//------------------------------//
// Return 
// Story: Broken Feathers: Frozen North 
// by That Avi Nerd 
//------------------------------//

	The night passed the same as any other night for Phantom: excruciatingly slowly. Realizing that a lot was to be done the next morning, he had gone to sleep in the canopy of his bed before Celestia's sun had set, before anypony else had gone to sleep. But this did not help him. He still laid there, tossing and turning for hours, his mind still reeling from the previous day's events: Getting up to find Nightingales at the entrance to their cave and attacking them, only to get knocked out; waking up in the middle of Palmyra, then getting teleported back to Aquila and crashing through the roof; and finding out that a pony under his command, and a friend, was lying to him,  hiding invaluable information that could have solved so many problems early on, and likely feeding him false information. 

Sleep eluded him as usual. When it finally managed to envelope the pegasus, it did so in the form of a vengeful nightmare. When Phantom woke up in the dead of night, he found himself sweating and panting. He was unable to recall what the nightmare was about exactly. All that was left over was a lingering sensation of cold. Most ponies would have gone back to sleep afterwards, relieved that it was over, but Phantom did not. He knew that if sleep returned, it would bring with it yet another nightmare of some sort. 

So instead, the pegasus glided down from his bed canopy, and over to his equipment which sat in the corner next to the door. This time he put it on, he did so without the pride of wearing his uniform. Tightening the straps, locking in each piece, tying on his hood and cloak. Phantom did so knowing that it was to be used today as an instrument of war, not pride. Once it was on, he stood in front of the mirror for several minutes, seeing himself for perhaps the last time. 

Looking out the window, he saw that the sun was just beginning to crest over the distant horizon. Few clouds were in the crisp morning sky, save for the wispy cirrus clouds up high, being carried south by way of jet streams. A part of him wondered if these clouds would grace the skies over Ponyville. But those thoughts soon left his mind as another object of interest filled up the window. An eagle, flapping his wings to come in for a soft landing on the ledge. Talon. This was Stryker's friend from a time before he knew him. At first, Phantom had thought that the idea of having a bird as a companion like he did was a silly idea, but several times over the majestic eagle has proven valuable, especially when it came to spying, gathering intelligence, and sending messages. Speaking of which...

"You have something for me?" Phantom asked with a soft voice, not wanting to potentially wake anypony else, although that was unlikely. 

Talon nodded, letting out a quick "Kik," before gliding over to the edge of the bed. He leaned over slightly, revealing a note. Phantom took the parchment and unraveled it with a wing, holding it it in front of him to read. 


	SSGT Knight, 
As instructed we have left the area of the Palmyran Forest and are maintaining position just beyond sight range of Aquila. We will await further orders. 
Captain Dash



Phantom sighed. "Stryker told them to stop looking for Palmyra... didn't he?" Talon merely nodded, albeit slowly. "You have a stronger connection to him than I originally had thought, am I correct?" Again, a slow nod. Phantom trotted up to the bird, extending a hoof and rubbing it up and down the back of his neck. "At least you were loyal, if not to me." 

"Kleek!" 

"Yeah, loyalty is a difficult subject indeed. As much as ponies want to believe, it's never black and white. Never."

"Ik ik ik." 

"I know, I'm terrible at following my own advice..." Talon stared at Phantom. "Guess I was a little harsh on Stryk... he was only trying to protect his family and home." Again, the bird stared at him. "You're going to ask 'What would I have done in the same situation?', aren't you..." Phantom already knew what the eagle's answer would be, so he continued. "You know, I probably would have too." 

Them midnight blue pony got up, and trotted into the main lobby of the Sapphire Suite. Talon glided over to the pony, landing on his back, careful not to grab too hard with talons. The two winged creatures headed into the lobby. There, everypony was asleep around the hearth of the smoldering fire place. Having decided that it was safer to be in a group, particularly after events like Soarin' getting into Rainbow Dash's room, everypony now slept around one another. They had initially planned to have a 'lookout', but that has apparently failed. 

