Broken Feathers: Frozen North

by That Avi Nerd

Coronation

"What's this guy's problem?" one Glacien guard asked another.

"Dunno," replied the friend at his side. "He's been here all morning. Last shift said he showed up before the sun and he hasn't moved since."

"Huh..."

Which was true, for the better part of the pre-dawn darkness and thus far in the morning, Phantom Knight had been standing in wait outside of the Aquila city gates. The gate guards had tried to figure out why he was standing there, why he was wearing his white cloak and armor with the hood up, and what he was waiting on. But Phantom had done nothing in response, instead opting to take on his previous Royal Guard training in standing completely still with absolute discipline.

Standing guard at the gates to Canterlot castle had always been his least favorite duty. Any morning he went to the ready room in the guard barracks and saw his name next to 'front gate' was the first flag of a terrible morning. Over the years it had become a game amongst the school foals of Canterlot to see who could get a guard to flinch from their neutral position. For the foals, any who managed this instantly became a member of their own 'elite' class. For the guards who flinched, well, after a day with Captain Armor or Major Light they never broke attention ever again.

Though no guard seemed able to resist Princess Celestia's antics. Nopony ever expected them, either. They had all figured the princess would be too busy with royal duties, and over-all wouldn't have an attitude for pranks and mischief. And nopony could resist her antics. Powder in the armor, suddenly teleporting you or using her magic to ever-so-slightly to adjust helmets and plates into uncomfortable positions. Once while on duty, Princess Celestia turned Phantom's helmet completely around, blocking all vision. Fortunately for him it occurred only an hour before the shift change. Unfortunately for him, however, Major Light had trotted by right afterward. Needlessly to say, from the amount of wing-ups he was forced to preform kept him on the ground for the better part of a fortnight.

All of that experience was paying off in dealing with the Glacien guards. Through their harassment and endless attempts to get Phantom to flinch, he never moved. To their annoyance, he just stood outside of their position gathering a decent build up of snow from the light flurries.

"Why is he even here?"

"Dunno. He won't talk."

"Why?"

"Won't say."

"We'll see about that... Bet you twenty bits that I'll be able to get him to move." The guard confidently trotted up towards Phantom, standing in front of the pegasus and blocking his line-of-sight.

"I don't think that's a good idea... He's Euqestrian Royal Guard. They're really really good..."

"Please. He's Caren. Evil, pathetic, worthless Caren." To the unicorn's indignation, Phantom didn't bat an eye to the his 'verbal lashing'. "Maybe you need physical influence." The unicorn pretended like he was going to strike Phantom, raising his hoof and moving it at speed towards the pegasus' muzzle, only to stop short by an inch or two. Still, phantom didn't flinch.

"Hey, I went to Canterlot once and saw some stallion harassing one of their caste gate guards like you are, and the guard didn't do anything. Until he touched him. Dude, the guy didn't get back up while I was there."

"Relax, he isn't going to do anything. He doesn't have any power to do anything here, this is our nation, not his."

"But he's apart of the princess' court."

"The new one?" The other stallion nodded. "Hah. All the more reason to get rid of him."

The wind picked up briefly, blowing the unicorns hoof into the side of Phantom's muzzle. Before the glacien could blink, Phantom grabbed hold of his hoof, rolled backwards and bringing the unicorn over him. Using his hind legs to push, Phantom propelled the guard over the surface of the snow before impacting into the side of the city walls.

Nonchalantly, Phantom stood up, casually trotting over the the fallen pony. The unicorn was quick to get to his hooves, intently gazing at the approaching pegasus while charging his horn for an attack. Phantom pushed forward with his wings, moving to tackle the opposing unicorn. Using a trick he had learned over his years of service, the pegasus grabbed hold of the unicorn's horn, slightly twisting and putting the stallion in extreme discomfort.

"I wouldn't hold yourself to such a high level," Phantom spoke into the stallion's ear. "Makes the impact with the ground that much harder."

"Why can't I use my magic?" the unicorn grunted, trying to break free of Phantom's grip.

"I'm trained in ways of getting past unicorn magic. Comes in handy when we come across a criminal and they try to use it."

The wind steadily picked up. Slowly, at first, then gradually becoming more powerful. However, it didn't sound like wind. The noise being produced was more like a collection of rapidly spinning fans. Phantom's cloak flapped to the side. The once steady snowfall picked up into a blizzard, pelting the exposed ponies with it's bitter cold. But Phantom ignored it. Squirming in his grip, the unicorn struggled to look over at was causing the wind.

Not far from the city gates, in the large open field where the Aurora had landed, another airship was descending. This one was not as large as the Aurora, but was faster, sleeker, and more aerodynamic. Just above the ground, it turned slightly so that it's port side faced the city, revealing the name 'Constellation' on the side. Landing struts descended from the bridge, hard-points at the center of the ship, and and the rear rudder to provide a stable landing matrix.

