//------------------------------// // Chapter 22, Phantasma // Story: The Chronicles of Summer Rain, Vol. 9 -- Future Perfect // by shysage //------------------------------// Well, today was the day, and I think we all knew it. Repeated magical, double reverse Sonic Rainbooms would announce to Equestria that it was time for Equestria to stand back up. It would probably also bring the second terrible monster here to Ponyville. And retrieving Princess Celestia and Princess Luna (Cel and Lu, our girls) from that monster; this had to be a primary priority. I think we were all scared. I don't think we really knew exactly how to do what needed to be done. We were up pretty early. Princess Twilight sent us all out to find a good breakfast. She and her Twin did the same thing. Most headed to the meadow behind the Castle. The Shynas, Fluttershys, Shysage and I headed to the meadow to the East. This left more for other ponies near the Castle. Our Panther animal friends followed us, of course. I still had to walk slow though. And we stopped at Dawn's again. The cats waited outside, and we all went in and hugged everypony a little while. I took the opportunity to let Dawn and her family know what to expect from today, both the Rainbooms and having to deal with a terrible monster. We all cried for a little while. I saw the coats on the way out, and asked Shysage to remind me to talk to Princess about having the Filias and Fionas come and get them. We headed into the meadow and found what we could to eat. The Fluttershys sent the girls off, so they could eat too. After we ate, we were sitting together on that little hill, waiting for the girls to come back. It was another nice day. Maybe a little breezy, but not cold at all. We mostly stared out across the meadow, and tried to relax. Little was said. Well, I knew Shysage was doing a lot of what I was, asking true friend for help. Help... We clearly needed that. When the girls came back, we headed slowly back to the Castle. My legs didn't hurt as bad, but I still had to walk slow. Once there, we sat together in the grass outside. More amazing friends just gathered around us, around four animal friends, and we waited. Mostly, Twins talked softly together. Getting caught up... I guessed this would take days... Princess and her twin were the last to come. Equestria Girls Twilight apologetically mentioned that she was trying to get our Princess to eat a lot. We all appreciated that. It was a little before noon maybe, and Princess Twilight had us set up for the Sonic Rainboom next. Equestria pony Rainbow Dash can do a Sonic Rainboom all by herself. With her Twin helping her, the two of them together can do a double reverse Sonic Rainboom. Since they are Twins, they know exactly what the other is doing, and the two of them can actually push off of each other's feet, right at the apex. Two Sonic Rainbooms at the same time, this is pretty loud. In order for it to be magical, I need to have my Cutie Mark spun up, and we had to all be people (which happens when I touched anypony, or when somepony touching me also touches somepony else). We usually hold hands, and as long as we stay holding hands, a beautiful magical trail forms as the Rainbows ascend. This trail keeps the Rainbows connected magically with the Phantom Alicorn (me...), which infuses magic into the Rainboom. And any Pegasi in the group also have wings, as people, as long as we all stay touching. Well, Pegasi can fly a lot faster as people, which really helps with a Sonic Rainboom. And the magic in the Rainboom's shockwave substantially speeds up it's progress as it heads away radially. (Shysage helped me get all this down.) And we were pretty sure that the magic in the shockwave, as it blasted far beyond the edges of Equestria; this magic would draw Phantasma here. That was our plan anyway. Of course, we had no idea how long it would take Phantasma to walk from Canterlot to Ponyville... I turned into a people, then we slowly built the full circle with six sets if Twins, one people at a time. It was me, Princess Twilight and her 11 girls. This took a little while. Once we were all people, holding hands, we carefully broke the Rainbows loose, while my sister and Equestria Girls Rarity stayed touching them, then they moved carefully into the center, and we all moved closer. After warning everypony, I spun up my Cutie Mark. When the Rainbows were ready, they launched up quickly, and worked through their usual flight path. Fly up high, split off, one fly up and one fly down, then speed madly towards the apex from opposite directions. The rapid change in direction at the apex is what causes the Rainboom. And the addition of magic just makes everything stronger. The first time they tried, it didn't work. Because of the breeze, they missed each other at the apex, and just flew back. We all still cheered them on. None of the rest of us could do this! The second time, the Rainbows changed their orientation so the axis of their flight was with the direction of the breeze. It worked flawlessly. The Rainboom was almost deafening, and the beautifully colored, surely magical shockwave raced outward very rapidly. The magical trails marking each Rainbow's path were also beautiful, and glowed brightly for a long time. It had been maybe a generation since that sound was heard in Equestria. But I suspect