//------------------------------// // Prison Break // Story: Guilt of a Phantom // by Powerdrainer //------------------------------// Edited by Slayerseba, Halusm, and Clawder. Prison Break <<>><<>><<>> The sun gently rose up past the horizon, pushed up by Princess Celestia, starting its task of bringing light and warmth to a still slumbering land, with only the earliest birds filling the cool air with their song; rousing the many sleeping ponies to a new and pleasant day, full of work for the adults, and school and time to play for the foals. It was a picture of serenity, creating the image of perfection that the ponies slowly rousing from their sleep were very familiar with. With nary a cloud in the sky, thanks to the weather teams work the day prior. But not all was as it seemed, for over at Canterlot trouble was brewing. Trouble hidden from the still slumbering ponies’ sight, behind the walls of the royal sisters' white marble, shining castle; guards running from room to room in groups, inspecting everything, and leaving no stone, curtain, bedsheet, or feather duster unturned; the rhythmic pounding of hooves on marble floor continuing on and on as they searched for, and closed in on their target.  'Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit,' was the full extent of thought the ice forged man had regarding his current predicament; hiding at every likely spot, and scampering and gliding to the next whenever he got a chance.   'Why do these things always happen to me?' Neither he, nor the other two minds sharing his conscious could provide a satisfying answer as Danny slid past the corner he tried to take, clamping on at the wall in an effort to stop his momentum, but failing and sliding down the hall towards a group of guards who looked at the hulking beast of ice with only a second of shock before their eyes hardened and they charged at Danny with swords and spells at the ready. "Oh shit!" He yelled, the haste and rumble of his voice garbling the words into some unintelligible growl only further agitating the guards in pursuit. Turning around and attempting to gain traction with his frozen feet on the smooth marble floor, Danny slowly but surely made his way back to the corner he just overshot; this time swinging himself into the hallway and using his less than controllable momentum to his advantage for once as he slid past the first several doors, before resuming his run, as he began to slow down.  Unfortunately, the guards, their bodies not made of ice and running on four legs, opposed to Danny's frozen two, quickly gained ground on him; enough for several spells to whizz passed him, and for two, or three of them to even impact on his body. Thankfully doing little damage because of the cold density of his frozen flesh, even if they sizzled and burned pot holes into his 'skin'.  Grunting all the same, his eyes flashed from left to right in an effort to find something, anything to aid him in his escape while the relatively small damage already healed itself. More or less prepared this time, he once more swung himself into another of the seemingly endless hallways, briefly cutting the line of sight from his pursuers. Or so he thought.  No sooner had he slid past the first of many doors, leading to who knew where, he felt a pair of hooves grabbing hold of him on each of his shoulders. With a shout of surprise, he felt himself yanked back, and into the chamber he'd just passed, attempting to shake off his captors and, if needed, fight them off as the door slammed shut behind him.  What he didn't expect, as he turned around to face his opponents, were the two pegasi floating before him without using their wings. One of them, a mare, shushing him while the other, a stallion had his ear pressed against the door, listening as the guards ran past. Once certain they were gone, he stepped away from the closed woodwork, gave a nod to the mare, and both looked at Danny with their green glowing eyes. <<>><<>><<>> Two hours earlier. Danny hovered unseen, just under Canterlot, rubbing his burning, green glowing eyes with a white gloved hand. His vision momentarily blurred, he squinted as he looked towards Ponyville, the light of the rising sun silhouetting the village.  Shaking his head with a tired sigh, he looked longingly to where he knew his bed was, before his gaze shifted to the distant Everfree Forest, wondering how everyone else was doing. Surely his disappearance wouldn't go without some form of response. Especially so shortly after those ghost hunters revealed themselves. "And how am I going to solve that problem?" He asked aloud. "No way me just showing up again will calm them down." 'Maybe you should focus on the task at hand, and worry about what's to come when it comes,' Eclipse told him. "Easy for you to say. You live in my head most of the time and few know about you." 'True as that may be, it does not change the fact you worry about things unimportant to what needs to be done now. Especially considering what you plan on doing, with how little energy you have left,' Fenris added his thought. 'He did warn you not to overdo it when helping the changelings. And now he is pushing himself further than even you did.' 