The Third Commander

by Priceless911

Ch14 Zine's Lost Fear

The campfire glowed brightly in the hazy valley as Zine sat next to it poking it with the bottom of his staff. After a few seconds, the bottom of his staff caught fire as he pulled it from the fire, and looked at the flame and whispered, “one… two… three… four… fi-”
By the time he reached five, the flame went out as the bottom of the wood started smoldering as he mumbled, “Five days… unless… I counted too fast. Either way… there are only a few days left till time.”
with that said, Zine stuck the bottom of the staff in the sand surrounding the campfire as the sand put the embers on the staff out leaving a dark burn mark on the bottom of the wood. As he pulled the staff from the sand, Zine looked at the potion inside the glass vial at the top of his staff as he mumbled, “I wonder… what move will he make till then?”
As he looked into the pasty white potion in his staff, Cirrus and Spike arrived carrying fire wood as Cirrus asked, “Hm? Did you say something?”

Zine smiled, “Nope, just wondering what will happen now that you’ve officially declared war on Thundaga.”
Cirrus sighed as he placed the wood next to the fire, “please don’t remind me. I hoped that things could have gone peacefully, but that was just wishful thinking.”
Zine nodded his head as he replied, “Of course it didn’t go peacefully, otherwise this story’s ending would have been dull. And who would want that?”
“Wait… What did you say?”
Zine smiled innocently, “oh nothing, you two found quite a bit of fire wood.”
Spike nodded his head, “we found a few trees not too far from here. It’s not much but it will keep us warm if we decide to stay the night… so… how is she?”
Zine sighed, “she’s not doing so well… she is in a lot of pain.”
With that, Zine looked at the wall of the valley at an oddly shaped rock structure that resembled a cave as Cirrus replied, “I would guess so… she took quite the beating from Thundaga, then there’s her wing.”
Zine shook his head, “the pain she is feeling is deep enough for even me to feel… however, it isn’t physical pain… its emotional.”

Cirrus looked towards the cave as he replied, “really?... Is it all because of what Thundaga said?”
Zine shook his head, “who knows… Regardless of which, she needs somepony she trusts to talk to. Maybe that will cheer her up. How about you commander? She trusts you after all.”
Cirrus was surprised, “me?... are you sure? After what happened in Canterlot, I don’t think anypony would trust me.”
Zine nodded his head, “yes… and yet she does… much more than you think.”
Cirrus replied, “really?… but… what do I say?”
Zine smiled sarcastically as he replied, “Are you okay, would be a good start. But I think she just needs a friend to vent to. Spike and I can handle things out here, after all I have an errand for Spike to run while we are here.”
Cirrus sighed, “All right then… Well I guess I’ll do what I can.”
With that, Cirrus entered the cave as Zine started telling Spike what he wanted him to do.

As Cirrus trotted through the cave he saw Gem sitting on a large stone with a sad look on her face. Cirrus didn’t know what to say, but since his presence was obvious, he felt that leaving would only escalate the problem so instead Cirrus trotted to Gem Stone and sat beside her as he averted his eyes and tried to think of what to say. At first, Cirrus knew how to break the ice, but when he turned to Gem Stone, he changed his mind so he looked away and tried to think of something else to say. As he tried to collect the words, Gem Stone who stared at the floor in the corner spoke first, “I… I owe you an apology.”
Cirrus looked at her, “what?”
Gem Stone continued looking away as she replied, “you told me that facing her was a death wish… and… I ignored your warning. Not only that, everything she says was right. I’m… I’m nothing but a selfish hypocrite.”

Cirrus was concerned, “What? Why would you say that about yourself?”
Gem sighed in disappointment, “I used you… to get close to her. I put you in danger and all because I was jealous… she… she is the daughter of the stallion I loved… and… another mare. She was born because I wasn’t good enough to live through the battle of Canterlot. And… for that reason… I hated her.”
Tears built up in Gem Stone’s eyes as she continued, “I viewed the nightmare legion as the only time in my life where others around me mattered… but when I came back from the dead… I didn’t even make an attempt to know anypony around me… and to make it worse, out of jealousy I made up a petty excuse to hate Thundaga and challenge her to a fight… but… it only opened my eyes to what I truly am… a sad, pathetic, failure… and a hypocritical has-been who only cares about herself and nopony else.”

