The Third Commander

by Priceless911

Ch23 The Final Ingredient

The sky was dark as the glowing sparks jumped from General Dash’s sword as he blocked an enemy attack, parried the enemy’s sword away, then stabbed his attacker before the he could recover. As the Royal soldier fell to the ground, General Dash looked towards the front as he noticed a few Rebellion soldiers turning to retreat. When he saw this, He immediately called, “HOLD THE LINE!!! You saw the signal! Commander Halo and his Nightmare Legion are still fighting inside the city! We must hold the li-”
Before he could finish his sentence, another volley of enemy arrows fell from the sky as one hit him in his shoulder with enough force to knock him to the ground. Grunting in a combination of pain and anger, General Dash looked at his bleeding wound as another officer called, “GENERAL!!!”

Concerned, the officer quickly rushed up to General Dash as he took one look at his wound before calling out, “The general is wounded! All soldiers fall back and regrou-”
“No…”
The officer looked back down as General Dash grabbed the soldier by the caller of his armor, pulled him close and spoke with quiet anger, “Commander Halo is still fighting inside the city… and if I know Cirrus, he won’t stop until he either succeeds or dies… Hold this line!... We knew this is an all or nothing battle… So you better be willing to give it all!... That’s an order!...”
Concerned, the officer hesitated as he looked up at the fighting around him. It was too obvious that with the current progress, this battle would no doubt end in failer, but since General Dash gave him a direct order, the officer could only nod as he looked back down at his general and replied, “Yes sir.”

The officer stood so all could hear, “All soldiers! Keep fighting!!! HOLD THE LINE!!!”
Hearing their orders, the soldier continued their fight as a medic rushed to them and spoke to General Dash, “Sir we have to get you back to the rear. You can’t fight like this.”
General Dash shook his head, “No… pull me back far enough to get this toothpick out of me, then put a patch on it. I’m not going to stop fighting until it’s over. I owe it to my friend to fight as long as I can. As a Descendant of Loyalty. It’s the least I can do.”
The medic knew he couldn’t change the general’s mind so he only nodded his head as he and another pony pulled them out of the direct line before trying to work on him to get him back into the fight.

Inside the chaotic city, Major Storm was fighting against a small force of Royal Guards as she found herself cornered against a wall by four guards. As she did everything she could to block all the attacks, she soon found herself warn out as she managed to push them back enough lean against the wall and catch her breath. Seeing her exhaustion, the leader of the group spoke up, “Alright Major… I know you’re not one for giving up, but I think it’s time we called it quits. You should have stayed with the winning side to begin with. But if you surrender peacefully, we will try to convince the princess to go easy on you.”

Major Storm shook her head, “Say what you want, but it won’t change anything… Today my head may be on the chopping block, but whose head will be there tomorrow? Yours’s… your family? Face it… it’s only a matter of time till she starts marking down her own soldiers as traitors.”
The soldier shook his head, “That won’t happen… unlike you, we’re loyal to our princess. So as long as we remain loyal, we have nothing to fear.”
Major Storm laughed, “Loyal?... what you call loyalty, I call fear. The only reason you follow her is because you’re afraid of her. Trust me, I climbed up her ranks to become a major so I know exactly why you follow her. The only difference between you and I? Is that I refuse to be a coward any longer. Take a hand from your superiors. Stop being a wuss and act like a stallion for once.”

The Royal soldier’s expression became angry as he sighed, “I tried to go easy on you… but if you fully agree with being a traitor, then I guess you deserve a traitors death. Say good bye major… I was hoping I wouldn’t have to ki-”
“Get outta the way!”
Hearing the unusual call, all the soldiers looked up the road as the speaking guard replied, “What?”
At that moment, the entire group to include Major Storm looked saw Butterscotch Pie riding on a driverless carriage as the run-away carriage careened down the road at a dangerous speed with him calling “GET OUT OF THE WAY!!!”

With no way to regain control of the carriage, Butterscotch decided to bail out as he jumped from the moving carriage and hit the ground rolling while the carriage continued without slowing down. With no time to dodge the incoming vehicle, the Royal Guards could only flinch as Major Storm used her magic to teleport to safety while the carriage hit and slammed the Royal Guards against the wall, knocking them all unconscious with the loud crash. Dizzy from his rolling stop, Butterscotch Pie picked himself up from the ground as he laughed, “Whoo that was fun… Scary… by still a thrill.”
As soon as she reappeared from her teleporting spell, Major Storm looked at the crash with shock then at Butterscotch Pie, “Y-you, saved my life.”

Confused, Butterscotch looked at the unconscious guards who laid amongst the wreckage as he smiled, “Oh… I guess I did. That’s good to know. So you’re alright then?”
Felling a little embarrassed, she replied as she blushed slightly, “Oh, um, I’m fine… um… Major Pie right?”
Butterscotch smiled, “Yep, that’s my name.”
She rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment, “Oh, okay… um… got a first name?”
Butterscotch nodded, “Yep, don’t we all?”
She smiled as she waited for him to continue, but when he didn’t, she asked, “Well… can you tell me?... or um… you don’t have to if… you don’t want to.”
He smiled as he bowed in a playful manor, “Yep, I’m Butterscotch Pie. Or that’s my name, I’m not actually a pie, that would be weird.”

