The sky seemed cloudy today. Commander Bolt stood at the edge of a crater made by the Lightning Orb a week and a half ago. As he stood there, he could only play back this same event repeatedly in his mind. The words still echoed, “You would rather Kill Celestia’s troops, the ponies you fought beside, than to just get over some kind of… CRUSH!?!”
As the words echoed in his mind, he stared to doubt himself, “Is this really just a simple crush? Was this whole war for nothing? Or am I just too naive to see the truth?”
Commander Bolt was so focused on this thought that he didn’t hear Captain Stone approach him from behind.
“Um… Commander? The convoy is ready to move out.”
Commander Bolt, replied, “Thank you Stone. Did you bring the spear as I asked?”
Captain Stone held out the celestial spear, “Yes sir; General Roza’s troops just finished sharpening it for you. Do you plan to use it in the next battle?”
Commander Bolt shook his head, “No, I only want to bid a final farewell to the stallion I looked up to.”
Commander Bolt took the spear from Captain Stone and trotted to a pile of stones near the center of the crater. He placed this marker shortly after the battle had ended to mark the place where Commander Mist fell. The armor and weapons have long since been recovered but the stones remained untouched. Commander Bolt moved the stones out of the way until he could see the ground beneath them. Then using the point on the bottom if the spear, he Jammed it into the ground as deep as he could, so that it stuck out with the blade facing the sky.
Then he moved the stones back into place to brace the spear so it wouldn’t fall over. Commander Bolt took a few steps back but before anything else happened Captain Stone spoke up, “Wait, one more thing.”
She galloped up to the spear and removed her bandanna from her mane, and tied it to the top of the spear just below the blade. Commander Bolt asked, “Don’t you need that to hold your mane back when you fire arrows?”
She shook her head and replied. “I didn’t know Commander Mist, in fact I never seen a picture of him. However, the way you talk about him and the way you honor him even now when he was our enemy is more reason for me to respect him with a farewell gift. Besides you know that I wear a different color almost every day depending on how I feel, this is just one of many. A passionate red… I hope he likes this color.”
Commander Bolt couldn’t help but smile at the generosity that Captain Stone showed, “Thank you Gem, this means a lot to me.”
Captain Stone trotted up to Commander Bolt and stood next to him as they watched the red bandanna blow in the wind. They both slowly bowed in final respect for Commander Mist then the two turned around and started trotting back to the camp. When they returned to the camp, the other officers met them at the front of the convoy of wagons and troops. Captain Snow stepped forward and handed him his shield, “Commander all the soldiers are ready and awaiting orders to move out.”
Commander Bolt nodded his head, “And what about our guests?”
Captain Snow replied, “The other commanders are going to follow our lead, even Commander Orem suggested it.”
Commander Bolt smiled, “He plans to use us as a shield. Oh well… at least he is talking again. All right then prepare to move out! Stone, I want you to be in the skies watching our path. Let me know if you see any movement between here and Cloudsdale, the celestial army might meet us half way there.”
Captain Stone replied, “Yes sir.”
Commander Bolt Continued, “Captain Snow, you will be with me in the front. Drib, Viscous, you two will be in the rear of the convoy, if something happens that separates us I want you two to lead the ponies pulling the carts. We must keep track of our supplies. Captain Stone can you send up a signal arrow to notify the other commanders that we are moving out?”
Captain Stone replied as she pulled the arrow from her quiver, “Yes sir.”
As soon as the arrow went up, all four armies moved out in a convoy that seems to stretch for miles. After a short while of marching, the other commanders met Star Bolt at the front of his army. It has always been tradition that the lead army in a group of armies will lead convoys and that the commanders of all the armies will travel with the lead commander. Right away Chief Rafi tried to strike a conversation with Commander Bolt, “So my friend, what are your plans for after the war?”
Commander Bolt thought to himself for a little while and, trying to make a joke about the eternal night, he replied, “I guess the first thing I will do is buy a candle. But otherwise I haven’t planed that far ahead.”
General Roza commented, “A good leader alvays plans ahead, commander.”
Commander Bolt turned to Roza, “OK, so what are your plans general?”
“Vell that depends on the outcome of this var.”
“The outcome?”
General Roza continued, “If Nightmare Moon vins then I vould like to form an alliance vith the new Equestria. In hopes that she vill help us if ve ever get attacked by neighboring countries.”
“And if she fails?”
