Thundaga trotted through the castle corridor with a griffin by her side as she spoke, “The trade agreement for new weaponry is acceptable. As agreed, you will have your metal ore by the day’s end, and in return we will be expecting a fresh shipment of your finest weapons and armor by the end of next week.”
The griffin nodded his head as he replied, “Agreed, it’s always a pleasure doing business with her highness. The Griffin Republic is always happy to assist you in your time of need.”
The two exited the castle as they approached a carriage waiting in the courtyard. As they approached, the griffin turned to Thundaga and bowed respectfully, “As usual, it has been an honor to be seen by her majesty. I wish you luck in your goals, and once again complement you on the beauty of your kingdom.”
Thundaga smiled with pride, “It is I who has the honor of meeting you Prime Minister Orem. I await your nation’s shipment and wish you a safe journey home.”
The Prime Minister smiled as he entered the carriage before signaling the driver, as they began rolling down the street before taking to the sky. As the carriage flew away, Thundaga waved at her departing guest until he was out of sight, then her fake smile faded as she mumbled, “Gilda’s descendant or not… He is still a suck up.”
Glad her guest was gone, Thundaga turned to enter her castle as Commander Mist rushed up as fast as he could “Your majesty!!!”
Stopping in her tracks, Thundaga turned to see Commander Mist approach from behind as he stopped and saluted, “Your majesty, Urgent news! We just found one of the stolen museum artifacts.”
Thundaga became curious as she turned to her commander and replied, “Really? Where?”
Commander Mist lowered his salute as he replied, “The mail your majesty.”
Thundaga asked, “the mail?... was the thief trying to send it out of town?”
Commander Mist hesitated, “actually… he sent it to me.”
Thundaga was confused, “to you?... Explain.”
“This morning when I checked my mail, I found an unknown package that was sent to me with a return address that was the same as its shipping. When I opened it, it was Commander Mist’s… my ancestor’s spear. For some reason, it was sent directly to me.”
Thundaga thought to herself as she replied, “that is strange… was there anything different about it? Any letters or notes?”
Commander Mist Shook his head as he replied, “no, nothing… but I tried to have the package analyzed by our investigation teams… but there is no part of the box that is traceable.”
Thundaga asked, “Nothing… no sand, dirt or anything like that?”
Commander Mist rubbed his head in confusion, “well… actually I had them search for such clues as dirt, foliage or water stains… but they found everything on it.”
“Everything?... what do you mean?”
“Well, dirt from the plains, dried swamp water from the bayou country, salt from the sea, seeds from the Everfree Forest, even remnants of melted snow from the mountains. Either this package has been to all these ecosystems, or the thief is making a fool out of us.”
Thundaga tried to figure out the mystery, “Why would he send us one of the artifacts… and why Commander Mist’s spear… to Commander Mist?”
Not hearing her mumbling, Commander Mist asked, “your majesty?...”
Thundaga looked back and replied, “Never mind, continue the investigation and have a small team start notifying postal services throughout the kingdom. Any shipment of weaponry, must be ceased and notified immediately. I don’t want the next artifact being sent to another nation.”
Commander Mist nodded his head, “Understood your majesty, I will send out the notice at once. And… there is another matter I would like to discuss with you.”
Thundaga replied, “and that is?...”
Commander Mist asked, “Your majesty… have you heard of rumors about this… Mare of the Mountain?”
Thundaga replied, “I have, yes.”
The commander asked, “Well I was wondering if you wanted us to investigate this matter.”
Thundaga shook her head, “as curious as I am of these rumors, I have no reason to waste resources in ponytales. If this mare of the mountain truly exists, then then perhaps she is a mare who wishes to seclude herself from others for her own personal reasons.”
Commander Mist asked, “But… what if the rumor is true? What if she is a dragon?”
