"Order!" Grand Magistrate Hymnos shouted. She banged her gavel while glaring out at the loud, bustling Court. "We will have Order! At once!"
Magistrates from all prefectures could not contain their consternation. The air of Frostknife was filled with angry, confused shouts. Ponies spat and hollered. Griffons' feathers rustled while seaponies flickered intensely from within their chambers.
Brye Chandler stood beside Hymnos' podium. He sighed, rubbing his aching head as the bickering and barking continued. Meanwhile, above them... above all of them... several layers of thickening stormclouds issued outward from the body of Starkiss in every cardinal direction.
"For Verlaxion's sake!" Hymnos exclaimed. "Are we not the esteemed senate of this glorious land?!" She banged the gavel with finality. "Calm yourselves at once! We are here to discuss the fate of our Queen—"
One magistrate stood up, growling: "What we're here for is to discuss the horrific anomaly consuming our Queen's throne!" She pointed up past the statues... beyond the steps leading into the heart of the mountain—where the fog thickened most densely. "Don't pretend that you don't see it!"
An angry griffon in aristocratic robes growled, "Something is happening to the Great Unifier! You were supposed to send our strongest, bravest troops in to protect her!"
"What is the point in building an army if they can't stop the Rainbow Rogue?!"
"The Rainbow Rogue will be stopped!" Hymnos insisted. "Verlaxion's messenger warned us to be faithful... to unify under the defense of our Queen! That is exactly what the Defense Ministry has accomplished—"
"I don't see any accomplishment!" A stallion barked, pointing skyward. "All I see is ominous stormclouds and spreading Blight!"
"What is the Defense Ministry not telling us?!"
"How far has the Rainbow Rogue and her demonic allies encroached upon the holy chambers of Verlaxion?!"
Hymnos sighed, hanging her head in frustration.
Chandler took a deep breath, then stepped forward to appeal to those seated above and around him. "Everypony... fellow brothers and sisters of Rohbredden. Please! Have faith!" He gestured. "I've not only sent the strongest batallions of the Central Guard into the heart of Starkiss to form an impenetrable defense, but they are being led by the head wing of the Talon—Commander Seraphimus herself!"
"Seraphimus?!" One mare scoffed. "She couldn't even bring in the Rainbow Rogue when she was miles away from the holiest of holies!"
"Where's the rest of the Talon?! Huh?! Or have they fallen prey to the Rainbow Rogue's influence just like the wyverns?!"
"How do we know you haven't succumbed to the demons from the west?"!
"Of all the..." Chandler snarled. "You have no idea... no idea what I've overcome to get to this position!" He pointed at himself, fuming. "The Word of Verlaxion appointed me to defend her faithful foals. Me! And I swear on my soul... on the very currents that carry us all to the Spring Havens... that I shall honor her trust and defend her sanctity at all costs! After all, why would this not be the case if it wasn't the will of our Queen?" He appealed to every magistrate with a bright, gaping expression. "We sank so low because I allowed avarice and discord to consume my heart! But she has given me a second chance! She has given us all a second chance! Shouldn't we work together harmoniously?! Like our great ancestors did?!"
"You speak of faith... you speak of harmony..." A pony snarled from the center of the seats. "But what fruits have your labors produced?!" He glanced aside. "If you ask me, we should all withdraw to our native Prefectures!"
"Yeah!"
"Yes! Fortify our homes!"
"Protect our loved ones!"
"For if the wrath of Verlaxion should break—"
"No!" Chandler grimaced. "No! Don't you understand?! Drawing apart is what brought this Rogue from the Blight to begin with! We were being punished for our distrust and hatred—but we can still undo that! I can still undo that!" He snarled. "Verlaxion has given us a chance at redemption! A final unification that will... solidify... our..." His words trailed off, for he was taken back by the expressions of the ponies before him.
Everyone was staring up... up. Their jaws dropped and their ears drooped back. The griffons shrank in their seats, beaks rattling. The seaponies drifted limply within their chambers—all colors dimmed.
Chandler spun around. He and Hymnos looked skyward, and what they saw stole the breath right out from their lungs.
A cold wall of fog wafted down the tall steep steps leading from the heart of Starkiss. An equine shape accompanied the descending mists. Hovering towards the Court—towards Frostknife—was a lone blue figure. A golden pendant with a ruby lighting bolt hung off her neck. What's more, she had a limp corpse draped over her forelimbs. A tattered mane and four bony legs dangled in the frigid air. The dead unicorn's muzzle hung agape... and her muzzle and horn matched countless ancient edifices carved into the holy walls of the age-old place.
"Oh..." Hymnos lost all feeling in her legs. She collapsed beside her podium, eyes instantly brimming with tears. "...my g-goddess..."
Chandler stared in abject terror. "The... Rainbow Rogue...?"
Guards inside the Council Chamber rattled in place, eyes wide. Every magistrate froze dead-still. The frosty air hung in stale silence.
At last, Rainbow hovered to a stop. She lingered beneath the massive statues of six ancient tribes. The gray light of the dying day caught her figure, highlighting feathery short threads of prismatic mane hair, peppered with flakes of snow. A scar blemished her forehead as she gazed out at the crowd, cold and deadpan.
The heart of Rohbredden gawked at her. A minute limped by, during which the dense space between the foals of Verlaxion and their dreaded nemesis thawed into a sickly soup.
Rainbow took a deep breath. The forelimbs cradling Verlax's dead shell tensed up.
"What is it that you have in mind, Rainbow?"
Less than an hour ago, Lieutenant Keris stood calmly inside Verlaxion's throneroom, waiting for an answer.
Rainbow stood before him. She sensed Applejack's warm presence in the corner of her vision—until the gold light expanding across the machine world consumed the gaps in between her thoughts and her breaths.
"I am needed far beyond this place," she spoke. "I've always been." She looked up, staring at Keris directly. "Verlax was right to focus on the big picture. She just chose the wrong way of fixing an antidote for all the things that are dying." A gulp. "But that doesn't matter. I have to keep going. Regardless of what Verlax has sacrificed, finishing my journey is what I owe this world... and what I can do to save it. However, I-I can't give Rohbredden what I owe it. No matter how much I want to... but you can."
Keris craned his neck, listening intently.
