Broken Feathers: Frozen North

by That Avi Nerd

Broken Feathers — Part Two

Explosions rocked the city. Their pressure waves reached a balcony on the front of the Palmyran castle, rustling Phantom's cloak. He stood with a contrasting calm to the chaos, watching the ancient city before him burn. Plumes of smoke rose from the forest fires. What appeared to be ashes fell from the sky. However, when Phantom held out a hoof to catch one and examine it, he saw that they were Cherry Blossoms that had burned up and floated into the sky, then fell back down.

Every-so-often, a cannon ball would fly over the balcony, impacting the side of the castle somewhere above it. Dust and debris showered down towards the already ruined streets. More cannon balls found their way over the walls and into homes and other buildings, usually collapsing them in only a few impacts.

Formations of Nightingales flew over, on their way to the Glacien lines in an effort to hold them off. Some were armed with bows and arrows, firing at the advancing Glaciens while others were burdened with some kind of incendiary device that was to be dropped on the cannons. Some were successful, judging by the plumes of fire that rose upon impact, but others were shot down by Glacien anti-pegasus spells, and they fell to the forrest.

Phantom bowed his head slightly, sighing. They were losing. They were losing and there wasn't anything that he could do, particularly with his wing broken. He knew that his feelings paled to compare to those of his sister; these were her ponies, after all. Phantom looked to the mare standing to his right. She stood with closed eyes, carefully listening to the sounds of the approaching battle.

"This sucks," Phantom said, turning back towards the city.

Nyx opened her eyes. "What, losing, or not being able to change anything about it?"

"Both, but in particular, the latter." Phantom glanced at his bandaged wing, the white bandages matching the cloak that mostly covered his silver armor.

"Agreed. It kills me to be up here, watching, instead of down there, fighting along side them."

"I feel the same way, but like you said, the fight will be here."

"I could go down and help," Rainbow Dash said. Phantom and Nyx both looked to their left at the mare, who stood wearing black Nightingale armor. She had remained silent for most of the time they had been up there, her thoughts clearly somewhere else. "You know, if you guys are—"

"No," Phantom and Nyx said at the same time.

"What? Why?"

"You're my responsibility," Phantom said, "you're going to be in as little danger as possible. The only reason your on this balcony and not in that bunker is so I can keep my eye on you."

"I can take care of myself, you know. I found Scootaloo and rescued you, didn't I?"

"Dash, you managed to rescue Scootaloo out of sheer luck after putting all of us in grave danger. The only reason you rescued me, no offense, was through the great help of my sister. You aren't a trained soldier. You. Will. Not. Fight."

"Hey!" Rainbow Dash accosted him. "I'll have you know that I've fought off manticores, dragons, saved Ponyville so many times I've lost track, defeated Nightmare Moon, battled Discord, saved an entire empire from Sombra, and kicked Chrysalis and her Changelings out of Canterlot! On top of that Princess Celestia said I could come with you."

Phantom turned to face the mare, taking on his own 'steel facade'. Rainbow Dash tried to stand strong, but was faltering.

"Listen," Phantom said, "Princess Celestia ordered me to bring you so you could find Scootaloo. That part of this mission is done, your part of the mission is done. This wasn't even our fight to begin with. We were sent here to deal with Soarin', and Sky and the Changelings, not this! Not some secret order, not some two thousand year-old prophecy, not some dragon that can freeze the world! None of it!

"Furthermore, you never did those things alone, which is exactly what you would be if you went out there right now. Alone. Both the manticore and the dragon swatted you away like you were nothing. All those times spent 'saving Ponyville' only succeeded in inflating your ego to the point that it put even more ponies in harm than you saved! Yeah, you defeated Nightmare Moon, Discord, and Sombra; only with the help of your friends and a magical super-weapon. Chrysalis? That wasn't you, that was Princess Cadence and Captain Armor. As for you kicking the flanks of those Changelings? Any foal could have done the same thing; they're Changelings, not trained, sentient soldiers like the Glaciens are.

"Even that worries me. I know what happened on your birthday, Dash. You let the Changelings trick you, lure you to some secluded cave, and drain the life out of you, steal your Element of Harmony, and nearly cause the topple of the Royal Sisters! If your friends hadn't irgnored you and come save your flank, I doubt Glacies would be anywhere near our problems!"