One thing Phantom noticed, was that Stryker had a significant distance between him and the other ponies, who were cluttered next to each other to the point that they were barely touching, heating one another from the cold air. Stryker, meanwhile, appeared to shake subtly, shivering in his sleep. Talon hopped off of Phantom, and onto the back of a nearby couch, examining the ponies that he did not know. 

Phantom trotted over to the same couch, pulling off a light blanket with his mouth. Heading back to the other end of the hearth, he draped it over Stryker with a sigh. 

"I should give him a second chance, shouldn't I?" Phantom whispered. Knowing that any call he made would have woken up somepony, Talon resorted to nodding again. "We'll see how this endeavor goes, first." Phantom trotted over to the silver doors. He was halfway through them when he stopped and remembered something. "Oh," he said, turning back to Talon, who had now begun to lay down on the back of the couch, "watch out for the pink and yellow mares, they'll just love you." 

Smiling to himself, Phantom set off down the stairs that led down to the main lobby of the castle.



Phantom Knight eventually found his way to where he was going: a balcony similar to that from which he watched the coronation from, except this one looked over the courtyard on the opposite side of the castle, the one that housed the newly constructed gallows. The sun had barely risen when he arrived. For the past few hours, the pegasus watched and waited, letting the wind lightly flutter his cloak as he contemplated exactly what he would do when the moment came. 

During this time, guards has begun to show up in and around the courtyard, their number increasing as time went on. First, they stationed themselves along the rooftop of the castle, overlooking the entire area. More guards stood in pairs by the entrances, while other pairs moved around slowly in seemingly random paths. Ponies filled into the yard, one by one. With nowhere specific for them to sit, they congregated around the gallows in no specific form. 

By the time the sun had reach a level so that its light could shine over the roofs and into the courtyard, even more Glaciens had shown up. Now, it was bustling with movement as ponies tried to get comfortable and talk to each other while they waited. Phantom hadn't expected as many ponies to show up that had for the coronation, especially considering the extra space that the gallows showed up, but he was still surprised that a significant number had shown up. Some were even foals, standing on the backs of their parents so that they could get a good view on the noose that swung in the breeze like a deserted swing. 

Guards now stood on the wooden platform of the platform, one at each corner, looking out over the crowd for any sign of trouble, and a pair at the base of the stairs. Several craftsponies were working on the rigging of the gallows, making sure the knot in the rope was good, and that the trap door was working properly. To test it, one floated up a bag of sand that probably had a similar weigh to that of a pony, tied it to the rope, and released the trap door. 

Even from his distance, Phantom could hear the gears turning as the level was pulled and the hinges moved, opening the door. The bag seemed to float for a split second before the bag fell. When the rope went taut, it did so with a loud 'SNAP!'. Phantom physically recoiled, taking an uneasy step back at the sound. His gut churned jus thinking of what that contraption was designed to do in the way of killing its victims. He rubbed a hoof around his neck, hoping to never have to be subjected to the hangpony's noose. Often times, ponies were under the interpretation that the gallows were ineffective to pegasi, given their significant weight difference between unicorns, and particularly earth ponies. A teenaged colt could usually lift up a grown pegasus into the air, given the pegasus was willing and that the pony doing the lifting put every ounce of energy into it, but they usually could. But what a lot of ponies didn't realize, that it was even more violent for pegasi. 

A pegasus' light weight was primarily due to their hallow bones. Because of that, they were weaker. Phantom had heard stories, and even saw an example while he was in Saddle Arabia, of pegasi being hung. Since during most hangings, ponies didn't make any kind of adjustments for the weight of a pegasus, they were usually met with rather... grotesque... results... What happened was that when the pony dropped, the noose did its job a little too well. Instead of simply breaking the neck, and the spinal cord, they were shattered, even disintegrated. The neck and head above the rope would stop falling, but the rest of the body would drop a few inches more, ripping open muscles, tendons and veins. Needless to say, although it was a quick kill, it was a messy one. 

Phantom took several deep breaths to keep the contents of his stomach in check, even though they consisted of practically nothing. Expecting not to survive for too long, he hadn't exactly ate. Pushing those thoughts aside, he focused back at the task in hand, just in time to feel the air next to him shift. Looking out the corner of his right eye, he could see the tan tip of somepony's muzzle. 