"You and your Talon," Rainbow continued. "You thought you were protecting the righteous will of Verlaxion... and perhaps... in a way... you still are." She gazed aside. "Just as Professor Mane will continue to serve the Order in maintaining peace."
Theanim gazed back at her, still shivering.
"The Talon and the Order will need each other. Most importantly... the foals of Verlaxion... the entirety of Rohbredden will need the both of you." She turned to face Keris again. She shook her head. "But they will not need me."
"Then... what will you do?" Keris asked.
"What else?" Rainbow glared. Her eyes had a cold glint to them as she spoke, "I came from the Blight... and the Blight is what I shall deliver..."
Rainbow closed her eyes.
The Council of Verlaxion stared at her.
Finally—after an interminable silence—the first of many... many banshee shrieks lit the air. The screams of windigoes shook through the entire audience, rattling their souls to the core.
This was the moment. Fuming, Rainbow reopened her eyes. A flicker of red-on-yellow. Gnashing her teeth, she tossed Verlax's limp corpse from her grip. "Rnnngh!"
The ragged unicorn fell, impacted wetly against gray stone, and tumbled to a grisly stop before the shocked faces of Rohbredden's breathless leaders.
Rainbow hovered above the cold meat, forming a dark shadow. "I am the Rainbow Rogue!" she boomed. A twitch—a chuckle, perhaps—and she bore a devilish smirk. "And I have slain your Goddess Verlaxion!"
Gasps, sobs, and whimpers broke through the crowd. Ponies flung themselves from their seats, lying prostrate before the dead body, weeping prayers into the stonework. Chandler, Hymnos, and the rest of the Council merely gaped in a wordless stupor.
"She was pathetic!," Rainbow spoke... hissed like a serpent. "Sickly... rotten... starved... a bag of petrified bones at best! Grfff... her foals' lack of faith had weakened her!" She folded her forelimbs, tilting her eyes so that they glinted above her smiling muzzle. "I suppose I should be thanking you. Each and every one of you have made my quest so... so easy." She snorted. "I swear... the only creatures who put up a challenge were the Talon... and in the end they too fell victim to the Blight's influence... as did the wyverns and their idiot guests at the Sanctuary."
"Blessed Goddess..." Hymnos choked, hugging herself as she rocked back and forth. "Oh Verlaxion... wh-what have we done...?"
"Her power—however strained—is mine now. With a flick of the hoof, I could level this pathetic Court—and all of Frostknife, for that matter—to the SEA!" That said, she flapped her wings with emphasis, lifting up as her pendant glowed.
Everypony shrieked at once. A cold wind breezed through their manes and robes.
"But..." Rainbow Dash descended gracefully instead. Her smug grin could cut diamonds. "That would be a waste of my time. I've got places to be... further landscapes to spread the Blight. And... quite frankly... none of you are worth it."
"Damn you..." Chandler hyperventilated. Standing up, he snarled... dragging his hooves. "Damn you!" He pointed at the guards.
Snapping to it, a dozen armored soldiers unsheathed their polearms and dove at the pegasus.
"Hah!" Rainbow Dash flapped her wings only once. "As if—!" SHOOOOOOOM! She soared upwards in a bright blue streak.
Ponies gasped. The soldiers—astonished at her speed—simply stared up at the dense overcast. Chandler stood in place, shading his eyes and squinting.
Soon... a gigantic patch blew open in the gray mists wafting out of Starkiss. The very same blue blur came thundering back down. Within a blink, Rainbow Dash reentered the domain of Frostknife... and an apocalyptic burst of spectral energy exploded behind her.
KaPOWWWWWWW!
Ponies shrieked—but they could not hear themselves from the sheer immensity of the Sonic Rainboom. Fractures formed in the stonework. Snow cracked, shattered. Last of all—
SMASSSSH! The ancient statues of the six founding Tribes shattered to a million pieces. A wave of gravel splashed across the floundering bodies of the Council. Cold gray powder coated every magistrate and soldier in attendance.
Hymnos coughed and wheezed.
Chandler rolled over, panting for breath as he found himself collapsed in a sea of granite shards and pebbles. Gradually, he and everypony looked up.
Rainbow Dash hovered ominously above. Her petite limbs and flapping wings formed shadowy bands in the graylight. A pair of ruby eyes matched her glowing pendant as she sneered: "You are all weak... foolish... pathetic foals. Feeding on you wouldn't strengthen the Blight. Ages from now, once I've bathed this world in darkness... then... will I make my return. Maybe you will actually be fair game centuries from now." She laughed—cold and heartless. "I release the Talon and Central Guard from my influence. I release the wyverns, if there's any of them left that you haven't deliciously murdered. And... at last..."
She held her hooves up to the sky. Just then, dozens... hundreds of ghostly shadows streaked out from the summit of Starkiss, gliding towards all ends of the continent... accompanied by a chorus of banshee shrieks.
The ponies squirmed, gasping.
"Oh no..."
"The windigoes..."
"They h-have returned!"
"The Rogue has brought the wraiths down upon us!"
"Verlaxion's spirit, protect your foals..."
"She can't protect you now." Rainbow sneered, her eyes lighting up, red-on-yellow. "Nopony... can protect you now." Her wings flapped, forming a thunderous percussion to the banshee song. "Best of luck, pathetic foals. I return one day to feast... and I expect my prey to be warm."
Chandler hung his head, lips quivering.
A panicked commotion filled the air, reaching a fever pitch.
"Hah!" Rainbow Dash flew skyward, banking east. Soon, she was out of earshot of the Court. As she emerged from the shadow of Starkiss, she clenched her chattering teeth shut. Her muzzle grimaced... and tears formed along the edges of her eyes. Sucking in her breath, she flapped her wings harder... and burned a spectral path east.
"This will have to be timed perrfectly, Rrainbow Dash..."
Kepler and Flynn stood at an open door to the throneroom, gazing out into the Hollow of Starkiss, filled with shrieks and streaking ethereal figures.
"If yourr message deliverred unto the Rrohbrreddenites is to hold any potency, then you will have to give it rright when the windigoes make theirr exit frrom Starrkiss!"
"And just when will that be?" Rainbow asked, touching the Ynanhluutr symbol and opening a door on the opposite side of the machine chamber. "Roughly speaking?"
