A Charred Stone

by Priceless911

Ch3 The Commander

With each passing step, my day became better and better. I was finally free of that place, that nightmare. It was hard to believe that just ten minutes ago I was filling out the paperwork making me a legal guardian and freeing me from having to spend another day in that orphanage. Now with a small bag of money and a letter to a motel allowing me a place to stay for the next month was the only thing I had… well other than the bandanna I was wearing, though I couldn’t find a pink pillowcase so I stuck with the white for one last day. But that didn’t matter. I'm sure I'll find a place to buy one soon. I mean this is Cloudsdale, the capital city for pegasi everywhere.

As I continued traveling down the road I looked up at the eclipse above, for the past week, the days have composed of only that sight, while the moon and stars shined at night like normal. It was very strange but once you got used to it, it was nothing different at all, even if the days seemed red, and darker than before. As I made my way through the town, I noticed that the street ahead was being blocked by a crowd. As I got close, it seemed like the road was cleared as if there was some kind of parade going on, but the herd of ponies observing wasn’t cheering as they normally would for a parade. Instead, they were quietly watching as a small heard of ponies started down the street from very far away. As I tried to see who it was, I overheard some of the ponies talking, “Why are they here? Who does that traitor think he is, just trotting into town like he did nothing wrong, he should be ashamed.”
Out of curiosity I had to ask, “Who is it?”
One of the stallions gave me a funny look, “You don’t know? It’s Commander Bolt.”
“Commander who?”

Now both stallions were looking at me funny as the same one replied, “You know, the Commander of the night. Princess Luna’s Personal guard and now Nightmare Moon’s Commanding Officer. He Overlooks Nightmare moons armies and is fighting to make night eternal.”
I was now officially confused, Not only didn’t I not know who Commander Bolt was, but this is the first I’ve heard about an eternal night, so I asked, “Why would he make night eternal?”
The two stallions looked at each other and hesitated as one replied, “He… well… you see… why does he want an eternal night?”
I could only sigh, “If you don’t know, then all you have to do is say so… it’s not like I needed an answer… I was just curious.”
Before the two ponies could reply to my comment, I looked back at the road and noticed that the group had made its way closer and was about to pass by.

As it seemed from a distance, it was a small formation of maybe twenty Pegasi soldiers wearing dark blue armor. At the front of the square formation were two stallions, an older one with a light gray and light purple mane, and a much younger one with a dark pelt and a black and yellow mane. It was easy to see that these ponies were the leaders of the group, but something about the younger one seemed very familiar. I didn’t know who he was but I know I’ve seen him somewhere before. I watched him closely as he trotted by, he seemed very disciplined and strong, marching with enough confidence in his step to fill all of Cloudsdale. Even with all the tension in the air this stallion continued as if he were marching through an empty field with no concern for the ponies around him. It was both, motivating and troubling, to think that this pegasus could so easily march by without a single worry, but at the same time be ready for an attack at any moment.

After they passed, the ponies who stood on the side started following the soldiers down the street, so I asked the ponies I was talking to before, “What’s going on? Where are they going?”
The same pony replied, “He is holding some kind of speech in the event plaza. Nopony knows what he is going to say, but it could be about the war.”
Finally, something I have heard of. This war began about three days ago, now what was once one nation is now two, The Night, Being the Nightmare Legion, and the day being the Celestial Crusaders. And the name of the war… The Nightmare Crusade. I didn’t know all the details, for example how the war began or who the commanders of both sides were. However I did know that Princess Luna of the Night and Princess Celestia of the day were the ones who started the war and were causing the eclipse. Either way, I found myself following the crowd of ponies as they followed the commander and his soldiers to the event plaza in the center of Cloudsdale.

By the time we arrived at the plaza, there was a large stage already in place as the formation of solders started lining up both in front of the stage on the ground and along each side, leaving the two ponies in command well-guarded as they both stood on the center of the stage. The two commanding ponies spoke to each other first then the younger one approached the podium, “Citizens of Cloudsdale, I'm certain you already know this, but my name is Commander Bolt of the Nightmare Legion. I'm here to talk to you about the recent events that have taken place in our beloved kingdom. The two princesses, Princess Luna and Princess Celestia have indeed declared war against one another. And in doing so, the days will forever be shadowed by this eclipse. I wish I could say that this war will be over soon, however with both princesses refusing to listen to reason, I feel that this war will only end once victory is claimed by one side.”
I was a little surprised that the younger stallion was Commander Bolt. I had always thought that all commanders were old war torn soldiers with years of experience, but this stallion didn’t look much older than I was. While this thought crossed my mind, a stallion yelled from the surrounding herd, “If you want to end this war, then why did you chose to fight for the night?”