Thundaga replied, “If she is… then we will still leave her be. The dragons left on their own accord, and were in no way forced to leave or banished. So if they wish to return, then they will be left to return peacefully. If she is a dragon, then so long as she doesn’t harm any citizens, I will allow her to remain in her uninterrupted seclusion. Now if you will excuse me, I have more pressing matters to attend to.”
With nothing more to say on the subject, Thundaga turned away and began trotting back into the castle, as the commander could only bow in respect, before turning away and going back to his duties.
Later that day just as dusk was approaching Cirrus and Zine made their way through the forest as Cirrus looked at the sky and spoke, “Zine? You sure you aren’t lost?”
Zine smiled, “No, I think I know where I’m going… I hope anyways.”
Cirrus sighed, “Well I guess I can only trust your directions then… even if I still can’t figure you out. Either way, should we start looking for shelter? I mean that castle we passed a few miles ago seemed like a good place, but then again, we won’t make it there before dark.”
Zine looked at Cirrus, “Don’t worry, we are almost there. Just trust me on this one.”
Cirrus sighed, “That’s literally the last thing that I can do.”
Zine looked back at the trail, “good… looks like you’re learning.”
Cirrus shook his head in a hopeless way, “you say that as if it were a good thing. It’s amazing how Spike can pu…”
All of a sudden, Cirrus stopped talking as he spotted a manticore hiding behind a tree off the side of the trail. Worried about what would happen Cirrus spoke, “Um… Zine? Do you know we are being watched by a manticore?”
Zine nodded his head, “yea… they have been watching us for the last hour… why?”
Cirrus asked, “They?... Aren’t you worried that they might, oh I don’t know… attack us?”
Zine smiled sinisterly, “No, they won’t ever come near me… ever again…”
seeing the evil smile on Zine’s face, Cirrus looked at the Manticore and realized that they weren’t hiding behind the trees to pounce, they were hiding in fear. Seeing this Cirrus started to ask, “why are they… never mind, I don’t think I want to know.”
Hearing this made Zine chuckle a little bit as the two travelers arrived at an area where the trail ended at a large cluster of tree’s, vines and brush, “Welp… here we are.”
Cirrus looked around in confusion, “what?...but it’s just a dead end.”
Zine pointed into the brush, “On the contrary, that is where you need to go.”
Cirrus looked at Zine and asked, “are you sure?... this isn’t just a ploy before admitting that the place we are looking for doesn’t exist, right?”
Zine replied, “tell you what, I'll go as far as it will allow me to go, but once we reach the drop off… you’re on your own.”
With that, Zine started pushing the brush out of the way as he trotted off the trail’s dead end and into what seems to be endless forest. As the two continued, Zine and Cirrus pushed aside all the thorns, vines and tree limbs that would make any experienced traveler, seek out another route.
After a few minutes of pushing through the thicket, Zine finally stopped as he looked at the ground and spoke, “Well, here it is. This is where I stop.”
Cirrus looked at the ground to see what looked to be the start of a slight depression hidden amongst the grass as Zine spoke, “this Drop off is a perfect circle that goes completely around the tree. And it’s also the border that tells me where I can and can’t go. So from here you’re all on your own.”
Cirrus looked at Zine, “tree?...”
Zine pointed in front of him at a tree that was fifteen feet away, and barely visible through the brush and vines that surrounded it. Zine continued, “That, my friend, is the mother zap apple tree… although it lost its spark about five hundred years ago. All I need you to do is go to it and read the inscription carved into its surface.”
Cirrus looked at Zine with confusion, “That’s it?...”
Zine smiled, “that’s is.”
“There isn’t any monster to fight, or riddle to solve?”
Zine gave Cirrus a sarcastic look, “unless you decide to mock a riddle telling monster in the next five meters, no… no monster or riddle to solve. Just a simple inscription on a dead tree.”
Cirrus didn’t trust it, “what’s in it for you?...”
Zine replied with a clever lie, “The inscription is the ending to a spell I need to revive zap apple trees. With it, I can bring zap apples back from extinction and use them in my potions.”
