//------------------------------//
// 0.2: Repeat Offenders 
// Story: Fullmetal Pony 
// by Leoshi 
//------------------------------//





Being a repeat offender was the guaranteed way to get on Colonel Rainbow Dash's bad side. Not necessarily about the offense, but of the attitude of the offenders. Nothing good came from someone who decided to constantly make things difficult for everypony else involved.

Naturally, then, when she heard that Whiteout and his cohorts were active again, she felt her mood take a dip. Of course, the two ponies sitting in her office were hardly any better; their attitude, or at least the attitude of one in particular, grated on her nerves as effectively as any smartmouth soldier.

"Freezing alchemy, huh?" the younger of the two asked. She leaned back languidly as she studied the records, a habit that also got on the colonel's nerves. "Pretty simple stuff, really. It wouldn't take much effort to use."

"Yes, but the way he used it to make mist that dense was pretty smart," the brother added. "The water main was kept very warm, and increasing the pressure at the same time as freezing a part of the water could not have been easy to pull off. Do you think he has someone on the inside helping him, too?"

"Doubt it. He's a notorious criminal who is wanted throughout the kingdom. Everypony knows his face, and anypony with a brain would know to stay away from him."

The colonel hid a smirk. She spotted an opportunity. "That's right, and that's exactly why I'm sending the two of you to flush him out."

Both siblings paused to look at their superior. After a moment, the mare visibly jolted. "Hey!"

"This stallion has flooded the main streets with a cold fog," Rainbow Dash cut in. "He's already claimed four victims this week, his allies are responsible for at least three more, and he's a known discordant. An ordinary patrol would be helpless against his alchemy and wit, so I need somepony I can spare to go head-to-head with him."

"Oh, okay," the brother said. "For a moment, it sounded like you were saying we were brainless."

The colonel laughed. "Don't be so hard on yourself, Shining Armor. It's not your fault you are the way you are."

The joke stung, but Shining Armor had grown used to such jabs at his expense. His sister, meanwhile, had focused on another point entirely. "Wait, why us? Why not you?" she asked with an accusing hoof.

"I said somepony I can spare," Rainbow Dash answered. "While the two of you are navigating the fog, I'll be coordinating a separate mission. One to find out if his two friends are a part of this mess." She waved her wings out and behind her, indicating the long window nearby. The view was totally blocked due to the fog, and several drops of water had condensed on the outside of the glass. "The two of them, Frigid Drift and Winter Frost, have been in league with Whiteout for years. It isn't a stretch to assume this is a combined assault."

"Oh, come on!" said the sister. "Shouldn't it be the other way around? Your alchemy would easily evaporate all that mist, and then we'd all have an easier time of it! Maybe even get back to bed sooner."

There's that attitude again. Rainbow Dash couldn't quell her eye twitching. "I realize that, but this is by order of the Princess. So unless you intend on giving her backtalk, I suggest you get moving."

That put an end to any further argument. With a huff of annoyance, both siblings stood and began walking toward the door, the sister pulling her violet duster closer to her neck, and the brother trying not to be too loud in his armor.

"Hey, Sparkle," the colonel added. "Think of this like a test. If you pass, you'll get more study materials. Fail, and I take some back."

Twilight Sparkle paused at the door, then turned and gave Rainbow Dash a smile that clearly showed her excitement and confidence. "You'd better have them ready, then."

"It's a deal. Now go, and don't do anything stupid out there."

A moment later, the siblings were gone. Rainbow Dash released an exasperated sigh, sinking into her office chair. Despite the crisis outside, Twilight had been right about several things, the least of which was how late it was. True, the kids weren't known for keeping a regular sleeping schedule, but the colonel was. Waking up Rainbow Dash in the middle of the night was another sure-fire way to get on her nerves.

The moment passed. A voice to her right finally spoke up. "Ma'am, shall we get started?"