"I thought I told you to watch over the girls," Phantom spoke blandly. 

"You did," the unicorn replied. "They're safe. I sent for the Aurora. When it gets here, they'll be on it, and on their way home. It should arrive in a few hours."

"You really think it'll get that bad?"

"I know it will." 

Phantom looked over his should to further regard the stallion. Stryker, for the first time since their arrival in Glacies, was clad in his white armor. His was in better condition than Phantom's, simply from a lack-of use. The colors were brighter, and the cloak wasn't tattered like Phantom's was. The plates of armor themselves didn't have the cuts, scrapes, or dents that the pegasus' had; Stryker had obviously been doing a much better job at avoiding being hit while in combat. 

"Why are you here, come back to earn back my trust?" Phantom asked, turning his attention back to the ominous rope. 

"I've... accepted that that is an impossibility. I'm merely here to provide my assistance in the rescue. She is the leader of the Nightingales, after all."

"And who is 'she', anyway?" 

"Sorry, boss, but if I told you now, it would shatter your plan and you'd try to save her now instead of waiting for the proper moment."

"You're trying really, really hard to stay on my bad side, aren't you?"

"He's just trying to look out for you," said a third voice. Looking over his left shoulder, Phantom saw as Archer trotted up along side the pair, completing the formation. He too was wearing his armor, even going without a jacket underneath it to help fight off the cold. Unlike Stryker and Phantom, Archer's hood was up, primarily to help find off the cold wind. 

"Let me get this straight..." Phantom began. "You're both here."

"Eeyup," the pair replied. 

"So nopony is in the suite with the Elements of Harmony?"

"Nope."

"So they're alone?" 

"Eeyup." 

"WHY?!"

"The fight's down here, boss," Archer said.

"And we wouldn't miss it for the world," finished Stryker. 

Phantom sighed, bowing his head slightly, "If I survive... you're both fired." 

Nothing more was said as the three guards waited. They hadn't learned exactly when the execution was to take place, but judging by the amount of ponies present, it had to be soon. More guards had shown up, too, but this group was focus around a pair of wooden doors that connected to the main section of the castle. In front of them, Captain Cypher waited. 

Stryker explained how Captain Cypher had come to the suites with the intentions of arresting everypony. How he discovered, and nearly confiscated, the Elements of Harmony, and how Twilight used her status as a princess to send him away. The captain was speaking with somepony by his side: Prince Castor. This was the first time any of the Equestrians had seen him since the coronation. Instead of looking sad like most ponies might have expected him to, he had a mixed appearance of anger and... satisfaction? 

He was looking out over the crowd, seeing how many ponies had showed up for the execution. Then his gaze drifted towards the balconies, stopping on the one that housed the Equestrian guards. The prince's smile rapidly deflated, and, not breaking his gaze from the ponies, he mentioned something to Captain Cypher. The guard then too looked up at the balcony, nodding. Prince Castor turned and exited through the double doors, a pair of guards behind him. 

Phantom wondered how long it would take the prince to get up to the balcony. Hopefully the prisoner would be brought out before he showed up, that way the pegasus could avoid talking to him. He knew exactly what the first words out of that stallion's mouth would be when he finally showed up. 'Where's Rainbow Dash?' the annoying stallion would demand, but if Syntax was to be believed, then Prince Castor would already know. 

Then again, if he already knew where Rainbow Dash was, and that the Glacien army was already marching there, why wasn't he with them? In fact, why wasn't Captain Cypher there, leading his troops? Perhaps they stayed behind to make sure that the execution went off without a hitch, and then would head out to the field of battle by train afterwards. If that were the case, then they would fail in the first aspect. As for the second part of that hypothesis, if true, then the execution should be taking right about...

Before Phantom's thought could be completed, it was interrupted by the cadencing of snare drums. Two sharp taps, with a beat of rest between them, followed by a roll that lasted just about a second, before another pause that proceeded its repetition. The source of these noises were coming from an unknown location that the pegasus could not see, which he found interesting since there was no echo to them. But, he did see that the double wooden doors were open now. 

