Broken Feathers: Frozen North

by That Avi Nerd

The First Night

The sapphire suites of the Aquila castle were as grand as you would expect. They occupied the top floor of the castle manor. The stone that made up the floors, walls, and ceilings had a slight blue hue to them. Torches that lined the walls glowed with a blue flame, changed by unicorn enchantments. Of course, there were small blue crystals above the doors and windows, each of which provided their own magical glow. The general appearance created by all of this emphasized the cold air, making it seem like somepony was stepping through an ice cavern.

Ten bedrooms made up the sapphire suite. They lined the outer edges of the level, with grand windows that gave an incredible view of Aquila and the surrounding kingdom. Each bedroom included a blue canopy king sized bed, with white sheets, blue pillows and covers, and a thin blue curtain that hanged down from its frame, offering the occupant extra privacy. Nightstands on either sides of the beds, along with grand chests and dressers that dotted the walls. Paintings depicted what appeared to be grand moments in Glacien history that were over dramatized. A tall mirror stood in the corner of each room. Hung from the high ceilings, chandeliers lit the rooms with their blue flames.

Other rooms were apart of the suites, as well. A lobby with a large fireplace, an ornate blue carpet, and several sofas and chairs greeted anypony when they first entered through the silver doors. A dining room sat at the end of the suites, with a curved primary wall with bay windows, giving a perfect view to the northern lights high in the sky. In the corner of the lobby, the items belonging to Celestia's Task Force 247 were being placed next to the door.

Phantom stood in front of a mirror in the first bedroom on the right side. Making sure the golden sash on his formal uniform was perfect, he went about inspecting the rest of it for any imperfections. Ribbons? Check. Buttons? Check. Collar? Straight. Sash? Nice and shiny. Equestrian crest on sash? Glorious, as usual. Let's see here... fits properly... no damage or moth holes... I'd say it passes. Not like I'm actually trying to impress anypony—well, that's a lie. But the Glaciens are NOT at the top of that list.

"Hey, Phantom!" Rainbow Dash called from her room on the other side of the lobby. "Get your phanny over here, hehe."

Phantom rolled his eyes. He had been wondering how long it would be until Dash called him that. Everypony did, eventually. The kids did while he was in school. Recruits at the Guard academy, along with the drill instructors. His partners while serving. Friends that he made. Archer and Stryker have. His superiors, including Shining Armor all have at some point. Hay, even Celestia did once!

"Nopony is allowed to call me that anymore, Dash," Phantom replied, making his way towards her room. "What do ya need?" he asked, poking his head in.

Rainbow Dash stood infront of her own mirror, staring at the reflection of her in her brand new cobalt blue Equestrian Royal Guard formal dress uniform. It was identical to Phantom's, with the exception of the ribbons, rank insignias, and the appropriate cutie mark on the silver lapel.

She looked at him with a quizzical expression. "Is this even on right?"

Phantom tilted his head to the side, examining the uniform. For the most part, she did a good job.

"Yeah..." he replied tentatively, "but, your sash is on up-side-down."

Rainbow groaned, stomping a hoof to the ground. "Ugh! I've been trying to get this right for the past twenty minutes!" Phantom pulled the sash over her head, turned it around, ad put it back on. As he made minute adjustments to it, she continued. "If I'm a princess now, then why aren't I in a dress?"

"They never sent anypony up for that. Probably because they don't have your measurements and didn't think there woud be enough time to make one for you."

"I guess." She examined herself in the mirror as Phantom finished. "Speaking of measurements... why does this fit so well?"

"We got yours from Rarity before we left. Normally, it takes about three days to make one of these things. Rarity offered to do it and she made yours in about a half-hour. Apparently with a lighter materials than mine, so you'll even be able to fly better." From the room, the two pegasi could hear the main doors open, and shut a few moments later.

"Phantom?" called Archer's voice. The two pegasi left the room to greet the earth-pony.

Archer was standing in front of the silver doors, with the last of the equipment he had been bringing in in trips to the room. Exhaling in relief, he bucked them off of his back and into the corner with the rest. Looking up, he saw the two pegasi exiting the room together. "Should I leave you two..." he began to say mockingly.

"No," Rainbow and Phantom deadpanned together.

