//------------------------------//
// Ch3 The Evil Enchanter 
// Story: The Third Commander 
// by Priceless911 
//------------------------------//


The young colt sat on the ground as he used crayons to draw something on a piece of paper. As he drew, the colt’s father approached as he looked at the paper and spoke, “That look pretty good. Who are those ponies son?”
The colt looked at his father and replied, “It’s Commander Bolt and the heroes of Eden’s Kiss. See this is them before they began their journey across the land to fight the dark alicorn.”
The father smiled as he replied, “Oh I see it now, there is Commander Bolt, Princess Twilight, the pony of honesty, loyalty, and… who are those other ponies again?”
The colt smiled as he replied, “it’s the pony of generosity, the captain of the Wonderbolts, and that is the griffin Commander Gilda.”

Playing dumb the stallion smiled, “Oh that’s right… silly me I almost forgot.”
At that moment, a mare entered the room and gestured to her husband, “Dear?...”
Nodding his head, the Father stood up and trotted to his wife as they he spoke quietly to one another, “so… how did the meeting go?”
The mare smiled, “The mayor of Trottingham, Manehatten, and Las Pegasus have joined the cause. However, the Cloudsdale representative was acting a bit strange tonight. So I kept most of the information short.”
The Stallion nodded his head, “Good, if he was compromised then we don’t want him to know where the hideout is. How about Mr. Rich? Is he getting settled?”
The mare nodded her head, “He is, but I’m sure it’s hard since his fortune was ceased by Thundaga. He is getting used to his new name and job though.”

The stallion smiled, “good, he’s helped us out many times before, so doing what we can to help him is the least we can d…”
All of a sudden there was a very violent knock at the door that ended the two’s conversation. As he heard the knock, the colt stood up, “I’ll get it!”
As the colt rushed to the front door, the father called, “Cirrus! DON’T!”
Before the colt could hear what his fathers warning, he had already turned the door knob enough to open it, as the door was kicked in with enough force to hit and toss the colt a few feet away from it. As the door flew open, a large number of royal guards rushed in as they each grabbed the father, the mother and their son and pinned them all against the wall as the commander entered the room and gave his order, “Search the house! Arrest anypony you see! As for them take them to the living room and put them in chains! Thundaga will speak with them shortly.”

The Royal Guards that hade the three pinned to the chained them up and tossed them into the family room as the rest of the guards started searching the house for accomplices. When the three released, Cirrus rushed to his mother as he asked, “Mommy?... what’s happening?”
The mother replied, “Just stay calm Cirrus and let us do the talking.”
A few second later the commander called to his soldiers, “Soldiers! Royalty on the floor! ATTEN-TION!!!”
With that, all the soldiers stood at attention as Thundaga entered the house and approached her Commander, “Commander Mage, did you search the house?”
The commander saluted as he replied, “In progress your majesty. We gathered the owners in the living room.”

Thundaga looked into the room as she replied, “Good… maintain security and apprehend anypony who tries to escape.”
The commander nodded his head as he replied, “Yes your majesty.”
With that Thundaga turned to the living room and entered to see the small family in the center of the room as she spoke, “The sight of this home leads me to believe that poverty isn’t the reason for the rumors… so… it must be something more.” She pointed at the father, “You… are you not the head of this household?... stand and introduce yourself.”
At first the wife was nervous, but when her husband gestured that everything was going to be fine, he stood as he spoke, “My name is Stratus Cloud…”
Thundaga gave him an unamused look as she replied, “I see… so tell me, Mr. Cloud… I have heard some rather distraught rumors about this town… more specifically… the organization you run in this town… or should I refer to you by the title this organization has granted you… General Cloud?”

Knowing that he was found out, Stratus replied, “Whichever you see fit is fine your majesty… however, what you have heard is true… I have founded an organization… and the goal of this organization, or Rebellion as I would rather call it… is to remove you from the throne.”
Seeing the stallion speak without hesitation or worry surprised Thundaga as she replied, “Very bold words… though they remain to be only words. And the point of those words is clearly a confession, so there is no need to take them to trial. But I would be disgracing my father’s gift if I were to deny you mercy. So here it is… Announce the dispersion of this rebellion and retire your title immediately. If you do this… then I will not only forgive you of this crime, I will leave you and your family unpunished for this and any other crimes that may be attached for this act of treason, and trust me… this is the best offer I can allow you. So… will you bow to me and accept my generosity?”