Now. Out marched a pair of guards, neither of whom bore weapons. Instead, they wielded a set of snare drums, on which they preformed their steady cadence. More pairs of guards marched out behind them, continuing forward as they marched in different directions off to either side of the doors. On guard had a rope attached to him. Phantom traced it back to inside the building, where the rope seemed to drag out with it the shadows from inside. 

Phantom regarded the shadow with idle curiosity, tilting his head slightly as he watched it walk outside, failing to disappear. It took him a moment to consciously realize that it was a black cloak that covered somepony from head to hoof. As the group proceeded forward, the guards that once stood by at the doors fell instep behind the hidden pony. Everypony in the crowd was silent, all eyes focused on the scene unfolding before them. Those who were standing between the guards and the gallows stepped to the side, giving them a wide berth. 

When the leading guards reached the stairs of the gallows, they stopped, each column taking a step to the outside, then turning in towards one another, creating a tunnel. The cloaked pony was pushed along the tunnel by a pair of guards. Under the cadence of the drums, they climbed the steps that led to the platform of the gallows. The apparent executioner, somepony who was wearing a different colored set of armor from the others, lead the prisoner to the noose. 

Captain Cypher wasn't too far behind the ponies. He took center stage in front of the crowd, clearing his through and using his magic to amplify his voice. 

"My fellow Glaciens!" his voice boomed out over the crowd. "Today, we celebrate a great victory! For years, we have been at arms with the Nightingales. For years, we have fought and battled theme, struggling to keep our fellow Glaciens safe. But no more! We have captured the Nightingale leader," he thrusted a hoof at the cloaked pony, "and our armies are marching on their base as we speak. By tomorrow morning, this war will be over, and we will be victorious!" The crowd erupted in a thunderous applause. 

"He's right about the war being over part, at least," Stryker yelled over the noise. 

"Weren't you the one who said that you were going to lose?" Phantom yelled back. 

"The Glaciens won't win in the end, either. Boreas will."

Contemplating the stallion's somewhat cryptic answer, Phantom turned his attention back to Captain Cypher's boring 'speech'. 

"And that victory begins today, now! Behold! The leader of your enemies!" Using his magic, he ripped the dark cloak off of the Nightingale leader. 

Phantom physically paled, as if he saw a ghost. Simply put, it was because he did see a ghost. When the cloak was removed, it revealed a pegasus mare, one who had a jet black coat, midnight blue hooves, feather primaries and muzzle. Her mane was half and half: midnight blue in the front half, and jet black in the back half. Her tail was also jet black, but had a streak of the same midnight blue running through the middle. On her hip, was a cutie mark that depicted two wings in the same of a heart. The most striking feature about the mare were her bright, scarlet red eyes. 

Nyx. It had to be. The coloring, the eyes, everything. But how could it be? Every rational part of Phantom's mind told him that this was just some illusion, that he was seeing things and that this wasn't his sister. The last time he had seen her, she was just a filly, the morning before she had disappeared from their apartment. 

Phantom trotted over from a table, carrying on his wings several plates. Discarding the dishes into the sink, he turned back to his sister, who had just finished eating her breakfast. The filly rose from her seat, cantering over to the corner next to the door to retrieve her blue school bags. 

"Ready to go?" Phantom asked.

"Yeah!" Nyx replied with a squeal of joy in her voice. "Today's going to be the best day ever!" 

"Oh? Why's that?" the older pegasus moved towards his sister, leaning down next to her so that she could hop onto his back. Although Nyx was in her mid-teens, she still had a bit of trouble flying, particularly when it came to distances. Phantom did his best to teach her, but he wasn't the best at explaining things and passing on knowledge. He had managed to get her into the air, and over time they worked on her abilities more. At first, she could only cover short distances, like in and around buildings, up stairs, and over obstacles. By now, she was able to fly herself over to the Royal Guard base not far away from the apartment. She still had yet to gain the strength to fly across Cloudsdale, where their school was located on the upper district. 

