//------------------------------// // 44 - Storm of Cadance // Story: Storm Of Secrets // by Beware The Carpenter //------------------------------// Princess Cadance rested serenely on a silver couch. A few feet away; facing her diagonally was an identical couch supporting the love of her life, the stallion she would be marrying in twelve days time. Yesterday they had gotten back from their three day visit to Shining Armor's parents. The bizarreness of the situation had never stopped; if anything, it grew worse, but the awkwardness had slowly melted away until Cadance, and eventually even Shining Armor's parents seemed to be having fun. Shining Armor had acted so starved for parental attention that Cadance had almost started feeling jealous, (not that he neglected her in any way). She couldn't ever remember him having wanted so badly to spend time with his parents or... play a family board game or... sing with them or... so blissfully happy; and from the way he ate you'd think he hadn't had a home cooked meal since he was seven. The really strange thing was that half the time, Shining Armor wasn’t even acting his own age; like he’d reverted back to childhood to collect the debts of attention his parents owed him. Shining Armor had taken his old room, and Cadance had taken Twilight's. His parents had never really changed either room, partially to keep as a shrine to the children they’d never really known, but mostly because they were out of the house so much they’d never needed the extra space. Cadance could tell that Shining Armor had been disappointed when she took it for granted they should be separated, and almost protested, which was strange since he had always been the one with the strength to wait for marriage, and had resisted on the few chances she had taken to offer otherwise. It was probably because having slept beside her for those few days in the burrow had been so comforting that he now resented sleeping without her. If that was the case, (of course it was,) it boded well for things to come, and Cadance couldn't help feel a hint of giddy pride, but was able to put it away. They had waited thirteen years to be together; twelve more nights wouldn't hurt. They had stayed at his parents for as long as was appropriate and even a bit longer; but yesterday, they finally got the inevitable message that Twilight was safe in Ponyville and coming to Canterlot to see them. They all let out a breath of anticipation they hadn’t known they’d been holding and, after a surprisingly convivial farewell to Shining Armor's parents, went back to the palace to wait for Twilight. Every day Shining Armor was still getting stronger and, with the exception of his parents, was acting more and more like the stallion she knew and loved. Although he was still a far cry from the peak physical condition that had defined him for the last decade, he’d nearly reached to a healthy body weight, and the fact that he wasn't exhausted after a long morning of wedding planning showed he was getting his stamina back. If he continued at this rate, he should be recovered within about another two weeks, which was good because they were getting married in twelve days, and after that he would be needing his energy to... There was a knocking at the door. "Come in!" called Cadance, getting off the couch almost in unison with Shining Armor as the door opened. Relief flooded over her as the first pony to enter was Rainbow Dash! She was alive! She hadn't died to save them! Cadance felt a surge of joy which soon tripled when she saw Twilight come in behind her, embodying living music to Cadance’s eyes. "Twily!" shouted Shining Armor as he raced down the steps and across the room to hold her tight, tears streaming down his face as though his reaction to seeing his parents had been doubled. "Twily you're alright!" Cadance wanted to fly down the steps to and 'do a little shake' with Twilight but restrained herself; she knew this was a moment the two of them needed together. Cadance's attention was caught instead by a third pony, a fierce red stallion that came in right behind Twilight. He looked just as happy as Twilight did, as he cantered into the room and towards her. Why was he coming towards her? Cadance caught sight of his eyes as he ran up the steps, his eyes locked on her like a predator. Cadance didn't like the way he was looking at her; she didn't like it at all... ............................................................................................................................................................ Twilight followed Rainbow Dash through the door as soon as it was opened, and was greeted by the sight of a large living room, creased in the middle by three steps. Beyond those there were two couches, each holding one half of either Silent Storm or Princess Cadance respectively while the floor between them supported the other halves as Storm and Cadance rose to their hooves. "Twily!” exclaimed the white unicorn, jumping off the couch and racing down the stairs to meet her, "Twily you're alright!" Without thinking, Twilight lept forwards and let the white unicorn throw his hooves around her neck, holding her close. Several seconds passed before a disturbing thought entered her head: 'who was she hugging?’ It was Shining Armor's body, the voice was his and the way he had looked at her was exactly the same way Shining Armor always had but- There was a short scream. Twilight looked up the same instant the pony hugging her swung around and they both saw Shining Armor standing at the top of the steps holding Cadance in a passionate kiss on the lips. Cadance struggled violently; pulling backwards she managing to cuff him across the face and wriggle free of his loosened grip, flaring her wings defensively as she jumped back. Twilight felt Storm's hooves go tense for an instant, then flash out of existence as he teleported into the narrow space between Cadance and Shining Armor, and released a blaring shockwave of telekinesis that sent Shining Armor hurdling down the steps. "Don't touch her." Shining Armor rolled to his hooves, seemingly unhurt by the fall but struggling to make sense of Cadance’s rejection and Storm’s reaction, “…Why not?” Storm glowered darkly at Shining Armor as lightning zapped up and down his white horn. Cadance hid herself behind Storm’s protective aurora and looked to him for answers. "Who is he?" she asked shakily. "This is Silent Storm; the one I told you about but-" "I'm Shining Armor!" Interrupted Shining Armor, "You're Storm!" "What?" "You're Storm." repeated Shining Armor, "I am Shining Armor." "Storm… what do you think you’re doing?” “Funny, I was just about to ask you the same question.” “I know what I’m doing; I’m arguing with you, and as soon as I’m done I’m going to ask Twily to be the best mare at my wedding to Cadance.” “Like hay you are!” Shining Armor moved like he was going to attack Storm; but before he could make impact he was enveloped in an aurora of telekinesis so bright it was blinding. Shining Armor was slammed against the far wall, ricocheted into the roof and then dropped like a stone onto his belly. "Don't try that again Storm. You know my magic was always stronger than yours, and was before holding the shield for a year. The increase has turned out to be far more then we’d first expected. We won't know the exact increase until I’m recovered; but preliminary estimates suggest that I've tripled. I could only be at half my potential strength now, and I could still fight two of you." Twilight ran to Shining Armor, afraid every bone in his body would be broken; but to her relief it seemed Storm's attack had been more to display his power then hurt Shining Armor, leaving him badly winded but mostly unharmed. Twilight felt herself gripped firmly but gently in a telekinesis nearly as strong as Celestia’s and pulled several yards away from Shining Armor, "Get away from him Twily! I don't know what he's told you, but he's not me, and is dangerous." Shining Armor looked at him angrily, "I’m not Storm, I'm-" "Sick" interrupted Cadance, coming very slowly towards him but keeping a safe distance, "You've been alone in the forest for a long time, you know that it's not uncommon for ponies to come back from there confused, disorientated. Sometimes they don't even know who they are anymore. But-" Shining Armor took a step towards Cadance but she took a quick step back, "-you're not my fiancé." "I am," he insisted, "Four days after letting the shield down I did a body swap with Storm. When you and he went missing in the Everfree Forest I set out to look for you with Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and the Wonderbolts; I only just got back." "Why would I do a body swap with you?" asked Storm sharply. "So that I could heal faster; a sick mind will recover faster in a healthy body, and a sick body will recover faster with a healthy mind. The body swap was kept classified to prevent potential assassination attempts and... because I didn't tell Cadance because I didn’t want her to know I was taking a coward’s way out from the pain." "Storm," Cadance said softly, "You're sick. You need to calm down. I know ponies that can help you but-" "He's telling the truth," interjected Twilight, "Right after the body swap he came to stay with me in Ponyville. I got a letter straight from Princess Celestia telling me about the body swap." "Can we see this letter?" asked Cadance. "I... I left it back at the library; I didn't think we’d need it here." "Twily," growled Storm, "If this is some kind of joke; it’s depraved, and it needs to stop, now." "This isn't a trick!" insisted Twilight, "And you're not my brother." "What? Twily you can't