The air felt thin as Cirrus found himself gliding at high altitude over the Equestrian plains. As he flew, Cirrus noticed that the cloud cover below seemed minuscule so with no worry of rough weather, Cirrus rolled himself nighty degrees as he dove downward as the whipping air around his wings created streams of clouds behind him showing his diving path. As he reached a speed that made his breathing more difficult, Cirrus leveled himself out as he came into a medium altitude glide at almost five hundred feet from the tree line. As Cirrus glided over Equestria he could only smile as he thought to himself, “it’s been a while since I’ve flown… I wonder why I stopped.”
As soon as he thought that, the clouds above his head started thickening as if it were a spell that caused it. Then as he continued flying Cirrus could feel static in the air that caused him to mumble to himself “What?… lightning?... wh-where did this storm come from?”
Afraid of the approaching storm, Cirrus tried to raise his altitude, but for some odd reason, as hard as he flapped his wings, his altitude never changed. Trying even harder, Cirrus started to panic, as the closing storm clouds, started turning black and the air around him started to feel heavy with static. Now, Cirrus was officially afraid. Giving up on raising his altitude, Cirrus tried lowering it to find a place to take cover on the ground, but like before, as Cirrus tried gliding down, his altitude never changed.
He couldn’t understand it, not only could he not change his altitude at all, now he started to see the ground beneath him move faster and faster as everything flew by him as if he had a rocket strapped to his back. With things going from bad to worse, it wasn’t long until they finally went worst as lightning bolts started falling from the storm clouds above as if it were falling rain onto the surroundings. Although his speed and altitude weren’t within his control, Cirrus still could control his direction as he did everything he could to dodge the falling lightning around him. However since he was astraphobic it wasn’t long before the falling lightning took control of his fear, as he finally gave up by closing and locking his wings and bracing himself for impact as he expected his plummet to the ground. Unfortunately, this too was a futile act as he opened his eyes to see that he was still flying at the same height and speed.
Fearing the worst, Cirrus looked up into the pitch black clouds above as he started to see two eyes staring back at him. Recognizing the green and blue separate colored eyes anywhere, Cirrus could only watch as both eyes kept their angered expression as they shot lightning bolts that immediately centered, and hit him at the exact same time. When this happened Cirrus opened his eyes as he sat up from his bed in a cold sweat. Feeling his heart race and his body tremble with fear, Cirrus rubbed his head as he mumbled to himself, “it was just a dream… there is no storm… no lightning… I’m safe… Thundaga can’t get me… I’m safe… I’m…”
before he could finish, there was a knock on his bedroom door as Mr. Toll spoke from the other side, “Cirrus… time to get up, the foals are getting restless. You still have breakfast to start.”
Cirrus sighed as he mumbled, “the orphans need me… no time to panic…” he looked at the door and replied, “Coming!”
Later in the day, Cirrus, Allium, and Mr. Toll stood at the front of the orphanage as a regal carriage pulled up to the door. Standing with Allium who was the last orphan in the building, Mr. Toll and Cirrus waited as one of the ponies pulling the carriage trotted to the door and opened it as a tall powder pink mare stepped out and nearly screamed with excitement, “Monsieur Toll!”
Mr. Toll Replied, “Mi amour!”
Cirrus gave him a funny look, “Mi a-what?”
The two greeting ponies hugged as Madam Melody spoke in a Prench accent, “It’z been ages since ve last spoke. And look at you… still as handsome as ze day ve met. Sadly, ve are years past our prime.”
Speaking with almost a high class accent, Mr. Toll shook his head, “Pardon? Our prime? Madame I am the one past my prime, but you… you are like a fine wine, aged, yet still perfect for any occasion.”
With that said Mr. Toll took Madame Melody’s hoof and kissed it as Cirrus could only roll his eyes at what he assumed to be an act.
