In The Shadow Of The Storm

by Summer Knight

The Third Day

Tempest Shadow, standing on the balcony of what had once been Princess Luna's bedroom, winced and shaded her eyes as the sun shot into the sky. She assumed that the Storm King had been right—for once—and that Discord was moving the sun and moon in the princesses' absence. He certainly didn't have their fine control, though.

She narrowed her eyes and held out a hoof, which a storm creature promptly placed a spyglass into. She raised the glass to her eye and looked north, toward the mountains. Toward the Crystal Empire.

She hadn't slept since Grubber had delivered Celeano's report. There was too much to prepare, too many ways that this could still fall apart around her. If the Crystal Army somehow reached Canterlot before the Storm King did, she'd have a hell of a fight on her hooves, and she'd have to win it if she wanted her horn back. If Discord returned, it could be even worse. The princesses were protected by the anti-magic stone, but the rest of Canterlot was defenseless against his chaos.

Thankfully, it seemed that Tempest's initial shows of strength had been enough to cow the ponies of Equestria, at least for a while. There had been no reports of Discord, nor of any chaotic phenomena aside from the sun and moon. No organized resistance had risen up to retake Canterlot, and the pass through the Crystal Mountains was still empty.

Too late for them now. It's over. Even if the Crystal Army emerged from the mountains right this second, they'd never reach Canterlot before the Storm King landed and claimed the princesses' magic. One sleepless night was a small price to pay for that certainty.

Tempest nodded to herself in satisfaction. She turned to reenter the palace, then stopped in surprise. Grubber lay huddled up against the wall, snoring faintly. She'd dismissed him hours ago. Had the stunted little storm beast been following her around all night just in case she needed something? Had she been so distracted with her preparations that she hadn't even noticed?

That kind of inattention will get you killed, Tempest angrily scolded herself. What if it had been an assassin following her, rather than her assistant?

She raised a hoof to shake the little creature awake, then slowly set it back down.

Let him sleep, she thought. She didn't need him for anything now. There was nothing left to do but wait. Besides, Grubber would need his wits about him—such as they were—when the Storm King arrived in a few hours.

A few hours... In just a few hours the Storm King would take the alicorn magic that she'd secured for him, and then grant her deepest desire. By midday today she'd be a complete unicorn again, for the first time since fillyhood.

Shouldn't she feel something about that?

---

"—you, she's not fit to travel!"

Rainbow Dash's ear twitched as Cloudtail's angry shouting reached her. She couldn't hear whatever the other pony said in reply. She could, however, hear at least two sets of hoofsteps steadily approaching her room.

The door opened, revealing a red-faced Cloudtail shouting at a very put-upon Crystal Guard: An orange pegasus with blue hair whom Rainbow Dash had met before.

"Hey Flash," she called out with as nonchalant a nod as she could manage while bound head-to-hoof in casts and bandages.

"Hello, Ms. Dash," he replied with a formal bow. "It's good to see you. Though I wish it didn't have to be here." He gestured at the hospital room.

"Same here, trust me," Rainbow answered. "And I don't care how many broken bones I have, if you call me 'Ms. Dash' again, I'll find a way to smack you."

"Yes, well," Cloudtail butted in both verbally and physically as he pushed his way into the room, "the fact is that you do have broken bones; a lot of them. Now Mr. Sentry here is trying to tell me that you're to be taken back to Equestria?!"

"Yep," she answered casually. "Prince's orders."

Cloudtail snorted angrily. "Well, doctor's orders are that you stay here for at least another two weeks. Minimum! You need bed rest—in a proper bed, not some camp cot—and professional treatment."

"Nurse, please," Flash said in a tone that suggested he was talking to a foal throwing a tantrum, "our field medics—"

"Can't provide the kind of care she needs! Not to mention that the travel itself could cause further injury. And if there were an accident..."

"Cloudtail," Dash cut in sharply, "Equestria needs me. My friends need me. I know the risks, and I'm going."

"Rainbow Dash!" Cloudtail snapped, then stopped himself. "Rainbow Dash," he tried again, more calmly, "before you make this decision, I just want you to remember how scared you were at the thought of never flying again. I want you to understand that, if you make this trip, you're making that outcome a lot more likely."

"Yeah, I kinda figured," she answered quietly, "but what's going on in Equestria right now is way bigger than me. If there's any way I can still help, then I gotta be there. Going with the army could be my only chance to get back."

"Haven't you done enough?" Cloudtail pleaded. His face fell as Rainbow shook her head.

"If Tempest Shadow and her monsters are still there, then no, I haven't."

"...Fine," Cloudtail finally relented with a heavy sigh. "If you want to ground yourself for life, I can't stop you. Just promise me that you'll get back to your treatment as soon as possible."

She nodded. "I promise."

"Well then, I guess that's as good as we're going to get. I'll be expecting a letter from whatever hospital you end up at," he finished sternly.

"Nurse, chillax. I'm a Wonderbolt, and I'm on the Council of Friendship. I'll have the best physical therapist in Equestria." Her nonchalant attitude faltered before Cloudtail's glare. "Aaaand I'll have them get in touch with you."

"Good." Cloudtail gave one last huff and turned to stomp out of the room. Just before passing by Flash Sentry again, he turned to look over his shoulder. "Please be more careful," he said, surprisingly gently. "You can't help anypony else if you don't take care of yourself first."

"R—right," Dash answered. "I'll remember that, thanks. For everything."

"Just doing my job. Or I would be, if anypony would let me..." he grumbled as he pushed past Flash and into the hall. An awkward silence filled the space he left behind.

Finally, Flash cleared his throat. "So," he said, with a forced attempt at cheerfulness, "we've got a portable bed set up, and a medic assigned specifically to you. You'll have the best care the Crystal Army can offer."