Although it was a lie, Cirrus was convinced by the excuse as he replied, “alright… well then here I go.”
With that Cirrus trotted passed Zine and stepped into the depression as he began pushing through the vines, brush and trees to make a path to the dead tree that he needed to reach. As Cirrus approached the vine covered tree, he called back, “this one right? What do I do?”
Zine called back, “Just find the inscription and call it back to me! Without the first part of the spell, it won’t do anything!”
Cirrus looked back at the dead bluish tree as he replied, “Alright! Give me a sec!”
With that Cirrus looked closely at the tree. The old tree stood about twelve feet tall and had no leaves indicating that it was dead. The branches were covered in vines from nearby foliage and the vines had grown to cover most of the tree’s surface, however the part of the tree’s wood that was visible was a dark bluish wood, which seemed strange since there was no sign of rotting in what was clearly a dead tree.
After getting a good look at the tree, Cirrus started looking around the tree’s stump as he called to Zine, “Where is this inscription supposed to be?”
Zine called back, “somewhere on the center of the stem! It should be at about your height!”
Pushing vines out of the way, Cirrus started looking at the wood as he replied, “well I don’t see any… wait!”
At that moment, Cirrus started to see a small indent in the wood that was mostly covered in vines. Although the tree had healed most of it, the indention was easy to see as Cirrus started pulling vines from the tree to completely uncover the carving. As soon as the indention was legible, Cirrus rubbed his hoof across it as he mumbled, “Finally… free?...”
with his hoof still placed across the carving, Cirrus turned his head back to Zine as he called, “Hey Zine! I found it!”
Zine smiled, “Good! Now what does it say?”
With his head looking towards Zine, Cirrus didn’t notice or feel the small arc of electricity that jumped from the tree’s surface and made contact with hoof as he continued, “It says, finally free!”
Zine thought to himself as he replied, “Really? That’s it?”
Three more arcs had already jumped from the tree to Cirrus’s hoof before he turned back to the tree, missing them entirely as he replied, “Yea! It just says, Finally Free!”
Although Zine was curious as to why nothing visible had happened yet, he knew he couldn’t stall for much longer as he replied, “that’s strange! It should have been longer than that! Oh well! Come back and we can figure this out another time, the sun is almost gone and it’s getting dark fast.”
Cirrus nodded his head as he replied, “Sure I’m on the wa… wait… what?”
As Cirrus tried to push off the tree, something strange happened, Cirrus’s hoof refused to budge from the tree’s surface. Trying again, Cirrus pulled his body away from the tree, but this time, even with all of his strength, his hoof only came about an inch from the tree’s surface, as a large number of painless arcs of electricity jumped from the tree’s surface as they grabbed the bottom of his hoof and pulled it back to the tree like a powerful electro magnet.
Starting to feel nervous, Cirrus called, “Zine!... I… I can’t move!... I’m stuck!”
Unable to see what was happening from the distance Zine gave him a confused look, “Stuck?... What do you mean stu…”
At that moment, Zine felt a slight shock from the edge of the depression as he looked down to see small arcs of electricity jumping from the soil as they all made contact with the growing foliage inside the depression and began singeing the plants they were touching. Seeing this Zine stepped back from the depression as he looked at the ancient zap apple tree as it began doing the same to the vines and plants around it.
Seeing all the arcs of electricity as they jumped from the tree’s limbs and began destroying the plant life around it, only terrified Cirrus more as he began frantically trying to pull his hoof free, but as he did he placed his other hoof against the tree’s surface to help, only to have that hoof become trapped too. Now with both his front hooves stuck to the tree, Cirrus called back, “Zine! What do I do! i… I cant get free! Help!”
Zine called back, “I can’t help you! I can’t enter the drop off remember! But don’t worry! You should be safe!”
