The Tale Of A Shaded Comet

Chapter 24: The Eclipse

"Shaded!" Twilight screamed from outside the library, watching the limp form of Shaded Comet spasm and tense as if in agony, still suspended in the sky, almost hidden from her view, due to the fact that he had just raised the moon in front of the sun with a blood curdling scream. The moon itself had a beautiful but sinister halo of flames, twisting and flowing through nothingness, softly illuminating the horizon with various shades of white, yellow and orange. The sky itself had adopted a very dark midnight blue hue, somehow seeming to be darker than the blackest shade of black possible, Brightly glowing stars were scattered in a haze around the eclipse, giving it an eerily calm atmosphere. But to Twilight, that didn't matter at the moment. All that mattered was to catch Shaded if he fell, and finding out what had just happened.

Peering upwards, focusing as hard as she could, she centered her vision on John's contorted face. Gasping in horror, she desperately tried to pull him down with her magic, only to have it dispersed by the dark blue magical field that was surrounding him, accompanied by almost crystalline shards of light bursting out of each eye in a beam of power, which was a heart-poundingly scary, brilliant white of the purest possible concentration. In neglect of her common sense, in her desperation and fear, she fired a bolt of magic at him, the stunningly violet, almost laserlike attack soaring through the air with the speed of a bullet.

The aura around Shaded pulsed as the bolt hit the edge of his magical reach, easily absorbed by the more powerful magic. Twilight flinched as Shaded screamed again, but this time, it was different, as if there were two voices screaming at the same time. It was on the brink of being demonic, as the unsanctified union of the two howled in pain and anguish.

Looking down as the scream continued, Twilight waited for her eyes to audjust. When they adapted to the lower light conditions, she was sincerely shocked. Almost every pony that lived in Ponyville was outside on their porches, standing on their balconies or hovering in the air, positively gobsmacked by the spectacle that was unfolding before them. Ponyville was completely stunned and absolutely silent, wide eyes observing the grey pegasus surrounded in a cocoon of magical energy.

"Twilight!" She scanned the crowd for the source of the shout, quickly spotting Applejack running towards her as fast as she could, green eyes painted with worry and confusion. Close behind her were Rarity, Pinkie and Fluttershy, each going at a reasonably fast pace. Skidding to a stop, Applejack panted in fatigue.

"Twilight! What's happening?!" Rarity practically screamed, albeit in a lady-like fashion. Her glamourous and uniquely styled purple mane trailed behind her, whilst her blue eyes were always staring up at the frightening sight. She stopped elegantly behind Applejack, ignoring the obvious fact that her snow white coat was speckled with dust.

"It's Shaded! Something's happened! We need to help him!" Twilight responded in a tone full of fear. She had experienced a magical surge before, but these seemed to be so much more powerful. Nopony in more than a thousand years had raised the moon, and literally seconds before, a pegasus had just raised it in front of the sun, casting what was probably the entire population of Equestria into confusion.

Without warning or announcement, most of the forces that Shaded had raised appeared around the fringe of the gathering crowds, pushing through the ponies to reach the library.

"Shaded !" Gage appeared beside her, unarmoured, so Twilight could see every emotion etched into his facial expression. His green eyes were locked on the pulsating energy surrounding Shaded, and more specifically, the eclipse behind him. With a growl, he burst into action, rocketing into the sky with a burst of his wings. Pushing his forelegs in front of him to increase his aerodynamics, he felt the hairs on his body being singed by the heat of the energy and fliched, squinting against the light.

The energy surrounding him responded immediately, and Gage was thrown backwards, spinning uncontrollably in an erratic fashion. With a grunt, he collided with a rooftop, and bounced off of the surface, rolling down the tiling and falling back down to the ground with a very audible thud. Coughing up dust that he had inhaled, Gage squinted up at the grey pegasus.

A final scream was heard, imbued with raw magical power which made everypony in the vicinity cover their ears with their hooves and tremble as the very ground beneath them shook with a vengeance. Closing her eyes as she held her own hooves over her ears, Twilight shook her head to rid her mind of the ringing that continued to haunt her hearing. As soon as the sensation had stopped, she dared to open her eyes.

/br/

Rainbow Dash lay, defeated and broken, between the light and the darkness. Luna had come so close to getting them out, only to simply vanish off the face of the earth, disappearing in a flash of light. She had sat in the cell for hours, carefully disabling any and all enchantments and spells protecting the cell walls. They couldn't simply just walk out the door, though.

The little pegasus filly was curled up beside her, resting. She had remained asleep through the entire ordeal, even when the Changlings came. Thankfully, Rainbow Dash was a lot tougher than she looked, emotionally and physically, and could easily take the beating. But that didn't mean that it didn't hurt.

There was only so much that she could take. She had been in this cell for four days now, judging from the twelve hour shifts the guards outside followed. Only recently could she hear the screams from outside as the Changlings roamed free inside Canterlot, and it angered her more than she could ever had believed.

That said, she couldn't show it or unleash her emotions, for the fear that the innocent that she shared the celestia-damned cell she resided in. Truth be told, she was becoming a tad stir-crazy; not being able to fly around did that to you. The again, she didn't have any at this time. Leaning against the dirty walls of her jail, she looked up into one of the faintly lit corners of the room.

