Storm blinked after some time had passed with Twilight, starting to wake up and feeling muddled and confused.

"Welcome back sleepy head." Twilight smiled, "Have a good nap?"

"I fell asleep?" She asked groggily.

"Yes, you did." Twilight smiled, still having Meadow get insights into her pet’s mind. "You looked adorable. Wish I'd have snapped a picture, but didn't want to wake you."

Storm fluttered her wings as confusion still filled her. She struggled to wake, standing upright slowly.

Twilight clapped her hooves lightly, as if thinking on something to help wake Storm up.

Storm shook her head, mind clearing at the noise. "Got any work for me to do?"

"Hmmm… I could use some files organized."

“You know I'm horrible at that." Storm frowned.

"Well,” Twilight shrugged, “you could polish my armor."

"So nothing important." Storm frowned as she took a breath and shrugged, "Whatever."

"Hmm. Well, I do need someone to go pick up a report from The Shop." Twilight offered. Both places had unofficial names. The clothing store was known as The Shop, and the warehouse was simply The Warehouse. They were soldiers, not poets.

"I can do that." She said readily.

Twilight chuckled and took a security badge out and handed it to Storm. It already had her picture on it with the rank of corporal. It appeared very official with the holographic markers in the plastic representing the EDF.

"Welcome to the Equestria Defense Force, Corporal."

"Wait,” She blinked, “really?"

"Figured while there is still a lot for you to learn, you've proven yourself capable for an honorary position. It's mostly as my aide but still." Twilight nodded, holding out a piece of paper and a pen. "Just need to sign and you are officially part of the EDF as a liaison and my aide."

She moved to sign, then hesitated, "How will this affect my position in the Patrol?"

"It won’t. As a liaison, your duty is to act as a go-between for the EDF and major military forces in this Equestria. Of course, that can be best achieved working with them, as no one wants to listen to someone who rides a desk and doesn't get their hooves dirty when they are down in the mud. And as an aide, that applies when I am in Equestria on official EDF business. I'm sure I don't have to explain what the job entails. Not to mention you'll be representing the EDF, so you'll need to show everyone we ain't a bunch of cowards and pushovers who don't know how to handle ourselves." Twilight smirked, smiling wider as she looked past Storm’s paper, "Think you can handle that?"

Storm snorted before smiling slightly, signing the document without another word. Her thoughts betrayed her as Meadow kept the spell going.

'That'll be one up on green that she doesn't have. Knowing her, she'll keep out of it all now that she's got foals.'

Twilight barely kept from chuckling as she took the document and placed it in a file.

"Now then, Corporal, if you please." Twilight handed Storm her military ID. "Won't you kindly go and retrieve the report from The Shop?"

Storm nodded, tucking it under her wing securely, having long since realized no one advertised their rank outside the building and left.

'Rather competitive pet...' Meadow commented, recognizing the ‘won’t you kindly’ phrase from a game she had played.

'Yes, but it makes her eager to please and be the best pet she can be.' Twilight chuckled as she picked up her paperwork. 'A little competition never hurt and keeps skills sharp.'

'You should let Dawn know then. We're highly competitive ourselves.' Meadow commented.

'Oh, are you now?‘ She smirked.

'Of course.' Meadow chuckled. 'It's how I survived my magic training.'

‘Show me.’ Twilight said with a wide grin.

For the next hour, Meadow showed Twilight her technical abilities, Twilight finding Meadow’s newfound knowledge very exciting, eventually passing out from the amount of effort that Meadow’s demonstration required.

Storm frowned and started to be concerned at the lack of response before the smells hit her and she scrunched up her face and covered her nose briefly. Once she adjusted, making up her mind to try and ignore it, she closed the door behind her tactfully, put the report on a clean surface, and tapped Twilight's shoulder.

"Twilight? You alive there?"

"Huh? Wazzat?" Twilight asked, snorting and blinking her eyes open.

"You… I got your report here." Storm said, deciding it was better not to address the state that the commander was found in.

Twilight blinked and looked at it, as if trying to reorient herself off her mental high as she took the file. "Ah! … Right, yes. … Thank you, Corporal. Did you run into any trouble?"

Storm shook her head, "Nothing to worry about. Caught the other soldiers looking at me funny when they saw the badge though. What's a corporal anyway?"

"A rank." Twilight explained. "Usually second in command of a squad under the Sergeant. It’s a lower rank than normal for an aide. They are usually officers, but like everyone, you have to earn ranks."