After kissing her hoof, Mr. Toll and Madam Melody looked into each other’s eyes for a few seconds before Cirrus finally cleared his throat, “Um… hello? Earth to Mr. Toll?”
Mr. Toll continued holding the noble’s hoof as he turned to look at Cirrus who was pointing at Allium as she sat in complete confusion of what she was witnessing. Realizing the awkwardness of the moment, Madam Melody took her hoof back as she replied, “Oh, pardon me. I believe I vas caught in nostalgia. Now, to business. Is zis young filly little Allium?”
Seeing that she was being spoken too, Allium stepped forward and bowed slightly, “yes ma’am my name is al…”
Before the young filly could finish, Madam Melody gave another scream as she threw her hooves around the little filly and hugged her, “OH! She is just ze most adorable zing! I could just take her home wiz me and keep her forever!... of course zis is ze reason I’m here today, no?”
The pink noble looked at Cirrus who assumed he was being asked a question as he replied, “um… Oui?”
Lady melody dropped Allium as she smiled, “Zen it’s decided. Monsieur Toll do you have ze paperwork to make zings official?”
Mr. Toll smiled as he started to go back inside, “of course mi amora, right this way s’il-vous-plait.”
As Mr. Toll went into the orphanage courting Madam Melody as if they were at a fancy ball together, Allium looked at Cirrus as she spoke, “see vu wha?…”
Cirrus replied, “I think it means please… I got to say I’ve never seen Mr. Toll act this sophisticated… it’s a little…”
“Creepy?”
Cirrus smiled at Allium’s answer, “yea… creepy.”
Allium looked at the ground in disappointment, “I don’t know about this Halo… what if I don’t like it in Canterlot?”
Cirrus smiled, “don’t worry about a thing Allium. You’ll be living in a big house with all kinds of servants and stuff. I’m a little jealous. Besides, remember our promise? You and I are gonna fly together someday right.”
Allium smiled in reassurance, “right.”
At that moment both Mr. Toll and Madam Melody returned as Madam Melody spoke, “Well since zat is in order, it is time for us to leave. Little Allium, before long you will become a proper lady of ze melody family. But don’t worry, I know zat a proper lady must have ze freedom to express herself so you vill still be able to play and have fun like every ozer filly in ze kingdom.”
Still a little unsure of how to talk to her, Allium replied, “oh… um… thank you Madam Melody.”
The noble smiled, “oh sweet filly, no need to be so formal, if you vant you can call me mozer.”
The filly replied, “Oh… ok… mozer.”
With that small bit of confusion of the accent, Madam Melody couldn’t hold herself back as she hugged Allium and screamed, “Oh! She is just so adorable! Ve are going to be so happy togezur.”
As Madam Melody placed Allium back down, she trotted to the carriage and spoke, “Now come along little Allium. Ze manor awaits.”
Before trotting to the carriage, Allium approached Cirrus and smiled, “well, I’m gonna go now Halo… um” She threw her hooves around him and hugged as tightly as she could, “I’ll miss you.”
Cirrus hugged her back, “you too…”
Seeing the tenderness of the moment, Madam Melody placed her hoof over her heart as she sighed, “Awww how sweet.”
With that, Allium trotted to Mr. Toll and hugged him to, “Bye Mr. Toll thanks for everything.”
Mr. Toll hugged her back and replied, “Grow into a fine young mare, and come back to us. We will welcome you anytime.”
With that Allium stopped hugging Mr. Toll as she trotted past Madam Melody and entered the carriage. As soon as she was on board, Madam Melody looked at Mr. Toll and spoke, “So… zis is your decision?”
Mr. Toll nodded his head, “yes.”
“Are you sure?...”
“… Yes…”
Madam Melody sighed with disappointment, “Zen… I Von’t stop you. And… I vill leave you to it. Monsieur Cirrus? It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
Cirrus nodded his head, “the pleasure was mine Madame.”
