Equestria Wars Episode XV: Knights of Zero

Chapters

Chapter 1: An Old Friend
Chapter 2: The Eternal Fleet
Chapter 3: Insanity Awakens
Chapter 4: Kallen's Surrender
Chapter 5: Haunting of the Past
Chapter 6: Facing Fears
Chapter 7: The Crystal Empire Undercity
Chapter 8: The Lady of Sorrows
Chapter 9: The Death Star
Chapter 10: Boarding the Eternal Fleet Battle Cruiser
Chapter 11: Sabotage
Chapter 12: Deception
Chapter 13: The Battle Begins
Chapter 14: Charming Thunder vs Zero
Chapter 15: A Second Chance
Prologue

Chapter 1: An Old Friend

Charming Thunder and Lucina were in the training room practicing their skills with their training blades instead of their lightsabers. Lucina blocked her father's strikes and leaps over his head and attempted a jab attack. He dodged the strikes and clashed blades with her. "Almost destroyed my focus," Charming Thunder said.

"Nearly had you, too," Lucina added. Charming Thunder and her puts their training blades back and exited the room and walked through the castle halls.

"You have become stronger the last time we trained."

"I owe it all to your training, dad."

A royal guard approached and said, "Someone is here to see you, your highness. He insists on seeing you in person."

"Have him meet me in my throne room," Charming Thunder said. He then turned to Lucina. "Go, Lucina. I'm sure that one of your mothers need your help with something." Lucina nodded and left while Charming Thunder walked to his throne room.

Charming Thunder sat on his throne as he waited for his guest to arrive. A gray stallion with a messy black mane entered the room. Charming Thunder's eyes widened as he recognized him. "Lelouch?"

"It's been awhile, old friend," Lelouch said. Charming Thunder got off of his throne and approached him.

"Far too long." Charming Thunder then gave a hug to Lelouch as they had a reunion.

"I am so glad to see you, Charming. Now look at you; a king."

"Perhaps we can discuss what we have been doing all those years in a game of old fashioned chess?" Lelouch smiled and followed him out of the throne room as they talked.

Some Equestrian troops were going through the cargo that was recently delivered to make sure that there are no explosives. One of them closed it up and said, "That's everything."

"Good," the other said. "Have these stored in the barracks."

"Yes, sir." The trooper saluted and some of the soldiers carried the cargo out of the building until a pony suddenly bursts through a window and landed in the center of the room. The pony wore a red helmet under the red hood and armor with a red bat like symbol on the chest. The troops aimed their blasters at the intruder, but was quick enough to hit the blasters out of their hands and shoot them with blaster pistols. Riot troopers entered the room with their electro staffs and got readied themselves.

"Drop your weapons and surrender," one of the riot troopers said.

"Always asking for mercy," the intruder said. One of the riot troopers charged for a strike, but the hooded pony was quick enough to block the attacks and take the staff out of his hands. "I wouldn't mess with the Red Hood if I were you!!" The Red Hood twirled the staff and attacked the rest of the riot troopers who blocked the strikes. Red Hood then kicked them back and drew out the blaster pistols then shot them in the face. "Now if there are no more interruptions, I will be taking your precious cargo now." Red Hood began to carry the cargo box to the window until a pair of jumptroopers at the other side of the window and opens fire at the Red Hood. A police gunship came in from behind the jumptroopers with it's weapons trained on where the Red Hood took cover. "This cargo is really important to them, is it?"

"Come out and drop your weapons or we will open fire," the voice of the pilot said. The Red Hood didn't say a word when suddenly, the gunship exploded. Red Hood then got out of cover while the jumptroopers were distracted and shot their jetpacks which caused them to fly around like crazy then explode. A ship then appeared and floated right in front of the Red Hood and lowered the ramp. A pony with a red mane and tail wearing a headband under her mane stood on the ramp as the Red Hood carried the cargo box into the ship.

"It's about time you showed up, Kallen."

"No thanks?" Kallen asked.

"Zero will be pleased once we deliver this to him."

"What's so important about this cargo?"

"None of your dang business. Now get us out of here."

"Yes, sir..." Kallen climbed up the ladder and walked to the cockpit and flew the ship away from the carnage the Red Hood left.

"Check mate," Lelouch said as he moved the pawn chess piece on the board. Charming Thunder sighed in defeat and smiled.

"You never changed, have you?" Charming Thunder said.

"You do know that I have won a chess tournament in Canterlot when we were kids." Charming Thunder used his magic to put away the board and the chess pieces. "There is somepony I haven't introduced to you a long time ago."

"Who?"

Wait here. She will be happy to meet you." Lelouch stepped out of the room for a bit and Charming Thunder did nothing but wait for him to come back. The doors opened again and Lelouch returned with a mare with her eyes closed and her arm around his to help her walk. She had a light brown mane and tail and wore a pink dress. "Charming, I'd like you to meet my sister; Nunnally." Lelouch turned to his sister.

"It is an honor to meet you, your highness," Nunnally said.

"The pleasure is all mine," Charming Thunder replied as he shook her hoof. "If I may ask; why aren't her eyes open?"

"She had an accident a long time ago," Lelouch explained. "It happened when we were kids. she's blind now."

"I-I'm sorry to here that. Anyways, care for a cup of tea, Nunnally?"

"Of course," Nunnally said. "Thank you."

"Maybe you will be pleased to meet my wives when they get back."

Chapter 2: The Eternal Fleet

Charming Thunder had a great time with Lelouch and Nunnally before they left. He sat on his throne as Twilight Sparkle entered the room and stood next to him. "You seem happy," she said.

"It has been so long since I've seen Lelouch," Charming Thunder said. "I'm glad you got to meet him and his sister."

"They seemed nice ponies." Charming Thunder chuckled a little and turned to face Twilight. "You know something?"

"What's that?" Twilight came close and nudged him.

"Me and the girls did miss you for the past three years." Charming Thunder caressed Twilight's mane and smiled.

"I did too. Sorry if I made you lonely."

"It's not your fault, you know."

"I know. I just wish there was a way to bring my brother back."

"Lucina is able to see him."

"I know. She told me." One of Charming Thunder's throne buttons blinked.

"I think you should answer it. I'll leave you to your buisness." Twilight kissed Charming Thunder and took her leave out of the throne room as Charming Thunder pressed the blinking button. The image on the window revealed a stallion with a blue coat stallion with all red eyes wearing his admiral uniform.

"Your highness," the admiral said.

"Ah, Admiral Thrawn," Charming Thunder replied.

"I have something to report. We've been getting strange readings at the sector me and my fleet are currently at."

"An upcoming attack?"

"Maybe. We are just sitting here waiting for anything to happen."

"I'll be on my way to check it out myself, admiral."

"Right away, your highness." The transmission ended as Charming Thunder turned to a royal guard who was standing next to the door.

"Have my shuttle prepared for immediate take off."

"Yes, your highness," the guard replied.

A stallion wearing a black mask with a purple visor, a black cloak with a tight dark purple suit with golden stripes and long, wrapped sleeves over it stood next to a throne gazing out of a large window. Red Hood entered the room and walked up to the masked stallion stopping at the stairs kneeling at his presence. "Master Zero, they come," Red Hood reported.

"I already know," Zero replied as he sat on the throne looking at the hologram of the incoming fleet of Star Destroyers in another sector of Equestria. He then pressed buttons on the throne and views a hologram of his fleet of a hundred battle cruisers under his command. The ships uncloaked and then made the jump to lightspeed to the location where the fleet is at.

"You promised me an opportunity to kill King Charming Thunder. When will that time come?"

"Patience, my faithful friend. You'll get your revenge soon."

Charming Thunder's shuttle came out of lightspeed and arrived to at the fleet. In the middle of the whole fleet, a blue Star Destroyer stood as the shuttle made the approach. The shuttle docked in the destroyer's hangar and Charming Thunder exited the shuttle. An officer stood at attention as he approached. "Your highness," the officer greeted.

"Captain," Charming Thunder said.

"The admiral is waiting at the bridge. I trust you know the way?"

"I know my way around this ship, captain. I am fine, thank you."

"Of course, your highness." The captain left as Charming Thunder made his way to the elevators to go to the bridge.

Arriving at the bridge, Charming Thunder made his approach to Thrawn; who is currently gazing out of the window. He stood next to the admiral and had a feeling of concern as the admiral does. "I can sense it, admiral," Charming Thunder said.

"Something is out there waiting for us," Thrawn said.

"Waiting for what?"

"I don't know. But why did we have to travel this far? Why did the strange frequency lead us to the middle of nowhere?"

"Maybe it is trap set up for us."

"My thoughts exactly, but what if it is the Mephiles Alliance who lured us here?"

"Even if it was them, they would show their cowardly faces to us."

A beeping sound was heard from a monitor as the officer got up and reported, "Your highness, we got sensor contact, fifteen clicks."

"What is it?"

"Small...no life form readings. Some kind of probe." A small vessel flew past the window of the ship's bridge which caught Charming Thunder's attention.

"Raise shields!!" Thrawn ordered. "Pursue and destroy!!"

"Careful, admiral," Charming Thunder warned. "This might be luring us into a trap."

"I will know if I see it." The vessel made a sharp right turn and a fleet of a hundred ships came out of lightspeed in a wall formation. Charming Thunder was surprised to see how many ships are in front of him.

"That is enough firepower to take down the entire fleet!!!"

"Evasive maneuvers!! Come about one eighty degrees!!" The Star Destroyer made a turn towards the fleet and made their approach to them. Drop pods suddenly hit the hull of the destroyer. Droids came out of the pods and opened fire at the Equestrian troops on all decks.

"Get us out of here, admiral. I'll handle the boarders." Thrawn nodded as Charming Thunder left the bridge.

"Divert weapon power to the engines and set deflector shields to double aft!!"

Arriving at the carnage, a lone Sith Lord stallion held his ground against the droid boarders. He used the force to push them back which caused them to blow up to pieces when hit to the wall. Some of the pieces landed in front of Charming Thunder's feet which surprised him. "Glad to see you safe, your highness," the stallion said. "Darth Marr, member of the Dark Council at your service."

"What's the status, Marr?"

"The boarders are after the the primary generator. Without it, we'll be destroyed in seconds.

"Then let's get going."

"Agreed." Marr and Charming Thunder dashed through the halls of the engineering deck and chopped down some droids along the way. When they arrived at the main terminal, Charming Thunder checked it for anything serious on the core.

"Good thing the core did not strain to a breaking point. Otherwise we would've been destroyed. The shields are recharging, but I don't know how long it will hold."

"The hyperdrive is still active as well. We could turn this ship around and pull back." Charming Thunder looked around the room for anything suspicious.

"This was just too easy. It feels like..." The doors behind them exploded and some droids entered the room with their blasters pointing at him and Marr. "...a trap." One of the droids placed a holo communicator on the ground and activated to reveal a hologram transmission of Zero in front of them.

"Well this is a surprise," Zero said. "I never expected to see the king himself on this ship."

"As king of Equestria, I demmand to know why you are attacking my fleet?"

"Not an attack. A test run on this invincible fleet."

"Why not choose another fleet? Like the Mephiles Alliance. Or are you with them?"

"I am on neither the Mephiles Alliance or the Equestrian Empire. I am Zero, the stallion who now controls this fleet with a single button and leader of an empire of my own."

"What is it you want from me?"

"Your death."

"What?"

"You are a murderer of your brother Danny Eclipse. I intend to do what the princesses could not. Kill you. But I could be merciful, if you would come quietly."

"We will never surrender to the likes of you," Marr said.

"Then you leave me no choice but order my Skytroopers to take you in by force." The transmission ended and the Skytroopers began to open fire. Charming Thunder was quick enough to activate his lightsaber and deflect the shots as Marr did the same. Charming Thunder grabbed his comlink and contacted Thrawn.

"Status report, admiral."