General Roza Smiled and winked at Commander Bolt, “Then I vill recruit you into our army. I'm certain you vould become a criminal driven to leave Equestria, if not banished. But I vould happily accept your transfer, your reputation alone is reason enough for me to allow it.”
Commander Bolt blushed and replied, “I appreciate the offer, but if Nightmare Moon falls I don’t plan to continue leading troops.”
Chief Rafi spoke next, “Well if all goes well then I hope you will join my council.”
“Council?”
“Yes, generals, commanders, leaders of all nation will be in my council to spread peace throughout the world. No fighting, no war, with every zebra, pony, griffon, and even the buffalo all working together there will be peace for all.”
Commander Bolt shook his head, “Though, I agree with the idea I don’t think it'll work out the way you hope.”
Chief Rafi didn’t like this comment, “Really, and why do you say that?”
Commander Bolt replied honestly, “Everypony has their own opinion. Some will agree with others, and others will deny the claims of some. This is the way the world works, and this is the reason this war is being fought.”
Chief Rafi thought to himself then replied, “What you say may be true, but I will still try.”
Commander Bolt smiled, “And that’s what you should do. But I'll tell you now I don’t want to be part of any council. No offence but I'm not into politics, I just follow orders.”
Chief Rafi nodded in acceptance, “Your choice be your choice. But it’s too bad; the great Commander Bolt with his ability to use the Lightning Orb would be an amazing addition to my council.”
Commander Orem replied to the comment sarcastically, “HA!”
Commander Bolt looked at Commander Orem out the corner of his eye, “Did you say something griffon?”
Commander Orem smiled, “Yesterday I fought you and I didn’t see one spark come from you or your precious Lightning Orb. It’s just a myth. Nopony can use it, especially not a worthless pegasus like you.”
Commander Bolt could only laugh at the comment, “Careful, if I remember correctly this worthless pegasus beat you yesterday. Besides I don’t need to prove anything to you. I'm here to lead my army, and nothing more.”
Commander Orem frowned and looked away in irritation; General Roza smiled and spoke, “So Orem, Vat vill your plans be after the var.”
Commander Orem replied, “I only wanted the chance to fight beside a real hero. When his majesty told me that Nightmare Moon needed troops and that her commander seemed legendary, I only assumed it was Commander Mist, but on my way here, I received word that Commander Mist fell to what could only be described as a bolt. I would have turned back but I would disgrace my name to return without a better reason. Therefore, my goal is to help you win this war and return to a hero’s welcome, that’s all.”
Commander Bolt didn’t like talking about Commander Mist so he tried to bring the conversation back to him, “My goal in this war is to help Nightmare Moon complete her goal, but I'm not entirely sure what I want to do afterwards.”
General Roza smiled, “Surely a stallion of your reputation has a mare vaiting for him back home?”
Commander Bolt blushed, “Well… I…”
General Roza continued, “Hm… there isn’t a special somepony vaiting for the return of the great Commander Bolt?”
Commander Bolt didn’t like the direction that this conversation was going, but he couldn’t think of how to change it and be subtle, “I… um… well… I do have a pony in mind but she… well…”
General Roza became intrigued, “You do? vell it seems like you’re unsure of yourself. Does she know how you feel?”
Commander Bolt gave up trying to change the conversation since it seemed like all the commanders and even Captain Snow had their attention on him. So he decided to answer the questions. “I… think she does but I honestly don’t know. I never told her how I feel.”
Commander Roza continued, “Do ve know who she is?”
Commander Bolt tried to hide his face but with the group, looking directly at him it was impossible. His face was already a beating red when he replied, “Well yea, you all know her.”
While this awkward conversation took place on the ground, Captain Stone was in the air looking ahead trying to see Cloudsdale but the cloud cover in the sky was too thick and she couldn’t see anything. Then something caught her eye, it seemed like a normal storm cloud but it was moving slightly faster than the other clouds. She continued to watch this same cloud wondering, why of all the clouds in the sky is this one moving faster? Her intuition kicked in as she pulled an arrow from her quiver and laid it across her bow at the ready. As she watched this cloud, she had a bad feeling about it so she looked around and found four more clouds doing the same thing, all of which were storm clouds.
Commander Bolt on the ground was trying as hard as he could to change the subject but with no luck, then he caught a break when he saw a narrow passing through cliffs ahead, he slowed the pace and spoke to Captain Snow, “Do you see what I see?”
Captain Snow Replied, “Indeed I do sir, a peasant would miss a bottle neck like that.”