"Have too much trouble bringing everything here?" Phantom asked as Rainbow Dash went back to her room.

"At first, yeah," Archer replied. "The gate guards took a little convincing about what I was doing. After that though, it was fine. They even offered to help at one point after I told them the ship would be leaving. Stryk back yet?"

Phantom shook his head. "No, haven't heard anything. And we haven't been arrested yet, so that's a good sign."

"Think he's found something that can help?"

"Hard to say, but, I do know that he won't stop until he does. What's the word on the street?"

"Us. Everypony that saw me, stared and gossiped with others around them. Those that didn't see me, talked about how Caren were being allowed in the city; how the new princess was Caren. Caren this, Caren that, blah blah blah. You know, I'm really starting to hate that word."

"Not much we can do, though."

"Yeah. Oh, hey... are you and Rainbow...?"

"No—" Phantom began, but a startled scream interrupted his scorn, coming from the room occupied by said mare.

Phantom's wings flared open before the noise could ring out of existence. He jumped up into the air, pulling off a perfect Immelmann turn, he pushed with his wings once more to propel himself towards her door. Turning sideways and kicking off of the doorframe, he launched him self off of it and into the room. Archer rolled head over hoof into the room, ready to kick anypony proving to be hostile. Phantom hovered near the ceiling, ready to dive.

He saw Rainbow Dash sitting on her haunches, backed up against her bed, staring at the window sill. There, perched on the edge staring into the room, was nothing more than an eagle.

"Really, Dash?" Phantom deadpanned, slowly lowering himself to the floor and bringing his wings to his side. "You are THE Rainbow Danger Dash, right? Not some Changeling?"

Rainbow Dash stood in a faze. "No I'm not a Changeling! This bird just scared me, that's all. What the hay is it doing here anyway?"

"He is our messenger with the Aurora while it's airborne," Archer explained, stepping over to the white-headed bird. Attached to the top of its body, between its wings, was a blue-tape-sealed scroll. Taking it in hoof, he quickly skimmed through it. "It appears that the Aurora is leaving the city air space, and is heading north east. Got anything you want them to look for specifically, boss?"

"Cherry Blossoms, Mr. Archer," Phantom replied, exiting the room to tend to the rapping on the silver doors. "Cherry Blossoms."

When Phantom opened one of the silver doors, he saw that the pony on the other side was Captain Cypher. The unicorn was armor glad, along with a pair of guards who also had helmets and swords. Stryker, I swear to Celestia if you were caught...

"Something the matter, Captain?" Phantom questioned, bracing himself.

"King Centauri as requested the presence of Princess Rainbow Dash and yourself. It's time for dinner."

How in Equestria can I be lost...? Stryker thought to himself as he stalked through a dimly lit corridor, deep within the Aquila castle. He decided that the best way to find the library, would be to pick a hallway, and follow it. That plan hadn't gone accordingly. At the main entrance to the castle, instead of going straight to the throne room, or down the right hall towards the rooms, he went left. Now, he found himself in what appeared to be the dungeon, lost, at risk of being captured and potentially executed.

Daring Do ain't got nothin' on me! he mentally encouraged himself, rolling past a pair of distracted Glacien guards. Turning a corner, Stryker was greeted by the sight of an exceedingly long, dark, corridor like the one he had just been in. The unicorn let out a reserved sigh. This obviously wasn't the right direction... maybe it's on one of the upper floors. Whelp, back to square one.

In an envelope of tan magic, Stryker disappeared with a flash. The unicorn reappeared in the entrance of the castle. To his side, a group of Glacien guards surrounded an iron bared cage on wheels, that had a black cover keeping anypony from peeking inside. The guards were shocked at the sudden appearance of a random pony at their side, and gaped at Stryker.

After a pregnant pause, Stryker finally broke the silence. "So uh... Yeah... I'll be going now."

"That's probably a really good idea..." the guard closest to him tentatively spoke.

With another flash, Stryker disappeared once again. This time, he appeared in the stair well that led up to the Sapphire Suites, but at a door that gave way to the second floor. By the sounds of it, several ponies were coming down the stairs, so the unicorn ducked through the door quickly. The sheer amount of red that decorated the hallway he now stood in was overwhelming for his eyes.