The colonel leaned in her chair, straining her neck to look toward her lieutenant. Of course, he had been there the whole time, quiet and professional while she had to deal with the young alchemist. But it was all right. It wasn't like this was their first skirmish, nor the first time they had been ambushed.

And besides, Rainbow Dash thought with a heated glee, those dimwits decided to attack our home base. Surprise may be on their side, but every other advantage is ours.

With a grin that her lieutenant didn't share, Rainbow Dash stood and straightened her wings. "Care to make a bet, Sentry?"

"You know I don't believe in luck, ma'am."

"A casual game, then. Three guesses how tonight will play out." As she spoke, the colonel stood at attention and flared her wings. Wordlessly, her subordinate began attaching a special cloth over each wing, which fed to loops and wrapped around several primary feathers. The cloth was adorned with the colonel's signature glyph, a red-orange circle that contained a series of triangles and diamonds. Her bolt-and-cloud cutie mark was at the top of the circle, while a salamander was near the bottom.

"You shouldn't believe in luck, either, Colonel. When you gamble, you always run the risk of losing."

Rainbow Dash's smile didn't waver. It was always like this before a fight. "I'm not dead yet, right?"

His work completed, Flash Sentry stepped away toward a nearby locker. "Not for lack of trying, ma'am," he said as he retrieved his equipment. A metal-and-leather contraption slid over his neck, which fed into a brace that wrapped around his foreleg. He then pulled out a customized rifle and attached it to his brace. It was a firm fit. "Just keep in mind that this is a group effort. It's not just you and me for this, so please remember to duck."

The colonel's smile finally fell. "Not fair."

And the lieutenant gave a grin of his own. "You're the one who wants to gamble."






"I don't see why it has to be this cold, though! I mean, I know he's an alchemist who specializes in ice, but still!"

Twilight Sparkle stopped once again to shake herself dry, or at least as dry as she could get. The fog surrounding the palace was thick and chilled, like sleet hanging in suspension, so 'dry' was a word best used loosely. The steam from her breath was quickly fading into the cool air, which did little to improve her outlook on the situation. "Once we find this guy, I'm gonna give him one of my good-old-fashioned lectures on letting sleeping ponies lie!"

Shining Armor followed patiently behind. "Shouldn't we be more worried about where he is, instead of what he's already done? The colonel wants us to find him, not fight him."

"Yeah, I'm hoping for a peaceful ending, too!" she replied. Having reached another alley, Twilight lit her horn and looked around for any traps, though the thick mist only allowed her to see a few feet ahead despite her light. "But one thing I've come to expect from the colonel is her pranks. Who knows? This is probably just another elaborate..."

She trailed off as she reached the next shop. A telltale glow had caught her eye from the alley, and she slowly turned to investigate it. Shining Armor followed behind, thought better of himself, then rushed ahead to reach it first. The bricks that made up the alleyway had been expunged outward, leaving an intimidating pile of wreckage. In the middle of the destruction was one of the city's water mains. Both Twilight and Shining had to carefully navigate the loose rubble to get a closer look.

They were halfway between buildings when the glow suddenly winked out. "Oh, shoot!" Twilight cried. Her eyes darted along the alley wall, but she couldn't pinpoint where the soft light had come from.

"Whoa, it's getting harder to move," Shining Armor complained.

Putting off the vanishing light, Twilight nodded. "Yeah, the temperature's dropped again. It's like this area in particular is kept colder than the street."

"I think my joints are starting to freeze."

She looked up in alarm. "That's not good. Head back to the front of the alley and make sure you stay loose."

Her brother nodded, barely visible in the darkness. "I'll check out this building," he offered, tapping one side of the alley wall. His foreleg rang hollow in response. "Maybe there will be something we can use."

With no further instruction, the siblings parted. Twilight poured more power into her horn, spreading light further around her. She was correct in her theory - the air surrounding the busted pipe was markedly colder than the street, and some of the mist around her had frozen in midair and become hail. The occasional ping of a hailstone striking steel would sound, and she fought the urge to shiver for reasons entirely unrelated to the cold.

