The Third Commander

by Priceless911

Ch8 The Mare of the Mountain

Cirrus found himself surrounded by a large herd of ponies as he realized he was standing in front of a stage that was set up in the Ponyville plaza. As he looked around he mumbled, “Great… another dream slash event… but… why is this one so… familiar?”
As he looked up on stage he saw Thundaga and a commander from the past trot onto the stage as she looked over the herd of citizens and announced, “Residents of Ponyville! Today I stand before you with terrible and upsetting news. It has come to my attention that recently an unnamed rebellion organization has formed in this very town. And this specific group… is standing with claims that I am betraying you, my own loyal subjects for my own personal gain and interests.”
Recognizing the announcement Cirrus took a step back as he spoke with shock, “No… this isn’t…”

Thundaga continued, “I would like to point out that all the claims of this unauthorized organization are false. According to them I am imprisoning your freedoms as Equestrians in an attempt to control you against your will… however, this along with all other negative propaganda is nothing more than a ruse to turn you all against me.”
Cirrus shook his head with fear, “No… I… I can’t see this… not again…”
Cirrus turned around and tried to avert his eyes, however when he did, he was shocked to see a much younger version of himself standing right in front of him as his younger self looked up at the stage at Thundaga who continued her speech, “Luckily before this group of radicals could gain enough power to threaten our very way of life, I, with the assistance of my commander and guards, Tracked down the leaders of this rebellion and will present them to you now. Captain?”

Cirrus looked up at the stage in an attempt to convince himself that this wasn’t what he thought it was. However, as the two prisoners were marched onto the stage, he found he was only proven wrong. On the stage in front of the entire town were both his mother and his father. As he looked up on stage, Cirrus played back this very memory in his mind, just as it was happening as Thundaga looked at the prisoners and spoke, “Stratus Cloud, and Rain Cloud… You stand here accused of being responsible for an unauthorized rebellion whose objective is to dethrone me and overthrow the kingdom in a coup d'état which could only be done through chaos, and war. Now tell me, and everypony here… are these charges for which you stand accused, true?...”
Both prisoners stood with serious expressions on their faces as Stratus, Cirrus’s father replied with pride, “They are… however, our goal in not to bring chaos to the kingdom… rather freedom.”

Curious, Thundaga spoke, “Freedom… hardly… Speaking with propaganda and wishing to incite war is nothing of the sort. However, I would like to hear this explanation. Exactly what do you mean by bringing freedom to the kingdom?”
Stratus spoke so that everypony could hear, “You prevent war… no doubt about that. However, you limit our freedom. You force peace upon nations outside our own. You say you want everypony to live in tranquility, but instead your tyranny incites nothing but fear and worry for their lives. Locked in your castle, you order your guards to roam the streets and silence anypony who chooses to even mutter the word war. You’re no protector of the kingdom… you’re nothing but a tyrant.”
Looking into the eye of the pony who said that, Thundaga spoke, “… Really… and you stand by those words?... even now?”
Stratus looked onto her eyes as he replied with confidence, “Especially now…”

Thundaga smiled at the prisoners’ bravery as she spoke, “With those words… you admit your crime of treason against the crown… and so… I hereby sentence you to death by blade. Do you have any last words before your sentence is carried out?...”
Stratus looked forward into the surrounding herd as he replied, “I’ve said what I need to… And I will die with no regrets.”
Thundaga looked at Rain, “And you? Do you have any last words?”
Rain replied with a calm voice, “If your father could see this… I’m sure he would be ashamed.”
Although the comment sent a feeling of rage into Thundaga’s mind, she was able to keep herself calm as she replied, “I’d beg to differ. But I will say this, I am impress with your courage, this truly is a shame.”
With that, Thundaga drew her father’s sword as she approached Rain.

Knowing what was about to happen next, Cirrus turned away from the stage as he looked away only to see his younger self watching the stage with a misplaced expression of hope. Soon, Cirrus heard the sound of the herd around him as they gasped at what they saw, and the expression of his younger self, as he watched and slowly became horrified at his sight. Then, with no sounds of whimpering or anger, he heard a body fall on the stage followed by the steps Thundaga was taking across as she approached her next victim. Cirrus closed his eyes as, the herd all gasped a second time as he played back in his mind the exact scene that was happening on stage. Envisioning what was happening, Cirrus listened as Thundaga spoke, “These ponies may have been traitors… but the pride in their words was admirable. They both deserved this warrior’s death, and will be remembered for this honor. However, let this be a message to the rest of this rebellion. If you continue these accusations against me… then you too will die. So please… let this be the only blood of my subjects that I must spill, in the name of peace.”