Red carpets, red flames from the torches and chandeliers, red curtains, red doors, red tinted stone for the floor, walls, and ceiling; red red red red red! Even the normally sapphire crystals were red. "Lemme guess..." Stryker sighed to himself aloud. "The Ruby Suites?" Hearing someponies approaching from around the corner ahead of him, the unicorn used a spell which disguised him. His coat brightened until it was white. His mane turned blue. And the Glacien guard armor appeared on him. Just as the spell completed, two Glacien guards rounded the corner ahead.

"You, recruit!" one of them yelled at Stryker. "You aren't supposed to be here. These are the Royal Family's quarters. Where are you suppose to be stationed?"

Faust! "Uh, sorry sir!" Stryker saluted the real guard, stumbling for an excuse. "Captain Cypher told me to uh... watch over the... umm... library?"

The two guards looked at each other. "The library needs protecting?" asked the other guard.

"Well, we did get that new artifact earlier today..." replied the first.

"Captain Cypher wants it protected?"

"Maybe... I dunno, the thing looks valuable. And did you see what it did to Siri? Turned the guy to ice!" Stryker raised an eyebrow. "They're still trying to thaw him out in the infirmary."

"Geez... something like that? Yeah, I can see why Captain Cypher would want it under guard."

"But send this recruit?"

"Canon fodder, I guess."

"Ahem," Stryker cleared his throat, grabbing the attention of the two guards. "Library? Location?"

"Diamond suite. One floor up. Second door on the right. Can't miss it."

"Thanks." Slightly annoyed, Stryker teleported back into the stair well, one floor up. Exhaling, simultaneously dropping his disguise, he pushed through the doors thinking to himself. Diamond Suites, eh? Gee, wonder what this'll look like...

"What do you think that thing is, anyway?" the first guard asked his partner as they headed back to where they came from.

The second guard shrugged. "Dunno, all I know is that it was brought in with that Nightingale prisoner."

Sure enough, the hall Stryker stepped into represented everything diamonds. White colored stones, white curtains, white flames on the torches, diamonds embedded into the stone all around. Eeyup! Just as I thought... Stryker stepped into the suite, making a beeline for the second door on the right, which was of course, white.

The room it led to matched the hall way, with its white, well, everything. Even the book shelves were white. Stryker was pleasantly surprised to see the the books themselves weren't white! There were two levels to the room, sections A-M on the first, and N-Z on second.

Thought the most noticeable thing about the room was the sudden change in temperature. The glass on the windows was showing signs of frosting, and with each exhale his breath was visible. Stryker even coughed a couple of times from the sudden change of air in his lungs.

"Is there something I can help you with?" an unexpected voice asked, startling the stallion. To Stryker's left, an elderly looking mare with a dull pink coat, a grey mane, and gold framed glasses stood midway through restocking a bookshelf.

"Umm," Stryker looked around for some kind of reasoning as to why he was there, without revealing his true intentions. "Yes, I was looking for a book."

"Hun, you're in a library. I could figure that much."

"Right, sorry. I was looking for a book for Princess Rainbow Dash. She wishes to learn more about Glacies if she is to be apart of the Royal Family."

"Ah, I see. You are apart of her royal court?" Stryker nodded in response to the mare's question. "Last row on the right: Glacien culture, mythology, legends-particularly Palmyra- society and government." As Stryker began following the mare's directions, she shouted a final bit of instruction. "And could you send my deepest blessings to the Princess? We haven't had anything this good happen in the city since the royal children were born."

"Will do, ma'am."

Stryker set off down the middle of the library, eyes focused on his destination. So focused in fact, that he ran into a white marble pedestal, nearly knocking over the glass case on top. The unicorn caught the glass case in his magic, carefully setting it back where it rested and examining it closely. The box was two by two feet of glass which was frozen solid, making it impossible to see in. Wisps of air were visible floating from the glass, vaporizing and condensing back down to the floor.

Well well well... This must be what's causing all of the commotion.

Using his magic, the unicorn heated up the top pane, and the pane directly facing him to see inside. Water vapor rose to the ceiling. Once the fog on the glass faded away, it revealed what lied inside. The object began emanate a bright blue glow, changing the color of Stryker's face and reflecting as pinpoints of light in his eyes. "No..."