Carefully, she climbed the wreckage piled against the wall, then down beneath the street level where the water main was. Much of the moisture on the bricks and mortar had frozen, making it impossible to balance on her hooves. She slid and fell twice before she reached the pipe itself, and there she got a good look at the damage caused to it.

"Oh wow," she muttered. "Big brother was right. This looks complex, even for something as mundane as freezing water."

A jagged, gaping hole was the epicenter of the pipe's damage, easily large enough to allow somepony to walk through. The steel had been broken by two methods - part by freezing, part by pressure - and as a result, there were very few 'teeth' to get in her way. The pressure had allowed the explosion to angle up and out, yes, but because the steel had been frozen first, any debris from the pipe was expelled at the same time as the groundwork.

The inside of the pipe was a different story. This particular section was a junction that fed in four directions, and one of them had been completely clogged with ice. That was the direction that fed into the outskirts of the city. Twilight could barely make out the angular turns for the remaining three directions, all of which showed significant frost on the inside but were otherwise clear. When the attack had taken place, the water that made contact with the ice clog had created a thick steam. There was also much more water to convert, but now the pressure had been turned off, and barely a trickle was left snaking its way along the bottom of the pipe's curvature. Steam still rose when it hit the ice.

"Ooh. There better not be alligators in here..."

Twilight stepped through the hole and jumped down, landing inside the pipe. It wasn't that she intended to explore the water main - the pipe itself was far too narrow. She just wanted to see the inside as much as she could. There had been a glow, and she was determined to find its source.

Straining her neck, she inched along until her withers brushed against the damaged steel. For a moment, Twilight worried about getting slivers lodged in her coat, but quickly dismissed the concern. Instead, she moved her head from side to side, spreading her horn's light as far as she could. The steam from her breathing didn't help her vision, and eventually she relented. "Nothing that way."

Twilight backed up and stood to her full height, stretching her neck. A small prick at the back of her neck irritated her; she should have checked for slivers, after all. Putting up with the minor pain, she turned and considered the unmelting block of ice. It only took her a second to confirm what she already knew: the ice was the product of an alchemic reaction. Such a smooth surface would never have been achieved naturally.

With a groan, she crouched low again and got as close to the ice block as she dared. The light of her horn reflected harshly back at her, so she withdrew some of her power. What little she kept was refracted through the ice, giving the entire block an almost calming glow. If only it hadn't been used to sabotage the city's water line.

After a few seconds, she spotted it. Barely visible in her horn's light was an alchemy circle, simple and rounded in its design, and doubtless the source of the earlier glow. It was barely as wide as her own hoof, yet set in the middle of where the ice had been made. Worse still, the mark clearly had not been left manually. Whiteout, or whomever had made the circle, had done so by means of a completely separate method. The circle wasn't carved so much as merely placed.

A few seconds later, the circle became alight. Small sparks ran along its circumference, its soft glow shone into the ice block, and the ice itself visibly expanded. It wasn't more than half a centimeter, but it grew larger nonetheless. The light from the circle continued to shine for half a minute, during which the water still contacting the ice reacted more harshly. Cold fog, freshly converted, steadily rose into the air before freezing and falling to the steel. The haunting ping sound marked their descent.

The reaction ended, and the glow faded. Satisfied, Twilight carefully stood up once more. The alchemy circle had been angled from the side of the alley wall, down and in toward the middle of the pipe. It was physically impossible for somepony to crawl around inside the pipe itself, and even if it were, the pressurized water would have swept anyone away. Which most likely left one option...

"Twilight!" Shining Armor shouted. "Come in here! You have to see this!"

The mare smirked. Right on time.