Breathing slowly, she blinked a couple of times. After the final blink, she noticed something in the corner of her vision, softly glowing. Was it...it was! A crack! Quickly moving over to it, she put her eye to the crack, peering outside for the first time in ages, the cold air brushing over her cheek. And she gasped.

Down in clear view below her, in the distance, was Ponyville. But more specifically, she looked above Ponyville. The sun was hidden away behind the moon, but that wasn't what amazed her. That attention was given to the swirling and pulsing ball of energy almost beneath it. In it's center appeared to be a pony, and with her amazingly clear eyesight, she managed to see minor details, even from this distance.

The pony was twisting and convulsing as if in pain, and his...was it a stallion?...eyes were aglow with that familiar energy that Twilight became immersed every time she harnessed the power of the Elements. Instinctively lowering her ears, she winced as a scream ripped through the air with the force of a thunderstorm. It was faint, but clear. Whoever was in that energy was the caster, and most definately the one screaming.

Almost afterwards, there was another scream, but made out of words, barely audible but still there.

"Luuuuunaaaaaa!"

It was Shaded!

With a desperate yell, she moved backwards and thrust her back legs forwards, bucking the crack as hard as she could. With a satisfying cloud of dust, it exploded outwards, making the hole around thirty percent larger, but still not large enough for a pony to pass through. But maybe a filly.

The sound of the brick breaking had surely alerted the guards, so she had to act quickly. Prodding the sleeping filly with her nose, she whispered to her.

"Come on! Wake up!"

The filly cracked open an eyelid lazily, before letting it snap open when she saw Rainbow Dash's expression. Before she could speak, Dash cut her off.

"You remember how to fly?"

The filly nodded slowly, looking at her with quizical eyes.

"Good." Without warning, she pushed her towards the hole, just big enough for the filly to squeeze through. Roughly pushing upwards, Rainbow Dash lifted her to the mouth of the hole, supporting her as the filly put her front hooves on the edge. The Changlings were thundering down the stairs, and Rainbow Dash flinched as the door was pounded on.

Giving the filly a reassuring smile with sad eyes, she winked at her.

"I'm sorry I can't go with you, but you need to find John, okay? I need you, he needs you, heck, I'll be surprised if Twilight didn't need you. I'm terrible at this sappy stuff, so I'm going to make this short."

"I believe in you."

At the exact same time, Rainbow Dash forced the filly through the hole, and the Changlings burst into the room.

/br/

John was in that familiar place again. With nothing else to do but observe through Shaded's eyes, he readied himself for what would hopefully be the final memory.

Shaded Comet had never had a restless night like this one before. Looking out of the window to his right, the floor-to-ceiling ones facing the city center, he saw nothing but grey stormclouds lazily moving across the ink black sky. Silently, and as stealthily as possible, he snuck out of the room, quietly closing the door behind him. Ascending the stairs to the roof, he felt... Tension. It hung heavily in the atmosphere around him, like smoke from a fire on a windless night.

The bracing chill sent shivers down his spine, the breeze briskly leaving as fast as it had found him. The moon was bright tonight, somewhat brighter than normal. "Must be Princess Luna's influence." Shaded murmered to himself, taking in the beautiful landscape around him. It would be perfect for flying; the tall infrastructure surrounding the city would create tons of uplift and the narrow confines between skyscrapers would be brilliant for tricks such as barrel rolls.

"Rainbow Dash would love this." He didn't even hear himself say it.

Dashie. His thoughts immediately swirled back into the formation of Rainbow Dash. He had effectively ruined her reputation for loyalty, in the poorly executed plan that was the defense of Cloudsdale. "If only I had been stronger, more prepared." Shaded whispered to the wind, letting his words float away as if they were nothing more but leaves in the breeze. "I am truly sorry, Dashie. I really am..." He began to tear up again, but quickly collected himself. He looked up into the sky, breathing in the crisp, cool air. Something seemed to be moving amongst the clouds. Rain began to trickle down.

Shaded let the rain run over him. He watched as the rain intensified, now accompanied by the occasional crackle and boom of lightning and thunder.  "Wait a second... Lightning? Thunder?" Shaded realised something that he should've to start with. The Changlings were coming.

He quickly flew down to the town square, and shouted as loudly as he possibly could, trying to attract attention. He didn't have armour. He didn't have weapons. He was currently alone, and as such, more or less useless against an army of Changlings. He quickly scanned the sky, checking for any more movement in the clouds. Seeing more, he flew back to the hotel, and grabbed Frostbite from his bed. Shaking him in an effort to wake him, Frostbite groggily opened his eyes.

A "Whuh?" was all he managed before a lightning bolt hit the hotel, making the windows implode and overloading all electronics. All the lights went off, casting shadows across the walls.

The memory flickered, making John recoil as if he'd been stung. After waiting a while, it soon came back into focus.

Shaded was leaning against the wall, covered in tiny cuts and a massive bruise along the left side of his flank. Frostbite however, was able to project a ice shield, using his powers as a Cyromancer to his advantage. He had stopped all glass in the air, freezing the shards in place. He stood still, his horn glowing an icy blue colour that bent the light around it.