"Introducing the Lady Rainbow Dash, and her escort, Staff Sergeant Phantom Knight, from Equestria!" announced the royal squire. That same squire used his own magic to open the Grand Dining Hall Doors.

Phantom and Rainbow Dash stepped through the doors into the dinning hall behind the throne room. Its decor was the same, the centerpiece of which was a large, rectangular stone table capable of hosting up to thirty-two guests. At the head of the table, clear on the other side of the room, sat King Centauri, a red cape tied around his white neck. His golden and sapphire encrusted crown sat atop his dull, yellow mane. The king's glossy, golden eyes watched the pair incredulously as they came closer, making their way towards two open chairs on the right side of the table. Rainbow noted that as she got closer to the Royal Family, her tiara felt as if it was getting slightly colder.

"Your highness," Phantom greeted when he and Rainbow had arrived at the head table and bowed.

"Sit, sit," King Centauri commanded, an air of annoyance in his voice. Phantom and Rainbow Dash sat as instructed. Across from them was the rest of the Royal Family: Queen Centauri, Prince Castor, and Princess Andromeda. "Steward! Bring the food! Now!"

In a flurry of motion, unicorns wearing black tuxedos and ties trotted into the room with silver platters in their magic. The stewards swirled around the table, placing the silver platters in front of everypony. It certainly was a meal fit for royals. Salads, daisy sandwiches, apples-that didn't look as good as those from Sweet Apple Acres, but still looked appetizing- all sorts of berries, and a mixture of other foods that normally Rainbow Dash or Phantom wouldn't eat in a week, let alone a single meal. Rainbow Dash was just about to dive into a daisy sandwich, but Phantom stopped her with his wing.

"The King eats—" Phantom was interrupted mid explanation by King Centauri rudely burying his muzzle into the salad in front of him, send a few leaves flying everywhere. "first..." He released Dash, allowing her to dig into her sandwich. While everypony ate, Phantom slowly chomped on an apple, observing the scene before him.

Queen Centauri was using her magic to manipulate silverware, carefully picking up small bits of her own salad to eat. The blue crystal on her silver tiara-which was more ornate than Rainbow Dash's- appeared to glow softly, but Phantom couldn't be sure. It was about the same color as her frost colored mane, but not as blue as her cobalt coat.

Prince Castor was wearing the same red formal suit over his gray coat from earlier, while a gold, basic crown, sat on top of his gray mane. The unicorn split his daisy sandwich into small bits, combining it with his salad, consuming both at the same time. Even the blue crystal on his crown seemed to glow.

Princess Andromeda looked similarly to her mother, but with her father's red eyes. Her silver tiara was identical to Rainbow Dash's. Its crystal too was glowing. She didn't pay too much attention to her food. She merely moved it around with her silverware.

A few minutes of silent eating passed by with no words spoken between the ponies. Though, King Centauri changed that once he greedily finished his salad. "Fly." The single word was directed at the two pegasi before him.

"Uhh..." Phantom stumbled, looking between Rainbow Dash and the King. "Wh-Which one of us?"

"Her."

"Father," Prince Castor interjected, "I don't think now's the best time."

"Nonsense!" King Centauri slammed a hoof on the table, nearly spilling the cider drinks. Phantom had to catch his to prevent it from tipping over. "We do not have pegasi in the castle, nor have I seen one in person. I wish to see a pony fly!"

"Dear, I don't think that this is something that should be done at the dinner table," reasoned Queen Centauri. "Perhaps at the ceremony Lady Rainbow Dash will be more willing—"

"I want to see a pony fly," he interrupted his wife, turning towards Rainbow Dash. "Can you fly, or not?"

"Can I fly?" Rainbow stood on her seat. "I'm the greatest flyer in all of Equestria!"

"Dash..." Phantom mumbled, face-hoofing. "You're not in Equestria... and you're in front of the Royal Family... behave, please?"

"Then go on!" King Centauri urged her. "Show me what a pegasus can do."

"Fine." Rainbow replied sternly.

