Nearly a week had passed since Palmyra was destroyed. What was left of the Nightingales, along with a few turn-coat Glaciens; Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash, followed by Phantom, Archer, and Stryker, had to walk from the Palmyra Forest to the east of Aquila, clear to another forest on the north-west side of the same city. The Glacien officer was kind enough to give Nyx what patrol patterns he knew, making their trip that much easier. But a few times they were very nearly spotted.
The Nightingales were used to walking through snow. Since they left tracks behind, they were also fast, having to get from Point A to Point B in as little time was possible. But since Boreas' destruction, all the snow had melted. Everypony was aware that this happened in Palmyra, but they summed it up to it being apart of the explosion. But they kept walking, and the miles kept adding up. Still, no snow. Stryker told them the legends about how Boreas controlled the weather, and as a result brought snow upon the land. He deduced that since Boreas was destroyed, there was no longer any force to kept the snow on the ground. Temperatures even began to rise. Nopony expected it to get too high this far north, and it eventually settled at a relatively cool forty degrees above zero compared to twenty below. The usually gray sky changed to a normal azure, with brilliant puffs of white clouds dotting it. All around vegetation began to return to the land. Animals of all sorts seemed to be drawn out of the woodwork, usually by Fluttershy's encouragement.
When their long trek was said and done, night had fallen and the ponies arrived at the Nightingale camp buried in the forest. Talon, the eagle messenger, had managed to find Phantom and dutifully informed him that the Aurora was waiting for them there. Sure enough, it was the first thing they saw when they arrived. Even though its canvas envelope had been covered with green and brown camouflage, it's impossible to miss something that close up. The Nightingales had moved their camp slightly so that it surrounded the airship. Perimeter patrols made sure that the area around the forest was clear of Glaciens. There was nearly a friendly-fire incident with the Glaciens in Nyx's group until the Nightingale leader settled the dispute.
At the camp, Scootaloo was the first pony Rainbow Dash saw, her orange coat and purple mane easily standing out from everypony else. Rainbow Dash surprised the young filly by sneaking up behind the filly and scaring her. But Scootaloo didn't mind, she was just happy to see her unofficial big sister again. Together with Phantom, the two sat down with Scootaloo in front of a campfire and recounted their story. Several empty tents were nearby and would provide adequate shelter for them during their stay in the camp. Twilight, Spike, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie had their own tent, while Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Nyx were in another. The third tent was occupied by Phantom, Stryker, and Archer, none of whom went to sleep that night. Phantom never even went into his tent according to Stryker, the pegasus stayed outside and wondered around.
When day rolled around, everypony left their tents and mingled about, eating various meals as they came. For most of the time, Phantom had wondered into his tent and fallen asleep. Rainbow Dash asked Stryker and Archer about it, and they explained that he tended to be nocturnal. They encouraged her to leave him be, seeing as how he never slept anyway. In a command tent on the other side of camp, Nyx held a meeting with the present senior officials.
A few Nightingale Lieutenants and Captains, the defected Glacien Officer, the Elements of Harmony, Stryker and Archer; Rainbow Dash's father, Captain Dash and a few of his officers, met to discuss the plans of their coming attack. It was Captain Dash who came up with the plan that they eventually decided on. They would take the Aurora over the city and drop in from the sky. His pegasus guards would carry some ponies that the unicorns on hoof couldn't teleport down with, whilst providing support from the air. Meanwhile the Aurora would provide overhead support with a newly installed cannons. The primary object would be to find and capture the Royal Family and bring them back to Equestria for questioning. Sky, Cloud Maker, and Soarin', being that they were Equestrian traitors, would be spared no such mercy. Little did they know they had nothing to worry about with Soarin'.
During the meeting, Spike belched out a series of letters. They were all messages from Princess Celestia. She explained how she was on her way to Glacies, with support. Several of her best Royal Guard units, led by Captain Armor, would be sent in. Since they had the potential of deal with Changelings, Princess Celestia herself and Princess Luna, while Princess Cadance would stay back and watch over Equestria. Luna's highly trained Night Guard had apparently already been sent in earlier in the week, and were now waiting outside the city. With reinforcements on their way, a wrench was thrown into the plan. Wait for them to arrive? Or strike as soon as possible. The ponies went with the latter option. They would wait for nightfall before boarding the Aurora . Captain Dash would take off a night and fly towards Aquila. Then, in the waking morning hours, they would attack. Following Twilight's instructions Spike sent their plans back to Princess Celestia in a letter carried away by his dragon fire.
The Elements of Harmony, along with any other civilians that made it out of Palmyra, occupied the rest of the day with random activities they could find to keep away the boredom. Phantom and Nyx took the remaining Nightingale Pegasi and most of the Royal Guards and boarded the Aurora early. Rainbow Dash volunteered to go with them, and much to Phantom's grumbling, Captain Dash approved her. The pegasi met in the cargo hold to go over their more intricate plans. Some of them would be carrying explosives to take out the upper walkways or towers of the castle, eliminating the high ground. The rest would be carrying ponies in their legs as they dropped from the Aurora, landing in the castle courtyard. Hopefully by the time they got down there, the unicorns would have teleported themselves and the rest of the ponies down. From there, they would storm the castle and capture the Royal Family. Changelings, and the traitors, were not to be spared.
With everything planned out, all they had to do was wait.
Several hours later, everypony was about the Aurora as it took to the air. In just a couple more hours they would arrive at Aquila. A majority of the ponies were in the cargo bay preparing themselves. It was here that Rainbow Dash looked for Phantom but couldn't find him. She did manage to spot Stryker, however, and approached him.
"Where's Phantom?" she asked. Stryker and Archer were standing side-by-side, helping to put on each other's armor. Rainbow Dash, with Applejack's help, already had her silver armor on.
"Can't say for certain," Stryker replied, tightening one of Archers straps. "Before every mission he has the tendency to just wonder off somewhere."
"All we know for sure," Archer added, "is that he isn't inside the ship."
"Any guesses where he'd be then?" Rainbow Dash inquired further.
Stryker thought for a moment. "Probably flying around the ship somewhere," he shrugged. "Hard to tell. You'll just have to look."
