The Returned One

John woke up alone, as he had most every day of his life. He rubbed the tears from his eyes as he tried to push his emotions back down so they would stay out of his way for the remainder of the day. Even so, he felt another tear roll down his cheek as his quickly forgotten dream of the caring being he always craved vanished from his mind's eye.

He worked up the effort to roll out of the uncomfortable bed the college provided the dorms and barely succeeded. He looked around the 10' by 15' room that he normally shared with his roommate. He quickly remembered that is was spring break, "Not that it matters much to me..." he thought out loud.

With a sigh, he got up and began to get dressed, a pair of camo underwear, a pair of loose blue jeans, a T-shirt that was on top in the drawer, a pair of socks, a dark grey vest that he always wore, and finally a pair of steel-toe boots that he got from the college. He grabbed his bill-fold, his keys, pocket-knife and brass knuckles, and went to take a piss.

His mind remained on the blury being (possibly an angel of sorts?) he saw in his dreams every night, her alabaster skin, her rainbow colored hair, the muffled sound of a voice he could only imagine was sweeter then honey. But there was always the hint of gold that left him confused... Possibly a gown, or jewelry of some sort?

Pushing the thoughts from his mind was painful, but something he did every morning regardless. He made his way to the sink and began to comb his mid-length blonde hair. Always to the back, only changing when he didn't have time to comb it at all. He looked at himself.... Fair skin with deeply sunken eyes from lack of rest and malnutrition... His eyes themselves were a combination of grey and blue. Once many years ago when he was still ignorant and hopeful that the world was a good place, his eyes were a beautiful blue, gleaming like a combination of the ocean and the sky, but those days have long since passed...

He made his way out of his dorm, and out into the midwinter day, taking note that it was unusually warm for a March morning in North Dakota. "Of all places, why do I have to be in the frozen hell hole that is Bismarck?" he mumbled to himself...

He made his way to his car, a green Intrigue that he commonly called a hunk of shit on wheels, clambered inside of it and got it running, the large rumbling of a disconnected exhaust pipe being sure to wake any hung over people in the dorm right up. As he got the car warmed up he looked at the sun, taking not that it couldn't be where it was if it was still morning. Glancing at his phone he realized it was going on three in the afternoon.

"Well it's a damn good thing I didn't have plans today." he mumbled to himself as he pulled out of the parking lot for a drive. Little did he know today was already making plans for him...

Taking his car on the highway, John made his way into town, uncaring what would happen that day. After his car got nice and warm he began to head back to the dorm, satisfied that it was running sufficiently well. However, a passing truck hit a patch of ice on the road and flew into the path of John's car, quickly crumpling it. Traffic screamed to a stop as people began to take notice of the accident on the road.

John managed to get his seatbelt off and his door open despite the intense pain he felt throughout his body. He tried to push himself out of the car but only succeeded in having his torso land painfully on the blacktop while his legs dangled uselessly in the car. He felt warm liquid pooling around his head and back as the cold wind began to pick up, digging into his very bones.

He could hear the dull screams of people who could see the chaos unfolding. Frogs spawning from the ground itself, chocolate milk raining from the sky, a herd of bison dancing ballet across the highway.

As John glanced over, he could only think of two things: one that he would've laughed quite hardily had it happened to anyone other than him, and two, that his end could've come after he found that Alabaster angel so he wouldn't have died so miserably. As he lay there thinking, he noticed his vision darkening with a tunnel of light forming. On a hunch, he willed himself through, unaware that he was being watched...

"Hehehehe.... He has finally found his way back." a certain chaotic creature said to himself as he saw the royal spirit with white fire in its eyes charging to the light he craved.
"Indeed," a sweet female voice replied. "I feared he would be stuck in that world forever. Doomed to walk eternally in the shadows of misery."

"Yes, I can't wait to meet him again..." Discord said with a crooked grin.

"No. You will wait until I say otherwise. He needs to begin adjusting to his life before you try to ruin his peace."

"Hmmm, you're no fun..."

"Perhaps not, but I want what's best for him after what happened last time he was home... After he gave his very life to save his mother and friends not to mention the entirety of Equestria."