Mouth agape, eyes diluted into small black dots, on her flank. Twilight certainly wasn't acting very ladylike towards the Princess, but who could blame her? The Alicorn that stood at the doorway to the room fit every description that Storm had given him about his nightmare. Luna wasn't acting much different, her mouth was also agape, one of the extremely rare occasions when Luna was actually dumbstruck. Celestia hung her head down, she imagined Twilight and Luna would be surprised, but to this extent? Twilight raised a hoof in the air, twitching slightly, she pointed her hoof at Redblade.
"W-Who... What? Why? How?" Twilight stammered, even for a pony of her intellect, her mind was exploding with questions, every one being more complicated than the last. Twilight lowered her hoof, realizing that she was being slightly accusative towards the mysterious Alicorn. Celestia gulped, much explaining was now in order.
"T-Tia? You never told me that there was... Another... Alicorn... Inside the castle..." Luna said, her eyes fixated on the Alicorn. He stood tall, his mane was a flowing red color. He had a look of guilt mixed with confusion on his face. Celestia let out a large sigh.
"Celestia... Is this your student?" Redblade asked. His voice sounded similar to Storm's voice except it had a slightly less tone of impending doom in it. Redblade slowly trotted towards Celestia's side, keeping his eyes on Twilight the whole way there. Twilight let out a nervous chuckle.
"Tia? Who is this Alicorn?" Luna asked, slightly concerned for her sister.
"I... I suppose that I have some explaining to do..." Celestia said, her head still hung low. Celestia spent the next few minutes explaining the situation with Redblade, the situation was almost exactly similar to the dream that Storm had.
"I-I don't understand Tia. He tried to kill you, he should be executed on the spot!" Luna shouted. Celestia looked back at Redblade, who was giving her a short nod. Celestia gulped once more.
"Redblade... He's from a cult in the Everfree Forest... Coming from a heritage that despised our rule and wanted to commit crimes freely, they were banished to the Everfree Forest, living the rest of their lives in solitude. Apparently, Shadow Storm was also part of this cult, and he was deemed dead by his "Queen". Redblade was said to have been a legendary warrior, and he was brought back to life via the Queen's dark magic. Redblade was sent to kill me in Shadow Storm's stead, and he would have succeeded if it were not for..." Celestia trailed off.
"If not for what?" Twilight asked. Redblade walked to Celestia's side, placing a hoof on her shoulder.
"Foul cultist! Release your grasp from Princess Cele-" Luna shouted.
"Luna!" Celestia shouted angrily. Luna backed down, cursing herself for acting so angry.
"Twilight Sparkle. The reason that Redblade didn't kill me was because... As you have admitted with Shadow Storm... He loves me..." Celestia said, becoming more quiet towards the end. If Twilight's mouth was agape before, then her mouth was six feet into the ground right now. Luna's reaction was exactly the same. An almost depression silence followed. Twilight moved her head from Celestia to Redblade, trying to see the point. Eventually, Twilight spoke up.
"Princess... Do you...?" Twilight asked. Celestia waited a few seconds before slowly nodding her head.
"Yes..." She replied. Twilight certainly wasn't expecting anything like this, well, that's what she would have thought if she hadn't collapsed onto the ground right there.
P.O.V. Change: Storm
Storm was still lying in the comfortable confines of the bed. It certainly felt lonely without Twilight lying next to him. He realized what being alone really meant, his soul was filled to the brim with emotions that completely blocked out his loneliness. Twilight had been gone for several hours now, and Storm was getting worried. He couldn't help but think back to the dream he had yesterday. The Alicorn he saw reminded him of somepony, but he couldn't quite remember who it actually was. He sighed and stepped off of the bed, he stretched his forelegs into the air, before returning to four hooves.
"I should have went to the castle with her... If Celestia punished her, she should at least had someone to share it with..." Storm thought. He imagined what would happen if Celestia took it the wrong way, what happened if she banished Twilight? Or even revoked her status as Celestia's student. Storm quickly made for the door, slamming it behind him. He walked downstairs, towards the front door. Outside was the bustling streets of Canterlot, Storm could make out the shape of Canterlot castle in the distance.