The surrounding crowd started yelling in agreement with the question as the commander replied, “I choose to fight for Princess Luna, because I feel that her reason for fighting is just.”
An angry uproar came from the surrounding crowd, as the stallion explained, “Princess Luna had spent every day raising the moon to bring the night and lowering it to make way for the dawn!”
The same stallion from earlier replied, “Yea, and Princess Celestia raises and lowers the sun. What’s your point?”
The commander continued, “My point is, what have you done to show your gratitude!?! Every day, Ponies from far and wide come to the palace and show their gratitude to Princess Celestia, yet none have shown it For Princess Luna. Every day, ponies are out playing and enjoying the day and sunshine that Princess Celestia presents, but none are out to value the Moonlight that is shown By Princess Luna’s night. I have been Princess Luna’s personal guard and commander for months now, but I have only seen the night guards out while she watches over Equestria. Does she not deserve your respect? Are you ungrateful for the rest you receive for her nights? Have you forgotten that it is her nights that bring peace and tranquility to the hectic events of the day?”

The herd grew silent as the stallion in the crowd continued his argument, “But we do value her nights! We are grateful for what she brings us! We ar…”
“AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO SHOW IT!!! The fault of this darkness lies not in the hooves of Luna… But in your Hooves! Rather than show your affection, you hide away!!! Rather than show your gratitude, you shun the moon!!! Instead of relishing the night… you choose to neglect it! And it is that neglect that filled the younger princess’s heart with sorrow and envy. That darkness got stronger and stronger until she could no longer contain it. It took hold of her heart and is now a part of her. This darkness has transformed her into a mare of darkness, which now calls herself, Nightmare Moon. And now Nightmare Moon wants to bring eternal night… all because of you… the ponies of Equestria!!!”
I couldn’t believe my ears. A princess driven to darkness because of neglect? It didn’t seem impossible since I of all ponies knew what neglect can do to a heart, but what confused me was that nightmare moon wanted to bring eternal night, and this stallion wanted to help her so this time I yelled out, “THEN WHY ARE YOU HELPING HER!?! Do you want to bring eternal night? Or are you doing this for kicks?”

The stallion looked directly at me and replied, “I know what she is doing seems wrong… but I also know that she is doing this because of neglect. She is doing this because she wants to prove that her nights have just as much value as the day, if not more. And I know that once her nights become eternal, she will see that the value of the day is also important so she will realize her mistake and return the days as they were prior to this war. However, she will never know this, until the war ends and she can bring the night that she values so.”
I couldn’t stop myself, “So why are you here to tell us this? Why don’t you just go out and end it already?”
The commander sighed, “I can’t bring about the end of the war by myself, and even I have my limits despite my ability. I came here in hopes of gathering volunteers to help me fight this war. I came seeking soldiers to fight alongside me in hopes of bringing this war to an end! There aren’t many benefits I can offer, but anypony willing to fight is all I ask. So long that they are a reasonable age. I will not place foals or the elderly in my ranks… no offence Storm.”
The older pony standing beside him gave him an unamused stare as I smiled at the joke.

The herd around me wasn’t amused though, they all started talking amongst each other in a fit of tension that filled the air like a cloud. Nevertheless I had a few more questions for the commander, “What if instead of fighting for you, I decide to join the other side? What then?”
The surrounding ponies looked at me in amazement; I only wanted to know what he would say about such a question, I had no intention on joining either side. Nevertheless, Commander Bolt looked at me with a calm look and replied, “I'm not at liberty to decide what you do, nor will I tell you that the Nightmare Legion is the better path to take. All I'll say is that no matter what this war brings, I'll fight it. No matter what challenge I face, I'll lead my army through it. and if that leads to my death… then I'll spend my last breath swinging my sword at my enemy, because I know what I fight for, and I’ll die fighting for it. Now I'll ask you, if you’re placed with a goal and you know that there is a razors edge that you must trot across to reach that goal… would you?”

