The Tale Of A Shaded Comet

Chapter 21: Manehattan

John sat up and rubbed his head gently with his hoof, massaging the pounding pain in the back of his skull. Sitting on a cloud probably wasn't the best idea. He was currently a few hundred feet above the ground, hovering over Manehatten.

Taking refuge from his migraine, he had stopped advancing on the city immediately after the horribly familiar agony that signalled an upcoming memory from the life of Shaded Comet. Not daring to risk crashing again, he had pulled upwards, coming as close as possible without blacking out and falling.

Something important had happened here. Something that changed Equestria. John could taste trepidation in the air, hear the faint screams of a burning city, and feel the lives of hundreds being extinguished in a matter of seconds, all from one glance downwards. The city was not burning, so it must have been a ghost memory. One of Shaded's.

"So, to get down to Manehatten, I have to deal with this memory?" John muttered to himself, noticing that he was sitting like a human would. Putting a hoof on either side of him, he lifted himself upwards, stretching his wings. Twilight and the others would be arriving by train in the morning, so he had a few hours to himelf before he had to deal with the troublesome memory.

The moon was bright in the sky, illuminating the cloud he was siiting on. It was a brilliant white in the moonlight, and below him, the various reds and pinks of neon signs glowed intensely, casting the city beneath him into a maelstrom of hues. Thankfully, there was no wind tonight, so he would be able to sleep outdoors.

Smiling sadly, he looked over in the distance. He could just about make out Canterlot, which always seemed to be visible, landscape permitting. Where Rainbow Dash was being kept. Where his only guide was.

Wait.

"Luna? Princess Luna? Can you hear me? It's John." He stared up at the white orb in the sky, mesmerised by it's very presence. It was pure, untainted, beautiful. Perfect. When he didn't hear a reply, he owed his head, breathed in softly, and continued.

"I know I shouldn't really ask, but can you try to...you know...get Rainbow Dash out of Canterlot. I need all the help I can get, and this whole entire thing is so much bigger than myself to handle. I'm trying to get help, to raise awareness of our cause. Most ponies already know that Discord has returned, so they are willing to listen. But, I fear that when the time comes, it might be in vain. It's so much larger than just retrieving Rainbow Dash now...Chrysalis and Discord have taken control of the castle, trying to remain hidden, but it isn't working. News of myself being controlled by him have probably reached all the corners of Equestria by now, and ponies are aware."

"It's just, I don't know much about Shaded's past. I mean, for instance, I got attacked by a group of pegusai in Appleloosa yesterday for no reason that I'm aware of. I've heard rumours about things, but the whispers are vague. I need help. When, no matter how many I can sway to help, the time comes to take back Canterlot and defeat Discord and Chrysalis, I don't want Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle or their friends anywhere near the battle if possible. There's just too many risks."

Pausing for a few seconds to close his eyes, he smiled.

"I feel silly talking to an object, but I have a feeling that you're listening. I need your help Luna. Get Rainbow Dash out of Canterlot. Please."

Finishing, he wiped away a tear from the corner of his eye. Resting his head down against the soft cloud, he blinked twice, and fell asleep.

The sound of breaking glass awoke him from his slumber.

Startled, John sat up. His head was throbbing even worse than it was, and he could hear the voices again. Holding his head in his hooves, he rolled into a quivering ball, mubling to himself.

"I could never hate the mare I love Dashie..."

""If...If that's how you really feel Dash... I'm sorry..."

The tension in the back of his head increased, making him scream in pain. Convulsing, he didn't feel himself push away from the cloud he was resting on. His wings were unresponsive to him, as he shook violently as the memory took control of his senses.

/br/

This time, it was different. Instead of being an onlooker, he was watching the scenes unfold through Shaded's eyes. Except that this time, he could feel everything that Shaded felt, such to the point that he though that it was happening at that exact moment. They seemed to be in total harmony with each other. The final piece of the puzzle.