that, even if they had never heard it before, most ponies in Equestria just knew what it meant. We weren't done yet, either. We did another magical Rainboom, and it too, was loud and fast. As the Rainbow Dash Twins flew back this time, I remembered about the coats at Dawn's, and I asked Princess if she could send the Filias and Fionas to go bring them back to the Library. The four Red-heads were quickly on their way to Dawn's. The Rainbows asked for a short breather. Well, we could only guess how hard this was. It was early afternoon, and we were setting up for the third magical Sonic Rainboom. Princess Twilight said in passing that this one would probably be the last. The Rainbows were about to launch off. "PRINCESS TWILIGHT, YOU HAVE VIOLATED YOUR BANISHMENT..." It was Phantasma. She was less than 100 feet away... A huge White Polar Bear, larger than Eschate Zumulus, maybe 30 feet high, I think. She didn't have wings, so she had to walk here. We had no idea how long ago she left Canterlot, or why. It didn't matter any more. She was here. A bunch of people in the circle freaked out, let go, and a pile of ponies was the result. Nopony got hurt, but still... Well, this just underscored... We were not ready for Phantasma, not yet. The girls (Panthers) were angry and growling, and the Fluttershys called them all back to them, away from Phantasma. I walked forward some, to face Phantasma. I was still the Phantom Alicorn. I doubted Phantasma knew what she faced. That really didn't matter. Rose left the rest and ran quickly over to me and stood right next to me. She crouched, clearly ready to attack, just like me, and growled loudly at Phantasma. And I clearly saw both of Equestria's Princesses, grafted into Phantasma's side by their backs. My dream was just a dream, but some of it... Both Princesses were hanging limply now... They just flopped around as Phantasma moved. That was very unsettling. Princess Twilight, as a pony, walked up from behind, and stood on my other side. Phantasma recognized her immediately, and addressed her. Well, we guessed that yelling was all Phantasma knew how to do. "WHERE IS MY BROTHER? HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE WATCHING OVER YOUR BANISHMENT." Princess Twilight replied carefully but calmly. "Eschate Zumulus is dead." "NO!" This appeared to take Phantasma by surprise. Still, we all knew that we simply were not ready, not yet. The Filias and Fionas were at Dawn's right now. After a short delay, Princess Twilight asked this next, obviously trying to buy us some time. "Can we have a few minutes to assemble our response to your challenge?" Phantasma roared loudly, and probably angrily. "NO, THERE HAS BEEN NO CHALLENGE. YOU HAVE VIOLATED YOUR BANISHMENT AND KILLED MY BROTHER... YOU MUST DIE!!!" Phantasma started casting some magical spell immediately. I was about to slap her over, to stop her magic at least. Rose didn't give me that chance... Like a Black streak, Rose jumped quickly forward, bounding rapidly across the short distance to Phantasma, and jumped at the last minute, landing on Phantasma's chest. Rose jumped again, and pushed away strongly, and Phantasma fell over backwards. Well, this stopped her magic. And as Phantasma worked on getting up, Rose ran quickly to my side again, and turned around to face Phantasma. She crouched again and was still growling. After standing again, Phantasma just looked around at all of us for the longest time. We didn't think she really knew what happened. By now, both Filias and Fionas had returned, thanks to the Shyna twins, who flew quickly to Dawn's. Both Twilights moved closer and slightly to one side, and the Red-heads joined them. "PREPARE TO DIE PRINCESS TWILIGHT!!!" Another magic spell started. Rose launched rapidly forward a second time, and knocked Phantasma over again. This stopped her magic. The Twilights, Filias and Fionas moved closer as Phantasma was on her back. Rose didn't run away this time, but jumped back up on Phantasma's chest. Rose just stood there, on top of this monster, growling loudly, staring defiantly... Phantasma didn't move at all, and just stared at Rose for easily ten seconds. We are not sure why. Rose was clearly not afraid of Phantasma. There was a loud, high pitched, whistling 'zing' sound over the course of a few seconds, as the Wind Knife did it's work. The Twilight Twins pulled Princess Luna free, and levitated her far away from Phantasma. "YYYEEEOOOWWW" Phantasma yelled, then she roared loudly again... Rose jumped quickly away, and ran back to my side. Both Raritys used pieces of some of the coats to help stop the bleeding along Princess Luna's back. And Phantasma's side, where Lu was attached, was now bleeding too. "YOU ARE ANGERING ME PRINCESS!!!" Phantasma bellowed, as she worked on standing back up again. It took a little while. The Twilight, Filia and Fiona Twins moved over to my other side, and moved some towards Phantasma. Phantasma started casting some magic again. Rose didn't move. I was pretty sure though, that Phantasma was focusing her magic on my Rose now. And I think Rose knew that somehow. That wouldn't do. Waving my right hand, I not so gently slapped Phantasma over backwards. Well, her magic stopped, anyway. The Twilights, Filias and Fionas moved closer to Phantasma's side, closer to Cel. As Phantasma fell over backwards, Rose lept forward, and ran quickly and jumped up onto Phantasma's chest again. Lunging forward, Rose bit Phantasma's nose. With one of her huge paws, Phantasma tried a number of times to slap Rose away. Rose jumped, she twisted, she turned... Rose easily evaded a number of attempts... Phantasma was laying on her back. She wasn't moving a lot, but she was moving... This would be very dangerous... "True friend, please..." I think I quietly said that a bunch... Phantasma finally managed to get both front legs around Rose, and pulled Rose tightly to her chest... Phantasma and Rose, they both just stared at each other as Rose growled loudly... Time just stopped. Rose was way too close... I was really scared... ... 