The noble smiled, “a charmer like his fozer…” she then approached Mr. Toll and kissed him on the cheek “Monsieur Toll… it vas good seeing you again. Au revoir.”
Mr. Toll smiled peacefully, “Au revoir… Mi amore.”
With that the two smiled at each other before Madam Melody entered the carriage and had one of the driver close it before hooking himself back up and pulling it away. As the carriage rolled away from the orphanage Mr. Toll smiled slightly, “I should have married that mare…”
After hearing that Cirrus asked, “Why didn’t you?”
“her father wouldn’t have it, what was it he said… Ze Melody family is ze peak of sophistication and grace. Zerfore she must be married to ze highest of class, zat doesn’t include wrich like you.”
Cirrus was confused, “Wrich?”
“I think he meant wretch… I never had the heart to correct him though.”
Cirrus gave him a surprised look, “That’s harsh…”
Mr. Toll smiled sarcastically, “it didn’t stop us from having fun though…”
Cirrus raised his hoof, “ok I’m gonna stop you there… before I become permanently scarred.”
Laughing at the comment, Mr. Toll turned and looked at the empty building behind him, “Well… they’re all gone…”
Cirrus looked back too, “Yea… Allium was the last one.”
Mr. Toll looked at Cirrus as he replied, “I guess it’s time for you to leave too.”
Cirrus trotted to the side of the building where he had a saddlebag already made as he picked it up and replied, “Yea… I guess it is.”
As he put the saddlebag on, Mr. Toll trotted to the door as he reached inside and picked up a small package that sat inside the door, “Cirrus…before you go, take this.”
When Cirrus took the package he replied, “What is it?”
Mr. Toll smiled, “Just a little something for all the work you did.”
Curious, Cirrus opened the package to find two things, a bag full of bits and the framed picture of him and Mr. Toll the day after he was adopted. Smiling at the picture, Cirrus placed it back in the bag as he looked inside, “What?... h-how much is in here?”
Mr. Toll smiled, “We may have been behind on bills, but that doesn’t mean we had nothing to pay with. That money was supposed to be next week’s groceries, but it should be enough to get a room at a hotel or something.”
Cirrus shook his head, “Dad… I can’t take this. Well… the picture sure, but not the money.”
Cirrus tried to give the bag back as Mr. Toll pushed it away, “Take it… you need it more than I do. Besides, what father wouldn’t help out his own son?”
Cirrus saw that Mr. Toll was serious as he replied, “Well…if you’re sure then okay, but wouldn’t you need it?”
Mr. Toll shook his head, “no… I have my own money to handle. This is what you earned. You’re not just a coworker here, and you’re not just my foster son. You’re important to this place and to those unfortunate enough to be here. And I think you should remember that as you go off and begin your own life.”
Cirrus placed the gift into his saddle bag as he hugged Mr. Toll and replied, “Sure… and when I’m all settled, I’ll come visit. After all, I got to make sure an old timer like you eats well.”
Mr. Toll hugged him back as he replied, “Sure… I’ll be waiting… son.”
With that the two stopped hugging as Cirrus smiled, “well… I guess I’ll get going. I’ll see you later, dad.”
As Cirrus turned to trot away Mr. Toll replied, “Take it easy … don’t be a stranger.”
Smiling one last time, the two parted ways as Mr. Toll looked back at the orphanage and sighed, “Sorry son… but this will be the last time we see each other.”
Up north in Canterlot, Thundaga sat on her throne as the visiting diplomat spoke, “Scary princess knows that tension between Yakyakistan yacks and Yakyakistan prince is feeble. Yakyakistan prince is worried scary princess will not assist if subjects rebel.”
Thundaga sighed in hopelessness, “Yakyakistan prince must remember this little note… if he cannot keep control of his own subjects, then perhaps the subject’s rebellion is just. Either control them, or fall to them… but remember this… if Yakyakistan prince and Yakyakistan yacks’ war reaches into scary princess’s borders… then you will be reminded of why you call me scary princess … I’ll move in, and destroy you both… Understand?”