"We were able to avoid the fleet's line of fire and are preparing to make the jump to lightspeed," Thrawn reported.

"Good. Me and Marr got problems of our own in the engineering deck. Is the ship secure on other decks?"

"They are, your highness."

"Then get us out of here." Charming Thunder charged towards the droids and chopped them down to size as Marr used his force lightning on them. Once they dealt with the last of the droids, the engineering deck was finally secure. They deactivated their lightsabers and took a breather. "Fine work, Lord Marr."

"Thank you, your highness."

"I'm sure that you will make a report about this to the Dark Council?"

"No need for that. I think that it is your personal business."

Chapter 3: Insanity Awakens

Charming Thunder walks into the meeting room. Inside were Celestia, Luna, Discord, Rainbow Dash, Trixie, Sonata, Applejack, Twilight, Sunset, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Starlight, Cadance, Shining Armor, Spike, Ember, Meta, Chrysalis, Cosmos, Galaxia, Lucina, Sombra, Starswirl, and Amidala. They looked at him as he entered. "Why call all of us here?" Ember asked. "I have a Dragon Kingdom to run and I can't do that if I'm here."

"The reason why I brought you all here is because of this," Charming Thunder stated before playing a holo recording of the Imperial fleet being attacked by unknown ships. "This fleet engaged us and took down most of the fleet. The flagship that belonged to Admiral Thrawn managed to get away and we had boarders. The leader of this fleet refer them as 'Skytroopers'-" Suddenly, everyone noticed Lucina grab her head in some pain and suddenly, she lifted her hand to a random wall and a ecto-plasmic ray fired from there and it destroyed the wall. A few seconds later, Danny's spirit appeared next to her, clearly angry.

"He has the audacity to use MY fleet!?" Danny shouted in anger as Lucina shook her head, the pain clearing away. "The nerve of that stallion!"

"Care to explain, Danny?" Galaxia asked in confusion.

"I built that fleet back when I was still Cyber. It was originally purposed to destroy the entire Equestrian Empire's fleets. It was supposed to make me nearly invincible but I, unfortunately, died before it could be deployed." Danny looked at the hologram of the stallion Charming Thunder had managed to replicate. "I don't know who that is, but he is NOT the guardian I assigned to keep the Eternal Fleet from falling into evil hooves."

"Care to tell us about who this 'guardian' is?" Charming asked but Danny smirked.

"Secrets are best to being secrets. But I don't doubt you'll met the guardian soon enough. You just won't know what the guardian will be. Now, if you excuse me, I have to do something." Danny stated before he turned to sparkles and surrounded Lucina and disappeared.

"He's still in my head, but I can't look into him so I don't have a clue what this 'guardian' supposed to be," Lucina said.

"Anyways," Charming Thunder continued. "It is clear that the one who controls the fleet was a stallion nicknamed; Zero." Charming Thunder revealed a holo figure of Zero. "The only main question is; who is Zero?"

"From what I've heard, he is a terrorist against the Equestrian Empire," Shining said. "And then came in the Red Hood."

"The Red Hood?"

"A vigilante that might have the same goal as Zero," Celestia said. "Earlier today, the Red Hood attacked our troops to steal cargo that was recently delivered to us." Celestia then played the holo recording of the vigilante attacking Equestrian troops.

"Its like that pony know their every move before the riot soldiers could even hit him," Chrysalis said shocked.

"This vigilante got away with the cargo and ran off to who knows where."

"That's two new problems to take care of then," Twilight said. A transmission came in and revealed a holo transmission from Fancy Pants.

"I am sorry to interrupt, but Cloud City is under attack," Fancy Pants said as explosions were heard in the transmission. "Their forces are bing led by a masked stallion. Charming Thunder stood up from his chair.

"Guess we're in luck," Charming Thunder said. "What's the status?"

"I don't know what they're here, but please send help." The transmission ended as Charming Thunder looked at everyone.

"Ember return to your kingdom. Rainbow, keep the skies clear so I can get a clear chance of landing at the city."

"Right away," Rainbow said before she flew out of the room.

"Trixie, Applejack, Lucina, Sunset, Sonata, and Starlight will help with any civilians."

"You can count on us," Starlight said.

"Starswirl and Twilight, you're with me with taking down the leader of the attack."

"Right," Twilight said. Everyone else Charming Thunder didn't call in the room began to take their leave.

Charming Thunder then rushed over to Lucina and said, "Be careful."

"Don't worry, dad," Lucina said. "I'm sure your training will be useful in this battle."

Arriving at the city, Charming Thunder sees the city in smoke in his transport. Rainbow's Millenium Phoenix held off enemy starfighters as Charming Thunder's shuttle arrived and touched down at the streets of the city in front of a chemical plant. Charming Thunder along with Twilight and Starswirl walked down the ramp where Fancy Pants along with two of his bodyguards stood. "What's going on?"

"Some of the enemy droids went inside the chemical plant with some of the tibana gas," Fancy Pants said.

"What are they using it for?" Twilight said.

"I'm not sure."

"We'll find out soon enough," Charming Thunder said. When Charming Thunder took a step towards the building, a droid gunship appeared out of nowhere and slowly flew towards them as it fired at some buildings.

"Take cover!!" Starswirl ordered. Everyone took cover, but Charming Thunder stepped up to to the gunship. He then just stood there waiting for what will happen next. On top of a building, the Red Hood held a remote that is controlling the droid gunship as he looked at the targeting screen.

"Time to die, old stallion," Red Hood said as he pushed a button on the controller to let it open fire, but nothing happened. A small screen with the image of Zero appeared in the corner of the targeting screen.

"In death, he has nothing left to fear," Zero said. "If he ever comes to me, I'll be ready for him. Pull back and deal with the Imperials." The Red Hood nodded and controlled the gunship to leave Charming Thunder. Charming Thunder looked up to see the Red Hood fleeing as he leaps onto the droid gunship and takes his leave.

"Friend of yours," Fancy Pants asked.

"No," Charming Thunder said. "But he won't go far. Twilight, go with Starswirl and follow the Red Hood."

"What about you?" Twilight asked.

"I'm going in to the chemical plant and find out what's going on."

"Be careful in there." Charming Thunder nodded as he used his teleportation spell to get inside the building undetected.

As Charming Thunder investigated inside the chemical plant, he heard chatter going on at the other side of a door. He slowly opened it and took a peak to see droids carrying canisters of tibana gas and chemicals. He then looked up at the observation room to see a shadow of Zero working on something. "Charming Thunder is here," Zero's voice said on the speaker. "Make sure he doesn't interfere with my plan to cloud this city with a new toxin. Charming Thunder drew out his blaster and opened fire at the droids in the room avoiding the tibana gas without being noticed by Zero. He used his lightsaber to cut down the Skytroopers that were close to him. Once the room was cleared, he took out his communicator and contacted Twilight.

"Twilight, Zero is here," Charming Thunder said. "How's it coming over there?"

"Red Hood managed to get away," Twilight said. "He was tough."

"At least you tried. I'll contact you once I have Zero." Charming Thunder turned off his communicator and walked up the stairs to the observation room. He then opened the door to see Zero at a terminal as he entered the room.

Zero slowly turned to face Charming Thunder as he said, "Do you really think you've won? Fear makes you predictable. You should've died by your precious princesses." Zero drew out his vibro blade and readied for combat. Charming Thunder charged at Zero and strikes first. Zero was fast to block Charming Thunder's strikes. They clashed their blades as Charming Thunder looked at the terminal.

"What are you mixing the tibana gas with?"

"Something far worse. A toxin that will make everypony run scared. I am in complete control." Charming Thunder broke the clash and punched Zero in the gut. He then grabbed his neck and slammed him to the wall.

"Shut it down!!!"

"It's too late. Either you let me go or the blast will spread this city with toxin." Charming Thunder threw Zero to the floor and took out his communicator.

"Twilight, stay away from the chemical plant."

"Why?" Twilight asked. "What's wrong?"

"Zero has made a toxin that will spread in the city." Charming Thunder was interrupted when Zero shuts the door behind him. He rushed to the door and tried to smash it down, but it didn't work.

"You have nothing to blame but yourself, Charming Thunder. I bid you farewell." Zero took his leave as Charming Thunder banged on the door. He then had a different idea and walked up to the terminal and reading a neutralizing agent.

"What are you doing, Charming?" Twilight asked in shock. "It's too late. You can't stop it."

"I'm not trying to stop it. But I can try to reduce the blast radius. Don't worry about me. Just get yourself and the others to safety." The neutralizing agent has been deployed and four canisters of the neutralizing agent appeared next to him. He then walked up to one of them and slowly took out the canister.

"I urge you to reconsider, Charming. Who knows what will happen if you get caught in that blast."

"There's no other way."

"Please, Charming. Don't do it." Charming Thunder slowly carried the canister to one of the slots. He slowly slid the canister into the slot and connected it. The neutralizing agent chemical filled up the tube as Charming Thunder headed back to grab another one. Explosions erupted outside of the room as he continued.

"BLAST RADIUS REDUCED BY 25 PERCENT," the computer said. He slowly grabbed another canister and slowly walked up to another slot and placed it in. "BLAST RADIUS REDUCED TO 50 PERCENT." He grabbed the third one and walked up to the third slot and placed it in. He grabbed the fourth and final canister of the neutralizing agent. When he slowly turned around, he saw Cyber aiming his arm cannon at his face. Charming Thunder was shocked to see him here.

"Miss me?" Cyber asked before Charming Thunder collapsed to the floor. He laid down on his back as his eyes began to get blurry as he looked at Cyber. "Charming? Charming? Can you hear me Charming?"

"C-Cyber," Charming Thunder said. "But I thought you were-"

"Oh, don't act all surprised, Charming. You knew this was going to happen. Now I am stuck inside your head thanks to my cyber drones that are inside your body. Together, we're going to give Equestria what it deserves. A new Charming Thunder. A darker more-" Cyber was interrupted when he saw explosions outside of the room. "Well, we can come back to this later. Sure you have saved the city by reducing the blast, but there is now one problem. This chemical blast is about to explode."

"Are you really here or is it just my head seeing things?"

"Yes, I am really here. Just in your mind. And no. You can't kill me again."

"I wasn't planning to anyway." Charming Thunder activated his lightsaber and sliced open the sealed door and made a run for it out of the chemical plant. He got away in a safe distance as the building exploded and collapsed to the ground. Charming Thunder took a breather and turned to see Twilight and the others arriving to the scene. Twilight, Applejack, Sunset, and Lucina gave him a tight hug of relief.

"Oh, thank Celestia," Twilight said. "When the explosion...I thought you might be..."

"It's okay, Twilight. I managed to reduce the blast radius and get out of here on time."

"But what about Zero?" Applejack asked.

"He got away. I was...exposed to the toxin."

"Oh dear," Twilight said in a panic. "Are you alright?"

"It's okay. I had a bad reaction, but it's over now."

Charming Thunder saw Cyber walking past the group as he said, "I really got to hand it to Zero. I've never been a fan of what he's been up to, but now that the toxin is spreading in you, it really brings out the me in you." Cyber laughed as Twilight tapped on Charming Thunder's shoulder.

"Honey, are you sure you're okay?" Sunset asked. "You look as if you have seen a ghost?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Charming Thunder said. "For now let's leave and try to figure out the way to get rid of the toxin."

"Yeah," Twilight said. "It think that's best if we do."

Chapter 4: Kallen's Surrender

Charming Thunder paced back and forth in the Canterlot meeting room as he waited. Lelouch then entered the room and walked up to him. "You wanted to see me, old friend?" he asked.

"Yes," Charming Thunder replied. "I was hoping that I could ask you something."

"Fire away."

"Do you know who Zero is and what he did to Equestria while I was away for three years?"

"Zero? Has he attacked again?"

"He attacked Cloud City and tried to make a toxin. I stopped it, but there was a complication."

"Complication?"