Cirrus looked back in anger, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHOULD!?! What exactly is goi…”
All of a sudden, Cirrus silenced himself as a number of thicker, louder arcs of electricity started jumping from the ground between him and Zine as they made contact with a mysterious cloud that had appeared over his head without him noticing. Confused, Cirrus looked at the cloud in curiosity as Zine started to feel an unusual static build up in the ground under his hooves. As he felt this, Zine looked at the ground in shock, “this feeling… is it?...” He looked back at Cirrus and smiled sinisterly, “the Lightning Orb?”
Unable to hear his words, Cirrus looked around in confusion as the arcs which were now thick enough to be considered lightning bolts continued jumping from the ground and hitting the cloud as the small storm cloud grew bigger. Cirrus tried to call over the crackle of the electricity, “Zine! What do I do?”
Zine couldn’t answer, because at that moment, the once dead zap apple tree which was now clear of outside foliage and vines started growing leaves and even apple blossoms as the tree sprang to life as if by magic. Seeing this Zine mumbled, “The Thunder Grounds… they are being revived. Even I wasn’t expecting…”
Before he could finish his though, Cirrus called “Zine!!! What do I do!?!”
Zine looked at Cirrus who was now standing under a cloud that was about his size as he remained stuck to the revived zap apple tree. Looking at Cirrus Zine replied, “Just stay calm! Like I said, you are safe where you are! I on the other hoof…”
Before he could finish his remark, something very strange happened, the area went completely silent. The arcs of electricity stopped jumping from the soil and tree, as the lightning that was hitting the cloud also ceased. However the small storm cloud which was now glowing with gathered electricity, continued hovering over Cirrus’s head as the two made eye contact over the strange silence of the moment.
Seeing what would happen next, Zine gave Cirrus a nervous look as he mumbled, “uh oh…”
with the silence in the area Cirrus heard his statement as he replied with only a worried look. Finally Zine made the first move as he turned around and started running from the site, “Time to go!”
Confused, Cirrus called back, “Hey! Wha…”
At that moment, a static sound could be heard in the cloud above his head as Cirrus looked at it in confusion, “What?...”
All of a sudden, a great flash emerged from the small cloud, followed quickly by a sphere shaped ball of lightning as it started in the center of the cloud and grew rapidly as the ball covered the young pegasus and zap apple tree but cremated the surrounding plants as it grew at such a rapid pace, that almost instantaneously took up every inch of the ground inside the small depression which now resembled a crater.
As the destructive sphere reached the end of the crater, it stopped growing, however its shockwave continued outward, as the electricity that emerged from the ball caused all the plants touched by the shockwave to spontaneously burst into flame. Not far from the destruction, Zine rushed as fast as he could through the brush as the thorns and bushes left scratches and cuts in his skin, mere seconds before getting hit by the shockwave and bursting into flame. As Zine ran, he spotted a thick tree in his path so thinking quickly, Zine jumped behind the tree just in time, for the shockwave from the massive destruction hit the tree charring one side of it while skimming passed Zine on the other.
Back in Canterlot, Thundaga was placing her crown on the nightstand and readying herself to go to sleep as a guard pushed himself into the room and spoke, “YOUR MAJESTY!”
Thundaga looked at the soldier as he continued, “Something is happening in the Everfree Forest! A ball of light… a flash of destruction… it’s happening at the lost grounds! It… it looks like the Lightning Orb!”
Almost immediately, Thundaga turned around and started trotting towards her balcony door as she used her magic to open the balcony doors. As the doors opened, Thundaga trotted outside and looked into the distance at the bright yellow sphere that was visible from her balcony.
As soon as she saw the sphere, Thundaga continued watching it as she did three things at once, using her magic she picked up her crown from her night stand and her father’s sword from a chair as she replied to the guard, “Find Commander Mist, have him gather our strongest soldiers and meet me at the Thunder Grounds!”
As Thundaga stepped onto the balcony railings, she used her magic to place her crown on her head and strap her father’s sword to her side as the guard replied, “But what about you your majesty? Wont you need support?”