Storm nodded, only somewhat understanding.

"Don't worry, I'll teach you what you need to know." Twilight chuckled.

"I just don't know what that's supposed to mean though, how do you tell the difference between them all?"

Twilight held out two pins. "This usually goes on your collar."

"Should I wear it out in public? I've noticed the others hide their badges." Storm volunteered, trying to know what she should or shouldn’t be doing.

"That's because of your Princess’ orders. Normally, they would wear their uniforms and such but we can't move as freely as we do here."

"Oh, so what do I do with them then?"

"Whatever you'd like. They are yours."

"Hm..." Storm thought, then stuck them on her badge lanyard.

Twilight smiled and sat back before noticing her fur was purple and blinked.

"Oh! Um, huh… seems my disguise failed. Glad it was you walking in and not one of the guards." She said as she quickly donned it once more.

"So... what exactly happened?" Storm dared to ask, now that the commander brought it up first.

"Huh?"

"Stone, your room smells like you just had an orgy in here, and I was only gone an hour." Storm said, confronting her firmly.

Twilight checks turned a slight shade of red and she coughed into her hoof. "Meadow was telling me a few things."

"What, how to coat the floor in… you know what, I don't want to know." Storm said, giving up.

Twilight blushed more and coughed. "Just uh… few skills she apparently picked up."

"So she's a fucktoy." Storm said, "figures."

Storm couldn’t say any more, even if she wanted to. Meadow lifted her and held her in place in the air, with specks of green flames outlining where she stood from Twilight’s perspective.

"Don't…” Meadow growled dangerously, projecting what she wanted to say into Storm’s mind. “you have no idea who the fuck you're dealing with, Lapdog. I didn’t spend five years training with Reaper to be a damn fucktoy. You will NOT call me that again."

Twilight blinked in surprise, looking at her and wondering if she’s ok.

"Am I clear?" Meadow asked firmly.

"Damn, are you both demons?" Storm asked, completely caught off guard what she said to tick her off, “It was just-”

"AM I CLEAR!" Meadow roared, even as Twilight laughed at the demon comment.

"Yeah! Lemme down!" Storm said quickly, still looking on in confusion.

Meadow dropped Storm at that agreement, letting her stumble onto the ground.

Storm slowly got up, commenting with concern, "What the hay is her problem?"

"Don't think she likes being referred to as a toy." Twilight chuckled behind a hoof. "Not to mention she is in my head so I may be rubbing off on her."

Meadow chuckled emptily, 'Partly right. Time has no meaning while you're unconscious, so I had a five-year training session with your combat instincts… They taunted me, saying I was not good for anything but being a pleasure fucktoy at first, and used that to push me to do better. I hated being thought of as only good for that, and it’s how I powered through every lesson, including dark magic. I will keep you safe, but my honor had to step in.'

'You leaned dark magic?' Twilight asked in surprise.

'Yes.'

'Huh… interesting.' Twilight thought. 'Didn't expect you to learn that. Does explain the outburst.'

'Yeah… I'm still kind, but I'm not a damn doormat.'

Twilight chuckled mentally, deciding to peek in on Storm's mind as the spell was still active and she wanted to see how they were taking the correction.

Storm was frustrated. Her thoughts weren’t so much words as feelings of anger, frustration, even dejection.

Twilight sighed as she looked over the report. "Corporal. Tell me your thoughts on current affairs in the city."

"Seems quiet, almost too quiet. No reports or rumors of ponies fearing for their safety from the past few incidents, but still… It’s not right.”

"Hmm. Yeah, it's odd." Twilight agreed.

"They're hiding their tracks, or something big is coming is my feeling. Ponies wouldn't stop talking about the last few problems for a year normally." Storm frowned.

"Yeah. There would be something."

"Other than that, nothing to report."

"Hmm.” Twilight paused before nodding, “Very good, thank you."

Storm nodded back, then looked at the file, asking, "So anything useful in the report?"

"Hm. Possible activity worth checking out on the upper east side as well as here on the docks."

"Want me to take a look?" Storm asked.

"You sure you're up to it?" Twilight asked, not voicing what prompted the question

"Just a flyby, I'm not going to do what I did before." She said, "I learn from my mistakes."

Meadow had dropped the pseudo-telepathy spell in the interim but stood ready in case Twilight wanted it up again.

"Very well." She went to the map on the wall and put a pin in an area on the other side of the docks from where they were

"Over there?"