Stratus didn’t reply, instead he proudly stood his ground and held his head high as Thundaga sighed, “Very well… then I’m left with no choice…” She turned her head and looked at her soldiers, “Commander, take all three of them into custody. In the morning all three of them will be executed for high treason.”
With that, Thundaga started to turn and leave as Stratus stepped forward, “Your majesty… I understand and accept my punishment… but I beg you… Spare my family. They only did what I told them to. In actuality they had nothing to do with this.”
Thundaga looked back at him as she replied, “Silence… Though your willingness to take full blame is admirable… it will not excuse them of their crime. However… your plea hasn’t fallen on deaf ears, so I will do this. You and your wife will be the ones taken in for treason. Your son however seems too young to understand what treason is, let alone face its punishment. Therefore… he will be spared.”

Thundaga looked back at her soldiers and spoke, “Commander, Take the colt to the nearest orphanage and see to it that he is filed as an orphan of war. Captain Mist, take the mother and father into custody and give them anything requested for tonight’s meal… it will be their last.”
With that said, Thundaga turned to leave the room as everything slowly became blurry as Cirrus woke up and ended the dream disguised memory. When he awoke, Cirrus sat up in the blanket made pallet on the floor. When Cirrus looked around he started to mumble to himself, “Where am I?... oh that’s right, I’m being blackmailed by a lunatic.”
All of a sudden a voice replied, “Lunatic is a strong word… I like to think of him more as a crazed opportunist.”

Hearing the voice clearly, Cirrus looked across the room at the meditating Zebra on the other side. When he saw him, Cirrus felt confused as he looked at Zine and spoke, “Did you just?...”
The voice replied again from the window on the other side of Zine, “sorry, I’m out here… I’d come inside, but it’d be better if I didn’t… as for Zine don’t take everything he says too harshly. Sure he is eccentric, untrustworthy, egotistical, shifty, a little crazy, immature, self-centered, stubborn… wait… where was I going with this… I think I had a point.”
Though he felt odd doing it, Cirrus replied to the window, “I think there was supposed to be a But in there somewhere.”

The voice regained its train of thought as he replied, “oh… But… he is the only friend I have… and, if there is one thing I learned from my past… is to always stick by your friends. No matter how crazy they seem. And trust me, I’ve had some crazy friends.”
Feeling curious as to what kind of friend Zine would have, Cirrus asked, “Who are you?”
The voice replied, “Oh… my name is Spike… although it might be better to introduce myself if you came out here to see me. Like I said… I wouldn’t fit in there very well.”
Feeling both curious and cautious, Cirrus trotted to the front door as he opened it, steps outside and made his way around the hut. But when he finally saw this friend that he was talking to, he could only stand in shock as he looked at the large dragon that stood barley hidden behind the already large hut.

As he stared shockingly at Spike, Cirrus remained silent as Spike sighed, “Alright… let it out. Scream or do whatever you need to. I’m used to it.”
Cirrus realized his silence as he spoke, “Y-you’re… um… a dragon.”
Spike nodded his head, “Yea… I’m fully aware of that.”
Cirrus shook his head, “I… sorry… but… I thought there were no dragons in Equestria?”
Spike nodded his head, “well other than me… yes, there are no other dragons in the kingdom anymore.”
“But… I thought… all of them left…”
Spike shrugged his shoulders, “well… when they did… I couldn’t. I have too many memories of this place to just abandon it like the other dragons… but, I also didn’t want to be known as the only dragon left. So to save myself the headache, I just kept myself hidden from everypony.”

