//------------------------------//
// Ch11 The Lightning Orb... 
// Story: A Charred Stone 
// by Priceless911 
//------------------------------//

                 “Catch!”
Commander Bolt turned and looked back up at me as I dropped my bow and quiver down to him as he stood on a platform about ten feet below me. I did feel odd that we were climbing back down when we could easily fly or glide down, but I thought that since we climbed all the way to the peak that it was only fitting that we both would climb back down. As Commander Bolt reached up and caught my falling bow and quiver, I slowly turned towards the cliff as I climbed down safely. After making my way down and stepping onto the platform, Commander Bolt gave me my weapon as he turned to our destination and looked through the clouds. As he stared into the clouds, I trotted next to him as I spoke, “too bad there is too much cloud cover we might be able to see the camp from here.”
As I looked at Commander Bolt to see his reaction, I noticed his worried expression as he replied, “those aren’t clouds…”
After seeing his expression, I looked back at the clouds and realized that he was right… they weren’t clouds at all, it was smoke.

A little worried myself I looked back at Commander Bolt and replied, “Smoke?... is it from the camp?”
Commander Bolt shook his head, “It’s too thick to be a bon-fire. Maybe a forest fire… or…”
I turned to Commander Bolt in curiosity, “Or?...” Commander Bolt continued, “A battle.”
“A battle!”
Reacting I jumped from the cliff and flew a few feet away as Commander Bolt called, “Cadet Stop!”
Hovering in place I looked at Commander Bolt as I replied, “But… if it’s a battle then we have to do something!”

Commander Bolt gave me a stern look as he replied, “And what can we do? First off, if it is a battle then we can’t just storm in without knowing the status of both sides. Charging in from here could end us up behind enemy lines. What do you think two ponies stuck in the middle of an enemy army will do? Not to mention me; if they know I'm here, we will be like a rabbit in a timberwolf den.”
Looking down, I still couldn’t see where the smoke was coming from as I replied, “But… we can’t just sit here and do nothing. Captain Storm may need our help.”
Commander Bolt nodded his head, “I agree that we shouldn’t sit idly by, but it would be better if we continued down the mountain keeping a low profile. When we can get a better view of the situation then we will act.”

Not being able to comfortably agree, I looked down into the smoke filled abys then back at Commander Bolt as I replied, “But… I… Yes sir, if you think that’s how we should do it… then I'll follow your lead.”
As I landed back on the platform next to Commander Bolt he replied, “We will pick up our pace and start gliding from point to point… but remember that we need to keep our actions quiet.”
Sighing with disappointment, I nodded my head, “Yes sir…”
Seeing my disappointment, Commander Bolt spoke up, “I know it’s hard… but sometimes, the hardest decision is often the best. All I need you to do right now is trust your commander.”
Though those are words I wasn’t expecting to hear from him, I knew that from what we went through recently, I did trust him… even if it was only a little. So I nodded my head as Commander Bolt turned towards the cliff, jumped, and glided down to the next platform.

Following his lead, I glided down to the next ledge as Commander Bolt and I jumped from ledge to ledge as we made our way closer and closer to the base of the mountain. As our altitude got lower, we eventually reached a point that was just below the smoke as Commander Bolt stopped and looked towards the ground as he spoke, “it was a battle… look at the placement of the smoke pits. The distances between each, those areas were hit multiple times by a barrage of catapult and arrow fire.”
As I looked into the distance, I could only confirm what he said. Though there was a thin line of trees separating the mountains base from the area where the smoke was coming from, it was obvious to what he was talking about. Beyond the trees, there was a large and empty field of grass, which held many craters, fire pits, and other piles of what I could only assume were remnants of burning tents, all arrange the same way we arrange our tents in our camps. But what really caught my attention, were the large formations of ponies wearing golden armor, and the large piles of what looked like bodies scattered throughout the field. I know my eyes were better than Commander Bolt was, so it was easy to see that there was a battle here, but right now… it was quiet. Looking onto the remanence of a battlefield, I felt a little worried as Commander Bolt saw me and spoke, “The body count looks too low… It looks like Captain Storm was able to call a retreat.”