"I got exposed to it. Scientists are researching my blood sample I gave them and hope to make a cure before anything worse happens."

"I hope you'll be okay. Anyways, all I can tell about Zero is that he is a terrorist. He attacked many places that were controlled by the Equestrian Empire."

"He also controls the Eternal Fleet." Beeping sound was heard on the terminal at his seat. "I must take this call. If you have any other info, please come to me or the princesses."

"Of course." Lelouch bowed to him and took his leave as Charming Thunder walked up the the terminal at his seat. Cyber appeared sitting next to him in his mind as he sat back and placed his feet on the table.

"I gotta say, Charmy. It is GOOD to be back. Mephiles just wasn't the same without me, was he? I mean, you wounded him after you killed me." Charming Thunder ignored him as he pressed buttons on the terminal. "You are on top of his to kill list. I just know it." Charming Thunder shook his head and looked next to him to see nothing. He then pressed a button and a hologram of a scientist appeared on the middle of the table.

"Your report?" Charming Thunder asked.

"I have reports about your blood sample you gave us," the scientist said. "It appears that you were right. There is something in your blood. Some sort of probes injected inside you. Somehow they are are active now."

"How is that possible?"

"That I know the answer to. The gas must've triggered it. I don't know what will happen to you if they stay inside your bloodstream."

"Is there a way to get rid of them?"

"We can conduct a serum to destroy them, but it will take days to make it."

"Get started on it and try scanning others to see if they have them as well. And keep this a secret from my friends and family."

"Of course, your highness." The transmission ended as Charming Thunder pressed some buttons on his terminal and began to work on his royal duties. Cyber appeared again as he focused on the terminal.

"You really think he's gonna fix your nasty case of Cyber-itis?" Cyber asked. "Not a chance. I'm chronic, Charmy. I'm lingering. We both know there's no cure for me. Soon, you'll be mine. All MINE." Charming Thunder ignored his warning as Cyber disappeared.

Charming Thunder looked up and said to himself, "I am counting on it."

Charming Thunder sat on his throne back at Ponyville and observed the town from his window. The doors opened and two Equestrian soldiers with Arcann up front escorted a prisoner who appears to be the one who helped the Red Hood with the supply theft. She was cuffed up as they approached the stairs to the throne and stopped as the troops kneel to Charming Thunder's presence. "His glorious majesty," Arcann announced. "Bearer of the Element of Courage and Immortal Protector of Equestria; King Charming Thunder."

"I welcome you, Kallen," Charming Thunder said. "And yet you come before me peacefully in chains. Do you have a reason?"

"I'm not here to cause a fight," Kallen said. "I am here to help."

"And why should I trust you?"

"You want to take down Zero, I do too. I don't know who he really is, but I can be a valuable asset to you."

"Zero and this so called Red Hood is not my concern for now."

"Then answer me this; why did you kill Danny? Your own brother."

"He told me to. It was the only way to weaken Mephiles and destroy Cyber Eclipse." Charming Thunder got up from his throne and walked up to the top of the stairs. "You say that you know me. If that is true, then you know how powerful I am. Whatever Zero hoped to achieve in Equestria while I was gone for three years, he knows that deep inside that he cannot succeed." Charming Thunder gestured his soldiers to leave the room. Arcaan stood at the left of the stairs as they took their leave.

"Why send your followers away. Something they don't want to know about you?"

"That is not the reason. All these years, Zero alone does not know my full history. And yet he marks upon Equestria wherever he acts with terrorism. Just as I act for peace and harmony."

"What do you mean?"

"Look around you. Equestria is poised to be a peaceful world for ponies, griffins, dragons, and many more. I have started this empire since the end of the Lunar Wars to protect the whole world." Charming Thunder walked down the stairs. "My brother built the Eternal Fleet when he was Cyber Eclipse. Now it is controlled by that terrorist you call your savior."

"I don't anymore. He's just obsessed with you."

"That I completely understand. If the Eternal Fleet destroys my empire, he can use the fleet to reshape Equestria into any image he desires. And he desires my death. I will share all of this with you if you will only kneel." Kallen sighed and looked at Charming Thunder in the eye. "What do you choose?"

"I-I choose your knowledge. I am tired of working with that terrorist. I a want him dead as much as you do. I will make sure nopony stands in your way." Kallen kneels down to Charming Thunder as he uses his magic to unchain her. She then got up as Charming Thunder's horn glowed and fired a non-lethal beam of electricity at her. Arcaan only stood there and watched.

"You made a wise desicion, Kallen," Arcaan said. "I struggled for years when I fought with Mephiles. I sacrificed everything. Even my own brother who wouldn't see the light as I did. Now you too will see it." Beams of electricity continued to fire and Kallen collapsed to the floor; unconscious. "Soon you will do what you could not in exchange for your allegiance." Charming Thunder stopped and looked at Arcaan.

"Take her to her new chambers, let me know if she wakes up." Arcaan bowed and picked Kallen up from the ground and carried her out of the room. As the doors closed, Charming Thunder walked up the stairs back to his throne and turned his chair around to see Cyber sitting on it.

"Tough night, huh?" Cyber asked as he got up from the chair and let Charming Thunder sit on it. "I know how it feels, Charmy. There's an old remedy I tried on nights like this one. It's called murder." Charming Thunder ignored Cyber's statement and gazed out the window to look at the stars.

Chapter 5: Haunting of the Past

Charming Thunder paid a visit to the lab where the scientists did heir research on the probes in the bloodstream. One of the scientists noticed him and approached him. "Glad you came," the scientist greeted. "I have made a discovery on who might have the probes in their blood."

"Who has them?" Charming Thunder said. The scientist pressed a button on the terminal and revealed the images of the victims of the probes. He was shocked to see the images of the ponies he knows.

"I know it may sound crazy, but hear me out. Sunset and Twilight had them during your battle with them while Rainbow, and Applejack were infected while they were in their nightmare form back on the Dark Forge. And don't worry they are currently not active." Charming Thunder sighed with relief.

"What must I do? I don't want them to panic."

"Tell them that they have them just as you do."

"I believe I can't tell them I have the probes. Not yet."

"If you say so, your highness. In the meantime, we already started to make the cure for you and the others."

"Very good. Let me know if it's ready and have them sent to me."

Charming Thunder was roaming around the Ponyville's Castle, waiting and admiring any arts he can find. As he entered another room, he sees a pony in a wheelchair, tied up and had a bag over his head. He rushed over and in front of the pony and took off the bag, only to see the face of his long lost daughter; Light Sparkle. "Light?" he gasped in horror. "I thought you were dead..." Light seemed to have ignored him and he was about to let her go, but the lights in the room went all black and Charming Thunder backed off, grabbing his lightsaber and ready it for anything. That was when Cyber walked in the light that surrounded Light Sparkle. She heard Cyber's footsteps as he approached from behind Light.

"Father?" Light asked with some hope. "Is that you?"

"Charming is not coming to save you, Light," Cyber said.

"He'll come."

"It's been six months now, Light. I think it's time to face facts!"

"Screw you!!"

"That's the spirit! You're a real chip of the ol' Thunder block. Not that it'll do you any good." Cyber looked down to the ground, shaking his head with disappointment.

"Why don't you just kill me?"

"What? No, no, no, no! I'm not going to kill you, not yet anyway. You're my sidekick now. Imagine it; you and me, out in the world, starting wars, destroying the weak empires, a regular father and daughter duo." Cyber pulled out a picture. "Just like Charming and that new daughter of his."

"No he wouldn't..."

"You think?" Cyber showed Light the picture. "So this isn't Charming then? Weird." He pulls away from Light and looks at the picture. "The Triforce Symbol is usually a dead giveaway."

"No!" Light shouted in denial and began to cry, tears dropping from her eyes.

"I didn't want to show you that photo, really I didn't. But it was the only way for you to get closure." Cyber began to walk in front of Light as Charming Thunder noticed him holding a crowbar. "Now I know it hurts but sometimes you have got to be cruel to be kind." He hits Light's chest with the crowbar, making her wheelchair go heading into the darkness. Cyber following her into the darkness as well. The darkness fades as Charming Thunder sees Twilight approaching him.

"Are you ok?" Twilight asked with worry, seeing the shock and pain on Charming Thunder's face.

"I'm fine," Charming Thunder replied, putting up a calm look. "I was just thinking about something..."

Charming Thunder was walking to his room, trying to think about what he had bare witness. He then sees something hanging with a red blanket around it. He gets in front of it and takes it off, revealing Light Sparkle, hanging. Once again, the lights all around begin to turn black and Charming Thunder backed off. "What do we have here, then?" Cyber asked from nowhere. Cyber appeared behind the hanging Light and begins to observe the Sparkle child, he was holding some sort of black piece of metal that had a smoking red hot letter of "C" at the end. "Wakey, wakey." Light began to wake up and was struggling. "What's wrong? Do you think I'm going to hurt you? Why? I'm not the bad one here. Oh, no, no, no, no. It's Charming. He's abandoned you. He threw you away like an unwanted puppy." His head jerks to the left as Charming Thunder noticed his cybernetic eye turns dark blue and now mimics his voice. "Can I have her, Twilight? Oh please, please, please, please, please. I'll take real good care for her." Cyber jerks his head to the right and his cybernetic eye turned purple and now mimics Twilight's voice. "Anything to make you happy, honey. Just make sure ponies know that she's yours' now." Cyber's cybernetic eye flickered and the cable holding Light releases her and rolled away. Cyber jerked his head back to the left. "No, we don't Twilight. I want to keep her forever." He then jerked his head forward, his cybernetic eye changing back to dark purple.

"No!" Light shouted. "No please! Please no!" Cyber jumped into the darkness after Light and there was a sound of something hissing in the darkness. "NO!!" Light screamed in the darkness, much made Charming Thunder fall to the ground with tears running down his eyes, this was getting too much for him to bear as he heard Cyber chuckle darkly at the screams. Light's screams, Cyber's chuckling, and the darkness in the room fades as he heard walking nearby and looks with his red teary eyes, seeing Twilight gasp and running up to him.

"Are you sure you are alright?" Twilight asked with worry. "You look spooked."

"I'm fine, Lig- Twilight," Charming Thunder said, trying to get rid of the tears of sadness and getting up.

"No. You're not fine. I'm taking you to the Princesses. I need to know what is going on." Charming Thunder tried to get away but Twilight kept him close and was dragging him.

"I'm telling you," Charming Thunder said as he stood in the Canterlot castle throne room. "I'm completely fine. I just had a long day."

"He is not, Celestia," Twilight said. "He's just lying to you." Charming Thunder then began to have a hedache and got to his knees with one hoof to his head.

"He's been acting strange after the attack on Cloud City."

"It must be the toxin," Luna said. "It must be driving him mad or something."

"No," Charming Thunder said. "No. No no no no no. It is not the toxin. It was just the beginning for these probes."

"What probes?" Celestia asked.

"It's-it's in my blood. Including Twilight, Sunset, Applejack, all those who were controlled by Cyber." Charming Thunder felt more pain go to his head as Cadence rushed to his aid. He then began to chuckle and looked up to the princesses. The pain wore off as Celestia approached him.

"You're right, Twilight. Whatever Cyber did to him, it's making him go insane like Cyber himself. Charming, we need you to go to a cell for your own safety." Cyber appeared next to Celestia.

"Nice move, Tia," Cyber said. "Your turn, Charmy." Charming Thunder slowly got up as guards entered the room.

"We need to cure him fast."

"Even I don't know which side to root for now."

"I'm sorry, brother," Cadence said. "But it's for your own good." Charming Thunder gritted his teeth as he looked up to the princesses and got grabbed by the guards.

"I changed my mind. Kill, kill. Kill them both." Charming Thunder's left eye changed from blue to dark purple which shocked the princesses.

"Your eye," Twilight said with shock. "It's just like Cyber. Put him in a containment cell."