The propulsion fans along the side of the envelope powered down, cutting their influence on the air around the ship and returning the snowfall to normal.

"Now get out of here," Phantom scolded, "before my friends begin to think that I'm not all that nice."

Quickly nodding, the unicorn slipped out of Phantom's grip and hobbled away into the nearby guard shack. His friend who had been standing off to the side watching the unfolding scene took several slow steps backwards, then turned to follow the other guard inside.

By now, the rotors on the Constellation had slowed to a stop. A door on the side of the gondola slid open, from which a ramp extended to the snowy surface below. Phantom moved over to wait by the base of the ramp for ponies to exit, but quickly regretted that decision.

Before his mind could register what happened, the pegasus was blown back head over hooves into the snow by a blur of pink. The cotton candy colored blur streaked out from the ship, carving a path in the snow into a nearby collection of trees. It bounced off of each one, somehow creating a chiming sound as their green needles flashed white.

Phantom watched the scene unfold before him from his up-side-down position, his jaw struggling for a definitive position.

"Sorry," a mare's voice apologized. "Pinkie Pie being contained within an enclosed space is not a good thing."

Recognizing the voice, the pegasus hopped to his hooves, bowing when he came face-to-face with Twilight Sparkle.

"Princess," the stallion greeted dutifully.

"Please, don't bow, I-I'm still not used to that yet..." Her words were almost spoken bashfully.

"Very well, princess. I assume you would like to be taken to Miss Rainbow Dash?" Twilight nodded while her friends: Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy descended the ramp, all toting saddlebags with them. A small purple dragon jumped up from Twilight's back, landing on top of the mare's head.

"You'd better take us to her." the dragon spoke hostilely.

Phantom regarded the creature with idle curiosity. "Who are you, now?"

"That's Spike," Twilight Sparkle explained, lifting the purple dragon off of her head with her magic and setting him down on the ground between the two ponies. Phantom lowered his head to the dragon's level, almost as if he were about to sniff the creature. Spike stood defiantly, trying to make himself seem larger.

"And you had better not have done anything with Dash!" Spike shouted.

"What's his deal?" Phantom asked, not moving his head but still looking up at Twilight.

"He was in Canterlot as my envoy for the past several weeks," the alicorn explained, pulling the dragon back with his hoof. "So when he came back and I told him everything that happened... he sort-of stopped trusting ponies he has never met before. Spike, this is Phantom Knight, the pony that I told you who saved Rainbow Dash from falling."

The little dragon poked out from behind the mare. "I still don't like him," Spike scolded. "At least not until we see Rainbow."

Phantom rolled his eyes and turned for the city gates. As he and his group tread past the guard shack, the Glacien guards could be seen watching the group from behind curtains, trying to hide themselves. Smirking, Phantom let himself through the gates of the city. Behind them, the mare's 'oohed' and 'awed' at the city scape, which by now had been transformed into a winter wonderland.

"These decorations are marvelous!" Rarity swooned, barely being able to keep a straight path. "I can't believe that you and Rainbow have been in such a beautiful city for sooo long and I haven't!"

"Trust me," Phantom began. "It wasn't like this when we got here. This is one of the worst, most oppresive places I've been to. And I've been to Saddle Arabia."

"Surely it isn't that bad." Twilight commented.

"Remember what Princess Celestia said about the social order in Glacies and the class known as 'Caren'?" The Princess of Magic nodded. "She was spot on. Corruption, intolerance, anything negative that happens is immediately blamed on Caren. Look around, they're starring at and gossiping about you even now."

Listening to the pegasus, the present Elements of Harmony gazed from one side of the street to the other. On both sides, unicorns - mostly mares - sat at street-side cafés, looking in the direction of the Equestrians and whispering amongst each other. Some of the looks they Elements received were similar to those Rarity received after making a fool of herself in Canterlot during Twilight's birthday. Their observation was broken by a pink flash spontaneously appearing in front of them.

Pinkie Pie stood with the widest grin on her face, with a beard made of snow. Somehow, she managed to get hold of a red hat with a white poof-ball on top. "Hey guys!" the pink mare cheered. "What'cha doing?"

Phantom stammered for words while Applejack sighed, bowing her head. "On our way ta see Rainbow Dash, Pinkie."

"Neat-o! Where is she?"

"We've been in the castle," Phantom explained, resuming his trek through the streets of Aquila. "Rainbow got all of the credit for saving Prince Castor's life, so he decided that we would be rewarded with being put up in the Sapphire Suites of the castle, among other things..."

"Like?" Twilight inquired further.

"I'll... I'll let Rainbow Dash explain that... It's... yeah, no, I'll just let her try to explain."