Confused I looked at Commander Bolt as I asked, “Retreat?... so where will we meet him then?”
Commander Bolt replied, as he turned to the next platform and opened his wings in preparation, “I told Captain Storm to retreat to the west, if necessary. We will make our way down to the tree line and use it as cover to meet with him.”
Commander Bolt then jumped and glided down to the next ledge. As I followed and landed behind him I asked, “But… what if we are spotted?”
Commander Bolt replied as he opened his wings for the next jump, “Then we fight… how many arrows do you have?”
Thinking quickly I replied, “twenty-six… wait, twenty five. I have twenty five arrows left.”
Commander Bolt smiled and spoke sarcastically, “Hm… twenty five versus three hundred soldier’s minimum… we better not get spotted then.”
With that remark, Commander Bolt jumped and glided down to the next ledge as I sighed and mumbled to myself, “yea… great plan commander…”

With a little concern, I jumped to the next platform and landed beside Commander Bolt as he looked down at the next platform with a somewhat disappointed look. As I saw this expression I asked, “commander?... what’s wrong?”
Commander Bolt didn’t reply, but when I looked at the next platform, I knew instantly what it was. The next platform that we needed to glide to was not only our last… but it was almost one hundred feet below us. Too far to keep ourselves concealed against the mountain. Gliding to this one made it easy for anypony below who was paying attention to see us. And to make matters worse, it looked like there was a patrolling squad of five celestial crusaders on the other side of the small line of trees and brush separating the mountain from the battlefield. Seeing this Commander Bolt whispered as he lowered his head, “get down…”
Reacting to his command, I dropped to the ground as Commander Bolt crawled to the edge and watched the squad of soldiers.

With a clear view of our threat, Commander Bolt looked at me and spoke, “Cadet, listen very carefully. When I give the word, I want you to fly down to the next platform, then as soon as your hooves hit the ground, Sprint for the tree line and take cover in the brush.”
Seeing the risk in this, I replied, “but… that means I'll be sprinting towards the enemy squad.”
Commander Bolt nodded his head, “if you make it to the brush and take cover then they won’t see you… but remember to move only on my mark.”
Still trying to understand I tried to continue, “bu…”
“Now! Go now!”
Although he still whispered the command, the tenseness of the situation made it feel like he yelled it as I cut my sentence short and dove from the cliff flying as fast as my wings could take me.

As I reached the bottom platform which was only about a foot and a half from the ground. I quickly landed without decreasing my speed as I sprinted towards the tree line. On my way there, I could understand what Commander Bolt meant about not being seen since it was difficult to see the enemy squad on the other side, but that didn’t slow me down as I aimed for the closest bush and slide into it like a baseball player into home. As soon as I entered the bush, I held still and made my breaths of exhaustion silent as I heard one of the guards speak as he turned in my direction, “Did you hear that?”
Another guard turned towards me as he replied, “hear what?”
The first guard replied, “I thought I heard a noise just now.”
A third guard replied as the rest of the squad turned to my direction, “noise? What kind of noise?”
The guard took a step closer as he replied, “I don’t know, sounded like rustling bushes or something.”

The entire squad of Celestial crusaders looked in my direction and held a moment of silence before one of the other guards finally spoke, “I don’t hear nothin’ ya sure you didn’t just imagin’ it?”
The first soldier replied, “No… I could swear I heard something.”
Finally, the second soldier sighed with pity as he spoke up, “Maybe you’re just hearing things. A little post battle stress or something.”
A few of the guards laughed, as they looked away leaving the first to speak again, “I don’t know, but whatever it was it sounds like it’s gone now.”
As the first soldier turned back to his group leaving all of them looking away, I looked to the platform above as I saw Commander Bolt taking this chance as he mimicked my actions from the cliff dive, landing on the platform and sprinting only to slide into the same bush I was in.

Unfortunately, as he slid in, the guard turned back to us as he spoke, “There! There it is again! Did you hear it?”
Quickly reacting to the guard’s reaction, Commander Bolt and I ducked even lower into the bush as the squad of guards started turning towards the trees as another replied, “Yea… that time I heard it.”
Another spoke as they began trotting closer, “What do ya rekin’ it was?”
The first spoke again, “I don’t know, but keep your guard up, it could be anything.”
With the squad of Crusaders approaching, Commander Bolt placed his hoof over me to help keep us both out of sight. Though both Commander Bolt and I were completely concealed in the bushes, it didn’t ease my mine as the approaching crusader’s steps drew closer and closer. As the guard approached the bush we were in, I saw him use the tip of his spear to move the top limbs of the bush to look over it, which only made me all the more nervous.