'Zing'... As Phantasma cried out in pain, Rose jumped free... I looked over quickly, Princess Celestia was cut clear and moving away. I looked back at Phantasma, just as she caught one of Rose's hind legs in her powerful jaws as Rose jumped... Right away, Rose pulled madly, and quickly freed her leg, but it was already bleeding a lot. Rose jumped to the side, away from Phantasma, hit the ground rolling, but couldn't get up. Rose was crying... Phantasma didn't even try to get up. That monster started casting some spell, and I knew she was casting it on my Rose again... ... I had decided yesterday, that I would let Princess Twilight and her girls kill Phantasma once our Princesses were free. I was by no means a Prima Donna, and felt it would be a good opportunity for the devotion they had re-discovered... But now, I think I was upset. Rose had made it possible for us to rescue our Princesses, and Phantasma was now singling her out for punishment. And Rose was already hurt bad as a result, and couldn't move. There just wasn't time. Rose needed this over now... ... I ran quickly over to Rose, now to Phantasma's side, and stood between Rose and Phantasma. This put me pretty close to Phantasma, but I guess I wasn't too concerned. Holding my right arm out straight, and my hand and fingers up, I motioned a shield up in front of Rose, in front of us. I doubted it would block her magic, but that wasn't my goal. I pushed the shield quickly forward, and Phantasma rolled painfully sideways maybe fifty feet. She roared out in pain, then yelled "STOP!!!" I ran up to Phantasma and pushed her sideways again. I wanted her away from my Rose. Phantasma got louder, but I didn't care. I was done with this. I formed a fist with my right hand, and punched a huge, deep hole in the meadow. I waved with the back of my right hand, and shoved Phantasma into that hole, then formed a fist again, and pushed her down hard. She roared out in pain some more. Using my left hand, I streaked a substantial amount of fire down into that hole, on top of Phantasma, then pressed my right hand down hard again. Phantasma was screaming as the fire was burning her fur, her body... I did this a few more times, until it was quiet. Phantasma was dead... Again... ... After streaming a bunch more fire into the hole with my left hand, I headed quickly to Rose, unspinning my Cutie Mark as I ran. Shysage said he didn't think her leg was broken, but she was bleeding badly. He was afraid to do anything to a hurting Panther almost twice his size though. As a people, I sat down next to Rose's head and I gently stroked her head with my fingers. She was crying. I was crying. But with me here, doing this, Rose let Shysage wrap a piece of a coat tightly around her leg. That was really all we could do right now. Rose and I cried together. Well, we all did. Rose is an animal, and we don't know if she understood what she had done to help us. But brave Rose had helped us rescue our Princesses. She had paid a price for that, too. I think everypony knew I didn't want to move. Well, I couldn't. I doubted Rose would be happy if I left anyway. And an unhappy Panther... Well, it didn't matter, I wanted to stay. Both Alyssa and Shysage stayed very close to us as well. I think Rose needed that. Rose needed us. She was just an animal friend, but still... After all she had done to help us, I didn't think that was asking too much. First Cel (Princess Celestia) then Lu (Princess Luna) were carefully moved next to me. Cel spoke as if very groggy, but said "Hi mom, I knew you'd come." And Cel's Twin (Principal Celestia) said the Twin Link seemed to be working. They moved Cel next to Shysage, and let her rest there. Both were soon hugging and weeping softly together. They left Lu next to me, on my other side. Lu was lethargic, almost unresponsive. Vice-Principal Luna was next to her, sobbing... I guess the mother in me expected this from both of our girls. Lu was extremely sensitive, just like me. What she had been through, it had been way more than Lu could carry. Lu would need me close, probably for days, maybe for weeks. Cel was much more calculating, and surely a lot stronger. Cel needed Shysage, but would probably be on the road to recovery in days maybe. As the fire in the monster's pit dwindled to a smoulder, we all cried together a few hours, until the Sun dipped below the trees. It could have been a lot worse. ... But more importantly... The Elements of Harmony had receded, silently waiting now inside their chosen carriers, Princess Twilight and her amazing friends. The magical shield around the Castle was gone. Equestria was alive once again.