be serious!" "Oh yea? Well if you're really my brother... how old is Smarty Pants." "What?" "Smarty Pants, my doll; how old is she?" Storm stopped and thought. "See, you don't even know-" "You got her when you finished magic kinder garden," began Storm, "And declared she was an alicorn, with her horn and wings cut off, dating from the dawn of the first alicorn kingdom making her about seventeen hundred years old. When you started to realize how old that really was, you said she was a time traveler and was only in her three hundreds. When you were six, she became a researcher at the restricted archives who would be able to do all of mom and dad's work for them so they could stay home and play with us. When you were seven you said she was a princess from another planet whose spaceship had crash landed in our backyard and needed you to help her get back home while fighting the evil assassins sent to kill her, who were played by me. After I told you I wanted to join the Royal Guard you made her a colt and for a few months and named her after various famous generals and Captains of the Royal Guard from history. Then she was a space cow girl, and then she was the secret assistant of Starswirl the Bearded. After that you stopped playing with her for about a year, and when she came back you said she had spent the last year learning everything there was to know about love, and that she thought I should ask Cadance out on a date." Twilight's mouth slowly dropped open as the white unicorn recounted the many life stories of Smarty Pants; then turned to the red unicorn on her right, "Who are you!?" "What? Twily you can't be serious!" "Since you came to the library, you haven't been acting like my brother normally would. I'd written it off to as not having seen you in a long time and stress from the body swap but... how do I know that you're really Shining Armor? What was the first book you ever got me!?" "The Art of the Checklist!" the red unicorn snapped, "Something I regret doing to this day." Twilight stepped in confusion back and began closing ranks with Cadance; "How could you both know that?" Both stallions turned to her and answered in unison. "Because I'm Shining Armor!" ............................................................................................................................................................ Shining Armor glared into Storm’s stolen white face, resisting the urge to attack him a second time. Storm was trying to steal his identity and everything he’d ever loved. Shining Armor didn’t know what could have driven Storm to go so far, or how he knew the things he did; from the looks of things Storm had a full replica of his memories and was putting up a terrific act, but he wouldn’t let Cadance or Twilight fall for it. He couldn’t. He was Shining Armor and he would not let Storm take that away from him; not his family, not his body, and definitely not Cadance. He'd die before letting Cadance get duped by a liar like Storm. He didn't want to hurt Storm, and from the looks of things Storm didn’t want to hurt him either; but if Storm refused to back down then that may be his only choice. While it was true that his rightful body had far higher magical reserves then Storm’s did, his body was still recovering meaning Storm’s reflexes would be slow; while the body Shining Armor was in was lightning fast, and adept to making quick teleports. ............................................................................................................................................................ Shining Armor glared into Silent Storm’s duplicitous red face, resisting the urge to attack him a third time. Storm was trying to steal his identity and everything he’d ever loved. He should have seen this coming; it now seemed so obvious that one day, Storm would try something like this. How could he resist? Shining Armor didn't know how Storm knew the things he did; from the looks of things he likely had a full replica of his memories and he was putting up a terrific act, but he wouldn’t let Cadance or Twilight fall for it. He couldn’t. He was Shining Armor and he would not let Storm take that away from him; not his family, not his body, and definitely not Cadance. He would die before letting Cadance fall victim to a monster like Storm. He didn't want to hurt Storm, but if he refused to back down that may be his only choice. The problem was that Shining Armor understood just how desperate Storm was to steal his life and that if Storm really thought he had a good chance at winning Cadance, he would die before letting go. Shining Armor braced himself for the idea that he may have to kill Storm… but that would be OK. It would be no worse than Storm deserved, and short of forfeiting his life to him; killing Storm was the kindest thing he could do to him at this stage.