With a single flap of her wings, she soared to the ceiling high above them. Flipping her hooves upside down and planting them on the roof, she pushed off of the ceiling, diving straight down at the opposite end of the table. At the last second she pulled up, flying directly towards King Centauri, the airflow that followed her dragged with it the white table cloth. Inches away from the king, she flared her wings, bringing her to an abrupt stop that pushed the King's mane back.

Rainbow flapped her wings again. This time, she flew on her back over the table, backtracking her previous path. Once she reached the end of the table, she rolled two-hundred-and-seventy degrees clockwise relative to the king, banking and pulling a sharp ninety degree turn, zipping out the open window.

"That was... something," muttered Princess Andromeda.

"Isn't she?" swooned Prince Castor.

"Though I wonder where she's gone," stated Queen Centauri.

"Probably to get a cloud and show off some more," Phantom answered as-a-matter-of-factly.

Captain Cypher burst through the doors, and trotted up to the king at a brisk pace. Phantom rolled his eyes, thinking that Rainbow hadn't even been gone thirty seconds and she's already in trouble. The Glacien Captain began to whisper into the kings ears. Tuning in his well trained ears, Phantom could pick out tid-bits of the conversation.

"Your highness... we captured..."

"Good work, Captain. Make sure... dungeon. After the coronation...gallows..."

"Aye, sir. She had... on her."

"Very well, thank you, Captain."

Captain Cypher left just as abruptly as he arrived, leaving the King to sit and ponder his thoughts.

When Rainbow Dash returned, she brought with her a storm cloud. In a brilliant display of pegasus magic, she kicked it, releasing a bolt of lighting, a booming clap of thunder. Rain soon poured from the dark mass, falling straight on Phantom's head. Lowering his head, ears falling on his mane, Phantom sighed. This is going to be a long dinner...

The dinner didn't end until at least an hour later. Most of the time was spent with the Royal Family familiarizing themselves with Rainbow Dash, and her telling dramatized versions of adventures she had gone on with her friends. Princess Andromeda, turning out to be a pony who likes their studies, took a particular interest in the story of the Elements of Harmony and how they were used to defeat Nightmare Moon and Discord. Queen Centauri payed close attention when Rainbow Dash was explaining the vents surrounding the Crystal Empire, of course. Prince Castor hanged on every word she spoke, seemingly memorizing every syllable. King Centauri, however, was the polar opposite. Only ten minutes into Rainbow's stories, he had leaned back in his chair and drifted to sleep. Phantom didn't blame him, about a half hour in he was ready to hit the hay himself.

But now in the Sapphire Suites, everypony had returned. Stryker brought with him a large collection of books and encyclopedias, anything that might contain information about Rainbow Dash's predicament. Archer had long since retired to his room, exhausted from bringing in all of the gear on his own. Rainbow, who had missed her usual naps and was suffering from an inflated ego, also went to bed. That left Stryker and Phantom sitting in front of the lit fireplace, skimming through books.

"Find anything?" Phantom asked, turning the page on his book and bringing him to section P volume three of the Glacie Law Code. Hearing no reply, he looked up from the blurring pages.

Stryker had his muzzle buried into the crease of the book, literally. His eyes were shut softly, and his breath was slow.

And you were supposed to be the egg head... Phantom laughed to himself.

The pegasus tried to get back to his reading, but couldn't. Something was nagging at him. It was what he had heard Captain Cypher tell the King earlier at the dinner. About somepony they had captured, and the fact that she was mentioned along with gallows. And something was found with her? Why would he mention that unless t was extremely important?

Seeking to answer these questions, Phantom stood up, and silently left through the silver doors, gliding down the stair case and ending up in the main lobby of the castle. Stryker had told him about his misadventure in the dungeons, so he went through the appropriate doors thinking it would be a good place to start to find the new prisoner.

Phantom flew close to the ceiling, taking to his namesake and moving about the dungeon completely unnoticed by passing Glacien guards. Whenever the pegasus came across a cell, he would lower his altitude to look inside. Most of the cells were empty. The few cells that had occupants were all 'Caren', making it difficult to tell which was the pony the Glaciens had brought in that day. Phantom would have asked the occupants, but didn't want to risk being discovered in the near absolute silence of the castle dungeons.