"We will stick close to home, for now, just to be sure you are ready. If you have to, do not hesitate to return and I'll have someone else do the recon." Twilight said. Her serious look combined with a slight furrowing of her brows told Storm that she would not think any less of the new Corporal.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry." Storm said, stepping to the door before saying with a mischievous smirk, "Might as well have Meadow clean up the place."

She quickly left before Meadow could get in another word or retaliate.

Twilight sighed and Meadow could feel her concern, despite the fact her face didn't show it.

'All we can do is trust that she's learned from the past and from you.' she consoled.

'That's not what I'm worried about.'

'Then what?' Meadow asked

'She went through a traumatic event and this place doesn't exactly have any clue what psychology is.'

'Ah. So you’re afraid she's hiding her issues by trying to say she's ok then...' Meadow said, 'I'll keep her from going next time till it's out in the open and she's not a liability waiting to happen.'

'I didn't know if she is or not. We only have a couple of Psy-ops doctors and their hooves are full with people dealing with dimensional shock.

'I understand. I may not be proficient in it, but I'll assist as needed.' Meadow said. 'I can do a good job protecting you, but it doesn't hurt having backup.'

'Yeah.' She said. 'All we can do is wait and observe'

Storm flew over the docks, feeling a shiver down her spine as her memory surfaced involuntarily. Her pace slowed before she focused and pushed it out of her mind, forcing herself heavily on threats in the area. She was hyper-alert, yet trying to hide it. Just a couple laps, she told herself.

Twilight waited, unseen fingers dancing in the desktop as she watched, counting the seconds. She had an estimation for how long this should take

Storm continued, keeping alert as she finished the first lap, then flew a little more casually, feeling like things were going to be fine, not spotting anything so far.

'Should I go check on her?' Twilight asked worriedly.

'Give her time, trust in your student, just for a little longer.' Meadow encouraged, 'Give her maybe five minutes.'

Storm finished her patrol a little late, landing in the designated area inside, flashing her badge to the guard before walking on to Twilight's room, knocking.

'Student?' Twilight asked as she looked up.

"Hey, just got back. Nothing to report, no signs of activity. A little cool up there, good flying weather."

Meadow turned on the connection spell as soon as they got in sight, betraying that Storm was still very nervous and on guard from the flight, trying to bury it deep down, knowing how her behavior was supposed to be.

"Good…” Twilight said gently and got up to make some tea, “and how are you?"

"All right I guess. Checked over the piers and docks," Storm said, a feeling of trepidation coming across her emotions as the memories came back. A flash of the being tied up and the fluid being poured over her liberally made her heart rate soar. She forced herself to take a breath and pushed it to the side before continuing, "Didn't really see anyone.”

"And yourself?" Twilight asked, noting how Storm mostly talked about the other things more.

"I'm all right I guess..." Storm repeated, looking at Twilight suspiciously.

Twilight finished brewing the tea after an additional minute.

"Join me." She said as she grabbed two cups.

Storm nodded, taking up her place at Twilight's side, ready to follow.

Twilight walked over to a small sitting area, then sat down on the couch while dropping her disguise so it was the real her beside Storm.

Storm walked over and stood nearby, noticing that they didn't have the disguise going on, she looked at Twilight puzzled.

She patted the place beside her as she poured the tea.

Storm frowned and looked at the seat, climbing up and looking at her confused, not sure what she was up to.

"So how are you Fire Storm?" Twilight asked, picking up her cup of tea in her magic and holding Storm's out to her.

Storm took the cup and eyed Twilight, trying to shrug, "I'm fine, why do you keep asking?"

'Is she just trying to find something wrong? That’s the third time she’s asked… Everypony here has gone through tougher stuff probably. If they can do it, I can hold my own too. It's nothing…' Storm thought to herself, trying to hold it in while unaware of the spell Meadow had in place.

Twilight nodded and looked at her cup. "I ever tell you what happened to make me this way?" She asked gesturing to herself.

"I figure you have your reasons.” Storm shook her head and shrugged, “Nopony seems to talk about it so I just don't want to pry. Why?"

Twilight nodded, not looking up from her tea. "When I was a lot younger I… sort of had issues with performing magical experiments without making sure I had properly set up safeties. I thought if I just checked my calculations it would all be fine, despite several pieces of evidence to the contrary, and… my disregard for it came back to bite me."