Both ponies laughed at his joke for a few seconds as Major Storm blushed, “Well… um… my name is Tundra. Tundra Storm.”
Butterscotch smiled, “Sounds like a… cool, name.”
The two shared a laugh as he continued, “Hey, I think there is another carriage at the top of the next hill, wanna ride that one with me? It’ll be fuuuu-uuuuun.”
Before she could reply, another voice spoke up, “I reckon she has a mission to get back to. But I’m sure once the battle is over, she’d be downright tickled to join ya.”
Both ponies looked over as Apple Barrel approached, “Any-hoo, where is your diversion team Major? Did ya out run them?”
Butterscotch nodded, “yep.”

All of a sudden a building about a block over blew up sending a cloud of dust and debris into the air as Butterscotch looked over at the cloud, then back, “oh… there they are. Found them!”
“Focusing on ze marked buildings I hope?”
The trio looked over as Madam Melody approached the area as Butterscotch nodded, “Yep, I wouldn’t have them hitting anything other than the ones marked to break. By the way it’s good to see you’re alright ma’am. How are the civilians?”
Madam Melody nodded her head, “Ze civilians are safely secured in ze marked safe houses. As long as ve leave zem be, zey should be safe.”

Apple Barrel nodded his head, “Now don’t ya worry one bit ma’am. We’re makin’ sure to only destroy the buildin’s marked for it. By the way, have ya heard anythin’ from the commander’s team?”
Madam Melody nodded, “Oui, Ze commander’s team has returned and reported zat ze commander has entered ze castle. All ve can do now, is vait. How is ze situation in ze city?”
Major Storm Smiled, “It’s going better than expected. We’ve barley had any sort of resistance from the Royal Guards in the city… however… I’m worried that the guards we were expecting here, are still outside facing General Dash.”
Madam Melody nodded, “I see… Zen ve may have to alter ze plan. Major Barrel, I vant your team to cease ze diversions and support Major Storm in taking ze city gate. Vonce ze gate is open, begin ze assault against Zundaga’s outside force, but try to remain on ze defensive. Ve only need to gazer zeir attention.”

Major Storm and Apple Barrel both nodded at the same time, “Understood.”
Then Madam Melody looked to Butterscotch, “Major Pie, you vill also stop your diversions and seek out Major Orange. Zen help him suppress ze Royal Guards in ze city. Vonce zey are dealt vith try to back up ze rest of ze rebellion at ze city gate. Ve need to support ze General as much as possible.”
Butterscotch smiled, “Okie-dokie then. I'll make sure to find Major Orange and prevent the guards from turning him into juice.”
Major Storm was the only pony to giggle at his joke as she spoke, “You be careful, okay Major? I will take you up on that carriage ride when this is over.”
Butterscotch smiled, “I'll hold you to that. It will defiantly be a fun ride.”

With that Butterscotch smiled as he trotted off in a joyful way as Major Storm waved at him as he trotted off. After he was out of sight, she looked around to see that both Apple Barrel and Madam Melody was giving her a funny look as she asked, “What?...”
Apple Barrel sighed as he replied, “Oh nothin’… just a little too obvious is all.”
Major Storm gave him an angry look “Obvious? What’s that supposed to mean?”
Apple Barrel shrugged his shoulders, “I’m just being honest.”
Madam Melody shook her head, “I vish ve had time to discuss zis, but ve don’t. So, let’s just save it for later. Right now you two need to get to ze gate pronto.”
The two looked at Madam Melody as they replied, “Yes Ma’am.”

Back in the castle, Cirrus, Gem Stone and Zine were making their way through the castle grounds toward the perimeter gate as Cirrus felt confused, “Where is everypony… I know most went into the city, but I haven’t seen a single guard since we got in here.”
Zine shrugged his shoulders, “Maybe they are on break.”
Gem shook her head, “Or maybe they are waiting for us somewhere… better keep our guard up. If they attack us here, then we are already cornered.”
As they continued around the castle it wasn’t long before they finally found the castle’s main courtyard, along with its road that went from the castle gates to the castle’s main doors. As soon as the found this they made their way towards the castles gates.

Up in the castle, Thundaga stood on her bedroom balcony as she watch over the city with a keen eye. While watching, she saw the group as she smiled, “Well, well, it would seem that General Dash’s Aces-in-the-hole have made their appearance.”
Hearing her words, Commander Mist looked over the balcony at the direction she was looking. When he saw the trio he stepped onto the balcony and opened his wings, “I'll make quick work of them your majesty.”
Thundaga shook her head, “Patients commander, let’s see what they’ll do first.”
Commander Mist gave her a concerned look, “Your majesty, your threat is standing right there. If we take care of them now, we can put a stop to this mockery.”
Thundaga replied with an unamused expression, “They are within our sight… therefore they are no threat. For now… leave them be.”

As much as he wanted to object further, Commander Mist know that Thundaga wasn’t in the mood to argue, so he just held his silence as the two watched Cirrus and their team rushing to the gate. When Cirrus, Gem Stone, and Zine reached the castle gates, Zine smiled as he looked at the massive wooden door, “Hmm seems simple enough, a large double door being held shut by a long block of wood.”
Cirrus gave him a funny look, “I think the technical term is drawbar.”
Zine nodded, “Right, what did I say?”
Before Cirrus could reply, Gem spoke up, “Whatever it’s called, it has two chains connected to the top that go into the room above it. Given its size it’s too heavy to move by hoof. From the looks of it, the chains in the top are used to lower and lift it into and out of place. So the wheel house that lifts it must be above it.”

