Spike the dragon sat on an improvised chair made from stacked pieces of ruble. His attention was focused on the three ponies in front of him. Phantom Knight and Rainbow Dash laid on their backs, side by side, with some space between them. Rainbow Dash, although she didn't look like the demon she had become earlier, still didn't look like herself. Her coat was white, and all the color had faded from her mane and tail. The magenta pearls that were her eyes became a milky-white, like those of a blind pony. On her flank, her cutie mark had all but disappeared. Phantom didn't seem to change, with the exception of a few additional scars, primarily focused around his face and neck, the areas closest to the Conduit during the explosion. His hooves were still covered in ice, and he still had three stripes of ice running down his side from Boreas' claw. Twilight Sparkle was standing in the middle, using some kind of spell to check on the two unconscious ponies' conditions. The alicorn sighed like she had the last time she checked the pegasi, signaling to the dragon that there was no change in their condition since this ordeal began.
After the explosion occurred when Phantom touched the Element of Loyalty with Boreas' Conduit that destroyed Palmyra, Twilight and her friends brought Phantom and the now normal sized, but white, Rainbow Dash back down to the rotunda. It seemed to be the only place that survived the blast. Twilight was discouraged to find that everypony was still frozen. They put Phantom and Rainbow Dash in the auxiliary room of the rotunda, where they hid when the attack began. Applejack had cleared out a space and found a couple mats to set the pegasi on in the corner of the room. Rarity founds some blankets in her saddle bags to drape over the ponies in a vain attempt to warm them up.
The Element of Loyalty sat between Rainbow Dash and Phantom, floating in the air. It was surrounded by a red aura. Magical tendrils of the same color reached out from the gem and touched both ponies in the center of their chests. The Conduit was still attached to Rainbow Dash's neck, it's gem glowing brightly, and it's own white tendril of magic stretching out to the Element of Loyalty. From the time they were brought down here, Twilight had been periodically scanning them with her magic to see how they were doing. With Spike's assistance, she was monitoring them closely.
At first her preliminary scans told her that they were simply unconscious. But over time, it was getting worse. The second one, taken only a few minutes after they arrived in the room, told her that they were both stuck in a deep coma with non important organs shutting down and their body temperature rapidly dropping. A third scan provided evidence of intense brain activity in both ponies, but more-so in Rainbow Dash's. When Twilight investigated further, she found that she couldn't sense anything in the parts of her brain that controlled her conscious self. Twilight herself felt a chill run down her spine when her magical energy hit whatever was obstructing her readings. The subconscious parts of Rainbow Dash's mind were lit up like Hearth's Warming trees. So much so that Twilight's own mind began to hurt.
"Anything?" Spike asked, jumping off of his improvised seat and taking a weary step towards the hard thinking alicorn.
Twilight sighed again, turning to face her purple assistant while slowly shaking her head from side to side. She sat by Spike's side, holding him in between her forelegs as she looked at their two unconscious friends.
"I don't know, Spike..." she whispered. Not because she didn't want to wake them, but because if she spoke any louder than anypony who heard her would have known she was crying. "I've never heard of anything like this. It's like their minds have been combined, and the Element of Loyalty is acting like a catalyst to keep them together. This is way out of my league... Did you send that letter to Princess Celestia I asked you to?"
"Yeah." Once Twilight found Spike hiding in the rotunda after the explosion, she had instructed him to send a detailed letter to Princess Celestia, updating her on the current situation. That was almost an hour ago.
"No reply?"
Spike shook his head. Twilight debated having him send another, but couldn't see what good that would do. Those Dragon Fire letters were supposed to be able to reach her from anywhere in the world in an instant. Celestia promised that she would always reply in some form, at least giving an indication that she had received the letter in the very least. It wasn't like the sun princess to be late with replies, especially with something as urgent as this. Then a new theory came to Twilight's mind. What if everypony is frozen... Twilight opened her mouth to tell Spike about the possibility of such a thing, but closed it and remained quiet. If he, or any of their other friends found out that they might possibly be the only ponies unfrozen in the entire planet, then morale would take an all time low. So she kept the information to herself.
They continued to watch their friends in silence. The only thing that kept their hopes alive was the sight of their chests moving up and down with every breath. Although Phantom appeared to be having some trouble. His breathing was unsynchronized, with some breaths that were over in less than a second, and others that seemed to drag on for eternity. Twilight let go of Spike and slowly made her way towards the ailing pegasus. Just as she reached his side, his chest ceased to move. A small trickle of blood leaked from the corner of his lips, falling down the side of his face and landing on the mat below. Twilight used her magic to scan his body in an attempt to figure out what had gone wrong, but with no medical supplies there wasn't much she would be able to do. When the scan came up empty, she pressed one of her hooves against his neck to feel for a pulse. Nothing.