By now, Rainbow Dash had lost her facade. She had taken a step back and relaxed her muscles; her ears fell and her wings went limp. She couldn't keep her gaze on the stallion in front of her, instead focusing on the ground just in front of his hooves. Rainbow Dash's jaw hung slightly open as she searched for words. None came to her.

"The only successful thing you've done on your own was the Wonderbolt Academy, and look how that turned out! You quit in the end! You quit, Rainbow Dash! You quit! Then Spitfire, with the goodness in her heart, decided to 'reinstate' you. What ever happened, anyway? They haven't gotten back to you since then, have they? Hay, Soarin' tried to kill you, and Spitfire hasn't even tried to contact you, so what do you think they're thinking?

"You're just a civilian, Dash, and I have never lost a civilian on mission. I will not let that happen to you."

Phantom took a breath and turned towards the city, keeping his eyes forwards. Rainbow Dash looked up at the side of his head, trying to say something. Failing, she bowed her head once more and took her leave through the balcony doors. When they shut, Nyx reached over and smacked the back of her brother's head.

"What the hay was that for?" she asked. "Was any of that necessary? At all?"

He sighed. "No... No, it wasn't. I... I over reacted." Phantom rested his head on the balcony edge and lowered his ears.

"You know you have to go and apologize, right?"

"Yeah... I know..." There was a pause. "I messed up big time, didn't I, Nyx?"

"Yes. If you manage to remedy this, and actually get into a relationship with her, I'll be impressed."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh don't give me that." She pushed on his shoulder. "We may not have been around each other a lot since the other day, but I've still had enough time to see how you look at her. You like her, don't you?"

"..."

Nyx gasped. "You do! Ha! I knew it! Does she know?"

Phantom shook his head, still refusing to pick it up off of the balcony.

"You should tell her sometime, before you lose your chance. Come on, we should head inside before we get nailed by artillery."

He nodded and followed Nyx inside, the door shutting off the chaos behind time.

The three pegasi had traveled back to the rotunda under the main throne room. Nightingales had set up defensive positions and traps all along the corridor leading to the entrance, which had been fortified. Now closed with most of the ponies inside of the rotunda, it was secured to be nearly impossible to open from the other side.

Nyx had put Archer in command of the Nightingale archers who were present. He had set them up in a semi-circle from wall to wall with tables turned on their sides, hiding behind them with their bows drawn, aiming at the door, waiting for something to attempt to break through. Nyx has leading her Nightingale pegasi, perched up near the ceiling of the rotunda, waiting. Stryker had been given command and of the unicorns who formed a perimeter around Boreas, should the archers and pegasi fail, they would be the last line of defense.

Phantom, on the otherhoof, hand been tasked with watching over the Element of Harmony bearers and what other Nightingale civilians that hadn't made it out of the city. They were taking shelter in a room on the side of the rotunda, the door barricaded and several Nightingales keeping watch outside of it. Phantom was inside with a few already injured Nightingales. He was sitting in front of the door, waiting for something to happen.

As quickly as they had come, shaking walls, the distant thuds and the falling dust had stopped. There was a moment of eerie silence as everypony looked around the room, wondering what was to come next. Fluttershy tried to hide herself under her hooves while Rarity wrapped a leg around her to comfort her.

"What's going on, sir?" somepony asked; a Nightingale with a broken hind leg, supporting himself against a wall and a crutch.

"They've stopped shelling the castle," Phantom said. "They'll be moving their forces in soon."

The Nightingale nodded but didn't say anything further.

Phantom looked around the room. Most ponies hung their heads low, their eyes either looking at him or the door. Twilight sat in the center of the room along with the rest of the friends. Most of them looked nervous, except for Applejack and Rainbow Dash. The latter bore a look of defeat, while the former stared at Phantom with hostility. Quickly, Phantom put his attention back on the door as he continued pacing. When Phantom turned around, he bumped into what he thought was a brick wall. Taking a step back, he saw that it was a pony that he had run into.

"Now, listen here," Applejack said, pushing a hoof against the front of Phantom's armor. "You're gonna apologize ta Rainbow Dash, ya here?" Phantom didn't reply, but found his eyes drifting towards the ground. "Don't you think she's been through enough without the pony she likes goin' an' a hurtin' her feelings?"