Cirrus nodded as he looked at a nearby door, “Is that the way up?”
Zine nodded his head, “Yes, there should be a ladder in there that will get us up there.”
Cirrus nodded, “Good then let’s open this gate and signal Spike.”
Before they could do anything, Gem Stone spoke up, “Commander… it might be better if I wait out here. Just in case Thundaga’s guards decide to show up.”
Cirrus was unsure as Zine added, “Good idea, the commander and I will have no problems taking care of the gate.”
Cirrus nodded as he replied, “Alright, if you think we can handle it, then we will leave you here. Let’s go Zine.”
Zine spoke up, “One second commander, I need to do something before we go.”

Confused Cirrus and Gem both watched as Zine trotted a number of feet from the castle gate and reached into his saddlebag. Zine then pulled out the bag of seeds from the day before as he tossed a number of the small black seeds onto the ground in front of him before putting the bag away and turning back, “Alright I’m done.”
As Zine trotted back, Cirrus asked, “What’s that?”
Zine smiled, “Insurance, in case something goes wrong. As long as you don’t worry about it commander, then you won’t have to worry about it.”
Cirrus counted this as yet another of Zine’s mysteries as he nodded, “Um… okay, I won’t then.”
With that Zine trotted to the door as Cirrus looked at Gem and spoke, “We’ll be back as fast as we can.”
Gem smiled, “Be careful commander.”

Cirrus nodded his head as he and Zine quickly entered the wall’s side door leaving it to shut behind them. After they were inside, the two stallions saw a ladder that stretched almost four stories up before going through a trap door at the top of the room. After seeing this Cirrus looked at Zine and spoke, “I'll see you up there.”
With that Cirrus flew through the trap door into the wheel house as Zine sighed, “It would be nice if I could still fly. Oh well, no need to dread in past lives.”
With that Zine quickly climbed up the ladder until he reached the next floor as he and Cirrus found themselves looking at a massive crank that stretched across the entire room with chains leading down through holes in the floor. Seeing this Cirrus nodded, “Alright you get on that side I'll get on this. On the count of three turn the wheel to bring up the drawbar.”
Zine nodded, “You don’t have to tell me twice.”

The two then got on opposite sides of the wheel as Cirrus spoke, “Alright… here we go! One, two, three, Turn!”
When he said turn, the two used every bit of strength they had to turn the wheel as hard as they could but with the weight being too much for them, they were only able to turn it till they heard the lock click once. After hearing that, Cirrus looked down the hole to notice that the drawbar had only moved about three inches and was now hanging slightly over the lock position. When he saw this, Cirrus nodded, “Okay… looks like we will only do it one click at a time. Ready?”
Zine sighed through his exhaustion of the first time as he replied, “I guess…”
Cirrus nodded as he got back into place, “Alright… One, Two, Three!”
With that they repeated their action as the wheel locked again and Cirrus continued, “Ready? One, two, three!”

As the duo repeated their action Gem could see the drawbar slowly going up from outside as she looked around to see if any enemies were in the area. Although the ground was free of enemies, it wasn’t long before Gem looked up and could see Thundaga standing on the balcony of her tower as their eyes locked on each other. As they held eye contact, Thundaga smiled as she mumbled, “What are you doing captain?... Standing guard?... No… you- We, are soldiers of legend. We don’t stand guard when our goal lies ahead… we face it… and destroy it. So, what are you going to do?”
Gem Stone didn’t know what she said, but since Thundaga was giving her an inviting look, she decided to give a reply to Thundaga’s look. Gem Stone drew her sword, placed the blade against the ground, and ran it along in front of her leaving a line between her and her foe as she sheathed the blade and mumbled, “I trust my commander… and… I will follow his orders. I can’t let my feeling control my actions. If you want me… make a move.”
As Thundaga saw Gem Stone draw her line-in-the-sand, she smiled, “We see… then perhaps incentive is required… to remind you of who you really are.”
Thundaga then looked out into the battlefield beyond the city wall as she smiled before looking to the sky.

Outside the city, a medic was just finishing up on General Dash’s wound as he spoke, “You’re set sir, though I think it would be better to rest befo-”
General Dash stood up as he ignored his pain, “No… I have to get back to the fight. We need t-”
Before he could finish, a rumbling sound came from the clouds above as he looked to the overcast in the sky. Also hearing the thunder above, a large number of soldiers from all three armies looked to the sky, as the dark clouds began flickering to the lightning building up inside them. As the lightning built up, Cirrus and Zine started hearing the thunder as Cirrus spoke, “Alright one two th- wait… you hear that?”
Confused, the two approached a nearby window and looked at the sky while Gem Stone also watched the storm in concern of what would happen next.

Moment later, as all three battlefields stalled slightly to the unknown thunder in the sky, everypony waited as if time stood still for a brief moment. Then, with everything silent, the world seemed to speed up as a massive lightning bolt dropped from the sky landing on the far edge of battlefront outside the city, before sweeping across in a stream that vaporized everypony fighting on the front weather they were Rebellion or Royal Army. As the sweeping bolt ran across, General Dash sprinted out of the way as the bolt ran along the ground digging into the surface as it left a scorched line in the earth behind him. Surprised he was able to make it to safely, General Dash turned and looked along the scorched trail as the massive attack left dust and ash floating into the air as the battlefield went silent through all the haze and shock.