Shaded was flying over a forest, tears streaming from his eyes. Raising a hoof, he looked at it. It was brown, just as it should have been. In reality, he was only trying to distract himself from thinking about what he had just heard. He wanted to tear his own heart out in pain, but he forced himself onwards, crippling emotional pain forcing him to clench his eyes closed.

In the distance was Manehatten, the landscape dominated by skyscrapers. Even though it was the middle of the night, the city shone like beacon through the darkness, a possible sign of hope. Eventually, his eyes stopped watering, and began to sting. Ignoring his blurry vision, he came to a stop over the bustling city, beginning to hear the night time culture take over.

Spiraling downwards, he landed conveniently next to a vendor who just happened to be selling cloaks. Just what was needed to cover up his flank. He didn't need anypony seeing his cutie mark, which unfortunately hadn't been affected by his physical change of appearance.

The mare who was selling the cloaks, an earth pony, gloomily looked up at him from her wares. He browsed through the clothing, eventually seeing a black cloak that was perfect for the job. He pointed to it with his hoof, and the vendor followed his gaze.

"How much?" Shaded asked, studying the stitching to pass the time.

She looked at it, and she sighed. "Ten bits."

She seems really depressed. I wonder what's wrong with her. Shaded thought, fumbling through a small, one sided saddlebag for the bits. "Bad day?"

The vendor smiled slightly. "Yeah... You're actually my first sale."

Finding all of the five hundred bits that Celestia gave him to cover all expenses, he pushed twenty five of them towards the vendor, who looked at him in suprise. Smiling contently, he shook his head at her insistance that she give him fifteen bits back, and put on the cloak.

It was warm and welcome against his coat, but he still had to find somewhere to sleep for the night. Spotting a hotel across the road, he quickly crossed and entered.

/br/

Realising he was still falling, he snapped out of his temporary stupor and tried to flap his wings. He didn't gain any altitude, but he slowed down a little. He wouldn't be able to pull out of his descent, so he looked for someting to break his fall. John turned around, seeing a building rush up to meet him. Yelling in fear, he braced himself for the impact, shielding his head with his front legs and conjuring a protective forcefield around him as he hit the skyscraper.

Thankfully hitting a window, he crashed through it in an explosion of magical energy, glass and a bit of concrete. The shattering of the glass surely had woken whoever was in the building, not to mention the impact itself. Releasing the magic, he bounced against the floor with bone jarring thumps, eventually coming to a stop against a wall.

Groaning in pain, he held a hoof to his back left leg, feeling to see of the skin had broken and was bleeding again. Thankfully, it was intact, so he just lay there, regaining his concentration. The room he was in was decently furnished, and the lights were dimmed. It was, however, quite cold and eerily quiet, despite the warm atmosphere.

Resting his head against the wall, he closed his eyes, trying to control his rapid hyperventilation. A few thumps from downstairs and a muffled conversation broke his focus, and he tried to get up, but couldn't. He just lacked the energy. Looking to his right, he saw a door handle being turned ominously, and he closed his eyes, awaiting the owners to find him.

"Are you alright my friend?" A soft, almost emotionless voice asked him.

Opening one eye, he found himself face to face with a black griffon. A pair of bright green eyes stared down at him in concern. Looking down, he saw that the griffon's legs had red streaks twisting up his legs. The griffon was heavily built, but was still rather small for what he expected.

"Yeah...ugh...sorry about that." John was helped to sit up by the griffon, who smiled at him.

"Stay here." The griffon walked to the door to the room, and shouted through the opening, probably to downstairs. "HALO! IT'S FINE, BUT I NEED YOU UP HERE!"

John coughed violently, holding his head when it began to throb again.

A dark blue unicorn appeared in the doorway. She was of the same size as more or less every mare he'd seen. Her jet black mane flowed down her head, ending with golden tips that shone in the light. Her eyes were gold, and were immediately drawn towards the pegasus.

Her horn shone gold, and the room brightened up considerably. Looking to the griffon and then to John, she frowned.

"Hayzu, what happened?"