All along their journey through the royal castle, the present Elements of Harmony stared in awe at the elaborate castle and its decorations, idle-mindedly following Phantom to the Sapphire Suites. Rarity most of all took a heavy interest in the Glacien decor.

The ponies climbed the spiraling staircase to the level that housed the Sapphire Suites. Phantom knocked thrice on the silver doors before entering into the main lobby, which appeared to have had a tornado blown through.

"Nelly! What'd ya reckon happened here?" Applejack whistled.

Most everything in the room had been thrown about or completely overturned. The only thing completely intact was the fireplace, but that was primarily because it was a part of the wall. Racks and hangers laid atop bits of fabric that covered the stone floor. Rarity nearly fainted, putting a foreleg up to her brows. In the center of the disaster, Stryker and Archer were trying to pick up what they could of the mess.

"What. Happened." Phantom demanded, stepping into the room, ready to kick Glacien guard flank.

"Calm down," Archer replied, "nopony went through our things. After you left, some royal stewards came by to make a dress for Rainbow Dash."

"It didn't go so well..." Stryker continued, using his magic to turn the carts and racks right-side-up. "Tartarus broke lose once they started pulling out fabrics and trying to take measurements for her dress—"

"Dress?!" Rarity snapped back to attention, zipping in front of Stryker and shaking the unicorn. "Did you say dress?!"

"Yeah?" Stryker looked at Phantom. "Did I say it wrong?"

Phantom shook his head. "I... I haven't told them about the coronation."

"Coronation?" Twilight Sparkle tilted her head slightly.

Sighing, Phantom called out to a certain rainbow maned pegasus. "Rainbow Dash! Visitors."

"I don't want any visitors!" replied a scratchy voice from the room on the ponies' immediate right. "Not after what's happened."

"I think you'll make an exception for these ponies."

"Pfft, and why is that?"

"They're from Equestria."

An intense commotion came from the mare's room. After waiting patently for several seconds, occupying their time with any little thing they could find, the group of ponies were finally greeted by the sight of Rainbow Dash stumbling out of her room. Rainbow Dash took one look at her friends before jumping into the air and flying towards them.

"Girls! Wha-what are you doing here?" Her friends didn't immediately reply. Their gaze was focused on the sight of the object on her fore-head. Rainbow didn't notice and instead flew up to hung each one of them, beginning first with Twilight.

"Is... is that a..." the alicorn stuttered for words in shock. Rainbow left the embrace, moving on to her other friends.

"AJ!" Rainbow flew to her farmpony friend, picking her up in to the air and doing a backflip with her. Surprisingly the mare's stetson hat managed to stay on.

"Hey Rainbow," Applejack replied once on the ground, "what's that on yer—"

"Rainbow Dash!" yelled a certain hyper-active pink mare.

"Pinkie!" the pegasus zipped over to her party friend with the intention of giving her the same hug she gave Applejack, but those plans were interrupted.

Pinkie Pie reached into her saddlebag, pulling out an olive colored backpack looking bag that didn't seem like it would fit into her saddlebag and set on it the ground in front of her. Jumping on top of it, the mare pulled a cord. In a shower of fireworks and confetti, the bag exploded open, shooting the earth pony high into the air, nearly hitting the ceiling. Pinkie fell back to the floor, landing softly in front of a bewildered group of ponies.

"Yay! You're back!" Pinkie Pie cheered. "Now we can have a party! Ohh!" the excited mare jumped and paused in the air with her sudden realization. "Why aren't we having a party now?"

"We have more important things at the moment," Phantom explained, walking over the mare and using his forelegs to pull her back to the ground.

"Hey Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash rushed over to her butterscotch friend, hugging her for a brief moment.

"Oh-oh, hey, Rainbow," the mare quietly replied. "Umm. It's good to see you too."

"Yeah, I'm glad you guys could come." Rainbow rose into the air above the group of ponies. "Why exactly did you come?"

"Princess Celestia got a letter from the Nightingale leader," Twilight Sparkle explained as-a-matter-of-factly. "So she sent us to help where we could."

"Plus we really wanted ta see ya," Applejack said with a smile, leaning to one side.

"Yes dear, and..." Rarity spoke hesitantly, "why is there a tiara on your head?"

"Why is there a—" Rainbow Dash felt around her forehead, her hooves stopping on the tiara that adorned her head. "Oh, that. Umm..." The pegasus fell to her haunches, tapping both of her forehooves together nervously. "I saved Prince Castor, with the help of Phantom and the others, and, well... he sort-of made me a... uhh... princess..."

"Ah didn't quite catch that. A what now?"

"A Princess! Okay?"

The newly arrived Elements of Harmony gasped in unison. Twilight's left eye began to twitch. Rarity nearly fainted, as expected. Applejack's jaw hit the floor. Fluttershy mouthed the words 'Oh my' and Pinkie Pie looked as if she was trying to control and bottle up an overflow of emotions.