Thundaga shook her head, “No time… If this is what I think it is… then the kingdom might be in danger. Just go, and tell him to hurry.”
With that, Thundaga jumped from the balcony and took to the sky as she flew straight towards the sight as fast as she could.
Elsewhere in Equestria, a lone mare wearing a dark cloak trotted up a trail to her cottage on Dragon Mountain as the distant light flickered behind her and casted a shadow in front that caught her attention. Turning to look at the distant glowing light, the mare could only watch silently as the light glowed at its brightest before slowly dimming itself out as the orb began shrinking. Back in the forest, Zine continued hiding behind the thick tree as he noticed the shockwave around him subsiding as the light shining from the opposite side of his charred barrier, started to dim. When the area slowly quieted itself down, Zine stepped out from behind the charred tree to see everything that got caught in the path of the shockwave was either ash, or charred embers. Curious, Zine began trotting over the ash that used to be grass and vines as he made his way to the newly revitalized crater that sat in the epicenter of the Lightning Orb.
As he looked upon the awoken sacred ground, Zine could see that unlike the area around him that was full of ash and char, everything inside the crater minus, his pegasus friend and the zap apple tree, had been completely vaporized. Cirrus on the other hoof laid against the zap apple tree with his breathing being the only sign of movement that Zine could see. At first Zine wanted to rush to his companion’s side, however, as he reached the edge of the now visible crater, he could see deep cracks in the ground that glowed an eerie bluish glow. Seeing this, Zine held his hoof over the crater as a long arc of electricity jumped from the soil in the crater and hit his hoof, shocking him enough to make his hoof go completely numb. Feeling this, Zine jumped back as he shook his hoof around to regain feeling, “um… oww… that’s a weird feeling…”
Looking back at Zine in the crater, Zine mumbled, “well… I’m not getting him out of there anytime soon… That light… that was the real Lightning Orb. So… if that was the real thing… then… Cirrus is…”
All of a sudden, Zine could see figures moving amongst the thick smoke from the burning surroundings as he mumbles “Great… party poopers, time to disappear.”
Quickly rushing back to the charred tree that shielded him from the blast, Zine pulled a flask from his saddlebag that had a yellow potion inside. As he pulled the cork from the flask, he sighed, “I hate this stuff… it always tastes like vomit…oh well better than getting caught I guess.”
With that, Zine removed his saddlebag and hid it under the charred remains of the tree as he drank the foul potion and tossed the flask as far as he could from where he was standing. After that Zine sat down as he closed his eyes and started counting, “One one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand, four one thousand…”
Counting slowly the zebra held very still as his hooves slowly became transparent as the effect started spreading up his arms to the rest of his body. By the time Zine had reached nine in his count, the tip of his mane became completely transparent until finally his entire body, voice included, vanished as he became completely invisible.
As Zine vanished into thin air, Thundaga landed not far from him as she immediately drew her sword and started looking around for hostiles. Slowly Thundaga made her way around the area with her sword at the ready, however when she realized that there was no threat, she sheathed her sword as she looked at the Thunder Grounds in curiosity. It had been five hundred years since the electricity in the soil faded and the tree had died, but now the Thunder Grounds tree and all looked exactly as it did the day before, minus all the charred foliage on the outside of the crater. As she looked at the zap apple tree in confusion Thundaga mumbled to herself, “It’s… been revived? But, how… after five hundred years, how did it awaken fro…”
At that moment Thundaga spotted something at the base of the zap apple tree on the opposite side of where she was standing. Slowly and cautiously, Thundaga griped her sword as she began trotting around the edge of the crater to the other side where her unexpected guest was laying.
As she reached the other side of the crater, and could see Cirrus clearly, Thundaga mumbled to herself, “A… a pegasus?... but who?...”
“Thundaga!”
Surprised by the unexpected call, Thundaga drew her sword partially from its sheath before realizing who spoke and resheathing it. At that moment Commander Mist and a large number of guards landed on the site as Commander Mist spoke, “Your majesty, are you harmed?”