After hearing this, Cirrus only heard one last sound. He heard the sound of Thundaga sheathing her sword, as everything around him became silent. With his eyes closed, Cirrus tried to breathe and remove this memory as he slowly opened his eyes to find himself standing on the top of a plateau, with the cloaked pony standing in front of him facing in the other direction. When he saw this, Cirrus spoke, “You… you’re the one putting these memories into my head aren’t you… Why did you show me that?”
The cloaked pony replied, “You have been spending a lot of time with Thundaga lately… and in that time you are seeing the sense of peace inside here right?... I just decided to remind you of the reason you avoided her for so long.”
Cirrus gave him an angry look, “By torturing me with the worst memory of my life!”
The cloaked stallion replied, “I wanted to keep your mind open to the pros and cons of your decision.”

Cirrus glared at the stallion, “WHAT!!! Who in Thundaga’s mind do you think you are!?! What is it that you are doing here!?! And don’t do your wake-me-up thing again! At least give me a straight answer!”
The cloaked stallion turned around with the cloak hood still covering his face as he replied, “I can’t tell you who I am… if I do it will corrupt your decision.”
“WHAT DECISION!?!”
The cloaked stallion sighed, “The decision of whose side you chose.”
Calming himself down a little Cirrus asked, “Whose side… what are you talking about?”
The stallion replied as he turned away, “Sooner or later you will have to choose. Will you join the rebellion, or Thundaga? Fight to incite war… or prevent it. Kill one… or kill thousands. Thus is the decision of the wielder of the Lightning Orb.”
With that everything vanished as Cirrus opened his eyes to find himself back in the room that he was staying in as he sat up and rubbed his head, “The wielder of the lightning orb… that’s just a story though… isn’t it?”

Down in the throne room, Thundaga sat in her throne as she read a report on international trade. As she read, an unusual blue portal magically appeared about ten feet from her throne as the whipping sound of the magic broke her concentration as she and the posted guards looked at it. Reacting as if it were a threat, the sixteen guards in the room, to include the ones at the doors, rushed to the portal as they all surrounded it and pointed their spears in preparation for whatever was about to exit it. Curious, Thundaga stood from her throne as she studied the phenomenon and mumbled, “This… isn’t unicorn magic… so wha…”
Before she could finish her quiet statement, a small ball of white slope flew out of the portal and hit the ground with a plop as the surrounding guards took a step back after seeing the unexpected, yet ineffective projectile. Still holding their spears at the portal, the guards looked at one another in confusion as the magical portal started shrinking until it vanished leaving nothing behind but the strange ball of unknown slop on the floor.

After the portal disappeared, one guard slowly approached the small puddle like substance as he poked it with his spear in curiosity. When the puddle failed to react, the guard then dipped his spear in the substance as he brought it to his nose and sniffed it. Seeing that he was examining it, Thundaga asked, “Well… what is it?...”
at first the guards was in disbelief of what he thought it was, but then after licking it he replied in confusion, “It’s… Applesauce?...” He turned to Thundaga, “Your majesty… it’s… just applesauce.”
Thundaga gave the guard a strange look, “what?...”

All of a sudden the now unguarded doors of the throne room flew open as Zine entered, “Knock, Knock! How is everypo…”
before he could finish, all the guards in the room reacted as they immediacy surrounded him and pointed their spears at him as one spoke, “Halt!”
Zine stopped as he replied, “Oh, gee, welcome to me right?… Can I ask? How was my portal spell?... Did my apple make it through?”
Zine looked passed the surrounding guards as he saw the pile of applesauce on the floor and sighed, “Can you guards go one minute around here without smashing somezebra’s apples?... Seriously, this is why I can’t have nice things.”