Now, I found myself looking up at our cloudy reflection in the celestial crusaders spear blade as he continued looking around in hopes of finding the source of the noise. All the while, my heartbeat felt like it was making more noise then everything around us as my mind started cycling through what would happen if we were captured. Then I started to see the same guard lean in to look into the bush we were hiding in. my heart raced, as I slowly gripped an arrow in my quiver in hopes of using it as a dagger if needed. But before the soldier could see us, a small bunny jumped out of the bush beside us as it raced past the searching soldiers and into a rabbit hole on the middle of the battlefield. Seeing what they thought was the source of the earlier noises, the guard’s stepped away from us as they, sighed in relief. Then one spoke, “Gee sarge, now you’re makin’ us paranoid. Just a harmless little critter lookin’ for some food.”
As the group of crusaders slowly trotted back into the clearing, the first guard replied, “yea… I think we all have had enough for one day. Let’s just finish our rounds and get some rest.”
As the group of soldiers left, Commander Bolt and I sighed in relief as he took his hoof from over me and made a notion that told me to keep quiet.

Nodding my head in agreement, I continued holding my silence as he and I made our way along the ground under the brush. After a few minutes of sneaking around, Commander Bolt and I rose from our crawling as he looked around and whispered, “The coast looks clear. We can rest for a few seconds here.”
Tired, scratched up, and a little dehydrated, I sat up as I opened my saddlebag and pulled out a canteen, “That was a close one wasn’t it? Good thing that rabbit was there to get us out of that.”
After taking a sip from my canteen, I gave it to the commander as he mumbled just loud enough for me to hear, “yea… that was lucky… but it was still too close. We need an escape plan for this. I don’t mind it… but I can’t risk us both like this.”
Although I heard what he said, I don’t think I was meant to so I asked, “What was that sir?”
Commander Bolt shook his head, “nothing… I was just saying that we need to take extra precautions from here on out.”

Ignoring his changed statement, I replied, “Really? Like what commander?”
Commander Bolt took a sip from my canteen as he replied, “We need to make this less difficult… how about this. Cadet, Remove your armor, and hid it in the bushes.”
Thinking I heard him wrong I asked, “What? But… why?”
Commander Bolt gave my canteen back to me as he explained, “if they see us… they will recognize me on the spot. But you, they don’t know. If you get caught without armor, then they won’t be able tell you apart from any other traveler.”
Understanding what he was talking about, I placed my bow, quiver, and saddlebag on the ground as I started removing my armor, “that’s actually a good plan… but, what about my bow? Would you be better carrying it?”
Commander Bolt shook his head, “no, as safe as this plan seems I don’t want you to be unarmed. Just wrap your bandana around your quiver to cover the insignias. Remember, if they catch you, you’re a traveling mare who carries a bow for self-defense.”

Hearing a specific tone in his voice, forced me to ask as I finished placing my armor under a nearby bush, “You’re talking as if I will be alone in all this.”
Commander Bolt nodded his head, “in a way, you will be.”
I was surprised, “wh-what?...”
Commander Bolt replied, “You will be traveling casually to avoid suspicion. I on the other hoof, will be following closely in the brush to help keep an eye out. As long as you travel along the trees you won’t have anything to worry about.”
As I took a spare bandanna from my saddlebag, I wrapped it around my quiver to cover the nightmare legion insignias. Although the bandanna did cover most of the moon, the point and part of the navy blue ring was still visible, as I replied, “are you sure this is a good idea? What if… they discover the truth?”
Commander Bolt replied, “as long as you keep calm they won’t. And as I said, I'll be keeping an eye out from the trees. If they discover you, I'll jump in and help take them out. Armor or not, your still my soldier and I won’t leave you to the wolves like that.”

Doing my best to make the bandanna on my quiver seem natural, I re-slung my quiver and tucked my bow under my wing as I looked at Commander Bolt and asked, “so… um… is this alright?”
Commander Bolt nodded his head as he replied, “you seem a little unsure, but if they bring it up, just tell them that you heard about a battle nearby and was worried about what you might run into. Otherwise, just stick to your story and you’ll be fine. Now just start trotting along the tree line and I'll keep up as best as I can. Just be sure not to look for me. It could show them where I'm at.”
I nodded my head, “Right… that makes since. Should I start now?”
Commander Bolt nodded his head as he replied, “It would help. The sooner we get there the sooner we can stop worrying about getting caught.”