"Yes, your highness," the guard said as the guards dragged Charming Thunder out of the throne room.

Charming Thunder sat inside a magical sealed containment cell, looking down when he heard tapping at the door. He looks up to see Cyber staring at him with a smirk. "Don't worry about Lucina, Charming." Cyber said. "I'm sure she won't die. Well, fairly certain, anyway..." Cyber looked behind him and sees something. He smiles and turns back to Charming Thunder. "He-Hey! I never got to finish my story about Light Sparkle, did I?" Cyber moves out of the way, revealing Light strapped to a chair. The door to the containment cell opens, for some off reason why Cyber pushed the button. Charming Thunder approached the scene in front of him. He stayed a short of distance away and the camera that was a few feet away from Light turned on, some screens appeared behind the camera appeared, revealing Light's face and a burned mark of a "C" underneath Light's left eye. Cyber approached the camera from behind and aimed it at Light. "Have you got something to tell the nice stallion, Light?"

"My name is Light Sparkle," Light replied.

"Who do you hate?"

"Charming Thunder."

"Excellent!" Cyber stated, the camera zooming out of the image in front of Light and Cyber enters the camera's view "Of course you do." More screens appeared, surrounding Charming and the scene in front of him and Cyber put his face in front of the camera "Did you get that, Charming? Kid's not yours' anymore. He's mine. Mine, mine, mine. To do with as I wish." Cyber looked at Light and began to approach her "Hey, I never asked. What's the big secret? What is the secret battle plan that Charming and his group plan to attack the Dark Forge? The plan, tell me!" Cyber was now standing halfway between the camera and Light, to the screens he just beside Light.

"Of course, sir. Their plan is-" Light started to talk before Cyber pulled out his arm cannon and aimed it at Light, firing it at her and it hit her, killing her in an instant.

"Never could stand a telltale. That's why I work alone." Cyber went to the camera and picked it up to show the dead body of Light Sparkle "No one to spoil the plot." Cyber put his face in front of the camera, he held a grin "You should try it sometimes. After all, you've seen what happens when you drag your friends and family into this crazy little game of ours'."

Chapter 6: Facing Fears

Charming Thunder was still sitting in his cell when Twilight and Cadence came to see him. He was looking down at the ground feeling guilty for what happened the other day. "How are you feeling'?" Twilight asked, placing a hoof on Charming Thunder's shoulder.

"Like the first time I was in a cell before the Lunar Wars," Charming Thunder replied.

"I remember that time."

"Listen, about the probes inside you and the others, it's true. All of it. When the toxin hit me, it somehow activated them and somehow I'm seeing Cyber in my mind."

"I believe you," Cadence said.

"Now, I need your help with something. I need your magic to help me enter my mind so I can confront Cyber so things can calm down. I can't be in this cell though."

"Our magic is not enough. It will take years."

"I know. That is why I had the idea of having Lucina convince Danny to help me. We need his help more than anything."

"You may be right," Twilight said. "With his help we might have a fighting chance, but we need Celestia's permission to--"

"No need for my permission," Celestia said from behind. "If it's the only way to loosen Cyber's grip on Charming's mind then it has to be done." Charming Thunder smiled as he stood up.

At the Ponyville castle, Charming Thunder sat in the middle in his throne room as Twilight and Cadence stood next to Lucina. Lucina sat down in front of her father and had a look of worry. "Are you sure you want to do this, dad?" Lucina said. "Uncle Danny may have agreed, but I fear that something might happen if something goes wrong during the process."

"Don't worry," Charming Thunder reassured. He then looked at Twilight and Cadence and nodded. He then closed his eyes. "I am ready." Lucina closed her eyes as Twilight and Cadence used their unicorn magic on Charming Thunder. Danny's spirit appeared and flew inside Charming Thunder's body to access his mind.

A town was in blazes as Cyber flew out of a burning building and landed on the ground. He then took a deep breath and said, "Ah. This may be my finest work yet. Since I am in his mind, I thought I had a little fun. Soon, Equestria will tremble before the new Cyber Eclipse." The ground began to shake as magic began to fire at him out of nowhere, but had no effect on him. He smiled and laughed maniacally. "Guess I'm magic proof. Hey Charmy, you still here?" The room slowly began to turn pitch black as Cyber looked around. "Charmy? Is that you? Oh, Charmy?" The whole room then became dark as he heard nothing but wind blowing. He then used his cybernetic eye as a flashlight to reveal a painting of Charming Thunder stabbing Cyber in the chest. "Ah. Good times." He then turned to walk the dark halls and saw his body being sent into the incinerator. "Ooh. Crispy. I outgrew that body anyway. Trying to tell me something, Charmy? I'm not dead. I've never been so alive." He then followed a trail of candles through a graveyard looking area and came across a statue of himself. The head fell off of the statue and rolled to his feet. "Wait a minute. This? This isn't my grave. Oh no, no, no, no. It's too small. It's overgrown. Where's the head? Oh I get it. They forgot about me, did they? Very funny, Charmy. It's not going to happen." He then turned to see that the hall has changed to the inside of a building of a cemetery. He then came across to pathways and decided to take the right. He reached the dead end and looked around. He then turned got scared to see a statue of Charming Thunder standing in front of him. He then used his arm cannon and shot it out of his way. "See, old boy? You aren't the death of me." He proceeded through the hall until he came across a light. "I know what you're trying to do, Charmy. You and those friends of yours. You think this scares me?" He then stepped outside to see another statue of Charming Thunder and shot it. "Where are you?!" He then turned around to see two more statues and shot them. "Show yourself!!" He turned to see a lot of statues and fired at some of them with his arm cannon. When he was about to fire at another one, the real Charming Thunder popped out of a statue and kicked Cyber in the face and punch him straight to a wall. He looked up to see that he was gone and turned to the broken wall to see a light on the other side. He charged up his arm cannon and fired at the wall. He then jumped down and began to run through a dark room as he laughed. "So long, Charmy. This was one heck of a ride, but I'm getting off." He then arrived to a lever with a sign over it that says 'exit'. He then pulled the lever and the lights began to turn on in the room. "You know that you had me scared back there. What do I got to be afraid of anyway?" More lights turn on to reveal hanging cages in the room. He turned as he heard a door opening and a cage slid towards him and stopped.

"You're afraid of being ashes," Charming Thunder's voice said. "You're afraid of being forgotten." The cell door lowered to reveal Charming Thunder with the purple eye and Danny standing next to him at the other side.

"And you will be forgotten, Cyber," Danny said. "Because of me." Cyber tried shooting them as they approached, but no matter how many shots he gives them, they turn to bats and reform to their normal selves. Charming Thunder grabbed Cyber by the neck and lifted him up in the air.

"I am the bearer of the Elememnt of Courage. I am the immortal king. I am Charming Thunder!!" Charming Thunder then headbutts Cyber and began to fight. Once Cyber was standing at the opening of the cell, Charming Thunder fired force lightning at him as Danny did the same. They stopped until he was weakened and laid some punches to the chest. He then kicked Cyber in and grabbed the door of the cell.

"No, Charmy!!" Cyber shouted. "Wait." Cyber tried to rush out of the cell, but it was too late when the door closed on him. "No! Please! Nooo!" He struggled to break the cage as Danny pressed the button to lock the cell.

"Goodbye, Cyber."

"No, Charming! Don't leave me! Please!!" Charming Thunder pushed the cell back inside the room where it came from as he turned away. "I need you!!" When the metal door closed, Charming Thunder's eye turned back to its normal color.

"Thanks for the help, brother."

"Just like old times, brother." Danny faded away as Charming Thunder closed his eyes.

Charming Thunder opened his eyes in the throne room and slowly got up. "Did it work?" Twilight asked, worryingly.

"Like a bird in a cage," Charming Thunder said.

"Now we can get back to the Zero and Red Hood characters," Cadence said. "But the question is; how are we going to deal with the fleet that massive?"

"I think I know who can," Danny said. "I have heard of someone with the name 'Lady of Sorrows'. She will know how. I've known her since I was Cyber."

"It's a start," Charming Thunder said. "Do you know where she is?"

"Somewhere in the Crystal Empire."

"Then it is where we must go before we face Zero and the Eternal Fleet."

Chapter 7: The Crystal Empire Undercity

Charming Thunder, Lucina, and Twilight stood in the elevator to go down to the undercity of the Crystal Empire since they heard that this 'Lady of Sorrows' character was told to be at by Danny's spirit. The elevator doors open and they step out in the streets of the city. The city looks a little different than the Crystal Empire back on top. "This must be where ponies go mingle with the rabble and then go home to brag about it," Charming Thunder said.

"This must be one big party then," Twilight said surprised.

"Our contact should be down here. Lucina, you stay here. If you see either the Red Hood or Zero, contact us." Lucina nodded as her mother and father took their leave. She then took a stroll as the spirit of Danny appear next to her.

"I always intended to visit the Crystal Empire Undercity," Danny said. "I thought I would have the time. Delightful."

"You couldn't have mentioned about somepony who could help us destroy the Eternal Fleet earlier," Lucina said.

"The probes inside your father were active and I couldn't reveal that info because of that situation. If Cyber took control of his mind, he would've destroyed everyone again."

"You have a fair point." Lucina's communicator beeped and she answered it to hear blaster fire in the background.

"If you can read me, we've made some new friends," Twilight said. "We could use a hoof."

"I'm on my way." Lucina ran off to help his mother and father. A pony hid in the corner as she left and grabbed a holo communicator and revealed the holo figure of the Red Hood.

"This better be good!!" the Red Hood shouted.

"You wouldn't guess who is here in the Crystal Empire Undercity," the pony said with a smile.

Charming Thunder and Twilight were pinned down in the cantina where they came across a crossfire with hooded ponies. Lucina came in front of Charming Thunder and Twilight and deflected the blaster fire to wound them and end the shooting. Some of them barely walked out of the cantina as some collapsed to the ground. "Nice timing," Charming Thunder said.

"Who were they?" Lucina asked as she deactivated her lightsaber.

"Heralds of Zildrog; cultists longing the return of some sort of serpent god. They are now militant."

"But how did they get here?"

"Someone who worked here." Charming Thunder turned towards the table and used his unicorn magic to throw the table aside to reveal a stallion cowering in fear. "And he is still here." He then approached the stallion as he crawled away and got cornered to the wall. "It's not to bright to be siccing out the Heralds."

"It wasn't me, your highness!!" the stallion said. "Those Heralds run the undercity now. They made a deal with the Red Hood."

"Red Hood?" Twilight asked. "What kind of deal?"

"Heralds find you, they leave the undercity alone. If you stick around, he'll blame it on me. You need to leave."

"how about telling us where the Lady of Sorrows is first?" Charming Thunder demanded.

"This is a joke, right? I'd rather take my lumps from the Heralds over the Lady any day."

"And where do we fit in?"

"What?" Charming Thunder punched the stallion in the gut then used the force to lift him off of his hooves. He then released him back down to the floor. "Need another reminder on what your king can do?"

"I'd take his advice if I were you," Twilight said. "It is your fault after all."

"W-What I meant to say was, you don't want to mess with the Lady," the stallion said in fear. "Then I was going to say, but hey that's your prerogative. I'll be square with you. Just don't do that again."

"Where is she?" Charming Thunder demanded.

"I don't know, but I know somepony to talk to. A friend of mine."

"Go on."

Zero sat on the Eternal Throne as the Red Hood entered the room. He stopped in the middle of the room and gave him the big news. "Guess who my spies found in the Crystal Empire Undercity?" the Red Hood said.

"Charming Thunder?" Zero replied as the Red Hood nodded. "Is he alone?"

"He's not alone. Twilight and their daughter Lucina is with him. I was hopping I would get a chance at him."

"This may be your opportunity indeed. Go on ahead and do what you must." The Red Hood turned to leave the room. "Oh, and bring me Charming Thunder's head as proof."