With that said, tears began rolling down her face as Cirrus replied, “I don’t think you’re a failure, you st-”
Gem looked at Cirrus with tear filled eyes as she interrupted, “How can you say that? Do you know what the one thing that a soldier is supposed to do above all others?... We are supposed to survive the battles we fight. But… I didn’t. In the midst of a retreat, I fell by an arrow and died before even getting out of Canterlot. Let’s face it… I am a failure. An-”
Cirrus cleared his throat and interrupted, “As I was saying, you’re not a failure. I said that going to Canterlot was a death wish… but here you are. You had the courage to tell Thundaga your mind without hesitation or even showing the slightest bit of worry. Seeing what you did… well… I could never be brave enough to do such a thing. If anything, I admire you more after what you showed me. Your cleverness in talking to the guards, your confidence in your own abilities… even the way you dodged, blocked, and survived a direct attack from Thundaga herself. Ms. Stone… that was inspiring to see, and… now… I want to help more than ever.”

Gem blushed a little as she averted her eyes, “you’re just saying that to cheer me up… aren’t you?”
Cirrus shook his head, “not at all. Seeing the way you handled that… I truly believed that if anypony could defeat her, it was you; Captain Gem Stone of the Nightmare Legion.”
Smiling through her tears, Gem replied with sarcasm, “Oh now you believe the stories, right?”
Cirrus shrugged his shoulders, “well… I’m still willing to question a lot of it… but… if anything I believe you are who you say you are.”
Gem Stone wiped away her tears as she replied, “I never asked, but… Why don’t you believe in those stories?”
Cirrus sighed as he replied, “I did believe them when I was little, but… I stopped… on the day my parents were executed.”
Gem was concerned, “why?”

Since it was a hard subject to talk about, Cirrus had to give a bracing sigh before replying with a question of his own, “in your own words… how many close calls did you have in your adventures?”
“Close… Calls?”
Cirrus nodded, “yea, like… arrows being blocked at the last second or somepony pushing you out of the way of a catapult boulder or something like that?”
Gem though to herself as she replied, “I… never kept count… off the top of my head… ten… maybe more.”
Cirrus nodded his head, “exactly, in all those stories, axes were stopped at the last second or arrows hit enemies before they could strike or, y’know… all sorts of stuff like that. So, being as young as I was… I kinda expected that to be the way things worked. So… with that in mind… you could probably guess why I snuck out to see my parents’ execution against Mr. Toll’s wishes.”

Gem Stone gave him a shocked expression as she replied calmly, “you… thought that something would save them at the last second… didn’t you?”
Cirrus looked at the ground in embarrassment, “I was just a foal, why wouldn’t I? If the stories were true, then it would only seem obvious that at the last second, an arrow would hit Thundaga, or a mysterious fighter would block her swords or something right?... but… it didn’t… As a young foal, ignorant to the way things were… I watched from the front of the herd, as Thundaga stabbed, and killed my parents right in front of me. First my mother… then my father. And all… with my hero’s sword.”
Gem Gave him a sympathetic look, “I… I didn’t know.”
Cirrus sighed, “after that… I assumed that all those old stories were nothing but ponytales. Stories meant to entertain little foals and make them feel like there could be hope in this hopeless existence. For while I even believed that they were made up by Thundaga to encourage little ones to join the Royal Guard. But, the way she talks about it, and the way you talk about it… make it seem a lot more real than the words on a page.”

Gem Smiled, “yes, and consider this. Right now we are sitting in another segment of the stories.”
Cirrus was confused, “another segment? What do you mean?”
Gem continued, “We are sitting inside of a building that used to be in old Canterlot. The Canterlot that I saw when we attacked the city sixteen centuries ago.”
Cirrus looked around, “wait… you mean this cave?”
“Not just this cave, all the rock formations outside. They are left over building from when Canterlot fell from the mountain. The towers we dodged, the windows in the rocks, all part of the old Canterlot before the Eden’s Kiss Catastrophe.”
Cirrus thought to himself, “So… it all is real. All of it. From these ruins… to… you.”
As Cirrus looked at Gem she blushed slightly as she replied, “Yes… even me… but… I guess none of that matters anymore. I failed, Thundaga won, and it only proved how petty I can be.”

Cirrus sighed, “I told you, that’s all water under the bridge.”
Gem smirked, “or over the falls…”
Cirrus smiled at the uplifting joke as he replied, “Yea… so… what are you going to do now?”
Gems expression showed that she was troubled as she replied, “well… I… I always wanted to see what the Griffin Kingdom was like. Commander Bolt told me it was a war mongering nation, but now that Thundaga made it a republic, I’m willing to bet it’s more peaceful than it used to be.”
Cirrus was surprised, “Wait… you mean… run away?”
Gem Stone sighed, “There is nothing left here… for any of us. Everything I had died centuries ago, same for Spike. Zine never had anything here to begin with… and… if it’s not too much trouble.” She blushed a little, “do… um… would… you like to come with m-… us?”

