Some Redemption

by Cupzy

Revelations

Storm opened his eyes, but not to the cozy confines of Twilight's bed, instead, he was once again surrounded in complete darkness, much like the dream where Storm encountered Redblade.

"Where am I?" Storm asked, half expecting somepony to answer. As with the last dream, summoning his long sword proved futile. Storm began to walk through the darkness, expecting some kind of blinding light to appear at any moment in correspondence with his last nightmare. He continued walking through the darkness for a few minutes before finally giving up, maybe if he waited long enough the dream would end? Storm tapped his hoof against the ground, trying to decipher what he was actually walking on. He could feel cobblestone with what he could only assume was moss growing on it. As expected, Storm unexpectedly saw a bright flash of light, he covered his eyes with his hoof for a few moments before lowering it to see a now brightly lit room.

With the word "room" being used loosely, the room was more like a chamber, large cobblestone pillars were facing each other with an incredibly tattered red carpet going between them leading up to some kind of throne. The walls of the chamber were decrepit and looked like they were ready to crumble at any moment, Storm spotted an open window to his left, he walked up to the window and poked his head over the window ledge. What he saw surprised him, the chamber he was in was a mansion made to look like some kind of regal castle. Outside of the mansion was a huge overgrowth of trees and fauna. With a few small settlements Storm could spot in the background. Storm's coat hairs stood on end when he took a guess at where he was: The Everfree Forest.

Storm quickly pulled away from the window, looking around the chamber hastily, it looked exactly like the chamber that his Queen resided in, and the large amount of plants and trees outside gave him the impression that he was in some form of forest. Storm looked at the walls of the castle, two banners were positioned opposite each other depicting an image which was reminiscent of Storm's cutie mark, albeit the banner's version was black, while Storm's was a blood red. Storm gulped nervously as he recognized the banner as the flag of the Banished. Storm quickly rushed over to the chamber doors, he let out a sigh of relief when he realized they were open. He slowly opened the door and began to creep out.

"Going somewhere, Shadow Storm?" Storm heard a voice say. His heart almost literally stopped beating when he heard that voice. He stopped dead in his tracks, not daring to move. After a few agonizing minutes which felt like hours to Storm, he slowly started to turn around, a look of pure horror on his face. What he saw only heightened his fear: A pure black Alicorn, with wings twice the size of any Alicorn Storm had ever seen before. A cutie mark depicting the skeletal head of a deceased pony, with the bone being a dark red. And a sadistic smile plastered over the Alicorn's face. Storm was looking directly at his former Queen. Storm dared not move nor speak in fear of his life. But it was a dream, so surely he could not be hurt in any way?

"Whatever is the matter, Shadow Storm? I merely wanted to have a chat with you. Everypony has been is such distress ever since you were proclaimed dead." The Queen said slowly, every word sending chills down Storm's spine. Storm remained silent, refusing to say a word to the smirking Alicorn.

"But... You don't look very dead to me... You look fine, as a matter of fact..." The Queen spoke slowly. She looked over Storm until she spotted the stitch on his side.

"Oh? Did you suffer some injuries from Celestia? I'm honestly surprised she spared your life, but... Why did you not return to us, Shadow Storm?" The Queen asked slowly, she spoke as if she wasn't angry at all, which sounded rather unsettling in Storm's book.

"Well then? Speak up. You don't want to keep me waiting... Do you?" The Queen asked. Storm took that as permission to actually talk.

"I did not return because I wanted to finish the job..." Storm replied quietly. The Queen started to walk in circles around Storm, almost as if she was a vulture looming over a dead body.

"It's been two weeks, Shadow Storm. I do believe it's safe to say that you have failed your mission... I'm not surprised, really. It was a rather large job... I believe you should return to us now, do you not agree?" The Queen asked.

"I cannot return, if I did, I would be shunned and neglected among the rest of the banished." Storm replied.

"Shadow Storm... You attempted the job, and I ask nothing more of you. I will make sure that no-one will shun you for this mission." The Queen said. Storm desperately wanted to run in the opposite direction, anything would do, as long as he could get away from The Queen.