The lightning strike couldn't have been coincidentally hitting where it landed. Each strike was precise, pinpointing an area and scorching it. Many of the buildings around the hotel were crumbling, their structural weaknesses already exploited. Rushing out of the shattered remains of the large window, he quickly checked for survivors in the rubble.

Nothing. They were all dead. Changling shock troopers were now descending from the ominous giant looming above them. Shaded turned toward Frostbite. "Can you make me a sword?" He yelled over the screeching of the approaching horde, who were advancing at a steady pace.

Frostbite nodded, and summoned a sword that shimmered and danced in the moonlight. The white unicorn tossed the blade to Shaded, who grasped it in his hooves. "On three." Frostbite called out.

"1"

"2"

"3"

"Go!" They both pelted at the enemy, leaving little room for calculation or foresight. Screaming war cries, they charged over rubble to get to the first wave, who were just touching down. Most of the civilians, by now anyway, had died or were seriously injured, and it was Frostbite who ran into battle, with Shaded soaring above.

Shaded's blade connected with the nearest Changling flyer, severing the head from the shoulders. Twisting, he blocked a strike from another, but was hit by the something behind him. His shoulders seared with pain, and he felt warm blood trickle down. Growling in pain, he stabbed into the ribcage of the attacker.

The Changling ceased to live, and began to fall through the air, hitting the ground with a crunch. The rainfall was now heavy, every raindrop a burden to bear as it chilled Shaded to the bone.

The Changling forces were amassing in the distance, now wary of the defenders. The lightning was getting more accurate, blasting holes in the pavements around Frostbite. The cyromancer was surrounded by frozen statues, a blurry Changling inside every core.

There was an instant darkening of the night, all moonlight filtered through an inky black veil. Shaded looked up.

"Oh my bu-"

He was cut off by an explosion of light, blinding him. His ears bled from the resulting boom. Flailing wildly, his wings were burnt, almost to a crisp. He flapped harder in an attempt to stay airborne, but it was in vain.

The darkness of his mind swallowed him.

/br/

"Catch him!" Twilight heard somepony scream; she didn't recognise the voice, she was already moving to intercept his fall, calculating precisely where he would land from his angle of descent and current velocity. Her eyes locked onto his falling form, watching his limp body drop through the air, his man rippling as if it were made of water, and the light from his eyes fading into nothingness.

Racing forwards aginst time, she stopped exactly where he should fall, raising her head to get the best observation of his progress towards the ground. Now in an appropriate position to catch him, she concentrated on his falling body, willing it with all her strength to stop moving. Sensing the knotted feeling in the back of her skull, she persisted, pouring even more willpower into the spell.

She saw her purple aura begin to form around Shaded, and she blocked all sensory information from the world around her, delving deep into her vast magical reserves to ensure that the spell would not fail. By this point, Shaded was a hundred feet away from the ground, and gaining speed.

Why isn't it working!?

She tensed, every muscle in her body becoming stiff as she tried even harder to stop his descent. A few other resourceful unicorns seemed to join her, sharing their meager but helpful magical reserves with Twilight, all attempting the same spell. But contrary to their efforts, Shaded still fell. He was around fifty feet away from his death.

"No!"

Something was blocking the magic, she was sure of it! Pushing aside her doubts and personal safety, she poured every metaphorical drop of her being into making the spell succeed, sweat pouring down her face, matting her mane with the liquid.

He was still falling. She didn't even judge where he was; she gritted her teeth and pushed herself well over the limits. The world, already dead to her, fell away, leaving blackness. She could feel the extended spell sapping her strength, but she did not falter in the slightest. The sheer pain from keeping the spell going made her eyes brim with tears, forcing her to open them.

As she opened them, an unexplainable rush of energy overwhelmed her, and the world stood still. Time literally stopped, coming to a halt around her, making her gasp. Trying to shake her head, she found herself moving slower, but noticing everything. With a slow motion grunt, she jumped into the air, wrapping her hooves around Shaded as he reached the ground. With that buying them a few extra milliseconds of airtime, she teleported herself and Shaded to the lake just outside of Ponyville.

Time sped up again. With a splash, they both hit the surface of the water with the impact of a size so incomprehendable, it would be impossible imagine it, as is the norm for something incomprehendable. When she resurfaced, coughing and spluttering, she went into a panic mode of sorts, frantically scanning the water around her for Shaded. Eventually spotting him floating adrift a few meters behind her, she waded over to him, wrapped her hooves around him, and teleported them back into Ponyville.

With a flash of purple light, they arrived back where they were literally seconds before. Twilight rolled onto her back, since she was already on the ground, panting for breath. Almost straight away she was swarmed by the civillians that were outside, and motioned towards the unconscious Shaded with her hoof, whilst massaging her temple.

"That was some amazing quick thinking you did there, Twilight." Gage stood over her, a bruise around his midsection. With a grimace, he pulled Twilight to her hooves whilst flapping his wings for support and coughed.