Rainbow looked away from his reassuring smile.

"Thanks."

"No problem!"

Once again, an uncomfortable quiet fell over them. After a few too-long seconds, Flash slowly approached her bed.

"Rainbow Dash," he said softly, "are you sure about this?"

"I already said I was," she answered bitterly.

"You don't have to put yourself in any more danger, nopony would blame you if—"

"It's not about me!" Rainbow exploded. "I get it, okay?! I know that this is gonna make things worse for me. I know that I might never fly again. I know that you'll have to fight through whatever patrols Tempest Shadow has at the border, and I'll be helpless. I still have to do this!"

"But why?!" Flash shouted back. "The rest of the Council's still there, right? Why can't they handle things while you get back on your hooves? Why does it have to be you?"

Rainbow's mouth worked silently for a second as she tried to work out the answer to his questions. It was so obvious to her—she had to be there, and that was that—but how to explain so that Flash would understand?

The color drained from Flash's face.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Dash—I mean Rainbow Dash! That was way out of line. It's not my place to question your decisions, or the prince's orders."

"We're stronger together," Rainbow finally said.

"Huh?"

"Me and my friends. We're stronger when we're all together, and that's got nothing to do with whether I can fly or not. It's about friendship, and magic, and... giant, awesome rainbow lasers, and stuff. If I go back to Equestria, and we save Twilight, we'll all be together again. Maybe then we can end all this."

"I see." Flash nodded solemnly. "You really are the most loyal pony in Equestria. You know, if you hadn't become a Wonderbolt, you'd have made a heck of a royal guard."

Rainbow snorted, and the solemn mood shattered. "Pfft. Nah. Could you imagine me just standing next to some door all day? I'd lose it!"

Flash Sentry forced a laughed as well. "You know, there's a little more to it than standing next to a door."

"Well, you'll have to tell me on the way to Equestria. C'mon, time's wasting!"

"Right," Flash sighed. He leaned out into the hallway and waved for two other Crystal Guards to join him. They entered Rainbow's room. They were wearing harnesses, which held a stretcher in between them. "Ready?"

"Yes, sir," a unicorn replied.

"Rainbow Dash? You ready?"

"Ready when you are," Rainbow answered, much more confidently than she felt.

"Okay. Make the transfer," Flash ordered.

Rainbow Dash was suddenly enveloped in a pale blue aura as the unicorn's horn lit up. The slings and straps holding her in place unlatched themselves, until she was supported only by the bed and the guard's magic. She winced in anticipation of pain that never came as the unicorn gently lifted her off the bed and moved her to the stretcher. More straps wrapped themselves around her to hold her in place once more.

"Transfer complete, Sarge," the unicorn announced.

Flash gave a single, sharp nod. "How do you feel, Rainbow Dash?"

"No worse than a minute ago," she replied. It was the most honest answer she could give.

"Good." Flash's stern face softened into a relieved smile. "Then let's meet up with the others. We'll have you back to Equestria in no time."

---

"Applejack, darling, would you please sit down?"

The anxiously pacing farmpony took no heed of Rarity's words. "She shoulda been back hours ago! I'm tellin' ya, somethin's wrong. She's trapped, or hurt, or..." She couldn't finish the thought.

"Rainbow Dash is the best flyer in Equestria," Fluttershy answered with unusual heat in her voice. "There's no way those monsters caught her!"

"Then where is she?" Applejack demanded.

"Probably just taking a day to rest," Starlight reasoned. "Let's at least give it until tomorrow before we start panicking, okay?"

"Well... oh, I suppose yer right." Applejack finally stopped pacing around the Map Room, but still didn't take her seat. "So what's on the agenda tonight?"

"Not much," Spike answered. He only had a single sheet of paper in his claws, and even that still had blank space on it. "Things are going pretty well, actually. Everything's on schedule, we finally got some extra supplies in so we can start stocking the fallback position, and Trixie's actually doing great at keeping Ponyville's spirits up. So far, anyway." Pinkie had only named her Head Mare of Morale last night, after all. "Unless something new popped up, we're all set."

"Great, another meeting that could have been a t-mail," Starlight joked.

Rarity chuckled. The non-unicorns didn't.

"Telepathy mail," Starlight explained. Still no response. "It's... oh, never mind."

"Well then," Applejack broke the awkward silence, "all we gotta figure out tonight is what to do if Rainbow doesn't show up tomorrow. Who can we send after her?"

"It would take a Wonderbolt to make it past those airships," Fluttershy answered. "If Rainbow Dash isn't back by sundown tomorrow, I'll go to Cloudsdale and ask Captain Spitfire to send a search party." The others all nodded agreement.

Suddenly, as if to spite Fluttershy's mention of sundown, the room flooded with light as the sun rocketed back into the sky.

"What in Eques—?" Rarity began, but hadn't even finished the question before the sun dropped behind the horizon and the moon took its place. Then they switched positions again, and again.

"Discord!" Applejack shouted at the top of her lungs. "What the hay do ya think you're doin'?"

There was a flash of light, and Discord appeared in the room with them.

"Nothing!" he answered. "I'm not doing this! There was a huge transfer of magic somewhere—I felt it all through my bones—and then the sun and moon just went cuckoo."

"Well, can you make it stop?" Fluttershy asked as the rapidly-changing light threw dizzying refractions all around them.

Discord snapped his fingers. The moon hung still in the sky, and the crazily shifting lights stopped. Everyone heaved a sigh of relief.

Then the moon fell, and the sun took its place.

"I... I can't," Discord answered in disbelief. "Whatever magic is doing this, it's—" he gulped, "—more powerful than mine."

The assembled creatures exchanged looks of utter horror.