Rainbow Dash thanked them for their help and moved towards a side door on the cargo bay. She opened it and stepped onto a small platform outside the airship's envelope in the cool night air, shutting the door behind her. With a powerful thrust of her wings, she took flight. Though Rainbow Dash wasn't yet used to the extra weight of her armor, and it tended to drag her down. Her eyes scanned the skies around the Aurora. Several aerial patrols of two or four pegasi were flying around, making sure nothing approached the ship. Rainbow Dash flew up to one of them and asked if they had seen Phantom out here. They replied generously, pointing their hooves at the top of the airship. She followed their instructions and found the stallion laying down on the top of the rear tail fin. His head was resting atop his crossed hooves, eyes shut. Was he sleeping?
The mare approached the tail rudder from behind. With quiet hooves she landed on the painted canvas, which moved slightly to her weight. It felt almost like a bouncy castle to walk across. The rudder itself was just barely wide enough to hold the two pegasi. Phantom moved closer to the edge as Rainbow Dash neared, allowing her more room to lay down beside him.
"So you're awake," Rainbow Dash mused, laying down beside the stallion.
"I was never asleep," Phantom calmly said, continuing to look forward.
"Then what was with the closed eyes?"
"Thinking. Meditating, if you will." Rainbow Dash raised a brow, and Phantom saw out of the corner of his eye. "I do it before every mission, clear my mind of distractions, mentally preparing myself."
"Oh," Rainbow Dash bowed her head slightly, "so I should leave then, huh?"
Now Phantom looked at her, though still not moving his head. "I don't mind. Your presence is actually calming."
"I see..."
"Something on your mind?"
"What makes you say that?"
"You're adding ellipses to the end of your sentences."
"Well it's just... It's just..." Phantom looked over at her, giving her an impassive look. "Ugh, I don't know how to say it!"
"Then just say it." Phantom looked back forward.
"It's not that simple!"
"Yes, it is, actually."
"Do you even know what I'm trying to say to you?"
"I have a fair idea. Remember that I was inside your head for Celestia knows how long."
"So if you know, then I don't have to say it?"
"Everypony knows, Dashie, not just me. And you still need to say it. If you don't, it does nothing to help you."
"Fine... Phantom, I... I..." Rainbow Dash hesitated. Phantom rested the side of his face on a hoof so that he was looking at the mare, waiting with a bored look. "I... I like you." The mare instantly turned her head away, trying to conceal her blushing. But Phantom snorted to himself, rolling his eyes.
"No you don't."
Rainbow Dash shot the stallion a questioning glare. Did he just call her a liar? "I'm sorry?"
"You and I both know that it goes beyond that." He moved one of his hooves and put it on top of hers. "You know it, I know it, everypony else knows it; just say it."
She closed her eyes for a brief moment as she let out a breath of air. Opening them again, she looked into Phantom's waiting eyes. "I love you."
A smile grew on Phantom's face. "See? That wasn't that hard, was it?"
"I guess not..." Rainbow Dash and Phantom both looked forward again, staring out oat the starry horizon. Little did she realize that she was slowly shifting towards him, a detail Phantom didn't miss on. When she was in range, he acted. In one quick motion he lifted his left wing up and draped it across Rainbow Dash's back, pulling the mare close to his side. At first she was startled by the suddenness of it, but wrapped in his warm embrace against the cool air of the night she quickly welcomed it, tucking her head against his neck. Phantom tilted his head to the side slightly so that it was resting atop hers. "Wait," Rainbow Dash began, though not moving from her comfortable position, "why didn't you say it first?"
"I did say it first, remember? The fight with Boreas? He kicked your flank and you landed in front of me then I said it. Remember?"
"Oh yeah."
The two pegasi continued to lay against one another as the Aurora sailed through the air. They didn't say anything, instead opting to remain in silence and enjoy each other's embrace. Some time had passed that they were like that. Eventually Phantom could see lights on the distant horizon, lights that they were heading towards. It had to have been Aquila. It was the only city of significant enough size this far north that they would be able to see the street lights at this distance. Rainbow Dash felt her adrenaline begin to pump. With her ear pressed against Phantom's neck, she was able to hear his heart beating, and it didn't even change its calm pace. Though he was staring out at the lights with a firm expression.
Their ears picked up on the echoing sound of Captain Dash's voice from the ship's intercoms inside the cargo bay. It was faint, but they could still make out what he was saying. Everypony was being ordered to their battle stations, and the strike teams were being called bak inside.
"Good talk," Phantom commented as he opened his wing, allowing Rainbow Dash to stand.
"Yeah, it was pretty nice," she said while standing up. She offered Phantom a hoof to help him get up, to which he happily accepted.
"We should do it again sometime." Phantom flared his wings, Rainbow Dash mimicking him. Both ponies took to the air, gliding down along the side of the Aurora's envelope, Phantom's leading feathers brushing up against the canvas.
"Did you just ask me on a date?"
"Perhaps."
The pair swooped in through a large cargo bay door that had been opened. Uniformed members of the ship's crew were running about, frantically trying to get to their stations, some carrying supplies back and forth between them. In the center of the cargo bay, members of the strike teams, the ponies who were going to be going into the castle and attack, were gathered up in groups. Several earth ponies would be gathered around a single unicorn, the one who would teleport them down; among them was Stryker. Other unicorns who didn't know how to teleport and extra earth ponies had met up with a large group of pegasi, the ones who would fly them to the ground; Phantom found Archer here. Another group of pegasi were loading out with explosive devices and bows and arrows; Nyx had apparently taken command of this group. All the groups were circled around Captain Dash, who was going over the final details of the plan, and who would be where.
Phantom and Rainbow Dash found that they would be with the group of pegasi lifting the other ponies down. Stryker was leading the unicorns who would be teleporting themselves and the earth ponies down, and Archer was leading those earth ponies. Nyx had taken charge of the pegasi who would be flying around, providing support for the others. Meanwhile Captain Dash, with the assistance of Twilight Sparkle and Spike, would be orchestrating everything from the bridge of the Aurora, with Twilight teleporting down orders to team leaders as needed. The remaining Elements of Harmony would not engage unless the Changelings were to show up. Captain Dash informed everypony that they were less than an hour away from the city. All that was left was to go over final preparations, gather equipment, and wait.
"Everypony ready up!" Phantom yelled over the noise of rushing wind.
"Aye sir!" responded a chorus of voices.
