Behold, A Pale Horse!
"What do we do?" Fluttershy asked, her voice shaking. Nopony had an answer for her; they were all trapped in a stunned silence. This creature in front of them, this thing that had once been their friend, their enemy, had combined to form some demonic hybrid born from the depths of tartarus. It was bearing down on them, slowly, a chaotic grin covering its muzzle.
"You will bear witness to the end of your world; the loss of all you love. There is no hope; no chance of stopping me."
"Hey, that's not true!" Pinkie Pie protested. She rose to her hooves and shoved her way past Twilight and Applejack, walking towards the pale being. Pinkie stopped a leg's length away from it. "We're all friends, so we can stop you. Rainbow Dash can stop you, too!"
The creature snorted. "Fool! The mare you called Rainbow Dash is gone forever; I have consumed her. She is nothing but a collection of memories in my head, which will soon be erased, just like your existence!" It lifted its front leg, hitting Pinkie Pie with it. The mare flew backwards through the air, landing next to her friends who then rushed to her aid. When they looked back to the pale being in the center of the room, its eyes were glowing a bright sapphire blue.
"I shall leave you here so that you may contemplate your end. All the while, I will reap everything you once knew. I... I think I shall start with a place you refer to as Ponyville."
"If we're going to fight you," Twilight said, "what do we call you?"
"I am know by your race as Boreas."
"But... but Boreas was the dragon! We just sent him back to the Conduit! You can't be Boreas!"
"You are unwise as to the legends, pony. I, Boreas, am not a being like you; I am a spirit, a god. I consume and control all I wish. I do not need a physical body." The air around the creature began to swirl in a light blue hue colored vortex. It became so intense that it was impossible to see through. Boreas, as it referred to itself, flared its wings, pushing down on them. It shot up into the air at a high rate of speed, trailing behind it was a rainbow colored mist and the swirling vortex it had produced. There was a bang as Boreas broke through the ceiling of the rotunda, making its way into the castle throne room.
As the echoes from the breaking stone faded away, everypony hesitantly looked around at one another in silence. Pinkie Pie picked herself up, seemingly unscathed from Boreas' strike. Rarity and Fluttershy were there by her side, making sure that she was okay. Unlike Phantom or Rainbow Dash when they were touched by Boreas, Pinkie Pie didn't show any signs of affects from being hit by the creature.
Phantom struggled to pick himself up but his movements only caused him more pain in his sides. Although the ice had stopped spreading, at least they all hoped it did, it had already caused its damage. He let out a grunt, finally managing to put his icy forehooves underneath him. The noise was enough for Applejack and Twilight to notice him, quickly rushing to his side to assist if they could.
"Take it easy there," Applejack said.
There was a brief pause as Phantom sat up straight, collecting his breath and strength, "I'm fine. Everypony else okay?"
They all looked around at one another. Other than signs of dehydration and exhaustion, everypony appeared to be okay. The only one who had taken physical damage was Phantom, who now had a slightly labored breath. He was staring up at the god's rays the light made when shining through the newly created hole in the top of the rotunda. He looked over to Twilight.
"Where's Spike?" he asked.
Twilight's eyes grew big. She took in a big gulp of air and began looking around frantically.
"Spike!" she called out, her voice echoing throughout the icy cavern. "Spike! Spike, where are you?"
The sound of stone moving around sounded out into the rotunda from the side room the ponies had take cover in earlier. A small purple dragon covered in gray dust stumbled out of the room, holding his head.
"I'm here, Twi," Spike called out. The alicorn teleported over to him in an instant, bringing the dragon into a close embrace. "I'm okay." He looked around the room and noticed two things: Rainbow Dash was no where to be seen, and Phantom was clearly hurt. "What happened?"
Twilight used her magic to lift Spike up into the air and onto her back. She trotted back towards her friends, explaining to him along the way. "We fought Boreas and we thought we defeated him; he was sent back into the Conduit. Rainbow Dash went to go grab it and it... it... it transformed her."
"Transformed her? What do you mean?"
"I don't know how to explain it, honestly. Boreas took control of her somehow."
The pair arrived back to their friends, all gathered around Phantom now. He was leaning up against Applejack for support and still obviously depleted of his own strength. Spike's eyes were fixated on the scars in Phantom's side.
"So what do we do now?" Spike asked. Everypony kind of looked around at one another hesitantly.
"Now?" Phantom said, clinching his teeth as another bolt of pain shot through his nerves. "Now we get Rainbow Dash back."
"But how do we do that?" Fluttershy spoke up quietly. Silence took over the group as everypony searched their minds for an ideas. One conclusion was for sure, one that none of them liked: They were going to have to fight Rainbow Dash. Nopony said anything about it directly, instead they just glanced at one another with worried looks.
