Storm Of Secrets

by Beware The Carpenter

8 - The Defence of Fort Book

It was an hour before midnight when Twilight was woken by the sound of the library door closing, and thought it was just a dream. She knew that door was locked, and any attempts to force it would send an alarm directly into her horn. She turned over and tried to get back to sleep, but then heard hoof steps coming up the stairwell.

Twilight caught her breath, and reached over to wake Spike up from his basket; but he was gone. She listened vainly for the noises to appear again, hoping Spike was doing something weird that just sounded like hoof steps, but when the sound didn’t repeat she crept cautiously towards her closet.

Twilight’s tree had been taken as a sapling from deep inside the Everfree forest, and shared the forest’s quantum distortions. Just like the forest was bigger on the inside than the outside, making it almost impossible to map or navigate; her library was larger than the tree it was built into, resulting in very specific air pressure and temperature consistency. A short consultation of the instruments in her closet confirmed that there was a highly magical intruder; most likely a very large unicorn stallion or a griffin magus, inside her home on the second floor.

She searched for other bodyheat signatures; Owliscious was gone, probably hunting, though that was expected at this time of night. Pyromite, the phoenix Spike had brought back from the dragon migration, was in his furnace; but clearly in an ashen state, and may as well be dead for the next several hours. Spike… was unconscious, near the intruder.

Few people outside the academy could have breached her library door without triggering the wards; meaning this was not a random or unplanned attack. From a distant memory came Shining Armor’s voice, telling her to run while she still could… but not without Spike.

Twilight fumbled for a layer of protective spells over her, and tried to keep herself from panicking. She’d been trained for this, but she wasn’t ready. Since coming to Ponyville, Celestia had assigned all of the Elements of Harmony self defense classes which Twilight had taken to with enthusiasm... at the start.

Her first assigned teacher had been Shining Armor, and she loved learning from him just like he loved him. But when he got replaced by Star Swipe, her zeal had waned, and with each passing month without hearing from her brother, the conflicted emotions associated with combat training had made it more difficult for her to focus.

After listening for eight heart beats, Twilight took a mirror from her bedside table and began moving forwards, stopping every three or four steps to listen. Moonlight was casting ominous shadows on the hallway wall, whispering invitations for Twilight to hide among them; but instead she flattened to the wall, and inched the mirror around the corner with a trembling hoof.

A stallion stood with his back to her; dark, blood red fur draped over heavy muscle and crisscrossed in a grizzly collection of scars that gave the impression of bone jutting out of a shredded bloodied corpse. His horn was softly glowing, suspending Spike’s unconscious body a few feet off the ground, while rays of light probed over the magically sealed door that used to be hidden behind the bookshelves he had carefully pulled away from the wall.

Twilight grit her teeth, and forced herself to breath. Until recently, She'd had traveled sixteen hours a week, to and from Canterlot, to use some highly sensitive tomes and equipment in the restricted archives. Last winter she had finally managed to convince Celestia to let her keep them at her library, pending a checklist of stringent conditions the included a reinforced lab being carved into an unused portion of her tree, capable of safely containing her experiments.

Last winter this had seemed like a good idea.

Only a few people were meant to know this lab existed. Of the people that did, no one could have known that; unless Pinkie’s visit that afternoon hadn’t left Twilight too exhausted to keep to her usual schedule, Twilight would be in that lab right now, with her back to the door, thinking she was safe.

This stallion knew her house and he knew her habits; he’d been stalking her… possibly for a long time.

Spike flinched like he was starting to wake up, Twilight drew back and the edge of her horn knocked against the door frame unmercifully loud. The stallion spun around, and Twilight lunged out from where she’d been hiding, hurdling every stun spell she knew simultaneously. The stallion lurched to the side, and her volley collided with her lab door whose defensive wards promptly reflected her own missiles back at her, while triggering a deafeningly loud alarm inside her skull.

She reflexively threw a shield over herself that managed to catch most of the incoming blasts except for the one that stabbed into her left knee. Twilight winced with sudden pain, then complete numbness as hurled a second volley towards the stallion. He raised a shield with lightning speed, but not enough power.

Her missiles caused it to fracture and the stallion stagger back as he tried to maintain his defense. Her laser broke through, and burned a hole in her wall behind where the stallion had been standing.

Twilight poured more energy into her shield and tried to track the destination of his warp-tear, then suddenly, the back every bookshelf in the room was struck by a telekinetic kick hurdling their contents into the air. Twilight lurched forwards with her magic, and felt very proud of herself that she managed to catch every book and beaker before they shattered on the floor. She also let her guard down, and then felt something like a hot blade sink into her vertebrae right below the neck.

Her horn fizzled as she tried to remain standing, and then her own curtains shot out of the shadows, wrapping around her hind legs and pulling her onto her belly. She tried to kick, and failed to scream as she realized she couldn't move anything below her neck.

The next thing she knew she was being tumbled over, flipped, and turned as her traitorous curtains pulled themselves off the railing and cocooned her before the ends tied themselves into a bow on her chest; offering her as a gift-wrapped sacrifice to the invader.