Thundaga looked at her commander and gestured towards Cirrus, “No… I’m fine… but he might be.”
Looking In the direction of Thundaga’s gesture, Commander Mist saw Cirrus as he replied, “understood… let me handle this.”
with a careless trot, Commander Mist started trotting towards Cirrus, however as he started to take his first step into the crater, a large arc of electricity jumped form the soil and hit his hoof as he jumped back in surprise, “Whoa what the?...”
Thundaga spoke, “Tread carefully commander… the Thunder Grounds are awoken and its soil electrified. It isn’t safe to just trot out there carelessly.”
Commander Mist looked at his hoof as he thought to himself, “but… I’m a pegasus… why did that hurt?”
Thundaga replied “the electricity in the soil goes beyond that of a normal pegasus. It’s far more powerful.”
The commander asked, “Then… how do we reach the pony in the center?”
Thundaga rolled her eyes in hopelessness as she held her silence and used her magic to pick Cirrus up from where he was laying. As Thundaga brought the pegasus closer, electricity jumped from the soil every few inches and touched Cirrus’s body as the unconscious pony was carried over the crater’s edge and laid down in front of Commander Mist.
After Thundaga stopped using her magic on the unconscious pegasus, she looked down at her commander and spoke, “Check him.”
Understanding what she wanted Commander Mist reached down to check Cirrus for a pulse, however when he got close enough, an arc of electricity jumped from Cirrus’s coat and shocked the unsuspecting pegasus as he jumped back a second time, “Ouch!... yep he is alive… a pegasus’ body won’t hold a charge after he is dead.”
Thundaga hid her amusement of the sight as she replied, “then… he is unharmed?”
Commander Mist replied, “Yes your majesty he is.” He looked at a nearby guard, “Captain! Take him to the dungeon and notify us as soon as he regains consciousness.”
Thundaga looked at her commander and replied, “No… take him to the medical ward and have him examined by the doctors. Then hold him there until he regains consciousness. When he wakes, have the doctor notify me personally. I want to be the first to talk with him.”
Commander Mist looked at Thundaga, “do you think that’s wise? What if he tried to attack you?”
Thundaga looked at the Zap apple tree as she smiled, “Today is truly a special day commander. We have discovered a pegasus with the ability to create the Lightning Orb just as I can. It would be best to congratulate him when he wakes and form an alliance with him before the rebellion tries to do the same. And what convincing could we do, if he wakes behind bars? It would be best to treat him as a guest until we discover who he is first.”
The commander was shocked, “He?... he did this?...”
Thundaga smile as she used her magic to pick up Cirrus and carry him to a carriage that was just arriving on site, “yes… and with our guidance… he will be able to do so much more. I changed my mind, I will be taking him to the medical ward myself. In the meantime, take your soldiers and search the area for any witnesses. If you see any bring them to me at once.”
Although he felt uneasy about Thundaga’s decision, Commander Mist didn’t try to change her mind as he bowed and replied, “Understood your majesty.”
With that, Thundaga carefully placed Cirrus into the carriage as she and her unconscious passenger left the area and traveled back to the castle.
Hours later, as the commotion died down and dawn was approaching, the Thunder Grounds which was once teaming with guards stood silent as Zine slowly started reappearing next to the charred tree as he continued counting from before, “-one thousand, ten one thousand, eleven one thousand, twelve one thousand, thirteen.”
as soon as he reached thirteen in his count, Zine stopped as he looked around, “okay… dawn. I guess I should use that amount of that potion from now on… unless I’ve been invisible for more than a day… I hope to Thundaga that I’ve only been invisible for a few hours…”
looking at his surrounding closely Zine noticed that he could still see some red embers from the earlier Lightning Orb as he sighed in relief, “ok… I’m convinced.”