Yielding no results in his search for the pony they had brought in, Phantom headed back up in search of the artifact they allegedly recovered. Stryker mentioned his encounter in the Ruby Suites, and how he had learned that that was the Royal Suites. So, with a moronic ambition, Phantom set that as his next destination.

Always getting in over your head... Phantom thought, pushing open the doors and stepping to Ruby Suites. The flames from the torches and chandeliers had been weakened so that they didn't provide blinding light in the darkness.

"From what we've been told, you've always had that tendency," spoke a soft, feminine voice from behind him. The unexpected visitor sent Phantom airborne, seeking cover behind the light of a chandelier overhead. Coming to his senses and recognizing the mare's voice, he landed at her side.

"Princess Luna," the pegasus bowed.

"We are not actually here, Staff Sergeant Knight, so there's no need to bow. We are merely in a spirit form, sent by our sister to see how everything was going."

Phantom continued searching the Ruby Suites while carrying on the conversation. Poking his head through doors every now and then to look inside. "Rainbow Dash is now a princess. We've got some clues as to where Palmyra is. And we're running out of time. Nothing too major."

"Rainbow Dash is a princess now? Interesting."

"Yeah, my guess is Prince Castor has a crush on her." Phantom poked his head through another door, seeing both the King and Queen lying in bed. Nothing else caught his attention, so he went back into the hall.

"Art thou jealous?"

Phantom face-hoofed. "Celestia, not you too..."

"We are Luna..."

"It's an exclamation—you know, never mind."

"Our sister has told thou that it's fine if thou get close to her. Art thou afraid of losing her?"

"Shouldn't this be a conversation reserved for dreams? Not sneaking around a place where I'll be executed if caught?"

"Normally, we would agree. But the problem is, thou doesn't sleep."

"And you of all ponies should know why I can't sleep, Luna." Becoming slightly annoyed, Phantom pushed his way into another room. This one with a large map of Glacies sitting on a table, with pieces marking Glacien troop positions around the nation. Princess Luna was already standing by the table, knowing that Phantom would investigate it.

"We tried our best to help thou through them."

"And I appreciate it, but it has never worked. The ponies I've lost, ponies I've killed... Nyx... I keep seeing them in my dreams. And it just keeps getting worse..."

"How so?"

Phantom sighed, looking over the map. The Glacien military seemed to be focused on the Palmyra forest, with several areas of the maps highlighted as 'possible rebel locations'. "On the train back from the Palmyra forest. I had another nightmare. This one was different, though. This had Rainbow Dash in it. She... she didn't make it. Why is she here, Luna? She should be here! She shouldn't have to deal with becoming a princess, or any of this!"

"She's here because she cares about Scootaloo."

"We don't even know where Scootaloo is, nor do we have any leads. We don't even know where Sky is, or Soarin', or Cloud Maker, or Queen Chrysalis and the Changelings! We haven't encountered any evidence of them at all! We've been dealing with this stupid civil war and haven't been able to focus on the real threat."

"Of what threat? Some far fetched idea that the Changelings can conquer Equestria on there own? Perhaps thou is closer to Sky than thou thinks... This legend... Palmyra. The dragon in it is capable of turning the world to ice should he be freed. Maybe Sky is trying to free him?"

"Aren't the Nightingales supposed to be the ones protecting Palmyra? Why would Sky help them?"

"We didn't say Sky was helping the Nightingales..."

"The Glaciens..." Phantom's ears fell against his mane. "We've got it backwards... Sky is trying to find Palmyra, isn't he?"

"This is a decision thou must make alone. We are merely providing a suggestion. Doth thou have evidence to support this new claim?"

"That Nightingale I fought... he said the Glaciens were tricking us. That King Centauri wants to free Boreas and take over the world."

"We think that you must find and confront the Nightingale leader, and see what they believe."

"But how do we do that? They're in Palmyra and we don't even know for sure if it exists!"

Princess Luna levitated up a flower from the corner of the table, holding it in front of Phantom. A Cherry Blossom to be specific. "Like you said. Follow the flowers."

The pegasus nodded, taking the flower in hoof. He was just about to say something, but Luna shushed him. She closed her eyes as her horn lit up softly. "What is it?" Phantom asked in a lower whisper than before when her eyes opened again. Her fearful look concerned him.