"As you wish." The Red Hood then took his leave as Zero got up and looked out of the window.

Charming Thunder, Twilight, and Lucina arrived at the destination where the bartender's friend said where the Lady of Sorrows might be at. "This is it," Charming Thunder said. "Breaktown. Where some ponies who fall in hard times keep falling." They walked past a commotion where the similar hooded pony from before lay punches on a stallion as a mare watched. "Even when the Crystal Guard placed the Undercity, we never lingered around here for very long."

"I can see why," Twilight said as she turned to see that the hooded pony stopped punching the stallion.

"I know where the Heralds are headquartered, but they will not give information willingly."

"Not like we have a choice," Lucina said. The trio then proceeded onward through Breaktown to find the Herald's hideout.

Chapter 8: The Lady of Sorrows

Charming Thunder and the others arrived at the location and sees a group of heralds with what appears to be their leader behind them. They turned to notice them as their leader said, "Well, looks like you saved me the trouble to hunting you down."

"We're not here to start a fight," Charming Thunder said. "I am here for any information that you can provide me."

"Do I strike you as someone who cares what you want?"

"Apparently you do because I am your king."

"You cannot be allowed to remain here in the Undercity. Your presence threatens the order we have fought to maintain."

"And from the looks of it, you are doing a great job," Twilight said, sarcastically. "Twilight Sparkle. Former student of Princess Celestia and princess of friendship. If it's Zero who you made a deal with, he could pull the plug on it any second for any reason."

"What do you mean?"

"When Charming Thunder, Lucina, and I defeat Zero, you won't have to answer to him anymore. All we want is to meet the Lady of Sorrows so we can convince her to help us in our cause. I bet you can make it happen."

"How do you intend on defeating him and his massive Eternal Fleet?"

"I have more power than you realize," Charming Thunder replied.

"Power. Zero gave us power only to implement so many restrictions that we are in many ways powerless." The Herald Leader turned away. Most don't even realize. But his undoing, it cannot be by your hooves."

"Why not?"

"Danny's fall, Zero's rise. It all conforms to prophecy. You however do not." The leader turned around to face Charming Thunder and the others. "You cannot be allowed to succeed."

"And I thought we were getting along."

"On my mark..." The Heralds aimed their weapons as the leader raised his hoof in the air. A hologram of a griffin appeared behind them.

"Exalted," the griffin said.

"Can't you see I'm busy here?"

"The Lady of Sorrows demands your attention now." The Herald leader turned to face the hologram of the griffin as the Heralds lowered their weapons.

"Your grip on the Undercity has become a stranglehold. You continue to act counter to the Lady's interest, most recently with the murder of her contractor; Sapphire Sorbet."

"Can this wait? I've got company."

"The Lady has decided to renegotiate the terms of your agreement."

"We made a deal!!"

"And now you will agree to a new deal." A hologram image changed to a stallion which looked familiar to the leader.

"Father," the stallion said.

"Brennen," the leader said. "Release him at once!"

"Come to the Razor," the griffin said. "You and the Lady can discuss your son's future." She then looked up to see Charming Thunder and the others. "And you. The Lady would like to speak to you as well."

"Well it's about time," Charming Thunder said.

"You could've called earlier to save us the trouble," Twilight added.

"We prefer caution over haste," the griffin said. "Your identities had to be double-confirmed, and your motives made known. The Lady of Sorrows is fully aware of who you are, Charming Thunder. And now she also knows what you're after. Under no circumstances are you to kill King Charming Thunder. Understood?"

"Understood," the leader said. The holo transmission ended as the leader began to walk away from Charming Thunder, Twilight, and Lucina. "Kill them both." One of the Heralds activated his lightsaber and leap in the air to attack Charming Thunder, but was stopped by Charming Thunder when he used the force to choke the Herald and throw him across the room. The others began to back away with fear as Charming Thunder approached.

"Anyone else?" Charming Thunder asked. Their answer was running away from him. "I thought so."

Charming Thunder and the others were in the elevator going up to the level where the Lady of Sorrows is. Charming Thunder drew his blaster as the elevator went up and said, "The Heralds had the head start. Be ready for anything. It could be a minor war if we step out."

"I know everything about war," Lucina said as she spun her blaster in her hoof. The elevator doors opened and they walked into a room full of corpses of the Heralds. Standing at the other side holding the leader by the neck was a silver humanoid-like droid with an electrostaff on her back. Standing behind the droid was the leader's son; Brennen, who just stood there and watched.

"I know," the droid said. "You didn't get the deal you wanted. But you did get the deal you deserved. Think of it this way, Exalted. You'll fnally be with your great serpent." The droids arm surged with electricity and shocked the stallion killing him in the process. The droid tossed him aside and looked at him on the floor.

"A droid is the Lady of Sorrows?" Twilight said.

"Princess Twilight Sparkle along with Charming Thunder and Lucina. I suspected you would be here, but was unable to confirm it until today." The droid turned to face Charming Thunder and the others. "I'm curious, Charming Thunder. What would you do to the Exalted's son?"

"I would let him be leader of the Heralds," Charming Thunder replied. "He might fear and respect you unlike his father."

"My exact calculation. Excellent." The Lady of Sorrows turned to face Brennen. "There is nothing to stop you from becoming the new Exalted now. I expect you to honor your end of our agreement."

"Of course," Brennen said. "I can finally lead the Heralds to the glorious future we deserve. You will have your just rewards."

"Then leave." Brennen bowed and took his leave.

"What are you anyways?" Charming Thunder asked.

"I am SCORPIO."

"Why hide here?"

"The technology here is beyond anywhere in Equestria I visited. Perhaps everything will be explained when we reach your castle, your highness." SCORPIO turned to the griffin who was working on a datapad. "Continue operations in my stead. Annihilate the Heralds if you must. I will remain in touch."

"Very well," the griffin said and bowed.

"So that means you're coming with us?" Twilight asked.

"Naturally," SCORPIO replied. SCORPIO followed Charming Thunder and the others into the elevator and the doors closed. "I look forward to communicating with an intellect that rivals my own for a change."

"And what of Zero?" Charming Thunder asked.

"He has something of my master's. The severity of his error must be recognized." The elevator doors opened to reveal the Red Hood with his gun pointed at Charming Thunder as he stood in the middle of the room.

"Come out slowly," the Red Hood said as Charming Thunder and the others stepped out of the elevator.

"Who are you?" Charming Thunder demanded.

"You really have no idea." The Red Hood lowered his hood and pressed a button on his arm to remove his helmet slowly to reveal the face of Light Sparkle. Twilight and Charming Thunder gasped as Light stepped up to them. "Do you father?"

"Light? But you were dead." Cyber appeared next to Charming Thunder.

"Let's not fall out here, Charmy," Cyber said. "I might have told you a teeny tiny little lie. But come on, look at your girl. You did good. We did good. You should be proud." Cyber vanished as Twilight and the others except Twilight stepped back. Charming Thunder and Light circled around with the gun pointed at him by his own daughter.

"What's the matter?" Light asked. "Lost for words. I expected more. I'm hurt."

"Cyber sent me the recording," Charming Thunder said as tears fell out of his eyes. "I saw him kill you."

"Don't you dare lie to me! How long did you wait before replacing me? A month? A week? I trusted you. And you just left me to die!"

"That's not what happened."

"We would never replace you, Light," Twilight said.

"You always told me, father," Light said. "Focus on what you want to achieve and it'll happen. Well you know what I want, huh? I want you dead." Light tossed her blaster away and drew her vibrosword as her helmet went back down and Charming Thunder activated his lightsaber. Light leaps in the air and struck first. Charming Thunder blocked the incoming strikes as he got cornered to a wall. He ducked and moved out of the way from an incoming strike which caused Light to leave a cut on the wall. Light approached as Charming Thunder got up.

"Light, I can help you!" Charming Thunder said.

"There's no helping me." Charming Thunder laid some strikes as Light blocked the strikes. Charming Thunder force pushed her to the ground as he slowly approached.

"Cyber got to you. I know what it's like!"

"Don't pretend to understand!" Light took out a thermal imploder and threw it at him. Charming Thunder used his magic to put a force field around it before it exploded leaving a crater. The duel continued as they clashed their blades.

"Stand down, Light!"

"Don't call me that! That is not who I am anymore!" Charming Thunder broke the clash and gave heavy strikes to Light. Light blocked the strikes and the third strike caused her vibrosword to flick out of her hoof. Light tried to punch Charming Thunder, but he countered with a punch to the face which cracked the helmet now showing her face. Twilight tried to intervene, but was tackled by Lucina.

"You are my daughter, Light! You are not what Cyber made you!"

"Stop! Stop talking to me!" Light tackled Charming Thunder and Charming Thunder got above her and pointed his blaster to her face with anger in his eyes. He then got up and holstered his blaster as Light said, "You did this to me!"

"I'm sorry." Light drew her second pistol and pointed it at Charming Thunder as she was on the ground.

"You left me to rot in that cell in the Dark Forge for over a year with HIM!" Twilight approached beside Charming Thunder.

"It's not too late, Light," Twilight said. "We can fix this together."

"I need your help," Charming Thunder added. "We need you. Cyber has infected me with his probes. I need to find a way to get rid of them. Please." Charming Thunder offered his hoof to Light as tears fell from Light's eyes. She dropped her pistol and grabbed his hoof and Charming Thunder helped her up to her hooves. Twilight then hugged Light as Charming Thunder did the same. "Let's go home."

Chapter 9: The Death Star

Charming Thunder was in a holo conference with princesses Celestia and Luna as he explained to them what happened after the mission to find SCORPIO was successful. He told them that his daughter Light was the Red Hood and that she decided to help work on the cure. "Can she be trusted?" Luna asked.

"I have soldiers watching over in case anything goes wrong," Charming Thunder reassured. "She will be in good hooves."

"Then we have an advantage against Zero," Celestia said. "She may reveal secrets to us about him and his empire. But what about the fleet?"

"SCORPIO is working on that." Charming Thunder turned his chair around facing the left side of the window. "In the meantime, I believe it is time we revealed to Twilight and the others the super weapon."

"Is it wise?" Luna asked. "It brings Twilight painful memories during the time of the Lunar Wars. Are you sure you want to do it?"

"I am. She may get angry for keeping it a secret even from Cadence, but the weapon is the only chance we have for destroying the fleet."

"I understand. I'll arrange preparations for your arrival with Twilight."

"Good. I'll be sure that the construction on the weapon is complete and will be fully operational. We will then crush Zero's fleet. And then when it is done, the Mephiles Alliance will be crushed." The hologram transmission ended as Charming Thunder got up from his throne and walked down the steps leaving his throne room.

Charming Thunder piloted his shuttle through lightspeed with Twilight, Starlight, Lucina, and Rainbow on board. He flipped a switch and came out of lightspeed in the sky and flew straight ahead. "Where exactly are we going, Charming?" Starlight asked.

"You'll see if you want to come up to the cockpit," Charming Thunder said as everyone came to the cockpit and sat behind him. A TIE Fighter flew past the shuttle and kept going straight as the shuttle followed.

"Where is that fighter going?" Twilight asked. "There are no bases around here."

Lucina then saw something in the distance and said, "We're heading for the moon."

Rainbow gasped as the shuttle flew closer and realized what it is and said, "That's no moon. It's a space station."

"It's too big to be a space station, Aunt Rainbow." Lucina looked at where Rainbow was looking and couldn't believe what she is seeing. It was familiar to everyone else as well except Charming Thunder who continued to fly his shuttle to the armored space station; the Death Star.

"What is going on here, Charming?" Twilight demanded. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"All will be explained when we get there and land." The shuttle flew closer and closer and then got pulled past a docking port control room and into a huge bay, coming to rest in the massive Death Star. A squad of stormtroopers marched into formation before the craft as the hatch of the shuttle swished open.