John coughed again. "I was flying overhead and sorta...blacked out, I suppose." He croaked, finally managing to lift himself up onto his hooves. "Sorry about that." he motioned towards the hole in the wall where the window should have been. The pair just smiled.

"Would you like something to eat? Or drink...?" The griffon, Hayzu, asked him simply.

"Shaded. Shaded Comet. And yes, I would. Thank you."

(10 minutes later)

"So, Halo, why did you and Hayzu come to Manehatten?" John questioned them, balancing a glass of water with his forehooves. He didn't want another Appleloosa incident. His migraine had subsided slightly, and he felt a bit better.

Across the table from him, the unicorn mare and griffon shifted uncomfortably in their seats. "Well Shaded, Hayzu and I have known each other for a long time. I lived on the border between the griffon kingdom and Equestria, and eventually I met Hayzu. We recently moved here to Manehatten because..." Halo stopped, and smiled at Hayzu.

"Well, as you can see, we are in a relationship. But recently, there has been an interesting rumour going around."

John nodded, and took a sip of his drink.

"Apparently Discord, an ancient evil, has awoken and taken over Canterlot. But there's more: apparently there is a pegasus, leading the fight against them, looking for help to take back Canterlot."

John choked on his drink, and spat it out in shock, gulping in air as he began coughing again. The glass fell to the floor, shattering on impact. Hayzu looked at him suspiciously. When the coughing had subsided, John smiled awkwardly.

"Well. Here I am."

Halo's mouth dropped open in shock.

/br/

The sleeping filly hiddled even closer to Rainbow Dash. Smiling, she stroked her blonde mane. She had been sitting like this for a while now. The rainbow maned mare in question was hungry, as she kept secretly giving her food and water to the filly. She needed it more than Rainbow Dash did, after all, she was growing.

The thin shaft of light that shone from above the door was a blessing to them both, and focusing on it just about keeping Rainbow Dash sane. A few hoofsteps from outside made her turn away from John's daughter, and focus on the door.

It was pushed open, revealing Luna. She frowned at the pair, her mouth agape in shock. Rainbow Dash smiled sadly, and lightly pushed the filly off of her, and stood up straight, stretching her hind legs.

"Didn't you know? She's John's daughter. I don't know her name though, or how long she's been down here. All I know is that when I see Discord again, I'm gonna kick him so hard he'll explode."

The rage in Luna's blue eyes was all too evident, and Rainbow Dash winced and turned away as the Princess of the night shook in anger.

"How could...that monster." The metaphorical venom she spat made the entire room vibrate with energy, making Rainbow Dash stumble. When it ceased, the pegasus smiled shyly up at the Princess, trying to keep her calm.

"Why are you here Princess?"

In an instant, the Princess lost all traces of anger, immediately calming down. After closing the door, Luna smiled reassuringly at her and the filly.

/br/

John groaned. As usual, his head was pounding as if something was beating it like a drum, constantly giving him a headache to end all headaches. He had slept in a guest bedroom, kindly donated by Hayzu and Halo, and had just woken up. Sometimes it felt as if nothing was wrong, that everything was perfect. Well, not perfect, but the way it used to be.

And then he remembered.

Grunting, he pushed himself out of his bed, and towards the convenient bathroom located nearby. Relieving himself, he then turned the hot water tap to the bath around several times telekinetically, and watched as the instantly heated bliss shot out of the spout. Smiling slightly, he watched as the bath began to fill up steadily, watching the light from the window spill onto the growing pool and sparkle.

Waiting patiently for it to reach a suitable level, he sat down, bipedal style, on the toilet seat and thought carefully.

It seems that my plight has become famous, but it's quite funny. The rumours I've heard always have me named as "a pegasus", never as Shaded Comet. It's peculiar. I'll have to ask Twilight about why that is, because there seems to be a legitimate reason why "my" name isn't mentioned.

Realising that the bath was almost full, he turned off the water flow with his magic, and carefully climbed in. Groggily, but thankfully, aware of the hot water, he allowed himself to relax, his muscles untensing as he slowly awoke from the last effects of sleep. Closing his eyes, he let his head fall backwards, unwinding. His worries seeped out into the heat of the bath water, and he sighed in relief. All the tension and flowed away from him, as did a few days of dirt and grime.