"P-p-p-p-p-princess?!" Twilight shouted. She was about to go into a lecture on how that could have possibly happened and how it couldn't have happened because they were talking about Rainbow Dash, but a knocking at the door put an end to that.

Phantom Knight glided over to the pair of silver doors, opening the one on the left. On the other side of them stood Captain Cypher, adorned in his highest tier of formal uniforms, a stoic expression on his muzzle.

"Lady Rainbow Dash," he spoke in a mono-tone, "it's time."

Phantom Knight stood on the edge of a balcony, three stories above the castle courtyard on the east wing, the wind lightly blowing through his cloak. To his right, on the north end of the court yard, connected to the second floor, was the royal balcony, where the ceremony would be taking place. The court yard itself was covered by a sea of ponies. It looked as if most of the capital city had turned out. From his angle, they all looked like a dull blur, most of them having grayish coats.

"Is this really happenin'?" Applejack asked loud enough to be heard over the intense murmur of the crowd. She stood to Phantom's left, gazing out over the crowd. Twilight Sparkle was on Phantom's right, eyes fixated on the royal balcony. To her right, was Archer, shifting from side to side. On Applejack's left was Rarity, taking in every detail she could from the court yard's decorations and the fashions of the Glacien ponies below. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy stood behind the rest, there not being enough room to accommodate all of them. The former of the two was waiving back and forth a rather large cyan flag with Rainbow Dash's cutie mark on it, yelling 'Yay Dashie! Go! Fight! Win!'. Stryker stayed farther back still, sitting up against the arch of the entrance and reading an anonymous book.

"Eeyup," Phantom replied with a hint of frustration. Could be out doing our job right now... but nooooo...

"I can't believe Rainbow Dash would agree to something like this!" Twilight Sparkle threw her hooves up in exasperation.

"She didn't," corrected Archer, looking at the alicorn. "Prince Castor tried to force the crown on her but we intervened, but, when we were paying attention he got past us. That thing is stuck to her head."

"What do you mean, 'stuck'?"

"Bound," Stryker answered, closing his book and stepping up behind the two. "I was just reading about the significance of the bonding and this coronation. It signifies Rainbow Dash being bound to the people, becoming one with the people, as unscientific as that sounds.

"So... she's going to become Glacien?"

"Eh, sort-of. It's difficult to explain..."

Rainbow Dash stood in front of a mirror, start at a reflection of herself that she could never have before conceived of. The manifestation in front of her depicted a mare in an airy, white dress, with a sapphire blue tinted trip along the edges and collar. Silver patterns and designs criss-crossed and swirled over the slightly transparent surface. Atop her head, sat the same tiara she cursed every time she felt the chill from it, every time somepony else looked at it, every time she felt it, saw it, thought of it. She tried everything short of a crowbar - only because she didn't have one on hoof - to remove it. But it never came off. Instead it sat on her head, slightly glowing, almost mockingly.

The edges of the mirror in front of her fogged up, precursors of what was to come. Slowly the fog spread. As it did, the points where it originated from began to frost over with ice. Eventually the faster moving ice caught up with the slowly consuming fog, reaching a point that surrounded the primary sapphire jewel of Rainbow's tiara in her reflection. The sapphire stone shone brighter and brighter, all the while a chill bit at the air, accompanied by an all-to-familiar voice.

"I will be free..."

"Huh?" Rainbow looked around in search of the source, only to come up empty.

"Because of you... it is your place..."

"I'm getting really tired of you... whoever you are..."

"Release me..."

"Coward!"

Rainbow turned her attention back to the mirror, which was now covered in a complete sheet of ice. But somehow, a reflection stared back. She only caught a glimpse of two blue, draconic eyes.

"NOW!" the voice, in combination with the unexpected sight of the eyes and the shattering of the icy glass, forced a shriek out of Rainbow Dash as she fell back on her haunches.

"Lady Dash?" Captain Cypher spoke, entering into the room. He seemed completely oblivious to the fact that Rainbow was on the ground, surrounded by shattered glass. "The coronation is beginning."

"Basically, she will become Glacien, but through magic, not blood," Stryker explained while Rainbow Dash walked through a long corridor. It was dimly lit, save for the blinding light of the entrance ahead of her. The tunnel amplified the roaring of the Glacien crowd gathered outside. Normally this was something she experienced in her dreams as a Wonderbolt, heading out into the arena for a grand performance. But this, the circumstances surrounding this were much, much different.

"There is a certain magical energy that flows through the air here, one I can not explain. One that connects all of these ponies together, and two the Sapphire crystals." Phantom idly listened to Stryker's explination, watching the royal box carefully as King Centauri and Queen Centauri stepped out; the crowed cheered even louder.