I may have been a number of feet from the stage, but as I looked at the stallion from where I was standing, I could see it in his eyes. Every word he said, from his answer stringing from his explanation for fighting, was true. His eyes showed nothing more than a stallion that believed every word he was saying. No hesitation, no nervousness, not one hint of a lie came from his mouth during the entire speech. And as I looked at the serious look on his face, I couldn’t help but believe his words. I don’t have a goal anymore. What I wanted more than anything was to see my parents again, but since that’s impossible, the only goal I had was to leave that orphanage behind and never see any of those ponies again. Now… I have nothing, but this stallion has a much more meaningful goal, one that seemed to benefit not just himself… but all the ponies of Equestria. Now… that’s what I want. I want to look at the world with the same confidence that he does. Therefore, I made my decision, and decided to wait until the ceremony was over before asking anything further.

About forty-five minutes later as the herd started to leave the plaza; I approached the back of the stage where the soldiers were standing. Commander Bolt was talking to the older stallion when he looked at me and spoke, “Well, hello again… you here to pass further judgment too? Well go right ahead. I don’t care what others think of me or my cause.”
Hearing this only leads me to assume that everypony else only criticized him and didn’t agree with him so I spoke, “Do… um… do you really believe that if we end this war that everything will go back to normal?”
The stallion replied, “Yes, and can I ask what you mean by we?”
I hesitated before replying, “I… I want to join, I don’t know if I'll be much help… but I still think I can make a difference.”
The commander looked at the older pony, shrugged his shoulders then started trotting around me examining me closely, “Hmm… How old are you miss?”
I replied, “Eighteen today…”
“Well, happy birthday then… hmm, very petite, but healthy… no cutie mark, so your skills aren’t known yet… and may I ask about the bandanna?”

I felt a little embarrassed about his comments especially about how he said I was petite, yet I still replied, “No… I’d rather you didn’t.”
The commander replied, “Well your business is your business. But I still have to ask, are you sure your skilled enough to face a challenge like this? I promise it won’t be easy.”
I felt a little uneasy when he asked me that, I knew that becoming a soldier wasn’t necessarily an easy task, but I still wanted to face the world knowing that I would be strong enough to handle it, so I nodded my head and replied, “Yes… I’m sure.”
The stallion looked real closely at my face as if he were looking deep into my soul, then he replied, “As I thought…”
“What?”
“You have spirit… and a strong one at that. So if you’re willing to continue with your decision, then I won’t turn you away… however once your training begins… you can’t turn back. So please make absolutely certain that your willing t…”
“Are you serious? I'm telling you I want this, and you keep asking me if I'm sure. I know I'm not a mute, so clearly you must be deaf. I want this ok? So either turn me away or accept me and tell me what I must do next.”

The stallion was surprised with my outburst but he just smiled and replied, “Alright then, here is your first order, be back here by dusk. Till then you may go tell your family goodbye and settle any errands you need to settle. We will be leaving with the eclipse, so by the time the moon rises we will be on our way to our camp a few miles from the palace of the alicorn sisters. Oh and if I were you, I would pack light. We will provide you with everything you need from this point on, miss…”
realizing he was asking for my name I replied, “Oh uh… Stone, my name is Gem Stone.”
“Well Ms. Stone… Welcome to the Nightmare Legion.”
The older pony approached me next and spoke, “My name is Captain Storm, it’s nice to meet a mare who is willing to risk so much.”
“Actually… I'm not risking very mu….”
“COMMANDER!”
Before I could finish my sentence, a soldier ran up to Commander Bolt, “Celestial Pegasi have been spotted leaving Canterlot, They are on their way here.”
Commander Bolt replied with a serious look, “How many?”
About forty or fifty sir. I think somepony told them that you’re here.”

Seeing that this was something that was way over my head, I just kept quiet and listened as Commander Bolt turned towards Storm and spoke, “Take a hoof full of solders out and intercept them, don’t get too far into it though, I only want you to buy us time to retreat.”
“Wait… you’re running away?... just like that?”
Commander Bolt turned to me and replied, “I have my reasons, for one we don’t have the numbers to ensure victory, I don’t want to put you at risk before you’ve had proper training, and I don’t want to fight here in Cloudsdale, somepony might get hurt.”
I couldn’t believe it… this was the great Commander Bolt? I only heard about him today, but what I’ve heard has led me to believe he was a heartless monster bent on world domination. Now he is running away. I honestly had no idea how to portray him now but I didn’t have the time. Commander Bolt looked at me and continued, “Stay close to me and try to keep up.”