After hearing his answer, I slowly made my way to the clearing as I checked to see if the coast was clear. When I saw it was, I stepped out into the open as I looked around and mumbled to myself, “Alright… now what?”
Hearing my comment, Commander Bolt whispered to me from brush, “Head west… you know which way that is right?”
I slowly turned my head just enough for me to look at him from the far corner of my eye as I nodded my head. Then I looked at the sky to see where the eclipse was. Knowing that is was in the late afternoon and which horizon the eclipse was closest to I mumbled as if it were to myself, “Alright… that way.”
Turning in the direction I slowly began trotting as casually as I could while still a little nervous about being caught. At first, it seemed like my casual trot was forced, but then as time passed, I started looking at my surrounding as I realized how calming it was without all the weight of my armor weighing me down. Not to mention the feeling of being alone even though I knew I wasn’t.

As I continued, I started to enjoy the calming sights that I haven’t been able to enjoy since I was a filly. The tall waving grass, the wildflowers, and the sound of the calming wind as it blew across the land. Take away the eclipse and bring me some sunshiny, and this day would have seemed almost perfect. As I trotted and looked around, I kept my attention away from the trees that were behind me since I knew that Commander Bolt was traveling through them to keep an eye on me. In fact, I decided to turn this into a game. So I started counting how many times I heard him make a noise that way I could bring it up later. This game along with the peaceful surroundings almost made me forget about my risky actions as what began as a fake casual stroll through the area, turned into the real thing. However, after about twenty minutes of traveling, I came to an area where the trees that I was trotting along came to an end as I paused and mumbled to myself in hopes that Commander Bolt would hear me, “Looks like a lot of empty grassland ahead… I wonder what I'll do if I happen to need shade?”

Hoping he would get my hint I waited for some kind of signal or whispered response as nothing came from the trees but silence. Still keeping my attention away from the trees I patiently looked around before an unfamiliar voice caught my attention, “You there! Stop!”
Hearing the unexpected voice, I looked up as I saw three celestial scouts slowly glided down to me. As soon as their hooves hit the ground, one gripped his bow while the second pointed a spear at me as the third who seemed to be in command glared at me as he ordered, “You! Lay down your weapon! Slowly!”
Knowing I was supposed to be neutral, I took a step back as I opened my wings showing I wasn’t going to resist as I replied, “I um… All right just take it easy… I don’t mean any harm…”
the Second guard holding the spear yelled, “He said drop your weapon! DO IT!!!”
Looking at the guard I replied, “Alright I'll do as you say… just calm down.”
With my wings already open, I slowly lowered them as my bow slid out from around my wing and fell to the ground. With my weapon now on the ground, I took a few steps away from it as I spoke “Alright… I dropped it… now what?”

Hearing my annoyed expression, the archer slowly drew his bow but kept it pointed at the ground as the leader spoke, “This area was seized by the Celestial Crusaders! Who are you and why are you here?”
Although my mind was on the archer, I looked back at the leader and replied, “My name is Gem Stone. I'm a traveler, on my way to the next town.”
The lead crusader watched me as he trotted to my bow and replied, “The next town egh… and which town would that be?”
As he approached my bow and picked it up, I replied, “Um… which ever town is in this direction.”
The second guard continued pointing the spear at me as he yelled, “LIER! TELL US THE REAL REASON YOU’RE HERE!!!”
As the leader was examining my bow, he raised his wing to silence the soldier, “Stand down Sergeant, Let’s let her explain. If you are a traveler, then why wouldn’t you know which town is in this direction. Furthermore, why would you be traveling with a weapon like this? This bow seems too heavy for its size.”

As the lead soldier looked at me I replied, “I don’t know the next town because I came from the griffin kingdoms. And as for my bow,… it was made by a griffin blacksmith to help me fight off Timberwolves and manticores. Its weight makes it strong enough to pierce even a dragon’s scale, or so the vendor says.”
The leader looked back at the bow as he replied, “hmm… that makes sense… but despite all that, you are traveling in a restricted area. Fournier or not, we can’t just overlook you trespassing like this.”
Getting annoyed while at the same time knowing what was coming next I replied with an attitude to show my anger, “Really… and it’s my fault that you and your little team of golden toy soldiers decided to just drop arrows on me while I'm just traveling along minding my own business? Do you know how hard I had to run to avoid crossfire from both you and the Nightmare Legion! Not to mention hiding in a smelly marshland just so none of you would kill me by mistake! Is this how your deity princess welcomes weary travelers to her kingdom!?!”
As proud as I was at my fast thinking and backstory, it seemed to fade quickly as the archer pointed his bow at me and yelled “HOLD YOUR TONGUE!!!”