Giggling at his comment Thundaga looked at Zine as she called, “Soldiers! Stand down! Let him come.”
Although none of them liked the idea, all guards lowered their spears as Zine trotted out of the circle and smiled, “Good colts… now… clean up your mess. We can’t have our royal throne room with sticky floors now can we? What are we, a bunch of barnyard animals?”
The Guards sneered at the zebra as he passed them by and trotted until he was standing exactly where the portal was sitting as he bowed in respect, “Princess Thundaga, It’s marvelous to see you, and your wings look as vibrant and beautiful as they day I met you. Like you haven’t aged a day.”
Thundaga smiled, “I haven’t… and Zine. It’s good to see my most trusted yet untrustworthy friend. May I ask, were you the one who created that portal just now?”
Zine smiled as he rose from his bow, “yes that was me… it’s very hard creating a magic portal without a unicorn horn… which is why… the apple I threw into it didn’t quite make it through. Oh well, at least I know what to do if I ever want to make a fruit salad.”

Thundaga held back her laughter as she replied, “Yes you do. Now, what brings you to the castle, I would expect it to be for reasons other than flattery and testing magic spells.”
Zine nodded his head as he replied, “Am I that easy to read… pity, I should work on that. Actually I’m here to discuss the rumor that’s been traveling throughout the kingdom. About the pegasus who awoke the Thunder Grounds.”
Thundaga nodded her head as she replied, “Yes… now you wouldn’t happen to know anything about that incident now would you?”
Zine smiled in an insulted way, “Well, it’s not so much that I know anything about it… more along the lines that I know everything about it.”
Thundaga was intrigued, “Really… then can you explain what happened?”
Zine sat down as he replied, “Sure… after receiving instruction, I tracked down Cirrus, and prepared a few potions before leading him to the Thunder Grounds where his spirit synced with a great commander’s and resurrected the Thunder Grounds as well as brought out his true power... the renowned Lightning orb.”

Trying to keep up, Thundaga asked “You say Instructed?... by whom if I may ask?”
Zine smiled, “Yes you may. I was instructed by my great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, grand-mother… from my father side of course.”
Thundaga gave Zine a confused look as he smiled and continued, “Well… perhaps you should know her better if I use her name. A name that you yourself is quite familiar with… Zecora the Enchantress?”
Thundaga’s eyes widened “What?... Zecora?”
Zine smiled, “Yes… she came to me in a vision and told me everything I should do… which is why I’m here. I came t…”
“YOUR MAJESTY!”

Hearing the interruption, Zine and Thundaga immediately looked at the throne room doors as Commander Mist rushed in, “Your majesty I…” he paused after seeing Zine, “What is he doing here?”
Zine smiled, “Well if it isn’t everypony’s favorite ingredient?”
Commander Mist sneered at Zine, “shut up you…” He rushed passed Zine and to Thundaga’s side as he spoke “Your majesty, I discovered important news about Cirrus!”
Thundaga gave him a curious look, “Did you?...”
Commander Mist smiled, “Yes, his name is Cirrus Cloud. He is the son of…”
Zine interrupted, “the founders of the rebellion. The same two ponies you executed almost twelve years ago. Since then, Cirrus has been staying in the care of Mr. Toll, or as you knew him, General Rich. That is, until you forced him out of his home and burned it to the ground about a week ago. After that I took him in and helped him to meet the first phase of his destiny.”

Commander Mist gave Zine an enraged look, “You aided a member of the rebellion? I knew it! You’re nothing but a traitor!”
Zine smiled, “who said he was a member of the rebellion… on the contrary, he turned down the offer to join the rebellion and vowed to never have anything to do with them. In their eyes, it’s Cirrus who is the traitor.”
Thundaga sat down in disbelief as she mumbled to herself, “I… killed his family?... what have I…”
Not hearing her mumbling Commander Mist replied to Zine’s explanation “LIES! All of it! You have been helping the rebellion this entire time haven’t you! You will pay for your insolence! GUARDS! ARREST…”
“SILENCE COMMANDER!”

Commander Mist gave Thundaga a confused, “But your majesty he is…”
“I said ENOUGH!!!”
Commander Mist stopped talking as Thundaga looked at Zine and replied “Zine… is everything you’ve said true?”
Zine gave Commander Mist a smug smile as he replied, “Every, last, word…”
Thundaga sighed, “Then… I’m confident that we have nothing to fear from Cirrus Cloud.”
Commander Mist stepped forward, “Your majesty you can’t be serious! Cirrus Cloud is obviously…”
“No threat to us... I know Cirrus enough to know that he wants nothing to do with the rebellion. And if Zine says he is not a part of them… then I trust that he isn’t.”