Phantom looked up. "Rainbow... Rainbow Dash... li-likes me?" He turned to look at the cyan mare who had buried her face in her hooves. Her ears had laid flat and her mane had seemed to lose some of its color. Something that stood out to him was the Cherry Blossom that was placed between her left ear and mane. It had been given to her by Nyx as a show of appreciation, and by her words prove that she was a Nightingale. Phantom, Stryker, and Archer had also received one, but their's were placed in a join in the chest plate of their armor. Now, Rainbow Dash's flower had seemed to degrade as much as she had.

"How do you know? Did she tell you?"

"No, she didn't tell us. She didn't have ta tell us. We're her friends, we know what she feels and understands, even if she won't admit them. That's what friends do; they look out for one another."

Phantom directed his attention back towards Applejack. "I know I crossed the line. Those things I said to her were uncalled for... and terrible. How can I possibly apologize for those things?"

"That's somethin' for you ta figure out. Alls I can say is be honest."

"It can't be that simple... can it?"

She put a hoof on his shoulder. "It usually is." Applejack trotted back towards her friends, leaving Phantom to stare at the space she had just occupied.

He watched her sit down next to Rainbow Dash out of the corner of his eye and speak with her, but his ears failed to pick up any bits of the conversation. Sighing, he trotted over to the mares. Phantom wasn't sure about what he would say. He just knew that it had to be something, and that it had to be something good. Before he got even half way to them, something pink flashed in front of him.

"Oh no you don't!" Pinkie Pie said, eyes inches away from Phantom's. "Rainbow Dash doesn't want to talk to you."

"I... I just wanted to apologize to her."

"Oh, okay!" Pinkie resumed a cheerful smile and bounced away. Phantom only took one step forward before the mare returned. "Hey! Wait a second! She said she doesn't want to talk, so you're not going to see her!"

"But I—"

"No buts, mister meanie-head! Just flanks! Your flank heading back to where you came from."

Phantom didn't bother with protesting. Instead he bowed his head and trotted back to the door where he sat and leaned against it. Only half his attention was put on actually guarding the door. The rest of it was spent thinking about what he would actually say to Rainbow Dash the next time they spoke, if they ever spoke, that is.

Occasionally he could catch a few less-than-welcomed glanced from the mares out of the corner of his eyes. Each time they bore feelings of dread and regret into him. Each time, Phantom wished that he could go back in time and stop himself from saying those words. Whenever he looked over at Rainbow Dash, he felt a sensation grow in his stomach that was not all that common to him.

There's those feelings you warned yourself about... he mentally kicked himself.

Some time passed since Phantom's run-in with Applejack. A significant enough length that put everypony on edge. They were all expecting something to have happened by now but nothing came. Some discussed amongst themselves the possibility of the Nightingales fighting off the attacking Glaciens, which they all knew was highly unlikely. Phantom pointed out that the Glaciens were probably just searching for the entrance to this place. To the others, his words unfortunately made sense, and they shut up.

Periodically Phantom would open the door to make sure everything in the rotunda was okay. The pegasi had stopped hovering and had landed in the highest places that they could find. The rest of the ponies were visibly straining at their positions to keep ready, struggling in a half-relaxed half-alert type pose. When ever he came back into the side room, everypony would stare at him, desperate for an answer. Each time Phantom would give them the same answer, "No change."

Falling victim to the same boredom as the other ponies, Phantom found himself leaning against the door, day dreaming. He couldn't shake off what he had said to Rainbow Dash and the scene wouldn't stop unfolding over and over again in his mind. The mare had by now pulled herself out of her hooves, but appeared to be resting, her head laying on Applejack's side for comfort.

A series of dull thuds broke Phantom out of his thoughts. It sounded like somepony was knocking on stone on the other side of the wall from him. He pressed his ear to the door in the hopes to make the sound more clear, but it stopped. It was replaced by the sound of numerous ponies shouting, their words mixing together into an indistinguishable clump. Those who were in the room with Phantom must have heard the commotion too, as their ears and heads perked up.

One voice's yell coming from inside the rotunda sounded as if it were rapidly approaching. It just kept getting louder and louder until Phantom had to pull his head away from the door. Something in the back of Phantom's mind told him to move out of the way of the door. Phantom tucked and rolled to his left just as the door burst open, splinters flying everywhere. Most ponies in the room let out a startled screech.