Commander Bolt agreed, “You’re right, keep your guard up but don’t make a scene if there is a party waiting for us we don’t want to start it early.”
Captain Snow Replied, “Of course sir.”
Commander Orem’s expression showed that he was the only one of the other commanders who also noticed the quote-unquote fatal funnel in their path. Slowly he loosened the knot on his powder bag to make himself ready for anything.
Captain Stone continued to watch the approaching clouds very carefully. Then she caught a glimpse of what looked like a wing and a spear tip poking out of the edge of the closest cloud. She drew her bow keeping it pointed downward to make it seem like she didn’t see anything. Then moving quickly she pointed the bow at the cloud and released the arrow. Shortly after the arrow went into the cloud, she saw a pegasus fall out of the bottom, a pegasus wearing celestial armor. As she drew her second arrow she yelled as loud as she could “AMBUSH!!!!”
Commander Bolt, Captain Snow and the other officers slowly made their way through the small valley with little to no enthusiasm as the already narrow crossing became even narrower. After the shadow of the valley had covered Chief Rafi, and General Roza’s face, they too realized the danger of their path. Just then, the body of a dead pegasus fell from the sky and landed at Commander Bolt’s hooves, followed by the warning yelled by Captain Stone. As soon as her echoing call made its way into the valley a clouds of arrows quickly appeared overhead. Commander Bolt called out loud to the other commanders “TAKE COVER!!!”
All but Captain Snow, Commander Orem, and Commander Bolt took cover behind the first row of wagons. Commander Orem threw a talon full of gunpowder in the air and torched every arrow that was meant to hit him sending them to the ground in ashes. Commander Bolt and Captain Snow went to the edge of the valley and blocked incoming arrows with their shields. After the rain of arrows stopped, actual rainwater started to fall. Commander Orem got angry at this, with moister in the air he couldn’t create a spark to light the powder. “Fine! If pegasi want to play dirty than let’s play on their playground.”
Commander Orem opened his wings and took off into the sky.
Captain Stone continued firing arrows into the clouds, with each arrow either a pegasus fell from the cloud or a trickle of blood. Then one of the clouds shot a bolt of lightning out at her. She quickly dodged the first but she didn’t notice a second bolt coming from her right side. The lightning bolt hit her in the chest immediately causing her to drop her bow and lose consciousness. She started to fall as Commander Orem flew by her. He quickly turned around to catch her but when he turned around the Celestial pegasi sent another bolt of lightning into his back. He had no choice but to continue on his previous route but he couldn’t help but call to Commander Bolt to help Captain Stone before she hit the ground, “BOLT YOUR OFFICER NEEDS YOU!!! QUICKLY! CATCH HER!!!!”
Commander Bolt looked up to see what Orem was yelling about, when he saw Captain Stone falling from the sky he immediately reacted despite the second rain of arrows that was approaching. He looked back at Captain Snow and gave his order, “Snow! Hold the line and if you get the chance, move forward out of the valley.”
Then he looked over at General Roza and Chief Rafi who were taking cover behind the first wagon in the convoy, “General! Fall back and gather your troop! I want your army to rush through the canyon and take down anypony that stand in the way. Chief Rafi assists in the assault, but leave your medics to tend to the wounded and send one back to relay to the griffon army that their commander needs them in the skies!”
The leaders nodded their head and fell back to regroup their troops.
Commander Bolt took to the skies as fast as his wings could take him, as he was taking off the rain of arrows started to fall in his path. He used his shield to block most of them but a few managed to get close enough to leave cuts from the corner of the blades and the flights. After the wave of arrows passed, Commander Bolt increased his speed without worrying about his surroundings. When he finally caught Captain Stone, he immediately caught her and tried to make his way to a safe place where a zebra medic could look after her. Just then, one of the storm clouds fired a lightning bolt and hit Commander Bolt causing his wings to go numb.
Commander Bolt could still flap his wings but without feeling, he couldn’t steer or raise his altitude so he had no choice but to find a safe place to crash. He decided to choose a wagon in the center of the convoy that he hoped had tent tarps and bags in it. however, he didn’t know if it was the baggage wagon or the scrap metal wagon, which carried broken swords and shields. Commander Bolt Prayed as he moved himself between the wagon and Captain Stone to absorb the impact. After he was in position to absorb the impact he looked at Captain Stones face, she slowly opened her eyes and spoke still half-unconscious, “Star?…”
As he looked into her eyes, he felt something he couldn’t understand, some kind of feeling. However, before he could realize what it was their eye contact was interrupted by the crash of the two landing on the wagon and breaking the axle. Captain Stone who was now much more awake quickly sat up, “Commander? Are you OK?”