Understanding it Cirrus just replied, “So… where did the dragons go?”
Spike replied, “Beats me… I don’t really know their migration route, and now that they don’t migrate through Equestria anymore, they just move on to the next place in line.”
Cirrus nodded his head, “So… for the past two centuries you’ve been here?... How did you keep yourself hidden?”
Spike shrugged his shoulders as if it were no big deal, “I found a few abandoned gem mines to keep me fed, while at the same time, I stay in the Everfree Forest or Dragon Mountain where most ponies are too afraid to go.”
Cirrus though he figured it out, “Oh, so you’re the mare of the mountain that everypony is talking about.”
Spike shook his head, “Well actua…”

Before he could finish, Spike was interrupted as Zine exited the hut and spoke, “Oh… I see you two have already met. Why don’t I introduce you? Spike, this is Cirrus Cloud, he will be my temporary assistant until we complete my next spell and collect the relic.”
Spike gave Zine a curious look, “Relic? What relic?”
Zine replied “the same one I'll need to finish the spell that I’ve been planning for the past few days. I'll need to make some preparation potions first though. Luckily Cirrus here graciously volunteered to help me out.”
Cirrus rolled his eyes, “yea… volunteered. Blackmailed is more like it.”
Zine thought to himself, “blackmail?… I thought it was more extortion than anything… well either way it gets me what I want.”

Cirrus gave Zine an angry look as he replied, “What?... what’s that supposed to mean?”
Zine shrugged his shoulders, “I dono-hey Spike, I was wondering if you knew where the lost grounds are located? I'll need to know since that is where the relic is hidden.”
Cirrus was annoyed, “Don’t try to change the subject, why is it that you need to do this spell anyways?”
Both the zebra and dragon ignored Cirrus as Spike replied, “You mean the Thunder Grounds?... sure you have to go a few miles past the old castle ruins in the forbidden side of the forest.”
Cirrus tried to stay on topic as he continued, “No seriously wha… wait…” he looked at Spike “Did you say Thunder Grounds?”

Both Zine and Spike looked at Cirrus as the pegasus shook his head and laughed, “Oh… I get it… this is one of your jokes isn’t it?... it’s funny I’ll give you that.”
Zine gave Cirrus a curious look, “Joke… I like jokes… but I fail to see the punchline this one?”
Cirrus looked at Zine as he replied, “Now you, I should expect joking from… but pulling Spike in on it? That’s a good touch.”
Spike and Zine looked at each other as Spike replied, “um… I’m not in on anything… what’s so funny about the Thunder Grounds?”
Cirrus replied, “Well it’s a made up place, of course it’s funny. I mean why would anypony want to go to a place that doesn’t exist?”

Zine and Spike gave each other another hopeless look as they looked back at Cirrus with Zine replying, “Tell me… what do you know of the Thunder Grounds?”
Cirrus replied, “It’s a made up place in all those ponytales about Commander Bolt. You know, those stories about the legendary pony who miraculously saved the world from a terrible disaster. It’s nothing but a story for little foals.”
Spike started to speak, “Actually it…”
Zine held up his hoof to silence Spike as he replied, “made up… sure… I can see that you’re the skeptic type. I honestly didn’t expect that from somepony who is good with foals. But I suppose you have a right to believe in anything you want. Nevertheless I need to go there… but first… I need help prepping a few potions for the trip. Since you’re coerced to be my assistant… I’ll need your help in gathering three pails of water, and a bit of firewood for my caldron.”

Cirrus gave Zine a confused look, “wait… you’re serious?”
Zine nodded his head, “for once… yes I am. Tell you what, if this place is as fake as you say, then when we get there you can call the whole thing off and you will be free to go and do… whatever it is that you pegasi do when you’re free… I guess fly around or something.”
Cirrus replied as he sighed, “fine but… you better not go back on this deal.”
Zine smiled, “and cheat you… now why would I do a thing like that.” He turned to go back inside, “Remember… firewood, and a few pails of water… and make it quick, I want to finish these potions before tonight.”

As Zine went to trot inside, Cirrus noticed for the first time the branded X that was burned into his skin over his cutiemarks on both sides. Seeing this, Cirrus watched as Zine went back into his hut as he nudged Spike and asked, “Hey Spike… what happened to Zine’s cutiemark?”
Spike replied, “you mean his placement mark?… Don’t know… Zine doesn’t talk about his past. In fact the only ponies who would know is Thundaga and her top guards.”
Cirrus gave him a curious look, “haven’t you ever asked?”
Spike nodded his head, “yea, lots of times, but every time he dodges the question. I guess something terrible happened to him when he was little, but since it’s obvious that he doesn’t want to talk about it, I just let it go. It’s nopony’s business but his anyway. As for the fire wood, I'll help you gather it. Chances are he will ask me to light the fire with my breath regardless.”
With that the two started trotting through the forest as they went to get the items needed for Zines brew.

