//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Haunting of the Past // Story: Equestria Wars Episode XV: Knights of Zero // by sonicdash123 //------------------------------// Charming Thunder paid a visit to the lab where the scientists did heir research on the probes in the bloodstream. One of the scientists noticed him and approached him. "Glad you came," the scientist greeted. "I have made a discovery on who might have the probes in their blood." "Who has them?" Charming Thunder said. The scientist pressed a button on the terminal and revealed the images of the victims of the probes. He was shocked to see the images of the ponies he knows. "I know it may sound crazy, but hear me out. Sunset and Twilight had them during your battle with them while Rainbow, and Applejack were infected while they were in their nightmare form back on the Dark Forge. And don't worry they are currently not active." Charming Thunder sighed with relief. "What must I do? I don't want them to panic." "Tell them that they have them just as you do." "I believe I can't tell them I have the probes. Not yet." "If you say so, your highness. In the meantime, we already started to make the cure for you and the others." "Very good. Let me know if it's ready and have them sent to me." --------------------- Charming Thunder was roaming around the Ponyville's Castle, waiting and admiring any arts he can find. As he entered another room, he sees a pony in a wheelchair, tied up and had a bag over his head. He rushed over and in front of the pony and took off the bag, only to see the face of his long lost daughter; Light Sparkle. "Light?" he gasped in horror. "I thought you were dead..." Light seemed to have ignored him and he was about to let her go, but the lights in the room went all black and Charming Thunder backed off, grabbing his lightsaber and ready it for anything. That was when Cyber walked in the light that surrounded Light Sparkle. She heard Cyber's footsteps as he approached from behind Light. "Father?" Light asked with some hope. "Is that you?" "Charming is not coming to save you, Light," Cyber said. "He'll come." "It's been six months now, Light. I think it's time to face facts!" "Screw you!!" "That's the spirit! You're a real chip of the ol' Thunder block. Not that it'll do you any good." Cyber looked down to the ground, shaking his head with disappointment. "Why don't you just kill me?" "What? No, no, no, no! I'm not going to kill you, not yet anyway. You're my sidekick now. Imagine it; you and me, out in the world, starting wars, destroying the weak empires, a regular father and daughter duo." Cyber pulled out a picture. "Just like Charming and that new daughter of his." "No he wouldn't..." "You think?" Cyber showed Light the picture. "So this isn't Charming then? Weird." He pulls away from Light and looks at the picture. "The Triforce Symbol is usually a dead giveaway." "No!" Light shouted in denial and began to cry, tears dropping from her eyes. "I didn't want to show you that photo, really I didn't. But it was the only way for you to get closure." Cyber began to walk in front of Light as Charming Thunder noticed him holding a crowbar. "Now I know it hurts but sometimes you have got to be cruel to be kind." He hits Light's chest with the crowbar, making her wheelchair go heading into the darkness. Cyber following her into the darkness as well. The darkness fades as Charming Thunder sees Twilight approaching him. "Are you ok?" Twilight asked with worry, seeing the shock and pain on Charming Thunder's face. "I'm fine," Charming Thunder replied, putting up a calm look. "I was just thinking about something..." --------------------- Charming Thunder was walking to his room, trying to think about what he had bare witness. He then sees something hanging with a red blanket around it. He gets in front of it and takes it off, revealing Light Sparkle, hanging. Once again, the lights all around begin to turn black and Charming Thunder backed off. "What do we have here, then?" Cyber asked from nowhere. Cyber appeared behind the hanging Light and begins to observe the Sparkle child, he was holding some sort of black piece of metal that had a smoking red hot letter of "C" at the end. "Wakey, wakey." Light began to wake up and was struggling. "What's wrong? Do you think I'm going to hurt you? Why? I'm not the bad one here. Oh, no, no, no, no. It's Charming. He's abandoned you. He threw you away like an unwanted puppy." His head jerks to the left as Charming Thunder noticed his cybernetic eye turns dark blue and now mimics his voice. "Can I have her, Twilight? Oh please, please, please, please, please. I'll take real good care for her." Cyber jerks his head to the right and his cybernetic eye turned purple and now mimics Twilight's voice. "Anything to make you happy, honey. Just make sure ponies know that she's yours' now." Cyber's cybernetic eye flickered and the cable holding Light releases her and rolled away. Cyber jerked his head back to the left. "No, we don't Twilight. I want to