Feeling fear in Thundaga’s words, the visiting yack bowed as he replied, “Scary princess’s words are understood. Yakyakistan prince will be informed of scary princess’s threat.”
Thundaga gave the yak an angry look as she corrected him, “Warning… and yes, you will inform him. Now if you have no further business, you are free to leave.”
The Yack rose from his bow, “Scary Princess… Yakyakistan prince still has one more matter to discuss.”
Thundaga replied, “and that is?...”
The Yack felt nervous as he replied, “Yakyakistan prince is curious of scary princess’s reply to Yakyakistan prince’s proposal.”
Thundaga sighed, “Fine… then let me inform you of the many problems with the proposal. One, Yakyakistan prince has yet to see scary princess’s face, so a proposal is rushing things way too fast. Two, Yakyakistan prince is only concerned for the security that my wedding him could bring so scary princess will not wed for such medial reasons. And finally… Yakyakistan prince must realize that scary princess was betrothed once, but due to the tragedy of the following events, scary princess will never again love one who will not live as long as she… so I’d suggest that Yakyakistan prince should just drop it and find some other princess that he could use for his own safety. Now if you will excuse me, scary princess has had enough… so leave.”
Taking the hint, the Yakyakistan delegate bowed in respect as he turned and left the throne room with nothing more to say. After the delegate was gone, Commander Mist entered the throne room as he spoke, “Your majesty… I came to give you the daily repo…”
Thundaga raised her hoof to silence him as she began rubbing her head, “Not now commander, scary prin… I mean, I have had a long morning and I don’t want to hear any bad news just yet… so unless you have good news, then I would suggest you leave.”
The commander replied, “But I do have good news your majesty we’ve just confirmed the location that General Rich is hiding in. and to our luck, he is alone and unprotected.”
Thundaga replied with a slight smile, “Good… monitor him until dusk, then move in and take him down. Preferably alive… but if he fights back, do what needs to be done.”
The commander was confused, “Dusk? But your majesty, we have him where we need him. We should take this opportunity to…”
“Avoid unnecessary attention! If anypony were to see a group of my soldiers storm a home, then it would only result in chaos. Rebellion supporters would talk amongst themselves. Soon the story of one pony’s capture will change to a group of ponies, while a squad of soldiers would turn into an army from the erosion of a rumor chain. It would only incite rebellion amongst the citizens, while bringing an inevitable war to us before we’ve had time to mark down their numbers. You forget… we are still facing an enemy, and since they wear no uniform, they are even more dangerous than they seem.”
Hearing the logic in Thundaga’s interruption, Commander Mist nodded his head, “of course… but… why dusk? Why that particular time?”
Thundaga smiled, “haven’t you ever heard the saying? It’s always darkest before dawn?... well the same can be said about dusk.”
The commander bowed as he replied, “of course your majesty, I should have known.”
Thundaga sighed, “Yes… you should. So… now that my headache has subsided, I wish to discuss another matter with you… do you know what it is?”
Feeling nervous, the commander sighed, “Yes your majesty… I would assume it to be the museum robbery.”
Thundaga nodded her head, “Your assumption is correct, what news do you have on that?”
The commander replied, “We haven’t found any leads… but we did find magic residue on the crime scene. The Rebellion is claiming credit for the theft, but we believe it’s a ploy to gain fame amongst their supporters.”
Thundaga wasn’t amused as she replied, “Okay… then who was it? If you would have to place somepony on the crime scene… who would it be?”
The commander shrugged his shoulders, “I… honestly don’t know your majesty, could be a third party crook looking for a quick bit, a crazed historian looking to keep them for himself… or… It could be Zine.”
Thundaga gave the commander a slightly amused stare, “you still worry about my trust in Zine don’t you commander?”