After the bolt outside the city vanished, a second bolt came down this time in Canterlot as it demolished a large building before dragging along the ground destroying everything and pony it touched. Inside the city, Apple Barrel, Major Storm and the rest of their soldiers stopped their advance as the bolt demolished four building before crossing their path and hit a few more buildings. Then while incased in its own cloud of dust and debris, the bolt vanished leaving everypony who had witnessed it up close speechless. Finishing off her destructive attack, Thundaga had one more bolt drop down just outside the castle’s wall, as it hit a building directly before dragging across the wall, and continuing through the castle’s courtyard as the massive bolt curved across and made a scorched line that crossed between Gem Stone and the Canterlot Castle, all the while destroying everything to include the building it hit, and the castle’s wall. As the bolt finished its own line-in-the-sand, Gem Stone could only stare in shock as it vanished leaving a massive gape in the castle’s wall and charred earth as they looked back at Thundaga to see an evil smile on the mare’s face.

Although Cirrus and Zine could only see the bolts in the distance, Gem Stone, General Dash, The Nightmare officers, Even Commander Mist were entirely speechless as they gazed upon the damage that they could see, and imagine the destruction from the bolts outside their line of sight. Amazed and somewhat ashamed, Commander Mist looked at Thundaga in a combination of pride, and fear. Although he had always held his princess as the top soldier in the world, he had never seen her in full conflict before. And to do so with such an evil smile on her face, made him feel proud to fight under her wing, but terrified, that she would do so much damage to her own kingdom, city, and subjects.

Back on the ground, Gem Stone stared in shock at the massive hole in the castle’s perimeter wall as the bolt left a gap in it that was almost fifty feet wide. Seeing a burning building on the other side of the damaged wall, Gem could only glare back at Thundaga and mumbled, “She’s supposed to be the princess of this kingdom… and she attacks her own subjects, even the innocent ones. She’s no princess, she’s a monster… If she faces Cirrus…he will die. I can’t let that happen. Orders or not… I have to kill her.”
With that, Gem Stone charged down the road towards the castle’s main doors as Thundaga smiled, “There… that’s the Captain Stone we admire. A true officer of Commander Bolt’s Nightmare Legion.”
Thundaga watched a little while longer until Gem Stone was out of sight before speaking to Commander Mist as she continued looking into the castle courtyard, “Commander… Listen carefully because we’re going to say this just once. Your orders are to take your team down there… and kill Cirrus Cloud, and Zine of the Everfree. I don’t want to see them again, is that clear?”

Although he was still stunned about what Thundaga did to the city, he liked hearing these orders as he smiled, “Yes your majesty… and what about Captain Stone?”
Thundaga smiled, “She wants a rematch… and we’re looking forward to it. Let her come… but do not return here until Cirrus and Zine are dead.”
Commander Mist nodded his head, “Understood your majesty… consider it so.” He looked at his soldiers, “You six on my wing, we have a zebra and a false commander to kill.”

With his orders clear, Commander Mist and his team of soldiers took off from the balcony as they flew down to attack the ponies at the castle gate. On the ground, Cirrus and Zine both had finished cranking the drawbar all the way to the top and had exited the building as Zine looked down the wall at the massive gap as he sighed, “Why do I even try?...”
Cirrus looked around, “Where is Gem Stone?”
Zine pushed the castle gate open as he replied, “Most likely she saw the disaster and decided to go forward to face Thundaga. Don’t worry sir, if we hurry we can help her.”
Although Cirrus was annoyed, he had more to worry about, “Spike was supposed to be signaled with the second illumination flare. We need her bow to signal him.”
Zine smiled as he turned to the road and sat down, “Don’t worry I have my own ways of signaling the world’s greatest assistant. We only need to be patient, and wait.”

Cirrus was confused, “Wait… wait for what? How-”
All of a sudden, Cirrus’s reflex is kicked in, as he stomped his hoof on the ground with enough force to unlock the blade as he turned around and blocked Commander Mist’s incoming attack at the exact moment that the shield locked into its offensive position. With the sparks from the metal on metal still in the air, Commander Mist shifted his attack as he took a second swing towards Cirrus’s neck. With great precision and speed, Cirrus managed to shift his stance to block the second swing as he parried the attacking commander’s sword away before countering with an attack of his own. With Cirrus’s heightened agility proving too much, Commander Mist had to use his wings to push himself back to avoid what would have been a fatal blow. However the veteran commander was still caught with the tip of the Cirrus’s blade as the shield ran along Commander Mist’s cheek leaving a deep cut as the surprise commander distanced himself from his underestimated foe.

After distancing himself from Cirrus, Commander Mist landed on the ground as he quickly placed his hoof against his cheek and looked at the blood that was dripping from his wound. Before the two could say anything Zine smiled, “To answer your question commander. That, is what we were waiting for.”
Just then, Commander Mist’s soldiers landed as the leader of the group spoke, “Commander, are you hurt?”
Commander Mist shook his head as he readied his stance, “It’s just a scratch.” He looked at Cirrus, “I must admit, I’m surprised. I didn’t expect a peasant to get so much stronger in the matter of a week.”
Zine smiled as he replied, “Actually, it took him one day to get this good… but I digress.” He looked at Cirrus, “You go ahead commander, I can handle the ingredient on my own.”
Cirrus nodded his head but before he could reply, Commander Mist spoke up, “Actually… you won’t be going anywhere. You see, the princess gave me a direct order to eliminate the both of you. So yea… neither one of you are getting passed me.”