Nervous at the archer’s actions, the leading soldier looked at him and yelled “LOWER YOUR WEAPON!” Seeing the guard lower his weapon, the lead soldier looked back at me, “I guess this war effects more then just us soldiers doesn’t it… well with that in mind, I guess you’re free to go… but first I have just one more question.”
Waiting for a response, the soldier looked at me with an unusual smile as I ask, “Sure… what is it you want to know?”
The guards smile went from unusual to sinister, “your arrows… Aren’t they the same arrows carried by archers of the Nightmare Legion?”
After hearing the question, my heart skipped a beat as I slowly turned my head to see the navy blue flight on my exposed arrows. I couldn’t believe my stupidity, I covered the sides of my quiver that signified the nightmare legion, but didn’t once think about the arrows that were exposed. As I slowly turned back the three soldiers, I realized the archer had pointed his bow back at me as the lead pony put his wing through my bow to carry it like I was before, as he drew his sword and spoke, “Miss Stone… You’re under arrest for treason.”

Knowing I was in trouble, my mind quickly cycled through my options, but no matter how hard I tried, I knew that there wasn’t any way to get out of this. Then all of a sudden, I heard a loud and brief rustle in the top of the trees behind me as I and the three celestial crusaders looked towards the brush and paused. As we all looked at the trees, the lead pony started to speak, “What wa…”
Before he could finish his sentence, Commander Bolt dropped in from the sky right behind him as he wrapped his hoof around the lead crusaders neck putting him in a headlock. Reacting to the surprise attack, the celestial archer quickly aimed his bow at Commander Bolt as he released his arrow sending it through the air. Expecting this, Commander Bolt quickly turned his victim’s body around as the enemy archer’s arrow became embedded in his own leader’s chest. Dropping his now dead captive, Commander Bolt quickly picked up my bow as he tossed towards me, “CADET!”
After releasing my bow, Commander Bolt turned back to the pike pony as the soldier lunged his blade at him in an attempt to kill him. Luckily, Commander Bolt was too quick as he dodged the attack, grabbed the spear, and pulled the attacker closer with it before head butting him in the face knocking him to the ground.

Reaching up and catching my bow, I had less than a split second as I watched Commander Bolt spin the grounded crusaders weapon around and stab him before he had a chance to pick himself up. With the second soldier now dead, I quickly turned my attention to the third as he laid his next arrow across his bow and aimed at Commander Bolt. Thinking quickly, I pulled an arrow from my quiver, drew my bow, and fired it at the archer with enough accuracy to hit his bow at the perfect point that shattered both the weapon and its arrow sending splintering wood into the archers face. Stepping back from the shock of my attack, the archer put his hooves over his cut up face and grunted loudly as Commander Bolt pulled the spear from the dead soldier’s body, threw it towards the distracted archer, and embedded it in the pony’s chest, killing him on impact. As the archer fell to the ground, I looked around as I sighed in relief, “Whoo… that was a close one… i almost forgot you were there commander.”
Commander Bolt smiled as he replied, “yea… sorry it took so long, good thinking on the cover story by the way. You almost had me convinced.”

Hearing the complement made me smile, but before I could reply, a loud noise came from beyond the trees as it called out, “Over here! Whatever fell from the sky fell in this direction.”
Another voice followed, “I think I heard some noises too! Get reinforcements here as soon as possible. We may have found an enemy squad!”
Looking in the direction of the voices, Commander Bolt spoke, “Crap… I was hoping to avoid more fighting.”
Knowing what was coming, I trotted to Commander Bolt and stood beside him as I readied my bow, “If we have to fight… then I'm ready.”
As I stood next to Commander Bolt he continued looking in the direction of the enemy soldiers as he spoke, “Cadet… listen, I know you’re ready to fight… but not here… Go west as fast as your hooves can take you. And don’t fly. You will be harder to spot if you’re on the ground.”
Confused I looked at the commander as I replied, “What?... but… what about you?”
Commander Bolt trotted to one of the dead celestial soldiers as he drew the dead pony’s sword and replied, “I'll fight them off and meet with you later. Just be sure to make it there as soon as possible.”

Worried about the approaching enemy I replied, “But commander, you can’t fight them all off… can you?”
Commander Bolt smiled as he replied, “Have some faith in your commander, he just gave you an order didn’t he? So how will you respond?”
A little uneasy with my actions, I nodded my head as I placed my bow back around my wing and replied, “Yes sir…”
Although I didn’t like it, I know that I had to follow my orders as I turned to the west and began running as fast as I could. After making it a number of feet away, I turned and looked back at Commander Bolt as I saw him standing still as the celestial troops emerged from the trees and quickly surrounded him. At first, I wanted to stop and turn back, but knowing my orders, and knowing that the ponies surrounding him didn’t know I was here, I continued as I looked back to my path and pressed on. A few seconds later as I left Commander Bolt’s line of sight, something completely unbelievable happened.