Commander Bolt still stunned by the impact lied there and replied, “Thank Celestia, I picked the right wagon.”
Captain Stone smiled and replied, “Lucky as usual right sir?”
Lieutenant Viscous saw the incident and galloped to their aid, “Commander! Stone! Are you two OK?”
Commander Bolt still lying on his back replied, “Yea I think so, do you know where Drib is?”
Lieutenant Viscous replied, “He’s fighting enemy pegasi in the sky right now.”
“Ok I guess I can forgive him then for not catching us then.”
Captain Stone laughed. She reached over him and grabbed a small cloth that was sticking out of a hole in wagons tarp. She pulled back her mane and tied the cloth as she would one of her bandannas. Commander Bolt looked at the color and asked. “Brown? What douse this color mean?”
She gave a sinister smile and replied, “Usually it would mean I'm feeling creative, but right now, I'm just unbelievably ticked off. Therefore, I'll be creative but it will be with my shots.”
Then after taking two steps, she fell to the ground.
Commander Bolt rushed to her side, “In your condition? I don’t think so. Viscous, take her to see a medic, I can’t let her continue in this condition.”
Captain Stone tried to object, “But Sir I…”
“No buts Captain, that’s a direct order.”
Captain Stone lowered her head as if she had said something wrong, when Commander Bolt saw this he tried to explain, “Stone in the time that I’ve known you, you have followed every order I have given without fail or complaint. I’ve had you climb mountains without using your wings, I’ve had you fire arrows into crowds just to get their attention, and I’ve even had you kill another pony at close range. Nevertheless, I'll never lead you into battle distorted just to see you die. So please don’t make me act like a commander would to a lower soldier, because you’re not just another solder in my eyes.”
Captain Stone looked up at Commander Bolt and blushed, “I… Understood sir, I'll stay here but you better not get in over your head.”
Chief Rafi trotted up after notifying the griffon army of the conflicts and suggested, “If you want I'll have my medic come look at her.”
Commander Bolt looked at Chief Rafi and replied, “That sounds like a good idea to me, do the griffons know about the ambush?”
Chief Rafi smiled and pointed to the sky, “See for yourself my friend.”
When Commander Bolt looked into the sky, he was amazed to see all five hundred griffon soldiers take to the sky at one. He has never had that many pegasi solders before so this was a remarkable sight; also, he could see Captain Drib and his solders returning from the front. When they landed Captain Drib reported, “Good to see you two safe and sound commanders, I heard about the incident a few seconds ago, good catch. The griffon soldiers are slowly taking control of the sky so I decided to see if I could be of use down on the ground.”
Commander Bolt nodded, “Good timing Drib take your pegasi and clear the cliffs on the top of the ravine, then once your finished assist the griffon’s troops. Viscous you and I will continue through the ravine and link up with Snow and Roza”
Captain Drib Smiled as he took to the sky with his pegasi troops, “Consider it done sir!”
Captain Stone tried speak next, “um… sir?”
Commander Bolt looked at her, “Yes?”
“I um… Just be careful sir.”
Commander Bolt smiled as he started to galloped into the ravine, “Stay safe Stone, and get patched up.”
Commander Bolt and Lieutenant Viscous ran through the ravine dodging all the wounded and dead falling with the rain from both conflicts in the sky and on the edges of the cliffs. When they finally reached Captain Snow, they saw him taking cover behind a large boulder at the opening of the other side of the ravine. When they took cover with him, Captain Snow turned to them and spoke, “Commander, you know it’s quite rude to keep a gentlecolt waiting… what took you so long?”
Commander Bolt Replied, “Can it Snow! Until I see you drop ten stories and land on your back with somepony in your arms, I don’t want to hear it. However, we can arrange the ten story drop if you wish to continue.”
Captain Snow smiled, “Maybe later sir, right now I believe we are trapped in this ravine.”
Commander Bolt Asked, “Trapped how?”
“There is a catapult on that hill waiting for us to continue, I broke off from the good general to gather some troops that fell behind and then that monstrosity caught us off guard and pinned us… or me down here.”
Commander Bolt continued, “You mentioned other troops, where are they?”
