The Tale Of A Shaded Comet

John awoke, breathing in sharply as his muscles tensed. His eyes snapped open to reveal a darkened room, almost to the point of not being able to see. Realising that it was just the receding thunder outside, he started to calm down.  His head pounded, each throb making him wince. Leaning against him, Rainbow Dash softly sighed in her sleep, rubbing herself against his neck and mane. Looking outside through the darkness, he was relieved at what he saw.

The moon was bright in the sky, about midway through the arc it followed every night. The clouds barely obscured the view; slowly shifting south towards any unfortunate town or city it happened to find. His heart slowly returned to it's normal pace, and he smiled.

After the initial adrenaline rush had worn off, he began to notice Rainbow Dash shivering. It was actually quite cold in the house, and the fire had gone out at some point during the night, so he facehoofed. They had been sleeping propped against each other by the fire, with nothing but the fire providing heat.

As gently and as silently as he could, he stood up and picked up Rainbow Dash with his front legs, using his wings to support him as he stood in a bipedal manner. Her face was cutely scrunched up against his skin, and the shivering slowly stopped as he shared his body heat with her, cradled in his legs. She was surprisingly light, obviously a result of being a pegasus, but not that light.

He down the dark hallway to his right, searching for the stairs in the dark. When he found it, he then used his magic to heighten his sight, effectively giving him night vision. Everything became a lot lighter, and he could now easily see each step on the staircase. Using his wings as supports to keep him upright, he carried her up the stairs, listening to the dull wooden thuds that fused with each step he took.

She huddled even closer to his chest as the air around them seemed to get colder. Seeing a room that was clearly a bedroom, he slowly opened the ominous door and entered, a long drawn out squeel of rusty hinges making Rainbow Dash squirm. The rain was more audible up here; a window was shattered, the glass scattered across the floor. A small bed with sky blue sheets, pillows and blankets was against the far wall, next to a nightstand and a small wardrobe.

Ending the spell to make his vision better, he instead used his powers to pull the blankets back, setting Rainbow Dash down on the bed. Her shivering stopped immediately, making John grin in satisfaction. Dropping back to standing normally, he drew the blankets over her with his mouth, watching her bury her head in the pillow.

"Adorable overload...now." He whispered, feeling his heart swell. He hadn't felt like this since...

It was like when he had put his daughter to bed for the first time. It struck him hard, wiping his face clean of his smile. Rainbow Dash's position looked exactly like his daughter, when she had first worn her Rainbow Dash themed onesie pyjamas. At the time, it was cute. Now it was just a reminder of what he had lost.

He blinked back tears, trying to smile again. Eventually he succeeded, and sighed in relief; he couldn't risk another emotional breakdown now. Dash's soft breathing calmed him immensely, but the bitter afterthought remained with him. The cold breeze drifted through the room, making John shudder. He started repairing the window with a point of his hooves, concentrating on fusing the broken shards together and putting them back in their original places.

When he finished, a rock in the room caught his attention. It wasn't big, but it was probably heavy enough to break the window. There was a piece of paper tied to it with string, wrapping around the projectile. His dark blue aura surrounded it, and it moved towards John, hovering just around head height.

The string dropped off, making the paper fall. Picking up the paper, he saw some writing on the underside. Holding it to his eyes, he tried to read it. It was in Equestrian.

John sighed. He couldn't read Equestrian. He didn't want to wake up Rainbow Dash to ask what it said, so he scanned through his possibilities. Seeing Twilight as his only option, he picked up a saddlebag from the corner and placed the note inside. It had a blue meteor emblazoned on it, John realised as he turned it over.

"A meteor? That means that this house belongs to..."

Him.

Shaded Comet.

It made sense now. How he was drawn to the house in the first place. How Rainbow Dash knew where he would be. A grim smile formed on his face, and he frowned. That meant that this was technically his house.

He slipped the saddlebag on, and walked out the door, turning back as he left 'his' bedroom. Rainbow Dash was still, thankfully, peacefully asleep. He couldn't see her properly in the darkness, so he cast a spell to create an etheral candle to brighten the room. That done, he began to softly close the door behind him.

"Sleep well, Dashie." He whispered as the door clicked into place, and he gingerly trod dow the stairs. His wings still ached from the moment of panic from yesterday, so he was cautious about how and when he used them. He couldn't draw any energy from the stars to help ease the pain without his helmet, which was still at Zecora's.