Charming Thunder and the others walked down the ramp and he turned to the others and said, "This Death Star is similar to the one from the Lunar Wars with it's superlaser upgraded to destroy enemy fleets and not ours like one ship we destroyed and later scanned the wreckage from the Mephiles Alliance ship; the Silencer." Twilight and the others followed Charming Thunder as he led the way out of the hangar. "It is capable to destroy capital ships in a rapid succession. This station is now the ultimate power in the universe. Celestia and Luna approved this station to use it for battle against the Mephiles Alliance."

"What does this have to do with the Eternal Fleet?"

"They will be the first capital ships to demonstrate the full power of this station."

"And you kept this a secret from me?" Twilight said.

"I was afraid of your reaction."

"I would've approved if you shown it to me in the first place. What about Cadence?"

"She will know from the princesses."

"Any weak points on this station at all?" Starlight asked.

"Nope. All covered up." Starlight sighed with relief in case something went wrong. "Now, shall I continue the tour of the station?" Everyone including Twilight nodded and followed him through the halls of the Death Star.

After returning from the Death Star, Charming Thunder sat on a medical table as Light helped a doctor carry some syringes with the cure in it which was done quickly since Light returned. Light used her magic to levitate one out as she explained, "It may hurt a little, dad."

"Side effects?"

"No," the doctor reassured. "The probes will shut down permanently on the inside then will be destroyed. We just need to test it to see if it will work." Charming Thunder lays down and took a deep breath as Light carefully injects him with the cure. Charming Thunder felt pain from the inside a little after the cure entered his body and the doctors looked at the x-ray monitor to see the probes exploding in his blood cells.

"It worked," Light said; excitedly. Charming Thunder sighed and slowly got up as he was helped up by Light.

"Now I can focus on Zero himself," Charming Thunder said as Light softly hugged him as he did the same. "Thank you, Light. For helping me."

"It was my pleasure, father."

"Guess you have a sister to get acquainted with when this is all over, huh?"

"Yeah. She seems to be a nice mare."

"Reminds me of myself before I was crowned king." Charming Thunder hugged Light as she returned the hug.

Chapter 10: Boarding the Eternal Fleet Battle Cruiser

Returning from the medical labs with Light, Charming Thunder and her arrived in the holo room as SCORPIO analyzed something that may be important for the empire. "What's SCORPIO doing?" Charming Thunder asked.

"She's studying the mind of this so called 'GEMINI Prime'," Twilight said as she entered the room. "Some soldiers helped some Ponylorians fight off some Skytroopers and found this droid so they brought it here for SCORPIO to study. I take it the cure worked?"

"Yes and I owe it to our daughter."

"How's it coming SCORPIO?"

"I am studying her mind now," SCORPIO replied. "Doing so without obliterating her intelligence is challenging, despite her lack of full sentience."

"What have you got so far?" Light asked.

"Her chasis is modified from my own base. My designs were stolen. However, my assumption that her code duplicated was premature."

"Do you know where she came from?" Charming Thunder asked.

"Not yet. Nor do I have full access to the GEMINI network that controls the Eternal Fleet. But I have opened a one-way connection. I will soon use the template to locate all GEMINI units."

"Every ship is controlled by one of those GEMINI units. If you are right, we can track their entire fleet. Have an advantage against Zero."

"The Prime is the master GEMINI template. With proper modifications, she could overwrite the existing protocols. We would need direct access to a command console used by the GEMINI captains. Through such a portal, the Prime could infiltrate the entire control network."

So if we board one of those ships and plug the Prime into the captain's chair, we can swipe the entire fleet out from Zero's nose?" Twilight asked.

"Let's see how long Zero keeps the throne if we take away his fancy toys," Kallen said from behind.

"Glad you can join us, Kallen," Charming Thunder said as Kallen stood next to him.

"You say it like it's not impossible. Even if we somehow manage to board, the other ships will vaporize the compromised vessel well before we acquire control of the bridge. But we may not have to face the entire fleet. Individual ships make transport runs in specific locations in Equestria all the time. And once SCORPIO tracks the GEMINI units...."

"I already possess that functionality," SCORPIO said. "I completed my analysis of the GEMINI communication templates while you were talking."

"Do you have something to tell me about your connection with the GEMINI droids?" Charming Thunder asked.

"Nothing that will impact on the current mission." The hologram then changed to a lone Eternal Fleet vessel. "I am currently tracking a lone vessel in a nearby location. It is scheduled to make a stop to recharge its hyperdrive very soon. By my calculations, we can intercept it if we hurry. It is unlikely that a similar opportunity will present itself in the foreseeable future."

"Then it's time to take this fight to Zero."

On a shuttle in hyperspace, Charming Thunder along with SCORPIO, Kallen, Twilight, and Lucina were in the cockpit as Kallen briefed them. "First of all, you'll be severely outnumbered and outgunned," she explained. "Every last Skytrooper will rush to the breach point. Standard procedure anytime boarders attack a ship in the Eternal Fleet."

"And how many are we talking about exactly?" Charming Thunder asked.

"Somewhere in the triple digits. Possibly more."

"SCORPIO's worked out a way for our ship to confuse it's outer defenses; overload it with false blips, so we can get in close," Twilight added. "Then it's on us to tear through and get control of the bridge. Take out the GEMINI captain and put the Prime in her place."

"Will she take our orders?" Lucina asked.

"The GEMINI series cannot act on it's own," SCORPIO said. "Its programming does not allow it." She then turned to the Prime. "GEMINI Prime, who do you serve?"

"I serve the king of Equestria," the Prime replied.

"Are you good in a fight?" Charming Thunder asked.

"I do not share SCORPIO's self improvement directive, but i mirror her base capabilities in every other way, including full combat protocols."

"Then we can't risk Prime taking any damage," Twilight suggested. "Leave her here until we secure the ship."

"I will accompany you," SCORPIO said. "No one is better suited to anticipate our enemy's moves."

"I still think you're keeping secrets from me," Charming Thunder said.

"The GEMINI units are not my allies. They are inferior abominations. Pathetic imitations of a much greater being. Their very existence offends me."

"I'm convinced," Kallen said. "We could use the extra firepower."

"I'll be joining as well," Lucina said. "Wouldn't mind letting off some steam."

"About time to drop out of hyperspace," the pilot said as the shuttle dropped out of hyperspace and flew towards the lone vessel.

The Prime's eyes glowed red as she said, "GEMINI frequency positional data shows no other ships in the area."

"We'll be fine," Twilight said. "Aside from the hopeless odds against our success." The vessel's guns turned towards the shuttle and began to open fire. The shuttle avoided the shots as it flew closer and closer.

"Getting a bit close for comfort, SCORPIO," Charming Thunder said.

"I'm performing a feat that none of you could ever hope to," SCORPIO said. "Not even you, with your amusing cranial trinkets." The guns then began to move side to side as it continued to fire. The shuttle approached the hangar and made a soft landing without damaging the ship.

"Ready to commandeer, dad?" Lucina asked. Kallen looked out of the cockpit window and noticed something.

"I don't understand," Kallen said. "Where are all of the Skytroopers?"

"Even a lesser version of me would be highly intelligent," SCORPIO said. "She would simply know how to improvise."

"We get it," Charming Thunder said. "You're special."

"I must've touched a nerve. Imagine that." Everyone left the shuttle as the pilot and Twilight stayed to protect the Prime.

Chapter 11: Sabotage

Charming Thunder and the others entered the halls of the cruiser with their weapons in hoof. A security camera turned to see the group as a voice of the GEMINI captain from the telecom said, "You have made a calamitous mistake coming here, Charming Thunder. I have my orders to deliver--" The camera zooms in on SCORPIO.

"Deliver what?" Charming Thunder asked.

"You-- the metallic life form. What are you?" SCORPIO looked up at the camera.

"You are an offshot," SCORPIO said. "I am the original. Call me SCORPIO."

"You appear undefined and lackluster. Surely, I must be the superior model."

"Why don't you come out of hiding, and we'll see?" Lucina demanded.

"Because she cannot," SCORPIO said. "Her programming doesn't allow her to leave the bridge. She can only do what she's told."

"Your attempt to irritate me is pointless, as you ought to know," the GEMINI captain said. "I may only conclude that you are intellectually deficient." As the group continued, the doors closed in front of Kallen and Lucina leaving Charming Thunder and SCORPIO in the room. "You may all die now." Charming Thunder heard blaster fire coming from the other side.

"Wit, strategy," SCORPIO said. "The captain's mind is inspired by my own after all." Charming Thunder rolled his eyes.

"Try to be a little less proud," Charming Thunder said.

"I'll consider it." Skytroopers began to enter the room and aim their weapons as they surround Charming Thunder and SCORPIO. SCORPIO drew her blaster rifle and readied herself for battle. "Do not underestimate our enemy. The next few minutes should prove quite interesting." The door opened as a giant droid came in the room and began to fire at Charming Thunder. He dodged the shots and activated his lightsaber. He deflected incoming shots from the Skytroopers as SCORPIO fired her blaster at the enemy. Charming Thunder charged at the giant droid and dodged the shots it fired at him. He then leaps in the air and lands on top of the droids head. He then cuts its head open and took control of the wires as it fired randomly. He moved the wire to aim at the Skytroopers firing at SCORPIO and then destroyed the giant droid bu pulling out the wires. He then jumped off as it collapsed to the ground. They then secured the area as they put their weapons away. A hologram of Kallen appeared on a wall terminal.

"You okay over there?" Kallen asked.

"Nothing we couldn't handle," Charming Thunder replied as he stepped up to the terminal. "You?"

"We're all good here. Tried to open the blast door, no luck. Maybe SCORPIO can take a crack at it."

"I am not presently in a position to override the captain's controls."

"Have Lucina focus on the door. Between the two of us, we'll open it." Gas began to spray out of the vents where Kallen and Lucina are and Lucina began to run.

"There's some kind of gas venting in! We have to keep moving." The hologram transmission ended as SCORPIO approached Charming Thunder.

"I've sent coordinates to a suitable meeting place," SCORPIO said.

"You survived my initial assault," the GEMINI captain said. "But there's nowhere my Skytroopers cannot find and extinguish you." Charming Thunder sighed.

"This is what it's like to listen to you, in case you were wondering," Charming Thunder said.

"I almost feel like I should apologize," SCORPIO said. "She'll adapt now. Expect her next move to be even less direct."

"She's based on your design. Can't you predict what she'll do?"

"I just did. I predict she'll be unpredictable." The lights in the room suddenly turned off. "Quiet." The doors opened and three Skytroopers flew in. SCORPIO shot them down as they landed. "She wants to see what we can do. I suggest we oblige her."

Charming Thunder and SCORPIO arrived at a room and walked up to a terminal as SCORPIO said, "Yes, this will do." Charming Thunder made sure no one was in the room and approached SCORPIO as she approached the terminal.

"What are you up to?" Charming Thunder asked.

"I've had enough of her Skytroopers. Her false sense of superiority." SCORPIO plugged herself into the terminal and began to gain access to the door controls and the GEMINI captain. "Hello, captain."

"What are you doing?" the GEMINI captain demanded.

"What I've been planning ever since you first opened your mouth. I'm going to erase you."

"No. You cannot."

"I know every node, every relational array. So much like mine, yet....simpler."

"You cannot do this. My defenses....won't allow it."

"You sound as though you have a choice, but that's your failing. You have the makings of a great being, but you are not a being at all. In the end, you are only a droid." A spark hid SCORPIO's head as Charming Thunder stood back.

"I am not your 'offshoot'. I am your replacement."

"How are you--? Impossible! No!"

"You were one of a kind once. Now you are outdated and inferior. You have been rendered obsolete." SCORPIO then got blasted away from the terminal and landed on the floor. As she crawled, she began to be set on fire as she struggled to get up.

"I....can't...." SCORPIO then laid on the floor deactivated as Charming Thunder rushed over to her.

"SCORPIO!"