Cirrus was shocked, not because he was asked to go too, but that she was considering leaving in the first place. He could only ask, “What about Thundaga?”
Gem shook her head, “you said it yourself… it’s a pointless fight. You saw it, I gave almost everything I had and she stomped me without even breaking a sweat. Even if I had a thousand more years to train, I can’t face a goddess and win.”
Cirrus shook his head, “But we can win… You did everything I thought was impossible. You faced Thundaga, you told her to step down and you even fought her and lived. You did everything, and all I did was put you down. I think… that if you can go that far and live to tell about it… then… next time… when you, Zine, Spike, and I help… we can beat her.”

Gem gave an unsure expression, “I don’t know… we barely got out of there with our lives to begin with-”
Cirrus put his hoof on her shoulder, “just think about it for a little bit. When you rest enough… maybe, it will seem like a better option. After all, I wouldn’t think that Commander Bolt would ever abandon a goal that isn’t finished yet. So why should we?”
With that said, Cirrus stood up and left Gem Stone in a state of shock. As he left the room of the ancient building, Gem could only stare as she mumbled to herself, “For a second… he sounded like…” She shook her head to snap herself out of it, “no, it’s impossible. He isn’t Star Bolt… even… if I… kinda… want him to be.”

Outside, Zine was poking the fire as Gem’s emotions hit him causing him to smile and mumble to himself, “She’s in love… interesting.”
With that, Cirrus trotted up as he asked, “hm? Did you say something Zine?”
Zine shook his head, “Nope just admiring how you cheered her up.”
Cirrus gave him confused look as he sat down by the fire, “cheered her u- oh that’s right. I forgot you two share emotions. Glad to hear it. I was worried I would make things worse.”
Zine shook his head, “yea, A commander making his captain feeling worse would be bad wouldn’t it?”
Giving up on convincing him, Cirrus sighed, “yea… I guess so.”
With that Cirrus picked up a stick and started poking the fire as Zine smiled sarcastically, “Commander… if you had to make a choice, who would you choose? Ms. Stone, or Thundaga?”
Cirrus gave him a hopeless look as he replied without hesitation, “Seriously? Isn’t it obvious? I'd choose Ms. Stone.”

Zine was surprised at how quickly he answered, “whoa, really? Not to pry or anyth-… okay specifically to pry… Why Ms. Stone?”
Cirrus sighed in hopelessness, “well since I am already associated with attacking Thundaga, I think commanding her army would be a bad idea. But if Gem had an army I’m sure with her trust on my side I would probably last a little longer… even if I don’t expect to last long in a fight.”
Zine gave Cirrus a hopeless stare, “really… her army?...”
Cirrus nodded his head, “well yea, wait… isn’t that what you were asking? Whose army I would rather lead?”
Waving his hoof in dismissal, Zine replied, “Uh, yea, sure it was.”
Although Cirrus was skeptic that the question was misread, he still disregarded it as he replied, “um… Zine… can I ask you something?”
Zine looked at Cirrus as he continued, “I um, wanted to ask you about your fear. Ms. Stone says that… you’re fearless. Is that true?”
Zine nodded his head as he replied, “it is…”

Cirrus asked, “How is that possible? I thought nopony was fearless?”
Zine smiled, “that is true, but as you can see, I am no-pony.”
Cirrus tried to guess, “Is… it some kind of spell? A potion you drank? Or, did you do some sort of special training?”
Zine shook his head, “no nothing like that.”
Cirrus seemed intent on finding out, “well… can you give me a hint? Write it down? Something?... anything?...”
Seeing that Cirrus was determined Zine asked, “Why do you want to know so badly?”
Cirrus sighed in shame as he replied, “well… I’ve decided to be a part of what Ms. Stone is trying to do. During her fight with Thundaga… I could only sit and watch, no matter how much I wanted to help, I…”
Cirrus looked at the ground in shame as Zine finished his sentence, “you couldn’t fight back… because of your fear of the Lightning Orb.”
Cirrus nodded his head, “I don’t know how to fight, and the lightning orb is all I have to my advantage… but I can’t use it. Whenever I think about it… I feel as if I’m falling from an incredible height, with no way of stopping myself. It scares me so much that I can’t move. So… I want to know how to become fearless, like you. I want to be able to use the lightning orb properly regardless of my fear. And if you tell me how, I can.”