Storm said nothing, but her thoughts commented, 'Oh? The renowned magical experimenter Twilight, a reincarnation of Starswirl according to her fans, having disregard for safety? Who woulda thought?'

Twilight couldn't help smirking at that thought before it slowly fell as she watched the steam rise from her cup.

"I ended up in in a place that was so very alien to me. Magic didn't exist there, save my own, and it was dominated by other creatures besides what is here on Equus. And in my naiveté, I didn't think anything of it. They were simply different from me and the first one I met was nice and was a scientist just like me." She said and idly rubbed a scar that formed a late T shape on her chest without notice.

Storm looked at the mark, putting together that it was from that encounter, 'So, they gave you those scars... evil creatures then...'

"Needless to say, I paid dearly for that naiveté. What they did to me there in those labs… it still haunts me, even after all these decades. It… changed me. … Not sure if for the better or what. I most likely wouldn't have survived that place if not for my handler and another group of the creatures attacking the place and freeing me."

Storm nodded, her thoughts growing far less critical as her own experience and fear started to come up from their sharing. She thought of speaking, but held her thoughts, unsure how to speak them, other than a general feeling of shakiness from her own brush with death.

"I carried what happened to me in that place for a long time, and it grew and festered within me. Twisting me more and more… I'm not sure where I'd be now if it wasn't for someone getting me to actually talk to them about it. They were quite horrified by the events, but they sat there and listened anytime I spoke about it. I found the more I actually talked about what happened, the better I dealt with it." She said somberly. "I didn't really know how to talk about it at first. I just… talked. And the words just sort of came pouring out, along with a wave of emotions. Granted, I doubt I'd have talked about it shortly after it happened, but I did eventually do so, and I have a sympathetic ear to listen whenever I have needed it."

Storm felt heavy, realizing what Twilight was doing. It was a warning, that she might not do so well if she held it in. She ever so briefly held the idea that if she could get past it then she would be better than Twilight, but then dismissed it, seeing the scars and knowing even as she subconsciously reached for the bullet-wound that she had no scar for, she couldn't even compare. She wanted to speak but didn't know what to say.

Twilight just sat there and took a sip. "The word eventually came up during an unrelated conversation, weirdly enough during a conversation about inner tubes… don't ask how the conversation came up, as I have no clue." She chuckled

Storm chuckled, shaking her head. "I won't ask..." She said, steeling herself for the conversation, wanting more and more to talk about it, yet still not knowing what to say.

"Good… you know, looking back, I've had some really strange conversations with her. … like this one time, we went into a deep debate about which was better, apples or peaches. She was firmly in the peach camp." She said with a small smile. "Or how ponies would react if a pegasus made the clouds look exactly like Celestia's flanks."

Storm laughed and then shook her head, "No comment."

For a moment, Storm's mind cleared, happy and as if the prior memory had no hold on her, but then her gaze went back to a scar and the smile died on her lips as she went back to thinking.

Twilight remained quiet at this point and let her choose the next course.

"Twilight… I…" She hesitated, fumbling to express the sadness and fear that she had, even if she didn't show it.

"Yes?" Twilight asked putting a wing over her. It was an action Celestia often did when she was frightened.

Storm settled down soon after a minute and then spoke up, "Look, I've always had to look after myself, but… I feel in over my head sometimes now. When I went to fly over the docks… I… I almost couldn’t fly again."

Twilight nodded and just pulled her close with her wing.

Storm sighed and shook in place at the memory, laying against her. "The hay is wrong with me? I've never been afraid of anything, and everypony here seems to go on just fine."

"Most of them here haven't been shot and nearly burned alive." Twilight informed her.

Storm looked up at her in confusion, "Really?"

Twilight nodded. "I mean, sure they have been in firefights and trained how to handle the insanity of battle, but most of them have never actually been shot. You want to find the ones who have been? Find the ones who don't complain about how heavy the armor is. They are the ones who know the only reason they are still here was because of the 75 pounds of body armor they wear."

Storm nodded, "So… what do I do about it? I'm not strong enough to wear armor, it'd hamper my flying."

"Well, learn from it, and talk to me about it. Don't just bottle it so it eats at you from the inside."

"I'm fine… It's nothing." Storm said. She was still worried, and not sure whether she wanted to continue right then, but she recognized what Twilight was saying. They had talked enough for now.

"You know…” Twilight nodded and held her close as she sipped her cooling tea, “A wise mare once told me it takes a strong heart to cry and a stronger one to admit why."