"Because it's career day! And the teacher said that we should bring in family members to talk about their careers. And I want you to come." 

Phantom extended his wings, pushing himself and his sister off of the floor and out into the cool pegasus sky. The two soared over the bustling morning streets of the cloud city, carrying on their conversation.

"I'll have to find time, I have class too, you know."

"You had better be there. Rainbow's dad is going to be there. You guys practically have the same jobs!"

"I don't think there's too much in common between his being the Captain of the Royal Air Guard, and me being a janitor."

"One could say that raising me like you did is a... is a..."

"Full time job?"

"I would have said career," the mare tapped Phantom's head with her hoof thrice to emphasize her point. 

Phantom sighed. "Fine, I'll be there. Just for you though." 

"I know. It's like you said all those years ago when I asked if you'd ever leave me! And what did you say?"

"Never!" The pair shouted as Phantom dove a little bit, gaining speed to get to the school faster, his sister laughing on his back as he did so. 

Little did either of them know, that that day in class, with Phantom standing in front of everypony talking about what kind of a brother he had been all those years, much to the smiles of Rainbow Dash, Spectrum, and Nyx. His sister always had the tendency to get home early, even though she wasn't a strong flyer. She would glide from the school's cloud, to the lower one of the downtown city below, walk across that cloud while using her wings where she could, then use a series of clouds to hop back up to the apartment complex. 

When Phantom arrived home to rest up before going to work at the base, Nyx was no where to be found. Her room, like much of the apartment, was completely destroyed.  From that moment forward, he swore to join the guard, and find her.

Now, it seems, that day has come. 

The pegasus' mind was completely blank as he silently watched his sister be trotted up to the noose. Stryker seemed to shift from side to side nervously as the noose was tied around the mares next. 

The door behind the three Equestrians flew open. Prince Castor stood as menacingly as he could get, tow Glacien guards by his side. "Phantom Knight!" he yelled. "You are under arrest for the foalnapping of a member of the Glacien Royal Family! Guards! Arrest him!" There was a short pause as the two Glacien guards casted each other uncertain glances.

"Go on," Stryker urged, using the delay to his advantage. "We can take 'em. Go get your sister back." As if a sign of reassurance, Stryker used his magic to pull Phantom's hood up over his head, just so that the end laid level with his eyebrows. The pegasus gradually recovered from his lose, shocked expression, assuming a more disciplined, attentive one. Flaring his wings open, the pegasus stallion charged forward, jumping over the balcony railing and diving straight down towards the crowd several stories below. "You got 'em, right?" Stryker asked Archer.

"You kidding? This'll be easier than that bar fight back in Genovia." 

Stifling a laugh, Stryker put his hooves on the railing of the balcony, pushing himself over the edge just in time to see Phantom pull up a few feet above the crowd, continuing forward towards the gallows at high speed. Just before Stryker hit the ground, he used his magic to teleport himself closer to the stage, next to the ring of guards that surrounded it. 

Back on the balcony, Archer stretched his neck and legs, earning a satisfactory series of pops out of them before turning around to face the prince and his two guards. The white stallion readied himself. 

"Ha!" Prince Castor snorted. "You dare challenge me? You're nothing but a mere earth pony!" 

Archer smiled. "No. That would imply that this fight will be a challenge." Prince Castor growled, applying magical energy to his horn as his two guards rushed towards the Equestrian. 



Phantom wasn't sure of how much time had passed. All he knew, was that he needed to hurry. Finally, he found his sister, but if he wasn't quick about it then he may lose her again, this time forever. Halfway across the courtyard, he saw Stryker materialize next to the gallows out of the corner of his eye. The unicorn immediately began firing bolts of magic at nearby guards, focusing their attention on him instead of Phantom. 

Captain Cypher stood from his position, barking orders at his subordinates, who seemed to be coming out of the woodwork from everywhere. The unicorn's magic enveloped his horn, then the lever that controlled the trap door of the gallows. Phantom put every ounce of strength he had into his wings. Just before he reached the gallows, he put himself on a slightly upwards direction, tucked his legs close to his body, and turned his head away. This minimized the damage as he tore through the supporting beam of the gallows, breaking it and the rope tied to it. At the same time, Captain Cypher pulled the lever, and the trap door swung open. Nyx fell through it, expecting the end...