The alicorn feel back on her haunches, covering her gaping mouth with a hoof. Spike took a leery step forward, clutching a jaw to his chin in worry.
"Twi... Twilight?" he managed to mumble. "What's wrong?"
When she turned to face the dragon she didn't say anything. The water welling up in her eyelids told Spike everything he needed to know. Phantom Knight, who had just been breathing just seconds before, had died. Spike felt a pit growing in his stomach. His own eyes were beginning to swell. Seeing this, Twilight rushed over and picked him up, bringing her assistant into a close embrace. They sat there for a moment before Twilight put him back on the ground.
"I'm going to inform the others." She gave Spike a few pats on the back before setting him back on the ground. With her head hung low, she walked towards where the door separating the two rooms used to stand.
Out in the rotunda, the other ponies eagerly awaited some type of news. They were surrounded by a small fire that Applejack had created as a source of warmth. Fluttershy was curled up against Rarity, who was brushing the kind mare's pink mare to help her calm down. Pinkie sat staring into the flames, her mane straight as an arrow. Applejack sat up right, eyes glued on the doorway. Since Twilight took Rainbow Dash and Phantom in there and the others had moved out here, the farm pony had kept her eyes there, awaiting news. And finally, over an hour after the explosion, her patience paid off...
... although it wasn't the news she was waiting for.
When Twilight crossed the threshold of the doorway, everypony shot to their hooves with booming smiles. They all immediately deflated upon seeing her sullen expression.
"I'm sorry, girls," Twilight lamented, drawing near the fire.
Applejack took a step forward. "Who?"
"Phantom..."
Fluttershy let out a quiet 'eep', burying her face in Rarity's chest. The unicorn embraced the pegasus tightly. Pinkie Pie immediately fell back to a laying position, the same she was in before Twilight came out. Applejack took her stetson hat off and threw it to the ground in frustration. She took her leave from the rest of the group, walking around in random patterns near the center of the room, mumbling to herself. Twilight approached the fire, explaining the situation on their remaining friend. She told them how her subconscious seemed to be battling her conscious mind, however that was possible, and how she was connected to the Element of Loyalty by that magical tendril. Rarity seemed to be the only one who was really listening to her, while Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie where stuck in a daze by the recent events. Applejack was still off to the side, cursing to herself and whatever else she thought deserved blame.
All the while Spike was standing in the middle of the auxiliary room. He had heard Twilight tell the other's about Phantom's passing, and hearing it again just hit the dragon all that harder. He took several uneasy steps forward, bringing himself closer to the two pegasi laying on the floor. It seemed to take forever, but eventually Spike was standing in the middle of them. To his left, Rainbow Dash's chest was still steadily moving, and she was still connected to her Element of Loyalty by those magical tendrils. To his right, Phantom was eerily still. The thought that the pony next to him possessed no life sent an unknown feeling through the little dragon. He had been to funerals before, but those were usually for those of extremely old ponies that he barely knew, and they always looked so peaceful and serene, surrounded by flowers and ornate decorations, dressed up in their finest wares, and surrounded by tons of friends and family. But Spike had never been there when somepony had died in front of him. And Phantom looked like he had been through tartarus, riddled with scars, and an expression of pain. The dragon stared at the pegasus' midnight blue chest, hoping to see it move. But it didn't.
Spike opened his mouth. He wanted to say something, but wasn't exactly sure on what that would be. Or even what good it would do. The dragon took a deep breath and looked at Phantom's closed eyes.
"Thanks," he said, rubbing a claw against the back of his head, "I guess... I know we didn't know each other real well, and we only met not that long ago, but everypony else seemed to like you, so that makes us friends in my book." Spike looked over his shoulder, then back at Phantom. "Rainbow Dash liked you, a lot. It'll be rough for her when she finds out about this... Thanks for saving her back in Ponyville, by the way." There was a pause as he hoped for an answer. Wanted an answer. Nothing. Spike sighed, reaching for the edge of one of the blankets that covered Phantom and using its corner to wipe the blood off of the side of his mouth. He then pulled the blanket further up, fully draping it over the stallion's body, a display that meant he was truly gone.
Spike's ear picked up to the sound of glass cracking behind him. He quickly turned around, his eyes falling on Rainbow Dash. The Conduit around her neck was no longer shining as brightly as it was before, and had several cuts running along the primary and secondary gems. Before the dragon could react further, the Conduit completely shattered, dissolving into thousands of little crystal shards that seemed to melt into the icy floor. Spike was about to run off to get Twilight when something else stopped him.
Rainbow Dash's mane was starting to turn colors. First her yellow stripe returned, glowing slightly. Then came the orange, then red, green, blue, and purple. Once her mane and tail returned to their polychromatic forms, the pegasus' cutie mark glowed, its colors also returning. Slowly her white coat faded to an ice blue, with the color slowly darkening to an azure color before returning to her normal cyan. The white magical stream that had gone from the Conduit had been fully absorbed by the Element of Loyalty. Said Element had apparently healed itself, fixing the scratches on its surface and creating a golden necklace to fit inside of. The gem floated over to Rainbow Dash, attaching itself to her neck where the Conduit just was. Once it attached, it gave a quick burst of red light.