"...Thinking of running, are we? Well, I never wanted to do this, Shadow Storm. But you leave me with no choice..." The Queen spoke solemnly. She clapped her hooves together twice and Storm heard the door behind him slam shut, followed by the sound of several locks securing the door.

"Now... Why don't you tell me the REAL reason why you will not return? Hm?" The Queen asked. Storm's eyes widened, he didn't care if this was a dream or not, he certainly wouldn't let The Queen know about him and Twilight, or his change in emotions whatsoever.

"I refuse to return until I finish the job or die trying." Storm replied, he prayed to every single god and goddess he could think of that The Queen would believe what he had just said.

"Oh, I think I see now, Shadow Storm. You are so devoted to me that you would willingly die for my cause? I am honestly flattered. Of course I will let you finish the job on your own accord, I shall give you as much time as you want to finish the mission." The Queen said. Storm resisted the urge to smile happily that the Queen actually believed him. He was about to lift a hoof to walk away when The Queen slammed a hoof down forcefully, inches away from crushing Storm's hoof. He quickly retracted, taking a few hoofsteps back.

"Do you honestly think I would believe any of the lies you have told me? I can see that you have changed, Shadow Storm. You are no longer the hardened knight that used to fight relentlessly for my cause. Certain emotions have awakened inside you. Emotions that you had no idea even existed a few weeks ago. I see sadness, happiness... And what's this? Even love? Disgusting. You disappoint me, Shadow Storm. I can only hope Redblade can do a better job than you have." The Queen said with pure malice no longer hidden in her voice. Storm's cover was certainly blown, and it was likely that The Queen would kill him even now, even if this was a dream, Storm still felt the pain in his side, and he could only imagine that The Queen was about to kill him.

"Redblade... He has also failed." Storm spoke quietly. Storm was too busy paralyzed in fear to notice that The Queen had just bucked him forcefully with her two hind legs. Storm was sent flying over most of the room, slamming against the wall and leaving a large dent on the cobblestone. He slid to the ground, holding his side in pain. His stitches hadn't opened yet but, by the sun, did they hurt.

"How dare you call Redblade by his shortened name? What place do you think you hold in my forest? And what evidence do you have to suggest that the best warrior in all of our culture has failed?" The Queen demanded.

"Redblade has suffered the same fate as me... He has also fallen prey to the emotions that lay dormant within him..." Storm said, coughing up some blood halfway through. The Queen slammed her hoof against the ground in frustration and denial.

"Impossible! Redblade would never fall to your pitiful level! Plus, he is an Alicorn. Who in the right mind would he fall in love with?!" The Queen shouted. Storm knew his life would probably end at this very moment, and he had absolutely nothing to lose. He let out a dry chuckle, much to The Queen's rage.

"...Celestia, of course." Storm choked out. The Queen took a few steps back in shock.

"No... It's impossible..." The Queen contemplated to herself. She then turned back to Storm and started to move towards him, her horn glowing an intimidating black color. Storm felt himself being lifted up, and eventually found himself looking The Queen dead in the eyes. Storm felt pressure being applied to his throat, but he honestly couldn't care. The pain he felt had driven most of his body to go numb, and he could barely feel himself being choked out. After he heard a loud snap above the ringing that was pounding in his ears, he felt himself being released. He hit the floor and felt his eyes becoming heavy. Just before he closed his eyes, he saw his queen looking at him, her eyes filled with pure rage and malice.

"Do not worry Shadow Storm, I will be sure to deal with Celestia... Personally. Oh, and Twilight Sparkle will also not be ignored." Were the last words Storm heard The Queen mutter before she let out a sadistic laugh, Storm only heard half of the laugh before he blacked out on the cold cobblestone floor.

"Storm? Storm?!" A voice rang in Storm's ears. He saw another blinding flashing light, and sat upright in the bed he was on. He recognized himself to be back in Twilight's bed, and Twilight herself was shaking Storm rather violently, shouting his name repeatedly. Storm was breathing heavily, and he was sweating profusely.

