//------------------------------//
// 36 - Comes the Reaper 
// Story: Storm Of Secrets 
// by Beware The Carpenter 
//------------------------------//

	Twilight followed after her brother at a distance; worried, hesitant and discouraged. It had taken nearly ten minutes of Shining Armor's pursuant apologies, before she calmed down enough to realize Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be seen, and that they had left their supplies back at the cave. It had taken nearly an hour to find Rainbow Dash, during which Twilight still couldn't believe that her own brother had actually threatened to kill her. It had taken five minutes to revive Rainbow Dash, during which Twilight tried to imagine what Shining Armor could be going through that he could think something like that. It had taken two minutes to retrieve their supplies from the cave, during which she had began to understand how terribly wrong something must be. It had taken one hour of hiking, trying to talk to Shining Armor, to convince her that he would not confide in her. It had taken three more hours to get to where they were now, and Twilight was very, very worried.

The only scraps of conversation she'd been able to squeeze from him in the meantime had only augmented her fears. The first came when their initial spells had failed to revive Rainbow Dash, and Twilight knew she'd heard Shining Armor mumble something about leaving her behind. A moment later he realized what he'd said and tried to pass it off as a bad joke, but Twilight knew that her brother, her real brother, would never have said such a thing. The second glimpse came when she had been trying to ask him what was wrong, and without any sort of prelude, he asked if she thought she could kill him if he went insane, and only grew more anxious when she insisted she never could.

It had been four nights since the body swap. On at least two of them he had woken up panicking from nightmares, last night he hadn't slept at all, and for the last three days he had been under monstrous amounts of pressure and on scant rations. Through all her worrying one thought kept presenting itself, 'if she didn't stop worrying, the terrormongers would find them'. This only made her more nervous, the cycle continued. For the first time, Twilight began to catch a glimpse what it must be to live like this for weeks, or even months, and what kind of pony someone must be to choose to live like that. Her brother was one of those ponies, a leader of those ponies; he'd been doing this for years and never said a word to about it, thinking his silence would protect her. It felt.... valiantly foolish.

By now they were coming up where the fifth dragon wall would eventually be. If Storm hadn't moved, then they would almost be in his territory and they could have begun combing the forest for his home within a few hours. Unfortunately, since he'd moved, he and Cadance were at least a day further into the forest and beyond this point their chances of meeting other Rangers were virtually nil, while their chances of encountering heavy resistance were almost certain. Deep down, Twilight knew their emaciated chances of survival, let alone success, were growing slimmer and slimmer, but still tried to reassure herself that everything would be OK.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sputtering crack as a tiny fireball came pivoting towards her. She sidestepped the blast, only to have it circle around for another pass, weaving its way harmlessly between herself, Shining Armor and Rainbow Dash several times before burning itself out and dropping to the ground as an empty, smoking flare husk. Twilight was about pick it up for a better look when she noticed Dash glaring into the upper branches of a nearby tree, and saw the tree glaring back at them with two large, yellow eyes of its own. A pair of wings expanded from behind a dense cluster of leaves and a pegasus came plummeting off the branch and towards the trio, coming to a stop right before he would have collided with Shining Armor. Wait, no; he was an alicorn!

The alicorn stallion stood almost a head taller than Shining Armor, with a face that was lined and wrinkled with age reminding Twilight of a normal pony in his late sixty's, (though without knowing what portion of him was alicorn, he could have been anywhere from seventy, to two hundred and seventy). His fur was a dark, moss green, with a short purple mane whose color he might have stolen from Rarity, while his flank boasted the image of a giant bear trap. He looked very unhappy.

"Well," he said after a tense moment, "Aren't you going to scan me to make sure I'm not a changeling here to kill you?"

Twilight complied, muzzling the string of questions that was pouring through her mind, but after she'd scanned him, realized the contradiction of the request, "Doesn't the fact that you reminded us to scan you prove that you’re not a changeling?"