'Indeed. Surely he should know his own limits by now.' 'Maybe he just wants all the glory for himself.' "Oh, will you two shut up already," Danny groaned in annoyance as Eclipse chuckled in amusement.  Shaking his head, he looked away from Ponyville and towards the several changelings hanging upside down from the city's foundation; staring at him with wide, confused eyes. "Don't ask," he muttered.  Taking a moment to collect himself, he went over the plan one more time.  He would use his powers to infiltrate the castle, find those held captive, then use his powers to get them out. Simple as plans go, but never that easy.  True, he'd been at the castle before, twice, when Twilight took him to meet the princesses, and when he returned there after putting a stop to Sombra. And what little he'd seen then already confused him enough to know he needed help. Fortunately, he also had access to a map. Or the next best thing, to be precise. The changelings with him, the few adults who stayed behind to watch over the foals when the siege of Canterlot was pulled off, though not part of the nearly successful invasion, were just as involved with the planning and staging. Add to that the youngsters who eavesdropped on the plans as they were made, which he was told took many long months; every step from the first infiltration, to the imprisonment, capture, and replacing of princess Cadance, to the enactment of the final phase meant they knew the layout of Canterlot better than he did. More so, they knew in great detail about the caves and tunnels hidden within the mountain the city hangs on.  How one could eavesdrop on another in a semi shared consciousness, he didn't fully understand. Though with his own little 'hive mind', with Eclipse and Fenris, he figured he'd learn all about it before long.   Regardless, with that issue out of the way, another problem had to be addressed: his clear exhaustion.  True as it might be he used to push himself far past his limits during his days as a hero, it was also fact those days were long since past, and he hadn't used his powers for any extended duration, other than releasing his build up of ice, until yesterday, starting with the Crystal Empire. Needless to say, the mere flight over to Canterlot drained him more than he would have liked, and the idea of going both invisible and intangible just to search the castle for who knows how long made his skin crawl. Not to mention he could suffer complete spectral exhaustion, reverting back to his human self, if he used his powers for any kind of strenuous task right now.  If that were to happen in the presence of anyone in the castle, or worse, if he was still inside a wall, the end result would be catastrophic.  Fortunately, the first problem solved also helped him here.  The changelings now with him would lead him to and through the caves and tunnels, bringing him to a point that, according to them, was closest to the prison they believed their fellow shapeshifters were held, based on what little interaction there had been between them after the capture. He would then use his powers to phase through the rock and into the prison, which would be considerably less strenuous compared to blindly flying around and hoping he'd get lucky, then assess the situation there.  Guards would most certainly be present. How he'd deal with them would depend on their numbers, but maybe he would get lucky and be able to snag the changelings while they weren't looking. It would certainly help with his juggle between using and conserving his energy, but he already knew he wouldn't be that lucky. His luck so far would make sure of it.  Taken care of the guards, hopefully without raising an alarm, he would then grab the changelings, return them to the other shapeshifters waiting for him in the tunnel, or cave, who would then return them to the Hive.  If an alarm were to be sounded, he would utilize the tried and true method of grab and run, and don't look back.  Either way, he already knew his powers were dwindled to the point he would not be able to bring forth Fenris, so any attempt to save these imprisoned changelings would have to wait until he had the chance to rest. Something he wished a hundred times now he could have done ten hours or so ago.  "Well, no time like the present," he sighed out, combing a hand through his hair. "Let's go." Nodding, the changelings let go of the city's underside, dropping down one by one before catching themselves with buzzing wings.  "This way," one of them intoned with dual, raspy voice. Following the group, they led Danny to a low but wide crevice in the mountain, hidden in plain sight directly underneath the city. Flying in, three changelings side by side, their buzzing wings filling the passage with never ending echoes, Danny followed them through numerous twists and turns, only his eyes' glow visible in the complete darkness. Something that, much to his surprise, suddenly changed. "Whoa," he breathed as they entered a sizable cavern, numerous glowing crystals growing from the walls, floor and ceiling, filling the chamber with a soft glow. "Over here!" One of the changelings called out, snapping him out of his stupor as they led him to a narrow path up in the ceiling. Something only one who could fly, or climb the walls would ever be able to reach. "I see how these tunnels would be advantageous to you," he commented, but went without reply. Continuing on in relative silence, the buzzing of wings always filling the air, Danny followed the insectoids through one twisting turn after the other; passing through several smaller caves and even seeing an old, mostly decayed railtrack, revealing that at one point in the distant past, ponies, or others, used to frequent this place.  "It's here," one of the changelings said as the group came to a stop, looking up at the ceiling as if they could see through the rock above. "Our family should be up there." Flying up, Danny rested a hand on the rough rock, frowning.  "Up here, huh?" He asked in confirmation, and all changelings nodded in answer.  "Okay," he sighed out. "Let's see what we've got." Turning invisible, hearing several changelings gasp out in surprise and amazement, he phased through the rock and flew up as indicated; making sure to remember his path to some extent so he would be able to find his way back, and not accidentally slip past the tunnel the group was waiting in. After almost thirty seconds of intangible flight, he suddenly found himself in a well lit room, and soon found he wasn't alone. Acting quick, he flew to the ceiling, scanning his new surroundings and try to figure out where he was, and if he was where he wanted to be. As it turned out, he was.  The room he was in now, was clearly a prison of sorts: a long passage with only one entrance he could see; a solid door with one noticeable lock as far as he could tell, with cells lining the walls. There were guards as well. Twelve of them. Ponies wearing armor far more robust, and less shining than he had seen the guards wear during his first visit to the castle, bringing him to the conclusion these suit were meant for actual combat, instead of mere display pieces.  Then his attention moved to the cells, and those who occupied the freedom impairing space, and he felt his heart start just to come to a stop at what he saw. Changelings. Six of them total. All in deplorable state, even compared to those back at the Hive. All of them were little more than a husk, clinging to life either through sheer will or the fluids being injected through IV, Danny didn't know, but it was enough for him to gasp. "Who's there!?" One of the guards present called out, all of them scanning the area with weapons ready to draw.  Moving up a bit, Danny berated himself over his sloppiness. As did Fenris, though he kept himself to mere grunts of annoyance.  Fortunately, diversion presented itself when, with an audible clank, the single door leading into this prison wing unlocked; a chestnut brown mare stepping through, her white mane an unkempt mess and dark bags under her eyes. 'That makes thirteen. Damn, it'll be difficult to get to all of them without raising suspicion,' Danny thought after a quick count.  "Doctor," one of the guards, a unicorn, acknowledged the mare while the other guards looked around once more, then returned to their posts, but keeping their ears up and slowly swiveling around. "What's going on, Steel?" she asked after a moment of slow blinking. "We believed to have heard something. Considering yesterday's ghost attack, we can't be too careful," the guard Danny heard was called Steel reply cordially. 'Wait, ghost attack?' "I see," the mare answered after a pause, brushing away a stray lock of hair blocking her eye, then failed to suppress a yawn. "Long night?"  "You know it is," she groaned half heartedly. "Besides our... patients down here, keeping me busy, I'm also one of the few doctors around here familiarized with human anatomy, and now have yet another mystery on my hooves because of it. One I can do without right now," she shook her head, making an even bigger mess of her already disheveled mane. "Unfortunately, whatever is wrong with her might also be connected with these changelings… somehow." "How do you mean?" "Remember them crying out, making mention of ice, among other things?" She asked, receiving a confirming nod in answer. Sighing out, she pressed a hoof against her head, rubbing her temple, eyes closed. "Somehow, for reasons neither I, or the other doctors can figure out, she's freezing up… almost as if from within. And you don't have to be a doctor to understand this isn't normal. The fact this happened after she was injured during the attack, and is in no way natural or magical in any sense of the word, clearly means it has to be ghost related. Yet our scanner doesn't pick up anything, which just doesn't make any sense. At all!" 'Hold on… I recognize that… But that can't be, can it?' The guard showed little emotion over this news, keeping a stoic facade while glancing at the withering formes of the changelings.  "If you're right, then this mess down here might just be the tip of the iceberg. No pun intended." "It's starting to seem that way," she answered, stepping near one of the cells, the beeping of heart monitors filling the air in the short moment of silence that fell. "I hope the humans finish construction down in the caves soon. We're going to need it. There is no doubt about that. Not anymore." 