Phantom recovered and searched for answers as to what had happened. He saw a Glacien guard on the floor, unconscious, having apparently been thrown through the door. The newcomer was immediately surrounded and detained by the present Nightingales. Phantom got back on his hooves, moving towards the door that was now barely hanging off of its own hinges. He poked his head through it to see the chaos that laid on the other side.

Ponies screamed and shouted as metal clanked against metal. Unicorns in golden armor squared off against the Nightingale forces. Spells were fired towards the pegasi who had now dived down on the Glaciens from above. The unicorns on both sides battled each other will spells that often collided and pushed against one another in air. Nightingale earth ponies either drew swords to charge or fired arrows from afar.

Phantom ducked to avoid a group of stray arrows flying just over his head, digging into the wall behind him. He desperately look around the rotunda, searching for someway to help. Over by the once fortified door that now laid on the marble floor in a pile of dust, Prince Castor and Captain Cypher stood, basking in the chaos with ear to ear smiles. Cypher held in his magic an object Phantom hadn't seen before; a silver necklace, with several sapphire jewels imbedded on the sides and in the front.

"Stryker!" he called the attention of the unicorn.

Stryker was in the middle of grappling with a Glacien unicorn. Both were firing their spells randomly in the hopes of at least nicking the other. Lying on his back, Stryker kicked the other stallion, sending him into a nearby support column of the rotunda. He hopped to his hooves and fired one last spell, striking his opponent in the center of the chest. The Glacien fell to the floor, slumping over to the side. The remaining unicorn turned towards Phantom and spoke.

"What is it?" he spoke, trotting over to the pegasus while dodging fire from both sides.

Phantom pointed over to the Glacien officers. "What does Cypher have?"

Stryker took a moment to inspect the object. "Oh no."

"I don't like hearing you say 'Oh no.' What is that thing?"

"That's the Conduit! Phantom, they can not be allowed to get that thing to Boreas. We still have a long time to hold them off." He through up a protective barrier around Phantom and him, blocking a powerful spell that had been barreling towards them.

"Got it."

Stryker dropped the shield to allow Phantom to pass through. The pegasus was only a few meters away when Stryker yelled again. "What ever you do," he said, "do not touch it!" He had hoped that Phantom heard him, but without his acknowledgement and with the chaotic noise of the room, it was impossible to tell.

Don't touch, got it. Phantom had heard him. He repeated the instructions over and over in his head as he ran towards the two Glaciens for which he held so much hatred. The pegasus cursed his broken wing and how he had to resort to moving around like a common earth pony or unicorn. No offense, guys.

Phantom slide under the barrel of a Glacien who was locked in a magical duel with a Nightingale. He put his hooves down in front of him and vaulted above a collection of arrows that were heading his way. Landing on the back of a Nightingale, Phantom hopped from one pony to another, making his way towards the center of the rotunda. He landed on Boreas' granite tail, running along the top of it and onto the dragon's back. He ran all the way to the top of Boreas' head, stopping there to gather his bearings on the battle, and specifically two certain high ranking Glaciens.

"Castor!" he said, locating the two between the statue and the doorway.

Captain Cypher and Prince Castor slid to a stop, following the voice to the top of Boreas.

"Ah," Prince Castor mused, "you're alive! How interesting, I could have sworn I thought I told the guards to execute you."

"You forget that I have friends, your highness. If you and Cypher leave the conduit here and leave, I promise to consider letting the true Glacien ponies give you a fair trial."

The two Glaciens spoke amongst one another so that Phantom couldn't hear. Finally, they turned back towards the pegasus.

"After some careful deliberation," Cypher said, "we've decided that you can buzz off—Oh! I'm sorry, you can't! My bad!"

Phantom furrowed his brows. Prince Castor and Captain Cypher continued forward, flanked on all sides by Glacien Guards who were fending off advancing Nightingales as best they could. The conduit remained in Cypher's magical grip, and Phantom resolved to knock it away, somehow.

He jumped down from his position atop Boreas' head, but without his wings it was nearly impossible to control his fall. Prince Castor was the closest to him, leading the charge and clearing space for Captain Cypher to follow through. Phantom continued falling, hooves outstretched, ready to grapple onto the prince. Within moments, that's exactly what happened. The prince lost all of the air in his lungs as he was tackled to the ground. Phantom gave him one good punch to the stomach in an attempt to temporarily incapacitate the unicorn.

