she mused. “Me looking more miserable and hopeless than a prisoner rotting in a dungeon!”
Suddenly, there was a knock on the front door. Cloud Shroud, who was awoken by the knock, felt a feeling of distress as he started hearing what was going on below from the attic.
“Open up!” a pegasus dressed in royal, gold armor and carrying a spear exclaimed, standing right beside another spear-wielding pegasus in the same attire. “This is the royal guard!”
Both Rainbow Dash and Cloud Shroud froze.
“Speak of the devil…” Rainbow remarked in regard to the irony as she put down her coffee and went to get the door.
“What in the…” Cloud said nervously to himself in thought as he heard Rainbow open the door.
“How may I help you?” Rainbow asked the guards, trying to play it cool.
“We have a report of you harboring an undocumented resident of Cloudsdale calling himself, “Cloud Shroud”.” one guard explained.
“Our princesses have been able to find no record of this pony’s birth or origin.” the other guard chimed in. “He is suspected of being an invader.”
Cloud’s nervosity began to intensify as he glared over at the attic window.
“WHAT?!” Rainbow cried in shock. “He never told me about anything like that!”
“While we wish to believe you were not aware that you were aiding a marauder,” replied a guard, “we must inspect the premises of your home thoroughly.”
Rainbow winced in terror, her mind recalling the tape…
“Uh...how thoroughly would that be?” Rainbow asked with a sheepish grin.
“That would be investigating every inch of your home and confiscating any evidence we may find.” a guard answered, shooting her a suspicious glare. “If you were truly unaware, that should be no problem…”
“Of course it’s not, go on ahead and look!” Rainbow exclaimed, feigning innocence, allowing the guards into her abode. She was terrified, certain that the guards would discover the tape, and even more certain that they would arrest Cloud…
...but they didn’t. For how could they arrest a pony who was no longer there? Cloud had mysteriously disappeared from the attic, leaving only an open attic window for the guards to see and make note of. They noted the fact that it was too small for an ordinary pony to fit through…
Some time later…
Cloud Shroud was in the winter lab of the weather factory at work. He was bottling water needed to make clouds. Despite his worries about what could be happening with Rainbow Dash and the guards back at her house, he made a futile attempt at convincing himself that it would all go away with time. He tried to shift the focus of his troubled mind by thinking more deeply about trivial things.
“Hmm…” he thought to himself as he observed a bottle of water that was destined to become a cloud. “I wonder why I always feel so...at home preparing the water for the clouds...like it’s a part of me...granted, the human body is seventy percent water, but I never felt any inclination to meditate on a bottle of water knowing that on Earth. And when I was packing at that warehouse, I had a bottle of water on me at all ti-”
“Excuse me.” Cloud’s supervisor, a female pegasus who had a dark blue coat, pink mane, glasses, and a silver badge on the white coat she was wearing, interrupted his train of thought from behind. “I’m sorry to disrupt you in the middle of your work, Cloud, but you’re wanted at the front desk. Members of the royal guard are here to speak with you.”
“.............Okay.”
And that’s all Cloud could say in a deadpan tone after a long pause, “Okay.”. He knew he couldn’t show it on his face, but with every step as he followed the supervisor to the front where the guards had spoken to his head manager and security, he was scared out of his wits. As he was then forced to let the guards escort him to the royal palace for questioning, he also felt incredibly embarrassed for his misguided belief that everything would magically tide over. When they arrived at the palace, overhearing the guards speak to their compatriots about how they had also brought in Rainbow Dash for interrogation about he had conveniently left for work early on the day law enforcement had shown up filled him with a sense of guilt, like he was a child embarrassing his mother after being caught playing a game of little tykes. However, while Rainbow was to be questioned by the guards in a separate room, Cloud was brought to the room of royal records to be questioned by Princess Luna herself.
“I know the truth…” Luna said solemnly to Cloud after the guards had left the room. “Why did you try to flee from us, young one? Did you truly believe this problem would magically work itself out?”
“No…” an upset Cloud answered meekly. “I just...didn’t see how me being here without documentation was such a big deal…”
“Not a big deal?” an unamused Luna replied, giving him an admonishing look. “You think infiltrating our land and trying to live among us in secrecy is not a big deal? Equestria is a nation founded on the virtue of solidarity. There are no strangers here, we all know each other and trust one another. If you can not trust us enough to simply tell us who you are, we can not trust you, and that is inexcusable.”
