Equestria Wars Episode XI: Attack of the Vines

by sonicdash123

Chapter 5: Dealing with Grathan

Charming Thunder entered his personal chamber in Canterlot and sat in his meditation chamber. The chamber closes around him and he begins to meditate. He then heard Sombra's voice talking to him in his head. "Charming Thunder, have you found your brother?" Sombra's voice asked.

"I believe I have," Charming Thunder replied. "He is here in Canterlot."

"And yet I sense something more to this story."

"I believe that he is disguised as a bounty hunter as he participates for the Great Hunt and changed his name to Phantom Lord."

"Are you certain?"

"It was him."

"This is an opportunity we could let pass. Danny must return to you to restore his memory."

"From Nyx's neckalace."

"Exactly. If he's really here. But for now, keep a close eye on Phantom Lord." Charming Thunder lowered his head like he is bowing.

"As you wish, father." Charming Thunder opened his eyes as his chamber opened and his chair rotated to a screen. The screen activated and revealed an image of Octavia. "Something you need, old friend?"

"Indeed I do," Octavia replied. "Come to my quarters and we will talk there." The screen turned off as Charming Thunder got up and left the room.

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Arriving at Octavia's quarters, Charming Thunder entered the room where Octavia stood as she bowed to him and stood back up. "I wanted to report tom you about my adopted daughter," Octavia said. "She is causing havoc to the Equestrian Empire and...I'm afraid to stop her myself."

"So what do we do then?" Charming Thunder asked.

"A bounty hunter will be coming here so I can give him or her info. I wanted her dead not alive." The conversation was cut short when they heard voices from the other side of the door. "Hang on. That must be the hunter." She went to a holocom and contacted the officer that was outside of the door. "What’s all that racket out there, soldier!?"

"There’s a quarrelsome individual here, admiral and king," the officer replied. "Rather dirty, too."

"Statement: You are an actual idiot," HK's voice said.

"Quarrelsome? You’re as weak as you are stupid! I requested a mercenary from the Ponylorians! Send that pony in immediately!"

"Yes, sir!" The transmission ended and the door opens to reveal Phantom Lord walking with HK-47 as Octavia sat on her chair behind the screen.

"Come in, mercenary. I apologize if my security officer caused you grief. He is of low birth and his intelligence reflects it. I’m afraid many of our Equestrians Soldiers are hopeless with delicate tasks. This, of course, is why I asked for a professional."

"That was good thinking," Phantom Lord said. "I love challenges; I’m the type of bounty hunter who doesn’t take normal jobs. They bore me with no real challenge. And hello, Charming Thunder."

"Looks like you found the right mercenary for the job, Octavia," Charming Thunder said. "The sooner this problem is taken care of, the better. And good to see you too, Phantom Lord."

"I have every faith in the Ponylorian enclave’s ability to get things done discreetly," Octavia said. "My adopted daughter has become something of a liability to me. I want you to kill her."

"Dead adopted daughter, check. Details?"

"My adoptive daughter was born Magic sensitive and trained to be Jedi. A great honor for our family. Unfortunately, my daughter’s master was a madpony in the school of magic’s eyes."

"No offense to you but is this some political move for you?"

"Less a move than a response, but yes. If Grathan’s compound is raided and my daughter captured or killed, every member of her family will suffer. That is Sith politics. In the best-case scenario, I love my rank and position. In the worst..."

"You’ve got a lot to protect, Admiral."

"You got that right," Charming Thunder replied.

"There is no room for failure here."

"Statement: Phantom Lord is well famous in Hutta Swamps for killing many and leaving no failure," HK-47 reassured. "Nem’ro the Hutt favors him greatly."

"You don’t say..."

"Grathan is a paranoid madpony," Octavia said. "His compound is built to withstand a siege, but a lone infiltrator will take them by surprise. My adopted daughter is somewhere inside Grathan’s compound. Her name is Vereta. You will know her, as she closely resembles me."

"I’ll handle this quiet and quick." Phantom and HK began to leave the room but stopped as HK-47 talked to him.

"Remember, discretion is essential. Do not let yourself be captured. Good luck." Phantom Lord left the room with HK-47 as Charming Thunder watched. "Something on your mind, your highness?"

"It's nothing," Charming Thunder replied. "Eversince I first saw him, my medallion began to glow. I think that it's Danny."

"Should I send some troops to get him?"

"Not yet. When the time is right, we will get him."

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Charming Thunder decided to deal with the rogue pony Grathan. He dealt with some guards and entered his sanctuary quietly without sounding the alarm. From what he heard, Grathan is a mad pony like a mad scientist. He created cyborgs with live ponies and created droids. Once he reached to the doors to his chambers, he took out the guards that were standing there and opened it. There stood the mad pony that almost looked like a cyborg himself. He turned to see Charming Thunder enter the chamber. "My uninvited guest has finally arrived," he said. "I am honored to meet the king himself. I wondered why I sensed murderous intentions the moment you first entered my sanctuary. Eversince my apprentice was killed by a bounty hunter, I knew that you had to come along."

"I did not come to be one of your lab rats, Grathan," Charming Thunder said. "I only came to end your schemes. You used innocent lives to make cyborgs of your own so that they would be killed in the end. It disgusts me."

"Not as disgusted as you think." Suddenly, a droid came from behind and injected him with something he doesn't know about. He then slashed the droid in half and pointed his lightsaber at him.

"What have you done to me, mad pony?"

"I have injected you with a serum that will make you become one of us. Resist if you must, but it will not fade. I am death itself. Come embrace the darkness." Grathan activated his lightsaber and got into his battle stance. Charming Thunder stood up and began to attack him. They clashed their blades as Charming Thunder used his magic to push him back. Grathan leaps in the air, but Charming Thunder used his levitation spell to slam him to the ground. He then knocked his lightsaber out of his hoof and grabbed him by the neck.

"Where is your antidote!? Answer wrong and you will have to suffer the consequences."

Grathan only chocked out a laugh before he spoke. "If you kill me, you won't know." Charming Thunder squeezed his neck tighter until he finally confessed. "Okay. Okay. I give up. Its in my pocket." Charming Thunder then releases him and lets him breathe. Once he got some air, he took out the antidote from his pocket and hands it to Charming Thunder. He then injects it and throws the needle out of the way.

"You are coming with me, Grathan. You will answer to your crimes in court." Charming Thunder escorts Grathan out of the chambers and takes him back to the castle.