"Whoa..." Spike took a step back in shock. Rainbow Dash suddenly took in a large gulp of air, filling her lungs to their fullest. The muscle reflex was enough that it arched her spine off of the mat a little. Her body relaxed and she let out the air as her breathing settled into heavy set like the kind of a pony who had been working out. The mare's eyes began to flutter slightly, although they remained shut. The sudden movement from them startled Spike, who jumped and took another step back. "Twilight!" he yelled, running for the door.
Rainbow Dash's vision swam. She couldn't open her eyes beyond small slits they felt so heavy. But what she could see where just blobs of colors. A migraine pulsed through her head, the worst she had ever experienced in her life. She felt like she was plummeting uncontrollably from the sky. Her mouth was so dry it felt like she swallowed sand. On top of all of that, everything sounded like she was deep under water. When she tried to move, her limbs wouldn't respond. She felt so tired that she could sleep for several eternities over again. In her chest, she could feel her heart pounding heavily, seemingly vibrating her body with each pulse.
Slowly she became consciously aware, her mind waking up from the nightmare it had been forcefully thrusted upon. Memories of those events came rushing back. With her body and mind both adjusting to being awake, and rid of Boreas, Rainbow Dash slowly regained control. Her eyes fully opened back up, and she was able to look around. The room was rather unimpressive and looked like it had undergone some serious renovations. But she recognized it. It was the auxiliary room in the rotunda under the castle throne room. But how did I get back here?
Rainbow Dash reassumed partial motor function in her neck, allowing her to look around slightly. She noticed that she was laying on some kind of a soft mat, covered with a dark gray blanket that went up to the bottom of her neck with her forelegs on the outside. In the opposite corner of the room was a collection of ponies who had been frozen in place. Tilting her head to the side, or rather letting gravity take over and let it fall, revealed to her a large hole in the wall that led to the rotunda. Although her vision had mostly cleared, brighter lights were still blurred, including the orange glow of a fire. Below the hole in the wall, several feet parallel to her side, there was another mat. She couldn't tell what was on top of it, just that what ever it was was covered by a blanket similar to hers. Rainbow Dash looked down at her own body and tried to pull herself up, but she didn't have much control over her own body yet. She could now move her forelegs, but only slightly, and they weren't very strong.
Several ponies ran in through the doorway, Twilight in the lead, with Spike bouncing around and holding onto her mane. The Bearers of Harmony arrived at their friend's side in an instant. Rainbow Dash tried to pick herself up, but Applejack's orange hoof carefully pushed her back down.
"Easy there, sugarcube," she said. "Be careful, now, ya only just woke up."
"Yeah!" Pinkie cheered. "That was one doozy of a nap!"
"How do you feel?" Twilight asked, already beginning another magical scan. It told her that Rainbow Dash still wasn't good, but she was getting better. Some motor functions were beginning to return, but her blood pressure was still really high.
"Where's..." Rainbow Dash tried saying. Her voice was extremely quiet and forced, a side effect to her dehydration and physical condition. "Where's..." She was trying to ask where Phantom was, but didn't have enough energy to do so. It wasn't helping that at the same time she was also trying to sit herself back up. Applejack again helped her friend stay on her back. Nearby, she found a pillow to put under the pegasus' head.
"Rainbow," Twilight said, "you need to calm down and relax. You're blood pressure is sky rocketing and if it doesn't come down you'll have a heart attack." Although what the alicorn was saying was true, there was another motive behind her words: she didn't want Rainbow Dash finding out about Phantom until she had the strength for it. The pegasus kept trying to turn her head towards the object she saw earlier, and each time Rarity stepped in the way. Everypony knew that it would be better for Rainbow Dash if she didn't find out just yet. "You've been through a lot, take it easy."
"Gotta get up... Boreas... Glaciens..."
"Boreas is gone, Rainbow. The Conduit's been destroyed."
"Everypony's still frozen, though," Fluttershy spoke up from the foot of the mat. Twilight turned her head to answer the canary colored mare, but instead of her focus landing on her, it landed behind her, on the frozen ponies in the corner. Their icy surface looked shinier than when they had just entered the room, and the ground below them was darker. Something fell from the bottom of the pony, splashing on the floor. It almost looked like a droplet of water.
Because it is a droplet of water...
Twilight rushed over to the frozen pony, careful not to alarm Rainbow Dash. Putting a hoof up against their icy surface confirmed what she thought, it was covered in water. The ice was beginning to melt, and it was picking up pace. Twilight took a step back as cracks began forming on the pony's hooves. They shot their way up the legs and across the pony's barrel. Several went up their neck, reaching a midpoint on the bridge of their nose. Rarity took a cautious step up to Twilight's side, the two mares wearily watching the scene in front of them unfold.