Acting casual, Zine stood up as he trotted to Cirrus who was still standing at the ready as he took Cirrus’s hoof and raised it to look at the blade on his shield, then he replied as he examined it, “Yea… that’s not going to happen Commander. Ya see, Commander Halo here has a sort of destiny about him, and you…” He gave Commander Mist a dark look as he reached into his saddlebag and pulled out the maroon clay like spell he had made a few days prior, “Will not be a part of it.”
Zine took the clay like ball and rubbed it against Cirrus’s blade so that Commander Mist’s blood that was still on it could make contact with the ball. While he did this, Commander Mist replied with an annoyed tone, “Really… destiny? Your referring to that Third Commander crap aren’t you?”
As the blood made contact with the spherical spell, it immediately began boiling as it evaporated in a reddish smoke as Zine smiled, “Come now commander, you don’t think that The Third Commander could be you, do you? I wouldn’t think that an important ingredient would have such a big ego.”

Commander Mist didn’t see the boiling blood effect as he replied, “The Third Commander is Thundaga. Don’t think anything you say can change that. She brought peace to the kingdom centuries ago. It’s you who is trying to destroy that peace… just as you, are the dark force that is trying to wield the power of the pegasus… aren’t you?”
Cirrus gave Zine a confused look as Zine returned the maroon ball to his saddlebag and pulled out a small glass vial with a blue potion inside, “Really? Is that what you think?... well then your right. I do wield the power of the pegasus. I wield it in a way that, the pegasus is my dear friend, and anything I ask, within reason, he will do. Just as anything he asks, also within reason, I will gladly help with. That’s what friend are for, right? Dare I say it, Friendship is Magic, wouldn’t you agree Commander Ingredient?”
Unamused by his comment Commander Mist readied his sword as he replied, “You can tell yourself whatever you want to make yourself feel better, but none of that will matter when your head is laying on the ground. Now prepare to die!”

Commander Mist and his soldiers stood at the ready as Zine spoke quietly enough for Cirrus to hear, “Commander… I want you to charge at him, but when he attacks, just parry his blade and make for the castle doors as fast as you can. I can handle him on my own.”
Cirrus nodded his head, “Okay… but what about his guards?”
Zine smiled as he held up the potion and showed Cirrus, “That’s what this is for… now trust me, when you get passed the commander you will see and hear a lot of things happening behind you. If you fly as fast as your wings can carry you, you should be able to make it to the castle doors, but you have to do it all in one run. No matter what you hear, you have to keep going. You still have that potion I gave you this morning?”

Cirrus nodded as he pat the pocket on the inside of his armor, “Yea right here.”
Zine smiled, “Good, then there is still a chance. I’m counting on you commander. You ready?”
Cirrus changed his stance to an offensive one as he replied, “Yea… I’m ready.”
Zine smiled, “You really are my friend commander. And I’m nothing if not loyal to my friends.”
Feeling like this was unessisary, Cirrus replied, “Thanks Zine, You’re my friend too.”
Zine gave Commander Mist an angry look as he replied, “Thanks… now GO!”
With his call, Zine reared up on his hind hooves as he swung his staff in a way to open his cloak completely as the sudden action caught the complete attention of the soldiers accompanying Commander Mist. At the same time, Cirrus charged at Commander Mist with his shield at the ready as Commander Mist did the same with his sword.

When the two pegasi met, Commander Mist used all of his strength to strike with a vertical swing as Cirrus blocked the attack and shifted his weight so that the sword would glance off his shield and bury itself into the ground while Cirrus slid passed the commander and continued moving as he took to the air and flew a few feet over the ground towards the castle doors as fast as he could. With his weight used to slow him down, Commander Mist quickly turned around and tried to pursue, “Oh no you do-”
Before he could finish his sentence, Large black vines sprouted up between him and the fleeing pegasus as the vines quickly rose almost ten feet above him as more started sprouting across the ground along the road as they quickly followed Cirrus towards the doors of the castle. Seeing the unusual vines as they shot out of the ground as if they were spring loaded, Cirrus continued flying as fast as he could to stay ahead of them as they quickly followed Cirrus until he was finally able to reach the castle doors as he flew through the already opened doors and slammed it behind him as the vines stopped at the door and grew to cover the massive entrance to the royal castle. Safely inside, Cirrus turned his shield to the passive position as he sighed, “Okay… now to the princess.”

Seeing that his foe had escaped Commander Mist called to his soldier, “What are you waiting for!?! Go after hi-”
“You couldn’t even if you wanted to.”
Commander Mist looked back at Zine to see his hoof firmly planted on the ground as he replied, “Excuse me?”
Grateful that his plan to distract the guards worked, Zine lifted his hoof to reveal the shattered vial under it as he replied, “Those vines were only a taste of what I have planned. So I would suggest you leave your crew here. After all, an ingredient like you will need witnesses for what’s next, every execution requires one after all … am I right commander?”
Commander Mist gave him an angry look, “A witness hm?... Fine… then I'll just have to finish you quickly. Soldiers… watch him closely, but don’t get involved. This traitor will die by my hoof.” He pointed his swords at Zine, “Now draw your weapon!”
Zine smiled as he laid his staff to the side and pulled the maroon ball from his saddlebag, “Okay… but instead of my staff… I think I'll use this instead… even if I don’t want to.”