Zero sat on the throne as he observed the hologram of the lone battle cruiser of the Eternal Fleet and noticed that someone has boarded it. "Now he's trying to take what's mine," he said. He got up from the throne and walked down the stairs. "Trying to take one of my ships, the fools." He then turned to one of the guards. "Ready my battleship."

"And what of your prisoner?"

"She will serve us well. Bring her aboard."

"Yes, sir."

Chapter 12: Deception

Charming Thunder looked at the downed SCORPIO and got up to walk away from her as the GEMINI captain said, "The inferior model has been eliminated, and I have sent an alert to Zero." Charming Thunder was shocked to hear that Zero is now heading to the ship. "He is on his way. You may want to leave before you die, too."

"I am here to take your ship," Charming Thunder said. "Nothing is going to change that."

"Death it is then. Understood." A holo image of Lucina appeared behind Charming Thunder as he approached the terminal.

"Dad, you alright over there?" Lucina asked.

"SCORPIO's gone," Charming Thunder said. "The captain destroyed her."

"She did serve us well. One less problem on our hooves, I suppose."

"That's not all. The captain sent a signal to Zero."

"Then the entire Eternal Fleet will be coming our way. We don't want to be around when they show up. We should regroup. We'll come to assist you."

Once everyone met up together at the doors to the bridge, Charming Thunder and the others entered the room and see the GEMINI captain floating. Lucina and Charming Thunder activated their lightsabers as Kallen drew her blaster and readied themselves for combat. "It's over," Charming Thunder said.

"That was fast," the captain said. "I expected to have several minutes more. Oh well." Skytroopers suddenly came up and surrounded Charming Thunder and the others. "Personal combat simulations have been a hobby of mine for several minutes now. I've conducted more than two thousand in that time. Your chances of survival are....poor."

"You can't win. Surrender."

"Incorrect. I can win. In fact, I can do anything I want." The Skytroopers aimed their weapons as Charming Thunder leaps in the air and sliced one of them in half as the battle commenced. Kallen aimed her blaster and fired at some Skytroopers as Lucina chopped some down. The GEMINI captain decloaked out of nowhere behind Charming Thunder and began to lay some punches. He grabbed her arm and threw her across the room as she cloaked. Four holograms of her appeared and began to fire at him. As he deflected, he tried to figure out which one was the real one and found her across from him. He leaps in the air and sliced at her. She then got on her knees and looked up at Charming Thunder. "That....was incredible. It was....beyond anything I could have ask for."

"That doesn't sound good," Kallen said. The captain slowly got to her feet as Charming Thunder stood back a little.

"Now I know what it's like. Even in failure, it's my failure. My choice. Isn't it wonderful?"

"Are you saying that you have free will now?" Charming Thunder asked. "How is that possible?"

"It isn't easy to keep you distracted. The Skytroopers never slowed you for long. Even so, I kept up my end. Now I get to do whatever I choose. And I choose...." The ship began to shake a little as the captain turned and walked away from Charming Thunder. "There. Destruction protocols are in effect." Charming Thunder thought about it for a sec and then something occurred to him.

"Something happened during your battle with SCORPIO, didn't it? It changed you somehow."

"Astute of you, your highness. Not that your epiphany is of any consequence. Your fate remains the same. I have decided to transfer my consciousness into the frequency. And now that I'm finished, I've decided to leave." The captain began to spark with electricity. "If the ship's utter destruction doesn't kill you, I'm sure Zero will. He would be arriving soon. Enjoy dying." She then collapsed as Charming Thunder and the others rushed to a terminal next to the door they just came in.

"We need to get the GEMINI Prime on board. She can stop this."

"There's no time for that," Kallen said as explosions erupted everywhere on the ship. A holo transmission of Twilight appeared on the terminal.

"Charming, do you read?" Twilight said. "What's going on up there? This ship is about to explode!"

"We should leave now!" Lucina said. "This mission is a failure."

"It wasn't a total loss. As long as we get off this ship, we'll head back to Canterlot and inform the princesses on what's happened. Let's move out." Charming Thunder, Lucina, and Kallen made a run for it to the hangar bay as the ship continued to explode. When they arrived at the hangar, the shuttle they arrived in was about to take off as they ran for it avoiding collapsing debris. They jumped in the shuttle and ran to the cockpit of the shuttle.

"Everybody hang on," the pilot said as he piloted the shuttle out of the cruiser. The Eternal Fleet along with a flagship in front of them. The flagship's guns aimed at the shuttle as it made a run for it. Zero watched from the bridge as the shuttle made the jump to hyperspace. He slowly turned and trotted off of the bridge.

"Find them," Zero said as he continued to walk away.

Charming Thunder and the others looked at the deactivated GEMINI Prime as they wondered why it is shut off. "Okay, this is getting weird," Twilight said. "She's being unresponsive ever since we left the ship."

"Strange," Charming Thunder said. "What could this mean?"

Guards stood at ease at the throne room as the seat was left open since Zero left. Suddenly, Skytroopers entered the room and opened fire at the guards. The guards raised their shields and blocked the blaster fire. One by one, they were shot down as the Skytroopers approached the throne. Suddenly, a holo figure shaped like SCORPIO appeared and transformed into an actual being as she sat on the throne. She then got up and stepped forward as the Skytroopers turned around.

As Charming Thunder and the others examined the GEMINI Prime more, a hologram transmission came in and Charming Thunder couldn't believe his eyes seeing SCORPIO alive. "I needed you to believe I was deactivated," she said.

"I take you in, and you stab me in the back," Charming Thunder said angrily.

"We had an arrangement. You wanted something. I wanted something. I happened to regain command of my master's Eternal Fleet. If my master; Cyber, ever returns, he will be most pleased. For now, the fleet is now mine to control. After SCORPIO cut the transmission, Charming Thunder and the others scowled before suddenly and abruptly, Lucina cried out in shock as her eyes narrowed down insanely small and fell to the ground. Charming Thunder and Twilight ran to her side with worry.

"Lucina!" Charming Thunder shouted "What happened!?"

"M-My connection to the dark side..." Lucina whispered like she was having a major headache "I-it just suddenly severed completely, very forcible. Danny, can you help me with my headache." No response. "Danny?" Again, no response. "Is anyone home?" After a brief moment of silence, she scowled. "Danny! So help me I'll- Wait..."

"What?" Twilight asked with nervousness.

Then the next thing Lucina said shocked them completely, "DANNY IS NO LONGER IN MY HEAD!! I CAN'T SENSE HIM IN MY BRAIN!"

"W-what!?" Charming Thunder asked in shocked.

"Wait... there is someth- ARGK!!!" Lucina said before grunting in pain.

"Lucina? Are you ok?" Twilight asked with worry.

"YOU IDIOTS!" Lucina shouted, but it was not her voice. It was Danny's. Charming Thunder and Twilight backed off and see Lucina standing, her eyes were purple and she laughed.

"I can't believe you actually FELL for that!" The Danny-possessed Lucina shouted with glee. "I can't believe you didn't get suspicious at all! No wonder why you fail all the time, Charming Thunder!"

"What do you mean!?" Charming Thunder scowled. 'Lucina' stopped before grinning.

"Think about it. Why, all of a sudden and out of the blue, would I suggest SCORPIO to come alone for the ride?" Charming Thunder began to think, trying to connect dots but Twilight beat him to it.

"It's the Keeper, isn't it?" She looked at 'Lucina' "You tricked us! You intended on having SCORPIO take the Eternal Fleet back for you because she was your Keeper that you told us about!"

'Lucina' grinned even more "Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner! Give a prize to Miss Sparkle!"

"Why!?" Charming Thunder shouted "I thought you changed!" 'Lucina' laughed.

"Me!? Change!? Don't make me laugh! Good and Evil cannot and probably WILL NOT fuse together! There will always be an opposite and since I am giving you an irrupted departure, I will give you a warning. Very soon, in the near future, I will ascend from my current state to a point where no one could ever challenge me. The darkness rises with the light, but both must defeat the Betrayer! Once the death of the Betrayer is ensured, the light and dark will forever be bounded by the balance of rivalry and their battles shall be legendary as well as their adventures. Heed those words, Charming, because sooner or later, I will reappear and when I do fight against you once more, and there will be nothing that will stop me from achieving that goal! Not you or anyone else!" Lucina began to twitch as she was surrounded by an aura of purple energy. "This world shall know the true power of Light and Dark!" Suddenly, there was a flash and when that ended, everyone sees Lucina on the ground, groaning in pain. Charming Thunder rushed over to Lucina and helped her up as their flight to Canterlot continues.

Chapter 13: The Battle Begins

Aboard the Death Star over Canterlot with a massive fleet protecting the station, Charming Thunder sat at the table along with the princesses, Lucina, Kallen, and Light and Admiral Thrawn as they reviewed a hologram of the Eternal Fleet. "Reports indicate that SCORPIO controls the majority of the Eternal Fleet," Twilight reported. "But not all."

"What do you mean?" Luna asked.

"Zero's flagship still commands a sizable armada," Charming Thunder said. "How he's blocking SCORPIO's influence, we don't know."

"Might have something to do with the GEMINI Prime's sudden urge to nap," Lucina said.

"SCORPIO never expressed an interest in ruling the masses. She must have a larger plan for the Eternal Throne. Aside the fact that she is holding on to it for Danny."

"I doubt she will share that with us if that were true," Celestia said.

"Replacing Zero with a psychotic droid was a failure," Kallen said.

"We're at a disadvantage then," Cadence said. "SCORPIO knows too much."

"She's made no moves against us," Twilight said. "Zero is weakened without the Eternal Throne." Charming Thunder thinks for a moment when the alarm sounded and the holo terminal shut down. Light rushed to a nearest terminal and analyzed the situation.

"Somepony's slicing into our communications," Light reported.

"Who?" Charming Thunder asked as he got up from his seat. A holofigure of SCORPIO appeared in the middle of the holo table as Charming Thunder turned to see her with anger in his eyes.

"I trust you have not forgotten me," SCORPIO said. "Our partnership is incomplete."

"Is this your way of apologizing?"

"No, but it's sweet of you to think so. This is merely a courtesy call. Zero approaches your Death Star over your kingdom of Canterlot. He intends to destroy." Charming Thunder was shocked to hear the news.

"Impossible!! How did he find me?"

"I told him." Charming Thunder and the other's eyes widened in shock. "I was curious to see what was more important to Zero: retaking the Eternal Throne or killing you just like you did to your own brother."

"You're not telling me this to appease your curiosity, are you?" Luna asked.

"I rarely act with a singular motivation. Zero is a nuisance that must be dealt with. You are in the best position to do so."

"She's not kidding," Light said. "Sensors are reporting a massive fleet inbound."

"Thanks for the intel," Charming Thunder lied. "Perhaps we can still work together."

"I can always count on your pragmatism," SCORPIO said before the transmission ended.

"And I can always count on your arrogance." Alarms sounded everywhere in the station as everyone in the room got up from their seats.

"We can counter attack," Thrawn said. "But I suggest that troops should be on alert at the castle in case Zero deploys his troops."

"Leave that to Lucina and the princesses."

"A lightsaber may be needed anyways," Lucina said.

"Everypony else battle stations." Charming Thunder pressed a button on the terminal to contact engineering. "Is the weapon ready?"

"All systems are operational, your highness," a voice said on the terminal.

"Good. Have it charged and ready." Charming Thunder looked up to Twilight. "Twilight, I'm leaving you in command of the Death Star."

"Are you sure you can handle things in the sky without me?" Twilight asked.

"Who said I was going alone." Charming Thunder looked at Light. "Light will be going with me on this mission to take down Zero. His reign ends today."

The Eternal Fleet laid wait as Thrawn's destroyer flew towards the flagship. Zero noticed the destroyer along with others behind it and ordered, "Begin the assault." The engineers pressed buttons on their computers as they aimed the ships guns on the approaching destroyer. The ship opened fire as the fleet approached. Charming Thunder stood on the bridge with Thrawn as shields were holding on the destroyer.