...only to feel the impact of the cobblestone on her haunches. She looked around, shocked by the fact that she wasn't yet dead. Behind here, Phantom rolled end over end on the cobblestone, skidding to a painful stop. He was the last pony that she had expected to see, here of all places. Phantom stood up, casting a worried glance at the gallows. A thousand pound weight felt like it was lifted off his chest when he saw that his sister was laying on the ground instead of dangling from a rope; her head was up and she was staring back at him with those scarlet eyes that he so fondly remembered. 

He quickly limped to the mare under the platform, countless wooden splinters digging into the front-left portion of his body. Stopping just feet in front of her, the two froze, examining one another from head to toe to make sure that they were real, and actually there. 

"N... Nyx?" Phantom asked.

"Ph-Ph-Phan... Phantom?" Nyx's words practically stumbled out of her mouth. There was a split second pause, then both ponies ran and embraced each other. Feeling the splinters dig further into his body, Phantom broke the embrace much earlier than he would have wanted to. "What are you doing here?!"

"What am I going here? What are you doing here?!" 

A blast of magical energy sounded out through the area. Anypony in the crowd who wasn't running in terror before, certainly was now. It was caused by some explosion on the balcony the Equestrians were at, one that completely destroyed the feature, propelling stone out in all directions. There was another series of explosions as Stryker slid on his back along side the gallows, all the while firing his own magic back at somepony. 

Looking over at the two pegasi, he yelled, "I get that it has been awhile," Stryker had to cut himself short in order to roll out of the way of an incoming spell, "but some help would be nice!"

Both ponies nodded just as a section of the wooden platform above them vaporized. There, stood one very, very ticked off Captain Cypher, his horn radiating with magical energy. "You!" he huffed, "I should have never let you step through those gates!"

Phantom and Nyx glanced at one another. "Another time?" Nyx asked.

"S-Sure?" Phantom replied, still reeling from the revelation that his sister was alive. Nyx, on the other hand, had seemed to have gotten past that as she flared her wings open, propelling herself through the newly created hole and tackling Captain Cypher. Shaking his head to get out of the daze he was trapped in, Phantom used his wings to hop through the same hole and land on top of the platform. Just in time to see his sister thrown off by a magical force. 

Phantom charged forward, ramming himself into Captain Cypher, who was just about fire a spell at him. Narrowly missing the spell, the two ponies tumbled end over end off the edge of the platform, landing on the cobblestone below. Though Phantom was on top of the struggle at first, Cypher was quick to kick the pegasus off of him and away from the gallows. 

Nyx meanwhile rose to her feet only to find that she was completely surrounded by Glacien guards. She lunged towards the guard directly in front of her, jabbing him in the chest with her left hoof, then immediately rolling to the right, sweeping with her right hind leg to knock out the hooves from under another guard. Once those two ponies were down, she moved on to take out the rest. 

Captain Cypher ducked to avoid a stray spell fired by one of his own guards, who was knocked to the side by a powerful buck from Archer. The captain galloped towards Phantom just as the pegasus got to his hooves, latching onto the pony. The pair rolled around, punching and jabbing at one another as best they could. Once again, Phantom ended up on top of the struggle, wrapping his forelegs around Cypher's neck, slowly squeezing the air out of him. But Phantom got hit in the side from somepony's spell. Even though his armor absorbed much of the damage, he was still thrown a good distance away from the Captain of the Glacien Guard. 

Nyx flew over to her fallen brother's side, bringing him to his hooves. 

"You need to get back to Palmyra!" Phantom shouted, bucking away a pair of unicorns that were running towards the two pegasi. 

"How do you know about Palmyra?" Nyx replied, rolling over Phantom's back after he bucked the two guards away to knock out another Glacien who was running up on them. 