"If she did anything with Twilight. I swear to my Queen that I'll..."
P.O.V. Change: Twilight
1 Hour later
Twilight's vision was hazy, she could make out an entity running towards her, probably Celestia. She felt somepony try to shake her into consciousness. Twilight vision slowly started to return, but instead of seeing Celestia looking down on her, she saw Storm, giving her a look of distress. Once Twilight had noticed the stallion, she instantly leaped forward, pulling Storm into a bone crushing hug. The throbbing pain in her head could wait, she was simply so happy to see Storm again. She realized that she wasn't on the floors of Canterlot castle anymore, but rather on a bed in a bedroom she had never seen before. She pulled away from the hug, looking around in the strange bedroom she was in.
"W-Where are we?" Twilight asked.
"In a spare bedroom in the Canterlot Castle." Storm replied.
"But where's Celestia? and Luna? And... That Redblade guy?" Twilight said. Storm's eyes turned into small dots as he processed the words that Twilight had just said. Redblade. The name spun through his head in a haze of memories. It was almost as if he was sucked into his memories, he could see a younger version of himself, sitting upright in a crudely made wooden bed reading a book entitled "The history of the banished." Storm walked over to his younger self and looked over at the book he was reading. On the left page, there was some writing. But on the left page, a picture took the place of words. An Alicorn could be seen in the picture, one with a flowing red mane and a red coat. His cutie mark depicted a large sword being circled by smaller swords. And above the picture was a large heading reading "Lord Wildton Redblade" He couldn't read any of the text before he was back in reality, being shaken by a very worried Twilight.
"Storm? Storm! Equestria to Storm!" Twilight shouted. Storm shook his head and looked at Twilight.
"Redblade... Was he an Alicorn?" Storm asked. Twilight nodded.
"Flowing red mane? Red coat? Cutie mark with lots of swords?" Storm continued, receiving more nods from Twilight. If she didn't stop him, Storm would have fallen over at that very moment. He remembered everything. Redblade; an Alicorn, the son of his Queen's descendants, he was going to become the king of the banished until... Storm lowered his head. Storm didn't know much about his family, but he did know about one of his descendants; although Storm never knew his name, his ancestor accused Redblade of being "Not worthy of the throne" and that he was a coward. If his ancestors wife wasn't already pregnant, Storm would have probably never been born. Redblade showed his bravery by dueling Storm's ancestor. His descendant was one of the greatest Necromanecers in the Everfree Forest. They both suffered fatal wounds in the battle, Redblade eventually managed to triumph over Storm's ancestor, but he succumbed to his wounds a few hours later. His ancestor's wife continued the family, and somewhere along the line, Storm was born.
But... How? Redblade was dead. How could he possibly be still alive? Storm pondered over this situation as Twilight sat him up on the bed. Storm was knocked out of his trance.
"Storm... When did you actually get here?" Twilight asked.
"About an hour ago... I found Celestia, but she said that she had forgiven me, and that she had "Found somebody of her own..." And she told me where you were sleeping. I've been here for the past half an hour." Storm explained.
"You... You waited all that time for me to wake up?" Twilight asked. Storm nodded.
"I was worried about you... So I stayed." Storm said, Twilight's forelegs wrapped around him, pulling Storm into an embrace. Twilight looked up at him with a gentle smile. Storm managed a smile back.
"Come, we should get some sleep. It's very late outside, and fainting isn't very good for your mental health." Storm said. Twilight nodded and crawled back into her bed, she must have hit her head, as bandages were wrapped around it. Storm crawled in a few moments later. Twilight moved over to Storm's side, nuzzling his chest sweetly. Storm smiled again and reached for the lamp next to the bed. He flicked the switch, leaving them in complete darkness. Storm was tired, and with a good excuse. Tomorrow was certainly going to be an interesting day.