Two hours after briefing, Phantom and the rest of the pegasi under his charge were lined up along the edges of the cargo bay with the doors open. The only way to tell between the Royal Guards and the Nightingales was armor color, with the former having white or gold armor, and the latter have black. Attached to their armor via harnesses that Rarity had crafted were other unicorns and earth ponies. Paired with Phantom was Archer, the white stallion holding a bow also had a quiver of arrows on the back of his armor instead of a white cloak like Phantom and the others. They had all been eagerly awaiting this moment; a moment that was late. Originally Captain Dash had expected the ship to arrive in an hour, but there were unexpected cross winds that slowed them down severely, and now they were two hours late. It killed their opportunity to drop under the cover of the early morning darkness. Now, the sun had risen above the horizon and was beginning to light the city. More importantly, it illuminated the Aurora, exposing it to prying eyes below.
Though at their current altitude it was unlikely that even if they ship was spotted the Glaciens would be able to do much about it. Captain Dash had brought the Aurora above the first level of major clouds. So high in fact that ice was beginning to develop along the sides of the envelope. Phantom, the rest of the pegasi, and the ponies they were carrying had to wear goggles to protect their eyes. In addition to those, Phantom also carried with him a small sheathed sword, something he rarely did unless he went into a situation with the full intention of ending somepony's life.
Below the ponies, clouds blocked out their full view of Aquila, leaving only patches they could see through. But they all know it was there. Ponies were probably going about their daily routines, completely unaware of what was flying high above them. Phantom looked around the bay. The pegasi under his command were determined, especially that of Rainbow Dash next to him. In the cneter of the cargo bay, Stryker sent him a reassuring nod as the unicorn prepared his troops for the mass teleportation of themselves and other unicorns and pegasi. Outside, Nyx's squadrons of pegasi flew parallel to the airship, explosives, bows and arrows strapped to their armor.
Over the intercom, Captain Dash called out their time-to-target. "Thirty Seconds!"
"Good luck everypony!" Phantom could hear Twilight shout in the background just before the Captain hung up.
"Sky Streak is mine!" Phantom called out to his troops, who all nodded in confirmation.
"You really want him, don't you?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"That bastard will not survive our next encounter." Phantom slid his goggles down on his face, counting off the remaining time in his head. Twenty seconds to go. A red light on the side of the cargo bay wall next to them came on, signaling them to get ready. Everypony else secured their goggles. Ten seconds. Phantom scooted closer to the edge of the cargo bay. Because of the awkwardness of having another pony strapped to their chests, the pegasi had to sit up right with their hind legs dangling outside the cargo bay, the ponies that they were carrying were essentially sitting in their laps doing the same. The light turned green. At the same time a loud buzzing sound rang through the cargo hold.
Nyx and her pegasi rolled onto their backs and dove for the ground, using their wings to stabilize their dive. Time seemed to slow down as Phantom leaned forward after them. He and Archer slowly slipped from the metallic edge of the cargo hold. For a breif moment they seemed to hover in the air before gravity took over and began pulling them down. Phantom and the rest of his pegasi fell hind legs first before rolling backwards and falling head first towards the clouds below. Phantom was in the lead, with the other pegasi behind him in a V formation. They glided into the slip streams that Nyx's pegasi were creating, allowing them to go faster despite their extra drag. Rainbow Dash was close to his right side. He and the other ponies tucked in their wings and legs, trying to make them as small as possible to pick up more speed. It would have been impossible to yell over the noise, so Phantom hoped that everypony would follow his lead. He found himself panting heavily in the thin air, his breathing accelerating as his altitude continued to drop. In a couple of moments they were already several hundred feet beneath the Aurora, which was now banking away from the city while dropping it's own altitude.
Captain Dash was bringing the Equestria airship around so that its broadside cannons would be able to fire on the castle. Standing in front of the large forward windows on the bridge he was barking his orders.
"Right full ruder, down forty-five degrees!" he commanded. "Bring us to five hundred feet."
"Ride full ruder, down forty-five degrees, aye sir!" the pilot repeated as he and the copilot turned two separate wheels to the right. In the back of the bridge, another officer controlled the helium in the ballast tanks, releasing some so that the ship dropped faster.
Twilight stood next to him along with the rest of the Elements of Harmony and Spike, who was taking notes of what was going on for after action report records. "I hope this works out..." she said hesitantly.
"Me too..." Captain Dash turned towards a pony on the side of the bridge who was looking through a glass outcropping with a pair of binoculars. "Corporal, what's their status?"
"Seconds from the clouds, sir," the corporal replied, not looking away.
"Celestia be with them now."
Down below, Phantom watched as Nyx and her formation of ponies disappeared inside the gray clouds. Seconds later, he was the first of his own formation to pierce them. The droplets of water that made it up started to condensate against the glass of his goggles and all along his fur. Before he knew it he broke through to the other side. Beneath them, the Glaciens has apparently initiated some sort-of scorched earth policy. Most of Aquila, save for the castle, was burning. The morning sun in combination with the glow of the fires gave a reddish hue to the air. The smoke was making it difficult for the ponies to see that castle, but changing wings cleared enough smoke so that they could catch glimpses of it. To make matters worse, the Glacien guards had spotted them, probably put on alert by Luna's attacking Night Guard forces on the edge of the city.
Anti-pegasi spells zipped up at them from the ground. Phantom opened up his wings so that he could maneuver slightly to avoid being hit but still maintain a low level of drag. Rainbow Dash stayed close at his side as several other ponies nearby were hit by the spells, spinning wildly out of control. Nyx's team flared their wings and leveled off several hundred feet above the castle, dropping their explosive payload. Plumes of fire and white smoke erupted from the castle walls and towers, taking the Glaciens who were firing the spells with them. Immediately Phantom felt the pressure from the flak lifted off of him.
"Get ready!" Phantom shouted directly into Archer's ear so the white stallion could hear him over the wind and explosions. Archer nodded and Phantom began flapping his wings for an extra boost. They were only a few seconds away from their destination: one of the castle's courtyards.