Commander Mist looked at Zine then back at Thundaga as he replied in concern, “But… but… your majesty… his parents are…”
Thundaga interrupted again, “Dead… and by my hoof… I’m the reason he never had a proper foalhood… and yet he still chose not to stand against me. Do you know what that is commander?... that’s loyalty… unjustified, but loyalty none-the-less. And… I think that if Cirrus knew this past… he would still choose to stay loyal. So as far as I’m concerned… nopony or zebra in this castle will be arrested today.”
Commander Mist was stunned, “But… but…”
Zine smiled, “Now now little ingredient, that’s enough from you… why don’t you go catch a pick pocket or something while us grownups talk.”
Starting to draw his sword Commander Mist spoke, “Why you disrespectful little tr…”
Before could finish his insult, Thundaga put her hoof between the two as she spoke, “Commander… don’t you have other duties to attend to… we can discuss this at another time, or at least once our guest leaves for the day.”
Getting the hint, Commander Mist completely sheathed his half drawn sword as he bowed, “Understood your majesty. I will wait outside.”

With that Commander Mist trotted through the throne room, but paused when he was trotting by Zine, “We will finish this later… don’t think you’ve won zebra.”
With that, Commander Mist continued trotting until he was out of the throne room as Zine watched him and spoke, “Charming… I can see why you hired him.” He turned to Thundaga, “Now… about Cirrus. I came here to request that you release him to me so that I can help him unlock his true potential.”
Thundaga gave Zine a curious look, “Really? And how do you plan to do that?”
Zine smiled, “With Zecora’s help of course. She sent me a vision last night on everything I must do to reawaken the power he holds and teach him to harness it for the better.”
Thundaga was unsure, “And… this is something Zecora said?”
Zine nodded his head, “Not her exact words, but listening to her rhyming that’s what I got out of it. She said that I must take him to a secret ground hidden in a faraway land for secret and solitary training. That way the spirit of Commander Bolt can reawaken and assist him in his true calling.”

After hearing that Zecora told him in rhymes Thundaga started to believe him as she asked, “And what pray tell, is his true calling?”
Zine shook his head, “that… I’m unsure of. All she said is; one with a power, and with nothing to lose, will bring change to the world with great path will he choose. Or… something like that… the only reason I remember that part is because it’s a great rhyme isn’t it? I wonder if she has a book or something where she keeps this rhymes.”
Ignoring that last part, Thundaga started thinking to herself as she replied, “So… to harness the lightning orb, you must take him with you, to a place that I can’t know about?...”
Zine replied, “I’m afraid so… and… furthermore, because this place is sacred as well as secret… I must warn you that we can’t be followed. It’s crucial that none know about this place. So much that if anypony does follow us… it could result in… unfortunate accidents.”
Thundaga gave Zine a skeptic look, “accidents… you mean you will harm them?”
Zine nodded, “I’m afraid so, yes, probably kill them. I promise once his training is complete I will return Cirrus safe and sound, but in order to unlock his true potential, I need him to come with me. Please your majesty.”

Thundaga was shocked, in the three years that she has known him, Zine has never said please, nor had he ever referred to her as your majesty without a hint of sarcasm in his tone. Hearing this completely convinced her that his words were true as she replied, “If this is her will… then let it be so. You have my permission to take Cirrus with you, provided that no harm will come to him, and that you will return him the very day his training is completed, understand?”
Zine smiled as he bowed, “Do not worry your majesty, He will be safe… even if we are traveling to a dangerous place… I say this because I can’t stress how much trust I am asking for that you refrain from sending guards to follow us. If so, I cannot guarantee their safety since it’s only Cirrus that I will protect.”
Understanding the hint he was sending her, Thundaga nodded her head, “you do have my trust… but I warn you now, don’t do anything that I might frown upon. Your choice of magic is still immune to my laws, but your actions with it are not. Remember that.”