Deep in the center of the Canterlot Hedge Maze of the Canterlot Garden, Thundaga trotted past a large number of Statues that were all aligned in an organized fashion. As she passed each one, she looked at the faces of each pony as she remembered the ponies that each one was expertly chiseled to resemble. Finally as she approached the last statue in the line, she stood in front of it as she drew the sword on her side and held it in front of her face bowing her head slightly as was the traditional salute for fallen equestrian soldiers. As she held the blade she looked at the statue of a stallion as she spoke, “Father… if you were here… I wonder what you would do about the thieves that stole your shield… or even the rebels that threatened to start a war. I know I never knew you… but I wish I had your wisdom in this endeavor. I wish you could give me some advice on what to do about this.”
“Your majesty?”

Annoyed that she was interrupted during her prayer, Thundaga turned her head slightly enough to see Commander Mist out the corner of her eye as he approached, “I’m… sorry to interrupted, but I wanted to brief you on last night’s mission to apprehend Gene-.”
Annoyed by the interruption, Thundaga took the sword that was held in front of her face and swung it out to the side, silencing the approaching commander while at the same time revealing the cutiemark painted on the blade. When he saw this, Commander Mist slowly bowed in respect as Thundaga, spun the blade around and sheathed it before turning to the commander and speaking with an angry tone, “You better have good reason for interrupting me while I’m paying respect to the heroes of the past.”
Rising from his bow, Commander Mist replied, “My apologies your majesty… I came to give you my report on our mission to apprehend General Rich.”

Although she was still annoyed, Thundaga decided to let it go as she replied, “Then give it…”
Knowing it was alright to continue, Commander Mist looked off to the side as he cleared his throat signaling a guard at the entrance of the memorial garden. When the guard received his signal, he rushed to Commander Mist and handed him a sheathed sword as commander Mist took the sword and presented it to Thundaga as he spoke, “your majesty… may I present to you, the sword of General Rich and his family. Also known as the Sword of Captain Frances Snow the Third.”
Without a word, Thundaga used her magic to pull the fencing sword from its sheath as she brought the blade close and examined it. After a few seconds of silence, Thundaga continued to keep the sword hovering in front of her as she looked passed it and spoke, “there is blood cradled between the blade and the guard… its fresh… how many did General Rich kill?”
Commander Mist replied, “Two… and he wounded three others. Of the entire squad, I was the only one to leave unscathed.”

Thundaga continued looking passed the blade, “I assume he wasn’t captured alive then… Did he die with honor?”
Commander Mist shook his head, “for a traitor… there is no honor.”
Thundaga lowered the blade and sighed as she rephrased, “Did he die fighting?”
Commander Mist hesitated as he replied, “yes… to his last breath.”
Thundaga nodded her head, “I see… See to it that a funeral with honors is given to the soldiers who died in the fight. And see to it that General Rich is given the same.”
Commander Mist was surprised, “Your majesty? You’re going to honor a traitor?”
Thundaga sighed, “Anypony willing to fight and die for something he believes in… is one who dies with honor, and must leave this world with everypony knowing it… General Rich will be given full honors, and will maintain his title of General even on his tombstone. He’s earned it.”

Although his tone said otherwise, Commander Mist still replied, “If that’s what you say… then it must be so. Nevertheless, with General Rich gone, the rebellion should be easy to finish off.”
Thundaga shook her head, “no… when news of his death reach them, the rebellion will appoint a new general. And with him, more recruits and sympathizers. It would be wise to increase security on vital places such as the castle gates and the armories. If the rebellion reply in anger, then we better be ready.”
Commander Mist nodded his head as he replied, “understood your majesty, we will take measures to increase security at once.”
Thundaga replied as she gave him a stern look, “good… and… commander?...”
“Yes your majesty?”

