//------------------------------//
// 24 - At the Gala 
// Story: Storm Of Secrets 
// by Beware The Carpenter 
//------------------------------//

	Storm was at the Grand Galloping Gala. All of Canterlot was alive with the celebration, and as Captain of the Royal Guard, it was his duty to make sure everypony stayed that way. Security was tight (though mostly invisible), and there had been no reported problems; nevertheless, Storm was terrified. Duty weighed heavily on Storm's mind, but paled in comparison to something far more frightening and infinitely more important. Tonight was the night he was going to ask Cadance to marry him.

“Interesting,” thought Storm, “I must be dreaming one of Shining Armor's memories.”

Storm had written out his proposal, telling Cadance how much she meant to him, and had practiced it in front of a mirror hundreds of times. He had memorized every stroke of the letter, but still kept it in his saddlebag for last minute practicing, along with an engagement ring which would please even Cadance's parents. Cadance was singing at one of the many shows that night and Storm had assigned himself security of that hall. He would listen to her sing and then, if he was able, would ask the question. 

The concert began and one by one, the finest performers in Canterlot graced the stage with music and song, but each of them was outshone by the last singer who had conquered the stage, Cadance. Storm's heart was pounding as Cadance poured her heart out in song. Every pony there must have thought she sang her love song to nopony in particular, but Storm knew that she was singing it to him, every flawless note proved it to him, (the fact that they were staring into each other’s eyes for most of the song also helped him come to this conclusion). The song ended, Storm, mustered his courage, and waited beside the door she would come out, when one of his lieutenants pulled him away and whispered urgently into his ear. “Captain Armor, the main ballroom had been attacked!”

Storm galloped behind his officer into the ruined ballroom. Luna's statue had been shattered, along with the six decorative columns behind it, scared ponies scampered through the destruction mixed with what seemed like every animal from the gardens. Storm's eyes took all this in a moment and then rested on Cadance's brother Blue Blood, leaning against a wall, covered in a mysterious goo, similar to what changelings use to imprison their victims. Galloping to his side, Storm found Blue Blood seemingly unrestrained by the mysterious goo, but shaking too much for Storm to examine it closely. Through garbled breath, Blue Blood proclaimed he had been attacked, but couldn't describe what sort of creature had done it. Confident that his hopefully future brother in-law wasn't in immediate danger, Storm had one of his guards escort the Prince home, while he turned to interviewing the other witnesses to the invasion.

Eventually Storm traced the attack to five ponies, each wearing near full body dresses, all acting highly erratic, and none of whom had been seen in Canterlot before. They had entered the Gala together, along with a sixth unidentified suspect, and then split up at the gate. Four of them had entered the ballroom and, on signal, had begun a choreographed dance of destruction which was immediately reinforced by the fifth suspect who drove most of the animals from the gardens into the ballroom to help spread confusion.  All the suspects fled the scene however at the unexpected arrival of Princess Celestia.

The entire case had made Storm suspect changeling infiltrators from the start, everything pointed too it: the concealing dresses, the suspicious behavior, Blue Bloods failure to describe his attacker, the fearful reactions by the garden creatures whose animistic instincts Storm had learned to trust, all leading to the highly coordinated attack on ballroom. True, the attack had done no real damage but by now Storm was certain that the ballroom hadn't been the target; it had succeeded in distracting his security forces for several hours and there was still the unaccounted for sixth suspect whom he inferred was their leader.

Storm didn't sleep that night but spent the next eight hours investigating every possible target the infiltrator might have had: checking the treasury, armory and museum for signs of a break in, checking classified documents for signs of tampering, checking water and food stocks for poison... nothing. The next morning Storm reported the situation to the Princess and requested permission for a city wide search for signs of six suspected changeling infiltrators, and to put Canterlot on high alert until they were found. The Princess had simply laughed at him, laughed at him, then told him no such search was necessary, there was no danger and he should talk to his sister more often.