Zine gave him an unamused look, “so… by knowing my way, you think you can become fearless? Just so you can fight back?”
Cirrus nodded his head, “yes… please, teach me.”
Zine shook his head, “no… fear is not something you should just get over, it’s something you must push through at will. What your problem is you need to weigh your options. Would you rather go through a few second of fear, or watch something worse happen. A second of fear, or a lifetime of regret.”
Cirrus gave him a confused look, “and… that’s your secret?”
Zine shook his head, “no… mine is far worse.”
Cirrus continued to push, “then tell me and maybe I can find a way to push through.”
Zine shook his head as he sighed in disappointment, but said nothing. Since he didn’t reply, Cirrus continued, “So… you’re just going to push me aside?”
Zine didn’t reply instead he went back to poking the fire with his staff as Cirrus sighed, “fine… I guess I'll find another way to deal with th-”
“Placement Trials…”

Cirrus gave Zine a confused look, “what did you say?”
Zine replied with an upbeat tone, “Placement Trials… ever heard of them? Fascinating ritual that we zebra go through. You see, you ponies call them cutiemarks. Marks that define what makes you special and shows the world what your special talent is. As for us, we call them placement marks. Marks that define your skill and announce your roll and placement in the tribe. Some of us earn ours naturally, however when we turn ten, we have no choice but to take part in a special ritual called the Placement Trials.”
Cirrus became interested as he asked, “so… is that where you got your placement mark?”
Zine nodded his head as he replied, “yes… but… at a price. You see when I was little I was completing spells far beyond my age. So much in fact that my parents who were just-so-very proud of me, convinced the Chief to make me take the Placement Trials early. So while most the zebra in the trials were ten or eleven… I was five.”

Cirrus could detect an unenthusiastic tone when he mentioned his parents, but he ignored that as he replied, “that’s impressive, five years earlier than the rest. I’m sure you were excited right?”
Zine smiled sarcastically, “well, I would have been… if it wasn’t for the law of the trials.”
Cirrus was curious, “law? What was that?”
Zine continued, “The law of the trials is this… Every zebra who takes part in the trials will only be considered successful if and when the placement mark appears on his or her flank. However if the mark doesn’t appear by the fifth attempt of the trials, the zebra will then be banished from the tribe and must set out alone to attain their mark elsewhere.”
Cirrus thought to himself, “So that means?”
Zine replied, “If I didn’t get my mark by the time I was ten… I was going to be banished from the tribe.”

Cirrus was concerned, “were you?”
Zine waved his hoof in a dismissive way, “slow down… I'll get to that. Needless to say, I started the trials using my most challenging spells. One by one, I knocked them out without even breaking a sweat. But no matter how many I completed… my placement mark never appeared. I was disappointed, but then the chief said that harder spells might be what I need, and that a mark created from something incredible could only mean great things for my future. So… I studied all year, and returned with spells that were not only more challenging. These were spells that even the village elders had a hard time completing. But… no matter how many I flawlessly completed… my mark didn’t appeared.”
Cirrus asked, “Was your talent something other than magic?”
Zine shook his head, “I didn’t know, but that didn’t stop me. I started looking through spell books far beyond my skill level. So much in fact that news reached the five tribes of Zebrica, so when the third placement trials began, I even had elders form other villages watching with anticipation at the spells I was completing. Stuff so advanced that none of my village elders could have done them on their own.”

Cirrus was amazed, “whoa, magic that made you the best zebra in your whole village?”
Zine nodded his head, “yea… but… after the third placement trials was over… I was three for three on the loser board. It wasn’t that I wasn’t doing the spells right… it’s just that even after I completed them all flawlessly, my mark still didn’t appear. So… for the fourth year, I even traveled to the sacred central capital of Zebrica, where its rumored that all the most challenging zebra spells are kept. Spells that were the most powerful spells know to the world. I thought that if there was anything that would do it… it was in there.”
Cirrus was wrapped around the story as he spoke, “wow… then what happened?”
Seeing that Cirrus was hooked on the story like a foal to ponytales, Zine continued, “Elders from all over Zebrica came to witness what I would pull out during the fourth Placement trials. Every one of them knew that if I used a spell from the Central Capital, and get my mark. Then I would be marked as one of the most skilled zebra’s in the entire nation. But… my skill, and completion of each spell was only insulted since… my mark… still refused to appear.”
Cirrus was a little disappointed, “fourth try too?”
Zine nodded his head, “yea… fourth try too. My parents wanted me to get my mark so badly that they tried to convince the chief to give me until my fifteenth birthday to get my mark, but… the chief’s word was final. We will follow the law of the trials. On the fifth year of my participation in the trials, if my mark wasn’t there by the end of that day… I would no longer be a part of the Western Tribes of Zebrica.”