'Construction in the caves? What is that about?' "And what about them?" he stepped besides her, lighting up his horn to unlock the cell. "No cure has been found. And at this point I doubt it would matter much, even if we did. With how weak they are, and how little we know about them, their odds of survival are nonexistent." "But if this is ghost related, perhaps finding the ghost responsible would be the key?" he suggested helpfully, and for a second the doctor's eyes lit up. Then, with a sigh, she shook her head. "If that is the case, then this situation is even worse. We don't know where to look for this ghost, if there even is one. But if there is, then this reveals an even more worrying fact: we captured these changelings after they were defeated by Princess Cadenza and Prince Armor, and no reports have been made of any ghost sighting, or activity by the guards who took them in. Nor has there been any sightings while they were down here, yet they all fell sick a few days later." "Perhaps this supposed ghost got to them before the invasion?" "That is what worries me, should this be true. It does not fit in the timetable with the attack at the tear facility. It's months before that. So if this is indeed the actions of a ghost…" "Then it was already here," Steel finished for her, understanding the implications. "But then, where did it come from? The last attack of any kind was Baltimare, and all the ghosts were pushed back… right?" "As far as we know," he answered stiffly. "Unless some slipped away and are lying in wait." A few muttered curse words came from the other guards as they listened in, none of them liking where this was going. Nor did the lone human, still hovering above, invisible to all.  'Not impossible, but not close to the full truth either. Ghosts have always been here, they're just better at hiding,' he mused, the image of the Sombra flashing before his mind's eye. "It would explain just about everything," she concluded. "And how they seem to know where to strike where it hurts the most, if they have been watching us for all that time. And with the sudden, drastic increase of ghost activity these last several days, it might just be the start of whatever they are planning," she summed up, voice steadily rising in volume. "I need to inform the Princesses. If we're right… I don't even want to think about it." Not waiting for a reply, she turned around and rushed out of the door, leaving the guards with the hidden ghost behind. Locking the cell door with a flash of his horn, Steel looked at his brethren in arms, frowning deeply.  "Though worrying, we can't jump to conclusions. Keep your guard up, and hope we're wrong with this." "Sir," one of the other guards, an earth pony mare, spoke up. "If this is true, perhaps this ghost might not be done with this human it has injured. It might be its plan to get to us from the inside." Several tense seconds ticked by as these implications sunk in. "Dammit," Steel swore. "Iron Shoe, you're with me. We have to inform the princesses of this possibility. Everypony else, keep your eyes and ears open." All guards confirmed the orders, and the guard who had pointed out the possible danger joined her superior as they left the cells, leaving Danny with ten guards to take care off.  Looking around, Danny frowned, trying to figure out how to best approach this situation; also worrying about the possibility of just who it was who was injured. And though he had a good idea, the implications it might be her were concerning in many ways to him.  "Just out of curiosity," one of the guards suddenly spoke up. "Who exactly was injured?" "From what I heard, one of the lead figures," another answered. "This Dani, what's her name?" 'Dammit,' Danny swore, eyes closed in resignation.  'Your created sibling is here?' Fenris picked up, worried yet intrigued.  'It was only a matter of time,' Eclipse surmised. 'Though the news of her being attacked, by a ghost, assumedly, is troubling.' Just another thing to add to the list of crap I need an answer to,' Danny mentally sighed. 'Let's focus on the changelings first. Any ideas on how to tackle ten guards at once?' 'Maybe. But it will drain most of what little energy we have left. Maybe too much for us to get the changelings out afterwards,' she informed them, sharing her idea. 'I see. Fenris?' 'I won't be able to do much to help. I already pushed myself too far back at the insects city, while struggling to maintain control over the powers I lost long ago. I must rest, much like you should as well.' 'Believe me, if I could I would. But I can't, not yet. Nor do I have any idea to work with. Eclipse, you're up. I just have to hope I still have enough energy left to actually do something… And Eclipse, try to not be too extreme. We're the good guys, no matter what they think.' 'Very well, but this will not go unnoticed either way.'  