Commander Mist nodded his head, “Yes your majesty, that zebra and his willingness to toy with forbidden magic… I don’t trust him… and my suggestion would be to imprison him before he decided to do something that could really cause problems.”
Thundaga smiled as she replied, “Commander… do you know why I trust him?”
Commander Mist nodded his head, “Because he is a descendant of your teacher.”
“Close… actually I trust him merely because he can’t be trusted. Zine has powers that I and no other unicorn or alicorn could ever comprehend, and it’s this reason that I keep him around. He is willing to step across a line that even I wouldn’t dare to cross. And that kind of unpredictability make him a valuable ally.”
Commander hesitated before replying, “Or a dangerous foe.”
Thundaga nodded her head, “true… to assume he will always be loyal can be a bit naive… but remember, he owes me his life. So by his honor as a zebra, he would never do anything to risk mine.”
Commander Mist nodded his head, “But your majesty, he has no honor as a zebra. He destroyed that long before we ever met him.”
Thundaga replied with a confident smiled, “Perhaps… but then perhaps not. All I know is that he told me himself that he doesn’t want to kill anypony, nor rule over anypony by force. So I know for a fact that he won’t challenge my throne. Just as I expect he wouldn’t do anything to spread a plague to harm my subjects without first harming his conscience.”
Commander Mist shook his head, “Your majesty, nothing you’ve said make sense considering everything he has done thus far. Right now I have three soldiers in an insane asylum because of his magic. They were good trustworthy ponies, but now, they scream at the mere mention of a zebra. You see that and still assume him to be harmless?”
Thundaga, nodded her head, “in an effort to save his own life? yes. You would be a fool to assume a pony cornered won’t fight back when threatened.”
Commander Mist sighed with hopelessness, “I still don’t trust him… I just don’t see how you can.”
Thundaga stood from her throne, “it’s not your place to trust anypony… it’s your place to follow orders. Or have you forgotten where you stand?”
Feeling he had stepped over the line, Commander Mist bowed, “my apologies your majesty… I was just voicing my opinion.”
Thundaga sat back down, “then think before you speak… now, unless you find evidence, I don’t want you accusing anypony or zebra of this crime until the evidence speaks otherwise. Understood?”
Commander Mist rose from his bow as he replied, “yes your majesty. I understand.”
Thundaga nodded her head, “good… now go… it would appear my headache has returned and I wish to retire for some rest.”
With that Thundaga stood from her throne and trotted passed her commander as she and two of her personal guards left the throne room and entered the corridor. When she was gone a guard who had been present for the meeting approached the commander and asked, “Commander, what are your orders?”
The commander sighed, “Gather my strongest soldiers in the barracks. They will need to be briefed for when we decide to take down General Rich. Then continue investigating the museum robbery, I need some leads on where those weapons went.”
The guard nodded his head, “Yes commander.”
With that the two also left the throne room as they each saw to the orders they were given.
Back in Ponyville Cirrus sat in a Weather Pegasus recruiting office as he sighed, “are you serious?... isn’t there something you can do?”
The recruiter shook his head, “sorry, but with the summer months beginning there just isn’t any need for weather pegasi. I can put you on an emergency response listing, but that’s about all I can do. I’m afraid there isn’t much rain scheduled for this summer, I’m sorry.”
Cirrus asked, “Well… is there anything at another recruiting office? Canterlot? Cloudsdale? Anywhere?”
The recruiter shook his head, “Sorry, but this is Equestria wide, there is just no demand for weather pegasi during summer months. You might be able to try the Griffin Republic, but then again I hear it’s hard for Equestrian Ponies to get hired there.”
Cirrus looked down in disappointment as he mumbled to himself, “Great… now what?...”
Seeing the disappointment in Cirrus’s face, the recruiter sighed, “look colt, I know you worked with Mr. Toll and he is a well-respected pony around here… so I’ll tell you what, I’ll add you to the very top of the emergency response list. It isn’t full time but if a storm grows too strong to manage or a hurricane tried to move inland we will call you. So give me your contact address and I’ll add you to the record.”