Cirrus felt concerned, “so… what did you do?”
Zine sighed as his tone became darker, “the day before the fifth attempt came… and I was so nervous, I spent the entire day meditating in hopes that I would gain help from my ancestors… and sadly… that’s exactly what I got.”
“Sadly?...”
“An ancestor revealed himself to me, he said that his name was Zeil of the Black Sand. He, was a changeling.”
“A changeling?”
“Yes… and he told me of a spell that would not only be the one that would earn me my mark, it would also someday have an effect on the world’s very future. So out of desperation, I listened to what was needed to complete this spell so that I could us it and attain my mark… however, when I heard of the ingredients… I became nervous. This spell was not only a powerful one… but because of its ingredients, it’s considered an incredibly forbidden one. Because one ingredient that I needed to add, was the blood of a deceased zebra.”

Cirrus’s eyes widened “Wh-what? You… had to kill somezebra and take their blood?”
Zine shook his head, “At the age of ten?... back then I actually had a heart so the idea of killing somezebra was out of the question. Luckily there was an elderly mare who had passed the night before, and was awaiting burial. I was desperate so when nozebra was looking I snuck into the hut where they were keeping her and took a few drops of blood from her corpse.”
“What? But weren’t you afraid you would get caught?”
Zine shrugged his shoulders “I thought that if I added the ingredient without telling the observer of what it was I could get my placement mark and get away with it. Zeil told me that my mark would appear when the potion was halfway done and that nothing else would matter once my mark appeared.”

Cirrus asked in anticipation, “so… when the day came… what happened?”
Zine replied as his tone showed a little anger, “the day came and everyzebra who has ever dabbled in magic showed up to see what I would have in store. Word of my magical talent spread as far as the seas so they were all excited to see what spell would bring me my mark. So, with an anxious sigh, I began creating my potion. Each ingredient I added changed the brew just as Zeil told me it would. But then came the time that I would add the Blood of a deceased zebra. As flawless as I expected, I pulled the hidden vial from my bag of ingredients, pulled the cork from the top and poured the drops in.”
Cirrus became anxious, “then?...”
Zine’s tone became dark, “my mark appeared… but so did something I never expected to see. A smoke cloud shaped like a blood red dragon emerged from the brew and rose above the herd of zebra as it looked over the entire village before returning back down and diving into the caldron.”

Cirrus sat in amazement as he asked “what did I mean?”
Zine replied in anger, “I didn’t know it at the time… but it was confirmation, that the blood sacrifice, had been accepted… meaning…”
Cirrus realized it, “the zebra’s watching knew you added blood.”
Zine nodded his head as his expression became angry, “exactly… before I knew it, I was pinned to the ground and held there as the strongest worriers of the village rushed in and placed spears against my neck preventing me from moving. As I was held there, I was terrified, there I was a ten year old zebra with no idea of what was going to happen as I was immediately treated as a criminal. A few minutes later, heavy iron cuffs were strapped to my hooved as they dragged me away… literally dragged me against the ground out of the trial hall. Screaming in fear, I called to my parent who were standing near the door as they dragged me by. But then the guard asked them if I was their son, my mother looked away in shame, while my father said, no… I have no son.”
Cirrus was shocked, “they… abandoned you… after pleading so hard to get you into the trials in the first place?”

Zine nodded as he replied with anger, “yes… and that, was nail one in my sanity’s coffin. Later they dragged me to a hut at the edge of the village. There the chiefs of the four border tribes and the central minister were standing there as the minister spoke. He said that my crime was unforgivable, so my punishment will match the crime. He said that what was earned will be returned, and that I would spend the next fifteen years as a prisoner bearing the mark of eternal shame. Then following the fifteen years of imprisonment, I would be put to death.”
Cirrus was shocked, “all that, for completing a spell?”
Zine shook his head, “no… all that for attempting the spell. The most forbidden spell of our kind. So forbidden, that speaking of it is also considered a crime. That’s why I never knew of it, it wasn’t even in the forbidden section of spell books.” His expression became saddened “So after telling me of my crime and punishment, it began. They started by taking what I earned in the trials.”
“Your Placement Mark?...”