At that moment Cirrus entered the throne room as Zine rose from his bow, “of course, I wouldn’t dream of…” He turned to Cirrus and smiled, “Ah, Cirrus Cloud. Good to see you again… well it’s time to go, come along Cirrus?”
With that said Zine started trotting past Cirrus and towards the door as Cirrus gave him a confused look, “What?... Zine?... um… what’s going on?”
Thundaga spoke with an unhappy expression, “Cirrus… Zine came here today and revealed everything. Not only what happened at the Thunder Grounds, but also your past.”
Cirrus gave Zine a worried look as he replied, “He… he did… what?... exactly did he say?”
Thundaga sighed, “Enough… I'll leave it at that. He can fill you in on whatever it is you need to remember later. I’ve decided to release you into his care for the time being. Zine has ensured that with his help, you will be able to control the lightning orb. So… I felt it was better if you go with him so that he can look after you while we sort things out.”
Cirrus was confused, “Control the lightning orb…” He looked at Zine, “Don’t tell me you’re in on this… farce too.”

Zine smiled as he went off subject “funny… I’ve never heard anypony actually use the term farce before… kinda sounds weird to me.”
Thundaga stayed on topic as she replied, “Despite your beliefs Cirrus… I assure you, it’s no joke. This is a matter of great importance. Cirrus… It would appear that fate has plans for you. Though I do not know of its ultimate plan, it could only be something important if my teacher is guiding Zine to fulfil it.” She looked at Zine, “Zine, I leave him in your care.”
She looked back at Cirrus, “And Cirrus… I hope you will continue to keep last night’s request in mind until you return.”
Zine nodded his head as he replied, “I will take care of him and have him back before you know it.”
Confused Cirrus looked at Zine as he Asked, “Do I even get a say in this?...
Zine smiled, “no… but feel free to complain all you want.”
Cirrus looked at Thundaga as he sighed, “Well… I guess I have no choice then…” He bowed in respect, “Your majesty… Thank you for your hospitality. It was interesting to see how the kingdom operates behind the castle walls.”
Thundaga smiled peacefully she blushed, “It was my pleasure… just… be safe.”

With that, Zine looked at the expression on both their faces as he mumbled quietly to himself, “I guess my theory was right…”
Not hearing his comment, Cirrus turned to Zine as he spoke, “Well… if I’m supposed to follow you…I guess you should lead the way then.”
Zine smiled as he patted him on the back, “That’s the spirit, spoken like a true puppet of fate. Now come along, we have somepony important for you to meet. And for somepony like you who is skeptic of everything. You’re gonna love this.”
As the two started leaving the room Cirrus replied with a concerned tone, “A puppet of fate… what’s that supposed to mean?”
Zine smiled as he led the way “It’s just an expression…”
“Funny I’ve never heard it before…”

As the two left the throne room bickering to one another, Thundaga’s expression became sad as she looked at the ground and sighed in disappointment, “I… I couldn’t even say sorry to him. Even when he is standing before me… I couldn’t say anything.”
At that moment Commander Mist entered the throne room as he spoke, “Your majesty… did you let Zine take Cirrus away?”
Thundaga looked at Commander Mist and replied with an unamused tone, “I did…”
Commander Mist stepped closer, “But why… We both know who he is and we know that he is a member of the rebellion. So why would you let a traitor leave!”
Thundaga shook her head, “Commander… We heard Zine explain that Cirrus has nothing to do with the rebellion. And even if he did, war is the last thing Cirrus wants.”
Commander Mist dodged the statement as he asked, “Where did they go?”

Getting annoyed with his tone, Thundaga gave Commander Mist an unamused look as she replied, “That is none of your concern.”
Commander Mist shook his head, “It is… We need to know where they are going. Zine may be taking him back to the rebellion’s hideout. If we follow them we ca…”
“Commander!... You will continue you duties and cease this accusations on Cirrus Cloud!”
Commander Mist stepped forward, “But your majesty…”
“SILENCE!!!... Commander Mist, I am one comment away from relieving you of your position and Removing you from my sight by force. Now I would suggests you spare your reputation the embarrassment and leave at once. Am I clear, commander?”

Seeing that she couldn’t be convinced, Commander Mist bowed as he sighed, “As you wish your majesty. I will obey.”
Thundaga sat back on her throne as she replied, “good… then go.”
Rising from his bow, Commander Mist turned to leave the throne room as he closed the door behind him. After the doors were closed, the guards who were still gathered from when they surrounded Zine, started whispering amongst themselves as Thundaga heard them and spoke with an angry tone, “Guards! As you were!”
Hearing the angered tone, the group of guards quickly stumbled over themselves to return to their posts on the inside of each pillar, with two on each side of the throne and the throne room doors.