The pegasus got up and turned around. Captain Cypher was sprinting away from him, heading directly for Boreas, the Conduit still in his magical grip. He was faster than the unicorn and they both knew it. Cypher appeared to be trying to push the conduit away from him, towards the slot on Boreas' neck, as he ran. Thought it appeared to be taking a tole on him, the necklace itself absorbing his magical energy.

Phantom caught up to the Glacien as fatigue from the magical drain began to set in. He tackled the unicorn, breaking his concentration. The Conduit slipped from Cypher's magical grip, bouncing and sliding across the floor. Each time it touched the marble, the stone was covered in ice. The air around the jewelry became a misty vapor, creating a slight fog that surrounded the ornament.

The two ponies wrestled with one another on the floor, punching and jabbing in an effort to defeat the other. Prince Castor had meanwhile recovered. He sprinted past the two, preparing a spell to grab hold of the Conduit not far in front of him. Just as he released his telekinetic magic, a sharp pain sent fiery tendrils across the nerves in his right flank. Castor limped to a stop and inspected the source.

An arrow with green fletching stuck out of the spot where a cutie mark should have been. The crimson blood that trickled down from the wound contrasted sharply with his snow white coat. Following the arrow's trajectory back, he saw a white earth pony drawing another arrow from his quiver and steadying it in his bow, preparing to fire again. Castor blasted the pony with a powerful spell before he had the chance to release the arrow. When the Glacien turned back to go after the Conduit once more, he found that it was missing.

Stryker swung his hoof, hitting Prince Castor in the side of the jaw and dropping the regal pony to the floor. In his tan magic, he held the Conduit. He ran for the door, checking over his shoulder to make sure that Castor was immediately getting back up. Failing to realize what was in front of him, he tripped over the hooves of somepony laying on the ground. Captain Cypher had managed to get away from Phantom just long enough to trip the Equestrian unicorn.

A magical aura surrounded Cypher's horn as he watched the Conduit tumble through the air, a distinct trail of vapor following behind it. Phantom grabbed onto his horn before he could grab ahold of the necklace in his magical grip, breaking his concentration. As Phantom kneed the back of Cypher's head, he looked up to find the Conduit, still falling. It was snatched out of the air a few feet above the ground by black hooves.

Nyx had dove in from high above the rotunda floor. She brought with her a flight of other Nightingale pegasi, who went after the Glacien guards that had once provided close protection for Prince Castor.

"Nyx!" Stryker yelled, sitting up from his fall. "Drop it now!"

The pegasus looked at him, then at the Conduit in her hooves, which were growing colder by the second. Frost had covered her where the Conduit touched her hooves. The cold was so intense that she could have only described it as a burning sensation. She dropped the necklace as though it were on fire but the sensation didn't stop. It even spread. First the fur above her hooves paled, losing their color and turning from black to white. The discoloration trailed its way up her forelegs, closely followed by an ever consuming ice.

Everything that the ice wrapped itself around instantly became numb. As much as she tried, she was unable to move her hooves. The ice spread faster. Within moments it consumed the rest of her forelegs and was moving onto her chest and barrel. It covered her wing joints, freezing them in place. Even though she was only about a meter above the ground, she was completely frozen, head to hoof, mane to tail, before she hit the floor. She bounced and rolled, her body unmoving. With each hit the ice let out a loud "Tink."

Phantom was up and sprinting to her before she stopped sliding along the floor. As he got closer he noticed that there wasn't a single scratch on the ice, but as it slid across the floor it left grooves in the white marble. When Phantom reached the block of ice that surrounded his sister, he jumped up on top of it in the hopes that his weight would somehow break it. When that failed to work, he ignored the cold and pain and proceeded to dig with his hooves. He had hoped that flakes would form at the least. All he got instead was a bit of condensation on his hooves.

"Nyx!" he screamed into the cold crystal. She was just inches below the surface, her eyes open in fear and shock. Behind them there was a tinge of pain. Phantom resorted to using his warm breath to melt the ice but that also didn't work. He reared up and slammed down with his forehooves as hard as he could. Still the ice didn't break, let alone crack or scratch. The only thing he did do was sprain his hooves with the down force.

The pegasus was just about to try again when he was tackled against the wall by somepony. Captain Cypher held Phantom against the wall by placing a foreleg across his neck, using his magic to restrain the pegasus' hooves.