Separating herself from Danny, Eclipse took control over his shadow and used the pockets of darkness within the prison to conceal her movements as she slithered down over the wall, then the ground; breaking up in ten smaller blotches of darkness, each moving to intercept the shadow of the guards, making them ripple as if a pebble was thrown into calm water. Of course, already on edge after the last several events putting the guards on high alert, even this small ripple was noticed. "What the?" One of the guards muttered, staring at the shadow underneath one of his fellow guards; a glare of suspicion shared with most others as they looked at their own, or each other's shadow. Long to dwell on this they didn't have, only because just seconds later, a new development took them by complete, terrifying surprise: their shadows looked back at them with orange glowing eyes. All they had time for was a shout of surprise and fright when black tendrils shot up from the splotches of darkness, wrapping around their hooves and muzzle to keep them from raising an alarm before the shadows rose up to cover them entirely; leaving wildly thrashing blobs of darkness as the guards tried to free themselves.  This lasted for several minutes, the struggle to free themselves becoming more and more frantic, before slowing down and stopping entirely as, one by one, the guards lost consciousness.  Releasing her hold, and slithering away from the incapacitated guards, Eclipse merged back with Danny, who grunted in pained strain, fell down to the floor, catching himself with a hand, while a weak band of energy flickered to life around him.  Sweat dripping from his brow, panting hard, gritting his teeth, and straining with all his remaining strength he forced himself to stay in his ghost form, remaining like that for several minutes as he tried to push himself back to his feet.  Eventually he managed, pulling himself up with the help of one of the cells barred doors. "This…. This may be a problem," he gasped out, recognizing the clear signs of spectral exhaustion. The fact both Fenris and Eclipse remained silent only further cementing the fact he was pushing himself well past his limit.  Grunting, he pushed away from the door, swaying a bit on his feet before finding his balance.  "Don't have time for this," he told himself, sucking in deep breaths, looking at the occupied cells. "Only six of them," he counted once again, taking notice of the far greater number of cells, all filled with the same medical equipment. "Erlea said there were more," he murmured, looking at the husk of a changeling lying in one the cells. "Guess we're too late for them. Maybe even for them, too." Shaking that thought away, his eyes hardened. He'd come here to free these changelings, and get them the help they need. Even if it might already be too late, at least he could do that much for them.  Nodding, he stepped to, and then through the cell; picking up the withered form lying on the lone bed; the changeling's body as frail as it was light, allowing him to easily lift the creature up; the heart monitor, beeping weakly, now gave a continuous, flatlined tone as Danny unplugged the device. Moving to and through the adjacent wall, he entered the next cell with a strained grunt, but didn't allow that to stop him as he picked up a second changeling; holding both by a side, arm wrapped around their barrel. "This is going to suck," he groaned in resignation, then sunk through the floor, finding his way back to the waiting group of changelings. Straining as the phasing through rock while carrying two others with him was, he managed to reach his destination with little problems; handing over the unconscious bodies to four changelings, two for each of the sick, who quickly flew away, following the path back to the outside. Danny didn't linger to watch, though, as he already moved back to the cells to pick up the next two; this time with more effort as his powers dwindled more and more. Fortunately, the cells were still only occupied by the sick insectoids and the guards Eclipse had knocked out, which gave him the chance to quickly swoop in, grab the next two, and find his way back to those waiting for him, only to do it all again to get the last two out of their cells.  Against all odds, and much to his amazement, the last round went off without a hitch, other than the burning exhaustion he felt in every fiber of his being. Relaying the news to the rest of the waiting swarm that those six were the only ones left, an understandable murmur of worry and sadness went through the remaining number of changelings, before they took their losses and made ready to leave. "You go on ahead," Danny stifled a yawn, blinking away the blurring moisture from his eyes. "There's still something I must do here." The few who lagged behind, looked at him, then back at those already heading for the Hive.  "Please hurry," one of them said with a raspy voice, then all of them flew away, leaving Danny behind. Groaning, he slowly dragged a hand down his face; spotting comfortable looking rock close to him, and sat down as he allowed himself the luxury of a short moment to catch his breath. "What're the odds of this going horribly wrong?" he asked. Neither Eclipse nor Fenris answered. "Yeah, that's what I thought," he sighed out, then flew up through the mountain's rock one more time. <<>><<>><<>> When Danny returned to the cells, the situation had already changed drastically since he'd last been there several minutes prior. Mainly, the unconscious guards were gone, and a new group of clearly angered guards had taken their place as they searched high and low for any sign of what had attacked their brothers and sisters in arms.  