Cirrus hesitated, “an address?”
The recruiter nodded, “yes, so we can find you when we need you.”
Cirrus shook his head, “I… don’t have one yet. Actually I just recently became homeless.”
The recruiter sighed in disappointment, “I’m sorry to hear that… but I’m afraid I can’t add you unless you have a place of residence. When you get one, feel free to come back and I’ll help you then.”
Cirrus sighed in disappointment, “thanks… I’ll probably do that…”
with that said, Cirrus turned around and left the room with an unhappy look on his face. As soon as he was outside the building Cirrus leaned against the wall and mumbled to himself, “Well that was a waste of time… now what?”
While trying to think of an answer to his own question, an unexpected voice came from a cloaked figure that approached him, “rough day?...”
Cirrus looked up to see Zine standing over him as the surprised pegasus replied, “I… um… yea.”
Zine nodded his head as he sat down, “hmm, well that’s disappointing to hear.” He reached into his cloak and pulled out an apple, “Here… you look hungry. Take this.”
With that, Zine tossed the apple at Cirrus as he caught it and replied, “oh… um… th-thanks…”
With that Zine watched Cirrus intently as if he were saying; go ahead and eat it. Seeing the body language, Cirrus went ahead and took a bit of the apple as Zine spoke, “I’ve seen you before, you’re the pony who works at the orphanage at the edge of town.”
Cirrus nodded his head as he replied, “y-yea… that’s me.”
Zine smiled, “you must be very likable. It seems like those orphans can’t get enough of you.”
Once again Cirrus answers with a brief reply, “yea… I guess so.”
Zine continues, “then again it’s the quiet ones that are likable. You don’t seem to talk much do you?”
Trying not to offend him, Cirrus replied, “well… I don’t talk much… when I don’t have much to say.”
Zine thought to himself as he replied, “well it’s been about a minute… how do you feel?”
Cirrus was confused, “um… fine I guess… wait… a minute since when?”
Zine sighed with relief, “Good, I was worried I mixed my poisoned apples with my normal ones… well look like today’s your lucky day.”
Cirrus was shocked, “YOU WHAT!!!”
Zine shook his hoof, “Calm down… you’ll be fine. Even if you did eat one my tainted apples it would have only killed you for a few minutes. Tomorrow you would have woken with no harm done… assuming you weren’t buried in a grave before then.”
Cirrus stood in anger, “That’s not the point! The fact is that you could have killed me!”
Zine smiled in a joking manner, “well I guess that answers the question on my mind then.”
“Question? What Question!”
Zine replied calmly, “when I saw you a second ago… it looked like you had given up on hope… that you were considering suicide or something. I merely told you that because I wanted to see if you had anything to live for? I assume you do if the thought of dying made you that angry.”
Not expecting the unorthodox experiment, Cirrus replied, “r-really?... I looked that bad?”
Zine nodded his head, “that you did… but the question remains… what’s wrong that would make you look or feel that way?”
Feeling boxed in, Cirrus sighed as he replied, “Today… the orphanage closed down, and now I don’t know what to do. I tried to become a weather pegasus but right now they aren’t hiring and I don’t even have any place to go.”
Zine nodded his head as he replied, “why not help me?”
Cirrus gave him a funny look, “you?”
Zine nodded his head, “sure. I need an assistant to help with my spells and I think you would be perfect for the position. I can even pay you and give you a place to stay.”
Cirrus didn’t like the idea as he replied, “thanks… but no thanks. I’m not very smart when it comes to magic… then there are the rumors I hear about you. From my understanding, you work for Thundaga and enjoy toying with dark magic. Not to offend you, but I don’t want anything to do with that sort of thing.”
Zine smiled, “so… you’re turning down my offer for a permanent job?”