Phantom, however, showed no real expression. He sat up against Applejack in quiet thought, staring down at the ground between all of the ponies. Something caught it eye, something a different color than the rest of the floor. The object was just in front of his hooves. He saw his own reflection in the ruby lightning bolt gem, even through the several large cuts and scratches on the surface of it. It seemed to call to him, plead to him. The Element of Loyalty had lost its luster, and Phantom resolved to get it back.
"We'll use this," he said, picking the Element up in his mouth and holding it in front of the mares. Twilight grabbed hold of it with her magic, holding it in the center of the group so everypony could see it better.
"How will it work, though?" Rarity brought up a valid point, one that Phantom didn't have the immediate answer to.
"We will figure out a way, but right now she's out there, trapped with that demon." His gaze drifted around the rotunda, briefly stopping on every frozen pony he saw, the ice dome, and more so on his frozen sister. Then he looked up to the newly created hole in the top of the rotunda. "And I'm going to save her, and stop Boreas before this happens to Equestria."
Letting out another grunt, Phantom stood and slowly limped his way towards the broken door of the rotunda that the Glaciens used to get in through. The mares didn't immediately follow him. They stayed in their circle a bit longer, watching as the wounded stallion moved away, shifting their eyes at one another.
"For Rainbow?" Fluttershy hesitantly asked, switching from a sitting position to a standing one.
Rarity nodded, "For Rainbow."
"We're going to throw her the best surprise party ever when we show up to save her!" Pinkie Pie bounced around the group in a circle.
"She'd do the same her anyone of us," Applejack said.
Twilight smiled. "Hey Phantom!" she called out. The pegasus stopped were he was in front of the broken door and looked at her. "We're coming with you!"
His expression didn't change. He simply said, "I know." Phantom limped his way over the debris and through the doorway. After a few seconds, he poked his head back through into the rotunda and looked at the mares, who hadn't yet moved. "Are you coming?"
The ponies hesitated for a minute before shaking their heads and running up towards him. The hallway on the other side of the room was iced over like the rest of the rotunda. Making it through the short hallway with no problems, the group came upon the first steps of the icy stairs. When Phantom's front hooves touched the first frozen step, they slipped out from under him. He would have completely fallen over had Twilight not used her magic to keep him up right.
"Thanks," he said, trying to step forward again but encountering the same result. "Whelp, this is going to be a problem." Before he could come up with a solution of his own to overcome the obstacle, Applejack slid herself underneath him and lifted him up so that he was sideways on her back. "I really don't think this is necessary. Twilight could just teleport us back up there."
"Of course it is!" Applejack said as she easily climbed the icy stairs, even with Phantom draped over her back. The other mares followed behind, with Fluttershy hovering over the steps and Pinkie Pie happily sliding around on the ice. "What're friends for?"
"Besides," Twilight said, "with the way everything's changed, I can't teleport us anywhere without seeing it first; things may have changed too much."
Phantom tilted his head to the side and quirked and eye brow. Friends?
"You think we're friends?" he asked.
"Well yeah?" Applejack replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Look at all of the things you've done for us, for Rainbow Dash. I'd say we're friends."
"But I yelled at her, and you guys yelled at me!"
Twilight trotted up next to the two ponies, lowering her head slightly so that it was level with Phantom's. "Look," she said, "Princess Celestia sent me to Ponyville to study the magic of friendship. During that time, I learned something important: friends fight. And Applejack's right, you're a friend of ours."
A look of bewilderment dawned on Phantom's face. "Seriously?"
"Yeah!" Pinkie practically cried. "Why, is that surprising or something?"
"It's just... It's just... I've never really had any friends before."
"What about that Stryker fellow?" Rarity asked. "And Archer?"
"They're brothers to me, not friends." Everypony looked at him with quirked eye brows.
"There's a difference?" Twilight questioned, subconsciously fulfilling herself in her quest for knowledge on friendship.
"Archer, Stryker and I would go out partying with one another all the time. We'd hang out after work and do all that sort-of stuff, a lot like what I think friends do. Only difference is, we work together. In our line of work, the pony next to you isn't your friend, they're your brother, your sister. You girls probably know everything there is to know about each other; but as I found out not too long ago, I don't know as much as I thought about them."
"So you've never had any friends before?" Fluttershy hovered backwards in front of Twilight but still staying at Applejack's side. "Not even in school?"
Phantom shook his head. "I wasn't in school long enough to make friends. Long story."