Confused, Commander Mist and his soldiers watched as Zine took a bite out of the clay textured ball. As soon as he bit it in half, Zine’s expression became cluttered with a mortified cringe of disgust as he put his hoof over his mouth and spoke with a muffled voice while trying to bear it, “Ugh!!! It… Akkkk, Ewww, Ahhh, it… it’s chewy!... why is it chewy!... oh that’s right… Akk its terrible Ahh.”
Jerking his head back and forth to try to ignore the repulsive taste, Zine continued chewing the ball as his eyes teared up with the horrible taste and texture. As Zine moved around in odd ways to bear it, Commander Mist, and his soldiers could only give him a clueless look as the commander tried to understand weather he was serious or not. After a few more second of his actions, Zine finally swallowed the disgusting spell as he dropped to his knees coughing, “Oh… don’t throw up… don’t throw up, don’t throw up. Ugh…”

Sighing in relief Zine stood back up as he, mumbled, “Good… I was able to keep it down.”
Continuing to give him a clueless look, Commander Mist spoke, “Seriously?...are you done acting like a foal?”
Zine smiled as he held up the other half of his spell, “Actually no… I still have one half left. And since I know what to expect it shouldn’t be as bad as the last.”
With that Zine threw the other half of the repulsive ball into his mouth and started chewing as he reacted in the exact same way as the first half, as he covered his mouth and spoke while flailing around to get his mind off the taste, “Ugh… ahhh… Egh… I was wrong!... it’s worse!!! Much worse!... It’s worse because I was expecting it!... Akk it’s terrible!... ahhh make it stop!...”

Getting too impatient, Commander Mist gave Zine an angry look as he spoke, “Enough of this! This ends NOW!!!”
With that Commander Mist charged at Zine to try to strike him with a horizontal swing. As the commander attacked, Zine still in his taste bearing actions, fell to the ground as Commander Mist’s blade flew over his body as he missed his target entirely. Reacting to his failed attack, Commander Mist tried a second time with a vertical swing as Zine continued jerking in his actions as he quickly rolled out of the way as his blade dug into the ground missing for the second time. With his evasion actions seeming accidental, Commander Mist started getting even more irritated then he already was. Trying a third time, Commander Mist swung his sword at an angle as Zine’s last roll landed him close enough to his staff as the clever zebra grabbed it and rolled over leaving his staff to deflect the incoming blade with the same accidental appearance as the last two failed attacks.

As soon as the blade was deflected, Zine rolled closer to Commander Mist as he vaulted over bringing his hind hooves up as he kicked the unsuspecting commander in his jaw with enough force to knock him away from his target. Continuing his vaulting action, Zine landed as he then used his staff to hold himself up as he leaned forward and mumbled in disgust, “Don’t throw up… don’t throw up… don’t throw up.”
As Commander Mist hit the ground a few feet away, he picked himself up and wiped the blood from the reopened wound on his cheek as he spoke, “You… that dirty trick… stop messing around and fight with honor!”
Zine turned towards Commander Mist as he gave him a clueless look, “Dirty trick?... Why? Did I do something a second ago?”
“STOP ACTING LIKE IT WAS ACCIDENTAL!!!”

Zine sighed in relief from keeping the terrible tasting ball down as he replied with a smiled, “Come now Mr. Ingredient, no need to lose your temper.”
Commander Mist charged at him as he replied in range, “Enough of this! Fight like a stallion!”
As Commander Mist closed the distance, Zine smiled as he readied his stance and replied, “As you wish.”
After saying this, Zine started mumbling to himself as quietly as he could to keep track, “One one-thousand, Two one-thousand, three one-thousand, f-”
Although he silenced himself as Commander Mist approached he still kept counting in his mind as Commander Mist attacked with anger in his actions.

First a horizontal swing on the right, which was blocked by Zine staff, then onto a second attack with a diagonal swing to the left which was also blocked by the skillful zebra’s staff. After blocking the second attack, Zine parried Commander Mist’s sword away as he turned his staff around and thrusted the bottom of it against the pegasus’s face as if he were using it to play a game of pool. When he felt this Commander Mist flinched as he closed his eyes and countered with a vertical swing strait down onto Zine. However with his eyes closed, Zine was able to jump safely back as the blade hit the ground and missed the zebra entirely. When Zine landed safely he jumped back a few more times to get more distance from his foe as Commander Mist quickly rubbed his face to regain his senses.

After gaining his distance, Zine smiled sinisterly as he adjusted the hood on his cloak and mumbled the last of his count, “-one-thousand, nine one-thousand, and ten… ready.”
With his cloak adjusted to cast a darkened shadow over his face, Zine smiled as the shadow made it easy to see that his sky blue eyes, were slowly turning into a terrifying shade of bright red. Although his appearance only changed slightly, that combined with the evil smile, was enough to intimidate Commander Mist’s soldiers as he chuckled in an evil way. Commander Mist wasn’t swayed as he held his sword at the ready, “What’s so funny?”
Zine replied with an evil look, “I’ve called you an ingredient for all this time when in actuality your almost nothing of the sort… well…almost.”

Commander Mist glared at his foe as he replied, “Really… I’ve never asked… exactly why do you call me that anyways?”
Zine’s smiled stayed evil as he started pacing around his foe, “Because that’s what you are… an important ingredient that keeps Thundaga’s Royal Guards in line. A beacon of leadership just like the last commander, and one absolutely nessisary for Thundaga’s army to stay loyal, and true. Although… there is another reason, but we’ll come to that in a second. In the meantime, I think we should settle this quickly, don’t you?”
Commander Mist watched in confusion as Zine laid his staff on the ground beside him before sitting down and speaking, “From this point on… I will face you like this, unarmed, and without moving. That way… we can test out my talents sorta-speak. So… I believe the next move to make, is yours. That is, if you can.”