“P-please don’t hurt me.”

“Hurt you?” Mused the red stallion playfully as he appeared in front of her, “Now why would I do that?”

“Because… because you want the books in my lab.” Twilight stuttered desperately, “That’s what you came here for; but the door is rigged! If you try to force it, the books will be incinerated before you can get to them.”

The stallion perked his ears forwards, and resisted laughing to himself like he thought this was a game, “I see, but you’ll give them to me if I don’t kill you. Is that the deal?”

Twilight hesitantly nodded; the stallion looked at her like he was making up his mind whether to trust her and in that moment of indecision she closed her eyes and flashed her horn as brightly as she could. Hoping she’d blinded him; she then teleported behind him, aimed at his head, and let loose with a spell would burst the blood vessels of anything it it’s way.

There was the sound of another shield breaking; but when her eyes had cleared, the stallion was gone, no body, no trace until she felt telekinesis spin her around and press her horn painfully against her spell-reflective lab door. She couldn't struggle, but just when the pain became unbearable the stallion pulled her away from the door and then impaled something large, wet and suffocating over her horn; smothering it of oxygen.

“Do not try that again.” He hissed into her ear, dragging her back around to face him again, any trace of enjoying himself now gone, “I’m not here for your books.”

Twilight quivered, trying to maintain a brave face but the tears edging into her face gave her away. The stallion looked at her for several long seconds; pity creeping into his face. He sighed, picked up the bucket of water she kept next to her chalkboard and sprinkled the wet thing on her horn, which turned out to be the sponge she used to clean her chalkboard; then backed off almost to the other side of the room. “Listen,” he ordered, then went quiet off like he wasn’t sure what to say.

As feeling started creeping back into her limbs, Twilight waited, her mind running through alternatives that kept getting bogged down in confusion. If this stallion wanted her dead she’d be dead. If he wanted to kidnap her he could have dragged her outside by now and into a waiting cart. She even wondered briefly if he was here to rape her; but why would he do that to her when he could steal her books instead? Besides; if he’d come planning to abduct her, he would have brought a proper horn lock, rather than improvising one out of her chalkboard sponge.

When the stallion still didn’t say anything she wondered if he’d meant for her to listen to him, or something else; but all she heard was the two of them breathing… and Spike. Twilight had lost track of him during the battle, now she saw him, huddled between two ruined book shelves just starting to stir. Twilight assumed it was a sign of dragon maturation, falling into deeper and deeper sleeps, but now he might be able to help her.

“What is your name?” she asked the stallion quickly, hoping to distract him for a little longer; “I mean; obviously you’re not going to give me your real name, why would you after you just broke into my house, paralyzed me and tied me up; but if your kidnapping me then I should at least be able to call you something.”

The stallion raised an eyebrow, and then followed her gaze behind him just as Spike rose his head wearily. He opened one eye, looked at the red stallion sleepily, closed it, and then opened both eyes. “Hey Shiny.” He yawned, stretching calmly, “How you doen?”

“Twily’s trying to kill me.” The red stallion muttered sulkily.

“What!?” Spike jumped to his feet and looked at Twilight accusingly, “Twilight, what’s wrong with you!?”

Twilight blinked, “…What?”

“You didn’t tell her, did you?” The stallion asked.

“Of course I did; well, no, actually Pinkie Pie told her, but Twilight responded so-”

“Pinkie Pie?” hissed Twilight, trying to stand up, and falling flat on her face.

Spike shifted uneasily, “Yea, when Pinkie when here last night you got a letter from Celestia saying that Shining Armor had been in a body swap and wanted to come visit you; and then tagged on a picture of what he looked like now and-.”

“Now?!” Howled Twilight, “You tell me this now?!”

“Pinkie said she did.” Argued Spike defensively, “She grabbed the letter and ran up to your study and a minute later came down with your letter saying for him to come as soon as possible and you’d be in the lab waiting to show him something awesome. I taped the spare house key to the letter and sent it… I… guess I fell asleep after that.”

“…I’m going to kill her.”

“Easy Twily” smiled the stall… Shining Armor; untying the knot on her curtains; “You’ve gotten violent since the last time I saw you.”

“Violent?” snapped Twilight, “What do you expect!? Last year you tell me you’re going to marry Cadance; then two weeks later you tell me the wedding is off and you never tell me why! You don't talk to me for over a year! Then you do a body-swap with some guy who looks like he escaped Alkzum Mental Asylum and you break into my house!”

“...And worst of all.” Concluded Shining Armor, “I’ve just done a black-marked spell that you never have, and you know that I’m not going to give you the formula for it.”

“YES!!!”

“I missed you Twily.” smiled Shining Armor, stepping forwards and drawing his little sister into a hug. Twilight hesitated, then found herself able and willing to reciprocate. “No more secrets.” He whispered, running his hoof through her disheveled mane; “I’m allowed to tell you what’s going on now.”