With that, Zine reached under the charred tree and pulled out his saddlebag as she put it on and mumbled, “So… the Lightning Orb can be used by another… and now he is in Thundaga’s hooves. Good, now I can ready him to meet miss anger issues. As long as she doesn’t try to kill me when I see her.”
When his saddlebag was secured, Zine left the sight and began trotting back to his hut with full intention on getting sleep.
Back at the castle, Thundaga was pacing back and forth in her bed chambers as somepony knocked on the door, “Your majesty? It’s Commander Mist and Dr. Trotter, May we enter?”
Thundaga turned to the door as she replied, “You may.”
With that, the door opened as the Commander Mist and the doctor entered the room and bowed in respect. As they rose from their bow, the doctor spoke, “your majesty, we’ve finished our examination on the patient.”
Thundaga gave him a concerned look, “And?...”
The doctor pulled a clipboard from under his wing as he looked at the forms, “When examining his body, we found no signs of external or internal wounds. And we found an abundant amount of electrons in his hooves which is common for a pegasus… but only when they are conscious. To see this in an unconscious patient is, well… extraordinary.”
Thundaga nodded her head, “he just used the Lightning Orb. I’m sure there is a lot of excess electricity in his hooves. It should pass in time. Has he regained consciousness yet?”
The doctor shook his head, “Not yet your majesty, we can tell he is completely exhausted, so chances are he won’t be awake for a few more hours… and, forgive me for prying your majesty but I believe you need your rest as well.”
When the doctor said that, Commander Mist gave him an annoyed look as Thundaga looked out the window as she replied, “I understand… perhaps I should rest… I have been trapped in thought all night.” She looked back at the doctor, “If he wakes, notify me immediately. You may tell him where he is, but I want to explain to him what happened in the Everfree forest. It would be best if he heard it from a pony with experience in the lighting orb.”
The doctor bowed in respect as he replied, “I understand your majesty. Rest easy and we will let you know if he wakes up.”
After rising from his bow, the doctor put the clipboard back under his wing, turned around, and left the room as Thundaga turned and trotted to the balcony doorway with the commander following, “Your Majesty? Can I ask you a question?”
As Thundaga stepped onto the balcony she looked into the direction the sun was supposed to rise from as she replied, “if you must…”
Commander Mist continued, “Why are you so concerned with this pony? I’ve been under your command for almost twenty years and I’ve never seen you this distraught.”
Thundaga closed her eyes as she used her magic to raise the sun. Then when the sun was high enough to signify morning, she stopped as she replied, “Tell me… do you recall the story of my father and his legacy?”
Commander nodded his head, “like a second life, your majesty.”
Thundaga looked at the rising sun as she continued, “Remember the beginning… The flash in the Everfree Forest that created the Thunder Grounds. The ball of electricity that could be seen from miles around. And the pony found in the center of the crater left from that light… So far everything that’s happened today resembles everything that happened back then. Most would consider this a second coming… although there is one thing that hasn’t been confirmed yet when we compare today’s events with the past.”
Commander Mist thought to himself as he replied, “And… what would that be?”
Thundaga gave him a concerned look as she replied, “When he awoke from his exhaustion… my father had lost all of his memories… his name, age, origin, even his own family. Everything except for his speech and literacy was completely wiped clean from his mind.”
Commander Mist asked, “And what does that have to do with anything your majesty? We don’t know who he is, so even if his identity is forgotten, it won’t change anything.”
Thundaga thought to herself as she replied, “no… I suppose it won’t… well then, I'll need to rest for a few hours. Ensure that nopony bothers me unless he wakes up. Resting or not, I still have a few questions for him.”
Commander Mist bowed in respect as he replied, “Understood your majesty.”
With that, Commander Mist rose form his bow and left the room as Thundaga looked into the waking city of Canterlot and mumbled to herself, “It won’t change anything… but… It might. When this happened to my father he was unknown to the world… but this stallion… I’ve seen before. I don’t know where or when, but I know his face. Just… who is he?...”