With that said, Commander Bolt turned and started running down the street. Not knowing exactly what to do next, I chased the commander down the road. As we ran he looked back at me and spoke, “when we reach the edge of the city, let yourself fall a few feet before opening your wings, this will allow you to get more speed.”
I replied, “I know how to fly, thank you very much!”
He continued, “Yea… but do you know how to outrun Celestial Pegasi? “
“Outrun? But I thought Mr. Sto…”
“Storm will only be able to distract a few of them, the rest will continue here and if they see us then they will do everything they can to kill us.”
“KILL!?!”
The cocky stallion smiled, “It’s all part of the job… we are their enemy ya know.”

I started to rethink my decision a little bit, but I stand beside what I said and I won’t let anything this, or anypony say change my mind. By this time, we had reached the end of the road… literally. Just a few feet in front of us, was a complete drop that was almost two full miles from the surface. As I looked forward, I started to wonder exactly how long has it been since I last flew… but now wasn’t the time to question myself, both he and I ran off the edge and began to fall. As we fell, Commander Bolt lowered his head and pointed his muzzle towards the ground increasing his diving speed. Trying to show I wasn’t worried despite how worried I actually was, I did the same pointing my muzzle to the ground making me fall even faster. As the ground quickly got closer and closer, I looked over at Commander Bolt as he yelled to me, “Wait for it!...”
I don’t know why I trusted his words, but I continued my descent until finally at about twenty feet, he yelled, “NOW!!!”

With great speed, we both opened our wings and quickly leveled out before flying into the forest below. In fear of hitting a tree, I moved myself directly behind him and flew in the same path as he did so that the only way I would hit a tree, would be if he hit one first. As we flew through the forest with great speed, I heard a voice come from behind, “YOU THERE!!! STOP!!!”
I turned my head to look behind me and saw a number of soldiers that looked similar to Commander Bolt’s pegasi, only these solders were wearing gold armor instead of dark blue. I looked forward and called, “Umm… Belt or whatever your name is? We have company!”
The stallion in front of me looked behind us and yelled, “Keep flying towards the eclipse until you see a clearing with a large number of tents. Land there and tell them you were sent by Commander Bolt. I'll be there shortly.”
Not understanding what he meant about that last part, I asked, “What? What ar…”
Before I could finish, Commander Bolt flew slightly higher than me and flattened out his wings quickly stopping himself as I continued right by him. When I turned to look behind me, I saw him collide with one of the pursuing pegasi as the rest started to attack him where they were falling. Still I trusted his word and continued on my solo flight in the direction he told me. I don’t know why I trusted his words… but it just seemed like the right thing to do given the situation I was in.

It wasn’t long before I reached the clearing that he spoke of, so I landed at the edge of the camp and sat down to catch my breath. After I felt better, I looked up just in time to see a large number of soldiers completely surround me and point their spears and bows at me. Feeling nervous I held my silence as an earth pony approached me and drew his sword, “Hold it right there miss… this area is off limits so I would suggest you go back the way you came.”
I was nervous that I was surrounded, but the vibe that the earth pony was giving off told me that he was pampered most of his life, which alone irritated me, so I replied, “With no due respect, I'm here because I was told to come here.”
The pony placed the tip of his sword to my neck as he replied, “now that was rather rude… but I'll bite, exactly who told you to come here?”
I replied, “Commander Bolt, he told me he would meet me here after he caught up.”
The earth pony smiled, “Really? And where pray tell is the good commander?”
Trying to defend myself I replied, “He had to stop on the way here.”
“Really? And why did he stop?”

I replied, “Well for your information we were attacked by… um… “
The earth pony waited in anticipation, “Yes… what was it that attacked you?”
My mind was racing as fast as it could to try and remember what it was that he said was after us, “Um… we were attacked by... cr… cru… um…”
“Crusaders!”
Hearing the voice, I turned around just in time to see Commander Bolt landing next to me as he spoke, “We were attacked by Celestial Crusaders, so I had to drop back to ensure that Ms. Stone made it here unharmed.”