When the allotted time had passed, Phantom flared his wings, leveling off just above the ground. If Archer extended his legs then they would have caught on the cobblestone. Which was the plan. Phantom quickly pulled up an extra foot, allowing Archer to lower his legs. Phantom briefly slowed down and pulled a release cord on his harness. When he pulled up sharply, Archer was no longer connected to him. Instead the white stallion was now running along the ground, charging head long towards Glacien forces that were storming out of the castle to intercept. Behind him, the other pegasi who were carrying ponies, including Rainbow Dash, did the same thing. Within moments dozens of earth ponies and unicorns were on the ground, beginning their portion of the assault on the Glaciens. At the same time, Stryker's team of unicorns teleported in from the Aurora with the remaining unicorns and earth ponies. They had waited until the surprise attack had begun, and hooves were on the ground before they rushed in in force.
Phantom again leveled off, dipping and dodging arrows and spells fired towards him and his formation of pegasi. Rainbow Dash followed him as he dipped down below the castle walls to avoid taking more fire from them. Nyx swooped in on the wall Phantom was taking the most fire from with a small group of ponies. Flying overhead they dropped their explosive payload, completely decimating the top of the wall. Phantom took his opportunity and pulled up just before the wall, his hooves barely scraping the stone that it was made of. Cresting over the top he rolled onto his back looped over the wall towards the other side before leveling off again. Now over the relative safety of the city, Phantom checked behind to see how many ponies he still had with him. Of course Rainbow Dash was still there, but out of the forty some ponies he left the Aurora with, he now had about twenty-five. They all gave him reassuring nods and smile.
He turned back and brought his formation of pegasi higher into the sky. They began circling the castle walls in a counter clockwise motion, examining the developing battle. The walls were beginning to crumble. Pillars of smoke rose high into the sky. Near the perimeter of the city, the Aurora was opening fire with its cannons, the shots sounding like distant thunder. The cannon balls landed at the base of the castle walls in an attempt to bring them down to allow Luna's Night Guard to breach. Continuing to inspect the scene for someplace he could help, Phantom noticed something. On the back of the primary section of the castle where the main reception and throne room was located, was a series of stain glass windows.
"We're going to rejoin this battle!" Phantom rolled onto his back and flew backwards, yelling to the ponies flying in formation behind him. Now that the wind wasn't roaring past them like before, they would actually be able to hear him. "And we're going to be the first inside the castle!"
"Ooh-Rah!" replied everypony, save for Rainbow Dash.
"Damn straight! Now let's go kick some flanks!"
Phantom banked sharply and turned towards the castle, drawing sharp contrails on the tips of his wings. The movement was so sudden that Rainbow Dash barely managed to stay by his side.
"What was that about?" she asked, pulling up to be completely parallel with him.
"What? The 'Ooh-Rah' thing?"
"Yeah."
He smiled. "It's a guard thing. A rally call, if you will. A way to motivate everypony."
"Well it worked."
Rainbow Dash fell back in her original position on Phantom's five o'clock. The formation of pegasi continued at high speed towards the back of the castle. In a few moments, they were again taking fire from it. Phantom ignored the Glaciens and extended his hooves out in front of him. As they neared, Phantom could make out the art on the glass pain. It depicted Prince Castor standing proudly over his nation, black figures, probably Nightingales, running in terror. A mischievous grin crossed Phantom's face as he set that as his target. The pegasi following Phantom formed a single file line behind him.
The seconds that followed found Phantom breaking through the stained glass hooves first. Now protected by armor, it didn't cut him very much. He immediately dove to the floor, coming in for a hot landing. Tucking his wings in, he slid across the marble with Rainbow Dash swooping in for a soft landing behind him. The other pegasi who had followed him stayed in the air, circling the room a few time before most of them split up and spread out through the rest of the castle.
Phantom skidded to a halt in front of the throne, pushing the carpet out of place. At the door, a group of Glacien guards were propping the door closed, keeping the opposition from breaking in. They all stared at the newly arrived pegasus in shock. On the throne itself, the Royal Family sat and also stared at him. Phantom gave them a defiant smile in return, particularly directing his attention towards Prince Castor.
"Prince Castor," Phantom began as Rainbow Dash trotted up to his side, her wings flared, taking on an offensive stance, "by order of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna of Equestria, you are hereby under arrest for crimes against ponydom, and harboring fugitives of Equestria."
The gray coated unicorn stood up and applauded. "You survived Boreas, I see," he mused. "Impressive." His gaze turned to Rainbow Dash. "Ah, I see you've been freed of his influence... A shame, really. You would have been an excellent pet."
"Enough talking," Phantom cut in. "Where are the Changelings and the fugitives we're looking for? If you tell us, Princess Celestia might cut you a small break."
Prince Castor, along with the other Royal Family members, began laughing.
"Are you really that dense that you haven't figured it out?" Prince Castor was slowly walking down the steps. "We've been here the entire time!" Phantom's ears fell back at the specific use of the word 'we'. A large pit grew in his stomach as he took a step back, preparing himself for anything. "Now you will see us for who we really are."
Prince Castor's horn began to light up with magical energy. But instead of being white like it had been before, the magical aura was red. The field surrounded Prince Castor's body. Starting at the tip of his horn, it began to disintegrate away. Working its way down, it revealed a red mane and white mane, red eyes, and blue fur. Phantom felt intense rage building up inside of him as the rest of the stallion was revealed, including his magnifying glass cutie mark.
"Sky!" Phantom barked. "You were Prince Castor?"
His transformation complete, Sky Streak continued to walk down the stairs, stopping in front of the first step.
"Quite."
Phantom reached for his short sword, but Sky used his magic to rip it out of the pegasus' grasp. Sky maneuvered it so that the tip pressed lightly against Phantom's neck, stopping the pegasus from making any further movements. Rainbow Dash started moving forward to attack, but Sky also stopped her.
"Ah ah ah, my dear," he said with a coy smile. "Not one more step. The big stallions need to have a conversation." Rainbow Dash sent a nervous glance at Phantom.
"Easy, Dash," Phantom said, "do what he says. What do you want, Sky?"
"Everything!" the unicorn shouted. "And no pony will stand in mine, or my mother's, way."
"Hm. Speaking of parasites, where is your deal old mum?"