Flynn cleared his throat. "At the rate at which these damned things move, I suspect it will be within the hour."
Wildcard gestured.
"Dubya's got a point!" Bard exclaimed. "Not all of them will head south within view of Frostknife."
"What about the soldiers in the subterrannean sanctuaries?" Starstorm remarked. "They're in the worst place right about now!"
"We can warn them," Windburst said. "Tell them to flee west... exit Starkiss... and regroup at Frostknife."
"Meanwhile, we can get dozens of able-bodied pegasi and griffons to warn the outlying Prefectures!" Raptr added. "With enough of a head-start, they just might be able to get most of Rohbredden to take shelter!"
"That won't be enough," Remna said. "You've seen how many windigoes there are."
"Then let's give them a chance to make it out!" Ariel exclaimed. "I'm thinking a distraction! Wildcard! Kepler! You game?"
Wildcard nodded.
"I... fearr that it will not be enough to sparre the Centrral Guarrd, though," Kepler said. "I mean... will they even trrust the Rright Talon of Verrlaxion afterr—?"
"They will in the end, if nothing else," Rainbow said in a cold tone. She turned to glance at Twilight, Applejack, and the others. "I'll convince them that the Rainbow Rogue and the powers of the Blight persuaded Keris and his wingmates to join me... along with the soldiers who helped us and Professor Mane."
"Rainbow..." Twilight bit her lip. "Are you sure that this is what you want to do?"
Rainbow shook her head. "Of course not." She clenched her jaw muscles. "Which is why I have to do it."
"Dashie..." Pinkie gulped. "What if they take you down? There are a lot of angry ponies out there and you're about to make them a whole lot angrier."
"They won't catch up to me," Rainbow muttered. "Nothing can catch up to me now." She turned to look at Logan, Flynn, and the rest of the Herald. "Distract the windigoes the best that you can... but I must enter Frostknife alone."
"But darlin'—" Bard began.
"When the day is done, Rohbredden will have only one enemy to dread!" Rainbow fumed. "And if they must hate me for all time, then so be it. This is the one edge that they will have... a gift—however horrible—that will give them strength."
"But how will they maintain it, darling?" Rarity asked.
Rainbow turned to face the Talon. Her eyes met with Keris. "They will depend on the same souls they always have... in every time of crisis."
Keris took a deep breath... and slowly nodded.
"Grand Magistrate!" A voice shrieked from the gray skies over Frostknife. "Defense Minister!"
There was a brief break in the sobs and wails of the Senate. Hymnos and Chandler looked up, trembling.
Lieutenant Keris and Sergeant Starstorm touched down in the center of the Council chamber. The highest ranking griffon carried Professor Mane in his grip. Setting the stallion down, he jumped over chunks of statue and helped Chandler to his hooves.
"Windigoes, Minister!" Keris exclaimed. "More than I can count! They're descending from Starkiss as we speak—"
"Verlaxion..." Chandler shuddered, pointing at the blue corpse. "Our Goddess... she... that monster killed her—"
"I know..." Keris gulped. "My wingmates and I... we awoke from a deep haze to see the throneroom stained in holy blood..."
Chandler blanched. "The Blight..."
"But we have our senses back now!" Starstorm exclaimed, desperate to speak above the rising tumult. "And we must get everypony to safety!"
"What is 'safe' any longer?" Hymnos moaned. Banshee shriekes rose in volume as ghostly horses dove lower and lower, streaking over the heads of panicking Rohbreddenites. "We've failed the Great Unifier... do we even deserve to live?"
"Do not say that!" Keris frowned. "Verlaxion's spirit endures so long as her foals live on! Our failure does not outweigh our humility... or penitence!" He turned to shout over the Grand Magistrate's shoulders. "Sentries of Rohbredden!"
By now, the guards had stumbled to their hooves. They all swiveled to face the Lieutenant.
"Gather the magistrates! We head south! Through Frostknife!"
"To where, Lieutenant?" Chandler shuddered. "With those windigoes on our tail... there's no place that's safe."
"I beg to differ," Keris spoke firmly. "The Frosted Shelves!"
"The prison?" Hymnos stammered.
Keris nodded. "Its walls are thick. The granite will hold!" He craned his feathery neck, shouting into the frosted air. "Everypony! Into the Frosted Shelves! We shall take refuge there until the windigoes have had their fill!"
Hymnos gaped. She turned to look at Theanim. "Professor Mane?"
The Professor stood in a melancholic slump, his head hanging.
"Professor Mane... do you think this will actually work?"
Starstorm clenched her beak muscles nervously.
Keris turned, glaring. "Professor..."
Theanim lifted his head. He cleared his throat. "Trust in the good Lieutenant, Grand Magistrate," he said. "The windigoes are many... but Frostknife's foundation was carved by Verlaxion's might itself. It... will sustain us."
"Everypony!" Keris hollered once more. "To the Frosted Shelves! Hurry!"
Starstorm added: "The windigoes will be upon us any moment!"
"You heard the Talon!" several guards shouted, swiftly rounding up the magistrates as they all surged south, retreating into the southern cliffs of Frostknife. "We must move!"
"Round up all citizens!"
"Spread the word! We flock to the Shelves!"
"Hurry!"
"Move! Move!"
"Lieutenant..." Chandler murmured, looking back.
Hymnos choked on a sob. "Our Queen..."
Keris was already kneeling at the unicorn's limp side. Wincing, he shattered the cast with a razor-sharp claw, freeing his injured talon. He bravely reached both arms in, scooping Verlax's body up in his grip. With a cold shudder, he took up the rear, flapping his wings and taking off before the windigoes could get any closer.
"I have her," he said, carrying the frail weight. "Now... let us proceed."
"Oh Goddess!" a random magistrate shrieked as the crowd galloped southward. "The sky!"
"The clouds! So many of them!"
"I feel the temperature is dropping!" Hymnos stammered. "What is happening?"
"It's the power of Verlaxion," Theanim managed to say. He glared ahead as he sped alongside the group. "It is waning..."
Chandler, Hymnos, and the rest of the citizens of Frostknife grimaced.
"Oh... heaven help us..."
"...the heart of Rohbredden crumbles..."