Storm laughed emptily, "Nah, crying never got anything done. I'll be fine… eventually."

"My door is always open." Twilight nodded.

"I'll… keep that in mind."

She nodded and remained sitting there with a wing around Storm, holding her close as she used magic to reheat their tea.

Storm shook as she felt the emotions she had been burying seep through, despite the wing still around her. She took a deep breath and tried to find her center as she always had, not knowing that Dawn did that quite often herself.

Twilight couldn't help smirking at how similar the two were.

Storm missed the smirk and felt herself shake more and she growled quietly, the magical link giving away her thoughts, 'Dammit! I promised myself I wouldn't cry… what in Tartarus is wrong with me?'

Twilight be gain to hum softly. A small simple lullaby her mother used to sing her when she had a nightmare.

Storm cried, despite her own conscious wishes, and let it out quietly, as if determined not to give away that she was.

Twilight said nothing and pretended to not notice as she just held her close and hummed.

Storm continued to cry, going at it for half an hour as she tried to keep it down before her breathing calmed and she felt better once again. Twilight had been humming through her crying, and Storm finally wiped her eyes and blew her nose with a handkerchief she had at hoof, sighing for breath.

"Better?"

"Yeah… sorry."

"You never need to say sorry for this." She said and put a hoof around Storm, pulling her into a full hug.

Storm held on tightly before relaxing fully in her grasp. "Thanks..."

"No problem." She said and looked around. "What do you say we get out of herr and maybe grab an early dinner? I'll even let you chose my disguise"

Storm chuckled, "Oh really?"

"Once we get outside of course." Twilight nodded.

"Ok, then be a Stallion Stone." Storm chuckled, thinking, 'Reminds me a lot of Night... Damn, I miss him. How long have I been away from him now, a month, maybe two? I don't remember...'

Twilight stood and became her mare self and headed for the door as she'd change her form after they were a ways away and Storm followed, close enough to still act her bodyguard.

Storm left early the next day to go back to the guild. Around midday the following day, a drone knocked on Twilight's door. She looked up.

"Come?"

"Report from the hive." The drone said once it entered, "a foreigner has been detected in the village that does not appear to be of the Hive or our residents."

"Interesting… I'm sure Chrysalis is handling it?"

"Correct. Legate is watching close, learning."

"Good.” Twilight nodded, “I leave it in her capable hooves."

"We will report when resolved or escalated." The drone nodded, "Lapdog and the guild has safely relocated to the rally point."

“Good.” Twilight chuckled at the name for Storm being used by the drones now too.

The drone appeared indifferent to the humor, staying by the door.

"You are dismissed."

The drone saluted, turning to leave and then added before leaving, "the trap is set."

After a few hours, he returned. Twilight looked up from a map she was looking over.

"New report from Rally Point."

Twilight nodded

"Foreigner was captured. Unknown enemy who placed a sleep spell on both drones, one disguised as the Legate. We've begun interrogat-" he reported before watching, looking more unhappy as he watched the disguise fall before saying, "Svikopi is in custody."

Twilight looked up sharply. "What?"

"The foreigner was under disguise as a brown unicorn. The disguise fell once in custody and the Legate negotiated. Their spell failed and they are immobile with three inhibitor rings. Legate is interrogating still."

"Keep me posted." She said firmly.

The drone began to imitate each side perfectly, using Svik's old disguise to distinguish between him and Dawn until he was imprisoned.

Twilight nodded throughout the exchange, listing silently.

The drone finished before saying, "The Legate and Queen are discussing what to do with him now, exploring his ties to Solar Flare. The Queen recommends added caution, in case of a connection and the reason for the spying now thwarted might cause the enemy to behave erratically."

"Agreed."

"Lapdog's report has come in. Her message is," he paused, taking her form and voice, "Hey Commander. Thanks for helping my guild out. A lot of them are trying to do what they can to pitch in around here. Even Char is managing to be somewhat useful by running messages for some of the workers when he’s not doting after Gallade. I’ve been spending time with Nightfall and we went up to one of the mountains nearby. Been a good time and we’ll be going there again."

“Good,” She nodded. "Anything else to report?"

The drone shook their head, "She went off to pursue Nightfall to make another trip."

"Thank you, you are dismissed."

The drone left the room as requested.

Author's Notes:

Storm has a lot to deal with, luckily she has a friend all too familiar with what she has gone through.

I have a PATREON with fair rewards. Every bit is greatly appreciated and helps me out.