Not far into the hall, Commander Mist trotted with an annoyed expression until he saw a three of his pegasus guards and stopped them, “You there… Stop.”
As the guard looked at him, they immediately jumped to attention as one spoke, “Good Morning Commander! How is your day?”
Commander Mist shook his head, “It’s been better… Listen, I have some instruction from you that will be kept low profile. Are you three up for it?...”
The guards nodded their head as the higher ranking guard replied, “For you sir, of course.”
Commander Mist nodded his head, “Good… By now I’m sure word has gotten around about Cirrus Cloud.”

The guards looked at each other as one replied, “I heard rumors sir… but… I didn’t think it was true. It seems too unbel…”
Commander Mist interrupted, “it is true… Cirrus is the son of the rebellion, and Thundaga has grown too attached to believe him to be a threat, so… We will take this matter into our own hooves. Zine the enchanter, just left here with Cloud. If I were to guess, I would say he is leading Cirrus to the rebellion’s hideout. Your mission is to track it down and report back to me.”
The lead guard nodded his head as he replied, “Understood sir, we will report to you as soon as we find their base.”
Commander Mist nodded his head, “Good, and remember… this is a low profile mission. You know nothing, and neither do I, but if this goes well, you will be responsible for finding the rebellion base. An honor for any guard in this day and age. So don’t fail me.”
Leaving this as his last statement Commander Mist trotted away as the guard replied, “Sir!”
With that the guards quickly rushed through the corridor to the castle’s exit as Commander Mist with the opposite way to see to other matters.

Later in the forest surrounding Dragon mountain, Zine and Cirrus made their way through the brush as Cirrus asked, “So… this mare of the mountain? Is she really some dragon or is that just a ponytale.”
Zine shook his head, “it’s just a story I made up and spread through Ponyville so that other ponies won’t try to question her if they ever stumble across her cabin.”
With Zine leading the way Cirrus could only ask, “So… what’s the real story then… is she just a normal mare living on the mountain alone?”
Zine shook his head as he smiled, “Normal… there is nothing normal about this mare. If anything, normal is the last thing that this mare could possibly be. Let’s just say this mare has quite the story around her… don’t worry I’m sure she’ll tell you all about it, it’s a riveting tale that I’m sure you will love to not believe.”

Cirrus Sighed as he replied to the comment, “Yea, yea, go ahead and tell your jo…”
All of a sudden, as the two entered a clearing, Zine held his Staff out to stop Cirrus as he spoke, “Stop… Don’t move…”
Hearing the seriousness in his voice, Cirrus stopped as he looked around in confusion, “What?... what is it?...”
Zine turned around and looked passed Cirrus into the brush as he replied with the same serious tone, “You’re being hunted.”
Confused, Cirrus turned around and looked at the same brush as he replied, “What?...”
All of a sudden, an evil chuckle was heard as the three following royal guards exited the brush as the leader spoke, “Now that’s impressive. You were able to detect us before we even made ourselves known. Bravo zebra.”
Zine held his silence with a confident smile as Cirrus replied, “Royal guards?... Wait… Why are you following us?”
The lead guard replied, “You are the son of the rebellion… and Zine an untrustworthy zebra who spits on the laws of nature. Why wouldn’t we follow two traitor like you?”

Zine’s smile stayed casual as Cirrus Replied, “But Thundaga gave us permission to leave. We wouldn’t be going anywhere if she didn’t trust in where we were going.”
The lead guard shook his head, “her majesty may trust you… but the commander doesn’t… he is the one who orde…”
All of a sudden the area was filled with the most sinister and evil laugh that anypony had ever heard as all eyes locked on Zine who was laughing maniacally. Seeing this, one of the guards replied “What’s so funny traitor!?!”
Zine lowered his laugh to a chuckle as he replied through his laughter, “You guards are stupid… I told you to stop because you’re being hunted and yet you idiots just keep yapping and carrying on.”

The same guard started to draw his sword as he replied in anger, “What did you say you son-of-a-…”
The lead guard opened his wing to stop the soldier, “Stand down…” He looked at Zine, “What are you talking about?”
Zine smiled, “I’ve known you were following us since Canterlot… but I you’re the last thing I would ever worry about… there are much more terrifying things in this forest… and… you’re about to meet her.”
The lead soldier gave him a curious look, “Wha…”
At that moment, three sound where heard. A faint and subtle whistle, a tapping as if a nail were punching through tin, and the sound of a sword falling against the ground. Slowly after hearing the sound, the lead soldier looked to the solder he stopped as he found that all three sounds where the result of an arrow as if fell from a high angle and pierced the helmet of the guard with his sword drawn.