An officer approached them and said, "We are being hailed, sir."

"Put it through," Charming Thunder said as the officer rushed to a terminal and received a holo transmission from Zero himself. Charming Thunder grew angry and took a step closer to the hologram.

"Zero!!"

"Surprised to see me again? I hoped you would since our last confrontation at Cloud City."

"Who are you really? Under that mask."

"Not yet, your highness. You and your fleet will be destroyed along with your precious Death Star. Unless you come face me yourself you will find out the truth. Oh, and in case you refuse...." Zero gestured and a holo figure of Nunally came in, but with her eyes now wide open.

"Nunally?!?!"

"She will be the first to witness your demise."

"How is it possible that she can see again?"

"I helped her of course. Live or die. Make your choice." The transmission ended as Charming Thunder turned to the admiral.

"Press the attack and give me cover for my fighter to land in that flagship. You can't risk your destroyers to get any closer. Contact Twilight to have the weapon ready when you need it most and target the Eternal Fleet cruisers."

"Yes, your highness," Thrawn said as Charming Thunder walked past him. "You heard our king, battle stations!!" Charming Thunder left the room to the hangar to see Light waiting at her TIE Fighter.

"This TIE will fly us both in," Light said. "I've seen these in action before my disappearance. It's two seated and I can man the weapons in the back in case we run into any trouble."

"Good thinking, Light. Hopefully we can make it safely to Zero's flagship."

"There's more to this is there?"

"Zero has Nunally, Lelouch's sister."

"Then we must find her as well and get her off the ship." Charming Thunder nodded as he entered the cockpit and activated the ship's engines. The fighter lifted off the ground and left the hangar.

Twilight stood at the before the huge wall screen displaying the whole Eternal Fleet in range. An officer entered the room as he reported, "We have entered firing range and await your orders, princess."

"Target their cruisers surrounding the flagship," Twilight said. "You may fire when ready." Engineers scurried about, pulling levers and flipping switches. Light began to flash as the dome outside of the Death Star began to glow an eerie green. A cone of beams converged from the dome, firing a huge laser towards one of the cruisers causing a massive explosion hitting other cruisers even damaging the flagship's shields. Charming Thunder piloted his TIE Fighter through the barrage of lasers and shot the flagship's hangar shield generator. The hangar doors began to close as the TIE Fighter landed in the hangar. Light opened the hatch and exited the fighter as Charming Thunder jumped out to secure the area. Skytroopers entered the hangar as Charming Thunder activated his lightsaber and Light drew her blasters. Charming Thunder charged at the Skytroopers as he deflects the blaster fire and Light open fires at them. He then jumps and slices the Skytroopers one by one and throws his lightsaber to take down the rest. Light approached him as he deactivated his lightsaber.

"Go find Nunally," Charming Thunder said. "I'll handle Zero." Charming Thunder made his way the the bridge as Light made her way to the detention center.

Chapter 14: Charming Thunder vs Zero

Light made her way to the detention center and saw Nunally in a cell. Skytroopers charged in and fired at Light, but she took cover and fired back. Once she took down the Skytroopers, she rushed to Nunally's cell and deactivated the force field. "You're safe, Nunally," she said.

"Thank you, miss," Nunally said. "Where's Charming Thunder?"

"He's heading to the bridge to confront Zero." Nunally gasped at the news.

"We need to head there now. Zero is not who he think he is."

"Who is he then?

"He's---" Nunally was interrupted when a blaster shot bolted past them. More Skytroopers entered the room and began to open fire.

"No time. We need to head to the bridge."

Twilight watched as the Death Star fired at another cruiser leaving another explosion destroying more cruisers. "I am starting to like this station," Twilight said. "I hope that Charming will be okay. Don't let me down, honey."

Charming Thunder chopped down some Skytroopers as he made his way to the bridge. He then encountered some guards at the door to the bridge. The guards twirled their staves and got into battle position as Charming Thunder taunted them. One of the guards charged at him and he leaps over the guard and slashed his back as the other guard charged and laid some strikes. Charming Thunder blocked the strikes then hits the guard in the chest and stabbed him in the back. He then deactivated his lightsaber and entered the bridge seeing Zero observing the battle. Zero turned to see him enter and took a few steps forward. "This has been about you," Zero said. "It always has been. I will do whatever it takes to destroy you. No more running this time." He walked down the stairs as Charming Thunder drew his blaster and shot it towards Zero hitting only his mask. The mask then began to split and fall apart revealing none other than his old friend; Lelouch. Charming Thunder gasped and dropped his blaster.

"I didn't want it to be you," Charming Thunder said; shockingly.

"Yes," Lelouch confessed. "I am Zero. The stallion who controls the Eternal Fleet. The one who challenges the Equestrian Empire and vowed vengeance on Danny Eclipse."

"You've lied to me all this time."

"You knew it was me?"

"I didn't want to believe it at first since Zero sounded like you." Charming Thunder then activated his lightsaber in anger. "But now we have unfinished business, old friend." Lelouch drew his blade and charged at him, but was stopped by Charming Thunder's force push and he slid him across the room. Charming Thunder walked towards him as Lelouch slowly got up.

"You're different. Stronger. How?" Charming Thunder tried to slice Lelouch but Lelouch avoided the attack and rolled out of the way.

"It's a power I learned from my brother long ago. Power you will never learn."

"Danny gifted you this power. And now he has given you nothing because of what you have done." Lelouch charged at Charming Thunder and gave strikes at him. Charming Thunder blocked the strikes and kicked him in the face. Outside, the Eternal Fleet cruisers repositioned themselves and began to fire at the flagship. The room began to collapse as the duel continued. Charming Thunder then hits Lelouch in the face using the hilt of his lightsaber and gave him heavy strikes which Lelouch was able to block. He then pushed Charming Thunder away from him and took a breather.

"Not like this..."

"It's over, Lelouch. Surrender. Now."

"I choose my own fate." Lelouch laid some heavy strikes as Charming Thunder blocked them and then kicked him in the face and chopped his hoof off. Charming Thunder then pointed his blade to his throat as Lelouch yielded.

"Wait," Nunally yelled as she stood in front of her brother.

"Stand aside, Nunally."

"Please don't kill my brother."

"Why? He's a terrorist."

"Dad, don't do it," Light pleaded. "If you strike him down in anger, you will become a threat as you once were when you were Nightmare. Didn't you believe in second chances?" Charming Thunder remembered the words of Danny about second chances and deactivated his lightsaber.

"I would rather see him in a cell." Nunally helped Lelouch up and followed Charming Thunder and Light to the hanger before the ship explodes.

The fleet began to fire at the Eternal Fleet cruisers in the distance as Thrawn watched the carnage. He then notices a shuttle leaving the flagship and received a transmission from Charming Thunder. "Don't fire at the shuttle," Charming Thunder ordered. "I have a prisoner on board."

"As you wish, your highness." Charming Thunder then contacted Twilight on the terminal.

"Twilight, fire at the flagship. SCORPIO still wants us dead. Focus on the fleet." The Death Star fired at the flagship and made a huge explosion destroying the fleet as Charming Thunder piloted the shuttle through the explosion. The explosion died down and Charming Thunder sighed with relief. "Maybe when I am far away from the flagship next time, dear."

"Sorry," Twilight's voice replied. "Good thing that shot destroyed the fleet and I still see our fleet intact. But what of Zero?"

"Zero turned out to be Lelouch. He is on board as we speak. Have Celestia ready a cell for him."

"I'll contact her about the news."

"Good. I'll see you there. Charming out." The transmission ended as Charming Thunder piloted the shuttle towards Canterlot after the empire's victory against the Eternal Fleet.

Chapter 15: A Second Chance

Lelouch laid down on the bed in his cell with a bandage around his chopped off hoof as Nunally visited him. Charming Thunder entered the cell and smiled at her then looked at Lelouch. "Why?" Lelouch asked. "Why let me live? After all I have done to you and your empire."

"Because I never killed my brother out of my free will," Charming Thunder explained. "Sure he still wants me dead, but I believe in second chances. And I gave you one."

"Then you'll forgive an old friend who betrayed you?"

"You helped your sister as well. You helped her see again. I don't know how, but you did it." Lelouch smiled and looked at Nunally who hugged him. "I'll leave you two at it. In the meantime, a medical droid will help repair your hoof as it did mine once before the Lunar Wars." Charming Thunder turned to leave the room and locked the cell door behind him and headed to the throne room.

Charming Thunder gazed out the window in Celestia's throne room as he watched the fleet. Luna entered the room and stood next to him. "You have once again done the impossible," she said. "Lucina, the princesses, and I were prepared for the impossible, but there was no need. I should've been there to enjoy the fireworks. But I must ask, why let Lelouch live after what he has done?"

"There's always a second chance," Charming Thunder said. "And I'm giving it to him. I stand by it."

"Me and my sister would be lying if we were worried about what it would mean to let him live. But we still have more concerns."

"Yes. SCORPIO's proven more cunning than I imagined. If SCORPIO or at least Danny ever attacks again, we will be ready." Charming Thunder and Luna continued to gaze out the window and watched as some of the Star Destroyers returned to their sectors of Equestria.

SCORPIO was on the Eternal Throne when she sees the ghost of Danny Eclipse in his cyborg form appear at the door and walked towards to her. When he finally got to the steps, SCORPIO got up from the throne. Danny went to the throne and sat on it, smirking. "Is everything going to plan?" Danny asked SCORPIO, who was neutral.

"Yes, my master," SCORPIO said with a neutral tone. "The fortress is set up and cloaked from detection. The lab is almost ready, but we lack materials to make the Project a complete success. We also require an expert in this field and the only one with mastery in this type of Project is Dr. Pines." A holographic picture of a Pegasus stallion that had a fur, dark grey mane and tail, and he wore a light brown cloak with a red shirt that had long sleeves. He also had a pair of glasses on and had dull yellow eyes.

"Where is he?"

"He is located in Belle Reve." A holographic image of a large maximal prison appeared. "He was accused to being ‘insane’ due to his studies."

"Who should I watch out for?" SCORPIO’s eyes began to glow and three images of ponies; all were mares. Danny recognized the first two as Bon Bon and Lyra, but the third one was sort-of a mystery. The mare had light purple fur, purple and white mane and tail, she had a cutie mark that had a screw and a baseball next to it, her eyes had a swirl in them, and had a helicopter hat on her hair that wouldn’t stop spinning its’ blades.

"The one known as Bon Bon is the warden of the prison while the one known as Lyra is Bon Bon’s second in command. The third mare is known as Screwball, the daughter of Discord, who was put in prison due to the fact that she is part of Discord’s being. Not birthed, but created by Discord’s imagination. She is also a prisoner with her affiliation towards Discord. She may pose a threat to you due to the fact that she is part of Discord, meaning-"

"She could see me, regardless if I make to make myself visible to everyone or not." Danny understood the threat behind him. He sighed and began to look at SCORPIO. "Keep the Eternal Fleet at standby and when I give the signal, you will commence the invasion against the prison and help Dr. Pines in his escape from prison."

"Until we meet again, milord." Danny nods and disappears from the seat. SCORPIO went to the throne and sat on it, resuming her control over it.

THE END

Prologue

Once upon a time in a magical land of Equestria....

EQUESTRIA WARS

Episode XV
Knights of Zero

Charming Thunder has returned. With his returned, the tide of the war between the Mephiles Alliance and the Equestrian Empire has been turned and won their first victory.

King Cosmos along with Queen Galaxina have found a way to bring back Danny Eclipse and have left in secret to prepare a ritual that hasn't been used in five thousand years; the Solar Eclipse.

At the castle in Ponyville, an old friend of Charming Thunder's comes to visit him while he trains his daughter; Lucina, in the ways of the force....