Large chunks of ice began to fall off of the pony. At the same time, the other ice covered Nightingales were starting to thaw out. In hardly any time, patches of the first pony's fur were exposed to the air. Once his head was freed from the cocoon, he took a deep breath, and opened his his. He looked around rapidly, taking in his surroundings. Twilight recognized the signs of a looming panic attack.
"Just hold on a second!" she pleaded with him. "You were frozen, just hang on. Everypony else is getting unfrozen now."
The stallion earth pony she was addressing simply nodded, calming himself down. As the others were freed completely from the frozen prisons, Applejack joined the developing scene.
"'S going on?" she asked.
"All the Nightingales are being unfrozen," Rarity responded.
"What 'bout the Glaciens?"
Twilight froze, though not literally. She had completely forgotten about the Glaciens. "Oh no..." she gasped. Quickly turning around, she threw her hooves on Rarity's shoulders. "We completely forgot about the Glaciens!"
"Your point, Twilight?" Rarity asked, taking the alicorn's hooves off of her.
"The fight!"
At once, everypony remembered, even the recently unthawed Nightingales. Twilight knew that if they didn't do something then the battle would continue and even more ponies would die. The alicorn bolted for the door, along with everypony else, save for Fluttershy, who stayed behind to watch Rainbow Dash, hoping that it wasn't too late to do something. In the rotunda, the other ponies had already been unfrozen, their process clearly starting before the ponies' in the auxiliary room. Unfortunately the pegasi who had been so high up when they were frozen that they shattered on the ground, merely melted into water and evaporated, leaving nothing behind. The giant dome of ice in the corner had also melted away, freeing Stryker and Archer who were now helping the wounded. For a brief moment, Nightingales and Glaciens stood where they were, carefully looking around the room in an attempt to find out what had happened to them. But then almost at once, they noticed who was in front of them: the enemy. Before they could charge at one another, somepony intervened.
"Nightingales!" a mare's voice called out. "Glaciens! Everypony! Stop!" Everypony's eyes were directed to the center of the rotunda, where a black pegasus with midnight blue accents hovered above everypony. Nyx, the only Nightingale pegasus to survive being frozen and falling from the sky, got the attention she demanded. From her position in the air, she spotted the Princess of Magic standing below, and motioned her to fly up towards her. Twilight joined the Nightingale commander in the air. "What happened, your highness?"
"Boreas was freed," Twilight explained aloud so everypony could hear her. "Prince Castor unleashed him on the world, and you were all frozen. Glaciens, your own leaders betrayed you, they left you here to die while they retreated to safety. But Boreas had been defeated; the Conduit has been destroyed. Please, I don't know what effects being frozen had on you all, but I want you to remain here and remain calm. Please don't fight. You're all ponies. Who knows, some of you could be the best of friends? Please, no more violence."
"Nightingales," Nyx commanded. "You are ordered to stand down."
A Glacien who was wearing white trimmed gold armor used his magic to stand on a purple platform and rise to the air next to Nyx. "Glaciens," he said, using his magic to amplify his voice, "drop your weapons. All hostilities against Nightingales are to cease. We have been betrayed by our own. They are our next targets."
The clanking of weapons against stone sounded out. Stone! Twilight looked down. All the ice that once covered the stone and walls had since melted away, evaporating into the air. A smile grew on her face. Everything was returning to normal.
"Twilight," Nyx put a hoof on the alicorn's shoulder, "where's Phantom?"
With one question, Twilight's smile disappeared. "Nyx..." She didn't know where to begin. She grabbed onto the pegasus' hoof and held it in her own. "I think you'll need to come with me..."
Twilight let go of the mare's hoof and glided towards the broken doorway, Nyx warily following behind her. The mares swooped in and landed in the room. Since the time Twilight had left, the other recently unfrozen Nightingales disappeared, rejoining their comrades in the rotunda. Nyx took note of Fluttershy and Spike sitting next to each other on one side of the room. On both sides of them were a set of mats. On top of one, Nyx recognized the mostly covered up Rainbow Dash. On the other, she could see the form of what was clearly some other pony, but they were completely covered by a blanket.
"Where's Phantom?" the ebony mare asked, looking around. Nyx didn't miss seeing Fluttershy and Spike shooting each other uneasy glances, then looking down at the floor. When she gave Twilight a nervous glance, she saw that she was also bowing her head slightly. "Twilight. Where?"
"I..." Nyx could hear the sorrow in Twilight's voice. "I'm so... so, so very sorry."