Twilight cast her gaze skywards, ignoring the crowd that was beginning to form around her. She frowned, not seeing anything but the burning outline of the sun in the jet black sky, and turned staright to her friends.

"Did you hear what he screamed?"

Applejack nodded, whilst also looking up.

"He sayd 'Luna'."

"Luna?" Twilight blinked, thinking of a reason. One quickly came to mind, and she tried to dispell it immediately, desperately thinking of other reasons. "No...nononononono..."

She could only think of one thing to conclude her theory, and she ignored the pain, flinching slightly as she cast the spell.

Ponyville, and possibly the rest of Equestria watched a brilliant white flare soar up into the sky, higher than most Pegusai dared to fly, illuminating the sky around it. The light given off revealed the dark blue and purple sky of the night, showcasing the stars that had been hidden by the magical veil.

The flare burst high above them, creating a momentary flash of light that confirmed Twilight's fears.

High above them in the sky, obscuring the sun to mark the situation that should never have happened, that nopony expected or thought in their wildest dreams, and effectively becoming a beacon of loss and a call to war throughout Equestria, was the moon. But in the momentary flash of light, amongst the ever-present craters of it's surface, was the face of a horribly familiar symbol. The Mare in the Moon had returned.

"I DID WHAT!?" John screeched at the top of his lungs at Twilight, who flinched in shock, recoiling away from the newly awoken pegasus. He had been out cold for around twelve hours after his little magical explosion which had resulted in an eclipse, and had literally just came back to the reality of the situation. Upon hearing him get out of the bed she provided with a stomp, Twilight had excused herself from the battle tacticians and come upstair with a glass of water levitated in front of her. The frazzled pegasus was on the balcony with his mouth agape in shock. Twilight had walked up beside him, set the glass down and told him what had happened.

"You kinda moved the moon in front of the sun with your magical ability."

The pegasus stared at her with a crazed expression which, after a few seconds, was replaced with a calmer but more confused-looking look.

"You mean I created a solar eclipse! How is that possible! I thought only Luna could move the moon!" John looked down to the ground outside, glaring at the dark streets of Ponyville. On the streets was a sihouette of a filly, and a heartstring inside of John was roughly tugged at, pangs of pain shooting through his heart.

"So does everyone in Equestria! You aren't the only one confused Shaded! It's physically impossible! It doesn't make sense!" She replied, almost screaming the last portion of her exclamation. She started to hyperventilate, her eyes twitching and her hair going askew. Almost instantaneously, out of nowhere, she was hugged tightly by Fluttershy and Applejack, who started to whisper things to her that seemed to calm her down. After a while she stopped shaking in their grasp and sighed in exhaustion.

Applejack turned to glare at him, her stetson threatening to topple off of her head, but she ignored it. Silently, she picked Twilight up with the help of Fluttershy, who had taken to staying silent, and placed Twilight in her bed. Together they sat down beside her, waiting for her to recover, completely isolating John from them and her.

With a defeated sigh, he ventured downstairs, eager to actually discuss what had happened with somepony who wouldn't go all wierd on him in the middle of a conversation explaining what was happening. As soon as his hooves made contact with the bottom floor, he was greeted by a new but oddly familiar face.

"Sir, Captain Armour and Lieutenant Gage are waiting for you outside."

The speaker was a dark brown unicorn. Due to his slighlty bulky size and his greeting of 'sir', John guessed that he was in the guard, even though he wasn't in armour. He had a slicked back black mane with a short tail, and a pair of seemingly lustreless golden eyes which looked to be gazing off into the distance. His cutie mark was a double edged sword.

"I've seen you before. Who are you, soldier?"

The unicorn fidgeted slightly before answering.

"Sergeant Wolfee, Sir."

"Were you present at the invasion of Fillydelphia? And drop the 'Sir'. I'm a soldier too."

Wolfee looked as though he'd been slapped hard across the face, recoiling as if he'd been stung. After a few moments to regain his composure, he breathed in slowly.

"Yes, I was. I was part of the group that you assisted, and the unicorn who pulled the civilian away afterwards."

John looked closely into Wolfee's eyes. Peering at the dull gold colour, he searched for the information that was always held in the eyes.

"You had family there, didn't you?" He asked, his voice soft.

The answer was short, and actually surprised John with the bluntness.

"My sister." Wolfee replied, his voice hoarse. Tears began to collect in the corners of his eyes, so John knew her fate immediately.

"I'm sorry..."

"I wasn't fast enough..." Wolfee continued, his eyes becoming haunted. "She was trapped in a building that the Changlings were swarming... It was on fire... I could hear her screaming in pain..."

"Wolfee..." The unicorn was oblivious to John, the memories of yesterday flashing before his eyes. His breathing became ragged as he continued, tears streaming down his face.

"I rushed in... She was already dead. I could have been faster..."

"Wolfee."

"It was all my fault..."

"Wolfee!"

John roughly grabbed the unicorn and pulled him close to him. The stallion broke down, probably letting a day of not mourning his sisters passing out in one go. After a few moments, John leaned in close.

"I lost my daughter a week ago. Because of Discord. I know exactly how you feel, so just let it out. Don't keep it bottled inside because it'll only make you bitter."