Cirrus nodded his head, “Yea… thanks… but no thanks.”
Zine’s smile turned sinister, “ok I guess it will just be for the week then.”
Cirrus was confused, “a… week?”
Zine smiled, “yes… a week. That should be enough to pay off your debt.”
Now Cirrus was really confused as he replied, “Debt?... but I don’t owe you anything?”
Zine nodded his head as he replied, “you sure… I believe you just took an apple from me didn’t you?”
“Well… yea but that’s not…”
Zine interrupted with a smug attitude, “At the usual rate, an apple would be worth about five bits…so doing about five bits worth of work should be enough to pay me back… after all I didn’t say the apple was free… then in my eyes five bits worth of work would be about a day and a half. However, since you don’t have a place to stay, I’ll let you stay at my house which I would usually charge a random pony three bits for… then I’ll happily share whatever meal I eat for one bit per day, leaving your daily earning as my apprentice to one bit a day. Meaning to pay me back for the apple, you’ll have to work for me about a week.”
Cirrus was shocked as he tried to argue, “W-wait… You can’t do that!... and even then… that math would only mean I’d have to work five days not a whole week!”
Zine kept his sinister smile as he replied, “oh?... did I mention I won’t make you work weekends or charge you for staying through them?... by my math that would make our debt settled by this time next week.”
Cirrus Still tried fighting it, “Y-you can’t do this!... I… what if I have something to say about it?”
Zine nodded his head as he gestured down the road, “Well, if you intend on ditching me when you clearly owe me money… then we can bring the royal guard into it.”
Cirrus looked down the road at a patrolling royal guard as he thought he was beat, “alright… I guess…” he remembered something, “Wait a sec… I can pay you back here I have this bag full of bits!”
Pulling the bag that Mr. Toll gave him earlier, Cirrus reached in and pulled out a Gold coin, “Here… I know this is worth fifty bits… but keep the change.”
Zine shook his head, “No can do… then I would owe you money… and I won’t stand for that.”
Trying to find smaller valued coins in the bag, Cirrus shuffled them around, “Well there has to be some single bits in here somewhere…”
After finding only gold coins in the bag Cirrus spoke, “Well… I don’t mind a debt…just take this and consider us even…”
Zine shook his head, “it’s unhealthy to burden you in such a way… I just won’t have it.”
Trying to push the coin onto him Cirrus replied while cringing his teeth angrily, “Its fine… Just take it…”
Zine shook his head, “No can do… it would be a law, that all debts be paid… and I won’t have myself owing you anything… although…”
Cirrus felt hopeful, “Although?...”
Zine smiled sinisterly again as he replied, “you know… if you help me with just one spell… then I’ll be happy to give you free room and board for the time and, call it all even.”
Cirrus gave him a sceptic look, “One spell… can I ask what it is?”
Zine nodded his head, “Sure… there is a relic in the Everfree forest that I want you to recover for me… it shouldn’t be hard since I know exactly where it is and I can even show you. We will need to speak with my guide first so that he can provide us with the best route… but in all, I may take one to two days topes. Assuming we start first thing in the morning.”
Cirrus replied with an uneasy tone, “A relic…”
Zine shrugged his shoulders, “yep… just a relic, and nothing more.”
“If you know where it is and you’re going to show me… then why don’t you get it yourself?”
Zine smiled, “Because it resides on holy ground. If a zebra who practices the dark arts like myself were to ever step onto the ground, it would turn me to dust. You however should be fine since you can’t use magic… and to make it better, you’re a pegasus so chances of you getting hurt are practically zero.”
Cirrus still didn’t trust the offer, “And that’s all you want… then we’d be even?”
Zine nodded his head, “Yes… as a zebra I give you my word. All you have to do is help me with this one thing and we’ll be even.”
Feeling like it was the quickest way out of the mess, Cirrus sighed, “Alright… I’ll do it.”