John sighed. Once at the bottom of the stairs, he teleported to the Library. Or at least tried to. He clenched his eyes closed as he was flung through the air, his wings refusing to respond. With a crack, he hit something. The pain from the impact was almost bone breaking, and he almost screamed. Almost.

With a soundless howl, he slid down whatever he hit, and crumpled to the floor. He could smell the earth beneath him, and there was a swift wind around him, making what he guessed to be leaves rustle. Cracking open an eyelid, he found himself in the center of Ponyville. He had crashed into Sugarcube Corner. Shuddering from the cold, he raised himself off of the floor, only to be pulled back down with a thump.

His head bounced against the ground, and he saw that there was a rope around his chest. Blinking in surprise, he recognised the holder to be Applejack, standing in the doorway to Sugarcube Corner.

"Applejack? What are you-URK!" She tugged at the rope, making it slide up to his neck. He could breathe, but the shock from what he was seeing prevented him from speaking. John just lay there, not struggling, instead staring at his assailant. He was too tired to use his magic and Applejack was probably a lot stronger than he was.

Rarity appeared behind Applejack, her face set in stone. Scowling at the dirt that coated John, she picked him up with her magic and carried him inside. AJ kept the rope, effectively a noose, around his neck as what he guessed to be a failsafe. The lights inside were off, and the door slammed shut behind them.

John felt himself being dropped to the floor, and he groaned as the floor rushed upwards. Once he managed to recollect his thoughts, he flipped over onto his back. The lights came on without a sound, and he found himself looking up at four familiar mares. He didn't say anything; he was too confused.

Three pairs of blue eyes and one pair of green scowled down at him. The apple bucking, hard working, dependable farm mare that was the Element of Honesty, Applejack, was to his far right. The gentle, kind, caring and quiet mare that was the Element of Kindness, Fluttershy, was to the middle right. The hyperactive, always happy party organiser that was the Element of Laughter, Pinkie Pie, was on the middle left. And finally, the somewhat posh, dress sewing fashionista that was the Element of Generosity, Rarity, on his far left.

"If you wanted to talk, you could have just-ACK!" John choked as Applejack tugged at the rope again, temporarily cutting off his oxygen supply.

"Search his saddlebags."

Applejack's voice was cold, devoid of all emotion except anger. Pinkie Pie took off his saddlebags somehow, and began to dig through them. She pulled out multiple items, including a teddy bear toy, which John was positive weren't in there before. Nevertheless, she tossed each item aside, annotating each throw with what it was. Finally, she got to the piece of paper.

"Annnnnnd a letter!"

Pinkie passed the note to Rarity, who read it aloud.

"'I'm coming for you.' What sort of a sick joke is that? Where were you going?" She apprehended John, who was scowling at the unicorn. Whoa, hang on. Rewind. Does she think I was going to put that on somepony's door?

"The library."

"Oh, so ya'll were gonna go an' scare her?" Applejack placed her face inches away from John's, baring her teeth.

"NO! Never. I wanted to see what she made of that."

He pointed to the note, which Rarity had dropped in shock. Applejack frowned, and turned to the fashionista.

"What now?" She sighed, spitting out the rope.

Rarity's eyes rolled backwards into her head, and she fell groggily to the floor. The note slowly drifted to the floor, and Applejack placed her hoof next to it, reading it aloud.

"I'm coming for you. See you soon for some glorious chaos, Discord. Whuh? DISCORD?!" Pinkie's face lit up, and she began to bounce in joy. Applejack twitched, looking back up at John. With a curse, she yanked the rope hard, making him grip the lasso loop in an effort to not suffocate.

"WHAT THE ACTUAL BUCK ARE YA'LL PLAYIN' AT?" She screamed at him, but John didn't hear her.

Dashie.

With a roar, he flapped his wings, propelling himself into the air. He couldn't breath; fear was taking over, and the rope around his neck wasn't helping. With a burst of frantic energy, he sped through the open doorway, dragging Applejack with him. His face went purple from the strain and not being able to breath.

He looked up. Pink clouds were encircling his house in the distance, brown rain dripping from the fluffy masses. NO! NOT NOW! With a final burst of energy, he rocketed out of the rope, ripping it in half as he sped off into the gathering storm.

As quickly as they appeared, the clouds were gone. The chocolate rain ceased to exist, leaving brown, sticky puddles in the grass. His house was seemingly fine, but he didn't care about that at the moment. Looking straight ahead, he smashed through the newly repaired bedroom window.