Commander Mist replied to the unusual tactic, “and I’m supposed to believe this?”
Zine continued smiling as his replied, “That my skeptic friend, is your choice.”
With no trust in the zebra’s words, Commander Mist began charging, “WE’LL JUST SEE ABOUT THAT!!!”
Charging with his sword at the ready, Commander Mist quickly closed the distance between him and his foe as he raised the sword up to strike horizontally as he called, “NOW YOU DIE!!!”
Zine smiled sinisterly as he replied with only one word, “Stop…”

Although it was only one word, it had a massive effect as Commander Mist’s blade stopped in midair almost completely against Zine’s cheek as the clever zebra smiled at his accomplished spell. Confused as to why he stopped his attack Commander Mist stared Zine in the eye as he spoke, “Wh-what? Why… why did I stop? Why… can’t I move?”
Zine’s evil smile remained as he spoke, “Now… take a few steps back on my count… ready?” He started counting as Commander Mist took a step with each count, “One… two… three… good boy.”
Shocked as to why he took the steps with each count, Commander Mist spoke, “What?... you. You’re doing this… but… how?”

Zine replied “That ball I ate… it was a spell. A powerful one that’s simply called the Capture spell. Thanks to that and the little cut that Commander Halo gave you, you won’t be doing anything without my word.”
Commander Mist’s expression became angry, “So… you’re controlling me?”
Zine nodded his head, “Not just you… every part of your physical being. Want an example?... then open your left wing.”
Trying to disobey his order, Commander Mist made every attempt to keep his wings closed however it proved useless as his wing opened by itself. Seeing that Commander Mist did what he was told Zine could only chuckle as he continued, “Good… that was mind control, how about physical control next. And… this is where it gets interesting. Without touching your wing… I want it to break at the count of three.”

Commander Mist gave him a clueless look as he replied, “What… without touching it… that’s impossible… isn’t it?”
Zine’s smile became even more sinister as he replied, “One…”
Although nothing was touching his wing, Commander Mist could feel pressure against it as if it was being held in some kind of brace. Confused, Commander Mist looked at his wing in worry as Zine continued, “Two…”
All of a sudden, the pressure got worse as it began hurting him as Commander Mist started to grunt in pain, “Wh-what… wh-whats happening? What are you?”
Zine’s expression began terrifying the nervous commander as he smiled, “Three.”

All of a sudden a loud snap was heard throughout the area as Commander Mist fell to the ground as the bone in his wing spontaneously snapped as he griped his wing screaming in pain. Seeing this, the guards began moving, “Commander!”
“Take another step and I'll have him kill you all!!!”
Hearing Zine’s threat, the solders stopped in place as they looked at their wounded commander as Commander Mist held his wing and spoke, “This… this isn’t real… it can’t be. It has to be an illusion. This type of control… it’s… not possible.” He stood up and looked at his team, “Soldiers! This isn’t real! Tell me it’s all in my head! Tell me that I’m imagining all this!” he opened his broken wing, “Tell me my wing is fine! TELL ME!!!”

As much as Commander Mist wanted to hear his soldiers confirm his theory, the horror on their faces said otherwise as Zine replied with a psychotic smile, “Isn’t real?… oh its very much real… in fact, put your sword to your throat.”
With no control, Commander Mist took his sword and placed the blade against his throat as Zine spoke with an intimidating tone, “If I wanted to I could have you simply cut your throat and end this all at once… but I still have a need for you, and there is no fun in ending it like this.”

Commander Mist replied in anger, “If you think I’m going to help you beat Thundaga, then you’re pressing your luck. I'll die first.”
Zine shook his head, “Not that you have a choice given your current situation, but then again, you won’t be around to see what happens to the princess.”
Commander Mist stared at him in confusion, “What?”
Zine smiled with a heartless stare as he spoke, “I told you already, you’re an ingredient.”
Zine picked up his staff and held it up as he removed the cork on the staff’s veil as he spoke, “Now, drop your weapon.”
Commander Mist lowered his sword, then released it as Zine spoke, “It’s time for you to serve your purpose.” His expression became serious, “Commander Mist, surrender thyn self and soul. Unit it with this potion so that I may use it to bring death to all of whom are meant. This order I make… as the Mage of Zebrica! FINISH THIS CURSE!!!”

After saying these words, Zine taped the bottom of his staff on the ground, as commander mist tried to understand what was happening. All of a sudden, something took hold of Commander Mist as he unconsciously looked to the sky and began raising his head up. First he raised it to as high as he could while standing, then he slowly raised his body up till he was standing on his hind hooves until finally, his entire body started to float in the air as if something had him by his throat and was lifting him off the ground. As he looked to the sky, a bright light shined out from his eyes as a strange apparition slowly emerged as his soul was immediately pulled from his body into the vial on Zines staff as the spirit screamed in fear before being quickly absorbed into the potion less than a second before Zine closed the flask and sealed them both away, “Now… accept your roll… as the final ingredient to The Spiritual Extinction.”
After those words were said, the pasty white potion in the flask quickly changed into a jet black as the potion began glowing in an eerie way.

As soon as the potion turned black, Commander Mist’s eyes stopped glowing as his body fell to the ground with no sign of life. Seeing this the surrounding soldier readied their weapons as one called, “COMMANDER! You!!! You will pay for this!”
With his eyes still red, Zine gave the soldier an intimidating stare as he smiled, “Really? And just how do you intend to do that? Who’s to say I don’t have more for you?”
The soldiers replied with concerned stares as Zine opened his saddlebag and looked inside, “Oh… um… well you’re in luck… Apparently I don’t have anything for you. So… uh… oops.”
With his expression slowly becoming concerned, the surrounding guards started to smile as they drew closer as one spoke, “Good, then we can avenge our commander.”