A flash of light, a smell of burnt paint, and another circle formed right next to the colonel's head. She ducked on instinct, expecting a reaction aimed at her. What she got was another false alarm and more wasted time, as the two criminals at the other end of the hallway made another attempt to escape. Thankfully, a well-placed warning shot from her lieutenant kept them confined.

"Move up!" Flash Sentry ordered. Two officers of the military police ran low across the carpet, ducking into an opened room and taking a defensive position there. "Next pair, move up!" the lieutenant repeated, followed by another warning shot. Two more officers rushed ahead, entering a room on the opposite side and angling their rifles downrange.

Rainbow Dash was forced to wait behind the corner. This had been the majority of the action - waiting and moving in groups - since discovering the criminals mere minutes ago. They had been caught in the hallway nearing the Princess's office, carefully moving toward it one room at a time. Clearly, they had knowledge of the castle's layout, which the colonel attributed to their absent companion, Whiteout.

After tracking them down, it hadn't taken long to find out what they were doing. Alchemy circles were placed at seemingly random intervals throughout that wing of the palace, each of them designed for an ice-based reaction. Worse still, the two who were leaving them were not activating them, despite the unicorn being an accomplished alchemist. That suggested a larger plan in the works, and Rainbow Dash wasn't keen on finding out what.

However, she wasn't yet allowed to remove the circles. Once her team had alerted the Princess of the threat, they had been ordered to subdue the two criminals as opposed to undo their work. In the Princess's mind, it was more important to stop their forward progress entirely, rather than disrupt it from the middle while they carried on. Which meant capturing Winter Frost and Frigid Drift.

"DOWN!"

Flash Sentry's command was swiftly followed by the unmistakable electric charge in the air that preceded an alchemic reaction. Rainbow Dash ducked once more, away from the ice circle so near to her. But the reaction was in the hallway ahead of her, which was subjected to a volley of long, thin icicles spearing anything in her direction. One such icicle embedded itself in the wall only a meter short from Flash's braced foreleg.

Flash Sentry merely gave an annoyed frown and fired again, shattering the icicle and clearing his field of vision.

"They're not using the circles?" the colonel asked.

"No, ma'am. The unicorn did a broad attack just for us. She used it so they could run."

"Damn it. Where did they go?"

"Toward the eastern wing. There's only one direction that way, and no rooms to use for cover. They'll be as exposed as we will be."

Rainbow Dash stood and flexed her wing muscles. "We have our orders, Lieutenant. Take point."

Without a word, Flash Sentry broke cover and ran down the hall, lithely stepping around the ice lances left steaming in the walls and carpet. He shouted orders to the officers in the nearby rooms, and they too joined his pursuit. Rainbow Dash followed a second later, flanked on either side by the last two officers she was leading. She stole a look inside the doorways as she passed, and was relieved to see no trace of blood. So far, there hadn't been any casualties.

Flash rounded the corner to the long hallway with his rifle raised, but he didn't stay long. He flared his wings and pushed them forward, sending his body back around the corner. Barely a second later, four ice lances struck the carpet where he had been standing.

The colonel's eyes narrowed. Still moving, she leveled her wings, tested the weight of her special cloth, and snapped them both forward in a horizontal arc. The effect was instant - a small, controlled fireball flew through the air and contacted the offending icicles. Flames of red, blue, and purple spilled over the ice, destroying them and a bit of the carpet besides.

"You cowards!" she yelled as she reached the long hallway. Flash gave her an alarmed look. "If you're gonna fight with alchemy, then how about against somepony who can fight back?!"

Rainbow Dash rounded the corner with both wings ready to snap again. She spotted Winter Frost about halfway to the other end, who was looking over her shoulder with a dangerous smirk. Her horn was alight and visibly vibrating, then soon winked out.

There was a charge in the air.

"COLONEL!"