“.....I see your point.” Cloud blankly replied in a deadpan tone, trying to mask his shock.
“I can see that you’re a bad liar.” a now amused Luna remarked, smiling. “You can’t hide your real feelings from me.”
“I just wasn’t expecting your reasoning to be so...cute.” Cloud admitted, making Luna chuckle.
“I can tell your mind is ruled by cold cynicism, something I do not condemn you for.” Luna empathized. “But allow me to ask you, does that mindset make you happy?”
“No.” Cloud answered bluntly. “But what can I do about it? We’re all products of our environment who can’t control our minds. My cold and cynical environment made me this way. No one cares if I’m happy, so why should I?”
“You’re making me angry.” Luna replied, still smiling eerily. “Do you know why?”
“Because you can’t handle the truth?” Cloud tested her with some sass as he cockily grinned.
“Because that was the same mindset that made me Nightmare Moon.” Luna answered calmly, smirking wider than Cloud, whose facial expression returned to a blank one once he realized he was the one being tested.
“Foolish child.” Luna taunted him. “Do you truly believe your soul is more pruned than mine? Your idea of hell after living for twenty or so years is having to work while occasionally being pulled out of your comfort zone. My idea of hell is eternal separation from the ones I love after living for over a thousand years.”
“...Hell?” a bewildered Cloud asked. “Are you referring to Tartarus?”
“No.” Luna answered. “But for now, I will not explain further because you are not ready to comprehend the truth yet. Not as a stallion who does not even know himself yet. That is your clue. Accept yourself, accept your mistakes, accept that you know nothing, and only then may you move forward.”
There was a long pause and a haunting silence that pervaded the room before Cloud finally interjected with…
“Does that mean we’re done here?”
“More or less.” Luna replied. “There is still the matter of needing to complete your documentation, but I’ve already filled out the work for you. It only needs to be given a stamp of approval by Justice Minister Neighsay.”
Cloud tried harder than he had before to hide his real emotions with his blank expression, this time trying not to laugh.
“Their weird way of handling this situation is one thing,” he thought, “but now the fact that Neighsay is in charge after what she had me going for...oh boy…”
“Please do not disrespect him as he asks you to sign off the documentation you need for your ID.” Luna pleaded. “You should know from me that ponies do not like to be reminded of who they were in the past.”
“Of course I won’t.” Cloud promised. “I’m sorry I teased you, I didn’t know.”
“We all don’t know what we’re doing when we make mistakes.” Luna shared some more words of wisdom. “What matters is that we learn. I have confidence that you’ve learned not to run from the royal guard, thus why you will not be cited for a getaway. Just know that this truly is out of our grace, for while we could not find proof that you fled the scene...”
Luna made a familiar tape appear with magic. Cloud shuddered as she levitated it in front of his face.
“We do have evidence that you had a motive to flee.” she finished solemnly. “Now, you may go.”
Cloud was left speechless.
“Good lord…” he thought to himself. “Rainbow Dash would’ve been my first guess had I really cared about finding out who made the tape, but it was all so weird...I didn’t bother to really think it through with the possibility that those pegasi were just totally making everything up, since the idea of anything I said to those Windigos getting out was just so unbelievable to me. There’s no way for that to happen when they’re talking to me inside my soul, it’s a space separate from the outside world. Is someone in my soul a spy? Did the Windigos want something to get out?”
Despite his curiosity, once he remembered Luna’s words of acceptance and moving forward, he decided to hold off for the time being.
“I already know what you ponder, child.” Luna said in her mind. “I already gave you your hint. You must come to know yourself, for you are the reason your secrets came to light…”
He exited the room of royal records and a guard outside the room escorted him to the minister’s office where Neighsay was waiting.
“Come in.” Neighsay said emotionlessly as the guard knocked on his door and opened it. “You may return to your post, I only need the arrestee.”
“Understood.” the guard responded as he left Cloud alone with Neighsay.
“Take a seat.” Neighsay instructed Cloud as Cloud obeyed and sat down.
Neighsay then used his magic to levitate a pen, a sheet of paper, and an ID card out of a drawer at his desk and placed them in front of Cloud.
“I only ask that you read this over before you sign.” he requested of Cloud as the pegasus read the document in its entirety before he glanced over at his new ID. Everything on the ID seemed right except for one particular detail...his place of birth was not listed as “Cloudsdale”...but as “Cloudshade”.