Zine nodded, “my mark… First they strapped me to a table faced down, and from there all four chiefs took turns using a red hot dagger to cut one line across my placement mark. Deep enough so that the mark will be permanently ruined, and so that if I were to be seen by other zebra before my death, they would know of my crime and of my punishment.”
Zine placed his hoof on X shaped scare over one of his placement marks as he mumbled, “I was still a foal, and they held me down cutting into my flesh with a blade that sealed the opening wound on contact. I can still feel it burning… I can still… hear my own screams. And by the time it was all done… my placement mark had two slashes across each one, the so-called… Mark of Shame. Then, they blindfolded me, and continued dragging me to a cave far outside the village. Before I knew it, they took the blindfold off, unchained my hooves and tossed me into a solid iron room that had to be about seven by seven feet with an iron door that was closed and welded shut behind me.”

Cirrus was shocked, “they welded the door shut?”
Zine nodded, “yes… with only a small door on the ground, that would open to slide a food tray in in the morning, and open for me to slide it back out in the evening. This… was my new home, no windows, no sun light… not even bars. This was a prison meant for a criminal of nature, in other words. Any zebra willing to perform one of the three most forbidden spells.”
Cirrus was curious, “what are the three spells?”
Zine replied, “Well… the first and least of all is the capture spell… which… I can’t say since discussing the spells effects are also considered forbidden. Next would be the resurrection spell, which you’ve seen first hoof. However the final spell is the very one I committed during my placement trial… I just didn’t know it, since discussing the spell is also forbidden so it’s not surprising that I didn’t know it was that bad.”

Cirrus smiled with the irony, “yea… seems odd that a spell can be so forbidden that you aren’t even allowed to be told that it isn’t forbidden in the first place… so, what happened next.”
Zine’s expression faded from his face as he replied, “well… I served my punishment. For fifteen years I sat in that cell with no contact with the outside world in any way other than that tin tray that slid in in the morning and was expected to slide out in the evening. And let me tell you something, sitting with no contact and nothing to occupy your mind for that long… pays one heck of a toll.” Zine’s expression showed tension, “Five months had passed… before I came to the sad realization that there was nothing left for me outside those walls. In three years… I lost all hope in freedom, or escape. In five… I lost hope with my very life. After eight years though… I went completely and utterly insane.”
Cirrus was concerned, “h-how?...”

Zine smiled in a way to show he was hiding pain, “I surrendered to fear… and… it drove me to see and hear torment far beyond my own comprehension.”
Cirrus gave him a curious look as Zine saw this and explained, “for eight years, I stared at a solid iron door… eight years… knowing that the next time that door would open… would be the day I would be executed, and the worst part… I didn’t even know how they would do it. Would they kill me quick and painlessly like an arrow to the head, or would it be long and painful like burning me alive? Would they make it simple and clean like snapping my neck, or horrifying like being drawn and quartered? Would it be with a normal weapon like a spear, or something abnormal, like a hungry lion? For years… I sat and thought about literally millions of ways they could kill me knowing that any one of them no matter how horrific it could be, was the way they would do it. Think about it… by that time… I was eighteen… and my life would end before it could begin.”

Cirrus could see the pain in his expression as he spoke, “wow… that’s… that’s horrible.”
Zine’s pain then faded as an eerie smile appeared, “then… something happened… something I never expected.”
Cirrus asked, “What?”
Zine gave him a look that sent a chill up his spine, “On my thirteenth year of my imprisonment… my fear left me.”
Cirrus felt nervous with Zine’s somewhat psychotic expression as he asked, “L-left you… H-how did that happen?”
Zine’s crazed smile slowly started to show in his eyes, “My fear… turned to curiosity. As I sat there wondering about how they would kill me… I slowly became curious myself… so much… that I wanted to know how they would do it. I wanted to see a punishment befitting a criminal of nature.” His smile became worse, “I wanted to know everything about it… how they would do it, the tools they would use… I even wanted to know the name of who would do it. I started wondering about the pain I would feel and became curious of what it would feel like… would it be drowning like getting a burn on your hoof… or would it feel simple like a cut from a thorn bush. Or maybe… the soothing burn of a poisonous plant rash. The list went on and on.”