(10 minutes later)

John dried himself off with a few shakes of his entire body. Still feeling slightly wet, he went back into his gifted temporary lodging whilst he was in Manehatten, and opened the window enough for him to crawl out. With a smile, he crouched, using his wings to support him, looking down at the bustling city benath him. Even though he wasn't that high up, he could only just about make out the coat colours of individual ponies on the streets.

With a manic grin and a chuckle, he spread his forehooves out to the side, letting gravity take hold of him. The air resistance blew any moisture that remained on his body and in his mane, leaving them bone dry, just as he liked it. Still freefalling, he decided to have some fun with the ponies beneath him, and made it look as if he was falling, screaming out for help.

A few ponies noticed immediately, and pointed upwards, gasping. Screeching, he prepared himself for the main part of the act, watching the high rise buildings fly upwards as he neared the ground.

At the last possible second, his wings snapped open, and he shot forwards with the momentum, leaving a crowd of startled and annoyed residents behind him, speeding along the paths, a few feet above the ground. Every time there was a pony in the way, he nimbly weaved around them, laughing as he did so. Slowly remebering his sombre composure, he smirked as he pulled upwards, flying back to Hayzu and Halo's apartment.

Landing nimbly on the windowsill of the open bathroom window, he slid inside, and closed the glass panel behind him. Walking back into the bedroom, he found himself face to face with a confused griffon. Laughing him off, he shrugged and looked out of the floor to ceiling window towards Canterlot, sighing as he did so.

/br/

John stood waiting patiently at the Manehatten Train Station, watching the arriving train for Twilight and her friends. Fortunately, the allies they had collected thus far would not be with them; they'd be rounding up support in their own cities and towns, and would later meet them in Ponyville. Eventually spotting the purple unicorn, he waved at her with his right forehoof, and smiled slightly.

It had been something that, funnily enough, Pinkie Pie had taught him. To laugh in the face of fear. To be completely honest, he was practically shaking in his hooves. He had no idea what awaited them in Canterlot, or what his building army would like. Shaking his head in temporary dismissal at his thoughts, he grinned widely when Twilight approached, the others not far behind. Rarity was almost gushing at the bedazzling interior of the Manehatten Train Station, and had to pulled along by Applejack.

"Welcome!" He twirled around once, throwing his front hooves open sarcastically. Twilight blinked, beamed at him, and shook her head at the same time. They didn't have any luggage; that was all brought preemptively by an earlier train, and John had transported it all to their hotel. Said hotel was strangely familiar, but very welcoming.

Without pausing to talk to the others, he quickly signalled for them to follow him, whilst he trotted ahead, concentrating on trying to figure out why their hotel was so familiar. Yet again, his headache flared up again, but much stronger than usual, almost making him stagger. Quickly regaining his composure, he looked at the pony he had come close to bumping into.

It was a white unicorn stallion, his coat the same brilliant brightness as fresh snow in the sunlight. His eyes were a shocking red, but were warm and welcoming instead of scary. His mane, a deep azure colour, was folded back behind his ears. A few errant strands hung over his eyes, but he blew them aside. Strangely, he seemed to be carrying a scythe alongside him, the blade pointed down. The pony turned around quickly, glancing aside at the other side of the street. His cutie mark was a scythe, typically, and a protractor aligned alongside it. The stallion's head snapped back to it's previous position, and he regarded John with a confused expression.

"Uh...hello?" The stallion spoke, smiling slightly.

"Sorry about that. My name's-"

"Shaded Comet."

"Wuh? How did you-"

"Word travels quickly around Equestria, my dear pegasus, and when you have been listening to the whispers of the population for so long, you tend to know when something important is going to happen. So here I am. My name is Azure Scythe, and I wish to help take back Canterlot, and assist in your quest." He whispered, stunning John into silence. He then looked past him.