"You'd be surprised" answered an alicorn just as his hoof shot out like lightning, striking Shining Armor's helmet and knocking him to the ground. "You on the other hoof have some explaining to do. Consider your answer carefully while you wait here; I will be back, shortly." With that the alicorn spread his wings and flew off into the trees.

"...Who... was that?" asked Twilight as she helped her brother back to his hooves, after the green alicorn had disappeared.

"His name's Reaper." answered Shining Armor reluctantly, removing his helmet and shaking his head to get rid of the ringing in his ears. "If I'm right about why he's here, I'd been wondering when he'd show up."

"What's going on?"

Shining Armor sat down, looked down and lowered his voice almost to a whisper; as if submitting to defeat, "Please don't hate me." 

Both bewildered mares stared at Shining Armor, who had turned as silent as the blood soaked armor he wore, but neither could elicit another sound from him. After a few minutes, the ground began trembling and a large contingent of at least thirty Rangers came pouring into the glade, accompanied by Pyromite who buzzed excitedly in the air with a platoon of pegasi and five griffons. Without needing to be reminded again, Twilight cast several revealment spells to make sure they were all who they appeared to be; then waited for someone to explain who they all were, and why they were here. 

"Well?" said Reaper, after his army had surrounded the trio, "Do you have anything to say?"

"What, the hay, is going on?" demanded Rainbow Dash, trying unsuccessfully to poke her way between Shining Armor and the towering alicorn.

"You don't know then?" asked Reaper slowly.

"Know what?"

"Last Monday, Captain of the Royal Guard, Shining Armor, preformed a body swap with a Ranger named Silent Storm. The next day Shining Armor's fiancé Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, went to visit him and-"

"Accidentally used Storm's portgem, teleporting them both way out here into the forest. Yes, we know. That's why we're here."

Reaper nodded, "After the disappearance, Princess Celestia immediately began organizing a special task force of veteran Rangers to retrieve them; and based on constant positive reports from the Wonderbolt Captain, she sent them a message, telling them to report to the Golden Oaks Library. She also sent Shining Armor a message, updating him of the situation, telling him to get some supplies ready in the precaution that adequate supplies wouldn't be immediately available in Canterlot, to update Zecora and then to meet with the Wonderbolts. Using the cover story of a possible performance for foreign dignitaries, Shining Armor was to assess whether or not they could be trusted with emergency reconnaissance. If they were, he was to give them a crash training course until the task force arrived; after which he was to remain in Ponyville.

We got to the library expecting to find the Wonderbolts either waiting for us or sent back to Canterlot, and Shining Armor with a status report. Instead we found a lone baby dragon, licking sapphire off his grubby fingers, who said Shining Armor had left with the Wonderbolts, less than half an hour after their arrival, without any assessment or training whatsoever! Not only that; but Zecora says he requisitioned supplies for the Wonderbolts, took them into the forest, and only a few hours later, they came barreling back, with a wounded mare, and no knowledge of what had attacked them!" Reaper turned back to Shining Armor, "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

Shining Armor drew himself up to full height so he could almost look Reaper in the eye; "Ten hours."

"What?"

"It is a ten hour train ride from Canterlot to Ponyville; by the time you reached the town it would have already been dark and you wouldn't have set out until daybreak. Every minute we waste gives the terrormongers another chance to find Cadance and Storm and I will not let them die because I was too busy standing at a train station to help them."

"You weren't even meant to come at all. In case you've forgotten, Princess Celestia expressly forbid you from passing the first dragon wall; and gave me orders not to let you come on the mission. She said after maintaining the shield for a year, you were still mentally unfit for live action and may be acting irrational, but didn't think you would go so far as to defy direct orders! Your actions have already risked the exposure of the Rangers, and nearly killed that mare Zecora was tending, (who will be fine by the way). You're just lucky you haven't gone insane and killed your sister, or something like that!"