The group of ponies arrived at the top of the stairs and exited from the stair case, entering the lobby of the castle behind the throne. The once grand throne room had become just as bland as the rotunda. The once glowing flames of the sapphire torches had turn to icy crystals, frozen in time. In the center of the room, the chandelier had fallen, hitting the floor and shattering in to several thousand pieces of ice. A faint, fog like haze hung in the air. It was just think enough that it was visible, but thin enough that the ponies could still see through it. Glowing white orbs floated in the haze. When one reached Rarity, she noticed that it was an intricate snow flake, moving about as if there was no gravity.
What hit the ponies most was the oppressive silence of everything. There were no sounds of life moving around or interacting with one another. Not even the wind gave proof of its existence.
"There's something very wrong about everything," Applejack said, lowering herself so that Phantom could stand on his own. Up on the surface, the ground was covered in a few inches of snow, so he was able to stay and not slip around. He nodded thanks to her when she slid out from under him and stood at his side, ready to catch him in the event he did fall over again.
"You think everything is like this?" Fluttershy asked, hiding behind her soft pink mane.
"Only one way to find out," Phantom said, limping towards the large, now frozen, silver doors.
He and the group of ponies carefully moved past the broken chandelier, traveling down the long hall. The doors in front of them were completely frozen shut. Phantom tried pounding on the joint running down the center with one of his own frozen hooves, but all his actions did was create a 'ting' sound that rand out through the otherwise silent castle. He tilted his head towards Twilight, looking at her out of the corner of his eyes.
"I'll see what I can do," she said, understanding his silent question.
Phantom took a step back so that Twilight could have a more clear shot. Her horn lit up as a tendril of magic slowly floated towards the handles on the silver doors. They attached and their magical energy spread across the joints and towards the hinges. Twilight closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Pushing to the point she was grunting, the alicorn did what she magically could to open the doors. They shook on their hinges while small bits of ice feel from them. A crack shot up the joint, creating a separation between the two doors. With one final push, Twilight managed to swing the doors towards her, allowing the pressure in the room to equal that of the outside realm.
What laid in said realm was completely different from what they had previously seen earlier that day. Palmyra, the oasis in the land of snow, a place of green grass and pink cherry blossoms had been turned to snow and ice. The ancient town was frozen in time and space. Much like the rotunda and the rest of the castle, everything, and everypony, was covered in ice. Small piles of broken ice laid strewn in random places in the streets, indicative of where frozen pegasi had fallen from the sky and shattered on the ground bellow. Ponies stood frozen in place, unable to move. There were several spots where Glaciens were stuck in combat positions as they did battle with Nightingales just moments before they were trapped. Even spells had not escaped Boreas' wrath. Several beams of magical energy hung still in the air, connected to the unicorn that had casted them.
Yet there were some areas that hadn't yet been affected by the demon. A couple areas in the forest were still aflame, and occasionally the group of Equestrians could catch sight of a few ponies running around, trying desperately for someplace to hide. One such pony, a unicorn wearing Nightingale armor, charged his way up the castle steps towards the Equestrians. Noticing them just in time to avoid hitting them, the pony came to a halt a few steps below them.
"Sir," Syntax saluted, "what's going on? Who is this creature attacking us? Where's Nyx?"
"That's Boreas," Phantom explained. Just as he did, there was a high pitched shriek like that of a banshee that echoed through the air. Over the side of town across from them, the ponies watched as the Boreas-Rainbow Dash hybrid swooped down from the clouds, emitting a powerful and icy breath that froze another group of ponies in their place. "And Nyx is frozen."
Syntax visibly took a step back. "I'm sorry to hear that..." He looked down in remembrance for a second before turning his attention back to Phantom. "What are your orders, sir?"
Phantom tilted his head slightly to the side. "Orders? What do you mean what are my orders, you're the second in command."
"No sir," Syntax shook his head. "The rule of Nightingale succession is relation, not position. I might have been second in command, but you were her brother; you're the leader of the Nightingales now. If no relation were to be found, then yes, I would be in command. " Phantom stood gaping at the distance for a few moments. The unicorn finally interrupted him. "Orders, sir?"
Phantom's jaw struggled for a moment to work. "Gather up everypony you can," he said in a firm voice, one that was used to ordering other ponies around, "head for that camp you took all of the civilians to. Keep them safe as long as possible."
"Aye sir!" Syntax gave the stallion a farewell salute and turned tail, trotting down the stairs at a brisk pace.
Suddenly there was another banshee-like shriek. A blast of ice came from the sky, striking the Nightingale. In an instant, he was a pony-shaped block of ice. His momentum continued to carrying him down the stars, flipping head over hoof and bouncing off of every third step. He stopped at the bottom with a terrific thump. The Equestrians looked up to see the Celestia-like form of Boreas circling the area over head, confirming its kill.