This is really happening, isn't it? Rainbow Dash questioned herself as she got closer to the royal box. Still, she could see nothing but a blinding white light. I don't want this to happen. Me? A princess? No no no no, there's no way that can be happening. Please tell me this is just Luna playing a prank on me and when I step through this light I'll wake up...

"It touches each true Glacien, keeping them together and united. It's the reason they're able to survive, and it's all channeled through a conduit."

"Conduit?" Twilight Sparkle asked, taking mental notes.

Stryker nodded. "It's the 'Paramount Crystal' if you will. Without it, everything would fall apart. Basically, this coronation will connect Rainbow Dash's very essence to to the conduit via her tiara."

Okay Rainbow... just calm down... the mare took deep breaths, attempting to cool her nerves. Wait, why is this even making me nervous? I don't even have to do this, do I? The pegasus stopped and turned around with the full intention of going back to her room. Instead, she almost ran into Captain Cypher, who was flanked on either side by Glacien guards. Guess not... Contemptibly, the cyan mare proceeded forward towards the light.

"So where is it? The conduit?"

The unicorn shrugged.

Rainbow Dash continued forward, getting ever-so closer to the corridor's exit. As she neared, the roar of the ponies outside became near deafening, she could sense the air pressure changing. In a whooshing rush of air and noise, she emerged into the outside.

"Oh look!" Pinkie exclaimed, jumping up and down excitedly. "It's Rainbow Dash!"

In a strange phenomenon, the murmur of the crowed, and the small talk amongst the Elements of Harmony ceased at once. Everypony attending collectively gazed up at the royal balcony where Prince Castor stood dressed in an elaborate formal uniform. Just behind him was his father: King Centauri; his mother: Queen Centauri; and his sister: Princess Andromeda. Behind them all, stepping through an arched opening, was the white-gowned Rainbow Dash.

"The dress doesn't really suit her..." Rarity judged from her place.

Under Cypher's direction, Rainbow Dash stepped up onto the balcony next to Prince Castor. That's a lot of ponies... A sea of Glaciens was laid out in front of her. Not caring much for their attention, she instead focused her eyes on searching for a different group of ponies. Not long after she found them on her upper left, one story up on a seperate balcony. She could see all but Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, even from this distance, but could still see a giant cyan flag that had to be originating from Pinkie Pie.

King Centauri stepped up to a podium to Rainbow's side, ready for a speech.

"Glaciens, we gather for a momentous event. An addition to our family, unlike any before. A pony capable of flight, from a land far away. With the rescue of my son, she has proven her worth to our great nation. Now, we show our appreciation by accepting her amongst our people, and allow her to become one of our family."

The King closed his eyes, applying his magic to his horn. The crystals that made up his crown began to glow brighter than ever before. Queen Centauri, Princess Andromeda and Prince Castor did the same, their crystals also glowing. Rainbow Dash nervously looked around, as did the rest of her friends on the balcony.

Moments later, the glows of unicorns apply their magic through their horns could be seen through the crowd. Thousands of ponies, collectively casting the same, light blue spell at the same time. This focus of energy was creating a static-like 'hum' through the air.

The glowing became brighter and brighter. It spread to the primary support columns along the edges of the 'H' shaped castle. Sapphire light shot up to the roofs, tracing along to the center of the castle, focusing on the spire. Spiraling around the tall steeple, the light collected in a ball at the pinnacle before firing up into the sky.

A booming thunder echoed through the air as what seemed to be blue lightning shot out from the beam, spreading outwards towards the horizon in all directions, vaporizing any clouds that were hanging in the sky. The once azure sky itself began to turn a darker shade of blue, almost a cobalt.

Rainbow Dash was now more nervous than ever, unable to think of what these unicorns might possibly be doing. Her own crystal was beginning to glow extremely bright, so much so that she could see the light just by looking up. The mare cast a worried glance at her friends' balcony. To her relief, her friends were staring back with supporting looks.

"What's all of this about?" Phantom asked Stryker, turning his head slightly but not breaking his sight with Rainbow Dash.

"This blue light you see coming off of these ponies is a kind-of aura," Stryker explained. "This is a visual representation of their connection to everything." Now, the stones themselves that made up the castle were beginning to emit a soft blue glow. "They're going to connect Rainbow Dash to the conduit through this process. Normally, Glaciens are born connected to it, but since Rainbow Dash is Caren, this is the path that must be taken."

"Would they have to be close to the conduit for this to happen?" Twilight wondered aloud.

Phantom broke his gaze, transferring it, and his full attention, to Stryker in hopes that he would answer. The unicorn, however, maintained a stoic and silent expression.

"Stryker," Phantom spoke harshly. "Do they have to be close?" Still, silence. "Stryker." The unicorn closed his eyes and bowed his head. "You know where it is, don't you?"

Stryker didn't reply. Instead, he teleported away in a white flash, disappearing from the balcony. Phantom stared at where the stallion once was, sighing.