Commander Seraphimus awoke with a gasp. She lay in the back of a rattling wagon, surrounded by battered prisoners with their hooves and fetlocks bound in irons.
"What... where...?"
She stirred, struggling to stand up. Her body screamed in a dozen bruised places. Her eyes rolled back, spotting stalactites and melting icicles gliding past her, peeking in and out of a haunting new darkness.
"Starkiss..." The griffon sputtered. "...the light... h-has faded..." Her head reeled. "...why?"
The defeated soldiers who had assisted the Herald merely hung their heads. Injured members on both sides merely groaned. The survivors' bodies rocked from where they huddled in the carts that were carrying them.
Seraphimus blinked. Wincing, she sat up to peer beyond the bodies of the injured and imprisoned. Spotting several torches and glowing horns, she realized that she was seated in the very rear of a long... long military procession marching out of the mountain's hollow.
"Will... somepony pl-please answer me," she hissed, clutching her aching skull. "Mrmmmfff... what is this? A retreat?" She tilted her avian head about, squinting, sensing. "... ... ...we are headed west, aren't we?" Her beak clenched. "What for?"
Swoooosh! A familiar figure glided into view. "That's it! We're almost to the exit!" Windburst shouted. In the distance, haunting shrieks echoed, growing closer. "Once we're in the open, make for Frostknife! Move as fast as you can!"
Raptr flew up. "Sergeant! I just finished dispatching the last of the messengers!" He gulped. "They've got a head-start... they should be able to warn the outlying Prefectures before the windigoes reach any township—"
"Windigoes?!" Seraphimus sputtered.
Raptr and Windburst glanced down.
"Oh... Commander..."
Seraphimus snarled. "Traitors... do you r-realize what you've done?!"
Raptr and Windburst exchanged glances.
"As soon as we awoke from the Rogue's spell... we d-did," Windburst muttered.
"You... you were r-right, Commander." Raptr's voice cracked. He gulped hard. "Her curse... the tainted Blight corrupted us."
"But it's not too late to save the citizens of Frostknife and beyond!" Windburst exclaimed. "Right now, the army's returning to reinforce the harbor and—"
"What's this I hear about windigoes?!" Seraphimus inquired. More shrieks lit the air. The next time Seraphimus exhaled, she was alarmed by how many vapors issued from her beak, filling the dimness around her. The griffon's charcoal eyes narrowed. "Sergeants... what has happened to Verlaxion...?"
The two wingmates were silent.
"If there is any honor... any honor whatsoever left inside your maligned shells..." Seraphimus growled. "You will tell me the state of our Queen!"
Windburst hung his head. "I'm so sorry, Commander. We were too late to stop her."
"We were s-so foolish," whimpered a prisoner beside her.
"We believed in h-her..." Another griffon wept. "Or we thought we d-did..."
"... ... ..." Seraphimus shook. "The Rogue..."
"She consumed us..." Windburst said. "And she did not stop spreading the Blight... until she reached the throneroom."
Seraphimus stared. Suddenly, her hawkeyes shrank as her headcrest dipped back. Within seconds, her wings spread.
With a gasp, Raptr reached forward—as did Windburst. "Commander—!"
"Rrrrrghhh!" Seraphimus blew past them, abandoning the cart altogether. The sheer force of her wings was enough to knock both sergeants aside—so that they collided with the walls of the corridor. Soldiers of the Central Guard gasped in surprise, but none of them could even catch up to the leader of the Talon—much less keep their weary eyes focused on the griffon's anxious flight.
Windburst and Raptr recovered, hovering side by side in midair. Wincing, they exchanged sullen expressions.
"You do realize... that this will jeopardize the remainder of your flight through the Twilight Lands and beyond..."
Rainbow Dash nodded. "I know."
Keris continued: "Assuming the windigoes and their ensuing stampede doesn't last for months... then you will be hunted." He gulped. "Chandler... Hymnos... the whole Council of Verlaxion and what's left of Frostknife will send forces after you... to kill you for what you have supposedly 'done' here in Starkiss."
Rainbow nodded yet again. "I know." She turned to look calmly at Keris. "But... so long as you remain here... then it means I have a friend on the inside who... hopefully... can keep all of that anger and fury in check."
Keris inhaled. "I... cannot promise that my influence will help spare you."
"No." Rainbow shook her head. "Nor should you." She pivoted to face him straight-on. "You have a task ahead of you right now... and that is to protect the foals of Verlaxion."
Keris nodded. "And you have a task ahead of you right now." He winced slightly. "I only hope that you can make it, Rainbow Dash."
"The Herald's long prepared for our flight into the east," Flynn stated. "Be it stealthy or speedy."
"Well... now it looks like it has to be both," Logan said. "We can make it pretty far into the Twilight Lands before the Central Guard catches up... but we're going to need an extra-special place to lay low."
"I can help with that, I reckon," Bard said.
Wildcard flashed the other Desperado a surprised look.
"You sure, Bard?" Ariel asked. "You've tagged along because you're a member of the Job Squad. You shouldn't have to bear such a burden—"
"No, I tagged along because—like Dubya—I secretly wanted to help out Rainbow." Bard blew out the side of his muzzle. "Still do... but t'ain't a secret no more." He breathed deeply. "It's okay. I have a place where we can hide." He turned, staring down Wildcard. "I mean it. We're goin' there."
Wildcard shuddered. Eventually, the goggled griffon silently nodded.
"Frrom therre, we move on to the coast and acquirre brrotherr Flynn's trransporrtation," Kepler said.
"Right." Flynn nodded. "Then it's onwards to the Sixth Seed... and Bleak's Plummet."
"Which is where you'll need me, I'm guessing," Echo droned.
Rainbow blinked.
Theanim gave Echo a double-take. "You what?"
"Don't play dumb, Theams," Echo said. "I'm certainly not." He gazed dully at the Herald. "There's a reason why the crooner's mute butt-buddy wanted me to tag along in his letter." His dark nostrils flared. "There's a final trial between here and the edge of the world... and it wasn't built by Verlax—I can tell you that."
"But Echo..."
"Some undead alicorn may have trained these morons to be super-smart... but nopony here can speak to midnighters." He clenched his jaw. "Nopony but me."
Wildcard gave a silent nod.