"Hm, what a shame," Cypher said. Phantom put up his hooves to resist, but the pain hampered his efforts against Cypher's brute strength. "Just when you found her after all those years, you lose her again. It's a sad story, your sister and you."

"How do you know who she is to me?" Phantom gasped in intervals for air.

"We know a lot of things about you, more than you can imagine. Your dear friend Sky told us all about you..."

"Cypher!" Prince Castor called. Phantom looked past the Glacien Captain and towards the prince. He was standing directly in front of Boreas, the Conduit wielded in his magic, floating only a few feet away from its receptor in the stone. "Time to go."

"By all means, you're highness." Releasing his grip, Cypher let Phantom fall to the floor as he walked over to his prince.

"Don't do this!" Phantom coughed, climbing to his knees. He looked around in the hopes that somepony would do something to stop them, but they were all being overwhelmed by the Glacien forces. Phantom took a few steps forward in pursuit and immediately fell down under the pain in his sprained hooves. "We'll all be killed!"

"You're right!" Castor said. "You, the Equestrians and the Nightingales will all be killed. Boreas will lead us Glaciens to world domination, to our rightful place! Today marks the beginning of our conquest, and you will be among the first to fall!"

"Stop!"

Phantom's plead blew over the other stallion's head. Prince Castor moved the Conduit into position within its receptor. Both the crystal and Boreas' eyes emanated a blinding flash of blue light. They quickly dimmed, but continued to glow brightly. The Conduit had frozen itself into the receptor, the stone around it slowly turning white. Vapor seemed to roll out of Boreas' open mouth as the temperature in the room quickly dropped.

"Goodbye, Phantom," Castor waved, charging up his horn with another spell. "I'll see you in Tartarus, someday." With his final words, Prince Castor teleported Captain Cypher and himself to some unknown location. Just before they disappeared, Phantom noticed something about Castor's wound. The blood had been wiped away and the arrow removed. Under it all, his fur had seemingly turned blue, and a cutie mark tried to show itself but was too obscured to be identified. Before he could take in any more details, the stallion disappeared amongst a flash of white.

"Everypony find cover!" Stryker yelled. He had projected a shield around himself and a group of Nightingales near him. Archer and a few of the Nightingales that he commanded managed to make it within the protection, and together the two forces fended off the still advancing Glaciens. They were too far away from Phantom for him to reach; clear on the other side of the rotunda.

Boreas was nearly completely white by now. All that was left was was his head, tail, and the tips of his wings. Phantom looked from side to side for someplace to duck. The only thing that suited his needs was the side room he was supposed to be protecting in the first place. It was to his left about twenty meters, and he knew that each step would be a painful one. A growling sound that emanated from the dragon's mouth coincided with a further drop in room temperature. This served as new motivation for Phantom to get moving.

Step after painful step, Phantom limped his way to the shattered remains of the door. Finally reaching the room, he collapsed in the doorway and rolled into the room. Applejack was next to him, and seeing that he was in trouble, pulled him off to the side and away from the door.

"What's going on?" Twilight asked, rushing to his side along with the other Element bearers.

Phantom propped himself up against the wall, his back facing it, allowing his forehooves to stay off of the floor.

"Boreas," he grunted. "The Conduit is in place, he's being released."

"We gotta do somethin'," Applejack said.

"Agreed, but I don't think there's anything we can do. Stryker's the one who would know what to do and he's stuck out there."

"I have an idea," Twilight said, trotting to her saddlebags in the center of the room. When she came back, she held the Elements of Harmony together in her magic.

Phantom raised an eyebrow. "Do you solve all your problems with the Elements of Harmony?"

"Just the ones that involve the fate of Equestria."

"Yeah," Rainbow spoke up, "and it's not like you're coming up with a better idea."

Phantom opened to mouth to protest, but the air inside his throat felt too cold to move. He coughed several times in an effort to get it out and so did some of the other ponies present. His nasal passages were also freezing up, making it difficult to breathe in general. Twilight closed her eyes and concentrated, casting a spell that brought a highly welcomed warmth to everypony.

An explosion echoed in from the rotunda; one that sounded like a nearby clap of thunder. A bright flash of white made its way through the doorway. Everything that the light touch instantly turned to ice, including a few of the Nightingales that had the misfortune of being in front of the door.