At that moment, the hovering fencing sword that Thundaga was examining closely, flew across the area towards Commander Mist as the blade stopped just far enough for the tip to put a pin hole in the skin between his eyes as Thundaga gave him an enraged look, “The next time you disturb me when I’m here paying my respects to my father… it better be a matter of life and death… otherwise… it will be. Understood?”
Feeling the blood roll down and parting on both sides of his muzzle, Commander Mist held perfectly still as he replied in a hidden fear, “U-understood your majesty… please… forgive me…”
With that, Thundaga pulled the blade back just slightly as she replied nonchalantly, “Fine… you are forgiven…” the blade tilted down as she used her magic to sheath General Rich’s sword in its sheath, “Go, now see to your duties… you are dismissed.”
Shaking in fear, Commander Mist slowly wiped the blood from his face as he bowed in respect and tried to act as if the terrifying experience didn’t happen, as he left the area to follow his orders.



Back in the Everfree Forest, Cirrus was standing beside Zine who was reading a potions book as he spoke, “Next, there should be a rose in a jar over by the window.”
Cirrus looked at the jars that were aligned on the windowsill as he picked up the one with a rose inside. After retrieving the jar he brought it back to Zine who opened it and used scissors to cut a thorn from its stem. After removing the thorn, Zine placed the rose back in the jar as he tossed the thorn into the brew and continued, “Ok, next I need you to bring me the jar with the rainbow fly in it.”
Cirrus gave Zine a confused look, “A rainbow fly?”
Zine nodded his head as he pointed to the corner of the room, “yes over there, there is a cupboard of living ingredients. Look for the jar with a rainbow butterfly in it.”

Doing as he was told, Cirrus trotted to the cupboard and opened it to see a large number of jars with all types of rodents, reptiles, and insects. Searching through the jars filled with everything from spiders, to mice to lizards, Cirrus tried to understand what he was looking for until he finally saw it. Reaching in and pulling out a jar in the back Cirrus looked closely at what looked like a butterfly, but when its wings were open, the pattern on it made it resemble a rainbow. Seeing the amazing creature, Cirrus held it up and asked, “This one right?”
Zine nodded his head, “Yep… go ahead and let it out of the jar.”
Cirrus though that letting the insect free was a little redundant, but he decided that Zine knew what he was doing, so he opened the jar and waited as the beautiful butterfly flew out the opened lid and flew around the room.

Seeing the beauty of the almost mesmerizing creature, Cirrus could only smile pleasantly as the fly gracefully lowered itself to land on the table in front of Zine. As the insect landed Cirrus started to speak, “that’s amazing… I’ve never seen a…”
All of a sudden, Zine pulled a fly swatter from under the table and crushed the creature where it landed as Cirrus gave him a shocked look, “Wh-wha… W-why did you do that!?!”
Zine looked at Cirrus and shrugged his shoulders, “what?... I need its wings… why you think it would be better for me to hold the poor thing down and rip its wings off while it’s alive?... how cruel do you think I am?... well… I am that cruel, but not to creatures that don’t deserve it.”
Cirrus tried to think, “but… did you have to crush it like that?...”
Zine replied as he brushed the dead insect into his hoof and tossed it into the brew, “When you least expect it… death doesn’t seem so bad, sometimes… you can’t help but see the irony in it. But when you sit in a cage waiting for it, death seems far worse than it actually is. Consider this, my mercy. I let it go so that it believes it’s finally free… then I seal its fate when it’s content.”

Cirrus argued, “That’s even worse!!!”
Zine shrugged his shoulders, “I’ve never heard them complain.”
Cirrus replied in anger, “that’s because you killed them!”
Zine sighed, “oh well easy come, easy go.”
Cirrus gave him a hopeless look, “That analogy isn’t the proper response for this conversation!”
Zine nodded his head carelessly, “Touché…”
“You’re not even trying to continue the conversation are you… your just throwing out words to bypass the subject aren’t you.”
Zine ignored Cirrus’s words as he looked at the potions book and replied, “Sure… can you hand me that flask over there on the countertop? It’s the metal flask on the second shelf.”