Nyx new what was behind those words all to well. Too many times she had to tell the families of Nightingales under her command what had happened to them. And all too often she had the same exact tone. She gave another look to the covered body on the second mat. The black tip of somepony's tail hung out from under the covers, though there was the beginnings of a midnight blue streak that she could see. Nyx almost mindlessly walked towards the side of the mat. Fluttershy picked up Spike and scooted closer to Rainbow Dash, making sure to give the Nightingale plenty of room.
The pegasus sat next to the mat, staring at where the face of a pony would be under the cover. Part of her wanted to pull back the blanket to prove to herself that it wasn't Phantom under there. Another part said to not pull it back for fear that it actually was him. She barely registered Twilight sitting be her side, wrapping a wing around her back. Although Nyx had lost family members before, she was too young to remember. Her mother died given birth, and she had been kept at home with a foal sitter while Phantom went to their father's funeral. She had lost ponies under her command before, some of them even in her own hooves, but this felt like it was something completely different.
"It's him, isn't it?" Nyx asked, some strain in her voice. Twilight embraced her with her wing even tighter. It was all she needed as an answer. Nyx took in a deep breath, and moved a foreleg forward, grabbing hold of the edge of the blanket. There was a brief moment's hesitation.
"You don't have to do this, you know," Twilight reassured her.
"No... I do." Giving herself a few short breaths of encouragement, Nyx built up the strength to pull the cover off of the body completely in one motion. Her worst fears were confirmed. In front of her, cold and still, was her brother. Although the ice had since melted away from him, scars were still visible along his face and neck, more so the three main gashes running along his side. His jaw was hanging slightly open, with a line of dried blood running own the side of his face and head. She put a hoof on his chest, hoping to feel the pulse of his heart she so often heard when resting her head there as a foal. Nothing. Her hoof didn't move.
Nyx fell back on her haunches, letting herself fall into Twilight's embrace. The alicorn wrapped another wing around the mare for extra comfort, along with both of her forelegs. The pegasus buried her face in Twilight's neck, hiding away her tears from anypony that might have seen it for fear of ridicule. But everypony gave her only sorrow. Applejack and the other Bearers of Harmony had dropped into the room, but once they saw what was going on Applejack pushed them all back outside.
"How did this happen?" Nyx asked, pulling her head out of Twilight's comforting neck and looking at the mare.
"Honestly, Nyx, I... I don't know."
"You don't know?" Nyx pulled herself away from Twilight's embrace. Her voice changed from one of sorrow to one of tension. "You don't know? How can you not know?!" The sudden rise in anger in the pegasus' voice caused Twilight to take a step back.
"I mean, I don't know. He just... he just died. Something happened with Boreas." Twilight went onto explain what had happened during the battle with Boreas, and how the demon had taken over Rainbow Dash. She described to Nyx how her brother had stopped the hybrid creature by touching the Element of Loyalty to the Conduit. Nyx seemed to be in shock when Twilight told about the resulting explosion. Then she informed the pegasus on how she found them laying in the ruble before bringing them down here to do what they could to help. After that, Twilight didn't know what had happened.
Rainbow Dash, having been listening to what Twilight was saying, remembered what happened after that point. She ignored it at first, thinking it was just a dream. Only now did she realize how real it really was. The cyan pegasus pushed down on the bed, propping herself to sit up against the wall behind her. Overcoming the stiffness of her body was difficult, but she managed to do it with a grunt. The noise she emitted attracted the attention of the others in the room, who turned to look at her.
"I know what happened..." Rainbow Dash said, her voice gaining some of its strength back. She went on to recount the details of what she could remember to Nyx and Twilight. How she was buried in the snow when Phantom found and dug her out, and how he held her in his hooves and protected her from the cold. While she recounted the short lived battle she and Phantom fought against Boreas, Twilight seemed to be taking mental notes, nodding ever so often. Nyx tentatively stared into Rainbow Dash's eyes, hanging on every detail. When she spoke about Phantom pushing her out of the way of Boreas' strike, himself being mortally wounded, both Twilight and Nyx bore solemn expressions.
"He really did all of that, huh?" Nyx asked.
Rainbow Dash nodded. "Help me up. I... I want to see him." She managed to sit straight up and slide her hind legs over the edge of the mat, getting ready to stand.
"Are you sure?" Twilight wanted to know, holding the pegasus in place with a hoof. Rainbow Dash seemed to think for a moment before nodding. "Well... alright then..." With hesitation, Twilight helped her polychromatic friend up. Nyx provided no assistance. Instead she stared where Rainbow Dash just was, running the sequence of events through her mind once again, trying to envision it.
Twilight had to keep Rainbow Dash balanced once the mare was on her hooves. Having gone through what she had, it wasn't hard to guess that she would be disorientated. Putting one hoof in front of the others the mares walked the short distance to Phantom's side. For a moment, Rainbow Dash didn't do anything. She merely stared down at the stallion with a blank expression. Although this action concerned Twilight, the alicorn didn't act on it. Then it happened all at once. Rainbow Dash fell to her knees, burying her head in Phantom's motionless chest, crying.