keep her forever." He then jerked his head forward, his cybernetic eye changing back to dark purple. "No!" Light shouted. "No please! Please no!" Cyber jumped into the darkness after Light and there was a sound of something hissing in the darkness. "NO!!" Light screamed in the darkness, much made Charming Thunder fall to the ground with tears running down his eyes, this was getting too much for him to bear as he heard Cyber chuckle darkly at the screams. Light's screams, Cyber's chuckling, and the darkness in the room fades as he heard walking nearby and looks with his red teary eyes, seeing Twilight gasp and running up to him. "Are you sure you are alright?" Twilight asked with worry. "You look spooked." "I'm fine, Lig- Twilight," Charming Thunder said, trying to get rid of the tears of sadness and getting up. "No. You're not fine. I'm taking you to the Princesses. I need to know what is going on." Charming Thunder tried to get away but Twilight kept him close and was dragging him. --------------------- "I'm telling you," Charming Thunder said as he stood in the Canterlot castle throne room. "I'm completely fine. I just had a long day." "He is not, Celestia," Twilight said. "He's just lying to you." Charming Thunder then began to have a hedache and got to his knees with one hoof to his head. "He's been acting strange after the attack on Cloud City." "It must be the toxin," Luna said. "It must be driving him mad or something." "No," Charming Thunder said. "No. No no no no no. It is not the toxin. It was just the beginning for these probes." "What probes?" Celestia asked. "It's-it's in my blood. Including Twilight, Sunset, Applejack, all those who were controlled by Cyber." Charming Thunder felt more pain go to his head as Cadence rushed to his aid. He then began to chuckle and looked up to the princesses. The pain wore off as Celestia approached him. "You're right, Twilight. Whatever Cyber did to him, it's making him go insane like Cyber himself. Charming, we need you to go to a cell for your own safety." Cyber appeared next to Celestia. "Nice move, Tia," Cyber said. "Your turn, Charmy." Charming Thunder slowly got up as guards entered the room. "We need to cure him fast." "Even I don't know which side to root for now." "I'm sorry, brother," Cadence said. "But it's for your own good." Charming Thunder gritted his teeth as he looked up to the princesses and got grabbed by the guards. "I changed my mind. Kill, kill. Kill them both." Charming Thunder's left eye changed from blue to dark purple which shocked the princesses. "Your eye," Twilight said with shock. "It's just like Cyber. Put him in a containment cell." "Yes, your highness," the guard said as the guards dragged Charming Thunder out of the throne room. --------------------- Charming Thunder sat inside a magical sealed containment cell, looking down when he heard tapping at the door. He looks up to see Cyber staring at him with a smirk. "Don't worry about Lucina, Charming." Cyber said. "I'm sure she won't die. Well, fairly certain, anyway..." Cyber looked behind him and sees something. He smiles and turns back to Charming Thunder. "He-Hey! I never got to finish my story about Light Sparkle, did I?" Cyber moves out of the way, revealing Light strapped to a chair. The door to the containment cell opens, for some off reason why Cyber pushed the button. Charming Thunder approached the scene in front of him. He stayed a short of distance away and the camera that was a few feet away from Light turned on, some screens appeared behind the camera appeared, revealing Light's face and a burned mark of a "C" underneath Light's left eye. Cyber approached the camera from behind and aimed it at Light. "Have you got something to tell the nice stallion, Light?" "My name is Light Sparkle," Light replied. "Who do you hate?" "Charming Thunder." "Excellent!" Cyber stated, the camera zooming out of the image in front of Light and Cyber enters the camera's view "Of course you do." More screens appeared, surrounding Charming and the scene in front of him and Cyber put his face in front of the camera "Did you get that, Charming? Kid's not yours' anymore. He's mine. Mine, mine, mine. To do with as I wish." Cyber looked at Light and began to approach her "Hey, I never asked. What's the big secret? What is the secret battle plan that Charming and his group plan to attack the Dark Forge? The plan, tell me!" Cyber was now standing halfway between the camera and Light, to the screens he just beside Light. "Of course, sir. Their plan is-" Light started to talk before Cyber pulled out his arm cannon and aimed it at Light, firing it at her and it hit her, killing her in an instant. "Never could stand a telltale. That's why I work alone." Cyber went to the camera and picked it up to show the dead body of Light Sparkle "No one to spoil the plot." Cyber put his face in front of the camera, he held a grin "You should try it sometimes. After all, you've seen what happens when you drag your friends and family into this crazy little game of ours'."