“Is something the matter?” Neighsay asked curiously, noticing that Cloud was bemused.
“I live in Cloudsdale, not in Cloudshade.” Cloud answered in frustration. “Did you make a typo?”
“Nice try.” Neighsay rebutted sternly. “We know you were not born in Cloudsdale. Our good princess’ research in addition to what we got out of your rainbow-haired friend can attest to the fact. While it is your right to live in Cloudsdale as a legal resident, we shall endorse no such fiction of you being born there.”
“Oh, come on!” Cloud protested. “What’s the big deal? We’re both ponies here!”
“...What did you just say?” Neighsay responded in a tone of disgust.
“I said we’re both ponies!” Cloud reiterated, continuing his protests despite knowing his identity in the world was the definition of a half-truth. “You know what I mean, it’s obvious I’m not some evil creature from a backwater land-”
“SILENCE!” Neighsay yelled, staring Cloud down with a grisly look. “If I hear such heinous language from you again, I will call the royal guard in here to have you cuffed against the wall and given a full CAVITY SEARCH!”
“What...what’s going on?” Cloud asked as his frustration reverted to bemusement. “Why are you so angry?”
“Because this is no place for that kind of vitriol!” Neighsay scolded him. “And how dare you believe that you’re entitled to special treatment for being a pony! You should be ASHAMED OF YOURSELF!”
Cloud was completely taken aback by this side of Neighsay. He was silent as he marveled at the sight of this changed stallion, and felt guilty for how he misjudged him beforehand. All he could say was…
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know what I was doing when I said that.”
“I accept your apology.” Neighsay forgave him. “I don’t enjoy snapping at anyone, but when I’m reminded of who I was in the past, I can’t help feeling anger. It’s done, all that matters now is that you learn from your mistake.”
“Wait a minute…” Cloud thought to himself, having a realization. “The words we just exchanged...this sounds exactly like what Luna just told me about. Did she...foresee this?”
“There’s no need to think about it anymore.” Neighsay interjected. “Like I said, it’s done. You’re forgiven. You only need to acknowledge this document by signing your name.”
As Neighsay gestured to the part of the paper where Cloud needed to sign, Cloud complied and grabbed the pen in his mouth to sign.
“Writing with my mouth sucks…” he bemoaned in thought over his lackluster penmanship. “I feel there’s some symbolism to this though. The first step to finding myself is by acknowledging my name with something permanent, and even that step proves to be difficult…”
Unbeknownst to him and Neighsay, the shadow with green eyes was watching them from Cloud’s shadow on the floor.
“So he’s chosen to heed her words.” the shadow thought to himself. “I’m detecting a will to mature within his heart. However, that will shall soon be tested. He won’t be pushed too hard initially, but gradually, he’ll come to know himself, his hell, the hell of others, the consequences of difficult choices, and finally, his fire…”
The Windigos, who were also watching Cloud as invisible apparitions, smirked, knowing the shadow was there.
“The princess and her agent are truly doing us a good service…” they mused. “Like them, we also have our own hell, but unlike them, we’ll actually know how to utilize his fire…”
Once Cloud was done, he was escorted out of Neighsay’s office by a guard and led to the entrance of the royal palace. There, a familiar face awaited him, and she did not look thrilled…
“Lovely day.” she greeted him sarcastically, upset that Cloud lied to her.
“You think I’m happy?” Cloud retorted angrily, upset that Rainbow spied on him.
Both of them found their eyes locked onto each other’s faces as they stared each other down, passionate rage burning in their eyes...
“Hey, the love can wait.” a guard jeered at them. “Shouldn’t you both be on your way home? We’ll call a chariot for you.”
“Much appreciated.” the two both said at the same time with a growl.
The feeling was mutual, they both needed some time to think about what they were going to say to each other. Soon, the chariot came and they entered, wearing the same angry looks the entire time they had waited. The still invisible Windigos giggled as they watched the chariot the two were riding fly away, headed towards Rainbow’s house.
“This is gonna be good…” Aero said happily with anticipation.
“I love drama…” Aera chimed in.
“Heh.” Aeros scoffed. “Reminds me of how you two used to fight when you were still alive. Your bond was something I could never understand…”
What Aeros also didn’t understand was that fights were a natural part of friendship, and that he would eventually find himself quite surprised…