"Rainbow."

It took nothing more than that to get Phantom to flare his wings open. Before Luna could blink, Phantom disappeared, his airflow ripping the map off of the table and towards the window he exited through.

Moments ago

"Rainbow."

"Mmrphf..." the pegasus groaned, rolling onto the opposite side she was sleeping on. The bed had been to uncomfortable, so instead she moved up into the canopy of the bed for a more cloud-like experience.

"Rainbow."

"Hmm.. wha... what?" Rainbow's eyes fluttered open. The first thing she noticed was a pegasus hovering above her. "Ph-Phantom? Go away, can't you see I'm trying to sleep."

"I'm not Phantom."

"Wha?" Rainbow rubbed the sleep out of her eyes to get a better view of the owner of the deep voice. First she saw his green eyes. Then she recognized his voice. "Soarmph!" Before she could finish his name, she found herself with a mouth full of hoof.

"Sh! Calm down, I'm not here to hurt you! I want to explain."

Rainbow kicked up on his barrel with her hind legs, catapulting the Wonderbolt into the ceiling. Rainbow dashed up to him, ready to strike again. "You tried to kill me!" she yelled, hoping to wake somepony. "There's nothing to explain!"

"It wasn't my choice!" Soarin' rushed out of the way, narrowly missing Rainbow's punch.

"To Tartarus it wasn't!" Rainbow again charged at the stallion.

"Sky is blackmailing me!"

"Sure he is." There was a dull thud as Rainbow's hoof connected with the side of Soarin's muzzle, sending him into a bed post, shattering it into a thousand splinters.

"He said that if I didn't do what he wanted," Soarin' coughed, standing up, "that he would kill the other Wonderbolts! I didn't have a choice!"

"Why the hay should I believe you?"

"You need to trust me on this, Rainbow. I don't have much time, and I know it isn't much, but you've got to believe me. Sky is working with the Glaciens!"

"Why are you telling me this?"

"I'm trying to get your trust back. I messed up. I know that. I'm trying to fix that but you've got to believe me! Sky is working with the Glaciens, he's trying to find Palmyra and he's using you guys to do it. He's in disguse."

"As who?"

"I don't know, he won't tell us. He's been having us stay at the Glacien camp in the Palmyra forest until we saw you guys there last night." Hoof steps sounded from the hall outside of Rainbow's door. "Trust me, Rainbow, please."

The door busted open. Rainbow looked over to see Stryker and Archer rush in. When she turned back to where Soarin' was by the window, he was gone, replaced by Phantom's figure rushing inside.

"Rainbow!" he yelled, flying to her side. "You okay? What happened?"

"Soarin'."

"He's gone now," Stryker said. "We didn't get here in time to catch him, sorry."

"No, don't be sorry," Phantom encouraged. "I shouldn't have left in the first place. You should all get some sleep. I'll keep watch."

Archer and Stryker nodded, leaving the room. Rainbow Dash flew over to a couch in the corner and curled up.

"Hey, Phantom?" she called as the pegasus made his way over to the window.

"Yeah?"

"You're not going anywhere, are you?"

"Never."

Author's Note:

Longest. Chapter. To. Date......

Sorry for taking over a week, but like I said, this is the longest chapter yet. Plot wise I think a lot of stuff happened. And Soarin's back! Dun dun duuuunnnn! No, I didn't forget about him, or the main bad guys from Broken Feathers, or Scootaloo, so ya'll need to chill. You guys should also tell me what you think so far because I love getting feedback! :D
I noticed that my writing is becoming fairly Phantom based, so I'm going to try to orient that back over to Rainbow's side a bit more, too. But no promises!
As usual, hope you guys liked it and I'd love to hear back from you on it!
Up next: What do we know?

Comments

[SophieSkys]

Another nice chapter and u said it was more phantom based but its ok cause he is a bad ass and keep up the good work and can't wait for next chapter

[That Avi Nerd]

3566371

[Azhanzhang]

.....Princess Rainbow Dash....... yeah... nope can't see that happening

[dashybrony2012]

Lady Rainbow Dash ...... ugh gag!