The Earth Pony quickly sheathed his sword as he and the rest of the surrounding solders quickly stood at attention, “Commander… my apologies, I was concerned as to whether or not this mare was a spy for Princess Celestia. I had no idea she was with you sir.”
Commander Bolt replied, “Its fine lieutenant, I'm grateful you did, you can never be too careful these days. If this situation comes up again then I want you to detain the intruder until I come to verify their identity.”
The pony replied, “Yes sir… so is she a new recruit?”
Commander Bolt replied, “Yes… this is Gem Stone from Cloudsdale. Ms. Stone, meet Lieutenant Snow, officer of my ground forces. He is a little quick on his hooves, but so is his sword.”
Lieutenant Snow bowed his head in a noble fashion of greeting others as he spoke, “It’s a pleasure Ms. Stone. I apologies if I may have been rude. Such actions are unbecoming of a member of the Snow family.”
I heard of the Snow family before, supposable they have donated a large sum of money to the orphanage a few years back. But it was more for publicity then actual charity. Anyway, I already didn’t like this pony because of his attitude anyway so I just replied, “I'm sure it is…”

Hearing the insult Commander Bolt laughed, “Whoa… easy now, no need to start killing too soon. We still need to get you settled into your quarters first. Can you come with me Ms. Stone?”
The commander then turned and began trotting further into the camp while I followed, leaving the speechless noble behind. As we went further into the camp, I noticed blood rolling down the commander’s hind leg. Then when I looked closely, I saw a small gash in his armor where a blade had cut through. But since he wasn’t limping or even showing the slightest concern in the wound, I decided to keep my comments to myself. It wasn’t long before we finally approached a rundown old tent in the center of the camp. Almost all the tents looked stable and safe, but this one looked terrible. The top was sagging in on the center, a few tie downs were tied to broken stakes while the rest were missing. The button on the front to secure the opening was missing all together, and to top it all off, inside was filled with all sorts of trash with a foul odor that made my hairs stand on end. As I looked in great disgust at the tent, Commander Bolt looked at me and spoke, “This is your new quarters so I’d suggest you make yourself at home Ms. Stone. You have permission to fix it up in any way you please, so long that you do so on your own time.”

It seemed very strange to me how he went from an easy going commander to a cruel tyrant, but since I was the newest soldier in the camp I just nodded my head, “Ok I guess I'll get to work as soon as I can then.”
Commander Bolt continued, “Well then, I'll leave you to it. You may have the rest of the day off to get settled. Oh and by the way, from this point on you will refer to me as Commander or sir. I won’t even tolerate Commander Bolt… that privilege has to be earned. The same goes for Captain Storm and Lieutenant Snow. Their names to you are either their ranks or sir am I clear?”
I was already getting annoyed by this new leader, so I replied as best as I could by showing as much disrespect as I could with a polite reply, “Yes… commander…”
Seeing my disrespect clearly, the commander smirked as he replied, “Good, dinner will be served at the large tent in the center of the camp. If you’re not there to eat, then you won’t eat. That’s the jest of it. At night, you will have no lights on so there is no lights out time, in fact you don’t even have to go to sleep if you don’t want too, but I would highly suggest it. Your training begins before the eclipse rises tomorrow so you had better hope you have your rest. So how clear am I on the instructions so far?”
I replied, “Crystal sir.”
Commander Bolt smiled and turned, “Then I'll take my leave, have a good evening Ms. Stone.”

Commander Bolt turned away from me as I noticed both Captain Storm and Lieutenant Snow approaching while I went into my tent. The tent walls were very thin as I overheard their conversation, “Captain, it’s good to see you made it back in one piece.”
Storm replied, “Sadly we lost three soldiers in the retreat. Yet it’s good to see that you two made it here all right. Sir, your bleeding, are you ok?”
“It’s just a scratch, barely made it through the armor. So I know nothing is seriously hurt. I will need you to repair my armor later tonight though.”
Snow spoke up, “Um sir? Was it him?”
Commander Bolt hesitated before replying, “No… I was able to find out that he was sent further north to intercept some reinforcements from Trottingham.”
Storm spoke next, “Do you want to take some soldiers up there to face him?”
“No, Eventually I will see him on the battlefield, but till then I'll stay with my main force unless Nightmare Moon orders otherwise. Besides, I want to train this new soldier personally. I want to see just how sure she is that she made the right decision to come here.”

I didn’t know how to view this stallion at all, one second he seemed nice and normal, then the next I could see the heartless Commander that the others spoke of. Nevertheless, I'm here now and if I want to make it, I'm going to have to push my patience as hard as I can to make it out of here alive. But I still have to wonder, where have I met this soldier before? I usually don’t remember faces unless they are important but I could remember Commander Bolts easily. And who is this He that they are talking about. Another soldier perhaps and if so was he a friend or a foe. Whatever happens next, I only know one thing is certain. I am now a soldier of the Nightmare Legion