The glass cut him in multiple places, and blood began to spread as he landed on the shards, slicing into the skin above his hooves. The room was darker than before, and there were no shadows to be seen amongst the inky darkness. Finally breathing, he cast a spell, using the last of his magical energy, to illuminate the bedroom.

It was in the exact way that he had left it. Except for one thing. The bed was empty. He came closer, fearing the worst. Pulling back the undisturbed blankets, his suspicions and fears were confirmed. All that remained was a single cyan feather. Everything slowed down as he bent down to pick up the feather in his mouth, completely emotionless.

As he made contact with it, rage filled his entire being, making him shake in anger. Holding the feather, he flew out of the window, returning to Sugarcube Corner.

Twilight hummed to herself as she studied, her eyes searching for any information that could help defeat Discord. She had gone through almost every book in her vast collection by now, and was feeling a little disappointed and drowsy. Her eyelids drooping, she laid her head on the book, sapped of any energy.

The unmistakable sound of the wind howling made her sit up, and rush to the window. As she reached it, her attention and heart rate increased; there were familiar cotton candy clouds over Shaded's house, chocolate rain drizzling through the sugary sweets.

Before she could do anything however, the clouds disappeared, revealing Shaded, who was preparing to burst through his house. With an almighty crash, the glass in the bedroom window splintered into shards, some falling like icicles towards the ground, most going inwards with Shaded.

She teleported outside, and began to run towards Sugarcube Corner, where the girls were staying for the night. The door was ajar, and she could see Applejack sprawling in the dirt outside. In front of her were the remains of a lasso, and her hat was even further forwards than that.

Rushing to her side, she looked inside. Rarity was out cold, lying on the floor. Pinkie Pie was running around screaming and Fluttershy were cowering behind her mane, like she usually did.

"What happened?" She asked as she helped Applejack up. The cowpony didn't say anything, but looked straight ahead. Twilight followed her gaze. Shaded was walking towards them, his neck bright red.  She looked down at the object in his mouth, unable to see what it was at a distance.

Twilight glanced inside. Rarity was beginning to stir now, moaning as if in pain. But not physical pain. Emotional pain.

When she looked back around, there was a rather angry-looking grey pegasus stallion towering over her. Shaded wordlessly dropped the item in his mouth, letting it drift down towards the ground. His eyes were constantly on the object as it fell in front of Twilight's hooves.

She gasped. It was a cyan feather. But that means... She looked up into Shaded's blue eyes, and saw his pain. Then he noticed Applejack, and growled at her, making her wince.

"Get away from me. Now."

Applejack looked hurt, but defiantly tried to stand her ground.

"Nope. How can ya'll prove that this here feather is Rainbow Dash's?" Twilight noticed that she couldn't look Shaded in the eye as she said that. "Just what I thought. You can't."

"CAN'T I APPLEJACK? CAN'T I? IT'S YOUR BUCKING FAULT I COULDN'T STOP DISCORD FROM GETTING HER! YOU BUCKING HELD ME DOWN! PUT A ROPE AROUND MY BUCKING NECK! BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T TRUST ME! NOW SHE'S GONE! RAINBOW DASH HAS BEEN PONYNAPPED BY DISCORD!" Shaded lowered his volume slightly, and took menacing steps towards Applejack, who was trying to hide behind her hat. With each step he spoke, his voice gradually got softer, and tears sprung up in his eyes.

"AND. IT'S. ALL. BECAUSE. OF. YOU." He poked her with his hoof at the end, and turned away.

John felt empty inside. First his daughter died, now Rainbow Dash was missing. Spreading his wings, he took off into the air, soaring into the first unoccupied building he could see: the library. Landing on the balcony, he heard it crack beneath his hooves. The cold air finally got to him, and he broke down, sobbing uncontrollably as he threw himself to the floor.

After a few minutes of crying, his tears dried up, and he heard a soft, gentle, feminine voice from the doorway.

"Shaded? Are you alright?"

It was Twilight. Not responding, he closed his eyes, and hit himself with his hoof. Twilight immediately ran over and grasped his leg, stopping him from doing it again.

"Why did I have to be so curious? If I had stayed..."

Twilight cut him off with a hug.

"Discord is long gone. But there is something we can do to find Rainbow Dash."

John's ears perked up, and he looked at Twilight expectantly.

"The feather. I can use it to find her with a location spell."