Coming to the conclusion he really did not want to be there, Danny quickly left, phasing through more walls and ceilings as he made his way up.  What he found there did little to improve his mood.  Guards marched through the castle halls in numbers, clearly on edge and looking for something. Though it seemed likely to him they might suspect changelings to be involved with the fast and silent break out, the fact he quickly spotted a spectral scanner in the hooves of each group's leader, revealed to him another viable possibility. The conversation he eavesdropped on, and guards subsequently being incapacitated and prisoners disappearing without trace or sound must have raised some red flags among the higher ups, meaning the princesses.  Realizing this, and not feeling any desire to either fight, or run from one, or both seemingly all powerful ponies, capable of moving a sun and a moon, he knew he could not linger in the same spot for too long. Already several guards moved towards him as they methodically swept the floor, and surprisingly the scanners hadn't gone off yet. Though with the path they were following, they would bump into him before long, and not wanting to test how long he could remain hidden from several ghost scanners, he quickly fled through the walls and ceiling as he made his way through the castle in search of the medical wing; momentarily getting his leg stuck in a wall as his intangibility didn't cover his entire form.  Able to pull free with some effort, he then found himself a level higher and, thankfully, alone. Though the sound of hooves clopping on the polished marble floor indicated another group of guards were heading his way.  Groaning quietly, he moved the other way, his speed low from exhaustion.  'Need to make this quick,' he told himself, pushing onwards all the same through more and more halls, passing an ever increasing number of doors, windows, and artwork proudly displayed on pedestals; one of which, an expensive looking vase, he almost tipped over when he flew into it.  With flailing arms, and more luck than he wanted to think about, he managed to catch the pottery and quietly place it back.  Satisfied nothing bad had happened to draw any unwanted attention, he turned around and saw a maid petrified in fear standing behind him. It was then he realized he was no longer invisible.  "Ehh… hi-" "GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!" "Oh shit!" He swore, racing away, making sure he was invisible as he heard the thunderous reply of hooves stomping behind him; putting as much distance between himself and the newly arrived guards, not looking back until he had flown at least three floors up, and hid in the first likely room he came across. Back pressed against the door, breathing heavily, Danny strained his hearing, listening if anyone was approaching. He tensed up when he did, and prepared to run again when he heard numerous guards coming to a stop just on the other side of the door.  Heart pounding, he could hear the methodical, calm beeping from a scanner. To his surprise, however, the device remained calm, with only the baseline tone to indicate it was active to be heard. "Nothing here," a guard spoke up, voice muffled through the door. Several more minutes passed as Danny waited for any sign they would return. Eventually, he allowed himself to relax, finally taking notice of the room he was in. "Oh, you've got to be kidding," he murmured as he realized where he was. And more importantly, who was with him. Clearly he had chosen to hide in a recovery room, with beds standing side by side, with only a simple curtain on rail between each to separate them; pulled open enough for him to see the ten familiar ponies occupying an equal number of beds, heart monitors connected to the still mostly unconscious forms. Key word being mostly, as three of the guards Eclipse had knocked out earlier were blinking owlishly, staring at Danny with his back still pressed against the door. "Ehh… this is all just a dream. Nothing to see here. Better just go back to sleep," he tried awkwardly, feeling a cold sweat trickle down his forehead.  A gasp then caught his attention, and, dreadfully, he slowly turned his head to look at a nurse standing partially hidden behind one of the curtains. It was then he realized that, of course, there would be medical personnel present.  Silence.  "I won't be able to convince you this is a dream, would I?" Danny asked doubtfully. Wide eyed, shocked, the nurse numbly shook his head.  "You're going to scream now, are you?" Now the pony nodded weakly, then released a surprisingly feminine scream which shook all the guards back to consciousness, while also alerting all other nearby guards on this floor. "Ahh, crud," Danny groaned as he once again pushed himself to turn invisible and fled through the ceiling. Shaking his head, both to push off his fatigue and to clear his thoughts, he focused on one important detail he picked up on when in that room. It was medically oriented, which meant more of these rooms must've been around. One of which, maybe, holding Dani.  