"Boss? What's going on?" Archer ventured.

"That's what you're going to find out, Archer. Follow him."

The earth pony nodded, leaving the balcony and heading inside in search of the unicorn who had mysteriously teleported away. In the castle courtyard, the glow off of the crowd was steadily increasing, pulsating along the veins it ran through up the walls and to the spire, eventually pumping itself into the sky. The hair on the back of Phantom's neck slowly stood up, though nopony could see it through his raised hood.

"Anypony else feel that?" Applejack asked, seemingly sniffing the air.

"Feels like a static charge..." Twilight Sparkle replied, leveling her wings with the ground to get a better sense of the air. "There's no thunderstorms around, are there?"

"Not quite a thunderstorm..." Phantom commented. He was the only pony present who had the thought to look up.

High in the sky, higher than he could have flown, dark, billowing clouds were gyrating around the shaft of blue energy. Eight curved arms of dark cirrus clouds spiraled in a counter-clockwise pattern. Bolts of cobalt blue lightning arched between the arms, across the arms, eventually zapping the beam of energy in the middle.

The hay is this... Rainbow thought to herself, staring up into the same storm her friends were. Though from her angle it was much, much more menacing. Rainbow Dash was gazing straight into the eye of the massive weather phenomenon. Each time a pulse of energy shot out of the storm and down the shaft of light, the pegasus could feel a small charge shock her where the tiara touched her head.

Suddenly, the storm stopped moving. Even the air itself seemed to stop. Phantom push a hoof out, touching the balcony rail in front of him. He found that the amount of force to complete a seemingly simple task was astonishing. The air felt like it had been condensed into a thick muck like you would find in swamps in the Everfree. This thickness was the primary reason behind it now being difficult to breathe. Even his cloak, which was once fluttering softly in the breeze, now moved in slow motion, resting on the air itself.

"This is cool!" Pinkie Pie cheered. When everypony turned to see the mare, the pink pony was climbing higher and higher, a seemingly invisible stair case beneath her hooves. She casually walk beyond the protection of the balcony, and out over the crowd.

"Anypony else havin' a hard time breathin'?" asked Applejack, breathing in and our heavily.

Rainbow Dash tried to look from side to side, but couldn't. She tried to blink, tried to speak, tried to spread her wings and fly away but couldn't. She was trapped, frozen, barely able to breathe. The only thing that told her that time itself hadn't stopped was the still flowing energy around her.

There was a sudden gush of air as the resistance in the air was removed, and everypony could move about normally. Twilight was quick to catch Pinkie Pie in her magic and move her to safety over the balcony, cheering in glee the whole way.

But that wasn't the end of it. The air started flowing in the opposite direction it once was. Phantom's cloak was being pulled lightly towards the storm, but didn't have enough force to actually move him anywhere. The same was happening with the manes and tails of everypony. High above, the Cirrus Nimbus clouds began to turn clockwise, instead of counter-clockwise like they once were. When it reached the speed it previously rotated at, it didn't maintain it, the storm kept speeding up, spinning faster and faster and faster.

The dark mass of clouds which had to be miles long, spun like the blades of a pinwheel that a foal would play with. Still, the paradoxical speed increased. A suctioning effect was pulling harder at the lose clothes and hair of the Equestrians, threatening to pull them into the vortex.

"Well this is a thing!" Phantom yelled, trying to get as close to the floor of the balcony as possible as not to be sucked up into the growing intensity of the storm. The rate at which the lightning bolted, and the thunder clapped increased.

Rainbow Dash was slightly panicking now. She could see her friends moving, and feel the air rushing past her and up into the storm, but she still couldn't move. Must be this stupid tiara, thing! she thought. As much as she tried, the rainbow maned pegasus couldn't move, grunting here and there with every push, struggling to break free. Out of the corners of her eyes, she could see that Prince Castor was still in his meditative state, even slightly smiling now. The wind seemed to completely ignore his existence. The crowd of Glaciens strewn out before her showed the same plight.

Everything stopped. The Cirrus Nimbus clouds collapsed in on themselves, being sucked into the beam of energy in a single, massive blue ball of light. This same light was absorbed into the beam of energy, traveling down it at near mach speeds, plunging into the spire of the Aquila castle and disappearing.

After a few moments of nauseating silence, the castle itself shook ever-so-subtly. From behind Rainbow Dash, a bolt of energy shot out of a sapphire crystal that hung above the tunnel archway. It split into two separate beams, each striking a pillar on either side of the pegasus and Prince Castor. The light traced along the half circle of the balcony's rail, gathering at a central point in front of the mare, collecting in another ball of blue light.