Shining Armor glared at Reaper; his horn flashed, snapping Reaper's basic protective spell like chalk and throwing him hard against a tree. Reaper's horn fizzled uselessly as he tried to cast a counter spell, but it was obvious his magic was no match for Shining Armor's. Shining Armor closed the distance between them, used his magic to morph Reaper into a cringing position, and looked down over the impotent alicorn. "Cadance is my fiance; not yours! It's my job to protect her! In case you've forgotten, I outrank you by two promotions, and you know as well as I do that, inside the forest, Celestia's orders can be overridden by Ranger high command!"

Shining Armor released Reaper who rose slowly, but was careful not to lift his face above Shining Armor's eye level. "Firstly; you're officially off duty meaning technically you don't have any authority at all, secondly; no amount of rank will make you think clearly, and thirdly; I first hunted in these woods when your daddy nothing more than a glint in your grandfather's eye when your grandma walked past."

"And yet in my meager ten years as a Ranger, I've made more kills then you did in thirty, before retiring to manage harvesting the dragons from Celestia's student's. Speaking of which, what's going to happen if a dragon matures and you're out here?"

Reaper scowled, "Luna volunteered to cover me. Frankly, I wouldn't trust her filling in for the laundry maid, but Celestia still insists The Nightmare's hold over her is completely broken. Someone needed to come on the mission with the experience to safely distract a dragon, so the company wouldn't have to waste time splitting up and regrouping at each dragon wall, meaning it was either me or her. Then Luna volunteered for the rescue mission and so I had to come to keep her out of the forest, which I'm guessing is what the little hellion had planned from the start. That still doesn't justify you; defying Celestia's orders and launching your own vigilante rescue mission, with a team you had to trick to get out here."

"We're too deep now for you to try to have me arrested and dragged back to Ponyville. I am going to try and find Storm's burrow, with or without your help. If and when we get back to Equestria, I will take full responsibility for my actions, and I'm stripped of my command then so be it. But if we do work together, don't you dare hobble yourselves to me if I get hurt; if I can't keep up with you, leave me behind."

Reaper thought for a moment, "Deal. Arresting you would take Rangers I can't spare, and so long as you're out here we might as well work together."

"Fine," answered Shining Armor, "Now that your here, any questions?"

"Has there been an insurrection in Canterlot that we didn't know about." Twilight and Shining Armor turned to the blue unicorn from Reaper's group who had spoken. He looked apologetic for interrupting, but the faces of his comrades suggested they were all wondering the same thing.

"What is he talking about?" asked Shining Armor.

Reaper sighed, "So far we've encountered four parties of Rangers, each of them saying the same thing. They know that the energy shield dissipated from around Canterlot without any explanation, and they know that Storm was summoned to Canterlot by Celestia on some sort of ‘secret mission.’ We have confirmed accounts that Storm made contact with Denorious on Monday, something he is sworn not to do unless Denorious already remembered who she really is, and we know that there was a battle of some kind. These facts crossbred, and together, spawned a rumor that a hive of changelings had infiltrated Canterlot and assassinated you as a prelude to their impending take over. But low and behold, Denorious saw one of them change, remembered who she was, summoned Storm, and together, the two of them fought off an entire army of hundreds of changeling worriers, masquerading as the Royal Guard, saving Canterlot and all of Equestria."

When Reaper mentioned the 'battle of some kind' Rainbow Dash broke out in a wide grin and an acute fit of giggles. As Reaper finished his theatrical description of the alleged salvation of Equestria, Dash couldn't contain herself and rolled to the ground, laughing uncontrollably, "That wasn't, hahaha, I was the pegasus who fought beside Storm, not Derpy!"

"I know the rumors aren't true," said Reaper, "The full story will have to wait for when we have time. Nonetheless, by now scores of Rangers believe that Denorious has returned, are expecting her back in the forest any day now, and are going to lose moral when they find out they've been tricked, again. Though I must say, I am surprised to see you here, Rainbow Dash, after the rest of your team turned tail. Is Storm the reason you stayed, even after Shining Armor tricked you into the forest, and lied to you about the danger?"