As the now dead soldier fell to the ground, everypony including Cirrus, and excluding Zine, stepped back from the corpse in horror as the lead guard looked at his last soldier and spoke, “Where did that come from?... did you see it?”
The guard pointed towards the mountain as he replied, “It came from there, but that’s impossible… nopony could make a shot like tha…”
At that moment, from the same angle as the first, a second arrow fell from the sky and hit the guard in his throat as the impact alone knocked him to the ground. As the soldier laid wheezing on the ground, his suffering was kept short as a third arrow fell and finished him less than a second later. As soon as he saw it, the officer drew his sword and looked towards the mountain as he quickly tried to identify where the attacker was firing from, however as he looked at the mountain, nopony was within his line of sight. As he gave up on his search, the Guard looked at Zine as he sneered, “Is… is this an illusion?...”

Zine kept his evil smile as he replied, “I'd tell you to run away… but you’re already too late.”
“Wh…”
Before he could finish his question another arrow dropped from the sky as it hit and shattered the blade on the guard’s sword and imbedded itself into the ground. Seeing this, the guard decided to cut his losses as he turned around and opened his wings to fly away. However as he did, another arrow dropped hitting his wings as he jumped into the air, which caused him to hit the ground without any lift. Knowing he was in danger, the guard ignored the pain as he quickly picked himself up to sprint for safety, however just like the last time he tried to flee, an arrow dropped and stopped him as it fell and pierced his hind hoof. Falling to the ground and screaming in pain, the soldier, refusing to give up, tried all he could to crawl away in one final effort to escape with his life. As he did, Cirrus, who was frozen with fear, slowly turned towards Dragon Mountain as he started to see a faint object gliding towards them. Cirrus looked at Zine, who watched with an evil smile as the guard’s blood loss slowed his futile attempts to escape. Seeing that Zine was obviously enjoying this, scared him, as Cirrus looked back at the gliding object as it drew close enough to be identified.

It was a cloaked mare gliding down towards them. Although the cloak was covering her face, the winds around her from flying revealed her to be a greenish mare with a brown tail. Under her cloak, she wore a quiver, and had one of her wings put through a bow that way it would be held while in flight. As the unknown mare landed on the ground between Zine and Cirrus, she ignored the two as she trotted passed them and towards her crawling victim who was now too fatigued to make it to the tree line. As she approached her foe, the solder noticed her presence as he stopped crawling and slowly rolled over to look at her. With his body too weak to move, the winded soldier looked at the mare as he spoke, “M… mercy?... Please…”
The mare sighed as she took the bow out from under her cloak and drew an arrow as she replied, “For a soldier of Thundaga… There is no mercy.”
With the bow drawn, the mare aimed it at the soldier’s head as she released the arrow and ended the soldiers suffering.

Seeing this, Cirrus stepped back in fear as he looked as Zine, whose expression was still a sinister smile. As he looked back at the mare as she lowered her cloak’s hood and she gave the soldier an expression of pity. Now able to see her face, Cirrus could see that the mare was young with a brown mane that was kept out of her face by a blue bandanna. As Cirrus looked at the face of what seemed to be a disappointed mare, he could hear her speak as she mumbled, “Star… I’m sorry… but I couldn’t let him live.”
As Cirrus looked at the mysterious mare, Zine stepped forward as he spoke, “Like a true professional! Those stories give you less credit then you deserve. It’s good to see you Ms. St…”
Reacting to his words, the mare quickly pulled an arrow from her quiver and drew her bow while aiming at Zine and replying with anger, “Zine!... What did I say about the next time you showed your face to me?”
Zine stopped as he replied, “Well, you said that the next time you saw my face, you would put an arrow through it…but we both know that you can’t kill me.”