"Boreas!" Phantom shouted up to the creature with a strong of a voice he could muster in his weakened state. Said creature slowed to a hover, directing it's icy gaze on him with a maniacal smile. "Give us our friends back."
It descended to land at the base of the stairs, just behind Syntax's frozen form.
"Why don't you make me?" Boreas spoke with its hybrid voice. A voice that still sent chill down the backs of the ponies.
Phantom stiffened his stance and furrowed his brows in preparation for an attack. In the mean time, Applejack charged past him, leaping off of the top step. She quickly tackled Boreas, and the two rolled a few feet backwards towards town. Boreas managed to buck the farm pony off of her, sending her further towards town. When Boreas turned back to face the remaining ponies at the top of the steps she was greeted by a little blue cannon that had apparently appeared out of no where, behind it: a little pink party pony.
"You need to lighten up a little!" Pinkie shouted as she pulled the white nylon cord. A resounding bang echoed through the air. Confetti and balloons were fired at high velocity at Boreas, who had no way to anticipate what was coming. The confetti stuck to the snowy coat of the demon-pony hybrid, hardening together with glue and limiting its movement. As the balloons floated by, they built up a static charge, shocking Boreas. Pinkie stood by with a cheeky grin as all this happened.
Boreas stood in shock for a moment, trying to understand what had happened. When it came to, it looked at Pinkie Pie for a moment and let out a ear-piercing banshee-like cry. Pinkie was pushed backwards along the ice by the force of the yell. When she slid to a halt against the bottom step, her mane and fur were ruffled. She reached into her tail and pulled out a small container filled with white pill-shaped objects.
"Tic-Tac?" Pinkie asked genuinely, offering the container to the god who stood before her. Boreas growled in response. "Guess not, huh?"
Boreas leapt forward, opening its jaws and clamping down on where Pinkie's hoof would have been had she not vanished the instant before. The pink mare seemed to reappear out of no where on top of the creatures back. She bounced up and down, throwing off Boreas' balance. As the creature tried to buck Pinkie Pie off of her back, Fluttershy and Rarity, had run up to Boreas' side.
"Sorry, Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy apologized as she and Rarity kicked Boreas in its side, throwing it further off balance to the point it fell on its side.
Phantom stood by during the fighting, mentally beating himself up. Why can't you fight!? his conscious screamed. He knew there would be no reply, so he was fairly surprised when he got one. Not from some super-natural power, or from Luna, but from his subconscious mind.
That's Rainbow Dash out there... it said.
We have to save her though. My standing here and doing nothing isn't helping!
What if she feels each it from her friends, and you? What if she can see everything that's going on? What will she think of you if she is freed?
Then she'll know that we did it for her... she'll be okay with it...
So why are you standing here? Go rescue your marefriend!
Rainbow Dash isn't my marefriend...
Well not while she's under the control by an insane god she's not! Go get her back!
Phantom galloped down the stairs, carefully, making sure that his icy forehooves didn't slip out from under him on the steps. At the same time, Pinkie Pie grabbed hold of both of Boreas' wings, keeping them as close to the creature as possible so that it wouldn't be able to take off. Twilight used her magic to bind Boreas' legs together. Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy jumped on random points of the creature's body in an attempt to keep it weighted down. Phantom slid to a stop in front of Boreas, bending his neck so he could look straight into the black slits of its eyes.
"Rainbow!" he cried out. The creature's ears seemed to flinch at the force of his voice. "Are you in there? Rainbow!"
"You waste your breath, pony!"
Boreas' eyes lit up. A sphere of incredible power expanded from its head, blowing the Equestrians away from it. Applejack landed behind where Boreas was, while Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy landed in a pile atop one another in front of the door. Rarity crashed through the weakened roof of a nearby building. Twilight landed in the middle of a frozen garden next to the castle steps, while Phantom was launched back into the castle throne room. He tried desperately to suck the air back into his lungs as Boreas glided menacingly after him.
"According to this pony's mind... she has feelings for you... I think I'll destroy you slowly so she can watch!"
Phantom crawled on his back, barely regaining any breath. He bumped up against the broken chandelier as Boreas landed softly between him and the door. With no were to go, and an intense pain in his chest that would have kept him grounded even if he had a place to go, Phantom remained where he was and waited. Waited as Boreas took slow, soft steps towards him.
"It's a shame she holds you so dearly." Boreas whispered, seemingly in his ears even though the creature was still several feet away from his tail. "Since you two will never see each other again."