Feeling that the conversation was truly leading nowhere, Cirrus sighed, “alright… sure. I’ll go get it.”
Trotting across the room, Cirrus picked up the potion and brought it back as he watched Zine pour it into the brew, “What’s that stuff do?”
Zine replied, “It’s a very special substance that can have a significant effect on our very way of life. It has the power to bring mountain to rubble, dig massive canyons, and can ensure life in all living things. It is truly a marvel of existence.”
Cirrus was intrigued, “really… what’s it called?”
Zine smiled, “water…”
Cirrus have Zine an annoyed look, “…really?...”

Zine smiled with sarcasm, “I wasn’t lying was I?”
Cirrus sighed, “You’re enjoying this aren’t you?”
“Every second.”
Cirrus rubbed his head in irritation, “Are you always this annoying?...”
Zine replied as he started mixing the ingredients with a wooden spoon, “only on Tuesdays.”
As soon as the water was mixed in, the lime green potion started glowing bright blue as Cirrus replied, “its Friday you know…”
Zine nodded his head, “I know… now can you hand me my cloak over there on the coat hanger?”
Feeling confused as to why Zine needed his cloak, Cirrus trotted to the coat hanger, grabbed the cloak and brought it to Zine as he asked, “Ok… what’s this for?”
Zine replied as he tied the cloak around his neck, “just a precaution.”
Cirrus was confused, “a precaution?... for what?”

All of a sudden, the caldron started to rumble and shake as the bubbling contents started changing from its glowing blue to a black murky color. Seeing this made a sinister smile appear on Zine’s face as smoke started rising from the contents and filled the top of the room making it resemble a storm cloud. Seeing this at first only made Cirrus curious, but then something happened to make him begin stepping backwards in fear. Thunder could be heard rumbling inside the black smoke as lightning became visible in the miniaturized storm. After seeing Cirrus’s reaction to the clouds, Zine mumble to himself, “A storm?… How ironic.”
Not hearing his comment, Cirrus looked at Zine as he asked, “Wha… what’s going on?...”
Zine replied, “This potion seeks out its victim’s greatest fear… and amplifies it. So… it’s seeing your fear and showing it to you.”

Trying to calm himself down, Cirrus asked, “This mean that it isn’t real… Right?...”
Zine shook his head and kept his sinister smile, “no… it’s as real as you and me… but that’s not what you should worry about right now.”
Cirrus looked at Zine and asked, “It’s not?”
Before Zine could reply, the center of the cloud began spiraling as if a tornado was forming, but before it could touch the ground, the spiral turned into a stream that flew to the far wall and followed the walls of the room as it flew out of control like a trapped bird trying to find a way out of the sealed cage.

Suddenly without warning, the cloud stopped flying in its path to break from the walls and flew inward heading on a collision course with Cirrus who had already made his way to the center of the room to get out of its way. As the cloud came rushing towards him, Cirrus could only do what was reflexed as he held his hoof over his face to protect his eyes. Luckily as the cloud closed the distance, Zine jumped between the two as he removed his cloak and began spinning it in front of him in a spiral fashion as the incoming clouds hit the cloak and was manipulated by the wiping fabric which compressed it enough for it to be funneled into a small potions flask that Zine held in the center of the spiraling cloak. As the cloud was funneled into the flask, lightning started shooting out in every opposite direction as Cirrus succumbed to his fear and fell to the floor holding his ears and closing his eyes in terror. However as soon as the last bit of the cloud had entered the flask, Zine crammed a cork in the end, shutting off the loud clacks and booms of the lightning as if it were controlled by a switch.

Feeling a little confused as to why the loud crashes and booms ended so suddenly Cirrus uncovered his eyes and he sat up and looked around in confusion. After doing so, Zine turned to him and showed him the flask as he smile, “That… that is what you should worry about.”
Cirrus was confused, “Wh-what was that!?!”
Zine replied as he trotted back to the potion in the caldron, “you don’t listen do you?... that is a potion that uses your fears against you… although it is forbidden since the smoke from it during its creation can be more fatal then the potion itself… then there is the trauma it tends to inflict.”
Zine began using a ladle to fill more flasks of the black potion as Cirrus trotted to him and asked, “H-how often do you make this?”
Zine replied, “The potion evaporates after seven days’ time, and I use it as my primary source of defense so about three or four times a month.”