It then beamed straight into the primary sapphire stone of Rainbow's tiara. The mare's eyes widened in shock, and pain. The searing sensation she felt on her forehead was unbearable. It felt as though somepony was drilling into her skull. A loud crack signaled the end as the beam retracted into Rainbow's tiara. There was an explosion as a blue tidal wave of energy shot out from the sapphire, spreading over the Glacien crowd. The force from the blast was enough to knock Phantom's hood down.

Phantom spread his wings, ready to leap to the aid of Rainbow Dash - who had fallen backwards from the force of the explosion - but stopped, seeing that she stood back up.

The tidal wave of energy faded away once it reached the outer perimeter of the castle. From the sky that once held a viscous storm, small flakes of blue light fell down like soft snow. When it landed on the Equestrians, it merely rolled off of them. However, when it landed on anything other than the Glaciens, including Rainbow Dash, it was absorbed.

"Th-this is... pretty..." Fluttershy spoke in a whisper.

"What do you think it is?" asked Rarity.

"I don't know..." Twilight Sparkle quickly summoned a glass vile in front of her in an attempt to capture the energy, only to be disappointed when the glass soaked it all in. In frustration, she banished it back to her bags.

The Glaciens, both nobles and royals, exited their meditative trance. King Centauri opened his eyes and began another spiel.

"Rejoice, Glaciens! For we have another. Please welcome to the family: Princess Rainbow Dash!"

The crowd gathered in the castle court yard erupted in a massive uproar, some using their magic to launch firework spells into the sky. Those effects, combined with the blue snow-like substance that was falling, combined to form a truly amazing spectacle.

"Which family is he talking about?" Phantom asked both quizzically and hostilely.

Raising his hoof, King Centauri quieted the ponies.

"Now, my son, Prince Castor, would like to say a few words." The King nodded to his son, who nodded back, stepping in front of Rainbow Dash and onto an elevated part of the balcony for everypony to see him.

"My ponies!" The prince called, using magic to amplify his voice. "No greater thing as happened in my life, than my meeting of the young Rainbow Dash." Both Phantom and Rainbow Dash rolled their eyes, unbeknownst to each other. "Now, she has the honor of being a part of all of our families, one of us, for all of us."

"So he was speaking of the Glacien nation as a whole as his family," Phantom commented. "That's what I thought."

"Glacies, join me in extending that same invitation to the royal family. Princess Rainbow Dash," he turned towards the mare, a sly smile on his face.

"Is he about to—" Rarity spoke, but he question was quickly answered.

"Will you marry me?"

The Glacien crowed cheered, as did Pinkie Pie. As for the rest of the Equestrians, each of their jaws hit the floor.

"That's not the family I was hoping for!" Phantom cursed himself, taking to the air and flying towards the balcony.

"What are you doing?" Twilight called out to him.

"Ending this! Now!"

Rainbow tried to formulate a coherant reply, but nothing was said. Her jaw opened and closed uselessly as she gasped for air. For some reason, Prince Castor took this as a 'yes'.

"Brilliant!" he took a step towards the mare, but that was as far as he got. Before he could take a second step, Phantom Knight stood between him and the rainbow-maned pegasus.

"She. Will. Not. Marry. You."

"Well I believe she just said—"

"She didn't say Tartarus. Now back off."

"You'd dare defy the throne?" Now, Glacien guards were approaching along with Captain Cypher from the tunnel. Phantom knew full well what was to come, and braced himself accordingly.

"All I see is a pampered foal who abuses his own citizens, lies to them and brainwashes them."

"This is treason! Do you know that?"

"Don't you mean espionage? Treason would imply that I'm a citizen of this wretched place, which, by the way, I've had plenty of. This entire time we've been here dealing with this pointless a fair, we could have been out stopping the Nightingales. But you think this is more important?"

"Move. I have business to attend to. Like ensuring that my blood line continues..."

Phantom raised a hoof to strike the prince across the muzzle, but Rainbow speaking caught his attention, and instead he chose to listen.

"I-I-I..." the mare mumbled. "I can't take this... This... this is too much..."

With what appeared to be a tear leaking from her eyes, the pegasus tore off her dress, spreading her wings and soaring to the skies above. A rainbow trail was the last thing anypony saw of the mare as she arched over the top of the castle and disappeared, flying towards the north.

"Great, now see what you did?" Prince Castor accused Phantom, who let out his anger in one telegraphing sigh.

The Staff Sergeant spread is own wings, fleeing an assault by the unicorn guards, chasing after the mare.

Twilight Sparkle and friends watched the event unfold before them. "What just happened?" Spike asked.

"I don't know..." Twilight replied to her dragon assistant, "but I need you to recount all of it in a letter to Princess Celestia and send it to her please." The drake saluted before jumping down and running inside.

"What now, Twi?" Applejack wondered as she and the other present Elements of Harmony formed a circle with the alicorn.

Already, the mares could hear somepony bagging on the silver doors from within the Sapphire Suite, yelling 'Royal Guard! Open up!'