It was flimsy, but also the only thing he could go on as far as his search went. And now with the entire castle on high alert, and worse still, with not one but two ponies, as well as some half awake guards having seen him, he knew it wouldn't take long for them to realize exactly who was haunting the castle.  After all, they knew all about the Terror of Amity Park.  'Damnit, Dani. Where are you?'  Angling back down, he phased through the floor again, returning to the floor now crawling with guards some distance away from the recovery room. Taking a split second to look around, he chose a likely spot, far away from the agitated mass, and flew off; not bothering to slow down as he entered one room after the next, passing through walls and furniture, quickly scanning every room in the hope to find the one person he really hoped was here.  'She'd better be. Or else this entire mess is for nothing, and I know this will come back to bite me.' With that grim thought, he once more passed through a wall, and came to an abrupt stop. There, before him, under a thick layer of blankets, lay Dani, shivering visibly, an IV hanging next to her bed; it and the tube leading to her arm were completely frozen solid.  "Dani," he gasped out, seeing his breath fog in the air. Not his ghost sense, he recognized, but because of the incredible cold aura surrounding the young woman.  Dropping down gently, he slowly stepped to Dani, staring with wide eyes.  "You're really here," he gasped, using a hand to carefully brush away some stray hair from her face, only to stop when he noticed the bandages tightly wrapped around her head. Lowering his hand, he placed it on her shoulder; squeezing lightly.  "But why? … Why are you here? Why did you follow me?" Squeezing his eyes shut, forcing back the wetness he felt building, he instead focused on the chill he felt crawling up his hand.  "Got my ice powers as well, I see. And the problems they bring," sighing and shaking his head, he quickly looked around, making sure that this time, no one was around to see him. "Who knows, maybe one day we'll meet under better circumstances. But right now I can't be here, nor can you know I am here. There's just too much going on… Too many lives that can get hurt," he fell silent for a bit, then his eyes hardened. "Though I can help you out with this. It's the least I can do, cuz." Releasing her shoulder, he placed his hand on her chest; his eyes flickering briefly before glowing an icy blue as frost began to build on his hand, then his arm as he pulled more and more cold from Dani; the young woman shifting and groaning as arctic cold flowed out from her chest and into Danny. With a wavering flash surrounding his body, revealing his mortal self for less than a split second, Danny stepped back with heavy footfall, clutching a hand to his head as he groaned in strain. Taking a deep breath, then releasing it in a cloud of supercooled air, he shook it off, lowering his hand and closing it in a fist as he stared through his frozen flesh at his skeleton. "That was… weird," he murmured, feeling strangely weak. More so than he already did before. The sound of a door opening brought his attention to the pony standing petrified in the passage, a stethoscope slipping from her neck, clanging to the floor, forgotten. <<>><<>><<>> 'Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit,' was the full extent of thought Danny had regarding his current predicament; hiding at every likely spot, and scampering and gliding to the next whenever he got a chance.   At first his plan seemed to hold some merit, using his gargantuan ice form to intimidate the guards. But to their credit, they proved to be more resilient than other ponies he had met. The memory of that one stallion back at the tear facility freaking out over a shadow coming back to him for just a moment, before the more urgent issue of swords, spears, and spells aimed at him took priority, reminding him to take action. Unfortunately, due to his spectral fatigue, already pushed way past his limit, not to mention the limitations of his current form meant all he really could do was look menacingly, what with his skeleton showing and all, swing his arms wildly and stomping on the ground, which only drew more guards to him while they shot at him with their spells, or run as fast as he could. Again, because of his form and the highly polished floor, meant he was quite hampered with this as well. 'Why do these things always happen to me?' Neither he, nor the other two minds sharing his conscious could provide a satisfying answer as Danny slid past the corner he tried to take, clamping on at the wall in an effort to stop his momentum, but failing and sliding down the hall towards a group of guards who looked at the hulking beast of ice with only a second of shock before their eyes hardened and they charged at Danny with swords and spells at the ready. "Oh shit!" He yelled, the haste and rumble of his voice garbling the words into some unintelligible growl only further agitating the guards in pursuit. Turning around and attempting to gain traction with his frozen feet on the smooth marble floor, Danny slowly but surely made his way back to the corner he just overshot; this time swinging himself into the hallway and using his less than controllable momentum to his advantage for once as he slid past the first several doors before resuming his run as he began to slow down.  