"Do her memories tell you how stubborn I can be?" he managed to cough out. Though something about that cough had seemed weird. He had coughed up blood plenty of times in his life before, usually more so in bar fights rather than anything directly related to guard activities, and this didn't feel like blood; it felt like glass. When he turned his head to cough out the substance in his throat, he saw that it looked like small shards of ice, mixed with blood from where it had cut him. "What's this?"
"Pieces of your lungs." The creature said as-a-matter-of-factly. "Soon your lungs will freeze, and you will gasp for air, only to have them shatter.
Boreas lifted up its left forehoof and placed it on the center of Phantom's chest. The fur that it touched instantly turned white, covered with a thin layer of ice. Phantom could feel the could from the touch all the way in the center of his chest. The coldness even traveled as far as his eyes, so much so that it was difficult to blink or look around. Everything below where Boreas had touched him had gone numb. Fearing the worst, Phantom assumed that his lower half was already frozen. Even more so since the lack of sensation was slowly spreading upwards.
"Why are you doing this to us?" Phantom wanted to stall the demon so that somepony would have a chance to intervene.
Boreas managed to hear him, even though his voice was barely audible. The only indication that breath was coming out at all was the visible vapor slowly drifting from his mouth.
"It is my nature. This world was supposed to be my frozen home... but then my brothers found life here, and I was ordered to stay only within the poles were nopony resided. As they lived on their own worlds of fire, water, earth, air, magic, I was stuck with barely anything, and the constant disturbance of ponies wondering about. Now I am claiming what is rightfully mine, and you ponies stand in my way!"
"You're... you're from another world?"
"Another dimension! By the will of Time and Space, they allowed me to come here... but They did not know about your race."
"So there's more like you?"
"Much, much more."
Phantom heard a small tink sound, like a piece of metal hitting stone. He looked to his right. Just in front of one of his mouth, was the severely beat up Element of Loyalty. It was no longer as dull as it had been a little bit before. Now, it was shining brightly, illuminating the ice around it and even melting it. Phantom grabbed hold of the gem in his mouth. Compared to everything else that was cold, the gem seemed to be on fire.
Practically screaming through the pain, Phantom sat up. He could feel, and hear, things inside him cracking, shattering and overall breaking apart. He managed to lean forward far enough that the tip of the lighting bolt of the Element of Loyalty touched the center jewel of Boreas' Conduit.
Everything seemed to stop.
A brilliant white flash filled the visions of everypony for miles upon miles around. Wind swept through the land, collapsing buildings and knocking down trees. Massive walls of snow were blown high into the sky, clearing the land of the what once covered it for thousands of years. The sound of an explosion silenced all other sounds.
Twilight managed to protect her and her friends with a shield just in time. Dropping it, she ran to where the castle once stood. In the center, Boreas laid on the ground, eyes shut. Directly across from the god, Phantom laid facing it, his eyes also shut. Some kind of stream of white magical energy flowed between the foreheads of the two. She looked around, everything had seemingly been vaporized. The rest of the Equestrians slowly stepped up to Twilight's side, looking at the two unconscious beings in front of them.
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Oh-my-freakin-gosh this so AWESOME
Yeah anywho I wonder why Rainbow Dash's EoH didn't transform her back to Rainbow instead of that mean hybrid thing ah well that just means more awesomeness yay 
So what would have happened if Phantom hadn't shown up....
What about Rarity?
4139048 Oh no story conflicts with my OTP blah blah butthurt dislike ahh
No, that was a joke. I'm not that conceded. I prefer TwiDash over anything, but... this has proven to be good anyways. 
4139048 Fixed.
I just had a epiphany on what's gonna happen.
Because of ___ ________ the ________ _______ will work.
4145008
They've figured it out! Abort! Abort!
static.ddmcdn.com/gif/ejection-seat-nasa-blast.jpg
4145155 I actually have a Legitimate guess but if rather not possible spoiler.
*I'd
4145213 You can surround your guess with (spoiler)*text goes here*(/spoiler) but instead of parenthesis they need to be brackets. Should you choose to do so. This way it'll be concealed incase someone doesn't want to see it. Thought I would PREVIEW your comment with the Preview Comment button first in order to make sure that it actually worked
that way it'd look like this.
Because of Dash's memories the elements will now work against Boreas. I guess I'm probably wrong anyways.
4145276 You'll see
4145281 Damn you and your accursed teasing!!! I still am happy though.
4145295 Heheh. Don't worry. If I continue at the pace I'm going at now it shouldn't be long. I've gotten over 2,676 words today alone, and that was WITH school. The first "sub-part" is done now, and I've got 5-6 more to go.
4145331 No matter, take whatever time you need to keep this amazing quality.