Without any change in expression Captain Snow replied, “A grim fate awaited them sir.”
Commander Bolt replied, “Grim? What exactly happened to them?”
Lieutenant Viscous taped Commander Bolt on the shoulder and pointed to their hooves, “Uh… Commander?”
Commander Bolt looked down and was horrified to see blood seeping out from under the very boulder they were taking cover behind, and mixing with the already setting water from the rain.
Captain Snow didn’t look at Commander Bolt but he could tell by the silence that it was no longer a mystery, so only replied, “A grim fate… need I say more?”
Commander Bolt looked over the boulder at the catapult and tried to think of a plan. He did think of one but it was crazy and very risky. He looked over at Viscous and asked, “Lieutenant? I know you’re good at stopping your axe swing but how is your magic with much heavier objects?”
Lieutenant Viscous looked at Commander Bolt in shock and replied, “Uh sir… with all due respect. You can take whatever crazy idea you’re thinking and shove it right up your…”
“No no, just hear my out Viscous, I'm going to get the catapults attention by standing on top of this boulder, when they fire at me I want you to slow the boulder down as much as possible while I get a clear shot with the Lightning Orb. I should be able to destroy it before it actually hits me but if you can slow it down enough it will give me a better chance. In the meantime Snow I want you to charge the catapult with as much speed as your hooves can give, don’t let up no matter what. If you can get to them before they load the next boulder than you can cut them down while we get out of this death trap. But move quickly, I suspect unicorn to be the loaders.”
Captain Snow and Lieutenant Viscous looked at each other with uneasy expressions, and then Snow confirmed, “So let me get this straight sir, because I believe I blacked out for a moment. You want to use Viscous’s magic to slow a boulders flight speed so you can destroy it, while I charge the catapult with no regard for my life.”
Commander Bolt shrugged his shoulders and replied, “Yea, that sounds about right.”
Viscous commented, “What if you can’t destroy it or I can’t slow it in time?”
With little change in expression Commander Bolt replied, “We die.”
Captain Snow laughed, “Well that makes it seem so much more pleasant, but I believe I'll pass on that idea.”
Lieutenant Viscous didn’t reply, but her expression showed that she agreed with Captain Snow. Commander Bolt explained, “This is a long shot but it’s a shot either way. Besides I'm a Pegasus I could leave you two here to face them alone but I'm not. I'll fight beside you or in front of you but I'll never leave you to fight alone.”
Captain Snow thought to himself for a second then replied, “Well this isn’t the first time I have carried out one of your less than rational plans, and I don’t expect it to be the last. So if you’re that confident, then I'll continue on your order sir.”
Lieutenant Viscous spoke with an uneasy tone, “This will be the first time I followed one of your crazy ideas, but you have my trust sir.”
Commander Bolt smiled and replied, “Then let’s give it a shot.”
Commander Bolt jumped to the top of the boulder that they were taking cover behind and started to create the cloud for the lighting orb. When the catapult spotters saw this they immediately released their projectile aimed straight for the confident commander, when this happened Captain Snow sprinted out of the ravine and strait for the catapult as fast as he could. As the boulder flew through the air, Lieutenant Viscous started to focused as much magic on the projectile as she could muster. However, the boulder continued at its velocity with little to no change in its flight path.
Using the Lightning Orb, Commander Bolt fired a bolt directly at the incoming boulder, but the bolt also lacked the punch that was needed. Instead of breaking the boulder only cracked up all around the surface. Though the bolt did slow the projectile greatly, it didn’t destroy it as hope. When Commander Bolt realized this he looked at Lieutenant Viscous and yelled at the top of his lungs, “VISCOUS!!! GET AWA!...”
The incoming projectile colligated with the boulder that Commander Bolt stood on less than a foot away from his front hooves. Both boulders immediately shattered sending shards of stone, sand, and rock into Commander Bolt’s body, leaving cuts, dent, and bruises all over him and his armor. The shockwave from the impact threw Commander Bolt into the air hitting the side of the cliff with an incredible force. Then Commander Bolt hit the ground landing in a mixed puddle of blood and rainwater. When Commander Bolt opened his eyes, he was looking at the mutilated face of one of the dead ponies that was lying under the boulder he was standing on. His hearing was muffled but he could hear cries from Viscous calling out to him. He tried to reply but his body was so dazed and weak he couldn’t even open his mouth. He could only lay there in a puddle of blood, next to the body of an unfortunate soul, as everything slowly went black.