Rainbow Dash was kicked in her side and sent sprawling to the wall, where she landed pitifully on her wing. She closed her eyes at the sudden shock, and when she opened them again, a large, menacing branch of ice was in the middle of the hall. It was easily six feet long, as wide as she was, and pointed so sharp than she doubted she would have felt the tip until it was in too deep. And just beyond the ice, his hind leg still outstretched, was Flash Sentry.

The lieutenant let out an annoyed sigh. "I told you to remember to duck, ma'am."






"The Rainboom Alchemist? She's here?"

"Yessir. Turns out that they did have something bigger than nets for us after all. The entire palace is on lockdown."

"Hmph. That complicates things. Are you two okay?"

"We're fine. Pinned, though. And we still have four glyphs to place. At this rate, it'll be another hour before we get them all."

Whiteout spat. The saliva was instantly hidden in the shrouding mist. "Fine. Don't fight unless you have to, Winter. It's more important that you stay alive than take anypony down with you. Remember: be smart. See what you can do in ten minutes."

Winter Frost hesitated, obviously relaying the information to her partner. A few seconds later, she replied. "I don't think we have ten minutes to give, sir, but we'll do what we can. If you don't hear from me, don't wait."

The radio went silent. Whiteout sighed, gazing into the thick blanket of fog he had created. The situation had been bad from the start; neither he nor his team had expected Colonel Rainbow Dash to be in Canterlot. The last he heard, she was still overseeing a diplomatic exchange in another city. Clearly, the information Whiteout had extracted was faulty, and his companions were struggling because of it.

Then again, the presence of a State Alchemist was also a treat, if only so Whiteout could count her body among all the rest. Of all the unfortunate casualties that were soon to come, the Rainboom Alchemist would be a welcome one. Several sins of his past could be linked to her, or to her sharpshooter adjutant. In truth, Whiteout relished the thought of seeing their eyes frozen in panic, their screams still trapped in their throats.

In the silence that followed, the unicorn reflected once more on his motivations. It was true that he didn't want to kill those undeserving - provided they stayed out of his way, of course - and Lieutenant Flash Sentry had always followed orders. But just the fact that he followed Colonel Rainbow Dash made his sins palpable. Doubly so, considering what had taken place six years prior. And yet, the one who deserved his hatred was neither pegasus, but the Princess who commanded them.

Whiteout's anger rose at the thought. It always did, no matter the activity or time of day. The atrocities he had been ordered to commit were raw wounds he refused to let heal. For a while following the War of Unification, he had felt lost within himself. It had taken a long time before he realized the truth of it all, and the real reason his commanding officer had demanded the wholesale slaughter of that barely-mature little town. Then the blame began in earnest, as did the names of his victims to follow.

And tonight, he mused. Tonight is where it ends. I'll put the entire castle into an inescapable winter, and force that monster to admit to her crimes before she dies. They say she's immortal...I say she needs to eat, just like the rest of us.

Then, and only then, would Whiteout allow himself rest.

His radio gave a burst of static. "Boss!"

"Go ahead, Frigid."

"Bad news, old man. They've caught her."

Whiteout's blood ran cold. "Winter?"

A pair of gunshots was heard across the band. "Yea-AGH! Stupid infantry!"

"What's your status?"

"Got me in the leg. I'm gonna have to fly everywhere now. Uh, Winter is down. She got trapped between that alchemist and her guard dog. I saw them put a ring on her, boss."

An inhibitor ring. A dense piece of lead and specialized rubber that blocked a unicorn's access to their own magic just by touch. To an alchemist, it would be like losing their identity. To Winter Frost, it was probably like losing the ability to breathe. "Can you get to her?"

"Heh, yeah, as long as I don't mind getting shot fifteen times before I get within fifteen meters! The mission's bust, old man. We were able to get every glyph in place except two, and I've got them with me. So I suggest you finish the job."

"You idiot, get rid of them! If you're caught in range of one, you'll suffer the same fate!"