"I told you you couldn't leave me!" Rainbow Dash bawled. "This isn't fair! You saved me, and I was supposed to save you!" Nyx approached from behind and put a shoulder on the mare. Rainbow Dash violently pushed it off of her, clearly not wishing to be disturbed. "I loved you..."
"Dash..." Nyx said, "we all loved him. But he's gone. As much as we hate to admit it, that's what happened. We need to go before Prince Castor returns."
"I don't care anymore..."
"Excuse me?"
"I said, 'I don't care anymore'. Scootaloo's safe, and Phantom died... I don't have anything left here for me."
"Dash, if we don't do something then more ponies will die."
"Then you better get working..."
A twinge of anger shot through Nyx's nerve/ She was just about to unload on Rainbow Dash when Twilight stopped her with a hoof, shaking her head. Motioning for Nyx to follow her, the two mares left Rainbow at Phantom's side.
"It might be best to let her sit for awhile," Twilight proposed. "I don't think she's accepted this yet. It'd be best to wait a little bit. Don't worry; she'll come around." Nyx didn't protest. She nodded and followed Twilight to the rotunda, with Fluttershy and Spike behind them. There, Twilight updated the rest of her friends on what was going on. She also had Spike send another letter to Princess Celestia (whom she hoped was unfrozen now) to update her on the situation. Meanwhile, Nyx found her next in command to begin organizing the Nightingales' next move. They established that they needed to regroup with the other Nightingales that had evacuated from Palmyra. When they confronted Twilight about their intentions, the alicorn agreed, and with the help of her friends, began gathering their supplies.
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash still hung her head over Phantom's chest, staring down at it in hopes that it would move. She could feel water welling up in the bottoms of her eyes.
"Phantom you fool!" she put her head on his chest again. "Why'd you have to save me again? I'm supposed to be the Element of Loyalty." Little did Rainbow Dash know that said Element of Loyalty was beginning to glow around her neck. She picked her head back up off of his chest and looked at the stallion's lifeless face. Part of her wanted to give him a kiss of resignation. But then another part of her told her that if she did, then it would mean that he was well and truly gone. Lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice a tear leak out from her right eye and fall onto the stallion's chest. When the salty droplet of water touched his fur, it was absorbed, emitting a soft red glow. Rainbow Dash saw the dull red flash and looked for its source as another tear fell, creating the same effect.
"What the hay?" Another tear fell. And again, another red flash. Had she not been transfixed on the strange phenomenon, then Rainbow Dash might have noticed the three large gashes on Phantom's side becoming smaller. Then she saw that the Element of Loyalty around her neck was glowing. But she put it off as Twilight's doing. I should go see what she's up to. Rainbow Dash stood up and took a step away from Phantom's side before stopping to give him one last glance. "I guess... I guess this is goodbye, huh?" No reply. "Thought so..."
Rainbow Dash continued to walk towards the door, past the giant hole in the wall through which everypony was apparently watching the exchange took place. Her friends prepared themselves to give her all the support she may have needed.
"Never say goodbye," came a mild voice. Rainbow Dash stopped in her tracks, thinking she was just hearing things. Her ears swiveled towards the mats, the source of the sound. She couldn't believe it. Phantom was sitting up against the wall, his eyes as full of life as ever, a coy smile on his muzzle. He was alive?
"What..." Jaw gaping open, Rainbow Dash started taking steps towards the 'dead' pegasus.
"Well it's just that saying "goodbye" implies that you'll never see that pony agai—"
Rainbow Dash flapped her wings, closing the gap between the two pegasi in a heart beat. She brought Phantom into a tight embrace, wrapping her hooves around his neck and burying the side of her head into his. Phantom had to take several steps back in order to keep his balance. He returned the embrace, wrapping a hoof and wing around the mare. Rainbow Dash pulled back to examine him, making sure that she wasn't just seeing things. All of the scars on his head had healed, and the gashes along his side closed up. Phantom craned his neck around to grab hold of the bandages wrapped around his right wing. Giving them a good tug, the white cloth fell to the stone floor. Finally freed after what seemed like an eternity, Phantom stretched out his once broken wing.
"You're healed?" Rainbow Dash gasped.
"Heh," Phantom snorted, "yeah, guess so. It's funny how rejuvenating death can be." The cyan mare glared at him. Raising a hoof, she punched him in the side of the leg. "Ow! What was that for!"
"For dying in the first place!" Rainbow Dash was again on the verge of tears. "I... I thought lost you. I don't know what I would have done."
Giving her a sympathetic look, Phantom held out a hoof, offering her a hug. Which she greedily accepted. The two stood in their embrace for sometime, wings wrapped around one another, creating a cocoon of black, midnight blue, and cyan feathers.
"Ahem."