"Echo, no!" Theanim grasped his friend's shoulders. "Blast it! You know what they did to you way back when! They'll tear you to shreds the moment you show up again!"
Echo spoke: "Then I guess I'll have to get a few words in for Rainbow and the Herald before they finish me off."
"Are you insane?!" Theanim stammered, shaking. "I will not let you play the hero this time! Your... your life is too valuable! Don't you get it?!"
"Shhhhhh..." Echo drew Theanim in, grasping his face with two fetlocks. "No last second bed-shitting, Theams. Every life is valuable... even mine. Who'd a thunk it, huh? That's why I gotta do this. It just... makes a whole lot of damned sense, don't you think?"
Theanim hung his head. He fought the urge to weep. "Now... of all times... you d-don't deserve to cast yourself before the tempests..."
"There is no end to the casting, Theams," Echo said. "You know this as well as I do. You taught it to me. It's the same spirit that got you to smack some sense into this stupid kingdom to begin with. And it's the same thing..." He cleared his throat, his fangs showing. "...that turned my pathetic life into something awesome." He forced Theanim to look at him... blue eyes to slitted pupils. "You saved me, Theanim. You... saved me." He shook his own head. "I can't afford to be selfish anymore."
Theanim stared back, a difficult feat with so many tears.
"Now suck it up..." Echo stepped back. "...I want things to be less sappy when we meet again after all this."
Theanim gulped. "When... when we m-meet again..."
"Yeah..." Echo sighed. "Why the shit not?" She turned towards Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow nodded. She waited until Theanim looked at her.
Theanim clenched his jaw. He stared at her with a chiseled expression. "You look after him, you hear?" He shuddered. "Not too much sunlight... the poor ignoramus suffers so..."
Rainbow's eyes narrowed. "You bucking bet your life..."
Theanim Mane struggled to see straight, all the while being bumped and jostled by the panicked crowd of Frostknife around him.
The entire time, Starstorm, Keris, and a threadbare company of guards fought to shepherd the masses safely past the giant doors looming before the Frosted Shelves. Despite the natural chaos of the endeavor, hundreds if not thousands of ponies safely made their way into the granite hold.
"That's right!" Keris shouted, hovering with Verlax's body in his grasp. "Just keep moving! You're making good time!"
Just then, loud shrieks filled the air.
Gasping, ponies looked up to see the first wave of windigoes descending.
"Oh Goddess..."
"Here they come!"
"We can't outrun them!"
"We're dead! We're dead for sure!"
Starstorm grimaced. "Lieutenant!" The Sergeant panted. "I... I'm losing the crowd!"
"Everypony!" Keris struggled to shout above the crowd. "Just proceed as orderly as possible! I promise you! The prison walls will protect us all!" He gestured with his beak. "Starstorm! Professor! You must urge them along! All of Frostknife depends on us closing those doors before the dreaded herd gets here!"
"You heard the griffon!" Starstorm resorted to shoving several bodies. "Move! Move!"
Grinding his teeth, Chandler stepped up on a stack of crates, motioning emphatically with his forelimbs. "Listen to me, oh foals of Verlaxion! We have not lost faith in our Goddess! That courage alone is what shall preserve us!" He frowned heavily, dragging a hoof across the wooden platform. "Mark my words... as soon as there is a break in the storm... I shall hunt down the Rogue and make her pay for this treachery!"
He gestured boldly, his eyes contacting with Chandler and Hymnos. "Let us not give the Blight and all of its demonic agents the satisfaction of defeat! Onward!" He motioned towards the Frosted Shelves. "Into the bowels of Frostknife! Follow the Talon's instructions! They shall protect us... as is their charge!"
Starstorm winced. She looked nervously at Keris.
Keris held tighter to Verlax's corpse. "Trust... in the Minister of Defense, everypony! Verlaxion has given him charge! He... will n-not lead us astray!"
"Now move!" Chandler pointed as the crowd rushed into the Hold with renewed energy. "Go! Go! Take shelter! Make haste!"
Loud iron bars creaked.
Longaze looked up. At the far, far end of the corridor leading up to her cell, a door had opened. She watched in mute surprise as dozens upon dozens of ponies, griffons, foals, and hatchlings were led into the torchlit corridor. Everypony was packed in—flank to flank—until the compartment was entirely filled.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Jeryn protested as the cells beside his were flung open. "I thought I was in solitary! I was promised—"
"Silence, you piece of filth!" A guard hollered. He frowned, all the while gently helping senior citizens and frazzled elders into the compartments next to the former Syndicate leader. "The Rainbow Rogue has struck! Windigoes are upon us!"
"What?!" Jeryn did a double-take. "Windigoes?!"
"Goddess Verlaxion..." An old mare wept, burying her face in her hooves. "Goddess Verlaxion is dead..."
Jeryn paled immediately. "Dead?" Trembling, he fell back onto his cot. The dazed stallion stared blankly forward... even as the chambers around him filled with weeping, anxious voices.
All throughout the prison, the hallways and chambers and corridors were filled to the brim with the population of Frostknife and its outlying townships. Ponies arrived—witless and trembling—without any time to carry their possessions.
Foals clung to their families. Lovers nuzzled one another tearfully. Mothers and fathers held their children close. Innocent traders and farmers sat just inches from confused prisoners—with mere bars of steel separating them. Everyone shared the same nervous breath, regardless of class, wealth, or standing.
An eerie cacophony of shrill shrieks built up from a distance, growing more and more intense, resonating down each winding corridor and cold stone stairwell where ponies huddled, wept, and waited.
"We're almost through!" Keris shouted, hovering at the open doors to the Frosted Shelves. "We're almost through!"
"Lieutenant!" Theanim shouted, pointing up at the heavens as countless thrashing figures swooped down. "They're upon us!"
"I've got the last of them!" Starstorm exclaimed. "The last members of our group!"
"Good. Get them as far from the entrance as possible—"
"Look!" shouted a guard.
Those at the entrance spun about, eyes wide.
With ghostly howls, the windigoes descended upon Frostknife. Everything they grazed turned to white frost, blanketed all over in murderously solid ice. Their forelegs thrashed, freezing buildings while the second and third waves smashed the shops, apartments, offices, and warehouses to splintery bits. Gigantic structures—some as many as three or four stories in height—fell off the cliffsides, plunging loudly into the bay waters below.