Drift gave a loud moan, mixed with the pain of his injured leg. "Are you not hearing me? We're out of time and options! Do this now, or I'll either be captured or killed anyway! If I'm meant to die here, then I'd rather it be on our terms! Now are you gonna keep your pro-"

A loud blast of static burst through Whiteout's earpiece. At the same time, an explosion was heard in the distance, and a brief flash of multi-colored flame was seen above the reach of the mist. The Rainboom Alchemist was in play.

Whiteout's anger turned to despair. "Frigid! Frigid, are you there?"

He could still hear the pegasus, but the sounds were garbled and mechanical. It seemed the radio had fallen off or was caught in the blast; either way, it was damaged. Yet through the harsh static, Whiteout could still hear the deep thumps of approaching hooves. He could barely make out the sound of Frigid Drift cursing, more gunshots, then the unmistakable clack as somepony stomped on the radio's headset. The line instantly went dead.

"I'm guessing your friends ran into some trouble?"

Whiteout spun around to face the rooftop's door. Standing there were two ponies, one in a violet duster and the other in a suit of steel armor. The first was a unicorn whose horn was alight, but he couldn't tell what kind of pony the armored one was. Both were looking at him, and he could feel an air of premature victory around them.

The short one, with the horn spreading light, took a step forward. "That's the colonel for you. I learned pretty quickly how brash she is. But I get the feeling you know that, too," she teased.

The armored one stepped forward as well. "You must be Whiteout. We've been sent to bring you in."

Whiteout spent a moment to control his despair. He was not beaten yet. With a scowl, he stood to his full height. "Is that right? In that case, you must be in league with that pegasus alchemist. Soldiers of hers?"

"More like reading buddies," said the mare. "And you, mister snowpony, are the one who interrupted our sleep."

He considered the silly name for a moment, then dismissed it as he removed his radio and headset. No point in having them now. "My apologies. Allow me to help you find rest."

Whiteout's horn flashed to life, and he brought up his foreleg. The mist surrounding him was subjected to a charge from the circle carved into his fetlock. A heartbeat later, hundreds of water droplets had collected, cooled, and frozen into miniature ice needles. He then swung his foreleg once more, and the shards were sent flying.

"Look out!" said the armored one. He stepped forward to cover his companion, whose protective mail easily withstood the ice. When the needles connected, several bounced off or shattered. But it was at that moment, with the broken pieces still in the air, that Whiteout moved again.

Using both forelegs, he stomped the floor and sent another alchemic charge into the air. Fog and ice that was surrounding the pony in armor instantly shifted, pooling into a small flowing sphere of water. The liquid then froze, elongated into a thick javelin, and then plunged through one of the eye slits of the pony's helmet. The ice speared the steel through the other side, and the force carried the body backward until it struck the wall. Whiteout was still smirking as the body crumpled to the ground.

The mare turned around in shock. "Brother!"

Whiteout arched his eyebrow. "Siblings, huh? Well, it's a shame you chose the wrong pony to take orders from."

He moved in against the remaining pony, the glyphs on his forelegs glowing once more. The mist surrounding him froze in his wake, joining together at his side to form another lance. With a shout, he lunged it forward, but met only air as the sister leapt out of the way. She landed on all fours and glared at him.

"You ought to give up, child," Whiteout warned. He pointed the ice at her like a soldier would a spear. "There is more going on here than you know, and you're outclassed. This doesn't concern you."

"It's not like I have a choice! You're making too much noise, mister snowpony. I have a test in the morning, and I was trying to sleep!"

The nickname was just another insult to ignore, but something else made Whiteout pause. The mare had called out to her brother as the latter fell, yet she didn't seem at all distressed at seeing him get stabbed through the head. In fact, she seemed just as focused as when they snuck up on him, albeit wary of the weapon in Whiteout's magical grip.

Shrugging off the oddity, Whiteout repositioned himself and charged once more. The mare was quicker than she looked, dodging and weaving his every thrust. They moved across the rooftop from end to end, until eventually she was forced to the edge. He swung, point-down, and she moved her own foreleg to take the hit.