Wolfee sniffled at the advice, his sobs stopping. After coughing a few times, he released himself out of the comforting embrace, and cocked his head. "Then why do you fight?"

It took John several moments to actually consider this. he was fighting for Rainbow Dash's release, which in itself was a bit selfish. But it was an example of what would happen to Equestria, so henceforth, he was fighting for Equestria's freedom, right? Or was it because he was bitter about his daughters murder?

Shaking his head to clear his head, he smirked.

"For me, for them, for Equestria. For freedom."

Why do I really fight? I'm not Shaded Comet, I'm not some commander of the Royal Guard, I'm a victim, I suppose, caught  by the vise of war. Caught in the crossfire...

No. I released Discord, so it's my mess to clean up. I can't delude myself. It's my fault my daughter's...

"Dead." He murmered, walking past the somewhat relieved Wolfee. Opening the door with his magic, he trod past heavily, in a world of his own. Outside, as mentioned by Wolfee, was Lieutenant Gage and Captain Shining Armour. Both were armourless, which was a surprise, but it was to be expected.

"Glad you could join us Shaded." Gage frowned at him. "What took you so long?" he motioned behind him, moving as he did so, revealing the lamp-illuminated streets of Ponyville. It was filled with soldiers of every kind and gender, all turning towards him, whispering amongst themselves as he walked outside.

Using his magic, he amplified his hearing for a moment.

"Freak."

"I bet he's working for the Changlings."

"Mutant."

Shuddering, he ended the spell, wishing that he hadn't cast it in the first place. His eyes searched around for some familiar faces. At first he couldn't see any, but he eventually found one.

"Go and get ready Shaded. This is the last time you go on a field trip, so enjoy it. If there's any Changlings, just call." Gage continued.

"What am I actually doing?"

"Just assisting the average pony. Go and help them with their day-to-day lives, you know? You might find some recruits as well."

"Cloudsdale?"

"Yep."

John sighed. He had no choice. Maybe he could see how rainbows were actually made.

/br/

John landed on the soft clouds, flinging his head to and from to annihilate his wind-blown mane back into it's normal style. After a frustrating moment or two the unwilling mane was shook back to normal. Satisfied with the results, John studied his surroundings. It looked just like Cloudsdale in the television program, but a tad larger than it was, most likely due to the time difference.

There were very few ponies flying around, so he assumed they were either down below, or in their homes, trying their hardest to continue their lives. So where can I help? John scanned the buildings in his immediate vicinity, and focused his hearing on trying to hear the flapping of wings. Beside him, Rewire Stitch landed and ruffled her wings.

"So, where first?" She asked, looking around.

"I think we should split up, cover half the city each perhaps?"

"Sure."

Rewire took to the air, leaving John alone to look around. He felt a constant chill in his bones; he knew he wasn't welcome up here in Cloudsdale, even if the pegusai were mistaken about Shaded's role in the defense, one year ago. Unfortunately, as he peered into the dimly illuminated streets, he could still see and hear the dying pegasus population. It reminded him of a song that he was fond of, when he was a human.

"I tried my best to block out the screams..." he sung to himself, trotting down the cloud streets. "But they're haunting me in my dreams..." John began to hum the melody to himself, whilst timing his steps to the percussion. Not really caring about the order of the lyrics, he continued from a different section. "I've stoked the fire, seen more pain than you could know..."

There was a rustle off in the gloom to his right, and he immediately brought his forehooves up to his face in defense, springing into a bipedal stance. His eyes darted from side to side, and he shifted his body weight down, moving forwards stealthily into the darkness. It was too dark to see clearly, so he used some of the last of his magical reserves in lighting up his hooves with a blue light.

He kept himself silent to be on the safe side of the situation, and slowly but steadily began to search for the source of the rustle. Breathing in deeply, he concentrated, listening to the silence. Amplifying his hearing again, he found himself able to hear the faint sound of somepony, or something, breathing in the dark.

As quickly as he found himself able to hear it, it disappeared again, the sound gone. To himself, John scowled. How the?

"Your body weight is shifted completely wrong. Your left leg needs to be farther back, and not tensed. If I wanted to, I could have just snapped your neck, and you wouldn't have had time to react."

John spun around to the source of the male voice, and was greeted with the sight of a silhouetted pony, minus the head, which was hidden in the shadow. Lowering himself back down to all fours, he grinned sheepishly.

"You are?" John asked.

"Blitz. Infinity Blitz."

"Shaded Comet."

The two shook hooves politely. Blitz, after finishing the greeting, motioned towards a cloud house across the street. "I know a little bit about you, so let's talk, shall we? Please, come with me." Leading the way towards the house, the silhouette known as Infinity Blitz kept his head down. As they approached the door, a dark blue aura enveloped it and it swung open effortlessly, and Blitz, now revealed to be an earth pony, ushered him inside, and closed the door behind them.

"If you were wondering, Cloudsdale isn't exactly all sunshine and rainbows at the moment, so it's not wise to stay out on the streets." Blitz said, before turning on the light. John got his first real look at him.