"T-Twilight?" Storm asked out of desperation.

"Storm, are you okay?" Twilight asked. Storm widened his eyes and moved his hoof to his side, he sighed with content when he noticed his stitches were still there, and he felt unharmed despite his dream.

"I-I'm... I'm okay Twilight. Just a nightmare." Storm explained. Twilight leaned in and gave Storm a tight hug.

"You were tossing and turning through the night and then you just randomly started to breath really heavily. I thought there was something wrong with you." Twilight said, holding Storm tight.

"That dream... It felt all too real... Calm yourself, Storm. It was merely a nightmare, nothing more..." Storm's subconscious reassured itself.

"I'm perfectly fine Twilight. What time is it?" Storm asked.

"It's 6:30, you were mumbling something about that Queen of yours and something about Redblade." Twilight said.

"T-The Queen... She came to me in that dream... She knew about us, and Redblade and Celestia... She said she would come after Celestia... And you..." Storm explained, causing Twilight to tighten the hug.

"It's alright Storm, it was just a dream..." Twilight said softly. Storm managed to steady his breathing.

"Thank you Twilight." Storm said.

"No problem. I think we'd better get up, no point going back to sleep if you're going to have another nightmare." Twilight said.

"Yes, I suppose it would be for the better..." Storm replied. Twilight released Storm from the hug and got off the bed, shortly followed by Storm. The two continued down into the kitchen, where Twilight started to make some sandwiches for them.

"Twilight?" Storm asked.

"Hm? Yes Storm?" Twilight replied.

"The last time I could remember dreaming was back when I saw Redblade and how he encountered Celestia. Since that was true, what's to say that the dream that I just had wasn't..." Storm trailed off towards the end of his sentence, thinking of what could happen if what The Queen said was all true. Twilight finished making the sandwiched and hooved one to Storm.

"Storm... I doubt that something that big could possibly happen. Furthermore, how could The Queen even speak to you in the first place?" Twilight asked, hoping that Storm didn't have the evidence to answer. Storm contemplated to himself for a few moments before answering.

"On some of my more... Difficult missions, The Queen sometimes had to step in and get her hooves dirty... I did my research on The Queen long before she had taken an interest in me and... Well... The bloodshed that I witnessed on those days still makes me cringe whenever I think about it. She certainly rivals Celestia in terms of magic, maybe even more. She is sadistic, she causes as much pain as possible to anypony she dislikes before finally killing them. That's why I never stepped out of line, even when my orders were preposterous I had to obey or else I would suffer the same fate as anyone else who disobeys The Queen..." Storm explained. Twilight went wide-eyed at his explanation.

"Why didn't you ever... Run away if you never enjoyed taking orders from her?" Twilight asked.

"Because I knew she would hunt me down, she wouldn't let one of her best warriors... And that's exactly what I'm worried about..." Storm explained.

"I'm sure it'll be fine. It was just a silly nightmare." Twilight said.

"Yes, I suppose it was nothing to worry about." Storm replied.

"You've calmed down a little, do you want to go back to sleep?" Twilight asked. Storm thought to himself for a moment, sleep sounded nice, but he was afraid of having another nightmare.

"I-I don't know... What's to say I won't get another nightmare?" Storm asked. Twilight placed her hoof Storm's back, giving it a few reassuring pats.

"Don't worry, I'll be there to wake you up when something bad happens." Twilight said with a smile. Storm looked out of the window, it was still dark outside.

"Thank you Twilight, sleep does sound rather appealing." Storm replied. She responded with another heartwarming smile before leaving the kitchen and walking back upstairs. Storm followed shortly after, climbing back into the bed. He reached over and turned out the lamp per usual and shortly afterwards, felt Twilight snuggle up next to him once more. Storm felt glad inside knowing that Twilight would always be there for him. He still worried about the dream he had, but he knew that The Queen wouldn't resort to something that drastic to hurt Storm on an emotional level. He closed his eyes, eventually falling into a nightmare-free sleep.