Unfortunately, the guards, their bodies not made of ice, and running on four legs opposed to Danny's frozen two, quickly gained ground on him, and several spells whizzed past him, and two or three even impacted on his body, thankfully doing little damage because of the cold density of his frozen flesh, even if they sizzled and burned pot holes into his 'skin'.  Grunting all the same, his eyes flashed from left to right in an effort to find something, anything to aid him in his escape while the relatively small damage already healed itself. More, or less prepared this time, he once more swung himself into another of the seemingly endless hallways; briefly cutting the line of sight from his pursuers. Or so he thought.  No sooner had he slid past the first of many doors, leading to who knew where, he felt a pairs of hooves grabbing hold of him on each of his shoulders. With a shout of surprise, he felt himself yanked back and into the chamber he'd just passed, attempting to shake off his captors and, if needed, fight them off as the door slammed shut behind him.  What he didn't expect, as he turned around to face his opponents, were the two pegasi floating before him without using their wings. One of them, a mare, shushing him while the other, a stallion had his ear pressed against the door, listening as the guards ran past. Once certain they were gone, he stepped away from the closed woodwork, gave a nod to the mare, and both looked at Danny with their green glowing eyes. "What th-" Danny began, only to be sushed again. "WHERE ART THOU, THY COWARDLY SCUM!!!" A terrifying and ferocious roar rattled the doors and windows all throughout the palace, and Danny was sure his skeleton just shivered in fear, despite being encased in ice. 'Luna,' Eclipse quietly, tiredly interjected, confirming what Danny had already feared. A midnight blue glow suddenly surrounded the door, and the stallion jumped back, while the mare grabbed hold of Danny; both ponies turning invisible, the contact also ensuring Danny vanished from view. Then the both of them, with their powers combined, sunk Danny through the floor. Just before they vanished completely, all three were treated to the terrifying sight of a furious Luna; eyes ablaze with power and anger, her mane whipping around as if she stood in the center of a monstrous storm, darkness seemingly oozing off her form while the floor cracked where she stomped her hoof. 'Oh yes, definitely coming back to bite me,' Danny squeaked, even in thought. <<>><<>><<>> Ghastly wails, cries, bellows, and the occasionally yell: "Beware!"  filled the ever oppressing Ghost Zone as entities of all manners flew from one odd place to the next.  One of such places, a home of various components both technological in nature and old fashioned masonry drifted around in the green void; bolts of electricity arcing between two large antennae on the roof with an audible buzz, occasionally zapping a ghost who flew too close.  Further down, near the basement of the building, a boarded up hole told the tale of a recent run-in with an otherworldly vehicle, piloted by two mortals on a mission; only one of them knowing what they were doing, both equally adept in disrupting the unethical experiment conducted at the time all the same. Now Technus was hard at work going over the extensive, though unfortunately incomplete data he gathered when scanning, invasively, the pony Skulker had captured. Hovering before one of many computer terminals, all connected, all showing a multitude of complex calculations, diagrams, energy values, several cat videos on a loop, and on one screen a half completed chapter of his fan fiction on which he took forever to finish, (a work of art, in his own less than humble opinion, which did have a faithful follower in the form of a young, nine year old, black and white ghost girl who doesn't talk all that much), while the technologically inclined ghost typed away at a keyboard, fingers a blur. Then, all at once, everything came to a stop, and Technus looked unblinkingly at the readings on his screen; a slight gasp escaping him, quickly turning into a chuckle. "That's it," he said, eyes widening in realization, a small grin on his lips.  With speed, he flew to the computer displaying his fiction, and he rapidly started typing, inspiration steering his fingers, muttering the words to himself as he wrote. "And as Warrior Unicorn Princess stood before her former nemesis, the world around them came to a stop. Nothing else mattered anymore. Nothing, but the undeniable feelings they realized they shared. And then they ki…" again everything came to a stop, his eyes widening once again. "Of course." Flying back to the previous display, he stared at the calculations presented; eyes flashing from left to right as he checked, double checked, then triple checked everything. "That's it," he said, slowly leaning back, chuckling. "THAT'S IT!" He exclaimed, laughing. "THAT'S IT!!" He shouted, now laughing as the mad scientist he was.