John followed his gaze, and saw another white coated unicorn with a light blue spiky mane, also a male, staring at the duo, his lips forming incomprehensible word strings as he stood, wide eyed, observing John. His head exploded into pain, and John shrieked as the blackness overthrew him again, pulling him into, what would hopefully be, the final memory.

/br/

The same hotel as before was in front of him, and he briskly entered, eager to get out of the cold. Inside, he refused to take his cloak off, but smiled at the warm atmosphere inside. It was a decent temperature, and was nearly silent. Nearly. A white unicorn with a spiky light blue mane stood patiently, staring coldly into another pegasus' eyes. This pegasus was all blue, and a mare. The pair had a crowd surrounding them.

Pushing forwards towards the desk, he heard snippets of the heated conversation. The unicorn, the same one from the street, seemed to be taking the brunt of a verbal assault.

"He did all that he could, Stargazer. It wasn't his fault." The unicorn stared cooly at the mare.

"He let Cloudsdale fall! He's a disgrace to the pegusai!" A murmer of agreement fell over the other pegusai in the crowd. Shaded felt eyes fall on him as he walked past.

"Hey you!" Shaded cursed at the mare, Stargazer, for bringing attention to him, frowning in annoyance at the group as he turned around to face them. "What do you think about the deserter, Shaded Comet?"

Shaded politely coughed. "Excuse me? Who is Shaded Comet? And how did Cloudsdale fall?" He asked, adopting a higher voice and trying his best to seem confused, whilst looking at the white unicorn intently.

"Shaded Comet is the Flight Commander of the Pegasus Airborne Battalion designed to protect Cloudsdale from the Changlings. He deserted the pegasus fighters in the middle of the battle, and wasn't seen until afterwards, when they had lost, where he was attempting to hide the Wonderbolts' dead bodies!"

The unicorn looked at Shaded, recognising him instantly. "I think there are missing facts to the story." He looked Stargazer in the eyes.

She immediately looked angry, and cursed loudly.

"I think that you don't even know what you're talking about. I bet you weren't even there." Shaded continued persistantly.

She glared at him. "Why are you hiding under that cloak?" She asked, honeying her words and batting her eyelashes, hoping to get him to confess.

"It's cold outside. Nothing else." He replied with an purposeful air of arrogance.

Stargazer scowled, and shrugged her shoulders. "Whatever." She and the others promptly left the hotel.

The unicorn laughed. "Cold outside?" He sniggered.

"Alright, you got me. Why were you defending me though?"

He smirked. "I defend my friends. Nothing more." He continued to smirk until he saw Shaded collapse and begin to sob. "Dude? You alright?"

Shaded answered with a simple sentence, the likes of which he would never say again.

"Rainbow Dash hates me."

The unicorn's mouth fell open.

"How do you know?" He asked, almost wishing he didn't.

"You really don't want to know." He winced at the venom in Shaded's voice.

"Listen, I have a room. Do you want to stay with me tonight?" The unicorn practically cornered him. All Shaded wanted to do was cry, but first, he needed rest, and he was about to collapse.

Shaded nodded weakly, eyes burning again. As they ascended the stairs to the unknown unicorn's room, one thought continously penetrated his mental barrier.

Dashie.

/br/

With a choke, John sat up, gasping for air. There was a crowd of ponies surrounding them, frantically calling for medical aid. Fluttershy was next to him, currently half way through performing CPR. Blushing, he smiled at her.

"Thanks."

The unicorn knelt down beside him, looking him in the eye. With a noticible glint of joy, his eyes sparkled as he did so.

"It's been a while Shaded. The girls filled me in about everything whilst you were out. If you can't remember, my name is Frostbite. And you can count me in."

"You were there."

"What?"

"What happened a year ago?"

The unicorn hesitated, looking at the girls for help.

"TELL ME FROSTBITE! WHAT HAPPENED!" He grabbed the unicorn with his own magic, pulling him onto the ground. Coughing up dust, the unicorn smiled weakly.

"You need to cool it. You'll find out soon enough, if I trust in what I know about amnesia."

John sighed.

"Prick."