He was light grey, and his mane and tail were a dark blue. His eyes sparkled with enthusiasm but were layered with other indescribable emotions and were no doubt always searching for the first instance of danger, thus he constantly kept his guard up. As for his height, he was a bit smaller than Shaded, but that was countered by the fact that he looked a bit more muscular. His cutie mark was the number eight lying on it's side: the infinity symbol. Huh. Convenient.

"As for why I was out there, I was patrolling when I saw you."

"Patrolling? Are you a member of the Royal Guard? And how the bloody hell are you standing up here?"

"The answer your first question, yes. To answer your second, cloud walking spell. My brother has to renew it every couple of days, but it works."

Okay then. John raised an eyebrow at him. "Shouldn't you be in Ponyville if you're in the Royal Guard?"

"I was, until last night. I came up here with the help of my sister and my brother to see if anything had been affected by that magical explosion of yours."

"Oh...that. Yeah," John rubbed the back of his neck, "That was awkward. But then again, we now know that the Changlings have taken over Canterlot because Luna's back in the moon."

"Excuse me? Back IN the MOON? She was attacked?"

"I have no idea. All I know is that we need to act fast."

Blitz nodded slowly, and then frowned up at the ceiling. Realising that they were standing in the hallway, he entered what could only be a front room and sat down, before motioning for John to sit as well.

"What's going on in here then?" A unicorn waltzed into the room, before launching himself onto another chair. The unicorn, obviously a stallion, was a very bright cyan colour that was slighlty tilted towards the green side, with a mane that could only be described as blue. His eyes were dark blue.

"Sup 'lil bro? Who's this?"

"This is Shaded. He's leading the counter attack on Canterlot." Blitz replied to his older brother, smirking slightly. "Sorry Shaded, this is Lazer Bright, my older brother."

John nodded at him. "Hey Shaded."

Hold it! HIS MOUTH DIDN'T MOVE!

"Am I imagining things or did you just speak without moving your mouth?"

Bright grinned widely. "Yup. It's not my specific talent, but it's a part of it." he motioned towards his cutie mark. It was a eighth-note shaped black lightning bolt hitting a read and white target. "Cool, ain't it?"

John leaned forwards, interested in these two. They both had individual talents that would come in very handy, so was it worth it to ask? Blitz was already in the guard, but what about his team to get inside?

"Bright, Blitz? How are your combat skills?"

Blitz looked thoughtful for a moment, before answering. Bright sat up straight in a pose similar to what John always thought Lyra sat like.

"If I cast a wing spell, I can use my magic to fire bursts of magic. If I'm on the ground, I dodge and wait for an opening, and then strike. But, if you need me to be stealthy, I can do that to." Bright said, looking over towards the door nearer the end of his short description.

"Well, I prefer tackling and using judo on enemies, but I can hold my own in a hoof fight." Blitz slowly answered.

"So, you are quick with dispatching opponents?" John persisted. He reaudjusted his position on the sofa, sitting in a bipedal manner.

"I suppose so."

"So, would you two be interested in helping me? I'm searching for a team to get into Canterlot during a diversionary attack, to obtain the Elements of Harmony."

The brothers shared a quick galnce at each other, before grinning widely and nodding together.

/br/

"So, Rewire, did you manage to recruit anypony?"

"Yeah, two ponies in fact. I have a feeling in my gut that they'll be helpful. Two pegusai. Names are Dark Shot and Chill Rend. They're on their way down as we speak."

"Good work. I suppose we'd better check the Factory. Celestia knows what chaos is going on in there."

Together, John and Rewire Stitch flew across the cloud bridge that lead to the weather factory. Above them, the skies had become overcast, and it was beginning to rain. In the distance, Canterlot loomed overhead, still somehow higher up than the clouds themselves. The first signs of rainfall were beginning to be felt, as they couldn't be seen. The weather factory itself was completely dark inside except for a few spots of multicoloured light here and there from the rainbow pools. It gave it a horribly eerie feel.

Landing just outside of the door, the cautiously stepped inside, listening intently for any movement. John was determined not to have somepony sneak up on him this time, so he paid extra detail to his surroundings. But it wasn't enough.

"Let me help you get the lights." A masculine voice from above them called out. Looking up, John heard hidden power generators hum with electricity as a black pegasus stamped on a thundercloud, making it shoot out a bolt of lightning which in turn hit an exposed generator. The pegasus had a grey mane that had a dark yellow streak running through it, and his wings were a the same shade as his coat, with the exception of a few dark yellow feathers here and there. His cutie mark, which was seen by John when the pegasus landed on the floor beside them, was a light grey lighthouse, with a light shining off to the side.

"Sorry about that. Name's Shadow Light. What brings you here?"

John answered for them.

"We're checking if everything was stable in here after the magical explosion; we don't want a crisis."

"Agreed. But everything's fine. It blew out the lights, but I literally only just got here and replaced them; I just hadn't turned them on. I'm not the only one here, though."

"What do you do, Shadow? I assume you're a weatherpony." Rewire asked.

"I have a natural affinity towards electricity, and I'm able to manipulate it. I'm in charge of all storm activity, and making sure that, if ever, nothing burns to the ground because of lightning."