As I ran, a loud explosion was heard behind me followed by a loud hissing sound that sounded like electricity. After hearing it, I stopped as I turned to the sound, but when I looked, all I could see was a bright dome shaped wall of electricity and lightning. I stood in awe as I looked at the dome; this sight was amazing… but familiar. I knew that this bright dome of light was the same one I saw a long time ago. Back when I was in the orphanage. It had been many years… but this sight was hard to forget, since it was unlike anything I had ever seen before. The static in the air, the smell of burning grass, and blast of hot air that was radiating from this sight… it was truly breathtaking. As I stood watching the sight, I noticed that the dome was shrinking, as it slowly got smaller before completely vanishing into the distance. With the dome now gone, I was left with a choice. Part of me told me to continue following my orders and keep running, while another part of me wanted to go to that area since it looked like it was where Commander Bolt was at. Looking back to my path, then back to the area where the sight took place, I could only sigh as I mumbled to myself, “I have to help… even if I'm not needed.”

Determined, I turned to where the domed lightning took place and started running as fast as I could in hopes that Commander Bolt made it through that thing without any problems. When I finally reached the sight of the event, I paused as I saw Commander Bolt standing with a fatigued stance, with all the Celestial Crusaders laying around him on the charred and blackened earth. At first, I was relieved, but then when Commander Bolt succumbed to his wryness, and fell over, I became worried as I rushed towards him. As I ran towards the sight, I could see one of the Celestial Crusaders pick himself up as he started stumbling towards the commander. At first, I ignored him, but when I saw him start to draw his sword, I immediately stopped as I took up my bow, drew my arrow, and embedded it in the side of his head. As the celestial soldier started to fall dead, I tucked away my bow and continued running to the commander. When I reached Commander Bolt, I reached, up to shake him, but as I did a small arc of electricity jumped from his body and shocked my hoof. When this happened, I paused; the shock didn’t hurt, but as I looked at my hoof where the arc hit me, I could only mumble to myself, “is… is this… the Lightning Orb he told me about?”

All of a sudden I heard a twig snap behind me, and I reacted by turning towards the noise and drawing my bow only to see a nightmare soldier standing there as he raised his hoof and spoke, “Wait! Don’t shoot! I'm not here to…” the soldier paused, “C-Cadet Stone?”
After realizing who I was aiming at I lowered my bow as he continued, “It is you! Cadet Stone! Thank Nightmare Moon you’re all right! Is, is the commander here too?”
Lowering my bow I looked down at Commander Bolt as I replied, “yes… he’s here.”
Seeing the commander on the ground, the soldier rushed to my side as he looked at Commander Bolt and replied, “He’s fine… he’s just resting.”
I gave the soldier a curious look, “resting?”
The soldier replied as he picked up the commander and placed him on his back, “Yea… the lighting orb takes a lot out of him, I guess he just didn’t have the energy to stay conscious this time. Let’s get back to the camp. The rest of the search parties are in the area. The Lieutenant wanted us to keep in contact by arrow. Can you sent a yellow signal up?”
Knowing what he meant I nodded my head as he handed me a yellow signal arrow and struck it against a rock like a match.

As the dulled tip of the arrow slid across the rock’s surface, the arrow spontaneously busted into a yellow flame as I took the arrow, laid it across my bow, and fired it into the air. However as soon as I did that, I looked at the soldier and spoke, “We need to move, NOW! The enemy might have seen that.”
The soldier nodded his head as he replied, “Understood Ma’am, Follow me, we aren’t far. As for the rest of the scouts, they will return after seeing that arrow.”
With that said, the nightmare soldier and I rushed back to the camp as fast as we could while Commander Bolt laid unconscious on the soldiers back. A few minutes later, we linked up with another nightmare scout who was also on his way back to the camp, then another, then another, until finally I found myself leading back a squad of six soldiers, all on their way back to the Nightmare camp. With all of us traveling together, we eventually reached the camp as Lieutenant Snow met us at its edge, “Cadet Stone! Looks as if you and the commander have run into quite the mess. Where on earth is your armor?”
Giving him a serious look I replied, “Lost… but that the least of my worries.” I looked at the soldier carrying the commander as I gave an order, “Take him to see the medic, and then make sure all the soldiers searching for us are accounted for.”
Nodding his head, the soldier trotted past us as he replied, “Yes Ma’am!”