At this point, Queen Centauri stood up with a stern expression. Phantom rolled his eyes. Oh you've gotta be kidding me. And just as he thought, the Glacien Queen's horn began to shine with magic, but this time instead of white, it was an eerie, yet unfortunately familiar sickly green. Just as what had happened to Sky Streak, the Queen wrapped herself in the magic. As it faded away it revealed a black, chitin plated mare the size of Princess Celestia, with a jagged horn, green eyes, holes in her legs, and insect-like wings. Queen Chrysalis stood at the top of the throne steps, looking down at the pair of pegasi before her. The maniacal laugh she let out did nothing to help the nerves of the ponies. The remaining Royal Family members transformed into normal Changeling drones. Much to Phantom's discomfort, the Glacien guards in the room did the same.
Little did any of them know, a brown coated black maned pegasus was watching these events unfold from a high window in the corner of the throne room. Syntax gasped at the sight, unable to believe it.
"I've gotta tell Princess Celestia," he muttered to himself, remembering his orders. Pushing off from the window ledge, he took to the skies, and steered himself towards the still circling Aurora. On his way he passed over the courtyard, where he could see Nyx speaking with Archer and Stryker. A moment later, the trio headed off towards an adjacent wing of the castle. Normally Syntax would have joined them, but now he had a more important mission to tend to.
The Aurora appeared through a cloud in front of him, its cannons blazing away at the Glacien city. Syntax flew up to a platform on the side of the airship's gondola. An ensign officer working inside the bridge had to let him in. Captain Dash motioned for the pegasus to approach him and Twilight.
"What do you have, Lieutenant?" Captain Dash asked.
"Sir, ma'am," Syntax addressed him and the princess of magic. "We have a problem."
"What is it?" Twilight turned towards him.
"The Royal Family, the Glaciens, they're... they're the Changelings."
Twilight Sparkle and the rest of the nearby Elements of Harmony gasped, meanwhile Captain Dash merely smiled.
"Great!" he elated, to the confused looks of everypony on the bridge.
"How is that great?" Twilight demanded to know.
"Well, now instead of two armies we have to fight, it's just one. Talon?" Said eagle flew down from his perch near the ceiling of the bridge and landed on the captain's back. "Find Princess Celestia, inform her of these developments. Tell her to expedite her arrival if possible."
Talon gave an understanding nod before spreading his wings and taking to the air. He flew out an open window towards the back of the gondola. Captain Dash thanked Syntax for the updated information and instructed him to rejoin the fight, to which he followed, leaving through the same doorway he had entered from. When Twilight asked Captain Dash what she should do, he asked her to fire the spell that Shining used to reveal the Changelings and to banish them. Twilight told him that she could reveal the Changelings, but she wouldn't be able to banish them without being next to the Queen with her in a weakened state. Captain Dash thought for a moment before giving the alicorn the okay to head down there, with special note to take care. Charging a spell, Twilight and her friends teleported to the castle below. Spike was left on the bridge to assist
They reappeared in the middle of the castle's main courtyard, where most of the battle was occurring. Twilight had put up a shield to protect them while she prepared another spell. A white dome rapidly expanded outwards from the tip of her horn, quickly passing through everything and everypony. For a brief moment, everypony affected looked around in shock as the battle came to a stand still. In that time, all the Glacien Guards' fur had dissolved away in a green mist, leaving behind Changeling drones. The same happened across to half of the civilians in the city, catching the normal civilians and Luna's Night Guard off guard. Said Night Guard had pierced the walls of the city and were moving in with no opposition. But with this revelation, more battles broke out across more of the city. Once realization struck the ponies in the courtyard, they also continued their fight.
Now that they had been found out, Changelings seemed to be crawling out of catacombs built into the castle walls. They were using their sheer numbers to try and overwhelm the ponies. The Elements of Harmony began fighting back as best they could. Luckily Twilight had the foresight to bring the Elements themselves with her. Her and her friends were already wearing theirs, they just had to bring the Element of Loyalty to Rainbow Dash.
"We need to find Queen Chrysalis!" Twilight shouted over the war, firing an immobilization spell at a small swarm of Changelings that were flying directly towards her.
"And Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy poked her head out from behind her mane. "If that's okay with you."
"It certainly is okay with us," Applejack remarked, bucking an approaching Changeling in the face, knocking it unconscious.
The five mares charged forward, heading for the main doors of the castle that led into the throne room. Several members of the Royal Guard were already pushing up against the door.
When Syntax had left his overlooking position in the window sill, the events unfolding in the throne room had not waited for his return.
"Care to monologue?" Phantom asked. It was a long shot, but he hoped that if they talked long enough it would buy Rainbow Dash and him enough time to get help. It wasn't like he had many other options since there was a sword poking up against his throat. Even though Sky had nearly completely changed from what Phantom used to know of him, he still knew that the unicorn was egotistical as tartarus; a trait hopefully derived from his mother. During this time, Changeling drones were positioning themselves so that they surrounded the two Equestrians. Most other guards that Phantom brought with him had gone to secure other parts of the caste and let in reinforcements of their own. What guards stayed in the throne room were engaged in small skirmishes with the Changelings.
"To put it simply," Queen Chrysalis began. "Glacies has for a long time been a nation of Changelings. The isolation helps us to hide from the likes of your kind. Changelings have for awhile been low on numbers, and the stupid ponies of this region help to gain that back. Once I thought we had enough, we attacked Equestria—"
"He's stalling, mother," Sky cut in. "We need to kill them now before more of them show up!" At the same time he was pushing the sword slightly more into Phantom's throat. A small trickle of blood steadily flowed out.
"Oh relax, do you really think they can stop me?"
"They did last time..."
"These ponies did not. That witch Cadance did. Moving on... We attacked Equestria, but failed. We were not yet strong enough. So while we retreated back here to build up our armies once more, I came up with a plan. I would use your brashness," she said directing her attention to Rainbow Dash, "to break up the Elements of Harmony, ruining any chance at defeating me. But those blasted friends of yours showed up!
"I narrowly escaped the tunnels and retreated into the forest. There I envisioned another plan. I would take advantage of the fair being hosted in Ponyville and use that to try again at breaking up the Elements of Harmony. But you showed up!" Now, Queen Chrysalis had directed her attention towards Phantom, who still didn't move due to the fact his life was resting on the tip of a sword. "My son had said that you wouldn't be a problem. Obviously that isn't so..."
"I told you he was stubborn," Sky retorted. "But no, 'everything will go according to plan' you said. It never goes to plan with you! They would have never even shown up here if you had destroyed those documents like I told you so!"