Dash's giggled died at the mention of the Wonderbolts, she rose slowly, catching her composure in a net of solemnity. "Shining Armor didn't lie, I did. He told me about the forest and I said I'd tell the Wonderbolts but didn't; he believed me because Twilight vouched for me... I'm sorry."

Reaper paused, then granted a shallow nod; "That changes things somewhat in Shining Armor's favor, but it was still his duty to make sure the Wonderbolts were capable before leading them into the forest; both in obedience to Celestia's and as commander of the mission."

"Right or wrong my decision may have saved Cadance and Storm," justified Shining Armor, "Otherwise we wouldn't have run into that band of Rangers and learned Storm's moved from his old position to begin clearing the way for a sixth dragon wall."

"So you said in the message you sent with Pyromite, but you didn't explain why. Why would Storm start clearing the way for a sixth wall when the fifth wall isn't even half done?

"The fifth wall is almost done; it's been a good year for dragon turnouts from Celestia's student's."

Reaper stared at him incredulously, opening and closing his mouth before speaking, "In case you've forgotten, for the last thirty years, I have been the Ranger in charge of capturing dragons once they mature. It has been a very slow year, only four dragons. Who gave you this information?"

"I didn't get his name. He was a black earth pony, his team was two pegasi stallions, one blue the other yellow, one gray earth pony mare and a orange earth pony stallion; all in heavy armor. We met them on the eve of the second dragon wall."

Reaper's eyes narrowed to slits, "You've just described Black Rock and his crew."

"So?"

"They were confirmed dead last week."

"But-"

"You did scan them to make sure that they weren't changelings... right?"

"Twilight did." answered Shining Armor pointing to his sister.

Twilight shook her head, "No I didn't... you did." 

Shining Armor stammered as his eyes widened in horror, "Yes, you did."

"IDIOTS!" screamed Reaper, "Now the changelings know about Storm and Cadance, and will be looking for them as well!!!"

Twilight felt her head spin in circles, Shining Armor slowly collapsed to the ground staring at his hooves, Rainbow Dash leaped into the air, hovering with rapid beats of her wings; "Well then we have to find them first! Storm is still at his old position right? So we just need to go there as fast as possible!"

"It's not that easy." said Reaper, meeting her in the air, "We only know the general location of Storm's territory. No one knows the exact coordinates of Storm's burrow except Storm; and Blade Wind's company."

"Who the hay is Blade Wind!" 

"The captain of a company of Rangers who patrol the territory north of Storm's; the last time he was in Canterlot, Blade Wind said he had worked directly with Storm and seen Storm's burrow. But finding him poses the same problem, his company's exact route is kept secret; if we all knew the routes of the other companies, then the terrormongers would only have to capture one company to learn the locations of all the others."

"So what do we do!?"

"We can either start scouring Storm's territory for his burrow, or we can start scouring Blade Wind's territory for him so he can tell us the exact coordinates. Either search could take days, and the terrormongers will also be searching, with ten times the numbers we have."

"WAIT!" all the Rangers in the glade turned to Twilight, her lips pressing into a flat line but her eyes dancing with an idea. "I know how we can find Blade Wind; by making him find us!"

"How?"

"Denorious."

Reaper dropped to the ground in front of Twilight, "Didn't you listen to me? She hasn't returned."

"A sonic boom is the only sound that terrormongers can't replicate, right?"

"Yes."

"And Denorious was the only pegasus who could do it; it became her signal for the Rangers to assemble, right?"

"Yes."

"And there's a rapidly spreading rumor among the Rangers that Denorious has returned?"