As the soldier trotted into the camp, Lieutenant Snow smiled, “It’s good to see you two made it back in one piece. However, I can only assume that you two ran into more than just a mountain range, since I could see the illumination from the lightning orb from here.”
Although I felt irritated that he saw the light and didn’t do anything about it, I ignored it as I asked, “Where is Captain Storm?”
Lieutenant Snow replied, “He is in the command tent for the time being. He has informed me to direct you to him as soon as you arrived.”
With no concern, I trotted past him as I replied, “Then tell him that I'll be at the medic tent. I want to make sure Commander Bolt is alright before I meet with him.”
As I trotted by, Lieutenant Storm asked, “Is it wise to take this matter into your own hooves when the captain wants to meet you as soon as possible.”
I replied as I continued, “The commander’s safety takes precedence. I'm sure he’ll understand.”
With that said, I continued without waiting for a reply, as I followed the soldier to the medic’s tent.

As soon as we arrived at the medic, he took Commander Bolt into the secluded part of the tent and told me to let him rest, so having full confidence in his abilities; I did as I was asked as I sat at the front part of the tent near the entrance. A few minutes later as I sat waiting in the front of the tent, Captain Storm entered and looked over at me as he smiled and gave me a friendly nod. Then without saying a single word to me, he trotted by as he looked into the enclosed area and gestured the doctor to talk with him. Standing outside the enclosed part of the tent, but still far enough back so I couldn’t hear, Captain Storm spoke with the doctor for a few seconds as the Doctor nodded his head and replied with the only words I could hear, “Understood Sir.”
With a friendly nod, the Medic trotted past Captain Storm, passed me, and exited the tent. As I sat here watching him, Captain Storm trotted to me and took a seat beside me as he spoke, “It’s good to see you made it back alright. I was a little worried when we had to retreat from the rendezvous site. It’s good to see that you and the commander both made it through without any problems.”

Feeling a little guilty that the commander returned unconscious, I asked, “Captain Storm… how is he?”
The captain looked at me with a funny expression as he replied, “he?... he who?... Oh, you mean the commander! He’s fine; he just needed a little time to rest. He must have been giving you all his rations which would explain why he was weak enough to pass out with just one attack.”
I felt a little confused, “giving me his rations?... but… he didn’t… did he?”
Captain Storm smiled, “Don’t think too far into it; Commander Bolt has always taken his soldiers wellbeing before his own. That’s why so many of us chose to follow him. Even when we had no choice but to retreat. Commander Bolt left the wounded that way they could be captured and treated.”
Realizing what he said, I spoke up, “wait… you mean the wounded soldiers that he abandon back before we left our last location? He left them to be treated?”
Storm smiled, “of course, the commander knows Princess Celestia enough to know that she would never imprison wounded enemy soldiers nor deny them treatment, so with the soldiers consent, Commander Bolt left them behind so they could be treated and allow he and the unwounded soldiers a chance to escape. That’s the commander for you; he is never one to risk somepony’s life for no reason. Or at least, somepony other than himself.”

Letting his words sink in, I sat silently for a few seconds as I started thinking about everything I knew about Commander Bolt. But before I could collect all my thoughts, Captain Storm looked past me as he smiled, “oh speak of the devil, how was your sleep commander? I hope your dreams were worth sleeping late again.”
As I looked over at Commander Bolt he smiled sarcastically as he replied, “Yep a very pleasant dream… too bad I had to wake up, but I figured you had enough of a vacation without me.” Commander Bolt looked at me, “good to see you Cadet… I'm glad you made it back alright.” He looked back at Captain Storm, “Could you excuse us captain? I need to speak with the cadet. You can go ahead and take your point we will be out there soon.”
Captain Storm stood up, as he smiled “Yes sir, don’t take too long.”
With that said Captain Storm exited the tent as Commander Bolt trotted to me and spoke, “I was a little worried you wouldn’t make it back alright. It’s good to see you made it back alright.”
Feeling a little guilty, I spoke, “um… sir… I… I have a confession to make. After you used the lightning… um… thing… I turned back and returned against your orders. I'm sorry… but I couldn’t leave you after seei…”