Cirrus started to become afraid of Zine as Zine started to look at the fire with the crazed look still on his face, “I was wondering…if it was a beheading, would they use a guillotine or an axe… or better yet, a dull axe so it wouldn’t so much as remove my head, but make it so that my neck would break and they would have to hit me more than once. The curiosity flooded my mind, it became the subject of very dreams, so much that I had plenty of dreams at night where I was killed in multiple ways, sometimes even more than one in a single dream, like burning me alive before dropping me into the ocean with a boulder tied to my hooves. It became so common… that I would begin placing bets to see if I could guess how they would do it. The feeling of knowing was… intoxicating.”

Cirrus had no idea how to respond, it was as if the cleaver egotistical stallion that he knew was completely replaced by a husk of a stallion with nothing but suffering on his mind. As he sat silently beginning to question his trust in Zine, the broken zebra’s expression slowly turned to a simple smile as he continue, “My fear… my fear of death and everything else I had… faded, and was gone forever. For the last two years… these somewhat… soothing thoughts ran through my mind… until that day… the day it was expected to all end… finally came. From the moment that day began, I woke to my usual meal of hay and water, and sat watching the iron door as the sound of chisels breaking the welds echoed through the cell. From the moment that began… my excitement filled my body so much… that it took all I had to hold still as I heard the metal clasp on the outside of the door break free, as the solid iron door slowly creaked opened to reveal something that even I didn’t expect to see.”

Zine looked back at Cirrus as he continued, “the guards at the door weren’t Zebrican at all… they were ponies.”
“Ponies?”
Zine nodded his head, “yes… as soon as the door opened, a group of Equestrian Royal Guards entered the cell, lined up on the wall, and stood at the ready. As surprised as I was… I didn’t show it. My confident smile stayed on my face as I slowly ran my eyes down each wall looking at each guard who responded with an expression that showed simply, that they were all afraid.”
Cirrus was curious, “they were afraid of you?”
Zine smiled confidently, “yes… although they hid it behind a serious look… I could see it in their eyes and feel it in the cell. Each and everypony in that cell was afraid of me… and I loved it. Feeling their fear somehow gave me even more of an excitement in the situation. It radiated through the room like a soothing warmth in a cold freezer. Then I looked at the cell’s door to see the only one in the room who wasn’t afraid of me, the one soul whose fear wasn’t felt in the air… Thundaga.”

Although Cirrus slowly faded from the story by Zine’s obvious stroke of insanity, he started to come back to the story as he replied, “Really?... what happened then?”
Zine smiled, “Well I spoke, Are you the one here to kill me? However she replied with a question of her own, Are you related to Zecora of the Everfree? I replied, yes since I remember hearing that old story from my grandparent when I was very little. She continued by stating that she was from Equestria and that she wanted to offer me a position in her court. She explained that if I were to use my magic to help her in any way asked, I would be given freedom to perform any magic of my choosing so long as it brings no harm to her subject, her guards, or the integrity of her kingdom itself. At first I said no, but then, I started to think of how the offer would benefit me in ways other than canceling my execution. When I considered it, I decided to make a request along with what was already offered. So… I explained my request and Thundaga kindly accepted.”
Cirrus asked, “What did you request?”

Zine held out his staff and replied, “This…”
Cirrus looked at the staff and the potion filled flask on the end of it as he asked, “That?”
Zine smiled, “This my friend… is the unfinished potion that had me imprisoned in that cell to begin with. This… is the forbidden potion I created all those years ago.”
Cirrus looked at the potion in disbelief, “that can’t be possible. Didn’t you say they imprisoned you before it could be finished? Surely they would pour the potion out wouldn’t they?”
Zine shook his head, “no… this potion may have not been finished… but that doesn’t mean its safe. If they were to simply pour it out… the results could be disastrous. This potion is the most forbidden spell in all Zebradom… its power if left uncontrolled can bring forth an event that could cause mass-… oh you’re good… You almost tricked me into telling you what it could do. Clever commander, but let’s just say they had good reason for keeping this locked away.”

Knowing that there were some things that even he wouldn’t ever understand, Cirrus slowly looked into the fire as he asked, “so… what happened next?”
Zine shrugged his shoulders as he started poking the fire again, “like I said, I got my potion and came back to Equestria. Since living in a castle was too spacious even for me… I chose to move to the Everfree Forest, where one day I stumbled upon Spike sleeping in a cave. Since I told him that I had no intention on telling anypony he was in the kingdom, Spike and I slowly became friends. And the rest is history.”
Rethinking the reason for asking, Cirrus replied, “So… getting over my fear may be harder than I thought.”
Zine shook his head, “it isn’t hard at all, like I said, your fear isn’t something to merely get over. It’s something to decide. Eventually you will have to make a choice where the option will be your life or your fear. So when that happened choose wisely. To be honest, I think you can not only beat this. I’m willing to bet you may be able to beat Thundaga if you gain the will to fight.”