An intense growl sounded off next, forcing everypony to plug their ears with their hooves for protection from the deafening noise. The entire room seemed to shake with the base of the voice. The longer it rang out, the more the temperature felt like it dropped. By the time the growl had ceased, Phantom estimated that the room he was in was about twenty degrees below zero; he and everypony else were quivering in their spots for some type of warmth. Twilight's spell was becoming powerless.

A winter silence filled Phantom's ears, and the room went still. Everypony's eyes shifted back and forth, waiting for something to happen.

There was a dull thud that wasn't quite as loud as the explosion from earlier. With it, everything shook for a breif moment. Then another, and another, then a fourth. It kept happening over and over... Something big is moving out there, Phantom thought. Though why he bothered, he didn't know. He already knew what was the source of the noise, the source of that flash of light, the source of this deathly cold.

"Now I am free..." A low, draconic voice hissed. "Your world shall be mine!"

Author's Note:

Update! Hurray! Finally, I know. Whelp, onto the first ever Part 3. Frankly I've been putting all of my thoughts into that journal thing-y that I'm doing now so I don't really have anything left for this... Oh!
When I was writing the last part, something great happened. This video started played as I wrote the last few scenes. At 0:20 I started writing the part about the explosion echoing in from the rotunda. 1:56 marked the spot I talked about the dull thuds; and at 3:03 I wrote "Now I am free..."
So that worked out nicely :P

Tell me what you guys think below! As always, comments are highly appreciated!
Upnext (Trying to get back into doing this thing again): Broken Feathers — Part Three. The Battle for the End of the World.

Comments

[That Avi Nerd]

Also, two options: When we hit 2,000 total story views, I can either A) Release some stuff to help show what Boreas looks like, or B) release a little teaser at the ending of the story. Option B) has two subparts, actually. So B1) can be a light (good) ending, or B2) can be a dark (bad) ending. So you guys can actually decide the final thing in the story! Which ever has the most "say-sos" will be what I put at the end and release a bit early-WITH Spoilers cut out, of course.

[VampDash]

OH SHIT! Well this is gonna go south pretty soon.

Also have they met Soarin' again I forget.

[That Avi Nerd]

4025065 Yup. "The First Night" I think is the chapter that happens (I don't remember, and I should )

[dashybrony2012]

This is SO awesome, but I felt really bad for rainbow dash when phantom started telling h st off like that kinda, lol I love Nyx she's another great character I enjoy seein-er reading about

[Ugly-Duckling123]

I like it, not sure about when Nyx gets trapped in ice, or the title for the next chap though.....

[That Avi Nerd]

4027851 well the titile is just Part three. The rest of that was a basic description of what'll happen.

[Flying-Claw]

Nice Chapter!

(Hey, how's that: Since Boreas can't even be stopped by the EoA (I hope), and Rainbow still has a sort of a connection thanks to the tiara to him, boreas and rainbow engage in something like a "Willpower-Fight"; Boreas needs something (Power?) from all those tiaras, and can only be completed if every single holder can be "defeated" mentally... Or something like that ?)

[That Avi Nerd]

4039416 There are so many things I want to say to you but can't because I haven't released the next chapter yet its not even funny...

[Flying-Claw]

4039450 I'm feeling guilty right now, what do I said wrong D: ? (My bad grammar does not count, else every single word I wrote would be wrong...)

[That Avi Nerd]

4039484 No, you didn't say anything wrong. Just—Gah! You'll see in a few chapters

[Shadow of a Former Brony]

Dang, I vote good end. No other option.

Anyway, a very well done and very climatic chapter! I'm sad for Nyx, she HAD to grab the necklace....

Yeah, RD will prove she's not a civilian in the next few chapters I'm quite sure, battle of wills time! Oh, the power of love vs a dragon? Interesting.... And I'm guessing elements of harmony are either useless, can't pull it off/ he's unaffected due to the tiara on Rd, and we get our satisfying royalty death when the dragon flat out kills them.... I'm going to enjoy this...

[Starshine and Midnight]

This story is so addicting. I need to to my homework but I can't thanks to the and it is Monday why? Help me get both this story and my homework done. Seventh grade had so much homework. I have something in each class expect pe and something I have this thing on Friday

[rainrry]

7928610
samee, im in 9th grade and it's monday tomorrow. i have lots of homework that needs to be done and study for our quizzes tomorrow. we have like 4 quizzes tomorrow and 1 lab activity but instead of preparing for tomorrow, i read this book because its just so addicting