Before I could finish my sentence, Commander Bolt raised his hoof to silence me as he replied, “it’s alright Cadet, I saw you save me when that Celestial soldier got back up, and I'm grateful. I know that sometimes my orders seem to be the best, but I'll be perfectly honest. Not every decision I make is the best. And you disobeying that one was one of the best things you could do. You saved my life and prevented the defeat of the Nightmare Legion. Als… no… I think this is better set for later.”
I gave him a curious look as Commander Bolt trotted to the entrance of the tent and spoke, “Cadet… stand where you are and count to ten. Once you’re finished come outside I will be ready to explain it all out there.”
With that said, commander bolt exited the tent and closed the flap behind him as I felt a little confused at the strange instruction. Either way, I did as I was told as I mumbled to myself, “um… okay… one, two, three, four fixe, six… you got to be kidding me… seven, eight, nine, and ten. Well here I go.”

Feeling a little foolish that I actually stood there and counted to ten, I shrugged my shoulders and trotted out of the tent. As soon as I was outside, I froze when I saw Commander Bolt, standing at perfect attention with the entire nightmare camp standing behind him all at attention in a perfect rectangular formation. Feeling a little awkward that the entire camp was standing and waiting for me, I stood with a confused expression on my face as Commander Bolt took one step forward and spoke, “CADET STONE! FRONT AND CENTER!!!”
Hearing the seriousness in his tone, I rushed to him as I stood at attention in front of him. As I stood there, Commander Bolt spoke with an official tone, “Cadet Stone, several months ago, you arrived here with only one goal in mind. To do your best and become a soldier of the Nightmare Legion. In that time, I have trained you in everything I could think of, archery, swordplay, navigation, survival, and even leadership. Though you started out slow, you undoubtedly proven yourself more skilled then we assumed, and despite our own doubt, you have excelled beyond my expectations. Therefore, it give me great pleasure to do this. Cadet Stone, I as commander of the Nightmare Legion hear by promote you to the rank of Lieutenant starting today. And along with your promotion, starting tomorrow I will place you in charge of a unit of your own, so that your skill and abilities will be passed amongst the ranks to future leaders of the Nightmare Legion. So let me ask, Will you accept this task, as it is given to you with the upmost confidence?”
Commander Bolt stood silently as I replied, “Yes sir… I do.”

Commander Bolt smiled with confidence as he replied, “Then Let this order stand, as you do now. And Hold this position with pride.” Commander Bolt turned to the rest of the soldier on the camp as he called out, “ATTENTION! OFFICER ON THE FLOOR!”
At that moment, all at once with a motioning sound, the entire camp of soldiers saluted me, as Commander Bolt Turned back to me and joined them in an official salute. As I stood there in front of the entire army of soldiers, I couldn’t help but feel a since of both pride, and joy. Everything I did, all the hardships and all the strife I went through… it was all for this. I proved myself in way I never thought I could. And now... I finally have a purpose, I finally have a place that I'm meant for, and it feels wonderful. After a brief but awkward moment, the commander lowered his hoof as the rest of the nightmare soldiers lowered theirs. Then as Commander Bolt turned back to his soldiers, he spoke, “From this day forth Everypony here will show proper respect to Lieutenant Stone just as you show respect to the rest of the officers. Anypony who does otherwise, will answer to me. DISMISSED!”
At that moment the entire formation replied, “SIR!”
With that response, the entire formation of soldier started breaking off and returning to their duties as Commander Bolt turned to me and spoke, “And there you have it. Congratulations lieutenant. I'm looking forward to seeing your results as an officer. Oh, and be sure to take the rest of today and most of tomorrow off, you deserve it.”

With nothing more to say to me, Commander Bolt turned away and started trotting off. I wanted to thank him, but I still felt a little speechless from what just happened, so in an attempt to stall him as I spoke up, “Commander, um wait…”
Commander Bolt stopped as he turned to me and smiled pleasantly, “oh that’s right I still owe you something don’t I? As for my name, its Commander Star Bolt. As agreed I gave you my first name but remember, I am your commander, so a first name basis is something we don’t have. Well rest easy lieutenant, you’ve earned it.”
As he stood there with that peaceful smile on his face, I could only stand in shock. His name… and that smile. It was him. The colt from my foal hood. The young pegasus named Star. he was here the whole time… and I didn’t even know it. Failing to see my shock, Commander Bolt turned away and continued trotting with nothing more to say. I wanted to ask if he remembered coming to the orphanage, but how would I even begin to word that question… and furthermore does… or would he remember me too? I didn’t know but one thing was certain. I found out who Commander Star Bolt was… and now he has my full trust.