Rainbow Dash and Phantom parted, looking at one another, thinking that their opposite was the source of the noise. Phantom looked past Rainbow Dash and saw Twilight standing in the doorway, with the rest of the Bearers of Harmony behind her. They all returned scandalous looks, save for Pinkie Pie who looked overjoyed, as usual. The two pegasi quickly took a side step away from each other, with Rainbow Dash rubbing one off on the front of another and Phantom scratching the back of his head, looking around at the edges of the wall. Phantom let out a long breath of air, while Rainbow Dash struggled to hide her now rosy cheeks.
"I can explain this," Phantom said.
"You can start by explaining how you're alive," Twilight deadpanned.
"Well, see. Um... Fillies and gentle-colts, Rainbow Dash!" Phantom was clapping his hooves as he pointed to the mare with his wing and took another step to the side, as if he were some announcer bringing a comedian on stage. The weary gazes of the other ponies, and dragon, slowly drifted from Phantom to Rainbow Dash. The polychromatic mare fumbled for a logical explanation, settling on telling them what she saw. About how when her tear hit Phantom it flashed red, like the Element of Loyalty, which has by now died down.
"Huh," Twilight mused. "So the Elements have healing properties. Interesting. Spike? Can you update Princess Celestia on what's going on?" The dragon nodded, jumping off of Fluttershy's back and running into the rotunda to gather writing materials.
"What's everypony doing in here?" Phantom's ears perked up at the sound of Nyx's voice. The ponies who were standing by the door cleared a path so that the black pegasus could get in. Standing in the center of the room, she and Phantom stared at one another. Similarly to Rainbow Dash, Nyx lunged forward. But unlike her cyan counterpart, Nyx was able to throw Phantom off balance and the two pegasi tumbled backwards into the wall. They quickly got to their hooves, brushing the dust off of their coats.
Phantom opened his mouth to say something to Nyx when she inexplicably slapped him across the face. He rubbed the now sore spot with a hoof.
"What the hay was that for!" he demanded to know.
"For dying on me, you jerk!" Then she slapped him again. Everypony else flinched at the sound it emitted. Nyx smiled and hugged her brother. "But I'm happy you're back."
"I am too. Where's the Glaciens?"
"We've stopped the fighting between the two sides in the rotunda," Twilight explained, "but we don't know where Prince Castor or Captain Cypher have gone. They disappeared. Probably back to Aquila, if I were to guess."
Nyx nodded. "More than likely. We need to get to our camp, in the north-west forests by the capital."
"Is that where you sent everypony who evacuated?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah. It was supposed to serve as a forward operating base for when we attacked Aquila, if ever. Now that Palmyra is destroyed, and the majority of Nightingale forces have been killed, it's our only base."
"We should get moving," Phantom suggested.
"Don't you think you should rest for a little bit? You know, since you were dead and all?"
Phantom looked upwards for a moment in thought. "Nah."
"That's what I thought. Come on, I'll rally the remaining Nightingales." Nyx led the ponies out of the rotunda. Rainbow Dash fell instep beside Phantom.
"Do you ever take a day off?" she asked him.
"Nah."
"Why? Don't you think it would be nice to just sit back and relax somedays?"
"Meh. Not really. Besides, I don't have the time."
"Of course not..." Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes as the two pegasi followed the others into the rotunda.
Nyx was already standing in the middle of the room, a half circle of her Nightingales in front of them. She was giving them detailed instructions on what they were about to do, and a new sort-of peace-pact she had made with the commanding Glacien officer who was standing by her side. The two had agreed to cease hostilities until they could fully figure out what was going on. For the most part, the Glaciens were leaning in favor of the Nightingales, having been just betrayed by their own leaders. Nyx was using this to her advantage to rally the Glaciens around her. Stryker and Archer were both hanging around the edges of the Glacien group, making sure that they didn't try to ambush the Nightingales.
Meanwhile, Twilight and the others were gathered around their supplies, repacking them into their bags. Once the bags were filed and shut, they slid them onto their backs. Since Rainbow Dash was still relatively weak after waking up from her coma, Phantom offered to carry her things instead. Both her and Twilight issued their protests, that although Rainbow Dash may have been weak currently (though Rainbow Dash disagreed completely), that she was only in a coma, not dead like Phantom was. The stallion rebuttal with the evidence that the Element of Loyalty had apparently healed him. He ignored their insisting and picked up both his bags, and Rainbow Dash's. Spike sat on Twilight's back as usual, and the group moved over to Nyx. After a brief discussion, everypony was ready to go.
Phantom and Nyx led the ponies out of the rotunda, walking up the stairs with the Elements of Harmony following behind, tailed by the Glaciens, then the Nightingales. Nyx was keeping a wary eye on her brother, making sure that he didn't over exert himself and cause some immediate health issue. Similarly, the Element Bearers were doing the same for Rainbow Dash. Thought it wasn't needed. Now that the stairs were unfrozen Phantom had an easier time walking up them. Sun light poured through the stairwell entrance, now that there was no roof, or rather no building, to cover the hole.