"So you're able to use lightning as a weapon, if you wished. Except you could direct it?" She continued.

"Yeah."

"Would you mind giving us a demonstration?" John questioned, eager to see this in action. It could be used as a marker for magical attacks, or as an anti-air weapon. Shadow wordlessly flew up into the air, and thrust his hoof into the storm cloud that lingered above. Almost instantaneously he was enveloped in a aura of lightning. he didn't even flinch.

Picking his target, he punched the air in the direction he wanted it. The electricity shot out in a bolt at the pool of liquid rainbow, or spectra, and the vat exploded in a magnificent array of colours.

John nodded in satisfaction. "You'll do. Would you mind using your abilities to help me?"

Shadow narrowed his eyes.

"What do you want me to do..."

"Shaded. Shaded Comet."

The pegasus recoiled away from him, glaring at him in confusion and anger. John knew why, but he kept his head high, staring into the yellow eyes of the pegasus. Thankfully, he fluttered back down in acceptance.

"I'll help you, but only if you promise me that there won't be a repeat of last time, commander."

John smiled sadly. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." He uttered, doing the motions as well.

"Okay, I'll help you." John and Shadow Light shook hooves.

"Head down to Ponyville, and go to the library. When you see a brown pegasus with a darker brown mane, say that I sent you. He'll tell you where to go." John returned, smiling slightly.

"What's going on in here? Shadow? Is that you?" His head snapped round to see a light grey pegasus stallion, that was, curiously, speckled with white spots. His mane was purple, a very bright shade of purple, and at his hooves was an unrolled scroll, complete with a pencil. His cutie mark, unsurprisingly, was a pencil and a scroll.

"Hey Drew! These guys just came to check on the factory, in case there was any problems after the explosion."

"Okay..." The stallion looked confused, before seeing John and Rewire.

"Shaded, this is Drew Silversmith. He's also a weatherpony, but he works in the snowflake department. He's one hell of an artist as well."

"Nice to meet you." John shook hooves with Drew. After they moved apart and broke the contact, John turned to Shadow.

"Did you say he was an artist?" John inquired, his mind already formulating a plan. Shadow nodded, and John turned back around to face Drew, who was staring up the errant thundercloud.

"Shadow? Please get rid of that cloud. It's a danger to health and safety."

The black pegasus nodded glumly. "I'll see you later, Shaded." Before he could leave though, he grabbed his tail with his mouth and pulled him back down. Releasing the tail, he spat a few times to clear his mouth.

"We're moving tomorrow. At noon. Be there early, and you'll get all the equipment you'll need. You'll either be assigned to a mage group to target positions as we move up, or you'll be doing aerial bombardment." The pegasus nodded again, and flew off, grabbing the cloud as he whisked past.

"So, Drew. You any good at drawing maps?"

/br/

John sat down on his bed in the temporary barracks that had been constructed in Ponyville. Around him, just past the door, was the entire army that he'd managed to raise, with the help of everypony so far. Inside the room with him, was everyone that had been specifically recruited or pulled from units to be given certain assignments. Shining Armour had just finished announcing them, and they had divided into groups according to what they were doing. They were now discussing the plan. Lieutenant Gage was giving them the basics.

"Alright, so we're going to launch two attacks at the same time to distract them. Air and ground."

"The air army, whilst considerably smaller than the ground army, will play an essential part in this attack. Currently, we have around one hundred ponies split into four teams, which have been further split into five squads per team. Their task is simple: bombard them with lightning, precise weaponry and anything else that'll kill 'em."

"Of the three hundred or so ponies that make up the main army, about one hundred and fifty are accomplished spellcasters, mainly from the Royal Guard ranks. They'll be split into two teams of seventy as well, with five spotters between them. One team will target the main body of the Changlings from afar, whilst the other seventy are in the thick of it, with us. They'll be providing support and fighting at the same time, this this team is mainly made up of battlemages."

"The final one hundred and fifty ponies will also be split. Five ponies of your choice, Shaded, will accompany you on your own mission. The rest will be the main fighting body, but will prove as a distraction whilst you're getting inside. I don't think I need to explain what they'll be doing."

John looked around the room at everypony assembled. There were, in total in this room, sixteen ponies and one griffon.

"As for who'll be leading each group, Captain Armour's gonna explain that now."

Shining Armour stood up, every head turning to him.

"You all just heard the basic plan. Some of you in here have no combat experience, so you won't be leading. In truth, you're only in here because Shaded invited you in."

"To start with, the Airborne Battalion. White Lightning will be commanding overall, with four team leaders. Rewire Stitch, you'll be taking one team. Hayzu will also take one. The other leaders are asleep right now, so they'll be told at the crack of dawn."

"If there was a dawn now, Sir." John replied, looking up at the ceiling.

"Quite right, Shaded. Next up are the Battlemages. Taking one group will be myself, the other will be taken by Sergeant Wolfee. There will also be specific two groups inside each team, of which Azure Scythe and Frostbite will be leaders of in my group, whilst the others, again, are asleep. My group will be in the middle of the battle, whilst the others are bombarding. Shadow Light, you'll be a spotter for Sergeant Wolfee's side."