Cirrus rubbed his head in amazement, “so… you do this four times a month?”
Zine smiled, “Actually this is my second time facing the danger of the potion’s creation. Since I’m usually the only one here when I create the potion it doesn’t feed of my greatest fear, so when the smoke appears, it just evaporates. I should thank you, since I had to face the smoke I got one extra flask of this stuff to use than usual.”
Cirrus was curious, “so… it doesn’t take the form of your greatest fear?” Zine shook his head no as Cirrus continued, “But… why?”
Zine’s smile turned sinister as he replied, “Because I have no fear for it to feed from.”
Cirrus was skeptic, “hold up… you mean you’re not afraid of anything?”
Zine shook his head, “oh I didn’t say that? Sure I’m afraid of stuff. Poisonous snakes, unknown spiders, that little package they put in your dried fruit that says don’t eat… but what I meant was I don’t have a greatest fear.”

Cirrus was a little focused on the dried fruit thing but he disregarded his question on that as he continued, “Really?... but why?...”
Zine’s expression became saddened as he replied, “Let’s just say… some things are better left unanswered.”
Trying to remove the thoughts that began filling his mind, Zine finished filling the last flask as he trotted to his staff that was leaning against the wall and picked it up, “well I think that’s enough for today. You can take the rest of the day to do… whatever it is you do. I on the other hoof need to gather more ingredients from the forest. You’re welcome to join me if you want.”
Cirrus nodded his head as he replied, “Well… I guess I can since being alone in this place gives me the creeps.”

Zine smiled as he gestured, “Then let’s go, we only have a few hours till sunset. Then things get really creepy.”
Cirrus sighed, “Why do you have to say it like that… By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask, that potion in your staff. The grey one… what’s it do?”
Zine dodged the question as he replied, “At this rate we should be there and back within the hour so we don’t have to worry about getting caught in the forest at night.”
He was disappointed that Zine dodged the question, but since his reply wasn’t a sarcastic remark, or a joke, Cirrus could only assume that the answer was something that was too embarrassing to answer… or too painful. So all he did was nod his head as the evil enchanter and his assistant left the hut end ventured into the Everfree forest in search of ingredients.



Later that night after Cirrus had already gone to sleep, Zine stayed up and meditated more, until he sensed Spike approaching outside. Needing to talk with him, Zine stopped meditating as he stood up, exited the hut, and met his dragon friend just outside. As the two met, Spike spoke, “Hey Zine, is Cirrus asleep?”
Zine nodded his head, “Yea… he had an almost disturbing attack from my potions today. It would appear… his greatest fear is either a storm, or lightning.”
Spike was confused, “really? A pegasus afraid of lightning?... well it shouldn’t surprise me since I once knew a pegasus who was afraid of heights. So… will this be a problem? You don’t think Zecora made a mistake do you?”
Zine gave Spike a skeptic look, “Do you think she made a mistake? Are you questioning her wisdom?”

Spike thought to himself before sighing in embarrassment, “Yea, you’re right… how silly of me.”
Zine replied, “No, I mean, would you question her wisdom? Cuz I don’t know, I never met her.”
Spike shook his head as he chuckled, “Zecora is wise, there is no questioning her. But, if he is afraid of lightning… this might be a problem won’t it?”
Zine thought to himself as he replied, “perhaps… although, even if he is afraid, this shouldn’t stop him. After all, a pony like him is truly special… whether he knows it or not.”
Spike had to ask, “And what about his skepticism? How can he bring Commander Bolt back, if he doesn’t even believe in him?”

Zine thought to himself, “that is a problem… to become something that you perceive as fantasy… who would go through all the trouble to become something that isn’t real. Needless to say, we will see how it goes tomorrow. I made plenty of potions just in case, so we are ready to go now, but it would be best to go at dusk.”
Spike asked, “Do you want me to go too?”
Zine shook his head, “no… I don’t know what will happen… so it would be safer if you kept your distance. I would like things to be quiet and peaceful, but considering Commander Bolt’s reputation, it will most likely be loud and destructive.”
Spike gave Zine a concerned look, “So… if things do get that loud… then wouldn’t it attract the royal Guards?... and… when they see him trespassing on sacred ground, won’t they arrest Cirrus?...”
Zine smiled sinisterly, “if all goes well… it would… and… they will.”