And then the unexpected happened. Whiteout's icicle shattered in his grip, spraying crystalline shards into the night sky. He gasped in shock before pushing himself away from the mare and the roof's edge. They both paused to recover, and he caught a glimpse of how she had so easily defended.

Her right foreleg, still poised to block his stab, wasn't made of the flesh and bone typical of ponies. Beneath her duster, he could see the glint of polished alloy, easily as dense as a tree limb. It caught the light of her horn and reflected it, sending strands of light through the mist. Just beneath its protection were her eyes, now less humorous and more focused. Clearly, she had intended to strike back before Whiteout had put distance between them.

"A false limb?" he mused. "You're too young to be a war veteran. Were you caught in the blast of that alche—"

The unexpected happened once again. Whiteout caught another glint of light to his left, and he turned to see the corpse of her brother rushing him. The armor was nearly silent, but the icicle through the helmet vibrated and gave off a haunting tone. The brother swung his foreleg down, which Whiteout dodged. He used alchemy to freeze the water resting on the roof, removing the stallion's traction.

But it didn't last long. A distinct scratch was heard from the mare, followed by a charge through the area. All along the rooftop, strands of ice shook and shattered where they were, including the patch that Whiteout had just made. The armored stallion quickly regained his balance, carried his weight forward, and charged once again. This time, his shoulder caught Whiteout broadside.

Whiteout staggered, putting more distance between him and the pair. The impact had lodged an airborne shard of ice into his foreleg. Hot blood trickled from the wound, but the ice did very little to actually hurt him. In fact, the worst it had done was break the integrity of his alchemy circle there. He only had one left to use.

And yet he didn't think about that. Too many things were captivating him, like the fact that the stallion in the armor was standing, when by rights he should have been dead. Or the odd sound he heard from the mare, herself crouched low with her metal foreleg extended. And then there was the fact that he hadn't seen her draw any glyphs of her own.

With a growl of frustration, he bit down on the ice lodged in his fetlock, tore it out, and let it drop to the stone beneath them. He glared at each pony with newfound caution. "That shouldn't be possible..."

He studied them both in the light the mare provided. His armored body. The hollow sound that came from the helmet. Her false limb. Her lack of any circles. As he mentally went through the facts, he gradually relaxed. A few seconds later, his grin returned, but it wasn't the self-satisfied smirk he usually wore. It was the realization of truth, and he gave a quiet chuckle in its wake.

"Now I see," he whispered. "That armor is empty. And your leg is gone, isn't it? This seems an awful like a heavy price that was paid by the two of you, a price demanded by alchemy! The two of you tried to play god! You committed the taboo!"

Neither sibling replied, so Whiteout continued. "I've heard stories. A young, gifted mare who can transmute without a glyph. A soldier boy who is never seen out of full combat armor. Both of whom have close ties with that insufferable Colonel Dash. That means you're the one they all talk about, aren't you, Fullmetal Alchemist?"

Silence fell over the three. Shining Armor, the stallion in the mail, never let down his guard. Twilight Sparkle, his sister at his side, glowering at Whiteout through the cold fog. And Whiteout himself, please to have found the truth, slowly lowering his bleeding foreleg.

"Well, no matter. I am curious how you found me so quickly, especially when I was expecting a few grunts I could toss over the edge. Care to explain?"

Once again, neither sibling spoke.

"Fine, be that way. You told me you were sent to bring me in? Following orders, I take it. Well, so sorry to disappoint!" he called, rushing to the spot they had found him. "But I'm sure it's been ten minutes by now, and I've got orders of my own to obey!"

Acting fast, Whiteout called upon his magic and his remaining glyph. He slid across the slick rooftop to the one he had carved, the same one he had used to put the capital in such a mess. With a shout, he slammed his uninjured hoof over the circle. A connection was made.