Phantom was the first to emerge into the fresh air. He happily sucked in a large breath, slowly letting it out. He looked around. The castle, and most of Palmyra, had been nearly flattened. The only things that really remained were severely destroyed support columns that just barely stuck up through the ruble. Interestingly enough, all the grass and trees that had been burned then frozen during the attack, had almost immediately grown back. The scorched bark of the trees were slowly beginning to return to their white color. Though he wasn't alone on the surface. Standing not far in front of the tunnel entrance, where the throne used to be, a sky blue pegasus stallion stood. The wind was blowing slightly through his dark blue mane. His emerald green eyes stared at Phantom's cobalt blue ones. Phantom recognized his cutie mark almost immediately. So didn't Rainbow Dash when she surfaced a moment later. When Nyx saw who was waiting for them, she ordered everypony back down the hole, while she joined Phantom and Rainbow Dash on the surface. Phantom was the first one to make a move, taking a step forward and extending his wings so that the two mares on either side of him were safely covered behind them.
"Soarin'!" Phantom growled. "What in tartarus' name are you doing here?"
"Saving your flanks," the now probably ex-Wonderbolt said as-a-matter-of-factly.
"Why would you be saving us?" Rainbow Dash demanded, pushing her way past Phantom. All the while, Nyx was taking a circular path to move to Soarin's side, gaining a tactical advantage on him. "You betrayed everypony you knew! You betrayed Equestria! The Wonderbolts! Me!"
During Rainbow Dash's tirade, Stryker and Archer both had emerged from the ole and were now flanking around the other side of Soarin', basically encircling him. They sat passively by as the scene unfolded.
Soarin' bowed his head. "I know... and for what it's worth, I'm sorry. I had motives, and I can't take those back, as much as I want to. Let's just say I didn't have much of a choice and leave it at that, alright? Now look, we're running out of time, you need to get out of here—"
"And go where?" Nyx cut him off, slowly moving herself behind him. "Walk into some trap?"
"Just listen to me! There's more going on than you think. Boreas was apart of Sky's main plan. Even though you guys got rid of him, he has a contingency. If you don't worry, he's going to invade Equestria, and he'll win."
"How so?"
"His mother's Queen Chrysalis, remember?"
"How can we trust you?" Phantom asked.
Soarin' sighed. "You can't. But you can give me a chance. I want this to end as much as you do; none of this was supposed to happen like it did."
"Then how was it supposed to happen, then?"
"I... I don't know anymore. But look, Sky's heading back to Aquila. He's injured. If you hurry, you may be able to catch up to him and take him off guard. Look at me," he spun around in a circle so everypony could get a good look at him. "I have no weapons. I bring only my word. Sky instructed me to lead an ambush against you as you guys left. But I sent them off on a wild chase to the south-east. If you head straight north, you should be able to make it."
"What do you think Phantom?" Nyx asked, raising her voice to make it heard over the distance between the two.
"I don't know. Dash?"
The cyan mare stepped up to Soarin', carrying pent up anger and frustration from the last several weeks with her. With one good thrust of her hoof, she hit the stallion in the face, knocking him on the ground. Soarin' spat up blood, and looked up at her.
"I understand your motive," he said, standing up. "And if there were time I would allow you to do more. But please, save yourselves. My troops will be coming back at any moment, you all need to leave. Now."
"Fine..." Rainbow Dash growled, punching him again. This time, he didn't fall. "But if I ever see you again..."
"And I'll let you," Soarin' answered her statement before she was finished. "Please, go be safe."
Firing him one more glance, Rainbow Dash began walking back towards Phantom. Nyx flew over the other pegasi, heading to the tunnel and telling them to come out. Within moments, everypony else had arrived. Phantom and Nyx led them through the other side of the castle, now accessible since there were no walls, away from Soarin'. Several Nightingales who were taking up the rear of the formation were under strict orders to keep an eye on him until they were completely out of sight. Soarin' waited a few minutes and flew up into the air. Looking around, he couldn't find him. The mass of about forty ponies had disappeared into the forest. Satisfied, he landed back in the same spot.
At least they're safe, he thought. For now...
"Soarin'..." a voice rang out sternly behind him. "You let them get away."
"No sir, they escaped." Soarin' turned around to address the pony behind him. He was a cobalt blue unicorn stallion with a red and white mane, and a magnifying glass as a cutie mark. His soulless yellow eyes bore holes into Soarin's. "To the East. I think they might be retreating to Equestria."
The unicorn sighed. "You're a terrible liar."
"I try, at least."
"Indeed."
Soarin' flared his wings and charged the pony with all intentions on killing him. He didn't stand a chance. Before his wings got a chance to flap once, he was hit by a red spell. The resulting scream scared off all the birds for a quarter mile around.