Zine smiled as he replied, “Well… you could, but then there is another thing you should worry about.”
The guard replied, “Yea? And what’s that?”
Zine smiled as he pointed up, “That.”
As soon as that was said, Spike fell from the sky as the massive dragon landed behind Zine before giving a ferocious roar that caused all the soldiers to stop and back away. As soon as his roar was finished, Spike and Zine gave the soldiers an intimidating stare as Zine spoke, “Sure… I may not have any more potions… but then again, Spike here… he doesn’t need any.”
With that, Spike chuckled in an evil way as the lead soldier replied, “We are Commander Mist’s soldiers! Amongst the strongest of Thundaga’s army! We will not yield to anypony! Not even a dragon!!!”
With those words of motivation, the surrounding guards nodded their head as they started readying themselves for an all or nothing fight.

Seeing that the soldiers were willing to continue, Zine spoke, “Are you sure? My friend Spike has the ability to kill you all with one try, so are you willing to die like this?”
The lead solder replied, “If it will save the kingdom from traitors like you. We are willing to take that chance. KILL THEM!!!”
With that call, the soldiers started charging all at once as Zine sighed, “Noble… but useless. Spike… Incinerate them!!!
With that Spike smiled and replied with an evil tone, “Gladly…”

After his response, Spike reared his head up as he took a deep breath before looking directly at his targets as he blew a long wide stream of green flames that completely spread out as he moved his stream of fire over each approaching guard. As the flamed approached each guard, all that could be heard was a quick and sudden scream before each guard was consumed and covered by the fire as their empty armor and weapons fell to the ground with no sigh of flesh in or around them. As he moved to cover the last of the charging soldiers, Spike stopped his fire breathing as the last soldier was consumed as his armor also fell to the ground, and rolled at the same pace as he was when charging.

As the last guard’s armor fell to the ground, the guard’s helmet rolled across the surface until it stopped at Zine’s hooves as he stared at the red hot helmet in shock. Slowly, Zine turned to Spike as he spoke with an amazed and shocked expression, “S-Spike… you… you actually incinerated them… I'd be impressed… if I wasn’t concerned on multiple levels.”
Spike gave Zine a clever smile as he replied, “Thanks… but I didn’t hurt them. As you remember, I used to send notes to and from Princess Celestia through fire when I was a baby dragon. So in the past five centuries, I learned to send other things through fire.”
Zine sighed in relief, “Oh… I see… so where did you send them?”

Far off in a dungeon in Trottingham, Colonel Shy was sitting outside a jail cell as the guards appeared in the cell screaming as if they were burning alive. As soon as the guards realized they were fine, they stopped screaming as Colonel Shy spoke, “Ahh, Welcome to The Rebellions own personal prison cell. It’s good to see that I’m not the only pony that Spike teleported am I?... well at least I didn’t scream like a little girl. Anyways… if you six are done, then we can discuss your terms of surrender. Don’t worry, as a Decadent of Kindness, I can be real negotiable. It’s kinda funny, the dragon got me out of a cell before, while he put you six in one. Define irony right?”

Back in Canterlot, Zine smiled at Spikes actions as he laughed, “Sending them to a dungeon clear across the kingdom… now that’s a plan that deserves praise. Even if you were a little late arriving here.”
Spike gave him an annoyed look, “I was flying above an overcast of lightning. Seeing the second signal arrow wasn’t as easy as you think.”
Zine smiled, “Oh I’m sure, since the second flash wasn’t an arrow. It was him.”
Zine pointed at Commander Mist’s lifeless body as Spike stared in shock “Whoa… what happened to him?”
Zine smiled sinisterly as he picked up a guards dagger and approached the black vines, “He got cocky, decided to take me on alone without knowing who I am.”

As Zine pulled the cork from the flask on his staff, Spike replied, “You mean who you are now? Or who you were back when?”
Zine dipped the tip of the blade into the black potion as he replied, “Both.”
Spike nodded to Zine’s answer as the large dragon looked at the vines and spoke, “Well I haven’t seen any of those in almost six centuries.”
Zine smiled as he pulled the dagger from the potion and dripped a few drops onto a vine, “Yep, and you won’t see it again… ever.”
As the black potion made contact with the vine, it was quickly absorbed by the vine while the black surface of the plant began turning grey as it started shriveling up before dissolving into ash. After the plant turned to ash, the surrounding vines started doing the same thing as Zine watched patiently as each one from him all the way up the road to the castle doors dissolved away leaving nothing but ash behind.

After seeing this Spike was surprised, “Wow… that’s some potion isn’t it.”
Zine put the cork back on the flask as he reached into his saddlebag and pulled out the small bag of seeds, looked inside, and replied, “Yes… It most certainly is…”
Zine then poured out the bag which was now full of ash as he spoke, “Spike, hold the gate for us… The commander should be back soon enough.”
Spike nodded, “Leave it to me.”
With an unhappy look on his face Zine looked towards the castle doors as he continued, “Just in case… I am happy to call you a friend again. Even if last time we weren’t on the best of terms.”
Spike nodded his head as he replied, “You were always a good friend to us Zine… back then, and now.”
Zine nodded, “Thanks… that means a lot.” He gave a bracing sigh, “Well… here goes nothing… Good bye Spike.”