All mentioned nodded to each other.

"Finally, the main attack force. Acting as the overall leader for this section will be Iron Heart. One side will flank, the other will charge. The flankers will be presided over by Speedy Recovery and a few other ponies. The chargers will be lead by Iron Heart as well."

"What about me, Sir?" John asked, already knowing the answer, but he wanted to make sure that he had his role correct.

"Shaded, you'll be using the attacks as a distraction to sneak inside the castle, grab the Elements of Harmony, releasing Rainbow Dash and Celestia, and using the Elements to annihilate Discord and Chrysalis, thus saving Equestria. Any questions? No? Alright. Shaded, it's time to annouce your team for getting inside."

"Thank you, Sir. Okay, going with me and escorting the Elements of Harmony will be: Lieutenant Gage, Lazer Bright and Infinity Blitz. I can't think of any others that will come in handy, so I'll borrow some Illusionists from the Mages, I think."

Shining Armour rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue.

"Well, I think that settles it. In the morning, I'll deliver a speech to everypony and we'll march. For now, rest. We're going to need it. Good night, every-" He was cut short by Twilight bursting into the tent, not bothering to teleport inside. She looked as if she'd seen a ghost.

"Shaded! Quick, come with me! It's important!" She yelled, and bolted out of the tent, John following swiftly behind.

"Twilight! What's happened?!"

"No time to explain, come on!"

She increased her speed, dashing across the bridge out of Ponyville. The wood clunked underhoof as John ran after her, realising that they were running towards Sweet Apple Acres. The night sky above him seemed to be restless, the now visible stars winking and blinking down at him. As he ran, he felt a pit open up in the bottom of his heart.

Grinding to a halt, they both slowed down but still ran up the path towards the farm, which was just beyond the trees. Dodging and weaving through the branches and trunks wasn't easy, but John managed to not run into any apple trees as he followed Twilight.

"Why didn't we just teleport?!" He panted at her, breaking past the treeline, and pelting it up the path towards the barn.

"It's the magical residue that was left over, it'll interfere! We could end up anywhere!" She answered. She didn't bother to add a comment about her nerves. Right now, she couldn't cast a basic levitation spell if she tried.

The barn doors opened as they sprinted up to the farm as fast as possible. John's ears began to pound wih the force of the blood pulsing through his veins, and his migraine flared up again. Blinking to clear his head, he noticed that Twilight had come to a stop.

In the barn was Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie Pie. They were all surrounding a central point, which looked to be help in Applejack's hooves, but she was facing away from him. They were all sitting down, their faces deathly shades of white. As John approached, out of breath, Rarity jumped up.

"Explain yourself this instant!"

"Explain what?" He coughed, out of breath. He followed her gaze down towards Applejacks hooves, and his heart pounded viciously. He moved around to see what it was exactly. Blinking back tears, his breath caught in his throat, making him gag as he saw what it was. Applejack looked up at him, offering her hooves up to him.

"What...is...Is this...a...cruel joke...?" He choked, moving his hooves down to pick up the pegasus filly, who was deeply asleep. Her light yellow mane was dirtied and tangled, hanging down in strands. Her white coat was soiled, and her wings were hanging limply off of her, the muscles not responding. But she was breathing. Hope.

Hope was breathing. Lifting up his daughter, his flesh and blood, he studied her face. Not stone at all.

John mind snapped, and he hugged the filly close to him, the floodgates truly opened. His breathing became ragged, and he held her there until he could cry no more. Kissing her gently on the forehead as he calmed down, he noticed several hairs in her mane that were not hers.

John studied them carefully, still holding the filly whilst standing bipedal. They were red, orange, yellow...

"Dashie..."

Everypony watched on with tears in their eyes as the pegasus filly stirred, blessing John's blue eyes with her own rose irises.

"H-Hope?" He shakily whispered, not believing it. He had to be hallucinating.

"Dad?" She returned, her eyes full of fatigue.

With a heart-wrenching howl of anguish John pulled her close to him, and she wrapped her hooves around the back of his neck, hugging him tightly. He could feel hot droplets of water falling onto the base of his wings, and it broke his heart.

But knowing that Hope was back, had been given back to him... It fixed it immediately.

"Now hush little baby, don't you cry,

Everything's gonna be alright.

Stiffen that upper lip up little lady, I told ya,

Daddy's here to hold ya through the night.

I know mommy's not here right now and we don't know why,

We fear how we feel inside.

It may seem a little crazy, pretty baby,

But I promise momma's gon' be alright."

John's vice started to break up, the tears threatening to make him choke, but he swallowed them and continued in a softer tone, almost a whisper.

"And if you ask me to,

Daddy's gonna buy you a mockingbird,

I'mma give you the world,

I'mma buy a diamond ring for you,

I'mma sing for you,

I'll do anything for you to see you smile.

And if that mockingbird don't sing and that ring don't shine,

I'mma break that birdies neck,

I'll go back to the jeweler who sold it to ya,

And make him eat every carat don't... fuck... with dad."

Hope hugged him tighter. "Don't cuss, silly."

John grinned, giggling as he kissed his daughters forehead again and again.

Hope had been restored.