"I'm the one running this Hive, not you. And you will listen to me."
Sky craned his neck towards his mother. The motion was enough that the sword moved just an inch away from Phantom's neck, allowing him a to relax a little bit and take a normal breath.
"We're running out of time, mother."
"Yes yes, I know. There's just a few things I want to finish up here and then we can leave."
Out of the corner of his eye, Phantom watched another unicorn step into the room from behind the throne. It was Captain Cypher, glad in armor, flanked on either side by Glacien guards.
"Let me guess," Phantom said, continuing to watch the unicorn with his eyes, not moving his neck for fear about being cut. "Soarin'?"
"You really are stupid," Sky focused back on Phantom, "aren't you?" A spell of red magic left the stallion's blue horn, zipping towards Captain Cypher. It struck him and surrounded his body in a red glow. When it disappeared, it revealed a white maned, green coated pegasus.
"Hello, Phantom," Cloud Maker greeted, nodding to him, "Miss Dash."
"So where the hay is Soarin'?" Rainbow Dash demanded.
Cloud Maker stepped forward. He reached beneath one of his wings with a hoof, and tossed something towards her. The series of objects didn't go far. Due to their composition, they only moved forward maybe a foot, foot and a half. They were feathers. Sky blue feathers. Specifically they were primaries, the main feathers that comprised a pegasus' wing to allow for flight.
"He didn't make it," Cloud Maker said. "He decided to have a conscious and let you guys escape. We could have ended this all in that castle instead of this one if not for him. Shame, really, I was just starting to like him, too."
"Either way," Queen Chrysalis continued, "no pony will stand in our way. Especially once we kill you two."
"Can I just do it now?" Sky practically begged. "You wouldn't imagine the grudge I've been holding against his guy."
"Yes yes, go ahead. Just clean up. This carpet is starting to grow on me after all."
A maniacal smile grew on Sky's face as he used his magic to pull the sword back, moving it off to the side in preparation for a powerful swing. The sword was unexpectantly knocked out of his magical grip. It fell to the cobblestone, clanking as the metal blade bounced up and down. By its side landed an arrow with green fetching. Everypony looked in the direction the arrow came from, searching for its owner.
Archer jumped down from a small balcony, bow in hoof, already loading another arrow. Stryker appeared from the tail end of a teleportation spell next to Archer. Another tan and black pony, this one a pegasus, flew down and hovered next to them. Rushing down the stair well behind them was a large group of Royal Guards, armed with swords. Syntax took a small group of the guards and flew off towards the door to deal with the Changelings who were blocking it. Stryker commanded the rest to engage the remaining Changelings at will as he and Archer started moving towards Sky and Queen Chrysalis.
"Finally!" Sky breathed a sigh of relief, a great weight apparently being lifted from his chest. His tone quickly went from satisfied to a monotone. "Kill them."
Suddenly a white energy passed through the throne room. For a brief moment, everything stopped while the ponies tried to figure out what had happened. But Queen Chrysalis instantly recognized that spell.
"The elements!" she shouted. "They're here! Find them!"
Sky craned his neck to look at this mother and see what she was yapping on about. Phantom took advantage of the now disarmed and distracted ponies. He charged forwards and tackled Sky to the ground. The pair wrestled around on the stone, with Sky firing off random spells here and there, a few nearly hitting other ponies. A few came close to hitting Phantom, who had to duck in order to avoid them.
At the same time, Rainbow Dash, Archer, and Stryker made their moves. Archer fired another arrow, this one aiming for Queen Chrysalis. But it merely bounced off of her chitin armor. Cloud Maker spread his wings and took to the air while Stryker fired spells meant to bring him back down to the ground. After Archer fired his arrow, Rainbow Dash flew forward at the Changeling Queen, but was easily picked up in the Queen's green magic and thrown uncontrollably across the room. Chrysalis flared her insect wings to take flight in an attempt to retreat. Archer prevented her from doing this buy leaping and latching onto one of her dangling legs, dragging the distorted alicorn back down the cobblestone.
Phantom wailed his hooves at Sky's face. As long as he could keep the unicorn distracted, he wouldn't be able to concentrate enough to cast a spell that was worth doing anything. At the moment he was just firing them off randomly. Some were heat spells, that melted the stone they hit; some were ice spells that froze what ever they touched. He even casted a few teleportation spells, which sent him, and Phantom, to different parts of the room. At one point they were struggling with one another on top of the thrones themselves, another they ended up in the castle kitchen, then the dungeons, the ruby suites, a garden out back, then back in the throne room in the thick of the battle. Both stallions had managed to land several kicks and punches on the other, and but knew that that wouldn't be enough. Sky bucked the pegasus off of him, sending Phantom to crash into the stone above the door.
As he fell down, the doors burst open, letting in more members of the Royal Guard in. Following close behind where the Elements of Harmony. Phantom landed on Applejack's back as the mare continued to run forward as part of the charge.
"How's it going?" Applejack calmly asked.
"Better, now," Phantom replied, catching his breath. "I'm really glad you guys are here to help."
"What'dya need?"
"Everything you've got."
Phantom jumped off of her back and took to the air. He rose high enough that his back was scrapping along the ceiling before diving back down at Sky, who was busy defending himself from a small group of Royal Guards. The unicorn looked up just in time to see the pegasus diving down on him. He tried to teleport away, but Phantom managed to connect with Sky just as he activated the spell. In a small burst of sound, light, and smoke, the two stallions disappeared.
Rainbow Dash saw the two teleport away. She was just about to go and try and find them, but her attention was called by Twilight Sparkle. The alicorn was standing halfway between the doors and the thrones with the rest of her friends, now encased by a protective shield. Rainbow was quick to join them.
"Here," Twilight said, floating over the Element of Loyalty to Rainbow Dash. As the pegasus put it on, the jewel emitted a small red flash.
"What's the plan?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"We're going to stop the Changelings before this gets any further out of hoof. No more delays. No more chances of escape. I am ending it today."
"Won't we be easy targets in this mess?" Rarity brought up a valid point.
"Hmm... You're right. I'll have to drop this shield in order to gain enough mana to activate the Elements of Harmony."
Stryker appeared from nowhere, landing in front of the mares on his back, sliding to a halt just before their hooves. He and Twilight awkwardly stared at one another for a moment before he spoke.