The mare’s expression stayed angry as she replied to the remark, “Who says it would kill you?...”
Zine’s expression went from a confident smile to a nervous one as he replied, “ah… I… um… I didn’t think about that… maybe I should have considered that before coming.”
The mare replied, “Yea… maybe you should.” Her aim shifted to Cirrus, “And who is this?... one of your lackeys? You don’t seem the type to be taking in strays.”
Nervous that a bow was pointed at him, Cirrus took a step back as Zine smiled, “I’m not… you know how bad I am at house training them. This one however is already tame. After all, you have to be to be able to reawaken the Thunder Grounds.”
All of a sudden the mare’s eyes shifted to Zine as her bow remain pointed at Cirrus, “What… he reawoken the Thunder Grounds?”
Zine smiled, “That’s right… May I introduce to you, Cirrus Cloud, aka Commander Halo, aka The Third Commander.”

The mysterious mare and Cirrus both looked at Zine as they replied at the same time, “What?...”
Zine smiled, “I didn’t stutter.”
The mare lowered her bow as she replied, “This pony used the lightning orb?”
Zine nodded his head with a smile, “he did… I was there when it happened.”
The mare gave Cirrus an untrustworthy look as she replied, “Really… he’s skinnier then I would have expected…”
Zine nodded his head, “yea I thought so too… but like it or not, this is him.”
The mare sighed, “I don’t…” She looked as Cirrus, “so you’re the so called commander right?… well don’t think I'll be calling you commander or anything. Compared to him… you’re just a civilian.”
With a careless expression, the mare put her wing through her bow and closed it allowing the cloak to cover both her bow and body as she turned to the mountain and started trotting away, “Well, Spike is waiting at the cabin so let’s just get this over with.”

With that, Cirrus and Zine slowly followed the mare as Zine looked at Cirrus and whispered, “So, what do you think? Charming isn’t she?”
Cirrus tried to reply so that she couldn’t hear, “Yea… like a rattlesnake. Who exactly is she anyway?”
Zine smiled, “You mean you don’t recognize her? I'd figure from all the stories you know and disbelieve you would recognize a famous character when you saw her.”
Cirrus gave him a curious look, “really?... who is she?”
Before Zine could reply, the mare stopped as she turned to Cirrus and replied, “If you want to know so badly…” She pointed towards another path, “Then look up there.”
Looking up the path Cirrus could see something beyond the trees, so out of curiosity, he followed the path.

When he reached the end of the short path, Cirrus found himself standing in a small clearing as the path lead directly to a large stone pedestal that stood in the center of the clearing. As he approached the pedestal, he could see remnants of what used to be a statue standing on the pedestal as he looked around and found more pieces of what was now an unrecognizable statue. Studying the pedestal, Cirrus trotted around it as he saw a small area on the ground where the earth was loose. Seeing him study the pedestal closely, the mare trotted into the clearing as she and Zine looked at the area as Cirrus found a part of the pedestal that had signs of text carved into the stone. Trying to make out the text, Cirrus started brushing away the moss and dirt that had gathered on the pedestal as Zine approached and spoke, “Looks like you buried the casket… now why would you do a thing like that?”
The mare sighed, “Because seeing a casket sitting outside of a tomb stone kinda gathers attention. The last thing I need are royal guards snooping around here looking for grave robbers.”

As the two bickered, Cirrus tried all he could to read the worn text, however the stone was so worn from age and erosion that most of the text had faded and wasn’t legible. The only words he could make out were, -mare Crusade, and the last words which were Gem of the Night-. With this legible, Cirrus started mumbling as he looked at the text, “Mare Crusade… and gem of the night…” he started to realize something, “wait… could it be Night-mare Crusade?... and here… it’s Gem of the Night-mare… so that would meant that the next word would be…”
Seeing this Cirrus gave the mare a shocked look as he spoke, “Wait… this is a grave… and the mare buried here was…”
The mare nodded her head, “Yea… you’re getting warmer…”
Cirrus turned to the mare in disbelief, “that… that would mean that…”
The mare nodded her head with a smiled, “Allow me to introduce myself. Cirrus Cloud, My name is Captain Gem Stone of The Nightmare Legion.”

Comments

[Thunder--Clash]

Ok...I didn't expect that to happen. Now who else will rise from the dead, plus how did she "Gem Stone" rise from the dead?

Besides that, Great story. It was fantastic, keep on writing, your awesome

[Priceless911]

7628706
Thx I'm glad you like it so far.

As for Gem Stone... lets just say Zine had a hoof in this. although every forbidden spell had a price to be paid.
that all I'm saying for now

[Thunder--Clash]

7631025 Thanks for sharing and your welcome I'm already pondering on what might occur for the next following chapters in your series