The windigoes' were far from finished. Wreaking havoc, they banked around, heading southwest... and screaming in the prison's direction.
"Now is the time, Keris..." Theanim murmured.
Keris nodded, shakily. "Shut it..." He hollered over his shoulder. "Shut the entrance!"
Starstorm signaled the guards. Every pony and griffon worked as one, pushing the gigantic doors. They pivoted at an icy pace, groaning on their massive hinges.
"Seal it tight from the inside! Every lock and bolt and beam!" Keris exclaimed, taking up the very rear with Verlax in his arms. "It'll take an army to open it once we've—"
Suddenly, Starstorm gasped, her eyes locked on a streaking figure. "Oh my Goddess..."
Theanim grimaced. "Lieutenant..."
"...?" Keris spun around. He wished that he hadn't.
Flying in from the north—streaking like a silver comet—was Seraphimus. With raspy breaths, the battered Commander flapped her wings against the rising tumult of the windigoes. She threaded her way through blistery blasts of frost, making a desperate bee-line for the southern tip of Frostknife beyond sight.
"Commander..." Keris rasped. He hollered—at full volume this time: "Seraphimus!"
"Where does she think she's going?!" Starstorm exclaimed.
Theanim gazed out the remaining space in the doors. "Where else...?" He turned to face Keris. "Lieutenant..."
"Seraphimus!" Keris shouted again. "Fall back! This is the only shelter!" His paws scuffled against the stone beneath him—slipping on the fresh sheets of ice forming from the windigoes' charge. "Seraphimus!"
"Lieutenant!" Starstorm hollered. There was barely a meter of space left in the shutting doors. "Please! Fall in!"
"But... Seraphimus..." Keris hyperventilated. "She needs me—"
"Keris!" Theanim boldly roared. "Rohbredden needs you!"
Keris panted... panted... and finally wrenched his eyes from Seraphimus' fleeing figure. With a burst of wingpower, he carried himself—and Verlax—through the last remaining space... threading his way through the narrow gap just as—
THUDDDDD!
—the doors to the Frosted Shelves closed completely. The noise was intense... loud enough to pierce the whinnying windigoes.
Seraphimus heard it. She grimaced slightly, her tears flying in opposite directions as she flew against the rising blizzard. With a sneering breath, she forced herself forward, flying the lengths of Frostknife. In the meantime, the windigoes descended... freezing the bay waters and shattering every fragile structure in their wake.
With trembling talons, Keris laid Verlax's body to rest in the center of a grand atrium.
Ponies, griffons... citizens and magistrates... prisoners and guards alike all peered down in solemn reflection from a multitude of platforms and stairwells.
Keris leaned back in the torchlight, catching his breath. He and Starstorm stood a respectable distance from the Queen's frail body.
"We've..." Keris fought a lump in his feathery throat. His voice was a feeble squeak against the rising bedlam outside. "We've alerted the Central Guard. I've commanded the rest of the Talon to send messengers out to every Prefecture in Rohbredden. We shall withstand the storm... and afterwards... we will rejoin with the army to rebuild what we've lost."
"And what if the storm lasts a lifetime?" a random pony asked.
Keris looked up with a firm expression. "Then we shall withstand it all the same."
Ponies lingered in silence, save for a few weeping souls.
Hymnos sat in a slump, disheveled... a little grayer than before.
Chandler paced and paced off in the corner. He was the only creature not standing still.
Howling shrieks picked up beyond the protective walls of the prison. Ponies and griffons gathered around, gazing sadly at Verlax's figure.
"Why is..." A mare whimpered. "Why is she so sickly?"
"Did the Rainbow Rogue do this?" a griffon asked. "Did she drain her of her last ounce of strength?"
"This didn't happen in one moment," Chandler said. All eyes fell on him as he continued to pace, snarling: "I brought this upon us... we all brought this upon ourselves!" He shook, stammered. "We lost faith... and now the Great Unifier is gone! Because of us!" His booming voice echoed against the cold walls.
Silence...
And then...
"We have... made mistakes, yes..."
Everypony turned to look towards the opposite side of the chamber.
Theanim Mane stood still, his head hanging lengthily in the torchlight. "...but our Queen was always... always a loving Goddess. She knew that—deep down—we had faith in her... faith that could move mountains." He slowly shook his head. "No... it wasn't a lack of faith that did this."
Ponies and griffons stared in dumb silence.
Starstorm and Keris exchanged quiet glances.
"It... it was the Rogue..." Chandler gulped. "She said so herself..."
"You're a representative of the Order, Professor Mane," uttered a guard. "And yet... did the Blight not blind you as well?"
Theanim took a deep breath. "Almost," he said. "But I saw enough... witnessed enough."
"Then you know what happened inside Verlaxion's throneroom?"
"Yes..." Theanim nodded solemnly, staring at the dead body in the center of them all. "I saw everything."
"Please..." A mare held her foals close, sniffling. "Tell us, Professor... what really happened?"
"Was this really the work of the Rainbow Rogue?"
Theanim bit his lip. After a cold breath, he spoke: "As a scientist of the Order... I am bound to tell the truth... to seek it out and profess it from every corner of the Queen's blessed landscape. Even in the darkest hour, it is what frees us... what liberates us from the shackles of fear and complacency." He gulped. "And I must... whole-heartedly... and affirmatively state... that... th-that..." His lips trembled. His eyes darted up, staring past Keris and Starstorm.
"You bet your bucking life..."
Rainbow Dash stared firmly across the throneroom.
"I will protect Echo with my life," she said. "There will be a peaceful end to this. Someway... somehow..." She gazed at the Herald and the Talon. "Maybe after I've returned with the Harmonic Prism... maybe after the Sundering's been undone. But someday... all of this will be fixed." She shuddered in place. "This land will know peace..." She gulped. "...and it will be delivered from Verlax's curse... just as I will fight to deliver all of this plane from Urohringr's."
"How... how can you s-say that?!" Theanim exclaimed. He hung his head, shuddering. "You cannot have peace without truth."
Rainbow trotted towards him. "Professor..."
"It's wrong, Rainbow!" Theanim gnashed his teeth. "I'm sorry... but it's wrong! So many ponies... living in the dark... and for what?!"