"Princess Sparkle," he began, "might I make a suggestion? Archer and I," at the mention of his name, the white earth pony landed next to Stryker, thrown off by Queen Chrysalis, also landing on his back and sliding to a halt in front of the Bearers of Harmony and staring up at them from his up-side-down position on the ground, "we can distract Queen Chrysalis whilst you guys do your thing."
"That sounds really dangerous," Fluttershy helped the two stallions to their hooves. "Are you sure?"
"Just tell us how long you need," Archer replied with a smile.
"Not very long," Twilight replied, "about twenty seconds, maybe?"
"Plenty of time!" Stryker elated. He turned to Archer and the two stallions nodded at one another. "Guards, form up! Protect the Elements of Harmony!"
Nyx flew in at the same time with a small detachment of her pegasi. They arrived just in time to hear Stryker barking out his commands, and were quick to follow them. They broke off into several smaller groups, engaging the Changeling lines that were advancing on the Elements of Harmony. Stryker and Archer ran down the carpet towards where Queen Chrysalis had landed. Twilight dropped her protective shield and started applying her magical energy to her Element of Magic. Their elements began to light up as they were lifted off of their hooves and into the air.
Stryker fired a spell at Queen Chrysalis. It was string like and wrapped around her barrel multiple times, binding her wings to her body so that she couldn't use them to fly away. Continuing to run towards her, he put up a shield in front of him in order to protect himself from her counter-attacks. Archer ran off to one side. Maintaining a fair distance, he began firing arrow after arrow at the Changeling Queen, even though he knew all too well that it would do nothing to her. Once Stryker got close enough, Queen Chrysalis merely swatted him to the side with a hoof, sending him flying into the king's throne, breaking the back of the chair. She directed her attention towards Archer and casted a spell directly at him. At the same time, Archer fired another arrow at the queen. The two projectiles collided in mid air. The arrow was disintegrated by the spell, falling to the floor in a pile of ash. Regardless, the spell continued forward. Archer had no time to dodge. The green spell struck him in the center of the chest, some of its energy passing through him as the spell knocked him into the stone wall behind him, cracking it.
Even though their attack had failed, Stryker and Archer's mission as a distraction had succeeded. Twilight had applied enough magical energy into the Elements of Harmony to activate them. Her and her friends closed their eyes as they focused their own energies into their elements. After a moment, Twilight opened her eyes, revealing solid white orbs that glowed brightly. Small rainbows rose out of their jewels, wrapping several times around each mare before colliding together in the center of them to create a single, larger rainbow. It shot up towards the ceiling before slowing down and arching over slightly. Diving down on Queen Chrysalis, it picked up its speed once again.
"No..." Queen Chrysalis gasped as she watched the attack coming. She casted a green shield in the hopes that it would protect her. "No!" It did nothing. The rainbow beam shattered her magical barrier. As the power of the Elements of Harmony hit the Changeling Queen, a bright white light was emanated, blinding the visions of everypony.
A small crack of thunder sounded out from the top of the Aquila castle, accompanied by a small flash of lightning. From the flash fell two ponies: both stallions, a pegasus, and a unicorn. They tumbled head over hooves in a struggle for life. Much like their previous fight in Ponyville several weeks ago. Except this time, nopony was around to intervene. Nopony was there to save another's life. This time, only one would walk away.
The tallest tower was directly below them and rapidly approaching. Within moments they would be apart of it, with deadly results. Phantom and Sky had played this chicken game before in their previous fight. Sky would teleport high into the sky, and fall with the pegasus in his legs. At the last minute he'd let go and teleport to safety, leaving the pegasus no time to recover from the fall. But Phantom never let go and it caused Sky to have to teleport back up to high altitudes in order to try again. Phantom came up with a different plan; he would reverse the tables on his old 'friend'.
At the last possible moment, Sky's horn lit up, the signal of a coming teleportation spell. Phantom head-butted the stallion, temporarily stunning him and throwing off his concentration. With Sky's grip loosened, Phantom pushed himself away, kicking the blue unicorn down even faster. He spread his wings and leveled out his decent just before impact with the tower, just barely being able miss the ledge with his legs. Sky impacted the top of the tower with a thud, the spider cracks extending out from the point of impact in the stone. Phantom flapped his wings and turned back around towards the tower. Sky was just climbing back to his hooves, several streams of blood running down his face and neck. Phantom dived down on the unicorn as he powered up yet another spell. The pegasus managed to tackle Sky just before he was able to cast it accurately, and its red stream fired harmlessly into the air.
Phantom rolled off of him and up against one part of the tower wall, while Sky leaned up against the opposite part. The two stallions stared at one another, trying to catch their breaths.
"This is it, huh?" Sky asked.
"Yup," Phantom replied. "Years of friendship, crumbled down to this."
"If it helps, we were never friends. I was just using you the entire time to get close to the Princess."
"That doesn't help, actually."
"At least I tried."
"I guess."
Another pause. The two ponies checked over themselves to see what injuries they had. Soon a distraction came along, this one in the form of an eagle landing in between them. It looked at Phantom, who recognized the bird instantly: Talon.
"Kleek!" the eagle screeched, pointing up to a section of sky a ways away from the city that was now occupied by a large number of airships, the Equestrian seal emblazoned on the rudders. Princess Celestia's reinforcements had arrived. Phantom nodded his thanks and Talon took off, heading for his perch aboard the Aurora. Both the stallions watched the approaching airships for a moment, waves of already flying out from them. Below, outside the castle walls, Luna's Night Guard could be seen rapidly approaching. The city was surrounded. There was no where to run; no where to hide.
Both ponies felt a massive energy pulse through them. A mix of white and rainbow light shined out from the throne room windows, illuminating the skies. A sphere of white energy radiated out from the same point, quickly expanded out beyond the horizon. Sky looked around dejectedly. They both knew what had happened: the Elements of Harmony had been used. Odds are, the Changelings were gone.
"So this is it, huh?" Sky asked.
"Seems to be..." Phantom replied, turning back towards the stallion.
"You know you won't take me alive, right?"
"I didn't plan on it."
"Do you plan on walking away?"
"I'd like to, but you should know I'm a pessimist. I never plan on walking away."
"It does help in the end."