Zine smiled as he extended his hoof, “Excellent… here, bro-hoof to seal the deal.”
Cirrus stepped closer as he reached out add bro-hoofed him, “alright… the deal is set… no backing down on me.”
Zine replied as he turned to trot away from the area, “I wouldn’t dream of it… by the way, my name is Zine… as you well know, I’m the evil enchanter of the Everfree Forest. Nice to meet you Mr.?”
Cirrus felt confused that Zine introduced himself as evil but he only shrugged it off as he replied, “Cirrus Cloud. Nice to meet you… even if your first impression was a fake poison apple.”
As the two turned and began trotting down the road, Zine replied with an unsure response, “Sure… fake… whatever you say.”
Cirrus paused, “wait… you mean that story about testing the apple was true!”
Zine gave an uneasy smile, “Well… yea… but luckily it wasn’t… so… yay for that…”
Cirrus yelled, “You could have killed me!”
Zine sighed, “Oh calm down like I said before… it would only be for a few days.”
“Days! You said hours earlier!”
Zine shrugged his shoulders “Hours, days… months… what’s the difference?”
“MONTHS NOW!?!”
Zine sighed, “Are you going to cry like this the entire time? If so at least let me know now.”
And with that the bickering two continued on the road out of Ponyville and into the Everfree forest with almost no silence amongst their argument.
Later that evening at the orphanage, Mr. Toll sat in his office chair as he looked at a photo of him and Cirrus when Cirrus first arrived there. As he looked at the smiling faces, he could only smiled himself as he mumbled, “well… this is the last of it.”
With that, Mr., Toll looked at a small metal trash can that had burning files in it as he tossed the photo in and mixed it into the flames until both ponies in the picture where unrecognizable. With the last shred of paper in the office burning, Mr. Toll smiled, “There… now they will all be safe.”
With that, Mr. Toll left the window vented room, as he trotted through the hall and stopped at the opening that lead to the bay that the orphans used to sleep in. looking into the room that now had empty beds, Mr. Toll smiled peacefully, “I really am going to miss those days… but I can’t stop what comes ne…”
All of a sudden Mr. Toll was interrupted as somepony began banging on the front door, at first, it sounded like a hard knock but then with each continues bang, it began getting louder and louder until it resembled a sound as if the pony on the other side was trying to kick it in. Knowing what was going on, Mr. Toll trotted back to his office and went behind his desk. Once he was there, Mr. Toll pushed his desk back a little bit until he revealed a loose floorboard underneath it. Once the board was exposed, Mr. Toll pulled the board up and pulled out a long case that was hidden in the floor. With the case now accessible, Mr. Toll opened the case to reveal a long fencing sword with faded markings painted on the sheath. With that, Mr. Toll Drew the thin blade and looked it over as he mumbled, “So this is what it’s come to…”
Sheathing the sword, Mr. Toll strapped the sword to his side as he stood up and began trotting towards the door, however after passing the burning trashcan, the clever earth pony reached up and kicked it over with one of his hind legs as the can fell over spreading its burning embers onto the flammable carpet below it.
With the office catching fire behind him, Mr. Toll left the room and trotted into the hall, at about the time that the front door at the end of the hall flew open and Commander Mist and a number of royal guards calmly entered. Seeing their target at the other side of the hall Commander Mist spoke, “General Rich! By order of Thundaga you are under arrest for treason! If you come quietly then we can promise a dignified execution… but, if you want… then you can die here!”
Seeing his options Mr. Toll drew the fencing sword and held it at the ready as he replied, “My name is Arthur Rich! My ancestor Captain Frances Snow held this sword fifteen hundred years ago against incredible odds. It would do my family proud to die with it in my hooves. So… all I can say… is this…” He readied his stance, “ON YOUR GUARD!!!”
With that the courageous earth pony charged forward, wielding his family sword as if he were on a massive battlefield, knowing full and well, that this would be his last fight.