"We try to stay out of trouble..." Twilight answered, heading inside to open the door. "Keep our heads low and try to survive whatever fallout comes of this..."

"Rainbow Dash!" Phantom yelled over the rushing wind. He was in hot pursuit of the distraught pegasus, and losing ground. "Stop!"

She didn't listen to him. In her flurry of emotions, Rainbow Dash flew on, blinding heading in what she thought was the right direction. All that was going through the mare's mind was that Scootaloo was out there, and she needed her. She didn't want to remember what had just transpired, she wanted to ignore it completely. I'll find Squirt, then go home. Easy.

"At least tell me where you're going in such a hurry!"

Rainbow shook her head enough so that Phantom could see it from his position twenty yards behind, and slightly to her left. The stallion was flying at full speed, knowing full well he couldn't catch Rainbow Dash, especially when being weight down by the armor, and pulled back by the drag of the cloak.

Relenting only slightly, Rainbow Dash slowed down just enough to allow Phantom to get within a few feet of her tail, but sped up so he still couldn't catch her. In her brash state, the pegasus didn't even realize that she was leading the pair into a storm. It was still far, far away, but it still looked close.

Short flurries of snow whipped by the pegasi, increasing steadily increasing the closer they got to the storm. The flight was starting to blend together, with both ponies losing track of time and how long they had been flying. Above, the sun had already reached it's peak during the coronation. Acting as their only source of time, Phantom kept track as it descended to just above the horizon during the duration of their flight.

"Rainbow! We're hours away from Aquila! We need to land and rest and stay away from that storm!"

"No!" Rainbow shouted back. It may not have been the answer Phantom was loking for, but he was at least happy that he got something out of the mare. "I'm never going back there!"

"So you're going to just abandon your friends?"

"That's why you're going to go back, and send them home. They don't need to be here for any of this."

"I'm not going back without you!"

"Guess you're never going back, then!"

Rainbow Dash lifted her wings up for one final push to send her away from the pursuing stallion. What she didn't consider was the drag this produced, and now that she was no longer flapping, she slowed down. Phantom took advantage of this opportunity, grabbing onto the rainbow tail of the mare. With the added weight, Rainbow Dash quickly lost altitude and speed.

The two pegasi started plummeting to a forest below, passing through the outer edge of the storm. Phantom pulled himself closer to the mare, flapping his wings in an attempt to stop the decent but keep hold of the pegasus. Fate seemed to disagree, blasting the pair with a violent downdraft. In a shower of ice and snow, the pegasi fell through the higher tier of the tree line, knocking loose chunks of ice, snow, and lose branches with them. Using his wings, Phantom rolled the pair so that he was on the bottom, falling back first with Rainbow Dash in front of him.

Seconds later, they impacted with the snow of the forest floor in one massive dull thud. An eiree silence ruled. Even the snowfall lacked snow, and the trees were for the moment blocking the wind.

Rainbow Dash was the first to recover, immediately trotting away. Phantom climbed out of the whole next, crawling to his hooves and chasing after the pegasus.

"Rainbow! Stop!"

"I'm going to find Scootaloo."

"No, you're not. We don't have the resources, or the ponypower to mount a search and rescue operation, especially when a storm is on it's way!"

"There's no storm."

"Don't lie to yourself, Dash. You and I both feel it coming, it'll be here in a few hours and we need shelter! We need to go back! You. Need. To. Stop!"

Surprisingly, the mare did as told. In an instant her forward momentum was cancelled, and she stood in her tracks. The mare turned, staring spears into Phantom.

"Stop? STOP?! You want me to stop looking for my sister? You know what my Element of Harmony is, right?" She took a few more steps towards the stallion, who had also stopped. "If you had the chance to find Nyx, would you? I will not lose my sister like you lost yours!"

Rainbow tried to cut herself off, but was too late. Too late did she realize what words had come out of her mouth, and she couldn't take them back. Phantom's once stern expression feel, along with his wings.

"Ph-Phantom... I... I-I am s-so sorry... I—"

"No..." the stallion didn't really know what to think. He picked his head back up and moved forward past Rainbow Dash. "You're right... come on, let's see if we can find your sister."

Author's Note:

*exhales* It was a rough journey, but here it is. The longest chapter ever. Along with another chapter immediately following it. I... I can't think right now, so I'll leave everything up to you guys in the comments. Ask away!

This is what I imagine that creepy voice that keeps saying 'release me' sounding like: 'Release me' voice from Independence Day except without the alien tentacle mind controlling human part... that can go away. Just interested in the voice

Comments

[dashybrony2012]

Aw I know rainbow is under a lot of....stress but what she said to Phantom was a bit harsh ouch

[Fire moon]

Well , rainbow was always a bit stubborn , but i respect that . Now , rainbow dash emoticons!and one for scoots too!