"Doesn't matter!" Phantom grabbed hold of his sisters neck, pulling her down as low as they could get to avoid a barrage of spells being fired at them from the rooftops. "I'll explain later, but you need to get to Palmyra!" 

The two pegasi flew in a tight formation towards the unicorns on the rooftops who were firing at them. They ducked and weaved to avoid the potentially deadly spells, both from in front of them, and below them. Archer and Stryker were fighting along side one another, trying to keep the attention of as many ponies as possible, which was unfortunately working for them. 

Stryker and Archer were completely surrounded by a sea of Glacien guards. The only thing that protected the two was a shield that Stryker had put up, protecting them from the spells that would have bombarded them otherwise. Archer was fighting hoof-to-hoof with anypony who ran through the shield, trying to keep them away from Stryker as long as possible. The tan unicorn was trying his best to keep the shield up, but the force of the Glacien attack was taking its toll. Stryker was crouched, putting all the energy he had into the spell, which was showing signs of cracking. 

Phantom and Nyx dodged a barrage of blasts from the rooftop Glaciens. The pair flew side by side, pushing the guards off as the came upon them. Once that threat was eliminated, the two siblings rushed back down into the courtyard to help their allies. 

"We can stop them here! Now! Take out the Royal Family and end it all!"

"The Glaciens are marching to Palmyra!" Phantom had to break off their formation to avoid yet another spell. Quickly, he rejoined along side his sister. He put a hoof over her shoulder, catching her attention and looking her straight in the eye. "Go back to Palmyra, and keep Rainbow Dash safe." Nyx slid to a stop mid-air. After continuing forward a few feet, Phantom also stopped, flying back over to her. "Yes, that Rainbow Dash. Nyx, please. Do this for me." 

The pegasus mare looked around at the growing number of Glacien guards, and the seemingly futile defense the two Equestrian s were putting up against them, then back at the pleading eyes of her brother. "Fine," she sighed. "But I'm coming back for you." 

Her brother nodded, "I know," then flew on his back a little distance away from Nyx before turning upright towards the shield. She only watched Phantom for a few seconds when a series of spells were fired at her, prompting her signal to leave. Within moments, she disappeared over the edge of the castle wall, on her way to Palmyra as fast as her wings could carry her. 

When Stryker's shield was finally broken, it did so with an impressive explosion that sent a wave of energy through everypony. The blast had enough force that it knocked Phantom out of the sky, sending him sliding across the cobble stone ground to his destination instead of landing their softly. He struggled to get the air back into his lungs that was knocked out by the fall. Coughing and sputtering, he craned his neck painfully to look around.

Archer appeared to be in a similar situation. He too was on the ground, but in a slightly better situation. At least he had the strength to fight some of the Glaciens who were running towards him. Stryker, on the other hoof, was completely out cold. Lying limp on the ground at the mercy of the Glaciens that stood over him. While one put  on sets of hoofcuffs, another slipped on a magic incapacitator on his horn. Looking back over to Archer, Phantom watched as the white stallion began trying to crawl towards his downed friend, only to be stopped short by a guard striking across the muzzle with a hoof, knocking him unconscious.

Phantom tried to cry out, but nothing happened, he still hadn't yet caught his breath. He tried to crawl towards the two, but didn't make it very far. After only moving a few feet, the pegasus was kicked in the gut with enough force that he was rolled over onto his back. Above him, stood a very satisfactory looking Captain Cypher. The captain's horn lit up, pulling Phantom's right wing out from under him and painfully sprawling it out. 

"This is your one and only chance," Captain Cypher said, placing his left off on Phantom's wing joint. The pegasus tried to struggle his way out, but found himself pinned down by the magic of several other nearby guards. "What are the Nightingales have waiting for us in Palmyra?"

Phantom stopped struggling, looking the Glacien above him dead in the eyes. "One way tickets to Tartarus for you and each of your guards."

Captain Cypher shook his head. "Tisk tisk tisk." The pony raised his hoof. "Shame, too. You were a really good flyer from what I could tell." And with all the force he could bring to bear, he brought his hoof down on the pegasus' wing joint.