A moment later, an entirely different connection was made as well - the brother tackling Whiteout from the side and pinning him to the roof. They struggled against each other, with Shining Armor clearly having the advantage, but Twilight looked toward the other circle. Its own glow hadn't gone out, and in fact seemed to intensify as the seconds went on.

"Too late, you runt!" Whiteout taunted. "My team has done more than enough, and there's nothing you can do to stop this reaction from taking place! The two of you will just...have to...wait it OUT!"

As he shouted, his remaining circle sparked to life once more, this time against the surface of the rooftop. Condensed water gathered and fired upward, forming instant spikes that broke against Shining Armor's body but nonetheless forced him away. Whiteout scrambled to his hooves, his circle still glowing brightly. With a grunt of exertion, he swung his good leg forward, forming more frozen lances from the mist. Twilight ducked behind her brother, whose body withstood the impact of the ice. For all the times he was hit, Shining Armor didn't grunt or flinch.

The attack went on for several seconds, then quickly ended. "Twily, look," Shining whispered.

Twilight eased her head around her brother's protective body. Along the surface of the roof was the glowing circle, several long icicles jutting out at angles, and the fog growing ever colder. But Whiteout was absent. He had taken the moment to rush down the stairs.

"Coward. He'll be halfway to the ground floor by now."

"You're probably right, big brother," Twilight murmured. "We were lucky to track him to this building, but chasing him in this fog? That's an impossible task."

Shining Armor nodded. He turned to consider the glowing circle at the roof's edge. "So what about this, then? Is it safe to try and disrupt it?"

Twilight cautiously made her way to the carving. She studied the circle through the intense light it gave off, then slowly shook her head. "I don't think it will matter. How many of these did we see near the street? The reaction has likely reached some of them, and they're carrying it forward. The damage has been done, so breaking this circle won't make a difference."

"Carrying it forward, huh?" Shining joined his sister at the roof's edge, and together they gazed through the fog in the direction of Canterlot Palace. "Think it's going to the castle?"

"Uh-huh." Twilight shuddered as the temperature continued to drop.

Shining Armor gently pulled the icicle in his helmet free. He let it drop to the street below. "I hope Rainbow Dash is having better luck on her end."

Meanwhile, Whiteout burst through the back door of the building he had been using as a base. Relying on his memory of the city, he ran full-tilt through the various alleys and darkened streets of Canterlot. As he ran, he made a silent vow to discover what became of his allies Winter Frost and Frigid Drift. He knew that they would likely be kept as prisoners instead of executed; after all, he had done most of the killing for the three of them. As long as they stayed strong and loyal, he would eventually find them.

He rounded a corner to another alleyway, this one wrecked by a victimized water main, but came to a halt at what he saw. A soft blue glow was at the other end, waving but not growing. Not expecting anypony down this way, Whiteout stepped over the rubble and frozen pools to investigate. He was halfway down when the strange blue glow intensified, and he stopped for a second time at what he saw. There, dressed in light combat gear and completely alone, was Princess Luna.

"What are—"

The Princess glared at him from her end, then wordlessly lifted a damaged length of rebar. She held it parallel to the ground in a silent challenge.

Whiteout hesitated, then he shook with laughter. "So this is how you want it to be?" he asked. "Couldn't bear the thought of being trapped inside your own walls, so you came out here to die on your own terms?"

A moment later, his horn lit up, and the circle on his good leg glowed once more. He drew in as much of the mist as he could, condensing and freezing it to fashion a lance far more intimidating than any other seen that night. He looked from it to Luna, who still hadn't moved from her spot. Whiteout took a step forward and adopted his chilling grin.

"Stay there for me," he called. "Stay there and face justice. Stay and feel the agony of those you deemed unfit to breathe, you monster!"

Whiteout tensed his muscles, then charged. He rapidly closed the distance between him and the Princess. Each step brought him closer and closer, until finally the unmistakable sound of punctured flesh rent the frozen air.