Reaper's face broke into a smile, he and Twilight nodded at each other and then looked up at Dash whose face remained peevishly vacant, "What? Why are you both looking at me like that? What's the..." 'Click'. Where Rainbow Dash had been hovering a moment earlier was replaced by a streak of primordial colors as Dash cleared the topmost branches of the forest; climbing fast and picking up speed. The company of Rangers waited in either confusion or anticipation; Twilight cast a sound dampening spell over the company to prevent ear damage, and then the roar of a sonic boom began cascading down into the forest, echoing for miles in every direction as Dash flew in supersonic circles. 

After a few minutes, Dash dropped back the ground, visibly spent yet as full of fire and determination as Twilight had ever seen her. The roar of the rainboom echoed throughout the forest, gradually growing weaker as the echoes died down. Then, they started getting stronger. Thunderous hoof beats of galloping Rangers began echoing from every direction, as Rangers began pouring into the glade on hoof and wing, to answer Denorious's call. The Rangers who had come with Reaper spread out and began intercepting the incoming bands of Rangers, taking the difficult task of explaining to crestfallen Rangers that Denorious hadn't really returned, asking if they knew the location of Storm's burrow and then ordering them stand by for further instruction. 

Rainbow Dash sat panting on the ground, showing the constraint to reserve her strength. Shining Armor lay virtually immobile, his shallow breathing and the constant twitching of his ears, the only sign that he was still alive. Reaper stood silently in the center of the hubbub, every few minutes, one of his lieutenants would come and whisper in his ear and then run back to the perimeter; but Reaper didn't move until he saw what he had been waiting for.

After half an hour and a dozen bands of incoming Rangers having swollen their ranks to over a hundred, Reaper tore across the glade to intercept the latest arrivals, nearly tackling the red pegasus who was leading them. The two spoke in rushed voices Twilight couldn't hear over the rest of the Rangers, but seconds later, Reaper came barreling back to the center of the Rangers, and spoke into the ear of a cute unicorn colt who Twilight recognized from Celestia's school for gifted unicorns; who was holding, (almost correctly), a compass, watch, octant other navigational equipment. 

Tree branches had been stripped around the glade and some treetops removed, giving the colt a clear view of the sky. The colt listed to Reaper, made some quick calculations and then pointed in a direction. Reaper leaped five yards off the ground and gave a signal to one of his unicorns on the ground who released a bolt of lightning shooting into the air. A hush enveloped the Rangers and all eyes turned to Reaper whose voice had just been magically amplified by the same unicorn. "Storm's burrow is eight miles south east of here, but we also have reports of heavy enemy activity in the area. All pegasi and griffons, with me; Earth ponies and unicorns, are to split into three teams under Flame Horn, Boulder Back and Nexeye. Pegasi move out!"

With that, Reaper took off as fast as his wings could carry him, followed by a loose formation of pegasi, griffons and Pyromite. Rainbow Dash swooped to Shining Armor's side and said something to which he didn't respond; she shouted something and Shining Armor lifted his portgem to her in his telekinesis. Dash grabbed the gem in her mouth, took careful note of Reaper's trajectory, and then launched herself forwards, obliterating his lead and passing him in ten seconds flat. 

The remaining Rangers fell to organizing themselves under their three captions in a myriad of organized chaos. Twilight watched the pegasi disappear from sight and then whipped around to Shining Armor, to ask for instructions, but was faced with nothing but his torn, empty armor. Looking up she barely caught of glimpse of him as he disappeared into the forest in the direction the pegasi had gone. No one else had seen him. 

The world around Twilight stilled into one moment of perfect clarity; if Shining Armor went alone, into an area swarming with terrormongers, he would die. If he used teleports to boost his speed, within seconds he could be impossible to track, and getting the attention of one of the Rangers running past her would take precious seconds shedidn't have. Before she knew it, Twilight was galloping for all she was worth into the foliage where she had seen Shining Armor disappear, her heart racing, her mind focused, her eyes peeled for any sign of red.