Confused, angry, dejected; Storm had made his way back to his quarters to sleep. As he entered the barracks however his squire stopped him and said that he had left his saddlebag in one of the theaters the night before and somepony had turned it in that morning. Suddenly realizing what had happened Storm tore open the saddlebag the moment he was alone, and instantly realized that the ring was gone! He ran back to the hall Cadance had sung in the night before and searched high and low for hours until he'd exhausted every possible place it could be. The ring had cost thirty-two thousand bits! It was unique; hundreds of years old... he would have to buy a different one. Returning one last time to his quarters, almost crying in frustration Storm pulled out the letter to read it last more time before going to sleep. At the bottom of his proposal, one word had been added: “YES”, and a pink feather had been taped beneath it. It had been The Best Night Ever.

Storm woke to an anguished howl as though Death itself had been captured and was being tortured by its enemies. A few seconds passed and an answering call screamed from the opposite direction. The terrormongers were hunting. They would cry out and then scan for any flickers of fear, draw closer and repeat the process until they found their targets; like a macabre version of the game macro polo Storm use to play as a foal. Storm had heard them thousands of times, and though he was never quite use to them, he no longer excreted any fear they could use to find him. But it only took one pony's fear to attract the terrormongers, and there were two ponies in the burrow.

Cadence was pacing ceaselessly from one end of the burrow to the other, worry plastered on her face thicker then diamond dog war paint. Storm was about to try and comfort her about the terrormongers when he heard them cry a second time. This time they were closer, yet Cadance didn't so much as flinch, making Storm wonder if she even heard them at all. It wasn't until the terrormonger's cried for a third time (which was far too close for comfort), that he finally understood the petrified glances she kept throwing his way. She did not care about what she must have thought were some wild animals of the forest; she was afraid that she had lost Shining Armor, and that Shining Armor had lost himself. This was the fear that was attracting the terrormongers.

Storm stirred on his bed and Cadance stopped pacing and looked at him, giving a pathetic attempt to smile. Her mane shifted and for the first time Storm noticed a ring planted around the base of her horn, its red gem glowing in the lamp light. It was the same one Shining Armor had given her in his dreams and she still wore it proudly. The terrormonger's called again; they would be here soon if Cadance's fear was not extinguished. If Cadance needed her fiancé to stop worrying, then fine, Storm would be her Shining Armor.

“I remember-” he said slowly at which Cadance scampered to where he lay, took his hooves in her own, listening intently. “I remember when I gave you that ring, at the Grand Galloping Gala... the night we were attacked by changelings.”

Cadance blinked, her eyes suddenly glistening with tears, and a radiant smile graced across her cheeks as she threw her hooves around his neck in an embrace. “We weren’t being attacked.” she said after a long, painful, exhilarating moment, “It was just Twilight and her friends having some fun.”

Storm was about to ask who Twilight was but caught himself before he made that mistake. He was trying to make Cadance think he was getting better; she seemed to take it for granted he remembered 'Twilight' and to undeceive her would shatter the frail courage she had found. “I'm sorry,” he said softly “I'm sorry I didn't give you the ring myself.”

“You did your duty, like you always do; but please try not to let duty interfere, when you replace this ring with the kind it promises.”

Storm thought for a moment and then placed his hoof over his chest “I promise, that when we get married, it will be like everything we have ever dreamed and nothing will come between us.”

Cadance smiled gently, at first Storm thought she was going to cry again but she didn't quite seem as excited as he thought she would be. Then he realized what was wrong: she didn't believe him. She wanted to, she was trying to, but for some reason she couldn't give up her doubt. Regardless of what Shining Armor's relationship was with Cadance, at least she wasn't afraid anymore; and the next pair of terrormonger calls showed that they had overshot the burrow. Promising to marry somepony elses' fiance was wrong; Storm knew that, but before honesty or possible emotional pain came survival. That was Storm's number one priority.