Rainbow placed a hoof on his shoulder. "So they can live." She tilted his chin back up. "And you're the kind of pony that can help them do just that."
"I... I d-don't think I c-can..." Theanim wept, staring weakly at her. "Not with what I know... n-not with the accursed burden that you are unjustly forced to bear!"
"I'm not too hot with the burden you and Keris are carrying either," Rainbow said. "But we all know what will happen if the rug is pulled out from beneath these ponies. They've been waiting for decades for an excuse to eat each other alive. Well... I'm not about to give them one. Are you?"
Theanim shook... shuddered... but he had no more words to say.
Rainbow leaned in, nuzzling him close. "You're an okay pony, doc. An awesome pony. And awesome ponies like us... awesome souls like you and me and Keris... we have what it takes to make a difference where the rest of the world is too weak or too scared or too feeble." She caressed his chin. "You may be lying by word of muzzle... but be honest through example. Teach these foals of Verlaxion harmony. Teach them how to achieve 'unification' through joy, peace, and togetherness. It might take a lifetime... it might take several... but no windigoes can stand up against that."
Theanim stared back, calming slightly.
"Remember what you told me, Doc?" Rainbow arched an eyebrow. "That there are no villains in this world? Well, you're right. Life's waaaaay too complicated for that." She gazed at the Herald, the Talon, then back at him. "But this life can still afford heroes... even if some of them can't show their faces." She took a deep breath. "Villains may not purely exist in reality, but they can still exist in ponies' minds. Today, you and I must create a villain... and that very monster is me."
Theanim slowly shook his head. "You do not deserve it."
"Story of my life," Rainbow said. "Now... be the beacon of harmony that this kingdom needs. Live, Doc... and help others live with you. And someday... however near or far... we'll meet again..." Her eyes glistened above a tender smile. "...and we can exchange those stories together."
"I'm pretty sure that they'll be awesome...
Theanim Mane trembled before the crowd holed up in the Frosted Shelves.
"And I must... whole-heartedly... and affirmatively state... that... th-that..." He stared past Starstorm and Keris. He closed his eyes. Then—after a seething breath—he reopened them, tears flowing. "...the Rainbow Rogue is a monster!"
The crowd murmured. Chandler and Hymnos listened intently.
"She slew our Goddess! Queen Verlaxion!" Theanim hissed, "And we must not rest until every shred of the Blight has been vanquished from our lands!"
Every pony and griffon nodded in agreement. A tempered warmth rose through the crowd, in stark contrast to the hideous blizzard rampaging outside.
"And I do not simply speak of the wounds that the Rainbow Rogue has nefariously dealt to our beloved Unifier!" Theanim breathed, heaved, and shouted: "But I speak of the festering disease that has welcomed such a malicious entity into the heart of our very kingdom to begin with!"
Seraphimus could scarcely breathe.
She hurled herself over and under snow flurries, dodging the gray streaks of windigoes and their thrashing limbs.
With a determined twirl, the Commander threw herself upright, continuing her epic glide towards the southern shores of Frostknife... all the while outracing a solidifying valley of ice forming beneath her in the blighted waters.
"For too long, we have allowed pain... anger... and ignorance to wreak havoc in our souls...
West of Starkiss...
Desperately outflying the rampaging snowstorms and the windigoes therein...
Armored messengers of the Central Guard flew as fast as their wings could carry them.
Griffons and pegasi squinted against the biting winds. At the sound of ghostly shrieks, they glanced behind themselves. Then—signaling to one another—they spread apart... flocking towards separate Prefectures in a desperate attempt to warn those living in the mountains, valleys, and farmsteads below.
"We were not unified because of our resilience or the thickness of our skin, but because of our humility and our willingness to work with one another...
Ponies in Consortium uniforms hollered, gesturing across the snow-speckled railyards of Steamfall.
One by one, they escorted the villagers of Braum safely into steel-reinforced warehouses and bunkers.
Locomotives and other large machines were abandoned as workers and natives joined as one, taking shelter inside the massive buildings.
"Verlaxion recognized in each of us an affinity towards harmony... the desire for peace... and the willingness to work with one another despite our tribal differences...
The last to enter a series of warehouses was Sarda and his closest companions. Several shadows streaked over the industrial earth. Sarda paused, tilting his stubbled chin towards the skies. He and his companions gasped as a herd of equine torsos descended upon the Prefecture.
The windigoes clipped rooftops, shattering debris across the streets and alleyways of Kunmane.
Every road and courtyard was abandoned. Ponies took shelter, huddled deep inside the largest and wealthiest of households as the windigoes began wreaking havoc.
From a slitted window, Sweet and Reeds peered out. The siblings trembled, then crept deeper into shelter, huddling alongside Nana Pearl and the rest of their clan.
"Because if there's anything that has ever unified us, it is the overwhelming sense of family...
"We all belong to one another... we are all foaled to help one another...
Limestone roosts toppeled like dominoes. Wooden structures turned to ice, then shattered into hundreds of pieces from the merest windigo touch. Driftwood locked into place, frozen in fresh rivers while the shadows of windigoes streaked overhead.
Inside a deep cave, dozens of griffon families huddled with their hatchlings. They weren't alone; messengers from the Central Guard formed a shield wall around them... as well as the Luminards in their midst.
Nicro, Sonikah, and several more pious ponies gazed out at the rampaging blizzard with meditative breaths.
"It was this warmth within our hearts that Verlaxion recognized...
"And when she approached us... it was not as a Queen or a Goddess... but as a matronly soul, gathering us up like her own foals...
Windigoes swept over the ashen ruins of Wyvern Point, laying to waste the last remaining foundation of the once-glorious sanctuary.
A batallion of the Central Guard had retreated to a narrow niche between rising mountain peaks. There, they hid alongside a smattering of prison carts filled to the brim with shackled wyverns and Snow-Blood ponies. The prisoners gazed at the sky, watching in muddled silence as the heavens rained a tempest of snow down over their former habitat.
"And like children, Verlaxion recognized that we were capable of mistakes... grave mistakes. Mistakes that would make us into creatures as detestable... if not more so than the Rainbow Rogue herself....