"Indeed."
"So should we end this?" Phantom stood up, slowly expanding his wings. Sky did the same, but instead of extending wings he didn't have, he starting applying magical energy to his horn. "Very well then."
Phantom kicked his hind legs and flap his wings, pushing himself forward in a charge. Sky dug his hooves into the stone and lower his head so that his horn was pointing directly at Phantom. The cap between the two stallions quickly closed. Both let out battle cries the moment before they collided. Phantom's hoof connected with the top of Sky's head as the unicorns spell was casted. In another crack of lightning and thunder, the two stallions disappeared leaving the tall castle tower empty.
Sky and Phantom reappeared on the ground in the middle of the throne room, wrestling around with one another. Phantom bucked Sky off of him and began crawling away on his back. Sky was quick to return, stepping on one of the pegasus' extended wings, bringing his crawl to a halt. The two stared at each other for a moment. Phantom's punch right before the teleportation had been enough to break Sky's blue horn off of his head. The stump was now leaking sparks of red magical energy. In his hooves, Sky had a small dagger, and was bringing it up to thrust into the center of Phantom's chest.
Just as he reached the top of his draw back, Phantom quickly reached off to the side with one of his hooves and picked up his sword from earlier, which he had happened to land next to. Bringing it in front of him, he centered his aim, and let Sky fall on its blade. The steel tip went through the stallions chest, and out the other side.
Everything came to a halt.
Sky coughed and sputtered a few times, grunting in pain. Then he merely smiled and rolled over, limp. He fell to the ground on his side, never to move again.
Phantom brought himself to his hooves, looking around the room. Indeed, the Changelings were gone. But everypony else had apparently been blasted into the walls by the force of the magical blast.
"Everypony okay?" Phantom called out, his voice echoing throughout the room.
Ponies began to mumble as they slowly picked themselves up. The Element of Harmony bearers were in a ring around each other, descending from a hovering position in the air by their Elements of Harmony. Wisps of black smoke rose from the spots were Changelings had apparently been standing, fading away when they hit the ceiling.
Considering the extent of the battle in the throne room, it was remarkable not many ponies were hurt severely. A good amount were bleeding from cuts and scars from blades and spells, but for the most part everypony seemed okay. Little did he know there was an exception.
"Stryker?" Phantom hadn't seen him yet. "Stryk, where are ya?"
"Over here, boss!" came the unicorn's voice. Phantom's attention was directed at the throes in the center of the room. There, Stryker was crawling over the back of the king's chair, having apparently been blasted into it. "I'm fine."
Nodding, Phantom approached the Elements of Harmony. They were panting from the use of magical energy, but for the most part were completely unharmed, save for Rainbow Dash who had a few cuts from her fight with Queen Chrysalis. Looking around, he took a head count. Rainbow Dash was by his side, she was fine. Stryker stood atop the throne platform, also looking around.
"You seen Archer?"
Stryker shook his head. "He was with me on the last charge; I don't see him now."
"He's over here!" Nyx called. Phantom swiveled his head in the direction her vice came from. She was hovering next to a significant hole in the wall, waving him over. Both Stryker and Phantom quickly rushed to her location. Laying on the floor next to the wall was the motionless, white form of Archer. Stryker bowed his head while Nyx landed next to him. Phantom took several steps forward and put his hoof on the stallion's neck, waiting for a pulse. A pulse that never came.
"Is he...?" Fluttershy began to ask as she and the rest of her friends joined them.
Phantom turned around, scratching the back of his head. "Yeah..." he mumbled. "He's gone..."
Two pegasi from the Royal Guard with red crosses on the sides of their armor swooped over with a stretcher by Phantom's command. They put the stallion's body on it, covered him with a blanket, and took of towards the Aurora which was now hovering just outside the castle.
A crack of thunder signaled the arrival of more ponies with a teleportation spell. Phantom and the others around him quick rushed to the center of the room, where Princess Celestia and Princess Luna waited. When they arrived, they, along with everypony else, dipped them respectful bows. The Royal Sisters looked around the room, and at the ponies before them, examining the condition of everything.
"Is everypony okay?" Princess Celestia asked softly. She took note that Phantom and Stryker looked away.
"For the most part," Phantom finally replied, turning back towards the Princess. "Corporal Archer... didn't survive."
Nyx stepped forward. "Several of my Nightingales and your Royal Guards were killed in the initial assault, as well."
Princess Celestia sighed. "I'm sorry to hear that... They will all receive my highest blessing, and proper honors. Even your Nightingales, Miss Knight."
"Where are the Changelings," Princess Luna asked, "and Queen Chrysalis?"
"We used the Elements of Harmony on them," Twilight reported them. "They seem to have vanished into thin air."
"Not vanished," Princess Celestia said. "Cured."
"Huh?" Everypony displayed some sort of a confused look, not fully understanding what the regal princess meant.
The white alicorn slowly walked forward along the main carpet, heading towards the throne's steps. The group of ponies around her followed. Soon they noticed that there was a pony unlike most of the them laying on the ground, the upper half of her laying on the first step. She was another alicorn... a white one. She was about the same size of Princess Celestia, with a sapphire blue mane that seemed to glow. There was a sapphire jewel as her cutie mark on her flank. She looked up at the approaching Princess Celestia with a dejected expression. Her bright blue eyes seemed to twinkle.
Princess Celestia's expression remained stern. To Twilight and her friends, this was deja-vú for when Nightmare Moon was vanquished, leaving behind Princess Luna.
"It has been too long," Princess Celestia spoke. "It is good to see you as you truly are once more, Queen Nevei." (NEE-Vay)
"What?!" everypony gasped.
The alicorn that Princess Celestia called Queen Nevei put her hooves beneath her and stood up.
"My little ponies, meet Queen Nevei: the original ruler of Glacies."
"But..." Twilight stammered. "How?!"
"It is a story I am not proud of," Queen Nevei finally spoke. Her voice was kind and soft. Nothing like that of the creature she had been not long ago. She sounded like you could go up and tell her anything.
"I shall explain on the trip. For now, we must make repairs, and return to our homes, our families." Princess Celestia extended a hoof to Queen Nevei, who accepted it. The sun goddess then helped the other alicorn to her hooves, and the pair began to walk away, leaving the others, including Princess Luna, behind in shock.