Out of curiosity Cirrus asked, “really?... and on what history are you basing this off of?”
Zine smiled, “none.”
Cirrus gave him a hopeless look, “Wow, you’re bad at this whole motivation thing aren’t you?”
Zine smiled, “Yea, then again I’m not the motivating type.”
Cirrus sighed, “I can see that.”
All of a sudden Spike came walking through the mist as he carried a bag in his claw. As he walked up Zine smiled, “oh you’re back… so, how was it?”
Spike shook his head, “Gem Stone’s place wasn’t a problem. I got the bow quiver and even a small sword. But your hut is crawling with royal guards. I couldn’t get anything out of that place.”
Zine nodded his head, “so it would seem that Thundaga has branded me a criminal. So much for our deal.”

Cirrus sighed, “sorry, I bet that it has something to do with my and Ms. Stone’s incident. Zine shook his head, “nah I’ve been expecting this for a while. Besides, I’m already a criminal… let’s just consider this a parole violation.”
As he said that Gem Stone came out of the ruins as she spoke, “um… Cirrus?”
The group turned to Gem as she continued, “I’ve thought about what you said… and… I’ve decided that you’re right. Commander Bolt would be disappointed in me for just turning away like this. So, I’ve decided that I’m going to help you.”
Cirrus smiled, “I’m glad you agree Ms. Stone. Welcome back.”
With that Gem Blushed as she asked, “Um… Cirrus… back in Canterlot, when I was tossed from the bridge… you um… called me by my name. Well… if it’s alright with you… could you do that from now on?”
Cirrus smiled, “Sure, I can do that… Gem Stone.”
Zine smiled, “how about me?”

Gem gave him a hopeless look, “it’s still Ms. Stone to you… or in this case… Captain Stone. If Cirrus is returning as commander… then I will happily be his officer.”
Zine nodded his head, “I have no need for titles… just call me Zine… Your Untrusty Black Mage.”
Smiling at Zine’s play on words, Cirrus replied, “sure… I'll leave the last part out though.”
Spike smiled, “I'll just be your dragon. Or if you want your faithful assistant.”
Smiling at what Spike added, Cirrus nodded his head as Gem noticed something and spoke up, “you know… this is all nice and all, but if we are going to try a second attempt at Thundaga’s throat we are probably going to need more than just us.”
Zine nodded his head, “agreed, Thundaga has an army. To face her we will probably need one of our own.”
Cirrus smiled as he replied, “yes… and I know just the place to get one.”

Back in Canterlot, Thundaga stood on the balcony of her room as she looked into the city with an unhappy expression on her face. As she stood there, Commander Mist entered as he spoke, “Your Majesty? You wanted to see me?”
Thundaga nodded her head but her expression stayed, “yes… I wanted to apologize. I may have treated you unfairly, however as your princess it is my duty to see to the loyalty of my soldiers and to prevent mutiny. As you know I was attacked earlier today and I banished both Cirrus Cloud and Gem Stone from Canterlot. Also I have issued an arrest on Zine of the Everfree. He had committed an atrocity against nature that went too far.”
Commander Mist nodded, “I heard, that’s why I arrived late. My first action was to go to his home and arrest him myself… but he wasn’t there. The place was empty, so I could only assume the coward fled the kingdom.”

Thundaga looked back into the city as she replied, “no… he may be crafty… but he’s no coward. Wherever he is, he has become a risk… one that can’t underestimate… or ignore. Put the city on high alert. Anypony, carriage, or train that enters the city will be searched. Contraband such as armor and weapons will be ceased and it possessors arrested. But if you find anypony that is on our watch list, they will be brought to me.”
Seeing that the old Thundaga he knew was back Commander Mist smiled, “Yes Your Majesty, at once.”
With that Commander Mist left the room as Thundaga looked into the city with a tear rolling down her cheek, “Cirrus… he choose her over me… I thought… he’d be different. I thought, he would understand what I’m doing. I guess… the only pony I can trust… is myself. I… we must tread carefully from now on. Or we will lose Equestria to war.”

Comments

[Thunder--Clash]

Wow, First to comment. YAY

I loved reading this chapter; it was really well constructed to keep me reading without my mind wondering elsewhere. Well done You did an excellent job in writing this chapter

Finally, we now know Zine's backstory, been waiting for a while to "hear" his story