"But in even the filthiest of hovels, our true nature shines through. We desire peace and harmony above all else. It will triumph against all adversities... including those that rise from within.
Swelling waves crashed against the edges of White Barge.
The sky had turned dark—black like a bruise. Lightning broiled in the distance. Meanwhile, a flock of pale phantoms streaked west over the choppy seas.
Elsaack galloped from platform to platform, shouting commands to the Bargers above and below deck.
"Yes... through our sins, we may have forged a doorway through which the Rainbow Rogue entered. But we possess far more strength than the Rogue can ever imagine...
Meanwhile, families and foals had flocked to the levels below. Among them, Swab and Croche peered out through foggy portholes. They watched with timid expressions—holding each other close as the windigoes came within view. Before their eyes, lines of jagged ice formed in an eerie trail behind each shrieking spectre, until the oceans were divided up into unearthly glaciers.
"She was foolish to spare us... to think that it would somehow make us more ripe for consumption in some dark, nebulous future...
"The wounds she's inflicted will only help us heal all the stronger. The gifts she has robbed us of will only be replaced by greater virtues.
Down in Shoggoth...
Down inn the glittery sea at the bottom of the ocean...
Thousands upon thousands of brightly strobing figures swam in panicked schools towards the largest of the underwater structures. As the seaponies flocked in from Rohbredden, the local guards assisted them, eyeing the depths above as they escorted as many bodies as they could into the subterranean sepulchers.
Like jutting roots, branches of ice rivered downward, spreading towards the helpless city below. The ever-echoing sounds of shrieks rippled through the waters.
"At last... the Goddess she slew—however tragic—was merely a manifestation of Verlaxion's plan. For now, after so many years, she has raised us... trained us to be free... to stand up on our own...
Princess Camellia swam in place, treading water alongside her wide-eyed chambermaids and bodyguards. The siren's bright green eyes narrowed, and her fins rippled with luminescent poise, reflecting the incoming wave of frost.
"We must no longer allow distrust and hatred to run rampant amongst us," Theanim Mane continued to speak to the crowd. He paced around Verlax's decrepit body. "Cast off the fears of yesterday. Dissolve your grudges and your feuds and your malice." He clasped two hooves together. "Let us commune in harmony... favoring friendship and peace and laughter above all else." He swallowed, then swung a hoof. "No more butchering of the wyverns! It was never their fault to begin with. No more bullying the Colonialists! If we're to survive... we must combine forces with them... for we are all foals of Verlaxion!"
Gradually, those in attendance nodded. The windigoes stormed outside, but their shrill cries no longer shook anypony's spines. All eyes were on the representative of the Scientific Order.
"And if we stay true to the faith that our Goddess had in us... if we continue to pursue harmony as our good hearts and generous spirits would desire..." Theanim took a shuddering breath. "Then these creatures... these horrible demons that our Great Unifier held back for so long... will cease to be a threat to us." He gulped. "And that is a fact. An honest-to-goddess fact." He spun about, gazing firmly at everyone around him. "And it all starts here... in this prison... where we must all agree to cast off the hatred and paranoia of the past."
Murmurs echoed against the torchlit walls.
Hymnos stood up, leaning on Theanim for support. "I, for one, agree with the Professor. He is wise... as always..."
Chandler folded his forelimbs, mulling.
Hymnos continued. "And when the day that the Rainbow Rogue does return..." She looked aside at Theanim.
Theanim nodded. "We shall be ready to vanquish her and her evil for good." He cast a soft gaze in Keris' direction. "All of us."
Shouts of approval filled the chamber.
Keris stared back... but gradually hung his head. Starstorm rested a talon on his shoulder.
Grand Magistrate Hymnos brushed her graying bangs back. A shudder ran through her... one that turned into a song... an age-old carol from Months of Thawing gone by. It was a slow ballad, a melancholic one. Slowly—voice by voice—others joined into the harmony. They formed a mournful circle around Verlax's body. The condensation across her patchwork flesh reflected bowed heads and penitent shoulders.
The windigoes outside didn't lessen any... but their shrieks dwindled in volume, until the tempest formed a continuous... tense roar.
The thunder followed Seraphimus.
Her tail thrashed as she twisted about, shot west, and followed the coastline towards the mouth of the cave.
At last, the entrance appeared before her... along with the waves of ice water pouring out of its mouth.
Seraphimus' beak hung open. She didn't dare make a sound. Outflying the screams of the wintry ghosts, she shot her body into the cave like a bullet.
Immediately, she found reasons to hyperventilate. Every platform was flooded... overflowing with clear blue water. One by one, the platforms upon which stasis chambers had previously rested dimmed... losing their divine enchantment. There were loose bodies sloshing through the currents... forming a train of corpses that flowed in the opposite direction to Seraphimus' flight.
The Commander wept. She squeaked one word—over and over again—in rapid succession. At last, after several zig-zagging motions, she zeroed in on her destination. The griffon descended...
...and...
Her beak fell agape. Numb claws landed in a shallow puddle of frigid water.
Trembling, Seraphimus fell to her knees. She reached out. She cradled a tiny, feathery body... followed by a much larger one. She shook them both, but neither moved. She called out... but there was no response.
The melted deluge rose higher and higher. Seraphimus nested herself on an ivory island of shivers, clutching both bodies to her chest... shaking... heaving...
...until at last she flung her beak towards the ceiling and the sky beyond.
Screaming...
A scream that no windigo could outmatch...
Rainbow Dash's ears rang.
With a brief shudder, she looked behind her in mid-flight.
Frostknife was a hazy speck in the mountainous distance. In its place, Rainbow saw Applejack hovering in a straight line... joined by Fluttershy and Rarity, who held the nervous, confused mare close. Twilight and Pinkie glided alongside, sharing Rainbow's worried look.
Rainbow bit her lip. With a cold jolt, she forced herself to look away from the heart of Rohbredden. She spotted Wildcard and Bard—flying ahead of her with Flynn and Echo in their grasp. The rest of the Herald flew ahead, carrying Logan and Remna as they glided downhill towards the Twilight Lands. And east of all that—twinkling in the distance—Yaerfaerda cycled through a multitude of nameless colors. Never ceasing. Never resting.
It was the only thing Rainbow was used to.
She pursued it at full speed. She did bother looking behind her again.